Gilderoy Lockhart and the Legend of Victini

A Harry Potter / Pokémon Story

Note: As I am neither neither Rowling or one of her licensees, or a licensee of the Pokémon Company, this is hardly an authorized tale, nor one that is likely to ever be authorized, due to the unorthodox nature of it. Yet, for all that, it is a tale with a life of its own, which stole into my mind and demanded to be written. And as one knows, I've always had a weakness for a tale…

Summary: In the wake of his disappearance from the Chamber of Secrets, most in the Wizarding World remember the late Gilderoy Lockhart as a fraud. A pitiful, fame-obsessed man who stole the achievements of others for his own, and fittingly met his end when a stolen wand exploded in his grasp. Few remember the boy he once was, the child consumed with the desire to become the very best, like no one ever was. Even fewer remember the young Ravenclaw who worked and studied alone, throwing himself into his schoolwork with a passion few had ever seen – until the day he simply stopped, broken by the bitter realization that he wasn't good enough. That he would never be good enough - that even on his best day, he would never be more than merely above average. And none would have suspected that in the moment of his undoing, what little remained of the boy cried out for a second chance – or that worlds away, that wish would be granted.

Chapter 2. Awakening

Over the course of his long and storied career, Gilderoy Lockhart had woken up in quite a few strange situations, some of which had been due to his fame, some of which had resulted from…unexpected complications during one of his "research trips", and some of which had only been achieved with the help of strong liquor.

Still, he'd never come to in what he thought was a hospital, with some bipedal, pink-and-cream creature prodding him with…feelers extending from its floppy ears, under the supervision of a rather perky redhead in some kind of uniform that consisted of a pink dress going down to the knees, a white apron, and a white hat emblazoned with a blue cross.

'…a blue cross…'

Something about the symbol seemed familiar, though no organization of Healers he knew of used a cross.

'…or have uniforms like that!' he thought, his gaze drifting to the redhead's shapely legs, left uncovered by the uniform. Sadly, his appreciation for the female form lasted only a moment, as the pink and cream creature chirped shortly thereafter, as it retracted its feelers, alerting what he assumed was a Healer to the fact that he was awake.

"Thank you, Audino," the woman said – in perfectly good English, at that.

Audino – the creature's name, perhaps? Or is it the name of its species? – chirped in reply and backed away, with the…Healer? taking its place by his bedside.

"Hello."

"…hello," Lockhart replied, thinking to himself that there were certainly worse ways to wake up than next to a beautiful woman. If not quite in the usual manner he usually woke up next to such.

"Ah, you can speak. Wonderful!" the redhead exclaimed, as her fingers tapped on the surface of some kind of metallic tablet she held. "We were a bit worried after what happened, Mister…?

"Lockhart," he answered, raising himself to a sitting position so he could meet her eyes to eye. Noting this, the other pressed a button on the bedframe, as part of the mattress bent upwards to support his back. 'Not magic…? But she used a creature for…' For something. "Gilderoy Lockhart, at your service. But I believe you have me at a disadvantage, Miss…?"

He gave her his most winning smile – the one that had won Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award five times over, but she only nodded as her fingers tapped the surface of some kind of metallic tablet.

"Call me Joy." The other's answer was less than entirely satisfying, since he didn't even know if that was a first or last name, but at least she smiled back at him. "Mister Lockhart, do you know where you are?"

"Well, I suppose I'm in a hospital," the adventurer said dryly, making an obvious show of looking around his surroundings. He was in a private room, with a lovely view of the outside, not a large ward shared with other patients, and there was some equipment he didn't recognize, but he thought he was probably right. "Or something clinical."

"That's right. I'm a nurse here, as you can probably tell," the woman responded encouragingly. "And do you have any idea where we are?"

'Nurse.'

He repeated the word in his mind, rolling it over and over as if to feel out its shape. There was something familiar about it – he'd heard it before, but not in the last decade or so.

'Not since I went to Hogwarts…'

Nurse…that was a Muggle word, for something like a healer, or medi-wizard, right? But then, Muggles didn't use magical creatures to diagnose or treat patients.

At least, they didn't in Europe, though he already knew he wasn't there, as European Healers tended to wear conservative, floor-length robes of some drab color like black or rust-red, with the emblem of their profession – a wand crossed with a bone of some sort, emblazoned on the arm or breast.

(The Healers of St. Mungo's, of course, used lime-green robes, but to his mind, that was not an improvement, as this made them walking eyesores that no doubt increased recovery time.)

Which really, given that they were speaking in English, only left…

"America," he reasoned, his gaze troubled as he looked at Audino – or was it the Audino – in the corner, finding its bright blue eyes rather disturbing. "I couldn't say what city."

"I see," Nurse Joy stated, nodding. "And do you remember how you came to be here?"

"…I…"

What did he remember, really?

"I remember…."

He remembered the ghost of his father telling him he was in Hell. Dozens of bodies burning like torches in purple-orange flames. Making a choice to save someone.

"The woman…" he breathed, his eyes going wide as his gaze snapped back to the redhead. "The one from…wherever that fire was. How is she?"

If there had been a woman, that was, and the events in his memory had actually happened, given that he didn't seem to be dead...

"Miss Makomo and some of her colleagues from the Energy Laboratory are alive and well, thanks to you," the nurse replied, her smile widening. "You're a hero, Mister Lockhart."

"Huh. I'm…" Gilderoy Lockhart sat back with a heavy thud, his face going slack as he took in the news. "I don't know what to say. I…really?"

"Yes. Really," she confirmed, though there was a trace of puzzlement in her expression. "You seem unsure."

"It's just…I didn't know if that was a dream. Or if I was dead. Or how I came to be there in the first place. I remember waking up in – the Laboratory, did you say?" She nodded encouragingly. "Waking up there. But before that…"

"Before that?"

"All I remember is getting caught up in an explosion."

"And that's about the long and the short of it, Vivian."

"Thanks, Aurea," Vivian Makomo said, looking down at what was written on the tablet in her hands. Her old friend and fellow scientist, Aurea Juniper, a striking brunette with bright green eyes, had gone out of her way to give her an update on the situation regarding the incident at the Pokémon Energy Lab, including information on the man who had apparently saved her from a fiery death. "I appreciate you passing this on."

Some part of her felt guilty that she hadn't been able to predict – or stop – the disaster before it had begun, given all the people who had died there. Especially since Dream Mist, and how to harness it, was her area of expertise. Some part felt grateful that she had been saved. Some part felt anger. Mostly though, she just felt annoyed, given that she had been confined to this room for several days already, and had been given nothing to wear other than a flimsy hospital gown while tests were being run on her.

'I know they're just following procedures for treating patients who were exposed to Dream Mist – procedures I wrote them myself – but I'm still a little annoyed. I'm fine, really. It's been days.'

"Not at all, Vivian." The chestnut-haired woman said with a small smile. "I'm just glad that…I was worried after hearing about the explosion, you know? Since I know you were one of the lead researchers at the Dreamyard – and that you often work late."

"No later than you. And working in a lab is – well, was – less dangerous than the fieldwork you do."

"Was being the operative term there."

"…yeah."

Makomo flipped through the report on the tablet, scanning the accounts people had given of the disaster – only to pause on a picture of a certain Gilderoy Lockhart, as her mind drifted back to several days ago.

"Huh. I remember him…" she murmured softly, though not so softly that her old friend couldn't hear.

"Oh?" Aurea questioned, glancing over to see what she was looking at. "Old boyfriend of yours?"

"N-no!" Vivian protested, shaking her head. "Aurea, really?"

"Well, no one else seems to know who he is, and since you recognized him…"

"Nothing like that," Vivian corrected. "I remember him appearing from the mist, breathing it in. But nothing after that. So, he's the one who saved me?"

"And your two colleagues," the Pokémon Professor confirmed. "They say he carried you to safety, in something like a bridal carry. Only we have no real idea who he is. Or how he came to be there."

"It says here that his name is Gilderoy Lockhart," Vivian said wryly.

"Yes, that's what he told us, but…"

"But?"

Aurea Juniper sighed, shaking her head.

"The truth is, we haven't been able to find out who Gilderoy Lockhart is, if that's even really his name," she said, her lips twisting in frustration. "He had no identification on him. There's no record of a Lockhart – or anyone with his features – employed at the Pokemon Energy Laboratory. Or registered in any Pokémon League. Or even on any of the passenger lists from abroad."

"Huh. Amnesia, then?"

"Maybe. Certainly, in that he can't remember how he came to be in the Dreamyard in the first place. According to what he says, he just…woke up there, in the mist, after an explosion. But his body shows no trace of the damage that should be there if he was at ground zero of the blast. No broken bones. No burns. Nothing."

"…nothing at all?"

"No. It's very strange."

There was a near silence for a while, as Dr. Makomo continued browsing the information that her friend had provided her.

"He says he's from Britain."

"…yes, so he said, but when we gave him the written portion of the Pokémon League Admission Exam for the Kalos region, he couldn't recognize any of the Pokémon from the area. He also asked, and I quote 'before I begin this, what exactly is a Pokémon?'"

Vivian winced.

"He doesn't know what a Pokémon is?"

"He doesn't," Aurea confirmed, nodding. "We offered him the test because he said he was a teacher who had experience dealing with so-called magical creatures, but…"

"…huh."

"Yeah, so all we know about him is that he speaks English, that he thinks his name is Gilderoy Lockhart, that you've never seen him before…and that according to you, he appeared from within the mists. That is, he was deeper in the Laboratory than you were." The young Pokémon Professor chuckled mirthlessly. "Except that he doesn't remember how he came to be there or even how he got to America."

"Mm."

A thought crossed Vivian's mind as she reflected on these things, and she lifted her glasses, so she could rub her eyes.

"A mysterious stranger who arrives and saves us from a disaster of our making," she murmured. "A person who no one knows, and who doesn't know how he came to be there. It almost sounds like the beginning of a tale."

"Not unlike the tales you used to read," Aurea noted, glancing at her old friend speculatively. "You know, I seem to remember that back in university you had a shelf full of books about dashing adventurers from far-distant lands. Mysterious, swoon-worthy heroes, who travelled the land, solving people's problems and saving damsels in distress, appearing just when they were needed."

"…what are you suggesting, Aurea?"

"You told me once that Dream Mist didn't just make people see things, that it wasn't just a source of energy."

Vivian Makomo nodded.

"…you told me that in a way, it granted wishes." Her old friend leaned down, looking her in the eye. "Tell me, when the explosion happened, what was on your mind?"

"I…" Vivian began, before her delicate features froze as she realized what her friend was getting at. "You're not seriously suggesting that he's the result of me wishing that someone would save me…are you?"

"'When we have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth'," Aurea quoted. "The truth is, I don't know. I'm not an expert in Dream Mist. I don't know what its capable of. Can it twist someone's mind and flesh, changing them into someone new? Can it just create a person out of nothing? Since it can create energy, I'd guess it's possible, but…"

"I don't know, Aurea. There's so much about Dream Mist we just don't know!" Vivian almost shouted, before she took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. "And with the Dreamyard gone…and all that research lost."

"We might never know."

Vivian nodded tiredly.

"So, what now?" she asked.

"I guess the question is what do we do with him?" Aurea summed up. "From what we can tell, he's a hero, if a fairly confused one. But with how he seems to not even know about Pokémon, no identity we can confirm, and no money or people he knows?"

"…he doesn't have anyone."

"Not that he could list. Or any way of getting in touch with them."

Vivian pondered this for some time, with Aurea leaving her to her thoughts, as she was aware of how her old roommate disliked being interrupted.

"Well, there is one way I can think of for him to get some of his memory back…or if he's telling the truth, to learn about Pokémon," she said slowly, eying her old friend. "One that's safe enough even for children as young as ten."

"…are you suggesting that I send him on a Pokémon journey?" Aurea questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure he'd even be interested?"

"Can't hurt to ask."

And so it was that after several more days, Gilderoy Lockhart was ushered into a conference room in what he'd now learned was a Pokémon Center, where he was confronted by two scientists – one of them being a cheery brunette, and the other being…

'…her.'

The woman he'd chosen to save.

"Miss Makomo, I presume?" he greeted, giving her a winning smile. "I'm glad to finally meet you under better circumstances."

"And you must be Mister Lockhart," Vivian replied quietly. "Thank you for saving my life. And those of my colleagues."

"The pleasure was mine," the adventurer responded with a nod.

"Please, have a seat, Mister Lockhart," the other woman said, and he quickly obeyed, as her voice was one that was quite used to wielding authority. She – and Miss Makomo – followed suit, sitting across from him. "Since we haven't been introduced, my name is Aurea Juniper, and I am the Pokémon Professor for this region."

"Charmed," the man answered. "I suppose you have questions for me."

"Just one, really – where would you like to go from here, Mister Lockhart?"

Lockhart blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that we can't find any record of you ever existing," Professor Juniper explained, deciding to simply be up front with what they had discovered. "You have no identification. No knowledge of Pokémon. No money, and few applicable skills, after testing. And now that you're well enough to be discharged, we're wondering what your next step is."

"What are my choices?"

"It would be simple enough for you to find a job at one of the larger companies in Unova," the Pokémon Professor noted. "Especially since you're quickly becoming known as the Hero of Striathon City. Alternatively, we could make arrangements, so you could go back to school and fill in some of those gaps in your knowledge. Or…if you like learning through experience, we could set you up with a Pokémon Trainers License and send you on a journey around Unova."

"A Pokémon Trainers License?" Lockhart echoed. "And what, praytell, is that?"

"It gives you the right to train Pokémon – creatures like the Audino you interacted with over the last few days," Professor Juniper explained. "You mentioned that you had experience dealing with magical creatures, so perhaps you've dealt with some of them before, just by a different name."

"…I don't know," the would-be adventurer admitted. "Since waking up here, there's a lot that's been strange to me. America really is nothing like Britain, that's for sure – even if I don't remember how I came to be here." He shrugged. "I understand what getting a job or going back to school might entail, but what's this about a journey?"

"It's something of a rite of passage," Vivian Makomo interjected. "Almost every child in our world sets out on a journey of self-discovery around the age of ten, so they can gain both a better understanding of how the world works, as well as a better understanding of their place in it, as they strive to become the very best."

"…like no one ever was," Lockhart murmured quietly, with Aurea glancing at him curiously. "Oh, just thinking about something from when I was younger. Tell me…do older people – people like me – go on these journeys, or is it just children?"

"There are adults as well," Professor Juniper confirmed. "You wouldn't be – well, you'd be unusual in that you were a foreigner, but you wouldn't be the only one. So, what do you think? A job? School? Or an adventure?"

Lockhart smiled. Now that the choices had been explained to him, it was really rather clear what he wanted to do.

"I wouldn't mind seeing more of this world," he said. This world had strange…technology, he supposed. Magical creatures alongside muggle science. Everything blended in some wonderful new whole. "And I've always had a taste for adventure."

"Mm, somehow I thought you might choose that," Professor Juniper replied, reaching under the table and withdrawing a travelling case, which she placed before him.

With a quick press of two buttons, the contents were revealed: three balls of red and white, bisected by a band of black.

"Unfortunately, I don't have any of the usual starter Pokémon to hand out, but I think what's in these Pokéballs might do the trick well enough."

"The first is Klink," Vivian explained, picking up the orb on Lockhart's left and depressing the button in the middle. "The Gear Pokémon."

Light blossomed then faded, leaving behind a strange creature that resembled two interlocking gears with six teeth each.

"The second is Joltik," Vivian continued, depressing the button at the center of the second orb.

What was revealed when the light faded this time was something like a tarantula, if yellow in color, with bright blue eyes.

"And the third…"

This last one was the most exotic looking, as its body seemed wrought entirely of plasma, with a whitish blue aura of electricity around it that formed lightning bolt-shaped appendages.

Appropriately, its cry sounded quite mechanical.

"Joltik and Klink are Pokémon I caught for research some time ago, while Rotom isn't actually from Unova," Juniper noted. "It was traded to me by a colleague from overseas in exchange for a Trubbish. As a new trainer, you may choose one of these before you set off on your journey."

"Oh, and is that all I get before I head off?"

"Well, we'll give you a tour of what general features might be useful to you for your journey, and provide you with some clothes and basic traveling supplies, a Pokédex and an X-transceiver, as well, but otherwise, the point of the journey is to learn, right? It would be hard if everything were provided for you. Besides, you'll be able to earn some money through Pokémon Battles.."

"Fair enough," Lockhart conceded. "In that case…" He looked over the three choices, trying to feel which might be the best, but since he had no clue what each could do, finally just settled on the most unusual looking one. "Rotom, I choose you."

The answering cry was almost…electric, a buzzing of some sort, as Makomo returned all three of the creatures to the orbs which held them – to their Pokéballs, and handed him the one with Rotom in it.

"A good choice," Vivian Makomo noted, her fingers brushing his.

"Oh? Does that mean there was a bad one of the three? That you approve of my becoming an adventurer? Or...did you mean something else?"

Maddeningly, her only answer was: "Yes."