Chapter 1: Arrival

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Free Fiction

Part I: Expectations of Life

Chapter 1: Arrival

Really, there was nothing all around. In the dark void that was the dreaming world, nothing was heard, nothing was felt, and nothing was seen. It was appreciated, in a way. Though there was nothing good, there was also nothing bad, so all in all, it was satisfying. And like any other dream, it could easily be filled with whatever the heart desired. Clearly, and without question, the dream was lighter than the heavy real world. It was easy to stay here, without problems or concerns, completely free… Forever…

But that changed… Without warning or control, it changed completely.

Amidst the silent dream was a rising light that only grew the longer nebulous time passed. It started out small, but it shone brighter and brighter until it encompassed all vision, and a voice came out of it.

There was only one shot at this, so it had to be perfect.

“Hello? Is anybody there?”

The voice was deep and booming, distant even, given how it seemed to come out of nowhere, surprising itself. Eventually, after what felt like the longest second of anticipation, a second voice, small and shy, answered its call. No doubt the owner of this empty dream.

“… Y-Yes? Who’s that? Mmm…”

It seemed apprehensive, but the first to answer was the first to be chosen. The strong light started undulating until it was composed of a myriad of colors as a sense of excitement belonging to the light surrounded the dreamer.

“Okay, I don’t have much time to explain, but you’ve been selected to go to the world of Pokémon! But first, I’m going to have you take a quiz to determine key aspects of your personality!”

Well, this was clearly a weird dream. Multiple questions aside, there was one thing that sprang to the dreamer’s half-lucid mind. What was this “world of Pokémon” and why were they chosen? Nevertheless, the dreamer decided to play along with the dream to liven up considering recent events. They needed it after… Well, best not to remember it in what was supposed to be a happy dream.

“Uhhh… s-sure? A-Ask away?” the dreamer asked, cautiously.

“An easy pleaser, I see! That livens up this process on my end. Okay then, be completely honest in your answers. First up, what would you do if your friend was being bullied in front of you? Stand up to them or let it slide because the bully’s really scary?”

“… If I’m being honest… I don’t know, hide?” The dreamer didn’t think much of the quick answer that would probably be a lie when given more thought, but the light changed from bright colors to a duller hue when it heard the answer.

“Oh… Well, we can’t all be constant paragons of heroism, so don’t worry! The light went back to its usual vibrant colors. “Next one! If you had the chance to go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?”

The dreamer wondered about what an “honest” answer to that question might be. They’d usually decide to stay in their room alone, but considering the reaction to the last question, an alternate answer might be in order. “I’d… go back to Puerto Rico… b-but I don’t really wanna say why…” It technically was an honest answer, though also not entirely their first choice.

The light took a bit to respond. “… I see! Puerto Rico! … That’s definitely a nice place!” The voice faltered for a moment, but the dreamer didn’t pay much mind. There wasn’t much point questioning a dream, much less one that they hoped would cheer them up.

“It’s fine if you want to be more private, though, I understand. These questions are personal, after all. So, third question, which do you prefer, wide and open spaces with lots of people or more compact spaces with little to no people?”

“Ah… the more compact spaces. I’m… not very good with people.” The questions were nearing pretty close to heart at this point, and it started feeling like a mean joke from the dreamer’s subconscious.

“I see, I see. There’s no shame in these answers here, they’re perfectly valid.”

A bit more time passed until the voice spoke again. “… Okay, we don’t have much time left so I’ll ask you the very last question and tell you the verdict. Are you ready?” The dreamer couldn’t help but feel there was something missing here, but they decided not to press on the distant and boundless voice.

“Final question: Are you male or female?”

“Oh… um… I’m male, I guess…”

“You guess? Are you sure about that answer? Are you being honest?” The booming voice inquired with a doubtful tone.

“Ah! Y-Yeah! I’m definitely male!” That answer was more blurted out than said honestly, but the dreamer felt the need to pass onto the next part, failing to hide his uncomfortableness at the dream getting too relevant.

“… Well then, I think we’re done for the quiz. You did very well.” It definitely didn’t feel that way to the dreamer with the different reactions that the voice gave to his answers. Still, as weird as this dream was it seemed to be coming to a close with the voice continuing to speak. “Now, it’s time for the verdict. You seem like a… a… oh, oh geez, wait, nonono!”

The voice turned panicky, and all the colors started clashing into each other, creating a mess in the dream. The dreamer was turning anxious, he didn’t know what was happening and the voice certainly wasn’t sounding so confident either.

“Uhh, I’m terribly sorry, hehe… but, uh, our time here is done! You’ll be sent to the world of Pokémon now! Great trials and, uh- tribulations, yeah, are awaiting you, so do your best!”

Now he was getting worried. Whatever sick dream this was, it was starting to get to him as the light started fading out. “H-Hey! What’s going on?!” he shouted out into what felt like nothing. As the light faded out more and more, the dreamer felt a dragging sensation and he started to panic. Eventually as the pull heightened to an extreme, the light completely went out and then, darkness. The dragging stopped, the light was gone, and the dreamer felt like he was just floating, without a thought.

…

… Slowly, senses started to come back to him. First was the sound of gentle waves nearby, second was the feeling of sand beneath his body, and third was his eyes slowly parting to see a dark beach. He couldn’t make out many details, but he did notice that he was in shadow, looking out onto the beach. Though, he quickly started to lose his senses again. He mumbled, “What… happened…?” before passing out.

---

The sun was strong this day and it was certainly taking its toll on the Pelipper flying above the forest. It had been a few days of straight flying from the desert region to the coastal region for his occasional mail route, which he was used to, but the extra passenger wasn’t particularly helping with the flying. Thankfully, his target was coming into view and fast.

“Seems like we’re almost there, kid! Hope you’re ready for landin’!” The Pelipper looked back to the small passenger on his back and then immediately felt her scampering onto the top of his head. The newly revealed yellow Salandit looked onwards with a fascinated expression, feeling her closed frills and sunhat flailing in the air as she stared at the coastal city coming into view.

“OOOHHHH! It’s happening! I’m finally going to arrive in the famed Reefly City to start my legendary adventuring career!” The Salandit stood on top of the Pelipper’s head and struck a heroic pose. She was sure of it, this was her moment to shine! This was the beginning of a new era of discovery and change, and she was going to be at the helm!

“I love your enthusiasm, Ayza, but you’re gonna fall if ya keep standin’ there!” the Pelipper shouted to the beaming Salandit.

“Oh, let me have this, Free! I stayed inside your bill for the first few days after we left and it was the worst experience in my life!” she said as she went back down, held her sunhat to her head and assured nothing fell out of her backpack.

“You know damn well that was for your condition! Were it not for me, your scales woulda been burnin’ real bad right now!” She knew it was true, her scales were even slightly stinging now, but she didn’t want to admit defeat to Free so soon.

“Anyways, you should hide and hold on a bit more, we’re comin’ in!” Free shouted to her in anticipation. She complied, shuffling down into his feathers to stay hidden. Smuggling a Pokémon from a neighboring region wasn’t exactly easy, but Free’s work as a courier let him fly over the walls without a need for registration at the gates. Despite the need for stealth, the Salandit still peaked out to see the sights, and there it was.

Reefly City, The Jewel of the Ocean, as she read in her books. A coastal city next to a big forest famous for the canals that went throughout the city and out to the ocean. To one side, all Ayza could see was that immense ocean, a sight she had only dreamed of seeing until now, but to the other side was the vibrant city with a beach and docks serving to connect the two. She could see all kinds of Pokémon roaming the city before her head was thrusted back as Free dived in quickly to get closer, and then readjusting soon after, the whiplash disorienting her.

“Free! You could’ve at least told me you were gonna do that!” she shouted in protest.

“What’re ya talkin’ about?! My warnin’ was the last thing I said to you!”

Yeah, that’s true. But did he honestly expect me to just not look in awe at the city? she thought with a giggle that made Free groan.

Anyways, now that they were closer, she got a much closer look at the crown jewel of the city, Vassaltis Castle. It was an ornate, marble castle right in the middle of the city where all the canals met. By itself, it was a relatively small castle, but the main attraction was the tower to the back of the castle that rose a bit more than a hundred feet above the city with a giant clock in the center and the royal throne at the very top in its own glass dome room, looking down at all of its subjects. It almost looked like a mushroom cap, which made Ayza giggle under her breath at actually seeing it rather than reading the words in her book.

Still, that was it. That was the goal, the prime target that Ayza was aiming for.

“You’ll see, Free, one day I’ll make it to the very top of that castle and meet the king myself!” she shouted proudly just so that Free could really hear her conviction.

“You keep dreamin’, kid,” the Pelipper chuckled, “the only way to get there is to be real good chums with the king, or to be arrested and tried by the king himself.”

“Well, nobody’s going to achieve it with THAT kind of attitude,” she scoffed. Of course, it was going to be hard, that’s what made adventures so fun! At least that’s what happened in her books.

“Never mind that attitude of yours, kid, we’re comin’ in to land. I’ll drop you off on the abandoned dock.”

Free searched the docks from up high and quickly located the abandoned segment towards the edge of the beach. Diving towards it, Ayza knew Free was glad to have finally completed his shift and was already thinking about how he was going to relax all day after dropping off his client and the rest of his mail. As he landed on the dock, the maybe-too-excited Salandit quickly hopped off and gave a big stretch of relief.

“Ahh, flying really gets to you, am I right, Free?” she said as she looked back to find an incredulous face on the Pelipper, a long and decrepit single-story building framing him from behind. “But still, man oh man, I finally made it! My adventuring career starts today!” the Salandit cheered as she looked towards the glistening ocean.

However, below that dock was another figure, starting to wake up after a dream had rocked his senses. He yawned as he slowly opened his eyes, seeing that familiar beach before he passed out. “Ayyy… ¿Qué pasó? Where am I…?” He slowly got up to his feet and noticed what appeared to be wood over his head, leaving him in the shadow of what appeared to be a sunny day. He could hear a voice shouting above him.

That’s weird… This definitely isn’t the bridge I slept under… There aren’t even beaches close there… What happened to me?

“Mmm… no point in wondering when I can just walk out,” he mumbled as he stretched his arms over his head. He felt surprisingly nimble and flexible for some reason. Despite the weird dream and waking up on a beach instead of the dirty bridge he slept below last night, he must have slept exceedingly well.

Must be some giant docks if he stood up and wasn’t hitting the top. As he slowly walked out from below the dock, he heard that same voice yell, “Oh! I know I left the sand back home, but it’s nice to see it again! I’mma go feel it!” and the sound of wood creaking rose as he looked back to see where the voice had come from and found a yellow body falling towards him.

“WHAT THE HE-” was all he could get out before the body tumbled onto him and he fell backwards into the hot sand. It didn’t hurt much, but it was disorienting, which was the last thing he needed right now.

“Ayza! Ya can’t just go around jumpin’ on people!” a rough voice sounded above him as the body that crashed into him rolled out of the way.

“I was jumping towards the sand! I didn’t know there was somebody there!” the voice that he presumed belonged to the body that just rolled away shouted in panic. Still disoriented, he righted himself and looked towards the direction of the voice and opened his eyes.

“I’m so, so, so sorry! Are you okay? Do you need any berries?”

He blinked. One more time. Why was a freckled yellow and black lizard with a sunhat and a backpack talking to him? He felt his eyes widen a lot more than usual, but that was the least of his worries.

“Oof, looks like you knocked ’em real good, kid.”

He turned his head to the voice to find what could only be described as a giant pelican with disheveled feathers and a horribly giant bill encompassing half its body. And it was talking. Why the hell was it talking? There was only one explanation for this.

“… This is a dream r-right?” he asked with an unfocused, almost quivering stare.

“Uhhh, nope! This is real life, buddy! Are you sure you’re okay?” the lizard asked, getting closer to him, its lavender and green eyes trailing his body. None of this was right.

“Where… Where am I? Who are you? What happened?!” he asked with his voice rising to a shout for the last question.

The lizard looked at him with narrowed eyes, “Hmm, I think I did some serious damage here, Free.”

The abnormal pelican looked at her with a furrowed brow, “Don’t go soundin’ proud about it,” and then turned to him, “Anyhow, are you okay there, kid? You look like you saw a Ghastly when you looked at us.”

“… That’s because animals aren’t supposed to talk,” he said as he felt a nervous grin creep up his face. The pelican looked almost offended at that.

“Animals? D’you mean ferals? We ain’t ferals, kid, we’re plain old civilized Pokemon. If anythin’, you’re the weird lookin’ one here, I ain’t ever seen a Drizzile like you.”

Now it went from nervous to panic. “Wh-What’s a Drizzile, and why are you calling me that?”

The pelican was looking confused now and the lizard next to him was looking weirdly excited. “What are you talkin’ about? You’re a weird lookin’ Drizzile, she’s a Salandit, I’m a Pelipper, and we’re all Pokémon… Somethin’s wrong about you.”

Remembering that this was a beach, the “Drizzile” in question crawled backwards in fear to look at the water. Instead of his normal self, he saw something else staring back at him with a fear-ridden face.

A weird lizard thing that was mostly comprised of a pastel blue stared back at him. It had a weird face with big, gradient blue and pink colored eyes with sky blue dots below them and what looked to be that same sky blue and purple protrusions on its head, looking oddly similar to his previously messy hair. It had a snout. Oh god, did he have a snout?

“Wh-What… WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?!” he screamed to himself as he started to feel his new face with his hands… Oh god, his hands, they were weird, pink mittens with a thumb and an index finger! And his body didn’t feel like skin, these were scales! Weird, small, and colored scales!

The panic attack had set in about this point. He got up, noting but ignoring his new two-toed, pink feet and ran to the shade below the dock once again and curled himself into his usual ball of comfort. “This isn’t real, this isn’t real, this isn’t real… You’re still you… You have to be…” he chanted to himself while rocking his new body back and forth.

Free pointed to Ayza while he wore an uncomfortable face. “You have to fix this whole thing. Go help him.”

She cringed on the outside with a grin on the inside. I know he’s right, but how can I fix this? A minute into my arrival in Reefly and I already broke someone’s life! Then again… If I’m right… With a quick fist pump that Free almost scowled at, she sauntered over on her usual two feet towards the curled-up Drizzile, Free landing behind her as support.

“Hey um… hey there, buddy. You doing fine?” Ayza said as she reached out to console the Drizzile but flinched as he backed away in fear. From the small look he gave her, she could see the tears welling up in his face. “Oh boy, this is serious… Uhhh, look, I’m here to help! I don’t wanna hurt you.”

He sniffled and looked at her. He couldn’t make right or left from this situation, but here he was, in a completely new body, in a place he didn’t recognize, and a yellow lizard was trying to console him with a giant pelican behind her. None of it made sense, but he could recognize a concerned face when he saw it. “… H-How can you help me? You don’t even know what’s happening to me…”

She looked to the side with a small grimace. “I… don’t really know. But I can be here for you. You’ve got a friendly face with me!” she said with a proud face and a small pose. She then gasped, hit her face, and looked towards him. “Oh! I haven’t even introduced myself! I’m Ayza! What’s your name, buddy?”

… She seemed friendly enough, maybe he really could trust her to help him. It was a leap of faith for him, but that was about the only thing he had left right now.

“… I’m Javier. Javier Wright.”

“Alright! Now we’re on a personal name basis!” Ayza cheered while clapping her… claws? Right, claws.

“Oh, right, the crotchety guy behind me is Free!” she said as she turned back to the pelican to which he responded with a small wave of his wing and an awkward smile. “So, tell me, what do you mean by ‘Wh-What happened to me?!’ You don’t remember being a Pokémon? Could it be amnesia?” she said while twirling her claws for flair.

While he didn’t appreciate her impression of his crisis, he still cleared the tears on his giant eyes. At the mention of those words, his mind immediately recalled the past few days and nights just to be sure, and… Yep, still clear, and still bad. It made him grimace in the real world for a moment. Even here, it was probably best to not think about his parents too much. “What? I don’t have amnesia. No, I don’t remember being a ‘Pokémon’ because I never was one. I’m supposed to be a human! But now I’m this weird lizard person!”

Javier didn’t expect Ayza’s eyes lighting up at the mention of being a human. With what he would call a crazed giggle, she pushed her snout in front of his. Ugh, my snout.

“Human, you say?! Oh, I had the sneaking suspicion, but it’s good to have the confirmation! Do you know what this means?!” Javier was more focused on the weird sensation that was scale-on-scale touch, but the fact that this Ayza knew what humans were piqued his interest. Though, she cut him off before he could really answer her properly.

“The current crisis needs more help! That’s the perfect catalyst for my adventuring career! This is so exciting! Lucky me!” Ayza was practically shouting at that point and Javier couldn’t help feel that she’d warped the conversation to being about her in a few seconds. A wing planted itself on Ayza’s shoulder, though, as Free came up with a confused expression.

“Sorry to ruin your second birthday this year, kid, but this can’t be true. There can’t be another human for a crisis. He’s probably spoutin’ nonsense for attention.” Free’s interjection made her celebration die down as Javier looked at him with a confused, but immediately intrigued glance.

“Wait, what do you mean, another human?” Javier inquired, uncurling himself a bit.

Free nodded. “Exactly what I said. You can’t be a human because there’s already a human who arrived a good number of months ago. Eight or nine months, if I’m correct.”

Javier made a mental note about that other human that was supposedly here, but his first thought was what he blurted out. “But I am a human! I don’t know what this world or this crisis is, but I’m a human! Or… at least I was…” Javier mumbled as he looked down at his body, seeing how much it really had changed. He hadn’t noticed the scale pattern on his feet, almost making it look as if he had pink boots on, and the tail that was still curled around them. “Oh god, I have a tail…” he whined, burying his head again in embarrassment.

The facial journey for Ayza in this conversation had gone from concerned, to excited, to confused, to detached. But now, her face warped again into a big grin as she closed in on Javier’s cheek. “Don’t worry about him, I believe you…” she whispered into his head. A much-appreciated comment.

“Look, you two, I’m really not for this. I just flew ya across the continent and I deserve a break. You should get him to see a doctor, he’s gotta have some screws loose in that head there.” And with that, the Pelipper walked off, clearly tired of this shenaniganry. Though, as he flapped his wings to lift off the sand, he turned back to Ayza. “If you need me, just hang around the lighthouse… And please don’t make a big fuss about ya. Lay low as much as possible and follow everythin’ I told you to the teeth. Arceus knows smugglin’ you in would get me in a world of trouble. Though, I guess there’s no hiding it from them… Still, good luck, kid.”

Javier watched as Free flew away from the beach into… actually, he didn’t know where he flew off to, he had been too absorbed with Ayza and Free to notice the rest of his surroundings other than the clear water, sand, and dock. Both of them stayed silent as Javier tried to regain his composure, but after a while, Ayza perked up.

“Sooo, do you have any questions for me, or are you just going to sulk there for the rest of the day?” As much as Javier wanted to do the latter, he figured Ayza wouldn’t leave his side if he did, so he reluctantly turned his face to her.

“Uhhh, s-sure… So, what is this ‘Pokémon’ you were talking about? I still don’t know what that’s about.”

“That’s an easy one,” she beamed, throwing her arms out to the side and exposing everything about her scaly body. “Pokémon are, well, what we are! Creatures that eventually grew to dominate and own this world. You know, like humans are to your world. Probably.”

Okay, that was a bit more helpful. As much as Javier didn’t know of this world, Ayza seemed like a reliable source of information and a constant source of energy and positivity. Truth be told, he was willing to trust her, but more questions were in order.

“Okay, so, what am I…? That big pelican called me a Drizzile, I think?” Trying to get more comfortable, he stood up and noted the slight height difference between him and Ayza. He was about a head taller than her, but he also noticed something else now that he was more calm. He was completely naked.

And there went the calm.

“AHHH! Why am I so naked?!” he screamed in a higher pitch as he attempted to cover himself up with his mitten hands.

“Pfft, you goof, most Pokémon are naked! Even I am! We can get you something to wear later,” she casually said, ignoring his worry, “but back on topic. Yep, you’re a Drizzile, one of the many species of Pokemon! For example, Free was a Pelipper, and I’m a Salandit, with a bit of Helioptile mixed in, but that’s neither here nor there.” Javier could very much retort to that but found no energy to and just plopped down to the sand with a sigh and his legs crossed, feeling them very different than as a human.

“Here, check this,” Ayza said as she opened her backpack to pull a worn-down, thick book out of three in it, “Drizzile, Drizzile, Drizzile… ah ha! Found you!” she exclaimed as she turned the book around and Javier saw what looked to be a lizard creature like what he saw in his reflection, but it only had three protrusions from its head and all the colors were completely different to his. It also looked really bored for some reason and its posture was weird too.

There were also a bunch of weird shapes and symbols scrawled throughout the page, all unintelligible to Javier. There was no discernible language anywhere. Man, this was too confusing… He could also ask why Ayza had this well-timed of a book, but that was the least of his worries in this new world.

Ayza’s snout poked out from the side to look at the drawing of the Drizzile again, “Man, looking at it now, Free meant it when he said you looked like a weird Drizzile. But that’s pretty neat in my opinion! Honestly, you even look kinda cuter than a normal one, haha!”

Javier’s cheeks burned at that. “O-Oh, um, thank you?” A bit embarrassed by the complement, he looked away from her and towards the other docks in the distance, seeing all sorts of Pokémon, one even flying out of the water and landing on one of the docks. It was a blue and white bird with what looked to be a squirming fish in its yellow beak and looking like it was about to eat the fish, before spitting it out into a basket and diving back into the water.

Wait, how could I see that so clearly? Are these new eyes just that much more potent? Two more questions to the unending pile.

“Curious, are we? Well, no point in staring when you can meet them yourself!” Ayza, once again, popped into view, wearing her sunhat this time, and hopped out of the dock and into the sun with an arm extended in invitation. “Come on! We’re both new to this place and we won’t gain anything staying here! I’ll help you all the way through!” she said as she tried to give the best semblance of a thumbs-up she could with four-clawed hands. Well, it looked completely different, but still.

Still trying to cover himself, Javier edged himself a bit more to the outside. “I’d say one of us is newer to this place…” he said with a half chuckle until he was one step from leaving the shadow. Knowing a semblance of what was out there, he found it hard to take that extra step forward.

This is seemingly a completely new world with strange creatures inhabiting it and I was thrusted into it out of nowhere, even being turned into one of these creatures. It’s entirely something out of fantasy… And unless I wake up from a bad dream, then this is real. I’m… I’m not in the human world anymore… How could this ever happen?

… Though, I guess I did wish for it before sleeping. But that was just desperation… I think.

Though, as he came to realize that fear, he remembered that he had just met someone who was too daring for her own good, and that same someone was now grabbing his arms and pulling him out of the closed off dock with a triumphant shout.

“Welcome to the world of Pokémon!”

Before he knew it, he felt the sunshine on his skin and he was now staring at a bustling, colorful city before the beach, a giant, domed tower rising out of the middle and multiple more “Pokémon” roaming the streets, like a small crow Pokémon with a weird, feathered hat that squawked loudly, a light blue monkey with draping hair, and what looked like an almost-spherical blue mouse just bouncing around with stubby legs, each one going through their day like nothing was happening on the beach next to them. There was even a stone sidewalk above their position dividing the city from the beach. The sky was a perfect blue, and the humid air was even clearer to feel on his adjusting scales- no, skin.

“… Ha… This is… a lot…”

“Yup, Reefly City! Like a flying reef, heh! The Jewel of the Ocean, as they say!” Ayza took his hand and pulled him some more, his two-toed feet giving way due to the shock and an anxious feeling welling up inside him as he was being guided towards the city by Ayza. Not a bad anxiousness, he felt, but he couldn’t really process his emotions right now.

“First, let’s go get you some clothes!” Ayza shouted with an infectious enthusiasm as evidenced by the small smile on Javier’s face as they went into the hectic city.

---

The walls and gates of Reefly city were pretty big and definitely imposing depending on the Pokémon living inside. It was the only thing dividing the huge forest and its mystery dungeons and the city. They were many things, but they were lacking in one thing, guards. It wasn’t necessarily empty, but it had very little surveillance in some parts. And that’s where the cloaked purple figure with glowing blue eyes in the trees came in.

“Okay, okay, okay. You can do this. You can integrate into this city no problem! All you have to do is get over that wall,” the cloaked figure said preparing themselves. They watched carefully for any signs of guards and, lo and behold, an opening was found between two Goletts that turned away from each other. With a push against the branch they were perched on, the cloaked figure flew as fast as they could across the walls, a spiked purple tail whipping past them in the wind.

“Come on, come on! This is my chance!” they grinned as they passed a Golett guard that was facing the wrong way at the right time. “Haha, sucker!” they said as they were finishing their flight.

And, with great speed, the figure eventually made it over the wall, immediately dipping down to hide wherever they could. Sure, it wasn’t completely legal, but it was the city’s fault that the walls had easily exploitable openings for some reason. They eventually found an empty alley and flew into it, hoping to hide between some loose crates and barrels in it.

“… All right! Now, uhhh… oh man, I wasn’t expecting it would be that easy to cross the walls, haha!” the cloaked figure rested and laughed contently, the rush of their actions not fully leaving them.

They could see countless colors and Pokémon walking through the streets outside their hidden spot in the shaded alley. It was incredible to see all the drawings they had studied brought to life, and living in communal peace… They marveled at it all, relishing in their discovery and achievement. Though they didn’t know how they’d react to an Ultra Being suddenly appearing in their city, the elation they felt at just seeing it all snuffed those worries, and all under the blue sky they always dreamed of… Whatever happened, there was no going back, and they were sure of their decision.

After everything… Oh, by The Arclight… I’m finally here. It’s time to live my new life.

However, they felt like they weren’t the only hidden figure looking out for opportunities in the alley, a fact made evident by the new voice that shouted behind them.

“Hey you! Did you just cross the walls? Illegally?!” a Pokémon shouted from the other side of the alley. It was a weird Scrafty with their hood up, but it was all smeared in blue and black paint, forming a “mask” of some sorts. They had what looked like black gloves covering their hands, and the ends of their covered feet on their slightly lanky legs looked somewhat extended, as if there were claws. There was a small and white spike that looked like it was made out of paper tied into their chest, strapped on with a pale yellow band. They looked like a Scrafty, but an incredibly odd one at that, and even the only normal part, their orange scales, were slightly paler than what the figure had seen in their self-teaching.

All the cloaked figure could do was give a big sigh of regret, their smile fading.

“Oh crud…”