It's a bit less chilly now. The sun shines through the windows, illuminating the house in a surprisingly full manner. The increase in temperature, however, does little to dissuade Gohan's nervousness. The only relief is the adorable-as-ever Yamper on the futon to his left, alongside Chimecho and a Lucy pounding away at some sort of device: 'Nintendo Dee Ess'?
"So," the lady across from him begins, clasping her hands together. "What's your name?"
He gulps. While the Corphish didn't hit him too hard, he has no way of judging how strong anyone here is without his ki sense! Why isn't that working, anyways...? If he underestimates this honestly intimidating-looking woman he might end up plastered against the floorboards. If he overestimates the people living here, though...
"Ouch. Okay, okay Gohan. You don't like fighting anyways, right? Maybe for sport with dad, but... you don't want to fight these people. They saved you from having a coma, right? Just go along. They have every right to be suspicious."
"M-my name's Gohan," he mumbles. As she raises an eyebrow, he stutters it out again on the assumption that she hadn't really heard him. "My n-name's Go–!"
"I heard what you said," she interrupts. He glances downwards, feeling a little awkward. "That's just a very unusual name. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone named that."
Damn. Wasn't his Grandpa Gohan supposed to be world-famous or something as a martial artist? This place must be very remote... though come to think of it, he's never actually asked anyone outside his social circle about... whatever the supposed common knowledge on martial arts is. Dang, it really must be another planet. Or, heck, another universe. He hasn't seen (or heard) a single normal-ish animal so far, to add to that.
"Oh, uh, er, what's your name?"
Her lips quirk up into an almost sly smile, and she laughs under her breath. "You don't know who I am? You really must not be from around here." She grins. "I'm Cynthia, Champion of the Lily Valley League and effective boss-woman of all of Sinnoh."
"... Sinnoh? Champion...? Like Mister Satan?"
Gohan's confused reaction is apparently not quite what she expected. Cynthia leans back in her chair, watching his expression shift as he tries to puzzle out what she means. "Oh, you really don't know who I am, do you? You really must not be from around here." She leans back towards and places her elbows onto the table. "So, Gohan, do you know what's happening? Did, well, Lucy explain the circumstances around your arrival here?"
He bows his head slightly: "No, Miss Cynthia. I, er, I'm very confused."
"No need to be so formal, really!" she half-laughs, waving a hand. "I mean, I'm not asking you to be rude but just because I'm Champion, you don't have to grovel at my feet or anything. God," she sighs, "it honestly gets old."
"All right?" He thinks, but then stops thinking. Does he really have to analyze what's happening? She's about to explain it, anyways.
"As I was saying, you, uh... you're kind of a mystery. Maybe you saw that large mountain to the west while you were outside, Mt. Coronet?" He nods, and so she continues. "Well... a trainer just sort of found you there. Lying unconscious, near the peak of the mountain. A little battered but nothing a few days of rest didn't fix. Basically you've been in a coma and we've been keeping you in that futon over there."
"Ah." He glances towards the spot where he woke up the just a few hours ago. "But, why is that special or unusual? This place seems pretty... I don't know, remote?"
She crosses her arms. "Most people know better than to go off into the wilderness without their own pokémon for protection. Not only were you found almost unharmed, but you totally lacked any items or pokémon. You don't even have any sort of Trainer ID, so you probably aren't a Pokémon Trainer."
"Pokémon Trainer?"
Cynthia blinks. Wait, what? That is a severe lack of knowledge: is this kid from a reeeeally remote part of the regions with Pokémon Rangers? Maybe that far away region Mistia.
"You... well, anyways, the most unusual part – and the reason why I've gotten involved (besides the fact that I live here)... is the fact that you appeared on Mt. Coronet. Do you know what's so special about Mt. Coronet?"
"... It's very high, for a mountain?"
"No."
"Oh."
"Coronet is where the Legendary Pokémon Dialga and Palkia are said to live. Or, well, we now know they live there. They're spoken of in ancient myths..." she trails off as she reaches for a book on the edge of the table. Gohan watches with interest. Ancient myths? 'Pokémon' (probably some sort of term for the monsters suffering from Corphish Syndrome)? Is this the beginning of an adventure like the ones dad went on in his childhood?!
"Ah! Here it is!" she says, quickly flipping the book open to a fairly early page and flipping it around to show Gohan. She nods proudly when he notes that she was the author of this tome, and gestures for him to read. Huh, that's a pretty impressive looking creature in there: nice of her to provide a picture. It looks rather menacing: more metallic than the dinosaurs he's used to seeing at any rate. This thing definitely has power behind it, though whether it's in the ballpark to concern him is up to question. The one on the opposite page is pretty weird looking too - the two definitely are related somehow.
Dialga: the Temporal Pokémon
National Pokédex Number: 483
Abilities: Pressure and Telepathy
Signature Move: Roar of Time
Egg Group: Unknown, possibly Dragon or Mineral
Transformations: Primal Reversion
Age: Several billion years, suspected
Captured by: Dawn, Ethan, Brendan
Type: Steel/Dragon
Height: 5.4 m
Weight: 683 kg
Known Fusions: Dialxys (with Deoxys), Dialabi (with a celebi)
A pokémon spoken of in legends of the Sinnoh region. It is said that time began when Dialga was first born, and that it flows with the beats of its heart. While that specific phenomenon is unconfirmed, it has displayed incredible power of the space-time continuum and is quite superior to instances of celebi. It is extremely strong and dangerous: while captured with a Poké Ball it is cut off from its phenomenal cosmic power and so it is not recommended to keep it for too long. It rarely even tries to communicate with those around it. One is more likely to hear its cry than its true mode of speech.
Palkia: the Spatial Pokémon
National Pokédex Number: 484
Abilities: Pressure and Telepathy
Signature Move: Spatial Rend
Egg Group: Unknown, possibly Dragon or Water-1
Transformations: None
Age: Several billion years, suspected
Captured by: Dawn, Ethan
Type: Water/Dragon
Height: 4.2 m
Weight: 636 kg
Known Fusions: Mania (with a manaphy)
A pokémon spoken of in legends of the Sinnoh region. Despite being associated with the region, it is believed to inhabit a spatial dimension parallel to ours. It holds total control over the boundaries of space, and can stabilize and destabilize it at will: even to the point of traversing entire universes. Extremely powerful: like Dialga, however, capturing it with a Poké Ball cuts it off from its cosmic power and will aggravate it after an uncertain stretch of time. It rarely tries to communicate other Pokémon, though unlike Dialga will sometimes reply through its telepathic abilities.
"Huh. Are you saying... I was brought here by your gods of time and space?"
"Our gods of space-time? Gohan, after the events with Team Galactic it should be common knowledge that Dialga is the god of time." She frowns slightly, looking him up and down. "You really aren't from anywhere near here, are you. Where the heck did you come from?"
"Uh..." he mumbles. "Mount Paozu?"
"I've never heard of that place. Is that in Ransei?"
"No? I've never heard of Ransei."
"Oh, really? That's not surprising; it's pretty remote... Do you know what region you're from? It's not Sinnoh, and not Ransei..."
Gohan mumbles something almost incomprehensible, though it sounds an awful lot like 'Mount Paozu' again. She sighs. No one ever said the life of a Champion was easy, but now that she's here... if this was a problem she could sort out through battling this would be going a lot more quickly. It's a good thing she has experience with kids, especially brats like Lucy. This one's obviously nervous... she really should keep her frustration from bubbling to the surface.
"H-hey, M-Cynthia?"
"Huh? Yes?"
"Is... the moon still around?"
"What?" Cynthia glances outside the window, despite knowing it's the middle of the morning. "Um, yes? Where would... where would the moon have gone?"
As she watches his face, he seems to realize something. His eyes widen before he blinks for a moment. Wait. Mt. Coronet... Spear Pillar... time and space...
Where could he have come from that he was uncertain about the state of the dang moon?
Probably very, very far away.
"Gohan..."
"Yes?"
"You're not from this world."
He seems surprised at her saying this, but nods. "I... I think so. I only realized it just now... my world doesn't have a moon. Anymore, I mean."
She nods. "I would be inclined to disbelieve you. But I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt, considering how you... arrived here. Plus," she says, glancing back at the book of legends and crypts, "I suppose there's no reason there can't be extraterrestrial humans as well as pokémon. You can stay here for now. If you want, I mean."
"Okay, uh, right" he says. "What is a pokémon?"
"Oh, they're, uh," she trails off. What is a Pokémon? Has she ever had to explain it to anyone before? Most people just know 'oh, that's a pokémon all right'. "They're like... monsters, I guess. It's pretty weird to imagine that your world doesn't have them, regardless of how different it is. Uh, may I continue?" He nods. Daw, what a nice kid. Probably smart too - she shouldn't hold back.
"So... you know how there's different groups of life, right? Like plants, and animals, and bacteria? Well, pokémon are their own group. No one knows their origins, but they're considered their own domain separate from life like humans and ordinary plants. They're almost all very intelligent and have their own forms of language... though it's very hard to understand. They're honestly very poorly understood. May I continue for a little bit longer?" Gohan nods again, clearly paying close attention ("Mhm, I don't mind."). "Er... it was once frequently debated whether humans were animals or pokémon, up until genetics advanced to the point that we were able to look directly. Our DNA is somewhere... in the middle, but it's significantly closer to animal life than pokémon. Basically, they're monsters. Or youkai, or whatever your home world calls them." She brushes her hair out of her face, waiting for Gohan's reply.
"... You think they're aliens? I mean, if some are aliens and they're all the same sort of 'different-life', maybe they all are."
Huh. That's something she hadn't considered. Eh, leave that sort of speculation to the Professors: "Look, Gohan, the point is that pokémon are a part of life in this world and they're here to stay. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if humanity was the only real species of animal left a few hundred years from now, and that's probably entirely because of our pokémon-like intelligence and... well, exceptional individuals."
"... Exceptional individuals? You mean, like super heroes?"
"Maybe. One of the reasons the debate was so heated was that not only are many humans a lot more durable than ordinary animals, but certain ones have powers like them. Super strength or psychic powers and the like. That's not common knowledge, though: most are considered freaks of nature."
"And... and they're all human? Totally, normally human?"
"Yes."
"Can anyone... do you know about anyone who can do this?"
He raises a hand and–
"Hey, wait!"
Gohan jumps back a bit startled. "Hu-w-what?" Did he do something wrong?! He was just... ah...
"Sorry, sorry, but do you think you could do... whatever it was you were about to do outside? Just in case." He nods: she nods back and gets up to walk out the door. I guess she does have reason to be concerned - what sort of freak powers would this guy bring in from another world? "Hey." She glances back at the doorframe, looking at him. "What's your world's name, anyways?"
"Uh, Earth."
"Really? Huh. This world... we live on Earth too."
"Can I call it Pokémon World?"
"Pfft! Sure, Gohan. I'm going to call yours Gohan World though."
Heheh, that's mildly amusing. He smiles, hopping out of his chair and trotting up behind her as she walks outside the house with the book. They quickly turn around the house towards the edge of the town, not noticing Lucy blearily splat her face against the windows ("What are those neanderthals up to...").
...
"Well?"
Gohan nods, and looks around. None of those 'pokémon' seem to be around. "Here goes?"
*poof!*
An orb of light winks into existence above his outstretched palm. Cynthia's eyes widen with interest: "Gohan... huh, that's interesting..." She shakes her head, before popping her book open and flipping to a certain page. "Ah! Are you one of these?" she asks once she turns it towards him.
"Aura user...?" he mumbles as he scans the page. "Maybe? I don't think so, though... seems kind of different from what I normally do. And I've never heard of any... 'Aura Spheres'. We just call it ki."
"Qi, huh? I think some people in a far off region have some superstitions about that... maybe Ransei, people from there might know the specifics."
"I... doubt it, but all right," he says as he reads the page more intently. "Oh my god... crap! That's why I can't sense anything!"
"Sense?"
He nods. "Normally, I can sense everything around me! But none of you have ki - you're all filled with this 'aura' stuff instead!"
"Is there really that much of a difference?" she asks. "I mean..."
"Cynthia, everything, and I mean every single living thing where I come from has some supply of ki," he says with a rather urgent tone. "Either... either this place is way different from what I know as normal, or I'm in an entirely different universe!"
"That seems a little far-fetched."
"It would make more sense for both of our worlds to be named Earth, in that scenario."
"... Oh, that's true."
...
"So, uh, Cynthia."
"Hm?"
"What do I do?"
She looks him up and down. If this kid really is from a wholly other universe... he might not have any idea what the hell he's doing, would he? Even if he has weird, 'aura-like' powers, he's... a kid. A kid involved in a paranormal happening, and what might be a pretty big one at that. Mt. Coronet? Spear Pillar? Aliens?
Maybe the world needs to be reminded that the full-grown Champions are just as useful as 'Dex-wielding rookies, no offense to Dawn and Ethan.
"Hey, Gohan," she pipes up. "Would you like to stay with us for a while?"
Aura Guardians/Users
Signature Move: Aura Sphere
Known Species:
* Humans
* Squirtles
* Mew
* Lucario
* Togetic
* Mienfoo
* Clauncher
* Creation Dragons
Type: Fighting or Psychic, suspected
In paranormal theory, an aura is a field of light said to surround living beings, the color of which is determined by a person's disposition. While normally invisible, it can be seen under specific circumstances - or sensed by one who knows how. While Aura is supposedly a force emitted by all life, few pokémon can learn the technique Aura Sphere, and even fewer individuals can manipulate Aura in and of itself, without the usage of a Move. Abilities supposedly granted by the mastery of Aura include telepathy, 'Aura Sense', projection to create constructs similar to Moves, and enhancement of one's own life force. Interestingly, Aura needs a medium to carry its effects – similar to sound waves, it cannot exist in an empty vacuum.
"No! No no no! It was fine while he was knocked out, but I'm not going to... going to just let you adopt some brat you found!"
"Lucy, that is very rude to say right in front of him." Cynthia sighs, though she finds it a bit amusing to see Lucy calling someone else a brat. "Gohan doesn't have anywhere to stay around here, and the circumstances of his arrival justify the Champion being involved in his affairs."
"Circumstances?! He was found sleeping on a mountain! For all you know he's a random homeless person!"
"Oh, then I guess he needs a place to stay even more."
"Tch!" she grunts, crossing her arms and plopping onto her futon. Lucy grumbles to herself about random aura freaks bursting in on her nice - wait, she saw that?! ... Hrm, guess there really isn't a point in keeping that hidden. They still should try not to make a big deal about it. Villainous teams have been popping up left and right lately...
"Lucy..."
"What?!"
Cynthia sighs, before pulling a back-pack out from behind herself. She practically rips it open to reveal ten Poké Balls inside: Lucy's eyes widen. "These are yours if you be nice, okay?"
"Uh..."
"How old are you?"
"Ten... wait... turning eleven in about a week?" she says, her voice slowly growing louder. A grin spreads over her mug, countered by Cynthia's sly smile.
"You be nice... and you get to start your very own Pokémon Journey. All right?"
"Yeah!"
...
"Hey, where's Lucy?"
Cynthia twirls around, looking Gohan dead in the eye. "At the Pokémart. Her big day is coming up and she decided to fill up on items early."
"Okay?" he says. "What did you want to do out here?"
"Well, you are a new sort of paranormal creature, right?" Gohan nods a bit uncertainly. Maybe? He can fly, and he is new here. "Simple. I want to find out more about you. I mean, you aren't exactly part of 'mythology' but lately I've been getting interested in cryptids in general."
He nods. "All right. So... you want to know everything that makes me different from a human?"
"Yeah, everything that – what."
"Oh... uh, I'm not human. At least, entirely? My dad was an alien."
"... You know, after everything else we've established, it doesn't matter. Actually... name?"
"... Saiyans?"
"Huh. Don't get the name, but okay," she mumbles. She also absentmindedly scribbles the name onto a note - gotta write an entry later. "So what can saiyans do?"
"Uh... they're able to use ki. Really easily. And even without ki they're really strong? I know my dad fell off a cliff when he was a baby and made it out fine."
"... Is that it? You still... eat food and breathe and look normal?"
"I mean, when I was born I had a tail. But it was cut off. And, uh, when a saiyan looks at the full moon they turn into a Great Ape."
"All riiight... wait, the moon? Didn't your moon... uh, stop existing?"
"Oh. My friend Mr. Piccolo destroyed it. Because, uh, I kind of turned into a giant monkey and went on a rampage."
"He... destroyed the moon."
"Yep. And then he cut off my tail, because we kind of need that too."
She breathes a sigh of relief - okay, that's probably good. He doesn't have a tail as far as she can tell. It's probably better to not have to find out if he can turn into some sort of ultra-Primeape.
"Alllllright... please don't destoy the moon? Jeez, how does that even happen?"
"Mr. Piccolo was - is, very strong."
"I'll, uh, take your word for it." she mumbles. "Note to self! Do NOT let this this kid get ticked off! Christ, maybe get him familiarized with Pokémon Battling ASAP, before he can start solving problems with his fists. I was curious about what he could do but hell if I'm going to be responsible for the next tragic Pokéstar Studios feature film."
She's startled out of her thoughts by a Gohan leaning next to her ("Gah!"). "Miss Cynthia? Anything else you need to know?"
"No, thank you. Er... actually, I guess. Did you saiyans... uh, were you violent?"
"... Oh, uh, very. I think the term they used was their being a 'Warrior Race'." Upon seeing her face pale ever so slightly, he quickly adds that "B-but hybrids tend to lose that sort of bloodlust! My dad was a powerful warrior, but I w-want to grow up to be a scholar!"
"Hm. Did you, ah, enjoy fighting at all?"
Gohan thinks for a second. Did he? The Cell Games and to be honest, most of his life has been a bloody hell, but training with dad and Mr. Piccolo was honestly... pretty nice.
"I guess so. I never liked the blood, or the pain, but I guess I'm fine with friendly competition." A nervous smile cracks his façade. "Though, I don't know if anyone here can give me one."
"Oh, really?" she smirks. "Don't think that the Sinnoh Champion would go down easy, saiyan or not."
"... Wait, what? You really want to fight me?"
She shrugs. "Sure. I mean, I'm not supposed to accept challenges for the Champion title unless you've already gone through the Pokémon League... but, I mean, this isn't a battle for the title. So I don't... I don't think..."
"What?"
"Crap, you think I mean actually fighting you. By myself."
"Uh, how else would we fight?"
*sigh* "Gohan, what did I tell you about this world?"
"That the moon... that this world revolves around the existence of those pokémon? You want to fight me with pokémon?"
Cynthia nods. "Yes. Okay, Gohan, maybe I better explain to you how this all works. Sit down." He sits, looking up expectantly and ready for knowledge. This is a Champion, right? She probably knows what she's talking about.
"Gohan, what could be considered the dominant past-time in this world is Pokémon Battling. Since you are from a world... without pokémon, I'm going to assume the closest thing you know of would be it's unsavory cousin cockfighting?"
He nods uneasily. Cockfights? Like... they make these monsters fight each other for sport?!
"See, this is what I was worried would happen. Look. You said you were fine with fights that were in good fun, right? Pokémon are natural fighters. They like fighting. Human intervention honestly is probably what keeps them from seriously hurting each other in actual, bloody combat."
"Oh, okay. So... pokémon..."
"Pokémon are often captured for usage in pokémon battles, though that isn't the only possible reason. They can also be used for more mundane jobs, as pets, or to act as protection from wild pokémon who may attack you. While some pokémon might show themselves in hopes of getting captured in a bid to improve their skills in combat under the direction of a human, they could just as likely have decided to dine on human meat that day."
"I see... so, Lucy is a battler?"
"The term is 'Pokémon Trainer'. And no, she isn't old enough yet. Chimecho and Yamper are just her pets – though when she turns eleven next week, I bet she'll want to."
"Wait, the age is eleven years old?! I'm eleven!"
"Great. Your pokémon journey will start with Lucy's."
"W-what?! I never even said I wanted to take part in this! ... Okay, maybe it does sound like a way to pass the time while I try to figure out what to do here and get back... but I don't know the first thing about 'capturing' a pokémon!"
"Use these."
"Wha-?!" Gohan shouts as he stumbles back. The orb, seemingly coming from nowhere, bonks him in the head and he barely catches it. Cynthia mumbles an apology as he looks it over. It's pretty small and smooth, probably small enough to fit in a pocket. If he had any, that is. There's a black band going around it splitting the thing into two sections, one bright red and the other white. There's a big button on it - centered on the black line. Is this...?
"This is a Poké Ball. Old ones were really chunky and from heavy metal, but these are... made out of hollowed fruit called apricorns? I'm not actually sure how they work, exactly, but thats how we capture and store pokémon. The big button let's it change between storage mode and a 'release mode' which actually sends the pokémon in and out."
"So it's a sort of capsule technology?"
"Uh, yes, actually. How did you know?"
"Heh, you mean besides the fact that I don't think you could fit a monster in this tiny thing?" Cynthia blushes a mild pink, though she tries to hide it. "We have Hoi-Poi Capsules back home."
"How do those work?"
Inspecting the Poké Ball from below, he rambles: "Kind of the opposite, actually. They just sort of shrunk whatever you put in them - but they were usually miniaturized objects, not things that you could store other things inside. I think you could only 'capture' something if you got them to go inside it while it was 'full grown' and then capsulized it."
"Huh. That's not at all how Poké Balls work. They convert pokémon into data."
"Really?!" he says, jumping off the ground (and accidentally letting the Poké Ball fall). "How is that even possible?! That's amazing!" He tones it down once he sees how offput Cynthia is by his reaction. "I-I mean, that's really interesting."
"I could say the same about how your people can just... shrink things. We can't do that. Even then, we can only do pokémon. Just something about them let's them be... energized, I think. Humans and normal animals can't be captured. The only exception to that are special items, that themselves are based on how pokémon work."
"Huh..." he says, looking at the Poké Ball with newfound wonder. "So what kind of pokey monster is stored in there?"
"For your information, pokémon stands for pocket monster. ... Yes, they are even named after part of the battling pastime. It really is a big deal for us."
As he picks it up, she continues. "Anyways, that ball contains my garchomp. Uh, Garchomp. He was my starter... evolved him all the way from a gible."
"Evolved?"
"Oh, that's a whole 'nother conversation..."
...
"So you have to earn eight of these badges, and then you have the right to have the Pokémon League directly? And if you beat the Elite Four and the Champion... you get to be the next one?"
"That's about it."
Gohan nods, seemingly very interested in the whole process. It... sounds like fun, honestly. And he'd be on equal footing with everyone else - his saiyan strength wouldn't be able to, well, splatter them against the pavement like it would in a fight between him and an opponent as individuals. The sun shines high above them – Lucy is apparently still out, and the grassy knoll just behind the house has been worn by Gohan and Cynthia's movements over it. The rocky backdrop of the foothills glisten in the noon light as Cynthia wraps up the lecture.
"So, you in? I'll even go easy on you, if you tag along with Lucy on her journey. God knows she's foolhardy to charge a legendary beast and... well, I think you might be better protection than that squishy Yamper of hers."
"Yeah, sure! Sounds kind of fun. I mean, as long as the pokémon I get actually like battles. I don't want to, like, force anything to fight."
"Gohan, please. If a pokémon shows up in front of you in the first place, it's because it wants you to either train it to fight or it wants to fight you. Either way it should be fine with it."
"Hm. Okay, okay. I'll do the whole pokémon journey thing. Maybe I'll even win, who knows? Where should I start?"
"Don't know. Just follow Lucy. She definitely wouldn't follow you."
"All right. Hey, uh, thanks for all the info. And for letting me stay at your house. I really owe you one."
She waves her hand dismissively, though she's smiling. "It's fine, it's fine. You needed a place to stay, and we had a free bed while my grandparents are visiting Professor Rowan. You really are a nice kid, though. I do hope you make it past the Elite Four... if you challenge the Lily Valley League, that is."
"T-thanks, Cynthia. Heh."
Misterror: the Red Fog of Terror
National Pokédex Number: Unconfirmed to either exist or be a pokémon
Signature Move: Infestation
Egg Group: Unknown, possibly Amorphous
Transformations: Red Fog
Type: Ghost/Dark or Ghost/Psychic, suspected
Height: 4.2 m
Weight: 10 kg
A monster said to have been seen around the world, particularly in Unova and Kalos. Said to originate in another dimension, it supposedly manifests as a red mist and 'infects' humans and pokémon to support its existence. It's mature core is significantly larger than the infested humans it surrounds itself with. The Misterror is incapable of communication and cannot be captured in any sort of available Poké Ball. It is currently classified as an 'unconfirmed cryptid': most public knowledge of it comes from the popular film series 'Red Fog of Terror'. It's probably made up.
