Pokemon: The Unknown Continuum
Chapter 36: The Unknown Continuum
"Thanks for coming with me Wigglytuff." I said as we landed on a small island together. "Think the rumours of a sunken continent are true?"
"Not sure, but I think this is the tunnel that leads beneath the sea that I heard of. How long have you been a typhlosion now anyway?" He asked as I thought about it while looking into the jaws of this tunnel.
"About a year now, I only spent about four as a quilava. Feels much better that I can walk comfortably on two legs again. Well, are you ready?" I asked as the rather old wigglytuff nodded. He must have been fast approaching sixty by now, but he simply refused to slow down or let go of his childlike glee for exploring. It felt a bit strange being almost twice as big as Wigglytuff now, but I was still aware that he could still kick my ass if he really wanted to. Lighting a lantern, we started our slow and steady descent into the depths of the planet, with very few signs of life along the way. There was nothing but a couple of kabutos, who scuttled away as soon as they detected our presence, and the only potential danger being how steep this passageway was, so we had to be careful not to slip. I assumed whoever first saw this tunnel thought it looked very dangerous. A bit of a shame for them really, since they could have been the ones to make the first discovery, but I wasn't one to complain.
"Watch your head!" Wigglytuff said as I accidentally knocked it off the ceiling. Being a big typhlosion sure had its down sides at times.
"Ow...I'm just fine." I said, rubbing it and laughing a bit at my own clumsiness there was we continued descending, being much more careful from now on. It wasn't long until the only source of light was from the lanterns we held, but we had more than enough oil to make sure it remained lit, and if push came to shove, I could light the way with fire on my shoulders.
"It was a couple of golducks that first found this place. They even said they saw what they thought looked like ruins from strange, primitive looking structures, but it was hard to tell from the water eroding them over time. Ooh, what if we find stuff down here that's still in tact?! The very thought of it!" He said, sounding very excited, and I have to admit, I shared his enthusiasm.
"Let's just make sure we get down there safely." I said as it took a long time to get deeper and deeper. There didn't seem to be any kind of network of tunnels, but just the one. I wondered what could have caused such a straight and purposeful looking tube, and I could tell by the formations that it wasn't dug recently, if it was dug at all.
It almost took three hours, but we eventually saw this giant tunnel start to level out. My feet felt better now that they could walk upon flatter ground, even if it was rocky and uneven. Holding the lantern in front of us, we ventured forward into the unknown. Didn't seem like anything had come down here in hundreds of years, making the area felt as lifeless as death itself. This cavern thankfully looked pretty sturdy, hence why it must have survived like this, as it seemed surprisingly spacious as I shone my lantern all around. Just ahead of me, I saw some structures that looked crafted as opposed to natural as Wigglytuff and I took a closer look.
"If this is what I think it is, then this planet has been touched by humans a long, long time ago." I said, looking at one of the pillars closely. This was certainly primitive craftsmanship alright, the pale stone having patterns carved into them. It was preserved oddly well, but I only assumed that was due to how dry it was down here. The air felt a little thin too, as I found myself breathing quite heavily to get the oxygen I needed. Probably shouldn't spend longer than we have to down here. Wigglytuff seemed just fine however, and I guess I'll never know why.
"Oh my, I guess that's what happened to these people." Wigglytuff said, looking pretty concerned as he pointed to a couple of ancient looking skeletons just lying there. Perhaps they were trapped here when the continent mysteriously sunk? It also begged the question – what drove them underground in the first place?
"Let's just keep looking around quickly, it's a little difficult for me to breathe. I should be fine for now though." I said as we continued investigating what looked like a small ancient town of some kind, with a population of approximately seventy-six skeletons. Lovely.
"I think this is writing here." Wigglytuff said, inspecting something inscribed onto a wall. This was especially puzzling, as some of the letters used were easily recognizable, such as A, E, Z, T and K, but others were not. Needless to say, we had no hope on trying to figure out what it all meant. "You said that humans likely came from all over the human world to ours in different places and times. Wonder when and where the humans came to this part?" He wondered out loud. Aside from clearly being from a long time ago, we had no idea. It was a shame neither of us were archaeologists, since they'd be right at home here and could figure out stuff we couldn't.
"I think we'd find it easier to get meanings from these murals." I said, directing Wigglytuff to the ancient artwork. Pretty basic stuff, but fascinating nonetheless. There seemed to be a bunch of posh looking pokemon there, including a few who's existence was very elusive. Two serperiors 'stood' side by side, looking at Xerneas and Mew. Could they have been part of the ruling class at this time?
"So...those two probably existed a long time ago. Can hardly expect anyone to live for hundreds of years though, hence why there's been no modern sightings. Mews are, to my knowledge, just a really elusive and secretive species, but there's been crazy rumours about Xerneas. To you, however, even Xerneas is probably pretty mundane by now." Wigglytuff commented as we looked onwards. The next one contained Mew and Xerneas again, among a bunch of other pokemon, all looking up at something – a human. His clothes looked very different from the clothes I saw humans wear, looking far more elaborate and protective, albeit far less comfortable. He wore something on his head that, admittedly, made him look a bit silly, but with that pointed blade on the end of that long stick, it wouldn't be wise to make fun of it in front of his face.
"Now, it'd be interesting to know who he was called, but we can't read any of this." Wigglytuff said, sounding a little frustrated as we looked at the next one. The pokemon in the next mural looked far less friendly, and seemed like they were intentionally drawn that way, so I assumed that they were the enemy of this town. There was some strange dark markings surrounding them, but for all the fierce looking species there were, one of them looked very out of place. Looking upwards, I saw the two serperiors again, except they looked like they were dead, and just above them, a lone, wicked looking snivy. Even though the quality of the art wasn't very good, I could feel the malice and animosity dripping from him. He seemed to be the leader of this bunch, but there was an odd detail about him that was quite curious. It was that leaf on his head, just like Floyd had. A cold shiver suddenly shot down my entire body when everything clicked with me.
"...Ezekiel..." I muttered as Wigglytuff looked at me, a little confused. "It's, uh, it's something I've been keeping to myself for a long time. I'll tell you more when we get out of here. I can't be sure it's him, but based on everything I know, it seems likely." The next one was nasty to look at – Ezekiel, or whoever it was, seemed to be commanding a group of pokemon to massacre the victims to the right of this painting, as they were being portrayed as either fleeing or cowering in fear. The next one showed Xerneas, Mew, the human and several others fighting back, but seemed to be struggling against what seemed to be great power being channelled by Ezekiel, each depiction of him looking more twisted and cruel than the last.
"I'm glad we didn't have to deal with him during our lives. Still, he's just a snivy – how did he get that kind of power?" Wigglytuff thought out loud to himself.
"In the same way that Floyd was just a snivy?" I said, sounding ever so slightly sassy.
"Now that you mention it, he does look like Floyd, if he were really nasty." Wigglytuff said as we inspected the next mural. It some kind of floating mountain of some kind, as it looked like it was flying off into the sky with Xerneas and looking on, unable to do a thing. Flying mountains...I'd say it was ridiculous, but I've seen far stranger things in my lifetime. Seems like the human got the best of Ezekiel on the next mural, as I saw that wretched snivy being impaled upon the human's weapon with Mew's assistance. A smaller one, but it just felt good to see. The last picture was a nasty surprise, depicting two terrible beasts that I didn't even recognize, but Wigglytuff seemed to do so.
"Oh dear, all that chaos must have awoken the great beasts, Groudon and Kyogre. I think I now know why this continent sunk to the bottom of the ocean." Wigglytuff said, as I noticed that they too had that strange black paint or whatever they used surrounding them. A possible 'parting gift' from Ezekiel? Could he really control such beings even in death?
"Floyd, you poor sod...How did you get stuck with someone like that?" I muttered as I could only conclude that they became trapped down here and died. Perhaps they tried to dig their way out somehow? Maybe the tunnel we used was made by them. Regardless, it didn't seem as though there was very much else here within the depths of the planet, so we took our leave before the lack of air down here started weighing us down too much. The climb up was rather tough, but nothing we couldn't handle, and within a few hours, we reached the surface.
"I suppose we should register our first-to-discover rights when we get back home." Wigglytuff said, still looking cheerful. "I mean, this is an entire segment of lost history we just uncovered! I'm sure archaeologists could find out far more about all this! Anyway, you thought that snivy was called Ezekiel, right? Who is he?"
"Where to start...remember when I said that I had a previous life as a human? Palkia decided I was worthy to get a second life, and he was very fortunate he decided that for everyone's sake. Well, Floyd seems to be the opposite. It's hard to tell exactly how or why, but from what I can gather, Ezekiel's soul ended up becoming Floyd's soul, and it seems like he took the same physical appearance when he became a snivy. It didn't seem to affect him at all until Darkrai came into the picture, which made Floyd start acting strange. He, uh...he was made to get some sadistic pleasure out of killing. I left that out when telling the story to people, but given the rather strange way they reacted to it, maybe I should have just told them. Seriously, it's probably the closest thing this world has to a religion now, and it kind of scares me." I said, sweating slightly as Wigglytuff looked at me with curious eyes.
"We should be thankful that some of Ezekiel's traits died with him then. I think I prefer Floyd the way I knew him, without that strange nasty person messing with his mind. Speaking of which, did you make any progress on trying to see him again?" He asked.
"I just have to wait really. Dialga's been making repairs to the tower, and once he's finished, it'll be safe for me to cross over and meet him once more. Just seeing Ezekiel there...there has to be a way to ensure he stays silenced for good. Just wish Dialga would hurry up, but competency has never been his strong point." I muttered as I sat down on the beach, which was illuminated slightly by the two moons above us.
"Well, you can think more about it tomorrow on the journey back." Wigglytuff said, setting up a tent with incredible yet oddly casual haste. "Wonder how different your human self was? Ezekiel and Floyd are clearly very different."
"If I ever get to go to the world of humans, I'll might be able to find that out. There must be people who knew Jake...Omar's one of them. If I can find Floyd, I can find out what he's like too." I said as I crawled inside the tent and slowly drifted off. I contacted Palkia with a prayer with my request almost four years ago, and ever since then, the nagging thoughts of whether Floyd was ok or not kept pestering me every once in a while. I had to sate them, I had to see him again, now more than ever now that I had gotten a better idea about who this Ezekiel was. As I drifted off, my body started feeling lighter and lighter, but more worrisome still, it did not feel like a dream. I opened my eyes wide suddenly to find myself in a location that was as strange as it was familiar.
"Greetings, Serge." I heard someone say from within my head as a flowing form started taking shape in front of me, covered in the palest lilac.
"Palkia." I said formally as I floated there in this topsy-turvy dimension. It might have made sense if I still carried his power within me, but it was dangerous for a mortal like myself to do so.
"I have good news. Dialga has finally completed his repairs of the tower, completely removing any chance of any potential temporal anomalies when traversing worlds. You've been waiting a long time for this, and we owe you this favour." Palkia said, warmth in his voice creeping through his incredibly formal nature.
"We?"
"I can only pull and expel people from my world. I cannot put you into the human world. That power resides with one of my brothers, Giratina. Floyd had already become acquainted with him, and he has agreed to help make your desire come true." He said, but I wasn't too sure about this. I suppose my human self revered Palkia's judgement for a reason though, so I trusted he wasn't being mislead in any way.
"Thank you, but before I go, I wish to ask about Ezekiel. I saw murals from an ancient civilization, and it seemed to depict him doing all manner of atrocities. Also, be sure to let Wigglytuff know that I'll be away for a while." I said as Palkia's form wavered slightly, as if he was shot with a spike of guilt.
"I'll let Wigglytuff know. As for Ezekiel...if you find Floyd, tell him I am deeply sorry. I have never destroyed a soul before, but perhaps this one should have been the exception." Palkia said, his voice wavering ever so slightly within my mind. "Feel free to denounce me for my crimes, but within the human world, their population is exploding rapidly, and fifty years ago came a breaking point. I could no longer keep up with creating fresh souls for them, so I was forced to start recycling some of the old ones. Tragically, Ezekiel's must have gotten recycled in the process. I didn't even realise at the time what I had done, but I was hoping that since, in theory, it should have no effect on someone's memories or personality, I thought it wouldn't come to anything. Ezekiel, however...again, may be an exception. If you give me a moment, I shall try to create something that shall keep Floyd in the human world, just in case any of the locals in your world ever think of trying to wake Ezekiel up. Ezekiel is completely unheard of in the human world, so no one there would attempt such a thing. It's the best I can do for now." He said as I noticed that behind him, there was a large swirling mass of goodness-knows-what. A conglomeration of souls perhaps?
"Does he have to eat this?" I asked as he handed me a very small spherical object. It sure didn't look appetizing, so I was wondering how I could convince him to take it.
"Indeed. Hopefully that'll also put Ezekiel into an even deeper slumber, alongside keeping him permanently locked in the human world, but from what I've seen of him lately, I think he'll be very happy with that. If you're ready, I'll give Giratina the signal." He said as I thought of something.
"Wait, before I see Floyd, could I see some people who might have knew Jake? I want to see where he lived." I asked as Palkia thought about it for a second.
"Very well, but in regards to seeing that and the human world in general, I cannot promise that you'll like what you'll see. In fact, I expect disappointment." He said as I pondered possible reasons why I would dislike the human world. "So, are you ready?"
"I'm ready to go into the unknown." I said formally as I felt a strange pull from behind me as a strange, ethereal feel pulled me somewhere, faster and faster. I could feel that it was out of Palkia's hands now. A different voice suddenly sounded within my mind, sounding as hollow as it did terrifying.
"I shall take you to London, where Jake's body was laid to rest." It spoke as my entire body shivered with each word it spoke. I assumed it was Giratina, and I can see why Floyd described it as terror incarnate, even if it didn't seem malicious.
"...Very well." I said as everything around me changed dramatically to a place I didn't recognize. It seemed like I was in a small, rectangular box of some kind that I barely fit inside. I panicked briefly and struggled before looking around from within. A circular shape with water at the bottom...that's a toilet. I guess Giratina had a strange sense of humour, but I can only assume that he didn't want me warping right in the open. I carefully opened the door and stepped into the outside world. The immediate surroundings didn't seem too otherworldly, with some nice trees and greenery, but outside of that was an endless sea of colossal buildings that shot up towards the sky. It was only within the daylight that I could appreciate how gigantic they were, since there was no way I could see the top of the large ones in the endless night of Edinburgh.
"So, this is London..." I muttered to myself as I walked around slowly. It felt quite a bit colder than back home, but controlling my own body temperature was a trick I picked up as a typhlosion, so it didn't bother me to much as I gently heated myself up. Having a look around, it seemed like it was early in the morning, and it seems like the sun only just rose above the horizon about a couple of hours ago. I saw no humans just yet, but what I did see were a bunch of well cut stones lying side by side in file with each other on the grass. It looked like there were some carvings on them, so I walked up to read them.
"1953-2027. In loving memory of George Ravenscroft. Always in out hearts, forever in our minds." I read out loud as I noticed there were several of these stones saying similar things about different people. Perhaps this is how the humans commemorate the dead. It wasn't until a bit later that I saw some humans, an elderly looking couple walking slowly around together. I could only assume one of these stones belonged to Jake, so I wonder if they knew where I could find him.
"Excuse me, sir, madame, do you know where I can find Jake's stone?" I asked as they turned to look at me, their expressions as confused as they were frightened?
"...How did that typhlosion get in here?" The woman asked.
"Never mind that, it just spoke!" The man said, sounding almost as bewildered and scared as the woman.
"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you! Just don't attack me, please." I said, trying to calm them down.
"Well, it's not the first time a pokemon speaking English has been heard of..." The woman said as the couple slowly backed away from me as if they thought I could attack them at any moment.
"He sounds French. Large pokemon wandering round in public all by themselves...is that common where you come from?" The man asked me, though I had no idea what he meant by me being French.
"Well, yes. Yes it is." I said, the situation becoming increasingly awkward.
"Well, it's not in England, especially in London. You might want to make yourself hidden, I don't think your species is allowed to walk around the city." The man responded as I frowned. Do the humans here discriminate that much? "Well don't look at me that way, I don't make the rules!" He said, sounding afraid as they quickly walked off. Well, as fast as the elderly couple could at least. Perhaps this was what Giratina meant by me potentially not liking what I see here. I just hoped that London wasn't too big so I could leave as soon as I was done here. This place seemed to be somewhat quiet though, which suited me nicely, but finding Jake's stone would prove to be very difficult as they weren't put in alphabetical order, and that's just assuming that Giratina put me in the right place. After a couple of minutes of wandering, I saw a slightly younger couple, but they still looked much older than Floyd. They didn't seem to notice me, for they were both looking down at a stone, quietly speaking to one another. I silently looked over their shoulders, but what I saw made me gasp and reveal that I was standing right behind them.
"Ah! How did that get there?!" The woman said in fright before calming down. I didn't even pay much attention to her initially, but instead read out loud what I read.
"In remembrance of Jake Bowman, 2013-2032. May he find happiness in the afterlife." I said under my breath. Was this me? Was this the Jake I was? "If you calm down and ignore that I'm a typhlosion speaking English in public, since that's somehow a bad thing here, could you tell me if this Jake died in a bus crash?" I said as the pair of them looked at me with bewilderment. If they only knew, they'd have a much bigger reason to be surprised if this was indeed the Jake I was in another life.
"Were you one of his pokemon friends? I, er, I thought he'd have mentioned you if he was. But yes, he did unfortunately. Those bastards should never have let someone drive who clearly had a condition that made him pass out suddenly..." The man said bitterly, clenching his left fist. It seemed very likely now. My heart began to race as I felt I was on the verge of making a huge personal discovery.
"So what year is it here? Sorry, where I come from they use a different measurement." I asked as they continued to give me hugely puzzled expressions.
"So...I assume you're not from France then." The woman said to me. Was France the name of my homeland? But how would they know? "Who are you exactly?" She lowered her eyebrows narrowly, inspecting me. I really didn't know how to say that I was a reincarnated Jake to their face, and they clearly knew them as well.
"Well, out with it? Fine, if you're shy, then we'll go first. We're Jake's parents. We were just visiting him for what would have been his twenty-fourth birthday. So, we'll ask you again. Who are you typhlosion, because you don't seem like an ordinary pokemon." The father asked me. This time, it was my turn to give them confused looks. These guys were my mother and father?! It was crazy! I already had a mum and dad, but these guys were also my parents?! Well, I guess I just had to explain things slowly and clearly to them.
"Ok, this will all sound like complete impossible nonsense to you, but do you remember how Jake was a devout follower of Palkia?" I asked as they nodded. The father didn't seem to like the sound of that though.
"I tried to pull him back to the straight and narrow, but I honestly fear that Arceus will not forgive him for that and may have doomed him to a torturous afterlife." He said sadly.
"Don't say that, he was a wonderful person! Arceus would never do that to him! Anyway, carry on." His wife said as I returned to the story.
"Well, you know how some of his followers get reborn as pokemon?" I said. It took a few seconds for it to click with them, but they understood what I was getting at. They understood, but they certainly did not believe.
"But that's impossible! The Palkian faith was a bunch of new-age nonsense!" He said, his voice rising in pitch. His wife looked like she just saw a close family member die in front of her face. I guess I really should have seen this coming. "But...ok, we'll humour you, typhlosion. Let's say that Palkism is one hundred percent true and accurate. Jake only died about five and a half years ago, so if he was really being reborn, he'd surely just be a little cyndaquil, but as we can see, you're not."
"There were temporal anomalies at the time, which I helped fix and-" I said before I was cut off.
"I bet you don't even know our names! Oh, and a hundred other things Jake would know, but I bet you conveniently don't remember your past life." He said angrily, clearly having a lot more guts than the elderly couple I saw earlier. I honestly could not answer, since he was right; I knew nothing about these former parents of mine as people whatsoever. "I don't know if this was some attempt to make us feel better or a cruel joke, but it sure felt like the latter! Get out of here before I phone pest control!" He yelled at me, and just like the people of Mistet Ørkenen, it seems like it was pretty much impossible to convince them.
"...Very well, 'father', it seems I can't convince either of you then. I guess you won't tell me more about the person I once was, now would you?" I said as I looked back at Jake's stone, wondering how he differed from me. Floyd and Ezekiel were extremely different from what I could tell, so perhaps Jake and I were also very unlike each other.
"...Yes, there's an unlicensed and unowned typhlosion at Hanwell Cemetery...no, it's shown no signs of aggression, but that could all change." The husband said into a strange device while the wife just stared at me as if I personally killed Jake. Feeling unwelcome, I left quickly, not wanting to deal with this pest control, whatever that was. Did they think I was some kind of a pest?! I now truly understood what Giratina meant now, as I started missing my home already. It was fascinating seeing a brand new world, but I began to get the idea that the humans weren't quite as marvellous as a lot of the myths and legends in my world would have people believe.
Pedestrians all over stared at me as I walked onto the street stared at me from all different directions as I heard mutters of 'where's its trainer' and 'how irresponsible!' Looking around on where to go, I saw a poochyena walking alongside a human on the side of the road. Dodging one of the cars, I ran over to try and speak to it, but all it responded with was confused barks, and it didn't seem to understand a word I said, let alone respond with anything I could understand. The woman ushered the little pokemon away from me as I began to feel very unwelcome here. I wanted to leave London now, but I had no idea where to go, since this place seemed so freakishly large. To think they were treating me like this when the only reason they were still alive was partially because of my efforts! Too bad I could never provide them with any real evidence, since they seemed to be far sceptical in general than the natives of the pokemon world.
"Palkia, can you take me out of here? Out of London. Please, take me to Edinburgh." I thought within my head, and thankfully, he was watching over me.
"Very well, but I'd like to make this discreet if possible. Please hide somewhere out of sight and I shall take you there." He said as I looked around for places for me to disappear from. It was crowded everywhere I went, but maybe I could hide inside the toilet where I arrived in this world from. Leaping over the fence, I saw a large and strangely shaped white car stop roughly where I was with two humans coming out of the back of it, holding something in their hands. I didn't stop to find out what they were as I dashed over to where the toilets were. Thankfully, the cemetery was quiet, and I don't think anyone saw me as I sealed myself inside. It smelled bad, but that was the least of my worries right now.
"Ready!" I announced in my mind to Palkia as I felt myself being pulled through the fabric of space as weightlessness surrounded me. Two seconds later, I found myself at the top of a hill, which propped up somewhere in the middle of a smaller sea of buildings. This must be Edinburgh.
"The people here are a bit more relaxed at pokemon wandering in public, and there's no intrusive laws here about such things. If I were to have things my way, I'd abolish all these discriminatory laws worldwide, and I'm sure you can now see why." He said within my mind as I looked around on where to start. Floyd was somewhere in this city, I just knew it! I could finally see him again! It was five and a half years too long! "Floyd is busy right now, but an old friend of yours could be nearby." He continued as I looked around closer to me. A few people were on the hill, and while they kept a respectable distance away from me, they didn't seem to be scared or aggressive at all. I slowly started walking down the slopes before I was suddenly cut off by a rather courageous human. He had slightly darker skin than the majority I found so far, with a beard that covered most of the bottom of his face, and while his hair was shorter than Floyd's, it was still a bit longer than most males.
"A typhlosion? Here? It looks wild and tough...hey, want to prove that you're worthy of joining me on becoming a professional team?" He said, making a gesture as a sceptile ran up to him from behind, standing tall and proud. I had no idea what he was talking about whatsoever as I was about to ask him, but I was cut off. "All right sceptile, buddy? If we show this typhlosion what we're made of, we'll complete the team of six which makes us eligible for official competitions! This will be such a beast squad!" He continued with a strange juvenile glee, in spite of looking like he was in his mid-to-late twenties.
"What are you even talking about? What team? I never said anything about-" I asked before he raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Woah, another talker!" He said before smiling smugly, yet not in a nasty way. "I already have one right here, so maybe we can talk this out instead?"
"Maybe he'll offer better conversation than Dusknoir does." The sceptile spoke, chuckling slightly as they approached me. "Another pokemon speaking fluent English huh? Glad to hear it! How did you learn that?"
"Er..." I said, not knowing what to say initially, but I figured I might as well just be upfront. "I was raised to speak English. I'd be asking the same thing about you."
"I was fascinated about human society, so I wanted to join them. Made some great friends that I'd hate to ever live without." He said as it all started clicking with me as I audibly gasped. "Is there a problem with that? Sorry I had to learn later than sooner." Sceptile said sarcastically.
"It's not that but..." I said and I pointed at the human. "You're Omar, and you're both friends with a human called Floyd Munro, am I right?"
"How the flying fuck did you know that?! Did Floyd tell you about us?" Omar said to me, looking like the wind was taken out of him. "Sceptile, you live with Floyd most of the time. Ever met this typhlosion?"
"Nope, and I'm pretty damn sure Floyd would have mentioned him if he met another talking pokemon. How long have you known him for?" He asked as I stared at both of them in turn. These were the new versions of Grovyle and Omar, and to think I met their old versions, now erased from time and space.
"Well, a few months, but it's really complicated." I replied, being completely honest.
"...Complicated?" Omar said, snickering. "Ok, I know you didn't mean in that way, but, really, what the fuck's going on here?"
"Well, how would you react if I told you that in another timeline, Floyd met me and we stopped the present from turning into a timeless wasteland, but caused said timeline to become erased in the process and I was here to see how this new Floyd was doing? You two were both there too." I said as the two of them looked at each other.
"Well...I'd say you were pretty nuts, but whatever." Omar said, looking like he had no idea how he was supposed to react to what I said. "Anyway, do you have a name? You probably do since, according to you, you were raised to speak English."
"Serge." I said as I looked at Omar closely. Much like my parents, this was another person Jake knew. Regardless of what he thought about me, he looked like he was doing fine, much like the rest of the world. Well, aside from this system of discrimination, but it seemed like almost every pokemon here was a savage, so I really didn't know how to feel about it all. "I guess you'd also say I was nuts if I was a reincarnation of Jake Bowman, right?"
"Nah, I wouldn't say that." He said, smiling slightly. "I would however say that you were completely bat-shit insane! Really, who the fuck are you?! I know the world's a strange place, but you...I just don't know what to say about all this, 'buddy.'" He said, staring at me awkwardly.
"I already told you all that, but it's up to you if you want to believe me or not." I said as both of them shook our heads.
"Well, you kind of just came out of nowhere to say some ridiculous stuff without any real evidence around it. Well, maybe you can tell me some stuff about Jake and I if you're really him." Omar asked, not making eye contact with me.
"Sorry, non of Jake's memories lived on. I couldn't answer any questions like that." I said somewhat sadly.
"Even if you are telling the truth, try to understand just how out-there it sounds to us." Sceptile said, though he sounded a bit more understanding than Omar.
"Well, er...how are you both doing in the past five years? I trust that you're doing better than your other selves." I asked as they laughed a bit.
"Well, we're not wandering in a timeless wasteland, as you said. Honestly, life's good right now for us, and Floyd too in case you were wondering." Omar said as he let Sceptile continue.
"I've been training with Omar for the past four years. I felt bad about being a bit of a freeloader, and I was always good at fighting, so I thought I'd make the most of my talents. I guess you'll be looking for Floyd soon, right?" He asked as I nodded. "Well, he's probably asleep now since he's a night-shift police officer, but since it's Sunday, you can probably catch him at the Dialgan church at midnight."
"Dialgan church...I see he still follows that incompetent fool." I muttered as Omar gave me that strange look again.
"Are you a Palkian? Just like Jake then huh. Just don't complain about Floyd's religion in front of him, he really doesn't like that." Omar said as I chuckled slightly.
"Oh don't worry, I know that well. Anyway, is there anyway that I can help prove that what I told you was true?"
"Maybe you can tell us what our supposed other selves did there." Sceptile asked me, as I started explaining.
"...So, anyway, you and Floyd almost fought to the death there." I said after a while as Sceptile looked horrified.
"I'd never hurt Floyd! He's the one who took me in! He's my best friend, he'd be the last person on earth I'd harm!" He said, sounding angry at the very idea of it.
"I already told you why it happened – you didn't recognize each other then. Anyway..." I said, continuing to explain what happened as the sun began to slowly sink behind the horizon. Towards the end, they still didn't look convinced whatsoever, but I did leave them with food for thought.
"By the way, when you see Floyd, be sure to give him a big tight hug. He loves being cuddled!" Sceptile said, trying and failing to keep a straight face. Omar couldn't as he laughed out loud.
"I know he doesn't like that, nice try. Remember, I know him well." I said, trying not to laugh.
"I know he doesn't, but you should do it anyway. The face he pulls is priceless! Much more fun ever since I evolved since he can't throw off a sceptile as he could when I was a grovyle. Besides, ever since evolving, he looks kind of adorable. Well, humans do in general now." He said as we walked down towards the more populated areas. All the citizens that we passed thought I was just one of Omar's pokemon, and thus paid little attention to me.
"Did Jake take a dislike to having pokemon like this?" I asked as I walked him to his house.
"He didn't think much of the training aspect, but, even though it might be hard to understand if you really are from another world., my team enjoys this. We're all driven by self improvement and all that good stuff. If they wanted to leave, they'd just go. Besides, if it came down to something horrible, such as if we were thrown in that timeless wasteland you talked about, I'd fight alongside them to the death." Omar said proudly.
"Just as Floyd told me." I said, wondering what the time could be.
"Well, if you're really Jake, then I'm glad I got to see you one last time." Omar said, hugging me suddenly. "Hmm, but you're so warm and furry now!"
"So you believe me now?" I said, gently hugging him back now.
"Not exactly, but I could be wrong. Stay safe and keep being happy, won't you?" He said as I nodded as I turned to look at Sceptile.
"I'm going to be honest, Floyd isn't going to believe any of what you say, regardless how close the two of you were. If you're still here in two days, I'll be staying at Floyd's place again. Just boot-camping with Omar and the rest of his team right now, but I'm guessing you'll be seeing him sooner than that." Sceptile said.
"Yeah, I'll be seeing him tonight. Still, even though it might not mean much to you, thanks for helping to save us all from that horrible future, and sorry for attacking you back then. We didn't know any better." I said, sounding a little sad.
"You're apologizing to the wrong sceptile, or grovyle for that matter. Like I said, even if we were some legendary heroes in another life, we're pretty ordinary for the most part." He said, shrugging it off as if it was nothing.
"Yet, that is what is extraordinary about all of this – us fairly normal beings managed to become the deciding factor in the destiny of all these different worlds!" I said, though it seems as though I couldn't hype them up too well.
"Well, uh, see you soon then. I live pretty near that church, it's just down that road and you'll get there in five minutes. Service starts in ten minutes, but Floyd is usually really early, so he's probably already inside." Omar said as we waved each other goodbye. Well, it went better than with Jake's parents at least in that they at least humoured me and took what I said seriously. The road at night time was a bit quieter, but it wasn't nearly as dark as it was when I was last here. The city in general looked quite picturesque now that I could appreciate it in the light, and I can see why Floyd talked highly of the place. My heart raced when I saw the church with its red bricked spires. Floyd had to be in there! It looked busy though, and I thought better of just rushing in to greet him. I saw a fairly old man close the doors, shutting himself and everyone else within the building. I looked at a picture of Floyd as a human and discreetly peered through the window to see if I could see him, but I couldn't quite make him out. I also saw Dusknoir there as hatred filled my veins. If only they knew how much of a selfish coward he was...
What could I say to Floyd as soon as I could find a moment alone with him? He wouldn't know a thing about me, so how could I convince him I was a close friend of his? How could I be a person he wanted to befriend? I guess thinking about it would just drive me mad, and I should appear relaxed as to not spook him or anything like that. An hour passed as people left the church together in a big drove, each of them going over to their cars. A male with fairly long dark brown hair and a beard that surrounded his mouth with a thin nose and greyish eyes. Shouldn't be too hard to pick out as I watched them from the cover of a large bush. I saw someone who looked rather like him, but had much shorter hair, so it couldn't have been him as he drove off. After a few minutes, I saw Dusknoir hovering outside as that same fairly old person locked up the building. If he was the priest, then it must be Kirk, Floyd's father. He could tell me about Floyd!
"Excuse me Kirk, is that you?" I asked, coming out of hiding as the two of them looked at me.
"Well, yes. Yes I am. I don't think we've met before, were you interested in hearing about Dialga and his maxims?" He asked politely. "Dusknoir here was, so I taught him about the lord's messages to us, so you wouldn't be the first pokemon I've introduced to the church."
"To be blunt, not really. I'm looking for Floyd." I said as they both looked disappointed.
"Oh...well, I think you should reconsider in order to become the best person you could be. Take it from Dusknoir, his life has improved dramatically." Kirk said, gesturing to that villain next to him. I frowned at him as he paused slightly before speaking.
"I was but a savage for most of my life, but I have been uplifted to becoming not only a civilized being, but a morally righteous one. It was the best decision of my life, and it was thanks to High Priest Munro here." He said as I still frowned at him intensely. He looked taken aback by my expressions towards him, as well as looking confused. "Did I say something wrong?"
"...It's nothing. Anyway, I was wondering where Floyd stays, I'm a friend of his. He gave me his address, but I lost it." I asked as I saw Kirk write it down.
"I trust you can find a way to follow directions there. There's a map for use just over there." He pointed to a lit up one that seemed to be interactive somehow, just outside the church grounds. "Who are you anyway?"
"I'm Serge, I met Floyd a while back. I guess that makes me the third civilized pokemon he met."
"Seems like he has something that draws them to him." Kirk said, smiling slightly before lowering his voice. "Though I noticed that look that you gave my friend over there. That's not the look that you give to a stranger, so can you tell me a bit more then."
"I can tell you, but I highly doubt you'll believe me." I said as I started explaining about myself and what happened regarding Floyd and the others from the future. As expected, they didn't believe me, but they seemed to be quite offended by what I told them about Dusknoir.
"What are these baseless accusations?! Dusknoir, a violent murderer?! My lord falling into insanity?!" Kirk said, looking cross with me.
"I would NEVER side against Kirk like that! And how dare you say such filth in these grounds!" Dusknoir said, looking just as angry as Kirk did.
"You're mad, I should have never told you where my son lives! What was I thinking telling such things to a complete stranger?!" Kirk continued before I cut them both off.
"Remember the dimensional scream? Remember how you foresaw the end of Temporal Tower and how its ruin would bring woe to the entire planet?!" I said, which ceased their ranting and raving dead. "Like I said, Kirk, it was you who spearheaded the movement to stop time's collapse. The only reason you're still here is because of the actions of another version of you. As a high priest of a religion who is obsessed with the truth and telling no lies to a fault, then surely you'd be a bad priest if you couldn't even accept the truth when it's right in front of you."
"...How did you know about the dimensional scream? I just sort of lost it one day. I specifically told Floyd not to tell anyone who didn't already know, and I know he wouldn't be the sort of person to go back on his word." Kirk said, calming down a bit.
"Dialga. He took a special interest in you when his mind started falling away. Anyway, I'm off to find Floyd now. Farewell." I said as I walked over to the map, leaving the two of them to talk among themselves. Clearly, mentioning the dimensional scream was something that shook them a bit, as their opinions seemed to go from 'it's impossible' to merely 'it's very unlikely.' Using this electronic map was a bit tricky, but I found the location on where he stayed. Like Omar, he stayed near the church, a mere ten minute walk away. Or a three minute run as I started legging it down the path the map told me to go in. I'm almost there Floyd! Turning down a couple of streets to reach Chesser Crescent. Ignoring all the looks I got, I hunted down house number five on the street as I hurriedly opened the door, completely forgetting to knock. Floyd, where are you, you had to be here!
"Did the wind just blow the door open? I was sure I locked it..." I heard someone mutter as I heard footsteps approaching. Me breathing became heavy as my pulse raced – five and a half years, but I was now finally meeting my best friend again! My body shook with anticipation, and as soon as I saw a figure walk into view, I could no longer hold it in anymore. I rushed at him immediately, and pulled him into a hug that was probably more of a tight squeeze than anything.
"Floyd! Floyd, I missed you so much, I never dreamt that I was ever going to see you again after you died at Temporal Tower! You can't understand how happy I am that I'm finally reunited with you!" I said very quickly, slurring my words as I sobbed in happiness. I blathered on and on for goodness knows how long, completely forgetting to give Floyd a chance to speak as I nuzzled him slightly, stroking his back in my tight embrace. "You can't understand how I feel about this, but I'm just so overjoyed that I'm here with you again, my best friend!" I eventually calmed down as I finally drew my head away from his shoulder to look at him. I wasn't even sure it was Floyd now that I looked at him since his hair was much shorter than it was, but it was entirely possible he just had it cut at some point. As for how he looked, well, everyone gave me surprised looks when I spoke to them, but this face took the cake to say the least as he looked just as horrified as he did bewildered.
"You're god damn right I don't understand how you feel about this! Who the fuck are you?!" Floyd said, as I got the impression that he likely would have been struggling to get out of my cuddling if he wasn't so shocked. I let go shortly afterwards, giving Floyd a chance to breath and for the surprise to die down a bit. "Right, care to explain why you broke into my house?! I'd have kicked your arse by now if you weren't a typhlosion!"
"Sorry, I got overly excited, but...it's you!" I said happily as Floyd raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I know it's me, what of it?" He said as he pushed a button on some kind of controller as some kind of sound played through some device. It sounded very evil and aggressive, and I wasn't sure if it was just an effort to drive me away or not, but he seemed to actively enjoy it.
"Well, as I said to your friends, I'm Serge and...mind turning off that sound?" I said, since it was distracting me and was quite an obstacle to explaining everything he needed to know.
"Oh, so you break into my house and then tell me to turn off my music? Nah. That right there is The Sound of Perseverance that's playing, one of the finest albums ever made!" He said as my heart skipped a beat. How did he know about that?! Did he, beyond all reason, somehow know what happened?
"Wait, how did you know about-" I asked before Floyd suddenly spoke.
"Through Omar, he shares a lot of bands with me. You know about Death too?" He asked as this time, it was my turn to be puzzled.
"What exactly are you on about?" I said as Floyd smiled slightly.
"I can almost forgive this break in due to how amusing it is! Right, I'll explain it to you like you're a wee kid. There is a band that plays music, or they used to, since they disbanded over thirty years ago, called Death. They have nothing to do with death itself...do you even know what music is?" He asked as I shook my head, leaving Floyd looking exasperated.
"Where do you come from?! Everywhere in the world has music of some kind! Holy shit, I'm so glad I wasn't born where you come from!" Yep, that was Floyd all right, and while it would have come across as a pretty serious insult in a lot of cases, I was overjoyed to see him acting like himself. "Right, ok, the band Death, which is making the music that you are hearing right now..."
"Why do you listen to it?" I asked as Floyd looked flat out offended.
"Because it's enjoyable to listen to! I'm not forcing you to enjoy a niche genre of music, but...anyway, bands often produce albums, or collections of songs, or several individual pieces of music, this collection being called 'The Sound of Perseverance.' Does that answer your query?" He said, breathing heavily as he tried to drill the knowledge into me. Given the album must have been made well before Floyd went back in time, then perhaps he ripped off those titles he gave us from these music albums. Maybe he didn't remember after all.
"And The Guardian of Forever?" I asked, feeling a bit amused.
"Some portal device in a Star Trek episode." I had no idea what that was, but it seemed as though he ripped that off too. "Anyway...now that I'm feeling a little calmer, would you care to explain what the fuck's happening here and who you are?"
"Well, I'll start by asking you a question. Remember the dimensional scream and how you got visions of a terrible future that just randomly went away one day? Remember how the sun's rising and setting slowed ever so slightly for a few weeks?" I said as Floyd looked stunned for a few seconds. Guess I removed that brief period of calm we once had.
"Ok, now I'm really curious! How the fuck did you know about that?! My dad wouldn't tell you, no one I know would!" He said, getting himself a glass of water. If I were staying here for a few days, maybe slipping in the 'pill' that Palkia gave me into the water could work, making him eat it by accident.
"Well, you did." I said simply.
"No I didn't!"
"Ever considered why you got visions of time's end, the slowing of the sun and why it all stopped? That was you. It was us. We stopped it together Floyd, and I've come to see you again. I watched another version of you die and get erased from time and space when we successfully stopped Temporal Tower's collapse, and I've been waiting for my chance to see you again." I said, tearing up slightly.
"That sounds completely stupid! And yet, I have to confess, I'm curious about all this nonsense." He said, chuckling slightly as he drank the water. "I really can't be sure this isn't vodka since a talking typhlosion just burst into my house and told me that an alternate version of myself saved time and space itself."
"Well, it was hard for me to believe that you were from the world of humans when we first met, so I can see why it'd be hard for you to believe I'm from the pokemon world." Floyd didn't seem quite so shocked or in disbelief as much as before as he looked like he was in deep thought.
"Pretty sure my dad got a vision about that world once, but just kind of dismissed it since he didn't believe it was real. Mind, that kind of validates the Giratinan faith, which is pretty creepy." He said, gulping down the water quickly.
"Almost everyone in my world sees you as being a great hero. In your dying wish, you asked me to share our story throughout the entire pokemon world. You're pretty much treated like a god there now, for better or worse." I said, and while Floyd didn't look like he believed it per se, the thought of it at least seemed to amuse him.
"Well, it must have been quite some story to tell then." He said as he switched off that awful sounding music. He smiled slightly and sat down on a large couch and invited me to sit next to him. "I'm sure you're sick of telling it to everyone, but if you can only tell it one last time, then I think it should be to me. After all, it was my story, right? And yours too, of course." I sat down next to him as he put an arm around my shoulders and smiled warmly at me in a way that reminded me of the best of times we had together. All the adventuring, the comradely, supporting each other through the darkest of times to ensure we became an unstoppable duo who not even the gods themselves could defy. I hugged him gently back, returning the casual, friendly smile back at him, and instead of someone who looked more shocked to see me, I saw someone who looked like they saw me as a good friend instead. I saw that Floyd I once knew within him, and it felt like the reunion had finally, truly happened.
"So, how about you start from the beginning, my old friend Serge."
THE END
((Did I just spend almost six years writing an expanded adaptation of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky?! Well, if you read it all from start to finish, I'll be doing an afterword, explaining some of the thought processes behind it, as well as my thoughts on The Unknown Continuum, what I liked about it, and what I think I could have done better. Also, about potential future plans in regards to writing.))
((If you read all of TUC and SFAM, then you just read a fanfiction that is longer than al three Lord of The Rings books combined based on a children's franchise! If you have done this, then I'll extend a very warm thank you to any and all of you who saw this through to the end. It's been a mighty journey for me, and even if it is a bit sad, I enjoyed writing this, it was good fun. Kind of left with a 'but now what?' Feeling than a sense of satisfaction however. Stay tuned for the afterword if you're interested! Also, do tell me what you thought I done well and what I didn't so well. If I do decide to make a follow up to The Unknown Continuum, I want it to be better, and your thoughts and opinions will be valuable to me.))