Chapter 4: Familiar Faces
Nate was sorely tempted to dash like a madman towards the buildings, but he was currently holding a sleeping pokemon in his arms. Besides, last time he tried madly dashing towards something, he was nearly killed by a mankey-propelled missile. With his mind telling him to slow down, and his heart telling him to speed up, Nate ended up awkwardly power walking towards the settlement.
Nate's excitement grew as the distance to the town shrank, and once he was close enough to finally get a good look at the place he was, frankly, a little disappointed. The "town" was simply a smattering of log buildings arranged in a vague circle roughly 150 feet wide. "Pretty sure my apartment building had more people than this whole village. Speaking of people, where is everyone? I swore I saw a few people milling about on my way here." Nate was brought out of his musings by a deep, authoritative voice coming from behind him.
"Care to explain what you're doing here, young man?
"Ah!" Nate was so startled he involuntarily yelped. "When did he get behind me?" Nate thought as he turned around to face the source of the voice.
Two men were looking at Nate as he about-faced. One old, one young. One tall, one short. They both had similar flame-colored hair. The older man wore his in a rugged ponytail, while the younger one left his unkempt. What shocked Nate more than the fact that two grown men had managed to sneak up on him, however, was the fact that he recognized them. "Holy crap ! That's Alder! And his... son? Grandson? Nephew? The guy who gives you the shiny Dratini in-game."
Nate's lack of response to the earlier question seemed to annoy the younger man, whose eyes flared with anger. "Trespassing, and removal of pokemon from a protected area, you're looking at some serious jail time," said the younger man, his voice dripping with poorly-disguised rage. Nate was still blanking on his name.
Nate's thoughts were all in a jumble. He had spent the whole walk towards town considering all the possible ways his introduction might go, and none of his hypothetical scenarios included being immediately threatened with imprisonment.
"Uhhh, this probably looks real bad on my end, huh?" Nate still hadn't come up with any real plan to get out of this situation, so his brain seemed to default to "act like a jackass."
If Nate's plan was to make the two men even angrier, he was doing a fantastic job. Alder glowered even harder than before, and the younger one grabbed one of the pokeballs on his necklace. Before Nate could dig himself any deeper, a third party decided to intervene.
"Leave the poor wretch be, he's a long way from home."
Nate recognized the sensation of telepathy, but while Medicham's voice flowed like water, this new one boomed in his head, causing him to wince slightly. Nate wasn't the only one who reacted to this new development. Alder's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates, and the other man grew even angrier.
"Attempted psychic manipulation in order to resist arrest," said the younger man, his voice a strange mix of fury and smug satisfaction, "I'm now authorized to use pokemon to aid directly in your apprehension." With a click of a button, the pokeball in his hand expanded to its full size.
"Benga, stop!" Yelled Alder. "Benga! That's his name!" As Benga reared back to throw his pokeball, the mysterious interloper decided to make their appearance. A sudden wave of air pressure forced Nate back, and he was forced to look away lest his eyes get filled with dust. Once the debris had settled, Nate looked back to find there was now a figure standing between himself and the red-haired duo, though standing might be a misnomer. Indeed, the figure's muscular, orange body ended at the waist, where it turned into a cloud that hovered a few feet off the ground. "Landorus?!" Nate wasn't the only one who seemed to recognize the legendary pokemon. Alder looked to be having an existential crisis. Benga, on the other hand, seemed undeterred, and grinned savagely.
"Been a while since we've had a good fight. Go! Alba!"
"Stop, you idiot!" Alder yelled, but it was too late, Benga had already thrown the pokeball. The capsule opened midair, and a shape emerged in a flash of light. Six crimson wings wreathed in flames surrounded a fluffy-looking body. Benga's Volcarona let out a war cry, before it saw who it was up against, and promptly surrendered, extinguishing the flames surrounding it and landing subserviently in front of Landorus. Benga seemed utterly baffled by this development.
"It seems your pokemon possesses a level of common sense you yourself lack." With a flick of the wrist, Landorus lifted Benga off the ground with psychic power, before casually tossing him away. Neither Alder nor Volcarona made any move to help him.
For a few seconds, nobody moved, so Nate decided to break the ice. "Uh, thanks for intervening, Landorus." Landorus turned his head to stare at Nate for a bit, before chuckling. "You are a most entertaining human."
"Lord Landorus, might I ask, who is that man?" Alder asked, his voice full of fear and awe. Nate swore he saw Landorus roll his eyes when Alder addressed him as "Lord Landorus."
"He is a vagrant, far from home," came Landorus's reply.
"Oh..." Alder seemed to calm at Landorus's words. "Wait, WHAT?!" Or maybe not. "Unova hasn't had a faller incident in over a century!"
"Faller..." Landorus pondered the word for a while, "The comparison is apt, but no. The space between worlds remains stable. I know not how our guest arrived, but I would ask you to give him quarter."
At Landorus's words, the look of desperate panic left his eyes, and was replaced by exasperation. "You have no idea how much headache you're going to cause, do you?" Alder glared at Nate, who shrugged in response. "I'm retired! I don't even have the authority to grant him vagrancy rights!"
"Well, it's a blessing you've retained your connections since your days as champion."
Landorus looked back and forth at Alder and Nate. "If our business is concluded, then I shall take my leave."
"Wait!" Nate interjected. Landorus looked at Nate curiously, while Alder seemed appalled that Nate would so casually order Landorus around. "What should I do with this?" Nate held up the still-sleeping Paras.
Landorus chuckled, "What do humans normally do with pokemon?" With those final words, Landorus disappeared in a flash of light. Alder and Nate stared at each other, neither side saying anything, before Alder finally broke the ice.
"Come on, let's go make sure my idiot grandson is still breathing."
Benga was still breathing, as it turns out. When Nate and Alder found him lying unconscious in the grass, Benga's Volcarona grabbed him and flew off, carrying Benga in its stubby limbs.
"Should we be concerned about that?" Asked Nate.
"Don't worry about it," replied Alder, "Alba knows what she's doing. More than Benga at least."
The two stood in silence for a while. "Do you mind telling me about those 'vagrancy rights' you mentioned earlier?" At Nate's question, Alder heaved a dramatic sigh.
"It'll probably take a while, I've got a few calls I need to make first. You can rest in my cabin while I start sorting this out."
While Nate was craving answers, the idea of being able to relax indoors was a far stronger temptation. "Do you have a shower I could use, and maybe a change of clothes?" Alder didn't answer, instead walking towards one of the cabins. Nate followed, having little else to do.
Both men entered the small building. "Bathroom's that way," Alder pointed to a doorway at the far end of the living room. "I'll fetch you some clothes, though they may be a little big." Nate nodded at Alder's words, before setting the still-sleeping Paras and his backpack on a nearby couch.
"Should I be concerned about that?" Alder asked, pointing to the Paras.
"Probably not, the little bugger slept through an encounter with a legendary pokemon, I think it's pretty sleepy," said Nate, "though if it does wake up, keep an eye on your pantry." Alder grunted in understanding, and Nate practically sprinted towards the promised shower.
Nate reluctantly left the shower once the hot water had run out. True to his word, Alder had indeed left out a change of clothes. Also true to his word, they were a bit too big for Nate. Unsure of what to do with the dirty clothes, he decided to stuff them in his backpack for now. Upon reentering the living room, he could faintly hear Alder on a phone call in another room. "Or wait, poke gear? C-gear? Xtransceiver? Whatever, it's a phone." Not wanting to interrupt him, Nate sat on the couch next to Paras, who finally started to wake up once Nate sat down. If Paras was concerned about waking up in an unfamiliar environment, it didn't show. It simply looked around, saw Nate sitting next to it, and climbed onto Nate's lap, demanding pets. As Nate obliged the needy bug pokemon, he thought about Landorus's words.
"What do humans normally do with pokemon? Play with them? Keep them as pets? Battle? Eat them? Do humans eat pokemon in this world? There's still too much I don't know." Nate discovered Paras's favorite spot to be scratched, right at the joints where its legs connected with its body. "If I was going to be a trainer, I certainly could've picked a better starter. Two double weaknesses to common types isn't exactly ideal." Paras tried climbing under Nate's shirt to better access his body heat.
"Not so fast, little buddy, your carapace isn't exactly the most comfortable thing to cuddle with." Paras looked up at Nate with a pleading look in its eyes. "Don't give me those puppy-dog eyes," "Lillipup eyes?" "Besides, you stole plenty of body heat from me last night." Paras tilted its head confusedly at Nate's words. "Look, just stay in my lap, and I'll keep petting you, alright?" Paras seemed content with that arrangement.
Alder finished up his phone call after a few minutes, and walked back into the living room, tossing something to Nate, who caught it reflexively. "A pokeball? What for?" Alder looked at Nate like he was an idiot, before pointing to the Paras cuddling in his lap. "Right it's just I..." "Just what? Wanted a better starter? Makes me feel entitled just thinking that." Nate sighed. "What do you think, Paras, want to join me?" Paras jumped for joy in Nate's lap while chirping happily. "Ow! Enough of that, your legs are very pointy. So do I just..." Nate booped Paras with the button of the pokeball, which suddenly opened, sucking Paras within in a flash of light before closing itself.
"No shakes, it must've really liked you," commented Alder. "You done freshening up?" Nate nodded. "Good, we're leaving."
"Leaving? Where? And why?" "C'mon, man. I just caught my first pokemon! Can't you at least give me a little time to celebrate."
"Like I told Lord Landorus, I'm retired. I'm taking you to someone with the authority to help you. Once that's done, my duty to Lord Landorus will be fulfilled, and I can go home, get drunk, and try to forget today ever happened.
"It's not even noon." Nate rebutted.
"Kid, it's already been a long day, and it's only gonna get longer."
"Nate. Not kid." Said Nate. "My name is Nate, nice to meet you." Nate held out his hand.
Alder stared at the offered hand for a few seconds, before sighing and grabbing it. "Alder." Nate bit his tongue to stop himself from saying "I know."
The older man pulled a pokeball from his belt, which popped open to reveal what appeared to be a deformed baby covered in green jelly. "Wow, some pokemon look a lot more horrifying when they aren't on a screen. I wonder what garbodor looks like." Nate suppressed a shudder.
"Simon, Undella Town pokemon center, please," said Alder. The jelly that Reuniclus was swimming in began glowing. "You might want to close your eyes for this." Nate complied, remembering Medicham's warning earlier today. At the last second he tensed his stomach in an attempt to circumvent the stomach-lurching sensation. It didn't help much. Nate first noticed the teleport was finished when he breathed in, smelling the distinct odor of the sea. He opened his eyes, and the sight was so beautiful he didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry.
"A town! Actual buildings! Not some dinky cottages in the middle of the woods! And people! People who aren't trying to arrest me!"
"Come on, they should already be waiting for us." Alder threw a figurative bucket of cold water on Nate's excitement. "But on the other hand, a real-life pokemon center." Nate's desire to not look like an idiot in front of the former champion slightly won out over Nate's childhood dream, and so he calmly followed alder into the red-roofed building instead of dashing in like an overexcited child. The person at the desk, who disappointingly did not have pink hair, seemed to expect Alder, because as soon as he walked in, she bowed respectfully. "Esteemed former champion, I was told to expect you. Please follow me." She stood up and moved from behind the counter, leading us up a flight of stairs and into a door marked "conference room."
Alder opened the door and entered without ceremony. Nate moved to follow. Once he was inside, he shut the door behind him. Inside the conference room, Nate immediately froze upon seeing the collection of people waiting for him.
"Hey old-timer, don't you know it's rude to keep a lady waiting!" The first was a young girl, probably no older than twenty. She had light brown skin and dark purple, almost black, hair, styled in a big ponytail that went down to her waist. "Iris, the champion who succeeded Alder," Nate mentally noted.
"It hasn't even been five minutes, Iris," said the next person. A woman with shoulder length blonde hair underneath a green beret. "Bianca, Professor Juniper's assistant. Speaking of..."
"Good to see you again, Alder." The professor extended the obligatory courtesies to Alder, then turned to Nate with an analytical, almost predatory gaze. "I assume he's the one you told us about?"
"Hi, I'm Nate!" Nate attempted to hide his nervousness under a veil of cheerfulness.
"Iris, current champion of the Unova region." Iris introduced herself first, with a curt introduction.
"Aurea Juniper, though I suppose most people call me 'Professor Juniper.' Pleased to meet you."
"I'm Bianca, Professor Juniper's research assistant," Bianca said cheerfully. "I'll be honest, I'm not sure why the professor dragged me along."
"Good, now that introductions are done, can we hurry along? No need to make this already-long day any longer," said Alder grumpily.
"Aww, c'mon Alder, no need to be such a sourpuss," Iris teased the older former champion.
"I'm sorry, but I recently watched my grandson try and challenge Lord Landorus to a battle, it's been a bit of a rough day."
"Oh man, Benga did WHAT?! That's hilarious! I am SO teasing him over that." Iris cackled to herself like a madwoman.
"Shall we get down to business, then?" Professor Juniper seemed to have some sympathy for Alder. "Why don't you start by telling us what happened, Alder."
Alder told the story from his point of view: How his Braviary noticed me teleporting in, and saw me walking towards the hamlet. How he and Benga decided to question me outside of town. And of course, how Landorus intervened. Iris laughed even harder at the part when Benga got casually tossed away. Meanwhile, Bianca and the professor were diligently taking notes and asking questions.
"Fascinating..." Juniper mumbled. "Not a faller, but a vagrant nonetheless..."
"Uh, I'm a little lost, you mind filling me in?" Asked Nate. Professor Juniper's eye's sparkled. "Of Course! You see, 'vagrant' is a blanket term for anyone in our world who, for lack of a better term, shouldn't be. Faller is a designation for someone who entered our world by 'falling' through the strange dimension known as ultra-space, and emerging via tears called ultra-wormholes. Non-faller vagrants are practically unheard of. As far as we're aware, the only things that could bring someone between worlds without the use of ultra-space are extremely powerful, deity-level pokemon." Her spiel over, the professor leaned back in her chair, satisfied. "Phew, it's been a while since I delivered a good lecture."
"Sooo..." Bianca seemed to have something on her mind. "We've heard Alder's story, what about yours?" Suddenly, all attention was on Nate. Even Iris, who had seemed fairly disinterested in the proceedings so far, couldn't hide her anticipation.
"Well," Nate started, "I suppose I should start from the beginning..."
