The day after the Cerulean Gym match arrived in golden quiet.
For the first time in weeks, Nathan didn't rise at dawn or pack up a camp. He awoke slowly in the soft cot of the Pokémon Centre's second floor, the sound of city fountains trickling through the open window.
He sat up, rolled his shoulders, and glanced at his belt.
Three of four pokéballs rested in their holsters.
Zorua sat open beside him, empty.
He found her curled at the foot of the bed, tail over her face, fast asleep.
Even illusions needed real rest.
Later that morning, Nathan stepped into the city proper with a short checklist in his notebook:
𝚁𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜
𝙴𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚐𝚎𝚊𝚛
𝙲𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚂𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖 𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚐𝚗𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚜
𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝: 𝚉𝚘𝚛𝚞𝚊
He headed first for the Trainer Hub just northeast of the Centre, part Poké Mart, part workshop. The interior bustled with travelling trainers browsing upgrades, TM catalogues, and battle kit refills.
At the far counter, a tall woman in tech-spec glasses greeted him.
"Badge two?" she asked, noting the clipped Cascade on his belt.
"Yeah," Nathan replied. "Looking to review what I can optimise for terrain kits."
She scanned his ID and nodded.
"Your System's logging well. Sync strength above standard for age bracket. I'd recommend one of two things, either anchor boots for uneven terrain," she slid a brochure forward, "or a low-profile tactical scanner for field hazard reading."
Nathan considered.
"Boots," he said. "I move with my team. I don't watch from a screen."
She grinned.
"Good choice. Cascade winners get 30% off second-tier upgrades."
𝐈𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐀𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝: 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬 – 𝐓𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐈
𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐲, 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧, 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧
𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐤é𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐲 +𝟑% 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬
𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐜 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞: 𝐍𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐨, 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐲, 𝐒𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞 (𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐬 – 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞)
After finalising the order, Nathan walked toward Cerulean's eastern edge where a small canal-side structure stood: Northstar Diagnostics, a side service partnered with the local Gym to offer advanced monitoring for trainers with rare or developing Pokémon.
He signed in at the desk.
Minutes later, a woman in a pale coat invited him into a small room with embedded sensors in the floor.
"Zorua, please," she said softly.
Nathan released her.
The illusion fox blinked once, then shifted shape for half a second, flickering into a near-perfect copy of Nathan before snapping back.
The woman chuckled.
"Bit cheeky, aren't you?"
Zorua tilted her head, smug.
They began the scan.
𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜: 𝐙𝐨𝐫𝐮𝐚 – 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐜 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝: 𝟓𝟖/𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐭 (𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫)
𝐈𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐜: 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 | 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞: 𝟗𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞
𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐢𝐞𝐫: 𝐔𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 – 𝐓𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐈
𝐈𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 (𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞)
𝐅𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 +𝟓% 𝐝𝐨𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐟 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞
𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝: "𝐌𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫" – 𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 (𝐔𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐭)
Nathan watched the readout quietly.
"She's been improving," he said. "Not just in battle. In reading me."
The technician nodded.
"She's building lateral awareness. Most Zorua focus on mischief and mimicry. Yours seems focused on… cohesion."
Zorua flicked an ear.
"She works in patterns," Nathan said. "Illusion isn't just a disguise to her. It's placement."
He crouched beside her.
"Thank you. For Mt. Moon. And for Misty."
Zorua didn't shift this time.
But she leaned lightly against his side.
That afternoon, Nathan stopped briefly by a local café overlooking the eastern stream, sipping hot tea while reviewing his updated System panel.
𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥: 𝟕
𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 – 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝
𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐗𝐏 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 – 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨-𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝
𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐱: 𝐍𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐨 (𝟏𝟎𝟎), 𝐙𝐨𝐫𝐮𝐚 (𝟓𝟖), 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐲 (𝟑𝟓), 𝐒𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞 (𝟕𝟒)
𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐙𝐨𝐧𝐞: 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝟐𝟒 – 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 | 𝐍𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞
He set the tea down.
A new route. A new challenge.
And possibly… a new encounter waiting.
He closed the notebook.
Tomorrow, they'd head north.
But for today, the stillness was earned.