I plan to keep posting new chapters about every two-three months until I complete the first draft, which is about 98% at this point. Yes, I'm a slow writer, but I'm almost done with it!

Thanks to everyone who favorites, follows, comments or reviews my stories! You guys are great!


Chapter VII: Recovery

CRASH!

I bolted upright, finding it morning, the bed to myself and arguing outside the bedroom. Swinging my legs out of bed with the intent of finding out why Serenity and Charna were shouting, I was quickly reminded why I was in bed in the first place by my left leg screaming in pain. After collapsing back into bed, I noticed the wooden walking stick propped against the wall on my side. Mentally thanking Gale, I used it to make a clumsy, hobbling way to the door and out.

"What is going on out here?!"

Serenity and Charna appeared around the corner from the kitchen in response, both unfezant and simisage looking annoyed with ruffled feathers and jerking tail.

The bird sighed, pointing with her wing: "She was trying to heat up some food, but I told her we are not to use anything in the kitchen. She did it anyway."

"I try warm it for you!" Charna protested, hands on hips and green-haired tail now whipping behind her, impacting one of the chairs hard enough to knock it a few inches and causing her to jump.

"Look out!" Serenity chided.

After moving away from the chair and another annoyed glance to Serenity: "I watch you; I can cook too!"

"Then she dropped the platter and it broke," Serenity explained, kicking a foot at a piece of white ceramic and sending it sliding at the green haired monkey.

"I was telling him!"

I groaned. Anticipating a mess in the kitchen, I started hobbling, only to get Charna rushing to my side.

"You not walk!" she hissed.

"I have to use the bathroom anyway," I growled, tempted to fight off her offered arm, but found it did help a little. Despite the need, I went far enough to see more of what was waiting in the kitchen and found what I pretty much expected: more shattered remains of Gale's thin ceramic platter on the linoleum, with scrambled eggs, toasted bread and sausages everywhere. Fighting to temper my annoyance in light of what she had been trying to do for me: "Charna, you should really let Gale and me handle the food stuff."

"But I watch! You put food in white box", pointing to the microwave, "and press squares, and it lights up, and it get hot!"

If Serenity hadn't let out an exasperated-sounding hiss, I would of. "You have to know which buttons to push, Charna," I explained. Of course, it wasn't misusing the microwave which caused the platter to fall. Together, though with Charna and Serenity doing most of the work, we got the mess cleaned up. Some of the food didn't quite make it to the garbage can; quite a bit disappeared into a certain unfezant and female simisage stomachs. For myself, I resisted eating anything from the floor, as good as it still smelled.

After a lecture to not do anything else and turning the television on to keep Charna entertained, I finally got into the bathroom to take care of something urgent. I also decided to try a shower, which required removing the thick, wrapped bandage covering half my left leg. I managed to get clean though it was slow, with washing my green hair in the immediate area of my stitched injury requiring utmost care. Drying too. Re-bandaging was easier than I feared, so long as I didn't bend my knee any, otherwise I got rewarded with teeth-gritting pain. Where the hell were my pain killers?

"Where's Gale?" asking after getting back out and hobbling into the kitchen for some food to finally put in my now howling stomach.

"She went shopping," Serenity answered, perched again on the top of the couch and watching Charna like the proverbial hawk. Even her yellow eyes looked as sharp.

Charna by contrast looked almost like a pouting teenager, slouched on one side of the couch, head propped by arm and glumly watching the television, with occasional eye movements toward the bird as if wondering when the strict parent was going to get off her case.

At least, that was how it looked to me.

"We are running low on food and other things, so she took Bolt along to help carry everything," Serenity furthered.

The fridge, freezer and cupboards were a little bare I noted in settling on the last packet of oatmeal, fully conscious of Charna looking on the verge of leaving the couch to come over. She finally did to carry the bowl over to the coffee table for me. At last my stomach rejoiced as I reached the couch and just about inhaled the bowlful. The program on television was something about properly trimming the hair and fur of various Pokémon for different looks, hosted by someone with a title of Poké Stylist and sporting her own interesting hair style. I had to admit some of the work the gal did was quite good. Even Charna remarked how the Herder looked better afterward.

As one program stretched into another, and long after Charna had shifted next to me under the pretense of making sure I was going to stay put and not walk anymore (Gale's orders apparently), Gale returned. Arm full of bags, Bolt squeezed through the door behind her, back also loaded with bags in some saddle basket designed for carrying cargo.

"Oh good, you're awake," she greeted, almost allowing the bags to collapse on the nearby counter. "How you feeling this morning? How's the leg?"

I shrugged. "It hurts. Looks like you got enough to feed an army. Can I help?" I knew what the answer was going to be, but felt better offering anyway.

"You stay put. I got us enough supplies for our expedition while I was at it. Which reminds me I have to call Juniper yet to tell her we'll be going."

"We're…leaving?" Charna asked, looking quickly between us.

"Yep," I answered. In a much lower voice: "You need to tell her about the broken dish."

Immediately, her monkey-like cream-colored face turned fearful with the whites around her black eyes growing.

"Uh…what happened?" Gale asked, stopping in her tracks in obviously overhearing.

With a severely sad grimace, Charna sat on her knees and started yammering. "I…want to heat food in white box for Alex to help him but it fell and broke! I'm sorry!"

I translated that with a bit less anxiety in my voice, noting her tail fully curled around herself and reminding me of a dog's tail when being scolded.

After looking in the garbage, Gale let out a clearly irritated sigh: "Well Charna, I guess you'll be going to the park this afternoon to help earn enough to replace it." Her grin belied the seriousness of it though, and came over to give the female simisage a quick hug after an appropriate pause. "Oh don't worry about it. It's nice you wanted to help Alex, but until you learn how a microwave works, you shouldn't mess with it. It can be dangerous if you don't know how to use it."

"But I watch you and him. You push the squares and it works!"

"I told you it's more complicated than that," I countered. "You have to know exactly which ones to press and in what order, and that depends on what you're trying to heat and for how long. That, and you need to be able to read the buttons."

"Read? You read human stuff. Can I do too?"

I kicked that to Gale, with her probably knowing the answer better than I. In my two weeks on this weird, weird world, I'd pretty much gathered few if any Pokémon could read. Gale's answer confirmed it and she didn't sound hopeful Charna ever could, since most Pokémon just simply weren't able according to most research.

"Alex can help me!" Charna whined.

I groaned softly. A teacher I was not, especially for a student for which the ability to learn the skill was questionable at best.

With Charna's guilt-ridden help, Gale got everything put away and made the call to Juniper. Then it was lunch before the two, along with Hammy, Bolt and Lilly, took off for the park, Serenity staying behind to keep me company.

"Charna likes you a lot," the gray bird said half-way into another television show, this one about two Pokémon who loved each other.

I shrugged in feigned indifference. Truthfully, she was growing on me…a little. She had a certain wildness to her, like a tomboy, but had become civilized enough that she was tolerable to me finally…most of the time. "She has a lot of rough edges," I eventually replied, hoping to end the conversation right there by focusing on the show. Although love stories weren't my cup of tea, I thought the Pokémon acting was interesting enough. Sort of in the same vein if someone on my Earth managed to get a chimp and a large turtle to act nearly as well as two good human actors.

Serenity ruffled her feathers a bit after hopping up to the back of the couch. As she started preening a wing: "Most wild Pokémon do. It takes time to get used to everything when living with humans or others in a civilized environment. It took me until I evolved to really feel comfortable here. But you can help her adjust much quicker. Though if we're going to be leaving soon on another journey, then we'll be out in the wilds again."

I pretended to watch the show while formulating some response. Basically, I didn't want to do anything suggesting any kind of romantic interest. "So you're saying I should help her adjust as much as possible while we're still here. How?"
"Let her help you more. Tell her how to help Gale too. Of course the microwave is out of the question; I doubt cooked simisage tastes real good anyway."

The bird was smart all right, and it struck me how much it was like talking with any human, with her slight humor having me smiling a little. Not that the other Pokémon couldn't hold such conversations, but Serenity was simply the smartest of them. So in the name of civility (and with a slight amount of guilt since the monkey Pokémon had been trying to help me), I decided to take her advice.

Over the next three days as I felt less than useless, I did let Charna help, mostly in getting things for me, doing small cleaning tasks, and anything else simple I could think of. She seemed happy about it, being a chance to 'take care of me', and seemed to do her best to the point of being overly helpful. Even the one night I spent on the couch, she stayed on her side rather than risk bumping into my leg.

I drew the line at letting her help me shower, though.

For what I did, other than watching television, I used Gale's computer a lot. It was the most time I'd ever had in recent memory to do nothing but browse and kill time, though I learned lots about the world. As my leg got better and I could move around and stand for a while, I even got to doing some better cooking, and amazed Charna with all the different foods humans seemed to have. Despite her bewilderment, she picked up on some of the skill, proving to have a knack for cooking fried eggs to perfection of all things. By the third day, I'd pretty much had my fill of them for quite some time!

Gale continued going to the park in the mornings to earn a little more money and Charna figured a lot into her strategy, at least until I was fully healed. Of course, the female simisage came back looking exhausted, but a little more proud each day.

"She's going to be stronger than you soon, if not already," Gale said after returning at noon on the third day. "You're in for a heck of a battle next time you fight her."

Noticing Charna grinning wickedly, "What makes you think there'll be a next time?" I asked.

Charna came over to face me, tail tip twitching in seeming anticipation. "I able to stop you getting away. You not leave me."

Oh boy.

"Alright, let's have a look at your leg," Gale interrupted in getting between us. "It should be nearly healed, considering how well you're moving around now."

I plopped on the couch, letting her unwrap the bandages and feel around my injury, which caused almost no pain whatsoever for the first time.

"I can feel a slight scar under your hair, but it seems almost completely healed."

It sounded like it came almost as much to her relief as my own.

Charna leaned over to give me a hug...one that was a bit too long for a simple congratulations and ended up being a quick cuddle. Unfortunately, my sensitive nose informed she needed a shower after another hard morning at the park.

"You can't imagine how many people have been asking about you," Gale continued after giving my leg a last feel around the knee. "These last three mornings, a crowd's been waiting for you. Quite a few are asking how you're doing and passing along 'Get Well' wishes. Someone even mentioned this morning there was some footage of your last battle on one of the Pokémon programs last night. Next time you show yourself or anyplace around town, you're going to be a star now."

That was it! No way in hell was I ever going outside again! After a groan: "How long before we leave this city again?" asking rhetorically, since I already knew the answer.

Gale provided it anyway: "Professor Juniper picks us up in two days. So since you seem nearly healed, you can come to the park tomorrow and shoot some photos for people if you want. I'm not going to have you battle, though; I'm not risking you getting hurt again, especially since every trainer in the area with a big, powerful Pokémon is going to be looking to battle you I suspect. And yes, I'm a little protective of you now."

"I too!" Charna added cheerfully.

I smiled and gave my tail tip a flick, appreciating the caution. Though I did miss the battling and being able to use my abilities...a little. Or maybe a slight bit more.

"Speeeakiiing…of that," Gale started with a peculiar smile while adjusting her brown haired pony tail behind her, "I think it would be a really, really good idea if you let me put you in a Pokéball now." Reaching again behind her, this time she brought around one of the red and white balls.

Once again: "No way," I replied flatly, feeling my temper flare. It was ground we'd been over several times already, and didn't see any point rehashing my reasons for not being absorbed into such an alien device.

Gale kept smiling though. "Well, I thought that's how you would answer...again, so I talked to Charna this morning. Like you, I haven't officially caught her yet, so we decided to do it when we got back here. Now you can see how it's done on a technically wild Pokémon."

I sat up a lot straighter on the couch, staring wide-eyed at the female simisage. "You...really are going to let her do that?!" I had already seen the 'capture' process at least a dozen times from more than one television program but still, in real life...right in the living room in front of me...

Charna shrugged her tuff-covered shoulders before giving a nod. "Serenity say it nice inside. Bolt too. Warm and safe. And no walking. And...I want make sure I not taken away from all you. Someone might think I you!"

I detected a slight waver in her voice, but she moved to stand tall and brave facing Gale from in front of the television.

"Don't worry Charna, like I said this doesn't hurt at all, otherwise I would of heard it from Bolt, Serenity or Lilly by now." Ball in hand, Gale approached her, wearing an even broader smile.

"Ready!" Charna chirped, tail twitching with obvious nervous energy.

The women nodded, then gently touched the ball's button to Charna's haired forehead. The ball split open along its red and white seam before a red glow enveloped her child-sized form. In just a couple seconds, the female simisage shrunk to dissolve into the beam and the ball closed, the button flashing red for a few seconds before going out. Facing me and holding out the ball: "See, that's all there is to it. From now on one else will ever be able to capture her."

"Fascinating," I replied dryly, the entire process still throwing me for a loop. Unexpectedly, I took it as Gale held it out and clasped my hand around it.

"Now go on, release her."

I debated a few seconds whether I wanted to leave her in, but decided I couldn't bring myself to be like that toward her anymore and touched the button. Just like with Hammy, Bolt, Lily or Serenity, Charna materialized on the carpet in front of me, looking completely unharmed.

"Wow," Charna's mouth formed. "That…strange!"

"Did it hurt?" Gale asked.

Shaking her head and opening her arms. "No hurt. Just strange. Like swim in air." She ended with a smile.

"Well, you're really mine now, honey," Gale said, kneeling to take her into her arms for a big hug, Charna looking very happy as she curled her tail around.

I watched the little scene with a growing pit in my stomach. Any second, I was going to be asked (pressured) to allow myself to be likewise absorbed. I was still scared-to-death about it. There was also the pride issue. I used to be human; it just felt humiliating to be officially 'owned' by someone, which being put in the ball would signify. As expected, both of them soon turned to (on) me.

"OK Alex, your turn."

Almost like realizing the hangman on death row was now ready, my heart pounded. "That is just not happening," I protested with a higher-pitched voice.

Frowning before letting out a sigh, "Alex, the world knows about you now," Gale explained. "You can bet there's some criminal somewhere who's already planning to kidnap you. It's happened before and not a month goes by without a report in the news about Pokémon being stolen. In fact, I'm surprised someone hasn't tried to take you already. If you don't want to be forced into someone else's ball, you need to let me put you in one of mine."

"Well…" I tried to think fast as sweat formed on my face and chest beneath my shirt; something about her argument seemed amiss. "But how does being put in a ball prevent someone from kidnapping me?! All those other Pokémon, were they already in balls? Wouldn't being in a ball make me easier to kidnap?!"

"Only if you're in it! And you don't need to be; you just need to go in once, and you'll never have to be in it again as the mark will be made. All other Pokéballs won't work on you then."

"Then why do people even bother stealing Pokémon at all? They have to know their Pokéballs won't work."

Gale opened her mouth, seemingly realizing I had a good counter argument. "Well, I suppose there's a way to undo the mark, and if the original ball is destroyed, that will also release it…"

I immediately saw the logical error of the whole thing and went for the jugular: "So if someone is determined to take me, being stuffed in one of those things really won't deter them?"

"It'll deter those less determined. And it'll stop anyone who might want to take a chance that I haven't actually caught you yet. Which I haven't. If that happens, I would have no claim on you whatsoever, and you'd be affiliated with that other person then...forever."

Not quite the killing shot I hoped…

Charna came over to tug on my arm, looking quite insistent that I get off the couch. "It don't hurt, Alex."

"You're scared, aren't you?" Gale asked in a calmer tone. "I realize this is probably still too new to you yet, being here for less than three weeks…"

Grimacing, "Yeah...I am," I admitted quietly, "but I don't like the whole being owned thing either. On my world, my country fought a bloody four-year civil war a hundred and fifty years ago to end slavery. To this day, there is still slavery going on unofficially in other countries."

"This isn't slavery, Alex. Sure, some people might treat their Pokémon like that, but most don't. Generally, if a Pokémon wants to leave their trainer or owner, they can and do." Stepping over to run her fingers through the white hair on my shoulder: "Just view this as taking a precaution; nothing about our relationship will change. Doing this could save both of us a lot of grief. I know you have your pride; as a human believe me, I understand. I certainly won't view you any differently, and I'm sure Hammy, Bolt, Lilly and Serenity won't either. Just do this once, and I can sleep without worrying as much someone will take you from us. Please?"

I looked between Gale and Charna, the first almost pleading in her expression and the other just plain insistent. My resistance melted to the point where I just didn't see a way out…without seriously offending them. After a very long sigh, I finally nodded and let my head hang down, feeling defeated. The entire thing still felt so…humiliating.

And unnatural.

Letting Charna haul me off the couch, I went around the coffee table and stood by the television in the spot she had been for the procedure.

Now smiling gently, Gale positioned herself before me, a new Pokéball already in hand. Giving my shoulder a squeeze, "Ready?"

I gave Charna a sideways glance, watching her take a couple steps back. With a deep breath, "Yeah, go ahead and…do it." I thought about doing something like bracing myself or holding up my hands, but in the end just stayed still and let Gale touch the ball's cold button to my forehead, just like with Charna.

Gale chucked as the ball opened, "Heh, two simisages in one day."

I wanted to respond with something snarky, but was already bathed in the reddish light, my skin tingling all over. In fact, I itched. Then it turned to something like a mild electric tingling as the first few seconds went by. I stayed standing quite still and the red light continued bathing me, but as for shrinking, that wasn't happening that I could detect, and started thinking something was wrong. After what felt like a really long moment, I was still standing and staring into the open Pokéball through the red light. Was this how it was? Did my perception of time slow down or something?

No, I could see Charna fidgeting at the edge of my vision as if in real time, and Gale's face turned from being perplexed to worried. A few fast heartbeats later, the red beam finally ceased and the Pokéball seemed to close of its own accord.

"What…" as Gale stared at the ball in her hand.

"What happened?" I asked, scratching my back where it still itched. "Wasn't I supposed to go in that thing?"

Charna started circling, looking me over with mouth open and tail twitching behind her.

"I don't get it," Gale said, still staring at the ball before shaking it. "Alex, are you sure you've never been in one before?"

"You found me just as soon as I appeared on this world! At least, I think so." I wasn't sure how long I had actually been unconscious, but she said she saw my flash of appearance.

Suddenly looking doubtful, "No, the ball acted differently," Gale said, clearly in thought. "It was like it…almost didn't recognize you as a Pokémon." Then like ticking off facts: "Well no, the ball activated, so it sensed you were a Pokémon, but acted like it couldn't lock on. If you had already been captured, the result would have been instant deactivation as soon as the beam hit you. But it clearly tried for at least fifteen seconds before giving up. Defective ball…or maybe because you used to be human?"

"Think Juniper might know?" I suggested as Charna stopped in front of me, her nose nearly to mine as she sniffed. "Cut that out," as I stepped back.

"What mean 'appear on this world'?" tilting her head as she asked, white eyebrows narrowed.

I was about to answer I already told her, except…well, I never had! I had told her many times I used to be human, but had yet to reveal I was from a different Earth. Alright, since Charna was going to be with us more-or-less permanently it seemed, perhaps it was time to do so. To Gale: "Or maybe because I'm not from here. Different planets or universes and all."

Gale looked undecided for a second. "Definitely a question for the Professor."

After scratching around her 'pompadour', Charna slowly reached to touch me as if for the first time. "Not from here? Different…what?"

Facing her: "You know I used to be human, right?" After waiting for her nod, "Well, that's really only half the story. The other part is…I'm also from a different Earth."

This time Charna stepped back, her monkey-like simisage face clearly puzzled. "What…mean?"

"You're going to tell her now?" Gale asked.

I nodded. What followed was a nice, long explanation, with Charna having (unsurprising) difficulty understanding just the simplest concepts of multiple dimensions. Of course, multiple dimensions was still just an educated guess, but if it was a case of two similar Earths in the same universe, the stars in the night sky shouldn't have been the same. In the end I got her to more or less understand, including the fact the Earth I came from was without Pokémon. Of course, understanding the concept was one thing…

Shaking her head and making her large ears move: "A different Earth…with no Pokémon?! I…don't believe…don't understand! How happen?!"

After translating Charna's comment for Gale, "That was my reaction the first few days I was here, only in reverse. I mean, a world with hundreds of strange creatures called Pokémon that can use science-defying abilities? Surely that is impossible!"

Charna's mouth opened, but nothing came out. Gale stifled a snicker, though.

"That's when you first ran into us, incidentally," I continued. "I was pretty much still trying to wrap my brain around all this. Still am, actually." If I ever managed to get back home while remaining as I was, I very much imagined the things I could do would send a good many scientists into psychiatric wards. Assuming I wasn't locked up in an entirely different kind of facility.

Charna's eyes went to the ceiling, as if thinking. "You acted…strange. Wear clothes and act human…speak human…" Then with a smile spreading across her small face, "But make you special!"

I felt a bit relieved she seemed to believe me (I think), but then like the first few days after she started living with us, she paraded out a whole new string of endless questions, particularly about how things were like on a world without Pokémon. She seemed dumbfounded that humans and a whole world could get along without them, having only mere normal (stupid) animals to inhabit the planet.

"How boring!" she finished. "No Pokémon there to live with."

A sentiment Gale agreed with, after I translated.

Well, what could I say? We humans on a Pokémon-less world managed. We also didn't know any different.

By the time we finished dinner and crashed on the couch, I was tired of talking. In fact, I was just tired period. Perhaps it was the almost complete lack of physical activity for three days while I was healing, but I was almost itching to getting back to the park, even if it meant having to deal with a thousand people! I wondered how far off the mark I was going to be with that figure…

After a later evening than I would have preferred, we finally got to bed and I was back on the couch for the second night in a row. I did prefer sleeping with Gale for a couple different reasons, but Charna and the soft couch weren't too bad either. After my usual 'Palkia' dream that hadn't seemed to yield any additional info for a while, I awoke in the early morning light with Charna fully on my side of the couch, almost pushing me off the cushion in having wedged herself between me and the backrest. I hadn't a clue as to how she repositioned herself like that without waking me up.

She stirred as I just started to extract myself from under the blanket to get up, suddenly putting an arm over my chest and tail over my legs as our 'pompadours' touched. As she faced me with barely opened eyes, I felt the warm breath from her small nose on the side of my face. Without saying anything, she just rested her head against my shoulder, giving a soft sigh.

Perhaps it was instinct, but moved my arm to put around her shoulder before I knew it. It was also a more comfortable position. Then thinking it would be rude to disturb her now that she was all settled, I laid there for a while, contemplating how far our relationship should go. As before, I found Gale much more attractive than another simisage (or another Pokémon for that matter). Clearly my mind remained wired for humans as mates. But as nice as Charna had become, especially in helping care for me and otherwise demonstrating clear…well, affection, I had pretty much stopped minding close contact with her. Maybe my feelings toward her was most like that for a beloved pet, and like said pet, I started stroking the green hair on her arm absentmindedly, eliciting another soft sigh from her before I realized what I was doing.

On some level, the present closeness felt 'right' in a way I couldn't explain, a feeling I didn't get with Gale. Or rather, it was a different kind of 'right'. Certainly, to have an intimate relationship with Gale would be both 'right' and awkward. Having been a human, it would be natural in that regard, but now in my present simisage form, I had concerns about breaking taboos on this world and she obviously had the same. The same relationship with Charna would present no such problem, except I didn't have the taste for it. Be like a human doing it with a monkey!

Except…I also was now a monkey.

Perhaps I was getting ahead of myself. Neither of the relationships had gotten that far. Though with Charna, her inclination certainly seemed to be to get closer, take things further, become more intimate. Her wildness still scared me, but that was abating slowly but surely as she grew more domestic...and yet the bit of wildness still in her…excited me…?

Oh what the hell was I thinking?! Just a week ago I wanted her as far away as I could send her! The moon wouldn't have been too far. And now she was snuggled against me, almost cooing as I slowly stroked her arm, working up to the white tufts covering her shoulders…

With a mental curse I stopped myself for the second time and forced myself up, fully waking her. She looked surprised as I headed into the bathroom for my once-again delayed 'evening' shower.

"Reshiram was sighted again," Gale noted over breakfast. Then reading from the morning paper: "Reshiram was sighted just outside Icirrus City yesterday morning, according to several eyewitnesses who saw the legendary dragon land near the town's airport. They reported his stay as only a few minutes before he headed southwest in an apparent great hurry. Tom Hirsonti, one of the witnesses, said the dragon appeared hurt, and after approaching to ask the legendary Pokémon if he needed help, Reshiram flew off without response.

"Reshiram had also been observed arriving from the north, where in recent weeks record cold and cloudy weather has been plaguing the far northern Unova mountains. It is unclear if Reshiram has any connection with that unusual climate activity."

Gale paused before looking up from the paper, "I wonder if anything is going on there, I mean these rare sightings of Reshiram recently, and with your dream of the mountains."

"Hmm," I replied, not knowing enough about either the situation or Reshiram (or this Earth) to say if the Pokémon's appearance was cause for any concern. But the Northern mountains was to be our eventual, probable destination… "How cold are those mountains? Will we need warm clothes?"

The woman stared back, tilting her head slightly. "You're right. You will need some, since you can't be in a Pokéball. We can probably buy some in Icirrus City, though. When we see the Professor tomorrow, I'll also ask her about why you can't go into a Pokéball. She might find a way so you can, then you won't get so cold. But at least we won't have to worry about anyone else putting you in one until then."

I had really built up a lot of hope that I wouldn't be going in one after all…

"If you be outside, I too!" Charna announced, grabbing the last slice of toast from the serving plate. After a solid crunch and with a full mouth: "So I wilf neb clos too!"

I passed that on to Gale, keeping my grimace to myself.

"Fine, warm clothes for both of you. We'll need to earn extra money this morning then, Alex. Got enough photo paper for printing?"


There was a mob!

"Good God!" as I recoiled at the sight from across the street yet.

Gale had, if anything, understated the effect the television report on me had for park attendance! And I immediately knew, without any shadow of a doubt, I didn't like being the center of attention of at least three hundred people, a good half of them children of all ages. Dozens (hundreds?) of Pokémon were there too, each adding their own confusing chatter to that of the humans. Even several police were out, such was the size of the crowd!

"Uh…a few more than yesterday," Gale remarked.

Walking beside us, Charna seemed to recoil. "Lot of hu..humans here!"

"There's the talking simisage!" many shouted as they caught sight of me, rushing forward to the sidewalk.

At first there was a bit of confusion over whether it was me or Charna that could talk, but several 'helpful' people pointed out it was the simisage with the clothes and camera bag. Then it was like running a gauntlet to make it to the one empty practice field, with trainers right and left (and forward and back) asking for battles!

"No battles today!" Gale shouted multiple times. "Alex will only be photographing!" To multitude groans: "You can have him photograph your battles, and he'll even autograph them!"

"See?" Charna almost growled, several humans and Pokémon pressing in past a couple of policeman taking up an impromptu escort. "You too popular!"

"I feel like Elvis," I mumbled as a bunch of kids came running up next, Charna heading them off with limited success.

"Who Elvis?" she asked, as two ran past her.

"Who's Elvis?" Gale mirrored, her attention divided between several wanting photographs now.

"I'm not battling today!" I shouted after insistent pleas to fight the two kid's Pokémon. One wasn't taking no for an answer, releasing his tepig between me and Gale.

"Fight me!" the little fire pig demanded, all smile on his orange face.

Someone grabbed my tail, eliciting from me a sharp "Hey!" Some very fluffy and elegant mouse-like thing on two legs had a hold of it; I gave my tail a hard shake in struggling to free myself.

"Let go of him!" Charna snarled, rushing to give the creature a whack, only to just graze it as it jumped back. Of course, several people and Pokémon took advantage of her leaving her spot to rush in.

And so it went all the way to the park bench. Even with Gale releasing Hammy, Lilly, Serenity and Bolt, the people and Pokémon crowding around was almost crushing until a couple more police intervened.

"So you're the talking simisage Alex," one of the blue-uniformed men said with a side-ways glance once he got a chance. "Nice to meet you."

"Same here," I replied with genuine relief as the six policemen and women working together were finally having an effect.

"Thanks for helping to keep order," Gale added. With a wave around us, "I really wasn't expecting all this."

"No problem. We caught wind there would be a large crowd here today, since this is where the talking simisage usually comes in the morning. That, and I saw the news report on you guys like half the city. Glad we decided to check it out."

On the man's advice, I stood on the bench to address the crowd that I wasn't there to battle, since I was still recovering from injuries I got four days prior (I lied...almost; I did need to take it easy for another day just to be safe), but I would be photographing if anyone wanted shots of their Pokémon in the heat of battle, particularly those who wanted to battle Gale. And yes, I would sign them on request.

A shocking number of hands went up everywhere.

"Seems finding customers won't be a problem today," Gale exclaimed. In an overly cheerful voice to her Pokémon: "Guess what guys? Lots of battles today!"

They gave a collective moan, save for Hammy who raised his fist while giving a primal roar.

"Your popularity is going to kill us, Alex!" Serenity screeched.

"I got killed four days ago," I countered. "It's you guy's turn."

Bolt shot an electric spark, hitting the ground at my feet.

Lily hopped slightly closer. "My much premature, tragic death will be in your honor, oh grassy one." Twirling around on one foot, the blue Pokémon subsequently fell onto her back and after a single twitch, lay still.

Serenity slowly shook her small head as Hammy stepped closer to look down on the faking palpitoad. "You sick?"

"Probably by the end of the day, she will be," Bolt snorted, finishing with a neigh suggesting it wasn't entirely in humor.

"Oh come on, we'll tear them all to pieces!" Charna shouted, moving to stand with the rest of them and completing the battle team.

"That's the spirit!" Hammy said, giving the female simisage a hearty slap on the back and almost leveling her.

Returning a snarl, "Hey! I no need be knocked out by own team!"

With that, a battle queue was formed and I got to work. Gale and the Pokémon were impressive; by limiting all battles to a max of two Pokémon per side, she was able to fight a rather amazing nine battles in less than three hours, winning most of them. The limit also allowed three of them to be resting during any particular match as well as between battles, and with smart rotation Gale made sure no one fought two battles in a row. I, by contrast, was busy the entire time as was Gale. Between trying to work around kids who were constantly in the way or trying to be 'helpful', concentrating on the shooting while trying to ignore everyone watching me with obvious awe, racing to go through shots to find those the customer wanted, performing very basic image editing, and then get them printed out, signed and exchanged for money before the next match, I hardly had time to catch my breath. By lunch time, I felt as worn out as the others looked.

And then one particular kid, the one who had been in the way the most, followed me all the way to the concession stand, which was with so many people in the park, quite well and goodly packed. It was going to be a long wait in line and of course, I was surrounded by my own orbiting crowd who wanted to either look at, photograph, or talk to me. Thank God the police finally had everyone keep their place in line and to give me a break!

As Charna leaned on me for support in her worn state (causing a boon of comments about how cute we were together), I again felt a tug on my tail. Sadly, I knew who it was. After a sigh, "Chris, what do you want?"

The eight-year old, black-haired Japanese-looking kid stepped closer to wrap his arms around me, earning Charna's tired gaze. "I want a Pokémon like you!"

"You want a simisage?" Gale asked, giving his head a rub.

"I want a talking simisage!" Chris answered, giving me a tighter squeeze. "I like monkey-type Pokémon, and a talking simisage would be great!"

Charna gave a tired snort. "You not take him."

Chris paid her a stare. "This other one doesn't talk, does it?"

"No, Alex is the only one," Gale replied, patting my head.

"Can I have him?"

Laugher and remarks about the how funny and cute the kid was reverberated around.

"No you can not," I shot back, suddenly more annoyed. I was about to go on about how degrading it was to be referred to as property, but immediately decided on a different tack with so many people around. "I'm already spoken for," getting a smile from Charna.

"Then...can I live with you?"

The boy actually sounded sincere.

"No," Charna said.

Not that it did any good, since the kid couldn't understand her.

"Chris! There you are!"

I looked with Charna and Gale to an oriental woman in her late twenties or early thirties as she moved through the line to take Chris's arm.

"Chris, I was looking all over for you for the last hour!"

"Sorry Mom!" the kid said, sounding apologetic. "But I wanted to be with Alex, so I came here to the park like I said in the note!"

The mother bowed to Gale. "Sorry about this! I hope he wasn't much trouble."

"Oh, no trouble," Gale quickly replied, holding up a hand.

"He only got in the way a few dozen times," I added lightly.

The mother held her free hand to her mouth. "My...gosh. The TV report was true! You really can talk!"

Again, laughter erupted around us from those who likely just a couple hours prior, hadn't heard me in person either. "Yeah, I can talk," I sighed, sensing they were going to be around us for a while.

"Darn right he can!" the man behind us crowed.

As the line moved forward and closer to the source of the wonderful, stomach growl-inducing smells of food, the three of us were forced to engage in small-talk and question answering with the woman and her son. At least the line moved faster than I had thought possible, the reason being the concession stand owner having hired more help while I had been laid up. I resolved to note my thanks for that to him.

With all tables unsurprisingly occupied, we looked for a good spot on the grass instead. Followed again by mother and son...and probably half the park! We kept moving until we reached one of the stand of trees, which helped keep down the number of some of the crowd.

"Well, sorry again about all the trouble," the mother apologized again. "But we just flew back from Icirrus City late yesterday and after seeing you on the news, Chris just insisted about coming here to meet you. But I had an appointment this morning and when I got back, he had already left on his own."

At the mention of where they came from, I exchanged a glance with Gale.

"Yeah, you ar on neaf Poké'on!" Chris said with mouth full of hot dog, admittedly giving him an even cuter look. After a massive swallow that by all rights should of choked him: "You only one who can speak like a human, not with your mind."

Gale cleared her throat. "Since you were in Icirrus City yesterday, did you see Reshiram? I read in the paper about him being there yesterday."

The woman's face formed a quick smile. "Yes, we did actually! As we were waiting at the small airport there, Reshiram landed near the terminal. Sure created a ruckus!"

"He was cool!" Chris said, his eyes lighting up. "First Reshiram, now you!"

"But he looked hurt," the mother continued. "He had a lot of wounds, like he'd been in one heck of a battle. Don't know who he fought against, but I can imagine some trainer with really powerful Pokémon trying to capture him. Sure wouldn't want to run into that person! Even so, Reshiram did get away. Not sure why he picked the airport to stop and rest, but I'm glad he did. Even wounded, he was an amazing sight!"

Chris tapped his mother's arm. "Mom, that one guy said he had to been battling Zekrom, 'cause his friend saw him too!"

"Zekrom?" I asked.

"You don't know who Zekrom is?" Chris said.

I shook my head.

"Reshiram's counterpart," Gale provided. "So someone saw Zekrom too recently?"

"If this guy was telling the truth," the mother answered. He supposedly heard from someone else who saw Zekrom some days before in the area. But no one else there knew anything about it."

"Here, you can have these, Alex," Chris said, suddenly offering the rest of his French fries.

Of course, it would have been rude to refuse, and I had a shadow for the rest of the afternoon. With Serenity, Lilly, Hammy, Bolt and Charna all still recovering, Gale only had each lightly battle once more before calling it a day. But others took her place on the battle field, primarily trainers who wanted me to photograph their Pokémon battling. Under heavy pressure, I finally let Chris be my caddy, having him hold one of the lenses I needed for some shots. I was mildly pleased the kid behaved himself and did help to some degree, under the supervision of his mother. But by midafternoon I was done too, and bid both mother and son farewell.

"Can I do this again tomorrow?" Chris asked excitedly as the still sizable crowd was waving us goodbye.

"Oh, he can't," Gale replied. "We're leaving town tomorrow and won't be back for a while."

Looking suddenly sad, "Awwww."

So it had to be. And we truly didn't know when we would be back.

Back at the apartment and after counting the large sum of cash I had earned, my next thing was the computer. Or specifically, checking out this Zekrom. As Gale already pointed out, he was indeed recognized as Reshiram's counterpart, though nothing about either of the legendary Pokémon jumped out as being useful to me. Still, it was strange that at least one, maybe both Pokémon who were noted as being very rarely seen were now suddenly showing up, only a couple weeks after my appearance on this world, and in the area of Unova I had dreamt about. Maybe…my darkrai-induced dream meant to sense one of them and not Palkia?

After a shower, packing, dinner, and more careful packing (including the new child-sized backpack Gale bought for me), it was off to bed for we were all beat. At least we could lounge around a little, but the Professor had already made the trip to Castelia that afternoon and was staying overnight in a hotel, so she would be picking us up first thing after breakfast. The car trip to Mistralton City was going to take most the day, I was told.

And apparently it was Gale's turn to have me sleep with her; I hadn't even been aware she and Charna had made such an arraignment! I guess I didn't mind although I still preferred Gale. As I had grown accustomed to, it wasn't long before I was being cuddled like a large teddy bear…with lots of stroking.

Tomorrow, with perhaps a great deal of luck, I would finally be on my way to getting a few answers, and perhaps to finding a way home.