"P-PROFESSOR!" Professor Hershel Layton was forced to ignore the scream of his apprentice as the massive birds approached him. If he attempted to run, the beasts would maul him. If he stood here, Luke would be in danger, as would the silent Flora who gripped his arm with an iron grip. There was no way out of this situation.

"Oi! Shoo!" came a female yell. A girl with bright red hair stood at the center of the alley and she pulled out an odd machine. She began drawing circles in the air and the odd birds fled, screeching bizarre words as they went. "Ugh, seriously... Stupid Pidgeys." She looked over at Layton. "...you're not from around here, are you?"

"No," Layton replied. "We are from London." Flora slowly let go of his arm and looked the girl up and down. She had long crimson hair and was wearing a black and red crimson shirt with a ball design over her right breast. She wore flared trousers with red stripes at their edges. Hanging from a belt hidden by her shirt was a Rubik's cube. She wore black and red boots and it seemed black and red were her two favourite colours.

"I've never heard of London. But anyway, my name's Seraphina. I'm a freelance ranger working for the Ranger Union. I go everywhere and report if I find anything suspicious while also assisting the Area Rangers - why are you looking at me like that?" Seraphina explained, then stopped when she saw the puzzled glances. "Y-you do know about Rangers, right?"

"My apologies, Seraphina, but we are quite uninformed as to your country's culture," Layton explained. Seraphina frowned.

"Country...? What's a 'country'? We live in regions, towns and cities. But since you're so uninformed, I'm going to have to call in an expert," she said and fiddled with the bizarre object that she had used to draw circles with. She flipped it open and tapped on a number pad, then clicked it onto her arm and raised it to her ear. "Oak? Oak? Can you hear me? Professor? OAK! ...oh hey, Ash. What's that? Oh, cool. Sheeya, buddy." Seraphina cursed and snapped the machine shut.

"Pardon my invasive behaviour, but who were you talking to?" Layton asked. Seraphina sighed and looked at Layton.

"Professor Oak, the leading Pok mon professor in the world. He's out on an experiment with Professor Juniper, another world-renowned professor at the moment. They're the best two to explain, but we'll have to wait, so I'll take you to the little village off the road. Nobody's ever heard of it; it's called Domr my-la-Pucelle. We named it after the old legend of Jeanne d'Arc, the Maid of Pallet," Seraphina explained, and lead Layton and his shivering companions out of the alley. It belonged to a city in Layuda Island, though the city was abandoned and unnamed.

The road to Domr my-la-Pucelle was long and by the time the party had reached the Great Pichu Tree, it was beginning to get dark. Seraphina looked up and cursed at the sky as rain began lashing down. She raced through the forest, weaving between trees and trying to stay slow so Layton and his group could keep up. She managed to find her way to her sister Thamesia's house deep within the forest and she rapped on the door.

Thamesia opened the door. In some ways, Thamesia was stranger than Seraphina - she had curly azure hair topped with a pair of goggles. Huge, navy blue kite-shaped earrings hung off her earlobes. She wore a medium-sized dress with two shades of blue and long blue boots. She wore green-blue fingerless gloves and had a machine like Seraphina's on her arm, topped with a machine slightly resembling a mobile phone in her hand.

"Thamesia," Seraphina said worriedly, but what bothered most was the pronounciation. She said it 'tem-is-ee-ah', like it was a variation of the Thames. "We need in, please." Thamesia nodded and let her sister and their group inside, then slammed the door as thunder roared through the island. The rain was pelting down and gale force winds tore through the island. Neither of the sisters looked too disturbed by the storm, but Flora had never heard anything like it. She cowered beneath a table, only to find a giant purple rat staring at her. She screamed and crawled out, panting heavily.

"Hey, kid," Thamesia said, kneeling down next to Flora. "It's just a Rattata, nothing to be worried about." Layton and Luke frowned at the exact same time.

"Pardon my intrusion, but what is a Rattata?" Layton asked. Thamesia held out a hand and clicked her fingers and the small rat-like purple creature ran out, headbutting her hand.

"This is a Rattata! More specifically, he's mine!" Thamesia explained, stroking its head and picking it up. "You're odd people... You've never heard of simple, common Pok mon like Rattata."

"Um, what's a Pok mon?" Luke asked. Thamesia and Seraphina's heads snapped in his direction at the exact same time, both of their eyes wide. Thamesia dropped the Rattata and it squealed then scurried off.

"Mother of Arceus," Seraphina whispered. "Oh my Groudon... They've never heard of Pok mon?"

"HOLY SHAYMIN!" Thamesia screeched. "RED ALERT RED ALERT!" She flipped open the machine on her wrist, poked a number and held it to her ear. "HASTINGS! We've got an emergency! GET YOUR FAT BUTT OVER HERE RIGHT NOW HASTIIIIIINGS!" With a last screech, Thamesia passed out on the spot.

"Um, I think you'd better hide in the basement. Watch out for the Ariados and the Spinarak, though," Seraphina murmured, grabbing a pillow and hugging it while rocking back and forth. "Hurry up, Hastings..." At that point there was a knock on the door and Seraphina dashed to the door, opening it in a flash. Professor Hastings, soaked through to his skin, stood in the doorway and Seraphina let him in, slamming the door. Hastings paid no attention to Layton and his crew and sat down, making himself at home. Thamesia, when she had worked for the Ranger Union as a Top Ranger, had been a bodyguard for Hastings.

When she had become a Master Ranger (Oblivia's version of the FBI), she had gone back home and spent most of her time at home. The two had remained close friends, however. Seraphina shook Thamesia, waking the latter from her fainted slumber.

"Oh, Professor Hastings! These people don't know what Pok mon are," Thamesia explained. Hastings stared at them.

"...how am I to help them?" Hastings asked irritatedly. "Nonetheless. A Pok mon is a creature - Pok mon inhabit the entire world. We humans have banded together with Pok mon and we use them for many things - but the best thing you can obtain from a Pok mon is its friendship. Thamesia, if you would." Thamesia nodded and whistled loudly. There was the sound of thudding footsteps, and a door flung open, revealing a large dinosaur-like beast that was blue with red spikes. "This is a Feraligatr, and it belongs to Thamesia. It does not belong to her, but it is her best friend. Thamesia is a Ranger, meaning she can only eternally bond with one Pok mon."

"I do, however, make friends with others. But if I made eternal friends with more than one, I'd have quite a burden to carry with me. I do remember hearing of a girl, Kate, who kept other Pok mon friends and she would swap over, but I personally think that makes some Pok mon feel unloved," Thamesia explained. "Oh, and I gave Feraligatr a nickname. Gatr is his nickname, but he knows his species name too."

"I see... It seems a little complicated, though," Luke said. Thamesia shook her head.

"Not for Pok mon Trainers. They can befriend and capture as many Pok mon as they wish using Pok Balls," Seraphina butted in. She pointed to the ball on her shirt. "That's a drawing of a Pok Ball. Trainers use it to capture Pok mon, and Trainers have it lucky. They can keep up to six Pok mon with them at a time, and the others are placed in a Storage Box or in Day Care. It's very-" Seraphina was cut off by a squeal.

"Chansey, Chansey!" a pink, strange Pok mon squealed as it waddled through to the room, carefully holding the egg in its pouch.

"What? Oh...?" Seraphina plucked the egg from the Pok mon's pouch and set it on the ground, where it shook violently and cracks began forming. "Thanks, Chansey." Seraphina watched the egg and suddenly it cracked open, the top of the egg shell thrown away to reveal a small beast with fire on its back. It clambered out the egg and fell over, but Luke rushed over to it and helped it up. It had a nose shaped like a beak and its eye was shut. Its arms were stubby but its legs were of a normal size. "That, kiddo, is a Cyndaquil."

"Oh, my apologies, I just realized we haven't introduced ourselves," Layton apologised. "I am Professor Layton of archaeology at Gressenheller University. This is my assistant Luke and my other assistant, Flora."

"Well, Luke, I suppose you can have the Cyndaquil. Consider it as a gift, from me," Seraphina said kindly. "Anyway, it's getting late. Mr Layton, Luke, Flora; there's a few bedrooms in the back. Let me show you." Thamesia took Hastings out into the storm while Seraphina lead Layton's group into the back, where there were two bedrooms, but enough for their group.

"But what about you and Thamesia?" Luke asked worriedly. Seraphina smiled at his kindness, but shook her head.

"I can sleep on the sofa. More comfortable than a bed for me, cause I'm used to sleeping on things like that rather than sofas," Seraphina explained. "And Thamesia is fine with sleeping on the sofa, too." Layton nodded and took his two assistants away, while Seraphina watched, her eyes boring holes into Layton.