I do not own Pokemon, or anything of the sort. Everything Pokemon related is owned by Pokemon. My only claim is to my own original character(s) and the plot.
Chapter 1
If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor.
-Eleanor Roosevelt
"Sometimes, I can't help but feel… lost. Like, all my other friends have things going on right now. New jobs. New relationships. Marriage. Then there's me and I just… feel like I'm just here. Like I have no purpose, no one who really cares, no one to push me, motivate me, love me…"
I sat on the couch and finished my rant. Pacing has always been a habit of mine. I found it to be a way to get my words out. Mobile body, mobile mind, or something like that. At the very least, it helped me get things out to my therapist.
"That's a natural way to feel after facing such great loss, Alex," my therapist responded. "However, it is critical to also realize that, despite that loss, there are still those who care for you. If you called one of your friends and asked to meet up for lunch, or asked for help, do you think they would turn you down?"
I sunk down further into the sofa and sighed. "No, of course I know they wouldn't. But despite knowing that, my head shoves that information away and just… spirals, I guess."
"Recognizing that is a good step. Now, have you considered finding a hobby? Something that you enjoy so thoroughly that you don't struggle to find the motivation?"
I closed my eyes as I thought about my recent attempts at hobby-finding. Archery was fun, but the lack of a range near my house made me lose interest after a few weeks. Going to the gym faced a similar problem, finding the motivation to get up and go work out. Also, the fact I had to pay for a membership with no income was somewhat concerning.
My last and most serious shot at a hobby was competitive Pokemon. I had been a fan of the series for essentially my whole life. My college friends even took to calling me a PokeNerd, so much so I even leaned into it and dressed up as Red for Halloween one year. If only we all hadn't moved away.
"Honestly," I finally started, "the easiest thing for me to get motivated about is Pokemon stuff. A lot of the coding projects I've done for fun have revolved around it, I have a bunch of merchandise, I enjoy the games. But when I sit down and try to do the competitive aspect of it, it just… loses its luster, I guess? Like, the real appeal of Pokemon to me was to make friends, go explore the world, and grow strong together. Kinda sucks that there isn't really anything like that in the real world, huh? At least, not for free."
The therapist made a few notes. He knew I had talked a lot about Pokemon since coming to see him. It had become more of a crutch in the past few months, but I still truly enjoyed it.
"Still, exploration with others may be a good avenue to look into. You may be surprised at how many like minded people there are out there. It could be a nice way to make new friends as well."
I nodded at that. He was right of course. "Yeah, maybe. I'll give it a shot then, look into some hiking groups or something nearby."
This caused the older man to smile at me. "Well then, I look forward to hearing about it at our next meeting. Speaking of, I do believe that our time is just about up for today. Is there anything else you wanted to say?"
I shook my head in the negative. I was actually looking forward to finding a club. "No, I think I'm good for today. Thank you again, Doctor. I'm looking forward to what I'll find."
.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.
Upon getting home, I quickly found a few hiking trails around in my area. There were quite a few that were interesting, but at the same time, I wanted to see more than just hills and mountains. I wanted to see it all. Forests, deserts, beaches, snowcaps, caves, even the wide open ocean. The issue? Time. Money. Location. And worst of all, I hadn't found any groups. Given, I hadn't really looked too deeply into it yet, but I was still hoping for something.
I decided I'd keep looking in the morning. I whipped up some quick dinner. While not a superbly skilled chef, I can at least follow a recipe I found online. Steak and mac and cheese, truly a classic and I won't let anyone else tell me otherwise. Even if I got distracted by a bird deciding to divebomb my window and the steak ended up a little burnt as I rushed to take it off the grill and back inside. Still was great.
While eating I went through the gruesome torture of applying to more jobs. Though the last few weeks had all been either rejections or literally not hearing anything back from anyone. I didn't want to give up, I genuinely liked what I chose to do, but when I kept getting turned down for a lack of experience it was getting harder to keep at it. How am I expected to get experience if I can't get hired anywhere because I have no experience?!
Sighing, I called it a night after the eighth application. I turned on my Switch and decided to shiny hunt for an hour or so in Pokemon Legends Arceus. It seemed to be a lucky night for me, as I managed to get three shinies from the mass outbreaks.
Content, I turned the game off and headed to bed.
Though, for some reason, I couldn't help but feel like I forgot something.
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I have always had very vivid dreams. Where some have small snippets of random events, and others may have nothing at all, my dreams are the equivalent of full production movies. Backstories. World building. Complex plot lines. Romance. Betrayal. All of it. It was quite enjoyable for me, especially considering I was luckily able to remember most of my dreams as well. At least, I could long enough to put them in a dream journal.
But the dream I had that night was different than normal. There was no setting. There were no characters. No plot to follow. Just myself in the yard of my family's house. Until there wasn't. Suddenly, I saw my family. My mom, still with that disapproving stare that hid amusement and fondness. My dad, with his one eyebrow raised, though whether jokingly or questioningly I didn't know. My sister with a wide smile that gave a glimpse into her unending energy and joy of life.
Including myself, my whole family was there. It would have been touching, picturesque even, if I didn't know it could never happen again. Instead, I just found myself tearing up at the scene.
I tried to speak but found myself unable. Abandoning conversation, I moved towards them, only for them to float away the same distance. In unison, they spoke what seemed to be a rehearsed line.
"Your goal is yet to be completed. Your purpose, yet to be found."
An odd statement considering I never really felt like I had either of those things. Odder still, I felt myself being dragged away from the ground. Pulled further and further away, faster and faster, until I watched the Earth shrink from a planet to a pea. The last thing I saw was space itself swirling itself into a black storm with a large white crack in it, with pulses of blue energy crackling from it in a grid-like pattern.
Then I was flung inside.
.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.
I woke up with a start, bolting upright in my bed. I panted, somehow finding myself physically exhausted, despite just having been asleep. The world seemed to be spinning, and I clumsily made my way to the kitchen and got a glass of water. One glass quickly turned into two as I realized just how parched I felt.
A loud grumble told me I was also in need of some breakfast. I pulled out the cereal I had in the cabinet and poured it into a bowl. That quickly got followed by some milk from the fridge and I was feeling much better munching on those sweet little marshmallows mixed in.
Yes, I know they aren't the healthiest, but they're good. Sue me.
I plopped down and settled into the couch. The one good part of not having a job was not having anywhere to be early in the morning. I turned on the news and decided to idly listen as I ate my cereal, though when the weather reports came on, I was forced to pay a little more attention.
Wait, I thought. It's going to be 80 degrees in what city?
"‒rees in Celedon, with a high of 86 degrees. Here in Vermillion, a little bit cooler thanks to the ocean air, the high being only 80 degrees. Meanwhile, beyond the Lunar Range, Pewter city is looking at‒"
I dropped the remote.
The bowl of cereal barely made it to the table.
I then dropped out of consciousness.
.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.
I think that, all things considered, I handled the situation elegantly. I passed out on the couch instead of on the floor. My cereal, though now soggy, was unspilled on the table. The remote… well it's just a piece of plastic around a circuit board, who cares if it gets dropped. When I came to, I was calm and collected.
For about ten seconds.
Then I realized that I was in the world of Pokemon! In Kanto, nonetheless! I may have preferred Sinnoh, but hey, you get what you get, and I surely will not be throwing a fit over this development. I started dancing around the room as I realized I could finally live out my fantasy of being a Pokemon Trainer. As I was dancing I started thinking. Which, if you know me, is somewhat of a dangerous affair.
Logic, the bane of all fantasies, started to force its way into my head.
Do I have paperwork here? What is the government like? Is this the game, anime, or manga, or some alternative? Do I…
Do I miss my old world?
I stopped dancing and stood there with a somber look. In a weird way, no I didn't. I mean, I was already calling it my old world and not my world or my real world.
Plus, I realized with a frown, it's not like anyone there will really miss me. I wasn't too close with my friends anymore, and my family… well that's an issue I would have to deal with no matter what world I was sent to.
I then sat back down, somewhat saddened by that train of thought. Only to be shocked by something else. It was the news that clued me into the world I was in, right? So why did it take me that long?
On closer examination, I realized that I had, somehow, found myself in an exact replica of my house from Earth. Room for room. Inch for inch. That, no matter how unbelievable, made sense of how I didn't know what happened, at least until I got to the kitchen. Where I made breakfast and didn't realize anything.
Opening up my cabinets I found, mostly, the exact same things I had prior to the evening's events. The fridge found itself in much the same state. The main difference being the brands.
Where I once had Lucerne milk, I now had MooMoo Meadows milk. My box of Lucky Charms had been turned into Swirlix's Surprise. And all my meat and fish turned into…
Well, surprisingly, they stayed the same. Evidently, they must still have domesticated animals and fish of some sort. That brought me a fair bit of comfort, as the idea of eating what is essentially a sentient life form just seemed wrong.
At this point I was getting excited again. If whatever being brought me here, was able to bring not only my house, but all its contents, and rebrand them into universe accurate versions, then surely I also had legal documents and the sort.
I went back up to my room ‒ and might I add that the same step on the staircase still squeaks! ‒ and found my wallet on my dresser where I left it upon getting back from therapy. Sure enough, opening it up, I found not a California State Driver's License, but instead a Kanto Region Trainers License. Gone were my USD bills, replaced by the Pokedollar. My debit and credit card… well they were just gone, but from what I remember from the games, money is managed through your Trainer ID and that card.
I even went over to where my phone was charging and found that my iPhone had been swapped out with a Silphone. I noticed a small engraving on the back which showed a Rotom and a checkmark. Apparently, my phone was Rotom compatible! Good to know that the phones aren't just completely useless if you don't have a Rotom.
While I was up in my room, I decided to do a little bit of research. My laptop was still very much the same, and I booted it up and launched Devon Chrome (a little bit on the nose, there, but not much I can do but laugh). I managed to find a website which was, essentially, Reddit for Pokemon: BattleNet.
Again I had to laugh. At least here, Blizzard is just a Pokemon move.
This site, however, was much more official, thanks to what appeared to be an affiliation with the Global Pokemon League. Under that umbrella fell the Pokemon World Tournament, the Battle Frontiers, the regional league conferences, and even the Pokemon World Coronation Series. Basically, if you needed to know anything about the major battling scenes in the world, this was the website for you.
Which means it was the site for me, as I entered a specific trainer's name in the search bar at the top. One click and I managed to pull up his entire trainer profile.
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Ash Ketchum
Age: 20 (2003)
Hometown: Pallet Town, Kanto
Confirmed Pokemon:
Pikachu
…
Major Tournament Placings:
Indigo Plateau Conference [2014] - Top 16
Orange League [2015] - Victor
Silver Conference [2016] - Top 8
…
…
Manalo Conference [2022] - Victor
World Coronation Series [2023] - Victor
Notable Titles:
Orange Island Champion*
Kanto Battle Frontier Brain*
Champion of Alola
Cerise Laboratory Research Fellow*
Monarch
Additional Info, Notes, and Links:
…
…
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
I had to turn away from my screen and digest all the info this profile just gave me. Because I seriously hadn't expected one search to give me such an insight into exactly what was going on in this world.
Firstly, I got a timeline. Ash was born in this world's 2003, is 20, and won the 2023 World Coronation Series. That means, I was likely just after the anime ended. Or at least, the Journeys anime, not sure if this world has those extra episodes or not, I never got around to watching them.
Secondly, Ash spent roughly a year on each journey, with, I assume, Alola and Journeys being nine months, and the Decolore Isles being only six. Yes, I am counting Decolore as a separate journey, no you can't convince me otherwise. A cruise covering the distance of an intercontinental flight? That takes a while.
Thirdly? Well, this one took some additional research about history and politics, two of my least favorite subjects. Apparently, Ash was likely one of the last groups of ten year olds to be allowed to go on their journey at such a young age. Likely due to events which occurred during his journey, namely New Island and Shamouti, the Global Pokemon League decided to up the starting age to thirteen. However as more and more of these catastrophic events started happening, the age continued to go on the up and up until they settled on eighteen being the appropriate starting age.
This was a highly controversial action, mostly due to the fact that every year they would up the age by a year. This led to a number of trainers being in a sort of gray area where they, in theory, should not have been able to become trainers until the age settled at eighteen. The League set up an appeal system where people who were affected by such a situation could still become trainers, notably becoming the Youngster's Program. While still existing, however, this program sees a lot less use thanks to the age having settled three years ago.
This kind of made sense, from an anime standpoint. It explained why all of Ash's travel companions were the same age as him, a now veteran trainer, but were still just starting their journeys.
What it didn't explain was Ash's sort of… dumbing down that occurred in Alola. But I don't think I could get answers to that particular issue on the internet.
Oh well, questions for later and answers for who knows if ever.
I decided that was enough research for now. A part of me wanted to just deep dive in and find out everything. What studies were expected of me, what I was allowed to do, the state of the regions, the political environment, how exactly the government is structured, etc. etc.
But I needed to take things a little slowly. These were topics that I wasn't super interested in before I was shoved across dimensions so I wanted to make sure I didn't burn myself out. I just found the largest source of motivation possible and I didn't want to exhaust it before my first day.
If only I could go outside, explore a little bit. I probably could, but it was a little suspicious that, according to the license I found, I had been a trainer since my eighteenth birthday roughly three years ago, and didn't have a single Pokemon to show for it. Or even Pokeballs to fake it with.
For once I figured that watching the news might actually be beneficial, instead of just depressing. As I was leaving my room however, my eyes were drawn to probably the one thing in the house that wasn't there before I got here.
Six all red spheres with dark gray bands going all around the center. The Pokeball that has never seen the light of day in the anime.
Cherish Balls.
AN: Hello there, and welcome to the world of Pokemon! But with a twist! A new story means a new schedule, compared to last time. If you're aware, my other story had a roughly weekly update schedule. I'm going to warn you now for this one that I don't really plan on having a schedule. I will, of course, TRY to hit weekly, but I will make no promises of the sort. Side note: I may still pick up Transferring Realities at some point, but I want to take a look at it and rework the chapters a bit maybe, just to improve the quality of the story.
I don't really storyboard or plan things out too much when I write so…. oops? Oh also, just an FYI, this takes place after all of Journeys, but doesn't use the mini-series "Aim to be a Pokemon Master"
Other than that, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Favorite/Follow if you liked, review if you have something to say, but keep it civil!
Peace out =)