Chapter 1: Second Chance

The rain pelted the windshield of Kel's car. The sun was already disappearing behind the horizon as another long day was coming to an end. Once again he came back from his day-to-day duties. And like every evening, he was exhausted. It was all just too much. Why did he have to do all this shit day in and day out? Actually, he knew the answer, but for a long time he didn't want to accept it. The windshield wipers were in full swing, but even so it was difficult for him to really see the road. The storm had been raging across the region since the afternoon and Kel's hopes that it would be gone by the evening had obviously been in vain. But very seldom did things go the way Kel wanted them to. All he wanted now was to go to his modest home, have a meager meal, maybe watch a video and then go to sleep, just to be ready for the exact same routine the next day. Deep down, he didn't want to go back to his apartment, as it was nothing to him but a sign of constant repetition. Often times it just felt as if the young man wasn't in control of his life himself, but as if an author were writing the story of his life. Lost in gloomy thoughts, Kel drove on through the small towns that lay between him and his home village. He had lived there alone for three years now. He hated everything about the village and the apartment, but he didn't have the money to move. The weather was really just the tip of the iceberg. But on this evening too, life was once again not to go the way Kel wanted it to go. He drove on through the towns, on and on, deeper and deeper in his own thoughts, his view of the road increasingly restricted. Until what had to happen happened. A loud bang rang through the place and startled the unsuspecting residents in their homes. Another vehicle had collided with Kel. His field of vision seemed to be getting darker than before. The panic cries became quieter and quieter, their meaning more and more incomprehensible. There was only one thing that Kel heard before they fell silent. "Hit-and-run" was the word. But what exactly this meant for him at that moment did not matter.

A completely different place

"Listen, I've already explained it to you! You can't join the league if you don't even have a single team partner!" "Can't I just register and team up with someone else wanting to join?" "It's not our job to find a team partner for you, is it? If you are not able to do it yourself, it's your fault!" This was not the first time that such a dialogue could be heard from an office within a magnificent building in a magnificent city. Angry, a snow-white fox stepped out of the door of the room. "And don't come back here with your concerns until you make friends!" It was like this almost every week. The same thing... every week. Yet both sides knew it would repeat again and again unless something significant changed. "They just tell me the same thing every week! Why don't they understand that some people simply have a harder time with other Pokémon?"

The elegant vixen stepped out of the large building, the central organization office of the cyclebattle league of the continent Berelo. Here in Kira Town it was just one of many massive structures and yet all the others seemed so irrelevant. Every Pokémon that wanted to achive something in life wanted to join the league and become a great fighter. So does Aurora. Aurora was a snow-white Vulpix who had been trying for months to somehow become part of the league, but failed each time because no one wanted to team up with her. However, she did not allow herself to be demotivated, at least she did not allow herself to show it. She had always wanted to be the greatest fighter on the continent and after that in the whole world! And if only she could join the league ... they'd all see what she was made of! But for this day, she had to give it up again. There was no point in harassing Tyrantrum and Aurorus any further. The two rock Pokemon had been highly recognized fighters for years, but most of all they were the founders of the leauge here in Kira Town. That's why Aurora couldn't become a fighter if these two wouldn't let her. She would just take a walk for the day and then return to her modest house on the outskirts. Kira Town was a place that every inhabitant of Berelos aspired to be living in. A metropolis that truly offers opportunities for everyone.

Nature in the region was also an artifact of the past, which Aurora was really happy to enjoy, if she found the time to do so. Large lakes, flowing rivers, deep forests, massive mountains and the vast ocean were all just minutes away on foot. As a habit, Aurora always went to a large forest lake after her quarrels with Tyrantrum and Aurorus, which the first residents of Kira Town had called the "Polar Sea". Why, that was a mystery to Aurora, but it wasn't one that she had to answer too urgently. As long as she could visit the lake at any time to recover from the stresses and strains of everyday life, it didn't matter where it got its name from. What mattered was the tranquility of nature in this place of beauty. It only took minutes until she was back in her favorite spot between some bushes, tucked away at the water's edge. The air was fresh, the silence refreshing. For a brief moment, Aurora considered choking off her inner heat by taking a quick swim in the cold water. This was the one reason Aurora could imagine why the lake got its characteristic name: Because of the always low water temperature. For an Ice Pokemon like her, this had never been a problem. On this day, too, she quickly decided to briefly dive into the crystal clear depths. Most of the time this helped so that she could get other thoughts. At some point she would be able to join the league, she was sure of that.

But there were more than enough other things to worry about anyway. As if fate itself wanted to bring her this message, the sky flashed out of nowhere. The bright light seemed to penetrate everything and for a moment Aurora couldn't see the world around her. When her vision slowly returned, she decided to leave the water as quickly as possible. While the likelihood of another Plothole in the near future was very unlikely, it was unnecessary to take any chances. Aurora herself had of course immediately recognized the origin of the shrill light. Often they have occurred since many years and no one has been able to stop them in any way. Like distortions in reality, they affected everyone's life.

Now again in a slightly better mood, Aurora got out of the water, the drops on her fur immediately freezing and shattering as they fell out of the fur. While she sat down again, she was already wondering what had happened this time during the lightning bolt. It was then that she heard strange noises in the bushes. Was anyone else here? It had happened before that other Pokémon were also visiting the lake, but it really wasn't the norm. And Aurora had never been really pleased either. "Is anyone there?". For a moment there were no more noises, but something quickly rang out again. It wasn't a straightforward answer, however. It sounded more like a painful groan. Reluctantly at first, the Vulpix finally decided to investigate the noises. What if it was an injured Pokemon? Maybe it was here because of the Plothole?

It was only a matter of minutes before Aurora found a Pokemon not far from her favorite spot, among the leaves on the ground. It didn't look hurt physically, but extremely confused and exhausted. "What ... are you?" This was not a very polite first question, Aurora thought. "A Vulpix? What else? What are you doing here?" "A… what? I've heard that before somewhere." After two statements from the other Pokemon, Aurora's entire interest in a dialogue had already disappeared. "A Vulpix? The Pokemon? The one with two variants? Did you hit your head somehow?" Memories shot back into Growlithe's memory. "Vulpix? I ... that doesn't make sense at all! I guess I'm dreaming." For a moment Aurora thought about simply leaving, but somewhere inside she found pity for the confused being. "What doesn't make sense about that?" "Well, at least where I'm from, Pokemon aren't real." Where he came from? Aurora's interest was reignited.

"What do you mean? Where do you come from?" "Well ... I'm a human and that's where I come from. Where humans live." "A… human? What is that supposed to be?" It was clear that neither party could figure out what the other was talking about. "You better just forget about it." Finally the Growlithe stood up, trembling. "Is there a guild or something somewhere around here?" "Not on this continent ... there is the battle league, I imagine that Aurorus and Tyrantrum are connected to a guild somewhere." "And where is that?" At first Aurora simply wanted to show Growlithe the direction and leave him alone, but she made decided against it, when she saw his unsteady steps.

"Follow me. Maybe they can help you there." So Aurora made her way to the headquarters in Kira Town one more time. This time, however, for once, with a different goal than the other times. For once she wasn't there for her own interests. "Who even are you?" "I already told you. A human." "Whatever that is, but I got that already. Don't you have any names there or something?" "Oh ... yes, we have. My name is Kel." Kel? A very strange name, but Aurora decided not to judge the customs of the strange beings that these "humans" probably were. "Got it. I'm Aurora. Is there anything you can tell me about these human-guys or their world? I've never heard of that before." The ex-human hesitated for a moment before an answer came that Aurora hadn't expected.

"I don't remember anything, except for two or three unimportant things that wouldn't help you." "For real? You forgot it all? Are you sure that the Plothole didn't just confuse you and that you are a normal Pokemon?" "What exactly should have confused me? You keep using words that mean nothing to me." It was a little frustrating for Aurora. And yet she had to realize that her explanations to the Growlithe would have to be much more extensive than what she was used to. "I'll explain it later, okay? Let's go to the organizations office first. But what are you going to do there anyway? I honestly doubt that Aurorus or Tyrantrum know anything about your species or even your world, otherwise I would have heard of it at some point. "

Once again, Kel hesitated to answer. "I'm not going there to return anyway. I just want to be able to understand what happened. And after that... whatever. Somehow I'll probably use the second chance that fate gave me." "A second chance? What do you need that for? Didn't you like your life in this other world?" When Aurora heard what her counterpart had to say, she was shocked that he didn't hesitate this time. "I hated this miserable existence and it hated me too! I was happy when it ended! I left my world because I died. And I enjoyed it. And now that I've gone to another world... I just hope that my life won't be hell again!" Died ... Aurora had already experienced many things since the Plotholes ruled the world. But she had never met a Pokemon like this before. Could anything good come out of accompanying this Pokemon at all? To be honest, Aurora hardly believed it ...

Short authors note:

As I said how the chapters would all be around 2000 words long, I forgot how translating shortened that stuff. So this is the lenght you can expect!