Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A Weavile was dashing through a town at night hour, jumping from roof to roof as he panted for breath.

Cassidy was starting to get tired of this cat-and-mouse chase. Out of nowhere, some rando decided to stalk him, and once he decided to face his stalker, it appeared that he had beef with him and wanted to kidnap him. Just when he thought that all the Pokémon he had beefed with in the past had resolved, apparently not... 

The bipedal weasel Pokémon decided that he had ran for long enough. He jumped from a roof and landed in a dark alley between two buildings, sticking the landing as he fell on the floor. Since he could see well in the dark, he wouldn't have any issues confronting that armored bitch 1-to-1. 

Speaking of the armored bitch...

As he could hear the crackling and swooshing of flames and a bit of the violet light that they emitted, Cassidy turned around to find none other than Ceruledge who had been following him since he left the bar, his crimson red flaming eyes making him look a tad bit more menacing than others of his species. Still, the ice and dark type Pokémon wasn't intimidated by that little extra factor alone. He grinned as he put a claw on his waist. "So hothead, what's your deal? You wanna kidnap me just 'cause I'm too hot?" He waved a claw in dismissal. "I appreciate the compliment, but pass."

The Ceruledge raised one of his sword hands and spoke. "Your efforts of taunting me are admirable, human, but futile nonetheless." Shadowy tendrils started coming out of the armored Pokémon's feet, leaving the ground and pointing at the Weavile menacingly. "My mistress has ordered me to deliver you to her, and I shall fulfill her wishes."

The Weavile's expression suddenly twitched at the realization of being called out like that, however, he didn't waver. Or else, he was pretty sure that he'd be able to smell his weakness or something. That's how most horror movies went, right? "Oh, you're a simp? Why didn't you tell me sooner!" He taunted as he brandished his claws. "Whatever you are..." He did a backflip and got into a battle position. "You ain't taking me anywhere!"

"That's what we shall see, human..." The Ceruledge said nothing more as the tendrils went towards Cassidy.

The Weavile grinned jumped away from the tendrils and clung to a wall. "Please, ask for consent before attacking with something like that!" He then started wall-jumping to get a higher position. Once he was high enough, he created a small platform made of ice with spiky icicles on the bottom half of the temporary ground. Cassidy then jumped away from the platform and kicked it directly towards the violet-armored Pokémon, the half with icicles aimed directly at the Ceruledge.

The Ceruledge's blade burnt brightly, slashing the ice in half as the projectile, the two halves splashing on the ground behind him. However, he didn't stop there, with a lot of speed, he dashed and jumped to Cassidy, the Weavile was taken a bit by surprise by the speed of the Pokémon. He barely had time to block the slash attack with his claws in the air, sparks flying from the clash of claw and sword. The two Pokémon jumped back from the collision, staying a safe distance from each other. 

"Heh, not half-bad for an edge lord!" Cassidy grinned as he crossed his arms. Suddenly, he felt his eyelids become a bit heavy, making him blink a bit. "What the..." He said as he put a claw on his head, feeling a bit of dizziness.

"I'm afraid your struggle ends here..." The Ceruledge said as he slowly approached the Weavile, shadow tendrils starting to come off from his feet. "Cease your efforts of resistance. There is nowhere to go..."

"Yeah, yeah, "You can't run and you can't hide", saw that on the internet a lot!" Cassidy said as he tried to get into position again, his head becoming a bit light. "Keep underestimating me and I'll kick your flaming ass outta this town!" The bipedal weasel said as he rushed in again, his claws glowing a purple aura that looked like an extension of his normal claws. He jumped in and tried slamming a Shadow Claw down on the Ceruledge, however, he simply weaved the attack with almost no effort at all.

"Too slow..." A shadow tendril wrapped around Cassidy's waist and slammed him on the floor on his back, forcing the air out of the Weavile's lungs and making his Shadow Claw disappear. As the Weavile started to get up, the Ceruledge was already on him, his blade burning as he slashed the Weavile across the chest and launched him backwards.

"Gaah!" Cassidy fell on the ground, battered, bleeding, and with an ugly slash wound across the chest. Normally, he was resistant to these sorts of wounds, having gotten used to them throughout his time in this world. However, he couldn't get up again, it was as if his strength was sapped away from his body, making him immobile. "Wha-what the fuck... is this...?"

The grey-furred weasel looked up and saw the Ceruledge slowly approaching him. "You don't need to fear death, she wants you alive after all." The armored Pokémon then grabbed Cassidy with one of his tendrils, lifting him up to eye level. "You'll become a valuable asset for her plans..."

With that, the violet-armored Pokémon sank through the floor, dragging Cassidy along with him to the darkness.

A human soul, drifting in an endless void, was wondering about the previous life choices that led him into this situation in the first place. Was it really worth it? Was it worth giving his life to save them? … Hell yes it was. Even if it got him a bullet to the chest, at least he didn’t die in vain, he went out like a champ… but still a virgin… he hoped that his friends would tell stories about him to their kids as the one who saved them in the first place.

Well, it wasn't really that big of a deal actually, he actually died because of his stupidity.

John could've never believed that he would die this soon (well, death is unpredictable after all). Now here he was, seeing nothing, breathing nothing, feeling nothing... 

He was truly dead.

It felt weird not having a body, it was like he was in a dream, having awareness but nothing to control, not even his own body. Is this how it felt being dead? Would he be stuck like this forever? Were heaven and hell actually fake? Well, honestly, he kinda preferred that way instead of being trapped in an eternal torture chamber for eternity. But still, this would get boring fast, so it would've been nice if something happened now!

...

Nothing. Nothing happened, nothing could happen, and nothing would happen. This was his destiny, to be stuck in whatever this endless black limbo is, doing nothing and thinking about nothing. It was better to just sleep forever it seemed...

The soul closed his eyes (even though he didn’t have a body anymore), and drifted away more. Until a pink blinding light surrounded the void he was currently in. Even with the light, he did not open his eyes. A voice rang out in his mind, the echo bouncing throughout his whole soul.

Human… it's not your time yet.

He tried speaking, even if he felt that no words were coming out of his mouth. "Huh? Who is this…?"

He tried opening his eyes but to no avail. Who was he kidding? He had no eyes.

The time in your world is over, but we need your help to save ours and possibly even yours as well! Please, you are our only hope!

"What the hell are you talking about? Who are you?"

I'll give you a new body, so you can overcome all of the problems and hardships you must overcome. You need to defeat her at all costs!

The soul of the human started glowing. "Wait! Who are you!? What do you mean new body!? Who is her!?"

I am running out of time, she's coming for me. I'm sorry that I can't answer all your questions. Good luck and stay safe, human!

"Wait!"

Suddenly, instead of feeling freedom, John felt two things… one, he was absolutely cold and the other feeling was like he was constrained, the feeling of being stuck in an awful sleeping position and not being able to change it. He opened his eyes and looked around, it was still dark. He couldn’t see any light. But something changed… he could actually feel his limbs and eyes. "Where… am I…? Wait… what happened to my voice!?" His voice was now a high-pitched male voice. He sounded like a tiny rat squeak but lower. "Is this… the afterlife? Am I gonna feel like shit forever…?"

Suddenly, an instinct he never felt before took over all of his body. It felt feral, a feeling to break out of something… to be free… he needed to be free!

He thrashed around the darkness, trying to break whatever was holding him imprisoned, he felt that he was almost losing oxygen at that moment. He kept digging until-

CRACK!

A small crack in the darkness, he could finally see some light, he needed to see more light!

He kept thrashing and clawing his way out of his prison. After some seconds, there was a hole big enough with some light coming out of it. "Finally… get me out of this place…" After some struggle, he got out of his small confinement, immediately falling on the ground on his chin.

"Ugh… ow… the heck was that?" He tried standing up, but he immediately fell on his back. "What? What happened to my limbs?"

He took a look at his hands- wait a second, where the hell were his hands? "What the fuck is this!? Where are my hands!?" His hands were replaced by two little blue pointy nubs that were covered with some kind of green fur. "What… am I…? And where am I…?"

John stopped looking at his new nubs and decided to get back up, after flailing his limbs around for some seconds and trying to get an impulse to get back on his feet… or whatever it was that replaced his feet. He looked around for a bit, he was in some kind of wooden area. There was a semicircular hole that was the source of the light from before, probably sunlight by the warmth it was giving. He suddenly remembered that he was trapped, so he decided to look at the cause of his confinement. "Alright then… just turn around nice and slowly…"

He moved each of his limbs slowly with precision, trying not to get tangled, making him fall again. After successfully turning around, he mentally patted himself on the back and looked at his own cell. "That shape… an egg…?" He moved closer to it slowly, carefully trying not to fall on his face again. He inspected it, touching it with one of his nubs and running along the egg, feeling its touch. "Holy shit… it is an egg… wait… no, nononono, I-I can’t be one of… those… right? I need some kind of reflection right now!"

He turned back around quicker this time, feeling a little bit more used to it. He walked towards the hole that was the exit. He sighed deeply. "Alright… let’s figure this out…" He left the area where he was supposedly reborn. He looked around and saw that he was in some kind of forest with some gigantic trees. He looked back to see the place he came out of was a hole in one of those said gigantic trees. He suddenly got a bit more uneasy than before. "… What kind of small hellhole am I? No sense in dwelling on these questions… I need to find out what I am. If my suspicions are right… no… I must be wrong… surely… no, I’ll think about something else, I need to see it first before I come to conclusions."

He shook his head and walked away from his new birthplace. He needed to keep going, he was in an unknown place and in a new body that he didn’t know how to defend himself. He needed to find shelter, because, who knows what’ll come for him he waits, a predator, or his… mom? If he spends too much time with her, she might get suspicious, if the creature she was had any kind of sentience. Wait, would he even understand her? Too many questions in his head.

He decided to ignore them for now and decided to explore around for some time. It was quite some time since he had been in a natural environment like this since he has been spending a lot of time on a computer doing his job. IT isn’t an easy job, but for him, he had to sit back at home and relax while he was doing all the work. He was an introverted person, hence why he hadn’t had so many friends. It felt quite refreshing being in nature again, the last time he was in a big forest like this was seven years ago.

John's mental ramblings were suddenly interrupted, when he heard leaves from a bush bigger than his size start rustling. As the noise came in, he noticed that his hearing had gone sharper, and immediately turned around to the source of the noise. 'Shit, something is coming, I gotta find somewhere to hide!'

He immediately scanned his surroundings, and to his luck, he found a cut trunk of a tree, being supported by a rock on his right.

'Yes!'

He tried walking faster to the rock, but to his bad luck, he tripped on his own feet.

'NO!'

The rustling was becoming louder, John turned around to see what was causing all of that rustling. He was straight-up “fucked” as anyone would say in that situation. He expected any kind of predator that would hunt for food (him), and with a hungry look in its eyes like some kind of big lion or a terrifying beast. But instead… it was the most terrifying thing John had ever seen… a green caterpillar with giant black bulbous eyes. There were circular yellow rings throughout its body, and red horns on the middle of its face… it was hideous! Worse of all… it was his size! "Holy shit… it’s… it’s… why is it so fucking huge!?"

Suddenly, the one thing that surprised John the most was… it could talk. "What is so huge?! Is there a flying type around here!?" It asked while looking around in panic.

"What the!? You can talk!?"

The caterpillar looked back at John a bit confused. "… Huh…? What do you mean I can talk? Do I still look like a hatchling to you?"

"You’re a freaking talking caterpillar! That’s not normal!"

"I’m a Caterpie! What are you talking about…? You’re weird… are you okay?" The bug started approaching him, crawling with that disgusting-looking body. John backed away slowly.

"DON’T TOUCH ME!" He shouted, his expression morphing to fear as he took some steps back.

The caterpillar narrowed its bulbous eyes (wait, they could blink?) as it whispered. "Quiet down will you? Or else a predator might hear us."

John continued shouting, fuck it if he was the size of a disgusting bug, he needed to get that worm away from him. "I don’t fucking care, as long as you don’t touch me with your disgusting-looking body!"

"Wait, what’s wrong with you?! I’m just trying to help!

Suddenly, John shifted his tone. He didn't want to immediately cause trouble by being rude, to a sentient bug nonetheless! "It would um… really help if you… stayed the hell away from me. Because I um… I have a curse!"

The Caterpie tilted his head. "What kind of curse?"

"It’s uh… everyone that touches me… dies!" He said energetically, trying to get the point across. 'Dammit, I haven’t lied in a while because of the lack of social interaction skills…'

"Never… heard about that curse. I don’t think my mom told me about that one."

"It’s because… it’s a new one that I discovered that only I have! … Yep… anyways… I gotta go… bye!" He quickly walks out of there and starts mumbling to himself. "Talking bugs the same size as me? Where the fuck am I? What is this crazy world?" Speed walking out of there he felt tired and started to pant. "Man… I haven’t run like that in a long time… was that even running… I don’t even know!"

He leaned on a fuzzy-looking rock, he was so tired from walking and running that he didn’t even want to see what the rock looked like. 'What a comfortable rock… I wonder what kind of moss is this.'

At that, he began to feel some slight but hard-to-notice movements coming from the rock- 'Wait a damn second, this is not a rock…'

As he turned to look at what was making the movements, he saw that the “moss” was actually a red coloration instead of the typical moss. He then inspected the supposed rock up and down and made a valuable and kind of late discovery… it was a paw… he then looked up to see a giant red fox with purple eyes looking down at him. For some reason, this fox had some hair and a fluffy-looking tail that seemed to divide itself on the tip.

John backed away and stared at the majestic-looking creature in awe and also fear… he was shaking in fear. With a female voice, the orange fox started speaking.

"Well… aren’t you a weird Joltik… you’re shiny as well which is rare..."

The creature leaned closer to him slowly.

"... H- hi..." '… I’m so dead…'

Chapter Text

Before he died, he wasn’t scared of the pain he was about to feel, he knew the pain of a gun very well. Since he already felt that same pain as a teen. So he would brace for it again like it was nothing. But why was he shaking at the mere presence of a giant fox with curly fur then? It was a simple answer that John already knew… the fear of the unknown. He never was in front of a wild animal like this before. Sure he had seen some close to him before, like wolves and whatnot, but never was in a situation of predator and prey before. Unlike in those situations, in this one, he felt outmatched in every possible way.

He has a way smaller body than before, this creature was centimeters bigger than him. And unlike the Jurassic Park movies he’d seen, outsmarting this creature with his human intelligence would be way harder than it might look. It is confirmed that the creatures in this world could talk and had some sapience kind of intelligence, but how smart were these animals (including the fucking bugs...)? John didn’t know…

So what was he about to do in this situation? That fox with curly fur was already inspecting him by sniffing him, he had nowhere to run. As he would try to get out of there, the creature might rip him to shreds with either their (or her, guessing by the voice) mouth or claws. So… there’s one thing left that might get him out of this situation…

John suddenly lowered the front half of his body as best he could, and that caught the creature by surprise since she tilted her head to the side. He was trying to bow. "Look, I know that I may look like a delicious little snack to you, but please! Don’t eat me, I taste bad, and there are clearly better things to do to me! Like uh… making me your slave and getting me to do whatever you desire! Please, anything that doesn’t make me a meal!"

". . ." The fox let out a chuckle that quickly evolved into a hard laugh. She was laughing so much that she even fell on her back full of laughter. John was completely speechless, why was she laughing? Was she enjoying seeing the helplessness of her prey that it begged for its life? That’s kinda sadistic if you ask him.

"U- um… what is so funny…?"

She laughed for a couple more seconds before calming down and wiping a tear off her face with her paw. "Hehehe, you’re so funny!" The fox got up and sat on the ground. "Wow, that was a funny joke!"

John just stared at her without saying a word. "…"

"Wait… you actually thought that I was gonna eat you?" John slowly nodded and the fox giggled to herself. "Ah… man, with this kind of thinking, you’re like a hatchling Joltik, always thinking everything bigger than them is their predator."

"..."

"… Wait… you’re actually a hatchling?"

John decided to break his silence. "Well… since I kinda came out of an egg today… I guess you could say that…"

The fox was suddenly surprised as her eyes widened. Did John mess up? Was it the wrong idea to reveal he was basically a newborn? He couldn’t have known these animals undergo a learning process before speaking! "… H-how?"

"Uh… oh wow, you took that seriously? I-I meant it as a joke! I’m actually um… 10 years old."

"…" The fox got up from her sitting position and slowly approached John, while he was slowly backing away. "Don’t try to fool me, little bug."

At that, John flinched a little but was more occupied trying to get away from this situation.

"I may look like a dumb little teenager, but I’m way smarter than I look. I dedicated my studies to becoming the best explorer that ever existed, so I know when red flags appear. And I can see a lot of them covering your whole body."

John was feeling surrounded and completely out of options. For some reason, he felt like he was sweating, but whatever he was couldn’t sweat, but it had the same feeling.

The multi-tailed fox continued. "Your lie doesn’t match because… your body is way smaller than an average Joltik, meaning you were born recently, and that smell that I felt around you… egg fluids…"

'So outsmarting is clearly not an option in this world because I fucking suck at it…' John thought.

"So the only conclusion that I have for all of that is…" Suddenly she stopped walking. Then her eyes started glimmering as she slowly gasped. "No… WAY!!!"

"Huh? S- something wrong-"

She then pounced at John, grabbing him in her paws as she fell to the ground. She rolled onto her back and lifted him in the air like a small plushy. "You’re a human! I can’t believe it!"

"W-wha? H-human? How did you know ab- … what’s a human…?"

"I know you’re pretending! You can stop lying now."

John dropped the act with a sigh and stuttered. "O-okay! First of all, how the fuck do you know about humans? Are there any in this world?"

"Oh, there are humans here! Well… they were at least."

"Wait… they all turned into like… creatures like me?"

"Well not exactly LIKE you, but other Pokémon."

That word… it feels familiar… and with that word, John always associated it with another word that he would hear throughout his whole life. "Pokémon… like… Pikachu?"

"Yeah! One of them even turned into a Pikachu at some point in the past!" She explained.

Oh god… at all the worlds he wound up in… it had to be from a franchise that he never got into! Now John regrets not getting into that fandom… he basically knows shit about this world except for… oh no...

The human-turned-Pokémon felt hesitant to ask this certain question. But… he didn’t know what species of Pokémon this fox was, so he couldn’t even know what their abilities were. Either way, he asked anyway. "If… if you’re a Pokémon… do you have some kind of magical ability?"

The fox giggled. "What kind of silly question is that? I thought all humans knew what every Pokémon could do."

"Well, I don't, so please tell me before I become even more suspicious of you."

The fox placed John on her belly and put a paw on her cheek. "Hm… well, in some stories I heard about them… some humans didn’t know what some Legendaries were… then this made sense." She relaxed her paws on her chest. Now that he could see more of her body, he could fully confirm that she was indeed female, and damn was she warm. "Well if you don’t know, I’m a Vulpix, and I’m a fire type, so that means I can shoot flames!"

John’s face went pale, she could instantly roast him and he would burn to death. Now he made sure to not accidentally get to her bad side... "Aha… wow… that’s um… really cool…"

"But now that you’re more informed now."

She instantly scooped him up with her paws and brought him down to her face and started nuzzling him in her furry cheeks. "You don’t know how happy I am to finally meet a human in person! I have so many questions!"

"But like… why are you fangirling about me since I’m not even that special, I’m just basically in another body!?"

She stopped nuzzling John and looked at him."Well, that’s because every time a human comes to this world, they always save the world from a big threat!"

"WHAT!?" John wiggled himself out of her grasp and fell on the grass, getting some distance from the fox. "You can’t be serious, right!? Like, saving the world? I can’t be the protagonist of some stupid fairy tale."

She rolls on her stomach and she starts wagging her tail back and forth while supporting her head with her paws. "And what makes you say that?"

"Well for starters… HOW THE HELL CAN A NORMAL HUMAN WHO JUST WOKE UP IN A NEW BODY JUST Uh, I DUNNO… SHOOT FIRE OUT OF THEIR GODDAMN ASS!?"

She laughed again. "Well, I didn’t say they saved the world immediately."

"But how did they do it? If so, do you have any historical proof?"

"The library exists, you know…"

'They have libraries…? Ugh, this shit is so confusing…' John thought as he pouted. "Fine, even if they somehow saved the world, how did they do it?"

"Of course, they didn’t achieve that alone, you know? They had help from the friends they made along their way, and also mysterious powers they got once their bodies were changed."

"… That sounds like the plot of every RPG game…"

"Now that you say that… it kinda does hehe."

Instead of John thinking to himself, he blurted out loud. "You guys have video games!?"

The fox smiled. "Yes we do, thanks to the humans that showed us computers and technology!"

'Of course, they fucking did… I need to explore more of this world before coming to conclusions.'

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot! I forgot to ask your name!"

"Wait… you don’t call yourselves by species name?

"No, we don’t you silly." She quietly chuckled to herself.

"Then first, so I can trust you… could you tell me your name?"

The fox- or now Vulpix, got up to a sitting position and put her paw on her upper torso.

"My name is Claire, pronounced by some Pokémon, Clair. What is yours, little human?"

He didn’t know if he should reveal his name or not, but a thought occurred to him. He needed allies, and what’s a good start than a fire-breathing fox? He needed her to trust him no matter what to survive in this world. "… My name is John…"

"John? That’s a nice name!" She gasped again. "I definitely need to introduce you to my family! They won’t believe what I found all the way in the forest! Now sis will definitely eat her words that research was a bad idea!"

"Um… is your family the same species as you?"

"Yeah, but my sister and my dad can shoot ice rather than fire and their fur is as white as snow!"

John had to think if going with her was a good idea or not. If her family are foxes with the ability to freeze or burn anything they wanted, then if he angers them, that means certain death. But of course, he wouldn’t do that, he knew better when to annoy someone. In fact, all of his clients left one hundred percent satisfaction reviews every (most of the) time, and his friends liked him, even if they teased them a little.

He also knew that he had no other options, he had nowhere to go, and he couldn’t risk going back to what essentially is a Pokémon’s nest that was probably something that he wouldn’t want to anger. With a heavy sigh, he looked towards the Vulpix once again.

"Alright then, I’m excited to meet your family." He lied with a fake grin. He was instead mentally shitting himself.

"Great, climb on then since my home is a bit far away from someone small like you."

"I don’t think I’m that used to my body that I can climb on your back without falling."

"No worries!" She got up from her sitting position and approached John. John let out a small shout of fear when Claire opened her mouth to grab John, she then placed him on her back to John’s relief, as his heartbeat managed to calm down a little. "And away we go!"

She started walking from the spot where they met, John was a bit on edge trying to not fall. But he managed to keep his position like he was stuck on her like a damn bug-

Suddenly, he remembered something that Claire had called him before. “Little bug” … was he…? "Claire… can I ask you something?" John started hesitantly, mentally sweating from absolute fear of the possible answer.

"Sure, what do you want to ask?"

"… What did you mean when you called me… little bug…?"

"Well because that’s what you are, a bug type. That means you’re small and have… I think it’s called chitin surrounding your body. And you’re a Joltik, that means you can make webs!"

"…" At that, the human turned bug, couldn’t handle anymore, and fainted.

Chapter Text

John…

This was a dream, this definitely was a dream, he couldn’t be one of those disgusting things…

John…

Imagine him, crawling to all sorts of places, letting out webs out of god-knows-where to catch smaller bugs. Wait… did he even have to eat fucking bugs!?

John… please…

He couldn’t live this life anymore, he couldn’t bear to be a bug throughout his whole second life. He mentally snapped. Fuck his second chance, send him to the afterlife immediately! Even hell is better than being stuck like this shi-

John wake up, please!!!

The small Joltik jolted awake, panting quickly and heavily. He looked around for a little before being close up to the face of an orange vulpine face. "John, thank Arceus, you’re alive!"

He screamed in panic and immediately he fell on his back once again. He noticed he was on a soft surface, he flailed his little nubs trying to get up again. This time he wasn’t alone, he was grabbed by soft paws and put on his feet once again.

"There you go!"

"… Uh…" John, still dazed from everything, tried to get his act together. "... Thanks, I guess…

"What happened? You suddenly stopped answering me and I realized you fainted. Could you tell me what was wrong?"

"I uh…" The Joltik looked away, a bit ashamed. "Something you said kinda triggered me... like a lot."

Claire looked a little confused. "Oh really? I’m really sorry then!"

The Joltik sighed as he looked back at her. "It’s… fine. It's just a stupid trigger…" However, he looked down. 'Stupid for you I’m guessing…'

 The Vulpix looked determined. "Well tell me then, that way I won’t make you faint again!"

"I um…" The Joltik turned his back to the multi-tailed fox. "It’s not a simple trigger… like it’s not something you said but… more like a realization of what I am..."

"You fainted from… knowing you’re a Joltik?"

"Uh…" He looked back at her again. "I want to know what I look like… are there any reflective surfaces around here?" He looked around to find that he was in some sort of bedroom. It seems the soft ground he was on was a bed, then which meant… he reached what essentially was the Vulpix home…

"Oh sure, there’s a mirror on the desk where my sis uses a lot. She really wants to be a model when she grows up, so she’s there for like most of the day." She giggles to herself and picks up John with her mouth again. (He felt like wetting his pants but he was naked and didn’t want to see what bug piss looked like.) But he was getting used to it overall.

She placed him on the desk with a built-in mirror. He looked at the mirror and immediately flinched at what he was seeing. His body indeed completely changed, he had green fur all over his body, save for the pointy blue nubs as his feet, unlike normal bugs and spiders, he only had four legs which he was glad for. The only thing that made him cringe every time he looked at it, was his four blue eyes. He had two main eyes spaced out by two additional smaller eyes, slightly above the level of the main ones that had no pupils. So that’s why he felt like he was seeing double… because he literally was.

After what felt like hours but were seconds of looking in the mirror, he came to a conclusion. 'God… I look so… disgusting … at least I don’t look a lot like a bug from my world… still, I fucking hate it…'

"I take it that it is the first time you looked in the mirror after you came into this world?" Claire asked.

"Um… yeah. You found me after like… one hour later after I came out of an egg." John kept looking into the mirror, running a nub across his face still unsure if this was his true face. He opened his mouth to see what it looked like behind all of the fuzz covering it. Upon opening, he noticed that he had four fangs, two on the upper part, and two on the lower half. At least he had no tarantula fangs, which he was relieved of.

"Are you gonna be in that mirror all day?" She asked with a playful smirk. "Wouldn’t recommend it, because you would have a competition."

"Huh?" He turned to face Claire, rubbing the fur on top of his head. "Sorry, just that my new body feels um… kinda alien to me if you get what I’m saying."

"Oh, I’d get how you feel. I mean, you’re a human in a new body, of course, it would be weird for you. But man, I really thought you were gonna become like my sister."

 The Joltik stopped to think for a bit about the fire fox's sister. "Um… don’t mind if I ask, but… who’s your sister?"

"Well… she’s-"

"Oh look who got home early. Did the nerd come back with no results?"

They both look to the side to find a similar figure to Claire standing regally at the door. Inspecting the female figure for a little, John noticed that her fur was indeed white as snow, he noticed her eyes were baby blue, and her paw fur was a darker shade of her fur, almost like she was wearing boots. Instead of curly hair, she had straight head fur, going right to the back of her neck.

"Oh look, if it isn’t the ice queen herself…"The orange Vulpix sighed. "Hi, Elsa…"

John had to think for a second if that name was a reference because she gave her a silly nickname, or if that was her real name and it was pure coincidence.

"Claire… I guess ditching class just wielded bad results, huh?" Oh damn… it is her actual name. Looking at Claire, he saw that she snorted a bit of fire from her nose.

Claire growled. "Shut it, Elsa, I did find the source of light from last night!"

The ice Vulpix scoffed. "Like I said, you red bitch, there was no light and you were completely out of your mind!"

John thought for a second. 'Should I quietly leave…?' He took a slight step back until red paws snatched him, and put him in front of Elsa.

"Then take a look at this!" She stretched her paws forward showing the small Joltik to the white Vulpix. "He may not look like it, but he is a human!"

The white fox stayed in silence. "… Um… nice to meet ’cha?" The Joltik said with a sheepish smile, showing a little fang.

Elsa then sat on the ground with her lower torso and started chuckling. Her chuckles then transformed into a regal laugh of sorts.

Claire was a bit annoyed. "What’s so funny!?"

The ice Vulpix then stopped laughing. "You’re telling me…" She points a paw towards the Joltik with a claw nail poking out. "… this is a human?!"

Some flames can be seen coming out of Claire's snout, narrowingly avoiding John. "Yeah, he fucking is, he confirmed it to me when we met!"

The ice fox put her paw close to her mouth, trying to sound like a fancy Pokémon laughing. "Ahahaha! You’re completely more out of your mind than I thought! There is… NO way that a small and pathetic Joltik like him could be the human that’ll save the world this time!"

John tried to butt in. "Well um… she got a point-"

"John is NOT pathetic!" Claire interrupted as put John on the ground. "He might not look like much now, but wait until he evolves!"

"Wait, evol-"

Elsa interrupted. "Yeah right, like a simple evolution would do much." John stayed silent with an unamused face. However, it quickly morphed into fear as the ice Vulpix crouched head down towards John's level, showing her fangs with a grin. "Look at him, so still, so silent, so weak. I’m sure he wouldn’t even notice if I ate him whole right now…"

Claire started growling as small flames were coming out from the sides of her muzzle. John took some steps back with a sheepish and fearful look. "Wo-woah easy there… I’m sure that uh… a princess like you wouldn’t want to dirty her mouth with um… a lowly bug like me… right…?

"Oh my, even though he smells like a newborn, he has manners."

"Don’t you dare lay a single claw on him!" Claire warned snorting more flames from her nose.

"Like I would dirty my prestige claws to thrash like him." The ice fox leans back from the Joltik and starts to walk away. "Now if you excuse me, I’m going to take my beauty bath!"

John mutters to himself. "Man, she has AN ego… I bet she throws herself at every boy she sees expecting them to love her… definitely slut attitude…"

Elsa’s ears twitched and she slowly turned her head to face John. "What… did you just mutter about me? You scum of this EARTH!!!" As she said that, John felt chills around his body, as he realized that the temperature dropped.

The small jumping spider thought. 'Shit! I forgot about animal ears!'

Elsa turned to him, and with every slow step she took, the ground around her paws became flat ice. "You’re gonna regret saying that to me, you pathetic bug!"

John tried to move his legs away, but he soon realized that they were stuck on the ice. He couldn’t even defend himself. Luckily, he wasn’t alone, Claire got in front of him, with a hot aura all around her and with flames surrounding her fangs. "Touch him and all of your combed fur is gone!"

That got a flinch out of the white Vulpix as she took one step back, the temperature increasing again as the ice around them melted. "Hmph, fine! Stay with your stupid bug, after all, he’s the closest thing you’ll get as a boyfriend anyways."

Elsa laughed as she walked away while Claire growled as more fire was visible from her mouth. "Why you son of a-"

John interrupted the fire fox before she could say any further. "Just ignore her, it’s not worth being mad at her over nothing."

The fire around her mouth dissipated as she turned over to John. "But it IS something! She insulted you, a human!"

"And what about it? Yeah sure I might be rare or something I guess, but I’m not THAT big of a figure as you make it to be."

"But you are! You’re destined to save the world!"

"I am no fucking hero!!!" Claire flinched as she brought a paw to her chest. "Wanna know who I was before all of this shit? I was a twenty years old man who, basically, just lived on a computer for most of his job hours and free time! That was, basically, my life since I was fifteen! Majority of the time I was out of that computer, I was out with my friends, and not saving the world as you expect like basically every human to do, noooo, I was out with them just to have fun with them as friends do in that world! Yes, I may have sacrificed my life for them to escape without anything happening to them, but that was just my selfish sense of justice in action, and my desire for them to live."

Claire couldn't help but mutter. "… John…"

The Joltik looked aside with a frown. "I’m not as special as you think, I’m just… a normal guy…"

"Well, I didn’t think a young Joltik’s life could be like that."

Another voice was at the door, the voice chuckles, this time a more deep female voice, more like a woman this time. They both look at the door and John immediately screams in fear from the majestic creature standing at the door. He steps back to hide behind Claire. "Oh… hi mom."

John said with a surprised tone. "Mom!? That thing is your mom!?"

"Ohohohoho, he’s a scared one isn’t he?"

John took a peek to inspect the creature in front of him and Claire. She stood on all fours, had yellowish fur, and one red eye, while the other eye was covered by her head fur. The most noticeable feature about her was the nine giant tails on her back, the tip of each tail was colored red. John had so many questions, the major one being- "Claire… how is that creature… your mother?"

Claire answered nonchalantly. "Well, at some point in my life, I’ll become like her when I become stronger."

"You what?!" John could imagine Claire in the future, looking like Kurama from Naruto, looking down at him like he was some sort of snack. He gulped dry at just the thought of it.

Claire's mom started speaking again. "So… I may have overheard a few things said here and there between you and your sister. After all, you two scream a lot for no reason."

Claire looked away ashamed. "Sorry…"

The nine-tailed fox approached both and sat in front of them, looking down. It felt like he was in the presence of a god with the way her tails moved behind her majestic form. If he wasn’t intimidated by Elsa since he got used to Claire, he definitely was intimidated by this creature. "So then… Claire, would you mind leaving the two of us alone? If he’s actually a human like you said he was, then I need some information."

Claire looked at her for a few seconds in silence, before sighing and walking out of the room, leaving John fully exposed. He couldn’t take the fear and the pressure anymore, and since his body was new and like a baby, he pissed on the floor. A small yellow puddle was seen growing below him. At that, the majestic fox started laughing at the embarrassing situation the Joltik has gotten into. 'Oh my fucking god… why!?' John started blushing and shaking from embarrassment as he looked away. "I-I’m sorry ma’am I-I’ll clean this up for you… I- I promise!"

 The deity-looking fox just chuckled. "Hehe, no need to worry little guy, it’s okay. I get why you’re scared, just be honest, I look scary, don’t I?"

The Joltik slowly nodded.

"I guess these last events really confirm what you are. Now could you please step away from the puddle? I’ll clean it for you and then we’ll start with the questions."

"L-like I said, I can clean it for you!"

The Ninetales raised a metaphorical eyebrow. "And perhaps can you hold a mop with that small body all on your own?"

John sighed. "… I guess not…" He stepped away from the small puddle and shook his nubs over the puddle to get rid of his excrement as much as possible. "So like… how would you clean it, if you can’t also hold a mop?"

 "Just watch, little one." Suddenly, her eyes glowed purple and a purple outline could be seen with the yellow liquid as it started to float. John took several steps back from the scene and saw how the liquid was thrown out of the window that just opened out of nowhere.

"Wha- who- when… fucking HOW!?" The Joltik blurted out in utter surprise and a bit of fear.

The nine-tailed creature blinked and her eyes were back to her usual red. "That my friend… was Psychic."

"Psychic!?" John asked a bit in disbelief and the Ninetales nodded. 'Okay, what in the actual fuck is wrong with Pokémon?' The Joltik thought. "I uh… how did you learn that!?"

The nine-tailed fox smiled. "Well, you could say that our species has a bit of psychic energy in our bodies."

John stood in silence for a moment before facepalming with his nubs. 'Of course, you dummy, they are literal Kitsunes, freaking fire spirit animals!'

"Something wrong?"

The Joltik groaned, looking aside for a second. "Ugh, nothing…"

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. A pleasure to meet you human, my name is Reya, what is yours?" Reya said with a friendly smile.

"My name is John." The small spider sighed. "Look, can I ask you some questions? Because I have so many…"

"Sure thing, ask away! I’m sure you’re pretty confused throughout all of this." She said while sitting on the ground, tails still looking majestically behind her.

"Indeed, I am… but about your daughter, um… Claire, she barely knows me and she is fangirling me all the time. Could you explain why?"

"Oh, it is just the way she is… don’t mind it. It’s just… she really wants to become an explorer, but it’s always required for you to be in a duo of sorts. She doesn’t have any friends at school, she studies and trains a lot to become an explorer alone, because she thinks no one would want to form an exploration team with her after..." Reya shakes her head. "… and she definitely knows that her sister would never do something like that.

John tilted his head. "And since she saw stories about humans, she either wants to be an explorer alone or with a human because she thinks that a human will make her the best explorer?"

"Oh wow, it seems you got it all just by spending some time with her. No wonder they say humans are really smart." She mused as she put a paw on her chin. "Hm… do you perhaps have a home already?"

The Joltik remembered the small dome below the tree stump. Has he seen any web there? Probably he just wasn't paying attention. "No… I don’t." He started thinking how horrifying his mother could look. 'Now that I know what my “mom” looks like, no way in HELL I would go back there.'

Reya suggested. "Then why don’t you stay here? You see… my husband and I feel that Claire is really lonely, while Elsa doesn’t care about her. I would stay by her side a bit longer, but I feel like our jobs are making us unable to accomplish that." The Ninetales sighed sadly. "So… would you be her friend so that may cheer her up? From the way she was defending you from Elsa, she really must like you."

After hearing all of that, he felt sorry for Claire, and for shouting at her too. So this might repay for what he said to her. "Alright then… I’ll do it."

"Great! Thank you human!" She nodded her head in appreciation.

John made a forced smile. "You’re welcome…"

"Well since this is your temporary home, I guess I can say… welcome to the family, son ." She giggled as John let out a forced chuckle.

"Would your husband be fine with this…? Aren’t I taking more space?"

"Don’t worry about it, he might be a bit… cold… but he has a nice heart. Once he hears your story, I’m sure that he wouldn’t mind if you stayed here." The Ninetales said with a smile.

"Well if you say so…" A sound interrupted him, it sounded like a high-pitched growling, it was then he noticed that the sound was coming from him. He was hungry… "Uh…"

Reya tilted her head with a playful grin. "Do you want something to eat?"

"That would be appreciated…" John admitted looking away.

The Ninetales put a paw on her chin, thinking about something. "Hm… I’m not sure if this would work, since there weren’t many Joltiks seen doing this. But come with me, I’ll find a good electrical spot for you."

"Thank- … wait what?"

Chapter Text

"… Reya… what is this?"

"It’s an electrical outlet, duh! I thought humans had that in their world."

"I said food… not a place to charge my iPhone…" Reya, the Ninetales, brought John to an electrical outlet in the living room. 'Oh yeah… my phone kinda stayed in my old body. Still, why did she take me to an outlet in her house?'

"Oh yeah, your species feeds on electricity of another electric type Pokémon. If I were to make a comparison so you could understand better… you’re kinda like an electrical vampire." She giggles.

That made John immediately raise an invisible eyebrow. 'They have vampire stories in here too?' The Joltik sighed. “So… I’m some kind of bug with electric affinities… do I have some type of electric attack as well?"

Reya answered with a smile. "Oh, you do! For example, you can make electric webs, so you can paralyze an opponent unfortunate enough to fall into your traps!"

John couldn't help but wonder in disbelief, making a mental image of him shooting electrical webs out of his rear end. 'Oh my fucking god… just what the hell is this world…?' He quickly shook off the thought. "But if you brought me here… then that means, you don’t have an electric Pokémon willing to let me suck their volts?"

The deity-looking fox said with a grin. "As expected from a human, you do catch on fast. Yes, a bit from your fangs do sting a bit, so most Pokémon kinda don’t like it… but I’ve been thinking, what if you suck it right out of an electrical outlet?"

John glanced at the outlet before looking back at Reya. "So, you want to test if I’m some kind of living plug?"

"I mean… looks kinda silly in my head, but it’s worth a shot, right?"

John sighs and faces the outlet. "Alright…" Although, there was a problem… it was too high for John to reach it. Even when he tried standing up in two nubs while leaning on a wall to reach higher, it still wasn’t enough. It was the same height as Reya's. " … I can’t reach it, Reya…"

"Well, then just walk on the wall."

 John tilted his head in confusion. "How? I know that spiders can do that but… I don’t know how to do it."

"Oh yeah… hm…" She put a paw on her chin while closing her eyes, making a thinking face. After three seconds, she opened her eyes again. "I may not be a bug, so I don’t have any experience with climbing walls. Even so… try digging your nubs into the wall while starting to think really hard… I am walking on the floor normally, this wall is a floor! " The Joltik looked at her in silence. She chuckled. "Well, it could work. You’ll never know if you don’t try."

He sighed. "Fine… I’ll try it… but if I fall, please catch me."

"Alright then, I’ll use my tails as a big pillow." As she said that, she turned around and put her tails on the ground. She looked behind, looking at the tiny green spider. "Are you ready?"

While that was happening, Claire peeked around the living room and saw her mom. Although she couldn’t see John because of her mom’s big tails. Still, she could hear his high-pitched voice.

"Ready as I’ll ever be!" The Joltik said out loud.

'What are they doing…?' The Vulpix thought as she looked at the two Pokémon in the living room.

John slightly backed away from the wall, closing his eyes, then walked as fast as he could towards the wall. He put his front nubs on the wall first, digging as deep as he could, then putting his back nuns on the wall next. He started walking in circles on the wall. He shouted frenetically in his mind, hoping that it would do the trick. 'This wall is the floor, this wall is the floor, this wall is the floor!'

Reya said with a smile. "Oh hey, you’re doing it!"

Curiosity got the better of Claire as she got closer to the scene. 'Mom, what is going on?'

"Well, little John over here is learning how to climb really steep surfaces, just to get some electrical grub."

Claire squinted her eyes at the green blur moving on the wall, and she realized who it was. "Oh, I see. You’re doing it John, you’re standing on the wall!"

"Okay John, you can stop running now."

The Joltik asked desperately. "But what if I fall!?"

The nine-tailed fox reassured me. "It’s okay, my tails will lighten the fall! Trust me!"

"Alright…!" John then stopped running and slowly opened his eyes. He almost lost his balance and fell from the scare of standing on a wall. But he kept position and steadied himself. He looked at Reya and Claire, the angle he was looking at the two of them was making him have an urge to puke. "I… I did it… I actually did it!"

Claire said happily with a smile. "Yes John, that’s how you do it!"

Reya grinned. "Congratulations John, this is your first step toward becoming a Pokémon!"

"So… when will I get some powers-?" He was quickly interrupted by the sound of his small stomach.

"Well then, your moves come at a later time, but for now, get your well-earned volts." Reya chuckles while Claire giggles with her.

"This still feels weird as hell but… I don’t have any other choice, do I?" He mumbled to himself as he walked slowly towards the outlet that made him learn the bug way, unfortunately. He reached it and suddenly felt that his body was being attracted. The volts and sparks, dancing inside that outlet… he wanted them, he wanted that succulent electricity so bad. He opened his mouth, highlighting his upper fangs, and sank his teeth into the two holes of the outlet below him. He felt an electrical current running through his teeth, then into his whole body. Instead of pain, it felt… delicious!

After a couple of seconds, he removed his fangs from the holes. His belly was full. If John would compare that new way of eating, it would be like he just sucked an apple juice box from a straw, but the apple juice had more sugar than intended so he had a slight sugar rush.

The Ninetales fully turned to John. "So… did it work?"

 The Joltik thought about a fitting description of this whole situation. "… If I had to put my past experience into words I’d say… It was a shock in a half…"

Claire looked a bit concerned. "Um… and what does that mean exactly?"

"… It means it worked. And way better than I expected… and yes, I’m full!"

Claire grinned happily. "That’s awesome! I never saw a report of a Joltik eating from an electrical outlet!"

Reya giggled. "Hehehe, it was all my idea! You might say I'm a revolutionary Pokémon" She winked and stuck her tongue out.

John looked at her "… I honestly think any Pokémon could’ve come up with that idea."

She looked down, making a fake sad look. "Aw man… here I thought I was the next Isaac Applin…"

Claire put a paw on Reya’s back and started stroking her with a supporting look. "Hihi, maybe next time mom."

The Ninetales instantly looked back up with a grin. "Now that you’re well fed, let’s talk about-"

She got interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. "Home, safe and sound, but tired…"

"Hi, dad!" Claire beamed. 

"Hello, my little pepper!" Claire ran towards the snow-white figure that was her father. John couldn’t see what he looked like since Reya was in the way. So he ran up the wall to a higher position to see what he looked like. His appearance was quite similar to Reya, but unlike her, his fur was the same color as another fox John didn’t want to think about, but tinted pink. His tails were thinner and the fur was combed kind of in a wavy way, even so, it looked godly either way. His face was different from Reya, his head fur was tilted to the side, his eyes were pink, and he wore circular glasses as well with a tie tied around his neck. The Ninetales didn’t notice John yet.

Reya approached her ice counterpart and nuzzled him on the head. "There you are my snowball~! How was work?"

The ice fox sighs while patting his daughter on the head. "Same as usual, I guess… although, the reports of those strange colored Pokémons were a bit higher than usual."

The fire Ninetales stopped nuzzling her husband and she looked at him with a more serious look. "Ah, I understand."

Meanwhile, John wondered about what the ice god in front of him meant. 'Strange Pokémons? I thought all of them were strange anyways…'

Claire butted in, excited to share exciting news with her father. "Dad, dad, dad, dad! You won’t believe what I found today!"

The white Ninetales smiled at his daughter. "What is it, my pepper?"

"I was out in the forest, doing uh… research! And I found something really amazing!"

He tilted his head curiously."Oh really?" His daughter nodded. "What is it…?"

While he wasn’t paying attention, John crawled towards the Ninetales and sat in front of him. The ice fox then looked down, toward John. He even tried to adjust his glasses to see if the Joltik wasn’t a mind trick. "… Is that… a friend that you made today?" Even if he said that his mind was already thinking the worst. 'Did she steal from a Galvantula’s nest!? It looks like a newborn!'

The Joltik started looking aside. "Um… nice to meet you, sir. My name is John Kennedy, but you can call me just John. He looked back at the ice Ninetales, analyzing his tie and glasses. 'He looks important, if he’s the father then I gotta look as presentable as possible.'

The ice type's eyes widened as he flinched in realization. "Wait, you can already talk!? How? You look like you just came out of an egg because you’re way smaller than the average Joltik!"

"Um… because that’s… what happened."

"Dad, he’s a human!" Claire said ecstatically.

The ice fox recoiled. "He’s a what !?"

The temperature dropped around the room slightly, but even still, John felt like he was in a blizzard without clothes. "L-look, I know you’re s-surprised and all b-but it’s fucking c-cold…!"

In that realization, the Ninetales apologized. "Ah, sorry!" The temperature went back to normal. "Excuse me about that. But… are you really a human?"

"Yes, I am. I uh… heard the stories that your daughter told me. Is it really all true, about humans saving this world?"

"Well… history does confirm it. Statues were created, and society evolved because of them."

John just couldn't help but stay in silence, a bit paralyzed in knowing what was possibly going to happen in the future and how badly it would go.

However, the Ninetales added. "But not all humans that came here saved the world. Some were brought here by either pure chance or by a mistake."

John’s face lightened up when he heard that. Is it true? Was he brought here by chance or either by mistake…? He hoped that one of those was the case. Maybe he could live a peaceful second life without any troubles! "I see… oh, I never asked, what is your name sir?"

"My name is Izo, nice to meet you, John." He said with a smile.

 John looked away, a little nervous. "Um, so mister Izo… Can I ask you about something…?"

"Sure, go ahead little human." He makes a friendly grin towards John.

"So… I um… don’t have a home right now, and like… I’m too weak to live by myself, I basically just woke up in this body in a random forest. And it would be… really helpful if you and your lovely wife shared your home with me. Please?" John was slightly impressed with that mannerism he still had. Even when talking to a literal ice Kitsune deity-looking creature. 'Man, I feel like my higher social interactions are working after writing a bunch of letters to corporations.'

"Woah, no need to speak so formally, I was already gonna let you stay here anyways. Besides, it wouldn't cost more poké because of your size."

John was a bit in disbelief by it all. Really? Was it that easy to get onto Izo's good side? "… Oh… okay."

"Yes!" Claire pounces on John again and hugs him close to her again. "You’re gonna stay with me, John! How exciting is that?"

The Joltik just smiled sheepishly, however, it was getting pretty hard to breathe. "Really exciting and all… but please… you’re gonna suffocate me…" He was coughing and gasping between words, even though he breathed through his sides now, they were being covered by big paws. He was quickly released and put on the ground.

"Oops… sorry… I kinda get a tad bit excited about some stuff…" The Vulpix said ashamed.

He coughs. "Could tell…"

"Well Claire, tell your sister it’s time for bed. You should go now, and properly stay awake for school. I got a call from your teacher that you sneaked away from class after break…" Reya said a bit disappointed with her.

Claire protested. "Well, it… it was still for a worthy cause!" She points at John.

Izo sighed. "But still, class is important, guilds are way harder to join nowadays, you also need to know to be better in combat."

The Vulpix sighed defeatedly. "I know, I’ll go to bed… goodnight, mom, dad, John."

They waved goodnight and Claire went to her room, while also telling her sister to go to bed while she was on their computer. Meanwhile, John looked back at the pair of Ninetales. "I guess I’ll go to bed as well… too much happening in one day for me…" He then thought. 'Maybe if I go to bed, it’s going to reveal it's all a big nightmare…' He sighed. "Is there somewhere comfortable where I could sleep without being rolled on and crushed?"

The fire type in the room looked towards the sofa. "Hm… there’s the sofa I guess, unless you want to sleep on a small cardboard-"

"Dibs on the sofa then. Again, thank you for everything. Goodnight Izo, goodnight Reya."

Both Ninetales said in unison. "Goodnight!"

John climbed on the sofa next to him and immediately fell asleep.

Meanwhile, the pair of Ninetales went to their bedroom. "Have you told him yet? About the dangers that humans have in this world nowadays?" Izo asked while removing his tie.

"No… I am planning on telling him tomorrow after he goes to school with Claire." 

"Are you sure sending him to watch over one of our daughters is a good idea?"

Reya yawned a little, revealing her sharp canine teeth. "Well… since he’s that small, I’m sure he’ll be hard to notice. But don’t worry, he is a smart human. I’m sure he’ll know when he’s in danger. All he has to do in case he gets caught is to pretend to be a baby."

Izo sights and lays on the bed, using his tails to cover his body while his wife does the same. "If you say so… just don’t forget to tell him about it okay?"

"Like I would forget when you easily forget your own age."

Izo protested, getting defensive of his good memory. "Hey, I know my own age!"

Reya looked at him with a “ seriously?” face. "And that is…?"

"… thirty… thirty-five?"

Reya put a paw on her chin, looking at him playfully. "Close." She chuckles and kisses her husband on the cheeks. "Goodnight snowball."

"Goodnight my sun goddess." Izo said with a smile.

Both Ninetales fall asleep. Everyone had a dreamless sleep except for Claire, who was dreaming about her and John fighting evil Pokémon in a Mystery Dungeon.

A Galvantula enters a hole below a tree trunk carrying a web of dead Caterpies, Weedles, and Scatterbugs. "Hello my children-" The electric tarantula interrupts herself when she sees one of the eggs in the middle of the trunk, completely hatched. She got close to it and inspected it.

"… My child… WHERE ARE YOU!? "

Chapter Text

Quiet… so quiet… the Ninetales’ house was completely in silence. No noise was being made whatsoever, aside from the subtle breathing that the creatures were doing, peaceful Wednesday morning…

Until one single noise flowed throughout the house, there was no warning that it was going to happen, it was too sudden that it caught all the sleeping foxes by surprise, waking them up in an instant. But why not the spider though? Well… let’s say he was the source of the noise… a loud high pitched scream that reverberated throughout the whole house.

The fire & ice twins went to the living room first, since their bedroom was closer. Their fur was a bit messy since they had just woken up. The icy one shouted first after an angry grunt. "What the fuck is all of this noise!?"

The fiery one yelled in concern. "John! Are you okay!? What happened!?"

The small green little arachnid looked at them, and his eyes (including the secondary ones) widened as he took some steps back.

"N-no… you’re… not real…" He took more small steps back. "This body ain’t real… none of this is real…"

Claire slowly approached John while her sister was watching with an annoyed look on her face. "John… calm down… it’s us…!"

John’s body tensed up, as the big ferocious monster in his eyes got closer. "Eek! Stay... stay back...!"

"Calm down, we’re only trying to help!"

Elsa just groaned in annoyance as a small icy mist escaped from her mouth. "Ugh, I’ll just freeze him so he stops with this crap."

As John heard that, his whole body went into a state that he couldn’t even describe… primordial fear. "Stay… STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!!!"

The Joltik then hid away inside the couch, in a steep and tight hole where his whole body could fit. His whole body was shaking, there was no other place for him to go, he just showed fear to what was possibly a predator. Who cares if they have intelligence or not, yesterday that snow fox just said she could very well eat him! 'Why wasn’t all of this just some big lucid nightmare!?'The small bug type thought as he shook, fearing what would happen if he stepped out of his hiding spot. 'I thought that everything was a figment of my imagination, it was supposed to disappear after I went to sleep! Wait… I fainted before and didn’t wake up in my bed… Goddammit! I’m so fucking dumb!'

The fire Vulpix called out. "John!"

Elsa scoffed. "Deal with your pet, if you excuse me, I need to be in my very best state before I meet with my friends at school."

She turned away and went on the way back to her bedroom, not before she encountered her parents. "Elsa, what’s wrong!? What were those screams and shouts?" Izo asked in a worried tone.

"Oh, that?" She hmphed in annoyance. "That was just Claire’s new pet being an annoyance."

"Hey, that’s our guest, you're talking about, young lady!"

"Whatever, I’m gonna prepare myself for school."

She walked away, moving her legs in a sassy way. Without further complaint, the Ninetales went to the living room. What they saw was Claire calling out to John while she was moving her paws between the couch pads. The fire Ninetales asked. "Claire, what happened?"

The daughter answered, looking back at her parents in a worried tone. "It’s John! He suddenly got scared from seeing me and Elsa that he shouted and hid in between the couch pads! And after that, he’s been hiding in silence!"

"Did something happen to make him so scared?" The ice Ninetales asked.

"I don’t know if it was Elsa’s threat… but he was so scared of seeing me, I think he thought I was gonna eat him…" Claire deduced, looking away with a frown.

The nine-tailed vulpines looked at each other and slowly nodded and the fire one took a step forward. "Let me try talking to him, okay?" Claire nodded to her and got her forepaws off the couch, while Reya got in front of the furniture along with her husband. "John…?"

No response.

"John, I know you’re in there. Look… I know you’re scared, who wouldn’t be? If you said you were really a human, no wonder you are so scared right now. Being thrown into a new world… in a body that is way different from before, the constant dangers that might be lurking every corner."

The Joltik stood silent, although opened his eyes to look back at the light between the cracks of the couch pads.

"But it’s okay, we understand how you feel. We may look big and intimidating with our abilities and physique, but we promise we wouldn’t even think about hurting a friend. So please, trust us, or at least… trust Claire." Reya said with a smile, hoping that the greenish tick would leave out of his hiding spot.

It was once again silent for a moment until they saw pointy blue nubs poking out of the couch, then being followed up by a small greenish-yellow body coming out of the sofa really slowly. A head popped out with four eyes looking at them. "So… you’re not gonna… eat me?"

"Of course we won’t, silly!" Claire responded, reassuring the Joltik. "How many times am I gonna have to tell you that?"

"… Probably a million times until I feel completely safe…" John said, looking away in nervousness.

"Then watch me, I’m gonna make you the safest Joltik that’ll ever exist, and that’s a promise!"

"…" John completely came out of the couch and sat on it, watching them in silence as his body tensed up. Until he let out a sigh, relaxing his body a little bit."Okay then… I trust you, Claire."

The Vulpix’s eyes glimmered as her curled-up tail started to wag in happiness. "Thank you John for trusting me! I won’t disappoint you!"

Meanwhile, Izo put a paw on Reya’s back and said in a low voice to her wife. "You always know your way with words with everyone, don’t you?"

Reya replied with a low voice. "I mean, it’s one of the few reasons we’re together, you know? Maybe it’s just natural talent."

She winked at him and Izo let out a chuckle, he then turned towards Claire. "Alright Claire, since this situation is now resolved, go prepare for school, don’t want you missing out on any other classes."

"Alright, dad! And it was just one time okay? It won’t happen again!" The orange Vulpix went running to her room, while John was left with the two godly-looking foxes that he feared most in this household. But he felt like he was getting used to them.

Izo sighed and looked back at John. "So… about Claire…"

"Yeah, I know… you want me to go to her school with her because she’s lonely." He waved off the mental distress that was going on in his head. "Don’t worry, I will do it, I just… had a slight existential crisis…"

"We understand, don’t worry." Reya said with a warm smile. 

The ice fox added. "It’s just that we um… need to say some things before you go."

John started to mentally sweat again as he heard those words. "… Like what…?"

Reya began with a frown. "Listen, the world is… kinda not safe for humans-turned-Pokémon right now… not just you, but to other humans in other continents and towns."

"… Why?"

"There are…  some criminal organizations around the world that kidnap humans for their own goals from what we keep hearing in the news." The ice fox said looking down.

John’s body tensed up from that. "What… what do they want with us…?"

"Some of them force the humans to tell some things about their world so they can acquire the best technology possible." Reya said. "The news said that the richest companies are technology related, and since humans are so advanced in that department... they capture them."

"Yeah, footage from security cameras all around the world show some kidnappings and all of them were confirmed to be humans..." Izo said, adjusting his glasses with his forepaws. "And that's when they are last seen..."

"Oh god..." John muttered looking down. What has he gotten into? "Is..." He looked back at the couple. "... Is there something else I should know about?"

Izo grimaced as he remembered something from his work. "I don't know if this is true or not... but... I heard certain rumors about an organization preparing some sort of invasion... they are kidnapping humans to learn about your world... and possibly take over there."

"What the fuck!?" John blurted a bit out loud.

Reya made a silencing noise. "Not so loud, we don't want the kids to learn about any of this yet." Reya sighed and looked at her husband. "Besides, those are just rumors, correct?"

"Yes, of course. We don't need to think too much about those." Izo reassured. "However, there's something more that I feel the need to tell you to be careful about while walking on the streets with Claire."

The Joltik stammered. "A-and that is...?"

Reya continued for Izo. "There are these... strange Pokémon that started roaming around since these kidnappings started happening... however, only in this continent it seems. So... the media thinks they are not related to the kidnappings."

"They seem more powerful than regular Pokémon, even though they resemble the original forms. They behave strangely, and we're not sure we could describe it..." Izo sighed. "If you and Claire spot one of them, tell her to avoid them. Alright?"

"Uh... fine, I will..." John said with a nod. 'How would I know what's different or not, since I basically don't recognize ANY Pokémon!? Do I just have to suss out some that act shady?' 

Izo nodded and called their daughters. "Kids, are you ready? The bus is gonna be here soon!"

Suddenly Claire came running to the living room while Elsa came walking normally in a regal sort of way. They were both wearing a sort of backpack made for four-legged creatures and also some white and red uniforms. There was some sort of air surrounding them and John could smell it. "What is this smell…?"

Izo leaned in close to John and closed and whispered to him. "Scent blockers, they spray that on themselves every Wednesday to cover their scent. If any male gets into mating season earlier than usual, they won’t get aroused and the urge to mate with the girls."

"Oh…" John supposed that was right since some animals are attracted to the scent that some females produce. Izo backed away from him and looked at the fire and ice twins.

Claire said ecstatically. "I’m ready!"

Elsa flipped her head fur. "Ready and pretty, as always!"

John didn’t feel that safe around Elsa, so he thought that it was best to stay away from her as much as possible. "Hey um… Claire?"

"Yes, John?" The Vulpix tilted her head with a smile.

"How happy would you be if I told you I uh… would be coming with you?"

Claire slowly gasped as she let out a shriek of happiness while jumping in place. She then ran circles around John. "Thank you so much, John! We’re gonna learn so much together!"

A thought occurred to the Joltik. 'Hm… I wonder what they teach besides common knowledge…'

Claire grabbed John with her mouth and put him in her backpack. "I know you’re shy, so you can hide inside my backpack if you want!"

"Thank you," John said in relief. 'Really helpful when I’m hiding from basically everyone.'

Meanwhile, Elsa was just thinking badly about Claire's new bug boyfriend as usual. 'I can’t believe this disgusting bug will be on the same bus with me… doesn’t matter, as long as he doesn’t annoy me.'

"Alright kids, hurry up before Asher decides to pass by and don’t pick you up alright?" Izo said with a smile.

"Yes, dad! Bye mom, bye dad!" The orange Vulpix said excitedly

"Bye-bye~!" The white Vulpix said with a wink and smirk.

"Bye kids! Also John?" Reya called.

John peeked out of the backpack. "Yes…?"

"If you ever get caught. Pretend to be a baby Joltik alright? Just say Joltik or Jol to act like one, okay?"

John nods and enters the backpack, not fully closing the zipper to let some air enter, so he could breathe.

"Bye my little princesses!" Izo said with a smile. 

The twins leave the house and walk to the front yard of their home. Their house on the outside was orange colored with two windows spaced out from the door. It was only one floor and the front yard was surrounded by a wooden fence. The neighbors’ houses were spaced out from each home. It seems they lived in a rural sort of place, but not that much. The twins sat on the ground waiting. Elsa was sitting on the ground in a bipedal-like position, messing with her phone, while Claire took out her backpack and opened it, revealing John curled on himself like a little green ball of fur. "Are you gonna be like this for all of school?"

"Well, if it doesn’t get me spotted, then yes."

"Come on, don’t be scared." She took out John from her backpack and she held him in front of her face. "Some Pokémon might look scary and bad…" She looked at her sister while making a smirk.

Elsa took her eyes off her phone and looked at Claire. "What?"

She then went back to messing with her phone, messaging her friends with a messaging app. Then Claire looked back at John. "But not all of them are as evil and monstrous as you think! Most of them are good Pokémons! Just give them a chance and you’ll like it!"

John looked at her eyes, it was glimmering. Her baby doll eyes are so cute he couldn’t even want to disappoint her. "Alright then… but if something happens, please stay there with me, okay?"

"Of course!"

Elsa butted in, not even looking away from her phone. "Heh, I didn’t know you would lower yourself so much to date a bug."

The fire fox looked at her slightly pissed. "Shut the fuck up! He’s not my boyfriend!"

John decided to add. "And like… I’m literally too old- … too young for her…? I don’t even know anymore…"

Claire was about to reply when suddenly loud footsteps approached them. John looked to the side and spotted a big scarlet orange and white lizard with what looked to be large feathers coming out of their arms, head, and back. It had a giant spiky semi-circle coming out of its chest that looked like a wheel. It was coming in their direction on all fours. "Oh look, it’s Asher!"

John looked at the Koraidon in shock. "The hell is that thing!?"

"Oh, that’s Asher! He’s a Koraidon and he is the bus driver of our school!"

"That’s the bus driver!?"

He was pulling, behind him, a very large car that looked like an actual school bus, but it was smaller and had no ceiling. The big orange lizard stopped in front of them and Elsa put her phone on her bag before getting on all fours along with her sister, putting her backpack behind her and John above the backpack. "Good morning kids!" The bus driver happily said.

Claire replied. "Good morning Asher!"

"Morning." Elsa replied with less enthusiasm.

Asher pressed a button beside his chest wheel that opened the door, allowing the two sisters (and an unnoticed spider) to enter the bus. There were a lot of different Pokémon in the bus, such as a Budew, an Eevee, a Purrloin, along with others. Elsa took her seat along with the Purrloin and began chatting with it along with a Glameow behind her. While Claire went to sit on the back of the bus, where there was a- 'A bee!? With drills for limbs!?'

John started shaking and kept staring at the Beedrill sitting across the other side of the bus. Even though it was a bit away from Claire and John, his flight or flight instincts were going haywire, and he immediately went back into the backpack. Claire looked confused at her backpack. "John…?"

The bug stuttered. "Oh, I- I uh… went to look for something to do while on the bus so uh… yep. The bag looks fun."

"… Alright?"

The Beedrill glanced at Claire, but immediately went back to looking outside the bus, supporting his head with his drill.

The bus started moving as the Koraidon started walking and then started to pick up the pace. And with that, John’s new life would begin for good.

Chapter Text

After some minutes of shaking and moving scenery, the bus came to a stop. Claire took a deep breath and thought. ‘I hope Ms. Iris isn’t too mad I missed her class…'

While the ground students left the bus by the door, the students that could fly left the bus by, obviously, flying. Some thanked the bus driver while some didn’t, other than that Asher the Koraidon was happy with the kids either way.

Claire reached her mouth close to the backpack and whispered. “John, are you still gonna stay there or what?” The backpack opened and the small Joltik’s head peeked out of it.

“Depends on the amount of Pokémon close to you.” John responded.

“Well, there are no Pokémon that close to me so you can come out now.” She confirmed. John took a look around and saw some Pokémon that were a bit far away from Claire that were talking among themselves. He signed and crawled out of the bag onto Claire’s curly head fur.“

"Well, I guess we need a bit of fresh air… I’ve been quite needing it I guess…”

“Good, I’m sure you’ll love my school!” Exclaimed Claire. John put his nubs on the side of his face looking rather pensive. He didn’t know what to expect from a school like this, however, he knew one thing for sure, anyone might try to kill him if he makes the wrong move.

“I sure hope so…” He said looking at the school. It was a bigger school than he had expected, like the school uniform every Pokémon was using, it was white and red, the red being more the outline of the edges of the building. It had two floors and it stretched far into the sides, it looked like there were a lot of classrooms. ‘It’s massive alright… just hope no big students around here…' He thought, but he had a feeling that was exactly what he would find in a place as big as this.

Claire entered the school with John hiding on the fur of her head. The halls of the place looked like they were from a normal high school, but instead of humans, it was full of talking animals. There were lockers all around the place. Claire went to her locker, which was close to a door that was labeled in a language he didn’t understand. It seemed he had to learn a new language, it seemed…

Claire picked up some books and her personalized notebook with her mouth and went to her class. She entered the class and John looked around the place. Sure enough, it was full of different looking Pokémon, a hound with a skull on the forehead, a gray round rodent with spots on their body (John then inspected it further then discovered those were actually spikes), and a white hedgehog-like creature with green needles that looked like grass. Looking farther away, he could spot Elsa and those cat Pokémon along with her, still talking to each other.

“Man… what a classroom…” John whispered to Claire. It was easier talking in a low voice since her ears were on top of her head. Claire put her notebook at her back, balancing it making sure it wouldn’t fall.

“Don’t worry about them, they’re nice, as long as you don’t anger them of course.” She whispers back and then looks at her sister and friends. “Can’t say the same for everyone though…”

“At least there are no bugs…” John mumbled to himself. But it appeared Claire had heard that.

“What?”

“… nothing, just go to your seat before your teacher comes.” Claire nodded discreetly and went to her usual desk beside the Togedemaru and sat on the hay seat. She put her notebook down at her desk and sat on the hay that was used as everyone’s chair. Meanwhile, John decided to look at what the rodent-like creature was doing and saw it was reading something, it looked like a type of comic. He decided not to pay more attention to that and decided to look out the window, which coincidentally Claire was sitting next to it at the front of the class.

The steel rodent took his eyes off his comic and looked at Claire, he put a paw on his chin and then decided to speak to her with his male teen voice, something that John didn’t expect him to sound like. “Hey, Claire, can I ask you something?”

Claire looked at him and tilted her head. “Yes, Taro?”

“So… why did you leave the school after break yesterday? Was it something urgent, because it’s not like you to just ditch class like that.” While he said that, he felt something was attracting him toward Claire, but he couldn’t put a finger on it.

“Oh um…” She stammered, trying to think what to tell him. Should she lie to him, or should he tell half of the truth? She thought about how John would react if Taro discovered about him, he wouldn’t be very pleased… “Something important came up, and uh… I got called into a forest…”

“Why…?”

“Well uh… that’s because…” She suddenly got interrupted when a shiny Decidueye walked into the room. They had glasses and were carrying some books around their wings. They put the books on the teacher’s desk, adjusted their glasses, and then wrapped their wings around themselves.

“Good morning class.” She said with a female voice. At that, the whole class (except for Elsa and her cat friends) replied with a “Good Morning teacher Iris!”

‘That’s the teacher? An owl?’ John thought as he looked up and down at the black and blue owl.

“Let’s start our class shall we?” She opened her book on a page and looked again at the class. “Today, we’re gonna talk about the very force that gives us the potential to use our magical abilities. Our cores.” John’s head raised at that, maybe he can learn something about these creatures after all. He looked at the professor and saw that she was looking in his direction, he almost jumped as he noticed that. Was she glaring at him? Or was it that weird hood of hers that made it look like she was glaring? Did she even notice he was hiding on Claire’s head? Whatever the reasons he stayed motionless and silent.

“Something wrong Ms. Iris?” The Houndour asked, a male voice coming from him.

“Oh nothing wrong sweetie, just thought I saw something.” She chuckled. “Anyways, let’s talk about our cores, shall we? Cores are something that exists in every Pokémon, almost like an organ if you will. It is different between every Pokémon, and they are the objective that defines our typing. Not only that, but it is that very organ that lets us use our elemental abilities!” She exclaimed and the class stood silent. “… Ahem…” She glares at the class, and everyone except John, Elsa, and a sleeping Glameow pretend to be impressed by letting out an “Ooooooohh!”

‘Interesting honestly… so that’s how their powers work then…' John thought as Iris took out a feather arrow from somewhere behind her wings, and made a bow out of the wire of her hoodie.

“For example, my bow and arrows are part of my body, there is no influence on my core, so I’d be shooting just one of the sharp feathers, however…” She put the arrow on her leafy string and aimed at the sleeping student. “If I use a move like… Spirit Shackle per se…” Her feather started glowing in a dark purple as she pulled the string. “I am using the power that my core provides to me since my core is half grass and half ghost.” John started to become nervous about what was about to happen.

She released the string and shot the arrow toward the student. ‘Is she about to kill a fucking student!?’ John thought. However, instead of the arrow going straight to the cat’s head, the arrow made a loop above the Glameow and landed on her desk, piercing the wood and making some sort of shadow dome around the student. A second later the dome disappeared and Glameow woke up, looking confused.

“Meh?” She grunted confused.

“I shall remove that arrow fifteen minutes after break begins, your punishment for not paying attention.” Iris said as she folded her wings around her again.

‘Damn… not gonna lie… that looked sick and also a bit scary to think what she did to that cat…' He thought while burrowing himself more into Claire’s fur. Suddenly the green spiky hedgehog raised a paw.

“Yes, Amy? You have a question?” The teacher asked and the student nodded as she lowered her paw.

“Do normal types have cores as well?”

The archer owl chuckled while putting a wing in front of her beak. “Why of course, because how else do you think a Snorlax can shoot out a hyper beam then?”

“Oh yeah! You’re right!” The student nodded in understanding as Claire raised her own paw as well.

“If our core is basically the organ that makes us use our powers depending on their typing… then why can some Pokémon use moves that are not on their typing? Because my mom can use Psychic even though she’s just a fire type like I am?” She asked, looking determined to learn.

“Good question, Claire!” She said looking gleefully at Claire. “You see, Pokémon cores are affected by their natural physique and origins of the species. You see, here’s a history lesson for you on your species that I learned some time ago. Ninetales in the past were incredible psychic and fire Pokémon, but as evolution came, their fire typing overcame the psychic typing by a margin. But, that’s not to say that psychic energy is completely gone, no. It is still within your core, but not having as much influence as before. But hey, there’s a chance you might develop more psychic energy than other Vulpix.”

“I see… thank you for explaining it to me!” She said happily.

“Anytime dear, I’m just doing my job.” Once again, John felt that instead of looking at Claire, Iris was looking rather at him. He tried sinking in more onto her fur, but he was a bit big for that. “Claire, mind if I speak to you on break?”

“Um… sure…?” She said a bit confused. And her sister put her forepaws on the desk.

“Oh look at that, looks like someone is in trouble for ditching class yesterday!” She and her friend started laughing at that. Claire stayed in silence, lowering her head a little and looking away.

“Now, now, who said she was in trouble? I just said I was gonna talk to her.” She replied back, opening her wings and looking sassily at Elsa. “Now please put your paws back on your seat.” Elsa scoffed and put her paws back on her seat.

‘At least a teacher supports Claire… poor girl…’ This reminded John of how badly he was bullied at school, being shouted at, being beaten up… and what his only family did? Absolutely nothing about it. High school was one of the absolute worst moments of his life, and being the quiet kid didn’t help at all. But at least it was all over, and maybe he could help someone else that goes through that situation.

“So, let’s continue our class students, let’s talk about how our emotions affect our moves.” And so, the class continued. Iris taught them how to control emotions in the middle of a fight, while also giving some examples. Soon, it was break time. As the bells played, everyone got up from their hay seats and went outside the classroom (except for the Glameow.) Claire followed the teacher outside of the class and went somewhere isolated with no one in sight.

“So… what do you want to speak about…?” Claire asked while looking up at the Decidueye while sitting on the floor.

“Well…” In one swift motion with her wings, she swooped the top of her head fur and grabbed John. Claire was in shock at how fast she was, it was almost like time had slowed down at that moment. Iris brought the little Joltik to her face level, holding him. John was scared shitless as he was trembling while his eyes widened. “I want you to talk about who this is before I make it my snack.”

At that, John had to hold another piss.

Chapter Text

John was mentally screaming. Now he basically had to assume that everyone could just possibly just eat him. After all, bugs offer good protein, do they not? He needed to think carefully about this, if Claire doesn’t give the owl a good enough answer, he needed to step in to tell the truth.

“So sweetie, why bring a newborn bug to class?” She asked, looking closely at the Joltik she was holding with her wings.

Claire shook the feeling of despair away and looked at the Decidueye with a fierce look. “He’s my friend! Please, don’t do anything to him, he was just um… watching over me!”

She looked back at Claire, glaring for a second at her before sighing. “Sweetie…” She shifted her position, turning fully towards Claire and crouching down to her level, placing John below her talons so he wouldn’t escape. He stayed silent, his tiny heart beating like a micro machine gun. “I know you erm… have a bit of a difficult time making friends but…” She placed a wing on Claire’s back, stroking her fur a bit. “You can’t just go into the wild and just… befriend every wild Pokémon you see. They might’ve escaped a Mystery Dungeon, that was making them act feral, but they still suffer the effects from it periodically. They could go mad and attack you.”

“But-…” She tried to retort but immediately got cut off.

“Even if none of that happens, what would happen if you brought one to a school? Yes, a Joltik might not be that dangerous, but still, he could’ve just bitten a student. Like Taro, for example, he does sit behind you.” She explained.

“But he would never do that! He can control himself!” The Vulpix shouted back, a bit mad.

“A newborn controlling himself? Please stop being delusional Claire… even if that was the case, what if someone else had spotted it? Someone that doesn’t think twice before doing harsh things?” She said while looking at the bug in her talon who was completely paralyzed by fear, or… something else?

Claire looked at her teacher with a sad look on her face. “Please… don’t take him away from me…” She looked to the side, concerned about the next events. The Decidueye stayed silent, then got up looking at Claire with a bird smile. “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to him or take him away from you for good.” Iris picked John from her talons, holding him on her wing. “I’m just going to take him into a safe place so I can give him back to you once your classes are done. You know where my office is, right? It’s next to your locker, right?”

Claire didn’t know what to say, should she just accept Iris to have him while she was in school? Or should he grab him and run away again? No, she can’t be a coward, that’s not how an explorer does it! With a huge breath, she looked at Iris. “Alright… just don’t hurt him, please…”

“You have my word. You can go to your break now.” At that, Iris walks away, folding her wings to hide John.

Claire looks down as her face darkens. “Why does no one understand me…?” She clenched her paw and she could hear a metal screeching sound. She paid no mind to it and she calmed down. Unclenching her paws, she walked away from the scene, not noticing the locker door that was beside her, completely crushed and folded, as it fell from the locker itself.

The shiny Decidueye entered the room and locked the door with keys she pulled out from her feather pocket in her chest.

‘Man, these feathers are getting on my fucking nerves…' John thought as he sniffed from his sides. The archer owl put the keys away and walked towards her desk, while also grabbing a small enclosure, fit for Pokémon of any small size. She put it on her desk beside the monitor of her computer and sat on her chair while groaning.

“Ugh… I’m getting old… can’t use a single move anymore without getting tired…” She placed John on the desk and looked at him. “I wonder where Claire found you… was she that brave enough to wander in a Galvantula’s nest?”

“Galvantula-?” John muttered out loud and covered his mouth with his nubs. The Decidueye looked at him in confusion but also in surprise. ‘Fucking hell, me and my big mouth!’ He thought as started trembling. The Decidueye blinked in confusion, shit he messed up! What does he do in a situation like this? Wait… Reya said to just say Joltik… he needed to do it. “Joltik!” He said with a squeak, trying to act like a normal baby.

Iris stayed silent for a moment and then sighed putting a wing in her head as she turned on her computer. “I must be really getting old…” John sighed in relief. It had worked, his secret was safe once again!

Although, he was curious about how someone with wings would type in a computer. He looked at the keyboard, it was a normal black keyboard, that had a strange logo on it. Something else bothered him, however… the keys were on the English alphabet. He flinched as he made the realization, and Iris took notice of that, she glared at him once again. ‘This Joltik… is a little strange…' She thought as the company logo appeared on the screen “Asuri”. Again, which made the green critter flinch once again because those were normal letters.

“So I guess the handwriting of that room just felt weird…” John muttered so that only he could hear. But he got surprised when a wing swopped in and grabbed him, leaving him in front of the owl’s face once again.

“Alright, spill the beans, what are you? You react weirdly to certain things, and you stay silent most of the time, without muttering a single Joltik. And when I apparently hear you say another word other than normal, you immediately say Joltik. And then you muttered a full sentence… who are you?” She squinted her eyes, trying to get a closer look at John. He was backed against the wall, there was no other way out. John forgot almost every Pokémon has augmented hearing, sight, or nose. This one had sight and hearing it seemed…

John sighed and looked to the side. “You got me, happy now…?” Iris was a bit surprised that she recoiled a little.

“You actually can… talk?” She put him on the desk again, still on watch of him. John looked back at her, still a bit unsure if this was the right idea.

“Yes I can… I’m… a human…”

“What!?” She shouted while adjusting her glasses and her position in the chair. “W-why you didn’t tell me before? So Claire didn’t have to cover for you?” She asked, genuinely confused about why he didn’t admit right there.

“I… I didn’t trust you.” He admitted it. “Before coming here, I knew there was some secret organization kidnapping humans. I honestly just assumed that anyone would have contact with it, even the school employees could have. So… I thought it would be best to just hide my true identity.” He sat on the table, like a dog by just bending his back limbs and keeping his forelimbs straight. Slowly but surely, he was testing the limits of this body. It looked kinda cute in Iris’ eyes.

“Well…” She shifted into a more comfortable position, she glanced at the computer to see that it had turned on, then looked back at John. “It is understandable, if I was in your situation, I would be quite scared as well. After all, Joltiks aren’t really known for a lot of combat. However, the species you are right now does have its advantages.”

“Like for example…?” He tilted his head while asking.

“Well, one good example is that your size makes you really hard to spot. Well… except for a few flying types that have really good eyesight of course…” She admitted as John made a confused look.

“Are you a flying type since you’re like… an owl-like Pokémon?”

“Partially… like as you probably heard from my class…” Oh, she knew he was there all the time, didn’t she? “Since my physique is more like a bird, my core has a bit of the flying type along the edges. But my actual typings are grass and ghost.”

“I see… wait ghost?” He was not getting it, why was her species part ghost?

“You see, remember the move… Spirit Shackle? That Glameow I just trapped… I just didn’t trap her body, but actually her soul. Oh, wait, speaking of which…” She looked at the time on the monitor, it was 10:15 a.m. on the time bar. “her detention is over.”

She raised a wing up in the air and it glowed with that same purple glow that was in the arrow. Meanwhile, in the classroom, the Glameow was with her book opened beside the arrow piercing the desk. Suddenly, the arrow fell flat out of the table. The Glameow looked to the sides and grabbed her book, by wrapping it around her long tail, then left the classroom.

Back in Iris's office. John was looking at her with a bit of fear.

“What… did you do?” He asked, his voice a bit shaky.

“Oh, I just released her of her detention, nothing to piss yourself over with.” She chuckled as John looked down to see he had pissed himself again.

“Dammit… this stupid baby body… ugh sorry for this, I have apparently been reborn a baby…” He look again to the side and blushed as he was embarrassed.

“Oh really…?” She got up from her chair and walked towards a drawer. “How old were you before coming here?”

“Twenty years old…” He said as Iris grabbed a roll of toilet paper from one of the drawers.

“Damn, so you were an adult before your old life?” He nodded. She went back to her desk, removed a piece of paper from the roll, and swept it on the piss area that John was standing on. She threw the wet paper on the small trash can on the side of her desk. “So you’re basically starting life all over again.”

John nodded slowly. “I… I didn’t want any of this…”

“Look… that’s what basically most of the humans said from reports of their adventures and stories.”

John looked at her pleadingly. “Did they ever get their old life back…?”

She put her wings together and looked to the side. “Not that I know…” John lowered his head at that. Was there simply no way back? No… even if he did, he was dead. He couldn’t possibly get his old body back, and he had to accept that. He had to live another life while being in the body of one of the creatures he feared the most… but hey at least he didn’t have to see how ugly his face was most of the time.

“What about Claire? Now that you know of me, will you take me back to her?” The Decidueye put her wing below her beak as she thought about it. After a moment, she adjusted her glasses once more.

“What you said before got me thinking… what IF a school employee is part of an evil organization that kidnaps humans? So I think it’s better if you stayed in my office until I give you back to Claire. Because even if they spot you, Claire will fight them off, and then, she might slip up and tell the truth.” John pondered that scenario. It was clear she would do anything to just stay with him no matter what.

“Yeah, you’re right… I know her long enough to know that she’s got quite the obsession with me…” He noted.

‘It is to be expected after that day…' Iris thought as she started to look in the computer for some files.

Why did she let him take him away? Was it really a good idea? Now look at her, all alone again, sitting like a bipedal Pokémon on a wooden bench in the small backyard of the school, eating her Wishiwashi sandwich. She felt miserable, she couldn’t even just keep him in secret the whole time. She was dumb, she was so dumb, she deserves being this lonely-

“Hey.”

A male voice said beside her. She looked to the source to see Taro, the Togedemaru. “Hey…” She said sadly as the rodent sat beside her.

“Are you good?” He asked while adjusting himself on the bench. “I saw you in here a bit sadder than usual…”

She raised an “eyebrow”, looking at him. “Were… you watching me?”

The Togedemaru squeaked and rubbed the top of his body in a bit of shame. “Um… for some time now…”

Claire stayed silent for a moment, as she didn’t know what to say. She then just sighed and confessed. “No… I I’m not that good today…”

“Do you wanna tell me about it?” He asked while looking worried at her. Claire looked down back at her sandwich and took a bite out of it.

“No… I don’t think it’s best to…” She said in between crunches.

Taro put a paw on his chin. “You’re not… depressed, are you?”

She looked at him and waved him off. “No, no! I’m not, uh… it’s just something that Ms. Iris talked about…”

“Were you actually in trouble for ditching class yesterday?” He asked, tilting his face to the side.

“I guess… you could say that.” She looked to the side, a bit ashamed. It was a half-truth at least.

“Well, don’t worry.” The Togedemaru let out a grin. “At least you walked it off, right? It’s not like you got punished or anything right?”

“Just a tiny lecture I guess…”

“See, it’s not as bad as you think. It turned out okay in the end.” He raised a paw in the air, trying his best to make a thumbs-up. Claire looked back at the sandwich in silence and ate the rest of it, resting her forepaws on her back limbs. She looked at Taro once again and smiled weakly.

“… Thanks.”

“Huh?” He lowered his paw. “For what?”

“For cheering me up.” She said while jumping down the bench and starting to walk on all fours again. “I feel a little better now.”

“Oh uh… you’re welcome.” He said as he rubbed his back. Until a sudden lick on the cheek by Claire caught him by surprise. Behind his gray fur, it could be seen he was blushing.

“That’s for being really supportive of me. Thanks!” She exclaimed as she walked away. The bells rang signifying that break was over and they should go back to class. Taro put his paw on his cheek, still not believing what just happened.

“I… wow…”

All of the students went back to their classes.

Chapter Text

Tik Tok, Tik Tok… Tap, Tap…

There was silence in the classroom, no talking could be heard, only the sound of tapping cellphones and paws, and the clock above the blackboard. Claire looked at it, it was 10:30 a.m., basically after the break. She would occasionally glance around the classroom for a little, her sister sending messages on the phone along with her friends, Cerbera, the Houndour, tapping his foot, Amy trying to make the plants beside the wall of the classroom grow with her power, although not being successful. But the thing that got most of her attention after she glanced a few times, was Taro looking at her for a second before pretending to look away. Did she go too far with that kiss? I mean, she doesn’t LIKE, like him, she just kissed him as a gratitude… and a bit of teasing as well. Did Taro take that seriously? She didn’t want to toy with his feelings, she needed to fix it fast.

She looked at Taro. “Hey-“ Until she got interrupted by Cerbera, looking a bit impatient.

“I can’t wait for him any freaking longer!” He said while snorting flames from his snout. Amy turned to him.

“But it’s been like… two minutes since we came back to class.” The Shaymin said while raising her paw.

“But all of this lack of noise is been pissing me off! Come on, we need more noise, we need more fun!”

“And what do you suggest?” Taro butted in by asking. Still trying to figure out what the fire hound wanted.

The Houndour grins as he moves in front of the teacher’s desk. “Simple! Let’s all measure our power levels! The kid with the worst attack, will get called wimpy mon for the rest of the month!” After the announcement, the hedgehog raised a paw.

“And what happens with one of the highest power?” Cerbera glared at Amy and waved her off.

“Bah, you don’t count in this, you’re the mythical in this class!” The Shaymin looked at the hound with an angry look.

“Hey, I might be mythical, but I’m not even a fighter! I barely can do any attacking moves!” She shot back at him, and from the depths of the class, a regal kind of laugh was heard, and they all looked at the white Vulpix.

‘Elsa…' Claire thought, not even looking back to know who was laughing like that. Instead, she just buried her head on the desk.

“It is obvious who’s the strongest here, you cannot even compare to me without being all mentally demoted to even lower peasants!” She stated while her friends all nodded in agreement.

“Indeed Elsa, the fools have nothing on you!” The Glameow said.

“Besides that, we all know who the prettiest girl from class is!” The Purrloin next to her added. As Elsa nodded sassily until Amy tilted her head in confusion.

“But isn’t ice known as one of the weakest types of all?” She asked putting a paw on her chin. Taro giggled along with Cerbera. That made Elsa growl in anger as she shot an ice shard directly at the hedgehog, hitting her in her grassy needles. Amy moaned in pain as part of her nose froze. Claire raised her head and saw the scene, she immediately turned to Elsa and shouted with flames coming on the side of her maw. She was angry.

“Elsaaaa!!!” She was about to fire a fireball at her before Taro stepped in her way, with his spikes popping out of his fur.

“Hey wait!” He shouted desperately, as Claire dissipated the fireball. “Please don’t get into each other’s throats like that!” Claire growled and looked at her sister behind him, huffing as she passed a paw on her fur.

“But she-“

“Even so, it’s not worth it. What is worth doing right now is that.” He pointed at Amy, tearing up while gritting her teeth because of the pain. Claire looked at her for a moment and sighed, nodding back to Taro she went up to the Shaymin, followed up by the Togedemaru himself. Amy looked at them both, Claire was the first to speak first.

“Hey um… sorry about my sister. She’s just… a bit of a spoiled brat.” She said while rubbing the back of her head as she sat on the ground.

“It’s okay… although that ice hurt as shit, I’m alright. My needles are just a bit frozen, but I’ll live.” She let out a chuckle, wincing as the ice burned through a bit of her skin.

“Here, let me just…” She put her muzzle close to the ice and shot a small controlled flame, melting the ice in the process. It was completely gone, although it left a small mark.

“Thank you.” The Shaymin smiled at Claire. She and Taro did the same as the fox replied.

“Anytime!”  Suddenly, Amy’s head flower glowed, and the potted plants that were on the wall completely bloomed into beautiful flowers. The three Pokémon stared at it confused before an invisible lightbulb appeared above Claire’s head. “Oh yeah, I read about that!”

Taro looked at her confused. “Read about what…?”

“Don’t you know? Shaymin is the gratitude Pokémon. When Amy thanked me for melting the ice, her powers activated, letting the flowers bloom!”

“Oh really? I didn’t know that…” The Shaymin looked at Claire, a bit disappointed at herself for not knowing about her own species.

“Why didn’t you know about that?” Taro asked Amy. She looked to the side in silence before speaking up.

“Well, you know I’m a transfer student, but you don’t know why I am one in the first place…”

Claire interrupted her. “Hey, no need to say anything if you don’t want to.” The Shaymin shook her head and let out a smile.

“Nah, it’s fine. You’re actually the first classmates I tell this.” She looked around to see if anyone other than Taro and Claire were close by. Fortunately, Cerbera and Elsa were arguing, she didn’t know what was it about, but it was sure that Elsa was winning. At least Cerbera had just an annoyed look on his face. Amy turned back to both of them, sighing. “Well I’ll be honest… one of the reasons I don’t know anything about being a Shaymin is because… my parents are different Pokémon.”

“Wait, that means…” He mused before being interrupted.

“Yes… I am basically adopted. I don’t know what happened to my true parents, but I didn't even get clues for who they truly are, so I’m kinda left in the dust at this point.” She frowned, looking down. “I didn’t even have time to research about my species, because at schools… the Pokémon there were always trying to use me, and just mentally torture me to do their bidding, just because I’m a mythical...” Again, tears fell from her face. “If I couldn’t be a good enough Shaymin for them… why still act like I’m some sort of fucking guardian angel to them…!? I’m basically just like them…!” She quietly shouted, but quickly the two other Pokémon closed in on her and did the best hug they could with their bodies.

“It’s okay Amy, it’s okay. Just know, whoever did that to you in the past, we’re not like them.” Claire coos towards Amy, and Taro backs her up immediately.

“If anyone’s gonna treat you like that again, just know that we’ll either shock or burn their asses!” He released Amy from the hug as he did a determined kind of pose. Claire also released the Shaymin and she nodded in agreement. The little hedgehog didn’t know what to say, so she teared up in a happy way.

“T-thank you guys! Thank you so much!” She sniffed as Claire replied with a smile.

“Anytime.” This feeling… Claire knew this feeling, the feeling of being there for each other, the feeling of interaction with others that are not from her kin. After one week and a half at her high school, she was making starting to make friends again. Why though? She thought she didn’t need anymore to become the best explorer that ever was, only a human. Maybe… when John came into her life, it felt like everything had changed. Was this it? Was this the cycle that her mom said would be different? Did she speak the truth? Honestly, Claire didn’t know, but she was willing to see what more this year would throw at her.

Suddenly, Cerbera passed besides her and walked to the front desk once again and turned to the class. “Ahem.” He got everyone’s attention. “Sorry for the…” He fake-coughed as he shot a glare toward Elsa. “Icey interruption…” He looked to the center of the classroom once again. “Anyways, let’s officially start the-…” He got interrupted as the door opened, revealing a Porygon-Z on the door of the class, moving it’s floating body parts with less energy than a normally active type of his species.

With a glitchy male voice, he announced, floating to the front of the class.

“Go-go-gooooOOOOd morning-ing-ing class!” Cerbera quickly ran to his seat while tripping on his desk. He got up on his hay quickly while smiling sheepishly at the teacher. The class replied with a “Good Morning Mr. Zeta!” The computer Pokémon suddenly got a disk from somewhere in his behind his body and ejected another disk from his chest area. He inserted the disk he pulled out while throwing the other disk in the trash can. He suddenly started speaking in a sports announcer voice. “Way better! That voice module was kinda broken in all the senses! [99% deal’s off from that old-timey.]” The last part he said with static in his eyes before turning back to normal. The students looked at each other and began to giggle a bit. “Anyways my dear students, as you probably noticed I uh… kinda got a bit late to class today.” He said while twirling his nubs around each other, it seemed a bit glitchy.

“Why’s that teacher?” Taro asked, tilting his head.

“Well my dear [Rats, we’re rats-] student, I was solving the final touches to [The adventure of a lifetime that might cost millions of lives-] a project that I was planning to make with all of you tomorrow!” The class stayed silent and Amy was the first to break the silence.

“Is… is it dangerous?” She asked, a bit on edge about this project.

“Don’t worry, [Rolling around at the speed of sound~] this is gonna be an outside school activity that you’re gonna [Die of so much fun!] An experience that’ll not only strengthen your bonds but also enhance your combat experience.” At those words, Claire had a feeling of what that was.

“Is it…?” She was about to ask when the Porygon-Z answered for her, already knowing the question.

“That’s right!” He lifted a nub in the air while his head floated a bit off from their body, before coming back to it. “We’re gonna visit a Mystery Dungeon [™]!

Chapter Text

Before long, Mr. Zeta's class was over. It was a nice review of some famous moves and their effects, but it went by nicely overall. Everyone exited the class and went towards the exit. Well… all except Claire who went straight to Iris's office while running, not even bothering to look at that one crushed locker door that was beside her that one moment.

She arrived at the office and knocked on the door, sitting down on the floor, shaking from excitement. After a few seconds, the door opened, revealing a shiny Decidueye and a shiny Joltik. “Ah, had a feeling it was you.” Iris said as she looked confused as to why John was on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, she knows. My bad…” He said looking down while Claire quickly waved him off.

“No, no, it’s fine! I uh… also had a feeling that would’ve happened.”

“… Do you honestly think that low of me? That I can’t keep secrets?” Iris laughed at the comment.

“Don’t blame him, I already knew he was there since I entered the class.” The Decidueye said while extending her wing to Claire, so John could walk towards her and get on top of her head once again.

“But how though?” Claire asked. Iris, in response, pointed at her eyes.

“I might be getting a bit old, but my eyes never deceive me!” She said with a smirk, as she folded her wings back around herself. “Well then, I believe that’s everything for today?” Claire looked at the Decidueye pleadingly.

“Hey, Ms. Iris?”

“Yes, my dear?”

“… can I take John with me to school tomorrow?” She asked and John butted in.

“But, what if we get caught by a student or worse, a teacher?” He speculated, already fearing the worst.

“Well, he’s right Claire, haven’t I told you already?” Iris asked, looking at Claire with a frown. Claire started wagging her tail.

“Don’t worry, that’s because tomorrow I’m going to a Mystery Dungeon with all of my class!” She said excitedly while the teacher’s heartbeat dropped.

“You’re what!?” She asked in astonishment while John looked confused as he put a nub on his chin.

“What is a Mystery Dungeon?” John asked, not knowing why Iris was acting like it was a big deal. She looked at him and sighed.

“She didn’t teach you about this? I was sure it was the first thing she would’ve told you about this world.” She looked at Claire with an eyebrow raised. Claire rubbed the back of her head while laughing sheepishly.

“Woops… I was so excited to know that he was a human so... I kinda forgot.” She clears her throat and starts the explanation, "So-" only to be interrupted by the archer owl.

“Sorry to butt in but… you don’t wanna miss your bus, right?” Claire gasped.

“I completely forgot about it! I need to go, for more info on the situation ask Mr. Zeta, he was the one to propose that idea. Bye Me. Iris, c’mon John!”

“I am literally on your head right now…” The Decidueye waved at them as she saw Claire bolting to the exit John kept his body steady trying not to fall. Iris stopped waving and sighed as she put a wing on her head.

“Zeta… what are you thinking…?” She started to walk towards another room, the school was empty at the moment since all of the students were on the exit taking their busses. It was perfectly normal for Iris until she saw a crushed metal locker door, fallen off from the locker. “Oh dear, what happened?” She went closer to inspect it, crouched down, and ran a wing over the door. “No signs of any brutal physical contact… must’ve been a psychic type, but who?”

“Something wrong [Owl Lady]? Oh wowsers, what happened to that door?” She looked behind to find Zeta, the Porygon-Z floating behind her, his body glitchy as usual. She got up and turned to him.

“Probably some psychic type with anger issues. On a more important note… do you really think it is a good idea to send them to a Mystery Dungeon?” She asked the Porygon-Z, and he immediately replied.

“Do not worry [Falco], I chose the easiest and closest Mystery Dungeon[™] that Burgroth town has to offer. Besides, they are under [24h security surveillance] by me!” He replied while his eyes got static in some parts. “Don’t worry, the [fat bastar-] director agreed with me that they are at that age!” Iris looked at him and sighed.

“Well if you say so… just hope nothing bad happens to them.” She relaxed her body. ‘If John’s a human, he’s fulfilling the beginning of his destiny. Hope this is a good place to learn about his powers.’ She thought.

“I assure you that no one touches our students before I [decapitate them all in a big bloodbath].” He laughed while glitching as Iris also joined in making an awkward laugh.

‘Man, these species are weird…' Iris thought to herself.

The twins (and their small guest) arrived at their home, their parents were out at work so they were alone in their house for a couple of hours before their mother arrived home, followed by their father. They each took out their uniforms, thankfully, there was an easy-to-reach zipper on the front of the uniform, that allowed four-legged Pokémon to take it out with ease. After that, Elsa went to her usual business that is staring at the mirror while seeing her phone messages. Claire shot a glare at her sis and approached her.

“What are you doing?” John whispered in her ear.

Claire started to produce some fire in her mouth. “Just a payback…” She calmly said before shooting a small ember onto her sister’s hair, it started burning.

“My hair!!!” The white fox loudly screamed as she started to make a small blizzard around herself to erase the fire, even if the cold was around Elsa, John could still feel an insane amount of cold since he, apparently, had no heating system. He curled on himself and started shaking, grabbing a tuft of fur from Claire and covering himself like a blanket. Elsa turned to look at Claire with rage on her face as she jumped down from the chair, landing gracefully. “What the fuck… was THAT FOR!?” The cold veil was still around her while Claire shot her own hot veil.

“That’s what you deserve after what you did to Amy!” She retorted back while she had small flames coming out of her mouth. It could be seen cold small puffs of air coming out of Elsa’s mouth.

“Why you little…!” Elsa said angrily while preparing to shoot a wave of snow until John stood up from Claire’s fur shouting loudly with a high-pitched voice.

“For fuck sake, fucking stop!!!” They stopped their attacks and they all looked at John who just jumped from Claire’s head onto the bed. ‘Woah, these jumps are huge… I’m starting to get the hang of it.’ He looked towards the sisters. “I don’t know what happened and I don’t wanna know, but please, this is getting annoying, don’t kill yourselves for some stupidity.” He didn’t know why he was doing this, but he was the adult of the house basically, he needed to get things in order! Claire looked down in regret.

“I’m sorry John…” The orange fox said regretfully while Elsa shot a glare at him and approached him, showing her fangs.

“And why should I listen to you? You’re pathetic and hopeless, like I said before, I could eat you right now and you wouldn’t be able to do anything…” She said while grinning maliciously at him, letting out a freezing aura. He won’t be intimidated like that again, he is not the prey in the world, he is a human in this situation! He just gotta outsmart the ones bigger than him. Even though he was shaking from cold (and probably fear), there was a way to get out of this situation, while showing his superiority to these animals.

‘Wait a second… I forgot she’s just like me!’ He prepared to jump at her. ‘She wouldn’t even dare to touch a bug… like me!

“What… are you doing?” She asked, taking a step back from the bed. John then jumped from the bed and landed on her snout. The jump was so quick that Elsa only processed that he was there two seconds later. She then let out a loud scream and started running around the room in panic, shaking her head to get John off her face. Meanwhile, Claire was giggling to herself while muttering "Deserved".

“Get it off, get it off, get it off, get off!!!” She let out some icy breaths randomly while still shaking her head. Until she grabbed John with her forepaws and threw him on the bed.

“John!” Claire shouted as she ran over to the bed and went to inspect John. He let out a pained “Ow” as he wiggled his limbs, scrambling to get back on his feet once again.

“Huh… that didn’t hurt as much as I thought…” He felt like he was perfectly healthy, with no sore limbs whatsoever, no broken exoskeleton or misplaced eternal organs. His breathing was fine as well. “Probably the fact that I fell on the bed…”

“John, are you alright?” She asked as she eyed him in every direction, to find any sign of bruises.

“I’m fine, like actually though. It almost didn’t hurt at all.” He confirmed and Claire sighed in relief.

“Thank Arceus for that…” Claire then glared at her sister, who just let out an annoyed grunt in return.

“Never… let your pet touch me EVER again! Now if you excuse me, I’m gonna take a bath to take out this bug filth from my body.” She huffed as she went left the room. Claire sighed and looked at John.

“What was that? When did all that confidence come over you?” She asked, confused. The shiny looked away rubbing the back of his head.

“I um… don’t know… I just felt like I should prove a point… like I needed to exert my superiority to her, even though I am small…” He admitted. “Human nature is kinda like that… they don’t know limits…”

“Oooh, I see. So that’s why humans always save the world from planetary dangers!” She said excitedly. “Then maybe you get to do it too!”

“Yeah, I’m gonna do it… in your damn dreams! That shit still sounds like some big fairy tale that I’m not gonna take part in!” He said in a bit of anger.

“But it IS true! They saved the world from a meteor, prevented time from stopping, and much more!” She jumped on the bed, John could see excitement plastered all over her face. “You might be smaller than the rest, sure, but, you can do a lot of things if you just believe in yourself!”

“… You’re sounding like a game NPC again…” Both stayed silent for a moment before giggling before busting out a laugh, making John chuckle a little as well. The laugh died down and Claire spoke again.

“Yeah you’re right hehe… I do sound like that sometimes, don’t I?”

“Yep, you do… so… are you gonna explain to me what the hell Mystery Dungeons are?” He asked while lying on the bed, Claire’s eyes widened.

“Dammit, I forgot about that! Okay, so for short…” She started to sit like a bipedal creature again. “Mystery Dungeons are basically labyrinths all around the world. They could either be a forest, a cave, or even temples! No one knows how they work, apparently, a dungeon is separated by floors… I still don’t know if that’s true…”

“Are you for real…? Like… temples and caves, I kinda get it, but a forest having separate floors? How are they separated? By what, elevators?” John asked playfully.

“Actually, it’s stairs.” John stayed quiet for a second before taking a deep breath and clasping his forenubs together.

“Explain to me… what in the hell the gods of this place were smoking when they created those places…?” John asked, putting on a deadpan face. Claire shrugged as she look away.

“I don’t know. They’re not called “Mystery Dungeons” for nothing, right?” More silence, then again, Claire indeed had a point. John sighed.

“Alright, what can you find in these dungeons? Like, I need to know basically everything before we enter.”

“Oh, it’s a dungeon next to our town. It’s called Jingle-Jungle Woods, it’s a pretty small dungeon, mostly eleven floors. It’s filled with wild bug and normal type Pokémon.” John froze at the mention of bugs.

“No… nononononononono, you- you’re not telling that you’re taking me there, are you?” John asked worried.

“Um… is there a problem?” John was mentally sweating, he was about to walk in on a hellhole full of bugs? Wait, he couldn’t show weakness. He needed to find any excuse to not go.

“I erm… you know that I’m too weak to enter like… any kind of fight with some wild ani- Pokémon right? I would just get beaten and eaten easily… I don’t even know how to do a cool move!” He said in a melancholic way, trying to sound defenseless.

“Oh, don’t worry! I’ll protect you if any Pokémon sneak up on us!” She said ecstatically, her eyes glimmering.

“B- but…” He got interrupted by the sound of his belly rumbling again.

“Oh, you’re hungry again, don’t worry I’ll take you to an outlet!” John tried to protest by flailing his limbs, but Claire had already grabbed him with her mouth and carried him next to the same electrical outlet. She put the Joltik on the ground and he looked at her. “Come on, you had done this before right?” John sighs and proceeds to climb the wall again, since he was clinging to more shaky surfaces, standing on the wall was easier.

“Here we go again…” He said as he approached the outlet once again and sank his teeth into the two holes. It felt weird knowing this is how he was gonna be fed every time in his new life, and it was only one type of food. ‘Do outlets with different watts taste different?’ He thought as he removed the fangs from the outlet and crawled back onto the floor.

“I got a question… how does electricity taste?” She asked tilting her head.

“Well… if I had to put it into words… it feels like I’m sucking the juice out of a straw, but instead of juice it’s like… sour and sweet at the same time.” He affirmed.

“Like lemonade?”

“Yeah like lemonade but um… the sour part is more apparent.” He admitted, touching his tongue with a nub. He then removed it and looks at it. “It honestly feels weird as hell, but at least is filling my stomach and it doesn’t have a bad taste.” He added.

“Interesting… hey, wanna see me train?” She asked as John tilted his head. “I need to get stronger you know, and what else is better than to train, for what is basically my first mission?”

“Ah, I get it. Sure, I wanna see how your fireworks more closely. Hm… and maybe you can teach me some stuff that I can maybe do?” He requested.

“Hm… I might not be a bug type of an electric type… but sure, I can try. Anything for you!”

“Um… thanks…” He rubbed the top of his head while looking away. John climbed on Claire and she went to the backyard of her house for training for tomorrow.

Chapter Text

After some doors, the duo of fox and jumping spider reached the backyard. The backyard was kinda big, it was surrounded by a tall wooden fence, it was covered by steel splinters, there was a pool with some sort of weird-shaped beach chairs, and lastly, there was a training dummy in the shape of a Snorlax.

“Wow… it looks… like a normal human backyard…” John noted and Claire smiled at him.

“Of course!” She said. “We have to thank the humans for everything that they brought over from their world! In the past, our houses were like huts or cabins, and they were so small, I don’t know how any Pokémon lived there.” She added. John jumped out of her back and onto the grass.

“Understandable… so I assume you’re gonna use that training dummy, right?” He asked while looking at the big and fat-looking dummy.

“Yep, I didn’t ask for it on my birthday for nothing. Although, I was thinking… why don’t you use it first? So you can try to do a move?” She suggested it and John frowned.

“Look… I don’t know if it’ll work. I don’t even know how to do a move or even just weave silk. Like, do I have a special orifice on my butt just for that?” He asked as Claire giggled a little.

“No silly, bug types of your species shoot silk from your mouth. Actually, why don't you try doing that? Try shooting a String Shot on the dummy, or what I like to call… Snormmy!” John stared in silence at Claire for a moment before sighing and muttering.

“At least it has a cool name.” He turned to the dummy and walked closer to it, stopping in front of it. He looked up, towards the face of the dummy, its big size was intimidating, sure, but it had a smiley face drawn on it, which made it a little funny. John inhaled deeply, closing his eyes, keeping oxygen in his lungs for a moment. He then exhaled while spitting out saliva, trying to shoot silk out of his body, but nothing came out except for his inhumanly long tongue. He opened his eyes to see if anything was happening, stopping as he saw it wielding no results. “…” He heard a regal laugh coming from behind him, he turned around to find Elsa laughing next to the door.

“As expected from a pathetic bug like you.” She said running a paw on her hair.

Claire, clearly having none of it, spat back at her. “Give him some time! He’s still getting used to his body!” She growled at her.

John was getting a bit annoyed from being called a bug everywhere he goes. Especially coming from a thot like her. Something inside him told him to give everything he got, to show that stupid fox what he is made of, what it is to be a human in any situation like this. He needed to show his superiority to her no matter the cost. He turned back to the Snorlax dummy (or Snormmy) and steadied his body once again.

Claire looked at John and got close to him, standing next to him. “John, it’s okay, you can try another time when you’re more used to your body.”

John turned his head towards her. “I’m gonna prove your thot of a sister a point… that I’m not a pathetic bug… I’m a human!” He turned to the Snormmy once again, inhaling a lot of air in the process. Suddenly, a rush of energy he never felt before started flowing through his body, it focused more around his mouth. The energy started to get physical as his cheeks puffed a little. He then exhaled, releasing the energy from his mouth in the form of strands of silk coming out of his mouth hitting the head of the dummy, its face was now covered with sticky silk. John opened his eyes to look at Claire who was with excitement on her face, he then looked at the dummy to see its face covered with small cobwebs. “… I… I did it…”

Claire approached John and jumped up and down in glee. “You did it John! You used String Shot!” John, still in disbelief, looked down at his nubs, blinking with his four eyes.

“Holy shit… I actually did it…” He quickly turned around extending a nub forward. “Hah, in your face you brat-…” Elsa was nowhere to be seen, likely gone back inside. The Joltik stood silent for a moment as he slowly lowered his nub. “… A revenge plan is in order it seems…” He muttered. He seemed to have developed quite a rivalry with the snow fox, although he hadn’t realized that yet since he had some hate towards her.

“Um… she went inside…” Claire affirmed.

“… I could tell…” He agreed as he turned back to the training dummy, its face still covered with silk. “Um… can we take turns? Now that I know that I can use a move, I wanna try to master it as best as I can.”

Claire nodded smiling. “Of course, we can! Since we need to be prepared as possible for our first time in a dungeon!” She was already imagining them in a fight, John on her head while shooting silk at wild Pokémon while Claire burns them away along with the web John shot. Outside of her imagination, she was drooling, looking at the sky.

“Um… something wrong Claire?” She snapped out of her daydream and shook her head.

“Oh, nothing, nothing. Was just thinking about the move I would use for the dummy.” She lied while putting on a smile.

“Uh… fine then…” He said as he stepped out of the way for Claire. “As they say uh… in my world… go wild. But like… not literally, okay? It’s just an expression.”

She giggled. “Don’t worry, I know. Now for you Snormmy…” She got in front of the dummy. “Time for ass roast!” She jumped and shot three small fireballs towards the dummy, getting a direct hit on it. Two had hit on the belly while the other one hit the head, burning away the silk that John spat on the dummy.

“Goddamn…” He muttered between breaths. Claire landed on the ground, with a smirk on her face.

“That’s how you do it!” She said while sitting on the ground.

“Question… how’s the dummy not burning right now?” John asked while pointing at the still training dummy, that wasn’t burning after receiving three fireballs.

“It’s simple, this dummy has a material that is not flammable, so it can survive fire attacks!” She answered, then shooting another fireball towards the dummy, hitting it again while it did not burn. “See? Although it can’t stand stronger attacks that stronger Pokémon have.”

John nodded. “I see… alright my turn again. I need to practice my shots.” Claire nodded and stepped away from the dummy while John walked in front of him. ‘I need to use this new ability for something useful… I noticed that I can only shoot limited amounts of silk before starting to feel a bit sore in my insides.’ He thought for a moment, what could he do with a move like that? He knew that he couldn’t constringe giant Pokémon with the low amount of web he was shooting. So, he needed to use it to make some sort of trap, as spiders do. Wait… he was a spider… with the mentality of a man… Spider-Man… “Holy shit, I got it!” He shouted for himself.

Claire, a bit taken aback by the sudden shout, asked while recovering. “Got what?”

“I don’t know if it’ll work.” He said looking back at the dummy. “But I’ll try something that might look cool and also really stupid.” He prepared himself while Claire looked at him in confusion.

“Okay…?” She said confused. John stepped back a bit from the dummy and breathed deeply. Claire leaned in, curious as to what the Joltik was about to do. The Joltik puffed up his cheeks once again, he was starting to get a hang of forming his silk from his mouth.

‘This is gonna hurt a bit…’ John thought as he released the silk from his mouth again.

It latched onto the Snorlax dummy a bit more firm now. This time, John didn’t let go of the silk, instead he held it firm in his mouth, closed his eyes, and pulled it with his teeth. The silk that was latched onto Snormmy still held firm, and since John was so light and small, he was launched towards the dummy and impacted the dummy with a lot of speed. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings, he was on Snormmy’s face, above his own web. A couple of seconds after the scare, John grinned and he started to chuckle. “I did it…” He then started laughing in that high-pitched voice, making him sound crazy but cute at the same time. “I really did it! I recreated Spider-Man on this small body!”

Claire was watching in shock and excitement as she saw what John had done. “John… what was that? How did you do it!?” Her eyes started to glimmer in amazement. John looks at her and rubs the back of his head while grinning.

“Well, I just tried to use this move a bit differently than I think it’s supposed to work…” He crawled to the lower part of the dummy and jumped on the ground. “I remember how grappling hooks work. Since I noticed my silk is a bit sturdier than I imagined it to be, and combined with my small size and lightweight… I figured, why not just zip away rather to just use it to trap opponents for a short amount of time? And holy hell, did it work wonders…”

Claire just continued smiling amazed at John, before gasping and speaking with excitement, her tail (tails?) were wagging rapidly. “That was incredible John! I don’t think there was a single Pokémon that thought of using string shot this way!” She ran up to him. “You truly are a smart human!” John blushed and looked away.

“It- it was nothing… I just thought it was cool and useful.” He muttered that last part to himself.

“Wait…” Claire thought for a moment. “Maybe you can use that move to grab small Pokémon and pull them into you!” Claire suggested. It would also be really useful, but the main issue was… he would be pulling bugs close to him.

“Erm… maybe it’s better to just um… stick with Grappling Silk for now. You guys name your moves right?” Claire nodded. “Then it’s decided, I’m calling it Grappling Silk from now on.”

“That’s a badass name!” She confirmed. “I can’t wait to see it in action!”

“I hope I use it right and don’t mess it up… but I guess, it’s your turn training, right?”

The Vulpix nodded. “Okay, I’ll not fall behind!”

And so the two trained for the rest of the day until the Ninetales couple eventually returned from their work. Claire and John went to greet them at the front door. “Ah, hello you two, how was your day?” The red Ninetales asked.

“It was really great! Mom, dad, guess what?” She teased as she chuckled.

“Um… you got free chocolate?” Izo tried to guess as he tilted his head.

“Nope!” Claire stated while smiling. “Tomorrow I’m gonna go on a Mystery Dungeon with John! And I guess Elsa too…” She frowned a bit, but her parents didn’t notice it.

Izo reacted with astonishment “Oh really? That’s great, you’re finally gonna go head first into one?” Claire nodded with cheerfulness. Reya put a paw on her head and started rubbing her fur.

“That’s great!” She said it with excitement. “It seems that this is your first step in completing your dream! I sure hope you enjoy it!” She stopped rubbing her head.

“I will mom!”

‘I’ll definitely hate every second inside that bug trap…’ John thought as he looked a bit away.

Claire then turned to John and pointed at him. “Mom, John also learned a new move!” Said mother Ninetales and Izo turned to look at John, who just looked away even more in a bit of embarrassment.

“Is that true?” Izo leaned in on John and the Joltik recoiled a bit from the sudden movement. “Can you show us?” He requested.

“Um… fine, but I’m still trying to control it a bit.” John said while stepping away and sighing. He prepared his silk on his mouth again, he shot it towards a wall and the silk stuck on the wall, sturdy. He then pulled the string and catapulted himself towards the wall like a stone from a slingshot, and landed on the wall, his nubs sticking on the wall. “Ugh… this makes me so dizzy…” He said as he put a nub on his head.

“Oh my… that was amazing John!” Reya said ecstatically.

“That’s definitely a trick that might be really useful sometime later. Nicely done Jonathan-  um… Jonny? Uh… small human!” Izo said grinning sheepishly

“Man, we need to come up with something to make you remember better.” The yellow Ninetales chuckled with Claire while John laughed sheepishly.

After dinner, the family had a nice small talk and they all went to bed, having a nice night of sleep.

“My darling! Where are you!?” A female Galvantula shouted through the woods, searching for her premature baby that hatched earlier than expected. She wandered through the woods on the night. Still, no sign of her little hatchling, where could they be? “My baby…” Suddenly, from the bushes, a small Caterpie came from it, and it flinched as they noticed the Galvantula. It curled on the ground, closing its eyes.

“P-please… don’t eat me! I tried to help you before, why didn’t you take it and call me disgusting?” The Caterpie shouted as it shook from fear. The Galvantula stayed silent for a second before speaking up.

“What are you talking about…?” The Caterpie opened his eyes and looked at the Galvantula.

“W-wait… you’re not the same one…?” It asked shakily, and the Galvantula shook her head in confusion.

“Elaborate… what do you mean not the same one?” She requested.

The Caterpie looked at her for some time before getting up again. “U-um…” It stuttered. “There was um… a Joltik before you… yesterday. He was… a bit weird… he said he had some kind of curse and said not to approach him. And… he just ran away… later I found him talking to a… Vulpix, I think… and um… she took him with her.” The Galvantula stared at the Caterpie, he crawled a bit back scared.

“Hm… fine.” She then turned away from it. “Thank you for the information, I’ll keep watch for that Vulpix.” She skittled away, leaving the Caterpie alone, sighing in relief. “Damn Vulpix… if you think you can just steal my baby away from me… you’re in for a shock…” Sparks came out of her as she crawled a tree, disappearing in the foliage.

It was morning again. The Ninetales gave goodbye to their daughters (and hidden Joltik) as they embarked on the bus, that was being carried by a Koraidon. When they arrived at school, they didn’t leave the bus, but instead, the teacher, Mr. Zeta the Porygon, embarked on the bus floating.

“Good morning [Ladies and Gentleman], are you ready for this thrilling and [extremely dangerous, you’re gonna di-] adventure?” The Porygon asked while glitching. The students all nodded their heads hesitantly. “Swe-eeeeEEEettt!!! Asher, we’re all ready [for our deaths]!”

“Understood Mr. Zeta, here we go!” The Koraidon puffed up his chest and stomach wheel and started walking slowly, then he started running. John peeked out of the bag since the bee student wasn’t sitting that close to them anymore. It was windy, his fuzz being blown by the wind. He felt scared of the dangers that this Mystery Dungeon would have, but no matter what, he would survive. This would be the first mission in a Dungeon full of bugs… but he would face them no matter what! (By hiding from their disgusting sight and never touching their stinky and ugly bodies.)

Chapter Text

“We have arrived [at our graves]! Welcome to Jingle-Jungle Woods!” The Porygon-Z announced as the students stayed silent. This time, the bus was only carrying class 2B, which was composed of two Vulpix (one being an ice type), a Glameow, a Purrloin, a Houndour, a Shaymin, a Togedemaru, and last but not least, a Joltik who was hiding on the fire Vulpix fur.

“Hey, John!” Claire whispered. “This is the forest I found you! There is a Mystery Dungeon around here, but I didn’t go there because it’s kinda dangerous to go alone.”

“Oh… that’s a reassuring fact to know…” He whispered back sarcastically. He was lucky he wasn’t born right in the lion’s den, imagine what kind of monstrous bugs he would find inside that place. He definitely wouldn’t want to think about it, since just imagining bugs makes him cough up bile.

As the students left from the bus, they didn’t notice a certain presence watching from the trees, hiding within the leaves. “I see two Vulpix… that little worm didn’t specify which one…” The Galvantula muttered silently. “If that’s the case… I’ll just get the two of them!” She concluded silently before hopping to another tree, sneakily getting closer to the group while watching them.

Claire’s ear twitched as she looked up at some trees, she saw some leaves falling. “Did… anyone hear that…?” She asked the whole class.

“Who cares!?” The Houndour shouted. “It’s probably just a wild bug, I just wanna go inside the dungeon already!”

“Could you please quiet your butt down please?” The teacher said in a gentle and soothing voice while he leaned his head close to the Houndour, before pulling his head back to his body, returning to his sports commentator voice. “I haven’t even explained the mission [IMPOSSIBLE] yet! I want you to [tear yourselves apart] into groups of three, while one student goes in with me-! Me-! meeeeeeeeeeee-“ Suddenly, his eyes turned blue with some white text written on them, while he played a computer crashing sound. His limbs and head had gone limp, but he was still floating in the air.

‘That feels so familiar…' John thought to himself as the students waited for their teacher to reboot. He awoke again, already on his next sentence.

“Before we came here, I already entered the dungeon beforehand, and placed three flags on different floors! [Not found!] Since then, the floors likely have reshaped themselves once again, so I don’t even know [they’re… gone!?] So anyways students, the groups are… [Kurama, fat Pikachu-]” Taro let out a “Hey!”, taking it as an insult. “[You’re too slow!]”

The Shaymin was just confused as everyone else in the class except for Taro. “Do you guys know who he meant with those weird nicknames?” She asked the class.

“I know who he meant with the second one!” Taro said angrily.

“I’ll just assume it was me, Taro, and Amy…” She concluded hesitantly while getting close to her group. ‘Maybe it’s a good idea I tell them about John… if… he agrees of course.’ She thought to herself while looking at her group, they were smiling at her so she smiled back sweating a little.

“Ne-ne-next! We have [let it go, sassy and sassy two]!”

‘Okay, that definitely felt like a reference.’ John thought as the trio all looked at the teacher, expectedly, sassily.

“… So am I-“

“Correct [guardian of the gates of hell]! You’re gonna be with me! [Zeta Inc. is not responsible for any kind of… fighting, help, or death. However, Zeta Inc. might help if the user is close to dying, caused by, stupidity-]” Cerbera interrupted with a “Hey!” but Zeta continued. “[accident, bad combat skills and etcetera.] Great! Now with that out of the way, let’s get on with our mission kids!” The students nodded and started walking through the forest with their teacher.

“I hope I don’t dirty my prestige claws with the disgusting bugs of this place.” Elsa stated, and her friends agreed.

“Couldn’t agree more! This dungeon wasn’t made for Pokémon like us.”

‘And for a human like me, that’s for sure…' John agreed on his head. Soon enough, they arrived at the entrance of the dungeon. It wasn’t anything that John expected for the entrance. It looked like a magical door, it was coated with a shiny rainbow of colors, sparkling with a sense of magic, like something out of this world or dimensions. Ah, who was he kidding? Everything in this new world already looked out of this world already, so he thought this was one of the normal things in this place. The door was open, although he couldn’t see anything inside of it because it was being coated by a blinding light.

“In case you didn’t know, this is the entrance of the Mystery Dungeon!” The Porygon-Z explained. “Are there other ways of entering a dungeon? Why of course there are, in some dungeons like this one. Since this one is an open dungeon, their [technology impossible to explain by any scientist] leaks outside the forest, even some exits as well. That is why some Pokémon from the dungeon manage to get outside of it.”

“Even lost items as well?” Claire asked. The Porygon looked at her, and after a glitch in his head, he responded.

“Why of course my dear [it burns… dear Arceus, it burns]! Although there is less chance of that happening since well… items don’t move around [by creating legs and assimilating their pre-]. Anyways, Team Alpha!” He pointed at Claire, Taro, and Amy. “You shall go in first! Then team Beta!” He pointed at Elsa, the Glameow, and Purrloin. “You will go after one minute after team Alpha.” He then detached a limb from his body and pointed at himself. “Then one minute later, team Zeta will enter it!”

“Hah, always the best for last!” Cerbera stated, and he earned a static glare from his teacher that approached him slowly. “Eek!” Mr. Zeta then patted Cerbera on his head with his floating limb and attached his limb again, looking at his students.

“Any objections?” The students all shook their heads. “Great! Team Alpha, to the dungeon you go!” Even though no one was looking, there was excitement (with a bit of anxiety) plastered on Claire’s face. This was it, this was the moment Claire dreamed of, the first (but not official) mission. Without further ado, the team walked right in and they were briefly blinded by a flash of white light before appearing in a forest-like area. They were in a wide space, and there were lots of things around them, like objects, sleeping Pokémon, and some other stuff that you would find in a Mystery Dungeon.

“Oh my… ARCEUS!!! We’re here! We’re really here!” She shrieked in excitement and Amy put a paw on her mouth.

“Keep it down!” She whispered. “I know you’re excited and all that, but we could get attacked at any moment!” She put down her paw and Claire rubbed the back of her head.

“Sorry…” She said under her breath.

“Don’t worry, at least you didn’t alarm anyone, right? So you’re goooooo-!!!” Suddenly, Taro got hit by electricity on his back. Claire was about to help, but thankfully, the Togedemaru made his spikes pop out and absorbed the electricity with his lightning rod ability. Now powered up, glowing with sparks, he turned to look at the troublemaker and saw a Charjebug standing there. “You little! Return right back to sender!” He shot back a stronger lighting bolt back at the Charjebug, shocking it and paralyzing it on the spot.

“I’ll handle it!” Claire butted in as she jumped and launched three small fireballs, hitting the Charjebug and making it faint. But she didn’t notice something like green falling from her fur. “Heck yeah, we did it!” Amy had spotted the shiny Joltik and pointed at him.

“Look! Another one!” John shrieked in fear and became paralyzed, not knowing what to do in this situation. Claire looked around and spotted John on the ground, on his back completely motionless.

“No wait, that’s-“

“I’ll get it this time!” Taro interrupted before curling his limbs and closing his eyes, turning into a spiky ball. He rolled in the direction of John, ready to run over him. But he instead collided with the Vulpix instead who got in front of John. Taro was thrown on the ground after the collision with Claire, who got a bit bruised in the process but didn’t flinch. “Claire! What was that for?! Why did you throw yourself on the way like that? I-I could’ve hurt you and… and…” Claire interrupted him while maintaining her balance once again.

“Calm down, alright!? I’m fine, really, just a cut, nothing else…” She looked down at her right paw to see it was bleeding a little. “Besides that, this Joltik isn’t an enemy, but actually my friend!” The two Pokémon next to them looked at each other confused and tilted their head. “Look, I’ll explain better later, but let’s just find a safer area first, alright?” The fox said and the other two nodded before Taro got up.

“Fine then…” Claire picked John up with her mouth and put him on her back.

“Are you okay John?” Claire asked worried.

“My life just flashed before my eyes… I think I died again, but my soul refuses to leave this body…”

Amy’s eyes widened at that. “Wait, it talked!?” Taro was also confused, but instead of saying anything, stood quiet at the sudden revelation.

“As I said, I’ll explain when we’re in a safer place.” She said again. “Come on before the girls come or another wild Pokémon attack us!” At that, she started walking away from the scene while her classmates followed her, avoiding other Pokémon on the way.

“BZZT! [60 seconds have passed].” The teacher announced. “Beta team! Your turn to [be GONE!!!]” Elsa scoffed and went in with the rest of her friends. Although, unbeknownst to all of them, a certain electric tarantula sneaked in with them at such fast speeds that no one noticed a yellow blur going in beside them.

After the flash of light, the pretty Pokémon trio were inside the dungeon, although on another part of the first floor. “So this is what it looks like from the inside… pathetic.” The white Vulpix said while flipping her head fur. “If a peasant approaches me, defeat it instantly, understood my loyal friends?” She looked at both cat Pokémon and they nodded. “Good.” They started walking around the room they were in, but sneakily and quietly the Purrloin was suddenly snatched by a Galvantula and brought up to the trees. As Elsa started talking, she started to turn around. “And if any of you fail me you’ll-…” She saw that the Purrloin wasn’t following her anymore and completely disappeared. The Glameow looked at where Elsa was looking and also realized that she disappeared. “Cindy…?” She called, no response.

“Try her phone, maybe she just got lost…” The Glameow suggested.

“Olivia, you idiot! You know there’s no service here, right?” She shouted at Olivia and turned around. “Anyways, let’s keep going, I’m sure Cindy will find her way back to us. Besides, I want to get our flag before my sister, to prove her a point, so let’s go, Olivia!” No response. “Olivia…?” She turned around and looked around. Olivia had disappeared. She started taking slow steps back. “G-guys… where A-are you…?” She started looking around frantically looking for some kind of Pokémon. She started letting out an icy aura, getting into a makeshift battle stance. “Show yourself you fucking coward! I… I’ll freeze you!” After looking around she looked up and found a big shadow descending towards her. She then let out an ear-piercing scream as the shadow lunged at her.

Claire’s ear twitched and she turned around. “Did you guys hear that?” Claire asked the group.

“Um… no I didn’t…” Taro responded to Claire while looking back at her.

Amy stopped walking and looked at the group. “Guys... do you think it’s safe around here?” The Shaymin asked and the other two looked back at her.

“Um… yes, I guess so…” She turned her head back and looked at John. “You sure you want to do this…?”

John responded quietly. “Yes… after all, they already saw me, so what’s the point in hiding…” He jumped off Claire’s fur and walked right into the middle of the trio, the rodent, and the Hedgehog looking at him. He was nervous, but he knew deep inside that these were just kids, so he would be okay. “… Hi. My name is John… and um… I’m a human…” At that, the Pokémon gasped in surprise.

“You’re… what!?” Taro blurted out in surprise. “But… how is that even possible!?”

John turned to him. “Same question I asked when I came out of a damn egg…”

The Shaymin had a realization. “Wait… if you’re a human… does that mean that the world is-“

“Nope! Not happening, I was definitely summoned here by mistake and nothing else! I don’t need to save any kind of world!” John said while throwing his nubs in the air. Claire sighed and explained.

“You see… he can’t accept that’s his fate. And also, he doesn’t feel safe around any Pokémon he barely meets…”

“Well, that’s because- …” He interrupted himself and decided to not continue that sentence further. He falsely clears his throat and speaks up again. “Anyways… um… nice to meet you um… what are your names?”

The Togedemaru spoke up first. “Taro Wattson, but you can call me Taro!” He said while making a fashionable pose. The Shaymin spoke next.

“My name is Amy Rose, but you can just call me Amy or Rose, either way, I’m fine with it.” Amy said while smiling at John. She then looked at Claire and noticed the wound on her paw. “Claire… your paw!”

“O-oh… it’s nothing really, it’ll heal soon.” The Shaymin just shook her head and got close to Claire. Amy closed her eyes and focused. A pink scent started emanating from her body, and suddenly Claire’s wound closed itself. Claire put her paw in front of her to inspect it.

“Oh wow! Thanks, Amy! I appreciate it!” Claire thanked the Shaymin and smiled at her.

“No problem! I’m here to help!” She smiled back.

“Great, now we can keep moving so we can get out of this place more quickly! Come on let’s-” He suddenly stopped talking when he heard something approach from behind. When he turned around to find the source of the sound, he screamed.

Chapter Text

“You pathetic scum of Earth, release me now!” A white Vulpix shouted at the Galvantula in front of her. Elsa was completely trapped on webs along with her friends, with no way of moving. “If you don’t release me right now, I’ll-“ She stopped herself when the big spider leaned her face closer to her, hissing while baring her fangs.

“Quit your whining before I bite your head off to make you shut up!” The Galvantula threatened, making Elsa whimper in fear while shutting up. “Now… I’ll ask you one more time… where’s my son!?”

“I-I swear, I don’t know what you’re talking about! B-but… if it’s a Joltik you want… my sister is with one!” That made the Galvantula stop leaning onto her and back away from her. “U-um… she’s somewhere else in this dungeon! And that stupid critter is always with her!” The Galvantula stayed silent and turned away from the three Pokémon.

“I will go after your sister… but if I discover that you’re lying…” She turns her head back to Elsa. “… I’ll eat you for dinner and your friends as dessert.” She said in a menacing tone and climbed onto a tree.

“E-Elsa… what about the others…?” Cindy, the Purrloin asked hesitantly to the fox.

“Bah, they can handle that bitch! We need to escape this disgusting web and find that stupid flag!” At that, all of them started struggling, trying to use their claws to cut through the webs. But their paws were also tied up, rendering their efforts in vain.

“Don’t come near me! Fuck off now!” John shouted, from behind Claire, at the monster that was in front of them. It was brown, had two black eyes, and had a horn on its head. Truly a monster that was so terrifying that could kill John in an instant.

“… Um… John… it’s just a Weedle…” Taro said looking concerned at John. “Are you okay dude…?”

“No, I’m not! I’m on a death trap that is a Mystery Dungeon, and then to top it off, it’s infested with fucking bugs! And to make it even worse, I’m one of them too!” John shouted, and the Weedle came closer to him. “Stay away from me!” He then let out a String Shot towards the caterpillar, constraining it inside a silk prison.

“Wait… you’re afraid of bugs… even though you’re one?” Claire asked confused.

“Yeah, I am… happy now? I’m not as fearless or determined as the humans you seem to fantasize about, I’m… the opposite of them…” John looked down, frowning. “I’m sorry I’m not the ideal human for you…”

Claire turned to him as John looked away. “John, it’s okay… I… I’m sorry too.”

“For what?”

“For putting such weight on you, and comparing you to the other humans. You’re not them… you’re different from them.” She looked at the Weedle and saw it struggle, trying to free itself from the sticky silk. “Listen, how about this? We’ll take care of the bug types here while you help us take care of the normal types, how does that sound?” She looked back at him while smiling.

“…” The human thought about it for a moment, if the normal types were… normal, like they say they are, then he wouldn’t mind helping them. Maybe he could use that new technique he had learned in the training he did with Claire. After all, he needed to get stronger. He sighed and looked at Claire, who was joined by her three classmates. “Sure… just please keep the bug types or whatever, away from me… okay?”

“You can count on us, John!” She cheerfully said and grinned.

“If you get hurt, I’ll heal you if needed!” The hedgehog added as well.

“Let’s shock these fools together!” Taro added while throwing a paw in the air.

"Ah yeah... shock them and stuff..." John said while looking away a bit ashamed. “… So uh… I know I have electric powers but… I don’t know how to use them…”

“What!?” Taro said in surprise as John rubbed the back of his head.

After getting to know each other a bit more with small talk here and there while still being cautious, they pressed forwards and after a bit of walking they eventually found the… stairs…? “No fucking way… the floors are actually separated by stairs!?” John blurted out in surprise. It was a normal staircase, that cut through the ground and essentially led downwards to another level. “This makes no sense whatsoever! Like who built these?”

“They are not supposed to make sense… they are called a Mystery Dungeon because no one knows what they are gonna find in a place like this.” The Shaymin explained. “But one thing we know is that they’re made out of magic.”

John looked around the stairs. “I see…”

“Anyways, let’s get on with the second floor-“ Suddenly, Taro was interrupted when John was quickly snatched from Claire’s head by a flying blur. “What the!?” John started screaming as the figure slowed down, revealing itself to be a Taillow. It was holding the Joltik in its talons.

“John!!!” Claire shouted. She started growling towards the Taillow as flames started coming from the sides of her mouth. Taro struck first with a Thunder Shock, it missed completely as the bird dodged the lighting. “Stay still!” Claire then shot a fireball at the target, but it also missed. The Taillow then let out a cry at them as it flapped its wings.

“Guys, can you please hurry up!? It’s not on my plans to become bird food!” John shouted in the air. It seemed that it was over and the bird was about to leave for its nest, until Amy had a plan.

“That’s it!” Amy ran forward and shouted to John. “John! Use String Shot on its wings! Make it unable to fly!” John in a bit of panic, did as he was told and shot a string of silk on the left wing of the bird (although he missed a majority of the silk he shot). The Taillow lost control and started falling, while he released John as he also fell along with his predator.

“JOHN!!!” Claire screamed.

‘Shit, shit, shit! Wait... the thing!’ John shouted mentally. Quickly, he shot out a web from his mouth, it latched onto a tree and he pulled it, launching himself towards the tree. The impact was softened by the web that was on the tree, but it didn’t stop it from sending shivers throughout John’s whole body.

“What was… no focus!” Amy said to herself and then turned to Claire. “Claire, do it now!” Claire snapped out of a despair state and quickly shot a fireball at the Taillow, and it got hit by the ball, getting burned in the process. The Taillow fell to the ground and fainted as the burns on its body faded away.

“Holy shit…” Taro said between breaths. “That was too close for comfort…” Claire ran to John going to check on him.

“John, are you okay!? Are you hurt!?” Claire asked really concerned.

“I’m fine… I’m just… not gonna look at birds the same, ever again…” He said panting.

“Do you want to take a break…?” Amy asked the Joltik.

“No… I want to get out of here as fast as possible… the sooner we get a flag, the quicker we get out of here.” The students nodded and Claire picked up the spider and descended to the next floor.

John couldn’t describe the feelings he was having, was it a thrill? Was it fear? Or it was a mix of the two since the adrenaline in his body was wearing off? Whatever the case, he knew one thing he was feeling after that last ordeal… and that was hunger. He craved electricity once again, but unfortunately, there were no outlets nearby or any other kind of electrical grub anywhere… or was there? He looked at the spiky rodent, John could feel in his body so many volts running wild inside him. Taro wouldn’t mind if he shared some, right? ‘So hungry…'

They reached the second floor of the dungeon and Taro stretched. “I have a good feeling that the flag is on this floor!”

“Let’s hope that feeling of yours is right…” The Shaymin said after sighing. Suddenly, John jumped off of Claire and landed on Taro’s back.

“Hey Taro, erm… sorry in advance, I am really hungry…”

“Huh, what do you mean by- Ack!” He was interrupted by a sting on his back. John sunk his fangs into Taro’s skin and started sucking some electricity from him. After five seconds, John stopped and removed his fangs from him. “What was that for!?”

“So… Joltiks feed from electricity since they can’t produce their own…” Claire explained. “I thought you learn that before going into high school since that’s basic biology.”

“… Ah… I guess my homeschool teacher didn’t teach me that…” John jumped off Taro and landed on the ground while Claire looked at him confused.

“You were homeschooled?” She asked.

“Yes… before I came to Obelisk High, I was homeschooled, and honestly, I didn’t like it. But now, after lots of begging, my parents decided to finally put me in a school. And I’m glad because I got to meet you guys!”

“I’m also glad that I got to meet you as well!” Claire said grinning, and Taro blushed a little, looking to the side.

“Same can be said for me!” Amy added in as well.

“Great then! Let’s all find that flag together, right guys?” Claire said and they all responded back with a “Yeah!” with John saying a little more quietly than the others. With that, they continued to explore the dungeon, defeating wild normal types and bug types that caught sight of them along the way, but now, they were more prepared. It continued like this for three more floors, until they reached the deepest and last floor, Floor 6. Instead of the usual maze, it was just one big room that had no sort of item in the middle, however, their objective was on the floor. Claire spoke up first. “Guys, look!” “She pointed to the flag. “That must be one of the flags that Mr. Zeta talked about!”

“Finally… let’s freaking grab it and get the hell out of here!” John said while jumping off of Claire’s back. They got closer to the flag, and when they were about to grab it, a voice interrupted them.

“Wait a damn second you peasants!” They looked around trying to find the source of the voice, until they looked upwards a little and saw Elsa and her friends being tied to a tree by big webs. “This flag is mine because I saw it first!” She said while struggling a little.

“Elsa!? What are you doing here already? Who- who did this to you?” Taro asked and was immediately answered by a falling figure behind them.

“Me…” The figure said. They turned around to see a Galvantula behind them, looking pissed.

“Wait, are you the boss of this dungeon!?” Claire asked while taking a step back with her classmates.

“Boss? No…  I’m not even from this place. I came here because you kidnapped someone precious to me! You kidnapped my baby!” She looked at John, who was shivering and cringing at the sight of his own mother.

“You- you’re my mother…!?” John asked bewildered as the students looked at him surprised. The Galvantula nodded and switched the tone of her voice to a more motherly voice.

“Of course my little hatchling! I’m your- ...” She suddenly stopped herself as she made a realization. “… did… did you just talk?” She asked in disbelief and John shook his head rapidly. “I just heard you talk, don’t lie to your mother!”

“Yeah, I just talked alright!? Damn, it was the right decision to not come back to that place…”

“What… do you mean by that…?” The big tarantula asked.

“I left that place as fast I could, and damn, I was right… you’re terrifying as fuck!” John said while going to hide behind Claire, all she could do was stay silent as the son and mother situation. Instead of crying, she then let out a slow chuckle that evolved into a crazy laugh.

“I get it now…” She stopped laughing and looked at them, tilting her head insanely. “You did something to my baby, didn’t you? Didn’t you!?” She asked while shouting.

“We did nothing to him miss, he did it on his own!” Taro replied back, trying to resolve the situation.

“Lies, lies, LIES!!! I know you did something to him! Now my little baby, come back to me before I force you to come with me!” She demanded and John replied back with a hiss.

“NEVER!”

“Then these baby kidnappers will die, and I’ll take you back with me!” She lifted her forelimbs, doing a spider threat pose, meaning she was ready to fight. The others got in position to fight while John zipped away towards a tree.

Electrifying Arachnophobia

GALVANTULA

The Galvantula started first, shooting out an electric web towards the trio. All of them dodged the web as it fell onto the floor. “We have to be careful with those! Even if she misses, it might become a problem later if it stays on the field!” Amy warned the group, Claire nodded and burned the web with flames coming out of her mouth.

“I’ll take what’s respectfully mine! And none of you will stop me!” She lunged towards Taro, with her fangs ready to bite him. Taro acted quickly and used Spiky Shield by making his spikes come out of his body. The Galvantula bit his shield and got hurt by the spikes, forcing her to retreat with a jump back. Claire took this opportunity to shoot a fireball at her, causing some damage. She hissed out of pain and looked at Claire. “You little brat!” She shot a Sticky Web at Claire, causing her paws to get stuck by the webs on the field.

“Dammit, I’m stuck!” The Vulpix prepared a fireball to burn the webs away until she got pounced on by the Galvantula, pinning her on the ground. “Argh!” Then, the Galvantula winked her fangs on Claire’s chest, using Leech Life to recover some health. She then hopped away from Claire, licking the blood from her fangs.

“Claire!” John, Taro, and Amy shouted. Claire slowly got up on her back, a bit weakly. She coughed and looked at the Galvantula.

“She’s tough…”

After a quick look, Shaymin spotted above John just what they needed, an Oran Berry tree. The Shaymin shouted to the Joltik. “John, above you! Use your String Shot on one of those blueberries!” John quickly looked up and understood. Although he didn’t know what a normal fruit was about to do in this situation, he felt that it was right to do as Amy said. He used his Grappling Silk, which latched onto the berry and pulled it. Fortunately, he was heavier than the berry, so instead of being launched towards it, the berry detached from the tree and fell to the ground. “Nice! Taro, keep her busy while I get this berry to Claire!”

“Understood!” Taro curled into a spiky ball and used Rollout, hitting the Galvantula on impact. The Galvantula hissed and went to strike Taro with her electric fangs, but thankfully he rolled out of the way. Meanwhile, Amy took this opportunity to go to the berry and grab it with her mouth. She then went to Claire, dropping the berry next to her.

“Claire here! I read that these berries can heal you if you eat them!” Amy explained to the Vulpix and she nodded slowly. She took the berry with her paws and started eating slowly. The Shaymin looked back on the fight and saw Taro shooting a Thunder Shock at the Galvantula, although that didn’t seem to affect her much. The Galvantula retaliated by releasing another electrifying web towards Taro, unfortunately, he wasn’t quick enough as he got hit and trapped under the web. He wasn’t really affected by the electricity because of his Lighting Rod ability, but he was immobile.

“When this is over, you’re gonna be a nice dessert for me and my baby!” She lifted a pointy nub upwards, ready to slash Taro. “Die!” As she was about to touch Taro, flames hit her side, making her scream in pain and hop backward. She looked to the side and saw Claire on her feet with flames coming out of the sides of her mouth, while Amy was standing beside her.

“I’m ready for round two!” She said looking fiercely. The Galvantula growled and charged at her, but suddenly, Claire started to glow purple as three purple flames appeared surrounding her. It seemed she had just learned the move Will-O-Wisp. The flames started floating directly towards the Galvantula and impacted the big spider, burning her in the process. After that, Claire burned the web that trapped Taro. “Taro, she’s weak! Finish this!” She called out to Taro.

Meanwhile, John had an awesome idea that might finish her for good. He zipped close to them on a tree and shouted. “Taro, I have an idea! Turn into that spiky ball from before while covering yourself in electricity!” The Togedemaru nodded in understanding. He turned into a ball and covered himself in electricity while his spikes popped out and he started rolling towards the Galvantula. While that, John already thought of a name for the move. “Yes! Finish it with Electric Rollout!” As he said that, Taro impacted the Galvantula head-on, launching her onto the tree where Elsa and her friends were. The impact tore the web from the tree, making it a little easier for them to free themselves. With that opportunity, Elsa and her friends quickly clawed their way out of the web. They all stood silent as they saw the Galvantula faint.

“We… we did it… We actually did it!” Claire said in victory. “Come on, let’s get the flag and-“ She was interrupted by her twin.

“Not so fast!” She and her friends walked in front of the flag. “Remember what I said? We saw this flag first, and so that makes it ours.” She said in a sassy tone and Amy butted in anger.

“What!? But we just defeated that Galvantula, while you did nothing and just watched! “

“Well duh! I was trapped, a princess can’t do anything while she’s trapped you know.” She explained. “Unless you wanna fight for it the flag, I won’t let you take MY flag.”

Taro responded letting out sparks. “Fuck yeah, let’s fight for this flag right now-“

“Hold your [Mudsdales]! I don’t want to see my students tear themselves like [wild animals, hungry for blood]!” A glitchy voice came out from the bushes and trees, and from it, came out Mr. Zeta and Cerbera, looking a bit worse for wear.

“Mr. Zeta!?” The students blurted out in surprise. John was hiding behind Claire after all the commotion.

“You don’t need to fight between yourselves to see who gets that flag, because… everyone won [the lottery]!” The teacher explained while his limbs were moving crazily around his body. The students tilted their heads in confusion.

“So like… I already got my flag, and after I got it, he insisted I come with him until we got to the last floor, and… we were kinda watching Team Alpha kicking the ass of that Pokémon. And uh… Zeta was kinda going crazy and excited as he watched that fight…”

“[As the right hand of god and anime] I declare this… a mission success! You all passed!” Zeta said while Cerbera showed his flag to the group.

Jingle-Jungle Woods

Mission: Success

Chapter Text

The Dungeon activity seemed to be a huge success. All teams, even though a little different than expected, have passed. The students all went back to their homes, exhausted. Expected, of course, a Mystery Dungeon is no children's playground, even in the easiest one, you could get beat up badly by a dungeon feral.

Even though the children went back home, Mr. Zeta didn’t. He was supposed to file a report on the children on how they went in their activity. In his personal opinion, the children (or more precisely, the teenagers) went alright on their first dungeon, although Elsa and her friends were caught by surprise by a sudden Galvantula, they went nicely on this test.

However, there were two things that bothered him in the dungeon, the Galvantula, and that shiny Joltik. Even though Jingle-Jungle Woods had bug types in it, Galvantulas and Joltiks aren’t common in that dungeon. Even so, why would that Joltik help them fight against (if he heard correctly) his own mother? And how could a newborn-looking Pokémon do that in the first place?

Unless… if the newborn wasn’t a Pokémon in the first place.

Before coming to a conclusion while in the school halls, a voice from a certain teacher called out to him. “Hey, Zetamon!”

The Porygon-Z looked up and saw the shiny Decidueye teacher, Iris. “You know that I prefer Mr. Zeta Ms. [birdseye view].”

She chuckled as she walked closer to the Porygon-Z. “Always with that weird humor of yours, huh?”

“Thank that company that I was programmed this way.” He detached his limbs from his body and spun them around him before attaching them again.

“Asuri?”

“What other [piece of corporate bullshit-!] you have in mind?”

“Heh, none.”

“What I thought honestly.” He commented while shrugging. “But anyways, how is [the torture we call life] going?”

Iris shrugged with her wings. “I’m doing alright myself. How about you?”

“[Terrible, miserable, insufferable-] I’m doing quite alright myself too.” He looked to the side, closing his yellow eyes, still thinking about the dungeon.

“Something wrong?”

Zetamon looked back at her. “Ah, nothing wrong. I was just… thinking about something…”

No glitches in his voice that Iris noticed… that was concerning. “Could you perhaps tell me what troubles you?”

He hummed in thought. “I think it’s better if we discuss this in the teacher’s [panic room of doom]! Do you mind?”

“No, not at all.”

The Porygon-Z nodded before floating off to the teacher’s office, Iris following behind him. They entered the teacher’s office and Zetamon locked the door behind him with his telekinesis. The Decidueye cocked her head in confusion as she noticed the locked door. The normal type sat on one of his desks and sighed while glitching a little.

“So um… how was the dungeon activity? Did the kids do well?”

“They went [extraordinary terri-] well.” He opened a drawer on his desk with a Psychic and grabbed a CD from it. He ejected the CD on his abdomen and inserted the new one. His body jerked a little as his eyes displayed some static before returning to normal. His new voice sounded like a normal middle-aged man. “Although… something unexpected happened.”

Iris crossed her wings with a frown. “What happened?”

“A wild Galvantula followed them in the dungeon and trapped one of the teams in its webs.” The Decidueye’s face became shocked. “Don’t worry, the other team managed to take it down with a… bit of dysfunctional teamwork. Fortunately, they didn’t get that injured.”

Iris looked aside as she thought about something else. “Did… something more happen?”

“Well, yes. It seems that one of the hatchlings of the same Galvantula helped Claire and her team to win against its own mother. Which is the most interesting part…”

Iris hesitated a bit in asking. “Was the Joltik a little… off-colored?”

Zetamon looked at her in surprise. “Yes… it was… it appears you know something about this Ms. Iris. Care [sharing to the class]?” He groaned. “Ugh, just when I thought this CD would make me free of the glitches…” He looked back at the archer owl. “Anyways, do you know anything about that Joltik?”

Iris sighed. “I do… after all, I caught him in my class. I can tell you have some suspicions about him… yes it’s a human.”

The Porygon-Z widened their eyes a little before the eyes displayed static for a brief second before returning to his normal eyes. “So… he told you?”

“Yes, he did. He was really nervous about it. After all, I would be as well if I knew that my people were disappearing left and right.” She sighed again ruffling her feathers. “Look, let’s keep this between us alright? He is right to not trust anyone, anyone could be the supposed human kidnapper.”

“Indeed. Anyone you found [sussy impostor] in this school?” Zetamon asked rubbing his head with a nub.

“I don’t know… every staff member seems alright, even the janitor with his creepy vibes.”

The normal type nodded before his eyes glitched and displayed a second of static. “I see… I may talk to the human if he decides to come back to this school.”

“Nah, I think it’s better to just let him think that only I know. I noticed that this one is a bit timid and nervous.” She adjusted her glasses. “Better have him comfortable here so we don’t scare him away into supposedly getting kidnapped.”

“You are certainly right about that.” Mr. Zeta then did a little stretch with his limbs and floated behind his desk, turning on his computer and pulling out a cable from the drawer. “Anyways, I need to write a report to the director. Thanks for listening to me.”

Iris waved. “No problem Zeta- I mean Mr. Zeta.” She chuckled as she went to the door. The owl tried to open it, but it was still locked. “Oh um… Zeta…”

The Porygon-Z looked at the Decidueye motioning towards the door. “Ah yes, sorry.” He unlocked the door with his Psychic and Iris left the room. He let out another glitched sigh and plugged the cable into his body and connected it to the PC.

The Porygon line had the power to enter inside computers and do whatever they wanted inside it. This action makes using a computer more easily since the Porygon line is half an AI and half a Pokémon. They don’t need to use keyboards, mousses, or any hardware, they are the hardware AND software at the same time.

With that knowledge, Zetamon started to write the report only using his voice. It was a handful for writing something fast, and if he wanted to erase something, he thought about the word he wanted to erase then, the next millisecond, it was gone. “Reaching the end of the dungeon, I encountered a team fighting a Galvantula, not from the dungeon, but from the wilds. Fortunately, the students Claire the fire Vulpix, Taro the Togedemaru, and Amy the Shaymin, managed to defeat it with the help of…” He erased the last part. “Managed to defeat it all by themselves with their teamwork.”

After filling in some details, he finished the report. He unplugged the cable from his body and his consciousness returned to the real world. He then said to himself. “Don’t worry little Joltik, I’ll keep your little secret hidden.”

“We. DID IT!” Claire shouted loudly in her room. “We did it, we did it, we fucking did IT!”

“Could you uh… express victory a bit quieter… my ears or… whatever would appreciate it…” John said putting his front nubs on the sides of his head.

After coming back from the Mystery Dungeon, Claire couldn’t contain her excitement, since a large smile could be seen on her face throughout the entire trip. Elsa on the other hand (or paw), didn’t care much, and when she and Claire arrived home, the ice Vulpix immediately went out to hang out with her friends.

John, however, was both happy and a little shaken by everything that happened in the dungeon. From all the bugs to his nightmare of a mother. He hoped and prayed to whatever god of this world to never see that abomination that calls itself his mother.

Thankfully, he was (probably) safe in a house full of (deity-looking) foxes, with non-bug Pokémon except for himself.

Claire sat up and looked at John. “Come on John, aren’t you happy that our first mission in a Mystery Dungeon was a success?”

“What I’m happy about is that I’m finally out of that horror house…” The human-turned-Joltik muttered to himself. “Yes… I am happy. Although, it felt more like your mission instead of ours.”

The fire fox wagged her tails. “Don’t be like that! You helped too, if it wasn’t for you catching that oran berry that Amy mentioned, who knows what would’ve happened to me?”

“Yeah I know… but I just felt like I caused more problems than helped. The bird snatching me up, me feeding off of your friend, and the elephant in the room, my mother…” The jumping spider shivered at the thought. “Worst moment of my new life so far…”

“Well, she was really unexpected, but still, we defeated her nonetheless and passed the activity!” Claire beamed. “Look on the positive sides of it at least.”

John sighed. “Fine, I’ll try at least.”

“That’s the spirit!” Suddenly, something came back to her. “Oh that’s right, I can’t wait to show mom my new move!”

John remembered seeing it from the distance, the ghostly flames that appeared around her. “Ah yes… do you know what that was?”

“Mom talked about it… I think… Will-o-Wisp, she said the move was called.” Claire summoned three small purple fireballs around her after she closed her eyes. The flames started circling around her body as she opened her eyes. “So cool…”

John looked in awe at the flames before his inner instincts only saw the danger. “Um… better… stop that before you burn something.” He meant a small greenish Joltik.

Claire nodded before the flames disappeared. “So awesome, isn’t that right?”

“Yeah, it is…” He looked aside for a moment, deep in thought. “Hm… I just thought of something…”

The Vulpix’s eyes glistened and she leaned her head close to John, making him yelp and do a small jump. “Yes?”

“U-um… it’s a combination of attacks and-”

“Say. No. More!” Claire grabbed him with her mouth and put him on her back. The Vulpix then raced to her private training grounds to make Snormmy suffer again, like last time wasn’t enough for the poor dummy. Claire stopped in front of it and put John on the ground as she wagged her tails excitedly. “So… as you were saying?”

John was a bit dumbfounded before snapping back to reality, stuttering, and looking at Claire. “R-right… so… a basically a combo between us.”

“Gosh, it hasn’t been one week and we’re already making our own combos! We will really make the perfect team together!”

“… Could you please…”

“Oops! Sorry, continue.” The Vulpix smiled sheepishly.

“So um…” John cleared his throat. “I thought about you burning stuff for a moment, and that got me thinking… what if I make you conduct the flames without having to miss the attack? If I trap the enemy or just…” He spat out strands of silk toward the Snorlax dummy, and it latched on to it. The Joltik cut the web from his mouth and held it with his pointy nub. “Now all you have to do is just put this String Shot on fire.”

After 5 seconds of thinking, Claire connected the dots. “Oh, like this?” She let out a small fireball on the web and the fire started consuming the entire Silk, to John’s nub to the end that was latched onto the Snorlax, it left a little black mark on the belly of the dummy. “Oh wow, it worked!”

“And that’s not all. Imagine the damage caused if the opponent is surrounded by silk or worse, trapped in a silk cocoon!” That made John a bit excited, he imagined some random bug burning inside a silk cocoon made by him. “Ah, the sweet, sweet damage…”

“Yeah! That’ll definitely be really useful in battles!”

“What will be useful in battles?” Another voice butted in. The two Pokémon looked to the side to see Reya, the Ninetales, sitting at the door of the backyard. “Heard voices back here just wanted to check in.”

Claire ran towards her mother, frolicking around like an excited puppy. “Mom, mom, mom! You won’t BELIEVE what happened today! I gotta tell you everything!”

The Ninetales chuckled. “Calm down girl. Don’t tell me you ate a Capsakid tooth to make you that fired up.”

“Of course not! So like, you know about that dungeon activity today? It was awesome, I fought my very best with my team, John even helped too!”

Reya realized a second later what that meant. “Wait… did that mean… he revealed himself to the whole class?”

“Well… not everyone saw him, only a few classmates.” Claire shrugged while letting out a sheepish smile.

The Ninetales sighed. “Well, at least the kids aren’t that huge of a deal…” She muttered to herself before warming up to Claire with a smile. “So, what did you do there in the dungeon?”

Claire grinned. “Well, Mr. Zeta asked us to find flags inside of the dungeon and take them out of it. But when we found a flag, this Galvantula came out of nowhere and said that it was John’s mother!”

“Excuse me what!?” All of Reya's tail shot up as she shouted. John hid behind a small rock.

“I swear that thing wasn’t my mother and it will never BE my mother!” He shouted from behind the rock.

“Don’t worry mom, we defeated it together!” Claire beamed as she made three purple flames appear around her. “And I learned a new move!”

The nine tails from Reya slowly lowered as she looked back at her daughter, looking at Will-o-Wisp she created. “Ah... you finally learned Will-o-Wisp! Way to go Claire…!” Claire made a toothy grin. “Now um… I have something to talk about with John over there, could you uh… do me a favor and go do something else?”

“Aw… but I didn’t even show our combo attack…”

“It’s alright, you can show me later!”

“Okay, mom!” The Vulpix said before running back inside the house.

Reya sighed and walked over to the small rock that John was sitting on top of. “So… could you explain that about… your mother?”

John made a high-pitched sigh and looked at the big deity-looking fox in front of him. “Look, this may sound strange but… yes the egg that I came from did come from someone… and since I uh…” He took a deep breath. “… fear bugs, I ran away from what was supposed to be my family…” 'My ass' kept being unsaid.

“I see… you didn’t think she would be a problem later?” The Ninetales asked laying on the ground as the tails behind her kept moving slowly and majestically.

“Yeah… no. I still think I put everyone in danger because of my stupid selfish thought…” John looked away ashamed of himself. How could he be this dumb? He should’ve known mothers do anything for their sons.

Reya closed her eyes before opening them again. “Look, John, don’t blame yourself for this. But you should know that Pokémon would do anything for their little babies, and I mean anything. You should see how an enraged Kangahskan acts when she doesn’t find her baby.”

“Um… I don’t know what that is and I don’t think I wanna know.”

The nine-tailed fox chuckled. “Good then, especially wild ones, don’t mess with it if you ever find one.”

“Alright then.” So far, John was really enjoying the talks he had with Reya. She doesn’t look like she is aggressive, acts calm and collected, and has that kind of warmth that only motherly people tend to have. “So erm… should we go back inside?”

“Alright then.” She turned her back and John hopped on her back. “Also could you tell me how is Claire enjoying School? I don’t see that happiness in ages.”

“Yeah… I guess I left some kind of impact on her.” John couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of a small little spider just making a fire-breathing fox’s life happier by just existing.

“Ohoho, you certainly did.” With that, Reya closed the door to the backyard with a telekinetic pull.

Chapter Text

Everyone sat at the dinner table, except for a certain shiny Joltik who was getting their daily volts of electricity on the outlet of the wall. After finishing, he looked up to see what the foxes were eating… that looked like meat for sure… John hesitated to ask for some time before asking about it anyways. “So um… I got this question…” The Ninetales and Vulpix looked at him and he felt his heart drop for a second before getting the courage to speak again. “So… do carnivorous Pokémon like… eat other Pokémon?”

The two adults looked at themselves with a frown, debating if they should tell the small spider the truth or not… only for Claire to speak up anyway. “Well, we do. Only wild Pokémon that is.”

Huh… so that’s why the owl teacher threatened to eat him. “Ah… I see…” John said nervously as Izo and Reya sighed, relieved that the small bug didn’t freak out again.

“What? You scared that we might go hungry and try to grab a bite from you?” Elsa said before chuckling.

Her parents glared at her before Izo said. “Elsa…” She rolled her eyes and continued munching on the food in front of her.

Great, now he just had another thing to worry about, being wild and being on the bottom of the food chain to everyone, just great... “I uh… I think I’ll go to bed.” He said trying to not demonstrate any nervousness as he walked away from the wall towards the couch. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” The others, except for Elsa, said.

“If I remember correctly… I don’t think you’ll like the teacher of today’s class…” Claire whispered to John what was on her head.

“Why not?” John asked quietly, Claire’s fur muffled his voice.

“Well…”

“Hello, class.” A humanoid-looking ladybug, with their wings, closed behind the back of his head, levitated into the class. His body was fully black colored except for its feet, claws, and antennae that were yellow, and his red ladybug-looking carapace behind his body, eyes being cerulean blue and white.

The class replied. “Morning Mr. Xeno!”

“… Well… at least this one looks less bug than normal…” John muttered quietly. ‘I can… get used to it with no problems… at least this one doesn’t replicate the same fear of other bugs…'

The Orbeetle levitated to the teacher’s desk and kept floating in front of it. “I heard that this class went through a Mystery Dungeon yesterday, and all passed…” He started clapping his claws. “And to that, I say, congratulations. You, kids, have the exceptional potential to lead another generation toward greatness. I don’t believe I’ll be there to see it, but you can bet that one way or another, I shall be watching.”

“Thanks, Mr. Xeno!” Taro beamed with a grin.

“You’re welcome. Now that is not to say that you shall be alone on this journey, no. You will have technology at your disposal!” Suddenly, his carapace opened and the black dots on it began to glow purple. A tablet came out from behind glowing purple, it had the same logo as the computer in the Teacher’s Office… Asuri. “As your technology teacher, it makes me honored to say this.” He opened his arms excitedly. “Our school has been invited by Asuri themselves to visit their company!”

“Whaaaaaaat!?” The class blurted out.

“Asuri, as in like… the company that brought human technology to this world?” Taro asked in disbelief. “THAT Asuri?”

“Yep, the same one!” The tablet then started displaying a video. “This is the invite, dear students!”

The video displayed a green feline-looking Pokémon that appeared to be bipedal that was wearing some sort of dark green mask that had a green heart mark on her forehead. “Greetings dear students. My name is Alice, and I am the founder and CEO of Asuri Technology Industries, and I would like to invite you for a tour of our amazing gallery of technology advancements.” She bowed and the screen changed to a museum-like place, displaying various objects and devices. “This amazing building was the start of it all, the same place we Pokémon have built, with the help of humans, and technological advances to Pokémon kind, making our lives easier to live on this vast and cruel world.”

‘So that’s why the keyboard was in English… the computers were made with the help of humans…' John thought while the video still played.

“Hope you are excited to visit our wonderful and welcoming museum, see you soon! As someone brilliant said… the future of science is now!” She did a wink with a paw sign as the video ended.

Xeno then put away his tablet with his Psychic. “The trip shall take place two weeks from now. The Asuri museum stays in the big city, that’s right, you’re going to Xander Cage city!”

“YEEEEAAAHHH!!!” The class shouted in excitement as chatter began to rise among the classmates.

“Hm… Asuri huh…?” John whispered to himself while the class talked out loud. ‘Wonder if a human came up with that name… I do remember hearing that name somewhere before… it wasn’t in this world but where…?’

“Quiet down, quiet down class!” The bug teacher shouted as the whole class stopped chatting a second later. “Anyways, hope you prepare yourselves until then. But meanwhile, you have a class to attend. To the computer lab!” Xeno announced as he floated out of the classroom, quickly followed by the students.

“I can’t believe it! We’re actually visiting the most technologically advanced company on the continent!” Taro beamed with a grin. “Out of any school, we’ve been the one chosen for the tour?”

“Um… not to cut your excitement short…” John poked his head out of Claire’s fur after analyzing whether it was safe enough to show himself, he whispered. “But I think that video wasn’t directed to this school specifically, but other schools as well.”

“What makes you think that, John?” Amy whispered back asking.

“Because normally, invite videos like that would probably say the name of the specific location the video is directed.” John explained. “Say… what is the name of this school? I forgot.”

“It’s called Obelisk High.” Claire said. “Now that you mention it… she didn’t say the name exactly…”

“Which proves that not only this school is invited, but others as well.” John suggested. “So, don’t start feeling that special.”

“I got you, no worry.” The mouse rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

In the computer lab, there was a large table that was attached to the wall, with computers that were lined up beside one another. There was a round table in the middle of the room that had no stools and the table was a bit higher to reach. The students were sitting at the lower table. Claire, Amy, and Taro were sitting together in a group as Elsa, Cindy, and Olivia were sitting in their own group, while Cerbera was sitting on his own, playing computer games while the teacher was unaware and paying attention to other students.

John was paying attention to how the computers worked, it worked the same as the ones in his world, strange as it seemed. What’s even more weird was that they ran on the Windows 10 engine. “No way…” John muttered quietly. ‘Alright, this Asuri company is just stealing shit from our world. Some CEO that cat lady is…' John thought with a grumpy expression, but it softened a second later. ‘Or maybe the humans just wanted to bring something from our world and thought that technology was what they needed. Eh, who cares, at least I know some things still are the same around here thankfully.’

He then saw the home screen of the computer, and his eyes immediately laid on a certain icon that was the pinnacle of familiarity that he couldn’t help but whisper out loud. “Google!?”

Claire heard the Joltik and whispered back. “Something wrong John?” Taro and Amy looked at the top of Claire’s head and John jumped from it and landed on the keyboard.

“Alright… I need to tell you, guys, something…” He whispered before turning to them and pointing back at the monitor with his forenubs. “This exact computer setup is the same one from my world.”

“Huh!? For real?” Taro asked and John nodded. “How though? I thought Asuri created Windows 10.”

“Unless they copied from humans from my world. Which seeing more closely…” He turned to face the monitor again… icons he recognized were on the screen. Word, PowerPoint, Excell, Internet Explorer (for some reason), and even a program called “Asuri Paint…?” John muttered. “Yeah… they literally copied everything.”

“Really…?” Amy asked in disbelief. “Even though they said on TV that everything was their inventions along with the help of the humans… unless they stole their ideas somehow?”

‘Were they just lying to Pokémon about the fact that they created tech when they in fact just rebranded human tech? Hm... I can’t be too sure yet…' John thought before shaking it away. “Anyways, let’s question that later, I wanna see something…” The Joltik walked up to the mouse (the PC one, not Taro) and tried to move it. It took a bit more effort since he basically was the size of one, but eventually, he got the mouse to the Google icon and clicked on it. He clicked on the guest account. The search engine loaded up and the famous Google interface loaded up, which made John smile a bit. “It didn’t change huh…” He turned to Claire, he was about to test something really weird. “Claire… could you perhaps type… Twitter?”

Claire tilted her head. “Why?”

“I want to test something… but wait… could you answer me when the internet you guys use was created?” John asked. There would be a problem with this logic if social media with this world was connected with his world. Unless…

“Well, the internet was created not long ago if I remember…” Claire answered but Taro finished for her.

“Actually it was created just a few weeks ago. I was actually following closely with the news about that.” He said that made John a little confused. “Although… something weird that I realized when I started using it is that… there were already millions of users in it.”

John felt a shiver run through his exoskeleton. “Holy shit… those were humans…”

“Wait a second… do you mean to tell me we might be talking with humans through the internet this whole time?!” Claire asked a bit too loud, making Xeno approach them.

“Is something wrong Claire?” The floating ladybug asked while crossing his arms.

“Oh, erm… it’s nothing Mr. Xeno, I think the…” She looked back at the computer, John was gone from their sight, but Claire knew where he hid. “I think the computer just glitched a little bit…”

“I see, remember, at the sight of any glitches, reboot the computer, understood?” Claire nodded. “Good. By the way, I couldn’t help but notice two things wrong. The first one is you accessing the web, what’s the first rule I told you about that?”

Claire sighed. “To never access the web… I’m sorry…” She clicked out of the Google tab.

“Good. Now to the second thing wrong, I’m really curious about the fact that about a certain bug in the system has managed to infiltrate the firewall of the school…”

Claire tilted her head. “What do you mean about-“

Suddenly, the black dots on the Orbeetle’s ladybug carapace turned purple and John started floating out of Claire’s fur and right into Xeno's claw. “This.”

Claire and her friends swallowed.

“Let’s talk about this outside, all three of you.”

Chapter Text

Xeno was crossing his legs while sitting in the air. As he held a Joltik in a psychic hold, he spoke. “Since the class is over, I would like for you to explain everything in detail. Why do you have a newborn wild Pokémon with you? And why I’m getting a weird energy reading from it?”

“So um…” Claire started, there was no way out of this, they were so caught. Claire sighed and looked at the small spider. “I’m sorry John…”

John looked away and scoffed. “I knew we would be getting in trouble for this…” The psychic ladybug looked at John in wonder as the yellowish-green Joltik looked back at him with a bit of disgust before sighing. “So um… I am a human…”

The Orbeetle’s mouth went agape for a bit before looking away for a brief second. “Are you really telling the truth small Joltik? That is a really bold claim any Pokémon can make here.” John nodded. “Hm… I guess some things about you really back up what you say… do you mind if I check your memories to see if you are saying the truth?”

The trio of students looked at themselves with frowns on their faces as John stammered while flailing his limbs wildly in the air. “Wait, wait, wait! Read my mind? Isn’t this like an invasion of privacy or something?”

“Just a quick check, I won’t go in too deep into your mind.” John looked away, thinking if it was a really good idea for a space-looking bug to look into his memories. “So… could I?” It took a moment before the shiny Joltik slowly nodded. “Alright then, close your eyes.” John did as he said and Xeno closed his eyes as well.

“So did John tell him about himself or about his past?” Taro whispered to Claire and she thought about it.

“Well… he said that he was no hero and uh… that he was an adult before being born again. And I guess you know about his fear, right?”

Taro and Amy nodded and they looked back on the two bugs.

Xeno had successfully entered John’s mind.

When psychic types enter a person’s head, their mind makes a link and a mental figure of the psychic type appears on the other person’s head. In this case, the Orbeetle had made a mental apparition in John’s mind, meaning that he can roam around his memories like a third party that saw what the other person experienced from a distance. However, he could get close to the people inside someone’s memories, but they would never notice him there.

At first, when Xeno entered the Joltik’s head, he would’ve expected it to be a lot more empty, but instead, it was filled with stuff that he didn’t expect. He looked around the place, he was in some weird street at night. However, this street wasn’t any street he recognized from either Burgroth or Xander Cage, he would know since he has a really good memory.

The ladybug started hearing voices, so he looked to the source of it and found four creatures he had only seen in pictures on the internet… humans. They were four males, it seems like they were chatting about something. Xeno didn’t eavesdrop since that wasn’t really necessary, he got what he needed.

The Orbeetle was about to leave before he spotted two other humans going in the direction of the four, however, one of these people had a mask covering their mouth and the other had some kind of helmet covering their head. The other humans looked at the two in nervousness when one of them pulled out some kind of black rectangular object with a hole in the front and pointed at one of the four.

Suddenly, one of them, a man with blonde hair and blue eyes acted fast and punched one of the attackers in the face-

Bang!

Xeno fell on the ground along with John, losing control of his levitation for a moment. The teens ran to check on them in worry.

“John! Mr. Xeno! Are you okay!?”

“What happened!? You guys suddenly yelled and fell!”

“Any of you need healing?”

Xeno was the first one to sit up after putting a claw on his head, John getting up right after. “Don’t worry kids, we are both…” He glanced at John for a second. “Alright…”

“Ugh…” John looked at Xeno with a grimace. “Is that proof enough…?”

Xeno looked at the small spider, pity covering his whole expression. “… yes it is.” The teacher hesitated in speaking more but did it anyways. “Hey listen… if you ever need, I can… indicate a therapist for you if that’s alright.”

John looked down and muttered. “I’m fine…” Claire looked at John a bit in worry, what did they see there?

The Orbeetle started floating again and looked at the three students. “I have a question for you three. Which of you are responsible for taking care of him?”

Claire raised her paw. “I am, my family also knows about him.”

“Great, then I have a suggestion.” The teacher crossed his arms. “You could have John apply for Obelisk High.” The students looked at him, looking for confirmation. “Yes, since it will be quite hard to hide someone due to the nature of Pokémon, you could make him a student here so you don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

“But… what if the director doesn’t agree? He’s a wild Pokémon…” Amy said looking away.

“That Houndour of your class is a wild Pokémon, isn’t he?” The students raised a metaphorical eyebrow at him. “Oh, you didn’t know? Ah well, at least you get the point, besides I bet the director won’t mind a new application at the beginning of the cycle, wouldn’t he?”

Taro thought about it. “Yeah, I guess he wouldn’t…”

“Well, you decided between yourselves, I got another class to teach.” Xeno started floating away. “See you next week kids.”

The students watched as their teacher floated away and they turned back to each other. “So what do you two think…?” Claire asked the spiky mouse and the hedgehog.

“Well, I think it’s a really good suggestion.” The spiky mouse said. “Think about it, you won’t need to hide John anymore and he could actually participate in classes without any worry of the teachers catching him.”

The hedgehog nodded. “And what’s better, he could get his status changed from a wild Pokémon to a transitioning Pokémon. Then the civilized Pokémon would treat him better rather than a snack all of the time.”

“Yeah, you guys are right!” Claire nodded then turned to the Joltik. “What do you think John?”

John looked up at them. He thought about it a bit but ultimately decided. “Yes, I’d honestly like not being seen as some sort of food all the time.”

“Then it’s decided!” Claire beamed and the group nodded smiling.

“What an interesting day…” Xenophanes said as he entered the teacher’s office.

It was an interesting day indeed. Asuri invited the school to visit their gallery of wonderful technology and advancements, he met a human and saw how he died, that was unexpected for sure. Why did he show that memory anyways? To prove a point? Point taken then.

He sat on his desk that was on the left of the room. He’d need to write the usual report of class, but… his mind wasn’t really feeling like it after that scene he had to witness. Hell, he almost lost track of the other class since his mind kept coming back to that. “John Kennedy, huh…? The fate of that poor human was rather cruel in my opinion… and now he’s probably here to save the world from some threat that he doesn’t even know about.” He rested the front of his head on his arm as he started thinking… before the door opened revealing a Porygon-Z.

“Good afternoon Mr. [aliens! They have come to destroy the world!!!!]” He said as he floated to the middle of the room looking at the Orbeetle.

“Morning to you too Mr. Zeta…”

The normal type tilted his floating head. “What’s wrong? You don’t look so [Gucci]. Some class was a hassle to deal with?”

“It’s not that.” He was debating if he should tell him the truth. That human disappearance streak going around the continent is a bit too much to tell the identity of a human to any Pokémon. But Zetamon was nice mon, even though those glitches that keep happening to him make him look a bit crazy.

“Then what is it?”

Xenophanes sighed. “I um… met a human today here at the school. Apparently, a trio of students were hiding him.” The Porygon-Z had a frown on his face as he looked away. It seemed like he was hiding something. “What? I can read your mind you know.”

Zetamon sighed and looked at Xeno. “So um… I might’ve known about him as well…” The Orbeetle raised his head. “He… kinda helped the kids [shredding and tearing everything apart] in the Jingle-Jungle Woods.”

“… Who else knows about him?”

“Ms. [Owl Lady.]”

The Orbeetle assumed that was the Decidueye teacher. He sighed. “Fine, I’ll be straight with you… I saw his last memory of his human life.” Zeta perked up at that. “He was out with his friends until suddenly two other humans came that didn’t look friendly. He attacked one of them and died because of it.”

The Porygon-Z crossed his nubs. “How did he die?”

“… I don’t know, one of those two shady humans in his memory pulled out what seemed like a weapon. Maybe that’s what the loud bang sound was…”

“Sheesh, now I feel bad for him.”

Xenophanes nodded. “After that, I suggested that he applies for the school. I don’t if they’ll accept or not, but we’ll see next week if we’ll get a new student.”

The Porygon-Z did his best expression of a grin without a mouth. “Can’t wait to see what can human knowledge do in my classes. After all, they did help build computers and cellphones, am I right?”

“That they did.” He agreed and Zetamon floated to his desk. The Porygon-Z was right, humans were smart, and whatever it is to be in John’s way in the future, he would overcome it as all the other humans in the past did. He could only hope that for such a small bug in a big world…

Claire, Taro, Amy, and John were on the bus on the way back home. The group was chatting normally until the Togedemaru came up with an idea. “John?” The Joltik looked at Taro. “So, I’ve been thinking if… you could come to my house tomorrow since it’s Saturday tomorrow, Claire and Amy could come too.”

John tilted his head and asked. “Why?”

“Well, since you have a lot of knowledge about the computers Asuri made, we can crack its secrets together, and figure out how the internet works and see if there are really humans on the other side of the screen. How does that sound? I got a pretty slick computer back home as well!”

John thought about it. He couldn’t check it before the bug teacher caught them, but since he would have more time on a private computer, he would have a lot of time to check it and plan ahead. “Sounds like a good plan to me.” The Joltik looked at Claire. “Claire, are you free tomorrow?”

“Unfortunately no… I got a battle class tomorrow.” The Vulpix answered a bit sadly before smiling again. “But I can take you there if you want.” She looked at Taro. “Mind showing me where you live?”

“No biggie.” The spiky mouse got his phone out of… somewhere and tapped on it with his small paws, then after a few taps he put his phone on his fur pockets on his back. “Done, the coordinates are in your DMs!” He grinned as Claire tilted her head in confusion. "Oh, it stands for Direct Messages, just something I gathered on my time on the internet."

“Oh, I see. Thanks, Taro.”

‘Wow, they already have each other’s contacts? Man, if I saw a rodent ever say DM back in my old life, I would've thought I was high or drunk.’ John thought surprised as the bus stopped shaking, Koraidon having stopped. Claire, John, and Elsa said their goodbyes and entered their house.

After taking their uniforms off, Claire took out her phone and opened her Instagram app. She put the phone close to John as she used it. “So you were saying that all of these accounts are humans?”

John swiped the screen up, seeing lots of the usual recommendations for Instagram pictures. Selfies, photography, art, some videos… it was literally normal Instagram. “… How did you not notice this before…?”

“Uh… I never used it until now…” The Vulpix said looking away sheepishly. “I wasn’t like… looking forward towards this whole internet stuff.”

The Joltik looked at Claire unamused. “You would totally be into it if you knew there were humans in it all along…” Claire laughed a bit sheepishly. “But yeah, these are humans… but now the real question is… how would someone respond if we show them ourselves…”

“What do you mean by that?”

“There is one thing that all humans fear, and that’s the unknown.” John explained. “They don’t know who we are, or what we are. That means, what if something otherworldly appears on their screen?”

“So… are you saying…”

“Yes, tomorrow for one of the tests of the internet, let’s call a human!” He said, a bit excited at the thought of talking to someone human again, even though it’s been almost four days in this world.

Claire was wagging her tails excitedly, her eyes glistening at the thought of talking to another human, but this time in their original form! “So can we do it now!?”

“No… I think it’s best to wait for tomorrow, this will be a part of the tests of the social media.”

“Aw, man… I can’t go because of the battle classes…” Claire whimpered like a sad dog.

John just thought how cute that looked if he wasn’t intimidated by the fact of being way smaller than her. “Hey look, how about uh… you and I call one of my human friends after I come back from Taro’s house?”

She gasped. “For real!?” John nodded before getting hugged like a plushy by the fox. “Thank you so much, John! This is why we’re the bestest of best friends!”

‘We’ve known each other for basically four days…' John thought before the excitement died down and Claire released him. He saw her smiling at him before he cracked a smile as best as a bug could. ‘But at least you are pretty nice in my opinion.’

“So… should we train until mom comes home?”

“Yes, let’s train a little.” With that, John jumped onto Claire’s back and she dashed towards the door to the backyard.

Chapter Text

“So… dad?”

“Yes, dear?”

“John and I have been thinking about it and… it would be great if you applied John to our school.”

“… what?”

Dinner was going a bit quiet until Claire cut the silence with that suggestion. John looked up from the wall he was standing after the suggestion. “So yeah…” John began. “I’ve been caught by uh… two teachers so far and like… I think it’s best if I just enroll in that school.”

Izo looked puzzled at the moment, clearly thinking about the possible scenarios of what would happen if John enrolled in that school as an actual student. He sighed. “Yeah, you’re indeed right…” He looked at John again with a smile. “We get it, hiding like that from society is not really a great idea if they find you a bit off.”

“Although…” Reya butted in. “You remember our warning right? Make sure to not tell anyone else that you’re a human, alright?”

John nodded. “I understand ma’am.”

“Please, just call me Reya.” She chuckled and started eating her food, which was a berry salad.

Izo cleared his throat. “Anyways, I guess I can apply to you for school. But like… weren’t you an adult before coming into this world?” The ice Ninetales asked while adjusting his glasses.

John thought about an excuse, but in the end, couldn’t come up with any. “Yes I was, but at least I’m enduring school because it’s…” The Joltik glanced at Claire who was finishing up her food. “… necessary.”

“Yeah, I get it.” Izo thought for a moment. “You were born a wild mon, so it would be that civilized Pokémon would look at you in certain ways.” The pinkish-white fox grinned. “So that’s why you will need a shower.”

“Yeah and- wait, what?”

“Civilized Pokémon take showers at least once a week. Claire, give the little Joltik a good ol’ wash, alright?”

Claire immediately wagged her tails. “Yes, dad!” She jumped off her chair and grabbed John that was on the wall and immediately went to the bathroom. The bathroom was a surprisingly normal bathroom, there was a sink that was lower than usual sinks and a shower box at the end of the room. Instead of a toilet, however, there was basically a hole in the floor that had a small white open square surrounding it and a little bit of water in it. John guessed that was where they did their necessities. Claire dropped John on the floor. “And here we are! I don’t think you ever went here, did you?”

“Well… I didn’t have any actual food to use a toilet so far.”

“Oh yeah, you’re right about that, hehe.”

They both entered the shower, then John came to a sneaking realization of what was about to happen. “W-wait, you’re gonna shower with me!?”

“Well, of course, you’re too small to wash yourself.”

John blushed heavily under his fuzz. “Bu-but I… I’m a guy and you’re a girl and uh…” He started shaking from embarrassment. “Won’t this be like… really weird and uh…”

Claire giggled. “Come on, we’re not even compatible with each other. Besides, is not like anyone gonna see us if you’re this nervous about your public image.” She said before opening the shower, the sound of a soft hiss from water falling out from small holes surrounded the bathroom. Water fell on the two Pokémon, washing the impurities and dust away. “Ooh, so good…!”

“Yeah… it’s been a while since I took one of these…” His mouth spread into a relaxed smile as he closed his eyes.

Claire looked at John with a smile, however, something had come back to her. What had they seen in John’s memory of Mr. Xeno falling on the ground? She wanted to ask him so badly, but what if that ruined his happy mood?

Well, his mood was about to be ruined when Claire’s snow white twin entered the bathroom, gracefully and smug as always… “Oh wow, talk about a slutty attitude, taking a shower with a bug? How lower can you sink Claire?”

Claire turned to her sister and immediately snorted some flames out of her snout. “At least not any lower than you could ever come back from.”

John turned around with a tired sigh. ‘Why now…? In my moment of peace…' John crossed his nubs mentally as he looked at Elsa. “What do you want now…?”

“Well duh, I came here to take my beauty bath as I do every day.” She entered the shower, carefully standing some distance away from John. “Hopefully you’re not taking a peek at my sister where you’re not supposed to, bug.”

The Joltik didn’t know what was worse, the chilly air that hung around her wherever she went, or that sass she always has. “And why would I do that? For your information, from where I came from, we humans don’t date beings that are a different species from us.”

“Say that to the other humans that came before you then.” The white Vulpix chuckled. “They all have families here now, as the news says.” She turned away and looked behind as she started shaking her butt in John’s direction. She grinned as she lifted her tails. “Are you sure you don’t want a piece of this in the future?”

John blushed green really heavily as he looked away. Claire had enough of this and tackled her sister, making her stop. “Enough Elsa! Leave John alone, he had enough of you!” Her mouth was already drooling flames as three fireballs appeared around her.

Elsa rolled her eyes. “Fine…” She looked back at John. “If you want, I can take you to some pretty bug ladies in Burgroth that you will love.”

“Shut the fuck up.” John replied nonchalantly but was still a bit pissed.

“Hmph, suit yourself.” Elsa said as she grabbed a piece of soap with her paws and started rubbing it on herself.

John sighed. “I think I bathed enough… after all, I don’t have much to wash.” He jumped out of the shower box and started walking away. “Goodnight Claire.”

“Goodnight John…” Claire sighed sadly.

Elsa just scoffed. “He’s so sensitive. At least your last friend could handle some flirting.”

Claire growled as her eyes turned a bit purplish. “Don’t… speak about… him.”

“…fine…”

The fire Vulpix’s eyes turned back to normal again as she washed herself quietly. After some seconds have passed, she turned to her sister. “Hey, you used your phone a lot, didn’t you?”

“Um, yeah. What’s this all of a sudden?”

“Did you know that humans were already on the internet?”

“Duh, of course. Before you ask, I didn’t tell you because I just wanted to see your reaction when you discovered that yourself.” Elsa chuckled.

“… bitch.”

“Whore.”

They turned away from each other as they continued to shower quietly.

“Are you ready John?”

“When will I ever be ready is the real question…”

“Hehehe, you’re such a funny 'mon.”

“Glad you think that.”

It was a Saturday morning, Claire and John left their house and were on the way towards Taro’s home. The Vulpix had her phone on her back along with the Joltik, who was keeping a watch on her phone, giving her directions while looking at the map. More specifically… Google Maps.

It seems that this world had satellites to have a map on Google and not just a glitched map of Earth. Nonetheless, the map was pretty useful so far. “So um… question, when were maps like these created?” John asked.

“I don’t actually remember…” Claire responded. “Must be like two to four cycles ago…”

“Cycles?”

“Cycles that the planet does around the sun.”

“Ah, I see…” John looked around at the town of Burgroth. They were in the residential area of the town on a sidewalk. There were a lot of things that looked like they were made by humans. The streets and the houses as well looked just like the ones in a rural town back on Earth. However, there were things different from there. Monsters of any type, walking on the street. From a scary-looking fire crocodile that had flames coming out of the side of their mouth, to a little cute ferret that walked normally alongside a small and blue puppy Pokémon and.. was that a Pikachu? John did not recognize any of the species, except for a few that he saw on T-shirts, toys, movie trailers, and clips of the anime in his old life.

There were some vehicles as well, they looked like some sort of floating rock and wooden cars with living engines powering them. It reminded John a bit of the Cars movie a little bit. “Pokémon are truly weird creatures…” John muttered quietly.

“Hey John, am I going in the right way?” Claire asked looking at her back.

“Yes, keep going a little bit and turn-“ Suddenly, Claire bumped into someone, making John and her phone fall on the ground, luckily with no cracks on the screen as it fell right on John. “Ugh… what was-”

He looked at the reason behind the bump and he saw a Charmander, another Pokémon he barely recognized that was in ultra 4k definition. The Charmander got up quickly. “Out of the way, you monsters!” He said before he sprinted off.

Claire got up and shook her head. “What was wrong with him?”

“I got no clue…” John got up and climbed on Claire as she picked up her phone and put it on her back. “Are you good?”

“Yep, no problem for me!” She beamed before walking off again.

It wasn’t much long until they reached the Wattson house. It was a bit bigger than the other houses in the district, it was orange-colored and it was a bit fancy on the outside, even having a second floor. “Bruh… he lives here?” John asked a bit in shock before he looked back at the phone. “Well… the GPS is not lying…”

“I didn’t know Taro lived in a place like this, must be cool for him!” Claire said a bit excitedly before she went to knock on the door. However, she realized there was a doorbell, so she rang that instead and waited for a response.

“Coming!” Said a voice behind the door, meanwhile, John took the time to inspect the door. It had two door handles, one for bigger Pokémon and one for smaller Pokémon like the one that just opened the door. “Hey, guys!”

“Hi, Taro! How are you doing?” The Vulpix said smiling.

“I’m pretty good. What about you?”

“I’m fine as well! I came here to drop off John.”

The shiny Joltik came out behind Claire’s head. “Yo, I’m here.” He jumped off of Claire and walked towards Taro. “Is everything set up for the tests to begin?”

“Yep, it is!” The Togedemaru said proudly.

“Alright then.” They turned to Claire, who was smiling a bit sadly. “I have to go now or else I’ll be late. See you later guys!”

“Bye, Claire!” Both said in unison, John with less of a tone of excitement as the six-tailed fox left.

Taro turned to John. “So John, are you ready?”

“Yep, I am.” The Joltik looked around. “Did Amy come?”

Taro shook his head. “Nah, sadly she couldn’t come as well. Apparently, she gotta help her parents at home.”

“Ah, understandable.” The small spider said before entering the Togedemaru’s home as he closed the door. The Wattson house looked like one of the more expensive houses you would find in a residential district. The inside looked like it was made by an artist; some abstract paintings along with family photos, abstract sculptures that were holding some items and electronics, marble floor. Literally, everything looked like it was for rich Pokémon only. “So uh… where are your parents?”

“So um… they are at work right now.” Taro rubbed the back of his head. “They are at work most of the time so it’s just me and Little Z most of the time.”

“Little Z?”

Suddenly a robotic-looking Pokémon in the shape of a red and white bird, that was holding a blue bubbly bag, appeared from the corner. It then lowered its head to John and started speaking without moving its beak in a robotic voice. “Greetings, I am unit ZLX176U48, but I may be referred to as Little Z like young master Wattson had said.”

John was speechless for a second before turning to Taro with his mouth agape and eyes widened. “Robots exist here!?”

“Well um… they do. Don’t they exist in your world?”

“Well, machines do, but like…” The Joltik pointed a nub at the robotic Dellibird. “Not AIs with a full body that is basically Roombas! Like, what company made this?”

“So um…” Taro tried to explain before Little Z butted in.

“My model had come from a different time by the power of a certain Mystery Dungeon that stays in the very south of the continent. I was not the only model of advanced AI that came through the Mystery Dungeon, there were others.” It took a moment for John to process all of that, but he nodded in understanding. Suddenly the head of the robot detached from the body, only being hung by a thick metal wire. From the hole in the body, it pulled out a cup of aluminum and filled it with the cold water inside its sac. “Do you want water?”

“… No thanks…” John said looking a bit scared.

“Understood.” Little Z poured the water inside its beak before putting the cup back inside its body and walking away, attaching its head back in place.

Taro cut the silence again. “So yeah… their origins are kinda that. After that, some companies got possession of them and started selling them to the public. Since um… they were not wild and wanted to be treated like robots and some didn’t.”

“Man… this place gets crazier and crazier the more time I spend here…” John said a bit confused about the whole story, making Taro chuckle a little.

“Anyways, let’s get to the point of why you came here.” He grabbed John with his paws and started going upstairs to the second floor. There were four doors in a hall, all of them having two handles, Taro entered the second door on the right. “Welcome to my room!” The spiky mouse’s room was colorful to the yellow sides of things. Basically, almost everything had a yellow outline, even the walls and floor. There was a computer on a desk that was perfectly sized for him along with a perfectly sized gamer chair. “Hope you like it.”

“Wow… it seems that we have a gamer here.” John commented and Taro laughed sheepishly.

“Oh please.” They went towards the computer, which was already on. Taro sat on his chair and John hopped on the desk. Google was already opened. “So… what do you want to do first?”

John made a thinking face before suggesting. “So like… in my old life, I had an account on the internet, I wanna try and access that to see if anything’s changed.”

“Ooh, pretty interesting! Do you still remember what was it called and the password?” Taro asked, logging out of his account.

“Of course I remember, it’s basically been part of my life.” John thought about typing the name before deciding that would have a lot of work. “Um… could you type it for me? It’s gonna be a pain typing something in this small body…”

“Sure.” The Togedemaru put his paws over the keyboard.

“Type in Johnathan Kennedy 305, no caps, and no space, and it’s Gmail.” The Joltik hoped that the rodent knew what Gmail was, fortunately, he didn’t question it and pressed enter. However, he asked a different question.

“Is Johnathan your real name?”

“Ah, no it isn’t. I just use that name in here so I get some anonymity on the internet.”

“Ah, I see.” Taro turned back to the monitor. “What’s the password?”

“Um… I’ll type this one myself, could you please look away?” The rodent complied and turned away while John started walking around the keyboard, stretching his limbs so he could reach certain keys to press them. After half a minute, he was done and he pressed enter. “Okay, I’m done now.”

Taro looked back to the monitor along with John, the account was successfully logged in. “Oh wow, it works here!” He then looked at the profile picture of a human figure with red eyes and fiery red hair. “Is that how you used to look like as a human!?”

“Um… no. It’s just an anime profile picture…”

“What is that?”

“Basically a type of cartoon made by a certain group of humans back in my world.”

“Ah, I see. So… what’s next?”

John looked around the computer. He only needed two things for the next thing to work, and it seemed like the gamer spiky mouse had it. John turned to Taro. “We’re gonna call a human.”

Taro’s tail and ears perked up upon hearing that. “What!? For real!?” John nodded. “Hold up! How are we supposed to do that? We don’t have contact with anyone at all!”

“That’s why a simple site exists for this very moment. Where we can call a bunch of humans without knowing their contacts, and we can video call them to see what their reaction to us are.”

“What do you mean by reaction?”

“Um… so… to explain a bit, in our world, Pokémon don’t exist. It’s the reason why I was so scared of everything that was happening. You would understand why.” Taro nodded and John immediately thought. ‘I better not explain the “fictional species made by a company” part of the story.’

“I see. Alright then, let’s hope we don’t freak them out too much.” Taro rubbed the back of his head.

“You freak people out? What are you talking about? People will find you cute rather than scary.”

Taro blushed under his fur and looked away, popping his spikes up. “I’m not that cute!”

John chuckled. “Alright, continue denying if you want.” John looked back at the monitor. “Alright, search up Omegle.”

Taro retracted his spikes and started typing. He pressed enter and was immediately shown what John wanted. “Is one of these options the site?”

“Yep, it’s the first one.” John used his whole body to motion the mouse to click on the first option, and it led them right toward the site. “Holy damn… it’s actually Omegle!”

“Um…” Taro read what was under the logo. “Does your species um… love to show off their um…”

“Oh uh… don’t worry about that, and don’t question it…” John clicked on the video option below the warning and logo and checked the two boxes that appeared confirming if he read the terms of services and is over 18 years old.

“W-wait, I’m didn’t even reach 18 years yet! Do you think it’s a good idea for me to appear in the camera?” Taro questioned a bit nervous.

John waved it off. “It’s fine Taro, kids in my world lie about their age all the time on the internet to access adult sites.” The Joltik clicked on the option to allow the camera and microphone, the two important objects necessary for this test.

“Wait, they do that? I wasn’t the only-… forget what I said…” Taro looked away in shame.

“Really just exposed yourself, huh?” He turned back to the Togedemaru’s blushing face.

“Look, everyone gets curious about how it does it look, alright? I’ve seen uh… some wild bug types doing it once…”

John stayed in silence, trying not to think of mental images of bugs doing that. He cleared his throat, looking back at the monitor. They saw Taro in the monitor, meaning that the camera was working. “Anyways… we gotta wait now until someone connects with us.”

John jumped on Taro’s head so he could be seen in the camera as well, while Taro asked. “How long will this take?”

“Depends on the number of people that are using this site right now.”

They waited a couple of seconds while Taro pulled his microphone closer to him until someone actually connected to them. The rodent’s eyes widened at the sight of the human on the monitor. Female, long hair, brown eyes, and some clothing that he couldn’t really identify. John felt a sense of relief wash over him, finally a familiar face in the flesh. Although not that he knew this person, he loved seeing the face of a human once again.

However the human didn’t look the same, and a more WTF expression was on her face. “… huh…?”

“Humans look so pretty…” The rodent muttered under his breath. He struggled to find his words as he shook in anxiety. “H- hi…”

The woman disconnected.

John and Taro just looked at the screen in silence until John spoke. “Um… well that didn’t go as I was expecting…”

“Wow… I didn’t even manage to get my words in…” Taro muttered before trying to look at the spider. “You didn’t tell me female humans looked that pretty. That human looked so judgmentally at me I didn’t know what to say.”

“Well, those are called Karens…” Taro tilted his head. “Internet joke. Anyways, let’s hope that the next one doesn’t immediately leave.”

They got connected with another human, this time a male human with messy black hair, black eyes, and a plastic mask covering his mouth, he was also wearing a black jacket. “Hm…?”

John whispered to Taro. “Do you want me to speak or you can speak with this one?”

“I think I can speak with this one, don’t worry.” The Togedemaru whispered back before clearing his throat. “Hello.”

The human looked at them in silence before speaking up. “Uh… is this… CGI?”

Taro tilted his head before John decided to speak. “No dude, we can confirm that we are not CGI.”

“… Hey Togedemaru.”

Taro flinched a little at the usage of his species name. “M-me?”

“There’s no one else in the room with you that is a spiky ball rodent. Anyways, do something electricity based and prove this is not some filter CGI or something.”

Taro was a bit nervous if this was a good idea, but John needed a reaction from the human, so he complied. “Alright then…” Taro nodded and got out of his chair while John jumped on the ground. The man realized that the filter wasn’t going away no matter where they went and his eyes widened a bit. Taro pushed his chair out of the way so he had a bit more space. “Alright… here I go!” Taro charged a bit of electricity and released a small amount around his body. After five seconds he stopped and looked back at the monitor. “Is… that proof enough…?”

The man had his jaw dropped even his mask fell out of his mouth, making it fully visible. John was waiting for this kind of reaction. ‘Now… what will he do next…?’ John thought.

“Holy shit! Like are you two actually Pokémon!?” Taro looked confused at the response. He thought that humans didn’t know what Pokémon was. He looked at John for an answer and he laughed a bit sheepishly.

“So um… I might’ve not told everything…” He muttered as he looked away. Taro sighed as he grabbed John and pulled his chair back into place, sitting on it. “I’ll tell you after this call.” The Joltik whispered to the rodent’s ear and he nodded, looking back at the screen.

“Yes, we’re actual Pokémon, no filter or CGU or whatever that is…” Taro responded. “What’s your name-“

Suddenly the man got up from his chair. “Wait a minute, I gotta show someone this!” He left from the field of vision of his camera.

Both electric types stayed in silence for a second before Taro spoke up. “So… mind explaining to me what you didn’t tell about us?”

John sighed. “Soooo… Pokémon are kinda… fictional to us. Like they were created as fictional creatures from a gaming company and now they’ve grown to a point that… it’s the richest entertainment company in the world there.”

Taro could only say one thing. “Damn….”

The man came back with a girl that looked to be a six to nine-year-old child. “Look Mavis, those are actual Pokémon!”

“What!? For real!?” The girl asked in disbelief as she looked at the Pokémon on the monitor. “Oh my gosh! What are the names of those two Pokémon? I can’t really remember the names well.”

“The mouse-looking one is called a Togedemaru. And the yellow spider-looking one is called a Joltik.” The man explained pointing at the computer.

“Hi Togedemaru, hi Joltik! You’re both so cute, you know that!?” The girl said ecstatically.

Taro blushed as he started to laugh sheepishly, John didn’t as he disagreed completely with that statement. She must be insane to call something as a bug cute. “Sweet… thanks, I guess…” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, we must go now, goodbye humans!” He quickly whispered to Taro. “Close the connection quickly before this gets even more awkward!”

Taro nodded quickly and pressed the button to switch persons. And they both gave a sigh. “So my species is basically recognizable all over in a world where Pokémon don’t exist?” The rodent asked. “That’s kinda weird…”

“I even wonder how the company even knew of Pokémon in the first place… like, there’s no way they actually guessed everything, ri-” Before he could continue, another person connected, this time, it was two identical girls, both with brown hair.

“Aww, look at them! They look so cute!” One of the girls beamed.

“I wanna grab one of them and hug as a plushy!” The other one said. “Where do you guys live!?”

Both John and Taro were blushing from embarrassment. “We’re not that cute…” Both said in unison before John jumped out of the rodent’s head and motioned the mouse to open a new tab and close the Omegle tab as fast as he could.

“Alright, I think that’s enough of that test…” He said with a sigh.

“I decided that humans make me very uncomfortable… is every human like that…?” The Togedemaru asked.

“Fortunately no. I think we just paired up with the wrong people…” He looked back at Taro. “So… what did you think of that experience?”

“I um… just a bit embarrassing overall… but I don’t think they’re that bad.” He managed to make a slight smile. “So, what’s the next text?”

“Hm… have ever used Discord?”

“I uh… tried it once but didn’t get too far in it.”

John then started typing on the keyboard, stretching his limbs to reach certain keys. After managing to type it, he pressed enter and he saw a bunch of options relating to Discord popping up. He turned to Taro. “I have an idea, could you login to your account?” Taro nodded and switched accounts, logging in on his account. John saw a profile picture of the rodent with a pair of shades and had to hold a snicker. “Alright, log in on Discord, we’re gonna join a server.”

“Those big places with lots of people that the app explained?”

“Yep, we’re gonna join a server, post a photo of the two of us, and see if people believe us or not.” John explained. “Could you take some photos with your phone and upload them to Google Drive? … You know what that is right?”

Taro grinned as he took out his phone. “Yep, I know what that is and how to use it. I’ve been messing with the features of Google since its release. I’ve even made a YouTube channel not that long ago, I play some games in it.”

“Great. Also, I think it’s better for you to take a picture of me while I’m trying to find the perfect server to post these images.” John said while he was motioning the mouse with his whole body. Taro nodded and opened up the camera app, switching to selfie mode. It was a bit hard getting a good angle with his paws, but he managed to snap a few photos. In the photos, John was browsing through the various servers of Discord. After not finding a good one, he decided to input a keyword on the search bar. The Joltik typed “pokemon”, and a bunch of servers appeared related to Pokémon. After he found a pretty popular server, he clicked the join button. “Are the photos ready?”

“Yep!” Taro said as he put away his phone and looked back at the monitor. “Woah… that’s a lot of people with… Pokémon profile pictures?”

“Mind you that these profile pictures are not real, just some art of a Pokémon they like or something like that.”

“Yeah I know, after all, none of these images actually looks taken from real life. So… how do you use a server?”

John went to the monitor and walked on it, pointing towards the things on the screen as he explained. “We can post lots of different things on the respective channel while talking to some people on various topics.” He jumped back to the desk and pointed at the monitor. “This is a Pokémon-related server where people talk about, of course, Pokémon.”

“I see…” Taro said as he opened a new tab. He grabbed the pictures from Google Drive and downloaded the pictures to his PC, he then clicked back on the Discord tab. “So… which of these channels do you think we can post the pictures?”

“Hm… how about the "irl" channel? It means in real life.”

“But won’t that confuse the humans? Won’t they think it’s fake?”

“That’s the point, let’s see what the reactions are. After a bit of inspecting, they’ll realize that it isn’t some super photorealistic art or something.”

“Ah, I see. That’s true.” The rodent clicked on the irl channel and saw various pictures of rooms, neighborhoods, and some beautiful photographs of nature. Taro noticed various similarities that the human world had with the Pokémon world, but of course, he noticed some major differences, especially in some of the vehicles. However, he wasn’t here to compare both worlds, he started typing. “Some pictures of me and my friend John… is that good enough?”

“Yep, sounds real and genuine enough, now put the pictures in the message. Just drag them above the message bar and release them there.” John explained and Taro did it. “Now send.” They sent the message along with the pictures, and after a moment Discord uploaded them. “Now it’s only a matter of time before someone responds.”

“John, uh… I have a question.”

The yellowish jumping spider turned to Taro. “What is it?”

“What’s the point of all these tests? Like, why are you trying to gather reactions from some humans?” The rodent asked tilting his head.

John blinked before sighing. “You see… I was wanting to see their reactions to see if seeing actual live Pokémon in the flesh would cause them any panic.”

“Why?”

“What do you think is gonna happen after a few more weeks with the internet? More Pokémon will start using it. If my people see that the creatures they thought were fictional start appearing, I feel like something really bad is gonna happen on Earth. Panic will rise and humans are known to do some rash things while in panic, I’m afraid that even the rulers there will take some action in trying to contact this world somehow.” Taro looked away in shame. “So, I’m just assuring that it won’t go down to that and they will take Pokémon existence lightly, now do you get it?”

“Yeah, I understand now. I definitely don’t want to be the downfall of another world just because of a fear of a species that cannot even go to that world. But why do you think that would happen?”

“Remember the fear of the unknown?”

Taro remembered about it, but instead of saying a word, he nodded in agreement. He looked back at the monitor. “Oh look! Someone responded to our photos!”

John looked back at the monitor and saw the message.

John sighed. “Well, not everyone would believe it right away…”

Suddenly, the bedroom door opened and Little Z walked in as both electric types looked at it. “It is your lunchtime now Master Wattson, you need to eat to grow stronger and have more electricity running through your body.”

Taro nodded and turned to John. “Wanna come to eat with me?”

John waved it off. “Nah, I can just eat electricity.”

“Come on, like actual food, not some volts.”

John thought about it for a moment. It has been some time since he has eaten something other than electricity, maybe it was time to change that and eat some actual food. “Alright then.” John jumped on Taro’s head before he jumped off his chair. “What are we having for lunch?”

“Pork chops with salad.” The robotic Dellibird explained as they left the bedroom.

Meanwhile, the Discord chat was having a discussion about the pictures.

Chapter Text

Wind was blowing in a forest next to Burgroth. It was a sunny day, bird Pokémon were happily tweeting musically as some of them enjoyed their time with their hatchlings. Budew and Sunkern were enjoying time in the sunlight, nothing interrupting their sunray bathing…

Until an orange lizard with a flaming tail ran past them, the wind trailing behind him blowing them to the shadows of the trees.

“I need… to run away…”

The Charmander was panting, running away from something. It wasn’t fair, he had just woken up in a new body, and after adapting to the body of a fire breathing lizard, some armored dude with swords for hands wanted to kidnap him! So he ran into a town nearby, realized that it was full of monsters, he got scared by some ghost and ran away again, bumping into some fox creature. Now he was here, trying to find a hideout away from all of the monsters of this world. Yet, not a single human to be found. “Where… can I hide in this godforsaken place!?”

“There is nowhere to run, human.”

“N-no…” That voice… he thought he got away from him! What was the sword dude doing here!? “Get away from me, you freak!” The Charmander continued to run, tail swishing behind him. For a moment, he thought he could burn some leaves with his tail to slow the knight, but he quickly dismissed the ideas when he remembered that it also has fire powers.

The fire lizard kept running until he came to a stop… a dead end… “No…” The Charmander, with a scared look on his face, turned around trying to find the knight again. “W-where…” Suddenly, from the shadows, the tall menacing violet knight appeared, its sword hands burning with a purplish blue flame.

“There you are…”

The armored menace slowly started walking towards the Charmander. “What do you want from me!? LEAVE ME ALONE!!!” The lizard shot a fireball at the Ceruledge. However, when the flames hit it, it did nothing as the knight absorbed the flames. The Charmander flinched and started launching more fireballs, although the same result happened until the armored knight sliced one of the fireballs in half with one of their swords.

“I’ll admit, your efforts are admirable. But I’m afraid that this little chase is over.” Suddenly the knight pulled out sack with some sort of ghostly energy and snatched the screaming Charmander, the screaming gone silent. “This one is a bit weaker than the others… but she’ll know what to do with this human…” The sack disappeared in the shadows with the Ceruledge as well.

The Joltik’s eyes shimmered while looking at the food on the table. “Oh my… this looks so good!” There were pots of pans for various type of food, rice and beans, some meat and vegetables, and some berries as well. “I… don’t think I’ll be able to eat everything…”

“Don’t worry about that. At least you’ll finally be eating something that isn’t electricity related.” Taro mused as he took his seat, John jumping on the table. “Little Z takes care of the leftovers.”

“Wait, it can eat as well?”

“Incorrect.” The robotic Dellibird responded. “I can take the food that was left on the table and use it as fuel for incineration. With that, I can change the temperature of my water to use a move called Scald.”

John looked dumbfounded but nodded either way. He then moved towards the bowl of vegetables and took a bite of what he assumed was lettuce. All of his four eyes sparkled at the flavor of the lettuce with toppings. Salt and olive oil made for a good combination for lettuce back in his world, but this world hit different. For some reason, the salt and olive oil felt refreshing and energetic. “Woah… this shit hits different…”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, in my world, salads have the same toppings, but here it’s way different… and way better!” John beamed before taking another small bite of the green vegetable. “So good! Oh, how I missed these!”

“Glad you’re enjoying it!” Taro pulled his already made plate closer. Before he could chomp on the food like all the Togedemaru in the world, Little Z put a fork right in front of his face.

“Remember that all higher class Pokémon should eat with this?” The robot Dellibird reminded.

Taro responded sheepishly. “Thanks Z…” He grabbed the fork with his paw and started using it to grab the food to eat it. As always, the food that the robot cooked for him was great and made him feel relaxed.

“Um… hey Taro?” John suddenly said, turning the attention to him. The spiky rodent tilted his head. “Your core, it’s electric right?”

“Well, it’s electric and steel, but yes, it is part electric.” Taro replied.

“Well, I’ve been thinking… since my core is also part electric, could you possibly teach me an electric attack?”

“Hm…” Taro made a cute thinking face before nodding back to John. “Sure! After you would need more protection for someone of your size. How about we check Discord after dinner first before we start the training?” Taro suggested.

“Sounds good to me.” John said before waddling over to a piece of meat before a faint memory played in his head about the origins of meat in this world. He shook his head. ‘Never mind…' He then went back to bowl of veggies.

After the good meal they had, they went back to Taro’s room. Taro sat on his chair while John jumped onto the desk. “Alright, let’s see the other reactions from the pictures.” The Togedemaru said before he moved his mouse, turning the monitor on again. They saw some of the replies to the pictures in the chat.

“So erm… should we respond them back with all honesty?” Taro asked looking at John.

“Yes, I think it’s best they learn now rather than get panicked later when more Pokémon use the internet.”

Taro nodded then typed.

Several people are typing…

“Is that enough…?” Taro asked looking back at John.

“Hm… yeah, I think that’s enough. We let the chaos in the server calm down a little before responding questions to a lot people as possible to not make them wary.” John explained and the Togedemaru nodded. “So… shall we go train?”

“Yes.” Taro picked up John and put him on his head before making his way towards the backyard. The backyard was way bigger than Claire’s backyard, having wider barbed fences, a tree with a swing on it, and some weird beach chairs. The grass on it was perfectly trimmed as well. “Well, here we are. We have a training room back in the house, but I prefer training in open air.”

“Ah, I see.” John jumped off of Taro and looked towards the tree and admired its beauty before Taro walked to it and placed a white and red target on the stump. “Target practice?”

“Welp, that’s after some stuff we’ll sort out now.” Taro said before turning to John. “Firstly, let’s see what you have first. We know about your unique Grappling Silk, do you have anything more?”

“No… I just basically got the idea of grappling with a String Shot, rather than constricting enemies.”

“Alright, I only saw a bit of it in the dungeon, could you show me again?”

John nodded and looked at the target on the tree. He took a deep breath and focused the energy from his core and shot a mouthful of silk in the middle of the target. Once it latched onto it, he pulled the string and launched itself at the target, landing on it. He then looked back at Taro. “Yeah, that’s the trick.”

“Wow, that looks so cool every time I see it!” The rodent beamed before John jumped back on the ground and Taro cleared his throat, trying to look more professional. “Anyways, since you figured out the bug part of your core, now let’s move on to the electric part!” Taro tapped his cheeks. “You see, every electric type has an electric sac somewhere around their bodies. Mine are on my cheeks like other electric type rodents.” He rubbed his cheeks and little sparks came out. “If I remember correctly… your electric sac is connected somewhere on your mouth, since you have feed on it rather than produce it.”

“Wait, I don’t produce it, I eat it to use it?” The small spider asked.

Taro nodded. “Basically that. And since you haven’t been using it, I suppose… you should be basically overcharged now.”

“Wait… does that mean that I implode if I eat too much without spending some?!” John asked a bit nervous.

“I don’t think so…? I didn’t hear about that happening to any Joltik from what I remember… but hopefully it doesn’t happen. Anyway, let’s put that electricity to use! You know how to draw power from the core already right?” John nodded. “Great! Now try to draw the power from both sides of the core so you can do the move that the Joltik species are known for: Electroweb!”

“Wait, judging from the name, I can electrify my webs?”

The rodent nodded excitedly. “Yep, not only you can trap them, but you can also shock them at the same time! However… that requires a bit more effort… think you can manage it?”

“Well, I need to manage, or else I’ll just be deadweight!” John said. “Anyways… any tips on focusing electric attacks?”

“Well… how I did it first was breathing deeply and a tingly feeling surrounded my body, like I was charged in some sort of way, then I kinda expelled the charged by forcing it out of my body. But since your webs come from your mouth… I think you have to focus the charge on your mouth then spit it out from it.”

“Hm… I’ll try to…” John muttered before looking back at the target. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, pulling the energy from his core again, this time he felt a tingly feeling in his throat along with the usual feel of silk. This was it! He was finally about to tap into his electric counterpart! With that, he launched the silk out of his mouth. Taro saw sparks coiling around the string as it flew directly to the tree thump above the target. The string latched onto the tree, conducting a bit of sparks throughout the thump that dissipated quickly. John opened his eyes and saw the normal spider pattern web letting out a bit of sparks. “Um… is that it?”

“Eh… I think the entire web is made out of electricity but… hey it’s something at least!”

John sighed before nodding, deciding he was okay with the outcome. He looked up, clouds were starting to cover the sky. “So… shall we go back to start answering some questions?”

“Alright then.” The Togedemaru picked the small spider up and put him on his head, starting to head back to his room. “What should we answer them? Should we tell that this in another world?”

“Yeah, might at least calm them down and make them not to look all around Earth for something they’ll never find.” John said.

“Alright then.” Taro said as they headed back to his room.

“You did well today young Claire, we shall see your skills improved next class, understood?” A Samurott said to the fire Vulpix before bowing as she bowed back.

“Yes master Kofu!” Claire beamed before raising her head and walking over to her bag, checking her phone. “Hm… 3 o’clock… I think there still time for John to call his friend!” Claire said to herself, putting her phone back on the bag and putting on the small backpack. She then left the Ginikofu dojo and started rushing back to the outskirts of town.

The Ginikofu dojo stayed a bit away from Town, on the local forest. Pokémon could normally walk there with no issue since the path there wasn’t territory to any wild Pokémon. So it was safe place that even a Caterpie could walk to the guild without help.

Claire’s only thoughts on her head at the moment was about John and his human friend. What would his human friend look like? Would they even recognize John in his new form? She shrugged off her thoughts once she came to a stop as her ears twitched. She felt a presence, lurking somewhere around the trees. The crack of the leaves and snapping of tree branches sounded close. “Who’s there?” Claire looked around, trying to spot someone. “Hello…?”

She looked up, the sky was turning grey. “Dang, it’s going to start raining… I better pick up my pa-”

SNAP!

Claire looked behind her and saw something that made her heart jump, and fill her with a sense of dread. She saw a grey Charmander looking downwards, that looked like it was made out of bones, there was a crack on the top of its head along with some parts of its body. The tail was segmented like the bones from an actual tail, and at the tip of it was a purple flames. What terrified Claire the most however was the gaping hole in its chest, showing the ribcage and purple flame that replaced the heart. “What the…”

The strange Charmander lifted its head and showed its face to Claire. Its mouth had no lips, just showing the entirety of the mouth along with the sharp teeth, the eyes were also hollow holes as well that freaked Claire out by just looking at it. Suddenly, purple dots appeared in the holes of the eyes and they looked exactly towards Claire. It was shaking uncontrollably, almost looking like a horror monster from a movie. “Monster…” It spoke in a ghostly voice. It recognized the fox, it bumped into the demon, but it fled before they could kill it. “I need to get rid of them all…”

“H-huh? What do you me-”

The skeletal lizard screeched before charging towards the Vulpix. “Die…!”

Chapter Text

“Die…!” Claire sidestepped out of the way, dodging from a Bite, whatever this thing was, she did not want to get hit. The skeletal Charmander slowly looked back at the Vulpix, shaking uncontrollably as it tried to charge at her again, the same result happening.

“What is wrong with you?! Who are you, and what happened to you!?” Claire asked, however, it seemed like the Charmander didn’t want to talk as it tried to scratch her, completely ignoring the fox’s questions. ‘Seems like it’s not here for a talk… but why does it want to kill me!?’ Claire thought as she dodged another slash. “Fine, if you want a fight, then so be it!”

The Charmander screeched again before charging at the Vulpix again, who this time stood there and shot a fireball at the Charmander’s face. Even though it seemed that it didn’t do much, the skeleton screeched before putting its claws on its face. “It hurts, it hurts, it hurts…!!!” It looked back at the monster! That proves it, they want to kill it, they want to kill it, they want to kill it, kill it, kill it, kill it kill- “I’m not letting you kill me you monster!” Claire tilted her head before recoiling at seeing the Charmander’s chest flame glow and letting out purple flames directly at Claire. She barely managed to roll out of the way as she looked in the direction of the purple fireballs. The Vulpix saw the balls of flame impact a tree, however, it seemed to do no damage whatsoever to the trunk.

“Wait… what?” Claire muttered before looking back at a roaring skeleton Charmander that was in her face, who managed to hit her on the side with a Scratch. “Gah!” She retreated back a bit, blood dripping from the gash. She gritted her teeth as she tried ignoring the pain from her wound. The fire fox considered if it was a good idea to call for help. ‘No! I can’t chicken out now, I’m supposed to be the best explorer that ever was, this will be my test to prove it!’

Claire then ran back towards the skeleton and it started shaking uncontrollably again. “Stay, stay, stay, stay away from me! Die…!” The Charmander let out more of those purplish flames, Clare sidestepping them while getting closer to the skeletal lizard. The Vulpix then summoned purple flames of her own around her and launched them towards the Charmander. It flinched as it got hit, although it didn’t feel any pain, its whole body was starting to burn. “It burns! Oh god, it burns…!” The skeletal lizard then fell on its back, convulsing, squirming, and trashing. “Make it stop! God, make it STOP….!”

“...” Claire just looked confused at the whole display, on edge trying to see what the strange Pokémon would do. However, it just kept screaming on the ground. “Um… can I honestly help you-” Her ear twitched and she looked to her side to find a violet armored Pokémon with swords for hands. “Who are you!?”

The swordsman stood silent before going towards the squirming Charmander. He just looked at the lizard before speaking. “Pathetic, losing to a kid? I expected more from your kind.”

“Hey!” The Ceruledge looked back to the Vulpix, giving her the side-eye. “What’s going on here!? What did you do to that Charmander!?”

“It is none of your business kid. You saw nothing here…” The armored Pokémon started sinking into the ground with ghostly powers, pulling the Charmander with him.

“Answer me!” Claire demanded before charging at them both with fire coming out of her mouth. She pounces at them, aiming her fire at the armored menace. However, one of the swords of Ceruledge extends and slashes Claire across the chest, sending her backward towards a tree. The Vulpix slumps to the ground, her vision blurring as she saw the two disappear. Her chest burned, she tried to get back on her feet, but immediately failed. “No… come… back…”

After the two disappeared, she heard a shout in the distance, someone was calling her name. “John… help… me…” She then closed her eyes as she fell unconscious on the grass.

…

“Hey, Claire! Are you alright?”

“Oh, um… I was just thinking about something, nothing much…”

“Claire…?”

Claire looks towards him. “Yes?”

“Is it really a good idea to go to that dungeon?”

“Of course! We need to get stronger, or else our dream of forming an exploration team won’t be realized! That was the promise we made together, remember? So don’t go telling excuses just because you’re scared! You hear?”

“Of course not!” The Riolu started running, with Claire following behind him. “So… to Mt. Gelo we goooooooOoOOOOOOOOoooo-!”

. . .

[Help me…-]

“That’s right! Let’s beat that dungeon-!”

. . .

[So cold… it’s so cold…]

“You and me! Together we’re unstoppable-! H31pm3#@$&#&@”

. . .

A Riolu appeared in the darkness, looking at her. Bits of his body were covered in snow, he was missing his right arm, his tail, and his left ear, and one of his eyelids was running frozen blood down to their cheek...

[Claire… HELP ME-]

In an instant, a hole pierced right through his chest, bursting with blood as an icicle spear could be seen coming out of it.

[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-]

“HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIROOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” Claire woke up, panting and crying. She coughed from her screams, her whole body ached and her chest felt even worse. After managing to calm down and slow down her breathing, she checked her surroundings. It appeared that she was in some kind of hospital room, on a hospital bed. She looked down and saw that her torso was covered in bandages. There was a tube connected to her leg, that led to an IV bag. “Where… am I…?”

She remembers walking back from the dojo… then finding a weird ghostly like Charmander, then it ran away with the help of a Ceruledge. She remembers his eyes being red, however. What was that all about, she asked herself mentally. ‘What did that Pokémon do with that Charmander, and why it was like that…?’

Suddenly, the door to the hospital room opened and a yellow and purple Goodra in a white and blue wet uniform entered the room. “Glad to see ya awake.” The slimy dragon said in a smooth female voice. Upon further inspection, Claire noticed that her tail had three pointed ends and had a bit of scales in it. The Goodra continued. “How are ya feelin'?”

“Well… my chest still aches a bit and my head hurts a little…” She said lowering her head. “Also… how bad is it from under the bandages?”

“Well, fortunately, the wound ain’t that deep. However, if whoever did that slash went five centimeters deeper, ya  would’ve been in a very critical state.”

‘Did he… want me to live? Why?’ Claire thought.

“At any case, ya survived and that’s what matters.” The slug dragon smiled. “Also, ye parents are coming to see ya.”

Claire nodded, but couldn’t help but ask. “How long have I been asleep?”

“For four hours. It’s currently 7:35 in the night.”

“I see… wait! John! I gotta pick him up!” Claire stood up hastily but the nurse grabbed her with her slimy paws and made the fox sit on the bed again.

“Calm down! Ya can’t just waltz outta 'ere without any medic saying so. Ya need to wait this one out until ya begin to feel better, aight?”

“B-but my friend! I need to get him back to my house!”

The nurse put her paws on her hips. “Don’t ‘cha worry, we’ll notify ye parents ta get him latah. Now calm down, aight?”

Claire looked away and sighed before nodding at the Goodra.

“Aight. Also, I forgot, there’s someone wantin’ to see ya. A detective as he said. He wanted ta question ya when ya woke up. Do ya mind if let him in?” Claire shook her head. “Aight. He’ll be here shortly.” The nurse then left the room.

Claire couldn’t take her mind off something. That Charmander, it called her a monster before. Earlier that day, a normal Charmander called Pokémon monsters in general… was there a coincidence? “That Charmander… what did he mean by monsters…”

The door of the room opened again, revealing a Scizor that, unlike others of its species, had thick antennas. He was wearing a scarf covering his mouth and neck. “Excuse me, Miss Claire.” The Scizor walked towards her and sat on a stool beside her bed. “Are you feeling well?”

“Um… yes, I am.”

“That’s very good to know.” He sighed, leaning closer towards Claire with a more serious look. “You know what I’m here for, the nurse explained to you, right?” Claire nods. “Good. So… let’s start from the beginning. From what I know… a teenager, AKA you, suddenly was injured on a safe path in a trail, where no wild Pokémon could ever think of harming someone since they can’t have a territory. Yes, even though small bug types could make nests there, they aren’t very brave to suddenly attack someone who got close to their nests, or even have the power to harm a Pokémon like you that badly.”

“Yes… you’re right… I go through that path every Saturday.”

“Of course. I also went to personally investigate the area, I talked with a Samurott named Kofu who is supposedly your teacher, is that correct?”

The Vulpix nodded. “Yeah, he is my battle teacher.” Claire never would have expected to participate in an investigation before. Why was there an investigation happening? What is currently happening in the shadows of Burgroth? “He has a kind heart and just wants to see kids knowing how to defend themselves.”

The Scizor leaned back, crossing his arms as his antenna relaxed. “Alright. He told me you went alone and returned alone from his class. No one else left immediately after you except for Kofu himself after he noticed you had left an object there. That’s when he saw you wounded. So… if it wasn’t him…” The detective looked sharply at Claire. “Could you tell me what exactly happened since you left the dojo?”

Claire nods and starts explaining. “So… on the way back to town, I got the feeling someone was following me… and after I spotted the Pokémon… or should I even say Pokémon…?” The Scizor tilted his head. “Whatever it was, it looked like some skeleton-looking Charmander, with a purple flame at the end of its tail. It also had a… huge hole in its chest exposing its ribcage and another purple flame…”

The Scizor’s antennas rose up a little. “Can you remember if that creepy-looking Charmander said anything?”

“Well… it said things like he needs to kill every monster, and basically saw me as a monster for some reason…”

“Hm… anything more to add?”

“Well… it also looked like a scared creature in my opinion, I tried talking to it, but… it only wanted my death it seems.” The Vulpix then frowned. “I don’t know if it was just coincidence or not but… earlier today, a normal Charmander bumped into me, and called Pokémon in general monsters, then ran away. That was in Burgroth.”

“… Interesting…” The detective had a puzzling look, putting a pincer on his chin. “Proceed.”

Claire nodded then continue. “After I managed to burn it with my Will-o-Wisp, a Ceruledge with red flaming eyes appeared and grabbed the Charmander to run away.”

“Did they say anything?”

“They… called the Charmander pathetic and then said something about it losing to a kid. I think they said that their type was supposed to be strong or something…” Claire sighed. “As I saw they were escaping through the shadows, I tried to stop them and…” She looked away in shame a little“... Now I’m here…”

The Scizor leaned back on his stool making a thinking face before nodding. “Have you heard about the rumors about… Corrupted Pokémon?”

Claire looked back at the detective and tilted her head. “What are those?”

“Corrupted Pokémon, as the rumors call them, are Pokémon that started appearing suddenly across the whole world. No one knows where they came from, and why more keeps appearing. But there is one running theory going around that sounds plausible.” He gave a pause, looking back at Claire. “Humans-turned-Pokémon are disappearing left and right, without a trace. Pokémon suspect that there is some evil organization kidnapping them for their own profit. Using their knowledge from the world they came from to build the most money-making machines they can.” The Scizor crosses his arms. “Other rumors go as extreme as some companies using the knowledge of the humans to try to invade their world.”

Claire couldn’t help but let her eyes widen in shock. “Is that true…?”

“Like I said, just rumors, nothing believable. But now with your testimony… I may have an idea of what’s truly happening…” The Scizor said before getting off the stool and adjusting his scarf. “Thank you for your time, Miss Claire. I shall go now, take care and please, let the professionals handle criminals, alright?” He looked back at her with expectancy.

“I understand…” Claire said with hesitance.

“Also, one more thing. Keep what you know about Corrupted Pokémon a secret, alright? If one of the suspects like that Ceruledge ever notices there is someone spilling the beans about them, who knows what will happen to you or your family.”

“Okay then…”

The detective nodded and then left the room, leaving Claire to sigh. “I didn’t know John could become a victim if he isn’t careful… I need to protect him at all costs… I can’t lose him…” She gripped the bedsheets with her claws, before releasing them more calmly.

The door opened again and the same nurse Goodra came out of the door. “Claire? Ye parents are ‘ere.” She said before Claire nodded.

The ice and fire Ninetales entered the room and rushed to the bed where their daughter was. “Claire! Are you alright!?” Reya asked worried.

“What happened to you?” Izo asked concerned.

“Well… a long story…”

Chapter Text

“Excuse me, WHAT?!” John blurted out in shock. “What do you mean she’s in the hospital!?”

Claire’s parents arrived at Taro’s house to pick up John and tell him the news on the way back. John was in disbelief at what he heard. Claire was hurt and brought to the hospital. How could a thing like that happen out of nowhere while he was away from her?

“It is true.” The ice Ninetales said while walking. “When she was returning from her battle class, she was attacked by shady Pokémon she said. Although, her explanation seemed pretty vague for some reason… ”

“What does she mean by shady Pokémon?”

Reya spoke. “She said it was some kind of skeletal Charmander and a Ceruledge with red eyes…”

John tilted his head in curiosity. “What’s a Ceruledge? I don’t think I’ve heard of this Pokémon before.”

“They are violet-colored armored Pokémon that have swords for limbs.” Izo stated. “Honestly, they might seem evil just from their looks and history in the world, but not all of them are like that, met one myself, and she was pretty nice.” He looked down. “Although, if word gets out of a Ceruledge causing trouble, their species might receive hate again…”

‘What does that remind me of…? Oh yeah, the American Police Department…’ John thought. “Let’s hope the media doesn’t press too much, after all, she’s okay and she will heal. It will be like nothing happened, just a slight scare.”

Reya sighed. “If things get more dangerous like that, we need to think about the safety of the children…” She turned to Izo with a frown. “What should we do…?”

The ice fox made a thinking face. “Honestly, we don’t know if she was targeted or not, but I think it was just an unfortunate timing and crossing of paths. So I guess we just have to hope that it doesn’t happen again…”

“I see…”

“Hey uh… when’s Claire gonna come back from the hospital?” John asked.

“Well…” The ice fox began. “They said that she’d be free tomorrow morning, since she’s mostly fine and just suffered cut wounds.”

“I hope that’s the case…” John muttered to himself. Something about this story was bothering him, there was never a skeletal Charmander in the games… was there?

The Ninetales and the Joltik arrived at the house. John jumped off of Reya’s back and onto the couch, where Reya sat next to him. Meanwhile, Izo went back to his room to remove his only piece of clothing. The fire kyubi beside John groaned. “Ugh, is it just me or the world is getting more stressful these days?”

“I mean… it gets like that when you become an adult…” John said with a sigh.

“Oh yeah… I forgot you were an adult in your old life.” She said in realization. She then leaned closer to John. “So, how stressful was your life back then?”

“Well… it wasn’t that stressful, I had a nice and easy job, had good friends… although I feel like the guy I paid rent for was exploiting me…” John admitted, looking away in suspicion before shrugging. “But well, overall it wasn’t that stressful. Although I think it’s because I didn’t live very long…”

“Oh wow, that’s interesting!” Reya said in a better mood. “So dear, how different was your world from ours?”

“Honestly… it isn’t that much different… I honestly thought you guys were gonna be a bit more… eh… how can I say this without making you have a feeling of inferiority?”

Reya giggled. “Come on you can say it. I don’t care about comparisons.”

John hesitated before saying to her face. “I thought that Pokémon would be a bit more… savage and wild… like animals…”

“What’s an animal?”

“Uh… do you have a phone? I think it’s better if I show you instead of just explaining it.”

Suddenly, a phone floats out of one of the fire fox’s tails and flies towards John, making the little spider flinch in surprise. “Here you go. You’re gonna use that handy search app to show what you mean?”

“Yeah… I uh…” He grabs the phone and puts it on the couch. “I will…” ‘Did she even notice that the internet is connected to my world yet?’

Reya tilted her head. “Something wrong?”

“N-nothing!” John sheepishly said as he began to tap. Fortunately, the touch screen works with his pointy nubs as well. He searched the word “foxes” on Google and put it on the image options. A bunch of pictures of normal foxes appeared on the screen. “Well, there are many types of animals in my world, like… millions, and this is one of them.”

Reya grabbed the phone with her psychic again and looked at the pictures. “Oh my… I can see why you’d make the comparison, we remind you of them, don’t we?”

“Erm… not only you but lots of other Pokémon… because foxes are only an example…”

“Oh… and here I thought the word fox was only a minor insult. To think there’s actually a species like that in your world. What kind of other animals there are in your world?”

“Well… there are the birds, the fishes, the cats and dogs… like I said, it’s a lot. Also… I forgot to mention that they are non-sentient, they live purely on instinct.” John said the last part a bit nervous.

The Ninetales put a paw on her chin. “Just like the Mystery Dungeon Pokémon…”

“What about the Mystery Dungeon Pokémon?” Asked Izo as he came from the bathroom.

Reya floated the phone over to her husband. “Oh, John was talking about creatures called animals that live in his world. Apparently, they look like Pokémon but they act like Dungeon Pokémon!”

Izo adjusted his glasses as he made a curious look at the phone. “Oh wow… I can honestly see the similarities… they look cute if I’m being honest.” He then looked at John. “So John, tomorrow you and me are gonna go to Obelisk High to apply you there.”

“Uh… why should I go…?” John asked a bit concerned.

“Well, you should get acquainted with the school so you’d have an easier time being there on your first day.”

“Well… you’re right about that…” The Joltik sighs. “I can’t believe I’m gonna start school again… hopefully it goes better than last time…”

“Last time…?” Reya asked.

“Oh uh… nothing, just thinking about the last time I was in a school. But don’t worry, it wasn’t that bad.” He said reassuringly.

“Well, if you say so.” The ice fox looked at his wife. “Are you gonna cook dinner this time or... was it my turn?”

Reya just sighed. “Oh, dear…” Suddenly, an apron flew from the kitchen and tied itself to Izo’s neck. “There you go.” She chuckled.

“Ah… my turn it seems…” He chuckled before sighing, going to the kitchen.

Dinner was pleasant, Elsa wasn’t that much of an annoyance this time, since she paid more attention to the phone rather than the others. John said to the pair of Ninetales that he wanted to eat actual food rather than just electricity, so they made him a plate that consisted of small parts of vegetables and small pieces of meat. John didn’t eat the meat so Elsa ate it from his plate before saying “Better having me eating prestigious meat rather than wasting on a lowly bug.” That was the last thing she said before going to her room to sleep.

After dinner, they all went to bed and slept soundly.

“There’s no way…”

“What?”

“The cars in this universe are freaking Pokémon as well!?”

John and Izo went inside the garage beside the Ninetale’s house, which John did not see before because he was focused on other things. Inside the garage, they found some strange kind of car that had rocky wheels, no ceiling, and five leather-made seats like normal cars had. In front of the glass, was an engine with two yellow eyes and a weird mouth. “Got a problem with that, bug?”

Izo started explaining. “That is a Varoom, John. They are Pokémon that were born once the first engines in this world were created.”

“Heh, the bug doesn’t know basic history? Can tell since it’s the size of a baby.” The engine chuckled. “So Iz, who’s the Joltik?”

“Oh, it’s just… a special Joltik we decided to take in.” The ice Ninetales said as he entered the car. “Don’t question him, he’s shy around new people.”

“If ya say so. Where are yer going chief?” The Varoom asked as the sound of an engine starting could be heard and the car started floating?

‘What the hell!? The car floats!?’ John realized when he noticed they were above ground level.

“Obelisk High please.” Izo said as John realized another thing, there were no pedals or steering wheel. The engine was controlling the car itself!

“Ya got it Iz.” The cylinder behind the car flared as it expelled some smoke as the car left the garage.

The ride was less bumpy and less fast than he expected. After all, it was a freaking car engine that was also a Pokémon! How cool and dumb was that? It made the car float for some reason, which was a bit strange. But hey, at least the flying cars from the future existed here, it was a fact that made John chuckle mentally.

The Joltik also noticed there weren’t a lot of them running around the streets of the town. He guessed it was probably because it was a kind of recent technology, or perhaps it was because this was a small town. What impressed him however was the fact the poisonous fumes coming out from the cylinder of the car disappeared almost immediately after being expelled from the car. ‘Man, my world needs one of these Pokémon for sure.’

“John?” Izo started and John looked at him. “Do you have a plan on what to say if they start questioning your baby size?”

“Hm… I could say that I’m just smaller sized than usual Joltiks, and I’m actually a teenager.”

“You’re gonna fake your age?”

“Yep, I’m probably gonna say that I’m… 15 years old, how does that sound?”

Izo let out a chuckle. “Heh, alright then, and what if that doesn’t work?”

John put a nub on his chin, looking up while thinking. “Hm… probably leave the rest to you.” He pointed his nub at the Ice Ninetales.

“I’d advise not leaving those situations to me, because honestly… I’d freeze.”

“Uh… fine then. I guess I’ll come up with stuff along the way.”

After a couple of minutes, they finally arrived at Obelisk High. Izo grabbed John, putting the Joltik on his back before leaving the car. “Thanks, Sentra. After this, we’re gonna pass Nuts and Bolts for a snack, sounds good for you?”

“Perfect Iz, can’t wait for that!” A small tongue came out of the mouth of the engine, licking his lips. That made John a tad bit uncomfortable seeing that.

Izo then entered the school along with John on his back. The school was quieter than the last time John was here. Definitely, because it was Sunday and there were no classes, John assumed. Izo entered a room labeled Secretary, where there were a lot of drawers and cabinets lying around, two desks with computers and papers littered around. Behind the desks, there were two Pokémon, one white and grey colored bipedal goat-like creature, that had curled horns. The other Pokémon was pink and skin-colored, with blue eyes and elephant like ears, below the ears two auditory thing that John did not recognized.

The female Indeedee was on the phone, while the Audino was on the computer, the latter spotting the Ice fox. “Oh, good morning sir. What brings you here? Does it have to do with one of your daughters?”

Izo approached the Audino’s desk. “Good morning, I actually came here for something else…”

The secretary tilted her head. “What is it?”

John jumped out of the Ninetales’ back and landed on the desk. He looked up to the Audino, who was looking at him with confusion. “Hi…”

The Audino looks back at Izo. “Is… is this a joke?”

“Judging from his emotions…” The Indeedee said looking at them after putting the phone away. “Apparently not.” She looked specifically at the Joltik. “John, eh? Weird name for a Joltik.” John flinched at hearing his name.

The Audino looked back at the Joltik. “Don’t worry, Mila can just read your name from a distance, not actually peer into memories without touching you. But anyways…” She leaned in on the desk, supporting her head with her paws. “Why are you the size of a baby?”

John mentally panicked before clearing his throat mentally. He practiced this potential scene in the car on his head. He can do this! “Heh… I get that a lot… I’m actually 15 years old.” John said with a sheepish smile.

“Ah, I see…” The Audino leaned back before turning her head to the Indeedee. “Mila, could you grab the papers please?”

The Indeedee nodded and lifted her paw, which started glowing with a purple glow. A cabinet opened and some papers came out flying directly to the Audino’s desk. “There you go.”

“Thanks, Mila.” She turned back to John. “If you want to explore the school while the papers are being filled out, you are free to go.”

The Joltik looked back at Izo, questioning. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this kid, no worries.”

John nodded before jumping off the desk and leaving the room. “Well… that was easier than expected… Izo even went in with my play…” He muttered as he started walking along the school halls. “Now… what to do and where to go in the meanwhile…?”

He needed to get acquainted with the school as best as he could before the first day. So he started exploring, seeing the various classrooms, the courtyard, and last but not least, the cafeteria. In the cafeteria, he saw a Pokémon. “Holy shit…” It looked like some kind of lizard combined with a hammerhead land shark, with spikes coming out of its arms and legs and sharp claws. It was currently mopping the ground. ‘I’m just gonna…’

As John started taking steps back, the Garchomp looked at the Joltik and they locked eyes for a moment. The land shark let out a groan and said in a raspy male voice. “Not another one…” It said before raising the mop and literally flying towards John at high speeds. The Joltik let out a scream before he started to run away, avoiding the hits from the mops.

‘What the fuck, what the fuck, WHAT THE FUCK!?’ John thought as he started running on the walls of the halls, while the Garchomp kept trying to hit him with the mop.

“Stay still! Just gonna knock you out real quick!” The janitor shouted.

“Wrong bug, WRONG BUG!!!” John shouted, but it seems the Garchomp didn’t stop to listen, as it kept trying to hit him with the mop. The Joltik used the Grappling Silk, grappling away to a locker and avoiding a swing from a janitor’s deadliest weapon. “Chill dude, chill!!!”

“You picked the wrong school, fool!” The Garchomp shouted as it was about to hit John. However, the Joltik tapped into his electric powers from his core to let out an octagon-shaped web that was running with electricity, hitting the snout of the land shark.

“Yes!”

However, the janitor felt nothing, not even making him paralyzed. “Pathetic.”

“… shit…”

The land shark finally managed to hit the Joltik, baseball style, knocking him away from the locker and onto the ground.

“Ngh… ow…” John looked at the Garchomp again, trying to get up but immediately failing because of the pain. The Garchomp was approaching him. “I swear… I ain’t like the other bugs…!”

“Say that to the others that came before you saying the same thing…” The land shark lifted the mop above him, ready for the final strike. John braced as the Garchomp brought the mop down-

“STOP!”

Another voice stopped the Garchomp in his tracks, John opened his eyes to see the source of the new voice. It seemed to be a… what even is that Pokémon? It had a Disco ball-looking head. The head was white with pink and blue small balls, that looked like LED lights, and was floating above the wide white neck of the creature. The rest of its body looked like the outfit of a clown, with white, pink, and blue pom-poms on its legs and chest area. There was only one thing in John’s mind now. ‘What in the actual fuck is that…?’

“Director Piero? Why did you stop me?” The Garchomp asked confused.

‘THAT THING IS THE DIRECTOR!?’ John blurted out mentally.

“Oh silly, didn’t you realize yet?” The Blacephalon walked towards John, grabbing his head with his hands and putting it right in front of the Joltik, eyeing the bug with one of the yellow eyes on the side of his head. “This little Joltik isn’t a feral!”

“He’s…  he’s not?” The Garchomp said confused.

John looked up annoyed at the Garchomp. “I’ve been trying to tell you that the WHOLE TIME!”

“O-oh…” The Garchomp looked away embarrassed. “Sorry for erm… the trouble. Now if you excuse me…” The land shark walked away, not even looking back.

John sighed in relief that whole ordeal is over, but immediately flinched once the director grabbed him, putting the green spider face to face with a disco ball-like head. “Now young one, might tell me who are you and why are you here on a Sunday morning?”

“Uh… name’s John and uh… my dad… is signing some papers for me to apply to this school…” ‘Hope Izo doesn’t get weirded out by that later…’

The Blacephalon’s head started spinning in excitement. “Oh, a new student! I’m glad to meet you! My name is Piero, and I’m the director of Obelisk High!”

“Nice to meet you too but erm… I’m kinda curious… how does your body work…?”

“Oh, it’s just my species' things, don’t worry about it!” With a free hand, he took off his head from his body. “I can even make my head explode!”

John looked at the head of the weird Pokémon in disbelief. “Wait, what-!?” Suddenly, the director’s head exploded into colorful lights like a firework, making John shield himself from the explosion. However, instead of being hurt, John felt a bit… weaker. Like some of his strength was just sapped away from him. He started to limp a little. “Ugh… what… happened…?”

The head of the Blacephalon appeared from the hole in that clown cloth, inflating like a balloon. “Holy Baloney! That vital force coming from you felt amazing! I never had tasted something like that from a Pokémon before…” He spun his head again, stopping when one of his eyes was facing John. “What are you hiding behind that tiny body of yours?”

“Ngh… I’m…” John felt so tired, he couldn’t get his thoughts straight. “I am…”

“Ah, there you are!”

A voice called out, John looked at the source while also feeling his energy returning. That voice was Izo’s. The ice fox walked to them and John stammered. “I-Izo…?”

“Was looking for you little ma-” He then turned to Piero before he sheepishly smiled as he realized who that was. “A-ah… Director Piero, nice to see you again!”

“Nice to see you too Izo!” The Director’s head turns and one of the yellow LED eyes looks at Izo. “So, what brings you here to the school?”

“Well, I was signing papers so that little one in your hand applies to Obelisk High.”

Piero tilts his head in confusion, before spinning his head to John and then Izo again. “You’re his… dad?”

Izo flinched at that claim. “I- I’m sorry wha-”

John jumped at the ice Ninetales’ back, interrupting him. “Hey, Dad! You done with the papers?”

The ice fox was slow to respond, trying to process everything said to him. “O-Ooh, yep little man!” He adjusted his glasses. “Your… big mon has successfully applied you in! The secretaries said you can start school tomorrow!”

“Alright, dad!” The Joltik looked back at the Director who was looking at them with an unknown expression. “See ya, Mr. Piero!”

“See you sometime John, I hope you like the school!” The Director said as Izo and the new student of Obelisk High waved back and left. Piero saw them turn a corner as they left his view. The Blacephalon couldn’t help but think. ‘That small Joltik’s vital force… it wasn’t anything that could ever be possible inside of a normal Joltik… he’s hiding something.’ He then just shrugged and walked away. “Ah, who cares what he is, a new student is always a pleasure!”

Izo sighed as he entered the car with John. “Dad… seriously…?” He asked looking at John with a frown.

“Look sorry, but it was basically the best thing I could come up with. ‘Sides uh… I kinda see you as a dad to me… you’ve been treating me well ever since I came to this world.” John said, feeling the vibrations of the car as it started moving. “I… don’t think I even thanked you yet…”

The fairy and ice type blushed from the compliment, adjusting his glasses.  “Well, you’re welcome John… listen… if a window of opportunity lets you travel back to your world and this one freely, just know you’re always welcome in our house, alright?”

“Really…?”

“Yep, a hundred percent.”

John smiled at Izo behind his fuzz. “Thank you Izo.” They both smiled at each other as the ride continued. Instead of the car going back to their house, the Varoom made a stop at a place called “Nuts and Bolts”, where Varooms and Revavrooms went to eat along with the passengers of the car. The Varoom detached itself from the car to eat… whatever that was inside the canister. “Pokémon are weird creatures…” John muttered. However… that reminded him of the Director. “Oh yeah, uh… Izo?”

The Ninetales looked at him. “Yeah? What’s up?”

“So um… about the Director… what’s up with him? What kinda Pokémon is he? Something about him just… ticks me off for some reason.”

“Ah yes, you wouldn’t know that yet. So… Piero isn’t a Pokémon.”

John tilted his head at that statement. “What? Really…?”

“Yeah, his species is what is known as an Ultra Beast. Those are creatures that came from other worlds caused by a certain incident in the past… although they are similar to Pokémon, they do contain cores as well.”

John was dumbfounded. Really. Aliens from other dimensions? Well… he supposed he counted as an alien from another dimension as well. Although… what did he mean by the incident? “What happened in the past for these creatures to appear here…?”

“So… to summarize… a god of light from another world was left stranded on this world. They, for some reason, lost all of their light. However, a human-turned-Pokémon helped them to regain the light that they lost, but… it made them lose control after staying without it for so long. So as a result, it summoned portals everywhere from other worlds, bringing the Ultra Beasts into this world.”

John was so intrigued with the history lesson that he wanted to know the rest. “Oh damn… what happened next…?”

“That human, if I remember correctly was a female Pokémon, pushed that light deity into one of those portals they created, sacrificing herself to save the world. Both the light deity and the woman were never seen again.”

John felt pity for that human. She never got back to her world, and her family never saw her again. Hopefully, John doesn’t end like that, at least he still has a way to talk to the people he loves in that world. “So… what happened to the Ultra Beast then…?”

Izo sighed. “So you see, the Ultra Beasts are… a difficult topic to talk about… some of them were... dangerous to this world. There was a kind of Ultra Beast that ate everything in its way, so with a lot of effort, Pokémon had to put it down. Some others were intelligent, they either went to find a way back to their world or decided to stay in this one because some said, and I quote "Better than a fiery pit of death and destruction".”

“Wow, uh… this world went through a lot…”

“Yeah, but at least everything is better now… well, until the next cataclysmic event happens that is…”

John muttered to himself looking away. “Hopefully not…”

They finally arrived home. After waving their goodbyes to Sentra, they were at the front door of their house. “So… Claire should be back, right?”

“Well, the hospital said she was going to be liberated today, so I hope she is back.” Izo said as he unlocked the door and opened it. After opening the door, they realized something concerning. It was quieter than usual, not even Claire jumping at John or her dad. “Guys…? We’re home!”

Then out of a corner, Claire came out of a door, instead of being in her usual excited glee, she looked quite concerned and worried. “H-hey dad… hi John…”

“Claire, you’re back!” Izo beamed with relief. “Is something wrong…?” John jumped on top of Izo’s head, tilting his head. He felt worried that something happened to Claire.

“Well, nothing’s wrong… it’s just… we have a visit…”

“From… who…?” John said the suspense was slowly bringing an old feeling of anxiety back.

Claire gulped. John thought if Claire was a human, she would be sweating right now. “So um… please don’t freak out… she’s just here to talk…”

 John was not liking where this was going. “… Freak out because of what…?”

Suddenly, from the same corner that Claire came, a Galvantula appeared and stood beside Claire. John was starting to shake a lot at the sight of that… that thing! His Jaw dropped while looking at his own mother. “Hello, my dear child.”

That was the breaking point, where John just let out a scream.

Chapter Text

Finally, Claire was out of the hospital! She was so excited to go back home, especially knowing what she would do with John there. She could not contain her excitement of knowing what a human looks like originally. Even though she could probably search on that app that supposedly knows everything, Claire could hold her excitement to experience the actual thing in the flesh.

The Vulpix was walking along the sidewalk, being careful of her surroundings. If there were Pokémon turning humans into something like that Charmander, she has to be careful. Because she doubts that is the work of only one Ceruledge. While walking, she carefully looked around, trying to spot anyone trying to act suspicious. However, she was not paying attention in front of her, so she bumped into a Pokémon, making her flinch. “Ack!” She quickly shook her head. “Sorry wasn’t paying atten-” She finally realized what Pokémon in front of her… a Galvantula. “Huh!?”

The electric tarantula looked at Claire and she flinched along with the fox. “You’re…”

“You’re…”

Suddenly, the Galvantula did something unexpected and bowed, lowering the front half of her arachnid body. “I’m sorry.”

“. . . what…?”

The tarantula looked up to Claire. “I’m truly sorry for attacking your team and capturing your schoolmates. I am honestly glad that you managed to knock me out.” Claire was looking around with confusion before looking back at the Galvantula as she continued. “If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have thought about that all of this seemed off!”

“Wait, what do you-”

The arachnid raised her body again as she interrupted Claire. “Think about it! There’s no way a hatchling that was born days ago could learn to speak so well, and those abilities he demonstrated during our battle are things that even a nymph wouldn’t even think about doing. I was completely blinded by rage and motherly instincts that I could not see something wrong within my son!”

“Well… that’s because-”

“So please, if you don’t forgive me, at least accept my apologies Vulpix.”

With an unamused face, Claire asked. “Can I speak now?”

The Galvantula tilted her head confused. “Yes you can, you always could.”

Claire sighed and began. “Look, I forgive you for what you did, it’s not like you’ve killed anyone because of this. It’s expected since I uh… kinda experienced motherly instincts first hand…” A memory of Reya sending one of her bullies flying away with Psychic crossed her mind. “And about your son… he’s uh… special…”

One of the arachnid’s mandibles twitched as her six eyes blinked. “What do you mean by special…?”

Claire looked around, there was no one watching, however, she did not feel safe when telling John’s secret in public after what she had learned. “Um… would you mind if I took you to my home? It’s just not safe talking about my friend in the streets.”

The Galvantula was about to ask why, but she hesitated when she noticed the nervousness in Claire’s eyes. Something you must know about when living in the wilderness is that you should always read your prey before moving in for the kill. Makes the hunt way easier. John’s mother sighed. “Alright then… I personally think that entering a house makes the Pokémon soft and weak, but what the heck do I have to lose… lead me there Vulpix.”

“My name is Claire…”

“Alright Claire… or whatever…”

Claire leads the Galvantula back to her house. It was awkward, she was literally taking the Pokémon who tried to kill her right towards her house, it made her a bit scared of what was going to happen. The Vulpix tried to make it less awkward by striking up a conversation as they walked. “Hey so… what’s your name?”

“In the wilds, you don’t give your name to any Pokémon except to the ones related by blood. So you’re not getting my name from me.”

“Um… alright then…” Claire needed to think of a topic fast, this conversation can’t just end on a sour note! “So… what do you do in the wild besides erm… hunting for food?”

“I keep a close watch on my eggs… or used to before that strange hatchling came around.”

“Well um… what do you do besides watching your eggs and hunting?”

The tarantula sighed and looked away. “Ever since I had the eggs, I swore to protect them at all costs until my children hatched… I would just get out of my nest only to hunt and get food for my stash, and that was it.”

“Which makes me ask…” Claire looked back at her as she kept walking. “Why are you in the town then?”

The electric arachnid looked back at her. “So… after the beating I took from you and your friends in the Mystery Dungeon, I immediately came back to my nest after I realized that I left my eggs alone for too long. I noticed they were still there untouched, it made me realize that I have been wasting a bit of my time…” She looked at the streets as she made a frown when a car flew by. “I had an idea to come here to apologize to you and maybe talk it out with my child…” She looks back at Claire. “He’s still living with you, right?”

“Yep.” Claire responded with a nod.

The Galvantula sighed in relief. “At least I still have a chance to make up to him…”

The two reached the house and Claire knocked on the front door. “Mom!”

As Claire called her mother, the Galvantula looked around the place. She noticed that this was the only place she felt that she was safe in literal years. Was living in civilization really that peaceful? However, her thoughts were interrupted when the door opened, revealing a Ninetales who beamed upon seeing her daughter. “Welcome back Clai-“ She then looked at the tarantula behind her daughter and her excitement faded to confusion. “… re…?”

“Um… mom, this is John’s mother, and… she needs to say a few things to him.”

The small greenish spider hid itself in Izo’s wavy tails, shaking from absolute fear. What was she doing here? Why did she come here? He would absolutely not go back, not to a shithole full of bugs!

“Claire, what’s going on here? Who is this?” Izo asked, super confused about the whole situation.

“So uh… dad, meet Galvantula… John’s mom.” Claire said with hesitance.

“What!?”

John shouted from the ice type’s tail. “Nope, that thing is not my mom and it shall never BE my mother!!!”

The Galvantula sighed and looked down in dejection. “It truly hurts hearing you saying that to me…” The arachnid took careful steps towards the ice Ninetales. “John…” The Joltik flinched at hearing that name. “I know who you are, Vulpix told me about you. At first, I didn’t believe her, but… when memories from that fight in the Mystery Dungeon came back to me, hearing you say those words… it hurt more than the fire of the Vulpix.”

Izo eyed her for a moment before sighing. “Do you want me to take him out of my tail?”

John’s mind was racing after he heard those words. ‘NononononononoNO!!! Please Izo, please don’t do this, I beg you!”

The Galvantula shook her head. “No, I don’t want to scare him even more…” Her six eyes looked at the tails. “I know you fear me, John, I know you even fear your own body. I honestly… find it pathetic… however, I do respect your wishes. Because, even if you deny it, I still am your mother, and I still love you…”

John could not process it anymore, that monster was speaking to him so nicely, with a really comfortable tone of voice, unlike their last encounter. Why was there a part of him that wanted to get close to it and hug it tightly? Shower it with love as he embraced its fuzzy hairs. He cannot do it, that is not his mother it’s NOT-

… what if it was his mother though…?

John, with a lot of bravery mixed with hesitance, peeked his head out of the icy fur of the Ninetales and looked at the Galvantula. With his human eyes, he saw a red and black arachnid-like creature the size of a large dog, with eight bloodshot eyes, mandibles filled with sharp teeth, and spikes coming out of the abdomen. Through his Joltik eyes, he saw a motherly Galvantula who looked sad and dejected that her own son was neglecting her. The human-turned-Joltik didn’t know what sight to focus on, which made his four eyes tear up a little from all the uncertainty. “M-mom…?”

That word made the Galvantula look up and make a surprised face. “Yes…?”

“You…” His main vision keeps switching between the monster and his mother. “Are you really… my mom…? Am I… your son…?”

“Yes! No matter how you see it… you came out of my egg, that makes you my son!” She said with a smile forming between her mandibles.

John fully came out of Izo’s fur, debating with himself if he should be doing this. But, that Joltik part of his mind was slowly winning. Who was he kidding? He long desired to have the love of a mother. His human parents never gave a crap about him, they weren’t there when he first went to school, he was forgotten at school sometimes, and when he graduated, only his friends were there to watch him. John had nothing on his birthdays, he didn’t care about presents or cake, he just wanted someone to celebrate with him, but no one was there until he reached adulthood and his friends threw a surprise birthday for him. That was the first time he ever felt loved in his life. He just can’t reject the only chance he has because of some stupid fear he has!

The monster he had in his vision vanished from his sight and instead was replaced with his tarantula mother, stretching her forelimbs. “Mom!” John said with tears in his eyes as he jumped towards the Galvantula and was embraced by the tarantula’s hug.

“My child…!”

“Mom…” Both electric arachnids started crying as they awkwardly hugged each other. Claire smiled at the reunion and went to her father’s side, resting her head on Izo’s fur. Both look at each other with a smile.

John wiped his tears with his nubs. “You d-don’t know how long I yearned for this…”

“Me too… my dear child, me too…” They separated from the hug, and they both looked at each other, each with smiles behind their fuzz. “Would you… would you forgive me for the way I acted in the Mystery Dungeon, my dear…?”

John looked away as he remembered that scene. The first time he met his new mother in the flesh. He thought of her as a savage wild monster back then, but when he looks at her now, he sees… well a giant bug, but more human than a soulless animal. He sighed as he looked back at the Galvantula. “I do, mom.”

“Thank you, my son.”

Meanwhile, Izo spoke to Claire. “Also, where is your mother?”

Claire looked up at Izo. “Well, she went to the market to buy some stuff for lunch. Mostly because of her…” She pointed her paw at the Galvantula.

“Oh, I see.”

After a small while, Reya arrived with the ingredients. Meanwhile, John and his mother were having a talk with one another in the backyard. “So… could you tell me about your human life? How was it before you were rehatched?”

“Um…” John looked away, with a frown on his face. “Well… I guess I can say, you’re my… mom. Sorry, it still feels weird saying that…”

“It’s okay. It must be hard getting used to a new world in so little time.”

“Yes, it is…” John gave a sigh and looked down. “Being honest, my old life sucked… my parents basically neglected me, like I was some sort of a waste of space. School wasn’t any better, I was bullied a lot, for no good reason, and even the teachers or staff did nothing…” The Galvantula opened her mouth before closing it, not speaking anything. “I was sent to another place by my parents, under the watch of a man that worked in the police… he didn’t treat me any better…”He raised his head and smiled a little. “At least everything changed once I reached adulthood, I found a really nice guy, and my life basically changed for the better.” He frowned again. “I owe him a lot, I don’t know what I would do if it wasn’t for him…”

Suddenly, John felt a limb on him as the arachnid pulled him into another hug. “I’m so sorry you went through all of that, my child…”

John wanted to hug back, but the lack of long limbs was a bit of a small issue. “Thanks.” He nuzzled his head further into her. “Honestly… you’re the first type of parental love that I’ve received in either of two lives until now…”

“I understand…” The tarantula looked around until her eyes locked on the big Snorlax dummy sitting beside the fence. “Hey, can you tell me the moves you know? You haven’t been slacking off just because you’ve been sleeping with civilized Pokémon, right?”

“N-nope! I actually know two moves. Grappling Silk and Electroweb.”

The Galvantula tilted her head. “I don’t think I’m familiar with this Grappling Silk. Was it that thing you used to zip away in our fight?” John nodded. “Very interesting use of your silk, I never saw any of our species doing that!” She patted John on his head with her sharp nubs, being careful trying not to scratch him. The Joltik blushed, he had never received so many compliments in such a short time span of less than one week.

“Thanks, my human knowledge helped me think of that.” He rubbed the top of his head sheepishly.

“Now…” The Galvantula walked towards Snormmy and stopped in front of it. “A Joltik needs to fully master Electroweb before ever stepping out into the wilds. At least, that’s what my mother taught me when I still lived in her nest.” She then turned to John. “Show me your Electroweb, use it on this fake Snorlax.”

“Um… alright then!” John slowly walked up to the Snorlax, he needed to find a way to move faster that doesn’t involve him chucking out strands of silk left and right. The Joltik stopped in front of the dummy beside his mother. He looked at her and she nodded. He looked back at the dummy taking a deep breath. He puffed up his cheeks, filling them with silk, and injected some electricity in his silk before releasing a cluster of string shots, with small sparks of electricity running through the web-patterned silk. It landed on the Snorlax dummy’s belly, shocking a part of that area but not much else. John looked back at his mother. “Well… that’s all I can do for now.”

The Galvantula hummed at the sight of John’s web. “Well… at least you got the pattern right. However…” She turned her head to the Joltik. “That is not an Electroweb.”

John tilted his head. “Huh?”

“You see, an Electroweb is a web fully made out of electricity, not a normal web with an electrical current. An Electroweb is like this!” The electric and bug type grinned behind her fuzz and jumped. She puffed her cheeks and let out a glowing electric web from her mouth, latching on the dummy and shocking its entire body.

“Oh wow…” ‘It looks disgusting seeing another one using it themselves… at least it looked less disgusting than shooting out just silk from the mouth.' John thought before looking back at his mother. “So that was the true Electroweb?”

“Indeed my child! That is how an Electroweb is supposed to look like!” The Galvantula beamed as the Electroweb disappeared. “Unlike normal webs in battle, an Electroweb is supposed to make your opponents slower while also paralyzing them. A good option for when hunting! On a side note, you can even make a nest of those webs, although those require a little more energy to make it permanent.”

“Ah… I think I’ll never do that but… that’s good to know. So… I got the bug web figured out, how do I do the electric web?”

“Simple. You already managed to suck a good chunk of electricity before, right?” John nodded. “So, Electroweb is the opposite of that action, instead of draining electricity, you spit it right back out. As a Galvantula, it’s a bit different since we can generate our own electricity when we evolve but it should be simple to grasp for you.”

“Alright, I’ll try it out.” John turned back to the dummy and just stared at it, remembering how he sucked the outlets of the Ninetales’ house. He closed his eyes and imagined how it would feel to put the electricity back in the open. As he thought of that, something deep within his body started sparking up with electrical energy, much stronger than the sparks he felt before, more like actual small controlled bolts of lighting dancing within and around his core. He suddenly felt the bolts inside his mouth, feeling a tingly feeling from them, waiting to be released.

John opened his eyes and released the electricity and it seemed to make the formation of a string shot at first before making a disfigured octagon pattern as it latched on the Snorlax dummy, shocking a larger area of the dummy. John panted as he began to feel a little tired from that. “Was… was that it?”

“Yep! That was the true Electroweb! Even though it looks a bit disfigured… with practice you can make it look better!” The Galvantula beamed as she patted her son’s fuzz.

“Yeah…” The Joltik looked back at the Galvantula. “Thanks, mom.”

“Anytime my dear child.”

They smiled at each other before John came up with an idea as his Electroweb disappeared. “I came up with something!”

The electric tarantula stopped petting the Joltik and tilted her head. “And that is?”

“It’s about Electroweb!” He looked back to the dummy. “If I don’t get the Electroweb right, I came up with something to also use in its stead. I don’t know if it’ll work, but I hope it does.”

“Well then, what is it?”

“Just watch!” John excited by the idea, skittled to the front of Snormmy, getting close and personal. He remembered that the electricity that came out of his mouth looked like the strands of silk he’d normally shoot out. If it’s malleable and made out of energy… could he…? ‘Oh lords of Pokémon bullshit, please let me get away with this one more time…’ He thought before summoning his electricity to his mouth with the same process as before. However, instead of releasing his electricity towards the Snorlax dummy, he shot it into the air above him, still holding some of it in his mouth.

The Galvantula tilted her head in confusion about what her son was doing. “Huh?”

As John thought, the electricity he shot was in the form of a strand of silk, approximately two meters in length. With that in mind, he brought the electric current down on the dummy’s head, hitting it as hard as he could. It left a small electric burn on the head. However, John didn’t stop there, he continued whipping the dummy with the same force as he swung the electric chain with his head. After a certain while, he stopped hitting it and began to pant as the electric whip disappeared in the air. “It works… it really works!” John began laughing weakly as he dropped to the ground, feeling tired.

The electric tarantula couldn’t help but just stare in amazement as her son did. Before she spoke something, another voice asked for her.

“What was that!?” They both looked at the door to the backyard and saw Claire looking at them with her eyes glistening with wonder and amazement, she ran to John and leaned her face close to him, making him flinch and lean back a little. “That was so cool! The way you held your electricity and hit Snormmy, what was that called!?”

“Well…” He saw his mother push Claire away from him a little. “It’s something I came up with after playing a certain video game…” ‘Sonic Boom has such cool weapons… too bad the game is trash…' He thought before getting up. “I think I’ll call this move… Electro Whip.”

“Like a Vine Whip then?” The Galvantula asked.

“I don’t know what a Vine Whip looks like, but if it’s like the weapon I’m thinking of… then yes, like a Vine Whip I suppose.”

“Your human mind is a wonder but still… it’s kinda unsettling when I think about it.” The Joltik’s mother commented. “What if your mind reverted back to a baby? Like, I… don’t mind the way you are now but… it bothers me a little bit knowing what my baby was replaced by…”

John, with a frown, looked away. “I’m sorry for not being who you wanted. I swear it wasn’t my choice to be what I needed up as…”

“It’s alright my dear. The important thing for me is that I at least have a child, even if a bit more mature and less Pokémon in mind.”

“Yep! No matter what you were before, we still love you!” Claire said with a smile.

John smiled as well. “Thanks, guys.”

“Anytime!” Claire suddenly remembered why she was in the backyard. “Oh right, lunch is ready!”

The Galvantula groaned. “Do I really have to? I live in the wild! I can’t just succumb to the food of civilized Pokémon.”

“Oh come on, just this once, you’ll love it!” Claire insisted.

John nodded. “Yeah, the food’s so good, you must at least taste it!”

The Galvantula looked disappointed at the Joltik. “Not you too…” She sighed. “Fine… I’ll at least eat a little…”

John and Claire smiled as the two arachnids and fox went back to the house.

Chapter Text

After eating their fill of lunch, the wild Galvantula was satisfied. She hadn’t had a good meal like this since that time her mother took out a Deerling and she ate it along with her many siblings… but this… this feels way better in her opinion-

No, she would not succumb to the temptation of city Pokémon. She cleared her throat, cutting the conversation of the Ninetales family. “Alright, it was really nice meeting you all…” The electric tarantula jumped off their seat. “But I need to go back to my nest to watch the eggs.”

“Ah, that is understandable.” Reya agreed.

“Yeah.” She turned towards John. “My child, are you coming…?” The Galvantula had a snippet of a clue of what John would choose. She knew his past and fear of bugs, she wasn’t that dumb, she just needed to get confirmation from her son alone.

John was a little taken aback by the question, looking aside with hesitance in saying the answer to his mother. “Well um… I… I just…”

Welp, that confirms it. “No need to say more,” The Galvantula looked down a little with a frown. “I figured that’s what you were gonna say…” She sighed. “That’s fine. I’m… not mad or anything, I’m just… a little disappointed, that’s all.”

John sighed and jumped off the table, walking to his mother. “Look, I get that you want me to go with you so much… but um…” John looked away. “I’m really not into that type of life… it’s just not for me.”

The Galvantula started patting John. “I know my child… I know…” She sighed and looked at the Ninetales family with a more serious look. “If John is staying here, you better keep him safe, or else…”

“Don’t worry Ms. Galvantula, John is on good paws in this household.” Izo confirmed in a more professional tone, adjusting his glasses. “You can go back to your eggs assured that your child is safe and sound.”

The Galvantula’s mandibles clicked. “Alright, the food I can accept, but speaking to me professionally like a city ‘mon? No thanks…” She looked back at John. “Take care, my son…”

“Don’t worry, I will.” John said before he was enclosed in another hug with the tarantula.

Unfortunately, good things must come to an end as the Galvantula broke away from the hug. She needed to make this quick, she was starting to tear up! She cannot show weakness in front of others! With a quick turnaround, she said trying to sound okay. “Goodbye, my child… see you whenever fate decides.”

“Bye mother… don’t worry, I’ll visit sometime!”

A tear was shed from one of her the Galvantula’s many eyes, fortunately, no one saw it since she was facing away from everyone. “I know my child… I know you will.” She then walked away and exited the house. Not looking back, she skittered away as fast as possible. Arissa knew her child would be fine, he was blessed by human knowledge and mind after all. However, even if she knew about the destinies of other humans that come to the world, she knew John would face whatever problem that comes after them this time. She knows it! “Calm down Arissa… everything is going to be alright… just focus on the others for now.”

John sighed as the Galvantula left the house. He honestly was kinda relieved that he didn’t go back with his mother. Because, being honest with himself, he wouldn’t survive even a week there, especially when he’s in an alien body. Even though he could get comfortably close to his mother now, a tingly feeling in the back of his mind warns him about being that close to her… it seems that the fear of bugs didn’t disappear for good… 'I hope she doesn’t take it poorly if I tell her that…'

His thoughts disappeared once a multi-tailed fox picked up John and put him on her back. “Hey, John! Remember that thing we said we’d do?”

“Uh… what thing?” The Joltik asked Claire, tilting his head.

“You know! We would call your friend, remember?”

“O-ooooh… yeah I remember that… we would’ve done it yesterday if it wasn’t for… well…”

Claire’s face dropped a bit. “Yeah…” Then she instantly grinned. “But at least I’m fine! Now, I got this new scar on my chest to show how badass of an explorer I’ll be in the future!” She said as she started walking to her room.

‘At least she didn’t seem fazed by the fact she got slashed on the chest…' John thought as the Vulpix arrived in her room. “So… how are we gonna call him? Since I’m pretty sure that your phone doesn’t have his number.”

“Well, it’s not gonna be on my phone.” Claire said while John jumped on the Vulpix’s bed. She went to the desk beside the mirror and grabbed a laptop with her mouth, putting it on the bed. “We’re gonna use the laptop!”

“Hm… yeah that could work. After all, he does have Discord, so I can connect with my account.” John said while Claire excitedly opened the laptop, a wide grin plastered on her muzzle. “Man, you look way too excited for a call…”

“Well, it must be pretty normal for you, but for me, it’s an experience that millions of kids want to experience! Like, I’m not only talking to a human that got transformed, but now I will be talking to his friend from another world! How crazy is that!?” Claire excitedly said, not noticing hot saliva coming out of her mouth as she spoke.

“Um… well, I guess it’s really not that common around here…” John agreed sheepishly to which Claire just responded with rapid nods of her head. John sighed as the Vulpix opened Google.

“Um… since you’re more of a tech wiz than me… could you uh… put on the call? I don’t know much about this.” Claire sheepishly laughed.

John then walked to the laptop and tried out the touchpad for the mouse. Thankfully it seems his blue pointy nubs worked with any touch technology. Since there was no hardware for the trackpad, it was way easier to handle the mouse, so it took less time for him to switch to his account and go into Discord. He could hear some excited and curious noises from the fox beside him. John was slightly nervous about all of this, he was starting to doubt that his friend would recognize him through the squeaky voice and spider-looking body. ‘Alright…' The Joltik clicked on Hybrid Gaming or more known to John, Harry Miller. However, his movements with the mouse were getting more slower and hesitant. ‘It is fine John… this is what you wanted right? Tell one of your friends you’re okay… right? I should do this no matter what.’

“John, are you alright?”

John snapped out of that nervous state, cocking his head towards the Vulpix who smiled upon seeing his face. The Joltik shook it off and looked back at the laptop. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just some small thoughts, but they aren’t worth the trouble.” He reassured as he read through the history of messages he had sent and received from his friend. For a second, he almost felt like he was in his human body again, with his friend online and everything looking in place. The Joltik sighed as he looked down, reminding himself of his current situation.  “Time to type…”

John was growing concerned about the situation. Of course, no one would trust someone that literally died in front of them, claiming to be alive. Harry was there at the moment of his death, so of course he would be one of the people impacted the most. “I hope he doesn’t die of a heart attack because of this…”

Claire looked at the screen a bit confused. “Doesn’t look like he is believing you…”

The Joltik gives the Vulpix a side eye with his upper eyes. “Just… give him some time, he’s just shaken up by the account of his dead friend suddenly starting to speak to him.”

“Yeah… I guess that makes sense.”

The Joltik started to slowly type once again. At least the keys are easier to press on a laptop.

John took a heavy breath and put on a determined look. “Alright.” He turned to Claire. “We’re gonna do this.” The Vulpix couldn’t help but squeal in excitement. “But here are some things you should know about first. One: he knows what Pokémon are; Two: don’t fangirl over him too much or else it’ll look weird; And three: Don’t ask any weird questions about him or humans in general, just basic ones, got it?”

“Got it!” She replied with a serious face and a salute. However, her tails were wagging a lot.

“Alright then… here we go…” John said as he clicked the video call icon that was on the upper right corner of the screen. Their camera loaded, displaying the two Pokémon sitting idly on the bed. Before Harry could join the call, John let out little noises to test the laptop microphone, it seemed to be working well.

It took around ten seconds later for Harry to enter the call with his camera open. The young man had brown eyes and black curly hair. The man’s expression underwent a state of rapid metamorphosis starting with anger, changing to slight surprise, and ending with sheer confusion in all under two seconds. “What the actual fuck-”

John started with a bit of hesitance. “Hey, Harry… it’s been a while hasn’t it…?”

The man recoiled with his chair, eyes widening. “What in the actual hell is going on here!?”

“So um… remember that series I never got into but you did and you kept begging me to play it…? Yeah… it’s me, John, and uh… I kinda got isekaid and reborn…”

The man covered his mouth with his hands as he just kept staring at the screen in disbelief at what he was seeing. “J-J-John… t-that… you’re… you’re alive…?” The Joltik and the Vulpix could see that the man was shaking. “H-how…?”

“I also wish to know as well… something did pull me from oblivion it seemed…” John deduced. He had no idea what that voice was, but he guessed it might’ve been some powerful entity or Pokémon that he didn’t know about.

“I-I I…” Tears were falling out of the man’s eyes. “God… I… I don’t know what to say to all of this…”

“I…” John sighed. “I honestly don’t know myself…” While the Joltik was talking, he noticed that Claire was awfully silent… turning to her, he saw that the Vulpix was shaking uncontrollably with a wide grin on her muzzle. She was about to burst… “Oh boy…” John looked back to the screen. “Hey uh… I know you’re kinda unstable right now with me being alive and all but uh… this Vulpix really, really wants to talk to you so uh… I’m gonna let her take the wheel.”

“Wait wha-“

Before the human had any time to protest, Claire tilted the camera to her face and started speaking Eminem style. “Oh. My. GOD! He’s so handsome!!! HihumanmynameisClaireandIamJohnsBFFandyouhavenoideahowIreallyreallyLOVEhumansbecauseoftheirheroicactsandthefacttheysavedtheworldmultipletimesbutImgettingaheadofmyselfwhatsyournameandwhatdoyoulikecanwebefriends!?!?!?!?” She took a massive breath, managing not to cough before putting on a wide smile while she tail wagged her tails at a new record of speed.

“…Wow…” John muttered after some uncomfortable seconds in silence. He looked back at the screen to find Harry completely frozen on the spot. Looking back at Claire, John sat and began to clap with his nubs slowly. “Congratulations, you managed to break him entirely.”

Claire looked at John, tilting her head. “I broke him…? All I did was introduce myself and ask simple questions!”

“Well then look at how he is and say if you broke him or not.”

John pointed a nub at the screen and Claire saw Harry’s paralyzed shocked face, she turned back to John with a sheepish shrug. “Whoops…”

“Eh, don’t worry, I know how to snap him out of it.” John said as he looked back at the screen and shouted in a squeaky voice. “YO, IF YOU DON’T SNAP OUT OF IT, I’M GONNA TELL FOX GIRL ABOUT THAT TIME IN OHIO-“

The human suddenly snapped back to reality and shouted back. “SHUT UP! SAY A WORD ABOUT IT AND I’LL SHOVE ROCKS DOWN YOUR GODDAMN THROAT!!!”

The Joltik turned to the Vulpix grinning with a little fang being visible. “See?”

Claire was a bit confused about how that worked and what was John about to say, but at least it worked and that was good in her opinion. “That actually worked, wow!”

Both Pokémon looked back at the screen and they saw Harry out of his anger state, looking at them with a calmer but confused expression. “Holy shit… it’s… it’s really you John…” The Joltik nodded. “But… but you died… right in front of me…” He said rubbing his temples before looking back at the screen. “How the fuck is that even possible…?”

“Don’t tell me you forgot what Isekai means…”

“Of course not! I…” The man groaned. “I’m just still trying to wrap my head around the fact of you being alive, and the fact you are a fucking Pokémon! Also, not to mention the fact Pokémon is fucking real and the fact that I’m literally speaking to two right now!”

“I know right!?” Claire said, excitedly wagging her tails as she put her paws on her cheeks. “Still trying to wrap around that I’m speaking to two humans at the same exact time! I think I’m gonna faint!”

The Joltik sighed. “Please don’t…”

“I… I still don’t get it…” Harry spoke up. “If… you’re in another world and… with Pokémon as well… how are you speaking to me? How is Discord connected through freaking universes?”

“It’s not only Discord, it’s literally the entire internet.” John sat on his butt, putting a nub on his chin. “The humans that came here before me made a collab with some company and-”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait… humans that came before you? You’re not the only one…?”

“Um… well, humans have kind of a history in here…” He pointed at Claire. “The reason why she’s obsessed with us.”

Claire let out another squeal of excitement before speaking. “You have no idea how much the humans did here! Not only do they get transformed into Pokémon, but they saved the world every time! They are amazing!”

“Transformed into Pokémon and… saved the world…?” Harry muttered before a realization hit him and he said in a low voice. “Pokémon Mystery Dungeon…?!”

John raised an invisible eyebrow. “Come again?”

“Hey, Vulpix- erm… Claire! Tell me, did any of the humans like… saved the world from natural disasters or… prevented the collapse of time or something like that?” Harry asked Vulpix. There was no way those games he played some years ago were real… right?

“Oh yeah!” Claire responded ecstatically. “I think the natural disasters were the first time a human has been ever documented in history. They stopped a meteor along with the legendary Pokémon Rayquaza!”

As soon as she said those words, the human covered his mouth again as he left his chair, staying in the background. “Nope, no way!” He could be heard saying. “There’s no way in HELL the games are real! Holy shit…”

“Games… what games?” John asked, tilting his head along with Claire.

The human came back to his chair and sat on it as quickly as possible, leaning forward to the monitor. “Alright, you know the Pokémon games at least, right John?” The Joltik nodded and the Vulpix looked more confused. “Alright, so there are these Spinoffs series called Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. And in those games, they show a world with only Pokémon. The protagonist in those games are always humans turned Pokémon, so basically Isekai protagonists like you now.” John looked at his nubs and then nodded in understanding. “And in those games, the protagonist always saved the world. There are four games, and the threats were basically natural disasters, time stopping, an entity that wanted to coat the world in ice, and another entity that literally dragged the entire planet close to the sun.”

“… what in the living fu-“

Claire interrupted with her eyes glistening again. “So you have games about the history of our world too!? That’s so cool! Do you have the game where a human stopped an alien light god from opening rifts all over the world!?”

“Wait… what? Wait a second.” Harry could be seen typing something on his computer, and after a certain while, four images appeared in the chat below the video cameras. “Do any of these look familiar to you Claire…?”

The images displayed Necrozma in all of his different forms, including Ultra Necrozma. Claire pointed at the latter. “Oh, I know the last one! That’s the true form of that god when it went mad!” She looked back to the camera. “How do you know so much about our world while John doesn’t?”

The human and the former human shared a look before John sighed and looked at Claire. “Alright, I already explained this to Taro… but, in our world… Pokémon are seen as nothing but fictional creatures.”

Claire stayed in silence, processing what she heard before coming out with a response. “Really? That’s really interesting! Does that mean they know what we are while not even knowing we exist?”

“Um… basically that… although I’m not sure how’s that possible…” John muttered.

“Anyways, are we done with the history questions?” She turned to the screen once again with her tails starting to wag again. “Now I’ll finally ask the real questions! So, Harry right!? Tell me all about your world and EVERYTHING about humans, please!”

“Claire…” John muttered with a sigh.

Harry sheepishly laughed. He didn’t know what to make of the situation, if he was daydreaming or something else, because he was speaking to two IRL Pokémon and one of them was for some reason his dead friend. But he would play along for now as he answered some of the Vulpix’s questions.

It lasted until John interrupted Claire after she asked too many questions. “Alright, that’s enough Claire.” The Vulpix let out a little whine of sadness, it looked kinda cute. John turned to the screen again. “Alright Harry, it’s time we discuss something important, because… I feel that our world is about to change.”

“Huh…? What do you mean?”

“So you see… some humans that came before me didn’t want to keep our technology to themselves… so… as I was saying before, they collabed with a company of this world called Asuri and literally copied everything from our computers and smartphones. That’s how I’m able to contact you now, because of a laptop made by said company.”

Harry scratched his chin. “But… how the hell does the internet communicate between worlds though?”

John shrugged as best as he could. “I literally don’t know how they did it… I don’t know if it’s because they used the same servers as our world, or… some weird kind of Pokémon bullshit, I don’t know, it just works for some reason…” Harry looked aside with a frown. “So I want to ask you a favor. Since I won’t be on the internet a lot like I used to, I want to ask for you to monitor social media for me. Claire said that the internet was released to the public some weeks ago, so it’s in the beginning stages. If you start to see real Pokémon in like… let’s say Twitter, please notify me, alright?”

Harry started to look a little nervous. “Alright then… thanks for the info… so John… have you found a way to come back yet?”

John sighed. “Unfortunately no… I can’t return to my old body since I died so… I kinda accepted my new life here… as a bug…”

“Think of the bright side John! You got sick moves with it!” Claire cheered and that made John smile a little.

The Joltik turned to the screen again. “Well… it was fun talking to you again Harry… I’m sorry I died on you like that…”

“Don’t say it like that dude!” Harry protested. “You sacrificed yourself for us dude… because of that gunshot, the police heard it and they arrived just in time. We owe you deep for that…”

“Heh… at least the police did something useful.” The Joltik let out a dry chuckle as he stood up again. “Welp, see you another time dude, keep me updated alright?”

Harry sighed, it sounded like John was going to die again… but he knew that wasn’t the case this time. Hopefully… “Alright… I will.”

“Thank you, Harry.” He waved a nub at the human. “Bye, see ya!”

“Bye-bye Harry!!!” The Vulpix waved with her two paws.

The human did a nervous wave with a smile that looked forced. With that, John ended the call and sighed. “Wow… that felt unreal…” He turned to the Vulpix. “So how did you-”

Suddenly, Claire pounced on John and lifted him in the air again with her paws. “Thanks, John! Thank you for this! With your friend, I finally managed to get answers to humanity’s biggest questions!”

“Uh…” The Joltik answered nervously. “Are you sure “how do humans reproduce?” was a big question?”

“Well, for me they were big questions aside from that one!”

The Joltik smirked. “Sure…” They both ended up giggling.

Harry was in a state of disbelief. He had pinched himself too many times on the call to see if he would wake up. However, he did not wake up. He couldn’t believe it, John was actually alive! … And a Pokémon… but that didn’t matter, the fact he was still alive and not a wild animal was good enough for Harry. He wished so much he could tell the others, but they wouldn’t believe him at all and think he lost his mind.

Before he did anything else, Harry remembered what John said, so he went to check Twitter on his computer. “There’s no way…” He muttered. It seemed that the initial page was normal. He clicked on the search bar but hesitated to type. He sighed and typed “Pokemon”, making posts related to Pokémon appear. The first tweet was a normal post, relating to the hype of the game Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. It was November so people were bound to be posting about those games.

The young man scrolled down further and found a tweet that made him slowly gasp, covering up his mouth. The tweet was made by a person named Alice Mishima, who apparently had a profile picture of a masked green feline with red irises. The tweet read: “#Pokemon I hope you are enjoying the wonders of the Internet dear Pokémon! We at Asuri Technology Industries shall keep you updated about the changes we make to our services!” Below the text, there was an image of a Meowscarada with a business suit taking a selfie in what looked to be a meeting room, with other Pokémon wearing ties and some other Pokémon glasses. The image looked so realistic that it put Photoshop to shame… this image was a hundred percent real. The tweet had more than 50 thousand likes and a thousand retweets. “Oh my god…"

Chapter Text

Today was the day.

It was Monday, and today, John would be entering Obelisk High… as a student. Being honest, he was incredibly nervous about this, but on the other nub, he was curious how a school would be for Pokémon.

From what he had seen while hidden on the Vulpix’s head, there were vastly different subjects compared to a human school. It was a bit exciting to him honestly… after all, the teachers and some students were already better than the ones in his previous school.

“Are you ready John? This is going to be your first day of school in this world!” Claire stated, already wearing her uniform and backpack.

John cracked a small smile while looking aside. “I’ll admit… I’m a bit antsy for this…”

They waited outside the house along with Elsa, knowing the bus would arrive shortly. Elsa scoffed. “Let it be known you little peasant, that if you ever cross my way… I won’t hesitate to turn your life in that school into an icy hell.” The ice Vulpix glared at the Joltik menacingly. “Understood?”

John waved the glare off unfazed. “Yeah, sure, whatever, not like I was planning on that anyways.” After the bathroom incident, he saw Elsa as nothing more than a slutty annoyance rather than an actual threat. Sure, ice powers were terrifying as fuck, but putting those powers on a creature like Elsa? That makes it even less intimidating than usual. He remembered being terrified of Elsa in the initial days of his new life, but now, he just felt annoyed by her more than anything. “Besides, it’s not like I would even wanna talk to you.”

That response made Claire snicker a little and made her twin huff in annoyance while looking away. “Glad you understand your position, bug.”

John wanted to shoot a little string shot at her just to be a little bitch, but decided not to. He wouldn’t succumb to the dark side that the ice fox currently is. After all, with great (disgusting) powers, comes great responsibility.

After waiting a little while, the bus finally came. Asher stopped in front of the Ninetales’s house and looked at the three students. “Good morning kids!”

“Good morning Asher!” Claire responded with a wave of her paw.

“Morning.” Elsa replied with her usual tone.

The Koraidon pressed the button to open the door and noticed the Joltik between the twins. “Oh, hello there little guy. I think I heard from the staff, you’re the new student, right?”

“John, my name is John.” The Joltik said as he felt a little bit intimidated by the lizard in front of him. It looked quite muscular…

“Nice to meet ’cha! Name’s Asher! Don’t be intimidated, I’m a nice Pokémon with a big heart.” The Koraidon said as he tapped the wheel-looking sac on his chest while the twins entered the bus. He formed a grin. “Hop on, buddy.”

John slowly nodded and jumped onto the stairs of the bus and followed Claire towards her seat in the back. He saw Elsa sitting in another seat with her friends. The trio were staring daggers at him. With that, he quickly caught up to Claire who sat beside Amy and Taro. John jumped onto Claire’s head while she greeted the Pokémon. “Hey, guys!”

“Morning Claire, Hi John!” The Shaymin replied with a wave of her paw.

“Hi, you two!” Taro beamed with his own wave. “We heard that you were in the hospital Claire, are you alright? Are you still hurt?”

The Vulpix waved it off with a smile. “Don’t worry guys, I’m fine.” She sighed. “Although… there’s a lot of things we need to catch up on…” The trip to the school usually took around 20 minutes after the twins entered the bus, so Claire figured she could fill them in on what she had learned in the meantime. She COULD have told John earlier about the Corrupted Pokémon but… her mind was somewhere else with human stuff and whatnot. “So um… while in the hospital… some detective came to ask me about why I got injured.”

“Yeah, how did you get injured?” Amy asked, a bit concerned.

“Well… when I was going back to get John… I encountered one of those odd Pokémon that keep appearing on the news…” Amy and Taro’s eyes widened at that. “Don’t worry guys, this one was… a bit more creepy but less powerful than the others for some reason.”

“What did it look like…?” Taro asked with a frown.

Claire thought back on the Charmander, that crazy ethereal look it had made Claire flinch a little just at the thought. “Well… it looked like some kind of skeletal Charmander with ghost flames… I think it was some kind of ghost type. If I remember correctly, it used Will-o-Wisp.”

“That’s how you got hurt then?” The hedgehog asked while tilting her head.

The Vulpix shook her head. “No… there was another Pokémon. This time a normal one… it was a… Ceruledge if I remember correctly. He slashed me across the chest.” She said as she pointed at her scar. “Next thing I knew, I was in the hospital.”

Taro and Amy looked at themselves while John looked down at Claire. “Did any of those weirdos say anything important?” The Joltik asked.

“Not that I can recall… no. The Charmander only said dumb stuff while the Ceruledge called it pathetic for being easily beaten then dipped.”

Taro crossed his arms. “Do you think that Ceruledge might be involved with the weird Pokémon?”

“I think he is.” Claire sighed and looked around, she saw that the Beedrill student was leaning closer to them, most likely eavesdropping. “Hey, are you eavesdropping on us?!” She called out and the Beedrill flinched at the sight of being discovered.

The others looked at the Beedrill and John let out a scared squeak before scuttling behind Claire. “Not the bee, not the bee, not the bee!” John muttered.

The Beedrill in question leaned back in his seat while whistling, looking out the window innocently. Claire huffed and jumped to the seat next to the Beedrill. The bug with a red scarf looked at Claire, smiling with fake obliviousness. “Hey Claire, how you doing cutie.” He said with a smirk.

“Don’t play dumb with me, what have you heard?” Claire asked while narrowing her eyes.

The Beedrill grimaced before sighing. “Fine…” He adjusted his scarf. “Well… I heard everything.” He smirked as Claire was a bit taken back by that. “Look cutie, I’m not gonna tell anyone what I heard as long as…” He put one of his drills on the side of the fox’s head and leaned his head towards her. “You become my girl.”

Claire stayed silent as Taro tried butting in, however a bad feeling coming from Claire held him back. Amy looked at Taro a little confused. “Why aren’t you helping her?”

“Well um…” Suddenly, Amy got her answer as the Beedrill started to fly without flapping his wings, a purple outline surrounding him. “What the…?”

The Beedrill started flailing in midair. “Hey, what’s this-” He looked into Claire’s eyes, which were now fully purple. “Hey, hey! I-I said it as a joke girl, ch-chill-“ Suddenly, he was flung back to his seat hard with a telekinetic pull.

“Woah, what the hell is happening!?” John asked in shock as other students started looking at the commotion in the back of the bus. He then jumped on Claire’s head, tapping it. “Claire, what are you doing?!”

The Vulpix’s eyes returned to normal as she looked around a bit confused. “Huh…? What happened?” She then looked at the top of her head. “John, what happened?”

John was a bit surprised by the reaction. “You… you seriously don’t remember using literal telekinesis on the bee? Are you for real?”

“Huh…? When did that happen…?” Claire asked confused as she looked at the Beedrill in the seat who was groaning. Claire leaned closer to him “Uh… are you okay?”

The bug looked at Claire and flinched, leaning backward trying to get away from the Vulpix. “Hey, hey, I get your point! N-no need to do it again!” He leaned against the wall of the bus while Claire tilted her head. “Please spare me…!”

Claire just tilted her head a bit confused. “Uh… okay…?” She walked back to her seat along with John and saw Taro and Amy watching her in confusion. “Uh… something wrong guys?”

Taro and Amy looked at each other before looking at Claire again. “Um… do you remember going towards that Beedrill?” Claire nodded. “You remember him flirting with you?” Claire hesitantly nodded. “Do you remember um… using some psychic move on him?”

Claire tilted her head. “What are you guys talking about? I probably must’ve just blacked out because of the flirting. I can’t learn Psychic this early!”

The Togedemaru and Shaymin looked unsure but they shrugged it off with a sigh. “Well… if you say so…” Amy said looking aside before looking back at Claire. “So um… something else happened?”

“Well, in the hospital…” Claire began, thinking back on her time at the hospital. “There was that detective guy I talked about… he told me some info about those weird Pokémon. Apparently…” She looked around to see if anyone was eavesdropping again, even checking the Beedrill again to see if he would hear anything. She turned to the others again and said in a low voice. “Those weird Pokémon are called Corrupted Pokémon.”

“And like… what’s the difference between those and other variants of Pokémon?” John asked. “Your family is a perfect example of that…”

“Well… it seems that all of those “Corrupted Pokémon”, as Claire said, can’t be reasoned and will attack if provoked…” Taro said as he brought out his phone. “At least, that’s what it said on the news…”

“Although…” Claire looked away, remembering the Scizor’s warning. “I don’t know if I should tell you guys this, since… it might put you all in danger… especially John.”

Amy smiled. “Don’t worry Claire, whatever it is, we can keep it a secret if it bothers you that much.”

“Yeah!” Taro whispered back. “Don’t worry, we will be fine, it doesn’t hurt telling at least your friends about it.”

John mentally disagreed with that statement but decided to agree since he was curious about what it was that Claire wanted to say. “Well, whatever it is that you want to say, I’m sure that it won’t hurt.”

Claire thought about it and sighed. The Vulpix lowered her voice even more for this. “So… the detective made a theory and… he might be right…” She hesitated a little as she looked around for possible unwanted Pokémon in this conversation. She looked back at her friends. “The Corrupted Pokémon might be humans-turned-Pokémon…”

The spider, hedgehog, and mouse let out a silent “WHAT!?”, judging by their shocked expressions. “Are you serious…?” Amy said a little shocked.

Claire nodded. “John… remember that Charmander we bumped into when we were on the way to Taro’s house? He called us… monsters right?” John thought back and nodded, after all, Charmander was one of the few Pokémon he remembered correctly. “Well… that skeletal Charmander also did the same and kept calling me a monster…”

The Joltik’s eyes widened at that realization. Why would a random Pokémon call every Pokémon around them monsters for no reason? Because… they might not be Pokémon in the first place. “No way… then that Charmander was… a human…?” John was a bit in disbelief about missing the chance to actually talk to someone from his world in the flesh. However, more pressing issues were on his mind at the moment. “Wait… does that mean… the kidnappings are involved in this?”

Claire tilted her head. “You… knew about the human kidnappings?”

John rubbed the back of his head. “Well um… I did… courtesy of your parents.”

“Oh… well, that cuts more of the explanation then…”

Taro decided to speak up at that moment. “But wait… why would someone want to kidnap humans and turn them into… those things…?”

They stopped to think about it, however, no one came to an exact conclusion as they shook their heads. John spoke again with a groan. “Let’s just focus on being students for now… I don’t wanna start my first day with a headache…”

“You’re right.” Amy agreed. “These topics will only take away our concentration from classes, so let’s think about those another time.”

Claire and Taro agreed as well. In any case, the Scizor was right, they shouldn’t think about it too much, it’s best to just leave it for the authorities to handle it… however, Claire couldn’t stop thinking about it all the way to school, worried that John was in grave danger.

The bus finally arrived at the destination. After they departed, the students went into an open assembly hall of some kind, where Pokémon were standing in lines. There were four lines of students, and John was standing in the same line as Claire and her friends, so he assumed he was in the right line since he was supposed to be in Claire’s class.

The lines were in order of height, from the shortest to the tallest in each class. So of course, the Joltik was the first in the line. While the teachers weren’t there, the students were chatting with each other, so John took the opportunity to see the students beside him. On his left, there was a pink furry balloon with nubs, feet, ears, and a little hair between their big eyes. He recognized it as a Jigglypuff. The only reason he recognized what Pokémon they were was because of a couple of games of Smash Bros Ultimate he played with one of his friends, he remembered the character being really easy to deal with while still being a little annoying.

The Joltik then looked to the left to see a- no, two Pokémon he did not recognize this time. It looked like a pair of white cartoonish mice, they stood on two feet, had mitten-like hands, a face that looked bland with dot-like eyes, and… no mouth? He would’ve thought they were plushies if it wasn’t for the fact that they were breathing. ‘Wow, from all the other species I’ve seen, these are, by far, the least intimidating ones.’

Suddenly, both mice instantly cocked their head towards John’s direction, making the Joltik flinch. The mice spoke without opening their mouths, completing each other’s sentences like they were one being, although each body had a different voice. “What an interesting soul we got here.” “So similar, yet so different from us.” “We know your greatest fear.” “We know your greatest desire.” Then, they spoke in unison. “Will you let us be your friend, little bug? Will you let us know your darkest secrets?”

John instantly looked away, his opinion of the mice had completely changed. Nope, he was not dealing with the twins from The Shining in Pokémon form, he already had enough to deal with. He looked back in front of him and saw the director getting in front of the lines. He made sure to thank the gods of this world for getting him out of this situation.

“Good morning students!” The Blacephalon said while doing a twirl and throwing his hands in the air. After a little bit of silence, he said it again. “I said… good MORNING students!” The students replied with a “Good morning Mr. Piero!”, all at the same time. The Ultra Beast cleared his throat. “Today marks the third week of your school cycle. Hope you study hard as life does not get easier, so you shall become the best of the best!” The director said with a spin of the head. “As always, to the weekly motto! Pokémon who don’t study…”

“Will end up in the wilds all muddy!” The kids finished while John pretended to say it to them.

“Great students!” He said with another head spin. “Now to your classes, you go!”

The director disappeared with an explosion of his head and confetti covering the students' view for a second. After that display, the students went to their classes. But John noticed something was off, they weren’t going to their classroom, and the class with The Shinin- the creepy mice were following them. The Joltik went to Claire and jumped on her head. “Hey Claire, where are we going?”

“Oh yeah, you don’t know that yet.” The Vulpix said in realization. “Today’s P.E. class and we have to join classes with the 9^th grade.”

“I’m gonna be honest with you…” John looked behind and spotted the same white mice among other Pokémon, looking at him with an unreadable and creepy expression. He looked back to Claire’s head. “I’m getting a really bad feeling about the mice.”

“Mice…?”

“You know, the… uh… twin white mouse Pokémon.”

The fox let out an “Oooh” of realization. “That’s Popo and Nana. Their species are called Tandemaus. They might seem creepy at times… but trust me, they aren’t that bad. They’re actually nice!” The Vulpix said with a smile.

John looked back again at the Tandemaus just to be sure. However, he immediately regretted the idea once he saw that the mice were smiling at him with a terrifying grin, showing a large front tooth along with sharp teeth that covered the entire front of the mouth. John immediately looked back forwards, a massive shiver running through his body. ‘I… really am gonna have nightmares about them… aren’t I?’

After trying to shake off his horror movie PTSD, John realized they arrived at a field that looked like a soccer field without goals. Around the grass field, there looked to be a track field. Beside the field, there were two pools of different sizes from one another. In the middle of the soccer field, there was a white humanoid rabbit Pokémon with its arms crossed. They seemed to be wearing some orange shorts- wait a second, that is part of their body, it was just some thicker patch of fur, like their feet that looked like socks. “There you are!” The rabbit said with a raspy female voice. “Good morning students!”

“Morning Ms. Cristiane!” The students replied.

The kids got in the middle of the field with the Cinderace. She put a paw on her hip with a smile. “Let’s start with the usual first!” Before she could start, she remembered one thing. “Oh yes, I forgot! We have a new student! Would you please come in front so you can introduce yourself to not only one class but TWO classes?” The new student sighed as he hopped off of the fire Vulpix’s head and walked in front of the teacher. She looked down. “Oh wow, I didn’t know the student was gonna be one of these.” She said as some Pokémon started whispering to themselves.

“What is a little critter doing here?”

“Are they sure that’s the new student and not some stowaway?”

“Geez, that director starts accepting anyone to this school, I guess he isn’t only crazy in looks.”

“It is the perfect soul, is it not?” “Yes, it is.” “We wonder if we play with them for eternity.”

The teacher shouted. “Alright kids, settle down!” She picked up the Joltik and raised it to an elevated level. “Could you tell a little about yourself?”

“Uh… alright…” John looked at the students and felt a tinge of nostalgia… bad nostalgia on the first day of a new school. He was starting to become a little nervous about all of this. “Um… my name is John and uh… um…” What should he say in this situation? Definitely not revealing his true identity right there, and definitely not talking about the bug fear that he somehow still has… he started to think of an alternative story. “I’m a really smart Joltik that… sometimes thinks outside the box and… knows a lot about computers. Yeah…” Some of the students tilted their heads in confusion. Shit, did he mess up? Did that lie just sounded unbelievable? Or worse, gave huge hints to discover that he’s human-

“My what a prodigy we have among your kind! You must be really special then!” Cristiane said while putting the Joltik down on the ground again, who immediately went back to Claire. “Let’s see if I’m forgetting something more… oh!” The bunny looked towards the fire fox. “Claire, try to take it easy today. Your parents called earlier saying you just left the hospital. So don’t go too hard today, understood?”

Claire sighed while looking away. “Understood…”

“Alright, now let’s truly begin the morning stretches!”

After a bit of stretching, the Cinderace went to a small room next to the fields and returned while carrying a sac. She opened the sac and dumped its contents on the field, red balls. The balls bounced slightly around the field. John was mentally panicking when he saw those balls. ‘Please don’t be what I’m thinking, please let it be another thing…”

“Alright class, today we’re going to try something different!” Cristiane grabbed one of the red balls with her foot and kicked it up, catching it with her hand. “Let’s play a human activity: Dodgeball!”

‘Nooooo!’ The Joltik thought as memories of a barrage of balls flying directly towards him passed through his mind. Now imagine that barrage of balls going towards him as a bug! He would absolutely get squashed by the force of the balls! “I’m not gonna survive this…”

“The rules are simple! There are two teams. Your objective is to hit the opposing Pokémon of the other team with a ball! The Pokémon that gets hit… gets eliminated!” The Cinderace started throwing the ball upwards. “The team who eliminates the entire adversary team wins. Simple right?” She stops throwing the ball, looking at the students who nodded. With that, she continued. “There are ways to avoid being eliminated. One: you can grab the ball before it falls on the ground. Two: you can block a ball with another ball if you have one on your hand or paw.”

“Woah, this game sounds amazing!” Claire said, her tails wagging with excitement. John looked unamused at the Vulpix.

“Heh, glad you are getting excited! Fun fact! If you grab the ball, the opponent who threw it gets eliminated, and a teammate who was previously hit gets back on the field.”

“Wow, I can’t wait to see what I can do!” Taro said, throwing a fist in the air.

“It’s clearly obvious who will be the best in this game.” Elsa said, stepping forwards with her friends behind her. “Teacher, enough explaining and starting the game.”

While the other Vulpix, a Shaymin, a Togedemaru, and a Joltik looked at Elsa with an unamused face, the Cinderace chuckled. “Alright, I’ll separate the teams.” The Cinderace ordered the students to stand in the middle line of the field and then she started separating the teams.

While John was paying attention, he didn’t notice Popo and Nana beside him, only after the two poked him. He jumped as he silently shouted while looking at the two. “Hello.” “Little bug.” “Let our souls intertwine with yours.” “So we shall annihilate the enemy.” They opened their mouths again, revealing their sharp teeth as they spoke in unison. “And make the weak and incapable a sacrifice for our egos to grow beyond these mortal vessels.”

John stammered as he shook in fear. “W-w-well… I don’t think… think… that our souls combined or uh… whatever will do us any good in this game. I-I uh… I’m not known to be good at this… at these types of games… besides, how would you know we’re on the same team-”

“John, you’re with the B team, Popo, and Nana are with John too!” Cristiane stated.

John looked back at the bunny teacher in shock before looking back at the Tandemaus, who held a creepy smile right on his face. John couldn’t help but scream a little. “Let us depart.” “To the warzone.” “Friend!”

“HeyheyheyheyHEY!” John tried protesting before the mice grabbed him and carried him over to a side of the field and placed him carefully on the ground. John looked back at them, seeing that the smile was gone. “Uh… thanks… I guess…”

“Friend is thankful for us.” “It makes us feel excited.” They looked at each other. “This soul might be the perfect candidate.” “However, we shall use this game as a test.” “A test to see if this interesting soul is capable enough as a sacrifice.” They looked back at John with a menacing look. “For the Great One.”

“Aha… um… cool…” John took several steps away from Popo and Nana and took his opportunity to look at his current teammates.

It seemed that Claire and Amy got into his current team, which was good at least. The skull dog also seemed to get into his team, what was his name? Cerb… Cerberus…? John didn’t remember, but he could tell that he was really excited about this game by just looking at his face. The other teammates he didn’t recognize, however. One looked like a blue bipedal otter with white whiskers and two shells on their legs. Another one looked like a black and blue feline with a star-shaped tail, the black fur acting like some sort of facial hair. His last teammate was some sort of grass creature with a red and blue rose for hands. ‘How is someone like that gonna grab the ball? Heck, how will Claire and Amy grab a ball? How am I gonna grab a ball!? … Unless…'

The Joltik looked at the opponent team. Apparently, Elsa and her cat goons managed to stick together. Unfortunately, Taro was with them as well, oh well, typical start for a normal game of dodgeball when the teacher chooses the teams. It’s always the people you dislike get their friends and your friends get on the opposing team. He guessed that was a multiversal thing. Still on the opposing team, there were more Pokémon John had never seen before. Some type of kung-fu looking yellow and pinkish feline, a yellow and orange chicken Pokémon that looked a bit humanoid, a floating blueish black ghostly figure with some red gems on their neck and flowing red hair tips, and a vulpine humanoid orange and yellow Pokémon with a big fluffy tail, fur coming out of the ears, looking like braids and a wooden stick poking out of their tail.

Well… this was going to be a crazy match, John was sure. But if he could do this trick to snag a quick elimination…

“Hey, Johnny bug!” The Joltik looked at the source of the voice and saw Elsa looking at him with a malicious grin along with her friends. “Prepare to be the first eliminated.” She chuckled.

John just ignored her with a roll of his eyes. ‘What if I am not the first eliminated, huh? What are you gonna do, bitch?’

He saw the teacher had already put the balls in the middle of the field. “Alright, everyone. Remember, you can only eliminate someone with physical balls understood? Don’t go making other kinds of balls like Energy Balls, Shadow Balls, or any balls. Is that clear?” The students nodded as the Cinderace pulled out a whistle. “Then let’s begin!”

The sound of a whistle surrounded the whole field, and with that, the match finally started. John, from a distance, shot a string of silk at one of the balls and latched onto it. The Joltik spun the ball around and released the ball, throwing directly at the Combusken who was caught off guard. The ball hit them and with that, the fire chicken was eliminated. John grinned. “Yes!”

“Way to go John!” Claire said while wagging her tails.

The Tandemaus just put a hand on their chins. “Hm…” “Adequate.”

“What!?” Elsa exclaimed in disbelief, she then turned to the teacher.  “Ms. Cristiane, John cheated! He used his moves!”

The Cinderace just smiled while crossing her arms and replied. “Well, I said you can only use the balls to eliminate someone. And little John used the ball to eliminate another player, so it’s all good. After all, I didn’t really ban moves in general.”

The Braixen then spoke next. “So you mean this is allowed?” She pulled out her stick from her tail and it glowed with a purple aura. One of the balls started floating with a purple outline around it and suddenly was launched at the Dewott. Luckily the blue otter dodged with a roll to the side. Meanwhile, the Braixen looked back at Cristiane while resting her stick on her shoulder. “That kinda looks unfair to me.”

“Well, that’s the fun part of the game, you have to put your dodging skills to the test!” She said with a smile. “It ain’t called Dodgeball for nothing, right?”

The Dewott huffed as he grabbed the ball. “Well, if that’s the case…” He then threw it upwards and grabbed one of his shells. “Then let’s show these fools what we got!” He then hit the ball with the flat part of the shell like a baseball bat, launching the ball towards the Mienfoo. The Mienfoo grabbed the ball while shifting into a martial art pose. The Dewott looked on in astonishment before looking down, dejectedly. “Aw, man…” He said as he walked out of the field.

Claire rushed to the middle of the field and grabbed a ball with her forepaws. She started standing on her hind legs and tried launching the ball towards her sister, although the throwing power wasn’t that great. ‘Wait, Claire can do that?’ John thought as he saw the display.

The ice Vulpix jumped out of the way. “Cindy!”

“Understood!” The Purrloin ran to grab another ball from the middle of the field. She turned to Amy. “Hey grass rat, eat this!” The Purrloin chucked the ball at the Shaymin, who wasn’t paying attention and got hit.

Claire fell on all fours and turned to the hedgehog. “Amy!”

Amy looked at the ball bouncing back to the Purrloin and sighed. “I’m sorry guys, I’m not really good at this…” She said with a sheepish smile and went out of the field.

John and Claire felt a little bit of pity for her, but then they looked at each other and nodded with determination. They looked back to the Purrloin while other small wars involving balls were happening in the field. “It’s time to squash you, puny bug!” The Purrloin said as she chucked the ball directly to the Joltik.

“John, dodge!” Claire shouted to the Joltik.

There was no way he could dodge in time, even with his fast jumps. So he shot another string of silk that wrapped around the ball and pulled it towards him. He tried his best to grab the big ball with his forenubs and put the ball on top of him. But man was the ball heavy. It felt like a part of his exoskeleton cracked when he grabbed the ball. But hey, at least one cat was eliminated. “I… I did it!”

Claire saw the Purrloin sighing and leaving the field. She grinned as she turned to John. “Nice catch, John!”

“Hell yes! It seems my new senses really work for somethi- ACK!” His gloating came to a stop once John was hit by a really fast ball, making him fly back a little bit while dropping his own ball. Damn, did it hurt. He was sure that a normal bug getting hit by a ball like that would probably die. However, this was not his world and Pokémon have a dummy thick resistance to basically anything. Although, it felt like all of his insides got crushed and rebuilt in the span of a second. “Ugh… I feel like I’m gonna vomit…”

“John!” Claire shouted to her friend and looked at the attacker to see a Combusken returning from a throwing position. Oh yeah, the Mienfoo caught the ball earlier, didn’t he? “Hey, at least be more careful while throwing a ball at him!”

The Combusken scratched his head in shame. “Jeez, I’m sorry…”

The Joltik got up groaning and looked at Claire. “I’m fine Claire… that just hurt a bit more than I was expecting…”  With that, Amy was back in the game while John left the field, leaving him to spectate the match. “Hit them all gang! I’m trusting you!”

The Cinderace gave the Joltik a curious side-eye before looking back at the field, seeing Taro picking up a ball and trying to hit Popo and Nana. However, the mice couple just jumped over the ball. “Friend has been annihilated.” “Let us revive his soul back into the zone of conflict.” They started grinning as they picked up a ball that was a bit dirty with silk. “Let us sacrifice the enemy!”

Taro, a little confused about what the Tandemaus said, tilted his head in confusion before rolling out of the way of a fastball thrown by the pair of mice. “Woah… what speed…”

Popo and Nana pointed at the opposite side of the court while their backs and arms touched like they were as one. “Prepare your souls opposing vessels. We shall make you necessary sacrifices for the revival of our different soul and remarkable vessel.” A ball was launched at them by the Braixen, however, they simply just dodged by splitting up and uniting again. “Pathetic attempt.” “Fiery soul, now.” “It is our turn.”

With a blink of an eye, they already had grabbed the ball, and with another blink, they were already returning to the front lines of combat. They launched the ball together, aiming at the Misdriveous who didn’t notice in time and got hit by the ball at almost the speed of a bullet. “Ngh!” She grunted as her levitation faltered a little. “Dammit…” She angrily floated off the field while gritting her teeth.

The Tandemaus looked at each other. “The dead soul is eliminated.” “Next, we shall revive the soul of friend.” They slowly looked back at the other side of the field. “While also bringing nightmares unimaginable to the Pokémon mind towards the enemy.”

“Jeez… they literally came out of a horror movie…” John said to himself as he watched the game.

“Heh, are you really that scared of them?” John looked to the source of the voice, and it was the Dewott sitting beside him. “I mean, true, they are a little creepy with the way they talk… and sharp teeth that their species isn’t known to have…” John agreed about that one. “Nonetheless, it’s not like they actually sacrifice someone… at least, not that I know of…”

John sighed. “Thanks for the reassurance…”

They suddenly heard a whistle and turned to the Cinderace. “John, you’re up again.”

“Huh?” John focused back in the game and saw that Popo and Nana were holding a ball, that looked like the Braixen had thrown with her psychic powers. “Damn… they’re good…”

Suddenly, the pair of Pokémon instantly cocked their heads towards John, making him flinch again. “It is your turn friend.” “We have sacrificed the enemy’s soul for the revival of yours.” They tilted their heads. “Are you proud of us, friend?”

John gulped and walked back on the field slowly, making sure to be a good distance away from them. “Thanks, guys…” He said sheepishly before he looked to the other side of the field. The enemy team was losing greatly. While he wasn’t focused on the game, it seemed that the yellow fox, the ghostly figure, the purple cat, and somehow the long-tailed cat were already eliminated. ‘Damn, how did the mice do it in such a short time…'

John looked back at the Tandemaus, who was in his face again, making him flinch again and take a step back. “Together, we shall do wonderful things for the team.” “Let us unleash our inner demons to annihilate the souls of the enemy.” “We shall strike their souls when they least expect it.” “We shall finish the job once and for all.” They offered the balls in their hands to John while speaking together in unison. “And make the biggest sacrifice known to Pokémon kind!”

John put the ball on his back and sheepishly laughed as he stepped back, just in time to avoid a ball coming his way. He turned to see who threw the ball, and it was none other than Elsa, standing on her hind legs. “You little peasant… if my loyal friends couldn’t take care of you… I’ll do it myself!” Unlike Claire who went back on all fours after throwing the ball, Elsa started running on two legs, like a Riolu with only her paw pads touching the ground, to grab another ball.

“How are you walking like that!? That’s not possible!” John said flabbergasted at the fox running on two legs. He looked at Claire while pointing at her ice counterpart. “How is she doing that!?”

Claire sheepishly shrugged. “Oops… I forgot to tell you that she could do that…”

“Can literally every being here have the option of walking on two legs?!”

The ice Vulpix maliciously grinned as she picked up the ball. “Foolish bug…” She looked at the Joltik with a mischievous smirk. “Unlike Claire over there… I spent a good portion of my life training my legs, on top of being the prettiest Pokémon there is, for situations like these! After all, princesses in the past all walked on two legs, so I must carry on their legacy.” She put a foot on the and a foot on the back, making the perfect position to throw the ball. “Take this, pathetic bug!” She then threw the ball at John.

The small spider dodged the incoming ball while the ball on his back went into the air. He covered the ball with silk again and held it with his mouth like a ball with a chain. Meanwhile, Elsa ran to grab another red ball as John chucked the ball directly in her direction. However, she was lucky and managed to grab the ball in time with her claws and blocked the other ball. “Dammit!” John muttered under his breath as the Braixen entered the field once again.

Elsa looked at the yellow fox with the wand and grinned. “Nice to see you again Vix, let’s beat some fools together, right?”

“For sure.” Vix said as she grabbed her wand again and started to levitate a ball towards Elsa, dropping it on her hands as the ice Vulpix handed the other ball to the Braixen. She grinned. “There you go.”

“Much appreciated my loyal benefactor.” Elsa said as she ran and threw the ball at John again.

The Joltik braced for impact. However, Claire jumped in front of him, letting herself get hit by the ball. “Claire…?”

The fire fox looked back at John with a sheepish smile. “I just didn’t want to see you get eliminated again.” She grinned. “Go get ‘em!”

John sighed. “Alright, I’ll try my best.” The fire Vulpix nodded and left the field. John looked at his team and noticed one major flaw in one of his previous statements about the enemy team losing. It appeared that they were the ones losing instead, with 4 teammates left. Him, Popo and Nana, and Amy.

The Tandemaus looked at John. “Good job of surviving this far, friend.” “We have managed to erase four souls of the enemy team.” The Joltik blinked and they were now in front of him, he let out a small squeak. “We shall need your assistance for total annihilation. The results of this test shall come after the match. Let us see if you are worthy of having a meeting with the Great One.”

‘Hope I fail immediately…' John then looked at Elsa, who started focusing on hitting Amy. ‘Although… I still want to teach that brat a lesson…' John looked back at the Tandemaus. “Yeah… let’s do this.”

“Understood.” “Let us commence.” Both mice nodded along with John.

The Joltik grabbed a ball in the distance with his silk and brought it closer to him. Meanwhile, the Tandemaus went to grab another ball at a fast speed. The mice saw Amy, dodging a ball thrown by Elsa, but immediately getting hit by another ball that came from the Mienfoo. She sighed and left the field, it was only Popo, Nana, and John now.

The Joltik threw the ball at the unsuspecting Mienfoo, who was caught off guard after throwing the ball at the Shaymin. He left the field as well. Now, there were only 4 left on the battlefield. “It is time to prove once and for all, why you are a pathetic freak of nature…” Elsa said while glaring at John with a ball in her hand.

“Oh, it’s on bwitch!” John said muffled with Silk in his mouth.

The Braixen meanwhile, was twirling her stick wand while levitating a ball. “Let’s see how bad you mess this up little mice.” She chuckled.

“Your soul shall suffer.” “Your soul shall serve as a great sacrifice, not for the Great One.” They smiled with their sharp teeth, making the Braixen flinch in shock. “But to our own satisfaction.”

“Let’s do this!” Elsa and John said in unison as the Ice fox threw the ball at John. Luckily, John didn’t focus on attacking so he dodged with ease and threw the ball at Elsa. Unfortunately, she ducked under the ball, even letting her tails fall to not get hit. They instantly went to grab other balls to throw, meanwhile, the Tandemaus threw the ball at Vix with a lot of speed. On instinct, she stopped the ball with her telekinesis.

Christiane whistled and pointed at the Braixen. “Using moves to block balls is illegal. For that, you are out.”

“What!?” Vix turned to the Cinderace with surprise on her face. “But I haven’t heard you say that before we started the match!”

The Cinderace put her paws on her hips. “Well, I did say that you can block balls WITH another ball. I didn’t say the same with powers.”

The Braixen left the field, fuming. She looked back at Popo and Nana who were smiling creepily. She heard them saying together something that made her whole body shiver. “We hope that you do not mind a sudden visit while asleep.” She looked forwards again and started walking faster.

Meanwhile, Elsa and John were “fighting for their lives”. They were grabbing and throwing balls towards each other like their superiority over each other depended on it… which it did. John would latch silk onto the balls and throw them towards the Vulpix like he was David throwing rocks at Goliath, which would kinda fit given the context. Close shots were being delivered left and right, John was dodging them rather easily given his smaller size, while Elsa was dodging like a bipedal creature would.

Popo and Nana were watching how the war was playing out. They even sat on the floor as they calmly watched the match. “The ice soul is giving friend some trouble.” “That is good.” “This ordeal shall prove the worth he has to be in the sight of the Great One.”

Elsa noticed John panting a little bit and grinned. “What’s wrong peasant? Not much stamina left? And I thought bugs were never seen tired when they flee.” Elsa regally laughed as she threw another ball at John who managed to dodge, almost getting hit.

“I may not have exercised a lot lately… but I’ll not go down that easily!” John looked to the ball that the ice Vulpix just threw and launched a string of silk onto it, latching on the ball. This time, John spun around with his full body, getting some speed and force for his final stand! After a couple of spins, he threw the ball towards Elsa, launching at a moderate speed. The ball flew until it hit Elsa’s snout. “Yes!”

However, after the impact, the ball stayed in the air for a small moment, and while recovering from the hit, Elsa managed to grab the ball with her claws. From an expression that seemed to be gritting her teeth, it quickly turned to a grin as she slowly chuckled. “More like yes for me…”

John stared with his mouth visibly open. He mumbled to himself. “You gotta be shitting me…”

“I would admit of you being a worthy opponent… but nope! You’re still a useless peasant and will always be!” She regally laughed as she put a paw on her side. However, she didn’t account for a ball hitting directly at her stomach, making her stumble and falling on her butt on the ground. “What the hell was that…?”

“It is over.” The Tandemaus said while slowly walking to John. “Congratulations friend.” “You have passed the test.”

“It’s not over yet!” Elsa protested, pissed off at the mice. She looked towards the Braixen. “Vix, come over here and finish the job!”

The bipedal vulpine looked a bit nervously at the menacing pair of mice and she looked at the Ice Vulpix sheepishly. “Well um… I don’t think I need to… the game is already over…”

“What are you saying!?” Elsa replied madly as she walked on all fours towards the fire type. “Get back there destroy those stupid peasants!”

“And get a death sentence with them? No thanks…” Vix looked at the teacher. “Cristiane, the match is over, the other team won.”

“WHAT!?”

“Alright then!” The Cinderace whistled and pointed to the winning side of the field. “The winner is Team B!”

“We… we won…?” John tilted his head. “We actually won?”

“We did it John!” Claire beamed as she ran towards John. Once she reached him, she started jumping in place. “We won the game! And you basically carried the whole team along with Popo and Nana!”

The Joltik meekly tried to protest. “H-hey! I just did some eliminations and that’s it. The real MVPs of the game are-“ John turned to look at the Tandemaus, however, they were nowhere to be found. “The mice… and they’re gone… great…”

“Who’s gone?” Asked the grass hedgehog as she approached.

The greenish spider looked at the Shaymin. “The... Tandemice? Maus?” He groaned. “Popo and Nana.”

“Ah, them. Well… they walked away while no one was paying attention to them.” Amy sheepishly chuckled. “Well… ALMOST no one it seemed.”

“Ah, I see…” John thought that this was basically a normal thing for creatures like them.

“But anyways, congratulations John! You did great in that match!”

John blushed and looked aside. “Well, thanks I guess.” He looked back at her with a smile. “You did well as well.”

Amy looked aside with a frown. “No… I really wasn’t that good… no, I think I was the worst of the match.”

“Well, you weren’t in my opinion!” Taro said as he got walked to the group. “Besides, you weren’t even the first eliminated.” He looked at John with a grin. “Besides, anyone would get caught off guard by a Joltik doing that at the beginning of the match.”

John rubbed the top of his head. “Hehe… I hope the chicken isn’t too pissed about that…”

“Anyway guys, let’s prepare for the other P.E. activities, the class is not over yet.” Claire explained and the other three nodded. Although something was very clear for John. He did not want another match of dodgeball.

A pair of Tandemaus entered the school’s male restroom. Some people may see this and ask themselves, “How would two mice of different genders, that are always together, enter a separated gender public bathroom?” The answer to that is simple. Tandemaus do not care. They will enter any bathroom available to them no matter the gender to do their business. However, these specific mice had another type of business to do in a bathroom.

Popo and Nana jumped on a sink and looked at the oval-shaped mirror above the small sink. “It is time.” “To call upon the Great One.” They took hold of each other hands and lifted them in the air as they spoke in unison. “O Great One, heed our calling! For we want you to show your majestic form, and bathe in its splendor! We call upon thee O Great One to appear in this mirror and communicate with us!”

Suddenly the reflection of the mirror faded to a pitch black as a black tar-like substance started pouring out of the mirror. And from the darkness of the mirror, a giant red eye could be seen looking around and then looking directly at the pair of mice. A deep and ethereal voice reverberated through the mirror. “Hello again… Popo and Nana. What exciting news do you bring me today?”

There could be seen the excitement in their doll-like faces. “Great One!” “We have come to inform you about something you shall really like!”

The giant narrowed. “And what would that be little mice?”

They made a wide smile filled with sharp teeth. “We have found the perfect soul to sacrifice for you!”

Chapter Text

After a few more activities in P.E. class, it was break period. Pokémon from different classes were free to hang out with one another and do whatever (inside of school rules, that is). A Joltik was eating a package of gummies, he had received before school, alone on a bench. He didn’t know what was wrong with these jellybeans, but after eating some of them, it felt like he was… more energetic? Now he was doubting that these gummies weren’t actually drugs…

Claire had invited him to play with her and the others, but he refused. Reason was that he just wanted some time alone to think about some stuff now that things had calmed down. But thinking back on it all… wow… a lot happened without time to process it all.

So first off, the internet from this world is the same as Earth, which sounds impossible but when thinking about it… it does sound like something plausible, after all, Pokémon has a lot of bullshit that had yet to be revealed. He subdued his fear of bugs with help from his mom (which still feels weird to say when saying it out loud, just at the thought of him having a mother that’s also a spider). For some reason, there’s a criminal organization transforming humans into straight-up monsters, and he could very well become a victim. And just to shake off a feeling of dread, he had another feeling of dread by playing dodgeball with a bunch of magic-powered creatures that, you know, casually switch between four to two legs.

But in actuality, it wasn’t anything to stress over. Yes, the humans turning into monsters is a big issue, however, it is easily avoided if he blends in perfectly. After all, who would suspect a bug to be a human-

“Greetings.” “Friend.”

John screamed in a squeaky high-pitched tone. He turned to look at the white rodents who startled him. Oh yes, this was an issue to actually stress about. It wasn’t because of the sacrifice crap, he knew that it was just for the scares, but instead, it was because they looked like they could use him as a chewing toy at any time. He just couldn’t trust creatures whose mouths were filled with sharp teeth. John took some steps back, dragging his gummy package with a sheepish smile. “Heeeeey guys… what’s up…?”

Popo took a step forward. “It is time for the second part of your test.” Nana followed. “Your physical skills have proven that you are no ordinary Pokémon, like your soul.” “Thus, this test shall prove if you are capable enough of handling the Great One’s presence alone.” “After all, the majority of souls are not fit for the sight of such greatness itself.”

John started to mentally sweat. “Um… what kind of test is this…?”

The Tandemaus leaned their heads forward. “An interview that will decide your fate depending on the answers.”

Oh great… this was the day he is getting eaten, isn’t it? “Uh… what are the stakes here exactly-”

“Let us begin with the first question.” Nana interrupted and Popo followed. “What is your ideal life?”

“Seriously? No… questions of body type or what is your greatest fear?” John asked as his muscles relaxed a little.

The Tandemaus just stared silently at John for a moment before speaking. “Silly friend.” “We have known that since we looked at your soul.” “It is quite a silly fear for a soul indeed.” “But we do not judge a soul on the quality of the fears, they are unimportant for a sacrifice.” “We just like knowing the fear of the souls we like, so we can be acquainted more with them.”

The Joltik rubbed the back of his head. “Aha… that’s um… flattering to know.”

“Back to our question, friend.”

“Right…” John looked around as he thought of the answer. He honestly didn’t think much about how his life could be if he got everything he wanted ideally, so whatever answer he thought about would be simple. “So… I don’t think about it much. But… ideally, I just want to live a good and calm life along with my friends and… well… my family, I guess…” He looked away, a bit nervous about the answer he had given.

John looked back at the duo of mice, who were staring with the same soulless expression as always. “Interesting.” One said before leaning back. “An interesting response indeed.” The other said before leaning back too. “The Great One has a similar thought.” “But they are less comprehensible for the weak and mortal mind.”

John sheepishly laughed. “Great to know we uh… share something I guess…” The Joltik started walking backward to the edge of the bench. He glanced back to see where he was stepping. “Well… nice interview guys, gonna go now-”

The mice were in his face as John looked back, making him scream again. “Next question.” The yellowish spider started shaking. Just the sight of these mice just caused so much dread and anxiety for the poor Joltik. “What if one day, your world completely gets changed and you were forced to start all over again? What would you do?”

The Joltik gulped and stammered. “U-um… I… I would…. I would analyze the situation to… to plan and adapt accordingly so I can… do better.” Popo and Nana just stared for another awkward moment. “Uh… did I-”

“Excellent answer.” “Adaptability and rational thinking is something the Great One loves.” The mice tilted their heads. “It is time for the final question of the interview.” John gulped. However, to make it even more scary for the little spider, the mice leaned their heads closer to John while asking. “What would your reaction be if you met an eldritch being that is unimaginable to your mortal mind?”

“Erm…” John looked to the side. He would have lied and said something that is not to their liking just to fail the interview, but the way they just stare at him… it’s like one wrong question and they sink their teeth into his flesh. The Joltik guessed that they just wanted honest answers instead of right or wrong answers. “Alright… um… I guess that I would be a bit scared, confused, and amazed about what I was seeing. Typical hu-… I mean… mortal reaction. However, I would try to comprehend what it was and not panic after the slight scare.”

After another awkward moment of staring, the duo leaned back and smiled. “Our suspicious were correct.” “You are truly a remarkable vessel.” “Not just physically.” “But mentally as well.” “We have decided.”

John held back a scream at the sight of the sharp teeth. “U-uh… decided what…?”

“You shall have a meeting with the Great One. It shall decide your fate today at night.”

“W-WHAT!?” John waved his nubs in front of them. “B-but, I don’t even know where he is, so unfortunately… I can’t-”

“It shall come to you at midnight.” “To encounter it, stay in front of a reflective object.” “Preferably, a big one.” “You shall know when it appears.”

“B-but…” Before John could protest, the Tandemaus jumped off the bench and walked away.

“We shall meet again friend. Hopefully, for us, the Great One shall grant you enlightenment.”

John stayed in silence for a moment before looking back at his pack of gummies. “I don’t think I’m hungry anymore…” Alright, now he was getting some red flags from all over. He was thinking that this so-called Great One would be like something imaginary and the sacrifices were a synonym for eating people. But the way they said to look in a reflective object and that whatever the Great One is would come out of it, just made John really anxious. “It’s fine, it’s fine… it’s just a prank and whoever this “Great One” is… probably fictional.”

The bell rang and every student went back to their classes.

John sat on his table as he looked around the class. It seemed that everyone (that he had seen the previous time he was in the class) was there. John, unfortunately, sat in the middle of a nine-seat class, meaning that he was the center of attention. If he wanted to, he would sit in the back of the class, however, he couldn’t because of two things. One, the back row already had owners. Two, the owners were unfortunately Elsa and her cats. On the middle row, sat him and Cer… Cerb… the skull dog, and in the front row sat Claire, Taro, and Amy.

When the Joltik locked eyes with the dark canine, he noticed that he was staring directly at him. John stared back at him for a moment before asking a bit nervously. “Erm… is something wrong…”

Claire started looking back, just as the fire dog started sniffing John. Claire’s initial thought is that Cerbera was going to eat him, however, the fire type said something way worse than the Vulpix expected. “This smell… John, I know what you are!”

The Joltik felt time stop all around him as his stomach dropped. He just had one job to blend in and it’s all going down the drain already? John stuttered as he did his best to put on a sheepish smile. “O-oh really…?”

“That’s right! This smell is unmistakable! You’re just like me!” The Joltik tilted his head at that. Was he… “I am… or was… a wild Pokémon just like you!”

Claire and John both let out a sigh of relief. John mustered the strength for a fake smile. “Yep! O-oh boy… how did you find out so quickly?”

The Houndour grinned. “That’s easy! You got the smell of someone who came from the wilds!” Cerberus put a paw over John. “I’m glad there’s someone as superior as me in this class! After all, there’s no way simple Joltik would play that well in P.E.!” He started laughing, making John sheepishly laugh with him too. However, their laughs were stopped once the door to the classroom opened, making Cerbera stay still on his hay seat.

John flinched a little once he took a look at the teacher. The teacher was a large dinosaur-like creature, with grey scaly skin, blue stripes on their legs, tail, wrists, and neck, sharp bone spikes coming out of their knees, neck, and the round blue top of their head. Speaking of that feature, wow did that look hard. If someone got hit by a headbutt by that thing, they would get launched to the moon. Also, for some reason dinosaurs are alive here? … That’s good to know. ‘Just the usual weirdness of the Pokémon world… what else is there to expect by this point, gods?’

“Good morning class!” The dinosaur said with a gruff voice and the class replied with a “Good morning Mr. Pachy!” The teacher walked in front of its desk and put a book on it. He looked at the class, eyes locking on the Joltik after searching. “Oho, so there is a new student. Care to make introductions for me, please? I am informed that you already presented yourself to the class.”

John stuttered and looked down. “W-well um… name’s John and as you can clearly see…” He looked back up with a sheepish grin. “I’m a Joltik!”

“Well, you’re certainly a rare specimen of your species. Quite small but intelligent, I see. My name is Parchos, but you can call Mr. Parchy, your history teacher.” John nodded rapidly, he just wanted to get the class to start ASAP before anyone else gets any more suspicion. “Anyways, erm…” Pachy opened the book on his desk and began skimming through the pages. “Got it.” He looked back towards the class. “So, today’s class is about the very continent we live in. The Fire Continent!” The Rampardos started pacing in front of the teacher’s desk. “As you know from the previous year, this continent was the last one in being discovered, around seven hundred cycles ago. Once found, there were lots of new types of Pokémon discovered.”

John put a nub on his chin. ‘So this continent basically the America of this world huh…? Wonder what kinds of other similarities it has.’

The Houndour of the class raised a paw. “Teach, teach, teach!”

Mr. Parchy turned to the excited Cerbera. “Yes, Cerbera?”

“Why is it called the fire continent if there are almost no fiery places? Why there are no Volcanoes as well?”

The teacher chuckled. “Good question, kid.” He cleared his throat. “At the time of discovery, this continent was filled with active volcanoes, filled to the brim with fire type Pokémon. Groudon was found resting here as well at one point in that time.” The kids let out curious noises at the mention of Groudon while John just stared in confusion. “However, as time moved forward, the volcanos became inactive and wildfire types were forced to move out from the newly-formed mountains. An example of one of those mountains is Mt. Gelo.”

At the mention of that name, Claire’s eyes widened as she started shaking. Tears came out of her eyes as her vision faltered. John noticed that the Vulpix did not look fine and decided to ask. “Claire… is something wrong?”

The teacher stopped his explanation to look at the fire type fox. “Is… something wrong Claire?”

She came to her senses and looked at the teacher. “I-it’s…” She wiped her tears. “I-I’m fine teacher… it’s just…” She trailed off, looking away before glancing back at the teacher. “I just need to go to the bathroom…”

While no one was looking, Elsa frowned and looked away. The Rampardos nodded. “Sure, you can go to the bathroom…”

Claire nodded and walked out of the classroom. John just stared at the Vulpix in confusion. Just what was happening with Claire? ‘Hope she’s alright at least…'

The fire type Vulpix entered the female bathroom, not even bothering to turn on the lights, it was all her fault. She opened the faucet and let water fall in the sink, the sound of water reverberating around the bathroom, it was all her fault. She splashed some water on her face, letting it wash the dirt and impurities away and making her fur drip a little, it was all her fault. She looked at the mirror and saw her sad and pathetic expression, inner struggles full of guilt eating her away, it was all her fault.

It was all her fault it was all her fault it was all her fault It was all her fault it was all her fault it was all her fault It was all her fault it was all her fault it was all her fault It was all her fault it was all her fault it was all her fault It was all her fault it was all her fault it was all her fault It was all her fault it was all her fault it was all her fault It was all her fault it was all her fault it was all her fault It was all her fault it was all her fault it was all her fault-

It was all your fault, Claire!

“STOP!!!” Glass shattered in front of Claire, making her snap out of her inner turmoil. She opened her eyes, panicked stricken, and began to calm down and control her breathing. She looked around her to see shards of the mirror scattered on the floor. How did that happen? She didn’t care, she just wanted to get her mind off of him. “… Hiro…”

Claire splashed more water onto her face and got away from the sink. “I can’t let others see me like this… what would John even think of me?” She needed to look strong and brave, or else how would John feel safe in this world? How would she be able to protect him if the worst comes to worst?

The Vulpix then returned to the class, entering the class with a forced smile. “I’m back!” She looked over to the Joltik and gave him a nod, returning to her seat. However, the Joltik didn’t buy that act just by looking at Claire.

After school was over, everyone took the bus back to their home. While on the bus, the Joltik noticed that Claire was silent throughout all the bus, just responding to certain things when Taro and Amy spoke to her. ‘What is going on with her?’ John thought before looking out the window on top of Claire’s head. ‘I’ll ask her once we get home…'

After a small while, the two Vulpix and the Joltik got home. Strangely enough, Elsa didn’t do any of her usual comments towards the duo as she usually does every time they leave the bus. John thought that it was because of the dodgeball game, but that wouldn’t make sense, she would just annoy him even more if that was the case. After entering the bedroom of the house, John jumped on the bed and finally decided to ask the Vulpix. “Hey uh… Claire?”

Claire looked back at the greenish-yellow spider while taking off her uniform. “Yes, John?”

“So uh… about what happened in history class today…” Claire physically froze, making her stop removing her uniform. “What happened that you suddenly started shaking?”

The orange six-tailed vulpine stood silent, before clearing her throat. “W-well…” She looked back at John with a forced smile. “I just had a small seizure, it happens sometimes.”

John frowned. “Are you sure it was just a seizure…? I don’t think there were enough signs to be a seizure…”

“It’s because you’re used to human seizures. Pokémon seizures happen differently!” Claire kept smiling forcefully as she continued taking out her uniform.

John, however, was still not buying it. However, he didn’t have enough evidence to push a bit of info out of her, so he left it at that for now. Claire mentally sighed in relief. “Hey Claire, where’s your laptop? I need to ask Harry something. And before you get excited, no it’ll be just text.” The Vulpix pointed at the laptop while holding her uniform with her mouth. John jumped on the desk where the device was and opened it up with a lot of strength and effort. Wow, even opening a notebook is a pain for his tiny body.

John turned it on and after a couple of seconds, the home scream appeared with the Asuri logo on the wallpaper, being just two claws (more like katars, do they even have that?) crossed together. Even if John didn’t like the idea of a company from another world plagiarizing from the original, he was actually thankful to them to let him still use the internet. John opened Discord again and saw that Harry was online. He began typing.

It was as he feared. Pokémon were slowly but surely starting to reveal themselves to the world through the internet. A side of John mentally reassured himself that everything would be fine and the world would continue as normal, however, another side of him told him to panic and that his world would fall into chaos. He took the calm side of him and took a deep breath, looking at Claire who was sitting beside him looking at the conversation. “O-oh, didn’t see you there.”

The Vulpix smiled while wagging her tails. “Yeah, just wanted to see what you were typing to Harry.”

“Well, it’s kinda a concerning topic…” He looked back to the images, looking at the last one specifically. That profile picture was that same masked cat from that invitation video, meaning that was truly the CEO of that company. But that message was worrying… what is she planning?

Elon Musk was busy checking his Twitter on his computer as usual, posting a stolen meme here and there, and replying to some big verified people. It seemed that people didn’t really like the action he took of firing some employees of the company, unfortunately, they would never understand that it was the best action for the company and the future of the new era of Twitter.

Suddenly, his phone started to buzz and vibrate. He took the phone and started speaking. “Yes?”

A female voice spoke on the other side. “Mr. Elon? There is a call from someone that is… strange… but I think you should hear them out…”

“Pass the line to them.”

“Understood.”

The line cut before being redirected to another voice that had a more smooth female voice. “Good morning, goodnight, or afternoon Mr. Elon. My name is Alice Mishima, the CEO of Asuri Technology Industries from the Pokémon world. And I would like to-”

“Wait, wait, wait.” The man chuckled. “Pokémon world? Seriously?”

“That is indeed correct. This might sound like a joke, but it is the truth.”

“Whatever joke call this is won’t get me. It’s so bad that is funny-”

“Have you not checked the trending tab yet?” Elon then looked at his computer and checked the trending tab. And one of the top 3 trending things was Pokémon. “If you want proof that my joke has a little bit of truth in it, be my guest.”

The man furrowed his brows as he clicked on the Pokémon tab. It then showed posts and retweets of photos of realistic Pokémon along with some screenshots of the new game crowding the trend. Elon just tried to think of excuses in his head that it probably was some Photoshop crap or some really talented artists. Although, he reached a video that had a realistic Lucario using some moves against a dummy. He couldn’t help but stutter while trying to talk to her again. “W-what do you want…?”

“I know all about you. I did my research, and you’re just the man I need, that would be essential for something later... I want to make a deal…”

“What kind of deal?”

“Simply put, I want you to give ownership of Twitter… to me.” That made the man choke on his own spit. “You cannot deny that, ya know? The entire thing is falling apart as we speak, you don’t want it to shut down just when you got the ownership do you?” Before the man could speak again, Alice interrupted. “Also, the thing is, you cannot deny this deal. If you do, one of my best hackers will take control of Twitter anyways. Which will you choose? The easy way or the hard-”

Suddenly, the man just hung up the call. Seriously, who did that woman think she was? Thinking she can just prank him and take control over the entire company? All of that made his good mood disappear, just made him more stressed. “Just another one of those little shits that call here… how did she get past the secretary anyways? Gonna need to find someone else…”

Before he could get back to doing what he was doing, a portal appeared in front of the door, making the man fall out of his chair from the scare. The portal had a golden outline, almost like a ring. From the portal came three strange creatures. On the left, there was a floating genie-like creature with two horns, pink hair, and two floating disembodied hands as well. On one of the horns, there was a ring hanging on it as well. It seemed that the creature was frowning, looking aside.

On the right, there was a black and pink bipedal lizard creature with a feminine-looking body as well, snorting smoke from her nostrils.

In the middle, there was a green bipedal feline, who apparently had a mask on her face. With her arms folded behind her, Alice spoke before the man could. “It appears that you have chosen the hard way…” She shrugged. “It is something expected from a man that fired most of his employees in less than a week.”

“W-Who… what… what are you…?” The man asked, backing up to a glass wall with absolute fear.

“If it isn’t obvious at this point, we are Pokémon!” She then walked slowly towards the man. “As I remember correctly, I gave you two options... and you have chosen the hard way… so some drastic measures are needed for this deal to be done…” She stopped and looked back at the Salazzle who nodded in return. She walked over to the computer of the CEO and started messing with it.

“W-what are you doing!? S-stop… stop this at once-”

The Meowscarada put a finger over the man’s mouth. “Ssssshhhh… no need to cry about it. Don’t worry, we are only doing this for the good of both worlds…” She pulled back her paw and folded her arms behind her again, looking at the Sallazle. "How are you managing?"

The Sallazle looked at Alice, pointing her thumb at the screen. "It seems we need a password, boss girl."

The Meowscarada hummed as she looked back at Elon with a fake pleading look. "Would you be so kind as to give your beloved password to us?"

The man was slowly crawling towards the phone a bit away, subtly. "I'm gonna fucking call security at you freaks of nature! Like hell, I'm gonna give the passwords to dumb anima-"

Suddenly, Alice's claw started glowing with some dark purple aura. The aura changed its shape into a scythe made out of darkness in a second. Alice put the tip of the scythe near the man's neck as her smirk disappeared, turning into a menacing glare. "That. Wasn't. A request..."

Elon Musk shrieked and flinched at the sight of the scythe before nodding rapidly. "Fine, fine! I-I'll give you the password!"

"Good..." Alice dissipated her scythe and looked back at Hoopa who was leaning at the door, still frowning. "Hoopa, guard the door, there is obviously a security camera here who saw our entrance." With a flick of her paw, she launched a dark slash projectile at said cameras. "Send any security personnel who tries to enter, somewhere else, got it?" Hoopa slowly nodded and left the room. Alice turned to Elon who was still shaking in fear, she approached him again. “Your usefulness is not over yet, Elon Musk.” She grinned. “We have something else to do, and for that, we need your help. After all, you are not the richest man in the world for nothing.” Alice chuckled. "Project Wonderland is about to truly start."

It was almost midnight. The Ninetales and Vulpix already went to bed. John pretended to sleep in Claire and Elsa’s room so he could access the mirror in their room. Honestly, it was a big enough mirror, so whatever it is that those mice planned would be good enough. However, John couldn’t stop thinking about how much bullshit all of that sounded. Seriously, who would appear at midnight through a mirror? Only if it is a horror story monster that’s for sure… do they even have those here?

John looked at the clock, thankfully with his spider vision, he could see in the dark well. It was midnight as the clock pointed. John looked back to the mirror and waited for something to happen. However, nothing was really happening except for the slight feeling of anxiety growing within him. The Joltik sighed and turned away. “Thankfully, they were just joking at least…”

Suddenly, the mirror started to darken without John looking. Two big red eyes appeared for a second and looked at John before disappearing. From the mirror, a black tendril with a red sharp tip wrapped around the spider and pulled him into the mirror. No one could hear John’s scream.

Chapter Text

Dark, so dark… John couldn’t see anything. It felt almost like he was in an egg again, trapped and with no light in sight. He felt weird, it was like reality shattered all around him and now he was left in the deep dark abyss.

What happened to him? Where was he? Was this a dream? If so, why couldn’t he wake up? The Joltik tried to speak, but his mouth wouldn’t open, possibly being blocked by something. Not only that, but he felt his whole body being blocked, his eyes, his mouth, even his… oh god, he couldn’t breathe!

The greenish spider tried to struggle, trying to break free from his prison. He was slowly but surely losing oxygen, he needed desperately to escape or else he was gonna die of suffocation! 

“Hold on a bit more, little bug. We’re getting there.”

A voice snapped John out of his thoughts and he started thinking frenetically. ‘What’s going on, who the hell is talking!? What is happening to me!?’ Before he could panic even more, he felt all of his body loosen, a feeling of an ethereal touch leaving his body. The Joltik opened his eyes, blurriness fading away from the vision as started breathing again, coughing a little bit as well. “Man… what the hell…?”

John looked around and saw that he was in some kind of… what the hell was this place? There were floating islands everywhere, some sideways and others upside down, all having some kinds of dead trees and teal-colored bushes. Some farther islands had some twisted and tilted buildings on them, looking back where he was standing, there was a twisted building as well. The skies around him appeared in the color of the ocean, with purple vortexes swirling around them as well. In some places, there was purple smog clouding the air. 

The Joltik looked absolutely frightened in the nightmarish world he just entered. “W-what is this place… where the hell am I…!?”

“So what the duo said was true…” A voice reverberated throughout the place, deep and ethereal. John glanced around frantically, trying to find the source of the voice. “Your soul is unusual from other Pokémon… to think that they found a human, huh? You’re a unique one, that’s for sure.”

John started shaking as he asked while stuttering. “W-w-who are you? W-what is this place…? If-if this is a damn prank, it ain’t fucking funny!”

A big and long figure passed right above John, leaving a monstrous-looking shadow, however, once John looked up, nothing was there. “Before I show myself to you, let me clarify one thing before you faint like some humans who have met me. No, I will not hurt you, no matter how scary and intimidating I look. And two, my goal here is just to have a friendly conversation because you intrigued me, are we clear, little bug?”

The greenish spider looked around hesitantly as he slowly nodded. Now he was finally getting what that interview from yesterday was all about- wait… was that the so-called Great One talking? It’s actually fucking REAL? “U-uh… y-yeah… sure.” The Joltik took a deep breath, he promised the twins he wouldn’t freak out once he saw the Great One, it’s alright, he could do this. “I… I promise I’m gonna be different from… whoever… came before me…”

Another shadow passed by John, making him flinch again. “Good. Well then, allow me to introduce myself.” Suddenly, the menacing shadow stopped in front of John and started getting wider and bigger. John looked up and saw something that made his heart almost come out of his body. From above, came a massive gray, black, and red-striped serpentine creature. And by massive, he meant it, as it looked like they were the size of one of those twisted buildings. The creature had six yellow-tipped spikes coming out from the sides on the middle of its body and four minor spikes on its lower half, six black tendrils with red pointy tips, and six golden rib-like body parts on the upper half. Their head had a golden face plate on their mouth that also acted as some kind of helmet to the entire face while having two black and red eyes. John looked at the creature in wonder and absolute fear as he took in its body features- 

Wait a second… six, six, six… John’s eyes widened as he stuttered. “ T-t-t-t-THE FUCKING DEVIL!? ”

“Incorrect.” The giant serpent lowered itself, levitating some meters above the ground. “My name is Giratina and I am the owner of this realm.” John tried to stutter something before Giratina interrupted him. “Before you say the word hell one more time, as humans usually say once they find out about this place. This isn't the hell in your religion. This is the Distortion World. A word that mirrors the normal one, the reverse side of the original one. Everything that happens here has an effect on the other side as well, so it is my duty to keep everything in order.”

John wanted to scream, piss himself again, absolutely get the fuck out of there, just be away from everything related to this world and whatever it is that this devil wannabe is- John simply slapped himself in the face. ‘Man the fuck up, John! Stop being absolutely scared of everything like some kind of bug rat and start facing things like the man you fucking are!’ The Joltik, not only took one deep breath but multiple as Giratina just waited until he was done. John looked back at the legendary, opening his mouth, hesitating a bit to speak. “I…….” He took another deep breath and forcefully smiled at Giratina. “Hello… Giratina… name’s John and… nice uh… nice to meet you… O G-Great One…” Mentally, he started panicking a bit. ‘I can’t believe those damn mice actually worshipped an actual eldritch fucking horror!’

To the bug’s surprise, Giratina sighed and crossed two of its tendrils together. “Wow, way better reaction than the other humans who first saw me. Look, no need to treat me like I’m some kind of god. Yes, I may have immortality and own a world but, I honestly do not care about respect like some other legendaries do. So you can say whatever you have on that little mind of yours, I won’t care.”

The Joltik shakily asked. “S-so… you’re not gonna take my soul or eat me if I said like-”

The serpentine started laughing with a sound that reverberated across their location. “Almost every human who met me said that, and it’s too damn funny!” It calmed down from its laughing fit before looking back at him. “I can’t do that. I am the deity of antimatter, not souls. Now thinking about the previous humans… you’re actually handling better than the others. The Tandemaus were right about you.”

John sheepishly laughed as he looked away. “Gee… thanks…” He then looked back at Giratina. “Uh… I’m sorry but… I have too many damn questions on my mind…”

The antimatter deity nodded. “It is understandable. But since I answered many humans like you, I may know what certain questions might be. So… there are other beings like me, but I treat them as my… spoiled brothers. One controls time and the other controls space.” John shivered at the thought of having other gods like it around the world, he hoped he wasn’t as unlucky to meet one of them. “Another answer is yes, I know that you are a human because I looked at your soul. And since there were others of your kind that came here, I do know how to tell the difference between a normal Pokémon and a human that turned into a Pokémon.”

John slowly nodded his head at that. “R-right… and who were these humans before me? And what happened for them to be here…?”

Giratina tapped its chin with a tendril. “Well, if my memory doesn’t fail me… some humans wanted to test their strength against me, so I agreed, and joined their exploration teams for a short amount of time because I simply had nothing better to do. There was another time that I helped a human cross the world by using the Distortion World, they said that it wasn’t really a pleasant experience. Oh!” Its body shifted as it did a small twirl. “There was also a time I summoned a human as well since I felt a disturbance on the other side that was going to get worse. Yes, she was a recent one, once I looked at her red eyes, she looked like she lost all hope… quite a sad one indeed.” It then looked back at John. “Ah, sorry, I was too caught up in the past.”

John waved a nub off as he looked away. “It’s… fine.” He then looked back at the large deity who was leaning closer. He instantly took several steps back. “A-anyways… uh… about the mice twins uh… what is their deal with worshiping you as some kind of God for their… cult? You um… really don’t act like a godly figure that wants “ vessels ” for sacrifices.”

The serpentine deity chuckled as it landed on the ground. “Ah, Popo and Nana… you see, I am actually their guardian.”

“WHAT!?”

Giratina frowned behind its helmet and looked away. “You see, their story is kinda sad… their family was slaughtered on the spot, right in front of their eyes, by wild Arbok…” its tone shifted to a serious one. “They were going to be the dessert if it wasn’t for me stepping in when I was just wandering around.”

John looked down. “Oh…” He didn’t know that something like that happened to those mice. It kinda explains a bit about their full cult-like devotion to Giratina. “What… happened next?”

“Well… I took them in. And this is the part where they started thinking that they should worship me for some reason.” The deity opened its mouth plate, revealing its big maw and releasing a sigh. “After I gave them free access to the Distortion World by giving them a tiny spec of my powers and increased their lifespan, they started leaving and coming back with dead Pokémon, all wild ones, for me to eat. Yes, I may be grateful for them as I am an omnivore myself. However… it was incredibly alarming once they brought a live and civilized Pokémon in here. I told them that is not right so they put him back in their place. Now, all I hear about is that they want to find a perfect “ sacrifice ” for me. They thought about using you for that.”

John rubbed the top of his head. “Yeah, I noticed that… wait a second, if you’re… well, an antimatter deity or something, wouldn’t Pokémon be afraid of you if you enrolled those two in Obelisk High?”

The Jotik could see Giratina smiling now. “Heh, well, I knew that. So yes, I figured that would be the case, so I searched for a school that is relatively less populous. And I found a perfect one, being led by an Ultra Beast from the incident from cycles ago would be perfect. But since I didn’t want to reveal myself to the whole school, I asked Popo and Nana to bring the director here and told him about their situation.” The dragon shrugged with the tendrils. “It went better than expected as the director not only accepted them and also took them in so they had a better place to live!”

John looked at one of the twisted buildings around the place. “Yeah… I don’t see any creatures living here… although probably some weird type Pokémon would find it here quite comfortable…”

“Heh, they just might…” Giratina looked aside before looking back at John. “I believe it is time for my own set of questions… it is the first time that I saw a human turn into a Joltik… it never happened before.” It leaned closer to the small spider, lowering its head and trying its best to get to the Joltik’s level.  “Is there something about you that relates to that?”

“Well…” John looked away, really embarrassed. “Uh… I don’t know if it’s because of this or not but… I have this… fear of bugs that I cannot explain to anyone without looking like a whiny baby. Had this when I was, like… six years old or something around that time.” He saw that the dragon deity stared at him with a confused look. “Yeah… uh… weird fear, right?”

“No, it’s not that. You’re saying that… you remember your childhood?”

“Well of course my memory is a bit blurry for when I was a baby, but yes I remember my childhood perfectly fine, why do you ask?”

The giant dragon stayed silent for a moment. “Your memories… how were they kept…?”

“Huh…? What do you mean?”

Giratina started circling around the small bug, worrying him a little as he kept an eye on it. “Every human that comes to this world has their memories erased. Either the deity who summoned the human erases them themselves by possibly thinking it would hold the human back from doing the mission, or by the side effects of changing into a new body.”

John tilted his head with a frown. “Wait, I should’ve gotten my memories erased?”

The giant serpent nodded as it stopped circling. “Indeed. But not to worry, some humans recovered their memories later on in their journeys. But you…” Giratina looked away in thought before looking at John. “How much do you remember from your human past?”

The Joltik looked aside, hesitating for a little if he should tell the antimatter deity or not. He decided to go with the former. “... everything…”

It hummed before fidgeting with a big rock on the ground. “Could you tell me how you came into this world? Some humans come here by either dying or getting pulled into this world. How did you come here?”

John put a nub on his chin. “Well… if I remember correctly… some ethereal girlish voice grabbed my soul after I died wanting me to stop someone. Then… I woke up in an egg. I was basically born again, for… some reason.” He shrugged as best as he could.

“Huh…” Giratina leaned closer to the Joltik, startling him a little as it analyzed him. “Yes, the aura around your body feels… like a baby…” It leaned back, rubbing its head with a tendril. “You really are unique indeed. Other humans that came before you, always woke up in a new body by either falling out of the sky or just waking up anywhere close to their objective. But this… hm… actually this will make answering the other question a bit easier… come with me.”

“Wait wha- EEK!” Giratina quickly snatched John with one of its tendrils and put him on top of its head. The small Joltik was shaken up before he recovered a little. ‘I thought they were gonna eat me…’ He thought before Giratina started flying through the massive world of creepy floating islands. The last thing John expected in his weird life was to ride a god dragon, that reminded him of Satan, through a parallel dimension. John looked down at the giant dragon and hesitantly asked. “W-where are you taking me…?”

“Don’t worry, I’m only taking you to a place which you may find interesting…” The Joltik was unsure if that was the case, his anxiety was slowly getting to him. What was so important to show for a question? No, he shouldn’t let that get through his head, panicking was the last thing to do at the moment. After a certain while, Giratina stopped near an upside-down island and looked around with its eyes closed before opening them. “Alright, this is the place.”

“So… what do you want to show me?”

The dragon looked upwards, not quite looking at John. “Around some weeks ago, I felt some kind of disturbance with the Distortion World, so I went to check it out. Once I arrived at the disturbance, I realized that it wasn’t a disturbance but rather… an expansion.” John tilted his head in confusion. “John… is this your world?” Giratina put its tendrils in front of it, and with a lot of force, started tearing up the fabric of space.

“WHAT THE!?”

The dragon finished tearing up a hole in the air, making a portal that radiated dark energy to the other side. The dragon went through it along with John with his eyes closed, leaving them on the other side with dark blue skies surrounding them. They were floating in the air, clouds surrounding them as birds fle- wait, BIRDS!? No… don’t get hopes up, not enough proof that those were actually birds or just Pokémon John had never seen before. John looked down and a lot of lights from what looked like a city before realizing they were a bit too high for his comfort, making him look away from the massive fall. “U-um… could you… go down a bit… I need to see the city down there a bit better…”

Giratina, already in its altered form, looked down as its eyes widened a little in surprise. “Oh, a city.” It looked up again. “Alright then. Hold on to me.” It held John on one of its wing claws tightly and started to slowly descend.

“W-wait a second! When or… how did your appearance change!?” John asked in surprise as he saw Giratina’s new form. It kept the usual color scheme, sprouting six legs, black wings with six red spikes, and a tail while also keeping the six golden ribs and helmet, although now John could see the creature’s mouth.

The dragon deity chuckled. “I have two forms for each dimension.”

“Oh… I see…”

They descended a bit more before Giratina landed on top of an illuminated skyscraper, its six legs making the roof tremble a little. It put John on the ground and turned its claw into three red spikes again. “Alright, here we are, John. Can you tell if this is your world or not?” 

John looked around the roof of the building, there was an elevator door standing close to the edge while in the middle of the roof, there was a large rectangular pool. Around the pool, there are white pool chairs and parasols. It seemed like they were in a luxurious building. “Hm… I don’t know, since the Pokémon world is so similar to mine, I need to at least see one human.” He looked at the edge of the building and started walking towards it. “I’ll take a look at the edge.”

“Alright then.” The antimatter deity looked at the filled-up pool beside it. “Meanwhile, I’ll drink a little.”

The Joltik looked back and shouted. “Wait, don’t!” Giratina looked at him while tilting its head. “If it’s uh… my world, then I wouldn’t recommend drinking the water, there might be some chemicals that-”

The dragon chuckled. “What do you take me for? I can’t get sick, I’m the literal embodiment of antimatter, dummy. And also, before you ask, yes, I am a being that needs to drink and eat. However, I don’t need sleep.” With that, the antimatter deity lowered its neck and started drinking the water from the pool, taking large gulps as it refreshed its throat.

John couldn’t help but sigh as he walked towards the building. He hopped on the glass surrounding the roof and looked down. As the Joltik looked down, his stomach clenched as he realized they were so high up. “Geez, this place is so high…” He muttered as he narrowed his vision, however, the place was so high that he couldn’t really tell if there were humans or not. It really looked like a human city, that’s for sure. However, he needed to make sure that this was indeed his world and not some parallel copy of it. John looked back at Giratina. “So, I can’t-”

Ding!

John and Giratina looked at the elevator as the doors automatically opened. From the elevator, came a brown-haired man wearing a white robe. He froze at the sight of Giratina. When the antimatter looked aside before letting out a simple “Hi?”, the man screamed “WHAT THE FUCK!?” as he started pressing some buttons on the elevator.

John panicked at the sight of a human and hopped on the ground again. “Wait! Ugh, forget it! Giratina, take us out of this world now!”

In an instant, Giratina nodded as John jumped in the air. Giratina snatched the Joltik off the air with its wing claw and started flying away, leaving a gust of wind and small waves on the water as it flapped its wings. The antimatter deity clawed through the fabric of space once again and opened another portal to the Distortion World, entering it. Giratina put the Joltik on its head after changing to its original form. “So… was that your world?”

After panting for a bit, trying to calm down from the high-paced moment, John responded. “Yes… from the reaction and that guy alone… I can definitely confirm that’s indeed my world…” John sighed. He couldn’t believe it, he thought that he would never be able to go back, but now… he found a way to go back to his world! If… the giant antimatter deity allows, that is. “Geez, I can’t believe that’s actually true…”

“Well then, that really answers some questions…” The dragon rubbed its chin with one of its tendrils. “But why is my world suddenly connected to yours…? It has never happened before since humans always come to this world.”

John thought about it for a second before a realization hit him. “Wait… when did you say your world was expanded…?”

“Like I said before… some weeks ago.”

John facepalmed himself with his nub as he muttered. “Fucking Asuri…”

“Wait, that company that brought a lot of technological advancements to this world?” Giratina asked as it picked up John and put him on a floating island. “What about it?”

“Wait, you know about it?”

“Well, of course! Popo and Nana show me everything. So, there is this thing called the internet, and did you know? There is a lot of art of me in there! I look amazing in those!” Giratina gloated and John scratched his side sheepishly. “What?”

‘How the fuck he didn’t reach the porn section? If my knowledge of the internet is right, there is porn for every Pokémon… right? ... Hopefully not…’ John rubbed the top of his head before speaking. “So you see… the internet might be the cause of the expansion since… this internet is the same in my world.” 

Giratina stared silently at John. “Holy distortion… how did I not notice that before? It's all connected! But… how is that possible…?”

John shrugged with his forenubs. “Hell if I know, Asuri must be hiding something, all of their techs are exact copies of my world.” He got on all fours again and looked around. “So… is that all you wanted to talk about?”

“Yes, I believe that is it…” Giratina looked in the distance with a serious look. “I will investigate Asuri to see what else are they planning behind their public image.” It looked back at the Joltik. “Once my investigation ends, I will come back to you with information while you get me more info on what is happening on the other side. I won’t involve Popo and Nana in this, it will be a deal between us. Understood?” 

John nodded. “Understood. I also want to get to the bottom of this. Thankfully, Obelisk High was invited to visit one of Asuri’s buildings on Friday next week. I think it’s the main one but I’m not really sure. But, I might be able to get more info there.”

“That is good. Then it is a deal.” Giratina extended one of its big tendrils towards the tiny spider and stopped in front of him.

John flinched a little before nodding and pressing a nub on Giratina’s tendril. Upon further inspection, he saw how tiny he was compared to the tip of the tendril. It made John’s stomach clench a little. After all, he is making a deal with what seems like the Devil, or something. Giratina retracted its tendril and John rubbed the top of his head. “So uh… thanks for explaining everything and all but uh… could you please take me back? To the house you took me from in the Pokémon world, I mean.”

Giratina nodded and grabbed John with its tendrils again and started to fly again. After flying for a couple of minutes, the Joltik and the antimatter deity reached a reflective mass of land. “Alright, here we are. This is where you were before I took you.”

“Oh yeah… I kinda entered through a mirror… didn’t I?”

Giratina nodded. “Well, I’m afraid that it is time to go our own ways for now. I will contact you again on Saturday next week, understand?”

John nodded. “Alright.” john looked aside before looking back at the big serpent. “You know, for a deity that owns a realm, you don’t… really act like a god…” Which made him a bit more comfortable when speaking to such a big and horrifying deity.

Giratina shrugged with its remaining tendrils. “Heh, why the need to act like a god since I’m just considered “Arceus’ rebellious child” by historians.”

“Wait, wha-”

“Goodbye John, see you.” The big serpent said before shoving John into the reflective surface, making him appear in Claire's room again. The tendril released him and the Joltik fell on the ground.

“Ugh…” John looked around as he rubbed the top of his head. He saw that Claire and Elsa were still asleep and that it was still kinda dark. He looked at the clock on the wall, it pointed at 3:33 AM. John sighed and looked back at Claire. “How the hell am I gonna explain all of that to everyone…?”

Chapter Text

"WHAT!?"

A chorus of voices rang out from the back of the bus, making students (except for a certain trio) look to the back seats. Claire looked at the Pokémon students with a nervous look before shifting into a sheepish one. “Hehe… sorry about that, it was just some gossip between us…” The students shot a confused look at Claire before going back to their own gossip. The Vulpix sighed and looked back at their own group and whispered. “For real!? You actually met THE Giratina?”

The greenish Joltik confusedly nodded. What was that fuss about? Was that deity that famous? Well, from what John could remember, it did say that historians spoke about it… but for doing what? “So uh… you guys know about it?”

The spiky rodent whispered in shock. “If we know about it?” He scoffed. “Dude, that god is known to everyone! And you’re saying that you met it in person!?”

“Yeah… apparently… they are the mice’s… no, the… the…” John sighed as he couldn’t remember the species' name. “Popo and Nana’s guardian…”

“WHAAAAAT!?” 

John flinched from the chorus before steeling himself with an annoyed look. “Can’t you guys quiet down!?” He whispered a bit loudly before looking at the other students sitting on the other seats. They were all looking at them again. “Don’t worry, this is the last time, alright?”

The Pokémon went back to what they were doing before Amy sighed and looked back at John. “But like… how are Popo and Nana related to someone that is literally a god of another dimension?”

John rubbed the top of his head. “So apparently, from its own words… it was strolling on the normal dimension before finding them almost being eaten by like… a wild Arbok, whatever that is, probably a snake or something. He saved and took them in its care since their parents were already eaten,”

Claire put a paw on her chin in thought. “But I don’t understand why Giratina took them under its care. I thought it was more… violent and ruthless? Or at least… that’s what the books said about it.”

John shrugged. “Well, who would have known, it actually was a nice Pokémon or… something. But, the main thing I wanted to talk about is the effects of the internet in this world. So um… in the Distortion World, Giratina said that it mysteriously expanded some weeks ago, and uh… it connects to my world now.” The three Pokémon were about to shout again before John shouted first with a whisper. “No!”

The trio didn’t shout this time, however, a baffled look could be seen all over their faces. “For real!?” Claire whispered. “Does that mean Giratina can travel to your world as well?”

The Joltik nodded. “Yep… can confirm since I was there with it… we scared a human as well…”

Taro looked aside. “I don’t want to make it sound like this is a good thing but…” He looked back at them scratching his belly. “It is kinda cool that there could be a chance we could go to your world…”

John sighed. “Yes, I know it would be cool for that to happen but… you gotta understand that humans wouldn’t uh… take newcomers to their world kindly.”

Taro frowned. “Yeah, you’re right about that…”

“So um…” Everyone looked at Amy. “This might sound a bit weird but… did Asuri plan for the worlds to link with each other?” 

The Vulpix tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I might just be stretching a little but… Pokémon take pride in doing something original of their doing but… why would they copy almost everything related to human tech, even down to the smaller details?”

The Togedemaru scratched his belly. “Well… now that you say that… it kinda makes sense…? Like, you guys remember the connection orb?”

Claire gasped after remembering. “You’re right! The connection orb was a thing before computers and other technologies.”

The Joltik looked confused at the Pokémon before asking. “What’s a connection orb?”

Amy spoke looking aside. “Oh yeah, you wouldn’t know.” She then looks back to John. “So basically, a connection orb was basically a sphere where it allowed Pokémon to send requests for exploration teams and also talk to friends over long distances. It was basically the web of this world before the internet.”

“Oh, I see…” John said, putting a nub on his chin. “Yeah, now this is starting to sound suspicious as hell. If the merging of the two worlds was intentional, for what purpose?”

The quartet started to think about a possible answer, but they couldn’t think of anything good at the moment. Claire sighed in annoyance before speaking. “Honestly, this topic will make me hungry on the bus if we think about it every day. We might figure it out once we go to the actual Asuri building.”

The other three nodded and they enjoyed the ride on their way to school while asking John what it was like to be in the presence of a legendary and other stuff related to Giratina. 

After getting out of the bus, John hopped on Claire’s head and the quartet started walking around the school. Claire looked up at John. “So… why are we trying to find Popo and Nana?”

“Well… Giratina said that it gave them a bit of its power. So they can freely travel to the Distortion World and back to this one.” John explained, starting to look around for two identical white mice. “So I wanna test something out with them…”

Taro put a paw on his chin. “For what though?”

John smirked at Taro before looking around again. “You’ll see. Hopefully, it works…”

The Pokémon students looked at each other in confusion before they continued looking around for the Tandemaus. While looking, John saw Pokémon he had never seen before in this school, some students being big, other students being small like him (although not that small), the variety was just immense. 

It was a bit hard to spot them, given their size and all, but eventually, they were able to spot a pair of twin mice sitting on a bench at the entrance of the school, waddling the little legs in unison. “There they are…” John said, slowly changing his mind as he started remembering the events of yesterday- no. He had to do it, the mice had to be the key for future plans… “Um… guys, I think it’s best if you left me alone with them…”

Amy looked at the Joltik while tilting her head. “Why?”

“Well, in their view, they see me as unique and uh… a “friend”, so… I don’t think they would respond to you guys as much as me.” The Joltik hopped off Claire’s head and turned to the trio. “Don’t worry, it’s gonna be quick, you can go to the classroom now.”

“Are you sure John? You look… a little nervous.” Claire noted.

“Yeah… it’s just their creepy factor, don’t worry, I’ll be alright.”

Claire looked aside. “If… you say so…” The trio of Pokémon nodded before going towards their class. Claire was visibly frowning a little, which made John a bit worried for her.

The greenish spider sighed and looked back at the pair of mice who jumpscared him by being in his face again. “Hello.” “Once again.” They spoke in unison while showing their sharp teeth. “Friend.” 

John had fallen on his back while screaming, after a few pants, he calmed down. “H-hey guys… what’s up…?”

The creepy mouth had disappeared once John managed to get back up. “Irrelevant question.” “The question that should be asked now is…” The Tandemaus leaned closer to the tick’s face. “Have you managed to meet the Great One?” 

John stammered as he looked aside. “U-uh… yes! I… I did! And uh… wow… they were great indeed…” The mice just stared. John thought they were expecting more for an answer. “And uh… it was truly a… marvelous experience! It… it felt like my brain had… expanded or something of the like…”

The Joltik backed away a little bit as he saw that the Tandemaus was just staring as the heads were starting to visibly shake emotionlessly. Suddenly, both of them grabbed John’s nubs and started hopping in happiness, even though their faces didn’t show it. “The Great One has accepted you.” “You are now one of us!” “The first step in converting every Pokémon to the path of enlightenment itself.” “It shall be as the Great One once dreamed.” “Worshiping the Great One rather than the false prophets around the world!”

John giggled nervously as the mice kept jumping up and down with him. ‘Holy shit, they desperately need to tone it down a notch… no, actually two notches…’ After the mice calmed down from their excitement, John hesitated as he looked away. “So uh… we’re friends, right?”

Popo tilted his head. “Silly friend.” Nana tilted her head next. “Of course we are friends” “We were friends since our souls met.”

“Aha… neat…” John looked back to the mice. “So uh… Girati-... I mean, the Great One uh… they said that you have the ability to go to their realm all on your own, correct?”

It took a second for the Tandemaus to nod their heads. “Yes.” “A gift from the Great One themselves.” “We also have the ability to not only travel to it through mirrors.” “But we can also make a portal ourselves.”

John looked aside for a moment before looking back at them. “Uh… have you noticed that… the realm has expanded?”

The mice looked at themselves before looking back at John. “We do not.” “We can only travel in and out of the Distortion Realm.” “We do not have any awareness of what the changes are since we are not connected to it.”

“So… you see… that realm expanded and uh… it allows you to travel to a different world entirely.”

The Tandemaus just stared for a long uncomfortable moment before turning around, facing away from John. Suddenly, one mitten hand of each mouse started glowing with a black aura, making the spider flinch a little. Popo and Nana jumped in the air and sliced the air in front of them, making an X-shaped tear in space. They looked back at John. “Show us.”

John (and some other Pokémon who were seeing the portal from a distance) flinched in surprise upon seeing the tear in space. He quickly shrugged it off before waving his nubs in front of him. “Wait, wait, wait! Not now! We have school for now, remember?! Later, okay!?”

The Tandemaus stared for a moment before they nodded, the portal closing behind them. “Understandable.” “We shall wait until after class.” 

“Great then… also, weird request but… can I bring my other friends as well…?” 

The Tandemaus looked at each other again and nodded before looking at John. “Yes.” “In actuality, they are required.” “The realm of the Great One is really dangerous to go alone.” “We shall need more vessels to traverse it.”

John nodded unsure. “Uh… alright then…”

Suddenly, the bell rang and the mice started walking away. “We shall see you after school, behind it. We hope you remember it, friend.”

John just watched them leave and he sighed in relief. “What am I getting myself into…?” He then looked at the other Pokémon students in the area, whispering among themselves. Some of them were quite small, so he thought they might be children instead of teenagers. "Hope they don't blab out what they've seen to any of the teachers..." He muttered to himself.

“Really!?” Claire, Taro, and Amy whispered in surprise.

The quartet had grouped up on Claire’s desk while the teacher wasn’t there. John had told them about what they intended to do with the Tandemaus, but unfortunately, due to lack of time, he couldn’t progress much. “Yeah…”

Taro started rubbing his cheeks, letting small sparks lose. “Let me get this straight…” He whispered as he stopped rubbing. “So… since you knew that Popo and Nana had the power to go into the Distortion World… you wanted to test if the expansion in that place allowed them to travel to your world?”

John nodded.

Amy frowned. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I’ve seen in books that that place is dangerous without proper guidance. And what’s worse, there are Mystery Dungeons in that place, but instead of normal Pokémon… there are ones that don’t seem… stable.”

The Joltik sighed. “Look, even if it looks tough, I just… I just need to see this through to the end. Don’t worry, it’s just an experiment that won’t take the entire day.”

“John… are you crazy?” Claire asked in what sounded like a serious tone before she smiled in sheer excitement. “This is exactly what I wanted!!! I can’t believe I’m going to-” 

The hedgehog and rodent put a paw over Claire’s mouth, both whispering in unison. “Too loud!”

They removed the paw and the Vulpix rubbed the back of her head while whispering back sheepishly. “Sorry…” She then got in an excited tone again, but this time she was whispering. “I can’t believe I’m going to the human world! That’s like a dream come true!”

John looked aside, as he thought about the horrors of humanity. If she actually knew how our world truly is, she wouldn’t even dream of going there. “Yeah… sure…”

Taro crossed his arms. “Well… it could be fun.” He did his best of thumbs up with his fingers. “Count me in! Can’t wait to find out about all the tech humans have!”

“Well… I have nothing better to do, so I hope it is a good experience.” The Shaymin raised a paw with a smile. “Count me in!”

Claire grinned. “I was in from the start! I can hardly wait for it!” 

John smiled behind his fuzz. “Thanks, guys…”

The class went smoothly for the quartet. The Joltik saw another new Pokémon, this one being a bluish-black and red bird that was called a Swellow, the female bird being the geography teacher. In this class, he learned a bit more about the land, and that this continent mostly uses trains for distant travels and such. And apparently, this was the continent with the lowest amount of Mystery Dungeons in the world, however, more started appearing recently.

After the break, another class started. This time was with a familiar face, Ms. Iris. The owl teacher flinched a little once her eyes laid upon John, but regained her composure as she realized no one else was making a fuss about the Joltik. But after that, she gave her subject normally, talking about the robotic Pokémon anatomy, saying that they didn’t have any organic body parts, the only exception being Porygon 2 and Porygon-Z, which were digital and physical at the same time.

It was noon and school was over for the day, and one thing that John was feeling at that moment was nervousness. Well… of course he would in a situation like this. He was about to go through a dangerous dimension that could very well be the bridge of this world to his own. It surely made him kinda scared for what possibilities it all holds. 

He maybe was exaggerating a bit on all of the worries, he had to reassure himself that it would all go well. He could handle himself in the dungeons a bit better now, he even had an attacking move so he could defend himself, and not only that, he also had allies to go along with him. So he would have to hope it would all go smoothly…

The Vulpix, Togedemaru, Shaymin, and Joltik went behind the school. One was clearly excited by the look on her face, another was determined to see this through, another was a bit nervous but would go along with it for her friends, and another was anxious, excited, nervous, and determined all at the same time. 

“You are all here.” “Wonderful.” Popo and Nana said, looking at them with their signature creepy stare. They were standing on a bench, watching as the quartet of Pokémon approached them. “Are these your acquaintances, friend?”

John nodded. “Yes, they’ll be coming with us as well.”

The Tandemaus looked at each Pokémon slowly. “Very interesting fears…” They stopped at Claire and kept looking at her longer than others. “Yours is truly a wonderful one…” “We shall get acquainted wonderfully!”

Claire stepped forward. “We heard from John that you can travel to the Distortion World by yourselves, is that true?”

Popo and Nana nodded. “That is true.” “It is a gift from the Great One themselves.” “We have been enlightened by them!”

The four Pokémon looked at themselves in concern before John jumped off of Claire’s head. “Alright uh… we are ready to enter. I said to Claire to bring us some healing items, just in case we run into an unfortunate encounter.”

Then something clicked on the Vulpix’s head. “Oooooh! So that’s why you asked me to bring the berries from our home secretly, right?”

The greenish spider turned to Claire. “Look, if we are heading out into dangerous territory without the guidance of the deity who owns this place, we need to be careful at all costs.”

Popo and Nana tilted their heads. “What do you mean, friend?” “Would the Great One not guide us?”

John turned back the mice. “Yeah, they’re… busy investigating Asuri, which might be the cause of the expansion in the first place.”

“Understandable.” “However, we know that the Great One will always watch us.” “No matter what.” They jumped off the bench while one of their hands glowed with the dark aura again. They slashed through the fabric of space again, making an X-shaped rift once again. Once they landed, they looked back at the quartet of Pokémon, who had their jaws dropped at the portal created by the Tandemaus. “Are you ready?”

All four Pokémon regained their composure and nodded before the twin mice entered the dark portal. The Joltik jumped on Claire’s head and with that, the three of them entered the portal with their eyes closed, the portal disappearing upon entry.

After passing through, the group opened their eyes to find Popo and Nana standing still while looking away from them. They looked around and shared a “Woah…!” of amazement, mesmerized by the twisty and surreal environment. “Here we are…” The Tandemaus said while lifting their arms. “The lair of the Great One!”

Unlike John who had been there, the others took in their sights, floating islands with dead trees everywhere, teal-colored bushes, some blue crystals coming out of the ground, and distorted buildings all around. If they could make a comparison, the Distortion World almost looked like the final area of a videogame. Claire took some steps forward. “This place is trippy…”

“Vessels.” “There is a warning that we must speak about.” Popo and Nana turned to them. “This is a dangerous realm if not careful.” “So we recommend that we stick together.” “Or else death shall claim our souls and throw us into a dark and inescapable abyss.”

They gulped a little before nodding. Amy stepped forward as well while looking around her surroundings. “I’ve only known what the Distortion World would look like by the description of books but this… it’s kinda beautiful in a way…”

Taro hopped forwards. “Yeah, I kinda get it as well…” He looked at the pair of mice. “Hey, does any other Pokémon live here besides Giratna?”

Popo and Nana got in Taro’s face in an instant, making the spiky rodent yelp. “They are called the Great One. Show some respect to the true God, mortal.” The Togedemaru rapidly nodded as the pair of mice calmed down, getting away from Taro. They turned around and both pointed in a certain direction. “That way is the edge of the realm.” “If what friend said is true, then it should have expanded way beyond the last time we went with the Great One.” “However, it is far away.” “So we have to go through a Mystery Dungeon.”

John tilted his head. “Wait, if you said it was that dangerous, but even without other inhabitants, would a dungeon have something else other than Pokémon?”

“We never said that there were no other inhabitants.” “There are Pokémon here.” “Only at a certain Mystery Dungeon, however.” “However, those Pokémons are more unstable since they appeared in a Mystery Dungeon of another dimension.” “They act more aggressively.” “They constantly teleport to random places in the dungeon.” “We call them… Glitch Pokémon.”

The group looked a bit shocked before Amy took a step forward. “There was a WHOLE other type of Pokémon and you didn’t say anything!?”

The Tandemaus shrugged without changing their expression. “We could not say anything because the Great One told us to not speak about them. And if you are worried about one of them escaping, there is no need to be afraid. None have left the realm so far and they shall never leave.” They looked away, putting a hand on their chins. “Actually, there was one incident that the Great One had mentioned.” “A certain Pokémon left the realm with an energy source we call glitch energy.” “We do not know what it does to a Pokémon who isn’t born a Glitch Pokémon.” “But if there was nothing in the media until this day we have decided to just simply ignore it.”

The quartet just stayed silent as they heard all of that information that could be really important just laid casually on them. However, John could mutter one thing. “What the fuck?”

The Tandemaus just turned around and looked at the other floating islands. “We do not have time to waste.” “Let us move, vessels.” With that, the Tandemaus started running off to the edge of the island they were standing on. The group was shocked and ran after them, John holding onto Claire’s head. The mice jumped off the edge and instead of falling, it seemed like gravity suddenly flipped and they turned upside down, falling (or rising) to an upside-down island above them. After they landed, they looked back at the shocked Pokémon. “Follow us, we shall guide you to the dungeon.”

Taro looked at the others while rubbing the top of his head. “Um… I’m starting to have second thoughts-”

“Geronimo!” Claire said before rushing towards the edge of the island.

John’s heart rate started going up fast. “Wait, wait, wait, waaaaaiiiit-” Claire jumped off the edge, but instead of falling, she started rising along with John who fell out of her fur and started rising as well. “Wooaaaah!” He shouted before landing on his back along with Claire. “Oof…”

Claire was on her back, her uniform smoothing the landing a little bit, processing what happened back there. After assessing the situation a little, she shouted while extending her paws. “Amazing!” She then looked at the Togedemaru and Shaymin that were upside down from her view. “Hey Taro, Amy! Come on, it’s so cool!”

Taro and Amy looked at each other for a second before Taro motioned a paw forward with a sheepish smile. “Ladies first…?”

The Shaymin sighed and started walking towards the edge of the island. She put a paw forward and felt a strange reverse gravity pull hitting her paw. “Woah…” She looked up and saw the four Pokémon waiting for her and Taro on the other island. “Here I go…” She jumped off the edge and started rising towards the island. Bracing for impact, she landed smoothly on her back, her grassy needles on the back sticking the landing along with her uniform. She looked around, confirming whether she was alive or not. “Alright… I’m here…”

As the hedgehog was getting back up, John looked down and shouted to the spiky rodent. “Your turn, Taro!”

Taro sighed as he started hopping in place and tapping his cheeks. “Let’s do this!” He started rolling, building up speed as he fell off the edge and started rising by the inverted gravity. He uncurled himself as he noticed the shift in gravity as he started falling upwards. “Woah!” On instinct, his spikes popped out of his body right as he landed. After looking around, he jumped up and retracted his spikes, doing a proud pose while smiling. “I’m here!”

They just stared before the Tandemaus spoke. “Anyways.” “Let us move on.” “This shall not be the last island we have to jump to.” With that, Popo and Nana started to run again, making the others run after them, with John jumping on Claire’s head. Taro sighed at the lack of acknowledgment from his brave act of jumping off an island and started running after them as well. 

The group followed behind the mice, jumping from island to island, getting a bit dizzy from all the gravity shifts. John could adapt well to the feeling, since he had a bit of experience with being sideways himself, while the others had to take a small breather as their bodies adjusted to the gravity. 

While walking on one of the islands, they looked at an upside-down island with a massive tilted building and some other small buildings around it. Claire looked at the buildings and got a bit weirded out. “Hey, Popo and Nana. Why are there buildings here? And why do they look so… distorted?”

The mice spoke while walking, looking at the building themselves. “This realm mirrors the original one.” “Both sides reflect the image of one another.” “The Distortion Realm cannot exist without the original one and the original one cannot exist without its counterpart.” “If one world were to disappear…” “The other disappears as well.”

The group looked at each other in concern before focusing ahead once again. However, John was thinking hard about this information. ‘Wait… if this world reflects the state of the other… does that mean… no, I won’t think about this just yet. Just focus on the current objective for now.’

John shook off his thoughts as the group continued to follow the mice. After a small while, the group reached an island that had two giant gray open doors, showing an archway that was filled with kaleidoscope-looking colors. Besides the doors, there was a bunch of dead trees, lined up almost like a wall. They got in front of it and the Tandemaus turned to them. “Welcome to the only dungeon of this realm.” “And the biggest shortcut in the entirety of the Distortion realm.” “Welcome to the Hollow Forest.”

Chapter Text

“This looks… straight out of a horror game…” John noted as he looked at the entrance of a Mystery Dungeon in front of him.

“No kidding dude…” Taro agreed. “It’s like one of those human games that I saw on the internet… like… Residency something?”

John looked at him. “You mean Resident Evil?”

“Yeah, that’s the one! Scared the shit out of me…” The Togedemaru said as he sighed in helplessness. “That game is so scary for no reason…”

John rolled his eyes. “Can probably guess which one…”

“It is no time for useless chat.” Popo interrupted. “We must remind you of what is at stake once we enter this dungeon.” Nana continued. They were standing in front of a massive gray door that led to the only dungeon in the Distortion World, the Hollow Forest. “We should also tell more of what we know about Glitch Pokémon.” “They act less savage than normal dungeon Pokémon.” “But still savage nonetheless.” “From what we have seen, some do not attack on sight while others do.” “They are capable of speech, but only incoherent mumblings.” “Do not be fooled by some appearances that some of them take, they can be deceiving.”

Claire put a paw on her mouth. “So… what do we do once we see them?”

The mice turned their heads to the Vulpix simultaneously. “If one is weak, we annihilate them. If one is strong, we hope and pray that we manage to escape with our lives.”

The Pokémon shuddered before the Tandemaus turned around and started heading into the door. “Wait!” Claire called out, making the pair of mice turn to the nervous Vulpix. “Since we’re about to enter a Mystery Dungeon… how about we use a team name?”

Amy turned to the Vulpix while tilting her head. “Seriously Claire? Can’t we just go in without the team name?”

“Nope! We need to decide on a team name! It’s basically rule number one when exploring a dungeon in a group.”

Taro scratched the side of his head. “When was that a thing?”

Claire put a paw forward. “It doesn’t matter! What’s our team name gonna be?”

John sighed, knowing that there was no convincing the fire fox out of this. He decided to go along with it, because why not? “Alright…” John decided for a bit, not putting a lot of effort into it. “How about… Team uh… Team Net? Cause like, you know… we’re trying to solve the mystery of the internet and all…” John looked around at the silent Pokémon before rubbing the back of his head. “Just thought that it’d fit or something…”

When Amy was about to speak, Claire spoke. “That’s an amazing name, John!” She turned to the other Pokémon. “Alright Team Net, let’s win over this dungeon for good!”

Taro sighed and looked aside, knowing he had a cool name to give the team. “Of course, we don’t have a say in this…”

“Now that the distraction is over.” Nana called their attention. “Let us enter…” Popo continued before they spoke together. “The Hollow Forest!”

With that, the recently formed Team Net passed through the gate and entered the Hollow Forest. After the blinding light that covered their vision, once the team entered the dungeon, disappeared, they looked around and found themselves in a really eerie environment. Linear paths, that all mystery dungeons had, were covered with gray grass, broken twigs, and withered leaves. Dead trees surrounded the linear paths, giving it more of a creepy and somber atmosphere of a dead land. Along with the horror game scenario, there were some blue crystals coming out of the ground in some parts. It seemed that there were also some floating islands that were also part of the dungeon since those also had linear paths like the dungeon.

The group was, to no one’s surprise, overwhelmed and a bit nervous about continuing this (except Popo and Nana, who were going through with this with no hesitation). As they continued looking around the place, dread kept building up inside them, with the fear of the unknown. Who knows what could be lurking around there besides the weird Pokémon? John just deeply inhaled and exhaled, mentally and physically preparing himself for the horrors he was about to face. “Alright John, you can do this…” He muttered to himself. “You’ve trained for this, you know how to defend yourself, and you probably can fend off another kind of Pokémon you definitely know nothing about…”

The Vulpix heard it, obviously because John was on her head, and reassured the small Jotlik with a determined look. “Don’t worry, John. Everything’s gonna be alright, I’m gonna protect you, no matter what.”

John smiled behind his fuzz after he heard it, but stayed in silence as he continued checking his surroundings.

Taro looked around. “This looks so creepy yet so cool…”

“Straight out of a horror game for real…” John stated, Taro nodding in agreement.

Amy grimaced. “It could be worse… right? I mean… at least there’s air here and the floor isn’t made out of anything hazardous.”

The Togedemaru sighed. “I know, it’s just that… I feel like something that isn’t actually a Pokémon would jump at me at any time…”

Popo and Nana instantly turned to the spiky rodent. “Oh, because it will happen.” They leaned closer to him as they spoke. “Once you are cornered, alone, with no one to help you, no one to hear your screams. It would be the perfect opportunity for the entity to pounce, and your soul would be lost forever right at that moment.” That left Taro shaking in fear, whimpers escaping out of his mouth. The Tandemaus leaned back and looked away from the other rodent. “Anyways, we have to move.” “We cannot stay in the same place the entire time.” “Or else said entity shall come for us. Let us move.”

The party nodded and they started walking aimlessly, exploring the narrow paths of the dungeon. It seemed that the dungeon still held random items laying on the ground like other mystery dungeons. They found, surprisingly, some berries laying on the ground along with some blue orbs with some images engraved in them, which made John a bit confused about what they were for. 

“What are those balls for?” John asked as he looked at an orb with some Zs along with some circles drawn on it. 

“Oh, those are called orbs.” Claire explained. “They’re items that can do certain stuff depending on the orbs you’re using.” She pointed at the orb that John saw. “That one is a slumber orb, it puts everyone around the user who activated it to sleep.”

John tilted his head. “Really? Isn’t it kinda bad since it would hit your own teammates?”

Amy picked up the orb with her mouth and put it in Claire’s bag before responding. “Well, no need to worry about that since the orb knows how to differentiate enemies from allies… for some reason.” She said looking away in thought before she came up with a theory. “Maybe it has to do with the Pokémon that activates it, but that’s just speculation.”

“I see… any useful ones that we should keep an eye for?” The Joltik asked as he started to look around for more of those orbs.

“Oh! An escape orb is a really good one.” Taro said as he looked at John. “If things go south pretty quickly, you can activate it to leave the dungeon entirely along with the rest of the team.” The spiky rodent explained as he looked around for other items. At the corner of the wide rectangular area they were, he found what looked to be a wand. “Oh, nice! A wand!” He beamed as he went to get it. However, he suddenly stopped once he stepped on something. The floor had revealed its disguise, revealing some kind of pressure plate that, once stepped on, spun Taro like a top. “Wooooahh!?”

The other members from Team Net looked in the Togedemaru’s direction and flinched in surprise. “Taro!” Claire, John, and Amy shouted as they ran to him along with Popo and Nana.

Taro stopped spinning and was left with a blurry and distorted vision as he limped on the ground, trying to reach the others. “Ugh… why does everything still spin… and why are there multiple of you guys…?” In the spiky rodent’s eyes, he saw multiple copies of Team Net along with multiple sleek black and red distorted figures behind them. He asked dizzily. “Who’s… the new guys…?” 

Popo and Nana walked up to him and slapped him on the cheek, making the Togedemaru squeak, and a small spark came out of his cheek. “Snap out of it.” “You shall be useless if you are incapacitated by a mere dizzy spell.”

“Ah, sorry…” Taro said as his vision readjusted, trying to maintain his balance to not fall. “I just saw a useful item and I thought that I should…” As his vision got better, and the multiple clones of his friends disappeared, he saw that a certain figure of the creature behind them wasn’t disappearing. Instead once his vision focused again, he noticed that the creature behind them was a Zoroark… however he noticed a lot of things wrong. The hair of the Pokémon looked like physical static, along with their eyes. The arms were a bit lankier than usual, the claws looked longer than the usual Zoroark claws. Their head was visibly shaking, and some of their limbs seemed to phase in and out of existence with some glitchy aura surrounding them. “... get…?”

John tilted his head. “Something wrong, dude?”

“U-uh... guys… am I the only one seeing it or… is someone behind you?”

The others turned around and saw the glitchy Zoroark. John screamed as the other flinched and stepped back. “What the fuck!?” 

The Tandemaus got in front of them and, suddenly, claws made from a dark aura appeared in each mice’s hand. They pointed the claws towards the glitched-out Zoroark. “We do not fear you.” “Instead, you should fear us.” “Understood?”

The Glitch Pokémon just stared with an unstable look. Their glitchy aura changed the atmosphere around them a little. “ Ohajasu in 82-0 te q2y res 38sj@# ting dhw&-”

Before they could say anything further, they suddenly vanished with some static effects left behind. Team Net stayed silent for a moment, a cold shiver running down their bodies. The Tandemaus turned to them and the claw of darkness disappeared. “We were lucky.” “Next time do not stand still and watch.”

John stuttered, trying to process everything he had just seen. “I- fucking what!?” He threw his nubs in the air. “How else are we supposed to act towards something like THAT? Who knows what stuff it could do!”

“As we mentioned before.” “Appearances can be deceiving.” “They mean nothing over power.” 

Claire sighed and asked. “But what would happen if we touched it?” She looked aside. “It looked really unstable…”

“There is no need to fret.” “Nothing happens if you make physical contact with a Glitch Pokémon.” “However, if you get killed by one…” “It shall transfer glitch energy directly into your body and…” They pointed at them. “You become one of them as well.”

Amy shied away. “I’m starting to get second thoughts about this…”

Taro stood beside Amy and put a paw on her back, thankfully her uniform prevented Taro’s paws from being skewered. “There’s no turning back now Amy… but don’t worry, I’ll protect you!” He said with a proud smile.

The grass hedgehog just stared at him with an unamused face before responding. “I doubt it…”

Taro sighed defeatedly. “Can’t you give me a slight bit of credit here?”

John butted in. “Alright, at least we have a clear objective when we find one of those glitchy guys. Just don’t die, that’s the usual for when fighting dungeon Pokémons, right?”

Claire nodded. “Yep. So we just gotta give it our all!” She looked back at the others. “Ain’t that right, guys?”

Taro and Amy nodded. Yes, they were mentally shitting themselves from being in this horror game situation, but they were going through with this no matter what kind of monsters reside in this dungeon.

Team Net continued exploring the first floor of the dungeon, finding some other items that were useful and eating some food to quell their hunger for a small while. It wasn’t long before they, unfortunately, found another Glitch Pokémon. To make it even worse for the team, it was standing close to the stairs that led to the next floor.  

The Pokémon itself was a Lucario, facing away from them as its head twitched as it had its whole body limped. Its aura tassels were covered with some kind of black static along with its tail. It was currently mumbling other incoherent words as they got to hear it better. “OJaso0q0aklka%#*TAsUketeOnsownskiçuaohiUHGUSWOB*01Uo9384@#&”

The Tandemaus took the opportunity to summon their claws of darkness again and motioned for the rest of the team to follow them as they got close to the Glitch Pokémon. Suddenly, when they got close to it, it started making a distorted chuckle before it transformed into a laugh as it clutched its head. Suddenly its whole body was enveloped by black glitch particles. Team Net started taking steps back as the mass of particles grew taller and taller. “What’s happening!?” John asked, terrified.

Popo and Nana stood their ground and looked back at the quartet. “It is changing!” “Stay on your guard!” They looked back at the morphing glitch, pointing a claw at it. “The ordeal has begun!”

From the darkness of the particles, a yellow glow could be seen coming from it. Then, the black glitch particles disappeared for the most part, revealing the Lucario’s new body. The fur was a mix of yellow and white, their limbs were so stretched, leaving it the size of eight feet tall. Its spikes were now a black coloration, having double spikes on each claw, and the tips were also changed into black along with getting bigger and thicker. Its mouth was now full of sharp blue teeth, the eyes also changing to blue but having yellow pupils. The Glitch Pokémon laughed maniacally as it lunged at Team Net.

“Dodge!” John shouted and everyone did so, dodging a claw swipe that lifted dust off the ground. The Joltik hopped off Claire’s head and summoned an Electro Whip from his mouth, holding, managing to catch the wrist of the tall monster and hold it in place. “Cwaire!” He called out a little muffled.

Claire steeled herself and summoned three purple fireballs around her, the Will-O-Wisp going directly towards the distorted Lucario and making contact with it. John released his electric silk strand and backed away a little. Meanwhile, the Tandemaus had separated and come from different directions towards the monster, each with a Shadow Claw of their own. They closed in, slashing each leg of the monster before joining hands together and backing away while it roared.

The glitched out Lucario tried to slam a claw on them, however, it made contact with a spiky ball that had rolled like a wheel and jumped to block the attack. Since Taro’s steel spikes were much harder, he was able to come out on top, pushing the claw away. The Togedemaru grinned, the thrill of the clash pushing the fear away from the battle. “Heh, they aren’t too bad after-”

Suddenly, the glitchy monster tore the electric web away that was paralyzing his other claw and hit Taro with his spikes, jabbing him in his side and launching him to the ground a bit away. “Taro!” Claire shouted. 

Amy shouted back while running to the Togedemaru. “Don’t worry, I’ll go treat his wounds, you guys can still keep him busy!”

“Alright!” John said, taking a calming sigh before looking at the glitchy monster, who was going after him. John shrieked before using his Grappling Silk to slingshot himself onto a blue crystal that was close to them, managing to escape another slam. But once he looked back at the glitchy creature, black static energy was building up on its claws. John knew from a lot of anime that this was a bad thing, so instinctively, he jumped away from the crystal, avoiding two energy slashes projectiles of black energy that shattered the glowing rock. However, instead of the pieces on the ground, they lazily floated around, like there was no gravity around them. The Joltik landed on the ground, his small heart beating fast. “That was close…”

The beast Lucario said more incoherent speech before roaring, lunging at John. However, it was stopped by a pair of twin mice materializing two floating jaws of sharp teeth, resembling their mouth, in front of them. They managed to hit the Crunch, biting down on the creature’s side.

The glitched monster screeched and tried to slash the Tandemaus off of it, however, Popo and Nana avoided the slash by vanishing in the shadows and reappearing behind Claire, who ran at it and shot a point-blank fireball at its face. 

The creature staggered back as its head twitched, along with the burns on its glitchy body started to take effect. It roared once again, but before it could do anything else, a shout from a female voice called out to it. “Incoming!” It looked in the direction of the grass hedgehog, who had a spinning ball beside her, charging speed from it and releasing some sparks of electricity.

Taro then spin-dashed his way towards the glitched Lucario, covering his body with an electrical coat. With all that speed he built up, he jumped and popped his spikes out, making contact with the white and blue beast. The force of the hit was enough to lift some dust from the ground and also launch the eight feet tall Pokémon backwards, paralyzed and burned as the static particles became a bit more unstable. 

Popo and Nana looked at Team Net. “We have them immobilized for now!” “Let us move while we can!” 

The team nodded and made a mad dash towards the stairs that for some reason… led upwards and had no other floor above? John already saw this as a bit weird but decided not to think much about it. He slingshotted towards the stairs, jumping on Claire’s head once she eventually got there. Once they reached the top of the stairs, their vision blackened for a moment before returning to normal, now on a new floor… but a bit sideways. 

After managing to catch her breath, Claire said while panting a little. “We… we did it… we beat that thing…”

John looked aside. “W-well… we didn’t BEAT it… more like, just worn it down…”

Taro panted. “Oh, Arceus… that was like… the coolest thing I’ve ever done… but at the same time, the most stressful thing I’ve ever done…”

Claire looked at Taro. “Oh right! Taro, are you alright? That jab you received looked like it hurt…”

Taro looked at Claire and grinned. “Don’t worry, I could’ve received way worse.” He then looked at Amy with a smile. “But thankfully, Amy is a great healer!”

The shaymin blushed and looked away. “C’mon… all I did was shove a berry in his mouth and used Aromatherapy to ease the pain a little…”

Claire smiled. “Well, that’s at least something in my books!”

The Joltik suddenly groaned. “Ugh… how much more do we have to endure… that was, like, the first enemy we fought here…”

Popo and Nana took a step towards them. “The edge of the realm is only 3 floors away.” “We can get there faster if we avoid any unnecessary battles.” “Let us not waste any more time.” “We want to be there as soon as possible.” 

John nodded along with the others. “Alright then.”

Team Net continued exploring the floor, moving carefully while paying more attention to their surroundings. The atmosphere of this floor was more tense than the last one, since they knew the capabilities of the Glitch Pokémon now, and were more on edge on the possibility of encountering another powerful one. 

There were more enemies on this floor, however, they didn’t look as dangerous as the other one they fought before. Like all the Glitch Pokémon, these ones had some glitchy aura around them and some parts of their bodies were covered in static. They saw an Eevee with half a tail covered in static along with ears. A Muk that was literally just made of physical static. A Lycanroc didn’t look like there were any parts of the body covered in static, however, there were white X marks all over its body, and even one of its eyes was replaced with the same mark. And a Furret that had extra glitchy limbs, almost looking like a mammalian centipede.

John cringed once he saw the Furret and looked away from the ungodly sight. “Ugh... some of these guys look like abominations that came from some sort of haunted game or some shit…”

Taro nodded. “It feels like I’m inside a horror movie right now…”

Claire sighed. “At least it’s not fully a horror movie yet. From what I remember, most horror movies have skeletons in them, right?”

As she said that, the rattle of bones could be heard behind them. They turned around and saw a really weird sight. They saw two skeletons of Pokémon, limping with glitch energy surrounding their bodies. One of the skeletons looked like a Pokémon that had scythe arms, stood on two legs, and looked like some kind of bug. The other skeleton looked like a pterodactyl that couldn’t fly anymore probably because it was just bones now. They were currently mumbling incoherent speech as they got close to them.

John flinched and shouted quietly. “You just had to say it, didn’t you!?” 

The fire fox replied in a low voice. “Hey! I didn’t know these guys could just be skeletons as well!”

The Tandemaus took a step towards the two Glitch Pokémon. “It does not matter at the moment.” “It has spotted us.” “Therefore…” They showed their sharp teeth and formed their claws of darkness. “We must incapacitate them.”

The Joltik sighed and jumped out of Claire’s head, readying himself along with the rest of the team for another battle. Suddenly, the same glitched-out Zoroark from before appeared beside Team Net, making them scream and jump away from it. It just stared at them for a moment before looking at the two skeleton Pokémon. Its head shook violently and he suddenly used static to disappear and reappear behind them. It grabbed both skeleton Pokémon with its recently formed static arms, randomly teleporting with them all around Team Net before disappearing completely from their sight.

The quartet was left confused about what the hell had just happened, staring in silence as they tried to process these recent events. Amy broke the silence first. “... what in the living heaven just happened?”

Claire felt her muscles relax as she released a sigh. “How should I know? None of this place makes sense whatsoever…”

John groaned as he rubbed the top of his head. “Can agree with you on this one… and this is like, what, only the second floor?”

Nana and Popo crossed their arms. “Just know that it could be far worse than this.” “Just be glad we got some indirect help in this scenario.”

Taro put a paw on his chin, looking thoughtful. “But why did it help us? What’s that guy’s goal? Like, it could’ve killed us swiftly by catching us by surprise, but it didn’t.”

“Ugh, we’re gonna get nowhere with this.” John said before jumping on Claire’s head. “Let’s just pick up the pace. The sooner we get to the end of this nightmarish place, the better.”

The rest of Team Net nodded, and with that, they resumed the exploration of the floor, managing to find the stairs not too long after. Fortunately, no strong enemies were guarding the stairs this time. If only that could happen for the rest of the floors…

The experience on the third floor was… alright, even if being upside down was awfully disorienting, but they managed to hold their puke and got over it pretty quickly. The team managed to stay stealthy all the way to the stairs since there were fewer enemies on that floor. They even took a small break to check their items and also eat some food to replenish their strength. 

However, the atmosphere sometimes just left them on edge every time they weren’t hearing any sort of sound. So they had to rely on some small talk here and there. “So… Popo and Nana?” Claire asked and the Tandemaus turned to them. “How uh… how are you liking the experience so far?”

“It has been truly a great experience.” “We have thought of coming here to see the Glitch Pokémon for ourselves.” They started tilting their heads as they spoke. “After all, their souls would provide a great source of sacrifices along with their unstable vessels.”

Claire looked aside. “Oh…” She sheepishly smiled. “Indeed, I- uh… yeah, I totally agree with you…!”

And that’s when the Vulpix decided it would be best to just stop the small talk and let the silence creep in a little. Well, at least they found the stairs right after.

The fourth floor also went almost the same as the third floor, unfortunately, they had to fight some enemies, without the help of that glitchy Zoroark this time. They had to fight a Magneton that looked half melted and had their eyes be replaced with static, a Jigglypuff that was crying static who had the ability to teleport with a glitch, and the toughest being a Feraligatr with no eyes and X marks all over its body. At least these enemies weren’t as bad as the first one they fought, the Feraligatr was literally just blind, so they could get around it easily. 

With that… Team Net reached the fifth floor.

“We have reached the fifth floor.” Popo announced. “This is where this dungeon differs from others.” Nana continued as they looked back at the quartet. “As the Great One told.” “The fifth floor of this dungeon splits off in multiple paths, connected through the entirety of the Distortion Realm.” “To reach the edge, we must go to the right path of the floor.”

John tilted his head. “Wait a second, I thought that every mystery dungeon constantly changed every time someone entered. How would you know the right path is… you know, right?”

The Tandemaus turned their head to the Joltik. “Were you not paying attention, friend?” “We said that this is the part where the dungeon differs from the others.” “Not only does it provide shortcuts to the entirety of the realm…” “It also does not change in the slightest.”

“O-oh…” John looked away. “I see…”

Amy took a step forward and asked for confirmation. “So basically… we keep going right and we’re out?”

The mice nodded. “Indeed.” “We are close to the end.” “However, that does not mean we can lower our guard here.” “The Glitch Pokémon also have access to this floor.”

Taro sighed, looking down. “Just when I thought I could actually relax…”

“Well, a few more of these monsters can’t hurt.” Claire said while snorting some flames from her snout. “No matter what, we’ll face them together! Ain’t that right guys?” She asked with a confident smile and the rest of Team Net replied with a “Yes!” as they nodded their heads. They were so close, the human world was just within their grasp now, just one more push and they were out of there completely!

They started sprinting towards the right path, which looked like a really long forest trail, the kind that could be seen in liminal spaces and some horror movies. After a couple of minutes of just sprinting, they could see actual light at the end of the dungeon, surrounded by dead trees like some kind of gate. John shouted. “There it is!”

“Freakin’ finally!” Taro said before putting more energy into his jog. “Can’t wait to get out of this place-”

Before they could go any further, a warp in reality that resembled static appeared in front of them, revealing the glitched-out Zoroark. Team Net stopped in their tracks, tensing up after getting into a staredown with the Glitch Pokémon. John thought in panic. ‘NonononoNO! What the hell is this guy doing here!?’

Suddenly, the Zoroark’s belly turned into static, and from it, came what looked like the head of a being with some of its features being obscured by glitch particles, making the glitchy creature’s arm limp. The head was black and white colored, with spikes coming out of the sides and two horns coming from the top of it. It had multiple eyes, all with red sparkling pupils inside them, along with a wide mouth with sharp teeth. Strangely enough, the head spoke with some coherent glitchy speech. “̵̼̯̒̃M̴͍̽̒y̶̝̋̒,̶̫́͜ ̶̜̔m̶̦̀̈ͅ-̸̣̜̍̈́m̴̢̙͐-̴̺̑̊m̷̧̖̔y̷̩̪̅̆-̵̞̑y̶̧͙̓̄.̸̢͈̌͠ ̶̳̟͆̓I̶̠͘n̶͚̊-̵̗͖̒̚i̵͙̇̃ǹ̷̦̣t̵̳̙̄̈́e̴͚̻̒ṙ̵̢̦ę̷̱̍s̶͙̝͛̄t̴̠̞͌ì̵̦͈n̸̨͕͝g̵̯̾̓ ̶͖̳̈́ò̵̻̜̚n̵̝̞̒̒e̶̠͋͝ś̸̪̏ ̶̫͈́w̶̛̰̝̉-̴̨͔̊w̴̲̉͆-̸̘̔͘w̷̡͍̔̇é̸̺̬̋ ̸̲͑͝h̴̖̋a̷̠̋͛-̸͕̳̈́̏h̴̨̤̊̕a̷͉̎v̵̡͠ḙ̵̳͠ ̴̟͊̈́h̷̭͘e̵̠̓r̴̻͐͂ȅ̵͙̜͝…̷̨̈́͘”̷͇̀͋

"What the hell!?” John blurted out before looking to the Tandemaus. “I thought you said these things can’t speak!”

The mice nonchalantly put their hands over their mouths in thought. “There were no records of a Glitch Pokémon capable of speech.” “This one must have slipped through the great awareness of the Great One.”

“HUH!?” Team Net blurted out.

“̴̧͠N̵̛͖-̶͇̒ṇ̷̓-̶̄ͅn̷͚̋-̴̥͝n̴̲̕ḯ̷̗c̵͇͗é̸̘ ̸͇̀m̷͍̔ė̸̜ë̸̙́-̸̹̋e̶̫̿ė̴͚e̶̪͌t̸̘̑î̶͇ň̷̼g̸̤͋ ̵͕͠y̷͔͊ó̶̹ū̷̧ ̴̨̈́f̸͓́ī̸̢v̶͍̊e̶̙͗.̴͎͝”̷ The glitch being said.“̷͓͂W̴͔͗-̸̟̃w̸͇̐ë̷͙́-̶̮̏w̶̗͛e̵̟͘ ̴̺̊c̸̛̗a̶̹͗ĺ̷̦l̷͐͜ ̷͖̇o̶̡̊-̵̭͒o̷̥͑-̶̗̋o̶͈̓u̷͉̅ȓ̷̞s̴̛̟é̶͍l̸̬̕v̶͈͊e̴͐ͅs̵͙̿…̷̝̒ ̶̠̅M̸̺͐į̶̑s̶̟̆s̸̢̓i̵̞͑ng̶̙͗N̷̫̆o̶̡͘.̶͔͋ ̸̹̾Ọ̴̕-̸͘͜o̷̓͜n̵̙͒e̴͖̍ ̵̬̃ö̷̗́f̷̗͑ ̴̧̍A̷̦͆-̵͉͌A̴͘ͅ-̶̪̊A̵̗͐-̶̺̀A̸̯̔r̴̻̽c̶̘̈ẽ̵̦ủ̵̳s̸͊ͅ ̵̣̐m̸̹͝i̸̻͊s̶͉͆t̵͎͛a̸͠ͅk̷̺͌e̸͙̔s̴͓̅-̴̗̌e̶̘̍ş̵̍-̶͕̈ḙ̶̕s̶̯̔ ̸̙̈́t̵̳̄h̵̝͘a̶̙͌ț̷̈́ ̷̗͛ṭ̴͗ḧ̶̼́ȇ̶̻-̸̪͛ť̶͇h̷̼̃ë̵̥ỹ̵͙ ̴̯̚ḫ̴̇i̶̠͝d̵̝̍ ̸̯̑f̴̗̓r̵̝̓ó̸̪m̷̢͊ ̴̟̈́ţ̵̔h̴̝̕ê̷̯ ̸̖͝w̶̦͋ó̴̰ṙ̵̘l̴̖̅d̶̡̏ ̴̨͗a̵̞͐l̵̝͌o̶̗͝0̸̜͊O̴̲̔O̶̔͜Ỏ̸̭n̵͎̽g̶̪͆ ̴̘́w̷̘̾ǐ̴͓ẗ̸͔h̵̙͂ ̷͕̌o̸͖͒t̴̨́h̷̠̉e̴̢͊r̸̥̅ ̵͙̈m̵̛͇i̸̢̐s̵̯͗t̷̨̓a̴̺̐k̵̦͐e̵̹̾s̷͓̑ ̵̰̈́l̴̟̋i̶͍͒k̸̮͝ẻ̷̝ ̷̙͗m̷̪̃e̶̲̚-̶̩͒ẻ̴̗-̴͉̓m̷̹̆e̸̦̋.̶͇͗”̷̨̊ Suddenly, a giant monochrome claw came out of the Zoroark’s belly as well, pointing behind Team Net. “̴̹̾T̶̗͋h̶̛͜e̸̻̋ ̶͔͠o̴̮̎n̶̹͊ë̷̯́s̸̹̊-̴̞͌e̴̺̎s̴̞̅-̶̙͝e̸̠̓s̷̥͝ ̵̧͌ŷ̵̭ö̵̰u̷͚͂ ̸̼̉s̶̈́ͅa̴̱̔w̴̖̾ ̵͇́a̷͖͐n̷̫̄-̵̟͝ȁ̴̟ñ̸͉d̴̳́ ̷͓̃f̶͎̉ǒ̴͇ů̴̻g̴͓̚h̵͈͒t̸̞͆ ̵̩̀ă̶̙r̸̯̔e̶͈̍ ̶̮̕t̷̝͂h̸̥̃ḙ̵̂ ̷͇̓s̸͔̕-̷̬̃ś̴̬ã̴̤m̸̞̊e̴̛͔ ̷͎͋a̷̡͆s̴̛̺-̴̡̈́à̷̧s̷̜̈ ̸̩̚m̸̈́͜ḙ̶͘…̸̰̎ ̶̫̈́ḃ̵̞u̵̙͋t̶̼̊ ̵̫̽ẅ̸͓e̸̊͜-̸̡͠w̸̪̆é̸̫ ̸̝͐a̷͕͑r̷̠̃e̵̦͝ ̸̮̾t̸̓͜ĥ̶̻ę̴̓ ̷̰̉o̴͖͂ȑ̵͉i̸̫͑g̴̲͐ḭ̷̑ṅ̵͜a̵̧͝ḽ̴̀.̶̗̐”̶͚̊

Claire took a careful step forward and asked. “Wait… you’re… the origins of every Glitch Pokémon then?”

“̷̞̈́Y̷̧̓ō̶͜-̴̱͒y̵̥͝o̵̘͊u̷͚͠’̶̬͠r̷̗͠e̵̮͒ ̷̊ͅc̷͇̾o̵͓̓r̴͚̈́r̸̬͒e̶̝̐c̴̺̐t̷͔̉.̵͕͛ ̵̤́Ẅ̴̮́-̸̠͊w̵̡̄é̴͚’̴͓̉r̸̯͠e̶̻̊ ̴̡̃t̸̳͛h̸̜̑e̷̮̒ ̸̰́ć̵̙á̸̦u̸͍͂ṡ̵͖ë̶̲ ̷̺̌o̵͇̓f̷̺̓ ̶̗͆e̷͇͠-̸͖̑e̴̲͝-̵̐͜ẹ̵́v̷̡̇e̶̯͠-̵̕ͅe̶̯̓r̷̖̈-̴̮͆è̴̦r̵̨̈́y̷̺̆ ̸̣̒G̵͍͑l̷̙̄ḯ̸͓ṭ̸̈c̵̭̕ḥ̵̒ ̸̤͠P̷̻̿ọ̸̆k̵͇̈́é̵̝̎m̴̤̓o̸͕̐n̸̅ͅ ̸̪̓ṯ̴̕o̵̿͜ ̴̰̇e̶͘ͅ-̶̩͆é̷̟x̷̝̀ĩ̴̼s̵̘̋t̶̗͒.̵̯͂ ̷̣͑W̴̡͛-̸̣́w̶̻̓e̵͕͠ ̸̙́w̵̨̒a̷̡̛ñ̸͈-̵͔̉w̷̠̉a̷̧͑n̸̢͆ť̵͜ë̶͓d̵͠ͅ ̵̜̓t̸̲̂ò̶̜ ̴̞̽c̵̲̉r̵̥͐e̷̝̿a̸͕̔t̴̩̉e̷̺̊ ̸̢̓a̷͈̓n̶̪͛ ̵̟̈ȃ̷̱r̵̦̓ḿ̶̟y̶̠͑-̶̦͐m̸̖̐ỳ̵̡ ̸̜̋t̷̡̛o̵̦̓ ̷͈̌e̶̲͠s̵͔̐-̶̤͌ē̶͚s̷̜͋c̵̛̩a̶͇̽p̵̠̓e̶̗͌ ̷̫̀ţ̷̎h̶͌ͅi̵̭̓s̴̩̈ ̷̠͐p̵̦̈l̵̩̃a̶̰͊c̵̘̓ë̶͕ ̵͚͝ả̶͙-̴̧̈́a̷͕͑ǹ̶͙ḓ̴̊ ̴̭̋f̷̞͐ĭ̴͙n̸̰͂d̸̛͚ ̵̲̕p̶͕͋-̶̛̟p̷̹̈́e̸͕͛ą̵̊c̶̘̉ę̵̈́ ̷̘̏ỉ̷̥n̸̦̋ ̶̬̑t̵̼̓h̴͌ͅ-̷̟̾t̸͈̓ḧ̵͚́-̶̲̈́t̷̘̒h̷͔͊ė̷̢ ̸̯͊n̵͋͜o̶̢̍r̷͚̃m̷͖̀ḁ̸̏l̴̼̈́ ̴͘͜w̵̱͠ọ̸͛r̷͔͠l̶͉̽d̶͉͆,̶̱͆ ̴͙̌h̴̰̎ǒ̴̙w̸̰͒é̸̖v̴̥̀-̸͇͝e̵͎͑r̷̟͊-̸̩́ë̷̢r̴̰̾,̴̺͘ ̴͖̽t̸̲̎h̴̖́i̷̘͂s̷͈͝ ̵̯̋ṁ̶̥y̸͓̔s̶̱̆t̴̲̐ḙ̴̎r̵̻͋ý̵̞ ̶̩̐d̷͕̎u̵͙͒-̵̺̄d̶̺͒u̶̙͝n̸̼͂g̷̭̾e̴̖̋o̸̠͑n̸͕͠ ̷͕̌d̶̛̞i̴̠͘s̷̹͑r̷̩̆ụ̴͠p̸͕̾t̵̺̓s̵͖̐ ̷͂͜ṱ̶̚h̵̖͋-̵͇̍t̴͍̚h̸̪́e̶͑͜ ̴̱͝c̷̠̿o̶̭̔n̷̤̕t̶͓̐r̴̦̈́o̸̻͊l̶͇̒ ̶̯͝o̵͘ͅf̶̫̔ ̷͎̈́e̴̗̒v̵̪̈́e̵̺̊-̸̣̉v̴̗̉e̴͓̕r̴͔̎y̶̮̎ ̴̤̃m̴̤̒ì̶͉n̸͎̚ȋ̴̺o̸͚͋ṅ̸̞ ̵͔͗w̵̖̎e̵̠̓ ̶̼̄c̸̦̍r̵͙͌è̵̘a̷̭͘t̵̰͊ḙ̴̍d̴͙̊.̸̗̓ ̸͉̈W̵͑͜-̵͕̈́w̶͉̕e̸͍̔ ̸͓̀w̴̠̋ȍ̷͓u̴̟̕l̷̟̀d̶͕̓ ̶̗̌ẗ̵̝́e̵͜͝a̷̻͐r̶͕̊ ̵͈̽ò̶͍p̸̩̃ẹ̶̆n̸̡̛ ̸̤̆a̷̼̐ ̶̭̂p̸̠̄o̵̭͐r̸͙͛t̴̳̄a̷̦͛l̵̪̈́ ̸͉̈ṭ̵̈o̵͇̍ ̵̬̓ṫ̵̢h̴͔̃e̸͙͑ ̴̖́ȏ̸̹t̶̥̊h̷̲͒ẹ̸͋ȑ̵̺ ̵̬̉s̷̼͝í̵̺-̶͚͑s̶̝̋i̶͎̕d̶͇̅ę̴̚,̷̱̈́ ̴̟̒b̶͕̋-̷̝̐b̸͙̒ǘ̴͈t̴͑ͅ ̵͍̐t̶̹̓h̵̠̏e̷̡̒ ̵̛̞d̷͚͊ụ̶͠-̵͕͐d̸̤̚ȕ̶̬n̶̠͘g̶͙͑e̴͓̅ó̷̱ṅ̴̻ ̵̖̀p̸̳̈́r̵̻͂ȅ̵̯v̴̖̊-̵̬̂p̴̗̍r̶͖͋e̸͕̓v̵̪̔e̸͇̐n̷̢̆t̴̖̎s̷̛̠ ̶̥̂t̴̙̉h̸̝̎ȁ̵̰t̶̞͊.̵͖̄”̴̢̄ It let out a glitched sigh. “̷̞̉T̶̩͆h̷̤̒-̶͕̏t̸͙̽h̵̡̓e̶̙̔ ̸͔́f̴̦̔ḯ̵͕r̶͓͑ś̵̝t̸̢͊ ̷̜̑e̴͕͋ñ̶͜e̸͍͐m̵͖̽ỳ̵̘ ̴͓̅y̴̟̕o̴̗̊u̷͙͝ ̶̩̉f̴̲͂ǫ̵̿u̴̦̽ģ̴̀h̴͓͆ţ̸̀ ̴͔͊h̷̻͘e̶̠̿r̴͇̃e̴̮͋…̶̫̎ ̴̠̂ẇ̵̩ã̵̝ș̸̋ ̴̺̇o̷̪͛–̶̤̀o̸͚̽u̴̮͌r̸͙̚ ̸͈͌f̴̖͆i̸̥̇r̴̰̐s̵̳͌ṫ̴̨ ̶̞̋č̶͖r̴̾ͅ-̷̛̣c̷̟͌r̴̹͘e̵̹̎a̷͙͑ť̴͕i̴͉̽o̷̟͛n̶̺̆,̵̞͗ ̴̬̇à̷͈l̵͍͛t̷̩̔ĥ̵͎ǒ̷̯u̴̜͆g̵̼̈́h̶̡͒,̴̨́ ̴̛̗ẘ̶̬h̴̫̽è̶͈n̴̪̑ ̴̧͠ĭ̷̝t̸̡̃ ̷͉̿ṭ̷͝r̵̹̔ĭ̴̢ę̸̐d̶͂ͅ ̶̥̍ả̴͚t̴̼̓t̶͕͐a̶̪͝c̶̤͛ḱ̵̖ȉ̶͎ǹ̸̳ǵ̵̩ ̸̳̄ṳ̷̏-̶̬̌ủ̴͜-̷̝̈́u̴̗̍s̶̟̄,̵͚́ ̵̗̚w̴̭͝ė̷͓ ̴̺̍g̴̬͊a̶̙̾v̸͔̆e̴̘͋ ̵̣̈́ị̴̀-̷̬̀ī̶͓t̸̘͝ ̴͋ͅa̸̧̕n̶̻͐ ̸̡̒é̶͈x̷͍̾t̶̬͐r̶̤͝a̸̡͐ ̴͉̇p̷̝̋-̶̠̈p̸̗̒o̶̦̚w̶̭̅é̴̫ř̴̢ ̶̻͠f̶̢͌ǫ̶̚r̶̻͐ ̴̦͛ṳ̵̾s̴̡̆ ̵̠͐t̴̰̚ő̶̠ ̶̖̊t̷͆ͅa̴̍͜k̷͚̚ḛ̶͊ ̶̖͋c̸͖̐ơ̴̺n̴̘̾t̸̺̉r̵̤̿ŏ̸̗l̶̲͝ ̶̧̈́ō̷̮v̵͙͋é̷̥r̶̖̽ ̶̬̀i̶̙̓t̷̠̊…̷̕ͅ”̵͉͋ It looked aside, rather annoyed. “̶͖́Ä̷͉-̶͈͗a̸͎͋n̴͙͠d̶̙́ ̴͉̈́l̵͉͠ỏ̷͇o̵̗͠k̴̪̔ ̷̤̓a̶͎̚t̴̫̾ ̸̖̾h̵̤́ȍ̶̯w̴̛̫ ̴̬̃t̷̥͆h̵͔͂-̴̩͌t̶̤̃ḫ̸͠a̶̰͝ṭ̴̌ ̷̘͊e̵̺̒n̶̗̒d̴͓̑è̷͎d̸̥̕ ̴͚̓u̶̜͛p̷͇̈́…̵̣̍ ̴̭̊a̸̩̒-̷̨̑a̴͂͜ ̵͍͝t̵̰͂h̸̞͘î̸̧r̸̹̾d̷͚̈ ̶̮̏o̸̲̅f̷͖͗ ̴̥͌ô̵̭u̷̼͌ŕ̷̘ ̸̞̋p̷̦͐ò̵̙ŵ̸̫ȇ̸ͅr̴͙̓ ̸͍̚w̸̨͋a̶̙͠s̴̰̉t̵͇͘ḛ̵̄d̷͕̓ ̵͇̈́f̷̯̕-̴̦̎f̴̼͌-̶̬̃f̶̞͘o̷̹̐ȓ̸̜ ̷͈̄ń̷̞ò̴̼t̸̡̍h̷͕̀i̸̥͋n̶̟̅g̷̩̽.̷̣̈́”̴͔̈

Team Net looked at themselves a bit nervous before looking back at MissingNo. with John asking a question. “So like… you’re uh... not planning on taking over the world or something like that… right?”

It shook its head. “̶̩́W̴̝̒-̴̳̑W̵͉̓ê̷̙ ̴̪͑h̷̥̾ḁ̸̔-̴̳͑h̶̬̀a̶̟̚-̸͖̀h̸̙̄ả̵̧v̷̘̾e̶̛̬ ̷̧̏n̶͉͆o̶͈̔ ̴̼́i̸̬̒n̶͈͛ẗ̴̻ė̸͙n̵͓̽t̷̩̎i̶͍͐o̸̜̐n̶̮̑ṡ̷̢ ̷͈̎ó̶̟ǹ̸̝ ̴̢͌d̵̯̐ó̸̦í̵̢n̸̺͌g̸͈̓ ̸̱͠ť̶̝h̶͠ͅạ̶̒t̵̪̑…̷̲̒ ̶̫͠á̷̼-̴̬̆ä̴͔́-̵̣̄ã̸̪f̷͓̎ẗ̷̫́ȅ̴̦r̶̟̒ ̷̝̏ạ̶̚l̷̡̕l̸̜͝-̴̘̽a̵̲̔l̴͎̍l̴̺̅,̸̗̒ ̶̜́A̶̜̚r̴̡͒-̴̧͠A̶̟̐r̵̠͆c̸̹̋ẻ̵ͅu̵̺͒s̵̟͊ ̷̣̈́o̴͈͝ẅ̷̥n̶̫̐ ̴̙́ç̷͋h̵̢̒ḯ̴̝l̵̪̅d̴͓̅ ̵̤̋i̸̝͝ś̵͓ ̶͙̎h̶͕̑ė̷̪r̵̡͛-̸̥͛h̵͚͑ḛ̵̇r̵̖̔ę̸͠ ̴͆͜t̴̞͠ǒ̸͜ ̵̟̅p̷̝͐ŕ̵͇-̵̫͌p̴̩̓r̴͔̔e̵̤̚v̷̟̾ē̶̖n̵̰̈́t̵̟͌ ̶̥͊ö̷̮́u̷̠̎r̵̘̽ŝ̴͙è̶͕l̷̯̑v̶̟͐e̴̮̅s̸̹̀ ̶̘̌ạ̸̀n̵̛͉d̷̩̋ ̶̮͊o̷̱̍u̷͙̚r̴̬͠ ̴̪̃m̴̜̕i̷̠̊n̸̮̚i̵̙͛o̵̦̔n̵͙̓ŝ̴̥ ̷̯̀f̶̼͝r̷̟̂ȍ̷̰m̷͈̔ ̶̹͘é̶̪ș̷́c̶̢͂a̵͍͠p̷͙̿ȋ̴̪n̷̂ͅg̷͇͊ ̸̺̚t̸͎̽o̸̮͒ ̴̬̉ţ̵̈h̸̳͝e̴͇͝ ̵͋ͅǹ̷͍o̴͔̕r̴͕̉m̶̛͔a̸̱͗l̵͎̏ ̸̈́͜w̶̪̔o̵̳͋r̷͎͝l̸̲͋ď̷̳…̶͖͐ ̵͙͌ṱ̵̋h̸̯̒e̸̩͌-̴̒͜t̴͔́ĥ̸̖e̸̮͝n̷̞̐ ̸͚́ȃ̴̫g̸̞̚a̷̜̅i̵̯̓ṅ̶̥.̶̮̃.̷͈̀.̷̙͝ ̷̼͋i̶̲͆t̴̲̎ ̸̢̇r̵̬̊e̸̪͝-̴̦́r̸͉̅e̵̠̎a̸̳͑l̶̖̿ļ̷̀y̴̢̽ ̷̍ͅm̴͔̽u̵̜͑s̵̞̃t̸̤̑ ̵̦̈́h̵̤͋ä̴͚-̵͚̄ḫ̷̈́ạ̴̚t̸͓̐ē̴̪ ̶̳̑m̸͉̏-̸̯̐m̸̖͌e̸̖̔ ̸̪͒f̷̩̉o̷͙̍r̷̯͝ ̵̭̔n̴̦͆o̵̤̽-̷̞̍ṇ̷͝o̸͕̎t̶̩̃ ̷̥̕k̸̥͊n̸͍͒o̶̺̒w̸̱͐-̵̥͝k̷͙̐n̶̮̄o̴̥̎w̷̬͑ì̵̦ǹ̷̤g̴̜̃ ̶̠̅h̴̡͛o̵̭͊w̵̳̆ ̷̪̏t̵̛͓ȍ̶̧ ̷̖̅č̴ͅȏ̷̥n̷͚͛t̶̫͊r̸͎͂ö̷͙l̷͇̔ ̴̜̅m̶̞̋y̵̚͜ ̸͖̀ỏ̴̗w̷̜͑-̷͈̀ö̷̧w̴̭͝n̷̬̊ ̸̞̀p̸̘͋ö̸͎́ŵ̴̞e̴̗͘r̸͓͊ ̷̠̓a̵͂ͅt̵̞͠ ̴̛̱t̴̼̀h̴̠́ĕ̶͉ ̸̥̃ț̸͆-̶̧̚t̴̫̉i̶͍̐m̴̟̃e̷͇͂.̸̮͌.̴̰͂.̸̲̿”̷̗͐ It looked at Popo and Nana, its smile growing a little wider. “̷͈͂Y̶̯͝o̸̥͝ǔ̶͕r̷̭̃ ̶̼̽d̶̙̚ḙ̵̃d̸̪̂u̵̻̕-̸͎̒d̵̦̐ȗ̶̬c̴̮͝t̵͔͝i̸̺͗ỏ̵̝n̵͉͘s̸̱̈́ ̴͕́w̶̪͒e̴̫͆r̸̜̕ẻ̸̖ ̷̜̚w̸̦̑ȓ̸̥o̴̳͐n̵̺̈g̶͙̓.̶̗͠ ̴̙̐T̵̛ͅ-̸̫̉t̴̗͊ḫ̶͌e̸̥͒ ̴̟͐o̴̮̽n̵̲̎e̶̛̘ ̴̠̃y̷̤͂o̸̦̚û̵̪ ̸͈̌c̷͖̋ạ̷̏l̷͔̚l̵̩̀ ̸͉̆t̶͙̏h̶͓̀e̶̼̔ ̷̡̏G̵̯͆ř̶͖-̵̳̈́G̸̜̉ŕ̴͚e̴͈͊à̸̰t̷̼͘ ̴̺̂Ó̵͇n̶̘̎e̸̙̊ ̶̪̕â̴̤l̴̬͗r̴̦̅e̴͙͐ả̸̧d̴̢͌y̷̘͑ ̷̟̑k̶͎̊n̸̝̚ô̸͔w̴̢͊s̵̖͝ ̶̹̆ô̸̭f̶͚̎ ̷̝̕m̸̺̍y̵̮̚ ̷͍̈e̴̡̍ẍ̵̺i̸̙̾s̸̪̉t̷̙́ë̴̗́ṋ̶͝c̷̜̈́é̵̪…̵̦̈́ ̵̙̔p̶̎ͅē̶̼r̸̗͂h̵͕̾a̸͓͂p̷̤̾s̷̛̰ ̴̡̄ṱ̷̐h̴͍̀e̵̡̅y̸̡͗ ̵̡̉d̸̪́ï̸̜d̶̥͗ ̴̼̆n̷̼͆o̷̹̓t̶̝̽ ̴̫͒ŵ̶͇i̷̠̔s̷̖̒h̸͓͝ ̶̳̈́t̵̗͂o̸͎͂ ̴̣̄t̵̻́è̸̩ľ̸͈l̵̞̉ ̶̘̌y̷̗͒ọ̵̓ů̴͕ ̷̢́a̵̡̍l̵͓̑l̴̢̔.̸̺̀”̶̪̒

“Alright then… what do you want with us?” Amy asked, her muscles tensing up a lot more than normal. “Are you planning on making us your vessels so you can escape or something like that…?”

It chuckled. “̵̧̏I̸̙͐f̷̠̓ ̴̢̌w̵̛̺-̸̜͒w̶̜͐-̸̹̔w̷̃͜e̵̞͗ ̵͈̌d̷̲̊í̸͖d̸͎̈ ̸̹͂ẘ̷ͅa̷͍͛ñ̷͉ẗ̴̯́ ̶̞̑t̵̤͐ĥ̸̦a̸̪̔t̵̫̊…̸̡͠ ̴̟͘w̸̼̚e̷̠̊-̴̡̿w̴̢̿e̸͕͆ ̸̞͝w̴͉̾o̶̚ͅǔ̷͈ĺ̷͈d̶͔̎-̸̗̊ẉ̴̊o̶̢͛ȕ̶̺l̵͙͒d̴̖͛’̵̡̌v̶͓͠e̶͚̐ ̷̫́d̸̮̄ó̷͖ṋ̴̾ë̶̯ ̷̭̃s̷̄͜õ̸̬ ̸͇͗ạ̷̕l̴͔̃ŕ̷̼ė̶͓a̸͎͌d̶̬̒ỵ̷͌…̴̻͗ ̷̖̚w̴̻̌h̵̲́e̶̜͌n̸͍͛ ̴̱͂ẃ̸͙e̸͇̔ ̴̙̍f̷̬͊i̵̯̍r̸̬͋s̴̱̒t̵͎͝ ̸̦̚m̷͇̌e̷̢̚t̸̤͗ ̸͖̎i̷͙̿n̶̯͌ ̸̮̊t̴͚̆ḥ̷̀e̴͎͘ ̷̻̐d̵̹́u̸͎̒n̸͔̎g̴̢̐ě̴̥ȏ̶̜n̶͍͐…̵̙̋”̷̠̍ It turned away from them, looking in the distance. “̴̘͑W̶̮͂e̴̞̾ ̸̡́h̸͚̏a̷̘̐-̷̙̓h̷̻́a̵̩͂v̸̼̏ē̵̜ ̸̦̓m̵̫̃ạ̵̚d̶̤̆ḙ̴̓ ̵̖̀t̷̜̒h̸̗͒ê̴̖ ̵̗̆ḑ̶̓ŭ̴̹n̵̹̾g̵̥̒e̵̗̾o̸͈̅n̷̲̂ ̶̨̌è̴̪á̵̧s̴͈̄i̷̱̓e̴͔̾r̵̙̋ ̸̙̌ḟ̴̬ö̵͖́r̴͉̋ ̵͇̈y̶̛͈o̴̜̾u̴̢͗-̸̔ͅy̵͇̓o̶͍͑u̸̡̐ ̸̡͛s̸̠̆ǒ̴͖ ̸̠̍w̸̦͛ë̶̩́-̷͍̀w̵͚̔ȅ̶̪ ̴͓̐č̷̝o̴͖̿ṵ̶̾l̷͙̓d̴̫̋ ̸̤̄t̷̳̏a̵͍̎l̸̛̦k̷̲͘ ̷̢̃h̶̢̿e̵͕̋-̴͖̎h̶̭̀e̸̙͘r̵̥̿ë̶̫́ ̴̠́a̷̯̚ṋ̵̚d̴͔̈ ̵̗̋g̷͇̈́e̷̤͋-̵̨̋g̵̘̒e̴̫̊t̴̩̎ ̵̲̅ḍ̶̑ö̸̖́w̸͙̽n̵͓̓ ̵͍̊ṱ̶͝ơ̷̤ ̴͖͊b̸͎̅u̸̗̾s̴̰͝i̴̼͑n̵̪͐é̶͜s̶̥̈́s̸̞̓.̵̧̓”̸̥̚ Its multiple eyes turned to Team Net. “̴̖̃Y̴̨͠ò̴̪u̷̠͑ ̶̧̅s̴̻̏e̶͔̓e̶͎͑…̸̘͆ ̷͎̊y̷͠ͅȏ̴̤-̴̬͐ÿ̸͕́ö̸̖́u̴̦͗ ̸͕̋w̶͚̄e̸̮͊-̶͇͐w̶͎̎e̷̝͂w̴̦͋ẽ̷̖w̴̤̔ĕ̵̗-̸̩̀w̶̰̽ẻ̷̞r̸̗͝é̴̡ ̸̝͗u̴̲̎n̶̼̂e̸̤̐x̵̳͘p̵̠̂ê̵̹c̵̙̀t̸̮̃ë̴͕́d̴̟̕ ̵͈̿v̶̙͐î̶̧s̸̻͗ï̷̲t̷͇̀o̵̱͝r̸̛͍s̴̨͗.̴̲͆ ̷͚̓Ś̷̘i̸̧͗n̶̨͛c̶̡̛e̶͍͂ ̴͕̉ǐ̶̞t̴͕͘’̵̺͋s̴̨̊ ̷͇͗b̷̠̔e̸̫̽e̵̩̚n̶̮̚ ̸̯̒s̸̹͊o̴̭̾ ̸͍͗l̶̻̽ő̸̟n̵̬̆ĝ̵̺-̸͇̾ò̸̺n̴̼̏g̷̪͆ ̴̳̄s̸̰̔i̵͎̓n̴̯̒c̷͓͊e̵͍̅ ̷̳̀ẁ̶̘ě̸̳ ̶̬̔f̶͉̄o̸͇͗ṳ̵̍g̸̫͝h̷̜́t̶͓̽ ̵̫̓a̴͓̔n̷̘̽y̴̳͑o̸̦͂ǹ̴͎e̵̖͒…̸̭̕ ̸̹̈́Ï̵̭ ̴̬͛t̸̯̀h̷̬̍ǒ̷̢u̷̺̾g̶͓̃h̷͓̅t̴͈͘ ̴̰̌w̶̡̾e̶̯̍ ̵̩̃c̸̪̕o̸͈̒ȗ̸͇l̵̞̋d̶̖̋ ̸͕́t̸̠̄e̶̞̿-̸̞̓t̷̪̽ë̵̟s̸̮͠t̸̗̏ ̷̦͆o̵͚͝u̷̼̎r̵̰͐ ̸̢̑s̸͕̑ṯ̷̐ȑ̵̺e̷̗͆n̴̡̓ǧ̸͜t̷̨͐h̷̝̀ ̶͙̃i̸̹̎n̸̨̚-̸̧̛i̶̦͘n̶̼̓ ̴̢̅ạ̶̾ ̸͇͠f̸̧̈́r̵̡͐i̴̭͂e̸̜͛n̷̪͗d̴̗̊l̷̡͗ÿ̸͚́ ̷̗͘b̵̰͝a̸̟͝ẗ̵̪́t̸̞̀ļ̶̉ẹ̶̊.̴̝͠”̷͕̀

John tilted his head. “Really? No buts or anything…?”

“̶̤̆Ñ̷̡-̸̝̒n̶͍̄o̷̙͘.̶͚͝”̵̠͠  It turned back to them. “̴̦̉T̸̞̆h̵̪̎e̵̖̋ ̸̯̃f̷̝̅a̶͈͛c̵̱͌t̷͓̏ ̶͚̈ȋ̴̱s̵̼͝…̴̨͂ ̵͈̕à̵̦f̷̺̾t̸̺̚e̴̼̓r̴̠̓ ̴̥͝o̵̳͐u̴̜̕r̶̤̈́ ̵̘̄ş̷̛m̴̦̓a̷̭̅l̷͕̾l̵̫̃ ̷͍̽b̶̯̓a̸̟͌t̵͈̀t̴̻͘l̸̜͘ẹ̸͝,̴͔̍ ̶̡̆y̶̙̋o̷̫͊ụ̷͆ ̵̭̀s̸͔̚h̵̟͂ǎ̴̯l̵͎̍l̸̖͌ ̸̜̋b̵̰͗ê̴͕ ̷̬́a̴̛̹l̶͓͒l̸̯̕ó̴̹w̸̩͛e̵͓̍d̷̟͒ ̸̞͊t̵̛̳o̴͎̓ ̸̜͘g̴̖̊o̵̝̓…̴̭̒ ̴̧̅ȟ̷͓o̸̡̒ẃ̶̻e̶̛̯v̶̳͘ë̷͈́r̴̛͈…̴̘͋ ̴̩͋Î̴̗ ̸̤͊w̷͔͘a̵̱͛n̶̜͠t̴̲̃ ̷̩͘ả̶̫ ̴̄͜s̴͓̉m̵̘̽a̵̛̖l̵̩̈l̴̨͗ ̵̛̞f̵̻̃ä̶͔v̴͎͆ö̴̗r̶̯͆ ̵̢͌f̷͕͛r̸̥̈́ŏ̷͚m̸̩͗ ̶͖́ỹ̵̖ô̶̦ũ̷͎ ̵̞͝f̸̧̓i̷̲͗-̶̠̈́f̸̩̆i̶̝̐v̶̲̓ę̴̇…̸̣̎”̵̜͐ Team Net tensed up from that favor. “̷̡̕W̵̮͐-̷̤̄ẁ̴͜e̶͙̍ ̵̮͐ẅ̵̩́a̵̦̕ǹ̷̝t̵̟͠ ̶̛͎y̷̭͝o̴͜͝ǔ̷̼ ̸̞̆t̵̢͝o̷̻̚-̶͍̍t̷̰̑ó̶̲ ̵̼́s̴̪͋h̵̻̊ò̵͇w̸̺̑ ̶̢̀ǔ̴̼-̶͔͌ṵ̷̐s̷̙̊ ̴̟̎t̷̯͝h̵̟͆e̵̜͝ ̸͈͑o̸͓̎ü̴̲t̵̮̔ś̸̲i̴̝͋d̸̺͌e̴̦̐ ̶͓̅w̷̺̓ǒ̶̭r̷͉̽l̸̺͘ḍ̵̎…̵̤͌ ̶̙̈w̴͖͗e̵̮̐ ̵̻̓s̸̺͝h̸͒ͅḁ̶͛ḷ̶̈l̸̲̄ ̵̤͊p̶̤̏r̵̼͝o̶̢̍m̵̧̈́i̷̊ͅs̸͖͒ë̶̜́ ̸̳͂t̸̰̽h̴̖̕ả̴̜t̴̝͑ ̷͙̑w̷̮͆ë̶̖́ ̸̤̏w̵̬͐o̵͓̽ň̶̯’̶̢̀ẗ̴̟́ ̶̺͗t̷̜̎-̸̜̎t̸͈̿-̵̝̉t̴̬͒r̷͉̕ỷ̸͈ ̷̒ͅa̸͕̾n̴͓̅y̴̬͘ẗ̸͈́h̵͚̀i̸̹̒n̸̘̄ĝ̶͚.̸͕̈”̴̅ͅ

The team gathered up and formed a circle, whispering to each other. “Should we trust it…? I don’t know… just seeing that guy gives me the creeps.” John admitted.

“We do not have a choice.” “If we wish to go through, we have to pass it.” “And we doubt we would be able to pass it with our current power.”

Amy sighed. “Do we really have no other choice?” 

Claire shook her head slowly. “No we don’t…” The group disbanded the circle and looked back at MissingNo. “Alright… we accept.”

“̴̰̒G̴̹̉-̶̦̂G̵̹̓-̶̛ͅG̴̫͠r̸͚̕e̸̝̍ä̸͎t̷̹́!̵̳̑”̸̱͒ Suddenly, the giant head disappeared back into the belly of the Zoroark. It regained its composure before glitch particles started to gather around the vessel. Suddenly, from one moment to another, its whole body changed in an instant. The vessel now was way taller than before, the fur on its body changing to black and white, gaining a new pair of elongated arms as well as big white claws. The belly was covered with multiple eyes with red pupils staring at Team Net. The hair was now loose and longer, glitch particles flowing through it. Its eyes were now monochrome, black eyes with white pupils, and its mouth was wider, sprouting sharp teeth. “̸͈͑N̴̙͗ȏ̵̝w̶͚̚,̶̭͘ ̷̡̈l̵̗͋-̴̨̑l̵̼̈e̸̛̟t̸̥̉’̷̗̂s̸̢̉ ̶̝̑ḇ̸̌ȇ̸̱g̶͎̈ĩ̶̬n̴͕̋!̶̐ͅ ̴̖͠Ë̵͔n̶͚̐ṯ̶͛e̵̦̋r̶͕͠t̵̛̜-̷͙̈t̵̛̻-̴̨̑ẗ̸͍́a̶̩̅ì̶̫ṇ̶̀ ̴͍̊ų̸̈́s̶̠͛!̶̖͊”̴̭͊

Team Net was a little terrified of the monstrous-looking creature in front of them, however, that wouldn't stop them from putting up a fight. They steeled their positions and got ready for battle.

Universe’s Error
M̴͇̓ȋ̶̗ṡ̸̻s̷̼̓i̸̳̚n̴͉͌ǧ̴̜N̶̬͒o̵̮͐

The battle had begun, Team Net scattered around the limited field they were given for the battle as MissingNo.’s multiple eyes all looked at them separately. John started by trying to grapple onto trees consecutively at a fast pace. The Joltik suddenly stopped and jumped away from the dead tree in the direction of the monochrome glitch, pulling out his Electro Whip from his mouth and trying to lash out at it. Meanwhile, Claire was coming from the other side, with her Will-O-Wisp flames already floating beside her. She released her attack, the floating fireballs flying towards MissingNo. 

However, the glitchy monster used two of its arms to block the attacks coming from both sides while also extending its arms a bit to grab the Joltik and Vulpix. After grabbing them, it threw them both on the ground a bit away from it, making them slide against the floor.

Taro took this opportunity to make contact with the monochrome entity, spin-dashing onto its back and using a point-blank Thunder Shock against it. However, it didn’t look like it really did much damage. MissingNo. turned its head backwards completely before slashing Taro away, launching the spiky rodent to a dead tree. “Gah!”

It was at that time when Popo and Nana made their claws of darkness appear in their hands and they ran towards MissingNo., dodging the slams of the giant claws and sometimes vanishing in the shadows to dodge. They appeared behind it and got ready to slash the glitch creature, however, it quickly turned its head towards the Tandemaus and shot a glitchy ball of energy at them, making direct contact with the pair and hitting them back on the ground.

Suddenly, MissingNo. was assaulted by glowing razor-sharp leaves, cutting some of their limbs, and making it bleed some glitchy white liquid. It looked at the source of the leaves and saw Amy standing there as her needles poked holes in her uniform. The Shaymin shot another Magical Leaf at the vessel. However, it just teleported out of the way with the glitch teleportation. In retaliation, its true head came out of the monochrome vessel again and it shot a glitched bird-shaped projectile at Amy, the hedgehog directly rolling out of the way.

“̴͖́İ̴̤-̸͈̑į̸̍s̸͇͌ ̵̝̽t̸̖̓h̴̘͂à̷͜t̴͍͛ ̴̬̈â̸̯-̷͒ͅā̸͚-̸͕̅ā̵͍l̵̹̈́l̷͖͆ľ̴̲ ̶͓̒y̸̤͝o̴̰͂u̵̖̍ ̸̼̚g̴̣̑ő̸͜t̶̺̏?̶͒͜”̶̳̈́ Suddenly, something latched on MissingNo.’s back. It retracted its true head back in the belly and looked back with the vessel’s head. A thick strand of silk was latched onto it, which was being held by John.

“Cwaire, now!” The Vulpix beside John nodded and incinerated the strand as the Joltik let go. The flame consumed the silk until it reached MissingNo., the fur on its body being the fuel needed to burn most of it. “Great, it's burned!”

Suddenly, the flame started glitching out, letting out glitch particles instead of smoke. “̴͚̌Á̷͔-̷̥̈́ã̵̙r̶̬̈́ë̵̯́ ̵̼̐y̶͕̓ơ̴ͅư̵͖ ̶͕́s̷̝̚u̷͌ͅ-̶̤̀s̸̡̽u̸̲͝ŕ̸͎e̷̗͗?̵̘̑”̶͇̃ The entirety of the flames disappeared in an instant with a glitch effect covering its entire body. “̸̝̇W̴̼͌e̴̦̓’̴̨́l̶̛̺l̴͙̎ ̸͙̌a̷̧̎d̴̺͒m̸͔̅ỉ̸̹t̵̥͂…̷̤̂ ̷̫̏n̴͎͗e̷͕͆-̴̳͆n̸͔̽e̷̦͊ā̴͈ẗ̸̯ ̵̼͛t̶͉̽r̷̺̕-̶͚̆t̶̘̽r̷̺̃i̴̥̍ċ̸͕k̶̙͆ ̶̬̅y̵̘̐ȍ̶͍ư̶̝ ̸̪͑p̷̞̕l̸̨͑ạ̶̾-̸̧̅p̸̣̀l̵̼͛á̴̘n̶͇̋n̸̟̔è̶͇d̵̟͌.̶̙̏ ̷̲̃N̶̡͌ò̸͜-̴͚͝n̴͇̂o̵̠̓w̵̝̓…̷͈̋”̵̮͝ It readied its four arms and got in an attacking position. “̶̣͋Î̶͇t̴̞̋’̵̧̊s̷͙͒ ̴̛̲o̶̤̿-̴͉̀o̸̪͑ǘ̵͍r̴̰͊ ̵͙͝t̸̫̃u̸̢͆ȑ̴̳ñ̷͚ ̸̳̒t̴͕̎-̸̘̇t̴̼̚ô̷̘ ̸̰̅à̸͎t̷̲̑t̵̫͛a̸̜̅-̸̭͂t̵̢͌a̶̡͘c̷̰̊k̸̙͋!̴̼̉”̵͕̑

MissingNo. disappeared in an instant, making Team Net desperately look around for it. Suddenly, Claire was grabbed from behind by a white claw, holding her up in the air as she struggled. “Claire!” Team Net shouted before she was slammed down on the ground and was shot at point blank by a glitchy ball of energy. Then, it grabbed John with another claw and threw him into the air, making a gun sign with its claw and shooting a glitchy black bird directly at the Joltik. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the time to grapple away and the bird exploded on contact with it. John was launched away onto a tree and slumped on the ground.

“John!” Taro screamed before running at MissingNo. and using a Rollout at it. However, the tall glitch entity grabbed the ball spiky ball coated in rocks and kicked him into the air before jumping along with him. It clasped the four of its hands and spiked it into the floor. Taro, unfortunately, was knocked out.

Meanwhile, Popo and Nana looked at each other and nodded. “We need more vessels! Come and be a valuable sacrifice for this fight!” The Tandemaus did something… weird. They started splitting themselves up and created more copies of themselves, almost like mitosis. After creating twenty clones of themselves, the originals extended their arms in the direction of MissingNo. “Go forth, vessels!” 

Their clones charged towards the glitch entity and clung onto its entire body, biting and chipping away pieces of their flesh with claws. “̴̳̎I̵̼͒n̴͍̊-̸̳̂i̴̬͛ṉ̵̅t̴͎̀e̵̞͑r̴̙̈́e̸͍͑ŝ̵̞ẗ̷́͜í̵̥ṋ̵͝g̷͇̀ ̸̲̈t̷͚̋è̴͎-̷̯̈ṯ̶̏e̵̗͊ç̵͆h̶̠̿ň̶̙i̵̙̐q̸̓͜u̷̦̓e̴̠͘…̵̰̿ ̸̰̒h̸̰͗o̵̤͋ẘ̵̱ę̶͋v̷̢̽ẽ̴͕ṟ̷̾…̴̢͛”̴̻̆ MissingNo.’s true head came out of the belly once again and looked at its own vessel. The multiple eyes started glowing, and after a small moment, it shot from its eyes small laser beams, making all of the clones disappear with a puff of smoke.

Even after killing all of the clones, they left quite a bit of damage on the vessel. “̶͍̔W̶̭͋e̸̝͐’̴̭̀r̶͑ͅe̷̤͒ ̶͚̉ḭ̶̿m̶͙̓p̶̺̃r̴̕͜e̵̠͆s̵̖̊s̸͈̈ë̷̟́d̴̙̍ ̸͓̓t̴̙͝h̶̞̄a̵͙̋t̶̫͛ ̸̠͑ý̵̢o̴͔̚u̸͙͆-̸̤̑ÿ̸̧́o̶͛͜ȗ̴̳-̶̛͚ỷ̴͇o̶̗͠ư̷̡ ̸̖̚a̶̮͋c̵̳͋t̸͍̓u̷͎͝a̷̬͆l̸̬͊l̸͚̚y̷̹̌ ̴͔̎m̴̘̽a̸͕̕ņ̶͌a̸̤̚-̸͍̀m̸̻̿a̸͕̅n̶̬̽a̷͓̎g̷̤̈́e̶̫͒ḑ̶̂ ̴͖̊t̴̢̃o̷͍̒ ̶̹̈́d̷͓̈́-̸̬̓d̵̥̀a̸̳͊m̵̹͆à̵͚g̸̨͆ḛ̸͐ ̵̊ͅm̶̝̀ĕ̴͙…̷̦͝ ̸̪͗m̷̝̎a̴̘͊-̷̞̂m̴͕̀a̸̢̍ŷ̷̳ḃ̸̘ê̵̘ ̶̜̋Ì̶͍’̷̣̉v̴̬̽ẹ̸͝-̵̨̋v̷̞͆e̶̫͠ ̷͉̍b̶̼͂e̵̼͠e̷͓̎n̸͖̆ ̴̬̒s̶̡̏l̸̺̀a̶͌͜c̵̛̖k̷̞̀i̷̺͌ṋ̴́g̶̗̀ ̶̯͛ő̷̞f̷̞̔-̵̥͒o̴̪̒f̷̤́f̵͜͠ ̸͝ͅf̸̪́o̶̬͑r̸͕͝ ̴͖͝t̵̜̔ŏ̴̺ǒ̴͇ ̵̩̌l̶̦̓ò̴͎n̸͉͗g̸̥̓.̸̣̊”̴̜͛ The monochrome entity looked back at Team Net, who were looking really tired and really bruised. John was bleeding a bit of hemolymph from his head, Claire was battered and a bit bruised to the sides, Amy was just looking tired in general, and the Tandemaus didn’t look that much different, with no signs of tiredness. “̶̈́͜B̵̙͂u̷̞̿t̶̞̎ ̷͚̋ḍ̷̾ó̵̪n̷̨̕’̵͙̉t̶͈͋-̷̪͌o̸̞̊n̸͒ͅ’̴̗͌t̴̗̀ ̸̬̋t̴͓̓h̷̩̽ì̴̬n̶͍͝ǩ̸̥ ̴̛ͅị̵̾ṭ̴͝’̶̙̌s̸̻͑ ̷̜͑o̶͓̚v̴͒ͅe̷̛̱r̶͍͊ ̴͚͝y̶͈̎e̸͇͑ẗ̶̙.̴̭͋ ̶̻̀T̵͎̊h̸̳̆ě̵̙ ̷̪̐f̵̩̊u̴̩͝-̵̣̐f̸͖̾u̵͇̍ṇ̴́ ̷͓̽ĥ̸̦á̶͈s̴̩͗ ̴͖͛j̸̱̇u̷̫͒s̸̢͊t̸̙͛-̴͍̋ĵ̷̩ū̶̬s̴͉̾t̷͝ͅ ̴͙̃b̶͎̾e̸͘͜ǧ̸͔u̴͋ͅň̶̮!̶́ͅ”̶̦̏

Suddenly, more white claws were starting to come out of the belly of the vessel and it looked like the true body was coming out of the body. However, everything was obscured for a moment as static coated MissingNo.’s entire body. After the static disappeared, they could see the glitch entity’s true body. The head that they saw was now floating, a little wispy end at the back of the head, and around it were six disembodied floating white claws. Under the floating head, there was a mass of static particles with many monochrome Pokémon body parts coming out of it. “You’re… you’re shitting me…” John muttered. “Phase two…?!”

Claire grunted as she took a step forward, a determined look in her eyes. “We… we can do this! We’re not gonna back down on this! We’ve come this far together as a team… let’s show the power of Team Net to it!”

John sighed. “Alright… Team Net, let’s do this!” 

The team ran towards MissingNo as it chuckled. “̶̜̅Ẁ̵̨e̶̦͂ ̷̮͘l̵̘̅i̴̯͐-̶̩͂ḷ̷͝i̷̼̐k̵̢̛e̵͔̐ ̴͙̆ỷ̷̙ỏ̷̟u̷͍̓ŗ̶̅ ̴͇̌d̵̡̄e̸̞̿-̷̬͝d̵̛͇ë̷̟́t̸͈͝e̴̼̿r̵͉̍m̶̢̈i̸͍̊n̷̢͊ȧ̸̭t̵̛͔i̸̦̋ȏ̶̘n̷͇̆!̵̼̄”̷̭̈́ One of the claws floated in front of it and fired another bird projectile at the group. However, John grappled away as the others dodged and scattered around. 

Amy shot an Energy Ball at the entity, however, MissingNo. put a claw in front of it, absorbing the grassy ball itself. Then, another hand was aimed at Claire, and from it came the Energy Ball from before, however, this one was black and white and with glitch particles on it. The Vulpix dodged it and looked at the destruction that the orb caused. “Woah…” She looked back at MissingNo., knowing that she couldn’t use her Incinerate attack more freely. She started to run around it, trying to look for an opening.

Meanwhile, Amy went to the knocked-out Taro. Instead of taking out her bag, she looked at it and her eyes started to glow purple as she muttered. “Thank goodness I always carry one of these…” Suddenly, a Reviver Seed, coated in a purple aura, flew out of Amy’s bag and went directly into Taro’s open mouth. She used her paws to make the spiky rodent crunch the seed and swallow it. Next, she used Aromatherapy to make slight bruises go away. “Now gotta wait until he wakes up…”

Back to the fight, John was hopping from tree to tree, trying to find the best angle to hit MissingNo. with an Electro Whip. After finding a good angle behind it, John jumped towards the glitchy entity and pulled out his whip of electricity from his mouth. However, one of the claws blocked the attack, making it look at the Joltik. After John landed, he did not let go of his Electro Whip, and instead started hitting the floating claw even more, causing the disembodied limb some shock burns and paralysis. With that, John jumped back and grappled away into the trees once again.

Popo and Nana took this opportunity to appear from the shadows in front of the glitchy entity and uppercut its paralyzed claw with their Shadow Claw, making a big slice wound on it. The claw collapsed on the ground, leaving MissingNo. with one less hand to defend itself. “The Great One has trained us well.” Popo said, pointing his claw of darkness at the monochrome creature. “Do not underestimate us.” Nana said as she also pointed her claw at it.

“̶͔͑P̴̛͇r̸̬͋-̸̕͜p̸̰͘ř̸͔o̶̯͝p̴͍̈́s̴͉̅ ̵̦͐ẗ̴̲́o̸̳͋ ̴̠̕t̸̩͐h̷̠͆ẻ̴̯m̵̖̈́ ̶͇̈t̴̠̀h̴̟̆ę̴̔n̸̺̒.̴͗ͅ ̴̩͘T̵͉͐h̵̦̾-̴̘͝t̷͓̿h̵͎͐ẽ̶̘-̴̧͐t̸͈̃h̶̲̽è̵̳ỷ̶̲ ̴͚̔ẃ̴̨o̷̰̒ù̵̪l̶̰͋d̶̳̂ ̷͍͘l̴̩̒o̶̹̾v̴͙̐ĕ̶͜ ̴͎̀t̶̢͗o̷̥̍ ̵̮̾k̶̻̓n̷͉̊-̸̒ͅk̵̢͘n̶̛̩o̷̢͗w̸͒ͅ ̶̙̑ẏ̸̱o̷̥̊ủ̴͚’̸̦̉ŗ̸͛e̴͖̒ ̷̦̒k̷̩̈́e̵͖͆e̵̼̽-̷͔̿k̴͔̎ē̷̬e̸̡͝p̶͎̀i̶̺̽n̶̉͜g̴̤̃ ̸͙̀ú̸͓p̸͍̾ ̵̤̇w̷͇̿ḭ̷̀t̶̞̉h̷̥̄ ̴̮̊s̶͖̑ȯ̵ͅm̸̙͊ė̴̟o̶̡͘ṉ̵͆e̶̛̠ ̵̼̈́l̴͇͗i̶̼͝k̴̨͒ȅ̸̢ ̸̲̽u̷͎͂ŝ̷̰.̵̤̀”̷̎͜ Two other claws came in to replace the fallen one, starting to release explosive bird projectiles at the Tandemaus. However, the mice started running around it while jumping and ducking, avoiding the birds.

Claire saw this as her opportunity and aimed her Incinerate directly at MissingNo.’s back, hitting the floating head in the back. It looked back and saw the Vulpix standing there, snorting flames from her nose. The glitch entity aimed two claws, pointing a finger, at Claire. The claws started releasing glitchy balls of energy at her, however, the Vulpix dodged them, by sidestepping and running directly at MissingNo. She used the mass of Pokémon limbs below the floating glitch creature as stepping platforms to jump and get close and personal with it. She then shot another point-blank Incinerate at its face, making the creature recoil and put some of its claws on its multiple eyes. 

“Hah! Literally, in your face!” Claire gloated, a smug smile creeping up to her.

“̷̼̄Y̸͍̏ė̵̝ṣ̶̈́,̶̱̿ ̷̞͛i̴̛̟t̶̞͝ ̴̢͆ì̷̥s̸͎̆-̶̪̕ĩ̸̫s̷̤͑ ̴̞͘i̵̺̍ṅ̷͎ ̶̩͐o̵̡͋u̷͕̇r̷̩͝ ̴͚͌f̵̰̚ǎ̸̖c̴͚͘e̴͔̿.̴̜̈́”̵̼̂ Its smile grew a bit wider. “̵̱̑H̶̬͆ḛ̴̔-̵̤͠ḥ̴͑ě̶͚r̶͓̉e̸͓̾’̴͓̀s̸̀͜ ̶̼́o̷̝͂ů̸̖r̶͈͌ ̴͇̿c̵̝͂o̸̫͐-̴̳̚c̷̯̑ȏ̵̢m̶̱͛e̷̳͑b̷̨́a̸̡͆c̶̣͗k̵̘̇ ̸̟̇t̴̘̾o̷̬͐ ̷̤̅t̵̮̏ĥ̷ͅå̵͉t̸͊ͅ.̸̝̎.̷͚́.̵͉̇”̴̙͐ Covered by its hands, its eyes started to glow a bit brighter.

However, John noticed what was about to happen and he hopped from the tree he was currently on. “Claire, watch out!” The Vulpix looked confused at the Joltik before looking back at MissingNo. 

From its eyes, came small laser beams, all being shot randomly before fusing together and aiming at Claire. The fire fox didn’t notice in time, and unfortunately took a massive hit of glitch energy. She screamed as the beam made fly towards a tree before dissipating. Claire slumped on the ground, however, still not unconscious. However, there was a mysterious purple aura surrounding her as she gritted her teeth, trying her hardest to get up. After all, she had to protect John, protect John, protect John-

“̴͍͘Y̶̪͠ö̸̯́ư̷̠ ̴̮̊s̸̙͛t̶͚̏-̸̢́s̶̰͝ť̵̩i̸͗ͅl̸̳̀ḻ̵̂ ̸̙́p̸̡͘e̷̼͛ȓ̸̻s̸̯͛i̶̲͑s̶̳̊t̴̻̃,̷̰͗ ̴̨̛a̵̩͑f̷̢́t̵͖̄ȅ̸̞r̶̞̀ ̵̗͒a̸͉̕ń̶͕ ̵͎͆a̵̖͛t̸̆͜t̵̞͘ả̶̻ċ̶̳k̸̹̄ ̸̢̃l̵̳̚i̶͕͘k̴̫̔e̸͕̕ ̸̺̇t̶̗̿ḩ̵͠-̶̱̾t̸̰͝h̶͎͗à̷̜t̴̗́?̴̞̏ ̸̳̈I̵̭̿n̵̲͘-̶̗̎i̸͑ͅn̴̲͘-̴̺́ī̸̲ņ̶̃ç̶̂r̵̜͆e̸̼͊d̷̤̈́ḯ̵̲b̶̝́l̴͙͆e̸̢̽!̷̜̀”̷̨͝ MissingNo. looked around and saw how battered up and beaten everyone looked. “̶̣͛L̴͕̉ȅ̵̦t̷̖̎’̸̬̉s̴̖̿ ̵̭̚ě̴̮n̴̲̚d̶̯͛ ̷͉̉i̷̦͝t̴̫̀ ̸̲̋ḧ̴̨e̸͍͗-̶͉̾h̵̰́e̷͔̕r̸͘ͅe̶̒͜-̸̮̈́ŕ̴̹e̴̩̓.̷̱̀ ̶̖͊Ḁ̶̈́f̶̫́-̷̼͗a̸͈͘f̷̤̔t̶̹͆e̶̹͂r̴̼̔ ̷̘̆a̶̲̕l̸̝̈́l̶̤̈,̵̫̇ ̵̤́w̶̞̌e̸̮̾-̵̡̇w̴̡̔ë̵͖́’̷̜̑r̷̨̐ë̴̝ ̶̡͐ṉ̴̇ō̵̗t̵̞̏ ̸̢̀t̵̳͗r̸͕̈-̷̜̓ẗ̷̻́r̶͇͝y̴̮̓i̷͕̒ṉ̶̂g̶͕̾ ̵̯͝t̴̹̐o̵̗̅ ̸̺̽k̸̤̅i̶̛͖l̷̲̄l̴̲̍ ̸̼̾e̸͙͝a̵̹̕-̷̞̔e̷̦̊a̴̩̓c̴̟͝h̴̘͝ ̵͇͠o̷̭͠t̴̤̒h̷̨͛e̶̛̲r̸̰̔.̴̈́ͅ ̴̖̑W̸̭͘ě̶̬ ̵̪̆j̴̩̋u̵͕̇-̸͕̈́j̴̆ͅṵ̴͘s̸̥͌t̴̝͊ ̴̗̈w̴̱̄a̴̗͋n̸͇͐ṱ̸̿ȅ̵̺d̴̠͛ ̷̎͜ṱ̶̂ö̵̢́ ̸̙̆t̸̘͆ḛ̸̎-̷̛̪t̶̬̅e̸̬̿ș̶͗t̶͊ͅ ̶͖͆t̸̹̂h̸̨̆e̷̪̿ ̸̘̀s̸͉̉t̷͚͘r̸̤͠ĕ̵̹n̵͓͝g̴͇̈t̴̺̄h̶͇̍ ̷͇͒o̶͕̊f̸̣̌ ̵̤̃P̸̘̓-̷̹̉P̶̻̈́o̷͕̍k̵̩̐é̵̺̕m̶̲̀ȯ̶̠n̷̦͋-̵͉̉m̵̡̃ơ̸̻ň̵͍ ̷̛̻b̵̤̉ř̸̪a̸̙͛v̵͚͠ę̴̀ ̷̯͛e̵̜͋ṋ̴͊ǫ̵̌ũ̴̘g̵͍͗h̸̡͌ ̴̟́t̴̰͊o̸̠̽ ̷̠̈ć̸̹o̴͕͑m̵̪͆ȇ̵͕ ̴͎̊t̸̬̉o̷̗͝ ̸̐ͅt̵̠̊h̷̝̒e̴̦͠ ̵̱͘H̷̙́ö̷̰́-̴̦̀H̷̢̐o̴̱͝l̸̘̈́l̵̩̚o̴̞͒w̵̼͘ ̵̙̈F̸̞͛o̸͓͛r̷̭̅ḙ̶̛s̶͍̈ť̴̤.̶͓͝”̵̤̆

The purple aura started dissipating from the panting Vulpix as she got up… before immediately falling to the ground and fainting from exhaustion.

“̷͎͘.̴̛̣.̶̱̍.̵̫͛ ̷̱͝I̵̠̿t̵͙̓-̸̧͊i̵͔̇t̴̛͚ ̶̺͠s̸͚̔e̸̗͛e̶̤͗m̷̗͛s̶̨̃ ̶̼̆w̵̼͌e̵͖̾’̴̩̒v̸̲̍ḛ̶͐ ̸̮̅g̸͉̊o̴̤̊-̸̪̇g̸̬͘o̴͕͐n̷̛̬ë̵̱́ ̸̮͊a̴͉͑ ̶͖́b̵̢͂ì̶̢ṫ̴̻ ̶̥͠t̷͈̔ǫ̸̏ö̴̹ ̴̛̗f̴͕͑á̸̙r̴̻̒.̸͉̚”̷̯̆

John looked at MissingNo. with an unamused face as his eyes twitched a little bit. “Oh really…?”

After a certain amount of time, Taro and Claire woke up after John, Popo, Nana, and Amy healed themselves. The Vulpix looked around after opening her eyes with a groan. “Where… am I?” She looked at Team Net before locking eyes with MissingNo.’s vessel form, flinching and jumping away. “Wh-what!?”

Taro’s eyes fluttered open, looking around before catching sight of the glitchy entity. “Ah!” He screamed before hiding behind Popo and Nana.

The Tandemaus looked behind and showed their sharp teeth. “If you touch us, we shall pry your eyes open until we remove all of your tears and offer as a drink to the Great One.”

Taro took several steps back and saluted. “Y-yes, sir and ma’am!”

“W-what is it…” Claire stuttered a little scared.

John got in front of her and reassured her. “Don’t worry, the fight’s over. It deemed us worthy or… whatever.”

MissingNo. chuckled a little. “̴͚̏W̶̮͝-̶̝͌w̸̼̚ẽ̴̦ ̶̥̏g̵͖̍u̵͎̅e̵͜͝ś̸̟s̴̺̄ ̴̠͊y̸̙̾ơ̶̰-̶̫̂y̴̨͊ọ̷́u̷̞͠ ̷̹̽c̶̝͝ǒ̷̜ű̴̥ḷ̷͗ḓ̶͘ ̵̺͒s̷͓̃a̶̟̽ý̴̧ ̸̺̈́t̸͔̉h̸̙̉a̷͉̽t̴̺̓…̴͍͛”̴͓̈́ Its disembodied hands gathered around it, glitching and twitching as it gathered around it. “̸͖̀N̵͖̑-̸̭̒n̴͎͊o̷̩̅ŵ̸͓…̵̖́ ̴̖́á̴̼ḇ̷͝o̸͉̓u̷͍̔t̷̜́ ̷̱̋t̶̮̅h̸̞̄ā̸̡t̵̡̊ ̶̖̋r̸̤̂e̸̙͂-̴̮͗ŕ̷̡ḛ̴̒q̵̹̆ǘ̷̟e̵̦̋s̶͙͌t̷̤̽ ̶͙̉W̶̰̆ë̸͍ ̵̽ͅḿ̸̧ḛ̴̎n̶̤͒t̸̟̏ï̸̺o̸̘̾n̶͠ͅe̵̥̎d̴̗͠ ̸͎̊e̶̱͊a̵͎͊-̶̬͐ȇ̵͙a̴̗̓r̸͇̋l̶̪̎i̵̟͝e̷̪͂r̷̬̈́-̸̟͘e̴̮̽r̸͔̿…̴͎͝ ̵̳̑t̵̨̍h̶͔̿e̷͖̿r̵͈̊e̸͍͒ ̵͍̎i̵͚͒ş̶́-̷̫̐i̷̻̓s̶̹̑ ̸͍̄o̴͎͠n̵̗̄ḛ̸͛ ̵̙͆t̶̗̎h̴͚̍i̶͉͑-̵̯̋t̵̞̽h̸̨͗i̶͍̔ṅ̴̻g̵͍̀ ̸̜̑ẗ̸͈h̴̡͂a̷̱̾t̴̡̒ ̷̖̍W̸͍̓e̷̳͐ ̸̧̃f̸̼̃ó̶̫r̶̢͐g̷̘̈-̴͕̋f̶͕͂o̷̳̕r̸͈̉g̸͔̎ő̷̖t̸̤̏ ̵͎̋t̸̞̾o̴̘̔ ̸͖̽m̵͚̈́e̶̘̋n̶̰͘t̵͈̐ī̸̯ỏ̵̥n̸̰͠.̶̺͠ ̵̭̍T̵̠̉h̶̤̋-̸̣̄t̴͕̾h̸͔̒e̵̦͝ ̷̞͗r̶̙̔ẽ̵̙ä̶͉s̷̘̾ǫ̷͐n̶̝̽ ̴͎̀w̴̙̍h̶̛̙y̶͇͊ ̸̛̬W̶̬͊-̶̲̓w̶͉͝e̴̠͂ ̶̦͌h̷͎͠a̴̺͆v̷̛̭e̸͎̔n̸͇̏’̷͎́t̴̠̒ ̸̢͂è̸̼s̴͖̽c̶̙͊a̵͍̽p̷̊ͅe̷̯͠d̷̺̚ ̶̥̀u̵̙̎n̶͖͊t̴̖͋ī̷̩l̸̜̅ ̵̿ͅn̷͖̈ó̷̖-̸̬̈́n̶̝͝ò̸̯w̶̪̉…̷͈̇ ̸̰̚i̸̪̓ẗ̸̥’̵̡͛s̴̳̀ ̷̣̓b̶̞̊e̶͔͠c̴͚̈́ȃ̵̝u̴̞͊s̷̯̄ë̸̺ ̷͇̋ẁ̴̬ė̴̯ ̴̞͝n̸̰͌e̵̖͊è̸ͅd̷̘̒ ̴̥̔å̷̦ ̷̛̥v̶̪̈e̷͍͒s̸̻͌ś̶̹e̸̠͛l̶̯̆ ̶̻̒f̷̊͜r̴͓͝ò̵͎m̶̼͒ ̴̢̆t̷̟͝h̵̫̕e̶̺͌ ̵̑ͅo̴̰̿p̵̗̈́p̶̥̐o̴̻̚s̸̘͝i̸̢͋ţ̷͆e̷͔͊ ̵̫̋w̵͓̒õ̴̖r̸̨͐ḷ̸͛d̷̻͝ ̷̟̍s̷̹̾i̸̗͑ṅ̴͇c̸̥̄ẽ̵͈ ̴̼̓ŏ̴̡u̴̲͆r̵͉̉ ̴̧̆b̷̧̎ò̵͕d̶͕͌y̶̝̆ ̶̫͊w̶̝̏o̴̱͌u̴̮͋l̶̥̋d̷̹̄ ̷̦͠b̷̮͐e̵̩̐c̴̗̀o̷̦͘m̸̜͆e̴̮͑ ̷̭͐u̸̓ͅṉ̷́s̵͕̉t̷̪̓a̷͚͂b̵̹̈l̸͖̈́e̶̘̊ ̸̺͝i̶̤͊f̷̗̀ ̸̡͂w̴̪͒è̶ͅ ̶̭̇s̶̰̾t̴̗̂e̵̫͠p̶̬̾p̴̓͜ȩ̵͛d̸̬̀ ̸̘̾f̴̳̎o̶̮͆ò̷͍t̴̳͠ ̷͖̿i̶̻̽n̷̺̏ ̸̺̿t̸͉͂ḥ̵̈ê̸̹ŕ̶͇e̶͍̅ ̸̢̕ǎ̴̗l̸̰̂ö̸̙́n̴̝͂e̵̗̐…̷̘̈́”̸̨̒

John tensed up from that and gulped a little. “Meaning… you want to use one of our bodies to get out of here… right?”

“̴͕͘T̶͎͆h̷̜́-̴̝̔t̷̹̓h̴̙̿a̷̝̎t̶͇̋ ̷͚̈́i̴̲͌s̴̗̑-̸͚̀i̴̘͒s̷͍̅ ̵̩̂c̵̹̽ó̷̞r̸̹̍r̵̖͋e̴͔͌ç̴̋t̵̖̿…̶͉͂ ̶̤̃b̷͙̉u̴̿ͅt̷̪̽ ̶̜̎d̸̮̐ö̷͍ṇ̴̒’̷͎̀t̴̮͠ ̴͜͝f̷̥͂ŗ̸͊e̴̮̐t̷͇͝.̶̢̕ ̴̜̃W̸͍̌é̸̞ ̴͓̋ṣ̷͐h̵͙͝á̵͇l̸͈̋ḷ̵̚ ̵̦̍n̸̲͊o̴̫͐t̷̫̍ ̸͚́ť̶̪ă̷̲k̶̠͒e̶̻͘ ̶̼̽c̶̠̕o̷͎͒n̶̜̄-̶̱̓c̶͍̅o̴̫̿n̶̟͋t̸͔̕r̸̗͊o̶̬̎ĺ̶͜ ̶͓̍o̷̥̚f̴̠̀-̷͜͝o̶̢͊f̵̝̉ ̸̻͘y̶͈̆o̵̟͐ű̸͖r̵̲̀ ̸̩̂b̶̟̓o̷͙̓d̷͚͘y̴̏͜.̶̭͌ ̴͉̇Ÿ̸͓́o̴̟͒-̸͋ͅy̴̏͜õ̵̼ȗ̶̹ ̵̬͆ẅ̷̮́o̶̗͝n̷̮̊’̷͎̚t̵̛̥ ̷̧̈f̷͇̿ẹ̵̀e̵̤͝l̷̨̉ ̶̮͠ṅ̵͈o̶͎͋t̷͚̐h̶͕̃ï̴̜n̸̞̒g̸̞̊ ̶͇͑ỏ̶̳n̷̳͝c̸̘̊e̵̯̕ ̴͖̚w̶̮̎e̶͍̽’̶̻̏r̸̤͝e̸̹̐ ̵̘͝i̷̔͜n̶͍̈́s̸̟̏i̷̗̐d̷͍̅e̶̦̍ ̶̪͊y̵̬͂ŏ̷̖ũ̶̝,̴̧̓ ̵̊ͅw̷̕ͅë̴̙́ ̷͙̈́k̸̯͆n̵̘̉ó̵̠w̵͙͑ ̷̰̇h̸̺͊-̴̗͂h̷̢͂o̷̼͊ẃ̸̦ ̷̰̃t̴͎̊ỏ̸͓-̵͎̅t̶̯́o̵̹̎ ̷͓̆ċ̶̹ȏ̴̞ň̷̗t̴͕̒ŕ̸͇ō̷̺l̶̢͌ ̶̩͌t̸̹̄h̸͔̾-̶̝͗t̴̹͛h̵̲̃è̵̜ ̷̬͑g̸̨͂l̸̢̈́í̸͖t̶͖̍c̶̣͂ḧ̵̲ ̶͍̋e̵͜͠n̶̝͋-̸̞̀e̵̳͒n̷̻̒e̸̢̊r̶͉͠g̶̘̈́y̷̬͌ ̶̤̾s̶̨͛o̴͙͒ ̵͙̀í̸͔t̷̪̓-̸̰̀ị̴͝t̷͇̓ ̵̲̃d̵̦́o̸̤͛é̸͇s̴̯̄n̸̩̏’̵̼͘t̸̨̑ ̷̙͋l̴͒ͅe̷̝̐-̸̏ͅl̵̻̓e̶̫̾a̸͓͑ḱ̵̗ ̵̞̂o̸͉̿ų̵͊t̵̽͜ ̸͙̈́ḟ̶̮r̵̠͝-̵͉́f̸̞͐r̸͎͆o̶̩͠m̴͊ͅ ̶̰̂ẙ̷̪ọ̴̇u̷̼͗r̸̤̿ ̷͇̿b̶̼͆ȏ̶̜-̷̖̽b̴̪̚o̴̳͝d̴̯̆į̵͗e̷̞͒s̷̡̅.̴̹̽ ̶̝̋H̸͍̒o̴̬̾w̴̞͐ê̷̪v̸͙̓ę̶̍r̷̜͗,̸̢̂ ̸̗̋w̷̜̉ȅ̸̼ ̵̨̐c̶̱̏a̶͔̅n̸̡̆ ̴̲͗m̷̬̑a̵̦̓k̴̟͝ḙ̸̆ ̵̹͝m̵̘͐-̷̙̓m̶̩̐ÿ̶̦́ ̴͐ͅb̷̖͌ȍ̵͜ḏ̷̈́y̵̻͑ ̴̫̕p̶̻̃ã̶̪r̶̗̍-̸̺̉p̶̖̓a̸̩̽r̷̗̉t̸̮̏s̶̒ͅ ̵̢̈́c̸̲͛o̵͕̔m̸͈͛e̴̗̋ ̵͎̑o̵̤̒u̶̡̒-̵̦͆o̵̧̊u̷͕͐t̶̰̎ ̶̪̈́ḯ̶̖f̵̠̐ ̶͈̀w̶̖͆e̴̛͔ ̸͚̈f̴̙̒e̷͚̔-̸̪͐f̶̹͠é̵̠ẻ̸͎l̸̐͜ ̸͙̈́ā̵̗ň̸͖ÿ̴̬ ̵̡͐d̶̻̒a̴̮̒n̸̙͊g̷͙̽e̸̗͂r̶̡̀.̶͐͜ ̵̦̀Ṱ̴͌h̸̽͜-̴̧̅ṱ̵̈́h̴̞̽i̸̗͛n̸̙̔k̴̟̆ ̶͎͒o̶̻̾f̵̺͂ ̶͍͆i̷̱̿ť̶̼ ̵̮̒ã̵͈s̷͙̃-̷̝̀a̴͔̾s̵̝͑ ̶̧͝a̷͙̿ ̶̡̓s̴̢̍ḯ̵̮-̵̼́s̶̼͝y̵̗͗m̸̢̒ḅ̴̂ỉ̶ͅȏ̸̤t̴͈́ǐ̶̙c̴̿͜ ̴̡̍ŕ̴̼ę̴̽l̴̗̃a̵̻͊-̴̺͋r̵͕̔ë̴̲́l̴̈́͜á̵̢t̴̤͘i̸̼͋o̴̻̓ǹ̶̟-̶̣́o̸̦̕n̴͝ͅş̴̈́h̸̟͆í̸̪p̶̡̚.̵͕̈́”̷̼͝

Claire looked aside nervously. “So…” She looked back at the glitch entity. “How long do you stay inside our bodies until yours stabilizes?”

It tapped its chin with a claw. “̵̦͌Ä̶̼-̶̤̌á̵̖ŗ̶́ò̵̤u̴̺̍n̶̘͌d̸̡͌…̷̻̅ ̷̦̔t̷̫͗w̸̘͘-̴̼͌t̶̻́w̴͈͛ỏ̵̙ ̶͍̐w̸͖͛e̴̹͆ě̶͍k̷͚̒s̴̞̀.̷̗̒ ̷̲̊W̸̼̔ȇ̷͕ ̴̠͂s̸͉͒ḧ̶̥́a̸̙̿l̴̤͋l̷̺̾ ̸̊ͅb̴̅ͅe̷̡̿ ̷͈̓s̷̠̊l̷͔̃ḙ̵̂-̶͇͠s̶̘͠l̴͙̔ë̵̥́ȩ̴͗p̶̰̔i̸̖̾n̷̫̅ǵ̷̳ ̸͉̈́a̶̛̬t̶̤͊ ̶̫͌t̴̜̿h̶̞͝â̸̝t̵̼̆ ̸̻̎ṯ̴͆i̸͇̎-̶͇̌t̵̥̀i̶͓̒m̸̘̉e̴͔͒,̶̫̀ ̵̺͗s̷͍͌o̵̤͝ ̴̳̓y̸̞̏o̶͈͊u̶̪͠ ̸̿ͅw̵̬̚o̷͈̎n̵̯͒’̴̰̂t̷̰͋ ̵̟̇n̸͇͑é̵̬ē̴̮d̵͔͊ ̶̨̔t̸̗̀o̵̟͠ ̴͔̀ẃ̷͈o̵̗̊-̴͆͜w̷̮͒ö̴͎́r̸̰̊r̴̯̉ÿ̷̫ ̷̧͝a̶̼͊b̸̜͋o̸̼̓u̶̒ͅt̴͚͂ ̴̪̽h̷͙̽e̸̜̓-̶̧̒h̴̼̉e̴̮͋a̶͚̾ŗ̴͂i̴̺͋n̵̟̓g̷̢͂ ̴̫̄v̸̖̀o̵̺̚ị̷̆c̴̭̋ē̸͎s̴̰̽ ̷̺̄i̵̥̇ṇ̶̃-̵̭͘i̷̯͆n̶̳͘ ̸͓͛ȳ̷͍ŏ̴̫-̶̨̃ÿ̶̦́ŏ̶̥u̴̪̕r̸̼͘ ̵̯̆m̵̬͊ï̷̼n̷̩͗d̵̛͈s̷̟͐,̷͎̿ ̶̯̄h̴̢͆e̵͔̊-̸͈͌h̶̘̆ȩ̵̓-̸̹͊ḩ̶̆ĕ̶̤ḥ̷͋ë̸̬h̴̖͗e̸͙̔.̷̼̆”̷̻̿

“... circle!” Claire called out and Team Net formed another circle between them and started whispering to each other. “Alright… who will be its escort? I don’t want to be the carrier of a potential virus.”

Popo and Nana spoke next. “We shall not let it inside our enlightened vessels that the Great One bestowed upon us.”

“Yeah, no way I’m letting it enter my body.” Taro said next. “I’ve seen some things on the internet and video games that I don’t want to describe… so a hard pass.”

“Yeah… just no, it’s kinda disgusting.” Amy simply said with a sigh.

Now everyone was looking at John. “... No… no! Why are you all looking at me like that!?” 

Claire rubbed the back of her head. “John… maybe you could carry it. Since you’re human and all…”

The Tandemaus tilted their heads in confusion. “Wait.” “You are a human?”

John flinched and shot a silent angry expression at Claire before sighing. “Yes, I am one…”

“It explains a few things now.” The twin mice said in unison.

The Joltik then threw his nubs in the air. “But that still doesn’t justify me being the one!”

Taro sighed. “Look dude, I know this is weird as heck, but can’t you like… do it for us…?” He sheepishly grinned. “Pretty please?”

John looked around for any expressions of objections on the team, but unfortunately, he found none. He sighed and muttered. “Pussies...” He then looked back at MissingNo., who was patiently waiting for the response. “Alright uh… I’ll be the one to uh… carry you or… something.”

MissingNo.’s smile grew wider with excitement. “̴̢̇T̴̢͐ḧ̵͚́-̶̰́t̵̥̏h̸̖͗-̸̜̀ţ̷̚h̵̅͜a̴̖͘n̶̥̈́k̷̲͊ ̸̣̈y̶̫̍ó̷͕u̶̝͌!̶͇͂”̷̘̏

“Y-yeah uh… no problem…”

Without warning, the greenish spider was grabbed by one of the disembodied claws and put face to face with the glitch entity. “̷͚̋N̸̳̓-̸̹̇ņ̷̋-̶̡̚n̷̨̑ò̶̻w̸̭̎-̷͕̄o̸̻̿w̶̻͒,̴̮̄ ̶̲̐c̸̨͗l̵̨̓o̴͙͝s̸̢͆è̶͓ ̴̮͛y̴͖͠ŏ̵̜u̴̖͛r̸͖̚ ̷͍̈́ȇ̴͍y̵̺̓ē̷̲s̸͇̓…̸̠̊”̴̙̈ John did as MissingNo. instructed and closed his eyes. Suddenly, he felt like his back was torn open with something fuzzy leaking from it. After that, he felt something cover up the strange hole before being closed up completely. John then suddenly fell to the ground with a grunt.

The Joltik rubbed the side of his head. “Ngh… the hell just happened?” He slowly opened his eyes before he began to feel lightheaded, his vision looking a bit like static was in his eyes before returning to normal. John looked around for a moment before looking at his back, seeing giant glitchy monochrome claws entering his body. “Holy shit!” He blurted out as the claws disappeared completely off his view. He sat on the ground and started running his forenubs on his body, looking for any differences and irregularities. “Did… did it work?”

The other members of Team Net ran to him and analyzed his body as well, Claire sniffing him for confirmation. “John, are you alright?” She asked.

The Joltik looked at her for a moment before slowly nodding. “Yes… maybe?” 

Taro put a paw on his body before asking. “You don’t feel like… cold or different like there’s something wiggling inside of you?”

“Dude, this ain’t Resident Evil!” John shouted a bit annoyed before sighing. “No, I feel completely normal.”

Amy tilted her head. “So… was MissingNo. actually telling the truth?”

John looked aside for a moment. “I… guess it was?”

“Do you hear any voices?” “Is it speaking to friend right now?” Popo and Nana asked, tilting their heads.

“Nope…” John sighed before getting back to his feet. “In any case, if I’m not feeling anything, let's just… trust its word for now. As long as there’s no glitchy shit or something, I’m gonna trust that it’s fine.”

Claire sighed. “If you say so… but immediately tell us if something does happen, alright?”

The Joltik nodded before jumping on Claire’s head. “Let’s just get out of here… I’m so fucking done with this place.”

The others nodded and started to walk to where they were going before, the light at the end of the path. 

They did it. After a few hours, Team Net was finally out of the Hollow Forest and was now standing at the edge of the Distortion World… or what used to be the edge. They breathed a sigh of relief, except for the Tandemaus. “We made it…” Claire muttered.

The twin mice took some steps forward and looked around. “You were right, friend.” They looked back at John. “The Distortion Realm has indeed expanded.”

John rubbed the top of his head. “Told ya so…”

Popo and Nana looked at each other before joining their mitten hands together, both hands glowing with a dark aura before stopping. They turned towards Team Net. “This place is now marked.” “If we go here again, we do not need to go through the Hollow Forest again.”

Taro sighed in relief. “That’s a good thing to know…”

“Now then…” “We can finally go to where we originally came here for…” The Tandemaus then made another X-shaped tear in space, the other side barely being visible. Popo and Nana turned to the quartet. “Are you ready?”

Team Net looked at themselves and silently nodded in determination, going to see this through no matter what. With that, the Tandemaus went through the portal, followed by the rest of Team Net.

Chapter Text

In a random alleyway of a city, a tear in space suddenly formed out of nowhere, releasing purple sparks as the tear grew in size. After the tear grew to a size where a large dog could pass through, some creatures came out from it. First, came two near identical mice that looked like dolls; followed by an orange fox with six tails with a yellow tick-like creature in her head; a round, spiky and gray rodent; and a white hedgehog with grassy needles on her back.

The six Pokémon looked around as the portal disappeared behind them, it was cloudy as well. “Is… is this it?” The Shaymin asked while looking at a trash can and the vandalized walls with some symbols she didn’t recognize. 

“Um…” John hesitated as he analyzed his surroundings. It looked like a normal alleyway, and those graffiti symbols… he wasn’t sure about those. “I… don’t know. I think we need to find a street before I can come to con-” 

Suddenly, Popo and Nana cocked their heads towards the trash can in front of them and made their claws of darkness appear, pointing them to the trash can. “We can feel non-sentient souls in there.” “Is it a dungeon Pokémon?”

The other Pokémon, besides John, got on their guards before the Joltik shouted as he realized something. “W-wait a second!” Team Net looked at John with confusion. He pointed at the trash can which was now shaking a bit. “If it’s my world, then that means something really harmless would come out of that bin.”

Claire had a worried expression. “If you say so… can you test it?”

The Joltik nodded before releasing an Electro Whip from his mouth, whipping at the bin. And as he suspected, three gray-furred critters came out of the bin by lifting the lid a little to jump out of it. The Pokémon flinched at the speed that the rats left the scene but immediately calmed down. “Uh… the heck was that?” Taro was the first one to ask.

John nodded in confirmation before muttering to himself. “It is my world…” He then snapped back to them and responded. “Ah, uh… those were rats and they are creatures called uh… animals.”

“Animals?” Claire asked while tilting her head.

The human-turned-Joltik sighed. This was gonna be so damn weird to explain to creatures that look like actual animals… well some of them… Popo and Nana looked more like dolls rather than anything else. “Well uh… how do I explain it…” John rubbed the top of his head. “So basically… some of them act as uh… dungeon Pokémon, purely on instinct. Some are docile, some are not, however, the thing that differentiates you- uh… dungeon Pokémon from them is that they don’t have magic. No fire, no electricity, no telekinesis, nothing. They can only bite or scratch… depending on the animal.”

“So… what can those rats do?” Taro asked. It honestly felt a bit ironic for John to hear that coming from him.

“Well uh… they are… rodents that normally live in alleyways like this to just eat trash people leave since… humans kinda consider them a plague.” No need for sugarcoating anymore, they were about to learn the hard way if he didn’t outright explain it now.

The Tandemaus tilted their heads. “That feels a bit insulting.” “Why is it like that?”

It was really hard for the Joltik to say all of this, hesitation in explaining it all to actual sentient rodents felt that it would spark some sort of resentment between them and humans. “Um… it’s kinda a rough history… you see, there was an event hundreds of years ago where a massive plague called the bubonic plague was killing a lot of humans because the virus was kinda lethal at the time. And the main form of spreading was rats that were carrying the virus within them. Once a human was bitten by one, their fate was sealed. And it made it worse that it was spreading like crazy at the time.”

“Oh my goodness…” Amy let out, a bit shocked by the information. “Is uh… everything okay now? Is the plague gone?”

John shook his head. “No, but like... the virus is on the brink of extinction now of how far medical advancements are now. But still… that event in history left uh… quite a wound in humanity regarding rats.”

Taro looked aside, a bit worried. “I see…”

Claire put a paw on her chin and asked. “Wait, if rodent animals exist here… how many types of animals exist in this world?”

John simply responded. “A lot… I just know that. There are too many species and subspecies and there are more to be discovered.”

Claire’s eyes glistened in wonder. “That’s awesome! I can’t wait to see them all!”

John sighed, knowing that was an impossibility. “Anyways… let’s just explore around for a moment. There was a reason I wanted to come here as well.”

Team Net nodded and started walking, but Claire just felt compelled to ask as they walked around the hallway aimlessly. “So… what’s the reason you wanted to come here? Was it homesickness?”

John looked away a bit ashamed. “A bit of that as well… but the true reason I wanted to come here was to check the effects caused by the appearance of real Pokémon on the internet.”

“Oh yeah… you said that Pokémon were only fiction in your world, right?” Amy asked, a bit unsure of how there could be a world where Pokémon are only seen as myths.

John nodded. “Yeah, so it would cause quite the commotion if the entire world knows that Pokémon are real. Like… everything would change in a matter of minutes.”

“Interesting.” Popo mused. “It is just the expected reaction when a civilization meets something beyond their comprehension.” Nana added before both mice turned to John. “Does your civilization think of us as eldritch monstrosities?”

John looked away, a bit scared to answer that. But he had to stop sugarcoating, and this was the best time to answer before the eventual encounter with civilization. “Alright look… most people see Pokémon as cute and unique, sure… but what really scares people the most is the fact you have magic elements. I’ve seen a post on Twitter related to Pokémon once, calling them satanic or something of that type.” They tilted their head at the unknown word to them. John just sighed. “Something akin to a demon.” They must at least know that word, right?

Taro looked away. “Holy shit… people would freak out if they ever saw us walking on the streets then…”

“Yeah, but every person is different, so who knows… speaking of which.” John jumped out of Claire’s head and landed in front of them. “If we ever get spotted by a human we need to make a bit of acting to not make them suspicious of us.”

“But how should we know what to do to drive them away?” Taro asked, putting a paw on his chin.

“Simple, given your bodies, you can easily disguise yourselves as other things.” The Joltik pointed at Claire first. “You could easily pretend to be a dog.”

At that, Claire immediately raised a paw. “What’s a dog?”

John sighed, he forgot that he has to explain what some animals are. “Well um… a dog is another animal. More docile towards humans, and kinda territorial with other animals… I’ll show you a video of one when we’re back. However, what you should do when you’re spotted is this.” John sat on the ground, trying to imitate the sitting position of a dog. “Just sit normally while panting with your tongue out. Yes, it’s weird, but it should do the trick, understood?”

Claire saluted with a smile. “Yep, understood!”

“Alright.” John then pointed at Taro while still sitting. “Since you curl into a ball, you can look like a normal ball, simple as that.”

The Togedemaru nodded. “Alright, I should be able to do this easily.”

The greenish spider nodded before looking at Amy and pointing at her. “Amy, I think if you face away from a person, they might mistake you for a clump of grass sprouting from the concrete.”

“Um… oddly specific but alright, I feel like that’s easy to do.” Amy said while nodding her head.

John nodded. “Alright… next is- Eek!” 

Popo and Nana were in John's face, looking menacingly at him. “And what should we do if a human found us, friend?”

“U-um…” John regained his composure after thinking for a little bit. “You… you should just sit idly like you normally do without moving a muscle… then they would think that you’re a doll… a creepy or a cute one depending on the person.”

The Tandemaus backed away from the Joltik and nodded. “Yes.” “That is an acceptable form of deception.” “We shall not disappoint.”

John nodded before the Vulpix asked a question. “So… what would be your disguise John?”

John put a nub on his chin before looking aside. “I guess I didn’t really think much about it…” He then looked back at Claire before jumping on her head. “Since I’m that small, I can use you as a cover, and probably see me as some weird sort of headwear for you.”

“Alright then!” Claire said ecstatically, already getting a bit anxious about finally meeting humans in the flesh while not being separated by a screen.

“Claire… your tails are wagging…” Amy pointed it out to the Vulpix who had just realized it. “Are you sure you won’t like… scare them off for being a bit too excited?”

Ah, that’s right. Claire’s fangirling problem was something that John had forgotten about for a moment. That could really put a dent in his plan of disguise. Even with everyone that knew her obsession with humans was a bit too much, Claire argued back. “Don’t worry guys, I can control it.” She said with a sheepish smile.

John frowned at that statement. “Are you… ABSOLUTELY sure about that? You can’t break the disguise no matter what, you know that, right?”

“I know, I know. I promise that I’ll do my best to pretend to be a dog, alright?” She reassured before smiling. 

John couldn’t help but sigh. “Alright, I’m counting on you, on ALL of you, alright?” The rest of the Pokémon nodded before they continued moving forward again, walking aimlessly through the alleyways. It almost felt like a Mystery Dungeon due to the fact that it felt like a really tight labyrinth. But they already knew it wasn’t one due to the fact that there wasn’t any of the usual dungeon stuff in it; random items, dungeon Pokémon, or anything of the type.

Instead, there were only backdoors that led into buildings, cardboard boxes with some glass bottles in them, some pipes that leaked some water; trash cans littered around everywhere, smelling as bad as they looked, making the Pokémon (except Popo, Nana, and John) cover their snouts at the smell. “Smells like a Garbodor…!” Amy complained. “What do you guys eat for the leftovers to be this bad?” 

John sighed. “It’s not just leftover foods we put to waste. Much like you guys, we throw in the trash a lot of stuff as well. This is just the amalgamate of smells combined to be this bad.”

The Pokémon figured that was a solid explanation so they moved on from that. After a couple of seconds of walking around. They saw what looked to be a sidewalk next to a concrete road. Even though it wasn’t sunny and was almost sunset, there was a bit more brightness coming from the street, meaning they were at the exit of the alleyway. There could even be seen a car passing by the streets in the distance, going so fast that they only could catch a glimpse of it. “What was that!?” Claire asked, a bit surprised.

John felt another sense of familiarity wash over him once he realized what that was, making him smile a little. “That’s a car, this world’s version of one.”

“Wait, the cars here don’t float?” Taro asked, a bit confused. 

The Joltik explained. “Nope, since Pokémon don’t exist in this world, no magic to help here. We use the basic wheels to make our cars move properly… along with some other complex machinery that doesn’t require a living being.” He then looked at the end of the alleyway, the dripping sounds from pipes were getting rather annoying, so he wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. “Anyways, let’s just go, the sooner we find the necessary information, the better.”

They nodded before walking again… until they spotted a figure around their height entering the alleyway. The Pokémon stopped in their tracks upon spotting a gray-furred feline creature walking in their direction slowly. John immediately flinched once he realized what it was and what was about to happen once it saw him.

Claire asked the currently shaking Joltik. “Oh, what’s that John?”

John hesitated to speak. It’s not like he was scared of the cat eating him, he knew he could defend himself pretty easily from that. But what he was worrying about was the fact that the cat attacked and the others were forced to retaliate. If that were to happen… a spiral of events so bad would occur next that he dreaded to think about it further. “Um… that’s a cat. A brief explanation… they are really territorial when living in some place, hunt everything that’s way smaller than them and that moves, and uh… run from everything that is bigger than them and seem like a threat.” 

“They remind me a lot of Meowth in mystery dungeons…” Taro admitted as they eyed the feline “Can they only bite and scratch like other animals?”

“Yeah, but um… they might see you guys as an enemy and get defensive…” John sighed. “Alright, whatever you do, no moves, understood?”

“Aww.” “Just when we were about to do a wonderful sacrifice with it.” Popo and Nana said in disappointment.

John blurted out. “Not that too!”

It was then that the cat finally got in front of them, up close and personal with the Pokémon. The feline just stared at the Pokémon while they just stared back, waiting for some kind of reaction. The cat then took careful steps towards Claire, the Vulpix tensing up a little bit. It was noticeable that Claire was taller than the feline, not by much though. The cat leaned forwards to Claire a little, sniffing her for a second before backing away. It then looked to its side and spotted an empty cardboard box, going towards the box. The gray-furred feline then got in the box and lay there.

John sighed in relief, it seemed nothing had gone wrong this time. ‘Man, cats are still unpredictable as ever…’ 

“So uh… what was that?” Claire asked as she looked at John.

“Uh… I dunno, probably just sniffing for any food on you or something.” He was still relieved that the cat didn’t notice he was there. 

“You were right… they did act like some dungeon ‘mons.” Taro mused before turning to John. “Are there more docile animals than like… the aggressive sorts?”

“As I said before, there are too many animals, so I wouldn’t know. But keep in mind that the more docile animals are kept in cities like this, so the chance of an aggressive one appearing here is the lowest probability possible.”

Amy sighed. “Well, at least we don’t have to worry about any combat for the time being.”

“True.” John said before they started walking to the exit of the alleyway. And then… they were finally out. The Pokémon looked around in wonder as they scanned their surroundings. Tall rectangular buildings, all glued to one another, was what caught their attention first, with these rectangular doors and garage doors, and rectangular shaped windows on them, was truly a whiplash in architecture they weren’t expecting for houses… because it was almost the same for them in the big cities like in Xander Cage City. 

They focused next on the streets around them. It seemed they were in a residential area, with some of the non-floating cars parked around the place, with some strange poles around the sidewalk. 

Next… they saw actual humans.

There were four of them on the opposite sidewalk, seemingly a group of teenage girls casually talking about some indistinct topic, one of them in a wheelchair. Team Net stopped peeking and emerged from the alleyway. They wanted to say something, a lot of things actually, but they just couldn’t find the first topic they wanted to talk about first. It was until Claire spoke first. “Humans…” The rest of the group looked at her, who had a stunned expression on her face. “Humans in the flesh…” Her expression was slowly but surely morphing into a slightly anxious smile. “Actual humans in front of me…” Her tails were starting to wag a bit.

“Uh… Claire…” John said, trying to grab the Vulpix’s attention by waving a nub in front of her eyes. She then snapped out of her state. “Please don’t lose control right now, we talked about this, remember?”

“U-um… yeah, sorry…” She said with a whimper.

Taro put a hand on her back. “Don’t worry Claire, at least you’re controlling it!” He then looked back at the humans. “But man… seeing humans this clearly now, I didn’t know they could be so tall!”

John looked at the Togedemaru with an unamused expression. “No, we’re just smaller than them. Those are like… an average size for them.”

“So that is how the saviors of the Pokémon world used to look like on their original vessels…” Popo mused. “We cannot wait to test all of their strengths…” Nana continued. “All of their weaknesses…” “And all of their fears!”

Amy looked at the Tandemaus. “Please don’t, if humans already fear us, imagine you go do something like that.”

The Joltik nodded. “It might potentially start a war if Pokémon ever decide to come to this world…”

“Let’s not think about that!” The Vulpix said. “Let’s walk around, there might be some information around this neighborhood!”

The rest of the group nodded and turned to the side, with the intention of just walking until they found something. However, their plans were stopped when they spotted a human child with short and curly black hair, wearing overalls and a Nike sweatshirt, along with black and white shoes. The child also wore a bandage eyepatch on his left eye and was, of course, taller than them.

They stayed in silence as they stared at each other. However, Claire eventually whispered to John. “D-did… did he hear everything…?”

John whispered back, his body completely frozen as his heart rate spiked a little bit. “I… I don’t know…” He knew that he was way shorter than a human, but he didn’t know that he would feel like the protagonist from Attack on Titan (hopefully it doesn’t come to that). John subtly looked to the side to see Taro curled up looking like a ball, Amy turned around while shaking a bit nervously, and Popo and Nana just sat on the ground with their usual emotionless expression. ‘You’re kidding…’

The boy then spoke up. “I… I KNEW IT WAS REAL!” He shouted (thankfully only for themselves) as he picked up Claire and lifted her up in the air, along with John on her head. Looking at the child a bit further, it looked like it was between six to eight years old.

The Vulpix had a mix of surprise and confusion in her expression. Why was this human lifting her up in the air with glee? After the surprised reaction, Claire realized something… she was being carried by a human. Not just a fake one made by her fantasies, but an actual one in its original form. Her tails started wagging slowly as her muzzle slowly morphed into a smile. “A… a…”

John whispered as he realized what was about to happen. “Claire! Don’t!” The rest of the group started to look at what was happening. The Shaymin and the Togedemaru had a fearful look on the scene while the Tandemaus just looked at the scene with no expression as usual.

However, she couldn’t resist it. She immediately squealed in sheer excitement as her tails started wagging faster. “A HUMAN!!!”

John flinched at the pitch of that. It was like an actual mouse screaming for the whole neighborhood to hear. Thankfully, it was just an exaggeration, it wasn’t actually that loud besides the squeal. However, that didn’t matter. What mattered was that the disguise was completely, utterly, destroyed! John wasn’t even mad, he knew that they would get found out at some point… but this quickly? John muttered to himself in disappointment. “Claire…”

The kid tilted his head in confusion. “Ya can speak?” The kid’s eyes started glistening as he slowly gasped. “No way! A talking Pokémon!”

The rest of Team Net watched the scene and John, Taro, and Amy let out in confusion. “Huh-?”

“You’re one of the humans that know what Pokémon is, right?” Claire asked, her tails wagging even faster.

“Of course, I know! I love watching the cartoon and playing Pokémon GO! You’re… Vulpix, right?” The child asked while tilting his head.

Claire responded happily. “Yep! My name is Claire and I’m a Vulpix!”

The kid smiled in excitement. “That’s awesome! My name is Mike, nice to meet ya!”

“Amazing to meet YOU!” Claire responded with a bit more excitement than needed. 

Amy looked at Taro and whispered to him. “I don’t like where this is going…”

“Don’t worry, it’s just a child.” Taro whispered back while glancing at the human before looking back at Amy, pretending to be curled. “I’ve seen human children while on the internet with John before, basically the same as children in our world. Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.”

The twin mice spoke next, without moving a muscle. “In case you have forgotten.” “Whenever there are children…” “The mother or father is always nearby.”

The Tandemaus subtly motioned for the figure approaching them. Making Taro and Amy flinch slightly before going back into their disguised position. “Shit!” Taro cursed under his breath.

Meanwhile, Mike and Claire continued to talk after the human put the fire fox on the ground. “Hey, where’s your trainer?”

“Trainer? What do you mean by that?” Claire asked, a bit confused.

Meanwhile the Joltik facepalmed. ‘Dammit, I forgot about the trainer thing in the games and shows!’

Suddenly, a female voice came from behind the boy. “There you are!” The Pokémon looked behind the boy to find a woman with long curly hair, wearing a jean jacket, an orange shirt, and a black skirt. She approached the boy and crossed her arms. “Don’t go leaving like that without warning me! I know we’re close to home but still…”

John was starting to shake a little. ‘No! Not a parent!’

“Sorry ma…” He said while looking down a bit ashamed, before perking up. “But ma, look!” He then pointed at Claire who was still excitedly wagging her tail. “It’s a Pokémon! An actual Pokémon!”

The woman then looked at Claire (although not noticing John on her head), staring at the Vulpix before eventually saying. “... the hell…?”

John mentally panicked, almost failing to control his shaking and trying to stop the thoughts of everything going to shit in a matter of seconds. ‘Claire, for the love of fuck, keep this pose and don’t say a fucking word!’ 

“Uh… what kinda fox is this? And why is it here?” The mother asked. Meanwhile, John sighed in relief since the Vulpix managed to hold it.

“Mom, I’m telling you! It’s a real Pokémon! It can even speak!” Mike protested.

Unfortunately for Team Net, Claire couldn’t resist and spoke. “Yes, I can speak, see!?” That caught the woman by surprise and she flinched. “Hi! My name is Claire and I’m a Vulpix! Nice to meet you!”

John, completely fed up with the entire situation, couldn’t help but just shout really loudly. “Fuck!”

A wave of emotions flew over the woman’s face before turning into a terrified expression as she realized the reality of the situation. She shouted as she grabbed the arm of her son as she started pulling him away. “Mike! Get the hell away from those things!” 

The boy tried to protest as he was being dragged away. “B-but ma…!”

John decided there was no need to hide it anymore, so he shouted back as they were getting further away. “Yeah! Get the hell away from us, just don’t call the cops!” He then muttered aside.”Dammit… the stealth plan is already ruined.”

After the humans got a bit far away, Claire stopped wagging her tails as her smile dropped, realizing what she had just done. “Oh, my Arceus… I ruined everything, didn’t I?” She looked down with a whimper. “I’m so bad at controlling my obsession…”

John sighed while the rest of the group stopped pretending. “Look, Claire, don’t blame yourself for this. One way or another, we would’ve been discovered.” He then looked at the other Pokémon. “Let’s just get out of here.” 

The Pokémon nodded before starting to walk away, Claire still sulking a bit. It wasn’t even one step that they took that they heard a noise from the other side of the street. “Shit!” 

The group turned to the side to find a man with a blue cap, a rather thick coat, and some jeans. It seemed that he was crouched down to grab a certain object... “Is that a cell phone…?” Claire asked.

“Shit! He was about to record us!” John blurted out as he realized. “Let’s get the hell outta here, guys!” With that, they quickly get out of there before the guy could record them for long. 

“Dammit…” The man said before seeing them go. But he could use the small glimpse of footage he got to post it online. Suddenly, he felt something crawl on his legs, making him look down. He saw a white doll-like mouse that was hanging on his leg. “What the…?”

It then looked at him and suddenly spoke. “No evidence.” It suddenly jumped out of the human's leg and showed its claws coming out of its mitten-like hand, slashing the phone while ruining the entire screen before disappearing with a puff of smoke. 

The man became stunned after what had happened and fell on his butt, completely speechless on what just happened.

Meanwhile, the team stopped running on the corner of the street, hiding under a parked car. It seemed they stopped near a cafe called Caffe Moda, which was on the corner of another block. After panting for a bit, Taro asked. “Did we manage to get away from him?”

“Yes we did.” Popo responded. “We do not have to worry about any evidence about us.” Nana reassured before the mice looked at themselves and nodded in unison. “No witnesses allowed.”

John sighed in relief before he looked around. “At least this street isn't that crowded.” The Joltik then noticed the name of the street on a pole with a sign. “Natoma St. huh…?”

“Do you know this place, John?” Claire asked, receiving a shake of the head from the spider.

“We still need to find some clues…” Amy said before looking around for a bit before spotting the cafe across the street. “Maybe that place has some. It is one of those places where people go to eat snacks, right?” 

John nodded. “Yes. I’d uh… be against going there, but we clearly have no other options honestly… maybe we can overhear some conversations there…”

Taro asked. “But won’t going on a big group like this gather attention? I know we’re small, but still…”

“I can go.” Amy offered and the others turned to her. “I uh…” She looked away in embarrassment. “I kinda have a hobby of overhearing people’s conversations…”

Ah, a gossip girl, that was the thing John needed for this specific scenario. “No objections here!” John said immediately. “Please, gather as much information as you can without getting spotted, alright?”

Taro looked at her in concern. “Are you gonna be alright though?” 

Amy nodded. “I’ll be alright. I’m the smallest of the group besides John. He knows how to maneuver you guys around here, I can handle myself in a cafe.” 

“If you say so…” Claire said a bit nervous but immediately perked up with a smile. “We’re counting on you, alright?”

The Shaymin nodded before turning away from them and leaving from below the car. She crossed the street and stuck close to the black-painted wall of the cafe. “Alright Amy… you can do this…” She now regretted not having an Invisify Orb with her, this would be the perfect opportunity to use one right now. 

Complaining came later, she had a job to do. It was going to be hard, seeing that the cafe was on the corner of a block that had a crossing, so people could spot her easily. What was worse than that, is that the other street was more crowded than Natomi Street, with more cars passing by on the multi section street. But fortunately, the front door of the building was open, so she could slip into it completely unnoticed. 

Amy ran to the extreme right of the building and hid behind some humans who didn’t notice her. After looking at her surroundings, she stuck close to the wall of the building again, eyeing the entrance to see if anyone would leave the place. The Shaymin’s caution was proven right, as a human with a black suit and suitcase left the building after some seconds.

‘Now!’ She took the opportunity and slipped right past the doors, her paw pads making almost no noise whatsoever as she went to the very corner of the cafe. Inside, she looked around and saw a lot of things that made her let out a quiet “Wow…”. Lights were hanging up from the ceiling, freezers were cooling some unknown beverages, some delicious-looking pastries were on the counter at the back of the building, and some humans were eating on the clean-looking tables as well. 

She shook her head, she couldn’t be there for long, she needed to find some interesting gossip. She crawled quietly towards one of the tables, going under it. Fortunately, it was one of the tables where she could hear some humans talking. Even though she could only see some legs, she could hear two female voices.

“-Like I was saying, don’t let that guy take control of everything you do. You gotta assert some dominance!”

“I try to… but everything I do is like… I dunno, I just mess up somehow, and I feel so dependent on him…”

“I keep telling ya T, if you let him in control for too long, he literally might start controlling yourself at some point-”

Interesting conversation, but not what Amy was looking for. ‘Onto the next one.’ She left the table and hid behind a small stand of candy that was next to the counter. This time, she could hear one female voice and one male voice.

“Hey, since it’s almost time for closin’, do you wanna come to my house today? I got a new game that you might like, just sayin’.”

“Nah, my mom needs help again. My dad had another one of those temporary shutdowns and he was taken to the hospital.”

“Man… have the doctors figured out what those shutdowns are about yet? I don’t remember those bein’ normal.”

“Not yet, the doctors don’t even know what that is in the first place. We tried to get something out of dad, but he said nothing about it for all I know-”

Also an interesting topic, but not what she was looking for. She scanned for any more humans that looked like they were having any interesting conversations, but it didn’t seem like they were. The Shaymin sighed and went under another table, scanning her surroundings to see if she could leave the place safely.

However, another voice called her attention and she turned to look at a TV attached to a wall. It seems it was displaying a news channel called ABC and had a male spokesperson behind a desk. “Good Evening, we have some breaking news to go over today.” A headline appeared that said. “ A bizarre new Twitter owner.”   before the spokesperson continued. “The social media known as Twitter has a new owner, who goes by the name of Alice Mishima.”

Amy’s needles went up while she whispered. “What?!”

“Alice is the owner of an underdog technology corporation called Asuri, which claims to be composed entirely of the famous creatures called Pokémon.” The screen changed to screenshots of Alice’s Twitter account posts. “Some of her posts show photos of creatures of various shapes and forms in an office. Twitter users claim those pictures to be heavily edited, however, when specialists went to analyze the pictures, they found no traces of photo editing software used in the pictures.” 

‘Alright, I have enough info, I have to tell the others!’ Amy thought before getting out of the table and leaving the cafe. Thankfully, everyone in there seemed to be focused on the TV rather than a white blur. 

Even though she couldn’t hear it anymore, the spokesperson continued as the camera changed to him. “The previous owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, has yet to make a statement about this situation. However, his whereabouts are unknown, his last sighting was him leaving Twitter Headquarters yesterday. Our team has tried to contact Alice Mishima for answers, but still no response from her or any of her employees. Meanwhile, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are looking into the matter of who this mysterious company is and why they stole their brand. Alice’s plans for Twitter are unknown, but some users of the site are somewhat grateful for a new owner due to some recent changes to the site and-” 

Meanwhile, the Shaymin ran by humans who could only see her as a green and white blur before she made her way back to the car where the others were, seemingly discussing some things before Amy came back. John asked first. “Alright, did you find any useful info?”

Amy looked away and sighed. “Yep… and it’s bad news.”

Claire tilted her head in confusion. “What happened?”

The grass hedgehog looked back at them and spat it out. “Asuri has total control over Twitter now.”

The rest of the team (except for Popo and Nana) blurted out. “WHAT!?” 

Amy nodded then explained. “I’ve seen on a news channel, the humans are becoming suspicious that Pokémon might be real because of Alice’s posts. Some of her posts included pictures of her and some other Asuri employees as well…”

John looked down as a rush of thoughts started to go over his head, muttering to himself. “This is bad, bad, bad, bad, bad-”

“Friend.” John stopped muttering to look at the twin mice. “Exaggerated panic is not the right option at the moment.” “The right option is to plan ahead.” “So friend… what are your plans for this situation?”

John slowly raised his head and looked and started thinking about it. The mice were right, it was no time to panic, it was time to come up with a plan. John sighed and looked back at the Tandemaus. “I don’t have any plans for now, but I’ll think about it more clearly later. I think this info was enough for now.” He then turned to Amy with a smile on his fuzz. “Thanks, Amy.”

The Shaymin smiled back with a slight blush on her face. “You’re welcome.”

John nodded. “Alright guys, I think it’s time to go home.”

The rest of the group nodded and, one after another, they left from under the car. Once they were out, they realized that it had started to rain a little, with small droplets falling on their fur. Taro, not caring about the rain, grinned as he looked at the twin mice. “Alright guys, fire up the portal!”

The Tandemaus nodded as their mitten hands started glowing with a dark purple aura. 

“Put yo damn hands in the air!”

A shout could be heard a small distance away from Team Net. The group of Pokémon turned around and they saw a rather not welcoming sight. A bald man with a red mask covering his entire face was pointing a pistol at another man who seemed to be shaking in fear as he slowly put his hands up. 

The Pokémon looked confused at what was happening. “What is happening? What is that in his hands?” Claire asked, a bit confused. “I’m getting bad vibes from that guy…” However, she noticed that John wasn’t responding. “John…?”

The small Joltik was frozen by looking at that scene. Not because of fear, no, but because of the anger that was slowly starting to build up inside of him. He died in one of these scenarios, he took a bullet to the chest because he tried to fight back, even knowing full well he couldn’t. Now look at where he ended up, in the body of what was one of his most hated things in his old life. What now? Should he leave that defenseless person on his own wits? What if that person tried to retaliate? No, he couldn’t let the same thing happen to another person when he COULD do something about it this time!

Amy looked at John, a little concerned. “John… are you alright?”

Suddenly, the Joltik launched a strand of silk onto one of the buildings to the side and slingshotted himself onto it. “John!” Claire called out as she saw the Joltik slingshot himself from the building to a car next to the scene, the rain making it a little more difficult for locomotion. The group of Pokémon ran after John, however, the robber diverted his attention to the Pokémon.

“The hell are those?!” He asked before aiming the gun at one of the members. Suddenly, a strand of silk attached itself to the gun. “Wha-!”

Before the man had any time to register, John pulled the strand of silk, taking the gun out of the man’s hand, and making an accidental shot on the floor in front of Popo and Nana. The Pokémon screamed and flinched from the shot, their sensible eardrums being blasted by an extremely loud sound. Except the twin mice who just stared ahead before staring at the small hole in front of them. “What an interesting instrument.” “We shall take note of what it does for experimentation later.”

After recovering from the loud bang, Taro, with a shocked face, looked at the Tandemaus. “Uh, yeah, NO!”

Meanwhile, the masked man was completely stunned by what had just occurred. “What the… wha-”

John threw the gun away and looked with a pissed look at the man. “I’m not gonna let you hurt ANYONE!” John said before jumping on the man's face, letting an instinct control his actions as he skittled toward the man's neck and bit it, letting an electrical current be transferred toward the man's face. 

The man screamed as it tried to take the greenish tick off of him. He managed to grab John and throw him close to the others, jerking back while putting a hand on the spot where he was bitten. Sparks of electricity were running throughout his body, making him stutter a bit while also making his limbs tremble. “W-what the f-fuck is happenin’..!?” He looked back at John and the others with a bit of difficulty. “What in the actual hell is going on here…” He said as he started backing away from them and his victim. He saw some people coming towards the scene, so he ran away after almost tripping. 

John panted a little bit before sighing in relief. He then looked back at the man who had fainted during the whole scene. “At least nothing bad happened…”

Claire looked at John a bit in concern. She started to ask. “John… what was-”

“Um, guys…?” Amy called their attention, making the others look in the direction she was looking. “We have a problem…”

There were a lot of humans coming to the scene, not only from that side but a lot of sides, there were even some people watching from the windows of the houses. That gunshot must’ve really called the attention of everyone. “Shit!” John turned to Popo and Nana. “You two, we need the portal now!”

The Tandemaus nodded and created another X-shaped tear in space in front of them while John jumped on Claire’s head. “Let us leave!”  

The rest of Team Net nodded before entering the portal in a rush. After crossing to the other side, the portal closed behind them. They were back at the Distortion World, panting from everything that just happened, without really having any breaks. “Welp…” Taro began. “That went south SUPER fast.”

“Think of the bright side…” Claire said after a few pants. “At least we got the info, right?”

“Yeah… at least that part is done…” John said after he stretched a little bit. “Next part is trying to find out what to do about Asuri… but that’s for later. Let’s just go home for now.”

Amy and Taro said in unison. “Agreed.”

The Vulpix mentally agreed as well, however… something didn’t sit well with her, lots of things actually. Why did John suddenly have a reaction to that scene? What did that human have on his hand, and why was it looked so dangerous? And why did John attack a human!? She just had to ask...  “John…?”

John hesitated for a second before whispering. “We’ll talk later, let’s just go home for now.”

“Alright…”

“If you all wish to not cross the Hollow Forest again.” “Join your hand with ours and we shall take you back to where we entered.” The Tandemaus offered as they extended their small hands to them. 

“Oh yes please!” Taro said gladly as he took Popo’s hand.

“At least we don’t have to fight any glitch Pokémon this time…” Amy mused as she touched Nana.

Claire nodded before touching Popo while John jumped out of her head and touched Nana’s tail. “Close your eyes…” The rest of Team Net closed their eyes and, soon enough, they felt a tingling feeling in their stomachs for a second. “Open your eyes.” The group opened their eyes and saw that they were back in the place where they entered the Distortion World. 

“Oh wow… you weren’t kidding.” John said a little freaked out about this. Well, he faintly remembers the battle against MissingNo.’s failed soldier the Tandemaus using some kind of teleport ability. But actually experiencing it first-hand was kinda bone-chilling.

The mice turned to John. “Why would we lie about that, friend?” “Is it something so unbelievable for you to comprehend?”

John looked aside. “Uh… yeah, it kinda is.”

“You shall learn in due time to comprehend that everything is possible in this plane of existence.” “The process shall be faster if you fully convert yourself to the will of the Great One!” “But that comes later.” “For now…” They turned away and made another X-shaped portal in an instant. They turned to the rest of Team Net. “Let us go home.”

Team Net hopped on the portal after the mice as the portal closed behind them.

Project Wonderland was going as planned. 

Alice was in her office, looking at the computer in front of her, watching some of the posts on Twitter. She had just recently not only taken control of an entire social media but also got the money necessary to bribe anyone she wanted in that world! Well, the bribing part wouldn’t work without a little bit of threatening, after all, she knew how they worked. They fear the unknown, they fear being powerless, and they absolutely fear being weak and not in control.

They would take anything to be in power, and now she has what she needs to overpower any small fry that threatens to be on her way. Now all that’s left is to get the ones in power in that world for her side… “Isn’t this wonderful Hoops?” Alice asked Hoopa, who was floating beside her. “At this rate, our plans will have a status of completion much faster than anticipated!”

The floating genie looked away. “Yeah… I guess…”

“Oh come on, don’t be such a downer! This is a good thing!” She then motioned a paw toward the computer. “Look at the feedback we’ve been receiving, it’s so clear that they want this!”

Hoopa looked at the screen with a frown and saw the many responses that were going on Twitter. Most of them were glad that the previous owner was gone, however, some were a little skeptical about it but supported it nonetheless. “They don’t even know what your plans are, are they that stupid?”

“It’s not stupidity, it’s called desperation.” The Meowscarada grinned. “They wanted the previous owner gone so badly that they wanted anyone to step in to save them all. I am basically their savior.” She chuckled.

Hoopa scratched their chin while looking at some posts. “Uh… does the term “furry” means savior as well?”

Alice tilted her head as she looked back at the screen. “Ah…” She shrugged. “Just a small side effect of someone like me taking the throne, nothing too big.”

“If you say so…”

Suddenly, there was a knock on her door, waking up the three-headed black-furred canine Pokémon on the side of the room, mostly obscured by the shadows... “Excuse me, miss. I need to show you something really important…”

The feline recognized that voice. It was Nixie, a Ribombee that she put to monitor the news channels on the human world. “Come in.” 

The fairy bee entered the office, flapping her wings while carrying a tablet. “Excuse me for the sudden entrance, there’s something really important that you need to see.”

Alice tilted her head. What could that be? Did something change all of a sudden in the human world? “Show it to me.” She said while resting her head on her paws.

Nixie nodded and went to the front of the desk. She showed her tablet, displaying a paused video on the news channel. The fairy pressed the play button and the female newsperson started speaking. “Moving onto our next headline. Mysterious creatures have been spotted near a cafe in the city of San Francisco, California.” The screen changed to shaky phone footage of six Pokémon looking around before a small greenish blur that was with the Pokémon said something indistinct. A pair of twin mice nodded and suddenly created a portal that all of the creatures went through. “These creatures were spotted after the sound of a gunshot was heard. No one knew what had happened there, however, there was a middle-aged man lying unconscious on the street. He seemed to have no injuries but was sent to the hospital either way-” 

Alice paused the video and replayed part of the footage where the Pokémon could be seen. What was the meaning of this? Who were those Pokémon and why were they in the human world? How did they even get there? “... is there something other than this?”

The Ribombee nodded. “Although with no concrete evidence this time, our sources found a human on the internet who claims he saw some eldritch dragon monster on the top of a building, along with some greenish blur that said dragon carried. It happened around the early hours of the morning. That is all.”

The Meowscarada recomposed herself with a deep breath and responded. “Alright then, thank you for telling me. Please pass this video to me so I can analyze it further later. You are dismissed.”

Nixie bowed before fluttering out of the office, making the three-headed Lycanroc go back to sleep. Hoopa was clearly confused about all of this. “How…? I thought only Palkia, Necrozma, and I were the only ones that could travel through different universes.”

“I thought so too…” Alice leaned in on Hoopa with a menacing face. “Have you perhaps lied to me…?”

Hoopa angrily responded back. “No, I didn’t! If I did know I wouldn’t have been so surprised about this info!”

She stayed silent for a moment before leaning back on her chair. “You may be right…” But that doesn’t answer the question, who are those Pokémon and what are their goals? Unless one of them is a human they had no reason to go to the human world.

But that still wouldn’t make sense… every human that comes to this world has their memories wiped, the only thing they always remember is their name and the fact that they are a human, not that they live in a different world altogether. Even though they would get their memories back later, she would've discovered one way or another and dealt with them! Then why are those Pokémon there-

Wait a second… some of those Pokémon were wearing scent blocker uniforms, even from the shaky footage she could tell that. Every school in the Fire continent must have those for female Pokémon. So that means those Pokémon are in a school… and that certainly means… “Well… they won’t be a problem for long.” Alice mischievously grinned and chuckled. “In less than two weeks we’ll meet for sure and I’ll get my answers…”

Chapter Text

Why, why, why?

There she was again… alone, in her room, with nothing but her tears to calm her down. What even was the point of continuing on with this stupid dream if she could do nothing right?

It has been another one of those days where she could’ve been doing something, anything, other than trying to please her parents. They literally didn’t care about anything she does; getting the best grades in class? Cool, don’t care; taking care of the house all alone? Didn’t ask for her to do that; staying in her room while playing video games or watching TV? Go do something productive you worthless daughter!

It. Was. Always. The same. Cycle.

She was nothing more than a liability to her parents, just a dead weight that just appeared in their life to just drag them down, or as her father put it, a useless hoe. Well… that must be a reason he always beat her up while drunk… he hated her.

No matter what she did, her parents would always hate her. She couldn’t stand that, why were they doing this? What has she done to deserve all of this? Why were her parents so… evil?

She may never know the answer, but honestly, she didn’t care anymore, things are the way they are in life.

It is an unfair game after all.

She wiped the tears out of her brownish face and muttered to herself as she brushed her messy long hair with her hand. “Just need to move on as always…”

The girl wanted to leave her house for a moment, to get this depressing mood that it always carried out of her system. She looked towards the drawer beside her bed and looked at her Nintendo DS before grabbing it and opening the window behind her. She jumped out of it and landed on the soft patch of grass, softening her fall.

She didn’t even bother to pick up her footwear, she just wanted to go towards her safe haven as soon as possible, to try to get her mind out of the recent scene with her mother as soon as possible.

Her house was near a cliff in the state of Pennsylvania, next to a small town. It was quite a peaceful place, all things considered, the girl and her (wretched) family basically lived in humanity’s origins, that is nature itself. However, she still had pretty good access to the internet, TV, and, of course, video games.

Video games were one of the things that kept her mind at ease along with her friend, away from the problems in the real world she always faced. The only reason she could afford a video game was because her mother just wanted to show off to her friends that she does care about her daughter. But in reality, she only cares about the clout and praise she receives by having her, that’s the only reason why they have kept her around until now… why was her mother so evil?

She shook her head, trying to make those terrible thoughts go away. She was close anyways.

She opened her DS to check how much battery there was in it. Thankfully, it had enough for a session of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Skies. She loved that game so much, the characters, the story, the gameplay, she loved everything about that world. She has always been a Pokémon fan, ever since she watched her first episode of the anime. Those silly little creatures always brought a smile to her face… oh she wished they were real. Her father never allowed her to have a pet, and the worst part is that he didn’t have anything against them, it was only to spite her… why was her father so evil?

After finally arriving there, she took a look around, taking in its sights. She was at the top of the cliff close to her home. She could see basically the entire town from there, seeing the sea of urbanization spread over a large area was such a sight to behold. Accompanying the sight was a nice pleasant breeze that flowed through the air, making her hair flow as well.

There was a tree near the edge, and it was her favorite sitting spot since she was able to do a lot of her usual things while sitting there. Doing so, she sat on one of the roots and leaned her back on the trunk, opening her console.

She was thankful for Pokémon appearing in her life, because of it, she was able to get through the hardships of her life. However… she wonders how much it can keep up before one hardship eventually breaks her…

After separating and going their own ways, Team Net all walked their way back to their respective home. Instead of this being a really talk-heavy walk as John expected, it was instead way silent, even for a Pokémon like Claire. He didn’t know if it was because it was nighttime or because of what happened in the human world, so he deduced it was probably the latter, he still had to confess what that was all about.

However, while on the way back home, another Pokémon that walked on the sidewalk revealed himself, stopping in front of them under a light pole. To John’s displeasure, it was another bug -looking Pokémon, with a red carapace (that for some reason looked completely made of pure steel due to how it was reflecting the light), two big pincer hands, a pair of wings, and a pair of antennas. He appeared to be wearing a pair of shades and a black trench coat (how did he manage to put those on and why he was wearing shades in the night, hell if John knew).

“Detective?” Claire asked while tilting her head.

“We meet again, young Vulpix.” The detective said putting a pincer on his side. “Have you been doing well after my visit?”

“Um…” Claire hesitated for a second before nodding. “Yeah uh, I’ve been doing well.”

“Is that the detective you told me about?” John asked and the fire fox nodded.

The Scizor then focused his attention on John as he hummed in confusion. “A talking infant Joltik?”

Crap, he forgot that he was only 1 week old in this body! The greenish Joltik stammered, trying to find his words to not get caught. “Uh… no, I’m just… one of those child prodigies. I’m just that small, but I’m in the… first year of high school, yep… name’s John, by the way!”

The steel mantis’ expression was basically unreadable with his bug-like features combined with the shades, making John a nervous mess in his mind. “Wait, shit! Did I mess up somehow? What did I say that doesn’t fit in with this word? Oh no, the school system! I must’ve messed something up because it HAS to be different from the human schools and-!”

“Nice to meet you, John. You’re a unique one, that’s for sure.” He nonchalantly said, no suspicion hidden behind his voice. He then looked at Claire. “Oh shoot, I forgot to give you my name that day, my apologies.” He put a pincer inside of his coat before pulling out a card and handing it to the duo. John took the card with his nubs and put it on Claire’s head to read it. “The name’s Reino. Detective Reino for you guys, and on the card there is my contact if you need me for any investigation.”

John tilted his head. “Are you a private detective?”

“Yes, I am. Being an investigator in the task force was getting kinda boring, so I decided to start my own business.” Reino explained while John put his card on the backpack. “But I’m not here to tell you the story of my life.”

Claire asked. “Then why are you here?”

“I would like to ask you the same thing, kids.” He said with a sharp look behind his shades, crossing his arms. “Why are you out here at night? You know of the dangers of the strange Pokémon around, right? Especially you, Miss Claire.”

“That’s… um…” Claire struggled to say.

John wouldn’t take any chances on Claire revealing anything important, so he answered for her. “Sorry, we were in our friend’s house and forgot about the Corrupted Pokémon.”

The Scizor flinched and removed his shades that literally seemed to get pulled onto the shell of his pincer. John could almost see a human in the steel-like bug due to his physique, clothes, and his way of acting, almost forgetting that he was a bug. Reino’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. “You told him?!”

Claire responded. “Look, he lives with me, and spends the entire day with me, I was about to tell him one way or another!”

Reino sighed, putting the shades back on his head again, sliding them onto his head with ease. “In any case, your mother sent me to find you two, it appears that this is the first time this happens as she told me… mind elaborating on that?”

Claire rubbed the back of her head. “Sorry, we had so much fun there that I forgot to warn mom about it.”

“Yep.” John agreed, trying to back up their lie. “We’ll try to warn her next time!”

The Scizor eyed them for a moment as they sheepishly smiled. “Well, let’s see if you hold that end of the deal. Come on, I’ll take you to your-” One of his antennae twitched, making him look to the side for a moment.

“Um… something wrong Mister Reino?” The Joltik asked while looking in the direction of where the detective was looking, spotting nothing aside from more light poles and some houses.

“It’s… nothing.” He responded a bit hesitant before looking back at them. “Come on, I’ll take you to your home.” John and Claire nodded as the Scizor turned around and started leading them, the duo following beside him. Out of curiosity, he asked. “Say, John… why are you living in a Ninetales’ house? Pretty weird to me because normally civilized bug-type Pokémon are a bit clingy with their children, so I doubt anyone would want to abandon you or leave you in an orphanage.”

John was caught off guard by that question. He struggled a little bit to come up with an answer. “Well um… I’m actually a child of a wild Pokémon…” Reino raised an invisible eyebrow at that. “I didn’t really like the wildlife, and since Galvantulas leave their children at an early age… I decided to just move into civilization right away… even if my mom hated it.”

The Vulpix continued, a sheepish smile could be seen on her face. John could definitely see sweat coming out of her if she could do it. “Yep, and my family adopted him since they saw him on the streets struggling, with nowhere to go…”

It was really tense telling a lie to an actual detective without knowing his expressions to see if he actually fell for the lie or not. That was making John’s anxiety pile up inside of him a little bit, making him tremble a little as he started thinking about the follow-up questions until the truth is finally revealed. However… “Huh, well good for you. Now all you need is an identity card when you reach 15 years old and you’re good to go as a civilian Pokémon.”

John stayed silent for an awkward moment before responding with a simple “Yeah…” before shutting up entirely.

The rest of the walk was, thankfully, uneventful and silent. However, throughout the walk, John noticed that Reino’s antenna was twitching quite a lot. Not knowing if it was a bug thing, he just decided to ignore it.

After reaching the house, the Scizor knocked on the door of the house, making sure to not break it with his hard pincers. After a moment, the door opened on its own, revealing a concerned-looking fire Ninetales. She looked at the detective first. “Did you-” She then looked down at John and Claire. “Kids!” Reya pulled them both with telekinesis into a hug, the Joltik almost disappearing into her fur. “Arceus, I was so worried something happened to you two!”

“M-mom… we’re fine…!” Claire said, having a bit of difficulty breathing.

“Yeah… we just uh… forgot t-to warn you that we w-were staying at a friend's house…” John continued before they were both released from the hug, the Joltik falling on the ground immediately. “Sorry…”

Reya smiled in relief. “It’s alright… I’m just glad that you two are alright.” She then looked at Reino. “Thank you, Reino.”

“Eh, it was literally nothing, miss. I just found them literally going to your house anyways, so all I did was just lead them here under my protection.” He explained while crossing his arms.

“But nonetheless, thank you.” The Ninetales said with a smile.

The Scizor let out a weak smile. “You’re welcome.” His antenna twitched again, making him glance backwards before looking back at Reya as he adjusted his coat. “Anyways, can’t stay for long. Duty calls, you know?”

Reya chuckled a little bit. “Yes, I know. Have a good night!”

“You too.” The detective then looked back at Claire and John. “And you two stay out of trouble.” Not even bothering to see how they answered, Reino walked away. John thought that if he could, that Pokémon would always have his hands in his pockets for sure.

The fire Ninetales closed the door with her telekinesis and sighed. “You two really gave me a big scare, you know? With those dangerous Pokémon out there, you just gotta be concerned.”

Claire looked away a bit ashamed. “I know mom…” She then looked back at Reya with a small smile. “I promise it won’t happen again.”

“Yeah, sorry Reya, we just forgot about the current situation for a little bit…” John added next, fidgeting with his fore-nubs.

Reya sighed again. “Alright then.” She then looked at the Vulpix. “Your dad called me and said he’s a bit tangled with his work, he might come home a bit late.”

Claire nodded before turning to John. “Come on John, I think we need a bath.”

John hesitated a little bit, not wanting another scene with the snow bitch. “Do I really have to…?”

“Don’t worry, it won’t be like last time.” Claire said reassuringly with a smile. John nodded a bit hesitant and followed her to the bathroom.

After taking off her uniform and getting inside the shower with the Joltik, Claire opened the faucet and, soon enough, small droplets of water started falling on them, washing all the small bits of dust, dirt, and some dried blood off of them. Thank goodness John was small and Claire was with her uniform so that the adults didn’t notice the bloodied fur and fuzz.

Speaking of blood, John found out a more disgusting fact about this body. His blood was literally bug hemolymph, the same stain that made him puke in the past every time he accidentally stepped on a beetle of a roach. It kinda made his stomach rile up and his body shivers a little.

However, something even more concerning came true when the Vulpix asked. “So… would you finally tell me what that scene was in the human world? Why did you sound so… angry about it…?”

John felt his hemolymph run cold as he heard that question. There was no hiding it anymore, no more sugar coating, the truth either comes out either soft or hard. And he really didn’t want Claire to find out about the nature of humans the hard way, even with close encounters like before. “I think… I think it’s time that I talk about how I really died…”

Claire tilted her head in confusion and concern. “What do you mean…?”

The Joltik stared at the wall in silence before sighing. He turned to the Vulpix with a nervous look on his face. “I… I was killed by another human…”

Claire’s eyes widened in shock, her heart rate increasing a little. “W-... what…?”

John shivered a little as he heard her quivering tone, but he had to continue nonetheless. “You remember that scenario we saw in the human world when we were about to leave? Yeah… I was in one of those situations as well, along with three other friends. We were ambushed by the same type of people like the guy with the red mask… criminals.”

Claire leaned back a little. “B-but how…? I thought that every human there were pure beings. Or else, our world would be in danger!”

“I don’t know if the beings of this world sugarcoat it as much as possible, but I can assure you one thing… malice is a force no one can escape from.” John explained before sitting on the ground and putting a nub on his torso. “It’s a thing that I learned from when I was only ten years old…” He sighed. “You know, it was fortunate enough for me that you didn’t ask about my human parents…”

“W-what about them…?” Claire asked, some tears forming in her eyes.

“Well, for starters… I didn’t even consider them my parents. They neglected me, and saw me as nothing more than a mere tool to expand our family; they only pretended to care when I was hurt, never sang happy birthday to me, and if I remember correctly… never even said that they loved me.” Claire stayed silent after listening to all of it, looking downwards. “Humans are not what you imagined them to be from stories or fantasy tales… we are just like you Pokémon, without all the magic of course.”

The Vulpix nervously smiled. “M-maybe you got something wrong there. Y-you’re just exaggerating, right…?”

John sighed, brushing one of his sides to get rid of a water droplet. “Claire… I lived in that world for twenty whole years, I know what I’m talking about because I experienced it first hand.”

Claire shed a tear, all of her thoughts, fantasies, and everything related to humans, was all a lie. Was everything about the humans that saved the world a lie as well? She turned off the shower, not saying a word as she was starting to leave the shower box, a small purple aura starting to surround her.

“Hey.” The Vulpix turned to the squeaky voice of the Joltik, who was shaking off water from his body. “Just so you know, not every human is bad. I don’t know if you don’t count me as an exception now that I told you. But really, the majority of humans on earth are good people, even though some are a bit selfish.” He then looked back at Claire with a smile on his fuzz, responding as if he read her mind. “If this world hasn’t fallen yet by evil forces, then the humans here were the good ones.”

The Vulpix smiled a little bit as the aura around her started disappearing. “I see… thanks for telling me.” She sighed and looked back at the door, shaking the water out of her body. “I’m gonna go to bed.”

“You’re not gonna eat dinner or wait for your dad?” John asked while tilting his head.

Claire shook her head. “No, I got too many things in my head at the moment that I got a headache…”

John jumped out of the shower box and stood beside the fire fox as they walked out of the bathroom. “Alright then… goodnight Claire.”

Claire weakly smiled back at the Joltik. “Goodnight John.” She replied before both entered the twins’ room. John was about to use the laptop before he saw Elsa using it on the bed, clearly speaking to some people. “What the…?”

“Come on my subjects, there’s no need to say that you love this much. Because I know you all do.” She chuckled regally before looking at Claire and John, the Joltik already leaving the room. “Anyways, it was really a fun time, but I gotta go now. See you all tomorrow!” She pressed some keys before closing the laptop with a grunt in annoyance. “When I was really enjoying myself… you just had to show up…”

“Heh, I live here too, you know?” The fire Vulpix said with a low enthusiasm before asking. “By the way, who were you talking to?”

The ice Vulpix scoffed. “None of your peasant business.” She said before getting onto two feet and grabbing the laptop. She put it on the desk with the mirror as Claire lay on the bed, not saying any more words. Elsa noticed this and felt compelled to ask with a smirk. “What’s wrong? Did Johnny bug reject you or something?”

The fire fox sighed. “Just go away, I’m not in the mood to deal with your Tauros shit right now…”

“Tch, suit yourself.” Elsa said before walking out of the bedroom on two legs and closing the door behind her, leaving Claire all alone with her thoughts.

The room turned into an awkward silence for a moment, before the Vulpix shifted positions, leaving her belly in the open. She suddenly asked herself. “Is my dream even worth it anymore…?”

Reino was walking down one of many streets of Burgroth town, rubbing his pincers together to heat him up a little. It was almost winter after all, so it was starting to get a bit cold.

As the detective walked, his mind kept getting back to the small talk he had with Claire and that baby-looking Joltik. Something about his answer wasn’t adding up as a fact. If he remembered correctly, he heard some talk around the street about a Galvantula shouting out loud on the streets recently, apparently looking for their lost baby. What was more interesting is that some family took him in on a whim. Just what are the chances of a family of Pokémon suddenly caring for a random wild Pokémon?

Something was clearly up with that Joltik. Either he was a Zorua that completely managed to trick that family into thinking he was a small and defenseless bug type or the more unlikely option is that he could be a…

Reino’s antennas twitched again. This was basically happening throughout the entire time he was with that duo, and he knew exactly what that meant. He crossed his arms and sighed. “Can’t believe I got a stalker this early in my career, am I really just that hot as Pokémon say?” He turned around, spotting no one in the deserted street as he removed his shades. “If you’re a fan, I can give you an autograph for free right now if you want. All you have to do is just show yourself.”

“Boo-hoo, you found me!”

A childish-like robotic voice could be heard coming from some bushes next to the sidewalk. From them, a figure came out of it doing a front flip and landing in front of the Scizor. As the light came in, it revealed a figure that he wasn’t expecting. “You’re a…”

The figure revealed itself to be a Weavile, however with some major differences. It had gray metallic fur, the red feathers being replaced with some weird kind of reddish panels that had a strange glow. Its feet and claws were mostly still the same, although it could be noticed that its claws had four fingers and some wheels below each foot. Although its face is where the big differences came in. Its mouth was basically a grinning face with red teeth that didn’t move whatsoever, its eyes were green and red, the green being on an outer layer of the irises, and the yellow gem on the forehead was changed to a purple gem. The strange Weavile spoke, its grinning mouth flashing every time a word was spoken. “What’s up Bugsy, whatcha doing out here all alone? Your mate has dumped you? Aw, such a shame!”

Reino couldn’t believe this, a Corrupted Pokémon was in front of him, and speaking like a laid-back guy. What should he do in this situation? Threaten it? Arrest it right there? No, wait, this was his chance to ask some questions, and possibly confirm his theory. The detective recomposed himself. “Who are you, and what do you want?”

The Weavile gasped sarcastically. “Oh noes, I forgot to introduce myself!” It pointed a thumb to itself or… himself judging by the voice. “They call me Cass, nice meeting ya Bugsy!” He then put his claws on his sides. “I’m just strolling around the neighborhood at night, I like the night. It’s quiet, it’s dark… it’s lonely. It’s perfect for a small stroll!”

“Are you sure you were just strolling around? I could sense you following me for some time now in the dark…”

Cass rolled his eyes and made a metallic sigh. “Well, ya got me. But that doesn’t matter anymore! What matters now is that you’re doing something really stupid right now!” He leaned in while doing a fake whisper, Reino taking a small step back. “Who knows what terrifying beast might lurk in the dark, amiright?”

“Yeah, I know about that…” The Scizor looked aside before asking. “So… it’s fortunate that we meet, I have a small question for you.”

The robotic Weavile gasped. “A question!?” He then clasped his claws together while twisting his foot. “For me~!?” He waved it off with a claw. “You can ask whatever it is you want with me!”

“Are you familiarized with the word human?”

That made his smug and childish attitude drop, his voice changing into a more serious tone as he crossed his arms. “Why do you ask…?”

Reino shrugged. “I am just curious… do you know anything about that term?”

For a moment, it looked like the Weavile’s smile grew a bit wider. “Oh, I get it… you’re one of the Pokémon trying to interfere with our plans…” That made the detective's eyes widen a little as Cass chuckled a little, shrugging as he spoke again. “Oh, did I say that out loud? Oops! But it doesn’t matter though, it’s not like you’ll discover the rest anyways!”

The Scizor asked a bit desperate now. “What are you trying to imply? Are you working with someone!?”

The Corrupted Pokémon lifted a finger. “Here’s a small tip for you, Bugsy! I’d suggest you stay out of other Pokémon’s business!” His tone suddenly shifted into a more menacing one. “You might live if you do just that. We wouldn’t want any casualties on this mission.”

“Answer me!” Reino demanded as a blue blade came out of his pincer, pointing at Cass. “Who are you working with!?”

The robotic Weavile then looked at his wrist with nothing on it. “Oh wowsers, look at the time! Gotta go, see ya sometime, Bugsy, Hehahahahaha!” With that, Cass turned around and skated away with his rollerblade feet.

Reino retracted his blade and stretched his arm. “Wait!” He would chase him, but it was night, and by the speed that Weavile left off, it seemed that he was way faster than him. “Dammit…”

Reino was a bit pissed. The answer to his theory was gone without a trace as to where it was going. It seemed that his only chance of solving this mystery was lost… however… what Cass had said, answered some things that were mysterious about the Corrupted Pokémon. They weren’t Pokémon being controlled by instincts, they were receiving orders from someone. But… from who?

“I’ll find the truth behind all of this madness… even if it’s the last thing I do.” That was the last thing he said before putting his shades on again and continuing along his way through the street.

Chapter Text

Darkness.

Darkness was all he could see. It expanded beyond the horizon, in the corner of his eyes, on all three and perhaps four dimensions, everywhere he saw was complete and utter darkness.

Instead of floating in the void, John felt he was standing on solid ground. He looked down to see where he was standing… it was darkness. However, he could see something else rather than just the darkness, his own body, not the Pokémon one, but his human one. He saw his tan-colored five-fingered hands, jeans, red sneakers, and beige leather jacket. All of the clothes he was wearing before he died, even his underpants were the same.

How did he remember what kind of underwear he was wearing that day? Hell if he knew.

“Where-?” He quickly shuts his mouth as he realized that his voice wasn’t as squeaky anymore. He opened his mouth again. “Where am I…?” He looked back at his hands. “Is… is this a dream?” He never had a lucid dream up until this point, so when he first awakened in the Pokémon world he thought it was strange until the weight of reality had crashed down on him the following day. 

“You are correct, this is a dream, our dream.” 

John turned around and screamed, falling on his back onto the dark floor and backing away a little from the creature he saw. “Wh-what? You…”

In front of him, MissingNo. stood still in its normal ghostly form. Even though the glitch particles around it were gone, the pool of static and Pokémon limbs coming out of it was still there below its head. The glitch Pokémon chuckled. “What? Don’t tell me you already forgot little ol’ us.”

The human realized that its voice wasn’t as glitchy anymore, probably because this was a dream as MissingNo. Said. His voice was still a bit intimidating with that reverb. John slowly got up, shrugging off the fear that plagued his mind as he kept eye contact with the eldritch entity in front of him. “I… forgot you were inside me…” However, he realized something terrible. “Wait… if you have access to my dreams… does that mean…”

The monochrome entity shook its head. “We didn’t pry into your memories, even though we currently have access to them. Although…” It moved closer to John, the Pokémon limbs being used as a form of locomotion. It leaned its head close to the human, its multiple eyes analyzing him as the human flinched. “We would never have imagined that a small little Joltik could be a human in disguise all along.”

The young man took a small step back on impulse, rubbing the back of his head as he looked aside. “Oh yeah… I forgot to tell you that I um… I’m a human.”

MissingNo. leaned back. “Interesting… so this is how humans truly look back in their world.”

John tilted his head in confusion. “Wait, weren’t you watching when my friends and I went into the human world…?”

The glitch entity chuckled again and lifted a finger from his claws. “Let us remind you that we're currently in a small hibernation. We're not awake inside your body, because if we were, not only would it hinder the process of stabilization but it would also make your body have… unpleasant side effects.”

John crossed his arms (oh he missed doing this… and having arms in general). “What sort of side effects are we talking about…?”

“Well… remember that vessel we were using when we met you and the others? You would become like that if we were awake.” John shuddered at the thought of becoming a creature akin to a glitchy monster from a creepypasta. “Not only that but you’d slowly start to lose yourself, making yourself nothing more than a loyal glitch Pokémon.”

John didn’t want to think about that further, or else he would regret being used as a “stability incubator” for the glitch entity. He tried switching the topic as he started to look around. “So… you’re gonna be dreaming of this void for less than two weeks?”

“That’s where you’re wrong” It chuckled “Remember that this is a dream, a lucid one that is, we can think of anything and it will come to reality. However… there’s one single thing that we’d like to imagine until I leave your body.” 

John slightly tilted his head as he put his hands in his jacket pocket. “And that is…?” Suddenly, the void around them started to disappear and a flash of white appeared before a new environment started to shape itself, the human felt the ground around him change into a softer and smoother surface. John looked around as the new scenery came into view. They were on a beach, standing on the sand in front of the sea in the time of a beautiful sunset. An orange-colored sea and sky could be seen expanding over the horizon. No one else was in sight. “Woah…”

MissingNo. stood next to John and did its best equivalent of a sit, sinking a portion of its head into the pool of static below it. “It’s our dream to experience a sight such as this.” It sighed a bit in disappointment. “We know how this looks from what Arceus told me when they were creating the world. We would be the first Pokémon to experience the world, to get a grasp of how it felt to live…”

John sat on the sand, crossing his legs before looking at the glitch entity with pity. “I… might not understand how that feels but uh… I’m sorry for you.” 

The monochrome Pokémon gave a hearty chuckle before turning to the human. “Don’t be. We are beyond feeling sad now about that. After all, at least now we're finally getting a chance to see it after an eternity of being stuck in that prison.”

The human sheepishly smiled. “Yeah… I guess you’re right…” John looked back to the unmoving sunset, a frown creeping up on his face as he thought back on the conversation he had with Claire.

MissingNo. noticed the silence coming from the blonde human, making it ask. “Is something plaguing your mind, human?”

John glanced at the glitch Pokémon for a moment before sighing, bringing his knees to his chest. “Eh… it’s nothing big, it’s just… something that I said to Claire, the Vulpix in case you forgot.”

It lowered its claws to the ground. “Oh… that sturdy Vulpix. We got to admit, she has the fire needed to overcome any obstacle, we could see it in her resilience and determination. But what did you say to her?”

The human stared at the floor for a moment before opening up. “She had a little problem of… fantasizing too much of my species… she thought that every human had a pure heart, that they were some sort of benevolent beings that came from… I dunno, Heaven or something to help out Pokémon and save the world at the end of some magical journey. So all I did was give her a reality check once she went and saw how my species were in the human world.” He looked away. “Maybe I was a bit harsh at my words…”

MissingNo. thought for a little before shaking its head. “You weren’t. She had to realize one way or another, you needed to get your words through before something worse made her realize that she was wrong.” It looked to the orange sky. “It’s something that Giratina failed to do before we tried to leave the Hollow Forest. We did not listen to them and we paid the price…”

John looked at the glitch entity curiously. “What happened?”

Its giant smile faltered a little bit. “Once we left… my body started becoming unstable, corrupting the environment around us and corrupting more of our already broken body… we were forced to return. Even so, we kept trying, using my glitch Pokémon as vessels as a way to walk freely into the normal world. However… it wielded the same results, unfortunately.” It looked back at the human. “And that was when we accepted our fate and spent millions of years in that prison. You did the right thing, John. It would be way worse if Claire found out their true nature by other means.”

John stared at the sunset before huffing. “Yeah… I think you’re right…” Suddenly, small whisps of light started coming out of John’s body, more appearing by the second. “What’s happening…?”

“You are being woken up.” MissingNo. chuckled before rising from his pool of static. “It has been fun talking with you. Hope next time you tell us some fun gossip that happened with you!”

As the glitch entity waved with the disembodied claws and some Pokémon limbs, John smiled sheepishly. “See ya in the next dream…?”

The human’s body dissipated into white wisps of light that floated away, and the next thing he knew… he was on a couch.

The Joltik opened his four eyes and looked around the place a little confused, smelling dog breath for some reason and spotting silk around him. He looked at the source of the smell and saw Reya retracting her snout away from him. She smirked slightly in a vulpine way at him. “Rise and shine, John. I see you got used to being a bug type and made a small bed for you.” She chuckled.

The greenish spider blinked a few times, his awareness slowly but surely returning to him. “R-reya…?” He rubbed his eyelids as best as he could. “What time is it…?” 

“It’s school time, John. You have to get used to it now.” She chuckled again. “At what time you would even wake up?” 

John released a squeak akin to a yawn. “I used to wake up at like… ten in the morning most of the time…” Man, was he starting to regret returning to school life, it was taking away the freedom that adulthood offered. 

However, that time was over. This was a new life he had to deal with.

The fire Ninetales tilted her head in confusion. “Wait, didn’t you have a job?”

John got up and stretched his small body. “I did, but I work remotely from my house on the computer.” He said before slowly stepping out of the silk-made nest. Maybe he was so tired that he didn’t even remember making it… that was a bit concerning to know. What other instincts would come out of him subconsciously? Better not think about that for now… “Anyways uh… is Clare and… Elsa… ready yet?”

“Izo is waking them up before getting ready to work.” Reya said before standing up. “You should get ready too, breakfast is ready.” She put a paw on her chest while making a proud face. “Made by yours truly.”

John chuckled before starting to hop away as he said. “Thank you!” He found out that the fastest way for him to move around the place is by jumping when Claire wasn’t around. He figured that he shouldn’t depend on others too much or else he would get a bit sedentary. 

The Joltik arrived at the table, landing on it as he looked at his options. In the bowls, there was some source of juice (which he guessed was one of those weird fruits with healing effects), and on the plates, there were fried egg sandwiches. He still wondered where they acquire the eggs and meats of this place, he knew it came from Dungeon Pokémon but… did they actually keep them in farms or something?

Maybe some things are better left unknown…

Before he grabbed a bite of his smaller-sized sandwich, Claire entered the dining room, making the Joltik look at her as she sat on her seat. They traded eye contact for a moment, not uttering a word as they stared at each other. Suddenly, both of them spoke in unison.

“Listen, about yesterday, I-”

They interrupted themselves, noticing they were speaking over each other. John spoke before her this time. “Oh, uh… you can speak first.”

Claire looked aside while rubbing the back of her head. “No, no. You can say it first, I won’t interrupt!”

John sighed. “Well… if you say so. I-” John shut himself up as he noticed Claire’s icy twin walk into the dining room and sit on her seat.

They stayed silent as they started to eat their breakfast. Of course, Elsa noticed this and commented. “I know my presence is so powerful to silence an entire room, but you guys always talked it all out no matter what.” She sassily smirked. “It’s like you guys broke up or something.”

Both John and Claire said in unison to the ice Vulpix. “Shut the fuck up.”

“Well, looks like you didn’t break up… yet.” She chuckled before she started eating her food. The fire Vulpix and the Joltik took a heavy sigh before starting to eat their meals as well.

After arriving at the school, they had another normal class with Iris, the Decidueye already growing used to the Joltik staying in her classes as an actual student rather than a wild Pokémon sneaking in. 

The break came in and Team Net grouped up around a bench that was a bit more isolated from the others. Taro grinned as he began to speak first. “Man, I still can’t shake yesterday’s events out of my mind! It was like the most exciting shit I’ve done in my entire life!”

Amy sighed. “For me, it was the most stressful thing I’ve done in my life. I still can’t believe we actually went to the actual Distortion World and fought a failed creation from Arceus. And on top of that, we went into the human world.” She scratched the side of her face. “I don’t know if I should be feeling excited or be shaking from stress and fear…”

John did his best to shrug. “I guess you could feel both… also speaking of Arceus’ failed creation… I spoke to them in my dream.”

The Pokémon’s eyes widened at that revelation. Claire asked first. “Wait, you did? How? I thought that they would be sleeping inside you or something, so they couldn’t speak to you.”

“Well… through dreams they can.” John said, laying his body on the bench and sighing tiredly. “Apparently our minds are linked or some shit like that, so I met them in my dream or his dreams, I guess.”

Taro took a step closer to John, leaning forward and asking excitedly. “What did they say!?”

“Well, just told me the side effects that would happen to me if they were awake. I’d slowly become one of their glitchy minions…” They frowned upon hearing that. “But don’t worry, that’s not happening anytime soon. And I was able to confirm, even if a little, that they were genuine with their intentions.”

Amy put a paw on her chin. “Are you absolutely certain about that? We still don’t know if they are lying or not.” 

John looked aside. “I dunno… I just feel like he’s genuine about it.”

Claire put a paw on her chin. “Maybe it’s because your minds are linked and you can feel each other’s feelings…?”

“I guess that may be it… but anyways, that’s a theory for another time.” John regained a bit of his composure while also failing to notice the approaching shadows behind him. “What we need to think about now is how to deal with Asuri-”

“Have you forgotten to hold a meeting with us, friend?”

John released a high-pitched squeak that was the equivalent of a scream, flinching hard as he looked back at Popo and Nana who were standing motionless and expressionless as ever behind him. “Stop doing that!”

Popo began while grabbing John’s left front nub. “We have been worried about you.” Nana continued while grabbing John’s right front nub. “You are being used as a vessel for the prisoner of the Great One.” “Is it changing your body?” “Is it influencing you to commit heresy?” “Is it deviating you from the path of enlightenment that the Great One has laid upon your soul?”

John struggled a little bit, getting his nubs off of the mice’s hand. “T-thanks uh… thanks for worrying about me but I’m fine in every way possible. MissingNo. is doing nothing to me and he won’t do anything to me.”

“We cannot assure that.” Nana said before Popo added. “When we look at your soul, it shows that it is unstable.” “What if that instability spreads throughout your whole body?”

“It won’t, I assure you that I’m fine and there won’t be any side effects. Now, can we please drop this subject?” John asked before the two mice nodded. He leaned close to the other members of the group while whispering. “Please don’t tell them about the dream I had, alright?”

“Yes.” The other Pokémon whispered in unison.

Taro then asked, hoping to change the topic for good. “Anyways… what were you saying about Asuri before John?”

“Yes, them...” John went back to the middle of the bench, the Tandemaus sitting beside him. “Because of them, humanity might be now aware of the existence of Pokémon, and this could turn into a serious problem later in the future.”

Amy nodded. “Yes… if what you told us about the consequences of Pokémon being publicly known as real… then it’s gonna cause a lot of chaos in the future.” She then looked aside. “Although… something else has been bothering me…”

Claire looked at the Shaymin while tilting her head. “What is it?”

The grass hedgehog looked back to the group. “Why would Asuri want to have ownership of Twitter? They are already rich here, why own another company?”

“Yeah…” Claire agreed until another thought came over her. “Wait a second… how did they even do that, anyway?”

“Uh… maybe they had an agreement over the phone?” Taro suggested as he scratched his cheek in confusion.

John shook his head at the impossible claim. “Nope, I know Twitter’s owner too much to know that he would never agree to pass ownership to someone else. So unless Asuri has what it needs to go into my world and threaten him, then I would believe he has agreed with them.” The Pokémon stood in silence as they stared at John with their eyes wide. “What…?”

The Tandemaus spoke in unison. “Maybe they do have those means. After all, was the internet not from your side originally? Or else, how would they be able to connect to the other side?”

The Joltik’s eyes slowly widened in realization. How was he so stupid to not realize this before? It was so obvious, because how could the Pokémon make a version of the Microsoft UI almost exactly like the original without copying? They had to have been in the human world before and see how technology works for this to happen. John was beginning to shake at such revelation. Pokémon had actually gone to his world before right under his nose and he didn’t know, no one knew.

The Vulpix was the first one to notice that and asked. “John…?”

The greenish spider suppressed his shaking a little bit and took a deep breath. “I’m fine… I’m just a bit shocked at the information.” He took another deep breath before stomping a nub on the bench. “Alright, I figured out what we need to do with Asuri and possibly their CEO.”

Taro tilted his body in confusion. “And that is…?”

“We need to expose them to the public. Show the truth behind the internet to Pokémon kind.” He stated. “Or else things will quickly get out of hand. But since we don’t have much evidence yet… our plans are still the same as before. When we go to Asuri’s museum, maybe we will find some evidence there.”

Amy looked aside. “I hope you know what could be used as evidence or not because we need strong proof that Asuri is up to something bad, or else Pokémon might not believe us.”

“I will know… hopefully.” John said a little unsure.

The Tandemaus walked closer to John. “Our class shall be going on the trip as well.” “We shall assist you in exposing the false prophets who ruined the perfect realm of the Great One without permission.” “There shall be no mercy for such acts against our true lord and savior!”

John sheepishly laughed. “T-thanks… guys…”

The bell suddenly rang, and the Pokémon went back to their classes. As the students talked among themselves, John kept staring at Claire as she stared at the window beside her. He wanted to apologize so much to her at that very moment about that talk he had had yesterday, and he would’ve if it wasn’t for the snow bitch interrupting them. 

He just looked at the blackboard with a sigh, waiting for the teacher who apparently was Mr. Zeta, that weird nutcase of a Pokémon. He wondered what kind of subject he taught normally instead of just taking kids into dangerous territory every time. Maybe he taught about Mystery Dungeons as a whole, those were a common thing in the world.

The door of the classroom opened, revealing a Pokémon John didn’t expect to see and he knew too damn well. A Pikachu, with a little more fur than usual and a fringe covering his left eye, walked to the table and jumped on it, brushing off dust from his fur before putting a book and a piece of chalk on the desk. He groaned and grumbled in a normal male voice which caught John a little by surprise. “Ugh, they need to add more concrete on these streets, too much fucking dust…” He cleared his throat and spoke, the Joltik noticing he had sharper teeth than a normal Pikachu (from what he’d seen of clips of the anime on the internet). “Good Morning class, you may call me Ark, your substitute teacher. No need for Mr. Ark, thank you.”

“Wait, where’s Mr. Zeta?” The Houndour asked while tilting his head.

Ark folded his arms behind his back and explained. “Don’t worry, he’s fine. He was just called by Asuri yesterday for a manual update. No worries, it’s normal for the Porygon line to receive upgrades as technology advances more and more. Although he might take a while to come back since he has to physically go to Asuri’s Headquarters, which is kilometers away from this town.”

Wait, Asuri updates Zeta’s species? It would be a slight problem once Asuri eventually goes down, but John hoped that they could find another company that constantly updated them as technology progressed. After thinking a little, he looked back at the teacher, who was looking rather menacingly at John with his black and white eye. John tried not to flinch, ignoring the small stare he was given, he was probably just analyzing the students… hopefully.

The teacher spoke again. “Anyways, could you students tell me your names before I start class?” He started pointing his paw finger at the students, pointing at the Vulpix first. “You first.”

Claire straightened her posture. “Claire!”

The teacher then pointed in order, the students speaking when the finger stopped at them.

“Taro.”

“Amy.”

“John.” 

The Pikachu hesitated a little when he heard the Joltik’s voice before moving on to the next students.

“Cerbera!”

“Olivia.”

“Elsa~”

“Cindy.”

Ark then put his paws on his side. “Alright then.” He grabbed the piece of chalk with his paw and started levitating out of nowhere. “Let’s start with the class.”

Most of the students let out a “Whoa!” out of wonder while John was flabbergasted. “H-how do you do that!?” He asked.

The Pikachu looked at him and smirked. “I have the genes of a Raichu that’s psychic type along with electric. Since I wasn’t evolving…” He trailed off out of nowhere before immediately answering back. “Because of a rare disease that doesn’t let me evolve into my final stage, I taught myself levitation with the Psychic part of my core, since those types of Raichu levitate naturally.”

“I see…” John said.

The Pikachu then started scribbling on the blackboard, frowning because of his situation. Why was he put up to this?

In a mostly brown office, cabinets laid open, a fan weakly spun above a table, and sunshine rained from the window as the room stayed silent… mostly. On the table, there were photos of mean-looking Pokémon scattered around as a Scizor analyzed them, humming deep in thought.

“It couldn’t be either Roderio or Wagsner, both have their crime organized in the Mist Continent. Bewsor has origins here and has a small portion of his organization in the continent, however, I doubt he found a way to do that, to humans nonetheless. Aria has more chances… although I hardly doubt that a lustful organization like hers would do something of this sheer scale… most Corrupted Pokémon are savages, but not that horny like dungeon Pokémon”

Reino groaned as he leaned back on his seat, mentally cursing himself for not pressing the robotic Weavile further for more answers. His mind just couldn’t let go of that moment, where his biggest piece of information just left a daunting clue to the mystery behind the Corrupted Pokémon, he didn’t even sleep this night.

“Oh, I get it… you’re one of the Pokémon trying to interfere with our plans…” “Here’s a small tip for you, bugsy! I’d suggest you stay out of other Pokémon’s business!” “We wouldn’t want any casualties on this mission.”

The steel mantis put a pincer on his head, a throbbing headache hitting him as he remembered those words. They had to be working with someone, he just needed to find out who the mastermind behind all of this was.

He would not rest until the case was closed for good.

Reino sighed before getting up, muttering to himself. “I’ll grab some water…” He left his office and walked along the hallway of the business building, walking to the water dispenser. As he walked, he wondered if the undercover agent he sent is doing alright in his temporary job. Was it a good idea to send him even when he knew full well it was dangerous? 

His mind wandered back to the conversation he had earlier today with him.

“Do you think he’ll actually come at this time of day?”

“Don’t worry, he always does. We’ve known each other for quite some time, and I know he’s not the type of guy to leave anyone hanging.”

Reino was in a garage dusting off one of the chrome jets of Raiden, the Miraidon, as they spoke to each other. The Scizor had texted a friend to come over to discuss a new mission… at one in the morning. He thought that he could cut sleep for today to plan ahead, after all, it’s not like one night without sleep would make him slack off on the job.

It was around midnight when his mind remembered something that might help him in the investigation. Those kids he encountered yesterday, he had a feeling that they could be of help, after all, that Vulpix helped discover the secret of the Corrupted Pokémon. And then there was that Joltik… he had a feeling that he was hiding something, but his mind had forgotten some important bits of his statement, so he had to uncover that secret.

After all, what are the chances of him being a human?

Raiden sighed and looked at the garage door that lifted, revealing a yawning Pikachu that walked into the garage. He didn’t even bother taking off his sleeping hat. He yawned before speaking sleepily. “What the hell, Reino… why couldn’t call me at a later time…?”

“Ah, there you are, Mark.” Reino stopped scrubbing Raiden’s jet and got up. “Sorry, an opportunity just presented itself and I couldn't afford to waste time.”

Mark the Pikachu scratched his back, relaxing his body. “So… what was that about a human that you said over the phone?” 

“Well, some context first.” The Scizor said before crossing his arms. “Yesterday night, I found an interesting pair of Pokémon out on the streets at night. One was that Vulpix that I told you about who helped me connect the dots between the Corrupted Pokémon and the missing humans.” He then looked aside. “Although… her friend was even more interesting…”

The electric rodent rubbed his eyes, trying to get the sleepiness out of his body. “Interesting how…?”

“To put it simply… it was a Joltik that was the size of a baby with the most shady backstory ever.” He uncrossed his arms and looked back at the Pikachu. “I have a slight suspicion that he may be a human.”

That made Mark’s eyes snap right open. “Are you for real?”

The steel mantis nodded. “As I said, it’s only a small suspicion. I wasn’t with him very long to confirm it, however, he felt like one to me” His wings twitched. “The only reason he might’ve lied to me was probably because he’s aware of the human-turned-Pokémon disappearances.”

“So… what do you want me to do about it?” The Pikachu asked while crossing his arms.

“In short… I want you to keep an eye on him. And if my suspicions turn out to be true, could you ask him to spill the beans for us?” Reino smirked. “Should be easy for you to do it, after all, you were a human.”

Mark scratched behind his back as he started to sit in midair with his levitation, smiling a little. “Sure, fine, I’ll stalk him. After all, it would be nice to meet another human in person, especially in times like these.” He crossed his legs. “So… what do you suggest I do that wouldn’t attract much attention?”

“Simple.” The Scizor’s antennas perked up. “The reason why I called you this late is for you to prepare for an undercover mission.” The Pikachu tilted his head. “You see, some of my sources said that in that Joltik’s school, there is a teacher that is about to be absent for a whole week, and they require a substitute teacher.”

Connecting the dots, the rodent made an unamused face. “You want me to teach some kids while keeping an eye on a Pokémon that may or may not be a human?”

Reino crossed his arms. “It’s worth a shot, and you’ll also be preserving your true identity. Fake name and everything.” 

The Miraidon then added. “I will take you there so you don’t have to fly all the way there.”

Reino approached Mark and put a pincer on his side. “So, what do you say? Think you’re up for it?”

Mark thought about it for a moment, putting his feet back on the floor. He had already dealt with children in his old life, his younger brother being the main one before living alone. He wondered what he was up to nowadays…

The Pikachu sighed, he had authority, even if he didn’t have the height anymore, but it wouldn’t hurt to teach some kids. “Alright, I’m in.”

As his mind returned to the present, Mark realized that class was already over once the bell rang. “Oh, already? That was quick…” He muttered before sitting at the edge of the teacher’s desk. “Anyways, class is over, y’all are free to go.”

With that, the students left the classroom, some of them saying “Bye Mr. Ark.” as they passed by the Pikachu. He ignored that, even though he wasn’t a fan of it, and focused on the Joltik, who was on top of the Vulpix’s head, passing by him, giving him an analyzing look as time seemed to slow down. With that, both electric types glanced at each other for a second before John left the classroom along with Claire.

After all the students left the classroom, leaving Mark alone with his thoughts. ‘ What do I do as a teacher again after class…? Ah, yes, make a report about the class after it’s done.” The Pikachu yawned, picking up the chalk and book before floating out of the classroom because his legs were feeling numb.

He didn’t have a lot of sleep after the conversation with Reino, he was almost used to it by the number of times that bug called him late at night. Mark had known Reino for quite some time now, way back when he was a Scyther and technology was in its beginning stages. He started working with the task force of the Pokémon world after suddenly waking up in this world. He used to work as a police officer back in the human world, so it was probably the main drive to become a cop in this world as well, even if he had lost his memories at the time. Even if Reino had left the task force some years ago, they were still good friends and worked together on some more… interesting cases.

After all, he had saved his life multiple times in the past. He was a great help when it came to his amnesia at the time. Although... his feelings towards him had eventually evolved into something he didn't comprehend yet.

He shook his head and continued moving forward. As he floated through the hallways, ignoring the looks that some students gave him, he suddenly thought about the Joltik in his class, John. He didn’t act like a human… but for some reason, Mark knew for a fact he was acting even though he couldn’t really confirm it. Maybe he had spent too much time with Reino, but he thought it was one of those detective intuitions he heard in movies. What should he do to uncover the Joltik’s secret…?

“So, you’re the floating Pikachu I’ve been hearing around the school, aren’t you?”

The Pikachu was pulled out of his detective thoughts and looked at the shiny female Decidueye in front of him, landing back on the floor. “Oh, uh, that’s me. Name’s Ma- I mean, Ark.” Dammit, he almost made a slip-up. Hopefully, the owl didn’t catch it.

The Decidueye chuckled. “Are you shy? I mean, it’s understandable, it’s your first day here.” She extended a wing and made a smiling expression with her beak. “My name is Iris, nice to meet you, Mr. Ark.”

The electric rodent sheepishly smiled as he grabbed Iris’ wing and shook it. “Same as well Ms. Iris, but you can just call me Ark.”

“Alright then, Ark, you can do the same as well.” She retracted her wing and said. “I have a question… why didn’t you evolve yet? Won’t Pokémon mistake you as a teen?”

Mark rubbed the back of his head, making a (fake) sad smile. “The thing is, I can’t evolve into my final stage, I tried that already…” 

Iris looked away in pity. “Ah, that’s unfortunate…”

“It’s fine, I got over it. Besides, I can still float like some Raichu out there thanks to my core, so it’s all good.” Mark said with a more enthusiastic smile before looking aside. “Say… I have a small question about one of the students here…”

The Decidueye tilted her head as she folded her wing. “And that is…?”

“About that Joltik… John.” The archer own subtly flinched as her eyes widened a little bit as Mark said that name, the Pikachu pretending not to notice Iris’ reaction. “Doesn’t he strike you as a little odd? He has the size of a baby… yet can talk?”

Iris huffed. “Well, he was odd at first, until he said that he was smaller than normal Joltiks and had 10 years old. And before you ask, he’s in a higher class because he is a prodigy.”

Mark put a paw on his chin. “Interesting… sounds like he’s a great student. That means he won’t be a hassle to deal with.” He giggled a little, his ears twitching as he heard the archer owl make a forced chuckle.

It was too easy for him to tell when someone was lying, after years of interrogation. Or maybe it was a little extension of his psychic abilities…

“Anyways… it was nice knowing you, Iris.” The Pikachu started floating again, catching the owl a little off guard. “See you sometime.” 

She regained her composure and smiled. “Same to you.”

With that, Mark floated away from the Decidueye, going to the teacher’s room and entering it. He sighed and adjusted his fringe, almost showing a cut scar on his other eye. He closed the door behind him and muttered. “Well, Reino… it seems you may be right about this one.”

After reaching home, John plopped his butt on the Vulpix twins’ bed, rolling on his back as he released a sigh of relief. He was starting to feel like a teenager again, going to school, being bullied verbally and (sometimes) physically, and being scared of certain teachers. It was like time had rewound a little and he was living the adolescent life again, but slightly better this time!

Speaking of teachers, his mind went back to the Pikachu substitute teacher. He didn’t know what it was, but for some reason, he felt like Ark was watching his every move during class. Was his child prodigy story, not that convincing? Well, that would suck, because he already went all in with that lie, so he couldn’t even change it.

“John?” Claire suddenly asked, making the Joltik turn to her. “So… about yesterday… I-”

The greenish spider interrupted her. “No Claire, you weren’t at fault there.” He looked aside in shame. “The problem is that I was too harsh with my words...”

The Vulpix tilted her head. “What…? No, you weren’t harsh at all.”

John looked back at her in confusion. “Huh…?”

Claire looked away with a grimace. “You… you were right, about humans, I mean.” She sighed as she sat down. “I was fantasizing too much about them… it made me think that they were benevolent deities that always helped Pokémon when in need.” She looked down in shame. “I thought that… with a human, I could finally make my dreams of becoming an explorer a reality. But after I met you, I realized that it wouldn’t be that easy… and it shows in the last Mystery Dungeon we went.”

John frowned. “Claire…”

“We would’ve died in that dungeon if MissingNo. was planning to kill us, as he said yesterday, he could’ve done it right in the beginning at the Hollow Forest.” She sighed. “I shouldn’t have pushed the others to come with us as well…”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Claire looked at the Joltik with a questioning look. “Yesterday was completely my fault. Even in the human world.” His face morphed into a grimace. “You all could’ve died because I retaliated against that criminal. I’m glad you guys didn’t, but I feel so stupid for putting you guys in danger and I felt like I should’ve died again as a result.”

Claire slowly opened her mouth. For a second, she almost saw herself 5 cycles ago after the incident . Being the only one to make it out alive, and blaming herself for everything that led up to it. Maybe that’s when the obsession with humans started and she’s only now realizing it… “John…” She held back tears after the realization. She couldn’t cry in front of John, not because he was a human, but because he was her friend and she needed to look strong to assure him that everything would be fine! 

John sighed and looked away. “Sorry for my rant, I was supposed to be reassuring you and not-” Suddenly, the Vulpix licked John’s body, shutting him up and making his fuzz straighten up. After a moment of shock and surprise, John dumbfoundedly let out. “W-wha…?”

“John, please don’t blame yourself. You said to me that humans were just like us, if it means what I think it means, then you are bound to make mistakes like we do.” The Vulpix smiled as she got her head to John’s eye level. “I wouldn’t like to see you blame yourself over a decision like that, after all, my dad said that we learn from our mistakes.” She wondered what Hiro would have said to her after saying all of this.

John looked away and thought about it for a second. Damn, he just got lectured by a teenager, his friends would’ve laughed at him if they found out. Nonetheless, the Vulpix was right, he was blaming himself a bit too much, after all, no one died. He sighed and looked back at Claire and nodded. “You’re right… I shouldn’t blame myself too much for this situation. I may have messed up big time, but at least no one was hurt because of it.”

Claire wished she could say the same on her end. 

Nonetheless, she smiled through the pain, Hiro wouldn’t want to see her like that anyways. Would she tell John about it? … maybe some other time, although for now, she could only do one thing. “Thanks, John.”

John made a little surprised expression before smiling behind his fuzz. “Thank you as well, Claire.” He then looked around, trying to find the foxes’ laptop. “Anyways, I need to speak with Harry to catch him up to speed.”

“Oh, uh… Elsa grabbed it when we were talking.” Claire said, rubbing the back of her head.

“Wait, she did?” 

Suddenly, the door of the bedroom opened, revealing Elsa standing on her hind legs while also wearing gloves on her forepaws. She looked at Claire and John. “Ah, so you finished the couple’s talk. Good.”

Claire retorted a bit annoyed as she snorted sparks of flames from her snout. “We’re not-”

Without any warning, the ice Vulpix walked up to John and grabbed him with her two paws. “I need you for a moment, come with me.”

John was caught by surprise as his movements were restricted. “What!? Why?!”

Claire’s fur stood up as some flames started coming out of her mouth as she spoke. “What are you gonna do with him!?” 

Elsa turned to her twin with a smirk. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt your little boyfriend here. I’m just gonna show them to some people.” She said before walking out the door.

Claire tilted her head in confusion. “What is she planning…?”

Elsa started walking through the house with John on her paws. Maybe that was the reason she was wearing the gloves was so that she could pick him up. “Where are you taking me?”

The white Vulpix growled. “Shut up, peasant. You will find out when we get there.” 

It didn’t take long until they reached the living room’s desk, which was the appropriate size for someone of stature, where the laptop was. After approaching the device, John noticed that it was opened in a site he knew too well. “Wait… is that Twitch…?”

Elsa muttered, not appearing in the camera. “Start talking after I talk, understood, bug?”

The Joltik was a bit confused. “Huh-”

Elsa then stepped in front of the camera as she did the fakest smile John has ever seen a Pokémon do while also changing the tone of her voice. “I’m back, my loyal viewers!” John could see the chat go wild.

Yohomiemario832: Yo shes back!!!

JoshTV: Wait, she can stand on two legs? Sick

Favmommy01: OMG u so cute, I wanna hug u so bad!!!!!!

alpharad: Wtf, this stream is actually legit? 

Even if he focused on some messages, it could show that people were actually believing that Elsa was real and not some V-tuber program as Twitch users mostly expect. Although that was a problem, a huge one. If a real Pokémon started streaming and the viewer base of the channel started to increase, people would become aware of Pokémon and know they’re real even with the massive amount of Pokémon showing around social media now. Also, how the fuck did Elsa discover Twitch in the first place?

The ice Vulpix chuckled. “Good to see that you all miss me! But anyways, as requested, I brought another Pokémon that lives with me!” She lifted her paws, putting John in the camera. “Say hi to the camera, John!”

The Joltik was caught a bit off guard by that, making him stutter a little. “Wai- I…” He took a moment to process it all before finally saying after sighing. “Hey, guys…! I’m a Joltik, as you can clearly see… and uh… nice to meet you all!”

The chat went two times as fast so he couldn’t even read a single message. Elsa put John on the desk before tilting the camera to an angle where John and her face could be shown at the same time. Suddenly, a notification sound could be heard coming from the laptop, and John immediately noticing it was a donation. “Thanks for the donation! Even though I don’t even know what ten dollars are equivalent to Poké, I still appreciate it!”

John was just utterly speechless by all of this, so many questions were plaguing his mind at the moment, and he knew that he couldn’t receive the answer from Elsa because of very obvious reasons. He was tired and didn’t wanna deal with this, so he turned to the icy Vulpix and asked while whispering. “Elsa, can I go-”

“Oh, someone in the chat asked: “Can John make a drawing with his webs?” ” Elsa then turned to the Joltik with the same fake smile. “Oh he definitely can, can’t you, John?”

The greenish spider looked aside with a sigh. “I don’t really wanna, and I don’t even know how...” He said quietly before he felt the temperature around him drop as Elsa smiled a bit harder. He groaned before whispering back. “Fine!” 

John got in front of the camera and waved at it a bit hesitant. Why was he doing this for her? For one simple reason really, he was forced to and Claire was not around to help him if the snow bitch threatened him. He sighed and prepared his silk, inflating his mouth as his cheeks puffed up. With less force than the usual String Shot, he released the silk on the desk, walking around as his mouth kept releasing silk. Elsa tilted the camera a bit more downwards, showing the drawing John made with his silk. It was a heart-shaped web. 

“What a lovely drawing, my loyal subject!” Elsa said as the temperature rose once again, making John sigh in relief. She started waving John away. “I hope you liked the appearance of one of my many subjects!”

That was John’s cue to leave and he reluctantly agreed. Since he knew the duration of normal streams on these sites… yeah, he wasn’t gonna speak to Harry again for today. Maybe tomorrow, however.

Chapter Text

Her dream was a mistake. Everything she has ever done was a mistake.

Her father was right, she was useless, no matter how many times she tried and tried again, she always failed to get anything done correctly. Everything that she has endured for all of these years, everything that she has gone through was all. For. NOTHING!

Her life had no meaning anymore, all of those promises that she has made, all of those countless times she said her dreams would be accomplished, never came to fruition. All a lie, all because of this cruel, wretched, and evil world. 

As she walked through the soft grass of the forest that she used to live in, her mind wandered back to the last attempt that she has tried to do something useful to this wretched society…

“Why!?” She asked loudly while banging on the desk with her hands, her mind filled with confusion and rage. “Why won’t you accept my plan!? Think about all of those lives out there this plan could save! People would be happy, Mister Greyson!”

The man across her sighed, the wrinkles and grey hairs showing that he was in his early 60s. “I am really sorry Miss Niijima, or should I say Niijima-san?” He said with a bit of satire in his voice. “Either way, our company, unfortunately, cannot afford your plan to come to life. We just don’t have enough funding for it…”

She shouted. “Bullshit! You can’t fool me that easily! This is the richest business company in the entire fucking state and you claim to not have enough funding for a plan like that!?”

“I know how you feel, but I’m telling the truth, we just don’t have enough money for that. We would love to put your plan in motion and help out the people in need but we can’t-”

Suddenly, Niijima interrupted him in a calmer and more menacing tone as her face darkened. “But you have enough money to move drugs while staying undetected?” The man stayed in silence, his eyes subtly widening. “Yeah, I’ve known about it for some time now, after all, my parents were one of your subordinates before they were arrested. And after some investigating, all tracks led to you.” She folded her arms behind her and looked out the window. “You know, I’ve tried having this plan be accepted by other companies, but they all rejected it. Your company was the last one I’d try, just to see what’d happen…”

Mister Greyson stayed in silence before putting his hands on his desk and taking a long sigh. “I ask that you leave my office, our conversation here is over. Don’t make me call security…”

The young woman narrowed her eyes, showing an expression of hostility before she sighed. “You know, I won’t sell you out for the cops, not like they’d do anything in the first place in this evil world… after all, just like many others, your money will make you a free man anyways…” She said before leaving the room, gritting her teeth as she banged the door.

This world is rotten, there was simply no salvation for it. It was doomed to fall because of the evil creatures that roamed around the place. They would do anything just to fulfill their selfish desires; lie, trick, gaslight, betray, and even kill , only to just achieve what they want. Human nature knows no bounds…

Betrayal stung a lot to her. Her best friend, the one that stuck with her for the entirety of her teenage life, was among evil all along. Behind her back, she insulted her, laughed at her, threw dirt all over her name, and when she found out about it, everything shattered around her. All of the happy memories she made with her, all of the laughs they had, and all of the suffering they endured, were nothing more than just an act, just for her to torture her as sadism was part of her true nature. Why was she so… evil?

Why was humanity so cruel and heartless? She didn’t deserve to be born among monsters while wearing the skin of said monsters.

She finally reached it, her favorite spot in all of Pennsylvania, the cliff close to her old home, where she could see the entire town from there. The wind was blowing as usual there, lifting her long hair a little with the flow of it. She looked up, seeing the blue skies and white puffy clouds clearly as the sun loomed over the horizon. She had to admit, one thing she found beautiful about this world was the environment and the wildlife, it was one of the best things that came out of this dying planet. 

Her lips curled as she looked to her side, finding her favorite spot she used to go to. Even after some years, that same tree she used to sit under still stood, not claimed by urbanization or bad weather. Memories flooded her mind of the several times she went there to draw, to listen to music, to play Pokémon, just to escape from the cruel life that always seemed to follow her wherever she went. But that didn’t matter anymore.

Nothing mattered anymore.

Her face darkened again as she looked back towards the ledge of the cliff, slowly walking up to it. She stopped at the tip of it, her feet becoming uneasy as they adjusted to the unstable ground. She looked down, seeing the massive drop that the cliff offered as she started taking shaky breaths. She looked up again and closed her eyes while steeling her emotions before opening her arms, leaning forward before…

She fell.

And fell.

And fell.

And fell.

And fell.

And fell.

And fell.

And fell.

…

She didn’t hit the ground.

…

Niijima-san slowly opened her eyes, only to see that she was floating in a void of nothingness. Everywhere she looked was only darkness, with no sign of anything showing up. “Where… am I?”  

Suddenly, that void started to fill in with swirling colors, making the environment around her feel alive and vibrant. Where was she? Was this… how the doorway to the afterlife looked like? 

Hello there. Welcome to the portal to the world of Pokémon.

An ethereal and booming voice rang throughout the entire space, making the young woman look around, trying to find the source of the voice.

Before I allow you to enter, I’d like for you to tell me more about yourself through some questions. Are you ready?

She hesitated in speaking as she kept looking around. “Uh… y-yes…?”

 Excellent! Let the interview begin! Let’s start with the name first, could you tell me your name?

She stopped looking around and just stared in a certain direction. For some reason, she felt some of her memories start slipping away from her mind. Nonetheless, she answered her name. “A-Alisson… Alisson Niijima…”

At that, the voice kept asking her random questions, one being more random than the others while some felt too close to her. However, something else was bothering her, every time she wanted to seek out memories referring to the questions she was being asked, she almost found no memories, like they were slowly disappearing from her mind as the questionnaire continued. 

After some minutes, the questions were finally done.

Alright, the questions are done. Normally, I’d suggest the form you would like to pick and then let you choose not only that but also a partner, however, the being that asked me to bring you into the world already said he had the perfect form for you, even though he doesn’t know you… but since he said that this was more urgent than other cases like this, I couldn’t help but oblige. But anyways, you’re all set! Let’s get you into the world of Pokémon, shall we?

A heavenly and glimmering noise could be heard behind her. She turned around to find a golden and sparkly glow that seemed to grow and grow even more, slowly starting to envelop her. Alisson braced before a white flash filled her entire vision.

…

A grunt, a shift of position, and a deep breath. After those three acts, Alisson stirred awake, groggily opening her eyes as she slowly regained control of her body and mind. She looked around slowly, seeing the new environment in front of her. “Huh…? Where… am I?”

The place that she was in… looked deserted and surreal. Across the dark dirt, several dead trees, teal-colored bushes, and some rocks felt unnatural to a place like this. In the skies, swirling vortexes of purple and blue swirled around the place along with some floating islands made of the same material on the land she was standing on. 

Another thing to note was her body. She knew she was supposed to be a human, but whatever this body was, it had paws and a tail, and humans didn’t have those if she remembered correctly. She would’ve freaked out a little about this, but for some reason, she lacked the energy to care enough…

Suddenly, a large shadow passed by her, making her hackles rise a little in defense. She remembered humans having fur, but not that much. She then looked at the source of the shadow that was descending towards her slowly. It looked like some kind of edgy floating serpent with large spikes on its sides, black tendrils ending with red tips, and a golden helmet around its head. Even though the appearance was intimidating, for some reason, she still felt so neutral about it, like seeing it was completely normal for her. Has she seen it somewhere else? Well, that might be true, because she had a feeling that she had indeed seen it, somewhere else… but where?

The large serpentine entity suddenly cleared its throat before speaking with a deep voice. “Are you Alisson Niijima by any chance?”

She nodded. “Yes… I am…”

“Good, that’s good. My name is Giratina. We can discuss more things at a later date, but right now, we are in a hurry, the entire world is at stake here. So, that’s why I need you to accomplish a mission for me, understood?”

She had nowhere to go, she couldn’t remember anything, and she couldn’t even tell what is her main goal. So she had to take the offer from whoever this Giratina is. Maybe, with this mission, a lot of her questions would be answered, and her main goal would be clear. “Alright then, I accept.”

“Um… John?” Whispered Claire.

“Yes…?” The Joltik whispered back, thinking if it was a good idea to do it in the middle of the class. Well, the talk of the other students might shroud the topic.

She took a small glance at the Pikachu teacher who was texting on his phone after having some things written on the blackboard. “Don’t you think that new teacher is… acting a bit suspicious lately?”

John ignored the intrusive thought in his head on a certain term and looked a little at Ark. “What’s uh… what’s the issue with him?”

The vixen looked aside, unsure if someone might be listening. She whispered more closely to the Joltik. “I keep noticing he keeps taking glances at you. When I was reading the board, I noticed that he was looking a lot at you… does he…”

The greenish tick shivered a little bit. There was no way that a teacher that just entered a school and taught students for a day and a half is that close to discovering his secrets, right? “Nah… it just makes no sense…” He glanced back at the teacher for a moment and realized the Pikachu’s black and white eye was aimed directly at him for a moment before looking back at his phone, floating idly in the air. John shivered a little before he looked back at the fire Vulpix. “I uh… I think you may have a point… but I still don’t think he knows…”

“Should we-”

“John and Claire?” Ark suddenly called, making both the six-tailed fox and greenish tick look at the Pikachu while trying to hide their nervousness. “May I talk with you two later in class?” He crossed his arms with a smirk as he landed on the teacher’s desk. “I feel as if you two haven’t been paying attention to class. I wanna see if there’s something we can talk it out.”

The ice Vulpix giggled and grinned. “Wow Claire, you’ve been acting like a bad student lately, getting called out by almost every teacher here.” She continued giggling along with her loyal friends. 

As they laughed, Taro, Amy, John, and Claire just glared at them with their eyes narrowed. Meanwhile, Cerbera just looked away, whistling a random tune as he tried not to be caught up in a warzone. 

Ark sighed before putting his phone away and clapping his paws. “Okay, that’s enough bickering, no need to make a battlefield on a classroom. I’m not gonna give a warning, just a small check, alright?”

John gulped in nervousness. His thoughts were having a civil war between themselves, tearing each other apart with claims saying that it was over for the Joltik and some others saying that it was just a normal talk with the teacher. Well, he shouldn’t worry this much, he’s been through that song and dances two times already, but unlike those times he was a student now. And with his obviously true backstory that he was a 10- or was it 15 years old…? Well, around those two ages.

After John’s internal war ended much more quickly than he expected (perhaps he was getting better at controlling his jumpy reactions), he was quickly formulating answers on his tiny spiderling brain for any questions the teacher might throw at him and Claire. 

Ark crossed his arms as he spoke. “Okay, back to class. Have you guys ever entered a Mystery Dungeon before?” All the students nodded, making the Pikachu’s head tilt a little as he thought about it. “Oh yes, now I’m remembering that you were that group of Pokémon that went to Jingle Jungle Woods. Welp, that should make this explaining subject easier.” The Pikachu started floating again, grabbing his chalk and floating to the blackboard, where John just now realized there was a hasty drawing of a map in it. It seemed that Ark may have been right, he wasn’t really focusing on the class that much… “So students, can someone tell me what this crude drawing is?” The electric rodent asked as he pointed the marker at the map.

After some hesitation, Claire answered. “It’s a… map of a Mystery Dungeon?”

Ark twirled the chalk on his paw fingers before pointing it at Claire. “Correct, Claire.” He then pointed back at the blackboard. “Today we are learning about the layouts of a Mystery Dungeon. As you may have noticed, the Mystery Dungeon layouts are quite linear, even if the outside environment doesn’t match up because of it being a kind of pocket dimension.” He floated to the other side of the board and focused on the narrow parts of the drawings. “Normally, a dungeon will have two common parts on its layout. The linear narrow hallways…” He then pointed at the wide areas of the map. “And the wide rooms, which have more space for confrontations.” He then looked at the students. “Small tip, when battling on those narrow hallways, always let the team member in front of you battle the Pokémon first, and if things get dicey, switch places with another party member so you don’t accidentally hit each other.”

The students nodded before some students spoke. “Yes, Ark!”

Ark let out a little smile before flying above the board and pointing at the drawing of a simple staircase. “As you know, every floor of the dungeon that’s NOT the last floor has stairs to progress to the next floor. However, there are some things to note, the first being that stairs only appear on wide rectangular or square areas, there were no records of them appearing in the hallways. The second thing about them is that they never teleport you to a hallway, only to a wide area, so always be prepared to fight in case enemies are waiting on the other floor.”

The students nodded in comprehension. However, John remembered something from the Hollow Forest, that tall white canine that was guarding the stairs. He raised his pointy nub and the Pikachu teacher pointed the chalk at him. The Joltik steeled his nervousness before asking. “Are there any possibilities of Pokémon guarding the stairs?”

Ark stared in silence at John before playing it off with a tilt of the head and flick of the ears. “Yes, there is a possibility of that happening, you just have to be really unlucky for that to happen.”

John nodded and looked aside, trying to not make as much eye contact with the teacher. “I see…” He then looked back at the teacher because he suddenly realized that not looking at him much will draw suspicion… like that funny hit game, A-

He shook his head from the intrusive thoughts in his head trying to make a joke to get his mind out of the tense situation. It was fine, Mr. Ark didn’t know and would never know. When thinking about something else, the spiderling realized that Mr. Ark sounded awfully like a certain name that he’d heard somewhere.

Eh, it was probably nothing.

After some time, the bell rang and the students were on the break period. John hopped on Claire’s head before leaving their seats. Before they could leave the classroom, however, the Pikachu called them. “Hey.” The fire Vulpix and the Joltik looked at the Pikachu. “I’m gonna grab some stuff in the teacher’s room. Meet me at the library, alright?”

Both of the students nodded and left the classroom, seeing the teacher make a smile before they turned away. “So um… what do we do now? If we don’t show up, he definitely will think we’re hiding something.”

The greenish spider sighed and responded. “We’ll go there. Don’t worry, I’ll think of something so we don’t get found out, but you’ll have to play along perfectly for that to work, alright?”

The six-tailed fox nodded determined. “Count on me!”

Claire walked to the library, carrying John on her head and they encountered a door unlike the rest. It was wooden and had two handles for tall and small Pokémon. Using the small handle, Claire opened the door and John was greeted with a rather cozy sight. The library was a bit smaller than John expected but was big nonetheless. Bookshelves containing a myriad of books related to history, science, theories, and novels lay spread across the wooden-made room, some Pokémon students, both big and small, sat on wooden desks reading some books that John couldn’t see the contents. In the center of the room, there was a round desk with a small yellow and black bipedal Pokémon with a huge-ass second crocodile-like mouth behind it that looked a little like a ponytail. 

John shivered at that sight before chalking it up as another Pokémon weirdness as usual. If that was the librarian, he hoped the conversation with Ark would be as quiet as actual silence. As Claire walked to find a good spot to wait, John took a couple of glances at the titles of certain books: “Fire and Water War” , “Compilation of Tips on How to Survive in a Mystery Dungeon” , “Legends and Myths of the World.”, “Mystery of the Marked Mews” , “Echoes of Time”, and “Warped Skies” , among many other titles.

The Joltik suppressed a flinch once he saw an adult title that was not supposed to be there. How did someone sneak that in with the amount of awareness that Pokémon have in their surroundings? Hell if he knew, but he had to give props to the Pokémon kid that managed to sneak that in. “Teenagers…” John muttered silently to himself.

Claire noticed that John said something but quickly waved it off, thinking that he was probably just nervous about the situation. The fire-breathing fox found a spot a bit isolated from the rest of the library and sat around a small table that was fit for her size, sitting in a hay seat and letting John jump on the table. “So… what’s your plan for when he starts the questions?” 

“Simple.” John whispered before turning to Claire. “We’ll answer normally, leaving a few details out so that it doesn’t make him discover the truth, then, if he starts asking more personal questions, then we’ll call him out. How does that sound?”

“Great!” The Vulpix beamed in a low voice before realizing something. “Wait, why are you whispering? No one can hear us here if we talk in a low voice.”

The Joltik looked aside and lied. “Eh… just trying to be extra safe in case anyone tries to eavesdrop on our conversation.”

“Ah, good point.” The Vulpix looked around before she spotted a certain book. “Oh, that’s some nice coincidence!” She said before getting up and grabbing the book from the bookshelf with her muzzle. She walked back to the table and put the book on it, letting the Joltik see the title: “Human Legends, History and Folklore in the World” . “I think this was one of the books that kinda started my admiration for humans. I didn’t know there was one here in the school library.

“Huh…” The Joltik inspected the front of the book. It was red with some purple outlines on the edges of it. It looked old, some of the materials composing it were either rusting or decaying. He then looked at the drawing on the cover, seeing simplistic drawings and depictions of a human. John said nothing as he slowly opened the book with a bit of effort with his small body. He flipped through some pages, noting that the text was written, of course, in English. “So uh… what’s this book about?”

“It’s basically a bunch of historical events, theories, and legends about humans in general. This book just showed me how mysterious humans were and I kinda wanted to know more about them!” She then looked aside a bit ashamed. “Although uh… I kinda became obsessed without really realizing.”

“Well, at least you got over that obsession…” Doubt could be noticed in the tone of his voice, but at least Claire didn’t notice. John focused on the book again, flipping through a couple more pages before something caught his eye. On a certain page, there was a photo of a sign with something written on it in a different language. The photo looked old, but what caught the eye of the spiderling was what was behind the sign, a massive abandoned and rusting factory. “Huh…?”

“Enjoying a bit of reading?”

John and Claire turned their attention to the voice behind them. The teacher, Ark was walking towards them with a bag strapped around his shoulder. John closed the book and shoved it aside as quickly as possible. Just reading a human-related book means that it would be easier to identify who he really was, so he had to just say that it was a book he found on the table and just decided to take a glimpse. Simple enough. “Hey, Mr- I mean, Ark.” John corrected himself.

The Pikachu chuckled. “Still getting used to it, I see. Well, it’s like that when you’re used to directing most of the teachers formally.” Ark put his bag on the table, sitting on a hay seat beside the Vulpix. “You don’t mind if I sit here, do you?”

It took a second for Claire to respond with a sheepish shake of the head. “Oh, no, not at all.” She said while smiling sheepishly.

“Great then!” The electric rodent beamed, adjusting himself so he didn’t sit on his own tail. “Alright, you guys remember what I’m here for, right?” Both students nodded. “Great then, let’s get this out of the way.” With a calm smile, he rested his arms on the desk and spoke a single word. “Human.”

Both Claire and John flinched with their eyes widening for a second before they regained their composure, John asking after doing a fake cough. “Uh… why did you say that word?”

Claire looked aside a bit nervous. “Yeah, uh… that was so random.” 

Ark clasped his paws and smiled gently. “It’s simple, I just wanted to get a reaction from you two, and it looks like I got a hit.” He then focused on the Joltik on the desk. “You’re a human, aren’t you?” 

John looked aside, backing away a little. “I… I’m not-”

“Don’t worry, I’m not with the guys that kidnap humans and turn them into monsters.”

Claire and John let out a surprised reaction at that piece of information being dropped on them. The Vulpix asked, stuttering a little. “H-how did… how did you know…?”

Ark smirked before crossing his arms and closing his eyes. “Remember that Scizor with antennas?” Both students’ eyes widened at that realization. “Yep, I’m his..." Ark looked aside for a moment a bit in thought. "... closest friend and partner, but unlike him, I’m with the task force.”

John looked aside, a bit ashamed of himself. “So he knew…?”

“Kiddo, next time, don’t try to make fake stories on the fly in front of a private detective.” He said before opening his eyes again. “He had suspicions, but no confirmations yet. So that’s why he sent me to watch over you. Honestly, the way you act and your entire body just doesn’t help in hiding your true identity.”

The Joltik sighed before looking down disappointedly. “Figured that was the case… and it seems that applying to this school didn’t help in anything…”

“Ah, no, it did help.” The Pikachu disagreed. “The reason why I found out was because I already came here knowing about you.” He tilted his head, his ears tilting to the side as well. “Tell me, do some of the teachers here already know about your identity? I asked one of them about you and they seemed to be covering for you.”

“Well, only two know about me so far… I can assure you they are good guys as well.” John said, looking at Ark again.

“Good.” He said with a relieved smile.

“Say…” Claire began, looking to the side before looking back at him. “What are you gonna do with this information? Pass it to Reino and the police department? Do you even know if any of them aren’t working with the bad guys?”

Ark clasped his paws with a hum. “Well, you got the first part right. However, I’m not gonna pass that to the task force. I am well experienced to know that some Pokémon there are corrupted easily with either drugs, money, or power, especially power. If what Reino told me is right and there’s a mastermind behind all of the Corrupted Pokémon, then it’s a case that requires private investigation in case police departments get bribed with money.” His only visible eye glistened with determination. “That’s why I’m working with Reino to solve this case as soon as possible.”

John found something weird about that statement, however. “Why are you in on this case if it’s dangerous as hell? Like, I know you at least have a sense of justice and all but… I think this is way beyond you and the higher-ups in your department might notice you acting on your own and take your badge away from you.”

The Pikachu stared in silence at John before shifting his position, crossing his arms. “That’s a simple answer. It’s because I’m involved in this case as well.”

Claire tilted her head in confusion. “What do you… mean by that?” 

Ark then pointed at John. “Because, just like John, I’m also a human.”

The Vulpix and the Joltik stared at the Ark for an awkward moment of silence before they both spoke in unison, conflicted and in disbelief. “What…?”

Ark smirked, already knowing that would be an expected reaction. “You heard me right.” He crossed his arms again. “I’m a human just like you.”

They still stayed in silence. John just couldn’t believe it, there was just no way he was lucky enough to speak to another human in a situation similar to him. Just what are the chances of that happening twice? Unless the number of humans is higher than expected… but John wanted to confirm if Ark wasn’t just joking with them. He took a look at Claire and saw that she was a bit stunned, however, showing no clear signs of her obsession which was a good thing. He turned to look back at the Pikachu with suspicion. “Prove it.” That made the Pikachu tilt his head, his smirk still not dropping. “Tell me, where did you use to live in the human world?”

“America.” Before John could ask a deeper question, the electric rodent continued. “I lived in Utah, but I’m actually native to India.” He crossed his arms. “In America, I worked in the police, and just like in this world, I work on the task force.” He then opened his bag and started rummaging through it with his paw. “And if you want physical proof…” He then took out of the bag a badge and put it on the table in front of the Joltik. It was a shield-shaped badge with a blue circle and a white star in the middle, that had the words “Patrolman Salt Lake City Police Utah” engraved on it. “This badge was with me when I got sent to this world.” He tilted his head. “Is this proof enough for you?”

Both the Vulpix and the Joltik stayed in silence despite the amount of proof and information presented to them. Claire looked unsure of what to say, she knew none of those locations to prove if their teacher was speaking the proof. And that badge… just didn’t look like any of the badges that she had seen so far in this world. Claire turned to John with an inquisitive look. “So… is he really a human?”

John’s mind was racing with questions, he just wanted to double-check even more to see if this was some trolling or not. But no, he had all the proof necessary, and Ark, indeed was a human. “Holy shit… I… you’re a human… like me.” The Pikachu nodded. “I… I never thought I would speak with someone in the same situation as me…”

“Neither did I.” Ark said as he crossed his arms, smiling genuinely as he did so. “But I’m glad we did, especially in times like these.” The disguised police officer put his badge away and took out his phone, seemingly typing something in it.

Claire’s heart rate was accelerating a bit. Not only has she met one human-turned-Pokémon, talked to his friend, and gone into the human world, but now here she was speaking to another human-turned-Pokémon. Everything in more than a week. Her mom was right, this cycle was about to be different in every different way and she couldn’t be more happy about it. Her tails were wagging again from excitement- wait, her obsession was getting to her again. She needed to do something to make the realization that she was between two humans go away. She looked at the Pikachu’s phone and asked. “Hey… what are you doing?”

“Texting someo- eh… you guys at least deserve to know, he won’t get pissy about it. Texting Reino with confirmation of his suspicions…” Ark explained before he frowned a little. “Huh, so soon…?” The Pikachu muttered as he looked at his phone. “Jesus, he’s getting a bit desperate…” He then put his phone back in his bag before turning to John and Claire. “Alright, I’ll go straight to the point. I didn’t come here for small talk, there’s something else that me and Reino want from you both.”

John tilted his head a bit confused. “And that is…?”

The Pikachu clasped his paws while taking a deep breath. “We need your help.” The two students tilted both of their heads in confusion. “And before you ask, no not that kind of help that requires you two to be out there on dangerous stuff, leave that to the professionals. What we want is just information.” Ark crossed his arms. “Reino said that you two might have some useful information, so I wanna confirm that suspicion.”

“Info regarding what exactly?” Asked Claire.

“Anything, really. It might help with some minor cases or something else entirely.” He looked at John. “After all, it’s proven that most of the time humans are sent here to solve major problems, so they always attract trouble wherever they’re summoned to. So, you might have something that’s been troubling you recently.”

Claire tilted her head. “If that’s the case, what was the big trouble that you wound up dealing with?”

“A mafia boss.”

The Vulpix’s eyes widened a little at how the Pikachu said something so big with a casual tone. “I-I see...”

John hesitated a little, unsure if he should share the current situation with someone else from the police. However, this was a human he was talking to. The one who would know best what to do in this situation is another human. “So… Ark… do you know the company that, like… created computers and cellphones here?”

“More like just transported our stuff to this world…” Ark commented with a huff. “I’m not sure if you noticed, John, but almost every device looks like the ones from our world. Like almost no slight differences whatsoever.”

John looked aside. “It’s the first thing I noticed when I came to this world too.”  He then looked back at the Pikachu. “And that’s not even the biggest issue… the internet is where shit starts getting real.” 

“What about it…?” Ark asked as he tilted his head. “I mean, sure, it’s just another copy from our own and for some reason, we can communicate with our world… which is cool and all but that’s still kinda weird and gonna cause a lot of backlash on both worlds once they figure out.”

Claire tilted her head. “Wait, if you already knew, why aren’t you worried about it?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure both sides are gonna take it pretty well, not like we can go to their world anyways.” Ark said with a casual shrug before the two students at each other with a frown. The electric rodent looked confused as he asked. “Why those faces?”

They both looked back at the Pikachu and John said a little hesitant. “So um… apparently, Asuri can go to our world.” That made the undercover teacher flinch a little, asking silently with a tilt of the head. “Look at the facts dude, how can they copy everything from scratch and make an exact look-alike by just the descriptions that humans gave?” John then went inside Ark’s bag, and with a lot of effort, he took out the Pikachu’s phone and put it on the table. “They took over Twitter.”

With an expression of disbelief, the electric rodent went to open the website that he didn’t pay much attention to in the two months that the internet was a thing in the Pokémon world. He opened the website and typed in the Asuri CEO’s name, Alice Mishima if he remembered correctly. And lo and behold, just in a few posts, he found a post that made his entire body shiver.

John looked at the tweet, noticing some changes from the last tweet he had seen from Alice. The biggest changes were that she now had the Asuri logo as her profile picture and the verified Twitter checkmark beside her name. The Joltik looked back at Ark’s face to see a surprised and disbelief expression. He took a deep breath and looked at John again. “Is there something more to add about them…?”

John shook his head. “No… I just got a bad feeling that they’re up to something… like, why go through all this effort to just bring technology to this place? They’re definitely hiding something…”

Claire added with a snort to the side. “Yeah, and from what John said about the Twitter owner, he would never pass ownership unless threatened, meaning that these guys are prone to use violence at any time…”

Ark just looked away in thought for a moment before looking back at the students. “That information may be useful. I think this matter is more serious than the Corrupted Pokémon…” He put his phone back in his bag and put it on again, getting up from the hay seat. “I’ll contact Reino about this, thanks for the info, Claire and John.”

“You’re welcome, Ark.” John said with a smile on his fuzz.

The Pikachu waved it off. “Actually, my real name is Mark. Ark was just an undercover name, but don’t tell anyone that, alright?”

John tilted his head a little before it clicked. Ark was just an anagram, wasn’t it? “It kinda makes more sense now…” He muttered to himself.

“Oh, I see.” Claire noted before something came back to her. “Oh wait, we forgot to tell you something.”

The Pikachu crossed his arms. “What is it?”

“If you’re planning to investigate Asuri with Reino, next week on Friday we’re gonna go to their museum in Xander Cage City. If I remembered correctly, Alice will be there.” 

The Pikachu made a thoughtful look while closing his eyes before looking back at the Vulpix. “Well then, makes our investigation easier then. Normally, I wouldn’t recommend kids-”

“I’m 20.” John corrected, interrupting Mark.

The electric rodent looked at the Joltik a bit confused and surprised before clearing his throat. “Well, sorry for that.” He would ask what an adult was doing in a class full of teenagers later. “Anyways, it’d be helpful if we worked together when we are there. Keep an eye out for any evidence that may show Asuri’s true identity, alright?”

“We will, don’t worry. See you, Mark.” Claire said as she waved her paw as John silently did the same.

“See you tomorrow guys. I still have some things to ask John.” He smiled. “It’s human stuff of course.” He said before walking away.

The bell rang once again and Claire and John were walking back to their classroom. “Hey, John?” 

“Hm?”

“I think our chances of exposing Asuri doubled, didn’t they?” Claire asked with a grin.

John smiled in relief. “Yes, I think they did.” Not only that, but he finally found someone who was in the same situation as him. He hoped that once this was over, Mark would teach him the ropes of how to be not only a Pokémon, both in culture and actions but a human-turned-Pokémon stuck in a situation like this. Which begged the question… how long was he there before him? 

Tomorrow he would ask him.

A long-haired woman walked through the prestige and clean hallways of the White House while holding a tablet on her arm, going fast on her heels with a nervous expression on her face. How can a simple call that the White House received just change the place from a calm and collected work environment into a chaotic hellhole?

Out of nowhere, the White House secretary received a call from the new owner of Twitter, a woman named Alice Mishima who, once researched, was revealed to have a shady profile. Then they dug a bit deeper and found some massive red flags, all in the span of minutes. 

The news wasn’t joking when they said that those photos found on her Twitter posts were not the work of photo editing software.

What made the place plunge into chaos, however, was when she said she would like to speak to the President . 

They thought that it could be a prank, however, once the secret services of the government tried to track the location of the phone call, they couldn’t find anything, even with the most advanced tracking programs in the whole world, no exact location of the caller could be found. Suddenly, one of the workers just straight out said it could be aliens searching for our leader. The Senate, of course, dismissed that idea… but what if it is aliens wanting to make first contact?

The woman finally reached the door to the President’s office. With a heavy sigh, she opened the door and looked at the man she sought out. From the looks of him, he looked like he ranged from 40 to 60 years old, even though people knew he was 55 years. The man had crispy black hair, some gray hairs being visible as well, along with a small beard. 

In the office, along with the President, there were his bodyguards on each side of the room, and some well-dressed men and women alike, their voices and faces each showing signs of panic, probably because of the recent news of minutes ago. Even though the recent news got to him, the President’s face was covered with stress rather than concern or panic, definitely because of all the talk happening in the room at the moment.

Well, definitely after the news she was about to give him, he would probably be even more stressed, concerned, AND a bit panicked all at the same time. She hoped that wouldn’t be the case.

The woman loudly cleared her throat and adjusted her fringe, shutting up the garbled talk inside the office. “Mr. President.” Everyone looked at her in silence, the President, Paul Freeman, included with a look of hope amidst the chaos. The woman walked to the wooden desk where the President was sitting before turning to one of the employees, the one in question being blonde. “Bring a screen here, now.”

“Yes, ma’am!” He said before sprinting fast out of the office.

“Marie, please tell me you brought me good news…” President Freeman tiredly said with a hefty sigh.

“Apologies for the sudden entrance, Mr. President. I come with a bit of sudden and worrying news…” The woman said while looking aside in nervousness.

“Is it the Chinese government? Just to add one more thing to my stress?”

Marie shook her head as the blonde man came back with a large flat screen on wheels. She looked at it for a moment before looking back at the President. “No… it’s from Alice.” Everyone in the room (except for the bodyguards) stiffened as they heard that name. “Apparently, she doesn’t want only to do a call with you, but a video call.” She explained as she raised her tablet. “Do you accept?”

President Freeman looked thoughtful for a moment, his wrinkly face forming a grimace as he thought about the possibilities of what this call would ensue. Despite all the ways this could go wrong, the man sighed and said his answer, ignoring the flinches of the other people in his office. “I accept.”

Marie stiffened a little but showed no signs of it. “Understood.” She looked at the guy who brought the TV and nodded to him, the man immediately turned on the big remote screen with no issue. After tapping a few buttons on her tablet, she transferred the call to the big screen, Alice’s company logo appeared on her profile picture. A woman employee put a microphone on the President’s desk and connected it to the screen.

President Freeman tensed for a moment, clasping his hands in nervousness when there was no voice on the other end of the call. He hesitated a little before speaking as the screen turned on the camera. “Ms… Ms. Alice?”

After a moment of agonizing silence that built up their anxiety, the camera on the other side of the screen turned on, making everyone who was looking at it gasp in disbelief and shock, except the President. Inside the screen, showed a figure that was slightly obscured by shadows, however, some of their features could be seen in the live feed of the video. Paws with green fur being clasped together, a piece of cloth resembling a flower around the neck, some kind of dark green mask, and her left red eye were visible through the darkness like her photos suggested. 

None of those traces looked like a good video filter or special effects you only see in movies.

They flinched once they realized that the figure blinked and spoke with their feline mouth moving, suggesting that she wasn’t wearing a costume. “Hello, President Freeman.”

The White House employees were stunned once they saw the creature speaking, even Marie looked like she froze in place. The President, trying to act like the fearless leader of the best nation in the world he is, got his act together. “So, you’re the famous Alice Mishima that I’ve heard about, a Pokémon, correct?”

She chuckled. “Indeed, the one and only, flesh and bones as well. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.” She said while bowing her head.

Freeman analyzed the dark environment in that Alice currently resided. He couldn’t figure out the details, but it appeared she was sitting in a chair behind a desk in a large room. To the side of the camera, he could see another figure, but he couldn’t flesh out the details since almost no light was reflecting on them. The man focused his attention back on Alice and nodded his head. “Pleasure to meet you as well, Ms. Mishima.”

“You’re taking my presence better than expected, unlike the others I had contacted so far.” She shifted her position on the chair and rested her head on her paw, a small bit of light showing a feline smirk on her masked face. “You’re on my list of likable humans so far.”

The President suppressed a gulp, trying not to sweat in the sheer pressure of talking to another creature that for some reason knows English. She said that she liked her so that probably meant that humanity and… Pokémon kind(?) were on good terms. So he could probably ask… “What is the reason behind this call?”

Alice’s expression didn’t change, her smirk still present on her face. “Straight to the point, huh? Well, you must be a busy man, of course, so it’s understandable.” She sat straight in her chair, resting her green-furred arms on the armrest. “I’d like to make a deal. A deal to form a bond with Pokémon kind and humankind so both species coexist in peace.”

After the shock has settled, the employees and the secretary tilted her head confused. President Freeman asked. “Coexist? What does that mean? Does that mean you were living among us in the shadows?”

“Nope, we exist in an entirely different world, parallel to yours.” At the drop of that information, the people inside the room, even the bodyguards, were stunned by the new info, the President even flinched a little before straightening a little. Alice couldn’t help but snicker a little at the reaction. “I’m pretty sure you heard about the multiverse theory, it’s pretty common among human media after all.” The bipedal feline clasped her paws again. “However, our worlds are different from other universes, we share a connection. Check the internet lately?”

“She’s… right…” Marie said, the shocked expression slowly being replaced by a nervous one. “These last few weeks… there have been reports of hyperrealistic creatures everywhere on social media. We ignored it, thinking it was some kind of stunt, but… it was actually real all along.”

“So you’re saying… the internet has been tieing this world with your world?” The President asked.

The Meowscarada grinned. “Precisely. We don’t know why the internet of your world appeared to us since we thought we were the ones who created the internet originally. Now look at us, being connected by a web that’s combining the two worlds. When we discovered that, we knew that we had to make contact with the other world as soon as we could.” She lifted a paw finger. “We may be separated through different dimensions but that doesn’t stop some of us from traveling there.”

Freeman sighed. He couldn’t let the movies made by American media dictate alien stereotypes, so they should at least hear what they have to say. “Say, what does this deal entail? Will it be harmful to anyone?”

Alice responded with an assuring smile. “Not at all! This deal we’re doing is just a simple trade of technologies and such. We might have computers and the Internet of course, but there are some things we saw from your would that we would be delighted to have! Like those airplanes that can travel in the air at really fast speeds, they seem useful to cross continents without taking much time.”

The brown-skinned man nodded. “They indeed are.” He clasped his hands and thought for a moment. He remembered a little bit about Pokémon and how they work normally. He thought about the Pokémon that could teleport normally. If there are creatures like that in the world, why would they need planes? Well… unless the teleporters have a high price on their services than public planes then it would make more sense. Now… to the big question at hand… “And what do you have to offer in your part of the deal?”

At that moment, Alice let out a big grin. “Oh, many things…” She got up from her chair and started pacing in front of the desk, revealing her entire body as she walked. “You see, I’ve been researching your world a little. After all, to strike a deal with the leader of the biggest nation in the world, you must know the other’s culture to have a better understanding of their needs. And in that research, I discovered something terrible…” She stopped and looked at the camera again. “Your world is rotting.” She fully turned to the camera, a small portion of light shining on her paw as she lifted her paw fingers. “Poverty, pollution, mass deforestation, wars…” She then folded her arms behind her. “And that’s only the tip of the iceberg, I’m afraid.”

The President grimaced at that statement. The internet has been around for more than two months for them and these creatures already discovered the dark side of the world? It seems that these issues were far bigger issues to the state of the planet than what the masses had thought to be. Marie, with a scowl, asked in concern. “We know of such issues. If you state them, that means you could solve most of them?”

“Oh, we can’t solve most of them.” She then opened her arms, letting her leafy appendages extend behind her. “We can solve all of them!” The employees gasped in stunning disbelief at such a statement, even the President’s jaw dropped a little. Alice’s voice could be heard rising a little on the other side of the call. “We have the power to heal nature-” She summoned a bouquet of small flowers on her paws. “-cure all illnesses, even incurable ones, and even end wars so that peace reigns again! And as a bonus, we could even give you the art of teleportation as a method of transportation!” With a flick of the wrist, the flowers disappeared from her paws before extending the same limb toward the camera, smiling. “So what do you say, Mr. President, do you accept the deal?”

President Freeman was… stunned isn’t a good word to describe what he was feeling. It was like a wild and destructive storm of emotions and thoughts raced in his head. He didn’t know what to think about this situation, no one knew. He just got the best offer that the leader of any nation in any world would be delighted to hear, and the way to get that offer was just to offer their tech to them? No, it was too good to be true, there must be some secret meaning behind all of this, there was no way it could be that easy. Since he was the first one to calm down after receiving such news, as best as he could, he calmly asked, almost stuttering his words. “Why are you making this deal with us? What else do you gain besides our trust and technology?”

She put one of her arms behind her and lifted a finger. “Simply nothing. I only want the best for both species to thrive and live happily in the lives that they have been given. It was my wish since I was a kid.”

The President considered the Pokémon’s words for a long moment, the employees, secretary, and even the bodyguards looked at Freeman with expectancy and concern for what he would say. He took a long breath before finally saying his answer. “I… I accept your offer.”

Alice clasped her paws when she heard what she wanted. “Wonderful!” She smiled gladly before folding her arms behind her back again. “Even though the base of the plan is already established, we still need some time to fully prepare everything until we can safely meet in your world. So I would like to keep this deal we made a secret from the public for now. After all, after a deal like this, imagine what the populace would do just to hasten our preparations.”

“Not only that… it would be the cause of even more wars…” Freeman muttered to himself before nodding. “Alright, everything that was said here will only be kept between us and the other people in this room. We will vow to not say anything to no one else.” The President shot a stern glare at all of the people in the room, they all silently nodded while doing a salute. 

“That’s appreciated. Thank you, Mr. President, for this wonderful opportunity to work in tandem with your species.” She waved at the camera. “I hope this deal will expand our relations even further soon. I will contact you again once the preparations are complete. See you until then!”

“... Same as well, Miss Alice.”

The call ended and a sigh that Freeman didn’t know he was holding escaped his mouth. How could a call like that be even more nerve-racking and stressful than a meeting with the Chinese President?

Marie brushed away her fringe and looked at the President, nervous sweat plastered all over her face. “Sir… do you know if that was a good idea or not?”

The man didn’t answer and instead turned his chair to face the window. He looked outside as his mind began to have conflicting thoughts. 'I hope I've made the right call. As dangerous as those creatures are... they could prove beneficial to us and America as a whole...'

He could only hope that good things indeed come out of this deal he had made.

The lights flickered on and Hoopa floated to Alice’s, a nervous grimace on their face as they twirled their fingers. “So… um… did you really mean all of that? Was everything you said… true?”

Alice turned away from the camera, looking at Hoopa with a warm smile. “Of course, I meant all of that Hoops. It’s the main reason for Project Wonderland to exist in the first place!” She then looked away from them as a more menacing tone entangled in her words. “However, I didn’t mean that this plan was for everyone. Some beings don’t deserve that kind of mercy, and of course, must be eliminated so they don’t even get the chance to savor the pleasure that has been offered.”

Hoopa turned away with a grimace. “I… I see…”

Suddenly, a growl made them turn their heads toward the three-headed Lycanroc with black fur, looking at a small mirror. “Enemy… big enemy…” The middle head said.

“Raphael? What’s wrong dearie?” Alice asked while tilting her head.

The three-headed canine stopped growling and looked at the Meowscarada, sitting on the ground before speaking with the right head. “Enemy… gone…” The left head spoke next. “Master… safe…”

The CEO noticed major red flags appearing around the place. Why did Raphael just growl at the mirror out of nowhere, and what was he talking about? What enemy he was talking about? … unless…

Alice shrugged and went to pet the Lyranroc on the middle head, making his tail wag a little. “Don’t worry boy, it was nothing to worry about. I’m safe and I’m not getting hurt anytime soon, got it?” The dark and fire type nodded before the Meowscarada scratched him on the chin. “Good boy, Raphael, hehehe…”

Chapter Text

The sun rose from behind the mountains once again, illuminating the towns and cities of one side of the world. Some Pokémon were out and about, starting their daily tasks while other Pokémon kept sleeping in their nice comfortable beds.

A Shaymin groggily woke up by the sunlight that was raining down upon her face, opening her eyes slowly as she uncurled her body slightly from her bed. She looked around for a moment as awareness returned to her body, blinking the sleepiness away.

Her room was the same as usual. A combination of pink and orange colored walls and ceiling, a wooden floor, a small wooden holder for her uniform next to the door, and a light-green desk that was tall enough for someone of her size was beside her desk. Overall, a simple room, the way she liked it.

Amy yawned before getting up on her feet, the mattress beneath her not sinking a lot because of her small size. She stretched her body before jumping out of bed. The grass hedgehog then started doing the usual things in the morning: putting on her uniform, putting the necessary objects in her bag, and watering her favorite flowers next to her bed; all with the help of telekinesis.

Ah yes, her out-of-place telekinesis. She knows that her species normally don’t learn Psychic naturally without a TM. However, she was able to learn because of her father, who taught her the move once she was moving to the adolescent part of her life. She was really grateful to him because using paws for almost everything sucked, especially for a Pokémon with small legs like her.

The Shaymin left her bedroom, closing the door behind her with her paws before walking to the kitchen where her mother was waiting at the table as she read a newspaper on the table while sitting on a stool. It was a Leavanny named Mika, with leafy bug-like wings on her back that were inherited from her father, who was a Scizor. She was an old but still beautiful Pokémon as well. 

Mika turned to Amy and smiled. “Good morning, dearie. Slept well?” She asked in a silky and soft voice.

Amy smiled back before jumping on another stool beside the Leavanny. “Yeah, I did.” She glanced at the contents of the table. There was the usual breakfast food on it, the bread, the berry juice, and a few edible leaves for her grass-typing diet. She looked back at her adoptive mother. “Thanks for the food!”

“You’re welcome, dearie.” Mika said, smiling before looking back at the newspaper. Her antennas twitched, making her look in a certain direction to the Pokémon entering the room. Amy looked to the Pokémon too, seeing her adoptive father, an old-looking Xatu with a purple scarf, enter the kitchen with something behind his white wing. The Leavanny put down her newspaper as her wings buzzed a little. “Ah, if it isn’t mister “I’m never late”. Actually living up to your name and not waking up after 8 in the morning?”

“Heh, in all my years, I don’t remember seeing a timeline where I did actually wake up on time. Just goes to show that my foresight powers are weaker than others if this timeline actually happened.” The Xatu, called Yanthus, chuckled as he walked over to the table. He then looked at Amy as he sat down beside Mika. “Good morning my baby girl, I take it you slept well from the look on your face.”

“Yes, I slept well.” How did she sleep well even with the most stressful events happening around her and slowly getting worse as days progressed? She didn’t know, but she was impressed that she doesn’t panic as much anymore when major events like these happen. Like, she even battled a banished Pokémon without being frozen in fear. Yes, she may not have done much in the battles, but she was there as support and that’s what mattered. 

Mika tilted her head while looking at the Shaymin, putting a leafy limb on her chin. “Is something wrong dearie?”

Amy was snapped from her thoughts, only just realizing that she was looking silently at her food with a thoughtful look. She looked at her parents with a sheepish smile. “Ah, it’s nothing. I’m just thinking about some stuff happening in my life, that’s all.” Her parents had adopted her at such an early age so they knew if anything what was up with her with just facial expression and slight body signs. “It’s nothing major or something like that, it’s just that a lot happened in less than a week and I’m just… trying to process it all.” She told a half-truth.

“I see.” Yanthus said before pecking some of the bread with his beak. After gulping a piece of it, he turned to the Shaymin again. “So um… baby girl?” The Shaymin was about to eat before looking at her father while tilting her head. “I know that I said uh… that I don’t trust my foresight powers that much but… when I looked at the sun a few days ago I saw something rather… concerning.”

“What was it? The end of the world?” Amy asked with a small joke, trying to mask her concern about something like that actually happening.

The totem-looking avian shook his head. “Nah, far from it. It’s about… you actually.” That made Amy subtly flinch while Mika visibly did so, her expression turning into a grimace.

“What about it…? What did you see…?” The Leavanny asked concernedly, putting her leafy limbs on the table.

The Xatu closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. “On a certain day that’s fast approaching, you don’t return home for an undetermined amount of time. I tried looking at the sun from a different angle, to see if that doesn’t happen in other timelines… it does.”

Mika gasped while Amy’s eyes widened. Oh great, another thing to add to her stress. Wonderful, just what she needed. “Am… am I gonna go missing…?”

“That I don’t know. But what I do know is that, even with this concerning news… I’m not actually worried about you.” Yanthus turned to Amy, his face shifting to a soft face. “You’ve grown a lot from when we first took you into our family. I remember some years ago, almost every little misfortune event that happened, you used to overthink it and go into a panic attack. Now look at you, after receiving news of such caliber like these, you didn’t even start hyperventilating. Just goes to show how far you’ve grown.”

Amy looked down in thought. Yeah, she did grow up and matured a lot over the past few years. She endured bullying because she didn’t do some Pokémon’s favor since she was revered as a deity that would do anything for them, mastered telekinesis, and fought against hard foes who could easily defeat her… she wouldn’t even recognize herself some years ago after doing all those things. 

Although, there she was, going to another world and also helping a human take down a potentially evil organization that brought more technologies to this world. 

“Yeah… I guess I did.” The Shaymin let out a weak smile.

Mika looked at the Xatu with a confused look. “Why are you even bringing this up…? Do you trust her enough to know that she will be safe?”

Yanthus managed to smile through his beak. “Yes, I do. But if you  are still worried a lot about her safety, which I know you are, I found this before my retirement as a rescuer.” From under his wing, he pulled out a certain object and put it on the table, an object that Amy knew too well.

The grass hedgehog gasped slowly as she took in the item in front of her. “Is that a…” The item in question was a flower with reddish-pink petals and yellow pollen in the middle. It almost resembled the flowers on Amy’s side. 

“Yep, it’s indeed a Gracidea Flower. Not a copy but a real one.” The Xatu said a bit proudly.

The Leavanny analyzed the flower closely before looking at her husband. “Where did you get that…?”

Yanthus looked at Mika and explained while motioning with his wings. “Remember the last mission before my retirement in the Grass Continent? So… since we had just adopted our baby girl, I just thought it was fitting to get a small gift for her once she had grown up enough. So… I went to the infamous Shaymin Village as a small detour to get a little souvenir.” He then looked at the flower that Amy grabbed with her paws and looked at it. “The reason that flower hasn’t wilted until now is because gratitude keeps this flower alive.” He motioned a wing to the grass hedgehog. “And you, my baby girl, kept the flower alive throughout all this time.”

The Shaymin looked at her parents, her eyes starting to water a little. “Mom… dad…” She smiled a little bit. “Thank you, thank you for everything that you’ve done for me. I love you guys.” She said as a tear of happiness streamed down her face, the tear falling on the flower as it glowed a little bit. 

Yanthus and Mika smiled back as their daughter, the Leavanny said. “We love you too dearie, we just hope you’re gonna be safe.”

The totem-looking bird asked while tilting his head. “You know what these flowers do to you, right?” Amy nodded. “Alright, although, don’t use it now. There will be a time when you’ll be forced to make a choice, in that time, follow your heart to make the best choice possible, understood?”

“Alright, I will.” Amy said before using her telekinesis to put the flower in her bag. She looked back at her parents while smiling again. “Thank you, once again.”

Yanthus nodded his head. “No problem, baby girl.” He then looked at his food. “Now, let’s eat our meals. After all, you don’t wanna be late for school, do you?”

Amy’s eyes widened in realization. “Ah yes, sorry!” She said before beginning to eat her food. She wanted to tell her parents so bad what she has been dealing with recently, however, she knew she couldn’t, or else they’d worry about her even more than they’re worrying about now. And about that foresight that her father had about her not going home... It worried her, however, she knew that with that gift and her friends, she would be okay. ‘Mom, dad, whenever that day comes… I promise that I will come back home to you guys, safe and sound.’  

The talk he had with Harry on Thursday was insightful. His Pokémon knowledge was coming in clutch.

Since Elsa, thankfully, wasn’t busy being a Twitch thot during the entire day, John and Claire took the opportunity to speak with Harry once again through video call since it had been whopping three days since the two had spoken with the human directly. 

John wanted to catch him up to speed about everything that had happened in the last two days since a lot had happened. However, it was when preparing for the call that the Joltik realized something. His stupidity got the better of him once again since he realized that he didn’t need to go to the human world to gather information, Harry was there for that exact reason. John wanted to slap himself so much for that stupid decision that put his Pokémon partners in danger, but then he remembered that talk he had with Claire the day prior and just chalked it up with a sigh. 

When both entered the call with the human, John told him everything that had just happened. 

Harry had a hand covering his mouth from the sheer absurdity of everything that was told to him. The Joltik had a deadpan look on his bug face, already expecting a reaction like that from his friend. Like, who just tells something as surreal as that in such a casual tone while expecting the other person to believe them?

Well, John does that now.

After taking a while to recompose himself, Harry took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. “So um… let me get this straight.” He then started typing something on his keyboard, John noticing he was a bit nervous and probably anxious from how he typed. “After our messages on Monday, at night, you get kidnapped and brought into a place called the Distortion World by THIS Giratina?” He asked while posting an image of the antimatter dragon in their serpent and dragon-like forms.

John nodded. “Yep, the same one.” 

The human rubbed his temples. “Okay… then they said that that world had expanded and it connected to OUR world?”

Claire nodded for John as she looked aside her ears dropping a little. “Can confirm that one…”

“Alright then…” Harry said tiredly before trying to remember the next thing that the Joltik had said. “So… on Tuesday, you go with Claire and some other Pokémon to the Distortion World again with the help of Giratina’s followers being a Tandemaus or whatever that is?” Both Pokémon nodded. “Fine… and in there, you guys enter a Mystery Dungeon filled with Glitch Pokémon? Like… like actually glitchy Pokémon and shit?”

“Yes, it’s just as you imagine, like creepypastas and all that stuff with static textures and shit.” John explained while motioning a nub. “Apparently, it’s a type of energy of the universe or something like that.”

Harry groaned slightly, trying to process what just had been said and not having an existential crisis. After some more seconds, he typed something on his computer again while taking a deep breath. “So… next up, you find the creator of the Glitch Pokémon that was apparently stuck in that dungeon because of its instability, the guy in question being THIS MissingNo.?” The human posted in the chat an image of a blocky and static creature that looked like an unfinished sprite.

“Well um…” John hesitated before saying. “It didn’t exactly look like that… it looked more like a floating head with disembodied floating claws floating around it. That’s uh… the basic description of it.”

“Yeah, it looked more terrifying in person.” Claire added, shivering a little.

The young man rubbed his temples and muttered. “So that’s different…” He then looked back at the screen. “And… you let it use you as a vessel for some days so it could… stabilize itself so it could live in the real world?”

“Yeah… that’s the basic gist of it…” John looked aside a bit ashamed.

“I’m not even… gonna ask, for the sake of my remaining sanity…” The human said with a sigh.

Claire rubbed the back of her head with a sheepish smile. “Yeah, it’s understandable.”

Harry adjusted himself on the chair. “I don’t think there’s a need to go through the remaining stuff because I got the memo…” He sighed again and looked at John. “Bro, John, I’m gonna be straight with you, from the last three days, you definitely gonna end up in some world-ending situation soon if my memory from the PMD games serves me right.”

John frowned and desperately shook his head. “Nuh-uh! I know that I straight up met with two honest-to-god deities in less than a week, but hell nah, I’m not gonna be saving the world anytime soon. It was just a series of unfortunate events that led to one another and I used one of those events to my advantage. I swear, the reason I went back to our world was because of a selfish reason and that was it.”

The brown-haired human then looked at the screen with an unamused face. “And what was that about trying to gather info about Pokémon appearances on the internet?”

The Joltik shot back. “J-just a small reason that I used as an excuse to go there!” He then looked away as a bit of guilt started to crawl into the back of his mind. “I was so selfish that I put everyone in danger…”

The Vulpix then hit John softly with her paw. “Don’t.” She said in a concerned tone, a frown appearing on her face.

“Sorry…” The greenish spider apologized with a sigh before looking back at the screen. “So yeah… um, that’s everything for now. Sorry for my silence in these past few days…”

Harry sighed. “It’s fine dude… I know you have your… adventures and stuff now, so you’re bound to be busier than before.” The human then remembered something. “Hey uh… so… about Asuri taking over Twitter… do you really believe that they have the means necessary to come to our world?”

“Yep… if Elon gave them ownership of Twitter that easily, then yeah, no shit they can go to our world. Besides, how they could mimic everything perfectly, let alone actually just connect their internet to our world with their own servers?”

Harry made a thinking face, biting a nail from nervousness before muttering. “Fuck, you’re right.”

“Also, I need your Pokémon knowledge on something here.” John said, making the human look at the screen again. “Is there like… a Pokémon that literally cross worlds naturally that isn’t, like…” The Joltik motioned a nub, pointing upwards. “Up there? Because I doubt that gods would be working with Asuri willingly.”

Harry ran a hand through his head again as he spoke. “Well… aside from Arceus, Palkia, and now Giratina, I guess, we have some potential candidates.” The human started typing on his keyboard. “Since Necrozma is also out of the picture… it leaves us with…” He put a picture of two strange Pokémon on the chat. One was a white lion with a head that looked like space compressed on a helmet, and the other was a bat with cosmic wings with a face similar to the lion. “Solgaleo and Lunala. They are the sun and moon legends and they both can travel to different worlds.”

Claire perked up when she saw the pictures. “Oh, I read legends about those two! It’s said that they both live in another dimension. The sun one, Solgaleo, brings the light, while the moon one, Lunala, buries the light by devouring it.” John stared at the Vulpix with his head tilted. She smiled sheepishly. “Just legends though, not much is known about them because they’re rarely seen.”

The Joltik nodded. “Alright then…” He then looked back at Harry. “Are there any more candidates?”

“Yeah, one more if I remember.” The human said before posting one last image. This time, it was an image of a legless genie-like creature with horns and disembodied hands, one of the said hands was holding a yellow ring. “This guy is named Hoopa. I know they look like genies that make wishes and shit, but like, this guy can make portals easily to locations and worlds.”

“So like… don’t tell me that the portal it makes is from the rings it has, like the Sonic movie.” John said with a grimace on his face.

“Well… the reference was on point because it’s legit what they do.” Harry explained before crossing his arms. “Claire, I gotta question.” The Vulpix tilted her head silently. “Are there multiple Hoopas in there?”

Claire shook her head. “Not that I remember… although, I think they have more chances of working with Asuri because, if I remember correctly from what I learned in a class, they are kinda mischievous…”

John thought of the possibility of that Hoopa guy working with that company. It could be possible they are helping them with their plans since it’d make a lot of sense how Asuri could travel to another world entirely. The greenish spider sighed. “Well, whatever the case, I hope we can take them down without a fight because I don’t wanna test out the abilities of an actual portal maker.”

Harry tilted his head while leaning back on his chair, looking calmer than before. “You seriously planning on taking them down John? Sure, they are doing shady things and potentially threatening the unstable balance of our world by making Pokémon interact with humans, but like… are you sure they’re evil?”

John looked away. “I… I dunno, it’s just a gut feeling they’re up to something bad. The effort they’re putting into all of this seems so out of place…” He looked back at the camera. “That’s why me, Claire and others are gonna go to their museum next week to meet face-to-face with the CEO.”

Claire raised her forepaw a little. “On a school trip, we didn’t arrange a meeting.”

Harry sighed. “I hope you know what you’re doing John. Your sense of justice got you killed once, what if it happens again and you get killed twice?”

The greenish spider sighed and smiled reassuringly behind his fuzz. “Don’t worry dude, unlike last time, I won’t be killed that easily. And no, it’s not because I’m a Pokémon now, it’s because I actually improved and won’t just recklessly charge into danger, alright?”

The human stared at the camera again, groaning. “Fine… but please be safe.”

John nodded. “I’ll try my best.” He waved a nub. “See ya.”

“Goodbye!” Claire said with enthusiasm while the human just waved back at the camera with a weak smile.

John used the touchpad of the laptop and clicked the red button on the screen to end the call. The Joltik sighed before looking at Claire. “So… since I’m prolly gonna speak with Mark tomorrow during the break, should we call everyone after class?”

Claire thought about it for a moment before she realized something. She shook her head. “No, mom comes home earlier on Fridays, so she would get suspicious if we didn’t come home on the bus.” The Vulpix’s face suddenly lit up. “Ooh, I have an idea! How about on Saturday after my battle class? We should ask the others if they’re down to that idea.”

“Hm… I guess that could work.” John said after a bit of thought. “Although, could you take me with you? Ya know, just in case another Corrupted Pokémon appears by surprise.”

The fire fox chuckled. “Are you really that worried about me? Don’t worry, it was just bad timing. It’s not like it’s guaranteed that every Saturday a Pokémon like that appears.” She then smiled softly while tilting her head. “But if you wanna come, then sure. I don’t think Master Kofu will mind a spectator.”

“Alright then. Thanks.” Both Pokémon smiled at each other.

All they had to do was find this genie-like Pokémon and convince them that they were contributing to something bad, consequentially ruining Asuri’s plans and exposing them to their crimes. Boom! Simple enough! … Who was he kidding?

John sighed as he thought about a summarized version of his plan while answering the classroom with Claire. It sounded so much like an easy plan but in reality, it was much more complex than it is on the surface. Firstly, where do they find Hoopa? Secondly, how do you convince a mischievous little genie who probably has no morals because of their higher tier? And thirdly, what if Asuri has them trapped in a building and using them as a slave? 

So many outcomes and setbacks that make such a simple plan into a well-thought-out plan.

The Joltik jumped off of Claire’s head and sat on his table while Claire walked towards hers. He was overthinking stuff again, so he decided to think of something else at the moment before his brain burst from such complex thoughts unfit for a spiderling’s body like his. He then remembered something, Friday was the day of Mr. Xeno’s class, the ladybug teacher that prodded his memories.

The greenish spider was a bit uncomfortable knowing that someone not that close to him looked into his memories. Sure, he had let the teacher do it, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling he saw something else rather than the scene of his death. Although, he was probably overthinking again and the ladybug was actually respectful when looking at his memories. 

John muttered to himself as he put a forelimb on his head. “Ugh… please just stop thinking for a moment, focus on something else…”

He scanned the class again, finding nothing unusual with the classmates except for one, Amy. She was looking a lot more thoughtful and pensive than her usual self, which was quite odd. She always struck John as the quiet kid in class that wasn’t really open about much and would stick with her friends while being as kind and loving as possible. If he remembered correctly, she looked fine, even throughout the bullshit that happened in the past few days. So why was she acting like that?

Perhaps he should check on her on the way back.

The door to the classroom opened, and from it, Mr. Xeno entered the room, floating with its levitation rather than buzzing his wings. The alien-looking ladybug put his tablet on the teacher’s desk before turning to the students. “Good morning students.” As the students replied with a “Good Morning, Mr. Xeno!”, the teacher took a small glance at John before smiling a little. He then cleared his throat and spoke. “If you guys remember, last class I showed you a video of an invitation made by the CEO of Asuri to visit one of their museums in Xander Cage City.”

John rolled his four eyes before thinking. ‘How could I forget…’

“However, I failed to inform you that we will be taking a train to get there.” Mr. Xeno crossed his arms. “For those who are new to Burgroth…” He took another small glance at John and a glance at Cerbera. “There’s a train station northeast of the city, we’ll be taking the earliest one that departs at eight in the morning. Don’t be late or it’ll leave without you, understood?” The students nodded. “Good. Anyways, let’s go to the computer lab, normal class for today.”

The students nodded and started leaving their seats, leaving the classroom one after another. As Claire was about to walk off the door, she looked back to see John doing big hops as he got closer to the door, not even jumping on her head like he usually does. She tilted her head with a confused smile. “You’re not gonna be on my head?”

The greenish Joltik stopped hopping and looked back at Claire. “Ah… I just thought that I would, like… “walk”  a little since I don’t wanna get sedentary.”

“Oh, I see. Would you be okay doing that for a long time?” 

John mentally shrugged. “Eh… if it’s the only way, I’ll get used to it. Besides, it ain’t that tiring.”

The Vulpix smirked. “If you say so…” 

John and Claire started walking along with the other students, John doing hops instead since his legs weren’t that big. Meanwhile, Xeno got closer to the two of them, and, for some reason, a voice similar to his echoed inside their heads. ‘So, I take it you chose to be a student?’

The Joltik stopped hopping and flinched along with the Vulpix, the two Pokémon starting to look at the ladybug in shock while John thought. ‘The fuck!?’

‘Don’t be alarmed, this is just telepathy. I’m not prying into your heads or something like that.’ Xeno spoke with his mind. ‘Keep moving, or the others will get suspicious.’

The two students nodded as they kept moving forward, the teacher trailing beside them. John was starting to shiver a little. Communicating directly with thoughts felt weird, it was like speaking but without opening his mouth. Not only he could feel the ladybug’s presence, but he could feel Claire right inside his mind, making it feel like it was some kind of mental group chat. ‘So uh… not only you can see people’s memory but you can also use telepathy…?’

‘Yes, among many other things.’ 

‘That’s the psychic type for you, John.’ Claire thought, her voice has a more ethereal tone. ‘Psychic type Pokémon can do a lot of things, from basic mind reading to more complex stuff like psychokinesis and more psychic related.’

The Orbeetle nodded with his claws folded behind him. ‘It was one of the main reasons why I advised you to be a student, so it’d help you blend in even more since you surely would get found out by a psychic type.’

John tilted his head. “Like-” He interrupted himself before others could hear. ‘Like… you?’

The ladybug smirked a little. ‘Yes, like me.’ He then gave John a side-eye. ‘So, John, are you enjoying the life of a student here?’

John looked to the ground as he hopped and remembered all the way back on his first day, which was Monday of the same week, seeing how absolutely chaotic everything had been. From meeting the mice twins and having that dodgeball match to meeting another human in the same situation as him, and that’s not even counting the major events that happened in between.

He looked back at Mr. Xeno. ‘It’s going pretty alright, I suppose, although… much more lively than human schools, that’s for sure.’ He lied until a realization dawned on him. What if he could detect that he lied?

The ladybug teacher looked forward before saying with his mouth. “Interesting. Glad you are at least enjoying here.”

Seemed like the telepathic convo stopped out of nowhere, making a feeling of emptiness appear in the students’ heads. They shook it off and realized that they got to the computer lab, the other students already inside. “Wow, we got here faster than expected…” Claire commented.

“It is like that once you’re in a telepathic conversation.” The Orbeetle said before turning to John. “Now John, I don’t know if you had classes similar to these before, but here are the rules. Firstly, no accessing the internet. Secondly, only enter the software that I tell you to enter, understood?”

John looked aside in disappointment. “Yes, I understand.” He wanted to ask the teacher if he could make an exception for him since he was human and all, but he knew that was a bad decision since the teacher didn’t know about the investigation he was doing with the others. It would also come off as suspicious to other students who weren’t part of Team Net. So he would just accept it for now, after all, it wouldn’t make much of a difference whether he checked the internet or not.

The computer class went as John expected. Utterly useless.

Since this was high school and not a course specialized in computers, he was stuck with learning the basics of a computer. After all, since this was basically technology in the world, it was bound to be like that for inexperienced teenagers who just know how to browse the internet to look at social media posts. 

The class was about the Asuri Word software, which was just a blatant copy of Microsoft Word if it wasn’t that obvious for humans. The teacher just taught how to use the software if the students ever decided to write something on a computer rather than on paper. 

John had to hold back a massive groan from enduring that class. Clearly, he knew that Google Docs was a better software to write documents in.

That was behind him, however. Break came in and the students were free from the classes for a short period.

The Joltik sat on a bench bigger than him, alone and away from most Pokémon. Claire had gone to talk with the others about the meeting that Team Net would have on Saturday, probably to discuss their available times. Meanwhile, John stayed alone on a bench because earlier in the morning, he agreed to meet with Mark during the break period so they could talk about… well, human stuff.

He never would’ve thought that he would be speaking with a human in the same situation as him, stuck in a world full of talking magical animals and sometimes inanimate objects with no way of getting their old life back. Sure, he could travel back to the human world and probably try to continue where he left off before his death, but it just wouldn’t be the same, especially with Asuri trying to connect both worlds through the internet.

“Hey.” 

John looked at the source of the voice and saw the Pikachu teacher, smiling as he waved at him. John returned the wave. “Yo, how are you doing?”

Mark walked to the bench and sat down next to the greenish spider, a grin forming on his face. “I’m doing well. Just finished teaching a younger class of Pokémon and uh…” He looked aside with a sheepish smile. “Pokémon kids are a bit more chaotic than human ones…”

The Joltik looked away. “Yeah, could probably guess.” Both human-turned-Pokémon stared at the school courtyard, seeing a lot of Pokémon students doing their own things. A Jigglypuff playing with a ball along with a blue and black feline Pokémon with a star-shaped tail, a Squirtle playfighting with a blue and four-legged amphibian-like Pokémon, and a black and red-furred vulpine Pokémon talking with a… floating, pink teacup. Some Pokémon he recognized while some others he didn’t. “Man… I forgot that this world can be… kinda beautiful… in a weird way.”

“You’re right.” Mark agreed, leaning back on the bench and watching the scenery. “Even in stressful times like these, there are still nice moments in this world.” 

John looked at the electric rodent again. “I have a question.”

“Hm?” Mark looked back at the spider. “What is it?”

“How long have you been in this world?”

The Pikachu’s smile dropped a little as he thought for a moment, looking up at the blue skies. “Well… I’d say probably ten cycles now… actually, I should probably say ten years.”

John’s eyes widened a little as he asked a bit in disbelief. “T-ten years…?! That’s… that’s a lot…”

Mark tilted his ears. “Eh, could be more, could be less, I dunno, I haven’t been keeping track of time, honestly.” He looked back at the Joltik with a smirk. “In this world, they don’t celebrate the planet’s complete lap around the sun, so I’m kinda lost on what year is it. I only remember the dates of my birthdays.”

“Jesus…” John said while looking away. He felt a little bit of pity for Mark, being stuck in another world completely for around ten years sounded like it would drive someone to madness. But he had to remember that this world was one where you could also live a normal life, have friends, and perhaps… a family as well. “So… like… have you ever had homesickness…?” The Joltik asked while looking at Mark.

The Pikachu rubbed the back of his head. “Well… not gonna lie, I kinda did.” He looked back up. “When I fully recovered my memories, I remembered everything about my world, my old job, hell, what a gun was.” He chuckled a little. “But most importantly, I remember someone who was everything to me… my brother.” He sighed, melancholy entering his words a little. “I… wanted to go back to tell him that I’m okay, that I’m alive and well. Since I used to be a Pokémon fan on Earth, I knew that there were Pokémon that could travel through dimensions and universes. But… that idea was so wild to me that I didn’t even bother attempting it because I thought that I would never be able to accomplish it. So, I just simply decided to just continue living the rest of my life here.”

John looked aside before sighing and looking back at Mark. “Ya know… I… kinda found a way to go into my world that doesn’t um… require any of the usual dimension traveling Pokémon that you’re used to…”

Mark perked up at that and tilted his head, stuttering a little. “Y-you did…? Like, no joke?”

The greenish spider shook his head. “No joke. You know, after all of this Corrupted Pokémon business is over, I can take you back there to visit your brother.”

The human-turned-Pikachu’s mouth dropped a little, his cheek letting out small sparks. “I… you…” He then grabbed the Joltik with his two paws and put him close to his face, tears forming in his black and white eyes. For a second, John almost thought that he would eat him. “If you’re fucking with my feelings, please stop…! This is serious dude!”

“Dude, for fuck’s sake! If I didn’t have something planned, I wouldn’t even offer it!” John argued back as he flailed around a little.

Mark’s face softened, the sparks on his cheek dissipating. “I…” Suddenly, he started nuzzling the Joltik on his cheek, sparks running through the spiderling’s body. “Thank you so much, man. You don’t know how much this means to me…!”

John felt a tinge of embarrassment running through his body as he realized that he was being nuzzled by another man that’s an adult. Although, he didn’t voice it since he didn’t want to ruin his emotional moment. It was probably the Pokémon version of hugging shorter or bigger Pokémon, after all, Claire did that to him multiple times. “Y-yeah, it’s… it’s a promise. No doubt about it.” He then looked to the side and saw some students staring at the scene, most of them being kids. The Joltik froze for a moment before trying to call Mark’s attention. “Y-yo, M- Ark…”

The Pikachu stopped nuzzling the spider. “What…?” He then looked to the side to see some of the Pokémon students staring at them. “Oh…” He slowly put John down and nervously rubbed the back of his head while waving the kids off. He then looked back at John with a sheepish smile. “I uh… sorry for losing control of my emotions like that. Cops aren’t supposed to do that, especially in undercover missions.”

“Nah, it’s… completely understandable.” John then looked aside. “Although the nuzzling felt a little gay, not gonna lie.”

The Pikachu giggled. “It’s a Pokémon thing, you’ll get used to doing it once you’re in a body of one long enough. After all, I’m sure you’ve already experienced some of your Pokémon instincts already, right?”

John looked away and thought back on all of the instinctual pulls and subconscious actions he had done. “Yeah, uh… there was a lot.” He then had a realization of something terrible. “Wait, is there a chance we lose ourselves to instincts? Like… I dunno, we become wild or something, losing all of our thoughts?”

“Don’t worry, that won’t happen. Our cores prevent that from happening. They are the boost to everything in our bodies but also the catalyst.” Mark winked with his only visible eye. “So don’t worry about going feral anytime soon. You might get certain urges here and there like a normal spider in our world would, but that doesn’t mean you’re gonna go full wild.”

“I see… thanks for the reassurance.” John said with a slight smile.

“No problem. Also, don’t forget to hold on to that promise, alright?” Mark asked with a tilt of the head.

“I will, don’t worry.” John said with a determined look in his eyes.

The bell rang once again and the two humans waved each other goodbye before going on their separate ways for the day.

Zetamon was excited, although, a little nervous as well.

He was sitting on a chair in the lobby of Asuri HQ, in Flame City. Today, he was about to get his new update that he was promised would get rid of all of the glitches and inconsistencies with his system. On one side, he was happy that his glitch fest would end and he would stop looking like a clown whenever he spoke. On the other side though…

What if the update makes him more broken than he already is?

No, he shouldn’t let thoughts like that get through his head. This was an opportunity beyond anything else, he couldn’t just back down now when he came this far. What would his students think of him if he did something like that? No no no no no, he was better than that. Whatever this new update was, he would take it no matter what.

Although, he was surprised by one thing, however. The lack of others of his species in the place was kinda concerning. He thought that he wouldn’t be the only one receiving the update since that E-mail he had received was written like he wouldn’t be the only one to receive it. Maybe it was because he was the last one to receive the update? If that was the case, then he supposed that it would make sense.

“Mr. Zetamon?”

A voice suddenly pulled the Porygon-Z out of his thoughts. His head straightened itself on his body before looking at the source of the voice. It was a Serperior who was the secretary of the building. Zetamon floated to the center desk as the grass serpent looked at him. “Please direct yourself to the elevator and press the button to the third bottom floor, then direct yourself to the last door of the floor.” He said in a professional tone.

Zetamon nodded, not even speaking in case a glitch makes him look like a clown again. He then floated to the corridor beside the desk and started to head toward the elevator. While in the corridor, he couldn’t help but look at the architecture of the inside of the building. It had the vibe of a technological place that came somewhere from the future because it looked so out of place, it was like a Pokémon didn’t even make it due to how alien it looked. The chilly atmosphere, the pristine and clean green and white walls, floor, and ceiling, and the screens display the various achievements and pieces of technology that Asuri has made. It felt like when he first entered the internet physically once. ‘Well… they did create the internet, after all.’ The AI duck thought.

Zetamon got to the elevator and pressed the button with one of his nubs. He waited for a little bit before the door slid open and he floated inside, pressing the button to the third floor before the elevator door closed. 

He stopped floating and sat on the ground so he wouldn’t hit his head on the ceiling before the elevator started going down. Zetamon started looking around, seeing the insides of the elevator before it started playing a catchy tune, which, for some reason, he felt like he had heard somewhere. 

It didn’t take that long before the elevator stopped and opened the door. The Porygon Z started floating again, leaving the elevator. After looking around the corridor, he noticed something, it was darker than the rest of the building that he had seen. Lights were flickering, the air felt stale, and there was no one in sight. “Wh-... what happened [in this horror movie lookin’ ass place!?]” 

He shook his head, shaking the static out of his eyes before taking another look around. He then started floating slowly forward, being careful as he proceeded. There was something really strange about the place, everything looked so… abandoned and out of place with the whole building. In some instances, he could see claw and burn marks along the walls as he strode forward. Just what had happened in this place? 

After some silent and eerie seconds, he finally reached the last door of the hallway. He scanned around the room one more time before opening the door with his telekinesis. With a creak, the door opened fully, revealing a rather dark room with some computers lying around the place, some covered with dust and others with a broken screen. In the middle of the room, there was a bigger computer with a big screen. 

On the screen, Alice, the CEO of Asuri, could be seen. It was then that she spoke. “Hello there, Mr. Zetamon.”

The Porygon-Z tilted his head. “Alice… Mishima…?”

“That is correct. Now, I know you may find it weird for me to greet you for an update.” She said while smirking. “But, this isn’t some ordinary update, no! It’s actually a test update, and you got randomly selected to test it!” She then clasped her paws close to her face. “Isn’t this such an exciting surprise?”

Zetamon looked aside. “Yeah… uh… [it’s a deal that you cannot afford to miss!]” He then looked at the screen again after shaking off the glitch. “Sorry about that! It’s something I can’t control!”

The Meowscarada chuckled before waving a paw. “Don’t worry about it. After all, you’re here to get rid of those glitches, aren’t you? It’s written all over your face.” 

Zetamon looked away in embarrassment before he remembered something. “Hey uh… do you mind telling me what happened here? This [looks to be like an experiment gone wrong! The world is being taken over by anime! AAAAAHH-]” Zetamon punched himself with his nub before looking back at the camera while clearing his throat. “As I was trying to say… this place looks abandoned…”

“Oh, that?” She shrugged before explaining. “Simply put, this place was a lab.” Zetamon raised an invisible eyebrow. “This is where we ran “experiments” when trying to create the internet. Also, here’s a small fun fact for you. Before we began our experiments, this was the place where they brought some of the few Porygon around the world to reproduce and get their population increased to the way it is right now.” 

The Porygon-Z flinched a little as he heard that, tilting his head as he asked a bit in shock. “W-what…?”

Alice continued with a smug smile on her face. “As you know from history class, the Porygon line was considered one of the rarest species of Pokémon…” She trailed off looking away before looking back at the camera. “Until a fateful evening fifty cycles ago.” Zetamon was in disbelief hearing all of this. “This is your place of origin. Porygons don’t remember anything about this place because your egg was in the digital realm, materialized into the real world, and sent to various places around the world to hide the truth of how their population grew!” She lifted a finger. “You see… many Pokémon think we have built computers to bring the internet to this world, but those Pokémon are wrong. We have only made the Internet, but there was someone else who built the computers…”

Zetamon was completely petrified of everything that was said to him. He couldn’t think straight anymore, he tried to formulate thoughts, but his processing system was starting to malfunction. However, he managed to voice one thing with a glitchy voice. “W-who… w-was i-i-i-it?”

Alice grinned. “A human by the name of Akira Makoto. He was a tech expert that made a lot of advancements to Pokémon kind. He didn’t make his invention of computers known to the public until we bought the invention along with his entire lab and made it part of our headquarters. By the way, here’s another fun fact!” Her voice turned into a more menacing tone as she whispered. “He’s right behind you~!”

Zetamon’s eyes widened once he heard snorting coming from behind him. Once he turned around, he saw a figure larger than him obscured by the shadows, a yellow eye could be seen glowing in the darkness. The Porygon-Z couldn’t even lift a nub in defense before he was grabbed by the Pokémon’s claw and thrown toward a wall, smashing through a lot of computers on the way. 

He slumped to the ground with a grunt as his vision was starting to display static, some parts of his system starting to malfunction. All he could see was the shadowy beast with long flowy hair slowly approaching him while phasing through the tables and the debris. “Don’t worry, Mr. Zetamon.” He could hear Alice in the background. “We just want a piece of your data and a bit of your assistance to ensure that Project Wonderland goes smoothly. You’ll understand once you’re done with your mission.”

That was the last thing he heard before he entered sleep mode to repair certain damages in his internal systems.

Chapter Text

How much time has passed? A month? … Yes, it was a month.

It had been a month since Alisson started training under Giratina’s supervision in the Distortion World. It was a daunting task, getting stronger as fast as possible so that she could deal with the distortions quickly. She even managed to evolve during that time, which she remembered that’s something Pokémon usually do when they get stronger. 

Her evolution was strange. From a four-legged creature, she turned into a bipedal one. It was normally odd at first, walking on two legs felt a bit weird after staying on four paws for some time. However, she managed to get the hang of it in the same hour after evolving, like she had been walking like that for more time than she could remember. 

It was probably a human thing she doesn’t remember, they were probably bipedal.

However, that wasn’t all. Once she evolved, Giratina deemed her worthy enough to bear upon a little bit of his power: Control of antimatter. Antimatter was a type of matter she remembered hearing about somewhere in her foggy memories. If it made contact with normal matter, it would explode. However, this kind of antimatter differed from the one she knew about. It had some sort of physical form that could convert itself into energy and couldn’t explode when in contact with matter. Not only that, but it could also power up her moves, which was quite neat.

The dragon also gave her the ability to travel to the Distortion World whenever with the ability to create portals to the realm. It was a helpful ability, if she ever got in a bad situation, she could always escape, recover then strike again. However, that ability wasn’t given to her as a gift, it was given to combat the distortions that were plaguing the Pokémon world.

Speaking of which…

There Alisson was, in a random forest sent to investigate the biggest distortion that the old dragon has felt so far. Usually, the distortions were random airflow changes, things disappearing along with some Pokémon which was quite concerning. It was then that the human-turned-Pokémon theorized that the distortion could’ve been portals and that they were appearing and disappearing throughout the world. It was then that their suspicions were confirmed once a creature they had never seen appeared and caused some chaos in a certain village. Thankfully, they managed to chase it out of the village and defeated it before a portal appeared and sucked the creature into it. 

Just what was causing these portals to appear and why?

It was better for Alisson to not be pondering questions that she probably wouldn’t get an answer to. She was there to focus on a mission on what was probably the biggest portal that appeared until now. Just what kind of creature would come out of the portal this time? Would they be able to defeat it? She just had to hope it was not hostile, she barely won against the other interdimensional creature with the help of Giratina, and that’s saying something because they are one of the strongest Pokémon in the world. 

The bipedal Pokémon took from her bag a handheld mirror and held it in front of her face, seeing her green-furred face and red eyes before speaking. “Giratina, can you hear me?” 

Suddenly, the entire reflection of the mirror disappeared and a single red eye appeared, staring back at Alisson while being surrounded in darkness. “Yes, Alisson, I can hear you clearly.”

“Good. I just wanted to check if I’m going in the right way.” The green-furred Pokémon said while looking around the forest, seeing some wild bug types and flying types watching her from some bushes or tree branches. 

“Yes, you’re on the right path.” The voice in the mirror confirmed. “However, remain cautious. I may not feel the distortion anymore, but I can feel a powerful creature nearby. If things go wary, don’t forget to contact me, alright?”

Alisson nodded. “Understood.” She then put the mirror away on her back and continued walking on a straightforward path. While walking she thought back to the time when she wasn’t training. She discovered a lot about this world and some odd peculiarities with it, probably because of her mysterious past. Even if some of the Pokémon look wild and sometimes had a territorial mentality, they had some pretty decent technology. What made it so odd is that some of the technology, like TVs and telephones, she saw somewhere in her past as she had recognized it. If the place she came from had those, she couldn’t tell because of her memory loss. Another odd thing is that the writing in this world is really strange… she didn’t recognize any letters of the alphabet or the words they were forming. However, it felt like she understood those either way.

Then, there were times when she read a certain book to gain more knowledge of the world, and an image of a certain old and rusty construct, that didn’t look to be Pokémon-made, would appear in the book. She didn’t know what they served for, but they felt familiar to her for some reason like she had seen them elsewhere. 

So many familiar feelings yet no memories behind them…

Alisson was snapped out of her thoughts once she saw something between the trees, hidden between bushes. The green-furred Pokémon went through the bushes to find a rather big creature she had never seen before. It was a pitch-black being with lanky arms and legs and hands bigger than what his limbs would suggest. It looked completely made of crystals, with its face being colored crystals making what looks like its mouth and eyes. Its shoulders and head had spikes, along with a rather thick back. It kinda gave the vibes of a prism. The creature was currently laying on the ground, facing upwards and unmoving, it didn’t look like they were awake.

The green-furred Pokémon needed confirmation, so she pulled out the handheld mirror from her bag again and whispered to it. “Giratina, do you hear me?”

The reflection became pitch black once again, along with the appearance of the red eye once again. “Yes… I can hear you and feel a powerful presence nearby you…” Giratina whispered. “You reached it, didn’t you?”

“Yes.” Alisson whispered back, taking a quick glance and the prism creature. “It looks unconscious, and I don’t feel any hostility emanating out of it. What should I do with it?”

A thoughtful hum could be heard behind the mirror. “Try getting a closer look and analyze it. If it wakes up, check if it can speak and try gathering information. However, if it does attack, summon me instantly.”

The green-furred Pokémon nodded. “Alright.” She then put the mirror away before walking directly to the spiky black creature. When she got close, she analyzed its body, seeing edges that she couldn’t see before. ‘Just what could this creature be…?’

Suddenly, the colorful crystals in its face glowed a faint hue before the creature slowly but surely rose off the ground, levitating in place. Alisson got a bit startled by the creature and didn’t notice a small black tar-like substance falling off the creature and jumping on her paw, disappearing within her body. She jumped back a bit while staring at the creature who was staring at nowhere.

It started looking at her with an unreadable expression. She guessed that would be the case. The last creature they fought out of the village that last time was a creature made out of wires and LED lights, so she guessed anything was possible coming out of these portals. However, unlike the last creature, they spoke with an ethereal-like voice even without a mouth. “Salutations, native of this world. Can you understand me?”

Alisson was a bit taken aback by the revelation, her eyes widening for a moment before she calmed down. ‘Well, this makes the mission easier.’ She thought before responding, crossing her furry arms. “I was about to ask the same thing… can YOU understand me?”

“Well, I can, so at least there are some things in common.” It then put a huge claw over its chest and bowed. “I am pleased to meet you. My name is Necrozma, the bringer of light that illuminates even the darkest places of the entirety of Ultra Space.”

The human-turned-Pokémon tilted her head. “You… uh… don’t look like a being that brings the light.”

It stayed in silence for a moment before it looked at its claws and feet, its voice was filled with fear. “M-my… my light… it’s gone…” It then threw its claws into the air while shouting. “It’s GONE!!!” It floated around while turning its head around desperately, looking for something. “Where is it!? WHERE DID IT GO!?” It then dropped to the ground and curled on itself, almost sounding like it was sniffling. “I’m nothing without my light…”  

From everything that Alisson thought about an interdimensional light being with a tremendous amount of power that even one of the strongest Pokémon of this world is cautious of… yep, this was the last thing she expected coming from this creature. She didn’t mind it though, at least it was not destroying everything around it. 

Alisson approached Necozma and saw it whimpering and sniffling like a child. She carefully thought about her next words before eventually speaking them out loud. “Look, uh… Necrozma, I may not understand how it feels to…” She clasped her paws while looking aside. “... lose your light.” She then looked back at the alien being who uncovered its face and looked at the green-furred Pokémon. “But, if you like to… I might be able to help you find your light… somehow…”

An ethereal gasp could be heard as Necrozma started floating again and grabbed the Pokémon’s shoulders with its large claws, leaning close to her face. Alisson released an instinctual hiss from being startled, but the black prism creature didn’t notice. “Are you telling the truth!? Would you truly help me?”

The green-furred Pokémon looked aside for a moment in a bit of nervousness before looking back to Necrozma. “Sure… I like to help everyone in need, so maybe I can try helping you as well.” She said with a smile. “I even have a… friend that can probably help as well.”

The prism creature then took Alisson off the ground and spun around while holding her. “Thank you so much, native! I’m so entirely grateful for helping me find my precious, well, everything!” 

“Uh… you’re welcome… I guess?” Alisson said a bit sheepishly before she was put down by the pitch-black being. She brushed her fur a bit before saying. “Alright, I’m gonna contact them, could you stay beside me?” Necrozma nodded before the green-furred Pokémon looked away and took out the handheld mirror again. “Giratina, I bring great news.”

The reflective object went pitch-black as the red eye of Giratina appeared on it. “What is it-” The eye turned to Necrozma, who waved back at the mirror. “... is that-…”

Alisson interrupted. “Yes, yes, it’s the being that came out of the portal and all of that. Look, I wanted to ask if I could bring Necrozma to the Distortion World to sort everything and maybe help it with its… situation.”

“You see, mirror native, I’ve lost my light and I need to find it to become whole again. So it would really help if you help me search for it!” The otherwordly being said.

“It also might give us clues as to why these portals are appearing…” Alisson whispered to the mirror, unbeknownst to Necrozma.

Giratina sighed. “Yes, you can… bring it here. Look… Necrozma, just behave yourself while you’re in this realm, alright? It is susceptible and would cause a lot of repercussions if one slight damage is done.”

The prism creature nodded and the green-furred Pokémon responded. “Alright, I’m bringing it there.”

As Alisson put away the mirror, Necrozma commented. “You know, it’s kinda rude calling me an It every time I’m being referred to. I’m a living being just like you guys as well!”

Alisson tried not to roll her eyes before looking back at the supposed light bringer. This being was weirdly surpassing all of her expectations, after all, who would’ve thought beings from other worlds would care about pronouns as well? “Oh? Then tell me, what kind of reproductive organ do you have? The male one or the female one?”

Necrozma stuttered a little before looking down between its legs. “U-uh…” It then looked back at Alisson. “I’m pretty sure I had both organs when I had all my light. So you can call me they once you refer to me, native!”

“It’s Alisson, Alisson Niijima. If you want formalities, call me Niijima-san” She said while crossing her arms, her expression deadpan. 

“Ah…” Necrozma cleared their throat (somehow). “Um… that’s a weird way of saying miss…”

The green-furred Pokémon’s paw started being covered with a dark aura. “Yeah, like you, I’m also from another world as well. Although I don’t remember much of it, this is one of those things engraved in my mind. But anyways…” She grabbed her natural weapon, which was engraved with a string attached to her body, with her coated paw and swung it in front of her, making a drawing of a big circle in the air. The circle then turned into a portal that oozed a slight dark mist from the other side of the portal. Alisson put her weapon back in its place before looking at Necrozma, the prism being looking at it awestruck, and motioning to the portal with her paw. “You can go first.”

“Alrighty then.” They said happily before slowly floating into the portal, disappearing in the darkness.

Before Alisson entered the portal, a massive headache was made present in her head, making the green-furred Pokémon clutch her head in her paws. She grunted in pain as a voice, that sounded like multiple people talking, echoed throughout her mind. 

Remember… you must remember…

“Wh-who are… you…?” Alisson groaned a reply, gritting her teeth. “R-remember what…?”

The hate… the anger within you. They are locked within your memories. To unleash your true potential, you need to remember and vanquish them from your soul. 

“H-how…” She was to the point of kneeling, her muscles weakening a little. “How do I do that…?”

We can help you. However, we are not in this world currently. We reside in a place between universes called… Ultra Space. The being of light you have encountered is the key to Ultra Space. In the state that they are now, they cannot take you there. You have to awaken their slumbering form once again.

“What… do I need to do…?”

Seek after the Pokémon called Solgaleo and Lunala. Once they restore the light in Necrozma, you will have what it needs to enter Ultra Space. We shall give more instructions as you progress. Do not say anything about our talk to anyone. We are always watching.

The headache suddenly went away along with the weird voice. Alisson knelt on the ground, taking deep breaths to recover from what just happened. What was that voice? How did it know that she had lost memories? And how could it get said memories back? 

Alisson was debating with herself if she should trust it or not. On one paw, she wanted that feeling of phantom familiarity to disappear forever so that she knew why everything felt so familiar and not familiar at the same time. But on the other paw, she barely knew the voice and could very well walk into a trap. 

It was then that, suddenly, something that she never saw before flashed in front of her mind, resembling a scene. It appeared to be the vision of someone, seeing arms and hands, crossed legs, and a handheld device with two screens that felt familiar to the human-turned-Pokémon. And on the screen, there seemed to be pixelated representations of Pokémon. 

Alisson grunted from the sudden memory that played in her head, taking a deep breath. That scene looked like it was someone playing a game of sorts. What was that game? And who was that person? Was that… her…? “That’s the last straw… I’m done having feelings like these without knowing anything about them.” She muttered before straightening her composure, looking back at the portal that was still open for some reason, even if she lost a lot of focus with that voice and the sudden meaningless memory. “I’m gonna get my memories back one way or another…”

With that, Alisson entered the portal and closed it behind her. 

“MissingNo., I have a question.”

“What is it?”

John looked aside for a moment, fidgeting with his fingers as he took in the empty horizon of the dreamy beach. “So… I know that, like, Giratina has been keeping watch on you since… the early times of the universe, I guess.” He then looked back at the glitchy amalgamation, that he was used to seeing. “Do you know what you’re gonna do once he notices?”

The glitchy entity tapped a finger below its mouth as it thought. “Hm… interesting question.” It shrugged with its disembodied hands. “We don’t know. We just don’t know how they would react if they saw me in the normal realm. However, if they do see us as a threat, we suppose… we might have to retaliate.

John tilted his head, the blonde fringe falling to the side a little. “Wait, can’t you guys uh… talk it out…?”

MissingNo. looked aside. “Well… we could… if we haven’t been an annoyance for all these millennia when they were keeping watch of us, especially during the Dark Matter incident.” MissingNo. said while chuckling. John just stared at the glitchy being in confusion. “Oh yeah, you don’t know what Dark Matter even is.”

John crossed his arms. “Well, I know, it’s a type of matter in the laws of physics-”

“Wrong.”

“Wha-?”

MissingNo. shook a finger. “You might know of dark matter as a type of matter in your world, but in this world, Dark Matter is a being. It is a being formed by the negative emotions of Pokémon kind. It feeds off the negative energy of these emotions to grow stronger.”

John had a bead of sweat rolling off his cheek after hearing that. The way that MissingNo. talked about it, it didn’t even sound like a Pokémon but more like another being entirely. “Uh… this Dark Matter guy… does it feed off of every kind of negative emotion?”

MissingNo. lowered its head to the pool of static below it and responded. “Well, yes, but weak ones not that much since it doesn’t gain much strength out of them. However… grief, hate, depression, and jealousy are some of the strongest negative emotions it can feed off.”

“So… those are the feelings it gains the most strength from?” The human asked and the glitchy entity nodded. “But how can a being that feeds off negative emotions be defeated? Fight it with positive emotions?”

“We’re afraid that it isn’t as easy as it seems. Let us explain.” Suddenly, a whispy white orb that had small white petals and a singular eye appeared levitating on one of MissingNo.’s claws. “Pretend that this orb is Dark Matter. That’s not what it truly looks like, but it can take many forms and change it depending on the situation.” On another disembodied claw, two other small orbs appeared and took the shape of Pokémon John didn’t recognize, the glitchy entity bringing the two claws together and letting more space for the figures to stand on. “Let’s say that individuals are trying to fight Dark Matter’s physical body. Normally, it uses other beings to do its heavy work while it constructs and acts its malicious schemes in the background. But once they’re cornered, it won’t hesitate to strike back itself.” The mini figures on the claws started to fight against the orb as MissingNo. continued. “Normally, it can receive physical damage if you strike its body directly with any attack, however, it has a lot of resistance to those.” Wispy and colorful expressions of happy faces appeared around the two Pokémon figures. “To combat it, you need to have a lot of positive emotions to weaken its defenses until its core is fully exposed. Then you can destroy it for good.”

John listened to that entire explanation curiously while crossing his arms. “Huh… so I was right in some way?”

MissingNo.’s smile grew wider in delight. “Yes, you were. However, there’s one thing I must tell you no matter what. Even if you manage to kill it, it won’t die completely. As long as negative emotions exist, it will come back in the future in a different way but still with malicious intentions.”

“I… I see…” The human said while looking aside a bit nervous. Now that was worrisome. If that entity kept coming back over and over again, that meant that other humans from the past have fought it since it was probably a world-national threat. Would that mean that he would have to fight it someday-

Nope, he was summoned there by accident. There were other humans here aside from him, maybe they would have to fight it, not him!

Suddenly, John started to have faint white wisps of light leaving his body. “Ah, my time has come.” He said with a hint of satire in his voice.

MissingNo. chuckled before waving with its claws and Pokémon limbs. “See you in the next dream, John.” 

Without any further delay, the human’s body burst into white wisps, disappearing from the dream.

“Bye Mom, bye Dad!” Claire shouted while dashing out of the house, John clinging on to her fur as he tried not to fall off from the Vulpix’s head. At least he could use the bag she was carrying as a “passenger seat” if she ever went too fast.

“Bye, kids! Have fun out there!” Izo said with a grin, waving a paw at them while coming out of the door of the house with his mate.

“Take care of yourselves, and be careful out there!” Reya shouted as her tails swished behind her. 

With that, John and Claire were on the way to the fire fox’s battle class. The Joltik was a little wary of going out with the Vulpix. On one hand, it seemed fun watching Pokémon train with each other in Claire’s battle class since it could be used as a learning experience for the Joltik. On the other hand, John was a bit skeptical and nervous about going. It wasn’t because he was scared of being found out as a human, but because of what happened last Saturday. Claire was attacked by a Corrupted Pokémon and badly wounded by who’s probably the Pokémon working with the bad ones.

John just couldn’t stop thinking if there would be some kind of pattern forming. Sure, you can’t just think it’ll happen again for sure after just one time. But, he was still concerned if it would happen again since he was with her this time, and like Mark had said, humans are trouble magnets after all.

The little spiderling shook his head. He shouldn’t be thinking about the negatives of the situation, he has been thinking like that for a long time and, honestly, it just brought more stress rather than bringing him a feeling of safety. He should just wait and see what would happen rather than just imagine infinite bad possibilities of what could happen.

The jog, that slowly turned to a walk over time, to the dojo was uneventful at best. Claire didn’t need the GPS on her phone this time since she knew the location by heart. They were walking down some streets before eventually taking a turn where the gravel-made street became a dirt-made one like a trail. The houses slowly started to appear less and less as trees and bushes started taking over the scenery. 

Along the path, John started spotting some Pokémon, bug type Pokémon, staring back at them or minding their own business as they crawled around the trees, the Joltik starting to shiver a little. His fear of bugs didn’t completely leave him after making up with his tarantula mother. He might not act like a little kid struggling to slap away his most hated food when a bug type approached him anymore, but he sure didn’t like looking at or even touching a bug type. He wasn’t even sure how he managed to hug his mother even with that fear he had, probably the work of his baby instincts that yearned for motherly love and care. 

“Something on your mind, John?”

The Joltik was snapped from his thoughts and looked down, paying attention to the source of the voice. “Ah, it’s nothing. Just thinking about some minor things.” He then looked at the path in front of him and asked. “Hey, are we close?”

“Oh, yes! I’ve been to Ginikofu’s dojo a lot of times already to know even the exact distance!” Claire gloated, a grin forming on her muzzle.

“So tell me, what is the exact distance between the dojo and your house?” John asked.

The Vulpix’s grin dropped, looking in a certain direction to hide her uncertainty. “Uh… probably, like, um… five… five kilometers?”

The spiderling made a thinking face before mentally shrugging. “Eh, seems plausible. I’ll let this one pass.” The two Pokémon started chuckling for a moment before John asked. “So… what is your teacher like? I’m kinda curious.”

Claire piped up. “Oh, he’s such a nice ‘mon! I and the class call him Mr. Kofu, and he basically runs the entire dojo along with his wife. Although he may seem nice from the outside… he is kinda scary when he battles.”

“Sheesh, that sounds like a guy whose bad side is best to remain hidden…” John commented.

“I never really saw his bad side… I don’t even think he has one.” The six-tailed fox said with a smirk. Before John could comment on it, Claire spoke again. “Oh, and we’re here!”

John looked in the direction where Claire was staring and released an “Oh.” of realization. The dojo had the appearance of a two-floored and square-shaped building, having two round doors at the entrance that made a semicircle together, two round windows on each floor, and two roof tiles on each floor, the top one being more cone-shaped. For the Joltik, it almost looked like a miniature version of an old Japanese palace. “Damn… this place looks uh… really nice and kinda similar to one type of building in my world.” John looked aside and thought. ‘All that’s left is for this Kofu guy to be a damn samurai.’

“Oh really? Then you might feel right at home here!” Claire said enthusiastically before walking inside the building, sliding the two doors with a bit of ease. 

The inside of the building was at least something different rather than a stylized Japanese-like design than the Joltik was expecting. The walls were painted with a deep blue, the strokes of paint making the ink feel like actual water; white and red pillars supported the upper floor; and a ceiling that was colored a light blue with some white that represented the clouds. From a simple glance at the painting of the building, John could immediately tell what the theme of the dojo was. 

Looking around more, the Joltik saw some basic dojo equipment. Some targets were placed on the walls, some sandbags hung from the metal beams near the ceiling, and some dummies were shaped like various Pokémon. They weren’t alone in the dojo, however, there were some other Pokémon as well. The Pokémon were a greenish and floating spherical being with some kind of green bubble enveloping their body, they almost looked like a cell in those picture books. The next Pokémon was a large red centipede, with a pair of legs in each segment and what looked like a flaming mustache on their front, the same fire pattern appearing on the end of their body. And the last Pokémon seen training in the dojo was a small and bipedal spiky rodent that had a brown and cream-furred face and torso, having small green needles on their back. All three of them were Pokémon the little spiderling didn’t recognize, and the one that terrified him the most was the fire centipede, the reasons being very obvious. Fun fact! He feared centipedes the most out of any bug.

Claire tried to look up at John as she asked. “Pretty neat, isn’t it?”

John stayed silent for a second before eventually responding. “Yeah, uh…” He eyed the flaming centipede for a moment. “It is… sure.”

“Claire!”

The duo looked at the source of the gruff and welcoming voice along with the other Pokémon that were training. They saw a blue four-legged otter walking in Claire and John’s direction, he looked old with their scars and a bit of wrinkle in the skin beneath the fur, bits and chips of the shells on his legs and head missing and some spikes on his horn a bit broken, and a trimmed white mustache and tuft on his muzzle. He stopped in front of the fox and the spiderling and smiled. “Claire, it’s so good to see you here perfectly healthy!”

“Hi, Master Kofu!” Claire said ecstatically before grinning. “I’m ready for another class today, perfectly recovered from the wound from last Saturday!” She said before snorting some flames from her snout.

“That’s good to hear!” The samurai otter said with a nod.

John just kept staring while the other two conversed. Damn, his prediction was right, the guy that runs the dojo was literally a samurai. The otter looked a bit old, having a lot of battle experience under his belt (or shell for a better word), which was expected for a wise teacher like him.

“And who might be this little fella on your head?”

This question snapped John from his thoughts, realizing that Kofu was looking at him now. But before he could better grasp reality and respond, the fire fox answered for him. “Oh, this is a friend I met recently, he’s civilized by the way. His name is John and he’s a… really smart Joltik!” The spiderling jumped off of Claire’s head and landed between the teacher and the student. “John, meet Master Kofu, a Samurott.”

John looked at the prominent otter samurai and shuddered a little at the sheer size of the Pokémon up close. If Claire felt like a bus in size, Kofu felt like a plane. He suppressed a shudder before eventually lifting a nub. “H-hi… nice to meet you.”

There was a small surprised reaction appeared on the Samurott’s face. “Oh, you can… speak?”

John hesitantly nodded. “Just uh… having a smaller body than usual, but I’m pretty developed.” He lied with a sheepish smile.

Kofu stroked his mustache a little with his paw. “Interesting.” He then tilted his head. “Have you come to watch Claire train?”

“Yep. Just came because of boredom and because of… reassurance.” John looked aside after saying that last part.

“Ah, I know what you’re talking about. It was hard seeing one of my students in that state while carrying her to the town.” The Samurott said while looking away for a moment before piping up, looking back at them. “But let’s not remind ourselves of that moment, what happened in the past stays in the past after all.” He then looked at the Joltik. “Hey, I have a question. How good are you in a fight?”

John made a thinking look before shrugging with his body. “I’m only good when I’m defending myself. I, uh… don’t fight very often.”

“Ah, I see. Perfectly normal for a Joltik. But say… instead of just watching your friend fight, would you like to join Claire in her training?” Kofu offered with a smile.

Claire gasped, her tails starting to wag a little. “Are you for real, Master Kofu!?”

The master of the dojo nodded. “Yep, the little guy here can participate in this class, that is, if he wants to.” He then looked back at John. “So, what do you say, John?”

John looked away as he thought about it. He wouldn’t like to reveal his abilities to other Pokémon he wasn’t familiar. On one hand, he would risk exposing his true identity, on the other hand, this training may help in future battles without having strong enemies just give up on battling and sparing his life. He just couldn’t be eyed with pity by the enemy, he needed to get stronger somehow if he wanted to survive in this harsh world.

With the new decision in mind, he nodded at the Samurott. “Alright, I’d like to participate in this class.”

Kofu grinned. “Sweet!” He then started walking to the center of the room before he called out. “Everyone!” The other Pokémon who were currently training stopped what they were doing and gathered around the samurai otter, John and Claire following suit. “Today is a special class. Claire has recovered from her injury and can attend class!” Kofu said before motioning to the Vulpix with a paw as she wagged her fan of tails. “Not only that, we have a guest attending this class.” The Joltik sighed and walked forward, letting the other dojo students see him. “This little fella here is John. I know he might not look like much but don’t underestimate a Pokémon just by their size alone.”

“Oh, it’s always nice having another bug type in the same place as another one!” The flaming centipede said with a gruff voice after coiling up on himself, looking at John. “Isn’t that right little one?”

The Joltik took a single step back and looked aside, trying to subtly hide his disgust and shiver. “Y-yeah…”

“Yo, you can speak?” The rodent asked while tilting his head.

Claire stepped up and responded to the spiderling. “Yep, he can. He’s a bit shy so… don’t expect him to talk as much.” 

The Solosis floated up to John, the bubble around their body rippling as they made slight movements. They spoke with a high-pitched female voice. “Nice to meet you, John. My name is Dina!”

The Chespin grinned and crossed his arms, speaking with a boyish voice. “Name’s Chester! Let’s see if ya have nice moves!”

The Centiskorch uncurled himself and raised the front half of his body, showing his non-fear-inducing legs. “Call me Scorge, happy to have you.”

John sheepishly waved a nub after all of the greetings before his attention was focused on Kofu as he cleared his throat. “Now that we are more properly introduced, let’s start with the class. Let’s begin with the stretches. After all, we need our body as flexible as possible to not let any crankiness or muscle cramps interrupt us when we are battling!” He proudly said before stretching his paws, one at a time. 

John raised an invisible eyebrow and started looking around at the other students. Everybody began stretching their limbs, even the centipede was doing it with his many legs. Although the cell Pokémon was… uh… well if she was pretending she was stretching a part of her body then she was doing pretty well then. Eventually, the Joltik sighed and started doing his stretches as well with his small limbs. 

It felt weird trying to extend his limbs to distances he never tried to reach, his fuzzy legs always felt so cramped and curled up, but at the same time, he felt he could bend them in unnatural ways. Well… if Pokémon could bend their limbs a bit further than normal humans and animals can, he supposed it was normal he felt this way, hell, maybe with enough practice he could finally be able to touch his own back. 

After a moment, everyone stopped their stretching and Kofu nodded and spoke again. “Alright everyone, now that we’re all set up, let’s go to our training. Now, “What are we gonna do today?” you may be asking yourselves. Today, we’re gonna learn how to strengthen moves that we already know.” The students gathered next to each other in front of the Samurott, John making sure that he was as far away from Scorge as possible. “But it’s not about strengthening the move you have by just adding more power to it, no. It’s about finding new ways to use the move to make it more effective in a certain situation instead of just using the move normally. Now, has anyone here managed to do that on their own?” With that, John looked around for a moment before slowly raising a nub. “Oh, you already did, John?”

As everyone in the class started looking at the Joltik, Claire responded proudly to him with a smile. “He’s not only managed to make one but two moves out of the moves he knows!”

The other students looked at the little spiderling with a shocked expression, Chester being the first to comment. “He did WHAT!?!?”

“I barely evolved and I still wasn’t able to make a move of my own and you already did two!?” The Centiskorch asked in disbelief as they leaned a bit closer to John, the greenish spiderling taking a step back in response.

“How did you do it!?” Dina asked as well as she floated in closer to John.

Kofu cleared his throat again and waved a paw. “Alright settle down, we wouldn’t like to overwhelm our guest here.” The students leaned away from the Joltik who breathed a sigh of relief. “Although, I’m a bit intrigued as well. You look quite small for someone of your species and you can talk as well. Are you just smaller than the average Joltik or an actual prodigy?” He asked while caressing his mustache.

John hesitated a little before saying. “Just uh… the latter. I could just adapt and learn earlier than others.” He decided to go against lying about his age because he couldn’t decide on a single age to go with, and if he would talk to a person he already told a fake age and said that he was another age, then things would go pretty badly to his side.

“I see… would you care to demonstrate at least one of the moves you have managed to do until now?” The samurai otter requested, motioning a paw to the handful of dummies and targets that varied in shape and size that were spread around the dojo. 

The Joltik stared at them for a moment before nodding. “Alright.” He walked towards a target hanging from a ceiling, the usual marks that archers use for practice like in those movies. He sighed before looking behind him, seeing everyone currently in the room staring at him like they were expecting something grandiose from him, except for the Vulpix who was cheery as always to him. 

He looked back at the target and thought about what move he should use first. After some thinking, he decided that he would do the Grappling Silk move first since it was the first one he managed to do after all. He gathered the bug-type power from his core in his mouth, his bug cheeks inflating a little from the silk manifesting in the inside of his mouth. The Joltik then released a thick thread of silk that consisted of multiple tiny strands, the String Shot latching on the target. While the other Pokémon (except Claire) watched in confusion, he then pulled the string, catapulting himself into the air and falling directly to the target. Since the target was being chained from the ceiling, the platform John was standing on was shaking quite a lot because of the pull and his landing, almost making the Joltik lose balance although not falling. After the target stopped shaking, he looked back at the others while saying. “That was Grappling Silk, basically String Shot but as an option for faster movement.”

The Chespin had stars in his eyes from how they shimmered from awe. “That was so… awesome!”

“A String Shot made for movement? Wow, I wished I learned how to do that when I was a Sizzlepede…” Scorge admitted as they looked at John in admiration.

“Incredible, shall I say, masterful even!” Kofu beamed, walking up to John with a smile on his muzzle. “It seems you weren’t really kidding when you knew how to use moves in another way!”

John started to look away in embarrassment. “Yeah…”

The Samurott then looked at the other students while John hopped off the target. “This is what I mean by strengthening the moves you already know, students! If the move isn’t working in a specific situation, try thinking outside the box to better your odds in a battle. Understood?”

The four Pokémon trainees nodded and said in unison. “Yes, Master Kofu!”

“Good then. Now, I’m gonna give you guys some time off so you can practice and think what’s the best thing to do for your moves. You can also try and teach your classmates some moves you might know that could be useful to them. So have at it while I go to the bathroom and take care of some minor paperwork. Shouldn’t take that long.” The Samurott said before walking out of the main room and going to a hallway that supposedly led to the restrooms.

John sighed and muttered to himself. “At least that wasn’t that bad…”

“Hey there!”

John flinched before looking at the source of the voice, seeing the flaming centipede crawling closer to him with his body leaned down. Seeing that caused an instinctual jump, making the little Joltik back away. “U-uh… p-please don’t do that.” ‘Of all the Pokémon here of course it had to be the centipede wanting to talk to me…’

Scorge lifted the upper section of his body, revealing his underside, many legs, and of course, his bug mandibles. “Oh, did I scare you?” He frowned while he asked. “Sorry, I can’t help it, it’s just how I walk. But it’s expected that you would feel scared, you’re a Joltik after all.”

John looked away in embarrassment. “Y-yeah, I guess..” Well, at least his racism with the bugs of this world can be masked by just an instinct of the species he reincarnated as. “So… was there something you wanted to talk to me about rather than train like the others are doing?”

The Centiskorch looked behind him and saw the other Pokémon training with the targets and dummies. Chester released his needles from his body and launched them at a target like missiles; Dina released a small beam of psychic energy at a dummy; and Claire made three purple fireballs appear floating around her, making them fly into a spiral in the air and hit the target she was aiming for with her pyrokinesis. Scorge then looked back at the Joltik and nodded. “Yes, I wanted to know something about you. Since you’re a Joltik, the other move you know is Electroweb, right?”

John hesitated for a moment, asking himself how the Centiskorch knew that. However, he remembered that move is a common move among Joltik and they learn at an early age. “Uh… yes, I know that one and before you ask, it’s the other modified move I know.”

“Oh, I wasn’t about to ask about the other modified move. I was gonna ask another thing.” 

The little spiderling tilted his head. “Then what is it you wanted to ask?”

Scorge clicked his mandibles, humming before asking. “Do you know the move Bug Bite?” Just from the look on the Joltik’s face, it could be noticed he knew jack shit about what was said to him. “Huh, thought you knew about it already. But anyways, it’s a strong bug-type move that might be useful for when you’re trying to damage with a powerful bite.”

“So… I basically just bite the enemy?”

The flaming centipede nodded. “Yeah, with the help of your core of course. The bite might not be useful on its own, but they become more powerful when combined with your second typing. I used to use it a lot before I evolved and it worked wonders in my battles.” He winked at the Joltik. “So there’s a small tip from your senior.”

“Well, erm… thanks.” John said while forcing out a smile as best as a Joltik could. In his head, he thought about a new move. He already had a nice attacking move for when the enemy was at a certain distance, almost like having a weapon. However, it had the same drawbacks as weapons. If the enemy closed up on him quickly, he would have no time to pull out his Electro Whip before the enemy crushed him like the bug that he was. So having an attacking move he could just do it when crawling up in the enemy’s body would be useful… however…

Blergh, that would be so disgusting. He’d have to taste the flesh of other Pokémon just to attack them. Sure he’d already bitten two beings before, that being Taro and that human criminal. But he wasn’t really thinking straight to register what he just had done, being driven by hunger and anger on two completely different occasions. But when he was thinking straight and strategizing to win a battle, he would be feeling the taste, the texture, and even the flavor of the raw skin or scales of Pokémon.

He debated if he should just shrug off learning the move. He realized that he had no other options, he should learn it to boost his odds of winning a battle with a bigger foe. A new move meant a new skill for his survival in this crazy world. 

John sighed and thought. ‘Guess I have no choice in this…’ 

Kofu hadn’t come back yet and Scorge went to train with the others. Seeing the other train, John decided that he should probably go train as well to try and see what this new move was all about. 

The Joltik grappled onto one of the dummies and zipped away to it, landing on the wooden and hay-made surface of the dummy. John analyzed the giant training doll below him, humming in thought as he tried to think of a way to make the move work. He had drawn out power from the bug side of his core multiple times when he used his Grappling Silk, like it was almost like another type of muscle memory that was engraved in his mind like auto-pilot. 

Surely drawing out the bug-type power from his core just to increase the pain of a bite would be easy, right?

‘You never know when you don’t try.’ The Joltik crawled to the head of the dummy and stopped on its forehead. He took a deep breath before opening his mouth and highlighting his fangs, His fangs started letting out sparks of electricity, a green glow starting to surround the fangs as the Joltik drew power from his core. He then brought down the fangs into the dummy’s forehead, sparks running around it as John bit it.

John then released his fangs from it, trying to spit out the awful and dry taste of hay and wood plaguing his mouth. “Ugh, never doing that again on a dummy…” He muttered to himself before a thought dawned on his mind. What kind of microbes were lurking around in this world, hell what even kind of viruses exists in this world? He had just gotten rid of Covid a month ago, he couldn’t get an even worse disease right after a deadly one. ‘I’ll uh… I’ll just use this move as a last resort...’

The spiderling then saw the Samurott coming out of the hallways and entering the main room. He cleared his throat before calling out. “I’m back, everyone!” The other students stopped throwing out seed bullets, fireballs, and other types of moves and gathered in front of the teacher.

“Welcome back, Master Kofu!” The students said except for the guest.

The otter smiled and asked the trainees. “How did the self-training go for everyone?”

“I figured out how tah do some amazing things with mah bullet seed! It now can cover a large area!”

“Didn’t get much progress with my psychokinesis, but I think I’m getting somewhere.”

“Same progress with me and my fire, although I made the flames around my mandibles more flexible and more bendable.”

“I thought of something amazing with my Will-o-Wisp but I want to keep it a small secret!”

The Samurott then looked at the spiderling, expecting something from him. The Joltik took a second to realize that he wanted to know if he learned something new. “I uh… learned how to bite… I guess?”

Kofu stroked his mustache before nodding in approval. “I appreciate seeing the dedication you put into your training. I can already tell that, with the experience you gained today, your battles will become easier in the future. Now then…” He motioned his head to the stairs behind him. “I think it’s time for a little training between yourselves, how about it?”

The students nodded as John tilted his head. Kofu was already leading the students to the stairs and John followed suit by jumping on Claire’s head. Still curious about what the Samurott was talking about, he asked the fire fox while whispering. “Hey, what did he mean by that last part?”

As the Vulpix started to ascend the stairs, she chuckled and whispered back. “You’ll see. I think it’ll help on battles for when you’re on your own.”

John frowned a little. “Alright then…?”

As they reached the second floor, the Joltik took in his new surroundings as he tried to piece what the heck they were gonna do now. The second floor had a similar design to the first one, the walls and ceiling being the same color as the other floor. However, instead of dummies and targets, there was a single rectangular field (that looked like an orange soccer field) covering most of the floor. Besides the arena, there was a desk with a Pokémon sitting on it and writing something on a sheet of paper. The Pokémon resembled a humanoid flower figure, with the lower half of her body being leafy and having no legs while the upper half had white skin and a large bush of blue flowers wrapped around her neck. For John, that looked like a Pokémon he would probably hit Smash if he played a hypothetical smash or pass game with Pokémon.

But of course, he would never… even if his friends forced him to play that one time but with a different game.

The humanoid flower Pokémon looked at the group, specifically Kofu who was walking towards her. She smiled and kissed the Samurott on the head when he reached the desk before looking at the group behind him. “Oh, today is one of those days?” The flower being asked.

Kofu nodded. “Yes, it is my love. Would you like to be the referee for the battles and the healer just in case?”

She giggled. “Sure, love.” 

Meanwhile, John whispered to Claire with a question. “Is that Pokémon his wife?”

The Vulpix nodded and whispered. “Her name is Artemis, she’s a Florges.”

John nodded in understanding, seeing the teacher enter the arena-like field.

Kofu looked at the students and spoke loudly. “Everyone, it is time for you to put the training you did to the test! Of course, you won’t have complete mastery of your abilities just yet, however, you can count this event as the second part of your training, to see how would they fare in a real fight!”

The Joltik was slowly beginning to realize what this was about and the reason behind the arena, although, he asked anyways just to be sure. “Are we… are we gonna be fighting you?”

“Oh no, putting a teacher against their students in either a battle of knowledge or raw strength, the students would have no chance. So, that’s why you will be battling each other one on one!” John felt his heart sink a little after he heard that. “Speaking of which, how about you against Claire for the first match?” John’s heart sunk into a level that he never thought was possible.

“... w-what…?” He let out in an almost inaudible volume.

“Ooh, it’s weird that we never sparred until now, it was about time to change that, don’t you think?” The Vulpix asked as she started walking to the arena.

“I… I guess…” John muttered before jumping off Claire’s head, seeing her walk to the other side of the soccer-like arena. 

John was absolutely terrified of what was about to happen. He knew that one day Claire would want to battle him just to see the power of a human. But when she stopped being that obsessed with them, he thought that he wouldn’t need to worry about that anymore. 

Welp, here they were, ready to beat each other, AKA, Claire burning him until only a pile of ashes remain.

He wasn’t that scared of entering battles, he had a lot of battles already with his new body so he was pretty used to the idea of them being a frequent thing in the Pokémon world. However, all of the battles he entered so far were with a team of Pokémon aiding him in battle, but this time, he wasn’t gonna receive any help from anyone.

The Joltik got hurt many times already, getting flung around, getting crushed by a ball, receiving an explosion to the face, and fucking living. So yeah, getting burned to ashes won’t be as bad as the other times he got hurt, sure the flames will be agony, but he can handle it… hopefully.

The Samurott walked out of the small arena and looked at both battlers, the eager-looking Vulpix and the scared shitless-looking Joltik. For a bit of reassurance, Kofu said to John. “Hey, John.” The small spiderling looked at the otter. “If you are scared of being burned in the process, I’ll spray a quick jet of water on you to extinguish the flames, how about that?”

John stuttered a little while nodding. “Y-yeah, that’d be appreciated.” He then looked back at Claire, seeing a grin on her face.

“Are you ready John?” She asked while lowering the front of her body and spreading out her fan of tails a little like she was ready to pounce.

“Y-yes…” ‘Ready to get my ass to the hospital that is.”

Artemis got up from her chair and floated to the side of the arena, looking at both sides while tilting her head at John for a small moment. She then looked back to the middle of the field and raised an arm. “If both sides are ready, you can begin the fight…” John and Claire tensed as the fairy referee paused for a small moment before bringing her arm down. “Now!”

John suppressed a gulp, focusing on the Vulpix’s actions. Claire started by launching an Inferno from her mouth, the fireball traveling directly to the spiderling’s location. John, fortunately, didn’t become a deer in front of headlights and hopped away from the fireball that created a small pillar of flame once in contact with the floor. John didn’t even bother looking at the damage that the fireball caused. As he learned from many pieces of media, focus on the enemy not everything around you. Although, he found it a little weird that Claire didn’t open with her Will-o-Wisp attack.

The Joltik started running towards Claire before hopping in the air and summoning an Electro Whip from his mouth, swinging his head to strike the vixen with his weapon. He could even hear the sounds of awe from the small crowd at the side of the arena. Claire dodged the paralyzing whip and looked at the sparks that it let out once it struck the floor. John landed on the ground, whip still out, and whipped at Claire’s leg once she looked back at the spiderling, the Electro Whip wrapping around her leg and causing static to run through her body.

“Ngh!” Claire let out while gritting her teeth.

‘Now’s my chance! Better test out my Paralyzing Bug Bite (name still pending) at her because at least I know she showers.’ John thought as he released the whip from his mouth before looking at the ceiling, shooting a String Shot at it, and pulling the thread to catapult himself into the air. After reaching a certain altitude, he started falling directly at the Vulpix as he began to build up power in his fangs. 

Suddenly, Claire grinned as she looked back at John. “Surprise!” Suddenly, the ghostly-looking fireballs of Will-o-Wisp appeared not around Claire but in front of her, forming an X-shaped barrier. John’s eyes went wide, knowing full well that there was no way to strafe in the air to change the direction of his fall nor any time to just grapple away. 

John braced before going through the flames and landing on Claire’s head. The Joltik started feeling his entire body burn from the inside out, he could even feel the agony of the flames being present throughout his very soul. He grunted loudly before jumping off of the Vulpix’s head spasming and thrashing his body around to get rid of the fire… that wasn’t even there.

Claire burned the electric whip from her leg as the paralysis around her body dissipated. “It worked!” Claire turned to the spiderling with a smile. “And you fell directly right into my Will-o-Shield!” 

As he was busy fighting invisible flames, he managed to let out. “C-cheap… cheap trick!”

“I mean… it’s supposed to be like that or else the opponent wouldn’t get closer…” The Vulpix said with a shrug. “But anyways, guess I win-”

Suddenly, the Joltik’s eyes filled with static for a brief second with a faint red glow coming from them, making Claire flinch. Suddenly, John stopped thrashing and struggling, looking at the Vulpix silently before asking while he was upside down. “Something wrong?”

“Wha- what was…” 

“The match is over.” Artemis suddenly called out, raising an arm. “Claire wins by a timeout.” 

John looked at the fairy referee and sighed. “As expected…” John rolled onto his feet and looked at Claire with a smile on his fuzz. “Honestly, even if I’m a bit mad that I got fooled that easily by that move, that’s a nice tactic. It’s definitely gonna be useful in a later battle.”

The Vulpix looked confused and a little concerned. She opened her mouth before shutting it and looking at the other Pokémon in the room. She then looked at John with a sheepish smile. “Yeah… thanks…” 

The Joltik tilted his head a little at the sudden tone shift of her voice. But before he could ask a question, Kofu spoke up. “Well students, a bit of an anti-climatic battle, I know. But remember, we’re doing this for training purposes only. So no one here will get badly injured.” As he talked, the duo of Joltik and Vulpix left the arena. “Now, who’s next on the list?”

The battle class was over and John and Claire were on the way to the park to meet up with the rest of Team Net.

Currently, they were on the woody path that leads back to the gravel streets of Burgroth, taking it nice and slow because of all the training and battle they did in the class. 

John felt that it was an enjoyable experience. He managed to learn a new (and disgusting) technique that will help in the next battles… if he finds an opponent that’s not that smelly or dirty. Claire, however…

The Vulpix thought that the class has been a fun experience as usual. It was even more fun when she learned how to do a new technique and even fight John for the first time. The human-turned-Joltik used his small size and jumpy nature to his advantage in battle, not only that, he also has the mind of a human which makes his tactics in battle feel so different than most Pokémon. However, Claire figured out a way to outsmart him and use her “new” move at John, making his soul feel like it was burning. She would’ve put the flames away after she won, however, something strange happened…

The Vulpix saw John’s eyes fill with that weird glitch energy for a moment, and the next thing she knew, the Joltik looked like everything was fine for him, even if he felt like he was burning seconds ago. At that moment, Claire completely lost control of the flames, as if they disappeared from one moment to another. 

Why did that happen? Did MissingNo. wake up momentarily just because it felt that John was in danger or did John do that on his own? Did he even notice it? Well… they were alone now, so Claire could probably ask about it. “Hey, John?”

The Joltik looked down. “Yeah?”

“Uh… during our fight, what was that all about?”

He tilted his head in confusion. “What was what?”

The Vulpix answered. “After you got fell for the Will-o-Shield, you got burned spiritually, right?” John nodded. “How did you get rid of the burning sensations?”

“I didn’t get rid of them. They just went out on their own.” He responded.

Claire stayed silent for a moment before responding. “Ah… I see.” So he wasn’t the one controlling the glitch energy, then it was probably MissingNo., although, that didn’t soothe her worries at all. If she remembered correctly, John told them that if the glitch Pokémon was awake, he would slowly turn into a glitch Pokémon as well. What if he was slowly turning into a glitch Pokémon right at this moment? The Vulpix gulped. “J-John… do you feel uh… strange?”

The Joltik lifted an invisible eyebrow. “Uh… strange in what way?”

“I dunno, like, do you feel certain urges, or does your body feel weird in a way that’s uh… not normal?”

John looked up as he mulled over the question. “Well… aside from everything that came with this body after turning into a Joltik… no, I feel fine, even if I’m in a body that makes me cringe a little bit every time I look in a mirror.”

Claire released a small sigh of relief. “That’s good at least.”

“Where’s all of this concern coming from?”

The vixen sheepishly smiled as she tried to look at the bug on top of her head. “Oh, you know, just a friend concerned for another friend. After all, after everything we’ve been through, you could be feeling a bit off, right?”

“Well, you’re right. But no worries, I’m alright.” John then looked around before eventually saying. “Uh… sorry to bring the mood down but… wasn’t this the moment when you got attacked by that Corrupted Pokémon last Saturday?”

The Vulpix tensed a little bit, her ears flicking from one side to another as she looked around. “Yes… it was…” The duo tensed for a moment as Claire stopped walking, focusing on her surroundings with their eyes and auditory senses sharp.

After an agonizing moment of silence minus the chirping of flying types, they noticed that nothing was happening, making them relax a little. John sighed in relief. “Well, lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place, as they say…”

“Unless you’re fighting an electric type then it’s the opposite.” Claire said with a chuckle, trying to lighten up the mood. “Anyways, I’ll quicken the pace before I get another string of anxiety because of a Corrupted Pokémon.”

“Alright then.” John said with a nod.

It wasn’t long until the spider and fox duo got to Burgroth once again. The town has gotten more lively now that it was afternoon, Pokémon walking around everywhere they looked. Without any delay, Claire walked towards the small park in the town.

Burroth Park was the center of the town, where a lot of Pokémon went to do various things; relaxing, hanging out with friends, and lots of other activities. There was even a battle court for the battle-hungry ‘mons to duke it out just for fun (or most of the time, bets). There were several stands of food plastered around the place, ready to attend to any hungry Pokémon who was walking around.

Claire had been here multiple times with her family. It was the best tourist spot for any Pokémon who just wanted to visit the town or a friend that lives here. She remembered the good memories of this place, even the recent bad ones when her sister suddenly started bullying her. However, she didn’t think too much about those memories and only focused on the good ones, hoping that one day, everything would turn back the way it was, but with John this time on their family!

It didn’t take much longer for the duo to reach the spot that Claire had planned for the meeting. It was an isolated spot from the rest of the park, next to an abandoned building. The area had a round table with some seats lined up next to it, away from the majority of the stands and hotspots. 

Truly, the perfect place to host a secret meeting with no chances of eavesdropping. 

The rest of Team Net was already there, sitting at the table. Amy was looking in the distance rather pensive along with Taro, Popo, and Nana, The Togedemaru messing on his phone with a smile on his face while the Tandemaus eating ice cream with the same emotionless expression they always wear. That thoughtful look was on Amy’s face when Claire went to discuss the meeting with her and the rest. She asked about it, however, the Shaymin told her not to worry about it and left it at that. Just what was causing her to act like this?

Claire and John approached the group, the Joltik jumping on the table. “Hey guys, we’re here!” Claire announced, making the others look at them. 

Amy smiled as she looked at them. “Oh, hi John, hi Claire. You were the last ones to arrive so we were just waiting for you guys.”

Taro looked aside as he put away his phone, muttering to himself. “At least they didn’t see me screaming when the twins appeared…”

John tilted his head as he looked at Taro, having heard a little bit of what the spiky mouse said. “Saw you what?”

Taro squeaked a little. “N-nothing!”

Popo and Nana looked at the Togedemaru. “Warn us next time.” “Boomburst is a dangerous move.” “And your species is not even supposed to learn that move.”

Amy giggled a little, Claire chuckling along with the Shaymin. “Really, Taro? Didn’t know you could use Boomburst.” The Vulpix teased a little.

Taro blushed and stuttered a little. “C-cut it out!”

John snickered a bit before speaking up. “Anyways, let’s start this meeting, shall we?” Everyone looked at John before nodding. The Joltik cleared his throat. “So, Claire and I called a friend of mine from the human world, since he’s a big Pokémon enthusiast in my world.”

“Wait, is he a human?” Taro asked, receiving a nod from the Togedemaru. “How come you never told us about him?”

John looked aside a bit ashamed. “Uh… I kinda forgot to with all the shit that’s been going on recently…”

Popo took a step forward. “Can we meet him?” Nana followed her male twin. “Can we know his greatest fear?” “Can we baptize him into following the Great One, guiding him to the path of enlightenment?”

John stared at them for a moment before sighing and eventually saying. “Firstly, I don’t know. Secondly, no. And thirdly, absolutely not. Religion is a finicky thing on Earth and I don’t want to divide that more than it already is.” 

The Tandemaus limped, still showing no expression on their faces. “Awwww. Another soul lost in darkness…”

“... anyways…” John continued, turning back to the rest of the group. “With his Pokémon knowledge, some theories have been made on how Asuri can travel between worlds. We narrowed it down to three suspects that could be helping them. Getting the unlikely ones out of the way first, we have Solgaleo and Lunala.”

Taro and Amy flinched slightly once the severity of the name settled in on their heads. The grass hedgehog was the first one to speak about it. “Solgaleo and Lunala? Firstly, yes, that seems highly unlikely because they only appeared a small number of times in this world. Secondly, I know your world knows about Pokémon as a piece of fiction, sure, but do they even know about the Pokémon that aren’t from this world? How is that even possible?”

John shrugged. “Hell if I know. I wouldn’t even know if other pieces of media there would be real in another reality.” He sighed, looking a bit thoughtful before speaking again. “So since these two have a low possibility of helping anyone, the other candidate has a higher probability to be helping Asuri. The suspect in question is Hoopa, a portal-making Pokémon according to him.”

Taro hummed. “Isn’t there just one of them in the whole world? Wouldn’t they be hard to find?”

“We’re speaking of a company with probably billions of Poké in their pockets.” Claire said while looking at the Togedemaru, her tails dropping a little. “I imagine they could do more than just find a legendary Pokémon while remaining undetected.”

John nodded. “Yep, happened with a lot of companies in my world. Just because they were rich, they could hide a lot of their wrongdoings by just paying the authorities.”

Amy tilted her head. “But what would their reasoning be for helping Asuri? Hoopa might be known for their mischievousness and kinda greedy nature, but they aren’t really evil.”

Popo and Nana looked at the Shaymin. “They could be helping them because they were forced to.” “The sinners might be keeping a friend of theirs captive.” “They could have a prized item that they have.” “Or have they have the ability to completely overpower them and kill them if they so desire.”

“They’re basically treating them as their slave then…” Claire said while looking down. If that was the case, all of the little respect the Vulpix had for them would be gone. 

“Whatever it is, we’re gonna find out the truth once we investigate them up close.” John said while raising a nub. “It was the second reason I wanted to make this meeting. We’re gonna organize what we’re gonna take and our plans for once we get there rather than just gather evidence.”

“We shall punish them with a sacrifice.” “Their sins shall only be forgiven if they give in to the will of the Great One.” Popo and Nana suggested, getting the rest of Team Net to turn to them while saying “NO!” in unison. “Awww…”

“We’re not gonna go after anyone there. We will be just gathering evidence to expose them later on.” John said before adding. “Plus, if we go after the head office on our own with no evidence, we will surely get beaten up and get handed over to the authorities in no time. Hell, we could even get arrested by assault.”

Taro sighed. “Yeah, you do have a point…”

Claire then perked up, her tails rising a little. “Wait, we forgot to tell you guys something. There will be two detectives in Xander Cage on Friday. One of them is the Scizor I met in the hospital and the other is his partner.” The Vulpix decided to keep Mark’s secret from the team for now. She thought that if she told them, he would feel betrayed that she couldn’t keep a secret. “We managed to convince them that Asuri might be up to no good and they said they were gonna go to Xander Cage City at the time of our trip to keep an eye on them.” She then turned to John. “We could just give them the evidence, and since you’re a human, you could prove that the evidence is the right one to expose them!” 

John thought about it for a moment before eventually deciding. “Yeah… you’re right. We could just do that!” John said a bit excitedly.

“Hold on a moment.” Amy called with a frown on her face. “How do you know that these detectives are trustworthy enough? I mean, sure they are part of the authorities but… would they trust us?”

“Well, they would since one of them is a-” 

The Vulpix interrupted the spiderling by pressing a paw on him, John struggling beneath her foot. “Since one of them is really smart and they know a lot about the human world! He said he investigated a human before so he’d know that the evidence is true!” Claire said a bit sheepishly before letting go of the Joltik.

John looked at the fire fox a little annoyed. “What was that for-”

“Oh, wowsers! What an interestin’ group we got here!”

Team Net turned to the source of the voice and saw a cloaked bipedal Pokémon, wearing a beige hood shrouding their entire face sans the toothy red grin and manic-looking red and green eyes. As the figure spoke, their grin flashed red. “Never seen anyone wanderin’ around these parts of the park, what brings y’all here?”

Team Net’s (except for the Tandemaus and John) eyes widened once they got a look at the cloaked face. The group knew how to identify a Corrupted Pokémon by their eyes, seeing a small hint of madness in their eyes. And by the look in this Pokémon’s eyes, they looked utterly insane. “A-a Corrupted Pokémon!?” Taro said in shock.

John looked in disbelief at Taro before he looked back at the grinning figure. “That’s a Corrupted Pokémon!?” The Joltik said in shock. He then looked aside and muttered. “It’s official, Saturday is fucking cursed…”

Popo and Nana jumped in front of Team Net and summoned their Shadow Claw from one of each mitten hand, pointing at the Corrupted Pokémon. “State your business here, heathen!”

The Corrupted Pokémon rolled their eyes before lowering their hood, revealing their robotic face resembling a Weavile. “It’s always the same thing when a Corrupted Pokémon is spotted.” They- or he (judging by the voice) started doing a mock voice while putting his claws on the side of his head. “ Oh noes! A Corrupted Pokémon! ” He put a claw on his forehead, acting like he was a damsel in distress. “ Who’s gonna save me now from this foul beast! ” He chuckled and shook his head as he shrugged. “Let me tell you guys that not all of them are the same savages. Look at me for example! Am I snarling and growling at you?”

Amy looked aside. “Uh… I’m pretty sure they can talk as well just like you do…”

He raised a finger. “Hey, at least I’m not attacking you guys!”

Claire snorted some flames from her snout before looking around. “You’re not alone, are you?” She asked, still on edge after almost receiving a fatal wound because of a Corrupted Pokémon situation.

“What’chu saying, foxy? I came here all on my own, all by myself!” The robotic Weavile said before raising an invisible eyebrow, putting his claws on his side. “It’s almost like you have trauma or something.”

John slammed a nub on the table. “For your information, she was attacked by one of your kind exactly last week! She was even sent to the hospital and-” Suddenly, John stopped talking as he slowly calmed down. Even while permanently grinning, the Weavile had an expression of confusion shown by his eyes. The Joltik stuttered as he asked. “Q-question… are you… are you a human?”

Team Net’s eyes widened as they looked at John, remembering the potential truth about Corrupted Pokémon. They all looked at the Weavile, waiting for a response. He stayed in silence for a moment before humming, putting his claws on his sides. “Where did you get that idea from?”

Claire took a step closer to him and said. “Last Saturday, me and the Joltik here bumped into a Charmander who looked afraid of everything around him and even called us monsters . Later that day, when I was returning home, I found a Corrupted Charmander that also called me a monster and attacked me. Pokémon don’t call each other monsters for no reason, that behavior is not something you’d see a normal Pokémon do. And two different Charmanders that said the same thing with no reason?” The Vulpix shook her head while continuing. “That can’t be a coincidence.”

The Weavile rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but I’m not a human. That Charmander was prolly pure coincidence!”

“Why deny the truth?” Popo said as he lowered his Shadow Claw along with his sister. “We can see your soul perfectly.” “You are human.”

The robot groaned in annoyance, crossing his arms. “Stop trying to gaslight me! I am no human and never was. If I was, I would’ve remembered being one!”

The Tandemaus tilted their head while asking. “Then what do you remember?”

He lifted a claw finger. “Well, I-... I remember… when I…” Team Net looked at themselves in confusion before looking back at the Weavile again. “I thought I…” He looked away, muttering to himself. “Has she been hiding something from me…?”

Taro tilted his head. “She…?”

“Argh!” He swiped a claw in front of him and turned away. “Forget it, I came here looking for something fun to do but apparently the universe wanted to toy with my good mood it seems!” He released a sigh, putting on his hood. “I’m gonna do a bit of thinking. I’m sure we’re gonna run into each other again eventually.”

“Wait!” Claire called, asking. “Can we at least get your name, if you have one?”

The robotic Weavile gave them a side eye, answering the team. “Cass, the only thing I can remember…” That was the last thing he said before skating away with the wheels below his feet.

Team Net was just left staring at the spot where Cass was standing. John sighed. “Well… at least that confirms that I’m gonna be like that if I ever get caught by the guys behind the Corrupted Pokémon…”

Amy grimaced at the thought. “They not only make them act more savage than normal, change their appearance, but they also brainwash them… that’s so cruel…”

Taro groaned angrily. “I hope whoever runs this organization gets what’s coming for them soon! This can’t continue like this!”

“Imagine how many families were ruined because of them…” Claire commented while looking aside. She clenched her paws while gritting her teeth slightly, failing to notice purple wisps of energy appear around her body. However, the wisps soon disappeared as the Vulpix took a big breath. “I hope the rescuers or the police can do something about them, this can’t go on for long.”

John nodded. “I wouldn’t like to spend my entire second life under a fake identity after all.” He said before turning to the rest of Team Net. “Alright, I guess that concludes this meeting. I hope that everything goes well in the mission.”

“Less than a week to prepare, huh? Should be easy peasy for an investigation!” Taro said with a grin before looking at Amy. “Isn’t that right, Amy?”

The Shaymin snapped back to reality, looking at Taro. “Oh, yes! It will be…” 

Claire noticed the forced look on Amy’s face and frowned. She hoped that Amy would open up about what she has been feeling to the rest of the team soon…

Although, another issue passed through the Vulpix’s mind as some thoughts ran in her head. Until now, she had seen Corrupted Pokémon as savages who follow vague thoughts and instincts tied to a leash. But now… after seeing Cass, she realized that they were much more than that. They were poor victims of brainwashing… 

The fire fox looked back at where the robotic Weavile was standing, frowning in pity. ‘I sure hope that you’re able to snap out of that control one day, Cass.’

She couldn’t ask for better luck.

Alice just managed to get a Porygon-Z and use him as a spy. What would be the odds that this same glitchy duck would work at the same school that the human could be on? She would hit the jackpot if that was the case.

It’s a good thing that Asuri owns the profile of every Porygon that get their upgrades and small updates get through the company, or else she wouldn’t have found Zetamon’s profile in the network. The Porygon-Z had been working in Obelisk High, in the small town of Burgroth, a town that she wouldn’t even notice since the Fire Continent was so big. 

And if the potential human attended that school… she could monitor them and be ready in case they try to be a “hero ” to stop her plans… when will they know that they are only preventing a wonderland from being created?

Alice sent the Porygon-Z back to Burgroth so he can get ready for another week at school as usual. She would remotely send him orders so that he could follow her bidding without any chance of her plans going wrong. 

It seemed that, finally, everything was going as she intended. She managed to get the internet to this world, her army of humans was getting bigger and more powerful than ever, and she even managed to get to the President’s good side, making the process of crossing to the human world easier. It seemed that this was the cycle, the cycle that Project Wonderland would be completed.

She worked so hard to achieve such a feat, it took a long time, but her goal was close to completion. She could finally take a breather after so long…

That was why she decided to walk around the edges of Flame City, alone. She felt that deserved a small break when her plan was nearly finished. She finally had time to relax more, so what’s better than taking a small walk, away from the tight spaces of an office? 

The Meowscarada took a deep breath, feeling the clear air pass through her lungs, refreshing her respiratory system. Fresh air like this almost didn’t exist anymore in the human world from her time there. So once Wonderland was built, the first thing she would fix in that world was the oxygen and the oceans. 

… and there goes away her peaceful moment… the true reason she went on this walk in the first place.

After passing behind a glass-made building, Alice stopped in place as her smile was replaced with an annoyed frown. She sighed before looking behind her. “I know you’re there, you can come out now.”

It seemed like nothing would happen as silence followed by a swift breeze, minimizing the silence by a little bit. However, from the glass building a dark rift appeared, some black clouds oozing from the rift as purple sparks accompanied them. From the giant rift, a massive and imposing gray, black, red, and yellow dragon figure appeared, their wings materializing from the golden ribcage-like body part around their neck. The dragon looked at Alice with a menacing stare. “Alice Mishima…”

The Meowscarada fully turned to the ruler of the Distortion World and smirked. “Oh wow, it seems that I’m even popular around the deities of the world!” She flashed a pose, putting her paws beneath her chin. “Tell me, ruler of the Distortion World, what is the meaning behind your sudden visit?”

Giratina continued glaring at her as they spoke. “I’ve been watching you for some time now. I’ve seen what the consequences of your actions have caused to the world.” They lowered their neck a little bit, narrowing their eyes. “Do you even know what have you done by bringing the internet to this world?”

Alice stopped posing and chuckled. “So even you know about the internet. My, it seems everyone is truly connected these days.” She grinned. “Yes, I know too well what I have done…” 

“Do you know the damage that it is causing to the balance of the universe?”

“I fully know that.” She then folded her arms behind her back. “But what if I told you that all of this damage is intentional?”

“Intentional!?” The antimatter dragon spread their wings, a gust of wind being released around them. “You can’t possibly be thinking of colliding two worlds together, are you!?”

“Relax, that’s something a villain would do. And I can assure you, I’m no villain.” The masked feline said, motioning a paw to go along with her words. “I’m looking to do something else with the two worlds. Simply put… I want to combine the two of them.”

“What!?” Giratina said, baffled by the words of the Meowscarada. “But that’s madness, you can’t possibly hope to do that! Both worlds will collide and both shall be destroyed!”

Alice chuckled. “And that’s where you’re wrong.” Giratina tilted their head as the masked feline continued. “I’ve made my calculations. The internet is a marvel, you see? Not only does it connect two places at once, but it allows two individuals to interact with each other without physically being there. However, when more than billions of users are using that connection all at once, the forces attract each other, slowly but surely. You barely notice it, but this world is on its way to encounter the human world, and when they fully meet, they will fuse to create a single world! Don’t worry, there might be some really small collateral damage here and there because of some constructions and places overlapping each other, but no one will get hurt, so it’s a win for both worlds!”

Giratina stared in silence for a long moment before eventually saying. “That’s complete… madness.” Alice’s grin was completely wiped off her face. “You’re completely insane… you can’t just toy with the balance of two worlds and don’t expect to be consequences!” Their wings turned into claws with three red tips as a dark aura started to appear around their body. “If you don’t stop with this crazy plan right at this moment, I will have to take matters into my own claws, for the good of both Pokémon and human worlds!”

Alice just sighed. “If you want to be that way…” A purple aura manifested on the Meowscarada’s paw, the aura enlarging and shaping itself in the form of a scythe, formed out of pure darkness. She spun the scythe around in her paws for a second before resting the hilt of it on her shoulder as a floating plant appeared beside her. “So be it…”

Giratina took off from the ground and coated their wing claw in a shadowy energy, lunging at Alice. The Meowscarada dodged the huge body mess along with the attack by simply sidestepping out of the way. “Too slow…” She said before spinning and swinging her dark weapon at the dragon’s side as they flew past her, all in under a second. 

Giratina grunted from the pain, doing a quick 180 as they landed on the ground. They released a roar into the air, and below Alice’s feet, she felt the ground heating up. She knew what that attack was, so she immediately jumped away, just in time for a large pillar of flaming rocks and dirt to come out of the ground. While airborne, she saw a massive silhouette growing larger from the magma. As the pillar disappeared and the rocks fell to the ground, a massive wing claw came swinging at her, coated with the same shadowy aura. Alice managed to block the blow with her scythe, the Night Slash and Shadow Claw clashing with each other for a short moment.

Alice managed to deflect the slash, pushing the wing claw and the massive Pokémon away from her. The antimatter legendary, with a flap of their wings, flew back, retreating into a recently formed portal before closing it. The Meowscarada fell back on the ground and started looking around with a perceptive look on her face, humming in thought. “So that’s how you’re playing huh…?” 

The Meowscarada then closed her eyes and took a deep breath, putting a paw over her eyes as she tried to identify in which direction Giratina was coming from. After a few seconds of agonizing silence, Alice opened her eyes and sprang away from where she was standing, right before another dark portal opened up. As the antimatter dragon came out of it, Alice aimed the floating plant (that was actually attached to a near-invisible string on her body) and fired a bomb flower directly at Giratina. The bomb exploded when in contact with the dragon, launching them a few meters away. After a moment, Giratina got up while trying to regain their balance, bleeding on their side and missing a few scales from their body. “How…? How did you figure out where I was coming from…?”

Alice stood on the ground with a grin on her face. She shrugged. “Wouldn’t you like to know, antimatter boy-?” Suddenly, the masked feline was wrapped around shadow tendrils, making her weapon dissipate and restricting her movement. She then looked at the ground to see a trail of shadows leading right back to Giratina. She was foolish enough to get caught in the enemy’s trap… “Clever…” That’s all she managed to say.

Giratina said nothing else before charging a blue sphere of energy in front of their mouth. The orb grew bigger until the dragon released the Aura Sphere, launching it directly to Alice.

The Meowscarada braced for impact, the energy sphere hitting her right in her body as the shadow tendrils released her. The masked Pokémon was launched far away by the Aura Sphere, only stopping when she reached a tree. By then, Alice wasn’t flying at high speed anymore, so the impact on her back was soft. She slumped onto the ground, falling to her knees. She put a paw on her chest, feeling a warm red substance oozing out of a wound in her body. When was the last time she last bled? Oh yes, that battle. 

“Are we done here?” Alice looked up and saw the large antimatter dragon land in front of her. “Or do I have to beat you to your senses?” They threatened, spreading their wings a bit further.

The Meowscarada stared at them for a moment and couldn’t help but chuckle at the situation. The lizard really did think that they got her cornered. “Well… it’s been quite some time since I’ve last heard of you, you seemingly haven’t been slacking off, have you?”

Giratina tilted their head. “Since you last heard of me? What are you talking about?”

“Heh…” Alice slowly got up and took her paw away from her chest, blood still dripping from it. “You wouldn’t know… you still think that I’m dead. But it doesn’t matter…” She slowly brought her paw to her mask. “You’ll realize the truth soon enough…”

Giratina got into a defensive stance, their wings turning into claws. “What do you mean by that!?”

The Meowscarada clasped her mask as a wicked grin formed on her mouth while closing her eyes. “Maybe after this… you will know what I mean.” Alice then threw away her mask before opening her eyes, revealing that her sclera fully turned pitch black while her irises stayed the same red color. 

Giratina retreated a couple of meters back. “What!?”

Alice’s body began to change a little more as she grew a bit taller, the insides of her ears oozing a black substance, the fur on her cheeks and the back of her head slowly turning black as well, looking like the same substance but dried up. The flower around her neck fell limp and lost some of its saturation, almost looking like it withered. Her paws started being covered with a black layer, almost looking like a glove. The rest of her also lost a bit of its color as some parts of her body started leaking the tar-like substance. On her forehead, a black heart mark appeared, and her eyes started to leak the same black liquid. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to use this and you’d be a pushover, but you left me no choice.” She opened her arms as the grass around her started to wither. “This will be quick.”

Giratina’s eyes widened. “That’s…”

The Meowscarada chuckled. “That’s right. Dark Matter . But don’t worry, unlike the other Pokémon who were controlled by it…” A ball of dark matter appeared on her paw, floating. The ball suddenly sprang behind her and fell to the ground. Alice then raised her arm and an entire wall of the dark substance was erected behind her like a geyser. “I control it to my will… thanks to you.”

“Huh-?!”

Suddenly, Alice flew directly to the antimatter dragon, barely even visible to the naked eye. Giratina had barely any time to react before the dark matter feline punched the dragon in the chest with her blackened paws. Giratina was launched a few meters back but quickly regained their composure and tried to focus back on Alice, however, she was nowhere to be seen. “Where-”

The rule of the Distortion World received another blow on its back, but before they could look at the source, they received another blow and another and another, receiving a barrage of punches from every direction. Alice was just so fast that she couldn’t even be seen, it was like she was actually flying.

Because she was.

The Meowscarada appeared in front of the limping Giratina, descending from a higher altitude with angel-like wings made of dark matter on her back. “Do you see now, Gira?”

Giratina grunted in pain before speaking. “There’s… there’s no way for a Pokémon to control Dark Matter without being corrupted on seeking the destruction of a world… how did you do it…?”

Alice grinned widely. “As I said before, it was thanks to you that I managed to do that…”

Giratina fell on their knees. “What do you mean by-” They stopped themselves before finally managing to look at Alice. “It’s… it’s you, isn’t it? You’re her, aren’t you…”

The Meowscarada chuckled. “You’re correct. Nice to finally see you again, old friend…” She lifted a paw as a ball of pure darkness appeared on her paw. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to kill anyone, I just need to keep you away for now...” She launched the ball of darkness at the Giratina, hitting their head and causing a small explosion on contact. With that, the ruler of the Distortion World couldn’t handle it anymore and fainted on the ground. Alice landed in front of them and dissipated her wings. The dark matter around her body started to disappear as her mask magically appeared on her paw again. “Hope you have a nice time catching up with your sibling once you wake up, hehehehe…”

Chapter Text

Another day of no leads… typical.

Reino was at his bedroom desk, reviewing the many files and photos of dangerous-looking Pokémon on his desk, illuminated by a lamp in the darkness of his room. It was midnight, the moon standing at its peak in the sky, lighting up the world below it. He decided to cut another night of sleep to advance in the Corrupted Pokémon case, fuelled by caffeine and energetics, maybe a tad bit too much for his species.

While he was reviewing the information he had gathered, one single question flowed through his mind.

How the fuck had he hadn’t got any leads yet?

The Scizor knew that he wasn’t that bad of a detective to not notice minor clues left by suspects. In every case, there is bound to be a slip-up by the group at a particular moment, making their illegal actions easy to track down. However, ever since he got that important lead on the Corrupted Pokémon case, he couldn’t find any other clues so far. The reports of Corrupted Pokémon sightings were still the same as always, no other suspicious Pokémon appeared thus far, and nothing else! It looks like these sightings were just meant to distract him-

… what if those reports were really a distraction?

They were all so random. Sure, might’ve not been fake, but the appearance of the Corrupted Pokémon roaming around was at really spaced-out times. It was like they wanted you to relax before making another one appear. If that was their tactic… then they were smarter than Reino actually thought they were.

“Ugh… but what does knowing that change?” The steel mantis asked himself, annoyance and tiredness present in his voice. He slumped on his chair, looking at the wooden ceiling of his room. “I still have zero fucking clue as to who that organization even is…” 

Reino sighed before supporting his head on the table, his face showing a tired expression even for a Pokémon with a steel carapace. If he had skin, the bags under his eyes would be noticeable. 

The Scizor yawned before looking at a certain picture that was on the desk. It was a photo of him, Raiden, Mark, and the others from the Fire Continent Police Department. Reino stared at the photo before picking it up with his pincer and analyzing it more closely. In the photo, he was still a Scyther. He remembered when this photo was taken. It was taken just a few days after Mark signed up as an officer of the law at the beginning of the cycle. 

“Damn… it’s been ten cycles since he came to this world huh…?” Reino reminisced, a bit in disbelief from the time that had passed. He held the picture close to his chest and looked out the window, seeing the star-filled night sky. “Even with that amount of cycles, I still remember when I found that hardy human walking across the city like a lost infant…”

Another one of those patrols… boring.

It was one of those days that the XCCPD sent Reino to one of those patrolling tasks around Xander Cage City. If he was being honest, the Scyther didn’t think that these patrols were actually useful. Sure, some illegal activity can be spotted sometimes, but the majority of the time, they are hidden from view almost every time. It also didn’t help that the badges they wore stuck out like a sore wing.

This time was like the others: no crimes, no suspicious Pokémon, nor any kind of illegal activity spotted. Yep, completely useless as usual. 

That’s why Reino decided to spend the rest of his patrolling time relaxing, goofing around on the streets taking a sip of a honey-made drink with Raiden, who was drinking carbonated water from a bowl. In Xander Cage City, there were public gallons of various liquids littered across the streets, having multiple liquids for Pokémon that didn’t have hands while also having straws. Really useful things, but still a bit pricey in his opinion.

“Another fruitless day, huh?” Raiden, the chrome Miraidon commented as he took a break from scarfing down his drink. Raiden was… a strange Pokémon. His species came out of a certain Mystery Dungeon, saying they came from the future or something like that while also not being wild. Since Mystery Dungeons were so unpredictable, society didn’t rule out the possibility that they could also transcend time if they transcended space. 

Reino, along with many others, doubted that was the case.

He had some theories, but since he couldn’t deny or confirm them without evidence he just decided to go with what the world claimed for now. Unlike many other Scythers, Reino was a different case. He wasn’t that hot-headed and didn't act rashly. He was calm and rationalized about actions before doing them… well unless he’s in the heat of the moment that is.

“I mean, what did you expect?” Reino asked, crossing his scythe-like arms. “In most cases, this is just a waste of time…” He then took the last sip of his drink before wiping his mouth. “Shall we head back?”

The Miraidon nodded and stood on the dirt road, his tail curling up along with his chest that inflated like a wheel, turning into a yellow and bluish neon color. Even when looked upon at first glance, Miraidon are Pokémon made for riding, their chest and tail turning into wheels so they get more mobility. Not only that, they can fold their hind legs and turn into a futuristic booster for some reason.

Truly, a Pokémon made out of technology so unreachable to this day that’s obvious that he came from a distant future.

Reino buzzed his wings a little, rising off the ground, before landing on Raiden’s back. “We move-” Before the robot lizard could start moving, the scyther noticed at the corner of his eye a certain male Pikachu with a bit more fur than usual walking on the sidewalk, a nervous and confused look on his face. 

The Scyther stared at the electric rodent for a moment before Raiden snapped him out of the trace. “Something wrong?”

Reino flew off from Raiden’s back and looked at the Miraidon. “Hold up, I saw someone who looked a bit off, it’s best to check ‘em out.” He pointed one of his bladed arms to the Pikachu who was slowly walking away.

Raiden looked at the Pikachu before looking back at the Scyther, nodding in agreement. “Understood.”

With that, the duo went towards the suspicious-looking electric mouse, with Reino flying a bit off the ground with his wings and Miraidon just wheeling himself with his wheels. 

The Pikachu’s ears flickered a little bit, making him grab it and look back. He flinched a little once he noticed who was approaching him, seeing the Scyther land on the ground and the Miraidon’s two wheels turn into his chest and tail. Once the duo stopped in front of them, the electric mouse started speaking nervously, Reino noticing that he had sharp teeth. “C-can I help you two…?”

Reino analyzed the Pikachu up and down. He looked to have the muscles of a normal Pikachu, albeit a bit taller. He had a bit more fur than others, even shown on his head by an unbrushed fringe. He really didn’t look like he treated himself much. 

“Yeah…” The Scyther said, feeling a bit sorry for the Pikachu. He didn’t look like a wild ‘mon, so he was probably homeless. “It’s nothing much, just checkin’ around the area. You know, cop work.” He tapped his shield-shaped badge that was plastered on his chest, displaying the emblem of a fiery snake. “We just wanted to-”

“Wait, you… you guys are police officers?” The Pikachu interrupted, taking careful steps closer to the mantis and robot lizard duo.

Raiden tilted his head and confirmed. “Yes, we are. Why do you-”

“Great!” He then looked around while speaking in a lower tone of his voice which was… surprisingly not that high-pitched for a Pikachu. “So, I’ve been searching for a police department around the area because I wanna clear some stuff.”

Reino crossed his blade arms. “And that stuff is?”

The Pikachu suddenly pulled from his fur something that neither Reino nor Raiden was not expecting: a badge. It was not like any badge the duo had seen, it had a silver coloration, being shield-shaped as well with a rather wide bottom part and rough edges at the top part. In the middle, there was a blue circle being covered by a gray star that had its edges poking out of the circle. There were some words written on it in some unknown language that the cop duo didn’t understand or ever heard of. “This badge, does this look familiar to you two? I uh… suddenly woke up with it. But from what I read on it… it seems like it belongs to a police officer or something.”

Reino tilted his head in confusion. “You… read it?”

The electric rodent nodded. “Duh, yeah. Or else how would I’ve gotten the info that this belongs to a cop?”

The shiny Miraidon leaned his head forward and analyzed it, using a scanner function located on his eyes. “Unknown origin…?” He muttered in a low voice before speaking up. “Yeah, we can’t read it and we can’t identify its origins.”

“What? Really?” The Pikachu asked a bit surprised before asking another question. “Don’t you know a place called Utah or Salt Lake City?”

Reino frowned as his antennas leaned forward. “Nope, never heard of any of those places.”

The Pikachu had a surprised look on his face. “Y-you guys don’t know?” He then looked away, muttering to himself. “Dammit, I guess I won’t find my memories that soon…”

Reino tilted his head. “What were you muttering about?”

The yellow mouse looked back at the duo, who were looking at him with a hint of suspicion in their expressions. “Ah, nothing much.” Suddenly, his face lit up a bit, seemingly getting hit by a thought. “Hey uh… would you mind if you took me to the police department of this place? I… I need to confess a few things in… private.”

Reino didn’t know what to think. Just when he was going back to the department, he encountered the strangest Pikachu he had ever seen. Not only did he look a bit off, but the way he acted along with his knowledge of a written language he didn’t understand was uncommon. “Hm…” His antenna flickered to the side. “Sure, let’s go.” The Scyther pointed at Raiden. “Hop on his back, he can take us there faster.”

The Pikachu looked at the shiny Miraidon and grimaced as he took in the robot lizard’s features. He then looked at Reino with a sheepish look. “If… you say so.” He then looked back at Raiden and walked up to him, taking slow steps before managing to jump on his back after a bit of struggling. “Ugh… small legs suck.”

As Reino landed on Raiden’s back, he tilted his head in confusion. “I thought you were used by this point. Why didn’t you just jump?”

The electric rodent froze for a second before stuttering out a response. “U-uh… my bad, just forgot…” He then patted the handles on Raiden’s back. “Sorry for uh… scratching your sides accidentally.”

The shiny Miraidon said while making his wheels expand. “No problem, there was no hull damage done.” He then folded his legs. “Hold still.”

The Pikachu tilted his head as he saw Reino’s blade arms grab on the handles. “Hold still- WOOOOAAAH!!!!???”

Raiden activated his jet boosters on his hind legs and strode forward with an impressive amount of speed and precision, weaving and turning tight corners of the city. The Pikachu was cursing a lot as he tightly hugged the Scyther with a terrified expression. 

Eventually, the trio of Pokémon reached the XCCPD. Raiden turned sideways as he unfolded his legs, sliding to a stop while making a screeching sound on the gravel street. Raiden straightened himself while the electric rodent still kept hugging Reino, still a bit shaken. However, he eventually let out in a low and shaky voice. “W-why di-didn’t you tell me he was a damn bike…?”

Reino looked down at him and tilted his head. “What’s… a bike?”

After calming down from the sudden scare and releasing the green mantis from the hug, the Pikachu answered. “Well, it’s-... it’s…” He then looked away. “Huh… good question. What is a bike…?”

Reino just stared at the electric type mouse for a moment and started thinking if he had drugs or not. Silently, he flew out of Raiden’s back and looked back at the Pikachu. “Come on, I’d like to hear what you have to say.”

The sharp-teeth Pikachu nodded. “Alright.” He then jumped out of the robot lizard’s back and looked at the building in front of him. Among the tall buildings of the city, the department was way smaller compared to the rest, having three floors, weirdly shaped windows, and a ramp on the front leading to a set of double doors. The building had an orange-and-white color to it and to top it all off, there was the face of a Cradily on the top of the building, the tentacles on the side of the face coating a bit of the building like it was protecting it from harm. “Damn…”

Reino noticed the amazement on the Pikachu’s face. He has been in enough interrogations before, so he would know many body expressions from various species of Pokémon. It seemed that this supposedly homeless Pikachu had never seen a building like this before, which made his situation even stranger.

If he lived in the streets of the city, how would he not have seen the badges the officers use or even know the name of the city in the first place?

The Scyther knew the mouse was hiding something. Maybe he could get that secret out of him if he didn’t confess right away.

“Come on, let’s go.” He said before the Pikachu nodded at him. Reino looked at Raiden. “You can stay here, I don’t think this is gonna take long.”

Raiden nodded. The Pikachu stared at him for a moment before looking back at the Scyther, who was already walking towards the building doors. He picked up his pace and followed Reino, walking up the ramp to the wooden doors.

“Say, I never asked, what is your name?”

The Pikachu looked up at the mantis, who was giving him a side-eye which came out a bit menacing to the poor rodent. Nervously, he responded. “M-Mark Wilson...”

“Mark, eh? Nice to meet you. The name’s Reino and that’s all you get from me for now.” Reino then pushed open the doors, using the higher handles to open them. 

The two Pokémon entered the police station and Mark the Pikachu analyzed his surroundings in awe. The same orange and white walls stayed plastered inside the walls and ceiling of the building, however, the orange was painted thematically like a fire. The lounge was a bit open, looking like a waiting room with a desk at the end of the room. Above the desk, large letters were spelling out “XCCPD” in a golden color, and two elevators on each side of the desk. In the room, there were a lot of Pokémon of different species, mostly with the same badge that Reino was wearing but some had a bit more detail on them.

Mark was a bit awestruck at the sight before looking away and muttering to himself. “Why does this feel so… nostalgic to me?”

Reino’s antenna twitched, making him look at Mark. “Did you say something?”

The Pikachu looked back at the mantis and rubbed the back of his head. “N-nothing much… I’ll probably explain once we’re alone…”

The Scyther nodded. “Alright then. Just wait in the lounge, I have to file a report to the chief. I’ll come back for you once I’m done and lead you to a private room.” Mark nodded with an uncertain look on his face and went to sit on one of the benches, away from the other Pokémon near the place. Reino eyed his actions for a moment, noticing the nervous look on his face as he looked at Dragonite sitting next to him. The way he subtly shifted away from the dragon type, made Mark look like he was afraid of dragon types. Although it wasn’t only with dragon types, he looked nervous when he also looked at the Scyther up close…

It’s like he was being cautious with any Pokémon close to him.

‘Does that mean… no, there probably is another reason. Won’t jump to conclusions too soon.’ The Scyther thought before walking to the receptionist's desk. In front of the desk, there was an Incineroar, the buff feline Pokémon removing their claws from the desk and walking away from it with a sour expression on his face. Whatever he talked about with the receptionist, he couldn’t blame them, especially with a receptionist like Hone, the sassy Mandibuzz always made a fuss over nothing and received a lot of complaints with that attitude of hers. 

However, it was not her he was gonna speak with, thankfully.

Reino entered a room to the side of one of the elevators and closed the door behind him. It left him in a hall that led to some other rooms. He then walked to the first door on his left and entered a cozy room with gray-colored walls, some cabinets, and a single desk at the side of the room. The desk was littered with papers, and unfortunately for the Pokémon behind it, they were gonna get one more paper. The Pokémon in question was a female Maractus with red flowers on the top of her body and wearing glasses. 

She dropped a feathery pen and sighed before looking at the door, spotting the Scyther and raising an invisible eyebrow. “Reino? You came in rather early, don’t you think?”

Reino deadpanned while looking away. “Eh… wasn’t keeping track of the time. Besides, it’s not like there was much happening anyway.”

The Maractus rested her arms on the table, leaning her head on them. “You know that every second something DOES happen around the city, right?”

“I know, Liliam, but unfortunately for us cops, that something hides from us every time. Besides, rescuers do almost everything related to outlaws anyways.” Reino sighed as he walked to the table and crossed his arms. “Anyways, just came here to do the usual patrol report.” He looked away, debating with himself whether he should talk about Mark or not. However, he decided against it, playing off his thoughtful look with a shrug. “As you can probably tell, same as the others.”

Lilliam blinked with a disappointed expression on her face before groaning slightly and grabbing the pen to write, not before adjusting her glasses. “Alright then. You can go now, you have no more tasks for today. Unless you have nothing better to do and you’d like to see me write the report of course.”

Reino snickered and waved it off. “Nah, I have something else to attend to. But thanks for the offer though.” He smirked as he walked out of the room before going back to the lounge. In the room, he looked around, trying to find Mark. However, he was caught a bit off guard when he saw the Pikachu being curled up with his legs close to his chest in the corner of the room, having some Pokémon staring at him.

The Scyther walked to the Pikachu, being slightly grateful that it was almost evening and there weren’t many Pokémon at the department at that hour. After reaching him, he crouched down, making sure that his blades weren’t touching the yellow rodent. “Something wrong?”

After hearing a familiar voice, Mark’s eyes snapped open as he looked back at Reino. Both just stared silently for a moment before the Pikachu just sheepishly grinned at the Scyther. “Um… hi there… I was just… uh…” He looked away before sighing. “Sorry, I was just feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything…” 

“Overwhelmed? Why?”

Mark stayed silent for a moment before getting up from his position. He tilted his head to see the other Pokémon behind had stopped looking at him. After a bit of hesitation, he finally responded as he looked up to meet Reino’s eyes. “Uh… it’s about the thing I gotta talk about. You’re… you’re done with your thing, right?”

The Scyther nodded before motioning a wing to the door he just came out of. “There’s an interrogation room there, we can discuss your case privately there.” Reino turned away and motioned for the Pikachu to follow. 

The two of them entered the hallway again and Reino led the electric type rodent to the room. It was a grey square-shaped room, filled with soundproof walls. The Pikachu looked around while Reino closed the door behind them. He leaned on the door and crossed his blade arms. “So, what is it that you wanted to talk about, and why me specifically?”

Mark rubbed the back of his head as he avoided the mantis’ gaze. “Well… I feel like it’s something kinda big… and… I wanted to tell the right per- I mean, Pokémon this. Especially if the Pokémon was an officer.” He grabbed the badge again and looked at it. “Because I feel like they could help me with this.”

“And this so secret is?” Reino asked, starting to get a bit impatient. Really, what could this Pikachu say to him that would make him use a soundproof interrogation roo-

“I’m a human.”

The room became silent. No sound of buzzing from Reino’s wings, no sound of the talk outside, only the sound of the fan that cooled the room. The Scyther froze at the weight of the words that came out of the Pikachu’s mouth. Human…? The Pikachu? Did he hear that right? Was he not tripping? Did he actually hear that correctly? “What… did you just say?” 

“Uh… that I’m a human…?”

Reino stared at Mark once again as he took a moment to pile his thoughts and not react rashly after this revelation. A human. That was in front of him. What the fuck ? 

He had to calm down, there was no proof that he was a human. He had to find out if the Pikachu was lying. Besides, they were in an interrogation room, so he could ask the questions with no issue.

Reino took a deep breath and relaxed his arms before asking. “Do you have any proof for that claim? Because that’s a huge thing to just be spitting out of nowhere.”

“Look, is that badge that apparently came from nowhere proof enough? I literally have no memories about myself, only some knowledge of a species that I barely remember. I just know that I’m a human and that I was not like…” He then pointed at his own body before shaking his tail which Reino noticed caused some uncomfortable shifts in his expression. “Like this…” His shoulders slumped as he looked down. “And I still haven’t got a single clue on how to just… ya know, get my memories back and turn back into a human.”

Reino just stared at the Pika- no, human-turned-Pikachu for a moment as he tried to process everything that he just heard. It was true, Mark was actually a human. And it made sense with all the other things that he’d seen coming from him. The way he was nervous around Pokémon, how he could read something in an unknown language, and to top it all off, his mysterious badge. 

He had never heard of places like Utah or Salt Lake City before so that only proves his claims that he came from another place entirely… the human world. 

After processing what he just heard, the Scyther looked away and groaned, covering his face with his blade. He already knew what a human meant and that was not a good thing. “Why me…?”

The Pikachu tilted his head in confusion. “Huh?”

Reino looked back at Mark. “Look… I’ll need to tell you some things. Promise me you won’t freak out ‘cause of this, alright?” The Pikachu looked at him with an inquisitive look but nodded anyway. “Alright then, first off, you’re not the only human-turned-Pokémon in this world.”

Mark tilted his head down. “Pokémon…” Then the meaning of Reino’s words caught up to him, making him look up to the mantis again. “Wait, there are other humans like me here too!?”

Reino nodded. “Yes. Although, they are around the world and the chances of running into one are very slim, so don’t get your hopes up on finding one of your kind around the streets. There might be fifties to hundreds, but not thousands.”

Mark’s ears folded while his tail fell as he looked away. “Ah… that’s kinda unfortunate…”

“There’s something else I need to tell you as well…” 

The Pikachu tilted his head to the side. “What is it?”

“So… humans don’t get summoned here out of nowhere and for no reason…” Reino looked away as his wings fluttered. “Well, sometimes, but not all of the time.” He looked back at Mark. “They get summoned to this world to solve some major problems. It could range from helping a small village… to saving the entire world…”

“WHAT!?” Mark shouted a bit loudly, not realizing some electrical sparks coming out of his cheeks. “Y-you for real about this? Like, no shit?”

Reino shook his head slowly. “Nope. Not kidding whatsoever.”

Mark turned around and started mumbling something that the winged mantis couldn’t comprehend. “Saala, main vishvaas nahin kar sakata ki yah sach hai…” 

“What…?” Reino tilted his head in confusion.

The Pikachu realized what he had just spoken and muttered. “What did I just…? Ugh, this no-memory crap and pure instinctual shit is already driving me crazy…” Mark looked back at Reino and asked. “Is there a way to recover my memories? Did the others recover their memories?”

“Well… they have… although from what I heard… it took some time for them. I’m talking like… months.” The Scyther responded, making Mark’s ears drop a little. “Don’t worry, you’ll get them eventually, but for now, I guess… you should just try to find what you want to do for now.”

“What I want to do for now…” The Pikachu muttered out loud.

A knock on the door interrupted their talk. They looked at it and saw the door open, revealing a male Indeedee with curlier horns than usual who was holding a broom. “Pardon me for the interruption, but I am afraid that it is time to close this section of the department. Were you two conversing about something important?”

“Ah, don’t worry, we’re done here.” Mark said while putting his paws up sheepishly.

“Yeah, we were about to leave anyway.” Reino said before he started walking out of the room and motioning a blade arm for the Pikachu. “Come on Mark, let’s go.”

“Okay…!” Mark started following the Scyther up close but not before pausing to stare a bit at the Indeedee, who was taking some glances at him while he began sweeping the room. The Pikachu left the room, closing the door and following behind Reino.

The Indeedee looked at the closed door for a moment before he muttered out loud to himself. “Those emotions coming off the Pikachu… maybe something interesting is finally gonna happen soon.”

“You sure you can let me stay at your house?” 

“I mean, it sure beats sleeping on an alley with trashbag pillows, right?”

“Yeah… I guess…”

Reino, Raiden, and Mark had arrived at the Scyther’s home, the Miraidon already walking to his preferred spot on the corner of the room before his eyes suddenly turned into a lot of computer code. 

Reino looked at Mark, seeing him taking in his new surroundings. His home was nothing special, a living room with a single couch and a TV, a kitchenette with a crystal-powered oven and a small refrigerator, a single bedroom that housed his bed, and a bathroom. Overall, a simple small house resided at the edge of the residential district.

The Scyther had invited Mark to live with him for a while. Since being in the task force kinda pays him (and Miraidon since he also works in the department) well, he decided that there could be one more Pokémon living in his home. Sure, they might have to sleep on the couch, but at least Pikachus were not big enough to feel uncomfortable.

Reino walked to a desk, which was a bit dustier than he expected it to be, and put his badge on it. He then looked at Mark and asked. “I’m gonna take a shower. There’s enough room for the both of us to take one together so we can both save time and water.”

“Huh!?” The electric rodent blushed a little as he asked with a tinge of nervousness. “Y-you want us t-to take a shower… t-together…? Isn’t that like… like…”

From the way that the Pikachu was talking, the mantis knew that taking a shower together with another person was clashing with his own culture. From the way he was fiddling with his fingers, stuttering a lot, and looking embarrassed, did that mean that showering with another was a romantic act? If that was the case… “Look, Pokémon don’t really care if someone else is showering with them. And no, in here, it’s not considered a romantical act.” He waved one of his scyther arms. “But if you still feel uncomfortable, you can wait for me to be done then.”

“Um…” Mark looked away. “I guess I…” He stopped, seemingly thinking about his decision. He then sighed and looked back at Reino. “Sure, I guess a bath with another person in this world ain’t that bad.”

Reino nodded and both Pokémon headed towards the bathroom. The bathroom was, for some reason, the second biggest room in the house. He didn’t know why the bathroom was bigger than his own bedroom but he decided to just chalk it up as a construction mistake.

While Mark stared at the mirror for a bit and adjusted some of his fur, Reino entered the shower box first before opening the shower. It was a bit difficult to rotate the small contraption with his arms but he still managed anyway. As the water droplets started falling on his carapace, he looked back at the Pikachu who was still looking at Reino in hesitation, a nervous frown embedded on his face. 

The mantis sighed and crossed his arms as his wings fluttered a little. “Are you just gonna watch or enter? You can still bail out of this if you don’t want to, ya know?” 

Mark grimaced as he looked away. He groaned in annoyance from his conflicting feelings and entered the shower box as well, water falling on his fur as he started to get soaked. “Might as well enter since I’m already here…”

“If you say so.” As usual, Reino fluttered his wings once again and sat down on the floor, crossing his legs while being careful to not crush his abdomen. The Pikachu shot a confused glance at him before looking away from him.

And so, the two of them showered together while in silence, the Pikachu avoiding eye contact with the bug and flying type while he started meditating. Reino liked to meditate in the shower weekly. It helped him get rid of the stress that his job always gives him, even in the calmer parts of it, and the water just made his muscles relax beneath his shell. Even though the smell of wet fur threw him off a bit, the sound of water splashes soothed not only his mind but his very own soul as well.

However, that silence was broken once Mark opened his mouth. “So… what part of the police do you work on? The… taskforce?”

“Mhm.”

“Um… I don’t think I got your full name yet… since I gave yo mine what’s-”

“Reino Hunterclaw.”

“Ah, Reino… and what’s the robot’s name?”

“Raiden.”

The Pikachu rubbed the back of his head, realizing that his questions might’ve been interrupting his silent moment. “Uh… sorry for disturbing your peace…”

This time, Reino finally opened his eyes and looked at Mark. “It’s fine. After all, I did interrogate you so you get a chance to ask your own questions. And this moment seems like the perfect time to ask those questions.”

“Okay then…” Still feeling a bit awkward, Mark went to grab a bar of soap until realizing that there was none on the small holder. “Hey, where’s the soap?”

Reino looked at the holder before responding with a shrug. “Eh, I mostly don’t use it since I don’t get as smelly as other Pokémon, so I don’t feel the need to. After all, the water manages to get all the grime out of my shell anyway.” He then made a thoughtful look to the side. “Although… I should probably get one now since you might be here for a while.”

“Ah…” 

“Anyways, I’ve been meaning to ask you something…” The Pikachu tilted his head a little once the mantis asked. “What are you gonna do now? Is there a job you’re interested in taking?”

“Hm…” Mark put his fingers on his chin as he thought about it. “I haven’t really decided yet. Although…” He took out his badge again (why did he bring it to the shower with him?), looking at it with an analytical look as water started to soak the badge. “I don’t know what it is but, I feel like this badge is the key to solving who I was in the past. I feel like it’s connected to me in some way, maybe a sign or something…”

Reino’s antennas tilted to the side a little along with his head. “You think that police officers might be involved with your past?”

“Maybe…” He then looked at Reino again, gripping the badge a bit harder with his paws. “Maybe if I become one, it might help me figure out who I was...”

The Scyther got up and put a blade arm on his side. “You wanna join the task force?”

Mark hesitated, putting a bit of thought on his expression as he fidgeted with the badge. He put away the badge and answered. “I’ll probably get an answer in the morning. I still need to think about it for a bit…”

“Alright then.” Reino said before he turned off the shower, the last drops running down the drain of the shower box. “I think that’s enough for a shower. At least you don’t smell like a homeless Pokémon anymore.”

“Wait, I did?” 

“Yeah, you did. Have you not realized that once you were on the streets?” The Pikachu shook his head. “Guess you’ve grown used to the smell…” Reino then got out of the shower box, grabbing a towel with the blunt part of his arms. “How long were you on the streets anyways?”

“Uh… two days.”

“Hm, makes sense.” Reino said as the electric rodent exited the showered box. Before Mark could shake the water off his body, Reino offered him a towel instead. Mark snatched the towel and started scrubbing his fur with it. “Come on, let’s have dinner.”

After finishing drying himself, Mark nodded and followed Reino out of the bathroom.

Dinner went as usual, although it felt a little different with the presence of a new resident. Mark was a bit shocked to know that it wasn’t Reino who cooked but Raiden, who entered his battle form just to cook since it made him able to use his foreclaws to grip some utensils. 

After dinner, everyone bid their goodnights and went directly to their beds (even though Mark slept on the couch and Raiden on a mattress on the floor). Reino had no trouble sleeping, no conflicting thoughts that plagued his mind whenever he slept on a day where he meditated. However, this time, a single thought lingered on his mind…

‘Am I just inviting more trouble for myself because I let a human sleep in my house?’ 

The thought lingered in his head as he stared at the ceiling. He knew about the stories of humans saving the world and whatnot. The mantis thought that some of those were stretching a little, but when there were more recent reports of humans saving entire continents either physically or politically… 

He just couldn’t help but believe there was a pinch of truth in them.

The Scyther tilted his body to the side, his wings fluttering as he moved. ‘It’s probably fine. Maybe his case won’t be as big as the others were.’  

With that, Reino closed his eyes and let the sweet embrace of dreams take him to its hold.

“Are you sure about this little Pikachu? Do you desire to throw yourself into danger so that you protect the lives of many innocent Pokémon and make this city a safer place for them to live?”

“Yes, I’m a hundred percent positive.”

It was already the next day. Reino had groggily woken up from his sleep and was face to face with Mark who was looking at him at the side of his bed. Since he never locked his room, there couldn’t be any issues for the electric rodent to just enter it. 

Immediately, Mark asked Reino if he could be taken to XCCPD to apply to become an officer of law. After some reassurance from the Pikachu that he had thought this over multiple times in his head and revealing that he lost a bit of sleep from the thought, Reino decided to just oblige to Mark’s wishes and take him to the department along with Raiden after breakfast, not before they told the Miraidon about Mark’s origins. The dragon robot took that… surprisingly well after receiving a piece of news like that.

Upon reaching the department, once again the smell of nervous pheromones started surrounding Mark. Since Reino was a bug type Pokémon with antennas, he could smell the pheromones that other Pokémon expelled from their bodies a bit easier, even managing to identify the emotion attached to certain smells. He, again, asked if Mark was sure about this. The Pikachu seemed confident that he was ready, so Reino didn’t question him further.

Which led them to where they are now, in front of the chief of the XCCPD in his office. Chief Tanaman was a kind-hearted Cradily who barely held any grudges against other Pokémon, even the more dangerous criminals that killed a lot of his officers. Even if almost everyone in the department calls him a soft old ‘mon (for being more than hundreds of cycles old) he still is a force to be reckoned with.

No one would like to be in the view of the previous criminal who got caught with his tentacles.

“Well then…” Chief Tanaman said as he grabbed a pen and some papers with his tentacles. “Consider yourself in.” Mark’s ears started to perk up as his face lightened up. “After your training is complete of course.” The Pikachu’s expression dropped along with his ears. “Don’t give me that look. Every Pokémon needs to complete the training that our department provides, no matter how experienced they are with being on the task force. Reino here has already been through the training so he can help you through it.”

Reino lowered a bit to whisper in Mark’s ears. “Spoiler alert: underestimate it and you will fail.”

The electric rodent looked aside and muttered sarcastically. “Just what I needed to hear…”

“Anyways, could I check your license to see if you are a civilian Pokémon?” The Cradily said while sticking out a tentacle forward, waiting for the license to be put on it.

Reino and Mark froze. Inwardly, the mantis cursed himself for forgetting that the license was needed to enter this job. The Pikachu silently looked at Reino, with a look of both confusion and inquisitiveness as if he was saying “The fuck you mean a license was needed to enter?!”

The Scyther sighed and asked Mark. “Should we tell him…?”

The mouse rubbed his temples as Tanaman tilted his head. “Ugh… we don’t have a choice, do we…?” Mark looked back at the Cradily with a grimace. “I’m… I’m sorry chief. I uh… don’t have a license with me because…” He took a small breath. “I’m not really from this world…”

Chief Tanaman blinked, his yellow bioluminescent eyes disappearing for a moment in the darkness of his head before appearing again. “Does that mean… what I think it means…?”

Reino nodded. “Yes, he’s a human.”

The chief of the XCCPD stayed silent for a moment before lunging his tentacles at the Pikachu and grabbing him. Mark yelped as he was taken off the ground and brought closer to Tanaman’s face, the Cradily turning him around and analyzing him from every angle. “Fascinating, I never thought I’d get the chance to meet one of these fabled humans this close. I heard all sorts of things, but to think that they would come in a normal Pokémon body rather than something else.”

“L-look, I know I’m-I’m an interesting s-s-specimen… and all but p-please put me d-down. I’m having difficulty b-breathing!” Mark said between small gasps. He then was released on the ground, panting for breaths as he stayed on all fours for a moment. “Thank… you.”

“Apologies for that, Mark. This old ‘mon sometimes can’t contain himself and gets a bit excited when experiencing new things.” Tanaman said as he helped the Pikachu get back on his feet. However, while helping Mark, the chief saw something on the ground and scooped it up with one of his tentacles. He brought it close to his face and inspected it. It was Mark’s badge. “What’s this…? It looks like some kind of police badge with some runes…”

Mark looked at his badge and said after a cough. “That’s the main reason why I wanted to join the task force in the first place.” He straightened his posture and continued his explanation. “For some reason, this badge was with me when I awoke in this place. I feel as though it is connected to my past in some way. And maybe, if I become an officer, I might be able to discover more about my past.”

Tanaman stared at Mark to process what the Pikachu said. Even if they couldn’t see it, he was making a thinking face. “You know what? You don’t need to show me your license, you have proven enough to me. Your training starts tomorrow. I hope you don’t plan on slacking off!” He said joyfully.

“I won’t, Chief Tanaman-!”

Suddenly, the door to the office slammed open, a Hakama-o with a police badge on his chest seemingly being the one to open it. They spoke in a raspy female voice. “Chief! We have a situation at Xander Cage City Bank! An organized bank robbery is happening right now! We’ve already sent some of our squads there, but it seems we’re gonna need a lot more monpower for us to stop it!”

Reino and Mark tensed a little bit, however, the Cradily stood calm as usual as he proceeded to formulate a plan in his head. “Say Mark, how good are you in combat?”

The Pikachu looked back at Tanaman and responded a bit nervously. “I… I don’t know how to do any magic yet, but, I’ve learned self-defense and I’ve gotten pretty used to this body so far.”

“Alright, should be good enough.” The plant looked at Reino. “Reino, since this is an emergency, I’d like to have a lot of monpower on this. So could you please take Mark to the bank?” He looked at the Pikachu. “I feel as though there is some hidden potential inside of him.”

Reino looked at Mark and thought for a moment. Was the Pikachu truly ready for a battle that he knew that was gonna happen? He was a human that was in a new body for only two days. Would he be genuinely able to go against an ordeal like that? Well… he said that training was tough, so it’s best to count this as part of the training. 

The Scyther looked back at Tanaman. “Roger that sir.” He looked at Mark as he started walking out of the room. “Come on Mark, I’ll tell you the basics of using moves on the way, understood?”

The Pikachu grabbed his badge from the desk and started following Reino, lagging a bit behind since he was using his two feet. “Understood.” He nodded.

“By the way, you walk and run faster when you’re on all fours.” Reino explained, already looking forward.

Mark tilted his head before falling on all fours and trying to walk. However, he misjudged the length of one step and immediately fell on his face. “Oof!”

Reino looked back and went to the electric mouse, scooping him up and putting him on his shoulder. “You’ll get the hang of it eventually.”

And with that, the two of them fully left the office, leaving Chief Tanaman and the Hakama-o looking at the door. The grey dragon looked at the Cradily and asked. “Uh, is it just me, or does that Pikachu-”

“Ohoho, don’t think about it too much.” He waved a tentacle in reassurance. “Sometimes, some Pokémon just have a rather… unique attitude.”

Reino and Mark were riding through the streets of Xander Cage City on Raiden’s back, the Scyther gripping the handle-like parts on the Miraidon’s body as the Pikachu gripped his back. While looking straight forward at the road ahead, guiding Raiden to dodge and weave the Varoom and Revavroom powered cars, Reino explained. “Okay Mark, the deal is simple. To unleash a move, you have to use the power of your core, that’s inside you.”

Raiden did a hard turn to the left, kicking some gravel up while some screeching sounds could be heard. “If you don’t know, your core is basically the source of power that all Pokémon have. It allows them to do stuff even beyond what their anatomy allows.” Reino explained a bit more as the Miraidon turned right this time. “Mine allows me to unleash bug-related magic and even manipulate a bit of the air to make my scythes stronger. While yours allow you to unleash electricity.”

“Wait, I could straight up release a motherfuckin’ thunderbolt!?” Mark asked a bit loudly.

“Yes, among other stuff related to electricity. Not only that, you could do other stuff with a minor part of your core. I don’t know what types of moves you could unleash, but there are many possibilities.” 

Raiden suddenly spoke up. “We’re approaching the bank, be ready to be on your positions!”

Reino nodded, however, Mark spoke up. “Wait a second!” The Scyther took a confused glance at the Pikachu while the Miradon tilted his head. “Let’s not appear on the front of the bank. If this is an organized bank robbery, then that means not only they’re with a large group, but that also means they also have an escape plan ready.”

Reino muttered to the side. “Huh… I haven’t thought about that…”

“Besides, we need to account for the fact if they are planning on taking a secret exit or making a hostage situation so they can escape from the crime scene easier.” Mark added. “Raiden, can you take us to the back of the bank while trying not to gather attention? We need to make a sneak attack to catch them off guard.”

Raiden nodded as he began to slow down a little. “Understood.”

Meanwhile, Reino was having another rush of thoughts through his head. From the way that Mark told them what to do, it made him look like he was already experienced with this kind of thing already. Was he…? ‘I wonder… who were you in the past… Mark?’

From a glimpse of a street, the green mantis saw a commotion happening with a lot of shouting. After some seconds, the trio arrived at the back of the bank, going unnoticed by any suspicious Pokémon. The bank was a tall, red, and two-floored building, made to be more like a vault for a lot of Poké. It was made with pure marble, resembling some of the weird ruins from ancient times. To add to the decoration, there were even some vines to match the actual ruins, giving the illusion from a distance that it was part of one of the ruins. 

Mark and Reino hopped off Raiden’s back before the Miraidon started transforming into his battle form, starting to float in the air with his jet boosters. Mark looked at Raiden in wonder momentarily before he focused back on the objective. He looked around for a moment and tilted his head. “Strange, they aren’t guarding the back…” 

Raiden pitched in. “Maybe they thought that no one would be smart enough to sneak up from the back?”

“That’s plausible.” Mark said with a shrug.

“Let’s just get this over with, the sooner we end this, the better.” Reino said as he approached the door. After a few nudges from the handle, he noticed that the door was locked. He sighed and backed away a little bit. He raised one of his blade arms in the air as it started glowing a light blue color. He then swung down his blade and released an Air Slash directly at the door, the wave of pressurized air making a big dent in the door. The Scyther followed it up by flying at the door and kicking it open. “Come on, let’s go!”

Mark grinned and nodded, already getting filled with the thrill of the mission. “Alright, I’m ready!” He said as he ran behind Reino on two legs, although not really catching up.

Raiden then scooped the Pikachu off the ground and held him in his claw. “Until you get a hang of being on four legs, someone should carry you around so you don’t lag behind.” He said.

Mark sighed and crossed his arms, feeling like a baby all over again. “Ugh, this sucks…”

The three Pokémon entered the building and started sneaking around the place. The inside of the bank had a really regal feel. Parts of the walls were covered in gold while the rest was still made out of marble along with the floor and ceiling. It seemed that this place either had a Cofragigus as an architect or the Pokémon just really loved to be fancy. 

“Raiden, any heat signals you can scan close by?” Reino asked, peeking from a corner. “Even if we can’t detect any cold-blooded Pokémon, we can still detect the hot-blooded ones.” 

The Miraidon’s eyes suddenly flashed a blue color as he started to look around. “I can detect seven hot-blooded Pokémon inside the building while the rest is outside. However, four of these Pokémons seem to be civilians while the other three seem to be the criminals we’re looking for. There are two in the front and one in the hallway of the vault.”

“Good, come on let’s get a move on-” As Reino was about to leave his hiding spot and turn a corner, he immediately returned with a startled look on his face.

“What is it-?” Mark asked in a whisper before the Scyther shushed him up with a hiss. The Pikachu then remained silent as he went to peek the corner as well. He saw an Arbok and a Seviper with matching black scarves around their necks inching closer to them. He then crouched beside Reino and immediately shuddered, muttering to himself. “I literally became an electric street rat and my first opponents are morthefuckin’ snakes!?”

Reino took a small glance at Mark before paying close attention to the slithering bodies getting closer. “Don’t worry, we’ll protect you.” He whispered before looking at Raiden, his antenna twitching at each slither from the snakes. Silently motioning with his blade, he held it up in the air for a moment before bringing it down slowly while shouting. “Now!”

The Scyther came out of his hiding spot, wings buzzing as he started flying along with Raiden. The poison types, startled by the sneak attack, didn’t have any time to attack before Reino flew directly to the Arbok and did a crossing attack with X Scissor, slicing some of their scales off with his blades glowing green and launching them to a wall. Meanwhile, Raiden curled up into an electricity-filled wheel and rolled onto the Serviper who had no chance of retaliation, shocking the black snake as he phased through him with the amount of speed he built with the Electro Drift. As he stopped spinning and uncurled himself, he didn’t look back at the sparks and small bolts that lingered in the area before causing a small electrical explosion. The poisonous black snake then fell unconscious, their body twitching a little bit with bruises and burns.

Mark watched from the corner of the hallways, mesmerized by all the cool attacks in action as his eyes sparkled in wonder. “So damn cool…”

Reino landed on the ground as Raiden hovered beside him. The Scyther and Miraidon looked behind and saw the Pikachu approaching them, seeing him sidestep the fainted body of the Serviper. “See? Told ya we would protect you.”

Mark’s tail raised a little as he grinned. “Okay, that was kinda sick.”

The mantis put an arm on his side and smirked. “Oh come on, that’s just the bare minimum I could do in a fight.” 

Raiden then playfully punched Reino in his arms. “Oh come on, just take the compliment, I know you love receiving those.”

Even if he couldn’t blush, Reino gave an expression of embarrassment as he looked away. “Anyways, we need to continue.” He said before continuing to walk through the hallways of the bank.

Raiden gave a small chortle before following the bug and flying type along with Mark.

The trio continued to sneak around the place, trying to make the minimal amount of sound possible to not alert anyone of their presence. On their way, they found a small table where there was a deck of cards on it, presumably the cards the Arbok and the Serviper were playing with. Mark then deduced that they were the Pokémon guarding the back door, however, they were just doing a really bad job at it.

While doing their trek through the bank, they could hear the sounds of some explosions coming from the front of the building, Reino’s face scrunching up whenever he heard a muffled BOOM in the background. He just had to hope that his colleagues were doing fine. 

Eventually, the trio reached the hall that led to the vault. They hid behind each corner of the hallway. They peeked around the corner and saw a massive hatch trapdoor that apparently had no hatch? Not only that, there were two Pokémon in front of the door, an Inteleon with a black scarf around their neck, and a shiny Grumpig who also had the same scarf around their neck. The bipedal chameleon looked at the psychic type Pokémon while crossing her arms and speaking in a female voice. “Are you almost done? The boss doesn’t reward grunts who don’t do their job efficiently.”

“It’d be faster… if you… don’t rush me!” The Grumpig said as his black pearls started to glow a bit more, the pig starting to dance a little to amplify his powers. 

The Inteleon huffed and continued to look at the door, gripping one of the giant sacs around the room with her tail.

Reino looked back at Mark and Raiden and started motioning with his wings, flickering his antennas and buzzing his wings a bit. Raiden nodded and whispered. “Understood.”

Mark then sheepishly made a thumbs up and whispered. “I have no idea what the actual shit you just tried to tell me but I’ll follow along like I understood everything.”

Reino rolled his eyes and just started sneaking towards the two criminals, followed by the Miraidon and Pikachu. The Scyther raised his blades and started building up an Air Slash, gathering the air around his scyther-like arm and compressing it around it. However, before they could get closer and release a sneak attack, the Inteleon spoke. “Well, well, well, seems like someone was really smart enough to use the back door, huh? I knew those two wouldn’t be worth a damn in protecting the back themselves…”

The trio froze as the water chameleon turned around, putting a hand on her waist. She gave an analyzing look at the three of them and huffed. “One of those time-traveling Pokémon is a bit concerning, but I shouldn’t have any problem in defeating the other two.”

The Grumpig gave her a side glance as he continued doing… something with his psychokinesis. “Wh-what’s the matter…?”

“Nothing that you should be concerned of. Just continue to do your work.” The Inteleon said, flicking a tail to the psychic pig before focusing back on the duo of cops and a soon-to-be cop. She raised a finger to her eye level as she got into a stance. “I’ll handle them myself.”

Reino then pointed an arm at the criminal and spoke as Raiden got into a battle stance while Mark tensed a little bit. “You are under arrest! Don’t resist, otherwise, we will use force!”

The Inteleon said nothing else before pointing a finger at them and shooting a bullet of pressurized water at the trio. 

“Dodge!” Mark shouted as the bullet traveled at high speeds towards them. However, instead of dodging, Reino stood in front of the bullet and sliced it in half with his arm, the water projectiles losing power and splashing against the Miraidon’s steel plating and on the floor in front of Mark. “Holy shit…”

“Impressive, but it’s not like you’ll be able to deflect all of them.” The criminal then pointed another finger at the trio.

Reino looked behind before shouting. “Take cover!” 

Quickly, Raiden snatched Mark off the ground and flew to the corner of the wall, hiding behind it as cover. However, Reino stayed in place and retaliated with a few waves of compressed air, launching it directly at the Inteleon. However, she just deflected the Air Slash with her bullets, the projectiles clashing against each other and causing a few bursts of air and water. Reino used these explosions as a distraction to fly behind the wall and use it as cover while also avoiding more water bullets that were going through the explosion. However, one bullet managed to hit him in his torso before he managed to fully hide behind the corner.

The mantis hissed in pain as he felt hemolymph starting to fall from his wound. Thankfully, the projectile was just water and it didn’t hit anything vital, just chipped off a bit of his chitin and some flesh tissues hidden beneath. It still hurt and stung a lot though…

While trying to get his bearings together as he put a scythe arm over his wound, he saw Mark making a weird motion, like he was trying to pull something from a nonexistent pocket. However, he stopped himself as he realized that he didn’t have an item, gripping his head and gritting his teeth as he muttered to himself. “The fuck was I doing…?”

Reino ignored that action for now and tried to formulate a plan in his head. Obviously, if they attempt to get out of cover, the Inteleon will quickly blast them the instant she sees a part of their bodies. So he needed to think of something that’d distract her so he gets a clean shot of Air Slash at her. But how?

“Reino, are you alright? You’re bleeding…”

The Scyther’s head snapped to Mark who looked at him with a concerned expression. He smirked, keeping the tough guy attitude. “I’m alright, not like I’m dying or anything…”

“What should we do Reino?”

The Scyther looked at the Miraidon, who was looking at him expectantly. Reino looked away as he thought for a moment. “I wonder if-”

However, before he could formulate a plan, Mark spoke up. “I could be a bait.”

Reino’s train of thought stopped before looking at the Pikachu in confusion. Did he hear that correctly…? “What…?” 

“I know it may sound bad, but, I noticed something…” Mark got out of Raiden’s grip and held back his ears, peeking at the Inteleon from the corner. He saw her eyes moving around the place with her hands still pointed forward. Once her eyes locked onto Mark’s, she released a single water bullet at the Pikachu. However, he reacted fast enough that the bullet only managed to chip a portion of the wall, giving them the idea of the power that these bullets held. “Geez…” Mark muttered before looking back at his teammates and whispering. “I noticed that she missed most of the bullets when you were scurrying back to the corner of the hall. And this last shot confirms my theory. Her eyes need to be locked in on someone for her to shoot.”

Mark looked back at the chipped wall and analyzed it a bit. “Her shots are thin, and lack a lot of width so she could blast away and almost hit nothing because of how thin it is.” He looked back at his teammates again with a confident smile. “We just need to find a distraction so that she can’t be able to lock eyes with anyone.”

Reino and Raiden stayed silent for a moment, Raiden thinking about the plan for a bit while Reino thought about something else. Tanaman might’ve been onto something… even if the Pikachu doesn’t know any moves, he covers it with his intelligence. Was this the fabled human intelligence that he heard so much about in those stories…?

“That could work.” Raiden said before tilting his head. “Although… how are we gonna use you as bait without her immediately shooting you on sight?”

“Double Team.” The two Pokémon looked back at Reino, the Pikachu tilting his head in confusion. 

“Oh yes, you can do that, can’t you?” Raiden said as he looked at the mantis with a smirk, his expression being noticed even with his robotic face.

Mark finally asked. “Wait, Double Team? What is that?”

“It’s basically a move that lets me create illusory copies of myself to trick Pokémon.” Reino explained before crossing his arms. “I have an idea, and it’s gonna be risky… are you willing to take said risk, Mark?”

The Pikachu looked aside with an uncertain look on his face before looking back at the Scyther and nodding with a determined expression. “Whatever it takes.”

“Alright then.” The mantis put his arms over each of his teammates' shoulders while being careful not to scratch them. “Here’s the plan…”

Meanwhile, the Inteleon was watching the corners of the hallway, her eyes shifting rapidly from place to place. While keeping an eye, she asked her Grumpig partner. “Are you done yet?”

“I’m almost… done… needs a few more seconds…”

“Do it in ten seconds or else-” She interrupted herself once her eyes caught the movement of not only one but many Scythers bursting out of the corner and walking towards her. She immediately shot one of them and they disappeared with a small flash of white. “So this is how you wanna play, huh? Well then, I’m gonna destroy all of them until I hit the real one!” She started shooting even more pressurized water projectiles at the illusionary Scythers, the clones disappearing one by one.

However, she didn’t notice a yellow blur that came out of some flashes of white, jumping behind from clone to clone. 

After a single clone managed to get almost close to her before being blasted away, she realized that all of the clones had been destroyed without a single sign of the original being hit, not even noticing said yellow blur slipping past her. She tilted her head but still kept her hands pointed in front of her. “Huh? Hoping they bought enough time for reinforcements? Idiots-”

“You’re the idiot here!” Mark said as he jumped up and hugged the Inteleon’s face, not letting her have enough time to turn around to see the Pikachu grabbing her face with his entire body.

“Mmgh!?” The water chameleon let out muffled, whipping her body around and finally letting go of her sniping position to try getting the Pikachu off her face. 

Mark then started nuzzling her head with his cheeks as he quickly muttered. “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!” 

The Inteleon managed to grab the Pikachu around his waist with her long tail while looking at him with a pissed-off look. She then started pointing her right hand at the Pikachu, preparing a shot. “You little-!”

Reino then jumped out of the corner with his scythe arm raised and building up his Air Slash. “Now!”

The sniper chameleon whipped her head to the side and pointed her finger at the Scyther. However, before she could shoot, she froze a little with some electrical sparks running down her body. “W-what!?”

Reino then brought his blade down, releasing a wave of sharply compressed air at the Inteleon, who could do nothing but get hit by the attack. She grunted in pain and staggered back a little, releasing Mark from her grip. The Pikachu fell to the ground with a grunt but quickly got up and started running back to Reino at a moderate speed. “Raiden, now!”

The Miraidon quickly floated off the corner while curling himself into a spinning electrical wheel, sparks flying off of him as he quickly gained speed. At lightning speeds, he rolled towards the Inteleon and phased through her. Raiden uncurled himself as an electrical explosion occurred behind him.

The Inteleon was launched onto the door of the vault, landing beside the yellow Grumpig who yelped in surprise and lost focus of his Psychic. “Jenas!” He saw the Inteleon slump to the ground, bleeding a bit from her mouth and the wound on her torso. He then looked behind him and saw the trio of cops approaching him slowly, not only that, but apparently the reinforcements were behind them as well. “Eeek!”

Suddenly, Jenas the Inteleon grabbed the psychic pig’s arm and slowly got up. “This isn’t over yet…” With her other arm, she pulled from behind her a mist bomb and threw it on the ground. The small bomb exploded, surrounding the entire hallway area with mist as the Inteleon became cloaked in the vaporized water and dragged her Grumpig partner away.

Mark looked around, trying to spot the criminals. “Where did she-... where are they?” He asked a bit surprised.

“This is a rather thick mist.”  Raiden said as he scanned the mist around him. “Not only they can get away easily with that, with moisturized and vaporized water, but Inteleon can also cloak their entire body once their body is soaked enough.”

Reino gritted his teeth and looked aside in annoyance. “Fuck, we let them get away…” 

“Don’t let that get to you, Reino.” 

The Scyther felt a grip on his shoulder. He turned around and saw the captain of the squad from the Blaze District, Tieran, a Thyphlosion, putting a hand on his shoulder with a smirk. “What matters is that you stopped the robbery from happening, and we’re proud of you.”

“Captain…” Reino stared a little bit at the fire type before smiling. “Thanks, but I wouldn’t have done it without my partners.” He said as he pointed at Raiden and Mark, the Pikachu’s ears perking up.

“Am I really your…” 

Reino interrupted the Pikachu while smirking. “Do you even have to ask? That was one heck of a performance right there.”

Mark stared at the Scyther a bit in disbelief before he managed a smile with a thumbs up. “Thanks!”

A few days had passed after the bank robbery attempt. Thankfully, during the operation, none of the civilians in the bank and outside the bank got hurt during the confrontation with the criminal group. Sure, a few officers got hurt during their battle against the bandits in front of the building, but thankfully, none of them were severely wounded. 

Some of the thieves in the group got arrested while the rest managed to escape. However, with no money stolen and all the civilians safe, the cops of the XCCPD took this operation as a success.

In those few days after the operation, Reino, Raiden, and Mark all got congratulated by the other officers, being the team that managed to stop the robbery in time. Even if no official celebrations had occurred, the trio was invited to an unofficial one by some cops of another squad, getting treated with alcoholic drinks and such. It was that night that Mark and Raiden discovered that the Scyther was sensitive to alcohol since he got drunk after two cups of relatively soft champagne.

Not only that, Mark was able to finish his training sooner than expected. During his training, Reino realized that Mark really did have some experience as a cop, even if he couldn’t remember any of it. 

He wondered if human cops operated the same way as Pokémon cops do.

Although, he still needed to develop his moves a bit more, only knowing Nuzzle is not great for combat on the streets.

“Reino, do I really have to wear this badge during the photo? Why can’t I use the ones you guys use? This one doesn’t stick well to my fur and it’s uncomfortable.” Mark said as he adjusted his bronze badge on his chest.

“Well, rules are rules. This badge says that you are only starting it out as an officer and that you follow orders from superior cops, AKA, me since we are in the same squad.” Reino explained as he pointed to himself. “But don’t worry, you can take it out after the photo, and you only have to wear it when you’re on the streets.”

Mark pouted and looked aside, his arms slumping. “At least there’s that then…”

Raiden walked towards Mark and nudged him with his head. “Come on, let’s take the photo already, you’re gonna be a great addition to the gallery!” 

“Alright, I’m going, I’m going.” Mark said before he started walking to the lounge of the building with the others. “So you guys do this every year?”

“I’m not sure what you mean by year, but we do this at the beginning of every cycle.” Reino explained. “It’s basically the tradition we have to go into a new cycle while having memories of the officers we had in case they die in the cycle.” The Scyther looked at how Mark was staring at him with a “Holy shit…” face. “Yeah, it’s dark, I know. But one thing that we were all taught at a young age is that life is unpredictable.”

The Pikachu rubbed the back of his head. “I guess you’re right about that…”

The trio reached the lounge and it seemed that everyone was there, even the chief who was standing behind everyone, only his neck, head, and tentacles being visible. Liliam was in front of everyone, setting the big rectangle with legs and an ocular sight in the front that was the camera, a rather recent invention that was created around when Reino hatched.

The Maractus looked at the trio and called. “You’re the last ones guys, I’m almost finished here! So come on and get to your positions!”

The trio wasted no time to get to their positions. Reino stood beside a Machoke, Raiden stood beside a Manetric and Mark stayed in the middle since he was the smallest Pokémon of the department. The Pikachu shifted the fur that was obstructing his vision to the side, giving him a small fringe.

“Is everyone ready?” Liliam asked as she tilted her head to the side, allowing her to see everyone. The cops, the chief, and secretaries all nodded and Liliam went back to messing with the camera. “Alright… there!” 

The cactus Pokémon then started waddling to the group and got into a position beside Mark, being careful to not poke him with her needles.

The camera then started flashing a small red light and everyone smiled their best to the camera. And with a small “Click” the photo was taken.

Reino was then snapped from his trip down memory lane once the phone on his desk vibrated, his antennas twitching from the noise. He looked at it and saw that it had a message from Mark. The notification read: “Remember to sleep ‘till the big day, rest or I’ll shock you to sleep from here, now!”

The Scizor couldn’t help but smile and sigh. “Oh, Mark… always worrying about me and my awful sleep schedules…” He thought back a little more about the past. Sometimes, he asked himself if leaving the department was a good choice or not. “Oh well, not like I’m able to change it.”

The steel mantis looked aside and started to think for a little, about the reason why he was going back to Xander Cage City after so long. He rested his head on his pincer, his arm being supported by the desk as he muttered two words. “Alice Mishima, huh…?”

Ever since Mark presented him evidence that Asuri was doing something shady behind the media, being able to travel to the human world and even taking ownership of a company from that world, it just rubbed Reino the wrong way. What more can this influential company be doing behind everyone’s back? What are their goals instead of just making the Pokémon world a more technology-filled place? 

Could they also be behind the Corrupted Pokémon case?

No, Reino shouldn’t be jumping to conclusions too hastily. From his thought process (and his overall unhealthy sleep schedule), it’d be noticeable that the Scizor was desperate to get to the bottom of this case and close it for good.

He just wanted to ensure the safety of one of his best friends. He would do anything to accomplish his task.

However, one thing the Pikachu was right about (and that he hated to admit) was that he needed to sleep or else his performance during the investigation of Asuri would become sluggish. After all, he wouldn’t let any clue pass by him in any case, no matter the importance. Or else that’d just ruin his reputation.

Reino sighed and pulled himself out of his chair, however, as he stood up, his legs wobbled and he fell to his knee. He stared at his leg for a moment and said out loud. “Perhaps I do need to sleep, even if a little.”

With that, the Scizor threw himself to his bed and shifted positions to lay on his side, not bothering to throw the silk-made covers above him. As he closed his eyes, sleep came quickly, enveloping him in its embrace. In what felt like a long time, even if it was just a few months, Reino looked at peace.

Chapter Text

Everything was going according to plan.

After the many hardships she had overcome in this world, after the many trials she had been put through, and after many happy and sad moments in this new world, Alisson’s mission was coming close to an end.

It took a while but Giratina, Necrozma, and she finally had enough clues on how to get Necrozma’s light back. And so, they embarked on a journey to recover the prism being’s light. Apparently, Necrozma could get their light back with the help of two beings: Solgaleo and Lunala. 

They were beings representative of the sun and the moon, not native to this world. To get to them, they had to go to a certain temple called the Eclipse Temple, which seemed to be connected to them. 

Getting to the temple was easy. Alisson’s fighting skills and Necrozma’s overall raw power were all that it took to breeze through the Mystery Dungeons with no issue. Alisson had improved a lot since she had evolved again. Although the mask was a tad bit unnecessary, it kinda made her a bit more stylish.

In the final room of the temple, two portals opened up, the sun and moon Pokémon coming out of them. At first, Alisson was a bit confused about why Solgaleo and Lunala just appeared out of nowhere when they entered the room, however, they explained that it was Necrozma’s lightless aura that alerted them of their presence. 

The masked human-turned-Pokémon learned that it was Solgaleo and Lunala’s duty to restore Necrozma’s light if it ever disappeared. And so, that’s what they did. With a lot of power, they blasted giant rays of sun and moonlight at the prism being, fully restoring their light.

Everything was going according to plan.

After their light had been restored, their form changed and made them look like a god of light from the way they looked. However… it seemed like something snapped in Necrozma’s mind, making them go completely mad.

It roared before disappearing from the temple by teleporting away. Shortly after, Alisson received news that many more distortions were appearing around the whole world, one after another. It was then that Alisson realized that Necrozma was the portal-maker that she and Giratina had been looking for this whole time, the cause of all of the distortions. And because of the prism being’s slight amnesia, he didn’t remember opening any portals.

It was then that the masked Pokémon decided that she had to end this once and for all before Necrozma became unstoppable and broke the world because of the many portals. 

With the help of Solgaleo and Lunala, they managed to track down Necrozma, who was in the middle of the continent, in a town called Xander Cage Town. Some Pokémon who helped Alisson in her journey were also there to help her in the final battle, even Giratina came out of the Distortion World to push it as far away from the town.

And there Alisson was now. Battling a dragon god of light with the whole fabric of reality at stake.

Everything was going according to plan.

“Ngh!” Alisson was launched to a rocky wall with a massive light burn on her torso. She slumped to the rocky floor, putting a paw over her terrible wound. She was bleeding from a lot of places, cuts were displayed on her arms and legs, burn wounds appeared on her paws, and her fur was burnt in some places, revealing her dark burnt skin. “I’ve decided, I hate light now…” 

She looked up and saw a massive tear in the fabric of space in the sky while Necrozma in their new dragon form fought Solgaleo and Lunala in front of it. The rift behind them released small thunderbolts that zapped the ground around it as it grew bigger and bigger. On the other side of the rift, she could see stars and cosmic matter swirling around in the background. That place… the dimension that Solgaleo, Lunala, and Necrozma originated from.

Ultra Space.

As Alisson slowly got up, hissing from the pain of her bruises and wounds, someone called her out. “Alisson!” The green-furred Pokémon looked to the source of the voice and saw Giratina in their Origin form. Normally, they wouldn’t be able to be in that form once they enter the normal world, however, if they have an item called the Griseous Orb, they can retain that form in the normal world. 

However, Giratina wasn’t alone. With them, there were other Pokémon similar to them: Palkia and Dialga. Palkia was the ruler of space while Dialga was the ruler of time. It was kinda intimidating seeing the two god dragons and centaur all together, after all, they were the best next thing after the literal God of this world as she learned. 

The trio landed on the ground in front of Alisson, causing some dust to be kicked in the air and the earth to rumble a little. The three of them looked down at her and Giratina asked. “Are you alright, Alisson? That was a nasty hit you took from that light beam.”

As Giratina tried to check up on her with their tendrils, the masked Pokémon weakly swatted them away as she reassured the serpent. “I’m fine, thanks to antimatter, I resisted a lot of the attacks.”

If only she could heal herself with it…

Palkia looked at the ugly rift in the sky and saw Necrozma clearly having no difficulties in fighting the sun and moon Pokémon. “We need to come up with a plan. All of our attacks might be staggering them but they’re not enough to knock them down.”

The deities all paused to think for a moment along with Alisson. She looked at the rift again and was a bit mesmerized by how beautiful it looked despite it being the reason that this world was about to end…

Wait… the rift!

“I got a plan.” The masked feline announced, making the trio of deities turn their attention to her. “Although, we might have one shot at it. It’s gonna be risky though, but we need to do anything before the situation worsens.”

“So, little kitten, what’s your plan?” Dialga asked, the gem on their neck pulsating vibrantly.

Alisson felt a bit pressured about having three deities that could reshape the fabric of space and time to their will stare at her expectantly. If she could sweat, she would be drowning because of her mask. With a bit of stuttering, she started her explanation. “W-well… s-since we can’t knock them out for good…” She pointed at the rift. “We need to take them out of this world through their own portal.” She then turned to the armless centaur. “Palkia, not only you can open rifts but you can also close them, right?”

Palkia nodded. “Yes, I can. But why ask me that?”

“Even if we manage to get Necrozma through the portal, the portal won’t close and they’ll just come back. We need to close it for good since they probably won’t know how to open a portal back to this world because they are only acting out of rage and instinct.” The masked Pokémon explained, looking back to the fight above. She frowned once she saw Solgaleo and Lunala get hit by that damn shower of lasers attack, their levitation faltering a little. She then looked back at the trio. “Am I clear?”

The trio nodded before Giratina asked. “But how are we gonna get close to them before they notice our plan?”

Alisson scratched her chin before a plan formulated on her head. “I have a strategy…” 

After telling them her plan, the reality trio was a bit dumbfounded. Giratina was the first one to ask. “But… what would happen to you?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll manage to get out of there in time.” She assured before looking up in determination. “Come on, we need to save this world!”

Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina nodded with resolve in their eyes.

It would all go according to plan.

Meanwhile, Solgaleo and Lunala were in what felt like a never-ending struggle. The sun lion looked at Lunala and saw her get hit by one of those balls of photon light. “Lunala!” He shouted in a gruff voice before the light dragon appeared in front of him and slashed the lion across the side with their light-coated claws. “Gah!”

As Solgaleo fell to the ground along with Lunala, Necrozma roared to the sky, the rift above them expanding just a bit further and releasing more purple thunderbolts. However, Necrozma’s roar was interrupted when a crescent wave of spatial energy impacted the light god. After shaking their head from the explosion, seemingly unphased by it, The dragon looked at the source of the crescent wave and saw Palkia galloping through the air towards the dragon, readying another wave of crescent energy on their mouth.

As Necrozma was about to attack, they were interrupted when a blue laser beam, coated with temporal energy, struck their torso, pushing it a bit backwards. Before they could even recover, they were hit by another wave of spatial energy on their torso, pushing them back even further.

The light god’s entire body was coated in smoke after the explosion, leaving them motionless for a moment before they dispersed all the smoke with a flap of their four luminous wings. Necrozma let out a rumbling roar again before a ball containing small orbs of light appeared in front of them, getting brighter with each passing second.

Dialga and Palkia looked at each other and nodded before looking back to the light deity. On their mouths, they charged an Aura Sphere, bigger than the ones they’d normally make. With a battle cry, they released their orbs of aura, the energy balls flying directly to the sphere of mini-light orbs.

The Aura Spheres exploded once in contact with the laser, making Necrozma lose their focus as a cloud of smoke coated their vision.

The time and space deities looked back to the approaching Giratina, both of them shouting at the same time. “NOW!!!”

As the antimatter deity soared through the air in a serpentine-like manner, Alisson rode them on their head, getting on a battle stance. Her paw started being coated in a dark aura, the aura condensing and materializing into a physical scythe of darkness. She twirled the scythe on her paws before readying it.

As they got into a certain distance from the light being, Alisson jumped into the air while Giratina quickly did a 180, coiling themselves a bit. As the masked Pokémon began to fall, she quickly landed on the antimatter dragon’s tail. Giratina then flung their tail, sending Alisson flying directly to Necrozma with her scythe raised.

“HOOOOAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!” Alisson screamed as her scythe impacted the prism armor of Necrozma’s chest, leaving a visible crack on it that oozed some kind of misty light as the dragon yowled in pain. She did not stop there, however. She dropped hold of her scythe and extended her arms, and with all her strength, she started pushing the light god with all of her remaining strength, being powered by the power of antimatter and something else . 

Her efforts proved successful as Necrozma was finally pushed back and entered the rift after giving in to Alisson’s strength. However, the masked feline also went through the rift, still pushing Necrozma as gravity seemed to leave her body. Even when she pushed the dragon enough, she still didn’t stop pushing as Necrozma continued to thrash and struggle like a wild animal caught in a trap. 

Everything was going according to plan.

It was then that the rift closed behind her and Alisson was left floating in Ultra Space with the light dragon in her grip. She released them as Necrozma’s struggle came to a halt, the light deity slowly becoming limp as they lost consciousness. Alisson could see something coming out of the light dragon’s bright body, like a dark mist that condensed itself into a black tar-like substance before it floated away.

Alisson watched the black substance float away as she levitated through the endless space of Ultra Space with an unconscious Necrozma…

Everything went according to plan.

“Ali-”

-ce was at her temporary office in Xander Cage City, checking Twitter to gather a few reactions from humans, as usual. When she always had free time, she loved seeing what humans were thinking of Pokémon appearing all over the internet, it was both funny and informative at the same time. 

The Meowscarada needed to see them to know if the reception towards Pokémon being real was rather negative or not. However, from what she had seen so far, it’s been surprisingly positive, not only on Twitter but all over the internet. Reddit had been thanking God, quite literally; Instagram was a bit skeptical, but had taken the news pretty well, some users even going as far as to beg Pokémon to appear there soon; while infiltrated in Discord, that was the discussion talked about in a lot of different kind of public servers, and the users there were all pretty happy.

It just showed how bad the human world was right now for people to be begging for some kind of intervention, be it divine or not.

If humans really wanted Pokémon to appear in their world, it would be easy to cross to the other world without any civilians being so scared that the nations have to take action. And it’s just what Alice needed~

However, there was a single misplaced cog in her plan that she had to fix first… the rogue human who figured out a way to go back by themselves. 

She was so close to figuring out who the human was. She had managed to track down the exact school they study, since from the vision of Zetamon, she found out that he teaches those same kids from the video she saw. A Vulpix, a Shaymin, a Togedemaru, a Tandemaus, and the green blur she couldn’t quite figure out in the video, a Joltik. Since she could rule out one of them, the Joltik obviously not being human, she could narrow it down to the other four. However, she wondered how would a human be transformed into a Tandemaus…

She could just search through Zetamon’s memories to see if she could figure out who it was, but it would take too much time. The human was smart, and while spying on the class, she found no evidence that pointed any of her candidates to be human, so they were really good at hiding their true identity. If she searched through Zetamon’s memories, she definitely would take a long time to at least find even a single small clue as to who they were.

Alice slumped back in her chair as she looked up to the ceiling, her mind racing as she tried to come up with a plan to identify the human without doing anything that’d lead to Asuri being on the headlines of investigations. The human would come to Xander Cage City as part of their school trip, so she needed to find a way to identify them quickly so that she wouldn’t kidnap a bunch of random Pokémon children who were acquainted with the human. 

The masked feline’s eyes widened before she grinned a bit mischievously. “Oh wow… that might just work, hehe…” She relaxed on her chair a bit more. “Maybe a test is required to find out who the human is.”

A knock on the door stopped her thoughts, making Alice look at it as she put her arms on the armrest to make her seem more professional. However, once the Pokémon on the other side revealed who they were, Alice’s professional stance dropped. “Yo, boss lady. Can I come in?”

The Meowscarada recognized that voice, it was the voice of one of her most valuable Corrupted Pokémon: Cass. Even though he was valuable in terms of intelligence and power, his attitude and overall personality just made his potential a bit limited. Sometimes, she wished that annoying attitude of his go away. 

Alice sighed. “Come in, Cass…”

The robot Weavile entered the office and lowered his hood, revealing his metallic face and frozen red grin. Even with all of his robotic features, Alice could still see a hint of an expression on his face and it was… uncertainty? “So how it’d go with all that negotiations with that human leader and all?” He put his claws on his waist. “Ya managed to get ‘em to our side?”

The masked Pokémon crossed her arms. “Yes, I did. It was easier than expected, in my honest opinion. On a more important note…” She tilted her head. “What are you doing here? Thought you were busy on your so-called “hangouts” you do around the south region of the continent.”

Cass rubbed the back of his head as he rolled his eyes. “So uh… I WAS doing it until uh… something came up.” Alice narrowed her eyes and the Weavile waved his claws defensively. “Don’t worry, nothing bad happened that puts a pin on your plans! It’s just uh… I just came here to ask you a question…”

“Spit it out already, I have things to prepare for Friday. So don’t waste my time.” Alice said bitterly.

With a raspy metallic sigh, Cass asked. “Are… are Corrupted Pokémon ex-humans?”

The Meowscarada’s eyes widened a little, her fur standing up. Why did Cass come up with that conclusion? When did he come up with that conclusion? Shit, that was what she feared the most: the smartest Corrupted Pokémon she created figuring out the secret behind his creation. Since Cass retained more of his old self than the others, he was the one most likely to rebel against her if he ever learned the truth.

In case he ever got that close to the truth, Alice needed to do one thing to alter his mind, all she needed to do was choose the right words and do the right actions. 

“Oh, Cass, that’s so silly! Who gave you that idea?” Alice asked, her demeanor changing entirely as her expression softened.

The Corrupted Pokémon looked aside as he crossed his arms. “A group of kids in Burgroth town…”

‘It was definitely the human from that group who might’ve given the idea, meaning they figured out the origins of Corrupted Pokémon… better focus on that later once I’m done with Cass.’ The Meowscarada thought before she got up and smiled. “Why are you even listening to a group of children anyway? They’re probably making stuff up just to mess with you. You know how kids these days are liars, right?”

“I dunno about that one boss… they said some very interesting points with evidence. And I’m just… thinking about it ‘till now…”

Alice sighed as she took some steps towards the Weavile. “Oh Cass, you don’t gotta listen to some false evidence. After all, did they show anything concrete?” The Corrupted Pokémon stayed silent and shook their head. Alice then surprised Cass when she crouched down to hug him. “Although, I’ll give those kids credit for one thing…”

Cass' heating systems activated a bit from the hug. “F-for what?”

The Meowscarada grinned as her sclera turned fully black. “They were completely right.”

“What-!?” From Alice’s paw, a sizeable portion of Dark Matter was transferred from her to the Corrupted Pokémon, making his body go limp while he grunted and yelled from pain. “Gah! Graaaagh!!!”

Alice released Cass as her sclera returned to normal. She watched as the dark substance swirled around Cass’ limbs and head before slowly disappearing inside his body. He stayed motionless for a little bit before Alice asked. “Here’s a question, Cass. Are you gonna do everything I say from now on and never question anything?”

He rose slowly before doing a backflip and posing with his claw fingers pointed at the Meowscarada, his expression being more insane than before. “But of course, boss lady! Hehahahaha!”

Alice grinned mischievously. “Good.”

Today was the day. It would all come down to this.

It was finally Friday and it was on that day that Team Net would go to Xander Cage City to investigate the Asuri museum. It was the most anticipated day ever since Team Net was formed and, ooh boy, were they ready.

Throughout the entire week, they had been preparing for the upcoming investigation while also planning on what to do when they arrived there. The plan was as follows: Once they entered the building, they would follow the tour along normally. However, once they go deeper into the building littered with old Asuri tech, they separate from the tour guide secretly and split into duos to gather more evidence. After all, a lot of students from Obelisk High would be joining the trip, so they wouldn’t notice if some students went missing for some minutes.

They knew there would be security spread around the place, that’s why Amy suggested buying a couple of items to help them sneak around the place. Invisify Orbs is an item that John never heard about, but from what he heard of those items, they seemed essential for that secret investigation to work. 

When the day finally came, it was a morning with a partially cloudy sky and they went to school as usual; Elsa being a constant nuisance for John and Claire, some talks on the bus about the plan, and a bumpy bus ride in general. However, they were carrying the important items for the mission in their bags. 

Once they got to school, Mr. Xeno talked about the rules for the school trip in the courtyard. Unfortunately for the ladybug, Team Net was about to break some of those rules, although for a good cause, of course. 

Unexpectedly enough, Mr. Zeta would also be joining them on this trip. It did confuse the group a bit, but they didn’t mind it much, not like he’d ruin the plan. John, however, didn’t think the same, instead, he became warier. He didn’t know why but something about the Porygon-Z just looked… off to him. Even if he remained the same strange glitchy duck since the Joltik met him, something about him was just kinda off this week, although John didn’t know what it was.

Chalking it up to just imagination, John and the other students left the courtyard. On the way to the outside of the building, John glanced at a certain door beside Claire’s locker. He didn’t know if he was tripping or not, but he vaguely remembered the sign on that door being unreadable when he first arrived at this school. Now it was written in English, spelling out “SUPPLY CLOSET” in capital letters. 

However, the Joltik just decided to ignore it and continue thinking about the mission.

It didn’t take that long for the students of Obelisk High to reach the train station after another bumpy bus ride, the students riding a bigger bus this time for way more students and teachers. It was impressive that Asher just had that much strength to carry an even bigger vessel. Although, it was expected since John knew that Pokémon were just dummy OP overall.

The students and teachers hopped out of the bus while the Koraidon removed the straps from his body before entering the bus and hopping on one of the seats to take a nap. After seeing that, John had to suppress his heart from forcing him to make an aww from cuteness. He then looked back at the building they were in front of, the train station.

The train station was a medium-sized building painted with green and red ink. On the edges of it, some vines were covering some parts of it because of two trees growing on the side of it. Overall, it was a nice aesthetic for a building that was on the outskirts of Burgroth, having quite a cozy feeling as well.

As the students gathered up in front of the building to the side of the entrance, Mr. Xeno turned to the students while crossing his arms, Zetamon floating beside him. “Listen up students! As you know, the train will depart at eight. Also, this train is a private one, meaning that Asuri rented this train for our use.” The students all cheered excitedly before the Orbeetle shut everyone up with a buzz of his wings. “However, that doesn’t mean that this train will be your playground. So cause a mess and I’ll teleport you right back to school, understood?” A chorus of disappointed “Awww” s came out of the students. “With that out of the way, let’s go inside to grab our seats.”

With that, the group entered the train station, going through a big hallway that led to the other side of the building where the tracks could be seen. On the railroad tracks, there was a big black steam locomotive with four orange passenger wagons with stairs on the front of each as far as John could see without the walls blocking the outside of the station. The only differences from the human version of the train were that instead of steam it was electricity if the cables around it were any indication, and that the wheels were cogs with faces for some reason.

Were those Pokémon?

For John, it looked ancient, but for the Pokémon, it was probably a recent technology. But he had to admit, he did have a fascination for steam locomotives, having more of a cool and round design rather than the blocky diesel locomotives. “Damn…” 

“Trains were made with the help of humans, John.” Claire explained in a low voice with a grin. “The trains in your world must be really advanced if this is only their initial state here.”

John looked aside. “Guess you could say that…” 

“C’mon, guys! Let’s get a good seat before all of them are stolen!” Taro suggested before he went inside one of the wagons.

“Wait for us!” Amy said as she followed the Togedemaru inside the wagon, Claire following along with John as well.

Popo and Nana looked at each other for a moment, their heads shaking a little before they went inside like nothing had happened. 

As Team Net entered the train, they were amazed by the inside of the passenger wagon. It had a fancy interior with beige walls and gold lines running through the edges of the kart. Unlike human trains, instead of normal comfy seats, there were small leather-made mattresses facing the middle of the wagon with an armrest on each side of it. There were fifteen on each wagon, and between some of them, there were even tables. 

It made sense why there wouldn’t be seats just like the human version of trains, after all, not like most Pokémon sit like humans, heck some don’t even have legs. 

Team Net, thankfully, managed to get seats. Although, not like getting seats was something to worry about, there were enough for every student, hell, even for the teachers. They grabbed the seats that had a table around them so maybe they did grab the good seats at least. 

Claire stretched her back on the mattress as John jumped off of her head. Since he was small, he shared a seat with the Vulpix. “Ah! These seats are so comfy!” She exclaimed before lying on her back with her paws curled. “And we’re gonna stay on these for almost four hours straight? Wish I had this kind of luxury with my own bed!”

“This seems like a train only for rich Pokémon…” John commented as he felt the squishy and fluffy texture of the mattress. He just let his limbs go limp as he lay on his belly. He felt like he was in heaven. “Hate admitting it but guess we gotta thank Asuri for something…” 

Popo and Nana, already sitting on their mattress, looked at John. “Do not thank the false prophets.” “Or else you are submitting to them, making you worship them.” “We shall not allow that.”

Taro stretched as he fell on his back. “C’mon guys, let’s just at least appreciate what they gave us for free!”

Amy rolled her eyes. “Well, technically not for free. Our parents did pay for us to go on this trip in the first place.” She then smiled satisfied as she let her limbs loose. “But yes, let’s appreciate the luxury while we’re at it.”

Claire rolled onto her belly before asking the group. “So… is everyone ready?”

“Ready for what?” 

A voice that everyone immediately recognized could be heard on the opposite side of the wagon. Team Net looked at the source of the voice and saw Elsa, Cindy, and Olivia sitting on their mattresses, the ice Vulpix lying on her side, supporting her head with forepaws. “Ready to break the rules and be teleported back home? Because it seems like something that’d happen to you guys.” She giggled.

John groaned in annoyance. “Of all the wagons you could be, why the same one as us!?”

Elsa mocked with a flirty tone. “What, Johnny Buggy? You don’t wanna see me here? That makes me soooooo sad~!”

Claire got up on her paws and snorted some flames from her snout. “If you just came here to annoy us then fuck off! Go annoy another group!”

The Purrloin, sitting cross-legged on her seat, responded in a lax tone. “There aren’t any other seats so we’re stuck with you guys.”

The Glameow added with her paws curled beneath her body, making a loaf position. “Besides, you’re not Elsa’s favorite bully toy for nothing, John.”

John let out an instinctual hiss as the fur on his back rose. “Kiss my ass!”

“Watch who you are speaking to, bug!” Elsa shot back with an icy mist coming from her muzzle.

“And watch who you’re threatening, thot!” The Joltik hissed back, barely containing the urge to just shoot a web at her. 

Both Pokémon glared at each other with death stares, one growling while the other let out a high-pitched hiss. As the other members of both groups looked at the threat displays, Amy groaned and shouted to both Pokémon. “Can’t you guys quiet down for a second!?”

“Don’t talk to me like that, Greenie! After all, the bug started it!” Elsa exclaimed while pointing a paw at John. 

“Bitch, you’re the one who- argh!” John turned away and crawled to the open window, watching a bit of the scenery outside. “I’m not even gonna humor you. Every time I talk to you it looks like my maturity decreases to zero…”

Claire rolled her eyes and looked at Elsa with her eyes narrowed. “Just don’t bother us, okay?”

Elsa looked away with a huff. “Yeah, it’s best for a princess not to waste her breath with peasants.”

Taro sighed as he rolled to the side while muttering. “Just when we thought we were gonna have the luxury of our lives…”

And with that, the train started moving, the cog Pokémon slowly starting to spin as electricity ran through their bodies. It was slow at first but it then began to build a bit of speed after a short while.

The wind brushed against John’s fuzz as he saw the scenery moving as the train rolled past them. The Joltik felt a sense of wonder as he saw more of the forest in the comfort of a train wagon. He realized that it was his second time leaving Burgroth after he arrived, the first time being when he went to the human world with Team Net. However, he just went back to his world, something he was familiar with. So it felt good to see more of what this world had to offer outside of the safety of Burgroth, even if just for a day. 

Despite the greenery occupying most of his vision, the greenish spider could also see some Pokémon on tree branches or soaring through the air. He felt like he was in those scenes from movies where the main character was traveling in a car or a train as the scenery passed by them. It was like going on an adventure, but in reality, he was just going on a school trip while exposing a really suspicious company. The last time he was in an actual adventure was when he traversed through the Distortion World and went through that nightmarish Mystery Dungeon.

The Joltik debated with himself if he should climb up to get to the roof to get a better view, however, he decided that this view was enough for now. Looking back from where the train came from, he could see some of the urbanization that is Burgroth town slowly disappearing from his field of vision. 

Well, the trip finally began.

After getting enough clean air (he sometimes forgets that this air is so much cleaner than in his world), John went back inside and jumped on Claire’s mattress, sighing in relaxation. Even with the furry Twitch thot in the same wagon as him, he’d at least try to relax and take a small nap, even if a little. 

Mark was on the outskirts of Xander Cage City, waiting for Reino to arrive with Raiden.

They had planned to patrol and ask for clues in the city while John and Claire searched for evidence in Asuri’s museum. He knew that if they helped directly with their investigation, they would stick out too much. After all, Mark was still an active officer around the city, so Asuri would immediately start to hide their suspicious evidence if they were really up to no good.

The human-turned-Pikachu didn’t know if a teenager and an adult in a baby’s body would be able to handle their small investigation, especially if said adult was in the body of a Joltik. However, that may put him in an advantageous state, since he could use the said small body to sneak around the place while undetected. “But still… how is he gonna gather evidence if he can’t even hold a phone…” Mark muttered to himself as he looked at the sky, seeing the blue slowly getting covered by gray. “It’s gonna rain soon.”

The sound of screeching quickly snapped his attention to the source of it, seeing a chrome Miraidon with a Scizor mounted on him braking and stopping a certain distance from Mark. Reino looked at the Pikachu and smiled. “There you are. We wondered if you were even waiting for us or just slacking off.’

Mark giggled as he crossed his arms. “Oh come on, I may sleep a bit more than you but that doesn’t mean I’m a Slakoth.”

Reino hopped off Raiden’s back and both Pokémon walked towards Mark. Reino put his pincer on his side and asked. “So… where do you think we should investigate first?”

“Well, I was thinking of going to Asuri’s most known contractors. Thankfully, they are in Xander Cage City, so we’ll be able to ask if they know something.” Mark explained.

Reino nodded. “Noted. Let’s go.”

Mark nodded and began to follow the Scizor along with Raiden. 

While floating, Mark couldn’t help but stare at Reino for a while, taking in his sharp edges, his lustrous wings, his shiny carapace, and a face that showed no hesitation with any of his actions. Fuck, those feelings were at it again! 

Mark didn’t know exactly when he began to feel that way towards the Scizor, but he knew for sure that it was after Reino evolved and after defeating that mafia boss. He didn’t know what triggered them, but when he looked at the steel mantis, something about him just made his heart rate accelerate a little. He tried to ignore these feelings, thinking they would go away soon, but they stayed in the back of his mind for all these cycles.

They’ve been slowly eating him away. He just wanted to confess these feelings so much but he was so scared of what Reino would think of him. Mark knew that homophobia didn’t exist as much here as in the human world, but still, he felt scared of confessing that to him.

But… if the Pikachu continued to deny his feelings, that weight he had on his heart would never go away. Who knew if he would have the chance in the future to confess? Better to confess now rather than never. And hey, the worst thing that could happen is that he starts hating Mark.

Mark stopped, floating in place with his head tilted down. Reino and Raiden looked at him. “Hm? Something wrong?” The Scizor asked as he tilted his head. Mark admitted to himself one thing, Reino’s voice was hot, there was no denying that.

The Pikachu sighed, clenching his paws as he felt his heart rate accelerate a little. “Reino… I-I… I wanted to tell you something that I’ve been kinda… holding on for… way longer than I wanted to.”

The steel mantis stared at Mark for a moment as his antennas perked up a little. “I’m listening…?”

Mark looked aside and just started confessing, feeling a bit warmer than usual. “Ever since you evolved… I’ve been getting a-a… a feeling…” His ears dropped. “From your new voice and your new appearance, not to be a bit racist, but it just made you look more… I dunno, human, for me. And after everything you’ve done to help me, helping me fit in with the department, recovering my memories, figuring out what to do in the future…” He looked back at Reino, putting a paw on his chest. “I am so grateful for everything that you’ve done for me, but… at the same time… I kinda…” The Pikachu gulped. “Want more from you…”

The Scizor did nothing but stare at Mark. Because of the steel plate, Mark couldn’t read his expression, making Reino’s expression a mystery.

Mark grimaced and looked away in disappointment. “I… I know you don’t feel the same, but like… I just wanted to get this out-” Suddenly, Mark was interrupted when two red pincers grabbed his body and his lips pressed against something cold and soft at the same time. It was Reino’s lips… his lips were pressing against his… they were kissing, oh god, they were KISSING!

Mark’s face flushed red and his ears and tail perked up as the steel mantis kissed him on the mouth. After the initial startle, Mark closed his eyes and leaned in on the kiss, making sure to avoid Reino’s mandibles. They stayed like that for a moment before they finally pulled away from each other, the Scizor being the first one to speak. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner, you little rodent?” He asked light-heartedly.

Mark looked back at Reino’s face, feeling his thoughts go haywire. God, he was a mess. “I-I-I… b-but-... but I t-thought…”

Reino’s wings fluttered. “Listen… wanna know the reason I’m so obsessed with solving this specific case that I’m losing more sleep than usual, more than you should be?” Mark tilted his head. “The reason I’m doing all of this… it’s because I want you to be safe.” His arms started shaking a bit as he sighed. “I’m scared of losing you. I’m scared of losing you forever… and when I realized the truth of the Corrupted Pokémon, it made me realize you could become like them… I just couldn’t bear to see you like that…!”

Mark frowned as he put a paw on Reino’s cheeks. “Oh Reino…”

“Well, thank goodness it finally happened!” Mark and Reino looked to the side, seeing Raiden wagging his tail as he smiled joyfully. “You have no idea how much I waited for this moment! Like, seriously, when Mark came to your home for the first time in Xander Cage City and he was about to take a shower with you, it was obvious from his face and his body temperature rising that those feelings existed within him for way longer than he expected.” 

“H-how did you even remember… from that far back?” Mark asked a little flustered.

Even with Raiden’s robotic face, the Pikachu could tell that the Miraidon was smirking. “I have a motherboard, not a brain.” 

“Ah…” 

Raiden waved a claw with a grin. “Go on, I want to see where this love story goes.”

Mark blushed even more before he looked back at Reino. “So uh… you wanna… um…”

The Scizor smiled as he released the Pikachu, the electric rodent starting to float again. “Sure, let’s give it a try. After all, you’ve proven to be a way better Pokémon than my ex-girlfriend.”

The Pikachu smiled and both Pokémon kissed each other on the mouth again. They stayed like that for a bit longer before both broke away from the kiss. “I… I love you, Reino.”

The steel mantis brushed a pincer on the Pikachu’s head, ruffling his fur a bit. “Me too, Mark. Me too.” After sighing in relief, Reino looked at the tall buildings of the city. “We’ve stalled for long enough, let’s go get some work done before the kids’ school arrives.”

Mark and Raiden nodded and the trio started heading to Xander Cage City. The Pikachu didn’t know what to think. He was so happy that Reino accepted him and his thoughts couldn’t comprehend that.

Never would he have imagined that he’d start dating a sentient mantis with a steel carapace.

However, it didn’t matter which species he was. Reino was Reino, and Mark just loved Reino. He just hoped that this would last long, hell, ‘till their deaths. 

John sighed in satisfaction when he licked his bowl of honey one last time. ‘Damn, who knew that normal honey in this world tasted this good? Well, it’s probably because of my new tastebuds, but not complaining.’ He thought as he jumped back on Claire’s seat.

It had been at least almost two hours since the train ride had started. At that point, Team Net had the time of their lives with the luxury that the train offered. Apparently, in the back of the train, in the last 5th wagon, there was a kitchen, and chefs were cooking to serve everyone on the train. The food was varied, ranging from a carnivorous set to an herbivorous set, hell, there was even an omnivorous one as well. 

The Joltik wondered if this train was a mobile mansion or not.

Taro sighed in relief and slumped on his mattress, patting his belly before burping a little. “This must be paradise because this is even better than the food that Little Z makes!”

“I may not know what this Little Z guy makes, but it probably doesn’t compare to this, for sure…!” Amy agreed while lying on her back, rubbing her belly.

The Tandemaus just stared at nowhere while sitting on their seats before saying usually. “This.” “Was.” “Adequate.”

Claire smiled satisfied with her paws tucked beneath her body. “I’m never eating food like this ever again unless Arceus blesses us somehow.”

From everyone’s reaction, it was very clear that they loved the food. John would be a bit happier if all of this food was accompanied by pork chops and he wasn’t stuck on eating vegetarian food because of… moral reasons. Nonetheless, he was satisfied with the feast he just had. What was even better was that, when Elsa finished her plate, she immediately fell asleep! Another W in John’s book! Speaking of sleeping… “Well, food was great and all… but I’m gonna rest for a bit, prepare myself for when we arrive.” The Joltik stated.

Claire smiled as she looked at the greenish spider. “Okay, John! Have a good nap!”

John nodded before he plopped his belly onto the mattress and closed his eyes. However, as he tried to sleep, he could still hear Taro’s voice. “You know, I guess I’ll also catch some Zs-”

THUMP

John’s eyes snapped open as he and the rest of Team Net looked at the ceiling, the voices of other students being heard in the background. “What was that sound!?” Amy asked a bit startled.

“That sounded like…” Claire started before getting interrupted by Popo and Nana.

“We can see the presence of two souls above the train.” “One ghastly soul and the other with the same type of soul as friend.” “However, the latter soul seems to be tainted with madness and insanity.”

Taro gasped. “Does that mean-”

Elsa and her cat friends started waking up, the ice Vulpix groaning in annoyance. “Ugh! Who the FUCK interrupted my beauty nap-!”

Suddenly, time seemed to slow down as the ceiling was torn open and a figure fell through it. The wagon trembled a little from the impact and some students almost lost their posture. When they opened their eyes, the students’ eyes widened at who they saw. A Typhlosion with cream fur on their front and light-blue fur on their back. Around their neck, instead of the usual flame quills on the back of their neck, there was a collar of flowing water running down to the back of their hands. The water Typhlosion opened their red eyes with a black tinge of madness in them and grinned savagely. 

Claire managed to get out with a stutter. “Th-that’s a Co-Corrupted Pokémon…!” A shadow started covering the Corrupted Pokémon and Claire looked up to find something that made her ears and tails drop in fear. “N-no way…”

John glanced at Claire in confusion before looking up as well, seeing a violet armored Pokémon with swords for hands, a flaming helmet, and red fiery eyes. He stood on the roof of the train, overlooking the inside of the wagon through the hole. “Who is…”

“It’s him…” Team Net looked at the orange Vulpix in confusion. “He’s the Ceruledge that almost killed me…”

“WHAT!?” The group let out in unison.

“He’s the what!?” Elsa let out a bit confused and scared as she looked up as well.

The Ceruledge huffed and spoke. “Remember the mission, don’t mess it up.”

“Understood…!” The Typhlosion looked around as he shook with insanity, his shark-like grin intimidating some students in the wagon.

The front door opened, revealing Zetamon and Xenophanes floating into the wagon. “What in the [EVER-LOVING SHIT] is going on here!?” The Porygon-Z asked while flinching.

Xenophane’s wings opened. “Is that one of those Pokémon-”

Before they could do anything, the Typhlosion used the water flowing on his body and sent two spheres of water at the two teachers, trapping them both in two water bubbles. The students shouted in panic. “Mr. Zeta! Mr. Xeno!” 

Some of them prepared to attack the Corrupted Pokémon but the Porygon-Z raised a nub. “W-wait kids! Don’t attack it! You’ll all be [paying a debt with no money!] Please, don’t do this!”

However, the students didn’t listen as some brave students like a Tyrogue, a Zorua, and a Pawmo, tried to strike the water Typhlosion. Unfortunately, he just created more water bubbles and trapped the attacking students in them. John panicked a little once he saw them gasping for air, however, they immediately got the oxygen inside the bubble. The students tried to pop the bubble, however to no avail. The Corrupted wasn’t drowning them, he was trapping them.

“What is the meaning of this!?” Elsa asked with an annoyed and scared tone. “What’s one of these scum doing here!?”

Popo and Nana sprung from their seat and prepared a Shadow Claw on each hand. “Do not stand there and ask meaningless questions.” “A heathen is threatening the train and we shall not let that pass.” “Prepare to meet the enlightenment of the Great One, follower of a false prophet!” 

Ignoring the cries from their teachers, the Tandemaus sprung into action as the Corrupted Typhlosion turned to them. He launched a bubble towards the twin mice, however, they popped it easily with their Shadow Claw, getting an easy opening. However, the Typhlosion jumped back to dodge the slash and snarled at them.

“Hmph, seems like you got it under control.” The Ceruledge said before turning away. “Now to my part of the mission…”

Claire managed to tear her eyes away from the Typhlosion to look at the slowly disappearing violet flame of the Ceruledge. She growled as she pointed at the hole in the ceiling. “He’s getting away!”

John looked up and frowned a little. Should he try to go after that Pokémon or not? He wanted so badly to just hide and wait for the storm to pass. However, a certain part of him, that stupid, reckless, and selfish part of him wanted to give that armored asshole what he deserved after what he did to Claire. Before he could think of doing anything, certain words from Harry echoed through his head.

“Your sense of justice got you killed once, what if it happens again and you get killed twice?” 

He knew it was dumb to recklessly charge into danger. It happened once and it could happen again. Even still, that side that wants justice to be served just kept nagging at him, telling him that he could do it, he had the power to do it unlike before. He was different now. He trained, and he went through literally worse shit than an attack on the train. Besides, none of the adults in the train could do anything right now, they were trapped and they were the only ones able to stop this madness.

His resolve was made.

John zipped to the hole in the ceiling, landing on the roof of the train. He managed to keep his composure as the wind rushed past him since the train was moving, quite fast for his liking. The Joltik looked back down and shouted to Claire. “Claire! Use one of the stairs to get up here, let’s stop that guy before he does something that I think he’s gonna do!”

The Vulpix nodded with a determined expression. However, before she was about to leave her seat, she saw the Typhlosion look towards John while snarling. She was about to prepare an attack before she interrupted herself when razor-sharp leaves with a glowing aura passed through the Corrupted Pokémon. The water bender looked at the source of the leaves and saw Amy standing with a determined look on her face. 

She looked at Claire and said while Taro jumped to her side. “Don’t worry Claire! We’ll handle this guy! You can go help John!”

“Yeah! I’ll shock this guy to ashes!” Taro said as his cheeks sparked with a few bolts of lightning.

The water Typhlosion shot more bubbles towards the Shaymin and Togedemaru, however, they were swiftly slashed by Popo and Nana. “Assist friend.” “You must help him be guided to the right path.” “Do not hesitate in striking down your old foe.”  

The fire fox nodded and looked up at the hole in the ceiling. “Hold on, John! I’m coming to you!”

The Joltik nodded and started skittling away, seeing the Ceruledge in the distance a wagon ahead of him. “Just you wait…”

Amy saw Claire walk out of the wagon’s door after reassuring the teachers that they’d take care of it along with some other students. 

The Shaymin didn’t know what to think. They were having a normal school trip to a literal city and out of nowhere they got attacked by a Corrupted Pokémon and the same Ceruledge that gravely injured Claire that day. 

Just what was going on!?

“Elsa? Where are you!?” Amy diverted her attention to Olivia and Cindy who looked panicked. However, there was no sign of Elsa anywhere. “Where did she go!?”

Popo and Nana looked at the two felines. “It would be appreciated if you helped us defeat the heathen.” “Be useful and assist us.” “Unless you wish to perish along with the rest of the passengers.”

The two Pokémon shook their heads and spoke in unison. “No please, we’ll help you!”

As Olivia and Cindy quickly scurried behind them, Taro quipped. “Alright water boy, now you’ll have no chance against six-on-one! Prepare to get dusted-”

Suddenly, the Typhlosion extended his arms to the sides and asked. “Are you sure?” He asked with a manic grin. From his water collar, water started flowing out of it, growing limbs that were two times the size of his normal arms. At the end of each limb, watery hands shaped exactly like his started forming, dripping small droplets on the floor.

Amy grimaced as she said. “Did you really have to tempt fate?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, didn’t know he could just bend water to his will!” The Togedemaru responded a bit annoyedly.

The twin mice looked back at the two and said. “Enough useless bickering.” “Do not lose focus, or else, we shall lose this battle.” “Let us go!”

The other four Pokémon nodded as they got into a battle stance. The Typhlosion roared and started running towards them on all fours, their other watery arms thrashing wildly in the air. Muscles tensing, Amy shot an Energy Ball at the opposing Pokémon after Popo and Nana disappeared into the darkness, letting the grass hedgehog get a clear shot at the Corrupted Pokémon. 

As John stood at the edge of the wagon, he saw Claire slowly climbing the stairs to the roof of the wagon, somehow managing on her four paws. After managing to get up, she looked at John with a determined look as the wind brushed against her fur, the fur covering one of her eyes. She looked a bit cool in John’s opinion. “Are you ready for this, John?”

The Joltik nodded with resolve. Was he going to regret this later? Definitely. “I’m ready.”

The duo looked at where the Ceruledge was standing. For some reason, he had stopped completely, like he was waiting for something or someone… 

Claire and John nodded to each other before they started walking to the Ceruledge, jumping from train wagon to train wagon. The spiderling thought that the wind would blow him away every time he jumped, but surprisingly, his body was quite resistant to that combined with the inertia. 

It didn’t take that long before reaching the Ceruledge, standing on the last wagon facing away from them. However, before getting closer, he spoke. “I have been waiting for you…” He turned to face them, feeling his eyes stare at their very souls. “I wished to see if there were any brave souls on this train, and it seems that I found two candidates for that…” His eyes darted to Claire. “So we meet again, child. Have you not learned your lesson from last time?”

Claire grimaced in fear a little before steeling herself, growling at the Ceruledge. “I’ve learned from last time. I’m not gonna let you hijack this train! And this time, I’m not alone, I have help!”

John hissed as he took a step forward. “Yeah, you’re gonna pay for what you did to Claire!”

The armored Pokémon chuckled as he crossed his blade arms. “Such naive confidence. You clearly have no idea who you are up against. But that doesn’t matter. I guess I will have to teach you two a lesson, and finally put you in your place.” A shadowy aura started emanating from him as dark tendrils started to come out of his feet. “This is your last warning…”

John and Claire steeled their stance and got into a battle position. “I’m not gonna back down on a chance of payback…” Claire growled as John hopped on her head, preparing himself for the conflict.

He was gonna get tossed around like a toy, wouldn’t he?

“Too bad…” The Ceruledge flung himself to Claire and John, his swords burning as they extended.

Amy narrowingly avoided a slam from a watery hand, jumping on one of the tables while trying to maintain her breathing. Some of her needles started turning into leaves and started homing towards the Corrupted Pokémon. However, the Typhlosion simply put one of his water hands in front of him to stop the leaves in place. 

Suddenly, Taro rolled behind the water-typed Corrupted with a grin before jumping in the air. He then released a thunder shock right on the back of him, leaving a burn mark on him. “Hah, easy- ACK!” Taro then got smacked on the side by one of the water hands, launching him towards the wall of the wagon. “Ngh!”

The Typhlosion didn’t even need to focus on the steel rodent since he let his water hands do it for him. So he wasn’t even distracted when Olivia and Cindy ran towards the Corrupted Pokémon with their claws extended and raised, ready to Scratch him hard. However, the Typhlosion just shot a single water jet from his mouth that launched the two cat Pokémon backwards.

Suddenly, he received a slash on his side. The water bender looked to the side and saw no one there, only his bleeding wound on the side. He then received another slash on his back, making him growl in annoyance as he turned around. Still seeing no one, he decided to look around to spot the little critters, however, he only saw traces of darkness being left behind.

Once he looked in front of him, he saw Popo slashing him in the belly. Before he could crush the mouse, he jumped back into a portal of darkness, disappearing from his sight. The Corrupted Pokémon roared as he started thrashing around with his watery arms, trying to shield himself from any close-range attack. 

Popo and Nana emerged beside Amy from the darkness, startling the Shaymin a little. They looked at her and spoke. “Assist us!”

After recovering, Amy nodded and stared at the Typhlosion with a frown. She then began to charge an Energy Ball while Popo and Nana sent two clones in front of them. The grass hedgehog then released the ball of grass energy as one of the clones jumped in the air. The grounded mouse kicked the ball of energy to the airborne one and it slapped the ball in the air with a spike, launching it directly to the Corrupted Pokémon.

The ball struck true as it hit the water Typhlosion, none of the water hands managing to catch the projectile. After recovering from the stagger, he looked at the mouse duo and Shaymin with a snarl before starting to run towards them. However, he was hit on the side by a spiky ball of electricity that launched him to the ground while sliding. 

Taro uncurled himself and clenched his paw with a grin. “That’s what you get, bubble freak!” 

As the Corrupted Pokémon slowly started to get up while growling, the door to the wagon opened, revealing Cerbera who looked excited. “Heard a fight was happening here! Let me join too!” He excitedly requested while wagging his small tail.

Mr. Xeno looked at the Houndoor and shouted. “What the heck are you doing, Cerbera!? Get out of here!”

Before the Typhlosion could fully get up, Popo and Nana appeared above him and pinned him down with a kick from each mouse to the back of the head. “Fiery soul!” “It is time to be useful and release the trapped ones from their prison!” As Cerbera was about to ask what was going on and why was there a Corrupted Pokémon on the train, the mice twins interrupted him. “Do not ask questions. Hurry, now!” Before one of the hands swatted them away, they jumped into the darkness and disappeared.

“A-alright!” The Houndour then started hurrying to the teachers, preparing a jet of flames in his mouth.

Mr. Zeta, however, stopped him. “Don’t worry about us, go help the other students first!”

Cerbera mentally saluted a bit panicked. “Roger that, Mr. Zeta!” He then went to the other bubbles while a fight was happening in the background. 

Claire and John dodged the flaming slash, the Vulpix doing a backflip while John managed to hold on to her head. After landing, John jumped from Claire’s head and launched an Electroweb at the Ceruledge, trying to constrict him a little. However, he simply slashed the web with no issues whatsoever.

The armored Pokémon then sent a shadow tendril at the Joltik. Before it hit John, it was incinerated by one of Claire’s fireballs. As John landed, the fire fox sent another fireball from her mouth, this time directed at the Ceruledge. However, as the fireball impacted the violet armor, it vanished without even leaving a scorch mark on him. “Shit, he has the same ability as me…”

“Seems you know a few things, kid.” The Ceruledge commented before raising one of his swords that burned brighter than before. “But what are you planning now since you know that half of your arsenal is useless against me?”

Suddenly, an electric string wrapped around the Ceruledge’s torso, constricting one of his arms. He looked at the source of the string and saw John holding the physical electricity with his mouth. “Wess tawking and mwore fwighting! Cwaire!”

The Vulpix nodded and coated herself in a white aura. As she ran, her speed increased to a point where she became nothing but a blur. The Ceruledge chuckled before asking. “Do you honestly think that Quick Attack is gonna hit me?”

However, despite what the armored Pokémon believed, Claire actually managed to tackle him in the torso, releasing him from the electric strings and launching him a bit backwards. The Ceruledge landed on his back and the fire fox smirked. “Yes, I think I do!”

As he sat up with a grunt, he looked back at Claire. “But h-how…” He then saw Claire’s paw which was oozing a bit of darkness from it. “Is that…”

“Yep! Feint Attack!” Claire said with a grin as she jumped back. “Mom taught it just in case I got a disadvantage!”

“I have no idea what that does but yeah!” John backed up, lifting a nub.

The Ceruledge just stared before huffing and getting up. “I suppose you did learn a thing or two after our last encounter, kid. You’re not recklessly charging into danger…” The shadow tendrils started to come out from beneath his feet again. “However, that means I will not have to hold back any longer…”

The armored Pokémon flared up in flames before charging at Claire. However, before she had the opportunity to dodge, the Ceruledge entered a purple and ghostly portal. Claire’s and John’s eyes widened as they started looking around desperately. “Where the fuck did he go!?” John asked, mostly to himself.

“Just be careful, John… I’ll protect you!” Claire said as flames started leaking from her mouth. She then prepared another Feint Attack on her paw, just in case it ever came to it.

As he looked around, the Joltik caught a trace of a dark portal forming above Claire. “Above you, Claire!!!” He shouted in his squeaky little voice.

As the dark portal formed, the Ceruledge came out of it with his sword glowing white, ready to strike the Vulpix that was looking away. However, once the sword touched the fire fox’s orange fur, Claire simply vanished. Both the Ceruledge and John were a little confused at what just happened before the armored Pokémon was struck from behind by a darkness-coated paw. 

As the sentient charcoal staggered forward, Claire said with a smirk. “So… what was that about not holding back any longer-?”

“Hey, Peasants!”

John and Claire froze, making them look back to the source of the familiar voice. Jumping from one wagon to another, a white Vulpix approached the duo. “Elsa!?” Both of them blurted out.

“What in Tartarus are you doing here? You thought I wouldn’t follow you to snitch on you in case you guys got in trouble?” She asked as she put a paw over her chest.

John shouted at her in a panicked state. “Get out of here! This is too dangerous for a snowcone like you!”

“What was that, bug-!?”

A slow chuckle came out of the Ceruledge who had his arms limped. The twins and the Joltik looked at the armored Pokémon. “Look at what we got over here… another one to join the party? How fun…” He said with a flare in his eyes before he sank into the floor with another dark portal.

Elsa asked a bit afraid as she took a step back. “W-who was that…?”

Claire turned to her sister with a desperate look on her face. “Elsa, just fucking do what we say and get away from here! This is not your fight!”

“What do you mean this is not my fight? Just tell me already what in the actual fuck you two are doing-!”

“Claire, BEHIND YOU!” John screamed as a dark portal started manifesting behind the Vulpix.

Time seemed to slow down as Claire turned around just in time to see the Ceruledge appear with a sword glowing white. He then slashed upwards, hitting Claire in the torso and launching her in the air as blood started to come out of her. 

“CLAIRE!!!” John and Elsa screamed as the Vulpix fell to the ground.

The Vulpix wound looked ugly, but it wasn’t as bad as last time. She grunted as she tried to get up, but she didn’t have enough energy to stand up, only to sit and watch. “D-dammit… not again…!”

Elsa tried to rush to her, however, the armored Pokémon ran in front of her, stopping the ice Vulpix in her tracks. “Out of my way, worthless peasant!” She prepared to launch an Icy Wind from her mouth, however, she got hit on the side by a burning blade. “Argh!” She got launched away to the edge of the roof of the train, bleeding from her mouth and a wound on her cheek.

John looked in shock at Elsa and Claire before his eyes stopped at the approaching armored menace. John felt his heart drop from fear as the towering figure got close to him, making him back away a little. “Now that they’re dealt with… it only leaves you…”

In the back, Claire growled as she tried getting up. “R-run away… John!!!” 

John backed away even more from the Ceruledge as he got even closer. What was she even talking about? There was nowhere to run! 

Before John could do anything, he felt something heavy press on him as he tried his hardest to resist its weight. The armored Pokémon was stomping on him. “So pathetic… you can’t even do anything when all your friends are not there for you.” John felt the air escape his lungs as the Ceruledge put more pressure on him. “You are useless, worthless. Even if you are civilized, society wouldn’t even care if one less bug like yourself died or disappeared from the face of this planet.”

John tried to put all of his strength out of him as some sparks came out of his body. “N-no… y-you’re wrong…!”

“Deny it all you want, but deep down, you know that I’m right no matter what thoughts come through that flimsy little mind of yours. Bug types like you are a plague that causes constant annoyance to the daily life of Pokémon, wild or not.” The Ceruledge’s foot pressed harder. “So how about I ease your pain and make you cease all your struggles… forever.”

“JOHN!!!” Claire shouted as a purple aura started enveloping her a little bit.

John couldn’t handle it any longer. His strength was getting zapped away from him each second that foot was crushing him. His insides were getting twisted and contorted as he slowly started to lose consciousness. Was this it? Was this truly the end for h̥͍ȉ̯m̧͐-̵̍h̺̾i̞ͩm̰͗H͍̃I̷̼Ḿ͟&ͪ͝&̟̉#̸ͣ&͇̹@̺̝!̶̓@̰̱?̛̫(̀̌$͙ͪ@̩͇(͍̐-

The Ceruledge felt his foot become a little fuzzy, even inside his armor. He tilted his head with a hum before he removed his foot from the Joltik. He then flinched as he saw John spazzing in and out of existence as some kind of static started covering his body. “What in the-!?”

The Joltik’s back split open as three monochrome and long arms came out of his body. Suddenly, beady black and red eyes appeared all over his body, and they all looked at the Ceruledge. 

Elsa cringed and froze in horror as she screamed. “What the fuck is that thing!?”

Claire could only watch in horror at what John had become, her purple aura vanishing and her rage getting replaced with fear. “MissingNo…”

The armored Pokémon jumped back a little before his sword hands started glowing purple. He then released a Psycho Cut directly at the glitchy Joltik. However, the three hands stood in front of John, acting as a shield and protecting him against the slash waves. “What in Arceus' name is-”

Suddenly, John disappeared from existence with a static effect covering the area he was in. The Ceruledge looked around in panic before he got struck in the back by a white hand that came out of nowhere, pinning him down on the floor. The glitchy body of John appeared after the hand, his unstable body making parts of his body appear in completely random places in the air for a split second before returning to him. The air around him cackled and distorted as the big hand grabbed the Ceruledge and started slamming him on the roof of the wagon over and over and over again, even making a dent in it. "͓̯̣̑̂ͥ̽̀̏͟F̷̛̝̳͙̊͊̀͜͡ơ̼̰ͦ̓ͫͥ̇̾͠r̡̟̗̤̖͔͑ͪ̓͡f̫̪̹̰̒͌ͬ̓̅͜ë̤̬̘̰̞̊ͭ̊̍i͏͉͕͍̼̏̋́ͧ̚t̬̘͚̺̬͆͊ͦ͟ͅ"̸͈̼̺̗̮̱͙̬͊

As the Ceruledge struggled to get out of the glitchy Pokémon’s arm, shadow tendrils suddenly started coming out of the floor from below the armored Pokémon. One of the tendrils shot to the black arm and managed to cut it, leaving a cut wound that bled an unstable substance. With that, the armored Pokémon managed to loosen up the grip the hand had on him and struggle himself out of the hold, immediately into a dark portal. He then appeared away at the edge of the wagon, slowly but surely standing up with ragged breaths. He put a sword hand over some visible cracks in his armor. “Mission accomplished… I got what I wanted…” 

The Ceruledge slowly sank into the ground with one of his dark and ghostly portals as Claire screamed after him. “Where do you think you’re going!? Come back here!”

As the Ceruledge disappeared, Elsa weakly got up and shouted at the fire Vulpix. “Let him go already! We got another problem with monster bug over there!” 

Both Vulpix looked at the glitchy John who just stared at nowhere, his body spazzing out of existence as the air distorted around him. Suddenly, the eyes covering spread throughout his body and looked at the ice and fire twins with a single flick, making both Elsa and Claire tense a little bit. 

“Alright you lowly monster scum, prepare to turn into a popsicle!” 

As Elsa charged an ice attack, her twin stopped her. “Wait! I can assure you, he won’t hurt you!”

The ice fox looked at Claire as she canceled her attack. “And what makes you so sure of that!?”

Both of their attention was brought back to John once they heard him grunt and groan, the eyes around his body disappearing along with the static aura. The three monochrome arms retracted inside John’s body as the hole on his back mended itself like it was never there. After fully returning to normal, he collapsed on the ground while coughing a little bit. However, instead of saliva coming out of his mouth, a bit of liquid static came out of it. 

The Joltik slowly opened his eyes while groaning. “Ugh… what the hell happened…?”

Claire and Elsa both stared at John before the ice fox gave a snicker that turned into a chuckle. “”What the hell happened”…?” Her chuckle got a little louder. “”What the hell happened”...?” She erupted into laughter, the volume being dampened a little by the wind of being above a moving train. “That’s what I’m fucking asking!!!” She shouted before she looked at Claire with an angry look. “You better fucking explain what in the actual fuck is going on before I not only snitch on you to Mom and Dad but to literally everyone!!! So come on, start explaining!”

Claire growled back. “Calm down alright!? I’ll explain everything once we’re back from the trip, alright?”

“You fucking better-”

“KIDS!!!”

The trio looked at the back of the wagon, seeing Mr. Xeno walking with his wings folded behind his back like a bipedal anthro ladybug. After seeing the wounds on Claire and Elsa, he immediately lifted them up with telekinesis. “What happened to you two!? You need to get someone checked on you fast!”

“What are you doing here? Weren’t you trapped in a bubble from that freak?” The ice Vulpix asked a little confused.

“Oh, we got freed from our prison while some brave students took care of that ferocious Pokémon for us.” The Orbeetle explained as he began walking back. “However, before we could do anything, some Ceruledge appeared out of nowhere and took the Typhlosion-looking Pokémon with them.” 

Elsa scowled at Claire as she shook her head. After a “Hmph!” from Elsa, both Vulpix stayed silent.

Xenophanes then looked behind, seeing John clumsily getting up. “Do you need help there John?” John was about to refuse but didn’t get a say as the Orbeetle lifted him as well with his telekinesis. “Actually, it’s better if I helped you. You look tired.”

With that, the Orbeetle took the three of them back to the train and their seats. After receiving a healing pulse from an Audino student aboard the train and getting bandaged, John, Claire, and Elsa were given a private space to recover from their injuries. However, their private space quickly got infiltrated once the rest of Team Net went to check on them along with Cindy and Olivia.

The two cat Pokémon immediately started to rub their heads over Elsa’s body as Cindy spoke. “Oh Elsa, we’re so glad you’re okay! We thought something bad happened to you!”

“Are your claws dirty? Did your fur get dusty or-” Olivia asked before getting interrupted by Elsa.

“Ugh, I’m fine, just don’t touch me, it still fucking hurts.” Elsa said a bit annoyedly while shifting her position in her seat.

Meanwhile, Popo and Nana embraced John from both sides. “Friend is safe! Do not worry, we shall support you when in need, friend!”

John felt like he was getting crushed, again , as the mice twins hugged him. “Th-thanks but please… s-stop hugging m-me like that or else m-my organs a-are gonna burst!” They stopped hugging the Joltik as he panted for breath. “Ugh… I feel like complete shit…”

Claire asked as she raised her head. “Guys, what happened with the Corrupted Pokémon? I heard from Mr. Xeno you guys managed to beat him.”

Amy nodded with a smile. “Yep, we did manage to beat him.” She then frowned while looking aside. “Although… that Ceruledge snooped him and escaped with the Typhlosion…”

“Ugh! I’ve only seen that guy for almost ten seconds and he’s already pissing me off!” Taro said while some sparks came out of his cheeks. He then sighed and asked. “From what happened, you guys didn’t manage to defeat him?”

“As a brief summary; Claire got slashed again, Elsa did nothing useful and got hit to the side-” John ignored the chilly atmosphere and the “Hey!” that escaped Elsa’s mouth. “And I almost got crushed to death, so overall a bad experience.” John looked aside. “I’m not even sure how the hell I survived that…”

Claire and Elsa looked at each other, the fire twin grimacing and the ice one scowling. Claire shook her head and Elsa just silently groaned in annoyance. “Well… you lost consciousness and he just decided to let you live…” Claire lied. “After all, he did say something that his mission was accomplished… for some reason.”

Popo and Nana looked at the orange Vulpix. “Have you managed to assert what was the heathen’s mission?” “We need to know in case an event like this happens again.”

Claire thought back on the scene for a moment. She remembered certain lines that the Ceruledge said that sounded unusual for someone trying to cause a hostage situation or trying to hijack a train…

“I have been waiting for you.” “I wished to see if there were any brave souls on this train, and it seems that I have found two candidates for that…”

And the fact that he just stood there like he was waiting for someone to appear… was he wanting someone to fight him? If so… then why? “I… I don’t know. He was too cryptic for me to get what was his plan.”

Popo and Nana tilted their head. “Unfortunate.” “That means we shall be even more careful if another heathen tries to attack us.” “Remain on guard and do not give in.”

Team Net nodded before Mr. Xeno entered the wagon, all of the students looking at the ladybug teacher. “Alright, as said in the other wagons, the trip to the Asuri museum is not canceled. Fortunately, we dealt with a pretty low-risk Pokémon, and as a result, not a lot of students were majorly hurt aside from… a few stubborn ones.” He shot a glare at Team Net and Elsa’s gang, all of them looking away in nervousness. “So, we decided that we would continue our trip to Xander Cage City, however, at a much slower pace since some of the students here fought valiantly to protect their friends. That’s all, hope you can enjoy the rest of the trip.”

However, instead of floating away, he floated towards the group of stubborn Pokémon as he crossed his arms. “So… how are you all feeling?”

Elsa started. “I feel disrespected and like utter garbage-”

“Could be better but we’re all fine!” Claire interrupted with a sheepish grin.

The Orbeetle looked at them and sighed. “Alright then…” He sighed before floating away. However, he still projected his voice in John and Claire’s head with his telepathy. ‘I hope you explain what you were doing at the top of the train after the trip is over, understood?’

Claire and John cringed after feeling the front of their minds getting invaded like that. John sighed before saying telepathically. ‘Alright…’

The Vulpix knew that after this trip there would be a lot of explanation that needed to be given. However, she had to reassure herself that she was keeping all of these secrets away to protect them and for the greater good. She just needed to keep them away for a little longer… they were so close to accomplishing the mission after all.

After reaching the Xander Cage City train station, the students left the train and started walking through the streets of the city. Only a single word could describe this city for John and that was: wow . 

From the size of the city, it seemed like a metropolis that stayed in the middle of the continent. Like most metropolis in his world, it was a huge city with a lot of buildings that extended to the skies. Instead of concrete streets, there were gravel streets with a lot of Varrom and Revavroom-powered cars. Pokémon of all sizes and species walked around, some looking intimidating while some others not, however, they still walked in harmony with no form of discrimination being seen. What made the scene a bit funnier, was that some of them (mostly the bipedal ones) had cell phones on their hands (or paws).

Hell, he even saw a bipedal and yellow-furred feline taking selfies with their phone. However, at that sight, an interesting thought occurred to him. ‘Furries are gonna have a field day once they start interacting with those kinds of Pokémon online, won’t they?’ It probably is already happening, or it will probably happen, but it was an inevitability at this point. 

Even with the pretty sights, the weather didn’t combine at all. The clouds in the skies were getting darker and John could even hear the sound of thunder roaring in the distance. It would rain soon…

After a bit more walking, the students finally reached it, in the north-center of the city: the Asuri Museum. It was a mostly glass-made building, shaped in a unique manner that looked like a paw. The building was bigger than John had imagined it to be. A nice comparison would be that it had almost the same height as the White House, even though not have the same length. One thing for sure though, it was pretty.

Their school wasn’t the only one there, however. There were students from other schools of the Fire Continent, even though there weren’t as many students on the trip as Obelisk High had. It made sense since Obelisk was one of the few schools that even had a technology class.

As they waited for their guide to show up, the first droplets of rain started falling. Fortunately, some of the fire types that were affected by rain brought their umbrellas. Amy looked up and frowned. “Seems like a storm is coming in…”

“I just hope it won’t be raining that hard when we return.” Claire huffed a bit annoyedly.

Before they had the opportunity to get drenched even further, the automatic door of the building opened up, revealing a humanoid bipedal Pokémon with a white dress, skinny body, green hands and hair, and a white face. The Gardevoir took an analyzing glance at the whole crowd of students and some teachers before she smiled. “Hi there, kids!” She bowed like a Japanese person. “Thank you for accepting our invitation and coming to this wonderful museum.” She straightened her posture before motioning inside. “The CEO is waiting for you all inside, don’t keep her waiting!”

A chorus of “YEAH!!!” rang from the children as they stormed inside the building, pushing and shoving some other students aside as the teachers tried their best to calm the horde. Team Net tensed once they heard the mention of the CEO but still kept their determined looks as they entered the building. 

Once the group entered the building, they were immediately greeted by the cool air of the AC as they looked around. The main area was enormous, way bigger than they had anticipated. The floor was made out of black marble that reflected the light, and the walls were white with some decorated illustrated pieces of technology with a cybernetic look to all of them. Above them, the students could see three more floors with some Pokémon walking on some catwalks. 

Just like the outside, the building was nothing else rather than beautiful because of how modern and futuristic it looked. 

Around the floor, some technological items on pedestals were encased in a small glass dome, ranging from small unused devices to a straight-up gaming PC with the Asuri logo plastered on it.

Yep, definitely stolen. 

“Anything that looks suspicious to you yet, John?” Claire whispered to the Joltik on her head.

John nodded and whispered back. “Yep, I can already see items 1-to-1 with the ones in my world. I’ll tell you later which items to use as evidence.”

The Vulpix nodded and continued to walk along with the other students.

After walking for some seconds, all of the students aglomerated in a group in the middle of the main area, talking and gossiping with all the students making the main noise of the place. However, everyone shut up once a certain Pokémon walked towards them. Green fur, a bit tall and slender build, and a mask with a heart-shaped symbol in the middle of it made up the Pokémon and it was none other than the CEO of Asuri herself: Alice Mishima. She stopped in front of the students and folded her arms behind her back. “Good morning students of the Fire Continent.”

The students erupted into cheers as they all said “Good morning Alice!” excitedly, except for Elsa’s gang and Team Net. 

John took a moment to analyze Alice for a moment. Not to sound like a furry but he had to admit, she was pretty for Pokémon standards, aside from the goofy mask that obscured her face. He didn’t expect her to be this tall, but she was almost the size of an adult human, might as well consider her a furry costume because she definitely looked like one.

Alice seemed to take an analyzing glance at the crowd of students. However, time seemed to slow down for the Joltik once Alice’s eyes passed through Team Net, feeling like she looked at them a bit longer than he would’ve liked it to be. He even let out a small glare at her which he wasn’t sure the CEO noticed. ‘You’re going down!’ Was the thought John wanted to pass with the glare.

The bipedal cat then clasped her paws and said in a cheery tone. “Welcome all to the amazing museum of Asuri Technologies Industries! As you all know, my name is Alice Mishima, and I’m the CEO of the company, the one who is in charge of the company.” She bowed stylishly. “And before we begin the tour of the place, let me begin by thanking all of you who have been using Asuri’s devices in your daily lives.”

John grimaced and looked away. “Geez, I sometimes forget that everything tech-related you guys use is from Asuri…”

Taro waved a paw in reassurance. “Eh, don’t worry, definitely gonna change once we expose them.” He then looked aside a bit sheepishly. “Although… if computers and the internet get banned, I’m gonna miss them.”

Popo and Nana looked at the electric rodent and said. “Do not be sad about accursed items disappearing from your daily mortal life.” “You shall be glad that they are gone.” “After all, they were straying Pokémon away from the path of the Great One since they were made by false prophets.” “We shall not tolerate such slander to the lord of greatness!”

A few students looked at the Tandemaus a bit weirded out but focused back on Alice as she continued her speech. “Now, let’s not delay our tour any further. Follow me and take notes because I’m about to show you Asuri’s greatest feats towards Pokémon kind!”

The students all cheered in excitement while Team Net looked at each other and nodded. Let the first part of the investigation begin.

The tour has been going as expected so far; Alice showed the students the various devices that Asuri definitely created and definitely didn’t steal around the museum. It was very easy for John to spot the stolen items, so he made a mental note to come back during the break period to take pictures of these items as evidence.

During the tour, however. The Joltik couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread in his heart. He just felt insecure for some reason, like someone was watching his every movement from the shadows, waiting for the right moment to pounce. Sure, it was raining hard outside with thunder echoing and vibrating glass, but that wasn’t enough to make John think he was in a horror scenario. Maybe he was just a bit nervous about the investigation going wrong, but he wasn’t sure if that was just it…

He had to admit one thing, he had lost a bit of focus on what Alice was saying after thirty minutes of just walking around and seeing unused tech. It wasn’t because he got bored or anything, but because he was so focused on something else, that being items that Alice wasn’t showing. After all, there had to be some items she wasn’t making the students focus on for holding some sort of secret, right?

Eventually, lunch break came up and the tour was paused for the students to eat their meals. They ate in an open area of the museum that had a food stand for the kids to buy food. The students separated themselves into small groups while eating, mostly staying with their own friend groups from their schools. It was the same case with Team Net, however, they were on the edge of the area. 

John took a peek at the other students who, fortunately, were occupied with their gossip or meal. He then turned to the rest of the group. “Alright, is everyone ready to get this mission started?”

“We’ve been preparing for a week and a half for this, ‘course I’m ready!” Taro said with a determined smile on his face.

“We don’t know what kind of plans Asuri has, but I’m sure they’re not good if they did this much already. I won’t back down, we need to expose them before it’s too late!” Amy said with confidence, the needles poking through her uniform a little.

The Tandemaus gave a creepy smile, showing all of their sharp teeth. “We shall make these false prophets fall into perdition for the sinful crimes they have committed.”

A slight chill was sent through their bodies as they looked at the mice twins. Claire, however, managed to recover first as she cleared her throat. “No matter what happens, we’ll do it. For the greater good of both Pokémon and humans, we’re gonna stop Asuri before they do… uh… whatever they are doing behind the scenes that will only make things worse.”

John nodded. “Alright then. Let’s do a quick recap.” He pointed at Popo and Nana. “Popo and Nana will remain on the first floor to take photos of the evidence. You guys remember the items I pointed out to investigate later after the tour was done, right?”

The mice twins nodded. “Of course, friend.” “We have remembered everything you have told us to investigate.” “We shall not fail our mission.”

The Joltik gave an uncertain nod before looking at Amy and Taro and pointing at them. “Taro and Amy will investigate the second floor. While we were there, I saw some stuff that looked suspicious. You guys can take pictures and then show them to me, alright?”

Amy nodded with a smile. “Understood, count on us.”

“Okay then.” He then pointed at the furry ground he was standing on. “Claire and I are gonna investigate the third floor to see if there’s something interesting in there.” The Vulpix nodded before John continued. “We’ll likely have twenty minutes to do it before lunch break ends. Y’all brought your Invisify Orbs in case the area is crowded, right?”

“Yep, they’re all in our bags! Brought ours as well!” Claire said with a grin while the rest of the team nodded.

“Alright, we’re all set then.” John declared before looking at the massive area that the building had, it kinda reminded him a little bit of a shopping mall. “Let’s begin the operation.”

With a nod, Team Net secretly left the dining area of the museum to start their investigation. However, they didn’t notice a white Vulpix watching them leave with suspicion.

After taking a lift to the third floor, John and Claire looked around the surrounding area. There weren’t many Pokémon walking around, only one or two fancy-looking ones and a humanoid and muscular grey-skinned Pokémon employee who swept the floor. The spiderling asked himself if the floor really needed to be cleaner than it already was.

They both looked around, seeing some glass covering some old-looking devices and some broken ones as well. It made them wonder why were they broken up in the first place…

“See anything we could use?” Claire whispered to John as she walked aimlessly around the floor.

John hummed in thought as he looked at the various items. “Hm… nothing- hold up, go to that thing near that wall real quick.” The Vulpix tilted her head slightly before doing what the Joltik asked. It was just as the Joltik remembered. It was a Nokia flip phone although it was plastered with the Asuri logo. He remembered how exactly one of those phones looked because he was given one as a child by his grandpa. Not like he could use it much, but he played that snake game for hours a day when he had nothing better to do. “Yes, that’s a perfect piece of evidence!”

The greenish spider climbed inside Claire’s bag and grabbed her phone, putting it on the Vulpix’s back. He started tapping on the phone and opened up the camera app. He tried to line up the shot so that it’d capture the evidence. “You need any help?”

“Don’t worry, I just need to line the camera so that I’m able to take the photo with these nubs.” John said as he made the phone be supported by Claire’s curly fur. After managing to get the camera at the right angle, he said. “Alright, got it-”

Suddenly, the two of them got snatched by a sac, leaving the two of them constrained and in the dark. “Huh!? What’s going on!?” Claire asked in a panicked tone. 

“The fuck!? What is this!?” John squeaked as he looked around desperately. 

The Machoke janitor from before chuckled as he flicked a finger on the sac he was holding. “Well, you made my job much easier for me by coming here earlier. Thanks for that, kids.”

John shuddered along with Claire as the sac shook with them inside. The Vulpix tried to act quickly by shooting a fireball at it, however, it did nothing but leave a scorch mark. “Shit, it’s fireproof!”

“Where the hell is he taking us!?” John asked as he tried to tear the sac with his pointy nubs, proving to be a futile effort.

“I… I don’t know…” Claire said with a frown. 

John growled in annoyance as a few sparks came out of him. They were on the right track, everything was going so well until now! But of course, something HAD to go wrong, didn’t it!? “Dammit!”

And with that, the spider and fox duo were taken away…

Alice took a sip of water from a cup, sighing in satisfaction afterward. She was sitting on a table with her legs crossed as she ate and drank.

The identity of the human has finally been revealed to her. If it wasn’t for the test she put them through, she would never have figured it out. 

Who would’ve known the human was a tiny and pathetic Joltik all the time? And now they were here, basically in her grasp at this point.

She looked through all the records of human appearances in this world so far and never once there had been a human who turned into a bug type. It seemed that this was the first one to be turned into one, and a Joltik nonetheless. Still… it made her wonder, why that deity suddenly changed its ways out of nowhere. Unless…

“Alice.” The Meowscarada turned to the source of the voice, seeing some Pokémon teachers sitting at the same table as her. The one who spoke was a female Mienshao. “I’m so glad that you organized this trip. It means a lot for teachers like us for the kids to learn more about the technology that changed the world.”

Alice smiled as she placed her cup on the table. “Oh, it was nothing. I just did this because I care for the future of Pokémon kind. After all, kids are the lead-up to the next generation, so they have to learn everything about the world, especially something so revolutionary like computers and cellphones.”

“I’ll admit, I’m a bit curious.” Said a yellow-furred male Floatzel who crossed his arms. “How did your company manage to find a way to remake a bit of human tech into this world? Sounds like a lot of work.”

“Oh yes, it was a daunting task.” The masked feline said with a smirk. “However, our partnership with humans made the process way more efficient thanks to a few blueprints that they gave us. And after a long time, we did it, we managed to recreate it to its full potential.” She placed her paws on the table. “Now it’s only a matter of time until we surpass it once we put Pokémon magic into it.”

“Marvelous, there are no other words I could say but simply marvelous!” A male Orbeetle said ecstatically. 

Alice gave a single nod. “Thank you.” 

Suddenly, the earbud she had on her ear, hidden from view of other Pokémon, started producing the voice of the Machoke she put undercover around the museum. “Yo, boss. They got here earlier, but I managed to catch them. I’ll take them where you want.”

Oh? That soon? Even better.  

“Oh dear! I’ve just received word that something really urgent came up!” Alice exclaimed before she got up from her seat and bowed. “I am deeply sorry, but I’m afraid I must go. I’ll let Marin handle the tour for now if that isn’t a problem.”

The Pokémon teachers all waved forgivingly before the Mienshao said. “Don’t worry dear, we know how busy a CEO can get. Go on, work’s calling you.”

“Thank you for understanding.” Alice said before she started walking away. After she got away from the various groups of children, she let herself grin a little. ‘Caught you, John.’

Chapter Text

“Ngh!” 

“Oof!”

John and Claire fell out of a sac and dropped into some kind of glass container for each. Before both of them had a chance to escape from above, a metallic lid with small air holes was put above the glass and locked with a padlock. 

The duo of spider and fox recovered from the fall, their mind racing with thoughts as they looked around. However, one thought lingered in their head, making the spider voice it. “Where… where are we…?”

“I… don’t know…” Claire responded a bit nervous.

The room was dimly lit, only having a single lightbulb above their enclosures. A faint scent of dust and rust filled the place, assaulting the two Pokémon’s smelling senses. They couldn’t see beyond what the lightbulb provided, it was pitch-black darkness beyond that point.

The Vulpix shot a fireball at her glass cage, sadly doing nothing to it besides leaving a black mark on it. She then coated herself with a white aura and charged at the glass, proving to be another futile effort as she only hurt her head. “Dammit, reinforced glass…”

John slammed his pointy nub at the glass, only making thumping sounds on the glass. “Fuck, is there really no way out?”

“That’s right, there is no way out!”

The duo flinched at the different but familiar voice. They turned to the source of the voice which was in the back of the room. The back of the place was still dark, having low visibility everywhere they looked. However, some windows were showing the rainy skies outside, the only other source of light other than the lightbulb. Below the windows, sat a figure they couldn’t figure out who it was, they could only see two red eyes glowing in the dark of the obscured form. “Welcome, John and Claire!”

Suddenly, a lightning bolt outside flashed the entire room alight, revealing who the figure was for a brief second. It was none other than Alice Mishima, sitting in a throne-like chair that was made of metal. In the corners of their vision, they saw two other Pokémon standing stationary still, however, they couldn’t make out their appearance for the flash not staying for long. Although, from what they gathered, they were pretty shocked. “A-Alice!?” 

“Surprised aren’t you-?”

“I knew it! I fucking knew you were up to some dubious shit!” John shouted while pointing, interrupting Alice. 

“How… how do you know our names?” Claire asked a little confused.

A slow chuckle came out of the Meowscarada. “Well, let’s say… I was spying a little bit on you two.” The Joltik and the Vulpix flinched. “You should’ve known that making such a big scene in the human world would cause commotion. And as you probably know, I keep up with the news in that place.”

“For real…?” John asked, mostly to himself.

“But that still doesn’t explain how you were able to specifically identify who we are!” Claire argued, getting a bit heated up.

From the movements of her glowing eyes (seriously, how are they glowing?), she seemed to tilt her head. “Let’s just say I got lucky. A certain glitchy duck went to Asuri’s headquarters, wanting to be fixed. And I made a few… small adjustments to him and sent him back to your school.”

John’s eyes widened in realization. Holy shit, his bad feeling about Mr. Zeta acting a bit off was right… “No way… you used him as a spy?”

“Correct! I needed to know if I was spying on the right group of Pokémon or not! And, with a stroke of luck, I was!”

Claire folded her hind legs and sat, looking at the ground. “But… why?” She looked back to the figure in the darkness. “What are you doing behind everyone’s back to go through all this effort to find some random kids?”

Alice giggled. “Oh little Vulpix, I’m not as stupid as you think. I knew there was a single Pokémon in your little group of friends that would see through my illusion and try to stop my plans. And that Pokémon is none other than John, a human.”

John’s heart skipped a beat as she said that, Claire’s eyes widening as she heard that as well. “What…? How did you-”

Alice interrupted the Joltik. “Oh please, it was pretty obvious from an outsider’s perspective that you were one. And the fact that you somehow went back to the human world only makes it easier to identify you as a human.” 

John looked away, feeling disappointed in himself for being so goddamn stupid. He should’ve just stayed in Claire’s home and never left… but now, here he was, with a tech thief and leader of the richest company in the Pokémon world. Since he was already there, he should just ask. “So why did you even want to capture humans? To stop them from exposing you to the whole world for being a fake and a fraud? That you can’t create pieces of technology by yourself and have to steal just to make a profit? What’s your big money plan here?”

A laugh escaped the Meowscarada’s mouth, being the only sound filling the room accompanied by the rain outside. “Oh, John…” She chuckled a bit more. “You’re a funny guy, did you know that? Well, you probably do. However, I hate to inform you that your claim is completely wrong.”

Claire snorted some flames from her snout. “What do you mean completely wrong ?”

“You see… the reason this company exists is not what you think. I couldn’t care less about money. It’s only a tool to make my plans go smoothly. The reason why I don’t want a human meddling with my plans is because of something else that also involves their world.”

“And that is what? Expanding your business?” John asked, a bit nervous.

“Far from it. The reason for Asuri’s actions is something beyond profit or business.” Alice got up from her chair and walked a bit forward to the light, a bit more of her body being revealed, but still obscuring the majority of her face. “Asuri’s true purpose is to save humanity!” She declared as she opened her arms.

The Joltik and Vulpix looked at Alice in confusion before John tilted his head. “What…?”

“It’s just as you heard, John. I plan to save humanity!” She folded her arms behind her back as she started pacing left and right. “You know the state of the human world, right? But of course you do.” She started motioning a paw. “Global warming is increasing, deforestation is accelerating, constant conflicts keep happening for territorial or religious reasons, and crime rate is off the charts in a majority of the planet. And yet, despite all these issues and more…” She looked back at the Joltik. “The humans don’t seem to care, do they?”

Claire grimaced after hearing all about that before asking. “How do you even know about all of this?”

“I’ve been in that world for a long time to know what it’s like. I know the suffering and constant struggles that majority of the humans go through…” 

John started speaking. “Hold up a moment. You’re speaking like you’ve been in that situation before in that world. Unless…” John’s eyes widened in realization. “No way… you… you can’t be…”

Claire looked at John in confusion, her expression shifting to a thoughtful one before the same realization dawned on her. She looked back at Alice in shock. “Wait, you’re a-...”

The masked feline chuckled. “If you two had the same thought that I expect you have, then you’re completely right!” She then looked at the Vulpix. “Claire, are you perhaps familiar with the name… Alisson Niijima?”

The Vulpix’s ears dropped along with her fan of tails. “No way… you’re… Niijima-san? THE Niijima-san!?”

“Indeed! Or I was…” She said, her grin being visible in the darkness.

John overcame his shocked state of disbelief as he looked at Claire in confusion and disbelief. “Niijima-san? What do you mean by that…?”

The six-tailed fox looked at the Joltik and exclaimed. “John… she’s the human that saved our world from Necrozma!”

“HUH!?!?”

Claire then looked back at Alice as a thought crossed her mind. “But… how are you here…? I thought you sacrificed yourself to push Necrozma into their own rift…”

“Well, that’s what happened… to the public’s eyes.” She looked to the side, another thunder striking the background and flashing the entire room again. With that flash, John felt like he was tripping a bit when he saw the cat’s sclera being fully black. “To understand what truly happened, I shall tell a tale… about a human girl named Alisson Niijima.”

The Meowscarada started pacing around the room again. “Long ago, an American girl with Japanese origins named Alisson was born.” She started motioning with her paws. “Unlike many other children, she despised her life. Her parents neglected her, no matter what she did, they would just not love her. She grew up, without anyone who loved her, no true friends, nothing. However, despite all of that, she had a good heart. She wanted to help people in the same situation as her, or going through something worse. But, just like her parents, the world neglected her. They rejected her ideas of making the world a better place. She had nothing to live for anymore, it was clear that the world didn’t want her there. So then… she decided to just end her suffering.”

John looked away, feeling a bit of sympathy for Alice (or Alisson?). She went through almost the same thing as him, but unlike him, nobody was there for her…

Alice continued. “However, before she could fully do it, it seemed the universe had other plans for her. She had been summoned to another world to help one of the deities stop the distortions that this world had, however, she had lost her memories in the process. It was during her journey that she found a creature that had the power to open portals to their will, that creature being Necrozma. However, it was when she met the being that she started hearing voices in her head, telling her that they would recover her lost memories if they followed some steps, and reluctantly, she agreed.”

She turned away from them while continuing with her story. “All she needed to do was reach a dimension only accessible with Necrozma’s help and then she would meet the being…” She then looked behind her, her red eyes staring at John and Claire through the darkness. “You probably know where this led to, right?”

John looked down, recalling what he heard from Izo during that one time after applying to Obelisk High. 

“So… to summarize… a god of light from another world was left stranded on this world. They, for some reason, lost all of their light. However, a human-turned-Pokémon helped them to regain the light that they lost, but… it made them lose control after staying without it for so long. So as a result, it summoned portals everywhere from other worlds, bringing the Ultra Beasts into this world.” “That human, if I remember correctly was a female Pokémon, pushed that light deity into one of those portals they created, sacrificing herself to save the world. Both the light deity and the woman were never seen again.”

The Joltik looked back at Alice. “You sent Necrozma back through their portal along with you… on purpose?”

“Precisely!” She fully turned back to them, her body being a bit less covered in the shadows. “But you must be wondering to yourself… if that was my plan all along to fake my death, how would I have predicted Necrozma going mad? Well… let’s say… it was all thanks to a certain being that was the source behind the voices in my head, who had a plan ready…”

“Who… who was that being…?” Claire asked, not liking the direction where this was going.

Alice grinned. “Dark Matter…”

“aLisSON…” 

The Meowscarada turned to the source of the strange voice(s?) and saw a strange sight for a being. It was some kind of red orb encased in thorny black branches resembling a sphere. The black substance that came out of Necrozma flowed directly to the being, filling the gaps that the thorns left and transforming into a fully black orb with a faint red glow on some cracks. 

“WE hAvE fINalLY met. YoU havE COMplEted yOUR TasK, anD As prOMIsed WE shaLL uNloCK your MemORiES.”

Alisson floated closer to the strange orb as she asked. “How… how are you gonna do it…?”

“tO fULLy aCCess yOUR mEmOriEs, I shaLL neEd to EnteR youR bOdY. COme CLoSER, dO NOT be AFRaid…”

Skeptically, Alisson floated closer to the black orb that was half of her size. She extended her paw, reaching out to the orb. For a split second, she almost imagined seeing an eye opening on the shell of the being before it turned into a black tar-like substance and flowed directly to her paw, disappearing in her paw pads. As the being fully entered her arm, she saw some black veins appear on her arm for a second before it spread throughout her entire body. “Woah…” She then put her paws on her side. “So, when are you gonna-”

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot into her head, forcing her to clutch it with her paws as she screamed in agony. In a flash, memories of her human life started surfacing from the foggy depths of her mind, almost causing her a seizure overload. 

After some seconds, it was done. She remembered. She remembered everything… she remembered the way her parents treated her like a tool, she remembered being betrayed by her fake best friend, she remembered her plans of helping people being rejected, and she remembered falling to her death, one by one…

Alisson’s arms limped as she took a moment to process everything that came back to her while the voice spoke in the background of her mind. “Yes… this sadness, this hopelessness, this despair… this hate… you are just the vessel we need for our plan.”

Alisson slowly recovered, her expression changing into a more serious and emotionless expression. “Who are you…?”

“We are Dark Matter. Alisson Niijima, you have been chosen to be our vessel that will aid us in the destruction of the Pokémon world.” A dark aura started surrounding the masked feline. “You cannot resist our influence, your body has already accepted us…”

The green-furred cat just became a bit numb, not caring what Dark Matter was saying. After all, an interesting thought crossed her mind. She looked back at what she had done so far in the Pokémon world, seeing the friendships she made, the tasks she accomplished, the power she gained. She… she could use this. She has a chance to make her dream come true! Who cared what this Kirby final boss rip-off wanted? She had one goal in her mind and nobody would dare change her mind!

Alisson snickered before she slowly started chuckling. “My body has accepted your influence?” She started giggling. “Oh, I think you’re mistaken.”

“Hm? What do you mean by-” Suddenly, the dark aura around Alisson’s body disappeared completely. “What!?”

“Who said you were the one in control?” The Meowscarada raised her body as a grin formed on her face. “This is my body, my will. If you think you’re gonna be controlling me like a puppet on a string, you’re far from right.” She put a paw over her chest. “Instead, how about this? I will be the one controlling you now…”

“But that is impossible! No being resisted my influence until now!”

“Oh, but I can assure you… I’m very different from others.” Before Dark Matter spoke again, Alisson simply shoved it and locked it in the back of her mind where it couldn’t speak with her. She then looked at her paw and saw it being covered by the black substance. “I can tell you’re gonna be very useful for later.” 

The Meowscarada looked away from her hand before looking around, finding the still unconscious light dragon floating aimlessly in the void of Ultra Space. “And there’s my ticket out of here…”

John and Claire were left flabbergasted by the information they just received, having difficulties trying to get words out of their mouth. One single sentence floated through the Joltik’s mind at the moment.

What in the actual fuck?

Since no one was speaking up about it, Alice continued. “After getting out of Ultra Space, Alisson had a wonderful idea of working in the shadows. And this where the part where I come in. She became me, she pretended to be dead in the eyes of the masses. She needed her plan to work after all, without interruptions from old friends or foes. And if anyone actually managed to make a connection… those Pokémon suddenly disappeared.”

It was then that John finally mustered up the will to ask. “... why? Why go through all of that?”

“It’s because my methods wouldn’t sit right with some people, and the power of good would never allow me to do it. So… I had to choose the power of evil for the right things.” She put a paw on her chin. “But you must be asking yourself, “Ms. Alice! What kind of methods are so illegal that anyone would try to stop you?” Glad you asked, students!” She folded her arms behind her back. “The plan was simple, ask a certain portal maker to allow direct access to the human world, build a company to mask our true plans, and then work from there.” 

The Meowscarada looked down. “Humans are a plague, not only to the world around them but to themselves as well. It was clear that they would destroy the planet slowly but surely, not caring about future generations. I thought there was no hope for them when I was a human… however, when I came to this world, a brilliant idea came to me.” She opened her arms as she looked at the ceiling. “This world is just what humans need to make a better version of themselves! Pokémon are the key to solving every problem on Earth! If I could only make humans and Pokémon coexist together, humanity would thrive along with Pokémon, correcting each other’s mistakes!” 

John slammed a nub on the glass below him. “And how the fuck do you think that would end!? You know what would happen the moment Pokémon step into Earth!”

“Yeah, wouldn’t we scare them when we reveal we’re not fictional creatures to them?” Claire asked with a nervous frown.

Alice chuckled. “You both have good points. After all, humans would definitely start blasting when Pokémon enter the human world. And that’s where Asuri comes in the story. The real reason why I wanted to bring technology to this world was so that Pokémon started interacting with humans beforehand.” 

John made a scowl. “So… the internet connecting between worlds was intentional?”

“But of course it was! We slowly but surely upgraded technology in this world to be on par with humans, to have more chances of connecting to the other world! However… some things would definitely be an issue when Pokémon started using the internet.” She crossed her arms, looking away. “Pokémon don’t have the same language as humans, so for them, we would sound different to them, even in writing and vice-versa. And then there was the case of servers not being interdimensional.”

“Wait… if we can understand humans and they can understand us… along with the fact that you actually connected with the other world…” Claire mused before a grimace appeared on her face. “What did you do…?”

“Glad you asked.” Alice raised a paw. “You might be familiar with the name Palkia, right?” John and Claire’s eyes widened. “I’ll take it as a yes.” Alice grinned before explaining. “With the power of Dark Matter in my paws, I was stronger than ever before… allowing me to be on par with the deities of this world, including the ones who have complete control over reality. I went to Palkia’s domain and overwhelmed them, subjugating them to my will. After that, I planted the server computer in there, allowing the internet to connect to the other side due to the connection that place has with other worlds. And just recently, more than two weeks ago, I forced Palkia to alter reality to my will, making it so that everything related to language in this world turned into English!”

John was in a state of shock. Did she literally go to a space god’s domain to just put her server computer there and also literally bend reality to her will? Now that she said it… it made a bit of sense and something that he noticed earlier this day was not a piece of his imagination.

Chalking it up to just imagination, John and the other students left the courtyard. On the way to the outside of the building, John glanced at a certain door beside Claire’s locker. He didn’t know if he was tripping or not, but he vaguely remembered the sign on that door being unreadable when he first arrived at this school. Now it was written in English, spelling out “SUPPLY CLOSET” in capital letters.

She had everything planned, didn’t she?

“It was a bit later than expected, but it came out just fine…” Alice said with a shrug before grinning. “And then comes the second reason for the internet to connect to both worlds. Since humans will think that Pokémon are alien invaders, they would think that they are a threat. And, I figured that there wouldn’t be a lot of space for two types of creatures to be on one medium-sized planet. After all, we’re speaking of more than eight billion humans and two billion Pokémon or even more due to so many of them hiding in the shadows. That’s why I had the wonderful idea of fusing both worlds into one! And as we speak, their complete fusion is in process!”

John watched the cat explaining, only managing to mutter one thing as he shook his head. “You’re insane…”

“Oh no, far from it! I’m a revolutionary. If someone doesn’t change the world for the better immediately, who will?” She opened her arms. “Can’t you see John? I’m healing the world, I’m creating a paradise. I’m making Wonderland… real!”

Claire slammed a paw on the glass. “You’re clearly out of your mind! What if the human world doesn’t want that to happen!? John said that humans fear the unknown!”

The Meowscarada shook her head. “Oh little Vulpix, you clearly don’t understand humans. They fear the unknown because they are too used to the cycles of their normal lives. But the thing is, they are so trapped in their own bubble that they almost see those issues with Earth as something normal. But some individuals can see that the world is in flames now, meaning they’re worthy of the paradise I will create.” Her smile then shifted into a severe look. “And those who try to stop its creation will be dealt with…”

John took a small step back, a nervous grimace appearing on his face. “Dealt with how…?”

Alice stepped a bit further into the light, shadows obscuring the top part of her face. She lifted a paw as a ball made of black tar substance appeared floating above it. “Dark Matter has a unique and useful power of turning anything alive into stone… and those that get in my way and are not useful to me, have that as their outcome. Elon suffered the same fate once I was done with his services.” She giggled.

John and Claire’s hearts started getting filled with dread. Claire stuttered out, trembling a little. “You’re… y-you’re not g-gonna do the same thing to us… r-right?”

Alice laughed as she dispersed the dark matter ball with a flicker of her paw. “But of course not, dear! The only ones deserving of such fate are people with evil hearts. I can see that you have a good heart, after all, it takes evil to recognize evil. Most Pokémon have good hearts after all!” She then looked at John. “However… I can’t say the same for humans…” She took some steps towards the Joltik’s enclosure, making him step back a bit. “Thank you for enduring my semi-monologue John. I just wanted you to see where I was coming from so I could ask you one simple question.”

“W-what… what’s the… question?” John asked nervously before another clap of thunder could be seen in the background.

“Simply put… would you like to join in my mission to build Wonderland?” John tilted his head at that question. “Since you were one of the few humans that avoided my sight for longer, I wanted to make a deal with you. You’ll be helping me administrate the new world, once Wonderland is formed, being my advisor while I am the queen. What do you say to that, John?” She extended a paw forward. “Do you accept the deal?”

In one moment, all eyes in the room were focused on the greenish spider. John looked down in thought as he argued with himself what would the best answer be. After a long moment, he began… “I… I…”

Alice began to grin a bit wider.

“I accept… MY ASS!” Claire was a bit taken aback by the answer while Alice’s grin dropped. “This Wonderland you’re speaking about is complete bullshit! You’re literally forcing two worlds to coexist with each other without their consent! Then there’s the fact you’re only seeing people as tools and if someone gets in your way, you take them out of the picture! You’re the spitting image of what totalitarianism is! Be a queen? Seriously? Hell no, I’m not living in a world where someone like YOU governs an entire planet. If you think I’m agreeing to something as outrageous as that…” John shook his head as some electrical sparks came out of him. “Kiss my spider ASS!”

The room was left in silence for a moment, only the sound of rain hitting the windows being a filter to the silence. However, Claire eventually managed to mutter out. “John…”

Alice made a scowl before walking in silence back to her chair and sitting on it. She looked back at the duo, only her red eyes being seen. “Gabriel, hold him for me.”

Suddenly, one of the shadowy figures to the side of the room started moving before another clap of thunder lit up the room. It was then that John and Claire realized that the figure was none other than the water Typhlosion from before, making them flinch in shock. “What!?”

The Corrupted Pokémon grabbed a key and unlocked the padlock on the lid. He then threw the lid away and immediately grabbed the Joltik with a watery hand from his water collar. John struggled, trying to shoot out a web and even bite; however, the hand covered his mouth completely. “JOHN!!!” Claire screamed as she tried to headbutt the glass again, her body heating up as she tried shooting flames everywhere on the glass; however, nothing worked. “NO!”

Alice sighed. “Oh, John, I thought you’d be unlike the others, able to understand my vision. But it seems that isn’t the case…” She got up from her chair and pulled something out from behind her back. She approached the light where the Typhlosion was standing with John in his grasp. It was then revealed that the object in the Meowscarada’s paws was a syringe with a black, tar-like substance inside it. “Wanna know another fun fact about Dark Matter? Since I’m in total control over it, I can pass a little bit of its influence to others as well. Unfortunately, normal Pokémon don’t react well to it. They turn berserk, destroying everything in their path with no remorse.” She twirled the syringe. “But if applied to a human-turned-Pokémon…” She grinned as her sclera turned fully black. “They obey me like obedient dogs. And, after all, I need an army in case a group of humans tries to defy me.”

John started struggling even more, thrashing his limbs around in panic. He couldn’t scream, or else water would fill his lungs.

The masked feline looked at the Corrupted Pokémon. “Hold him tight, but release his mouth.” The Typhlosion nodded and obeyed. He then opened and shifted his hold on the Joltik, grasping him in his actual hands, constricting him. Alice tilted her body down and smiled. “Any last words before you do everything as I say without questioning anything?”

“NO!” Claire screamed, her eyes turning fully purple as she screamed, flames floating all around her. “ RELEASE HIM NOW!”

Alice ignored the Vulpix as she tilted her head. “So?”

John stayed in silence for a moment and tilted his head down, muttering something almost inaudible for the Meowscarada to hear. “Fuck... you..."

"Hm, what was that? I couldn't hear you correctly-"

John looked back at Alice. "Fuck you, you furry-bait bitch! Go think about going to a psych ward or something instead of conquering the world like an evil supervillain!"

The Meowscarada sighed and rolled her eyes. "Why does every time this happens, it's always the same thing, but with different insults getting thrown. Poor choices of words."

With that, Alice took hold of John with one paw before piercing the needle through his shell and injecting the little Joltik with the dark substance. Claire couldn't help but scream as the inside of the container became a raging inferno as she cried out. "JOHN, NOOOO!!!"

The little tik then became limp as his beady eyes suddenly became lifeless. Once that was done, Alice stepped away while the water badger put the tik on the ground. Alice swung the empty syringe around her paw, not even bothering to look at John. "I wonder... what sort of Pokémon he's going to become-"

"̵͎̳̭̋̇̔N̶͓̣̟̻͂͛͝o̸̗͙͊̄͊.̸͓̥͔̉̽̀"̷̨́͂͑

Alice was taken by surprise when the sudden voice could be heard. She looked back at the Joltik, who was beginning to twitch and convulse rapidly. And suddenly... a black mist left John's body before dissipating in the air. "W-what!? How can this be!?"

Suddenly, John’s body started being enveloped in static before being covered by a white light surrounding him. The Typhlosion staggered and took some steps back, shielding his eyes from the light. The Joltik started floating as the white light lingered.

Claire’s purple eyes disappeared along with the fire around her as she looked at the Joltik. “John!?”

The white light faded, leaving behind a single monochrome egg bigger than the Joltik. Suddenly, a small jingle could be heard coming from it before an X mark appeared floating in front of the egg. Static then covered the area for a split second before disappearing and revealing two eggs floating beside one another. Static started flicking around the eggs as they began hatching, the cracks on them getting bigger and bigger. And then…

CRACK

The eggs completely broke, leaving two masses of static in their wake before they morphed into one form of moderate size and the other a big form that even reached the ceiling. Six blue lights could be seen coming from the smaller form, and many red lights could be seen coming from the bigger one.

Alice took a step back, gritting her teeth. “How is this possible… this can’t be.”

The static slowly fizzled out of existence, revealing the two forms. One form was MissingNo. with their usual ghostly appearance, with their horns and spikes on their side, the puddle of static below them with many Pokémon limbs coming out of it, their many eyes, and their creepy, wide smile.

The other form was… John…? 

He was now a Galvantula, however, with some major differences. His fur color was now black and white, his pedipalps ended in a single black fang, the top of his head sprouted two black horns similar to MissingNo.’s, and his two main eyes gained a black sclera while still retaining his blue irises. His abdomen gained three spikes on the top of it, and on the back of it, came out two white limbs that ended in black hands similar to the glitch Pokémon’s.

John looked down, feeling his body way different than before. He looked down, seeing his large pedipalps, and his large spider legs that he couldn’t see well before. “W-what…? Did I just…”

“It worked… hehehe, I’m free!” MissingNo. looked at John and chuckled. “Oh my. It seems that I had a little influence on your evolution. You bear a close resemblance to me now.”

John looked at the glitch Pokémon. “What!?”

Claire raised a paw in happiness. “No way… you evolved John!” 

“I what now!?” John moved his many limbs, trying to grasp some functionalities of his body. “Just what is going on with me!?”

“Tch…” The three Pokémon looked back at Alice who looked a bit annoyed. “Seriously, getting one of those bullshit power-ups the moment I’m about to change you while also summoning a literal glitch out of your ass? What are you? Some kind of anime protagonist?”

“If I was some kind of anime protagonist, I’d probably be reborn as a cooler Pokémon rather than a damn spider monster!” John argued while slamming one of his backhands on the ground as a bit of static was released from it. He looked back and saw the dent made on the actual concrete . “What the fuck…?”

“See? Anime power up.” Alice said as she motioned with a paw. “But anyways…” Her paw started releasing a dark mist that condensed into the shape of a scythe. “Since you’re not joining my side willingly… then maybe a bit of force might change your head…”

John shuddered as he saw a damn scythe made out of darkness appearing on the Meowscarada’s paw. John took a few steps back before MissingNo. crawled a bit in front of the Galvantula, their six disembodied hands appearing beside them. “Don’t worry John. I’ll take care of her, you two should just get out of here.” He said before the Typhlosion got into battle position and a certain three-headed canine appeared from the darkness while growling.

The Galvantula looked at the glitch Pokémon with a bit of panic. “Wait, don’t! You don’t know what she’s capable of-”

Suddenly, one of MissingNo.s hands floated to Claire’s enclosure and crushed the padlock by clenching their hand. “Hurry up. I can’t hold her forever.”

Claire jumped and pushed the lid away from her, leaving the enclosure. John took some steps back to the door behind him. “Come on John, we gotta go!” Claire shouted before pushing the Galvantula’s abdomen to the door. 

“Alright, I’m going, I’m going!” The tarantula said as he tried walking forward, immediately falling on his belly after losing balance. “Ngh… long legs!”

Claire continued pushing the Galvantula again. “I’ll help you! We need to hurry!” 

With that, the tarantula and the fox got out of the room, leaving Alice, MissingNo., and two other Corrupted Pokémon in the room. MissingNo. smiled and readied their hands for combat. “My awakening was a bit sudden. I didn’t expect to wake up to fight… might as well tell me who you might be?”

Alice entered her Dark Matter form, getting slightly taller and more menacing. “It’s none of your business…” She then leaped at MissingNo., her scythe ready to reap.

Amy and Taro were idling around in a mostly silent area of the museum, a grimace plastered on their faces. 

The Togedemaru looked at the grass hedgehog and asked. “Do you think they found them?”

Amy sighed and looked aside. “Hopefully…”

Suddenly, in front of them, Popo and Nana appeared from the shadows, their expression the same as usual. Taro got up from his sitting position and tilted his head. “Any luck on finding them?”

The Tandemaus shook their heads. “Negative.” “We have failed to find them.”

The Shaymin grimaced and said. “I don’t get it. Where did they go? How could they just disappear like that? We were supposed to meet here more than twenty minutes ago.”

The mice twins raised a hand each. “We have two possible theories.” “The first theory is that friend found more evidence than he was expecting.” “The other theory is more unpleasant.” “They have been spotted and captured by the enemy.”

Taro frowned. “That can’t be it, right? We had everything planned in case stuff went south. How did they get spotted so easily?”

“I don’t know, something is amiss here…” Amy said in a thoughtful expression.

Suddenly, Team Net was caught off guard when a portal with a ring outline appeared in front of them, Taro even fell on his back. Popo and Nana immediately got their Shadow Claw ready in case of a Pokémon coming out to attack them.

From the portal, a familiar horned figure with disembodied hands came out of it, looking at them with an expression of worry. Amy’s eyes went wide as she exclaimed. “Hoopa!?”

“So you’re familiar with me. Good, this will be quick.” The portal-maker looked around before asking. “Where’s the rest of your group?” 

Taro sat up and tilted his head. “Hold up, what do you mean by that? And why did you appear to us?”

Hoopa clasped their hands together before sighing. “I’m looking for John. I need to find him fast!”

Popo and Nana raised their claws at the genie. “Why are you looking for friend? State your plans.”

The portal-maker sighed again and just confessed. “I need to help him before it’s too late.”

Claire pushed John along the halls of the unfamiliar building they’d appeared in, the Galvantula taking slow steps as he tried to get used to his new legs. “H-hold on, let me try walking now!” John requested.

“We can’t… take… any risks, let me support you!” Claire said between pushes. 

John groaned in annoyance. “Man, why couldn’t this be just a normal trip where we would just do a simple investigation-” 

Suddenly, two Pokémon emerged from the corner of a hall, one being a pink, muscular, and bipedal pitbull and the other being a bipedal cactus with a hat attached to their body. The pitbull noticed the duo and pointed at them. “Wait, are those-”

John yelped along with Claire who tried to back away. However, when the two security guards started sprinting towards them, John flinched and a wall of static covered the monochrome tarantula and the orange fox. In a blink, the duo disappeared and reappeared outside of the building, the static uncovering their bodies and leaving them exposed to the rain.

The Galvantula and the Vulpix were both left staring at nothing in silence, trying to process what just had happened. “What. The. Fuck?” They both eventually said in unison.

John simply laid down on his underside, letting his limbs spread out as he stayed silent for a few more seconds. Suddenly, he released a groan that slowly turned into a scream, air distorting around him as he released his frustrations. “I’m… I’m at my breaking point. I’m so close, so fucking close , to have a damn breakdown!”

Claire leaned on the Galvantula’s abdomen, John flinching at the sensitiveness of it. Guess he had a new weak point, huh? “You think I’m not at my breaking point as well? I almost lost you, John…” The Vulpix said with a grimace.

“Look, I’m having it way worse here! We not only walk into the literal enemy base, and find out that they’re the guys that are turning humans into Corrupted Pokémon, but I almost get TURNED into one, and to save myself, I have to take MissingNo. out of my body, turning me into whatever this freak of nature is!” John explained as some of his body glitched a little before turning to normal, Claire jerking away from him as the Galvantula didn’t notice. Some tears leaked out of his main eyes. “Everything is just going too fast, dude…”

Claire frowned and approached John, licking the side of his head. The tarantula looked at the fox with a somber look on his face, the smell of wet dog assaulting his olfactory senses. “John, even if all of that happened, we need to keep moving forward. We managed to escape and we got a lot of info from that, we have enough evidence to expose Asuri!”

John had an expression of thought flash through his face. “You’re… you’re right.” It was at that moment that a bit of hope flashed in the Galvantula’s eyes. He got up slowly, adjusting to his new legs as his eyes flashed in static for a split second. Once he was up, he realized something now that his mind wasn’t in rush mode. He was a bit bigger than Claire now, in fact, the world around him seemed like it decreased in size a little. 

He would thank the universe for growing bigger later.

“We need to tell that to the cops, then they might warrant an actual investigation on Asuri-” Before John could complete his sentence, the sound of an explosion could be heard above him and Claire. They both looked up and could see that a part of the building they were in front of had a smoking crater on one of the higher floors. John could even feel a familiar sense of glitch energy coming from the crater before him and Claire shielded their faces from falling glass pieces. “Is that where we were?”

“If that’s the case, then we need to get out of here before Alice sends one of her goons to find us!” The Vulpix suggested.

John nodded. “Right!”

The duo walked into the deserted gravel street, the glitchy Galvantula starting to take slow steps before getting the hang of walking with longer legs. However, before they could cross the street, they heard the sounds of gravel being kicked into the air. They looked to the source of it and saw a robot bike lizard, what???  

John shoved the absurdity of it to the side once he saw Reino riding the dragon. The Miraidon screeched to a stop, kicking some gravel up as they hit the brake. Reino looked at Claire and John and tilted his head. “John…? Is… is that you? What the heck happened to you? And what are you two doing out here? Just heard an explosion-”

“Reino! Just who we needed to see!” The Galavantula exclaimed as he crawled to Raiden and Reino. “There’s no time, we need to get out of here!”

“Yeah, we found out really important things and we’ll explain everything on the way!” Claire added. “Please, take us out of here!”

Reino stared at them silently for a moment before asking. “You didn’t become a Corrupted Pokémon, right John-?”

“Of course not! Or else I wouldn’t remember you!” The tarantula replied hastily, his body blinking out of existence for a split second.

Reino tilted his head and stared for a moment. He then sighed. “Alright, hop on in. You owe me a good explanation of what in Arceus’ name is going on.”

John crawled on Raiden while Claire hopped on it. John stayed between the Scizor and the Vulpix with his abdomen bent to the side and standing on two legs, his back hands wrapping around Claire. Gosh, was it weird having eight fucking different limbs to control along with six eyes, he was feeling like an actual tarantula at that point.

With that, Raiden started moving again, his jet boosters making him go faster. However, from an alley they weren’t looking at, a metallic figure with red and green eyes and a manic red grin came out of it. “Hehehe, it’s time for the hunt!” 

Cass’ back opened up.

On the stormy streets of Xander Cage city, Raiden rode through it with two species of bugs and a fire fox on his back. The Scizor sighed before he monotonously said. “Start explaining.”

John groaned before he spilled his beans. “Okay so… investigation was going fine until they spotted us and brought us to the CEO. And uh… we found out she’s a complete nutcase!”

Claire added up to the claim. “Yeah! She’s planning to fuse both Pokémon and the human world with the internet and is making an army of Corrupted Pokémon!”

Reino flinched before looking back at the duo. “Wait a second, she’s what!? ”

“Yeah! Her whole plan was to use the internet to fuse both worlds and become the leader of it while also having an actual army on her side! She just wants to become a damn dictator-” Suddenly, outside of the smells of the rain and wet dog smell from Claire, something else came up to his olfactory senses, leaving his fur a bit up. “Wait… are you guys smelling that?”

Claire tilted her head as she sniffed the air. “Smell what? … smoke?”

“Target spotted !”

The three Pokémon looked behind while Raiden kept looking forward, paying attention to the streets. The trio saw a figure flying towards them at the same pace as Raiden. What they saw shocked them. “Cass!?” John and Claire said in shock.

They saw the robot Weavile literally fly to them with a booster coming out of his back, releasing a burst of flames that boosted him forward while airborne. “We meet again, idiots! Sorry spider Bugsy, but the boss lady wants ya and I can’t disappoint her! Hehahahahaha!!!”

The Scizor gritted his mandibles and shouted to Raiden. “Raiden, full throttle, go!” 

After turning a corner, the Miraidon nodded and went faster, the blue flames coming from his jets burning brighter. Cass giggled. “Oh, wanna race, huh?” His expression became a bit more crazy, even with a metal face. “Let’s see if you can handle MY speed!” Cass curled as the flames coming from his back burned brighter. He uncurled and flew faster, chasing after the four of them.

Claire, who was looking behind, saw Cass getting closer to them, while a clap of thunder from the storm struck behind him, highlighting his manic face. “Shit, he’s getting to us!”

“WHAT!?” John asked in shock as he looked back to watch in shock.

After getting a bit close to them, Cass asked. “Y’all seem a bit hungry, how about a taste of my Flash Bullets!!!” Suddenly, the fingers of his claws opened and his wrists started spinning. 

Reino ordered. “Raiden, zigzag manuever!” 

“Right!” The Miraidon said before he started turning left and right as Cass started shooting out glowing white pellets from his claws, sounding like an assault rifle. The pellets impacted the street, kicking up gravel as Raiden dodged the bullets. 

“This isn’t the kind of action movie I fucking signed up for!!!” The Galvantula complained with a panicked expression on his face.

The Scizor looked back and looked at the Vulpix. “Claire! Try hitting him with one of your moves!”

Claire shouted. “Alright!” She looked at the big white hands wrapped around her and thought of an idea. “John, lift me with your hands!”

John looked back at the Vulpix in disbelief. “What!? Are you crazy!? I’m still trying to wrap my head around having those things! What if I drop you-?”

“Just do it!” Claire shouted. 

John groaned before tightening the grip on the Vulpix and lifting her up. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

Claire turned to the Corrupted Pokémon who aimed at her. However, Claire was fast, shooting a barrage of fireballs right at the white pellets, making small explosions when colliding with the bullets. “Want to play who shoots the fastest!? Alright, let’s play!” Cass said before his wrists started spinning faster.

Claire flinched before steeling up again. She formed a Will-O-Shield in front of her, however, the rain made it a bit smaller than she intended it to be. Some bullets impacted the shield, kicking up a cloud of smoke and steam. Raiden then turned to another street on the left as Cass continued forward.  “Did we get away from him?” Claire asked as she was placed back on Raiden’s back.

“I sure hope so!” John said as he started distorting a little.

“If we didn’t, we need to make a plan to make sure he loses track of us.” Reino said, feeling the rush of the moment coursing through his body.

“I have an idea.” Raiden spoke out. “You guys can use me as bait. Since he’s expecting you guys to ride me, he’ll be after the speeding target.” He took a turn to the right and continued speaking. “Reino, once they separate, you should go with them in case he figures out the bait.”

Reino nodded as his antennas twitched. “Seems like a solid plan, alright let’s do-”

“Bullets rain from above!”

A voice that came above them startled the group and made them look up. They saw Cass flying above them while aiming his finger guns at them. “Shit!” John shouted as a myriad of unavoidable pellets rained down on them. They braced for impact as John’s body started distorting again.

However, before any of the bullets could hit any of them, static appeared out of nowhere and covered their general area for a split second before disappearing from Cass' sight. The Corrupted Pokémon tilted his head. “What the?”

The group appeared in another street, Raiden continuing to wheel at the same speed as before. However, unfortunately for them, they were heading straight to a wall. "Shit!" The Scizor steered Raiden's handles as the Miraidon skidded to a stop, centimenters away from the wall. All of them stayed silent for a moment before Reino silently asked. “John… what the fuck was that?”

“Uh… would you believe me that during that time with Alice I suddenly evolved and awakened powers from a forgotten eldritch being and took out the same eldritch being from my body?” The Galvantula asked as his six eyes blinked.

“... maybe…” Reino responded.

“So um… yeah, that happened. And it was the thing that saved me from becoming a Corrupted.” John said while looking aside.

Reino sighed. “You know what? I’m not gonna even ask.” He looked back at Raiden, patting his side before the motorbike lizard continued forward, going back to the street. “Remind me, what sector of the city is this?”

The Miraidon responded. “It’s the Ignis sector. We’re close to the outskirts.”

“Alright, I know where we’re heading.” He pointed a pincer to a random building. “Can you stop there?” 

Raiden nodded before heading close to the sidewalk. He screeched to a stop and the Scizor jumped out of him, followed by the Vulpix and Galvantula. Reino tapped on one of the Miraidon’s handles and spoke. “Okay, hope you can distract him for long enough until we get to the place.”

Raiden smiled. “I’ll try my best. I’ll take the opportunity to search for Mark as well.”

Reino nodded as Raidon had already gone away by himself. Reino turned to Claire and John and motioned as he began hovering with his wings. “Alright follow me, I know a spot where we can hide until he gives up.”

The tarantula and fox started to follow, John beginning to hop but then remembering he didn’t need to anymore because of his new size. So he just needed to get used to running with his new big legs…

While walking, they noticed that some Pokémon stayed on the streets even if there weren’t many, specifically some slimy-looking and rain-attracted ones. John felt that he was being glanced at by some of them. He had to assume what he was now probably wasn’t a common thing. 

After some time of running, the trio stopped in front of a building that was a bit distant from other buildings and surrounded by trees. It seemed like an abandoned warehouse with some broken windows next to the ceiling and two large and rusty metal doors in front of it. While squinting his eyes, John couldn’t even see some moss growing in some parts of the building.

Reino landed on the ground and walked to the side of it, prompting Claire and John to follow him. They both looked at each other before following the steel mantis. They arrived in a backdoor and Reino began twisting the door knob. “At least this place stood strong for the last seven years after being out of commission.”

“What is this place?” Asked Claire while inspecting the place. “Looks abandoned…”

“This was the base of operations for an old criminal group that Mark and I took down a few years ago.” Reino explained as he opened the door. “Illegal items were being shipped here and then sold throughout the city. The reason we didn’t find this place sooner is because they were hiding it behind an illusion wall, making it seem there was no warehouse here.” He entered the building and motioned them inside. “Come on, we should be safe here for some time.”

John and Claire nodded as they entered the warehouse.

“Why didn’t she tell me that the human could just teleport with that glitchy stuff!? I totally could’ve prepared for that!” Cass complained as he flew through the streets of Xander Cage City, searching for John and the rest. 

Should he give up and just say to Alice that he lost them? … Nah. There was something about this chase that excited him, prompting him to continue forward until he got his claws on his prey. That’s maybe why most people call it the thrill of the hunt, huh?

Cass continued forward as he passed some Pokémon who screamed as they saw his appearance. Unlike other Corrupted Pokémon, he wouldn’t attack others just for fun, he had orders to follow and someone to catch. He’s an objective ‘mon after all… aside from the usual goofing around he normally does-

On the side of his vision, he saw a blur of violet passing by him on another street. Cass’ expression grew a bit more manic as he did a loop in the air and turned to that same street. “There you are!”

He began following the blur, gaining up on them as they turned from street to street. “Thinking you can juke me like that!?” With a burst of speed, he boosted even faster trying to get beside the blur. Once he was floating above them, he readied his finger guns. “Think again- huh?”

Instead of seeing the three idiots mounted on the bike, he only saw the robot bike riding through the gravel streets alone. He saw the violet serpent look at him before smiling with his robotic muzzle. “I’m sorry, expecting someone else?”

Cass groaned as he closed his guns. “Dammit, I’ve been tricked, fooled, bamboozled even!” He then started rising before roaming above the city. “Don’t worry bug boy, I’ll find ya real quick!”

John was a bit nervous as he felt the Scizor stare at him with his arms crossed, sitting on a wooden crate. “So… you gonna tell me everything that you learned or not?”

“Uh… it’s quite a lot though…” John looked aside as he rubbed his pedipalps together. Yeah, that doesn’t feel weird in the slightest…

“We have some time. So come on, what was that about the CEO of the richest company in the world being behind the Corrupted Pokémon case and trying to fuse two worlds into one?” Reino asked as he leaned, tilting his head.

The Galvantula looked back at Reino while his backhands motioned. “So uh… like I said before, the CEO is a complete nutcase behind the scene. She… was a former human and-”

The steel mantis opened his pincers and interrupted John. “Woah, woah, woah, wait… she was a human? Since when?”

Claire tilted her head. “Remember that human that saved the world from colliding against Ultra Space?” Reino nodded. “So uh… that Meowscarada was her.” The Scizor’s eyes widened. “She faked her death so she could meet with Dark Matter and get-”

“Wait, Dark Matter? That Dark Matter from more than a thousand years ago? It’s back?” Reino asked and Claire nodded. “So… it’s controlling her?”

John shook his head. “No dude… she controls it.” Reino’s eyes widened. “Apparently, she puts a portion of Dark Matter into a human and they turn into Corrupted Pokémon so they are under her command.”

Reino put a pincer on his chin and hummed in thought. “But I don’t get it… why would a hero from the past be doing something to this scale?”

The Galvantula frowned, tilting his head down a little. “She said she wants to make a paradise where humans and Pokémon coexist together. But she’s so hellbent on making everything go smoothly that she doesn’t see her methods as a necessary evil…”

“And the reason she makes Corrupted Pokémon is to make an army of them so she becomes unstoppable if humans try to retaliate.” Claire explained before she looked aside. “She’s destroying lives just for her to achieve her ambitions…” Her paw clenched as she gritted her teeth. “I won’t forgive her…”

Reino stared at them in thought for a while before crossing his arms again. “Alright then, we’ve got the witness report. However, I don’t think that’s enough to warrant an investigation on Asuri. Besides, how do we know if she isn’t bribing the officers of the police department? If that’s the case, how are we gonna take her down?”

“I… I don’t know…” The tarantula said with a grimace.

Claire looked at John and forced a smile. “I’m sure we’ll figure something out-”

BANG

The trio was startled by the sudden bang sound coming from the big metal doors of the front of the warehouse. Reino jumped off the box and got into a stance, getting a bit closer but retaining his distance. Claire asked with a fearful grimace. “What was that…?”

Reino extended an arm back. “Stay back, you two, just in case.” He muttered before looking back at the door and shouting. “Raiden? Is that you?”

BANG

The banging on the door started accelerating slowly and, unfortunately for them, a familiar and childish robotic voice could be heard muffled from the other side. “Come out, come out wherever you are! Just kidding, I already found you !” The banging got faster, the doors seemingly being almost broken. “Knock, knock! Guess who~!” With one last bang, the doors burst open from their hinges, being launched forward with a wheeled kick.

John and Claire flinched while Reino tensed when they saw the insane green and red eyes staring at them from the darkness of the storm outside.

With a double front flip, Cass landed inside without even bending his body. “Nice place you got here!” He then pointed at John. “Too bad it’ll be the last place you’ll ever see!” 

John shuddered as he took some steps back, his body distorting a little with some glitches happening around him. Reino looked back at the Galvantula and Vulpix. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle him.”

“Wait, I can help too-!” Claire offered but Reino interrupted.

“I told you to stay out of trouble, remember?” He looked back at the Corrupted Weavile who had one finger raised uncaringly. “I have some unfinished business with him…” 

“But I-” 

Claire interrupted herself when a white hand touched her back. She looked at it and saw John’s backhand touch her back. “Let’s just watch for now. If things go south, you can step in, okay?”

The Vulpix looked down with a scowl on her face before sighing. “Alright…” 

The duo walked behind one of the boxes, leaving Reino and Cass in the middle of the area, ready to fight. “Oh, Bugsy. I sure wish things didn’t come this way.” He extended a claw forward as his fingers bent, revealing barrels. “But could you step aside a little bit? You wouldn’t want to get hurt, would you?”

Reino huffed as blue glowing swords appeared from his pincers. He then pointed his sword at Cass with a smirk. “If you think I’m gonna go away like that, some cogs in your OS must be misplaced then.”

“Welp, too bad!” 

Corrupted Jester
Cass

The robot’s wrist started spinning as white glowing pellets started coming out of the holes in his claw. Reino blocked the pellets heading his way with his sword. After deflecting the last bullet, he flew in with his wings buzzing, his swords ready to slash in an X shape. However, Cass jumped away from the X-scissor with a grin. 

The Corrupted Pokémon raised his claw, gleaming with metal polish before coming back down on Reino, ready to slash him. However, the Scizor was fast enough, parrying the Metal Claw with his blade. Sparks flew as metal struck with metal, making a screeching noise as the two steel types tried to get an advantage over each other. 

They jumped back, getting some distance from each other. Cass giggled. “Well, aren’t ya a toughie?” He shrugged. “Guess I gotta step up my game as well!” Suddenly, his right forearm split in half, revealing a canon that was aimed at the Scizor whose eyes widened. “Did I forget to tell you the bullets were just a taste? Oops! My bad, here’s the real course!” 

“Not only he’s Aigis but Megaman as well!?” John commented from behind the box, muttering to himself.

The tip of the canon started glowing gray for a second before it shot a ball of glowing silver at the steel mantis. Reino jumped to the side, dodging the projectile. He then rose off the ground as Cass aimed again, trying to shoot the Scizor that dodged each projectile by twirling his body to the side as he got closer. Once he was close enough, Reino made his swords disappear and coated his pincers in a gray light, punching the robot Weavile multiple times before sending him flying a bit. 

The Corrupted Pokémon corrected his position in the air and used the jet booster on his back to stop his momentum, falling on the ground again. Some sparks came out of the side of his body. “Tough luck, eh?” His arm returned to normal. “Since you don’t like my text messages, let me confess all the pain to you physically!” He spun around on his rollerblades as he got into a fighting position, his claws ready to strike. “Bring it on!”

“As you wish!” Reino said as he summoned his blades once again from his pincers. He then flew in to close the distance with the robotic Weavile, however, he was caught off guard when Cass’ arm extended and stretched with a spring sound coming out of it. He grabbed Reino’s arm and slammed him down. 

“Caught ya!” He lifted the steel mantis before slamming him down on the ground again. Cass then spun around with his stretched arm and threw Reino to the side, the Scizor colliding with one of the wooden crates and breaking it. 

“Ngh!” 

“Reino!” Claire shouted from a distance, taking a step forward. 

However, before she could take another step, something grabbed her hindleg. She looked back to find John holding her as he shook his head. “Wait, look at Reino.” He said as he pointed a finger with his other backhand.

The Vulpix looked back at the Scizor and saw him slowly getting up. After getting up, he quickly dusted himself. “Damn, impressive strength for a brat.” He said before looking back at Cass with a stern look on his face. “Where did you get that from? Dark Matter?”

“Dunno who that is but yes, I am strong. Are you impressed? Does my strength charm you enough?” Cass said before trying to mimic kissing his bicep, even though he couldn’t change the expression of his mouth nor had any muscle. “Anyway, what part of the dance were we? Oh yeah!” He started dashing at Reino as his arms stretched again. “The part where I beat you!”

Reino got his swords out again and charged in. They clashed once again, more sparks flying out of their blades and claws. However, instead of letting the steel mantis retreat like last time, Cass did a Low Sweep and made Reino lose his footing. “Kngh!” The robot then took the opportunity to grab him again and throw him upwards.

“Up you go!” After almost throwing the Scizor to the ceiling, Cass aimed his canon arm at him and shot another Flash Canon, the projectile going towards Reino. However, as the Reino fell, he thought fast, regaining his composure in the air and blocking the projectile at the right time with his sword. Sparks flew with the clash, Reino gritting his mandibles as he prevented the ball from hitting him. 

With enough effort, he managed to deflect the ball to the ceiling above him, causing an explosion as he fell. He aimed his swords at the robotic Weavile as he descended.

As Mark walked around the outskirts of the city, looking for more clues about the chase that just happened throughout Xander Cage City, he took notice of the sound of an explosion muffled a bit by the rain, making his ears flicker a little.

He looked in the direction of where the sound came from and frowned as he saw smoke rising a little. “Oh boy… what now…?”

He started floating in the direction of the smoke. He didn’t know what happened, but he was already starting to have a bad feeling…

“Gah!”

Cass screamed as he soared through the air a small tear in his torso that leaked some sparks of electricity. He landed on the ground on his belly as he looked back at Reino, who looked smug, even with the bit of hemolymph leaking out of his arm back. He spat a bit of it on the floor before looking back at the robotic Weavile. “You done?”

Cass stayed silent for a moment before he started giggling. “I’ll give it to ya, Bugsy, you pull out quite the punches! But honestly, that was so much fun! Say, how about now I…” He pulled himself up with a backflip as he grinned even more. “Turn the game a bit, huh?”

Reino got into another battle stance. “With pleasure-”

“Reino?”

The Scizor looked at the familiar voice standing in front of the archway of the broken doors. Mark stood there with a look of confusion. “What’s going on here?”

Reino’s eyes widened. “Mark, I’m in the middle of-!”

“Hah, you snooze you lose, idiot!” Cass shouted as his claw stretched towards the steel mantis.

“Reino watch out!” Claire shouted at Reino.

However, it was too late. Time seemed to slow down when the Scizor’s eyes looked at the approaching claw. Hemolymph went flying, as from one moment to another…

Cass’ claw pierced through the middle of Reino’s torso. 

There was no pained noise coming from the steel mantis, only the sound of gasps coming from behind the clutter of boxes. Mark, meanwhile, just stared with his eyes wide. Cass suddenly spoke amidst the silent moment. “Should’ve listened to me Bugsy, we didn’t want any casualties in this mission…”

The robotic Weavile removed his claw from Reino, making more hemolymph come out of him. Reino stumbled backwards a bit, trying to keep his footing for a bit on shaky legs. However, he limped as he began to fall on his back.

“ REINOOOOOO!!!”

Mark screamed as he ran towards the Scizor and held him before he could hit the floor. “Please, not now Reino ! I still need you, please stay with me!” The Pikachu begged as tears started falling out of his eyes, burying his face on Reino’s neck. John and Claire meanwhile rushed to the scene. 

Reino, still a bit conscious, looked at Mark and put a pincer on his head, brushing his fur slowly. “You’re so cute… when you cry… did you know… that?”

Mark shouted desperately, as more tears streamed down his face. “This isn’t the time for that! Please, don’t give in! We were supposed to be with one another, remember!?”

Reino gave a sad smile. “I know… I’m sorry… I failed you.” Reino coughed a bit of hemolymph. “B-but hey…  that damn case is close to ending… once we take her down… the world will finally be safe… for you…”

“Please don’t tell me this is happening…” Claire said as she looked aside with tears running down her face.

Mark took his head out of Reino’s neck as John said. “Dude, please hang on… for the love of God…”

Reino gave more coughs. “Dunno who that is…” He gave more coughs while Mark continued crying and sobbing a lot, he was almost on his last breath. “Mark… please, just continue living in this world… for me. Remember that… I love you… and I always will…”

That was the last thing he said before the steel mantis slowly lost his grip on his arm and his whole body, staying limp. And with that… Reino closed his eyes…

Mark stayed silent before muttering. “Reino…?” 

No response.

“Reino, no please, wake up!”

Still no response.

“No, no, no, no, nononono, NO!!!” The Pikachu coated his paws with electricity before slamming them down on the Scizor. “Please not like this, fucking WAKE UP!!!” 

“Mark…”

“Shut up! He’ll wake up, he has to!” Mark slammed electricity-coated paws on the steel mantis once again, making his body jerk, but still getting no response.

“Mark!” John shouted a bit louder.

The electric rodent looked at the Pikachu with his face streaming with tears as a discharge of electricity coated his entire body. “WHAT!?”

John looked aside with a sad expression. “There’s nothing you can do… his heart isn’t like humans…”

Mark stared in silence before he looked back at the silent body of the Scizor. “Reino…” He knelt and punched the ground, another cloud clap of thunder in the background adding to Mark’s scream. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!”

After the release of anger, Mark and the others stayed silent for a moment longer before Cass broke the silence suddenly. “So… you done with your grieving? Still gotta capture Spider Boy, you know?”

Claire growled as she looked at the robot Weavile, slamming a paw to the ground. “How could you!? I thought you were fucking better than this!”

“There was no reason for you to kill him!” John shouted as glitch particles started surrounding him.

Cass lifted a finger. “Orders are orders! If he didn’t get in my way and you just accepted her deal, things would’ve gone way differently and he would’ve lived!”

John’s eyes widened at that before he looked aside with a grimace.

Mark slowly got up, his eyes being covered by a tuft of unbrushed fur. “You…” He said with a slow voice, a tinge of a growl being present on his voice. His head slowly tilted to Cass as sparks started to come out of his body. “You…” He fully turned to the Corrupted Pokémon as he took a few steps forward, looking like he was stumbling a little. “You….”

Cass tilted his head. “Me what-?” Suddenly, Cass felt something press against the inside of his torso, wanting to come out. “What is… grief, anger… hate? What does- ARGH!” Cass put his claws on his torso. “What is this!?”

Claire asked as she grimaced. “Uh… what’s happening to him?”

John analyzed the situation and realized something that was about to happen when he connected the dots after remembering something that MissingNo. had told him during one of his dreams when they explained what Dark Matter was. “Wait… negative emotions… shit! Mark, stop-!”

Mark screamed as he began floating. “YOU BASTARD !” He curled up. “I will… I WILL…”

Before the Pikachu could complete his sentence, a pitch-black mist that condensed into liquid came out of Cass’ body, making him grunt and moan in pain. “Gah!!!”

John’s and Claire’s eyes widened as the Dark Matter flew towards Mark. The Pikachu flinched and gritted his teeth once the substance flowed inside his body. Mark grunted and screamed painfully as the Dark Matter coursed through his body. “NghAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHH!!!” Mark’s body began to change before John and Claire’s eyes. 

The Pikachu’s body started being covered in a black viscous substance, not leaving any semblance of his old body behind. On his chest, a white symbol that looked like a snake’s eye appeared, pulsating like a heart. His feet grew black and sharp claws along with some black spikes appearing in his head and trailing down to his back. His tail turned into a Raichu-like tail, however, it looked like a sharp crystalized purple blade. Mark opened his eyes, revealing fully white and glowing eyes. His paws were covered in some kind of purple crystals that were shaped like sharp claws. He extended his right crystal claw to the side, straightening it up to look like a crystalized dagger.

Claire trembled as she took a step back. “You’re… you’re kidding me…”

John was frozen in place, trembling a little bit. “No way… Mark…”

The newly-formed Corrupted Pokémon pointed his dagger claw at the robotic Weavile that stood on one knee, his body completely frozen while looking at the ground. “I will… I WILL DESTROY YOU! ”

Cass looked at Mark for a moment as he got some of his bearings together. “Wh-what? Who is…”

The corrupted Pikachu released a guttural roar from his non-visible mouth before flying directly at Cass with his dagger raised.

Corrupted Avenger
Mark

Cass screamed as he barely had the window to dodge and roll out of the way. He wheeled some distance away as he looked back at the dark Pikachu. “What’s going on!? What am I doing here? And these…” The robotic Weavile put a claw on his head. “Ngh… these memories…”

John and Claire looked at each other before they said in unison. “Wait… is he?” They looked back at the robotic Weavile before calling out his name. “Cass!”

He looked at them and tilted his head, trying to remember them. “Wait… are those-” As he looked back at Mark, he narrowingly avoided another slash by ducking down. He then avoided a barrage of stabs with the occasional upwards slash by dodging and weaving the strikes as he started slowly backing away. “Woah dude chill, chill!”

“Die, die, DIE!!! ” Mark screamed as he continued to strike.

Cass had enough of dodging, deciding to block one of the strikes with his claw and deflecting it. He then did a backflip to get some distance away from the corrupted Pikachu. “What the hell is going on!?” He looked back at John and Claire before dashing to them, the duo flinching on instinct. “Hey, you two, could you explain what’s going on and why’s there a psycho trying to kill me?”

John looked aside a bit sheepishly. “Uh… it’s a bit of a long and complicated story…”

“Look, we’ll explain later, but first we need to do something about him!” Claire said as she pointed at Mark who raised his claws, pointing all of his fingers at them. “Shit, watch out!”

The crystallized Pikachu shot a barrage of crystal shards at the trio of Pokémon. John screamed and braced before glitch particles covered his body. Suddenly, for a split second, static covered the shards before disappearing, the shards turning into flower petals of many colors that lazily floated by the trio. John and the others opened their eyes to see they weren’t in any danger at all. They looked around to see the petals on the floor. “Uh… the hell happened?” Cass asked as he tilted his head.

John looked down at his pedipalps before looking back at his body. “I… I think I did something? I dunno, my body just kinda felt fuzzy when I closed my eyes...”

Claire looked at John. “Maybe it’s your glitch powers?”

“Glitch powers-?” Cass was interrupted when a screech came out of Mark, making the trio look back at him. “Actually, explain everything, including monster spider form later, we gotta beat him first!”

It felt weird teaming up with the guy who literally killed a Pokémon in front of their eyes just a few minutes ago. But John and Claire knew that Cass wasn’t truly at fault for it, he was being hard controlled by the true perpetrator, but it didn’t make it less weird. “Yeah, we need to get an opening to escape!” Claire called out.

Mark started floating with both of his claws turning into daggers. He flew towards Cass’ direction with both of his claws ready to strike. The robotic Weavile jumped away just in time before the Night Slash hit. Claire took the opportunity to shoot an Incinerate at the Corrupted Pokémon, making him screech once hit and jerk back a little. He looked at Claire in anger before flying towards her.

The Vulpix quickly conjured her Will-O-Shield in front of her, purple ghostly flames appearing in front of her and forming an X-shaped barrier. Once Mark touched it, he began feeling a burning sensation inside him, even without any flames on him. John took the opportunity to grab the Pikachu with his backhand, holding him before launching the corrupted Pikachu away. John then followed it up with a String Shot to constringe the Pikachu since he was bigger now. 

Mark, however, slashed the string away once he corrected himself in the air. Before he had the chance to shoot more crystal shards at the duo, he took notice of Cass flying with his back booster at him, his claw glistening with metal. However, before he had a chance to slash the Corrupted Pokémon, his arm was caught by Mark’s tail, wrapping around it and throwing Cass back to the ground. 

The robotic Weavile impacted the floor with a grunt. After focusing back on Mark, he saw him shooting orbs of darkness all around him before the orbs stopped in place. The black spheres then homed in on Cass as Mark just stared menacingly from above. The robotic Weavile got up and started flying around with his booster. “Ya know what? Being a robot isn’t as bad as I made it up to be as a human…” As he flew around, dodging the homing projectiles that exploded once in contact with the floor and the walls, Cass had a realization. “Wait… I remember… I remember everything again!”

“Yeah, we get it, already! Just focus on the fight!” John shouted to the airborne robot as Mark shot more pursuing orbs at Cass.

Cass turned around and opened his finger guns, shooting the dark orbs with his white pellets. After getting rid of all the orbs Cass transformed his forearm into a canon and shot a Flash Canon at Mark. However, the Pikachu deflected it with just a single slap from his claw, sending it to the ceiling and causing an explosion behind him. Cass lowered his canon arm and commented. “Oh damn, he just did a Dragon Ball.”

Mark roared again and just flew right at Cass. As the two Pokémon traded blows with their claws in the air, Claire turned to John. “We gotta help him somehow, Mark is too strong in that form, I don’t think he’ll be able to win!”

The Galvantula looked at the fox and tilted his head. “And how are we gonna help him?”

“We need to make some sort of trap…” The Vulpix looked around the warehouse and at the two fighting Pokémon as an idea came to her. “I got it!” She looked back at John with a determined face. “John, since you evolved, your webs are more effective! You can still make electric webs, right?”

“Yeah, I still can, this glitch form didn’t remove my electricity. I can still feel it in my core… why do you ask?” He then looked at the ceiling and at the two fighting Corrupted Pokémon which looked a bit like flies in the air. His eyes widened as the realization came to him. “Oh…” The tarantula looked back at Claire. “You sure that I can do all of that…?”

“It’s that or nothing, it might be our only shot at this…” The Vulpix said with a frown. 

John glanced back at the fight before sighing. “Fine… guess we have no other option.” With that, he crawled quickly to a wall before climbing on it. Even with his new legs and weight, he was able to stand on the wall and even run on it. He would have to do this quickly or else Cass would be in serious trouble.

Once he got to the ceiling while avoiding the holes left by the explosions. He stood near the middle and looked down. To think he was used to sticking to walls, it still felt a bit unsettling to him, making a twist on his stomach a little. However, he could handle it. With a sigh, he began to work, shooting electrical webs from his mouth at the wall in various directions as he walked. He then stuck the webs to the ceiling and adjusted them with his sharp pedipalps. 

Once he was done, he looked at Cass. He saw the Weavile knocking Mark away from him and shooting some Flash Bullets at him. “Cass!” John shouted, making the robot look up in confusion. He then saw a massive electrical web covering almost the entire ceiling. “Throw him up here, fast!”

As John zipped away with his backhands tucked around his spiky abdomen, Cass’ grin seemed to grow a bit larger. “Okie dokie!” Cass flew straight at Mark with his claw raised.

Mark reacted by putting his claws in front of him and forming a purple crystal barrier in front of him, ready to block Cass’ attack.

However, instead of attacking, the robot dived down for a moment, confusing the crystal Pikachu a little. However, once he looked down, Mark saw Cass going straight towards him with a foot ready to kick him. “Bamboozled!” Cass kicked Mark square in the chin, sending the Pikachu flying right towards the electrical web. He got stuck on it, getting zapped as the sparks and volts coursed through his body. Cass readied up his canon and charged. “Boom.” He said as he released the shot, the projectile traveling at high speeds at the Corrupted Pokémon. 

Mark’s eyes widened as the shot impacted his chest, a large explosion occurring as it tore the web and broke more of the ceiling. Cass fell to the ground, landing next to Claire. As the smoke spread, Mark fell out of it, rocketing towards a crate. Claire took a few steps forward and saw Mark unconscious.

Claire grimaced a little. “Is… is he gonna be okay?”

“Don’t worry Claire.” John said as he jumped off from a box. “He’ll survive. Something I noticed is that Pokémon are more resistant to damage, except when it’s… fatal…” John scowled as he glanced at where Reino’s body lay. It seemed that a bit of rubble from the ceiling fell on it, only leaving an arm and a pincer visible. He suppressed a tear as he reassured himself mentally. ‘Cass had no blame for this… it’s all because of Alice… fuck her.’ He sighed before looking at the exit. “Let’s get out of here before he wakes up.”

Cass crossed his arms. “I hope you can explain everything to me…”

Claire looked aside as her face darkened a little. “Yeah, we… we will…”

The Weavile tilted his head a little in confusion before he followed Claire and John out of the warehouse. It was still raining a little, but the worst of the storm had passed. Puddles crowded the grassy ground of the outskirts. Since John was a Pokémon and not a small tiny critter that could die suffocated in the water nor a human that wouldn’t like to have wet shoes or feet, he just stepped on them uncaringly. It kinda felt nice having your body submerged in water, he hadn’t dived in a pool in so long…

He could hear someone clearing their throat behind him. He looked behind and saw Cass with his arms crossed and with an unamused grin on his face. “So…?”

“Ah… right…” John looked aside as he thought about his words for a moment. It would be difficult to explain what he had done…  “So erm… firstly, what do you remember before your memory loss?”

Cass tilted his head up as he thought back on his most recent memories. “Well… the last thing I remember was being in a furry’s temporary office. Her name was Alice or something. I dunno, after getting kidnapped and turned into… whatever I am now…” He said as he spun his claw a little. “Kinda all a blur. Heck, I barely remember meeting you guys.”

“When you were in that office… what did Alice say to you?” Claire asked while tilting her head.

“Uh… don’t remember much. I remember her hugging me or something… and then next thing I knew, I was fighting that guy.” He said with a shrug. He then looked back at John. “Wait, you guys were already there, could you tell me what I did in those lost memories?” Claire and John looked away with a pained expression written all over their faces. “What?”

Claire began. “Um… you see…”

“You were kinda controlled and forced to capture me. But don’t worry, we managed to knock some sense into you before you could get me, and then that other guy came in.” The Galvantula spoke a bit hastily, interrupting the fire fox. The Vulpix subtly looked at him with a disappointed scowl as John stared back with a glare, motioning his pedipalps as if saying Later, not now. He could kinda use those things as mini hands for now. Claire sighed and nodded in understanding. “So… all ended well for you and I, I suppose.”

Cass shot a glance of suspicion at the duo before looking away. “Alright then… if you say so…” 

They walked a bit more before Cass asked. “So… you gonna explain that weird form of yours? Pretty sure Galvantulas don’t have that fur color, horns and spikes, and those freakish hands. Weren’t you a normal Joltik last time I saw you?”

Claire looked back at Cass. “Long story short, he evolved because a being cast away by Arceus left his body after waking up from their dormant state. Look, he was about to be brainwashed like you so he had to do it.”

Cass stayed silent with his still grin before eventually saying with a flicker of his fingers. “Got it, not questioning that again.”

After a few more minutes, the trio eventually reached the urbanized part of the city. It was still a bit deserted since the rain hadn’t completely cleared. However, once they got to the town, Claire could see some familiar Pokémon in the distance. “Wait… are those…”

John squinted his eyes a little and said. “Yeah, it’s them!” He said before he called the rest of Team Net. “Yo, guys! Over here!”

Taro and the rest of the gang turned to the trio. “Claire!” Taro exclaimed before his look turned into confusion. “And… John…?” His expression then changed to concern. “Cass too!?”

The four of them rushed to John, Claire, and Cass. Amy smiled as she looked at Claire and smiled in relief. “I’m so glad you’re both okay!”

Popo and Nana looked at John and fell to their knees, looking down. “We have failed you, friend.” “We were supposed to guide you to the path of the Great One.” “But now look at you.” “You have strayed from the path towards enlightenment. There is no way for you to redeem your sins now.”

John waved his backhands defensively. “H-hey! I might look a bit different, but I’m still me, okay!?”

Taro looked at John while tilting his head. “What happened to you? And what’s Cass doing with you guys?”

The robotic Weavile put a claw on his side. “Look pipsqueak, firstly, my name actual name is Cassidy. Secondly, don’t worry, I’m one of the good guys now.”

Claire sighed before speaking. “You guys have a lot to catch up on.”

Amy looked aside. “Can kinda guess… but, someone important came to us and-”

“John? Is that you?”

The group turned to the source of the voice, seeing a genie-like Pokémon floating towards them. John immediately recognized the Pokémon after seeing the illustration that Harry had sent to him during their last call. “Hoopa…?”

“Good, you know of me. That saves some time. Listen, I don’t have much time to explain everything so I’ll keep it brief.” They said in a girlish-like voice.

That voice… sounded familiar to the Galvantula, but he couldn’t place a finger where he heard it.

Hoopa sighed and put their hands on the side. “Okay, so first things first, do you remember when you first awoke in this world?” 

John tilted his head. “I… kinda do? I remember after dying, a voice just told me to stop someone or something. I don’t remember much of what that voice said.”

Hoopa smiled. “Thank Arceus, it is you. Looks like it worked after all.” John tilted his head. “Okay so… I was the one that brought you to this world with the help of Palkia.” 

Everyone, except Popo and Nana, shouted a “WHAT!?” in shock. 

The portal maker nodded. “Yep. You see, the reason we summoned you was to stop Alice.”

Taro tilted his head and questioned with a look of disbelief on his face. “Wait, so Alice was actually evil all along?”

He put his hands behind his back and nodded. “Indeed. Palkia and I are forced to help her because… she completely overpowers us both. We knew that if we summoned a human ourselves, they wouldn’t lose their memories because of the world’s summoning system. If a human lost their memories, Alice would take advantage of that and capture that human to turn them into a Corrupted Pokémon for her army.”

Amy flinched. “Wait, she was the one behind the Corrupted Pokémon and she is making an army!? Were the rumors about someone trying to invade the human world with an army of Corrupted Pokémon true?”

“Actually, it’s much worse than that…” Claire said after getting over the initial shock of the news. “She’s planning to fuse both the human world and the Pokémon world into one.”

Gasps ran across Amy and Taro’s mouths. Cassidy crossed his arms. “Wait a sec. How do you know about the furry’s plan?”

John sighed. “During our investigation… we were captured by one of Alice’s goons. They brought us to another building while Alice was waiting for us. She revealed that she was spying on us for a bit and knew about my identity.” He looked aside. “We barely managed to escape with MissingNo’s help.”

“Wait, she already had captured you?!” Hoopa said in shock before muttering to the side. “Dammit, we have less time than expected!” They looked back at the group. “Listen, the real reason I came here is to help you, John. As of right now, there’s no chance you’re able to defeat Alice. She’s just too powerful with her Dark Matter powers. Although… with the new abilities I’m sensing from you… you might have a slight chance of defeating her. But for now…” Hoopa took out one of the rings hanging from their horns. He threw it to the side, growing larger and making a floating portal. “You need to run and hide. At this point, she has control over almost the entire world. No matter where you go, she WILL find you and capture you.”

John looked away and grimaced. Was that all he could truly do for now? Run away and hide? “Where does this portal take us?”

“This portal takes you to your world. Alice can’t send her army there, or else it’d cause chaos and ruin her deal with one of the world leaders there.” Hoopa explained.

“Excuse me, what?” Cassidy tried asking before Hoopa spoke a bit more hastily.

“You gotta hurry, we don’t know when her Corrupted Pokémon will come find us-” Hoopa stopped talking as his eyes widened, looking in a certain direction.

Team Net (and Cassidy) looked in the same direction and had their eyes widened. Walking slowly, Mark approached them with one of his dagger claws ready to strike. “I… I will destroy you…!”

Cassidy spoke hastily. “Welp, that’s my leave! See y’all on the other side!” He wheeled to the portal and jumped to it.

John shouted. “Wait for us, dammit!” John said before he ran and jumped inside along with Claire. On the other side of the portal, John looked back and saw the rest of Team Net ready to jump into the portal. However, they were all trapped in water bubbles, leaving them unable to do anything. 

“Guys!” John and Claire screamed through the ring. From a bit farther away, they could see Gabriel, the water Typhlosion getting closer. 

Hoopa looked back at them with a panicked expression on his face. “Don’t worry, I’ll save them, just do your thing and be safe! John, please, get stronger, for the good of both worlds!”

“NO, WAIT!” John screamed as he tried to jump back to the other side. However, the portal closed and disappeared the moment he tried jumping through it. As he landed, he slammed a nub on the ground along with one of his backhands, glitch particles appearing all around him. “No, fuck!”

“Don’t worry too much, Spider-Boy. They won’t die, Crystal Dude was after MY head after all.” John heard Cassidy say. He looked at him and saw him standing on the edge of the windy hill they were on. John looked at Claire and saw her looking over at the horizon, seeing the setting afternoon sun.

“Wow…” Claire whispered as she watched the sun, the wind lifting her fur a little.

John got up and settled beside Cass, watching the windy horizon with him. In the distance, he saw a massive city with towering buildings in the center part of it and some residential buildings spread around it. “We’re… we’re back… to the human world…”

It was another successful mission for Team Dino! Rexio, the Tyrantrum with a green scarf on his neck, and Aureum, the Aurorus with a pink ribbon on her leg, were on their way to leave the Mystery Dungeon they entered to recover a lost item from a rich family. Normally, Team Dino doesn’t get recruited to many missions since Rexio’s appearance kinda scares off the small customers, but hey, the family was desperate so they got recruited anyway.

“So, Aureum, how much do you think that family’s gonna pay us? 100,000 Poké? 200,000 Poké? 500,000 Poké!?” Rexio asked gleefully, imagining the pool of gold they’d be swimming in once they returned the item.

The Aurorus looked aside with a sheepish look. “I’m not sure they’re gonna pay that much… they might be rich, but not that rich, you know?”

“Stop being that pessimistic! Even if we don’t get that much, I have a feeling the payment is gonna be something way bigger than we have received so far!” The Tyrantrum assured with a cheerful demeanor.

Aureum giggled. “If you say so. Maybe you’re onto something and I’m just trying to not get my hopes up by that much.”

The duo finally got to the exit of the dungeon, seeing the huge red door open for them to leave. After going through the door, they looked around and realized that this… uh… this wasn’t the same place they entered from before. 

They were in an open field area, being able to see trees in the distance and some fences around them. They stood on what seemed like black concrete that seemed a bit like gravel streets. On the other side of the fences, they saw some weird creatures. They resembled Miltank, however, they had white and black fur and stood on four legs just like Tauros. The two of them looked behind them and saw that the door they came from was gone. Rexio looked at his Aurorus partner and asked. “Aureum… where’s the door?”

“I dunno…” She looked around again, her long neck swaying from side to side. “Where even are we? And what are those creatures?”

“Like I should know. Never saw weird-looking Miltank like that in my life.” 

Suddenly, the two of them heard a strange sound coming towards them. It sounded like a machine whirring. They looked in the direction of the sound and saw a machine that resembled a car, however, without the Revravroom or Varoom.

The machine stopped in front of them and the side of it opened up, revealing a creature way smaller than them. They were bipedal and had some sort of skin with very little fur coming from their head. They were also wearing clothes throughout most of their body. The creature looked at them and suddenly spoke. “Bro, who the hell is the dumbass that put statues in the middle of the road?”

Rexio looked to the side. “Uh…” He looked back at the creature. “Sorry to inform you, but we ain’t statues.”

“That was a bit rude in my opinion.” Aureum said with her eyes widened. “More importantly, what in Arceus’ name are you?”

The creature seemed to freeze a little bit before taking some steps back, stuttering a little. “W-w-what the fuck…? WHAT THE FUCK!?” He rushed back into their machine and turned it on, immediately turning it away and heading off.

Rexio and Aureum just stared at the weird action before the Tyrantrum eventually said. “Welp uh… that was… weird.”

Chapter Text

The sound of rain pelting the windows and walls of the building obscured the silence of the dark room with no illumination. The air reeked of dried bloodstains and an unknown substance on the floor, reality distorting a little around the substance. A certain Pokémon was lying on the floor, a Ceruledge as seen from the flames that emanated from its ghostly body, battered but still alive (technically speaking).

A thunderstrike flashed the entire room for a second, probably the last considering the dissipating state of the rain. From the light, the dark room showed a stone statue of what seemed to be a big round Pokémon with six disembodied stone hands on the floor. A maskless and withered-looking Meowscarada was panting with a paw on the statue, heavy breaths being drawn out as blackish blood leaked from her body.

Alice removed her paw from MissingNo.’s stony body as the dark purplish mist around her arm dissipated. She stepped back once, the Dark Matter stains on her body slowly dissolving as she returned to her normal form. “You were quite a bothersome Pokémon, weren’t you? Eh, nothing I couldn’t handle.” She said as she flickered her paw, her mask appearing on it. ‘Still, that pesky bug had some tricks hidden in his web… eh, whatever, I’ll just track him down and get him later. Not like some evolution is gonna be enough to resist me and my power.’

“Mistress…” As Alice put on her mask again, she looked at the ceruledge lying on the floor. Ah, how could she forget about Zerone? If it wasn’t for him, the fight with that glitchy mess of a Pokémon would’ve taken way more of her precious time. Speaking of which, she needed to shift her priorities over retrieving that little skittish runaway human… “I have come to inform you…” The Ceruledge grunted as he slowly got up, getting to a knee. “About Hoopa… they have been absent while you were busy…”

“Ah, taking advantage while I was a bit distracted, I see.” The meowscarada chuckled a little. “Are they going to attempt to summon another human? Please, this joke has grown old, when are they going to learn that whenever they attempt to summon a human I’ll know-” She interrupted herself when a small realization struck her mind. “Unless…” She grinned a bit. “Oh, Hoopa, you mischievous little demon…”

As the meowscarada started to walk away, Zerone decided to ask while clutching its arm which leaked hazy ectoplasm. “Have you figured something out, Mistress?”

“Yes, but I’m afraid it’s a little late for that.” Alice turned her head to the ceruledge. “I’m going to fetch Hoopa with the Prison Bottle, meanwhile, call some Pokémon to remove this statue from here. Also, try to find Cass, that robot is going to shift his priorities towards finding that missing human.”

“But Mistress, I thought that he would be the first one to be sent to the human world to deal with the potential wild Pokémon that may appear there because of the merge…” Zerone argued, shedding light on the issue of what slowly merging two worlds together would cause. Not like she didn’t know of that and wasn’t prepared for it.

“I can send Gabriel if he fails to capture John as I ordered him to do when fighting MissingNo. But if he did, that’s a nice bonus treat for me.” She turned away and started leaving the room. “But for now, I have to call Hoopa, they have some explanation to do and some punishment to receive for this small hassle…”

“It shall be done, Mistress.” With a nod, the ceruledge faded through the floor with a ghostly dark portal.

As the Meowscarada walked down the hall, she smirked to herself as she muttered. “Try to help your little hero all you want, Hoopa. Just like the others you attempted to summon, the true hero will strike him down , hehehehe…”

The mountains almost fully covered the afternoon sun in the distance, their only light source fading away. The area around them was peaceful and quiet, the chirp of birds and the crunch of twigs and fallen leaves beneath their feet being the only sounds that accompanied them on their trek through the forest to get to the nearby city. Nobody spoke anything, why would they after all the chaos that happened?

Stranded, lost, and alone, in a world where nobody would help them because of their appearance. After all, who wouldn’t be afraid of a 1 meter-tall tarantula with giant hands coming out of his ass? 

John was tired, hungry, and exhausted. It felt like he could collapse at any moment and just let his worries fade away right as he slept on the grassy ground, covered by his own webbings to keep him safe-

No!

He was so stressed, and it didn’t help that a specific memory he didn’t want to think of right now was so fresh in his mind. He and Claire had endured so much, and for what? What was supposed to be a simple school trip turned into a fight for survival. Hell, Claire still had her bandages from that fight with that Ceruledge…

What was worse was the guy they were stuck with…

Not to say that Cassidy was bad company, no, but whenever the Galvantula looked at the robot, he just couldn’t help but be reminded of that whole fiasco with Mark and… Reino…

Dammit, the stress was getting to him. John already knew that Cassidy had no fault in those events, he was just as much a victim as Mark and Reino were. And now… his other friends were stuck in that other world with Alice potentially hunting them down just to get to him. 

In the back of the monochrome tarantula’s mind, a thought was forming as he rubbed his new pedipalps together. What if he had taken Alice’s offer…? ‘No, fucking no. I’d never submit to her world of subjugation and straight-up totalitarianism. We already had enough of that in the past, not gonna let it happen worldwide!’

Yet… how is he going to stop someone who has absolute control over the entire situation?

“So… Johnny, right?” Finally, someone had spoken up and it was Cassidy. John turned to him, taking in the metallic and segmented body that the robot had and seeing him with his arms behind his head. Suddenly, a question popped up in his mind. Does he eat? Or does he need to recharge somehow? 

“It’s John.” The Galvantula corrected.

“Ah, John. Okay, now that we’re… let’s say, safer right now, howsabout I ask something about you. Since when I look at ya more and more, boy does my curiosity peak even more.” He leaned a bit closer to John as his tri-colored eyes analyzed his body. “Black and white fur, horns, spikes, freaky hands, and those little bubbly bits giving ya this unstable aura around you… question is… you think it’s safe to hang around you?”

I tilted my head a bit confused. “Huh? What do you mean by that? Of course it’s safe.”

Claire decided to add her own two cents to the conversation. “Yeah, it’s a bit fuzzy to touch him along with those black and white bubbly things but like… he’s not that hazardous-” As Claire turned her head to face John, she interrupted herself and gasped as she stopped walking. “Holy Arceus, John! You’re phasing through the floor!”

“Huh?” The Galvantula turned his head down and saw that his pointy feet were phasing through the floor with a puddle of static enveloping them. John’s beady eyes widened. “HUH!?”

“And that’s why I truly asked!” The metallic Weavile responded while putting his claws on his waist. “Cuz that’s freaky and crazy.”

John tried to get out of the strange unstable substance that was forming beneath his feet, but that was proving to be a bit useless. He didn’t need to shout for help when Claire pushed John off his feet and rolled him out of the puddles and onto his back where he wiggled his legs like a dying bug. He didn’t feel like he was sinking anymore after realizing he was doing some weird glitch shit. 

As John panted a bit and stopped moving his legs, Claire asked with a frown on her face. “A-are you okay, John…?”

The black and white tarantula turned to the Vulpix, his black and blue eyes showing distress after what happened. “I… I think so…” He looked up in the sky, stars were already appearing on the sunset orange-filled sky. “This has to be a damn nightmare…”

The purple-eyed Vulpix let out a whine as she grimaced. “John…”

“Gee, all this moping around… you’re all a bunch of softies.” The tarantula and the fox turned to the robot who looked at his claws, his red grin flashing as he continued speaking. “Sure, we’re in hella shit right now, your friends are in trouble in another world, and there’s a furry with a few screws loose in her head hunting for you.” He lifted a finger. “But, here’s the thing. If we wanna do the hero thing later by saving your friends and whooping the furry’s ass, we gotta continue, recharge our juice THEN prepare, got it?”

The duo just stared at Cassidy a bit in surprise, not expecting him to have such an insightful response to their hopelessness. Even if he had some funny remarks and definitely didn’t know the bigger picture, he was right… they couldn’t lose hope at a time like this. They knew what Alice was planning to do with both worlds, and John got the power of a forgotten god to aid him… as unreal as that sounded.

Claire raised her head a bit more, her ears perking up. “You’re… you’re right. I can’t let the situation get to me. I’m not about to get my family and my world to get controlled by someone so cold and evil as Alice!” The fox turned to the arachnid, her fan of tails wagging behind me. “Right, John?”

The Galvantula looked aside, considering his options. Their chances were slim, so slim in fact that if he told anyone about their plans, they’d definitely tell them they were on a damn suicide mission and they had a death wish. However… ‘What if we do have a chance…? There might be a way to stop all of this madness if we play our cards right…’ John slowly rolled onto his underside and got up again, his arachnid legs supporting his body weight. “Yeah, we can’t just sit here and cry in defeat. We need to try our best to come back from this moment…” He then looked around. “As soon as we get out of this world…”

“And as soon as you get the hang of your freaky eldritch horror powers as well.” Cassidy added as he pointed a finger at John’s legs. 

The Galvantula looked at his legs again and he noticed that he was sinking on the ground once again with that glitch energy liquid. “Gah!” John tried to struggle out of the liquid before he decided to bolt towards the trunk of a tree next to him, gripping the bark of wood tightly as he panted. “Okay, what the hell dude!? Why am I doing that right now?”

“I don’t know… I thought you knew how to use them since your powers saved us… most of the time.” Claire smiled sheepishly as she looked aside, remembering the time they almost crashed into a wall after John used that strange teleportation magic on a whim.

“Of course I don’t! If I knew, I wouldn’t be sinking into the ground right now!” He said before he looked at his legs again. Fortunately, he wasn’t phasing through the tree… however… the tree itself was beginning to spazz out of reality, just random bits of it blinking in and out of reality as it morphed and shifted shape. “And I definitely wouldn’t be doing whatever the fuck this is!”

The robot clicked his fingers. “Oh, I get it! You’re just hungry, aren’t ya?”

Claire and John looked at Cassidy with a confused look on their faces. Claire asked. “Huh? How do you know what the problem is?”

The metallic Weavile responded with a shrug. “When I was still made out of flesh and bones, my body was always cold to the touch whenever I didn’t eat anything. Thought it was just some external cold spilling out of my body and shit occasionally, but nope, just hunger.”

“How do you know-” John’s abdomen then let out a rumbling noise… yep, he was definitely hungry. “It has been some time since we last ate… we didn’t even eat a snack during the trip’s break…”

“Now that you say that…” As Claire sat on the ground, she looked down, feeling her stomach rumble as well. She sheepishly laughed as she rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah… we didn’t, did we?”

The Galvantula sighed as one of his backhands facepalmed him. “Of course… always keep forgetting the most essential.” He then looked around the place, realizing that there was no food source around them. They were stranded in a forest in the evening, with no food given to eat. “But still… there’s nothing to eat out here… I’m not seeing any fruits-”

“Fruits? Forget about ‘em!” Cassidy said before putting his claws on his side, his grin flashing a bit brighter. “Don’t Pokémon normally eat wild Pokémon? All you gotta do is just hunt for the little scrappers!”

“Oh, you’re right!” Claire piped up before turning to John. “You said all the creatures here are wild except for humans, right? So there’s no problem in eating the creatures here!” She then sighed. “Unfortunately, no good spices accompanied-”

“WHAT!?” John blurted out loud before turning his head to the robot weavile. “You’re crazy, right? I’m not about to lower myself to hunting and shit just to stave off my hunger! And why are you even suggesting that? Weren’t you human before?”

“I was, until I wasn’t!” Cassidy responded with enthusiasm. “Geez, you’re just a little princess aren’t ya?” He pointed a finger at John. “Did you forget that you’re a 4-feet tarantula with electric and chaotic powers? You’re literally far from a human right now!” He crossed his arms, bending his torso a bit forward. “Tell me, you weren’t expecting to go to that city and get recognized as a human just for speaking the same language as them, right?”

“I-... I… of course not! If I was just a small little tick for them that looked innocent and had just small bites, I’d probably-”

Cassidy interrupted the monochrome Galvantula by imitating a buzzer sound. “Wrong! I could hear the hesitation there!” He narrowed his eyes. “Despite turning into a Pokémon, you still don’t want to admit you’re not fully human anymore, ain’t that right spider boy?”

“I know I left my old life behind! I can’t go back no matter how much I try, I already accepted that!” John shouted back, a hiss entering his voice.  

“Guys, can you two please calm down…?” Claire requested a nervous frown on her face. “No need to be so heated about this.”

“Yeah, Johnny. Why be so heated? It’s just a small little snack. The wilds do be like that!” Cassidy said with a small wink. “Unless you still only eat human food because you’re stuck with a human mindset forever…”

“Fine! I’ll prove to you that I moved on!” As John said that, the tree he stood on completely disappeared with a dematerializing effect, only leaving the roots of it on the ground. John fell on the ground on his back, his abdomen spikes puncturing the ground a little. He frowned as his limbs went limp. “I really need to keep this power in check anyways…”

Claire blinked in utter shock after seeing an entire tree disappear before her eyes. “Did… did you just erase…”

The robot didn’t mind it that much, probably having seen worse things in his life. “Sweet! Fortunately for you, since becoming a robot gave me lots of benefits, I can detect heat signatures! And fortunately for you guys…” Cassidy pointed with a thumb to another tree, looking at it intimidatingly. “There seems to be some prey nearby…”

They couldn’t really see it but from the Weavile’s perspective, there seemed to be an animal behind the tree, either a squirrel or an opossum was John’s guess. 

Claire shook her head, seemingly trying to get the memory of her friend deleting an entire tree from existence casually. “Yeah! Let’s go get it! Come on, John!” 

John flipped himself upright with the help of his backhands, hoping that he wouldn’t go back to phasing through the floor again. He needed to be quick about this and not think too much about the occasion. Don’t stay too much on the trees or else he’ll make them disappear… oh god, he just made an entire fucking tree disappear with his glitch energy, what the FUCK!?

Without realizing it, the fire-breathing fox already went to the tree to go after her target, her fan of tails swaying side to side behind her. Cassidy gave him a small glance before skating towards the tree while saying. “Come on Johnny, don’t want Foxy getting all the good parts, do ya?”

The horned tarantula groaned a bit annoyedly before hopping onto a tree, leaving a small trail of glitch energy as he stepped on the wood. He looked like a predator stalking his prey, the only thing in his body visible was his bioluminescent blue eyes darting from place to place as he jumped from tree to other trees. He hoped that he wasn’t accidentally deleting everything he touched or else he’d fear touching literally anything else that wasn’t the air. Fortunately for the Galvantula, he wasn’t.

He reached the tree that Claire had been pawing, seeing Cassidy observe her prey with his arms crossed. John looked up the tree to see a squirrel eyeing them from a branch. It just stood there like a statue. The Vulpix looked at the monochrome tarantula and asked. “John, what’s that? Looks a bit like a Skwovet.”

“That’s a squirrel…” John commented, making another confirmation that they were back in the world. “Oh my God, I’m really about to eat a squirrel raw…”

“Don’t worry, if they taste as much as a raw Skwovet, then it’s all worth it!” Cassidy stated while looking at John. “And before you ask, it’s exactly what I mean. It was delicious !” 

Without even looking, the metal Weavile aimed a finger at the squirrel and shot a Flash Bullet at it, piercing the rodent’s torso and making it fall off the tree and land on the ground. The squirrel twitched a bit, its limbs flailing for a second before its body seized any movements. John stared a bit in disgust as he saw blood leaking from below the corpse, the squirrel’s insides being visible. The Galvantula looked back at Cassidy with a scowl. “How do you live like this…?”

The robot’s finger closed up as he put a claw on his side. “When you’re thrown into the wilds of another world with no memories of yourself and no one to help you, you gotta help yourself and yourself only by surviving. You gotta embrace your instincts if you wanna live to see another day…” He said as he looked to the side, even though with that still grin of his, there could be seen a hint of regret in his robotic eyes. “Anyway, dinner’s served. I can’t eat, so enjoy yourselves.”

Claire was staring at Cassidy for a bit with a worried frown before she focused on the dead squirrel a bit. She then looked at John, who was still standing in a slowly corrupting tree, with a soft smile. “Hey John, I think you should eat this first to take care of your… um…” She eyed the tree slowly becoming unstable, glitchy particles making the tree morph in ways she couldn’t even describe. “Your problem…”

John looked at the tree he was standing on, seeing it get more unstable and corrupted by his power. He cringed a bit before jumping off the tree, instead of sinking into the ground, his feet were releasing the unstable substance from their tips the grass and dirt starting to bubble in unexplainable ways. “Al-... alright… can you uh… at least heat up one of the parts?”

“I can do that.” Claire responded softly before ripping a meat part from the squirrel with her jaws. John cringed and looked away as he left Claire to prepare his snack for him. He eyed Cassidy, seeing the metal Weavile staring at him while chuckling very lowly, judging from the minor flashes of his red grin. The tarantula scowled at him as his pedipalps crossed, hearing the sound of flames afterwards. He turned back to see the Vulpix roasting the meat piece with a controlled jet of flames. After a small bit, the Vulpix finished roasting the piece to an acceptable degree and looked at John with a concerned frown. “So… are you sure you still want to eat it? Maybe you can hold on for longer…”

John looked below himself, seeing himself standing on a puddle of glitch energy. “And probably fuck up the forest with this as I walk? No chance.” He approached the cooked meat, staring at it with a bit of hesitation as his mandibles twitched. “I need to man up…”

“Or should you… spider up ?” Cassidy suggested before giggling. John hoped that Cassidy wouldn’t be this annoying during their entire stay in the human world…

The Galvantula hesitated, just staring at his food as the puddle of liquid-like static just grew larger from his pointy feet. John felt like he was about to commit a taboo, he shouldn’t do this, or else what remained of his conscience would slip away without a moment’s notice. But at the same time… who knows what would happen to him if he remained hungry? Not only the restraint of his new chaotic powers might slip… he might do things while hungry he’ll regret a lot. ‘Fine… let’s get this over with…’

With a heavy breath, the monochrome tarantula leaned down and bit on the roasted meat of the squirrel, his mandibles tearing the piece apart as he ate the piece slowly. His new mandibles felt so awkward to munch, it wasn’t as bad while speaking but using those tiny sharp teeth to munch was another story. The taste wasn’t as bad as he thought, it just felt like munching on a piece of bread with no butter or cheese… as strange as that sounded. Even though he wasn’t disgusted at the taste, the thought of him eating like that just made him disgusted by the whole scenario-

… was Cassidy right? No, he couldn’t be…

John finished his meal, he felt his stomach tone down in intensity a bit. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to suffice for him. The monochrome Galvantula looked down and saw the glitch energy retreat back to him. He then grunted from a bit of soreness in his legs almost making him tumble down and fall on his underside. “Goodness…”

Claire approached him and put a paw on his abdomen. “Are you alright, John?”

“I… I guess so.” He then looked down. “At least I’m not sinking or deleting anything from space again… Cassidy was right.”

“I’m right MOST of the time! But hey, it worked!” Cassidy approached the duo, putting his claws on his side. “See? It wasn’t that bad! No need to complain all that much about a wild animal!”

The Vulpix tilted her head. “From what you said earlier and your being nonchalant about all of this means you’ve lived like this before?”

“Yep! Not my best time. Went to sleep starving for some nights since I wasn’t used to hunting in my new body. But hey, that’s when I decided to just embrace my instincts and then I did much better while hunting and scavenging! And also, for your reassurance, Johnny.” He tapped the side of his head. “I still retained my brain after all that time.”

John stared at the metal Weavile with a frown, questioning in his head everything he believed. Was he just… overthinking all of it? Would he not lose his mind to become wild? How could he be so sure… 

The horned tarantula sighed and looked aside. “Claire, don’t forget to eat as well, alright?” 

“Alright, I won’t.” Claire said before shooting another controlled flamethrower at the rodent. 

After the two organic Pokémon had their fills, the trio continued walking towards the city. It was already dark and to compensate for Claire’s low visibility in the darkness, Cassidy was kind enough to activate his… flashlight purple gem thing on his forehead…? 

John was a bit confused about how many functions fit the metal Weavile’s body. Not only did he have extendable limbs, gun fingers, an arm cannon, wheels below his feet, a rocket propeller on his back, and now a flashlight on his forehead? What’s left, his belly opens up to reveal a laser canon?

… Honestly, after everything the Galvantula went through, he wouldn’t doubt anything else.

“Hey, Cassidy?” The robot faced John, his flashlight almost blinding him before he lowered the intensity. “So, now I’m curious about your own body. How much stuff does your body have? Like, you can do a lot of stuff with it if I remember correctly…”

Cassidy crossed his arms. “Oh, what’s that? You jelly or something?”

“No, dude. I’m just curious about how much stuff your body fits because of the amount of stuff you can do.” John said as he tilted his head.

The metal Weavile looked up. “Heh, to be honest. I feared robots before becoming one. Once I did become one, I noticed it wasn’t all that bad and I gained all sorts of cool gizmos. But to answer your question…” He shrugged. “A lot. Since I don’t need to eat or drink stuff, and don’t have a reproduction system, more stuff can fit.” He turned both of his arms into small cannons and aimed them around. “And hey, I don’t mind it since all these things are pretty awesome!”

John then thought about something a bit concerning. “Uh… but what if you want a girlfriend…?”

Cassidy made his claws appear again, his frozen grin carrying a smug tone to it. “And who says I want a partner at all?” He flexed his claws. “Nah, dude, I’m a free spirit. Turning into a Pokémon may be the best thing that has happened to me! … until the furry came and made me her puppet for… I don’t remember how long.”

Claire grimaced at hearing that. However, she looked at the metal Weavile in determination, her eyes emanating a soft hue. “That means we’re just gonna avenge your free spirit by giving that tyrannical meowscarada what she deserves!”

Cassidy flicked his claws at the Vulpix. “I like your funny words, fox girl! We’re gonna beat her ass so hard she won’t even know what hit her!” 

“Long way until that point though…” John stated, adding the realism that the other two missed. “We still need to figure out how to go back to the Pokémon world since we’re kinda stuck here without Hoopa or Popo and Nana’s help.”

“Wait, are those the little rats? They can make portals to our world as well?” Cassidy asked in curiosity.

Claire confirmed. “Uh, long story short, yes… they can.”

“Interesting. Sad they got captured though.” The metal Weavile replied with a shrug as John and Claire looked down with a grimace. “Oh well, we’ll just bust them out later, once we eventually get out of this world.”

The fire fox added as she looked at the Galvantula. “Also, remember what Hoopa said? You need to get better at using your powers to even have a chance against Alice. She must be really powerful to have even subjugated the god of space to do her bidding…”

John sighed, the glitchy particles around him bubbling a bit quicker. “Don’t even remind me… I just wanna get to the city faster so we find a good place to rest for the night. I’m already stressed out as it is from everything that happened…”

“No need to speed up anymore because…” Cassidy pointed in front of them, a tall wired fence stopping them from progressing forward. However, on the other side of the fence, they could see an illuminated road that led to some buildings that were some kilometers away. “We technically reached the city!”

Claire’s tails wagged in excitement as she saw the light of the city a bit away, seeing some cars pass by the road as her eyes glimmered in excitement. “We’re here!”

John scratched his head with one of his backhands, groaning in tiredness. “Well, hopefully, we can find a good place to rest…” 

“Yeah, today has been tiring…” The Vulpix admitted as her ears flattened against her head, a sigh escaping her mouth. 

“Don’t rest just yet!” Cassidy said before jumping over the fence with a single hop while doing a front flip. After landing on the other side, he spun to face the other two Pokémon as a car passed behind him. “Come on, the fence is not electrified, y’all can climb over it just fine!”