Happy Dannyversary, guys!
I woke up confused. Why is my bed so narrow? Why is it so bright in my room? Why is there a weight on my stomach? The previous day started to come back to me. I'm not a morning person, so trying to deal with all the new information just made me want to go back to sleep.
Groggily, I sat up, displacing the the bird that had somehow migrated to sleeping on my stomach during the night. He slipped down and ended up on my lap, twittering discontentedly. I patted the creature (pokemon?) distractedly. He gave a tired tweet.
Ha. Even birds hate mornings.
As if on cue, June Accipio burst into the couch/t.v. area. She looked very awake and very happy.
"Morning, dear! Feel free to take a shower, if you would like. I put some of my husband's old clothes in the bathroom so you have something clean to change into. We'll have breakfast as soon as you're ready."
I yawned. A second later, Basketball yawned, too.
"You two are just too cute!" I was so not awake enough to argue.
"'aight. I'll be right there."
I carefully set Basketball on the floor and stumbled my way back to the bathroom. I showered as quickly as I could. The clothes that were set out was a baggy pair of blue jeans and a green hoodie with no drawstring on the hood. I looked a little ridiculous, but they were much cleaner than the jeans and t-shirt that now seemed to be primarily held together with dirt and leaves from our hike yesterday.
I emerged from the bathroom considerably nicer smelling and much more awake. I made my way to the low table. Ryan was sitting at the table, twiddling his thumbs. Ms. Accipio was nowhere to be seen.
"Sup, bro." I greeted him. "You seen my bird?"
"He's in the kitchen, begging for scraps. I hope you like omelettes, by the way."
June called out from behind some screens. "Can you give me some help, Ryan?" He sighed.
"Coming!"
Ryan stomped away unwillingly. After a moment, both the Accipios had returned with their arms full of dishes. Basketball flapped into the room behind them, then settled down on a pillow next to me. Ryan placed a large, steaming bowl of rice in the middle of the table. June placed six plates of normal looking omelettes at the table. I blinked and counted again. In fact, two more pillows had been added around the table.
"Six?" I asked.
"Oh, you haven't met my pokemon yet, have you? Ryan, could you release Vinnie and Missy?" Ryan nodded once and left to get June's pokemon.
After a minute, Ryan returned carrying monsters. In one arm was an enormous purple rat with oversized front teeth. In the other was a two foot tall yellow cocoon. The rat was squirming to be put down and the cocoon was watching me with dark eyes. (I didn't think that cocoons had eyes?! Why was the rat purple?)
Ryan dropped the rat, who landed neatly on its feet and then ran over to me. It pushed its huge snout into my hands and sniffed loudly. It was huge. It was maybe a foot and a half long and had a long curly tail. Up close, it looked almost cute? I carefully pet its head, trying to relax. It pushed its head into my hand, chattering softly.
"Ra-ta-ta-tat-ta-tat."
"That's Vinnie, and this is Missy," said Ryan.
Ryan set the cocoon on a pillow across from me. It balanced upright, making small movements that no cocoon should. It stared at me with unblinking eyes.
"So, what do you think of my pokemon, Danny? I used to be a trainer back in the day, you know?"
"I really-" The rat plopped on the same pillow as Basketball, snuggling up to the bird and sniffing him loudly. "-really like them. They're very… friendly." Basketball chirped in (slightly nervous) agreement. Vinnie rubbed his face against the bird.
We all started eating quietly. Given the Japanese vibe the whole house was giving me, I fully expected to be given chopsticks. Hilariously, we ate our rice and omelettes with forks. The rat and Basketball just dunked their heads into their meals, chowing down with gusto. The cocoon, disturbingly enough, had hidden, jointless arms that it used to shovel food into its hidden mouth.
June was once again the one to start the conversation.
"Danny, did Ryan tell you he wants to be a trainer, too?" I started to get nervous again. I decided to tell the truth to this nice lady. Not the whole truth, since the whole portal through time and space would be difficult to explain, but enough of the truth.
"He did tell me that he wanted to be a trainer. However, I'm not a trainer. I'm from… out of town and I honestly have no idea what you're talking about."
June looked confused. Ryan stared right into my eyes with a blank, slightly expectant face.
"I thought…? A trainer is someone who raises pokemon. I thought you were the trainer of your spearow?"
"I just met this bird yesterday. We're friends." June's eyes flew open.
"Oh! I'm so sorry! I just assumed, since I saw the way you two got along… I assumed you were a trainer passing through to get to the gym." She straightened her back, trying to get control of the conversation back. "If you're not a trainer, then why are you in Cerulean?"
"I was…" I carefully tried to think of an accurate half-truth. "... sent by a… friend of mine who knew that- No wait- I'm kinda on a quest, I suppose you could say? My friend sent me here because there is something that I have to fix. I'm pretty good at fixing problems." I gave a reassuring smile. 'Good at fixing problems' is kinda similar to 'half-ghost superhero from another dimension,' right?
June somehow looked even more confused. I doubted that Ryan's eyes could get any bigger. Basketball, on the other hand, looked sympathetic to my obvious nerves.
"So, you're looking for some problem?" asked June. I nodded. "And you don't know what it is?" Nod. "And you're not a trainer?" Nod.
Unexpectedly, June clapped her hands loudly with a smile on her face. Even Ryan jumped in surprise.
"You're going to need to speak with Professor Oak! If something is needing to be 'fixed,' he'd know about it. Luckily, he's in town right now. Ryan, can you take Danny over to the gym and help him get a meeting with the Professor?"
Ryan jumped up from his seat excitedly. "Sure! Come on, let's go!" He raced around the table and grabbed onto my arm, dragging me into a standing position. My head was starting to spin a little bit from all this new information. Regardless, I turned to Basketball, who was still being sniffed and nuzzled by the purple rat.
"You ready to go, bud?"
He cooed happily, flapping off the pillow and onto the floor.
"Let's go, then. Lead the way, Ryan."
I was dragged by the wrist out of the quiet house in a busy street by an excitable ten year old. After one glance at the chaos, I picked up Basketball, cradling him in one hand. I didn't want the comparably tiny bird to be smushed by the crowds.
The packed dirt roads, though empty last night, were flooded with people and monsters. Strolling old ladies were being calmly followed by 10 foot long purple cobras. Little kids chasing after big green caterpillars (caterpies?). Sharp eyed police officers with one hand on their tiger striped dogs.
This world is insane. And Ryan was leading me right into it.
The boy dragged me into the swell of people, casually dodging around man and beast alike. He was so nimble that I briefly wondered how good of a ghost fighter he would be. Unfortunately, his ability to slip through the crowds was dampened by the gawking teen he was dragging. I'll admit it: I was still a bit culture shocked and overwhelmed.
"Come on!" Ryan exclaimed the second time I tripped over a rock (with arms and a face?!). "Just step over the geodudes! Its not that hard."
The rock hissed at me, then stood up on its arms and walked away (?!). "Which ones are the geodudes, the ones I keep stepping on or the ones I keep getting tangled up in?" I still had sap on my jeans from getting wrapped around a living weed somehow earlier.
Ryan let out an exasperated groan. "Its like you don't know anything! Whatever."
I blushed a little. Sure, I was being a little clumsy, but who could blame me? I hadn't had to push through a crowd since I got my ghost powers. I could just walk through people invisibly, or, more recently, I could simply say "excuse me" and people would get out of my way. Being a superhero has it perks.
Soon, we passed the white and red building (which was filled with people and monsters), and the crowds started to die down. Ryan slowed down a bit. He started to get a scheming look on his face.
"So, I'm taking you to Professor Oak, right?"
"Yes…?" I responded uncertainly. I wasn't sure where he was going with this.
"So, technically, I'm doing you a favor? So, technically, you owe me a favor." I lifted an eyebrow. Really, kid? He waved one hand dismissively. "Not a big favor, but a favor nonetheless."
"What do you want, kid?"
"I want you to talk to my mom about me becoming a trainer." He blurted out. "She doesn't think I'm ready, but I am. I'm so ready. I've been ready for almost a year. Just… talk to her, okay?" I gave a small nod. It wouldn't hurt to talk to June. Maybe talking to her was my mission? Maybe Ryan grows up to be a great trainer (can trainers be great? Maybe important is the word I'm looking for) and saves the world or something.
I silently laughed at myself. There's no way that Clockwork would give me such an easy task.
Would he?
After a few minutes of walking past almost identical houses, we arrived at a huge building. On my initial look at the town, I had assumed it was a warehouse, but the the word "GYM" was painted on the wall just below the roof line.
"Why is the professor at a gym?" I asked incredulously. I was briefly caught up in a mental image of a weak, old man with a lab coat bench pressing twice his bodyweight.
"Because he's a pokemon professor," answered Ryan. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. What does that even mean?
Ryan pushed his way into the building, dragging myself and the bird along. I briefly wondered how Basketball was feeling in all this insanity.
My thoughts of the bird were pushed out of my head by the inside of the "gym." The entirety of the inside of the huge building was an inground pool. The length of the pool was bridged by a bizarre twisting dock. The dock path seem to be made out of diving boards, interestingly enough.
People in bathing suits were lounging on and around the dock path. Some were chatting with each other, but most seemed to be simply hanging out. A few monsters were laying in the water as well, but, surprisingly, there were less creatures than people.
Ryan dragged me to the right, were a metal door was simply marked "Office." He opened the door and pulled me through. Inside was a simple office, with a desk and chairs and bookshelves.
A red haired woman was sitting behind the desk. She seemed to be in her late thirties. Her hair was damp and her voice was loud. A man in a lab coat was sitting with his back to us.
"-simply no proof. Bill hasn't reported anything, so I wouldn't worry about it," the woman said. Ryan stepped in front of me quickly and began speaking.
"Excuse me, we're here to see Professor Oak?" he said. The woman stood up quickly, and the man turned to see who was speaking.
"We'll discuss this later," the woman said sharply to the lab coat wearing man. "You have company, and I have a gym to run." She walked around the desk and gave me a quick nod. She was out the door before I could blink. When I turned back to the man, he was standing, too.
Ryan practically tripped over himself in rushing up to the old man. The man (Oak?) offered his hand, which Ryan excitedly shook. The man smiled at him and then at me, but the happiness didn't reach his eyes. Ryan looked star struck.
Professor Oak was an older man, somewhere in his sixties or seventies. He stood up straight and his hands were lightly calloused. His white-gray hair was cut short and his lab coat was buttoned smartly.
"Sir, its so great to meet you," said Ryan joyfully. "My name is Ryan and this is Danny. My friend here is from out of town but he's on a quest and my mom thinks you can help him." Oak looked from Ryan to me.
"Is this true?" he said softly. His voice, especially in comparison to the woman's booming voice and Ryan's excited gushing, was quiet and light.
"Yes," I said. "I was sent to Cerulean by a… friend. He said that something needed to be done?" Oak looked down at Ryan, quirking an eyebrow. I shook my head.
"Ryan, why don't you go outside and watch Misty? I bet you've never seen a Gym Leader in action before. Its quite impressive." Ryan nodded at his hero and dashed out the door. The old man sighed and moved to sit behind the desk, gesturing for me to take a seat. I sat carefully and set Basketball on the chair next to me.
"Your friend was exceedingly vague, but I'm intrigued. What would you like to ask me?"
I carefully weighed my options. This man seemed important, judging by the Accipios' reactions, so it might be worthwhile to trust him with the truth.
"Are you- you're, like, the most important guy around, right?" He gave a rueful smile.
"The only person who even rivals my authority is the Champion. Despite Misty's behavior today, I am even above local Gym Leaders."
"...And gym leaders are big, right?" Oak gave me a puzzled look.
"Where exactly are you from, young man?" I took a deep breath, bracing myself.
"I'm a superhero from another dimension. I was sent here to do something by the master of time of a dimension parallel to mine."
"..."
There was a couple minutes of silence. Astoundingly, Oak's face didn't even twitch as he absorbed what I had told him.
"Did your this master of time happen to tell you what sort of thing you were sent to do?"
I ran my fingers through my hair nervously. "No. He just said 'you'll figure it out' or something." I chuckled nervously. Professor Oak began to breath in through his nose and out through his mouth. I was suddenly struck by the thought of freaking out this old man enough to have a heart attack.
"Did this master of time happen to be a metallic dragon?" I blinked at that.
"No? He's a green guy with red eyes in a cloak… Do you know about him?" The thought of this world having some connection to the Ghost Zone and the Human Realms made my stomach drop. Is protecting this place my responsibility, too?
"No, no, just checking. Would you mind if I let out one of my own pokemon?"
I shrugged. "Sure, knock yourself out."
He reached into the pocket of his lab coat and pulled out a small ball. It was about the size of a ping pong ball with a large button on it. It was half red and half white, vaguely reminding me of the busy building outside. He pressed the button with his thumb and it expanded to the size of a tennis ball. I was astounded. It grows? I had assumed that this world was more focused on utilizing the monsters running around, so I hadn't even been thinking about the technology.
He pressed the button once more and the ball swung open. In a bright (vaguely familiar) flash of red light, a monster stood beside the professor. The monster was huge. It was easily seven feet tall and looked like a chubby palm tree with legs. Its coconut shaped heads stared at me languidly.
I briefly wondered if I should just stop being surprised by things that happened in this crazy dimension, as I obviously was never going to be used to this craziness. The middle coconut head gave a snorting laugh.
...Did this walking coconut tree just read my mind?
"Exeggutor, please analyse this young man's mind and see if he is from another dimension."
The tree focused its unblinking attention on me. I started to feel an itch forming at the bottom of my skull, but I tried not to squirm.
"Seriously? Psychic coconut trees?" I muttered. Basketball gave a short, caw-like laugh.
After about twenty seconds the exeggutor blinked and spoke to Oak.
"Egg-gutor." It said firmly out of a side head. Oak nodded.
"According to my exeggutor, you are telling the truth."
"Awesome! So, do you know what I'm supposed to do? Or do you know how to communicate across dimensions so I can ask Clockwork?"
"No." I waited for him to finish his thought, but apparently that was it. The only thing he did was press the button on the ball again, making the tree disappear. One more press and the ball was small again. He slipped it into his pocket calmly.
"No? Aren't you a smart guy? Don't you have any theories?"
"Perhaps, but first tell me the complete story from talking to the time guardian to right now."
So I told the old man everything, from vague instructions from Clockwork to arguing with wild pokemon to convincing Ryan to return home. He remained completely silent throughout the entire story, simply nodding at me to continue whenever I lost my train of thought.
After I told him my story, I twiddled my thumbs for a bit, waiting for Oak to respond. Eventually, he did.
"You called yourself a superhero? How so?" I puffed up my chest proudly.
"I'm the half ghost protector and savior of two parallel dimensions: the Human Realm and the Ghost Zone. Mostly, I fight ghosts with my ghost powers." He steepled his fingers together.
"I see." I lifted an eyebrow. I had honestly been expecting him to demand a demonstration of my powers.
"Now do you want to share any theories you have?" I asked. Honestly, if he didn't know anything, then this whole trip was a waste of time.
"Your guardian of time has complete control of when and where he sent you, correct? Then your location and proximity to other people was engineered. Which means that any one of the individuals you encountered when you first arrived could be important to your given task. This spearow, Ryan, or even the caterpie you encountered could be the focus of this task. Or, your proximity to Cerulean exactly when I arrived could be important. I slightly doubt that, as it could simply be coincidence, since I often travel around a great bit. You were told that your task would be obvious, correct? Which means that it is either something that greatly affects yourself or one of the individuals you initially encountered or a large group of people. Also, sending you, a ghost fighter, seems to imply that this task is ghost related, possibly.
"My advice to you would be to stick close to Ryan and this spearow, and to keep an eye out for any large scale events, especially ones that involve ghosts."
"Wow." After the man's short answers and long silences, that outpouring of words was almost unsettling. Professor Oak leaned back in his chair.
"My final piece of advice, before I have to go, is this: if all else fails, go seek out either the Elite Four and the Champion, or go to Pallet Town and seek me out again. I have a whole lab of the best minds of all of Kanto that could help you to try to figure out your task." He stood up. "It was nice speaking with you, Danny. I haven't had to think that hard about anything important in too long."
He offered his hand and I shook it. I held out my arm for the spearow.
"Basketball, let's go," I said. He shook out feathers and flapped to perch on my forearm. Oak gave me an odd look.
"I don't suppose you've registered as a trainer, have you?" I shook my head.
"Nope. I'm also not super sure what a trainer is. They're like pokemon caretakers, right? And all these monsters are called pokemon?"
Oak smiled broadly and gave a full, hearty belly laugh. It was ruinously loud after our quiet, serious discussion.
"Ah, yes, alternate dimension. Here…" He grabbed a blank piece of paper out of a desk drawer and a pen and started writing something down. "These are very basic books on pokemon, trainers, Kanto, and anything else you'd need to know to function in our society. Until you finish reading them…"
"Fake it 'til you make it?" I asked with a smile. Oak brightened a bit.
"I've never heard that phrase, but it sounds applicable. Please meet me at the pokemon center in one hour. Its the red and white building with all the windows. Until then, please take care of yourself." He walked around the desk and gave Basketball a soft pat. He cooed happily.
Oak left quickly, but I stayed in the office for a moment.
"So, we're a little bit closer to figuring out what I'm supposed to do. That's good, right?" I asked Basketball. He twittered positively.
I gave the spearow a curious look. "You'd tell me if you knew what the quest was, right?"
Basketball gave a short, one note rising tone.
Danny really should have asked Clockwork more questions, huh? Or really, just ask start asking everyone more questions.
The pokemon world is great, because I'm basing it mostly off the games, supplementing with the anime and other fanfictions, and it amazing. Everything that isn't completely focused on pokemon has a weird Americanized Japan feel to it. I'm not going to go as far as someone holding up a rice ball and asking if Danny likes jelly donuts, but that's basically the feel I'm going for.
If anyone can guess (through review or PM) what pokemon Ryan will have as his starter, I will let them name it.
Thanks for reading!
