CHAPTER 26: THE PERNAUTICA

Dreamscape

Once again in the dreamscape, Ryan came to lying down on the nonexistent floor. It was clear to him that he had the body shape of a human still, which he found odd, since, at the same time, his body felt colder than before, and not because of the lack of sunlight or anything. He pushed himself up to an upright position to figure out why he didn’t feel how he expected to. He looked around, and saw nothing at all. He looked at his hands, finding them covered in deep blue fur. This didn’t surprise him, since this had happened last time as well. What he hadn’t seen before in the dreamscape, however, were the tendrils that he saw in his periphery.

Oh, further progress on my dream form’s transformation? He thought. I wonder how I look now…

He scrunched his face, willing a carbon copy of Lena’s hand mirror into existence. It fell on the floor next to him, shattering in the process.

Maybe I should do a full-body mirror instead…

Scrunching his face again, Ryan summoned a full-body mirror next to him. It appeared with a poof, already properly set up with a chunk of wall. He imagined the mirror being torn out of a department store’s dressing room, then shook the thought out of his head to take a look at himself. To his surprise, and intrigue, the fully formed face of a glaceon, crystals and all, stared back at him.

So, this is the last phase of the process… Ryan thought. He pulled up his shirt, as well as a pant leg, finding his whole body to be covered in icy blue fur. …where my body goes full furry. He snorted mirthfully, a small smirk emerging. How much of myself can I change back to a human, I wonder…

He tried to will himself back into how he looked as a human, but found himself completely unable to change a thing.

Well, that’s… that would be a problem… if I still cared about that…. He hummed aloud. Oh, now I have another idea… I wonder if I can fire an ice beam from my hand…

He held out his right hand as if to gesture for someone to stop doing something, and he channeled his thoughts to concentrate on conjuring up a beam of ice. A light blue orb of ice energy appeared, levitating a short distance from the palm of his outstretched hand.

As he continued charging it, Mew materialized, but he was too busy focusing on his ice beam to notice, and she was floating right in what would be the path of the beam. Fortunately, she managed to dodge just as Ryan actually fired off the subzero beam, exhaling a sigh of relief.

“Hey!” she cried, upset. “You nearly hit me!”

Ryan facepalmed. “Oh, sorry about that!” the humanoid glaceon said hastily. “I just wanted to see if I could, you know, fire an ice beam from my hand in this form.” He smirked. “The answer is yes, by the way.” He waved dismissively. “But never mind that now. Since you’re here, I just wanted to-“

“Let me guess,” the mew said, crossing her arms, “ask how you can get home?”

“Am I really that predictable?” Ryan muttered to himself as he put a hand to his head, which he then shook. “Actually, I wanted to tell you that I may have found a way home.” He fidgeted with his hoodie’s drawstrings. “Apparently, the space station Martin and Kori came from has a research lab pertaining to interdimensional travel, and they have a working portal there.”

Mew smiled. “I’d bet that’s heartening news for you and Terry!” she said cheerfully.

“And don’t worry,” the psychic kitten muttered, “I’ll convince Arcy to not interfere this time.”

The humanoid ice fox tilted his head. “What was that?”

Mew realized that she had said what she had believed to be a thought out loud. “Oh, it’s nothing.”

“Oh, by the way…” Ryan added, unaware of what Mew was thinking about.

Mew snapped out of her thoughts. “Hm?”

“Remember how I said I was feeling wishy-washy… like the feeling, not the pokemon… about returning back to my world over staying in this one?”

The mew nodded in response.

“Well, after last evening, I think that I’ve made up my mind.”

She tilted her head curiously. “Oh?”

Ryan inhaled. He spoke slowly. “I think… I want… to stay in this world.”

Mew raised her brows, then smiled, startling him when she swooped in for a hug. “I knew you’d come around to what I said! But… does your uncle know about this already?”

The humanoid glaceon nodded. “Like I said, I made up my mind last evening, and pretty much everyone who had any reason to know whether I wanted to leave was there. So, yeah, I told them on the spot. Not just Terry, but my parents, my little sister, my friends, even Martin and Kori were there.” He smiled. “I think, in general, I’ll feel far happier by staying here.

“That said, I am still going up to the space station,” he added. “It would be cool to visit space, plus this way, I can give a proper goodbye to my uncle, because he still wants to return to Earth.”

“Oh, that sounds exciting! I might have to sneak onto the ship, too!” Mew joked.

“That probably isn’t a good idea,” Ryan warned. “There are humans up there, you know, and if they see you…”

“Oh, no, I was joking,” she said. “I can go to space whenever I want; I don’t need no spaceship or no life support system!”

“Oh, yeah, you can do that, can’t you?” Ryan said thoughtfully.

Neither him or the mew spoke for a moment, and Ryan cleared his throat.

“Uh, so… I think we’re done here?”

“Yeah…” Mew agreed. “I’m… gonna go before this gets awkward. As for you, I think it’s time for you to wake up. I’d hate to make you miss the ship.”

“Yeah, that’s right!” Ryan said. “Well, I guess I’ll see you around!”

Mew waved goodbye as well, and with that, she disappeared from his dream.

---

Moon Continent Explorer’s Guild, West Coast Branch, August 11 th

When Ryan woke up that morning, resting atop his sheets to not overheat, he stretched out his limbs, sighing contently. After all, now that he both decided to stay and also has closure on whether he can get home or not, he felt like a massive weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. All that was left to do was to make sure Terry got back home in one piece. Speaking of…

I should probably wake him up, the glaceon thought to himself.

He climbed down from his bed and padded over to the side of the bed with the pachirisu in it.

“Terry, wake up,” Ryan whispered, propping himself up on the bed. “Today’s the day!”

“Mmh?” the pachirisu mumbled. “Yeah, yeah, just… give me a moment…”

“We don’t have all morning, you know,” he said. “Martin said to meet him as soon as possible, remember? Besides, we have to let Felix and Erin know that you’re no longer going to be an active member of our team.”

“Why?” Terry asked as he sat up, pushing the cover off of himself.

“If you’re going to be going back to Earth, it’s gonna be… difficult to be a part of the team, don’t you think?”

“Oh, that? Yeah, I suppose that is true.”

“C’mon, we should do that now before Lena and Ben wake up, then we can go meet up with mom’n’dad in the square.”

Terry climbed groggily from the bed onto Ryan’s back as the two snuck out of the room to try to avoid waking their teammates.

---

“So, you found a way back to your own world?” Erin asked from behind her desk in the guildmaster’s office after a long sip of coffee. “I take it that that means the two of you want to retire?”

“Actually, I’ve decided to stay in this world, so no retirement for me,” Ryan said, “but Terry is returning and does want to.”

After a few minutes, the necessary paperwork had been taken care of; Erin had to read it to them as it was in footprint runes rather than English.

“All that’s left is for the team leader- that’s you, Ryan- and for the retiree to provide their pawprints,” Erin explained. “If you were retiring as well, Ryan, you would have to choose to either dissolve the team or nominate a new team leader, and for that, you would have to have your other teammates around, but since you’re not going anywhere, that step won’t be necessary.” She turned to the pachirisu who was seated on the other chair. “As for you, Terry, since you’re retiring on good terms, you get to keep the badge. You also get to continue to use the services and benefits being a guild member provides, such as no late fees from all Moon Continent libraries, free nights at participating inns, and health coverage. Although, those services won’t be of much use since you’ll be going to a different world soon… I think I speak for myself and Felix alike in saying that you will be missed around here.”

“Oh, I’m flattered,” Terry replied. “Thanks for everything.”

And then, each of the two dipped a paw into the inkpot and stamped the paper. Terry was officially no longer a member of Team Seekers.

“Now,” Erin said, clasping her hands together, “if that’s all you need for now, you can go.”

---

At that breakfast, which, fittingly, was waffles, just as it was on Team Seekers’ first full day on the job, Felix stood on the stage at the microphone, as he had an announcement to make.

“Today, we say goodbye to one of our own guildmembers, as Terry the pachirisu, of Team Seekers, has submitted a request for retirement,” the lucario began. “He may have only been on the job for less than two months, but he, along with the rest of his team, always did a great job. But now, he’s leaving us to seek out his own adventures.” He looked over at Team Seekers, who were seated at a table near the stage. “I would just like to wish him well at whatever comes his way in the future.”

As the other teams in the room applauded, Sofia, who was sitting with Team Seekers, flattened her ears.

“Awh, you didn’t tell me you were leaving, Terry…” the sprigatito said sadly.

Quincy was more curious than he was upset. “But where are you going to head off to?”

After the rest of the guild turned back to their meals and the chatter of conversation drowned them out, Terry explained to Team Waterburn what he was actually going to do. This made the grass-type cat even sadder.

“S-so you two are gonna leave forever?” she muttered, distressed.

“Oh, no, I’m not; I decided to stay,” Ryan interjected.

“Oh, that’s nice,” Felipe said, Sofia’s sadness rubbing onto him, “but it’s not gonna be the same without Terry around.”

“You don’t need to worry, too much,” the pachirisu said. “As long as both portals are operational, I’ll be able to swing by whenever I want. Although, you probably shouldn’t come to mine since pokemon are just fictional creatures where I’m from.”

The sadness of Team Waterburn turned to shock. “Whoa, a world without pokemon?” the quaxly said. “Now I’ve gotta see this!”

“That’ll have to be a story for another time,” Lena said, “because we’re really running down the clock here. Jack said to meet him and the others at the square at 8:30 so we can be at the beach together when Robert’s ship touches down here at 9.”

“Ack!” Ben said. “That’s right!” The torracat began stuffing his face as quickly as he could, which is to say pretty fast.

“Whoa, slow down!” Ryan said, raising his forepaws defensively. “The rest of us can’t eat that fast!”

Terry snickered at this before going back to his own waffle. Before long, the others had finished, and they bade goodbye to Team Waterburn before leaving.

---

“And why can’t you come with us?” Lena asked as the group of pokemon walked toward the beach. “You’re Terry’s sister, aren’t you? You should really come watch him go through the portal, not just watch us depart on the ship.”

“Look, as much as we would like to,” the jolteon answered, “I have a feeling that Riley would not take well to the turbulence of the spaceship. She is only four, after all.”

“Besides, like he said, he can come back here any time he wants to!” Jack added, careful not to wake his still sleeping eevee daughter as he carried her on his back, as he had her wrapped in one of his feelers.

Ryan looked a bit disappointed that they weren’t coming. I guess it’s not a huge deal… he thought to himself as he stepped onto the sand. I understand their reasoning, but… what if Riley wakes up later and learns that Terry left? What’ll she think about that?

Martin, who was at the front of the group, raised a paw to motion the others to stop a short distance south of the lighthouse.

Hm, I think this is nearly the spot where Lena and I first met. Funny how these things happen.

“Yep,” the zoroark said, “this is the rendezvous point. We seem to be here early; that’s good.” With a flash of light, he illusioned himself into what he looked like as a human. Ben was puzzled.

“Why did you disguise yourself?” the torracat asked.

“Because, young torracat,” the commander answered, “Robert doesn’t know I was transformed, so he’s expecting to see my human self when he arrives, not a zoroark.”

“Sure,” Kori interjected, “but I don’t have illusion abilities. He’s not going to recognize me!”

“Don’t get your tail in a twist, I’m going to explain everything to him.”

Just then, they noticed a low rumbling coming from above. Ryan craned his head upward and was met with the underside of a spaceship that looked nearly identical to the one Martin and Kori had arrived in, that Ben had accidentally caused to self-destruct several days ago. Although it landed gently on the sand a distance away from them, the loud noise from the ship’s engines was more than enough to wake Riley despite Jack’s best efforts.

“Mmh… wha’s goin’awn?” the eevee muttered gently, yawning widely.

The door to the ship slowly opened outward into a ramp leading onto the ship. Right at the entrance just inside the ship stood a man. Riley’s eyes went wide.
“Wh-what’s that thing?” she whined. Jack caressed her fur with one of his feelers in an attempt to calm her down.

“Relax, little one,” the sylveon said, “he won’t hurt you… probably.”

The man placed his shoulders on his hips and smirked, looking at the pokemon that surrounded him on all sides, including a certain shiny metang.

“Well, well, well, Martin… I see you found CSP-375… and that you’re popular with the locals,” Robert said from behind the oxygen barrier, not leaving the ship as the commander had requested. “Well, I’m here, and-” He activated his pokemon-to-human headset- “I have the headset as you requested. Now tell me, what is the issue?” He looked around. “And, uh… where’s your intern?”

Martin inhaled. Showtime, he thought, then said, “Apparently, there is this substance in the air called ‘Transmogrium’ that turns anyone who breathes it in into a pokemon. Nearly one thousand years ago, a scientist by the name of Rebecca Stanley developed it with the intention of ending war, but something attacked the large tank the lab had stored it in, causing the gas to cover the entire planet. It also takes multiple thousands of years to fade away, so… er… Lena is the sneasel, and Kori is the shinx next to her.”

“Oh, I see…” Robert answered, then realized something. “Wait, Martin, how are you still human then? You have to have been breathing in the Transmogrium for several days, then… unless, you’re lying, Lena upset Mew somehow to cause her transformation and amnesia, and Kori died on your watch…”

Kori was outraged at the prospect that Martin would let her die. “Well, he’s telling the truth!” the shinx shouted, placing a forepaw on her chest. “I am Kori, and I know he would never let me die.” She pointed the same forepaw at Martin. “And, the Commander was turned into a pokemon.” She turned her head to him now. “Commander, I think you should drop your illusion.”

Martin nodded, and with a flash of light, he became a zoroark once again. Robert responded with by raising his eyebrows.

“The glaceon, sylveon, jolteon and pachirisu are also all humans originally. Terry- that’s the pachirisu- also wants to get back to his universe via our interdimensional portal, though the others want to come along to say goodbye.”

“Hey, we didn’t agree to-” Jack started, but was interrupted when Robert started speaking again.

“Interesting, but this still doesn’t prove anything about the Transmogrium.”

This was when Ryan stepped forward. “Well, you’d better believe it. You mind if I come into your ship so I can have a table?”

“If you can help prove Martin’s telling the truth- or that he’s lying- than I’m alright with it,” Robert said.

Some friend of Martin’s, not trusting him, the glaceon thought, rolling his eyes as he boarded the ship, hopping onto the seat at the table once he got in. He pulled out his PSB from his bag, and from that he pulled out his laptop. This confused Robert.

“Where did you get that laptop, if you don’t mind me asking?” he asked.

“It’s a long story,” Ryan answered as he carefully typed his password. He motioned for Robert to come over to his side as he pulled up the pair of videos and played them back.

“…oh,” was all the human had to say in response to the videos. By this time, the other pokemon had boarded the ship, with Jack actively restraining Ben with one of his free feelers to keep him from pressing the self-destruct button again.

“So, now do you believe me?” Martin asked Robert.

The latter human sighed. “…yes, I believe you.”

The zoroark patted him on the back. “I knew you’d come around,” he said.

Robert turned to the pachirisu, and the eeveelutions. “So, I assume the four of you want to return to your own universe like Martin said? That’s why you’re tagging along?”

“We weren’t planning to-” Angela began, before she was interrupted by Ryan.

“Actually, only Terry. The rest of us are coming to see him off.”

“No, I meant we weren’t even going to-“

“Come on mom, I know you’re concerned about Riley, but… I think her curiosity is outweighing any fear she might be feeling,” Ryan said, glancing over at the eevee, who was currently sitting in a basket full of magazines, clearly making an attempt at reading the covers. “I think we should all go and see Terry off, and I mean all of us; it only feels right to me.”

Jack sighed a very long sigh. “Fine,” he said quickly.

“Well, I’m glad you’re coming, because it’s too late to say no,” Robert said. “I’ve already started the ship and locked up the only door while you were talking. But don’t worry, the internal stabilizers and gravity system mean none of us will feeling any turbulence.”

The lack of turbulence reassured the concerned parents as the ship took off, headed into the depths of outer space.