Creation began on 01-27-22
Creation ended on 06-27-22
Neon Genesis Evangelion
The Heart of a Believer
A/N: The return to Lumiose City!
"…And then we ran from the Kingler before they could notice we had left them decoys to pinch away at," Hanmyo told Shinji as they and their Pokémon walked down the path to Lumiose City at night; they could've just made camp, but Shinji confirmed that they were less than a mile away from the city and the Pokémon Center. "Still can't believe they were each as big as wolves."
"Misato and I once encountered a Kingler that was no bigger than a large Krabby," he revealed to her as his Eevee was resting atop his head. "It was being bullied by several large Kingler, so I caught it and trained it to stand up to larger threats. It eventually gained the respect of the bullying Kingler."
"Oh, you bring out the best in Pokémon."
"Eee!" Misato chirped as she was atop Shinji's head, pointing towards their destination now that it was in sight with her left paw.
Lumiose City, the center of the Kalos Region and where the Lumiose Conference for the Kalos League would be set. At night, with the bright lights and dark scenery around them, the grand city was a sight to behold. Neither human had ever seen such a city from their past in their previous dimensions hold an aura of beauty and welcoming lights like the ones they had visited in the regions of this world, each one with that welcoming glow you'd only see at night or that busybody feel when walking around in it.
"Let's get to the Pokémon Center and call it a night," Shinji told them, leading the way.
-x-
It was hard to fathom, but what other choice did they have? So long as they didn't know when to expect the next Angel, their time was divided between NERV and the Pokémon world. At best, they would have to split up their numbers just to make time for both and inform Shinji of the situation. At worse, the Angel could attack while they were indisposed and that was the potential end of the world as they knew it, even if they had help from Palkia.
"So…who's going to tell him?" Kensuke asked as he, Asuka, Toji, Hikari and Rei sat on the train to take them to their destination at the Giovanni Corporation's research lab.
"I'll tell him," went Rei.
"No, he should hear it from me," said Asuka. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"Do you really want to hear the potential answer to that?" Toji questioned.
"Uhh," Hikari groaned; none of them wanted to even imagine Shinji's reaction to knowing what was going on in their world. "Of course, he'll understand our current predicament. And he'll be supportive of our priority to resolve the issue."
"Still," Kensuke uttered, "it doesn't change the fact that Shinji has his concerns about us whenever we have to deal with an Angel. Even if he doesn't show it, it's hard to miss."
"That serious?" Toji asked.
"That serious."
If they took the route of dividing their numbers and making time for seeing Shinji, it was most likely the ones more suited to dealing with the remaining Angels when they showed up would be the ones that had more experience facing them, the veterans of the Evangelion program, which meant Asuka and Rei. Because Kensuke was only involved halfway when the Thirteenth Angel attacked, and Toji and Hikari were barely capable of helping out without Evas of their own, something that was taking a while with whoever the Committee were responsible for making sure the UN founded NERV and provided the resources to construct additional Evas, they were not particularly capable of dealing with threats they were unfamiliar with. This meant that only Kensuke, Toji and Hikari would be the teens mostly associated with Shinji's displacement in the Pokémon world at the time.
"But…we should all be there when he enters the Kalos League," Hikari stated. "He needs to know that we're all there supporting his endeavors to make it to the top."
"Yeah," Toji agreed with her.
"Except the Angels operate on their own schedule, not ours or anyone else's," went Rei. "But it'd be nice if they did, though."
The train was nearing their stop and they'd have to walk the rest of the way to their location.
"I'm hoping he didn't evolve Misato while we were gone," Asuka told them.
"You do realize that the chances of Shinji evolving her or any of his other Pokémon with those stones that require them to evolve are virtually nonexistent, right?" Kensuke questioned. "Shinji wouldn't just violate one of his own principles and evolve a Pokémon that needed a stone just for the sake of evolving them. He'd feel bad doing so."
When the train reached their stop, they got off and walked the rest of the way to their destination. Along the way, they saw two small Pokémon that were see-through on the street and sidewalk: A Houndour and Wooper, just walking around, before they disappeared.
"People just need to get used to this until Giovanni's crew can resolve the issue that makes Pokémon appear here as see-through phantoms," Toji utters.
"Yeah," Hikari agreed with him. "So far, it's only been small Pokémon. I woke up this morning and saw a Cubone in my room. I want one."
"You want a Cubone?" Kensuke asked her. "I always pictured you as the type to want the cuddly type of Pokémon, like Growlithe, Poliwag, Pidgey, Eevee or Horsea."
"Cubone look cuddly."
Rei thought about it, having seen a Cubone belonging to another Pokémon Trainer at Prof. Oak's lab before they had left Pallet Town…and had to agree that Cubone did seem to be…cuddly. The only thing that didn't make sense to her was why the creature always wore a skull to hide its face. This was the only thing that made her wonder why such a Pokémon would be classified as the Lonely Pokémon.
I should ask Shinji if he knows why, she thought as they saw two cars slow down in the middle of the street when two more phantom Pokémon appeared, but this time not so small. "Are those…"
"Big Pokémon!" Asuka gasped.
The two Pokémon in question were a Tyranitar and Kangaskhan, both over six feet in height, walking to cross opposite sides of the street, as see-through as the previous Pokémon from earlier, seemingly ignorant of the occupants in the cars.
"We, uh… We should probably run over to Giovanni's and see if they know about this," Kensuke suggested to the others.
"Yeah, because this was new," Toji agreed with him, and the two large Pokémon disappeared upon crossing the street. "Running is good."
"Yeah," Asuka responded, and they ran down the street towards their destination.
-x-
Shinji was stirred from his slumber by Misato, who had an expression of woe on her face.
"Eee," she went, getting his attention.
"Okay, Misato, I'm up. I'm up. What's the problem?" He reacted.
"Eee."
Shinji turned to his left on the bunk bed…and saw Leo, who had a grumpy expression that was hard to miss with Shinji.
"You're hangry, aren't you?" He asked the Royal Pokémon, and Leo grunted in the positive. "Okay, give me a few minutes."
"He's been hangry for more than twelve minutes," Shinji heard Hanmyo say to him as he got up, seeing the girl with her cats sitting on the bunk across from them. "He has a very poor attitude."
Shinji sighs as he pulls his pants on.
"I'd be that way, too, if I was upset because I didn't eat," he confessed, always trying to give others the benefit of the reason they were being displeasing. "But Leo's not being this way on purpose. He's just…stronger than I am right now."
Hanmyo understood the reason, but had to expect Shinji was actually stronger than his Pyroar when it came to control; he just wasn't willing to be forceful when it came to other trainers that tried to use methods that didn't sit well with him, such as abuse. It probably explained why Shinji was such a master at training his Pokémon and bringing out their true strength; he was a gentle soul that refused to go down the path of viciousness and degradation in the pursuit of power…and she had to admit that it was hard to see the young man as anything beyond what he was right now: A nice guy.
Shinji reached into his bag and pulled out a canister of Pokémon food…and then another canister; unlike his other large Pokémon, Leo seemed to have a larger appetite when it came to breakfast right now, and needed to eat more to keep up his strength.
"Open up," he instructed the Royal Pokémon, who obeyed to that degree so he could pour the contents of the first canister into his mouth.
"So, how will you face the Lumiose City Gym Leader?" Hanmyo asked Shinji.
"The gym specializes in Electric-Type Pokémon, so I'll use Pokémon with a type advantage over them as he held a small handful of Pokémon food in his left hand for his Eevee.
"And…Leo here?"
"We'll see."
-x-
"…It looks like we don't need to tell you about the bigger Pokémon we've been seeing today," went Hikari to Antonio as the teens arrived to the lab and saw a phantom Rhydon walking by them and through a wall.
"Anything y'all can tell us would help a lot," a female researcher told them. "I woke up this morning and I saw an Ekans looking me in the eye."
"We know they're only here in a phantom state, but if they're appearing everywhere, they could cause panic, even if they can't physically harm us or vice versa," a male researcher expressed.
Antonio turned around and asked the teens, "Is there a Spinarak on my back?"
On his back, despite also being in a phantom state, they could see the Pokémon present.
"No," went Kensuke, and Antonio sighed.
"There's more than one, isn't there?" He asked.
"There's seven," Toji revealed.
"Ugh," he shuddered.
"Arachnophobia?" Asuka asked him.
"Only towards the poisonous spiders."
"I've seen the movie, too."
Seconds after, the Spinarak were gone.
"They're gone now, Antonio," said Rei to him, and he sighs in relief.
"Thank you," he praised as he turns around. "So far, the phantom Pokémon are just limited to the city; we haven't gotten any word of them appearing anywhere else for now. However, we've gotten word that at least twelve large Pokémon have been seen wandering around. Hopefully, by the end of today, we'll have the matter resolved."
Toji was about to say something when they all saw a see-through Golem appear and walk by.
"Golem…" It went, and disappeared.
"Uh, I know we can only see and hear them," Toji expressed, "but what are the chances that, if they continue to pop up at random…they'll stop being phantoms and be capable of interacting with the world like Palkia, Brute-Chan and your Electrode?"
"You mean, being able to potentially harm others?"
"Yes. Of course, this is only Pokémon that have a…less than pleasant attitude towards other people. You never know for sure, though."
"I'd want to say that the chances are low…but, yes, that is a risk."
"No risk," went Palkia to them as it floated above them, "no reward. But it is true, any Pokémon that shows inappropriate behavior towards humans is a risk if they were to physically manifest completely into this world and in other places."
Suddenly, a phantom Goldeen appeared in front of Palkia's head.
"Goldeen," it went.
"Suddenly, I'm famished," Palkia revealed, as it had been a while since it last consumed anything edible to its digestive system.
-x-
"…My gosh," Hanmyo gasped as she and Shinji stood outside the Lumiose City Gym. "I keep forgetting how tall the tower is."
"It's even more beautiful at night," Shinji replied.
"Eevo," Misato chirped, agreeing with him.
Shinji was about to step inside the Prism Tower when he stopped and turned around, looking behind himself and Hanmyo, seeing nobody else around.
"Shinji?" Hanmyo questioned. "What is it?"
"I thought I heard someone talking just now," he explained, and turned back to the tower. "Sometimes, I just get the feeling that something has happened and I never know what it is until someone else tells me."
"Premonition?"
"No. Just a feeling that comes and goes. I can't really describe it any other way besides the possibility of dread."
"I met some people across the stars that spoke of having that feeling. Some called it premonitions, others called it clairvoyance. And some just chalked it up to having a sixth sense for having a feeling that danger was nearby, but could never tell if it was directed towards themselves or other people. You may have a sixth sense for danger and it may not be directed towards you."
They walked through the doors and went up an elevator to the level the gym was located on.
"And if it is that?" Shinji asked Hanmyo.
"Do your best to face it head-on and protect those that matter to you," she answered.
Protect and serve, they heard Mata and Kemi say to them as the two Pokémon walked beside Hanmyo. Protect and serve.
They came to a closed door and Shinji pressed an intercom button.
"Welcome to the Lumiose City Gym," a male voice that seemed almost robotic uttered to them. "Have you come to challenge the Gym Leader?"
"I have," Shinji responded, and a camera lens opened up atop the intercom and took in his appearance and his company.
"Welcome to the Lumiose City Gym," the voice spoke as the doors opened in front of them, revealing a large battlefield…and the Gym Leader on the opposite end.
"Huh?" Hanmyo reacted. "That's a robot."
"A robot?" Shinji questioned, seeing that it was humanoid to some degree, but somewhat…clunky and very detailed. "Amazing."
"I am Clembot, the Gym Leader of Lumiose Gym," the robot introduced itself.
Shinji had never heard of a robot being in charge of a Pokemon Gym; as far as he understood, only humans were allowed to operate gyms. The fact that a robot was being tasked with operating one was a first for him, but from what he also understood, robots were only as good as the instructions they were given to follow, meaning that whoever built this one had to give it instructions to follow before leaving it in charge. Still, if this robot was tasked with being the Gym Leader while the previous one was away or preoccupied with something, then it had to mean that the Kalos League recognized it as a capable leader.
"Shinji Ikari, nice to meet you," he introduced himself.
-x-
"…Cool, man," went Toji as they noticed Shinji facing a robot.
"Nice," added Kensuke.
"I can not believe they have robots over there," Antonio expressed.
"But…we've seen robots over there," said Hikari, stating a truth.
"Not like this one," Asuka reminded; they had seen machine hands in Pokémon labs and Pokémon Centers and even video documentaries on power plants and manufacturing facilities, but when it came to actual robots, they had never seen anything of the sort.
Not even the Evas came close due to their biological aspects.
"So, we're reminded that they live in an alternate dimension," said Misato as she noticed how odd it was to see Palkia, who was eating right now, consuming three barrels of fish. "Their world hasn't been devastated by a bizarre phenomenon like ours was fifteen years ago. It's amazing just to see what they have and how it's used."
"Are you ready to begin?" They heard the robot ask Shinji as the monitors showed them on opposite ends of the battlefield.
"I'm ready," they heard Shinji respond, holding up one of his Poké Balls. "I look forward to seeing what you can do, Mr. Clembot."
"It looks Shinji is already a believer," said Rei.
"Oh, he's been a believer ever since he ended up there," went Kensuke as the robot Gym Leader threw out a Poké Ball, revealing a Magnemite. "He's got the heart of a believer when he sees and hears and touches something that is there."
-x-
Ash stopped in the middle of the woods with his friends when he got a feeling that something was happening far away from where they were.
"Ash?" Serena asked him, worried.
"It's nothing," he replied.
"Pika?" Pikachu uttered; he suspected that Ash suspected this other Pokémon Trainer they heard about was facing another adversary to move forward.
"Oh!" They heard Bonnie gasp, and went over to see what was up.
-x-
Otona was quite effective against Clembot's Magnemite so far, as Shinji hadn't seen it use a Steel-Type move yet; while Grass-Type Pokémon were effective against Electric-Type Pokémon, any Electric-Type that could use a Steel-Type move would pose a risk to a Grass-Type. But so far, all Clembot's Magnemite has done in terms of attacks were Thunder Shock, Electro Ball and Thunder Wave; if it couldn't use any Steel-Type attacks, this gave Shinji a shot to win the gym battle if all of his Pokémon didn't know any Steel-Type moves that could prove effective against Otona or any other Pokémon susceptible to them.
"Attack again with Electro Ball, Magnemite," Clembot ordered.
"Counter with Razor Leaf, Otona," Shinji reacted, and both Pokémon obliged with their respective attacks.
Otona unleashed a flurry of leaves from his body while Magnemite fired a ball of electrical energy at him. The two attacks met in midair and caused an explosive friction that sent sparks and leaves flying everywhere. When the dust cleared, the two trainers saw, to their shock, that Clembot's Magnemite was down with the dizziness.
Clembot recalled Magnemite back into its ball and took out a new one.
"One down, two to go," he spoke as he opened the new Poké Ball, releasing a Pokémon that Hanmyo had only seen several times, but never understood.
It resembled the previous Pokémon, but was bigger and looked like it had two more members to form a triangle of sorts.
"Uh, Shinji, what is that Pokémon?" She asked him.
"It's a Magneton," he explained, and took out his Pokédex to clarify for her.
"Magneton, the Magnet Pokémon," Dexter informed. "The evolved form of Magnemite, this Electric/Steel-Type Pokémon uses anti-gravitational powers to float across terrains. Approach with caution; Magneton can be found near power plants feeding off electrical currents."
"Magneton," the Magneton uttered, floating around Clembot. "Magneton."
Shinji then looked at Otona, seeing that he was looking exhausted.
"Okay, Otona, tag out!" He told him, holding up his Poké Ball.
"Hrmm," Otona responded and was recalled, enabling him to catch his breath.
"Komadori, you're up," Shinji unleashed his Fletchinder, and he flew around the gym in the air.
"Wait a minute, isn't Komadori a Flying-Type?" Hanmyo questioned.
"True, but I'll be counting on his Fire-Type attribute to counter Magneton," he explained his choice to her; because Magneton was also a Steel-Type, this made it vulnerable to Fire-Type attacks, even if they came from a Flying-Type.
-x-
Ding! One of NERV HQ's elevators opened to reveal Fuyutsuki, who stepped out of it, having ignored two phantom that were engaged in a brief tussle.
"Commander Fuyutsuki, you're back," went Maya as she saw him walk down the hall. "Have you noticed the phantom Pokémon appearing around the city lately?"
"I walked into an elevator after seeing two Caterpie and Weedle evolving and came out just as a Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee were about to settle a score," he told her. "I was, however, happily entertained by a Mr. Mime and Mime Jr."
"Oh, that's nice."
They stopped in front of another phantom Pokémon that appeared in front of them, which was a Mewtwo they recognized.
"Master?" Fuyutsuki questioned; as it was the only Mewtwo they had ever met, they had to assume that it was the one Shinji had.
It raised its right arm towards the two and looked as though it was trying to say something to them, but they couldn't make out anything.
There is…instability between where we are…and where we are being displaced, they heard Master's voice in their heads. In a few hours, this instability has to stop…or else some of the Pokémon being displaced will be wandering in your world. They are violent and won't hesitate to harm humans for no reason.
Then, Master had vanished.
"Okay," went Maya, "that was disturbing."
"More disturbing due to the fact that Shinji has caught some Pokémon that are violent and won't hesitate to harm others," Fuyutsuki stated, "and it's only because of his other Pokémon that act as the enforcers that keep them in line that they can't harm people. If some of them were able to come here by accident, and they're not kept in check, they could really hurt a lot of people if they got loose in this world."
It was one thing to have Shinji worry that Pokémon could be mistreated by people in this world, but it would be another thing if there were Pokémon, namely the ones he caught over the time he's been displaced, and they were to come here, it'd be a disaster if even only a few people got hurt around the city where they've been seen so far.
"Ibuki," Fuyutsuki uttered, "if you're not doing anything else when your shift ends, could you make sure that Giovanni is aware of what we learned from Master and how serious it could get if it escalates?"
"Yes, sir," she responded.
As Fuyutsuki headed towards the command center, he worried that there would be some trouble from dealing with the issue. It was easier to worry about the next Angel attack and deal with that than it was to fear phantom Pokémon manifesting physically into their world and demonstrating immoral or amoral behavior when it was better to display positive behavior.
"Oh," he went as he saw Dr. Akagi sitting in one of the chairs with a small Pokémon atop her head. "Doctor Akagi…"
"Don't tell me," she stopped him, "there's an Abra on my head?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Just minding its own business?"
"Yep."
"I wish I had a cigarette right now."
"I'm guessing that you're bothered by this phenomenon?"
"Only that this Abra has seemed to follow me wherever I go. I woke up this morning and it was looking at me. It disappeared for a few minutes, but when I left my apartment, it showed up again. It's been following me."
"Maybe it likes you. Psychic-Type Pokémon have always represented how the mind is stronger than the body. It's probably your mind that has attracted this Abra to you. You are among the smartest people in Tokyo-3."
Ritsuko sighs and ponders if that was the only reason this particular Abra demonstrated an obsession with her.
"Ibuki and I saw Shinji's Mewtwo in the hall, and it gave us a warning," Fuyutsuki informed her.
"What warning?"
"If this phenomenon persists and later enables certain Pokémon to wind up here, and they're the kind that misbehave, there could be trouble if they were to encounter people."
"Sounds like Giovanni is going to have trouble if this does persist."
"Hopefully, it won't get that far."
Ring-ring! Ritsuko took out her phone and answered the caller.
"Akagi, speaking," she greeted, and then she jumped out of her seat, causing the Abra to disappear. "You're kidding me! That really happened? Did he…and then they just… How long will this set them back? Just that long? Okay."
She hung up and looked at Fuyutsuki.
"What happened?" He questioned.
"That was Katsuragi," she explained. "During a video feed of Shinji facing a robotic Gym Leader for his fourth badge, one of the phantom Pokémon that appeared within the facility housing Palkia became tangible enough to inflict harm onto it. The workers disconnected everything hooked up to the cameras aimed at Palkia and shut down the power. This caused all nearby phantom Pokémon to disappear before they could do what the one that attacked Palkia did. Fortunately, there was only one injury, but Giovanni doesn't want to risk anything further, so they're rebooting the entire system."
"I hope Palkia is okay."
"According to Katsuragi, a medical team is taking care of it right now. Its only disappointment is that nobody was able to see if Shinji would win the match and earn his next badge."
-x-
"…Rrrrraaaurgh!" Palkia roared again as a female doctor applied more alcohol to one of the slash marks on its back while another male doctor removed what was discovered to be another bone shard from its front. "Rrrraugh!"
"I'd say that you were most fortunate to have survived, but these injuries aren't as superficial as I had hoped they'd be," the female doctor told Palkia. "Still, these cuts didn't go too deep."
"They…still…hurt," Palkia replied, trying not to move so much because of its injuries.
Several feet away, Misato and the others were left stunned by the fact that a Pokémon belonging to legend appeared where they were…and attacked Palkia…deliberately. Not only that, but was able to inflict several injuries before Antonio and the research crew could shutdown everything after concluding that their research was the cause of the phantom Pokémon appearing and escalating in their appearance and interaction. It was worse due to a section of wall being painted with Palkia's blood, which was as red as theirs was, staining the Pokémon's body as the medical team did their best to help it.
"I can't believe that happened," Antonio expressed as he walked around the space, agitated by this turn of events. "That Pokémon just appeared and nearly killed Palkia."
"It was a Groudon," said Kensuke. "I've never seen one like that before. It had to be shiny member of its kind."
"I thought Groudon were supposed to be friendly," said Hikari.
"Not every Pokémon is friendly, and certainly not every Legendary Pokémon. Each one has its quirks, for better or for worse."
"Gaaurgh!" Palkia spat out some blood as it fell to its right side. "No risk…no reward."
"Except risks like this," went Antonio to the dragon, "shouldn't be like this at all."
"On the positive side, you did prevent that Groudon from escalating on me, preserving the goal of this venture to open doorways to new worlds."
"But if something went wrong and a lot of people were placed in danger, including yourself, the project would have blood on its hands."
Palkia sighs as its slashes were slowly healing.
"Hold on!" Kensuke gasped and ran to the other end of the chamber where his backpack from the Pokémon world was kept, digging through it for something he hoped was there. "Come on, I know Shinji gave me some before we got separated that day! Ha!"
He pulled out something that looked like a small, green spray bottle, and ran back over to Palkia.
"Is that what I think it is, Aida?" Misato questioned him.
"Shinji always had to be prepared in case something went wrong," he told her as he began spraying the injuries, causing Palkia to hiss as it flexed its claws. "You should be feeling relief soon, Palkia."
"What is that you applied on me?" Palkia asked him.
"Full Restore. It should heal you soon."
"You had a healing item in your backpack the whole time?" Asuka questioned.
"I forgot Shinji told me he gave me some in case Brute-Chan got injured."
Soon enough, Palkia's injuries were mending, faster than they had been anticipated to, and the blood on its mouth disappeared.
"Thank you, Kensuke Aida," it praised the young man as it sat back up. "Thank you. That was very quick thinking."
Kensuke then dumped whatever was left in his backpack out onto the floor, emptying its contents. He wanted to be sure that something like this didn't happen a second time, and he was fortunate that Shinji had left him with a good measure of medical remedies he had forgotten about due to being back in their world after such an unexpected and extended stay in the Pokémon world that lasted almost four years.
Shinji had supplied him with Super Potion, Hyper Potion and Max Potion, as well as five Full Restores and three containers of Pokémon food.
"Shinji, I owe you big," he sighs.
Antonio picks up one of the Super Potion spray bottles and gives Kensuke a smile.
"We're most fortunate you remembered Shinji made sure you were prepared in case you two got separated," he told him.
"Oftentimes, Shinji has more forethought than I do to plan ahead. Even when it seems like he's not really doing anything of some significance, he always makes sure that we're prepared for anything unexpected."
"This is why Shinji's such an amazing Pokémon Trainer," Rei stated; not even her minimalist lifestyle had the sense to keep her prepared for the unlikely event that something unexpected could happen, even when she and everyone else that time Gendo sabotaged the power needs during their sojourn with Shinji in the Unova Region and he made sure they were prepared as he was in case they got separated.
"So," went Asuka as she looked at the damaged console that the phantom Shiny Groudon hit as it attacked Palkia, "how much of a setback is this? I mean, are we dead in the water or…whatever the saying is these days?"
"We could be looking at anywhere from three days," Antonio revealed the extent of the damage, "or a week to repair or replace the damaged components in addition to the reboot."
"Electrode," Electrode uttered as it rolled over to Antonio. "Electrode. Trode."
"Translation, please, Palkia," said Hikari, wanting to know what the Ball Pokémon spoke.
"It says that you should all go home and rest," it translated.
"Electrode."
"There's nothing we can do beyond what we have done."
"Trode."
"Oh, is that right?"
"Electrode."
"A few days, if that's how long it will take, to put this…glitch…behind us all."
Kensuke rummaged through items from his backpack and pulled out a magnet.
"I believe that Electrode should have this," he told Antonio.
"Why a magnet?" He asked him.
"It boosts Electric-Type Pokémon."
"Thanks."
"Electrode!"
Pen-Pen came over and rummaged through Kensuke's supplies and plucked out a headband.
"Hey, Pen-Pen, that's Brute-Chan's Focus Band," Kensuke told the penguin, but he just put the item on his own head and extended his wing claws. "Why, you little… You better pray Brute-Chan doesn't want it back."
"Uh, am I the only one that thinks that it's unusual for a modified penguin to want an item intended for Pokémon usage?" Antonio questioned.
"You wanna try and take it from him?" Toji asked him.
"I'm not getting involved in a battle over items."
"He looks kinda cute with it," Hikari expressed her opinion.
-x-
It was unexpected, but even Shinji was uncomfortable with it; his Pyroar came out of his Poké Ball and stood proudly against the trainer before he could choose between his Eevee and Charizard to face Clembot's Heliolisk.
"You're going to be doing this every so often, aren't you, Leo?" Shinji asked him.
"Grr," Leo grunted as he nodded in the positive.
"Is it that hard for you to listen to me?"
"Grr."
"This is a Heliolisk. It won't be affected by your attacks that much. Fire and Electric-Types vary between levels, and this one is probably stronger than you by a wide margin. Do you really want to take a chance at facing it?"
Leo turned to look at the Heliolisk and then back at Shinji. Whatever Pokémon his trainer used prior to him escaping his Poké Ball were either defeated or resting, and he just robbed him of his other alternatives by appearing without permission. He might've found listening to Shinji difficult to do right now because of his current level, but he still believed in his trainer.
Shinji watched as Leo raised his left paw up and place it gently on his shoulder and nod his head.
"I'm trusting you with our fifth badge on the line, okay?" Shinji let him know.
"Rrarh," he roared back.
From the stands, Hanmyo looked at Misato and sighed.
"Should we root for them?" She asked the Eevee.
"Eee," Misato responded with a nod.
"Begin!" Clembot announced, and the third round began.
-x-
The night was quiet. There weren't any reports or signs of any further phantom Pokémon being seen, not even a Pidgey or Hoothoot or Snorlax.
"…So, this Palkia was attacked by a phantom Pokémon that appeared and was bad?" Nozomi asked Hikari. "Is Palkia okay?"
"Palkia should be fine with some rest and food," Hikari informed her sister. "Aida had a Full Restore in his backpack and it helped Palkia recover from its injuries. Mister Giovanni had to shut down the entire system down to prevent the phantom Pokémon from escalating and potentially becoming dangerous if they ever became physically present within our world."
"Does that mean that…you can't see your friend that is in the Pokémon world?"
"Not right now. But as soon as Mr. Giovanni and his crew are able to reboot their computers and everything, we'll be able to go back and see him."
"But waiting for the day to go back… Is it that long?"
"You can't rush something like this, Nozomi. And after what happened today, it's probably best if everyone just takes a break from Pokémon. Not a long break, just a break. And Shinji knows we haven't forgotten about him. Patience rewards those that have it."
"And…he's in a place called the Kalos Region? What is that place like?"
"It's like this country called France, with its primary city like Paris, with a tower and everything. It's really a beautiful place."
"Ooh!"
-x-
"…On the bright side, no more phantom Pokémon running around," Ritsuko said to Misato as they were monitoring the synchronization data from Asuka and Rei that night; with the Giovanni project on hold until their equipment was repaired and refined, NERV could resume its preparation for the next Angel attack by refining the synchronization between the Evas and the pilots. "I had an Abra following me around."
"You had an Abra, Palkia was wounded by a Groudon," Misato told her. "No risk, no reward. No pain, no gain, but Palkia is our only gateway to the Pokémon world, and it almost got killed by a phantom that had an attitude."
Ritsuko wouldn't deny that she was also concerned about not being able to return to the Pokémon world and seeing Shinji. There was still the fact that the young man, the only person that made it into the metaphorical history books by being displaced from their world and into another one, gave the people hope for a better future because of his involvement with these strange creatures that could be caught and trained to listen to his commands and help him achieve feats he couldn't have done on his own. And the possibility that if he returned with Pokémon that could restore the planet would give people more hope that the means to discover uninhabited worlds with new resources that would replenish their own dwindling resources.
"Rei, your score is lower than last time," she informed the First Child.
"Today was…less than pleasant," Rei responded.
"Yeah," Asuka agreed.
Both girls weren't up to the synchronization test, and Misato couldn't blame them for what happened today. Even if an Angel showed up right now, it'd be difficult to focus on. But they still had their faith in Shinji's success. In the end, it was really all they had of him right now; even if they couldn't see him face another gym leader and win another badge, or catch another Pokémon this world had never seen before, they still believed in Shinji being able to do things that not many people could dream of doing. They just knew in their hearts that he was progressing towards getting into the Kalos League at a steady pace, imagining him standing before an unseen adversary of a gym he had entered, going against seen and unseen odds, even against Pokémon he hadn't encountered in the wild before…and receiving his badge upon victory…with his Eevee cheering him on.
-x-
In the darkness of space surrounding the Earth, hidden from the artificial satellites sent from the blue sphere to either map the cosmos or send televised signals to other parts of the planet, something emerged from the far side of the moon. It was large, white and looked as though it were made of crystal branches to give it its unique shape.
To be continued…
A/N: Oh, dear, if it's not one thing, it's another. And we know what just appeared, but how will it affect the characters? I look forward to the next chapter in due time. The real world has just become more stressful due to recent revelations that leave people scarred by the choices made that go against their own interests, and it's only a matter of time before something else happens that either resolves or aggravates us more. Until then, stay safe, sane and creative.