So, this is the sequel to Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Could-Speak-to-Pokemon. Um, not really much to say, other than yes, the new character introduced is indeed your rival from Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. And that this is kind of a filler until I can get them to Hogwarts, when is when the real fun starts. Enjoy, and please let me know what you think!

And if you're a new reader, please read "Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Could-Speak-to-Pokemon" first, because otherwise you will not understand a thing that is happening. Thanks!

Disclaimer: Um, do I have to? Yes? Dangit. Anyway, considering I'm not even British... no. I wish.

"Roadtrip!" Devil howled gleefully as Cub magically packed his bags with a wave of his hand. We had decided to take a month-long trip to Sinnoh, and revisit the Pride's homeland. Even though some of our species, such as Flare and Draca, were primarily found in Kanto or other regions, Sinnoh was where we had all met and formed the Pride, as well as where we'd met Mewtwo on his travels and, later, Cub. Hence the reason we considered it our homeland.

"Everything packed? Food, clothes, weapons?" Koga asked as he entered the room. He and Aya would be staying behind to take care of the gym. Or rather, Aya was- Koga had recently been asked to become one of the Elite Four of the Indigo Plateau, to replace the previous poison-type master that had retired a few months before. Of course he accepted, and we'd all had a large celebration that lasted through the night and didn't end until three in the morning.

"Check, check, and check. Relax, it's not as if this is the first time I've gone traveling," Cub rolled his eyes slightly. I grinned from my spot in the sunbeams that came through his window and yawned widely. True enough, though it never hurt to err on the side of caution.

"Alright then. We'll see you in a month, okay?" Aya said as she came in as well. She leaned against the doorway and hugged Cub as he passed through. "Stay safe, Harry."

"I will," he replied. "And don't worry. Worst case, I always have my magic as a final trump card."

Then he exited the house, the Pride now at his side in full size, and we all traipsed into the woods surrounding the gym.

"Hey, you!"

Cub turned and looked at the young trainer that had called out to him. A quick once-over showed the the boy was younger than the young wizard, only had one pokeball at his belt, and was most likely a fresh trainer just starting out on his journey. "Yes? Do you need something?"

The kid grinned confidently. "Hey! Let's battle!"

Cub blinked for a moment, then broke out laughing. Around him the rest of the Pride did the same, pokemon version.

"Ha! That rookie kid thinks he can stand up to Cub? Cute," Glider snickered as he covered his mouth with one wing.

Cub echoed his words, "You think you can stand up to me? Kid, here's some advice- don't pick fights with trainers who are obviously stronger and more experienced than you. Stick to people who are more your speed."

The boy glared and shook his head. "Come on! You can't be that strong; you only look like you're a few years older than me!"

Cub just shook his head and suppressed a chuckle. "Age isn't a factor here, experience and numbers is. You only have one pokemon, probably a starter from Professor Rowan, right?" The trainer opened his mouth, probably to ask how he knew, but Cub just kept talking. "While on the other hand, I travel with six pokemon who are all at their highest evolution level and have years more battling experience than you. Several of my pokemon are also quite rare or come from a different region all together, meaning that whichever of the three starters you have, I have a pokemon that has both a type and level advantage over it, and chances are you aren't going to know what type it is as you probably haven't seen it before. Just face it kid: you're outmatched."

The kid shook his head in defiance and stomped his foot childishly. "I don't care! Besides, it'll give me an idea of what level I have to get to if you're a strong trainer so I can become the champion!"

Cub sighed. It was kinda cute at first, but now it was starting to get a bit annoying. "Look, I actually have somewhere I need to be, and I don't really feel like dealing with you now, so why don't you just run along and battle with somebody closer to your own level?"

The kid growled and took out his pokeball. Cub rolled his eyes and turned away, heading back along the road towards Eterna Forest. The six of us followed him, but before we had gone more than a few yards we heard the distinctive sound of a pokeball releasing its tenant.

"I won't give up until you battle me!" the little trainer yelled defiantly as he stood behind a chimchar, who wore a similarly determined expression.

"Look, it doesn't seem like this kid is going to leave us alone anytime soon, so why not just let me take care of it real quick and we can be on our way?" I offered, tail swishing irritably. Cub looked at the chimchar, then at its trainer, and nodded.

"Sure, but try to make it quick. I do want to get to Eterna Forest before dark."

I grinned ferally and padded over to stand in front of the young pokemon, looming over it intimidatingly. "Don't worry, we've got plenty of time."

"Alright. I assume you don't need me to dictate?"

"Cub, need I remind you that while in human years I am younger, I did help raise you for four, almost five years or so? I'd hope that after surviving that, I could easily defeat a young chimchar on my own."

"Okay, okay, I got it."

The trainer frowned. "Whaddaya mean, 'don't need me to dictate?' And why are you talking like you can understand it? I know pokemon can understand humans, but humans can't understand pokemon!"

Cub shrugged. "Eh, that's actually not entirely true. If you've been around pokemon for a long time, and you've really learned to work with them as partners, you kind of learn to read their body language, their personalities, and such. I've been fighting and living with mine so long we kind of share a special connection. Besides," Cub smirked. "I've always been able to understand pokemon on a deeper level than most other people. Now, are we going to battle like you wanted, or not? I don't have all day."

The kid gritted his teeth and growled slightly. "Chimchar! Use ember!"

I easily dodged the weak fire attack and leapt towards the smaller pokemon with a roar, watching as its eyes widened in fear. One heavy whack across the face with my paw (careful to keep claws sheathed) sent it tumbling back, completely knocked out. I raised my head and smiled with satisfaction. That should teach him not to pick fights with trainers above his level. It may not have directly hurt him, but his pokemon had paid the price. And if he was even a half-decent trainer, he'd put his pokemon's needs before his own.

"Chimchar! You okay, buddy?" he gasped and ran over to his pokemon. Well, that was a good sign, at least. He wasn't one of those kids who saw pokemon as little more than tools to power- he was just overconfident and rash. A bit like Cub used to be, actually, before we almost had to beat it out of him.

"He'll be fine. Just spray this on his wounds and they'll heal up in a second." Cub tossed a potion he'd had in the bag to the kid. He looked up and caught it, startled.

"What? Why?"

Cub sighed again. "Look, I'm trying to be nice here. Just take it; it's not powerful enough to really heal any of the Pride all that much so it'll be of more use to you. So if you've learned your lesson, I really do need to get going. Come on, guys."

We turned and started heading down the road again, but were once more stopped by a shout. Cub groaned in exasperation. "Again? What is it this time?"

The young trainer asked, "What's your name?"

Cub tilted his head to the side and let his lips quirk into a small smile. "It's rude to ask other people's names before giving your own, y'know."

"Fine. I'm Damien Johnson. And you?"

"Harry Pride."

"Alright, you can come out now, Damien. Really, if you're going to stalk somebody, at least be a little more subtle about it. I knew you were there from the start."

The kid poked his head out from where he'd been hiding behind a tree. "Whaat?! How'd you know?"

Cub sighed for umpteenth time that day. "Well first off, you weren't exactly being quiet, secondly, you were standing upwind of me, which meant that the Pride could smell you, and thirdly, I could see your reflection behind the bush in that pond I stopped at earlier. You might want to consider getting something to cover that messy hair of yours. It sticks up so much I think it adds an extra few inches to your height."

Damien stepped out fully and crossed his arms across his chest. "Hey! I like my hair the way it is!"

Cub raised an eyebrow. "Hm. Then perhaps you consider not stalking people."

He bristled. "I wasn't stalking you! I just, uh, happened to be going to same way!"

"Really," Cub said flatly.

"Yeah!"

"Kid, you are a horrible liar. Now seriously, why are you following and/or stalking me?"

Damien opened his mouth, then closed it again. He kicked at the dirt a little with his shoe and looked anywhere but at Cub. "Um… well… Iwaswonderingifyoucouldteachmeplease!" he said quickly.

Cub blinked. "Er, what?"

We ended up spending the next month just traveling all over Sinnoh, with Damien in tow. The kid tagged along in hopes of learning how to become a great pokemon trainer, and practically idolized Cub. It was actually kinda cute, but for Cub it was just embarrassing.

At the moment, we were in Snowpeak City, skiing. The numerous ice-type pokemon that inhabited the snowy peaks the city was named after kept the entire region in a perpetual state of winter, enabling one to go and ski there anytime you wanted. Convenient. And memorable, as these slopes would inevitably bring to mind the Great Snowpeak Sledding Incident from a few years ago… now that was fun. The look on all those trainers' faces was hilarious.

"Hah! Can't catch me, slowpoke!" Damien yelled gleefully as he skidded down the slopes, making a beeline straight for the bottom. I rolled my eyes as he shot past my spot where I was sitting in a small copse of trees with the rest of the Pride. Cubs these days…

Great, now I feel old.

"Oh, is that a challenge?" Cub called back mischievously, a wide grin plastered across his face. He leaned forward and streamlined his body, then swerved into a side area where skiers could do tricks off of ramps or a large half-pipe. He blew past all other people and zoomed off a ramp at top speed, flying high into the air. This allowed him to gain lots of ground and land just in front of Damien, who was gaping in shock.

"What the heck! I didn't even know a jump that high was possible!"

Cub laughed and shot past the younger boy, weaving around all the other skiers like flags in a slalom course. Within a minute he was back at the bottom of the hill, and from my vantage point about midway down the slope I could see the large spray of snow he kicked up as he stopped. A couple other skiers shot him dirty looks as they were hit by the spray, but Cub just ignored them and looked up at Damien as he sped down the slope to stop beside him an instant later.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" he yelled exuberantly, loud enough so that we could hear him all the way from where we were watching.

I purred with contentment. Even though he hadn't intended to at first, Cub did end up taking Damien under his wing, and I think it was good for both of them.

"Whaat?! You're leaving?! Why?!"

"Because I have to go back to Kanto, remember? I told you that last week. My friends are waiting for me."

"But can't you stay a little longer? Pleeeease?"

"No. You're strong enough to take on at least the first two gym leaders easily, and isn't that why you were tagging along in the first place? To get stronger?"

"Yeah, but…"

Cub smiled and ruffled the younger kid's hair. Since Cub's height better matched boy a year or two older than he actually was, it was easy for him to do so. "Relax, you'll be fine. I can't be around forever, y'know. And besides, I know for sure I'm going to come back to Sinnoh someday, to maybe we'll meet again. 'Kay?"

Damien looked down at his shoes. He'd matured in the month he'd been traveling with us, and now had a tanned and slightly older appearance. He'd also caught more pokemon to add to his team, bringing it up to the maximum of six. The rest were sent to his PC at Professor Rowan's. Cub wouldn't admit it, but I think he was secretly proud of how far Damien came in just a single month, both in maturity and skill level. He wasn't strong enough to challenge the third or fourth gym leaders yet, but with time and training he'd get there. The kid had potential, and lots of it.

"Okay. Promise?" He looked up hopefully, milking the Puppy-Dog Eyes (learned from Devil) for all they were worth.

"Promise."

Cub's twelfth birthday passed relatively uneventfully. He had a small party attended by Mewtwo, Koga, Aya, Hermione, and Neville, whom he'd persuaded (begged) Mewtwo to bring over. The powerful psychic type hadn't been all that thrilled with the frequent inter-planetary travel, but in the end he'd grudgingly agreed. He could never say no to Cub, anyway.

His two magical friends also stayed for the rest of the summer, and the three had a great time training, exploring, and terrorizing the poor trainers that came to the gym in hopes of winning a badge. Koga, who was now an official member of the Indigo Plateau Elite Four, wasn't around as often so Aya took over. She made an excellent gym leader, especially once her venonat evolved.

Cub had also taken to dressing up in full ninja gear and popping out of random places with shuriken to scare challengers, which was hilarious to watch. I swear, one boy almost peed his pants. There were a couple Cub had to save from falling off the cliff into the gorge, though. But the challengers' expressions were always fun to see once they realized they'd just been tricked and scared by a kid either the same age or even a bit younger than them. Hermione and Neville enjoyed this as well, and even convinced Cub to teach them a few moves. While they were nowhere near as good as he, however, they were better than most Hogwarts students their age- if only because unless they were Quidditch players, most didn't get very much physical exercise at all. And if they were pureblood, they also considered "muggle fighting" beneath them. Idiots.

Anyway, overall, the summer was fun and relaxing. Cub's two friends bonded more closely with their pokemon, learned a few martial arts moves, and generally had a great time. Cub simply enjoyed being with his friends, hanging out, and relaxing after the eventful school year.

Except, until Dumbles sent the yearly school letters, which were delivered by Mewtwo (who grumbled because "what did he look like, a mailman?") that had a new rule stating that all magical figurines and animated objects were prohibited because they "disturbed the learning atmosphere for other students."

Yeah right, he just wanted an excuse to get rid of the Pride. When Hermione saw that line, she blew her top and went on a rant about how it was completely unfair and how he had no right to do that. It took fifteen minutes, Neville, Cub, and Amethyst to calm her down.

"Hey, relax, it's fine. I'll figure something out," Cub told her with a grin. "Don't worry about it. No matter what, the Pride's gonna get to Hogwarts, one way or another."