"Azelf? Lieutenant Sanders wants to see you," Bradford said, stepping out of the ranger office's room.

"What exactly does this 'Sanders' want?"

"He wishes to speak to you about... recent developments." Upon seeing my confused look he continued, "About Pokemon."

"Alright. Lead me to him."

The room was a small one, with very little furnishing it except two chairs and a desk. A man, dressed in the same military uniform I had seen thus far, but much older, sat in one of the chairs.

"Lieutenant Sanders?" I asked.

"You must be Azelf. I heard about the Pokemon battle you had with the Tranquill. First: why did you accept the battle?"

"Sergeant Bradford spoke to me after unsuccessfully recruiting a Scyther for aid in scouting and combat work to protect the town. I personally suggested obtaining fairly docile, easy-to-train Pokemon like Tranquill or Furret to help in that regard."

"I see." He leaned back in his chair. "Azelf, if you had suggested these Pokemon to Bradford specifically for the purposes of assisting Keswick, why did you not suggest a Pokemon with healing abilities like Blissey or Audino?"

"I can easy heal myself if injured, Lieutenant Sanders, "

"Can you still heal yourself when in a fainted state?"

"I... no, Lieutenant."

"Then why not suggest a healing Pokemon first? It would have been a much more pragmatic course of action."

I only responded with staring at the ground.

"I wanted to know why, Azelf."

"Bradford told me that he was having issues scouting out the national park. He wanted to know where dangerous Pokemon were over a large area. My psychic abilities do help with that, but that has a range limit." I took a breath as I collected my thoughts. "He wanted a Pokemon that could either be fast on the ground or fly for extended periods of time, so it would be able to return the most info on Pokemon movements."

"So it was for the interests of the town and soldiers." Sanders replied. "Once Garcia recovers fully, we'll have to see how well she flies. We'll also need some healing Pokemon in case you or Garcia become injured. The scouting Pokemon can be done later." He frowned. "The nearest town named Windermere is having some issues right now with wild Pokemon."

"What problems?"

"A few days ago, a swarm of hostile Beedrill came through that town I just mentioned. Had to be hundreds of them. Luckily, the attack was repelled by the combined efforts of stationed soldiers, armed law enforcement and a few civilians who took up weapons. The result was about five civilians dead and twice that wounded."

"That's... horrible..."

"Yes. Unfortunately, they had no Pokemon that could foster dialogue between humans and Pokemon, like here. That was when you and Bradford were busy recruiting Pokemon. Now, onto more serious matters. Specifically, that battle you had." He shook his head. "Trust Bradford's judgement. He is a good man, and I am certain he would hate to see you injured. I am disappointed in you for convincing him to actually bring you into battle."

"I-"

"Yes, I know. 'My powers enabled me to win that fight.' and all that. Frankly, you were quite reckless in your course of action." He shook his head. "I expected better of a Legendary Pokemon. On one hand, you gave us another Pokemon that can potentially help us. Yet, you manipulated Sergeant Bradford, endangering him, his squad and even yourself in the process."

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant."

"There is nothing to be sorry about, Azelf. Your decisions have been made already. While Sergeant Bradford told me you did extremely well in that battle, there were so many ways it could have gone wrong. We do not take unnecessary risks in the military - and the battle was a host of risks. If you or Bradford had been seriously injured, this conversation would be different."

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"We're going to London in a few days. There's a Pokemon called Palkia looking for you there. I doubt they'll wait much longer. Currently they're at Parliament in talks with the Prime Minster."

"While I am a legendary myself, I haven't interacted with Palkia much on my homeworld. I'm sorry to say I don't have much info on them except for their powers. Neither of them would interfere with human actions on my old homeworld unless some great disturbance occurred. In this case, what has happened to your world over the past weeks definitely counts as a great disturbance if what I have learned is anything to go by."

"Thank you for the info. I'll forward that to Command right away." He stood up and smiled. "I can see that I made the right choice sending Bradford to establish diplomatic relations with you. You are also a great battler, and I respect that. Take care of Bradford for me. He's a father to those who serve him. You are dismissed."

"I have a question to ask you, Lieutenant."

"What is it?"

"How do you know so much about Pokemon? I heard a news broadcast describing 'designed' Pokemon by an entity named Nintendo."

"Oh. About that." He stood up and shouted. "Bradford! I need you in here right now."

Bradford came into the room. "What is it, Lieutenant?"

Sanders groaned. "I knew this would happen sooner or later. Some of these Pokemon would realize our world has never heard of Pokemon - except as fiction." He sighed. "Yes, Azelf, on our world a company known as Nintendo created Pokemon. They were a wildly successful children's franchise with millions of fans around the world." He pointed to Bradford. "Get a copy of a boxed Pokemon game. There's a electronics store a block down the road."

Bradford hurried to obey.

Moments later, Bradford came back. "Here's a copy and receipt showing proof of purchase. I managed to find one in a bargain bin."

"Good." Sanders handed me the box. The front showed a picture of Palkia roaring. On the back were paragraphs of text and a prominent picture of the three Sinnoh starters.

"So, it's true then. Pokemon really did exist only as fiction in your world until now."

"Yes," Sanders replied. "We had no idea how you would react if you found out yourself - if you ever found out."

"I have personally interacted with Palkia and Dialga. The concept of Pokemon being mere fiction in some far-away world? Palkia would definitely consider it a possibility, along with Dialga, To me and my... siblings, that possibility is no less strange."

"You seemed to have taken it well. However, I do not believe the rest of the Pokemon here would accept that notion." The two men looked at each other. "There were other Legendaries, other Pokemon teleported to our world. I do not know how they would react upon learning our world only saw them as fiction. We will need to find some way to explain to them what is going on, in a way they understand."

"We could have Palkia give a statement."

"I think the better idea would have someone chosen to give a speech on behalf of Palkia," Bradford said. He radiated uncertainty as he spoke.

"There's no point in rushing into this, Sergeant." Sanders replied. "Bradford, Azelf. You two are dismissed. I'll speak to Command about this and get some plans sorted."

"I'm sure Sanders means well."

Bradford nodded. "He's the type of man who puts his mission first, and will do whatever it takes to get it fulfilled. I'll be busy making preparations for the meeting with Palkia in a few days."

I looked at the patrol boat out on the lake. "What about the other soldiers here?"

"Oh, they'll still be guarding the town. Lt. Sanders has his confidence that they will be able to repel almost any Pokemon short of a Legendary. Look what happened to Windermere. Sure, they were attacked. But the amount of weapons they had allowed them to hold out."

"I see. Listen, Bradford. I'm going back to the lake, alright? There's something I need to think about."

"Goodbye, Azelf."

Back at the lake, I hovered near the surface and dipped my hand into it. It was clean but definitely not as clean as Lake Valor. In the distance, the silhouette of the Custos was seen. The guards there watched me cautiously.

Bradford, Sanders and the people of Keswick had trusted me to help protect their town. I was the guardian of Lake Valor back in my homeworld, which was rather far from any civilization. Now, my lake bordered an entire town - a town where people worked, lived and played, trying their best to adapt to their changed world.

What did it matter that my kind was once only known as fiction? The lake was the town's property. I was also working as an advisor to the soldiers - and being a resident of the lake, meant that it was my duty to these humans to help.

Immediately afterward, I flew off in the direction of the town.