"Time! Seven hours, fifty-six minutes, and forty-seven seconds! Congratulations, Trainer Marco, you've passed the Gym Challenge!" the Cyllage City Gym Trainer announced before looking at me again. "Uh, are you okay?"
I lifted a shaky hand in the air, legs spasming as I lay sprawled on the ground. Nautilus floated in the air, completely unimpressed with my state of being. "J-just… Peachy."
"Inkay!"
"Oh, shut up. You try biking as hard as you can for almost eight hours. Shit's hard, you cephalopodic asshole," I snapped.
"Do you need any help?" the Gym Trainer asked, nervously looking between the two of us.
"If you can get me to the Pokémon Center, that would be amazing," I replied. "I also need you to tell Gym Leader Grant about Team Flux activity along the route.
"Oh, he definitely needs to know. I'll tell him now!" he said, immediately turning around and running to the Gym.
"Fuck, he's gonna leave me out here," I sighed. "Nautilus, if I die, I leave everything to Tetsu, and you get none of the extra snacks."
"Kay, Kay! In Inkay!"
"Yeah, yeah. If you get me to the PokéCenter I'll give you three."
0-0-0
Nurse Joy's Chansey finished the last round of Heal Pulses, leaving me feeling completely refreshed. I stretched, letting my muscles loosen a bit more before jumping on a treadmill. Nurse Joy was having me undergo another round of exercises to see if my exposure to Pokémon and Type Energy increased my baseline again.
As I went through the test, the team happily munched on the snacks from my bag. Nautilus released Tetsu so they could both get me to the Center, but then he released Nova and Boaris at Tetsu's request. In the end, Boaris and Nova ended up carrying me, with Tetsu's Gravity and Nautilus' Telekinesis used to keep me from falling off.
"There goes the 30,000$ I spent before the trip," I grumbled, mostly to myself. Boaris watched as Nautilus and Nova stuck their tongues out at me. "Oh, just you wait. I'm gonna feed you kibble for a month!"
Nautilus choked on a piece of canned Wishiwashi, my barb super-effective on the angsty little shit. In the same moment, Nurse Joy walked into the room, worry etched over her face. "Marco, we jus- Oh my, Inkay!"
She rushed over to him and slapped the back of his, well, head before moving behind him and performing an abdominal thrust. Nurse Joy repeated it three times before the piece of fish shot out of his beak. She sighed in relief, before groaning as he floated over to eat the piece and promptly started choking again. "Shout out to you, Nurse Joy. You really know you're Pokémon first aid."
After saving my squid again, she picked up the piece of Wishiwashi and threw it away, much to Nautilus' vocal agony. "Well, I couldn't really call myself Nurse Joy if I didn't! Ahem, you're results, however, have me worried. I've already sent them to Professor Sycamore for his opinion," she said, the worried look returning.
"What has you so worked up?"
"The Psychic energy in your head has disappeared completely!"
"Oh," I muttered, my family popping out in my memories. "I remember them."
"Excuse me?"
"I remember, now," I told her. "I didn't get a chance to tell anyone because Team Flux was on Route 8, and I had the Gym Challenge."
Her eyes widened. "This is big! We need you to tell us exactly what happened," she said before pausing. She looked at her notes for several seconds before turning to me. "The League will want to know what you remember."
"I figured." I closed my eyes. "Is it possible to report this directly to the Professor?"
"I suppose that should be fine, especially since you're officially working for him. I doubt he'll have time this week, however. He's got his monthly League meetings scheduled for the last week of every month," she informed me. "Next week is the beginning of Landorus' Flight, which is usually when he takes more time to relax and enjoy farmer markets, so you should be good then."
"Sounds great. I might even be able to get my next Badge by then."
"First, you'll need to finish your report about what happened." Nurse Joy gave me a look that said she'd force me to do it if I didn't cooperate. "Between you and me, however, your Pokémon are more than ready for Grant. They're above the average for Trainers going after their third Gym."
"That makes me feel a lot better," I thanked her. "Let's get this report done."
0-0-0
One scolding and two hours of testing and observing later, I walked out of the Center with my Pokétch notifying me with details about my Gym Battle against Grant. I had three days to prepare for it.
Instead of doing that, however, I decided to enjoy the luxuries of modern living. Namely, ordering stuff through my Pokétch to have it delivered to my room in the Center while I enjoyed a Unovan-style buffet with the team.
No matter which universe, humanity always seemed to strive to make living comfortable and convenient.
After dinner, we walked around town via the racing track built into the town and cliffside. Cyclists zoomed through the main track. Random groups of spectators whooped and cheered along the edges, many of them children and teens. The first of the uphill sections gave us just enough elevation to see the beach on the other side of town. As the sunset turned the sky soft hues of orange, red, and pink, the colors melding together like a melting sorbet, I began thinking.
Back in Santalune City, Calem said I'd pretty much be involved in taking down Team Flux. My family was most likely back in whatever universe I came from. And if the seventh and ninth generations of games were anything to go by, Team Flux's shenanigans were likely behind my appearance in this world. I already knew which Legendaries could be involved. The question was, with how secret the League seemed to be about them, how did Team Flux manage to find one and use it without the League knowing?
That's if they used one to begin with. Ultimately, it didn't matter. Team Flux wasn't using whatever means they had left and right, which meant they were limited in some way.
'But Professor Sycamore said Victini and Hoopa brought someone from another universe. What if he meant me?'
*beep*
*beep*
I looked at my Pokétch.
[Mitchel: Hey, marco, u beat grant yet]
[Me: Not yet. Why?]
[Luciana: We are both going to battle korrina at the end of next week if you want to join us]
[Me: Hmm, might not make it in time. My battle is in three days, then I need to talk to Sycamore about something next week]
[Mitchel: Just take a taxi dude]
[Me: And miss out on some serious training?]
[Me: ]
[Luciana: Haha let us know either way]
[Me: For sure]
I stood on the side of the track, several bikers flying by. Luciana and Mitchel were strong Trainers. Maybe it would be a good idea to have them with me, especially with Team Flux having the equivalent of a bounty out for me.
I walked back to the city. There were lots of trees and shrubbery in between the elegant homes built on the cliffs and hills. The warm lighting of the setting sun illuminated the yellow, white, and beige homes, washing the entire street in a blanket of serenity. I felt my body relaxing with each step, and soon I was ready for bed.
The rest of the walk was peaceful enough for everyone to come out. Boaris and Tetsu ran and played as we went along, happy when a wild Pokémon or a local child joined their rapidly evolving game.
Nova and Nautilus argued with each other the entire way, occasionally showing off or stealing the spotlight from each other when Tetsu or Boaris brought attention their way.
I watched it all with a giant smile on my face. Nothing made me happier than seeing such pure joy. My Pokétch vibrated with a notification from Nadia. I'd been putting off having a conversation with her because so much had been happening, but now that I knew about Emi I couldn't help feeling much more guilty than before. A video call from Nadia popped up, and I thought about whether I wanted to answer or not.
'It's not fair to either of us if I just continue to ignore her.'
I took a deep breath and answered the call.
"You're a hard man to get a hold of, Marco," Nadia teased with a smile.
"Yeah, it's just… A lot's happened since I left Lumiose." I took a deep breath. "Nadia, I need to be straight up with you. I'm not sure what you were looking for, but I'm really only open to friendships right now."
"Oh," she muttered, caught off-guard. "I… Does this have something to do with your memories?"
"Yeah, but also just some things that happened while on the road," I answered. I couldn't stop the wince at the thought of Emi. "I've got someone to find and hope they're still waiting for me, which is the main thing. But I've also seen Team Flux do some fucked up shit. There was this little girl and they, they-"
My breath hitched. I closed my eyes, taking another breath to steady myself. "I'm not sure if I can handle more stuff on my plate." I opened my eyes to see Nadia staring at me with deep concern.
"You don't have to explain anything, Marco," she said, her voice soft and kind. "Trust me, I understand the stuff that you might see out there. And if you have someone waiting for you, that's the person you should focus on. I'm not entirely sure what I wanted either, if I'm being honest. I just really enjoyed the enthusiasm and warmth you showed me despite not even knowing my name. A friendship… I haven't really focused on friends in a long time. I think that'd be nice."
The tight ball of anxiety in my stomach released with a wave of relief. "Oh thank Arceus," I said. "You're a really cool person, Nadia. And an amazing chef. I'm glad I didn't mess this up. It's always sad when you turn away good people."
Nadia smiled gently. "I'm glad to have such a glowing review. You'll definitely have to spread the name of my new restaurant."
Nautilus tapped my head with a tentacle, pointing over at the group of Pokémon and children forming a line. "Mister! Do you wanna race?" one of them called out.
I grinned. "That's definitely something I can do," I told her. "Unfortunately, I have a race to join. Catch up soon?"
"Sure, if I can get you down for a conversation."
"Sweet. I'll message you after my battle with Grant. I might need some ideas on what to do after. Talk to you soon!"
"See ya!"
The call ended, and I stared at the screen for a moment.
"Kay!"
"Fine, I'll be right there!"
"Ready!" I shouted for everyone to hear once I joined the line.
"Set!"
"Go!"