Red eyes paralysed me. Despite being so far away, just a blip on the crag jutting upwards, unruffled by the torrential downpour, and the flashes of lightning, with thunder drowning my ears, I could see the beast's eyes just fine.
Clothes hugged my body, and my hair was plastered to my head. The distant silhouette was illuminated by the lightning flash. The howling of wind, the sound of branches breaking, my senses numb from the cold and continuous hits of the rain, but all I could pay attention to was the eyes I knew were staring at me. My sudden awareness, all brought by the recognition of this beast, something I knew should not have existed, but painfully opened up my mind to things I wasn't aware of before. It knew me and I, it.
Then fate suckerpunched me in the face with flailing limbs.
Said fate, chittered at me, waking me up from my memories. Ledyba had the habit of waking me up just before dawn, earlier than anyone else in the household.
Giving me his cute weird bug smiles, he hooked his arms around my head as a makeshift hat while I began getting started on my morning routine, putting on my usual outfit, and putting away my notebook that fell off my dresser from the sudden wake up, my mind naturally went towards my dreams, of the memory when everything came back to me.
I had lived a previous life on another world called Earth. Not this Earth, but another. It was another world, where I first lived, and had my brain cells hopelessly hooked into the Pokemon franchise.
I don't know what happened to bring me here, to reincarnate me in this world, but I almost don't want to know. Ignorance can be a bliss, and if it was one of those Isekai tropes of getting hit by a truck? No thanks.
I was just a normal kid, in this world. Looking back, I can recognise things pre-realisation that was me seeping in, like the crayon drawings of Pokemon my Mom thought I was making up based on Grandpa's stories, saw when we went down to the markets or was just wholesale mucking around. But looking at those treasured childhood drawings, I could see the child-scribbled resemblance to pokemon that a kid stuck in small town Johto would have no way of knowing.
I cringed at the green noodle surrounded by blue and red blobs proudly displayed on the fridge. Mortifying.
Going towards our lounge, I made my way to our fireplace and rapped on the metal cover. Ledyba chittered at the now waking-up Sluggy from his sleep in the smouldering embers. Peering his yellow eyes at me, the slugma glowed a bright red, and I could feel the heat coming off him. That would warm up the house and ward off the morning chill. I grabbed some coal out of the basket, to give to him as a morning snack, and by his appreciative hum, I knew he enjoyed it. So cute.
Ledyba started patting at my forehead with his two front limbs. I double tapped slightly at his shell with my fingers.
"I know, I know, food time"
Ledyba gave the cutest cheer that never failed to give me a thrill. He was too cute.
When I was 8, before I had all my memories, I was playing outside by the woods, when a sudden freak storm hit. Freezing, soaked, with poor visibility, is when I got hit by my memories like a sledgehammer, and a flailing ledyba- which had been separated from its swarm by the harsh winds- clocking me in the face.
As sudden as the storm hit, it also died down according to my grandpa who found me knocked out with Ledyba thoroughly stuck onto me.
While my family worried, the sudden violent storm, the fainting, the following visit to the Pokecenter, and what they assumed to be trauma-given maturity in the aftermath, they were just happy I was alright.
The Storm was also talked about on the radio station too. With how short it was, but how it ripped up tree's and all sorts of damage, people were worried and pokemon were quiet in the aftermath.
No wonder, I snorted. Any legendary visit would do that, even one of the roaming beasts. Something about that, maybe because it wasn't a creature that could be so easily linked to my old world, like the birds, rodents and bugs, that just woke up my memories.
Did people know it was legendary? Legendaries were mostly legends here. The older folk who were pious would say it was in the realm of the divine who could cause something like that, but a majority didn't give old stories much consideration. Some thought it was one of the old beasts coming from the mountain, briefly breaching the surface, only to dip below the depths again. Or just a sudden freak storm.
Grabbing our tupperware container full of our breakfast, I slipped outside. Climbing up the house, I went to our favourite spot on the shingles, to watch the sun rise. Ledyba and I eagerly snacked on our dried berries yogurt mix, as we finally saw the sun rising from the east, the golden gleams hitting the peaks of the mountain range that separated Kanto from Johto.
Looking to the side, you could barely see the blinding white tip of Mt. Silver. It was mind bogglingly huge for how far away it was, and the fact you could still see past the mountain range was terrifying. It was the tallest mountain I'd ever seen in person, despite the vast distance from it. It was crazy.
The sky became brighter, and with it more sounds of life. You could hear the rustling of the sunflora, and the chirping of the pidgey. With the turn into the spring, there was more life, I could also recognise the more distant sound of a ledyba swarm. Like a clock work I could hear the house below wake up, and a long-suffering Grandpa start to below.
"Kris! Get down here!"
It was funny. Already finished with our food, I clipped the tupperware container shut, and Ledyba fluttered up with his wings, and hooked himself back onto my head.
"Okay Grandpa!"
One thing you never realise before it happens is how boring things were before the internet. You had to go out and actually find yourself things to do. You were limited by what games, what books you already had at home, and what you could pick up from the library. Living in a small town, and on the very outskirts it could barely be considered part of it? If pokemon didn't exist it would be a lot more boring.
The world wide web did exist, but it was still coming together, reminding me of the early 2000s. It's been there for awhile, but it's just starting to become more of the norm, and the world would suddenly and very rapidly transform. Sadly not soon enough.
Mom had just come down from her room in her usual overalls. Her tired face eyed me and grandpa sipping some tea.
Dropping down heavily on her hair, she motioned me to give her the usual charmander mug we put aside for her.
"Thanks Kris"
She seemed to go boneless in her chair, breathing in the cherry blossom tea.
"Ohh this is nice, thanks dad"
He just gave her a huff at that. His pokemon Boss 'Flora definitely took all the smiles in that relationship as it gave out a cheer at mom.
"Hey kiddo, want to help me and Ponyta today" she said, turning to me.
"No thanks mom! I got to pick up my delivery, Matt said it would definitely arrive today!"
"That's what he said yesterday dear. Go off then, you and Ledyba have fun."
Daily obligation to be there in the morning complete!
Mom gave a chuckle as me and Ledyba quickly ran into my room to grab my satchel, only to sprint back out.
"Bye Mom, bye Grandpa!", I belted out before I slammed the door a bit too hard. Ouch, Grandpa is not going to like that.
"Let's get out of here, partner!"
Sprinting down south towards the town proper, I could feel my blood pumping.
"To Cherrygrove!"
For one, Cherrygrove was a lot bigger than its familiar game counterpart. It was actually a small town, of a couple hundred people, and a few batches closer to the beach for those holiday-goers.
With the cherry blossom season in full-swing, the ground was a mix of white and pink hues from all the petals covering it. What also shattered me from preconceived notions was the pokemon life that was here. Jumpluffs, skiploom, and hoppip floating along the breeze, pidgey startled by our race to the Pokemart, with the bigger pidgeotto grooming their wings perched on tree branches.
I could hear the noise of caterpie, and many a sunkern scattering around, trying to hide from the bigger birds and even a bellossom cheerily dancing amidst the pink petals. I could even spot the occasional cherubi!
It smelled like spring, the dew of the morning and the blossoming flowers.
One of the local kids even swore he saw a strange pokemon, which sounded to me like a flabebe, however I couldn't find any after sleuthing with Ledyba.
One of the good things about having to walk or run everywhere, with a bug making home on your head is that you develop good stamina. I barely even register him, even though in the beginning carrying 10kgs sounded insane. This, I thought, must be the reason why Ash could casually pick up heavy pokemon.
It wasn't unusual for people to quickly get strong when there was something pushing them. My mom could easily pull apart and put together her market store herself every week, with just her ponyta to help travel back and forth with the cart.
So when arriving at the Pokemart, I was barely out of breath. Gathering myself, I stepped towards the doors which opened automatically.
"Hey Kris!"
Matt, in his usual white and blue uniform waved me over.
"I told you, your package would arrive today!"
"Yeah, after you said that nearly every day for a week!" I exclaimed.
"Well" he sighed. "It's not my fault is it? You're the one who decided to get it at this time" He gave me a lopsided smile.
"Well it was cheaper" I pouted while Ledyba gave me a reassuring pat on the head.
"Well that's why it took longer, you're the one who decided to take advantage of the Silph Crash. Can't blame you really. Cheaper, but deliveries have been all over the place since. Thankfully we got our latest stock of pokeballs and potions at the same time finally"
"Now here you go Missy, I got to get back to the all important job of making sure everywhere is where it should be. People should be coming in soon for their own packages. Normal people" he gave a pointed look, "that don't get up at awful-a-clock in the morning"
I happily took my package.
"You can't judge me~" I sing song'd and Ledyba hummed with me. "You're here too~!"
Matt gave me a deadpan stare.
"Because I have too. Now get out of here scamp"
What a loser, the sun has been up for nearly an hour now.
Giggling, I took my large package that looked almost comical and skipped out of the mart.
Dropping myself down on one of the benches alongside the walk path, I gestured at Ledyba. Hopping down from his perch on his head, one of his mitts glowed a pale blue that sliced open the box.
Inside, what I spent all my money on, from chores, and doing small jobs around town was all for this.
My usual notebooks, and stationery supplies I always found myself needing, but the real prize was the messenger bag. A genuine Silph Co. Dimensional Displacement bag
2, almost 3 weeks ago was the Silph Co. Rocket Takeover. It was also the day I found where I was in the general timeline. The actual continuity was a complete crapshot though.
And then less than a week later Team Rocket disbanded. It was a complete scandal, several scientists within Silph were found to be collaborating with Team Rocket. They League had even found evidence of the Silph Company's Executives making deals with them. The President had yet to resign, but the league was still circling them like sharks.
I could still remember the day when all the newspapers lining the stores, everyone glued to their newspapers or Radio announcing the Silph Takeover, Rocket takedown, and then the bold headlines of Corruption at Siph, deals with Rocket all happening within weeks shocking the neighbour regions.
Especially since Team Rocket was such an issue in both, though Kanto got hit the hardest due to being the headquarters of Silph, where the takeover took place, and the home of Giovanni and where it was most entrenched.
The public was horrified. The employees were ashamed. The League, enraged. The bonus of the controversy was that this bag was a lot cheaper than it otherwise would've been- and I would not have been able to order it this soon if it never happened.
Their products were going a lot cheaper then they ever had- to help buy back the goodwill of the public. Someone in their marketing team was probably scrambling to do something amidst this utter disaster.
The money I have been painstakingly saving up- with the occasional needed purchase of course- and a lucky nugget was now more than enough to get the bag, as well as the complimentary prizes within. What would usually be out of my reach, was within my grasp earlier than planned.
With shining eyes, I unzipped the bag, and Ledyba shoved his head in.
"Hey!"
I grabbed his legs.
"I'm also excited, let me have a look!"
His head popped back out and he let out an apology.
"Forgiven, now let me have a try"
He moved out of the way, and let me pop my head in.
"Oh wow that's strange, it actually feels uncomfortable to look at"
Popping my head back out, I shaked my head and smacked my cheeks.
"Okay Ledyba! That's enough of that!
Dimensional Bags were weird. They were bags, that had minor intention reading, that could tell what you wanted and you could put all sorts of strange things in it too- including a whole dang bicycle and then some.
I remember just goggling at a trainer passing through doing just that, casually popping out a bike that should in no way fit into there a couple months back.
Teleportation, healing tech, airships, dimensional warping, all that amazing technology that has the hallmarks of a sci-fi setting and yet it feels normal. The feeling of wonder that felt like a world crafted by Studio Ghibli, whimsical, medieval, normal yet advanced sci-fi tech was felt here with fanciful creatures of myth too.
It was fascinating.
Sticking my hand inside my new bag, I fished out the complimentary gifts within.
Ledyba let out a high pitched squeal at seeing the premier balls.
An official Pokeball! A really nice slick premier one at that. Ledyba understood why we had to budget before, as while we could afford to get a nicer pokeball for him, he knew we were saving up so long for this bag. It also felt nice he felt so happy being with me and finally retiring him from the old dented one Mom got for me. No shade on mom of course. It was "Good enough for a bug who spent most of their day stuck to your head anyway", and "perfectly acceptable amount of wear and tear". I just wanted something nice for my bff alright?
Most people had one or two pokemon partners, as companions in day-to-day life and didn't need pokeballs much. Since they're on the pricier side then they were on the games too, non-trainers or people who didn't really travel didn't see a need.
But with what's happened with Silph Co. everything has just suddenly become more affordable pokemon product wise. However, that wasn't the real prize. I fished out the dark blue Pokegear from the bag. A proper piece of technology- which was now mine. No borrowing my Mom's PC, nor hanging around the pokecenter to look up things.
Something just for me.
I flicked it open, and turned it on- the screen lightning up.
First business:
Theme check. It was more detailed than the games- allowing more customization.
I changed it to how I liked it- though I'd probably spend more time with more in-depth customization later. Probably go through the manual too then.
First the phone feature; I immediately put in the details of my landline.
Radio feature; Had preselected channels already there. Though there were also options to mess manually change the frequencies. It would also be really nice to listen to the Music Channel whenever I want to listen to music. I think that's what I missed most.
There was even a mode to record, and replay sounds which was very cool. A basic browser was on there for my internet needs, and most importantly for a pokemon fan such as myself was the map.
The entire Johto region, and a GPS to tell you where it is.
The cool thing about the Pokemon world is that everything is very rugged. Build to last, built to be in the path of a rhyhorn stampede and survive. Would last forever, and charge through either the dedicated charger, electric type pokemon, or even from the sun. This would be my best friend- if it wasn't for my actual best friend trying to eat my hair.
Closing the pokegear, and clipping it to my waist I gave a small smack to ledyba.
"Ledy…"
"Hey, knock it off, you know not to."
I grabbed his body with both of my hands, and flipped him around so we could be face to face.
His eyes were super cute, but I would not admit defeat! I would win this staring contest and assert dominance.
I would not lose, I am stronger than this, I am the best, I am a wi- "Hey Kris! I challenge you to a battle!"
In unison, Ledyba and I turned our heads towards the interloper. The fiend who dared to interrupt our sacred competition.
"Oh, it's you, Dan."
"Wha- no, my name's Don!"
"Whatever you say Dare"
The kid had a white knuckled grip against his wide brimmed straw hat and clenched his teeth.
"Ugh, you do this every time"
Whatever you say, random interloper.
"Anyway Kris!" He said, visibly hyping himself up, one of his hands drifting towards one of the pokeballs clipped to his side.
"I challenge you to a Pokemon Battle"
Oh- a challenger has approached us?
"And I will prove I'm the best bug catcher!"
But I'm not a bug catcher though, I think, purposefully ignoring my one and only pokemon at my side.
But-
"You're on!"