I do not own the Harry Potter series or Pokémon.
Chapter Nineteen: Places to Be
"Moon?"
She didn't know how to respond.
Something so simple—something so easy—had been following her around this entire time. She could have gotten a hold of any of her friends at any time, but she had been too caught up with her new life at Hogwarts and everything that came with it. She hadn't even been trying to think of a way to get back home.
"Moon?"
"Red?" she said in a tremulous voice.
A shaky breath came from the speaker. "You're alive. Arceus, you're alive…"
"You should know that I'm not that easy to get rid of," Moon joked, although the humour was lost because of her pained tone.
"Moon?"
"Yeah?"
"Where… on Earth… have you BEEN?!"
Red's voice had rapidly risen to a shout, causing Moon to fall backwards onto the armrest and lose her grip on Rotom. The orange pokédex floated in the air near her face.
"WE HAVE BEEN SEARCHING EVERY CORNER ON THIS ARCEUS-FORSAKEN PLANET, LOOKING FOR YOUR SORRY ASS, SINCE THE START OF AUGUST! THREE AND A HALF MONTHS, BLAKESLEY, THAT'S HOW LONG YOU'VE BEEN GONE, AND AFTER ALL THIS TIME, YOU THINK TO MAKE A PHONE CALL NOW?!"
Red paused for breath, and Moon took the opportunity to speak.
"To be fair, I'm kind of stuck."
"… Stuck?"
"Yes, stuck. Trapped. Confined. Unable to get away from here."
"I know what stuck means, Moon," Red said irritably.
"Well, at any rate, I'm stuck here until someone finds a way to get me back to Alola."
"And… where are you, exactly?"
"Britain."
"… What?"
"It's also called the United Kingdom."
"That is not helping, Moon."
"Given that you've searched every corner of the planet—I'm touched, by the way—and that I've named a place that is not on any map you'd recognize, I'd have thought you would have pieced it together by now."
The phone went silent. Only the small whispering of static confirmed that the call was still going.
"Is this some sort of complex prank?" Red said evenly after a moment. "Because if Blue put you up to this, I swear I'm putting you both under house arrest when you get home."
"I wish I was joking, but no. I'm literally on a different planet."
A deep breath from the other end. "…That… explains a lot, actually. How are you calling me, then?"
"I'm using Rotom right now. Maybe it can bend the rules slightly?"
"You… know what? Screw it, dimensional travel is Dawn's area of expertise, not mine."
"At least you acknowledge your weaknesses, unlike some people."
"Speaking of Blue, he's taken over your job for the time being."
"Really?" Moon laughed. "How's he taking it?"
"Aside from the weekly dramatic breakdowns, fairly well."
A small cough brought the conversation to a halt. Moon glanced up at Hermione, whose face was slowly turning pink.
"Sorry," the Gryffindor said, "I didn't mean to interrupt."
"Who's that?" Red asked.
"Hermione," Moon answered. "She's… a friend."
Although the word came out normally, it felt weird on her tongue. Associating the word friend with the girl who had chewed her out on more than one occasion made Moon pause, and yet she could think of no other word to describe their relationship. Not after the girl had given her a lifeline.
Hermione moved over next to Moon and closer to Rotom. "Er… hello?"
"So, you're Moon's friend?"
"I'm Hermione Granger, and yes, I'm her friend."
"Well, thanks for helping Moon out, Hermione Granger. My name is Red."
"It's a nickname," Moon said after seeing Hermione's confusion.
"Better than my real one," Red commented. "But that's not what's important. Real question: where did you end up that you'd make a friend your own age? No offence, Miss Granger, but you sound young."
"What?"
"Don't pretend you don't know what I mean, Moon."
"I have friends my own age, Red."
"You have three, and you met two under extremely stressful circumstances, and the third through good timing. Forgive me, but I don't believe you'd go out of your way to talk to other thirteen year-olds."
"I-I…" Moon stuttered. She knew that the Statute of Secrecy was taken very seriously, and exceptions were only made when there was no other choice. She would have no problem with explaining her situation, but anyone else would look at it as her breaking the law. Being fined or incarcerated wasn't something she could afford. She didn't have a choice.
She hated not having a choice.
"I'll call you back."
"What? Moon, wait—!"
She hung up. Within seconds, Rotom's call function was ringing again, but she declined the call.
"Sorry Rotom," she said, "but I need you to get in the bag."
"You just found a way to speak with Red, and the first thing you do izz hang up?"
"Rotom. Bag. Now."
The machine grumbled, but slipped into the bag without much protest. The bag buzzed a moment later as Red attempted another phone call.
"Why'd you hang up?" Hermione questioned, starting when Moon moved to stand.
"How am I supposed to explain all of this," Moon said with a wave of her hand, "when saying anything of the sort to a Muggle without approval is illegal?"
"Well, it is, but it's not like anyone would find out."
Moon paused to look at the brunette. "Did you… just actually… encourage me to break the law?"
"The Statute of Secrecy isn't a law I particularly like in the first place. Plus, I would say that you connecting with your friends is more important."
"Great idea in theory," Moon said, "but, considering that they've been searching high and low for me and that there are virtually no laws—man-made or natural—stopping them from coming here to get me, I want to try to cover my bases and do everything as legally as I can."
"What?"
"Just—follow me," she said, rushing out of the Come and Go Room.
Her robes were rippling from the speed she was walking at, a pace and posture that would make her appear to be gliding across the floor if her skirt ended at the floor and if her shoes didn't hit the stone hard enough to cause an echo in the corridor. Hermione had to run to catch up to her, but Moon didn't slow down. When they reached some of the hallways with more students, she sped up to a run and wove her way through the open gaps, causing Hermione to lose track of her. Some students turned their heads as she passed, but she paid them no mind.
She skidded to a halt in front of the statue guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office, only to recall that there was a password needed to open the entrance. It surely couldn't be the same one each time?
"Crystallised Pineapple," she tried, but the statue stayed still.
"Sherbet Lemon?" she guessed, remembering the bowl she had seen on the headmaster's desk. But the statue did not move.
"Fizzing Whizbees?"
The gargoyle moved aside, allowing Moon access to the staircase. She jumped up the moving steps, nearly falling over once and just managing to brace herself with the wall in time. She stumbled into Dumbledore's office, clutching her bag.
"Miss Blakesley?" the headmaster said, "I'm always glad to have visitors, but I haven't seen many student dashing into my office without warning."
"I found a way to speak to them," Moon said, "My friends, back home."
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"
"Rotom can contact them, but… I don't know if I'm allowed to say anything."
Dumbledore's expression smoothed out, and Moon couldn't help but notice that it looked like the blank mask she wore when she didn't want anyone to know what she was thinking. His was a lot calmer, a lot more relaxed than hers, but it was still a mask. There was no way the gears in the old man's head weren't turning.
"Please, take a seat, Miss Blakesley."
Moon slowly sat down on the cushioned seat across from his desk. Her eyes were drawn to a bowl of yellow candies—sherbet lemons. Dumbledore took one before offering the bowl to her. Moon took one of the candies herself and ate it immediately. It might have been rude, but she felt like she needed to focus on something to calm down, and the candy was already there.
"Now, would you care to explain what you were saying?"
"Hermione and I were talking about… the place I came from," Moon said, "and she asked if I had any way of contacting my friends. I said no at first, but when I thought about it…"
"You remembered something," Dumbledore completed.
"We managed to make a phone call to a friend of mine," she continued, "but he was wondering where I was and… it's not like I can say I'm at a school of magic, right?"
A look of contemplation crossed the old headmaster's face. "Exceptions can be made to the Statute of Secrecy, but only on rare occasions."
"Besides immediate family?"
"That is the main reason, but information can also be given in extreme situations. I do believe inter-dimensional travel falls underneath that label."
She nodded, before pulling Rotom out of the bag.
"Sorry about that, buddy. I need to call Red now."
"I'm not the one thatzzz going to be angry with you," Rotom said, sounding miffed anyway. The call function was fired up, and within second, sound was pouring out.
Except it wasn't just Red screaming.
"I cannot believe you—!"
"—Gone for months!"
"The first thing you do is hang up on me?! Really?!"
"Would everyone be quiet?" Moon ordered, irritated and overwhelmed at the same time. "I know you've all been worried—"
"Understatement of the century," Blue's voice chimed in.
"—but I've sort of had a complete destruction of everything I thought I knew about myself and there was a slight possibility of me being legally obligated to not tell you about half of it."
"Ah, yes," a voice that sounded like May's drawled, "legal obligations. Because we all know how much you enjoy doing things safely and correctly."
"You're one to talk, Miss I-Fought-Six-Dragons-at-Once-With-Another-Dragon."
"Pardon me," Dumbledore said, a little louder than his usual volume, "but there are plenty of things we have to discuss."
"Who is that?" another voice—Dawn's—intoned.
"Er…" Moon hesitated before turning to Dumbledore. "Hermione's probably screaming at the gargoyle now, sir. Should she be allowed in on this?"
"I suppose she could be, if you have deemed her trustworthy for this matter," Dumbledore said, standing up from his chair. "I will let her in."
Although she suspected he could still hear her when he was on the staircase, Moon waited until the headmaster was out of her line of sight to begin talking.
"Long story short, I'm a witch and I'm at a magic school," she said in a hurry not to be interrupted. "And don't ask me what drug I'm on, Blue."
"I wasn't going to ask—"
"Yes you were," Moon and Red stated at the same time.
"In his defence, it was a rather odd statement," Dawn said, and then Moon heard a mumbled, "I can't believe I just defended you."
"I'm a witch," Moon repeated, "my father is a wizard from a different universe, I somehow fell into this universe while trying to sabotage a group of Neo-Galactic grunts, and now I'm attending a school for witches and wizards."
The line went silent, and Moon heard two pairs of footsteps walking into the office. She knew without turning her head that Dumbledore and Hermione were watching her, and waiting for a response with her.
What she did not expect was the sudden outburst of laughter.
"What's so funny?" she said, half-shocked that the others would find her situation humourous.
"You," Blue snickered, "in a school of all places!"
"I've been to school before, Blue!"
"How many heart attacks have you caused so far?" May chuckled.
"None!" Moon yelped. "I—okay, I did hospitalize one guy, but—!"
"That's our little girl!"
"Not helping, Blue!"
"This isn't really all that funny," Dawn said. "What are the chances that we will actually be able to find you now? I doubt that we can just walk in and retrieve you if there is magic involved."
The other end of the line went quiet, and Moon could picture everyone's faces going blank in concentration, as they all did when they were thinking.
"If I may speak," Dumbledore said, drawing Moon's attention away from Rotom, "it would seem that, despite the many layers of enchantments that normally prevent technology from working in magical areas, this device has managed to bypass those boundaries and reach you across dimensions. Whatever technology your people possess is far beyond what non-magical people have achieved on our side. I will be willing to assist you in finding a way over to our world."
"And who might you be?" Dawn asked pleasantly.
"Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he replied. "I have been communicating with our government and a few specialists to see if there are ways to bridge the gap between our worlds, even temporarily. It has been deemed possible to travel between dimensions, but any method as to how to do so is still theoretical at best."
"It isn't necessarily difficult to travel between two dimensions at random, but linking two together is far more complex," Dawn said. "Even locating the one you're currently in will take a month if we devote every waking minute to it."
"What do you mean by link?" Moon asked.
Dawn sighed. "Accidental dimensional travel usually occurs when the conditions—time, space, all that fun stuff—are perfect. Trying to force those conditions usually results in…"
"Massive explosion?" Blue supplied.
"Well, yes, I suppose that's a simple enough explanation," Dawn continued. "You said you were with Neo-Galactic grunts?"
"Yeah?"
"Was there anyone else around when you arrived in your current dimension?"
Moon's stomach twisted uncomfortably. "No. There weren't any people. It was just me and my pokémon."
"You were lucky. You could have died, or worse."
"Worse than death?"
"You could have had your consciousness stretched across every reality, experiencing every timeline simultaneously, without being able to interact with it. You would have lost your mind in seconds."
Moon shuddered involuntarily. "Mew, thanks for the mental image, Berlitz."
"Anyway, we can't go charging through every little dimensional tear and hope for the best. It would take centuries. Dumbledore, sir, if we had a chance to discuss this matter with your specialists, I think the entire process of establishing a link between our worlds could be done in under a year."
"I have no problem with that," Dumbledore said, "but the only method of communication we currently have is through this device."
Silence filled the room, even though Moon's brain was storming. She understood that if she wanted to get home, she'd have to rely on her friends and the experts, and for such a thing to work they would need Rotom. That did not mean she wanted to give up her companion.
"Moon, I know what you're thinking," Red said suddenly, "and yes, letting go of Rotom for the time being is difficult—"
"Difficult doesn't begin to cover it, Ashton," the young champion seethed. "Rotom's not just some AI guide. You're telling me to put my friend in the hands of people who I haven't even met. I can't replace him like some machine!"
"You will get Rotom back, pokédex and all," Dumbledore stated. "Even the most technology-fearful wizard would not damage the device they need to complete a task. And if anyone attempts to harm Rotom, they will have to answer for it."
That would mean nothing in the end. Giving up Rotom not only meant giving up her friend, but also giving up her link to everyone else. The short conversation she had was composed of yelling and trying to figure out how to get home. There was no talk about how life had been, from her or from her friends. She wanted to tell them about Hogwarts and magic, and she wanted to hear about what was going on in their lives.
"Moon."
Rotom's eyes had opened, and the pokédex was staring back at her.
"I don't mind going if it helpzzz you."
"I mind," she said stubbornly.
"Of course you do," the pokédex replied. "You've alwayzz tried finding the answers and solutions yourself without asking for help, but girl, you are in way over your head here. This is a lifeline. Take it."
"Rotom…"
"Take it or I swear I'll delete your recorded entries."
She laughed half-heartedly. "All right."
"We'll try sending you a message later on," May said, sounding more serious than before.
"If they don't deliver the messages, we'll just keep making them weirder and more frequent," Blue added.
"That a tried and true tactic, I'm sure," Moon chuckled.
"We'll be talking again soon," Red promised. "In person within a year."
The conversation was ended with a short goodbye—Moon wouldn't have been able to handle a lengthy one—before she reluctantly handed the pokédex over to Dumbledore.
'I'll be home within a year,' she thought. 'By next November or sooner, I'll be back in Alola.'
I was surprised with the response to the last chapter. Perhaps I should have more cliff-hangers.
All joking aside, this chapter wasn't something I had planned from the beginning. I was originally intending the introduction of more Pokémon characters towards the end of the story, but I felt like that would be a huge gap. Rotom being able to call the other champions was a good way to bridge that.
Of course, the next thought to pop into my head was that the meanest thing I could do mid-story was take Rotom out of the picture. Sending Rotom-dex to the Ministry to act as a communication device between dimensions was the most logical option.
Last thing; has anyone experienced a strange… quirk with their word count in the Documents section? Previous chapter had 2551 words according to my counter. I submit the chapter to my account, scan through it, click save, and end up with 2640 words. I didn't write anything extra, but 89 words appear out of nowhere. Has anyone else experienced this?
Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter.