"Well, that's been over ten minutes. Think Yakamino went for a sudden lunch break?"

"That workaholic? No way. Director Tarano's probably held him up with something 'highly important' again."

The two scientists sneered at the mention of the main human in this facility, and honestly? She shared the sentiment.

The humans that were present in this room were absolutely horrible and deserved every bit of hate she had in her heart, but they all shared that same ghoulish impassiveness about their own role in her torment. That currently absent human, Yakamino, was somehow even worse, as he took a particular, profound interest in what was done to her, like he was studying every instance of pain and suffering she was subjected to. But Tarano? Tarano was the worst of them all.

That human was not distant, nor was he treating her as some sort of an interesting object of study. No, instead he was clearly taking immense pleasure in everything that was inflicted on her, and every time he was involved, her torture went from bad to worse and beyond.

Shoot, she zoned out again, and missed something said. She had to concentrate.

She had a vision about a month ago. It shown her own grisly fate, yet did not end there, going far beyond the scope of the horrifying images she was trying to get used to. That's when she knew that waiting for a chance to escape this place, one way or the other, was not in the cards. She had to act. So, she began amassing energy, scrap by scrap, until she had enough to send a couple of telepathic messages to a faraway place she might've been able to receive help from. Those messages were sent out yesterday, and she even received a confirmation that someone was on their way.

The issue was, she was not sure just how much of time dilation was between that place, and this one. It could be minutes, hours, days or years. She could only hope that it was not too late.

Because the effects of the green liquid in that needle were not something she looked forward to.

She tried not to look in its direction.

She hated needles.

Inhale…

One… Two… Three…

Exhale…

She was stuck in a test tube full of horrible, painful machinery, awaiting for a rescue that could come too late, and hoping that whatever held the Yakamino human back would've lasted long enough for her to be returned to that tiny glass cage she slept in. The anticipation of her ghoulish fate gnawing at her insides, like a swarm of tiny, ravenous beasts.

This was probably the most peaceful she managed to feel in months if not years. Ironic.

Shoot, she zoned out again. Concentrate, dammit!

Suddenly, the doors bursted open, as something blurred between the humans present in the room, causing them to fall onto the ground, one by one, dead. The movement would've been impossible for her to track if she did not pay attention at that very moment, and despite that clothed figure looking fairly close to a human, it absolutely could not be one. No humans could move this quickly.

As the last of the humans present fell to the ground, the figure stopped, and looked at her questioningly.

"You're the one that contacted me, aren't you?"

The figure took a step towards the test tube. A moment later, she found herself pressing her back against the opposite side of the blasted torture chamber, her heartbeat in her ears, breath rapid and jagged. Trying to create distance between them. Dammit, why? This was surely her rescue, why did she have to be like this?!

Weirdly, once the figure noticed this, they stopped, taking a step back and raising both hands, as if to create an invisible wall between them.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," the not-human blinked, "I'd love to let you out of that thing, but if you need some time, I can wait. We're currently alone in the building."

At this, she nodded shortly, taking a wary look of the stranger. Getting a read on them was difficult, but at least she appreciated being given some space for once in her miserable life.

"Just so you know, I'm using this thing called Realitybox that allows me to use these speeds, and receive telepathic messages, without consequences. It's about to run out, but I have a few more. Just tap against the glass three times, when you are ready, okay?"

She nodded.

The not-human was dressed like a trainer. Except, most trainers were smaller - and possibly, younger - than this one. If this was a trainer, that is. They did have a single Pokeball on their belt.

She tapped the glass once and, after the stranger looked towards her, lowered her head down and a bit to the side, then raising it to look at the not-human again. They only needed a few seconds to realise what this was about.

"Ah, this Pokeball? My pet, Owari, is inside. I don't really want to release him here, because of, well…" they gestured to a few bodies, "He doesn't really fight, and I really don't want to traumatise him. Once we get out of here, I'll introduce you two. He's really friendly."

She nodded.

Inhale…

One… Two… Three…

Exhale…

Okay, she was about as ready as she could possibly be in this situation. She tapped three times against the glass.

"Oh, you're ready? Great!" they slowly approached the glass. This time, she managed to stop herself from flinching. The not-human took a small box out of their pocket, and opened it, revealing a single big red button inside. Before it was pressed, though, they looked at her again, "Right, before we start, is getting out of this place the only thing you need my help with?"

She shook her head.

"Okay, got it. Then after I release you, I'll need you to tell me as much as you can before this Realitybox expires. We can walk and talk, if you want, at least until the entrance."

After her nod, the not-human approached the test tube, pressed the button, and then with a blur of motion, the normally damage-resistant glass began to chip away into small specks of dust in a steadily widening circle. It took less than half a minute for that hole to get big enough for her to somewhat groggily pass through.

"THANK YOU," she spoke through telepathy. This talk would probably take out the rest of her strength by the end of it, but it had to happen, "NOT GOOD AT THIS. BUT WILL DO MY BEST."

"You are not good at telepathy, but you managed to pierce through dimensions with it?" the not-human visibly balked.

"TOOK TIME. A LOT," she sighed, then looking at her saviour seriously, "SOMEONE MUCH STRONGER. WILL END THE WORLD. UNLESS WE INTERVENE."

"'End the world' in a literal sense? As in, apocalypse?"

She nodded.

"GODHUNT IS AFOOT. TO STOP THE HUNTER. GOD WOULD DO ANYTHING. THIS WILL DOOM US ALL."

"And by 'god' you mean... Arceus?"

She nodded again.

"Wait, someone wants to kill Arceus? Is it an evil organisation?"

"POKEMON"

"And you want… To stop them?"

She shook her head.

"NO CHANCE. WOULD ONLY HASTEN DOOM. HELP INSTEAD."

"I see. So you want us to help them hunt Arceus so that the world doesn't get destroyed. And since the one destroying it is more powerful than you, if they fail, whatever they do to this world might seep into my world as well"

She nodded.

"BEFORE MEETING THEM. NEED THREE MORE. CAN'T DO SO MYSELF. HELP?"

The not-human nodded slowly, clearly thinking about the information revealed to them.

"Yeah, sure. I kinda can't leave a threat that could seep into my dimension alone. One thing though," they looked seriously at her, "Please don't use telepathy on me if I don't have a Realitybox activated. I am not from this dimension, but I have to abide to its rules. If I don't, I get flung out back into my own, and even if I somehow manage to re-enter, it would not be THIS this timeline."

She nodded again.

"Realitybox is a device that allows me to ignore world's rules for a bit. I only have ten left, eleven if you count the one I'll need to use on my way out, so I can bring anything from this world, including Owari, back home," the not-human shrugged, "Of course, I also shouldn't move fast without activating it, so if we travel together, I'll need to count on either you or any Pokemon I catch to fight most of the time. Can you do that?"

She gave a hesitant nod. Not that she was sure about it.

By this time, they have finally approached the doors that led out of the building, and stopped just a few steps away from it.

"Ah, and one last thing. I think we need to get you into a Pokeball," the not-human looked at her worriedly, "I have zero idea where we are, so leading you somewhere safe would be difficult without it."

Yeah, she expected this to be the case. She did not like it, but it probably would not be worse than her cage in this place.

She nodded.

At this, the not-human opened their backpack, and pulled one a single round device, placing it on the ground in front of her

"Whenever you're ready"

She hesitated.

Shoot, why was this so difficult?

Inhale…

One… Two… Three…

Exhale…

Ah, right. She forgot one thing.

"THREE DESTINATIONS. NAGASHINO, OKEHAZAMA AND ANEGAWA. LEAVE ANEGAWA FOR LAST"

The not-human seemed to be surprised at the names of these places for some reason, but she payed them no mind. Finally gathering enough resolved, she pressed the button on the Pokeball with her front paw, and a blinding light enveloped her entire being.

Then, unexpectedly.

Calm.