Cold. It was so very cold. The air was frigid and chilled her to the very core. That… wasn't right. It hadn't been cold at all earlier! Chaplin shivered as the wind pierced right through her fur.
Oh gods, what just happened?
Chaplin kept her eyes shut for a while. She wasn't sure that she even wanted to open them. Eventually, though, she knew she would have to. There was no better time than now.
Cautiously, she began to open one eye, and almost immediately snapped both fully open.
She was looking directly at the stars. That was odd, but it didn't bother her nearly as much as the bright green at the edge of her vision.
Chaplin stood, legs stiff from the cold. The first thing she noticed was the feeling of whatever she was standing on. It was… also cold. Smooth. She looked down and yelped loudly.
There was nothing to be standing on. The gods-damned stars were right beneath her. And yet… she wasn't falling. No sign of any immediate danger. What…?
In shock, she looked around. Her surrounding environment… it was all space and stars. Stars in every direction, so tantalizingly close. In reality, though, Chaplin knew they were farther than she could ever imagine. The inky blackness of the sky, just like that dream.
What is this place?
That same bright green she had seen only a few moments ago: a thick line of it wrapped around a rather large area of the starry abyss, forming a circle within the darkness.
Chaplin was about to put one paw over the edge, just to see if there was perhaps anything there, when she heard a loud noise behind her. She jumped in fright and whipped around, then suddenly seized up, as though paralyzed. But that was impossible: everyone knew there was no way to paralyze an Electric type!
Right in front of her was an Abra, but something about this one was different. They had spots of lighter skin all around their body. How curious.
Chaplin noticed the pink energy coming off of the Abra's hands and realized that they must have used some kind of Psychic-type move to be keeping her in place like this.
The Abra simply stayed where they were for a few seconds, before they spoke up: "You were taking too long. Come on."
The Abra teleported, taking Chaplin with him. She had never been teleported anywhere before, and it was an odd experience. The world seemed to squish and stretch before her very eyes, then it all blinked out like the tail flame of a Charmander caught in a storm. For a few seconds, she seemed to be gliding across space… similar to the stories of those Mutated Raichu that stood on their own tails to get around.
Everything came back in a pink flash. Chaplin found herself in another part of the circle. As soon as she landed, her legs wobbled, and she nearly collapsed. That Abra must have released his Psychic hold on her after the teleportation. He appeared soon after, and floated over to another pokemon: a Lurantis.
She waited for a few seconds before walking over to where they were.
"Um… hello," Chaplin began uneasily, "Can either of you tell me where I am?"
The Abra ignored her, while the Lurantis turned to her to speak. "Hello! You're in a very special place, that's really all I can say right now. It's good to have you here."
Another guy? Okay…
"What does that mean? Am I-- Are we dead?"
The Lurantis blinked before shaking his head. "No, no, we're not dead--"
The Abra interrupted with a scoff and: "Hmph. I wish."
Chaplin stared at the Abra.
What? That doesn't make any sense--
There was a high ringing noise that made Chaplin flinch. Neither of the other pokemon seemed to be affected by it. Then:
Don't.
A voice in Chaplin's head that wasn't hers. It was the Abra's.
Her eyes widened, and she knew she must have looked like an idiot, just standing there like that, but this was all a lot to take in.
"How did…?" She questioned before realizing: Duh, he's a Psychic type. Of course he can do that. Use your brain.
Use your brain, indeed.
The Lurantis had watched all of this happen, and simply looked at Chaplin with vague worry.
"Er, I do apologize for the behavior of my partner over here," He began, with a glance at the Abra, "he's not very used to being nice." A pause. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
The Abra crossed his arms. "No. I do not see myself as being rude in any way."
Chaplin interrupted before the Lurantis could answer. "Sorry to bother, but do either of you have names? You haven't told me yet, and I just think it would be nice to know…"
The Lurantis gasped. "Oh, I'm sorry, how very inconsiderate of me! I'm Landon."
The Abra's ear twitched. "Aster."
"Nice to meet you both. I'm Chaplin." She smiled slightly as she introduced herself. As she got to thinking about everything, she realized something. "Uh… Landon, was it? You never did tell me where we are."
Landon hesitated before responding, "I would tell you, but I'm not entirely sure if our boss will let us."
"Your boss?" She tilted her head.
We both work for someone. Was that not obvious? Hmm, I would think that for someone who was called here, you would be smarter.
Chaplin recoiled away from Aster. "Uh- no, it really wasn't. You can't just assume I know everything right away." She bared her fangs a bit, and took a step towards him. "I mean, come on, I'm not a gods-damned brainiac or something like that, and if that's not the case, then clearly you must think you're so high and mighty--"
Landon glanced between the two of them. "Chaplin, please, calm down."
She ignored Landon, and took another step towards Aster, who simply remained where he was, looking down upon her. "You call me stupid, and we're gonna have a problem. I--"
Her voice cut off abruptly as a glowing, transparent hand suddenly appeared and wrapped around her throat.
What the hell?!
She looked around, and saw that Aster's own hand was glowing that same pink color as it had been earlier.
Oh, gods damn you.
Landon recoiled in horror. "Aster! What are you--"
"Shut up." Aster snarled in response.
The hand lifted her off the ground and violently slammed her back down, so that she was now wriggling underneath it.
Aster slowly walked over to her. He leaned down and hissed into her ear, "You know nothing about me. For your own sake, know when to stop talking."
The giant hand squeezed her throat tighter for a few seconds, before it tossed her like a pebble across a pond.
It then faded out of existence.
Landon rushed over to her, and knelt. "Oh dear, are you alright? I- I'm so sorry he did that, I had no idea he would--"
Chaplin got to her paws and shook her head. "Don't apologize. That guy, he seems… off."
Landon stood and nodded. "...He is, but I assure you, he's not usually like this. Now, if you'll excuse me." He marched back over to Aster. "I'm sorry to use such crude language, but what the hell was that for?!" He said angrily.
Aster shrugged. "I needed to teach her a lesson."
"Well, I'm sure you could have done it in a much more peaceful way!"
"No. There was no other way." His voice wavered slightly as he spoke.
Chaplin just watched them argue.
No point in going over, not if that's going to happen again.
Suddenly, she felt a presence somewhere, as though someone was watching her. It wasn't Aster; no, it couldn't have been.
Then who…?
"Woah, heyyyy. What happened here?"
Chaplin turned and saw the newcomer. It was--
Oh my gods.
It was Palkia.
Palkia, the god of space himself? He's here? Why?!
Chaplin wasn't sure whether she should grovel, scream, or cry. She was in the presence of a literal god, and one of the Twelve, at that.
Palkia looked around the circle slowly. "Hmm. Yeah, looks like a fight." He sighed deeply. "C'mon, guys, I can't leave for ten minutes without hell breaking loose?" It was only then he noticed Chaplin there. "Oh. Hey, 'sup. I, uh, I'll get to you right now. Lemme just…" He glared at Aster. "I thought you were better than that, dude. Say sorry."
Aster huffed and turned away. "I don't owe any apologies to anyone."
Landon bowed to Palkia. "I'll apologize on his behalf, Palkia. It won't happen again."
"Right. It better not." He turned to Chaplin. "Sorry about Aster's behavior, kid. He's kinda… on edge around new people."
She just glanced over at Aster, then turned her attention back to Palkia. "Y-Yeah, I kinda thought that was the case." She shuffled her paws around for a moment. "Er… I'm sorry, but why am I here, exactly?"
Palkia paused. "Huh? Oh! Didn't Landon or Aster already tell you?"
"...Nope."
He threw his hands up in exasperation. "Oh my-- you guys!! Do I have to do everything around here? Jeez, I know I'm a god and all, but c'mon. Ugh." He put a hand to his head. "Listen, kid. The only reason you're here-- okay, actually there's a few reasons, but whatever-- uh, anyways, the only reason you're here is because, long story short, I may or may not need help with trying to stop this world from spiraling into complete chaos.
"Look, I got my own problems with trying to stop rogue gods from slaughtering all you mortals anyways, so that's kind of a lot on my plate, if you get what I'm saying. Thankfully, I'm able to kick everyone's asses and discourage them from even trying, because clearly there hasn't been any mass extinction yet. Now, like I just said, this takes up a lot of my time, so I can't deal with mortal problems. That's why I need guys like Landon and Aster to help out with, y'know, smaller things.
"Okay, sorry, I kinda… rambled there, but my point is: I think you might be a good choice to be the third member of this group. You in?"
Chaplin froze.
He's asking me if I want to be a part of this?
She looked over at Landon and Aster. At least Landon seemed nice, but Aster… she wasn't sure if she could work with someone who nearly choked her out.
Well, maybe he'll get better.
Then, this whole situation… 'stopping the world from spiraling into complete chaos,' as Palkia had said.
That sounds like it would be really difficult to deal with. But then again, I don't think this is something many pokemon would ever get the chance to be a part of. I can go on adventures and see the world! I could fight bad guys... and maybe make a bunch of new friends!
She mulled over everything before she looked to Palkia. "Alright, I'll join."