Chapter 1

The weather is looking good today, so I figured I would play some Pokémon Go. After the app had updated, I noticed something quite peculiar. It was a Hoopa, a shiny Hoopa smack dab in the middle of my location, my own home. But I thought that the game only had the first three generations of Pokémon in it, what as a sixth generation Legendary Pokémon doing here? Furthermore, why weren't there loads of players here trying to catch it? Eh, why look a gift horse in the mouth? I tapped on it and tried to catch it. I swiped a ball at it and it was hit by the ball, but it did not catch it. The Hoopa glared at me and responded by opening a portal. A portal that grew until it practically consumed my phone screen.

"Wagh!" I yelled, as I was sucked into the phone, eyes clenched in fear of what might happen next.

When I finally opened my eyes I was… falling? No, if I was falling I'd be feeling G-forces or the wind whistling in my ears. It was more like floating, I was floating in some sort of void.

"Well, well, well, well, well. So nice of you to DROP in"

I froze and looked upwards. It was the Hoopa, gleaming golden and grinning lazily like a well-fed cat.

"Y-You can talk?"

"I can do more than talk. I can dance, and I can SING!" It replied, screeching the last word. "But that's not why I'm here."

"Well, why are you here then?" I asked.

"Oh, it's quite simple really. I'm here for revenge." It said with a glare, it's lazy grin morphing into a much more malevolent one.

"Revenge? But I didn't do anything to you!"

It gave a mock laugh before flat out warping into it's Unbound form. Ok, regular Hoopa is small but easily avoidable, Unbound Hoopa… not so much.

"YOU THREW A DAMN BALL AT MY HEAD! YOU SHOULD BE LUCKY I HAVEN'T TORN YOU LIMB FROM LIMB AND SCATTERED YOUR CORPSE ACROSS DIMENSIONS!" It roared, mere inches away from my face.

"I-I-I… Is t-there anyway I could make it up to you?" I asked. There were many things I wanted to do with my life and being killed by a cranky djinn is not one of them.

It pondered a moment before shifting back to its regular form.

"Well seeing as how you love Pokémon…"

It was true, the Pokémon anime had been one of my first and most favourite shows as a kid, along with the fact Pokémon Yellow had been one of my first Pokémon games and that I had a bunch of other Pokémon media like books, I was a genuine Pokémaniac.

"How'd you like to go on a Pokémon journey?"

"Huh?"

It rolled its eyes at my confusion. "Listen, I'll send you back 10 weeks before that dimwit's journey started. That way you can learn to handle Pokémon like a real trainer and not just a bunch of numbers and code ok?"

"Hey, Ash might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he's got a heart as big as the sun!" I replied. Sure, Ash has his faults, but so does everyone else. And he has saved the world several times.

"Uh-huh, yeah sure just keep telling yourself that." It replied dismissively, before holding out one of it's hands. "So, do we have a deal?"

I pondered on whether to accept or not. On the one hand, travelling the regions and catching Pokémon was what I always wanted as a little kid. And if I was travelling with Ash, then I could help him to beat a league, an official one at that. But on the other hand, would I really be so callous to just abandon my family to chase a childish dream? What would happen to them when they find out I'm missing? That and there were still so many things I wanted to do with my life.

"What about my family? What will they say when I've gone missing?" I asked.

"Don't worry about it. I'll arrange something, mmkay? So, deal or no deal?" It replied, thrusting its hand closer to me.

"… deal." I slowly said, shaking its hand. Even if I said no deal to Hoopa, it would probably just warp me to deep space or some other godforsaken dimension for its revenge.

"Splendid! Let's do the time warp again!" It sang before opening another portal. I looked through the portal and saw a dirt trail surrounded by trees on either side. "Goodbye loser!" Hoopa said as it shoved me through the portal.

I stumbled out of the portal and it closed before I could run back in. I mentally kicked myself for not asking for directions beforehand. I looked around at my surroundings, for all I know Hoopa could have stuck me in a forest that leads to nowhere. Heck, perhaps he sent me to somewhere in America or England. Yeah, I was probably somewhere in England and this was all a mad fever dream brought on by eating a rancid donut.

"Koo-roo"

I turned to where the bird was tweeting. It was a bird, or at least something that looked like a bird. A small bird with brown feathers and a cream underside. It was a Pidgey, one of the most common Pokémon in Kanto. It looked at me a little while longer before pecking at the ground.

"Well I'm definitely in the Pokémon world. But where exactly?" I asked myself as I looked around. There were trees to the east and west, nothing I could see north of me, but looking to the south I could see what looked like a town.

'Ok, so Pallet's to the south. Might as well head there.' I thought to myself, preparing to head off I stuck my hands in my pants pocket only to feel something in the right one.

"Eh?"

I slowly removed the item from my pocket. It was my wallet, or rather a wallet that didn't have any Dragon Ball Z logos on it. At least I would have some money on me than being stony broke. Attentively, I opened the wallet to see how much I had on me. To my surprise instead of 10 individual notes of $10, it was a singular yellow note with black borders and an Ultra Ball printed in the middle. The number 5000 was printed next to the right black border with a ₽ next to it. There was also a single coin with 500 on one side and a Poké Ball on the other.

But that was all that was in the wallet, no ID, no debit card, no library card, nothing. I shoved the wallet back into my pants and walked towards Pallet Town, maybe I could stay at their local inn or whatever they have there.

All in all, it was quite a peaceful walk. When I got to Pallet Town I could not help but be amazed by it. Sure, it was quite a small town and would be unimpressive to travellers from cities, but it had a sort of quaint vibe to it, like nothing could ever trouble these people.

I could see Professor Oak's Lab from where I was standing. It helped that it had a big wind turbine so that it could be easily identified. I decided to head there, mostly because I don't think knocking at Ash's door would be of any help. Besides, he'd be willing to help a stranger out… right?

When I made it to his lab I knocked on his door. As I waited, I tried to drum up a story as to why I was here, something that preferably did not include 'I come from a universe where you're just characters made up by a man who wanted people to experience his bug catching hobby'.

"Yes?"

I was taken aback by the distinctly female voice I heard. A woman around my age had answered the door, she was dressed in a simple green dress. What is the basis for this world? Oak's Lab looked like it did in the anime, but Daisy was only in the games and manga. What kind of world did that Hoopa send me to?

"Can I help you?" The woman, Daisy, asked me.

"O-Oh yeah. Uh, is Professor Oak in now? I'd like to speak with him, if it's ok." I replied.

She gave me a quick look over. I suppose that she would be suspicious of someone coming to her grandfather's home unannounced, even more so seeing as how I wasn't someone like a door to door salesman or reporter. After a minute or so, she looked to me. "Just a moment."

A little while later she returned. "This way please." She said and lead me into the living room. Sitting on the couch was Professor Oak, a cup of tea was on the table with a biscuit next to it. Daisy moved to stand next to the couch.

"Please, take a seat." Oak stated, and I obliged. The couch opposite to him was comfortable, but I tried to maintain a confident sitting position.

"So, what brings you to my lab?" Oak asked, regarding me with an enquiring look.

"Erm, well I, uh… I was wondering if you had any jobs open?" I replied sheepishly. It was technically true, I did need a job and what better job than working as an assistant to Professor Oak?

"Mhmm." Oak paused slightly to have a drink of his tea. After setting it down he looked at me again. "Suppose I do have a job open… Why should I hire you specifically?"

"Ah… Well I erm…" I stumbled my words slightly, I hadn't exactly thought that far ahead about what I would say in this situation. "Well I'm willing to do any work that's available without complaint, and um… I know a lot about Pokémon and uh…"

"That will do." Oak said tersely. "What are Pokémon to you?"

"Well, to me specifically, Pokémon can have many meanings. Some see them as allies, pets or even family. I see Pokémon as my friends who deserve love and respect." I answered. I mean, that was the point of the games, right? That showing these powerful creatures love is better than seeing them as tools.

"And yet you don't seem to have a single Pokémon on you. Interesting." Oak noted, nodding his head slightly. "Tell you what. I'll hire you as an intern for my laboratory. You'll care for the Pokémon at my corral, assist me during lectures and do whatever odd jobs need doing around the lab. Am I understood?"

I nodded enthusiastically. This was basically the only way I'd be able to have income before setting off to travel. I mean, traveling this world was the reason why that Hoopa sent me here.

"Splendid." Oak said with a warm smile. "So, what is your name young man? I'd like to know."

"It's Lachlan. Lachlan Jefferies." I replied.

"Ah, what an interesting name… Well Lachlan, work starts tomorrow." Oak gestured to Daisy as he continued. "Daisy will be helping you with the ropes. I trust that you can handle that Daisy?"

"Oh, of course." Daisy replied with a smile. I suppose that makes sense, Daisy does seem to be the sort of girl to help other people out.

"Now Lachlan, do you have a residence here in Pallet Town?" Oak asked.

"No, I don't. I also don't have any other clothes aside from the ones I'm wearing, and I don't have any identification on me."

Oak sighed slightly before giving me a withering look. "I'll sort out the identification details. You'll stay in the spare room I have at the lab and Daisy will sort out your clothes for tonight. But this is coming out of your wages."

"I hope you don't mind the room. It's not really used that often." Daisy said to me. The room was sparse, with only a single bed and desk with chair. I was clad in a pair of woolly grey pyjamas, they were slightly itchy, but I ignored it.

"It'll do. I'm just surprised that your little brother isn't back yet." Gary didn't show up during dinner.

"Oh, don't worry about him. He's probably out studying some nocturnal Pokémon. He'll come back in due time." Daisy replied with a smile. "Goodnight."

I laid down on the bed and fell asleep. It felt odd sleeping in a bed that wasn't my own, but I had 10 weeks to get used to it. I just hope the jobs Professor Oak sets me aren't too hard.

"Hiya sweetheart."

I jolted awake. I wasn't in the bed anymore, I was floating in the void again. The Hoopa was back, floating in a lackadaisical way. "Oh, what do you want now?" I asked, annoyed that he was back.

"Whoa, easy there pardner. I'm just checking in to see how you're settling in is all. Besides, I'll be checking in on you this way to make sure you don't, I dunno, die or something." He replied before shooting me a cocky grin. "Aren't I a kind and generous being for doing that?"

I rolled my eyes at that. It's bad enough that he basically tore me from my home, now he's going to be invading my dreams as well? Great. Just great.

"Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but there's like, so many other realities that I've gotta go spy on. So, TTFN buddy." And just like that, he opened a portal and left. Sleep eventually took over and I dreamed no longer for the night.