Creation began on 09-06-17
Creation ended on 10-15-17
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Red and Blue, Black and White
A/N: We might find lines being crossed.
Thud! The male trainer's Glaceon fell hard from the impact of Shinji's Gyarados' Hydro Pump, sending it slamming against a stalagmite of ice.
"Glace…" It struggled to get back, but was too injured to press on against such a strong combatant, and fell back down.
"Glaceon in unable to battle," the male referee declared. "The victor is Shinji Ikari!"
Shinji, having defeated his second opponent in the conference on the Ice Field, looked towards his friends in the audience as they rooted for him and his Pokemon. Then, he looked back at Rei, who, along with Pyro and Soko-Yama, won their second match by defeating a Kabutops, a Wailmer and a Glaceon that were chosen by his adversary, and bowed his head to the red sea serpent.
"Eee!" His Eevee cheered him.
-x-
"…So she went back to their facility and participated in the dimensional test that allows her and the other children to venture subconsciously into the other world," said Maya to Ritsuko in the Eva cages, "it's not unheard of for people to do things that they're told not to."
"But Rei was ordered not to go back there by Commander Ikari," Ritsuko explained, standing in front of Unit-02. "He had questioned why she went there to begin with, and she answered that Major Katsuragi requested her presence and those of Shinji's other classmates, about how that dragon had informed the G.C. that time and space were a requirement of one another."
Maya thought about this revelation and responded, "It's a black and white situation, Sempai. Either relay such information to someone that can use it later on, if you're able to get to them, or don't. The only shades of gray in situations like that…are what could happen later on. But still, it's quite surprising that Rei and Asuka were able to get to where Shinji has ended up. And it's likely that the Aida boy will try to obtain new footage from the Pokémon world and post it online. It gives the G.C. more credibility and makes Shinji more popular…and when you think about it, that Eevee of his that is nicknamed after Major Katsuragi is very cute."
Somehow, Ritsuko felt she wasn't going to even consider Gendo was going to win any argument over his son or Rei, regardless of how undesired the current situation had become from his point of view. And even she couldn't see any potential outcome for NERV, beyond simply facing the Angels, which wouldn't earn them any points for favoritism or popularity. No, if anything, the only real worth of anything being done right now was the interdimensional research that Giovanni was performing with the dragon. And the more she thought about it, the more she thought about whether or not her current profession had been the right path for her to take.
"Maya, how soon will it be before the pilots return from their sojourn with Shinji?" She asked.
"It should be another day," the young woman answered.
"Maybe we should go over and try and see how they're managing."
-x-
"…I didn't know you wash your larger Pokémon," went Hikari as she saw Shinji, Kensuke and Toji scrubbing the Shiny Gyarados' body with sponges and brooms. "Is it time-consuming?"
Shinji, who was using a broom to scrub Rei's crest, answered, "Yeah, it is. But even Pokémon as large as a Gyarados deserve to look their best in front of others. And I never could bathe Rei when she was a Magikarp. It wasn't really anyone's fault. There wasn't any good soap that could be used for Magikarp, something to do with a degree of sensitivity."
"Eevo!" Hikari looked over to the side of the building where some other cleaning equipment was and saw Misato, holding a hose in her mouth.
"And it's not all that time-consuming if it's about bonding more with your Pokémon," added Toji, using a pair of sponges to clean Rei's tail fin. "It's okay for you to come over, Class Rep. She knows you're not going to bother her."
Hikari slowly came over and stood in front of the red Gyarados. It was unbelievable to be this close to such a large animal and still be unharmed. Slowly, she raised her left hand to her closed mouth and petted her right whisker.
Rei's eyes glossed as she smiled at the girl.
"She likes you," Shinji expressed, sliding down Rei's side and getting the hose from Misato. "Would you care to spray her?"
As the pigtailed girl partook on the opportunity to spray water on the red sea serpent, the First and Second Children were wandering around the city, looking at the Pokemon that trainers currently had outside their Poke Balls.
While Rei was admiring a woman's Gardevoir and Leafeon, Asuka was looking at a man's Golem and Garchomp. Both girls had to admit that the Pokemon were unusual in their appearance, but were amazing to fascinate over; they didn't know how many people before them thought of questioning how a Golem seemed to exhibit reptilian features or how an Eevee could evolve into a creature that was a living plant, right down to the cellular structure.
-x-
"They seem to be having fun," said Palkia to the adults in the chamber, watching the monitors.
"After watching a match on the ice, with degree of fire," expressed Antonio, "they should enjoy themselves outside of the arena."
"Whatever helps them to pass the time," added Fuyutsuki; he was pondering how much Shinji knew now about what his parents had done due to the psychic aid of his Mew.
Antonio looked at his watch and sighed.
"We wake them up in another five hours," he revealed.
"Humans can only be made to sleep for so long in a controlled state of rest," uttered Palkia.
"It's not safe to have them do so for longer than what is medically permitted," went Misato, also wondering what was going through Shinji's mind as he washed his Gyarados.
-x-
"If the Giovanni Corporation ever succeeds in achieving interdimensional travel and opens a doorway here," Hikari told Shinji and the others back in the trainer's hotel suite, eating lunch, "I want to come here and be one of those Pokemon Coordinators."
"I'd probably settle for being a Pokemon photographer," added Toji, "like that guy you met during your time in Hoenn, Shinji."
"Todd Snap," Shinji stated the identity of the professional photographer. "You have to carry a camera around and take good shots of Pokemon. What about you, Asuka? Ayanami?"
Asuka thought about it, but couldn't decide on which Pokemon profession would have been good to follow if she chose to go down that route. Each profession seemed promising and full of excitement. She couldn't decide just now.
"It is hard to choose which path to take," said Rei to them. "Each one is a good choice, but there is no telling how things could transpire."
"But it is better to not know and try your best than to know and not try at all," Shinji declared; ever since he became a Pokemon Trainer, his journeys around four regions have all been wracked with a measure of failures that he had to learn from, but as he learned from these experiences, each time he tried to overcome adversity was just another step on the stairs to greater things that awaited everyone on the journey. "Stand tall, and if you get knocked down, just get up again."
"Uh, I think we're at the end of our sojourn here," said Kensuke sighed, holding up his right hand, which was becoming see-through. "I hate this. It feels like we're ditching you, Shinji."
Toji and Asuka looked at their hands and saw them becoming see-through, as well.
"You're not ditching me," Shinji responded, trying to keep from feeling depressed about their disappearing from his sight. "Until we meet again."
"And we will meet again," Rei told him as her head was becoming see-through. "Best of luck to you in your next match, Shinji."
Then, they were all gone from his suite, leaving the trainer alone with just his Eevee on his lap.
"Good friends, huh, Misato?" He asked her.
"Eee," she responded.
The only minor issue he had now was the fact that they unintentionally left their dishes for him to clean, though he was going to do them, anyway.
-x-
"I hate this feeling," said Asuka as she woke up and got off the cot she was on, looking at the empty IV bag that fed her body the necessary nutrients to keep it active.
"I just grin and bear it," went Kensuke as he got up. "But I know what you mean. I need a burger."
The door to the room they were using opened up and Misato came in.
"They don't do well with boxed lunches when eating," she explained. "Can any of you stand takeout?"
"I'll try anything so long as there's vegetarian in it," answered Rei.
"Totally, Ms. Ayanami," said Antonio, appearing behind Misato, holding a small stack of discs. "Most of the new footage from the Pokemon world for you to post onto the Internet."
"Thank you, Mr. Giovanni," Kensuke praised.
-x-
Due to the unexpected attention Shinji's dimensional displacement in the Pokemon world was getting, Ryoji Kaji had managed to get more information from the MAGI than what he thought he could've gotten before the Twelfth Angel incident went straight to Hell for NERV when they ended up losing one of the children. He guessed that with all the attention Shinji was unknowingly obtaining through his displaced adventures in another universe, the security of the base had been limited. This permitted him to find out from the trio of supercomputers through a backup cluster of computer terminals in a secret room what really caused the conditions for Second Impact to occur, and it was beyond what he initially believed to be within the realm of possibility.
And anyone that did know about this were either silenced or dropped off the face of the Earth, he realized, copying the data from the MAGI to the USB drive on his portable terminal.
Suddenly, the white walls around him turned red.
"They can't be onto me already," he uttered, closing his terminal and grabbing his gun. "No, wait. It must be something else."
Then, the alarms went off, indicating an emergency of the highest sort.
"Here we go again."
-x-
It was an Angel, and based on the look of it, a very mighty one.
"So, this is what NERV deals with on a regular basis?" Antonio questions while looking at a monitor that connected to a security camera outside the building, showing the large creature that was approaching the city. "They were better off calling it a kaiju like they do in the movies."
The personnel were gathering the data and making sure they backed up everything before going to their underground shelter.
"And these people that entrust your future survival to the friends of the boy who is displaced in my world are the ones at war with these creatures?" Palkia asked Antonio; the Spatial Pokemon was also looking at the Angel as it approached the city. "There is a chance they won't be able to deal with this creature that is most likely violent."
"That is the situation NERV has been dealt with, Palkia," Antonio told it.
"My concern is not the organization called NERV. My concern is the boy's friends that will be going up against this creature. If they can't overcome it, who will tell him that they're unable to see him again because of factors beyond their ability to comprehend?"
"Well, what do you propose, then? We're just in the research on interdimensional travel, not fighting giant monsters Hell-bent on exterminating humankind."
It looked as though the pearl-like dragon leered at the man before answering, "Let me help them overcome this creature. I don't have the power to return to my world, but I have the power to fight against an adversary."
"But if you get killed, with your existence goes our chances of cracking the goal. How can we be sure you won't try to flee?"
"If I wanted to flee, I would've done so the moment I saw the boy's father…or even when the sedatives you used on me wore off. I'm much smarter than you think. And there's no place to flee. Now, I can open rifts between here and wherever else is accessible elsewhere in this world, but there is no way to depart this dimension. And I confess that your organization's goal to find ways to access other worlds, untouched by civilizations, with raw resources and a way to bring back displaced individuals…has intrigued me…and I want to see how far you're willing to go to achieve that goal that could benefit your world."
-x-
The Angel destroyed seventeen layers of the twenty-two layers of protective armor keeping it out of the Geo-Front, forcing NERV to set up their defense in front of the base, as there was no time to face it above in the city.
Misato set up the Evas with Unit-02 as the first line of defense, Unit-01 as the second line, and Unit-04 as the last line, since Kensuke hadn't been experienced enough with the Eva.
"Major Katsuragi!" Maya gasped. "Unit-01 isn't synchronizing with the First Child!"
Within the Entry Plug of Unit-01, Rei had to cover her mouth in disgust as she couldn't sync up with the purple Eva.
"It's no good," she groaned.
"Ikari," went Fuyutsuki to Gendo.
"I know," he uttered under his folded hands. Is the Eva trying to refuse me?
"What's the status of Unit-00?" Misato asked Ritsuko.
"It can be ready within two minutes," she answered; even though the blue behemoth had been rendered obsolete, they still had it.
"Do it," they heard Rei say to them. If we don't deal with this Angel…we won't be able to see Shinji later on.
Meanwhile, just outside the base, Asuka held up her rifle as the Angel entered the Geo-Front.
Okay, Asuka, if you beat this Angel, everyone will have other things to worry about, she thought, opening fire upon the Angel as it touched down on the ground.
The bullets hit the AT-Field of the Angel, but barely managed to inflict any damage to the body.
-x-
Even though his next match was on the Water Field in another hour, Shinji had a feeling of woe. It was like something big was happening somewhere else…and his friends were involved.
Ping! One of his Poke Balls popped open and released Master into the hotel room with him and Misato.
"You're worried about your friends from your world," Master told him.
Shinji sighed as he stood by the patio and looked at the Genetic Pokemon.
"I think I'm pretty obvious, Master," he responded.
"Eee," went Misato to Master. "Eevo."
"What did she say?" Shinji asked.
"That you worry about every one of us you know," he translated for the Evolution Pokemon.
"For the last two hours, I've gotten this bad feeling that something big just happened back in my world," he explained to them. "Only I don't know what it is…or was. There is the whole time and space thing that has been going on. Not a whole lot of time has gone by there like it has here. Four years here, while maybe a month or two there since I went missing in action."
"If you have a strong will to go with a strong heart and soul, you can reach out to those from afar."
Shinji nodded in the positive, but had some doubt that he could reach out to anyone back in his world, even though he had people he cared about still there, that he couldn't help but feel he needed to protect from the Angels…even though he didn't want anything to do with the Eva, anymore.
"On your own, perhaps," Master stated, sitting on the bed beside Misato, "but with the aid of those with psychic awareness of the cosmos, you can reach beyond your current setting."
Then, as if to prove a point, Master used his telepathy on Shinji and Misato; even though he was already very powerful before they met, his time with Shinji made Master all the more stronger.
Shinji felt some measure of calm, but his heart still beat with woe as he felt himself having an out-of-body experience because of Master. He saw the Earth they were on, the sea of space that existed, the sun that shone brightly in the darkness…and could see further than that.
My God, he thought, looking around the vastness of space.
Over there, he heard a female voice say, and looked to his right, seeing his Eevee floating beside him; since she was female, he had to deduce that she was the one that spoke.
In front of them was another blue sphere that looked like Earth, but with a large spot on it that looked like a red blister or scar. This, in and of itself, left Shinji deducing that this was the world he came from, a scarred world he was trying to get back to by catching Pokemon.
Pokemon in my world could really help for the environment, he thought, descending towards the planet. Oh, no!
He flew down to the area that was Tokyo-3, Japan, seeing Unit-02 get its arms severed by an Angel he hadn't seen before, with a pair of limbs that resembled toilet paper.
Asuka! Shinji screamed.
-x-
Despite the available weapons to handle this Angel and the eroding of its AT-Field, Asuka couldn't bring down this Angel on her own. The damned thing was just too tough. And now, she just had both her Eva's arms chopped off by its toilet paper-like limbs.
"Dammit! Damn you!" She screamed, charging towards the Angel.
"Asuka, no!" Misato gasped.
Asuka, get down! She heard Shinji's voice, and then just lost her footing and fell down, dodging the Angel's retaliation attack.
Then she felt her nerve connections cease with the Eva, allowing her a breath of relief as the phantom pain in her shoulders was undone.
Did I just hear Shinji? She wondered.
-x-
Rei, piloting Unit-00, came out of the base, armed with an N² bomb, the first of a new batch after the loss of the ones used against the Twelfth Angel, and charged towards the Angel.
What is Ayanami doing? Shinji wondered, seeing her Eva running. No, Ayanami, don't!
Suddenly, the blue Eva stopped and threw the N² bomb towards the Angel; the bomb was armed and Unit-00's AT-Field was spread.
BOOM! It detonated, causing a contained explosion underground.
The ground shook before the blinding light of the explosion faded, revealing the Angel only appeared singed, barely injured, not even its exposed core worse for ware.
SLASH! The Angel used its toilet paper-like limbs to sever Unit-00's arms from its body, knocking it down and moving on.
-x-
"Unit-00 is damaged!" Maya yelled as another attempt to activate Unit-01 was being implemented under Commander Ikari's orders.
Despite Ritsuko's warnings that it was still being worked on and hasn't been tested, Gendo demanded that the Dummy System be implemented in Unit-01; he had absolutely no interest in anything short of the purple Eva being deployed against the Angel.
"The Dummy Plug has been inserted in Unit-01. Beginning activation." Maya informed Ritsuko and Gendo, typing in the codes needed to activate the autopilot system.
All the screens went red with error.
"The Eva…has rejected the Dummy System," Ritsuko revealed.
"This can't be," went Misato. "Both Rei and the Dummy System?"
"Unit-01…won't accept either?" Hyuga questioned.
Gendo couldn't believe this. If Unit-01 refused to activate, NERV's last line of defense was Unit-04.
"Uh, what is that?" Shigeru questioned, pointing to a monitor showing the outside of the base, displaying a glowing circle in the air.
Suddenly, a large, draconic creature flew out of it.
"Palkia?" Misato uttered.
"The same one in the custody of the Giovanni Corporation?" Ritsuko asked.
"I don't know of any others."
-x-
Palkia flew from the spatial rip it made and flew towards the Angel, opened its mouth, and fired a ball of energy towards it.
BLAST! It struck the Angel in the head, but barely did any extensive harm.
The Angel tried to blast Palkia, but the Spatial Pokemon summoned another rip in space and the energy blast disappeared from sight.
BLAST! The Angel felt its own attack struck it from behind!
-x-
"…You let Palkia out of confinement?" Misato asked Antonio over the phone as all of NERV watched the dragon fight the Angel, disappearing through a rip in space and appearing out of another rip in front of its core, spitting fire on it.
"Palkia was very persuasive," Antonio defended, "and it wanted to help."
"Much appreciated, but what chance does a Legendary Pokemon stand against an Angel?"
"If I knew the answer to that, I wouldn't be concerned about its return."
"We're getting an open channel link from the Fourth Child," went Maya, opening the channel to reveal Kensuke's face on the screen.
"Are we able to communicate with Palkia, the Dragon Pokemon?" He asked them.
"Through the loudspeakers, perhaps," went Ritsuko, "but why would we have to speak with it?"
"Palkia, like any other Pokemon, is good with one thing that people as a whole need to demonstrate more often when in situations: Cooperation."
"Cooperation? NERV working in tandem with Palkia?" Gendo questioned.
"Unless, you have an alternative solution, how else do we deal with the Angel?" Kensuke retorted.
"What is your strategy, Kensuke?" Misato asked him.
"See if Palkia can create a rip in space big enough to consume half the Angel, then another rip to consume the rip it's in," he explained.
"A spatial rip consuming another spatial rip?" Ritsuko thought of that strategy. "I think I see where you're going with this, Aida."
"I think I can see, too," went Antonio's voice through Misato's cell phone.
-x-
Palkia flew out of another rip in space, avoiding the Angel's razor-sharp tendrils while closing the rip, inevitably causing damage to the Angel's paper-like limbs.
"Grrrrr!" The Angel growled, examining its shredded appendages.
"NERV to Palkia!" The Spatial Pokemon heard a male voice over loudspeakers.
"I recognize your voice, Mr. Aida," the dragon responded.
"Uh, thank you. How good are you at opening up those spatial rips of yours?"
"Only to and from wherever is possible within this dimension."
"And can you make them bigger?"
"As big as I need them to be."
"Then there may be a way to deal with this Angel before it can outdo us."
"I'm listening."
-x-
Shinji couldn't believe the power demonstrated by this Palkia as it fought the Angel. It was amazing, a Pokemon facing an Angel to defend mankind from certain destruction.
What are they doing? He wondered.
Cooperating, he heard Master's voice.
Palkia and my friends?
Yes. You call it…teamwork.
Hmm. Teamwork raises the chances of a potential success.
Palkia flew into another spatial rip and avoided the Angel's energy attack. When another rip opened and the dragon flew out, the rip expanded until it was larger than the Angel was.
Shinji, Misato and Master could see the other side of the rip as it started to lower down onto the Angel. It looked like a circular cut-out of a galaxy or nebula.
Incredible, thought the Pokemon Trainer and his Eevee.
-x-
"…Okay, now you need to create another rip and send the one that's half-enveloped the Angel into it," Kensuke instructed Palkia.
"Understood," Palkia responded, creating another rip in space, one much larger than the last one.
The rip lowered sideways onto the other rip, causing a phenomenon that looked like an instability! It started to change its outer shape from circular to spiky, still resembling a galaxy or nebula.
"What's going on?" Shigeru questioned.
"The larger spatial rip is forcing the smaller one with the Angel to collapse in upon itself," Ritsuko realized, never believing something of this sort was possible.
"Like a serpent devouring its own tail," went Hyuga in realization.
Because one rip in space was sucking in another rip that was sucking in the Angel, it was creating a collapsing instability that was going to be difficult for the Angel to contend with. Even if it could escape the smaller rip, there was zero chance of it being able to escape the larger one.
But Kensuke suspected that something much bigger than the two rips would keep the Angel in state of eternal imprisonment if not kill it outright. Both rips were meant to connect to one another, but constantly warping the Angel, unable to break free as long as it kept going through the rips.
As the larger rip closed and vanished, Palkia landed on the ground and expressed, "Here, there, everywhere and nowhere. Never in one place for too long, never in one place long enough to cause further harm to anyone."
-x-
Maya checked the readings of the Angel's signature and couldn't get more than two seconds each time she did so.
Hyuga and Shigeru found the same result when they tried to trace the Angel, as well.
"It only gets noticed for less than three seconds," Hyuga explained, "maybe just one-and-a-half-seconds, but it's still in the two rips that crashed into each other. The Angel's trapped in a state of purgatory until who-knows-when."
"Right in our own backyard," added Shigeru.
"Nice thinking, Kensuke," said Misato to the Fourth Child.
"As Shinji states to himself to keep from becoming narcissistic," the otaku responded, "it was a team effort that got us all out of the situation we were in."
Most of the personnel could agree with that, since while it might've been a human that thought of the plan to deal with the Angel, it was a Pokemon, not an Eva, that carried out the effort in making sure they all survived. But Gendo, who didn't agree with this at all because nothing went according to his plan, felt outdone by a creature he couldn't control, that didn't trust him to preserve the race of human beings one bit.
"NERV thanks you for your aid, Palkia," Misato told the Pokemon.
On the screens, Palkia nodded its head and responded, "You should consider what we spoke of the next time I see you, Ms. Katsuragi."
Then, it took flight into the air, through another rip, vacating the Geo-Front.
-x-
When they were able to eject their Entry Plugs, Rei and Asuka vacated their Evas and stood on the ground, surveying the damage that had been caused and mitigated by their efforts.
"I don't know what might've happened had Shinji been here instead of Palkia," Asuka confessed.
"We…should count our blessings that Palkia was here and helped us," Rei stated; even she couldn't believe that she spoke those words. "We're still here. We still live…to see another day."
"Maybe…you should train Ghost-Type Pokemon."
"Whatever works…you hothead."
Looking up at the ceiling of the base, Asuka thought that, for just an instant, she saw Shinji, his Eevee and Mewtwo hovering in the air before disappearing.
"Hey, did you see that?" She asked Rei.
"See what?" Rei questioned. "I don't see anything."
"For a moment, I thought I saw Shinji watching us."
"If that's what you saw, it must've been for real."
-x-
Coming to on the floor, Shinji found himself back in his hotel suite, finding that only eight minutes had past.
"That was a close call for them," he told the reviving Misato and Master.
"Eee," his Eevee responded.
"They were most fortunate that one of us was able to help them," said the Mewtwo.
"Thanks, Master," Shinji praised.
-x-
"…Even though we didn't defeat the Angel as we initially intended," said Fuyutsuki to Gendo in his office, "but even this means to defeat such an enemy is better than nothing, Ikari."
"This only adds more to demean the agency," Gendo insisted on such a possibility. "NERV had to rely…on a creature we have no understanding of."
But Fuyutsuki was willing to accept that Palkia was their silver lining of sorts in a terrible situation where any of the children could have been killed because their defense measures were lacking and their only weapons were mediocre copies of the First Angels. Right now, it didn't matter to the elder that a dragon with the ability to create rips in space saved them by causing an unending, inescapable loop for the Angel. What mattered was that they had survived and could move on.
"Then this won't matter, either," he told Gendo. "An hour after the battle ended, the children left the base back to the Giovanni Corporation's testing facility with Major Katsuragi. The Fourth, Second and First Children."
Gendo looked at him like a line had been crossed.
"The First Child was ordered to stay away from them," he told him. "And I thought they couldn't go back there more than three days at a time."
"I asked her why," Fuyutsuki defended the albino girl's actions, "and she answered that she feels better whenever she sees your son."
"So, how do you intend to explain this fiasco to the Committee?" Kaji, who was also present in the office, asked, referring to the fact that NERV hadn't exactly killed the latest Angel, but left it in an inescapable prison of sorts through the aid of a Pokemon. "I don't suppose that simply stating the Giovanni Corporation allowed their prized specimen to show up and assist NERV is an option?"
"NERV had absolutely no control over the situation," Gendo declared. "We were unprepared and external factors existed that hindered the proper defensive measures that were taken. This was all nothing more than a series of unfortunate accidents."
It was basically his way of saying that there was no way he would give credit to those that deserved it for taking risks on the behalf of others without asking for much of anything in return.
For someone that sees Pokemon as a potential resource for weapons applications, thought Fuyutsuki, you don't have the heart of one that gives them any respect or credit when they have either earned it or deserve it. If you can't treat them the way they deserve to be treated, you will never understand them the way your son and his friends do.
-x-
He was getting nervous about his next match. It wasn't a fear of losing, however small that seemed from happening. No, it was just the sense of unpredictability that existed within every battle. With each trainer encountered, there came more layers of uncertainty over enduring and prevailing. This…and because Shinji felt like he was forgetting something, even though he made sure that he had taken care of everything he was supposed to before he left the hotel for his match.
"Eevo," said Misato to him as he stood in the hallway just outside the Water Field, hidden from the spectators. "Eee."
"You're saying I shouldn't worry so much about whatever's going to happen?" He asked her.
"Eee," she nodded.
"I can't help being a nervous wreck right now. I feel like I'm forgetting something…only I don't know what it is."
Then, despite it seeming impossible, Shinji felt a hand reach out from the wall behind him and grab his left shoulder, startling him.
"Aaahh!" He gasped, pulling away and turning around to face whoever it was.
A hand, covered in a red sleeve, leading up to a woman's upper body, clasped in a red coat with a logo he hadn't seen in a long time, over a dark, tight dress that failed to hide the pair of flawless legs…or the head of familiar, purple hair he hadn't seen in years.
It can't be, he thought, staring in disbelief. "Misato?"
The woman, his Eevee's namesake, stood in front of them, a little disoriented, but as solid as the previous visitors were.
"Hey…Shinji," she greeted them.
"Are you…really here?" He asked her.
"Yeah. Wherever 'here' is."
"The arena holding the Water Field for the Lily of the Valley Conference. On Lily of the Valley Island of the Sinnoh Region. I can't believe you're really here. I thought that only Kensuke and the others could travel back and forth between here and there subconsciously."
"That's what was initially thought, too…until the Palkia over there suggested that I try to come here myself. I almost thought I couldn't."
Shinji smiled and uttered, "I'm glad you did."
"Eevo," his Eevee made herself heard, and Shinji picked her up.
"So, is this also Misato?" Misato asked.
"Yes. I get that it's confusing to people that have the same name and everything, but…"
"I know. It was to help you stay sane. And…it's not all that confusing, really."
"Oh, really?"
"It's all a matter of how one's addressed…or how one responds to their name being used."
-x-
This was a new feat for the Giovanni Corporation as they were recording the new data from the medically-induced coma of Misato Katsuragi.
Antonio watches from the screens on the console in front of Palkia's chamber, he and the children observe Shinji with the purple-haired woman he hasn't seen in over four years since he appeared in the Pokemon world.
Misato, despite her initial disbelief in actually getting there subconsciously, had managed to get to where Shinji was with little effort on her part.
"Is this your next match?" She asked the displaced pilot and current Pokemon Trainer.
"Yes, my third match. My opponent is a trainer from Maiden's Peak in Kanto. Specializes mainly in Ghost and Ground-Type Pokemon. Would you care to watch the match?" Shinji responded.
"Certainly."
"Ghost and Ground Pokemon, though," said Hikari, as she and Toji were there, too. "Shinji has fought and defeated dozens of those."
"Maybe his Gyarados, Mewtwo and another Pokemon will be his best options," suggested Toji.
"Master? But he's a Psychic Pokemon. Isn't he vulnerable to Ghost Pokemon due to their opposing natures?" Asuka questioned.
"It's actually a two-way street with Psychic and Ghost Pokemon, since Master is practically fearless against others," Kensuke explained. "Ghost Pokemon represent the afterlife and our deepest fears of what lies beyond the veil of life after death. Psychic Pokemon represent the strength of the mind over the body, how willpower gives us the ability to turn thought into action, the will to overcome fear."
"Hey, you admirers," went Antonio to them. "The third match is about to commence."
-x-
"…Ever since arriving to this year's conference, young Shinji Ikari has remarkably taken us by storm!" One of the announcers declared as Shinji and Misato stood on the platform on their green side of the Water Field. "How does he intend to amaze us against his next opponent?"
"Well, as we've seen in his last two matches, young Ikari has Pokemon that are much stronger than initially expected, implying that he has a training regime much better than what most others practice," a female announcer expressed. "And some of the Pokemon he uses are not just strong, but rare."
"And what about our challenger he's up against? What is her story?"
"Dominique Diaz, a resident of Maiden's Peak in the Kanto Region. Primary specialty is Ghost and Ground Pokemon, but I hear that she's changed her roster for facing Shinji, who's bound to have changed his roster a tiny bit to maintain his unpredictability."
On Shinji's opposing side of the field was a woman that was probably in her early-twenties, dressed in a pink and purple yukata, with long, gray hair and green eyes.
"Today, your unpredictability comes to an end, Ikari," she told him. "I'm the one advancing up."
"Success is only promised to those that put in the effort to achieve their goals, Ms. Diaz," Shinji responded, looking at a lower section of the audience on his left, seeing his purple-haired guardian watching him. "May the best of our Pokemon show us the way to victory."
The digital spinner went to work, performing its roulette routine to decide who would go first. This time, Shinji was red and Dominique was green. It sped down to blink on red, then green…then red…and stopped on green.
Dominique Diaz had the first move.
"Well, ladies first, as men would say," Shinji accepted as his opponent took out a Great Ball.
"I'm about to bring out my favorite nightmare on you," Dominique told him. "Hah!"
The ball was thrown on the first platform in front of her on the field, and out popped a Gengar with green eyes.
"A Gengar, huh?" Shinji went, holding up an Ultra Ball. "I'll fight back fear with the courage of the will, and here's a friend who knows all about will."
He threw the ball up into the air…and out popped Master, immediately shedding his cloak and revealing his only other decorative feature to be a black wristband on his left arm that read, "Master of One's Own Destiny".
"You don't intimidate me," said Master to the Gengar.
"Gengar, Gengar."
"Let the first round begin!" The referee shouted.
"Use Psychic, Master," Shinji suggested, and his Mewtwo's eyes glowed bright blue.
-x-
It wasn't going at all the way he had expected it to. Not only was Gendo unable to convince SEELE that NERV's inability to handle the situation with the Angel was hindered by the Giovanni Corporation, but the council had seen the power of Palkia and were immensely intrigued by its interference and ability to at least halt the Angel.
"…A creature that is as smart as human beings are," said SEELE 06, "and is able to work in tandem with a human against a greater threat. It would be a beneficial feat if both agencies could do the same."
"Except how do we know that this thing didn't just escape from the Giovanni Corporation?" Gendo suggested, trying to make it seem as though the company with former military ties was at fault for not controlling the Pokemon.
"On the contrary," went SEELE 02 in response, "we received word from the Giovanni Corporation explaining why the creature addressed as Palkia was there to begin with. The dragon reasoned that it was concerned for the pilots that could travel subconsciously to this other dimension the Third Child has been displaced in. According to it, their continued presence in his displaced life encourages the boy to continue towards his goal of returning to this world. If anything were to happen to them, who would be able to explain to your son that those able to meet with him weren't able to, anymore?"
"And does this council take the word of this…this Pokemon…seriously?" Gendo questioned.
"If we didn't, Antonio Giovanni stated that we could interview this Palkia ourselves for further confirmation," answered SEELE 01.
-x-
"…So, Palkia's willing to have words with the rest of NERV if they needed more reason to believe that it was there to help us?" Kensuke asked Antonio as they watched Master defeat Dominique's Gengar, despite its own attempts to invoke fear in him.
"That's right," he answered the boy. "For y'all sake and the sake of the people that don't know what tomorrow brings, Palkia was willing to do all that it could to ensure that we have days to look forward to in the hopes of better things happening."
The Gengar fell into the pool of the field and floated as it was incapacitated from Master's high level of power against it.
"Gengar is unable to continue," the referee announced. "Mewtwo wins!"
"Shinji just might win this tournament," said Hikari as Dominique recalled her Shadow Pokemon.
"It looks like Ghost-Types won't help this time around," the woman grunted, removing another Poke Ball from her sleeves. "You're not the only one capable of changing their tactics. I choose Torterra!"
Her ball opened and unleashed a light that condensed into a large creature that resembled a tortoise with a large tree on its shell and three stones.
"Tor!" It roared, standing on the large platform in front of its trainer.
"A Torterra?" Antonio asked. "Isn't that a Grass-Type?"
"Primarily," Kensuke explained. "It's also part Ground-Type, adding to this woman's diversity among Pokemon types."
-x-
Misato couldn't believe that she was seeing a large tortoise with a tree on its shell. She wondered how Shinji was going to defeat something like this, as it looked very strong.
"Would you care to switch out, Master?" She heard Shinji say to his Mewtwo.
"Gladly," he responded, and became light that returned to his ball.
Shinji then took out a Great Ball and opened it, releasing his Charizard.
"Rrraurgh!" Asuka roared at the Torterra.
"So, it's true, then," Dominique expressed. "What I've been hearing about this Charizard you have. It's handicapped by the loss of its tail flame…and yet still alive."
"Some say Asuka's handicapped, I say she's stronger than even I could have imagined her be," Shinji responded. "Surely, you've encountered a few Pokemon with some sort of handicap that hasn't hindered them or been an obstacle in their life."
"Unfortunately, sir, the ones I've ever seen in the wild have never survived so long. My heart goes out to them, though."
Shinji gave a nod of approval to her.
"Begin!" The referee announced, and the crowd cheered for excitement.
"Solar Beam, Torterra!" Dominique commanded, and her Pokemon's mouth began to glow brightly.
"Asuka, Fire Blast!" Shinji reacted; because the weather today was immensely sunny and clear, a Solar Beam attack didn't need to charge up before being unleashed, but the intense heat given off by the sun also increased the strength of Fire-Type attacks.
Misato watched as Asuka and Torterra unleashed their attacks and then shielded her eyes from the colliding explosion they caused.
"Aaah! Aah!" She gasped.
When the light from the explosion faded, the crowd saw the two Pokemon still standing on their platforms in the pool.
"Oh! Oh! What a spectacular stalemate that was!" The female announcer cheered. "It looks like Dominique's Torterra will be sticking around longer than her Gengar!"
-x-
"Looks like Shinji finally found an opponent that's going to be a bit more challenging than the previous two," said Toji, suspecting that a Fire/Flying-Type Pokemon was going to have some difficulty with a Grass/Ground-Type.
"Oh, you'd be a bit surprised by how Shinji responds to most challenges," went Kensuke to him, and watched as Shinji's Charizard started glowing. "And this is something neither of us could understand."
"What do you mean?" Rei asked him.
"Every now and then, some of the Pokemon Shinji uses do this in certain battles, changing their forms and exhibiting stronger moves that seem impossible for them. None of the trainers or Gym Leaders we met could explain it."
When the glowing on the screens ceased, everyone present saw that Shinji's Charizard had grown a few feet larger, was now predominantly black instead of orange, had spiked shoulders and blue flames on the sides of her mouth.
"Holy God," went Antonio.
"Dear God," they all heard Misato as she saw the phenomenon in front of her.
"So, that's also true," expressed Dominique to Shinji. "Somehow, your Pokemon are capable of Mega Evolution without the necessary stones to do so."
"Mega Evolution?" Shinji went, confused. "So this is what it's called?"
"Mega Evolution, huh?" Antonio spoke. "Quite the power boost."
"No kidding," added Asuka, wondering how Shinji was able to do this with his Pokemon if such a phenomenon required certain stones to do so.
-x-
So he was able to make his Pokemon do something called Mega Evolution, and without any stones required. It was just another mystery in the world of Pokemon for Shinji.
"Thank you for the clarity, Ms. Diaz," he praised the woman, "but I still aim to win this match."
"If you think a little power boost will help you, you're sorely mistaken," she responded. "Hit 'em again, Torterra! Solar Beam!"
"Tor!" Torterra growled as its mouth glowed again.
"Let's give 'em an encore Fire Blast, Asuka!"
"Grrraurgh!" Asuka growled as she spat out a large, blue ball of fire that shaped into the star-like symbol for the attack.
Blast! Torterra's Solar Beam collided with the Fire Blast, but it seemed like both attacks had a shift in their power and intensity.
Asuka's Fire Blast burned harder and Torterra's Solar Beam appeared just as dense. The Solar Beam pushed back the Fire Blast, but then the Fire Blast pushed forward again, as though it had a mind of its own and knew it needed to hit its mark.
"Increased the intensity, Torterra!" Dominique ordered.
Shinji looked at the water and couldn't believe the idea he was getting right now.
"Take flight, Asuka," he told her, and she spread her wings, shooting into the air like a bullet.
It was just in time as their attacks triggered another explosion that shook the stadium.
"Goodness gracious, the Water Field has never seen such intensity from two Pokemon that don't have much advantage in the water!" The male announcer shouted. "Still, with Dominique Diaz down to just two Pokemon and Shinji Ikari still with three, it's anyone's guess on who will win!"
"Go, Shinji!" Misato cheered him on.
"Razor Leaf, Torterra!"
"Fire Spin, Asuka!"
Both Pokemon released their requested attacks, but only the Charizard's was stronger due to its fiery advantage over plants, burning the razor-edged leaves and sending the remains of her attack at the Continent Pokemon's platform, surrounding both in a fire twister.
"Torterra!" It howled as the fire died down, revealing the tree on its shell had been singed and the leaves burnt to a crisp.
"Torterra, use Synthesis!" Dominique gasped, and the Continent Pokemon's body glowed brightly.
The tree on its back shed its burnt bark to reveal new bark and the burnt leaves were replaced by a fresh growth of healthy ones. In no time, Torterra was looking like new.
"Tor!" It grunted, apparently angry over such a crippling blow.
"That was the strongest and fastest Synthesis I've ever seen," said Shinji to her.
"Thank you. Your Charizard is quite the accomplished fighter."
"Thank you."
Misato couldn't believe her eyes at how Torterra quickly recovered from such an assault on its body. It was faster than how quickly the Angels could regenerate or how humans could recover from certain injuries at an undetermined pace. If such a property could be exploited to the very environment in their world, they could have seen the revitalization of lost plant species much faster.
Shinji just keeps surprising us with what these Pokemon can do, she thought, wondering how the boy was going to defeat a creature that could regenerate after being burnt.
"Asuka, use Fire Blast on the pool!" Shinji commanded. "Evaporate the water!"
Asuka did as instructed and fired at the center of the pool, causing a significant portion of the water to evaporate into steam.
"Good, now use Fire Spin again!"
The Charizard unleashed her flames at Torterra again and left it slightly burnt; the recovery must've boosted the Continent Pokemon's endurance up by a significant amount.
"Synthesis, Torterra!"
Torterra did as instructed, but something was wrong this time. It didn't regenerate like before.
"Tor?" It went, confused.
"You need water and sunlight in order to heal!" Shinji stated; any Pokemon with plant characteristics were bound by the requirements of plants. "The evaporated water in the air has obscured the sunlight and there's not much water left in the pool!"
"Oh, no! Torterra, use Solar Beam!" Dominique panicked, but then realized that with the sunny weather partially obscured by the clouds generated by the evaporated water, the attack would need to charge up.
"Tor!" It roared, gathering the necessary energy from the sunlight shining over its body.
"Once more, Asuka! Fire Blast!" Shinji commanded, and Asuka unleashed her attack upon Torterra; while the sun might've been obscured by the artificial clouds, the Charizard was still powerful in her own right. Just do your best, Asuka. There's no need for perfection. Perfection is a flaw.
Blast! The fire enveloped Torterra…and the Solar Beam shot through the flames, just missing Asuka's body, all save the tip of her right wing, and shot into the sky.
When the fire ceased, Torterra was mildly burnt, but still standing firmly.
"Graaurgh!" Asuka grunted.
"Torterra!" Torterra grunted, but then collapsed.
-x-
"Dang, girl," went Toji, amazed by how Shinji's Charizard was able to defeat a Pokemon with a piece of land on its back. "Shinji trained you good."
"Torterra is unable to battle!" The referee declared. "Charizard is the victor!"
The crowd on the screens went wild with excitement over Shinji's second win of the match. All he had to do was beat one more of Dominique's Pokemon and he would advance to his fourth match.
"Excuse me?" The children and Antonio turned to see Kozo Fuyutsuki. "How much did I miss?"
"Nothing much because everything is being recorded for later use," Antonio explained. "Young Ikari just bested two out of three of his third opponent's Pokemon. He's one more round away from winning his third match of the league."
Fuyutsuki came over and noticed that Major Katsuragi was present at the arena where Shinji was participating in his third match of the Sinnoh Region's league.
"How did Major Katsuragi get to the Pokemon world?" He asked them.
"She volunteered to try to get there," explained Rei to him. "It was her first attempt. A success, really."
"Is this what Palkia meant for her to consider before he left the Geo-Front?"
"That is right."
"I'm not done just yet, Shinji!" Dominique yelled, holding up a new ball in her right hand. "I've saved my best for last!"
She threw the ball and it popped open, revealing a…large Pokemon that looked like a mutated Rhydon made more rocky with a series of orange plates on its body and two holes in its arms.
"Rhy!" It roared, slamming its left foot on the platform.
"Whoa, everyone!" The male announcer gasped. "For her third Pokemon, Dominique Diaz has chosen Rhyperior! What will Shinji do to overcome this powerhouse?"
"A Rhyperior?" Antonio asked, examining the creature. "That must be the strongest member of the evolutionary line of the Rhyhorn family."
"Rhinos with rocky attitudes," said Asuka in agreement with him. "But Shinji's got attitude, too."
Shinji recalled his Charizard and looked down at a different Poke Ball in his left hand, looking unsure about what he was going to do.
"Oh, please, don't tell me he's going to play what I think he's going to play," said Toji.
-x-
He had only recently acquired it, but Shinji had been faithful in his Pokemon's abilities and they had never lost their faith in him. So he had to have faith in this one.
"Give it your best… Soko-Yama!" He called out, throwing the ball onto the platform in front of him, releasing his recently-acquired Aggron.
"Rrraurgh!" It growled.
"Quite the twist here, folks!" The female announcer claimed. "For his third Pokemon, Shinji has chosen an Aggron! It's a Ground/Rock Pokemon versus a Steel/Rock Pokemon! Both have the same, secondary type, but only their primary typing will be the deciding factor in this round. Who do you think will have the edge?"
Even Misato was unsure of which one was superior. She hadn't been completely up to date on which types were stronger or weaker against between Pokemon, but based on what she was told before, it took more than just type advantage to win a match. It also took level and experience to decide who had the edge. But she had to consider the possibility that Shinji's Aggron had the advantage due to its primary Steel-Type advantage being much stronger than the Rock-Type; people had been able to evolve out of the Stone Age into the Bronze Age, which later led to the Iron Age through the harvesting and smelting of various metals from the hardest of rocks.
"Begin!" The referee shouted for the Pokemon to begin the round.
"I'll end this round with one move!" Dominique stated. "Horn Drill, Rhyperior!"
"Mankey see, Mankey do!" Shinji countered, grateful that he had brushed up on his new Aggron's list of moves. "Soko-Yama, counter with Mimic!"
As the Rhyperior's horn began to spin like a rotating drill, Soko-Yama's own horn began to mirror that of the Rhyperior's. The two jumped across the platforms to get closer to each other for their chosen attacks to do more damage.
SLAM! They collided into each other and were sent flying backwards onto their first platforms in front of their respective trainers.
Neither had any injuries relating to their attacks, but both were incapacitated.
Shinji had to suspect that Dominique's Rhyperior and his Aggron were at least of similar (if not equal) strength in order to do such harm.
"Soko-Yama!" He gasped, not expecting this to happen.
"Rhyperior!" Dominique mirrored. "Are you alright?"
Both shook their incapacitation off and struggled to get back up.
"Incredible!" The female announcer shouted. "A Horn Drill from both combatants, and they're both getting back up!"
"And based on the minor report on Shinji's Aggron, it was recently caught prior to his arrival here for the conference. This is the first time Shinji's used an Aggron in any match." The male announcer informed the audience.
"Aggron!" Soko-Yama grunted.
"Soko-Yama, are you okay?" Shinji asked it.
"Gron!" It growled; it hadn't expected its new trainer to ask about its well-being.
"Just do your best. There's no need for perfection. There's no expectation of perfection from me."
"Agg!"
It decided that as long as its trainer chose to have faith in its abilities and wasn't expecting anything more or less than perfection from it, it would try to trust in the boy just much as he trusted it.
Flash! Soko-Yama's body began to glow, and it felt like it was being flooded with new energy.
When the glow ceased, the Aggron appeared larger and more armored.
"Aggron!" It roared, reinvigorated.
"No way!" Shinji gasped. "Soko-Yama can do it, too?"
Dominique suspected that Shinji had no clue as to which Pokemon were capable of Mega Evolution and which weren't. This likely meant he didn't know just how much stronger his Aggron had become. But what intrigued her more was how this Mega Evolution was so instantaneous; the boy just caused his Pokemon to evolve further without any effort thrown. And could make more than one do so.
"Oh, and now Shinji has a much-stronger Aggron to participate with!" The announcers cheered. "What will Dominique do?"
-x-
"…Un-freaking-believable," said Antonio as he witnessed Mega Evolution. "This is completely unprecedented. It's like the power of Shinji's Pokemon went over eleven."
"No kidding," added Asuka. "It looks like it's more Steel than Rock."
"That's because it might be more Steel than Rock now," Kensuke suspected; he often had to find out things that Shinji might've been unable to during events.
"Is such a thing possible?" Rei asked him. "Can Pokemon lose their typing?"
"Some can. During evolution, their types can often change. A Water-Type can develop a secondary Ice-Type. A Bug-Type can develop Flying-Type traits. It depends on the Pokemon and their environmental requirements and responses."
"I can still beat your Aggron!" Dominique yelled at Shinji. "Horn Drill, Rhyperior!"
"Mimic, Soko-Yama!" Shinji ordered.
On the screens, the Rhyperior and the augmented Aggron unleashed their attacks and it looked like it was going to end in another stalemate. But something happened that nobody from Misato in the audience to Fuyutsuki in the Palkia chamber had expected to witness.
Dominique's Rhyperior, in all its fierceness and tenacity, had fallen into the water and was out cold, all the while Shinji's Aggron was panting as it stood proudly, its horn's glow fading as its mimicked Horn Drill was spent.
Dominique looked shocked, unable to comprehend how this defeat had been handed to her by Shinji, who looked like he was the one that was defeated.
"Rhyperior is unable to battle," said the referee. "The match goes to Shinji Ikari!"
Misato, who seemed just as shocked, got over the awe quickly as she cheered for Shinji and Soko-Yama, followed by everyone else that cheered for Shinji.
"Eevo!" His Eevee hopped onto his right shoulder as Soko-Yama reverted back to its original state.
"We did it," he expressed, and then climbed off his platform and jumped across the platforms to the one Soko-Yama was on. "Are you alright, Soko-Yama?"
"Agg," it responded.
"You did great out there today. You, Asuka and Master all did great out there today."
"Aggron."
-x-
Misato found Shinji in a locker room laying on a bench with his Eevee on his chest.
"Exhausted?" She asked them.
Shinji looked up at her and answered, "Yeah. Master was unscathed, but Asuka and Soko-Yama took heavy blows against Ms. Diaz's Torterra and Rhyperior. The longer or enduring the matches are, the more stamina you lose as a consequence."
"The price of knowing and accepting that your Pokemon are your allies in a conflict, not your tools?"
"That's right, but it's a price I'm willing to pay each time. If I sound disrespectful, then I apologize, but Pokemon to me…are many times greater than what the Eva never could be."
"I don't blame you for feeling that way. Asuka and Rei told me some things that make your goal to return difficult if not challenging. Is it really true, though?"
"Everything Hikari of Light showed me that I had forgotten due to how traumatic and painful they were was as clear as daylight. I was there when the Eva was still being worked on when I was little. Thinking back to that time, I hate what my parents did. As much as I know I need to get back, I want to find an alternate solution to dealing with the Angels that doesn't require the Evas. Do you think I'm out of line for thinking such things?"
Misato looked down at him, noticing that his Eevee was looking right at her, as if waiting to be judgmental towards her about her trainer's decisions.
"I think your old man is crazy for thinking he can obtain Pokemon for personal or military gain," she told him.
"I wouldn't trust him with a Porygon or Koffing. Unless he can treat Pokemon with trust and love, not as expendable weapons or cheap commodities, he doesn't deserve to have any by his side."
"And none of the Pokemon you have are nicknamed after your parents?"
"Not a one. No chance in this life or the next one such a thing will ever happen."
"Some people at NERV that have seen the footage of your battles and matches would say that you're very powerful, not just popular."
Shinji placed his left hand over his forehead and responded, "Power means nothing if it's all one seeks. Perfection is in itself a flaw. Popularity is the drive of wanting others to notice you as you are and think positively about your status. It's never a bad thing to want to feel noticed by others. For me, though, nothing is better than the company of those around you, that want to be with you."
His right hand raised up and stroked his Eevee's back fur.
"Eee," she purred.
Misato leaned back against the wall behind her and smiled at the two.
"You were amazing out there," she praised him. "All of you were amazing."
"Thank you," he smiled, "and thanks for taking a risk by trying to come here. It's…really great to see you after such a long time. Well, long time here."
"Yeah. I'm just glad that you're alive."
To be continued…
A/N: Now that we've gotten the good relations to see Shinji in as close to in person as possible with the subconscious dimensional travel, it's no telling how things will get further developed. However, I do look forward to Shinji's next match. Best of wishes.