Author's Note:

Inspired by that Muv-Luv game collab with Eighty-Six. I felt so bad for the kids getting sent to another world that is just as bad as theirs. I thought, why couldn't they get sent somewhere nicer? Like…the Pokémon world? And so this idea was born.

Though this is a crossover, I've written it so you don't need any prior knowledge of Pokemon to understand this fic. It's probably best if you know a bit about Eighty-Six though, at least through where the anime ended. To be precise, I imagine this taking place midway through Chapter 2 of Volume 4 of the light novels, shortly after Lena came to the Federacy.

Lastly, the region where they got transported to is going to be original to this story, just because I can't be bothered to look up what Pokemon appear in what area. And the Pokemon I've chosen for the characters are going to be mostly ones I like and am familiar with, because I haven't played some of the more recent games, sorry!

Chapter 1: Forest (Part 1)

It happened in the blink of an eye. One moment they were walking in the halls of Rustkammer base, and the next, the six of them were standing within a deep forest.

At first, they thought that they had somehow found themselves in the forest near the base. But they quickly concluded that this was not the case. The biggest clue: the flora and fauna. This place was absolutely crawling with strange creatures that they had never seen nor heard of before. Unfamiliar birds sat in the treetops. Alarmingly large insects crawled on the ground. There were even plants with faces that squealed and ran away when one unknowingly touched one.

"…I don't think we're in the Federacy anymore, guys," Kurena said, voicing their thoughts aloud.

Of course, for the five surviving members of the Spearhead Squadron, surviving in the wilderness surrounded by monstrous enemies wasn't anything new. The main difference this time was that they didn't have their Juggernauts with them. Also, Lena was with them too.

She stood there, looking out of place and vulnerable in her short skirted uniform and pumps. Fortunately, the rest of them had been on their way to training, so they wore their flight suits, which were much more suited for roughing it in the woods compared to their military uniforms. This also meant that they had their knives and hand guns on them, so at least they had something to protect themselves with, though ammunition was limited.

Lena clutched her head, moaning. "To go missing when I've only just been transferred to the Federacy…what a disgrace…"

"At least you're not the only one," Kurena said.

"Yeah, I don't think they'll jump to assume that all six of us just deserted out of nowhere," Raiden added. "They'll suspect something happened to us."

"If it was only Shin and Lena, maybe they'd believe it…" Anju mused.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shin frowned.

"More importantly, are there Legion here?" Theo asked. "Because if there are, we're kinda screwed without our Juggernauts."

They all turned to Shin. He narrowed his eyes in concentration, listening for voices.

After a minute, he shook his head. "It's not the Legion…at least, I don't think it is."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Shin looked around. "Actually, it's really quiet here. I can hear something, but it's…soft. Not screaming; not even mechanical noise."

Instead of screams and wails, it was more like a quiet whisper. But he could not make out the words, if there were even words at all.

"Not sure if that's good news or bad news," Raiden sighed. "Well, even if it's not the Legion, we should keep our guard up."

"Right," Lena nodded. "First, we need to figure out where we are. To do that, we'll need to leave the forest and hopefully find some signs of civilization."

"And try not to approach any of these new creatures unnecessarily," Shin said to everyone. "Just because they're not Legion doesn't mean they can't be dangerous."

"But what about food?" Kurena asked. "We'll need to eat something."

"We'll have to keep an eye out for anything that looks edible," Anju agreed. "We don't know how long of a journey this will be."

"I get the feeling it's gonna be pretty damn long," Theo sighed.

"I'll…leave the matter of food to the rest of you," Lena said sheepishly. "I wanted to try hunting, but I didn't think it would be this soon…"

"Yeah, we'll handle it." Raiden clicked his tongue. "We probably can't afford to use our guns unless we absolutely need to. So we'll have to improvise weaponry."

"Spears it is, then!" Kurena promptly began looking for a good stick.

They set off through the forest. Shin and Raiden were in the lead, clearing a path; Kurena and Anju were next, carving sticks into spears as they walked; Lena followed after, just trying her best not to trip on the undergrowth; and Theo was in the rear, watching out for any threats.

"A sling would be nice too," Kurena said, eyeing a bird overhead. "Then I could catch stuff easy."

Anju nodded. "True. Maybe we can start making cords."

"Or we could use that! You know, Lena's belts!"

"Huh?" Lena said, taken off guard.

Kurena turned, pointing at Lena's garter belts. "Those! Then we wouldn't have to make stuff ourselves!"

"HUH?!" Lena turned red.

Anju smothered a laugh. The boys stayed silent, pretending they didn't hear this very loud exchange taking place right next to them.

"I-I suppose…if you need them…" Lena mumbled, self-consciously tugging at her stockings.

"Well, let's see how we do with the spears first," Anju said. "Lena is underdressed as it is without removing even more clothing from her."

"Okay~"

The boys remained resolutely silent, fighting against whatever mental image this might have given them.

After a few hours of walking, they came across a stream. Shin and Raiden stopped in their tracks.

"We found a water source," Shin announced, turning to the others. "Let's set up camp."

Lena blinked. "Already? But it's still light out, and we've barely made any progress."

"There's no telling how large this forest is or if we're heading in the right direction. And we have a lot to do before nightfall."

"When it gets dark in the forest, it gets dark," Anju explained. "You don't want to be caught unprepared."

Lena looked disappointed, but she nodded, deciding to trust in their expertise.

They all relieved their thirst at the stream, then found a spot to make camp a short distance away. Then they split up into two groups. The first group, consisting of Shin, Raiden, and Kurena, set out to find food for dinner. The remaining group, Theo, Anju, and Lena, stayed behind to prepare the campsite. Their first task: gathering firewood.

Anju quickly took Lena under her wing, as the latter didn't even know what kind of wood she needed to be looking for, and Theo wouldn't be as patient in explaining. Fortunately, Lena was a quick learner, and she even seemed to enjoy herself finding dry branches on the forest floor.

Smiling, Anju recalled all the things they'd said about their new Handler, back before they actually got to know her. That she was a naive, sheltered princess. And sure enough, Lena fit the description. But what she lacked in experience, she made up for with enthusiasm, a desire to prove herself, and sheer nerve. She really ended up defying all their expectations…

Just then, Lena let out a scream.

Anju whipped around to see her scrambling over, dropping her firewood in her haste. "What's wrong?!"

"A-A-A-Anju!" Lena cowered behind her, pointing. "It's a b-b-big bug!"

Aww. But she was still a sheltered princess after all. Anju chuckled. Maybe she should have traded places with Shin. It was a shame he had to miss this.

Anju turned to look where Lena was pointing and recoiled. "OH my— that is big!"

A red, spiky worm-like creature crawled toward them. It was the size of a large cat. Perhaps not the largest insect creature they'd seen so far, but still far larger than they were used to, and too close for comfort. It hissed at them, spitting gooey white threads into the air.

Both girls shrank back. "Gross!"

"Wh-What do we do, Anju?!" Lena cried.

Anju considered using her gun. But was it really necessary against this threat? What if they came across something more dangerous later on? She needed to conserve her ammo.

Coming to a quick decision, Anju swung her leg back, unleashing a full force kick. "Hyaaa!"

The worm creature went flying, disappearing into the treetops with a wail. Anju shuddered at the sensation of her boot sinking into the creature's soft underbelly, but since it didn't come back or retaliate, it seemed she had successfully warded it off.

Anju turned back to Lena, forcing a smile. "S-See, that wasn't so bad, was it? It was just a bug!"

"Y-Yes, how silly of me…"

They laughed nervously.

The scavenging party returned by the time they had finished preparing the campfire.

"We tried hunting," Shin said, holding up the carcass of a large squirrel-like creature with long ears.

"We saw some deer things too, but they got away," Raiden added, a few purple-furred rodent creatures thrown over his shoulder.

"And look!" Kurena held up a dead creature that looked like a giant cherry with a face, with a second smaller cherry attached to its stem (also with a face). "I got this too, and it's so juicy and sweet! You've gotta try it!"

Lena looked queasy. "But…it has a face…"

Kurena rolled her eyes. "Most animals do, Lena. Here, have a bite." She sliced off a chunk of the smaller cherry head with her knife and handed it over.

Hesitantly, Lena bit into it. Then her eyes lit up. "You're right! It's delicious!"

"Right?" Kurena grinned.

Raiden got to work right away butchering the squirrel and rodents, while Theo got the fire going. Anju put herself in charge of cooking, and after some thought, she decided to slice up the larger head of the cherry creature, while using the juice of its smaller head as a glaze for the meat.

Shin, Lena, and Kurena were deliberately left out of the dinner preparations so they either just watched or busied themselves collecting more firewood.

Dusk came sooner than expected, and sure enough, the forest quickly grew dim, with only patches of twilight sky visible in the tree canopy.

Lena let out a sneeze.

Shin turned to look at her.

She rubbed her arms, looking a bit embarrassed. "It's getting a little chilly, isn't it?"

At once, Shin took off his jacket and handed it to her. "Please wear this."

"Huh? N-No, I couldn't! You need it!"

"Please. I'm fine. If anything, I feel hot in this."

Lena blushed. "Yes, I suppose you do…run warm…" She hesitated, then shyly took the offered jacket and put it on. "Th-Thank you."

It was big on her, draping over her thin form and covering her down to her thighs. In effect, it looked almost as if she was wearing nothing but the jacket and her stockings. And on top of that, her flushed cheeks and bashful expression made the whole ensemble look quite suggestive.

When he realized this, Shin looked away in a hurry. He got the feeling he'd just seen something he shouldn't have.

Across the campfire, the others watched this with mixed reactions.

"Oh my," Anju said with a knowing smile.

Raiden whistled.

"They do know we're still here, right?" Theo muttered.

Kurena just scowled.

And at last, their meal was ready. They were all famished by now, so the tantalizing smells of food cooking over the campfire had gotten their stomachs growling. Of course, there was a chance they might get food poisoning, but it was a risk they would have to take.

They dug in. Meat skewered on sticks with a fruit glaze, and grilled slices of fruit creature that tasted both sweet and savory at the same time. It was better than any of them had expected.

When they finished eating, they all sat back, bellies full and satisfied. They stared up at the dark treetops or at the fire, minds wandering and reflecting on the day.

"…I wonder how we got here," Lena murmured to herself.

She was met with silence. This was one of many uncomfortable questions that they were all trying not to think too hard about, because there were no easy answers. Even the Legion weren't advanced enough to teleport people to some strange world. And the question of Why? That was even more unsettling to ponder.

So they let it hang in the air, unanswered.

It was Shin's turn to take watch for the night.

He stared into the gloom of the forest as the others slept around him. The voice he had heard earlier today, that he'd been hearing all day, had grown closer once night fell. Now, it was almost upon them, yet there was no rustling among the undergrowth or any other sound to betray its approach. Not even the Legion were this quiet.

"I can hear you there," Shin said under his breath. "What are you?"

There was a long pause. And then it suddenly appeared before him.

This creature (or perhaps apparition was a more appropriate descriptor?) levitated in the air, a phantom wearing a skull-like mask and a black reaper's robe. Behind its mask floated a single, glowing red eye.

No wonder it made no noise. And it even had the ability to turn invisible.

"…A reaper?" Shin smiled wryly. "Have you come to take our souls? Or…are you the one who brought us here?"

The creature didn't reply. It just stared back at him, its red eye drifting from one eye socket to the other.

Strangely, despite its ghastly appearance, he felt no fear. He just couldn't sense any hostility from it. If he had to guess, it was curious. Of them? Of him?

"Are you going to give us any trouble?"

This time, in lieu of a reply, the creature floated up to the tree branch above him, appearing to perch there. It gazed up at the night sky, bright stars twinkling down at them from between the trees.

It was just a hunch. But at that moment, Shin wondered if it might just be lonely.