Chapter 1

Home No More, Not Ever

Amidst the scorched ruins of what once was a blazing inferno, a woman stood, searching the area for any items that caught her attention. Suddenly, she spotted something and called out to her colleague, "Gloves." He quickly handed her a pair, which she put on without hesitation.

Dipping her hands into the pile of charred metal fragments covered in a thick, oily residue, the woman carefully retrieved a piece and examined it closely. Despite the heat of the fire having distorted the object's shape, she could make out faint lettering or symbols painted on its surface.

"I think I found another good piece…" she muttered as she slowly brushed away the soot, revealing the symbols more clearly.

She faced her colleague and said, "Can you get another bag for me? A bigger one." He nodded and went back to the tent to get a larger bag. As she carefully placed the object inside, he gazed upon it, unable to look away. The two of them quickly packed up and headed back to the tent where the rest of their investigation team was waiting.

"Any idea what this thing might be?" he asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"With all the evidence we have," the woman said, looking at the bright red fin which was standing partially upright and was unscathed by the fire. "I think we might just be dealing with one fuckin' headache…"

…

"Why run?"

What…?

I don- I don't understand. What is…

. . .

"Was it worth it in the end?"

"You're on your own now…"

…

Bip! Bip! Bip!

What just…

…happened?

Nothing made sense at first. For a while there, I lay there virtually thoughtless. All I knew was that I am awake. I didn't pay attention to anything, not to the place I was at, not to the thing I was on, and not even what is in front of me. I closed my eyes and sleep took me one more time.

…

The next time I woke up, I was slightly alert but everything feels numb and heavy. My mouth is dry as if I never drank in my entire life. My left leg felt heavier than the other and I was borderline frozen. Overall, I feel like shit.

My eyes crawl open to a light blue ceiling with diffused white light lighting up the room and the weird scent of the generic hospital hand sanitisers. With a weak glance to my left and right, I can indeed confirm that I was on one of those hospital beds.

Panic sets in as I try to recall what happened before everything went dark. "Fuck, okay… let's see… Everything went to shit and… now I'm here." I'm alive, but I feel far from okay.

I attempted to push myself up but feeling like a lego set myself and the fact that I don't want to crumble like one, I didn't. Instead, I resorted to finding something that will let someone know I was awake. Maybe they can help me out here.

Luckily for me, there was a button connected to a wire hanging at the side of the railing that I can (probably) use to call someone. Trying my luck, my finger brushed against the smooth plastic button as I pressed the button with a not-so-satisfying click.

I lay there for a solid minute or two before 'someone' entered the room. However, 'someone' is not what I use to call whoever or whatever just entered the room.

It was round. It was pink. It had appendages on both sides of its head. It is none other than…

"Chansey?" it said (or asked?) to me as it waddled ever closer, with a smile and its beady eyes staring right at me.

This bitch is a pokemon!

"...What?" I squinted my eyes.

Am I a schizo? What the fuck is this? Is god playing with me?

"N- no…" I panicked, my voice cracking in the process.

"Chan! Chansey!" I tried to push myself away but I can't even sit upright let alone push myself. Seeing that its effort was not effective by any means, it then started to sing.

"Chan~ Chansey~" I panicked until I can't anymore. My eyelids were heavy and man, do I feel exhausted.

I want to go to sleep…

…

Once again, I woke up, this time, feeling slightly better. I looked around me and I saw a woman fiddling with something beside my… bed? My hand hurt all of a sudden and I flinched with an audible hiss as I eyed the needle in my hands and then the bag it was connected to.

Fuck, she definitely heard that. The woman turned towards me, resulting in very awkward eye contact.

"Oh- Sorry. You're finally awake! Uh… How are you feeling?"

I didn't know if I was still dreaming and if that Chansey still exists but I maintained eye contact with her.

"...Like crap," I said, finally breaking the staring contest.

She smiled and nodded in understanding. "Well, it's to be expected. You have been through a lot. Chandra will be here with you and I'll let the doctor know you're awake, alright? He'll be with you shortly."

I nodded in agreement and she left the room. With all my might, I pushed myself up into a sitting position and just then, a Chansey with a nurse hat was back in the room with a smile. Before, I thought I was hallucinating from the drugs they (probably) injected into me but now, I thought not because the nurse did mention that Chandra will be here with me.

You know, Chan-dra and Chan-sey. It just sounds fairly similar.

"...Are- Are you Chandra?"

The pink pokemon nodded in response. While she did have that smile on her face, she kept some distance from me, most likely to avoid what happened the last time I met her…

"How many days have I been here?"

Chansey froze before examining her own fingerless hands. She frowned as she (or he?) had no way to tell me.

"A day?"

It shook its head.

"Two?"

She finally nodded with a smile.

"Two days… Damn…"

I took a deep breath and felt the exhaustion creeping in again. "Thank you, Chandra?"

Immediately after, someone actually entered the room. While that did startle me, I breathed a sigh of relief to have someone that actually looks like they know what they are doing with me. The blurry white coat says it all.

"Hey there. Are you feeling any better, uh… What's your name?"

I hesitated at first, but I thought it would be best to just say my name. "...Ben. Where am I?"

God, I hate this so much.

The doctor pulled a chair beside me and sat on it. "Alright… Ben. You're at… Sandgem Town Hospital. Do you feel any discomfort?"

I shifted my heavier legs slightly and felt just how numb it was. "I can barely move it…"

"Alright, that's normal. Just as long as it doesn't hurt too much, you'll be fine. I won't bore you with all the details so let's cut to the chase, shall we? As you can tell, you broke your leg."

"Wait, what? I did?" I asked myself as I took a peek at my leg under the blanket.

"...You see, we found a metal piece, a pretty big one, actually, and it went in, straight into your femur shaft, breaking it. You did lose quite a lot of blood and we have to do a blood transfusion which might be fatal if the emergency response team didn't come fast enough," he said as he looked me straight in the eyes.

I was gaping trying to process all that info-dumping, like what the fuck? Dude, I almost died. I almost fuckin' died.

What about the other people? What happened to them? I swear I heard screaming. They were calling for help.

And they were most likely screaming for me in that case…

"...Ben? Are you listening?"

I looked up at him. "...What happened to the other people?"

We made eye contact for a second and I can see the sorrow in his eyes, giving me a sense of fear of what was to come. He looked down before he finally said something.

"I'm- really sorry but… nobody else survived. The last one died yesterday. I'm sorry, but it's only you now."

Quite frankly, I don't quite know what to think of this or even say…

"That's- sad… I don't even-" I stopped as I closed my eyes and let out a sigh…

The doctor's expression softened. "I understand why you feel that way. But- Hey, in the end, you're still alive, right?"

"Plus, you will still be able to walk. Everything will heal. Your hip is fine, and so is your knee but since you did get stabbed by a piece of metal, you are also dealing with a torn muscle. We got to- stitch them back together… and- Anyhow, we did put a rod inside your femur to support it while it heals and it'll stay in there permanently unless it becomes a problem but in the end, you'll be alright," he assured me. "Well, um… do you have any questions?" he asked.

"...How long will I be here?"

The doctor smiled. "Well, judging from your injury, we can't say for sure so you'll have to stay here for a bit. We just have to see how your body reacts to Heal Pulse-"

"Wait, what?"

"-fter that, you can go back home. Speaking of which, do you have any numbers that we can call? Parents' preferably."

Shit. What do I say? Uh… I don't have-

Fuck. I don't have them anymore.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucccckkkkkk…

FUCK, MAN!

"Uh… I don't- I don't know," I said, my voice shaking as tears started to well up in my eyes.

The doctor seemed to understand and he gave me a gentle smile and nodded. "It's alright. We'll find a way to get you back home."

Trust me, I don't think you will.

He got up from his chair and walked towards the door.

"Until then, just get some rest and don't push yourself alright? And oh- be sure to eat because Heal Pulse makes you really hungry right after…"

I nodded in agreement and the doctor left the room where I treated myself to a little mental breakdown. I didn't bother holding the tears back.

I covered my face with my hands and let the sobs wrack my body.

For fucks sake, why does it has to be like this?! Everything was fine. It was FINE! It was MY life.

MINE. Nobody else's.

It all felt so unfair. I spent time building that shit. I don't- Where do I even go from here? What do I do?

Then, I felt a soft touch on my back. I turned to see a Chansey standing beside my bed, its eyes filled with concern. "Chansey… Chansey…"

I couldn't understand what it was saying, but the fact that it was here was oddly comforting.

"I don't know what you're saying…" I wiped my tears away with the sleeve of my hospital gown. "But thanks…"

"I want some water…"

…

Eventually, I felt slightly better when I got my water, specifically bottled water that tasted funky which I chugged down in a matter of seconds. I didn't use my right hand because I'm afraid that the tube would tug on the needle in my hand and I don't want it to hurt even more.

While I was finishing up, the door creaked open and a different woman walked in. Even if I can recognise the woman, it took some time before she came into focus.

Damn it, my glasses are gone…

She wore a black open jacket with a grey shirt and a pair of jeans. While she made her way to me, I examined her overall appearance. She had brown hair with a little waviness to it. Her brown eyes matched her hair. She was slim, and you know damn well that she looked gorgeous. She came with a notebook in her hands as she walked towards me.

"Good day. I'm Agent Ryna and I was assigned to your case. I believe your name is Ben, right?"

For whatever reason, I reluctantly nodded.

Agent Ryna sat on the plastic chair which was left beside my bed. "Alright, I'll be asking you some questions regarding the incident. Do you feel up to it?" I nodded again.

"Sure…" I said before a sudden headache hits me like a truck. I flinched but Agent Ryna herself didn't react all that much and it somehow made me think that she was the one causing this.

"Let's begin, shall we?" she said as she made a few notes on her notepad. "Now, can you tell me what happened before the crash?"

"I…"

I did my best to shake off the thoughts but even then, the thoughts still lingers in my head. "I… don't want to talk about it…"

She had a kind of surprised look on her face as she quickly backtracked to another question. "Uh- That's fine. Can you tell me where you are from?"

Uh…

Do I tell her the truth?

I can't just say, "Oh yeah, I don't belong here. Look at me, I'm an alien." I can't do that, the cops would murder me!

Crap… What do I do? Uh… how do I bullshit my way out of this? Ah, fuck it. I might as well say the least risky thing.

"...I- don't know…"

To be fair, I did say it was the least risky answer. Not the best answer.

She closed her eyes and stayed silent before looking me dead in the eyes. She proceeded to ask me again, "Who are you with?"

"Alone…?"

"Hm… sure… Now, why did you all come?"

The question caught me off-guard and my gut tells me that something is probably going to go very wrong. "...Wh- why are you asking me this?"

She, with a straight face, calmly leaned back in her chair and clasped her hands together. "Because we have reasons to believe that you are an extraterrestrial being," she said, her tone measured but firm.

Fuck, I had a gut feeling that she had a suspicion, but to have it confirmed so matter-of-factly was a shock.

"I understand that this must be confusing and frightening for you," she said, sounding insistent. "But we need to know why you're here. It's not just for our own safety, but for yours as well."

"I- I'm not an alien," I stammered, "I- I'm a human… I swea-"

"Oh no, I believe you but I'm still going to need your answers to these questions. It's for your own good. Why are you here?" she cut me off and pointed her pen at me.

I felt a knot of anxiety form in my stomach. I quite literally had no idea what to say.

"...I don't know why I'm here," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. " It was just- I was just-I was going to meet my friend. I don't know how I got here," I said, trying to explain myself.

Agent Ryna gave me a sympathetic look, but I could see the determination in her eyes. "Tell you what, we can help you if you continue to comply."

With my head hung low, I slowly nodded. I knew this was the safest way. Even if every decision I make is a bad decision, my gut tells me otherwise. Knowing my luck so far, I might have chosen the wrong answer.

Even then, how could this get any worse?

…

Agent Ryna sighed as she quietly closed the door of the hospital room. The sterile smell of disinfectant lingered in the air, and the soft beeps of machines and footsteps echoed in the hallway. "I was expecting more resistance, to be honest," she told herself, feeling oddly disappointed yet very much relieved.

She looked towards one of her Pokemon who was waiting outside. "So? How was it, Saber?"

"There was no sign of dishonesty. He was very much afraid." a voice in her head said.

"Right… So he wasn't lying…"

"However, he did contemplate doing so though it was intended for self-preservation rather than malicious intent."

"Very well. Let's go back now. I have a lot of work to do." She pulled out a ball from her pocket and with a flash of a red beam, the Pokemon was gone.

"He wasn't lying…" she repeated to herself, doubting that statement a little bit.

On her way back to her car, she reflected back to when she was in that room. Her way of interrogating was definitely not the best. While things did smooth out in the end, she really needs to improve her skills.

No, perhaps she just needs to approach him in a different way instead of pressuring him. She added that to her mental note.

Now, while it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, well, in fact, it was an excellent thing that this… 'Ben' didn't retaliate. It definitely made her job easier and less of a pain than it already was; however, she didn't get why she was assigned to this role in the first place.

An extraterrestrial object suddenly shows up in this world. It's not every day you see something like this or ever for that matter. As far as her knowledge goes, nothing like this has happened before so her being assigned as the Containment Supervisor is very much a surprise. Even with having her fellow colleague who had more experience than her assisting her in this case, she was still a Junior Researcher and Investigator in the end, the latter one being her main role.

"Shouldn't the seniors handle this type of problem? I mean, they could've let me handle the investigation and that would make perfect sense…" she told herself.

As she entered her car, she couldn't help but wonder how exactly he got here. What exactly happened in that… thing? He did make it clear that this wasn't intentional so… what had caused all of this in the first place?

Now that she thinks about it, Ben is a little too convenient and it worries her. He said that he's a human but what's stopping him from lying? Is he what he says he is? She very much trusted Saber but they are currently dealing with an extraterrestrial or worse, an extradimensional being. For all they know, the laws of physics can be bent to the point that Saber's mind reading wouldn't be accurate or work at all.

She took another look at her notepad.

The fear in his eye when she 'interrogated' him was very much convincing but was it enough to gain her trust? Probably but unlikely… for now. Quite frankly, she doesn't know. She simply has to take Saber's words with a grain of salt.

She shook her head, deciding to push that thought away for now and focus on her current task at hand. "Well, whatever," she thought as she started her car. This whole situation raised more questions than answers.

"I'll just have to monitor and observe him closely and figure out what the hell is going on."

Setting the notepad aside, she started her drive back to her home. She has work to do, a meeting to discuss containment procedures, and…

She can feel the headache creeping in just by thinking about the amount of work to come as she fights the urge to bang her head on the steering wheel.

"No, no, it's going to be fine. It'll be fine…" she tries to calm herself down.

For now, she simply has to keep her guard up.

…

Good day, ███████

This is Agent Ryna reporting regarding OOI-2779.

So far, the crash site for OOI-2779 (which I will now refer to as Host 2779) has been located ██km west of Sandgem Town, and the cause of the sudden appearance remains unknown.

There is only one remaining survivor from Host 2779. The subject introduced himself as 'Ben'. He has sustained an injury to his femur, leaving him partially immobilised for now. The subject is expected to recover from this.

When questioned about the events that transpired inside Host 2779, the subject was visibly distressed. Therefore, I decided to hold off from questioning at this time. Therapy for the subject may be needed.

Given the low number of survivors and the fact that the last one presents no threat, I would like to request that this be reclassified from Potential C2 to C3. I will go into detail about this during the meeting later today.

We are still in the process of assessing the damages and attempting to determine the cause of Host 2779's sudden materialisation.

Sincerely, Agent Ryna Harwell,

Containment Supervisor for Case 2779

…

WC: 3474

AN:

Hello and welcome back. Sorry for the late upload, I was kind of working on a video that somehow took a week to make. Anyway, here's another chapter. I really hope you guys like it and let me know what you think of it.

Welp, that's all from me since I don't have anything else to say. Have a good day and see you in the next chapter.

…