Chapter 15 -|

Chapter 15

Ms. King moved Adams arm to the left, tsking. "You can't make dresses from one sheet of cloth. Not with such an active lifestyle."

She moved on the raised platform to point more easily. "Seams are not just for binding cloth, but to provide acceptable damage absorption points on the design. A popped seam is quick to repair, torn cloth is another story. That begins to require patches, color matching, edge reduction, and more."

For a woman that was barely tall enough to reach his waist, Ms. King knew her fabric. "I always have four or five emergency sleeves and a one inch band of fabric connecting it to the torso area. Most of the time, that gives enough weak points to leave the majority of the outfit whole even after the most emphatic of flexing."

Throwing an exasperated look of love at her husband, she sighed. "Well, most of the time. Drag-Queen has trained so hard he is able to destroy cloth at distance if he isn't cautious. I tend to pack him four or five outfits for emergencies."

Adam shifted to allow her better access to the Princess Dress shoulder area. "How did you two meet?"

She hummed as she made a few temporary modifications. "Oh I suppose it was simple curiosity. I was having a bad day when a man came up to me, flexed, and asked who my tailor was. One thing led to another and we were married a few months later..."

Her smile was soft. "Young man, let me give you advice. Many would assume that Drag-Queen is strong because he can lift so much, or because he has so many willing Pokémon followers. Others would claim it is his amazing ability to connect people from so many social circles, or his astounding endurance."

She watched with fondness as the Drag-Queen King of Fashion bustled everyone else off the stage and the music started. Kiss, by Prince... Which existed here, apparently.

...The poses and flexes were amazingly coordinated.

Her gaze was warm. "No, true strength comes from having goals and not being ashamed to reach for them. My man was so dedicated to showing the world his vision, he legally changed his name to Drag-Queen King and convinced our home village to relabel itself as 'Fashion'. When the world tried to drag him down with insults and mockery, he stood tall and self reliant."

Ms. King finished Adam's left sleeve as the music rumbled, man and Pokémon clapping to the beat and moving to the groove. "How strong would you have to be to accept not being 'cool'? To say 'Dignity is what I define it' and let society's criticisms fall away?"

They watched special effects flare, oiled muscles pulse, and a look of pure joy radiate off stage.

She nodded. "My husband is the strongest person I have ever met, and I hope one day you too will meet such strong people." Her smirk was coy. "After all, you have to 'Flex your way to your dreams!', don't you think?"

Adam chuckled. Mr. King was a lucky man.

The crowd roared with applause as the song ended, twenty Pokémon and one man posed in glorious formation, reaching towards the stars and lightly coated in sweat.

Ms. King refocused. "Now, you did some good work fundamentally with designing this little pouch for darling Abra, but you need some changes to make the colors match better and encourage proper rest. And we need to improve this princess hat, the cone style can be handled so much better than this."

He pouted. It was his first try, cut him some slack!

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Anita sighed as she and Pidgey sat at the edge of the crowd. Everyone was nice and stuff, but the amount of exposure was honestly a bit much for her delicate background.

It was interesting to watch the bustling crowd though.

Aside from the random bystanders that were expected, she saw over a dozen TV, Online, and Radio reporters. The booth was far more popular than she had been expecting really, to draw this kind of attention.

And of course, there were the two slightly competitive cheering sections.

One chair section was full of women, oohing and awwing as they fainted into each other's arms!

The other area of the crowd was full of many men... doing the exact same thing. All the way down to dramatic renditions of 'Back of hand to forehead, and SWOON!'

As far as Anita could tell, neither group was mocking the other. It was just... an odd experience.

She smiled and accepted a treat from a small muscular Machop wearing a lovely dress, only to realize that the newly accepted dessert was an ice cream pop shaped like Drag-Queen King of Fashion.

His delicious body was curled and tensed with a glorious glint (made of vanilla) sparkling from his smile. The chocolate dress had strawberry flowers.

...Was she supposed to put this in her mouth!?

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

The shadowed Boss network of Team Rocket watched the hidden video stream with mixed reactions.

One of the younger members was shouting. "I KNOW that guy! He showed up during an operation of mine. Half my team ended up ignoring their damn duties and joined him in some sort of flexing competition."

The following conversation was harder to hear until exasperation made him speak a bit too loud. "That would have been acceptable, but the responding officers didn't even bother to arrest my agents. Said losing so badly was punishment enough! I had three agents quit from SHAME that month! Another four now spend all their time at the gym!"

One of the highest shadow winced. THAT had been an awkward month, and the 'in depth' reports needed had been... odd. "Well, he is currently distracting our Target and slowing his progress, which will give us more time to clear out our operations that might be on the path the two Trainers plan on following."

One of the female Bosses purred. "I hope ALL distractions are this manly."

The guy next to her nodded. "Those arms could flex me any day."

A sigh rumbled. "Focus. Please focus. Have we warned the locals to be cautious with Target Adam?"

Glasses were adjusted. "Twelve percent have not responded to stage one contact, in three and half hours we will be escalating to stage two contact via standard protocols. Thankfully whatever hardware the two use to connect over our network did not expose the nature of the connections to those they contacted, everyone involve should assume that strange Pokédex is using a standard satellite connection as long as they ignore the connection signal strength and network transmission speed."

The oldest shadow nodded. "Thank goodness SOMETHING is ahead of schedule. We are documenting everything right? This will likely be used to establish future protocols when interacting with Target Adam."

There was a sigh. "Everything we can. Whatever the girl browses on her device is undetectable, some sort of program scrambles our monitoring methods when we try, but we are able to inspect the stores and such they shop from easily enough. Video feeds and so forth are being copied as expected, though something is interfering in that as well occasionally."

The man nodded. "Good work everyone, we will continue at the next schedule meeting."

The conversation paused as the muscled man and his many Pokémon assistants belted out another song... `I'm Too Sexy`, by Right Said Fred? Huh. Those Hitmonchan really knew how to show off some moves. The lace didn't even slow them down!

One woman raised a hand. "I volunteer to study the stream in case unexpected emergency action is required."

The guy next to her hummed. "No, better make it a committee effort." He watched the glory of muscled motion. "Yeah, better safe than sorry."

The older member was exasperated. "You can stay and watch if you wish, I however have more than a bit of work to do."

In the end, only four of the administrative members were able to get back to business for a while.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam was humming along as the team finally made their way out of town, heading on Route 117. Drag-Queen King had made both Trainers accept his personal number, some merchandise, and a small action figure with a dress that could flex catch phrases.

Only a few people were freaked out when his bone limbs unfurled and began modifying the road again. Weirdos.

Anita was pouting. "Who even makes 'sweat flavored' ice cream?"

Pidgey had at some point replaced her fine painter hat with a work-out headband and a white muscle T-Shirt, and Anita's mood wasn't improved when her flying friend refused to wear anything else.

Adam chuckled. "I was surprised that Ms. King knew so much about armor maintenance. I normally just trust my Angels to handle all those issues, but learning from an expert was a whole new experience." He glanced at his metal wearing companion. "Her changes did make it easier for your to move yes? And look at my little Abra!"

Abra's new crown was less stressful for her to wear and didn't bump into her back-pack-barrel-pouch palm tree shade, but even so she had refused to wear it until Adam remade it himself. Ms. King found her adorable, and fussed enthusiastically over the little one.

Honestly, he couldn't blame anyone for finding Abra so adorable.

Route 117 was beautiful, by the way. Tons of flower gardens, peaceful ponds, small forest glades and flat grassy areas that seemed perfect for picnics. Compared to the shady forest on the previous Route, this was paradise.

It was even MORE enjoyable once Adam realized his presence was an issue again and he pulled it all back in. Normally that would be the default state of his nature, but well... he WAS recovering from visiting Queen Administrator's Realm. Occasionally his still healing soul would release a tiny pulse of power every now again... but nothing had exploded yet so it was probably fine.

Anyway, once he was 'hidden' again, they began to see far more previously hidden Pokémon enjoying the good weather. Bug and plant Pokémon bustled about, and he was pretty sure he saw a bubbly Marill floating around in a pond they passed. The general atmosphere of nature was soothing in a way, and helped relax the group in general.

He still was having issues with Abra detecting random items dropped by Trainers and deciding to Teleport them to 'Safety'. Also known as: Adam's head.

But it wasn't that big a deal, not enough to bother waking the little one up or trying to get her to stop. And who knows, she may find something neat in the process!

Lost in his thoughts, Adam reviewed the recently purchased so called 'Ultra Ball'. Normally only sold to Trainers who had defeated at least three Gym Trainers, Anita's account was somehow 'authorized' to buy all sorts of stuff when she had been shopping. And so she did. Enthusiastically. Good thing he added so many extra funds.

Back on point, the name alone of this 'Ultra Ball' implied something amazing and awesome! Which made it all the more disappointing when Adam actually examined the stupid thing.

Apparently, while 'Great Balls' used advanced designs and materials to maximize the Trainer's stored Aura for capture... these 'Ultra Balls' cheated.

They compressed the Aura from their users and refined it, making them feel more powerful and dedicated than they really were. Basically they lied to the capture target, or at least exaggerated his or her abilities. At best, it was showing off POTENTIAL ability.

Adam Gathered the thing into energy with a scoff. "Yeah, you should toss out any 'Ultra Balls' you find Anita, any partner you catch with one will likely be disobedient or angry."

Because it hurts to be lied to.

The following conversation and her shock at how they actually worked was satisfying, as he was sure not many Trainers knew the details on what was different between tiers of capture orbs. Feeling reassured at his friends honesty, he moved on to the other interesting Pokéballs.

The 'Nest Ball' had a module inside that attempted to reflect the atmosphere of nature, the attuned ambient Aura of the wilds. This other energy acted as a buffer, making shy or younger Pokémon feel more at ease during the capture process and lowering the impact a powerful Trainer might have on a weaker creature.

Hmm. This 'Heal Ball' he had seen before, so no reason to waste time on it. Instead Adam focused on the expensive 'Luxury Ball'... and its cost was clearly justified.

All materials were high quality, the units had additional parts that reduced confusion when Pokémon were released or returned. There was also a delicate purification unit that used stored Trainer's Aura as a filter to ensure ambient energy is properly purified for a Pokémon's use when passing through. And the compression components could theoretically make the ball's travel size even MORE tiny than standard, although at that point it would be dangerously easy to lose track of the stupid thing. The protective coating to resist stains and liquids was just icing on the cake really.

With a sigh, Adam double checked the designs Simmy and Sammy already came up with. "Guess I can't add EVERYTHING to a single Pokéball without conflicts." Some units worked by handling Aura in different ways, adding all of them would just counteract the previous components in action. Other parts required too many resources to be added, which he could do, but would make it incompatible with Pokémon Realm technology.

With only a few modifications, his Construction beam formed the most tested prototype so far into actual existence. Reinforced and coated bottom half sphere, the top was orange like Abra's skin and had small panels to make it look like her cute face. Even as it fell into his palm, his energy began to flow into the creation like a river.

Anita walked closer. "So is this the final version?"

He grumbled. "For now. I have other materials that might be better but those need lots of testing first." Not to mention the Star War's materials and how THOSE may be useful as alloys.

He examined the ball carefully, extra limbs pulling components out and returning them as he searched for flaws. "It has low level continuous healing ability, though it needs time to recharge so it can't fully replace the benefits of a Pokécenter. It transmits my Aura and other energies pretty well, and has storage capacity to hold way more than other commercial offerings. About a dozen times more, give or take. That purification filter idea from the 'Luxury Ball' was brilliant, so I stole that and tried to improve the concept."

Adam pulled the orb back together. "Unlike generic versions this modified prototype should theoretically allow Abra to use 'Telekinesis' on her own ball, as well as 'Teleport' to get away from danger even when resting inside."

Carefully, he tapped the orb on Abra's nose... and she faded in a beam of light quickly into the new 'Abra Ball'. A mental sense of excitement and even more comfort radiated from within, as well as a slight reluctance to go back outside with all that annoying sunlight.

He smiled at Anita. "She likes it!" Pidgey hopped over to his shoulder for a closer look and seemed impressed. "I don't think she wants to come back out right now though."

The younger Trainer looked at his backpack. "Seems a shame though, after all that work you put into making her little snuggle-bundle."

Adam chuckled as he Gathered the carrier into energy. "It is easy enough to rebuild later, the important thing is that she is comfortable with her new home."

Anita winced as Pidgey began tugging her ear, and sighed. "Could you build something similar for Pidgey? She was also impressed by the new ball."

He tossed a small orb that she caught and curiously expanded. "No problem. This doesn't have all the same features, as I have some abilities you don't, but it is a big upgrade to Pidgey's previous Pokéball."

Not that the new features would appear to matter much, as Anita watched her friend coo over her ball's image. The surface was showing the glorious design of her own face. "How much would one of these cost anyway?"

He shrugged. "Component material wise, around $1,500. Not sure on how much the custom artwork would raise that, but since we had to design some of the extra chip units and all that... and well, this thing is one of only two 'Adam Customized Pokéballs' ever made... not sure. For comparison, the component material cost of a standard Pokéball is around $3, and for 'Luxury Balls' it is around $112."

Adam ignored her shock. "Then again, while I used a grand or so on materials the alloys my wives designed... well, those things are cutting edge stuff that I don't think even exist on the current markets, or at least cost so much that marketing it seemed unprofitable and thus pointless. I guess even my rough estimate for a final cost is pretty low."

He snuggled the compressed Pokéball, Abra pulsing back sleepy happiness thoughts, then with slight consideration placed her orb into his magically flaming hair. A few wires held it safely in place, and the energy would keep Abra comfy.

Anita was staring at Pidgey's new orb with slight concern, as if she may damage something very valuable by breathing on it wrong.

Pidgey on the other wing seemed to only care about how awesome her face looked on it.

The bird probably had the best attitude at the situation, in Adam's opinion.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Thanks to how much better maintained this Route was, the pair of adventurers had reached Mauville City by nightfall easily enough.

It ended up becoming a conversation topic, as Adam and Anita talked about how BAD Route 116 was compared to 117. The one they met on had massive, dense forests, the road was overgrown and easily missed in low light levels, and all the facilities were run down. It was trash.

By comparison Route 117 looked like an advertisement for Sunday walks. The path was not only well cared for, but had gutters to guide rainwater away, solar powered lighting along the street, rest stops that clearly were cleaned regularly, and a variety of gardens that were dearly loved. Oh, Adam had touched it up, reinforced the street to near indestructibility, and added a couple of automatic restaurants, but it was basically untouched.

Anita's opinion on the topic was a bit cynical, as she believed that Route 116 was deliberately kept in a more lawless state. After all, there was a reason her classmates didn't join her on her journey that direction: Shady stuff happened there. Not normally as bad as what SHE went through, but sneaky sneaky stuff, certainly.

Black market deals, people 'finding' interesting things, clandestine meetings. The poor repair levels meant a significantly lowered amount of foot traffic, while the OTHER two high quality Routes into Rustboro City ensured that city tourism and trade didn't drop off. Meanwhile that one dark, lonely route saw all sorts of unusual visits from powerful, busy people.

It would be interesting to see how the 'improved' area back there would change this type of night life activity. Especially as the recent changes had become something of a local attraction at this point, according to the web forums Anita tended to browse. Ah well, it wasn't something that would have stayed secret forever anyway.

Unlike Verdanturf Town, Mauville City had apparently undergone a massive redevelopment plan recently. Which might explain how lovely the Route they just traveled had become, now that he thought about it.

According to Anita, the new place was the lifelong dream of Wattson Ogata, the local Gym Leader and man of the town. Known as 'The Cheerfully Electrifying Man!', he specialized in raising powerful electric Pokémon and wanted his town to show off the benefits of doing such. Step by step, one man led his whole city into developing the City into an advertised wonder!

The new catch phrase for the area was 'The Bright and Shiny City of Fun!' and it had an atmosphere of Las Vegas to the area. Most of the city was now indoors, within a massive structure covered in gardens and greenery on the surface. Adam wasn't sure if it was DESIGNED to be an armored fortress, but it was interesting to note how thick the defensive walls were, even if the general crowds didn't seem to notice or care.

Inside the buildings however, it sparkled! Dominating the area was the Gym of course, as well as the Mauville Game Corner which had everything from roulette to slot machines. Everywhere around these two monster structures were bright signs, glowing lights, and bustling crowds. Shops of every size and design were hidden all around, and it seemed 'Getting Lost' was a popular activity for people looking for something interesting to find.

Adam honestly felt a bit overwhelmed.

In Rustboro City, it was barely evening before almost everything but the Pokémon Center shut down, and the two Trainers had to use emergency rooms to get through the night.

Here, things were still jumping! Lights like stars covered the inside, a soft glow of energy flickered around making everyone feel like they were experiencing a dream world. These masses moved past loud shop stands and food salespeople declaring how marvelous their wares were, trinket salesmen and small ride operators, con-people and show-people were everywhere!

Even while searching for a hotel to sleep, Adam ended up getting Abra and Pidgey some Pokéberry Pops, while he and Anita split some candied bread snacks that smelled too good to just walk by unnoticed. There were attractions and even rides, all powered by the massive electricity the local Gym's Pokémon generated during daily life.

Smells filled the air, lights pulsed and glowed, and the sounds were walls that bustled and hummed.

Honestly, by the time the pair actually found a Hotel and checked in for the night, they were exhausted just from that short journey... and eager to explore after some sleep and recovery.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Anita woke with a start, before realizing she was safe. Nothing was hunting her (Or more accurately, Haunting her), and the unusual sounds were from the still bustling nightlife from outside the hotel.

And hadn't THAT been a shock! This was the first time she had traveled so far from the Academy, at least without teachers or whatever, and the only time they had passed through Mauville City her minders had pushed quickly through without explanation. At the time no one had made a big deal out of it, and the groups just moved on to their various assignments.

It was now a bit more obvious why the Adults tricked them, as getting students to NOT go nuts in a place like this was unlikely. As it was, she had tears from staring too hard at all the crazy things going on and a headache from the amazing sounds and shouts and songs. Her body pulsed with excited energy. It was amazing!

She had stayed up a bit too late last night getting a list of things to do, once she convinced Adam to stay a bit. The famous 'Crooner`s Café' was here, which was SO popular that people actually had Pokémon battles over the right to order and wait for drinks alone, forget the ability to hear the astoundingly talented performers.

There were rogue Trainers that could and WOULD help teach others their secret and special Pokémon moves (If you could afford their fees), a Battle Institute that was well known for having a vicious Battle Test to show your worth, a popular TV station that sometimes ran local contests and had awesome prizes, and more!

And the Food Court! She and Adam had barely passed through there before they were suckered into buying those warm, delicious sugar coated breads. NOT buying them was clearly not an option, and each bite had been so seductively wonderful to the taste-buds. It was like she could FEEL the energy soaking into her system!

Blinking and wiping away any potential drool, she checked her Pokédex's clock again... no, it was still too early to get up and get more, even if she COULD convince Adam that desert bread was a perfectly healthy breakfast.

With disappointment and growing hunger, she forced herself to try and sleep again. Stupid maturity, stupid responsibility. When she was a grown Adult, she would eat stupid things all the time and tell everyone ELSE to eat right and all that junk. 'Do as I say, not as I ravenously consume!' or whatever.

She slowly drifted away again, images of mountainous snacks being explored and devoured drifting by as her mind fell deeper.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam frowned.

What the HELL had been in that bread!? It hadn't been dangerous or Simmy would have stepped in, no question. But while there had been heavy energies in most of the food the two had seen last night, some clearly caused by Pokémon move residue and others from rare ingredients that naturally gained Aura from their environments, that bread snack had been on another level.

Those strange snacks they ate? The things had RADIATED power. And while Anita had clearly been distracted, ADAM had noticed that the booth they had purchased the Pokéberry Pops and snack bread from had no other customers. The raw power generated off of the available goods had caused everyone else to subconsciously avoid the area, and if Anita hadn't been exposed to Adam's energies over the last few days SHE TOO would have passed the odd place by.

Adam had a sneaking suspicion that, should the two of them return to that place, the man and his stand would be gone.

As far as he could tell, no Pokémon Gods were involved... but something suspicious had been at hand there. In retrospect, the fact that the vendor had NO electronics on his person should have been a warning sign.

Letting it go for now, he refocused inward.

Marshadow had made progress. His newly refined attitude thanks to the Angel Twins was still... aggressive... but not madscowled ragemadness. The Grid of Confinement cell that contained the creature now produced two tainted Aura fields, 'Fighting Aura' and 'Ghost Aura'.

Simmy had confirmed that the Cell was being designed further to host Pokémon of all natures, and that more could be confined in the same general spot without issue or conflict. This was due to a slight effect of the space to prevent mental damage to those confined, as Betty had explained there was a feeling of dream-walking. No hunger or weariness, no fear or sadness... just a drifting feeling. Even so, new regions within the cell should make it feel more home like to any possible future captures. Even now, volcanoes and rivers and forests and stuff were being developed and expanded.

Anyway, after several songs of Angel, Marshadow was now... drifting through something similar to a bone forest within the cell. His shadow would combine and flow between the forest silhouettes as he silently wandered. He seemed happier and more calm now, at least.

Adam moved his focus back to his own body, focusing on a hand that slowly smoked and turned black with 'Ghost Aura'. If desired, he could probably convert his body temporarily into such a state... and if he analyzed this more, there was no reason the couldn't do so with ALL of his Aura effects. Eventually, anyway.

Though using his own power would just convert him into living blue Aura Metal, as if he was that one Parahuman... Weld? The metal man from Worm.

He wasn't sure what combining his body with 'Fighting Aura' would do. Maybe turn him into a body builder?

Theoretically if Abra took a nap in there, Adam could see what 'Psychic Aura' was like, how his body would respond. And now that he thought about it, he WOULD get a chance in the future when heading home since Abra and any other Pokémon would have to stay in Confinement for safety during transit through the Abyss.

But the idea of not being able to pamper the little one was unpleasant.

So she stayed in her Pokéball as Adam coated it with blue magical flames, and he continued 'tasting' these two new Aura flavors Marshadow provided.

And it WAS something like a flavor, or taint, or food coloring. It caused Aura to act like an amplifier for certain energies, a dampener for others, and so forth.

It was likely what caused 'Type Weaknesses' and 'Super-effective Attacks', as the closest thing to an actual 'Pure Aura' was the so-called 'Normal Move' attacks.

Everything else? Flavored Aura. No wonder bonding with a Trainer boosted the creature's power, once they connect they can redistribute all of the energies wasted on generating their base attack Aura and focus only on creating their own 'Flavors' to add to their Owner's energies. Or add their own 'Normal Attack' to the power provided by the Trainer during the fight.

Adam watched Abra's Aura, which had slowly been shifting towards something similar to his own. Being bathed in Magic, powerful Faith energies, and Adam's unusually dense Aura fields... well, Abra's tired and weak systems had THRIVED with the abundant powers available.

Her field still felt and tasted like 'Psychic Aura', but being exposed to his mash of energies had a sort of... purification effect on the stuff. It was likely how the tiny thing was able to modify 'Teleport' to work in more adaptable ways, or how she was using 'Telepathy' to begin scanning devices as WELL as creatures. Not to mention using 'Telekinesis' to scare off Pokémon Adam might want to capture, to keep her partner to herself.

And yes, Abra, he caught you doing that. You aren't THAT sneaky.

He grinned at the embarrassed feelings he got from the Pokéball.

She was adorable.

Back on point, what would happen if he added the 'Psychic' flavor to his Aura? Would his form go ghost-like, or would he shift physically to better support mental attacks and abilities?

It would almost be a half-Semblance, this ability to modify one's Aura flavor.

Hmm... Ghira would probably want to know about it.

Meh, later. This is vacation time.

This town was a bit of a shock though.

It wasn't technically an Adult Only event, of course, and there were crowds of Pokémon and Trainers wandering about with normal Citizens in crowds of interested people... but some of the costumes? X Rated, easily.

It wasn't even treated as a big deal, if Anita's lack of reaction was any example. Considering how prudish the girl is in many other respects, the sheer LACK of reaction to beautiful women and men in the various booths trying to attract attention was a bit of surprise.

Maybe it was because of how adult like the kids in this reality were? The maturity level of the young ones was more than a bit odd, now that he thought about it.

Anyway, big differences: This was a Las Vegas that let kids gamble. No ID, no laws of certain ages being restricted, straight up 'Go knock yourself out kid' levels of nonchalance gambling.

And considering that one of the two largest buildings in this night-life town was a casino, they were going to see a LOT of too young kids gambling FAR too much money. Hopefully that won't cause issues, but it was honestly out of Adam's hands.

Some discrete questions sent via Pokédex to that Female Grunt did answer a few of his concerns though.

People who gamble TOO much are not 'vanished' or sold into slavery or whatever... but most ended up in the lowest levels of society's work force.

Which, considering how powerful and wide reaching it is, tended to mean Team Rocket. If they got out of debt and showed promise, they could eventually work their way up to 'Grunt' or higher... But the type of people that gamble until they fall into a gangster's lifestyle tend to not be competent enough to become better people.

Still, the world had many basic and annoying jobs needing to be done, so at least these mindless many were helping out society on some level.

Adam sighed as he felt Anita bouncing, the raw power of that suspicious bread forcing her to act like she had a sugar rush explosion delayed after three years of consumption. Theoretically this experience should help the girl handle the Aura pressure against stronger opponents... but right NOW it meant that she was going to 'wake' Adam up damn early and drag him back out into the mess of people and lights.

With a sigh, he tried to relax. Being forced to be around people sounded like a 'normal' thing to happen to other people on vacations too... he should just consider it a sign of experiencing real life a bit more accurately.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Anita was furious. "I can't believe he is GONE! How can you run a business like this!?"

Adam chuckled as her rant got more bizarre and whiny, slowly transforming into a speech about how sweet bread treats TOTALLY counted as a balanced breakfast and so on and so forth.

Eventually she fell to grumbling. "Well, we will just have to come back tonight or catch him tomorrow, but I am SO going to complain!"

One of the closer shop-keeps chuckled. "Good luck, Mr. Ogata is so busy he only gets to run his stand once every few months or so. If it makes you feel better, you really made his day! He normally only sells one or two snacks if any, no matter how delicious he claims they be."

Adam chuckled. "To be honest, I wouldn't let you eat anything else of his anyway. You are still over-energized from the bread, until it gets back to reasonable levels... I mean, are you even hungry right now?"

She blinked. "Huh. No, I guess not." Her frown came back hard. "But I COULD have been, if I could just get some more of that stupid bread!"

The candy merchant spoke up from the left. "If it REALLY bothers you that much, you could go visit his other job."

She turned to where he pointed... "The Gym? Wait, that was Wattson Ogata!? Why is the Town Mayor and Gym Leader selling super bread!?"

The merchant shrugged. "Asked him once, he said electrified desserts were 'Shockingly Good' and then tried to make me eat a biscuit."

Her gaze blurred. "So... so even if we stay here for months, I won't get my bread snacks?"

Adam sighed and gently patted her head. "It wasn't like the things were even that good tasting, you just really got a high off the raw energy. It is easy enough to duplicate."

He booped her nose, pushing the hope off her face. "Not that I will until you come down from your 'sugar rush'. Now, Where are we going according to that list you made?"

After some more wheedling (didn't work) and some complaining (Meh), she eventually directed the group towards the 'Crooner`s Café'. The place was surprisingly small for how famous it was, but while other people were constantly trying to intimidate others away and get better spots, a small area of space followed Adam as Anita traveled behind him.

He hummed. "Not a huge fan of coffee to be honest, although I love the smell of it."

She sat next to him, the unusually empty stools on either side preventing any crowding. "I'm going to try a cup, I heard it is WAY better than drinks elsewhere."

Adam shrugged and ended up getting a cup of hot chocolate. It was not nearly cold enough for the stuff, but temperature was not a good enough reason NOT to drink something hot and sweet. The custom home made marshmallows was a lovely addition.

Anita LOVED the coffee... but it didn't help her calm down much. Thankfully the smooth, mellow music that sauntered through the room helped keep her from flying off the walls or whatever.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Shawn lightly pushed Keven closer. "YOU sit next to them."

His friend frowned. "Hell no. Look, they seem to be pulsing with power. Like they got hit by a 'Thunderbolt' or something. That guy in the green shirt right there was shocked!"

Shawn waved a hand. "It was static or something, don't be a wuss."

Keven poked his shoulder. "I don't see YOU trying to get that free seat. Either one. Just admit it, those two are weird and it would be stupid to try and take advantage of that."

He glanced at the two, UNCONTESTED seating options. Maybe...

A pulse of energy crackled with static shock over the two sitting at the bar... and NEITHER Trainer seemed to notice.

Yeah, maybe not. "Isn't Steve here somewhere? He owes me a favor, I can cash it in to steal his spot."

Keven sighed. "Not today, he has to watch his sister's kids. And we need TWO seats, unless you want me to sit in your lap or something when we order."

Shawn's gaze drifted. "Hmm."

He frowned. "No, convincing everyone to double sit has been tried before. Caused complete chaos. Nearly got a dozen people permanently banned from coming by."

The friends wandered further into the café, ignoring the strange Trainers and their area of denial seating section.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Aura tainted food was used almost like seasoning here. There was clear traces of 'Dark Aura' and 'Fire Aura' in the hot chocolate, and the coffee had 'Fairy Aura' and 'Flying Aura' of all things from what Simmy and Sammy could detect.

The interesting stuff was how Anita's system handled the stuff. The 'Fairy Aura' didn't do much and was basically absorbed by the girls energy field, but the 'Flying Aura' almost seamlessly passed through her bond to Pidgey, who seemed extra peppy this morning.

He flared his hair around Abra's Pokéball, but she seemed happy enough to sleep away inside and didn't want anything from the café at the moment.

The music was... slightly odd. Less vocals, more instrumental. Still, it was soothing and sweet and flowed well. Made the food extra fulfilling, and sort of resonated slightly with the energies contained by the drinks.

Thankfully the placed served a decent breakfast, even if it wasn't the magical energy bread Anita had been desiring. Before long the pair had finished, paid and tipped the staff, and went back to the bustling crowds of the City.

Speaking of which, it had not really calmed down much. From what he could detect, there were shifts of people working that overlapped. As one went home, another arrived, and the massive customer base fluctuated thusly.

It explained why the hotel was so heavily insulated. Noise levels would be an issue otherwise, as people constantly lived life in this strange unending twilight city.

Oh, and Adam was stealing data like crazy. Every Trainer was checked to see if they had interesting Pokéballs, every shop was scanned, every Pokédex was checked for any custom modifications, and all the raw data was passed to the two tinkering Angels in his fishbowl.

Abra's ball had therefor been updated a dozen times by now. She could even answer phone calls and view camera feeds from inside there at this point, even if the device as a whole barely counted as a Pokéball at this stage. Not that she could speak English, so the calls would be a bit pointless... but meh, why not?

It had been interesting updating the device without Abra coming out first. Not too difficult, even if the first time Adam moved his bone arms had... surprised... the general crowds. Thankfully the Pokémon Realm was MORE than a bit used to strange and unusual people.

Seriously, more people should have more arms. He only had eight total right now, that was practically nothing. Squishy had passed a thousand limbs WAY long ago, everyone else should just get over it so he could try out a few dozen without scaring the town. Or city in this case.

No, stay focused.

Adam had been using the process of wandering around and visiting famous places with Anita to not only steal local data but to explore this massive structure over the city itself. Because while most of it was armor, heat ventilation, and power lines, there were small modules scattered throughout that had all sorts of functions.

Air purification, fire fighting (Both through water attacks and gas suppression, likely duplicating Pokémon abilities), light redirection, water guidance, and so on and so forth. These designs were clearly unique one-off creations, as there were no standardized parts in them and no manufacturing meta data included. Probably designed by the mysterious bread dealer, Gym Leader Wattson 'The Cheerfully Electrifying Man' Ogata.

The 'Electric Aura' flavor was everywhere in the building, used to guide power, redirect external attacks and internal electrical discharges, even improving the efficiency of the lights themselves! Clearly the man had a dream, and that dream was electrified.

The result of so much attuned Aura was the strange glow-fog atmosphere inside the city, this dream-like field of power that drifted in the area. Even without touching the walls or devices, the 'Normal Aura' was slowly being influenced into becoming 'Electric Aura' energies.

It would enhance anything related to electric Pokémon, from training to relaxation, just as a side effect from the buildings design... and Adam wasn't sure if it was done on purpose or if Wattson Ogata just got lucky due to his love of shock.

With THIS much electricity in the air though, it was obvious why the temporary bread seller had no high tech on his body. They would likely short out quickly if he tried, unless he built a Pokédex during a thunderstorm or something and let all the parts get zapped over and over again.

...Which would probably melt the parts.

Anyway, aside from the technological espionage, the main focus Adam had was absorbing samples of various Pokémon Aura's from the many passing Pokémon in the crowds. Simmy and Sammy would analyze the energy fields, learn how to duplicate the 'flavor', and then gather more and more similar samples to ensure that the 'flavor' was captured correctly.

Unlike Marshadow, who was helpfully contributing free power sources of 'Fighting' and 'Ghost' Auras, these other sources were basically flavor packets that Adam could pass his own energy through to generate the needed fields.

One of his sources was not only 'free' but building up massive Aura stockpiles... the other filter sources needed power supplied to generate working samples.

That said, Adam wasn't willing to capture a dozen types of Pokémon inside his Grid of Confinement just to make things easier. Not unless the creatures he ran into were EQUALLY dangerous to the general public as Marshadow was.

So he just had a small portion of his Aura constantly passed through each of the filters Simmy and Sammy constructed. The reserves of different flavors would build up slower and have the possibility of running out if he didn't support them directly, but at least he wouldn't have to gather Pokémon that he didn't actually want.

It was interesting to note that the dual nature Pokémon had DIFFERENT flavors than those with a single nature. Because a 'Steel' and 'Rock' Pokémon could have different ratio of flavors, some being more 'Rock' and only slightly 'Steel', and visa versa.

And this MATTERED. A whole LOT.

It effected personality, ability, growth rate based on location, and more. Heck, the 'Steel' type Pokémon actually improved FASTER if they stayed within man made structures, while 'Rock' type almost required constant camping trips to stay happy. It was fascinating, and also making proper 'flavor filters' annoying to construct. At least his Angels were entertained.

His thoughts were distracted as he detected... huh. Really?

Adam watched three morons fill up both ends of the alleyway, blocking Anita and him from passing through.

He glanced down at his own massive form. He checked his hair... yeah, still on fire.

How was he NOT intimidating the underworld right now?

Anita was clearly used to having Adam around, as she didn't even pretend to be nervous. "Yes? Can we help you?"

The shiftiest man, wearing all black and with a mask, stepped forward. "You two... are you strangers in these parts?"

The two in the back and three behind the pair chuckled.

Anita nodded. "Yep."

Adam sighed. "Yes, we arrived yesterday."

The man's smirk grew. "I knew it, you two smelled too innocent for our dark and twisted world. I believe you could use some edu-mucation. Some old fashion larrning."

One of the back hecklers cheered. "You learn her good boss!"

Anita... wasn't sure how to handle this. "Uh. Sure?"

The man whipped back his cloak, exposing his hidden hand.

He waved it in the air. "Now look you young'un, dis here is the third artistic circle you just past, you follow my numbers?"

Ignoring her expression, his dumb looking partner on his left had already extended a collapsible pointer and aimed it at the now unfurled map.

The cloaked man continued. "You bout to run into OUR territory. And no one can just wander into OUR territory like they own the place."

She frowned. "Why not?"

The man nodded. "We be painting. People like you, outsiders, get your nice clothing all messed up. And then we got to be painting again."

One of the group flanking them popped up. "Yeah, and them Artistic Circle people are expensive! You don't know the cost of paint job patch ups in today's economy!"

Adam wasn't sure what was happening, but the leader continued. "See, you need to take the alley two turns that-away, winder-shins like, you follow? Don't let ignorance ruin your clothing and our painted message of self expressionism."

His assistant seemed to have lost his own self restraint. "Damn girl, you been LEARNED!"

The two trainers stared blankly as the six men began informing each other of how much learning had been accomplished today, and how thoroughly schooled the general situation had become.

Adam nodded. "Right, we will be leaving now."

The man snarled. "That's right, and don't you be underestimating the joy of art again! Not in OUR town!"

Anita groaned, her Pidgey trying to flip the crowd with herself. "This is your fault Adam, somehow."

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

In the end, they didn't report the issue to an Officer Jenny. Technically, the 'gang' had not assaulted or even inconvenienced the pair, and one of the thugs passed them a helpful map for guidance on the way out of the alley. To better learn them.

Still odd though.

After a few more stops and no more 'surprise education moments', they ended up hanging out near one of the yearly attractions. The 'Annual Trick House' contest was a ways off apparently, but the pair got to see the space normally used for it. The building now showed off videos of past challenges and examples of the many various tricks used once upon a time. It acted like an interactive museum, and Anita found it fascinating while Adam scanned the various tools and devices for interesting technology.

Some past prizes were even on display, though not the 'Rare Candy' (If it even really existed in this universe). The one Pokéball shown was fascinating!

The 'Timer Ball' would build up charge during a battle, gathering Aura from both the Trainer, the Target, AND your own Pokémon. It not only made it easier for new Pokémon to understand their future user, but it actively calmed them down during capture by exposing them to familiar energies, both their own and their recent foe.

Not really needed in Abra's ball, as she was more than happy to be Adam's partner already, but an interesting trick to use when on adventures and paired well with the features from the 'Nest ball'. Anita may want the feature added to her personal stock... should probably ask her later.

Anita hummed as they looked at a massive spring. "I mean, does 'King of Tricks' custom make these or just order spare parts?"

Adam's eyes flashed with 'Technomancy'. "Not sure, part registration doesn't seem a big deal in this region and individual manufacturing seems easier with the assistance of Pokémon in general. That said, this metal matches the stuff in the other traps, so it is all from the same source I think."

She watched the video showing how the fake floor panel would launch people. "Seems very well made. I doubt someone could make something this large and precise without a lot of time and dedication. Maybe he is friends with a smith?"

Adam hummed. "Maybe. I wonder how much the guy earns... Especially if he is able to dedicate his life to making trap challenges and still make a living. Or maybe he IS a secret amazing designer and metal worker, and his work through THAT career is what pays him enough to do THIS."

Pidgey was asleep on Anita's head, and Abra was actually awake in her Pokéball, poking at some of the massive working example of traps with her 'Telekinesis' to see if she could set stuff off.

He blinked. "Wait, I think that contraption over there is a fake fake trap." He pointed at a clearly artificial floor panel. "It looks like a pit fall or something with a crappy designed cover, but the surrounding panels are the actual weak points. Even though it is transparent, there is a thick layer of glass-plastic panels. Could hold up a thousand pounds easily."

She looked closely at the edge. "Wouldn't thin layers like this make it less sturdy?"

Adam shrugged. "Depends on the plastic used. Certainly more complicated than a thick slab of glass or whatever, but it should work well enough." He waved at the example corridor. "Passing through would be easy if you had the confidence to leap directly on the trap first, which would show off the weakened panels surround it. Then you could hop over the other side and be on your way."

Anita frowned. "Huh. Easy enough once someone figures it out though. Stands out too much."

He shook his head. "Nah, see the next example? That is a fake fake fake trap. Looks the same on top, but the layers of plastic are deliberately faulty to allow people to fall through safely. Without being careful, telling the difference between the two could be an issue."

Pidgey chirped, and Anita nodded at her friend. "Right, and they could swap out the glass/plastic layer so even going through the maze twice wouldn't help you cheat. They look so similar you would have to check every time."

As they continued through the displays, Adam realized that many of these traps could EASILY be lethal if slightly modified or if they misfired or had mechanical flaws. The amount of safe guards and design work were all the more impressive when examined internally, but all the more confusing about how one guy could pay for this. Or even design it to begin with.

They did spend some money at the gift shop at the exit. Adam found a neat hat that had a small spring panel bouncing on top, and Anita got a few humorous shirts and spent a while trying to convince Pidgey to stop wearing that embarrassing muscle shirt outfit.

Didn't work though.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam blinked. "What the hell? Is that an 'Escape Rope'?"

Anita looked over at his area in the Poké Mart. "Oh yeah, I've used those before."

He leaned forward. Nope, it had no technology in it. "How does it work?"

She blinked. "It is a rope. You tie it to stuff. Or set it up to cross small gaps, or better hold your stuff together, etc."

Adam pointed. "Then why call it an 'Escape Rope' and not just a 'Rope'?" The chances of the thing actually teleporting you to a cave exit seemed beyond silly.

Anita hummed. "The manufacturer is the same people that make 'Repel Potions', and they soak the ropes in the stuff. It isn't strong enough to hold off anything too interested, not like if you had a fresh dose of 'Repel Potion' used, but it DOES keep Pokémon from messing with your line, eating it, cutting it, etc. Use a normal rope and something may decide to snack on the thing at a bad time."

Huh. "So that's why it costs so much? Why would anyone buy another one?"

She shrugged. "If you don't buy new ones every so often, the effects of the soaked in potion get weaker. And for it to last as long as it does, I think they use a concentrated version of 'Max Repel', so the rope option is actually pretty cost effective and can really help someone out in a pinch."

Anita pointed at a bundle. "When going into caves, we tend to buy 'Climbing Packs', which have a couple low cost 'Repel' items, several yards of compressed 'Escape Rope', and a few basic potions like 'Antidote' or whatever. The rope is ignored by monsters, the 'Repel Potion' makes creatures stay away from the Trainer while climbing up or down it, even if that cheap stuff wears off quickly, and the other potions make sure you have the energy to actually USE the 'Escape Rope'."

Adam examined the items. "Looks like 'Repel' corrupts the local ambient Aura fields into something odd."

She shrugged. "No idea how they work, but Pidgey hates them. I try to avoid the need to use them when possible."

They continued to banter back and forth as they slowly collected a massive selection sample of the stuff on sale. Adam's ability to duplicate rare high quality Pokéberries made their funds quite flush (thank you very much) so shopping sprees like this had been a common event over the few days spent wandering the carnival like city. And they were a more healthy option to buy than the candies and snacks being advertised.

Anita sighed at the checkout. "We have to leave soon. Especially if you want to catch your two chosen Pokémon on Route 110 before I have to head back to the Academy and report on my trip."

He blinked. "Huh. Your report is going to be odd."

She shrugged. "To a certain extent, it is expected. John's last adventure ended up involving a submarine, and Susan started a small religion."

Adam winced. Change topic! "Do you think Team Rocket will give you any grief?"

Anita shook her head. "I've stayed in contact with Grunt. The female one I mean. They will fight back if I interfere with any operations I stumble upon, but that is standard procedure and part of their internal expenditure profile when operating in regions, so apparently they have no hard feelings. I will be fine."

She glanced at her Pokédex, the device now more advanced than anything SHE had heard of, and the hidden information within. Because helping out with that crazy Marshadow incident had Team Rocket actually paying her a bounty of all things. So yeah, she wouldn't have fallout from that whole mess.

Adam sighed. "Well, I've had fun for a bit and I have gathered a lot of schematics while here... I suppose we can get going after a night's rest. Because it is close to midnight right now."

She blinked and looked up at the unchanging lighting inside the building. "Wow... this place really messes up my internal clock."

He nodded. "That and the super-charged bread that won't let you sleep and makes eating unnecessary. You seem to be recovering from it now though."

Her eyes were wide. "BREAD!?" She caught herself before dashing around to frantically look. Again.

Adam winced. "Mostly recovered." Seriously, how much 'Electric Aura' was IN those cakes?

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam stared at the awesome raised pathway. "Why can't we use THAT path?"

Anita glanced over. "Ah, the 'Cycling Road'. Bikes are more than a bit expensive, but if you invested in one you can use that to pass by the..." She glanced at the Route. "Less repaired option."

He frowned. "Well, I could whip up some bikes I guess, they aren't that complicated."

She chuckled. "If you didn't examine the ones back in Mauville City then don't bother. Not only do their bikes have authentication modules needed to use that path, but they are pretty advanced. They have to be, to survive the Pokémon attacks that Trainers will inevitably get involved in. And you CAN just walk on that path if you want, it was just designed for cycles first and foremost."

Meh, he could fake a bike easily enough. Or brute force a better option. Ah well, he wasn't likely to see many Electric Pokémon on the ocean.

Adam walked towards the 'Main Route' for Route 110, the road near instantly falling apart into very thick grass. Yeah, screw this.

All six bone limbs unfurled and began Gathering rocks, grass, leaves, and muck from their path. Two swapped back to Construction beams, forming the high quality rock foundation, the nice water drains seen on that garden path on Route 117, high quality paving stones designed way back when, and solar powered street lights.

Unlike the well maintained Route 117, clearly all funding on THIS path was spent for the more popular 'Seaside Cycling Road' that extended over the sea. To the point where Adam's choice of traveling was almost being rebuilt from damn SCRATCH as Adam advanced toward near invisible way-points. Seriously, how long had this travel option been neglected? Years at least.

Anita hummed as Pidgey flew ahead, pausing on various branches to flex. "I heard the non-cycle path was a bit rough, but they really let this area go." She looked over at Adam, ignoring how his trap-door hat bounced with flames as he continued to wear his princess outfit. "So what is the plan for this play?"

Adam sighed as their progress slowed significantly, his limbs basically forcing a nice orderly path to exist. "Around half way to the next town, I'm going to set up a big automated hotel, restaurant, and performance center. Stage, lights, the works. We can practice a few times before going live, and hopefully a we meet some interested Plusles and Minuns in the opening audience."

Anita glanced at the tunnel Adam was carving into Nature that at one point had been a Route/Forest. "Are we actually going to have any audience at all? Look at that tall grass, if I wasn't with a living lawn mower then I certainly wouldn't risk it."

He chuckled. "Well, maybe not at first..." He glanced at the near pristine path with well tended vegetation on either side that followed their trail. "But I think curiosity will draw a few people."

Adam absently pulsed his Aura, a near invisible metallic wave sending the thick tall grass rustling as unseen creatures fled. "And the path will END at our theater, which will also have the only high quality rest area and restaurant on this whole path. At least, until we finish and continue on to Slateport City. I'm sure a few people will stay for a free production."

Anita looked torn between interest in seeing what crowd showed up and pure horror at performing the silly script they had been practicing. At least HER parts only had some naughty language here and there, some innuendo.

Poor Adam had a dance number.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

If Adam was being reasonable, a basic stage and some equipment would be enough for his plans. The play was not THAT complicated, and if he really had to... Well, Simmy and Sammy could just direct him to the two most compatible electric Pokémon in the area.

But the point of this was showmanship!

And he KNEW how to impress... Go Big.

Anita, Pidgey, and Abra (Whom had a newly constructed Back-Hive with a more relaxing color scheme) were provided with some benches as Adam began making a massive clearing.

And to get into the proper mood, the princess outfit was retired so he could wear some bright orange construction gear. Manly men wear protective gear during work hours!

Some quick 'Growth', 'Purification', and 'Manipulation' let him shift all the trees away to form a MASSIVE clearing in the forest. To prevent those now smushed together trees from dying due to lack of sunlight and other resources, he forced 'Manipulation' and 'Bind' to fuse the mess into something like an outer wall, the leaves at the top turning darker and closer to black so that the available light would be absorbed more efficiently. The roots were sent FAR deeper, creating a net in the process to hinder soil dwelling creatures from passing though easily.

This had a couple of advantages. First, the new meadow Adam was creating now had a protective border to keep most Pokémon from wandering in accidentally. Secondly, it helped keep the sound waves sure to be caused by the new Theater from polluting the surrounding area. The light issues would still exist though. Just in case, he modified the tree wall to be extra 'spongy' to absorb noise and extra dark to better absorb ambient light pollution... it hopefully would help.

Just to ensure the overall protective nature of the plant life barrier, an internal foam web structure of metal and stone was formed inside the tree fence line itself. Covered in Glyphs, it should encourage stronger wood formation over time and faster recovery should something attack it. Maybe create a bit of 'Don`t bother me' field to the wall too, if a weak one. At least, anyone tearing open the trees would stumble into a rocky issue or two.

Anyway, the point was to make some damn room for his new creation. Now that a massive, football field sized area was formed with lush grass and a tree wall... he could move downward.

The building would look like a Pokéball when seen from the sky. The white, bottom half would be exposed to nature, for outdoor productions when weather permitted. No tickets required to attend this one, and it could draw in crowds from the entrance to the new performance meadow. On the other hand, the red, top half of the stage was to be enclosed, and able to act as a standard movie theater when plays were not scheduled.

Looking like a trainer's belt, the massive wings on either side of the 'Theater Ball' facility would have separate purposes. The right half would hold the performer's facilities. Multiple sound-proofed practice areas, apartment complexes for staff and family, automated restaurant, enhanced computer labs, costume and proper design departments, etc.

The left side was closer to the official entrance of the meadow, and was for the public to use officially. Bottom level of the structure acting like a standardized rest top, even if the facilities were a bit more advanced than one would expect. Multiple automated shops that Adam designed after the stores they had visited on the way here, with enhanced products using the tricks he stole and enhanced, here they would be sold at a premium. Several automated restaurants and plenty of room to relax. It was meant for a bustling group on the move, really.

Second floor had other entertainment options. An area that was designed to act as a 'Contest Hall', another (again, automated) reproduction of the Game Corner, and a very high quality hotel dominated this floor, while the smaller setups would be booths that Trainers could rent and use to sell goods and services.

Top floor? A massive garden and pool area, meant to simulate the nicer areas he had seen on his travels. A few areas were enclosed in clear 'plastic' (It was Transparisteel, but no one needed to know that) so people and Pokémon could enjoy the facilities in bad weather, and a few areas simulated forests from other biomes (Fire Aura enhanced plants, Electric Aura enhanced trees, etc).

At least, that was the plan.

Right NOW, Adam was Gathering more and more soil and rock as he emptied a pit downward. DEEP downward, considering how many Ground type Pokémon existed in this Realm.

As he quickly vanished further and further into the massive pit that would soon become a heavily reinforced and defended power production area and resource creation warehouse, he activated a custom designed Pokédex that was basically combined with tricks from RWBY's Scrolls, and made a call.

"Ms. Grunt? I was wondering what your hiring rates were. I am going to need a few hundred employees to arrive on Route 110 willing to work as customer service."

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Anita watched Adam's six strange bone limbs whip into a frenzy as he just... forced space into the dense forest.

Seriously, every step on this path had been more and more impressive. At THIS point, the trees had gotten so thick that the Route he had created looked like a tunnel in a mountain, completely covered on all sides with wood from various trees moved out the way and forced aside.

The street lights had been modified into hanging lamps in that section, reinforced wires apparently reaching up through the thick wood covering to reach sunlight for power. Not that she could tell, the only way to find out how they worked had been to ask Adam directly. And most of his answer went over her head ANYWAY.

At the time, she had been impressed. Now? That was nothing.

Adam just pushed at something, and the too dense forest just exploded backwards.

And it WAS too dense. REAL, normal forests... well, the lack of light would cause the smaller vines and bushes to die and become mulch. The thicker the thicket, the more space available to Trainers at the roots level basically.

Not here, not on this Route. The amount of Grass energy was staggering, pushing the local Ground, Rock, and Water energy to near nothingness. The plant life was thick, vicious, and domineering.

Then Adam got annoyed, and BOOM, the forest ran away like terrified Torchics. Or like chickens in general, she guessed.

As Anita carefully cleaned little Abra's chin from her most recent snack, resting on a very comfortable bench (One of many Adam made for this side of the clearing), the man himself had caused beautiful grass fields to spread like a blanket... then he sort of fell into a massive hole. A huge, sharp edge void in the ground.

The soil didn't look right either. On every edge of the ever growing hole, the loose dirt and expected roots looked more like heavily compressed stone, forced into a repeating structural pattern.

She took more pictures. Her report was going to be awesome this year!

Her attention was drawn however to the sky pretty quickly.

Why the hell was there a series of hot air balloons in the sky?

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

The female Grunt (Agent 21142, ready for duty!) felt something inside relax a bit when she saw the young girl Anita gaping up at their rides. She had been a bit worried that the little one would have run into problems being so close to such a Target as Adam. Probably unwarranted concerns, but the heart didn't usually work on logic.

Powerful people did not always make good companions or guardians, after all.

And he WAS powerful. Even as the ships were carefully landing, she could see the clearly artificial clearing and the stupidly massive hole with something red glowing in the deep depths. Likely her future employer, no doubt.

She lept from the descending balloon and swept the girl into a hug. "Anita! I'm so glad to see you again!"

The girl squawked but eventually returned the hug. "Good to see you too, Ms. Grunt."

She smirked. "Actually I got promoted!" Mostly because she had been assigned to work with Target Adam, or Target Outsider as the internals had labeled him. "You can technically call me Alice now, and I am officially an 'Underling'! One more promotion, and I will become an actual Team Rocket Trainer!"

The girl clapped. "Congratulations!" She looked over to the many unloading people and their baggage. "And your friends?"

She glanced at the teams and made some hand signals, the masses giving a rapid solute and then getting to work. "These Grunts are some of the more talented customer service people, our Bosses are more than interested in investing in Adam's new project. Especially if it shows such high standards and quality as the other facilities he constructed on the way down here."

Anita sighed. "Did anyone tell you what his plan is right now? Why we are really doing this?"

She blinked. "Isn't he making an entertainment facility?"

The girl sighed towards the ever deepening hole. "Well, yeah. Sorta. Although it is becoming more an entertainment town at this rate." She shook her head. "Adam wants to catch a Plusle and Minun for two of his wives. Since they like to cheer, being cheering Pokémon, he decided the best way to do this is to put on a show for someone to clap for."

The Rocket Underling blinked... and turned toward the massive, black hole in the center of an artistically and artificially created park surrounded by what seemed to be a black-leaved demon tree wall. "Huh."

Then her brain hiccuped. "Wait, wives!?"

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Adam finished the bottom layer of metallic foam and began creating his Conversion Generators when his 'Technomancy' detected the arrival of all SORTS of electronics above. "Oh, Team Rocket acts quickly."

Good, he needed people to ensure this place was run right when he left, and didn't want to leave droids or drones behind. Ignoring of course the customized 'Repair Drones' he may or may not have installed in all his facilities. They didn't count. At least, they didn't have a full AI installed.

Layer after layer of reinforced shielding and flooring was added as he slowly built the foundations upwards. Oh, there WOULD be access tunnels and tubes to reach the equipment down there... and maybe a drone or dozen to repair any issues, even if they would never exit this basement... but at the surface, it would all be sealed up. Only the redirection of power, supplies, and cooling would be allowed into the foundation stations.

No reason to expose this Realm to his more interesting technology so easily. It wouldn't bother him if someone broke in down here, but there was no point in making it an easy process to accidentally stumble upon either.

Simmy and Sammy had been making suggestions as he progressed, and there was a layer of metal Glyphs forming a rune circle under the entire clearing now. It generated a Purification field to promote healthiness, better health, and prevent disease and poison. Because Poison Pokémon exist.

Not much was invested in defenses, aside from a feeling of disease and paranoia to anyone with malicious intentions... the staff and security personnel and Pokémon would have to step in there and fill in the gaps. It should be more than enough, considering how unobjectionable the building should be.

Speaking of staff, he finally reached surface level again! The final flooring of metal was rapidly covered by a carefully grown wood surface using 'Manipulation' and 'Growth'. The walls themselves would also be part of this single Tree, even as metal and wiring was embedded within. Should prevent flooding too, as the roots would suck that stuff up. Oh! "Grunt!"

The female Team Rocket Member was distracted... oh, right, his extra limbs. "Ignore those. I am so glad you all showed up so quickly! Who do I talk to leadership wise, I want to go over these schematics before I finish construction."

She recovered well enough. "Good day Adam! I got promoted to Underling, and I am in charge of... whatever it is you are doing here. So I can go by Alice now instead of Grunt."

He blinked. "Oh. Well, congratulations! Got any team leads under you then? Because I have some schematics I would like to run by your people."

Even as she began calling over several workers, Adam made a wooden table with a scale model of the area on top. "The public stuff is obvious enough, but I added labels for you to easily tell what is what. I'm sort of stealing the cooler things I ran into along the way here, like the second level that has some features from Mauville City and a couple of buildings from Verdanturf Town."

He gestured. "I want to add a police station and a Pokémon Center on the first floor, but I don't know the procedures to do so officially."

A few quick conversations with her people and she turned back to him. "Right, move these around a bit. They will be too popular, and create massive crowds that will cause traffic issues if they are that close together. Add some more elevators here and here, and emergency staircases as well."

Her people were... really good at this. "The Hotel should be closer to the entrances to the theater and the pool/park elevators. Move the main entrance leading to the second floor over here, closer to the middle. That way anyone heading to the main entertainment sections will have to pass by the Hotel itself, that should increase staying customers. And you need a gift shop, as something this complicated is already more than some circuses or theme parks I've seen. Take advantage of that. I suggest over here, near the main entrance."

One of the Grunts stepped forward. "I can get schematics of what needs to be available locally for any City trying to set up a new Pokécenter or Police Office. if you have it all set up and contact the officials, they will send someone over near instantly. They are supported by all the local Governments, so the paperwork is easy."

Adam watched as the model changed in real time according to their suggestions. "I CAN make areas underground, and I added some access areas under the theaters for actors and stuff as well as moving props around, but I want to keep people above ground as much as possible, especially non-employees. I could increase this side to four floors if needed, but I would have to expand the employee side to match the aesthetics."

The structure twisted and shifted as the group made suggestions, Anita popped in and gave her point of view as a kid who thought various things would be cool, Pidgey made a good suggestion about having areas for people flying in (As riding Pokémon through the air was VERY common), and so on and so forth.

In the background, plant based lighting fruits began forming on the now black colored bark covering the tree wall, the grass coating the ground was mutating into a thick moss that curled into itself rather than threatening to grow up into tall grass, and the wooden Theater continued to build up mass for the future growth plans.

Abra's eyes slid open ever so slightly.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

The world was energy, the dreams were many.

Floating, twisting, growing. Hopes and dreams and greed.

Her fishbowl Trainer had many limbs, and they danced in the world, in the air.

The ground was on fire, and within the flames a star was born. Energy fueled the Aura of life, an unending source that rapidly flowed into the foundation of a new endeavor.

A message from her fishbowl. Two Angels, demon and saint, plans within plans.

But the message was valid. Her partner needed assistance.

Her small, cat like orange head pulsed slightly, her eyes glowed purple.

Who said 'Telepathy' was restricted to passing messages?

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

The Trainer nearly fell off his bike. "THE HELL!?"

Seriously, what WAS that!? It had been... like, out the corner of his eye. Something shifting that shouldn't have been there.

Looking over to ensure it wasn't some sort of ambush... he blinked.

Had that path always been there?

He glanced at the sign. "Route 110 Urban Renewal Project: Come see the new 'Theater Ball'! Free entrance tickets on opening... night?"

Looking at his friends catching up (He WAS the fastest, take that Dave!) he waved them over. "Guys, did any of you hear about this 'Renewal Project' thing?"

As the curious Trainers followed the very lovely trail into the woods, they failed to notice the sign fading away.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Anita walked into the new Pokécenter, even as the surrounding facilities were being formed by thick, metal-like wooden growth. It looked... disturbingly like the Pokécenter back in Rustboro City honestly. Even if it had a bit more storage available and the supplied medicine was going to be higher quality than the stuff normally available to such a place, overall it felt like she had stepped back in time to their last visit.

And about Adam's various machines, NO. She WASN'T sure how Adam could just make a vending machine auto-refill its own supply automatically. Alice's suggestion of 'Don`t Ask' had turned into something like a mantra for the poor girl, even as she continued to take random photos documenting the process.

She blinked when the door, finished and functioning only twenty minutes ago, automatically slid open AGAIN with a cheerful ding. "Oh! This is quite lovely."

Turning, Anita blinked. "Hello?"

Nurse Joy and five Chansey's entered with a smile. "Yes, we were told this was the new Pokécenter that applied for service?"

Well damn that was quick. And at least she wouldn't have to wait a long time down here. She shook hands with the nurse while smiling. "Yes, I'm Anita. Adam is the one who made this place, and he wanted to make sure you had everything you needed to make this new center work out. Any changes or questions you can give to me and I will make sure they are addressed."

Did she get extra credit for this? She felt like she deserved extra credit.

Nurse Joy was already bustling behind the counter, having moved WAY faster than Anita had expected. "We received Mr. Burn's paperwork earlier today, and he said something about a basic stock of medication being already available... Oh. Oh my!"

Her hands shook as she moved supplies during her examination of the shelves. "Max Ethers, Max Elixirs, Vitamins, Revives and Max Revives, and the standard potions for various status effects... and so many available!"

Her pink, egg like Pokémon chirped. "Chanse! Chansey sey sey Chansey."

The nurse blinked. "Evolutionary stones!? And not just a full set, but with duplicates! These are QUITE hard to find in such large quantities and with this level of purity."

Anita winced. Yeah, Adam had been disappointed in those. Apparently they were just really condensed, physical forms of 'Aura', or Pokémon types. Apparently he had run into something similar in the past, and had expected more. He had grumbled about it for hours afterwards.

The professional wandered back to the front counter and fussed with the tools. "The equipment provided like the 'Automated Recovery Tool Station' seem to be even BETTER than the standard supplies provided to our facilities. This is beyond all expectations!"

Her face slowly fell. "But I am not sure we can afford to station here with the amount of Government subsidy provided for facilities this size."

Nurse Joy waved some notes she had somehow had time to make. "Just the medication alone Mr. Burns provided is beyond high quality and very expensive. The compensation process would be unsustainable... Even if he offered to sell them at cost, the stipend wouldn't cover it."

She looked with longing at the over-stocked shelving. "If we somehow got donations to help find the budget... no. No, things like those stones or the improved diagnostic machines... even some Regions may not have enough to pay for this. I have no clue how Mr. Burns gathered it all in the first place, it must have been a lifetime of effort."

Anita coughed. "Actually, this uh." No, don't mention that he just magicked it all up in a few minutes. "Adam... I mean, Mr. Burns is not concerned about money."

Several Chansey's joined the Nurse in confusion.

Anita waved at the counter. "Adam is... very wealthy." Cause he can just make whatever he wants after seeing it once. Talk about cheating. "He doesn't expect you to pay for anything here, this was all just provided to ensure you would have not issues getting started up. A 'Welcome' gift of sorts, I guess."

She moved the stunned nurse towards the back facility, opening a specific door. "See this room? Adam made these Vending machines to offer resupplies of everything currently in the Center. And it costs about 10% less than market value, or 2% lower than manufacturing cost value according to what he could find out about the market."

Yeah, no clue how these things work. Anita waved at them. "Use the stipend or whatever that is on these to resupply the Center, and don't worry about what Adam gave already." Because he was busy building above them right now, and shouldn't be distracted. No one wants to be buried under a building because the one magical worker is distracted by technicalities.

Nurse Joy walked with wonder, seeing how many products were listed on the many devices. "What... what an astounding selection. How much of this supply is currently available?"

No idea. "Adam says it won't be an issue." Cause it is magic anyway, or something. "Everything should be in stock for... a very long time."

The nurse chuckled. "Now I feel terrible asking Officer Jenny to help me carry all those supplies into the building." She watched the Chansey crowd begin moving crates into the back. "Especially since Mr. Burns has provided almost a decade's worth of high quality materials. Forget resupply, we can probably build up an emergency reserve of cash by saving the stipend month to month."

Anita blinked. "Wait, Officer Jenny is here?"

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Being part of nature, connected to the unreal and to the Fairy energy of the unseen, allows one to be sensitive to change.

This is both good and bad, as his partner and child had to follow closely as he searched for somewhere they could securely raise their young.

His kind often worked closely with Humans, due to their nature and ease of communication even if talking was off the table. That said, this same understanding meant finding a GOOD human was at times difficult.

And his standards had rose sky high when his little one arrived. Family first, family forever.

In the dense woods, he suddenly felt a possible future. His Psychic nature felt... colors. Bright lights. Songs and dances. The world. A Stage.

His family needed safety... and he could feel it out there. Far closer than expected.

~~~Broken Adventure~~~

Alice sweat dropped. "No, Officer."

Officer Jenny's Growlithe grumbled as she crossed her arms. "Because I am seeing a LOT of 'Team Rocket' logo's in the area."

She coughed. "Look, I may or may not be employed by certain well known organizations, but I swear we are not the ones leading this construction project."

The police woman tapped her foot. "I assumed so when this 'Mr. Burns' fellow built a police station overnight using more funding than most capital cities. I could arrest a thousand people and secure them down there..." She glared at the Underling. "And I WILL if I need to."

Jenny sighed and relaxed slightly. "Look, your various 'freely organized group fans' and so such WILL follow the laws while in this territory, is that understood?"

The Underling quickly nodded. "No problem! Adam... I mean, 'Mr. Burns' has no plans on making this into some sort of scam or whatever. I can show you the development plans, give a tour... it is on the up and up, 100%!"

With a sigh, the officer tapped her thigh, Growlithe returning to her side and on duty. "Very well. Where is Mr. Burns anyway?"

The Underling waved upwards. "Building the second and third floors for the next few hours. They have a play they want to do this afternoon or tomorrow, and he wants the electrical system up for a few practice performances before his big number. I'm just trying to make sure the customers wandering in are staying out of the construction zones."

The officer stumbled. "Wait, what!?"