That easily explains her strength, Harrison thought. A Trainer from another region that came to test their mettle. This usually only applied to successful Trainers who went up to the 7th badge or even the Conference as those that underachieved usually stopped their Journey or continued onwards but battling became a secondary goal from then on. Most people took failure and their inability to advance in the League as a sign that their battling prowess was insufficient.

  As for those that succeeded and continued onto other regions, they extremely rarely discarded their entire team with the exception of their ace when participating in the League of a new region. Training a new Pokemon from scratch was always a whole ordeal and something to carefully consider. Usually, they did get new Pokemon from the new region but it wasn’t starting from zero and more of a gradual replacement of the team due to circumstances or preferences.

  “Drake of the Hoenn Elite Four?”, Harold asked.

  “Yup, I helped out whenever Dragons went wild and learned a lot about them. Especially Salamences. Only for around 2 months though”, she said wistfully, clearly thinking about the Salamences she couldn’t bring with her.

  “That should be enough to vouch for your integrity then”, Harold muttered while slightly surprised that the random challenger was associated with the Elite Four of a different region.

  “Yeah, sorry about that. Secrets are important and I have a few of my own but I couldn’t just sit still when there was a chance to meet a Latios”, she said while glancing at Harrison.

  “As long as you keep it a secret, I’ll be tolerant”, Harrison responded.

  “Great!”, she responded with a bright smile.

  “As an apology, I’ll show you one of my secrets”, she said furtively.

  “I intended on revealing it during the Sinnoh Conference anyways”

  She then looked at Luxray who was spending time with Nova, the newly evolved Luxio and helping him adjust to his new form with greater power.

  “I would accept the challenge but it’s getting quite late”, Harold said, pointing to the sky which was orange from the setting sun on an early evening.

  “I probably should have called the match earlier”, he concluded.

  Harrison nodded in agreement. As it took quite a while, he started making arrangements for his other Pokemon to train while waiting for the match to conclude. In fact, he stopped commanding Nova during the latter half of the battle and just let him practice Night Slashes.

  Once Stratus recovered from the match with Cocoon, he instructed it to toss pebbles at Magikarp so the fish could practice dodging. It could only use Splashes and Tackles but it was managing to narrowly dodge the projectiles with strategic and well-timed Splashes. As for Maestro, he had been levitating a thick slab of rock while sleeping.

  The training with rocks was clearly to prepare for Oreburgh but Harold was surprised that the Magikarp could actually dodge. Usually, the horrible moveset of Splash and Tackle rendered them inept for everything and most Trainers just waited for them to eventually mature into Gyarados before any training. It wasn’t that nobody tried but the most Magikarps could usually do was bash their head against a wall and Flail around.

  “It’s fine. Oasis had a good match and Dragons benefit more when battling the strong”, Rachel said. She then returned the Vibrava to its Pokeball. The bug dragon hummed in protest but returned when covered in the red light.

  “Let’s exchange contacts. I still want to battle your dad’s Luxray”, Rachel said and took out a bulky yellow disc-shaped device. It was actually quite compact but looked bulky in comparison to the Poketch that people in Sinnoh use.

  Harrison held out his wrist which showed off his Poketch contact information for her to write down. She then marveled at the Poketch which was basically a smart watch but with more functionality. As for Harrison’s Poketch, it was specially modified after he had assisted in improving the design and provided concepts for more Apps. An easy fix was the two buttons which would shuffle through each of the apps but took time and was quite tedious.

  Through Rick, Harrison suggested a home screen as the middle button which would guide the user to a grid-based UI that showed every app and let the user choose instead of having to click for the next app like going through TV channels. He then suggested improving the screen and touchscreen capabilities along with an App that would distribute Apps made by other people. This was a significant improvement and paradigm shift as previously you usually had to meet the App creator directly which severely limited the success of third-party Apps and their reach in other cities.

  This led to the Poketch gaining massive success and fortune as the App distribution became its own economy and the Poketch became the platform of choice. They were already giving Poketches away before it was successful so a lot of people in Sinnoh already had one. The Poketch was still primarily for people in Sinnoh but its massive success made it known to people in other regions as well.

  In merely a few months, the Poketch Company went from a family-run business with considerable success to a massive media and tech conglomerate. The media companies then scrambled for collaborations after he suggested a party game which let participants interface through their Poketches. The party game was filled with minigames that allowed up to a thousand players because the controller was their Poketch and similar mobile devices instead of taking up screen space. Only one game session needed to be active and could be streamed to global audiences without any limiting factors.

  Afterwards, Harrison requested a custom Poketch which the Poketch Company President readily provided. The build quality was superior to the market models but the design was subtle to not catch attention and the battery could be charged by Electric moves and had a secret to it. Harrison still kept in touch with the President with Rick serving as the President’s liaison such as when he provided the emergency beacon app.

  “I forgot that everyone in Sinnoh uses a Poketch. We use PokeNavs in Hoenn”, she said as the contact didn’t properly register with incompatible devices.

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  “It doesn’t have as much as functions as the Poketch but it has the basics which is good enough”, she said while eyeing the Poketch.

  “You could get your own Poketch if you want. They give out the basic models all the time but the good ones are a bit pricey. My Poketch can contact other devices so just provide me your PokeNav contact”, Harrison stated. Many regions had their own devices instead of phones so Harrison insisted on his device having cross-compatibility so that he could connect with all of them.

  Johto had the Pokegear, Hoenn had the PokeNav, and Unova had the C-Gear. As for the Rotom Phone and Rotom Dex, they were apparently still in production and had not been implemented or mass produced yet in Alola, Galar, and Paldea. For now, Rotom was still a special Pokemon and not something everybody just had. There was also the Holo Caster from Kalos.

  He then registered her information and she looked in surprise at the PokeNav when the call went through.

  “So, that’s how you knew about Latios. A friend in Hoenn told you about it. Not that you were the Pokemon”, she jested.

  Harrison hung up the call and ignored her comment.

  They then parted ways after Harold suggested that Rachel join them for dinner. She accepted but she still needed to get her stuff from the Global Terminal.

  The Global Terminal was the major airport of Sinnoh. It was separated from the rest of Jubilife due to the size of the runway which took in many passengers from other regions. It was also called the Global Trade Station due to the frequency of Pokemon transfers from other regions. It wasn’t necessary to go to the Global Terminal for cross-region transfers but it was highly recommended as cross-region transfers required specialized equipment which most regional Pokemon Centers did not have.

  The two then headed to a higher end restaurant that specialized in Ecruteak cuisine to celebrate the graduation. The restaurant named “Seasons” used the aesthetic of the Bell Tower when designing the interiors with plenty of pillars for sectioning and wood furniture for the dining areas.

  Quite a few of their acquaintances were already there but it was more of an informal gathering so they chose an establishment that didn’t insist on formalities like the way that those that specialized in Kalosian cuisine did. Even though all their staff wore kimonos and other traditional clothing, the customers were rather casual in their attire and nobody insisted otherwise.

  Right as they were about to enter the building, a pillar of light emerged next to them on the sidewalk. Alakazam then emerged with Giselle who seemed to have just gotten off work.

  “Right on time. Thanks, Alakazam”, Harold stated which made Giselle stare at him disapprovingly.

  The family then headed in and went up to the 8th floor where the restaurant was. It took up 2 entire floors of this tall building with the higher floor having a better view of the city through large glass panels. At the reception desk, a woman in a kimono addressed them and asked politely, “How many people will be dining in your group?”

  Harold then said, “Our group should already be here. It should be reserved under … Oreburgh?”, he stated with a bit of confusion as he looked at his Poketch.

  “And the key?”, she asked, which made Harold even more confused.

  “Alola?”, Harrison said while Harold was looking through his messages for clarification.

  “Right this way”, the kimono lady said and began guiding the family to their room. On the way there, Harold looked at Harrison who shrugged.

  “He likes watching people panic. Also means he probably paid for everything already”, Harrison stated as the person he was referring to joined them in the hallway.

  “Steadfast as ever. But it’s not about watching people panic, it’s about seeing how they respond to the unexpected”, Akalio commented.

  Already there was Christine and her parents, Rick, Travis, and surprisingly, Lucas. Rachel also got there before them likely because they had to wait for Giselle.

  Lucas was consulting Travis on the wildlife and what Pokemon tended to appear on the local routes, Christine was asking Rachel if she ever met Wallace, and Rick seemed to be doing a survey with the parents on what TV programs they preferred.

  Once everybody arrived, they had sukiyaki with high grade beef, seasonal vegetables, mushrooms, and what appeared to be the green onion from a Farfetch’d. Paired with the meal was diluted portions of Shuckle Juice, tea , and sake for the adults.

  A while into the meal, Akalio then got up and began to head out.

  “My evening is over as I have to prepare to head to Alola”

  “They accepted? I thought they were a popular vacation destination”, Harrison asked.

  “They are but their customs are not known abroad. Many visitors are still surprised by their lack of Gyms and they think the cinema might improve understanding of their culture”

  Travis then left soon after as well.

  “Good luck on your journey, kid”, he said as he got up.

  “There’s still a month left before I start”

  “Even more reason to celebrate early. A full stomach will only guarantee a late journey unless you’re a Snorlax”

  Harrison then turned to Lucas with a questioning look.

  “Oh, I’m here on behalf of the Professor. We’re distributing the Pokedexes throughout Sinnoh and Jubilife is close enough for me to head on over. It is a bit nerve-wracking being in a city all by myself though”, Lucas said.

  “I almost thought you started your journey early”, Harrison responded.

  “Speaking of starting a journey early, that reminds me of the incident last week. This extremely impatient kid with seemingly endless energy couldn’t wait to become a Trainer so he was going to run all the way to Sandgem Town without any Pokemon. Fortunately, the Professor was nearby at Lake Verity and stopped him in time. He gave him a Starter but… he ran out the door before the Professor could hand him the Pokedex”, Lucas said with a sigh.

  “...Was there only one person with the same idea?”, Harrison asked with a bit of trepidation as this could mean that things were starting in earnest.

  Lucas thought for a bit before he continued, “Now that I think about it. In his hurry, he ranted that he tried to convince a friend to join him but she was aiming to be a Top Coordinator like her mother and wasn’t in a hurry to start the journey. He boasted that he had the right idea and she should have listened which just made the Professor angry”

  That rules out Dawn, Harrison thought. He didn’t really care about Pokemon Contests and they did not hold much significance in the grand scheme as greater weight was put towards the Gyms and the League.

  He then asked, “Since we’re both starting our journeys soon, where are you starting? I’m heading to Oreburgh first”

  Lucas then replied with, “I’ll be mainly helping the Professor. I might challenge a few Gyms in my spare time but I’ll be more busy with research”, which made Harrison contemplate deeply.

  If Lucas is the assistant and Dawn’s a coordinator. Where’s the protagonist?

  Who’s going to stop Team Galactic?! Barry!?