7/3/20
11:30 pm
Phoenix's Apartment (Bedroom)

I couldn't sleep.

Not because I had insomnia, but because I didn't want to. Harmony told me earlier this morning I should be getting back to Universe 3 by tonight, but it's almost midnight! So either I have to find it or hopefully she can place it somewhere I know... I sat up on the top of my bunk bed, my hair barely touching the roof. "The badge is not in my bed," I quickly mumbled to myself. My eyes wandered around the room, trying to see with the little vision the dark gave me. "Damn it, I'm just going to search."

I quickly moved down the ladder barely making a noise to reach the buffed, wooden floor. My body quickly tried to move towards my side of the closet, but immediately stopped when this sound was made.

Creak!

The old wooden tile that me and 'Nix always avoided was being pressed, making my cousin mumble in her sleep. "Who's there?" she said, turning her body towards the wall. My mouth slowly sighed with relief, knowing I was safe for now.

I quickly started rummaging through my clothes, hoping to find any clue to the other half of my badge. It took a few minutes, but there was still no sign of the other half. I cursed silently as my clothes were placed inside the drawer when something paused me completely.

My pocket was glowing.

The half badge was the object glowing dimly but could have been enough to get into 'Nix's eyes. I didn't pay attention to that. When my body turned around towards my roommate's dresser, the piece glowed so brightly, I had to cover it with my hand. "Oh, it's like a homing device!" I whispered to not wake up 'Nix again. I ended up staring at Phoenix's drawer. The light was still shockingly bright, so I kept my hand closed. "Guess it couldn't hurt." My right hand slowly reached for the handle...

"Don't touch that!" My body was suddenly pushed to the side, making me lose my balance and fall. It was Phoenix—with some of her hair in her face—and she was pissed. Like, really pissed... And here come the fireworks. "What are you doing near my clothes, you pervert?"

'Nix never gave me the "I insult you when you make me mad" look to me, even though she did it to everyone outside her immediate family. My body slowly stood up slightly confused. "I'm not a pervert!" I whispered to not wake anyone else up. "I was... I was looking for something."

I could see Phoenix have a certain doubt of my half-truth, and her eyes started squinting. "Really?" She said in a sarcastic tone. "Do tell what item you 'dropped.'"

Both our eyes locking in on each other, making me sigh. I was going to have to tell her eventually. "...Fine. I was looking for this." My hand with the half-badge opened, making the bright light blind Phoenix. I immediately opened the drawer when that happened and stood in shock at what was on the top of the clothes.

It was the other half-badge, glowing dimly. I knew it was there, yet I was still shocked by it being there. The bright light finally dimmed down, making Phoenix stare at me. "Manny!" Phoenix shouted. "What are you doing with Mew's badge?"

She knew about Harmony...? I can't believe it, Harmony lied to us! She chose another human behind everyone's back—and it was my cousin of all things! I didn't want to talk about that for now. "You have the other half, Phoenix?" I stared at her, wanting an answer.

"Of course I did, Manny!" She nonchalantly answered. "I just thought you knew about it." My body ignored her last sentence as I walked toward Phoenix's bed on the bottom. I quickly looked at both sides of the badges before sliding both sides to Phoenix. The two quickly shined right next to each other and merged, becoming the same badge Cord gave me all those months ago.

"Why did she choose you?" I asked her. "Did she even tell you why?" Phoenix, meanwhile, bent down to pick up the badge shining in the moonlight. I didn't realize it at the time, but my left eye was flickering from brown to blue, making my eyelids blink multiple times.

"I-I don't really know." She responded while walking over. "Hell, I don't even have a clue about whatever the World Pokémon Tournament is." Phoenix sat down next to me and passed the badge next to me. "But it looks like I'm not getting any sleep tonight," she said sighing.

...Wait, World Pokémon Tournament? Harmony never told me about a tournament—although it could have been because of the few days I spent in Universe 3. Still, she could have told me when we met in the human world. I meanwhile started chuckling from 'Nix's remark. "You do realize that by the time we come back it's tomorrow and we'll be fully rested, right?"

'Nix tilted her eyes. "How the hell was I supposed to know that?" I quickly ignored that statement and read the full markings from the badge.

It takes two people to work-H

'Nix grabbed the badge and started scouting it. "What are you even looking for?" Her fingers touched everywhere but stopped when the middle of the badge sunk in. "Huh?" She said confused. Her thumb pressed it multiple times. "Why isn't this working?"

A realization quickly came upon me, making me grab the badge and placing it in the middle of the bed. "I think we both need to press the button." My finger already was on top of the badge, which quickly prompted 'Nix to use her entire fist to squish my finger and hit the button at the same time. I yelled in pain while the badge started glowing in multiple colors. "Oww!!" My face turned to my cousin as I sucked on the knuckle in pain. "What was that for!"

"That was for touching my stuff, Manny." 'Nix responded with a grin. The two of us quickly stopped joking around when we didn't feel the bed below...

That was probably because I and her were floating in mid-air with a portal on top of us. "...Here we go!" I whisper-shouted. We entered the portal with high expectations, despite the two of us not knowing fully where we were going.

It felt like the start of something new... At least it was for Phoenix.

For me, it felt like "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo."

***
7/4/20
7:19 am
Plains; Universe 3

The very first thing I saw was a blurry orange. That's how I knew I made it and became a Pikachu, but the orange could have been anything. "Manny..." A voice came out while my body started shaking unconsciously. "Manny, wake up!"

My eyes blinked a few times before my mouth yelled, "Don't kill me!" My vision finally saw a white paw coming to hit my electric cheek, but for some reason, the object didn't get electrocuted when it slapped me. When my vision finally came to normal, an Alolan Raichu stared at me with his arms crossed. "Oh," my voice softened with the look of his head ruffle. "Sorry for screaming at you Cord."

Cord sighed and punched me on the left shoulder jokingly. "I'm just glad I found you when Harmony told me and Abby that you were finally coming back." I was rubbing the area where Cord punched me when I realized something.

Why did my short legs feel like someone was on top of them?

I looked down to see a Houndour laying on top of my right leg, softly snoring while sleeping... "That's definitely her," I mumbled loud enough for Cord to hear me.

Cord bent down towards the Houndour and glanced at me confused. "You know who this Pokémon is?"

I laughed softly trying my best to not wake up the Houndour. "Of course I do. Her name references to fire; and she can sometimes act dark while being an ass to people..." Cord didn't realize who she was which made me facepalm myself. "It's Phoenix, my cousin from New York, Cord!"

Cord moved a step back. "Oh," he responded with a stare at Phoenix and a glance at me. "How was I supposed to remember her? I only met her once."

"You know why Cord. You told me." My arms crossed on each other while slowly moving my legs out of Phoenix's new muzzle. Cord was about to pick up 'Nix from the grassy floor when he suddenly froze to stare at her.
The point that made me laugh loudly was the soft red glowing coming right above Cord's cheeks.

"S-Stop it!" Cord shouted while shaking his head. "It's not like I'm interested now!"
I finally stopped laughing rudely and stood up. "Whatever, Cord," I responded, wiping away some tears that came out. "Let's just climb Misty Mountain to get to your cabin."

Cord started lifting 'Nix into the air using Psychic. He turned to me and asked, "What are you talking about? I thought I told you I moved from Misty Mountain."

...I wasn't paying attention to that day, which quickly made me lie, "You never told me that! Where is it now?"

The Raichu clearly didn't buy it, as he shook his head and sighed. "For your information," Cord's voice almost became sarcastic, "the cabin should only take a few minutes to reach."

The two of us started walking south, making me have a slight view of the mountain range Misty Mountain had. As it turned out, there were more trees here than the last time I was here. If it wasn't for Cord, I would have found myself dragging Phoenix in a random direction, getting lost in the process. "Do you mind me asking why this place is so dense right now?"

Cord chuckled while moving Phoenix side-to-side. He did that so she could avoid the trees in front of us. "Six months has been a very long time since you've been here. For starters, Chris isn't in the Grass Continent anymore."
I haven't told you this yet until now. Chris was a human from Universe 2—the Pokémon world. The last time I checked, he was disguised as a shiny Eevee and acted like Abby's brother—she was an Eevee from this world.

Anyway, for some stupid reason, I didn't pay attention and thought of the worst. "Don't tell me he..."

"What?" Cord shouted. "He's not dead! He moved away from here, trying to make a better life! The Council still hasn't found a way to get him back to Unova."

"Oh." My teeth started showing out. "Sorry about that." The Raichu's eyes rolled before reaching a small wooden cabin surrounded by trees and a tiny well. I learned the hard way last time that if Cord made a cabin using Psychic, it's gonna be larger than the naked eye. But for now, I knocked on the door and turned around to Cord. "What happened to Abby then?"

Cord slowly lowered 'Nix to the wooden floor below us and softly smiled. "Abby has been living with me ever since you left. She's asked questions about how you've been doing, and tells me stuff that I keep on forgetting to tell you in the Dream World." The door started making a squeaking noise while opening, making a cold crawl down my spine.

"Anything else?" I asked, still having my back behind the door. Cord cleared his throat and pointed towards the inside of the cabin. "Oh." My body turned around to look down somewhat, but four legs with light blue fur came into my view instead of an Eevee face.

"Manny?" A familiar voice whispered on top of me. My eyes perked up to see a Glaceon wearing a red beanie on her head. She could feel my heart melt—or freeze if you want to say that—when our eyes aligned. My body reached in to jump towards the Glaceon, and she met it with a hug of her own...

If you haven't realized it by now, Abby evolved from an Eevee to a Glaceon.

Cord walked in with 'Nix while the two of us were laughing at each other on the floor. "Ta-da?" He grinned while doing jazz hands. The two of us looked at the Raichu with a death stare.

"You didn't tell him I evolved with an Ice Stone, didn't you?" Abby told Cord with a sense of doubt.

The Raichu made a cold sweat behind his back and grinned. "I just thought it would be fine if it was a surprise..." The two of us moved away from our position to him. "Nevermind that. Just help me get her to a couch."

Abby tilted her head looking at the Houndour. "Umm... Why do you have a Houndour with you, Manny?"

I lifted the Pokémon up and slowly started moving to one of the couches. Coincidently, they were the same couches as me, Cord, Abby, and Chris slept in for the first time. We weren't even a team then. "Well, Abby..." My body grunts when lifting Phoenix to the end of the couch. "I have time for an explanation, sit down."

***
7:40 am
Plains (Cord's Cabin)

Sitting on the same couch I accidentally kissed Abby while half-asleep, I talked to the evolved Pokémon about who 'Nix was. Cord was listening too while making a type of berry salad. "Wow," the Glaceon looked at Phoenix. "I never thought your cousin would turn out to be a completely different Pokémon."

Cord quickly interrupted while using Psychic to slice food. "I'm just wondering why Harmony chose her of all people."

My eyes turned to the Raichu before responding, "To be honest, I don't know..." I stood up to walk over towards 'Nix. "She mentioned something about a World Pokémon Tournament, but I'm assuming she forgot about the rest whenever she visited her."

"World Pokémon Tourna—...," Cord mumbled to himself before looking at the two of us. "I'll be right back." In the blink of an eye, Cord used Teleport to disappear from this room.

Abby was quickly getting something on a bookshelf while I heard groaning. Phoenix was waking up—finally—and was tossing and turning along with the couch. "Phoenix, hey." I placed my paw on her head which held her still. "Wake up, we made it."

"Ugh..." Phoenix placed her left paw on her stomach area, which quickly growled at both of us. "I'm starving." Her eyes slowly opened to see the wooden roof we were under. "What the?" The Houndour moved her eyes down to see yours truly.

My mouth grinned in front of her. "I can't believe I'm saying this," I said to her, "but welcome to Universe 3."

"M-Manny?" 'Nix had her eyes widened while looking down to see all four of her paws stretching by instinct. "Am I a Houndour again?"

Abby came in having a green orb necklace hanging around her neck. She arrived right next to Phoenix and me and threw two white orbs at me and her. "Hi, Phoenix."

'Nix didn't take the statement lightly. "Ahh!" Her body moved back quickly, adding weight to the fragile back of the couch. "Who are you—... Glaceon?" I started to add weight toward the front of the furniture to balance things out. Trust me, I learned the hard way when this same couch fell over last time.

"'Nix," I said, trying my best to stay still. "Don't worry, she knows we're human... Phoenix, meet Abby, an old teammate of mine."

The Glaceon nodded and tried her best to make a good impression. "It's nice to meet you, Phoenix," she responded with a soft smile. The Houndour slowly calmed down and sat down on the couch.

"Hi there..." It was obvious that she was still frightened to see a Pokémon like her talking for the first time so that I understood.

I finally noticed the orb Abby gave us and held onto it. It glowed for a few seconds before becoming yellow. "Isn't this the—?"

Abby laughed while nodding. "Of course! This is what Harmony called the Poké/Hú Orb Mark Two!" Phoenix looked at me confused about what the item was... I was only concerned about why mark two was better than one.

Cord suddenly appeared using Teleport, which startled me and 'Nix. We ended up breaking the back of the couch's balance, sending it falling down like a lumberjack yelling "timber" to a tree. Both of us felt pain, which completely confirmed that we were in Universe 3 at least.

"Hey, are you guys..." The Alolan Raichu paused himself to look at Phoenix, who was struggling to stand up correctly. Of course, 'Nix never walked on four legs—unless you count the time we tried to do terrible impressions to each other, which was ugly. I had to carry her again to place her on the other couch. Abby could see the slightest red coming out of Cord. But before she asked the question, I interrupted her.

"'Nix," I said pointing towards the Raichu. "That is Cord, someone you should be familiar with."

She blinked a few times before suddenly realizing what I was talking about. "Wait, wasn't that your best friend who disappeared three years ago? And everyone accused you of killing him?"

Oh great. I tried my very best not to tell her about everyone hating me for the first year that incident happened; I guess it slipped through the cracks. I tried to lighten my mood by snickering at Cord. "I don't think she remembers you."

"Shut up, Manny," the Raichu responded while floating towards us. "Welcome to the Pokémon world, Phoenix, where everything right now is at it's worst... Guess what the Darkness is doing now?" Cord pulled out a flyer and gave it to the two of us.

Come one, come all!

The 109th Pokémon World Tournament has finally arrived! All 'mons alike can fight and have a chance to raise the coveted "Alyx Amalia Trophy" and grab the grand prize of 2,000,000 Poké! The dates are as follows:

Desert Division: Sandstorm Plain, July 2nd*

Grassland Division: Treasure Town, July 5th*

City Division: Nio Nacpulpa, July 7th*

Island Division: Red Plateau, July 8th*

The main tournament will take place in Nio Nacpulpa from July 10th to July 21st in Seaside Stadium.

If you want to watch the main tournament in the stands, be sure to grab your tickets starting at 5 Poké a ticket.

May the gods lead you to victory!

*=dates subject to change

I read too quickly and misunderstood the paper. "They're making a flyer?" I said to Cord, very confused.

Phoenix decided to respond to my stupid statement, using her left paw to slap the back of my head. I fell down the couch while she looked at Cord. "This was the tournament Harmony told me about earlier! What exactly is this?"

The Raichu cleared his throat to make me pay attention. "This global event is like the Olympics—every four years they do this. It's supposed to represent the unity of Pokémon. With the Darkness joining this, this regular event is gonna be on a whole other level."

Abby passed the small, shiny orb to Cord, which made it turn white. He was quickly putting it on while I was struggling to hop on the couch. "Cord..." I grunted loudly before reaching the cushion. "What do you suggest we do?"

The Raichu used Psychic to float the paper towards him. "Obviously, we have enough Poké to sign all of us up—including Chris if we find him." Phoenix raised her paw, waiting on Cord to call on her. "What is it?"

"Um...," She said thinking for a moment, "I don't know how to walk correctly in this. How am I supposed to battle against stronger opponents?"

"I got this." My paw went onto 'Nix's shoulder—at least I think it was a shoulder. "We're going to train you. Even if it's only for a day, it makes a large difference... You must have a lot of questions." The Houndour nodded in response, making me give a solemn face. "All I can really tell you is we are going to get back home."

Phoenix looked down at the wooden floor and shook her head while sighing. "I-I know," she responded. "This is so brand new to me; Either way, I am going to deal with it and move forward."

Not the reaction I was expecting from her, but okay. "It's official. Welcome to Team Cool!"

Phoenix stared at me confused. "Team Cool...? That sounds so cringy." Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Okay! Okay." I sighed in defeat. "We'll change the team name when we get to Treasure Town." I was about to start grabbing supplies around the cabin when I realized two things: there weren't any supplies around here, and Phoenix needed to be taught how to walk on four paws.

And the second one is a doozy.

*Game File Saved*