Ring ring ring!
Sinbad was in the middle of mentally reorganizing his finances, Pokémon expenses, and long-term survival plans when the ringtone echoed directly through his Pryogon lenses. The sound pulsed gently against his vision as the communications function activated, the interface sliding into place without blocking his view. Comms could be enabled or disabled manually or by voice command, and certain finger-press patterns dictated priority level, encryption depth, and whether the call could interrupt other processes.
This one had overridden everything.
Which usually meant trouble.
Sinbad sighed and accepted the call, already knowing he wasn't going to like who was on the other end. He decided to be cheeky anyway, because if he was about to suffer, he might as well enjoy the first half-second of it.
"Sinbad speaking," he said casually, leaning back against the couch. "The man you are looking for is currently unavailable and enjoying some much-needed peace and quiet. Please leave a message after the—"
"Prince Sinbad!"
A female voice cut through his audio feed before he could even finish the sentence.
"Explain yourself this instant!"
Sinbad winced slightly as the volume spiked. Even with audio dampening enabled, the force of her voice came through loud and clear.
"Cindi," he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Do you have to yell so loud? I can hear you just fine. I'm not underwater or anything."
Candi Marson didn't care.
Candi Marson was the class president, the head cheerleader, and unfortunately his childhood friend. She was also one of the infamous Four Beauties of Colegio Brisamar Royal Academy, a title that caused students to either straighten their posture or forget how to breathe depending on proximity. She had known Sinbad long enough to know exactly how to yell at him.
"You didn't come to lab to pick up your Pokémon, you absolute idiot!"
The words hit him half a second late.
Sinbad blinked.
His eyes widened slowly as realization caught up with him, the mental image of the academy's Pokémon lab flashing through his mind along with a very important appointment time.
"…Oh," he said quietly.
He had completely forgotten that part.
The silence that followed on his end was long enough for Candi to inhale sharply, which Sinbad recognized as a bad sign.
"Oh my god," she said, voice climbing an octave. "Don't oh me. You literally vanished. Do you have any idea how bad this looks?"
Before Sinbad could respond, another voice cut in, calmer but edged with irritation.
"He's not dead, Candi," the girl said flatly. "If he was dead, we'd have been notified. This is just… very on brand."
Sinbad recognized that voice immediately.
"Mireya," he muttered. "Hey."
Mireya Álvarez was leaning somewhere between sharp and intimidating, even through audio alone. Afro-Caribbean with a Dominican accent that got stronger the more annoyed she was, Mireya was the vice president of the student council and the de facto problem-solver of the group. She spoke clean, clipped sentences and didn't waste breath on nonsense.
"For the record," Mireya continued, "you missed the scheduled pickup window by forty minutes. The lab assistants are already complaining. Professor Bobobo is pretending not to notice, but that won't last."
A third voice chimed in, softer but laced with dry humor.
"Honestly, I kind of admire the commitment," the girl said. "Skipping your own starter pickup takes a certain confidence."
Sinbad smiled despite himself.
"Naomi," he said. "You're supposed to be on my side."
Naomi Ishikawa laughed quietly. She was Japanese-Haitian, long dark hair always tied back, glasses perpetually sliding down her nose. Top of the academic rankings, head of the research club, and the only one of the four who actually enjoyed spending time in the Pokémon labs. She spoke politely, thoughtfully, and with the faintest hint of academic smugness.
"I am on your side," Naomi replied. "That doesn't mean I won't document this for future ridicule."
Then the fourth voice entered the call without warning, low and unmistakably amused.
"Prince really said 'systems unlocked' and dipped," the girl said. "That's crazy."
Sinbad groaned. "Don't you start, Zahra."
Zahra El-Amin spoke with a smooth, lazy drawl that mixed Haitian Creole cadence with North African Arabic undertones. Dark-skinned, sharp-eyed, and perpetually unimpressed, Zahra wasn't officially on the student council, but no one questioned her presence. She handled logistics, favors, and quiet problems, and she had a habit of knowing things she shouldn't.
"You know," Zahra continued casually, "the rumor mill's already spinning. People are asking why the prince didn't show. Some are saying you got a private pick. Others are saying you failed compatibility."
"That is literally not cute," Candi snapped. "This is why I'm yelling."
Mireya sighed. "Focus. Sinbad, where are you right now?"
"At home," Sinbad admitted. "Something came up."
Naomi hummed thoughtfully. "Something expensive?"
Sinbad paused.
"…Define expensive."
Candi made an offended noise. "Unbelievable. You disappear, cause a lab delay, and won't even tell us what's going on?"
Zahra chuckled. "Relax. If it was illegal, he wouldn't be answering."
"That is not reassuring," Candi shot back.
Sinbad leaned back into the couch, rubbing his forehead.
"I didn't forget on purpose," he said. "I just… lost track of time."
"That is not an excuse," Mireya said. "That is a personality trait."
There was a brief beat of silence.
Then Naomi spoke again, curiosity slipping through her usual restraint.
"So," she said lightly, "did you at least get something interesting?"
Sinbad glanced toward the aquarium, where a small, very expensive aquatic predator was currently circling the tank.
"…Yeah," he said slowly. "You could say that."
Four different reactions came through the call at once.
And none of them sounded good.
Sinbad was just about to explain himself when a sharp notification flared across his vision, the familiar prickle of something hijacking his Pryogon display mid-call.
His eyes widened as the text locked into focus.
[Quest: Start Program]
Quest Description:
The Caribbean Alliance has no official starter Pokémon. This situation is unacceptable. As a courtesy, I have decided to intervene. Three starter Pokémon are already prepared and secured in Poké Balls within Professor Bobobo's laboratory. You will proceed there, fabricate a reasonable explanation, and convince all relevant parties that this program was initiated by you.
Do not worry. The note I left already states that you did this.
This quest is time-sensitive.
Objective:
Establish a Starter Pokémon Program for the Caribbean Alliance.
Reward:
Three Outer Realms allocated to Haiti.
Sinbad stared at the reward line.
Three Outer Realms.
His brain stalled for half a second as it tried to reconcile that with reality. Outer Realms weren't money. They weren't favors. They weren't influence.
They were territory. Resources. Strategic depth. Entire ecosystems folded into reality.
This wasn't a quest.
This was nation-scale leverage.
"…You have got to be kidding me," Sinbad muttered.
Without another word, he cut the call.
"Hey—Sinbad—wait—" Candi's voice vanished as the connection severed.
Sinbad was already moving.
He left the treehouse at a jog that quickly turned into a sprint, weaving through the streets of Port-au-Prince with practiced ease. His movement was smooth, efficient, almost casual. In his past life on Earth, his current speed would've put Olympic sprinters to shame.
Here, it was just considered fast.
Aura reinforced his muscles and joints, absorbing impact and minimizing fatigue as he vaulted obstacles and cut corners without slowing. Pedestrians barely registered him as more than a blur before he was gone.
Because now things were getting serious.
Starter Pokémon weren't just tradition. They were infrastructure.
A first partner Pokémon, often referred to as a starter Pokémon, was the foundation of a trainer's journey. These Pokémon were typically distributed by regional professors and carefully selected to balance accessibility, growth potential, and compatibility with new trainers. Historically and culturally, they were most often Grass-, Fire-, or Water-types.
Starter Pokémon were also extremely rare in the wild.
That part was true.
Like in the games, each region had a fixed selection. Kanto trainers received Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle. Johto had Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile. Every major power followed the same model, carefully controlling starter distribution to guide trainer development and maintain regional identity.
And that was the problem.
One of the unspoken requirements for being recognized as a top-tier nation was having an official starter Pokémon program. Japan, China, the United States, Russia, Britain, France, and India all had fully developed systems, along with multiple regions under their influence.
The Caribbean Alliance had none.
Which meant the Alliance was always behind.
And now, somehow, that responsibility had just landed squarely on Sinbad's shoulders.
Professor Bobobo's laboratory was louder than usual. Not chaotic, but busy in the way only a starter distribution day could be. Only today, royalty was involved, and he was supposed to give the starter to the prince's sister, but it was just too bad…
HE WAS ONLY TWO HOURS LATE!!
Professor Bobobo was the leading researcher for the Caribbean Royal Labs and the Alliance Head Pokémon Professor. As such, he was the one responsible for handing out the three Starter Pokémon for the Twelfth Prince of Haiti.
The aging man sighed at the prince's laziness.
Despite his attitude, everything about Prince Sinbad was anything but ordinary. At a young age, Sinbad quickly stole the spotlight with his brilliant and unique mind. When he was four years old, he designed his first circuit board. When he was almost seven, he built a V8 motorbike engine. At twelve, he was admitted early into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, creating designs and projects that fast-forwarded the Caribbean Alliance's reputation in technology.
The Smart Lenses were one of his early projects, something he dumped into the Royal Institute of Technology's development wing. Sinbad also proved himself to possess numerous talents and skills. He had an overactive imagination that drove his endeavors, worked extremely well with tools, and possessed exceptional knowledge and prowess in construction. What distinguished him from others his age was his ability to perform feats far beyond what should have been possible for someone so young.
He was also shown to be a good singer. When given the opportunity to sing, he seized it and delivered with remarkable vocal proficiency and smoothness. Along with this, he could play a number of musical instruments, including and possibly not limited to the stand-up bass, guitar, bass guitar, organ, piano, synthesizer/keyboard, tambourine, saxophone, trombone, trumpet, bagpipes, harmonica, violin, harp, drums, and maracas.
He also had enough skill to become a mechanic, doctor, chef, fashion model, masseur, barber, yoga instructor, tattoo artist, painter, real estate agent, mailman, banker, workout coach, photographer, private investigator, hacker, and sommelier, among others, often well enough to fool people into thinking he was a famous professional in those fields.
Sinbad was one of only seven people in the history of the World Alliance to score a perfect 100 on the Pokémon Exams in every subject.
Beyond academics and raw intelligence, Sinbad possessed an abnormal aptitude for languages. By the age of ten, he was fluent in Haitian Creole, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic. By twelve, he had added Mandarin, Japanese, and Russian to that list, with functional proficiency in German, Italian, and Hindi soon after. Linguists noted that he didn't simply memorize vocabulary; he absorbed grammar structures intuitively, adapting accents and cultural context with unsettling ease. He could switch between dialects mid-conversation without pause, often unconsciously.
This talent extended naturally into Pokémon communication.
While not a psychic, Sinbad demonstrated an exceptional ability to read Pokémon behavior, intent, and emotional state through Aura sensitivity and pattern recognition. He understood how Pokémon thought, reacted, and adapted under pressure. During simulations and written exams, his battle predictions consistently outperformed advanced AI models used by the Alliance academies. He had an instinctive grasp of move timing, ability synergy, terrain influence, and long-term stamina management, treating Pokémon battles less like contests and more like systems to be optimized.
His understanding of Pokémon biology was equally deep. Sinbad could identify stress fractures in energy pathways, early signs of overtraining, and compatibility issues between Pokémon and trainers simply by observation. Professors noted that he often proposed training regimens that were safer, cheaper, and more effective than standard academy doctrine, even when applied to high-risk species.
Martial ability was another area where Sinbad quietly excelled.
As part of royal protocol, he received training in multiple martial disciplines from an early age. These included traditional Haitian combat forms, modern military hand-to-hand systems, and classical styles imported from Asia and Europe. When Aura reinforcement was applied, his movements became precise, efficient, and deceptively powerful. He was not flashy, but he was extremely difficult to overpower or corner, especially in confined spaces.
He showed particular talent in grappling, redirection, and counter-based fighting, favoring efficiency over brute force. Instructors described his combat style as pragmatic and unsettling, lacking hesitation or wasted motion. Combined with Aura control, he could withstand impacts that would incapacitate normal humans and maintain combat effectiveness far longer than expected.
In addition to physical combat, Sinbad demonstrated high proficiency in tactical planning and crisis response. He excelled at coordinating teams, allocating resources, and adapting strategies in real time when conditions changed. During mock disaster scenarios involving Pokémon rampages, environmental hazards, or civilian evacuation, his solutions consistently minimized casualties and infrastructure loss.
All of this made his chronic lateness, apparent laziness, and refusal to take most things seriously deeply frustrating to those around him.
Because despite appearances, Prince Sinbad Mar was one of the most capable individuals the Caribbean Alliance had ever produced.
And everyone in Professor Bobobo's lab knew it.
Underneath all of that ability, however, were flaws so obvious they were impossible to ignore.
Sinbad was lazy.
Not the kind of lazy born from incompetence or lack of discipline, but the far more dangerous kind that came from knowing he could do something easily and therefore seeing no reason to rush. If a task could be completed in ten minutes, he would start it an hour later. If something required effort but had no immediate consequence, he would postpone it indefinitely. Deadlines only existed in his mind once they were already on fire.
He slept through lectures he had already mastered, skipped meetings he found boring, and routinely forgot appointments he had personally scheduled. His lateness was legendary, not because he was incapable of being on time, but because he simply didn't feel the urgency until consequences physically entered the room.
He was also, quite frankly, an airhead.
Sinbad had a habit of drifting off mid-thought, his mind leaping from one idea to another without warning. He would forget what he was doing while doing it, lose track of conversations, and miss obvious social cues unless they were pointed out bluntly. People often mistook this for arrogance or disinterest, when in reality his brain was usually several steps ahead, chasing ideas that had nothing to do with the present moment.
This tendency made him appear unserious, unfocused, and irresponsible. He cracked jokes at inappropriate times, responded casually to serious situations, and treated things of great importance with alarming nonchalance. Authority figures found this especially infuriating.
The worst part was that none of it came from malice.
Sinbad genuinely did not mean to cause problems. He simply underestimated how much his actions affected others, assuming everything would work out because, historically, it always had. His intelligence insulated him from consequences long enough that he never developed the urgency most people relied on to function.
Which was why Professor Bobobo, the royal family, and half the Alliance didn't know whether to trust him with responsibility or keep him as far away from it as possible.
Because when Sinbad focused, he was terrifyingly competent.
"Did you all need to be here right now?" Professor Bobobo asked, staring at the twelve young women who were making his job, and more importantly his assistants' jobs, much harder by very clearly not focusing.
Naomi, Cindi, Zahra, and Mireya were already more than enough reason for the professor to never, under any circumstances, encourage model-level beauty anywhere near his laboratory. His line of research traditionally attracted a severe sausage fest, and nearly eighty percent of the faculty had barely spoken to a woman in their lives, let alone stood in the same room as an eleven-out-of-ten.
Add eight more beauties to the mix, and you had a problem.
They were the Prince Sinbad's Master Eight. Think of them as knights to a king. Within the royal family, even the minor branches were required to maintain a personal guard composed of trained Pokémon battlers. Eight trainers served as a royal's direct bodyguards, while four among them were designated as their Elite Four, chosen based on strength, reliability, and battlefield performance rather than rank or bloodline.
This system wasn't ceremonial. It was practical. Royals were political targets, military assets, and symbols all at once, and relying solely on national forces was considered inefficient and dangerous. Personal guards ensured immediate response, loyalty, and adaptability in situations where outside intervention would come too late. For someone like Sinbad, whose value extended beyond his title, the requirement was taken especially seriously.
Unlike most royals, who inherited their Master Eight through family connections or political appointments, Sinbad had personally
personally picked his. They were simply the friends he had made over the years, people he trusted and trained alongside, and that was that. There had been no political vetting, no bloodline calculations, no careful balancing of factions.
It just happened that all of them were beautiful girls.
That fact caused endless rumors, speculation, and quiet resentment within the academy and the royal court, but Sinbad genuinely hadn't planned it that way. Compatibility, loyalty, and shared experience mattered far more to him than appearances. Anyone who assumed otherwise had clearly never trained with them.
And anyone who underestimated them usually regretted it.
Candi Marson as the strongest and most balanced of the four wanted to become a Champion-level trainer with reach, influence, and the ability to shape public perception, not just win battles. She specialized in Normal- and Fairy-type Pokémon. She dressed boldly, often wearing a crop top that exposed her midriff paired with skintight pants.
Beyond Pokémon training, Candi was an exceptional chemist with encyclopedic knowledge of the periodic table. She was also extensively trained in multiple martial arts, including Aikido, Judo, Jujutsu, Karate, Shaolin Kung Fu, and Taekwondo. She treated combat as both science and performance, blending precision with presence.
Mireya Álvarez, the tallest of the four and only a few inches shorter than Sinbad, carried herself like a frontline fighter. Her personality is split between a calm and relentless fighter who behaves like a brawler and a furious bisexual who mocks both sexes and whose weak point is girls and strong individuals, such as Sinbad. In battle, she favored brawler-style engagements and direct pressure. Outside of combat, she was sharp-tongued, confrontational, and openly dismissive of weakness, though she showed clear respect for strength, determination, and resolve, especially in people who could match her intensity.
Naomi Ishikawa, Japanese-Haitian, was an Electric-type trainer in training with ambitions far beyond battlefields. She wanted to create inventions that would strengthen the Caribbean Alliance and openly aimed to surpass Sinbad's technological record.
Zahra El-Amin leaned against a workstation like she belonged there more than the equipment did. North African Arabic by heritage, she specialized in Dark- and Psychic-type Pokémon, favoring information control, disruption, and asymmetrical tactics.
Renée Baptiste grew up in the slums of Haiti, dark-skinned with striking blue hair. She aspired to become a Water-type specialist, planning to build a full rain-based team in the future. Sinbad first met her when he constructed a water-carrier headquarters for the navy, where she was working as support staff. Her long-term goal was to become Fleet Admiral of the Navy, and she trained with that singular focus in mind.
Lucía Rivera, Puerto Rican, favored Flying-types and fast-strike battle compositions. She believed battles should be decided before the opponent understood what was happening. Her goal was exploration. She wanted to chart Outer Realms, map unstable zones, and be the first human presence in places no one else could reach safely. She also aimed to become Sky Commander of the Air Force. She first met Sinbad during annual international sky races.
Mei Lin Zhou, from China, trained Dragon types with a strict focus on internal discipline and growth efficiency. She pursued long-term strategic power rather than short-term dominance. Her ambition was to become the head of the Caribbean Bureau of Intelligence, believing that information was the true foundation of power.
Amélie Roche, French, specialized in Poison- and Ghost-type Pokémon. Politically inclined and sharply observant, she studied governance and policy with the intent of becoming the future Minister of Housing and Domestic Affairs, viewing Pokémon control as an extension of civil stability.
Eleanor Whitby, British, trained Rock-type Pokémon, emphasizing fortification, terrain control, and logistical superiority. She believed battles were won through preparation and infrastructure rather than brilliance. Her goal was institutional reform, restructuring how trainer corps were organized, supplied, and deployed across the Caribbean Alliance.
Beatriz Nascimento, Brazilian, specialized in Ground-type Pokémon, favoring endurance, pressure, and overwhelming force over flashy maneuvers. She lived for high-level competition and long battles that tested limits. Her ambition was the League circuit and elite tournaments, where stagnation was worse than defeat.
Isabela Laurent, from Guadeloupe, trained Bug-type Pokémon, focusing on regeneration, sustainability, and long-term battlefield presence. She wanted to prove that strength didn't require environmental devastation. Her goal was to work in ecological restoration and Pokémon cultivation, balancing power with responsibility.
Soo-Min Park, South Korean, specialized in Ice-type Pokémon, building teams around reaction speed, precision, and control. She believed battles were decided in moments of hesitation or clarity. Her pursuit was perfection, stripping inefficiency from herself and her Pokémon until only execution remained.
"My grandson sure knows how to pick ladies," the King of Haiti, Preston Kenway, remarked with a hint of pride in his tone. He was very proud of his youngest grandson. That didn't mean he loved his other grandchildren any less. To his genuine surprise, they all got along well.
Sinbad had been something of a godsend in that regard, somehow managing to get a royal family to actually treat one another like a family instead of rivals.
The other kings were extremely jealous of him right now.
Professor Bobobo opened his mouth to speak, likely to restore order or at least attempt to, when the lab doors slammed open with enough force to rattle the containment fields.
Sinbad Mar burst into the room.
Aura still clung faintly to him from the sprint, his breathing steady but his posture unmistakably rushed. He took one step inside before he could even register who was present.
That was as far as he got.
"EXCUSE YOU?" Candi snapped, already moving. She crossed the distance in seconds, finger jabbing toward his chest. "Do you have any idea how long we've been standing here?"
"You missed starter distribution by hours my Prince," Mireya added flatly, stepping to Sinbad's other side and cutting off his retreat. Her tone was calm. That somehow made it worse. "That is not a small mistake."
Naomi adjusted her lenses, eyes flickering with scrolling data as she scanned him head to toe. "You're elevated heart rate suggests you ran here. Which means you knew you were late. Which means you still didn't prioritize it."
Zahra pushed off the workstation, arms folding as she tilted her head slightly. "Bold move," she said dryly. "Making the King wait. Very on-brand, though."
Renée blinked up at him from where she stood near the water containment unit. "You okay?" she asked, concerned. "You look like you sprinted through half the city."
Lucía grinned, hands on her hips. "Ten minutes later and we'd have placed bets on whether you were kidnapped or just being you."
Mei Lin frowned slightly. "You are inefficient," she said, not unkindly. "But this exceeds acceptable deviation."
Amélie arched a brow. "Do you usually make this kind of entrance, or is today special?"
Eleanor simply watched him, expression unreadable. "This will require explanation," she said quietly.
Beatriz cracked her knuckles once, rolling her shoulders. "At least tell me it was worth it."
Soo-Min didn't say anything. She just stared at him, eyes sharp, already calculating.
Sinbad opened his mouth.
Every conversation in the room stopped at once.
Twelve pairs of eyes locked onto him.
"…Okay," Sinbad said finally. "Before anyone kills me, I can explain."
Nobody looked convinced.