“If its alright with you Champion, could I have some time to think this over, I wasn’t expecting to receive anything as grand as a wish granted by yourself so I don’t have anything prepared.” Roland told Cynthia.

  Truly he hadn’t been expecting this and so wasn’t sure what to ask for, he had a good feeling that having a Champion grant a wish for you wasn’t something that came around often so he didn’t want to waste it.

  “Of course Roland. In fact, as you have only just regained consciousness, why don’t you take the rest of the day resting with your Pokemon, and we can discuss this later?” Cynthia suggested.

  “That would be much appreciated Champion.” Roland responded with a bow, this did cause Cynthia to raise an eyebrow although Roland did not catch this.

  “While you rest I'm afraid I will have to borrow Miss Joy for a time as I need her expertise.” Cynthia said.

  “Of course.” Roland replied, not surprised in the least.

  “Well then, please rest well, and congratulations on your victory, I am very impressed.” Cynthia praised with a smile before she left, accompanied by Isabel.

  Once they were alone Roland turned to his Pokemon, his face growing into a big smile.

  “I am so proud of you guys, you truly achieved the impossible today, as a reward we can skip training and do whatever you guys want for the rest of the day!” Roland said which got two happy cheers in response.

  “Why don’t I whip us up some food while you two decide what you want to do for the rest of the day?” Roland asked his Pokemon who happily nodded along, leaving the two in the Dojo. Roland walked to his bedroom/ kitchen area and began to make a healthy lunch like Isabel had shown him.

  With Roland busy preparing lunch Neressia turned to face Nereus, “WE DID IT BIG BROTHER!” she cried in excitement.

  “We certainly didn't, you did such a good job with heart swap, I don’t think I could have broken through Lucario’s guard without your power boost.” Nereus replied.

  “Of course you could big brother, you are the strongest, you would just go POW and shoot that nasty Pokemon away.” Neressia said.

  Nereus let out a laugh at his younger sister's antics, “while I wish what you said were true I am not the strongest, even with your boost I would be no match for my mother.”

  “Maybe, she was big and scary, but with Papa’s help you could blast through anything!” she cried.

  “You never saw her fight little sister, she could call down attacks that would blow this whole room apart, if we were to fight her now she would defeat us without even trying, as would Lucario if he had decided to fight back.” Nereus said.

  “NOOOOO your wrong, we beat the nasty Pokemon because big brother and Papa are the strongest, we won so that proves it, he won't be able to come and bully Papa anymore or we will wash him away again!” she protested.

  Nereus let out a sign, “We have been over this, Lucario wasn’t bullying Papa he was helping him get stronger.”

  “Papa doesn’t need to get stronger, he's already the strongest!” Neressia cried.

  “Roland is not the strongest little sister, you saw the other lady and the nurse. Don’t act like you can’t sense their power, you have better senses than me in that regard.” Nereus said.

  “Nuh uh, big brother said I'm the best at sensing who's the strongest and I say Papa is the strongest so he must be!”

  “Neressia, being weak is okay, what matters is that Roland continues to grow and help us grow in turn, Lucario has been training for longer than either of us have been alive so it’s only natural for him to be stronger, but I bet we are stronger than he was at our age, and that is thanks to Roland. We will grow strong in time, what is your rush?” he asked, trying to understand his teammate better.

  Neressia rubbed her stumpy hands together, showing her discomfort, “I get scared.” she whispered.

  “Scared? Of what?” Nereus asked, curious to see this new side to his sister, until now almost all of their time was spent training where she would push herself as hard as she could, he had admired her drive but was equally curious as to what was fueling it.”

  “Do you remember when we left the cave?” Neressia asked.

  “Yes? When that other trainer came and found us, what about it?” he asked.

  “Well after you went in the ball Roland carried me on the back of that big bird Pokemon with the nasty lady, later on she came into the room where Papa and I were waiting and wanted to take me away.” Neressia said, tears forming in her eyes.

  “Take you away!?” Nereus yelled in surprise. “Where did she want to take you?”

  “I don’t know, she never said anything really, just came into the room and walked towards me, it wasn’t until Papa got in between us that I noticed something was wrong, I felt his aura he was angry. I haven’t felt anything like it since but he was ready to fight the nasty lady and she knew it, eventually she backed down and walked away, after which he held me close. I don’t want anyone to take me away from Papa so I have to get strong enough to fight off all the bad people and Pokemon!”

  “I see…: Nereus said, “have you spoken to Roland about this?”

  “No I haven’t, he's been so busy helping us grow I didn’t want to bother him.” Neressia said rubbing her hands together again, Nereus noticed that she seemed to do this whenever she was nervous or uncomfortable.

  “You should speak with him, he is our trainer, my mother always said that when a Pokemon finds a trainer they should share everything with them, the bond between a Pokemon and their trainer is sacred so you shouldn't hide things from him.” Nereus said.

  “Wow big bro you're so smart.” Neressia replied, already forgetting her fear and looking at her brother with pride.

  “Haha of course, I'm your big brother so of course I know these things!” Nereus claimed feeling pride.

  Neressia ran over to the pool Nereus was swimming in, dove in and gave the seahorse a big hug.

  “What are you doing?!” Cried Nereus.

  “Im just giving my big brother a hug” she cried.

  Feeling very flustered, Nereus wasn’t sure how to respond so in the end he just relented and allowed the younger Pokemon to hug him to her hearts content.

  “Say Neressia, what is it you want?” he eventually asked.

  “Hmm? What do you mean?”

  “Well everyone wants something right? My mum wants to be the queen of her domain, ruling her territory, my siblings wanted to stay with her, they would always say the outside world is scary and had no interest in venturing out but then mum would say that she’s going to throw them out once they were big enough.” Nereus laughed.

  “As for Roland… I don’t really know what it is he want’s, he spoke a lot about his old world so maybe he wants to go home, I hope not or if he does that he would take us with him at least.”

  “Of course Papa would take us with him! He would never leave us!” Neressia yelled.

  “I would hope so but he said that there were no Pokemon where he was from” Nereus explained.

  “No Pokemon? Why not? What happened to them?” Neressia asked, turning her head to the side in confusion.

  “I don’t think anything happened to them, they just weren't there to begin with, but I don’t really know, you should ask him about it.” Nereus said.

  “I could try, but I think he struggles to understand us.” Neressia mused.

  “He does but he's getting better, mum always said humans didn’t understand Pokemon so he's actually a lot better than most… I think at least I haven’t met that many humans.” Nereus replied.

  “But the nasty Pokemon and the squishy one are able to talk to him. It’s not fair!” she cried as she slapped her hands against the surface of the water making a mess.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “They are special cases, but he's growing, I'm sure he will be able to speak to us freely in no time!” Nereus reassured her.

  After calming down Neressia went back to hugging Nereus, they floated in silence for a while before Neressia spoke up again.

  “Say big brother, what is it that you want?” she asked.

  “What do I want?”

  “Yea, you said everyone wants something, so what is it you want?” Neressia asked, turning her head to the side.

  Nereus looked up at the ceiling, contemplating how to answer the question, “When I met Roland I wanted to be strong, as strong as my mother is, but now, now I just want to be strong enough to protect my new family, to make sure no bad ladies ever try to take you away again.”

  “Big brother…” Neressia started before she burst into tears, hugging him tight.

  Roland smiled as he looked across the dojo to see his two Pokemon happily playing with each other in their pool, "Perhaps life in this new world isn’t so bad.”

  ____________________________________________________________________________

  Walking up the spiral staircase to the Champion’s office, Isabel’s heart was beating like rampaging torus, she was no stranger to being pulled in by the higher ups of the Joy clan given her experience and position as head liaison to the Sinnoh government but the actually be called into the Champion’s office was an entirely new experience.

  As Cynthia entered her office, Isabel noticed the lack of modern day equipment, there was a laptop of course on the desk but other than that it was mainly older journals stacked up on top of each other, creating small towers that littered the office.

  There is no way she has read all of these. Isabel thought, shocked by the sheer number of books present.

  “Please, take a seat.” Cynthia said in a calm voice, despite her not showing any signs of hostility Isabel could feel the pressure seeping out of the Champion.

  Sitting at the desk across from her Isabel patiently waited for the Champion to speak.

  If there is one thing I've learnt, dealing with people in positions of power like this is to never volunteer information freely, wait to be asked.

  After a short pause Cynthia decided to start the conversation, “So Isabel, you asked to delay your report for a week until after our little match, tell me what made you make that request.”

  “Roland requested that I delay reporting on his or his Pokemon’s capabilities until after today, he said that the only way he had a chance against you was if he had every advantage possible on his side, including the element of surprise, if you or Lucario had known his Pokemon’s capabilities I don’t think they would have standard a chance.” She replied quickly, while Isabel wouldn't freely give information that was not asked for she certainly would not hide anything from the Champion.

  “And what made you decided to agree to his request when you had already agreed to provide a report on him to me?” She asked.

  Swallowing nervously Isabel spoke, “Well Champion… I had agreed to provide a report on the trainer with a legendary Pokemon yes, but I never agreed on what time frame that report would be delivered in. Roland asked me to delay and it seemed like an easy way to build trust with him that wouldn't cost us anything, the report would still be delivered to you and during that time Roland would be held up inside a league controlled facility, the risks were practically non existent compared to what I stood to gain, the trust of a trainer with a legendary Pokemon.”

  “Understood, you were correct of course, the delay in the report mattered little with him staying inside the building, do you believe you have gained his trust?” Cynthia asked.

  “I believe I have gained some level of trust, he allows me to examine his Pokemon and shares with me details about their capabilities, for a trainer that suggests an incredible level of trust, especially with a Pokemon as rare as Manaphy, however he has shared nothing of his background, where he came from or how he found said Pokemon, I have also not asked. I believe it is best not to look a gift rappidash in the mouth so to speak.” Isabel said.

  Cynthia smiled as she nodded along to Isabel’s explanation, “I see, well then please report what you have found out so far.”

  Isabel let out a long deep breath, she had agreed to give a report on a mysterious trainer in exchange for getting to study a legendary Pokemon, it was the deal of a lifetime that she had jumped on and one at the time she had no problems fulfilling, that was until she met Roland.

  In her experience most advanced trainers were pretty awful to be around, it made sense of course, someone who spent 90% of their time in some of the most dangerous and inhospitable areas of the world with only their team formed incredibly tight bonds with that team, these bonds did not leave much space for others to intrude, so when these trainers did return to civilization they would often be on edge, difficult to deal with and most of all incredibly secretive.

  Roland was not that, he had the same enthusiasm for Pokemon as most starting trainers, when the horrors of the wilds had yet to shape them into the nomadic isolationism that the lifestyle normally brought. If she was honest, Isabel had started to grow to like Roland and so providing a report on his secrets felt wrong, like a betrayal, and yet sitting across from her was Cyhthia, the Cynthia.

  The girl who set off on her journey at the age of 10, the youngest a person could be to legally challenge the league, had won all eight of her badges in her first year, only to go on and win the whole conference.

  But little Cynthia didn’t stop there, no she went on to take apart the elite four and ousted the Tyrant Champion Viktor, and she did this as a child!

  Since then she hadn’t been idol instead she continued to grow into her power, the young girl who had overthrown a tyrant was now a competent Champion in her own right, no doubt having the strength to rule Sinnoh with an iron fist should she choose, yet also the wisdom to see that a lighter touch was often the better way.

  The pressure such an individual gave off sitting in an office higher up than most buildings was intense to say the least.

  “Roland… is an interesting trainer” Isabel started which actually caused Cynthia to snort with laughter, "That's certainly one way to start. Please go on.” Cynthia said after regaining her composure.

  Isabel frowned slightly, "What is she looking for here?" Isabel thought.

  “He treats his Pokemon well, when I first met him he was feeding them fried Magikarp and berries for each meal, although he knew that this was not a balanced diet he didn’t know what specifics his Pokemon actually did need, it was one of the first things he asked of me once introductions were done. You don’t often see that with newer trainers, and he is a new trainer that much is obvious.” Isabel paused looking at Cynthia.

  “I do not know where he found the Manaphy or where he came from, he didn’t say anything about his life before becoming a trainer so I'm afraid I won’t be able to provide any details on that aspect of his life.” She said, carefully watching Cynthia’s expression.

  “Oh don’t worry about that, I am fully aware of where Roland comes from and how he came have the Manaphy egg in his possession, I am more concerned about his character and actions since becoming a trainer.” Cynthia told Isabel

  Thats… unexpected. Isabel thought.

  “I see, well he is a new trainer so has a lot to learn about Pokemon care and training techniques but he is dedicated, his use of aura is… well I don’t really know how to say this, are you aware he directs his Pokemon to use moves on himself?” She said.

  “I was not aware of this, please elaborate.” Cynthia replied, her eyes growing narrow with interest.

  “Well Neressia, his Manaphy knows the move Heart Swap, at least that's what he told me it was called, apparently only Manaphy and one other Pokemon can learn it, you saw the move in the match earlier. Basically it works similar to Baton pass but instead of passing boosted stats over to a teammate, Neressia can switch her boosted state with another Pokemon, taking their state as her own.” Isabel explained.

  “Roland has already had ideas about using moves that would leave Neressia weakened only to pass that weakened state onto their opponents, a novel idea which I will be interested to see him pull off.” She continued.

  Cynthia interrupted Isabel’s explanation, “I'm sorry did you say another Pokemon can learn Heart Swap?”

  “Acroding to Roland at least, a Pokemon called Magearna, im afraid I don’t personally know anything about such a Pokemon and when I asked Roland about it he said he probably should check with you before discussing it.” Isabel said, eyeing Cynthia with curiosity.

  Cynthia brought her hand to her chin while she thought, “I am aware of Magearna as a legend, it was said to be the result of intense scientific testing, an artificial soul bound to the body of a Pokemon, although the records in question are over 500 years old, I am not aware of any confirmed sightings or even rumors leading to a living Magearna.” She eventually said, what she did not say was that there were no records of known moves for Magearna, and she had checked intensely.

  “Why would Roland know about a Pokemon from 500 years ago?” Isabel asked

  “That you would have to ask him, I'm afraid” Cynthia responded, but Isabel wasn’t buying it.

  “You have an idea though, don’t you?” She pressed the Champion.

  “I do have an idea based on what he has told me about his origins, yes however that is not my secret to share.”

  “And yet you are here asking me to share his secrets.” Isabel countered.

  “My little Joy has teeth.” Cynthia said while smiling, “Need I remind you that you agreed to provide a report on him when you accepted the job.”

  The smile that the Champion gave her sent shivers down her spine, “Right yes… so what he’s been doing is he gets Neressia to use tail glow and then heart swap on him passing on all that stored energy, he then converts that energy into aura for his Pokemon to siphon off and empower their moves.”

  “I see, so that’s how he was able to teach his Horsey air swimming so quickly, providing unlimited energy is certainly an advantage.” Cynthia commented.

  “Nereus can only maintain air swimming while taking power from Roland, he's not able to maintain it himself yet, although to be able to do that much at such a young age is already unheard of, Roland refers to the process as an exploit.”

  “An exploit? Why would he say that I wonder” Cynthia mused to herself, “How is he able to contain the power?” she then asked.

  “He said that the first time he tried it was the worst, he has to meditate while he cycles the TE into aura, and apparently he's only able to do it as efficiently as he is because Neressia transfers the energy into water TE before passing it on to him. He describes it like this intense pressure building inside him that he has to clamp down on from all angles, when he slips up small cuts open on his body. If I had to guess I would say he’s going to blow himself up eventually.” Isabel reported.

  “You think it’s that dangerous?” Cynthia asked.

  “It’s only a matter of time, with each day of practice Neressia gets better and better at storing energy and transferring it, unless Roland can keep pace with the growth of his legendary Pokemon it will become too much for him, at which point he can either stop or continue and get himself killed. As he was stupid enough to attempt it in the first place I am leaning towards the latter of the two scenarios.”

  “Well we should work to avoid that, now that you have told me about his training methods tell me more about him as a person.” Cynthia replied.

  Moving onto lighter topics put Isabel at ease as Cynthia and her talked long into the night.