Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)
Season 1, Episode 1, Chapter 2

Over the countless generations since the spell was first invented by the Founder himself, many had wondered what exactly the process of being summoned as a Familiar was like. No human had ever been summoned before and there was no way to tell what happened in transit, until Louise. She traveled though a tunnel of stars, more stars than anyone could ever count. If she focused, Louise could even make out strange creatures moving about that defied logic. Explaining the process that a familiar goes through in a summoning would be a magical breakthrough, if Louise ever made it home - or had been paying attention. Instead, her rage at Arceus and her stomach turning itself inside out ensured that she did anything but.

"-AMAAAAH!" Louise screamed as the wormhole dumped her onto solid and quite hard ground. "Ohhh…" Louise groaned in pain and nausea. As she laid sprawled across the ground, trying to keep the contents of her breakfast safely inside her stomach, she slowly began investigating her surroundings.

It appeared to be an alleyway of some kind, blocked on one end by a fence. To her left and right were two buildings, what appeared to be some strange form of housing, judging by the clotheslines strung across the gap. Next to her were some strange metal canisters with detachable metal lids. Wrinkling her nose at the smell, Louise figured it to be some form of waste container. A glance upward, toward the darkened sky, told her night had fallen, but Louise couldn't make out any stars, just the outlines of clouds faintly illuminated from below. It might rain tonight, based off the sounds of distant thunder she heard.

"Where did that goat-" Louise began, muttering to herself, before the canister made a sound and she jumped to her feet... in hindsight, a bit too quickly, as another wave of nausea hit her. Desperately trying to keep herself from vomiting, she become deathly silent and still as she gave the container her undivided attention. Not a sound could be heard from the alley, excepting the bustling of the townsfolk walking on the street next to her. Louise paid them no heed, as she continued staring at the container.

"Just my imagination," Louise sighed in relief as no other sounds came from the large container. But just as she turned around to get her bearings, the container began to shake and more sounds came out of it. But when Louise turned back around, the can appeared inert and lifeless... and a step closer to Louise than before. Trickles of sweat began to appear on Louise's forehead as she stared at the container, her right-hand edging toward her wand and her left arm crossed in front of her in some makeshift shield.

"Okay, I'm leaving now. Stay where you are," Louise timidly said as she began to back away from the large metal can. Once she got far enough away, she turned around once again, only to hear the telltale sounds of the container shuffling about and the grinding of metal on stone. When Louise turned around again, to her horror the container was now right behind her, with only a few inches separating them. Now frightened, Louise held out her wand towards the container as it began to shake.

"Rule of steel, rule of steel, rule of steel…" Louise chanted to herself, trying to calm herself down. Realizing that whatever was causing the can to move was inside it, Louise shakily reached towards the lid handle while preparing to cast a spell on whatever foul creature lurked within.

"Aaagh!" Louise shouted out as she threw the lid off the container. Only, nothing came out. Steadily, her wand at the ready, she leaned forward to peek inside the dark interior. To her surprise, it was empty. No trash, no creature, nothing was inside. "Hello?" she asked, hoping to not receive an answer. But a question asked deserves an answer, and the darkness melted away to reveal what appeared to be a black and red foxlike creature, small enough to be held. Louise would have thought it to be adorable, if not for the fact that it jumped right at her face right after it materialized.

"Aieee!" Louise shrieked, and turned around and fled to the street. If she had listened, she would have noticed sounds of laughter coming from the alleyway, but she paid them no heed as she ran out of the alley and onto the street. What she found frightened her more than the creature had.

Buildings surrounded her on all sides, larger and more numerous than she had ever seen, with some looking like they scratched the sky itself. The street she was one dwarfed the largest streets of Tristanville, her country's capital city. And the lights! There were enough lights shining that she could see perfectly despite it being nighttime. And there was no smoke coming out, meaning these lights weren't candles! There were more people on this street, commuting and conversing with one another, than she had ever seen in any one place, and she had been at Tristanville's marketplace at the start of the season!

But the greatest shock came when Louise looked up. Gone were her two familiar blue and pink moons. Instead, there was just one large gray moon, alone in a faint sea of stars. Louise no longer doubted her location. She was no longer in Tristain, no longer in Halkegenia, no longer...

"He was telling the truth. I'm on another world…" Louise despaired under her breath as a fresh wave of nausea slammed into her. In a daze, she took a frantic look around for something, anything that looked familiar. After a short search, Louise finally spotted something a short distance away: a bench that faced the street. Granted, it was surrounded by glass, with a piece of metal hanging over it, but it was a rock of familiarity in this alien world. Louise approached it in a daze, idly noting the strange...things that moved along the street in as the back of her mind screamed back at all the noise.

Finally reaching the bench, she quickly slumped down on it, noting that it was made from metal and not wood, and desperately tried to organize her thoughts. What was she supposed to do now? That damn goat never told her. Maybe if she just sat there long enough, the world would start making sense or she would wake up in her bed back at the academy, Louise idly mused, as tears ran down her face.

Today was one of those days, Professor Augustine Sycamore figured. It started before he even woke up, with the weirdest dream he could ever remember not being able to remember. He could only recall an intense desire to be somewhere at a certain time. Collectors continued to name considerable sums for a Pokémon currently in his care - a much less unusual event, certainly, but at this point it was becoming a daily chore just to turn them away at the front door and refuse all offers. Worst of all, he learned that his current jug of MooMoo milk had gone sour, which, considering it was only a few days old, was just as strange as the dream and far less pleasant to discover. It must have been a bad jug, he thought. Either way, he now had to go out that night to the store, just to get milk. With no buses running this late at night, that meant he had to walk.

Regardless, Augustine couldn't say the task was any great chore. The night air of Lumiose was always enjoyable to walk around in, to hear the joy of people as they lived their lives, to meet with friends new and old, or to smell the sweet aromas of Kalosian cuisine. This trip to the store was uneventful; the capstone of his long day happened on his way back instead.

As Augustine came upon a bus stop, he saw a young woman sitting alone on its bench. Now, that by itself wasn't peculiar. After all, waiting at a bus stop is what people do when they need to catch a bus. But the buses stopped running hours ago, and his confusion began to shift into concern as he got closer and saw that the girl was hunched over and sobbing into her hands. Had Augustine been a lesser man, he would have kept walking, figuring that it was none of his business. Fortunately, he was not a lesser man.

"Are you alright, Miss?" Augustine asked the woman. This seemed to startle her, as she quickly shot upright and turned to face him, the whites of her pink eyes stained red from tears that she hastily wiped from her face. "Ma'am?" Augustine asked again, concern clear in his voice.

"I'm…I'm fine, sir. I just…don't know where I am. I'll be fine," the girl shakily replied. Augustine didn't buy it for a second.

"Mademoiselle, you do know that the buses don't run at night, correct? And it's going to rain soon?"

"I…I'll be fine, sir. I just have to figure things out."

Augustine prided himself on his ability to judge a person's character and background. After all, if he gave a young trainer their Starter, and that person mistreated their new Pokémon, he'd blame himself for putting the creature into that environment. Looking at this girl... the clothes she wore looked expensive and like some private school uniforms he'd seen, telling him that the girl came from wealth and was a student at some academy. Which one, he couldn't determine, as the uniform was not like anything he had ever seen. With the brooch and what appeared to be some form of wand she was holding, Augustine figured her to be a fan of the occult, something that wasn't uncommon. Judging by her responses, he figured that she was a runaway and didn't know what to do. He, however, did.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Augustine asked her. She looked at him in surprise before nodding in affirmation, upon which he sat down on the other side of the bench. "What is your name?"

"My…my name?" The girl replied, surprise and confusion ringing loud and clear for Augustine to hear.

"Your name. I want to know your name." When she didn't respond, Augustine continued. "I am Professor Augustine Sycamore. What is yours?"

At the mention of the 'Professor', the girl seemed to perk up a bit. "A Professor?" She asked him, hope finally beginning to sound in her voice.

"Yes. I am the head of the Kalos Pokémon Research Lab here in Lumiose. I specialize in the study of Mega Evolution and how Pokémon change."

"I…I don't know what any of that means." Now Augustine was the one who was confused. What did she mean by that? Before he could voice his confusion, the girl continued, now seemingly feeling better and more secure. "I am Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Vallière. I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Professor."

"I… I'm happy to make your acquaintance too, Miss Vallière. Now, what did you mean when-" Lightning flashed in the distance and thunder sounded soon after. The rain would be here soon, and neither of them were equipped to handle the weather. Dropping his question for now, Augustine continued. "We have to get out of the rain. Do you have a place to stay tonight?"

Louise hesitated before shamefully shaking her head. That was a problem, he noted. With how bad things were getting, Louise could get sick or worse without any shelter. With that in mind, Augustine made a decision. "Okay, my lab is close by. You can stay there for the night. Is that alright with you, Miss Vallière?"

"You're…what? Why? We don't even know each other?" Louise asked, surprise clearly in her voice.

"Because the closest Pokémon Center is five kilometers down the road while my lab is only one, and it looks like the rain is going to start any minute now, and I am not about to let a young woman like yourself stay out in the rain. That, and mostly because it is the right thing to do." Left unsaid was the feeling of pity that formed in Augustine's heart for Louise.

Louise was shocked at Professor Sycamore's kindness. After all, they'd only known each other for merely a few minutes and now he was offering his home to her for the night. But in her situation, both with the botched summoning and the oncoming rain, she would take any relief she would get.

"Alright, Professor Sycamore. Founder bless you for your generosity. I won't forget it." Louise knew that the Professor wouldn't know who the Founder was, but that didn't mean the meaning would get across, which judging by the look on his face was clearly received.

"Thank you, Miss Vallière. Let's hurry, before the rain starts hitting too hard."

Unfortunately, halfway to the Lab, the rain hit full force in a raging storm. Louise was now even more thankful for the professor's offer, as she would have been even worse had she stayed at the covered bench. But now, after reaching the lab entrance, she could finally escape the rain, and did just that once Sycamore got the doors open. Stepping through the threshold, she took stock of the lab itself. It appeared to be full funded, filled with strange tools and devices that she couldn't even fathom the use for.

"Well, that was a trip. You stay right there while I get us some towels to dry ourselves off with. Would you like some hot cocoa?" Professor Sycamore asked, snapping Louise out of her investigation of some darkened mirror attacked to some strange box with letters on a board.

"Oh, yes thank you. What's hot coc-" Louise started to answer Sycamore until she was interrupted by the arrival of something else. Louise stood in silent horror as a large bipedal creature entered the room. It looked like a shark had grown legs and arms and had begun to walk on dry land, with razor sharp fangs and claws on its body. And it was rapidly heading towards the professor, whose back was turned towards the creature. Louise couldn't let the monster harm the man who had helped her, so she dived towards the professor, knocking him out of the way of the creature, and aimed her wand forward and cast a spell, shouting "Fireball!" Luckily it the spell hit head on, mostly due to the range, and sent the thing though a nearby wall.

"It's okay, Professor! I got this, you-!" Louise started, intending to get the kind man to safety. But to her surprise, that is not what happened.

"Garchomp!" Sycamore yelled out in concern and ran toward, rather than away from the fallen creature, apparently called Garchomp. The creature, however, had managed to push itself off the ground before the professor reached it and, much faster then what Louise thought possible, stepped between her and the professor and proceeded to give her a look and stance that looked like a combination of trying to judge if she was a threat or not as well as trying to figure out what the hell had happened. At this point, Louise realized her mistake and tried to move to a table so she could set her wand down, but a deep growl that emanated from its throat immediately rooted her to the floor, leaving her to silently pray that the professor would not kick her back out into the rain for attempting to kill his guard do-SHARK.

Luckily, that did not seem to be the case. "It's okay, Garchomp, she's a friend," Sycamore said, quickly stepping out from behind it and patting it on the arm in what Louise hoped was a soothing motion.

The guard shark gave him a sidelong look, pointedly keeping one eye on her, and let lose a strange combination of growls and snarls. Louise noted that it did not sound nearly as an aggressive as earlier, as it seemed to converse with the professor.

"Yes I knew she was there, her name is Louise and she's just a traveler who needs some help," the professor continued to placate the Guard Shark, as it continued to eye an increasingly panicking Louise before finally nodding, causing Louise to release a breath she was holding since she first saw the Garchomp.

"Could you get us some towels, so we can dry off while I get us something to eat?" The professor asked, as he assessed the damaged wall that Garchomp flew through. He quickly received what sounded almost conversational type of reply as Garchomp lumbered back into the darkness.

"Yes, I will be sure to get some Sitrus Berries and fish out," He called back out into the darkness and turned back around to Louise "Come on, it will take him some time to get the towels. Let's get something to eat while we wait."

"I'm sorry about shoving you aside, and for destroying the wall, and-" Louise quickly loosed a stream of apologies before she was quickly cut off.

"Think nothing of it," Sycamore gave her a reassuring smile as he lead her too what she assumed was the kitchen "I'm used to the wall needing repairs and I've had worse conversation starters. Although, I must ask, how DID you do that?"

Louise had quite the eventful day, and at this point she can say without question that it would rank up among the worst days of her life. There were only two mitigating factors so far that prevented it from becoming the absolute worst day of her life. One, Professor Sycamore was a kind and understanding man who realized quickly that Louise made a mistake and was only trying to protect him from what she perceived to be a threat. Garchomp wasn't as forgiving, as it was still giving Louise the stink eye as it ate from a bowl of berries and fish from the other side of the room. The other, most important reason? Louise had discovered what hot cocoa was. By the time she had finished explaining everything to Sycamore, her magic, where she came from, her botched summoning and her 'chat' with Arceus, which itself took about thirty minutes, she was already finishing her sixth cup.

"...Where I found you. Did I leave anything out?"

Louise could tell that Professor Sycamore had trouble believing what she was saying and meekly replied after taking another sip from what was her seventh cup of hot cocoa. "You forgot one affinity, Void, which not only hasn't been seen in six thousand years but, according to Arceus, is my actual affinity, the haunted bin that was possessed by a demonic creature aaa-" Louise interrupted herself as a yawn tore its way out of her mouth "-nnnddd the large, talking, self-centered goat with a god complex."

"Ah, yes. Can't forget about all of that." Sycamore replied as he got off the couch and walked over to a nearby window, looking out onto the city streets, running his hand through his hair.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Louise whispered, dejection heard in her voice.

"I'll admit, it's a little hard to believe. Magic, dimensional travel, meeting Arceus himself in the Hall of Origin. It's a lot to take in all at once."

At this, Louise began to retreat inward. Who knew what would happen now. She began to fear the worst when Sycamore began to speak again. "But I think I do."

"You do!?" Louise exclaimed in surprise and joy, while Garchomp growled out the same only in confusion.

"Yes, I do. First, it is obvious that you can do magic, judging by the hole in my wall. And before you apologize for the tenth time, it's fine. You be surprised how often that happens around here and Garchomp wasn't injured. Second, other dimensions aren't unknown to us. Based on the description you gave me about your transit, I can narrow it down to a few places but I would need to run some tests to be for sure, if that is alright with you?" Louise nodded in affirmation, upon which Sycamore continued. "Third, you were able to describe Arceus quite accurately to the legend without any prior knowledge of it. Finally, just to make sure, you don't know what Pokémon are, do you?"

At Sycamore's expectant look, Louise hesitated a moment before responding. "No, Professor. Am I correct in assuming that Garchomp over there is a Pokémon? If so, he is a fine specimen." At this, Garchomp began to look offended as Sycamore laughed.

"Hah, you are half right. Garchomp is a Pokémon, specifically a Garchomp. And she is a girl."

Louise began to look back and forth at Garchomp and Sycamore at this statement several times before focusing on Sycamore again. "You…named a Garchomp 'Garchomp'?"

Sycamore chuckled to himself before answering "I admit, not the most creative of names, but not all trainers like to nickname their Pokémon. And Garchomp doesn't mind, do you girl?" At this, Garchomp growled in what seemed to be affirmation.

Louise, not quite gotten over the lack of proper naming, decided to move on. "You said that Garchomp is a Pokémon, specifically a Garchomp. Does that mean that there are multiple different species of Pokémon?"

"Yes, that is correct. As of right now, there are over 802 registered species of Pokémon, scattered across the world. Most are in Regions, which would be our equivalent to your world's kingdoms. Specifically, you are in Lumiose City, the capital and largest city of the Kalos Region, which itself is home to over 450 individual Pokémon species."

"That's quite a lot…" Louise muttered as she tried to wrap her head around the idea of there being that many different Pokémon.

"Yes, and more are discovered every day. That being said, many of those species are merely Evolutions from another species."

"Evolution?" Louise questioned as she finished off her cup of cocoa.

"Ah, I figured you wouldn't know what that was. Evolution is a process that many Pokémon go through, once they reach certain criteria. It could be physical strength, the strength of their bond with their trainer, whether it be through friendship or affection, the use of specialized Evolution Stones, and many more. Some even evolve when in proximity to other Pokémon species or depending on the time of day, and others still only evolve after trading, with some needing to be holding a specialized item during the exchange." At this, Sycamore gestured towards the large land shark, who was still keeping a close eye on the rosette but seemed to perk up at the attention.

"Garchomp over here started off as a Gible, for example, before evolving into a Gabite, then finally into a Garchomp," At this, Sycamore pulled out a strange red device with a black sheet of glass in the middle, which to Louise's surprise lit up and displayed an image of a small shark like creature, only stubby and not quite as threatening looking, but it was still a shark with legs. Louise gazed upon it in wonder as Sycamore began to talk again. "This is called a Pokédex. It's a handheld encyclopedia containing information about all species of Pokémon. The image on the screen is a picture of a Gible, the first stage of Garchomp."

"Wow…" Louise breathed out in amazement, suppressing another yawn that was trying too bubble out. "Are all the creatures on this world Pokémon?"

"No, not all. We do have non-Pokémon species of animal. Most are domesticated, however, and raised for food such as cows, chickens and fish. A few people do like to eat Pokémon, but that's rare nowadays, especially after the decimation of the Far'Fetched species."

This information was astounding to Louise, as her curiosity slowly began to eat away at the toils of the day. "So, Arceus is a Pokémon, too?"

"Arceus is what we would call a Legendary Pokémon, specifically a Mythical Pokémon, Legendaries so rare they are thought of only as myths. Before you, I have only meet three other people who claimed they saw him and two of them were drunk at the time." Sycamore lightly smiled at the memory "According to legend, Arceus created the world and all its inhabitants."

"So that's why he called himself the 'Original One'…"

"Few others would be able to make such a claim, much less be able to back it up. Anyways, back to your story. You mentioned Arceus wanted you to go on a journey to prove your 'worth' to him. Do you know what it is he wants you to do?"

At this, Louise became silent. She still, even now, didn't know what Arceus expected of her. What did he mean by 'prove her worth'? By 'going on a journey'? How was she supposed to do that?

"I…I don't know." Louise muttered. "I don't know what to do…"

At this, Sycamore sighed to himself and began to think, bringing his hand to his chin. "Arceus gave you a year to prove yourself, correct?"

"I…yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"It means you have time to figure it out."

"Well, what am I supposed to do until then?!" Louise exclaimed, irritation at her situation as well as exhaustion from the day beginning to be heard in her voice. Before she could apologize, Sycamore spoke up again.

"You can stay with me, here in the lab."

Louise was shocked into silence, which lasted for a few moments before she worked up the courage to speak back up, albeit only able to do so in a whisper. "What?"

"I said you can stay here with me."

"Why?"

"Because you need the help." At this, Sycamore smiled at Louise, whose eyes began to water.

"I…thank you, Professor! If there is anything I can do to help, just ask!" Louise exclaimed in joy as she practically leapt up from her chair before realizing her mistake and sitting back down again in embarrassment, to which Sycamore merely laughed.

"I don't need anything from you, Louise, but if you want to help I won't stop you. Come on, I'll show you to the guest room."

At this, Sycamore held his hand out to Louise, who, after a moment's hesitation, reached out and grabbed it.

Hey, everyone! As promised, here is Episode 1, Chapter 1, Chapter 2!

Thank you for the support. It means a lot to all of us. You may have noticed that I've updated the Cover Image. That is an artwork by Renu commissioned by Ridli Scott. Big thanks to both of them for the amazing piece.