It was a new day in Lumiose City, and many folks were up and about. Some have been completely clueless of last night, while upon many others were starting to get a little unnerved with this sudden meteor shower, others – or in this case those who were oblivious - were more intent on moving forward.

In front of Professor Sycamore's lab, the entrance was as clear as day, and walking towards it were two boys who stood beside the other, looking up at the building after advancing. The blonde's head arched up towards the top, eying it in sheer amazement.

"Wow…so this is the lab. Fascinating." Joey marveled.

Dereece looked at him with inquisition. "We've passed this place like a hundred times already, and now you're saying it's some 'marvelous treasure'?"

"Eh, EH! Not so, Dereece." Joey swerved to exaggerate his arms out in front of him. "This…is our MILESTONE! Think about it!" He turned and began to walk towards the entrance, with Dereece quietly in tow. "When we walk through these doors, we are not a dashing dancing and fashion king with a wholesome sense of humility, and his sidekick prancing through. No. We are two Trainers that are passing through!"

Dereece sighed again. "You sure this is okay? I mean we just graduated from school and all, but maybe, I don't know, perhaps we can…weigh our options here? I mean your mom didn't seem all that ecstatic either. You can always do something else."

Joey sat an elbow on his shoulder and smirked. "Dereece, have I ever doubted you?"

"Yes." He deadpanned.

"Good, then let's go!" He pulled Dereece along quite alarmingly, dragging him into the lab's lobby doorway. The two carried along towards the receptionist who was writing up some reports and taking up phone calls. They stood in front, where after a second of waiting, she looked up with wide eyes.

"Can I help you?"

Dereece cleared his throat before speaking. "Uh, yeah. Sorry if this came at a bad time, but my friend here and I would like to see if we can have qualifications to a Trainer license…if it's no trouble of course." He said.

The assistant blinked and nodded. "Mhm, okay. I'll let Professor Sycamore know he has two Trainers here." She went for the phone and pressed a key. The call went through, and on the other end, Professor Sycamore's call was muffled. "Hello, Professor…"

Joey looked towards Dereece with high hopes, while the latter had a more inquired look to the dilemma at hand.

"Yes…yes, we have two Trainers here that are here today…" she reached for a file holder on one side of her and went for the organized portfolios. Her nails stalked through the dates until the right folder, was plucked out, where it was placed on the counter and opened. Inside were Joey and Dereece's information and photographs installed. She continued. "…it's Joey Haycliff and Dereece Iwoda…yes…their appointments were checked out as positive…okay then."

She hung up the phone, and Joey and Dereece looked towards her as she clasped her hands together. "Well, you boys are in luck. The official Kalos Starter Pokémon have been verified and are ready for possible vacancies."

Joey pumped a fist, laughing in joy. "Yes!"

"However…" Joey froze in place and opened his eyes. He turned slowly to look at the frowning assistant. "I should warn you that we are currently under investigation. For some reason when the Professor was overviewing his Kanto Starter Pokémon, something happened last night, so if you see the police, do stay out of their way."

The boys looked at each other again with surprise showing this time. They didn't usually see police around the Professor's Lab, not even on certain holidays. The only exceptions were of the cases of interviews by reporters. When they thought about it, now they understood why a few police cars parked on the other side of the street felt so out of place.

Joey put his hand to his chin. "Huh, you know…you'd think they'd give a little better warning the next time instead of working on parkjobs."

"That's your worry?" Dereece questioned.

"You both can enter the elevator. Be sure to head to the third floor now."

"Gotcha! Thanks a ton!" Joey jumped right for the elevator, practically diving in and landing on all fours. Dereece walked in casually behind, getting to the elevator button while Joey looked like he was about to explode from excitement.

Once the doors shut, the whole thing went upwards. It slowly escalated, allowing Joey to turn towards Dereece.

"Oh! Oh! Dereece…" He crouched down and smiled wide, snapping his fingers into a point at him. "Get it out!"

Dereece rolled his eyes and groaned yet again. He reached for his black shoulder bag that had his essentials in it. In a compartment, surprisingly, was a small ovular shaped device that looked like a mini boombox. Once it was fastened in Dereece's grip, he began to press some knobs, getting the bass up.

Up on the high floor, there was Professor Sycamore, looking around as the few police in his domain were currently inspecting any suspicious activity. There were many who were looking into boxes, but all they saw were research documents and filed and typed documents that took him days to write out. "Good grief." He sighed. "Well this sure is a way to spend a morning…"

Slowly, the people upstairs were beginning to hear something from the elevator shaft. They started to hear a vibration of sorts, but the vibration wasn't so loud as to create an earthquake. No, this sounded a lot like a base to rhythm, more specifically, music.

"I like to move it, move it! I like to…move it!" The song was muffled, but those were some of the lyrics at least. As the elevator reached the level, Professor Sycamore raised a brow.

"Hello…?"

The doors slid open, revealing Dereece with an ultra-bass boombox in hand. The speakers were thudding loud with a bass to the song as he casually stepped out with a grand grin. Everyone looked at him with utter confusion.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" he yelled through the sound. "May I present to you - your king of fashion and dancing alike – Joey~ Haycliff!"

As he stepped out of the way, Joey's head was down as he stood inside the elevator. As the music reached an escalated tone, he raised his head an angle, giving a glare as his shoulders bobbed up and down. He was fully centerfield, and as his shoulders swung more, so did his body as he started to turn to the side and shift the heels in and out as he Krabby Shuffled out the elevator, just in time for it to close. Once out, he robotically rotated in front and smiled wide as he shifted side to side enthusiastically, kicking his legs up. They didn't get him anywhere as he was gathering momentum instead, shuffling his heels back and forth, rocking them continuously.

One guard was bobbing his head back and forth, getting in tune with the boy's sick dancing skills. The others, not so much.

His arms rocked back and forth, side to side as he advanced using his heels shifting. His thighs opened and closed with every pivot. His body rocked and grooved side to side as he swung the arms back and forth in rocking fashion, constantly swaying himself about slowly, but with energy and enthusiasm. In one go, he looked up and pointed at the ceiling as he leaned back. His heels took a barrage of semi-bounces forward two feet until he leaned forward and looked down, now marching his feet slowly with arms in a sideways pendulum motion. He slowly made a closer go to Sycamore, continuing to motion until he started standing up and marched with forearm rolls; 5 seconds for each side with intervals of clapping.

Professor Sycamore was at a loss for words at the flashy entrance, and that's saying something out of the ordinary to boot. He's seen Trainers dressed for the flashiness, but even though he was wearing a white short-sleeve buttoned dress shirt and skinny blue jeans, Joey was way more flashy and original. Certainly, the first impressions were points best exploited by this man.

At long last, with one more forearm roll, Joey clapped, pointing at Professor Sycamore from a leaned angle. The music ended, and Dereece smiled as well. They looked at Sycamore for the approval, and suffice to say he looked like he was about to chuckle up a storm.

"Well, tres bien! Marvelous!" he clapped for Joey.

Joey bowed. "Thank you." He chimed. "I could not have shaken my moneymaker, if not for…" he pointed spontaneously at Dereece. "Dereece with his ultra-bass insanity, people!"

"Hey." He meekly waved.

"So anyways, I humble you with my awesomeness, Professor Sycamore." Joey beamed with exceptional pride.

The professor chuckled a little before he turned away. "Well, aren't you two an interesting bunch, aren't you? What do you say we roll this red carpet along then, shall we? If you would follow me."

The professor led them away from the scene and went on over towards the other end of the studio floor. Pass the wall they turned, entering the office-like portion in front of his desk, where behind was a bookshelf and the early morning light beaming through the open window. Standing on the huge red rug and turning back to face Joey and Dereece, Professor Sycamore welcomed the two formerly.

"Welcome to you both. My name is Augustine Sycamore, and this is my lab. Where you are now, this is the spot where most journeys begin. It's here that new Pokémon Trainers meet with their partners and yearn for their first bonding experience. And today, you'll be making that journey come true here."

Joey's balled hands shook, he looked like he was going to burst with excitement. Dereece stood beside him, arms crossed with a nodding stature.

"This path is for you both to take with your Pokémon. Since you both went through the verification, you'll be happy to know you'll be getting your Pokémon as soon as possible. I hope you're both ready, because in the end, this journey may very well change you. Are you both ready?"

As Joey was about to answer, Dereece pulled him in. "Uh, Joey, I'll ask again, are you sure about this?"

Joey gave his dark-skinned best friend as modest look. "Please, Dereece, we didn't play all those Pokémon games for nothing you know. We pretty much know the basics of battles: You throw out your choice, you fight, and you win…with style!" He posed with a raised fist in vigilance.

"I'm sure the video games were just for your imagination."

"Maybe so, Dereece, but what is it that I always say?"

"'Does this dress make my butt look big?'"

Joey nodded. "Yes…" his eyes widened. "…I mean, no! I mean…that's…well…besides that! Dreams don't come true standing around and doing nothing, Dereece!" He shot in front, presenting himself to the professor in flamboyant fashion. "I want to live! And now, this may be my chance. If I want to make my dreams reality, then on this quest for greatness I shall take."

"How noble of you." He deadpanned

Professor Sycamore clapped his hands again out of Joey's presentation. "Well said." He chuckled. "You're quite the spunky one. Then shall we give you your kit to begin with?" He reached into his pockets, getting out a large sum of Poke Balls and two PokeDexes. He held them out to the duo. "Before we begin with the Pokémon, let's start you off with these. You can take one PokeDex and ten Poke Balls each."

Joey and Dereece stepped forward, taking their respective number of each item.

"Good. Now then, shall we commence?" The professor stepped off to the side, presenting three Poke Balls that sat in a triangle formation on the blue pillow of his desk. Joey and Dereece stepped forward to look at them.

"Woah…" Joey marveled. "So these are the three choices that I heard about…Chespin…Fennekin…and Froakie." He looked towards Dereece. "What do you think, Dereece?"

Dereece had a finger to his chin, tapping as he pondered maturely. "Well, if you ask me, maybe go with the Froakie. I mean, you always thought his Greninja was the bomb, right?"

Joey looked back, giving Froakie's Poke Ball a scrutinizing look. "Eh…nope. Sorry, but no go." He stuck his hand out to the Poke Ball.

"Uh huh, and why?" Dereece questioned.

"Think about it, Dereece. What could I ever hope for, if my own possible Greninja were to meet his? How could that Greninja possibly be able to meet the almighty; that awesomeness that he has that no other Greninja could have?"

"Well then I guess that explains why you never used or caught those six Pokémon in your game then."

"Yes indeed. Therefore." He faced one Poke Ball, smiling wide as his fingers fiddled some and seized one of the others. "I shall choose…this one!" He threw the Poke Ball skyward, making the capsule spin as it went for the high ceiling.

Popping out and falling was a bipedal Pokémon with a bright green helmet-around his light brown mammal-like face. He had a pink triangular nose and beady black eyes. He had stubby brown arms and large, pointed feet and tail. The Pokémon yelled with a bright smile as Joey caught him in midair, spinning him around with his own laugh of triumph in a full circle.

"Yes! I have chosen…Chespin, as my partner!" Joey declared. He lowered the smiling Chespin towards eye-level, looking happier than before. "Hello, my name is Joey. And as of now, it shall be you, who has been chosen to be the apprentice of shaking the moneymaker, too!"

Chespin tilted his head in confusion. Dereece facepalmed. "Oi vey."

Professor Sycamore nodded at the choice. "Ah, oui! Chespin! That's a good choice for you. Congratulations."

"Professor." Officer Jenny got Professor Sycamore's attention. "A word, please."

"Sure thing." He turned back towards the boys. "This will be just a second." He told them before walking towards the officer to answer more questions and hear out statements. With Joey and Dereece alone, this was a chance for them to talk.

The new Trainer leaned in towards Dereece. "So what do you think is going on around here?"

"That's what I've been trying to find out." Dereece answered. "For some reason, that meteor shower we missed last night is still putting people on edge."

"Really?"

In the skies of Kalos' morning rays, there were still very feint rays of energy flowing constantly. They appeared to still be in orbit until a simple tug of gravity began to usher one down from the norm. The zooming, thin light streak arched down, as thin as a metal pole, and went through the clear skies in an angle towards Lumiose City.

"We've gathered reports all over, but no one's seen the missing Charmander." Officer Jenny said. "This mysterious disappearance will have to go on the report as well."

Professor Sycamore crossed his arms and looked down. "Well this isn't good at all. A lot of the Pokémon populace has been going astray for the past ten hours now, and still spontaneously changing. What's going on here?"

Something bright and zooming at a high velocity was heading for Professor Sycamore's lab, closing in on the window.

Feeling something off, Dereece noticed how the room's light was suddenly brighter than usual. "Hm?" He turned around to look up. His eyes widened in shock as a bright, searing light glistened towards them. He tapped Joey's shoulder. "Uh, Joey…?"

"Yes, what is it now, Der…eece…?" He trailed off as he looked towards the light. He and Dereece stood beside the other as the sound barrier began to break about in the atmosphere.

Those in the room began to look up, and those in the city were staring with wide eyes as they saw a fast, streaking light projectile with an intense velocity zip over heads and apartment complexes. Almost everyone turned away as the light shot straight through the open window, zipping directly into Joey and Dereece.

Upon impact, a burst of light erupted, causing Professor Sycamore and Officer Jenny to fall onto their backs blinded. Everyone in the room was covering up as the massive rays of light was fluxing constantly until it began to dwell down some.

Eventually though, the light dissipated, allowing the professor and everyone to slowly get back to their feet. At they all began to come around, they looked back to where Joey and Dereece were, Professor Sycamore being the first to gasp in horror.

"What is it?" Officer Jenny looked to where his eyes traced, but she also gasped in realization. Horror was in her eyes.

Other faculty members darted right into the room, making a sharp turn to the scene.

"What is it?!"

"Professor Sycamore, are you alright?!"

Shaken, Professor Sycamore stared ahead. "Yeah…yeah, but…" he slowly stepped ahead a single step, seeing into what it was that was ahead.

It was a distortion, but the distortion was bleak for a fable of a moment. The desk had fallen over completely, and the remaining two Poke Balls were rolled in random places to the base of the bookshelf. The rug had seared spots on it, like something was burned on it. When it came to realization, many felt questioned – if not horrified – of where or whose spots it took up.

The distorted wave fully faded, leaving Professor Sycamore horrified. "What…happened…?"

For Joey and Dereece, their adventure that was to come had just taken a crazy turn.


"HAHA! Can you believe it?! This guy can't even tell his tail's on fire! How awesome is that?!"

In Fairy Tail's guild hall, everyone was looking at Natsu's newly found creature with varied expressions of curiosity and exaggeration. It was surprising at best, but the main reason was because of the flame-lit tail. Nic, Erza, and Vanessa, on the other hand, were still petrified in sheer disbelief.

Nic and Vanessa looked towards the other, the siblings sharing their equally massive shock before slowly turning back to the scene.

Gray stepped up, his shirt off. "The heck is that thing anyway?" he asked.

Natsu held Charmander by his waist, looking at his best friend. "Beats me…" His cheeky smile returned. "But I think it's pretty cool!"

"Aye. You should have seen it. It was just lying about in the woods trying to stay warm. If it weren't for Natsu, maybe it'd still be shivering its tushy."

Carla sighed with crossed arms. "Does a lizard like that even have a posterior?"

"I'd rather not ask those questions." Pantherlily advised. "Say, Gajeel." He asked the Iron Dragon Slayer.

"Yeah, Lily?"

"We've been on a lot of jobs before, haven't we? Have we ever seen something like this before?"

Gajeel looked back at the creature in Natsu's possession, furrowing a brow. "Not that I can remember. I've seen stuff on fire – mostly by Salamander's stupidity."

"Hey!" Natsu retorted.

"…but I gotta say, this thing certainly smells weird." Gajeel looked behind his shoulder. "Actually, the scent's kinda familiar now that I think about it."

"You really think so?" Wendy asked. She sniffed the air to get a whiff of the creature, but her nostrils were telling her something was wrong. It wasn't bad by any means, but the scent – though faint – was familiar. "Yeah, now that you mention it, it does smell strange."

"Seems like a bad idea if you ask me." Macao advised.

"Are you even sure it's okay to bring that thing in here? We have enough trouble keeping you from accidentally setting up fires." Wakaba said.

"Hey! It ain't my fault a lot of the stuff's made of wood!" Natsu retorted.

"But it is your fault when you start the fights with a fireball." Romeo added.

"Oh come on!"

Lucy facepalmed in grief. "Somehow I don't think this was probably the best idea in mind."

Happy activated his magic and floated in front of Lucy. "Aw, what's the harm, Lucy?" he asked. "It wasn't mean to us when we first found it."

"Really?" Lucy didn't sound so sure.

Happy turned his head away sheepishly. "Well…"

In the small opening, surrounded by a bed of foliage, the small creature was curled up and watched with an uneased expression as Natsu and Happy spotted him from the foliage. To say he was unnerved about being in a lab one moment and suddenly in a cold, dark forest overnight would cause a few alarms.

Natsu's attention went immediately towards the tail, his eyes wide in growing surprise. "Hm? Uh, hey, buddy, you know your tail's on fire, right?" He pointed towards his tail tip to give a point. The strangest thing though was that the creature didn't look bothered by it.

"Huh?" He looked at his tail, seeing his small tail flame. "Yeah, so?" Suddenly, he bolted to his stout feet and toe claws, reeling back in shock. "W-wait! What?!" He looked down at his claws, flexing them on his own. "Hold on…am I…am I talking right…?"

Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "Something wrong, pal?"

The creature pointed at Natsu accusingly. "Wait, c-can you actually understand me?"

"Well duh, you are talking to yourself after all, aren't ya?" He deadpanned. "You aren't very bright saying stuff out loud, ya know that?"

The creature gasped again. This was a complete turn for the unexpected multiplied by a grand percentage if he ever knew the concept of human math. He always knew humans would need a lot of experience with them if they were to "sense" what they were saying, but with this shortcut, he could've pegged this all to be a hoax, if not a dream, but he slapped himself so many times to get himself awake and be back in the lab. This reality was far from what he had expected.

He started stepping back, his nerves crawling with each crack in the foliage beneath. "This…this is all so crazy…" He sounded like he was getting hysterical. "This has to be a freaky dream, right? The last thing I remember was being checked up by that professor…and then the next thing I knew, this freaky light swept out of nowhere, and I end up here! The heck's going on?!"

Natsu stepped in front of him. "Are you okay…?"

"No! Stay back!" he barked. "Scratch!" He jumped up and raked his tiny claws against Natsu's face. The surprised Dragon Slayer had a white trail follow briefly as he stepped back, covering his face.

"Ow!" he grimaced. He held onto his face with one eye closed. "That little…!" He uncovered, looking unfazed with hardly a mark on him. Of course he was pissed. "Hey man, the heck's your damage?!"

The lizard stepped back in shock once again. "G-go away! You and that…that cat thing!" His legs were shaking as he took several steps backwards. He looked at Happy, seeing him float beside him. His eyes registered the latter with disbelief. "Wait! How are you flying?!"

"With my wings." Happy turned, showing his wings.

The creature turned away, holding onto his tail and holding him flame close. He glared at Natsu and Happy defensively as his body was shivering from a mixture of fright and cold.

Natsu didn't get oblivious over the shivering he saw. "Okay, now what? Are you cold or something?" he tiredly asked.

"Looks like it." Happy said.

The lizard pivoted and began to run away. "S-stay away! I'm fine!" With misty eyes, he took off away from Natsu and Happy.

"Hey, you can't go off like that!" Natsu shouted in a warning tone. He darted for the tiny lizard. "Happy!"

"Aye!" Happy followed.

The creature was taking off at whatever speeds he could manage. He could've ran on all fours for better momentum, but he needed to protect his tail flame. He needed to get as far away as possible. 'What's going on here…? How can I talk? Why was that cat flying?' He heard foliage churn behind him, getting him to look behind. What he saw made his eyes grow into circles. "HEH?!" He saw that Natsu was racing after him at speeds he never thought a man could do. "HOW THE HECK IS HE THAT FAST?!"

"Hold on a sec!" Natsu closed the gap rather fast. With a massive jump, he sprung right overhead, landing in front of the lizard. "Gotcha!" He seized Charmander when he tried scooting to a stop, picking him up with his bare hands to look at him at eye level.

The creature strained in his arms, trying to get free as possible. "Hey! L-let me go! Let me go right now!" He tried to use Scratch again, but Natsu held him by the underarms, making it so he could only kick and struggle.

"Alright pal, you need to cool your jets for a bit, okay…?" Natsu held onto him as the lizard was straining and yelling for his life, but as he held him, he could feel something off. His eyes widened.

Happy floated next to him, seeing Natsu's shocked expression. "Natsu?" He moved himself upfront, looking at the lizard and back at him.

The Dragon Slayer continued to look at him in surprise. "…his skin is getting cold…"

"I'M FINE! LEAVE ME ALONE!" the lizard cried. Tears were in the corners of his eyes, scared out of his life. "Get away from me!"

Natsu narrowed his eye, he knew what he had to do. "Okay, let's try this then…"

"No…NO! No-!" The lizard's hysterical cries were growing hoarse as he began to feel warmth suddenly run through his body. The temperature of his shuddering body was starting to escalate back to normal. It was like he was in summer all over again, and he was starting to calm down. "It's…it's getting warmer…"

Natsu kept a serious face as he continued using the heat of his magic to keep the lizard warm. He made sure that the tail flame wouldn't go out, no matter how interesting it was to look at. In fact, as the lizard was warming up, the flame began to grow a little.

"Look, Natsu! The flame just grew!" Happy pointed towards the flame.

Natsu smiled. "That's gotta mean something good then. Alright then…" He gently sat the flaming lizard down on his bottom on the log that was behind him. The creature looked pacified as Natsu crouched down to meet at eye level once again, smiling. "There, all better?"

The creature was still in shock over the sudden heat, but for the most part, he seemed pacified. He looked towards Natsu with surprise, but at the same time, with curiosity in the mix. "…y-yeah…I think so." He looked towards his tail flame, seeing the flame brighter than it has been since he came here. He looked back. "Thank you…"

Natsu waved him off. "Nah, don't mention it. It'd be kind harsh to leave ya hanging in the cold. It's still the middle of March after all. A Fire Mage like me comes in handy at times like this." He grinned.

The lizard tilted his head in confusion. "A…Fire Mage?"

"Yeah, I work in a guild full of people who use sweet magic like I do." He pointed a thumb to himself. "The name's Natsu. And this is Happy."

"Aye!" Happy raised a paw. "Do you have a name?"

The lizard looked down at the stump, awfully silent. It was sudden information that was just so crazy. First thing that he knew, he hatched; then he plays in a lab for a few months; the next thing he knows is a world where man can now use this so-called magic. It was scary, but at least it saved him. "…"

Natsu raised a brow. "Hm, what's wrong? Haven't got a name?"

The lizard looked up, giving Natsu a calm look. "No, they all just call me…Charmander."

"Yeah, he seemed pretty freaked out at first, but it's all good now. Ain't that right, little buddy?" Natsu smiled down at Charmander, who was still held out with a pacified grin.

He nodded. "Mhm, sure is. But wow, so these are your friends?" He turned his head in a panel, looking at all the various faces with attires and hairstyles unlike anything he's seen before. "Wow…they all look so…cool…"

"Told ya!" Natsu laughed.

Within the crowd of questionnaires emerged three distinct faces. The three were Nic, his wife, and his sister. They stepped up as Natsu finished with his boasting. He looked towards them with a big smile.

"Oh, hey guys. Have you met Charmander yet?" He held him out, allowing the lizard to get a good look at Nic and his family.

The creature smiled. "Hi!"

"Hello…" Nic trailed off as he looked towards Natsu. He fell short of words to say as his gaze said everything.

"What's the matter…?" Natsu looked into Nic's eyes; those blue, pure orbs cast no lie. The Dragon Slayer could see something was wrong just by a second's look into them. His smile slowly dialed to a frown of wonder, his brow furrowing.

A silence fell amongst the whole guild hall as Nic's brow furrowed, the tension in the air finally reaching a climax.

"Natsu…" Nic's tone was more serious than ever. "Do you know what that is?"

Natsu looked at Charmander again, who in turn looked towards him with inquiry of his own. They didn't see it first hand, but they knew something was up by Nic's tone of suspicion.

Nic looked over his shoulder. "Vanessa…"

"I know. Let's be sure about this." The younger Pularis woman stepped up in front, presenting herself to Charmander. Standing a few meters away for space, she reached into her aqua and dark blue striped purse she kept and pulled out her PokeDex.

Upon recognizing the object, Lisanna blinked. "Hey wait, isn't that thing you used when you scanned or try to look up certain Pokémon back in Kalos?"

"Oh dear, I think I have a bad feeling about this." Kinana said, having a hand to her tilted cheek.

"We'll see. I'm sure it ain't nothing we can handle." Jet shrugged.

Vanessa held up the device to Natsu and Charmander. "Hold still, please." Charmander and Natsu did as instructed, stiffening like two statues. The top half of her PokeDex went up, revealing the holographic screen sandwiched between expanding to show a picture of Charmander.

"Charmander, the Lizard Pokémon. The flame on its tail indicates Charmander's life force. If it is healthy, the flame burns brightly." It announced.

Vanessa retracted her device, enabling the guild to process what it was they heard. The serious tension they once had began to rattle cages.

Sophie's eyes narrowed. "Ma? (What?)"

"Did it just say what I think we heard?" Lisanna said.

"Could've fooled me." Droy said, munching on chicken still. He didn't seem to care much at all, much to Jet's annoyance.

"Maybe if you stopped eating and pay attention anymore, you would know!" he retorted.

Freed put a hand to his chin. "A flame on its tail…and disappearing from a lab…now it makes sense."

"Just as we thought." Nic looked into Natsu's eyes with an expression of deep confirmation. "Natsu, that Charmander…it's a Pokémon."

Natsu's eyes widened at the words. Charmander looked at him with confusion.

"Well that explains every question I had to ask." Gray said in a flat tone.

Wendy looked shocked. "So then…that's another kind of Pokémon?"

"One of them, anyways." Vanessa answered. "Pokémon from what a few of us have seen are able to come in all shapes of sizes. Charmander's just an example of the many Pokémon out there that new Trainers can possibly start with." She looked back at Charmander. "But…"

"…but why is one here?" Lucy finished, having a hand to her chin. "Is that it?"

"That sounds like a question a lot of us are asking ourselves right now, I think." Sophie said low.

From the back of the crowd, a pair of footstep were loud. "Alright, what's all the hub about?" People turned around to see Laxus advance. They all got out of the way for him to get to the front of the crowd, where he stood next to the Thunder God Tribe.

Charmander looked at Laxus like he was seeing a grown Tyranitar. He could feel everything grow uncomfortable with him. "Pssst." He whispered back to Natsu. "Who is that guy?"

"What, him?" Natsu answered. "That's Laxus. He's our guild's master, and trust me pal, he's alright once you get used to him."

Charmander looked back at Laxus, who stood with his huge coat on and arms folded. His stature made Charmander drop a bead of sweat. "Somehow I doubt that…"

"So what have we got here?" Laxus asked, giving Charmander a dominant stare.

"Apparently, Master, Natsu just found a wild Pokémon." Freed answered.

Laxus' stare shot into widened eyes. His eyeballs vibrated for a moment as he looked at Charmander once again, giving him a slightly more surprised light. "So you're saying…that thing he has in his hands is actually one of those Pokémon that Nic's familiar with, right?"

"Well…I suppose." Evergreen looked towards Nic. "Do you know this species exactly?"

Nic looked affirmative. "Charmander are rare Pokémon that are meant for new Trainers in a few varied regions. From what I've heard, they're common in the Kanto Region, as well as Kalos. But beyond that, this is all new to me."

"Hey, hold up for a sec now." Gajeel said, turning towards Nic and getting his attention. "The last I checked, you three are the only ones in this world who have Pokémon, right?"

"That's what I was asking myself." Nic answered. "So then how did this one get here…?" His eyes narrowed as he thought deep. His brow furrowed as he tried to backtrack. He fell silent as he pieced the events together. 'I woke up to an odd feeling, then we hear of this bizarre meteor shower. And now a Charmander is in Natsu's hands. This can't be by coincidence…!'

Nic's eyes suddenly opened wide, a short epiphany growing. 'Wait…is Charmander the only one then?!'

"This definitely came out of nowhere, that's for sure." Erza said.

"Yeah, no kidding." Gray said. "First this weird meteor shower happening overnight, now we see another one of your guys' animals or something picked up by Natsu."

Natsu beamed with pride. "Well I think it's a sweet deal."

"Yeah, seems strange if you ask me." Bickslow added. "Hey Cana, you sure you didn't use your Fortune Telling?"

The brunette looked down in conspiracy. "This is something I doubt would've been picked up on. If my cards said anything like this happening, I would've known by now."

"Sounds like a twisted case of fate falling off the deep end." Pantherlily said.

"But how did this happen? I thought everything was fixed after the Acnologia incident." Happy pointed out.

"It was." Everyone looked towards Nic again, his tone was deep with speculation, making the others draw unsound conclusions.

Erza gave him a look. "Nic…"

"This isn't by coincidence. It can't be. Something went wrong last night, and I can still feel it happening right now." He gave a bold face as he walked pass Natsu and Charmander. He made way out of the guild's saloon doors to the outside world. Even with the sun still shimmering its morning rays, the blue sky was so clear that it was a blue sea. As Nic looked up, he saw another glint of a shooting star pass over high in the sky. "I have a feeling there's more to this, but I need to be sure."

Vanessa stepped up. "Where are you going?"

Nic turned around facing his sister. "I gotta see something important back on our world." He glanced to the side. "Maybe Charmander's arrival here means something went wrong somewhere…but I need to be sure."

Vanessa looked down at the ground, thinking critically of Nic's claim. Maybe Nic was onto something, after all, he was far from stupid. In fact, he was smart enough to be considerate. He doesn't jump to hysterical conclusions without proof, and that's when investigations are set into motion. She looked back towards Nic, understanding fully. "Okay, we'll do our part."

Erza crossed her arms, raising a brow. "If it's that worrying, shouldn't we tag along?"

Nic looked back, grinning. "As fun as it would be, I think you guys should look after the guild. Maybe Charmander isn't the only one here. If he is, then we at least need to be prepared. Is that okay with you?"

Erza stepped forward, this time closer towards Nic. She faced him as he gave her a worried, but also insisting expression. The redhead was the first to exempt a sigh of grief. "Sometimes your sudden thinking just makes my head spin." She groaned.

Nic put a hand to his hip, grinning. "Gotta keep things interesting between us somehow."

She showed a positive grin. "Just be careful."

Nic smiled in assurance. "Yeah…you too." With that, he faced forward, where a sudden tear in the space showed once again. On the opposite side of his teleportation was cement and pavement. With one last look, he turned towards the guild, this time with a serious grin. "I'm counting on you!" He boldly announced, just as the rift closed. In a sparkly flash, it dissipated, leaving nothing behind.

After a long minute of staring, Erza whipped around, looking towards the guild. "Levy, Sophie, when did this all begin last night?"

"Uh…around 2 AM, I think." Levy guessed.

"Yes, that's what I've heard as well." Sophie added. "Astronomers and night watchers alike are still working around the clock to figure out the schematics to this catalyst. Even they are bewildered."

"And how many could they have counted?"

"Too many from what I've heard." Mest said.

Erza looked to the side again, thinking deeply. 'A copious amount of shooting stars flying all over, with Natsu meeting Charmander. Nic was right to assume this can't be by coincidence….' She thought deeper as her eyes closed. 'Nic does have a link to Dialga and Palkia's energy signatures. Maybe that explains why he's been so off this morning. Did something happen involving Palkia's space wavelengths jumping out of proportion?'

"You guys!"

Everyone turned around to look and see two figures calling out to them. At the guild's entrance and heading on in, they were the Connell duo, and they were looking like they were in rush hour.

"Bisca, and Alzack!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Wow, talk about great timing." Happy commented.

"And not a moment too soon either." Gray remarked.

Asuka rushed out of the crowd, hurrying towards her parents. "Mommy! Daddy!" she cheered, running into Bisca's arms.

Bisca knelt and held her daughter with a smile. "Hey, sweetie. Did you miss us?"

Asuka nodded. "Uh huh!"

Alzack was more than happy to be back home as well, but as much as he wanted to appease his daughter's unconditional love, he had to put one thing to rest first. He made it towards the others with a frantic expression.

"Alzack, what's up man?" Max greeted.

"Yeah, you look like you've ran through a desert." Warren said.

Alzack ignored them, staying focused on the problem at hand. "This isn't time to be goofing around, guys! Something big is happening around here!" he exclaimed.

Vijeeter crossed his arms. "Yeah, we kinda got all that with the meteor shower last night, and Nic taking off in a hurry."

Macao stepped forward, holding an arm out to hold off the members' banter. "Take it easy, guys. Let him speak." He looked at his friend. "Go ahead, Alzack. What is it?"

Alzack got his breath and gave out the warning at last. "Okay, we just got word from the folk around town. Apparently they've been hearing a lot of commotion in the morning through the forest outside Magnolia."

"You mean the Eastern Forest?" Laxus clarified.

"Yes, exactly. While on our way back, Bisca and I were en route when we heard something like slashing in the woods. We went to take a look, but when we did, we saw that a lot of trees had slash marks in them."

"Slash marks?" Macao repeated.

"You mean like a sword or something?" Wakaba asked.

"No, more like claw marks." He described.

Vanessa's brow furrowed. 'Claw marks?'

"Huh? That seems a little weird." Natsu said. "Happy and I go there all the time and we've never seen animals do something like that."

"Maybe it was a fight or something." Pantherlily guessed.

"It could be." Levy replied. "I checked the various encyclopedia for the environment around here just the other day, but behavioral patterns such as those come from territorial mammals."

"So a new guy's staking claims out on the whole forest, huh? Did you find out who it was?" Laxus asked casually.

Bisca looked up from her daughter. "We tried to get in as deep as we could…but then we got around a tree…" She looked down, thinking about the terrifyingly large creature they had to see. Its massive claws slashed so powerfully that not only did it knock their bullets away, but they fell back from a tree snapping from that single slash.

"Whatever that bear was, it was no ordinary bear." Alzack grimaced.

Vanessa looked to the side, thinking deeply of the pieces being set into place. 'A bear that slashes at trees to make territory…'

A gasp of shock came from the crowd. All heads turned towards Wendy as she realized something important. "Grandeeney!"

"Say what?" Levy gasped.

"Grandeeney? As in Porlyusica?" Sophie interpreted.

Wendy looked towards her. "Yeah, she lives out in the Eastern Forest! What if she's in trouble?"

Lucy soon realized what she meant. "Yeah, I get where you're going with this…" She remembered back to when she ventured in the Kalos region with the group after the Edolas incident. They certainly came across a lot of big and scary Pokémon along the way. "If one of those kinds are around, she might be in deep trouble."

"She's fine. I think even I would know to stay two pegs away from her." Gray interjected.

"Gray, please try and be a little considerate." Juvia pleaded despondently. She did love him and all, but he didn't have to sound so rude about it, even if it was true.

"Well then we just have a better reason to get out there then!" Natsu eagerly said. "What do you say, Charmander, wanna see just how we roll Fairy Tail style?"

The Fire-type looked towards the Dragon Slayer, smiling confusedly. "Uh…I don't know? Maybe…!"

"Awesome! Alright guys, follow me!" Natsu charged right out of the doors, with Charmander anchored in his underarm like a rolled-up towel.

"Hey, wait for me!" Happy followed out, flying behind.

Erza immediately took action. She turned around to look at Vanessa. "Vanessa, let's go!" She rushed out.

"Right!" She followed her sister-in-law.

"Wait up, guys, I'm coming too!" Lucy hurried behind. Following in a rush was Wendy, as well as Carla as they worried for Porlyusica.

Everyone else hung back, with Gray groaning with exhaustion. "Man, just a way to start your morning."

"That's putting it mildly." Gajeel agreed, crossing his arms and watching them go.


A stove flame burned intensely beneath a shifting black frying pain. Layered on top of it was grease sizzling with link sausage beginning to char in some places as it turned brown. A spatula turned one over, rolling it to show the darkness of its casing showing.

The TV was still going on in the living room, but the woman making breakfast for herself was still making out some of the high-squeaking babble coming from it.

As she turned another piece of sausage over, Joanna sighed. "I keep telling him to turn the TV off before he goes to school." She turned the knob on the front of the stove to reduce the flame beneath the sausage to keep it warm. "If he does this again, I'm-"

A knock at the door echoed through the house, instantly driving Joanna out of her motherly executives.

"Hm?" She worked her way around the counter if her kitchen that separated the cooking area from the rest of the domain. Alas, she heard the knock once again. "Did Michael forget his lunch again?"

Curiosity peaking, she finally made it towards the doorway and squinted one eye and put the other towards the peeping hole. Looking into the other end, she gasped as she saw someone all too familiar on the other end. Without any hesitation, she twisted the lock and opened the door, allowing the person to be in full view on the welcome mat.

Standing in front of the welcome mat, Nic was met with a welcomed smile. "Nic!" she greeted.

"Hey, Joanna." He greeted.

Joanna and Nic exchanged hugs from each other. The foster-mother welcomed him back with an open mind and seemed so pleased at his arrival, if not surprised. The latter was more of the prospect given the circumstances.

"You sure picked a time to come here." Joanna said.

Nic grinned. "Sorry for the inconvenience."

"Oh no, don't be. I was actually making breakfast for myself. Why don't you come in?" She stepped off to the side, allowing Nic to enter the abode. As he walked on in, Joanna closed the door behind. They walked further into the domain, with Joanna working away around the counter where Nic took a seat at one of the wooden stools recently bought. Once situated, the two began to talk some more.

Nic looked down at his stool. "These are new." He said with mild surprised.

"You like it? Michael thought it would be more convenient since he and Tan just so happen to enjoy eating on the very expensive leather couch." She sounded farfetched with just the right amount of sarcasm and irritation, just as anyone tired of certain habits would be.

Nic chuckled at her irritation. "Well it's sure better than having pudding cup stains on the rug, that's for sure. Speaking of food…" He moved his head to the side, as if looking behind Joanna, yet still glued his eyes towards her. The foster-mother turned around at his innuendo and saw that the sausage was getting darker by the minute. In a rush, she turned the stove off, allowing the sausage to sit in the grease and cool down now that it was fully cooked.

"Thank you." She said.

"Don't mention it. There were a few times I left grease in the frying pan." He looked unnerved as he remembered the few tock marks Erza had on her forehead. "I can still hear Erza's warning even from here…" he grimaced.

"Speaking of, how is she?"

Nic shook off his distress. "Erza? She's doing just fine."

"I see…and what about Vanessa? Is she doing alright, too?" There was a hint if worry in the underlying of her tone. This didn't get unnoticed by Nic though.

Nic grinned again. "Don't worry. Vanessa's doing great."

Joanna sighed in relief. "You know, you need to come visit more often. I know you have this guild business that you do in your world, but you could all come by for a couple nights every once in a while."

Nic looked down at the shiny counter top. "I know, we're sorry. But that world needs as much good help as it can get you know. It's not exactly a fundamental playground like the ones we have here."

"It's fine." She grinned.

"Speaking about family, where's Michael and Tan?"

Joanna went over towards the cabinets, where she opened one up to reveal a clean, white plate. She sat it down and began to place the sausage onto it. "You just missed Tan. He just went to school not too long ago. And Michael left right as he went off to work."

"So then you have today off your work, too?"

"Yup." She presented the plate of sausage to Nic. "You want some?"

Nic then furrowed his brow as he looked back at Joanna. The foster-mother fell silent as she looked into Nic's eyes. She could feel something serious was going down.

"I'm sorry, but there's a reason why I'm here. I can't eat right now, not until I figure this puzzle out."

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"I came here to confirm something, something that's been bugging me all morning." He paused. "…Joanna, by any chance, was there a meteor shower last night anywhere?"

Joanna's eyes widened at what Nic referred to. The look she had made him realize the truth. "Yeah, it's all over the news…!" In a rush, she worked her way around the counter and maneuvered into the living room. Nic turned around on the stool and scooted off it. He hurried over as Joanna reached for the remote control and flipped the channel from one of Tan's shows over to a live feed of footages of certain terrains.

"Take a look." She insisted.

Nic fell silent as he watched the news being broadcasted.

"…and this recent occurrence happened just earlier this morning, starting around 2:00 AM." Someone in the booth said. "Astrologists had no knowledge, nor could they have confirmed such detail as to how or when this occurrence was going to happen. However, eye witnesses do claim that this so-called 'meteor shower' was but a blessing in disguise."

"As the old saying goes, there's a Mightyena in Mareep wool amongst us." The other news reporter beside the previous spoken said. "When we asked a local fisherman as he was amongst the eddy, trying to fish up some Goldeen and Magikarp on Route 22, he described seeing a shooting star zoom down in front of him, hitting the water."

The screen turned towards the fisherman in his early 30s. He looked surprised as he stood in front of the riverbank where he fished last night. "I-I don't know what happened. I wasn't able to sleep, so I figured I could find myself something to fish up and maybe throw back. I was hoping I could find maybe a shiny Goldeen or Magikarp, and then out of nowhere, something bright just…boom! Straight into the water!" He demonstrated by arching his palm into the back of his hand. "And here I thought I was spooked, I didn't see many fish hang around that, and neither did I…"

"And in another area just north, a drone cam got explicit footage of some terribly bizarre impact to what looked like a Fearow near Victory Road's grove."

The camera changed to show the nighttime mountainous Victory Road. It was as massive as ever, like a fortress. The nighttime sky showered with shooting stars everywhere. The drone camera got a view of an arching light flying into a brown bird that looked like it was flying away. It was a bright flash upon impact, but alas it was all that was picked up. After that, it was still too dark to see."

Joanna gasped in horror. She leaned forward as she could've sworn that light just vaporized that Fearow. Nic was no different. He couldn't even feel his own heart beating with how graphic that was.

"This was a very morbid news for many Pokémon observers and biologists alike." The first news reporter said with a frown. "For many of the Pokémon populace, this very unsettling phenomenon…was nothing short of an ends."

The second reporter morbidly frowned. "Indeed. In forests, lakes, and even mountains and caves where these shooting stars have fallen, they left nothing but singe marks. We can only pray for the surviving Pokémon that were able to escape from this travesty." The camera shifted to reveal an open field somewhere in the Hoenn Region's Petalburg Woods, the bird's eye view having some signs of Shroomish hiding, while it looked like a few Taillow were missing. "This forest, just teeming with Bug-type Pokémon, Slakoth, even Poochyena, the fortunate ones were able to hide and take cover, but to those who clung to branches, even Taillow for that matter, their numbers were dwindled greatly."

"Even outside Kalos?" Joanna looked towards Nic, seeing what he had to say about all this.

Nic was still caught off guard as he saw the bar graphs appear on the big screen. It showed a large populace recorded in a mountain in the Johto Region, but the graph beside it revealed it being half as tall as the last one. He didn't want to hope for the worst having arrived, but when he thought about the meteor shower in Earthland and Charmande's appearance, his theories were beginning to mix at a rapid pace in his mind.

'Did they really…?'

"The count of these shooting stars was astonishingly high in numbers, isn't that right" The reporter asked the other.

"That indeed. The numbers of Pokémon that have been mysteriously targeted had bene affected greatly by the equal number of these estrange meteors. Astrologists and theorists alike have no indication to what could have transpired. The only clue lied within the Sinnoh Region, where all this began."

"The Sinnoh Region?" Joanna wondered.

The screen showed the darkness of Mt. Coronet beyond the cloud level. Nic and Joanna looked beyond shocked as they watched as shockwaves illuminate the sky, exploding into meteors that beamed throughout the skies of Sinnoh. Nic was in awe and in deep fright as something located atop was within its blast range.

"Our sources revealed that the base of this phenomenon has been rooted to the Sinnoh Region's own Mt. Coronet. Scientists are escalating to where the blast was centered around Spear Pillar. As they reached the climb, they had taken into consideration how the vast number of Pokémon who inhabit Mt. Coronet's intense climates have laved overnight. The blast wave may be explained further once they reach Spear Pillar's peak. At the same time this shockwave transpired, the spatial energy output had been spontaneously convulsing and expanding at ultra-stellar rates, according to the findings that Professor Rowan of Sandgem Town just Southwest of the region stated. It was with this knowledge that we took an investigation to his lab, where we learned more of the energy outputs that he described as 'bizarre'.

Nic's brow furrowed as the news went to Professor Rowan's face. 'Spatial energy, just like what I felt last night. Spear Pillar…spatial energy…Pokémon disappearing…Charmander…!'

And then it hit him. His eyes shot wide with a deep, deep gasp that caught Joanna off guard.

"Nic?!" She turned to look at him, but he looked like he was seeing a ghost. His pupils were small and shaking like a scared dog, or someone who one could've thought would be having a heart attack.

Nic was still at a loss for words, but within his mind, the pieces at last fixed upon themselves. He knew now – or had the general idea of – what transpired. And he also knew that it was much worse than he thought. He could feel his heart drop like a rock.

"This wasn't the first time the energy output has been sporadic I'm afraid." Professor Rowan said in an interview. "I'm sure as everyone is aware, prior to the research and the visits to the Valley of Daunt back in Kalos, everyone had witnessed first-hand the creature, who we know by the name of Acnologia, had altered time and space between the world of our own and the one that Nic Pularis coincides with." He turned back towards the machines and generators behind him, with their levels still looking to be fluxing. The bars and levers were bumping up and down continuously, unable to be controlled. "The energy output is still going on as we speak."

"So are you saying that you can tell when this shower will fully end?" the reporter next to him asked.

Professor Rowan nodded. "I've already made the calculations. The energy was beyond critical as of 2 AM this morning. Since then, it began to segment and divide into smaller sections. However, it's spatial energy continuously is unpredictable at times. What's certain is that with the less these shooting stars show, the less frequent I see these changes. Ay most, it should calm by the time noon rolls around."

"And you are certain about this?"

"We can never be sure of anything. But if all these Pokémon are involved, then we must do everything we can to solve this, for all our sake…" He trailed off, finishing his interview onscreen.

As the news went on about the photographs of shooting stars and breaking news of shooting stars hitting wild Pokémon in unknown places, Joanna and Nic were both completely silent with what they heard. The foster-mother looked towards Nic once more, seeing his brow furrowed and looking down at the ground.

"Nic…is everything okay?"

Nic leered at the edge of the sofa, his blue eyes showing seriousness. "I see…so that's what happened…" He looked up again, showing a deep, searing gaze towards the screen. It showed another frozen picture of Spear Pillar. "This is much worse than I thought…"

"What do you mean? Nic?"

The screen again showed a picture of the sea, hundreds of raining shooting stars bolting into the air. He had an idea of where they were going, and that only made him narrow his eyes with a frown. "…"


In the large woods outside the area, the sky was still clear as day as the sun continued to glisten rays down into the canopies of the tranquil forest. Birds chirped, and lizards stuck out their tongues on roots. The various array of fauna life was tranquil to say the least.

As turtles grazed on moss of rocks, a loud, grizzly roar reverberated far away. Many of animals turned towards the sounds on high alert, the grotesque breaching of what sounded like a monster echoing through ear canals.

In a grassy plain, just below a small hill, a pair of feet landed. "This way!" Looking up, Wendy ran on.

"Hold up, Wendy!" Sliding down the small slope, Carla, in her transformation to a human, hurried behind Wendy's tail.

Proceeding next was Natsu with Charmander, who landed with a serious face and bolted. Then was Happy, then Lucy sliding down next, then Erza, and Vanessa. The whole group was making headway towards where Porlyusica's house was supposed to be, and it just so happened to be in the direction where Wendy and Natsu's hearing carried them to the roars.

"Are you sure it's this way, guys?" Lucy shouted.

"Yeah, no doubt! My nose is never wrong!" Natsu grinned.

"Say what?" Charmander asked under his arm.

Happy floated next to him, explaining Natsu's traits. "Natsu has a crazy sense of smell and hearing. Trust me, once he hears or smells ya, you ain't getting off his tail anytime soon."

"And speaking of hearing…" Natsu's glare began to intensify with his anticipation. "I can hear it. We're definitely getting closer now."

Carla paced behind Wendy, surprisingly keeping up with her human feet pacing. "Hoe much further Wendy?!"

"Let's see…" Wendy tried to think of a good estimate as to when they would get closer to Porlyusica's house, but her eyes widened when she and her friends saw something up ahead. She gasped.

"Look, is that what I think it is…?!" Lucy exclaimed.

Up ahead, there was a tall tree, a very tall one, as well as thick. The tree was unguarded, and in the dead center of it, there were claw marks on it, raked in crosses deep into the bark. Natsu and the group stopped in front of it, examining its features.

"Are those what I think they are?" Happy questioned.

Natsu, however, looked impressed within his questioning. "Man, those are some pretty big claws…"

"How can you be impressed at a time like this?!" Lucy stammered.

"This must be what Bisca and Alzack said when they saw the creature." Erza said. "To make something as big as a territorial claim, we must be dealing with a lot of resistance."

Vanessa's brow furrowed. 'A big brown bear that attacked them, snapping trees with its arms…and this aura I'm sensing, it's definitely hostile…'

Wendy stepped off to the side, seeing the sight of what looked like a few fallen trees laying ahead. Their snapped bark stuck out like sore thumbs. "Hey guys, I think we're getting closer." She said to them.

Natsu bolted to her side, getting a good view of the snapped trees. "Woah, this thing must be freaking huge!" He happily smiled with wide eyes.

"Hooray…" Charmander groaned despondently.

Once again, they heard a loud roar from up ahead. They all glared towards its directions as they heard the sound of a heavy clash of bodies. The land could've been felt vibrating with another thud. Everyone held their guards up as they braced themselves for anything unimaginable.

"What was that?" Happy asked.

"Seems like it's from ahead." Erza said. "Let's go!"

"Right!" Everyone in the group hurried along within the smashed bark and branches. The sound of roaring terror screeched ever so louder as they closed in pass a few trees up ahead. With there being underbrush all year around thankfully for the forest, there was plenty of cover as the thudding boomed behind a massive bush.

Closing in, everyone ducked behind the bush. They held their heads low as they stayed as quiet as possible. The sounds of grunting was heard well through their ear canals, and they sounded like two angry beasts.

"Sounds like there's more than just one of them." Wendy said.

Natsu's brow furrowed. "No, I hear two. And it sounds like their fighting."

On the opposite side of the bush, a pair of brown feet with claws pushed forward, shoving away as it was oblivious to the other looking out in the background. When they saw who was facing who, Vanessa and Erza alike both flashed shocked gazes, their pupils showing their astonishment.

"What is it?" Lucy asked. She looked ahead, her brown eyes widening. "What is that?"

A large, bipedal Pokémon that resembled much of a bear with edged shoulder raised his long arms, his claws as sharp as knives. On his stomach was a yellow ring that was as bog as his stomach. "GRAH~, GET LOST!" He thrust his claw forward, using Slash and raking at a Gorian across the face. The impact sent the local Gorian flying.

Vanessa's eyes dilated with no end to her surprise. "…it can't be…"

The Gorian shrieked as it sent flying backwards into a thick tree trunk, the shock making its lights go out and fall forward onto his front, lying unconscious several feet at the might of the bear-like creature that raised his paws to flex and roared in triumph.

"Woah! Did you just see that?!" Natsu exclaimed. "That guy just took out that Gorian!"

"Man, that guy didn't stand a chance…" Happy almost felt sorry for that local Vulcan. Almost.

The bear-like creature turned left and right, continuing to look upfront as the group scrutinized his loud behavior. As the bear continued to roar in victory and stand there, the Gorian wasn't able to move. It laid there unconscious as the beast glared at him.

"So this is what it was." Vanessa said low.

"Yes. It appears so." Erza responded.

Natsu looked at them both shocked. "What? You mean you two know what's going on here?"

"Unfortunately. I can see why Nic had to go configure something." Erza glanced towards Vanessa. She nodded, and Vanessa nodded in understanding. As Vanessa reached for something, Erza looked back ahead, eyes narrowed. "Everyone stay sharp."

The large creature slowly advanced towards the helpless Vulcan, his heavy steps carrying him closer towards the beast.

Vanessa finally pulled out her PokeDex, giving a full analysis as the top half popped up, showing the bear's figure between.

"Ursaring, the Hibernator Pokémon. With its ability to distinguish any aroma, it unfailingly finds all food buried deep underground."

Vanessa lowered her PokeDex, her brow furrowing. "Just as I thought. I was an Ursaring."

Wendy's eyes widened. "You mean…!"

"There's more out here?!" Lucy exclaimed. "I thought Charmander was the only one!"

Charmander backed away, his uneasiness growing. Natsu looked down at him and stayed by his side.

"Well I don't think this one looks friendly." Happy said.

Erza stood up. "No, they're not." She began to proceed out of the underbrush, presenting herself. Everyone, except Vanessa, looked at her with shock. "Ursaring are hostile Pokémon who use their weight to roll around in other's pity. Their strengths aside, they are slow, and that's their weak point."

"E-Erza, what are you going to do?" Wendy worried.

Ursaring's feet stopped at the head of the Gorian. It weakly began to look up, revealing his face covered in scratches and bruised marks. With one eye open, Ursaring's shadow covered him from the beaming sun.

"W-who are you…?" he mumbled.

Ursaring raised his claw, roaring defensively to deal with finishing blow.

"Stop!" a voice called out.

Ursaring grunted and stopped his advances. When it registered a different smell in the air, it sniffed some more and looked over his shoulder. He got a look of a red-haired woman in armor, arms crossed with a dominating stature.

"If you intend on picking on those who can't find back, then consider yourself no less of a coward." Erza testified. "If you wish to pick on someone who you find your own size, then consider myself a challenge."

The Ursaring contorted his face with annoyance at Erza's intrusion. He slowly turned around, facing her with his head raised and roaring aloud.

"Well, now we have its attention at least." Lucy said.

"Yeah, but is Erza sure about this?" Wendy questioned. "If that bear is really a Pokémon, then who knows what it can do? Shouldn't we go help her?"

"No need."

Everyone turned towards Natsu. He looked like he was grinning, but otherwise he was feeling pacified.

"I can already tell what she's going to do. This is gonna get really good." He glanced down towards Charmander. "Go ahead, take a seat little guy. This is gonna be really fun to watch."

Charmander looked up towards Natsu in confusion. Was it really going to be that intriguing? He was still stuck on the fact he was in another world, and now he was going to see a fellow mage with Pokémon do battle.

As Ursaring bared his claws out towards Erza, she glanced over her right shoulder. "Vanessa!"

Stepping forward, her sister-in-law presented herself, holding up a Poke Ball already. "I'm ready."

Ursaring opened his mouth wide, bellowing one more roar of battle. Erza and Vanessa spread their feet apart, readying as they brought back their arms.

"Talonflame, come out!"

"Venusaur, go!"

Both Poke Balls went out ahead of them, each popping open and expelling energy. One energy glob became and arrow that burst into Talonflame, cawing out with her wings spread out. On the ground, four thick feet planted firmly in the earth, a head raising to reveal the maw of the roaring Venusaur.

Ursaring and the two other Pokémon glared at each other, the two-on-one standoff beginning.

"Alright! We're gonna see a Pokémon Battle!" Natsu yelled excited.

"Yeah, you trash that bear into next week!" Happy gloated.

Charmander watched with wide eyes as the battle was under way.

"GRAAH!" Ursaring's claws glowed and lengthened, indicating Slash. "I don't know what's going on here, and frankly I don't care! I'm calling shots around this forest, so if you got a problem, then bring it on!" He started by lunging for Talonflame first, bringing his right arm back.

"Dodge!" Erza commanded. Talonflame flapped her wings once, shooting higher as the Slash left a trail to flow in its missing rake. He looked up at Talonflame, who was steep over his head. "Now, use Acrobatics!"

Talonflame cawed again as her body glowed bright blue. She zipped in zigzags that were of unprecedented levels. She zipped through the sky in blue streaks, hardly leaving any room for Ursaring to a good look of where she was going to come from.

With him distracted by Talonflame's movements, Vanessa reached out. "Venusaur, Toxic!"

Venusaur aimed his flower petal at Ursaring. The front legs bent and he fired a streaking glob of purple poison that bolted through the air. It moved so fast that time slowed down for a moment for it to pass through the space between him and Ursaring. The Hibernator Pokémon slowly looked down, meeting the Toxic just as it splashed against his face. A purple smoke cloud enveloped his upper body, getting him to roar and recoil a ways backwards. As he stepped out of the smoke cloud, he reeled forward on a knee, wincing as poisonous bubbles popped up from his body. Before he could swear or question, a caw from above got him to look up gain. A blur zipped into him, hitting him square in the stomach with great force. An air ripple came between Talonflame and Ursaring as the shock finally sent Ursaring flying backwards and sliding on his back to a stop. Dust kicked up between his sides, settling into a small shroud around him.

Wendy looked pleased with the results. "Oh wow, amazing!"

"Yeah, they totally blindsided that thing right out of the gate!" Lucy stammered.

"Well I was surprised how they executed that so well in only a matter of seconds." Carla pointed out. "I'm pretty sure Vanessa explained before that this 'Toxic' attack poisons the enemy, therefore wearing them down. That was a good move, and now we'll see just how resilient this Ursaring is supposed to be."

The cloud of dust settled, and Ursaring slouched up with a groan. He grunted at Venusaur and Talonflame as they were side-by-side.

"Talonflame, Steel Wing!" Erza's shout made Talonflame's wings spread out and glowed a metallic gray. She shot right at Ursaring at breakneck speeds.

"Venusaur, Venoshock!" Following Vanessa's command, Venusaur bent forward and pointed his flower at Ursaring. A blast of compressed, purple liquid rushed at bullet-like speeds through the air, as fast as what Toxic was.

The two attacks closed in at alarming rates, but Ursaring growled with a vicious bare of teeth. He crouched, and he zipped off the ground in an attempt to avoid the Venoshock that erupted into a purple cloud right beneath him.

Talonflame's eyes widened. "What?" She ws so caught off by the speed of Ursaring's dodge that the Normal-type's shadow covered her. When she looked up, Ursaring's Slash raked in a bright fashion, sending her flying backwards.

"Talonflame!" Erza enforced.

The Scorching Pokémon rebound and caught herself beside Venusaur, shaking her head to wear off the pain.

"That move was faster than before. I thought Ursaring were supposed to be slow." Vanessa's brow furrowed as she watched Ursaring land in front, taking a moment to flinch from the Toxic bubbling up poisonous bubbles once again. "Unless it's…"

"An Ability." Erza finished. "His Speed must have shot up when the Toxic made impact. And on top of that, Speed and high Attack power is never a good combo."

Ursaring roared up again, giving an empowering voice that echoed throughout the forest again.

Natsu covered his ears from the rattling he's been suffering from. "Man, doesn't this guy ever shut up?!" he shouted.

Charmander held his ears tight from the rattling he felt.

"Are they seriously going to be okay?" Wendy worried.

Carla stayed close to her side. "Probably. They're experienced Pokémon Trainers. They know what they're doing."

Ursaring glared at Talonflame with his stature so prominent. His eyes suddenly glowed and his teeth bared again. He expelled an illusion of his face forward, via Scary Face. As the illusion drew closer to Talonflame, Venusaur abruptly got in front of her. His bulk made it impossible to miss. As it made contact with his face, he grunted as he could feel his knees weaken and a blue aura indicate his Speed shooting down. The Ursaring looked smug at the overgrown plant before him.

"You wanna play body wall for that drumstick? Alright then…" Ursaring brought his arms back, readying another round of Slash. "I'll dice you up first!"

"Here he comes!" Vanessa warned. Everybody braced again.

Ursaring went bolting ahead towards Venusaur again, this time being fast and furious. His feet glided off the ground like he was in fast forward motion. Venusaur held his ground as Ursaring closed the gap.

"Petal Blizzard!"

Talonflame abruptly shot skyward and took off as Venusaur suddenly expelled an omnidirectional pulse of pink petals everywhere. Ursaring's eyes widened as he ran right into the attack, completely off guard. With the way his body was forward and arms out, he was swallowed in the tempest of pink flowers that swirled in a whirlwind. The Grass-type move's potency shredded all around Ursaring as he tried to push through, but with every clumsy step taken forward, he could feel himself scoot back half that length.

Vanessa looked towards Erza. The two nodded at know what had to be done.

"Venusaur, go now!"

"Talonflame, arm yourself!"

Both Pokémon glared through the pink maelstrom. From both in and above, their eyes were seen full of health. "Right!"

Ursaring grunted for the umpteenth time as he could feel heavy resistance still within the Petal Blizzard. Whisking pink flora grazed at his body, but even within the distressing whirlwind, his toe claws anchored him so that he couldn't escape. The longer the attack went on, the more anxious he felt. "This…" He slashed again, this tie both claws scissoring in white streaks. Many petals broke upon impact. "IS GETTING ANNOYING!"

The tempest settled down in a blind eye's notice. Ursaring held his slash position as he could finally see around him. When he looked ahead, he was shocked when he found the spot Venusaur took up was vacant.

"What…?" He trailed off in his disbelief. The sunlight suddenly got dimmer above him, adverting his attention skywards to what was the cause. In the glistening sun, he could've sworn he saw a weird, large creature with leaves as big as an actual palm tree.

"Gotcha!" Venusaur shouted high above.

"Woah! When did he learn to jump like that?!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Can he even get that high?" Happy wondered. "I thought that guy weighed as much as a net of bricks!"

Charmander was again speechless as he watched the mature Pokémon do battle.

With one look above, Vanessa gave the call. "Venoshock!" Above, Venusaur aimed his flower at Ursaring. With him off guard and in the shadow, Venusaur let loose a searing torrent of purple liquid drenched in poison at Ursaring. The steep barrage stammered Ursaring, making him cover up as the attack's compressed volume enveloped him. Upon the searing impact, a massive purple cloud erupted, making the ground beneath rumble from its doubled force.

Shooting back from the venomous eruption, Ursaring screamed from the pain. He barely caught himself in midair as slid on his heels, digging so deep that dirt trails paved way with dust. Trying his hardest to sty on top of it all, he opened an eye as he kept sliding away. He saw Talonflame swoop in from above into an arch downwards. She flapped again and dove into a bullet through the dust trail Ursaring created, using the cover to close the gap further.

Within the dust, keeping to a stop, Ursaring saw a glimmering beam of white zip at his legs. Suddenly, Talonflame bolted through.

"Steel Wing!"

A bright gleam illuminated the site for a moment until a metallic-gray stream passed Ursaring's legs. A white explosion erupted from the passing, swallowing the lower half of Ursaring's body. He yelled out in agony as the doubled wings forced him to fall forward, painfully landing on his chin. The thud against the grass sounded like it hurt bad. Again, Toxic piled on his bubble popping up, making him yell out as the momentary convulse felt like a haywire nerve went off again. He went limb again in the grass, silent as a grave.

Venusaur fell to the ground with a thud, landing with ease. Beside him, Talonflame descended from her turnaround.

Lucy and the other girls smiled. "They did it!" Wendy cheered.

"Alright, I knew you could do it! Yeah!" Happy shouted.

Carla smiled. "I must say, that actually had me on edge for a moment." She took notice of Ursaring's legs having been damaged from that last attack. "I was worried about that speed boost that Ursaring had. Fortunately, it seems you two played bait quite well."

Natsu sheepishly smiled. "Man, I wish I had a go at that guy. That seemed kinda fun."

Charmander, however, looked unamused. "Uh, can I have a say?" Unfortunately Natsu wasn't the wisest to selective hearing.

Erza and Vanessa turned towards the other, grinning with approval at the execution of their attacks. They both turned ahead, presenting their Poke Balls.

"Talonflame, you did well. Now return."

"Venusaur, take a break. Return."

Both Pokémon eased up as they looked back towards their Trainers. The red lasers beamed into their bodies, returning them to their Poke Balls. As the battle had came to its conclusion, everyone rendezvoused with the winners.

"Are you guys okay?" Wendy asked them.

Erza nodded. "Yes, we're quite alright." She turned towards the Ursaring ahead, beginning to frown again. "But we certainly didn't expect it to blindside us that moment."

Vanessa looked down at the ground, scrutinizing the name of the Ability Ursaring had. "Still, an Ability that amplifies speed when you're poisoned at the very least. That would certainly make for a faster finish if needed. If we weren't careful, Ursaring would've been much harder for Venusaur and Talonflame."

Natsu beamed. "Oh don't be such a worrywart. You're both great Trainers, that big guy would've had to battle a hundred more years if it wanted to think of messing with you guys."

Ursaring grunted in his unconsciousness, unaware as Charmander quietly approached the creature. The Lizard Pokémon gave an inquired brow as he tilted to the side, trying to get around Ursaring. He was in silent awe over what he had witnessed.

Three powerful Pokémon going head to head, and something as ferocious and ten times his own size having been – quite literally – brought to his knees. If he wasn't impressed with battling before, he most certainly was now. "Amazing…"

"Hey buddy, you okay over there?" Natsu called out. Charmander abruptly turned around to look at him.

"Oh! Uh, yeah-yeah!" he stammered.

Natsu could see the awe still in his eyes. He should know; he felt the same way. "Pretty sick huh? Betcha you can do that too at some point."

Charmander's eyes widened. "Really?"

Ursaring's eyes twitched as he could hear loud muffles. His face retained its purple hue, and he began to see a clear image of an orange lizard with a flaming tail near six inches to his face. It only served to annoy him.

Vanessa's eyes widened as she caught whim of Ursaring's arousal. "Charmander, get back!"

The Fire-type was caught confused. "What?"

"I'm not…" A growly voice made him freeze in place. Behind him, a large silhouette started to arouse in a few clumsy slumps with glowing red eyes. "I'm not done yet…you think this is won?" He chuckled darkly, finally getting Charmander to slowly turn around to face the ominous shadow of Ursaring's ambition. "Well I got news for you punks…when we stake a claim on a territory, we don't ever go down that easily! Not by anyone!"

Lucy recoiled. "Are you serious?!"

"Looks like we weren't thorough enough." Erza's eyes narrowed. "This isn't good. Natsu!"

Natsu realized the predicament Charmander put himself into and took action. "Charmander quick, distract it somehow!" he ordered.

The Fire-type looked up at Ursaring as he was on his knees. Even when unable to walk, that didn't make him less intimidating. "Uh…uh…" He could feel a lump roll down his throat as a claw arose.

"You better listen to that punk, kid…" Ursaring's eyes were hazy with anger and retribution. "BECAUSE I'M NOT AFRAID TO CRUSH YOU FIRST!"

"Charmander!" Natsu rushed in a moment's notice towards the Fire-type.

Charmander wanted to move, but his legs were shaking. He was feeling something boil over inside, and as Ursaring readied his claw to crush Charmander, he could feel his instincts tell him to run or fight. Unfortunately for his experience, running wasn't an option. His body shuddered as the claw came down shakily like a collapsing building, and that's when he boiled it all up inside.

"GROWL!"

Charmander opened his mouth and cried right up to Ursaring. The high, piercing yell that was in practical point-blank range again alarmed the superior Pokémon. The air distorted from Charmander's cry and reached up to Ursaring. Upon reaching his ears, Ursaring's claws immediately reacted and covered his ears. He held his head tight so as to avoid the headache, but he could still hear Charmander's babyish squeals.

"I gotcha!" Within the distraction, Natsu finally reached the shrilling Charmander, holding him tight and pulling him away, ending the Growl.

Ursaring hunched over in relief, but his head still rung like bells. "Damn…"

"Natsu!" Lucy ran up beside Natsu and he landed in front of the group on a knee, Charmander in hand. "Are you both alright?!"

Natsu looked down towards Charmander, who looked up with deep astonishment. He didn't have any lethal injuries accumulated, and that was a relief. He looked back towards Lucy. "Yeah, don't sweat it! He's fine!"

A pair of claws slammed on the ground, getting the group to look back at Ursaring as he looked like he was going to fall over. Granted that he was defeated fair and square, but now he was shown up by some pipsqueak that happened to get curious along the way. His head was spinning and could feel himself a little weaker from that Growl, but now he was angrier than ever.

Erza forcibly requipped one of her swords. "Looks like he still has enough energy to threaten at least." she suspected.

Vanessa's arms hung loosely to her sides as her teal aura began to envelop the hands. "This is far from okay, but we need to stop him before he goes too far." Her head perked up the next instant, her gaze adverting over Ursaring's head. "Hm?"

Erza caught whim of Vanessa's curiosity and saw her look up. She noticed it as well.

"I don't know who you are…" Ursaring started, but he was unaware of how the air was starting to distort high over his head. "And I don't even care anymore…because when I'm hungry, I'm gonna get what I can take, even from other pipsqueaks like you!" He noticed that everyone was silent before him, and yet they were looking up. "What you looking at?!" He looked up as well, his hazy instinctive gaze widening with a gasp of surprise.

The distorted air began to brighten and expand. Everyone on the ground held their guards up by Erza and Vanessa's examples. They stood strongly as they braced for what might come, but what they did not expect was the distorted light brightening to where it climaxed to a luminous flash.

The flash soon dissipated, revealing three figures that were in midair. The atmosphere sparkled around, making the two blink a few times before they registered something off. Joey and Dereece both noticed how everything around them was sky blue, with no clouds anywhere. They also noticed down below, there was grass – way down. They looked back at one another with frozen looks before they clung onto each other in panic. They both suddenly plummeted like rocks, both screaming; though Joey's screams were more high-pitched like a frantic little girl.

As the two clingy projectiles fell from above, their shadow overcast Ursaring. He continued to look up in shock as they expanded in his point of view. "What the-?!"

Ursaring sundered to the ground from the impact, making dust erupt from the landing. Everyone present looked shocked, as well as confused, as to the sudden surprise that dropped from above. They all stared silently as the dust settled, revealing that Ursaring was finally on his stomach again and unconscious, this time for good. He cushioned the fall that was supposedly for the two unknown boys that were sprawled over his back, groaning tiredly. To add insult to injury, Chespin fell right on his new Trainer square in the gut, making him gag and lurch up before slowly falling back into his uncomfortable position. Chespin bounced off his abdomen and rolled into a sitting position in front of the Ursaring. He held his head tight to try and ease the sudden force he was met with.

"Uuugh…did somebody catch the number of that Gogoat…?" Dereece mumbled, pointing a finger up dazedly before falling unconscious.

Joey – very shakily – raised a weak arm and pointe dup next. "Ehhh…I think I should've had a bigger breakfast after all…" His hand dropped again, he too falling unconscious.

Everyone looking from afar was at a loss for words. They were about to finish off the Ursaring with just a simple blow, but they were blindsided by the likes of something from – what technically – came from literally out of nowhere.

Wendy was the first to register what happened. "Uh…d-did that just…?"

"Yes, Wendy, it appears so." Carla said. "But what exactly is this?"

"Seems like a crude joke to me." Natsu deadpanned. "I was about to send that jerk packing, and then this happened!"

"Okay, but what is 'this'?" Lucy gestured forward to the scene. "These guys just fell out of the sky for crying out loud!"

Happy tilted his head in confusion. "I don't know, but it looks like they had a pretty harsh landing."

"That's putting it mildly." Carla added.

"Are they okay, you think?" Wendy worried.

Erza looked ahead with upmost surprise. She was at a loss for words to say the least, and that went double for Vanessa. The two women stood beside the other with lips parted, registering the scene that unfolded. At last, Erza looked defensive. "Is this…?"

"Uuugh, my head…" Chespin groaned as his head spun in small circles. He shook it rapidly, trying to fix his dizziness and aching. "Gnnnngh, uh…Joey? Is this all part of the 'ways of shaking my moneymaker' thing? Because I don't feel so…" His eyes opened and froze in place, blinking once, and then twice. He looked around, realizing the settings were much different. "Hey, what happened to the lab? I thought we were indoors a second ago?" He looked ahead, seeing the group of people standing before him. "What are you guys staring at?" Within the intruders' numbers, he saw Charmander with as much shock as they had. He smiled dumbly. "Oh! Charmander, hey! How's it going? We were wondering where you went last night! Professor Sycamore was worried sick about you. Hey, do you know where we are, exactly?" Once again, he looked around, this time slower. "Because…I don't think we're in the lab anymore…"

Charmander reeled his head forward, as if scrutinizing the Grass-type in suspect. "Wait…Chespin?!" he gasped.

Chespin waved back. "Hi!"

Charmander shook his head to get the shock out of his system. He jumped out of Natsu's arms and landed on the ground. He got closer to Chespin, stopping a few feet and looked at him shocked. He looked at him left and right, seeing the few angles that could distinguish him. Suffice to say by Chespin's own awe he was slightly confused.

"Uh, you alright?"

Once confirmed, Charmander's eyes widened. "It is you! What the heck happened to you?!"

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean 'What do you mean?'? You just fell out of the sky and crushed an Ursaring with those guys!" He pointed behind Chespin, making him turn to refer the unconscious Joey and Dereece lying on top of Ursaring.

Chespin looked back. "Ohhhhh…okay, now that explains a few things."

"Does it explain how you're talking right now?" Charmander deadpanned irritably.

"But don't we always talk?" Chespin questioned. "I'm sure I have my moments, but Fennekin, now she was a real complainer. Just last night, she-" Chespin stopped in his tracks with his body stiffening. His eyes widened as he finally realized what Charmander was referring to. He clamped his mouth shut, looking like he was going to be sick. A few moments later, he lowered them to where the palms were facing him. He looked surprised as he could actually hear himself think the directions of left and right inside his head. He looked up towards Charmander, who had claws to his waist and giving him a knowing brow. "…oh my goodness, I am talking!"

"Now you're catching on." He nodded.

"This is so crazy!" He shot another look of excitement at Charmander. "Wait…you're talking too! Is this a dream or something?!"

Charmander sighed tiredly. "Trust me pal, you might wanna take a deep breath."

"Eh?"

Erza and the others were watching the two Pokémon supposedly catch up with one another. As they watched them try to detail the events, something ventured from behind the group. Immediately, Natsu and Wendy picked up on a familiar smell, and they all turned around to see a pair of feet land on a branch high above.

Natsu's eyes widened. "Hey, you're back!"

Erza looked up at the figure who arrived just in the nick of time…and the phrase wasn't too far from name that derived from it.

"I heard of what happened, is everyone alright?!" the person called out.

"Nic!" Vanessa gasped in surprise.

"Just in time!" Lucy shouted. "You won't believe this!"

"Yeah dude, where the heck were you? You just bailed on us out of the blue!" Natsu exclaimed.

Nic jumped off the tree branch and landed on a knee. He straightened back up and looked at everyone accounted for. His eyes paneled towards Erza immediately, seeing that she looked pleased he came back. "Sophie told me what happened. I came as soon as I got back." He told her. "Is everyone okay?"

Erza nodded, but then grinned. "Yes, we're all well for the most part."

Nic looked pass his wife to get a view of what transpired. His eyes widened a little, but not to where astonishment took over like last time. He kept his clam as he saw the Ursaring beneath the two bodies. His eyes also drew towards the Chespin, who was still looking to be in a revelation of his own. He turned towards Erza again, this time allowing her to explain.

She looked ahead at the scene. "This wild Ursaring was making a scene. Luckily, Vanessa and I stepped in to where we could suppress him. He was being quite stubborn."

"I see." He looked towards the two bodies atop, his brow furrowing. "Are they alright?"

Natsu shrugged. "Beats me."

"They fell out of the sky in a bright light. They hit Ursaring pretty hard, I doubt they're even conscious now." Wendy inscribed.

Nic looked mildly surprised once again at Wendy's explanation, causing him to look towards her and drift back towards the scene. 'Fell out of the sky? Just like falling stars…' He looked towards the Chespin, who was still rubbing his head as Charmander was catching him up on details. 'So my theory was right after all.' He advanced forward towards the fallen Ursaring.

Seeing his actions, Erza looked surprised. "Nic?"

Nic bent down once close enough. He took hold of the hefty-looking Dereece and hoisted him over his shoulder like he was a bag of potatoes. He looked back at Erza. "Hey Erza, can you give me a hand please?" he asked.

Erza obliged and followed. She walked right up to Nic and seized Joey off of Ursaring, supporting him under instead of over her shoulder. She looked at Nic with a smirk. "So kind of you to ask. You know I wouldn't appreciate it if you did this all by yourself."

Nic smirked back. "You keep telling me not do you everything by myself."

Erza chuckled. "That I did."

Nic looked back at the others next. "Vanessa."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you can use your aura to lasso Ursaring?"

Vanessa nodded. "Yes." She reached her arm out, making the teal aura envelop her hands again. From her left palm, a thick teal ray beamed and seized Ursaring, molding into a restraint around his midsection, including the arms. She easily lifted him up to eye level, reeling him about a few more feet.

Charmander watched as Vanessa handled the Ursaring with her magic, completely stunned. "Wooah…so that's magic!" he exclaimed. Beside him, Chespin was hunched over, dumbfounded beyond words.

Nic nodded towards everyone. "Alright then, let's make this quick guys. Let's go see Porlyusica and see if she's well."

Natsu stretched upwards. "Finally! Now we're getting somewhere!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy cheered.

Nic and Erza looked back towards the other, half-grinning as they walked side by side leading the pack deeper into the woods.


Sunlight beamed through a closed window, radiating the interior of the unknown space with vibrant sunlight. Within the sun's rays, the space was surprisingly one that gave one a warm feeling. Despite it being March, one could've mistaken it being Spring, even if it was a few days away.

Pass a bookshelf, a blonde head of hair was lazily sleeping within the sunlight's radiance. His face was illuminated by the brightening force of light, yet he looked quelled. His eyes were closed as he laid on the massive makeshift stand that doctors used for patients.

"Pssst…Joey." A voice whispered. "…Joey~."

Joey turned away from the voice calling to him. He seemed to be smirking. "Mmmm, of course…I'll show you a few more of my moves…" he purred in his sleep. "You like that…"

Dereece rolled his eyes and groaned. He knew of one way to get him to wake up, but first he made sure nobody was around to here it. Seeing the space was vacant, he cupped his hands around his mouth.

"DANCE BATTLE HAPPENING IN FRONT OF AZURE PLAZA~!"

"Say what?! Dance battle?! I want in!" Joey instantly jolted onto his bottom, looking around with wide eyes to see he was nowhere near any plaza. Or outside for that fact. "Eh…wait, there's no party." He realized.

"Afraid not, bro. Sorry."

Joey sighed.

"You enjoy your little shut eye, Joey?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Joey jumped off the table, landing on his heels and walking around to survey his new surroundings. "But, where are we?"

Dereece followed. "Not sure. I came too just a minute ago, but it looks like some kinda…tree we're in?"

Joey looked at the surroundings he and his partner in crime. To say he was surprised would be putting it mildly. He saw that the root bark for walls were thoroughly authentic. He looked over to the windowsill just beside a bookshelf, which had a different array of books with inscriptions on them. On lower shelves all around, they noticed a few liquids with green herbs inside flasks. They even noticed the wooden door close by. If anything, the space was no bigger than a 30 by 30 living room.

Joey looked to a working desk next to the bed. He could tell by the papers and documents that it meant something. "You think someone lives here?"

Dereece looked away from a ladder that had books on higher shelves. "I think the better question to ask is how we got here, Joey."

Joey's eyes widened at the realization. "Oh, yeah! Last I checked, we were in Professor Sycamore's Lab, right?" He put his hand towards his chin to think. "Then uh…?"

"Oh! I know! I know!" a hand raised from the distance, getting Joey and Dereece to look towards the culprit of the voice.

"Huh?" They looked down, seeing the tiny hand belong to Chespin, who smiled.

"Oh, Chespin!" Joey chirped. He happily came forward and crouched towards his level. "So you came too?"

Chespin nodded.

Dereece approached from behind. "Well it looks like all of us got here then, huh?"

"Yup!" Chespin said.

Instantly, Joey and Dereece went completely frozen. They were unable to move at the bizarre sound that pilfered their ear canals. As they heard the choice, they could've sworn Chespin's mouth moved as well. They two glanced at each other from the corner of each other's eye.

"Dereece, did you here that?" Joey chimed.

"Uh-huh." He nodded.

"For a moment there, I thought Chespin just spoke to us."

"I did." Chespin said.

"AAH!" the shocked duo recoiled so hard that they fell on their buttocks. They leaned away from Chespin with widened eyes as they crept towards the opposite wall of the hollow trunk.

Joey shakily pointed a finger at his new Starter. "Y-Y-Y-Y-You just…you just talked! Why are you talking?!"

Chespin nonchalantly shrugged. "I don't know. Don't you want to know what happened?"

"Forget what happened, you're talking, man!" Dereece pointed accusingly. "That ain't right! You think that's right? Because I know that ain't right!"

Joey shook his head, trying to make sense of the situation. He put his hands up defensively. "Okay, okay! Maybe…maybe this is just some sort of dream. Yeah! Yeah! That's gotta be it, right?" He then looked away, tapping his finger to his chin. "Of course in my dream, there'd be karaoke and techno music playing somewhere…"

"Is this seriously your worry now?! Your Chespin just spoke!" Dereece panicked.

Chespin approached the two. "You guys, you won't believe this! Remember that Charmander that went missing last night?"

Dereece and Joey stopped their panicking and raised a brow. They looked at each other for answers but saw nothing come to mind.

"Guess what, I found him! And he can talk, too! It's so cool!" Chespin bounced up and down, his energetic enthusiasm showing. It was like a little kid who was excited about telling his parents about good grades at school.

Dereece put his arms now. "W-woah, slow down now…" he paused. "What do you mean 'that' Charmander? You mean the one we heard disappear last night from the lab?"

Joey leaned forward. "You're saying that's here, too? And it's talking too?!" Chespin again nodded. "What kind of crazy dream is this?!"

The door beside them opened suddenly, getting them all to flinch.

"Who's making this much noise? I'm trying to speak to someone here." The voice came from outside the abode. The two new Trainers fell silent as someone began to enter the domain. Chespin, astonished, hurried towards Joey. The two remained paralyzed against the wall as the red cloaked figure with pink hair stepped in. Once in the center of the room, she looked left and right, seeing no sign of the vacancy. "Hm…?" She turned around, giving a leery look over her shoulder at Joey and Dereece. The two stiffened as they caught her stare and began to face them.

"Huh, I was wondering why there was such a ruckus inside. I take it that you're both fully recovered now?" She sneered.

Dereece gave her a scared but also inquired look. "U-uh, not to be rude or anything, but…who are you?"

Porlyusica narrowed her eyes, making Dereece instantly regret his misdirect. The old woman sighed.

Chespin stayed by Joey's side as he looked worriedly at the old woman. Beside him, something else caught his attention. He looked over, seeing a small figure just a few meters away in silence.

It looked like a very small, white mushroom with black eyes. It stood on three small white roots with tree tips. On its head looked like one big pink mushroom and two purple mushroom on the sides. Once it blinked, it alarmed Chespin, making him fall on his bottom.

"What is it no~ooooh…" Joey looked to the side, his mouth forming an unfinished 'Oh' as he furrowed a brow. Getting the idea, Dereece looked over, his own gaze widening.

"Calm yourselves, would ya?" Porlyusica sighed. "I swear, dealing with humans can be so annoying…"

"W-what's going on? What's that thing?" Dereece pointed at the mushroom creature. It hopped away from them, jumping to Porlyusica's side.

"You don't have to be so alarmed. It won't hurt you. Right?" She looked from the corner of her eyes down at the mushroom creature. From the look and the tone she gave, it was more of a warning than a question. The mushroom creature straightened up and kept a firm posture out of fear of her. "You see, you're safe."

Joey and Dereece both got back up to their feet. They wearily looked around the trunk again, getting room to maneuver around Porlyusica's abode. They looked as perplexed as before.

"Where are we?" Joey asked.

"You're in my house." She answered.

The two turned towards her. "Your house is a tree?!" Dereece exclaimed.

"Woah, are you sure we're not in Laverre City or something?" Joey said.

Porlyusica closed her eyes and tiredly groaned. She turned away. "Why don't you go outside and stay there? If you have questions, save them for someone who cares."

The two were caught off guard by her hospitality issues. They knew the situation was rather inappropriate to cast someone aside when they're in need, but they rather not take another look at her face. They feared of what might happen if the mushroom creature's reactions meant anything. For all they know, they're sparing them from being put into a cooking cauldron.

"Uh…love to stay and chat, but thanks though!" Joey zipped out the door the instant he could. Dereece nudged towards the door and zipped next.

Chespin watched them go, but he looked at Porlyusica to see what she had to say. She glared coldly, sending a chill up his spine. "Uh…wait for me!" He bolted last out the door, finally leaving the creature to look at Porlyusica as she went over to her flasks to watch them bathe in the sunlight.

"Good grief…" she sighed.

The door slammed shut. On the other end, Joey and Dereece stood outside of the tree, catching their breaths of the incident.

Joey looked back at the tree, raising a brow. "What the heck's her damage? We end up in her house and then we wake up only to be kicked out? This is too weird."

"That's putting it mildly." Dereece walked out and away. He looked back to Porlyusica's house, his brown eyes widening in surprise. "Woah…"

Joey joined beside him, as did Chespin. The three were wide-eyed as they noticed how the tree Porlyusica had for a home really was humungous. It sat along a rugged hill, where its roots were so thick and so deep that they were visible everywhere. Around the stumps and the roots, they saw the familiar white mushrooms from inside, only in more numbers, like two or three. They crawled around, looking mildly content.

Joey's eyes were in disbelief at the scene. "Woah…where the heck are we?"

"You're in the Eastern Forest, just outside Magnolia." A voice called from the side. They all turned towards the direction of the voice, revealing the two new figures to be Wendy and Carla in her human form. The former was the one who spoke up with a smile. "You're both up. That's a relief."

Joey was curious of who the girl was, but he rubbed the back of his head with an awkward arm. "Uh…thank, I guess."

"We're in a forest? How? We were in a lab, and now we're in some forest outside the corners of who knows where." Dereece stated with slight inflex to indicate his anxiety.

Carla kept a straight face. "We'll try and be as brief as we can. Simply put, we saw you fall from the sky and fell unconscious. You were lucky with where you landed, otherwise it would've been a painful fall."

Joey raised a brow. "We…fell from the sky?" He looked down at Dereece, but he also looked at him with equal inquiry. They looked back at the girls. "Yeah, now that you mention it, I think we did fall from thin air…"

"You saw all that?" Dereece asked.

Wendy nodded. "Yeah, my friends were all there when it happened." She smiled as she looked towards Porlyusica's house. "We were actually on our way here when we were caught up in something. We originally thought Porlyusica was in trouble and we came here to see what happened."

"Really, we had nothing to worry about." Carla continued. "All that were around were these little mushroom Pokémon that call themselves Morelull. They pose no real threat, but we insisted on getting them away. As one would expect, she didn't care as long as they didn't bother her."

"Yeah, that's happened quite a few times already." Wendy sweat-dropped. "Anyways, my name is Wendy. And right her is Carla."

Carla curtsied. "Pleasure. What do they call you?"

Joey smirked as he pointed to himself. "Name's Joey. This here is my buddy, Dereece. And right here is…well…"

Chespin waved up. "Hi!"

Wendy's smile widened. "It's good to see you're all up."

"I take it you're still uncomfortable, are you?" Carla asked.

Joey again rubbed his blonde, spiky head. He looked down, embarrassed to say. "Uh…maybe just a little." He looked towards them next. "Wait, you know where we are?"

Wendy again nodded. "Yeah, I work in a guild not far from here. Most of everyone is there already. We're actually waiting for someone important to come back right now."

"Someone important?" Chespin repeated.

Carla's nose rose to the sky. "If you must know, he is probably in the biggest case that has ever happened, so I advise you tread lightly."

"Be nice." Wendy chided. "Anyways, he said he and Erza had to go relocate that Ursaring, but I'm sure they'll be back anytime now."

The one name made Joey's ears twitch. Hs head perked up in shock. Dereece took immediate notice.

"So what is it that boys intend to do now? I highly doubt it'll benefit you around here. You'd be better off somewhere with much more suitable needs." Carla advised.

Joey's brow furrowed. He looked ahead with a stone face, but his eyes were shadowed. Dereece raised a brow and leaned in, but saw that Joey was unresponsive.

With the silence following, Wendy began to grow weary. "Uh, everything okay?" She moved her hand in front of Joey's face, but like Dereece, he wasn't moving.

"Was it something one of us said?" Carla questioned.

"Ooooh no." Dereece groaned.

Suddenly, Joey zipped pass Dereece and Chespin; the latter spinning uncontrollably from the speed. Joey abruptly got into Wendy's face, eyes wide as he clutched her shoulders. The Sky Dragon looked like she was about to pale.

"Hold on! You mean Erza?!" he shrieked. "The Erza Pularis?!"

Wendy was still in shock, unable to respond.

"Hey, let go of Wendy! Are you even listening?!" Carla snapped.

"Trust me, it only gets worse from here." Dereece explained.

He began to shake Wendy back and forth. "You mean that, right?! You mean the wife of Nic Pularis and Nic himself are coming here?! They're here?!"

Having able to catch her breath, Wendy slowly nodded. "Uh…yeah…?"

Joey had no facial change, He stared at Wendy with wide eyes and let go, making her almost lose balance. His arms went limp beside his waist. He looked ahead like he had seen a radiant angle smile down upon him. His lips and mouth was apart as he was blinking once, registering the dreamily possibility of seeing someone who very much mattered.

Wendy used her freedom to scoot away to Carla's side. "Uh…a-are you okay?" If she wasn't worried before, she was now.

Carla shot glares at the frozen Joey. "Well I'll never…that fool had the audacity! Wendy, do something about this! He isn't even looking at all responsible for what he did!"

Wendy leaned away from her now. "Hey, take it easy, Carla. I'm sure there's a good reason behind all this…" Her eyes looked towards him. "Eh, right?" Again, no response.

Chespin stepped up, looking at his Trainer with wonder. "Huh?" He turned his head in confusion.

Dereece rolled his eyes as a wrist was to his hip. "Give it a minute."

Joey was as stiff as rock, his mouth open so that flies could breach his esophagus. 'Nic Pularis…is actually coming here…and beside him…his wife.' As he registered that, his fists began to ball and the body shuddered. He began to curl up. "Nic's…here…"

"Huh? Nic?" Wendy repeated. She looked towards Carla for what she had to say, but she was equally as wondrous.

"Gnnnngh…!" Around Joey, a fiery aura enveloped him, shocking everyone around him. Wendy reeled back, while Chespin and Dereece went wide-eyed. "Nic and Erza Pularis…Nic…YEEEAAAHHH!" His gaze was full of fire and passion. He smiled wide as he raised his arms up in sheer joy and thrill at the hype he was feeling right. He flexed his biceps, looking pumped, where in the background, it was like a volcano erupted around him. "Nic-senpai! I'll come find you~!"

With a battle cry, Joey took off at high speeds, leaving a dust trail behind him. The general direction though left the others behind him intrigued.

"W-wait! That's not where the guild is!" Wendy cried out, but Joey was well out of earshot.

"What is that buffoon up to?!" Carla snapped.

Dereece's eyelids were half open. "Heaven knows I tried answering that question." He looked towards Wendy and Carla. "I think you'll piece it altogether soon enough." He started for the dissipating dust trail Joey paved for them. "Come on, let's go cool his jets before we get anywhere."

Wendy and Carla looked at the other in confusion again, allowing Chespin to bypass them with a scurry towards his new Trainer. The two chose to save the questioning for later and instead followed along with Dereece's logic.

With Joey's current direction, it wouldn't be too long that they were to be at the guild once more.


Along an open river, the water reflected the sky. Within its crashing rake against a few rocks, the manner in which the stream flowed was clear enough to show one last shooting star reflecting over the surface, heading northeast.

Taking a knee beside the stream, Nic cupped some water into his hands and bent down, applying the freshwater to clean his face. As he scrubbed, his hands went up and down. Once it was thorough, he looked down at the stream, seeing the water reflect his face. He was looking so deep into his reflection that he forget that he wasn't alone.

"If you're staring at the water so much, why not just drink it?"

The familiar but comforting tone made Nic half-grin. As he sat along the uncharted riverbank of Route 21, after having dragged the unconscious Ursaring for quite a ways, he thought he could use a small break before heading back home. Of course he was told to not do it himself, so Erza tagged along while Vanessa held down the fort and explained with the others what happened back at the guild.

With the break of serenity in his small time, he took in a deep, cleansing breath as the river water flowed. A Floatzel underwater swam pass him, carrying along idly. Finally, he responded to the voice. "You make it sound like you're jealous. You think I have a thing for rivers."

Erza walked up from behind, having watched Nic from the tree line to get a slightly higher fixation of the landscape. She knelt behind him, glowing and requipping. Her now revealed, slender arms slipped around his neck and hugged him. She pressed her much ample chest against the back of his neck, resting her chin atop his head.

The two settled into the embrace for what felt like a short while before Erza spoke again. "It's stressing, isn't it?" she rhetorically asked. "To think another crossing like this could happen, but it's not remote. This is certainly the personification of a problem, huh."

Nic closed his eyes as he grinned. "There's an anomaly here somewhere. If this is some crude joke, then I bet reality's having a big laugh at all this."

"Let it have its time." She gripped him tighter, her eyes softening. "Even reality will shatter once we change it. We just need to take this step by step. So long as you don't push it too far without me, I'll be there with you."

"You'll be there anyway." Nic lightly said. "You are my wife after all."

"Oh, am I?" Erza bent sideways so that her face was looking down on Nic's left side. Nic smiled up towards her. "If I'm your wife, then you being my husband means you'll be making the dessert tonight."

Nic's smile softened. "And you being my wife means you'll be doing the dishes tonight then."

Erza closed in, kissing him on the cheek. Once satisfied, she pulled back. "I love you, Nic. Don't you ever forget that."

"I won't. I love you too."

"Your problems and mine are the same. If this worries you, I'll be there to make sure we and the Pokémon can reach an understanding. Understanding is the fundamental for a healthy relationship, for everyone."

Nic looked back ahead, staring at the glistening rays of the sun overhead illuminating the riverbank below. Water as clear as crystal showed a few Drantini swimming swiftly and freely, unaffected by the chaos out of the water. If that Pokémon could swim as fast even without the revelation, then who was Nic to slow down and cease his swim.

He snickered. "Looks like I'll be doing what I do best then…improvise."

"So then we're going back to tell everyone what you figured out then?"

"Yeah…" He settled into Erza, sliding backwards until the back of his head was on her lap. His hands were behind and underneath, holding her thighs softly, like holding onto someone before they would fly away. His eyes shut as he eased up. "But just five more minutes of this."

Erza looked down, smiling softly at Nic. Her brown eyes locked onto his relaxing face, seeing he was ready and willing to play it out by ear. She truly did admire that about Nic, and she had full confidence in his ability to initialize a strategy within all this.

But rather than worry about the future, she did what Nic was doing, and that was worry about now. And now, she was having her moment with him. She cupped the sides of his face as she bent over, smiling straight down so that her head blocked out the sun, like a guardian that prevented disruption to her king.

The two stayed like that for a long while, even as the river flowed, a Drantini humming as it breached and arched back into the water to continue its swim.


New chapter, and it's chapter 2! I once again want to apologize to you guys for the lengths of my chapters again. I know they are really long, and I am trying my best to edit as best as I can. This chapter was about 20K, which was twice the usual quota in the past two stories. I'm doing what I can to still make this final installment as comfortable and as enjoyable to read as were the predecessors If the lengths are bugging you guys, just tell me and I'll see what I can do. I just wanted to address that because I felt aware of this fault and confidence deterioration I've been feeling.

So hooray, Joey and Dereece surprisingly made it to Earthland, and Natsu and Charmander got along well! Joey's fanboying rage has begun, and with Nic finally piecing together a formula for what to do next, wheels are definitely going to be turning the next couple chapters. I'm gonna try my best to end this beginning arc around Chapter 5 if I can, but also I need to work equally as hard on From Depths We Rise.

So for now, thanks again, and I hope the NicxErza at the end was worth it! Review (in detail) what your thoughts were and hope to see you again next chapter!