Chapter 2: Welcome to Sinnoh Stalker and New Arrivals to Zaton
PDA Information:
Moonlight:The Moonlight Artifact is a rare artifact only found at midnight in the Zone and can be found near Electro Anomalies. There are two variations of the Moonlight but it has the same benefit of increasing the user's endurance and healing process along with mental protection as it is telepathic. The variations of the Moonlight are the downsides, one is the user is more acceptable to electrical attacks and one that emits radiation. It is very rare and valuable to Stalkers earning a good amount of RU.
Twinleaf Town
Hospital
Johanna POV
Inside at the Twinleaf Town hospital waiting room, Johanna is pacing back and forth filled with concern for the teen she found in the forest. Now she's waiting for any news about his condition from the doctors, they left her with the backpack and the items that were removed from the teen. She then sat down on one of the seats where his backpack is lying, she then heard a beeping sound coming from the side pocket. Grabbing it from the pocket, she sees some kind of phone, unlike the Rotom Phones that are newly released from Galar.
She pressed one of the buttons and a message appeared on it.
Ecologists:Helios where the hell are you? We secured the anomaly in the Garbage and deemed it safe. Now we sent some Stalkers to explore the other side of the anomaly, it's unlike anything I've seen before it's different from the Zone, Barkeep is getting anxious.
Johanna is now confused, what is the Zone? Who is Barkeep? And Stalkers? She then remembered the tattoo on his arm. She then checked the backpack more and found a wallet, hoping for identification she opened it. She sees some unknown form of currency unlike the Pokédollars everyone uses. But finally she found an I.D.
Name:Jacob Quinata
Date of Birth:January 25, 1994
"Jacob…" Johanna whispered at the name. Now she finally knows the name of the teen she found.
"Excuse me ma'am?"
She then looked up to see the doctor approaching her.
"Yes?"
"The patient you brought in has recovered and we managed to take out the shrapnel that was in his chest." The doctor explained. "The metal plates that sandwiched between his clothing helped him, it was lucky as the shrapnel was in non lethal spots as well."
"That's a relief." Johanna sighed, tension easing now knowing that Jacob is going to be alright.
"But there is one thing that concerns me is that he has contracted low levels of radiation, though not enough to seriously harm him, it's concerning.
"Doctor!" A nurse came in with a worried expression. "The patient is awake and he is in a panic! The anesthesia has worn off and he is demanding his belongings and wants to know where he is."
*CRASH*
"Oh no!"
Jacob POV
"Where the fuck am I!? And where's my stuff!"
"Young man, please calm yourself!" A nurse pleaded as the other went to get help after he woke up.
Jacob couldn't believe the luck he is in, first finding an actual Pikachu in the Zone, discovering that new anomaly, getting ambushed by the bandit gang and getting a blast of buckshot to the chest, and ending up in a hospital without his gear.
This was officially the shittiest day of his life.
"Please calm down! You are in a Hospital in Twinleaf Town, you underwent an emergency surgery, but you are alright by the look of it."
'Wait… Twin-Twinleaf Town!?' His eyes widened. 'From Pokémon!?'
"W-what?"
Then he got evidence as the door opened and entered a doctor, the other nurse, and-
'J-Johanna!?'
Forest Area of Twinleaf Town
"Area secured, have guards watch the area and have the Stalkers scout the area." A Duty Stalker commanded as a couple of Duty, some Freedom, though there was some tension especially after a peace agreement was made between Duty and Freedom in the Zone, and a few Loner Stalkers and Ecologists are up and about with their tasks.
"Hey Dimitri, my kids are going to have a field day that their old man has a Pokémon!" A Freedom Stalker, Lev, called out to the Duty Stalker as beside him is a Bidoof.
"The hell you managed that?"
"Just gave him a bit of bread and he enjoyed it. I'm naming her Buck."
"Bidoof!"
"Right…"
"Sir!" Another Duty Stalker approached Dimitri. "We discovered a town and made contact, they were surprised by our appearance, guess they didn't know the hell we were in at the Zone."
"One of the Freedom Stalkers was trying to barter with a shop owner since they don't use RU's."
"That is concerning but if they are open to bartering, we could probably sell some artifacts to them." Dimitri thought about it.
"Sir we got a message from one of the Stalkers at the town. There's someone to speak with us." One of the other Duty Stalkers spoke.
"Who?"
"A uh…" The Duty Stalker looked at the message in his PDA. "A professor named Rowan and a woman, Cynthia."
"Oh shit!" Lev exclaimed.
"Bi-Doof!"
"What? What is it?"
"Cynthia here is a champion, a well known figure, and if she and the professor are here. Well let's just say we are going to be popular here soon."
"Well, shit."
Jacob POV
Well things couldn't be weird for him, now knowing the Anomaly had sent him to the Pokémon World and it is real from the games he played.
Eat your heart out Mateo.
Now after being discharged from the hospital, thanks to Johanna for paying the hospital fees and giving my stuff back. Now she is taking him to her home as her Glameow is walking beside her and he is also likely to meet Dawn soon, as Johanna unlocks the door to her home and speaks out.
"Dawn I'm home!" After that they heard of footsteps coming from upstairs. Jacob then sees one of the main characters from Diamond and Pearl.
"Hi mom!" Dawn greeted, then her eyes landed on Jacob. "Who's he?"
"This is Jacob." Johanna introduced him. "And… well…"
Johanna turned her head to look at him and he just nodded. "It's alright and well it's a long story. And I'm surprised about my situation."
Few Hours Later
Some time later after Johanna made dinner which is a surprisingly good stew he hadn't had any good food for awhile in the Zone, Jacob began his story about himself and life in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone or simply as the Zone. There were questions by Johanna and Dawn, especially the title he bears and the tattoo on his arm.
"Before you passed out, you grabbed my arm and saw the tattoo on your arm, why do you have the word Stalker on your arm?" Johanna questions about his tattoo with Dawn looking surprised as well.
"Well, looks like we got to this point." Jacob laughed to himself. "Whatever you think of the word Stalker, it's different in the Zone. Stalker is what the governments called people who are in the Chornobyl illegally, yes I trespass into it but there's more to it."
"Though western media made Stalkers popularized, as they thought it stands for Scavengers, Trespassers, Adventurers, Loners, Killers, Explorers, and Robbers."
"But why do you go there if it is illegal to go to the Zone?" Dawn questioned.
"There are many reasons Dawn, to escape, to find adventure, wealth, and even to find a new life." Jacob answered and grabbed something in his backpack. "One of the reasons Stalkers go to the Zone is this." He brought the Moonlight Artifact on the table.
"This is an Artifact, products from Anomalies after the incident in 2006. They give unique powers but there are drawbacks. They are also worth a lot of money to the right buyers."
Then there was a phone ringing as he was finishing his conversation, Johanna got up from her seat and picked up the phone.
"Hello? Johanna speaking."
…
"The news? No, I haven't yet. What is it?"
…
"They called themselves Duty, Freedom, and Ecologists? Stalkers?"
That brought the three of them their attention. "Looks like things are going to be interesting." Jacob said with amusement.
Johanna then ended the call and then grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, god Jacob missed those back in America.
What next surprised Dawn and her mother.
"Good evening everyone and welcome to our latest news." A female newscaster spoke out. "Today… today is a very peculiar day. We made contact with groups that claimed they are from another world because of this anomaly behind me." The camera pans to the large Bubble anomaly.
"Hey, that's the anomaly I found at the Garbage." Jacob commented as Johanna and Dawn continued watching the news.
"As you can see this "Bubble" anomaly as these people around me called it is a portal." The newscaster then took a few steps to the side as the camera panned to an Ecologist in a red radiation suit. "With me is one of the groups that came from the portal, Professor Alexander Volkov, representing the Ecologists of the Zone."
"Spasibo, madam we the ecologists are researchers studying the Zone along with Duty and Freedom Stalkers here for security and for the record, Stalkers are people residing in the Zone scavenging for Artifacts and discovering anomalies such as the Bubble anomaly behind me." Alexander explained. "We are here for scientific research and possible agreements between the Zone and Sinnoh."
"Well you hear that folks, and also Professor Rowan and Sinnoh Champion Cynthia are arriving to further discuss the arrangements with the Zone." The Newscaster finished as the news channel switched to other news.
"Huh… well holy shit." Jacob calmly said as Dawn and Johanna turned to him.
"Language young man!" Johanna scolded him.
"What? I'm 18 and considered an adult unlike here where being ten is considered an adult." Jacob shot back.
Elsewhere in the Zone
Zaton
Zaton, part of the center of the Zone and a swampland near the city of Pripyat, many Stalkers go there because of the amount of anomalies for artifacts to find. It's also home to Skadovsk, a grounded tanker turn bar and blowout shelter by Beard. News about the Portal Anomaly leading to Sinnoh hasn't been reached yet but there are more new anomalies appearing.
One such anomaly is forming into a Bubble anomaly, vibrating intensely. And then instantly someone came out of the Anomaly. The man fell onto the marsh ground with a thump and a groan, moments later he got up and looked around. The man was young, in his mid-twenties, possessing a shaded beard, his black hair cut in a urban ranger style, standing at 5.11 ft, clearly in fit shape by his tight black shirt that revealed his muscular arms and dark jeans. "... Where the hell am I?"
The man scanned his surroundings, growing tense as the environment around him set him on edge, taking whiffs of the air before he looked down on his right side and saw his duffle-bag, picking it up and slinging it to his back. The man took a moment to look around further before he started walking, intent on finding answers where he was, idly considering taking a smoke but decided he wanted a clear head as he kept moving, ears attentively listening.
"Great, hell of a way to start the day." At least he finished his fight before that weird portal sucked him in and took him to where-ever this was, feeling where he had been punched in his jaw still but nothing he hadn't dealt with before. 'This whole place is setting me on edge, something isn't right around here.' Something about this place made the young man feel like he was within danger and he didn't hear normal sounds of wildlife there should've been, instead it was eerily silent.
He stopped for a moment when he spotted what seemed like an old ruined bus, growing more on alert as he noted the age of it and he cautiously moved forward towards it. He came up to its side to inspect it, seeing clearly it had been there for years and saw a bit of old lettering on it, the words made him have a realization. "Slavic? That portal took me to Eastern Europe?" He was no expert, but he recognized the letters as close to Ukrainian or Russian. "Don't tell me I'm in the middle of a warzone now." Growing potentially concerned he was possibly in the midst of the Russian invasion.
He went around further, coming up to the ruined door and stepped inside, scanning around the torn seats, reminiscing about the last time he had been on a bus to now see the wreckage of one. He stopped as he took sight of something that surprised him; "An AK-47?" Right on one of the seats was the infamous rifle that looked in relatively alright condition, he approached it and grasped the rifle. Feeling the weight and remembering his times in the gun-range, checked the safety before he popped the magazine out to inspect the ammunition, finding it was half filled. "What else is on this bus?"
"I'd say not much more for scavengers." The voice spooked him and he immediately pointed the rifle towards the voice, his eyes widened in deep shock for who he saw standing outside from the wreckage as similarly, an bow with an arrow ready was pointed towards him. "I don't know what that is, but you better be ready to use it if you intend to fight me outsider." It was a gorgeous woman looking to be possibly in her late twenties or early thirties, possessing long blazen red hair, golden eyes that stared sharply at him, she wore rather revealing leather garb with some metal guards and brown long boots. Covering her beautiful face was green war-paint, the man though already knew who she was.
"... To be fair, I think we're both outsiders in this country. I'll only shoot if you force me." He tried to keep the shock out of his voice, but his mind still raced. How was he freaking talking with Aela the Huntress herself!
Just what was going on?!
"Hmph, likewise. Let's talk then, who are you?" Slowly, the two lowered their weapons, the man began walking out of the bus but kept his eyes on her golden orbs. "Brayden, Brayden Nilsson. What'd be yours miss Kissed by the Fire." Aela raised a brow at the reference that went over her head, but answered as her shoulders somewhat relaxed as she watched Brayden step out of the wreckage and come towards her. "My name is Aela Blackblade, I see that you are no certainly not from Skyrim. Or anywhere else I know." Aela scanned his clothing, taking note of his peculiar hairstyle that reminded her of some of her fellow Nords, his odd clothing that was nothing like she'd ever seen and noting his physical shape. She could tell that this young man was clearly a fighter, seeing the bruised knuckles and signing where he had been punched, his eyes held an intensity that made her feel this was someone to watch.
"No, that I am not. I'm Canadian, and where we're at might be a country at war right now. I don't suppose that you were also taken by a strange portal?"
The sounds of nature were suddenly abrupt when they heard sounds of gunfire in the distance, more likely to the south of their position. "What is that?" Aela's ears twitched as she took in the first time of hearing gunfire, while Brayden tensed. "Trouble, partners?" The question brought her to look at Brayden preparing the rifle, loading and checking to ensure it'll fire properly.
"For now, if you can keep up."
Now both Brayden and Aela begin to trek through the marsh, as they continue, Brayden thought he saw a pocket of air vibrating with small debris like leaves and sticks floating around. 'That… is weird?' But he couldn't help but feel he remembered it from somewhere.
"This is strange. What magic is this?" Aela looked at the vibrating in wonder. "I'm not sure if it's magic. Those gunshots are getting closer." Then they heard another gunshot, but it sounded like a shotgun blast.
"We're almost there, best to be cautious." Aela spoke as they were nearing a brush. "We don't know if they will be friendly or hostile toward us."
Brayden just nodded, preparing the AK-47, hopefully it'll work. As they moved up the brush and see-
'No way…'
"Faceplate you got two more mongrels on the left!" A tall man that looks like a decaying corpse firing a shotgun, geared in familiar leather armor with metal protection pieces, but also the mag for his shotgun is close to the front as he blasted a very mutated dog as it was going to pounce on him.
"Don't call me that!" A female in an environmental suit shouted as she was firing a futuristic shotgun at a mutant dog.
'I can't believe this. Charon and Tali!?' First Aela the Huntress, now Charon from Fallout 3 and Tali'Zorah from Mass Effect. Brayden had to be snapped out of his thoughts by the whistle of Aela's arrow flying to hit one of the mongrels, striking deep into its jaw.
"Come on! Snap out of it and focus, you know these two?" Aela saw the surprise on Brayden's face, her own questions growing now she suspected there was more to this young man.
"Something like that…" Brayden dodged the question as he aimed the rifle and fired a burst of 7.62 x 39mm rounds, it hit one of mutant dogs with a dying whimper. Tali and Charon turned around and saw Brayden and Aela.
"Who the fuck are they?" Charon questioned but also filled with caution, ready to take aim at the two.
"At least they are helping us!" Tali shouted as she used her Omni-Tool to shoot an electric shock at the mutant dog. "Only three more left!"
With Aela and Brayden, the four quickly dealt with the pack of the mutated dogs.
Charon turned to face the two, coming up towards them, ignoring the grimace look by Aela seeing his rotten face as he stared at Brayden. "Alright, who are you two?" Tali came up behind him and glanced at the two, raising a brow at Aela's clothing that was more than revealing but not as bad compared to a certain convict.
Brayden looked back to him, staring him in the eyes. "My name is Brayden, and this is Aela. Would I be right to assume that you were brought here by a strange portal?" Charon nodded, Tali answered for him though. "Yes! What was that?"
"We don't know, I may have a theory where we are but it doesn't exactly explain these mutant creatures." Brayden thought the mutant hounds did look familiar, very alike to Fallout 4's Mongrels but something felt tinge off to him. "If you have an idea, kid, explain it. Otherwise I'll assume we're in some kind of Wasteland, creatures like those are in abundance."
"Fair enough and you may not be wrong. We're somewhere in Eastern Europe, Ukraine specifically." Charon's eyes widened slightly hearing that, his own Pre-War memories stirring back up while both Aela and Tali stood confusedly in hearing the statement. "Ukraine? I vaguely recall that's one of your planet's countries, but I don't ever remember you had monsters like these." Tali nudged the dead mongrel by her feet, remembering among the countries that made up Earth and how one of crew mates in the Normandy was of Slavic descent who told her about his home.
"It would seem you three have more idea than I. But we'd be best to find somewhere else to talk of our situation, there's bound to be more of those creatures lurking nearby." Aela wanted to get answers soon as possible.
As the group were about to plan their course of action in this new world, they heard voices near them by the foliage.
"I'm telling you Ivan, I heard gunfire here and-" two people came out of the foliage, one was wearing a brown trenchcoat with a gas mask and the other was wearing a green camo suit, the two stopped to see the four. "Kakogo cherta…"
"What's the deal Boris? They dealt with a pack of Blind Dogs and- woah mutant!" Ivan looked up from the dead pack and saw Charon and he slightly raised his double barrel shotgun. "I didn't know radiation can fuck up this bad!"
"Tch, smooth skin." Charon gritted a bit.
The one with a green camo, Ivan just sighed. "Just another day in Chornobyl Boris. I need some vodka soon, radiation might be affecting me to see this shit."
'Wait that portal sent me to Chornobyl!?' Brayden thought with an alarmed expression. 'Wait… Don't tell me I'm in S.T.A.L.K.E.R?'
"Chornobyl?" Aela questioned.
This is going to be a long day.
Author Notes:This is co-opted with Mandalore the Survivor