Disclaimer: All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites.

Warnings: Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys & Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else.

AN1: The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details.

AN2: This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance.


Chapter Three: Waking Confessions

November 08, 2030
Oak Residence, Pallet Town
Kanto Region

Over the course of the next seven days, Harry would spend most of his time asleep as his body fought off the nasty case of pneumonia that his cold had quickly developed into due to his less than perfect health at the time he'd caught the cold. If not for his magic, his condition would have been far worse; since his magic boosted his immune system. If he hadn't been exhausted from the journey through the Veil of Death, he would not have gotten sick in the first place but at the time his internal levels of magic had been too low and too busy healing his internal injuries to properly fight off the bug he'd picked up.

When the worst of his symptoms had finally passed, Harry would wake up to find himself in an unfamiliar room feeling rather wrung out and weak. He pushed the covers down and made an attempt to sit up so he could determine exactly where he was but ended up letting out a soft groan when his body refused to cooperate. Since that didn't work, he reached across his chest with the intention of rolling himself up onto his side to give himself enough leverage to sit up only for a fuzzy, round, pink egg shaped creature to press him back onto the bed.

"Don't move, silly youngling; you were terribly sick and still need lots of rest so you can regain your strength," the creature admonished as she set about tucking him back beneath the covers once he'd stopped attempting to get up.

"Who…?" Harry weakly tried to demand only for a coughing fit to take hold of him.

The creature jumped in surprise to hear Harry speaking the Pokémon language before she shook itself, spread her little arms out to the side, and closed her eyes. A heartbeat later, Harry's eyes were drawn down to the Pokémon's stomach as an egg shaped object in a small pouch on the Pokémon's belly began glowing yellow. The Pokémon's eyes opened less than a minute later and lifted her arms skyward. At the same time, the glowing egg-thing rose up out of the pouch before it flew towards Harry's heart.

The moment the glowing egg touched Harry, he began to glow as a wave of pure warmth engulfed him. Within seconds of being engulfed warm energy, Harry's coughing immediately subsided and soon felt all of the minor aches and pains that he'd felt upon waking dissipate as well. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the Pokémon was healing him and Harry felt both amazed and humbled that the creature would help him of her own accord. By the time the glow and warmth both faded, Harry felt far better than he had when he first woke up aside from the lingering exhaustion due to his still low magic levels.

Harry didn't even get a chance to thank the Pokémon before he drifted off to sleep once more.

The next time Harry woke up, he found himself in the same unfamiliar room and no sign of the pink Pokémon. He was pleasantly surprised to find that he had regained much of his strength after he'd slept again and he carefully pushed himself up so that he could search the room. The first thing he looked for were his glasses but he couldn't find them on the small nightstand that stood beside the bed. He then squinted his eyes in an attempt to bring the room into focus as he searched for his absent friends, his trio of Pokémon, or his clothes once he realized he was wearing borrowed pajamas.

He was just contemplating getting out of bed when he heard the soft squeak of a door opening. Harry turned towards the sound and easily located the blurry doorway as it swung inwards. He was briefly confused as to who had opened the door for several minutes, since he hadn't seen anyone step into the room, until he felt his covers being pulled towards the ground. As soon as he glanced downwards, Harry found himself staring into the dark eyes of a younger child with wild auburn hair wearing a pair of brown shorts and a blue shirt with red accents on the hems and sleeves.

The kid froze the moment he saw that Harry was awake before he immediately yelled, "Gramps! Gramps! The icky, sicky boy is awake!"

"I'm not icky," Harry automatically protested automatically as he pouted at the kid; the response automatic despite the fact that he was not in the least bit offended by the kid's declaration.

"Yes, you are! You were snotting up all over everything and hacking up gross stuff all the time. It was gross!"

"Does that mean you're a sissy because you were grossed out by a little snot?"

"No!" the boy abruptly denied as he scowled (read pouted) back at Harry. "And it wasn't just a little! It was like… hoards of snot."

"Hoards…?" Harry repeated in amusement.

"Yep! Tons and tons of snot."

"I see you've met my grandson," a familiar voice chortled as a vaguely familiar man wearing a white lab coat, a pink shirt, and pink slippers stepped up beside the bed and passed Harry his missing glasses. "How are you feeling, Harry? Are you having any trouble breathing?"

"I'm fine," Harry replied out of habit as he slipped on his glasses before he tilted his head back to study the man. He then tipped his head to one side in confusion as he tried to place where he'd seen the man before. After a few minutes he finally asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm Professor Oak; we briefly met on the road eight days ago."

"Where am I?"

"In a guest bedroom at my house; I brought you here after you collapsed on me."

"Your grandson said something about me being sick…"

"Yes, you picked up a nasty chest congestion that progressed rather quickly into a full blown case of pneumonia. I had to actually call in a couple of favors and have Nurse Joy loan me her Chansey for a couple of days since the antibiotics that I had on hand did not seem to be helping and your young lady friend was most adamant that it would not be safe to take you to the hospital."

"Young lady…? Oh! Luna! Is she okay? And Dudley, he is okay too?"

"Easy, young man; they are both fine. They've been staying with a friend of mine," Professor Oak assured Harry as he prevented Harry from crawling out of the bed. The man then turned to his grandson and instructed, "Gary, please go ask your sister to warm up the chicken broth for our guest." Once the little boy had vanished from the room, Professor Oak turned back to Harry and asked, "Now, why don't you tell me how you are really feeling."

"I'm fine."

"Look, you and I both know 'fine' doesn't really tell me anything. You came very close to dying between the amount of blood you had lost, your injuries, and the pneumonia. So, please, I need to know if there are any lingering problems now so that I can take care of them before they prevent you from making a full recovery."

"I really am fine," Harry insisted half out of habit and half because he really felt fine.

"In that case, can you tell me exactly how it was you were injured? If someone attacked the three of you and left you for dead, I need to know so that I can alert the proper authorities."

"You will never find them."

"That is not the point; if there are people out there willing to harm children for whatever reason, then the police need to know so that they can warn people to be on the look out for them."

"No, there is no one to find," Harry corrected as he pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapped his arms around his legs, and propped his cheek on his knee as he calmly met the professor's gaze. "They aren't in this world."

"What do you mean?"

Harry hesitated for a brief moment until he recalled the advice of the Natu that had been born from the Resurrection Stone. He then took a deep breath, held it for a count of ten, and released it slowly before he began to explain, "We, that is Luna, Dudley, and myself, were not born in this world. I don't know how much different our world was but I do know that we didn't have Pokémon there. Instead, we had magic and magical creatures. I was born as a wizard. Luna was too, only girls that were born with magic were called witches."

The twenty-turned-ten year old then delved into the history of Voldemort's first and second rise, what little he knew about his parents and their friends, his own personal history, and the trials he'd faced in school and after Voldemort had been vanquished once and for all. He only paused when a young girl about his age with long auburn hair who bore a passing resemblance to both the little boy and Professor Oak (who was introduced to him as Daisy Oak) brought him a warm bowl of chicken broth.

"Being transported to this world was not without its cost though; each of us was required to give up three things. We all gave up half of our age and any chance of ever going back to that world. The last thing we gave up was different for each of us. Luna gave up her sight, Dudley gave up his extra weight, and I gave up my negative emotions."

"Are you implying that you can't feel any emotions?"

"No, I can feel happy or excited and stuff like that; it's just the negative emotions like fear, anger, or mistrust that I can't feel any more. It's why I was so willing to lead you back to the others when you first found me even though you were a perfect stranger. It's also why I didn't panic when I spoke to the Pokémon in front of you despite the memories I have of being shunned and hated for being different in the past."

"Yes, you should have been far more concerned about that since it is an ability that some people would kill to have or control," Professor Oak murmured as he stroked his chin.

"What is going to happen to me and the others now?" Harry asked as he felt a mild spike of concern for their future in this strange new world. "And how can I repay you for all the trouble you went through taking care of me? We have some money we could give you but it's not much…"

"Calm down… er, rather slow down," Professor Oak instructed (Harry hadn't been in a panic as he asked his questions, after all, and therefore there was no reason for him to 'calm' down). "First, the three of you are welcome to stay in Pallet Town with me and my family for as long as you need but most especially for the coming winter since you will need to apply for a Pokémon License before you wander off to the explore the world and official registration won't start until next spring."

"You mentioned licenses before but why do we have to have one?"

"Well, aside from it being against the law to keep, train, or raise Pokémon without a proper license, it is necessary to register any and all Pokémon you catch under your license number in order to prevent unscrupulous individuals from claiming that you are poaching wild Pokémon or that you stole your Pokémon from another Trainer. On top of that, the various licenses grant their holders a number of privileges."

"For example, a Trainer's License allows you to register with the Pokémon League and allows you and your Pokémon to participate in the various Pokémon League Challenges that takes place every year; such as the Battle Tournament, Gym Battles, and Pokémon Contests. A Trainer's License will also allow you to use the services of a Pokémon Center at no cost to you and grant you access to the Pokémon Storage System to hold the extra Pokémon you catch since Trainers are only able to carry up to six Pokémon with them."

"A few other types of licenses are a Breeder's License, Researcher's License, a Business License, and a Construction License and each of those come with their own special privileges and a few shared ones – such as all licenses allowing you to use the Pokémon Centers free of charge. It is even possible to hold multiple licenses; I, myself, have both a Researcher's License and a Trainer's License. On top of that, I am registered with the Indigo League as an advisor, a licensed distributor of starter Pokémon in the Kanto Region, and an official License Registrar."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Harry murmured as he tried to process the rather extensive information dump. He then blinked his eyes a couple of times before he asked, "What happens to us while we're waiting for spring to arrive so we can apply for a proper license? And you didn't say how I could pay you back."

"I believe it would be best if you spend the winter learning about this world while you and your friends decide what you will do once spring arrives. We can start with basic geography, local and world history, and the various laws you will need to be aware of in order to stay out of trouble. I can also give you supplemental lessons on all things Pokémon to cover anything that your little Lion Cub Pokémon might have left out of his explanations."

"As for paying me back…?" Professor Oak drawled in a contemplative tone. "There is really no need for you to do so; I would have helped any one in need." Harry opened his mouth to immediately protest only for Professor Oak to cut him off before he could speak up. "However, if you are determined to repay me out of a misplaced sense of obligation, then I would be most appreciative if you would be willing to help me with my research."

"Doing what?" Harry cautiously asked as the word research (which fell into the same category as the word experiment) rang alarm bells in the back of his mind even if he felt no fear.

"Mostly translating for the various Pokémon that I keep and raise," Professor Oak replied in an eager tone. "I wish to better understand Pokémon and their interactions with each other and with humans in order to help others take better care of their partners. I would also appreciate your help in documenting the various species of Pokémon found throughout the various regions in the world. It has been my dream to catalog every single Pokémon in existence so that I can create the ultimate PokéDex to help new trainers learn about the different Pokémon that they encounter."

"That doesn't sound as bad as I thought it might," Harry allowed as any concern (limited though it was) he might have felt over the possibility of being experimented on faded away. "For a moment there, I couldn't help but think you might cut me or my Pokémon open to see what makes us tick or lock us in a cage and feed us through a cat-flap while you did all sorts of horrible experiments on us."

"Never! I would never resort to such barbaric methods!"

"Well, I had to be sure since I can't bring myself to be suspicious of you and I've had enough bad experiences with people betraying me. But like I said, your idea of research didn't sound all that bad. You aren't going to tell any one else that I can speak to the Pokémon, will you?"

"No, no I would not; at least, not without your permission. There are a handful of my colleagues that would welcome your help with their research and that would be one way to earn a little pocket money on the side as well as the latest gadgets and gear. I also have a couple of aides working for me that it might be best to warn so they know not to speak of your ability to anyone else; since they will inevitably see or hear you speaking to the Pokémon. I also trust both my colleagues and my aides not to abuse you, your Pokémon, or your gift and I can guarantee that they won't try to profit from your gift."

"Oh, okay."

"Does that mean you're willing to help me with my research?" Professor Oak inquired with obvious anticipation.

"Yeah, I don't mind. Learning more about the Pokémon sounds kind of interesting and helpful since we're stuck in this world now."

"There are many myths and legends surrounding what we call the Legendary Pokémon; Pokémon with frightening and awe inspiring powers. One of them might be able to send you back, if you truly wish to return to your former world."

"No, there's nothing for us to go back to and we willing gave up any chance of returning to that world in exchange for having our deepest desire fulfilled."

"And just what was your deepest desire, young man?" Professor Oak asked with a mixture of curiosity and concern.

"To end the suffering that my friends had endured simply because they were my friends and a chance for them to find the happiness they deserve."

"Ho-oh, bless my soul; you are a remarkably unselfish young man and I believe it will be both a joy and a privilege to work with you."

Harry flushed in response to the sincere words of praise as he murmured a bashful, "Thanks."

"Now that that's settled, is there anything else you need?"

"Er, I really need to use the bathroom. And if you don't mind, I think I need a shower too. Do you know where my old clothes are?"

"Daisy washed and mended your things for you while you were recovering. I will have her fetch them for you while you answer the call of nature and take your shower; you'll find the bathroom down the hall to your left. Are you feeling up to walking there on your own or would you like me to help you?"

"I'll be fine, I think, Professor. I feel much better than I did the first time I woke up," Harry insisted as he gingerly slipped off the bed and stood up for the first time in a week; his legs feeling like jelly but able to bear his weight easily enough.

"Alright, then; I will leave you to it while I go track down my granddaughter."

It would take Harry nearly ten minutes to reach the bathroom as his muscles were slowly reacquainted with the motions of walking. He felt slightly winded by the time he was inside the bathroom but aside from that he didn't feel too bad. He then took his time emptying his bladder while the water heated up before he climbed into the bathtub and stood beneath the glorious spray of hot water. A sigh of pure pleasure escaped his lips as the heat washed away the little aches and pains he'd picked up during the short walk to the bathroom in addition to the residue of stale sweat and dirt that clung to his skin despite someone washing him while he'd been out of it.

Once he was finished cleaning himself, Harry felt halfway human and hungry enough to eat a horse; the broth he'd eaten earlier had done little more than wake his stomach up enough to realize it hadn't been fed in a week. He'd just finished drying himself off when there was a knock on the door and he hurriedly wrapped the towel around his waist and shoved his glasses into place before he hesitantly opened the door and peered out.

"I brought your clothes," Daisy announced with a light blush the moment she saw his bare chest.

"Er, thanks," Harry replied as his face began turning pink as well as he reached out to accept the bundle of clothes that the girl was carrying and nearly dropped the towel maintaining his modesty. "And thanks for cleaning and fixing them."

"You're welcome," Daisy replied with a smile. "When you're finished getting dressed, your two friends are waiting downstairs for you."

"Thanks… I'll be right out."

"Okay," Daisy acknowledged before she backed away from the door before turning and skipping down the hall.

Harry watched her go for a brief moment before he ducked back inside the bathroom and hurriedly pulled on his clothes so that he could see Luna, Dudley, and his Pokémon. Thinking of his Pokémon reminded Harry of the fact that he'd not actually had a chance to come up with a name for the three of them. And while he wasn't sure that the Misdreavus cared one way or the other, both the Litleo and the Absol had asked for names.

As he ran his fingers through his wet hair in an effort to reduce the number of knots before it dried, Harry let out a soft snort when he realized that the former cloak had named herself the moment she burst free of her PokéBall that first time; she was trouble with a capital 'T'. Naming the Litleo would be fairly easy as well since the little lion cub embodied all things Gryffindor; he was brave, bold, fiery, and reckless and so Harry figured the name Gryffin would suit him well. Thinking of a name for Absol though was proving to be rather difficult though.

After drawing a complete blank, Harry decided that he'd figure something out once he'd spent more time around the Disaster Pokémon.

In the mean time, he had some catching up to do with Luna and Dudley.

The trip down the short flight of stairs leading to the ground floor was nearly Harry's undoing. He probably would have ended up tumbling down the second half of the staircase and kissing the floor if not for Professor Oak snagging hold of him at the last second and carrying him the rest of the way down. Harry could have fried an egg on his face due to how flushed he was as a result of his near plunge and subsequent escort down the stairs. The embarrassment he felt was soon forgotten the moment Luna danced up to him and wrapped him in a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay. I couldn't see you any more after we got here and I was so scared that I'd never see you again until I finally saw that you were awake again."

"I'm sorry I scared you by being dumb enough to get myself sick," Harry replied as he returned Luna's hug and rocked her a bit. "I'll try to tone down my Gryffindorish tendencies from now on so you won't have to worry about me."

"Yeah, good luck with that mate; we both know trouble loves you too much to leave you alone," Dudley quipped as he walked up and lightly slapped Harry on the back.

"Thanks for the reminder, Dudders," Harry snarked back with a snort of amusement.

"It's the truth, cousin; and you know it is. All joking aside, I'm glad you're feeling better now."

"Me too; I don't think I'm going to be in a hurry to get sick again after that either."

"You better not; you were all icky gross when you were hacking up hoards of snot. I had to share a room with Ash for three whole days too! All because Gramps didn't want me to catch your cooties. It was terrible," Gary Oak, Professor Oak's five year old grandson, complained as he popped up from over the back of the couch to give Harry the stink eye.

Harry couldn't help but burst into laughter in response to little Gary's complaints; the kid was just too cute! Of course, he probably wouldn't have found him any where near as cute if he stopped to note the similarities that the boy had to both a young Draco Malfoy and Dudley during his first childhood. He didn't bother comparing the kid to other people he'd known in the past though; those memories currently buried in the back of his mind as he focused on the chance he'd been given to be Just Harry for once.

The green-eyed boy soon ended up on the couch tucked between Luna and Dudley as the three of them chatted quietly about their plans. Harry hesitantly let them both know that he'd told Professor Oak the truth about how they ended up in the meadow and his agreement to help the Professor with his research. Luna was quick to assure him that he'd done the right thing according to what she could see. The two blondes were then quick to fill Harry in on everything that they'd learned since they arrived in Pallet Town while Professor Oak's grandchildren listened.

Once their discussion wound down, Luna pulled three familiar PokéBalls from her pocket and passed them to Harry as she breezily stated, "I held on to these three for you while you were sick; I saw that it was best that they stayed in their little houses until you could keep them out of trouble."

"Thank you, Luna," Harry replied as he automatically pressed the button on the PokéBall that he knew held the Litleo in order to release the little lion cub.

Gary's little eyes grew really round with excitement the moment he realized that Harry was going to release a Pokémon in the house. Even his sister Daisy looked rather excited to see what kind of Pokémon would appear as she moved up to sit on the edge of her seat. Harry hid a grin at their behavior even as he pressed the button a second time. Two seconds later, the Litleo appeared in a beam of red light. The little lion cub immediately stretched and shook himself out before he yawned loudly and glanced about the room in curiosity.

"Oh, what an adorable Pokémon!" Daisy exclaimed as she bounced out of her seat and immediately planted herself on the floor beside the Litleo.

"I've never seen one of those in Gramps' lab; what is it?" Gary asked a split second later.

"He is a Litleo; the Lion Cub Pokémon," Harry replied; placing emphasis on the Litleo's gender because he didn't think the lion cub would appreciated being referred to as an 'it'; he knew he wouldn't if he had been in the cub's place.

The Litleo perked up the moment he heard Harry's voice before he spun around and pounced on the green-eyed man turned boy as he cried, "Master! Where have you been? Why didn't you let me out sooner? Why do you smell so weak?"

"I was sick and didn't properly wake up until today," Harry automatically replied as his brought his hands up to scratch the Litleo behind both ears at the same time; his use of Pokémon speech surprising the two siblings. "And Luna was watching over you for me until now. It didn't hurt you to stay in the PokéBall without food and water for so long, did it?"

"No, the technology in the PokéBalls places us in a form of stasis that lets our bodies rest while are minds are conscious and aware enough to monitor the outside world so long as our PokéBalls are in physical contact with our trainer."

"Oh, that's good."

"Are you really speaking in Pokémon or are you just mimicking him?" Daisy inquired as she climbed to her feet and moved to get a closer look at the Litleo.

"Can I pet him?" Gary demanded on the heels of his sister's question as he scrambled around his sister and half stretched his hands out towards the Litleo.

"Who are they, master?"

"They are Daisy and Gary Oak, Professor Oak's grandchildren. Gary would like to pet you."

"Yes, Harry is a Pokémon Speaker; he can speak to and understand all Pokémon," Luna replied dreamily as she smiled at Daisy while Harry was answering the lion cub.

"Are you sure you should be telling just anyone about that?" Dudley asked in some concern.

"I don't mind, so long as he doesn't pull my tail," the Litleo replied as he dropped his paws down from Harry's shoulders to he could turn around to sniff at Gary's outstretched hand.

"He said he doesn't mind if you pet him; just don't pull his tail," Harry informed Gary before he turned to address Dudley. "It's fine, Dudley; they would have figured it out anyway since we'll be staying here until next spring and I did promise to help Professor Oak with his research by acting as a translator for the Pokémon he is studying."

"And I see no harm in these two knowing about Harry's gift," Luna added as she briefly closed her eyes.

"His fur is so soft," Gary murmured in a fascinated tone as he gently brushed his fingers down the Litleo's back. "Does he have a name? Or do you just call him Litleo?"

"I was thinking about naming him Gryffin," Harry answered absently as he fiddled with the PokéBalls holding Absol and Misdreavus.

"Gryffin?" the Litleo parroted back as he craned his head around to meet Harry's gaze.

"Do you like it?"

"I do, master," the newly named Gryffin agreed as he twisted around to lick Harry's face.

"I'm glad but could you please call not call me master?"

"Why? It is what you are."

"I don't think I like being called master because I'd much rather be your partner."

"Then what should I call you?"

"You can call me Harry, just Harry."

"Very well, Harry," Gryffin agreed as he gave Harry's chin one last lick before he returned his attention to the five year old that was still petting him.

"What other Pokémon do you have?" Gary asked as his eyes briefly shot to the two black PokéBalls that were currently sitting in Harry's lap. "Will you let them out too?"

"A female Misdreavus that I am going to name Trouble and a male Absol who I haven't thought up an appropriate name for yet," Harry replied as he tucked the two black PokéBalls into his pocket so he wouldn't lose them. "And no, I'm not going to let them out right now. Trouble tends to cause too much trouble when she's out and the Absol is a little too big to let loose in a new place without any warning."

"You seriously named the ghost Pokémon trouble?" Dudley asked incredulously.

"Well, she is trouble with a capital 'T'," Harry quipped back in response; the silly pun setting both Luna and Daisy to giggling.

"Great; that means your Trouble is going to follow me no matter where we go," Dudley deadpanned in return which drew more laughter from the girls and Harry.

"You guys are so weird," Gary proclaimed as he gave Gryffin one last pat before he took off.


09-26-15: Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes.