Drayden still had a headache from his scuffle with Daniel. He scratched his eyes with a grunt and put on a pair of glasses. “What was that aura? …Felt completely opposed to mine.” He thought while his computer booted up. The document Iris passed him on the man was enlightening but did little to quell his annoyance. Being beaten in his city after such an attack wounded his pride more than his body.

  “At least they didn’t get the DNA splicer… small mercies…” He murmured.

  He checked the time to make sure he was a bit early for the meeting and connected. Burgh was the only other person present on the call at the time.

  “Drayden! Good to see you so early!” Burgh’s volume made his headache flare up even more.

  “Burgh.” He nodded towards the flamboyant man.

  “I’m sorry for what happened to your city. If something like that happened to Castelia, I wouldn’t know what to do!” The man exclaimed in an over-the-top fashion. Drayden already regretted his punctuality.

  “Burgh, I can hear you just fine.” Drayden frowned and reclined on his chair.

  “Oh! My apologies! I don’t want to be a bother!” The man nodded enthusiastically, but his volume remained the same. “So, how was your kerfuffle with our time traveler?”

  “We’ll get to that soon.” Iris’ voice came to save his dwindling patience. “Hi, Gym Leader Burgh. Hi Drayden.”

  “Champion Iris!” The man’s voice grew louder, so much so that Drayden considered ‘paying him a visit’ when the waters cleared. “I see that you are wearing my design! I’m quite honored by the gesture!”

  “Thanks, leader Burgh.” He could spot some redness forming on her cheeks. “I have some plans for extra outfits, but we’ll talk about that later.”

  One by one, the other Major Gym leaders joined the call. The veterans, Clay, Elesa, and Skyla, looked nonplussed by the sudden summons by Iris. The rookies…not so much. Cheren was sweating bullets, Roxie was chewing gum with a nervous expression, and Marlon fiddled with his goggles.

  The Elites were soon to follow. Shauntal and Caitlin were together, sitting beside each other in what he assumed was the latter’s room. Grimsley, with his usual smirk. And Marshal, looking ready for a fight.

  The last ones to arrive were the leader of the Pokemon Rangers, a middle-aged man with salt-pepper hair and a well-kept beard. Rose Joy, matriarch of the Joy clan. And finally, Aurea Juniper, their resident Pokemon professor.

  “Let’s start this meeting by addressing the situation at hand.” Iris took control of the call with that phrase. “Daniel Joy, the time traveler.”

  “It’s still quite bewildering to hear those words.” Burgh shook his head, his volume lowering a few decibels. “I read the document, and know about the psychic interrogation, but… It’s a lot.”

  “It’s true?!” Roxie screamed into her microphone, making Drayden’s headache worse. “I thought you guys were… hazing me or something!”

  “Did you not watch the news? A gigantic Lapras would be too much for… that.” Elesa’s voice rang with a graceful and even tone. “And please, lower your voice. One Burgh is already enough.”

  The girl’s face turned red like a tomato before she whispered “sorry.”

  “Moving on,” Iris said, with some exasperation in her tone. “What we need to discuss is what to do with the information he brought and his Pokedex.”

  “What else is there to discuss?” Clay harrumphed. “Use it, of course. I already have plans for Donphan, Magneton, and Sharkpedo. Can’t believe Johto won over us on those.”

  “I would loooove to play around with Volcaronas!” Burgh exclaimed with an eager expression. “They have so much potential! Their ancestor alone would cement bug types as a threat! And don’t even mention the Kalosian variant. Psychic-type?! Focused on their silk production?!” Then clapped with enthusiasm. “What I would do to pick the brains of the ones that came with such a wonderful idea…”

  Drayden would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited about the prospect of new dragons. Serperior, Quagsire… Arceus, even Caterpies could evolve into mighty beasts…

  “It’s not that simple, I’m afraid.” Shauntal interrupted, reading a tablet in her hands. “The list is very extensive, yes. But we need to keep in mind that it takes time for a variant to manifest. We also need to keep in mind convergent evolution. There’s not going to be a straight line into some of these. And… the reactions of other regions.”

  “They would know something’s up.” Drayden sighed. “And they would ask questions.”

  “Right.” Shauntal nodded. “And our world League is not nearly as robust as it will be in 300 years. We are still in conversations with Kalos and Galar and still lack a response from Alola, Ransei, Fiore, and Almia. And we haven’t heard of Holon, Aeos, Ferrum, The Puzzle continent-”

  “I think they understand, Shauntal.” Grimsley interrupted with a small cough. The ghost specialist nodded while her cheeks grew rosier.

  “It will put the world’s eyes on us. And we’re not ready for the Unification wars or, Arceus forbid, the Great Incursions,” Iris said gravely.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  With the increase in the overall power of regular trainers, there came greater security and risks. Bigger and more dangerous people tried to take the world for themselves. The Unification wars brought unity at the end of the conflict, but blood was spilled. Yet… the resentment that festered afterward led to the Great Incursions.

  Entire regions ended in ruins. A lot of Pokemon species went completely extinct. From What Daniel told them, parts of the world remained untouched wilderness due to the drastic reduction in human life. New and powerful Pokemon sounds great on paper, but the flap of that tiny Butterfree could result in even bloodier wars.

  That was enough to quell the excitement of the people present.

  “Where is Alder? I think his input would be valuable, dear champion” Rose chimed, breaking the silence.

  “Leave it to Rose to jab at Iris after that,” Drayden thought in disgust at the woman. He didn’t dare to voice his opinion, but his expression was enough to convey what he felt. If the woman noticed, she didn’t show it in her face.

  “Ex-champion Alder is not available.” Iris took it in stride, not letting it get to her. “But he’s appraised of the situation.”

  “I can try to contact my colleagues in other regions.” Aurea breached, trying to dissipate any foul air. “If we fabricate something convincing enough about Hisui, we can collaborate with Sinnoh to explain some of the evolutions. Daniel’s account states that they will discover them naturally in 4 years inside their cave systems.

  Iris nodded. “Please, professor.”

  “F-fellow leaders.” Cheren chimed in, voice breaking, likely because of stress. “Sorry about interrupting but… what about the giant Lapras? There are enough images online that l-look like…” He seemed to shuffle some papers, by the sounds that came from his microphone. “Dynamaxing.”

  “Ah yes. The Snorlax in the room.” Burgh coughed.

  Another awkward silence followed. The man seemed like a great person and even gave them a lot of actionable intel. But the price for that…

  “What about… Saying it was just a movie?” Roxie’s tone had a night and day difference. “My pa is working on movies right now. Why don’t we say someone created all of that for one? We need to say it was inspired by Galar and that might give us brownie points with them I don’t know.” Her voice got lower and lower as she went on.

  “It’s going to be hard to reframe this fiasco as a movie. There’s a lot of people that were injured, and the property destroyed too.” Grimsley crossed his arms and inclined his head. “But I don’t have any other idea, to be honest.”

  “I’ll call Braycen and get him on the project.” Clay tipped his hat. “Might as well make some money out of it.”

  “With that out of the way. What are we going to do with the man in question?” Drayden’s headache worsened for a moment, remembering their bout.

  “He’ll stay with us,” Rose chimed in with a mirthless smile. “We’re his ancestors, after all.”

  “You’re just hogging the man.” Marshal punched his palm with a dangerous smile on his face. “I want to fight him.”

  “That…might not be a bad idea.” Caitlin supported him, surprising everyone who knew her.

  “Come again?” Even Marshal himself was taken aback by her sudden cooperation.

  “It would be a good way to gauge him.” She elaborated. “Apart from lab results and the psychic interrogation, we don’t have tangible information on him.”

  “Yeeees.” Marshal’s grin widened. “I’m going right-”

  “Not right now, you brute,” Grimsley sighed. “Our dear champion will take care of that. Won’t you, Iris?” He asked, innocently looking directly at the camera.

  “…Yes, I’ll take care of it.” She seemed to deflate a bit more on her chair. “I also want to see him in action.”

  The rest of the meeting was more boring in comparison, just exchanging information about the circuit. The upcoming Vertress conference and any hidden prospects. And finally, Plasma. Their whereabouts were still a mystery, but their defeat was sure to be a heavy blow. The rangers and Police departments were already finding and bagging stragglers, bringing a smile to Iris’ face.

  ***

  Deep beneath the earth, inside a secret lab, a desperate man looked at gestation tanks. All housed a Pokemon that was more machine than living. Lifeless red eyes staring back.

  “Genessect.” A nearby scientist explained with a crazed smile. “That boy N didn’t know anything about beauty. This… Is the future!”

  “We need them earlier than anticipated.” Ghetsis gripped his staff until his knuckles turned white. “I don’t know where they got giants, but I need to act now.”

  “But sir…”

  “NOW!” Ghetsis voice echoed through the lab, startling the scientists.

  The disaster of Opelucid City cost them too much. Losing the frigate, Colress, Loyal men, resources, and, most importantly, Kyurem. It was a heavy blow like their loss two years prior at the hands of teenagers. Just remembering their faces made his blood boil. Regardless, their plans were coming to fruition and one more push was all he needed to dominate Unova. An army of legendary Pokemon might be that equalizer.

  There was that tiny voice inside his head that recommended him to lie low. It was too heavy of a loss to be acting too quickly after that. He didn’t even know what other secrets the league had. But he couldn’t. Those who stood in his way would be crushed, and he would soon have control over the entire region.

  “Prepare them for transport.” He swiped with his arm. “In three days, The League falls.”

  ***

  “Chairman! You need to look at this!”

  “Hmm?”

  Chairman Rose was having a pleasant afternoon, drinking coffee and sitting on his balcony in Lumiose City. Leon had successfully ascended as Champion of the League, silencing a lot of his detractors. His self-proclaimed title of ‘world’s best trainer’ came off as arrogant and was sure to ruffle some feathers. But enough maneuvering would see them come on top. With enough work, the boy would shine like a gem and Galar would be on top of the rest of the world.

  Oleana, his secretary, vice-president, and confidant, walked up to him and showed him an image of a Gigantamaxed Lapras in the middle of a city. Breaking windows with their roar.

  “I don’t quite recognize the city and didn’t see it on the news. Was that dealt with already by the League?” He hummed in surprise. “Already paying dividends with his efficiency, that Leon.”

  “No sir. This was in Unova.”

  “Unova, you say?” He opened his eyes in surprise. “Now that… is unexpected.”

  “We defeated Joey Barlow! By the authority of the World Pokémon League, you are under arrest! Power down your ship and prepare to be boarded! We will take any attempt to harness Kyurem’s energy as an attack!”

  She clicked on a video for him, showing a middle-aged man dressed in the Unovan veteran uniform. His pink hair suggested that he was part of the Joys. Yet, it had been a while since someone from the Joy clan was talented enough to be in the Veteran division. He hummed as he watched Lapras protect itself with Max guard before firing a very impressive G-max Resonance.

  “What has the Unovan League said about that?”

  “That they were shooting a movie after being inspired by Dynamax.” Oleana narrowed her eyes. “And that this is just an elaborate campaign to promote it.”

  “This is worth investigating.” He nodded before taking a sip of his coffee. “Contact Leon. He might need to make an international appearance sooner than expected.”

  “Understood, sir.”

  His coffee turned a tad bitter after the news. He didn’t like surprises, but this incident revealed a lot. If Unova found a way to replicate Dynamax energy without their bands, that could be worrying. “A visit to the joy clan seems to be in order.” He chuckled. “I think the leader of the Unovan branch is also called Rose.”