Washed Ashore: Pokemon are Real
Miserable Dreck

Her current lot in life was a miserable dreck.

Or at least, what Felicity felt was a miserable dreck of a life.

After all, the teacher not only took away the story she was writing, but she also made her participate in boring activities with the other girls. Added to this, she found herself frustrated with how much Amy talked about Pokémon. Of course, it wasn't as if she disliked the topic in general – when of course she was online reading stories, seeing that adults were also into Pokémon, yet she didn't like Amy's childish prattle.

"She's so childish."

Of course, she found her teacher rather childish as well, bringing up the fact she was looking forward to certain things even though she didn't remember telling her teacher such private things. The woman also removed Natalie's backpack from her cabin, meaning she couldn't use one of the other writing pads which were in the backpack, irritating her greatly as she was left with nothing to do but the teacher's very boring activities and wandering the deck at night.

That's when she saw the light from an aircraft up above, yet they weren't rescued from the miserable dreck she'd been living the last few days. She found herself frustrated, bored out of her mind. She tried using her phone, yet got no signal from the device, which wasn't surprising due to the fact she started losing signal long before she got onto the miserable boat in the first place.

A knock came at her door, yet she didn't want to talk to the teacher. "Go away."

"It's me, Amy."

Felicity let out a sigh while looking at the wall of her bunk, knowing Amy was someone she wanted to talk to even less than she wanted to talk to their teacher. "I said go away."

"I'm supposed to let you know that we're being rescued. The boat is being pulled in to shore. Well, I think I'm supposed to let you know."

"Go away. It's a lie." Yet, the boat was definitely being pulled into shore. "Why then am I not happy?" The answer came quickly. "What if they're right? What if they're not..." Her mind drifted to her story, swallowing, remembering how she'd started a story about her going on a Pokémon journey, finding exotic Pokémon, and getting to date the dream guy. She took a deep breath, feeling actually living the adventure was really different, nor was she sure she liked it.

She repeated the conversation when Heather showed up, wishing Amy hadn't gotten the other girl involved. She tried pulling a pillow over her head, nor did she appreciate the implication she was, in fact, the childish one. That was when she opened the door, hoping to prove she wasn't childish at all, yet they kept driving home the fact they didn't' feel she was as mature as she thought she was despite the fact they were definitely younger than her.

Then, somehow the direction of the conversation changed, a what-if regarding the situation. The what-if involved them not being in an alternative world but getting their names in the paper. She remembered talking with some of her older friends about how getting one's name in the paper would likely lead to someone in Hollywood noticing, yet she also found herself wondering if there was any truth to this.

She still held out her hopes regarding the fact they would return to a life where ultimately, they would return home, which may have been why she so easily bought into the whole thing. Yet, even she knew despite the fact she didn't consider herself very bright what Heather likely figured out from Amy's words, "they're the reason they're out looking for us."

In the gut, she knew it meant they weren't found by people who should have been looking for them. She ignored it, stepping out onto the deck when she saw it.

There was a woman with hair which appeared to have a green undertone pulled into a ponytail, but she was dressed in a blue uniform with a short skirt and a cap which was flat at the top; the clothes seemed almost military, yet familiar – similar to the clothing the officers in the Pokémon series wore. The fact she looked like an Officer Jenny – that wasn't the most interesting thing.

No, it was something else that drew her attention.

The woman was accompanied by a canine-like creature with vivid red fur with black stripes. The red fur was accentuated with creamy fur on the stomach. The creature's tail was also adorned by this white fur, which was fluffier there and on the chest area, but the tail curled around on itself while remaining erect. The same fluffy whiteness topped the creature's head.

Felicity swallowed, recognizing the creature as something which definitely looked like a Growlithe. She knew the Pokémon was, in fact, a fire type, which – the idea of any creature having the power over fire was slightly frightening, but even more so was the fact they were in what appeared to be her worst nightmare – an alternative world from their own with no recourse in getting home, let alone having contact with everything she knew.

She tried blocking it out, putting on a fake smile as they headed up a path, through the dark. The path was lit by the stars, yet she found herself wishing anybody might say something which would tell her that what she saw in front of her wasn't real. Nobody said anything, beyond a few words, whispered between her teacher and the woman who looked like she could be an officer Jenny.

She didn't like walking, her feet hurting a great deal as she headed up the path, her anxiety growing steadily as they approached a place – a rather large building at the top of the hill. Every so often, she heard the sound of a creature which might, in fact, be a Pokémon, which helped build up her fears that they were no longer in their world, yet she heard nothing regarding their families.

The officer arrived at the door and knocked, the lights shining through the windows indicating someone was up despite the fact it was rather late at night. The woman who looked like Officer Jenny knocked on the door and an old man answered. "I brought them here as you wanted, Professor Oak."