So I'm back with another Chapter. Not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth, but I've been pretty motivated to get these out.

Don't really have much to comment on, but the Arceus power scaling discourse was fun to read through. Of course, in my eyes his power level boils down to Alien X level, and I've been writing with that in mind. This is the guy who can literally create and destroy the universe at will. Even at his weakest he was able to body Dialga, Palkia and Giratina. In Nasuverse terms, he's basically the Root himself.

Thanks for all the support, though. It means a lot.

In exchange, I'll give two little nuggets of information- one a clarification and one a hint towards the future, though not in that order.

1) Ritsuka's Pokémon Team will be composed of Pokémon that correspond to him and his adventures in some way, shape or form. The names he gives them will also reflect this. I will try to keep them all as separate Types because if I go Monotype we KNOW his ass would be the Ghost Master and I want to branch out more than that, but if it comes down to it I will prioritize suitability over all else.

2) Chaldea will be popping up from time to time, but they are not the main focus. After the next Chapter we won't see them for a while. As I've mentioned before, this is a more Ritsuka-centric story where he goes on his own Journey with his Chaldean friends watching over him- after fighting Arceus for custody rights.

Enjoy.

Chapter 3 - Landfall

Even as he followed after the man he'd met, Kukui, Ritsuka was going over a mental checklist within his mind.

Command Seals? Check.

Those were usually there most of the time, but recent experiences had the young Master double checking just to make sure.

Magic Circuits? Check.

They were being a little weird in a way Ritsuka couldn't quite understand, but the organs were still fully functional. In fact, they kind of felt better than they used to normally.

Servants? Negative.

The connection was still there, though weaker than it had ever been before, but they weren't with him. He'd been in enough operations to be able to intuit that type of thing quickly. Not even Dantes, whose presence he could normally feel, was with him at the moment. It was… admittedly not the best spot to be in, but he'd been in similar situations before. What was more concerning was the question of whether he'd be able to summon Shadow Servants to be able to defend himself if pus came to shove, and unfortunately he was leaning towards 'no' on that front. He drew on the bonds he had with his Servants in order to perform that type of Magecraft, and those bonds were currently the weakest they'd ever been. Not even when he'd lost his Master Authority for a while had it been that frail.

Gate of Babylon? Check.

The spare Key King Gilgamesh had given him after winning that Servant Smash Tournament was one of his most prized possessions, and he always made sure he had it on him, implanted into his right glove. Just by running his Magical Energy through it, something that came to him almost effortlessly at this point, he could not only open the Gate with just a thought but also know exactly what was stored within the space that had been allotted to him by the King of Heroes.

Supplies? Check.

Knowing just how valuable a personal Inventory was out in the field, Ritsuka had made sure to fill his mini-treasury with essentials and his collection of Mystic Code Uniforms, very useful for survival out in the field if he ever got separated from his friends. He'd been separated from Chaldea too many times for him to not prioritize that kind of thing, even if it meant he had to leave most of the various gifts his Servants gave him back in his room.

And finally…

Tameshomo? Check.

His secret weapon was currently in Smartphone Mode and nestled in his pocket, as usual. It was originally given to him by Tametomo as a Christmas gift, the mechanical Servant deciding to just up and present him with what was basically a freaking real life Minicon out of nowhere (not that he was complaining, of course). Not only could it transform into a miniature version of Tametomo (hence the name) that was capable of combat, but it could even use a version of the Archer's Noble Phantasm. Of course, both of them were heavily degraded and usage of the latter would cause the phone to overheat and lose its combat functions for a few hours, but it was still another layer of self defense on top of whatever meager skills he had picked up from his Servants. Something even more useful in this situation, where his ability to summon Shadow Servants was seemingly impaired. It was also perhaps his only possible way of reaching Chaldea, especially if he pushed it to its maximum power, though he would have to try that later.

Anyway, now that his belongings and personal status were in order, the next on Ritsuka's mental checklist was situational analysis.

He clearly remembered making a wish on the Holy Grail by complete accident, which was kind of a major blunder on his part considering he should've been more than used to the possible shenanigans that a Holy Grail could cause at the slightest provocation. But he'd been absolutely sure that he hadn't done anything! Having used the Grails before, Ritsuka knew that it took more than just saying a wish in its presence to trigger it. A physical connection was necessary in order to activate whatever ability that allowed the Grails to grant wishes, and yet even though he hadn't made that connection it had still responded. It was confusing- and a little irritating because it proved that basically nothing he ever encountered uniformly followed the rules they were apparently supposed to. Really made things even more confusing than they had to be for an average guy like himself struggling to learn all the magical stuff that had been suddenly thrust on him.

Well, regardless of whether it was actually his fault or not, the fact of the matter was that the Grail had sent him somewhere… else. For a split second after he'd arrived, Chaldea's Greatest Master had thought that maybe he had been transported to a Singularity of his own making, one that corresponded to his careless wish. But no, after a bit more thought on the matter, his gut instinct told him that wasn't the case.

There was a certain feeling that you got when you were in a Singularity, a constant sense of wrongness as if your own body was telling you that the place you were in was something that was never supposed to exist. Most people probably wouldn't have noticed it, but the number of Singularities Ritsuka had been in almost reached the triple digits at this point. He'd know if he were in one, especially once he'd regained his bearings, beyond the shadow of a doubt- and this simply wasn't it.

No, if anything, Ritsuka was getting the opposite feeling from wherever he'd landed. He felt like he'd come home again, a sensation he hadn't felt in what seemed like forever. And that was terrifying in its own right. It was what he'd fought so hard for, and it was suddenly just… there. He wasn't sure what to feel about that.

But it once again brought up the very important question of where the hell he had ended up, because he didn't recognize the location at all for all that his body seemed to scream that he was in someplace he had a connection to. It couldn't be a Lostbelt either, because they would've been cooked in their battle against Marisbury's scheme if a single Holy Grail were enough to spawn one. It couldn't be a place on Earth, for the obvious reason that it had been completely bleached.

On the bright side, he'd managed to make contact with a non-hostile local without even trying. Normally he had to go and get attacked by something before they ran into any possible allies, so it was a little refreshing to not have to go through that song and dance routine this time.

Though… there was something odd about Kukui as well. He emanated a strange aura of sorts that Ritsuka couldn't quite identify, even though he could clearly sense whatever it was. He'd seen a wide variety of people on his quest, and the Lostbelts in particular showcased that there could be variations between what were technically Humans. Olympus and Fairy Britain came to mind especially. That was why Ritsuka was nearly confident in saying that if Kukui was the average baseline for the people around here, then they weren't exactly the same type of Human as those from Proper Human History.

Combining that tidbit with the other pieces of evidence he'd picked up so far… seemed to suggest that he was maybe in a Parallel World of some sort, kind of like the Servant Universe, something that wasn't as common as Singularities or Lostbelts but was still something he had a bit of experience with. It was a tentative conclusion, mind you, cobbled together from what Ritsuka could immediately perceive, but it was the one that made the most sense even if it didn't make perfect sense.

Even if at first glance there didn't seem to be anything wrong. Apart from the Mana density in the air being absurdly high, like Age of Gods level, it just seemed like a normal beach. The Professor's laboratory even looked like a regular-ass cabin, the architecture and the faint yellow glow of lights from within looking exactly like what you'd expect from the 21st Century, instead of either being technologically advanced or downright archaic. It was yet another puzzle piece that didn't seem to fit in with the rest.

…Times like these made him feel the absence of the Think Tank deeply. Ritsuka knew for a fact that Da Vinci, Moriarty and Sion would've gotten a working theory together with even less information than he had now. But that was neither here nor there. For now, he needed to rely on himself to try and figure out what was happening.

And it was on that mental note that they reached the door of the man's laboratory. Before he opened the door, he turned and rubbed the back of his head.

"I'll have to apologize in advance for the mess, haha." Kukui laughed sheepishly. "I was in the middle of an experiment till I heard thunder outside and went to investigate."

"It's ok, I'm the one who's intruding, Mr. Kukui." Ritsuka replied, smiling. Perhaps some might have found such politeness asinine from someone who had executed entire worlds, but that was simply the type of person Ritsuka was. Even knowing that he would have to destroy the Lostbelts in order to save his own world, that hadn't stopped him from getting attached to some of their inhabitants and mourning them when the world was Pruned. "I should be the one apologizing for taking up your time."

"Oh, don't mention it." the man said, flashing a genuine smile at him. "I couldn't just leave you on the beach, yeah?"

He opened the door, and Ritsuka followed him inside, the latter praying that he didn't have to fight anyone and could just have a pleasant conversation.

Neither of them noticed the beady little eye fixed on them as they entered the building.

It had only been born recently, hours ago in fact.

Even so, from the moment of its birth it knew what its purpose was, what it had been created to do on behalf of the Lord- watch over the child that had been returned to their World and follow his Journey.

But why?

That was what it could not understand, once it knew what its purpose was supposed to be.

It bore no ill will towards Humans, even though they had an annoying propensity to disrupt the balance of nature due to their foolishness. After all, the only memories it had of them were those that echoed through the Network, instead of personal experience. In spite of that however, it also didn't see the value in overseeing a single Human, and couldn't help but wonder why the Creator had demanded it so.

The question disappeared from the moment it first managed to lay eyes on the child for itself, and the relevant information was gifted to it so that it could better accomplish its given task.

'Unbelievable.'

As crazy as it may have sounded to anyone else in the Network who hadn't been privy to the information this particular Unit had received, this boy… Ritsuka Fujimaru… was a kindred spirit. A legendary Hero who fought with more ferocity than even Yveltal at its worst in order to preserve the balance of his world against threats it couldn't even begin to comprehend.

It couldn't help but feel a deep sense of awe, especially because the information it received was more of a concise summary than a perfect recounting of the events that had transpired. Meaning that there was likely even more to the story than it knew, something which made it feel a profound sense of unbridled excitement.

Whereas before it had been confused, now it felt honored to have been created for the task of watching him. Of being a direct witness to such an epic tale, a privilege that none of its compatriots had ever been gifted before.

But… it couldn't help but want more. It didn't want to remain on the sidelines of this Journey. Even if it didn't currently possess the Network Authority to mobilize its Cells and thus wasn't quite capable of combat, it still wanted to properly accompany Ritsuka on whatever path he took.

As such, Zygarde Core Z11 resolved to make direct contact with the Guardian when the opportunity presented itself.

The data it could collect from proper interaction was too valuable for it to let go of, after all. It of course had no ulterior motives whatsoever.

'Well', Ritsuka thought to himself, his eyes wide open in shock. 'I guess it didn't take long to find out what was up with this place…'

Mere seconds after he entered the Lab and shut the door behind him, Ritsuka's attention was immediately captured by the third being in the room with them- an anthropomorphic tiger that gave off an aura of power similar to a Servant.

Even by his standards, the sight of what was clearly some kind of Phantasmal Beast (Reines would probably drown him in mercury if he just called it a 'magical creature') not unlike a feline version of a Yaga just… chilling casually on the couch watching TV was just so strange that it actually made him freeze in shock. He was probably even more surprised than when he'd met Tepeu for the first time, and that was saying something.

Kukui seemed to notice his abject shock and let out a laugh as the maybe-tiger turned to lazily give them the side-eye. At least, until its gaze fell on him. Suddenly, its visible eye sharpened as it fully turned to look at Ritsuka, giving him what was distinctly an appraising look.

"Cin?"

The rather casual way the clear question had been asked as well as the Phantasmal's apparent intelligence (judging by the way it scoped him out) made it obvious to Ritsuka that it was clearly way more intelligent than any normal animal. Whether it was on his level or smarter remained to be seen, because an inability to speak human language wasn't really an indicator of intelligence- the deinos had proven that much.

"Yeah, he's probably the one. Get the scanner, would you?" Kukui said, and the probably-not-a-tiger let out a grunt as it gave him another glance before its expression curved into a distinctly human smirk and it walked off to go grab something from one of the shelves.

Turning to me, he still had a smile on his face. "First time seeing an Incineroar? You must be from Kanto or Unova, they're not very common around those parts."

Immediately, Ritsuka latched onto the specific terms the man had spoken. So the definitely-not-a-tiger was called an 'Incineroar', and two places in… wherever he was were called 'Kanto' and 'Unova'. Only one of those names were familiar to him- only a lemming wouldn't know the Kanto Region of Japan after being raised in the country. It literally contained Tokyo, making it perhaps the most important region in the country hands down. Ritsuka himself hailed from it, having lived in the suburbs of Shibuya his whole life till his recruitment into Chaldea. But the way Kukui said it gave him the strangest inkling that it wasn't the Kanto he was thinking of, especially because he'd never heard of a 'Unova' before.

"Yeah." Ritsuka agreed. "It's my first time seeing one. Sorry if I was being a little rude there."

"Hah, don't worry about it!" laughed Kukui, waving it off. "Trust me, Cole loves the attention way more than he'll let on."

"Oh, well that's a relief."

The subject of their conversation returned, and gently handed the researcher a delicate looking scanner that he proceeded to point at Ritsuka.

"Just hold still," he said. "This'll only take a sec."

Ritsuka hesitated for a moment, briefly contemplating if he should really just let this complete stranger perform some kind of scan on him. Only for a moment though, because in the next second he relaxed completely and stood still. As much as many of his friends in Chaldea got on his case for being too trusting, as far as the official record went this habit of his had gotten him out of trouble more often than it had gotten him into trouble.

A green light emitted from the scanner, slowly running over his body from head to toe. Or at least, it was probably supposed to- what actually happened was that the moment it got past his neck the little machine began to fire off basically began to scream, beeping erratically and flashing something that put a frown on the amicable-looking Kukui's face.

Coal, who had been watching the whole thing go down, let out a curious growl. Ritsuka wasn't sure how he knew it was a curious one though, that was just the impression he got.

"Yeah, looks like it, buddy." the man said, before sighing. "Ritsuka, you might want to sit down for this."

'Oh boy.' Ritsuka thought to himself, realizing that the man's expression eerily resembled Dr. Roman's whenever he found some new damage to his body after coming back from each Singularity. 'This ain't gonna be good, is it?'

"I had my suspicions when I saw you sprawled out on the beach like that and didn't recognize Coal, but this confirms it beyond the shadow of a doubt- you're a Faller." he said gravely. "Or to put it in more simple terms, cousin, a visitor from another world."

Ritsuka could only mumble the words after him, completely taken aback by the one thing he hadn't considered when trying to figure out where he was.

"Another… World…?"

No, no, it made sense. He for sure wasn't in a Singularity or a Lostbelt, and while there was still a chance that this was just a Parallel World of some kind, he genuinely hadn't considered the thought that he might've actually gotten the full Isekai Package this time around and got sent to another World outright.

But if that were really the case… then he was in a whole lot of trouble, wasn't he?

"Faba, report." said a blonde-haired woman, smiling pleasantly as she looked out over the 'gardens' of the Aether Paradise.

The tall, lanky man behind her, who looked like the picture of a seedy scientist, flinched at her tone but began to speak regardless.

"President Lusamine, while the source of the sudden surge of Ultra Wormhole activity all around Alola has not yet been identified, we are absolutely certain that the very first event occurred on Melemele Island- and according to our logs, it was at the time of this occurrence that Cosmog's behavior changed drastically."

"Oh?" she asked, curiously, a strange gleam entering her green eyes. "How is that cute little creature doing?"

"While it still refuses to cooperate like before, it seems to have become more… confident, for lack of a better word. And it has started rambling to itself. I had Hypno attempt to communicate with it, and while we had just about as much luck as usual, we were able to decipher a word this time- Guardian."

Lusamine's eyes widened a fraction of an inch, before her smile became something distinctly more sinister. She turned to look at her subordinate, who flinched again and nearly cowered at the sight of her expression.

"Mm… wonderful." she said, and the scientist didn't need his partner with him to tell that the woman in front of him was genuinely excited, making her all the more terrifying. "It seems like Cosmog has called a friend… and it would be a shame not to reunite them."

Faba swallowed. Though he wasn't exactly the pinnacle of morality himself, he at least wasn't completely insane like his superior was, and was constantly reminded of that whenever he was alone in the same room with her. The man had no idea how Wicke had never noticed; for the head of Security, she was a little too dense.

If Lusamine had noticed his nerves, she didn't make any mention of them. Instead, she merely asked one more question.

"Faba, are the Beast Ball Prototypes ready for use?"

"Of course, Madam President!"

"Then send our forces to comb Melemele Island. This 'Guardian' is likely there, and I want it here as soon as possible. Oh, but do be discreet- we don't need Hala to give us a hard time, nor do we want to broadcast our interest so openly."

"As you command." Faba replied, before excusing himself from the room as quickly as he could to spread her orders.

Leaving the President of the Aether Foundation all by her lonesome.

"I'll save them." she muttered, and the gleam in her eyes seemed to grow even brighter under the light of the full moon. "I'll save them all…"

"I'm the Hero this World needs…"

And that's the end of this Chapter. It's more set up, I know, and I apologize for that, but from Chapter 5 onwards we're going full steam into the Journey. Besides, I kind of wanted to establish how Ritsuka thinks, because while he has more of a character now than he used to back in the Observer on Timeless Temple days, there are still some components of his character that are never addressed. Also, we get to meet the 'envoy' sent by Arceus and see good old Lucy, who is unfortunately not the silly one from the anime and has plans of her own.

Cosmog: Oh you're done for now, bitch.

Btw, 'Tameshomo' is Tametomo's Valentine Gift. My jaw actually dropped when I got it in-game, and I couldn't help but include it. Man, he really is the coolest fucking dude ever. Even if his gameplay strength is mid, his design is top tier.

Now, people might be wondering why a Legendary Pokémon is seemingly preparing to join his team- so let me make it clear that Zygarde isn't going to get involved in normal Trainer Battles or even Trials. It can't, because its a newborn Core and by the lore I've cooked up (mainly because its canon lore is non-existent) it doesn't have enough Authority over the Zygarde Collective to even gather enough Cells for its 10% Form right now.

But if Ritsuka were to face a real threat, then perhaps its fellows would lend it a hand...

Oh, and it's also a Ritsuka Fujimaru superfan. But we'll see more of that coming forward.

One thing I'd like to clarify is a bit of power-scaling. Kukui's Incineroar, Coal, is described as being Servant-level, but that's only in terms of physical Stats. And even then, it's on the lower end of the scale. He's nearly a Champion-level Trainer, after all. Those who have broken into the realm of 'Champion' have Pokémon that can Stat-wise box with more Servants, though their lack of Noble Phantasms would lead to them losing more often than not. Considering Pokémon also have some ridiculous feats of their own, I felt like this was the most appropriate way to go about it. I'd like to hear your opinions too though.

So what did you guys think? Next Chapter, we'll see Arceus and Chaldea one more time before focusing exclusively on Ritsuka. From that point onwards, there will be Interludes at points where Ritsuka is doing something big where we see their reactions, and that's all for the most part.

Stay tuned.