Hey all, so I think I found my biggest weakness... characterization, you can really tell in this chapter and I'm sorry it's so sorry.
The man across from me could only be described as… kind looking, His grey eyes and the most genuine smile I've ever seen… honestly, I feel a lot better about talking to him now that I'm face to face. Going to Sycamore was probably my best idea since I got here…
"Yes, Professor I'm here because I have a… unique problem that I feel like you'd know the most about." The man nods his head, going along with everything I'm saying. He speaks up, "Yes, though it is strange… most trainers come to events hosted at the lab to ask me questions. Usually, its just other professors and fellow scientists that come in for actual formal meetings." Wait a minute… does he think that I'm just a trainer with a Poké problem?
"Um… im actually here for another reason…" I said sheepishly, his eyes widen a bit, intrigued, "Oh? Well then what did you wish to speak to me about?"
Aw jeez time to walk through the mine field…
"Professor… what do you know about Ultra Wormholes?" Now THAT got his attention, "How did a kid like you get information about that?!" he says clearly shocked "I know for a fact that's still classified!"
Ohhh shit is this how the Warthunder community felt? Eat your heart out. 'Oh, I'll leak this 50 year old fighter jet' yeah well I just leaked the existence of portals in space-time… get fucked.
"I have my reasons for knowing… what do you know about fallers?" I can see he's starting to put two and two together… good gotta keep going.
"They're people who get sucked into our reality through Ultra Wormholes, they usually lose their memories upon re-entry, and… not much else sorry, are you asking because you know one?"
"Uh well the thing is ya see… im kinda… ya know… a faller" I say while tapping my index fingers together, lets hope he responds well I have no idea what the expression means.
"Let me go grab my notebook!" Sycamore quickly spits out before bolting, probably to go get his note book, probably thinks this is a 'once and a life time' opportunity.
Just as quick as he left, he's back with a THICC notebook, welp, lets do this…
The professor clicks his pen and flips over to a new page, "Okay, lets start with the basics, what do you remember?"
"Everything… I think? I remembered my name, where I'm from, my family… I just kind of woke up in the forest." He quickly jots down some notes before asking the next question "What differences were there between your world and ours?"
"Basically everything, the world was a lot more… harsh I guess…"
"How so?"
"Well instead of Pokémon, there are creatures we call animals."
If saying I was a faller got his attention before, then this is about 100 times more attention grabbing.
"That's… That's never been heard of before! A world without Pokémon?! That's so fascinating! Most fallers at least remember their word having pokemon!"
"Yeah… not really as crazy as you'd think, they're not as intelligent…" "oh? What do you mean?" "well you can talk or reason with them like you would a Pokémon, they only rely on their instincts eating, reproducing… that's about it really. Some animals can reason a bit, but its nothing on the level of Pokémon." The Professor keeps writing in his notebook, "I see, What about the regions? Are they the same?"
I sigh, this is going to be a looong talk "Not at all, the continents are completely different. Some of the regions here share similarities to the groups of people from my world, a lot of the world is sorted into nations, each having their own flag and borders on a map." "Some of them share similarities you say? Can you name some of them?" "Well regions like Kalos share similarities to France, it had a massive steel structure called the Eiffel tower, its like lumiose tower but hollow, only being a metal frame. More of an art piece and sign of industrial might from when large-scale industry was the new trend" glad I can put my history knowledge to use… "Annnd, hmmm, Galar is similar to England or Scotland if I remember correctly… That's what I remember seeing online" yeah that sounds ri- shit! I slipped! I mentioned that i knew of Galar before hand, lets hope he doesn't notice an- "hm? What do you mean you saw it online? I thought Galar didn't exist?" "Uh… wellll Pokémon kinda exists as uh… video games?"
Oh boy, I'm pretty sure I just gave the man a heart attack… "could you say that again please?" "Pokémon are a media franchise that sells a bunch of merchandise" "oh… that's… something" he's not writing anymore… I think I broke the professor.
Suddenly the professor quickly stands up "I need to step out for a minute and make a quick call!" he says loudly before basically running out of the room, when he gets to the door he says, "Just stay right there for a minute please."
…So how fucked am I?
The wait felt agonizing, who was Sycamore calling? Why was he calling someone? I have no clue, but I have to keep hoping for the best… it had been half an hour now, how long was this gonna take? The suspense is killing me.
I see a large shadow cover the window before hearing something land outside, shortly after, I hear voices coming up the hallway before I see the professor enter the room again followed by a middle-aged man in a trench coat.
"Sorry about the wait Alex, this is Looker, he'll be sitting in on our interview." I nod to looker who leans against the wall of the room pulling out his own notebook, I think this is the most I've ever been recorded in my life…
"So… where did we leave off, ah yes, you said that Pokémon was a franchise right? Has everything you've experienced so far been accurate?" "Well its kind of jumbled, they made a cartoon for kids, I think that's the basis for this world… I haven't really explored enough to really tell for sure."
"I understand… Alex, I have a proposition of sorts, looker here is a part of an organization that tracks and helps fallers" "Hm? Oh yeah there's really no reason to hide it but I know about you looker, the information was kinda basic, but I know you're a faller too" For the first time since he got here, and he looks like he just shit himself.
"I have no doubt in my mind now, I'm willing to back your decision completely professor…" The hell is Looker talking about. I look over to the professor and he gives me a sheepish look "Alex… we have a proposal for you, the association that Looker works for is willing to provide you funds in exchange for information that they need, if a situation comes up and you're able to provide accurate data you'll be given a bonus of sorts." Okay, THAT'S a deal I can't refuse. So can you blame my broke ass for almost instantly saying, "Deal!"
Looker then walks over to the table and places a packet of documents on the table "Fill these out and we'll be done here" damn… can we go back to yapping?
Well, that was… fun, I never wanna even think about doing paperwork ever again. The information it wanted wasn't even that important! 'what's your favorite ice cream' unless I'm getting that shit in the mail, I don't see the point! They also mentioned they wanted me to go take on the gyms to try and train up just in case I find situations where I can't call them in to deal with it.
Ah well its over now, and I got a fat stack of bills in my wallet, courtesy of 'the organisation' yes, that's actually what it's called they're that pretentious, but hey, don't bite the hand that feeds you and all that.
As I walk out of the room, I see Shauna running down the hallway towards me, "Hey Alex! That took sooo long! I even fell asleep, who was the creepy guy in the trench coat? What did he want with ya?"
Never change Shauna, never change.
"He wanted to sponsor me, they think I could be a real contender for the Pokémon league…" Shauna is practically bouncing off the walls after hearing that, "Woah! The professor is sponsoring you?! That's crazy! Only really talented trainers get sponsored like that… wait! Have you been holding out on me?"
I wave my hands, "no, no I just… Never got a chance to go on my journey and this is an opportunity to…" A bit of a lie, but its fine ill tell her some day.
"Oh… I get ya! Well, we should get back to the center! We gotta get you that Pokéball for Espurr and pick up Skitty!" Speaking of which where is Espurr?
"E̴̢̗͓̲̻̙̬̣̜̼͕̊̎š̵̱̥̼̹̿́̓͐̏̃̍̔͊͋̀̈̕ṕ̴̲͓̠̹͎͎ü̸̧̙̻̼̘̮͉̱̠̹̳̳̅ŕ̵̨̛̳̟̞͈̥͇̪͙̭̳̭̳̗͕͋̄͒͒̑͛͒̽̕͝͠r̶̛̙̺͖̻̱͓͌͆̍̏͋"
"Gah!" I turn around to see Espurr, staring eye to eye with me. "Yeah, its nice to see you too" I say giving the cat a little pat on the head.
"Before you go, take this" The professor tosses me a small red square thing, this thing has some heft to it, wait is this thing a- "that right there is the newest model of Pokédex, if you need to contact me you should be able to reach me on there, much better than needing the center computer to call" yeah that part of Pokémon always bothered me, 'capture creatures in balls that defy reality but no personal cell phones!' "Thank you Professor, I'll be sure to call if anything comes up" I could see looker brooding in the corner, so I waved by to him and Professor Sycamore before heading off back to the Pokémon center with Shauna and Espurr.
This is my life now I guess… maybe this wont be too bad.
Hey again! So I'm gonna try to rework this chapter a little bit to try and be less awkwards and stiff and repeating and stuff. See ya next time! Also yippee! 10,000 words! lets go!