Disclaimer

Pokémon is a registered trademark of Satoshi Tajiri, Game Freak, the Pokémon Company,

Nintendo, etc.

The Persona series is a registered trademark of Atlus.

All trademarked characters, locations, themes and ideas are used

without permission in a work of fan-created fiction.

Any similarities to actual persons; living or dead, or to entities existing or formerly existing is purely coincidental.

The following has been done without profit for pure entertainment purposes.

All original concepts, characters, themes and ideas within are

the copyrighted property of the author, and are not to be reproduced without prior consent.

Author's notes:

before we begin, I'd like to clarify a few things.

First of all, I'm visually impaired in real life, and as such, certain visual descriptive elements will most likely be missing from this story.

I do apologize in advance for this, and hope it won't detract from the story I'm trying to tell.

I've managed to find vary detailed descriptions of the Pokémon from sites such as bulbapedia and wikipedia, and will be using them as reference when describing the Pokémon that will appear in this fan fiction.

As for the human characters from the Pokémon world that will appear, I was not able to find anything beyond hair and eye color, so descriptions of these characters will most likely not be present, or be vary vague.

I was able to find a little more for the vary few characters from the Persona universe that will appear, so those characters may seem a little more fleshed out from a descriptive stand point, but might still be a little vague.

If anyone wants to send me better descriptions via PM, I'll gladly try and work them in if I can; that goes for both human and Pokémon characters.

second; and this is mainly for the Pokémon fans that will be reading this, please be aware that this story takes place circa 2011 in the real world time line, so any developments within the Pokémon games that proceed this time, (Black 2/White 2 and onward), will not be present within the knowledge of the main character; even though this story does take elements from the games all the way through the seventh generation, and not beyond that point.

With regard to time, while the knowledge of the main character stops sometime in 2011, the story actually starts on Friday, april first, 2005 in the Pokémon world.

This year was carefully calculated to allow sirtain animé characters to age in accordence with the needs of my story; even though some people would argue that character age is more or less irrelevant with regards to actual time and date placement.

I did this so some of my original characters would be the required age for the story.

This is my own take on the Pokémon universe; completely separate from the manga, games, or animé; even though characters from the animé incarnation will most likely appear over the game versions, as those are the characters I've had the most access to due to my disability.

Even though I will try to depict said characters in a faithful manner, please be aware that; due to certain legal restrictions that effect my ability to hear sound clips of the original Japanese version; I only have access to the English dub of the animé, so descriptions of how human and Pokémon characters will sound are going to be partially; if not mostly; based on this, even though I have no wish to be completely biased toward the English dub.

That being said, I feel I must point out that I have a fondness for the 4kids dub over the new Pokémon International dub; as that's what I grew up with and characters still sound the way they did in that dub; in my head; over the new one, so when conflicts arise between the 4kids dub and the Pokémon international dub, the 4kids dub is what I'll be using for the characters that appear in my story; Age discrepancies not withstanding, so please keep that in mind.

If you're reding this, and are not a fan of the Persona series, don't worry to much about it.

The required information will be given as it's needed in the story.

Regarding the character of Igor:

Due to his Japanese voice acter, Isamu Tanonaka, passing away of a hart attack in 2010, Atlus has chosen; out of respect for Mr. Tanonaka; to either write the character of Igor out of all events in the Persona game where he'd be needed, or reuse previously recorded lines for his appearances and have other people speak for him where lines do not exist.

While I mean no disrespect toward Mr. Tanonaka or his surviving family, this is a work of fan created fiction that exists purely as text, so Igor will be speaking within it.

Well that's it. I'll stop talking now and let the story begin.

attached

a pokémon/Persona Crossover fanfiction

By ThreeBlackNoises

Chapter 1

The room was always blue, and every artical of furniture within it was always covered in blue Velvet.

these characteristics remained constant, even among the ever changing environs the room chose to emulate with each new guest it hosted.

At the time; however; the room feetured a single chair. on which sat the room's only occupant, an old man whose primary defining feeture was his extremely long noze

at least, that was the only thing his attendants who assisted him chose to remember; even going so far as to make up a song about it; which greatly annoyed him.

This man was known as Igor, and his face currently wore an expression of intense worry, as one of his three attendants had gone off on her own to sirch for a way to free a previous guest from a terrible fate.

At the moment, this same attendant had unknowingly opened the way to another world through a wish she'd made, and Igor was rightly concerned that her crossing over into a new plane of existance might have unpredictable consequences there.

Presently, a door appeared out of nowhere, and a woman with light blonde hair and pale-skin wearing a dark blue; non-velvet; dress and high-heals stepped through it before it disappeared into thin air.

"Your findings Margaret?" Igor asked the woman.

She focused her golden eyes on him as she said, "I can't find Elizabeth anywhere. Have you had any luck?"

Igor didn't waste any time on briefing his assistant.

"Your younger sister has found her way into a world whose people have a somewhat strange custom of breeding and training animals, which they call Pokémon, to help them in most tasks. I suspect this requires an unusually strong bond between person and Pokémon, and it's that bond Elizabeth wishes to understand."

Margaret didn't seem to surprised by this news.

"She still wishes to free Mokoto from the great seal he willingly became to save an entire world." Margaret explained.

"Her reasons are irrelevant at this time. You need to hurry and retrieve her before her presents their drags an unsuspecting being into her mess." Igor ordered.

Margaret knew not to question her master in such matters, so she simply let him conjur a door into the other world and hurried through it.

"please Margaret, hurry!" Igor said after she was gone.

I couldn't see much light, But I sure could hear a talking clock;

"It's 8, 24, PM." the mechanical voice of the Sharp Calculator intoned.

Eight years on four AA batteries at a time, and for upwards of fifteen years

it was still a reliable time peace; the most reliable one I'd ever owned.

"Damn!" I said aloud. I had to rap this up and get ready to go to bed.

I was playing Pokémon Black, and I just had to finish up

tonight by battling "Mr. Gamefreak guy" whatever his name was in the US version,

and then it was lights out. Oh, I'm Michael by the way, I'm just your average late teen-aged Pokémon fan , and; despite my blindness; I've still been able to play the games and follow the animé.

I got into the animé first, and then I discovered I could play the games by using the wall bumping sound to define obstacles; and thus, shore-line my way through the game environments.

I wish I could tell you that a friend got me in to Pokémon, but that would be a lie. You see, when you are born with a label; more often than not; at about the age of 13 or 14, the folks who called themselves your "friends" split to hang out with "Normal People"; meaning in this case, sighted people. So, it was that I found Pokémon one Friday afternoon while home from school on a teacher in-service day. I was channel surfing when I came across the animé, and the first episode I saw was "The Breeding Center Secret." Needless to say, it took me almost the entire episode to get my bearings, but after that episode and about six months of catching up, I was not willing to stop following the show as I thought the concept was interesting. That, and the show had a lot of built-in descriptions.

I used the game's audio sound cues to navigate to the Gamefreak building,

and up the elevator I went. The sequence was so familiar by now;

out of the elevator, down, bump!, left one step, down, bump!, right two steps,

down, bump!, left one step, up, bump!, talk, click yes, advance text,

high-pitch wine! "What The Hell?"

This was not normal. I did a Soft Reset... Wow, it actually worked?

"stupid reboot time!"

Gamefreak Logo, press A, plink!

[menu confirmation sound?] I thought, "What?"

Footsteps from the 3DS. "So Young one..." That came from the 3DS!

It was a high, almost feminine-sounding voice. This was especially odd as the Pokémon games; in general; had no voice acting of any kind.

"You affirm today that you intend to abide by our sacred rules

and uphold our equally sacred beliefs?"

A much younger, less experienced-sounding voice came next.

"I do!" The excitement was palpable in the second, the "young-one's voice.

"and, as a member of our society, you hereby agree to be..."

a strange buzzing sound obscured the first voice.

"HOLD!" this deeper third voice didn't just demand respect, it seemed to expect it.

"It seems fate wishes for one final test to be presented to this aspiring youth."

The buzzing became a somewhat loud rumble. The third voice continued,

"Identify this anomaly."

There was a long pause, then the young voice somewhat hesitantly replied,

"it appears to be some sort of gateway, honorable high elder."

This was sounding strange; it had the same encoding as a standard 3DS movie from the Nintendo video channel ,

judging by its sound quality.

"It blocks my progress," young-one continued, "but I believe I can circumvent it"

"No!" I exclaimed. "Don't Touch What You Don't Understand!"

I tend to talk to the characters in movies that way; even though I know it's pointless.

This is Wise?" asked the first voice.

"this action could..." voice three began, "I know what I'm doing." young-one interrupted.

I heard some slightly heavy breathing from young-one, then an exhalation of some sort;

almost like someone made a really high jump, audible gasps from on-lookers maybe,

an explosion of some kind, a scream that was more surprise and curiosity than pain, the word "Trey!" yelled by at least three voices; somehow filled with both admonishment and concern, a somewhat muffled thud and then static.

My 3 DS went silent, and then I felt really strange before the world went completely silent and still.

The chamber was large, with a high-vaulted ceiling; according at least, to those inhabiting it.

Their were three at the moment, two were huddled at one end close together,

apparently in a discussion of some sort.

"It was his choice." one of them said.

This particular individual was old; older than his kind usually got.

He resembled an up-right rabbit with no tail. His fur was gray, almost black in some places,

though it might have once been pink. Some places on his body had no fur at all; leaving extremely loose skin with an almost rubbery texture somewhat thicker than a balloon. His face didn't betray his wisdom, but its distorted appearance; due to the wrinkles pervading his entire body; sometimes made his mood hard to decipher.

His companion; on the other hand; was the picture of youth. His taught skin was covered with an unblemished coat of fur that was about three times thicker than his senior's.

"I never would have interacted with something like this." he said gesturing to the anomaly.

"Daniel, we all make our own mistakes, in our own time, and, at our own pace." his father said.

In front of them was a dais used for conducting ceremonies. Dividing the room roughly in half

was a pink, glowing ribbon of energy. It spanned the entire width of the chamber,

though it only went about four feet up the chamber's walls.

Just then, the anomaly gave off a brilliant flash of light before exploding; depositing a human figure onto the dais.

"His just happens to be a big one, and much sooner than we would have anticipated."

"Oh dad..." Daniel said , "you are most definitely jesting, right?"

"Oh no, my son. That on the dais, is what is called, a, human."

Almost on the complete other side of the room was a prone individual;

nearly identical to Daniel.

He slowly began to stir and become aware of his surroundings.

"Oh Trey, you have most definitely, erred." Said Xavior; the High elder.

Trey's POV

My eyes slowly opened, and I beheld the ancient chamber.

I was looking up at stone, and I felt it under me; so obviously I was thrown pretty far away from

the dais. I began to work my body into a sitting position.

"Oh Trey," Came Xavier's voice, "you have most definitely, erred."

The gateway! I realized, it must have thrown me back when I tried to jump it using Bounce attack.

Big deal; so what, it had unseen components.

Then I saw the dais, and my heart tried to use Bounce attack.

I knew I had to ask, but my voice would not obey my commands.

" you were right about making history by being the youngest of our kind

to attempt to achieve affirmed status," It was bad enough when Xavier spoke to someone,

but Daniel? and Xavier actually allowing the action? "poor, poor, sole,

you are now the only one who has made a bad enough mistake as to allow

a human into our midst."

Daniel was being a little more harsh than he needed to be. He was right, as a human; at least up to this point; had never intruded inside our sacred boarders, and this could potentially endanger all we had built here. I was shamed, but I also knew one had to finish what they started.

"honorable one," I began; using the honorific required by the ceremony still in progress; "I shall find a way to send the human home."

"It is most fortunate that the human has not come to itself as of yet." Xavier said.

What a relief! I could get it home and it would never have any memory of being here;

at least that was my plan.

"Honorable one, I respectfully request Psynet access ." [and gods help me

if the hive of minds it contained did not have the knowledge I needed.]

"Half and hour of access shall be granted." said Xavier. "Be quick." Daniel continued,

"We can sedate the human, but he will not sleep forever."

I bowed in thanks. "with your leave high elder?"

"so granted." he intoned.

And, as quickly as I could; courtesy permitting,

I made my exit and returned to my home without delay.

Arriving home, I found two unusual implements atop my bed, and a note from Xavier telling me they arrived shortly after the human. It also suggested that I should examine them.

What strange implements they were! one resembled a bright shiny stick that folded outward.

One end was tipped, and the other had a substance affixed to it which prevented slipping.

The other implement was... oh! something I could identify! a direction finder... maybe?

It had raised dots on three of the directions... and, if they were what was called Braille, I had to help this human, because he was most likely blind.

Psynet time was rapidly ticking away; I had to use it now!

I knelt in a corner of my dwelling and pressed my hand to a spot on the floor.

Immediately I felt the familiar contact with the hive-mind. This was the first time I had ever

used Psynet when not in training, and it still felt bazaar.

As a people, we were not strong enough with psychic powers to use them offensively,

but each of us still had just enough power to achieve limited telepathy;

with some assistance, of course.

"Well well well." said an unrecognizable voice that was simultaneously "a Voice", "The Voice" and "The Voices" of the collective of past and present Wigglytuff that had volunteered to be immortalized as a mental contact for the rest of the living, "What have you done?"

"I have erred." I began, "But, it might have been fate that such an action occurred."

(We know about the human.)

I shared more thoughts including the full details of my mistake and

my plan to help the human.

(Because this seems to be an act of fate, we can... 'arrange'

for a bit of amnesty to be granted to you.)

"it is my mistake."

(and you shall correct it young one, and, in so doing, you shall

also be able to see a grater world; something you have wanted for several years now. And, as an added bonus, you should also, hopefully, learn a few things about yourself in the process.)

"I wish to request any information you may have on"

(Yes we know, humans, but you shall find that as you walk your journey's path.

As far as your people know, we never had this conversation. You will tell High Elder Xavier

that you failed in your research attempt, and that you must take the human

on a journey to help 'it' find 'its' way home.

The human is named Michael by the way, and with a little good luck,

this conversation; and your error; never took place.)

A single voice then spoke to me.

(This turn of events is rather fortunate, as everyone can benefit from it. Xavier gets his chance to prove that humans are not as bad as most of his people believe they are, you get to see the world, Daniel gets to keep up his charade just a little wile longer, Tina can come into her own as; at present; she feels that she must devote all of her time and energy into the task of looking after you.)

Another voice; a much younger one; broke in, (It is win win for all.)

(Yes indeed.) the chorus said.

"Wait?" I asked as I felt the connection begin to brake, "How do you know Michael's name?"

A vary weary feeling invaded my mind.

(You are probably to young to have learned about the structure of the intelligent mind,) said a vary world-weary voice, (But, if the mind is compared to a pond, a life-form's given name floats to the surface once every few seconds or so.)

(Aside from that,) said yet another voice, (We are privy to all important ceremonies that concern the current leader. When ever some one has not requested Psynet time, the current leader is always connected to us, so that; if they need help at any time of day or night; we shall be their for him and or her.)

I felt the connection start to cloes, but I needed to know one last thing before it did.

(Please wait. I have one last thing I wish to ask.)

Their was a pause, as the hive of minds considered my request.

(Vary well. Proceed.) they finally said.

(I wish to know about Ruby. Is she still in the human world, and, can I rescue her? are my parents still alive?)

Their was a vary, vary long pause this time.

(Those are three things, Unfortunately, we are profoundly sorry young one, as we do not have the answers to your questions. We do, however, wish to render this advice. If you should find Ruby, do your best to make contact, and find out what situation she is in. Once you do that, you can start working on a way to extrocate her. See if Michael can help with that, if you can.)

With that, the connection was indefinitely closed. The finality of my quest;

and the path of my life wade on me as I made the trip back to the chamber

to finalize preparations for the journey, and my departure from my life-long home.

Before I made it to far however, I was intercepted by my older sister.

Her countenance told me that she, and probably the rest of the village, knew of my folly.

"so, you are leaving then?" she asked.

"I am afraid so"

She looked crestfallen. "If only our parents had not died while you were so young," she said,

her eyes filling with more tears than her kind usually used to filter out dirt and dust, "You would have had a good chance of avoiding this..." but her sobs prevented her from continuing for a time.

"Died or taken?" I asked.

A little laugh came through the tears, "one, or the other, or maybe, both," she said, "The village seems to basically be split down the middle on that verdict. I hope they were just taken by some human."

I held her until she calmed. "I failed you Trey."

"we failed each other, but" and here my voice dropped to a whisper, "My quest could be bigger

than anyone can know. upon my return, I shall be the closest thing

to a hero without actually being one."

"Please stop being so cryptic!"

"It must be this way. Tina, know that I shall think fondly of you"

"not mushy time now. Please!"

"I am just sorry that"

"no time. Take these instructions from Xavier and, please, follow them in order?"

"I always try my best." I took the instructions and read them.

Michael had been moved, and; apparently; I was supposed to 'befriend it' before leaving with him.

I turned on a sigh and began walking away.

"And what was That for?" Tina scolded as she had done when I was little.

I turned back to her and held out the instructions, befriend It...'

'...take It with you'" I said pointing to the words, "Honestly Tina," I touched her affectionately,

"They think humans will never change."

"no evidence? No case. You know that." She ruffled the fur between my ears. "Hay! Maybe you can bring back some?"

"I can hope."

"We can both hope."

"You believe me?"

"I cannot say I believe you." she moved really close to me and whispered,

"but I am not against you either. You know every Wigglytuff past her or his first month of life has

heard the bed-time stories about the humans and what they did to us, why their are hardly any mails left;

unless you think you can win one, do not start a fight."

"I shall have enough evidence to win said fight; I hope."

"I hope to, but we have no time for this now. Hurry and go meet Xavier."

I hugged her and gave her a kiss that made us both feel awkward, "by." I said simply.

I turned and began walking away, and I soon heard her close the door

to our... her home for almost the last time.

Michael's POV

When I came to, I knew something wasn't right. The bed I was sitting on was more... natural somehow. I also didn't recognize the room I was in either. It was relatively small; designed for only one occupant, and it seemed; judging by the feel of one of the walls; to be constructed out of logs and mud. I didn't have much time to ponder my situation, as presently a door of some sort opened at the far end of the room, admitting warmth and some creature.
"Good, you are awake." it said.
I knew the voice! "Young One?" I inquired.
A laugh came my way, "Well, I am young sir, but my name is Trey. You need to come with me, sir."
"What are you?" I asked.
He walked up to me, "A Wigglytuff." he said simply. I groped with my rite hand for him,
"I'm sorry, but I can't see you and I am without my white cane. I need you to" a furry hand? caught mine.
"This must all be somewhat of a shock to you, so take my hand, and I shall guide you to our destination."
"Thank you Trey, this is vary much appreciated."
We left the... Umm, building, and made our way through what I took to be a grassy village square complete with houses and shops; or at least some kind of business establishments, judging by the amount of chatter coming from them; and into a cleared out section containing, judging by acoustics; some kind of stone obstruction about six feet high.
As we entered it, my suspicions were confirmed as I couldn't stand completely upright. My head brushed the stone ceiling, causing me to crouch as I walked. We approached a raised platform of some sort, and Trey mounted it. Two other, Wigglytuff, were their, and they had a hushed conversation I couldn't really understand. Apparently Trey and I were leaving on a journey of some kind; wait! these were the same two I heard on my 3DS! The older one gave Trey, money? maybe? and some parchment! Please let one peace be a map? If we at least have a map, I'm good. After the conversation ended, Trey led me out of the chamber.
"hopefully Michael," he said as we began to walk, "this little quest will prove to them that all members of your kind are not as bad as our kind believe."
"I take it my people haven't exactly been kind to yours?"
"that would be under stated, a lot."
"Maybe we don't know we're doing something bad." I said; trying to reveal both sides of the argument as we passed the place I awoke in.
"hay! this is my stop!"
"no," Trey said as we turned to walk between two lines of buildings, "I am taking you to my home while I pack. besides which, the penitentiary is no place for you."

Trey and I were both surprised upon arriving at his house as another Wigglytuff greeted him at the door.
"I am so glad you are back!" it said. I judged this one was probably female by the somewhat higher pitch of her voice; maybe his wife?
"I am only back for the time it shall take me to pack Tina. I have the human with me," he said as I crouched down to enter the house, and He closed the door behind us, "His name is Michael."
As I sat down, Tina walked to me and shook my hand with a surprisingly firm grip!
"It is vary nice to meet you Michael."

"Likewise." I replied.
Trey began moving around the room, gathering belongings, and I was left sitting pretty much in the middle of the room feeling; I have to admit, somewhat confused. "Tina is my elder sister." Trey said almost absent-mindedly as he packed. Tina turned to follow him as she spoke, "I found some strange things and put; oh good you found them."
"here." Trey said placing some objects at my feet, "These belong to you, I should think." I examined the objects; my folding cane and braille compass. They were some of the most useful things I could have asked for if I was to be taking a journey.
"by the way,Trey, did the elder give you a map?" "no but; how do you know the Elder?"
Trey was surprised as he stopped packing,
"I heard some of your affirmation before I was brought here; you tried to jump the gateway, didn't you?"
"Yes I did." Trey mumbled as he continued to pack.
"How could you... I admit that I did not know all of the details of your incident, but I am now embarrassed to be..." Tina seemed to be working herself into a temper.
"What's done is done." I calmly announced, and she seemed to calm.
"You are right, Michael, but he still must pay for his, "mistake of judgment.""
"And I shall," began Trey, "In a little public banishment show that shall take place shortly."
"Public!" Tina gasped,
"They must really want to rub your nose in it." I put in. They both seemed taken aback at this remark. "embarrass you, prove some point." I clarified.
"That would be correct, and no, I do not have a map." Tray finished before stuffing some things into a small bag that he strung around his neck.

"I think that is everything." he declared, "I now take my leave." Tina and Trey then shared an awkward hug and kiss, and Trey headed for the door.
He opened it, and Tina said her final good by as he left.

Trey's POV

I waited inside the affirmation chamber for my cue to be paraded in front of the citizenry for my 'mistake'.

Xavier came in and motioned me to the center of the chamber.

He took a few calming breaths as I approached him, and then he walked up to me and pressed against me until we were right in each others faces.

"Listen to me." he said in a barely audible voice, "As high elder, I am not supposed to adopt the point of views submitted by a minority or; in your case; one individual.

Concerning humans, however, I to, believe that our view on them as a people may be… well... outdated, to put it mildly. I am going through with this public banishment

show so as to make it appear to the masses that nothing is amiss. As your high elder, I order you to get to know this human so as to corroborate or abrogate our theories. Trey, do you understand and agree with this?"

Do to our proximity I was unable to nod, so I simply responded affirmatively.

He cleared his throat, "My image requires that I be somewhat… insulting during the proceeding little drama, so do not take anything to heart, but please appear to. If this"

"DAAAAAAD, It Is Way Past Tiiiiime!" Daniel's voice sang out.

"Daniel, such does not become you or your image." Xavier called back.

"He still acts like a little child sometimes." he said more to himself then to me. Addressing me he said, "Well it is time, time for both of us to; if I may use a human idiom, 'brake a leg!'"

He swiftly exited the chamber; leaving me once again alone.

A vary nervous Tina stood next To Michael; feeling slightly awkward as she tried to think of something to say.

Luckily, Michael seemed to know how to brake moments filled with tension.

"Tina." he said; holding out his hand which she took, "I'll take good care of your little brother."
"You... will take care of My Little Brother?" she laughed; giving Michael a little kiss on the cheek, "thank you for that, however he is more than capable of taking care of himself, though, his combat knowledge is lacking even though his knowledge of said moves is not."

She let go of his hand, "So, at this time," she continued,

Leaving is the best thing that could happen to my brother."

"I'll make sure he writes you often." I said as I remembered the paper Trey received earlier.

"He had better. or I will make sure he regrets not doing so when he returns." Tina said; half joking, half serious.

Tina began moving to the front dor as she said, "We need to head out now."

Michael extricated himself from the house with some difficulty, then took tina's arm.

"I can at least make sure you do not come to any harm before you leave this place." Tina said as she began to lead Michael toward the center of the village.

Tina stood packed in with the rest of the Wigglytuff that had come to watch Trey's banishment.

Michael; stripped of all of his belongings; stood in front of the

affirmation chamber in a spot specifically chosen to keep him in plane sight of the citizenry.

Daniel walked to a platform beside Michael and addressed the crowd.

"People, the one who needs no introduction" Xavier came up behind Daniel.

"Stop right there, you will just make a fool of yourself, and by extension, me."

He then gestured for his son to take a place in the crowd; which he did reluctantly. Xavier then preceded to mount the platform.

"You have all heard the roomers by now." he began, "This hated creature called Human has been brought here by one of our own."

The crowd began its equivalent of booing and jeering; all except Tina.

"I give you the one responsible!" he made a grand gesture, and Trey was roughly shoved out from the chamber's entrance, and placed next to Michael.

The booing and jeering intensified. After a time, Xavier quieted the crowd with difficulty, and began explaining Trey's offence in brutally accurate detail; taking care to insult Trey's powers of judgment and intelligence at every opportunity. Inwardly; however; he praised the turn of events as a sort of back door method of undoing almost a century of lustful thinking about humans his people had seemingly adopted as unchangeable fact.

Xavier then explained that; with the help of a group of Wigglytuff; Trey and 'the human' would be teleported to an undisclosed location,

far beyond the boarders of the Wigglytuff village, and never again would they be allowed back inside its boarders alive.

This announcement brought a grate deal of cheering from the crowd, and Tina; unbeknownst to the uncaring mob; began to quietly sob uncontrollably.

Trey; for his part; took this with an air of stoicism; directing most of his attention to Daniel, who obviously took great pleasure in the entire event despite his temporary demotion to an average citizen. Michael absorbed all this with equal parts fear, curiosity and confusion.

A group of Wigglytuff detached itself from the crowd and made its way toward Xavier who motioned behind him. Another Wigglytuff came out of the chamber carrying Michael's belongings.

"We will now test our intended destination by teleporting these items to it." Xavier said as the items were placed on the ground and the group from the crowd made a circle around them. They joined hands and closed there eyes. A moment passed, and then a flash of light enveloped the items, causing them to disappear.

"Positive." the group flatly intoned as one.

"it is time!" Xavier cried. The crowd roared with approval as Trey and Michael were brought to the center of the circle.

They were made to stand almost together. The crowd went silent, and in that silence, Trey could hear Tina's sobs. He to, shed a tear as a flash of light engulfed his new friend.

"Positive." the group once again intoned. They then paused for a few seconds and then "Wait for it... Wait for it? Wait for it! And, NOW!" Another flash consumed Trey, and he to, vanished.

There eyes opened, and they dispersed.

The crowd roared with contentment, and; unknown to anyone else; Tina turned and ran toward her home; tears spilling from her eyes the entire way.

Michael's POV

I awoke in unfamiliar surroundings. I had no idea where I was, but I didn't have time to find out.

"Huh?" asked a female voice, "Where did you come from?"

"Where am I, exactly?" I countered.

"The Route 19 look-out." she answered briskly. "now my turn, where did you come from?"

"I don't know exactly."

"How can you Not Know Where"

Boom! The sound stopped her in mid sentence, and then Trey fell on top of me as we all screamed different four-letter-words.

"I came from his village." I finished.

"and that village is where?" she asked not unkindly.

"I don't actually know." I said."

"I do not know either. Sorry." Trey added.

"Okay the girl sighed, trying to get a grip on the situation.

"He needs to become a trainer, and to do that, he needs a real partner, for I am just his friend, and my name is Trey, madam." Trey explained.

"Bianca" she said, "Call me Bianca. madam is, like, way to formal."

I introduced myself as well, and Bianca seemed to be back in her element. "Well you can't start with Wigglytuff, using a third-stager as your starter is forbidden. You have to earn the privilege of having one either by evolving one of your current Pokémon into a third-stager or using one of your Pokémon to catch a third-stager. You'll also need at least one gym badge or two before you can use him in battles depending on his level, though you can travel with him as a sort of protecter if you have at least one badge, or permission from someone like my boss.."

I opened my mouth to reply, but was stopped by a sound I recognized; an Xtransceiver ringing.

"Speaking of," Bianca said under her breath before taking the call.

"Yes," she answered, "Your heading back right?" a woman's voice asked.

"Yes, as soon as I figure out what to do with this young man and talking Wigglytuff that just exploded into my path."

"Exploded!" exclaimed the woman, "Or boomed, or poofed, or something like that. Bianca answered.

"Anyway the boy, Michael, needs a starter and Wigglytuff won't do so... well... Umm. help?"

"Nate and Hugh?"

"Already taken care of. I've still got two Unova starters, if you want to go that rout, but Michael would only have two choices, unless we used, 'the others'."

"All right. This seems to be a unique circumstance. He deserves unique choices, so We'll use the 'Others'. Just remember that you still have the Unova Pokémon to fall back on if the 'others' don't like him."

"You're Juniper!" I blurted out; pointing at the disembodied voice, "And your her sort-of assistant Bianca!"

"Full-fledged assistant now. Gees, where have you been the last two years? Living under a Gigalith?"

Now I knew where I was; based on the various clues I'd been given, but the route 19 look-out? That was new.

Trey had long-since removed himself from my person, so I climbed to my feet.

He moved away as Bianca removed something from her pockets"

"Call me when it's over?" Juniper asked before cutting the connection.

somewhat abruptly Bianca said, "Okay, pick one."

I must have looked confused, because after a moment Trey said "Michael, she has three Ball things in her hands. Just pick one two or three."

"Or you could pick 13, 138 or 203; wait! You're blind? Wow!" asked Bianca; obviously astounded.

"Yes I am." I said.

"This'll definitely be interesting." she said.

I suddenly had an idea.

"We seem to be on some sort of raised platform within a town, right?" I asked no one in particular.

Both Trey and Bianca confirmed my theory.

"There's only one way on or off of this platform?" I asked.

"I think I know what he has in mind." Trey happily said, moving; I gathered; to block the look-out's exit. Bianca seemed to catch on to, as I heard three vary loud sounds I recognized as Poké balls opening; one after another; from her vicinity.

"Okay, they're out!" Bianca Said, "Now, I guess we wait, and see what happens."

I crouched down to receive whatever came my way.

"Bianca?" Trey began, "I thought their were more than 700 Pokémon, has something changed?

"Not really, but they were consolidated so that their are now only about 380 or so. Basically all Pokémon in a single evolution line were combined into one number, You; for example; used to be number 40, but now you're number 15. This makes it so that new trainers; like your friend here; have an easier time digesting things."

As they were talking, a furry; somewhat chubby; creature climbed into my lap and, looked at me?

I reached out hesitantly and gently felt it; finding a tail and wings on its backside, as well as a curl of hair on its forehead in between Two long, roundish ears coming off its head.

The face was strange, as the poor creature appeared to have no nose and a... fang? coming out of the left side of its mouth.

It had two stocky arms that each ended in a three-fingered hand with two fingers and; I guest; an opposable thumb, and its stubby legs ended in feet that each had a single toe on it.

During this examination, the creature didn't move much, say for the occasional nervous shake and somewhat fearful breathing.

"What is this?" I asked, finding a lull in the conversation.

"A Clefairy, number 13. Her name's Hope." Bianca supplied. "and." she added, "She looks a lot like... Trey was it?"

"Yes Bianca." Trey acknowledged.

"Same type to." Bianca finished.

I gently hugged the Clefairy to me, enjoying the feel of her body until she suddenly spoke.

"I'm sorry sir, you seem like a really nice guy, but, I have, things, to do, and I don't think you'll be able to help me do them."

I started at her perfect speach as she used her hands to feel my face.

She then cupt my chin in her hands and staied vary still for a few moments.

"And, it doesn't look like I can help you either, so, we should just part ways here." Hope said before, sort of, hop/skippping away from me, causing Bianca to say; more to herself than to us, "so close, yet, so far." in a rather dejected way.

"She's second-stage," Bianca began, "but we thought, given your... situation, that we'd give you at least a chance for some leeway. The next two, however, are first-stage."

"So, why did you consider letting Hope travel with me then?" I asked,

"Clefairy used to be considered a first-stager until its first form Cleffa was discovered, So... we thought we'd give you a chance with her, seeing as she's... vary unique... among her kind. That, and she and Cleffa now have the same number due to the consolidation."

"I'm really vary sorry." Hope said again.

"That's okay. I'm sure I'll..." I trailed off as something; quite literally; appeared in my lap. It was small and roughly humanoid in shape with smooth skin, but its hair covered its face making it impossible for me to get a look at its facial features. It had a horn or spike coming out of each side of its head which it preceded to press into my forehead; first from its left spike, then from the right. It held each of these positions for several seconds, and then it started to fill my mind with gibberish I was unable to make out. "I beg your pardon?" I asked. It then moaned despairingly before braking out in its own tung.

"Ra Ra Raltsss!" it wined.

"Why couldn't you be the one?" Hope asked.

At first, I thought she was scolding me, but upon further reflection, I realized she was simply translating the speach of the pokémon into english.

"ralts?" I asked.

The creature gave an afermative sound, so I continued.

"If you're asking why I can't understand what you just blasted at me, that could possibly be because I'm not from, around here. Keep your chin up though, I have faith you'll find who your ment to find before long."

The ralts made a sound before leaving the way it came.

"I think, he says thank you?" Trey translated.

"You're vary welcome." I replied.

"No dice.. Oh well." Bianca said. After some time she finally added, "You're the first person Ralts has allowed to touch. Oh, he's number 138."

We waited for about a minute before Bianca offered me a choice between the Unova Pokémon she had left; Snivy and Tepig, numbers 245 and 246 respectively.

I decided to give them a chance, so Bianca let them out as well.

We didn't have to wate to long for the results.

Both Pokémon must have taken one look at me and decided that I wasn't right for them, because I heard a snort and hiss; most likely from Tepig and Snivy respectively, before both Pokémon went back into their Poké Balls at the same time.

"Well, that was a bust." I said dejectedly.

I knew that their was still one Pokémon from the original three that hadn't bothered to show itself.

before I could ask what it was, I heard... what sounded like foot-falls proceeded by stumbling. or tripping, accompanied by quickly stifled laughter from Trey and Bianca.

"Piiip... Pluuuuup!" yelled a voice. I then heard wings flapping; and more stifled laughter; before something somewhat clumsily landed in my lap.

"Piplup Pip Piplup Pip plup Pip Piplup." it said.

"You're definitely a Piplup." I said.

"You choose him as your trainer?" Bianca asked.

"Did you not just say that you hated him?" Trey asked.

"No! I hate trainers in general." Piplup said through Hope.

"That is how my people feel, though I am the exception to the rule. Is that how it is with you?" Trey asked.

"not really, but this guy needs help. and; reluctant as I am to be trained; I feel I can help him. Not to mention I'm the only choice left after the others denied him." Piplup replied once again through Hope.

She then climbed into my lap and just stood their.

While she did, I touched... a small rounded, down covered bird that had a small beak and wings that were more like flippers.

She suddenly let out a loud sigh in Hope's direction before saying something to her.

"I'll be fine sarah, just go." Hope said.

Sarah said something else, then walked a short distance away from me.

"Sarah. That promis was made when both of us were young, well, younger, and doesn't really apply now that we have a handle on my powers." Hope explained.

"But you need protection." Sarah said before walking back toward me.

I started at the fact that I could suddenly; somehow; understand Sarah's speach now that she wasn't almost in my face.

"I'll have it. Trust me, with my status, I'll have more protection than I want." Hope said as she walked over to stand next to Sarah.

"Besides, didn't you tell me a few days ago that you really wanted to trabel the world?" Hope asked in a whisper as Sara climbed back into my lap.

"Pipluuup!" Sarah said in a vary happy voice.

"I guess that settles it." Bianca said, "Sarah's your starting Pokémon. Here is her"

Sarah jumped out of my lap; making an elaborate jesture as she did so.

"No ball thingy. I walk by his side freely, or not at all. she declared.

"Picky." both Bianca and Trey said together.

"Picky? Yes? Proud? somewhat. Selfish... not so much; at least, not for me personally." Sarah said.

"Okay, we'll see how this works out." Bianca said, yet she still handed me the 'ball thingy' saying, "Just in case you need it later."

I retrieved my belongings, then stood and unfolded my cane.

"Hay that's neat!" Sarah exclaimed, "Your Wigglytuff is motioning you over to it."

"Sarah? His name is Trey." I said making my way over to him with the aid of his voice cues.

"That is my foot." he said calmly as I bumped it with my cane.

I followed the cane's shaft down to the furry foot; finding it bigger than I expected; and ran my hand up the front of Trey's equally furry body; noting that he was about three feet tall with stubby arms and big ears.

"You feel nice." I commented. At the same time, I wondered why I could suddenly understand Sarah.

Trey sighed at my comment before saying, "Nice, and, cute." in a stoic manner.

"Oh I didn't mean it like that." I said; feeling bad at agrovating an obvious nurve Trey seemed to have regarding his appearance.

"But I am a nice, cute, fluffy, pet." Trey said in the same tones.

"Only if you want to be." I said before turning to address Bianca.

"So, where to?" I asked; deciding the questions regarding how I could understand Sara's speech and those pertaining to Trey's issues could wait until later.

Bianca's Xtransceiver rang. "Yes, Sarah... sure... maybe Hope a little later... yes... Umm he's blind... so... Really! Okay."

"You two should head up route 19 to Floccesy town." Bianca said to me.

"Somehow, everything, trainer related will be taken care of there. I'm sorry I can't tell you any more than that, but Juniper is being kind of cryptic on that subject.

"I want you to attempt to make it their on your own." Trey began, "If you have not arrived in, oh, shall we say thirty minutes" "Oh please" Bianca interjected, "Half that should do it, and, you really can't get lost. Besides which, the Pokémon are at a really low level, and you've got Sarah to help out on that front.

"Yeah?" sarah added uncertainly. We're going to hold on to Hope for a little wile; just in case one of you changes their minds and wants to travel with the other."

Oh, one last thing. If you run into anyone who wants a battle, just tell them you just came from Aspertia City, and you don't have a Pokédex yet. That should solve any trainer-related problems. It's not a vary big or long route," she continued, "so you shouldn't have any navigational problems.

During this conversation, Trey lead me down some stairs and through what I could only guess was Aspertia City until we arrived at some sort of little shack. As I examined it with my cane, Bianca explained that it was a gate house.

"There are a lot of them in Unova, so you should have plenty of help. I.. we have to leave now." she finished.

Trey walked away from me to stand by her saying, "So, good luck and a pleasant journey to you both."

With that they began walking away. I leveled my Braille compass flat and; opening it; I took my bearings

Finding myself facing north, I took the first steps of what I knew would end up being a long, strange, surprising and equally confusing journey.

"So, where is this new facility I'll be working from?" crystal Brightstar asked into the computer monitor.

The agent on the other end was not one to mince words, but Crystal needed to know where she was going so she could catalogue the region and mark it on her blacklist if her daughter didn't turn up their either.

"Unova, Aspertia City." was the agent's only response.

Good, that wasn't on the list yet. Crystal knew her work would always keep her moving from region to region, city to city, but that it was a necessary prerequisite for the task of keeping the power of unquestioning obedience out of the hands of those who would use it for evil ends.

that's good," crystal said to the agent, but then, felt it necessary to add, "My daughter?"

Crystal knew that it was always a possibility that her daughter could end up in the hands of a really bad trainer, and; even though she'd decided she wouldn't interfere with her daughter's life, she felt obligated to keep tabs on her whereabouts, just in case.

The agent paused for some time, and Crystal began to worry.

"The Unova trainer network registered her as being captured by a trainer a few months ago, but things have taken a turn for the worst. That's also why we're sending you to Unova."

Crystal wanted to inquire as to her daughter's situation, but the agent wasn't done talking yet.

It just so happens to be convenient for your work as well, and you can use it as cover if need be."

Crystal was about to get vary angry; angry enough to fill her lungs with enough air to produce a sound of such volume, that everyone in the city she was currently stationed in would know her predicament regardless of if they wanted to or not.

The hulking form of Bella; her 'protector'; chose that moment to step in.

"Christina is not your tool!" she said in a slightly rumbling voice that was neither male nor female, deep nor high, but still carried enough authority to put power into her words no matter if she was speaking loudly or not.

"I know she isn't, that kind of came out wrong, but certain people will be less likely to question why crystal suddenly picked up and moved if her daughter's involved." The man on the other end of the line replied.

"That does make sense, but what's wrong with her?" Crystal asked; recovering a bit.

"I'm not going to say, but I've just sent you the details, in your own proprietary encryption method, of course." the agent replied smoothly.

Crystal knew he meant her own method of encryption that was unbreakable, even by military annalists, as it was technically illegal to have 256-bit, let alone 512-bit encryption unless you were working for the military or another government organization.

Given the nature of the information she was protecting, however, she'd deemed it necessary to develop her own method of encryption to protect it, and only allowed the people helping her with her work to have access to a program that could use its algorithms to encrypt data.

She checked her private inbox, found the message the agent had sent her, and filed it away to be decrypted later.

"The details of your assignment are also included in that message, so I'll talk to you soon okay? Lance out."

The line abruptly went dead; the securitty incryption protocols winking out as well.

Bella got up from her chair and began to clomp over to stand by crystal.

The two of them couldn't have looked more different.

Bella was an extremely tall; and also extremely pink; creature made out of either coral or rock, or maybe even a mixture of the two, but nobody; not even Bella herself; new the exact ratio of the components.

Her shell had a hard, grainy; almost pebbly texture, and it made every action she took make a resounding grading noise.

She had an appendage that extended from each of her two arms that was a cross between a claw and a hand, having five digits and an opposable thumb.

Each arm had an elbow and shoulder; just like a person, but the bones that defined such connections were hidden; if they existed at all.

Her legs were the same, except they ended in something almost like a human foot; just without toes.

Her face, was more like a ball on top of her neck. Their was no mouth to speak of, just a hole in the ball that showed her teeth and tun.

Where her bottom lip should have been, their was a kind of combination beak slash fork thing that might have let her cut food and the like, provided of course that she even needed to eat food at all.

She had no nose either; making it so she had to breathe quite noisily through her mouth.

She was presently doing such a thing as her body labored to walk over to crystal; her leg joints cracking with the rise and fall of each leg.

She didn't move like a robot in any way shape or form, though her motions were far from graceful.

Crystal; for her part; wasn't tall or heavy, but she wasn't really in either the fat or skinny camp either.

Measuring about five feet in the hight department, she came up to about bella's chest.

Her body was covered with a fur of medium thickness that was almost like sand paper to the touch.

She mostly resembled an over-grown mouse, but her ears were just slightly more prominent than the average mouse, and she had no whiskers either.

Unlike a normal mouse; however; she had no tale.

""I guess you'd better get with bethany about where she's going to get her herbs and baries from." Crystal said, then added; with a sigh, "Again."

"I guess so. we'll still manage to make our medicines no matter where we move to, so she'll be happy." bella said; unconcerned.

She then stood right in front of crystal, and gave an extremely exaggerated sigh; in which was hidden an infrasonic pulse.

From somewhere within one of Crystal's pokets, came a vary small beep that only she could here.

from out of said poket, she pulled what looked like a combination USB thumb drive and modern cigaret lighter.

"What are we going to do if you and I ever split up?" Crystal asked as she plugged the USB part into her PC and moved the incrypted file onto it.

"You'll think of something I'm sure." Bella replied as Crystal pulled the stick out.

"You know this could have waited right?" Crystal asked; making a show of flipping the device around to the cigaret lighter portion and appearing to light up without actually using a cigaret.

"It's about Christina. You'll be bugging me to do the intro part of the decryption later if we don't do it now." Bella said pointedly.

The device responded as it would if it were a normal lighter, but Crystal blew some watery breath onto the flame; extinguishing it.

"Guilty. she said before introducing more water into the place where the lighter mechanics were, causing a small reservoir to fill with her unique water before closing.

after a few seconds, the device began to beep, faster and faster; until it flatlined.

She then inserted the device back into her PC, and the screen blacked out before scroling numbers in multiple columbs down the screen.

unbeknownst to all except Crystal and Bella, these numbers were actually scrambled ASCII that only Crystal could decode.

She read the information, then stifled a scream.

"That bad huh?" Bella asked.

"some idiot trainer used the experimental speaking tM on my daughter! Now christina's out in the wild doing, Saying, who knows what!"

crystal was fuming, but she took a few breaths to calm down.

"I'll pack as fast as I possibly can." bella said quietly before leaving the room.

Bethany? she called as she made her way down the hall.

"I heard about Christina. I don't think we currently have any potions in production, do we?"

The voice came from the level of Bella's feet. Approaching her from the other end of the hall was a small flower-like being who couldn't have been more than six enches tall at most, with pale skin and a rather frail appearance.

The Bellossom known as Bethany Porter wasn't known for her appearance, but for her talent with all things natural when it came to medicines.

Together, her and Bella made up the only two members of an apothecary business whose products rivaled those distributed by high-end pharmacies.

The fact that they moved around a lot actually benefited Bethany a great deal, as the quality of her products inspired many people to atempt to steal said products.

Living with crystal was a precarious arangement, though one that aforded both parties protection.

It allowed Bethany to run her business with bella's help; as she was to small to do any of the physical tasks required of an apothecary such as grinding and distilling herbs.

Bella could also act as backup protection for Crystal; who was no slouch herself, as she was in charge of keeping safe the vary items that could allow evil people to control powerful Pokémon without any resistance until a way could be found to destroy such items.

"It's a good thing to, because I can start packing all the glass bottles in towels right now." bella replied as she entered the room they were using as the apothecary's headquarters.

"I know I can't help you pack, but can I do anything to help?" Bethany's small voice asked.

"You sure can." Crystal said from the doorway.

"You can tell me how to organise all this stuff, again. I need to keep myself busy right now."

She looked in Bella's direction before continuing.

"I just started the shutdown process on all the electronics." She handed bella a set of keys.

"Could you do me a favor and pull the car around and start packing everything up while I deal with the delicate items?"

"Sure." bella said taking the keys.

She knew she wasn't the most graceful creature when it came to handeling brakable things, so she was more than happy to pack up crystals electronics instead.