"Whoah. He really is a big deal, I think."

"Uh, yeah! He's almost godlike in a weird way. Even wild pokémon know about him at this point. He's like a walking Max Repel! ... Now it's your turn! It better be good, given your super powers and stuff!"

"Uh, uh, right." The saiyan crosses his arms, thinking as hard as he can. Well, he was drawing comparisons between Red and his dad. Might as well just start with him!

"Okay, so, back home my dad is a really big deal! Nobody knows who he is, though. He doesn't have a secret identity, he's just... a quiet kind of guy? I guess he's also not much of a superhero. He's a good person, really! It's just he's more... er, motivated by finding good fights than saving the world. He still saves the world though."

"So my dad was from another planet, right? An alien! It sure was weird when we found that out. I mean, we did have tails – what? It was cut off! I'm not lying! Fine, believe whatever you want. It'll grow back..."

"Dad was... oh, his name? Goku! It sounds a little familiar? I... don't know what to tell you. Dad's the only Goku I've ever known. Anyways, he was raised in the woods. Yeah, he was born in space, but his parents sent him away really young in a space ship. My... my uncle said it was to invade Earth, but I kind of like to think that they were saving him. Yeah, like the planet was doomed and they wanted him to get out... It's not that farfetched, the planet was blown up."

"By what? Uh... spoilers? ... Huh. I can... kind of see why that would be kind of scary to a normal person."

"Dad was found in the middle of the forest and raised by this old martial arts master. I'm named after him! I never got to meet Grandpa Gohan. He died way before I was born. But I'm proud to be named after such cool guy."

"Anyways back home there was this old legend... these things called the Dragon Balls. They were mystical artifacts said to grant any one wish, once you brought them all together. Seven spheres: each one with a different number of stars on them. Once you bring them together you chant the right chant and Shenron, the god of dragons comes out to grant whatever you want! The problem is every time you use them the Dragon Balls scatter across the planet."

"So my dad was living on his own in the forest. Grandpa Gohan had died a few years earlier, but dad was able to take care of himself just fine. ... Yeah, I guess he might've had powers back then? I don't think he could do anything really weird but he was probably super strong compared to a normal person. Like able to wrestle dinosaurs to the ground. ... Dinosaurs are extinct? Since when? ... Oh."

"Dad was eventually found by a girl named Bulma! She had found one of the Dragon Balls and was trying to find the rest. She, uh, enlisted him after a brief skirmish and they went off to find the rest."

"... Yeah, it wasn't actually that hard for them. Bulma already had like two or three, and dad was really strong. Some bad guys showed up and were either like, really easily beat up, or ended up joining the team. I think by the end they had met Oolong, Yamaha, and Puar!"

"Oolong was a shape-shifting pig. ... Tepig? No, just a pig. Yes, the animal! He went to some sort of shape-shifting magic school. ... No, I can't do it. Puar was similar, but he was a cat... and, uh, he could fly? Yeah."

"Yamcha was the real big addition. Heh, yeah, he probably isn't much compared to... well, me right now, but back then he was useful! He a bandit who fended for himself in the desert and made a living beating people up and selling their Capsules."

"Yeah, he was just a human. ... Yes, he could punch a boulder to pieces."

"I guess our world is just... more dangerous to live in? Even with all the Pokémon here there's still some level of... civility, even out in the wild. My world is filled with actual evil monsters and magic and stuff. I think people had to be able to get tougher to survive."

"Anyways things like the Dragon Ball were obscure, but not like totally unknown. There was this guy named Pilaf. I think he was some sort of mob boss? He and his cronies tricked dad and his friends into a trap. One even dad couldn't break out of! Yeah, for just a bit."

"Sooo... earlier in their long walk to find the Dragon Balls they went through this place called Fry Pan Mountain. It was called that because it and the castle that sat on top of it were constantly on fire. Mhm. Yep. One of the Dragon Balls was in there."

"They were stopped by the Ox-King! ... Yes, I think he might be strong enough to take on a Pokémon one-on-one? He had this axe and waved it around, and shouted "OI WHO THE HECK ARE YOU GUYS". It's kind of hard for me to seem him acting that way, though! He's always been so nice to me! ... Oh, uh, Ox-King's my gramps! On mom's side."

"Long story short is that apparently Ox-King and the old Grandpa Gohan had actually known each other a long time ago! The trained under a legendary martial arts master... the Turtle Hermit, Roshi! ... I... I dunno. Maybe he could beat me? I know I'm way stronger than him, but I've seen him practicing sometimes... he's good. He's real good. Might have a trick or two up his sleeves."

"So Ox-King and my dad make a deal – if he can get in touch with their old master and see if there's a way to put out the fire, he'll let them on their way and hand over the Dragon Ball that was in his castle."

"Dad found him earlier in the adventure, actually – he saved his pet turtle, so they were on good terms. As a reward, Roshi gave him... the Kinto'un! ... It's like, a magic cloud? Good people are able to ride it around. He used it to go and find him again. Roshi, I think he asked for something in return, but he did end up following him back and helping out."

"How? He blew up the whole mountain! It doesn't seem too impressive now – yeah, I was super awed when I first heard it too! ... Yes, I could probably... No, I promise I won't."

"Hm... do you know about that Aura stuff? Okay, yeah, it makes sense that she would talk about it with you – you're her sister, after all. ... Back home, we all have ki: it's kind of similar, actually, but not really the same? I'm not sure what makes them different, but from what I've been told I know that in practice, they can be almost the same."

"Cynthia told me that the different 'Types' of pokémon are actually based on frequencies of aura signatures. The seven or eighteen Types are just the most common, right? Yeah. It's sort of similar back home, but a lot more downplayed. You can tell if someone's got 'pure' or 'dark and BAD' ki but there's no real type matchups or anything like them. It all just comes down to how strong you can get and the techniques you develop."

"And Roshi taught dad his first Ki-based technique! ... What're they like? I guess... you know how pokémon have physical and special Moves? Most martial arts techniques would just be Physical, but Roshi taught dad his first Special move, eh? A laser blast out of his hands, the 'Kamehameha'!"

"Huh, that actually means something in your old language...? 'Turtle destruction wave'... that makes a surprising amount of sense, for a technique invented by the Turtle Hermit."

"Anyways, Goku used the Kamehameha to punch a hole in the wall of the place they were trapped in – uh, back at the Pilaf guy's place. I did tell that out of order, didn't I? Oh well. He punched a hole in the wall big enough for Oolong and Puar to get out. They were able to thwart Pilaf's evil plans just in time! Pilaf wanted to use the Dragon Balls to take over the planet, and Oolong... get this... foiled him by shouting his wish to the dragon louder at the last second!"

"I don't know what he wished for. Mom stopped dad before he could tell me. It was probably inappropriate – Oolong is like that."

"He was... uh, around nine years old."

"Mhm."

"Since he was pretty new at it, the hole he blasted was only big enough for Oolong and Puar to get through. Even though dad was really short back then, he couldn't fit through the tiny whole in the wall. So Pilaf had no trouble punishing them for ruining his evil plans. He, like, put them in an even bigger room? But instead of stone walls they were solid steel, and a meter thick! And - and, the ceiling was shatterproof glass."

"Huh? Have you ever seen that sort of glass? ... Huh. Must be another... big technology difference, I guess."

"The point of it was that Pilaf's evil lair was in the middle of the Diablo Desert – and the midday sun would cook them alive in there! Dad's Kamehameha couldn't even make a dent in the walls. And, uh, nobody else there could do anything. All their Capsules were stolen..."

"Uh, Capsules? The ones like Poké Balls but for anything? Yeah, they were used for a lot."

"You wanna know how they got out of that? ... No, they didn't teleport. Want another guess...? Okay. He turned into a giant monkey."

"It's the truth! When a saiyan (with a tail) looks up at the full moon, they turn into an Oozaru! The roof was glass, so he could see the night sky... and the moon! He then went kind of crazy. Apparently, after he wrecked Pilaf's place the others had to chop off his tail... I've actually had my tail chopped off, it doesn't hurt as much as you'd think. Not nearly as much as squeezing it does."

"... After that, they split up for a while. Most of them went to the city in the west, while dad left to train with the old hermit. For how long...? Er, about... a year? The first time, at least. They trained together a while."

"A lot happened during his time with Roshi, but the MOST IMPORTANT, and most cool to you probably, was the reign of Demon King Piccolo. Yeah, that's right, a demon. He was sealed away in an electric rice cooker three hundred years ago, when Roshi was still training under his own master, Mutaito. Guess who freed him? ... Yeah, that loser Pilaf."

"The attacks started just after the Strongest Under the Heavens martial arts tournament. ... No, dad didn't win. He was the runner up – a thee-eyed guy named Tenshinhan beat him by a hair. ... Uh, what happened during the tournament? That's not really..."

"Tournaments are really important here, huh? I guess I can tell that too."

"So – wait, no the demons sound cooler? ... Make up your mind. Please?"

...

"Okay, so, it was after the final match. Then, the guy who beat dad, had just disowned his old master for being a big jerk and a murderer or something and joined the good-guys group, along with his tiny friend Chiatzou. As the group was leaving the tournament grounds, he realized - dad, that is, realized that he had forgotten his stuff back at the arena! Or, well, the backstage part of it where the fighters hung out. His best friend Krillin offered to go back and get them."

"Krillin was someone he met during his training with Roshi! He started out kind of a jerk, but dad was... I dunno, just too dang nice or something. It's kind of funny how often that works – yeah, yeah, some bad guys have to be beaten up until they die. But a weird amount of seemingly totally-rotten guys can be redeemed. Krillin wasn't a villain but he was kind of mean at first. But their shared... basically torture under the Turtle Hermit caused a strong bond to form! Until by this tournament – the second one for them, they were thick as thieves."

"..."

"They all heard the scream from the arena. Krillin was on the floor. His neck was broken. The only other person there was the announcer for the tournament, who had also been beaten up pretty badly. He said... he said that a monster had come in and killed Krillin, and taken the records of all the previous contestants."

"King Piccolo hadn't even revealed himself, and he already killed someone. Not just anyone, but a member of dad's main group! He was furious. Like, Goku had fought bad guys before. But things hadn't ever really gotten to a point like this, you know? Either they were too dumb or silly – Pilaf was definitely too silly – or they weren't strong enough to actually do anything to Goku or the people he was with through him."

"It might have been the first time he really felt angry, you know? Even when Grandpa Gohan died it was in the middle of the night. Krillin was murdered, less than a hundred feet from him, in cold blood."

"He didn't even wait for a second, Goku just left. He swiped Bulma's radar, took his staff, hopped on his Kinto'un and flew out of there in pursuit."

"Piccolo had three goals in this. One; he wanted all the Dragon Balls to grant his wish. He was already super strong at the time, but he wanted his youth back, and his full power. Two; he wanted to kill every martial artist in the world... The army? I, uh, why...? ... Wow. You think they could've been useful?"

"..."

"Damn, I think I'm finally starting to grasp the differences in... uh, scale between our and 'normal' conflicts. ... Yeah, the military's never been an issue for us. We usually just blow them off."

"Mh. Well, once of the reasons was that he didn't want to take any chances on being sealed away again. He was worried that someone might know - or be able to figure out, the technique that Master Mutaito used to defeat him the first time. And thirdly, with those two out of the way, he wanted to use his army of monsters to take over the world."

"Dad managed to catch up with the monster that killed Krillin pretty quickly. It was some sort of green devil - and it was monstrously strong. He didn't stand a chance! The monster only needed a few good hits to weaken him, and then it knocked him off Kinto'un and into the ground before flying away. It was pretty lucky for him when he woke up – oh, the fall knocked him out cold. Well, he happened to land in the Sacred Land of Korin! It was a place where he had trained before, and protected from bad guys, so everyone there knew him and helped him out."

"Well, there was this one guy. His name was Yajirobe, and he was freakishly strong. I know you might say that about a lot of the people I know, but Yajirobe was something else. ... No, he wasn't especially strong. There's just no explanation for it! He was just a normal human who also happened to be able to throw hands with demons. Anyways he got really angry with dad for eating his fish dinner, and they had a short fight before being interrupted by another monster."

"Yajirobe killed it. He sliced it in two with his samurai sword. I know, right?! Dad didn't even get a chance to fight it! Why did he show up...? Ah, Yajirobe happened to have one of the Dragon Balls on him. My dad asked for him to hand it off, but he said no – I think he wanted to get in more fights because of it?"

"It didn't really matter because the original monster showed up right afterwards. I think Piccolo was telepathic, and found out that one of his minions was beaten. The devil was pretty surprised to see that my dad was still alive!"

"The monster made a big mistake right afterwards – provoking my dad; that is, he mocked Krillin's death and said he would do the same to him. See, one of the areas saiyans can draw their strength is from raw anger. It doesn't sound like it would work; with a lot of fighters, going into a blind rage would just make you more reckless, right? But saiyans in their base instincts are already super fighters so the negative effects are negligible, while the increase in savage attack is more than worth it. My dad beat the everloving crapbaskets out of him and then vaporized the monster with a Kamehameha."

"So anyways, that's two down, right? And Piccolo saw both of them with his mind-powers. He showed up fast to avenge his demons."

"When dad explained what was happening to Yajirobe, he left. Yeah, that's right, he just left after tossing Goku the Dragon Ball he had. Apparently he had heard the name Piccolo in a legend, and was terrified once he realized exactly what was going to show up! He stuck around to watch but he was like, hiding behind a tree or something."

"Dad was too angry to notice Yajirobe's sudden shift in demeanor, though. He was still gunning for the guy who had gotten his best friend killed. This was kind of a mistake. Remember how I said that rage doesn't impair a saiyan's real fighting ability that much? It can still ruin their judgement. Dad was way in over his head."

"The fight started out fairly even, but really quickly took a bad turn. Piccolo punched him right in the neck and almost broke it! He then picked him up by his neck and punched him really hard, in the face. But dad wasn't going to go out without a brutal fight. Guess what he did in that position? ... No, he couldn't reach. Piccolo was taller than a full-grown man and dad was still shorter than we are."

"Give up? He threw his head forwards and bit the demon king's thumb! Almost took it right off, it must've been amazing! It hurt Piccolo enough to throw dad across the battlefield before he realized what he was doing."

"The fight went on a little but longer, but dad still wasn't a match for Piccolo. It ended with Piccolo almost frying him with a ki wave – and after dad fell, checking for a heartbeat for good measure. Yeah, most bad guys don't bother doing that!"

"His only mistake... wasn't even really a mistake. He just didn't count on dad's anatomy being so much sturdier than a normal human's; how could he have known? Dad's heart started back up a few minutes later, and Yajirobe dragged him to safety. All the way to Korin Tower! And up it, too, carrying my wounded dad on his back. He really was a trooper, even if he was pretty reluctant about the whole thing. I think he was bribed with the promise of food."

"Korin – the master who had trained dad when he was there before – was asked to help train him more, but he said he couldn't. ... No, he wasn't being mean, he just didn't know anything else to teach him! He was already too strong or something. He did have one trick up his sleeve; the Ultra Divine Water."

"So the Ultra Divine Water was said to unlock one's true potential if you drank it. However, if one had no potential or had already reached it, the water would just kill them. Heck, even if they just weren't strong enough already, it could still kill them! It was like poison; everyone who had ever drank it died. Korin didn't even know if it was legit or not. Either way, dad drank the water provided all in one gulp... and then proceeded to almost die for the next six hours. Piccolo? He was busy, uh, taking over the world."

"Well, even though it hurt he survived and got a big powerboost. ... No, we actually don't know. It seems obvious that the water really was divine, right? Well... we later learned that saiyans always get a boost in strength after taking serious injuries or coming near death. Since the only person to ever drink it and survive/get stronger was a saiyan, maybe it really was just poison."

"Literally right after he was done with it, he got on Kinto'un and sped off to meet Piccolo. When he reached the Capital – I told you Piccolo was taking over the world, right? – Tenshinhan was already there. He was almost beaten, actually. Not even by Piccolo, by another one of his goons! Dad was barely able to save him in time. But once he got there, everything was fine! For Tenshinhan, at least."

"Dad blew the demon's brains out in one kick. ... It is brutal, isn't it. Killing isn't good, I know, but the demons were pure evil. They definitely couldn't be redeemed – sometimes it really is the only option."

"Well, Piccolo was aggravated and lunged for him. Dad was stronger, but so was Piccolo! He had used the Dragon Balls to regain his youth! Or did he actually wish for eternal youth? I don't know, this was before I was born. Either way, he was tough."

"The fight was fairly even before it started going downhill – but this time, in dad's favor! Piccolo grew more and more unhinged as dad blocked his attacks and hit back. The battle remained incredibly intense though! Piccolo brought out the entirety of his power to try for victory, but even that wasn't enough for anything decisive. He got in a good hit on dad's leg and broke it, though – but dad avoided the coup de grâce and clocked him in the jaw! That really ticked Piccolo off. He poured all his power into an ultimate attack! The entire area around them was leveled!"

"Yeah, and dad survived. Tenshinhan had enough left in him to get him out of the way before he was blown to bits!"

"And then Piccolo took Tenshinhan and used him as a hostage... I know, that really was dirty! But I guess he was evil. Piccolo then uses the opportunity to shatter dad's left arm. And his other leg. The evil king then drops Tenshinhan and prepares to finish my dad off. He swoops upwards before plunging towards dad! But he made one, fatal mistake! Dad still had one arm! He used his ki to blast off the ground and met Piccolo head on! He poured all his strength into one fist – one final blow to decided the fate of the world! Piccolo backed down at the last second and tried to block – and dad plowed right through his torso!"

"And then the great demon king exploded, and the world was saved! For then. There were a lot more baddies to go."

Demiwaif: the Fantasy Pokémon

Class: Manifestation

National Pokédex Number: Unconfirmed

Ability: Serene Grace

Egg Group: Undiscovered

Type: Fairy or Psychic, suspected

Height: 2 m

Weight: 122 kg

Demiwaif is said to have been worshipped in ancient times as a goddess of beauty, especially in the regions of Fochun and its neighbors. Other legends state that it is the precursor to all Fairy-type Pokémon, though it doesn't explain other Fairy-type legendaries. It is said to have been captured by a trainer, but this is unconfirmed – Fochun is a rather remote place, not to mention an entirely different nation than us. What we do know is that if it exists, it very closely resembles a Gardevoir.