This is my first cross-over and the idea came from Kimiko Heroux pointing out the male Ranger in the Phantasy Star 0 game looks a lot like Jackie from Pokemon.

Kimiko helped with parts of this and came up with some of the lines.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sven asked, looking around the dense forest surrounding them.

"Of course it is," Jackie said. "How many chances do you get to see a Legendary Pokemon?"

"Not that. You have my hat." He glared at the cowboy hat on Jackie's head.

"It's just for now." Jackie looked back, smiling, and didn't turn in time to stop from bumping into a tree.

Sven narrowed his eyes. "It better be. That's my favorite one." He glanced ahead and his eyes widened. "Jackie." His voice dropped to a whisper. "It's watching us."

Jackie looked from him to ahead. A massive white and purple-pink Pokemon stood in a clearing, staring at them, its head low; something in its expression seemed to say it just woke up and was still mostly asleep.

Jackie got out his dark green Capture Styler. "Perfect."

"You're not thinking of..." His question was answered when a Capture Disk flew at Palkia and began to circle it. "Are you crazy?!"

"That's currently under debate."

The ring of energy surrounding Palkia began to glow.

Jackie grinned. "Got it!"

Palkia growled, lifting its head.

Sven took a few steps back. "I think you got it mad."

Palkia threw its head back, crying out, a pulse of energy spread out from its body. Jackie shoved Sven ahead of him, getting hit by the energy wave. His body started to become more transparent. He looked at Sven, panicked. "Get out of here before it gets you, too!" He slowly disappeared.

Sven stared wide-eyed at where his best friend had been and looked around for Palkia. It was gone.

"What do you mean I can't come?!"

"It's a simple mission, Kai," Sarissa said, giving him that you're-such-a-kid frown. "It's just to a nearby city."

His voice came out in a whine. "How come Ogi gets to go?"

"Because he's meeting up with Nicolas there. You should stay here in case the others come back and need help." She smiled, only halfway amused with the man's antics. "I'll get you some candy. Don't worry."

Kai sighed. "Fine."

Kai watched them leave and walked past the quest counter. "The usual place. I'll do the paperwork when I get back after I calm down."

The girl nodded. "Sure, Kai."

The teleporter took Kai to the top of a cliff. Ever since the dragon had been taken out, it was a nice place to visit and relax with the view. He walked out near the ledge, glancing over it just for a moment, forgetting just how long the fall was, and how many nice sharp pointy rocks jutted out of the ground and surrounding, much shorter, cliffs. He took his frustration out on a small rock next to his foot, kicking it off of the cliff, watching it fall. It sounded like it hit something, and that something roared. Kai froze, wondering whether or not it was safe to be that close to the edge. A white blur flew straight up in front of him, the wind knocking him back.

Wincing, he got up and watched the strange hostile's movements. What the heck was that thing? The hostile roared and swung its arm, throwing a rift of energy at him. He leaped out of the way, at the last second he saw a glint in the corner of his eye.

A glint that was getting closer.

And closer.

And—

"OW!"

Stupid glint hit him on the head. That is going to bruise... He looked up. The strange hostile was gone... He picked up the device that had hit him. It was a metal disk, shape like a child's top with what could have been some kind of blue crystal in the center. What the...?

The strange item flew out of his hand. "Hey!" He got back up, seeing a sudden movement near a rock and pointed his gun-blade in that direction, relaxing slightly when he saw it was just another human with messy blond hair.

"I thought you were a hostile."

He blinked. "You thought I was a what?"

"A hostile, a monster? Anyway, name's Kai."

"Jackie. Sorry about nailing you with the Capture Disk. I was trying to get Palkia, what just attacked you."

"That's... okay..." He looked Jackie up and down. "You're dressed strangely."

Jackie raised an intrigued eyebrow at his level of bluntness. "Well, so are you. You're obviously not a Pokemon Trainer, and that definitely isn't one of the Ranger uniforms."

"What are you talking about? And what's a 'Pokemon'?"

Jackie frowned and raised a hand to scratch his head. "Did the Capture Disk give you amnesia?"

"No. I just never heard that term. And how do you expect to go up against that thing if you don't have a weapon?"

"I use this." Jackie grinned, secretly glad he asked, and presented his Capture Styler.

Kai took it and checked it over, turning it about in his hands. "How did you—?" He clicked the exact, wrong button, and the disk shot out and hit him upside the head.

Jackie gave an amused half-smile, watching his acquaintance rub his head. "Yeah, it kind of does that..." As Kai handed the device back, he continued, lacking the hilarity in his tone. "Anyway, that 'thing' was Palkia. It's a Legendary Pokemon with the ability to distort and create dimensions. I was trying to capture it with a friend, and it got kind of annoyed. Next thing I know, I'm in the middle of a desert chasing it."

Kai narrowed his eyes. "I don't call that 'kind of annoyed'. Why were you chasing it?"

"Well, I need to get back home, don't I?"

"Something had to happen in between getting from there to here."

"Well..." Jackie looked up at the sky. "I thought I was dead..."

Kai nodded slightly, as if he agreed. "I died once." He sounded very proud of that fact.

Jackie glanced at him. "You what…?"

"That was a few months ago." He made it sound like it happened every day. "Anyway, it might be better to wait for - to get back." He frowned. "Why are you staring at me like that? Do I have something on my face?"

Jackie's eyes were wide. "You just faded out for a second. That's what happened to me."

"Meaning…?" Please don't mean-

"Palkia is trying to send you to another dimension."

Great. "... ... ... It would be wise to find that thing."

Jackie nodded. "Yeah, good idea."

"We should get back to the city first and... it might be a good idea to change your clothes. They'll attract attention and won't provide much protection against a hostile. ... Something that will match the hat."

Jackie nodded. "I could be a cowboy. And it's Sven's hat. I won a bet."

"About what?"

"That I'd win at arm wrestling." He laughed, not paying attention to where he was following Kai to. His eyes widened as the teleporter took them to a large, circular room. "Whoa..."

Kai gave him a strange look. "What, you don't have teleporters where you're from?"

"No. We Pokemon that can use Teleport and Trainers are able to transfer Pokeballs from one place to another." He noticed Kai's expression. "It's a little sphere you throw at a Pokemon and it catches it, no matter how big the Pokemon is."

"…Um… okay….." Whatever world Jackie came from must be so strange….

Kai led Jackie down the hall. "I just have to do some paperwork for the teleporter that I promised to do. After that I'll take you back to my place so you can change." For a second he went transparent. "Hopefully before I disappear." They came to a hallway that split four ways. "Stay here until I get back." He walked ahead and opened a large, floor-to-ceiling door that led to an open room.

Jackie stood there for a moment, glancing around. Maybe he should go find Kai… He walked towards the doors that seemed like they were the exit/entrance, having to better idea where to go.

Outside the building was what looked like a marketplace. Nearby was a strange creature that looked kind of like a Ponyta, only gray, no flames, and had longer ears. It obviously wasn't a Pokemon, but maybe….

He glanced around to make sure no one was watching and activated his Capture Styler. The Capture Disk circled the Ponyta-thing only once before it began braying loudly and burst forward, taking its cart with it, crashing into a fruit and vegetable stand; sending the produce flying everywhere. The Ponyta-thing freaked out and kicked its cart, breaking the front of it and managed to free itself, running away from anyone that tried to catch it, only causing more destruction.

Kai ran out, looking at the scene before him. It looked like the marketplace exploded…. He turned to Jackie. "What did you do?"

Jackie stared at the ground, feeling small. "I just wanted to see if the Capture Disk worked on the Ponyta thingy…."

"That's a donkey." He glanced around. "Come back in before someone figures out it was you."

They looked around and slowly retreated back inside the building.

"Don't do that again, okay?" Kai took him to a counter. "Stay here." He turned his attention to one of the girls that stood behind it. "Sorry about that… my friend is new here…"

The girl nodded, staring at Jackie. "Hello there~."

The other girl giggled.

Kai looked at them. "Hey… you two are supposed to fight over me…" He narrowed his eyes at them when he got no response and his expression deadpanned. "It's because he's blond, isn't it?" He still got no response. He frowned and quickly signed the rest of the paperwork. "I need to show him around, so…." He began leading Jackie away. "….yeah." The girls looked disappointed and waved good-bye.

Jackie looked back at Kai. "What was that about?"

"They usually fight over me." He didn't look at him.

"Huh, that's what happened to me when Sven joined the Union. The girls flirted with him and completely ignored me for three days. Until they found out we were best friends…" He sighed. "Just wait a day or two and they'll be happy to fight over you again. By then I'll be back home."

Kai led Jackie down one of the other hallways. "The hunters here get the option of having their own room. I didn't have anywhere else to go when I joined…." He opened the door, revealing a large, messy room. Off to the side were two other rooms. One could have been a bedroom, if the bed were just a little more visible. It made the larger, main room look sparkling clean….

"Sorry about the mess."

"Don't worry about it. This is empty compared to Sven's room." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I've seen his socks move on their own."

For a brief moment Kai looked afraid. "Your friend, right?"

Jackie nodded. "You know... if Sven had those same clothes and grew out his hair to put it in a ponytail it would be hard to tell you two apart."

"Is that so? I'll have to meet him sometime." Kai opened a closet door, hiding behind it as many items spilled out, revealing a surprisingly neat, lone shelf of folded clothes. He picked up a small pile and handed it to Jackie. "Before one of my friends retired those were some of the clothes he had. They should fit you." He smirked. "Ironically he used to be a ranger… a different class of hunters here."

Jackie walked into another room to change, returning with a very cowboy-ish outfit, complete with a bandana. His uniform was folded in pile, which he carried. He noticed a picture frame on a table. The picture itself looked as if it were discolored with age, but it was fairly recent, judging by the date scribbled on the bottom and with Kai looking as if he hadn't really aged much. In the picture he held a two fingers up behind someone's head, giving a dorky smile. A few others were in the picture, too, unaware of Kai's action.

"He looks happy." Jackie said.

Kai missed the sarcasm. "That's Reve. He's always like that."

He still stared at the picture, estimating Reve's age. "He's too young to be that crabby."

"Actually he's a Newman, which is like a modified human. Newmans age about one third slower than we humans do so he's actually about forty or so."

Jackie slowly looked back at him. "… He's going to be crabby for a long time."

Kai stared at the uniform. "Can I try it on?"

"Sure, but I thought you said it wouldn't be much use for protection."

Kai smiled widely. "I've been fighting hostiles for years. I have more experience."

Jackie hesitated and nodded. "True... wait... didn't you say it would attract attention?"

Kai shrugged. "Everyone here knows me. It wouldn't seem as strange if I wore it." He took Capture Styler and grinned. "You have to show me how to use this."

"Once we get outside so it doesn't cause mass destruction."

"Are you saying that I can't use it well? ... Don't answer that."

Jackie narrowed his eyes. "…Why are you staring at the hat?"

"Can I try it on?" He looked hopeful.

"If it gets lost here Sven will kill me. The last time something happened to it I ended up with a dislocated jaw, a broken arm, and a few broken ribs."

Kai stared at him for a moment and went to change into the uniform. When he returned he looked a little confused, the uniform being just a little too big on him. "I feel small."

"Everyone does when they first get theirs." He began to leave. "We should go find Palkia now."

Kai nodded and followed him, leading him through the rest of the guild and the city, getting plenty of strange looks from people who just stared and sighed, shaking their heads before they went back to cleaning up the mess that Jackie had caused.

"Shouldn't we help?"

"We should worry more about figuring out how to find Palkia… after this."

"There is one way to lure Palkia. What we have to do is- whoa." He and Kai watched as a very pretty young woman walked past. When she was out of sight they looked back at each other.

"…What were we talking about?"

"I don't know."

Once they got outside the city Jackie handed Kai his Capture Styler. "You press the button and hold it while you wave it around. It doesn't really matter how if it's a round shape. Just for now flick your wrist until you get used to it."

The Capture Disk slowly circled around, following Kai's movements of a tight circle that became wider than smaller, before turning into a figure-eight; the movements becoming faster.

"Careful..."

"I always am!" Kai grinned at him, looking away from what he was doing.

The Capture Disk shot of, hit a rock and sailed into the sky. It disappeared and a rift opened, Palkia flying out. It roared and flew at the two humans, picking up the one that annoyed it first: The one with the Pokemon Ranger uniform.

"Kai!"

Kai hung upside down, watching the ground get further and further away. "Whoa, everything is really tiny up here!"

"What?" As Jackie strained to hear what Kai was saying, something hit his head and landed next to his feet. His Capture Styler... He picked it up, examining it. Several cracks ran along the handle, and the antenna was bent, too. If he was lucky, he would get one more good use out of it.

He looked back up. Palkia was far away by then, but it was starting to descend towards a mountain. It would take at least a day to get there, and by then... Kai had said something about the teleporter in the city... He ran back to the Hunter's Guild, almost running into the counter. "I need to teleport to the mountain."

The girl looked puzzled, but at the same time happy to see him. "Do you have a quest?"

He forced himself to speak as calm as he could, which wasn't much. "I have to help Kai."

"Alright... Did he ditch you, too? He does that with a lot of rookies." She began searching through a folder of paper. "You'll need to sign some paperwork..." she looked back up. "Which mountain?"

"Whichever is visible outside of the city... a really big one that almost goes into the clouds. I don't think there is time for paperwork. What if Kai is attacked by a hostile?" That was what they were called, right?

The girl froze and looked at another girl with long, blond hair in pigtails, who nodded quickly. She looked back. "The teleporter will be ready when you get there."

Jackie nodded. "Thanks." He ran towards the backroom. In the center was a circle surrounded by other, smaller circles. He stepped into the large, center one. Nothing happened. Why wasn't it- It began to power up, lightly zapping him. Everything went a bright white before fading into the more earthy colors of the outside, specifically the base of the mountain. A cave was almost at the top of a very long, steep climb up. Great.

Palkia was slowly circling the mountain top, getting closer to the cave entrance. Jackie carefully scaled the cliff. "Manaphy's Heart Swap would be really useful about now. Or Chatot. Why didn't I bring Chatot?" Eventually well over halfway he pulled himself onto a ledge, exhausted. In front of him sat what looked like a very strange, almost cartoon-like rabbit. "What the heck are you?" The little creature jumped up and down happily before leaping forward onto his head, knocking him back and making him slide back down the cliff.

Palkia dropped Kai on the cave floor.

Kai stared up at it. "Okay, I'm sorry for kicking a rock on you, hitting you with the Capture Disk, and having no idea what you are. Can you take me back now?"

Palkia narrowed its eyes, growling.

"... If you're mad at Jackie I'm not him. He didn't want to get you angry, either." Palkia growled. "Really. Do I look like him?!" He gestured wildly.

Jackie pulled himself up and into the cave, standing up. He pointed at Palkia and looked at the rabbit-thing on his shoulder. "Uh... Fluffy, tackle it!"

"How the heck did you manage to find a Rappy?!"

The Rappy ran forward and head-butted the Pokemon, swirls immediately appearing in its eyes as it collapsed.

"Uh... Plan B!" Jackie got his Capture Styler out, releasing the Capture Disk. "Capture On!"

"How come I didn't get to say that?!"

The Capture Disk circled Palkia before the Pokemon batted it away, sending it into the cave wall. The Capture Styler beeped, the final sound droned on before fading.

There was a moment of silence.

"We're screwed, aren't we?" Kai asked.

Jackie hadn't changed his pose. "Maybe a little."

Palkia turned around, knocking its tail into Jackie, forcing him over by Kai.

Kai glanced at Jackie. "That thing isn't known to eat people, right?"

"I hope not."

Palkia took a step forward, looking closely from Kai to Jackie and back to Kai.

Kai pushed Jackie forward. "Eat him first—he's the one you want!"

Jackie looked back at him. "Wait, what?"

"I know for a fact I taste bad. I was eaten by a hostile and it spit me back out."

Jackie remained expressionless, his voice without much emotion. "Which is exactly why it should eat you first…."

Palkia ignored him and stared at Kai.

"Uh..." Kai became transparent and nearly disappeared. "Like I said, I taste bad."

"Check the pockets," Jackie said. "There should be a sandwich cookie or something that I forgot about." He froze when Palkia looked at him closely.

Kai found two flat, dark brown circles pressed together with a white layer of some kind of filling in between; it flattened and stuck against the clear plastic wrapping. He offered it to Palkia. "If you don't eat it, I will."

Palkia turned its attention to the offering and took it, closing its mouth around Kai's hand. Kai held back a whimper and slowly removed his hand, exhaling with relief. "I still have all five fingers."

Palkia looked back at Jackie, with an annoyed expression and tapped him on the head with a claw.

Jackie flinched back. "Ow. What did I do? Don't tell me that's all you wanted..."

Palkia glanced outside at the yellow and orange sky and looked back, nodding towards it and Kai.

"Was all of this because I got upset about not going on a quest and you brought Jackie here so I would have to help him find you?" Palkia nodded. He stared at it blankly. "Wait… You… you didn't do this just to tease me and because you were bored…."

Jackie stared at him. "What?"

Palkia nodded and glared at Jackie.

"...And because I bothered you?"

Palkia nodded again.

"I'm sorry about waking you up and I'll never bother you again." He held out a hand. "Friends?"

Palkia coughed up the plastic wrapper in response and looked away.

Kai didn't look too impressed. "Okay, that's just gross."

Jackie stared at the wrapper, his hand still extended. "It's better than a total rejection, right?"

"It's still gross."

Jackie looked back at Palkia. "Does this mean I can go home now?"

"And I'm not going to disappear anymore, right? Because we found you?" Kai added.

Palkia gave a nod to each, sending out a soft pulse of energy that enveloped Jackie.

"You'll come back, right?"

"Maybe, if I get Palkia annoyed again. Or you do and come to my world." He started to become transparent.

"Bring Sven next time."

Jackie nodded and waved good-bye as he disappeared. Palkia roared and flew into a rift in the sky that opened just long enough for it to enter.

Kai's smile vanished. "Wait..." He walked to the cliff ledge. "How am I supposed to get down?" He looked at the now awake and energetic Rappy joyfully bouncing next to him. "Do you have any ideas?"

The Rappy bounced behind him and rammed into his back, sending him sliding down the cliff.

"I'm telling you, Solana, he disappeared right here!"

Solana folded her arms, looking doubtful. "You and Jackie know better than to go up against a Legendary Pokemon. Besides, Palkia doesn't even live around here. It lives in its own dimension."

"Why don't you believe me?!"

She narrowed her eyes, her voice low. "Because the last three times you told me he 'disappeared' it was just a joke."

Sven matched her expression and voice. "You'll believe me soon."

A rift opened in the sky and Palkia flew out.

Sven pointed at it wildly. "Did you see that Solana?! Did you see it?! There it is!" Solana was already out of earshot. "Solana! Come on! I promise we won't play jokes on you anymore!"

"She's never going to believe you now." Jackie walked up next to him, looking exhausted.

Sven gaped at him. "You could have come earlier!" He stared. "Where'd those clothes come from?"

Jackie barely looked at him. "I'll explain later."

"Okay. Can I have my hat back now?"

Jackie nodded, walking ahead. "I'm really tired right now. I'm going to sleep for the next two and a half days, okay?"

"Jackie…. I want my hat back. Where. Is. The hat?"

Jackie froze, reached for it, finding it wasn't there, and turned, smiling brightly. "Bud, do I have the story for you!" A small voice in the back of his mind told him he should run. Now.

Kai walked through the Guild, arms folded across his chest and scowling; bruises already forming on his arms, legs, and face. Right after the "ride", the Rappy abandoned him, without giving him a chance to "thank" it. Not only that, he'd nearly lost Sven's hat that he managed to steal before Jackie had left. He sat down at a table just as Ogi and Sarissa came back and joined him.

Kai looked up. "How was it?"

"Dull." Ogi said. "There weren't any hostiles."

Sarissa nodded. "We heard from the others while we were there, so I guess it wouldn't have mattered if you came or not." She pushed a small paper bag towards Kai. "I got you the candy like I promised."

"By the way..." Ogi turned his head to one side. "Where did those odd clothes come from?"

"Let's just say it really did matter that I stayed here." Kai leaned his head back against the chair, put the hat over his face, and fell asleep.

Ogi and Sarissa looked at each other, confused. "Did we miss something?"

One of the girls that worked behind the counter walked up, glanced at Kai, and looked back at Ogi and Sarissa. "When he wakes up, can you ask him to let us know when the cute guy is coming back?"