"We hope to see you again..."
Withdrawn his pokemons from the Pokemon centre, Max sat on his seat, gripping the pokeball on his hand.
Kaen... That was what on his mind.
The image formed vividly on his mind, the glow emitted from Kaen was extraordinary, he didn't noticed it much when at the case of Haze and Needle, but in Kaen's case... He couldn't help but shiver.
Maybe it was due to the heat of the battle, perhaps he is subconsciously more bias towards Kaen or was it due to the Dragon Rage?
Max didn't knew, there could be a chance that it was due to Charmander or Chameleon being higher level Pokemon then either Haze or Needle.
Anyway, it was about time he bid farewell to the Pewter Town. Hugo and Reina already had great lead then him, he couldn't let them have more lead.
"I am here!" The voice echoes.
Max turned his gaze towards the door, the voice belonged to the same little girl from earlier, Gwen, but now she wasn't alone, she had a whole company with her.
Gwen walked closer to Max, followed her was her friends, two boys and another girl.
Earlier, Gwen had left saying she would return with her friends, and dadhed off without explaining anything.
And here she was, returned with her friends, but amongst them, one stood out for Max, he looked strangely familiar somehow.
"Here they are, my friends,." She said, then began introducing her friends. "Lin, Jin and Elio."
Elio! The name clicked in. Now wonder he felt familiar with him.
Max turned his gaze to Elio. Elio, is one of the protagonist of the main line series game of Pokemon, of Alola.
At the beginning of game, seemingly when Elio with rest of the protagonist are at 11, he along with his mother will move in to Alola. Before soon starting the journey there and becoming the first champion of Alola region.
He remembered Gwen mentioning her age to be around 7, so guessing from that, all of them should be around the same age, meaning, the contents of Alola will take place after 4 years.
Then again, which timeline? The one from original Sun and Moon or from Ultra Sun and Moon.
The two series of Pokemon Sun and Moon and Ultra Sun and Moon, take place in different timeline. One where Mega-Evolution exists and another where it doesn't.
It all goes down to the king of Kalos, Az, fault, that dude gained immortality and splitted the timeline in two, creating all this jeopardize.
And since the timeline of Max belongs to the same timeline where Mega exists, then the future events after 4 years must be of Ultra series then, which was a relief, who knows what that light devouring dragon might do, and there was no way Max even came close to fighting thet universal level threat now.
But, what if... He needs to fight both Worm hole Ultra beasts and the Necrozma?
Arceus bless him... Max exhaled, looking at Elio in pityful gaze.
Elio just gaze back to him, tilting his head slightly in confusion.
But then... Max couldn't help but fear this little dude's potential, having both power of Mega-Evolution and Z-move at his hands..
And unlike Ash, this dude is actually smart, calculating and better trainer, well... At least on games.
Wait! Doesn't he gets a legendary with him? Which one? Solgaleo or Lunala?
Smoke can be seen emitting out of Max's head as he tries to think, this world... Was really confusing.
Shaking his head, he calms his mind... We will see when it will happen. He says.
"Is something wrong? You have been staring at him for a while... " Gwen said with narrowed eyes.
With a chuckle, Max shakes his head, then focusing back to Gwen.
"Well then, now your friends are here... What was it you want to say?"
Gwen's eyes gleams as she began speaking arbiratly.
Basically, she wanted to play with his pokemons with her own.
They didn't had their own pokemon since they were under 10, but they had the households one-one that are kept as pet.
Gwen had Nidoran(♂️), Elio had Meowth, and the other two had pidgey and spearow each.
Max humoured them, and played with the kids with his own pokemon, he let Jerry do all the battle as he, arguably is the weakest of his team. He couldn't have his other stronger pokemon harm literal house pets.
______________
"Ahh...I am drained," Said Gwen, laying down on the ground with her arm extended, with her nidoran at her side.
The sun was beginning to sink down, and the playtime with kids was finally coming to an end.
Max, with a smile on his lips, sat down under a tree branch.
They were currently at the pewter city ground, the one exactly outside the Viridian Forest gate.
"Big bro! That was awesome!" Said Gwen with his starry gaze.
Seems Max has finally gained a fan.
As true to the term protagonist, Elio displayed the most terrifying potential from the rest. Although the majority of match was sweeped and their pokemon put under sleep with Haze.
Char!
Came the voice of Kaen as she saw the kid getting too close to Max, standing between them both, she sat besides Max, as if telling Elio who holds the higher post.
As the night drew closer, all the kids-along with Max-stood up and began walking back.
At his whole way, Elio looked at Max with a strange gaze, as if wanting to ask something but unable to find words for.
One by one, all of them branched off towards their house route, until finally only Elio and Max remained.
"So, this is a good bye then... " Max said at Elio, who strangely still had that strange look.
"Do you... Maybe wanna ask me something?"
"Why are you a trainer?" Asked Elio tentatively.
The question may sound curious at first, but upon close inspection, it held deeper meaning for Elio, one that Max did noticed but wasn't exactly sure about.
"Well... How should I put it... " Said Max as he put finger on his chin, deep in thought.
To be honest, he himself couldn't remember much. Ever since he was a kid, he just wanted that, he never put much thought into it. He watched Pokemon in TV and played games, so he just wanted to become a trainer.
And after appearing in this world, he never had much time to consider, he was just shoved a Charmander and began his journey without much thought into it.
Surely that answer isn't going to satisfy Elio, so he might need to phrase it properly, after all, protagonist or not, potentialful or not, Elio was yet still a kid.
Max looked down on Elio, a small smile gracing his lips. "Do you want to become a trainer Elio?"
Elio turns his gaze away, his fist clenches and lips trembled. "I... I am not sure..."
Max eyes narrowed slightly, this case was much deeper then he initially thought.
"You see Elio..." Max said softly. "Being trainer isn't all about catching pokemon, battling and raising them... It's about feeling. A feeling of bond, a feeling of trust and a feeling of responsibility."
He continued.
"You don't need to force yourself to be what you don't want. If you want it then do it, if you don't, then don't. That's what it is. A freedom, an adventure, a thrill and... A place where you belong." He said the last part with a smile.
Nice save! Max praised himself for dodging the question entirely.
But Elio, he seems to have gained much more wisdom, his eyes widened, and a small smile grazes.
"I see..." He said, letting out a sigh of relief, a breath he didn't knew he was holding.
Max upon seeing it realized, maybe the answer he just gave was what Elio wanted to hear, the final push he wanted to escape frin the inner Trummoil he had trapped himself on.
Which only made Max realize, how real this world is, and how real everything around him is.
Elio here, was actually a person and not the playable character he once played as. He had emotions, unlike his game character which would wear a fish smile even at the face of pokemon being murdered in front of him.
"I will be a great trainer!" Elio said with a wide smile. "And I will challenge you when it comes then, so you better not lose..."
Max just chuckled at the kids naive words, but he nodded regardless, watching as the kid runaway and vanishing within his house.
Well, this world keeps getting interesting...