Heya! Sorry about the longer delay this time around, I've been putting in hella hours with work and shit, and my GOD it is exhausting. Decided I'd give myself an extra two weeks to chill and write some more, so yeah! And with work, it gives me less time for writing, yknow? Anyways…

This chapter sees the trio make it to the town, where Zack FINALLY sees another human besides himself… but not without some trouble along the way.

Continue!

XXX

He's not too sure how long they've been running for, but he does know that the roars have yet to actually decrease in volume. This time, it's chasing them. He's sure of it.

Not only have the roars gotten closer to them slowly, but the distant sounds of wood shattering and splintering, along with the distant rumbles from the ground underneath their feet, made it all the more evident that they were in danger.

'Fucking god damn it! What the hell did we do to piss it off?!'

{I-I don't know! Autumn, I don't think he can keep running like this!}

{Sh… Zack, if you feel like you're about to collapse, tell me and I'll move all of us!}

'That's too much strain on you!'

{It doesn't matter! We just have to keep–}

She's cut off by a sudden louder roar, and accompanying that is a dull whir… before a massive beam of light comes from behind them, and sends some of the trees to their right down to the forest floor, in flames. It catches not only Zack off guard, but Autumn as well. Autumn is able to catch herself, but Zack stumbles and loses his hold on Angel, who flies from his hands as he crashes into the ground himself.

{ZACK!}

Autumn stops moving, turning around to get by his side to help him up. If he had usage of his vocal chords, he'd be cursing up a storm, but all that escapes him is a pained groan.

Unfortunately for all three of them, this slows them down enough for the rampaging Pokémon to catch up to them… and they finally get a look at what had been destroying the woods in rage.

He doesn't recognize it at first, neither does Angel (beyond her earlier encounter with it that had led her to them in the first place), but Autumn's eyes go wide.

{A… Tyranitar?! What the fuck?! Zack, we need to go, now–}

The second it spots them, its red eyes flash as it lets out another fierce roar. It practically deafens Zack, and he holds his hands over his ears to try and muffle it enough to not hurt. With his legs, he scrambles up to a standing position and starts to move backwards away from it.

The massive Tyranitar towers above them, with it being almost twice as tall as Zack, it comes up to the greens of the trees above them (if they were still standing). The red of its eyes doesn't look normal, but that's the last thing that's on his mind; the first being getting away from it as fast as possible. The Tyranitar, seeing his movements, roars once more as the ground shakes underneath them, making it harder for him to stand on his own. Energy seems to start building up in its mouth the more it roars, and Autumn starts to properly freak out.

{Fuck! We have to fight, it's not going to let us go! Zack, get behind me–you too Angel!}

{R-Right!}

Zack manages to stay on his feet long enough to scramble behind the mixed Gardevoir before falling on his ass again. The ground being unstable and constantly rumbling due to the Tyranitar makes it difficult for him to stand, let alone move. Autumn, meanwhile, raises her own hands and a series of octagonal shapes made out of purple transparent energy appear in front of them. The moment it fully appears is when the Tyranitar unleashes that same beam attack.

Instead of it hitting them, it hits the series of shields, damaging each one of them enough for them to all shatter, but negates the attack at the cost of tiring Autumn out immensely.

{G-Gah! It's going to keep attacking us… W-We have to run, off the ground!}

'Do it, we have to scram!'

She nods, and both Angel and Zack are covered in purple energy once again, lifting them up into the air. Zack pushes towards the Eevee and grabs her.

'Just use it on me, I'll keep Angel held tight–we need to preserve our energy for as long as possible. If we make it to town on time, they might be able to help us!'

The Gardevoir nods, letting her focus on only levitating herself and Zack, and they shoot off in the opposite direction of the monstrous Pokémon before them. It roars out in anger, causing the ground to shake once again; it only affects the trees this time, as they're in the air now. It starts to stomp forward at a surprisingly quick pace, shoving trees past as it moves.

'Is there anything we can do against that thing?!'

{If… If we have to, I can fight it, but that's something I don't think I can. Zack, that's an Alpha Pokémon–we can't mess with it by choice!}

'I don't know what that means!'

Zack's panic starts to get to him the longer this goes on, and the sounds behind them aren't helping, nor are the quick twists and turns from Autumn's psychic abilities dragging them through the trees. He's trying to stomp it out, to try and keep a cool head, but this was dangerous. The closest situation he's been in like this wasn't even comparable, and it's starting to impact him and Autumn through the link.

Autumn doesn't respond so she can focus on letting the panic not consume her or her human, along with focusing on making sure they don't get killed. Angel speaks up for her regarding her previous statement, albeit with a voice just as shaken as Zack feels.

{I-It's a, uhm, the s-strongest Pokémon of a pack, or… one by itself, like this one is. B-But it makes it completely deranged! S-She's right, we can't fight it, we'll die!}

'Damn it, damn it… There's nothing we can do except continue booking it! Angel, you have to make sure we're going the right way, if we miss the town then we're as good as dead!'

{O-Okay, I think we're still going in the right dir–}

She doesn't get to finish the sentence through another ear-achingly loud roar from the stampeding Tyranitar behind them. Another deep rumbling is heard from the ground under them, and it causes the already unstable environment to start rippling and cracking apart. Some of the trees they're skirting around start to fall and split apart along with the ground, and they barely miss a couple of them.

Zack turns his head back around to look at it, trying to gauge what it's doing. So far, he's noticed it used that beam attack, and it's messing up the environment, but he doesn't know what else it can do.

Its blazing red eyes seem to burn with even more intensity as its last action did nothing to slow them down, and a glow starts to come from its mouth once more…

'It's charging up another beam! Autumn!'

Wordlessly acknowledging his warning, Autumn launches the both of them upwards through the new gaps in the treetops, just before another laser launches itself where they used to be. It incinerates the trees around where they were standing, as well as a portion of the ground they would have been standing on.

{W-We should stay up here! Less dodging, a-and we can go faster!}

{...You're right! Zack, hold on tight, I'm going to push us faster!}

'Don't rip me apart!'

Instead of keeping pace as they have been, Autumn takes Angel's advice to go faster, now that they have no obstacles stopping them. The trees below them turn into a green blur as they speed up, with the wind whistling by their ears and the roars of the Tyranitar quickly getting further away.

For a few minutes, the loud wailing of the rampaging Pokémon becomes more and more distant, until it's completely out of range. Slowly, the whistling of the wind dies out more and more, until abruptly, the glow surrounding all of them starts to flicker, and they start losing height.

"F-Fuck, I can't keep that up. We… have to go on foot for a while."

'It's alright, let us down.'

They dip back in through the leaves and drop to the ground, the moment they contact the earth with their feet is when the glowing stops completely. Autumn collapses to their knees, breathing in and out heavily.

"Give… give me a second, that took a lot out of me…"

'A-Alright, but uh, we should get a move on soon. Angel, you doing okay?'

The Eevee drops from Zack's arms and circles around Autumn with a worried look on her face. Her head also turns upwards and she eyes where they had shot from earlier, in the direction of the Tyranitar. Its roars are still audible, and it sounds like they're still approaching them.

{I-I think so. Uh, I don't think we can keep floating around like that. If it took this much out of her, then… we'll have to run the rest of the way. I dunno how close we are, though…}

'That's fine. Autumn? You alright?'

"...N-No, I don't think I am. I can barely even–"

'Okay, that's all I need to hear. We're moving. Angel, you'll have to run while I carry her.'

"W-What? Carry me–AH!"

Zack darts forward and picks up the Gardevoir, quickly hoisting her up in a bridal carry in one somewhat smooth motion. Despite being completely exhausted, the Gardevoir eeps out in surprise, but isn't given any time to react because Zack starts running again. Angel quickly keeps pace due to her not having run earlier, as well.

{Hehe, you got it Zack! I just hope we can get there on time, this is… Scary.}

'Yeah, no kidding. You good Autumn?'

"Y… Yes, I'm fine. I just need to rest up a bit, then we make haste–"

'Don't worry about that. Worry about it if that asshole catches up to us again.'

"R-Right. Okay, I… okay."

Zack crushes down the feelings emanating from her (guilt, unease, fear) in favor of focusing on the path ahead. He doesn't have to worry about Angel due to her living out here in the forest for long enough to traverse it with ease, he just has to worry about not falling on his ass if he misses a root or something. The human dodges trees and jumps over obstacles, while trying to go forward as fast as possible.

After a while of doing this, the roars have still not diminished enough to be comforting; instead, they can hear the destruction of trees again, distant as they are, but still close enough to know they're still actually getting closer.

'It still isn't letting up?! God damn it, what pissed it off this badly?!'

"Z-Zack, I… I might have to fight it, I don't think we can keep running for very long."

'I know that! I just–fuck, it's going to wreck us!'

{I-I can help! Uh, if we both go at it together–}

"No, you can't. It's too powerful for you to do anything to it."

{I can't let you take it on by yourself! Not while exhausted! I know I can't do much, but I have to do something!}

Zack manages to catch himself after almost tripping on another log, stumbles, and keeps on running with a scowl on his face. If he could use his voice right now, he'd probably be cursing up a storm about the situation they're in right now. Instead, though, his thoughts and feelings are leaking through the link without control.

'Fucking damn it, this is a pain in the ass. First I die, then I'm not actually dead and just a burnt up corpse, can't use my fucking voice, and now I'm being chased by a goddamn Godzilla monster for no REASON–'

Anger and frustration are the main emotions that leak through with the words, but there's a backdrop of fear with them as well. For now, his only focus is on running, so the lack of a filter is the least of his worries. Autumn has been trying to soothe him, but the lack of a calm environment is making it rather difficult.

"Zack, you have to calm down. I know the situation is grim, but we can get out of this! We just have to keep running, we'll get to people soon enough and they can help us–"

'That thing is going to get to us before then! We're basically… Ugh, fuck! Fine, alright, we need a plan for when it catches up. Autumn, is there some kind of crazy ass powermove you can pull that would deal heavy damage?'

"Uh… I-I think I could hit it with Psybeam?"

'You'll need to aim for the eyes. If we can't escape it through speed alone, then we'll need to blind the bastard so it can't follow us by sight. Angel, is there anything you could do to it?'

{Um… I-I think I could try hitting it really hard with a kick or something, but I usually just move really fast with Quick Attack.}

'That'll have to do. You aim for the eyes, too. If it doesn't work, and it isn't blind, we'll have to trip it up somehow.'

Angel hops over a rock, and bounces off the side of a tree trunk to keep pace with Zack and Autumn. She looks back behind them, and her eyes go wide.

{Z-Zack, it's–}

The sound of something heavy barreling towards them makes itself known alongside the crashing of woods. Before the Eevee can completely get her words out, a massive impact hits the both of them and sends them flying forward. Autumn tumbles out of Zack's arms and rolls a few times, before stopping on the ground with a groan of her own. Angel nullifies most of the hit by blurring white forward, but still gets propelled across the ground. Her feet manage to keep her upright, and she slides to a stop.

Zack, unfortunately, gets the brunt of the attack, and he's sent right into a tree, with it cracking with a couple of his ribs to accompany the noise, making him cough up blood.

"ZACK!"

Foregoing her own damage, Autumn pushes herself up and appears in front of him, facing the Tyranitar down with a fiery look in her eyes. She's a bit roughed up as well, but mostly from the tumble. A trickle of blood is seen coming from her mouth, though, same as the human she's protecting.

Angel's low growls are barely heard over the thundering ones the Tyranitar is making in front of them. The massive Pokémon is glaring down at them with unbridled fury, and it starts to approach them again.

'F-Fuck that hurts…! A-Autumn, the plan!'

"O-Okay!"

The Gardevoir raises both of her hands in front of her crest, and a small ball of energy begins to form. Its color is the same as the psychic energy she's been using to move them, indicating its a Psybeam she's charging. Angel dashes in front of her as well, and prepares herself to try and fend off the Tyranitar in case it tries something.

The huge beast goes to move in on them, a snarl already building up in its maw, but it stops after the first step with an exhausted pant. The charge from earlier had hit them, sure, but it had also taken a lot of out of the Pokémon as well. In fact, it's just enough time to allow Autumn to charge her beam up.

With a grunt of her own, she launches into the air while Angel darts forward with her, both of them going on the offensive to hopefully disable the Tyranitar. The energy finishes building up in between Autumn's hands and, with a flash of light, a Psybeam is sent whizzing forward into the reddened eyes of the Alpha Pokémon.

Autumn drops to the floor and backs up, and Angel backs up in a white blur as well, both of them prepare to start running again, Zack as well.

He had managed to stumble up from where he impacted the tree, but he looks… rough. The blood he coughed up dribbles down his chin, but it doesn't look like it's something life threatening. From the way he's wincing, though, it seems to hurt quite a bit to even move.

'Fuck yeah, it hit! Alright, we need to–'

His thoughts are cut off by the ground shaking again, and the beast looks down at them, completely unaffected by the Psybeam Autumn had launched into its eyes moments prior. It brings its right foot up, and then down to stomp at the ground, causing the earth below them to crack and the trees around them to splinter apart.

"What?! I hit it right in its stupid eyes!"

'D-Doesn't matter, we have to figure something else out! Shit, we can't run like this!'

Zack stumbles down into a crouch as he tries to stay up, but the earthquake doesn't make it easy. The rough movement makes him wince more, but he's able to ignore the pain for now. He looks around at what might help them, spotting Angel next to Autumn trying to keep upright as well.

'Angel, you'll have to blind it yourself! Autumn, try to hold it still! Try to throw something in its eyes, dirt or… something!'

"A-Alright!"

The Eevee looks over at Zack, and crouches down low to the ground, with her tail sweeping back and forth along the ground to, presumably, gather up some of the dirt around them.

She nods at her human companion shakily, and as the Tyranitar starts to get covered in purple light, she blurs forward at its head with yet another Quick Attack. Unfortunately, the energy seems to flicker and slide off of the pissed off Pokémon, and it does little to hinder it movements, allowing it to raise an arm up to block the Eevee from hitting.

With a deep breath, Angel steels herself and her eyes harden, as she shakes off the fear of facing an insurmountable opponent. She quickly dashes upwards, ricocheting herself off of the Tyranitar's arm, and she Quick Attacks again, this time downwards towards its face. With its arm covering most of its vision, it allows her to reach it… and launch a tail-full of sand in its eyes!

The Tyranitar bellows out in a rage, sweeping its other arms forwards to hit Angel away. She impacts the ground with a meaty thud, but it means the Pokémon is blinded.

'Autumn, grab Angel! We have to scram, now!'

Zack doesn't wait for a response, and just runs, the throbbing pain of his chest and lungs giving him difficulty, but now is a do-or-die situation. In his peripherals, he could barely spot the loose form of Autumn carrying Angel rushing alongside with him. The earthquake had diminished enough for them all to get back up on their feet and keep running.

When he glances back, he doesn't spot the Tyranitar chasing after them, but he does hear the crashing of trees around where they had left it.

'It must still be blinded! We have to keep going, hopefully it backs off this time.'

"I-I hope that's the case, too. I… We have to be close to the town by now, right?"

{U-Uhm, we… shouldn't be too far away, but I haven't been able to pay attention.}

Nodding absentmindedly, Zack focuses on running. The sounds of the armored Pokémon behind them get further away again, which is a relief to all of them. For now, they've gotten away.

XXX

By the time they stop, the sun is setting once again, and they're still not at the human settlement that the marble Eevee talked about earlier. Right now, though, they're less focused on getting there and more focused on trying not to collapse due to exhaustion. Zack is down on his hands and knees, breathing in and out deeply and trying not to throw up, with Autumn in the same predicament, only she's managed to stay up on her feet with her hands on her knees, hunched over.

Angel is panting heavily, but isn't as bad as they are. She's opted to sit down on her haunches, and try to collect herself a bit and let the adrenaline wear off.

{T-That… l-let's not do that again. Oh my god, I was right there! I threw dirt in its eyes!}

{Hah… You did good, Angel. You should have watched out for that hit, though–er, are… you okay, actually? No broken bones?}

{I-I don't think so. Just… ache-y? I'll be fine, I think! We should check on Zack!}

{Oh, shit, you're right–Zack?}

The two of them manage to gather themselves fairly quickly on remembering the heavy hit he had taken earlier, and turn to look at him. He's still on his hands and knees, trying not to cough up a lung while taking breathfuls of air. After a few seconds of not saying anything, he rolls over onto his back, still breathing heavily.

'I… N-Need to heal, I think some of my ribs broke…'

{B-Broke?!}

It's Autumn that speaks up, and quickly rushes over to him, the safe encompassing healing energy already covering him before she makes it over. She quickly looks him over with a look of concern adorning her features, and Angel trots over with much the same look on her face, too.

'C-Coughed up blood a few times, I think. Don't… think it was a lung, m-might've bit something too hard, though.'

{L-Lung… Okay, uh, okay. I'll get you back in shape! N-No biggie, just… need to push myself a bit!}

'Heh. N-Not too hard, please. I'll be fine.'

Despite the worry and the concern, the Gardevoir gives him a flat, unamused look, and holds it until he feels the need to voice his thoughts again.

'...Erm, you can nurse me back to health?'

{I will, actually. You shouldn't have even gotten hurt! We're… w-we're supposed to be able to protect trainers, right? S-So, just… let me do this!}

He's silent for a while, processing the swirling emotions going through her, as well as how it sounds like she's almost in tears. Zack sighs, but lays back in resignation, giving her free reign to tend to his injuries.

'...Okay.'

Wordlessly, she continues to pour her energy into the healing. Angel, meanwhile, despite feeling like she needs to help as well, knows she can't do anything to help. She looks around at their surroundings, which just look like more forest.

{I think… that this is an okay spot for now! Um, I'll keep watch for you! So, just um, focus on healing him!}

Angel doesn't wait for a response and starts "patrolling" around the area, leaving the two of them to themselves and the healing the Gardevoir is giving the human.

Zack closes his eyes and continues breathing, focusing on it in an attempt to ignore the pain throughout his body. He can feel it slowly ebbing away from the healing, but it doesn't help that the sharp, throbbing pain in his chest still feels like agony.

'...I should have dodged or something. If I heard it coming, I should have just… dived to the side. Stupid.'

{No! It… well, it wasn't something you could do anything about. That… That thing was going wild.}

'But still! It was so loud and obvious, I should have been able to see it coming.'

{...Maybe, but, it'll be okay. You'll bounce back!}

He doesn't respond, but his thoughts start to turn to how he should have done more in that encounter. Something about his plan went wrong, not when he got hit, but…

'...Why didn't the beam hurt that asshole when you shot it in its eyes?'

{Huh? Oh, uh… I-I don't know. It should have…}

Zack's brows furrow while he thinks. Normally, something akin to a laser beam should affect just about anything, so the only reason it would have done that would have to be something related to Pokémon. He tries to remember something from what little he experienced back home of the series, but it doesn't result in much. He could barely remember something about the classic three starters one of his friends talked about… something about their typings? Water, grass, and fire type, and how… His eyes abruptly pop open in realization, and he turns towards Autumn.

'Could it have something to do with typing?'

{Ty… ping? Uh, I don't… Oh! Pokémon affinities? I think it might, but I don't have a lot of experience with having to plan around that. The most I've attacked before are the more annoying Pokémon who got too close to home, so…}

'Then, maybe Angel knows?'

Autumn seems to contemplate the point Zack brought up, doing her own brow-furrowing as she thinks. After a moment passes, the small marble-colored Eevee walks out of one of the nearby bushes with a few twigs stuck in her fur. She shakes her head to get them out, and looks over at Autumn and Zack immediately afterwards.

{Knows what?}

{Ah… Why my Psybeam didn't affect that Tyranitar earlier. Zack said something about, uh… type? Typing?}

{Oh! I think I know! It might be… uhm, I can't remember exactly, but I think psychic stuff doesn't work super well on dark stuff? Lots of people talked about it when watching those big matches and stuff in town.}

'...Oh. I'm a fucking idiot–that's what I was… Ugh. I think Tyranitar is… dark in some way, because that would make sure it wouldn't get hurt from psychic. Or… Psybeam, too, I guess. I'm sorry.'

{It's okay! I didn't know either.}

The three of them sit in solemn silence contemplating the mistakes made in that encounter, with guilt radiating from Zack. He knows he couldn't exactly know that beforehand, but his lack of knowledge about this world is starting to get to him. Autumn looks at him, worried not about his injuries, but about his thoughts and feelings.

{It really is okay, Zack. I promise. We didn't know. Now… we do, and we can plan around it, right?}

{Yeah! Now we know we can like, throw a tree at it instead! Or, um, really big rocks if we can find any! Actually I hope we don't run into it again!}

{Heh, I agree. I hope that was the last of that one.}

Zack doesn't respond, opting to try and relax a bit as the healing alters his injuries. For now, his thoughts are stuck on the encounter, as well as what he might know from the past. Hell, he's even thinking about using Autumn's psychic abilities to their benefit to look through all of his memories to maybe get a leg up, but he shoots that thought down. He's… not comfortable doing that amount of sharing yet, and they'll be at town soon anyway.

But, since the topic of typing came up, he thinks he might know all of them and some of their weaknesses. His focus is entirely inwards as he tries to recall some of the basics; He knows the basic ones (fire, grass, water) and their weaknesses, but what else was there?

'Fire, grass, water… Psychic, I guess, uhh… Normal, dark… Ground? Wasn't there a whole species–'

{Oh, oh! Zack, I can help! I can evolve into a bunch of different things if I want to!}

'...Oh, yeah. Eevees can. Alright Angel, help me jog my memory?'

{Okay! I'm a normal type, and I can evolve to get ice, electric, dark, fire, water, grass, psychic, aaaand fairy! I think I'm gonna evolve into, uhh… The fairy one though, cus I have a move like that!}

'Huh. Alright, that's a lot of them down, now. What else is there?'

{Ghost stuff! Uhh, there's also bug and poison, too! And fighting and steel and rock and dragon and flying!}

'Jesus christ, I'm going to need to keep all of this down. Ugh, maybe it'll stick easier because I'm surrounded by Pokémon all the time.'

{If you forget I can help you remember!}

'Heh, thanks for the offer Angel. I'll try to remember them all on my own though.'

With the refresher given, he turns back to his thoughts and zones out. Angel's mood, despite having a quick picker-upper from talking to her human companion, dips again when she sees some of the injuries he sustained disappearing. Instead of looking at that though, she turns back to start her "patrolling" again, leaving Autumn with him.

Autumn hadn't participated in the conversation, but she has also committed herself to remembering the typings for later. In fact, she's already started to draw her own conclusions to which type is weak to what. Some of them were fairly obvious, after all.

Zack, meanwhile, also keeps quiet to digest the information and to let the healing continue. So far, it feels like it's progressing faster than it had before, which makes him slightly curious. He reasons to himself that it's probably because his prior injuries were coated in radiation, and went through this whole body as opposed as a few broken bones and bruises.

The two of them sit, processing things for an hour or two while Angel checks in periodically then goes back to jumping around the woods. By the time the sun has completely set, the energy healing him shuts itself off once more, concluding the last of his injuries.

{...Looks like it's done. Feel any better?}

'Psh. If I weren't tired and exhausted from earlier, I would be.'

{Heh, that's fair enough. I just need to heal myself now, and I'll be good to go, too.}

'Shouldn't take as long as me though. You didn't get hit full force by that asshole like I did.'

{Hmm, yes, I suppose that's right. I really just rolled a couple of–}

While speaking, she lifts her own hands up to herself and the healing energy kicks in. Oddly, she cuts herself off and her brows furrow as if she's looking at something concerning.

{–...or I could have sustained the same kind of injuries? How did I…?}

'What? You're telling me you've had broken ribs this whole time?!'

{Y-Yes? I didn't know until just now! I have a high pain tolerance! Most Pokémon do actually, but… I don't know why I would have these?}

'God damn it, nothing makes sense in this fucking place. Maybe I can get more information about stuff when we show up in town or something.'

{That would be… good, I believe.}

With her brows still furrowed, she continues to heal her own injuries. Angel pops back up out of the woodwork with a yawn of her own, and trots over to the two of them. She looks over at Autumn with a tilted head.

{Is Zack all healed up now?}

{Er… Yes, he is. I just have to get to myself and you, if you need it.}

{Oh! I'm fine! I only got smacked like, once, so I should be able to sleep it off!}

{...If you say so.}

{Zack! We should totally go looking for stuff to eat! Come help me, let's go let's go let's go–}

An amused grin appears on his face and he reaches out to her with his mind, forming the telepathic link again in order to respond before she goes too far off the rails with excitement.

'Chillax there, vee. I'll look with you, that way Autumn can get herself some healing done, too. You'll have to teach me how and what berries to pick though, alright?'

{Alright! I can do that!}

With a grunt, he makes his way onto his feet and dusts anything off that stuck to his legs while he had been sitting. He stretches a couple of times, letting his joints pop a bit as he does so, then wanders near Angel who's already standing at the edge, waiting for him. Autumn looks on as he walks, not saying anything but narrowing her eyes a bit in Angel's direction, which causes her to speak again.

{Don't worry Autumn! I'll keep him safe! Promise!}

{...You better.}

Zack shakes his head, amused again by his other companion this time, and steps into the woodwork again. The white Eevee is basically bouncing on her feet while she walks, happily trotting around and looking for berries to pick for them. It's not too long (basically half a second) before she's rambling about what to look for.

{So lots of times berries grow from bushes, and one type of berry can only grow from a specific bush and it changes a lot! Some are rarer than others and some other ones are super duper common! Like the blue one and the yellow one and the orange one with funny leaves on top!}

'How do they, uh, stand out? I'm guessing they take a bit to find if all Pokémon eat them, right?'

{Uhhh, sometimes! Other times they're easy to find! They grow super fast!}

'Fast, huh? Like, what, a couple of weeks or something?'

{A day!}

Zack sputters and almost trips over himself at the mini-relevation Angel gave him. His eyes widen slightly as he fully processes it, and he almost doesn't believe it. He knows he wouldn't have if this were back home, but… New world, new possibilities, right?

'A… A day?! How the fuck do they grow that fast?! That doesn't even–what? I'm pretty sure that's not how fruits work back home!'

{I dunno! Um, I guess it's because Pokémon are all over and they started to grow faster cus they got eaten a lot?}

'...Okay, that's a valid theory. How it's physically possible is another thing, though. If we had this kind of shit back home…'

{Oh, oh, here's a bush! Pick pick pick!}

Before he can get into the semantics on how berry growth works (despite not being an expert on pomology), Angel runs ahead of him towards a decently sized bush with tens of berries hanging visibly on its exterior. She darts around a couple of them at the bottom, eating them as she goes along.

Zack chuckles at her behavior, and approaches it as well.

'So how exactly do I tell which ones need to be picked?'

{Usually it's the ones that look really big and smooth! Or, if it's the yellow one, that one is super bright when it's ready!}

Following her advice, he gives the ones in the bush a closer look and he immediately recognizes them. They're the same blue ones he's been eating from whenever Autumn goes out and looks for food, so he already sort of knows what he's looking for. Deciding to follow the Eevee's example of "picking," he yanks one from the branch it was hanging on, and pops it into his mouth whole, chewing it while he picks the others. Soon enough, he has a whole handful with a substantially larger amount on top for Autumn as well.

'Alright, I think I got only good ones. We should head back and sleep soon.'

{Okay!}

With that, the two of them start back towards where they came from. Angel doesn't spark up a conversation, but does hum a tune she heard in the past as she bounces around. She doesn't stick to a linear path while traveling, instead opting to behaving more like a rabbit than a small dog, like he would have expected.

Meanwhile, Zack continues to eat while he walks, helping himself the sweet taste of otherworldly food.

'...maybe this tastes like it does because my taste buds never grew acclimated to this world's food? If I tasted something poisonous, would I still be able to tell the difference?'

{Why would you eat something poisonous?}

'Hu–oh, right, thoughts. Well, some foods are poisonous, right?'

{Not unless a poison Pokémon messes with it!}

'None… at all?'

{Nope! Everything is super edible! Uh, at least, if you're not a Geodude or something! I don't think I can or want to eat rocks!}

'Alright, that's fair. Eating rocks would probably chip your teeth, anyways. But, no poisonous food? Nothing in nature that would hurt you if you messed around with it?'

{Unless it's a Pokémon, not really! A lot of plants are just bushes and stuff. I don't even think the tropical spots are bad either! Was it different for you?}

'Y… Yeah. Back home, there were a ton of different plants that did all kinds of nasty things. There were even a couple that could kill you if you ate them.'

{That sounds really rough!}

'It was. Er, not for many people though, that kind of stuff got burnt out by us humans ages ago, except for in really fucked up parts of the world. Like the huge rainforest that covered a chunk of a continent.'

Zack pushes aside some branches as they come back around to where Autumn is, still sat down in front of a tree healing herself. She looks up the moment the two appear, and seeing that Zack's hands a full of Oran, perks up a bit.

{I hope some of that's for me!}

'Don't worry, it is. I ate enough for me on my way here, so this is all yours.'

{Hehe, thank you! If only I weren't so occupied with healing myself, then I could eat right away…}

His eyes narrow slightly as she looks away, distinctively not appearing upset or discouraged from the fact that she wouldn't be eating now. At least, from her own admission, that is.

'Sounds like you want me to feed you.'

{Oh, you will?! Aw, thanks!}

'I didn't even confirm it!'

{You can set them down on the red handkerchief while you do!}

'Psh. Fine, fine, I guess I can feed you while you're sooo busy.'

While Autumn continues healing herself, Zack manages to grab the red handkerchief out of the backpack he sat down earlier. He uses one of his fingers to place it on the ground next to the Gardevoir, and puts the pile of berries down on it, managing to avoid dirtying them. Then, following her desire to both heal and eat, starts feeding her one berry at a time.

A grin is on her face as she takes the first bite out of the first berry, but Zack just has a deadpan look while watching her amused expression form.

'This is taking a lot out of me, you know. I'm really running out of energy here.'

"Oh shush, you'll be fine. If you want, you can have some of the ones I'm eating!"

'I already ate!'

Angel, meanwhile, is sat off to the side of them and watching them passively. She doesn't say anything, but the uptick of the corners of her mouth indicates she, too, is amused by their antics.

{So when's the part where you two kiss?}

Autumn immediately sputters and chokes on the piece of berry she hadn't swallowed yet, and starts coughing. It even distracts her enough to make her lose focus on the healing, so the energy dissipates. Zack, meanwhile, doesn't react much except for a narrowed and noticeably red-faced glare towards the Eevee.

'Y-You–no! Not y… Why would you even want to watch?!'

{So I can figure out how I'm going to kiss you next!}

'Gah! No!'

"...Mmm, not yet."

'Not yet?!'

This time he reacts, blanching completely as the red on his face expands. He looks away from the two of them, trying to keep his thoughts from spiral out of his control from both of their provocations.

'I-I still have to get used to Autumn! No not yet!'

"Aww, don't worry Zack! I'll make sure to let you get comfortable first! I promise."

{Yeah, totally! I'm just joking! I wouldn't kiss you if you weren't okay with it~}

While he's looking away from the two of them in embarrassment, Angel looks over at Autumn with that same stupid grin on her face, and she raises and lowers her eyebrows a couple of times in quick succession. Autumn has since stopped coughing, but covers her mouth to stifle a giggle of her own, and to hide her own smile.

Unaware to the two scheming Pokémon, Zack crosses his arms in contemplation.

'...Well, that's good, I guess. I'm still a human from a whole new universe, so give me some slack here until I'm comfortable! I'm not even in normal clothes yet!'

"Hehe, okay, okay. We should give it a rest for now, Angel. Maybe we can find you some good clothes when we get there tomorrow?"

'Tch. Yeah, except I don't have any money!'

"Oh, that's… a good point. I might have to do some… less than lawful things to obtain them, then."

'You'd steal clothes for me?'

"Of course! At least, this way you can look like a normal trainer until we actually get money to buy things."

Zack doesn't say anything, but the feeling of gratitude makes itself known through the link. He shakes his head quickly, and turns back to the two of them, seeing that Autumn had gone ahead and eaten the rest of the berries he picked earlier. She's gone back to healing herself once again.

{Uhuh, I would too! I can't teleport or anything though, so I wouldn't be much help with thievery!}

{I wouldn't want you to go darting through a closed store either, Angel. You'd make too much noise.}

{Yeah! That too!}

'As long as you don't get caught, I… don't mind, I guess. For now, anyways. I fully intend on trying to buy things legit later on.'

Before Autumn can respond to confirm their plan for the future, a yawn escapes her as the healing cuts out, much sooner than it had for Zack. His brow quirks up a bit at her.

'Tired?'

"Yeah… I guess that took a lot out of me. I should be good now, but I think I'm pretty close to sleeping."

'Same. Angel?'

{Mmmm… I won't say I'm tired, but if you guys nap, I can stay up and look out for anything.}

'Good enough for me.'

Taking that as a sign that he's good to lay down, he does so almost immediately after adjusting so he's laid over some grass. With some minor adjustments, he gets himself as comfortable as possible before closing his eyes.

Autumn, too, takes the opportunity to lay down, but instead of finding her own spot, she plops herself down right next to Zack, and moves over to nestle against him as well. He stiffens slightly at the contact, but relaxes immediately after.

'...Going right to sleeping next to me, huh?'

"I-It helps conserve body heat!"

'And that's definitely the only reason.'

"E-Er, uh… Well, maybe not, but–"

Zack cuts her off by wrapping the arm she's angled towards around her, and hugs her closer to him. She doesn't make any noise, but her thoughts have noticeably stilled, while a slew of different emotions try to work their way through the link.

'...Goodnight, Autumn.'

"Y-You too!"

Angel watches the two of them settle in a bit before breaking her watch on them, instead turning her attention to the immediate surroundings in search of something to do. Or, something to stave off boredom without leaving the two of them vulnerable to attacks.

For a while, she gives in to her desires to not be bored, but eventually tires herself out and succumbs to sleep like the other two as well.

XXX

Unlike the last times he's woken up in this new reality, the first thing he's aware of is yelling, and a bellowing noise fast approaching him, along with someone shaking him awake. His eyes snap open and he tries to get his bearings, and he realizes it's still dark out. The one shaking him is Autumn, and Angel is yelling close by.

{Zack, wake up! We have to go! It didn't even go to sleep!}

'...Oh, fuck.'

He twists himself around to stand up quickly, and immediately starts running away from the Pokémon who had found them again. He can hear both Autumn and Angel already running as well, with Autumn quickly levitating up once more next to him.

{W-We don't have a choice, we have to get to town now. If it won't let up like this, then we'll…}

'R-Right! Autumn, get some rocks or something, that way we can try to blind it again.'

She grunts in acknowledgement, while he tries to shake the sleep away. From how sudden this cropped up, he still hadn't fully awoken yet; the adrenaline rushing through his body is ensuring he gets closer to being awake very quickly. If it weren't for his ability to operate normally without proper rest, he'd probably be stumbling over himself right now.

He also realizes that running through the forest like this at night is significantly harder than during the day. The most he can see in front of him is ten or twenty feet, but the light from Autumn's psychic glow doesn't reach very far. The little light he does have though, lets him barely course adjust for the trees in front of him.

Like earlier when they had been running, he starts to hear the telltale sign of the Tyranitar rearing up for some dangerous attack. He risks looking behind him for a second, and sees the glow of some kind of beam attack. From this distance it looks like a growing dot, but once it processes…

'Fuck! Laser, incoming!'

Zack does his best to keep running and when he hears the trees behind him start cracking, he dives to avoid it. With his eyes still open and looking ahead, he can see Autumn do the same, and Angel darts off to the side. The quickly blast of light eradicates the trees behind and in front of them, and also quickly brightens the forest up for a few seconds. Without waiting, he gets back up to his feet and keeps running, and focuses on his connection with the Eevee, and the Gardevoir.

'Keep going! I don't think it's a good idea to split up! If that asshole catches up again, we'll need to have all of us here to stop him!'

He doesn't get a response from Autumn (except for feelings of encouragement, and hints of fear from the situation at hand), but he does get one from Angel. She doesn't speak this time, merely casting her thoughts through the connection as he does.

"O-Okay! I'm not far away! I… I think we're close to the town, from yesterday and today, maybe? We just have to keep–"

Once more, the ground starts shaking again and it becomes much harder to run. Zack finds himself tripping and stumbling over a fallen log again, while the trees nearby start cracking apart with the earth. Without being able to move, he turns to look behind him and sees the Tyranitar closer, visible only because of the destruction it's bringing to the surrounding environment. He can barely see the crackling red of its eyes leering out from the darkness, and it fills him with dread.

'...We have to go. Now! Autumn–'

"On it!"

She quickly kicks her psychic abilities into overdrive, and the three of them immediately start flying above the trees. He can feel her strain, the way she's tensing her abilities by doing this, but they have no choice.

Angel manages to not freak out at being airborne, but he can still sense her trepidation both towards what's happening right now, and at the fact that she can't run at her own pace anymore. Zack twists himself around in the pink field of energy holding him to look behind them, at the Tyranitar gearing up for another attack. Even though its form is becoming pinpricks in the distance, his fear doesn't dwindle.

"I-I can't keep going for very long, but we have to be close now!"

"Wait, I think I can see lights–!"

None of them have the time to rejoice at the fact that they finally got closer to civilization, because the barreling monstrous form of the Pokémon slams into all three of them. It immediately disperses the energy holding them all, and they are all sent flying from the impact. Autumn cries out in pain from the forced disconnection (and the impact itself), and is sent down back to the ground in between some trees. Angel suffers much the same, but because of her smaller form, she managed to avoid more damage than either of them. She, too, got sent down to the ground.

Zack, meanwhile, feels the snapping of bones first, and then the way he hits a tree on the way down, which stops him immediately. With the wind knocked out of him, blood coming up from his throat, and the sensation of being unable to feel his arms… He can't even think, the pain is so intense.

Instead, he tries to focus inwards, on the connection between him and Autumn. He tries to focus on how it felt for her to heal him, and how the psychic energy felt being used. Anything, really, to distract him from this. He can barely make out where the two of his companions landed through his link, close by but not quite visible.

It takes a few more seconds for his sight to adjust away from seeing blinding white, and once it does, he can make out the huge Pokémon in front of him, glaring down at him and snarling with fury. Idly, he thinks if he even deserved its ire.

"...Zack, come on! G-Get up, something, please!"

The other thing he sees, is the two forms of his companions appearing in front of him. Autumn is battered just as bad as he is, and he knows that her arms aren't supposed to be bent the way that they are. Angel, too, looks beat up with blood seeping through a few open wounds on her body and head. It fills him with anger, seeing this, but at the same time it almost feels hopeless.

'Can't… I can't move. D-Distract it, or… Something.'

"Fuck! Angel, we–"

The rest of the conversation slips through his focus, the only thing he can hear is dull throbbing from inside his skull. The headaches he's been having are starting to feel normal, but with all of these other injuries he's sustained at the same time, it feels… Less. He can see some of the trees' branches glow and shoot off towards the Tyranitar's eyes, but it just shakes them off as if they were gnats. Angel tries to dart around it and nip at its legs, but it doesn't do anything.

'...I can't stay like this. I have to do something. Get up, Zack.'

Try as he might, he can't even lift his arms. The shaking of his muscles are enough of an indication to show that he's trying. Deciding that's out of the question, he tries to get up on his feet. He can move his legs more than his arms, but it fires off bolts of pain throughout his whole body. He tries to force it, even past the pain, but eventually his muscles give out and he goes slack. This whole time, both of his companions are doing everything they can to drive the focus off of him.

The darkness at the edge of his vision starts to make itself known, despite the pain he's in, and he can't do anything. He can barely make out the panicked cries of Autumn as nothing works, but then…

Another massive form flies out from somewhere behind him, hitting the Tyranitar square in its chest, and actually sends it flying from the three of them. Suddenly, both Autumn and Angel quickly turn around, and he can feel the fear that had been permeating through all of them get replaced with relief. Autumn quickly tumbles over to him and starts her healing again, all the while some kind of chaos is going on in front of them.

{Okay, Zack! We'll be okay! W-We were close enough to town to have someone spot us, a-and they're helping!}

'...W-What? Oh, that's… That's good.'

{Come on, stay awake! I-I have to heal you first, no sleeping yet!}

He tries to focus on her voice, and tries to focus on staying awake, even though the healing energy she's outputting feels warm. He doesn't try to close his eyes, completely focused on keeping them open. His thoughts turn to memories of back home, of how paramedics would try to keep people awake to keep them stable until they could be safely treated.

{Y-Yes, like… Like them, Zack. You have to stay awake, okay?}

"...Shit, how the hell did an Alpha make its way 'ere? Wha–oh. Oh. Oi, oi, keep up what you're doing! I can radio in someone–"

'Someone… else? Hah, English? Really, universe?'

The least of his movement he can do without being restricted by something is moving his head around, of which he immediately uses to turn towards where he had heard that voice. He can see a person, lit up by the light of a small, red lizard Pokémon he recognizes as a Charmeleon. It's stood next to the person, looking at the three of them with an unreadable look.

The person, to him, is much more interesting. They're fairly tall, and wearing something he would want to say is a National Park Ranger uniform, just with… more Pokémon aesthetic added to it. The belt holding Pokéballs, the all-too bright red coloring of what's over their black clothes, and shoes that look like they're straight out of the anime.

'Then again, I guess I am in the anime, now. Haha.'

"–awake, yeah? Shit, I don't have any healing supplies on me. Our clinic's gonna have to do. You can help get him there?"

Zack can make out that they got closer, and crouched down to the two of them. Through their link, he can tell that Angel is right next to them on the other side, but hadn't done anything in fear of worsening his injuries. The… man, he assumes, pulls something out from the bag at their hip. Some kind of spray bottle? It's blue in color, he notes, and he sees the person spray it both on Autumn and Angel. The both of them recede away from it at first, but he can literally feel the pain vanish, and the emotion of wonder, too.

{Holy… Just–just like that?! I feel way better! You should–}

"Uh, sorry, I dunno… what yer sayin'. I ain't got anything fancy, but we should get him back to the clinic."

{O-Oh. Right.}

She says, before realizing that he isn't like him and can't understand her, then nods. In a combination of healing and psychic energy, he feels himself lifted up off the ground, and then the black closes in. With his focus lost, and his worry gone from the person who saved them a painful fate, he drifts into unconsciousness.

XXX

Brightness. White brightness, and the smell of antiseptic, and… The soft cloth covering him. Is that… a bed? He's in a bed?!

Quickly, his eyes shoot open, and immediately close when the bright ass lights worsen his headache. He notices that his headache is actually the only thing that hurts, and his body feels fine. A far cry from what it had been from when he passed out, that's for sure.

"Oh, you're awake!"

Oh, right. People. Actual… People.

Zack strains himself to sit up, and opens his eyes slowly to allow himself to adjust. With some time, he's able to actually see his surroundings again. Immediately, it's obvious that he's in some kind of hospital, or… Clinic? That's what that guy from earlier had said.

The other thing he notices (and turned to when he had heard her speak up), is the person in the room. She's dressed in a regular nurse get-up, with the stereotypical red crosses he knows plastered on the hat, and the shoulders of the uniform. He also notes that her hair is pink, too, which makes him arch his eyebrows up unconsciously.

She walks closer to the bed to pick up a clipboard that had been hanging at the end of its metal frame, and skims it over before speaking up again.

"Alright, so it says here that you suffered some injuries… Broken bones, some muscular fatigue, and… Ah, some signs of previous physical trauma. Does that all seem about right, mister…?"

He blinks at her, nodding in response to the question, but at the end of that sentence was the hang of her question. As if she's asking for his… Oh, that is what she's asking for. Normally, he would speak, but considering that he's been unable to since he's arrived to this reality…

He sighs, and tries to reach out with his mind like he had done with Angel, before. That's another thing he notices; the connections between the two of his companions are there, but dulled. He pushes that to the side for later, and focuses on the connection he forms almost… Easily.

'Just call me Zack.'

He can see and feel her jump in surprise. Her eyes dart down a small bit at his mouth, then back up at his eyes.

"Y-You're… O-Okay, Zack. Uh… You'll be cleared to leave in a few hours, but we need to get a few things in order first."

'Like…?'

Distrust. Fear. Uncomfortable. Those three emotions leak through from her, and he doesn't know why. Is it because of his mental intrusion?

"The… Matter of the two Pokémon that were with you, as well as the lack of anything on you aside from that backpack your Gardevoir was carrying. Do you have any kind of ID we can use to look you up?"

Oh. Yeah, that would make sense.

'Ah, right. Afraid not. I wouldn't be in your system. I haven't… As confusing as it is, this is my first time actually talking to another person.'

"Your first–... Okay, I see. We'll just have to register you, then we can get you situated with some basics that are required. Can I have your full name and date of… Uh, age?"

'Of course. Zack Walker, and I am twenty-six. And… What about Aut–er, sorry, the Gardevoir and Eevee?'

"They're currently resting. Since they didn't have registered Pokéballs, we had to house them in their own room. Since this is your… First time doing any of this, really, we'll be giving you some. You can register the two of them whenever you want, but I suggest doing it before you leave here."

'Alright. Sounds good–'

"Not to be rude, but… Could you not… speak in my head like that?"

He blinks at her again, and sighs once more. Seems like those feelings had grown strong enough to actually incite some kind of reaction to him doing it.

'...If I had any other method of communicating, I would. I can't speak–vocal cords are fried or something.'

"O-Oh, I see. My bad, then. I, uh… I also suggest trying to not draw attention to your… abilities. If this is your first time talking to someone, then you got lucky running into me or that ranger who rescued you. Not many people have abilities like you do, you know. Those that do are…"

She trails off and looks off to the side, not bothering to continue. Even though the telepathic link is set up between the two of them, he can't really read her thoughts. Not like he can of Pokémon, it feels more… Blocked off.

'...R-Right. Thanks for the warning, then.'

The nurse clears her throat and makes her way over the door of the room.

"I'll be back in a moment with the required items. You'll be getting an ID, as well as those Pokéballs I mentioned. You'll also get a set of clothes to wear, but from here on, you'll be on your own. If you wish, we can direct you to the local lab to get set up with a Pokédex as well."

'That would be appreciated. Thank you.'

With that, she nods her head in his direction, and leaves the room. As the door clicks shut, he cuts the connection off between him and her, and breathes a sigh of relief.

'...Finally. An actual bed. An actual room! Oh man, am I glad I got here. Hah, if it weren't for that… Ranger? Yeah, if it weren't for him, I'd probably be paste.'

'Well… I guess I should just wait, then.'

With nothing to do to pass the time, he leans back a bit and closes his eyes, focusing inwards on the two connections between him and Autumn, and him and Angel. He can tell that Autumn is waking up, probably because he woke up, so he's expecting to see her soon.

Meanwhile, he tries to remember how last night had gone. Waking up in a rush, running, getting hit as hard as he did… The ranger is what he's most interested in. They definitely didn't look like the normal rangers he would expect back home, but they had the same kind of Aesthetic going for them. Plus, the way they talked…

Oh, and the fact that they somehow speak English here. How the hell did that happen?

Zack shakes his head a bit and doesn't ponder on that. If he had any ability to answer that he would, but seeing as how nothing bar the existence of a God of some kind would be able to, he doesn't think he would get his answer.

After a few minutes (with him focusing on his connection with Autumn and her slowly waking up), the door clicks open again and the nurse comes in once more.

"Alright, Zack. Here you go."

She approaches the bed and sets down the items she had spoken to him about earlier. He can see a set of clothes that look… plain, but they appear fairly normal for clothing he'd expect. A black tee, with a set of jeans and a set of sandals. Along with them are three spheres (Pokéballs, he can see their distinct red and white colors), and a wallet.

"We decided to get you a wallet to go along with your ID as well, since it's one of the items we had from our lost and found. Nothing was in it before, so it's yours now. Your ID is already inside. You can go ahead and change, and a Chansey will be in shortly to finish up your healing."

He nods in response to everything she says, and doesn't reach out like before to form that connection again. He reasons that, if it made her uncomfortable before, then she probably wouldn't want her to do it again.

After nodding, she simply smiles at him, does a short bow, then leaves the room once again.

'...Alright. I guess I should start planning for the future then, huh?'

'Heh. My adventure awaits.'