Special Episode 1: Friends Separated

Small edit on 12/27/23 I went to refrence this chapter for something and I found out that I got one of the dates wrong, like really wrong, so I fixed it.

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Hello! If you’re reading this that means you made it to the first special episode! This special episode focuses on Cinder’s past and how she ended up in this story. As such this special episode is seen from her perspective. Sorry if that is a little confusing compared to the other chapters. I don’t currently know how many special episodes I wanna do all I know is I wanna do one for each member of Team Shiny Star. Also just a fair warning, this is were stuff starts to get a little bloody, not too bloody but just a little, and also it’s the first time a swear is used, well technically anyway, (Does hell even count as a swear? I’ve been given mixed answers.). Anyway hopefully you guys enjoy this.

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Howdy! My name is Cinder! This diary documents my experience of being taken into another world by some crazy space-time thing. Hopefully if you’re reading this then it’s been published somewhere but if it hasn’t, you have about five seconds to close it and walk away, otherwise I’m gonna sear you right down to the bone! Ok now, with that being said, please enjoy this tale of heartbreak and hardship in another world.

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Sharpedo Bluff

Grass Continent

October 21st 8:00 AM

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I woke up in my bed in Sharpedo Bluff, an outcrop on the side of a cliff that my friends have been living in for a while. “Good morning guys.” I yawned.

“‘Morning Cinder!” My friend Lucario said.

Lucario is the co-leader of our team: Team Shiny Star. He’s also the right hand ‘mon of Christian, our team’s leader. Christian is a former human turned Shinx who had amnesia, but thanks to Jirachi his memories have been restored.

“‘Morning.” Christian said.

“Thanks for letting me stay here with you guys.”

“No problem, I mean we’re practically best friends at this point.”

“Hey! I thought I was your best friend!” Lucario exclaimed.

“You know I can have multiple best friends, right?”

“Right, right, I almost forgot, ha ha.” Lucario said with a relieved sigh, “So why’d you wanna stay here again?”

“Because I can’t keep looking for caves to sleep in every night, it’s bad for my health.”

“Why don’t you just stay with your family?”

“DUDE!” Christian shouted.

“What? Did I say something offensive?”

“No, it’s ok, I guess I never told him.”

“Oh well, you should probably tell him then.”

“Tell me what?”

“My parents died in a rock slide when I was only three.”

“OH! Oh, my! I-I I’m so sorry! That was really insensitive of me.” Lucario stammered.

“Dude, I said you’re fine!”

“Phew, ok, I was worried you were gonna get super mad at me.”

“You guys are the closest thing I have to a family. I couldn’t stay mad at you, besides you didn’t know, so it’s not your fault.”

“Aw… thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“So, what do you guys want to do today?” Christian asked.

Lucario shrugged. “I don’t know, I was just gonna let the job board dictate my decisions again today.” He said.

“Again!? You’re such a workaholic!”

“But I love what we do! Can you blame me?”

“No, not really.” I said.

“Finally someone gets it!”

“Look, I never said I didn’t get it, what I’m saying is that you’ve been at this for a while with absolutely no breaks.”

“Are we even allowed to take breaks?” I asked, “I mean, that Chatot guy seems like he’d lose it if he caught us slacking.”

“Who cares!? He’s been told to quit squawking at teams for taking breaks anyway!” Christian shouted.

Lucario was a bit skeptical, “You’re sure it’s not against the rules or anything?” He asked.

“I wouldn’t be bringing it up if it was, besides what kind of dumb rule would that be? Everyone needs a break sometimes or else they would break.”

“I see what you did there.”

“So, do you want to take the day off?”

“Alright, but only if we get to spend the afternoon watching the sunset.”

“Deal!”

“So, what do you guys want to do first?” I asked.

“How about we go on a walk through Treasure Town?” Christian proposed.

“That doesn’t feel too different from what we do normally.” Lucario pointed out.

“True, but we’re just going on a walk, we’re not prepping to go out or anything.”

“So we’re just taking a stroll for our leisure, then?”

“Yeah, crazy, I know.”

That’s when I had an idea, “Maybe we can get something from the Kecleon shop while we’re out.” I said.

“Cinder, we don’t need supplies, we’re taking the day off, remember?”

“I know! I was just saying, what if they had things other than supplies.”

“Oooooh, good point!”

“Well, let’s get going! We can stop by on our walk!” Christian beamed.

We walked up the stairs and out of the crevice that served as the entrance to Sharpedo Bluff and began walking. It was a surprisingly short walk into Treasure Town, but that wasn’t an issue, it was actually quite refreshing considering the copious amount of winding dungeons we’re used to trudging through on a daily basis. We walked through town until we reached the Kecleon shop, where Chatot was talking to the Kecleon brothers.

“You’re absolutely sure you don’t stock perfect apples?” Chatot asked.

“How many times have you asked us this!? No! We don’t!” The green Kecleon yelled.

“Darn, I guess you weren’t lying to all those teams I sent then.”

“Why would he lie to them!? That would be terrible for business!” The purple Kecleon shouted.

“I was just making sure! There’s no harm in double-checking!”

“Yeah! But we draw the line at checking OVER A HUNDRED TIMES!”

“He’s seriously still asking!?” Christian exulted.

Chatot turned to face us. “Oh perfect timing you… two…” He said as he noticed me standing in between my teammates.

“Howdy…” I muttered as I waved at Chatot awkwardly.

“Ugh, you.” He replied, “What are you doing here?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Christian interrupted, “I will not stand for you talking to my friend like that!”

“Well, I won’t stand for you talking to me like that, lest you want your team to be disbanded.”

“You can’t do that without the Guildmaster’s permission!” Lucario asserted.

“Yeah! And once he finds out about what you said here, you’ll lose your position as head of intelligence.” I added.

“No I won’t, who would replace me if he did?” Chatot squawked as sweat started to roll down the side of his head.

At this point, Christian could tell Chatot was losing this little fight he had started, “Literally anyone!” Christian shouted.

I couldn’t contain myself, “DANG!” I blurted.

“You just killed him, dude!” Lucario cheered.

“Please, that was nothing.” Christian quipped.

“Can we just stop this pointless drivel, so I can get to the point!?” Chatot squawked.

“Just spit it out already, so we can move on with our lives.”

“Well I was going to ask you to go to Apple Woods to fetch us more perfect apples but considering your track record with that place I guess I’ll go ask someone else.” Chatot explained.

“You’re still upset about that?” Lucario asked.

“No, I’m just taking note of past events. Besides, you’d probably mess it up worse this time thanks to her.”

“Really? You still think I’m a failure?” I groaned.

“Yes! Because you are! The only thing you’ve done since you’ve joined our guild is FAIL!”

“Don’t listen to him, Cinder, he’s the failure here.”

“When have I ever failed you guys?

“Well excluding anytime you’ve tried to be even slightly intelligent, you failed to realize that Team Skull was messing with us, you failed to believe that we were telling the truth about Grovyle, and you failed to accept that our friend here isn’t a failure.” Christian ranted.

Chatot was absolutely FUMING at this point, “How DARE you insult MY intelligence!” He shouted as he furiously flapped his wings, scattering feathers everywhere. I actually managed to pick one up while he was throwing his little tantrum.

“As if talking to you isn’t an insult to mine.” Christian groaned.

That right there was the straw that broke the camel’s back, words could not describe how absolutely furious Chatot was at that moment, “YOU- ARG- RRRRRRRRAUGH!” he growled. He then took off, flying away as fast as his little wings could take him.

“Ok it was funny at first but was that really necessary? I mean, that came off as you just bullying Chatot after a while.” Lucario said.

“It was absolutely necessary, if I didn’t do any of that he’d probably keep being a jerk to Cinder, besides you heard what he had to say to her.” Christian sighed.

“I guess, but what did we gain from that?”

“I got one of his feathers!” I laughed.

“And if he knows what’s good for him, I got him to back off.” Christian added.

“Right, I still don’t think it was worth it.”

“Dude, it was totally worth it! I’m gonna treat this feather like a family heirloom!”

“But why? Don’t you hate Chatot?”

“Yes, so that’s why I’m gonna do this!” I cheered before I spit out a stream of flames over the feather.

“What happened to keeping the feather?”

“It’s still intact.” I said as I held up the charred remains of the feather, “I just needed to give it a new coat of paint, that’s all.”

“I like it.” Christian chuckled, “It’s less hideous than its brethren.”

I started bursting out laughing, “Thanks, ha ha. Maybe I could make more for everyone.”

“I’ll do you one better, how about we each brand our own feather with our attacks?”

“Brilliant!”

“Ahem, are you two maniacs done yet?” Lucario huffed.

I sighed “Yeah I guess…” I said, putting the seared feather into my bag. “I wasn’t kidding about that feather, though, I’m keeping this thing till the end of time.”

“What are you even going to use it for?”

“Maybe I’ll write a book or something with it.”

Well, it ended up being a diary, but hey, I’m using the feather for something now.

“What did you even do to warrant him hating you?”

“Remember how I wanted to climb Destiny Tower?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Well, since that place is a death trap, I ended up getting wiped out a bunch and eventually Chatot got tired of it and started chalking it up to inexperience.”

“But that’s the difference between the two of you, he wanted you to give up, but you refused.” Christian said, placing his paw on my shoulder and looking me in the eyes.

“Yeah, but I still haven’t made it to the top yet.”

“It doesn’t matter, what does matter is the drive is there.”

“Huh?”

“What I’m saying is you’re determined to reach the top, and you’re not gonna give up until you do.”

“Right.”

“All that matters is that you’re determined, if you can harness your determination you can overcome any obstacle.”

“But Chatot says I can’t do it.”

“It doesn’t matter, what matters is you’re determined to get to the top, his words mean nothing and if you can get to the top you can prove it to him.”

This one conversation changed my entire world view, “You’re right!” I declared, “I’m gonna climb Destiny Tower and prove Chatot is the biggest dingus on the planet!”

“That’s the spirit!”

“So, are you guys gonna buy something or what?” The green Kecleon asked.

“Oh! I totally forgot, we were supposed to be taking a break today!” I exulted.

“Yeah, you guys got so caught up in that whole Chatot thing that I wouldn’t blame you.” Lucario sighed.

I walked up to the counter of the Kecleon shop, “Do you guys have anything other than dungeon supplies?” I asked.

“Like what?”

“Like something we can play with or something.”

“Uh, I don’t think so, but I can check in the back.”

“Ok, tell me if you find anything.”

A couple of moments went by before Kecleon eventually found something, a box of cards. “I don’t exactly know what kind of cards these are, but they might be entertaining.”

“Well they look interesting and colorful, so maybe they’re part of a game or something?”

“That’s what I was thinking, I don’t know where they came from or how they ended up with us, but I’ll give them to you for like 10 Poké, how’s that sound?”

“Sounds like a deal!” I said, swiping the cards and quickly handing Kecleon the 10 Poké, “Thanks!” I beamed before quickly sprinting back to my friends, “Hey guys, I got these weird cards!” I said as I held the box of cards up.

“Uh, cool?” Lucario responded.

“IS THAT FREAKING UNO!?” Christian blurted.

“Uh, maybe, I don’t know.” I muttered, I was completely caught off guard, I mean I didn’t expect anybody to know what the cards were and Christian’s usual erratic behavior was a bit overwhelming.

“Nah I know what we’re doing today you guys go get Blublin, I’ll get uno set up in the bluff.” And before anyone could object, he snatched the cards and ran off back towards Sharpedo Bluff.

I let out a defeated sigh, “Well let’s go get Blublin then.” I said.

“Never change, Christian, never change.” Lucario sighed.

We ran through Treasure Town and down to the crossroads, once there we set our sights on the entrance to Spinda’s café, “500 Poké says he’s in there.” I bet.

Lucario rolled his eyes, “Come on, you and I both know he’s in there.” he said.

“Fair.”

We entered the café and yup, there he was, just a lone Spheal waiting for Spinda to prepare a drink, go figure, “Blublin! Christian’s going crazy over some weird cards, and he told us to come get you!” I shouted.

“Can it wait? I’m getting drinks for all of us!” Blublin replied.

“Oh, sure! That’s a great idea!”

So there we waited, thankfully Spinda was finishing up the last drink when we entered, so the wait wasn’t too long, but knowing Christian he’s probably still gonna tell us we took too long anyway, but alas the last drink was finished, and we left drinks in toe. “So about cards?” Blublin asked.

“Basically we decided to take the day off and after a quick trip to the Kecleon shop we decided we were gonna play with these strange cards.” I explained.

“Oh cool, I guess we were on the same page when we woke up this morning because I was just gonna use these drinks to bribe you guys into taking the day off.”

“We know, you try this every week.” Lucario deadpanned.

“Yup, and looks like it FINALLY WORKED!” Blublin cheered.

“Eh, not really, I only agreed to take the day off after Christian mentioned it’d probably be good for my health.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter, all that matters is that we’re taking a break.”

We passed by the Kecleon shop on our way back, the surrounding area was still littered with ugly feathers left by an even uglier bird, I proceeded to pick up a couple more just for good measure, and by a couple I mean every single one in my path.

Lucario glared at me, “Come on! Enough with the feathers!” he growled.

“Ok! Ok!” I squealed.

“Why is there just a mess of feathers everywhere?” Blublin asked.

“Chatot got furious and left all those feathers behind in his rage.”

“Awesome! Can I have one?”

“Fine, but only one.”

“YAY!”

Blublin picked up a feather and placed it atop his head like a little hat, somehow it stayed on his head even when he was rolling, which considering I’m able to see with my eyes closed all the time I shouldn’t be surprised. Anyway, we made our way back to Sharpedo Bluff and entered to see Christian sitting at the table, the cards were sorted into four small piles with one big stack in the middle. “Too slow!” Christian shouted.

“Dude, we got here as fast as we could!” Blublin shouted back.

“Then what took you guys?”

“Well, Blublin was busy trying his patented ‘day off bribe’ and Cinder slowed down to fill her bag with leftover feathers.” Lucario explained.

“What about you? You don’t have an excuse.”

“I was trying to keep pace with them.”

“Not good enough! The lateness fee is one million Poké!”

“Dude come on! I’m like 800 million in debt already!”

“Well now it’s 801 million!”

“Can we just get on to whatever ritual you have planned already!?”

“Is that seriously what this looks like?”

“Yes.” The three of us said in unison.

“Ok, just sit down and I’ll read the rules.”

Christian read through the rule book, making sure we all understood before moving on. Eventually we all understood the rules and were ready to play. We started on a blue 2 card, I was up first since surprisingly I’m the oldest out of the four of us, I placed a blue 3. Next it was Christian’s turn, he placed a plus four on his first turn, I have no words.

“WHY!? WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS!?” Lucario yelled.

“Nothing!” Christian laughed, “That’s why I did it!”

“THAT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE!”

“I know!.”

The turns kept passing, and we all kept screaming, it was great. It really just goes to show we’re not just a team, we’re a group of friends. Eventually we got to the point where Christian had only one card left, the current card was a yellow 6 and it was my turn. I didn’t have anything I could play despite having HALF OF THE FREAKING DECK, so I had to bet it all on the draw. ‘I don’t think there’s a way out of this’ I thought. I took a deep breath and drew my card, and to my surprise I pulled a yellow skip card, ‘Wait, I can pull this back!’ I thought.

I played the card causing Christian to sigh, “Darn.” he muttered, but then his eyes widened, “Hey Blublin, do you happen to have a yellow reverse?”

“Uh, yeah I do, why?”

“It’d be very cool if you played that card this turn.”

Lucario caught on to his trickery, “Oh come on, do you really think he’d fall for tha-” but he was cut off just before he finished.

“Sure thing bud!” Blublin said, before placing the card, it was now Christian’s turn again. All that just for things to end like this. Absolutely devastating, I know.

“Thanks for the win, bud!” Christian said as he went to place his last card.

But then a devilish grin appeared on Blublin’s face, he was plotting something, and everyone knows a Spheal that’s plotting something is a Spheal worth fearing. Just before Christian could place his last card, the devil himself spoke, and he said: “WINNERHASTOPAYFORTHEDRINKS.” and just as he said that disaster had struck, Christian had won the game but at what cost?

Christian sighed as it was too late, the damage had been done, “Well played.” he said.

“I was not expecting that!” Lucario laughed, “Serves you right for all the plus fours you hit me with!”

“How much were the drinks, Blublin?”

“8000 Poké.”

“Whatever, here you go.” Christian groaned, handing Blublin the money.

“Thanks chump!”

“Skuntank!? Did you possess Blublin!?”

“Don’t be silly, It’s still me, Blublin!”

“Yep he’s possessed.” Lucario deadpanned.

“Well, I’ll go call the exorcist, you two hold him down.”

“I’M NOT POSSESSED!”

“Oh boy…” I sighed.

“Don’t believe his lies! PIN HIM DOWN!” Christian shouted.

“YOU’LL NEVER CATCH ME ALIVE!” Blublin declared, as he bolted out of the bluff.

“AFTER HIM!”

And just like that, everyone had taken off sprinting, chasing Blublin outside, “I love you guys.” I muttered, before chasing after them.

When I exited Sharpedo Bluff, I saw Christian and Lucario cornering Blublin on the edge of the cliff, “Give it up, we have you cornered!” Lucario barked.

“No you don’t!” Blublin said, turning away from them and towards the edge of the cliff, “You guys are forgetting that I can just jump without having to worry about hurting myself.”

“What!? How!?”

“My belly will absorb the shock!” Blublin beamed as he slapped his belly with a flipper.

“Let’s not test that theory.” I said, “The last thing we’d want on our day off is to have to rush you to the guild because you hurt yourself.”

“Yeah, especially with the whole Chatot massacre this morning.” Christian added.

“TOO LATE!” Blublin shouted as he rolled backwards towards the edge of the cliff. He backflipped off the edge, striking a pose at the apex of his jump.

“Well… I’ll go get Wigglytuff…” Lucario sighed.

“Shouldn’t we at least check on him first? I mean, there’s still a chance he’s ok, right?” Christian asked.

“I guess, I mean at this point I feel like it would be rude not to after he put so much confidence in his belly.” I deadpanned.

Lucario facepalmed, “Fine, we’ll go check on him.” he groaned.

So for like the fourth time today we walked through Treasure Town, this time passing through and returning to the crossroads, but this time instead of entering Spinda’s café we took the crossroads down towards the beach. “I hope he’s ok, I mean he’s probably the one who wanted this break the most.” I fretted.

“Yeah, it’d suck for him to finally get the break he wanted, only for him to take it too literally.” Lucario deadpanned.

“Wait… THAT LITTLE GREMLIN!” Christian roared.

“What’s wrong?”

“Can’t you see!? He was trying to hurt himself, so we had to take more time off!”

“I hope not! I’m not ok with taking a couple of months off, so we can rehabilitate a Spheal!”

“Agreed, I would rather not rehabilitate anyone, especially if teaching them to move could hurt me too.” Christian added.

“You guys do realize I can roll around too, right?” I asked.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot.”

“How did you almost forget? Rollout is like one of my signature moves.”

“How!? You never use it!”

“Hey, it’s not about how much I use it. It’s about how I use it, remember how I flare up my quills while I roll? Well, that’s what I like to call the Cinder Special!”

“Yeah, it totally doesn’t remind me of a certain other rolling move I’ve seen before.”

“Hey! The Spin Dash isn’t real! My move’s still original!”

“Sure buddy.”

“You do realize neither of us knew what a Spin Dash was until you told us, right?” Lucario ribbed.

“I’m aware, I was only teasing her.”

“Haven’t I been teased enough today?” I groaned, “I mean Chatot basically caused a whole scene earlier didn’t he?”

“This is different though he wasn’t teasing you in a friendly manner, he was being serious, I’m just playing around, I’m not trying to upset you unlike him.”

“I know, but it’s still a little exhausting, you know.”

“Alright, I’ll chill out a bit.”

“Shouldn’t we be focusing on seeing if Blublin is ok?” Lucario asked.

“Right, shouldn’t we pick up the pace then?” Christian countered.

Lucario rolled his eyes at Christian and the two sprinted off, “W-wait up!” I sputtered as they left me in the dust. I quickly started running after them, only to find them stopped dead in their tracks by the waves. They were standing next to a seemingly unconscious Blublin laying on his side. “Oh my Arceus! BLUBLIN!” I screamed. I ran to his side, “A-are you alright!?” I stammered. He slowly opened his eyes and looked me in mine. He then proceeded to spray water straight into my face. “AUH! What was that for!?.” I shouted.

“That’s for not believing in me!” He laughed as he hopped up off his side, “Don’t worry…” He cut off before spraying Christian and Lucario with water as well, “… I didn’t forget you two!”

“… Thanks…” Christian scowled as water dripped from his face, which now wore an unamused expression.

“Alright! MY TURN!” Lucario exulted, charging up an Aura Sphere.

“Wait! NOOOOOO!” Blublin screamed, but it was too late, Lucario let his Aura Sphere rip! It shot right at Blublin before skirting past him, hitting the water. This caused a massive explosion of water, and we were all in the splash zone.

“Holy…” Christian muttered, but he was cut off by the water crashing down on us all.

Lucario burst out into laughter, “Bet you weren’t expecting that now were you?” he resounded.

“If I was, I would have brought an umbrella.”

“It wouldn’t have saved you! That explosion was HUGE!” I cheered.

“It was, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah! I don’t even care that I’m soaked! That was awesome!”

“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it, I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now.”

“So, what do you guys wanna do now? We still have a couple hours until sunset, and we don’t have any plans.”

“Oh I know! We could spar!” Christian suggested. “It’d be a great way to dry off!”

“I’m down, but what if we get hurt?”

“We have plenty of healing items in storage, we’ll be fine.”

“Alright, then who’s going against who.”

“How about Cinder vs. Blublin and you vs. me.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I could bring myself to fight you.”

“Not even in a friendly sparring match?”

“Nope, I’d never forgive myself if something went wrong.”

“That’s fine then, have fun fighting at a disadvantage then!”

“Wait what?”

“Let’s do this Blublin!”

“Oh boy…” Blublin sighed.

Oh boy indeed, I know I have the type advantage and all with Lucario being a steel type, but he’s also like at least five times taller than me. He’s also got that aura stuff on his side, I don’t fully understand how aura works and that scares me. I rely on knowing about my opponent to beat them, but all I know is I’m absolutely terrified.

“Bring it!” Lucario commanded.

“Uh, I’ll try!” I uttered.

“Hmph, I’m not sensing much confidence in you.”

“To be honest, I’m not so confident about this.”

“Well stow your fear, otherwise I’m gonna tear you apart!”

“Ok! I will!”

“Enough talking. Let’s do this!”

He started the fight by firing off a Flash Cannon straight for me, giving me little time to react, but I responded by shooting a Flamethrower to stop the attack. I followed up by shooting off a Fire Blast, but I ended up missing, go figure. After letting out a disappointed sigh, I felt something strange, I couldn’t move, as if something grabbed my entire body. I tried to look around frantically, but my head wouldn’t budge. I eventually caught a glimpse of myself and noticed I was enveloped in a pink glow, ‘Oh no! Psychic!’ I thought.

Lucario used his psychic grip to turn me towards him, “Your aim’s a bit off, let me adjust it for you.” he quipped. He released his psychic grip and sent me flying, however instead of him sending me towards a wall, he sent me on a crash course straight for him. Right as I was about to hit him he raised his fist which collided with my forehead.

“Ugh!” I grunted as I fell to the ground, I didn’t see that coming, but I don’t think anyone could’ve, that attack was certainly creative. I got back to my feet and sprayed a Flamethrower at his feet, expecting him to jump back, which he did. I followed up on my previous move by firing a Fire Blast that was completely unavoidable thanks to my little trick. The sheer force of the blast knocked him off his feet, perfect! “Thanks, that seemed to do the job!” I beamed.

“Glad to hear it…” He scowled as he got up off the ground, much to my disappointment, I was hoping to get to take advantage of his misfortune. He quickly ran away from his almost point-blank position, putting more space between us and minimizing the risk of him eating another Fire Blast, a very smart move on his part, but it puts me in an awkward position.

I took note of what he was doing and decided that I wasn’t gonna allow him to do it, “Oh no you don’t!” I shouted. I curled up into a ball using my Defense Curl and began to roll towards him with my patented Cinder Special, a Rollout with some flames added to it. I rolled across the beach and slammed into Lucario from behind knocking him onto his knees, or at least I think, I couldn’t exactly tell while I was rolling.

I used his staggered state to hit him again and again and again before he eventually grabbed me with his Psychic again, giving him an opportunity to get back to his feet, “You’re probably all dizzy from all that rolling, here let me recalibrate you again.” he quipped. He was trying to do his Aim Adjuster again, but this time I was ready for it! He let me go, and I was sent flying towards him just like before, so I waited until I was right in his face to let another Fire Blast rip. However, he was ready for this as well, meeting my attack with an Aura Sphere. The two attacks collided, creating a HUGE explosion of purple flames and launching the two of us away from each other.

“WHOA!” I marveled, “DID YOU SEE THAT!?”

“Of course I saw it, it blew up in my face!” Lucario exclaimed.

The beach was littered with tiny little purple flames everywhere, which I’ve gotta admit was very pretty, so pretty in fact I asked, “Can we do that again?”

“Maybe when it gets darker, I’d love to see whatever that was light up the night sky.” Lucario laughed.

“Did I miss something?” Blublin asked.

“Really!? You didn’t see it!?”

“See what!?”

“I don’t know how to explain it, but when my Fire Blast hit his Aura Sphere, it became this magnificent explosion!”

“Wait really!? I wanna see!”

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to do it again then.”

“Yeah, right after we watch the sunset.”

“Aww, but I wanted to see it now.” Blublin whined.

“Trust me, it’ll be worth the wait!”

“Ok… But if this doesn’t blow me away, you owe me 800 Poké!”

“Deal, but trust me, you’re not getting that Poké.”

“So who won?”

“I’d say it’s a draw, mainly because we were blown away by what happened.” Lucario answered.

“Literally!” I added.

“Aww that’s lame.” Blublin sighed. “I beat Christian, though!”

“You did!?”

“Yup! I froze him solid, I don’t think he likes being an ice cube too much though, should I let him out?”

I sighed, “I’ve got it.” I groaned. I walked over to Christian’s ice prison and hit it with a Fire Blast.

“What year is it!?” Christian shouted as he was freed from the ice.

“5023.” Lucario teased.

“5023!? OH GOD, HAS THE ROBOT UPRISING BEGUN!?”

“No, thankfully, however, all your friends are dead.”

“Well yeah, If I was frozen for that long then naturally they’d be long gone, it’s a little sad but not surprising.”

“WOW, some friend you are!” I shouted.

“I was kidding! Come on, you really don’t think I believed it was actually 5023 do you?”

“Don’t lie to me. You fell for it at first.” Lucario grinned.

“You’re right, but the moment I heard your voice, I knew you were messing with me.”

“Oh come on, it could have been one of my descendants or something.”

“I mean, it could have, but what are the odds their voice sounds exactly like yours?”

“I see your point.”

Then I had a thought, “It’s also highly likely that somewhere down the line your descendants could be girls.” I giggled.

“Gosh, that’d be awkward.”

“I mean, not really, It’s kinda what happens overtime.”

“On a related note, what if somehow we met our descendants?” Christian asked.

“How would that even work?”

“I don’t know, maybe Celebi gets bored one day and decides to take us into the far future. What would you do?”

“I’d probably feel really awkward.” Lucario answered.

“Wouldn’t we all?” I asked.

“Well, yeah, obviously, but I don’t know what I’d say to them.”

“That’s fair, I think I’d just be sitting in silence while all of you would be having the most awkward conversation of your lives.” Christian said.

“You wouldn’t wanna talk to your descendants?”

“I would, I’m just not sure that I would have any, I’m pretty sure this bloodline’s ending with me.”

“Come on, don’t be like that, surely you’ll find someone who loves you.”

“I mean there might be, but I don’t think I wanna open that can of worms, especially considering the fact that I look like this now.”

“I’m sure you’ll come around.”

“Even if I do, I don’t really know if I want to have a child. I feel like I’m too free spirited for that.”

“Fair point, you and I are in the same boat, I guess.”

“Oh yeah I almost forgot, you’re a girl, that probably makes things a little more awkward.”

“Yeah… I’m really unsure about having children.”

“Jeez, I didn’t mean for this conversation to be so deep, it went from ‘hey wouldn’t this be wacky?’ to us realizing the implications of that scenario.”

“Let’s just change the topic.” I said awkwardly looking for something else to talk about before noticing the sun had begun setting, “Oh look! The sun’s setting!”

“It’s just as pretty as ever.” Lucario sighed.

“Yup, but this time we’re all together.” Christian added, “It feels great.”

“Yeah. Especially since we got to spend the whole day just doing whatever we wanted.” I muttered,

“I wish we could spend every day like this.” Blublin sighed.

“I wish we could too, but if we did, we’d probably never get anything done.” Christian admitted.

“Maybe we should take tomorrow off too.” Lucario said.

“Wait really!?” Blublin gasped.

“Really! I didn’t realize how badly we all needed this until today!”

“Well, I guess that settles it then, we’re taking tomorrow off too!” Christian announced.

“I think this is the single best decision we’ve made on this team.” I smiled.

“I think we all do.”

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching the sunset together, taking in the beauty of the bubbles the Krabby were blowing against the deep orange color of the sky. Eventually the sun had completely set, leaving all of us sitting in the dark of the night, “You ready, Lucario?” I asked.

“You bet I’m ready!’ he replied.

We both stood up and fired our attacks up into the sky, causing a purple explosion just like the one we made earlier. The flames rained down into the water before disappearing, creating an even prettier scene than before.

“Whoa… When’d you two learn how to do that?” Christian asked.

“When we were sparring, I don’t know why, but my Aura Sphere meeting her Fire Blast creates this huge purple explosion.”

“Oh, makes sense why I missed it then, thanks Blublin.”

“Keep the Poké Cinder.” Blublin beamed, completely ignoring what Christian said.

“Thanks ‘chump’.” I teased.

We all sat for a moment awestruck by the pretty explosion, but then *GRUMBLE*

“Wah! Tremors!” Lucario squealed.

“Lucario calm down, it wasn’t a tremor.” Christian sighed.

“Sorry, It was just my stomach.” I admitted.

Lucario took a deep breath, “Phew, that gave me flashbacks.” he chuckled.

“I guess it’s time to go back home for the night.”

“Yeah, hopefully we have enough food, otherwise my belly might keep us up all night.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem, we’ve got tons of food back at the bluff, so we should be able to accommodate your tummy’s relentlessness.” Christian laughed.

“Great, then let’s get going!”

So we once again walked through the crossroads and Treasure Town and ended up back at Sharpedo Bluff. We went inside and ate dinner, it wasn’t anything too special, but it was enough for my stomach, so it was enough for me. After we ate, Blublin went home and we all prepared for bed.

“Good night guys.” I yawned

“Good night.” Christian and Lucario said in unison.

So things seem to be going well so far, right? Well this is around the point where things take a turn for the worst, so sit tight because things are about to go downhill very quickly.

---

Sharpedo Bluff

Grass Continent

October 22nd 7:00 AM

---

I woke up just after sunrise and let out a big yawn, “Good morning guys.” I muttered.

“Good morning.” Christian yawned, lifting himself out of his bed.

“Good morning!” Lucario cheered.

“Wow, you’re full of energy today.” I said.

“I know! Our little break left me feeling like a million Poké!”

“Hopefully today will leave me feeling the same way.” Christian groaned.

“Did you not sleep well or something?”

“Not really, I had a nightmare.”

“Well maybe another walk through Treasure Town might help you wake up.”

“I kinda want to talk about my nightmare first.”

“What was it about?” I asked.

“I woke up in some weird lab next to Lucario. We were surrounded by strange people wearing masks and they sent out a Pokémon to attack us, but I was completely defenseless because I was human again!”

“Whoa! That sounds terrifying!”

“That’s not even the worst part! The worst part was that Lucario didn’t recognize me so I was completely alone.”

“That’s terrible!”

“I know! That’s why I couldn’t sleep!”

“Dude I would NEVER leave you to dry like that and you know that.” Lucario shouted.

“Even if I was taller than you?”

“Did I stutter!?”

“Thanks bro.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“So, you guys still up for that walk?” I asked.

Christian jumped up, shaking away his fatigue, “Of course!” He exclaimed.

So we left the bluff only to immediately be greeted by Blublin panting heavily. He looked over at us and began to spit out a whole bunch of gibberish, “GUYSWENEEDTOGETTOTOWNRIGHTNOWTHERE’SABIGSCARY-” he cried before being cut off by Christian.

“Get it together, dude!” Christian commanded.

Blublin took in a huge breath before slowly articulating what he was trying to say before “THERE’S A BIG SCARY RIP IN THE SKY IN TREASURE TOWN, WE NEED TO GET MOVING RIGHT NOW!” He yelled.

Lucario and Christian looked at each other and nodded in unison before taking off. I on the other hand stayed behind and tried to process what was just said, ‘A rip in the sky? What does he mean by that?’ I thought.

Blublin caught his breath and rolled up to me, “COME ON! WE HAVE GOT TO GET MOVING!” He shouted.

“O-ok.” I stammered, “No need to shout, I heard you the first time.” We began running after the others, taking note of how unusually empty Treasure Town was as we ran. Finally, we caught up to Christian and Lucario only to see them seemingly frozen in fear as they stared at the sky.

“W-what is that?” Lucario asked.

“It’s a rift.” Christian answered, “A Space Time Distortion is forming.”

“A WHAT!?”

“A Space Time Distortion, it’s probably because the Temporal Tower is still recovering from it nearly collapsing a while back.”

“Should we be worried?”

“Absolutely! These things bring Pokémon from other worlds! This thing could tear apart Treasure Town!”

“What!?” I shouted. But just as I shouted, the wind picked up, and the surrounding sky turned black.

“STAY BACK!” Christian yelled.

But it was too late, the wind was too strong for us to leave, we were trapped in this space-time vortex. Suddenly a giant creature appeared and let out a huge roar, the creature had a bright full moon on its forehead and red glowing eyes, it seemed to be covered in some sort of mod or clay. “WHAT IS THAT THING!?” I screamed in complete terror.

“It’s an alpha Ursaluna! We need to subdue it before it kills everyone!”

I was completely caught off guard. I felt completely overwhelmed, for once I felt like my life was in danger, no I KNEW my life was in danger there was no mistaking it! “W-what do I do!? The wind’s too strong! I can’t get away!”

“Then stand and fight!”

We all surrounded the beast, preparing to give it the beat down of its life, “GO!” I shouted as we all charged at the beast, I shot off a Fire Blast which hit it square in the face causing it to roar and slam the ground with its hulking paws, this action caused an earthquake making us all fall. The beast then set its sights on me.

It was just about to slam down on me with its massive paws when Blublin shot an Ice Beam at it, “YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY FRIEND!” He screamed. The monster turned away from me and towards him and then, *CRUNCH* “AAAAAAAAHHHH!”

“BLUBLIN!” I squealed.

“N-no! Blublin!” Christian shouted.

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!” Lucario yelled, tears flowing from his eyes.

The beast turned towards me and roared, my life flashed before my eyes, ‘I’m gonna die! I’M GONNA DIE!’ I panicked. I let loose a Flamethrower to deter the beast from attacking me, but it was futile. The monster lifted its paw and back handed me. I was sent careening across the ruined remains of Treasure Town as my consciousness faded. The last thing I heard was screaming and crying from my friends.

---

Location Unknown

Time Unknown

---

“Ugh… My head…” I muttered. I pushed myself off the ground and shook my head, suddenly the memories of what had happened, “CHRISTIAN! BLUBLIN! LUCARIO! ANYONE! ARE YOU OK!?” I screamed, I was still too panicked to notice I wasn’t in Treasure Town anymore, “ANYONE!? PLEASE SAY SOMETHING IF YOU’RE OUT THERE, I’M ALL ALONE!” I screamed once more, desperately calling out to my friends, but to no avail, nobody responded, I was alone. I started to cry, “Great, first my family dies, then my team does too. Why does Arceus hate me?” It was at this point that I noticed my environment had changed, “Where even am I anyway.” I moped, “This place doesn’t look anything like Treasure Town.” I looked around my surroundings, I was in some kind of forest, but it was a little more tropical than I was used to, “Well, I can grieve later for now I gotta get to safety.” I said, “It’s what they would’ve wanted.” I took another look around and spotted a path that led into a deeper part of the forest. I decided to follow it as I didn’t see any alternatives. So I followed the path for a bit before stumbling into a dead end, “Really!? A dungeon!? Give me a break!” I scowled. So there I was, all alone lost in some weird tropical forest dungeon in the middle of Arceus knows where, searching for any sign of civilization. I wandered the seemingly endless corridors until I saw a clearing, I peeked into the clearing to scope out the scene for any feral Pokémon. I didn’t see any ferals at first, but then I saw a tall, lanky Pokémon run into the clearing. I was tempted to ask them where I was, but one quick look at their monstrous claws was enough to make me reconsider.

The lanky Pokémon seemed to be murmuring to himself in confusion, I was just barely able to make out what he was saying, “What is this freaky place!? Why do all these Pokémon want me dead!? Why is it so confusing!?” He said.

‘He seems lost, has he never been in a dungeon before?’ I asked myself.

I continued listening in until I eventually heard him ask, “Are those… Stairs?”

“Yes!” I blurted accidentally.

“Who’s there!?” The lanky Pokémon shouted, checking his surroundings rapidly for any signs of movement. I held my breath and ducked back behind the corner, I couldn’t let him know I was here otherwise it was lights out. “Whatever,” He scowled, “If you decide to jump at me, I’m gonna make sure you can’t see straight for the next year!” He threatened.

I heard him climb up the stairs to the next floor. I let out a relieved sigh as I entered the clearing. “Phew, that was close.” I sighed. I waited a little bit before climbing the stairs to the next floor, just to make sure he wasn’t planning on ambushing me as soon as I caught up with him. Eventually I decided that enough time had passed, and he had probably left already, so I went up the stairs and onto the next floor. Upon reaching the second floor I noticed a few items lying around which I hastily picked up and shoved in my bag which was still stuffed with feathers, “At least I still have these to remember the times we spent together.” I whimpered. I checked my bag to see what I had. Inside there were a few Oran berries, a few Max Elixirs, a few apples, a Red Gummi, a Reviver Seed, and a ton of feathers including the one I torched. “That’s good enough for me.” I sighed. I continued on, taking note of the distinct lack of ferals. “It’s like a ghost town in here.” I noted. Eventually I did end up running into a few ferals, but they were already dealt with, One was coughing up poison while another was struggling to move due to paralysis. I just left them there, fighting them would be a waste of time and resources, and I don’t have a lot of either. I continued on through the winding corridors, keeping track of all the trees with claw marks on them, ‘If I follow the path left by his claws I can make it out of here!’ I thought, ‘Or maybe I can get him when he’s at a dead end, that way if things go south I can just run away!’ My plotting was cut short however as the trail led me straight to the stairs just as I planned. “YES! Get me outta here!” I celebrated. I ran up the stairs which led to a clearing, I made it, I was home free. Well as home free as I could be given the circumstances.

But then I heard a voice, “Not a word.” the voice said. I turned around and was greeted by the lanky Pokémon standing over me. “Let’s make this quick.” he huffed, vanishing before my very eyes. I spent a good couple of moments looking for him before he reappeared and kicked me in the face.

I stumbled over, the attack didn’t hurt too bad, but it was quick, too quick, ‘Must be Quick Attack.’ I deduced. I got back on my feet and noticed my assailant had disappeared again. I had a plan this time, I spun around spewing flames from my mouth the whole time. This covered the area all around me and allowed me to follow up if he ended up getting staggered by this maneuver. Sure enough, he didn’t see this coming, getting tripped up by the flames. He fell backwards into a sitting position. I quickly took advantage of this, knocking him over completely before jumping on top of him and spraying my Flamethrower right in his face, which left a nasty burn. He slapped me, knocking me off of him, but again not really hurting too much. This was meant to put space between the two of us as when he realized I was a safe distance away he reached into his bag and pulled out some weird bottle. It looked kinda like an Elixir, but it was full of this green liquid and had a strange label with symbols I’d never seen before. He chugged the bottle and tossed it to the side, wiping away the leftover liquid from his face afterward.

I have no idea what was in that bottle, but it somehow cured his burn and restored his health, “Nice, try you little rat, but it’s gonna take a lot more than that to beat me!” He taunted.

Hearing him call me a rat caused memories of Chatot to flood my mind, “You useless rat! You’ll never amount to anything!” He yelled as I started to bawl my eyes out.

Suddenly a wave of determination washed over me, “I AM NOT A RAT!” I screamed as I curled up into a ball and began rolling towards my opponent. It was personal now, he had brought all the horrible repressed memories and all the pain I’d felt up to this point to the forefront of my mind. I put all of that anger into my attack, slamming into my target as hard as I could. I hit him straight in his gut, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to reach into his bag, presumably in an attempt to pull out one of those magic drinks he used earlier. I picked up on him doing this, however, and rolled back towards him to get another hit in and hopefully knock his drink out of his hands. He eventually pulled out another drink which I immediately knocked out his hand just as I intended. He stumbled in shock, clearly he didn’t expect me to do that as he was too panicked to pick his drink back up, “Yoink!” I whooped as I snatched the drink, placing it in my bag.

“You’re gonna regret that!” The lanky Pokémon huffed, “I’ll mess you up just like I did to all your brethren in this weird twisted forest!”

“I don’t live here! I don’t even know where I am!” I countered, “I’m not one of those mindless ferals, and I’m certainly NOT A RAT!”

“Just because you’re annoying doesn’t mean you’re special!” he growled.

More memories of Chatot scolding me flooded my mind. “Just because you’re annoying doesn’t mean you’re special!” Chatot echoed.

“Shut it! Shut it! SHUT IT!” I ordered, “I WON’T LET YOU CONTROL ME!” I chomped down on an Oran berry from my bag and prepared my final attack. My opponent stepped back a little due to my outburst but readied his massive claws in case I jumped at him. I aimed at my prey and let loose the biggest Fire Blast I had ever fired in my entire life. The force from shooting off the blast pushed me away, sending my sparkling tears flying with me. My target was struck by the blast, knocking him down and sprawling him out on his back. I did it, I won! I ACTUALLY WON!

“Ugh.” The lanky Pokémon coughed.

“WOOOOO! Eat it sasquatch!” I whooped.

I started to leave the clearing that served as our battleground when I heard something strange. I went to turn around to investigate, but I was quickly picked up by my neck. “Eat what? The dirt?” the sasquatch asked. I nodded, unable to shout my answer in his face as I originally intended to do. “Is that so,” He laughed as he slashed my stomach creating a giant bloody gash, “Shame, looks like we can’t share this meal together.” he taunted as he shoved me into the dirt before collapsing face-first into the dirt himself. I lifted myself up to see a massive puddle of blood underneath me. I was beginning to panic, my breaths became raspy and frequent as I was losing blood rapidly. My vision became blurry and I began to stumble as the world around me began to spin. I began to tear up again before falling down on my face. As I laid there and my consciousness began to fade, the last thing I saw before I passed out was a blurry blue blob.

---

Location Unknown

Time Unknown

---

“… Dude, wake up dude…” a voice muttered to me faintly.

I shot awake, “I’m alive!? HA HA, I’M ALIVE!” I cheered.

“Whoa, you’re so jumpy all of a sudden!”

“I thought I was dead for sure!”

“I wouldn’t blame you! You had a gnarly wipeout there!”

“Excuse me?”

“It means you got beat up pretty bad, dude.”

‘Wait, does he actually think I’m a boy?’ I asked myself.

“You’re lucky I found you, otherwise you’d be a goner.”

“But I had a Reviver Seed, I should have been fine!”

“Not with a wound like that.” The voice said, pointing a fin at my stomach, which was wrapped in bandages.

“Who are you anyway?” I asked, “And where am I for that matter?”

“Oh, I’m Lanturn! An aspiring adventurer born here in the Coast Continent!”

“Coast Continent!? Where’s that!?”

“Right here, dude, I just told you that.”

“I know, but I’ve never seen this continent on any map I’ve ever looked at!”

“What kind of bootleg maps are you buying, then? This continent is huge! You can’t miss it even if you tried!”

“I was given an official wonder map! I’m not using a bootleg map!”

“Sure, ok bud.”

“No! I’m being serious!”

“Here, just look at my map, you’ll see where we are instantly.”

Lanturn showed me his map. Not a single continent on his map lined up with mine! “W-what!?” I gasped, “That’s not possible!”

“Do you still happen to have your map? I wanna see how poorly made these knock offs are.” I reached into my bag and pulled out my map, hoping desperately for an explanation. But all I got was hysterical laughing from Lanturn as he looked at my map, “Dude, how’d you not know this was a fake!? Like, see these names!? What kind of place is the Grass Continent anyway!?”

Tears began to well up in my eyes, “It was my home!” I cried.

“Oh, jeez, I’m sorry dude, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Stop calling me ‘dude’! I’m a girl!”

“You are!?”

“Yes I am, I’m also very lost and very scared, so I would appreciate it if you stopped making fun of me!”

“I’m sorry, I never meant to make fun of you.”

“Thank you.”

“You mind telling me what’s going on?”

“I’m still a little unsure myself, to be honest.”

“Hm… interesting, maybe your buddy will know.”

“My buddy? But I was all alone.”

“Wasn’t there somebody lying next to you?”

I then immediately remembered the lanky Pokémon that attacked me, “HE WAS NOT MY BUDDY!” I screamed.

“Was he not?”

“ABSOLUTELY NOT! HE GAVE ME THIS INJURY!”

“Why was he so willing to carry you here, then?”

“Huh?”

“He’s the one who brought you here after I treated your wounds.”

“But why? He attacked me!”

“I guess he didn’t mean to.”

“I somehow doubt that. What even is this place anyway?” I asked as I looked around the mostly white room. I guess I was just too zoned into our conversation to notice the room any earlier.

“This is the infirmary of SurfSpark Lighthouse, Or as I’ve been calling it lately: the SurfSpark Guild.” Lanturn answered.

“Guild!? As in expedition guild!?”

“Yep, that’s the idea!” Lanturn beamed, “Wait, how do you know that?”

“I was part of a guild before I ended up here, have you ever heard of Wigglytuff’s Guild?”

“Nope, the whole guild thing was my original idea, I’ll have to sue whoever this Wigglytuff is.”

“How have you not heard of Wigglytuff!? He’s like the most famous explorer like EVER!”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone mention a Wigglytuff.”

“WHAT!? YOU’RE JOKING!”

“I wish I was, but unfortunately I’m not.”

‘What’s going on!? It’s like I just blew into another world!’ I thought.

Then it hit me. I had a flashback to when my friends were still with me, “Absolutely! These things bring Pokémon from other worlds! This thing could tear apart Treasure Town!” I heard Christian say.

‘Oh my Arceus I am in another world!’

“Are they awake yet?” I heard from the hallway.

“Yep, she seems a little strange, but she’s awake.” Lanturn replied.

“As I expected, can I talk to them in private?”

“Sure thing dude!” Lanturn beamed before turning his attention back to me, “You got a visitor.” he told me.

Lanturn floated out of the room and shortly after the sasquatch entered. At this point I was panicking internally, ‘IT’S HIM, HE’S HERE TO FINISH THE JOB!’ I practically shrieked.

“Relax, I’m not gonna hurt you, physically, anyway.” The sasquatch sighed.

“St-stay away!” I cried.

The sasquatch sighed again, “Look, I know you’re scared, but if you’d just listen to me, I could explain what’s going on here.” He huffed.

“Can you explain why you attacked me first?”

“That’s a great place to start. I attacked you because I was scared and confused.”

“What do you mean you were scared!? LOOK AT YOUR CLAWS!”

“My claws don’t exactly tell me what’s going on with my environment.”

“What, have you never been in a dungeon before?”

“Is that what that was?”

“Don’t play dumb! You knew that was a dungeon!”

“I’m not! We don’t have dungeons in Hisui.”

“Hisui? I didn’t see that place on Lanturn’s map. What continent is it on?”

“Uh, Hisui…?”

“Just admit you’ve run out of excuses and just let me run away already!”

“I’m not making up excuses! I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Likely excuse.”

“Look what I’m trying to say is I’m completely disoriented, I’m far from my home and my friends, and it caused me to panic. I’m sorry for hurting you.”

“You almost KILLED ME!”

“I also saved your life! There was only so much Lanturn could do there, so if I didn’t carry you here, your story would have ended there!”

“I refuse to believe you’re the reason I’m still alive, besides, if you hadn’t attacked me in the first place I wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

“Hence why I’m apologizing, I didn’t mean to attack you, I only did it because a Space Time Distortion took me away from my home and put me in this hostile, unfamiliar world.”

I dropped my attitude, “Could you repeat that?” I asked.

“What’s the point, you’re not gonna believe me anyway. I’m just gonna start looking for a way home.”

“W-wait I am! Just tell me more about what happened to you!”

“Ugh, fine, I was investigating a Space Time Distortion in search of my friend. He had gone missing almost a year ago at this point, but I was still clinging onto hope that I’d see him again. I may have overextended a bit as I was hit into a rift by a strange dark Sneasel. I woke up in that forest and as I mentioned I didn’t know what a dungeon was until you told me.”

“So we’re in the same boat then.”

“We are?”

“Yeah, I was taken here after getting beat by this giant beast that was summoned by a Space Time Distortion.”

“How come you knew about dungeons then? We don’t have those in Hisui.”

“Because I’m not from Hisui, I’m from the Grass Continent!”

“Ah, I get it, you’re from a world that’s similar to this one.”

“Yeah, I guess I lucked out.” I said, before remembering the huge bandage still covering my belly, “Well, almost anyway.” I sighed, tapping my bandaged belly.

“Yeah, I know I’ve already said this like ten times, but I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok, I know why you did it now. In hindsight, I probably should have tried to talk it out”

“Eh, I probably wouldn’t have listened. Besides, you put up one hell of a fight, dude!”

“Thanks, but I’m a girl.”

“You are!? Dang, I genuinely couldn’t tell!”

“Yeah, I get that a lot.”

“Oh I see how it is, you’re more of a tomboy aren’t you?”

“Yup!”

“Well regardless, you put up a good fight and I commend you for that, It’s not everyday someone gives me that much of a challenge.”

“Thanks! You weren’t too bad yourself!”

“Are you kidding!? I was terrible! All I did was barrage you with Quick Attack and drink Full Restores the whole time.”

“Is that what that weird drink was?”

“Yeah, It’s a pretty potent medicine that treats almost any wound.”

“Do you think it could heal the gash you gave me?”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out. You still have the one you stole from me, right?”

“I should, unless it dropped out of my bag while you were carrying me.” I said as I rummaged through my bag, “Let’s see, Chatot feathers, Oran berries, more Chatot feathers, aha! Got it!”

“Jeez, it’s like a crime scene in there!”

“I know! I got them all after my friend made some big bully throw a tantrum, I’m probably just gonna torch them.”

“I wish I could’ve been there, that sounds funny.”

“Yeah it was, I just wish I could be back there.”

“Well, we can search for a way back once you get all healed up.”

“Right!” I declared. I popped the cap off the bottle and downed the Full Restore. It tasted great! It was like a Sitrus berry smoothie with a few other ingredients thrown in there. “YUM!” I exulted.

“It’s tasty, isn’t it?”

“Tasty!? That’s the understatement of the century! Please tell me you can make more of those!”

“Well, I have a recipe, but I can’t read it.”

“Huh!? Why not!?”

“It’s in human script, which I can’t read.”

“Oh, that’s not a problem, I can read it!”

“You can!?”

“Yeah! I had a friend who used to be a human, or at least I did before I ended up here.”

“Used to be!?”

“Yeah, he said something about interdimensional travel causing him to transform into a Shinx.”

“Jeez, I couldn’t imagine being transformed into a quadruped like that.”

“Eh, he didn’t seem to mind once he got the hang of things.”

“I bet he hated having a tail.”

“Do humans not have tails?”

“Nope, have you never seen a real human before?”

“Nope, they don’t exist in our world, every time one enters our world they become a Pokémon.”

“Interesting, so chances are they don’t exist here either.”

“That’s good, I’m not sure what humans look like, so I’m not sure I’d be comfortable just seeing one out in the open.”

“They’re not that bad, although mine was taller than me, which was embarrassing, especially because he was relatively short for his age.”

“You’ve met a human!?”

“Yup, I’ve literally walked around a whole village of them.”

“Whoa! That’s cool!”

“Eh, it’s not too different from what’s going on here.”

“Well, this has been a nice little chat.”

“That it has, I don’t believe I caught your name, though.”

“It’s Cinder, nice to meet you.”

“The name’s Nail, and it’s a pleasure to meet you, Cinder.”

“Nail, huh? What kind of Pokémon are you anyway?”

“I’m a Sneasler.”

“Sneasler? I’ve never heard of that species.”

“Lanturn hasn’t either, he said I looked strange and, considering the whole town stared at me like I was some freak, so I would assume they feel the same way.”

“Well on that note, I’m gonna swing by town and see what the dungeons in this area are like, wanna join me?”

“You’re willingly about to go into another one of those cursed places!?”

“Yup, It’s kinda my job, or at least it was, but that doesn’t matter, what does matter is getting home, and I can’t do that by just sitting around here!”

“I mean we could just wait for our friends to get here, but whatever floats your boat I guess.”

“Nah, screw that, I intend on making it back by the end of the year!” I declared as I ripped the bandages off of my belly, revealing it’s newly healed state. I proceeded to jump out of the bed I had been placed on and run out of the infirmary and into the new world that awaited me.

And thus concludes the story of the worst day of my life. Well ok, looking back it ended on a bit of a high note, but the lows were so low I’m surprised I was even able to bring myself to finish this thing. I had to cut out so much of what happened because it just devolved into me bawling my eyes out. I’m sorry for the long awkward conversation at the end, there was just so much about that conversation that stood out to me and to be fair neither Nail nor I are very good at talking to others, so it kinda led to the conversation going all over the place. Anyway, enough apologizing, it’s time to focus on the next chapter in this story! OR IS IT!?

---

January 20th, 9:00 am

SurfSpark Guild

Coast Continent

---

A few months had passed and nothing really happened until this very fateful and very chaotic day. I had woken up in the guild again after a terrible night’s sleep. Lanturn had come to check on me, which had become a daily occurrence at this point.

“‘Sup dude!” Lanturn greeted. Lanturn calls everyone dude regardless of gender, which may or may not be because of me. Well, he said the real reason was he was too chill to get caught up on the specifics, but we all know that’s a lie.

“Ugh… The ground…” I groaned.

“You had that nightmare again?”

“Yep… I haven’t had one good night of sleep since getting here.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s fine, I’m used to it at this point.”

“That’s not fine! You need sleep dude!”

“Well, getting it is impossible at this point!”

“Nothing is impossible, dude.”

“Whatever you say.” I huffed as I turned away from Lanturn and crossed my arms.”

Lanturn floated up beside me and placed a fin on my shoulder, “What’s got you feeling all washed up, dude?” He asked.

“I can’t seem to succeed at anything, I feel like such a useless rat.”

“Whoa, don’t be such a kook, dude! You’ve conquered all the dungeons around town! You’re probably the strongest Pokémon here!”

“Then why did I lose to Nail on my first day here?”

“Because he played dirty. You got him though and that’s what matters.”

“But every time we’ve spared since, I lose! It’s not even close!”

“Maybe it’s because you didn’t plan out your course of action.”

“Huh?”

“Maybe you didn’t think about how to catch him off guard.”

“Oh yeah… Maybe he expected me to attack him the way I did last time!”

“You seem to be the type who likes to plan things out rather than just diving in head first.”

“I guess you’re right. I don’t know how I didn’t notice that before.”

“Sometimes we need an outside perspective to help us better understand our own.”

“I’ll have to remember that going forward.”

“Speaking of going forward, do you have any plans?”

“I want to try to get home at all costs, but so far it hasn’t been going too well so far.”

“Well, do you have any plans for the meantime?”

“I, uh… I don’t think so?”

“Do you wanna help me with something then?”

“What is it?”

“Well, you see I kinda need help if I’m gonna turn this lighthouse into a guild, so I was thinking you could help me with that.”

“Are you kidding!? This place is insane compared to the guild back home! What could I possibly provide that you don’t already have!?”

“Smarts, that’s what!”

“Really!? But you have all this weird technology stuff! I don’t know how to make that stuff!”

“Maybe not, but you know how to navigate dungeons better than anyone I’ve ever met!”

“But that’s because I’m experienced! Anyone can gain experience!”

“But doing that requires learning, which results in smarts.”

“But I don’t know everything!”

“And I’m not asking you to, all that I’m asking is that you lend me your smarts when I need them the most.”

“So you want me to be the head of intelligence?”

“Exactly!”

“Ugh, I hate that title.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Because the head of intelligence at the guild back home was a MASSIVE bully.”

“Well wouldn’t it be ironic if you beat him at his own game then?”

This got me thinking, I started to imagine myself kicking Chatot to the curb when I got back home, only to replace him as the head of intelligence myself. Just thinking about this made me very happy, even if I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to recreate what I had imagined it still lifted my spirit, “It’s a deal!” I exclaimed.

“Totally tubular!” Lanturn cheered, “Then from now on you’re the head of intelligence around here!”

“Isn’t there supposed to be paperwork for this sort of thing?”

“Pfft paperwork!? What do you take me for, a business ‘mon?”

“No, but normally you want to write stuff like this down so that others know, ya know.”

“Well, I don’t feel that’s necessary, besides it’s too formal.”

I rolled my eyes under my eyelids, ‘I take back what I said about him calling everyone dude, it’s entirely because he’s too chill to get caught up in the details.’ I mused, ‘I’m honestly surprised he’s even able to make it out of bed in the morning instead of just chilling there all day.’

Lanturn turned towards the door, “Well, I gotta go, have a good day!”

“Ok, you too!” I waved as he left my room. ‘So it’s just me again, huh.’ I thought, ‘Well there’s no point in just sitting around, I should go get breakfast.’, I left my room and headed to the dining hall but on my way I heard chattering from the infirmary. I considered checking it out, but I decided I needed food ASAP, so I just walked by, ‘If it concerned me then I would’ve been in there already.’ I thought. I entered the dining hall and ate breakfast all alone, “I wish my friends were here” I sighed. As I exited the dining hall with my head hanging low, I was stopped by Nail.

“Is something bothering you?” Nail asked.

“It’s not just something, it’s everything, I just wanna go home!” I cried.

“I understand how you feel, however we have to stay strong. How would you feel if your friends found you like this?”

“I don’t know! I haven’t thought of it!”

“Look, I’m sure they’d be much happier if you weren’t a mess when they find you.”

“I guess you’re right, I need to pull myself together!”

“That’s the spirit!”

“Thanks Nail! I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“You’re welcome! If you ever need to talk out your feelings, just come see me.”

“Will do! See ya bud!

“Peace.”

I exited the dining hall and went back into my room, “Maybe if I take a nap I’ll feel a bit better.” I said to myself, “Maybe I won’t have that dream again.” I hoped as I shut the door to my room. I plopped onto my bed and curled up into a ball, and after a few minutes I drifted off.

---

Treasure Town

Grass Continent

July 6th 7:13 AM

---

“STAY BACK!” a voice shouted.

I didn’t know what was going on, “Huh!?” I uttered.

I took a look around and noticed myself back in Treasure Town moments before I was separated from my friends, ‘Oh it’s this dream again… Oh well, this nap was nice while it lasted I guess…’ I sighed to myself.

The wind kicked up again and the Space Time Distortion formed around us, but before the alpha Ursaluna could appear something saved me from reliving the horrors, a strange loud sound that wasn’t in the original memory. The sound snapped me out of my dream in an instant.

---

January 20th, 5:10 pm

SurfSpark Guild – Cinder’s Room

Coast Continent

---

*Knock* *Knock* “Cinder? Cinder? Are you in there?” I heard Nail ask as he pounded on my door relentlessly.

“Y-yeah! I am! Is something up?” I asked as I got up out of bed.

“Yeah! Some kid just dragged an Oshawott into the infirmary!”

“WHAT!?” I shouted as I ran towards the door. I swung the door open, nearly slamming it full force into Nail’s face, and took off running towards the infirmary. Once I arrived in the infirmary, I stopped to catch my breath. Once I had caught my breath, I looked up to see a tall plant like Pokémon towering over me. I hadn’t met her before today, but I knew who she was from the Guildmaster. Her name is Arboliva, and she’s our healer here.

“Greetings Cinder.” She said in a calm tone, “What brings you here?”

“Nail told me there was an Oshawott here. I was taking a nap, so I just wanted to see if what he was saying was true.”

“It is. A Riolu dropped him off in a rush. She was even dragging her friend by the tail just to get here faster.”

“Oh my Arceus are they ok!?”

“Everyone seems fine, although the Oshawott seems to have hit his head pretty hard.”

“Phew, that’s good, at least nobody’s gonna die.”

“Maybe you should go update them on the status of their friend.”

“Wha- why me?”

“Because Lanturn said you could use a friend, maybe they’d be willing to help you with that.”

“But I have friends.”

“You know what I mean.”

“But Nail and I are… We… I…”

“You couldn’t even finish that statement without realizing it wasn’t true.”

“It’s not because of that! I just- I’m socially awkward, and I have trust issues, ok!?”

“Well, maybe they could help you with that.”

“You’re not gonna let me say no to this, are you?”

“Nope! Go introduce yourself, or I’m gonna make your next visit as unpleasant as possible!”

“Ugh, fine. Where are they?”

“In the room across from the Guildmaster’s.”

“Alright… But if this blows up in my face, you’re gonna have to pay for my therapy.”

“Whatever… You do realize we have a therapist here in the medical department, right?”

“You won’t after they’re done trying to work me through my problems, mark my words.” I said as I left the infirmary. I nervously walked through the hall, my heart pounding at the thought of trying to make new friends, ‘What if they don’t like me?’ I asked myself. I quickly shook my head, trying desperately to get those thoughts out of my head, ‘I can’t let Chatot win.’ I told myself, ‘I can’t let his bullying get to me.’

I reached the door to the room, but as I reached out to knock on the door I had a flashback, “If it weren’t for your teammates nobody would want you around.” I heard Chatot say.

“T-that’s not true.” My past self replied.

“Oh, but it is! Even if your parents didn’t die, they wouldn’t want you around!” Chatot chirped, bursting into laughter afterward.

My past self started crying, at first only a little bit but as soon as I left the guild waterfalls of tears flowing from my eyes. I ran down to the beach, hoping to have some privacy as I bawled my eyes out.

As I sat down, I heard a voice behind me, “Oh my god! Cinder! What happened!?”

I turned around to see Christian and Lucario sitting on the beach behind me, “C-Chatot h-he-” I cried.

“He scolded you?” Lucario asked.

I nodded my head, trying not to let the dam holding back my tears break.

“He’s just like that. He scolded us too, hence why we’re here.”

“B-but he got really personal about it.”

“Well, do you wanna talk about it?” Christian asked

“I don’t know, I don’t really feel comfortable talking about it with the two of you around.”

“You don’t have to worry about us, we’re not gonna judge you or anything.”

“It’s not that, it’s just I’m not good at talking to others.”

“Dude same!”

“Uh, I’m a girl, remember?”

“I know.”

“Then why did you call me a dude?”

“I usually call everyone dude. Awkward I know.”

“Well, the point of what I was trying to say is I’m not good at talking to more than one Pokémon at a time.”

“Alright, I can fix that for you.” Lucario chuckled.

“Wait, what’re you-” Christian asked before he was cut off by Lucario running off.

“Have fun, you two!”

“And he’s gone, great.”

“Do you not wanna talk then?” I asked.

“It’s not that, it’s just I’m uncomfortable in one-on-one talks.”

“Oh, sorry about that.”

“I’ll be fine, just don’t worry about it. So what happened?”

“Chatot said if it weren’t for you guys, nobody would want to be around me.”

“He did!?”

“Yep…”

“Well that’s not true, you have a family that cares about you, right?”

“That’s the thing no, no I don’t, and he knows this, he literally told me that even if they were still alive they wouldn’t want me around.”

“Are you joking me right now!?

“I wish I was…”

Christian scowled as he jumped up from his seated position, “Excuse me for a moment.” he said. He sprinted off towards the guild, looking like he was about to murder someone. At first, I thought he left our little conversation but a moment later he proved me wrong, “WHAT DID YOU SAY TO MY FRIEND YOU OFF TUNE, BIRDBRAINED, SNOBBY LITTLE CHEAPSKATE!?” I heard him scream as the sound of electricity crackling kicked up.

I was surprised I could hear him scream from here, the beach is a decent distance away from the guild, so he must’ve been pretty loud for that to be the case. Moments later, I heard another voice shout from near the guild, “My EARS, man! You need to SHUT UP!”

Shortly after, Christian came sprinting back, reclaiming his spot right beside me.

“What did you do!?” I exulted.

“I gave Chatot a shock. It wasn’t enough to really hurt him too much, but I made him drop a stack of papers.” Christian replied, “Nobody speaks to my friends like that.”

“Can’t you get in trouble for that?”

“Can’t he get in trouble for what he did?”

“Well, I mean yeah, but two wrongs don’t make a right!”

“Well it was that or making him lose his job and I decided to be merciful today.”

“You call that merciful!?”

“Yes because again I didn’t even give him a full shock, but also if Wigglytuff heard about what he said he’d be hospitalized for months.”

“Wigglytuff wouldn’t do that, would he!?”

“He would, just ask Skuntank.”

“Wigglytuff beat up Skuntank!?”

“Yup, Team Skull tried to jump Wigglytuff while on an expedition once, It didn’t go well for them.”

“This is getting off-topic. Why did you do that for me?”

“Because I care about you, you’re my friend, and when someone makes fun of the grief of my friends I tend to get a little worked up.”

“A little!? I could hear you from down here!”

“I know! I was so loud that even Loudred told me to shut up!”

“That’s a bit ironic coming from him.”

“I know, I think he’s just mad that I screamed louder than he can.”

“I think so too!” I laughed, “You probably deafened everyone in the immediate area!”

“I bet Chatot doesn’t even know what happened. Speaking of Chatot, how’d he know about your parents?”

“He heard me talking about how I didn’t wanna go back to Dark Crater and pressured it out of me.”

“Really!? What a jerk!”

“I know! Like, does he even know what privacy is!?”

“He definitely does, but he doesn’t respect it very much. He kept pestering Lucario and I about what we were gonna wish for back when we were looking for Jirachi, and he got really upset when we didn’t tell him.”

“Why are others like that?”

“So they can make others feel bad about stuff and cause drama.”

“I guess that makes sense, I mean that’s what Chatot is doing.”

“Speaking of Chatot, why’d he have a problem with you not wanting to go back to Dark Crater?”

“He said I should go back to somewhere I’d be wanted.”

“Oh my god I can’t even with this guy!”

“I know he’s horrible! I don’t even know why he’s like this with me!”

“He’s strict but usually he’s not actually a monster. Maybe something’s gotten into him, or maybe he just started listening to his intrusive thoughts. We’ll probably never know.”

“I think he’s just being mean because he knows he can get away with it.”

“Well once Wigglytuff hears about what he’s said and done to you he’s not gonna get away with anything.”

“Yeah I guess. Well on that note I think I’m just gonna go.”

“Wait, I think you should stay with us tonight.”

“Wait really!?”

“Yeah, we have enough room for three.”

“W-well, I don’t really want to be a bother.”

“It’s fine, having you around is always fun.”

“You mean it!?”

“Why wouldn’t I? You’re awesome!”

I started to tear up again, but this time it was a good thing. I walked over to Christian and gave him a hug. “Thank you!” I cried.

“Don’t mention it.” Christian said, returning the hug and patting me on the back.

“C-careful if I get scared or something, I could burn you!”

“It’s alright, It’d be worth it.”

We kept hugging for a couple more moments before I had an idea, “Can I tell you something?” I asked.

“Sure, what is it?”

“It’s about my parents, they died protecting me and my siblings from a rock slide. I was the only survivor. I spent the rest of the day trying to dig them out of the rubble, but all I found were bloody remains.”

“Oh my god, that’s-, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine…”

“It’s not fine! Are you ok!?”

“Well I wasn’t, but then I met you guys, and I’ve felt great ever since, well except for when bird brain’s around.”

“Yeah, if he stresses you out again, you should try taking a deep breath. Actually, if anything stresses you out you should take a deep breath, it’s helped me with my stress, so it might work for you too.”

“Alright, I’ll keep it in mind.”

And just like that, the flashback ended. I didn’t understand why I had that flashback at first, but then I heard the last part of what Christian said echoing in my mind, “Actually if anything stresses you out you should take a deep breath, it’s helped me with my stress, so it might work for you too.” Then it all just clicked, I was stressed out about meeting these Pokémon, so my brain was reminding me of advice I was given for this situation.

I lowered my arm and backed away from the door, ‘Deep breaths first, gotta remember what Christian told me.’ I told myself. I took a few deep breaths until I felt a strange feeling, ‘Why do I feel so much lighter?’ I asked myself. It felt like a 50 pound weight was lifted from my back and I didn’t know why. I ignored the feeling and knocked on the door, “Hello, can I come in?” I asked, “I’ve got some things to tell you two.” The door swung open and behind it stood the Riolu that brought the Oshawott in earlier. She was accompanied by a Shinx with yellow fur who was sitting at the desk in the corner of the room. The Riolu looked over my head and into the hall behind me, confused as to why she couldn’t see anyone at the door, “Down here.” I said. She looked and noticed me standing there, “You two brought in the Oshawott right?” I asked.

“Yeah,” The Riolu said, “do you have any updates on his condition?”

“He’ll live, but he’ll be bedridden for a few days.” I said, lowering my head, ‘I hope nothing goes wrong with his recovery, otherwise I’m gonna look like a huge liar.’ I thought.

“Alright, that’s a relief, thanks.” The Riolu sighed.

I decided to try to lighten the mood, “Where are my manners?” I asked rhetorically, “The name’s Cinder, head of intelligence at the Surfspark Guild and honorary member of team Shiny Star!” I beamed. ‘Everything I just said feels like a lie.’ I thought.

“Nice to meet you, Cinder!” The Shinx called from the corner.

I turned my attention to him and got a good look at him, I definitely didn’t just imagine him having yellow fur, although I didn’t notice the star on his tail was orange as were the ones on his ears and the rings around his ankles, ‘something about him feels familiar for some reason but I can’t put a nublet on it.’ I thought. I decided to just stop over analyzing every little detail about this Shinx and just return his greeting, “Nice to meet you too-” I said before cutting myself off, ‘It’s his eyes! But where have I seen them before!?’ I asked myself, ‘Wait, CHRISTIAN! He had green eyes! And he said it was because he was human! So is this another human!?’ I was caught off guard, I didn’t expect to see another human turned Pokémon. I mean, I know Christian wasn’t the only one, there were three other known cases of this happening back home, but I didn’t expect to meet another one.

I was going to ask him about it, but then I had another flashback, this time it was one of the Guildmaster telling me a story about humans in this world, “Humans are super evil. They’ve tried to destroy this world multiple times.” he said.

‘Shoot! What do I do!? This human doesn’t seem evil, but even if he isn’t, he’s still gonna get killed if he’s found out!’ I thought, ‘Uh, Oh! I know I’ll try to gain his trust! That way, I can keep him safe! But how do I get him to tell me?’ I asked myself. I tried to think, and then it hit me, ‘I could just call him out! That way he knows I’m trustworthy!’ I thought. So I decided to press him on the matter, “What’s with your green eyes?” I asked.

“Nobody knows why, but when I was born, my eyes were green.” He replied.

‘Major contradiction spotted! He said born instead of hatched! He’s just sold himself out!’ I thought.

The Riolu rolled her eyes, it was obvious what she was thinking, ‘Really!? You literally had to lie to save your life and THAT’S the best you could do!?’

It was very clear at this point, he was human and there was very little he could say to convince me otherwise, sooo I decided to just get straight to the point, “I know what you’re hiding!” I shouted as I flared up my flames for dramatic effect.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about!” He squeaked. Sweat was beginning to pour down his face. I had cornered him!

It was time to deliver the final blow! “You’re a human, aren’t you?” I asked. And just like that, I had him! His eyes went pale white. ‘Yep I gotcha! Now to get you to trust me!’ I thought as I ran to close the door.

“H-how d-did-” He uttered before I cut him off.

“Shhhh!” I hissed as I put a nublet up to his mouth, “Before you freak out, I should probably explain. I am not going to tell anyone else about this, because their reaction won’t be as pleasant as mine.” I assured him.

“What about that was pleasant!?” He snapped back.

‘Crap, he’s freaking out! I need him to calm down!’ I thought, “Relax,” I said in a much calmer tone, “I only did that, so I could make sure I got the truth out of you. You remember that whole team Shiny Star thing I mentioned?” I asked.

“Yeah, what about it?” He shot back.

“Well we were famous explorers, keyword were, until I got separated from them, but that’s not the point, the point is our leader was like you, a human who became a Shinx. Your green eyes were a dead giveaway to me that you were a human!” I explained.

“So let me guess, you outed your leader banding together to kill him then went on your merry way?”

“No! I got separated by some weird rift thing, and now I’m light-years away from my home in the Grass Continent!”

“So what you’re saying is that you’re from another world where humans aren’t seen as monsters?” The Riolu asked.

“Precisely! And that’s why this is our little secret, you don’t tell anyone I was friends with a human, and I won’t tell anyone you are one!” I said as I pointed back at Joseph.

Joseph took a moment to mull it over, but then reluctantly said, “Ok, I trust you.”

‘YES! This is great! The human’s not gonna die, and I’m not gonna get found out by anyone who doesn’t need to know!’ I cheered to myself, “Great, now let’s go eat! I’m starving and want to take my mind off of this whole topic.” I said.

And then we bonded over dinner. Phew, that was a lot of writing, and we’re just getting started! That truly concludes this chapter of this whole venture, and at the time of writing this the next one is just beginning. I hope you’ll enjoy what comes next! See ya next chapter!

---

Boss bio time! After every chapter I plan to have boss bios for all the bosses similarly to some of the other fics I’ve read. Some chapters won’t have any, but others could have multiple like this one for example, I chose to stylize them a bit differently though so that they fit better with the whole ‘experimental’ theme I’ve been trying to go with which if you couldn’t guess yes I am at least partially trying to theme this whole thing. Anyway, onto the boss bios.

---

/ /Boss data downloaded successfully!\ \

Nail of the distant past

Nail is a ruthless Pokémon born in Hisui’s wilds. One day while in search of his missing trainer he was taken into another world by a Space Time Distortion. Alone and afraid, he strikes, aiming to survive at all costs, even if it means playing dirty.

---

/ /Boss data downloaded successfully!\ \

Alpha Ursaluna, the full moon beast

Even a team as strong as Team Shiny Star struggled to quell this beast! It slams the ground with its massive paws, causing full scale earthquakes without fail. Getting hit directly by this motion would be a death sentence for most if not any Pokémon, right? Well, even if it doesn’t, it’ll make whatever bone it hits crunch like a Kit Kat.

---

oh yeah and because this technically counts too

/ /Boss data downloaded successfully!\ \

Lucario of Team Shiny Star

Lucario used to be a skittish little Riolu, but one time crisis later he’s toughened up and left his old ways behind, well for the most part anyway. Thankfully this fight was just a friendly spar, otherwise the world could seriously be in danger. Lucario chooses to go by his species name, mainly because he doesn’t trust Christian’s abilities when it comes to naming things, but also because it’s what he’s comfortable with. Unfortunately things looked a little grim for our friend here after the smoke cleared from the Space Time Distortion incident but trust me he’s not gone, just a little misplaced.

---

Aaaand that’s all I have for the time being, Hopfully you enjoyed it! I wrote parts 1-3 + this special episode before even making my account here. At the time of writing this I’m going to be starting chapter 4 and planing every little bit and piece of this thing that I don’t already have planned (which is quite a lot). I have no idea where we’ll end up or even if I’ll end up finishing this thing, it’s just all up to how I feel I guess, anyway I hope you enjoyed this little side thing, there’ll be more like this at somepoint, probably, anyways see ya!