Alright before I get started I want to clarify some things because I left Tank Aces without a final author's note for the sake of the story structure. This is not the dedicated sequel to Tank Aces. This is a spin-off I will work on from time to time when I'm bored with Tank Aces' proper sequel, Aces in Exile. With that, it means it is also not part of the main canon of the series, it's an alternative universe. Now, enjoy my crazed kitbashing of two completely unrelated franchises.
Chapter 1: Unown Land
A 16-year-old teenage boy fell face-first onto a cold stone floor. He groaned in pain and slowly pushed himself up onto his knees before shakily standing up. His weary brown eyes opened slowly and he leaned on the stone wall to his right. "W-where am I?" Ross whispered. He looked around in the darkness as his eyes adjusted to the low level of light. He was in some strange hallway with strange statues on tall pedestals that were taller than him. The statues nearly reached the ceiling and towered over him
He racked his brain to figure out what was going on and how he ended up in this strange place… but his memory was just too fuzzy and he was too tired to remember. However, he remembered something else. "Natalie!" he exclaimed anxiously. Where was his daughter? There was only one way to go in the hallway as there was a dead end behind him. He started quickly walking forward until it turned into a jog. His concern for his 10-month-old daughter overcoming his fatigue. The path went forward for some time until it turned left. He followed the turn and rounded the corner. "Hello!? Anyone?! Natalie?!" he called out.
"Hello? Who's there?" a male voice responded.
"Hello?!" Ross called back as he started running again, "where are you?" He rounded another turn and ran straight into another person. The two fell to the ground in pain. Ross held his forehead as he sat up. "I'm so sorry," he apologized.
The other man stood up and dusted off his lab coat. "It's alright, that tends to happen a lot when visitors get lost here," he replied, "do you see my glasses anywhere? I seem to have dropped them when we collided."
Ross squinted and looked around the floor. He felt his hands around when he brushed up against a pair of glasses. "Found it," he said while picking them up.
"Thank you so much," the man said while taking them from Ross. "That's much better," he said after brushing them off and putting them on, "let me introduce myself, I am Professor Elm, but please, feel free to call me Elm." He offered his hand to shake.
"I'm Ross," Ross replied and shook his hand, "so where are we?"
"We're in the Underground Hall of the Ruins of Alph. Come with me, I know how to get out," Professor Elm answered as he turned around.
"The Ruins of Alph? Where's that?" Ross asked as he began to follow Professor Elm.
Professor Elm raised an eyebrow. "The Johto region. Are you not from here?" he asked.
"No, I've never heard of the Johto region. I think… the last thing I remember before coming here was that I was on the Zuikaku. It's a schoolship based out of Japan. Oarai in the Ibaraki prefecture is its home port," Ross answered.
"Japan? Oarai?" Professor Elm asked while raising an eyebrow, "I've never heard of any region or city like that. And what is a schoolship?"
"Huh? But aren't you a scientist? How have you never heard of Japan before?" Ross asked.
"Technically, I'm a Professor, not just a scientist, but I've genuinely never heard of any region called Japan. When we reach the surface, you can show me it on a world map at our lab," Professor Elm suggested.
"A-alright," Ross said. That's weird… even less geographically knowledgeable people know where Japan is, how could a Professor not know? As they walked, he tried to break the ice again. "So, what do you teach as a Professor?" he asked.
"Ah, well I don't really teach as a profession. I research Pokémon and how they interact with the world. I also give starter Pokémon to aspiring trainers when they begin their journey," Professor Elm answered.
"What's a Pokémon?" Ross asked.
Elm froze. "How could you not know what a Pokémon is?" he asked incredulously, "they inhabit all corners of the world, they interact in all sorts of manners with people, they inhabit so many varied ecosystems, and they can achieve such great feats of power people could never achieve!"
Ross put his hands up to pause the professor's rambling. "I've never heard of them before… I don't know what else to tell you."
"Do you not go outside? Haven't you seen them in the air, on the ground, in the sea? They're wonderful creatures!" Elm exclaimed.
"Creatures? Oh…" Ross muttered as he came to a realization. I must be in a foreign land… so Pokémon must be their word for animal… but we're still speaking English? This place is so confusing! "So like… is a Pokémon your language's word for animal or something?"
"What's an animal?" Elm asked.
Ross froze. What kind of crazy place doesn't have animals?! How did I get here and how do I get back?! "They're like the things you're talking about… those Pokémon things. You know, like a dog or a cat?"
"There's no such thing as a dog or a cat," Elm responded, "but these animal creatures you're talking about do sound similar to animals. Perhaps it's simply a language barrier."
"Maybe. Are there any of these… Pokémon around here?" Ross asked.
"Oh of course!" Elm exclaimed. He excitedly reached into his lab coat and pulled out a device with a speaker on it. "I'll summon an Unown. It's a Pokémon we research here. Then you can tell me what it is in your language."
But we're speaking English? Why would only animal names and places be translated but not common words and phrases? Ross thought. He shrugged and nodded. "Go for it."
Elm turned on the device. It emitted a strange ominous tone that sounded a little like creepy music. In front of them, the ground glowed slightly and from the glowing stone tiles, a… thing arose. It had a thin black body that was almost flat. It had a single white eye with a black dot and its body was shaped like an A. Ross started breathing quickly as the floating creature stared at them with its large eye.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Ross shouted. He rushed behind Professor Elm fearfully and peeked over his shoulder at the creature.
"This is an Unown. I suppose it is a rarer Pokémon, so it wouldn't be strange to be shocked. But don't worry, it won't harm you. I've been researching here for some time and found them to be quite harmless unless provoked," Elm explained.
Ross slowly emerged from behind Elm and looked at the creature with growing curiosity. "So um… how does it float?" he asked.
"Well Unown is a psychic-type Pokémon, so it uses psychic powers. All psychic-type Pokémon have that power to some degree," Professor Elm explained.
"What? Psychic powers? You're messing with me. That stuff doesn't exist. I thought someone with your intellect wouldn't believe that stuff," Ross doubted, "or are you playing a trick on me or something?"
"No, I'm not," Professor Elm assured, "Psychic powers are quite natural and have been observed in Pokémon and people for a long time."
This can't be Earth then. Psychic powers don't exist on Earth and certainly no Pokémon either… d-did I fall into another world or something?! Or even an entirely different universe? Am I proving the multiverse theory? He thought erratically. He took several deep breaths to calm himself down. "Let's just get to the surface," he requested.
"Sure, sure," Professor Elm replied.
The two began walking again, leaving the Unown alone to do its own thing. "Have you seen a baby around here? Around 10 months old, light brown hair and eyes like me?" Ross asked.
"I'm afraid not," Professor Elm answered, "but we can ask my research team on the surface if they've seen anything." As they rounded another corner, a ladder to the surface appeared. "This will take us to the surface," Professor Elm stated. Ross nodded and hopped onto the ladder. One quick climb later, the two were inside another stone hall with a large opening to the outside behind them. As he climbed onto the floor, he turned to face the opening and winced as the bright afternoon sun assaulted his eyes. "Careful, your eyes are adjusted to the darkness so you'll need to gradually adjust to the outside light first," Professor Elm warned.
"Right, right," Ross said as he turned away from the entrance. Behind the ladder was an elevated pedestal with some tiny stone tiles arranged in the middle. This caught Ross's curiosity and he passed Professor Elm and walked over. "What's this?" he asked as he stepped onto the stone platform the pedestal was elevated on.
"Oh, that? Some puzzle. The archaeology team hasn't arrived yet so we haven't touched it," the professor answered.
Ross looked over the puzzle. All the bottom and right side pieces were still in one piece with a few on the top row connected to them. What pieces weren't connected were set off to the side. Ross took the two longest pieces and slid them into place in the top left corner. Only two small spots remained in the bottom left corner so he took the last two pieces and fiddled with them for a moment before it looked correct. With all the pieces in place, he could see that there was one of the Pokémon creatures depicted in the complete puzzle. Professor Elm looked over Ross's shoulder. "Oh, it looks like a Kabuto," he stated.
"It looks like a trilobite," Ross added. The Pokémon had a large shell that engulfed its body and four spike-like legs that jutted out like pincers. "It's actually kind of cool," he commented.
Suddenly they heard loud pounding on the wall behind the pedestal. "Hello!? Is someone there?!" a girl cried out from behind the wall.
Ross immediately recognized the voice and leaped down from the platform. "Miho!?" he called out as he ran up to the stone wall.
"Ross?!" Miho called back, "is that you?"
"Yes! Where are you? Are you okay?" he asked. He put his hand on the wall and felt for anything that could indicate an opening of some sort.
"I-I think I'm fine, but I'm trapped in this room and there's no way out!" Miho answered frantically.
"Don't worry, I'll find a way out!" Ross assured. He frantically searched the room, but all that was around them was the pedestal and the walls. He jumped back onto the pedestal and examined it to see if there was something they missed.
Professor Elm pointed to one of the smaller pieces of the puzzle. "I think that pincer is supposed to go inward like the others," he pointed out.
"Oh, right," Ross said and turned the piece so that it was in the correct position. Suddenly, the ancient building shook. A slab of stone on the wall began to slowly lower, dropping small puffs of dust as it sank into the ground. "That worked!" he exclaimed. He quickly jumped down from the platform and rushed over to the wall as it finally revealed the hidden chamber. As the dust settled he could see Miho on the other side.
The auburn-haired girl rushed through the dust and quickly embraced Ross. "Thank you! I'm so glad you're here!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah, I'm glad you are too," Ross replied, holding his girlfriend close.
Professor Elm chuckled lightly from the platform. The couple reminded him of how he and his wife were when they were younger. After a moment of reunion, the couple parted and turned to Professor Elm. "This is Professor Elm, he found me in an underground hall of these ruins," Ross introduced.
Miho bowed to introduce herself, as was Japanese custom. "I'm Miho Nishizumi, thank you for helping Ross," she said.
Professor Elm raised an eyebrow in confusion at the gesture but smiled and waved nonetheless. "I'm Professor Elm. My team and I were researching these ruins when I found Ross," he explained.
"So, what do we do now? We still need to find Natalie," Ross said.
"You don't know where Natalie is?" Miho asked fearfully, "then we need to find her as soon as possible!"
Professor Elm tapped his chin for a moment in thought. "When was the last time you saw her? How did you get separated?" he asked.
Ross's memory was still foggy, but Miho had an answer for him. "We were entering his apartment then there was a bright light and I suddenly ended up in that room," Miho explained.
"A sudden light? It could be the move Teleport then…" Professor Elm hypothesized, "regardless, if she was with you before you were separated then it may be possible she is around here. Perhaps even behind another puzzle like Miho was."
"Is there another puzzle nearby?" Ross asked.
Just before Professor Elm could answer another scientist in a lab coat rushed into the room. "Professor Elm, something strange is going on in the southeast ruins," she exclaimed.
"What's going on?" Elm asked.
"There's some sort of crying echoing through the main chamber. We don't think it's a Pokémon. It sounds like a young child, possibly even a baby," she explained.
Miho and Ross's eyes widened. "That must be Natalie!" they exclaimed.
Elm nodded in agreement. "It's likely. Let's go, the Underground Hall connects all the ruins together. It will be quicker if we go through it," he informed. Miho and Ross quickly climbed down the ladder into the Underground Hall, followed by Elm and the other scientist.
"How far do we need to go?" Ross asked urgently.
"Just to the next ladder, follow me," Elm answered. The group ran as fast as they could through the hallway. They even ignored the occasional Unown that floated above or around them but quickly got out of their way. As they neared the next ladder, they heard the faint sound of crying.
Ross's eyes lit up. He immediately recognized the cries. "That's her!" he shouted, "Natalie?! Natalie?!" As the ladder entered his sight, he ran over and rushed to begin climbing. When he reached the top, he found himself in a similar room to the one they were just in. He jumped onto the platform with the pedestal and quickly looked over the puzzle. It was similar to the previous one but had a strange dragon-looking creature instead of the Kabuto. A few pieces were easy, especially the ones with a border that indicated they needed to be at the edge, but a few pieces gave him trouble as he frantically tried to solve the puzzle. "Where's the last one?" he asked hurriedly. In the bottom right corner, a small piece was missing
Miho rushed onto the platform behind him. She looked over the puzzle and the pedestal a little more calmly than Ross. Her eyes found a piece that had fallen onto the ground next to the pedestal. She grabbed it and quickly put it into the corner of the puzzle. "Thank you," Ross said appreciatively.
The wall began to descend with a low rumble. Ross and Miho hurriedly climbed down the platform and rushed to the opening. Overwhelmed with concern, Ross leaped feet first over the door just as it started descending to Miho's shock. He fell onto the other side onto his hands and knees. "Natalie?" he said as he looked around the dusty room.
He saw a baby girl sitting near the right wall with a light brown side ponytail and blunt bangs. She was wearing her usual pink overalls and white shirt underneath. She had her fists clenched and raised to her eyes as she wailed. Ross quickly crawled over to comfort his daughter. "Natalie, it's me," he whispered as he gently reached out to her.
Natalie let her fists drop slightly and their eyes met. Immediately her face lit up in relief and joy as she reached out to him. "It's okay, Dada's here now," he cooed as he picked her up. She immediately pressed her face against him and held on tightly. "Shhhhhh, it's okay now," he assured and rubbed her back.
Miho stepped into the room. "Oh thank goodness, she's here," she whispered and knelt down next to Ross. "Hey sweetie," she whispered while stroking her hair.
Natalie looked up from Ross's shoulder with tearful eyes and weakly smiled at Miho. "M-mama," she mumbled and reached out to her. Ross handed her to Miho, who took her happily.
"I'm glad you're okay," Miho whispered as she cuddled her.
"Did you find her?" Professor Elm asked as he entered the room.
"We did," Miho and Ross answered. Miho turned to show Natalie to Professor Elm. "This is Natalie," she introduced. Natalie slowly raised her head from Miho's shoulder and looked at Professor Elm curiously.
"It's good that she seems to be okay," Professor Elm said as he looked over at Natalie, "I'm no medical professional though, just a Pokémon scientist."
"What's a Pokémon?" Miho asked.
Professor Elm nearly fell over. "You don't know what a Pokémon is either?" he asked incredulously.
"No, sorry," Miho apologized.
"You said earlier you had a lab with a world map, could you take us there?" Ross requested.
"Ah, of course! You can tell us more about where you're from on the way!" Elm answered.
As they started leaving the room, Ross saw something interesting on each side of the opening. On one side was a small rock-like object that he kneeled down to inspect. It was a small, flat rock with a round dome on top. Miho stopped and saw the other object. She carefully knelt down and picked up a shiny, amber-colored oval-shaped orb. "Hey Professor," Miho said, "do you know what this is?" she asked, offering him the interesting stone.
Elm turned back around and took the object. "Ah, it must be an Old Amber fossil. It's not an uncommon find in archeology sites," he assessed.
"I found something too," Ross added, offering his rock.
Elm handed the fossil back to Miho and took Ross's rock. He examined it quickly and handed it back to Ross. "That's a Dome fossil, another common fossil. You should hold onto them. You can revive the Pokémon that are contained in them and you'll get a Kabuto from the Dome Fossil and Aerodactyl from the Old Amber Fossil," he explained.
"Woah, you can revive living things from fossils!?" Ross exclaimed.
"I feel like there's a movie about why that's a bad idea…" Miho whispered, but she shrugged. "That sounds cool!" she added.
On the way to the lab, Ross quietly explained everything he could to Miho, who was understandably shocked at the idea that they had been taken to another world. As Ross finished his explanation, they reached the lab. It was a simple square house-like building with a blue roof. "What will we do? How can we get back if we're in a different world?" Miho whispered.
"I don't know, let's focus on surviving first," Ross answered.
Inside the lab were several desks, workstations, and science equipment around the main floor, with a set of stairs that lead to living quarters for the scientists off to the side. On the back wall was a large map of the world. Ross quickly examined it and found Johto with its label. The world looked nothing like Earth. The Americas, Africa, Eurasia, Australia, and Antarctica were all gone. Instead, there were dozens of islands and large landmasses that vaguely resembled continents. They were divided into several regions. I guess a region must be this world's equivalent of a country, he thought. Right next to Johto was another region called Kanto that immediately caught Ross's eye. Kanto? That's Japanese! He thought excitedly. But it only vaguely resembled Japan's Kanto. The cities weren't Tokyo or Oarai, but Saffron City, Cerulean City, Lavender Town, and so on.
"Johto and Kanto almost look like Kansai and Kanto of Japan," Miho noted as she walked over, "and look, Hoenn and Sinnoh look like Kyushu and Hokkaido, but it's so vague. I don't think we're in or near Japan anymore. Even if they are similar."
"So this Japan region isn't on the map?" Elm asked.
Ross shook his head. "Listen, this is just my theory, but I think it's probably right… we got sent to another world, somehow, someway," he stated.
Elm looked at him with a shocked expression. "Another world? That's impossible!" he exclaimed.
"And so are weird floating letter psychic monsters!" Ross argued, "nothing on this map is a place on Earth."
"So you're saying you have no idea what this world is like?" Elm asked.
"Exactly, we just got dropped into a new world where there are suddenly weird ruins with floating letters in them!" Ross answered.
Professor Elm tapped his chin in thought. It seems impossible, he thought, but the boy looked genuinely freaked out to see the Unown, doesn't seem to recognize the map at all, and suddenly appeared in the Underground Hall without me noticing him… I would have heard someone climbing down the ladder while I observed the Unown… "That's quite the situation," Elm stated while he pulled up a chair and sat down, "quite frankly, I have no idea how something like that could happen."
Ross sighed and looked back at the map. "Yeah, me neither," he replied.
"So what do we do now?" Miho asked.
"I have an idea. Right now, near my hometown, there's a man who goes by 'Mr. Pokémon.' Annoyingly, he refuses to give out his actual name to anyone, even me, and I've worked with him for years! Anyway, anyway, right now, Professor Oak is visiting him. Those two are foremost authorities on Pokémon knowledge and could help you out," Professor Elm suggested, "I also have a favor to ask you. Mr. Pokémon recently came in possession of a peculiar Pokémon egg and would like me to study it. Regrettably, I haven't had the time to visit him yet, so could you get the egg on your visit and bring it back to my lab in New Bark Town?"
"Well, I'd like to help, but we still need to get settled. I mean, I have a baby to feed and we don't know where we'll live and-" Ross started.
"I would be more than willing to give you what you need in exchange for this errand. I can give you some money and you can stop in Violet City to purchase what you need. The Pokémart there has everything you need for the trip," Professor Elm assured.
Miho and Ross to each other. "What do you think?" Ross asked.
"Well, sitting here and asking why isn't going to answer our questions, so maybe they can help us," Miho said.
"So how far is Violet City?" Ross asked.
"Just a short walk up the road. If you follow the path outside to Route 36 and then head north until you reach an intersection then turn right, you'll reach Violet City quickly. If you follow the path, you won't even encounter any wild Pokémon," Professor Elm explained, "after that follow Route 31 to Route 30 and you'll find Mr. Pokémon's house. Then follow Route 30 to Cherrygrove City, head east onto Route 29, and follow it to New Bark Town."
"Wild Pokémon?" Miho asked.
"Ah right, so most Pokémon aren't owned by trainers, so they live out in the wild. Typically when they see someone, they might become hostile. I suppose there is a chance you may cross paths with one. In that case, let me give you a starter Pokémon just to be safe," Professor Elm suggested. He went to one of the desks in the lab and picked up a briefcase. He set it on a table and opened it. Miho and Ross went over and looked at the strange trio of balls inside. "These are Pokéballs. When a Pokémon is owned by a trainer, they are captured inside these, which protects them from being caught by another trainer," he explained. He picked up the red and white balls and released the Pokémon one by one. Each of the balls popped open and a flash of light burst from inside. The light morphed into the shape of a Pokémon.
The first Pokémon to be released was a small light green quadruped with a large leave on its head and tiny buds around its neck. Miho, Ross, and Natalie stared at the creature with awe. They had never seen anything like it! "Chi!" the small Pokémon squeaked as it saw the group looking at it.
The next Pokémon was a light blue bipedal Pokémon that resembled a crocodile. It had a large snout that was almost as long as its body. On its chest was a yellow v-shaped mark and on its back was a set of red spines that went all the way to its tail. Immediately after it landed on the ground, it stretched its large jaw by opening its mouth wide. Ross and Miho stepped back a little cautiously. "Totodile, don't cause any trouble, alright?" Elm warned. The Pokémon looked up at him and nodded. "Totodiles are playful Pokémon so they can get themselves into trouble occasionally," Elm stated.
The final Pokémon settled onto the ground quietly. It was a mammalian creature with a long, thin snout. It had cream-colored fur on its underside and blueish fur above it. On its back were four red circles before spine-like flames burst from them. "Is that actual fire?" Ross asked astoundedly.
"Yes, but don't worry, Cyndaquil can control whether they burn others or not, something it typically only does when threatened," Professor Elm answered. Cyndaquil yawned and lay on its belly with its eyes closed.
"That's so cool!" Ross exclaimed, "I think I'll pick it."
Professor Elm chuckled. "Her species is a popular choice amongst beginners. Here," he said while handing Ross Cyndaquil's Pokéball, "whenever you want to recall Cyndaquil, simply push the button and the ball will open."
Ross took the Pokéball gratefully. "Thank you."
Miho looked between Totodile and Chikorita and pondered over the choice. "I don't know which one to choose. They both look like good choices," Miho wondered. "What do you think, Natalie?" she asked.
Ross and Elm raised an eyebrow at her confusingly. "Leaving it up to a baby? That's an interesting choice," Elm said.
Miho knelt in front of Totodile and Chikorita to let Natalie get a close look. Natalie looked at the Pokémon curiously. She'll probably pick Chikorita since Totodile might look scary to her, Miho predicted.
Natalie reached out and touched Totodile's snout. She giggled and patted Totodile's scaly nose. "You like Totodile?" Miho asked surprised. She smiled and stood back up. "I guess I'll pick Totodile," she decided.
Elm handed Miho Totodile's Pokéball. "Here you go. Be careful with him. Totodiles can be a handful sometimes," he advised.
"I'm sure I can handle him," Miho assured.
Elm nodded with a confident smile. After they were given the Pokémon, Professor Elm prepared them a small bag with trainer IDs he printed for them with the lab's printer, some money, and a beginners guide on being Pokémon trainers. Without wasting any time, Miho, Ross, and Natalie began their journey to Violet City.
000
Next time on Panzer und Pokémon: XY!
Chapter 2: First Steps into a New World