Danger looms over Alamos Town

From horizon to horizon the firmament shows a bright blue sky today in the world of pokemon with barely a cloud hanging in sight.

A sight like this in a world like this, capable of capturing the fantasy of many, including a certain young man, who along with his partner Buneary battles his way to attain the title of pokemon champion.

A journey of adventure, hard work and training; Shared with friends. With new friends around every corner and new experiences around every turn!

... Case in point, the newest adventure lies dead ahead!

A space time rift. 

And there, an irreality exposed, heretofore unheard of! Poised to redefine the undiscovered and the mysterious.

Explosions of untold power are not a rare occurrence there. But a swarm of Unown still felt like it happened far too close for comfort and they scattered in fear like the ethereal wind between the worlds.

Wind, which turns dust of manifested time and space into terrible storms of thunder and lightning.

In one particular corner of this shapeless rift of space is Palkia.

The Goddess of space looms, threateningly, poised to strike out and radiating a pink aura of pure energy around herself. The pearls embedded in her shoulder armor glow in a similar shade of a pinkish red and her long, solid tail swishes aggressively.

At the other end of the endless gap in time is another God. 

Dialga. The God of time.

This God sparkles and shines with blue energy as his aura flares up. The diamond growing out of his chest glimmers brilliantly with power.

He lets out a roar that is incomprehensible to the human ear. A terrifying noise that shatters the windows of countless buildings in a few nearby dimensions.

A bolt of lighting with the power to tear worlds asunder marks the beginning of their battle.

"Two opposite entities that never should have met, crossed paths in this space-time rift. An ill-fated meeting that happened and will happen a million-billion, an infinite number of times, in the endless expanse of the void."

Their unbridled wrath has brought forth chaos, destruction and death everywhere and every time it connects with a real world. 

This time, it is on course to envelop the town that is to be the next location of our heroes.

"And as a result all is collapsing."

In a random basement of this very town sits a middle-aged man with gray hair and bags under his eyes. Clearly a scientist.

He reads from a book with only the illumination that his computer array's monitors offer him.

"What could be the true meaning of this horrible nightmare?" He mutters out after finishing the page.

"... Grandpa Godey's diary, huh?" His tiredness of long nights in front of his work is washed away as excitement bubbles to the surface. "Wow! What an interesting find!"

He takes a long swig from his cold mug of coffee to start another day of work after skipping sleep once again. The book snaps shut but a blast of dust ejects from it and blows in his face, causing him to sputter and cough out the particles he breathed in.

His fit develops to a panic. 

The ground is shaking.

The world is quaking!

It is the most powerful earthquake ever since scientists have discovered their unnatural existence.

An antiquated model of the solar system - an orrery - rattles on an equally ancient table as the man struggles to view the shaky recordings on his monitors.

His equipment beeps with alarms because it has discovered an epicenter which has formed itself over Alamos Town.

"An epicenter? Impossible! Unless..."

Unabashed horror fills the visage of the man. Blood drains from his face and his hair seemingly loses even more color.

The 22 year old man, who looked like 40, has aged to 60 in an instant from fear alone.

Back inside the space-time rift, Dialga and Palkia smash into each other in a fierce and brutal battle.

The shock-waves of their impact ripple across the multiverse.

Palkia attacks with an Aura Sphere. The pink orb shines in her colors as it speeds through the void.

But Dialga simply floats to the side and dodges the attack. A powerful Hyper Beam is instantly fired from his mouth in retaliation.

Protect encases Palkia and blocks off the tremendous move completely.

Dialga follows up with Power Gem without even a second of break, forcing his opponent to dodge to the side as Palkia prepares her most potent move.

The pink pearls inside her shoulders light up stronger than ever before as she commands space itself to bend to her will. 

Space turns into quarks and quarks condense into pure energy around her claw and emit a bright pink glow.

With a swipe of her arm, she sends the silent Spacial Rend forward to destroy. 

A move with godlike powers that was strong enough to tear through Dialga's Protect. The shield shattered in an instant but absorbed enough energy so that he could tank the rest.

But Dialga did not take a hit without becoming angry. Or rather even more angry.

The metallic structure - his tail - fans out and expands like a breathing lung. The diamond in his chest fiercely shines with his signature-blue color.

Particles of pure time coalesce inside his mouth as he prepares his ultimate move. Roar Of Time.

Time itself is powering the attack and with an incomprehensible noise, a beam of energy blasts forth faster than the speed of light and within a single moment, connects with Palkia.

Another massive explosion shudders through the void and sends another swarm of Unown reeling in terror.

The blast created a cloud of dust, of particles that are the building blocks for new dimensions.

And when Palkia exits the cloud, it can be seen... That it was a critical hit!

The pearl on her left shoulder is damaged. Cracks cover it like cobwebs and the glow has dimmed to a mere spark.

The owner of it has become more enraged than ever before and rushes back into close combat.

... A basement in Alamos Town is filled with the sounds of an orrery falling to the ground and shattering into pieces.

---

Despite the promise of death and destruction, it appears that our heroes have found themselves a beautiful day on which to continue their journey.

Swole's quest for pokemon championship is shared with Buneary, Salandit, Riolu and his childhood friend-turned-girlfriend Dawn, who quests to become the top coordinator of the grand festival. And the next site of one of these quests, is the pokemon contest located in Alamos Town.

"Shouldn't we have gotten there by now?" Dawn asks her companion as they climb through the rugged terrain leading to Alamos Town. The mountains around them rise sharply, their peaks reaching for the sky.

Between Floaroma Town and Oreburgh City, the landscape is dominated by towering mountains. These natural barriers not only define the region's geography but also shape its infrastructure and economy.

Valley Windworks, situated at the narrow end of the valley east of Floaroma Town, is a colossal wind power plant. Its turbines harness the concentrated winds, generating enough electricity to power over a quarter of the Sinnoh region.

Mars of Team Galactic is currently at the plant, negotiating a deal to power a secret mega-project: A dangerous device known as the 'Galactic Bomb'.

But their journey has little to do with such trivial threats.

Instead, they've been battling strong winds and wild pokemon while navigating the path south of Floaroma Town. This well-traveled track through the wilderness is a popular shortcut for trainers moving between the pokemon contest halls of Floaroma and Alamos Town.

Despite the path's popularity, many, including Dawn and her companion, often find themselves lost in the dense, twisting trails. Alamos Town, their destination, is renowned for its defensible position. Encircled by mountains and surrounded by treacherous hills and light forests, it's nearly impregnable. Which is ideal for safety but challenging for any traveler.

As they push forward, our hero, Swole, responds to the question that was repeated a dozen times already.

"I'm sure we're almost there already-- Oh! Actually, I can see Alamos Town just behind that hill!"

He is almost a head taller than her and can easily see over obstacles long before she can.

"Ha. Ha." Dawn's laugh drips with sarcasm. "I'm not falling for that again. I'm not dumb, you know-- Oh fuck off! It was really behind the hill! Stop laughing, you nerd!"

"Ouch! Stop pinching me, you-- ..." The wise man stops himself from making an outrageous error.

"Yeees?"

"You beautiful and funny woman."

"Good."

What they see is a large town nestled on top of the plateau of a very large mountain.

Its base is almost entirely surrounded by a lake. But it is not an island. It is a peninsula. There is a land bridge that connects the base of the mountain with the base of one of the surrounding mountains.

Perhaps after heavy rainfall it would become a fully isolated island; If it was not for a single, solid, stone bridge that connects the town to the road network connecting Jubilife City with Oreburgh City.

However, the treacherous geology has decided to mess with our trainer one last time. The bridge is on the south of the town. But our group of traveling trainers arrived from the north.

Unlucky for them.

Dawn drops to the ground. Exhausted. Defeated. "I don't wanna go around..." She complains as Prinplup pats her back a couple of times in what he thinks is a measured, stoic and kind gesture.

The vast chasm between them and the town does not care about the wants and needs of a young woman.

"Me neither. But we don't really have a choice. Besides, even if we go all the way around, we will still have most of the evening to check in and go sightseeing."

Just as they begin their track with slumped, hunched backs, a voice reaches their weary ears from above.

"Hey! You, there! Yes you! Who else?! I have something to solve your problem!" A female voice. "Would you like to buy a lift?"

Luckily for them, an intrapreneurial woman at 22 years of age flies above them in a hot air balloon.

If it can be called that. A better fitting name would be a DrifblimP.

She leans out of a woven, wooden gondola which floats through the air, lifted by a Drifblim. 

A few Drifloon, a type of balloon-like pokemon, hover nearby and provide the woman with scouting information. They detected the trainers and informed her of a new set of potential customers.

At this point, the trainers are willing to pay almost any price for a shortcut like that, and they agree to the surprisingly friendly price of 5₽ per person.

The blonde, blue eyed woman in a red fleece-jacket introduces herself as Alice. 

Alice has her blonde hair styled in resemblance to her favorite pokemon's ears. Which just happens to be Lopunny. Her clothes are suitable for the Sinnoh weather and her bubbly personality hides her true motives.

The DrifblimP quickly rises and traps the young trainers in her business savvy clutches.

"By the way," Alice quickly changes the topic. "I work part-time as a tour guide to finance my music studies. Would you like to join tomorrow's tour group? 50₽ per person."

Dawn and Swole share an uncomfortable glance. The price is outrageous.

"It will be worth it! I guarantee it!"

But if they say no, the rest of the flight would be very awkward.

"Yes... sure." Dawn relents.

"Did you say tour group? Who else is in there? Any weird or suspicious people?" Swole - ever paranoid, but not paranoid enough - asks.

"Oh... uhm." Alice is put on the spot. "They are... fine people. I don't remember their names but they are a group of 4 trainers. Two of them are great! ... But the girl has a constant resting bitch face and one guy is too forward-- I mean, they are fine!"

Swole puts 2 and 2 together. 

He realizes that it might be Zoey, Barry, Ash and Brock. 'But a resting bitch face?' He thinks of the weird description of who is most likely supposed to be Zoey.

"What did the guy look like? Tanned skin and squinting eyes?"

"How did you know!? And the girl has red hair and a face that says, 'I wish I was somewhere else right now'!"

"The guy would be Brock. An... acquaintance. The girl could be Zoey, my girlfriend!"

The young man is too excited to finally see his long-distance girlfriend again to notice the women share an awkward glance with each other.

Dawn's jealousy is on overdrive ever since she found out that Swole planned a date for himself with Zoey in Alamos City before he even considered inviting Dawn on a date. 

A second date, that is.

No number of dates is enough for her. She ultimately wants all of them.

Alice's awkwardness stems from her female instincts which are telling her that there is something going on between Swole and Dawn.

But she decides not to butt-in into their private concerns.

Especially after she notices the perfect distraction coming into view as the DrifblimP moves over Alamos Town at a leisurely pace.

The town's most unique building is on full display.

"Ahem. If you would like to look to your right, please. These are the Space-Time Towers!"

The building is a twin-tower in the general shape of a lyre. Two elaborate towers connected by a former ballroom hall at the center and a bridge around 3 quarters of the way up. Complex decorations that appear like the strings of a lyre are built underneath the bridge and at the center of the bridge is a roofed over observation platform.

The eastern tower is tipped with a blue roof and blue windows, while the western building features pink accents instead.

It is by far the tallest structure in the town and perhaps the most impressive building of the entire Sinnoh region as well.

"The brilliant architect Godey designed the Space-Time Towers 100 years ago. Or rather, the design came to him in a dream. He believed he needed to build them to protect the town from a terrible calamity. But all it really managed to do was to bankrupt him... But that's where we hold our pokemon contests now! Cool, isn't it?"

The base of the towers is large enough to fit a stadium inside.

"It bankrupted him?" Dawn asks.

"That's not very cool, I guess." Swole follows.

"Well... yes. That part sucks, but it's a cool b-- Ahhh!" Her voice cuts off and a startled screech of fright escapes her as she holds on to the gondola for dear life.

An earthquake shakes the town.

Even the people who are flying in the middle of the air are shaken up by the unnatural quaking of the universe.

Everyone is too shocked by the quaking to notice a barely visible shimmer moving through the air.

It was a shimmer like the one seen by the passengers on the ferry to Canalave City. Back then, it was the last thing they would ever see.

But alas, this time the shimmer was too weak to be seen by anyone and has gone entirely unnoticed.

All that the shaking managed to do, was to stir awake the vigilance of our ever-paranoid hero. 

"I should have known it was a bad idea to skip walking! The universe always punishes us for taking shortcuts!" He says.

"Well, there was the ferry... And the M.S. Anne... But you're being paranoid, you big baby."

Alice laughs at the perceived joke. "Don't worry, it was just turbulence. It's normal." 

It is not.

Danger looms over Alamos Town.

---

Swole-POV:

"What are you doing now, Swole?" Dawn asks.

After landing and forgetting to exchange contact information with Alice, she sent us to the town's supposedly best hostel for trainers where we checked in. Gonna have to find out her number later.

"I'm concentrating."

The hostel's room is for 6 people and 4 beds are already occupied. They marked their beds with towels and pieces of clothing.

It doesn't take a genius to conclude who the other occupants are.

Beyond the obvious patterns, I'd recognize Barry's Snorlax themed underwear any day.

"What are you concentrating on? Let's go look for Barry and Zoey!"

"Shh!"

"Don't shush me!"

"I'm trying to find them! But I need to concentrate!"

Currently, I am trying to use aura to feel for the bonds of my soul. If I can track them down, I will try to give them a surprise visit. 

A prank if I can think of something funny enough.

The bonds to my pokemon are extremely obvious to the point where they are sort of 'outshining' everything else. A thread connects Dawn and me and a few more go out of me but I can't tell what their destination may be.

One of these should be Zoey and another is Barry. And the rest are all the other people who have left an impact on my life... One of them is probably Domino.

"... Sooo. Aura?"

"Yes. Shush."

But a few feel slightly stronger. Not because of the impact they left but simply because of how close they are right now. Physically.

"That way. I found them. Come, follow me!"

I lead the way back out into the town. A fairly large town. Almost a city really, but it hasn't seen a lot of growth in recent years. This location must be too hard to build in.

"That's pretty cool what you can do with aura already. Can you teach me-- Wait, you're not bullshitting me, right? I'm gonna pinch you again, if you're just bullshitting me."

"I would never bullshit you." I lie.

"Did you see them before and are now just pretending to feel where they are?"

"No. Of course not."

Her eyes look at me in suspicion. "You're not just walking randomly and hope to find them, right?"

"You trust me so little."

"You told me 4 times that Alamos Town was right behind the next hill!"

Hahaha! That was fucking great! She ran ahead in excitement the first two times. "Oh. Yeah. We were lost back then. Now we aren't. We have my aura to lead us."

"If your aura is so great, why didn't you use it to get us un-lost, huh?"

My legs freeze up mid-step.

Dawn walks into my back and bounces off slightly. Riolu almost slips out of my grip and the others scramble to stay on top of me. I can confirm that Salandit's claws are still well groomed. They have a nice sharpness to them that is doing a really good job at digging painfully into my shoulder.

Then I start walking again. "Nope. We didn't know they were already here. I could have only used aura to get to them, not to the town."

With my confidence in my own navigational skills restored, I once again lead the way through the town.

A very pretty but densely packed town due to the size limitations. The buildings are all in a uniform style of white walls and red shingles and despite the lack of space, the population still planted a lot of trees and greenery for an incredible, quaint look.

The streets are pretty empty with just the occasional passerby walking past us. It is the middle of the day during the middle of a workweek after all.

"If you could lead us to them, then the town would have been right between us, since we came from opposite directions."

"..."

"You got nothing?"

"Nope. Nothing. You win."

"Heh." She chuckles.

"Why didn't you use your aura to do it instead?"

She grumbles something indecipherable.

"What was that?"

"Urgh. Because I need to train more."

"Guessed it. Heh."

She starts another ass-pinching war.

Turning a corner, our goal can be seen. Zoey, Barry, Ash and Brock are all sitting around a table in an outdoor cafe.

They are engrossed in a conversation and haven't noticed us yet. Alice was right. Zoey has a 'resting bitch face'.

Quickly, before anyone turns to us, I catch Dawn's hands before they can pinch some more and pull her back behind the corner to plan out a prank to play on them.

"Let's just scare them." Dawn suggests after a couple of idea failures. "We sneak up from behind and startle them. Perfect, harmless fun."

"But Ash and Brock are facing us. I don't trust them not to ruin it. Salandit, can you go in and distract them?"

She nods, climbs off and makes herself over to their table. Thereby ending our planning session prematurely. I'm sure with a little more time we could have gotten something even better.

Ash notices her first and with that, her mission is already a success.

"Hey, who's that pokemon? I've never seen that one before!"

Brock saves him the effort of pulling out his pokedex. "It's a Salandit, Ash. They are usually native to the islands of the Alola region but sometimes they can be found in other hot places with high volcanic activity as well."

"I should capture her!" But Salandit just sticks her tongue out at Ash. "Well! If you don't want to be captured, what are you doing here?"

"Maybe she wants something to eat?" Zoey suggests. "Hey, wait a minute... You look a little familiar... Where is your trainer?"

That's the signal. Salandit points with her claw to the opposite direction and every head turns that way.

On swift but stealthy legs I sneak closer. Two mischievous eyes look back at me from within Zoey's shadow. 

It's Misdreavus.

Dawn sneaks up behind Barry and readies her hands to strike.

Me too, but my aim is slightly different than hers.

"Guess who!?" She shouts as her hands cover Barry's eyes.

"Honk honk?" I cup both of Zoey's breasts from behind and squeeze them twice.

"Ah!" Barry is startled.

"Hieee!"

One hell of a punch was hastily thrown at my face! A little better aim and that would have been quite the bruise.

Her face shines red in embarrassment and anger. "How dare you-- Swole!?"

"What? I thought it was pretty funny."

Her angry eyebrows lift up in surprise before a grin stretches out on her face and she attacks me in a tight hug.

"It's so nice to see you again!" She finishes off by grabbing my ass and, "Honk honk."

"Oi! How dare you?" My own hands go straight for her butt.

"Alright, it was pretty funny! And Dawn! Ah haven't heard from you since forever! Come 'ere!"

The girls hug each other as well but Dawn makes sure Zoey's hands don't wander anywhere. 

Afterwards Dawn pulls Barry into a hug while I give Brock and Ash fist-bumps each. "Hey guys."

"Long time no see." Greets Brock, and Ash follows up with, "Hi! How many badges do you have yet? I got the Coal Badge already!"

My eyes move over to my friend. "Barry!?" I shout in outrage while we give each other a half handshake and half hug with a pat on each other's backs. "You didn't tell your traveling group about my accomplishments!?"

"And deny you your bragging rights?"

"Huh? Oh. Right! You see this, Ash?" I pull out my badge-case and show off the well polished Mine badge. "It's the Mine badge. And I got it on my first try after winning a 2 versus 3. Preeetty cool, huh?"

Half a ribbon tumbles out of the case and I toss it back in.

"... That is pretty cool."

He's not bothered enough by my taunt. "I heard it took you two attempts? Is that true?"

"Grrr... yes. So what? I'm still going to become the pokemon master!"

"Are you sure about that? Wouldn't you need to become the champion first? And I'm already going to become the next Sinnoh champion."

"Are you trying to start a fight? Well, let's go and have a battle!"

"Nah. Later." I wave him off and blow him a raspberry. "I want to catch up with my friends first."

Brock reels him back while Barry laughs out loud.

I take a chair from another table to sit between Zoey and Barry. Zoey snatches my arm and hugs it tightly to her body.

Nothing remains from her earlier mood. Something that doesn't go unnoticed by the others.

"Zoey? Is it your time of the month or something?" Barry asks with the tact of a sledgehammer.

"Yeah, you've been awfully moody ever since we arrived at Alamos Town." Ash follows his lead and commits to the same faux pas.

As tempted as I am to continue the round of teasing, I can feel her gnashing her teeth and her muscles tensing. Must be on her period.

It doesn't stop Dawn though. She pushes a small, white cylinder, wrapped in plastic and with a string attached to one end, past Barry and me across the table and offers it to Zoey.

A glare bores into the side of my head as I'm trying to stifle my laughs.

The others look at me expectantly. But I shake my head and remain neutral.

Zoey lets out a sigh of frustration as she picks up the cylinder and stores it in her infinite-space purse. 

"That's none of y'all's dang business. But if ya have to know what pisses me off..."

She takes a deep breath that only rekindles her anger. "I saw them. These flying cunts in their Meowth balloon. They followed us to this town!"

"Team Rocket?" Barry confirms. "I don't think they are that bad. You're just too easily annoyed."

"Not so bad? They keep trying to steal my Pikachu!"

"Well, yeah. But they never succeed. And they helped us to defeat Roark. I think they are just a quirky bunch of friends."

Ash's eyes land on me while he talks to Barry. "You have a weird sense of friends."

I choose to take that personally. "Oi!"

"Hahaha! I guess I have!" Barry rubs the back of his head abashedly. "But I take the friends I have with their flaws and all."

"Awww. Bro." I lean over and give him a hug.

"Bro. By the way... Zoey told me you guys puked in the bathroom too and made me clean it all up!"

"You did?" I ask her directly. "Wow. What a betrayal. Telling him was such a dick-move to the rest of us, you know?"

Barry laughs. "You're such a dick. Hahaha!"

Another wave of laughter captures the table and it in turn captures the attention of a waitress. I order a chocolate cake as a treat for myself and my pokemon and then we talk a lot more about our various adventures.

About the Tree of Beginning, Dawn's first contest, Akari's decision to make it big in the wilderness, my gym battle, the M.S. Anne, Dawn's first ribbon, our dual performance...

About their rescue operation of a horde of enslaved pokemon - enslaved by Team Rocket of course. They returned a young Nuzleaf to his Shiftry parents - their family was separated because of Team Rocket. They saved a fossil excavation site from being taken over by Team Rocket.

They stopped a group of pokemon poachers whose leader goes by the name J. Surprisingly, Team Rocket played a vital role in causing their partial arrest. J and a few of her closest henchlings got away at the last second.

Jessilina, who Zoey suspects is just Jessie in disguise, has already stolen three wins in a row from her. First in Jubilife City, then Oreburgh City and most recently in some random village where an informal contest was held for a year's supply of bananas instead of a ribbon.

"Why are you making such a fuss over a bunch of bananas?"

"It's not about the fruits! That wrinkly old prune keeps getting in my way!"

"Alright, sheesh." 

"Anyway, and then we met a really nice old lady who taught me an amazing cake recipe. It uses roasted and crushed Aspear Berry."

"Really? Aren't they way too sour for any cake?"

"Roasting them makes them release a lot more sweetness and their taste becomes a lot more like lemon candy. Want me to make one for you?"

"You will? Yes, please. I'd be very grateful."

"Hey!" Dawn says. "I learned how to make Poffins. I can bake too!"

Her cooking did improve greatly ever since she really tried to learn how to do it.

Speaking of cooking, our food arrived!

---

I can't believe it.

The piece of chocolate cake I was waiting so long for.

The first sweets I was going to treat myself to, ever since we left Jubilife City behind.

Gone.

Forbidden.

'Executive girlfriend decision'.

Buneary and Riolu both said it was extremely delicious and very chocolatey and moist. Salandit declined because it looked too sweet from sight alone.

"... Stupid cook off..."

"I'm going to bake you into submission!" Dawn furiously shouts at the top of her lungs.

"Bring it on! I'm ready to rise to the occasion and whisk you into oblivion!" Good one, Zoey.

"Ha! I knead to see you try!"

They are just standing in front of each other in the communal kitchen and fling food-based insults at one another. "Can you stop your half-baked bickering and get on with it? I'm hungry."

They promised delicious compensation. Instead, they deliver plates filled to the brim with emptiness.

Zoey begins by grabbing the flour and Dawn follows suit, their competitive spirit inflamed and their auras flare up just a little more beautifully in the process. 

Whisks are whirling, knives are chopping and pestles are stomping.

They are making one hell of a mess.

"Bro?" Barry timidly approaches me. "Were we this bad whenever we played Rock-Paper-Scizor? Dude... I feel embarrassed."

"Don't dwell on that. That way leads to a boring adult-life. But that's a good sign. Maybe you are growing up, after all!"

"Fuck you."

"Hahaha."

In the meantime, Ash inspects the work of the women. "Zoey? Why exactly are you having a cook-off?"

"Huh?" She pauses as she mixes the dries of her cake. "Uhh, no reason? I guess I'm just indulging Dawn."

"Hey! Who's indulging what?! This is a serious competition to determine who is the better cook!"

"Can I join?"

"Are you sure, Ash?" Brock says with concern in his voice. "You can't cook, remember?"

"Well, I sure can cook better than that guy." Did he just point at me?

Brock doesn't seem to notice the thinly veiled insult directed at me. That, or he doesn't care. "In that case, I think I will join too."

"Me too!" Barry joins and looks at me expectantly.

From the corners of my eyes, I can see them all expecting me to join as well. But my eyes are fixed into a glare.

"You really couldn't wait until our battle, huh? You do realize that I'm a perfect cook, right?" I'm not, but I'm a billion times better than him. "I'm going to destroy you."

"... Great!" Zoey announces. "Then it's settled! We're doing a big competition. Everyone will bake something and the one who makes the best desert wins!"

A pearl of sweat rolls down Dawn's face. Her nervousness wafts through the room and creates more tension than necessary.

Everyone immediately begins to do something for their recipes and... I don't actually know what to bake!

My mind is stuck on the chocolate cake that I missed out on but that's too simple!

I need to... I need to use something with pokemon berries! The ultimate taste enhancer.

And the berry that tastes best... This! The Pecha Berry! The sweetest berry of them all and the only one that isn't more or less disgusting in its raw form.

And the shape... Like a pair of boobs-- I mean, like a peach. I think I can safely treat them the same as a peach.

So... I will try to make a peach tart, covered in a layer of clear peach-jello, except it's all Pecha Berry instead of peach. Which should end up with a more pleasing color as well.

I start by blanching the Pecha Berry. A shallow cut along the skin of the berry before I put them into boiling hot water and then plunge them into ice cold water. 

The kitchen really has everything. Ice cube dispenser and all sorts of utensils.

Riolu watches with saliva leaking out of her mouth as I apply a little bit of pressure to peel the Pecha Berry.

The fleshy inside is a suggestive-- I mean tasty-- I mean pinkish looking pink. And unlike a peach, there is no stringy, fibrous fruit-flesh. It's more like a sponge with very fine pores. It's a bit too firm for my liking. They will need to be cooked in a water bath.

To make the Pecha jello, the peels are placed into a pot with some water and sugar and then the crap is boiled out of the peels. That should release all their taste into the water. 

While that boils, I make the dough for the bottom of the cake... I think a dry dough would be best considering all the fluids I add on top. Crumble pie for the cake-bottom.

More or less 2 parts flour and 1 part sugar and cold butter. And then it goes into the cake-form where I press it down for a dense, almost cookie-like structure. It goes into the oven to bake at 180°C as I continue preparing the other ingredients in the meantime.

I boil the peeled Pecha Berries in the strained peel-water for a couple of minutes to soften the fruit up and offer the peels to my pokemon to snack on.

Only Riolu accepts the sweet peels. I've noticed she has a real sweet-tooth... Lucario preferred salty and spicy. She loved the spaghetti bolognese I made.

Then I cut the halves into slices to cover the cake with later, prepare the jello and remove the baked cake-bottom from the oven.

After much deliberation, I decided to layer the slices in a heart-pattern. Salandit teases me about it but Riolu gushes over how nice it looks.

Salandit doesn't even dislike the design. She just knows it's an embarrassing, girly dessert and thinks teasing me is funny.

The cake looks pretty nice but it can be improved even more. "Salandit, can you lightly roast the fruit-layer? Just enough heat to caramelize the sugar?"

I trust her control over her flames and she doesn't disappoint. She breathes out a flame that isn't too hot and doesn't get too close to the cake either. A few edges are slightly burnt but that just adds to the appearance. 

It looks intended, which is most important in presentation.

Couldn't have done it any better with a blowtorch.

To cool it down faster, I place it in the fridge and then I search through the drawers for something that could work as a cake collar. Never needed one before in my life.

The other deserts don't even look half as good as my progress. Not sure if Ash's food is actually edible.

Barry made a berry compote. "Hah! Very funny."

"Heh. Thanks."

Continuing my rounds... 

"It's not ready yet! Don't look!" Dawn blocks her progress with her body.

Zoey's cake looks a little like a hazelnut cake. The roasted and crushed Aspear Berry is visually indifferent from hazelnuts.

She's currently grating a carrot. "My ma taught me that. Says all good cakes need a carrot."

It should work. Carrots don't have a strong flavor but carry a lot of water with them. The little bit of sweet flavor they have would help with the sourness of the Aspear Berry as well.

But no matter how it tastes, I will have her beat in presentation.

There is a cake collar in the drawer near Brock's battle station. He's making jelly-filled doughnuts. For presentation, he covers them in coconut flakes and a black stripe of marzipan.

They look identical to rice-balls. Very creative.

I return to my own cake, finish it and put it back into the fridge for the jelly to set.

While I sit back and pet my pokemon, Brock and Ash both manage to finish early and move here to talk.

"Hi." Only Brock acts like a normal human being. Ash is too busy shooting angry looks. "... Why are you both fighting exactly?"

"He started it!" Ash shouts. 

It's true but I glare back. "You owe me a pokeball and a potion."

"Huh!? That's it!? I don't even remember borrowing anything from you..."

"Your Pikachu went into our camp and attacked me out of the blue. With battle-cry and everything."

"Pika! Pika-pikachu!" 

"What?"

~"He said he had recognized you as Jimbob and wanted your help."

"Oh... Are you sure about that, Buneary?"

She nods.

"So maybe you don't owe me a pokeball and potion..."

"Wait, so you really are Jimbob!" Ash accuses. "Why did you tell me a fake name?!"

"Uhhh, why did I do that again? I think I was just annoyed at that moment? I really didn't want to be bothered back then."

"So, are you two good now?"

"He also stole my second place in the school tournament... But I guess luck is just part of the nature of tournaments." 

Was there nothing else?

He was pretty far up my shit-list, if I remember right. "Do you know who caused all the trouble at the Tree of Beginning?"

"No idea."

"Actually," Brock says. "I... I think it was Kidd Summers. I saw her laptop from time to time and she was trying to analyze the tree. And it happened right before the tree started to attack us... But that can't be possible! Kidd Summers is too cute to be evil!"

So... Not Ash's fault... 

"I'm keeping you at the top of my shit-list though. We are rivals, it's only fair that we have animosity against each other."

A cocky smile on my face should be enough to tell him how serious I take my list.

"What's a shit-list?"

"... A list of people you want to fight."

"I guess that means you are on my shit-list too."

"That's the spirit!"

"Swole, stop corrupting my traveling companions."

"Barry! You're also on my shit-list." He rolls his eyes as he sits down with us at the table. His compote must be done.

"You too, buddy."

"Guys are so weird." Zoey plants herself next to me. Meaning only Dawn is still baking.

Her hand sneaks under the table to take a hold of mine.

"Nuh uh. Girls are weird."

"What are you saying, Barry?!" Brock says. "Girls are wonderful creatures! You will understand once you're older."

"Yuck. Ya should stop being a creep, Brock. Yer never gonna get a girlfriend like that."

"Wha-!? Creep!? ..." His head slumps down before snapping back up. "No way! I won't stand for it! I will never stop putting women on the pedestal where they belong!"

Yuck.

"I thought they belonged in the kitchen..." Ash fucking Ketchum says with the most dead-serious tone I have ever heard from him.

Barry starts laughing and I follow his lead.

"Misdreavus. Confuse Ray."

"Zoey?! No, don't do it! Not again-- ouou wah? Huwhat?"

Barry holds his cramping stomach in laughter.

Everyone is laughing at Ash who is struggling to sit upright... Everyone... Except I'm missing one voice.

"Be right back." I give Zoey's hand a squeeze and make my way over to Dawn.

Loud, classical music begins blasting outside. Bells and strings perhaps? It's distracting enough to cause Dawn to startle when I touch her shoulder.

"Swole? I didn't hear you coming... What's up?"

"What's up yourself? I came to check up on you."

"T-there is nothing to check up on. Why?"

"Oh really?" I gently massage her shoulder with one hand. "Then where is my food, woman?"

A smile is on her lips. "Don't be such a dick."

"But I'm a lovable dick."

"Haha! I mean, gross. Macho."

"So... How's your food coming along?"

"Sigh. Not good. I messed up the second batch already."

"Scoot over. I'm gonna help you out."

"You can't! It's a competition!"

"Only the first place matters anyway. And that's between Brock and me."

Her eyes roll in their sockets. "But I wanna be better-- a good cook..."

She wanted to say better than Zoey.

That's what this whole thing is about, isn't it? A boob-measuring contest between Dawn and Zoey. And Dawn's going to end up dead-last, if you ignore Ash.

She just had to challenge her to a cook-off.

"You're a dummy, you know that?"

"Nuh uh! You are!"

She's a lovable dummy. "Alright, time's up. Scoot over, we're getting you third place together."

The almost holy-sounding music from outside is nice to listen to while we make another batch of human-friendly Poffins.

...

...

...

"I can't believe I ended up in last place!"

"Ash and Barry got lower ranks than you."

"I got the last place that mattered! Uwuhuhu!"

"Good grief. Come here you big baby. I can't believe Zoey's cake ended up tasting so... amazing."

"Wahuahua! Sniff, last place..." She cries into my shoulder.

"Don't be sad Dawn." Zoey tries to console her. "The granny I got the recipe from won an international baking competition with that cake. You never stood a chance."

Dawn sticks her tongue out at Zoey, who just laughs it off.

Her crying stopped though.

... I forgot to train today and the day is almost over.

But the hug... And Zoey holding my hand...

I will just need to wake up early tomorrow.

... This feels too nice to end.