WHOOT! TODAY'S MY 25TH BIRTHDAY! QUARTER OF A CENTURY OLD BABY!
Orihime and Chad were worried. They hadn't seen hide or hair of Ichigo for over a month, and they usually ran into at least once a month even if by accident. Even Uryu was wondering where he was, since Ichigo's grades had suddenly shot up like a rocket.
So, in the spirit of checking on their friend/leader, Orihime lead the group of four to see what happened to Ichigo.
It was Karin who enlightened them, since she had helped her father pack the bag he gave Ichigo.
"Dad and that annoying guy with the bucket hat and clogs sent Ichigo away with some girl named Nelliel. Ichigo calls us occasionally, but from what we've been able to tell he's finally out of his depression."
"Where did they send Ichigo?" asked Orihime. Behind her Tatsuki, Chad and Uryu looked at Karin with interest.
"No idea. But he did have Yuzu send Bucket head a weird message the other day."
"What message?" asked Tatsuki.
"Next time I see you, I'm sending Kenpachi after you," said Karin.
And with that, the group went to find Rukia, who occasionally came to visit.
"Ichigo's not in the Soul Society. Believe me, we would know if he was there," said Rukia with obvious confusion.
"Then why would he have his sister tell Urahara that he plans to set Kenpachi on him the next time he sees him?" asked Uryu.
"I have no idea. I'll ask Captain Zaraki."
An hour later, Rukia had it confirmed. Ichigo was not in any of the known areas. Even Grimmjow confirmed that 'Berry Boy' wasn't in Hueco Mundo.
Which had them baffled.
Finally Tatsuki became the voice of reason of the group and as one they walked to Urahara's store for answers.
"Ichigo? Haven't seen him in nearly three months now," said Urahara grinning. This would be funny. He already had a plan on how to deal with them and would still prove amusing.
Because part of the reason Ichigo had slipped into a deep depression was because he was constantly reminded that he didn't have powers by being around his friends. And if they pressed the matter, he would send them to a completely different world from Ichigo until the boy got his powers back.
Besides, he needed to let out his prankster side occasionally.
And just like predicted, three of the five people there insisted on finding Ichigo and dragging him back.
(Rukia, Uryu and Orihime. Chad and Tatsuki figured that as long as he wasn't depressed he could enjoy his vacation. Orihime just didn't want Ichigo to fall for Nel. She had no idea of their current condition.)
"If you're so worried I can send you through the same portal I sent Ichigo through. I'll even temporarily erase the memories of everyone so you don't get into trouble," said Urahara.
Rukia's eyes glinted as she immediately went to contact her brother to get his permission. Uryu just called his father and got the okay since it meant he would have to take a break from hollow-hunting until he came back.
While they were making arrangements, Tatsuki and Chad spoke to Urahara out of earshot.
"You're not actually sending them after Ichigo are you?" asked Tatsuki.
"Not a chance. Ichigo was depressed partly because he felt so useless around his own friends. Besides, this gives him a chance to fall for Nel without interference from Rukia or Orihime."
"Where are you sending them, then?" asked Chad.
"A world of shinobi. I'll even give Rukia a device that will bring them back...in a month. That should give them time to cool off on some half-cocked mission to drag Ichigo back prematurely."
"How safe is this world?" asked Tatsuki. She cared about Ichigo, but she didn't want to ruin his rare vacation from all the stress he dealt with.
"Safe enough for ten-year-old children to wander around without any supervision," said Urahara. Seeing their look he elaborated.
"The world I sent him to is filled with weird creatures that the children collect and train. At age ten they are allowed to explore the world without a single adult present and not a single person I spoke to seemed to think anything was odd about that."
"So what does this Nelliel look like?" asked Tatsuki.
Urahara showed her two pictures. One was of Nel with her 'brothers' and the other was her in adult form.
"What's with the two forms?"
"She was attacked and lost most of her powers. The result was that she is now stuck as a toddler. Though recently she's been stuck in a ten-year-old body. Out of all the people I could have sent with him, I sent Nel because she can bring him home and still cheer him up."
Tatsuki got his reasoning immediately.
"Because she's also lost most of her powers, he won't feel so depressed around her," she said.
Urahara nodded.
Tatsuki looked at where he planned to toss the three and grimaced.
"As much as I love Naruto, that is way too easy for them to get busted. How do you work this thing again?" asked Tatsuki.
She was a manga and anime addict between matches. Enough said.
Urahara showed her, and she grinned as she panned the view before she found the perfect place to drop them at.
"Interesting...where is this?"
"The world called Flame of Recca. It has ninjas, a girl who heals with a weird power, and enough similar personalities that they can skate off the main characters. Besides, Naruto-verse is a MILITARY ninja village, and without papers they would land in hot water pretty damn fast. Not to mention all the issues with one of the hidden sectors of the shinobi military..." said Tatsuki.
She already had an idea where Urahara left Ichigo, and frankly she agreed with him. It was a good place to dump him and let him sort himself out without getting into too much danger. Though she did manage to get him to agree to drop her off there so she could get her own team.
She liked Pokémon as a kid, and she still had a love for Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan. Plus she still bought the newer versions.
Urahara was going to let her join him on the condition that she not bring up home. If Ichigo learned he had dumped his Nakama in a random world to keep them away, he might strangle him barehanded when Tessai wasn't around to stop him.
Well, that and no Pokémon story was complete with a main rival.
Orihime, Rukia, and Uryu looked around...and found a note left by Urahara.
"The device I gave Rukia is set to return you home in a month. Tatsuki went to check on Ichigo, since she is the least likely to sink him back into depression. Have fun in the world of ninjas!"
"...I am going to kill him," said Rukia flatly.
"I'll help," said Uryu.
"What happened?" asked Orihime.
"Urahara sent us to the wrong dimension on purpose, probably with Arisawa's help," said Uryu annoyed.
"So...Ichigo isn't here?" said Orihime.
"Why would he send us to the wrong world?" asked Rukia irritated.
"What did the note say?" asked Uryu. Rukia handed it to him.
He scowled.
"He doesn't want us to send Ichigo back into depression. What does that mean?" said Rukia.
They heard a payphone ringing next to Orihime.
"Hello?"
"Greetings Travelers! Welcome to the World of Ninja, picked by Arisawa-san! The device Rukia has will return you here in one month, so enjoy the vacation!"
"Urahara-san, why did you drop us in the wrong world?" asked Orihime.
"You're talking to Urahara?" said Uryu. She nodded and handed over the phone.
"Urahara, what the hell is the meaning of this?" asked Uryu.
"Right, put me on speakerphone for a moment."
Uryu pressed a button and Urahara came out loud and clear.
"As you all know, Ichigo lost his powers after the Winter War. What you aren't aware of is that the longer he went without his powers, the worse his depression at not being able to do anything got. Eventually Isshin-san removed him from the school in order to keep an eye on him."
"How could Kurosaki get that depressed? He's the most stubborn person I know!" said Uryu.
"I can't say for sure. What we do know was that he was reaching a pretty low level for him, so we decided to send him someplace where he would get his mind off not being able to help you against the hollows. The world we sent him is so safe that ten-year-old children explore the country freely with only the native animal companions to protect them. And from what Nel told me three days in, it was just what Ichigo needed to get out of his funk. Though there were some...side effects...that we hadn't anticipated..."
"What side effects?" demanded Rukia.
"He reverted into his ten-year-old body, though his mind remains that of his actual age. It happened to me as well, though I returned to normal once I passed through the portal again."
"So just to be clear, you sent Ichigo into the world of Pokémon and he's stuck as a ten-year-old until he comes home?" said Orihime.
She was friends with Tatsuki, who still played the games. She only needed a basic description and she could tell where Urahara sent him.
"You're kidding. Ichigo's stuck in the world of Pokémon?" said Uryu.
"Just out of curiosity, which region is he in?" asked Orihime.
"Well my new contact is named Oak so..."
"Kanto. I wonder if he chose Bulbasaur, Charmander or Squirtle?"
"From what I was told, one of Oak's scientist buddies sent him a black and red dog, as well as some sort of ghost type that fed on fear. It started with an M, I believe."
"Houndour and Misdrevius," said Orihime.
"Orihime, how do you know so much?" asked Rukia.
"Tatsuki-chan still plays the games, and she got me hooked. Next time you call Ichigo, tell him to catch me a Clefairy or Cleffa will you Urahara-san?" said Orihime.
"Will do! By the way, Arisawa-san said that she set the world to the 'Flame of Recca', whatever that means. The one I was planning to drop you off in had a boy wearing orange painting a mountain and being chased by adults."
"Naruto. Tell Tatsuki thank you for dropping us off in a world we might actually survive from," said Uryu.
"What is Naruto?" asked Rukia, completely confused.
"Naruto is a series about a young boy who was cursed from birth to carry a nine-tailed demon fox that nearly destroyed his home village. His greatest dream is to one day rise to the highest position know as the Hokage, who leads the village and prove to everyone he isn't the demon that he carries. The problem is that if Urahara had sent us there without any papers, we would most likely be stuck in a torture cell because the village Naruto lives in is a military ninja village."
"And going there without any papers or ID is liable to cause a repeat of when you rescued me..." said Rukia in understanding.
Uryu sighed, and prepared to wait a long month before the portal opened again...
Ichigo, when he heard the message, laughed. It was a good thing Urahara passed the message when he did, because they were about to enter Mt. Moon, which was one of the best places to capture Clefairy.
But he was curious which of his friends had opted to join him.
"Who was that Ichigo?" asked Ash.
"My teacher Urahara. He said one of my old friends decided to try their luck as a trainer...though apparently they chose to start in the Johto region and meet up with us at Cinnabar Island."
"Johto?" said Ash.
"There are several different regions. For example, you Ash are from the Kanto Region. That is where we are now," said Ichigo, pulling up a full world map on his Pokédex. He could use it to demonstrate all the areas.
"This is Kanto. This is Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. And that's just the ones that are available on this map. I'm sure there are many other areas."
"Which area are you from Ichigo?"
Ichigo thought fast, but Nel beat him to it.
"We came from an area where Pokémon aren't nearly as common. In fact, if you were to say you were a Pokémon trainer people wouldn't believe you unless you brought them out. That's why we left home to learn more about the world. We're from Nihon," said Nel.
Ichigo gave her a thumbs up for the quick save. Nihon was Japanese for Japan.
"Maybe I'll show you my house someday. But you won't find many Pokémon to catch there," said Ichigo.
"I wouldn't mind talking to your dad. He's a doctor right?" said Brock.
Ichigo turned out to be an excellent conversationalist when it came to medicine and recipes for medicine.
While Ichigo had kept up his fighting skills, in between doing his homework he also looked up books on medicine. Isshin had helped him quite a few times and despite what Uryu would say, he already knew his friend's father because Ichigo had been planning to intern at the hospital before all that soul reaper madness came into his life.
Now that he had a chance to breathe without worrying about hollows, Ichigo had had Urahara send over his old books so he could remember all the things he forgot in place of how to fight with a sword that could talk back.
It was...relaxing.
As Ichigo told them about his hometown, he felt himself relax. It was easy for him to speak of his home without remembering the reason why he had to leave. Having Kenpachi and Emeth helped his depression immensely.
He no longer felt useless.
Deep inside Ichigo's mind, he heard someone cackle in a familiar manner...and another voice trying to call out to him. What Ichigo was unaware of was that when his body reverted to his ten-year-old self...so had his powers.
Now that he really knew that just yet. Because he had learned a small amount of control over his power, he had yet to notice that being around Nel had caused his to wake up again. Though he would learn about that very, very soon...
Tatsuki was having the time of her life. She had gotten extremely lucky and found an injured Eevee when she first came here, so now she had her partner Pokémon.
Plus there was the fact that if she worked hard enough she could find a Torchic to put on her team before meeting up with Ichigo. She had a set list of Pokémon that she wanted, and one of the top ones was Blaziken because it was a Fire/Fighting type. Right next to Hitmonchan (which according to her fellow nerds happened to be based off of Jackie Chan, while Hitmonlee was based off of Bruce Lee) and Infernape, which she could wait on.
Urahara had gotten in contact with Professor Oak as soon as she dropped in, so she had been equipped with a Pokédex similar to Ichigo's. Her badge case didn't have the Gotei Thirteen flowers, but a representation on her new Nakama.
It had Orihime's hair pins along the ends, Uryu's bow on all four corners, Ichigo's swords along the top, Chad's weird arms (transformed) and now her black belt which had fire inside the belt.
She had learned while training with Yoruichi that she was a natural at the Second Division's fighting style, but for some reason her fists tended to set themselves on fire when she used her spirit energy.
Yoruichi would pop in occasionally in her human form to iron out any kinks in Tatsuki's form while dropping off some more books for her to work on.
Already she was able to go head-to-head with the Cat-woman, though she could only last for twenty seconds. But considering she got her ass kicked a month after first meeting Yoruichi and begging her to train with her, that was nothing to sneeze at.
In the meantime, Tatsuki grinned as she put Taiyo through her paces while they ran. The little Eevee would make hit and run attacks on her while they jogged, and Tatsuki would evade by practicing her shun po.
So far, she had manage to figure out how to use her spirit energy for the burst needed, but it would only last for ten seconds at a time.
All that lasted up until she ran right into a Tyrogue who was punching a rock...