Hopefully this is out in a normal timeframe lol. Also this chapter name is awful but i couldn't think of anything else.

Chapter 18: Out of the Icing Pan to Under Fire

The beach of the grass continent was cool and calm, the early morning sun peeking over the horizon from inland, while the ocean slept.

There was no snow, and naught but a cool breeze in the air and across the morning beach, Sharpedo bluff in the distance.

Until a flash of pinkish light appeared, illuminating the area for a brief moment, before vanishing, leaving 2 Pokémon on the beach.

"We're here. And about 5 days ahead of schedule." Venus said. "We should probably head into treasure town and discuss things with Jonah and the guild before leaving, hmm?" She turned around to see Ian throwing up. "Eugh… gross."

"Urg… sorry…" he said, wobbling as he almost fell down. "I don't think I want to do any more teleporting." He looked around finally. "Well damn, it looks just like what I remember…" he said quietly to himself.

"Hmm?"

"Oh, uh… nothing. Should we get going?"

Venus stared at him for a moment. "...yeah."

The two of them walked back up the beach towards the town, stopping at a crossroads. "Where do you think we should go first?" Venus asked

"I think the heroes first. I uh… need to talk to them for something tangentially related." Ian said, avoiding eye contact.

"Whoo boy… well let's go then. Those 2 always get up early, they should be up now." Venus said, starting down the main road of the town.

As they walked, it was mostly empty. The only other Pokémon up yet was a Kecleon in this town's branch of the Kecleon mart.

"Oi mate!" The green one called. "You 'cheeoo need a'ything?" He called to the duo. "We can 'ook ya up if ya need!"

"No thanks! Sorry Kecleon! Venus said. "We're on a schedule!"

"Yeah, uh, maybe later though." Ian added.

"Oh well then. If ya see mah brotha lemme know then mates! 'ave a good one!" He waved.

"Wow, he's got an accent. It sounded Australian" Ian said.

"Where the hell is Australia?" Venus asked.

"Oh uh, nowhere. Just uh… a… uh… name I came up with." Ian said. "It would be similar to a Galarian accent." He said. 'If Galar is England then whatever the 'real' Pokémon world's Australian accent sounds like is probably still similar.' He thought. 'Thank god I came up with that on time.'

"Well whatever, we're almost at Sharpedo Bluff. Jonah and Sarah still live down there." Venus said as they reached the edge of the town. There was a large cliff overlooking the ocean. They were on top of the massive rock structure.

"Down here." Venus said, pointing to a descending set of stairs into the cliffside. Ian followed, and down the stairs they went.

Shortly after, they reached the inside of Sharpedo Bluff's overhang. There was a small spring cut into the wall, a wooden table with 2 chairs, and a tunnel cutting deeper into the rock. Half the room was open to the sea breeze, and they were still quite far off the ground. There was a clattering noise coming from deeper into the rock tunnel, before the sound of a door opening could be heard.

"Is someone here?" a familiar voice called. It was Jonah.

"Yeah, it's me, Mawile. From the Expedition Society."

A tall Lucario came out of the back hallway. "Hey Mawile. I thought you weren't due for the check up on the guild for another few weeks." He then spotted Ian behind her, seemingly avoiding his gaze. "Hello there, I don't believe we've met."

"Uhm… hey Jonah. I, uh, evolved. And uh-" before he could get another word off, Jonah interrupted him. "Ian. I recognize the voice. Where's Ava? Why aren't you out there helping her?" Jonah seemed agitated.

"She's fine! She's fine, she's still in Frosted Village." Ian said, in a slight panic.

"Jonah, calm down. Ava Espeon is en route to Lively Town, and should be there in a few days. I may as well explain the visit." Venus said.

"No, I can." Ian interrupted. "I got outed. Just a couple weeks ago." he told Jonah.

"Arceus damn it… I told you to be careful! You could have gotten yourself killed!'' Jonah said, raising his voice. "And now we don't know if they've hurt my daughter!" Jonah had a scowl on his face as he looked at Ian, who cowered back slightly, his ears pressed firmly against his head.

"Jonah! Calm down! Ava is fine." Venus shouted. "We came to tell you that, and to let you know that Team Supernova is going to be reunited shortly in Lively Town. We came to the grass continent to find Mew. We have a lead on why Ian is a human right now. After that, we can hopefully put this behind us, and move on! It wasn't his fault, for Arceus sake."

Jonah seemed to calm down considerably, but still gave Ian an evil eye. "You better keep her safe."

"I know"

Sarah finally chimed in. She seemed quite annoyed, but not straight up angry like Jonah. "So basically, you came here to find Mew, and then that's it, right?"

"That's the plan." Venus confirmed.

"Well then get a move on." Jonah said. "I'm not exactly in the greatest mood right now. And, Ian?"

"Umm… yeah?" he asked cautiously.

"I can see you've evolved. Seeing as Mawile referred to Ava as being an Espeon now, I presume you evolved together?"

"Yeah, we did. And…"

"I don't need an 'and.' Espeon and Umbreon couples are always soul mates. It's always been that way. It should be your instinct to keep her safe. As your number one priority."

"It is."

"Then good. You know just as much, if not more than me, then, that you need to keep her from danger." Jonah finished.

"You 2 can stock up in town, and then head to wherever Mew is. We don't know her location." Sarah said.

"That's the plan." Venus said. "We'll stop by here in a couple days when we've finished."

Without another word, Ian and Venus slipped back up the stairs to outside the shelter.

"Jonah, I get why you were angry, but… you know he meant well." Sarah said. "He clearly loved our daughter, and was clearly stressed already."

"I get that. It doesn't mean I can't be worried for her though. He failed to protect himself, Sarah. What if he can't keep Ava safe in a situation with real consequences?" Jonah said, looking down.

"Then it's going to affect him just as much, if not more than us. If they evolved together, they'll have a soul bond. One of them, well, dying, would just as much hurt the other."

"I just don't have certainty that he's safe for her to be around." Jonah said

"I promise you, he is. Just give him time."

Meanwhile…

"Well… that was a mess." Venus said, her maw twitching. "Guess we're just heading to the jungle… on the other side of the continent."

Ian was staring off while she was talking, her voice background noise to him. He had been looking out over the sea, a worried expression on his muzzle. He could feel the small pebbles underneath his paws, and the morning light lit up the landmass behind him. over the past 16 months, or 'moons', as this world called them, he had settled into this form much better than he could have expected. even imagining himself with hands, or bipedal felt, well, alien.

"You there?" Venus snapped her fingers, and Ian jumped.

"Oh, sorry… I'm just thinking…" He said

"About what?"

"...Myself. And Ava, mostly. Sarah and Jonah are her parents… and they're just… they're worried for her. They're so angry with me right now because I didn't keep myself safe, so why would I be able to keep her safe?" He had a pained look on his face. "I'm trying to make this better. Figure out why I'm here, so I can just… put it behind me. Move onto the future, you know? I already tried that, what with swearing off my humanity when we evolved… but I haven't been able to commit to it. I had to dig up the one part of my past I want to move on from, just so anyone would take me even remotely seriously."

Venus listened to him speak, avoiding eye contact. She never knew him as being this worried about himself, always more focussed on the team and himself as her trainer. "Once this is over, you and Ava will be able to move on, just like you want. Promise." She said, her maw still twitching.

"...thanks… Venus. It means a lot. Thanks for helping me get back to her."

"...yep. come one. We gotta get ready to head to the jungle." She said, starting towards Treasure Town.

"I'm comin, I'm comin."

"So that's one ticket to the water con'inent miss?"

"Yes. I'm supposed to meet someone there." Ava said, climbing onto the shell of the Lapras as it lurched off the docks. "I've travelled before, so I know how to stay on the shell properly."

"Aye. that's good. Not many have, what with the Lapras liners havin shown up only in the last 7 or 8 years. Mind if I pry a bit?" he asked. "Who'sit yer meetin?"

The Espeon grimaced. "Just…" she sighed. "My partner. S.O if you will. An Umbreon. He came through on this liner maybe 2 weeks ago?"

"Nope. don't remember ferrying an Umbreon any time recently." he said. "Lotta Lapras's in the service, though. Probably got carried by one of those guys. I can check the records when we stop, if you want. Expedition Society has records of most Lapras voyages at the headquarters in their fancy pants nexus."

"Oh… that's alright then. Thank you."

"Was he important to ya?"

"...yeah. For the past… nearly a year and a half, we worked together in a discovery team up north." she explained. "He- I mean, something happened, and we got separated. About a week ago I got word from the expedition society to meet him there. So that's why I'm going to the water continent."

"Aye. Well, I hope whatever happens with you guys gets better."

"...I do too."

Ava couldn't help but be worried. Where would they go from here? They couldn't go back to Frosted Village, lest Neo and Nova straight up attack them. They would have to go somewhere else. Treasure Town was an option, bunker down with her parents until they could get somewhere on their own. Hell, they were both almost adults. They would be free to go wherever after it was all over. One upside, she supposed

All that was needed for that to happen would be everything working out as planned. It shouldn't be that hard, right? After all, he was still in Lively Town waiting for her arrival…

The winter sun shone down on the main path out of treasure town to the north, as 2 Pokémon walked along it. The Grass Continent was always quite tropical, and didn't get much snow, leading to the entire continent having mostly hibernating plants dotting its surface. Brown leaves and grass, waiting to be covered by snow that would never come, or already had.

The 2 Pokémon were the familiar Umbreon and Mawile. Venus's maw had been twitching ever since they left team Poképals home, and Ian hadn't a clue why. he and Venus hadn't talked much since they left Treasure Town in general.

After stocking up at the local Kecleon store for food and water, they headed out. They had to go north on the continent for a couple of days to reach Mystery Jungle, which would be at its easiest to traverse this time of year. It was where Mew had supposedly returned to after the Dark Matter incident nearly 7 years ago.

Eventually, though, Venus spoke up. "...who are you really?"

"Hmm?"

"I said who are you really? Don't play stupid with me, 'Ian.' after what Jonah said in Sharpedo Bluff, as well as some other things you mentioned, I got some doubts, but I get the distinct feeling you've been leading me along." the Mawile, with an angry look on her face, her maw looking ready to strike, faced down the eeveelution.

"I… didn't… what do you mean…?" he said, slightly worried.

"You've been lying to me about this to some level. You clearly know who I really was, but aside from that, you haven't provided a single piece of evidence as to being who you say you are."

"You know who I am! I'm Ian! Venus, chill!" he said, backing away slightly.

"Then prove it. What happened to Clairé after we fought Necrozma?" she yelled, walking towards him.

"I… she… uh…" he quickly tried thinking back to when he played the games. It took a moment, before…

"She should still be in the pc box!"

Venus looked at him shocked for a moment, before angrily tackling him to the ground, her maw inches from his face. "Who the hell are you really? If you were really Ian, you would know that that fucking bastard Necrozma killed her! Tell me why I shouldn't end you right fucking here you liar!"

He panicked. "I didn't lie! I swear! I'm telling the truth! I didn't… know!"

"Bullshit." she punched him across the face with way more force than should have been possible from her small size. One of his teeth came flying out. He looked at her, and growled, before throwing the steel type off of himself.

"I didn't lie, Venus! Not… not entirely. Look, just… hear me out." he said, slightly slurred from his bloody jaw.

"Fine. explain before I fucking kick your head in and leave."

"I am Ian. In a sense. That's my real name, I have a life, and I distinctly remember a Mawile named Venus… whether or not it was you, I don't remember."

"What do you mean?" she said angrily.

He sighed. "The world I was from… Well, Pokémon weren't… aren't real. At least, in a sense. They were considered fictional creatures. There were games, and cards, and all sorts of stuff about them, but they weren't… real. I had a game I played, well, 3 games. Based off of these 'fictional' Pokémon. In them, you played the role of a trainer. In one of them, based off of a fictional region known as Kalos, I caught a Mawile I named Venus. In them, the Pokémon couldn't, well, die. It was all lighthearted fun." he said, sighing.

"So you're saying you didn't catch me… a sort of… avatar of yourself did?"

"I… kind of… look, I have no clue if this is just some cosmic coincidence, but I remember using that Pokémon I caught through many different 'games' and 'regions.' I had no indication to ever think it would be real in a sense. Boy was I wrong… look. I know who you are, but I don't know much about you. You should have a mega stone, and that's… about it. I was your trainer, but not… your trainer at the same time. Just… I didn't know how to tell you, or if it would even matter."

Venus was silent for a few moments, before dropping her fists. "That's just…" she sighed. "It's whatever. You're not the Ian I knew, but you're still related, in a sense. I'll still help you but just… don't… don't lie to me. What about this world? The 5 continents? Were those ever in one of those 'games' you played?"

"...yeah. Not quite the same way though. The games were based around the 4 world ending incidents, where you played as the heroes. I guess I got sent to a future of that world… or something. It's less important… if I'm honest." he said. "Can we hurry up and get a move on?"

"...yeah. And what you said about the mega stone? I do have one." Venus walked over to him, and showed him her necklace. It was a small gold chain with a Mawilite strung through it. "I got this when you… well, you know, he bought it for me in Kalos. I've only ever used it once, when I avenged Clairé. At least, in a sense. Necrozma sent me to this world months before the planet's paralysis, and I've been searching for you ever since, because you had gone missing in Alola."

"Any idea what caused that?"

"No. I don't." she said. "And I don't think I ever will. But regardless, we're losing sunlight. Let's get a move on.'' Venus grabbed her satchel off the ground.

"We can travel at night if you're okay with it, you know. I am nocturnal." Ian mentioned.

"Alright. I guess it's a good use for my chesto berries, huh?"

"Yep." Ian grabbed his own satchel, and the 2 Pokémon continued north towards the jungle.

Sorry it took so long for me to update again. Covid is a bitch. Don't recommend it.

Aside from that, I also played through legends arceus. That was fun. I do recommend that, more than covid at least.

Thanks to Sparkfire for beta reading. Oh, and did I mention that about 15 months ago, he also suggested the name Venus for my at the time unnamed Mawile oc? Again, thanks for that.

See you next time I update and remember to write. Oh, and I have a tumblr blog for the fic now, where I post updates, and other things relating to it, and fanfiction in general. Also, I'm going to be putting the fic on a03 eventually, once I can get all my old docs for older chapters in one place. Tumblr blog: