This chapter turned out quite a bit longer than I expected it to. Oh well, I had a great time writing it, so who cares about that?

Also, you may have noticed that this chapter came out way earlier than usual (which, by my standards, is saying something.) I'm going to try to stick to a schedule of weekly on Saturday afternoons from here on out. It'll be difficult, of course, because my willpower isn't the best.

Current music: Never Let Me Go - Judy Bridgewater

At first, the trek to Lazarus' home went pretty smoothly. The pair didn't run into any rogue hordes of Zubat, nor did either of them trip over a tree root. Other things could have gone wrong, too, but they fortunately didn't.

"So where are we?" Flash enquired after about the first mile. "What country are we in?"

Lazarus frowned. "I could tell you what continent we're on, though the name would likely mean nothing to you. Have you heard of Sinnoh?"

The Luxray shook his head vigorously. "I have not."

"See? That just proves my point" Lazarus replied. "The name doesn't mean anything to you."

"Whatever" Flash snapped. "I just want to get back to Earth, with all due respect. Maybe you could help me with that."

The Zoroark did not respond. It seemed as though he had nothing to say, which wasn't surprising. Just like Flash was a stranger to this world, Lazarus was completely oblivious to the realities of Earth.

The ground sloped gently upwards, and it took more energy to take each step forward. On Earth, when he was still President Fiddlesticks, he'd been in decent shape, especially considering his age. But now that he was a quadrupedal furred creature, Flash found that his legs ached far more quickly.

He knew better than to complain about this, of course. Lazarus was hell-bent on getting to his home, and Flash wasn't going to argue with him.

"So how old are you?" Flash asked eventually. There was no particular reason for this question; he just wanted a conversation topic to make things less awkward.

"Eighteen," the Zoroark replied.

"Wow, that's pretty young" Flash said, sizing up the gray-furred Pokémon and noticing that he looked quite youthful, somehow. No surprise - were Lazarus a human, he'd be about to enter the best years of his life.

"Indeed," Lazarus replied. "It surprises a lot of Pokémon I meet - not that I meet very many these days."

"I mean, that makes sense; you live in the forest. But…".

"But what?"

"Doesn't it make sense to be a bit more outgoing? You're quite young, unlike myself."

Once more, the Zoroark did not reply. Instead, he remained silent for the next few minutes, as did Flash. It was only after Lazarus shouted, "Look out!" that this silence ceased.

"Look out for what?" the Luxray responded, though in reality, he shouldn't have questioned Lazarus' order. For he was quite swiftly hit in the back with something hard - much like stone.

"Duck, fool!" a rather cocky voice bellowed. "Or better yet, respect my authority! Don't come in here!"

Flash fell to the ground, the wind having been knocked completely out of his body. He tried to take a deep breath and gain the strength necessary to get back up, but to no avail.

Instead he did the next best thing - he turned to see what was happening.

A sizable stone creature, consisting of a rough sphere with two thin (yet evidently very strong) arms extending from either side, was currently duking it out with Lazarus. The Zoroark swiped outward with his claws, a glint of fury in his eyes.

"I don't want you here, Lazarus!" the stone creature boomed. "How many times do I have to teach you this lesson, young man?"

"It doesn't matter!" the Zoroark yelled in between claw swipes. "I'm just trying to protect Flash, and he only needs protection because of you!"

Well, I guess it's an honor that Lazarus is protecting me. But he's no Secret Service officer.

"Get out of here, Lazarus!" the stone sphere bellowed. "Take your sorry ass to a different corner of the woods - we don't like having Zoroark around!"

"Well, I guess this'll make you happy," Lazarus replied with a wink.

And then, in a puff of smoke, the Zoroark vanished, to be replaced with the same grandiose brown creature who had saved Flash's life recently (which, of course, had been Lazarus himself.)

The battle didn't last long after that, but the next minute was one of the most frightening minutes of Flash's life, either as a Pokémon or as President. Just watching Lazarus and the stone sphere duke it out only a few meters away - knowing the fight could end up getting even closer to the Luxray - made Flash shiver.

Lazarus, in this form (what had he called it? Entei?), breathed a considerable amount of fire. Flash was forced to roll away, which he somehow managed to do without crushing his tail. Even so, he could still feel some of the heat against his fur.

Nonetheless, the Luxray still had a front-row seat to the carnage taking place right before him. Fortunately, the carnage was pretty one-sided; within a minute or two, the Zoroark/Entei had landed a finishing blow; the stone sphere collapsed to the ground, seemingly dead.

"You killed him!" Flash exclaimed.

After the Zoroark reappeared, Lazarus frowned. "I did not kill him; I merely knocked him unconscious. Also, he was trying to kill both of us; you do realize that, right?"

Flash supposed he did. After all, part of being President is making difficult decisions; holding such power isn't all fun and games. He nodded.

"Now, let's keep going," Lazarus continued. He took a step forward and held his arms out, wobbling a bit on his feet.

"What's wrong?" Flash blurted out as the Zoroark pitched forward, managing to wrap his arms around a nearby tree trunk.

"N…nothing" Lazarus groaned. "It's just…I may have overextended my power."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at it this way: Entei is a Legendary Pokémon, and it takes a lot more effort for me to switch to that form than a different one. It's just like how you don't use the heaviest weights all the time at the gym."

"Makes sense" Flash said, though he still didn't quite understand what made a Legendary Pokémon different from any other Pokémon.

"Exactly," the Zoroark replied. "But I have more energy than it seems. Let's just head to my house."

After about another mile, the pair came across a clearing with a bed of wildflowers on the ground, glowing a veritable rainbow of colors beneath the morning sun. There was also a pond just to the left of a nearby mound of grass, and the water was a brilliant shade of teal.

At the sight, Flash's red eyes expanded in an effort to take it all in.

"Here we are," Lazarus said with a slight grin. "This might not seem like much, but it's home."

"Are you kidding me?" the Luxray exclaimed. "This looks incredible!"

The Zoroark chuckled. "Well, you could see it that way. Unlike my front lawn, my life hasn't exactly been a bed of roses."

Flash paused. He didn't know how to respond to that.

Lazarus pointed to the mound. "Right in there is a cave. That's where I live now, ever since I left home last year."

"Can we check out the cave first?" Flash asked. He didn't like to admit it, but the heat of the day was more powerful than he'd expected it to be; even if they weren't in the tropics, his fur coat felt like a weighted blanket under the summer sun.

I don't want to sound like a weakling. But then, I've probably already looked like one in front of Flash, several times.

Lazarus nodded, wobbling a bit. "Yes, let's. We can get a look at your pendant, see what it says."

Flash's heart skipped a beat. He'd almost forgotten about the collar, and yet it suddenly felt so much heavier around his neck. But why did he care so much about the damn thing?

Anyway, Lazarus staggered across his "front lawn", taking care not to trample the wildflowers, and made his way to the edge of the small hill. What Flash hadn't noticed before was that there existed an awning over a hole, just barely wide enough to admit a human being of average physique.

"Bit of a tight squeeze, this is" the Zoroark grunted. "Normally I'd weave an illusion of a smaller Pokémon over myself, but I doubt I'd have the energy to do so without passing out. Do you think you can fit?"

"I'll do my best," Flash said sheepishly.

A Luxray was not quite as tall as Flash's human height as Andreas Fiddlesticks (6' even), but it was still a struggle. Flash was forced to crawl, scraping his belly painfully against the ground. Even then, Lazarus had to push him further into the cave.

Once he'd passed the claustrophobia-inducing tunnel, though, Flash found himself in easily the best-furnished cave he'd seen.

The main chamber was about the size of a room at a moderately upscale hotel. A rudimentary king bed, which looked as though it had been constructed using wood from the nearby forest, sat in the center of it.

There were two questions that sprung to the forefront of Flash's mind at that moment. One of them, which he was afraid to ask, was how the hell the lumber had gotten through such a narrow opening. The other one…

"What do you need such a massive bed for, Lazarus?" Flash enquired. "It's just you here; at least, it was just you."

Lazarus shrugged. "What can I say? It's good to be the king."

"Huh."

"Anyway, let's get down to business. Take your collar off - don't worry, it's not going to explode."

"I'm not sure I can. I don't have any hands."

"Then I'll do it," the Zoroark replied. "Tell me if I scrape you by accident."

Within seconds, Lazarus had freed the collar from around Flash's neck. The dark red leather loop now lay on the ground, its golden star pendant attached with its own metallic loop.

"The text is probably tiny, if it's there at all" Flash noted.

"That shouldn't be a problem for you," Lazarus responded confidently. "The eyes of a Pokémon are far keener than those of humans."

Right away, Flash realized that Lazarus was right. Of course, he had no reason not to trust the creature who'd protected him all morning. But he barely had to squint at the pendant in order to make out the words, even in the semidarkness of the cave.

"Wow" Flash mouthed, scanning the words so quickly he barely had time to process them. "You're right."

"Of course I am, what did you expect?" Lazarus said with a snort. But the Zoroark sat down next to Flash and picked up the collar.

"Well?" Lazarus continued when Flash didn't say anything.

"What?" the Luxray replied. "What do you want me to do?"

The Zoroark rolled his eyes. "Read what it says on the star, silly."

For such a small object, the pendant sure held a lot of text. It was so small that had Flash still been a human, he had no doubt that he wouldn't have been able to make out letters, let alone words. And yet being a Pokémon made a few things easier.

The text on the star pendant read the following:
Andreas Fiddlesticks: If you want to return to Earth, solve my maze! You must find the three scrolls scattered across Nexus in order to open the portal to return. And here are your clues: Forest, Heavens, and Crystal.

You have three days to collect the scrolls and open the portal. If dawn of the fourth day arrives without this having happened, you will remain on Nexus for the rest of your natural life. If you wish to return to your own world, you must finish the task in the allotted time.

Sincerely, G.

Flash frowned. "Who's G?"

Lazarus shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. There's probably a reason why they didn't give their full name, though."

"Yeah, I bet," the Luxray replied. "But no matter what that reason is, it's not a very good one. Nothing justifies playing such games with the President of the United States."

Lazarus stood back up and collapsed onto his king bed. The Zoroark then sighed as he looked up at the ceiling.

"For about the millionth time, it doesn't matter that you're a President in your own world. You are merely a guest here; at least, that's how the authorities would see it."

"I suppose" Flash said with a sigh, before his eyes turned to a different part of the note. "Three days?"

"That's what the note says, yes. What about three days?"

"That is…not a lot of time."

Lazarus shook his head. "You've got to find three scrolls in seventy-two hours. That's quite a tall order."

"And they could be anywhere" Flash added, feeling trace amounts of despair flood into his mind and body. Okay, maybe "trace amounts" is understating it.

"Well, yeah," Lazarus replied. "It's a big world out there. But if you want to get back to Earth, or whatever your own planet is called-".

"Earth is correct."

"- you'd best do what it says. It makes sense, doesn't it?"

"No. It doesn't make sense" Flash responded. "None of this has made sense ever since I woke up this morning in that clearing. I went from hero to zero, and what's more, I'm supposed to be the one with the answers. All I have are questions."

"Like what?"

"For one", the Luxray continued, "how do I know that the author of this note is genuine? They could just be messing with me, trying to make me paranoid. Hell, maybe the 'G' stands for the G in GOP, and the House Minority Leader is behind this. For all I know…".

"This isn't a hoax" Lazarus responded curtly. "I mean, you woke up in an entirely different world. That's if you're not just pulling my leg - but it would have to be a pretty elaborate joke given how fancy that pendant is."

Flash sighed. The vague dread within him wasn't new - in fact, he didn't know when it had begun. Maybe it had been when the transportation bill had stalled in the Senate, or when he'd come down with that mysterious illness, or (most plausibly) when he'd woken up here.

However, the dread he experienced now, as it rapidly sank in just how dire his circumstances were, had no precedent in his life. Even after experiencing several personal tragedies as a human, he'd always had family, or faith, or public service, to keep him grounded. Here, he possessed none of these things.

"Nexus to Flash…Nexus to Flash."

"Ah, yes" the Luxray responded, coming back to, well, Nexus. "Why would I joke about anything like this?"

"You wouldn't," Lazarus replied. "At least, I don't see any reason why you would. If you pretend to walk around awkwardly in the forest, you'll get some odd looks from the wild ones in there."

Flash snorted awkwardly. "Thanks for reminding me."

"No problem. Anyway, three days to find three scrolls. Do you think you know where to begin?"

Flash glanced back at the star-shaped badge. "I don't. It says that one finds the scrolls near Forest, Heavens, and Crystal; but what does that mean? How many forests are in this world?"

"A lot of them," the Zoroark said, confirming Flash's fear. "It would take many, many years to search each of them - perhaps three decades."

"Forget three decades," Flash replied morosely. "We don't even have three days."

"Indeed" responded Lazarus. "So we'll have to prioritize - which areas will we search, and which will we have to leave alone?"

Flash didn't say this aloud, but he felt as though the Zoroark were trivializing this whole thing. If they failed to find the three scrolls, Lazarus might have to live with some guilt, but that was about it. Flash, meanwhile, would be unable to return to Earth and pass the infrastructure bill he cared so deeply about.

"I don't know" the Luxray all but whined. "All I know is that if we can't get all of them, we're doomed. Or rather, I'm doomed."

"That's the spirit," Lazarus muttered sarcastically.

Flash rolled his eyes. "Could you be a little more optimistic, maybe?"

The Zoroark shrugged, standing up from his king bed. "I try to tell it like it is. But make no mistake: We've got a chance to find these. We have a chance to get you home. Hell, on one of my walks, I saw something out of the ordinary."

Flash's ears perked up at that suggestion. He had no confirmation that it truly meant something, but any lead he could get, however faint, would be well worth it.

"What was it?" the Luxray enquired frantically. "Please tell me!"

Lazarus turned to Flash, his teal eyes glinting with excitement. The Zoroark smiled, revealing a small row of extraordinarily sharp fangs.

"I'm fairly certain there was something shining atop the Forest Temple" Lazarus replied. "I didn't have a chance to see what it was, but there isn't much that shines in these woods besides the sun."

Flash's heart sank, albeit only slightly. That wasn't much help, but if it gave him even a glimmer of hope, he'd have to take it.

"What is this…Forest Temple you speak of?" the Luxray asked.

"It's a building deep in the woods. Some have called it a Mystery Dungeon, though I reject that label; Mystery Dungeons have a very specific definition, and the Forest Temple doesn't fit it."

"Mystery Dungeon?" Flash replied. "I'm pretty sure I saw my grandchildren play games like that."

Lazarus narrowed his eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you this? My. World. Is. Not. A. Game. To all of us Pokémon living here, it's very much real life."

"I know, and I'm not saying this world is fictional; I'm merely telling you that my grandchildren seem to think it is. If they only knew the truth."

"Wait, grandchildren? How old are you, Flash?"

Flash saw no reason not to tell the truth. "I know I seem pretty spry for my age, but I'm seventy-five. At least, that was my age in human years, on Earth. It might be different here."

"I can neither confirm nor deny that. Anyway, before we head to the Forest Temple, we should probably refuel our bodies a bit. Let's get some lunch."

"Where will we find food?" Flash asked, before realizing that this was a pretty stupid question. If there was anything he'd learned in his distant past as a Boy Scout, it was that the forest was a veritable restaurant if you knew what to look for (as well as what not to look for.)

"Well, there's a pond right next to the cave," Lazarus replied. "I've got some nets set up there. If you don't want seafood, or pond food, we could always look for more berries. But it'd be easier to pick whatever I've caught out of its net."

"Wait a minute" Flash spoke up.

"What is it?"

"Are the creatures in the pond, the ones you're catching…are they Pokémon too?"

"Yes," Lazarus confirmed.

"But then, you're eating your own species. Isn't that considered cannibalism?"

The Zoroark shook his head vigorously. "It's not cannibalism, it's a different species."

"But don't you feel somewhat guilty about that?" Flash said. "They're also living things, also Pokémon."

"Not really," Lazarus replied. "When it comes to the food chain, the strong do what they will, and the weak suffer what they must. It's good to be the king."

"Huh" Flash sighed.

"Flash, you can either eat a Magikarp or whatever else there is in the net today, go on a long trek to find more berries, or storm the Forest Temple hungry. The choice is yours."

"Makes sense," the Luxray replied blankly.

"So what will it be? Like I said, you have options; the pond food doesn't."

Is that supposed to make me feel better about it?

Nonetheless, Flash eventually sighed and nodded. "Let's go to the pond," he said. "Let's get whatever it is out of the net."

Of course, no matter what, he still had to squeeze through that tiny passage again. Needless to say, it wasn't any more comfortable the second time.

Once on the other end, though, Flash was able to breathe a sigh of relief. There was something satisfying about surviving such a tight fit, even if it only consisted of sucking in the fresh air of the forest.

Lazarus, who had gone through the passage ahead of the Luxray, pointed at the nearby body of water. "The net's at the end of that dock!"

It was then that Flash noticed the narrow wooden pier jutting out into the water. It was rather shabbily built, but sometimes looks could be deceiving; he'd learned that all too well in his dealings with politicians.

"How did that dock get here?" Flash asked.

Lazarus shrugged. "I built it" he said vaguely, and Flash knew not to press him any further. Sometimes the person you were asking just didn't want to talk, and it was important to respect that, a lesson he wished the media would learn.

Anyway, the two of them walked out onto the pier. Somehow, it managed to hold the weight of both Pokémon, as well as the edges of a net hanging over the water.

Ensnared in said net was an orange fish about two feet long, with a pair of whiskers and yellow fins. It was furiously struggling against the material, clearly trying to escape from certain death.

Lazarus licked his lips. "We'll be getting a lot of meat from this one!"

"Is that a…magic carpet?" Flash replied. "Because I think that's what you said."

Lazarus glanced curiously at the Luxray. "I said Magikarp, you silly Zangoose. But to answer the question, yes, it's a Magikarp. And I'll haul the little sucker in."

The Zoroark grabbed both ends of the net and bent over. He had to lean pretty far forward, to the point where most humans would have belly-flopped into the pond, but he managed not to tumble into the drink.

That is, until the Magikarp started tugging on the net. The Zoroark then leaned back, extending his muscular arms in order to create a counterbalance.

"Wow, this guy's really fighting!" Lazarus exclaimed through a series of pants. "Flash, can you grab the other side? Actually, you'd better not."

Why not? Aren't two sets of arms stronger than one?

After a minute or two of this, Lazarus sighed deeply. With one strong pull, the
Magikarp was released from the net and flopped onto the pier.

"It'll bounce around a bit, but it'll eventually lose strength. It'll have to accept its fate then."

Sure enough, Flash watched as the Magikarp flopped from side to side, its gills expanding more feebly each time it hit the ground. It was trying to suck in water, but it only inhaled air - air that, unlike for those accustomed to being on land, would kill it.

Lazarus smiled as the fishlike creature's bounces grew smaller and smaller. He looked up at Flash. "Make sure he doesn't get back into the pond! Otherwise we'll have to get berries!"

Fortunately for them, the Magikarp didn't struggle much longer. Eventually, once it hit the ground, it didn't bounce back up. Instead, it lay there like a deflated basketball as its gills were also deflated.

"There we go," Lazarus said. "He's dead."

Flash, on the other hand, struggled to process what he'd just witnessed. It was a Magikarp, another living being, out of whom life had escaped, much like the air escaping from a balloon.

"You killed it," the Luxray uttered blankly.

"I suppose I did," Lazarus said casually, as though bragging about how he'd gotten an A on an exam.

"But it's another living thing," Flash responded. "You just…".

The Zoroark frowned. "You don't fish or hunt in your world?"

"I have" the Luxray responded. "In my younger days, that is. I hunted some game in the Rockies."

"Well, what's the difference?" Lazarus argued, picking up the dead Magikarp. "If you were okay with sport hunting, why is a little subsistence fishing a bridge too far?"

Flash had an answer, though he couldn't quite articulate it. Something about the look of sheer terror on that Magikarp's eyes as it flopped around, desperate to return to its only source of oxygen, stuck with him. He wouldn't forget it anytime soon.

Lazarus had a point; people on Earth hunted and fished to their heart's content, and many of them hardly gave it a second thought. It was just something they had to do to feed their families in some cases, or just a pastime (which should have been better regulated, but that's neither here nor there.)

"I mean, we're also Pokémon" Flash said, repeating something he'd told Lazarus earlier. Those words might not win an award for originality, but they still mattered to him.

"That doesn't make it wrong," Lazarus responded. "If this Magikarp were a far more massive creature, like a Gyarados, it would be going after us."

Flash sighed. From what his grandkids always told him about the Pokémon franchise, it was a world of cute creatures and playful battles. It wasn't supposed to be such a (literal) dog-eat-dog world.

He considered bringing this up, but he knew what Lazarus' response would be. He could already picture the Zoroark yelling at him for seeing his world as a game, rather than a lived reality for however many creatures existed here. It just wouldn't be productive.

"Fine" was what Flash said outwardly. "I just don't know if I feel comfortable with it."

"You get used to it eventually," Lazarus replied. "It's just like I said: Some things are just necessary. Now, hurry back into the cave, I don't know how much longer I can hold this little guy."

After once more feeling his way through the very small opening, Flash was back in Lazarus' home. The Luxray looked around, once more getting a nice view of just how furnished this place was. It actually looked like a decent place to live.

"Follow me, please," Lazarus said.

Flash shadowed the Zoroark; the pair walked down a nearby corridor, which in and of itself was stunning. Not from an artistic standpoint, mind you, but merely because it existed at all. The Luxray's mouth hung agape in wonder.

At the end of the corridor, there existed what looked like a kitchen of sorts; the room contained an old-fashioned microwave oven, a somewhat rusty stove, and any number of pots and pans. In short, it very much seemed lived-in.

"Can you help gut this thing?" Lazarus asked Flash.

"I don't know," the Luxray responded. "I don't think I know how to use a knife in this form."

The Zoroark turned to face Flash. "Why do you think it'd be any different from using one as a human?"

"Well, I don't have arms; I'd have to use one of my forelegs. And that'll be a doozy, I can assure you."

"Fine," Lazarus replied with a sigh. "I'll prepare the Magikarp filets, but you should watch me closely. After all, the day may come when you have to do it yourself."

"I can cook," Flash said. "At least, I could cook; I flipped a lot of pork loins campaigning in Iowa before the caucuses."

"Just pay attention to what I'm doing," the Zoroark told Flash, placing the dead Magikarp into a pan and turning up the heat beneath it.

"How does it not become too smoky to breathe in here?" Flash blurted out. "I've always been taught that burning anything in such an enclosed space is a recipe for disaster."

"Trust me, this stove has its ways," Lazarus insisted. "And I've got a smoke alarm installed, though I've never needed it to go off."

"Good for you."

Not much steam was produced when the Magikarp was flipped onto its other side. Perhaps, as Lazarus said, the stove indeed "had its ways." Or maybe the Zoroark was just an exceptionally skilled cook, though only time would tell.

Oh God…am I really about to eat a fellow Pokémon?

"This thing weighs twenty-two pounds," Lazarus said. "Although Pokémon burn calories at a far higher rate than humans, this is still more than enough food for a day. And that's even after it cooks down, losing about thirty percent of its weight."

Is that supposed to make me feel better?

He'd never been a vegetarian, even on Earth; indeed, he'd always found those vegan activists annoying. They preached about how PETA was the best thing ever, and how consumption of meat was an atrocity, even while eating their coastal elite avocado toast for every meal.

Only now did Flash feel some sympathy towards these people. He'd rather have one flimsy avocado sandwich all day as opposed to the mountain of Magikarp meat he was about to feast on. But one look at Lazarus told Flash that the Zoroark wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Okay" the Luxray mouthed loudly. "Let's eat."

"Be patient", Lazarus responded with a chuckle. "It still needs a minute or so."

Sure enough, after about another minute, the Magikarp appeared to be well and truly cooked. Of course, Flash wasn't always the best judge of that, but Lazarus sure seemed happy with his work.

"Okay, now it's time," the Zoroark said. "I regret that I don't have any salt or pepper; seafood, or rather, pond food, always tastes better with a bit of seasoning. But I think you'll still enjoy it."

Lazarus sliced the fish into two roughly equal segments and put one on each plate. As the Zoroark did this, Flash gulped at the thought of actually stuffing his face with another living thing.

Please stop worrying about that, the Luxray instructed himself. It's just like Lazarus said: I didn't have any qualms about eating meat as a human, so what makes this any worse?

Lazarus produced two sets of utensils out of what looked like thin air. Of course, he couldn't have actually conjured them magically, but it all happened so fast. The Zoroark set the table perfectly, rivaling the elaborate table layout during the Luxray's Presidential visit to India.

"Bon appetit" the Zoroark said, licking his lips and clanking his fork and knife together.

Flash frowned. "You can speak French?"

"It's called Kalosian in this world, named after the region where most of its speakers live," Lazarus responded. "But if you call that French, I guess the answer is yes."

"Huh," the Luxray replied. He still had a lot of learning to do.

Lazarus looked up at the ceiling and clasped his claws together. "O Father Atop Mount Coronet, thank you for this meal, and may I have many more on this planet."

"So you guys pray to Arceus as well?" Flash enquired.

The Zoroark nodded. "Without Arceus, I wouldn't be where I am today. And we must never forget that we all came from Arceus, and to Him we shall all return one day. I'm eternally grateful for this meal."

"But with all due respect", Flash replied, "Arceus wasn't the one who gave you that meal. You did that, by setting up the net and hauling in the Magikarp. Give yourself some more credit."

"I give credit where it is due," Lazarus said. "Believe me, if I think I deserve credit, I'm the first one to say so."

The Luxray did not reply. Instead, he watched as the Zoroark used his knife to slice off a sizable segment of the fish, then used his fork to bring it to his mouth. Lazarus scarfed it down, loudly and abundantly.

So he cares enough about decorum to set the table, but he doesn't care about manners when it comes to eating quietly. Okay.

After swallowing his bite, Lazarus licked his lips. "Doesn't it taste epic?" he asked. Then, he frowned as he saw that Flash had yet to touch his food.

"Come on, Flash, buck up. You'll need strength for the trek to the Forest Temple."

If the scroll is atop the Forest Temple like Lazarus says it is, I need to have enough energy to get there. I must find the scroll if I am to get back to the White House. Therefore, if I want to escape this world, I need to eat this Magikarp filet.

With considerable trepidation, Flash gingerly cut a slice of fish out of the filet. He then brought it to his mouth slowly, and then allowed it to pass his lips.

Although no salt had been applied to the filet, there was a vague "salty" nature to the fish, much like there was for grilled tilapia. It certainly added a pleasant crunch to the Magikarp, though the Luxray still shivered as he took another bite.

"There you go! Big bites!" Lazarus cheered him on, like Flash was a small child being forced to eat his veggies.

Flash had to admit it: The filet was excellent. But the feeling in the Luxray's gut was much like how one feels when they're eating something they know is bad for them: A sort of guilt.

This is healthy. And if these calories help me get to the Forest Temple, if they help me escape the Pokémon world and get back to Earth, then it'll be well worth it.

Lazarus, for his part, didn't seem eager to make conversation. Instead, the Zoroark furiously stuffed his face with the Magikarp meat, licking his lips feverishly after each bite.

"You know, we don't have all day," Lazarus said eventually. By this time he had packed away what must have been several pounds of his filet, whereas Flash hadn't polished off nearly as much.

"I know," Flash told him. "We have three days. To find all the scrolls, I mean."

"Quite" Lazarus replied. "And the clock's ticking. Tell me when you can't eat any more, and I'll put the rest of it in the fridge."

"I've had about enough," the Luxray insisted. It wasn't just the discomfort he experienced as a result of devouring the Magikarp, mind you; he genuinely didn't think he'd be able to move quickly if he ate as much as Lazarus. Exercising on a full stomach is no fun.

"Very well, then" the Zoroark said. "I'll pack some of the items we need for the mission."

"Items?" Flash responded incredulously. "You never said anything about items before."

"Items" Lazarus repeated. "Just…you know, objects and things like that. We could do with a few Antidotes, though I'd rather nobody needed them. If the Zubat horde had gotten you more forcefully, I'd have needed to spray one on you. And I didn't have any on hand."

Flash shivered. Thank God that didn't happen.

"Yes" the Zoroark continued, as though reading Flash's mind. "We could use some Antidotes, some berries…say, do you know how to use any attacks?"

"Attacks?" Flash enquired, picturing any number of violent scenes that had taken place on Earth.

Lazarus nodded. "Pokémon have a lot of moves they can use. In your case, since you're a Luxray, you should be able to use…Tackle, Leer, Thunder Shock, Spark…you know. It all depends on your level."

"Level?"

The Zoroark sighed, evidently exasperated. "Please tell me you know what levels are. Every Pokémon has one - what's yours?"

Flash just stood stock-still in the corridor between the kitchen and bedroom. How could he tell Lazarus that the Zoroark's words sounded foreign, as though they were in a different language? Hell, in a way, they were a different language!

Lazarus grunted. "Well, in that case, you'd better be a fast learner. Time waits for no 'mon."

When I name-dropped India in this chapter, I was referring to an episode of The Amazing Race (one of my favorite TV shows) where teams had to set a table properly at a palace in Hyderabad. I pictured Lazarus using that level of detail when writing the scene in question.

I would like to once more thank everyone for reading this far, and stay safe out there.

P.S. Find me on Discord at SnowLabrador#7822 if you want to chat. Please, say hello! I don't bite.