8 Catching Up

Sandgem Town's Pokémon Center was comparatively smaller than other locations. The entire building seemed to be quite rectangular from the inside. There were also towering white walls lined with either red or orange highlights. Said outlines contrasted well with the yellow of this particular center's tiled floor. The center of these tiles was visibly distinguishable due to the inclusion of a Poké Ball symbol, signifying its namesake as a hospital for healing all types of Pokémon. However, aside from some escalators leading to upper and lower floors respectively, the most eye-catching feature, by far, was its front desk. While appearing much like any other table, this desk differed in terms of general appearance and functionality. Its surface was just as red as the Pokémon Center's trademark roof, sporting miscellaneous office supplies and strangely enough, multiple potted plants. Contained from inside of the desk were many rejuvenation machines similar to the one Professor Rowan owned in his laboratory. Along with a television screen displaying some sort of program or broadcasting station, doors leading to more "authentic" operating rooms could be seen.

These rooms were exclusive to Pokémon put into critical condition, and the main operator of this facility, Nurse Joy. Much like any other member of the Joy family, she had pink hair tied back into two loops that were set behind each ear. She wore a typical nurse's hat with a red cross drawn in the middle of it as well. Her basic attire mainly consisted of a pink, collared dress that a white apron was placed over. This apron was tied down in the form of a much larger-than-necessary bow that slightly covered her lower backside. Nurse Joy's eyes were also a striking blue that brimmed to life with the utmost kindness and warmth, much befitting of a Pokémon veterinarian like herself.

At the moment, Nurse Joy was tending to a fairly anxious Barry. He heavily leaned over the desk, placing Turtwig's Poké Ball in front of her as much as possible. It appeared that his recent defeat against Dawn was far less important than rushing off to the next location of their journey. His aforementioned childhood friend facepalmed while holding Piplup's Poké Ball in her own free hand. Goku and Vegeta, on the other hand, were busy getting a better look at the Pokémon Center's interior design.

"Huh. This place is a lot bigger on the inside." Goku observed, swiveling his body to get a better look. Set alongside each wall, there appeared to be computer monitors with phones attached to their side. He couldn't help, but wonder if that was how video communication worked in this universe.

"That's nothing to be impressed by, Kakarot. All hospitals look the same." Vegeta scoffed in a bored tone. At the word, "hospital", Goku's entire body suddenly grew on-edge.

"Yeah, but hopefully this one doesn't have any needles nearby." Goku said, shivering uneasily at such a prospect. "I'm too hungry to be scared right now."

"Tsk. Needles?" Vegeta groaned, shaking his head in disappointment. "How embarrassing."

Goku frowned at Vegeta, feeling as if he was being needlessly rude. Admittedly, that was quite normal for his fellow Saiyan, but it was the thought that counted in that moment. He furrowed his eyebrows and crossed both arms in slight offence.

"Hey. I don't bother you about being afraid of worms." Goku replied. Vegeta's eyes widened, feeling personally attacked by the open acknowledge of his secret fear.

"I told you not to talk about that!" Vegeta hissed angrily. He began to gag just thinking of that bizarre adventure him and Goku had inside of Super Buu's body. Most of the time, Vegeta tried to forget such an event even happened.

"Not so funny now, is it?" Goku chuckled with a mischievous smirk. Dawn quirked a brow at the two's session of bickering, picking up bits and pieces of what they mentioned. One topic, however, particularly caught her interest.

"Needles and worms, hm? Hehe. I'm gonna have a lot fun with those." Dawn giggled, making a mental note about the Saiyan duo's so-called phobias. Despite their immense strength, it appeared that both Goku and Vegeta had a fair share of weaknesses from time to time.

Meanwhile, Barry continued getting into Nurse Joy's personal space, and shook Turtwig's Poké Ball about in rapid succession. The boy was practically in a state of begging at this point.

"Can you please heal my Turtwig really quick, Nurse Joy? I'm kinda in a hurry." Barry pleaded in growing impatience.

"In a hurry for what? We're all going to the same place, Barry." Dawn reminded her friend.

"So? I gotta keep moving if I want to improve on our last battle." Barry responded, expressing his interest in growing better than he is now. "Pokémon don't train or catch themselves; you know?"

"Rushing forward without any rhyme or reason won't help out either, though. Just saying." Dawn mumbled with a passive shrug. Barry's tendency to finish stuff as fast as possible was one of the main factors that contributed to his loss, after all.

"Don't you mean just…Saiyan? Eh eh?" Barry quipped, looking back at all three of his fellow trainers to see their visible reactions to said joke. Dawn, Vegeta, and even Goku all collectively groaned at this corny play on words. Comedy obviously wasn't one of Barry's strong suits to say the least.

"Oh ha ha. Like we haven't heard that one before." Vegeta sarcastically glowered. He practically rolled both eyes into the back of his head out of sheer disgust.

"Something tells me he and King Kai would get along pretty well." Goku muttered over to Vegeta, sporting a small grin on his face. Even King Kai himself didn't have the best sense of humor out there. In that regard, Barry and him would make an unbeatable team of bad pun enthusiasts.

"Don��t have any idea who that is, but thanks! At least someone's nice enough to appreciate my style of humor." Barry beamed, giving Goku an appreciative thumbs up. A glimmering twinkle appeared in his orange eyes as he turned around to address Nurse Joy once more.

"Well, I wouldn't say appreciate…" Goku whispered whilst scratching the side of his cheek.

Nurse Joy, in the process of organizing her desk to prepare for healing Barry and Dawn's respective Pokémon, gazed at the four in puzzlement. She honestly had no idea what they were talking about most of the time, a fact which slightly dumbfounded the typically kind-hearted nurse to no end.

"I seems that each generation of trainers just keeps getting weirder than the next." Nurse Joy sighed inwardly. She then cleared her throat, attempting to calm Barry's frazzled, overly impatient mood.

"Settle down now, everyone. I'll tend to your Pokémon in just a moment." Nurse Joy assured, waving her hands down in order to soothe them.

Suddenly, another individual came out from one of the Pokémon Center's backdoors. It was a pink, egg-shaped organism with beady eyes and a pair of stubby feet to match. The creature also had three tufts of hair on each side of her head, all sporting darker pink tips at the end. Along with having a short, nearly triangular tail, this Pokémon possessed an egg in the center of her stomach. Said egg was firmly tucked into a small pouch that matched the color of both her feet and hair extensions.

"Chansey! Chansey!" The newly revealed Chansey chirped with enthusiasm. Sporting a cap identical to Joy's, Chansey waddled over to her human colleague with a cupholder-like device lying atop each nub. There were six open slots in this particularly tray, most likely used for the purpose of containing a trainer's Poké Balls if need be.

"Thank you, Chansey." Nurse Joy warmly stated. Due to Chansey's short stature, Joy leaned downward to retrieve the tray.

"Chanse." Chansey nodded with a kind smile. In spite of Chansey's friendly looking appearance, Vegeta blankly stared at the Pokémon in appalment. The big-headed penguin was somewhat normal considered to this…thing. Being pink and overtly feminine didn't really help its case either.

"What…what in the absolute hell am I looking at?" Vegeta stammered in visible revulsion. Chansey tilted her head…erm…body to the side, wondering why this flame-haired boy was looking at her so weirdly.

"Guess this is a good opportunity to check." Goku said, shuffling through his backpack for the Pokédex. After finding it, Goku opened up the device's screen and directed its sensor toward Chansey.

"Scanning Pokémon 097: Chansey, the Egg Pokémon. It is a Normal-type and the evolved form of Happiny. Possible abilities include Natural Cure and Serene Grace with Healer being its Hidden Ability. Description: A kindly Pokémon that lays nutritious eggs and shares them with injured Pokémon or people. Identified Gender Ratio: 100% Female and 0% Male. Specified Nature: Gentle." Goku's Pokédex revealed more information about Chansey. The spiky-haired Saiyan stroked his chin, somewhat intrigued by Chansey's entry in comparison to others.

"Huh. It seems like a pretty nice Pokémon to me." Goku noted, closing the Pokédex's screen shut once more. Vegeta still snorted at the very sight of said Normal-type Pokémon.

"Still doesn't make it any less of an abomination. It looks like something Majin Buu would crap out if he somehow managed to lay eggs." Vegeta proclaimed in pure revulsion. Dawn and Barry glanced at each other, curious to know who or what exactly this Buu guy was. Chansey herself also sported an even greater amount of bewilderment.

"Majin who?" Barry blankly asked. Not wanting to get into the gritty details, Goku brushed aside their question with a small wave of his hand.

"It's a long story. Vegeta and I have seen some pretty weird stuff back in our world." Goku nervously stated. In regards to their wide array of adversaries, weirdness was pretty much commonplace among them.

"Considering your guys' background, I can't say I'm surprised." Dawn admitted with a neutral, yet understanding expression.

"Besides, if you think Chansey is ugly, you haven't seen anything yet." Barry laughed, nudging his elbow into Vegeta's side. "Trust me, Veggie. There's far worse Pokémon out there."

"Can't be any worse than you are, Blondie." Vegeta scoffed, feeling a bit annoyed by Barry's unforeseen jab. Barry, highly exaggerating the impact of this remark, gasped and took a step back.

"Yeesh. Is your name, Beedrill, cause that one kinda stung!" Barry comically joked. To Goku, Dawn, and especially Vegeta, this pun was even more groan-inducing than the previous one.

"Ugh." Dawn sighed, shaking her head in disbelief. Times like this made her thankful Barry wasn't officially joining their group. At least, not yet.

"Were you born to be this much of a moron?" Vegeta growled irritably. Undeterred by the anger prince's hostility, Barry smugly grinned in amusement.

"Nah. I'm born to be the very best!" Barry remarked, proudly jerking a thumb at his chest.

"Like no one ever was. Yeah, yeah. We've heard it all before, Barry." Dawn said while crossing her arms. Such a phrase was starting to become overdone at this point, even when Red used it during the Indigo Plateau Conference three years prior.

"Hmph. Still doesn't make it any less of a fact." Barry boldly claimed. Goku shook his head, fearing that Barry didn't quite learn from his past battle.

"I mean your loss kind of did. There's a lot you need to improve on before that can happen." Goku reminded Barry in a brutally honest, yet kind tone. Barry furrowed his eyebrows, giving Goku a slightly cold stare. The Saiyan was right of course, but admitting it didn't fit Barry's attitude at the moment.

"I know that! That's why I want to start training with Turtwig pronto!" Barry grumbled reluctantly. He then pointed a finger at Goku's face in minor annoyance. "Don't make me fine you for stating the obvious, Goku."

"I wasn't trying to. I just wanted to make sure you knew why Dawn won that battle, even if she's not even close to being the best either." Goku calmly reiterated his point. Barry looked at Dawn, knowing that one victory didn't suddenly put her on a higher pedestal than him. Both of them were still beginners and thus, had an equal amount of work to do in terms of getting better. Goku and Vegeta, in spite of their inhuman strength and combat efficiency, were also in the same boat.

"Point taken then." Barry nodded in agreement. Nurse Joy, not wishing to intrude on their personal matters, quietly noted the amount of Poké Balls waiting to be healed.

"So…ahem…will these two be all?" Nurse Joy politely asked. Dawn and Barry replied by simultaneously handing their Poké Balls over to her.

"Yep. That's it for now right now." Dawn affirmed with a small grin. Smiling back, Nurse Joy placed the sealed Piplup and Turtwig in two out of the tray's six slots.

"Alrighty then. I'll take your Pokémon for a few seconds." Nurse Joy informed. She then took the tray and placed it into the healing machine. After locking into place, the machine whirred to life and consumed the two Poké Balls in a vibrant flash of green light. It flickered three times in quick succession before deactivating just as suddenly.

Nurse Joy, nodding at the results, detached the tray from said machine and set it back down on the countertop. In only a matter of seconds, it appeared that Piplup and Turtwig were perfectly healthy once again.

"There you are. Piplup and Turtwig should be back in tip-top shape." Nurse Joy said, handing each Poké Ball back to their individual owners. After taking them back, the two 13-year-olds smiled in a mix of relief and gratitude.

""Thank you, Nurse Joy."" Barry and Dawn thanked the nurse in unison. Nurse Joy giggled, tilting her head to the side in, fittingly enough, joy.

"You're welcome, kids. On behalf of the Pokémon Association, we hope to see you again sometime soon!" Nurse Joy bowed her head in the form of a small curtsey.

"Chansey! Chanse!" Chansey cried, imitating the same pose as her colleague. Just as Barry and Dawn were about to head out, an odd question suddenly came to Goku's mind. He hurriedly walked up to the desk and stood in front of it.

"Excuse me, miss. I had a question to ask you." Goku requested out-of-the-blue. Nurse Joy looked down at the boy with sudden interest.

"Oh sure. What did you want to ask me, dear?" Nurse Joy warmly asked. At the same time, she tried her best not stare at Goku's bizarre, gravity-defying hairstyle. How did it even stand up like that?

"Professor Rowan told us that there's Nurse Joys in multiple Pokémon Centers across Sinnoh. If you're named Nurse Joy, how does that work exactly?" Goku asked in confusion. He would have suggested something like teleportation or duplication, but this Nurse Joy seemed like a normal, everyday woman to him. It wouldn't make much sense for that to be the case, even if Nurse Joys were supposedly found across the entire globe.

Nurse Joy was practically at a loss for words. She didn't expect someone to ask such a straightforward question since, for all intents and purposes, Pokémon Centers were a part of everyday life for all regions. The fact this boy stated it so bluntly further intrigued her in an somewhat amusing way.

"Well, it was only a matter of time until someone asked me that question. It comes up far less than you'd think." Nurse Joy muttered, playing with her hair in reactionary puzzlement. She clasped both hands in front of her dress, and took a deep breath.

"See, Nurse Joy is more of a granted title than anything else. I share it with my sisters, cousins, nieces, and so on. That's only because our surname is Joy, not a first like many people assume." Nurse Joy explained the practically unknown history behind her family name. She smiled, happily pointing at herself.

"My first name is actually Sandra, or Sandy for short, in case you're curious. Hehe." Nurse Joy formally introduced herself.

"Sandy in Sandgem Town? That couldn't have been a coincidence." Barry deadpanned, finding such a play-on-words far beyond accidental. Nurse Joy just shrugged with playful obliviousness.

"Sort of and sort of not. It's hard to say for certain." Nurse Joy acknowledged. She then shuffled through her belongings, locating a small, rectangular picture frame. The Pokémon nurse then handed it over to Goku, so him and the others could take a closer look.

"Here's a family photo to prove what I was saying. That's me and some of the fellow Nurse Joys operating in nearby cities." Nurse Joy pointed out. Goku, Vegeta, Dawn, and Barry all huddled together, intently studying the photograph in shared curiosity. The family picture depicted around 10 or so Nurse Joys sitting on a bench, each with identical faces, hairstyles, and eyes. The only thing distinguishable between them were uniquely colored crosses on their hats, and differing skin tones. Other than that, every single Nurse Joy, as Professor Rowan mentioned, looked exactly the same.

The four squinted their eyes, looking up at Nurse Joy and back at the photo in a quick, repetitious motion. Even Dawn and Barry, despite being born in this universe, were taken aback by the absurdity of Nurse Joy's family tree, or lack thereof.

"This just raises even more questions." Vegeta mumbled, feeling off-put by each Nurse Joy's lack of individual identity. Last name or not, telling them apart from one another was practically impossible.

"Wait, if you're sisters, cousins, and such, how do you look exactly the same?" Goku pondered in visible stupefaction. "I don't think genetic stuff is supposed to work like that."

"Says the guy whose son looks exactly like him." Vegeta grunted mentally. Even with such hypocrisy in mind, the clown still brought up a good point. There's no possible way a family as big as hers could look exactly the same throughout multiple generations. Unless some…disturbing stuff was involved in the past.

"It's simple. We're identical clones of the original Nurse Joy that Pokemon Association scientists have manufactured for years on end. Some say the original is alive somewhere, still having her DNA extracted to this very day." Nurse Joy unveiled with a dark, sickly sweet smile. The utter lifeless in her eyes further emphasized the eerie nature of this explanation.

"…" All four Pokémon Trainers awkwardly stared at Nurse Joy in unease. The fact such a statement made actual sense further disturbed them, including the usually gruff Vegeta. However, Nurse Joy was somehow unaware of both their distress and the uncomfortable silence produced after her little tangent.

"I'm just kidding around. Let's just say the gene for pink hair and blue eyes is more consistently dominant in our family." Nurse Joy giggled amusedly. "And X chromosomes now that I think about it."

She then looked up, seeing that all four were more so disturbed by her joke than anything else. Not expecting this sort of reaction, Nurse Joy quirked a brow in surprise.

"Uh…you kids did know I was joking, right?" Nurse Joy inquired. While avoiding eye contact with her, the four Pokémon Trainers hesitantly nodded in confirmation.

"Oh…sure. You really got us there, Nurse Joy." Dawn weakly chuckled in a disingenuous manner.

"Yeah. Funny stuff. Ehehe." Barry snorted, coughing a few times to hide his true reaction.

"You probably could have said it a funnier way, at least." Goku muttered, glancing away from Nurse Joy to scratch some of his hair.

"Yeah. Sometimes I get carried away with my responses to that question. Silly me." Nurse Joy chirped apologetically. She placed a hand over her mouth to conceal any sort of laughter threatening to break out.

"Right. Poor excuse of a joke aside, I'm still onto you and your supposed "family", Nurse. If that's even what you really are." Vegeta growled intimidatingly. He glared at Nurse Joy with the utmost suspicion.

"O-Ok then. I'll keep that in mind…I think." Nurse Joy whispered, further caught off-guard by Vegeta's sudden aggression.

"Hmph." Vegeta sniffed. He then closed his eyes, marching away from the front desk without another word.

"What a strange kid…" Nurse Joy thought in pure confoundment. His blue jumpsuit and battle armor combo was fairly bizarre as well.

"You don't need to be paranoid, Vegeta. She was just doing her job." Goku lightly chastised his rival.

"Paranoid? Please. I was only making a reasonable observation of her little "joke" about clones. Even if her family has a set genetic makeup like she claimed, cloning isn't off the table as a possibility. Keep in mind that the damned Androids were created from a similar form of biological experimentation." Vegeta gruffy stated, suspicious as to whether or not experiments similar to Dr. Gero's could be conducted in this universe. If the scientists here were intelligent enough to create and mass-produce Poké Balls with seemingly little effort, there was no telling what else could be created with enough supplies.

"Yeah, but they don't need to know about that right now." Goku whispered close to Vegeta's ear, making sure Nurse Joy, Barry, and Dawn weren't able to overhear them. "We haven't even started looking for the Dragon Balls, after all."

"Don't remind me, Kakarot. That's exactly why the sooner we get out of this dump, the bett—" Vegeta was interrupted by the sight of a bird flying sporadically in mid-air. It flapped both wings, trying its absolute hardest to slow down.

"Staaaarlly!" Starly squealed in sheer terror. Suddenly losing control, the black-gray bird loudly smacked against the Pokémon Center's glass doorway. Its cheek smooshed against said entrance, hanging there for an extended moment or two.

"S-Star…" Starly sorely squeaked out. Its entire body slid against the aforementioned door, causing it to fall face first into the ground. Ruffling about to regain its lost composure, the Stary tried to hurriedly fly away out of fear and nervousness. Unfortunately, due to its injured wing, all the helpless Flying-type Pokémon could do was hop for dear life.

Directly afterwards, another period of awkward silence suddenly emerged. While Dawn, Vegeta, and Goku all peered at one another in confusion, Barry was struggling to contain his excitement. Despites its weakened state, he was already dead-set on making that Starly his second Pokémon.

"What just happened?" Dawn asked aloud. She needed to rub her eyes a bit just to comprehend what just took place.

"Oh no. They're back again." Nurse Joy murmured in dismay. Goku turned her head toward the medical specialist with interest.

"Who's they?" Goku wondered. Outside, Starly continued leaping toward a nearby patch of forest. For some reason, there seemed to be fresh berries and other food falling out of its open beak while doing so. Each one squished beneath its orange feet as the bird moved further.

"Starstarstar!" Starly panted, slowly succumbing to the effects of its injuries. Just as it was about to escape, two larger, yet similar looking birds appeared in front of Starly. These Pokémon had the same beak and feet of their pre-evolved form, but much larger in terms of general appearance. They also sported smaller black-white eyes and longer, more curvy tufts of hair on top. Much like Starly, their faces were white, feathery masks surrounded by black plumage as well. Strangely enough, this same plumage displayed an "M"-shaped pattern right beneath their beaks.

""Staraviaa!"" The two avian creatures squawked. To Starly's growing horror, both Staravias simultaneously flapped their wings, producing highspeed winds that sent it flying backward.

"Star!" Starly cried out. It limply bounced against the ground, lying a few feet from the Pokémon Center's entrance. Struggling to get up, an immense, shadowy figure emerged beside the small bird.

This particular Pokémon towered over its fellow birds by a large margin. As opposed to Starly and Staravia's curls, it had a scythe-like crest whose tip was tinged a fiery red. It additionally had massive orange legs and an even smaller, yet sharper beak than its two pre-evolved forms. The tail sticking out of its backside was uniquely distinguished by five knife-like feathers as well. However, aside from its extensive wingspan and bushier plumage, the most intimidating aspect of this predatorial bird were its red eyes. Both of them screamed intimidation and bloodlust all at the same time.

"Star…raptor…" The final evolution of Starly growled lowly. What set this Staraptor apart from other members of its species was the nasty, jagged scar that struck through its left iris. Said scar was an even darker red than both eyes themselves, deeply contrasting with the white of its feathery mask.

"Starly star?" Starly fearfully squeaked. It chuckled somewhat, hiding any sort of nervousness with a light wave of its wang. The Staraptor in question was not pleased by this greeting in the slightest.

Nurse Joy frowned at the sight of this scene, gesturing to Staraptor and both Staravia as a direct response to Goku's question.

"Them. For a few years now, that Staraptor has been terrorizing the Pokémon near Twinleaf Town, Sandgem Town, and so on. He particularly targets other members of his species and thus, has forced many Starly and Staravia to ration a large sum of their food supply for him alone. Some passersby have given him the nickname, Scaraptor, in reference to his…well…most identifiable feature.�� Nurse Joy sadly explained the circumstances behind "Scaraptor", and what was taking place. Barry studied said Staraptor's scar, checking to see if such a name was warranted.

"Yep. That name fits pretty well." Barry nodded affirmatively. Seeing Starly surrounded by Scaraptor and his little flock didn't sit right with him. If he wanted to catch the bird as planned, something would need to be done and fast.

"And, unfortunately, it appears that Starly didn't give up its fair share of food this time around." Nurse Joy said, clasping her hands together in worry. "Poor dear."

Barry and the others then took out their respective Pokédex a second time. In order to help Starly, they first needed a bit better understanding of how each Pokémon behaved. Recording their entries into the device didn't help either.

"Scanning Pokémon No. 10: Starly, the Starling Pokémon. It is a pre-evolved Normal/Flying-type Pokémon with one common ability, Keen Eye, and one hidden ability, Reckless. Description: Because they are weak individually, they form groups. However, they bicker if the group grows too big. Identified Gender: Female. Specified Nature: Naughty."

"Scanning Pokémon No. 11: Staravia, the Starling Pokémon. It is a Normal/Flying-type Pokémon and the evolved form of Starly. Possible Abilities include Intimidate and Reckless as its only known Hidden Ability. Description: Recognizing their own weakness, they always live in a group. When alone, a Staravia cries noisily. Identified Genders: Male and Female. Specified Natures: Impish and Lonely."

"Scanning Pokémon No. 12: Staraptor, the Predator Pokémon. It is a Normal/Flying-type Pokémon and the evolved form of Staravia. Possible Abilities include Intimidate and Reckless as its only known Hidden Ability. Description: It never stops attacking even if it is injured. It fusses over the shape of its comb. Identified Gender: Male. Specified Nature: Relaxed." The four Pokédex announced before shutting down. Dawn grimaced, angry at the sight of Scaraptor and his goons closing in on Starly.

"Well? Are we just going to stand here or help out that defenseless Starly?" Dawn asked demandingly. Barry smirked, wanting to save that Starly even more than she did. More so for making it apart of his team, but that was beside the point.

"I'm way ahead of you, Dawn. Let's give that Scaraptor jerk his just desserts!" Barry stated proudly. He then rolled up his sleeves and made a run for the door. Fearing the worst, Nurse Joy stood up from her desk in concern.

"Don't be so reckless, kids! That Staraptor is especially hostile towards humans like us. Where do you think that scar came from in the first place?" Nurse Joy warned in a serious tone. Suddenly, Barry stopped in place to give her a confident, carefree smirk.

"Feh. We're Pokémon Trainers, Nurse Joy. Dealing with dangerous stuff like this sort of comes with the territory." Barry reminded the Nurse of what being a Pokémon Trainer exactly entailed. "Compared to everything else in the world, there's no need to fear some edgy-looking Staraptor."

Nurse Joy considered Barry's words, but still felt hesitant to let them fend off Scaraptor and his duo of Staravia. Allowing them to jeopardize their Pokémon journey before it even began just felt wrong and, in a way, irresponsible.

"Besides, Goku and Vegeta aren't exactly some run-of-the-mill kids. They've been through much worse in the past." Dawn acknowledged both Saiyans' unique past. She was still interested in finding out what they've exactly dealt with before arriving here.

"W-What in the world do you mean by that?" Nurse Joy stuttered in confusion. Despite their odd hairstyles and attire, Vegeta and Goku seemed like normal kids to her. Then again, they did casually mention things that she's never heard of before.

"Believe me, I'm just confused by them as you are. But you'll see what I mean soon enough." Dawn promised with a small hint of mischief. With that, Dawn, Barry, Goku, and Vegeta walked through the Pokémon Center's doors.

"Oh boy. Good thing I'm certified to treat people as well." Nurse Joy thought exasperatedly. She lightly massaged her forehead, praying that all four trainers would be careful.

After going outside, Barry and the other three took a better look at what was going on. Scaraptor, to Starly's terror, was inspecting her like a predator would to their next prey. He was particularly angered by the sight of multiple squashed berries staining the ground.

Barry clenched his fists, already fearing the worst for Starly was yet to come. He then glanced at Turtwig's Poké Ball in tentative contemplation. Grass-types were weak to Flying-types, so using him again probably wouldn't be the right decision.

���Sorry, Turtwig, but you'll need to sit this one out. I can't afford to let you get hurt again." Barry reluctantly decided. He gave one last look at the ball before sticking it back into his satchel.

"Welp, looks like it's up to me. Hopefully this Staraptor isn't insanely over leveled or something." Barry sighed, taking a small breath to keep himself composed. His childish excitement to own Starly was still there, but not as much.

"Starly star. Starly?" Starly chirped, addressing the three like they were good friends. This, however, was far from the truth.

"Avia staravia!" Staravia sniggered haughtily. He gestured to the berry juice tricking out of Starly's beak as definitive proof of her guilt. The liquid blue color seemed to originate from Oran Berries growing on some of the trees.

"Starharhar. Aviastar." The other Staravia laughed as well. She shoved Starly from the back, making sure it couldn't escape Scaraptor���s upcoming punishment. Whether or not either Staravia noticed Barry was hard to say in that moment.

With the utmost authority, Scaraptor raised one of his wings to silence both Staravias. He then narrowed his bloodred eyes, glancing from one end of Sandgem Town to another. The small remnants of wasted food and sustenance only heightened his temper to a nearly explosive degree.

Utilizing his Ability, Intimidate, Scaraptor fully outstretched both wings and surrounded himself in a shadowy, dark aura. Purple smoke permeated from its feathers and pores, enhancing Starly's fear to an even stronger degree. The small bird stood frozen in place as Scaraptor, eyes glowing a sinister red, prepared to strike. Decreasing her Attack stat only made Starly all the more vulnerable than before.

"Raptor. Staaaaaar…raptor!" Staraptor roared furiously, attempting to strike Starly with his razor sharp beak. Strangely enough, his beak, wings, and feet all glowed a vibrant reddish-orange beforehand.

"Oh no. That's Close Combat!" Dawn gasped, recognizing the powerful Fighting-type move from memory. "This Staraptor is more cruel than I thought!"

"That tears it then." Barry muttered determinedly. After rummaging through his bag a second time, he pulled out of the Poké Balls Professor Rowan gave to him. This action confused an observant Goku.

"Uh, Barry? What are you doing with tha—" Suddenly, Barry chucked the Poké Ball directly at Scaraptor's head. It spun around, gradually picking up speed as it closed in on oblivious Staraptor. He was simply too preoccupied with performing Close Combat on Starly.

"Staaaaar!" Starly screamed, flailing her wings about helplessly. Before she could fully embrace the beatdown of a lifetime, Barry's Poké Ball slammed against the back of Scaraptor's head. Said Poké Ball, however, didn't end up capturing the fully evolved Pokémon as usual because Barry had none of the 8 badges necessary at this point. Instead, to everyone's surprise, a large, pulsating bruise jutted out of Scaraptor's scalp. The Poké Ball limply bounced off of this bruise, rolling toward Goku's feet.

"Hold it right there, Mr. Angry Bird!" Barry bravely shouted. Deactivating Close Combat, Scaraptor slowly turned his head to glare at Barry. His mood appeared to worsen at the known presence of a human.

"Starap." Staraptor growled, dangerously narrowing his eyes in outrage. In that moment, he sounded much more like a tiger than any sort of existing bird.

"If you think picking on a Pokémon smaller and weaker than you is right, then I'll have to charge a hefty fine that can't be simply paid in full." Barry threatened with an accusative point at Scaraptor's face. Starly, while still afraid, began to feel more confused than anything else.

"S-Starly?" Starly stammered, tilting her round head to study Barry's present form. Throughout the years of Starly's relatively short life, this was the first time a human has ever tried to help her. And against a powerful Pokémon like Staraptor no less.

The Staravias on either side of Starly glanced at one another in amazement, unable to fully comprehend the spectacle that was taking place before them. It honestly kind of frightened them a bit, especially concerning Staraptor's obvious fury.

"Now, step away from this little…erg…girl and get your own food to pig out on. Judging from your size, big guy, I'd say you've had quite enough as is." Barry joked about Scaraptor's size. To emphasize his point, he outlined the image of a large stomach using both hands.

"R-Raptor?!" Staraptor gaped in shock. Getting the gist of Barry's insult, Scaraptor sported a much darker glare than mere seconds prior.

"Barry's either brave or being extra stupid right now." Dawn murmured with mixed thoughts on the matter. While somewhat admirable, Vegeta obviously thought Barry was the latter in this situation.

"Whatever. The blonde buffoon can put himself in more danger for all I care." Vegeta glowered in evident disinterest. Goku, on the other hand, saw a hint of concern in the Saiyan Prince's stone-cold glare. He knew Vegeta long enough to notice that detail for certain.

"Hm. Is that really what you think, Vegeta?" Goku asked in suspicion. Vegeta growled through his teeth, rolling both eyes at the Earthborn Saiyan out of annoyance.

"Don't play that type of card with me, Kakarot! I'm stating what's on my mind. End of story." Vegeta barked angrily. Despite what he said, the glint of irritation towards what was taking place did not waver.

"Hrggh. Staraptor!" Scaraptor grunted. The Predator Pokémon speedily pecked at one of Barry's arms, managing to tear a small hole in his sleeve. This, unfortunately, managed to draw some blood.

"Ng." Barry clicked his tongue out of momentary pain. He tightly shut one eye, trying his hardest to ignore it.

"Get out of there, Barry!" Dawn cried, already fearing that injuries would get worse for Barry from here on.

"Calm down, Dawn. It's just a little scratch." Barry calmly assured his friend. "Besides, keeping Starly safe is more important right now."

He then crouched downward, securely blocking Starly away from Scaraptor and his Staravia supporters. Barry kindly smirked at the Starling Pokémon in relief.

"You are doing okay, right?" Barry asked curiously. Starly's orange beak was slightly agape in response to this question.

"Starly star…" Starly hesitantly nodded her head one or two times. Relieved, Barry wiped some sweat off of his brow.

"Phew. That's good to hear." Barry lightly chuckled to himself. "When this over, I'll give you a one-way ticket on the ol' Barry Express here. How does that sound?"

"Star?" Starly confusedly chirped, unsure of what this "Barry Express" even was. Barry, unsurprisingly, wasn't entirely aware of that fact.

"The food is free by the way. Treats will always be on me." Barry attempted to persuade Starly with the promise of more food. Feeling that Barry was ignoring him, Scaraptor huffed, and signaled for both Staravia to strike the impudent kid.

""Aviaaaaa!"" The Staravias sporadically flapped their wings, projecting streams of wind that smacked against Barry's back in a repetitious manner. While this dual onslaught of Wing Attacks did sting a little, Barry hovered over Starly to keep her safe from any potential harm.

"Errrgh. Who knew wind could pack such a wallop, huh?" Barry dizzily snickered. He continued trucking on through each hit, much to Dawn and even Starly's reactionary dismay.

"Do something, guys! Can't one of you just use ki to knock them out?" Dawn asked either Goku or Vegeta to save Barry. Goku sighed in reluctance, understanding full well that ki usage wasn't the right course of action.

"As much as I want to, Dawn, it's too risky. Ki is pretty dangerous, even in short bursts. There's no telling what a small ki blast could do to a Pokémon who's not expecting it." Goku expressed the sheer damage ki could bring upon Scaraptor. He would have suggested bringing out Chimchar or both Piplups, but by this point, it was too late.

"I know, but…" Dawn silently trailed off. At the same time, Scaraptor deployed both wings to stop the Staravias' attacks. He then took flight, streaking across the sky like an insanely fast jet plane. Ascending higher and higher above Sandgem Town, Scaraptor abruptly stopped in place to emphasize his quite sizable wingspan. He then performed a mid-air backflip that caused multiple streaks of white light to surround his body. After these same streaks took the form of a windy 'X', Scaraptor dived back toward the surface.

"I don't like the looks of that." Goku commented in awestruck nervousness. This must have been one of Scaraptor's stronger Flying-type moves.

"Staraaaaptor!" Scaraptor monstrously screeched. He directly closed in on both Barry and Starly, getting faster with each passing millisecond. At this rate, Barry would not be able to endure the impact of such a powerful, highly dangerous attack.

"Uh oh. This is definitely gonna smart." Barry gulped in fear. He hugged Starly to his chest, already anticipating the worst.

""BARRY!"" Goku and Dawn called out in concern. Just as Scaraptor was about to deal the finishing blow unto Barry, his descent was put to an abrupt halt. It was almost as if his abnormal speed wasn't even that prominent to begin with.

"Rap…raptor…rap?" Scaraptor muffled out in confusion. The predatorial bird's beak was clasped within the palm of a white glove that belonged to someone far more sinister and worthy of aggression than most. Surprised by the lack of serious injury, Barry opened his eyes to spot a certain flame-haired Prince protectively standing in front of him. And he was pissed off.

"Veggie?" Barry questioned in amazement. Vegeta ignored him, sporting a cold glare as his black hair lightly flowed in the wind.

"I've had about enough of this crap." Vegeta snarled maliciously. He projected some of his ki's aura, causing all three birds to buckle under the excess pressure. Scaraptor, especially, broke into a cold, unwavering sweat at the mere influence of Vegeta's raw power.

"Normally, I wouldn't waste my time with such a pathetically weak creature like you. But, in this instance, I'll make an exception." Vegeta said in a low growl. He tightened his hold on the broken Staraptor's beak, causing said bird to whimper.

"Even I have to agree with Blondie in this case. Your choice to pick on weaker members of your own species just to boast your own power is beyond pathetic. I don't give a damn what you've been through to get like this. It still doesn't make you any less…weak." Vegeta ruthlessly spat with no trace of sympathy left. Scaraptor gulped down a building lump in his throat, unable to cope with how powerless Vegeta was able to make him feel. This person was definitely not some ordinary human, or well, human at all for that matter.

Vegeta then shrugged in a condescending manner. "But, then again, who am I kidding? Your bird of a brain is probably too small to even comprehend what I'm saying right now. Since you're so focused on eating, how about I grace you with the taste of my foot in your face?"

"Rap…tor…" Scaraptor gulped, both eyes widening in absolute terror and regret. Vegeta then bent his knees downward, placing himself into a small, temporary battle stance. As the ki of his white aura swelled, Vegeta buried both feet into the dirt and right afterwards, powerfully wound up one of his legs.

"Hrgggggh Graaaah!" Vegeta shouted out. He smashed a boot straight onto the side of Scaraptor's face, cracking his beak apart upon direct impact. The power put into Vegeta's kick was so immense that it immediately sent Scaraptor flying into the distant horizon. Traces of battered feathers and miniscule blood droplets were all that could be left behind.

"STAAAAAARAAAAAAPTOR!" Scaraptor uncontrollably wailed. He rocketed past the forest areas of Route 201 and onward, disappearing in a star-like twinkle. Due to Vegeta's help, Scaraptor literally and figuratively got lost.

"Good heavens!" Nurse Joy squealed from within the Pokémon Center's walls. She definitely knew what Dawn was talking about now.

"Tsk. I'd like to see it keep attacking after that." Vegeta scowled resolutely, poking fun at Scaraptor's Pokédex entry. Much to his impatience, the two Staravia practically stared into space out of complete shock. Their black-white eyes widened to maximum capacity in response to Scaraptor, a Pokémon they once called leader, being effortlessly roundhouse kicked out of existence.

"What are you two weaklings looking at?" inquired Vegeta with a dismissive expression. Both Staravias put their wings up in surrender, flinching at the sound of Vegeta's raspy voice.

"S-Staraviaaa Avia!" One Staravia fumbled over himself in an attempt to escape. Stricken from instinctual terror, he faceplanted into the ground before successfully flying away.

"Aviaaaa...av…" The other Staravia cried. She shivered, hurriedly following after her fellow Pokémon before Vegeta could make the next move. With that, Sandgem Town was put into a state of peace and quiet once more.

"Figures. Even the big-headed penguin has more of a backbone than them." Vegeta grunted in disgust. He then folded one arm over the other, turning toward Barry and Starly with his typical scowl on full display.

"You alright, idiot?" Vegeta asked. Toothily grinning, Barry gently scooped Starly into his arms, and stood back up. Starly, while still nervous, sported a newfound look of content.

"Sure am. That was awesome, Veggie!" Barry whooped in amazement. Goku and Dawn didn't hesitate to join them, sporting near-identical grins.

"No kidding. How much of your total power was that?" Dawn questioned curiously. Vegeta couldn't help, but cockily snort at such a foolish question.

"Power? Ha! I wasn't even close to trying there." Vegeta boasted with a cold smirk. "You're acting as if that overgrown fowl was actually worth the slightest bit of effort."

Dawn puffed up both cheeks, displeased with the fact that Vegeta was talking down to her again. She wagged her finger at him in minor irritation.

"Hey. Don't start putting words in my mouth. I was just giving you props for the good deed you did." Dawn thanked Vegeta for his help in saving Starly. Not wishing to admit that protecting Barry was his main reason for swooping in, the Saiyan royal darted his eyes away from Dawn in denial.

"Don't expect me to do it again. I only did it to prevent the brat from further embarrassing himself." Vegeta lowly uttered. "From now on, he'll have his own stupidity-ridden messes to clean up."

"Right. That's exactly why you did it." Dawn muttered sarcastically. Vegeta's eye began to twitch out of frustration and slight embarrassment.

"Shut up, girl. Like I already told Kakarot, there's no double meaning to what I say." Vegeta temperately seethed. Goku propped himself next to Vegeta's side, pointing toward Barry with a wide smile.

"Well, you gotta admit, Vegeta, Barry did show some guts there." Goku exclaimed, showing some sort of respect for the multiple wounds Barry was able to endure. Come to think of it, Barry insistence on not giving up almost seemed Saiyan-like in a weird way.

"Yeah and they would have literally been shown without my interference." Vegeta darkly responded. Barry gulped, scratching the back of his head in nervousness.

"Dang. You're really good at making passive-aggressive comments." Barry awkwardly chuckled. Starly tilted her head upward, oblivious to what the exact joke was.

"It's a Saiyan specialty. Kakarot's just the odd-one-out in that regard." Vegeta mused in pride. He lazily jerked a thumb in Goku's general direction, much to his increasing confusion.

"Uh…odd-one-out?" Goku questioned, stroking his noggin out of ignorance. Despite mentally being a full-grown adult, there were still some words and phrases that flew over his radar at times.

"It means you're a moron." Vegeta grumbled. Goku felt a bit hurt by this insult, even if it was somewhat accurate.

"That's just mean, Vegeta. I've gotten somewhat smarter over the years." Goku attempted to defend his own intellect. While staring straight at Vegeta, he pouted in an overly childish manner.

"Getting stronger doesn't count as intelligence." Vegeta deadpanned, not taking any of Goku's "arguments" into consideration.

"I wasn't talking about that!" Goku whined. Dawn then walked in the middle of both Saiyans, pushing them away from one another. However, this little shove hurt a lot more than she thought it would. Their chests and arms were practically metallic in terms of durability.

"Knock it off, you two. Have you forgotten all about Starly here?" Dawn reminded the two of Starly's current condition. Both Vegeta and Goku composed themselves, forgetting for a second that Starly was still injured. Barry himself needed medical assistance as well.

"Oh right. That." Goku sheepishly recalled. "Erm…I mean, her."

"Starly star." Starly chirped, studying Vegeta, Goku, and Dawn all at the same time. While odd compared to most humans she's seen, Barry was still the most intriguing to her. He obviously wasn't the brightest, but his intent on saving her seemed quite genuine. In contrast, the scary-looking one who kicked Scaraptor's lights out did not. He more so did it out of obligation than anything else.

"We should probably bring her to Nurse Joy. That wing and bruises don't look so hot." Dawn noted, spotting multiple cuts and scuff marks that were scattered across Starly's right wing. She then squinted her eyes at Barry with a no-nonsense attitude.

"You need to get your arm and back fixed up too, mister." Dawn ordered her childhood friend. Barry calmly shrugged his shoulders, not seeing the issue in letting the injury scar. If anything, that would actually be pretty awesome.

"Aw, come on. These injuries aren't that bad." Barry chuckled in doubt. Goku then stepped forward to lightly tap the area where Scaraptor pecked him.

"Yaaaagh! What the heck was that for, Goku?!" Barry yowled in pain.

"Just checking if the wound is still fresh. Vegeta and I have dealt with these injuries plenty of times." Goku responded with logical reasoning. This was obviously nothing compared to the physical torture he and Vegeta have dealt with over the years, but Barry didn't need to know that just yet.

"I rest my case." Dawn said, smugly clapping her hands together. The four then made their way back into Sandgem Town's Pokémon Center.

"By the way, how'd you know this Starly was a girl?" Goku asked Dawn about Starly's gender. Dawn looked up at Goku in amusement, assuming that he didn't entirely remember his Pokédex's entry for said bird. Then again, three entries being announced at the same time was difficult to process all in one sitting.

"Well, apart from the Pokédex outright saying it, most species of Pokémon have differences between each gender. For the Starly line, females usually have smaller circles on their foreheads than the males. The two Staravia displayed that feature if you noticed." Dawn lectured knowledgably. Not noticing this detail beforehand, Goku smiled in pleasant surprise.

"Oh really? That's interesting. In the past, I haven't really been the best with identifying girls from guys, so better to be safe than sorry. Haha." Goku commented, recalling his childhood on Mt. Paozu before Bulma came around. In hindsight, the "Pat-Pat" game he used to do was pretty weird, even for him.

"Wait…you haven't been the best at what now?" Dawn repeated what Goku said in puzzlement. Goku crossed both arms behind his head in nervousness.

"You don't want to know. Let's just say it had something to do with me being isolated from the world for a long time." Goku cryptically told the rookie Pokémon Coordinator. "Grandpa Gohan was the only other person I knew before Bulma found me."

Dawn squinted her eyes in suspicion, but ultimately felt nice enough to heed Goku's warnings. Unlike Vegeta, Goku actually seemed like someone she could talk to for more than a few minutes. Maybe that was because of his kinder, more naïve personality or something along those lines.

"Fair enough. However, I will have to find out more about your early childhood and adventures eventually." Dawn exclaimed determinedly. "There's going to be points where us four will need to rest on our journey, after all. Conversation always helps pass the time."

"Knowing Dawn, she'll nag you constantly until you do." Barry mockingly sniggered. Not at all happy with this retort, Dawn lightly jabbed her elbow into Barry's arm.

"Yowowowow! Overreaction much?" Barry shrieked in anger. He massaged his aching scratch, making sure it didn't swell any further.

"Watch what you say and that won't happen." Dawn harrumphed in distaste.

"Starlyly." Starly giggled in response to Barry's reaction. Barry glanced down at the laughing Flying-type in displeasure.

"Oh, so you're laughing at me now? That's a funny way to say thanks." Barry lightheartedly scowled. Still laughing, Starly upturned her chin in a mischievous light.

"Staarly Starstar!" Starly chirped back.

As everyone reentered the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy and her Chansey temporarily left their post to check up on them. They both walked through a small door leading from the front desk to this area.

"I'm so glad all of you are safe." Nurse Joy said in a highly grateful tone. She, as Dawn anticipated, seemed to peer at Vegeta and Goku in a more fascinated light.

"I'm guessing you know what I meant about Vegeta and Goku then?" Dawn giggled expectantly. Nurse Joy repeatedly nodded her head in confirmation.

"Yes. How on Earth was a kid your age able to do that?! And so effortlessly I might add!" Nurse Joy wondrously inquired to Vegeta. Said alien prince intently glared at the nurse, preparing to provide some sort of drawn-out, detailed explanation for his strength. At least, that's what it looked like he was doing.

"Pushups, sit-ups, and plenty of juice." Vegeta simply uttered. Rather than satisfying Nurse Joy's curiosity, his condescending smirk while saying this nonsense only added to it.

"Pardon me?" Nurse Joy asked in utter speechlessness.

"What Vegeta meant to say was that we're both martial artists. We've been through tons of intensive training over the years." Goku elaborated on the points Vegeta left unsaid. Nurse Joy nodded, beginning to better understand Vegeta's feat using what Goku added as support.

"I see. That does explain your unique choice of clothing." Nurse Joy referred to Goku's martial arts gi and Vegeta's battle armor respectively. She didn't entirely recognize the symbol on Goku's chest, but in all fairness, her knowledge of martial arts schools was shaky at best. For all she knew, Goku and Vegeta could be students from a far-off region outside of Sinnoh. Maybe they had some sort of connection to Mustard and the Isle of Armor. Goku's outfit did seem similar enough to his uniforms, at least.

"Eh, I'd say "unique" is too kind of a word to describe them." Barry jokingly observed. Goku could easily pass off as a Black Belt, but Vegeta? He stuck out like a sore thumb in more ways than one.

"Choose your words wisely, boy. This armor holds much more significance than you can even begin to comprehend." Vegeta threatened in minor hostility. While Goku and him did explain their backstory as Saiyans, Dawn still didn't quite understand why the armor was important.

"I mean…it's armor. What other significance can it have apart from protection?" Dawn asked in genuine confoundment.

"I don't need to explain it to you. My heritage as an elite warrior says more than enough." Vegeta responded dismissively. While holding Starly close, Barry threw one of his hands up in disingenuous defeat.

"Whatever you say, Veggie. Whatever you say." Barry sighed whilst shaking his head. Nurse Joy, in spite of Vegeta's poor temper, kindly smiled at him anyways.

"Well, regardless, that kick was still very impressive. I'd say you're even comparable with the likes of Saffron City's current Karate King, Kiyo." Nurse Joy complimented Vegeta's expertise in terms of fighting.

"On par? Hmph. That was only a mere glimpse of what a true king is capable of." Vegeta boastfully alluded to the true depths of his inner strength.

"King? What does that mean?" Nurse Joy pondered to herself. Either this kid had an insanely inflated ego, or he actually was descended from royalty. That option didn't seem possible, so she decided not to dwell on it for the time being.

"I thought Goku was stronger than you." Barry pointed out. Vegeta slumped his shoulders, having no room to really deny such a claim. After all, Goku managed to unlock Super Saiyan 3 and Super Saiyan God while he, unfortunately, only got up to Super Saiyan 2. He, of course, mastered that form, but acquiring Super Saiyan God for himself was still a goal he wished to complete.

"Yes. I suppose he is at the moment." Vegeta begrudgingly admitted. However, over the years, his interest in surpassing Goku has died down somewhat. It was definitely still there, but not as much as before. "But, in the grand scheme of things, we are and always have been equals."

"Yep! And that's what makes us such good friends. Right, Vegeta?" Goku beamed happily. Vegeta cringed at this claim, but for some reason, didn't audibly object to Goku describing them as "friends".

"Sure. Let's go with that, Kakarot." Vegeta quietly muttered in embarrassment. While viewing Vegeta's reaction as fairly hilarious, Barry was still preoccupied with healing Starly.

"Anyways, Nurse Joy, could you heal Starly for me? That Scaraptor must have done a number on her beforehand." Barry politely requested. Nurse Joy took a short look at Starly's status before nodding enthusiastically.

"Of course I can. That's what I'm here for." Nurse Joy complied without argument. She then walked toward the front desk, glancing at Barry from over her shoulder.

"I'll be back in just a moment." Nurse Joy announced. She walked behind the desk, grabbing an object from one of its various drawers. This object was a blue and purple spray bottle that fit within the palm of her hand. Closing the drawer, she went back to Barry, Starly, and company.

"Here we are. Since Starly isn't unconscious like Turtwig was, I'll just stick with this Potion right here." Nurse Joy offered. She knelt down, putting a reasonable distance between herself and the Starling Pokémon in question.

"This might sting a little bit, little one. Hold still now." Nurse Joy soothingly warned. She then pushed down on the Potion's handle, shooting out a colorless liquid unto Starly's wings and face.

"Staaarly!" Starly squawked, tightly shutting her eyes in discomfort. As more of the Potion came into effect, the little bird helplessly kicked and squirmed about out of soreness.

"Oh my. This Starly's much livelier than the others." Nurse Joy whispered. She kept spraying, making certain that each and every single wound was properly accounted for.

"I've got it!" Barry decided to hold Starly in place. "Believe me, I don't like sitting in one place either. It'll all be over soon, alright?"

"Star…" Starly nodded, deciding to trudge forward with Barry's guidance. The Potion successfully drenched every corner of Starly's rotund form, causing each respective wound to vanish. Afterwards, Nurse Joy removed her finger from the Potion's handle with a content grin.

"There we are. You should be good as new." Nurse Joy happily said. Opening her eyes, Starly suddenly felt the more positive aftereffects of Joy's Potion. She buoyantly ruffled her feathers, managing to outstretch both wings with little to no difficulty. Miraculously, the Potion seemed potent enough to fix fractured appendages as well. That's most likely where the resulting sting came from.

"Staarlllly Starly!" The Starling Pokémon cheeped in euphoric delight. Everyone, minus Vegeta, collectively laughed at this humorous scene.

"Hmhmhm. Guess that's definitive proof about that, huh?" Nurse Joy giggled pleasurably. Vegeta, in contrast, was more so curious than pleased by Starly's rejuvenation. He was fine with the bird not being injured, of course, but the Potion used by Nurse Joy particularly caught his interest.

"This universe just gets even more confusing by the second." Vegeta glumly thought. For some unexplained reason, this Potion functioned like a liquid equivalent to Senzu Beans. It didn't come close to matching the Senzu's numerous benefits, but its healing properties were still somewhat questionable in a sense. He wondered if said Potion had chemicals similar to the Frieza Force's Medical Machines.

"Could you…erm…spray some stuff on my arm and back too?" Barry awkwardly asked. Expecting this, Nurse Joy readied her Potion once more with a curt bob of her head.

"Already got you covered." Nurse Joy said. At comically fast speeds, Nurse Joy pulled up Barry's shirt and shot liquid straight at his back. Before he could even react, she pushed his shirt back down and did the same for the scratch on his arm. This double whammy of stinging caught Barry completely off-guard in the worst way imaginable.

"Eeeeyah! That stung more than the actual peck!" Barry whimpered in shock.

"But, do you feel better?" Nurse Joy coyly asked.

"Yeah. I do, actually…" Barry reluctantly admitted, taking a look to see that his scratch was, in fact, completely dissipated. All lingering traces of blood were gone as well.

"Problem solved then!" Nurse Joy laughed, bowing as an expression of goodwill.

"Chansey Chanse." Chansey cheered, bowing the same as her human partner. Nurse Joy then inspected the area where Barry's scratch used to be with a solemn, considerate frown.

"Hmm. There's also a slight tear in your sleeve, Barry. I'll cover it up with some cloth, but I suggest getting it patched up in Jubilife City once you arrive there." Nurse Joy helpfully advised. She then took a piece of white cloth from her dress pocket and securely tied it around Barry's arm.

"Clothes shopping?! Yuck! As if I'd waste my time with that." Barry childishly gagged in disgust. The only stops he intended to make were for eating, battling, and sleeping. To him, nothing else was equal in terms of importance.

"It's either that or walk around looking like a hobo." Dawn mused. In response, Barry just gave her a neutral side-glance

"I have other pairs of clothes, you know." Barry reminded her, patting his satchel once or twice for good measure. Dawn didn't seem all that convinced, though. With a few exceptions, Barry's worn the same type of outfit for as long as she's known him.

"Jubilife City?" Goku wondered with newfound interest. Nurse Joy, although perplexed by Goku's unfamiliarity with Jubilife City, thought it best to answer his question.

"It's a modern metropolis built near Route 202. Considered the largest city in Sinnoh, Jubilife is home to the Jubilife TV Station, the Global Trade Station, and most notably, the world-renowned Pokétch Company. There's also many stores and restaurants to shop at in case you're curious." Nurse Joy detailed Jubilife City's popularity and most notable accommodations. Spotting vivid similarities between this area and West City, Goku was already on board with taking a visit there. The added mention of restaurants was also a good incentive to have.

"Oh neat. That sounds like a fun place, actually." Goku excitedly stated.

"It most certainly is, but I'm surprised you don't know about it already. Jubilife's quite famous, even in regions outside of Sinnoh." Nurse Joy pondered over Goku's considerable lack of knowledge. How could a Pokémon Trainer planning to explore Sinnoh not know much about it? That seemed a bit counterintuitive to her.

"Well…uh…about that…" Goku stammered, uncertain of how to explain him and Vegeta's presences without blowing their cover. Telling a random nurse they were aliens from another dimension simply wasn't a logical move to partake in.

Sensing Goku's distress, Barry and Dawn decided to help come up with a fake backstory for the two Saiyans. It was the least they could do with the Dragon Ball search and everything else going on.

"Goku and Vegeta are from a distant part of the world. And by distant, I mean very, very far off. Why do you think their clothing and hairstyles are so foreign-looking?" Dawn hurriedly explained Goku and Vegeta's unfamiliarity with Sinnoh. This "distant region" coverup also provided a reason behind their shared physical features and choice of fashion.

"Yeah. Professor Rowan invited them to Sinnoh as some sort of foreign exchange program thingy. Since they don't have an official Pokémon League where they're from, he just…uh…gave them this opportunity." Barry supported Dawn's point. While a seemingly strange concept to think about, Nurse Joy supposed that Professor Rowan has partaken in much weirder activities than this. Orre and Alola currently didn't have Pokémon Leagues at the moment, so their "home", wherever that was, could most definitely be the same.

"I suppose that makes sense to me. I've never heard of a closed off region like that before, but who am I to judge? Even nowadays, there's so much of the world yet to be discovered." Nurse Joy ultimately accepted Goku and Vegeta's backgrounds. Joy's wistful assumptions about the world being undiscovered only annoyed Vegeta to an even greater degree.

"Great. Now, you're starting to sound like the old man." Vegeta irritably scowled. That old fart had better start working on the Dragon Radar if he knew what was good for him.

"Thank you, Vegeta." Nurse Joy smiled, wrongfully mistaking Vegeta's insult as a compliment about her.

"That wasn't a…erggh. Never mind." Vegeta seethed in annoyance. He had a feeling people around this region wouldn't shut up about Rowan's accomplishments anytime soon.

"Professor Rowan isn't all that bad, Vegeta. He's helped us out plenty so far." Goku attempted to convince Vegeta that Rowan was doing his best to assist them here. He, at least, knew for certain that their secrets were safe with him and Roseanne for the time being.

"He'll help us out once the Dragon Radar is actually repaired." Vegeta grunted, far too stubborn to admit Professor Rowan's positives. As Goku rubbed the back of his head in disappointment, Nurse Joy glanced down at Starly. The Pokémon appeared to stay near Barry, even after being in a state of perfect health.

"So, Barry, are you going to catch that Starly?" Nurse Joy asked out of curiosity. Barry quirked a brow, pointing to himself in surprise.

"Huh? You're asking me?" Barry wondered, figuring that Nurse Joy wouldn't request a Pokémon's capture so openly. Starly then perched herself on top of Barry's shoulder with a neutral expression. Underneath this seemingly emotionless stare, however, was the slightest glint of happiness.

"Well, yeah. Since you've managed to protect it from harm and all, I'd say you two have gotten along quite well together." Nurse Joy warmly commended Barry on his selflessness. She then displayed a more somber look in regards to Starly's current home, or lack thereof. While abusive and cruel, it seemed like Scaraptor was the closest thing to family Starly ever had.

"Plus, this Starly doesn't seem to have anywhere else to go. As your Pokédex said, leaving her alone wouldn't seem right." Nurse Joy advised sympathetically. Barry placed a hand over his chin, contemplating Joy's admittedly reasonable points.

"Hmmm as much as I do want another Pokémon on my team, I'd say it's her decision to make in the end." Barry said, considering Starly's feelings above all else. He then brought out the same Poké Ball he used to hit Scaraptor, and brought it in front of Starly.

"Star?" Starly titled her head from left to right in curiosity. Barry sniggered at the regional bird's cute mannerisms.

"So, what do you think, Starly? You considering that Barry Express option I mentioned?" Barry asked Starly, keeping the Poké Ball a reasonable distance away from her. He wanted to keep Starly calm, not make her even more uneasy.

"Starly star…" Starly murmured, tilting her head downward in contemplation. After a few moments of indecisive thinking, Starly happily bounced on Barry's shoulder with a smiling, open beak.

"Staaarly!" Starly agreed to join Barry's team. Barry widely grinned, thankful that Starly came to this type of decision.

"Hehe. Climb aboard then." Barry chuckled. He lightly tapped the Poké Ball on Starly's forehead, causing her to dematerialize into red energy. The Poké Ball then bounced onto the ground, and began to wiggle autonomously. After three wiggles, the Poké Ball dinged and came to a sudden, yet gradual halt.

Barry's eyes lit up with excitement as he calmly picked up Starly's new Poké Ball. He hyperactively hopped up and down, pumping one of his fists into the air.

"Alright! I've caught myself a Starly!" Barry shouted triumphantly. Not wanting to wait a second longer, he placed the Poké Ball next to Turtwig's in his bag, and brought out his own Pokédex. He clicked on Starly's Pokédex entry, perusing Starly's moveset and stats.

"Lv. 7 with Tackle, Growl, and Quick Attack, hm? Not too shabby if I do say so myself." Barry thought contentedly. Slipping the deactivated Pokédex into his back pocket, Barry smugly grinned at Goku, Vegeta, and Dawn in excessive pride.

"Guess that's one Pokémon ahead of you guys, huh? You really are a bunch of Slowpokes." Barry laughed mockingly. Vegeta and Dawn both looked at each other in visible displeasure.

"You have a bird. Join the club." Vegeta scoffed in a bored tone.

"Heh. You're just jealous cause mine can actually fly." Barry boasted Starly's potential strengths over Piplup. In the end, this mainly depended on the evolutions of each Pokémon, but that was beside the point. Goku and Vegeta still didn't even know what their starters' evolved forms even looked like.

"That's just a low blow, Barry." Dawn sighed with a negative shake of her head.

"It may be low, but it's still true." Barry said, pointing his finger up like an instructor to their student.

"So, do you need anything else, kids?" Nurse Joy wondered, wishing to see what else she could do for them.

"Nah. I think you've done enough, Nurse Joy. Thanks a bunch." Goku thanked Nurse Joy for helping out Dawn and Barry's respective Pokémon.

"It's all part of the job. But, before I forget…" Nurse Joy trailed off, sprinting to the backroom for more supplies. She then came back with eight more Potions, including the one she used for Barry and Starly's injuries.

"As thanks for you all taking the time to protect Starly out there, I'll each give you two Potions on the house." Nurse Joy handed a set of Potions to each Pokémon Trainer. Even Vegeta felt some sort of gratitude for this. "Consider them a token of my appreciation."

"Wow. Really?! That's so nice of you." Dawn beamed in surprise. She stuffed the Potions into her handbag with a grateful smile.

"But, shouldn't it just be Barry and Vegeta who get these? Dawn and I didn't really do much." Goku modestly stated. Dawn had similar thoughts, but to a lesser extent.

"In this case, it's the thought that counts. I know you two would have done the same thing in their shoes and then some." Nurse Joy nicely assumed that Goku and Dawn were willing to help as well.

"I guess that's true." Goku happily agreed with Nurse Joy's view of the situation. Smiling, he then followed after the others as they made way for the Pokémon Center's entrance.

"Have a safe journey, everyone. And make sure to tell the other Nurse Joys I said hello!" Nurse Joy bade the group farewell.

"Chansey! Chansey!" Chansey repeated the same action whilst bouncing up and down. Her egg seemed to wriggle about out of excitement.

"We will. Thanks again for the Potions. I'll know they'll come in handy sometime soon." Dawn waved back. Nurse Joy and Chansey then nodded, standing behind the front desk again as usual.

"Anytime. Don't forget to stop by again." Nurse Joy called out one last time. Successfully exiting Sandgem Town's one and only Pokémon Center, the four set themselves in front of Route 202's sign. As Vegeta begrudgingly put on his white-blue backpack, he studied Dawn and Barry for any sudden interjection.

"So, anymore detours we need to get through?" Vegeta uttered scathingly. At this rate, it would be an entire century before they located all of the Dragon Balls. Wasting time was not something he could afford to do in that regard.

"Not that I know of. I'd say we'll finally be able to start this journey." Dawn replied in her own form of excitement. Then, to her dismay, an obnoxiously loud gurgling sound came from what else, but Goku's stomach. She'd like to imagine that was the sound Scaraptor made after landing from Vegeta's kick.

"Can't we stop for some food first?" Goku moaned, massing his empty stomach in pure hunger.

"No, Goku. Like Nurse Joy said, there's tons of high-quality restaurants in Jubilife City. All we need to do is get through Route 202 and it'll be right there." Dawn advised Goku to be patient. Feeling depressed by this, the Saiyan boy's expression suddenly grew downcast.

"Oh man. But, I'm starving…" Goku moodily pouted.

"Tsk. What's new?" Vegeta snorted in amusement. In actuality, he was just as hungry as Goku, but was far too prideful to admit it outright. Apparently, he was quite skilled in suppressing the depressive growls of his stomach.

"Plus, keep in mind, none of us have money at the moment. That's where battling more trainers comes in." Barry pointed out, cracking his knuckles in battle-ready anticipation. With Turtwig and Starly in his possession, battles would be smooth sailing from here on out. "Ohoho. I definitely can't wait for that."

"More trainers? How big is Route 202 supposed to be then?" Goku asked, not entirely paying attention to the route's size when Barry and Dawn battled one another. He walked through the open gate to see a snaking, concrete path leading into mountains and a vast forest of trees. It appeared that Route 202, indeed, was not small by any stretch of the imagination.

"Oh…right." Goku muttered in shock. He then jostled his spiky, black hair, tightly grasping both straps of his backpack at the same time. Together alongside everyone else, he took one step forward and proceeded to walk along Route 202's trail. His journey as a Pokemon Trainer, whether he liked it or not, was now fully underway.

Observing him from above Sandgem Town was the ever-invisible Emotion Pokémon, Mesprit. While greatly amused by Vegeta's anger-induced "fight" against Scaraptor, its attention was still primarily drawn toward Goku and Goku alone. It knew there was a latent power just waiting to be unleashed within him, and it continued to interest the Legendary Pokemon of Lake Verity to no end. What didn't interest Mesprit, however, was seeing the interdimensional traveler depart from its domain so soon.

"Mesprit?�� Mesprit asked, curious to know where Goku was exactly going. It played with two of its pink hair extensions in deep concentration. While prone to leaving its home unlike Uxie and Azelf, it wasn't sure leaving so soon was the brightest idea. After all, that disturbing, blue-haired human might to try to locate it again. Having power over all emotions, it could tell that the man, despite having a sizable intellect, had absolutely no genuine emotion to speak of. It was as if he were a hollow shell, void of any regard for human and Pokémon alike. These aspects made following this boy around much more ideal in the long run. So, in the end, Mesprit said screw it and decided to go the fun route.

"Messmess Messprit!" Mesprit giggled in delight. It then danced about before vanishing in a blue flash of psionic energy. As Goku, Vegeta, Barry, and Dawn walked across Route 202, the translucent was not too far behind. Whether Goku could sense the ki of this Pokémon was hard to say in that precise instance.