I started replaying through Pokemon Reborn and decided to finish up my other pokemon story, strength of a champion, to write a story about my OC's journey through Reborn, but with Romance and Lemons involved. If you've never played Reborn, I highly recommend it, it's not that difficult to download. This will go through the main story, but note that as the game is very long, and difficult, it depends on where I am in my playthrough for how often I write chapters. This will be rated M for Violence and Language, just like the game, but also for Lemons which I'm adding. This will include multiple relationships, so it's a semi-harem, but will not include every female character. It will mainly revolve around Victoria and Amaria though. I'm also not going to focus on the battles themselves all that much. This is more of a conversational story. I'm going to use the default name for the first male sprite, Vero Espenson. I do not own Pokemon Reborn or any Pokemon material. Enjoy!

"...Hey. Are you awake? Good, you're okay."

All Vero heard was a female voice as he slowly opened his eyes, finding himself lying against the ground. He slowly stood up, noticing a few scrapes on his arms, and feeling sore.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked, more concerned this time.

"...Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Good. The train exploded right as we pulled into the station. We're lucky we got out of there in time, but who would-?"

"Hihi!" A cheerful voice interrupted.

"...Julia. Julia, what did you do?"

"Whaaaaat?! I didn't do anything! I was at the gym-gym and then suddenly BOOM, so I came running!" she cheered.

Vero tried to grasp his surroundings and remember what he was doing. That's right, he was moving to the Reborn region and leaving his life in Hoenn behind. After Teams Magma & Aqua were thwarted by a young boy and the champion Steven, things went back to normal, but he had nothing left back there. So he saved up as much money as possible and went somewhere where he could start a new life, and make a difference by helping people. And what better place than Reborn? It was a dangerous city sure, but that would mean that a lot of people could use some hope in their lives.

Everything was crumbled into rubble. Police officers were nearby, examining the crime scene and looking for other survivors. There were dark clouds in the sky, but not for storms. They looked more like pollution clouds. The sea surrounding them was a murky brown, definitely not safe for swimming or drinking, not that anyone should do that anyway. He looked over at the two women standing near him, now seeming to be out of his daze.

The first one, the one that woke him up, wore tall black boots, purple jeans, a white and black spotted belt, and a white and black short sleeve blouse. She had two bracelets on her wrists, a gold one on her right, and a purple one on her left. She wore a black scarf around her neck, and had long wavy silver hair.

The other one, Julia, seemed just a little bit younger, maybe 21 or so. She wore a yellow and tan jacket, short tan skirt, tan long socks, and yellow shoes. Though her most noticeable feature was her green hair, tied into a long ponytail, with two large strands against the sides of her face. She also wore a light pink lipstick.

"Cuz you know if things are exploding, I gotta be there to see it. It's so cool!"

"Uh huh." The other one sighed. In any case, based on the timing, this must have been a deliberate attack. Somebody used the train to destroy Grandview Station."

"By the looks of it, they did a pretty good job!"

"Maybe, but this isn't the time to be admiring their work. I'll have the perimeter locked down. There's a chance we could catch the perpetrator before they get away." She turned to me. [A/N: I'm going to stick to 1st person when needed.]

"Sorry Vero, but I have to go. Fortunately, I'd already arranged for someone to met you here. She can help get you started here. Go down to the Grand Hall; she'll be waiting for you there. It's just down this road. And, don't worry about all of this. We'll take care of it." She waved goodbye and headed down the road she just pointed out.

"So you're Vero?" Julia asked, now turning to me. I'm Julia, captain of cheer and pep, and all things bubbly and bright!"

"Wow, who knew?" I laughed sarcastically. She giggled.

"Oh, pop quiz! Are you going to take on the Reborn League?"

"Yes."

"Correct!" she jumped up and down. "Then I'll be seeing you very soon, because I'm also the electric gym leader!"

'Electric first? That's different…'

"I'll be looking forward to your challenge, so go on, get down to the Grand Hall already!"

"Alright, I'll see you later then." I walked by and kept going down the road. Things didn't look too good. The people that survived the train explosion seemed to stare out into space, lost. I walked up to one of them. She turned and looked at me with dead eyes.

"You were on the train? So was my fiancé…" she muttered.

"I'm sorry…" I left it at that, and continued walking towards the Grand Hall. As I arrived, there was another young woman standing on the steps. She was cute too, and looked to be my age, 19. She seemed more...cultured than the other girls, and that was because of her outfit. She wore black pants, a long black skirt, and a gray robe over everything, with a yin yang printed on both ends, complete with a black sash tied around her waist, and black martial arts shoes. She had long black hair, with part of it clipped up. She caught me staring and blushed slightly before smiling.

"Hey, are you Vero?"

"Uh, yeah."

"I'm Victoria! Nice to meet you!" she introduced. "Ame asked that I help get you signed up in the Reborn System. Don't worry, it doesn't take long! Let's go inside."

Inside was a large pokemon center, complete with a healing counter, mart, and administration in the back, which is where he went to. Ame stood at the back.

"Hey there. Looks like I actually managed to beat you here."

"Yeah...I took some time to take in the city."

"And? What did you think?"

"There's a lot of people here that need help, aren't there?"

"...Yes." she smiled. "Anyway, we caught the culprit almost immediately. He's being interrogated downstairs right now."

"Culprit? You mean the one behind the bombing?" Victoria asked.

"Yep. And it seems he's not working alone. But, that'll be taken care of. So you're both here to get signed up for the Reborn League, right?"

"That's right! Kiki said that it would be good for my training, also, if I started over completely. So she asked if I could get a new pokemon, too."

"Kiki? Who's that?" I asked.

"She's my sensei, and Reborn's Fighting Gym Leader." she answered. "You'll meet her at some point, she's wonderful!"

"I look forward to meeting her. So, new pokemon?" I turned and asked Ame.

"Yes. Normally, we reserve them strictly for newcomers, but I suppose we can make an exception on Kiki's request.

"Oh, thank you!"

"However Vero will have the first choice."

"That's okay, I don't mind at all." Ame unlocked the employee gate and motioned for me to follow her up the stairs. We came into a room with three long tables, and upon each was 6 pokeballs.

"These pokemon are all set aside for new trainers to choose from. The tables go from top to bottom in order of Grass, Fire, Water, and the pokemon are arranged from left to right in the order that they were discovered. Go ahead, take any you like."

"Thanks. Hmm…" I walked alongside the tables, thinking about which to take.

'Julia's the first gym leader, right? She said electric...Well, the only one that will have ground is Mudkip. But, Charmander will learn Dragon Rage, which is also really good at the beginning.' I picked up the ball for Charmander.

"All settled? Let's not keep Victoria waiting."

"Yeah. Let's go." We walked out and I stood back with Victoria again.

"Which one did you pick, Vero?"

"Charmander."

"Cool! Oh, don't worry, I won't pick one just to beat you; that's silly. I already know which one I want anyway."

"Well then, shall we~?" Ame sang.

"Wait here, Vero." She went upstairs, leaving me alone in the main room.

"Heyyyy, you're cute." a high male voice cooed.

'Oh great, what now?' I turned around to see an extremely feminine guy looking at me. He had a very purple and black color scheme, wearing tall gray boots, purple pants, a black and white belt, what looked to be a fishnet shirt, a purple striped collared shirt, a cross necklace, cross earrings, and striking purple hair, the back of it tied around into a knot, and the front having a long front sweep that covered his right eye. His fingernails were painted black as well, and...eyeshadow, maybe?

"What do you want?" I asked.

"What? Haha, no, I didn't say anything! Hey, was Ame just here?"

"Yeah, she's upstairs."

"Ohhh, so she's with someone else. 'Kay~ My name's Cain, how about yours?"

"Vero."

"Vero...pretty name." I scrunched my face up a little. "So by the looks of it you just got your first pokemon. Are you gonna challenge the league?"

"Yeah, you?"

"I'm not exactly a new trainer, but I-...well, I had to leave everything behind due to some...circumstances."

"I see...you and I aren't so different after all."

"Hmm~? What do you mean?"

"...I'll tell you someday, maybe."

"I'll be waiting. Sooo, whaddya say to a battle, Vero?"

"Umm...can we fight in here?"

"Not taking no for an answer!" He tossed a pokeball into the air, and a male Nidoran came out.

"...Fine. Charmander. Let's do this." I tossed my own pokeball out, and Charmander popped out.

"Use Scratch!"

"Same, Nidoran!" They both used it, and caused each other damage.

"Nidoran, Leer!" Nidoran's eye flashed, making Charmander startled.

"Now Scratch!"

"Dodge it!" Charmander dodged it and scratched Nidoran again, making it weak.

"Almost done. Charmander, Growl!" Charmander growled at Nidoran, and the next scratched the creature delivered didn't hurt as much.

"Now finish it! Scratch!" Charmander finished the fight, feeling itself grow stronger. "Nice job. Return."

"Return, Nidoran. Wow, not bad~ Alright c'mon, let's get our pokemon healed up. There's a center built in right over there. We walked to the front of the building and healed our pokemon, as we saw both Victoria and Ame walk over to us.

"There you are!" Victoria said.

"Sorry~ I kinda stole Vero."

"Oh, Cain, I forgot you were coming by." Ame looked at him.

"It's okayyy, when you were gone, I met Vero and had some fun~"

"'Had some fun?' I didn't know you were like that, Vero…" Victoria muttered, her eyes wide.

"No, I'm not!" I said immediately. I must have imagined it, but I could swear Victoria seemed relieved as soon as I cleared things up.

"What? Haha, no, we just had a battle." Cain explained.

"Oh! That does sound fun! I want to test out my new pokemon too. Come on, Vero, up for one more?"

I sighed. "I guess."

"All right. Cain, I'll get you registered as a challenger while they do that. Come with me."

"Ooh, yes master~"

"'Master?'"

"Nothing~"

"Uh….huh. Come on." The two walked back to the counter, while Victoria sent out a Tepig. Again, with some quick thinking, Vero won.

"Hmph. But every loss is a lesson, I guess, right?"

"Yeah. I know you'll be a great trainer, Victoria." She smiled thoughtfully. Cain walked back over.

"Heyy, Ame is waiting for you two when you're done. I'm gonna hit the road. See ya~!" We watched him leave before walking back together.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Victoria apologized as we reached the counter.

"No worries. Actually, I took care of the documentation while you two were 'having your fun', as Cain put it."

"Wh-What?! No! It's not like that! I mean…" she blushed.

"Weren't you just the one who thought that's what that meant?" I asked.

"Oh, calm down, I'm just teasing." Ame laughed. "So, then all that's left is to give you these; Firstly, a Pokedex. You both know the drill here." She handed two to us. "Secondly, the PokeGear. This device allows you to check the map, listen to music, and there may be other maps to find for it. This can also act as a cell phone, in case you want to add each other as contacts and call each other." She gave both of them to us again.

"And you're all set! I'm going to go check on the interrogation with the bombing. Good luck to both of you."

"Thank you so much, Ame! Good luck!" She went downstairs. "All right, I should get going and tell Kiki I'm on my way. I told you who Kiki was, right? She's my teacher. I'm an apprentice at Apophyll Academy, in the Azurine Region of Reborn. If you're ever in the area, stop by! We'd love to have you. But, since you're taking on the league, you'll have to go there at some point eventually!"

"Right, because she's the Fighting Leader."

"That's right. Here, these might also help you." She handed me 5 pokeballs that I put in my bag. "So to get started, explore the city! And when you think you're ready, head over to the gym in Peridot Ward. Also, here. I'll give you my number." We exchanged PokeGears and put our contact info in.

"If you ever need something, just text or call. I'll see you around!" She hugged me before walking towards the exit.

"Victoria, huh? And Julia. And Ame. Reborn's just full of beautiful women, isn't it?" I smirked and walked out into the city myself.

X

"Alright, how many fights has that been now?" I looked down at my team: Espurr, Whismur, Goldeen, Pidgeotto, and Charmeleon.

"I think I'm ready…" I walked up to the entrance of the gym, reading the sign on the front gate.

"Neo-Circuit Power Plant- A Silph Co. Service." There was something else underneath.

"Neo-Circuit is such a LAME name! I officially retitle this place the Electro-Dazzle Happy Boom-Time House of Cheer!"

"Heh...That girl's hilarious." I laughed, walking up to the front door, finding it locked. There was a note stuck to the glass.

"Julia, do consider curbing your soporific tendencies before agreeing to rendezvous during your 'naptime.' Nonetheless, we will proceed to the factory. Join immediately." I read out loud. "Huh. A factory? Well, there were two that I passed by before." I left and went to the upper one, finding a green haired man, again around my age, standing out in front.

"Ugh, where are they? They said to meet at the old factory. Maybe they meant the other factory. They should've specified. Hm? Hey, what are you looking at?" he turned to me.

"Nothing."

"Got a problem? Name's Fern. I'm the cool cat, and the top dog. Got it?"

"I really don't care. I'm doing something else right now."

"Oh, that's it! Get ready for a lesson in class!"

"Ugh, here we go again." Due to his entire team being Grass type, it was easy for Pidgeotto, Espurr, and Charmeleon to sweep him.

"Hah! Way to get lucky. Whatever, man. Don't have time for this."

"That's what I said in the first place!" I yelled at him.

"Yeah, well I don't back down on a challenge! It's just who I am!"

"But you were the one that challenged me…"

"Huh? You say something? Speak up!"

"No, nevermind. It was nothing."

"Hmph. Unlike you, I have places to be, and people waiting for me. So what if you're doing the Gym League challenge? You don't even have a badge yet? Talk about lame. Maybe you should go work on that. I, however, am required elsewhere. Later, loser!" He walked away.

"What a douche." I said under my breath. "Although, he might have a point. I wonder if Julia's back yet?" I left and went to the gym again. This time when I opened the door, she slammed into me and almost fell back, but I quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her into me.

"Oh, hihi, Vero! Sorry about that!" she blushed, hugging me. "Were you coming to challenge my gym?"

"Yeah. You're going somewhere?"

"Yeah! I'd love to battle you, but it's gonna have to wait; we've got trouble! I just got a report from Ame about the bombing at Grandview Station!"

"And? What did it say?"

"They caught the perp', and not only was he not working alone, but there's a whole team! He said that the next place they were going to blow up was the power plant- MY Gym! Nobody booms things without me, least of all MY things! So I'm going to hop over there and teach them a lesson! One of my friends is going to come help, too, so I've gotta run~" She hugged me again before starting to walk off, yet turning around again.

"I know! Why don't you come, too? Meet us at the Mosswater Factory. It's right by the train tracks! See you there~" She went off, for real this time, though I followed close behind, this time going to the lower factory. I walked up to the front door, where Julia stood.

"You came! I was just thinking of how we could get in. The door is sealed shut, soooo…."

"Let me guess. Explosives?"

"You know me so well! Stand back!" She walked up and placed some thermal charge devices against it. "Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…..BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" she cheered as the door blew up.

"All better!" Two people walked up behind us. One of them I recognized, and was not happy to see again.

"Hey, where did you guys come from?" she asked.

"Explosion detected. Julia's presence confirmed." The one I didn't know said blandly.

"Well whaddya know! Make things go boom; acquire friends~ Vero, this is Florinia. Back in school, she was my roommate and BFF~" Florinia wore a more conservative outfit than some of the others he had met so far. She wore black leggings and tall green boots, a black long sleeve shirt, and a green sweater over it, in addition to short green shorts over her leggings. She had a gray belt clipped around her waist, short grayish green hair that was swept and pointed to the left, and glasses. She seemed more like the teacher type, not quite someone that Vero found himself into. So far, Victoria seemed like his best bet. Wait a minute, why was he thinking about this? I shook my head.

"Aaaaaaaaand this is Fern. Hi Fern. Okay, moving on!" I smirked. Julia just kept getting better and better, despite how hyperactive she was.

"Hah! I get no respect. But it's fine. Vero and I already met."

"Time wastes. Let us proceed."

"Yo, Vero, I know we got off on the wrong foot, but it's cool, right? Don't mind my sister, she's kinda weird. People call her 'Flobot' cause of how she talks."

"Yeah, I can see that. But if it's all the same to her, I'll just stick with her actual name."

"Well, I call her Rini, because she's not a robot!" Julia interjected. "Now come on, focusies, we have bad guys to boom!" she pouted, clearly wanting to just watch something explode already. "Supposedly, this is their base. The guy who bombed Grandview Station is with this group called 'Team Meteor.' Weird name, right? But if we don't get in here and boom their faces off, they're gonna keep booming everything else! A practice I normally approve of, but not like this. Sooooo, chaaaaarge!" she cheered, going on, followed by the other two, and then Vero at the end.

"This place smells terribadtastic!"

Walking in, there seemed to be an empty room save for a security camera hanging from the ceiling, two hallways to the left and right, and a railway that overlooked a river of murky purple liquid.

"The wine hue indicates high levels of pollutants. Estimated toxicity: 90+%."

"And this is being dumped right into Azurine Lake. No wonder it's so poisonous!"

"Yeah yeah, blahblahblah, enough with the hippie environmental bull, let's just get going." Fern tried to hurry the two girls along.

"We have to stop this factory from ruining the lake! Team Meteor clearly doesn't care about the well-being of the city."

"The path diverges. The most efficient course of motion for facilitation of thorough investigation and reclamation of this property is a similar bisection of the party." Florinia said.

"And in English?" Fern asked.

"Split up." I told him.

"Rini will come with me! We'll take this wing!" Julia said happily. "Vero, you go with Fern. Try not to let his attitude get to you~"

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing! Come on Rini, let's gooooo!" She quickly ran off to the right wing.

"Proceed with caution."

"I always do, sis."

"You were not the intended recipient of my previous statement. Permission for you to be life-endangeringly reckless: Granted." She left.

"Ha!"

"Oh, shut up. As you can see she didn't get enough hugs growing up. Not my problem. So Vero, looks like it's just you and me. Try not to slow me down."

"Likewise."

X

After powering through a bunch of Meteor Grunts, we finally had some quiet time shutting off the switches. On the way to the stairs, Fern suddenly asked me an unexpected question.

"Hey, you're new in Reborn, right? Why did you come here?"

"Huh? Why ask something like that?"

"Call it curiosity. I'm sure you've realized it by now, even though you've really only seen two wards. Reborn City is a shithole. Even you can't be that oblivious."

"...Yeah, so it is. It's certainly not like back home."

"Where are you from?"

"...Hoenn."

"That's a huge difference. So why come here of all places?"

"I wanted to start over. A clean slate, a new life."

"Here? I would have stayed over there."

"I came here to help others and make a difference."

"You're going to have to make more than one difference to change anything around here. A lot more."

"...I know." We kept walking, and came out to where the other two were, looking at a barricade that prevented us from going any further.

"Meteor headquarters confirmed beyond gate."

"Now it's just a matter of opening it! I can easily blow this gate to smithereens, but I used the last of my boomies getting in. But if they were planning to do demolitions, they probably have some that they'd let us borrow! If we can get those, I can get us past here no problemo!"

"Regardless…" Florinia walked up to the computer in front of the gate and began typing. "This facility's digital security system appears substandard. A brute force attack should be sufficient. Please hold."

"Brute force? I don't think we're gonna punch through the door! Vero, think you can find where they keep the explosives? It wasn't the way we came, but it's probably nearby! If you can do that, we'll be in easily!"

"Why is combustion your solution to every obstacle?"

"Fun for the whole family?" I couldn't tell if she was joking or serious.

"Indeed." was all she replied with.

"Whatever man, I don't have time to sit around all day and wait for the Flobot to hack into the system. Let's just go find some bombs already."

"That's the spirit! For once, Fern says something I agree with! Quick Vero, to the boom-mobile!"

"...Batman? Really?"

"I've always liked it!" she pouted, looking adorable.

"Yeah, yeah. We'll be right back." We went down the other hall.

"...I know you just got here, but have you thought about going back yet?"

"Trying to get rid of me, are you?"

"Ha! If you were gone, who would I have to show up?"

"Funny, because the way I remember it, I'm the one who beat you. No, I don't think about going back. There's nothing left for me there. And we're leaving it at that for today." I shot him a serious look, and he nodded.

"There." I pointed to a box filled with dynamite.

"Good. I'll grab these, let's get out of here." We walked back out to the others.

"Here you go, crazy lady." Fern handed Julia the box.

"Boomies! You got them! Okay, let's do this!" She walked over to the gate and set a few up. "Okay! 3...2...Ka…" Just then, the gate unlocked.

"Huh?"

"Access granted. Let us proceed." We all fell over.

"We just got those explosives for nothing!" We yelled at her. She ignored us and walked through the door.

"Wait, but...I- and...the booms! What about the booms?! Rini! You can't do that! I was just about to-Rini!" She ran after her.

"Hah, leave it to my sister to ruin everyone's fun."

"..."

"Whatever, let's just get a move on." We walked in, seeing two grunts and a suspicious looking man who was clearly their boss. He wore black and red sneakers, black pants, a red undershirt, a black military coat, and had black spiked hair with a red scope over his eye.

"...You look like Deadshot." I said plainly.

"I get that a lot."

"Knock it off. Stop breaking the 4th wall." Fern smacked my head.

"You! Are you the one in charge here?" Julia asked.

"And if I am?" he replied, taking a step forward.

"We're gonna blow your face off for what you did to Grandview Station!"

"Amusing. Tell me, what power do you think you have to do so?"

"Just who do you think you are, anyway?!"

"You know already. We are Team Meteor. And we do not relent. Don't think you got through this place on your own ability."

I started clenching my fists.

"We had no intention of defeating you. Our purpose here is forfeit already. But it was necessary to let you in, so that you could attend a demonstration."

"Let us in?"

"Did you really think you hacked our security so easily? Foolish. I ordered our operators to slow you down long enough to delete all mission critical data from our systems. But it seems we overestimated your strength. Time was ample. We grew tired of waiting. Now, enough talk. Aster."

"Yes, boss!" One of the grunts walked forward.

"Eclipse."

"Yeah?" The other one responded.

"Deal with the small fries. I can handle the gym leaders."

"Hmph. If you say so." The one called Eclipse said. For Team Meteor!" They sent out an Elekid and Magby, while Fern and I sent out our Budew and Goldeen.

"Not again….I'm not going to let another one take control!" I yelled, startling the others. "Goldeen, Water Pulse!" It obeyed, and knocked out the Magby in one hit. "Now return. Charmeleon!" I sent out my main, and called for Dragon Rage, another one hit KO on the Elekid.

"Grr…" The two stepped back.

"So you lost already? How disappointing. I can take on two myself easily, but four...well, it was an amusing diversion. Don't think you've won, though."

"Charmeleon, Scratch on their boss." I ordered. It looked back at me questioningly before I nodded in approval. It cried out and rushed for him, but his Seviper intercepted the attack and returned us to a stalemate.

"Team Meteor does not forgive." Those were his final words before they all vanished.

"Is he gone?" Julia asked.

"Affirmative. Cradily, return."

"You too, Electrode! Good job~ Now let's see….mhm~" She started humming to herself before turning around.

"Okay! You all should start running now!"

"Huh? What did you do now?" Fern asked annoyed.

"Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…."

"Oh shit! Let's move!" We all ran outside as the building imploded, preventing us from getting back in later.

"Well, that's a wrap! Gooooo team!"

"Uh huh. If you're done with your pyrotechnics, I'm gettin' out of here. I can't just dawdle around all day, unlike Vero. Peace!" He left.

"Way to sour the mood…"

"That is one of his few veritable competencies. Nonetheless, Obsidia requires further investigation. I will attend to that now."

"Okay~! Thank you for your help! I know you've been really busy since our graduation, but it's nice to get to hang out~ Just like old times, right?"

"And equally destructive, correct. However, sentimentalities remain counterproductive. Vero, did you observe terrain-variant effects during the operation?"

"Huh? Oh...yeah."

"Then you should already be aware of some aspects of Field Effects. Recently many trainers have been documenting the specific attributes of each environment. As such, I have created an application to catalogue these attributes and effects. Please allow me to install the beta version into your Pokegear." I handed it to her and she quickly updated it.

"A small population has already begun recording data for this application. Currently, only data on the Electric Terrain is stored in the device. Please collect additional information with the help of other people, or by finding environmental readouts that may have been extracted at various locations."

"Wait, did you say Electric Terrain?!" Julia asked suddenly. "Rini! That's for MY gym! Are you trying to give Vero a lead on me?"

"At any rate, I will report today's proceedings to Ame. Farewell."

"Rini! If you're gonna sass me, at least do it with some feeling! Siiiiigh….she's never been the same since...well, nevermind! Thanks for your help today, Vero! You were great!" I remained unresponsive.

"And speaking of things that haven't been the same since, you acted up in that battle! What's wrong~?" she cooed.

"...Old memories. That's all." She looked down before up at the sky. It was already nighttime.

"Hey...you don't have a place to stay yet, right?"

"No, why? I haven't made enough yet to get my own place."

"Come stay with me for a while. Besides, two people paying for rent is better than one, right~"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. You look like you need someone to talk to anyways. So come on!" She grabbed my hand and led me to her apartment.

X

Despite living in the Peridot Ward, Julia had a nice place, something that was relatively hard to find in Reborn unless you lived in the Lapis or Onyx Wards. And, surprise surprise, the color scheme was yellow and green.

"Have a seat wherever~" She hung up her coat and tossed her socks in the laundry, leaving her barefoot and in a bright yellow tank top. She also took her hair tie out, letting it down. I sat down on a large recliner opposite her bed.

"Sooo~ What's eating at you?"

"...Julia, how do you stay so happy all the time?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"I mean...this whole region is desolate and depressing...you seem to be the only optimist around here...even Fern says the same thing. So why are you always so cheerful?" Her happy go lucky face disappeared and became replaced with a serious look that was rare for her.

"Because if I'm not, then who will be?" she smiled cutely.

"Hmph. I guess…"

"...Vero. You need to let someone in. I know you mean well, but you've been distancing yourself from others."

"...You can tell?" I looked up, almost ashamed.

"Of course I can tell. So tell me why."

"Well...It's not so much about others knowing, it's about me remembering. I come from the Hoenn Region. I don't know if you got news about it over here, but we recently had a bit of trouble with a group not unlike Team Meteor."

"What did they want?" She no longer had her cheery persona. She realized that this meant a lot to me.

"Have you ever heard of Groudon and Kyogre?"

"The...legendary pokemon, right?"

"Yeah...Groudon has control over land, while Kyogre has control over the sea. Two criminal organizations, Team Magma and Team Aqua, wanted to revive them to create their version of a perfect world. Long story short, it didn't go well, as you'd expect, and ended up costing me my family…"

"Oh, Vero…"

"When they were revived...a massive storm began...lightning, floods, even some volcano eruptions...my father was a policeman, and was killed by one of Team Magma's Admins and their pokemon. My mother was struck by lightning and ended up drowning while she was unconscious...leaving just myself and my older sister. She was everything to me. And then, one night, she was killed by an assailant right in front of me...her death shattered me, and I had nothing left over there...she had me listed as the contingent beneficiary on her 401K, so when she died, I received the money that she had saved up. I used it to come here, to try and make a difference in a place like Reborn and start a new life...though everyone has been discouraging me for trying…"

I glanced up, seeing Julia somewhat in shock and looking extremely concerned.

"Oh...sorry, I kind of just said everything at once, didn't I?" The next thing I realized, Julia had jumped into my lap and hugged me tightly, her arms wrapped around my neck.

"J-Julia…? What are you doing?" I asked, startled.

"I'm sorry…" she mumbled.

"...It's alright…" He returned the embrace, gently rubbing her back.

"You're doing a good thing."

"Thanks…" I looked over at the clock. Midnight already. "Julia, we should get some sleep. Come on. After all, we have a battle tomorrow."

"Ah, that's right~!" She sat up and got off onto the floor. We went over into the bathroom and she handed me an extra toothbrush, where we brushed our teeth. I stepped back for a minute, leaning against the bathtub wall, seeing something I really didn't expect. Since she was brushing her teeth, she was leaning over the counter, quite far at that. You could see right up her skirt, and she didn't have anything on; her big round butt and her plump vulva were in plain view. The brush almost fell out of his mouth, but as quickly as Vero noticed the sight, it disappeared again as she finished rinsing her mouth and stood back up.

"You good?" she asked, seeing me stare blankly into space.

"Y-Yeah...don't worry about me." I said with the brush still stuck in my mouth.

"What was that?" she giggled. I shook my head and walked up to the sink, spitting out the toothpaste and rinsing.

"Alright then, where am I sleeping?" I asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" She motioned to the bed while searching through her dresser and pulling out a pair of yellow sleeping shorts.

"Well then, where are you sleeping?"

"Same place." She went into the bathroom before shutting the door part way.

"What?! Julia, we just met each other today! Please tell me you're not serious!"

"She came out in her tanktop and sleeping shorts, holding a yellow bra in her hand before adding it to her laundry pile.

"You don't want to?" she asked, somewhat disappointed.

"I mean…"

"So you DO want to!" She jumped up and down, laughing.

"Fine! Yes! Yes I want to! But why do YOU want to?! Like I said, we just met, and already you want to sleep with me?!"

"I think you could use a girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?"

"Mmhm~ Look, serious talk time." She walked up to me. "How many other people know about your family incident?"

"None. You're the first I told."

"Then it's good you did. Look, I'll keep your secret safe for as long as you want me to, but doesn't it make you feel a little better that someone else knows and can talk to you about these things?"

"...I guess….."

"Tell your other friends when you feel you're ready, but don't use it as an excuse to not tell them at all. You said you wanted to start a new life, but you're never going to be successful with that if you don't start opening up to people. Fern aside, don't you think that Ame would be supportive of you and try to help you?"

"I'm sure she would be."

"As am I. You asked me just before, right? Why I'm so cheerful?"

"You said it was because no one else is."

"Right! To make others happier! If you don't share these things with your friends, you won't become closer with them, and if you're not close with them, then what was the point of starting with a clean slate?"

"..."

"...Wouldn't your sister want you to do that?" His eyes softened as he suddenly hugged Julia, surprising her, but she then quickly returned the embrace.

"Now come on, let's get to bed~" she said, pulling back the covers and getting in. Vero took off his black coat and gray t-shirt, folding them up and putting them on the chair, as well as his shoes, socks, and pants, placing them nearby.

"You're sure you want to do this?"

"Yes. For the last time. Now come over here~" she sang. I sighed and walked over, getting into the other side. "Oh, one last thing. Hand me your Pokegear." I handed it to her from my nightstand and she typed into it before giving it back.

"That's my number. You can talk to me any time." I stared at it for a minute. Julia Wilde, with a heart emoji next to it. Actually, the only other contacts he had so far were Ame, as a default when he received it, and Victoria from when they were leaving. He'd have to ask Cain and Florinia for theirs next time he saw them. He couldn't care less about Fern.

"Alright. Goodnight." He placed it back on his night table and made himself comfortable.

"Goodnight." She wrapped her arm around him, snuggling in. "Do you mind if I do this?"

"You said you were my girlfriend, weren't you?" She giggled, wrapping her legs around his as well, and falling asleep.

X

Sadly, Vero awoke to an empty bed. He hadn't slept that well in a long time. He stretched, then reached for his Pokegear, turning it on and looking at his texts. There was one from Julia that was timed about 15 minutes ago.

Went to open up the gym. Saved you some coffee if you want some. Come whenever you're ready, I'll be waiting. Love you~

He sighed and placed it back before closing his eyes again, sleeping for another few minutes. After showering, getting changed, brushing his teeth and grabbing my pokemon, I grabbed my Pokegear and left for the gym. [A/N: I know the original Pokegear is supposed to go on your wrist, but let's say that this model is a smartphone, just for ease of picturing texting and the other things it does.]

The gym itself was set up in a straight line that branched off past each checkpoint. There were four barricades that led to a back room. The branched hallways led to trainers and a Voltorb. It was relatively simple to make it past the trainers. The Voltorbs used Self-Destruct when I brought them up to the barricades, destroying them. And after some rinsing and repeating, it was time for the battle with Julia.

The back room was fairly large, and would normally be plain looking, but because of his girlfriend's eccentric personality, the room was anything but. There was a large tile arena, which was lighting up yellow, as well as pink ribbons and star decorations strung up everywhere. Above where she was standing were 6 large pink banners. The first was blank, merely for decoration. The second had "KA" sewn into it, the third had "BO", the fourth had "OM", the fifth had three exclamation marks, and the final one was blank again.

"Hihi, Vero!" she greeted as I walked in.

"I see that you're quite the decorator."

"You like it~?"

"Yeah."

"This is your first time in here, right? Welcome to the Super-Duper Ultra-Hyper Electro-Dazzle Happy Boom-Time House of Cheer! Just ignore all the super lame machinery junk. I need more banners! And streamers! And...hm...Fireworks!"

"I'm not sure if fireworks are the best idea…" I sweatdropped.

"Anyway, don't think I'll go easy on you just because you helped us out earlier and because of last night! We may be together out there, but in here, I'm the Gym Leader! I have pride to uphold! As former captain cheerleader, the Onyx Trainers School's honor depends on me! OTS, we represent! We pack a punch and don't relent! All right, all right, all right! I'm wired so let's fight! Go, Helioptile!" She sent out her first pokemon.

"Espurr! Use Confusion!" Espurr was sent out and used its psychic powers to lift Helioptile into the air and slam it back down towards the ground.

"Charge Beam, before you hit!" It complied, and fired a beam of electricity from its mouth towards the psychic cat before it hit the ground.

"Dodge it!" I yelled, but the beam suddenly became faster and stronger, hitting Espurr hard.

'What was that?!'

"I know you were kind of out of it yesterday, but Florinia did give you information about how we Reborn Gym Leaders fight, right?" she called out.

'Shit, I forgot. Field Effects, right?' I looked around, seeing the machinery now activated and creating an electric current that ran through the field.

'And she even uploaded the data about it onto my Pokegear, too….' I shook my head, turning my attention back to the fight at hand.

"Light Screen!" Espurr created a barrier around itself.

"Thundershock!" Helioptile released a bolt of lightning that was blocked by the barrier somewhat. It still did damage, but significantly less compared to last time. Espurr recovered rather quickly.

"One more time, Confusion!" It used it again, and this time, Helioptile was knocked into one of the machines, defeating it.

"Oh no, return! Voltorb, you're next!"

"Let's keep going, Espurr!" It cried out in agreement.

"Sonic Boom!" She called out, the Voltorb creating shockwaves that destroyed Espurr's Light Screen and sent it flying back. Julia suddenly grinned.

'I know that look...is she…?'

"Go Kaboom, Voltorb! Explosion!" Despite only being a ball, Voltorb was actually very fast, and appeared behind Espurr before creating a huge explosion, knocking both it and Espurr out.

"Return!" we both called them back to their pokeballs.

"Alright then, Whismur!"

"Your turn, Emolga! Use Quick Attack!" The electric flying mouse flew at Whismur, getting ready to attack it.

"Whismur, dodge!" Unfortunately, Whismur was not fast enough to avoid the attack, and was knocked back.

"Emolga, Acrobatics!" It turned around and began getting faster.

'Whismur's never going to be fast enough to avoid these attacks by movement alone. I need to stop it without just dodging and attacking…'

"Whismur, Screech!" Whismur began having a tantrum, making extremely loud noise that hurt everyone's ears. Emolga suddenly stopped flying, and fell onto the floor, hitting it with a thud.

"Now Echoed Voice!" I ordered, as Whismur made another, higher-pitched scream that caused damage to it.

"Emolga, Charge Beam!" Emolga slowly got up and blasted a beam of electricity at Whismur, doing massive damage thanks to the field.

"Whismur, are you alright?!"

"Emolga, Acrobatics!" It swarmed around the young pokemon, hitting it multiple times, knocking it out.

"Tch! Whismur, return!"

'I wasn't really going to use these two, but it might be worth it just to get a few quick hits in before I use my ace.'

"Pidgeotto! Use Quick Attack!" Pidgeotto flew into Emolga, sending it back a bit.

"Emolga, Charge Beam!"

"Dodge it and use Quick Attack again!" It did as told and knocked Emolga into one of the machines, defeating it.

"Return! You're being kind of reckless, aren't you? Throwing out a Flying type to fight me?"

"I'll take any advantage I can get, frankly."

"Oh, really? Voltorb!" She sent out another one. "Spark!" Again, the Voltorb was extremely fast, and charged itself with electricity, smashing into Pidgeotto and shocking it, instantly defeating it.

"Return! Goldeen! Use Supersonic!" His water type was sent out and created a sound wave with its horn, confusing Voltorb.

"Voltorb, use Charge Beam!" But Voltorb, being confused, hurt itself instead.

"Goldeen, Horn Attack!" It rushed towards Voltorb and hit it with its horn, damaging it a little bit.

"Voltorb, Explosion!"

"Damn it! Goldeen, dodge!" Voltorb kept its mind this time, and began to detonate. The explosion took out both of them.

"Return!"

"Return~!" She laughed, clearly excited from the kaboom she just witnessed.

"Alright then. Charmeleon, let's finish this!" I sent out my deciding factor.

"Blitzle~!"

'She's saving her Electrode for last…'

"Blitzle, Quick Attack!" It rushed at Charmeleon and slammed into it, injuring it a little bit.

"Charmeleon, retaliate with Dragon Rage!" It used blue fire that instantly defeated Blitzle.

"Ahh! Blitzle?!" She returned it to its pokeball.

"This is my ace, Julia. I'm going to win."

"We'll see about that~ Electrode! Use Rollout!" Electrode had a reputation for being one of the fastest pokemon discovered thus far. Charmeleon was no match for its speed, and was hit three times, sending it flying into the electricity, making it take massive damage.

"Charmeleon! Are you alright?!" It slowly stood back up and nodded. "Dragon Rage!" Once again the blue fire was spewed, and hit Electrode, making it heavily injured too.

"Charge Beam!"

"Dragon Rage!" The two attacks collided, but Charmeleon gave its all, and ended up overcoming the other attack, defeating Electrode and Julia.

"Huh? I lost already?"

"Yes! Return! Nice job!" I brought it back to its pokeball, and she did the same.

"Mrrrrrr…..Whateverrrrr, I'm gonna go take a power nap."

"You can't be serious." I sweatdropped.

"Oh, right. Fiiine, take your whatchamacallit badge...Volt Badge." She handed it to me. "The thingamajigger badge makes stuff happen. Aaaaaand it also allows you to use the thing. I need coffee…"

"I thought you had some already this morning?"

"Well I need more...Oh! Here! Take this! Consider it a thanks for your help earlier." She handed me a yellow disc that had Charge Beam written on it. [As with other badges, I'm sure you all know that the leaders in this game tell you up to what level your pokemon obey you and what TM you can use outside of battle. But those are elements of playing a game, and to the characters, they live in this world, so it wouldn't make sense if there were things like levels or having to wait to use a move out of battle. So, it will just be giving me their TM for the most part.]

"It doesn't go boom, but it IS a useful move! Anyway, sleepies...Good night~"

"...Right here? Come on Julia, I'll bring you back to our place."

"Alright…" she muttered drowsily. She slipped her hand into mine and leaned on me as I led her out of the gym.

"Vero!" We stepped out of the front doors and saw Victoria standing at the gate.

"Victoria?"

"Did you just win your first badge? That's great!"

"Verooo...I wanna go home…" Julia whined.

"Oh...were you two busy with something?"

"I was just going to walk her home, she's exhausted."

"Oh, that's good of you. I was thinking about challenging Julia, but I heard something awful! Apparently something weird is happening in the Obsidia Ward. The plants are coming to life and attacking people."

"Plants attacking people?"

"Yeah. As soon as I heard, I knew I had to go over there and see if I can help! I'd stay and talk more, but I need to hurry! Bye!" She walked off towards Obsidia, and I brought Julia to our apartment. She took her shoes and coat off and fell back onto the bed.

"Wait...sleep with me~" she whined, as I got ready to head back out.

"I can't right now. You heard Victoria, I have to go help in Obsidia. I'll be back later tonight, then we can sleep, I promise." Vero walked over and kissed her before turning the light off and heading to the door. Her breathing got lighter, and he realized she was already asleep as he turned and looked at her one last time. His eyes widened when he realized that again, she wasn't wearing any panties, and her genitals were clearly in view, especially since her legs were spread.

'I can't wait for tonight.' He smiled, rolling his eyes back into his head and walking out the door, closing it behind him.

End.

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