Lessons in Unusual Fields (Pokémon SI)

[AEM]

Chapter 1

I let out a sigh as I picked up the pace for the walk in the park right outside my mom's house. I kept my distance from people, with one or two wearing masks with the whole somewhat deadly and highly virulent virus going around. This was the first time I had gone to run on my own, and frankly it was for my own good due to the health scare after I had my first check up in…five, six years?

Apparently high cholesterol and triglycerides isn't a very good thing for a guy of my age of just under 20. That has required a change in diet and a removal of certain foods deemed unacceptable including the excessive amounts of soda and a ban on red meat. Honestly it was quite easy though I still had the occasional urge to drink some, and I didn't have much of a problem with chicken or fish. I had also learned I liked almonds…perhaps liked them a little too much in fact. As well as gained cravings for guacamole…especially when I learned how to make it myself.

I shook my head as I passed a very short bridge which was currently empty, opening my water bottle and taking a long sip to satisfy my thirst. I stopped my steady walking pace, looking up at what had once been a clear sky. I frowned as dark clouds began to roll in from out of nowhere, stepping back at the weather oddity. One moment there was light and the next moment darkness had arrived.

Clouds don't work that way.

My paranoia was enough to get me moving and I turned on my heels to go back home. Regardless of what I thought, a storm was not a good place to be running in. I picked up the pace, breaking out into a jog when a boom like thunder shot out from the skies.

Something was wrong.​

I swallowed, and made my way back as the more clouds seemingly materialized from out of nothing. Clouds didn't do that, clouds couldn't do that. The rolling wall of darkness blotted out the sun, and I saw bright sparks in the air. I yelped when I got shocked by one, and I jumped over the horizontal pole that partially blocked the entrance to the two mile long nature park. I kept running, and there was a sound like a loud bell.

I almost stumbled as a sudden blast of air nearly slammed into me like a punch. I kept moving, but I tilted my head to look back and—dear fucking god WHAT IS THAT?!

The storm has morphed into a maelstrom of madness, twisting and bending in strange shapes and expanding in directions that shouldn't exist. Light lensed around the streaming darkness, and I paled at the implications of light being bent without an immense gravitational field. The storm swirled around a growing dark mass, a spherical shape that revealed something on the other end, distorted by the sheer warping of reality around it.

I gaped at what was very much the depiction of a singularity, eye watering distortions and all. Air rotated around the sphere, turning white hot to the point of nearly blinding me. I took off in a sprint, deciding that having at least a few feet of house between me and certain death would help.

A ripple followed as the hole in reality expanded, and I was caught in its grasp. I choked as the very fabric of space and time was twisted and bent, and the physical laws themselves were altered on a fundamental level. I nearly slammed into the ground, until a sudden pull grabbed me by my groaning body. Other smaller objects rose with me, and the heavier cars briefly lifted before their mass overcame the pull.

Too bad that I didn't share the same fate.

In a single second I had accelerated from stand still to over thirty meters a second, and I swallowed a scream as I took off into the sky like a bird instead of the flightless naked ape I was. The cloud was at least a mile in the air, but it took only ten seconds to reach the dark storm of twisting madness.

That was half the speed of sound.

Reality started to glitch at the boundary point, literal static running around and along my arms, legs and face as physical constants took a hike. I slammed into the sphere, and everything went to hell.

In an instant all the light going into my eye had stopped, and I was in total darkness for what was either thirty seconds or thirty years. Regardless of the amount, the next moment was filled with light.

I felt like I was slipping between two spaces, and I caught a final glimpse of home before shooting off like a rocket. Trails and wisps of its scent clung to me and I let out a wordless scream as I was thrust across the vastness of infinity.

I saw glimpses of other places, other bubbles sitting in the void where nothing could exist yet everything existed. I spun uncontrollably, trails of starlight following as I crashed into a particular cluster of realities. Instead of punching through the membranes, I skipped along their surfaces like thrown pebbles.

One bubble was a world of space itself, it's origin point in the worldline it was a part of. A pink void that was beyond my ability to fully comprehend, and something ancient stared back at me. I was thrown off the crystalline surface, and skipped along another bubble maintaining the cohesion of reality.

This new place was one of pure time, with hints of intertwined space just like the world of space had intertwined time. I was thrown from it quickly, and the third impact revealed a bleak world landscape of floating islands and broken physics that I found intriguing but terrifying.

With each impact, I felt my skin tingle as tendrils of energy latched on with a terribly strong grip, and at this point I had gone numb. This ethereous stuff seemed to surround and envelope this cluster, and I started to feel my body shut down. The feeling in my arms was gone, followed by my legs and my lips and my chest.

Well that's just great isn't it?

Within seconds I slammed into the very largest of the bubbles, though my vision couldn't make out if it was one world or if it was a number that would dwarf the number of particles in the known universe. Things that did exist, would exist or had existed, a well of potential both realized and unrealized. My collision had seemingly imparted me with sufficient amounts of energy to penetrate through the veil.

I passed out soon after.

___​

…

…

Oh…god everything hurts…why does everything hurt? And I'm 90% sure this isn't my bed with how prickly it was…no that was 100% grass, and I could feel a soft gentle breeze on my face. That was not a good sign at all was it? I don't sleep outside and I only went to summer camp once and that was back in elementary school I think…

Err…

I opened my eyes to an open sky, and the chirping of animals and creatures that seemed oddly incongruent with what I was used to. A few wispy white clouds drifted over my head, and with a snap everything returned to me.

I threw myself into a sitting position, heart hammering in my chest as the memory of being thrown across realities surged like a tidal wave.

Oh god…oh god oh god…

I took a series of calming breaths, working my way through the panic as I focused myself on what was important. The memory was blurry, a whirlwind of madness and pain as I was thrown around like a ping ball.

I still felt my contacts in my eyes, so I had perfect eyesight instead of a blurry mess outside of a range of about a foot. A check of my belly found that I wasn't really any lighter, so everything was intact despite the mysterious vanishing from my apparent dimension.

I look around with my thankfully sufficient eyesight, finding myself in what had to be a rather dense forest. Once I realized that I stood up on wobbly feet, feeling vertigo for a few seconds before I steadied myself. I checked my pockets, finding my phone and strangely enough my wallet as well. I left that alone, since my memory told me it was likely futile. It looked fairly pristine, though the dirt road looked a little too man-made for this forest to be completely natural. I could hear the chitter of animals and I stepped back in a slight reaction to the odd sounds.

A dragonfly emerged, and while it looked normal enough there was definitely a sense of unease. Like there was some small difference I wasn't noticing, but before I could voice my concern the insect vanished into the mouth of something moving at immense speed. The dark blur let out a bird call, circling around with its prey swallowed in a single bite. It swerved back again, and I yelled when the large bird almost smacked me in the head as it passed me by.

My eyes followed it until it landed on a tree maybe a dozen feet away, and I blinked rapidly at what I was looking at.

It was large for a bird, maybe about two or so feet tall from what I could see if not taller. It perched on relatively robust orange legs, toes firmly wrapped around a branch. It's dense feathers weren't uniform in color, with most of its body being a shade of grey with a patch of white on its chest bordered by darker black feathers on its face. White feathers surrounded the beak and eyes in a face print, and it's feathers curled back into…a cowlick(?) structure. It's wing feathers were tipped red. It had a yellow curved beak, which had suddenly lunged and pierced through a large caterpillar…and I blinked.

It was slightly different than what I had seen before, a detail and realism to it that made it difficult to figure out but…as well as a sleeker more predatory look to it…

"Is that a Starly?"

The…Pokemon made the standard ingame cry, though there were periodic mixes of staar and lyyy.

The damn thing tilted it's head at me, as if saying 'what are you looking at?' a fierce intelligence hiding behind its piercing eyes. I waved, and it narrowed its beady little bird eyes. It looked nowhere as cartoony as you would expect but there were hints and differences in its eyes and facial structure that made it seem more cutesy than it should.

Then again I actually find a lot of birds cute to begin with…so that might just be my bias taking over.

"Sorry…but is there any way you can help me out…? I think I'm a little lost." I scratched the back of my head, and wondered what was happening to my life if I was getting desperate enough to ask a wild bird to help me out.

It let out a slightly grating croon, and it flapped its wings, puffing up its feathers. Instead of attacking, it rolled its eyes and pointed its beak to a tree only a few feet behind me.

I hesitantly glanced back, and blinked at the backpack that sat comfortably against its trunk. It looked a little worn but not to the point of falling apart, and I grabbed it while keeping an eye on the Starly. I unzipped the backpack, and found a range of supplies. The weird thing was the fact that some of this stuff looked like no one has used them…while others looked recently opened, including a bag of almonds that had been in my house…

So someone stole a bunch of shit and packed it in a probably also stolen bag. There was a canteen, a knife, enough food to last a few days(maybe…), some rope and a few sets of clothing almost certainly nabbed from my house.

But one of the things that weren't obviously something from home were the six red-white metallic balls I felt within them. I carefully pulled out one, inspecting it with a curious hum. I pressed the button and it opened to reveal a mirror-like finish, along with a circular electronic circuit on the bottom and top. I closed the ball, and realized I could turn the button…to lock it I imagine? I unlocked it, and instead held it to see what would happen. The ball went from about the size of a baseball down to the size of a ping pong ball.

Interesting.

The shrinking process was smooth, and my skin crawled at the impossible compression. How did that work, was there a type of spatial manipulation going on? Or…did it somehow turn itself into energy like how it does so to Pokémon? Or was it some type of mechanical thing that I couldn't see without ripping the thing apart. So I left that alone, and checked my phone…and found that the screen protector had been replaced, and that my case seemed…sturdier somehow despite looking the same.

I also found an app that hadn't been there before…and a quick check found that it was some type of offline version of the Pokemon Database website. Which meant I now had a general idea of a Pokemon's movesets and stats…though that last one would probably be pretty useless since this isn't a video game. I turned it around to find a solar panel, and wondered how I had missed that. Though with the size it'd probably take days or weeks to charge.

So…no mundane usage of the thing.

I put my phone away, nodding my head and pausing when I realized the Starly had stuck around. It was staring at me intently, and I wondered what it's gender was. I think…males had larger face prints didn't they? And something about it's face print seems smaller.

"You're a girl right?" It puffed up at my words, and I lifted my hands. "I just want to make sure my guess is right. Am I right?"

After a moment it…she nodded. "Staar." She never said her name, which frankly was a relief because that would get annoying incredibly fast. It's name was split between some mundane but very complex animal calls, and I shook my head. I could have gone into denial, but I wasn't a fucking idiot either.

I could feel the wind on my face, the grass beneath me and a pinch revealed pain. And Pokémon wasn't the worst world to be dropped into, especially if I didn't have to deal with any of the more dangerous esoteric threats and dangers. Like the fact that even the weakest pocket monster could probably rip me limb from limb, and some of them would try to eat me or even eat my soul.

So…maybe that wasn't as true as I had hoped then, because that means I could die a very painful death.

Fantastic.

I looked at the bag, which also had a few empty journals. "This isn't going to really do much for me…" Even so, I pulled out the almonds, and began to munch on about a dozen of them. There was a flapping of wings, and a weight made itself known on my shoulders. Soft feathers touched the side of my face, and I blinked dumbly at the big bird on my shoulder.

I frowned and with a sigh I gave it a few nuts, and she crushed them with its beak. The Starly stared at me, and with a single flap took off into the brush. Right as I was about to turn away to grab some water, it came back with a few berries in her talons. It dropped them in an open hand, and gestured toward them with her beak.

I hesitantly took one, and started to eat it. There was a shiver as I got an instant boost in energy from the blue colored berry. The scary part was the fact that the energy boost started before I had finished swallowing the sweet berry. A few aches that I hadn't noticed before seemed to vanish, and I stood a little taller as I straightened my back.

"This an Oran berry?" The Starly narrowed her eyes and after a few seconds she nodded. I took six of them, and placed them with the almonds in the plastic bag. I ate another one, and a few more aches vanished with the healing properties of the oran berry. "Thank you." I had no reason not to since it was obvious this little Starly was perfectly sapient.

Which was…a lot less overwhelming than you would think. Meeting nonhuman intelligent life and all.

I took a look around, eyes opening to the forest around me as I finally began to focus a little more deeply.

There were a ton of oak trees, with a few ash trees mixed in. Many of the trees were gigantic, some of them reaching up to maybe fifty meters in height though most were about twenty to thirty meters tall instead. Birch seemed the second most dominant tree and I saw a wide diversity of plant life in the wet forest. Other lesser plants like bluebells, holly and some plant I remembered as being a self-heal plant made up the undergrowth along with moss and other things.

A few deer Pokemon, a dozen Sawsbuck and twice that number in Deerling kept a wary eye on me as they grazed on grass, berries and other wild plant life. I blinked a few times when I realized they were joined by what looked like fairly normal deer, though they seemed a little more rare. And far smaller…and built more for maneuvering and running.

Then…I saw a group a good seventy feet away ducking into the forest, when I looked at them again they were gone like ghosts.

I guess normal animals are a thing too? Or maybe here they'd be some type of Pokemon that lost their powers to gain some type of advantage? I couldn't guess on what that would be, though it could be something relating to food or or even reproduction.

"You wouldn't know where the nearest town is right?" I asked the Starling, and she looked at me like I was an idiot. "So that would be a no, and it's starting to get darker." Which meant I needed shelter, as well as a source of fire for the night and to keep predators away. "What about shelter?" I took a look around, taking a few steps to find a bigger clearing preferably not too far from a stream.

I got lucky and found a spot that was sufficiently bare, with a few large trees providing shade with their long branches. I moved, and the Starly followed with an irate call.

"Staar." She seemed resigned as I skipped over a stream(I checked the depth first) and began to recall some of the advice from a few books I had read on crafting things. I had an actual knife at least, so it was better than having nothing.

I found a few free saplings, and stripped them of bark after hacking at them with my knife. I could hear feathers rustling as I went through a process of trial and error, figuring out usable cordage after a dozen or more tries. I nearly cut myself a few times, and over time I managed to acquire all the components for a bow drill. That took another three or four times to get right, and I could hear the birdie cackling of the Starly as she watched me try to survive.

I carved an indentation into a piece of wood, and cut a spindle as well as sharpened it as needed. I made a fire stick, figured out a baseboard and this time I did get cut. I simply pulled out an oran berry, and the cut healed itself at a rapid but not instant rate. I gathered rocks, and was thankful that the medium clearing was free of flammable material as I gathered the stones into a restraining circle.

I found old dry wood from a dead rotting stump, and got to work. It took only a few minutes to get a fire started, and added some more fuel. Starly helped fan the flames with a gentle breeze from her wings. It had turned dark by the time I had finished, and I now had a warm fire to huddle around.

I sat down as exhaustion got to me, and my hand gripped my aching chest. I didn't have time to think about what had happened to me…and I didn't want to think about it.

"Oh god…" I covered my mouth, and took a deep breath.

In and out.

In and out.

Breath.

I grabbed a packet of jerky, and despite my current need to not eat red meat I took a bite anyway. There was a wet apple and I bit into it, sitting down with a loud sigh. To my surprise the Starly dropped down next to me, offering some of her warmth.

I relaxed and passed an Oran berry to her, along with a few almonds. She seemed to enjoy them and I smiled bitterly.

"Let me guess…you want to go with me so I don't get myself killed in the wilderness right?" She squawked in the affirmative and that made me laugh a little even as the ache set in. I checked the fire, and grabbed more wood for later use.

And I added a pile on top of the fire to make it burn longer.

Once that was done, I dropped to the hard ground, which was probably because it was a large smooth stone partially buried in the dirt.

I laid down…and hoped that I would wake up in my bed.

___​

AN: So this a Pokémon SI I've been working on for a good month…or two? I've lost track of time a bit with this one. I write a lot of fics that I start and then lose confidence in once I think hard enough about it or I don't like the premise anymore. But this one got about 23K words in before I decided to publish the first chapter. It was rewritten in a few parts and was partially pushed forwards by projects I've seen to worldbuild for Pokémon in other SIs, as well as a few threads elsewhere.

Mainly the Expanded Pokédex by Zocarik as well as some inspiration from a certain human turned Tyrunt.

This story will post every 1 to 2 weeks but please don't expect regular updates. This story was more to refresh my brain when writer's block starts hitting for Victories of the Soul. This story isn't going to be short, but it's not going to be put out regularly unless I figure out an efficient schedule.

So I'll see how this goes.

 

[AEM]

Wait how do I move this from the Worm section? This isn't a Worm story.

 

[Aurora Moon]

Wait how do I move this from the Worm section? This isn't a Worm story.

Click to shrink...

You might have to ask a mod to move it for you?

 

[AEM]

You might have to ask a mod to move it for you?

Click to shrink...

Thanks that clears some things up.

Edit: So everything is more or less fixed up in the Thread department at least.

 

[Twisted]

Good start, I like where its going.
But I don't know what you mean by "lost its powers" they are just different animal species that evolved differently under different circumstances.
Like tigers and lions kinda of thing.
Regular animals just didn't need magic to survive, they did it by outbreeding their neighbours!
The good old fashioned way.

 

[AEM]

Good start, I like where its going.
But I don't know what you mean by "lost its powers" they are just different animal species that evolved differently under different circumstances.
Like tigers and lions kinda of thing.
Regular animals just didn't need magic to survive, they did it by outbreeding their neighbours!
The good old fashioned way.

Click to shrink...

Well he's only talking about Pokémon moves and abilities specifically, and he's certain there was a reason for it related to some evolutionary advantage, like faster breeding for example. As you mentioned they didn't need powers, but did need to put energy into outbreeding them. Though they likely serve as some of the lowest rung in the ecosystem, since even Bug Pokémon are gigantic.

 

[Godking]

this seems pretty interesting so i presume he is not going to go on a journey to become the world greatest pokemon master

 

[AEM]

this seems pretty interesting so i presume he is not going to go on a journey to become the world greatest pokemon master

Click to shrink...

He's certainly going to get stronger, though the reasons why all be very distinct. I already have five chapters but posting them slow is better to keep pace with my other story.

 

[Godking]

He's certainly going to get stronger, though the reasons why all be very distinct. I already have five chapters but posting them slow is better to keep pace with my other story.

Click to shrink...

okay at least he is male albeit is he taller or shorter than basilla oh and imagine how he would react to a female version of himself that is a tech genius a cyborg and a bender and biotics user and has a super-suit and is dating a tall gymnast built version of Taylor Hebert that can not only control bugs, but fire energy blasts, create a bug avatar of its passenger and has biotics and is older than her canon self

 

[AEM]

okay at least he is male albeit is he taller or shorter than basilla oh and imagine how he would react to a female version of himself that is a tech genius a cyborg and a bender and biotics user and has a super-suit and is dating a tall gymnast built version of Taylor Hebert that can not only control bugs, but fire energy blasts, create a bug avatar of its passenger and has biotics and is older than her canon self

Click to shrink...

Well…this takes place a while after he started writing that.

 

[Krazyfan1]

Neat.

guessing the non-pokemon animals are there as an alternate food source, so that eating pokemon is mostly kept for emergencies/famines?

 

[Godking]

Well…this takes place a while after he started writing that.

Click to shrink...

Lol the irony now I wonder how basilla would react to knowing that an alternate version of her/himself is the one who took her to earth bet 😅 but on a serious note I guess he's in a less dangerous world than worm

 

[AEM]

Neat.

guessing the non-pokemon animals are there as an alternate food source, so that eating pokemon is mostly kept for emergencies/famines?

Click to shrink...

Effectively yes, though thats more to fill the niches that Pokémon just don't fill due to being so large. Two foot tall butterflies can't exactly count as being on the same level of regular insects. So most animals will be micro-bugs, fish, and other small animals. With some larger ones filling in other niches. Though that only reduces Pokémon predation, since it is the wild.

 

[DevonFazbear]

Interesting you've definitely caught my attention can't wait to see where you take this story.

 

[Hustler]

Maaaan I'm so fired up by this first chapter. You don't find good SI's everyday, and even less based on Pokemon. So thanks for putting it out there^^

 

[AEM]

Maaaan I'm so fired up by this first chapter. You don't find good SI's everyday, and even less based on Pokemon. So thanks for putting it out there^^

Click to shrink...

Yep. I've only seen maybe three recent stories that don't involve a SI becoming a Pokémon. There's not a lot of them out there really. Plus I've been playing Pokémon since I was kid so it seemed like a fine idea.

 

[Bbbbb]

Yep. I've only seen maybe three recent stories that don't involve a SI becoming a Pokémon. There's not a lot of them out there really. Plus I've been playing Pokémon since I was kid so it seemed like a fine idea.

Click to shrink...

Which Stories?

 

[AEM]

Which Stories?

Click to shrink...

Hmm…I think there's Also-Ran which is on this site, Heart of Shadow on Spacebattles, and Borne of Caution. There could be others but I don't recall names at this point.

 

[AEM]

Chapter 2

I was woken up about four times in the night by an irate Starly, the bird pokemon intimately knowing when the heat source was starting to die. It was daylight, and I could hear the loud calls of distant Starly. That seemed to trigger a loud call from the Starly I knew personally, and she looked annoyed for a good hour as I got food in my belly. She had brought in a fish of some kind, and I spent time figuring out how to butcher it.

Thankfully Starly seemed to have a good idea of where all the bits are, so I didn't have to waste food. The knife was messy but had gotten washed by a passing Poliwag that used a Water Gun attack. From what I could tell, pokemon made water was suitable for washing and watering but not drinkable. So no more blood and guts on my sole tool.

Starly was fairly open to teamwork, which was why she was currently flying high though taking care to not get too far from the treeline. While Pokemon usually subsisted on animals(or lesser Pokémon?) I didn't want to take any chances. If I was lucky we would only be a little while away from a town, and I could walk the rest of the way into civilization.

She dropped from the treeline, hovering down until she landed on my outstretched arm.

"So did you see anything at all?" I asked quietly, stepping away from the site where I had slept. Another Wooper had left the area soaked, so I moved on.

She cried out positively, pointing with her beak to what could be considered south. Which made me remember that there was a larger river that cut through the forest. "So you saw a light?" She nodded, and I grinned. I grabbed an almond and she ate it greedily. A piece of jerky was offered and she took it with a happy cry.

I walked casually, looking around the place. Pokemon were abundant, and Ratata seems endemic along with Zigzagoon that looked…Galarian?

Was I in Galar? Honestly that didn't seem right since Starly weren't really a thing there…which was actually weird when you think about how Starling are native to the British isles.

"Hmm…so is this like a temporary partnership or do you plan to stick around?" She didn't say anything as expected, so I kept walking. There seemed to be a few Galarian pokemon, but some of the Pokemon…did seem different.

Maybe I was in another region entirely…but it was probably a place that was close to Galar. With the number of Galarian pokemon I've seen it's what makes sense unless Galar is more diverse than I expected.

"How about a name? If we're going to be partners, then a name to call you by should work nicely." I wasn't sure how this would work out, since I had never raised a pocket monster before.

"How about Eliza?" She hissed(how?) and I knew that was the wrong answer.

"Ziz?" She mulled it over and denied it.

"What about Simurgh?"

"Hippogriff?" She ruffled with visible annoyance…did she think I called her fat?

"Hmm…how about Turul?" There was a change in her tone, and there was peace as a name was chosen for the starling pokemon. She looked pleased, and I felt happy that I had made at least one friend in a world of magical monsters and evil team plots.

I figured that the name of a mythical bird of prey would suit her just fine, and she switched her perch from my right shoulder to the top of my head. I flinched when one of her claws nicked me but it didn't really hurt so I left that be. As we walked and followed the river, I felt some amount of unease. There was something out there, and Turul picked up the same bad vibes.

She turned her head, chirping as she tried to pick up on what we were feeling.

It came out of nowhere, and I barely ducked out of the way of a Starly, anger in its eyes as it dive bombed us. Another one followed, and I tilted my head out of the way as it tried to claw my eyes out. That bought Turul time to retaliate, and she tackled the second Starly in a devastating impact. The two Starly circled us, crying loudly and with a lot of aggression.

"The hell…do you know them?" She hissed, puffing up her chest with a rage that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. "They…did something to you? Mistreated you?" I made an educated guess, and her bird song was positive on that front.

Hmm…

"I'll try to help if I can…" She seemed to understand. "Is Quick Attack a move you know?" She chirped, and I wonder if it was weird that I was slowly starting to get the nuances of her complex bird song.

The Starly didn't let us talk, Starly pushing off into the air and rolling away from a violent peck. Probably not a move, but it could definitely do damage.

The two ganged up on her and I shouted. "Use Quick Attack to dodge!" She responded, and accelerated on a trail of white light. The two irate Starly cried and directed their ire towards me, approaching from two different angles.

Fuck.

"To me!" I rolled, a claw striking my arm as I barely dodged. "Quick attack them into each other!" She blurred, and slammed the bird that nicked me into the other one. They were dazed. "Tackle." Both were thrown around like ragdolls, slamming together into a pile of feathers and squawking.

There was a sting from where one of the Starly had scratched me, and I pulled out an Oran berry. That should promote some quick healing, and the instant energy should fuel it. The two Starly flew off with pained cries, and Turul stiffened.

…

"They're going to come back with their whole flock aren't they?" I asked wearily.

She didn't even make one sound.

…

"Fuck. We should run."

I could hear the cries of a hundred bird Pokémon and went full throttle with Turul at my back.

___​

I held my hands on my knees as I wheezed, out of breath after a good half hour of running from a flock of flying Pokémon, and another two hours of jogging to get as much space between them and us as possible. From what little I could tell that had been a rival group of Starly to Turul's flock, and a very mean and aggressive one even for Starly. The forest seemingly went on for miles, and I had picked up Oran berries and two Sitrus berries on the way. We had still followed the river, and we had spooked a few Pokémon during our chase.

Which was why I was keeping quiet as a swarm of Beedrill passed overhead. And frankly Beedrill were terrifying beyond words. Like every other Pokémon, the hint of realism made them far more terrifying than their formidable size already made them. They looked a lot like slightly cute Hornets with white spears for hands, and turns out Pokédex sizes are only an average. Most of them were between two and three feet tall, while a few were about four to five feet tall and were led by a freak easily eight feet tall.

That very nearly made me shit myself and I was almost 20…dear god that wasn't something I was going to forget any time soon. They were fast too, easily crossing a few dozen meters in a single second as they flew angrily.

The size discrepancies weren't too complicated, and I think Pokémon sizes in general aren't exactly the same as in canon. Most of the Starly were a little under two feet tall, though Turul was taller and bigger than normal. Actually she was about the size of a bird of prey, and probably not much lighter.

I'd say she weighs a little over half as much as a human baby…so around five to six pounds. Pretty normal for a bird her size, though from how she clamped onto my shoulders she had two orders of magnitude more muscle packed into her form.

The walk was getting tiring, but Turul had been getting more excited as we seemed to be getting closer and closer to an actual town. Which meant actual shelter that wasn't in the middle of a monster filled wilderness. It was still morning, though another hour would take us into the early afternoon. Not that I really had a problem with that, I was tired and while I had food I wanted a real meal and not the snacks I had been given to tide me over.

"How long is it going to take?" I asked myself this question, rolling my shoulders while Turul sat on my head.

___​

Turns out there was a good two more hours of walking, and I found that the forest was thinning. The trees becoming less dense and wild, the Pokémon getting more and more spaced out though animal life seemed as lively as ever. A Pikachu had come out of nowhere, chasing a Pichu into the thicket. A few Rookidee were doing their thing, and one of them jumped at me before bouncing off to wander to some other place.

I stepped over a few bug Pokemon and had the strange luck to get to see a little Caterpie tossing a bunch of caterpillars into Turul's waiting beak as a peace offering. I decided to pretend I hadn't seen that, and moved on with my life. I slowly started to find a beaten path, and I noted a split on the path with one of them being of much better quality. That was probably where I was supposed to be going then…especially since the other was full of rocks and roots and led deeper into the forest.

That was definitely not the right way to go, and since I didn't fancy getting lost in the forest I took the clear path. Turul didn't seem worried so I knew I had made the right choice. Though how I managed to successfully interpret the body language of a big bird was a mystery I was going to crack some day.

As I walked I gathered up a few more Oran berries from a bush, passing one to Turul. She flapped energetically, and I added a bit of almonds to her diet. I pulled a water bottle from my bag, and gulped it down. A few Pokémon resided in the trees, though they scurried by so fast I couldn't see what they were. But I did see a Bunnelby.

But the coloring and shape was wrong…it was much sleeker, and it's coat was a mix of silver and a dark purplish black. The metallic gloss of their silver fur made me blink, and when it phased through a tree I knew it had to be a regional variant. It made me wonder though, while regional variants could be considered the same species, would they stay the same species? Would enough time and genetic isolation make them diverge into a new species over time until their form was no longer as compatible?

Though with how Pokémon can be considered a gigantic ring species that might not be as accurate as I would hope. That or they can breed with some form of horizontal gene transfer. Which makes me wonder if new Pokémon species can evolve from breeding between different species, I mean hybrids aren't a thing but the offspring should retain some of the DNA of their father. That's how egg moves work, which means they retain dormant DNA that can be put to good use over time.

They'd probably start off as a regional variant, changing typing and appearance and changing the distribution of their stats. But eventually they'd diverge enough to become a different but related species, using the dormant genes of a tertiary species to change and evolve.

Maybe I'm overthinking it…then again Pokémon are fascinating from a scientific perspective. Their biology is impossible within the standard laws of physics, and learning to understand them on a biological level could lead to breakthroughs in all kinds of science.

Preferably they'd only do non destructive testing…though with the technology level of Pokémon that might not even be necessary. They've already got teleportation, universal healthcare and a society that's probably not too far off from post-scarcity though the existence of companies and industries might indicate otherwise.

Turul poked me, and I set myself back onto the path. Looking in front of me didn't suggest a town nearby so I knew this was going to be another long while…

___​

Six hours later I had run through about a quarter of my food, and Turul was eating a small lizard that had the misfortune of crossing her path. It wasn't a species I recognized, and seemed to be the only species of reptile around. The river was filled with Pokemon, including Magikarp, Goldeen, and Barboach accompanied by numerous lesser animals. My feet were aching, and I felt rather pissed at how long this journey had been.

I suspected that at my current physical condition I wasn't very suitable for long trips until I packed on some muscle and dropped a few pounds. Though a few whippings in the face by tree branches made me realize I was probably still a lot tougher than I should be. But that didn't make walking for literal hours any less agonizing. Especially since Turul hadn't decided to go into the Pokéball yet. So she would rest on my shoulders or my head and add more weight.

The sun was starting to drop, and the decrease in light level made it a lot easier to spot the light of a town in the distance.

"Is that a very far away light? Or is it close enough to walk the rest of the way Turul?" She chirped, and I decided to simply walk. It's not like I had anything else to do even with six pokeballs. Getting out of this forest sounded like the best use of my time, and the best method of keeping myself alive.

This was a fucking awful day…besides finding a Pokémon but that was yesterday so even that's not true.

Great.

___​

It took another hour for the light to differentiate itself into something that was more helpful than a continuous light. It was a town of modest size, with square buildings, a lot of brickwork and a castle of some kind. It was sitting along a large river, the very one that we had been following though it had widened considerably. A few old ships were around, but were dwarfed by modest cargo ships that looked a little rustic but perfectly functional. Honestly I'd put the town as having a few hundred to maybe a few thousand people, or a medium in between the two estimates.

There was a B&B of some kind at the edge of the town, some place called Anna's Bed and Breakfast. Since it was fairly late at night, the sleepy town was rather empty. Turul was in my backpack, and pulled out a Pokeball. I nodded, and lightly tapped the ball against her head. With a snap the device opened, a red light surrounding Turul before converting her into energy. The three pulses of light finished quickly, and once it was silent she got out of the ball on her own.

I guess she's my Pokémon then?

I stepped up onto the sidewalk, the sensation of concrete beneath my feet being familiar and reassuring as I stumbled forward. There was a wooden door with a glass window that I opened as I stepped into the air conditioned space of the large resting stop. The lobby was fairly normal, looking like a fancy but homey hotel. There was a small shop that had soft drinks, snacks and other little things. The first floor was basically a giant living room/lobby/kitchen. It was basic but nice enough and I heard a gasp from the front desk.

I blinked at the person behind the counter, vision slightly blurry after nearly two days of wearing contacts. It was a woman around my age if not a little older with long red curly hair, and amber eyes. She wasn't pale, a tanned skin tone was what she had, and she wore a dark red dress shirt and black slacks that did little to hide her figure.

"Oh…crap are you okay?" Her voice was harsh, eyes wide with concern and worry. It was about then that I noticed that my legs were shaky, and that I was in little condition to stay standing for much longer.

"Do I look okay?" I barked out angrily and she twitched for a moment before sighing and sauntering around the desk. She grabbed a medical kit of some kind, and pulled a Pokéball from her belt. It expanded and with a throw a Chansey materialized from light.

It was…surprisingly furry, and it reminded me a lot of an egg shaped Quokka despite looking like well…a Chansey. She let out a few soft cries, hopping until she was right in front of me. She pulled out the egg from her pouch and offered it to me, and I hesitantly took the egg into my hands. It felt sort of like a hard boiled egg, slightly squishy due to the shell softening. It had those little appendages at the side of her head, which were either ears or some form of long braided hair or both.

Despite that I ended up taking a bite, and the aches from hours of running and walking started to fade. The girl had shown up like teleportation, and I leaned back with a light blush at the sudden closeness. She offered a bottle of water, the first I had seen since some Pokemon had stolen most of my bottles. I took it without hesitation, and I drank slowly as cold water dropped into my throat.

Oh thank god I'm in an actual city.

"Thank you…" Turul took a piece of prepared food from the redhead, chirping happily but with notable worry was in her eyes as I drank.

"Shit…what the hell happened to you?" She had a light Irish-like accent, and I took a deep breath.

"I'm not exactly completely sure…I woke up in the middle of a forest, got lucky with Kurul here and ended up getting chased by a rival flock. We followed the river for who knows how long until we got here."

She paled. "You were in the Ossory Forest." My concern was elevated, and I wondered how bad that was.

"And?" I was concerned, and she shook her head.

"Usually if you're near the roads it's pretty safe, but if it took you that long to find your way out. You'd be in the Forest Deep, where the strongest and most ancient Pokemon tend to live. I know there's a Ninetales that's at least nine hundred years old…there's rumors that the Borvo, Fearo and Shiur River was carved out by it in a big battle against some powerful Pokémon a long time ago."

The blood drained from my face. If what she was saying was true at any time I could have intruded on the territory of a super ancient Pokemon and gotten erased on the spot. "Well that's bad isn't it?"

She smiled. "Uhh…yeah…" She gestured toward another part of the lobby, and I followed behind the taller girl toward what had to be where dinner would be served. It was empty, besides two people working in the kitchen. I sat down in a booth, sighing as I got off my feet for the first time in hours.

"I…" Fuck I feel like crap even after eating a magic egg.

She patted my shoulder, her smile widening. "I'll go get you something to eat, no charge either. You look like you've had a rough time."

I fussed with my hands, ducking my head and rubbing my aching neck. "Thank you…I never got your name?"

She smiled wider. "I'm Ciara." Her Chansey let out another cry, and Turul responded back.

"Brandon. It's nice to meet you." It really was, and I was probably going to pass out soon enough. Ciara sauntered away, leaning as she barked out orders to the cooks who looked a lot like her. Siblings maybe, though they looked a good three or four years older than she did.

And…I finally relaxed, the tension flooding away from my shoulders as I realized that episode was over and done with.

I was back with people again…in a region I didn't know or even recognize. And I had my doubts that anything was going to be as simple as I hoped it would be.

Isn't that just the best thing in the whole wide world?

___
​

AN: So I've decided to post the chapter today, largely because I do have a buffer of at least 4 chapters and I'm currently writing the 7th chapter. Not much to say on it other than I'm following a more…realistic theme for Pokémon. Not to the point of absurdity like 'Oh Pokémon is actually slavery' nonsense but more in worldbuilding and toned down because there are a lot less terrible people in their world.

In modern times anyway.

As for Pokémon themselves I wanted to take a similar approach but again without needless grimdark, though I will be taking cues from the Expanded Pokédex for behaviors and biology. I will also be applying that to appearance…mostly from Detective Pikachu and less grotesque Pokémon fanart. For example…Beedrill

Beedrill by JoshuaDunlop on DeviantArt

www.deviantart.com

Now look at that and make it four feet tall. So…that's it basically.

 

[DevonFazbear]

if the realistic beedrill don't give you a heart attack the spider pokemon definitely will.

 

[AEM]

if the realistic beedrill don't give you a heart attack the spider pokemon definitely will.

Click to shrink...

Oh there are a lot of Pokémon that would give people heart attacks if they were realistic, or lest cartoony anyway besides whatever weird physics they evolved into.

 

[Red_Faux]

Just read this. Was the space and time bubbles Brandon saw earlier perhaps related to Palkia and Dialga? They happen to be my favourite legendary pokémon. Rise of Darkrai will always be the best pokémon movie in my opinion. Oracion be boppin'.
Diamond and Pearl FTW!

 

[AEM]

Just read this. Was the space and time bubbles Brandon saw earlier perhaps related to Palkia and Dialga? They happen to be my favourite legendary pokémon. Rise of Darkrai will always be the best pokémon movie in my opinion. Oracion be boppin'.
Diamond and Pearl FTW!

Click to shrink...

Heh…there might be some relation there.

 

[AEM]

Chapter 3

Ciara set down a plate of scrambled eggs, ham, bacon and toast along with a cup of milk from when I had asked what they had. She was personally mixing a bowl of insects, fish and different berries and nuts into a healthy blend. I watched closely since I found it rather interesting. Once the food was crushed she placed a bowl on the table and Kurul began to expertly peck at the prepared meal. I dove into my own meal, profusely but awkwardly thanking Ciara.

The aforementioned woman was leaning on the booth, resting on her hip as she watched me closely. "So you really just woke up in the middle of a forest?" I nodded and there was suspicion in her eyes, though it didn't seem to relate to my story. "You don't have any missing memories do you?"

I was taken aback by the question. "No? Should I be missing memories?" I was starting to get worried, I didn't need the worry of losing my mind on my shoulders.

She blushed, raising her hands in her own defense. "Sorry about asking a question like that! We've just had a Professor from another region who's been staying with us for a while…a lot of what she says tends to stick with you." She muttered very quietly, and she continued before I could question her. "I mean we get a lot of visitors from Corcach, Corthy, Roshare by the roads. There's a bus route from Waterfront, Dublink, Twexford and Cainnech." She labeled them off with her fingers, sticking out her tongue as she labeled possible cities. "Then we can't forget the Corviknight taxi but that's pretty newly implemented in Lughir."

Lughir…that's not a region I recognize. So I ended up in a region outside of the main 8, but one that's close enough to Galar to have similar Pokemon but different enough to have a few Pokemon that don't appear in the game.

I'm in Pokemon Ireland?

"You seem a little lost…?" I nodded, biting my lip as I thought about how screwed I was. I had no money, I had no identity and I had nowhere to stay in a world like this one.

There was a loud and deep squeaking sound, and a large pokemon emerged from up stairs. It was a Diggersby but it looked…different, this wasn't a fat burrower it was a sleek smooth runner of a hare, with the same pallet change as its younger form. The hands on the tips of its large ears were shrouded in shadows and claws of steel tipped them.

"Oh…I guess the smell of food woke you up didn't it?" Ciara picked up on my curiosity, if her next words weren't a hint. "This is Ames, she's a Lughiran Diggersby." The rabbit was taller than I expected, almost as tall as Ciara herself. Which was a little scary when I was only 5'2 and Ciara was 5'11 in height. Rabbits shouldn't grow that big.

"So are Chansey and Ames your Pokémon or…?"

She raised her hands. "Sorry but no…they're my dad's Pokémon, they help out around the Inn. I never really got into being a Trainer…not that I didn't want to." I muttered the last bit, and left that alone since it was none of my business.

"So who's this guy baby sister?" Ciara stiffened as the siblings working in the kitchen poked their heads out, revealing that they were twins, one a girl the other a boy. It was the girl who had spoken, with her hair being darker than Ciara's hair.

"Aileen…don't do this." The college age girl sounded annoyed and her brother added his own comment.

"I don't know baby sister, I don't think dad will like you talking with strange men." He laughed, and I fidgeted under the sharp blue eyed gaze of the brother.

Ciara's fists were compressed into shaking fists, teeth grit into a half snarl. "Aidan, don't start with your shite. Not today." Her lips were pursed angrily, and the twins backed off.

"Well I don't think the boy is very strange myself! Though my friends here disagree!" I nearly had a heart attack when a tall buff man with a majestic red beard appeared with two people in lab coats positively dwarfed by the man. He had to be at six and a half feet tall and was built like a brick house to boot.

That was her dad?!

I ignored that and immediately recognized one of them as Professor Burnet. The other was an unknown though from what I could tell he didn't seem like a Professor. Before I could even breath the Professor got into my personal space, lifting a smart-phone like device to my face. It sent out a continuous ray that went up and down my body. The device let out an alarm and three more scans were taken before Burnet stopped.

"You seem to be giving off a massive amount of foreign multidimensional energy." I didn't get a chance to respond as the professor analyzed me intently, taking a few more scans.

"Maybe we should take this somewhere…private." I nodded fearfully when the jolly expression on the bearded guy changed. I didn't like my chances if he thought I was a threat, and I was curious about what they would be able to tell me. There had to be something that would help me find a way home.

Anything at all would help.

___​

I was brought up into a lived in guest room, one that had to belong to Burnet. The big bearded guy was named Lewis, and he was Ciara's dad who had also joined us since she had the full picture due to being so close. The guy had brought out a surprisingly buff Alakazam that was about as tall as Ciara. There was an anxiety at the psychic abilities of the Pokemon but I pretended not to be troubled by the fear of such a power.

Professor Burnet straightened herself, her face setting into a serious expression.

"I'm not sure you'll know who I am…but I'll try anyway." She cleared her throat and I followed along. "I am Bethany Burnet, a Professor specialized in the relationship between Pokemon and other dimensions. My colleague here is Blaine Yew, the assistant and son of Professor Yew who specializes in Pokémon genetics." The assistant waved awkwardly, a skinny dark haired fellow with an oversized lab coat.

I…related to his plight.

"You're going to ask if I'm from another dimension." I stated without a hint of doubt, and Burnet seemed a little shocked at my admission. Ciara looked taken aback, eyes wide and confused.

"That was exactly what I was going to ask…so you're…" She trailed off.

"I'm from another universe yes, though one that's a lot different than yours. I was somehow ripped away from my home reality through means that I don't yet fully understand. That trip left me with little else but a backpack full of barely marginal supplies, everything I had in my pockets and six empty Pokéballs. It's also why I was okay with you blurting out what you did. An expert on things like this is better than nothing at all." I was beyond desperate, the world of Pokémon was amazing but it was a world full of danger in equal measure.

The Alakazam nodded, and there was a pulse of something as it communicated with its trainer. The four other people in the room stare at me, and I fidget. This shouldn't be too hard to believe, I had gone through Gen 7 well enough to realize that dimensional shenanigans weren't an uncommon thing.

So I pulled out my wallet which thankfully had a college ID and a Sentri pass to add some further proof to what I was saying. I passed what I had to Burnet and she looked at it closely.

"USA?" She questioned and I started my explanation.

"My home country, the United States of America. I'm from California specifically, one of fifty states. It's a bit like Unova though I imagine there's some differences I don't know about." I shrugged, not really being too sure myself about how different our two worlds could really be.

"It must be a big place." Ciara looked intrigued and l smiled bitterly.

"With 3.8 million square miles of territory it would have to be." The group of four glanced at one another.

"I imagine it'd be hard to keep control of so much land with the number of wild lands that have to be there." Burnet's comment set me off.

"Not really since Pokémon aren't a thing in my world." There was a moment of silence, all four people and two Pokémon left speechless by the bombshell I had dropped on them.

"That shouldn't be possible." Ciara looked astounded.

"There isn't much I can do on that front, we have animals and things like that but there's never been anything particularly supernatural about my world. But we never had or in the end needed Pokémon though they would certainly have helped us out a lot." I rubbed Turul on the head, and she let out a quiet chirp as I did so.

"It's not impossible," Professor Burnet rubbed her chin, nodding her head. "My studies of other dimensions have found a few universes that were essentially empty of Pokemon and mostly ruled over by animals. If your world is similar to one of those worlds then that would explain it." A weight was lifted off my shoulders.

"So you believe me?" I asked desperately and she smiled.

"I've seen a lot of strange things in all my years as a researcher, your story is fantastical but completely possible. Plus the testimony from your Starly confirms it." The Alakazam tapped his skull, and I understood that he had used telepathy. "But it does beg the question on how you know about Pokémon to begin with?"

I pulled my phone from my pocket, opening up the app that held the offline website. I suspected that whatever had brought me here wanted me to have evidence for my claims. So I passed it to her, and the three older adults in the room.

"Pokémon are fictional in your world?" Ciara squeaked, having checked in on the group to take a peek at the action. They pulled back the phone in response, and the redhead pouted in response.

"So you know about our world through some strange coincidence?" Burnet didn't let me answer, pulling out a phone with a holographic screen. She typed quickly, and I opened and closed my mouth in response. "This is unprecedented."

"Well Pokémon has been around for about twenty four years now, though I have doubts that everything would translate smoothly. It's definitely strange and interesting though." There was a look in the Professor's eye that confused me so I ignored it for a later date.

"But how did you get here?" My expression twisted, and my gut churned at the memory of what had happened. Ciara closed her mouth, looking apologetic.

"I…remember a storm…a storm that had some type of swirling nothingness within it. The gravitational pull was so strong it lifted me right off the ground and…and…" I swallowed my spit, shuddering as I recalled the fear and terror sinking into my bones.

Professor Burnet placed a hand on my shoulder, and my panic subsided despite still considering her a stranger. Perhaps my multiple runs of Gen 7 had inoculated me to her presence. I knew she was a good person, and felt beyond lucky that she had been here instead of me being alone with no help at all.

"That's…different, did you see anything when you were…transported?" My eyebrows furrowed af the question.

"I remember a void…and I hit a few things on the way here…like giant marbles that felt…strange." I tried to remember what they had looked like but my memory came back fuzzy, static overwhelming the traumatic experience. "I can't really tell you much more than that, I'm sorry."

She patted my shoulder. "It's fine, I imagine it was a harrowing and confusing experience." Her sympathy calmed me, and the assistant didn't seem to express any disbelief of my story. Even Ciara was starting to appear less suspicious of me, and her father didn't seem to have any suspicions to begin with.

The researcher looked at my phone, and then at my wallet, lips pursed with an uncertain expression. "Well…while it's not the most complete, we can work with this. Though we'll need to plan out a few things to get more personal information."

"Personal information?" The professor crossed her arms after handing back both my phone and my wallet.

"Well we'll need all of this to get you identification so you can be sponsored." She replied cheerily and blinked at the response.

Huh?

"A what?" Was it like that thing that Leon did with the MC in Sword and Shield? I've never played the game, but I've read enough to get the gist of it.

"A sponsorship is fairly basic, though it comes in about three tiers. A tier 1 is a parent giving permission to their child to go out into the world, registering them into the system and providing financial support. Adults usually go through a registration process instead, or they can gain a tier 2 sponsorship with a professor and they obtain a bi-weekly stipend from the Pokémon League. A tier 3 is gaining backing from either a high ranking Gym Leader or even a Champion which opens up a lot more doors than one would expect."

"So you want to offer me a Tier 2 sponsorship? Why?" I raised an eyebrow, while the people of this world could be generally nicer than my world I doubt that was the only reason.

She smiled. "No actually, Professor Yew will be the one sponsoring you, I've already chosen someone to sponsor in my stay here." She didn't mention who and I crossed my arms with a light frown.

"That still doesn't answer why?" Burnet frowned back at me.

"It's no trouble at all you know…Professor Yew has been looking for a new protege since her son is specializing in Pokémon and their relationship with Types." The kid nodded, and looked at me with a curious expression. "And since I'm spending about eight months in Lughir for research I can better figure out how you got here and find a way to your home universe. Lughir is well known for the phenomena of Otherworld Gates, not unlike Ultra Wormholes in Alola." So this place really was Pokemon Ireland then…

"I…I suppose." I scratched my cheek, and she smirked.

"Then it's settled, thankfully New Ros is Amelia's hometown so that'll make it easy for the two of you." She looked directly at Ciara, and the redhead pointed to herself.

"Me?" She looked surprised and I felt the same but said nothing.

"You've been a rather good student since I came here about one week ago, and your father and I go back four years. If you're interested…" Ciara perked up, and her dad smiled widely. But in an instant that excitement became muted, a dark look passing swiftly.

"I…might consider that…but I have a job here I shouldn't…" Her dad clasped her shoulder, his grin sad.

"I've been planning this out for a while now, one of your cousins from up north will take your place. It was going to be more of a surprise but this boy here has sped up the timeline a bit."

Her lips thinned, and she sighed, bowing her head. "Alright fine…if you insist dad." She wasn't smiling but there…didn't seem to be much resentment at least. But I couldn't be sure without getting to know her better.

"So what's your opinion Brandon?" Burnet glanced over and I schooled my expression. Well it's not like I had a choice to begin with.

"Why not?"

___​

The Professor of the Lughir region was apparently a gorgeous brunette in her mid 30s, which was where I got the shock of her kid being about fifteen. Which would make him a child prodigy by Earth standards. I didn't have enough data on this planet to know if the same thing was true here, maybe they'd be abnormally talented in comparison?

The Professor wasn't tall, being about an inch shorter than I was and with hair cut to just about her shoulders, with a blue work shirt and black cargo pants hidden under a white lab-coat. She had wide emerald eyes, and thin eyebrows with a few scars and barely notable blemishes. Her coat did little to hide a lithe and athletic body that I lacked.

The lab itself was large, full of advanced equipment ranging from what I think had to be gene sequencers, comprehensive scanners, and various tubes that were growing various types of tissue. There were two other assistants, doing their own jobs and the space was at least several thousand square feet with a single secondary space that Burnet had disappeared into. Ciara was following her, nervously fiddling with her hands as she went after Burnet

"So…seems like Burnet got a little carried away didn't she?" I jumped as the newly met Professor sat down at a chair, clasping her hands together and her smile pulling up with motherly warmth. "Didn't think I'd ever meet with a Faller, there's been maybe two dozen of them recorded in history, and most of them were from worlds like our own."

"Yeah…well today has been a day for firsts." I responded dryly, lightly scratching Turul and enjoying her soft feathers. She crooned in response and I grinned.

"Good thing for you…that I find you fascinating scientifically, not that I wouldn't try to help you anyway." She shrugged, brushing back brown bangs with a smirk. "I've got the equipment to get your personal information as accurate as possible, we would need your date of birth, weight, height, and a few other health checks."

"I don't have a problem with that." A lack of papers sounded like a problem waiting to blow up in my face.

"Then we'll do this now if that's alright?" I nodded and we moved fast, and I was pushed right into a room with a lot of esoteric machinery and told to follow instructions.

"64 kilograms and 157 centimeters in height. Heightened levels of cholesterol and triglycerides." She spoke as I was put under a scanner, the machine flashing red a few times. "Signs of some older types of medication used to counteract it, I'll be getting you a prescription then…we have some more modern solutions for those kinds of problems." She was muttering, scrolling through a tablet.

"Okay then…" Turul was sitting on the Professor's head, flapping a wing while she did her job.

"Surprisingly you do show the signs of a standard bioenergy field despite evolving from Supranormal animals…which well…should be impossible." I stared in incomprehension.

"What does that mean?" Her head lifted, and a smile rose to her face.

"All life on this planet is descended from some super-ancient Pokemon, with the main candidate being Mew. With the only exceptions likely being forms of plants." She looked excited to teach. "Animals or Lesser Beasts in this world simply took a different evolutionary path at some point, exchanging their more malleable and more powerful forms for the less energy intensive biology that they use. But they still have a bioenergy field, an aura if you would. But your world didn't evolve from Pokemon." More scanners turned on, taking other data like blood type and who knows what else.

I was given a form to put my name, last name, place and time of birth, age and other factoids that don't involve my biology.

"So somehow I have a bioenergy field despite being completely alien?" That was both fascinating and unnerving.

"Would you mind if I took a blood sample?" I offered my hand in my instant and she smiled. She pulled out some unknown type of needle, and with a split second of time she extracted the blood. I didn't even feel it, and it seemed to be some painless form of needle. "Eager."

"Well I have the same questions and the answers should be…interesting." I shrugged, and there was the light of amusement in her eyes.

"You're a curious type aren't you?"

"Maybe just a bit."

___​

I dropped down onto the bed that had been offered to me by the B&B, because apparently the lab had no spare beds and traffic was pretty low since New Qrow only has about two thousand people. There were at least a few other places so they were more than willing to put me up for a little while until my ID came in. Ciara had brought up a meal, which was just cooked chicken with a side of black beans. Which made me wonder if Pokemon Mexico was a thing. Which made me really curious about how that worked.

Turul was perched on a small bird's nest she had been allowed to make, one eye cracked open and glowing in the dark. I marveled at her in general, finding it strange on how real she looked. She didn't look distinctly cartoony, looking very much like just a big fluffy bird. Her beak was a little more pointed and her eyes expressed a deeper intelligence than they should but…she looked like an animal.

An animal that could beat the shit out of me admittingly, but an animal nonetheless. Of course just because she's not human doesn't mean I shouldn't treat her with basic respect. Pokémon were probably very complicated with the whole going up to people like battle-lusting masochists. Though I suspected the relationship between humans and Pokemon were more clear in reality than in the muddled background of the games. Some form of benefit had to exist for both to continue reaching for such partnerships.

It could be the equivalent of some type of cultural MMA, they go up to a trainer and see if they can be beaten as a test of worthiness. Once that happens they will get a stable food supply, care from their trainer, and the ability to grow strong and mature at a faster rate than their wild brethren. In exchange people get the ability to earn that income, as well as protection from the more unruly wild populations that weren't interested in being with humans.

So it was like what happened with dogs but between sapient beings and with varying scales of sapience between different Pokemon species. That would probably fall under some form of economic/social trade/interchange with dashes of psychology.

Man…you could write papers about the sheer strangeness of a world like this. Millions of them even if my world could…get…access.

I groaned, feeling a pang in my heart and then ignoring it as I looked up at the ceiling.

"Thanks…for helping out this poor excuse for a trainer." She puffed up her chest, looking proud and haughty. I shut my eyes and with little fanfare my exhaustion catches up with me.

I drift away into a peaceful dream.

___​

AN: Chapter 3 is here, and I'll use this chapter to talk about a few decisions I made a month again while I was agonizing over the path I was going to take. I had an idea to have the SI land in an unknown region, even if familiar characters might pop up every once in a while. Most of the delays with putting anything out was revising region names, region lore and getting a basic sense of what Lughir would be like.

That includes coming up with over 48 locations, though maybe half of those are cities and towns. Coming up with 8 gym leaders, an Elite 4 and the general lore of the region, which will involve other close regions. I even came up or…found names for other regions. Which are only relevant from a background sense. I even came up with about twenty regional variants with some based on Irish myth. Might add more but I doubt it.

Also just to repeat what I've said this will be darker than standard Pokémon, though think the Manga rather than the 'Oh it's evil abusive slavery' angle some like to take. Lughir will be something like the Orre of Generation 8 but without a scarcity of Pokémon. Plus making use of the Expanded Pokédex for the behavior of wild Pokémon.

So that's it. Have a good read.

 

[Krazyfan1]

Neat!
Hmm...
I wonder if you can do anything with your Bioenergy?