At firs there was darkness. An endless expanse of darkest of blues, then a small figure appeared, floating up from the dark depths. As the darkness receded, it made way for lighter tones, stray shimmers of light breaching through the water's surface.

The figure stirred as the light shone in her face. Akari woke up.

===Akari POV===

'Wait… what was I doing?' I came to the sensation of floating 'I must be dreaming…'

I almost drift off again.

'No, I was out… taking a walk through the park and then what? When did I fall asleep?!'

Then a light shines through my eyelids and I open them. With bleary eyes, I look around, at first everything seems like a big blurry mess but when my sight clears, I see an endless blue expanse.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHHH!" – I screamed, or tried to, the water muffled the sound, only gurgling and bubbles came out.

I struggled and uselessly flailed in the water, cursed be the fact that I can't swim! I quickly tired and was about to accept that I'm going to drown due to mysterious circumstances, not even knowing how I got here, when I realized something – I wasn't suffocating. My oxygen must have been gone by now but my lungs weren't burning. Experimentally I breathed in…and was fine?

'Okay… Another point for this all to be a dream. I will soon wake up, probably at home and get ready for the day… I'm waking up any minute now!'

"This is no dream, child of land." – a deep male voice said, it seemingly coming from all around me.

My eyes widened as I looked around to see who was talking. At first, nothing, but then I noticed light in the distance, quickly approaching and getting larger. Soon, I was faced with an absolute behemoth of a creature. It looked like nothing I've ever seen. It was bigger than even the life-size model blue whale hanging from the Unova National Aquarium, its front legs looked like hooves, its head was strange elongated shape, no mouth and wispy mane, if it was mane and not something else, its back was a long tail with flippers and fins flowing in a nonexistent current, and most noticeably, around its middle where the horse-like and fish-like parts met was an intricate golden ring that reminded me of the sun itself. This while being radiated light and power.

"There's no reason to fear, child of land." – it spoke again.

"I-I… Y-You are talking? You can speak?! What in the world is happening?!" – I was shocked.

"Yes, thy is not mistaken. I am indeed speaking to thee, child. I am the one known as Arceus – the creator of land and sea."

My eyes, as impossible as it might be, widened even more – the creator, ancient legends that we've read in school so many times before, the being that supposedly shaped the world out of nothingness.

"I AM SPEAKING TO GOD?!" – I shouted, shocked beyond belief, still trying to wrap my mind around it.

Either I am dreaming some crazy stuff-

"Thy does not dream, child. I have brought you here, in the space between, for a reason. Thy has a greater purpose, thy has been chosen as a Champion."

The being, no, Arceus moved closer and light gathered in front of me, it condensed and suddenly there was a strange flute in front of me. It drifted closer and I took it in my arms. It seemed to thrum with power.

"I gift thy the Azure flute, to help with thy quest."

"Quest? What? W-Wait!"

The moment Arceus said that a vortex appeared behind me and started pulling me in.

"Go forth, Champion! The fate of the world depends on it."

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" – I was sucked in and then fell.

===end POV===

"Arf-arf-arrr!"

"Awooo! Arf!"

"Mrowwwww!"

"W-wait! D-Don't run off!" – prof. Laventon panted as he ran after his runaway 'assistants'.

The two puppies and cat he had brought to Hisui had suddenly darted off into the wilderness, leaving the poor man alone and confused. He had ran off after them, not wanting any of them to fall prey to any of Hisui's many predators – wolves, bears, eagles, giant weasels, those were a few of the many that inhabited the land.

He stopped to catch his breath, bracing against a small tree as he looked forward. His adorable companions had led him to the nearby beach.

'Why though? Kitty hates water, Roru only tolerates it, the only one that likes it is Oshu. Why did all tree come here then?'

Suddenly a light fell from the sky and he froze – he had been there when the rift in the sky had first opened and the storm that had raged because of it, he feared the light might be a burning rock or something falling from the sky, heading for him. Then, it harmlessly flew over and gently landed on the beach, the three animals rushing towards it with even more gusto. He sighed in resignation and jogged after them.

When he arrived, he saw a girl in strange clothes sitting in the sand, the 3 animals circling her and either meowing or barking at her, the dogs even trying to get a kiss or two on her face.

"Ahahah! Come on, stop it! Enough with the kisses!" – she said but was still laughing.

"Oh, thank goodness! It's not something dangerous!" – he muttered.

Her attention turned to him and their eyes met.

"Who are you?" – she asked.

"Oh, excuse me for the rudeness! You can call me professor Laventon. Those three little rascals ran off so suddenly that I was worried something bad might happen to them, thankfully it seems they came here to meet you. Almost as if something was calling them…" he rambled off "Ah! Sorry, I ramble off sometimes. Anyways, nice to meet you! What's your name, girl from the sky?" – he gave her a hand and helped her get up.

"My name is Akari and girl from the sky?" – she quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Why, yes! You fell here from the sky, from THAT rift to be specific." – he pointed.

Akari looked up at the swirling hole above Mt. Coronet, wondering how she hadn't noticed it.

"It seems to be getting late, it's better we don't stay out here for too long with all the dangerous wildlife here in Hisui. If you follow me, we can get to Jubilife village in no time!"

Akari looked at the strange man for a moment and followed him. She only took a few steps forward when she noticed something shimmering in the sand. She went closer and saw her phone and the strange flute Arceus had given her. She pocketed them and quickly jogged after the professor. He was a fast walker.

"So, miss Akari. Were are you from? What brought a young lady such as yourself to hisui?" – Laventon inquired.

'A cryptic giant God or are all gods that big? I can't say that…' – she mused.

"I am from Unova and, to be honest, I don't know how I got here or even where this Hisui is." – she admitted, flushing a bit.

"Ah, it's alright. No matter the circumstances leading to your… let's say unusual arrival, the important thing is that you are fine."

"Yeah… So, prof Laventon?"

"Yes?"

"What are you exactly a professor of? And what's with the pets?" – she pointed at the cat and puppies following them.

"Oh, no, they are not pets, they are my assistants! I had them brought here for science! I plan to train them to help the Galaxy team with their expeditions, help navigate the wilderness and even have them help rescue people!" he scratched the back of his head a bit nervously "Well, it was supposed to be 3 dogs but somehow it got mixed up and kitty here came. I didn't have the heart to send her away, since she gets along with the others, so I kept her."

'Awww! That's so sweet!' – Akari thought.

"And I am here to study the wildlife of Hisui!" he declared with a lot of enthusiasm "I plan to study the creatures of this newly-discovered land and make an encyclopedia documenting them. People may say this land is too dangerous, some say it might even be cursed with all the dangers and mysteries it holds but I think that just means there are creatures still undiscovered here! Just think about it, the local white-striped salmon for example…" – and he started talking about differences he observed between animals from other regions and similar species living in Hisui.

Soon a tall wooden wall came into view, two men with spears guarding the door leading in.

"Ah, here we are, Jubilife village!" – Laventon declared.

Akari looked on and dread started pooling in her gut, the feeling grew even more when they entered. The houses, streets, shops, people – everything looked like it came right out of a history book. Villagers stopped to look at her, some even pointing and whispering to one-another. She gulped nervously and followed the professor closely.

"Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here?!" – the voice of a boy called from behind.

Akari and the professor turned around to see who it was. She saw a boy around her age, he looked eerily similar to her classmate Lucas, but wearing old-time clothes and funny-looking straw sandals. It just couldn't be her friend – the fashionable boy would 'Dig a hole and hide in for all eternity if I ever put sandals and socks together. The atrocity! *shudder*'. Who was he then, to look just like him?

"Ah, young Rei! How are you doing today?" – Laventon waved.

"I'm doing well, professor. BUT! What are YOU doing? Bringing a stranger in the village just like that, especially one so… odd looking. What if she's up to no good?! She could be a pirate OR one of those outlaws that started robbing merchants recently!" – he pointed an accusatory finger at her.

"Hey! Rude much?!"

"Now, now. No need to fight, you two." Laventon stepped between the two "Miss Akari, this is my personal assistant, Rei. Rei this is Akari, I met her today at Prelude beach. She helped me get my darlings home safely." – he smiled.

Rei gave a tired sigh.

"Professor, you need to be more careful and not let them run so rampant. What if a bear had attacked you while wandering off? Remember just last week we lost a whole vessel to the sea. One of the surviving men is still recovering in the medical wing!"

"W-well, I couldn't just leave a young girl alone. As you said, it is dangerous and night is almost upon us. Also, I was just going to captain Cylene to inform her of the circumstance!"

"Sigh~ Fine, but I am coming too." – Rei said, eyeing Akari.

"Alright then! Let's go! We're burning daylight and I don't want to keep the captain after hours; she's overworking so much as is."

Laventon then led the way into the town hall, the biggest building in Jubilife. She quietly followed the man through the hall while trying to ignore Rei's attempts to burn a hole through her with a glare.

Just before they headed up the stairs, she noticed a man in similar clothes to Rei's but he has barefoot, his hair was messy and stubble had sprouted on his face. He sat in a chair, staring at the bare wall in front of him, a thin blanket tossed over his shoulders and muttering something quietly. Rei put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her up the stairs.

"Don't stare. The poor man has enough problems as is." – she whispered to her as they climbed to the second floor.

After a bit more walking down the hall, they stopped in front of a big double door.

"Here we are! Now, before we enter, I have a few things to say, young Akari." Laventon raised a finger up, as if he was leading a lecture in some school "First, we enter and you introduce yourself WHEN the captain asks you. Second, it would be better for me to talk first. Third, don't worry too much. Captain Cylene may be intimidating but she's actually very-"

*Creaaaaak~*

Everyone froze and slowly looked at the slightly opened door. From there Cylene's scowling face could be clearly seen.

"Ah, Lanventon. I have been looking for you, professor, especially since your latest report about the Mirelands was supposed to be on my desk… this afternoon." – if possible, she scowled even more.

The three of them gulped nervously, even though the kids weren't the subject of her ire, and Laventon broke out in cold sweat.