Incredible
Greetings readers and welcome to this wonderful one-shot! Inspired by a picture prompt used for this story's cover, and I hope you as a reader enjoy the plot twists. Rated T for mild language.
-C
Throughout her life she had been told about the incredible things that were waiting for her- it was the main reason for her mother making her to become a Pokémon Trainer. Mother didn't wish for her child to sit at home while other kids her age went off to make names for themselves in the land of Hoenn.
Note that her mother did not say 'friends'.
She knew her child had none; all she ever did was stay cooped up in the house and rarely stepped outside. To her mother's knowledge, Nature was not an issue in this equation. Just life; it was as if the child just existed.
There would be countless days where the child simply stared out into the world, watching. Her mother probably thought that she dreamt of a world of impossible things and understood that life was merely about perception. But this did not stop said child from being such an un-extraordinary person. In reality, the child rarely had a thought past what was she going to eat.
Desirable, isn't she?
Isabo was, as we would say, a nobody. She lacked the spark it took to be a leader, the initiative to go out into the great unknown, and justly, the energy or willpower to do so.
All was to be expected when Isabo's mother snapped and gave her child the ultimatum.
"You're nearly grown and all you do is sit around and sleep! If you're not going to get a job, then go down to the lab and get another Pokémon and make something of yourself!"
Isabo's mother had abruptly kicked in her door that fateful day only to see her child still in bed.
At three in the afternoon.
"What's for dinner Ma?" Isabo's voice came from beneath her covers, her slumber rudely disturbed; and she was having such a good dream about Hobb Tiddleston too… Guess she shouldn't be so mad at her mom; it was the middle of the afternoon.
"Don't 'Ma' me, young lady." She yanked the covers off the bed and threw them away from the child only to glare down at such a goober that was her child. "Did you hear a word I just said? Tomorrow you are either leaving for your very own Pokémon journey or you are going to work at Pokémon Center. Either way you are not going to waste your life away—not on my money you're not!"
Now fully awake, Isabo rose and gave her mother the blankest of stares. It almost seemed as if the words her mother said did not compute with her brain. Her mother almost was worried. Almost.
"You know I tried the Pokémon Trainer thing before and you saw how brilliant of a plan that was, right? Besides you should be happy for me! I don't make bad decisions or come home pregnant, so leave me alone, I want to sleeeeeeeeeeep."
Isabo was referring to the incident ten years ago when she was just turning eleven and went out on her own. The plan was scraped when she was defeated by Roxanne and her starter Pokémon, Poocheyena, left her because even he thought she was a total loser. She could remember that day not just for the massive blow to her ego, but also because she made the front page of the Petalburg Paper.
"Ten years is more than enough time to heal your pride young lady. Now run to the next town and visit Professor Birch or I'm calling Nurse Joy to put you on cleaning duty."
Isabo shot out of bed faster than an Absol and dashed to get ready while her mother went on in the background about her wasting her life away. Isabo easily ignored her and was soon out the front door in record time. If there was one thing that Isabo despised doing it was cleaning of any sort, especially if it was not her that made the mess.
"Hi! Sorry to keep you waiting! Welcome to the world of Poké-"
"Shuddup, I already know Professor Birch!" Isabo was still feeling the effects of sleepiness, which explained her snippy attitude. She had kicked in the door, same as her mother, and greeted the professor as such. She did feel bad for frazzling his nerves.
"Don't you remember me at all Professor?" She feigned upset for a brief moment while staring him down. If she recalled correctly, she had greeted him in the same manner so many years ago.
"Hm? Ah, yes quite…" The professor stopped working on his invention long enough to give her a look over; his clueless look seemed to vanish as he closely examined her features. "Ten years Isabo, right? It's great to see you again! Have you come to visit? Where is your team? I'd love to meet them."
Isabo's eyes shot to the floor and dared not reach his gaze, she mumbled her answer under her breath and her appearance seemed to darken by the second, her hair hid her features which made the professor lean in closer,
"Come again?"
"I said, I don't have my Pokémon anymore…." As she tried to regain her composure, Professor Birch looked worried. "My Pokémon saw me as a failure and abandoned me and I've been living with my mother. I guess you could say I'm avoiding the real world."
The professor did not know what to do with the young girl. Here she was, telling him her life story and all he could do was pity the poor thing. Should he hug her and tell her everything would be alright or would that be improper of him? He settled for clapping his hand on her shoulder and gave her the biggest of smiles.
"Don't worry Isabo. You're a better person for getting back up since life has knocked you down."
Their slight reunion lasted long into the evening and the professor sent her back home with news for her mother that all would be ready by the morning. He just needed to gather everything until then.
Professor Birch was truly worried for the girl. She had received a crippling blow from reality at such a young age that she dare not try to do anything out of fear. His memories of when he first saw her trickled from the back of his mind. It had been an early morning when she had arrived for her first Pokémon. So early that he nearly scarred her with the sight of his pajama pants!
'Oh that would have been embarrassing.'
The Poocheyena that he had given her was one of the few that he had encountered while studying the area. He remembered the day before as the day when Norman's kid rescued him. Now that the professor recalled, those days were full of interesting incidents. He would have to make a note to check up on Brendan and May soon enough but he doubt that he would need to hurry, with both of them being at the top of their respective course of either Pokémon Mastery or Pokémon Coordination.
"Now what kind of Pokémon would be right for her?" He mused to himself as he looked over his laboratory. Should he give her an old Pokémon that was abandoned, so they could bond over a common tragedy; or maybe an exotic Pokémon from another land? He knew he'd needed to decide before she came back but there was just so much he needed to take into consideration! The last time he gave her a Pokémon, he gave it to her on the bases of the idea that a young trainer needed a strong Pokémon.
'Guess that worked out swimmingly for her.'
His eyes scanned over the plethora of Pokémon eggs in his collection and wondered if a brand new Pokémon would be a good idea. On one hand it would signify a new beginning for them both but on the other, she would need to care of it more so than the Pokémon he'd usually give out to starting trainers.
"Eeny, meeny, miney, moe. Catch a Lombre by its toe. If he squabbles, let him go. Eeny, meeny, miney…MOE!"
His eyes opened to the egg in front of his finger and smiled at the roundabout choice that he had made. Using this method did seem to be childish but it also got the job done and if anyone would complain about him using such technique, well, there was a reason why he chose to perform this when no one was watching.
"What the hell is that thing?" Isabo deadpanned while her mother and Professor Birch paled at the comment.
The professor had chosen to give her an egg. She, however, was not happy about it. Not one bit. Mother had insisted on waking her up early and by her definition of 'early' it meant that Isabo only had an hour of sleep. So this did not come as a surprise when her mom had kicked in her door, all bright eyed and bushy tailed for her daughter's exciting adventure.
"Honey, let the professor talk." Professor Birch must had been in need of some bad karma because now he had two grown women, giving him deadly looks. With panic on the brain, and his hand clasped around a pokéball in his pocket, he cleared his throat and prayed that they could not read his thoughts.
"I considered long and hard on the perfect Pokemon for you Isabo." Their looks only sharpened with each passing second as he continued grasping for straws, "a Pokemon can't be picked based on their looks or abilities alone. These Pokemon are your partners through thick and thin so with great consideration, this egg will do the trick."
It was a pity that Professor Birch only fooled the mother, but Isabo still stared- never blinking, and it was giving the professor an uncomfortable vibe in the back of his spine. Maybe he should have re-worded this better since it was her Pokemon that left her. Alas, Isabo finally blinked and started to caress the egg in her possession. The object itself was peculiar and even the man himself could not recall how this one came into his possession. Usually the color patterns on the egg shell would be helpful indicators for what kind of Pokemon this was, but alas, the egg was simply white.
"Now Isabo heed my warning. The Pokemon inside will form a connection with you. Your emotions will greatly impact its psyche so if you're constantly irate, then this Pokemon shall be as well. Do you understand?"
She merely nodded as she stared at the egg in her arms.
How was she supposed to travel with only an Pokemon egg in her party? She could not battle nor compete in coordinator contests- was she even worthy enough to call herself a Pokemon Trainer?
"Well this sucks." Looking back over the crest of the hill towards her home she gazed, knowing she could not return. She wished her mother had allowed her to leave once the Pokemon had hatched but she was stubborn and wanted her out of the house and out into the real world.
"Who am I to keep you from the great unknown?" She had said. Isabo could clearly see how bad her mother wanted her out. Maybe her room was going to be changed into a break room, or an office?
"Wonder what I should call you," her musings to her egg kept her mind off her constantly moving feet. For hours Isabo talked to the egg while walking along the dirt path. She'd ask it questions and pretended it could answer her back. The sight of them was quite weird to any of the bystander trainers that were waiting for a battle. She easily bypassed all of them without any hassle. Too bad many of them did not know she could hear them mock her once she had past them.
The sudden chirp of a telephone pulled Professor Birch out of his musings of what he was going to eat. Who on earth could be calling at such an hour?
When he glanced over to the screen it came as a shock to him to see that it was none other than Isabo's mother, Cheri.
"Why hello! Miss me already?" Birch's wicked smile could not be missed on the other end of the phone which drew a giggle from her.
"Oh Birch..." the tone in her voice did not match the smile that reached her eyes.
"What is it, Cheri?" Had something happen to her in the short span of time since her daughter had left?
"I did not want to say anything while Isabo was around but..." Cheri worried her lip and the professor could not help his eyes from glancing down at that before flicking his eyes back up to hers. "...what made you choose that particular egg?"
Now Birch would not say that the question caught him off guard. He figured her right thought, it was an odd way of how he choose the egg...
"In all honesty I didn't pick the egg-"
"-YOU WHAT?!" Cheri had screamed so loud that the monitor jumped off the table in hysterics.
"What do you mean you didn't choose the egg?!"
"Calm- calm down now, please!" Every word he tried to get in edgewise proved unsuccessful until he yelled out her name, silencing her for the moment.
"Cheri, what I meant to say was that I didn't pick the egg-" he paused to make sure that she was listening, "but rather, the egg chose her."
Precious seconds ticked by before Cheri had the gall to say anything,
"Excuse me?"
"The egg chose her. I know this sounds weird but I'm not lying. I was in my lab late into the night and I was trying to pick out an egg for her but each time that I tried, I just felt like it wasn't the right one. It was only when I spoke her name that one of the eggs twitched."
"Don't tell me this is just another one of your stories you concocted because you were truly too lazy to pick an egg! Next you're going to tell me that you really don't know what type of Pokemon really is in the egg."
"...I don't..."
"You're stupid, useless and I down right hate you." In her hands was the egg- untouched- while Isabo was covered in dirt, leaves and twigs from a mishap just minutes before the disaster.
And she was almost naked sans her bra and boxer shorts.
Isabo had stopped for the day and was starting to set up camp by a lake. The egg was placed gently in her coat that she fashioned into a nest to keep it safe from rolling while she collected sticks for the fire. Everything was going somewhat perfectly; no one tried to battle her and she made quite the progress in her travels. Not to mention the weather was beautiful. She had come across so many Pokemon that day and she even tried to capture them but with her luck of catching them without any help just showed her that she needed her Pokemon to hatch soon.
The weird thing about the day was that everything steered clear of the egg. None of the Pokemon dared to go near so when she tried to chase a Pokemon, she had to leave the egg with her stuff. Which was frustrating!
So when dusk started to roll in, Isabo was clearly frustrated with her ill attempts. She knew she should have tried to calm down while holding the egg but for the moment, she could not give a damn about the egg.
As she climbed up the steep hillside that she had slid down into, her thoughts floated to how she ended up down there. She could have sworn the egg was snugly sitting in her pile of clothes while she went for a swim. The thought of dressing up the egg in her purple shirt and huge shorts had made her smile while she swam.
So how did the egg teeter all the way to the edge of the plain?
Her grip slipped from the tree root that she had grabbed when she, and the egg that was clutched closely to her chest, went tumbling down only to painfully land on her back and knocked the wind right out of her.
'Oh I'm going to feel that in the morning...' Her groan echoed to the trees as beams of moonlight filtered down. The only reason why she even bothered to go for a swim was because the full moon was out and it just made the lake look so inviting. How was she to resist?
The egg twitched on her stomach, snapping her back to the reality at hand. Isabo's patience was waning due to the egg and she did not know how many more days she could take before she cracks it open and made an delicious omelette. Would people frown upon this if anyone ever found out? She would have guessed not because the consumption of Pokemon was common; unless one was a vegetarian.
"Maybe it would come as a faux pas since you are supposed to be my Pokemon..."
She lifted the egg above her and tried to use the light of the moon to see what was inside of the egg but its shell was too thick to get a good enough glimpse; just that it was constantly moving inside. What a little mystery this has turned out to be, and to top everything off, she would need to bathe again; this time with the egg.
Safety first.
Embers spat and crackled under the heat of the dying flame. Bits of ashes tried their hand at flying high like the Taillows of the region. The lone trainer slept curled up in a ball while clutching at her Pokemon egg. All was calm and peaceful into the night.
Until a whirling noise of an object crashed deep into the forest, jostling the poor sleeping Pokemon and the trainer.
"What the Arceus?" Disoriented and confused of her surroundings, the trainer just about forgot of her travels.
She looked out to the source of the crash and down to her egg. She knew that the egg needed to stay safe while she investigated, but she could not bring it with her. Her eyes dart around and chose to stash the egg in a collected pile of leaves she had found for kindle.
"Okay Eggstien, don't move." Her whispers to the egg went one-sided as she gives it an innocent yet awkward pat and dashes off to the crash site, determined to satisfy her curiosity.
Isabo regretted not grabbing her hunting knife from her bag. She stopped in her tracks and hastily checked her huge pockets and silently celebrated when she found that all she had in her pockets were a Poke Toy; it was better than nothing. Inwardly she hoped that this would be enough to get her out of danger, if she ever ended up being in it.
With careful precision Isabo lurked from tree to tree, searching for the origin of the noise. She could clearly see smoke past the tree tops but as far as the actual object, there wasn't anything in sight.
"Hello, Miss?" Isabo jerked to the direction of the comment, only to see someone peaking out of a big blue box. How did she miss that? "Excuse me Miss, but would you mind telling me where I am?"
Isabo stared questionably at the stranger for a second, wondering how he wouldn't know where he was. Was he on drugs?
"This is Route 104. The Petalburg Woods are over yonder." She looked up to the sky for the Northern Star before pointing west of their location.
"Ah, you understand English! Thank the stars." The man finally stepped out of his weird big blue box and fixed his tie, "I was getting rather annoyed being chased by the Judoon. Such an interesting bunch they are, makes you want to overlook their primal tendencies and completely forget their horns. Massive buggers they are... "
Isabo's clueless expression was quickly noticed by the odd by dapper stranger; to which he cleared his throat and offered out his hand,
"Oh sorry, terribly sorry how rude of me. I am the Doctor!" His smile lit up and reached his eyes, assuring the trainer that he meant no harm.
"Doctor? Doctor who?" She questioned with a tilt of her head which made him smile even more so as he shook her hand.
"My name is Isabo by the way." She had to switch her Poke Toy to the other hand which had the Doctor raising an eyebrow.
"What's that?" He poked the furry toy, clearly seeing that it was not consumable.
"Oh, nothing, I just thought you were a Pokemon," she was quick to pocket the toy, never taking her eyes off of this strange man. Who would wear a suit out here in the middle of nowhere? She didn't believe that he was lost, no one could be THAT lost.
The Doctor looked around and began to ponder on the situation that he was in.
'What the devil is a Pokemon?'
"I'm sorry to be so rude but would you mind taking a short quiz for me? I just have a few simple questions." If the Doctor was to figure anything out, it might be best not to look like a complete loon. Last thing he would need is to run from these people as well.
"I guess that's okay?"
"Ah, good. Okay, first question: where are your parents?"
'Good, good start. I need to start small.'
"Oh, I'm a Pokemon Trainer." Her voice became hesitant, wondering if this doctor was a pedophile.
"Okay," he stalled, nodding his head, "and in your own words how would you explain a 'Pokemon Trainer' to a child?"
"Well to do that, I'd have to explain about Pokemon because we co-exist with them. If the child doesn't know what a Pokemon is, then they must have been super sheltered." She watched the Doctor nod in understanding as she went on, "Pokemon and humans live on this planet. From the Beautiflys in the air to the Wailords down below we live in harmony. Now Pokemon Trainers are just one of those outlets that humans had created. They capture, befriend and fight other trainers for money or for fun. We even hold tournaments to see who is the best."
"Don't you ever worry about killing your Pokemon?" The look on the Doctor's face wasn't very approving.
"When we battle, we stop when they faint. Killing Pokemon is illegal in battles." the Doctor was just opening to interject something but closed it. This happened for a bit, until each question he thought of was quickly answered by the trainer.
"So you don't have cats?" The Doctor ran his fingers through his hair while he sat on the other side of the fire.
The two of them had relocated to her camp so she could keep an eye on her egg. At first the Doctor wondered if she laid it. Isabo simply took it as a joke and brushed it off. While the Doctor stroked the fire back to life he asked more questions. Sometimes Isabo would lob some of her own inquiries whenever he brought up stuff she didn't know.
"What's a cat?"
"They are these feline things. Attention grabbers they are. With pointy ears and go "meow-meow"." Isabo had quickly begun to notice that the Doctor had a habit of talking with his hands. Though it was peculiar, she didn't mind as much. Talking with this strange man was surprisingly easy for her.
"Uh, you mean like a Skitty or a Delcatty?" The clueless look on his face made Isabo smiled as she pulled out her Pokedex.
"Here look at this, it's a trainer's best friend besides their Pokemon. These help gather data and keep us well informed." With a few clicks she pulled up pictures of the Pokemon and showed them to the Doctor. "These it?"
"Oh yes, those are very similar to the creatures on this planet that I protect."
Isabo had suddenly stopped rubbing the egg which sat in her lap and shot a gaze up to the Doctor.
"What do you mean?"
'Whoops, secret's out.' The Doctor mentally smacked himself for opening this can of worms. Okay, how should he go about this...
"Well," rousing his hair, the Doctor sighed and looked up to the stars. "Have you ever gazed upon the stars and wondered if there was life out there? That someone could be looking down at you right now." His emphasis towards the end gave her goosebumps and even the egg in her lap shivered.
"I did when I was a kid. But Mother said it was a silly notion." Thinking back to those days, the days before she tried her hand at being a Pokemon Trainer, those were the simple and happy times. In those days her imagination soared high above the clouds, and then her mom merely laughed and guided her to the path she walks on once again. "Why look to the skies when there is so much mystery in the world of today? Every year there are new Pokemon being discovered, different regions are communicating with others. Just think of it Doctor, we as humans are growing. Its fascinating."
The look in the Doctor's eye twinkled at the sight of someone understanding his amazement of the human race.
"Well what if I told you that there was more out there? Thousands of universes and millions of people, and that I could show you it all."
"Then I'd have to give you a Chesto berry because I think you might be asleep."
The Doctor liked her wit. She was sassy and could appreciate her race as much as he does. She reminded him of a companion he held dear to his hearts.
'...Rose...'
"I'm serious Isabo. I'm not from this world. I slipped into this universe because I played ding-dong-ditch with a black hole and lost." The look he gave her was no longer playful, but serious. The egg in her lap ceased all movement and Isabo tried to process what he just said. "I am a time traveler- well, a Time Lord to be precise. It's my job to make sure things happen when they are supposed to happen. I also protect people."
Isabo wasn't one to deny much of anything, but she wasn't as gullible either. Her fingers ran over the surface of her egg and the Doctor could see the gears turning in her head. He really hope that he would not have to do the same old song and dance that everyone made him do when he told them this news.
"Prove it."
"I'm telling you, it's true why don't yo- oh." He stopped in his mental tracks and reeled at the situation. She did not take his words as fairy tales, she just simply told him to prove it.
"Yeah. If you're telling the true then prove it. Who am I to say what's real and what's not if I haven't seen everything. That's the reason why I'm traveling." Now it was her turn to smile and leave the Doctor slightly befuddled.
"Righty-o! Off to my spaceship!" He sprung up quickly and kicked dirt over the fire to put it out and helped Isabo stand. "Nothing a quick peak wont hurt. You're going to love this!"
As he spoke, he dragged her behind; with all of her stuff in tow she had a hard time keeping pace.
'Damn his long legs' she thought.
"Isabo- and Eggburt- Welcome to the T.A.R.D.I.S!" as he opened the door to his spaceship, he expected her to gape in awe at his blue beauty but as she looked around on the inside, she just shrugged her shoulders as if this was nothing.
"Seriously?" The Doctor noted her reaction and gestured to his ship, "I show you such awesome alien tech and all you do is shrug?"
From the way she caressed the railings, and ignored his miniature rant, it was evident that she wasn't surprised, "It's smaller on the outside, just like a Pokeball."
The Doctor sputtered, clearly this was the first time someone didn't mention that it was bigger on the inside. To add salt to his wound, she showed him the contraption in question and was amazed at this world's technology. He just could not believe that this world had such an invention, as well as free hospitals and somehow managed to never think outside their box that they had placed around their planet. For such small creatures of a different universe, humans still managed to surprise him.
"D'ya mind if I keep one of these? They look super cool and they don't have these where I'm from."
Though the Doctor did not bother to wait for her answer, he knew it was alright and he went off on a a bit of a 'geek spree' with his sonic screwdriver. Isabo still wasn't so sure what it did or how he made it, all she did know was that it did not work on wood.
"Look at that Eggy-Peggy" though the egg lacked eyes, she still pointed to the core of the spaceship, reveling in the sheer awesomeness of the place. The Doctor circled the motherboard and flicked a few switches and pulled some levers, his eyes never leaving the Pokeball in hand.
"So how would you like me to 'prove it'? Should I show you the future or the past, or how about something in the solar system? I can travel anywhere in time and space, you just name it."
"Just one place? There is just so many to pick!" She could have chosen just about anything. She wanted to see the stars, but she was also curious to her future. There was just so much to learn, how could he expect her to choose?
"Oh! Well if you're not in a rush... maybe you'd be interested in traveling with me?"
The look she gave him was like discovering a new Pokemon. In all of her excitement she placed the egg down by her things and hopped to the console, eager to travel. The Doctor grinned right back and had her help with controlling the ship and they both pulled levers and switches, sending the T.A.R.D.I.S flying.
Little did they notice that Isabo's egg twitched and coo'd at the lack of warmth from its owner.
As soon as they landed, the Doctor had warned her they they were somewhere in space and that they would need to be careful as to not offend the natives. Isabo listened to the Doctor and surprisingly followed his demands whenever he told her to stay put. She could not place why it befuddled him. Did his usual companions not listen to him; she wondered why?
The Doctor had surprised her and taken them to a planet made purely of diamonds. The first sight was breath taking as they had pulled up into orbit around the planet just in time to watch the sun glisten off and refract out into space. When the Doctor had first opened the door, she held her breath in fear of the lack of oxygen, but once he explained how his T.A.R.D.I.S worked, all was well.
The Doctor and Isabo spent most of the time traveling to various planets in the universe. First was the world made entirely of cheese, which was weird even for the Doctor. Isabo had accidentally tasted the princess, which sent them running from the royal guards and the torturous pits of the fondue pits.
Next planet was Marandun planet; this particular slab of rock looked as if it was fashioned from one of the story books the Doctor had read on the planet that he had protected. Something along the lines of dr. Seuss. Isabo still could not grasp his references, but she did laugh at them none-the-less. The trip to the planet ended with them being chased by insanely rabid(and completely territorial) what-cha-ma-thing-ies. The Doctor rarely complained about the names that Isabo came up with. Many of them were not creative and had earned either a groan or a face palm.
It had seemed to Isabo that with every trip they took, they always ended up at the wrong place at the wrong time because of all the running that they did. She would not have been surprised if she lost weight from hanging out with the Doctor.
The days turned into weeks with the Doctor and Isabo could not have noticed. Time and space moved differently for the two of them as they explored this different universe, all the while the Doctor secretly would examine their egg. Ever since he first laid sight on it, he had felt as if something was wrong. When he and Isabo started to travel he had noticed that she rarely took care of the egg. So whenever he could, the Doctor would hold it and coddle the mysterious creature while dear Isabo slept in one of the many rooms.
Since Time Lords required less sleep than humans, this became somewhat of a comfort for him. He would chat with the egg while working on parts of the engine and tell stories of the skies on his home planet of Gallifrey, easily sensing what the creature inside wanted to hear. The egg could feel the passion the Doctor spoke of when he mentioned home. Oh the detail that alien went into...
Then came the night when Isabo could not sleep. She was having nightmares again of the egg that had turned into a monster because of her. The thought of such a thing terrified her to the point where she wanted absolutely nothing to do with the thing. She never wanted that responsibility, all she wanted was a normal Pokemon and a hassle free life. Instead, she has this egg and was traveling with a mad man and his time traveling box.
'Wait until mother hears about this.' Her thoughts made her smirk. If she did ever tell her mother, she doubted anyone would believe her. 'Next stop, crazy town. Population one'.
As Isabo rounded the corner, she mushed herself against the wall as to not be noticed by the Doctor. Was he talking to the egg?
She peaked around only to see him perched in his captains chair while the egg was snugly in his lap as he tinkered with a bob of wires and metal.
"Oh you know it's not her fault. She didn't exactly sign up for you. Cut her some slack." Isabo looked around the console room and found nobody there.
"Being a parent's hard, you can't expect everything to go smoothly right off the bat. I should know, I was a dad once."
She watched as the egg shivered and felt it in her core as well. Neither of them liked the sound of that. Maybe something bad happened on his home planet? She would have to assume so because he never talked about it and would always redirect any attention from that particular area. So she silently promised herself that she would not pry.
As she took a step forward to the two of them, her egg turned towards her and that notified the Doctor of their guest.
"Isabo! Could not sleep?" All the seriousness that was in the room evaporated in that instant. Astounding.
"Yeah..." She came to stop next to him and peaked over his shoulder at his newest toy once she grabbed the egg from his lap. At first glance from an outsider, it was odd to see such a pair together and many a time she had to insist that their friendship was merely platonic. The Doctor was thankful.
Now speaking of toys...
Within the first week of their travels, he had taken apart the Pokeball she gave him and came to understand it's design. Though he mentioned that he would not be creating any of his own, it was still enjoyable to see what makes it tick. The Doctor had a harder time putting it back together thought.
"So what's on today's agenda Doctor?" Her habit of caressing the egg had the creature inside soothed and that had the Doctor thinking.
"How would you like to see what's in the egg?" From the noises that they made, both were easily curious.
"What, you mean like cracking it open?" She pulled the egg away from her and almost dropped it when the Doctor exclaimed rather suddenly. What he had meant was traveling into the future.
The Doctor sensed the eggs uneasiness from that comment but once he had clarified what he meant, even it was excited.
"Are you sure this is a good idea? Wont this cause a paradox or something?" The Doctor had traveled into Isabo's future by just a mere ten years and she was currently sitting on top of the T.A.R.D.I.S. As usual, she was a sucker for sunsets and moonlight.
"What? Oh. Maybe?" The door to the ship opened and inside stood the Doctor and the egg, "As long as there is no contact with the egg, you'll be fine. If this does cause a rift in time, then that means I owe a good friend of mine twenty credits!" Isabo could clearly hear the smile in his voice and she just shook her head and looked out into the sunset.
'What a beautiful sight, I could stare at this for hours.' The smile was then abruptly disturbed when a roar of gigantic magnitude shook her almost off of the T.A.R.D.I.S.
"What the Arceus is that?!"
The Doctor did not answer as he fiddled away with the console, trying to stabilize his ship. His ship was scared and knew that something was making it's course right toward them.
Something huge.
"Uh, Isabo"
"Doctor?"
"Eggsworth is coming in on the Northern wind." The egg rocked in the captains chair, still not enjoying any of the nicknames that he and its master had tried to name it. The Doctor smiled, still seeing humor in the situation... that is, until a scream came from outside.
"HOLY SHIT!" Such a vulgar outburst had the Doctor trying to cover the eggs ears. Or at least he tried to. There was no need for scarring the little critter just yet.
Outside the T.A.R.D.I.S sat a frightened Isabo as she stared at the barreling mass heading straight towards her. She tried to brace herself for impact but noticed it never came. Cautiously, her eyes opened and gazed upon the largest Pokemon she had ever seen.
"Whoa..." she lift a finger to her hat and raised it slowly upwards so that she could see all of the creature. "Eggatha?"
The Pokemon snorted annoyingly and growled just as the Doctor peaked out to get a gander at what was causing blips on his radar.
"Isabo, her name is Rayquaza and she says that she does not approve of that name. " He looked from the Pokemon to the egg and ran his hand through his hair. "Wow. How does something so small become so big?"
The Rayquaza seemed to smile at the comment before bringing her attention to Isabo. She sat as still as stone, in a mix of horror and amazement at what was to be inside her egg. What else was she supposed to do? This thing was like the monster in her dreams and she would not admit it openly, but she was so scared of it eating her. The Pokemon drew closer and sniffed at her before letting out an ear shattering cry and spiraled around the T.A.R.D.I.S like a cobra with their prey. It seemed happy to finally lay eyes on this trainer. It could somehow tell that this was the woman that could protected something so treasured.
And with those eyes that stared down at her, Isabo could see the Rayquaza for who it was. Sure it looked like a monster but from the look in its eyes, she knew greatness became of it. But something wasn't right... something felt different.
"Uh, Isabo?" The Doctor called from inside. He sounded worried.
"Yeah?"
"I think I made a mistake in my calculations... we are not ten years into your future, we are ten years into your past." From inside the Doctor's eyes never left the screen as he read of the history of this Pokemon. "This is the Pokemon of legends! Said to bring harmony against the warring Pokemon called Groudon and Kyogre. When those two fight, the region is at stake and it says here that only the guardian of the sky could break them apart. It also goes into saying that Rayquaza is so rare, that they were thought to be extinct."
"What?" This was unbelievable! How could she be the one to take care of such an egg, and how did the Professor come into possession of it?!
"This is the mother of eggy junior!" The growl from the Rayquaza had him shut up and sputter, "Wot?! I do not have a funny accent."
The Rayquaza and Isabo shared a smirk. Finally, someone who agrees with her. The next couple of hisses and growls had the Doctor nod before smiling.
"She says she wants to give us something to protect because she can no longer protect her treasures." The Pokemon nodded and uncoiled itself from the spaceship, making its way to an island made up of mirages. As the young trainer swung into the ship, it was full throttle in the same direction,
"Allons-y!"
Only when the familiar noise of the T.A.R.D.I.S stopping did they exit out onto the barren plain known as Mirage Island. An abandoned tower loomed over the two as they heard the familiar roar of the Rayquaza from the roof of the building.
"What do you think is her treasure?" She posed to the Doctor who shrugged. He honestly didn't know but the excitement of this new discovery was getting to him. Isabo noticed the pip in his stride.
At the top had shocked them both for there laid a nest with four eggs inside while the mother hovered protectively over her young. Her jaw opened to show fangs as she hissed and groaned, failing to vocalize her requests.
"Apparently she wants us to take an the eggs with us since she could sense my time traveling vortex. Quite odd really."
"What is?" She felt like she was missing something vital to this conversation, but what?
"Oh, the Rayquaza is actually an alien, and not a Pokemon." He smiled and winked, "sneaky minx aren't ya?"
Her head bowed in a deep nod before rising up to look them in the eyes. Wait, was that a blush on the Pokemon's face?
"So if we take the eggs, then how do I end up with one?"
"Oh that's the easy part. I'm the one to blame" His smile was hidden as he shuffled from one foot to the other. The Doctor trying to be coy was not surprising. "I guess I'm the one that hides and egg at the Professors. Which makes sense really. They are great judges of character and they help out whenever they can."
Isabo's head was starting to spin from the confusion of this situation.
'So the Doctor placed the egg there and Birch gave it to me which in turn gets me to meet the Doctor because the T.A.R.D.I.S knows that this needs to happen, who then takes me on a trip of awesome discoveries and- Oww my head!'
She clutched her head in pain from all the thinking and decided that it was best if she just left this up to the Doctor.
"Don't worry Mama Ray-Ray. We'll take good care of them," she said while noticing the grimacing facial expression that she and the Doctor shared.
"Sorry, she's new to the time traveling thing. Messes with her head pretty bad. But don't worry you can count on me Rayquaza." As he held out his hand, she leaned forward and pressed her nose to it and coo'd, thankful of the Time Lord's help.
After all the eggs were safely tucked away into the T.A.R.D.I.S they were off. The Doctor and Isabo flew through time for one last time because they knew that this could not last forever. Just before they had left, he Rayquaza had 'thunk-ed' the Doctor on the head to give him the idea on how to get back to his universe since he did not smell of their own. He had been grateful for the help and was eagerly trying to get them back to the night that they had left. He kind of felt bad that neither got to see what was in the egg, but he guessed that was a surprise meant for Isabo.
"You know I'm going to miss ya Doctor. You're a cool dude once you get past the creeper vibe." The Doctor had hidden the eggs from her to avoid causing paradoxes so all was safe and sound. She sat with the egg and they watched him go about the room.
"Oi, I'm not a creeper. I'm a Time Lord! I don't go 'hssss' and blow up your things to smithereens!" Again, another reference right over her head. Her sigh still made him pause and look at her to see her sad smile. "Oh, comm'ere kiddo." He held his arms out and gave her a hug while being mindful of the egg in between them.
"So I really wont know if I make it or if this little egg runs away from me?" She tilted her head upwards to try and look at him, searching for the answer.
"Spoilers Isabo, but what I can say is that he will love you and you will do great things. All you have to do is find the right path for ya."
"But what if I can't find the right path?"
"Then you make one! Why conform and follow others? Be different Isabo, you might like it."
Those were the last words The Doctor had said before they parted ways. He had been kind enough to show her a new perspective of the world and that sometimes you need help in order to stand strong. Just as the T.A.R.D.I.S vanished the egg in her arms twitched and a slight crack appeared on the egg, startling the poor girl and nearly dropped it. The crack grew until the golden hue of an eye stared back at her, the cooing ruptured from within.
Inside the T.A.R.D.I.S sat the Doctor. He had finally finished hiding the eggs with the trusted professors of all the regions in this world. Many of them would remember him and tell stories to their children for years to come. But just as easily as he appeared in their world, he would vanish just as so. He had engaged the temporal thrusters to charge before he would shoot out to a near by worm hole; so while he waited, he found a place in his ever growing closet to stash away his Pokeball as his memento of this universe.
Just as he sets the ball in a box, a mysterious picture fluttered beneath it. Curious, he picked it up only to see it was a letter with a picture. It was from Isabo, five years from the day he dropped her back off. She had taken his advice and made a new path for herself and became a Pokemon Ranger. She explained that with the help of a gadget she inspired from the sonic screwdriver she was able to enlist the help of the Pokemon around her without permanently owning them. It was a non-violent way at life that she had learned from the Doctor and she was proud to have met him.
"Well that's new. I helped create Pokemon Rangers... " He 'hmphed' and looked at the picture attached. It was of her and a Black Rayquaza posing for a picture and scribbled on the back were the simple words
"Isabo and -"
Crap. His finger smudged the name. Guess he'll never know, but that was just fine because from the look of the picture it seemed like they could not be happier with each other and that was all that mattered.
Fin
Thank you all for reading and I'm sorry if I butchered the story. I just liked how I was able to sew everything together in the end. As you may know, Pokemon Ranger was not an occupation that someone could choose, just trainer and coordinator.
Anyway, I'm off to brainstorm some more so leave a comment if you like and thanks again for reading.