Waking up again saw me feeling much better than before. I still felt the onset of panic I felt whenever I realized that I was in a Pokèball, but after a moment, I was actually able to gather my thoughts, something that had not been the case in a while.

Where am I?

As memories ran through my mind, I cringed. My memories were hazy at best nowadays, but... fighting, fighting, fighting. That was the constant, ever since I broke free of my egg three years ago in this accursed Riolu form.

More memories tickled against my mind. Something about an attack on a Pokèmon Center?

No, wait. Me attacking a Pokèmon Center. Oh fuck. And then... a double KO between me a Gabite. For some reason, the image of Cynthia and her Garchomp comes to mind, but that doesn't look right. I've become frighteningly good at violence, but I'm hardly Champion material.

And the gang that had stolen my egg... I think they were attacked, which is the reason I was in a Center at all.

Where does that leave me, though?

I've already gathered that Sinnoh is hardly cuddly and cushy as represented in the anime. Do they put down Pokèmon who attack humans, as a necessity?

That's a frightening thought. I gotta get out of here.

Testing the limits of my Pokeball, I'm surprised to find that I'm not trapped at all. With that in mind, I project myself outwards, data turning into matter as I spill out of the Pokéball. Everything intact?

As I check myself over, I realize just how much I've missed having a moment where I didn't immediately feel in danger for my life. Long-healed scars crisscross my body in interesting patterns, with the latest addition being a set of jagged marks around my right arm that feel tender to the touch and where fur has yet to grow over.

I'm in some sort of... enclosed garden, it appears, my ball seemingly discarded there. I try to understand what the thought process behind just leaving me here is, before shrugging and deciding that it's not in my best interest to look at a gift horse in the mouth.

There are several trees to provide shade and a river that goes through a windmill- or is it just a regular mill? It looks like a hybrid of both- that is connected through a wall to a sleek, modern-looking structure.

I close my eyes and try to feel out if I can sense anyone's aura nearby. It is at that moment that I realize there are tons of aura sources nearby, and I instinctively move to hide in one of the trees before resuming my search. This place is brimming with life. As I slowly pinpoint the sources of aura, I find that there are three humans and more than two dozen Pokémon.

I swallow the bile rising in my throat as I try to calm myself down. And yet... while most of the auras are just normal, probably belonging to wild or pet Pokémon at best, and two of the humans are just regular fellows, but... I feel a sense of crushing despair just from being in the vicinity of seven auras in this place. Six Pokémon and one human- they do not give a vibe of aggression or menace, but... even from this far away I can feel the restrained power to crush me like an ant.

I reach up to grip my tassels, squeezing my eyes as I try to gather my thoughts. What does it all mean? Did I actually get caught by a Champion? Why?

...does it matter? I can just. Leave. The garden is walled, but hardly trouble for my physical abilities. Yeah, I just need to get away so I can finally pull myself together in peace, and I'll see from there.

Plan made, I find the nearest point where the garden spills into a street, and start booking it, Quick energy carrying my body at speeds I'd have thought unimaginable to travel under my own power, back when I was human.

Just as I'm about to vault over the wall, I grind to a halt with a spray of dirt as I spot something that was not there a moment ago, and I feel my lips split into an angry snarl as a purple cat-like Pokémon lays languidly on the wall, staring at me.

"Leaving so soon? You haven't even met the person who brought you here." The massively powerful Espeon looks at me like one might look at a particularly interesting insect.

Even if it wasn't leagues more powerful than me, fighting a psychic type is a recipe for trouble. "That was the plan. But you're not gonna let me leave, are you?"

"Not with that attitude." The Espeon chortles. "And I do mean that literally. Right now, you look more like a rabid Houndoom than a member of a proud species such as Lucarios. Who's to tell us that you won't start stirring trouble the moment you're out like you did prior to being caught?"

"Nothing will happen as long as I'm allowed to leave peacefully."

"And then what?" Espeon asks. "You leave, find yourself as a wild Pokémon, and go to live your life. Are you going to terrorize the Pokémon of this forest if they don't bow to your whims? Kill every trainer you come across who tries to capture you?"

"You don't-"

"Know that? You presume much. I know much more about you than you seem to know about yourself, human." My eyes widened. How-? "It is simple, really. You wear the darkness in your heart like armor to shelter yourself; even now I can feel that hateful miasma rolling off of you. Reading you is practically child's play."

My Pokémon ability was being unable to hesitate or be stunned during combat, where a moment's hesitation could mean death. Yet somehow, I found myself speechless, completely dazed by his words.

What broke the spell was not Espeon speaking up again, but someone else behind me in a husky, exasperated tone of voice. "Would it be too much to ask that you do not haze every newcomer?"

Behind me stood the physical manifestation of incoming calamity, a white-furred canine with a bladed horn on his head, red eyes, and a severe look.

"Yes," Espeon replied, not even missing a beat. "I'm bored! The trip to Kalos was fine and all, but now we're back in boring old Sinnoh and I don't even have my pal Lopunny to bully because she's too busy kicking the challengers around!" He cried dramatically.

Absol rolled his eyes at that. "Must be absolutely dreadful."

"I knoooooow." Espeon stretched. "Well, anyways, I held him still for you to catch up to your fellow human. If you let him go and he kills someone, I'm telling Lucas it's on your head. Ta ta!" Espeon meowed, before simply blinking out of existence.

I blinked my eyes, before turning back towards Absol. "Fellow human?" I asked, wariness and trepidation in equal parts surging through me.

"Indeed. I was once human as well, before becoming an Absol."

"...how?"

"Are you asking how I found you, or how I became an Absol?"

"Both!" I threw my hands up in the air out of sheer exasperation.

"Very well." He chuffed in amusement. "I was a trainer, once. Quite skilled too; according to my friends and the Gym Leaders I fought, I was the most likely to become the next champion of the Kalos region."

My excitement at hearing that dimmed, and my ears drooped. He wasn't... quite like me, then. Though his aura bubbled with curiosity, he did not ask and carried on. "At the peak of my journey, I fought with a man called Lysandre, who wished to eliminate all life on the planet." Absol closed his eyes. "He succeded. When I woke up again, here in this world, I was born like this. By the time I'd gathered my bearings and amassed a certain strength, through interactions with humans and listening to gossip and the news, I found out that Dawn had just become the champion of Sinnoh. That meant that I had months, at best, before Lysandre enacted his plan. Imagine my surprise when I found that he was a boy, barely old enough to begin his journey, and I was caught soon after by one Professor Koki, traveling with his assistant Rowan to learn about Mega Evolution in Kalos."

"But that's..."

"Wrong? Backwards? Topsy-turvy?" He chuckled ruefully. "From what we remember, definitely. But it was at this moment that I realized my world was not the same as the one I knew. But the sense of impending calamity I felt, which I once attributed to Lysandre, had to be something else.

"As for how I found you, frankly, it was a matter of luck. I was content to live my life at Lucas' side, here; he is a remarkable trainer and an even more remarkable man. Even his loss to the current champion was by a hair, and after having gotten both their measures, I can safely say they're equals. When I found out that Cynthia was sending over a Pokèmon, I was merely curious- but when Lucas was examining you, I just felt a kinship, and Espeon reading your mind confirmed it."

"He read my mind?"

"As a necessary precaution, for if you had resulted... unstable, as a result of the abuse you suffered. Admittedly, Espeon claims that you are... not sane, even by human standards. But I persuaded him to allow me to talk to you." He paused for a moment, before sighing. "If I had not, then you would have likely been moved over to a facility that accommodates that sort of thing."

The picture that sentence conjured in my mind caused me to snort bitterly. "Like a slaughterhouse?"

Absol looked horrified. "What- no? Why would you think that?!" He looked genuinely put off by my remark. "I meant more like... a psychological expert, or something to that effect."

I was getting more of a picture of the type of person Absol was- scratch that, I was getting more of a picture of who he actually was, from my memories. I shook my head. "Look- Calem, is it?" His eyes widened at me recognizing him, but he nodded. "You're a good kid, honestly. I've just had a really shitty... well, entire life in this world. I'm just a little on edge."

"So I've gathered. Rowan told us that he and Cynthia found you in Team Might's grasp."

"...whose?"

"The crooks that had held the illegal Pokémon fighting ring. They've been a plague on this region for a couple of years now. Not unlike Team Rocket or Team Flare- not that the latter seems to exist, in this world."

"What about Cy-" I began asking but sprung back to my feet, not having realized when I'd sat down to a cross-legged position, as I felt someone approach us. The strong human.

"Ah, I see you've been making friends, Absol." The man smiled, and I blinked. I remembered Lucas' design from Gen 4, and this man... was only slightly reminiscent of that.

Like Kukui, or perhaps even more so, this Lucas was built like a brick shithouse. As a Pokémon, I'd gotten used to a higher standard of power over basically any human, and yet, I wasn't sure I was physically stronger than him. The lab coat he was wearing hid absolutely nothing of his form, and work pants and boots were apparent below that. Perhaps peculiarly, he was wearing a red hard hat, rather than the beret I remembered, and the glasses he wore looked more protective than sight-enhancing. If you'd told me this guy was a Rock-type specialist, I would not have found it hard to believe.

"You could say that," Calem commented coolly before turning towards me. "Ease up, will you? If you've got to be worried about someone biting, it'll probably be me."

I huffed, only slightly backing down from the defensive position I'd taken at Lucas' arrival. The man didn't seem to mind.

"And what about our new guest? Have you been holding up well?"

I stared at him for a moment, before shrugging with a scowl. "I'm hungry. And parched."

Calem blinked. "There's fruit in the bushes, and the water in the river is clean. Why didn't you have your fill?"

"No clue what's good to eat or will kill me, considering I was born as those bastards' tool. And where I lived before, drinking river water was a quick way to the hospital." As the Absol absorbed this information, I thought to myself about how to communicate this information to the awaiting Professor. Thankfully, my stomach came in clutch, choosing that moment to rumble in displeasure.

Lucas rubbed his head. "Right, of course! New meetings are always best in front of food. Are you ok to step inside, or would you rather I bring the food outside? It would also be best for me to run a check-up on you." I narrowed my eyes at that. "Only if you're comfortable, of course! Rowan's Heal Ball and whatever checkups Joy ran on you are likely enough, but given the cocktail of drugs Team Might typically employs on their Pokémon, I'd be remiss if I didn't ensure you were alright."

"...fine." I allowed as he began leading us inside. I was on a hair trigger as we passed other Pokémon and what I presumed to be more lab assistants, but they did nothing other than glance at us curiously or say hi to Lucas and Calem. The inside of the building was much as I imagined, though; a large room with incomprehensible machinery, a series of tables with a central one, and generally a workspacey vibe, though surprisingly tidy; it didn't look like much work happened here.

Rather than lingering in the workspace, though, we actually moved through and went up a series of stairs, winding up in a more homely-looking place; this space had a kitchen, a bathroom, and a bedroom that most likely belonged to the professor.

"Now, where did I put the fighting type foo-" he began asking himself, but I moved past him to head for the fridge. It was decently stocked, and I began pulling out several items. "Hey, that's not Pokémon food!"

I looked at him, feeling more than a bit petty. "Too bad," I said, sticking my tongue out and drawing a huff of laughter from Absol. Food acquired, I marched back to the table, and placed everything down- or up, since I was so tiny, before walking over to grab appliances. I pondered about the cleanness of my paws, but that was easily solved by jumping up to the sink and washing them. I blinked as I noticed clumps of fur come off, realizing that I really hadn't done any bodily washing to speak of aside from being hit with water-type moves. I wasn't dirty, but I wasn't as clean as I would enjoy, I realized.

Oh well. It didn't kill me until now.

Paws clean and clumps of fur removed from the drain, I grabbed a knife, before going to make myself a True American Sandwich, of course, by just shoving way too much stuff between two freshly cut slices of bread. By this point, Lucas' stammering protests had ceased, replaced by confusion and then sheer interest.

By the time I was done, I was salivating in anticipation.

"You lucked out so bad on the genetic lottery. I'd kill for the ability to make my own sandwiches." Calem huffed out. "At least you made some for everyone." I glanced at him in disbelief, and he huffed. "Dude, that sandwich is like. Half as long as you are tall. How are you planning on eating it alone?"

I turned back around to look at my foot-long sandwich. Hm. That's true.

"Well, I'll be. I've seen some Pokémon working in kitchens, but typically they're psychic or normal types. You're one smart bugger, aren't you?" Lucas asked, grabbing the knife I'd placed down and cutting the sandwich into three parts. "Mr. Akagi! Make sure to send me today's camera recordings!"

I rolled my eyes at that as one of the assistants shouted an affirmative, but began eating my sandwich. Compared to the kibble I was fed on the regular, this might as well have been the food of the gods. Somehow, though, I didn't think Dialga, Palkia, Giratina and Arceus ate sandwiches.

"So, Riolu," Lucas asked once we were done eating and drinking. I was still on guard, but admittedly less so. The food I'd made myself, so there was no way it was poisoned. "It's clear you are used to domestic tasks. Would you mind coming down so we can take a few tests?" he asked, and I pondered it over, before sighing. "Fine. But no touching."

"Great!" Lucas said, clearly not having understood the last part.

Ultimately, one of his assistants took my height and weight, and measured my breathing (I held the end of the stethoscope myself). Then it was time for my bloodwork.

"Espeon!" the professor called out. "Would you mind teleporting out a sample of Riolu's blood?"

Do what now?

Espeon appeared from… somewhere, before grinning maliciously at me. "Hold still."

A moment later, the vial the professor was holding up just spontaneously filled with blood, and what the fuck.

"He can do that?!" I breathed out, feeling faint while also trying to not start swinging.

"Of course! That's what we do to naughty Pokémon when they get too murdery, we teleport all of their blood out, nyahahah!"

"It does require him to hold you still and a great deal of concentration. It's not really viable for combat." Calem deconfirmed, and in response, one of the pieces of cheese on the table flew in his face. "Party pooper." Espeon complained, before vanishing again. I felt nauseous, and like I needed to hit something at the same time.

Lucas was too busy placing the blood vial in a machine, before moving onto a display. "It's as I thought…"

Trying to distract myself from the blood teleportation, I followed over to look at him. "What?"

"B-15, Rage Powder, Epinephrine, Salandine, Codeine, a whole bunch of steroids… if they had it, you got it. Tsk." His aura rippled with anger, and I gulped. "Thankfully Joy and Rowan's Heal Ball did a good job of removing everything that doesn't belong from your system, so what's left are only traces, but your natural levels are going to be off for a while. You were being bred for fighting, and not the sporting kind." The muscular man turned to me. "I know I'm asking a lot of you, but would you be alright with providing us a demonstration of your moves, just to make sure everything is in order?"

I looked at Calem, who did a sort of canine shrug, so I shrugged at Lucas in return.

"Good. Let's get outside, we can get the tests done one on one." And so, out of the laboratory we went. An Infernape began following after Lucas, cheekily grabbing his safety helmet and putting it on, where the hat began leaking out fire in a central jet of flame that vaguely resembled a mohawk. "Ta-da!" He blinked. "Hold, on, who's the newbie? Do we fight him?" I tensed, but Calem came to the rescue.

"No, he's the Pokémon of one of the assistants. Master Lucas is checking on him to ensure he's healthy before sending him back."

My temper rose at that. "Hey! I didn't consent to that! I don't exactly feel like being anyone's property."

The Absol turned to stare at me for a moment, before trotting up to whisper in my ear. "I understand that you're not happy about the arrangement with Cynthia. But I beg of you; I do not know why my senses have been going off so hard since birth, but I know that this world teeters on the edge of calamity. I do not wish to see it destroyed like mine did. Please help her, considering she's the most likely candidate we know to be able to make a difference."

And damn it, I didn't quite have an answer for that.

I don't like this one bit.

Professor Lucas Koki and (part) of his team! He's inspired by fanmade designs I have seen online. He definitely specializes in underground digging. Also, Calem! Poor boy got AU'd into becoming an Absol :(

If you wish to support my writing, you can check me out on the place of patrons where I post five chapters ahead. Alternatively, you can always PM me in private if you wish to commission something written where we can hash out the details. Otherwise, a review is still more than enough, and I can't be thankful enough for it.

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Drink water, stay awesome. Nick of Name, out. :)