“Y-you don’t want to do this.”

  “I’m sorry Lucas, but it has to be done.”

  “Ted, help me!”

  “We told you, it has to go. I’ll hold him down. Alina, will you do the honors?”

  Ted passed me the razor, and I gently checked it against my thumb. It was one of the sharpest blades I’d ever seen, and it was only through long years of constant shaving that I didn’t nick myself as I tested it.

  “Lucas, if you keep thrashing about, I might cut you.”

  The young man started thrashing even harder, although the towering shape of Ted prevented him from moving too much.

  I sat down, straddling his chest while holding the razor, and Lucas went very still.

  “Please.” He whispered. “Please, no.”

  Ted sighed. “It’s either this, or I can have Mayfly do it. Which would you prefer?”

  Lucas’ face paled.

  “Hold still. This will be over in a second.”

  I leaned down, and ever so carefully, ran the razor once across his chin. Three thick, somewhat curly black hairs came away with the blade, leaving Lucas’ face as smooth as a baby’s.

  “There we go!” I chirped, and swung off of him.

  “You guys suck.”

  Ted patted him on the shoulder. “Trust us, it’s for the best.”

  “It really didn’t look that good.”

  “That girl by the cafe liked it!”

  “No, she was staring at it in terror.”

  Lucas pouted, but got up off of the bed as Ted released him.

  The two men started bickering, and I sat back down as I watched in silence. Things had been strained the past couple of days, ever since I had revealed the truth of my existence to my party, but it seemed like the tension was starting to fade.

  Both Ted and Lucas went about dealing with the information in different ways. Ted withdrew as he thought things over, and he spent a lot of time with Silver, the Cleffa he had picked up in the Grand Underground. From the few questions he had asked when Lucas was off doing his errands, he was actually more concerned about the “no Pokémon” and the “living in a story” than he was with me being from another world.

  After a couple of days, he stopped withdrawing, and everything seemed fine.

  Lucas, on the other hand, bounced back and forth between being overly excited about everything, and disappearing for several hours doing “errands”.

  What those errands could be, I had no idea, but he always seemed a bit quiet after returning. Which was an almost pleasant change of pace.

  Whenever Lucas had a question, and could ask it in a relatively secluded place, he would ask. At first it was kind of nice to be able to talk about my old home, but after a while he started to ask some very strange questions.

  What kind of clothes did we wear? Did we eat normal food? How many people lived on my world? How did we manage to survive without Pokémon to help us? Did we do math the same way?

  What that last question had to do with anything was beyond me, but he seemed to be fascinated by the fact that, yes, we did do math the same way, albeit a bit slower without Porygon to speed things up.

  Finally, things seemed to be settling down into some kind of normalcy. It wasn’t the same normal as it had been, but it was starting to become comfortable regardless.

  Of course I didn’t spend the entire time moping around, waiting for my friends to come back to themselves. No, I had a Gym Battle with Roark coming up, and we were all drastically unprepared.

  /^\

  “Okay!” I said, clapping my hands together as my team looked at me. “Training time!”

  Kōjin’s tail wagged.

  “I’m not going to lie to everybody, we’re not in a great spot when it comes to Roark’s Gym. Roark primarily uses Rock-type Pokémon, which is a bit of a problem for our team. Zetian, I’m sorry, but while you helped carry us through Gardenia’s Gym, you’re a bad matchup for Roark.”

  Zetian looked up from where she was lounging on a fallen tree branch, her red eyes flashing. A small bee buzzed up from her abdomen at her agitation, and my Vespiquen gently grabbed it, letting the bee rest in her hands.

  “Rock-types are very strong against both Flying- and Bug-types, so right now, you’re the team member with the biggest target on their back.”

  I was being very careful not to say she was the weakest member of the team against Roark’s Pokémon. While it was true, I didn’t want to bruise her pride too badly.

  “Likewise, while you are also part Rock-type, Kōjin, your Fire-typing also makes you vulnerable to Rock moves.”

  Kōjin whined, and dropped his head onto his paws.

  “Venus, you’re not particularly resistant nor vulnerable to any of Roark’s Pokémon.”

  She preened under the attention, but her ears drooped as I continued.

  “However, some of Roark’s Pokémon do know Fighting-type moves, and those you are vulnerable to.”

  The composition of a Gym Leader’s team was a matter of public information, at least in part. Even before the introduction of the internet, people had been taking notes of what Pokémon and moves a Gym Leader would use. The internet allowed for those notes to be widely shared and compiled, and even though the practice was formally frowned upon by the Pokémon League, almost every Trainer used it to help prepare their teams for an upcoming battle.

  Ted and Lucas had initially been baffled that I hadn’t used the information when I had battled Gardenia, but after I had spilled my secrets, Ted told me that my spotty knowledge made a lot more sense now.

  “We can likely be expected to go up against Roark’s first-tier team. Probably a Geodude, an Onix, and a Cranidos, although that’s not guaranteed. That Cranidos definitely knows Rock Smash, so the website says, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it knows other Fighting-type moves. For this battle, you’re going to be our front-liner. Kōjin, you’ll be Venus’ backup. I’ll get two switches during the fight, so you’re definitely going to be seeing some fighting.”

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  I turned to look at Zetian.

  “Unfortunately, I don’t really want to put you out front during this battle.”

  Zetian started to buzz in irritation.

  “Now don’t give me that. I’m sorry, but in this fight, a single lucky hit could knock you out. I’m not saying that you won’t fight in this battle, but if you do you’ll have to be very careful. Which is where our training comes in.

  “Zetian, you do have an advantage in that you fly everywhere. That means that Roark’s Pokémon will have to aim and hit you with their attacks. Bad news is that they probably train a lot to hit flying Pokémon, so we’re going to have you work on dodging. Kōjin, I know we’ve been practicing your fire control, but right now I think we’re going to have to focus on your other attacks. Venus? You’re already doing well in terms of dodging but I think we need to work on your attacks. We still have a week to get this all done, so hopefully that should be enough time.”

  All of my Pokémon looked up at me with determination in their eyes, and I felt a wave of warmth at their faith in me.

  “Now then, let’s get to work!”

  /^\

  I blinked at the small figure before me. A red and white bird with a bag full of… something, and a blue cap set at a jaunty angle was currently offering me a large manilla envelope.

  “Uh, hi?”

  The Delibird chirped at me, setting down its burden for a moment to tip its hat.

  “Is this… for me?”

  The Delibird nodded, turning the envelope so I could see my name clearly written in sharpie on it. Then it pointed at its hat, and the embroidery on it.

  Sinnoh Post Holdings.

  “You’re… a mailman. Mail-bird.”

  It nodded again, and shook the package a little bit.

  Slowly, feeling like this was all a dream, I reached out and took the package.

  “Do I… owe you anything?”

  The Delibird chirped, shook its head, and tipped its hat at me again.

  “Well, thank you?”

  It nodded, picked up its bundle again, and began to waddle away. As it did so I got a good look at its back, and realized that the sack it was carrying was actually its tail, all bundled up so it could carry items in it.

  “Oh hey.” Lucas said, jogging up to me from the practice court behind the Pokémon Center. “You got a package! Nice!”

  “Is that… normal?” I asked, gesturing towards the retreating Delibird.

  “Hm? Oh a Delibird? Yeah, sometimes. There’s usually a couple in every city, they’ve been trained by Sinnoh Post to help the other mail carriers deliver the mail.”

  “Huh.”

  “Anyways, what did you get? Open it!”

  I sighed and flipped the package around, working at the sealed end with one of my nails.

  Lucas and I had been doing some training with our Pokémon at the practice courts before the Delibird showed up, getting ready for our Gym battles coming up in a few days.

  Inside the envelope was a silvery disk in a clear plastic case, and a hastily scribbled note. I had to take a long minute to try and read the sloppy handwriting.

  Alina,

  Here’s half of your reward from coming in second-place in the competition. Good job with your Growlithe, and I’m looking forward to our battle. I’ve wired the cash payment to your bank account, so it should be arriving soon.

  Inside the note is a Technical Machine disk for Rock Tomb, a fairly low-level but versatile Rock-type move. I hope it comes in handy.

  Best,

  Roark

  Folding the paper back up, I tucked it into my purse that I carried when I wasn’t toting around my full backpack, and pulled out the TM.

  It was a silvery disk that was larger than the size of a standard CD disc, maybe about a foot wide, and I turned it over in my hand.

  “Ohh, a TM.” Lucas said. “Nice! Which one?”

  “Rock Tomb.”

  He nodded. “Makes sense, considering Roark’s a Rock-type Leader and all.”

  “Hey Lucas?”

  “Yeah?”

  “How do I use this?”

  He stared at me for a long moment, then laughed. “Right! You’ve never used one before, huh? Still weird to think about, no offense. I mean, you’re from another world! Crazy. Anyways, the Pokémon Center has a TM Reader, you take your Pokémon, put them in their Ball and into the machine, then insert the disc. Through some kind of science, they learn the basics of the move. I think it’s something having to do with Psychic Type Energy? It’s like a lesson plan that’s beamed into their minds. They still have to practice the move to actually get it down pat, but it’s a lot faster than figuring it out from scratch.”

  “Oh.” I continued turning it over in my hand. “I’ve been meaning to ask you or Ted, but what is Type Energy exactly? I read that moves are just Pokémon manipulating the Type Energy to cause the move to go off, but that doesn’t really explain it. Do you think Ted would know?”

  Lucas scoffed, and jabbed his thumb into his chest. “No need to go to Ted, I can help you out!”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

  “Listen, I know I may be young, but really I actually have more experience with Pokémon theory and research than both you and Ted put together! My dad’s been Professor Rowan’s assistant for decades now, and I basically grew up in the lab!”

  My mouth was open to offer a rebuttal, but I sheepishly closed it. He had a point, after all, Ted himself had said he’d only been Professor Birch’s assistant for a couple of years, and while Lucas was a bit scatterbrained, he also was surprisingly insightful at times.

  “Okay then, what is Type Energy?” I sat down on a nearby bench expectantly.

  Lucas puffed out his chest and started pacing back and forth. When he spoke, he pitched his voice down, and I could tell he was trying to emulate Professor Rowan.

  “Type Energy is simply one of the fundamental forces of the universe, present in all living beings. Notably, it’s classified as a Meta-Physical force, that is, it doesn’t exist as energy like heat or electricity and we can’t measure it the same way, but it does affect our reality. We can measure it by the effects it has on our reality, but not directly, and there’s some interesting research out of Paldea and Galar that state that it can actually crystallize into a physical form.”

  I blinked in surprise. That didn’t make much sense, but it was a lot clearer than what the textbooks I had tried to read back at Professor Rowan’s lab.

  “Okay, but what is it?”

  “Basically? It’s a kind of energy that connects to a shared understanding of elements. Fire Type Energy isn’t actually fire, at least not at first. When a Charizard uses a Flame Thrower, it’s not actually mixing chemicals and igniting them. Instead, it uses the concept of flame, molds it with Type Energy, and effectively summons it into existence. When Rock Tomb is used,” he gestured towards the disc still in my hands. “It’s not always made using actual rocks from the ground. Sometimes those rocks are created using Type Energy, and dissipate once the move is finished. Other times, they’re actual rocks that are manipulated using the Energy instead.”

  He smiled proudly as I stared blankly at him.

  “Huh?”

  “It’s magic.” He said simply. “Energy that allows concepts to translate to reality.”

  “Oh! That’s, uh, complicated. Do you know how it works?”

  “Not at all!” He grinned.

  “Well, that’s useful.”

  “Let me ask you this - what is gravity?”

  I shrugged. “It’s a fundamental force of nature, where objects are attracted to each other. Bigger objects attract smaller objects.”

  “Right, but that’s the effects of gravity. What is it?”

  “It’s… it’s…” My brow furrowed as I tried to remember any of my physics lectures.

  I never liked physics.

  “Exactly.” Lucas said. “You know what it does, but not what it is. And for 99.99 percent of the time, that’s more than enough. There’s probably some scientist out there who actually knows what it is, but they’ve spent decades studying it, built off of centuries of research. I don’t know what gravity is, but I know that if I drop a pencil, it’ll fall to the ground.”

  I nodded. “You don’t know what Type Energy is, but you know that it can create fire.”

  “Yup!”

  I eyed the grinning kid. “You’re a lot smarter than you let on.”

  He shrugged, his expression turning serious. “It helps. People tend to disregard silly kids who run their mouths and are loud. It makes it a lot easier to learn things if everybody is constantly underestimating you and thinking that you won’t understand what they’re saying.”

  A shiver ran down my back. I was guilty of exactly that kind of behavior, and the glint in Lucas’ eyes told me he knew it too.

  “But what can I say?” He said, his expression turning back to his normal, cheerful self. “I’m just a kid, afterall. Want to go to the Pokémon Center and teach Kōjin that TM? I can teach you how to use the TM Reader.”

  “Sure,” I said slowly, still trying to wrap my head around it. “Sounds good.”

  I looked down at the disc in my hands.

  Who else have I underestimated?