My crisis of reality ended when Piplup blasted me with water.

Hacking and coughing, I spat water out of my mouth. Fresh water, I noted absently, filing that away for later. I gave Piplup my best glare. "Wipe that smug look off your face."

Piplup waved its flippers in a halfhearted shrug, but still managed to look quite smug. "Pip-pip lup."

"Sassy little thing, aren't you?" I sighed, wiping what water I could from my already heavily abused clothes. Beyond being dripping wet and somewhat sandy, they were otherwise unharmed. That's a plus, I guess.

It gave me a look, crossing its flippers. If it had eyebrows to speak of, it would have raised one.

"Intelligent company, belligerent company, same difference. At least I have company." I commented, thinking. Whatever Piplup's reaction was, I missed it. In order to survive on this island, at least in the short term, I'd need to get my thoughts in order. And maybe try to form a plan. "So, let's start from the top," I started, extending a hand, "My name is Mason, and thank you for waking me up, I guess?"

Piplup extended a flipper, and we shook on it. "Piplup, pip pip lup piplup," it greeted, I think. Or it was mocking me. Both were equally possible.

This led to the second order of business. I'd been referring to Piplup as an it up to this point, which even internally was starting to get irritating. Assuming Pokémon didn't struggle with gender identity as much as humans did, it was a legitimate question.

"Alright, if we're going to exist around each other, I have to know. Are you male?" A shake of the head. "So female?" A nod. "And you identify as a female as well?" She gave me an incredulous look before nodding again.

On to the third order of business. "I'd ask why you saved me, but I don't speak Pokémon- and you don't speak my language, either. At least we can understand each other, sort of," Piplup thought on this, nodding her head, before gesturing for me to continue. "And on that note, are you planning to stick around? I'm gonna go build a shelter before nightfall- this is a deserted island, right?"

Piplup nodded, thinking again, and I swear I could almost see the idea pop into her head. "Lup! Pip pip piplup," she declared, performing an absurdly acrobatic leap onto my head. "Piiip-lup!" she said, a flipper entering my vision and pointing into the forest.

Cheeky as she was, it was a hell of a lot better than being alone.

I'd had more than enough of that already.

Piplup had been living in a rather well-protected cave, and for quite a long time based on the tufts of down and the messy 'nest'.

I had helped improve it with some bigger branches to block off part of the entrance while Piplup made a 'bed' for me. She's got a good heart, I guess. From here we had a nice view of the endless expanse of the ocean. Not an ocean I knew or could possibly have known, either.

Something told me I wasn't going home, and I didn't know how to feel about that. At least I'd spoiled Persona 5 for myself- otherwise I would have gone nuts. Stepping back and taking a breath, my second attempt at a crisis of reality was interrupted by a growling stomach.

"Hey, Piplup?" I called, looking back over my shoulder.

"Lup?" She called back, her head popping out of a pile of dried grasses.

"What do you do normally do for food? Fishing, berries, or what?" I wonder what Magikarp tasted like. They were probably a very common food, but eating possibly sentient beings would be a new one. Were Magikarp sentient?

"Luuup..." Piplup replied, tapping the underside of her beak in thought,"Piip-lup!" she finished, hopping onto my head.

At least she wasn't terribly heavy. "Do you need an umbrella, miss? Maybe a lounge chair?"

"Piplup." she snarked back, or at least that's what I got from her tone.

A faint smile worked its way onto my face. "I'll get right on it, milady. Right after you show us where dinner is, of course."

Author's Notes:

Thank you for reading the second chapter of this experimental story. Not much longer than the previous, I know, but this story is rather bite-sized in its format anyways. Please let me know what you thought by reviewing!

Regards,

Verdin Grey