Catch Feelings, Not Just Pokemon

Haru was starting to feel like the world was getting weirder by the minute.

Kitakami Village? Of course he knew the place—that's the main setting of the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet DLC storyline.

Specifically, it's the location of The Teal Mask, the first part of The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero. The second part, The Indigo Disk, takes place inside Blueberry Academy.

But if memory served, this kind of outdoor excursion wasn't supposed to happen until a year later, right? Why was it happening now?

In the game's storyline, the Kitakami field trip includes two locals from the village—Kieran and Carmine—siblings who represent Blueberry Academy. The lead chaperone is the teacher Briar.

Of those siblings, Kieran had some serious personality issues. Though, in the future timeline (when he's already gone full edgelord), he ends up becoming Blueberry Academy's Champion.

Well... Champion of solo battles is still a Champion, and being Champion within the school is still Champion status!

As for Briar—her head was basically full of Tera Crystals. Later on, she gets directly involved in the storyline concerning Terapagos.

Carmine, the older sister, was relatively normal. That said, her attitude toward her brother was... kind of extreme.

Everyone else on that trip? Just generic "NPCs"—background filler, completely forgettable.

But now the timeline had jumped forward a whole year. Would those same characters even show up?

Hard to say...

Kitakami Village might look like a quiet, backwater place, with no flashy gimmicks or tourist appeal. But in truth, it was far from ordinary.

Just like Area Zero in Paldea, this place was also home to strange phenomena related to Terastallization, and wild Pokémon found here often spawned in Tera forms.

That's exactly why Briar was so interested in it.

More than that, Kitakami housed four Legendary Pokémon and one Mythical:

Okidogi, Munkidori, Fezandipiti, and Pecharunt—the first three were standard Legendary-class Pokémon, while Pecharunt was considered a Mythical.

Granted, all three of the Loyal Three kind of sucked in practice—those Legendaries basically got steamrolled by Ogerpon, and she only had one mask on!

Among all these Pokémon, it was that one—Ogerpon—who most intrigued Haru.

In the game, despite being a Legendary, Ogerpon had a locked female gender, which was unusual. Most Legendaries were genderless.

On top of that, her nature was fixed as Lonely.

According to the lore, Ogerpon was an adorable creature, but everyone treated her like some kind of ghost.

After the Loyal Three stole her beloved mask, she was cast out—feared and hated. She ended up living alone in a place called The Crystal Pool.

And meanwhile, those three jerks who stole from her were hailed as heroes of Kitakami...

From a design perspective and backstory-wise, Ogerpon felt shockingly human—more like a tragic girl from a drama than a Legendary Pokémon.

Of course, for competitive players, the most important part was how strong she was in battle.

Ogerpon was a rare example of a Pokémon that was both adorable and absurdly powerful.

Her Fire Tera form was nicknamed "Red Zamazenta" because after Terastallizing, her Ability boosted her Attack so high she could one-shot practically anything.

And unlike Zamazenta, Ogerpon's Ability wasn't one-time use—it worked even after switching out.

Meanwhile, her Water form was known as "Kyogre's Mom"—she could wreck Primal Kyogre with a single Wood Hammer or Horn Leech.

She was ridiculously strong and incredibly cute—so it was no surprise her usage rate never dipped.

Back when the DLC launched, Haru even started a brand-new save file, rushed the story to capture Ogerpon, and then bulldozed the game with her from start to finish.

Yes, this was a Legendary you could catch right at the beginning of the DLC, already balanced at Level 20 to avoid overleveling. 100% guaranteed catch, and you could even pick your own Poké Ball.

Who wouldn't love a Pokémon like that?

So the moment Haru heard Kitakami was on the itinerary, his brain immediately went into planning mode:

How do I get Ogerpon for myself... both her strength and her aesthetic?

"Professor Haru? Is something wrong?"

"Does this arrangement not sit well with you?"

Clavell finally spoke up after noticing Haru spacing out for an oddly long time.

"Ah? Oh! No, no problems at all. Everything's fine on my end."

Haru quickly shook his head, trying to dislodge all the Ogerpon daydreams he'd been spiraling into.

"Actually, do we have any info yet on the Blueberry Academy delegation? I'd like to take a look ahead of time."

Just to be safe, Haru wanted to know how much the original timeline had shifted.

At the very least, he needed to confirm whether or not Briar would be showing up.

From a narrative standpoint, that woman was kind of the driving force behind the entire "Hidden Treasure" arc.

"Ah, well... they're still drawing lots to finalize which students will be attending, but we do know their lead chaperone is Briar."

"The rest we're not sure of just yet. You'll probably get the full list tomorrow, Professor Haru."

So basically, our so-called "lottery" was completely rigged, huh?

Otherwise how did Lillie, who just transferred in like five minutes ago, get "randomly" selected for this trip?

Could the favoritism be any more obvious?

Maybe Haru's skeptical glare was too sharp, because Clavell let out a couple awkward coughs.

"Ahem. Anyway, that's the situation. Please do your best to take care of the students."

"Kitakami may be a peaceful little village, but safety is still a top priority."

"That's all I have for now."

"If no one has any objections, we'll depart for Kitakami tomorrow afternoon. You still have some time to prepare."

And the moment Clavell declared the meeting adjourned, Lillie immediately turned toward Haru and blurted out:

"Mr. Haru, let's go home! Show me where you live!"

"Er, uh... maybe later."

"Don't worry, Lillie. I'll definitely take you there sometime! I've really changed, I swear!"

...Yup, after I hide Sabrina.

Haru added the thought silently to himself.

Then his gaze shifted to the short-haired girl not far away.

"Liko, do you have a moment? There's something I'd like to ask you."

"Eh? Me?"

"..."

The second Haru spoke those words, Lillie's expression instantly turned... dangerous.

A new woman already?!

---

Meanwhile, back at Haru's house, two residents (questionable wording) were busy with their own... projects.

"P-Please accept your personalized pen holder and dinner tray..."

"Th-this should be good enough, right?"

Sabrina—currently bound to the wall in a large 大-shaped spread-eagle pose—trembled slightly, her whole body shaking from embarrassment.

"Unacceptable. Utterly disqualified."

Necrozma rejected her coldly.

"You really thought a performance like that would move our master?"

"You underestimate him too much. He's not one of those clueless virgins who melts the moment a girl whispers something sweet."

"Seduction. I want to see your seductive power. Make him crave you. If you can't, what makes you think you can tame him?"

Thus spoke Necrozma, the would-be next-generation director, intent on replacing Mew.

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