Alex

  —

  I was so happy that night as I fed my newest Pokemon! Yes, he was kind of murdery, and didn't really want to be my Pokemon… yet. If he didn't warm up to me I would release him to the Rangers later, but for now? We had accepted the Yanma's request, and it was better to be captured than to be dinner!

  He apparently loved to be fed, but preferred to catch his food out of the air… I was getting better at throwing, at least? Still, while the rest of my team was nice and affectionate, or in Unity's case, at least calm and liked me, even from the start, Yanmega was… intense.

  He actually seemed to calm down a good bit after he was finally full, at least? Still scary as fuck, honestly, but that wasn't exactly a bad thing! In fact, it was awesome! Even when he just sat there on the ground he was intimidating! Especially with those eyes! You never knew exactly where his attention was. The jaws didn't help either… or the way he had crunched down the Tauros bones… He could bite clean through most of my arm if he wanted to!

  He was also, according to Erin, kind of young? Well, he was over two years old, sure, but Yanmega were one of the longer lived bug types, and could live up to fifty years if they stayed healthy. Not like a Butterfree. Those poor things only lasted five if they were lucky and pampered…

  He had Evolved here in Kanto just the other day, and after he couldn't keep himself full with regular insects and the occasional small Pokemon found around here, he had gotten… cannibalistic as he began to starve. Not that I judged him for it, in all honesty! Really! There were more than a few species of Pokemon who practiced the same thing… Okay, I didn't judge him, no, but it was kind of gross…

  "Hey Indeedee, want a name?"

  Is this how Leaf is going to name her Pokemon every time? Just a casual question around the fire after dinner?

  Indeedee smiled- well, her warm, kind smile grew- and bowed toward Leaf.

  "Indeed!"

  Leaf smiled and pulled Indeedee, who had been standing to her side, ready to serve as usual, in front of her. She gently got Indeedee to sit down with her, and the camp grew somewhat quiet as Leaf locked eyes with her combat maid.

  "You chose to serve me without ever meeting me. You chose to serve me to help me, to help those that I may help, that Erin will help… Also for some personal strength, sure, but that's more of a side benefit." Indeedee nodded at her.

  "You're always so kind and helpful, but more than that, you are playful! You are generous with your time… I think all that may apply to many Indeedee, however." Indeedee laughed softly and nodded.

  "In battle you are intimidating! I know I speak for most of the Pokemon here when I say it's kind of scary to watch you just… just twirl out of the way of an attack and smash someone into the ground with a warm, caring smile." There were growls, hisses, and roars of agreement all around. Even Leto nodded her head! Not that Leto sparred, but she liked to watch…

  "You're always so graceful in everything you do… So I was thinking maybe you'd like to be named Grace?" Indeedee thought for a long moment, eyes closed. Her warm brown eyes popped open eventually and she nodded.

  "Indeed!" She met Leaf in a hug, and I smiled at the sight, happy for both of them.

  Also so glad I had named my Pokemon already, or they would all be mad…

  Yanmega crept closer and tilted his head at me. Well, I assume it was towards me… I looked at him for a long moment before I laughed.

  "I name my Pokemon, yeah, but I need to know you first! I'm sure you're not only a hungry murder-bug!" He buzzed a little and settled down, and I turned to find the other two grinning at me. Erin's voice was too amused, actually…

  "He said he doesn't want one yet, anyway. He doesn't know if you're going to be fun enough…" Leaf giggled at that.

  "Yeah, he's kind of… Well, he is cool, sure, but he's also kind of… That's all I have, actually. Cool, hungry murder-bug." I scowled at them playfully.

  "Indeed!" I burst into laughter as Yanmega deliberately turned his head towards Grace and chittered at her. It was… honestly kind of an unsettling sound. His mouth-fangs clacking together didn't help, but Grace just smiled at him. Warmly, of course.

  Erin theatrically groaned and stretched out, letting Cerberus' necks catch her as she flopped backward.

  "So… training time? We've got two new Pokemon, and you know Sabrina's going to bring her stronger Pokemon out for all of us by this point." Shit, she was right! I mean, I preferred a challenge, and so did everyone else, but… Ehh, screw it. We've kind of been rushing between gyms like mad… So we could get a challenge, sure, but if they were going to bring stronger Pokemon…

  "Yeah, sounds good to me. Unity and Yanmega could really use some extensive training." My little apple dragon enthusiastically hissed at me, and even his tail-wyrm was thrashing side to side. I just smiled at him as Yanmega chittered at me in what sounded like indignation.

  Leaf finally let go of Grace and picked up Tinkatink. She was still slowly eating her latest fork after her meal, and it looked adorable. Now that I'd gotten used to the sight of a tiny humanoid eating a fork, at least.

  "Morgrem really needs the training, too! He's a dark fairy, and should have the advantage, so if we can get him some real grueling training maybe he'll surprise us and do well? Maybe?" She knew exactly what she was doing to him with that innocent grin! Not that he really cared, probably… Okay, maybe he did. He was glaring at her hard, and I could tell when he communed with her, because his scowl only intensified.

  I guess we were going to train then… We were still close enough to the plains that Leto could go hunt- Wait…

  "What about food? Leto can't leave us for that long, right?" Erin just laughed.

  "No, she can't… We're close to the ocean, though, and the Wailmer pods love to come in and eat all the algae and krill in the bay… I wonder how Wailmer tastes…" I didn't… I'd had it before. It was… not fun to eat. Really good as far as flavor went, but it was so chewy…

  —

  —

  I somehow managed to forget that dedicated training time meant a dedicated training arena a half-hours walk off-Route… and more intense training for us humans as well! Of course Erin was enthusiastic about it, especially now that she didn't have to hide away to train…

  I almost wish she had, though…

  It was intense watching her 'fight' Dexter's projections, her terrifying kukri slashing through necks and limbs with only slightly more ease than was required for the real thing, apparently. Kingambit blades were stupid sharp…

  It was worse watching her and Stabby fight it out, even if they used practice kukri Janine's ninjas gave them! Stabby went easy on her, obviously, and used no Moves… He was still small, fast, and got far too much enjoyment out of poking holes in Erin… She reciprocated, though, so I guess it was okay?

  Yanmega quickly found out that while he was terrifying and deadly, that wasn't unusual in this group, and he wasn't very strong yet. He really hated when Hope and Stabby would play the villains, because Gravity was basically designed to bring fliers down. He managed short hopping glides, but they were pitiful, even if they did let him move somewhat faster. He still got used to it relatively quickly, mainly because he didn't have a choice.

  Unity was doing a lot better in Gravity these days, and could even move around if he wanted to. Not that moving with his tail did much, of course. He would launch himself with Dragon Breaths if he needed to move fast, but that was about it. He really enjoyed peppering Hope and Stabby with Bullet Seeds and Dragon Pulses, though, and had gotten very accurate with them. His Protect had also gotten even stronger.

  It was strong enough to properly shield a human now, but when he was only shielding himself? He could take a single Moonblast from Hope. It was cracked and flickering dangerously, and it had been a normal, not overpowered Moonblast, sure… He was still so happy to be getting noticeably stronger, not to mention his apple! It was growing as he kept layering syrup on it, and it was now slightly too big to easily be held in one hand!

  I guess I was happy to get stronger, too? Dexter had upped the intensity of our standard workouts, and we had agreed to spar… It was supposed to be just me against Leaf, but Erin talked us- begged us- into a 'three-way spar' the first time... which of course was really us versus her. She didn't win, we were stronger than her, not to mention we had a longer reach… Still, she was vicious and had much better… instincts? Yeah, instincts in combat, probably from her aura-tinted mind… She also kind of moved like Leto as she fought, too.

  She hadn't appreciated that comment, however. She had appreciated it even less when Dexter showed her a side by side comparison video…

  She was going to be extra vicious for the next spar…

  —

  Leaf

  —

  I don't think I would ever get used to watching Dhelmise fling themselves into the ocean from the short cliffs near our campsite… I think I would get less used to Erin standing on their wheel and riding them out! I mean, sure, Kallen was with her, and Dignity, but… she was insane!

  It did look kind of fun, though, in all honesty…

  Still, Erin may not be able to hunt in the ocean, but did that stop her? Nooo…. No it did not! She would simply act as another side to drive prey in for Dhelmise! Kallen hung with her for defense, because not every Pokemon, or even human, was susceptible to her aura. Not to mention he was kind of slow, and got blown around by currents… It was still slightly nerve wracking waiting on the clifftop with Alex and the land-bound portions of our teams as she hunted Wailmer! Well, she'd only helped with one Wailmer so far, but she did personally kill an aggressive Golduck with far too much bravery. To be fair, her aura had worked on it, and Kallen was on her back holding onto her top…

  Still startling to see her fly out on Dignity, Golduck in Dignity's mouth!

  I think it was worse for the group of trainers that watched it happen, honestly…

  The same group that we had fought a few days ago, actually. They apparently didn't own bikes, and came slowly walking into view. They were nice this time, and it didn't even appear to be out of fear!

  They stopped to enthusiastically ask for more battles… Which we were happy to have! They had been less enthusiastic when mom came out to say hi. Literally, she waved at them! It shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did, honestly. She was a mother, liked kids, and they had been polite this time.

  The poor boy who tried to fight Alex regretted it, though, when Alex had yelled into the woods. It didn't take Yanmega long to show up, because he was thrilled to fight! He was less thrilled when Alex specified that he couldn't hurt that poor Pinsir too badly…

  It was hard to tell with compound eyes, but the mouth… parts gnashing told me all I needed to know. Leto found them nasty, but to Yanmega? Pinsir looked tasty! He didn't bite any chunks out, though, just blasted it with overpowered Air Slashes… I still felt kind of bad for it…

  Morgrem had certainly turned some heads, again, and he was already getting much better about reigning in his arrogance these days… We kind of beat it out of him honestly, just like Hazard, even if Hazard had regained some of it lately…

  Morgrem actually managed to win against the Donphan the girl sent out, but it was a close thing… Not that you'd know that by looking at him, considering he seemed to be trying to look down his nose at the trainer… Well, around his nose, I guess?

  We had just finished our battles and Grace's healing when Erin made her appearance, rising over the cliff edge while holding onto Dignity's horn, Golduck held by the feet in Dignity's mouth as its very cut throat weakly bled, Kallen watching from over her shoulder. She was smiling widely as she jumped off. Smiling widely and shivering a little. It was kind of cold in the ocean when you went any distance down, and we didn't own wetsuits, just a single rebreather she bought…

  She strolled up to us smiling widely as Dignity casually held the Golduck, Dhelmise coming out with their usual crash into the ground.

  "Hey! Had some fun while I had some fun, huh?" I frowned at her.

  "Just a Golduck?" She laughed, shaking her head.

  "He decided that I deserved death for being in 'his' area of the ocean, so I figured the Pokemon could use a snack. Mom's going to have to wait, or really, eat Tauros. Not that she cares about 'having' to eat Tauros…" I chuckled at the thought.

  "Yeah, but I would prefer if we ate the Tauros!" I heard murmurs behind me and turned, finding the other group of trainers staring at us. Well, at Erin mostly, but me and Alex too. They looked… hungry… Well, the boys were checking out Erin in her swimsuit as well, and I saw her grimace briefly.

  Alex was smiling as she saw the look on Erin's face. It was kind of funny, sure, but at the same time… Kind of mean to enjoy her discomfort? Embarrassment, sure, I liked to poke fun at her, but discomfort? I mean, I was somehow mildly surprised at the reaction, but I guess 'being a kid again' and 'finding your age group attractive' were two different things… Hopefully she got over that, too? Or at least her reactions to people our age checking her out, considering I doubted it was going to stop any time soon. Wild, vicious, and kind of scary? Absolutely. She was also pretty, even with the scar, so… Yeah, hopefully she got over it.

  "It's almost time to start dinner, if you three want to join us?" Erin glared at Alex's suggestion, but I smiled.

  "Yeah, most people run from us, or from mom!" Now I got some very confused looks. The girl was a bit more outspoken, though.

  "Wait, I thought that, uhh… 'Leto' was the Tiny Tyrant's mom?" I burst into laughter as Erin's face went slightly red. Luckily Alex was able to speak…

  "Leto kind of adopted her, too? I think?" Leto nodded, of course, then stared at Erin. She sighed briefly before she looked at Alex with a wicked grin.

  "Leto kind of does that, yeah. She has four daughters now, actually! Artemis, me, Leaf, and of course, her newest daughter Alex!" I laughed again as Alex's face went red and she turned to meet Leto's stare.

  "What?!" Leto brought her huge head directly in front of Alex, grinned, then blew a huge huff of air in her face. Now everyone was laughing, but Erin managed to squeak out some words.

  "Your part of the pack, Alex! Of course she's going to adopt you after a while! I'm the insane daughter, Leaf is the runty- okay, she's not the runty, weak daughter anymore, she's the crazy fae daughter, and you're the normal one! You and Artemis!" I glared at Leto a little for that, but not much.

  I kind of was the crazy fae daughter now… I may not have control of my aura like Erin, but it was more than noticeable these days. It was also a Fairy aura, and that was kind of highly unusual. According to Professor Oak, generally those whose aura dyed itself with Fairy type energy… Well, they didn't last long. For every benevolent fae there were many more who were ambivalent, but there were plenty of malevolent fae, and I was an interesting toy to those.

  I was also visible in that soul-space these days even without being brought there. I found out after Morgrem that I was technically always communing even without a fae talking to me, even when Hope hopped out of my mind briefly to check. If a normal, 'un-bonded' human were like me? They would probably be in constant pain… Well, they would probably be dead, actually… If not from fae, then from the pain… Or the nosebleeds…

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Alex was red in the face now, but it wasn't all embarrassment. I knew her 'parents' weren't exactly supportive of her being her, and Leto had accepted her as her daughter…

  I smiled widely as I turned back to the amused group.

  "So, dinner?"

  —

  —

  "Sooo… I think we haven't introduced ourselves?"

  I looked at the girl and blushed a little.

  "Oh, yeah… that's a thing people do, yeah… I'm Leaf! I kind of specialize in fae, despite my dragons and psychic."

  Alex was smiling as she spoke up from ahead of me as we walked to our campsite.

  "I'm Alex! Future Dragon Master, Yanmega was just too awesome not to catch!"

  Erin was scowling, however.

  "Erin. Dragon Master… Also the Tiny Tyrant…" I started chuckling. Me and the rest of us.

  "Erin, I think they knew that…" She just pouted at me for a moment, before her head tilted to the side. Then she smiled, and I grew worried.

  "Actually, you all can head back to camp, I think I'll try and find some other meat. Not that I'll be skipping Tauros ribs, obviously, but Yanmega wants to hunt, and so does Artemis, of course…" She glanced at Alex, and after a moment she released Yanmega. He wasn't trusted, probably not for a while, but Erin of course wasn't scared of him. She glanced back at us briefly.

  "I'll take the rest of my team with me, but you all stay safe with mom." Oh shit, I didn't think about that… I kind of forgot, actually? I waved her off as she sprinted away with Artemis, Yanmega taking to the skies overhead.

  I glanced at Alex and saw that I wasn't the only one to forget about the bounty… The blonde girl spoke up, voice worried.

  "What did she mean, stay safe?" I winced, but I couldn't exactly not tell them. I stopped walking and turned to them as the entire group came to a halt.

  "Well, you know what my sister did in Saffron, right?" They nodded slowly.

  "Well, there's a bounty out on her and her friends and family… We haven't seen anything yet, but…" They all went pale and took a step back. The taller boy spoke next, voice worried.

  "Wait, so Team Rocket might attack you all?" I nodded sadly.

  "Team Rocket, or bounty hunters, I guess? Yeah, sorry, I kind of… forgot? I mean, they probably won't try anything with mom around, but… if you want to go back, I get it." The girl was shaking her head, though.

  "No, that's… well, not fine, but will… 'Leto' keep us safe, too?" A reasonable question, but mom just leaned in and smiled at them. Not a comforting sight to most, sure, but her nodding her head probably was.

  Alex's voice was slightly nervous when she spoke, but not badly.

  "I would be more worried about Erin, but Cerberus, Stabby, and Hecate are probably more than enough to at least delay an attack…" I laughed as we started walking again.

  "There won't be an attack left after Cerberus gets done with them, not to mention Stabby, Seraphina, Artemis, or Kallen… or Hecate, really. She's sweet and adorable, but… she is for sure Erin's Pokemon… She shattered Team Rocket's minds in Saffron." Alex and mom both nodded at that.

  "Still, your… sister? Your sister is fine just going off by herself?" I giggled a little at the taller boy's question.

  "She'll have fun if they try to attack her, actually. Vicious fun, but she enjoys eliminating people that abuse their Pokemon…" Leto rumbled out a chuckle even as the other three went slightly pale.

  "Sorry, we introduced ourselves and then didn't let you three!"

  The blonde girl smiled at me. She seemed a lot less bitchy today… Probably the promise of ribs, honestly… Well no, actually, they had been nice before then, too…

  "I'm Heather! I don't really specialize in a type, I guess? Just cute Pokemon!" I could see Wigglytuff, but Donphan? Well, they started out as super cute Phanpy, I guess…

  The taller brown-haired boy spoke up next, still glancing around nervously occasionally.

  "I'm Zavier. I guess I'm a generalist? I'm not trying to be a trainer forever, so most of my team is just along for the Circuit and to get stronger." I didn't frown at that, but… Why not continue as a trainer if you already have five badges?

  The girly looking boy spoke up next.

  "I'm Ian, and I specialize in Ice types. My whole family does, actually." Huh, guess the Weavile probably wasn't a wild capture, then. Weavile owned by trainers were slightly rare, since they required pack dynamics and competition to Evolve, but a family of ice specialists would have plenty of ice types to form a 'pack' structure… Or just their own pack of Sneasel and Weavile…

  Ian got a strange, searching look in his eyes as we walked, looking at Alex closely…

  "Wait, are you a Blackthorn? I mean, you have a Dragonair and other dragons…" Alex's shoulders hunched slightly before she straightened her back again.

  "I am, actually. Alex Blackthorn." Ian was frowning now.

  "You're from a clan of Dragon Tamers, but you have a non-dragon?" Alex just laughed, though.

  "Uhh, yeah? I've gotten lucky that I travel with an insane Dragon Master that gets requests, actually! Both of our Noibats and my Hakamo-o were from requests of hers, and my Dipplin was only allowed to go with me because of her… Well, actually, I get the feeling Professor Oak would have done it anyway, no matter what he said. I wouldn't have met him without Erin- well, Leaf or Erin, though." Heather actually let out a tiny squeal!

  "Professor Oak?!" Her head swung to me. "You know Professor Oak?!" I frowned slightly, but I guess it was kind of the normal reaction… A very enthusiastic one, though.

  "Yeah? I grew up in Pallet Town just seeing him around, and I'm one of his sponsored trainers." They were all giving me looks now, but I just shook my head.

  "What? I had some trouble with my first Pokemon, and he helped me out as much as he could. Kind of simple?" Ian was still giving me a look, though.

  "Trouble with your first Pokemon?" I chuckled, because he hadn't been out all afternoon. By choice, he was allowed out whenever he wanted these days.

  "Hazard, wanna say hi, baby?" His ball rattled a little, and I knew what was going to happen even as the red light came out.

  He came out with a huge snarl, leg leading as he threw his claws wide. He was acting very aggressive, but he was smiling even through the snarl, and Alex and I both laughed as they all reasonably panicked.

  "Hazard! That was… really funny, sure, but be nice!" He stopped immediately, smirked at them, then matched my pace. He looked up at me questioningly and I shrugged, handing Tinkatink to him. He put her on his right blade, letting her hold onto his face as he walked.

  Still kind of stunned by that, but not upset! I patted his head a few times, and he didn't even growl, just scowled a tiny bit!

  "This is my baby Hazard! I hatched him from an Egg, actually! He was the cutest little Axew… Still a cute Fraxure though, aren't you?" He snarled at me and I laughed again.

  "Yes, yes, you're a big strong dragon… These days!" He nodded, then picked up his pace slightly. Grace swept in to walk next to him, ready to catch Tinkatink if she fell. She didn't seem to get very jealous of him showing Tinkatink… Not even affection, really, just attention? He was protective of her, though…

  "Why is he so aggressive?!" Heather looked very uneasy, but Alex and I both just laughed. Again.

  "He's actually very calm compared to after he Evolved! I was… Well, I failed him badly, and he tried to murder me over it." They all stumbled, even as Hazard nodded, holding Tinkatink steady as he did. They looked at him in stunned silence, and I couldn't blame them.

  "Don't worry! He's fine these days! Notice the Luxury Balls?" They nodded idly, still staring at him.

  "Hazard is doing his best to be an honorable dragon, actually!" His head lifted slightly in pride and I giggled a little.

  They were silent for a long while as we continued walking, but eventually Heather spoke up, tone questioning.

  "So… We've been walking for a while now. How far is your campsite? Isn't it dangerous to be this far off-Route- Oh…" Everyone laughed a little at that, even as Leto smirked.

  "Well, we actually stopped here to train for a while. Tinkatink is a baby, but Morgrem is almost completely untrained, not to mention Unity, Alex's Dipplin, and Yanmega. Janine brought out sixth, seventh and eighth badge Pokemon against me, and she brought out seventh, eighth badge and personal Pokemon for Erin, and we were both on our fifth badge! We're going to be ready to kick Sabrina's butt! I know the sixth badge is when they start bringing out the nasty strategies, too…" Alex barked out a laugh.

  "Yeah, and she brought out fifth and sixth for my fourth…" They were giving us strange looks now, and I couldn't help but smirk. Zavier's voice was confused.

  "Well, I guess that makes sense… Why so far from the Route?" I shrugged.

  "Easier to not be annoyed by random trainers, I guess? Plus, you're not allowed to build large structures close to a Route." Heather's voice was even more confused than Zavier's as she responded.

  "Large structures?" Me and Alex both smiled.

  This was going to be funny!

  —

  —

  "I kind of expected a large stone hut for you to sleep in, not a huge arena!" I stared at Ian for a long moment before I looked over at mom. Mom, who looked away awkwardly.

  "You could have made us a huge stone tent each night, couldn't you have?" She refused to meet my eyes, but I just sighed. Me and Alex, both.

  "Well, we didn't think of it, and we'd still have to sleep with you… still! Think you could do that tonight?" She nodded, still looking away from me, and I laughed.

  "I'm not mad, I feel kind of stupid, actually. I saw the house you built for Maxx out in the plains! I just… didn't connect the dots, I guess?"

  Alex turned to the three slightly-stunned trainers and smiled.

  "Feel free to let your teams out. Cerberus, Erin's Zweilous, is kind of… dangerous for now, but nobody else is." They relaxed a little and began to release their teams.

  Heather had the Wigglytuff and Donphan, of course, but she also had a Lopunny and a Skitty… She really wasn't joking about the cute Pokemon, huh? Skitty were hard to get to battle, too…

  Zavier had his Kingler 'King' and Pinsir, but he also had a large Luxray and a Porygon! He noticed our looks and his face got red.

  "Pory here was a gift from my uncle. He's hoping I'll follow him into computer science… Which I might? Probably? I'm planning on going back to school after this Circuit, so we'll see…" Huh, guess that made sense… Rotom was going to mess with Pory, I bet…

  Ian had a Delibird, a rare Pokemon to see as a battler, and an Eevee… His Weavile came out with shoulders hunched, but Leto just stared at her for a moment before she relaxed. Yeah, her and Erin might have issues with them, but… that wasn't the one who ate Erin's finger, nor responsible for something else their species did.

  The Galarian Mr. Mime that came out was less welcome, honestly. Well, actually… As it came out, the expected creeped out feeling never manifested, even when it smiled and waved at us… Huh. Not as bad as Kantonian Mr. Mimes, I guess? Maybe because they lost their Fairy typing, even if most fae didn't bother me?

  "Is there a reason Erin had Sneasel feathers? And that jacket? That Leto here has a Weavile… is that a mantle?" I grinned a little at Ian's question as Leto laughed.

  "Well… I'll let Erin tell you the story, actually." Zavier snapped his fingers, a look of comprehension coming over his face.

  "Wait, she was wearing the Sneasel skins, and she rode out of the Crown Tundra in that mantle! That was an Alpha Weavile, right?" Leto growled, but I just nodded.

  "Yeah… screw it. She saved Artemis from a Sneasel, it ate her pinky before she managed to bash its head in with a rock. It's the neck area of her jacket." I continued over their horrified expressions.

  "The Alpha Weavile and its two Sneasel… children, I guess? They attacked her, mom, Artemis, and Kallen for revenge. Mom bit the Alpha's head off eventually, while the rest helped Erin kill the other two Sneasels, the ones that make up the arms. Mom shared the Weavile skin, though, so she had enough to make her jacket…" I trailed off at their dumbfounded faces. The Weavile looked terrified now, actually…

  Alex just laughed, however.

  "You'll probably have that expression a lot tonight!" I burst into laughter even as Dignity poked me with her tail, still holding the thoroughly-drained Golduck by its feet. I grimaced, but started to dig around in Erin's pack.

  "If you don't like blood or butchering, I would look away… This will take a while, though, Erin's still faster at skinning than me…" Heather and Zavier went pale, but Ian actually stepped forward.

  "Need a hand? My family is mostly hunters, actually!" I smiled at him.

  "Absolutely! We just need to skin the Golduck, not actually butcher the entire thing. We're not eating it, I'll just chunk it out, actually. It just feels wrong not to use all of them, honestly… Even if it attacked her…"

  The other two did not look happy when we got started… Oh well!

  —

  —

  It was a strange experience, having dinner with another group of trainers. Not adults, not parents, relatives, or… I guess Professor Oak was kind of like a grandpa to us, maybe? He liked us, and he was old enough for it, that was for sure…

  Still, I enjoyed their reaction to hearing how long we would be cooking the ribs that me and Alex prepped, not to mention their reaction to Leto and her meat spit! It was funny to me, too. She only had the equivalent of a bite off of it each time, but she savored that bite… She did usually fill up on raw meat beforehand, though. I should really buy them a larger one, or at least a second…

  I had really enjoyed their looks of surprise when Erin came flying in on Yanmega! I mean, me and Alex were both kind of surprised, too… but it didn't really surprise me. Neither did her whooping cheering as he almost touched down… He came close to the ground before flipping himself over, dumping her head-first onto the ground.

  He was hanging from a tree branch now, far out of her reach…

  Erin moved to the edge of the clearing to pluck the Pidgeotto she had killed, and as she did we stood close enough to talk. Heather and Zavier were very deliberately not looking in her direction… Even as Heather spoke up, voice hopeful.

  "I don't suppose you three could use some training partners? For your weaker Pokemon, I guess?" I met Alex's eyes and we both shrugged, but Erin paused in her plucking and looked back at her.

  "You do realize we might get attacked, right?" Heather turned and nodded at her… then went slightly green and turned back around.

  "Yeah, but they probably won't, not with Leto here, right?" Erin shrugged and went back to plucking.

  "I don't care, honestly." I smiled at them, even as Ian got a bit red in the face.

  "Uhh… could Leto make us a stone tent, too? We kind of… had a bit of a cooking accident last night…" I burst into laughter, even as Erin's head snapped around to Leto.

  "You could have made a tent- Yes I know we- You still could have- I'm not that stupid- Fine!" She turned back around, and I saw a potential problem… Erin didn't always respond through aura, and it was noticeable when Leto liked to interrupt her. Alex spoke up first, though.

  "Don't ask. If Erin wants to tell you, she will." Erin shrugged at her words, though.

  "Ehh, I don't care, it's probably already on the PokeNet for all I know… I can wield and read aura. No, I can't teach it. Please don't spread the info, I guess?" Now they looked shocked, but I just smiled. Dexter took that chance to pop out of Erin's jacket, startling them slightly.

  "Actually, there hasn't been any report of it on the general PokeNet! You're kind of too angry and intimidating for most people to spend any real time around you… Even with your new pigtails!" Erin growled, but didn't turn around.

  She did apparently tell Hecate something, though, as Dexter found himself psychically snatched out of the air.

  "Let me go, Hecate! This is abuse! Abduction! Poaching! Capturing a free Rotom! Slander! Wait, not slander, this is…" He trailed off as Hecate brought him in front of her face. She was smiling, though.

  ""Dexter annoying! Not smart! Funny, though!"" She released him and he flew over towards Porygon with a huge grin.

  "These fleshy people are annoying, right buddy? Hey, actually, want to play a few games I have in here?" Porygon didn't exactly have expressive faces, but its eyes seemed to squint in happiness before it dissolved into multicolored light, flying into Dexter's huge phone.

  I laughed at Zavier's dumbfounded expression.

  "That's Dexter! He's… Well, he's Erin's lifetime alibi, basically?" Erin growled again, but she didn't deny it…

  —

  —

  After we finished eating they set up 'camp' in our clearing, Leto creating two 'tents' out of stone. Ours was huge, of course, but theirs wasn't exactly small, either…

  "So… how did you all meet?"

  I looked at the black-haired boy sitting across the fire from me and smiled.

  "Erin's my sister?" Zavier frowned, but didn't say anything else. Not that I cared about talking about it, really… Neither did Erin, so she did.

  "I helped her out with Hazard, and Patricia, our human mom, kind of adopted me." That was all she said, reclining on Cerberus as usual, gently stroking his heads. Alex cleared her throat a little, face red.

  "Lance actually dropped me off with instructions on how to find a good group to travel with… Right where he knew they were, without telling me anything… He's not just the Champion, he's a champion assho-" She cut off as Stabby flicked her ear with a huge smile.

  "Tell her that Patricia said no dirty mouths!" 'Stabby, that's kind of mean, you know?'

  He just giggled, Alex still glaring at him.

  "He says that mom said 'no dirty mouths'... Sorry, Alex. I think she corrupted Stabby, honestly." Stabby started laughing so hard he drifted low enough for Alex to snatch him… He of course let her, let her start tickling him… then began to lift the both of them into the air. Alex let him go a foot into the air, scowling at him.

  "Ms. Greenwood is great, sure, but I'm not her daughter! Why, other than your own amusement?!" I laughed, because I didn't even need to hear Stabby's reply to know that.

  "Your face right now?"

  The other group was giving me strange looks.

  "How do you know?" I giggled a little at Zavier's question.

  "I'm actually a Fairy Master, and beyond that, I can commune with fae with no pain. Actually, I'm always communing, now that my aura is fully dyed in Fairy type energy…" They were giving me stunned, wary looks, and I laughed.

  I laughed harder when Wigglytuff hesitantly tried to pull me into that communion-space, and since it was a gentle, questioning pull, I allowed it.

  Wigglytuff, or their line, were… interesting to see. They were smoke monsters like Clefairy, too… Different, though. The Clefairy line seemed to rise up out of the 'floor' of the plane, like a finger under a sheet. The Jigglypuff line apparently were floating smoke clouds. It- She was about my size, actually?

  She was also stunned as she spoke.

  "H-How? You should be dead if you're always communing!" I laughed a little, because she was kind of right...

  'I'm… special, let's just put it that way! You look… You look like you would be nice to cuddle, actually!' She really did, her mask and her true self… Hope didn't like to hear that, though, and made her presence known.

  "That's not funny! If you try to cuddle some strange Wigglytuff, I'll… I will do something!" I giggled again, 'winked' at Wigglytuff, and pulled myself back out of that space.

  Heather was giving me a very strange look, and so was everyone else… Not Erin, but Alex was. I looked at her questioningly.

  "Leaf, the whites of your eyes turned pink for a second before you closed them, and stayed that way for another second when you opened them…" Huh… Neat!

  "That's cool! I wonder what happens to a Normal Master's eyes? Do they just… flash or something?" I continued to get strange looks, and Erin laughed for a moment, before her eyes glowed royal purple.

  "Cool eyes club, Leaf! Me and you! Well, give Alex another month or two and I bet she's going to have plenty of aura to dye, you kind of need a certain amount before it starts…"

  Ian finally managed to find his voice, speaking up in disbelief.

  "What do you mean, she'll have plenty of aura?" Leto huffed from her spot off to the side as Erin replied, so amused.

  "Mom is a Master level Pokemon, she's just reigning it in so you're not petrified right now. She also refuses to let us sleep away from her most of the time, as her pack, and that much pressure eventually forces your aura to grow…" Heather looked so confused, though.

  "Reigning it in? She's terrifying, though?" Mom laughed, even as Erin grinned.

  "Mom, let it out for a few seconds, let them see what close to the peak of normal Pokemon strength feels like." I watched as they all went pale and began to shake. A moment later they stopped shaking, but they were still very pale.

  I was smiling so widely as I spoke to their pale, shaken faces. Theirs, and their Pokemon's…

  "She's a mother, and likes kids, so she's being nice and restraining her aura. Professor Oak's Charizard never does, actually… Why is that, now that I think about it? She's old and loves to chat, why not do that? I know it took mom a while to learn since she never cared in the Lowlands, but Charizard should have the experience…" Erin was shaking her head, though.

  "She can, but not for long these days, Leaf. She'll probably live another decade, easily, but the… for lack of a better term, the 'muscle' that lets her restrain her aura is old and weakened. I think she can manage half an hour if she pushes herself? That's why she doesn't hang out in the lab with the Professor all the time, her disliking being indoors aside. She would just give the lab tech's heart attacks all day, even through walls…" Huh… I guess that makes sense?

  Alex sounded highly amused with her next words, though.

  "Girls, I think you and Leto broke them!" Oh no, she was right…

  They were still kind of pale, but so confused!

  I was kind of getting used to seeing that expression, honestly…