A few days later, Cynthia and I sat in the upper seats of the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup, held in Lacunosa Town, Unova. It was a day-long competition held for trainers who were strong but not of high enough skill to be considered an elite. Set in a wide-domed arena, challengers fought in one-on-one battles until all trainers were eliminated, and the final winner of the tournament would gain the right to challenge Unova’s Champion, Alder, in a show battle closer to when this year’s Conference started.

For some inane reason, one of the participants was Ash, who, despite his team’s relative strength placing him above the average, was currently in the finals, facing his traveling companion, Iris.

A heavyset Emboar faced off against an angry-looking Dragonite on the ground. The glare on the Dragonite’s face was intense enough to give Azumarill’s own default expression a run for its money. Both Pokémon were panting, but Dragonite was pushing through its utter exhaustion. Where Ash had swapped his Pokémon every round, Iris had her Dragonite fight in each of her battles since the beginning.

“Flame Charge, Emboar!” Ash shouted.

“Knock it back with Wing Attack, Dragonite!” Iris hurriedly countered.

The Emboar picked up its stubby legs and began a charge forward, angling a bash with its shoulder down. Flames flicked off its neck to coat its body as it ran to where Dragonite was waiting for it. Meanwhile, the Dragonite furiously flapped the small wings on its back. Despite the gusts they formed being super effective against the Fighting Type Emboar, it failed to hinder the charge, and Emboar crashed into Dragonite.

“Thunder Punch!”

Through the knockback of the Flame Charge, Iris’s command caused Dragonite’s hand to spark, and it slammed into Emboar’s stomach as the Pokémon attempted to push right through it. However, Ash called for a new command of his own at the same time, and Emboar grabbed the Dragon Type only to flip it over its head and slam it into the ground.

The impact let out a thundering boom, and the ground shook under the weight of the two behemoths slamming into the field. The audience ooh’d and aah’d at the exchange that followed, whereas Cynthia and I quietly watched in the back. We had chosen seats as far up as they went to prevent people from noticing us, and Cynthia had taken the extra step of changing her outfit to consist of a comfortable, blue sleeveless top and a pair of tan pants, which was significantly different from her usual coat and black outfit.

As we watched the match, I ran a brush through the fur on Eevee’s back, the Pokémon sitting in my lap and staring at the battle with awe.

“See those two Pokémon, Eevee?” I asked softly, my voice just barely audible through the sounds of the audience around us. “Once you evolve, you’ll be able to compete with the likes of them. And that Dragonite? Any Dragon Type moves it uses, you'll be able to take head-on, completely immune to their effects.”

Eevee’s eyes sparkled with amazement, and he let out a dreamy “Vee...” in response.

When it came to my own team, I’d definitely felt as though I’d been neglecting some of my newer Pokémon recently. Cynthia, despite sitting next to me right now, had been a terrifying threat that kicked me and my Elite Pokémon into an intense, weeks-long training session. That meant that my four “weaker” Pokémon—Togetic, Eevee, Tinkatuff, and Cutiefly—had their training set on the backburner for now. Cutiefly hadn’t minded so much as the break had given him time to make his personal mark in the flower gardens back home, and Tinkatuff appreciated the time to make her hammer even larger. Eevee, though, was definitely a bit hurt, and I wanted to make that up to him.

He deserved to know that he was still loved and that the distraction was solely due to extraneous circumstances. I very much doubted I’d be facing another Champion anytime soon, and our training for Cynthia had ensured the rest of the team was already prepared to take on the other elite trainers of Alola.

“In a few months, I want to finish getting you and the rest all trained up,” I said to him as we continued to watch the match. “None of my Elite Pokémon will be competing in the Alola Conference if I can help it. You four will form a powerful team of your own. Imagine competing as a Sylveon at the end of the season in front of a region-wide audience.”

Eevee sat up a bit straighter at the thought, and his head flicked backwards to look at me upside down. He sent me a wide smile at the idea before focusing back on the competition. I resumed brushing him as both Emboar and Dragonite collided with a pair of punches that shook the very air.

“Ash is going to win this, but I can see why Drayden is recommending Iris,” Cynthia said, humming slightly as she did.

“You mean to take on the role of Unova’s Champion?” I asked as the battle continued below.

“Yes, though the transfer of title is still in the works. To my understanding, within the year, Alder will step down and have Gym Leader Drayden temporarily step into the role. However, Drayden has no interest in staying there, but he’s talked about an apprentice he wishes to take his place after a short period of service as Opelucid’s Gym Leader.”

This time, it was my turn to hum. On the field, both Pokémon released a Flamethrower I could feel from even here.

Drayden was the current aforementioned Opelucid City Gym Leader and a powerful Dragon Type specialist to boot. However, in the games, Iris could alternatively be found in that role, and the Unova sequels found her ascending to the Champion’s seat a mere two years later. Given the fact she’d been traveling with Ash and experiencing everything that entailed during that journey, and given the fact of just how strong some of her Pokémon were (Dragonite specifically), with the right mentorship, I could definitely see her becoming strong enough to claim that role. Ideally, she’d become even stronger after experiencing title matches to defend her seat.

After a few more exchanges of moves below, the two trainers began to ready their Pokémon for one final clash. Emboar thrust its thick arms to its side and let out a roar, while Dragonite did the same while flapping its wings, causing air to be pushed back in waves around it.

Then, the pair charged, Emboar using the speed-boosting Flame Charge, and Dragonite using the powerful, Dragon Type Dragon Rush. Unfortunately for Dragonite, I could see that its output was nowhere near its max due just how exhausted it’d become after all of these battles, and the resulting clash let the Flame Charge knock it back, with a follow-up Hammer Arm finally taking it out.

“And our PWT Junior Cup winner is Ash, from Pallet Town! What an incredible battle!” an announcer’s voice rang out from over the audience.

Everybody here clapped and cheered for Ash's victory. Ash tilted his hat back out of pride, whereas Iris slumped in defeat.

“Funny how things work out,” Cynthia mused beside me. “It seems that Ash will have the right to challenge Unova’s Champion soon.”

I held back a laugh, shaking my head slightly.

“I wonder if he’ll get farther than I did against you,” I replied.

She chuckled as well before getting up to start our walk down. I did the same, keeping Eevee in my arms as we moved. As the audience around us cheered, we moved to position ourselves to meet with the protagonist of the anime once again.

Cynthia and I found Ash outside after a short wait. Most of the crowd had already filtered out while we stood off to the side. For this meeting, my current team members were a bit different, as, when it came to the Pokémon I had on me, some had gone home to rest, while others had stuck around to either help for this upcoming mess or left to help guard Lillie in Alola.

The pair of Pokémon who left to Alola had actually been somewhat of a surprise. Whimsicott wasn’t unexpected—I knew he enjoyed the freedom that came with flying in the air while Lillie traveled. However, out of all my Pokémon, Azumarill was the last Pokémon I’d have thought would want to go. Out of everything, I assumed she’d want to stay here to fight a powerful threat like Giovanni, but it seemed like the allure of battles against Ultra Beasts had brought her away to Alola instead.

I wonder if she’ll manage to egg Kartana into a fight. I’ll need to talk to Hope about that later.

Due to those team changes, when we approached Ash, I didn’t have many of my “tougher” Pokémon with me. Eevee walked at my side while Ninetales, Mawile, Rapidash, and Dedenne rested in their balls. I also had Togetic with me, but Tinkatuff and Cutiefly were still at home for now.

As we approached Ash, we heard him quite a distance away. He was currently engaged in an intense conversation with this region’s two traveling companions as he held his earned trophy at his side. Walking up to him, it sounded like he was narrating the match he had just come from, despite the fact both of his friends had been right there.

“...and Emboar’s punch was amazing! I could feel the ground shake even that far away! Iris, Dragonite was great, too! His Flamethrower was even stronger than Emboar’s!”

A green-haired man at Ash’s side chuckled while Iris, a short girl with an incredible amount of thick, purple hair, simply crossed her arms and huffed.

“Ash, I was there. You don’t need to explain it to me,” she said. “Hmf. What a kid,” she added as an aside.

Needless to say, Ash was obviously older than her, so the comment fell a little flat.

Cynthia and I reached them at this moment, arriving next to the group as the oldest of the bunch—the green-haired man—turned our way. Ash was too busy in his conversation to notice us, and Iris was shaking her head with her eyes closed, admonishing Ash for his somewhat immature reaction.

“Huh? Can we help you? ...Wait, are you the Champion of Sinnoh?!” the man exclaimed.

Everyone turned around at that, and Ash’s face lit up. On his shoulder, Pikachu cheered and hopped down. Eevee pushed out of my arms to greet the incoming Pokémon, and, at the same time, Dedenne broke free of his ball to greet the fellow, rodent-like Electric Type once again.

The way Pikachu’s eyes widened at Dedenne’s much larger size was a sight to behold.

“Alex! Cynthia!” Ash cheered.

He ran over excitedly, bringing the rest of the group’s gazes our way. Cynthia smiled at his excited reaction while I did the same.

“It’s nice to see you again, Ash,” I said.

“It’s been a while,” Cynthia followed up.

“A while! I haven’t seen you two in over a year! Wow! This is such a surprise!”

Ash grinned and puffed up his chest, preening under his own private adolations.

“Here to congratulate me on my win, huh?” he said, smirking and sending Iris a competitive side-eye. “It was a tough match.”

“You’re such a kid,” Iris mumbled once again. That only caused Ash to let loose a faux-arrogant laugh.

At that, Cynthia and I exchanged a quick look, not reacting to Ash’s actions, but silently reminding one another about our story. Ash didn’t need to know what was about to happen, which was an unfortunate manipulation to not scare Giovanni away. Our intention here was to place ourselves nearby when the leader of Team Rocket made his move, and we didn’t want him to delay his plans if informing Ash accidentally changed how things flowed or revealed our otherworldly knowledge.

“Cynthia wanted to go on a vacation, and she invited me along since I was nearby,” I said, telling the truth but lying through omission. “Hearing about this tournament, we decided to stop by, and it turned out you were here as well!”

“Congratulations on your victory, Ash,” Cynthia added.

I nodded in agreement.

There was a bit of catch-up after that, with his traveling companions introducing themselves and with Ash talking about his journey so far. We already knew about Iris, but the green-haired man was Cilan, a Gym Leader from the southern Striaton City who left with Ash to train to become a respected Pokémon Connoisseur—an expert that worked with trainers to match with Pokémon that closely aligned with their personality.

As for Ash himself, I noticed a slight difference between his developments in the anime and the developments he had actually gone through. Ash had caught the same Pokémon, but, rather than leaving most of them unevolved, many of them had already reached their final forms, and he mentioned about how he occasionally brought some of his older Pokémon back to help with training them, too. Unlike what I had witnessed in the anime, it seemed that his strategy aligned closer to what he did in Sinnoh than what he did in that alternative Unova. Here, he planned to use all of his Pokémon to compete in the upcoming Conference, not just the Pokémon he caught and trained up in the region.

It was nice to see Ash was continuing to improve as a trainer instead of backsliding like he did in the anime.

“You guys should really see Alex’s team,” Ash exclaimed as our conversation continued on. “All the Pokémon on it are Fairy Types!”

“Fairy Type?” Iris asked.

“Yeah! I learned all about the Fairy Type back in Sinnoh! Let’s see... Fairy Type... They’re good against Dragon Types and weak against Steel and Poison, right?”

Ash held out a finger as if to act as if knowing the basic Type matchups was an achievement, and I let out a hesitant chuckle in response. As we spoke, on the ground, Pikachu turned to touch his tail to Dedenne’s whiskers, and the two of them sparked with electricity while Eevee watched on with a mix of interest and confusion.

“You’re right, actually,” I said after clearing my throat. “Fairy Type Pokémon are immune to Dragon Types and are super effective against them, too. Iris, I’m surprised you hadn’t heard about them before. I’d imagine knowing about the Type would be pretty important, being a Dragon Type specialist like yourself.”

She blinked before quickly righting herself from where she was leaning forward to analyze Dedenne on the ground.

“Oh, right! Yeah, Fairy Types!” She knocked on the side of her head. “Of course I know about them! They aren’t too common in Unova, you see, so I only temporarily forgot about them. Briefly.”

I noticed that she refused to meet my gaze.

“Sounds like it was more than just briefly,” Ash mumbled besides her, causing Iris to send him a glare.

“But do I know all about Fairy Types!” Iris continued. “Sure, they might be good against Dragon Types, but are they really? I bet my Pokémon can take on any Fairy Type species! Type Advantage isn't everything, you know!"

She put her arms on her waist, laughing as if she were completely confident in her statement. In the back, Ash let out a groan while Iris pretended to not notice.

"Are you sure about that?" I asked.

"Of course! Dragon Types are the best, after all!"

I pressed my lips together, unable to come up with a proper reply to the claim. People were entitled to their opinions, of course, but clearly Iris should know that a well-trained Fairy Type would generally outclass any Dragon Type if fought.

The conversation drifted off into silence while our Pokémon continued to interact on the ground. While no one spoke, Cilan tapped a finger to his mouth, glancing between the nervously-chuckling Iris and I, before he brought that finger forward to show off that he had gained a sudden idea.

"I've got it! A battle!"

Everyone turned their head towards him.

"Huh?"

"Two different flavors clashing together to form a dish greater as a whole! If you think you can win, prove it! Have a battle to help settle your differences and show off what you love about your favorite Type!"

The Dragon Type trainer and I exchanged a look. Iris seemed hesitant. I crossed my arms in thought.

Outside of her Dragonite, my Pokémon are much stronger than hers. Would this even be fair?

The decision was made for me.

"Yeah! You should do it!" Ash called out besides us. "If you do, Cilan can ref really well!"

"I can?" Cilan asked. He cleared his throat. "I mean, of course I can! Right this way, right this way!"

He laughed as if this had been his plan all along, and Iris followed after him. Cynthia sent me an amused look and waved her hand forward. As she moved to follow everyone else, she gave me one last, parting whisper.

“Try not to win too hard,” she said.

I let out a sigh.

"Come on, Dedenne.”

Dedenne's head perked up before he dashed away from Pikachu to move by my side.

We didn’t head to the Pokémon Center. Rather, the large arena seemed to have a few fields set up off to the side. They were empty, as the one event today had already ended, giving us the entire space to ourselves. Cilan rushed over to stand at the edge of the field while Iris moved into one of the free trainer boxes. I did as well, and Cynthia, Eevee, Ash, and the rest all lined up to watch the match off to the side.

"This will be a delectable one-on-one match between Iris and Alex, settling their argument once and for all! No switching, no substitutions, and no anything else, just a simple match to faint the other's Pokémon and prove the power of their chosen Type!" Cilan shouted. "Trainers, when you're ready, send out your Pokémon!"

"Dedenne," I said.

"Axew!" Iris shouted.

From within Iris's bushy mane on her head, something shuffled around and a green Pokémon poked out its nose. It let out a yawn before rubbing its cheeks to wake up, jumping forward onto the field and shaking its compressed, draconic body.

"An Axew. Impressive. Not too many trainers can catch one of those," Cynthia commented off to the side.

Meanwhile, Ash pulled out his Pokédex for a completely unknown reason, and he had it scan over Dedenne, who had already scurried forward to join Axew on the field.

"Dedenne. The Antenna Pokémon. This Pokémon's whiskers can catch and send out electrical waves, which allows it to communicate vast distances. The individual being scanned possesses an unknown energy, which has caused it to stand at twice the species's average size."

Ash let out a "Huh," while I blinked at Dedenne.

"Wait, you can operate as a radio?" I asked.

Dedenne looked away and pretended to have not heard my question.

"Battle, start!" Cilan shouted before I could follow any of that up.

"Let's finish this quickly! Dragon Rage, Axew!" Iris shouted.

At her command of a Dragon Type move, Dedenne and I exchanged a glance, and he gave me a rather mischievous smirk. Rather than doing anything to dodge, he pretended to brace himself with Endure as Axew conjured its called-for attack.

A mass of energy formed in Axew’s mouth that grew and grew, shifting into the shape of an ancient dragon’s head. Axew spat out the attack to launch it over the field, causing pure, Dragon Type energy to completely encompass Dedenne’s form.

He let out a horrible, pained cry.

“That’s it Axew! Now, move in for a... huh?”

Dedenne clutched at his chest, moaning and groaning as if it were the end of the world. Eyes pressed closed in a squint, he gasped and started to teeter over to his side. Both Iris and Axew went silent with worry and confusion as Dedenne dramatically stumbled forward. His act of intense pain never let up as he slowly made his way over the field.

“No,” I deadpanned, not putting any effort into my fake panic, “Dedenne.”

Briefly, in his performance, he rolled his eyes before resuming his groans.

Neither Iris or Axew caught on, however, and Dedenne managed to stumble all the way up into Axew before falling into the small Dragon Type’s arms. Tears welled up in the “fainting” Fairy Types eyes as he reached up to caress Axew’s cheek for one, final time.

That was enough for Axew to start to gain tears in its eyes, too. It felt as though a light was shining over the pair as part of Dedenne’s stage-ready performance, the act continuing all the way up until Cynthia snorted in her attempt to hold back laughter on the side of the field.

“Sorry. Please excuse me. Continue,” she said, waving the concern off.

Axew and Iris looked up to her before looking back down to Dedenne, who had now thrown out his overly dramatic acting and gave Axew a malicious smirk.

That let them finally catch on.

“Wait! Axew—” Iris tried to shout an order to her Pokémon, but she did not get to finish. Dedenne attacked the defenseless Axew before she could say anything else.

Caught off guard by Dedenne’s rather intense show, Axew was completely unprepared for the exploding Discharge. A blast of Electric Type energy coursed out of Dedenne in all directions, and Axew took the devastating attack head on as it was right there next to my Pokémon.

The force of the move blasted the Dragon Type back, causing it to be blasted onto its back while Dedenne easily pushed to his feet. He brushed his fur off, demonstrating he was completely uninjured, whereas Axew already looked like it was already about to faint.

“But... what?! Dedenne took Axew’s Dragon Rage head on!” Iris shouted.

“Fairy Types are immune to Dragon Type moves. We just told you that,” I replied.

Iris stuttered for a moment before her face went red, and she hurriedly pointed forward to issue a new command before we could dwell on that topic any longer.

“T-then, Axew! Use Giga Impact!”

Axew huffed, glaring at Dedenne for that trick, and Dedenne just sent the Pokémon a mocking squeak. The Dragon Type, unable to use any of its other Dragon Type moves, dug its feet into the dirt of the field before dashing forward in a mad charge.

Light from rampant energy sparked around Axew, and Giga Impact filled it with Normal Type energy. It left scorch-marks on the ground in its wake as it unleashed one of the most powerful Normal Type moves there was.

Dedenne didn’t bother dodging again. He just used Endure to ensure he could withstand the attack. Axew might have been an unevolved Pokémon, but it had been traveling with Ash for almost a full year, and the raw strength the Dragon Type species held was still quite a lot.

Upon reaching Dedenne, Axew slammed its head right into his stomach and continued running forward, pushing the pair across the field. Dedenne’s back paws jabbed downwards into the dirt, and as Axew slowly exhausted itself of the energy, they came to a standstill with Dedenne positioned right where Axew stopped, the Dragon Type’s head still pressed into his body.

“A mistake,” I said. “Hey, Dedenne. Now that you’ve shown off your Fairy Type defenses, how about you show off a Fairy Type attack?”

Axew, needing to recover from the Giga Impact, looked up nervously only to see Dedenne looming over it. Darkness shrouded Dedenne’s face in an identical, malicious smirk from before, and, then, he burst.

This time, the attack wasn’t a Discharge, but a powerful Dazzling Gleam. Light exploded out of Dedenne’s body, sparkling and dazzling through the air. It seared into Axew and caused the little Pokémon to cry out in pain. When the move faded, the Dragon Type had collapsed, sizzling on the ground in complete unconsciousness.

“Alex and Dedenne win!” Cilan cried out.

Cynthia clapped politely off to the side while Ash and Pikachu comment about this being a one-of-a-kind match. As for Eevee, he ran straight onto the field, moving to Dedenne’s side and hopping around him excitedly after that win.

“That was so fast,” Iris whispered.

Cynthia spoke up for me.

“I believe you came into this somewhat misinformed. Alex isn’t just any Fairy Type trainer. Not only does Alex belong to the Wandering Elite, but, just a few days ago, Alex and I had quite the public battle that pushed every member of my team to their limits.”

Ash’s eyes sparkled with amazement, and he said something to Pikachu about wanting to do the same against Alder. Meanwhile, Iris walked forward to scoop up the fainted Axew, who squeaked its eyes open and gave Iris a pained smile.

“That’s it. Fairy Types are just the worst,” she said.

“Worse than Ice Types?” Cilan said, amused.

Iris shivered in a way that wasn’t just from the imagined cold.

“No. Nothing is worse than the Ice Type,” she replied.

Better not send Ninetales out around her, then.

I went to shake Iris’s hand, apologizing to her about Dedenne’s trick. Iris very nervously accepted as Dedenne brought his entire weight forward to climb up onto my shoulder. I felt my free arm get pressed down by his great amount of mass and sent him an annoyed look as he spent a full half-minute positioning himself so he wouldn’t fall off.

“So you have the Vertress Conference coming up soon, right?” I asked now that the battle was over.

Ash jogged over to respond to my question.

“Yeah! It’s only a few weeks away. We were going to head there next.”

Reaching Vertress City, where the Conference would take place, was only a week trip. Given Ash’s rate of travel, he’d probably arrive right when it started.

The Conference wouldn’t start for roughly another two weeks.

Thankfully, Cynthia saw the opportunity for what it was, and she walked forward to give Ash the prepared invite. I was technically only tagging along for this moment, but it would be rude of me to do the same.

“Alex and I are here to take a break after our battle in Sinnoh. If you’re interested, I have a small villa in Undella where you can relax for a few days before the Conference begins. You won’t need to worry about transportation, either. Jervis can give you a ride to Vertress or anywhere else if needed.”

“Jervis?” I whispered.

“My butler,” Cynthia replied.

I blinked.

Of course she has a butler.

Ash, Iris, and Cilan all exchanged a silent look to discuss the possibility, and it was at that moment where something unexpected happened.

Iris jumped when light flashed out, and the large form of Rapidash suddenly appeared at our side. Cynthia snapped to attention, her hand reaching for her Pokéballs in her pockets, and I readied myself to give both Dedenne and Rapidash commands.

We looked up to the sky, following Rapidash’s gaze, though we saw nothing there. For a moment, Ash and the rest tensed as well, and then Ash started to laugh.

“What? What just happened?” I asked. “What did you detect?”

Rapidash looked bewildered, but he shook his head and mane as if to explain that nothing was wrong.

“Ah. I get it. I believe Rapidash just picked up the curious taste of our stalker,” Cilan said.

“Your stalker,” I repeated.

Cynthia and I exchanged a look.

Meloetta?

“So, uh, remember how I explained how Sneasler and I met?” Ash asked.

“You climbed an underground mountain and fought off Enamorus,” I replied.

Ash laughed again, this time a lot more nervous.

“Turns out, when Enamorus left, it came here! And now the Pokémon keeps following us around. Last time we saw it... that was when Reshiram appeared, right?” he asked.

“Back in Dragonspiral Tower?” Iris asked.

“Yeah! Back then!”

My expression was perfectly blank.

I... I don’t even want to know.

Slowly, I turned to send a questioning glance to Cynthia, and the Champion herself just shrugged.

“My offer still stands,” she said. “If you’re interested in a vacation, my villa is open for you all to enjoy. Everyone is invited, including any of your mysterious ‘stalkers,’ if they so choose.”

She sent me a quiet smile, but, looking around, I saw no sign of Meloetta. If things held up—and they should, given how Ash’s travels tended to go—I expected that Meloetta was currently following them, just invisible. Rapidash hadn’t noticed her, however, but this was a Legendary Pokémon he was trying to find. A Psychic Type Legendary Pokémon at that, too.

As Ash and the rest quickly came to an agreement, more than willing to relax for a few days before a big competition, I let out a sigh when no one was looking and started to rub the side of my head.

It seemed that not only would Meloetta and whatever Legendaries Giovanni summoned would be present, but it seemed that there would be an extra guest, and Diancie was set to arrive in a few days, too.

This is already going to be such a mess. That’s at least six Legendaries due to show up if things line up similar to how they did in anime. If anything, I’m incredibly thankful Diancie agreed, because this is really going to be something else.