Fellow Travelers
"Okay, I should be running... but I did tell him that it would take me all day to get to the top. And that if he was really going to do it, there would be no point in rushing... sooooo... we're not rushing."
A young man, with a white coat open over a red shirt was wearing a backpack and walking along the road rather calmly. He was currently paying more attention to the little pink cat-like creature at his feet. It was as he walked along, continuing to chat with him – the male cat-like being using telepathy to communicate – that the little feline said something that really caught his attention.
"Whoa!"
He turned his attention to the cat instantly, "What?"
"Look!"
He looked. "I don't see... no, wait. There's supposed to be something there, I can sense it, but what?"
The cat gave him a look, then appeared to realize something, "Oh! Put up your barriers. Forgot to mention that."
The man gave a shrug, and with a bit of a frown, focused and concentrated. Then he looked again, and blinked.
"What in the world is a big blue box doing in the middle of the sidewalk?"
"I don't know, but it's got some sort of low-strength psychic-based field."
"That's why you saw through it so easily," He commented. "Weak pyschic field no match for a stronger mental barrier."
"Should we, uhh... knock?"
The human turned and gave a grin to his friend, "Oh, feeling adventurous, are we? I like your style."
He stepped forward, his grinning friend hopping onto his shoulder. There was a brief argument about how he was too heavy for that, but it ended shortly in favor of knocking on the wood door to the object labeled 'Police Box.' After a few moments, the door opened to reveal a man wearing a blue pinstripe suit, red tie, and looking bewildered.
"What?" He said, as if shocked that he'd been found. He was especially shocked that he was found by a pink cat on the shoulder of a young man with red hair.
The cat and young man shared a look, "That's it? Just a man inside a box?"
"Yeah, I was hoping for something a little more impressive," The cat agreed.
"Wait, you've got psionic abilities?"
"Psionic?" The cat asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Wait, that was you? And why're you pink?" The man asked, his brows hitting his hairline.
"Why're you not pink?"
The man paused for a moment, "Very good point."
The cat appeared proud, but the younger man cut in, "Oh, don't put that to your ego, your head is big enough as it is!"
Before the feline could scoff, the older man cut in, "Okay, wait wait wait, who're you two? And what are you?"
"Well, me, I'm human, call me Chris," The younger man grinned. Then he pointed to the cat. "This is Espeon. He's a psychic-type Pokémon."
"A what?" The man asked.
Espeon cut in, "This is the part where you tell us who you are."
"The Doctor."
"...Is that it?"
"Yeah."
"It's an okay name... or title..."
"Oi! I didn't make fun of your name!"
"He's got a point, play nice, Espeon," Chris scolded. "Although, that's actually the name of his species. He just prefers to go by it, kinda like how you go by Doctor."
"That's my name!" The Doctor protested.
"No, that's what you like to be called," Chris responded with a knowing look. "You've just been using it for so long that it might as well be your name. The one you were born with is obviously something you're hiding for one reason or another, and I really don't care to know."
The man gave a bit of a scoff at the young man's deduction. The trainer gave a smirk; clearly he was right.
"Anyway, you look like the kind of guy that likes an adventure."
The Doctor grinned, "Oh, do I!"
"Would you care to join us, then? We're going to the top of that mountain. Gotta be there by tonight."
"This'll involve plenty of running?"
"Most likely."
The Doctor's grin grew wider, "Then I am in! What did you say... Espeon was?"
"I'm a Pokémon," Espeon replied, as he leapt off his trainer's shoulder and onto the ground.
"Right," Chris began to say. "Clearly you're not from... around... here... how about we explain on the way? I'll tell you about this world, you tell me about yourself?"
The Doctor nodded, and the trainer nor the feline commented on that flash of sadness and regret in his eyes. As they walked towards the exit of the city, the three of them chatted animatedly. The strange man was just as exuberant as the human, and he wondered how his box was seen. Chris explained that since Espeon was a psychic-type – meaning capable of using, seeing, and willingly manipulating anything psionic – whatever was covering the box didn't affect him at all. He'd just walked through it.
"So you're a psionic being?" The Doctor exclaimed with excitement. "Oh, now that is brilliant!"
Chris gave a sigh as Espeon preened at the attention, "I'm glad that I'm not the only one to think that. You've got a bit of psionic energy yourself, Doc."
"It's Doctor, thank you very much. And you must be pretty powerful to notice that about me."
"It was probably easier considering that you're obviously not human," Chris commented.
Doctor's eyebrows rose again, "How is it obvious?"
The human gave him a deadpan look. He explained that no humans he knew were able to fit comfortably inside such a small blue box, which had appeared out of nowhere according to Espeon, and that he hadn't known anything about Pokémon. That was the biggest clue. If there was one thing about this world, it was that everyone knew about the creatures.
"Well, you got me there, not human," The Doctor said with a smile.
"Then what are you?"
"I'm a Time Lord."
"Does that mean you can travel through time?" Espeon asked.
"Yup. That blue box is my TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space."
"Look at that, another time traveler," Chris chuckled to the feline, as they stepped outside the bounds of the city and onto the route.
"Wait, what?"
"Not now, Doctor, time to rush up the mountain a bit!"
Chris had glanced at his watch, the sky, and had decided he didn't like what he saw. He grabbed Espeon's Pokéball, and apologized. The feline understood that it would be easier, and just nodded. When he was returned was when the alien became truly fascinated.
"Whoa, what is that?"
"A Pokéball, be careful with it. Don't damage it, or Espeon may not be able to get out, and may even get hurt. And if he gets hurt, Doctor..."
The Time Lord understood what that trailing off meant; he'd said it himself many times before. The very thought of his companions brought pain to his heart, and he decided to wait on examining the technology later – when they weren't running. They dashed up the stairs etched in the rock, across bridges, and into a well-lit cavern. Once inside, the younger man glanced around, before heading for a pool. He pulled out another Pokéball, and released what appeared to be some sort of intelligent-looking sea turtle.
"Doctor, Lapras," Chris introduced quickly. "Lapras, the Doctor, and yes, that is his name."
The Doctor was gaping slightly, "Oh, you are beautiful."
Lapras blushed at the compliment, as she gave a slight singing. The alien frowned.
"That's odd," He commented.
"What?"
"The TARDIS; it translates languages for me. Spoken, written, almost any language... but I didn't understand Lapras."
"It's just the way things are, Doctor. They understand us, we can't understand them... well, I can understand her specifically, but not in the sense that you're speaking of. Anyway, Lapras, we need to get to the other side of the pool. Cyrus is waiting up top."
Lapras nodded, and turned around. The trainer stepped on, and gave an inviting twitch of his head. The Doctor stepped on cautiously, unsure of what was happening. Once he was on, he had to quickly grab a hold of a spine on the shell, as the creature shot off. Soon enough, they reached the opposite shore, and hopped off. Almost immediantly after, Lapras was returned to her Pokéball, and the two of them headed up the inside of the mountain. As the Doctor was led through, the two of them chatted almost the entire time. It was mostly about him learning of the world, and a little bit about this strange human that had the occupation of Pokémon Trainer.
"Enough about me, Doctor," Chris chuckled, before sobering up. "What about yourself?"
"Well, what about me?"
"How old are you really?"
The Doctor stopped, as did the human, who was looking at him with perceptive, sad eyes and his best poker face.
"What do you mean?"
Chris gave a sad smile, "Your eyes. Your body has the appearance of someone around the age of 35, or 40. But your eyes, they give the feeling of someone who's been around longer. Much, much longer. Maybe a few centuries."
The Doctor was surprised, not many humans had seen through him so quickly. He had to catch up as his new friend walked away.
"That old saying, eyes are the window to the soul. As a Pokémon trainer, I've spent a lot of time looking my opponents in the eye. I know how to see deeper than the initial layer. There's a hell of a lot of pain in you, Doctor. What from, loneliness?"
"No... not loneliness..."
Chris gave him a glance as they climbed up some more chiseled steps, "From making friends and having to leave them behind?"
The silence was deafening. The trainer nodded, and decided to step away from that topic for now, something which the Doctor was eternally grateful for. He didn't want to talk about that pain with a new friend, not yet.
It hurt too much.
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"Well now, where are we? Is this the top of the mountain?" The Doctor asked.
"Shhh," Chris scolded, his cheerful disposition having vanished. "No, this isn't the top... this is Spear Pillar."
"Chris," A lady in black said, only sparing the Doctor the briefest of glances. "We've been waiting."
"Sorry about that, ran into trouble."
"I can see that."
"Oi, I'm not trouble!"
"We'll see about that," Cynthia smiled, before her expression turned grim as they raced up another set of etched-in steps.
"You're finally here."
The Doctor looked ahead and spotted a man with spiky blue hair – which was just ridiculous – talking rather monotonously... but there was something there, something that sent a shiver down his spine. Both Cynthia and Chris stepped forward, looking ready to fight.
"Mars, Jupiter, hold them off," He continued, as he brought out a pair of red chains, made of small red rocks. One of them appeared to be a darker shade.
"With pleasure, sir," The red-haired lady stepped forward with a dark smirk, as did the one with pink hair.
"Whoa there!"
Chris turned around at the familiar voice, "Jun! You're here!"
"Of course I'm here, don't go battling without me," Jun answered. "Miss Cynthia, would you allow me to team up with my friend?"
The champion nodded and stepped back, while all four trainers prepared for battle.
"What? What's going on?" The Doctor asked, confused as to what the serious atmosphere was for.
Another man that had come up, with white hair, "It's a Pokémon battle. Do you not know of battles?"
"He's kinda from out of town, Professor!" Chris explained, giving the old man a look. Rowan, brilliant man that he was, understood immediantly.
"Well, now this is a first for me," He admitted. "Meeting someone from elsewhere. I'm Professor Rowan. Anyway, a battle is something that we do here to prove that one is strong. A trainer and their team work together to prove to the world, to family and friends, that they're the best – and to improve their bonds with each other."
The Doctor looked towards his new friend, the young man, with a look of slight horror. Those beautiful creatures fought each other, at the command of the humans? That just seemed horrible.
"Quit stalling, let's get to the battle already!" Mars exclaimed impatiently.
"Eager to lose?" Jun taunted.
Chris gave his friend a look, "Careful, Jun, they're strong."
"And so are we!"
"I like the way you think!"
In an instant, several Pokéballs were opened at the same time. Cynthia was being stalled by Saturn in a battle as well, and the Time Lord was unsure of how he should feel about all this fighting – but something about the blue-haired man in the back caught his attention. Rowan said he was known as 'Cyrus' and was trying to call upon the legends in order to reset the world. Reset the universe.
"What do you mean, 'reset'?" The Doctor asked with confusion.
"Look," Rowan pointed, and look he did.
The Doctor's mouth dropped open as two very large portals, colored blue and pink, appeared. Shortly after, two very odd-looking creatures, both of which were absolutely huge, slowly stepped out of both portals. The holes in reality shut behind them as they materialized.
"Dialga! Palkia! Hear my command!" Cyrus cried, catching everyone's attention. The three admins gave looks of awe and victory, while the others looked a little afraid.
"Don't do this, Cyrus!" Cynthia cried. "You don't know what will happen!"
"Silence!" He roared, as the two red chains went up to encircle both of the larger Pokémon. "I know exactly what I am doing, champion! With the power of Palkia, I will set the universe to shrink back to the way it was when it was created!"
"What?" The Doctor said, confused. "How?"
Rowan turned to him, "That one, the one on two legs is Palkia, Lord of Space. And the one next to him is Dialga... Lord of Time."
"By which he means that Dialga doesn't just travel through time, it can control time without causing any adverse effects!" Chris cut in. "According to Sinnoh legend, when Palkia was born, space began to expand. It's said that he was the one to create the planets, the stars... everything having to do with space."
"And they say that when Dialga was born, time began to move forward," Jun commented. "But that just means that Cyrus the Idiot –"
"Don't you dare insult him!" Mars snarled, as her Pokémon went back on the attack.
The battles began anew, but they ended sooner than the admins had anticipated – with victory for the others. And now that they were out of the way, both Jun and Chris sprang into action.
"You take care of Palkia –" Chris exclaimed.
"– And you take care of Dialga, got it!" Jun continued.
That was when all hell broke loose, and darkness covered the sky. Cyrus cried out, and the man vanished as he was grabbed by a large, rather frightening shadow – and dragged through an open portal of darkness.
"What the hell was that!" Both of the younger trainers cried. "No, wait, we have to focus on these two!"
"Cyrus left instructions in their head –" Chris started, as he and Jun shared looks.
"– Which involve them doing exactly as he wants," Jun finished again. "Did he give you it? The master ball?"
"Yeah, but I'd rather not use it... I'd rather they both just go free."
"Chris, Jun, look closer," Rowan said as he and the Doctor came forward. The Time Lord had his brainy specs on, and was waving around a blue-glowing little stick that gave off a whirring noise. "The Red Chains are cracking. Whatever that thing was, it damaged what Cyrus was using. They should shatter in a few moments."
"We need to go after Cyrus," Cynthia began. "I have an idea of what that was, but I need one of you to come with me. The other will have to stay. Both of you have a strong connection to the three points of the trainer's spirit, and that should help break the red chains."
"I'll stay," Jun said instantly. "Chris, you're better than me. You've faced this guy before – you're the better choice."
"Are you sure, Jun?"
"Positive."
Chris stared at his friend for a while, before nodding. He turned to the champion, whom was already leaping through the dark tear in the fabric of reality. The Doctor thought it was just a hole into the Void, but clearly not, because he heard the sound of someone landing on the other side. That just made him want to jump through, made that nagging thought in the back of his mind – the one begging for adventure – stronger.
"Care to join us, Doctor?" Chris asked the older man.
"You bet I do!" He exclaimed, grinning widely as he put away his specs and the strange device. "Allons-y!"
Chris couldn't help his laugh at the word as the man jumped in, before following. He landed on his feet – but he laughed again at noticing that the Time Lord hadn't. He was just getting up and looking around with immense interest.
"Oohhh, now this place is absolutely brilliant!" He exclaimed.
Cynthia gave a bit of a smile, "It's called the Distortion World. It acts as a sort of support for our own world. There's only one occupant though."
"That Pokémon we saw," Chris stated, getting a nod.
"I'm not sure what it's called, though. We need to track it and Cyrus down. I'll go on ahead to find Cyrus, you two go after the Pokémon."
As the three of them split up, the trainer spoke up, "Just what were you using back there?"
"What?" The Doctor asked.
"The little device that made the whirring noise."
"Oh!" He pulled it back out with a flourish and a proud grin. "It's my sonic screwdriver!"
"May I?"
"Sure. I doubt you'll be able to do anything with it, considering half of what it does requires you to be a telepath."
"Like Espeon?"
"Not on that same level of basic."
Chris gave him a look, "Basic? What, is that a measurement of how powerful a psychic is?"
"Technically, it measures the level of psionic ability."
"Close enough."
The trainer studied the device very carefully as they walked along. The Doctor was watching the human with interest, see what he would do with this precious tool. Then it was suddenly handed back with the comment that it was quite versatile. He couldn't understand all that much of the settings he looked at, but there were a couple he thought he understood. Particularly the one that was about unlocking doors. Of course, the conversation had to stop when they came across a piece of land that was sideways and in front of them.
Chris thought for a moment, "Something makes me think we've gotta get to that."
"Oh, how do you propose to do that, then?" The Doctor asked, curious about the human's way of thinking. "Jump?"
"Considering how weird this place is, best choice ever!"
"Hold on, I was..." The Doctor said quickly as the kid leapt out – and landed on the slanted ground. "...Joking."
"Well then get your joking butt over here!"
He grinned at that, and jumped out into the strange space. The odd sensation of gravity changing direction pulled him to the piece of rock. They continued to chat as they travelled, jumping back onto another section where gravity was more similar to how it was before. They even travelled up a waterclimb. Not a waterfall, a waterclimb. After several minutes of travelling around the odd world, and pushing rocks and solving puzzles where the Lake Trio appeared as a result, they finally caught up with Cyrus and Cynthia.
"You're not going to fight him, are you?" The Doctor asked Chris.
"Have to. If I don't, he could use this place to ruin everything back home. I wouldn't put it past him."
"But can't you just talk it out?"
"Believe me, I've tried. He doesn't listen to reason if it goes against his wishes."
The alien could only watch as the battle began. Cynthia talked to him, understanding from what Chris had whispered to her that the man didn't like fighting. It had been clear to both trainers, really, considering the way he looked at the battles. Despite doing her best when it came to distracting him, they both were still intrigued by the young man's techniques. They both watched as he defeated Cyrus, and the leader of Team Galactic began to rant about how that wasn't right.
"How can a little boy like YOU defeat me?"
"Look, I –"
"Be silent!"
Chris snapped, "No, you be silent, you little arrogant snot! For once in your life, just shut the hell up and listen to me!"
Cyrus stepped back at the boy's vehement tone, "Don't you dare speak to me –"
"I said," Chris interrupted, stepping closer, snarling. "Shut up. It's about time that you just shut up and listened to someone else for a change! You have done nothing but bring Sinnoh to ruins! I don't give a damn about how you think you were doing the right thing; people and Pokémon were killed by you, all as a means to an end, and you still dare to try and insinuate that you're better than everyone! You're no better than the common street thug with that attitude, Cyrus. You don't deserve any of the respect that you demand; you don't deserve any of the things that you've demanded."
"I am far better –"
Chris grabbed his collar and brought him down to his level, his dark expression enough to silence the man. "Don't try to talk your way out of what I've said. You know I'm right, you selfish piece of shit. I have tried time and time again to talk you out of this madness, and all you've done is continued to hurt innocent people and Pokémon. Don't you dare try to say that makes you better than anything. Now get out of my sight."
With that, the trainer shoved the man backwards, making him stumble with a look of rage on his face. Chris ignored him as he left, while Cynthia came over and offered to heal his team, something the trainer accepted gratefully.
"You didn't have to do that," She commented, the Doctor watching from nearby.
"No, I didn't," He agreed. "But I couldn't stop myself. He just..."
She gave him a knowing look, "I know. Here's your team. Go on."
"What do you mean, go on?"
"That Pokémon's been circling around and watching. Something tells me he wants to face you. So go on."
Chris looked at her like she was insane, "Us, against a legendary? Are you insane?"
"When you're around, yes! Now get going!"
The champion shoved him on his way, and then with a gulp, the boy leapt towards where she was pointing. A rock appeared beneath his feet to catch him, and he jumped twice more, the same happening each time. On the third rock, furthest from the Doctor and Cynthia, the Pokémon finally revealed itself. The trainer pulled out his Pokédex – catching the alien's attention, and getting the champion to explain – and found out the name of the creature.
"Well then... Giratina," Chris greeted with a grin. "I'm Chris. Shall we begin?"
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"Now that is absolutely brilliant!" The Doctor exclaimed, his screwdriver back out. "Are telling me these can contain those Pokémon safely?"
"If they couldn't, they wouldn't be in use," Chris chuckled.
After that long, arduous battle, the teen had resorted to capturing the legendary. Shortly after, the three of them – Cyrus having returned to rant about how the place should vanish before staying behind – had taken a portal back to Turnabout Cave's entrance. Right now, the alien was wearing his brainy specs and examining an empty Pokéball with his screwdriver. He rambled on with highly technical terms that sailed over Chris' head. Cynthia had headed back to the Pokémon League, where she was supposed to be. The team of the teenager was currently lounging about at the cave's entrance, relaxing with their new teammate. They were interested in this strange, eccentric man.
"And what did you say all of these Pokémon were?" He continued.
"I didn't," Chris grinned. "You already know Espeon and Lapras. That's Torterra. Over there, staying away from the water at all costs is Rapidash. The last one is Metang, he's almost ready to evolve into Metagross actually."
Metang looked very happy about this as he nodded, bobbing up and down a bit as he did so.
"And of course, you know this one, Giratina."
The legendary – stuck in his altered forme – was giving the Doctor a strange look, before he spoke, "And who are you?"
"Oh, you can use telepathy? And why did you change your appearance?"
"All legendary Pokémon can use basic telepathy. My appearance changes when I'm not in my own world."
"That's amazing! I'm the Doctor!"
Giratina jolted, taking a shocked step back, giving the alien a look of absolute astonishment.
"The Doctor!" He exclaimed, before calming. "You two need to come with me. There's... somone who needs to meet you both. Especially you... Time Lord."
"How'd you know about that? I didn't say anything about my race."
"Come with me and find out."
The Doctor grinned, "I can't pass that up."
"And you want me to come as well?" Chris confirmed, getting a nod. He returned everyone else to their Pokéballs immediantly. "Then let's go!"
The two humanoids climbed onto the legendary's back, and held on.
"Allons-y!"
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"Giratina, who are these two?"
"Arceus, this one is the trainer who recently caught me."
Arceus raised an eyebrow at the young trainer, whom was busy being wide-eyed, "I see. And the other?"
"He calls himself the Doctor."
Suddenly the Time Lord felt that the large, white creature's attention was all on him.
"The Doctor... the Last of the Time Lords," Arceus murmured. That caught Chris's attention; he was the last of his kind? Explained the sadness in his eyes.
The Doctor, however, was a little more on edge, "How do you know about that?"
"I'm a lot more powerful than you are," Arceus said simply, as he sent out a call for two other legendaries. They appeared almost immediantly. "Dialga, Palkia... that man is the Doctor. We need to speak to you – both of you."
"So you are the man I need to speak with," Dialga said, her voice giving a feminine tone.
"What?"
"What regeneration are you on, Doctor?"
"This is my tenth form..."
She nodded as if expecting the answer, "And where is Rose Tyler?"
The man took a step back, as if punched.
"Is she still in that parallel universe?" Palkia asked.
There was a silence.
"I understand," Dialga nodded solemnly. "Anyway, there was a prophecy that Palkia and I received. About you."
He tried to regain his composure from them reminding him of his failure to Rose, "What of?"
"That sometime after your final regeneration, after you'd passed on, there would something that would need you – but you'd be long gone by then. And that there would need to be two Time Lords."
"Then whatever danger the prophecy spoke of will probably happen. I can't do anything about it if that's the case."
"You may not be able to," Palkia said. "But we can. The universe needs you alive then, Doctor."
"So what?" The Doctor cried, feeling helpless. He wanted to be able to do something, but if these two were right, then everything he's done to keep reality safe... will all fall apart. "What can be done?"
Dialga stepped forward, "Relax, Doctor. We'll worry about that part. You just need to relax."
Before the Time Lord could say anything, he was hit by a psionic power stronger than his mind could take – and collapsed. Chris rushed over, and started to check his vitals.
"What'd you do?" He demanded.
"Just started the process, that's all," Arceus said – before making the young trainer unconscious as well. "Shall we begin?"
There were a few nods, before the four of them focused all of their power on the two unconscious being in the Great Hall high above Spear Pillar. The two of them glowed with a bright, golden light that resembled the Doctor's regeneration energy, and remained that way for what seemed like hours – before it finally faded.
"They'll be unconscious for at least a day," Arceus said, catching his breath, as were the other three. "There are two unused rooms here. Please take them to their temporary rooms while they recover from the changes."
There were nods of agreement, and the three of them went to work. Soon enough, both Chris and the Doctor were placed in two seperate, very posh rooms and resting and recovering... but from what they would have to wait to find out.
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"Urgh," The Doctor groaned as he slowly woke up and pushed himself into a sitting position.
"Don't move too much, there's been a bit of a change to your physiology."
"Who...?" He paused at what he saw. A man in a white shirt and jeans, leaning against the door to his TARDIS. "Hey! What're you doing with my TARDIS? And how'd she get there?"
"I moved her here, of course," The man grinned. "It wasn't difficult. At least, not for me."
"Who are you?"
"I'm Palkia."
"No way."
"Yes way. We legendaries have a variety of ways to protect from being found by humans, and this is one of them – a human disguise."
"A built-in chameleon arch?"
"Something like that."
"Now how'd you move my TARDIS?"
"Like this."
Palkia snapped his fingers, and the floor beneath the machine warped. The TARDIS fell through, before falling out of another hole in the ceiling and slowly descending down – on the opposite side of the room. The Doctor gaped at this show of blatant control over physics and space.
"Like I said, wasn't difficult," Palkia grinned. "Lord of Space, remember? I have complete control over such things."
The Doctor blinked, before asking, "What did you do to me? And where's Chris?"
"Your friend's in another room with Giratina," Palkia answered. "As for what we did to you... which regeneration are you one right now?"
"My tenth."
"Not anymore."
The Time Lord gave Palkia a blank look, "What?"
"We've reset the number of regenerations you have left."
"Do you mean I'm back at having thirteen? How?"
"Like Arceus said, we're powerful. Very powerful."
"And all for that prophecy? How do you know it's even accurate?"
"Dialga saw it," Palkia answered. "Remember what Chris said to you about her?"
"That she had complete control over time itself?"
"Yeah, that. She has as much control over time as I have over space. A few years ago, she foresaw a moment where two Time Lords would be needed to save the universe – and it explained that it was far, far beyond the time after your final form dies."
"I've already saved the universe a few times," The Doctor says. "What's so special about this last time?"
Palkia heaves a sigh, "We don't know. All we know is that you, and another of your species, is needed."
"Well, even with what you did, I'm the last one... or did you change that as well?"
"We did. I'll introduce you soon enough."
"Do I have to go through all that pain again?" The Doctor asks, recalling all those times when his friends had been hurt and left behind – all because of his mistakes. Palkia gently sits down on the bed next to him.
"You'll have a lot of friends with you this time. Ones that won't leave you."
"How?"
"Well, there's the other Time Lord... and then there's the fact that one legendary will be visiting you as often as possible. You won't be getting rid of us that easily."
The Doctor nodded, and stood up. He was offered the choice to go have some dinner, as he'd been out for almost two days. This he agreed to, and followed the Spacial Pokémon out to where they could get some food. He gave a promise to his machine that he'd be back – with company, apparently – and left.
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There was that odd feeling again as he woke up. The sensation of someone beating on his chest from the inside. Not to mention his head hurt like hell.
"You awake?"
"Uh... depends, who's there?"
There's a chuckle, "Giratina. Don't move yet, your body is still adjusting."
"To what?"
"The changes we made."
Chris frowned as he finally peeled his eyes open, "What changes?"
"Physical ones," Giratina answered, catching his trainer's attention as he was watched from the bed.
"Whoa, you get a human form?" Chris asked.
"Yup, how do I look?"
Chris seemed to think for a moment, "Meh, could do better."
His grin just makes the disguised Pokémon scoff, "Says you."
"Anyway, seriously, what happened?"
Giratina came over and gently lifted his trainer's hand – and placed it over his beating heart.
"Yeah, it's still beating, duh," Chris commented – but then watched as the legendary moved his hand to the other side. Where there was the feeling of another beating heart. "What...?"
"Like I said, we made some changes. Remember the prophecy we told you about?"
Chris was starting to sit up, and ignored the cramps he was getting from his stiff and barely responsive muscles. He put his hand on his chest again, carefully feeling it for the heart beat. Giratina gave him a stethoscope, and let him listen to his own body for a moment. Once it was confirmed, he gaped.
"What the hell?" He exclaimed, tearing the medical tool out of his ears.
Giratina gave him a shrug, "Changes."
"The prophecy... two Time Lords..." Chris breathed, looking himself over. "Was... was that the only thing done to me?"
"No."
Giratina took the time to explain everything. His new trainer, despite being unsure about him, was turning out to be better than he'd expected; the child was taking things in stride, not being unsure of it one bit. It was just another piece of his journey to be the best, another part of the adventure. Absolutely unstoppable, even when his very body was altered. Sure, it was done safely, but still – a human should be completely freaking out.
"I've gotta give you credit," Giratina chuckled.
Chris gave him a confused look as he was stretching to warm up his stiff muscles, "For what?"
"For taking this so well."
"Giratina," Chris said, leaning in close. "I can take anything well. Especially after meeting you."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
"Whatever you want it to mean," Chris grinned.
Giratina rolled his eyes, "Oh, come on. The others are up and you need to talk to Dialga."
"Then lead the way, O Great Giratina."
The legendary gave his trainer a look, and led the way out. The two of them were chatting the entire way, and the Pokémon was being rather entertained by the young man's eccentric personality. It practically matched Mew's – and that was saying something. Finally they arrived at the kitchen, where the others were waiting. The Doctor looked over at Chris with a smile – which slowly faded as he stood up. The young man had a slight frown for a moment, but he shrugged it off.
"They tell me we've been knocked out for the better part of two days," Chris greeted the Time Lord. "Well, two for you, three for me."
The Doctor nodded slowly, "And that they've made some... adjustments to you."
"And you, right?"
"Yeah... but mostly to you."
Chris looked up at the Doctor, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Has anyone told you that you're a bad liar?"
"No," He smiled. "It's just..."
"Is this about what happened to me?"
There was a deafening silence. Then Dialga stepped forward.
"For it to be complete, I must show you something, Chris."
"No! You can't!" The Doctor exclaimed, whirling on her. A mixture of horror and fear was on his face. "He'll go mad! He can't see the Untempered Schism!"
Dialga gave him a condescending look, "Doctor, I am not as foolish as your old Time Lord leaders. I won't show him an untempered view of the vortex. I'm in complete control of it, remember?"
"And Doctor, I was crazy before I met you. Just ask my team."
The Time Lord turned to the young man, whom was grinning, "It's the view of all of time and space – how can you be so bloody calm? It drove even the best Time Lords insane!"
"You were eight years old, your minds were too young," Dialga stated. "And you know that it must happen."
The Doctor opened his mouth – but Chris beat him to it, "Doctor. Giratina explained. I can take it."
"But –"
"I watched as time and space unraveled in front of me while teamed up with Jun to battle a group of idiots hell-bent on taking the entire universe and returning it to year one, with the big bad boss of said cult as the god of everything. I think I might be able to handle something like this."
"Look –"
"Especially considering who it is that'll be showing me. Not you, not the TARDIS, but the one who has the ability to control the Time Vortex. I do believe that if I couldn't trust her, then I probably wouldn't even be here."
The Doctor was silent at that. After a while, he just sighed and sat down at the table, watching with sad eyes. Dialga came over and placed a hand on Chris's head, explaining that it would be a bit of a shock. He wouldn't be shown much, in fact very little. Palkia put his hand on the trainer's head as well, saying that the vortex was tied into the fabric of space as well; he and Dialga would be working together to show him what he needed to see. And the moment they closed their eyes, the trainer's eyes blinked. It took only about a minute, but then the three of them seperated.
"Well," Chris said, blinking rapidly. "That was an eye-opener."
The Doctor frowned, "You aren't... mentally scarred or anything?"
"Not that I can tell. Why? Am I acting like I am?"
"No... you aren't..."
Dialga gave the Time Lord a smirk, "Like I said, Doctor – we know what we're doing."
"What do you see now?" Giratina asked, inviting his trainer to sit for some food.
"A lot of things, if I focus. Looks like faint golden lines flowing through everyone, but mostly the Doctor – and Dialga, you're just pure gold."
"That's the time stream," Dialga explained. "When you focus like you are, you can see the flow of time. As you can probably tell, it's not nearly as linear as you think."
"I like to call it a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey-wimey stuff," The Doctor murmured. Then he realized that he'd said it out loud, and looked up to see various looks of amusement.
Dialga gave him a grin, "That has to be the best explanation I've ever heard! Can I use that?"
"Go ahead."
"You know what this means, don't you?" Palkia said to the Time Lord. "You've got another one of your kind now. Sure, not born that way – but that just means you gotta teach him, and that means he'll be your travelling companion for a long time."
The Doctor looked at Palkia, his face showing his understanding at this. There was a problem there – Chris may have the physiology of a Time Lord, but that didn't make him one. The Doctor's species were defined by the tragedies and disasters they had to uphold when they travelled; he himself remembered times when he went into the past, and realized he was the one to cause what history called a natural disaster.
"He may not have been through the dark times you have," Dialga whispered to him. "But he knows what it's like to be alone."
"How?" The Doctor asked quietly. "It's not like he has a family to go home to."
"...That's just it, Doctor. He doesn't. Never did."
"No friends?"
"Not until he turned ten, the age children are allowed to become Pokémon trainers and travel the world."
"The day he met his first Pokémon..."
"And his first friend."
"Did he have a home?"
"...He wandered the streets. Barely survived those first couple years."
The Doctor nodded, and decided to talk with the child about it later. Right now, they had some delicious food to eat.
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"Well, now that you're travelling with me," The Doctor began. "A few rules."
"Wait, let me guess," Chris interrupted. "Don't run off, do as you say, and, uh... don't suggest places that are boring."
"How'd you know?"
"You're not hard to read. Now come on, how's the inside of the TARDIS?"
The Doctor grinned, and opened the door, gesturing for his new friend to go on in. Chris stepped inside, then popped his head back out with an amused look.
"You do realize that this isn't thatimpressive, considering the technology that I've spent my life around?"
"You just had to take the fun out of it, didn't you?" The Doctor scoffed, as he stepped and shut the door, preparing to set his beloved machine. He could sense her happy presence in his mind. "Hello, old girl! We've got a new companion with us!"
"Talking to the TARDIS?" Chris guessed, as he set aside his pack on the only chair in the room. He received a nod, then paused to focus. "Is that her I'm sensing in my mind? Feels like she's wondering who I am."
"That is exactly what she's asking! So go on and tell her!"
"Well, then..." Chris grinned and explained to the old girl, enjoying the range of emotions.
"Finished? I'm waiting for you to watch how this goes so that you can fly it some day! Give me some time off."
"Let's go to your favorite place, then."
The Doctor's grin widened to almost consume his entire face, "Earth it is then!"
"Oh, another Earth? This will be great!"
Both of them grinned at each other, before the Doctor threw the brake – and off they went, onto a grand adventure...
A/N: Alright, so this has been in my head for ages - and I simply had to get it written! Yeah, it's not my best, but it was fun to write. That was the important part. I hope you all enjoy this ridiculous mess of a one-shot.