"Z-Zoey…? Is that… you?" Blaziken stammered through his beak, his voice having a way deeper tone than the human remembered from back in the day. Back then, when they first met, his voice at least partially resembled that of an average bird, but now? She would associate his voice more with that of a lion, than a bird.

"Hehe, long time no see, huh?" the human replied with a small giggle. "I guess… I take it, I am not really recognizable like that." She gestured down her body with her hands. "Then again, you don't exactly look the same as well."

Blaziken looked down himself for a moment, before looking at the human in front of him. Zoey had never described what a human looked like, back when she was still a pokémon. Then again, Blaziken had never asked her what one looked like. He himself only knew humans through myths and childhood fairytales. All he got from them was that humans seemed very similar to Machokes.

The fire-type found himself broken out of his thoughts when out of nowhere Zoey wrapped her arms around his body and pressed her chin onto his shoulder.

"I missed you," she whispered, nuzzling his cheek.

"I missed you, too," Blaziken replied, wrapping his own arms around the human.

Absol in the meantime had a smile plastered onto his face, as he observed the two old friends holding each other. The reaction of both partners was way more subdued than he would have imagined. He often thought about how the two would behave if they ever met again and he had been sure they would be rolling across the ground or hugging each other so hard, they would have a hard time breathing.

On the other paw, however, the two didn't make any indications that they planned on letting go of each other anytime soon. If Absol didn't know any better, he would say the two were lovers who had come back together after an insufferable time of separation. In the back of his mind, he could already hear a certain Grass-type gossiping. Maybe it was good that Lunala only took him and Blaziken with her.

Seeing as none of the two had any plans on letting go anytime soon, Absol decided to have a closer look at his old team-leader. Like Blaziken he had only heard about humans through legends and myths and to be entirely honest, human myths had never interested him in the slightest. When it was revealed to him that Zoey was indeed one of those humans from the legends, well, the shock had stunned him to silence for a couple of minutes.

Back then, of course, Zoey had been a cute and adorable Pokémon. A cute and adorable Pokémon that somehow had the strength and the wits to defy the legends themselves. Now she looked anything, but adorable. If anything she seemed very mature, which was to be expected given how much time passed since he last saw her. Her hair looked soft and silky, giving her an elegant touch. He also noticed some sweet scent around her, which at least partially covered up her very own smell. Curiously, despite having changed species, her personal scent had not changed a bit. There were other scents around her, like the sweet one attached to her body. Her clothes smelt a bit like snow, too.

While he was storing away all of this information, Blaziken and Zoey finally let go of one another and turned to the dark-type, who had been quietly sitting on his haunches, waiting patiently for the two to break up.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you," Zoey intoned, before going on her knees and wrapping Absol into a tight hug. The disaster pokémon smiled and leaned into her shoulder. His horn accidentally entangled itself into her hair.

"It is good to see you again," Absol said, enjoying how Zoey's hands stroked his back. The two didn't spend five minutes hugging each other and the human let go relatively quickly of her white-furred friend. "You seem to be doing well, all things considered."

"Haha!" Zoey laughed good naturally. "Doing well? After that rollercoaster ride Lunala put me through, I'm surprised the world isn't spinning."

"Yes, that was an uncomfortable experience," Absol agreed.

"Are you alright? You aren't hurt, are you?" Blaziken asked, concerned.

"Eh, I think I am okay? My head still hurts a little. All of those flashing lights and such. How are you two holding up?" she asked.

"We're okay, everything considered," Blaziken replied. "Nothing compared to Rayquaza's Hyperbeam." He let out a small laugh, which subsided rather quickly. "But, we have no idea why that Pokémon took us here. She just… all of a sudden showed up and dragged us through this portal-thingy."

Zoey crossed her arms, nodding. "Yeah, same here. She just showed up all of a sudden, gave my pals and me the scare of our life and then dragged me here. Although she did say, she had been specifically looking for me."

"I think it is safe to say she wanted all of us to meet here," Absol said, to which the other two nodded.

"Well, I am happy to see Zoey again, but did she have to fly us all the way here?" he asked and looked around. "Where is here anyway? This doesn't look like Tiny Woods or any place we have been to."

Zoey crossed her arms, frowning. "Beats me. The only thing I can say for certain is that we're neither in your nor in my world."

"Say what?! Really?!" Blaziken exclaimed.

"What makes you say that?" Absol inquired, trying to keep his composure.

Zoey gave each of her old friends a look before she went on explaining. "Mmm, where do I start? The abridged version is that Lunala and Solgaleo are two pokémon with extraordinary abilities. They can open so-called Ultra Wormholes, which lead to other worlds."

"Other worlds?!" Blaziken repeated. "So, we're like, in a completely different world?!" he shouted, to which Zoey nodded.

"I think? I can't be sure at the time," Zoey spoke uneasily.

"Given our lack of further information, we have to go with this for now," Absol opined. "But if this is the case and Lunala wanted us to meet again, why did she go through all the trouble and put us into this world, instead of simply bringing Zoey back to ours?" he inquired.

"Yeah, you're right." Blaziken crossed his arms. "That doesn't make any sense, does it? Also, she didn't really give us a decision about whether we wanted to go or not. Not that I would have said no or anything, it's just the principle of the matter."

Zoey let out a snicker after hearing this comment. Absol and Blaziken gave their former leader each an inquiring look.

"What's so funny?" the fire and fighting-type asked.

"Sorry," Zoey snickered again. "I'm just feeling so nostalgic all of a sudden. Here I am, waking up in another world, surrounded by Pokémon with no time whatsoever to adjust to the situation. It's like when Blaziken found all the way back in Tiny Woods."

It was Blaziken's turn to chuckle. "It kind of is, isn't it? All that is missing is for a Butterfree to fly by and ask us to help her save her son."

The two of them laughed a bit at their memories, with Absol smiling fondly at their interactions. However, his smile vanished in less than a second, when his disaster senses suddenly made themselves known.

"Someone is in danger," he said out of nowhere.

Zoey looked down at him in confusion, while Blaziken had an idea immediately as to what the dark-type meant. "Your disaster senses?" Zoey's eyes widened in realization when she heard that and immediately grew worried when Absol nodded in confirmation.

"Someone is in danger of being attacked. I can tell they're safe now, but that will change if we don't intervene." The dark-type turned around. "It's this way," he proclaimed and ran ahead.

"Whoa, wait for us!" Blaziken exclaimed and ran after Absol.

"Guys!" Zoey shouted and started running. "Wait up! Human legs are not as strong as Pokémon legs!"


Absol and Blaziken did eventually stop. Partially because they realized that they had pretty much abandoned their human friend and partly because they found themselves at the edge of the forest. The two Pokémon found themselves overlooking a vast array of hills with a single pathway leading to a small town in the distance. There were trees, flowers and even smaller forests that surrounded said in. The land around the city directly was being cultivated with something, although the two Pokémon were too far away to really make anything out.

"Good to see that this world is inhabited," Absol commented, looking at the buildings in the distance.

"Your disaster senses wouldn't have acted up if no one was living here," Blaziken pointed out.

"True, I suppose," the dark-type acknowledged.

"Well, I see a few Pokémon down there. Any idea who of them is tickling your senses?" the fire and fighting-type asked.

Ignoring the joke, Absol took a look around. "It's hard to tell. At times like these, I wish my senses would be more specific, but alas they're not. However, what I do know is that we're close."

"In that case, maybe we should wait here and observe the area." Blaziken turned his head around and frowned. "We kind of did leave Zoey in the dust, back there."

"True, but I sense no danger coming after her. Still, perhaps it would be best if one of us goes back and looks after her, while the other waits here and keeps an eye out for-"

Absol found himself interrupted by a scream coming from the not so far distance. Both rescue team members were surprised when they found out that the source of the voice was yet another human. It had short black hair, wore some kind of red and white hat, some blue and black garments and a green rucksack. The human was marginally shorter than Zoey, perhaps a pre-evolution, and he had a Pikachu running by his side. And the reason the two of them were running was that they were being chased by a vast flock of angry Spearows.

"Or we could go in, save the day and then find Zoey," Blaziken took over, with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Whatever works, I suppose."

Absol and Blaziken immediately jumped into action, running directly towards the human and the Pikachu. On the way, they noticed multiple groups of Pokémon just standing on the sidelines and watching the proceedings going on. Quite frankly, the two couldn't understand why not even one of them bothered to at least try and break the situation apart. Admittedly those were a lot of Spearows, but still, it was the principle that counted.

Setting those things aside, it didn't take long for Blaziken and Absol to get into position, partially because the chasers and the ones being chased came precisely from the opposite direction.

"What the-?! Get out of the way you two!" they heard the Pikachu shouting.

"Whoa! What kind of Pokémon are those?!" was the human's question. Judging from the tone of his voice, the two Rescue Team members guessed that this human was a young male. A very young male, if the height difference was anything to speak off.

"Should we ask as to why they're attacking them?" Blaziken first pointed at the flock and then at the Pikachu and the human.

"Let's save the questions for after they have become docile," Absol opined. "Or would you rather have a repeat of the Tauros incident?"

"H-hey! We promised never to bring this up again!"

"I am not so sure anymore. I think we should at the very least give our leader a little status update. She is no doubt curious as to what we have been doing all those years."

While Absol was snickering at his partner's expense, who looked ready to punch the dark-type, the human and the Pikachu had passed the Rescue Team and came to a full stop.

"What are you two doing?! Run!" the human shouted, doing not much running himself.

"Are you two blind or something?!" the Pikachu asked in exasperation.

Ignoring those two Blaziken and Absol turned their attention at the incoming flying-types. Simultaneously the two took in a deep breath and let out storms of fire and ice respectively. Naturally, the Spearows were not expecting to get burned and frozen alive at the same time although that was only true for those caught in the middle of the onslaught. Absol was aiming his Blizzard to the left and Blaziken his Flamethrower to the right. Since Blaziken's attack didn't have as large of an area of effect as Absol's Blizzard, as such he had to readjust his aim now and then. Luckily for him, the Spearows were practically frozen in shock and just hovered in mid-air, making them easy pickings. Finally, the flying-types understood that they were outmatched and high tailed out of the area. Of course, those Pokémon that had already been hit by either fire or ice-attack were already lying on the ground, knocked out.

Absol and Blaziken ceased their attacks at the same time and viewed the outcome.

"I think we might have overdone it this time..." Blaziken stated lamely, seeing as the left side was frozen over and the right side on fire.

"Yes, I think you're correct. If you would excuse me, I better put out those fires." Absol quickly ran towards the burning fields and used his Blizzard to put them out quickly, before they could do any further damage. Blaziken in the meantime turned towards the Pokémon and the human, who were both gaping at him in awe.

"Are you two alright?" he asked.

None of the two responded. Both Pokémon and human alike had their jaws dropped onto the floor. Almost automatically, the human held up a red device of some sorts and pointed it at the fire and fighting-type. To Blaziken's surprise, the red thing started to talk.

"NO DATA AVAILABLE!"

"Say what?" the young human asked, looking down at his red thing.

"What was that?" Blaziken asked, slightly bewildered. "Did that thing just speak?"

"Hey, don't worry big guy," the Pikachu spoke up, causing Blaziken to look down on him. "That thing is just a Pokédex. It's one of those human thingamajigs. It gives humans information about us Pokémon when they point it at us," the Electric-type explained.

"Wow. Humans have something like that?" the bigger Pokémon asked. "Zoey never mentioned anything like that. Then again, she did lose her memory back then..." he trailed off.

"Zoey? Sounds like a human name," Pikachu muttered mostly to himself. "Is this Zoey your trainer by any chance?" the electric mouse asked curiously.

"Trainer?" Blaziken repeated. "No, our trainer would be Makuhita. He had a dojo in our hometown, and we trained there regularly."

"Makuhita?" Pikachu tilted his head. "Is that another human?"

Blaziken shook his head. "Makuhita is a Pokémon. I guess you've never met a Makuhita, have you?"

"No," Pikachu admitted, wrapping his head around the idea of a Pokémon owning a public building. "I have lived all my life here in Kanto. Never gotten around much, besides the local woods, you know?"

The human boy in the meantime was watching the entire exchange with a mixture of fascination and sheer shock. His eyes also occasionally wandered to Absol, was finishing up putting out all of the fires, freezing the local fauna in the process. The boy had every intention of catching the two obviously powerful Pokémon, but before he could even reach for his Pokéballs, he found himself interrupted by a woman's voice.

"Are you fucking serious?!"

The human, Absol, Blaziken and Pikachu snapped their heads into the direction the voice had come from. They saw Zoey standing at the edge of the forest, which the two other members of the Rescue Team had exited earlier. Even from a distance, everyone could see that Zoey was catching her breath, seeing as she was slightly hunched over.

"Oh dear," Absol just came back from his task and watched with a worried gaze as his leader quickly approached their position. "Zoey doesn't look too happy."

"I'm pretty sure if we explain everything to her, it will be fine," Blaziken assured his partner.

"Who is she?" the human boy mumbled to himself. The group of four watched, as the female human approached them, arms crossed and giving her two team members a hard look.

"Are you two serious?" she repeated, completely ignoring the Pikachu and the other human. "I lose sight of you two for five minutes and this place already looks like a mini Ragnaröck just happened!" The human woman gestured not only at the destroyed landscape but also at the grounded Spearows. "Mind telling me why you two decided to go this overboard? You could have just used Razor Wind and that would have done the job."

Absol blushed a little, as he didn't consider this attack. Done rightly, Razor Wind could have theoretically taken out most of the attacking Spearows and done less damage to the environment.

"Oh... we... didn't think about that..." Blaziken admitted, scratching his cheek.

Zoey huffed and rolled her eyes at the comment. "Well, at the very least you put out the fires. The last thing we need now is getting the local authorities on our asses." She turned her gaze towards the other human and the Pikachu. "Especially considering the kind of situation we're in right now."

Zoey returned her gaze to her two teammates. "With that being said, I take it he's the guy that got your senses all riled up?" The question was directed at Absol, while Zoey was pointing with her finger at the boy.

"That is correct," the dark-type nodded.

"Not surprising," Zoey muttered. "Considering who he is..." She put a hand on her forehead. "Damn it, I'm getting a headache already."

Absol and Blaziken looked at each other uneasily. "Er... maybe we should introduce ourselves?" Blaziken asked, pointing at the Pikachu and the other human.

"Right," Zoey nodded and turned around. "Sorry about ignoring you, like that. But I have one hell of a day behind me and from the looks of things it won't be over soon enough."

"Uh..." the human boy said unintelligently.

"Anyways, the name's Zoey. And you already met Blaziken and Absol," she pointed at both of her teammates.

"Uh... oh, yeah! My name is Ash Ketchum! Up and coming Pokémon master!" the young boy proclaimed with a raised fist.

"A Pokémon master that just managed to piss off a bunch of Spearows?" Zoey asked with a wry grin.

"Yeah, some master," Pikachu huffed, giving Ash the stink eye.

"H-hey, it's just my first day," Ash waved with his hands frantically. "Everyone makes mistakes, right?"

"Like throwing a rock at an aggressive Pokémon?" the Electric-type asked.

"He threw a rock at a Spearow?" Blaziken asked, crossing his arms.

"No wonder they were attacking him. Spearows are known for defending their flock in an almost fanatical fashion," Absol stated. "You two are lucky we were here."

"You tell me," Pikachu sighed. "You really saved our hides back there. We owe you one."

"Huh, looks like my Pokémon and your Pokémon get along very well," Ash stated, gaining him looks from each Pokémon present. Zoey repressed the urge to sigh, as she could feel another headache coming. She needed to sort this thing out and fast.

"Are you a Pokémon trainer, too?" the boy asked, not giving Zoey any time to think of a way to ditch the boy for five minutes.

"No," she answered honestly. "I am not."

"Huh?" Ash was confused. "But those two..." he pointed at the Pokémon behind Zoey.

"Are my friends," Zoey finished for Ash. "Look, you probably have a ton of questions, but can they wait for a second? I need to check up on those two real quick. We got in a bit of a scuffled earlier, so to speak, and I'd rather be sure nothing happened to them."

Before either of her two Teammates could react vocally, she shot them a look that said to just go with it.

"Uh... sure?" Ash answered, his confusion reaching levels where he himself was getting a headache.

"Great! Now then..."

Zoey practically dragged her two teammates a little bit away, ignoring their protests as well as the questioning gazes she was receiving from Pikachu and Ash. Once she was sure she was out of hearing range of the boy, she let go of her two partners, who were giving her bewildering looks.

"What are you doing, Zoey?! Why did you lie to him just now?" Blaziken asked.

The human leader didn't answer immediately. She felt the need to rub her temples, before answering. "I'm gonna drop dead by the end of the day," she groaned. "Okay, listen carefully, guys and keep your voices down."

Absol and Blaziken were very confused at the sudden order but nodded none the less.

"See, I think I have figured out just where Lunala abducted us to."

"So, is this here your world after all?" the dark-type asked.

"No, however, I know which world we're in."

"Y-you do? But how?" the fire chicken asked in surprise.

"That will take a long time to explain. Time we don't have at the moment," she emphasized the last word. "Listen up, you two. I am probably the only human that can understand Pokémon. Other humans can't."

"They don't?" the fire-type questioned. "But, how come you can understand us?"

"My guess would be it has something to do with her transformation into a Pokémon," Absol suggested.

"Whatever it is, Ash won't understand a word you say. All he'll hear is you two repeating your own name over and over," Zoey explained. "Another thing about Ash is that he is a very important person."

"Very important? How so? Is he the son of a town leader or something?" the fire-chicken asked.

"If only it were this easy. I can't explain right now how important he is, but let me give you a metaphor. Remember the meteor?"

Both Pokémon and even Zoey shuddered just thinking about the damn rock. That had been a very close call.

"What about it?" Blaziken asked uncomfortably.

"Let's just say, if he were to die for some reason or other," Zoey pointed at Ash "it would be the same as us just letting the meteor hitting the ground."

Both Pokémon looked at her with wide eyes.

"Are you serious?" Absol asked, straining his disaster senses to try and see what she meant.

"Deadly," the female human nodded. "Now listen up, the plan is this. We'll be following Ash for now, until we get a chance to properly talk to each other. Don't talk to me directly until then and any questions you have, safe them until we have the time. I promise I'll tell you everything later, okay?"

Zoey knew she gave her partners less than satisfactory information. However, from the moment she had seen Ash Ketchum of all people from the top of the hill, she knew that she needed to take control of the situation as quickly as humanly possible. Unknowingly Absol and Blaziken had fucked up significant events and now they had to fix it. Zoey may have no idea as to why Lunala dropped all three of them into this world, but the human knew she would have the biggest chances of meeting the legendary again when sticking to Ash Ketchum. After all, he was a magnet for trouble.