"I think this is good." Alec said aloud for his two companions as he slowed to a halt, just off the trodden path between Saffron City and Celadon City.
He hadn't been able to cover the distance from Vermilion all the way to Celadon in a single day, not with something as small or slow as a scooter.
He definitely wasn't in the video game version... But then, he already knew that.
Didn't he?
"Houn?" Sirius asked, pointing with his nose to indicate the path forward.
"Dra!" The newest addition to the eclectic group shouted.
The Dreepy had been very eager to coil itself around Alec's hat, helping to keep it in place. It wanted to keep going whilst Sirius was just wondering why they were stopping.
The pup was slow to wake up in the mornings but he just didn't stop once he got going.
"I'm gonna show you guys a secret." Alec explained as he stepped up to a tree and took off his backpack to root around for a moment. His hand came back out holding a box of chalk. Quickly taking a stick out, he placed a large 'T' on the tree in front of him. "Here, back up a bit and let me get to work."
The chalk marking was mostly unnecessary, but Alec would need something to focus on later. Even a temporary landmark would work for the spell he was about to perform.
Gathering the magic for a larger spell felt... Slower. Like Alec was pushing against something. Not necessarily resistance, at least not anything solid. It felt like there was more... Distance?
Which... Was distinctly possible, he supposed. Alec knew there were several sub-dimensions around the core world of PokeMon. The one the Unown used, the Reverse World, there was another Ghost Realm, too, but its inhabitants, the only ones Alec had ever seen at least, were a bunch of assholes.
Alec snapped his fingers as the spell finished forming and a hole rippled into the air in front of them, an unusually slow process as it expanded outwards from the middle, revealing a location that still seemed to be in the midst of its day as the current location transitioned into an orange and purple twilight.
"Alright you two-" Alec paused mid-step as he was about to enter the Gate into his private domain. There was a gap. A small one, but still. A gap in between the two sides of the Gate. Maybe only a few centimeters wide...
Alec got close to the edge and looked through it, jerking back in surprise when something massive and gray darted past it.
"Nope!" Alec was not dealing with those kinds of shenanigans! Not today! "Come on you two, hup-hup!"
Sirius hopped right through but Alec had to grab the Dreepy and drag the curious ghoul into his home so he could cancel the Gate.
"Welcome to my home." He spread his arms out, leaning his scooter against his side.
The realm he'd revealed to the two PokeMon was large, three buildings stood out among the flat plain. Directly before them was a cabin, the one Alec had once used as his home. On their right, a bit away, was another cabin. His workshop.
To their left was a modest, two-story house. It... Had many of Alec's things, many important things like his laptop and collection of spellbooks. It lacked, however, in the most important thing.
His family.
Alchemist huffed and shook his head. He was working on it. Every setback just meant he was going in the right direction.
"Lets get you both fed and we'll see about getting some training figured out." Alec said, walking towards the house. On the way they passed by a group of smaller square buildings. A giant made of metal, easily the size of a Golurk, raised itself just slightly to look at the odd group.
Alec waved and the golem waved back, returning to its slumber. Leading the creatures into the house, Alec paused to leave his shoes next to the door on an empty rack.
Sirius seemed incredibly curious. His nose was sniffing away, his tail wagging as he tried to dig his way into the cushions of the couch. The Dreepy seemed more interested in lingering with him though that didn't stop the small creature from turning every which way it could from its spot around his neck.
Alec gently placed his sword on the ground, leaning against the dining room table and took off his bag, extracting the egg from within.
The egg. That had really been the part that told him which reality he was in. In the games, there were only two egg models. A standard one, white with green flecks and a special one for a kind of legendary pokemon that was blue and yellow. After someone took enough steps, the egg would hatch and reveal whatever PokeMon was inside.
In the anime, things were... Different. While the eggs still certainly had a generic egg shape, they also took on the colors of the PokeMon inside, sometimes in a pattern that would look like what it would change into.
And change was the key word. Eggs in the anime didn't hatch. They evolved. Usually.
The egg that Alec had pulled from the water was red and black. Not colors he typically associated with water types. Not even fighting types. Alec didn't think it would be a Sneasel or Misdreavus egg, possibly a Litten? He wasn't sure.
And he wasn't going to worry about it. The egg would hatch, or evolve, or whatever it did whenever it did it.
Instead, he turned on the stove and grabbed a pan. Spaghetti with sausage sounded pretty good tonight.
While the water was heating up, he dug through the cabinets to retrieve a pair of plates. About half of the pre-made chow went on to one, for Sirius, and two tablespoons were put on the other one.
He wasn't actually sure what the Dreepy would eat. On the one hand, deep-sea dragon and he knew they liked to knaw on the claws of some crab or lobster PokeMon back when they'd been alive. On the other... Ghost.
Well, he'd figure it out.
"Sirius, come here!" Alec called as he crouched to set down the food. The mage looked up when he heard the dogs nails clicking against the hardwood floor and froze.
Sirius had a rope toy in his mouth, his stubby little tail was wagging away.
"Food..." Alec tugged on the rope but Sirius didn't want to let go, happily pulling on it. Alec almost ripped it from the dogs mouth, his hand shook with how hard it was clenched.
"Dr~ah?" Dreepy asked, pushing its head against Alec's chin.
Sirius didn't notice how the man had frozen, too busy trying to twist the rope out of his hand.
"Food, food first." Alec swallowed, the pit in his stomach felt like it had been filled with lead. He didn't think he'd be able to eat much. "Then we'll get to some training."
Alec let go of the rope and Sirius nearly fell backwards at the lack of resistance. Instead, Alec pointed at the dish of pureed meat and berries.
The dog stood in place, looking painfully conflicted as it tried to decide if it wanted to play or eat. Eventually, as it always did where dogs were concerned, food won out.
"You, too." Alec told the Dreepy, running a finger over its head before placing the floating serpent down in front of its own dish. "We won't get much done on an empty stomach."
Something Alec knew from constant, personal experience.
"Just keep moving forward..." Alec told himself as he stepped back into the kitchen and towards the pot of simmering water. "Even if it's only one step, keep moving forward."
"I see you are a fox of culture."
