Alright, Chapter 002 is out, and I tried to get it out as soon as I could. Honestly, I might just merge the two chapters together or something later down the line. That being said, I hope you enjoy, and I DO NOT own Pokémon or RWBY.

The slight smell of salt was one of the first things he thought welcomed him, aside from the sensations of discomfort as he slowly but surely began to register the world around him once again. His said discomfort however only seemed to grow as he tried to pick himself up from the ground, his body shuffling with his hands grabbing the ground under him, the small grains of sand escaping from his weakened grasp.

Opening his eyes, his vision was met with overwhelming light, only slight blurs being made out as he closed them as soon as he opened them, the invasion of said light only adding fuel onto the flames of what was a massive headache he had. What had happened, what was going on, where was he and why was he so exhausted. Continuing to regain his bearings, managing to stand, he held his head in his right hand, stumbling slightly as he tried to soothe his head.

"Ugh, my head... what the hell was that?" he asked, his tones sounding not only weaker than normal, but also higher for whatever reason. Opening his eyes again, his hand blocking out the light, Jaune blinked a few times, allowing the light to seep in from in between his fingers.

Looking at his hand, he frown, still feeling strange, his aura trying to soothe his muscles as his head began to clear up, a trick he learned as time went on was him being able to sober up quickly by using his aura. But as he did, he shook his head, looking at his hand with a frown.

Something was off, twitching his fingers, he studied his hand, they seemed smaller for some reason, the back of his hand also itched and with his frown still worn, turned his hand over, fingers curved and clenched into a fist as Jaune's eyes suddenly widened in shock. Takenback by his hand, it was easy to see that while his fingerless gloves were currently missing, there was something more concerning that took their place.

As if painted with tar, a slight burning sensation coursed through the back of his hand, or rather by the new design that was placed upon it. Black lines that were drawn smoothly enough had marked him, a design similar to an emblem, but it wasn't his and it was one he vividly could recall. Similarly to that ring he found, the design of a four-pointed, shuriken-like, well, ring, laid about the back of his hand.

Understandably, Jaune was, while not horrified, incredibly alarmed, and was not afraid to let that be known.

"What the heck is this?!" is shouted as he itched away at it, the digging and scratching of his nails doing nothing to wipe or scrape away at the mysterious black lines, a soft glow fading from it as he focused on it. "Come on, what is going on, what is this and... why do I sound so strange?!" he nearly shouted, only now registering his voice, despite the hoarseness, was different.

'My voice, my hand... what else' he thought before looking down in a clear panic. His rusted armor was gone, replaced with a new set of clothes at that. Gone where the faded blacks and browns of what used to be his old Pumpkin Pete hoodie and dark blue jeans and in their place was a similar substitute.

A beige hoodie in place of his original black one, with no bunny design on the front to compliment it either. His once-blue and later brown jeans replaced with black ones, both sets of clothing in clearly good condition which contrasted his former attire. Reaching for his belt, he found a black one that replaced the brown one he wore earlier, a few pouches that held nothing in them, clinging onto him in a similar fashion as they had before.

His boots however looked the same, or at least their color did, but unlike the aged ones from when he fell, they were new and a lot more comfortable than his older ones, despite the sand that managed to get into them. And looking around, it didn't take him long to notice something else, his sword laying half-buried on the beach, something that he quickly grabbed and examined. Unlike his clothes, it remained the same. Rusted, aged, broken beyond the need of just a basic repair. The proud blade proving that, as much as he had changed, his history of the Rusted Knight remained with him.

Shaking his head, he returned the sword and sheathe to his belt, similarly to how he had when he was still in Remnant and looked down in contemplation. But as he looked down, he noticed something, his legs seemed off, his torso seemed off, he himself seemed off. Reaching for his face, he expected to feel his beard, slightly unkept but clearly noticeable. Instead of the layers of facial hair, he felt only his own skin. his hands moving to the top of his head, tracing his hair and pushing it back, he expected to find his ponytail, he found nothing of the sort.

A mirror, he needed a mirror, anything really. Looking around in a panic, he noticed a nearby shed of sorts, making his way towards it, he reached for the nearby door. Grasping the nob, he turned and pulled, the door unwilling to budge, clearly locked. Well that was no good. Alright then, so clearly something was wrong, something was clearly wrong. Don't worry about it, it had to have some reasonable explanation. Ever by Ever After logic.

After a second of exercise his vocal cords, he could hear the difference. Inspecting his body, he could see and feel the difference. All in all, Jaune Arc was different. Or rather, he was no different than the day he first walked through the great halls of Beacon with a similarly lost red-hooded wearing girl beside him.

He was young again, he was actually young again. This had to had been some sort of dream, or a trick by the Ever After. And yet as he felt himself collapse to his knees, he couldn't help but laugh. "Ha, ha... I'm... I'm young again. Holy shit... I'm actually a kid again" he said, his shock turning into amazement as he felt a new sense of sincere happiness erupt from him with thunderous laugher. "I'm actually a kid again!" he cheered.

Alright, so maybe calling him a kid was a bit of an overstatement. In actuality he was a teenager, probably around seventeen or so if he was as old as he thought he was. But considering how old he was, the time he spent in the Ever After as the Rusted Knight, it was as if a burden was taken off his shoulders, as if he was reborn...

Reborn...

...wait,

...No.

'No... no, no no no, no' he began to think, his happiness swiftly turning into a sense of dread. 'No, this... this can't be ascending, can it?!' he thought as his body now shook. He didn't know what it was, but from what he had seen in his time with Alyx, Lewis and the Curious Cat, he knew it wasn't something good. No, according to the cat it was supposed to change someone, give them a new purpose. Erase their memories, essentially killing them. But he still remembered, didn't he.

'Alright, quick pop quiz, Arc' he thought, already a good sign. 'You... you are Jaune Arc... you're the son of Nicholas Arc and Isabelle Arc. you have seven sisters, were the leader of Team JNPR, cheated your way into Beacon, and fell into the Ever After.' So far it was all there, granted he chose not to focus on a few things in between. 'Alright, so... this isn't ascending, I still have my memories. I'm not changing as much as I'm just younger' he reasoned with a bit of anxiety leaving him. Alright, so there was that.

"Now then" he said with a calming breath, "What the heck even happened?" he asked, a frown on his face still present as he brought up his hand to his chin, his eyes focused as he tried to recall the night prior. "We were camping, exploring the Ever After. Just me and-" he began before his eyes widened in realization.

Juniper

Juniper was gone.

"Shit, this is bad" he said as he looked around the area, it was a mix between grass, dirt and sand. The sounds of the shoreline echoing in the area as the scent of the sea surely explained the salt smell. Still, he frowned and practically ran towards the shore. "Juniper, Juniper are you- There!" he shouted, seeing the large creature half-way in the water, glowing faintly. Without hesitation, the blond knight ran towards the larger creature, quickly checking it to see if it was alright.

"Juniper, hey, Juniper... wake up" he said, shaking it slightly before it shifted slightly. Alright, she was alive, thank the brother gods she was still alive. "Thank god" he breathed out a sigh of relief as he finally noticed the glow. Jaune blinked for a moment as he got back up on his feet, his new pants now wet from the salt water. That didn't matter however for as soon as he got up, Juniper was taken fully by the mysterious glow, Jaune shielding his eyes with an arm until the light died down.

And where a large creature one laid, unconscious and unresponsive, a new creature took it's place. Jaune could really only stare for a second at the unconscious creature. The white and brown jackalope, once an image of great power and speed, now looked nothing like it at all.

Sure the ears seemed the same, but that was about it. It's once brown and white fur much longer, thicker, and painted a darker hue of silver or grey. In fact the only white Jaune could see was at the end of her newly bushy tail that looked like it had some sort of pattern to it. Aside from that was her new collar of even more fur. It was clear she was some sort of fox, a fox that he could easily carry in his arms.

A fox that was partially underwater...

Instantly, Jaune snatched the former Jackalope from the ocean and made sure she was alright. "Sorry, sorry..." he apologized, not really sure as to why but inspected her. He could feel her squirming slightly in his hold, indicating she was coming to. In only mere moments did she move around and open her eyes. Jaune had to say, he expected her amber eyes to look back at him, instead he got black ones staring back instead.

"...Eve?" the fox said, confused as she rolled out from his grasp, a squeak coming from her mouth as she probably face-planted into the sand. "Eevah" it screamed annoyed as she steadied herself, surprisingly a lot better than he thought se would. Looking at her with concern on his face, Jaune spoke up.

"Juniper?" he asked, calling her name as the fox looked at him confused. "I... uh, do you remember me?" he asked as she tilted her head to the side, a head that was almost as big as the rest of her body now that he got a better look. She blinked for a second before frowning, hesitantly approaching him. "It's me... uh, Jaune. You remember me, right?" he asked, wondering if this was ascending and he got lucky.

She looked confused until he held out a hand. Hesitantly, she sniffed it, a few seconds passing as she judged him. He didn't say anything, watching her with hope. Such hope was returned as she suddenly perked up, eyes seemingly to sparkle as she gave out a cry of happiness before jumping into him.

"Alright, girl..." Jaune chuckled a little, happy to see he wasn't alone. Looking at the fox, he frowned slightly, not sure what she turned into what she was. As for that matter, where the heck were they anyways. Sensing her master's confusion, she turned to face him, a small cry of concern snapping him out of his thoughts. "Oh, sorry... just thinking is all" he reassured as he picked her up and placed her beside him, standing up himself and brushing the sand off of him.

Juniper frowned as she shook the sand off herself, also trying to dry herself off as well. Looking up at him, she smiled softly as Jaune nodded back at her before recomposing himself, going back into thought. 'Alright, so I have my sword, Juniper is alright, I guess' he thought, not sure how he should even take her transformation. She seemed happy by any means. Turning his head, he noticed her waiting patiently for him. He could only guess she was waiting for him. 'Guess there's no real reason to stay here' he thought with a frown, looking up towards the trail, a hand on Crocea Mors while Juniper ran up towards him.

Where was he, he wasn't sure, but wherever he was, it was clear that something was wrong. Looking back at the strange symbol on his hand, he inspected it carefully, the marking faintly glowing as he pushed his aura to his hand. With a frown, he felt a strange power radiate from it, a calming effect seemingly filling him before he cut off the supply of aura. As soon as he had, the mark stopped glowing, as well as seemed much fainter than before until it fully disappeared, much to his confusion.

Channeling aura once again, the mark came alive, and cutting it off once again, so to did it disappear. 'Alright, so whatever this is seems to react to aura. It's not like dust though' he thought with a frown as he heard Juniper pipe up. "Uh, what's wrong, Juniper-"

"Oh bother... not again" a new voice called out, catching his attention as he stopped in his tracks. "Ugh, I really should've asked Akari or Rei to help me" another person muttered, looking disappointed as he looked at some sort of strange creature. The man himself looked a bit older than Jaune did, perhaps around the same age as he was in the Ever After, his complexion was a lot like Oscar's with a strange attire of his own. A wool hat of some sort and a white lab coat, wearing a suit and dressed as something Professor Oobleck would've worn. Yet as he frowned, he noticed something in his hand, a strange orb or something by the look of it. "And I'm nearly out of Poke Balls as well."

Jaune had to honestly stare for a second, not sure if he was sure what he was seeing was real. Juniper seemed confused, looking curious as to her master's confusion. It was for a very simple actually.

He was a human, an actual human.

After everything that happened with Alyx and Lewis, he was sure he was the only human left in the Ever After. He highly doubt that anyone else fell in the Ever After, unless someone else who fell found the same clock fruit as he had. Oh gods, the thought of someone who was blasted into the Ever After by Cinder finding one of those damned clocks unnerved him. Still, he didn't look like someone from either Atlas of Mantal. And if by chance he wasn't from Remnant...

Then that lead to another can of words.

A can of worms that lead to more questions. How are there humans here in the Ever After? Are they related to the people who fell? If they weren't, are there other people who could've fell, it would explain Alyx and Lewis. But if that was the case, which so-called Acre was he in, how did they get here, and if this somehow isn't the Ever After, where was he? How did he get here, why was Juniper some sort of fox, why is an old man throwing some strange orb at what looked like an owl?

"Blast it all, I missed again!" he seemed to have cursed, probably have been here for a while now knowing his luck.

Jaune could already feel his former headache return with vengeances, and the questions he had annoyed him greatly. Looking at Juniper, he could see she was just as unsure as he seemed to be. Looking at the man again, he just frowned and sighed. Well, at least he knew what built that shed he tried to break into, and he seemed... decent enough.

'Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet' he thought to himself, recalling his mother's words, words that had lost a little value after the whole Cinder Fall and Alyx encounters, but still, wherever he was, it was better to have some idea than none at all. With a sigh, he decided to make his presence known. With the last human encounter, he had been over a few weeks now and it ending with him being backstabbed, how much could he screw this one up?

"Are you alright?" Jaune called out, seemingly catching the man's appearance, who seemed to be taken back by him. Apparently, the Pokémon seemed a little interested in him as well while Juniper stood beside Jaune with a smile on her face.

"What the, oh... sorry about that, I didn't see you there" the older man said, seemingly a bit sheepish at him as Jaune had to smile a little at that, a small sense of nostalgia flooding into him. It had been a while since he actually met someone else. "I say, you don't look like you're from around here? your clothes look rather strange as well..." he mused as Jaune said nothing at that. "Oh, forgive me... I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Professor Laventon. May I perhaps ask yours?" he asked in a gentlemanly tone, reminding him of Professor Ozpin or another teacher from Beacon.

"...Jaune Arc, nice to meet you sir" he greeted, somewhat nervous but trying to stay as polite as possible. "Ugh, I wasn't interupting anything, was I?" he asked as he looked back to see some of the creatures behind the professor, seemingly looking on in interest at him.

The first one looked to be some sort of owl-like creature, a bowtie made of what looked like leaves by it's neck as it chirped curiously. The second creature was some sort of mouse-like creature, blue fur and a yellow underside with closed eyes the cocked it's head. The final one was some sort of otter, standing up on it's hind legs with blue skin or fur, it was kind of hard to tell what it had. Other than the shell it was carrying.

The professor turned back towards the Pokemon, a smile on his face as he did. "Oh, right... I'm terribly sorry, but I was actually trying to catch these Pokemon. They arrives a day ago but their Pokeballs were destroyed upon arrival. So sadly we have to catch them again for our research."

"...Research?" he had to ask, not sure what that meant, but he frowned as he thought about what it could mean. Catching animals for research didn't fill him with all too much hope.

"Oh yes, you see we're trying to better understand Pokemon, and in order to fully do so, we have to catch and study these creatures. To make a complete index of the Pokemon of Hisui is our current goal, all in order to understand and better live alongside them of course" the professor proclaimed, hands stretched out, clearly happy about it. Jaune was just a little confused.

"Pokemon? Hisui?" he mumbled as he turned back to the so called Pokemon in question. Juniper seemed just as confused as Professor Laventon smiled.

"Indeed, though... you seemed a bit confused? Do you not know about Pokemon?" the older man asked as he noticed the small fox by the blond teenager's feet. "But I say, it that your Pokemon?" he asked as Juniper perked up, Jaune looking at Juniper and picking her up. "I have to say, I haven't seen an Eevee like that before."

"Wait, an Eevee? Is that what Juniper is?" he asked as Professor Laventon was confused. "...Sorry, it's just, I don't really remember much, It's kind of a long story really" he said, looking nervous as he was worried about what he was supposed to say. 'Oh yeah, this is great. What the heck am I suppose to say now when he asks?'

"...Really? Well... I'd love to hear it, but I need to catch these three little troublemakers before sundown. If not, the captain will have my head." the man said, whispered in a bit of fear with the last sentence however, enough to make Jaune a little worried.

"...W-would you like some help?" Jaune asked, not sure why he would even offer, but the guy did seem like he needed it, and he would admit he was kind of in a jam himself. The man in question seemed to have been caught off guard yet again.

"Really, you would really help?" he asked as Jaune smiled.

"Sure... I mean, you seem like a good person..." he said before trailing. 'And it's not like I have too much to lose. Still, I never heard of a Pokemon before, and these aren't Afterans.' That least to the main question, just what the heck happened and where the heck was he? "So... what exactly do I do?" he asked, kind of unsure as the professor suddenly smiled.

"Well, if you're willing to help, who am I to say no?" he asked with a higher mood than before, probably because he didn't have to keep trying and instead have help. "Right then, the first thing you need to understand is that in order to catch a Pokemon, you're going to need these" he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small object, the orbs from earlier. Taking a better look at them, Jaune examined them while Laventon continued to explain. "Those are called Pokeballs, to put it simply, all you need to do is toss those at wild Pokemon and if you managed to hit them, then they'll be caught."

"Okay...?" he asked, kind of skeptical about the whole thing. But it seemed easy enough. Looking at the three creatures in question, he noticed that they all seemed to turn away and went back to doing what they were before. "So... I just need to throw these at them?" he asked again, earning a nod. Well, why the heck not. Looking at Juniper, she seemed uninterested at the moment while Jaune made his way towards them.

"Wait, I had nearly forgotten" Laventon said, causing Jaune to turn towards the other man. "I forgot to tell you that those Pokeballs are not always fulproof, so you should use those wisely and carefully" he warned as Jaune frowned at that. Good to know...

"Got it, any advice?" he asked as the professor frowned.

"Well, I'm not someone who can offer much advice, but perhaps you can sneak up on them" he said as Jaune nodded. Alright then, time to get to work. It really did seem easy. Looking at the Pokeball in his hand, he turned it in his hand with a contemplative look, even going as far as tossing it up a few times before nodding. Making his way to some nearby rocks, he noticed one of them currently resting atop it.

The Pokemon in question was the blue mouse-like Pokemon. Looking at it, Jaune smiled, deciding not to use his aura to amplify his throws. Still, it seemed to do the job, the mouse-like creatures turned it's head before it was hit with small capsule. Jaune watched in interest as the small capsule nailed it's mark before, before he realized it, the red and white device opened up, the Pokemon in question suddenly glowing a bright light before vanishing, the light seemingly going towards the Pokeball.

Falling on the rocks and rolling down to the ground, all three of them looked on before the capsule suddenly leaped up, Jaune taking a step back as he was afraid the creature would break free. Instead, only a flash of fire-like sparks escaped, indicating the capture's success.

"Well done, my boy" Laventon praise as Jaune turned to him. "Though I suppose that was rather easy overall" he said as he turned to face the other two Pokemon. the otter-like Pokemon not seeing anything, but the owl Pokemon seemed curious. "Still, the other two might not be as easy" he said as Jaune nodded. Taking the Pokeball from the ground, Jaune blinked, curious on how a Pokemon could even fit inside of it. Then again, he accepted logic wasn't important after his first Punderstorm, the manifestation of a metiphorical, and litteral, crossroads.

Creatures getting caught in small capsules without any reason behind it, sure, why not. There was probably still weirder things in the Ever After. Making his way to the professor, Jaune held out the Poke Ball that the professor took, instead swapping it with an empty one. "Alright, so now with the next... oh" he said as he realized the owl Pokémon was looking at him, seemingly on guard. "...Well, alright then."

Throwing the Pokeball, he expected it to hit, only for the owl to jump away, avoiding the ball and running away with small hops away from the two humans. By this point, the otter Pokemon seemed alerted as well, the sounds of splashing being heard as the owl suddenly flew further away in a tree. Professor Laventon sighed.

"Like I said, the others might not be as easy to catch. More so, those Pokeballs are somewhat fragile. So be careful with them, if you will" the professor warned as Jaune nodded, making his way to where he threw it. Picking it up, he noticed the Pokeball's condition, it seemed like it was undamaged. Looking at the owl Pokemon, it hooted and flew away, seemingly playing a game with him while keeping an eye on him. Jaune frowned for a moment as Jaune sighed.

'Great, now it's fully alert' Jaune thought with a deadpanned expression. Looking towards the small body of water, he saw the otter Pokemon hiding from him. 'Alright then... think. I can't do much with it looking at me like that... If I move, it moves' he pondered as he looked at the Pokeball again. "I can throw it from here, but I might miss" he muttered in thought, hiding behind the rocks. "I need to distract, catch it off guard..." he pondered aloud, peeking out from the rocks as he saw the owl still looking at him. Hiding back behind the rocks, Jaune frowned.

"Alright, so I can rush it, or go after the other Pokemon... maybe-Juniper?" he asked as he say the white fox-like Pokemon run at him.

"Evah" it cried, wanting to help him as Jaune said nothing. Looking at the Pokeball in his hand, he turned back to the tree, seeing the owl continue to look at him, silently staring at him without hesitation. 'Great, seems like it's too focused on me, alright think...' he thought for a moment before crossing his arms. Looking at Juniper, he gave it some better thought. It was Professor Laventon who spoke up.

"That Pokemon is known as a Rowlet, while they're usually docile, they can become wary when they want to be. Unless you can throw a Pokeball from there, you won't be getting much closer, I'm afraid." That being said, Jaune frowned before looking at Juniper.

"Juniper, I have an idea..." he said as Juniper seemed confused. A few seconds later, Jaune smiled, looking at the Rowlet, which still stared at him. Jaune however stared back, walking around but maintaining eye contact, the green and brown Pokemon doing the same. 'That's right, focus only on me...' he thought as Laventon watched on in interest. A smile on his face as he saw Jaune walk around on the right side of the boulder, meanwhile, Juniper watched curiously from the other side, seeing the owl's attention on her master. With a smile, she made her way as quickly and as quietly as she could.

Professor Laventon smiled, interested in the idea, seeing the small fox make it's way towards the tree with a grin on her face. Before the Rowlet knew it, it's gaze, oh so focused on the blonde human that stood before it, was blocked by the white fox that managed to climb up the tree with it's newly gained claws.

Rowlet gave a startled cry, moving back and pushing away the white fox with a kick of one of it's talons, Juniper being kicked away and landing on the ground. Looking down at the fox, it looked back up to see it's vision blocked by another thing. Said thing was a Pokeball thrown at it by a much closer Jaune, that was right infront of it's face. trying to evade it once again, it sidestepped away, only for Jaune to smile.

Despite it's efforts, the Pokeball managed to hit it's mark, and similar to the Pokemon before it, the Rowlet was caught in a veil of light, being sent into the capsule and caught with a spark-like firework indicating success. Two down, one to go. "Great work, Juniper" Jaune called out, praising the small fox. Juniper however frowned slightly, a small bruse on her head as she gave him a slight glare. Jaune frowned a bit before looking sheepishly towards her. "Sorry, uh... we can handle the rest" he assured her as she seemed to roll her eyes and make her way towards Laventon, leaving Jaune a bit dumbfounded.

When did she develop a bit of an attitude? Then again, she did get kicked in the face. 'And she's angry at me... great.' Making his own way back, he handed the professor the Pokeball, a smile on his face. "Alright, so now just one more?" he asked as Professor Laventon, who smiled.

"Indeed, I have to say, that was a good plan, though... I suppose not everyone would agree" he said, noticing the small fox's annoyance as Jaune laughed a little nervously. "Still, you seem to have a knack for this. Not many people would want to even approach them, much less try and catch them. Though, now all we need to do is catch that last Pokemon and report back to the captain. Though, it might be a little harder now." That being said, he looked at the Pokemon in question, looking at them with a grin, seemingly having it's shell in it's hand, seemingly ready to battle. "By the looks of it, it might be ready to battle you. That Oshawott always was a bit eager to battle."

"So... what now?" Jaune asked with a frown. "Is it going to attack me or something?" he asked, but judging by the look on it's face, he already knew the answer.

"Precisely. Though, you shouldn't have to worry, you still have your Pokemon with you, as well as the two Pokemon you already caught. I suppose you could always have a battle with it and-" he began before a new voice interupted him.

"That will not be neccessary, professor" a woman's voice called out before they all turned towards the newcomer, a woman wearing a uniform of some sort, a stoic demenour on her face and an aura of professonalism that reminded him faintly of another woman. To be more accurate, a woman known as Glynda Goodwitch.

"C-Captain Cyllene?!" Laventon said in shock as Jaune noticed her gaze turn towards the man in question.

"When I heard you ran after those three runaway Pokemon, I was worried that you might have needed help" she began with a frown, a bit of a scolding tone to her words as Laventon looked away. Her gaze however turned towards Jaune as she seemed to quirk an eyebrow at him. "Though, it seems like someone else decided to help you instead..." she said as she finally turned towards the small body of water that the Oshawott was curently hiding in. "Allow us to finish this then" she said as she turned to her side, "Abra, discipline that last runaway" she said in her same monotone voice as she had addressed them both with.

Beside her however was another Pokemon, a small orange creature with closed eyes and floated in midair, looking like some kind of fox or something but far different to Juniper. But Jaune could feel it, something coming from the pokemon, Abra, she called it. Then to his shock, he noticed something rise from the water, the Oshawott being lifted out of the pool using telekinesis. Jaune stared dumbly as Juniper hid behind Laventon in mild worry.

"You there, I assume that Pokeball is empty, you do not need to worry about this one escaping" she said bluntly as Jaune said nothing, tossing the small capsule and catching the blue otter-like Pokemon as easy as the blue mouse-like one. With it's job done, Abra settled down a little, floating beside it's trainer as Cyllene picked up the pokeball Jaune had just thrown. "Now that that is out of the way, I must ask, just who are you, exactly" she said as she used a tone Jaune was familiar with.

'What the heck, is this woman a second Professor Goodwitch?' he thought, seeing her demenour, the fact that she, or rather the Pokemon beside her had the same abilities as the blonde's semblance or the fact she spoke very bluntly and matter-of-factly. "...Right, uh, I'm Jaune" he introduced himself, nervously before he was saved by Professor Laventon.

"Right, I should probably explain this all then, you see... Jaune had offered to help me catch those Pokemon" he explained as Cyllene quirked another eyebrow. "He was helpful in helping us retreive them. Now hopefully we won't have to worry abot them wandering off and getting into trouble, wouldn't you say?" he asked as Cyllene nodded.

"True, I must say I'm impressed at how you handled catching that Rowlett" she said but frowned slightly. "But still, to entrust a stranger with newly arrived Pokemon." That was a very good point, why had Laventon entrusted him so blindly. "As a matter of fact, you do not look like you're around here" she said, inspecting the blonde in question. After a moment, she finally decided to ask him what he was a little afraid of. "Tell me... John, was it? Just who are you?"

"Uh, well... I guess I'm just a wandering traveler, looking for a way home" he said with a nervous tone. It wasn't a lie, not at all. He was looking for a way back to Remnant, that was why he went out with Juniper instead of staying with the Paper Pleasers. "I'm just... kind of lost?" he admited as Cyllene seemed curious at that.

"A little lost? I take it you aren't from Hisui?" she asked while Jaune said nothing. Looking at Abra, she quirked another eyebrow. "Tell me, you said you were looking for a way home? Where exactly is your home?" she asked again as Jaune frowned.

"I don't even know anymore. One moment we was camping in the forest, and next thing I know I wake up on the beach with Juniper unconsious" he said, a frown on his face. "...Ugh, I know it's hard to believe but-"

"Is that the truth?" she interupted him. Jaune was taken aback at that, seeing the genuine curiousity in her tones. "Camping in the forest, but fell onto the beach?" she asked as Jaune was confused. Laventon however seemed just as confused as well.

"Uh, I don't think I fell?" he asked, not wanting to bring up the strange ring, the strange symbol that was currently hidden on his hand, or anything regarding the Ever After. "But something close, I guess? ...Why?" he asked nervously, worried she wouldn't believe him, or worse, think he was crazy. A moment passed as she turned towards Abra before nodding.

"I see, very well... I believe you" she said simply as Jaune, Juniper and Laventon looked at her in shock.

"You believe him?" Laventon asked confused.

"You believe me?" he asked, just as confused.

"Don't be too shocked, my Abra can simply tell when you're lying or not. If you were lying, I guarantee you would know" she said with a slight glare, reminding him again of the deputy headmistress of Beacon. Seeing Abra and seeing what it could do, it was safe to say he knew just how he would know. "And as much as I hate to say it... it would confirm that sighting an hour ago" she said with a frown.

"Sighting? Wait, you don't mean?" Laventon asked as Jaune was confused, only to see them both look at him.

"Wait, why are you both looking at me?" he asked, worried as he instinctually took a step back. Cyllene closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Laventon looked worried.

"Right, well... you see, one of the members of the Security Corps, mentioned an hour ago that she thought she saw something fall from the sky..." the professor began, hesitantly choosing the right words. "and that something looked like a human" he finished, Jaune staring dumbly.

"What?" he asked simply as Cyllene recomposed herself.

"Yes, according to her report, she claimed that a, and in her words, a man fell from the sky, and out of the space-time rift. And since then had asked to go explore it. However, we didn't take her seriously" she said, somewhat awkwardly at that. Jaune however still looked confused.

"The space-time, what now?" he asked as both adults looked at him, their gazes going from him to another direction entirely. Jaune silently said nothing for a moment, before he saw what they meant, a chilling grip grabbing hold of his heart as he stared in a mix of disbelief and fear. "W-what is that?" he asked as he looked up towards the mountain barely visible from the small clearing of the path. Atop the mountain like a circling cloud, was well, a cloud of dark smoke of some kind, flashes of white lightning coming down from it on occasion. All with a very noticeable crack in the middle of it. Jaune said nothing, Jaune couldn't say anything.

His mind, however, could mentally scream something. He had fallen, again. Into another world, again. Oh yes, he might not have made a sound, other than a small squeak of some sort. However, if Abra could read his mind, it would have heard something much more thunderous and raging.

'Not again, not again...' he thought in a bit of deserved hysterics, laughing loudly in denial. "Not again, not this shit again, hahahaha~ God damn it, not this shit again!"

"...I know this is a little shocking but-" Cyllene began to say, calmly in hopes to prevent him from over-reacting. Not a second later, all four of them, people and Pokémon alike, were interrupted by a very loud cry from a very enraged, very annoyed, and very fed-up, Jaune Arc.

And with that, Chapter 2 is done. Sorry for the short chapter but I digress. I hope you enjoyed it and you all have a good day.