The Nutcracker's Russian Dance jingled merrily in 8 bits of glory for a moment, before the screen was filled by a space shuttle taking off into space.

Riolu smiled, inhaling deeply with closed eyes at the feeling of calm after one of her daily meditations.

It so counted as meditation. She slipped out of the world and focused into the one action.

All of her stray thoughts banished if only for the duration of her game.

Through repeatedly sharpening your focus and emptying your mind, your WIS has gone up by 1!

See? The Gamer agreed!

It had been two weeks or so from the first time the translucent blue window had appeared before her cherry-red eyes, telling her how through training on the balancing pole she had increased her AGI, obviously her AGIlity, in one point. She'd tried Aura Sight on it, but it looked exactly the same under it as to her unaugmented eyes.

It freaked her out a little.

Personal philosophies and quirks of personality aside, there were still things that could be a bit too much for her.

At least Gamer's Mind activated and let her analyze the situation logically and calmly. To be honest, the fact that whatever had granted her this "Gamer" skill could affect her emotional state so thoroughly as to prevent it from having impact on her rationality would be more concerning if that were not her default state of being.

In her opinion, going crazy over whenever or not something could or could not be happening, over how weird it was (or should be)... it was all a waste of time. Reality was stranger than fiction, and gaining The Gamer proved it. It- that is, the ability itself, merely acknowledged it, formalized it, and made it so that it would catch her whenever she slipped.

Her acceptance and logical thinking had earned her one more point of INT.

Speaking of catching, it should be about... now, right? It was certainly not so early as to catch the humans in the middle of breakfast, right?

She carefully packed away her GameBoy Advance, after taking the cartridge off, naturally, into her travel bag; an old, slightly-faded, stretchy yellow bag far too large for her, so she had to tie up the handle to prevent it from dragging through the floor. Her games secure, she hefted her spear from where she had left it (to the side of her resting point) and placed it in her bag, point poking out of the flap; it was a somewhat ugly thing due to the cobbled-together look, various ground-type pokémon bones having been fused into one by experienced Lucario by using Bone Rush... it looked uneven, but it was well-balanced and wouldn't shatter if the influence of her aura ran out and got struck.

And the feel and taste of her own residual aura after training with it was oddly soothing.

She'd train with it later; for now, she had to speak with the man currently going towards the building she was... uh... observing.

Through repeating actions of stealth and surveillance, Stealth has reached level 4! Tracking has reached level 6!

Shut up, Gamer.

With a quick check of Aura Sense... Yup, it was that same coffee-tinted chocolate with that undertone of... of being just by the forge-fire. It's a sort of heat that you could feel deeply into your being, a feeling of fire and metal that speaks of hard work and determination, of a way to shape the future. His grey hair and wrinkles did not really detract from the way he held himself.

The Far-Sighted Looker evolved into the title of The Quiet Observer!

Again. SHUT. UP.

In any case. He was there, aura every bit as imposing as it was welcoming; the way she had felt and tasted a week ago, when she snuck into his conference. He radiated satisfaction, so likely he had a filling breakfast. Getting closer just confirmed it as she looked into the words floating above his head.

Pokémon Professor Samuel Oak. Lv ?
Retired Champion. Absent-Minded Genius. One Who Has Chosen. Time Traveler.

She could have gone to Professor Rowan and saved a week's travel, but that title... "One Who Has Chosen", could not be coincidence. Also, leveling Observe three more times apparently revealed that the man had gotten tangled with either serious mad science, or Celebi. Heck, if he said he'd met Dialga she'd believe him. That and the fact that his level was so high she could not see it meant he had much, much more experience than the other professors at the conference.

Besides, if she had gone to the closest lab she wouldn't have met such a... quirky potential companion as Pikachu.

She really needed to think of a nickname that did NOT call attention to his peculiarities.

"Hmm? A Riolu all the way here?" Samuel Oak mused out loud, crouching down to her level and looking her over. "Are you going somewhere?"

She nodded showing some nerves not quite soothed by Gamer's Mind. Stiffly, she raised one paw into the air and screwed her eyes tightly shut.

"I- I want to become a Pokémon Trainer!" She broadcast her thoughts and yet even Aura couldn't make her sound like she wasn't getting some serious stage fright. She knew she had overdone it with the volume of her actual, physical voice when the professor rubbed his ears.

Gamer's Mind kept her rational and protected her from mental influences and pollution, it didn't keep her from being stupid all on her own.

"Hnnn." The man groaned as her stood back up, chuckling in clear amusement that did not require a Riolu's empathy to detect. "Alright, we'll get started on that right away... but..."

She swallowed as she focused on the man currently pondering... something.

"First of all, are you a boy? or are you a girl?" The simplicity of his question was like lifting a weight, only to replace it with icy water from the whiplash. "It's very hard to tell with Riolu."

That... was most likely true, for humans.

"I, uh, I'm a girl." She replied while awkwardly tugging on the strap of her bag with both paws, slightly embarrassed. He was feeling... a little silly, if what she was picking up was any indication. "And, uh, I don't have a name yet."

"OK, then come on in." He took a card from his pocket and swiped it in front of a keypad, making it beep and turn on. After quickly punching in the code, the door slid open.

"After you." He said, giving her enough time to get over her nerves and embarrassment.

"You are taking this very calmly." She managed to say, feeling how his emotions turned to amusement.

"You see many strange things when it comes to Pokémon." His smile and mix of emotions made her think back to his title of 'Time Traveler'. That and 'One Who Has Chosen'.

Did The Gamer word the title like that, or even made up the title, because of what her mother told her? or was there something else at play?

"You can leave your bag over there." He gestured to a series of wall-mounted coat and hat racks at roughly human head, shoulder, and elbow height. "Please, take a seat; I would love to hear more about you."

Slinging the handle onto the lowest hook she could reach, she headed for the nearest couch. It was an interesting place, with a lobby much the same as any human's home would have... the ambiance was inviting and spoke of warmth.

"Can I get you anything?" He asked as he moved through one of the doors to the side - likely a kitchen. "Please forgive me, my assistant is out on errands for me so it will be a small while before tea is ready."

"Tha-that's fine." She hopped onto a pink ottoman next to the table, not for the first time wondering if human children felt the same as she did with her legs dangling from the edge. "I'm fine with anything."

She was sure that, if it was someone else rather than her, they would use this time to go through other scenarios in their minds, ways the conversation could go; someone else might have been excited, or nervous - maybe even doubt if they were making the right choice.

She was slightly empty and numb, remembering her mother waking up crying and vomiting.

She gripped her own knees tightly, staring at the table.

"Green tea and some rice crackers." Oak placed a tray with the aforementioned items in front of her, serving her a cup before taking a seat on the couch, close to her. "I would love to know more about the reasons that brought you here; one would think that a Pokémon that travels with a spear on hand would think about things other than being a trainer."

This was it.

"A little bit of it was that I grew up with stories of Sir Aaron and his friend Lucario." She said, paying attention as to how he wilted, just a little. He knew. "But it was my mother and... something that happened. IS happening, still. It made me think this was the best way to do something about it."

She took a quick sip of the tea, if only to give herself time.

His concern was real. The intensity of his focus was comparable to that of an elder Lucario in all aspects. He would not, could not even think of bringing them harm.

The tea was good, too.

Green Tea:
Store-bought tea prepared with purified water. Made recently, it's at the perfect temperature to consume. The concentration and brew time are perfect, but you feel it needs a little sugar. The floral cup is a refined, understated design popular with lovers of Grass-type Pokémon.

She closed her eyes and steeled herself.

Inhale, exhale.

You've used Calm Mind. SpAt/SpDe rose! Emotions have settled down, reducing influence of stress!

"My mother can... see things." She began, paws idly tapping her knees. "She's been blind since she hatched, but she had an unusually powerful Future Sight, Foresight, Detect, and the like, so it wasn't like it was a factor. The... I hesitate to use the word 'problem' but it can be one at times- it began when she evolved into Lucario."

A flash of curiosity and thirst of knowledge was suppressed so quickly it would have been easy to say it was imagined, if not for the small movement that indicated that the professor almost said something, likely to ask a question.

She was grateful for his restraint.

"Nothing to the extent of an actual, gifted psychic like Natu and Xatu... but enough." She gripped her knees more tightly almost without noticing it. "Enough to see how things might be, how they could have been."

She managed to meet his eyes even as she felt tears start to form on her own.

"She calmed my nightmares and taught me many things. She's my mother." Her voice wavered with her Aura, averting her gaze as her claws started to dig into her skin. "Can you imagine how it feels like when she is the one that needs help? When the darkness that haunts her is so much bigger than yours?"

She sniffled, Gamer's Mind allowing her to continue despite the pain at the feeling of impotence.

"She's dreamed of horrible things happening; to everyone, to me." Her grip started to actually hurt her, making her lose a single hit point. "I can't do anything. I can't just hold her and tell her it's going to be fine, not until she wakes up, and she keeps chasing those things, to know, even as she's crying again."

Whimpering in shock and horror as she held the dead in her arms. Usually her and her father.

"And again."

Crying out in terror as something struck at her with deadly force.

"And again."

Vomiting upon waking up from the feeling of being thrown around by great forces and killed, sometimes doing so upon the ones trying to wake her.

"And she always feels from the point of view of this 'her' she sees, so it always feels like the first time." She full on crying by that, rubbing her tears away with her paws only to let fresh ones fall. "And- and-"

A hand landed on her head, spreading the feeling of warmth through her veins and interrupting her; the scent of chocolate and coffee hitting her directly into her core. The Professor was kneeling besides her with a kind, supportive smile, telling her that it would all be right without uttering a single word.

"And- and then she looks, she looks to the future, to see it all end." She would have breathed out the words at a whisper if she were not using Aura to communicate. "She turns to me and tells me it will pass, because someone chose."

"Chose... what, exactly?" He spoke tenderly as he dabbed a handkerchief at her fur, drying her tears.

"Just... chose." She accepted one of the crackers that he handed her, as she sniffed to clear her nose. "She says it was because of her first dream, of something that could have been a long, long time ago."

"She swears it could only have been Arceus, even if it had been nothing but sounds just on the edge of her perception as she balanced between awareness and sleep. A thousand voices, all different, all speaking like one, in perfect harmony: It is not about Destiny elevating One to face danger, but Fortune that some shall stand to face Destiny by Choice." She met his eyes again, and saw the spark of recognition dawn in his eyes, and his aura lit up with... pride? "I don't just want to be stronger to get her to stop worrying; I want to be strong enough that she will see me in her good dreams, see me to chase her nightmares away. I can't do that alone."

Oak made a sound of understanding as he sat back down, staring towards the ceiling and taking a contemplative sip of the now-lukewarm tea.

"While I can... sort-of see why you would decide to go out yourself instead of joining a human trainer, I want to know something else; why me?" He stared into the cup as if he could divine the answer from it. "If my guess is right, Professor Rowan lives so much closer to your home than I do. You could have started there."

"That is- well..." She knew he would ask and she was still not ready. "Part of it is your field of study: Human-Pokémon interaction and relationship."

Oak hummed in contemplation. His research would surely help a Pokémon understand how and why a human did what they did - it was not as simple as choosing attacks to fire off against opponents, oh no, there were many nuances to those choices that humans explored during their training. Perspective; human perspective was radically different from a Pokémon's, and added to human adaptability, it made human-trained Pokémon stronger and more flexible than their wild counterparts.

"Then there are those two trainers, also from Pallet- the ones that keep making the news; they solved many of the things my mother saw. I want to know anything you can tell me about them. I also want to thank them, for helping her..." To which Oak smiled; that was definitely pride he was feeling.

"Another part is because I also see things. What I see tells me that you're not like the other professors; you've chosen." He directed a questioning eyebrow at her, but she still knew the moment his mind turned to when he made choices in the context she had established. "I don't know what, I don't know where or when... I have been seeing the world through the lens of a videogame, and it just told me you've traveled through time. Maybe it was then."

The bombshell made him widen his eyes and fumble a cracker, but he recovered quickly, setting down the food as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Just when you think you're inured to surprises." He muttered in equal parts exasperation, curiosity, wonder, and confusion. "I'm guessing you want to swap stories?"

"I wasn't going to ask." She pressed the tips of her paws together, a bashful smile on her muzzle. "I mean, I'm not opposed. I just wanted some help with my plan, and maybe some books on sewing you could spare, but I don't mind hearing about more adventures."

Well, the world still had many surprises for the old scientist, it seemed.