Chapter One: Strange New World

The Milky Way galaxy was pretty big.

Truth be told, "big" was probably a serious understatement when concerning the massive swirling clump of stars, split up into four quadrants and home to thousands of species. To pre-warp societies, it was probably even more enormous than they could imagine. Even the most advanced of species would take years to cross its entirety.

But it wasn't that impressive.

The universe, consisting of an immeasurable number of galaxies and being larger than most anyone could believe, was even more awe-inspiring. Creatures spoke of knowing the "secrets of the universe"; of knowing all there was to know of it. Every kind of species one could conjure up in one's mind was likely somewhere in this vast expanse, simply waiting to be discovered. The human race often spoke of "seeking out new life and new civilizations" and "boldly going where no one has gone before".

Such an insolent species, thinking they were even brushing the surface of civilization. They considered their cozy little galaxy and their primitive starships to count as fulfilling their mission, when they couldn't so much as make it to the neighboring Andromeda galaxy.

Pathetic.

But, even exploring the entire universe was nothing. They didn't even know what lay beyond the invisible boundary; between the lines they could hardly decipher. No, they had no clue the secrets the multiverse held.

True, some of the species in the Milky Way had accidentally found their way into a parallel universe, or "mirror universe", as it was more commonly known. They had the same galaxies and planets as their sibling universes, but the outcomes of events could be vastly different. In one universe, two species could be allies, while in the other, warring enemies. In one universe, for example, the young human Hoshi Sato was a lowly communications officer. In another, she was the Empress of the Terran Empire. The same individual occurred in both planes, yet she had two drastically different personalities.

Now, that – that was interesting.

No one understood this better than one very significant race known simply as the "Q".

They were a self-proclaimed god-like species that resided in a place called the Q Continuum. The entities had been around for billions of years, as they were measured in Earth time. Humanity hadn't had many contacts with them, and generally it was one Q in particular who stirred up trouble for the young, arrogant race. Oh, sure, it was usually one particular group of people that the powerful trickster felt needed a test; something to really expand their minds. It usually turned out to be nothing but a blame-fest at Q's expense, but by the end, they came out better than before.

No one seemed to understand Q's motives for the tests, but they were quite simple. He wanted to know how far they had come in the past million or so years of being evolved, sentient beings, and if they were worth keeping alive at all. For, in truth, he was an explorer himself. He wanted to know everything… not that he didn't already. While all the other Q sat around the Continuum doing absolutely nothing, he had taken it upon himself to go out and do something. That had usually involved some hapless group of bipeds, or whoever intrigued him at the moment. Q was quite familiar with two specific humans: Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Admiral Kathryn Janeway. They were interesting, yes, and had in fact assisted him in past times, but there came a time when they became… boring.

As in, right then.

Neither were currently fighting the Borg, or even trying to hold the galaxy together in spite of a massive war against the Dominion, or doing anything interesting. Even the pea-brained Klingons were behaving for once. He could have started a massive war with a snap of his fingers, yes, but…. Well, he'd gotten in enough trouble with the Continuum already. That wouldn't do. Nonetheless, Q needed some deviation from this minutia. He needed… What was the word? A "vacation". He needed a vacation.

So, just like that, he took one.

The entity opened his eyes, and he found himself standing on a crowded sidewalk. All around him, people walked quickly past him, occasionally brushing past and muttering an apology at him. He was donning his typical humanoid appearance: A man in his mid forties, with dark, swept-back hair, light skin, and dressed in typical civilian clothing of the century. Q, of course, knew where he was. It was the Earth city known as New York, a hotspot for activity even in this universe. The year was… ah, yes, 2163. Significant to this planet, just another year in billions of such for Q. He recognized every bipedal race as they passed him: Vulcan, Human, Denobulan, Andorian, and even the occasional Coridan would slip by.

The city looked the same, complete with skyscrapers that defied the laws of physics and people who, like the buildings, defied the laws… of morality. At first glance, it was "same old, same old". This planet even had a Starfleet. Q shook his head at the thought. What was it with these people? Why did they insist on, in every universe, travelling to the stars when they had enough problems on their own home world? He'd expected it, yes, but it didn't make him any happier to see it here, too.

All in all, nothing too shocking existed here. Except for one thing.

It was the non-humanoids that caught him off guard. They were like the non-sentient races in physiology and build, except that he sensed they were sentient. They were more driven by instinct, maybe, but definitely harbouring some kind of feeling in their minds. It was unusual to see so many advanced races all on the same planet.

Q blinked at the sudden realization that he didn't know everything there was to know about this place. He didn't even know what the animal-like creatures were referred to as. As he walked aimlessly down the street, he took it upon himself to scan a few minds, just to discover some answers. He wasn't being that intrusive, after all; he just took a peek into a few thousand brains. They wouldn't even know.

All at once, it came to him. They were called Pokémon, and they were unlike just about anything he'd encountered. They apparently possessed elemental abilities, ranging from fire to psychic to even steel and rock. Here on Earth, many people acquired a Pokémon at the age of ten Standard years. They would then go off on a frivolous "adventure" with their newfound friend, stirring up trouble and trying to expand their knowledge and the like. Most of these Pokémon lived harmoniously with humanity and the other species, yet some were so powerful and feared they were considered gods in this universe. A few names came to mind… Dialga, Palkia, Lugia, and some fellow named Arceus.

He smiled. Gods, hmm? Q thought. I'd like to see what these gods can do.

The thought moved to the back of his mind as he mentally filed through hundreds of names, types, and abilities of the creatures. Some were more mysterious than others, but almost all had been seen, except –

He stopped straight in his tracks. He had a name, and a silhouette in the back of his mind, but no clear image. That had to be impossible. He'd just moved on and read every living mind on this hemisphere. Q frowned, began walking once again, and this time more quickly. He wanted answers about this… "Myuutsu", and he wanted them now. He turned into an alley, took a quick glance to see no one was watching (the Q had a non-interference directive, believe it or not) and vanished in a flash.

When he reappeared, he was standing in San Francisco's computer library. Q stalked over to a computer, tapped a few buttons, and leaned in. "Computer," he commanded, "find all data on the individual known as 'Myuutsu'."

"Working," the computer replied, and several moments later, said, "There is no data on such an individual."

"What…?" he breathed, brow crinkling at it.

"There is no dat-"

"I heard what you said, you primitive box of wires and cables," Q snapped. How did humans stand these things? "Fine then, find all data on unusual events in the… northeastern hemisphere of the planet in the last year."

A pause, and then, "Fifty-three results found."

"Show me the most recent one."

On the screen appeared a news article, this one from the Asian region of Kanto, near Japan. He leaned forward, reading it. The picture here matched the silhouette he'd picked up from a human. The article was vague; something about the "third sighting in the past four months". But that wasn't what interested Q. After a moment, though, he found what he had been looking for. It was not in Asia, but here, in North America...

A smirk played on the entity's face as he read off the name of the city.

"Always wanted to visit New York City."

And with that, Q was gone.