[Sorry, if I'm not mistaken, did you just say—Nidoking? What's that? Some new breed of magical creature?]
At this point, Tom wasn't too suspicious yet. After all, magical creatures came in all shapes and forms, and if not for the Ministry's restrictions on breeding hybrids—like the Blast-Ended Skrewt—there would probably be even more strange species running about.
He assumed these "Nidoking" things were just new magical creatures that had appeared in recent years. Especially that Charizard—it sounded exactly like some hybrid species of fire dragon.
[What's wrong? Can't answer that one?]
Charles taunted as he wrote the words, instantly making Tom seethe with indignation.
He, the Dark Lord himself, who prided himself on his mastery of all magical knowledge—was being mocked like this? How could he stand for it?
So he immediately replied:
[Though such creatures didn't exist in my time, the logic is clear enough. Among the countless magical beasts, dragons are indisputably mighty. If I had to choose, I'd say that "Charizard" you mentioned could stand against one in battle!]
Oh, so Charizard could "stand against one," huh?Well said, Lord Voldemort—you really do understand how to hype up a Fire-type.
Unfortunately, Charizard wasn't Charles's dad.
[Of course not. You don't even know the most basic first-year principle of type matchups, yet you claim to be powerful? I'll admit, Charizard is strong—but if my Nidoking uses Rock Tomb, how would you counter that?]
[In that case, a Water-type like Poliwrath would have the upper hand against Nidoking. Sure, Nidoking can learn Electric-type moves, but being hit for double damage is still better than taking a quadruple weakness. Meanwhile, Poliwrath's Water-type moves would deal much heavier blows.]
Tom: ???Who am I? Where am I?
What's this "double weakness" and "quadruple weakness"?
Tom's brain short-circuited. He'd never heard these terms before. Had magic evolved so drastically over the years that he could no longer recognize it?
But he quickly adjusted, forcing himself to come up with a plausible excuse so Charles wouldn't suspect anything.
[I'll admit, my knowledge of magical creatures is somewhat lacking—these species didn't exist in my era. My information may be outdated. Why don't you ask me about something related to Defense Against the Dark Arts instead? That's my area of expertise.]
Ah, Defense Against the Dark Arts.Now that woke Voldemort right up. Only those truly versed in the Dark Arts could dare claim to understand defending against them.
And Tom Riddle had some—just a tiny bit—of confidence in that regard.
Confidence, huh?Perfect. That was exactly the expression Charles wanted to see before he shattered it.
He smirked and wrote again.
[That's what you said last time too.]
[This time it's true! Defense Against the Dark Arts doesn't change as much as Care of Magical Creatures does.]
[Alright, then. Suppose you encounter a dark—]
Charles didn't even finish writing before the diary greedily sucked in the ink and spat out a response:
[Use Avada Kedavra!]
…
Now it was Charles's turn to nearly choke.
What the hell—Avada Kedavra?!
That's offense, not defense, you maniac!
[I have to admit, your answer would blow the minds of everyone in Azkaban!]
[I've always believed the best defense is a strong offense. Besides, in life-or-death situations, using the Killing Curse can be excused as self-defense—emergency measures, you see.]
The best defense is offense, huh? Emergency measures, huh?Alright then, Voldemort. Charles Gold hereby crowns you—Voldi "Certified Dumbass" Riddle III.
[Ever consider that using the Killing Curse at all means life imprisonment in Azkaban? Anyway, fine, I admit Avada Kedavra's effective—but if my first move is Protect, second move Detect, I've got the Disguise Ability, and I'm holding a Focus Sash—how would you deal with that?]
Tom: ???
[I'm sorry, but could you clarify something? Are you actually a wizard? Is Hogwarts still a school of magic? Or did I misunderstand? You're not a wizard—you're… something else?]
Now Tom Riddle was genuinely starting to doubt his reality.
He wasn't even sure he was talking to a wizard anymore. If he hadn't been certain that time travel was impossible, he might have suspected he'd been thrown into another universe entirely.
Charles, meanwhile, found the situation absolutely hilarious.
If Tom knew nothing about the outside world… why not have a little fun?
He recalled that he'd written the word "magic" before, but never actually mentioned the term "wizard." He'd almost written "dark wizard" earlier, but Tom had cut him off.
So, without hesitation, Charles wrote:
[Wizard? What wizard? I've only ever heard of Trainers! I'm a student at Hogwarts Pokémon Academy.]
[Tra—Trainer? What's that supposed to mean?]
Tom's worldview was now crumbling.
This "Harry Potter" was clearly a Hogwarts student—yet Hogwarts had somehow become a Pokémon Academy? And the headmaster was still Dumbledore?!
Tom's mental CPU was overheating. None of it made sense.
Unless… he was being trolled.
[You're messing with me, aren't you? You just mentioned magic—and we were literally discussing Defense Against the Dark Arts!]
That was indeed a hole in the story, but Charles didn't even flinch. He smoothly wrote back:
[What's the problem? Magic is just the power of Pokémon! Trainers are the ones who command Pokémon in battle. Don't tell me you don't know that Dark-type power simply refers to Ghost-, Dark-, and Poison-type Pokémon!]
Tom stared at the words, his confidence wavering again.
And then Charles delivered the finishing blow.
[Wait—you don't even know what Pokémon are, do you?]
[I've never seen one. Can you show me what they look like?]
Now Tom Riddle was completely absorbed. He had to understand the truth of this bizarre world.
[I'd love to—but can you even see them?]
[If you bring one near, I can draw it into my memory.]
Tom explained.
The diary's mechanism was somewhat like a Pensieve, though not merely a passive memory—it could think. Because of that, Tom could visualize whatever entered his mental space through the diary… though he still lacked the power to affect the real world.
(End of Chapter)