Chapter 17

I was able to return to my mom's room entrance without any kind of problem, except that the Pokémon started staring at me as I crossed the hallway.

I knocked on the door, and when mom opened it, I entered immediately.

"Mom, I'm back," I said before observing the room, which was completely dark with all the lights turned off. Nevertheless, I could still see how my sister and Swadloon were asleep.

"Lopunny (Welcome)," Mom replied with a rather soft voice and walked to the bed before lying down. She didn't seem thrilled to know what happened when I went with Liza, so I just focused on my sister and Swadloon.

They both looked very tired. The journey they took flying to the city from the forest, and the fact that they had to walk a long way to get to this place, must have been very exhausting. Pokémon may be in better shape than many humans from my old world, but mental exhaustion should also be taken into account.

I feel like my life has taken a 180-degree turn just for this day. All the plans I had about pretending to be a trainer were completely altered by the recent events, and now I have to attend a school.

I turned back into my Zorua form, jumped onto the bed, and mom started to stroke my ears a bit. I could feel my mind calming down a bit, and I could gradually close my eyes.

---

When I opened my eyes, I could see that the room was illuminated by the light from a television showing a group of human superheroes accompanied by an Eevee Evolution respective to the color of their trainer's suit.

I stopped looking at what was on the TV and glanced around the room. It took me a moment to remember the last thing I did and why I was in this place. I looked towards my sister and Swadloon, who were watching TV from the bed, while they seemed to be eating some snacks from a pet dish. But I kept looking and noticed someone else standing out in this room. I fixed my gaze on Liza, who was invading this place, while she seemed to be having breakfast with some cookies and a drink, next to mom, by a table.

(What are you doing so early in this place?) I wanted to stay away from her for a while. Because of the conversation earlier, I can't afford to let my guard down too much with her. Plus, I don't know what she might have noticed by looking at my 'essence.'

"Is that how you greet me? Even though I'm helping you?" She pouted, and mom spoke in her place.

"Lopunny (Liza came to tell me about your future enrollment in a Pokémon trainer school, and she also brought you a gift)," mom replied calmly, showing that she was completely used to her trainer's behavior.

Liza, seeing that we didn't follow her lead, picked up a suitcase next to the table and placed it on top.

I was quite curious about what it contained, so I transformed into Rimuru and walked to the table. Liza said, "Open it," with a slight smile.

I started to open the suitcase, and when I looked inside, I saw three Poké Balls that were much smaller than I thought, and I felt my heart start beating quickly. Are they giving me the opportunity to choose a starter Pokémon? It's a very generous gift from Liza, but her next words were like pouring cold water on me.

"These are empty Poké Balls, you can use them to capture your sister and Swadloon. Isn't my gift amazing?" Liza said proudly, but I only felt a bit disappointed for a moment when it wasn't what I thought. Then the corners of my mouth lifted, and I grabbed one of them. I wanted to throw it at my sister, but I remembered something important, I don't know how to use them. All I remember from the anime is that they simply made a pose and threw it.

Should I press the white button in the middle of the Poké Ball?

Liza seemed a bit annoyed by my initial reaction when I heard they were empty. She started to explain how to use the Poké Balls, "To use them, you have to press the button in the middle of the upper red part and make it contact with the Pokémon you are going to capture. But make sure not to hold it too long while doing it, or it will try to capture you." When I heard her, I was about to press the button before throwing it at my sister on impulse, but Liza seemed to remember something else and said:

"Although I don't know if you'll be able to do it because the current Poké Balls are made so that Pokémon can't use them due to a disastrous incident that occurred in the past. But at least try, maybe your illusion will allow you to use them, and if it doesn't work, I'll just have to ask for help from someone I know." I started to observe the Poké Ball, and they seemed to be made of steel or some kind of metal.

I approached the bed where my sister and Swadloon were. "Sister."

Liza and Swadloon started to look at me, and it seems they just realized I woke up. "Buneary (What's up, brother?)" my sister asked, while still watching TV.

"Liza brought a gift for us," I said, showing one of the empty Poké Balls I had received. "We can use them to capture you and Swadloon."

My sister's expression changed from confusion to surprise as she looked at the Poké Ball in my hand. "Capture us? Will you put us in that round thing like Liza's Pokémon?" she asked, evidently confused.

I nodded, explaining what Liza had told me about how to use the Poké Balls and that it might not work.

My sister sat on the bed and looked at the Poké Ball before saying with much interest, "Buneary (Alright, I want to know what it's like to be inside a Poké Ball)."

Swadloon, who seemed quite interested in our conversation, asked, "Swadloon (After Buneary, is it my turn?)"

"Yes, after trying it with my sister, I'll capture you right away." She seemed happy to hear my answer.

I moved away several meters from my sister and prepared the Poké Ball to throw it. "Sister, are you ready?" I asked, waiting for her response.

My sister seemed to contemplate my hand, where I held the Poké Ball, for a moment before nodding determinedly.

"Lopunny (Buneary, don't resist if you feel uncomfortable when you're inside the Poké Ball)," mom said from the table, and I saw Liza seemed to have high expectations about what I was going to do.

I got into position and shouted, "Buneary, you're mine!" before pressing the button and throwing the Poké Ball. Although I didn't shout it very loudly out of embarrassment, I've always wanted to shout that sentence.

To my surprise, when the Poké Ball made contact with my sister, it bounced off, and a red and white light beam extended from the Poké Ball, surrounding my sister before she disappeared into the Poké Ball.

The Poké Ball closed automatically and ended up falling onto the bed before starting to wobble a bit.

"I did it!" I exclaimed excitedly as I approached to see the Poké Ball with my sister inside.

As I was about to press the button, I could hear Liza's loud laughter. "Hahaha! I didn't expect you to look so excited when throwing the Poké Ball. I guess you're still a kid." I felt embarrassed about what I did when I heard her and saw her holding some kind of camera. I think it will be very embarrassing if other people see that video, but I saw mom give Liza a slight kick to her legs, which made her stop laughing and seemed quite angry with mom. I felt much better.

I pressed the button, and my sister came out of the Poké Ball. "How was it being inside the Poké Ball?" I asked with quite curiosity.

She seemed to think about it for a moment before starting to explain what happened. "Buneary (At first, I was being restrained, and I wanted to resist, but I didn't because of what mom said, and after that feeling disappeared. In front of me appeared a place full of grass and hills where you could see the sky)." She began to stretch her arms, while highlighting how huge that place seemed.

Liza got up from the chair and approached us before saying, "Wow, that surprised me. I really didn't think it would work, but congratulations on capturing your first Pokémon. In case you're curious about why your sister said she was in a grass field, it's because Poké Balls create a virtual space that is the one that the captured Pokémon species generally enjoys the most." I saw how my sister and Swadloon seemed confused and surprised at the same time by what Liza said, and I also tried to make a similar reaction.

Liza sat back down and continued eating with mom after seeing our reactions, and I threw the Poké Ball at Swadloon again.

When I captured Swadloon, my sister and I asked her what she saw, and her answer was, "Swadloon (A place full of many trees and bushes)."

When we finished with this, Liza left after telling me with expectations, "I'll give you some time to think of a name. When you do, come see me, and I'll have your trainer card ready."

I started to have breakfast, and when I finished, mom took us out of the Pokémon gym in Harmony City to take a tour of the city.

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Here are the images made with AI.

Liza.

Pirla.

Kurle.

I had already uploaded them in the comments of the previous chapter, but I did it very late, so it's likely that hardly anyone saw them because very few people read the chapter comments. I must say that it took me a lot of effort to make them, and it took around two hours, but the one that gave me the most trouble was Pirla's because her skin always came out too white... Although it was fun to make them, and I think using an AI to create images could even become a bit addictive.