Pokemon: I Transmigrated Twice

The next day, Stephen woke up in the large hotel bed in Rose of the Rondelands.

"Time to get going!"

Stephen rubbed his eyes and patted Will, who was sprawled out on the bed next to him.

For now, Karen had temporarily left the team, and Will had also managed to fully tame the Galarian Articuno.

Stephen had no intention of staying on the Isle of Armor any longer. Before coming to Wyndon City, he had already bid farewell to Master Mustard, planning to take this time to travel around Galar.

"Huh?"

Will groggily opened his eyes, stretched, and said:

"Mmm~~ Just the two of us traveling together again… Feels like it's been ages. Looks like we're finally getting a long-overdue guys' trip."

Originally, Iono, their little tag-along, had planned to come along.

But after the banquet, she received a phone call, and her expression immediately changed.

She simply left behind a quick, "Big Brother Stephen, I have to leave first. See you later!" and that very night, she flew off.

No one knew where she went or what she was up to.

"You call yourself a man? You can't even get up."

Will was two years younger than Stephen and Karen. While he was going through puberty, the only thing that had developed so far was his height—nothing else had caught up yet.

"You bastard, I'll kill you!"

Will, who had still been half-asleep, roared awake, grabbed a pillow, and swung it at Stephen.

Stephen easily dodged and sidestepped behind him.

With a swift grappling move, he locked Will's arms and placed a foot against his back.

"Bastard! Let me go!"

Right now, Will was squirming like a girlfriend on her period—worse than a pig struggling on a butcher's block.

Stephen wasn't great at handling pigs, but when it came to people, he knew a trick or two.

"Calm down, brother."

Stephen smirked mischievously and slightly adjusted his grip, pressing his thumb against the sensitive joint between Will's arm and elbow.

Many readers could probably relate—getting hit in that spot, like against the corner of a table, would leave your whole arm numb for a while.

"Ahhh! Stop, stop! I give up! I surrender! ┗( T﹏T )┛"

Stephen released Will, who clutched his arm, grimacing in pain.

At the doorway, Bea was just about to knock when she hesitated, her expression wavering.

What was going on in there? That much noise?

She recalled a certain video where Will had bitten Stephen.

Maybe… it was best not to disturb them right now.

After washing up for over half an hour, Stephen and Will opened the door to find Bea standing outside.

"Uh, Dr. Stephen, are you not returning to the Isle of Armor?"

Bea swallowed nervously, looking a little tense.

"No, I was only staying there because Morgan wanted to train under Master Mustard to raise her Kubfu. Now that she's returned to Kanto, we're taking the opportunity to explore Galar."

Stephen nodded.

"Then… could I join you? I'd like to train under you, Dr. Stephen."

Bea's words instantly reminded Stephen of a certain doujin line from his past life:

"Oh? So you also want me to mess up your composure?"

"Train under Stephen? Wouldn't Master Mustard be a better fit for you?"

Will eyed the younger girl suspiciously. Did she have that kind of interest in Stephen too?

While Stephen was skilled in Pokémon breeding, Bea was a Fighting-type specialist.

For someone like her, the best mentor should be Master Mustard, the strongest Fighting-type trainer of this era.

So why go out of her way to ask Stephen instead?

"Dr. Stephen's battle style suits me better, so..."

"Alright. I'm looking forward to seeing you shock everyone at next month's Galar Star Tournament."

Stephen smiled and agreed.

"I thought with Morgan back in Kanto and Iono-chan, that little internet addict, gone, we'd finally get a proper guys' trip. But now we have another tag-along."

Will sighed.

...

During breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Stephen and the others ran into other Galar Gym Leaders like Melony and Kabu.

Bea asked Gordie to pass a message to Master Mustard, letting him know she wouldn't return to the Isle of Armor for the next month since she would be training under Stephen.

Gordie, who had gotten a scolding from his mother the night before—his face still slightly red from it—secretly sighed.

"Why didn't I think of that excuse?"

But it was fine. He still had a chance—his mother was a trump card he could use anytime.

"See? If you hesitate, someone else gets ahead."

At the next table, Sonia nudged her best friend, Nessa.

"Want to go too? I'm sure he wouldn't mind adding another beautiful teammate."

Even though Nessa was already the Gym Leader, if it involved traveling with Stephen, Sonia figured Chairman Rose wouldn't mind giving her some time off.

"Cut it out."

Nessa rolled her eyes and went back to eating.

"If you like him, why not go for it? It's the modern age."

Sonia grinned, enjoying the drama.

"Then why have you and Leon been in that weird on-and-off situation for years?"

Nessa's comeback killed the conversation.

...

Chairman Rose officially announced that the release date of the Pokédex was set for the same day as the Galar Star Tournament's opening ceremony.

Shortly after, many ten-year-old beginner trainers started moving to Galar from other regions.

Unlike Stephen's past life, where housing prices were outrageous, the Pokémon world's housing market was reasonable—no three generations working just to afford a single home.

Although no famous trainers had joined yet, Rose was already delighted.

Who knew? Maybe one of them would turn out to be a jackpot.

And things progressed even better than Rose expected.

A week later, his secretary, Oleana, informed him of a promising young trainer—Reggie from Sinnoh.

For talented trainers, Rose never hesitated to invest his time. He visited Reggie, leaving the young man both shocked and honored.

However, after their conversation, Rose realized that Reggie's younger brother, Paul, might have even greater potential.

Rose was even more pleased—an unexpected bonus!

Another week passed, and Oleana reported another promising candidate—a girl from Stephen's hometown, Johto, named Marina.

Rose's eyes lit up.

Things were progressing even faster than expected. Talent was arriving in waves.

"By the way, Chairman, there's another report from Freezington. Villagers have spotted a mysterious, extremely fast bird Pokémon. It might be..."

As always, Oleana spoke in her half-asleep tone, barely keeping her eyes open.

"Immediately notify Dr. Stephen."

Rose didn't hesitate.

"Understood. One more thing to report."

"Hmm?"

"Bea, the second-generation Gym Leader, has recently begun training under Dr. Stephen."

"Oh?"

Rose raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

...

The next day, in the southern Galar town of Circhester…

Stephen, Will, and Bea arrived in this southern town, their destination being the Crown Tundra, the southernmost region of Galar.

Yesterday, Stephen received a call from Chairman Rose.

Villagers in Freezington had recently spotted a mysterious bird Pokémon flying at incredible speeds, too fast to be seen clearly.

It was highly likely to be a Legendary Pokémon.

"Can't come?"

 Will looked at Stephen, who had just hung up the phone and asked.

"Yeah, Karen said she's busy with something else."

Having discovered traces of the Galarian Moltres, Stephen had originally planned to have Karen return and capture it herself.

Not sure what she's so busy with.

Will, who knew that Karen was busy finding a birthday gift for Stephen, thought for a moment and decided to pretend he didn't know.

Otherwise, that crazy woman would target him again.

Will figured that since she already had two Legendary Pokémon, putting in some extra effort to prepare a grand gift for Stephen was only fair.

As for what Will planned to give as a gift?

The Psychic Fatty simply thought: Come on, do I need a gift to prove my bond with Stephen?

I'll just grab some berries while passing by, that'll do.

"The Galar Star Tournament is in two weeks, right? You'll have to attend the event then. How about I stay here and wait for Karen?"

Will suggested.

"Forget it, let's capture Moltres first and then hand it over to Karen for training."

Stephen didn't want to be like the Straw Hat Crew, where the team was rarely fully assembled.

After all, Galarian Articuno didn't submit to Will at first, but now it behaved obediently, didn't it?

He would capture Galarian Moltres himself first and then pass it to Karen, letting them develop their bond gradually.

Stephen planned to subdue it by force, avoiding the mistakes he made with Zorua.

Just then, a graceful silhouette ran towards Stephen and Will under the setting sun.

It was Bea.

"Huff... Huff... Huff..."

Bea, drenched in sweat and panting heavily, yet maintaining a steady rhythm, jogged up to Stephen, stood at attention, and declared:

"Doctor! I've completed today's basic training!"

After half a month together, Bea had gone from calling him "Dr. Stephen" to simply "Doctor," a sign of growing familiarity.

"Alright, then you can start practicing techniques."

Stephen nodded.

Bea's basic training regimen, designed by Stephen, consisted of 2,000 push-ups, 100 rope climbs, and a 100-kilometer endurance run every day.

Then, there would be combat practice until she couldn't stand anymore.

"Yes!"

Bea's eyes shone with respect as she nodded, then hesitated before saying:

"But... Machamp and Pangoro are no longer a challenge for me. Could I spar with one of your Pokémon instead? Oh, and... doing just 2,000 push-ups and running 100 kilometers a day doesn't make me feel too exhausted anymore. I want to increase my training intensity, but there just isn't enough time..."

Bea looked troubled as she complained to Stephen.

Will turned his head and stared at the path Bea had just run down.

Behind her, Machamp, Machoke, Grapploct, Hawlucha, and the rest of her Fighting-type Pokémon were all drenched in sweat, stumbling toward them, looking utterly exhausted.

Like their trainer, these Pokémon had also run from Stow-on-Side.

But compared to their still-energetic trainer, these Fighting-types—known for their endurance—looked like they were on their last legs.

Even though he had only traveled with Bea for half a month, Will felt like his worldview was being shattered daily.

Not only did she have a training regimen rivaling that of Pokémon, but she could also fight Machamp, Pangoro, and Hawlucha in hand-to-hand combat.

And now, even her own Pokémon couldn't defeat her anymore—she had to spar with Stephen's Pokémon!

"My Pokémon? You don't mean…"

Stephen had just spoken halfway when Bea eagerly interrupted.

"Yes, yes! I want to spar with Bewear!"

Will smacked his forehead, wondering what was going on in this girl's mind.

Did she not fear that Bewear might punch her to death?

In the end, Stephen does not agree to let Bewear spar with Bea.

Instead, he customized Rock Lee-style weighted training gear for her to suppress her power and speed, while continuing to use her own Pokémon for sparring.

At the same time, Bewear would be her instructor in the Six Powers.

Although Bewear itself had largely stopped using the Six Powers due to its growing strength, it could still teach others.

After dinner, at a public battlefield in Ballonlea…

Bea, now wearing Rock Lee-style ankle weights, was restricted in movement. When she attempted a sidekick, her Machamp easily blocked it.

Bewear sat in the referee's seat, observing Bea's movements and offering feedback after training.

On another battlefield, Will was sparring with his newly caught Galarian Slowpoke from the Isle of Armor against Stephen's Fairy Swablu.

Unable to resist, he kept glancing at Bea from the corner of his eye, once again wondering:

"Is this girl even human?"

"Aerial Ace."

Hearing Stephen's command, Will snapped back to reality.

He turned in time to see Fairy Swablu engulfed in a stream of air, slamming Galarian Slowpoke into the ground.

"Hey, hey, hey! That doesn't count! I was distracted—"

Will loudly protested.

"If you want to watch, then watch. If you want to battle, then battle."

Stephen tossed him a Hyper Potion.

Admitting his mistake, Will didn't argue further.

After tending to Galarian Slowpoke's wounds, he resumed watching Bea's training.

"I can't help it. This girl's talent is just ridiculous…"

Will sat on the sidelines and muttered, "If she were a Pokémon, she'd already be among Gym Leader-level elites."

"That's nothing. Have you ever seen someone physically withstand Arceus' Judgment?"

Stephen replied nonchalantly.

Will: "Huh?"

"Alright, that's enough training for today. Let's eat dinner."

Stephen clapped his hands, calling everyone over.

Bea, exhausted from battling Machamp and Pangoro, barely managed to get up.

Will also gathered his Galarian Slowpoke, Galarian Articuno, and Alakazam to join the meal.

"Ying-ying-ying~"

Just then, a strange whimpering sound echoed.

Stephen and Bea looked around in confusion, only to discover—

It was Bewear making the noise.

It turned out that Bewear had tried to feed Fairy Swablu as usual, only to be firmly rejected by the little bird, which insisted:

"Mom, I've grown up. Stop feeding me."

The Bear Mom looked heartbroken.

"Don't worry, you can take care of Stephen's kids in the future,"

Will smirked mischievously.

He was looking forward to Karen having kids—maybe it would soften her violent personality.

"Knock it off!"

Stephen shot Will a glare and kicked him.

That's maybe in the future.

He was still a kid!

But it seemed Bewear took it seriously, as its eyes suddenly lit up, staring at Stephen with newfound determination.

"Don't be ridiculous. If you want kids, you can just have your own," Stephen said, patting Bewear's big furry head.

"Bang~"

Upon hearing this topic, a Poké Ball at Stephen's waist suddenly opened on its own, and a Pokémon jumped out.

Will was startled and thought, Which of Stephen's Pokémon is this? How could it be so reckless? Doesn't it know there are outsiders here?!

Whether it was himself, Stephen, or Karen, they all had two different teams.

Just like how Giovanni used a Ground-type team when acting as a Gym Leader, but when operating as the Rocket Boss, he relied on Beedrill.

 In a couple of years, maybe Mewtwo would show up too.

The same applied to Stephen's trio.

When Stephen operated under his "Joker" identity, he used Umbreon and a trio of Houndooms.

 But when he appeared in public as himself, he used Bewear.

Yes, Bewear was now to Stephen what Dragonite was to Lance and what Garchomp was to Cynthia—it had become his signature Pokémon.

And now, the Fairy-type Swablu had also become a part of "Dr. Stephen's team."

However, due to Bea temporarily joining the group recently, Stephen's Umbreon, the three Houndooms, as well as Will's Slowbro and Xatu, could only come out to eat when Bea was asleep or distracted during training.

If someone noticed that both Dr. Stephen and Joker had used the same Pokémon, even if it didn't immediately expose him, it would still be a huge flaw in his disguise.

As the white light faded, Will and Bea looked closely and were surprised to find that the Pokémon that had jumped out was a Beartic!

"Stephen, this…"

Will, who had just taken a bite of a sandwich, was confused.

When did Stephen capture this new Pokémon? I don't remember at all…

Bea blinked, studied it for a moment, and then said in shock:

"Wait… isn't this Elite Four Lorelei's Beartic?"

As soon as Bea finished speaking, the Beartic took out an entire jar of Combee honey from its arms and, like a devoted admirer, eagerly offered it to Bewear.

"Uh… what?"

Will was even more dumbfounded, and Bea had a similar expression.

Stephen explained:

"Yes, this is Lorelei's Beartic. When we escorted them to Wyndon City, Lorelei entrusted it to me. Chairman Goodshow said that Beartic seems to have a strong fondness for Bewear, so he wanted to see if… well..."

Actually, at the time, Goodshow had hoped to use this as an excuse to make Lorelei stay.

However, Lorelei seemed determined to prove that her feelings for Stephen were purely those of comrades-in-arms, especially since Karen was watching closely from the side.

With no other choice, Goodshow had to settle for letting Lorelei temporarily entrust Beartic to Stephen.

Even if Stephen and Lorelei couldn't become a couple, at least their Pokémon could—forming a sort of family connection.

"Ahh… so that's why this guy got so excited when we were talking about having kids just now."

Will commented helplessly.

Stephen looked at the Beartic eagerly trying to get close to Bewear and suddenly remembered that, in the original Pokémon anime, there was indeed a child during Ash's era that belonged to a Bewear.

But no one ever knew who the other parent was…

In the Pokémon: Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee games, Lorelei did have a Galarian Sandslash, suggesting that she might have traveled to Alola before.

Could it be that Lorelei's Beartic did… with Bewear…?

"But Bewear doesn't seem interested in Beartic at all."

Bea noticed Bewear's increasingly impatient expression.

"Maybe Beartic just isn't Bewear's type."

Stephen speculated.

Pokémon romance has been depicted many times in the original series. Ash's team alone had quite a few Pokémon who fell in love, and some even left the team for it—like Butterfree.

At the time, Stephen never understood why Butterfree had to leave just because it found a mate. Why not just have both Pokémon join the team?

One of the most memorable love stories was that of Sceptile, the Hoenn King. His love life was one of the rare humiliations in his otherwise badass history—he completely lost his cool over it.

Stephen was still surprised that Sunflora rejected Sceptile and instead chose to be with Tropius.

Pokémon had different preferences in choosing mates compared to humans.

"Thud!"

As Beartic continued to fawn over Bewear, Bewear finally lost its patience.

With a powerful slap, it knocked the carefully prepared jar of Combee honey straight to the ground—"Smash!"

Beartic's eyes instantly turned red.

Bea couldn't help but tug on Stephen's sleeve and whispered:

"Doctor, isn't Bewear being too… harsh?"

Stephen patted Bea's silver hair and explained in a serious tone:

"Bea-chan, you have to remember—when dealing with a man you don't like, especially one who is persistent and won't take no for an answer, you must reject him in the firmest way possible. Not just for his sake, but for your own."

Back in his past life, he had read too many novels featuring pathetic, lovesick male protagonists. Stephen had no respect for those kinds of useless men.

He could somewhat understand if a guy had to grovel because of poor circumstances in real life.

 But in a novel, where you could be anyone, why would you still act like a spineless simp?

He couldn't even imagine what kind of people those authors must have been in reality.

Bea nodded with a vague understanding, but after a moment, she suddenly realized something and blushed:

"D-Doctor, what are you even saying? I-I'm not the kind of girl that anyone would like anyway…!"

"But I think you're really cute, though."

Stephen replied honestly.

Dark skin, white hair, abs, a tough attitude, athletic girl vibes… honestly, Bea had a lot of appealing traits.

The moment Stephen said this, Bea's face turned even redder.

Will, watching from the side, blinked and decided to pretend he hadn't seen anything.

At that moment, ignoring the flustered Bea and the heartbroken Beartic, Bewear suddenly lifted its head.

Before anyone could react, Bewear stood up, raised its right arm, and clenched it into a hook punch position.

It was Mega Punch!

The powerful force of the punch sent a gust of wind roaring forward, as strong as a high-level Flying-type attack like a Hurricane.

The punch tore through everything in its path, reducing obstacles to dust, before vanishing into the depths of the forest behind the battlefield.

"Boom!"

The explosion from deep within the forest finally snapped Will out of his daze. He stared at Bewear in shock.

"W-What the heck?! Why did it suddenly…?"

"Bewear must have sensed something with its heightened awareness."

As a Trainer, Stephen immediately understood his partner's motive.

Bewear looked toward the deep trench its punch had created and waved its hand toward the far end of the forest, letting out a "Boom Boom!" sound.

Anyone familiar with Bewear knew that this was a warning.

And the meaning behind Bewear's roar was clear—

"Come out!"

Stephen was right. Bewear had sensed someone spying on them.