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wrightfamilyagency · 3 months ago

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Hey, so... remember that Layton/AA/Pokemon AU I was talking about a month ago and said I'd post more about…? The post I was writing got… out of control, I restarted it two or three times before actually finishing it today... I really hope it makes sense if you want to read a rough of the plot outline and pokemon teams in this thing!

Also since I'm never going to write this, I'm just going all in and detailing all my cool reveals that would have been surprises had I written this AU instead of the one that actually exists. xD

Firstly, a brief overview of things that haven't changed: 'Toppy' the Rattata, Thalassa's and Trucy's Popplios, Clay's Pidgey, Athena's Rotom-powered Widget, the Kurain Eevees, Misty's Espeon and Morgan's Umbreon, Maya's Sylveon, 'Charley' the Sunflora, Phoenix's Magikarp 'Milar', Larry's Smeargle, Miles Edgeworth's Lillipup 'Pess' and Honedge, Gregory Edgeworth's Aegislash and Steel-type speciality, Manfred von Karma's Steel-type speciality, Furio Tigre's shiny Arcanine, Iris giving Phoenix a Fletchling, Emmy's Tyrogue, Descole's pack of Mightyena, 'Missile' the Yungoos, Maggey's Absol, Franziska's Ferrothorn, 'Shoe' the Alolan Meowth, Zak and Valant's Minun and Plusle, Geary's Klinklang, Drew Misham's Sudowoodo, Eustace Winner's Shroomish and his father's Fire-type speciality, Kay Faraday's Greninja, Hugh O'Connor's Decidueye, 'Taka' the Staraptor, the Phantom's Ditto, Dhurke's Dragonair, Uendo's Castform.

Phoenix's story is mostly unchanged, or at least this first part: He, Larry, and Miles become friends tracking down the owner of an abandoned Lillipup that Miles ends up taking in and naming Pess, after which Gregory also gives him an Honedge he names Excalibur. Larry hangs out with an old family Smeargle, and Phoenix feels left out enough that he recruits his friends into helping him catch a Magikarp that he names Milar. A few months later, a member of the local Elite 4 retires, and the top contenders for the open spot are Gregory and fellow steel-type specialist Manfred von Karma. Before the big bout, they happen to also be facing off in court; Though Gregory loses the case after a year-long battle, he doesn't plan to lose the pokemon battle… only to lose his chance to even compete when he gets trapped in the elevator with Miles and bailiff Yanni Yogi. As soon as they realise they are trapped, they recall any pokemon they have out to preserve the oxygen, but all three end up passing out regardless, and Gregory dies. His pokemon pass to his apprentice/assistant Eddie Fender (who already has a Mawile), and Miles goes into care with his Lillipup and Honedge. Manfred never shows up for the battle, instead immediately leaving the region and sending word of his formal decline of the position. A few months later he comes back only to adopt Miles, taking him from the region also. The open spot in the Elite 4 is eventually filled with someone else. Phoenix and Larry, having been very patient in waiting for someone to tell them what's happened to the Edgeworths, hit their last straw when they see the house being emptied of furniture, and even though they're not yet 10, Phoenix convinces Larry to sneak out on their own Pokemon Journey to find them.

Mia's story also starts the same, but with some lore I left out of the last post: Kurain Village has a sizable breeding stock of Eevees from which they pick out partners for future heirs, and over time this small population has developed their own eccentricities, though some of them probably exist only in the belief system of the Feys. First off, Kurain Village specifically use Eevees descended from the original brought by Ami Fey, who was said to be as spiritually skilled as Ami herself, and this potential inherited skill is why every immediate heir to the Mastership is given one. The Feys quickly realised, however, that Eevee breed much more quickly than people and the Eevees soon outnumbered the heirs, so the rule was broadened to allow the Master to gift them to whoever she deemed worthy of one, while still keeping the special Eevees exclusive to their community. As more time has passed though, this hasn't done much to keep the population down, thus the Eevee themselves began to occasionally leave their home to find their own partners (often recruiting townsfolk to help them), and the Feys decided simply to let them, believing the people they partner with may help Kurain or the Master some day in the future. One undeniable trait of these Eevees though, is that once they have 'bonded' to a trainer, if that trainer suffers an early death, their Eevee doesn't live for more than a couple of years before also passing. Morgan and Misty, as immediate heirs of their mother, were given Eevees on the first full moon after their respective tenth birthdays: Morgan's evolved into an Umbreon, while Misty's (named Elise) evolved into an Espeon. Morgan's twin daughters weren't yet old enough for Eevees at the time their father took them from the village, being around 5 or so at the time Misty became the Master; Not too long after that Mia turns ten and gets hers, which she names Sandy. Mia is 13 when the DL-6 kerfuffle causes Misty to flee, leaving behind her Espeon to protect her daughters. Mia decides to go find her mother, joined by her Eevee, but on her way out of town, Elise the Espeon comes to join her, with a second Eevee at her side. Mia is surprised, but accepts the second Eevee into her team, naming him Davey. On her way to the city, she runs into Phoenix and Larry and the trio team up. She isn't at all impressed with Phoenix at first, despite lending him Davey, and fully believes Davey will agree with her and pick someone else, but in the end (helped by her rescuing and befriending a Sunkern she names Charley, which she evolves into a Sunflora) she warms up to Phoenix and Davey stays with him. Phoenix at the same time learns a bit of self-confidence, and after Milar evolves into a Gyarados, he evolves Davey into a Jolteon and takes down the bullies who were tormenting him and Larry on the road in a sort-of-climactic battle. Larry, who started out their journey full of boasts about how great a battler he is despite losing almost every battle, finally accepts he's not a very capable battler… then buys finds himself a Klefki, and goes right back to boasting (over the years, said Klefki's thieving nature will only get him into more trouble). The trio make it to the city, learn about DL-6 (Mia, being intensely private, finally opens up about Misty's part in it), then they manage to track down the safehouse Misty is staying in, only for Misty to slip past their 'watch', dropping a note in their laps begging Mia to leave this be and go back home. With Miles out of the region and Misty gone, the trio reluctantly go back home, but Mia and Phoenix stay in touch through letters (easier to hide from Morgan than a phonecall), having promised to help each other reunite with their respective lost loved ones.

When Mia grows up, she returns to the city to study law, taking with her Sandy the Sylveon (her original Eevee), Charley the Sunflora, and her mother's Espeon Elise. Finally, Phoenix is able to visit her, and crashes with her for a day or two so he can take part in the open Pokemon Battle Tournaments over at Sunshine Coliseum. He's not anywhere close to the top of the rankings, but he's having fun, and occasionally he drags Mia along with him. Mia also befriends Lana around this time; Lana has recently become the sole guardian of her little sister Ema, and the pair have jointly inherited their parents' pokemon, Nidoking and Nidoqueen, one of which Lana usually has with her alongside her Skarmory. Mia tries introducing Lana to Phoenix, but the two don't really connect (Lana sees Phoenix as an idiot nuisance, much like Mia did on first meeting him, and Phoenix picks up on the vibes), so Mia reverts back to her intensely private nature and keeps Phoenix and Maya as their own separate social group away from anyone else she befriends. Speaking of, once Maya gets her own Eevee at 10, she immediately insists on visiting her sister in the city and finally getting to meet her sister's penpal she's heard so much about over the years, and demands that Phoenix write to her like he wrote to Mia. Phoenix is baffled, but agrees, and the two are very quickly best friends.

Unknown to his former friends, Miles Edgeworth returns to California at the age of 20, bringing with him his pokemon team of Herdier and Doublade. He's been raised in the von Karma tradition, which involves not naming their pokemon, but rebels in his own tiny way by still calling his partners Pess and Excalibur when he's certain he won't be overheard. He's supposed to be in California only for his first trial, which ends up cancelled when the defendant and original prosecutor are murdered before it even starts, and Franziska insists on initially tagging along with her Ferroseed to help investigate. Along the way, Edgeworth meets Gumshoe and his tiny Maractus, Detective Badd and his Murkrow, "Calisto Yew" and her Thievul and Lurantis, and young Kay Faraday, who inherits her father Byrne's Frogadier and Zorua.

Edgeworth's second attempt at a first trial happens to be Mia's actual first, another failure that horrifies both. Mia is most enraged by her inability to prove Dahlia (and her Shuppet) as the true culprit in court, and her assistant Diego Armando (and his Zangoose) promises to help her investigate. Mia is so focussed on Dahlia she forgets all about Edgeworth and says nothing to Phoenix, instead spending all her time with Diego on their investigation into Dahlia. Phoenix, having by this point also moved into the city and sharing an apartment with Mia, of course knew her first trial was coming up, and worries when she comes back from it upset and unwilling to talk about it. His worries soon give way over time when he looks up her failed trial and realises not only why she was so distressed but also that Edgeworth was there too. Still, he tries to be kind and keep giving her space while trying to write to Edgeworth, only to find himself ignored on both ends. Finally his patience runs out and he gets mad at both of them, Mia for betraying their promise and not telling him about Edgeworth and Edgeworth for refusing to write back. He and Mia are barely talking anyway at this point, so he begins avoiding her as she is seemingly avoiding him, and switches his studies into law. The 'argument' comes to a head after Diego is poisoned, when Mia comes home to find Phoenix happily doing whatever with Dahlia's necklace around his neck. They end up yelling at each other without a lot of listening or explaining, and Phoenix storms out to crash at Larry's until he calms down. Mia calms down first and realises Phoenix's grievances were mostly legitimate, so when he comes back the next day she finally explains what was going on for her and apologises for not telling him everything sooner. He also shares what he's been up to and agrees to help her with Dahlia in Diego's place. When he next goes to class at Ivy University, he is approached by "Dahlia", except she now has a Chingling instead of a Shuppet, asking for the necklace back. His infatuation this time is only an act, and he talks "Dahlia" into meeting him somewhere more private later. He tells Mia, who tells Lana (now a successful detective and on a rare solo case away from Gant), and the trio ambush "Dahlia", only to discover this is actually Iris. Mia and Lana don't let up on grilling Iris no matter how distressed she is, leading to Phoenix defending her and genuinely befriending Iris, giving her the courage to defy her sister and help get Dahlia arrested and convicted for the attempted murder of Diego. Iris takes in Dahlia's Shuppet as her own, as pokemon are always confiscated upon arrest and prisoners are not allowed to keep them. Iris and Phoenix start dating in the aftermath, and though it takes Mia a long time to stop seeing Iris as Dahlia, she eventually warms up to her and accepts her as family too. When Maya next visits, she's shocked at being introduced to a new older cousin (Pearl is a toddler at this point), but soon connects to Iris just as easily. Iris gives Phoenix a Fletchling as a gift that Christmas, which he soon evolves into a Fletchinder. Sometime in the next year, Phoenix and Iris break up, but remain friends, and Mia and Maya make it clear to Iris that they will always support her as family.

Hershel's and Desmond's story starts the earliest in the timeline, probably: Leon Bronev has a Cofagrigus he caught as a Unovan Yamask overseas (either living there or on a dig), while his wife Rachel has a Roserade she's raised from a Budew. When their sons Hershel and Theodore each turn 4, Leon catches them a pokemon from his digs (pokemon are surprisingly common around ruins, no matter how degraded), so elder Hershel gets a Galarian Yamask and younger Theodore a Baltoy. When Targent comes, Leon and his Cofagrigus hold them off while Rachel has the boys recall their pokemon into their balls and sends them away to hide, her Roserade joining them as protection; Leon, Rachel, and the Cofagrigus are then taken away. A deserting Targent agent, Raymond, soon finds the boys with the help of his Mightyena and Dragapult, and decides to start righting the wrongs he's helped commit by finding the boys new homes (all unofficial to keep from being tracked by Targent), but the only takers are the Laytons, who can only take one child. Raymond makes himself scarce, hoping to subtly persuade them to take both anyway, but when Hershel hears they're coming for him, he plots to present younger Theodore as 'Hershel' and insists he's staying with neighbours to ensure the Laytons will take the younger boy to safety. He tries to get Roserade to go with the Laytons too, but it recognises the elder boy remains in danger and insists on staying with him to fulfil Rachel's final order. No one else ever comes forward for the elder brother, so Raymond raises him himself, and the boy takes on the new name Ted Phibbs, throwing himself into archaeology in the hopes of recovering his family and getting revenge on Targent.

Young Hershel Layton and his Baltoy have trouble settling in with their new family, so the Laytons decide to get Hershel an assistant/emotional support pokemon, a Ralts, to help. He names it Teddy (his former nickname), and it helps him deal with the trauma of the kidnapping and find happiness in his new life; When he's old enough to sign up for the Gym Challenge, he turns it down, still too anxious to leave his new home. They move to Stansbury when he is about 16, by which time Teddy the Ralts has evolved into a Kirlia, but it's the Baltoy that attracts Randall's attention. Randall's primary pokemon is a Galarian Farfetch'd, which he uses as a sparring partner in fencing club, while his girlfriend Angela's is an Applin he gave her, Ascot servant Henry has only a male Indeedee, and friend-turned-rival Dalston's primary partner is a Houndour; While Randall and Dalston went on the Gym Challenge once they were old enough, neither got further than the third gym. Henry was forbidden from trying, while Angela cut hers short after only the first gym due to the sudden death of her older brother, whose Machamp she inherited. Once Randall has dragged Hershel into fencing club, he gives him a Dawn Stone, which Hershel uses to evolve Teddy into a Gallade, making him a good sparring partner too. They are 17 when Randall drags Hershel into the Akbadain ruins, during which both Randall's Farfetch'd and Hershel's Baltoy evolve into a Sirfetch'd and Claydol respectively. At the bottom, they see the river and recall their pokemon to make the crossing easier, only for Randall to fall into the pit and Hershel left to return home and break the news. He ends up taking his friend's place at Gressenheller and going into archaeology in Randall's stead.

(Randall washes up, amnesiac, in a small farming community, where he is adopted and given the new name 'River' after where he was found. His Sirfetch'd tries to lead him home despite having no idea where 'home' is, but Randall/River won't follow so it gives up and stays put by his side with the rest of the team.)

In Wyndon, Hershel meets and befriends Clark and his Bronzong, Brenda and her Boldore, and Claire and her Xatu, said Xatu being named Susan; Much like the Stansbury gang, these three either didn't/couldn't try the Gym Challenge or did but didn't get very far. Clark and Brenda then Hershel and Claire start dating, and once their studies are over, Clark and Brenda get married, have Luke, then move to Misthallery. Hershel has just been promoted to 'professor' at Gressenheller when Claire suddenly dies in an explosion at her work. Her Xatu, safely left in its ball during the experiment that went wrong (specifically because it had been acting very oddly for days), is recovered and claimed by Hershel.

(Another bit of world-building I forgot about: Scotland Yard is known as Crown Plain Lane here. The Crown Tundra is formerly known in-universe as the Crown Plains, and you can't go wrong with a good rhyming name ;D )

Meanwhile, 'Ted Phibbs' has also successfully made it into archaeology, but not without his own struggles. After accidentally getting scooped up by Targent as a student alongside his teacher, he learns the true fate of his parents, evolves his Yamask into a Runerigus as he escapes, and is forced to change his name again, this time to Desmond Sycamore. He meets and marries a Kalosian woman named Jeanne, who has a Noivern, and they move to Kalos, near Santalune Forest, where they set up their base for anti-Targent activities while Desmond takes up a job as a professor. They then have a daughter, Colette, who catches a Scatterbug when she is young that she later evolves into a Spewpa. Eventually however, Targent tracks them down and kills Jeanne and Colette, with only Desmond and their pokemon escaping. He and his newly expanded team make their way back to Raymond, who handles acquiring the Bostonius to be their new base while Desmond pulls together a new identity once more, combining the costumed identity Jeanne had made for him to fight Targent with, "Désolé", with veiled reference to the lost Sycamores to invent his new name, Jean Descole. After some training with his team, he makes the decision to keep his Runerigus to one side, while his Roserade, Noivern, and newly evolved Vivillon help him on his re-invigorated campaign to take down Targent.

Luke's first pokemon is, obviously, Toppy, a purple Rattata who is either one of a very small population of Kantionian Rattata living in Misthallery, or a very rare new Galarian variant of Rattata that is normally grey with a purple shiny, I haven't really decided (Rattata aren't in Sw/Sh, but I couldn't not make the purple rat the purple rat pokemon xD). He keeps Toppy a secret until after summoning Hershel to Misthallery for their Spectre problem, and that same day meets a marine biologist called Marion doing research on rare fish in the town; She recruits the eager Luke to look after a Feebas for her, and he ends up befriending it and keeping it on his team; He may not speak 'fish' very well at first, but he learns it over time as he also improves his general ability to talk to land-based pokemon. During Eternal Diva, he is with Hershel on the Crown Patone when the 'game for eternal life' starts, and the ship is surrounded by swarms of floating/swimming Dragapult to discourage anyone trying to swim or fly away on their pokemon. Luke tries talking to the Dragapult, but they are all wearing odd headsets and don't seem to hear him. When they arrive in Ambrosia, they find themselves also hemmed in by a pack of Mightyena in identical headsets that also seem unable to hear Luke; Unknown to them, the two groups are being led by Raymond's Dragapult and Mightyena, who use their headsets to receive and distribute orders from Descole. Eventually, Luke, Hershel, and Emmy manage to start getting the headsets off the Mightyena, who instantly disregard their orders once Luke can speak to them. One Mightyena helps Luke and Hershel as they take on Descole, and joins Luke's team permanantly in the aftermath.

Not sure how old the protaganists of Sword/Shield are, but I'd say Luke hits that age about this point? Regardless, he adamantly refuses to bother with the Gym Challenge when its offered to him, finding his 'job' as Professor Layton's apprentice far more exciting.

(Emmy has a team of two, a Galvantula she befriended as a Joltik while briefly living on the streets as a child and a Hitmonlee gifted to her as a Tyrogue by Leon after he took her in. Loosha is the full version of the Galarian fossil of either 'Arcto-' or '-vish'.)

The Stellar Circus (US: One Ring Circus) of Miracle Mask has as its star the white Luxray Hannibal (US: Maurice). The ringmaster is having so much trouble training up the younger duo of a Bunnelby and Buneary that he asks Luke's help after noticing the young trainer, so Luke temporarily takes the pair in to teach them a few tricks for the circus before returning them to their home. Someone in the city of Stow-on-Side also has a trio of horse pokemon near the parades, which Emmy borrows on a brief chase after the Masked Gentleman: Gallant the black Kantonian Rapidash (who Hershel rides), Spirited the Galarian Rapidash (who Emmy rides), and Faithful the Mudbray (who Luke rides) (though I do think it would be hilarious if this random unseen person actually had Glastrier and Spectrier, but no-one recognises them as legendaries and just thinks they're weird-looking breeds of Rapidash xD). Since knowing them as teenagers, Hershel's former friends from Stansbury have updated their teams: Angela has evolved her Applin into a Flapple, Henry has a Lucario, and Dalston has evolved his Houndour into a Houndoom, and at some point acquired a second one too.

As Descole and Hershel have continued to run into each other, Hershel has managed to connect the dots between this Roserade who goes out of its way to protect him, the vaguely familiar feeling he gets from Descole, and the distant memory of his brother and the Roserade who protected them. It hasn't slowed his determination to stop Descole's plans when he comes across them, but he has made enough of a point of asking after and calling the Roserade by name that Descole knows he's recognised them. When Descole changes up his tactics for Azran Legacy, he hides away his Roserade, Noivern, and Vivillon to bring back out his Runerigus as Desmond Sycamore's partner (Raymond similarly hides his Mightyena on the offchance Luke's Mightyena recognises it), but it doesn't occur to him that Hershel might recognise the Runerigus too until after their group picks up Aurora and introduces her to all their pokemon; Luckily for Desmond, although Hershel recognises its nickname, he only idly comments he 'once knew' someone with a Yamask by that name, confidently adding when asked that it was a Unovan Yamask, confusing the old memory of his brother's partner with their father's Cofagrigus. Luke has picked up another pokemon by this point, befriending a Pachirisu named Hazel that has joined his team, while Keats the Glameow has made the Bostonius his new home and ends up adopted by Raymond. When Descole finally reveals himself, he flies off the tower with the aid of his Noivern, and Hershel has no time to stand in shock, following on the back of his Xatu. In the resulting swordfight/pokemon battle, a sequel to one they had on top of the DetraGigant, neither is really talking about what they both know but they are both aware by now that the other KNOWS, and this time Descole fares much better with his Runerigus giving him the advantage of numbers against Hershel's team, allowing him to slip away with Raymond.

When Emmy betrays the group, she uses her team's type advantages to take out Luke's team in one hit each (Hitmonlee on Rattata and Mightyena, Galvantula on Feebas, both on the Pachirisu to overwhelm with numbers), then threatens Luke with the ice pick to make Hershel and Descole stand down and allow her and Leon to leave with Aurora and Luke. Now Descole and Hershel are alone, they more frankly address being brothers and who Leon is (Hershel is definitely embarrassed when he realises where his confusion around his brother's Yamask came from), and Descole doesn't bother with the "I definitely don't care about any of you" act until they run into Luke again, and he decides to play along with Luke's animosity. Hershel decides it wouldn't help to tell Luke the truth at this point, so keeps quiet until Descole throws himself in front of a laser to protect him. Injured, Descole makes Hershel promise to stop their father and the Azran, and Hershel adds a promise to come back for Descole, leaving his Claydol to stand guard while Descole orders his Roserade join Hershel and Luke. As they leave, Luke questions the mention of "our father" and Hershel admits he and Descole are brothers; Luke is so shocked the conversation ends there. When the golem army is released, they are entirely made up of Golurk without their chest seals (seriously, look at Golurk's dex entries here, they are a PERFECT match for the Azran golems). When the humans decide to sacrifice themselves to stop them, they release all their pokemon to say goodbye and allow them to escape (except for Luke, whose team are still unconscious, so he leaves the pokeballs to one side in the hopes they will make it to safety), but at the last moment, the assembled pokemon all team up to push the humans aside and take their place: Descole's Noivern and Vivillion for Descole, Hershel's Xatu and Gallade for Hershel, Descole's Roserade and Leon's Cofagrigus for Leon, Emmy's Galvantula and Hitmonlee for Emmy, and Hershel's Claydol and Descole's Runerigus for Luke. The pokemon die and the humans are left injured from their attempts, but Aurora prays to the ship and heals everyone more-or-less back to normal. In the aftermath, Leon is arrested and his Cofagrigus ultimately claimed by Emmy before she leaves Galar.

Flora is gifted an Applin when she is young, a play on the apple-shaped birthmark on her shoulder. Her father has a Vanilluxe, and her mother a shiny Galarian Meowth, Claudia, which after her death ends up in the care of her robot replica Lady Dahlia. After Lord Reinhold's death, his Vanilluxe passes into Bruno's care instead. Bruno himself has a swarm of Rotom he uses to power and program all the robots of St Mystere, but ends up with a Vanillite too somehow, which he gifts to Flora when she leaves with Hershel and Luke. Don Paulo, when he attacks, has a team full of Drifblim loaded up with Explosion and Revives, but what Hershel's Xatu lacks in moves and defence, she makes up for with her trainer's wits, and easily takes them all out. Chelmey, when Hershel and Luke finally meet the real guy, has a Pangoro, and Barton a Clobbopus. The farmers of Dropstone keep imported Miltank that don't live in the wild, and when Flora gets stuck in town there for a while, she picks up a Milcery from the surrounding fields. Much like with the Stellar Circus's rabbits, Luke briefly takes in the train chef's Morpeko to help it lose weight.

Back in California, Mia and Phoenix have been working together on their case against Redd White, but living together as roommates means its still safer to occasionally leave bits of evidence or research with Iris in Hazakura or Maya in Kurain. After Phoenix's first trial defending Larry, they get something they decide to hide in Larry's statue clock, which they both agree Maya will love to play with. On the evening of the handover, Phoenix plans to be out to give the sisters some time alone together, but comes back to find Mia dead and Maya framed for it. He jumps to defend his friend, helped by Iris's late arrival, but still makes the mistake of confronting White and getting himself framed instead. Iris declines joining him in court, having bad memories of when she helped convict Dahlia, but does visit Phoenix and Maya in the defendant's lobby to wish them luck; When Edgeworth comes to meet them before the second day of trial, he freezes on spotting Iris, needing a long moment to recover and deliver his message. In the aftermath, Mia leaves Charley the Sunflora to Phoenix, Elise the Espeon to Maya, and Sandy the Sylveon to Iris. A few months later, they run into Edgeworth again on the Steel Samurai case: Gumshoe has added to his team (of one) with a Yungoos named Missile, and Maya befriends Penny Nichols and her Porygon-Z. Cody Hackins has an Aron, hoping to one day have an Aggron like the Steel Samurai himself, though Will Powers has a Bastiodon for a pet; The Samurai's Aggron and the Evil Magistrate's Kingambit are owned by a Pokemon Tamer who trains and directs pokemon actors on sets (though I haven't figured out how this new character would fit into the existing case yet). Iris helps out again while defending Edgeworth, being with Phoenix and Maya as they are attacked by Manfred's Magnezone and struggle with Yogi's Chatot. Lotta Hart has a Bouffalant that gets easily excited, nearly tossing their group in the lake a few times when they visit Lotta's campsite.

A few months later, now lacking Maya and Iris, Phoenix meets Ema Skye and her Helioptile and Nidoking, and recognises Lana's name when Ema gives it. When Phoenix tells Iris of what's going on, Iris decides to come help him in Maya's absence, as uncomfortable as she feels meeting Lana again after Dahlia's arrest. She's more understanding of Edgeworth's struggles than Phoenix is, but not confrontational enough to talk to Phoenix about it. Ema is surprised when meeting Jake Marshall again that his Cacturne is the same Cacnea she met on the night Neil Marshall died, who had been kicked aside early in the struggle between the men; Ema's Helioptile had also tried to 'help', shocking everyone into unconsciousness at the same time Ema jumped up to push aside the man with the knife. Jake's team full of Cacturne and Maractus (which he breeds and gives out to mentees like Gumshoe) pass into the police force after his arrest, and later are 'donated' to GatewaterLand, where they act as 'decoration' for the Wild West area. Angel Starr has a Droopy form Tatsugiri as her partner, which acts as a mascot for her 'lunchlady' business after she got fired as a detective. Damon Gant has a Poliwrath, highly enough trained that it had no trouble on the night of Neil's death taking out the weakened Cacnea and Helioptile in one hit each despite the type-disadvantage. In the aftermath, Lana's Skarmory and Nidoqueen go to Ema, who takes her team over to Europe with her.

Pearl is 8 when she first meets Phoenix, so doesn't have a pokemon of her own yet, but after her mother's arrest, she inherits Morgan's Umbreon and Grumpig. Franziska's Ferroseed has since evolved into a Ferrothorn, whipping both Phoenix and his Jolteon in court. When Pearl is finally introduced to Iris, she is very excited to have an older sister and offers to let Iris take Morgan's Grumpig, but Iris points out she already has Chimecho, Shuppet, and Sylveon, and insists she wouldn't want to take away one of Pearl's team of two. Pearl accepts this, but does ask if Iris can come visit her in Kurain now; As much bad history as Iris has with it, in Morgan's absence she agrees to return there. When Phoenix meets Maggey, it's only him and Maya taking the case; They are a little wary of Maggey's Absol at first, but Maggey is very quick to explain that Absol's reputation of bringing disaster is a misconception. Richard Wellington's fire extinguisher takes out Phoenix's dozing Jolteon as easily as it takes out Phoenix himself, leaving Phoenix without a pokemon partner in court and one less clue to help him overcome his amnesia.

The Berry Big Circus has a collection of pokemon, some the partners of individual performers but most as performers themselves under Regina's trainership. Max Galactica has a signature Roselia with white roses, Moe the clown has a Mime Jr that follows him around and imitates his every move, and Acro has a pair of small birds, a Natu and Spritzee, one of whom he is only caring for in Bat's absence. Ben Woodman's puppet Trilo is designed after a Nuzleaf, and the fact that 'he' is a 'talking pokemon' does nothing to change how the other performers treat 'him'. As for Regina, she looks after Regent the Luxray, Money the Aipom, a dancing Ursaluna, and a pair of Copperajah. In the past, they had a Pyroar named Leon, who was put down after Bat's accident. Acro's team go into Moe's care after his arrest, as he doesn't trust them with Regina.

Will Powers invites the Wright & Co Law Offices to the Hero of Heroes Grand Prix, and Iris goes with everyone as part of the team. When Maya leaves to 'answer her call', she brings with her her Eevee on her shoulder and Elise the Espeon walking by her side; Once in private, Shelly de Killer uses his Galarian Slowbro to take out both Maya and her Eevee, but Elise escapes, and de Killer makes no move to chase the Espeon down. While kidnapped, Maya's pokeballs are removed and de Killer keeps them on his person to ensure they cannot escape. Meanwhile, her Espeon flees into the city, where it knows Misty has returned, and summons her to help. Misty is now going by Elise Deauxnim, has evolved her Misdreavus into a Mismagius and befriended a Grafaiai, and when she approaches Phoenix's group under the pretence of "I found this random Espeon on the streets is it yours", Pearl immediately recognises Deauxnim from the 'author/artist' photos in her favourite books. Misty/Deauxnim makes no attempt to reveal her true identity, and joins the investigation, mostly helping keep Pearl's spirits up while Iris helps Phoenix investigate. Juan Corrida's hotel room is full of figures and toys of Teddiursa and Ursaring, with one large standing Ursaluna, all sent by fans to reference a story that he personally wrestled an Ursaring or Ursaluna to train for the show; Phoenix thinks it's very weird, especially as Corrida's pokemon partners were a Magcargo and Alolan Sandslash (the latter originally Celeste Inpax's partner) and the Jammin' Ninja was always pictured with a Kricketune. When Pearl channels Mia for court, Mia is very shocked to find herself face-to-face with Deauxnim, but decides to focus on the problem with Maya rather than confront her mother when it's clear the others don't know who she really is. She does find a moment to confront Deauxnim in private and implore her to tell everyone the truth, but in the end Deauxnim chickens out and never says anything, choosing to stay Pearl's favourite celebrity and friend of Phoenix's office and its resident Feys. During the investigation, Matt Engarde asks them to check on his Alolan Meowth, Shoe, only for Phoenix's group to discover it is already being cared for; After Engarde's conviction, Adrian takes it in, alongside her Alolan Sandshrew.

Some months later, Adrian gets back in touch with the Feys as part of her new job, setting up an exhibit on Kurain Village's treasures. Phoenix is hired by Desiree Delite, who owns a Cyclizar and a Ninjask, to defend her husband Ron, whose Shedinja and Flygon have been helping him as Mask DeMasque. Luke Atmey has a Mimikyu that clings to his shoulder most of the time. From the start, Phoenix knows who Godot really is - he had been keeping tabs on Diego Armando after Mia's death but missed him waking up as it was Mia and not him on the 'notify' list - and guesses Godot is so mad at him for failing to prevent Mia's death; Phoenix already carries a bit of self-blame for his decisions that contributed to Mia being alone that night, so he doesn't confront Godot on it, knowing none of his friends blame anyone but Redd White and unwilling to leave his own 'defence' to them.

Phoenix applies for a Legal League of Attorneys exchange that brings him and Maya to Galar for a couple of weeks, and quickly results in the pair of Americans - followed by Hershel and Luke - winding up without their pokemon in Labyrinthia. Nearly no-one in Labyrinthia has any pokemon, the only ones the four visitors see being Eve the black Purrloin, Constantine the Fidough (his Dachsbun mother was likely a runaway pet originally from Paldea), Hoots the Noctowl, Cracker the blue Squawkabilly (another pet imported from Paldea), and a lot of Skiddo and Gogoat used as farming stock; Pokeballs also aren't a thing here, with pokemon in general treated like dangerous animals (pets and livestock being the exceptions). With how much longer this Phoenix and Maya have known each other compared to canon, Darklaw confuses them for a couple and sets them up as such in Labyrinthia, and though they get their memories back within a day or two, it's enough for them to question their relationship going forward. After Hershel is 'turned to gold' and Maya 'burned as a witch', the two of them reunite in the Eldwitch Woods, where they see the Shades working together happily with a variety of pokemon, all paired to modern pokeballs the individual Shades carry with them. After a bit of investigation, they find a box in the Great Witch's 'office' that contains Hershel's, Luke's, Phoenix's, and Maya's teams, safely kept in their balls, and reclaim them all on behalf of their absent friends; Not long after, Phoenix, Luke, and Espella catch up and introduce their pokemon to each other (with the exception of Milar the Gyarados, who is too big for the underground tunnel they are in). On their return to town, their pokemon immediately stop to question the black machinary all around the place - Luke is translating - and that helps the group piece together what's really happening much quicker; During the final trial, instead of figuring out how to drive the machines he can't see, Luke is instead sent to join Phoenix and Maya at the defence to tell them Hershel's plan in taking over for Darklaw to force her to testify. Of course, the quartet all having (most of) their pokemon at their sides now makes the Labyrinthians very wary of them (like a regular person would be of someone walking down the street with an untethered lion), though they're more comfortable with Maya's and Luke's rather innocuous dog-cat-thing, rat, fish, wolf-hyena, and squirrel (Eevee, Rattata, Feebas, Mightyena, Pachirisu) than the floating clay figure, the two giant birds, the humanoid with blade-arms, the twin-tailed dog-cat-thing, or the spiky dog-cat-thing (Claydol, Xatu and Fletchinder, Gallade, Espeon, Jolteon). At the end of the trial, when Espella tries throwing herself from the tower, Hershel sends out Xatu and Phoenix sends out Fletchinder in the same moment to help; Xatu and Fletchinder do their best but can't carry both Espella and Darklaw (who also leapt to catch her) once they lose their grip on the tower, so Phoenix additionally sends out his Gyarados, who easily catches all four and carries them to safety. Once the 'spell' over Labyrinthia is broken, the pokemon who had been with the Shades in the woods return and reunite with their original trainers, having been given up when their trainers joined the original experiment (except for the very few allowed to stay in the town). Phoenix, Maya, Hershel, and Luke are returned to Wyndon and promise to stay in touch with each other before Phoenix and Maya return home.

(It's at this point in the story I'd be having Phoenix and Maya start dating, prompted by their experience in Labyrinthia. Also, Maya may or may not be pregnant now, because this is my self-indulgent AU and I can do what I want with it.)

Maggey is arrested while Phoenix and Maya are in Galar, making it easy for Phoenix to register a mistrial and defend her for real; He is especially upset after meeting Furio Tigre and his shiny Arcanine that Tigre doesn't have a single pokemon in common with him, raising even more questions about how he got into court. Gumshoe had taken in Maggey's Absol after her conviction, and is very happy to return it once she is acquitted.

On instructions from Morgan, Pearl pushes Maya and Phoenix to go take a course at Hazakura together and visit Iris, as she has always been the one to visit them. They readily agree, though Phoenix refuses to take part himself (if Maya is pregnant, he definitely is wary about letting her do anything but she talks him into it). They're surprised to run into Deauxnim there, but as she already demonstrated knowledge of Kurain channelling its not too big of a shock that she knows about Hazakura too. More of a shock is that Larry has recently become her apprentice, and Phoenix tries his best to put a firm stop on his ogling of Iris, knowing Larry would be a terrible match for her. Iris seems to be acting strange, but they write that off as nervousness about introducing them to her mother-figure Bikini - and Bikini's Froslass, Brassiere. When Maya heads off for her course, she leaves her Espeon Elise with Pearl (though Elise ends up sticking to Deauxnim) and takes only her Eevee with her. When Phoenix sees the bridge on fire, he has enough presence of mind that he sends out Milar the Gyarados to carry him across, but even with the dying light from the bridge, it's too dark to see anything on the other side; Regardless, all his talk of a killer on the other side panicks Larry enough that he still calls Edgeworth for help, unnecessarily summoning him back to California. Pearl comes out of hiding to meet Phoenix in tears, refusing to explain what she's doing near the Inner Temple, so Phoenix reluctantly gives up the search to take her back across, leaving his Fletchinder to keep a lookout for Maya. Edgeworth tries to ensure he's on the prosecution to help Phoenix out, but when Franziska hears what's going on, she insists on handling it herself, claiming she still wants 'revenge' on Phoenix (but really just wants to engineer a scenario to return Maya's card from her kidnapping). The bridge being out is no hindrance with plenty of flying and levitating pokemon to carry people across, but the police work on repairing the bridge anyway as having it makes things easier. Godot doesn't show himself until after the bridge is repaired, knowing he couldn't get away with having claimed to come across on a pokemon, and takes over the prosecution. In the Inner Temple, a Sylveon has consistantly been sitting just behind the bars, perfectly happy to stay exactly where it is, and it takes Phoenix a while to recognise it is Maya's evolved Eevee, and its insistance on standing guard lends credence to Maya being in the tunnel behind it. After the failure of getting Iris to open the bars, the Sylveon disappears, but everyone figures it just ran back into the tunnel during the earthquake… until it appears to Phoenix and Pearl as they head to court the next day, wanting to stay with them. Phoenix later realises it was standing guard over the channelled Dahlia, fled or was scared away when Iris switched places with her, and is continuing to try and stand guard by joining them in court (if Maya is pregnant, he definitely worries for the safety of the baby with its mother channelling someone for so long, but it turns out fine). After Godot's arrest, Maya feels obligated to check up on his Zangoose, which has gone into the care of the Armando family. As for Iris's team, Sandy the Sylveon goes to Maya, her Chimecho to Pearl, and her Banette to Bikini. Misty's Grafaiai goes to Larry, while her Mismagius ends up with Maya. Not long after, just short of two years since Mia's death, Sandy the Sylveon passes away in her sleep.

When Galar's PM Bill Hawks is kidnapped, his Alakazam is left behind; Though it teleports all over Galar in the aftermath, it is unable to locate where its trainer has gone. Down in Future Wyndon, only The Family seem to have pokemon partners and there are very few 'wild' pokemon around either, but Luke still befriends a green Squawkabilly that he adds to his team (Emmy had advised him when she left that he get something good against fighting-types, and he reflects a flying-type counts). Around the city, they also meet Beasly the Beedrill and Subject 2 the Diggersby, runaway experiments from the same lab as the Squawkabilly. Future Luke, when questioned on what happened to his Rattata, Feebas, Mightyena, and Pachirisu, spins a story of Future Hershel forbidding pokemon for all but a select few, thus they had to be sent out of the city for safety; Hershel hugely doubts this is something he would ever do, but keeps quiet and goes along with Future Luke's insistance they keep their pokemon in their pokeballs as often as possible. When they finally meet 'Future Hershel', he has a Gothitelle just like 'Dr Stahngun' and, as he eventually is revealed to be, Dimitri Allen. 'Future Luke' similarly is eventually revealed to be Clive, and reveals his own team of a pair of Unfezant (who were a pair of Pidove when Hershel first met Clive) and a Vibrava. Celeste evades Hershel's suspicions not just by claiming to be Claire's younger sister but by claiming she 'lost' her pokemon, a cover-story that also explains the joyful reunion Claire's Xatu treats her to. During the escape from Clive's mobile fortress, Hershel lends Celeste Susan the Xatu to allow her to fly back to help Clive while he continues on to drop off his passengers. Afterwards, 'Celeste' is revealed as Claire, has a proper reunion with her Xatu, and gets a last conversation with Hershel before going back in time to die. Less than a week later, though Luke is still against it, he's leaving Galar with his parents. Flora throws herself into helping with the rebuild of Wyndon, during which she picks up a Sinistea and the newly-orphaned 6yo Alfendi, who Hershel eventually adopts.

Edgeworth gets unexpectedly reunited with Kay Faraday, who shows off her father's now-evolved Greninja and Zoroark, as well as a device of her father's containing blueprints and images that allows the Zoroark to create an illusion of the room they depict. They butt heads with Shi-Long Lang and his midday form Lycanroc, and his assistant 'Shih-na' and her Seviper. Ema briefly helps them out, showing off her newly-evolved Heliolisk and a new member of her team, Venonat, whose special eyes are an aid in her forensic analyses. 'Shih-na' eventually gets outed as 'Calisto Yew', hiding the Lurantis and Thievul she had years before; Her boss, Quercus Alba, has a Trevenant. A few short days later, Edgeworth's group end up on another series of connected cases, during which they befriend Eustace Winner and his Shroomish, and Verity Gavelle and her Tinkaton. Prison head Fifi LaGuarde has a pet Sandile that has its own sandpit in the corner of the prison yard, as well as a shiny Furret she uses as a scarf and a near-literal horde of regular Furret she uses as a coat, getting around the six-team limit by legally assigning them as part of the program that pairs up prisoners with pokemon. Of her prisoners, blind assassin Bodhidharma Kanis has a Houndstone that acts as his guide animal and was known for assisting him in his assassinations before his arrest, while boxer Rocco Carcerato has been given a Cubchoo that loves him far more than he likes it. After a rocky reunion with Eddie Fender and his Mawile, Edgeworth's group manage to uncover the false Di-Jun Wang and his stolen Pyroar, arrest LaGuarde and the elder Winner (and his Heatmor), and finally corner the mastermind, Simeon Saint; Since becoming the assistant animal trainer at the Berry Big Circus, Simeon has assembled a team that is a mixture of pre-existing circus pokemon, new pokemon specially for him, and possibly a partner or two of his own he brought in with him: Money the Aipom, a Pignite, three Skwovet, a Skitty, two Buneary, three Flittle (or one Flittle and Acro's birds?), and an Annihilape. All turn on him when he reveals his true colours before his arrest.

When Jove Justice meets Thalassa Gramarye, he doesn't have a pokemon partner, and becomes the only member of Troupe Gramarye without one: Magnifi has his Meowscarada, Mamoswine, and Chewtle, Thalassa has her Brionne, Zak has his Koffing and Plusle, and Valant has his Luvdisc and Minun. To help Jove fit in, Thalassa does some research and surprises him with a Fuecoco, which she has named Theia. By the time the pair are off on their own, Theia has evolved into a Crocalor. When Jove ends up alone with baby Apollo and Theia in the burning palace, he thinks about it for two seconds before recalling Theia to her pokeball; She has open flames on her head, and thus is more likely to make things worse by her very presence. When Dhurke and his Dragonair come across Jove's body later, they recover baby Apollo and Theia's ball, taking them both in until Apollo is old enough to care for Theia himself. Dhurke judges that time as when Apollo is four, after watching how the boy helps his "older brother" Nahyuta care for the Bagon Dhurke gave him for his fifth birthday. The two boys engage in many low-stakes battles between their pokemon partners as they grow up together, up until Apollo is 9 and sent to California against his wishes. He manages to settle in with his first foster family, the Bonneys, who even give him a Scorbunny, but after a few years he runs away to try going back to Khura'in alone. He doesn't get very far and is removed from his foster family, ending up at a boarding school and only just managing to keep his Scorbunny. At 13, he befriends classmate Clay and his Pidgey, and the pair are soon doing everything together, including training their pokemon, evolving their Scorbunny and Pidgey into a Raboot and Pidgeotto. At 15, they get a brand new classmate, Luke Triton, who has two new additions to his team in his father's Bronzong and mother's Gigalith (it evolved after passing into his hands) - both were in their pokeballs during the accident, too big for inside the car, with only Toppy the Rattata on Luke's team out at the time. Toppy was injured in the crash, separating him from Luke just long enough to allow Luke to cheat suddenly having a team of 7 by reassigning Toppy as a non-battling pet, allowing him to keep them all with him.

Jumping back in time again, Trucy is 5 when her mother gives her a Popplio of her own, the child of Thalassa's Primarina (evolved since Jove's death). She is too young to really pay attention to Mr Reus's brief time with the Troupe, and his Charcadet and Gimmighoul that help him with his fire and coin tricks. After Thalassa's disappearance, Zak regularly lends Trucy his Kantonian Weezing 'to play with' (to protect her), and Weezing is with Trucy when Zak is eventually arrested. As part of Zak's plan to escape, Trucy returns the Weezing to her father, allowing him to flee with his closest pokemon partner. Unknown to her, Zak's confiscated Plusle is later taken in by Valant.

One thing I'd want to do different if I was rewriting this fic from the beginning would be the timing of when Luke arrives, meaning putting him in California before Phoenix loses his badge, just because that would be an interesting scenario to write. In this specific AU, that means it's Phoenix and Maya who are meeting Luke, being introduced to Clay and Apollo as simply his friends, and then fostering/adopting only Luke. Phoenix and Maya are planning to get married, but have been taking their time about it for various reasons, so just Phoenix is officially taking in Luke for now, though Maya makes frequent jokes about also adopting Apollo. Not long after, Phoenix is asked last-minute to defend Zak Gramarye and loses his badge, and Luke has no idea Phoenix even had a trial until he returns home that night for the weekend and finds Phoenix deeply depressed and the office phone unplugged. He does his best to help, and Phoenix tries to 'suck it up' for Luke, but it's basically a repeat of the night they thought Maya was dead in Labyrinthia despite their best efforts. It isn't until Phoenix's friends (and Kay) come by the next day he starts feeling better, helped by Maya making a big statement by dragging him to the courthouse to quietly get married with Luke and their friends (and Kay) their only witnesses. Phoenix, hoping to avoid his new spotlight however he can, changes his name to Fey; While Maya starts the process of becoming Luke's second official guardian, Phoenix gets the ball rolling to take in Trucy, who is very happy to get a new set of parents and an older brother and sister/cousin out of this deal. To solidify their new family unit (and because there's only just room for them and the three kids in the office apartment), they plan to primarily live in Fey Manor in Kurain, staying in the city only for work (Phoenix is entering the 'poker-lite' scene here) and school. It's around this time Phoenix discovers Apollo is Trucy's half-brother, and on discussing it with Maya, they decide to officially adopt him after all. Apollo is too ecstatic to question it at first, but once he's officially adopted, he finally stops to ask, and Phoenix admits the truth. In return, Apollo tells Phoenix the entire truth of his past in Khura'in, but asks him not to tell the other kids yet.

The Fey family's first big event together is after Pearl turns 10, and she is (on Maya's orders) granted her own Fey Eevee, who she names Sapphire. The next month, Maya asks Apollo if he wants one too, as her official son, and he agrees, getting an Eevee he names Helios. The month after, Luke is also asked despite his overflowing team, and he insists he can't turn that down, getting an Eevee he names Patch; With a team of 8 now, he sets up for Fey Manor to be his 'storage home', where he can keep his pokemon outside of a PC when they're not in his team, to allow his friends to stick around even if they're not travelling with him. (if Maya is pregnant, her and Phoenix's baby is born a few months later.) At the end of the year, Trucy pulls Apollo into performing with her as her stage partner, and he quickly proves to be a natural.

In 2020, Luke begins volunteering at a Pokemon Rescue, hoping to one day become a Pokemon Nurse. The regular staff all have Pokemon-themed nicknames, such as Vulpix (Fox), Wyrdeer (Reindeer), Ducklett (Duck), or Beedrill (Bee). Instead of a shelter, the Rescue works by taking in abandoned pokemon, returning them to full health, and then assessing them for either release outside the city or keeping around for rehoming (Luke's ability to quietly ask them what they want helps a great deal). Luke ends the year on a trip to Galar, officially to 'scout' Gressenheller as an option for uni, but really just to visit his friends back home.

In 2021, Elise the Espeon passes away in her sleep. Trucy turns 10, and also gets her Fey Eevee, which she names Selene. She and Apollo eventually evolve their Eevees into a Flareon and Vaporeon respectively, making them their stage partners. Not necessarily in this year, Pearl's evolves into a Glaceon, and Luke's into a Leafeon. By 2026, Apollo's Crocalor has evolved into a Skeledirge, Trucy's Popplio into a Brionne, Luke's Feebas into a Milotic and his Rattata into a Raticate, Clay's Pidgeotto into a Pidgeot, and Phoenix's Fletchinder into a Talonflame. Elsewhere in the 'family', Adrian's Alolan Meowth (Shoe) and Alolan Sandshrew evolve into Alolan Persian and Sandslash, Gumshoe's Yungoos (Missile) into a Gumshoos, and Edgeworth's Herdier and Doublade into Stoutland and Aegislash.

In 2022, Iris finishes her time in jail and reclaims her pokemon. She immediately becomes an aunt figure to the kids, visiting regularly from Hazakura. Pearl starts school in the city, sharing a room with Trucy in the office apartment during school time.

In 2024, a couple years after Morgan was delivered her death sentence, her former Umbreon passes away. Apollo, approaching the end of his studies, applies to work with Kristoph Gavin, whose pokemon partner is a Boltund named Vongole.

In 2025, the Fey kids meet Guy Eldoon when he takes over his late father's noodle stand; His pokemon partner is a Mabostiff named Spoon, but his father's old Garganacl is still hanging around as the stand's unspoken secondary mascot. The shelter trial goes much the same; The workers don't bring their own pokemon to work to avoid confusion with their 'boarders', so no-one has anything new on them on the night of the murder. Wyrdeer (Reindeer) still gets convicted, and Simba evades official suspicion. Detective Fullbright has a Vigoroth as his partner, which matches his energy.

Early in 2026, Luke's missing parents are declared legally dead and he inherits their estates. Zak comes out of hiding to pass on the Gramarye rights to Trucy right before his timer also runs out, resulting in Apollo's first case. Having found Zak and not needing the money, Phoenix quits his job at the Borscht Bowl Club and stays in the city only to look after his kids. Shortly after, Maya leaves for Khura'in to do her two years of training there, making Phoenix the primary/only parent in the meantime.

When Apollo defends Wocky Kitaki, he quickly meets Alita and her Pawmot, Winfred Kitaki and his Alolan Raticate, and Plum Kitaki and her Cinccino. Wocky has an Alolan Rattata, while Meraktis has a Hypno. When Meraktis threatened Alita, he used his Hypno's type-advantage to defeat her Pawmot while personally attacking Alita herself, and used Hypno again to psychically remove the bowls from the noodle cart to hide Alita in there, as he definitely didn't want to be seen obviously floating an apparently dead body across the park in the middle of the night. Luke's bird friend Corbin is a Rookidee who considers himself the protector of the park, refusing any and all attempts to catch him by young trainers. Upon first meeting the Fey kids, Klavier has inherited Vongole the Boltund, but also has his own Amped form Toxtricity that performs with him on stage. Ema has long returned her sister's Skarmory and Nidoqueen, and angrily guards the crime scene with her Nidoking, Heliolisk, and newly-evolved Venomoth.

Jumping back in time a bit, after Thalassa's accident, Geary tries to help her with her blindness and memory issues by getting her an assistant/guide pokemon and picks a Kirlia that eventually evolves into a Gardevoir. With her Primarina and Gardevoir, Thalassa ends up performing as Lamiroir with Machi, and at some point Machi gets a Cetoddle but I haven't figured out exactly when yet. As part of their act, they pretend the Gardevoir is his rather than Lamiroir's, and though it stands by Machi on stage, it subtly uses its psychic powers to guide Lamiroir to her spot on stage. They wind up on tour with the Gavinners and a brand new manager, meeting the Fey kids in California. Unfortunately, both Theia the Skeledirge and Lamiroir's Primarina are too big to be out in the (very busy) Gavinners' dressing room where they first meet, so it isn't until Apollo and Trucy go to question Lamiroir after the murder that they find themselves facing a suddenly-ecstatic Primarina that immediately recognises them. It takes a bit for Trucy to recognise the Primarina in return and a little longer for everyone present to twig who Lamiroir really is, reuniting her with Theia and the kids she had forgotten she had. Since Machi doesn't wander off (he even accidentally reveals he can speak a little English in his excitement at Lamiroir outright telling him he has siblings), the investigation and resulting trial go differently, but end pretty much the same, with Lamiroir/Thalassa intentionally leaving Machi with the Feys while she goes to Galar to restore her eyesight, looked after by the Laytons. She ends up extending her stay to go to Borginia with them still, hoping to find out how she ended up there and regain what memories she hasn't already recovered. By this point, Katrielle is part of the Layton family, and has recently acquired a Munchlax that challenges even Kat appetite-wise. Also, as Flora has blossomed into an experienced cook, she has expanded her team and evolved several, leaving her with an Appletun, a Vanillish, an Alcremie, a Polteageist, a Cramorant, and a Swirlix. Alfendi similarly has picked up a Koffing somewhere along the way.

Thalassa is back in California and with her kids by the time of the Misham trial, so Phoenix doesn't ask her to join the jurist panel as he doesn't want to interrupt such a fresh reunion. Drew Misham has long had a Sudowoodo that served as his 'mascot', and has passed on to Vera, as she never went outside to find a partner of her own. As Thalassa is tagging along with Apollo's investigation, Vera is much quicker to open up, recognising one of her favourite magicians, but still won't talk about her mysterious client until after getting sick.

Apollo makes the same mistakes not telling Luke what's going on with the shelter trial, but it gets resolved much quicker as Luke is less stressed out by other events and his Pachirisu is more than eager to play 'spy' for him on Apollo's investigation.

Jumping back in time again, Athena lives as a child in Cosmos Space Center with her mother Metis Cykes, and the only other people she knows being Aura and Simon Blackquill. When her sensitive hearing was first discovered, Metis got Athena an Audino to help her, and at some point began developing the 'Widget' necklace, who is powered by a Rotom; Ponco and Clonco, meanwhile, are powered by a pair of Porygon. After Metis's murder and Simon's conviction, Athena is sent with her Audino and Widget the Rotom to Europe to stay with her aunt. Although said aunt regularly travels all over the continent and speaks a number of languages that Athena eagerly learns, their home base is in Galar, where Athena ends up spending most of her time attending school and, after meeting Phoenix and Luke, taking courses at Gressenheller. She befriends Luke for good when they are both at uni together.

I won't go too far into detail of how Athena helps once she joins the Agency, partly because I don't have all those details hashed out in the original AU, but there are a few things I can talk about:

Taka is still a Staraptor, who Simon befriended in jail. He had an original partner who was taken in by Aura after his arrest, but I haven't figured out what it would be yet. Aura's only other pokemon are the Porygon that power Ponco and Clonco, though the one in Ponco has since evolved into a Porygon2.

Ora and Orla Shipley are both large Palafin, and switch into Hero Form during performances with Sasha. Rifle is a Priplup, and her baby Sniper a tiny Piplup.

Juniper has a team full of fruit-themed pokemon like Tropius, Bounsweet, etc. Hugh has his Decidueye that he does archery with, and Robin I haven't decided, but I think a pair of one very masculine and one very feminine pokemon, but the masculine one is a girl and the feminine one a boy, inspired by the number of times I've ended up with a female Machoke in my party in a Kanto game. xD

After Clay's death, Apollo takes in his Pidgeot. The Phantom's pokemon partner is a Ditto, and has been taking the form of Fullbright's Vigoroth just like its trainer has been taking the form of Fullbright. Ted Tonate has a Turtonator and maybe an Electrode too.

In Khura'in, Nahyuta's Bagon has since evolved into a Shelgon, but doesn't evolve again into a Salamence until after Nahyuta breaks himself free of Ga'ran's control. He has also acquired a Beautifly since Apollo left, a Khura'inese variant that resembles the Khura'inese butterfly with the connecting wing loop, and he takes in Dhurke's Dragonair after the latter's death. Ahlbi's dog Shah'do is a Hisuian Growlithe. Ga'ran is known for her Malamar partner, while her husband Inga has an Octillery; After their arrest and death respectively, Amara takes in the Malamar and Rayfa the Octillery. Amara has a large team, seeming to just attract pokemon wherever she goes, and has with her a Hisuian Typhlosion, a Pachirisu, a Deerling, a Spritzee, and a Flittle. Rayfa was given a Sensu form Oricorio as a girl to help her practise her dancing, and adopts a Bulbasaur from a small population in the palace garden.

And that's… all I have. Or at least all I can go into without spoiling things I've planned for the main AU. I did write a bunch of Phoenix, Larry, and Mia's journey to the city together years back, which got abandoned when I started revamping the AU again. If I ever dedicate actual writing to this AU again, it would probably be in the format of one-shots, covering the most interesting bits only.

#plaapkmn au #long post

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