Wade followed Professor Juniper to the edge of the sound proof room they were in. "Just make sure you don't tell anybody about your… predicament. It's not everyday we get an alien in our midst. Especially not an alien from as bizzare of a world as you come from… I seriously don't understand how you and your world could run without Pokemon…" the Professor trailed off as Wade chuckled.

"Oh, my world runs off old, rich guys making up random rules, taxes, and whatever the fuck. Then those old guys put poor bastards like me a job to… make them more money," Wade explained. The professor giggled at that. "You know, your world might not be much different from this one then, this one also runs off of old, rich guys. We just get pokemon to make living a bit more bearable…" She and Wade had a good laugh at that.

The two stepped out and walked down the hall, that led into the lobby, and Wade followed the professor down another hall. Houndour, who was still in Wade's arms, began to squirm and Wade could see why. White, Cheren, and Bianca were seated around a dining table. On the table was takeout boxes full of foods Wade didn't recognize, and some foods that he could very easily recognize like pizza, fried… chicken(at least he thought it was chicken and not some poor Torchic).

"Hey professor!" Bianca waved as she wiped her cheek with a napkin. "And hey…" she paused, expecting for Wade to say his name. Was his name hard to remember? He couldn't recall and person in his world named Cheren or Juniper, so it probably made sense that 'Wade' wasn't a common name… Wade decided to push that off to the side, he had a few weeks before he had to walk for miles with these kids, so he might as well get to know them.

"I'm Wade, I don't think I got properly introduced to any of you… since Trip was hellbent on trying to get me to battle with him," Wade sat down at the table, keeping Houndour in his lap. "Should I put Houndour on the floor?" He asked. Professor Juniper shook her head, so he kept the hellhound in his lap. "So, why are you guys going out on the Gym Challenge?" Wade asked, hpping to get some small talk.

"Well, I want to be the champion of the Unova region. Not just that, I want to be the strongest trainer in the world… and in order to prove my worth, I've got to beat every gym leader, elite four member, and Alder, the champion. And… after that, I really don't know," Cheren answered. This kid, much like in the games, seemed to just want to get stronger… but surely that will change in time if the games were something he could go off of.

"Well, I'm not really even going to be doing the Gym Challenge. Sure, I'll collect badges, but that's really it. I want to just be away from home for once… my dad's a bit over protective and it's a miracle that he'd even agreed to this to begin with," Bianca groaned. "He's been sheltering me my whole life, but he won't just give me the chance to grow up," she complained. Wade nodded, before holding a piece of chicken for Houndour, who was pulling strips of meat from his trainer's hand. Wade was just happy that the canine was making sure that he wasn't biting his trainer's fingers.

"I… I don't know why I want to go on the Gym Challenge. It seems really fun, but I don't think anything too big will come from it. Meeting new pokemon is always a plus, and we get to help people when we see them in trouble!" White sounded really cheerful. "So Gym Challengers help people out?" Wade asked. White nodded. "Of course! Gym Challengers are usually known a step up from your average guy with a pokemon, so it's expected that we help out," White explained.

"Ah, say Cheren, that could be a reason why you should get stronger. Instead of just gettin' strong for the sake of getting strong… you could get strong to help those in need, or to protect whoever you love…" Wade tried not to cringe at that last bit. It was a bit cliche to say, to 'defend the people you love,' but it was a legitimate reason to be a strong trainer in this world. And Wade wasn't sure of what advice he could, or should be giving, as he had no clue as to what the Gym Challenge was like beyond the games.

"Well… that would be a pretty good reason to get strong. I like it. I'll get stronger, be the best champion I can be, and protect the region from threats!" Cheren declared. 'Great. I just gave this kid another goal, a nice big one that's hard to achieve. Good job, Wade' Wade thought as he just politely smiled.

"So, where did you and Houndour come from? At most, you told us that you aren't much of a battler, and then trump Trip who's said that he's traveled through several regions and participated in several league conferences," Cheren asked. Wade rubbed a crumb off of Houndour's lips, who now seemed satisfied with the amount of food he's eaten. Wade then took a slice of pizza and set it on his plate.

"Well, me and Houndour are from a very, very distant region. It's called Wyoming… and my home town wasn't the most accepting of my friendship with a Houndour. You see, where I come from, Houndour and Houndoom attacks are pretty common. Heck, a kid I went to trainer school got mauled by one during break… so when my parents and town found out that I was playing fetch with Houndour… they weren't happy about it. So here me and Houndour are, looking for a way to find our place in the world…" Wade then whispered into Houndour's ear, "Just roll with this for now." Wade made a mental note to keep this story in mind, and to tell it whenever somebody asks where he's from.

"So… you and Houndour are a couple of outcasts," Cheren simplified.

"Yeah, pretty much. Houndour, you just ate four chicken legs, two breasts, and a sausage. How are you not full?" Wade asked as Houndour stopped. His pupils widened, darted towards the pizza on Wade's plate, and to Wade himself. Houndour was surprisingly cute. "You wanna try it because I'm eating it, don't ya?" Wade asked. "You can't fool me with puppy eyes either, I had a dog in the past and she wanted whatever I had, even if it was a salad," he grinned when Houndour dropped the puppy eyes now that he'd been caught.

"Alright bud, you can have a bite," Wade tore a piece of the pizza off and held it out for Houndour, who happily swallowed it whole. Cheren, White, and Bianca just blankly stared at the duo as they had their little exchange.

"You had a dog?" White asked. "Yup, in Wyoming, it's more common to find a dog than a pokemon in everybody's household. So, my family had a dog. Apparently dogs and Houndour act very similar… if the whole 'I want what you're eating' thing isn't just a universal pokemon thing," Wade shrugged. "I'm not super sure, since I never really had to look that deep into pokemon beyond Houndour. We had zero reason to, since Wyoming doesn't even have any ongoing Gym Challenges," Wade explained. This made the three children express their surprises and disbeliefs of such a practice until they saw the serious look on Wade's face.

After the group had their fill, Bianca and White went to where their room was, as they had to share. Cheren had the room across the hall from them, and because Wade insisted, got his own room. "It'd be weird to have a grown man share a room with a kid, unless that grown man is said kid's dad," Wade would say as an excuse. Luckily, Professor Juniper understood, and was pretty understanding of his reasoning, so she led him further down the hall. They stopped outside of a door.

"And this is where you'll be sleeping until White and her friends start their journey," Professor Juniper said as she opened the door they had just stopped outside of. When Wade saw the room his eyes widened, since he thought he'd be staying for free, so the room wouldn't be that nice. While it wasn't extravagant or as nice being in his own bedroom, the room was quite cozy. It just had a night stand with a lamp on it, with a few books that actually looked interesting, and even a decently sized TV hanging from the wall. It was like a small, but very well rated hotel room.

And Wade got to stay here for free…

"Are you sure you're okay with giving me such a nice room? I… I dunno, but this seems-" he stopped when a finger pressed against his lips in a shushing motion. "Wade, you don't have to worry about anything. You're my guest, as my guest, it's only expected that I give you a nice room. Well, it might not be spacious, but I doubt that would be problematic would it?" Professor Juniper asked. Wade just shook his head and gave his thanks to the professor. "Just don't put the TV on at full volume at night. These walls are pretty thin," Juniper instructed.

Houndour, ignoring his trainer and the professor's conversation, wandered into the room and quickly found the pokemon bed that was hidden by the bed. Out of everything in the room, it was the nicest thing, even nicer than the bed that Wade would get to sleep on. He yawned and laid his head on his paws, but still remained ready to jump to his feet in a heartbeat. He wanted to be ready if somebody were to attack in the middle of the night.

"Man, the professor's really nice," Wade said as he laid down on his bed. "Hey Houndour, I know we pretty much just met… but do you wanna sleep up here with me?" The man asked. Houndour yawned and faked a groan. He was fully expecting to have to sleep in the pokemon bed, but was pleasantly surprised when Wade offered him this. So he reared up, wiggled a bit, and hopped up on the bed. Houndour wasn't too excited about having an arm and a blanket draped over him, but he wasn't complaining either. It wasn't long until the blanket was discarded.

"Alright, note to self: Houndour and blankets are too hot, just cuddle with Houndour," Wade joked as he draped his arm back over the canine. The two simply laid, with Wade staring at the ceiling for a couple hours to pinder his new predicament.

"Tomorrow, we're gonna see if the professor's got any books on a Houndour's diet. I wanna make sure I'm not feeding you something that's horrendously bad for you, and I hope to actually learn how to cook. I might not deserve a nicely cooked meal, but you do. Gotta make sure my pretty boy is nice, healthy, and has a shiny coat as proof," Wade laughed as Houndour actually hid his head under Wade's arm in embarrassment. "What's wrong, bud? You were more than happy with the praise earlier- gah! It's a trap! Houndour, that tickles!" Wade laughed as his pokemon took to tickling his trainer for five minutes exactly.

After Wade was sufficiently tickled, Houndour laid his head on top of his trainer's chest as the poor man began to catch his breath. "Damn. You. Houndour. You're. Lucky. That. You're. So. Cute," Wade said as he wheezed. He sat up and hugged his pokemon after a couple of seconds. "Well… if the games are accurate," Wade's eyes widened.

"Hey Houndour, if what I'm thinking might happen, well, happens, we're gonna be at the forefront of it… White might end up reawakening Reshiram or Zekrom, we might meet the equivalent of Pokemon Gandhi, and deal with a group of people that's… looking to take over the world?" Wade explained. Houndour just nodded. Whatever all this meant, he had no clue. He was intelligent, but he was maybe a little bit less intelligent than a Vulpix. In other words, he couldn't understand what all of this implied. If what was going to happen was dangerous, he's just going to defend him and Wade. No matter the consequences.

Wade shrugged. "Well, let's not dwell too long on the future bud. It's like the past, it's best to not think about it. Whatever happens tomorrow is tomorrow's problems… that's what Saitama said at least," he chuckled, knowing his pokemon wouldn't know who Saitama was. Nor would anybody really, but Houndour did seem to get it. Wade laid back down with Houndour on top of him, and the duo drifted off into sleep.

The first thing Wade did when he woke up, was remain completely still, and wait for Houndour to wake up. As it turned out, Wade was just as unwilling to make his Houndour wake up, as he was with Molly. The simple rule was, if you let your dog(or pokemon in this case) fall asleep in your arms, or on top of you, you don't dare disturb them. So after what felt like an eternity, Houndour woke up, yawned, and greeted Wade with a good morning lick.

"Well bud, let's go see if we can visit the library..." Wade paused as he noticed a stack of books, with a sticky note on the top of the stack, on the nightstand. "Those weren't there when we fell asleep," Wade grabbed the sticky note and saw that it was a note in English… Unovan? Wade still wasn't sure. At least he now knew that he could just write and still get a point across… no relearning how to write the alphabet, words, or grammar for him! He began to read what was on the sticky note.

"I figured that you could use the books. They'll give you a very basic understanding of the Gym Challenge, pokemon diets, grooming, and whatever. There's also a few books specifically on how to take care of a Houndour or Houndoom. Just make sure you don't damage these, they're from my personal library. -Love, Professor Juniper."

Wade shrugged. "Well bud, hope you like hearing me read. Because we're gonna be here for a while… this'll be just like that AP Chemistry class I took and failed…" Houndour rolled his eyes, but Wade was quick to notice. He took the remote beside the books and turned the TV on. To his surprise, Houndour started watching TV and seemed to actually be taking in what was going on… the show kind if resembled Pokemon Mystery Dungeons with how the pokemon could speak english, and had handkerchiefs for their corresponding teams.

Wade grabbed the first book, a book on Canine 'Pokemon Diets Vol. 1: Houndour and Houndoom' was the title. The book was thick, but it wasn't too thick. It probably wasn't too bad of a read either, as the first page seemed to have some humor in it, like a small comic strip here and there to help explain whatever. There was even one one where Professor Oak(Wade immediately recognized the iconic professor) unknowingly pissing a Houndour off only to get flamed by it.

"Well, it's gonna be a but of a read, but it's more interesting than a fucking dictionary," Wade snorted when he saw the comic strip of a Houndoom slapping Professor Oak in the face with a paw.

0-0-0-0-0

alright so, I did kind of reference a small series of videos(shorts?) where it's professor oak talking about a pokemon and promptly getting blasted by said pokemon. they're usually pretty funny.

anyways, I hope this story is interesting. these first few chapters are gonna be a bit slow, so bear with me.