Magni wasn’t sure what awaited him after his second death. The infinite dark his first world warned him about? Or perhaps Saoirse’s version of heaven the catgirls were so fond of in Nyarlea.

  But this…

  “Hello there. My name is Rowan. However, everyone just calls me the Pokémon Professor. Before I go any further, is this your first adventure?”

  Magni stared at the old man for a long time. He didn’t know where he was or who he was meant to be. A leader? A hero? And what in the horde of dragons was a “Pokémon Professor”?

  “Hm. I believe this would be my third adventure,” Magni replied carefully. He shifted uncomfortably where he stood, and the awkward orange fabric stirred beneath his arms. It was nothing like the soft fabrics of Ichi or the heavy armors of his homeland. It was a vest made of… Had he ever seen such a textile before? It was thin and slick.

  “Ah, excellent. So you’re a veteran when it comes to Pokémon.” Rowan clapped his hands, and his tiny eyes lit up. “Do you have a favorite type?”

  “Hold. This is my third existence. I know nothing of this ‘Pokémon’ you speak of.” Magni crossed his arms across his chest. Why wasn’t there a tunic beneath the scratchy orange vest?

  Rowan ran two fingers through his scraggly white mustache and stepped forward. He stood almost two heads shorter than Magni, but he didn’t seem put off by this fact at all. “It seems you might be a little confused. Do you have a name?”

  What were these questions? “Magni.”

  “Your name is ?”

  Magni narrowed his gaze. “That is what I said, yes.”

  “Great! Well then, welcome to Twinleaf Town, Magni!” Rowan looked him up and down. “Though you seem a little old to begin your Pokémon adventure.”

  “What are you insinuating?”

  Rowan continued as if Magni hadn’t spoken. “In this world, we humans live alongside Pokémon—”

  “I am not human—”

  “—and conflicts are resolved through Pokémon battles. You’ll need one to protect yourself in the wild and to challenge gym leaders to gain strength.”

  Magni’s patience was growing thin. “Why are you ignoring me, old man?”

  Rowan set his briefcase on a nearby table and triggered the latch. Inside lay three curious spheres—half red, half white. “With that in mind, do you have a type you like best? For example, water, fire, or grass?”

  Magni shook his head and swallowed his third craving to grab Rowan’s shoulders and shake him until he listened to his inquiries. Water had been his greatest crisis in Nyarlea, and he loathed the thought of a second occurrence. “Water.”

  “Perfect! Here you are!” Rowan took the middle sphere from his case and held it forward.

  Magni accepted it with a grunt. It was smooth and cool and fit easily inside the palm of his hand. “What do I do with this?”

  The door behind them burst open, and quick footsteps pattered until they halted beside Magni. A young boy with yellow hair and eyes glared up at him with a frown. “What do you think you’re doing here without me?”

  “I…believe you’ve mistaken me for someone else,” Magni replied. Though, he wondered how many other horned men of his kind could exist in such a world.

  “This is your rival, Magni. Don’t you remember his name?” Rowan asked.

  “Why would a child be my rival?” Magni looked between them. “This is nonsense.”

  “C’mon, Magni! You know my name!” the boy pressed.

  “What is your rival’s name, Magni?” Rowan repeated.

  Magni never thought he’d miss the dry, sarcastic woman in the iPaw… “Cailu?”

  “That’s right! I’m Cailu! And you came here to get your first Pokémon without me!” Cailu whined. “Friends don’t do that to each other!”

  “You just claimed to be my rival,” Magni countered.

  Cailu turned toward Rowan and pointed at the briefcase. “Give me the ground type!”

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  “Excellent choice. Here is your Poké Ball, Cailu.” Rowan chose the sphere on the far right and handed it to the boy. “Now, why not practice with a battle between friends?”

  Their conversation moved so quickly that Magni found it extremely difficult to keep pace. “Why did you refer to him as my rival if this is a battle between friends?”

  “Alright! Here we go!” Cailu drew his arm back, then threw the Poké Ball at the ground. “You’re up, Quagsire!”

  Magni stepped back, expecting the Poké Ball to burst into a hundred tiny fragments. Instead, the small circle at its center triggered like a button, and the top half flew backward. A burst of white light filled the room, then constricted into an oval outline, revealing a round blue beast with a flat head and purple markings on its back.

  He’d kept a number of rare Encroachers in Nyarlea, and this one had skin that would make a sturdy pair of boots.

  “So, then, I kill your Pokémon and defeat you thus?” Magni asked.

  Cailu laughed and shook his head. “No, dummy. Send out your Pokémon, and then we have them fight!”

  “Hm.” Magni glanced at the Poké Ball in his hand. “Must I call its name?”

  “It is a Stunfisk,” Rowan supplied.

  It seemed a strong enough name. Surely good enough to defeat Cailu’s wretched blue lizard. “To battle, Stunfisk!” He threw the Poké Ball to the ground as his rival had. The top snapped open, and another white burst filled the room.

  A flat creature the width of Magni’s arm appeared, wildly flapping the two tiny fins on either side of its brown body and slapping its yellow tail on the ground. Two large eyes flanked a bird-like beak, scanning the room as the monster gasped for breath.

  Magni frowned. Despite Quagsire’s unassuming appearance, it seemed far sturdier than his own Pokémon.

  “What is this abomination?” Magni grumbled.

  Stunfisk’s eyes locked onto Magni, and it gaped.

  “It appears as if it should be thrown back into the ocean. How can it possibly fight like this?” Magni asked.

  “Stunfisk can use ground and electric-type moves,” Rowan explained.

  Magni paused. “I believe I asked you for a water Pokémon, did I not?”

  Stunfisk flopped and gurgled.

  “Try using !” Rowan suggested.

  Magni looked from Stunfisk to Cailu. He imagined a Skill like would break the very ground beneath them. “Alright. Stunfisk, cast !”

  Stunfisk growled, then beat its fins so deftly against the air that it began to levitate. The floor shook, and a branching fracture appeared beneath Quagsire. The blue monster watched, his tail swaying back and forth behind him.

  Magni grinned. Stunfisk may have looked like a disappointment, but now the ground would swallow the Quagsire and his owner whole. Perhaps this world was not so bad after all.

  A slight tremble ran through Quagsire. He sniffed but remained standing.

  “What? That’s it?” Magni demanded.

  “As you can see, ground-type moves against Quagsire aren’t very effective!” Rowan said. “You’ll need to try something else.”

  “You’re the one who suggested I use it, you old fool!” Magni balled his hands into fists, and his nails bit the skin of his palms. “What Skill should I choose that is effective?”

  “Ah-ah-ah! It’s my turn, now!” Cailu announced. “You have to wait for yours again.”

  “This is not how true battle works! Stunfisk, perform a different Skill!” Magni commanded.

  Stunfisk twitched and gasped for air.

  Nothing happened.

  “Quagsire! !” Cailu shouted.

  Quagsire grinned, then hopped from one foot to the other. Thunder rumbled above them, and dark clouds formed inside the building.

  Magni snarled as the first drops of rain struck his horns. “What sorcery is this? You asked for a ground Pokémon!” he snapped. “Why can your beast bring the rain?”

  “He’s just better than your Stunfisk,” Cailu said. “I’ll be the best trainer in the world, and you’ll always just be dumb Fisherman Magni.”

  “Fisherman?” Where had such a title come from?!

  “Quagsire is well-rounded in his types and move sets. This will be one of many lessons you face in the world of Pokémon,” Rowan said.

  “Types? They have more than one type?” Magni gestured toward Stunfisk. “Does mine?”

  “Yes. Stunfisk is both ground and electric.”

  “You said he was water!” Magni was moments away from separating Rowan’s head from his shoulders. He hissed in a breath. “If he is electric, can he summon lightning in this sudden storm?”

  “Yes! always hits in the rain. An excellent choice.” Rowan procured an umbrella from the air and pushed it open. “It is your turn, Fisherman Magni.”

  “That is not my name!” Magni snarled. “Stunfisk, end this farce. Use !”

  Stunfisk rocketed upward into the rain and completely flattened his body. Searing bolts of electricity shot from the summoned clouds straight at Quagsire. From what Rowan had said, Magni inferred that the Skill could not be dodged.

  Quagsire looked up at the lightning bolts and watched as they harmlessly struck his face. He shook the rain from his cheeks, then looked at Magni with a wide grin.

  Magni’s shoulders deflated. This world’s rules were senseless, and its inhabitants were created to see his failure. Stunfisk, a monster meant to be Magni’s protector, floated uselessly to the ground.

  “Why…did that not strike Cailu’s Pokémon?” Magni asked. “I thought it could not miss.”

  “Quagsire is immune to electric-type moves!” Rowan exclaimed. “He’s a very valuable Pokémon.”

  “Then why deem my choice ‘excellent’?” Magni groaned.

  “Quagsire! Use !” Cailu cried.

  At last, his rival had made a poor decision. Magni watched confidently as Quagsire spun in a circle, then formed its mouth into an O-shape. A stream of water shot from the opening at Stunfisk, and Magni laughed. A water Skill against a water type wouldn’t—

  Stunfisk screeched when the struck it. Its eyes rolled back, and it fell still.

  Magni massaged his temples and sighed as the rain clouds evaporated. The white light around Stunfisk returned, and the useless fish vanished inside the Poké Ball.

  “Well done, Cailu!” Rowan clapped, then turned to Magni. “You’ll need to bring your Pokémon to a Pokémon Center for healing.”

  “It isn’t dead?”

  “Of course not. Only knocked out! Battles should never end in death,” Rowan explained.

  “Unfortunate.” Magni caught a glimpse of Cailu cheering and dancing with his Quagsire. The urge to vomit twisted his stomach. “Why did defeat my Stunfisk?”

  “Stunfisk is weak to water-type moves.”

  I hate this world.

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