“I believe it’s time we have a conversation.”

I walked over to where a second chair was set up in front of the empty table and sat down. I was nervous about what exactly he wanted to talk about, and the serious tone he used made me worry what this conversation might lead to. I stared at Steven while he watched me silently. No one else was in this tent, neither my Pokémon nor his.

“I’ve read the reports. You seem to know a rather large amount of secret and dangerous information,” he said.

So it’s this conversation. Guess it’s time to figure out if I’m going to be either kidnapped or unceremoniously milked for info.

“Which information are you referring to?” I asked sarcastically. “Is it the information I provided about Mega-Evolution? Or the information about Legendaries I hinted at when I was desperately trying to convince someone to not hypnotize me? Trust me, I know exactly how dangerous my knowledge could be."

Steven didn’t respond but tapped his fingers against the table. I was already resorting to sarcasm as a coping mechanism, despite Steven having barely spoken.

Ugh, I really wish I didn’t panic so much sometimes.

“My friend, Claydol, is maintaining a Psychic barrier for this tent. Whatever is said here will never leave the boundaries of this room,” Steven told me.

I sighed.

“Yeah. And?”

He stared at me intently, and I unconsciously shrunk back from his gaze.

“Are you truly from the Draconid tribe?” Steven asked.

The confusion on my face answered the question for me. He immediately frowned.

“There’s a reason I haven’t shared everything,” I told Steven, trying to explain before he started to get the wrong idea. “It’s dangerous to reveal what I know if the wrong people found out. Surely you can understand why I wouldn’t want to tell everyone about the full details about Legendary Pokémon?”

Steven nodded but continued to not speak. I felt like I had no choice but to continue.

“I don’t trust the League. You have absolute authority over everything in this society, what’s to stop you from taking me in and using your Psychics to probe through my mind? Nothing. My team wouldn’t be able to do anything if even a single one of your Ace Trainers decided I was too dangerous. At any point, you can consider what I know a threat to society and take me out. The League works to correct criminals who step out of line, but who works to make sure the League doesn’t step out of line themselves?”

Steven interrupted my rant by asking me a question. He still had a calm demeanor, but had looked mildly upset when I went through those hypotheticals.

"Do you think you are a threat to the League?" he asked, voice tinged with curiosity more than anything else.

"What? No!" I shouted. "I don't want to hurt anyone. I'm just selfish. I know I can share my knowledge to help people, but the absolute power the League holds intimidates me. There's nothing I could do to stop you from preventing me from following my dream."

"And what dream is that?"

"To be a Type specialist," I responded immediately. "At first I just wanted to be a Pokémon trainer, but as time went on I realized my choice to be a Type specialist was the best choice I ever made. I love Fairy Type Pokémon. They're cute, affectionate, tricky, shy sometimes, but also insanely powerful. I want to train my team and learn more about Fairy Types. I want to figure out the best way to use them in battle. I want to use strategies no one else has used before. I want to make my Pokémon the best they can be and give them the best life possible."

I breathed in. I hadn't said that out loud before, and actually verbalizing it made me feel... calmer? More peaceful? No, more determined. I was going to be a Fairy Type specialist, even if I had to go against the League to do so.

Steven smiled at my proclamation.

“As to answer your question of what ensures the League doesn't step out of line, it's the Legendaries,” Steven explained. “Abuse of authority does not last. Why do you think Pokélantis was destroyed centuries ago? Ho-oh stepped in and destroyed it to prevent their King’s quest for absolute control. The League works to make the world a better place, and if we had ever overstepped our bounds, we would not be here. Everyone in the League is aware of that, and I can personally guarantee you that absolutely everyone in power has only the best of intentions in mind. If anyone ever gained a position of power and sought to abuse it, they would have to contend with both the League and the Legendaries themselves coming down on them like the Judgment of Arceus.”

That actually made me pause. The anime had always shown Legendaries fighting back against villains, but it made it seem like the Legendaries were always the unfortunate victims of some evil-doer's plans. But if the Legendaries actually strove to make sure no one evil obtained power?

Huh. That explains why everyone keeps saying the people in charge are so nice. The bad guys never got the chance.

“What if the information I reveal is leaked?” I said, asking about another concern I had. “How can I be sure that what I say won’t be discovered by a criminal organization and motivate them to kidnap me?”

Steven crossed his hands over each other and rested them on the table to stop himself from tapping.

“If you are so afraid of something like that happening, I can increase your security detail. I had refrained from sending more than a single Banette your way since too many Ghosts tend to scare off wild Pokémon. I assumed you wanted to be a normal Pokémon trainer.”

I breathed out through my nose. The idea of me being a normal Pokémon trainer was kind of a joke.

Does a normal Pokémon trainer buy Mega Stones? Does a normal Pokémon trainer talk to the Champion of Hoenn? Does a normal Pokémon trainer come from another freaking universe? No, that chance was ruined before I even got started.

Steven was kind enough to wait to let me calm down before we continued to talk. He could tell how stressed this conversation was making me, and paused until my emotions were back under control.

It took several minutes of me sitting in silence before Steven finally spoke up. I was still upset, but at least some of my frustration had faded.

However, the next question he asked didn’t make me feel much better.

“Where are you from, truly? How did you learn what you know?”

I never wanted to reveal this, but if I ever had a chance at getting a good result, it’s now or never.

"I want to use the second favor."

Steven raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"I don't care how much it might worry you, but I need to know that what we are about to talk about won’t make anyone come after me. Even if I reveal something that's critical to the region's safety, you can not share where you got it from. Just to be safe, wait a few days minimum to tell anyone what you learn here. The League might have good intentions, but who's to say you don't have a member leaking information?"

Steven frowned when I mentioned a leak. It seemed like I was right on the money and he had a problem with that in the past.

"If the wrong person catches even the slightest wind of what I'm about to tell you, that's it for me,” I said. "Promise me you will wait before doing anything. Give me your word as Champion, no, as a stone collector that you won't reveal my identity."

Steven's normally amiable demeanor was gone, now replaced by a stern expression. Personally, I felt sick to my stomach. I had never planned to reveal my origin to anyone in this world, but I wouldn’t be able to live happily if I didn’t. I could only hope Steven was as trustworthy as he appeared.

"I swear on my name, Steven Stone, and everything I stand for to not reveal your identity, and to take extra precautions before revealing any information you may tell me," Steven said solemnly.

I nodded. That was a strong promise, Steven swearing on his name was not to be taken lightly. It made me feel safer that despite barely knowing me, he was still willing to promise to protect my identity.

“How much do you know about Ultra Wormholes?” I asked him.

While I was confident I didn’t actually come here through an Ultra Wormhole, it was the closest approximation of what happened to me. There would have been a much larger uproar to my appearance than just a Trubbish noticing me if an Ultra Wormhole had appeared above Olivine.

Steven’s eyes widened at my suggestion, but he also looked visibly relieved.

“Are you saying you’re from a parallel universe?”

I nodded.

Steven chuckled despite how serious I was acting.

“Well, if you didn’t want to be forced into something, you made the right call,” he said.

I snapped my head forward to look him in the eyes.

“I’m sorry, what?”

Steven shifted in his chair to better maintain his posture.

“Ah, well, you’ll need some background since you aren’t actually from around here. The Pokémon League isn’t the only organization that seeks to protect the world. There is also the International Police, a separate organization that works close to us but is not part of the League. They’re the ones that deal with issues that threaten more than one region at a time.

“Due to the danger they pose, Ultra Wormholes are handled by the International Police. If they had found out you were a ‘Faller,’ as in someone who fell out of an Ultra Wormhole, they might have used you as bait to lure out dangerous stray Ultra Beasts. You'd still have been free to be a trainer, of course, but you wouldn't have had a choice to not be registered in their system.”

I blinked.

So my paranoia wasn’t actually useless? I don’t know how to feel about that.

“Wait, what’s stopping them from just grabbing me now?” I asked Steven.

He smiled.

“Considering that you made me swear not to reveal your identity, and considering they haven't found you so far, I doubt they would ever figure it out unless you told them yourself. Even more, you've been a trainer for months at this point, and you’ve already earned four badges, so there are no doubts you are under the jurisdiction of the League. They wouldn't be able to touch you even if they knew.”

It felt like almost all of the pressure on me suddenly disappeared. Steven was behaving like he had no plans to do anything, and he just confirmed that the one government group that might have done something, couldn't do anything to me anyway. However, he still hadn’t explicitly stated his own plans, and I needed to know.

“So what does that mean for me? Are you going to force me to share information now, or will I be free to go? You promised you wouldn't share my identity, but never promised you wouldn't do anything to me. What's next?"

Steven’s smile grew deeper. He straightened out his tie and pulled forward his sleeves to remove any stray wrinkles before responding.

“Absolutely nothing. Neither I nor any other member of the League will force you to share what you know. If you are comfortable sharing something, feel free to do so now. If you are paranoid that what you may say will be leaked, I already told you I will take extra precautions to protect the identity of, ahem, my ‘anonymous informant.’”

What a freaking relief.

I breathed out, releasing the very last bit of stress that had been pent up inside of me. While I still couldn't help but doubt government bodies in general, everything Steven was saying was just making me trust him more. He was stiff and trying to maintain a rigid, perfect posture, but the way he spoke practically reeked of genuineness, so hearing him say I wouldn’t be forced into something so explicitly finally let me relax.

I trusted Steven, even though I barely knew him. His track record in the games and how he had treated me, a stranger, proved that. I just needed to figure out if I wanted to share something, and hopefully save people with what I knew. Since Hoenn only needed to deal with the last remnants of Team Magma, this region would be safe as long as the Red and Blue Orb were protected. The orbs should have been returned to Mt. Pyre by this point, so I decided to look towards the future and share knowledge of what was yet to come.

“I know of several possible dangerous events that may happen in the future,” I explained, “but I’m unsure if they’ll actually happen due to differences between realities. I’d like some time before I share everything to figure it out, especially since I don't want to accidentally mislead you and unintentionally cause a worse outcome. For now, I’ll provide some more information about the soonest one that’s most likely to happen.

“Keep an eye on Spear Pillar on top of Mount Coronet in Sinnoh. It might also be worth stationing trainers around the major lakes in that region to protect the Lake Guardians. Team Galactic, led by Cyrus, is planning to use the Red Chain and the Lake Guardians to control Dialga and Palkia to reset the universe. Their plan cannot succeed without Spear Pillar and the Lake Guardians."

Clearly, the information I provided was not what Steven was expecting and he seemed to be in shock for a moment. Luckily, he quickly recovered and took it all in stride.

“I see. Is there anything else you’re willing to tell me?”

I paused and considered what else I could share safely.

“Well, the Aether scientist that attacked me confirmed Faba might be aiming to use Solgaleo and Lunala to amass power, President Lusamine of the Aether Foundation might go insane, and there’s a town in the north-western corner of Kalos that contains a super-weapon that could potentially wipe out all life on the planet. It was used once in the past to stop a war, which was what created Mega Stones.”

Steven’s face was completely blank and he almost seemed to have dissociated after I shared that information.

“...Please excuse me for a moment. I need to go grab some forms as an excuse to calm down.”

And with that, Steven left the tent.