Author's Note: Full author's note will be at the end of this chapter. I don't want to spoil this chapter for you.


The Doctor stood up, as if he were perfectly fine. "Permission?" he asked as he glanced at the still groggy Rory.

"Granted," he murmured.

He gave a mock salute to him and stooped down to Amy's eye level but did not hug her like he normally would have. Instead, he reached around her neck and began rapidly rubbing through her fur. It was definitely something she was not use to experiencing. She felt both energized and relaxed, how she could be both at the same time she didn't know. "Doctor, what are you doing?"

"An old trick used to pacify all types of vulpine beings in the universe," he answered. "And it seems to be working on you right now as well."

"Doctor! I've had enough!"

Despite her protests, he continued this for a while longer before moving on to Rory. "And look at you, Rory. All big and strong…come here!" He attempted to give him a hug, but he failed to reach a height where he could wrap both arms completely. Rory still returned the gesture of friendship, but he accidentally crushed the Doctor in the process. "ACK! Please let go, Rory." He quickly released him, allowing him to gasp for air. "Blimey…I forgot…how strong…you are now…"

He finally noticed the group of Pokémon who could only stare at him. He promptly recovered and straightened his bowtie. "Oh, hello there. I'm the Doctor."

"…You're the Doctor?" Manaphy asked with a somewhat disappointed tone in his voice.

"Yup! You didn't seem so enthusiastic, though. Why?"

Bidoof talked instead. "Wait, you understood that? Humans aren't supposed to understand Pokémon."

"Well, of course I did. I'm not human. I'm Time Lord. Now, why do I not seem to be well regarded by you three?"

"Why?" Piplup asked.

The Doctor frowned. "Sorry, what?"

The pain and fury that had built up in Piplup was released. "WHY?!" he yelled, which echoed through the entire cave and almost ruined everyone's hearing. "They took Chimchar, my best friend and my family. And they're not going to stop; they're going to keep going and going, tearing apart friends and families all over. Why does it have to be this way? If you're so feared as the Oncoming Storm or the Destroyer of Worlds, how come it's taken you so long just to show up?" He knew he was being very accusing and incendiary, but he wanted to know what this man was worth.

The Doctor was silent for a moment, letting Piplup calm down. He didn't know how a Pokémon he had never met knew those two names, but he decided to ask later. "I'm sorry," he started in a somber tone. "I truly am sorry for what happened to your friend, but I swear I will do whatever it takes to get him back." And despite Piplup's obvious anger at him, he understood it and attributed it to the loss of this Chimchar, who he must have regarded very well to consider him family. The Doctor knew the lengths he would go to for the sake of his friends, perhaps even more so with Amy and Rory, his first actual family in so long.

"How do I know if you can or if you will?" He intended it to be as hostile as he could muster, but all he really wanted was to get Chimchar back safe and sound.

"You have my word on this," he said with a smile. "Trust me. I'm the Doctor."

Piplup frowned. "No…after what's happened in the past few days, I can't just take your word at face value."

The Doctor looked rather disappointed. "So, what will it take for you to trust me?"

Piplup paused before responding. "I want to see your past. I have to know if I can trust you."

"You want to look into my time steam? And how do you plan on doing that?" The Doctor was getting very interested.

"I can see the past sometimes if I touch a special object," he said, unafraid to mention the Dimensional Scream.

"Interesting…what sort of object would you need?"

"I need something with a history. Anything that would tell me enough about you to trust you, preferably from someone who isn't you."

The Doctor reached into one of his pockets. "Catch."

He threw out a piece of metal, and Piplup reacted quickly. It appeared to be in the shape of a small icicle. "Er…what's this?"

"Shard of the Atraxi. It came from a group of beings who wanted to incinerate a planet that hadn't provoked them. I think it should suffice."

Needless to say, the familiar sensation began to overtake Piplup. "Urk…that feeling again…" He collapsed to the Dimensional Scream, hoping to get definitive answers to his questions.


"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated." The Commander had sent this message to the humans and given them twenty minutes to respond. This message had been repeated for the past eighteen minutes with almost no sign of recognition from the primitive species, and the squadron was ready to execute them for harboring one of the worst criminals to the Atraxi. They didn't really care whether or not they would have to carry out their threat to destroy them as long as they managed to destroy Prisoner Zero. He had escaped their midst for so long; the only reason they were this close to finishing him off was because they had followed the signal from the man in that little girl's bedroom. Their patience had worn thin, and they eagerly awaited his end.

It was then when they picked up a message from the humans. Posted on every single electronic board was the number zero. Clearly, someone had finally decided to answer them, and it appeared that they had Prisoner Zero. The Commander analyzed the primitive technology around the world and found that the message was caused by a virus that had originated on a device in a hospital in the country known as England. The Commander immediately went over there, searching for Prisoner Zero in the building. They finally spotted him just as he was about to attack some man wearing tattered, blue clothes.

"Prisoner Zero is located. Prisoner Zero is restrained." Following the psychic paper was a brilliant idea, and it had paid off. The Commander departed, and the squadron followed. They were only a few light-years away when a transmission came from the source of the virus.

"Oi!" a voice yelled. "I didn't say you could go! Article 57 of the Shadow Proclamation. This is a fully established Level 5 Planet, and you were going to burn it? What? Did you think no one was watching? You lot, back here, now."

Great, some agent wanted to deal with them. He probably wanted to extort something from them in exchange for not reporting the Atraxi to the body in charge of upholding Galactic Law. The Commander went back to the planet, specifically the hospital where Prisoner Zero had been captured. There stood three people. Quick scans showed two humans. The first was probably an employee at the place, given his ID. The second seemed to be some sort of law enforcement, though her uniform didn't seem to be exactly the same as the local authorities of this town called Leadworth.

"So, this was a good idea, was it?" the woman asked. "They were leaving."

The one that really caught the Commander's attention was the man whose shirt clashed with the assortment of neckwear he seemed to be trying on. "Leaving is good," he said. "Never coming back is better." He addressed the Commander. "Come on, then! The Doctor will see you now!"

He definitely fancied himself a lot to call himself the same as the man who saved the universe time and time again. A quick scan told them that, despite his humanoid appearance, the eccentrically dressed one was definitely nonhuman. "You are not of this world," the Commander simply stated. A more sophisticated scan was already in progress to determine his exact species.

"No, but I've put a lot of work into it," the man responded. He took some of the ties around his neck and threw them away. The other man caught them and placed them atop his pile of clothes.

"Is this world important?"

"Important? Six billion people live here, is that important? Here's a better question for you: is this world a threat to the Atraxi?" No response. "Come on, you're monitoring the whole planet. You know everything there is to know up until this point. Is this world a threat?"

The Commander opened files on Earth history. Humanity was striving to find its way into the stars, but it had only just scratched the surface of possibility. "No," the Commander admitted.

"Are the people of this world, at any point in history, guilty of any crime by the laws of the Atraxi?"

A closer look at those files. At many times in human history, humans had waged deadly, cruel wars against each other. And yet, there were so many more who strived for peace, education, and general well-being for each other. There were innovators who had brought upon the planet so much advancement in medicine, technology, and so many other fields in such a short time.

"No."

The man was poised for the kill. "One more, just one. Is this world protected? Because you're not the first to have been here. Oh, there have been so many!"

A different set of files was opened, listing the races who had come to this planet in hopes of taking it over. There were the Daleks, the foul beings from Skaro that wanted to exterminate all life in the universe, most recently having attempted to obliterate all creation. There were the Cybermen, who wanted to make all living beings like them. And then, there were the Sontarans, the creatures of war who had tried to convert Earth into a breeding ground for billions of soldiers. All of a sudden, pictures of so many different species appeared, each with its own motives for conquering the planet. The Commander couldn't believe that so many had tried and failed to conquer the vastly inferior humans.

As the pictures kept on coming the man asked one more question. "And what you've got to ask yourself is: what happened to them?"

One final set of files. There was an old man who was tired of his home planet, Gallifrey. He had stolen a Type 40 TARDIS and taken his granddaughter to see the universe rather than to just read about it. Then, another, slightly younger man. He had interfered with the fate of the universe, and his people punished him for it by taking his life. Then, a man who had become involved with an organization called the Unified Intelligence Taskforce. He was on the planet against his own will, but he soon learned to love it as his second home. Then, a slightly younger man with a strange, colorful and ridiculously long scarf. It was stranger that he was accompanied by a woman who was wearing a pink version of his outfit, scarf included. Perhaps the strangest part of all was the fact that a computer had just told him to marry her, and he actually proposed to her.

A much younger man took his place. For some reason, he was particularly fond of a piece of celery, which he always kept on his cricketer's jacket. He and a young woman had been poisoned, and, with only one antidote available, he gave it to her. There was another man who always wore mismatched clothes. He had met with a dark version of himself, and he resolved to ensure he would not become that man. And now an older man who had taken in a young orphan. He eagerly taught her the ways of the universe, though he certainly had his motives for her. Her strength was revered by many; she had even defeated a Dalek using only a baseball bat. Then, a younger man whose record of existence was uncertain. He urged people to seize life rather than stand idly by and helped them be their best.

The penultimate file was of a man hardened by the raw cruelty of war, the very worst one that had ever happened that had caused him to forsake all of his personal beliefs for the sake of all life in the universe. His feelings and affection were buried deep within, but a young woman managed to resurface them and make him better. For this, he was indebted to her forever, best shown when he had sacrificed himself to save her life. Finally, a young man who had many different friends, including an immortal man, a woman who had fallen in love with him, and a woman who had been able to match his wits. They together had done so much, saving all of creation from being wiped out on numerous occasions. He saved a man's life as his final act and saw his friends one last time before he met his end.

Ten different faces. Ten different personalities. One man. One name…

The man stepped through the final image, fully clad with a tweed jacket he had picked up and a red bowtie. "Hello," he whispered, "I'm the Doctor."

The scan confirmed it, and the Commander's eye widened in alarm. He was the Doctor, the last Time Lord in the universe at the age of 907. He was the one who took it upon himself to bear the greatest burden and commit horrible atrocities so that all in the universe might have a chance to live. He alone stood up against the monsters his people had become and destroyed them so that all of time and space would not cease to exist. Personally, he was a charitable man who abhorred violence and sought to right whatever wrongs he could. To those who targeted the weak or the innocent, he offered one chance to repent or else suffer his consequences, best summarized by what he had done to the Family of Blood. And right now, the Atraxi had just threatened to burn humanity to ashes…

"Basically…" he said with his arms outstretched pointed towards the sky, "run." The Commander didn't need to be told twice. Speedily departing from that planet, the Commander noted that Earth was under the protection of the Doctor, and the Atraxi were not welcome because of their threat. Feeling lucky to have gotten off with merely a warning, the Commander would ensure that Earth would remain off their plans.


Piplup woke up with a start. "Whoa…that was…intense…" He didn't know who the Atraxi were, much less Prisoner Zero. The only thing that was really important was how high the Atraxi had regarded the Doctor despite drawing his ire. According to that Commander, the Doctor bore such a terrible burden for the good of so many others he didn't know. He still didn't think he could fully trust the mysterious man, but he could confide in him enough for the sake of his friends, his family, and his home.

"Are we good?" the Doctor asked.

He stared at the Time Lord for a moment before nodding. "Alright, Doctor. But mind you, I don't trust you completely. I only trust you a tiny bit."

He belatedly wondered if the Doctor would take offense to his tone, but the Doctor just grinned. "That's all I need."

He was about to go off about why he had been late when something occurred to Piplup. "Er, Doctor? I was wondering…who were those two people with you at that time?"

Piplup noticed the immediate change of expression on both Amy and Rory, but the Doctor seemed eager to talk. "Ah, those two. Well, the nurse you saw is a very good friend of mine who, despite his young appearance, knows what it's like to live for a very long time. He's a very loyal man who waited 2,000 years to keep the woman he loved safe. Nothing can keep him down, not even death…hell, not even the end of the universe would stop him from being there for her."

"The policewoman," he continued as Piplup saw a momentary smirk cross his face, "is the woman he fell in love with. She was a fiercely independent woman who, at the same time, possessed a compassionate heart that allowed her to see things even my eyes would miss. People who were lost or forgotten would always find a friend in her; she kept all of them in her heart, no matter how difficult it would be. And although she had spent her childhood hoping that a daft, old, raggedy man would be there for her, she grew up to realize that the only man she truly needed had been right beside her all along."

Piplup glanced at Manaphy and Bidoof. Both of them were completely lost; the Doctor's words were more gibberish than actual descriptions. And yet, he felt that he understood how highly he valued those two people, and he saw the look of relief on their faces. It was comforting to know that there were good people and that they were right in that cave, though he decided to keep the fact that he had figured it out a secret. He allowed himself to smile.

The Doctor took it as a sign that it was time to get back to the present. "Right, so, we've got ourselves a mysterious organization that wants to take over the world. Nothing that I haven't ever dealt with, but I want to know what you know so far. All I know is that their lower level personnel aren't very nice. Lots of pain in that crash, but, thankfully, the TARDIS was there for me. She even picked those two up, although they're probably wandering the corridors right now…sorry rambling again. Anyways, Amy, Rory, what have you got?"

"Well, Doctor," Amy said, "right now we've got next to nothing. Whatever they're planning involves some form of mind control. Their leader, some woman who seems to be fond of the color purple, is somehow able to use it and is raising an army of Pokémon for some reason."

"She also seems to be going after powerful Pokémon," Rory said, picking up from where Amy left off. "She apparently wants the power of time and space, Manaphy, who has great power over the sea, and two Pokémon called the chosen ones."

"Time and space, that could be a very big problem. Manaphy, we have that advantage. Chosen ones…some prophecy of some sort?"

"The chosen ones may have meant Chimchar and me," Piplup said.

"What?" Amy asked. "Why? How come we didn't know about this?"

"Never came up, I guess. I should probably tell you about what we've been able to do together."

For some time afterwards, the Doctor, Amy, and Rory listened as Piplup, Manaphy, and Bidoof told the story of how Piplup and Chimchar had saved their world twice from Darkrai's attempts to change their world into a pit of darkness. They all were impressed by their will to persevere despite the tremendous odds against them. Amy and Rory noted that the Doctor hadn't interrupted his story even once. Perhaps that was because he was considering how Piplup described the reason he was still alive and Darkrai's sudden powers of time and space.

"So that's why they took Chimchar, then?" Amy said. "They need him so they can take control of Dialga?"

"That's what I would expect," Piplup replied gravely. The Sacred Land where Temporal Tower was located was only open to him and Chimchar. "If they're after Dialga and Palkia, they would need one of us on their side."

"But that still doesn't explain how powerful that woman is," Rory stated. "Doctor, how is it possible for that woman to be able to control such a dangerous Pokémon as Darkrai. I don't think that some machine could have such power."

"Yes…well maybe…I don't know," the Doctor said. "It might be possible to have such a machine, but mind control is very glitch and unreliable. It takes a tremendous amount of power to get it to work. The question is, where did that power come from? But first, I'm curious as to how you have this Dimensional Scream ability. Let me take a look."

He took out his trusty tool. "What is that thing?" Piplup asked.

"Sonic screwdriver. Very important thing, never leave home without it." He pressed a button to scan him. Moving it up and down and then drawing it back to read the results, the Doctor had a puzzled look on his face. "Very interesting readings…I'm picking up a lot of vortex energy from you. The thing is, it's not pure vortex energy. If it were, you would have burned up by now; nothing is meant to carry pure vortex energy except a TARDIS. What I see is filtered vortex energy, something that's already been processed by a TARDIS. Specifically, mine. How did that happen…?"

"Doctor?"

He turned around to see Bidoof had asked for him. "Hm? Yes?"

"Absolutely nothing you've said has made sense to either Manaphy or me. What's going on? How did Piplup suddenly go from yelling at you to working with you? Who are you?"

The Doctor pursed his lips together. "Ah, I forgot. The most important part of this whole thing would be the TARDIS: Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. She's my transport all across time and space and…rambling again, aren't I?" He saw the blank stares and tried a different approach. "Well, perhaps the best way to tell you is to show you." He snapped his fingers, and the doors of the blue box opened. He gestured for the Pokémon to enter. Bidoof cautiously stepped through the doors and gaped at the sight of the interior. Manaphy followed his example and stared in a reverent awe. When Piplup came in, he felt that there was something familiar about it, though he couldn't quite tell why.

The Doctor strolled in along with Amy and Rory. "So, first impressions? Any lasting words for posterity?"

"…It's bigger on the inside…" was all Manaphy and Bidoof could manage.

The Doctor smiled. "Now, THAT is how you do it! So, Piplup?"

"Somehow…I feel at peace here…" He paused and turned towards the Doctor. "There wouldn't happen to be a swimming pool around, would there?"

The Doctor smiled at the curious statement. "Hm…interesting reaction. I want to know why you reacted the way you did. But before that, I also want to find out more about this woman. I entered some data into the TARDIS databank based on what you were able to tell me, and I have a match from the Sinnoh region. We're going to go find some answers to who this woman is." With that, the Doctor raced to the controls, pressed a lot of different buttons, and pulled the lever. The best sound in the universe emanated from the console as the TARDIS began taking off for the Sinnoh region, where, hopefully, there would be some answers.


Author's Note: I've got this note at the end this time because I didn't want to spoil the Dimensional Scream scene any more than I already had. Since the beginning of this story, I'd been looking forward to writing one of my most favorite moments in Doctor Who. I thought that it was the perfect way to pay homage to all the actors who had previously taken up the role while cementing Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor.

Now, I've definitely been writing this a lot more than I have my essays in the past week or so. I will likely not be updating for a while. Even once I am done with college essays, I'll probably try to shift my focus to my other Doctor Who crossover, The Mystery of Terra, because I have been largely ignoring it. I thank the many readers who have shown a lot of support for this piece. Without it, I probably would not have even gotten this far. However, I also must take into account the readers who have been patiently waiting for an update on The Mystery of Terra for a while now. I do hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to get back to this as soon as possible.