Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Baratie was a business in boom; rain or shine, stormy or peaceful, its doors were open to every weary sailor drawn to its stately presence by the beacon of its lighthouse. It was considered to be the greatest achievement of its creator Red Leg Zeff by the man himself for this very reason; in the heart of the tempestuous ocean that they all called home, his restaurant provided food and comfort where there might be no hope at all. The adventerous spirit that had gripped the world since the execution of that man twenty years ago assured him that there was rarely, if ever, a slow day of work in the waters.

No matter the recent weather events.

“I'm telling you, I saw it with my own eyes!” The half drunken pirate swore, waving his wine bottle at the table adjacent to his. “A massive scar tore open the sky like Mihawk himself had rent it asunder with his sword! It was huge, blue and purple and glowing with...all these weird scribbles and glyphs! The rumbling sound I heard... it was an act of divine power, I've got no doubt about it!”

“There's no way,” The civilian argued. “There's no power in the world that could create something like that, not even that swordsman.” Being one who cared to be in the know about the Warlords, he wasn't keen on claiming that the most dangerous of them couldn't do something, but surely if he could do something like what this guy was describing, he would be ruling the world.

“It's true!” The pirate pounded his fist on the table. “And I saw things falling from it like meteors descending from the heavens! Great beasts I'd never seen in all my travels.”

The civilian shakes his head helplessly and glances at his date; torn between the absurdity of the description and not wanting to argue with a drunk sea criminal. “Sounds like it would make an amazing painting,” he offered diplomatically after a few seconds. Pleased that he'd seemingly won them over, the pirate throws back the rest of his drink on one go.

The young man uttered a relieved sigh and turned his attention back to the gal he still can't believe is actually interested enough in him to join him for lunch. “Last night I got woken up by a really loud cracking sound outside; I ran all over the house but couldn't find what might've broken. Scared the daylights out of me, I tell you. I don't want raiders coming to my village.”

“Really? I heard something similar,” His date said, her eyes widening a little. “It was so loud... and strange, too. It was almost like I was hearing all the glass windows in the world shattering at the same time, multiplied a dozen times over.”

“I thought it sounded like an avalanche,” The boy argued. “Which was kind of strange, because we're nowhere close to a mountain range.”

“Wait, you guys heard a shattering sound in the night?” A guy at another table joined the conversation, having started listening in while he waited for the dessert menu. “Seriously? I come from Loguetown, and everyone there heard it in the night too!”

“You did?!” The boy whirled around in shock. “But – But we live way north of there!”

The guy nodded seriously. “Captain Smoker had the Marines out in force to check the structural integrity of the city buildings just to be on the safe side; that only stopped a few days ago. We felt a minor shockwave along with the noise.”

“Was anything damaged?” The girl asked, wide-eyed.

“A few things, but thankfully nothing as serious as the Captain feared.” The guy whistled. “I know the event was a few weeks ago, but I'm still wakin' up at the slightest bump in the night because of it! Scared the shit out of me when it happened, I tell ya; I thought we were under attack for a minute!”

Weaving between the tables, Sanji dropped off a few wine bottles and made a note of the conversation. As irritated as he is that he'd been temporarily kicked off the lineby that stubborn old man, at least the chatter in the last few weeks had been...interesting.

He'd seen the exact same thing the drunken pirate had; up late in the night, practicing his kicking, he'd heard the world-shattering noise and seen the blazing rift in the sky. The world government was calling it a 'strange aurora formation', but that didn't look like any aurora he'd ever seen – in the North or East Blue. It lingered for ten, fifteen minutes, then vanished as suddenly as it appeared, leaving no trace behind.

No wonder it seemed to be the only thing anyone wanted to talk about ever since. Sanji had bothered the old man about it, but Zeff hadn't had any more answers than the government; he'd looked a little pale and awed when recalling the stunning sight. That was something Sanji didn't see often, so the magnitude of the strange event was increased even further to him.

He'd been about to pivot back to the kitchen to collect more orders when the bell announcing a new guest had arrived rings. Sanji casually pivoted and walked toward the grand staircase up to the entrance – there was a chance that a beautiful young lady would need to be shown to a table, after all!

“Welcome to Baratie,” The new doorman, a patient and good natured fishman who's name Sanji unfortunately struggled to remember, addresses the new patron as the blonde loops closer. “How may I help you?”

“Wooooow...” A lovely feminine voice gasps, ringing in Sanji's ears like the beginning of a sweet song. He immediately put on some speed. “This is amazing! I've been on a cruise ship before, but the restaurant is usually tucked away in some corner downstairs. Nothing like this!” She clapped her hands together. “May I have a menu? Just to see the variety you have to offer; I'm pretty sure I'm going to stop here, but if I could-?”

Sanji easily swiped the menu out of the hands of some self-important looking guy, ignoring his outraged protest, and jumped the steps three at a time. “Here you go, my lady,” He crooned, holding it out to the source of the voice.

The girl yipped in surprise and turned to face him, one hand instantly going to her white sun hat; she laughed when their gaze met, a surprised smile on her lips. Sanji was smitten instantly; the girl is around his age, just a few inches shorter than him and adorable in every way. Her long brown hair falls wildly around her shoulders, two loose strands framing a heart shaped face while the rest of her wild mane fell down below her shoulders. She wore a long sleeved light blue cardigan with a white shirt underneath and a long red skirt that goes down to her knees, with black leggings beneath and cherry red shoes; her clothes are a little dirty and scuffed, like she's been quite busy for a few days and hasn't had a chance to clean them properly. She's wearing a large backpack, and has a sword and a bo staff strapped across her back, and around her wrists are two different bracelets. One is mostly silver with a single stone inset, a fairly large unique stone of swirling colors within. The other has a z shaped crystal set in a swirling gold band. One slender hand rests on her utility belt, and she drops her hand to accept the menu.

“Thank you,” She said with a giggle, before immediately flipping it open and sticking her nose in.

“Where would you prefer to sit, we have seats out on the deck and some booths available if you would prefer...a bit of privacy,” Sanji said with a flourish.

“Oh, out on the deck please, I wouldn't want to make a mess.” The girl responded distractedly. “Oooh, this all looks good... meat and vegetable dishes, ah the variety, this is perfect.” She snapped the menu shut and beamed at him. “Sir, I would like three of everything.”

Sanji paused, his mouth half open with a forgotten flirtation as he blinked rapidly at her. “I apologize, madam, you're asking for three of which dish?” He couldn't have heard her correctly.

“Three of everything,” The girl repeated, tapping the top of the menu. Making a sheepish gesture, she immediately shoved a hand into her utility belt. “I know that's a lot, I don't mean to hold up the line but I would really like it. I'll pay extra for the trouble!” She yanked out two massive stacks of berries and tossed them at him and the doorman like they were nothing. He caught it out of reflex, goggling at her. “I need to feed my babies; we've been working our butts off the last few days, trying to get our bearings! I mean, you can probably tell....” She uttered a self conscious chuckle, brushing down her clothes. “I'm a bit of a mess. Sorry, I only had time to do a load of laundry this morning.”

“Three of everything it is,” Sanji said, his mind kicking back into gear. Of course a lovely slender girl like her wouldn't be ordering all of that for herself; she must be placing an order on behalf of the ship she came in on. “My fellow employee will see you to a table of your choosing; what name shall I put on the bill?”

The girl tilted her head in thought. “Leaf,” she said after a minute where he thought she might have wanted to say something else. “I'm Leaf of Orre.” She put her hand on her hip, like she half expected to be challenged.

“Lady Leaf,” Sanji bowed with a flourish. “I'll have your food as soon as possible.”

A light blush stained her cheeks in response, and she laughed again, like she wasn't used to being spoken to that way and didn't know what to do with it. “Thank you, sir!” She turned and skipped back toward the door. Sanji watched her leave with a dazed grin before whirling around and rushing for the kitchen. There was work to be done!

Patty didn't believe him when he barrelled into the kitchen and delivered Leaf's order; Sanji repeated himself once and told him to check with the doorman if he's so confident. Zeff had taken one look at the order, made an admittedly amusing face, and ordered Sanji to ditch the waiter's coat for now and help with this nonsense. Sanji couldn't be happier; he'd have to slip his lady an extra something sweet for this.

The menu at Baratie is long and varied; being on the ocean allowed them to get plenty of ingredients from the most basic to the mildly exotic. If it weren't for the old man's stubbornness about medium rare steaks, Sanji would be experimenting much more. Ah, but there was no time for that right now; he had vegitarian sauces and various pasta dishes to put together!

“How many dishes is that?!”

“Hey, where did that saute I just finished go? Eh?! That was for our problem customer, ya idjit! Now I need to make another one!”

“Stop hogging the oregano, Carne!”

“Get off my back, the meat sauce will taste bland without it!”

“Oregano's for savages.” Sanji said, tossing a pinch of basil in as he rushed past Carne with the carrots and beets he'd been looking for.

“No one believes that but you Sanji!” The man yelled after him, shaking his stirrer menacingly. Sanji waved mockingly his way. “Stay out of my pot!”

Familiar controlled chaos filled the kitchen as the cooks scrambled to commit to the meal, getting in each other's way constantly in the process. It was like a lunch rush, except caused by a single person. Zeff eventually appeared at Sanji's right and cordoned off one third of the kitchen to concentrate on Leaf of Orre's order, so the rest of the restaurant wouldn't be held up waiting for their meals. “She can't possibly be able to pay for all of this out of pocket,” The old man groused.

“She threw thirty grand at me like it was nothing,” Sanji retorted as he finishes cutting the onions. He arranged them amidst the salad delicately. “I think she's fine.”

“A noble, then?”

“All women are noble,” Sanji responded confidently. Zeff gave him a sideways look, his lips quirked in faint approving smile. “But I don't think so, not with the rumbled state of her clothes. She must be hungry; she has the look of being quite well travelled.”

“Hungry enough for all of this?” Zeff mused, chopping up his own vegetables. “Well, I hope she's able to appreciate at least a few different dishes.” He turned up the heat under the pot. “Where're she and her shipmates sitting? We can start sending out the food soon.”

“Out on the front deck.” Sanji said, clicking his tongue. Her comment about 'making a mess' was still rather odd to him; what could she have meant by that? “This bean sauce is almost done.”

“Good, she better enjoy it; don't think I didn't see you messing with those spices.” Zeff said warningly, causing Sanji to snort and roll his eyes.

“No one has ever rejected my food,” The blonde bragged. “You'll see, you old fool.”

Zeff gave him a warning glare, though he didn't go any further than that because there was still so much food to be made. As the chefs began finishing one dish after another, a fleet of waiters rushed in to grab the food and transport it out to their mysterious customer. Sanji hummed to himself as he worked, jumping from one recipe to the next, mixing things up with substitutes whenever he ran short on something. Honestly, he's excited to hear what she thinks of them-

“MONSTERS!”

Sanji nearly lost his thumb to a chef's knife when one of the waiters burst into the kitchen, running madly for the door to the cellar. “MONSTERS ARE ON THE DECK! AHHHH!” He fled within the cellar and slammed the door shut behind him.

Thankfully, nobody panicked – at least, in the kitchen. Innumerable pirates and occasional marines trying to start something on the ship had given them a high tolerance for sudden freakouts. With the doors still swinging Sanji could hear a lot of confused and concerned babbling within the Baratie proper.

“There shouldn't be any Sea Kings in this area.” Zeff said with a concerned frown. “I made sure of that when I dropped anchor.”

“I'll go see what the fuss is about,” Sanji volunteered, setting his knife down and heading out to the front door. Zeff said something at his back that he didn't hear thanks to Patty and Carne yelling at the guy taking refuge in the cellar; Sanji picked up the pace and weaved through the tables. “Everyone please remain calm!, if there's indeed a problem, it will be handled promptly!” He yelled, pitching his voice so as many people could hear him as possible. The last thing they needed was a stampede of panicked people trying to climb out through windows or out the door.

If there was a sea king poking around outside, that would not help their survival rate in the slightest. Not to mention people would trample each other in a blind panic. Sanji didn't hear any roaring outside, so what had gotten that waiter so panicked?

He stepped out onto the deck and that's when he heard an unfamiliar trilling sound, coming from the far end of the deck. He turned to the right and nearly tripped over his own feet to faceplant on the wood.

A massive green, dark green, red eyed creature hovered in the air by a table where Leaf of Orre was standing, laughing and tossing a piece of steak from one of the plates up to it. The creature's slender neck stretched forward and snapped the steak up with a gleeful noise; long horns curved backward down its neck, and its wings were long and rhombus-like. Red stripes lined its body along the edges of its wings and its triangular tail. It's easily twice the size of the girl, who somehow isn't fazed in the slightest!

“It tastes really good, huh Tiana?” Leaf asked, unfazed by the bizarre monster in front of her. She walked up to it and reached up her hand; the serpentine/dragonlike creature dropped a few feet down and butted its head against her slender palm. “Yeah? That's good. Here, you have the rest of it. Sit!” She moved one of the plates closer, and the creature ducked its head to eat.

A large, furry...fox? Cat? Dog? It looked like someone had bred the three animals with the intention of producing a creature that would make women faint from its cuteness – walked around Leaf's feat and made an amused mewing sound. It had red fur across most of its body and a big, poofy yellow tail – it was really fluffy, with a yellow plume atop its head as well as a mane and circles around its feet.

“Be careful!” Sanji blurted out when his brain caught up with what his eyes were seeing. “That – those are -”

“Huh?” Leaf twisted his way and blinked a few times. Then she waved at him and said. “No, it's okay! They're mine, I'm their trainer.” The dragon creature tilted its head. “Tiana and Mika here are completely docile.”

“W-What are they, Lady Leaf?” Sanji asked, his mouth opening and closing a few times as he looked between the two creatures.

“They're Pokemon.” Leaf responded, seemingly thinking that simple statement should explain everything. She briefly removed her hat and runs a hand through her brown hair, looking sheepish. “I'd hoped that if I stayed to the side of the deck, I wouldn't cause a ruckus when I started feeding them... I'm sorry! I haven't caused a panic, have I?”

“Well you've certainly scared the wits out of a few of our waiters,” Sanji responded slowly as he approached. The dragon creature licked its plate clean and turned toward him, its nostrils flaring. It turned fully toward him and ducked down, snaking toward him; Sanji jerked backward and half lifted a foot in self defence before Leaf grabbed onto its shoulder.

“Whoa, whoa girl.” She tugged it back a bit. Sanji watched the dragon as it bobbled its head, sniffing repeatedly at him. “Sorry; have you been in the kitchen? She can smell the food on you. She's a big fan.”

Sanji stared into the dragon's bright red eyes, and slowly a grin spread across his face. His pride in his work overrode the shock and confusion of the situation, allowing him to relax. “It is damn good meat, isn't it?” He asked the big beast. “I cooked it up myself.” He saw its eyes widen a little at that. Incredible; that is a very expressive creature; he couldn't mistake that sort of excitement. “I told that old man no one could resist my cooking.”

The creature made a delighted sound, its wings fluttering. Leaf looked between them and smiled warmly with a look of pure relief. Sanji melted into a puddle under those warm blue eyes.

“Thank you for not panicking,” Leaf said in relief. “I'm sorry I didn't mention who my babies were. I've been having some trouble with people being frightened by their appearances. It's like no one for miles has seen a Flygon before. Or a Flareon.”

“I can't say that I have,” Sanji responded before spinning in a circle and kneeling. “But if my fair lady has them in hand, then what do I have to fear? I'll bring you your dishes personally from now on.”

Leaf slapped a hand over her mouth, muffling a giggle that's definitely bewildered and disbelieving. Had no one ever told her she was beautiful? Impossible. She would have to have lived exclusively among blind men! “T-Thanks. I think? That's a lot of work?” She tugged on her hair again, then turned to the table where a tall metal cylindrical device is sitting. She pressed a finger on it and suddenly a red and white sphere popped out, growing in size when it bounced into her hand.

“Anything for you,” Sanji responded, eyeing the red ball. “Er, incidentally... how many – Flygon? - do you have?”

Leaf glanced sideways at him and her smile became distinctly sheepish. “I have one Flygon, and one Flareon. Buuuut... I do have more Pokemon. A whole bunch more. My PC goes where I go.”

She tossed the ball in the air, and a massive silver and black metal beast landed on the deck, sending a shiver through the Baratie itself. She winced slightly at the impact and placed her hat back on her head. “I'll give you and the cooks an extra tip for your troubles.”

Sanji stared up and up and up at the beast, who peered curiously down at him from beneath its razor blade of a nose, and sucked in a deep breath before grinning. “More meat dishes, I presume?”

Leaf tugged down the brim of her hat and nodded. And that was how Baratie ended up serving its first ever Pokemon Trainer and her menagerie of superpowered beasts; the story would only become more wild and bizarre from there...

Chapter Text

Let it not be said that Leaf was a dense person. She knew perfectly well that the complete lack of water Pokemon she'd encountered, after travelling the ocean for several days, was a huge red flag that she wasn't in Sinnoh anymore. There was plenty of other odd wildlife to be seen – those sea-snake things had given her quite the surprise at first sight! - but not a single water type.

“Oooooh, Lord Dialga, Lord Palkia, what did you do,” She asked the sky as her babies gladly gobbled down their food, planting one hand on her forehead.

It should have been simple. She'd been chasing down the remains of Cipher so they could be stomped out once and for all, following rumours of them straight to Sinnoh. With their leadership gone, she hadn't expected anything short of individual stubborn resistance, but noooo, they had to go and get another one of the Legendary Ones involved, didn't they? They couldn't resist kicking the Beedrill's nest one last time out of pure spite, to unleash one last wave of apocalyptic damage with the remains of their 'weapons'. Those people were insane.

She knew that better than anyone save for Michael and... and him.

She'd tracked them down, not getting there in time to prevent them from kicking up a massive fight and budding catastrophe but in time to put a stop to it. Leaf had been trying to calm things down, and the last thing she remembered before waking up in this strange place was the sight of the enraged gods of time and space dropping down on either side of the battlefield.

Which left her here. Wherever the heck here was.

A place where people did not recognize Pokemon. Any Pokemon. That struck out any possibility of having just been sent backwards in time to some earlier civilization out in the ocean; as long as there had been humans in her world, there had been Pokemon. So at least she didn't have to worry about accidentally becoming her own grandmother on top of everything else? Or accidentally erasing herself from existence.

The books and shows she watched involving time travel weren't really consistent about what might happen if one messed with the past without Lord Dialga or Lady Celebi's permission. So Leaf was very happy to be able to say she dodged that Heatmor spit, even if it means she's even more outside of the wheelhouse than even Akari Twinleaf.

A crooning plea dragged her from her thoughts; Leaf turned towards the water and smiled apologetically at her Walrein. “Huh? Oh, you want your favourite Pokepuffs, don't you Tusks?” She knelt down and gently ruffled her friend's floofy mane. “I'm really sorry, I'm not sure the ingredients even exist around here. I haven't seen so much as a single apricot tree for days.”

Tusks uttered a noise of distress at that statement. “I know, sweetie.” Leaf murmured. It was taking a lot of energy to stay positive as she kept moving and travelling only to see nothing familiar, but she was determined to keep her team's spirits up. “I'll find something you fancy along the way, I promise. As soon as we're home I'll make you all the Pokepuffs your heart desires.”

Tusks's croon became happy and trusting; he raised his head out of the water so they could share an affectionate headbutt. Leaf giggled, ignoring the cold water splashing against her clothes; she gave his head a kiss and summoned him back into his Pokeball.

She felt a little bad, keeping most of her team in her PC instead of letting them run free, but she doesn't want to start letting her guard down until she has some grasp of the local geography, government, and police system. If she lost one of her Pokeballs in an area like this, she might not be able to get it back – there was a thought that was going to keep her up at night. Bounty Hunting was a legal practice, which while quite useful to her in getting money for supplies causes her some instinctive wariness of the government's standards.

She'd had a price on her own head for a while, after all.

A chair floated over to her and gently set down at a perfect angle for her to collapse into. Leaf didn't have to glance sideways to know it was her Meowstic's work, so she slumped down into the comfortable deck hair and sighed gustily. “Thank you, Mana dear. Map, map, where did I put that map...?” She wondered, digging into her backpack.

Her Pokedex flew out from her belt and clicked open; the Rotom eyes glowed a bright yellow as the ghost type inside began processing data again. “I can't locate a map!” Fizzle lamented, flying in a circle around her head. “The only things that can read my frequency are these snails all over the place, and none of them share anything with me, except their numbers. I keep looking and looking but there's no databases anywhere!”

“We're really going full Galaxy Expedition Team out here, aren't we?” Leaf responded ruefully, gently catching her haunted Pokedex out of the air. “It's a good thing I like hard cover books. At least I know where to look for paper maps and other things like that. Don't stress yourself out, Fizzle.”

“But I want to help,” Her troublemaker whined. “I don't like feeling useless.”

“You help plenty just keeping me focused and lightening the mood with your jokes and observations.” Leaf told him with a wry smile. “You're never useless, silly.” Finally her fingers brushed against the cylinder container, allowing her to grab it and yanked it out. Mana and Mika both trot over to her side, the former bringing her head up to rest it on her arm.

Unrolling the paper on her lap, Leaf traced the route they'd taken to Baratie with her finger. “Looks like we've gotten from the middle of nowhere to the edges of civilization,” she mused. “The closest land from here... looks like it's this island chain, the Conomi.” She tapped the land mass in question with her fingers.

“It's pretty small,” Mana observed, her voice echoing softly in Leaf's mind. “I don't think we'll find a big trade hub there.”

“You could be right, but from where I'm sitting, all of these islands look distractedly small compared to home.” Leaf said, her brow wrinkling. The map only covered the 'East Blue', one of the four seas this world knew; she'd managed to pick up that much through street chatter and Mana picking up useful information from their bandit target's minds. There's no one 'continent' as she knew it; only one thin strip of earth called the Red Line that divided the world. “It's worth a shot.”

“Leaf, we've been island hopping for days and we're no closer to finding the Shadow Ones then we were when we landed,” Mika pointed out, a little pitifully. Her first partner was not enthused by how much water they'd been dealing with since their arrival, alternating between acting tough and being more clingy to Leaf than usual. “If the accursed seas are this wide, we could be wandering blind for a long time while they continue to rampage... if they are truly no other Pokemon here-”

“I know.” It was weighing increasingly heavily on her mind too, after all. Leaf lifted one hand and gently scratched the Flareon's head, rubbing her ears for extra comfort. “That's why we need to find a travel hub, while Frizzle continues hopping – what did you call them? Snail frequencies?”

Her Pokedex wobbled violently in what passed for a nod. “They're all the same type, the talking snail type! Not all of them can talk to each other, and some of them can only talk to others within a limited range. How disappointing!”

“Says the ghost cut off from the internet,” Mana pointed out slyly.

Frizzle sputtered in outrage, which made the Pokedex play wince-inducing static. Leaf cringed and slapped her hands over her ears until he stopped.

“Behave you two, please,” she said. “As I was saying, Frizzle will keep hopping snail frequencies until he picks up distress calls. If the Shadow Pokemon all fell through the rift with us, then they'll be even more agitated and on guard than they would be at home. Anyone and anything could set them off, and without trainers to contain them they'll run wild leaving chaos and destruction in their wake. Somebody's going to report that in eventually, and that information will either be called in or trickle to the travel hubs to warn passersby.”

Leaf worried with her mega bracelet unconsciously, biting her bottom lip. Being unable to remotely track reports of a Pokemon rampage in an instant, forced to chase after rumours days or weeks old – it almost made her feel like she'd taken Orre's sub standard communication system for granted. She definitely missed the radio.

“Will we be able to get a hotel for you this time?” Mika asked, licking her fingers. “I don't want you to have to sleep out in the rain and mud again...”

Leaf glanced at her and smiled. “Don't worry, Mika. That last string of bounties we cashed in should last us at least a few more days. I'll rent a master bedroom and we'll all be able to sleep inside.” One of her pokeballs shook in protest, causing her to laugh – genuinely, this time. “Except for Luka. He can nap out in the rain for as long as he wants.” The Pokeball stilled, radiating pleasure.

Her Flareon snorted a little stream of smoke. “Weirdo,” the fire type stated, happy images of a nice warm room with a fireplace and many, many wool blankets rolling around her mind.

“A little rain won't kill you, you know,” Mana pointed out chidingly; the Meowstic flicking her ears in motherly disapproval. “This strange place is filled with water, so we have to adapt to its presence.”

“Easy for you to say! You won't be knocked senseless by a hard wave!” Mika flared.

“Girls, girls,” Leaf waved her hands authoritatively. “Mika, don't let her rile you up so easily. Mana, your friend is a fire type, you can't expect her to start suppressing that sensitivity just after a couple of days.” The twosome's ears drooped apologetically. “Now, according to what Sanji said when he was serving us, Loguetown is the closest city to the mouth of the Grand Line, a particularly harsh stretch of ocean filled with violent pirates. Shadow Pokemon are drawn to conflict, so there's a decent chance they're gravitating in that direction.”

It was more a hunch than anything, but there was a reason that Shadow Pokemon had congregated in the Orre region and only traveled outside it when directly exported by their 'creators'. Her home hand never been short on conflict; its international slum status had gone back long before Leaf herself had been born.

“You mean like the ones that tried to capture you and Tusks a few days ago?” Tiana trilled. She'd finally seemed to process that no more delicious steaks and fried vegetables were incoming, and had been sulking up until this point – totally ignoring Mana's complaints about her 'eating like a Slaking'. “Bah, they can't be that much of a challenge to us.”

Leaf looked up at her battle-scarred dragon and smirked a little. "We are pretty strong, aren't we?” She said, before becoming serious. “But that doesn't mean we shouldn't proceed with caution. No one's survived thinking that no one can possibly defeat them.”

No one survived Orre with such fanciful thinking. Leaf grew up there, however, so she applied that axiom to every place she travelled to.

Tiana snorted. “Wannabe trainers without Pokemon. Forgive me for not being particularly intimidated.” She draped her head over Leaf's shoulder, uttering a bored noise.

Leaf rolled up her map and pointedly bonked her dragon on the nose with it. “Pride before a fall, Tiana,” she said warningly. “The less we know, the less we can afford for you to be so sure of yourself. Remember the Elite Four?”

It felt like a cheap shot; especially when Tiana winced and flattened her wings against her body – concealing the rough scar drawn across her left flank. Leaf wouldn't want to change Tiana's prideful nature, far from it... but she had to reign it in when moments like this happened.

“So much water... and soon we'll be fighting even worse weather along with those 'Sea Kings'” Leaf muttered, grimacing. “Mika, I'm gonna need you on Sunny Day standby, okay?” Her Flareon briefly flattened her ears against her head at the idea of being 'on deck' so to speak during a vicious storm, even if just long enough to change the weather... before firming up and nodding fiercely. “Good girl.”

Leaf stretched and looked out across the dock. A floating restaurant was such a cool idea; the Baratie bobbed gently in the waves as ships of all sizes came up to the dock, hungry sailors eagerly dropping their gangplanks and rushing after the telltale smell of good food. Many of the newcomers would take one look at her Pokemon and either flee inside, back to their ship or otherwise freak out, but nobody had attacked them yet and she considered that a win.

“I can't believe no one's thought of this back at home,” she said in wonder, her eyes tracing the length of the ship. “Think about it! We could make a cruise ship in the shape of a Wailord or Drampa, travel between all the regions serving food to travelling trainers and regular citizens alike. If the architect really wanted to go crazy, they could make it modular so it was a submarine too.”

She held her hands up like she was a painter measuring an area for sketching; Frizzle flew over her head and started taking pictures rapid-fire without having to be asked. “A lot of the towns we've visited have been using rural style construction; I wonder if Loguetown will resemble Jubilife or Castellia city more...”

That was all she had to do, think about going forward. It wasn't as if she'd had a place to go back to for the longest time... isn't this situation just a slightly more exaggerated version of the reality she'd known for so long?

Leaf's stomach turned over sharply. A wave of nausea rolled over her, and she shut her eyes. Right. Positive thinking didn't go that far.

“Leaf?” Mika prodded gently, jumping into her lap and staring her in the eye.

Leaf sighed. “Sorry. Guess it's starting to sink in.” She leaned back in her chair and stared up at the sky. “Lord Dialga, Lord Palkia, I beg you give me direction... you didn't drop us through by accident, did you? There's a purpose to this... isn't there?”

Unconsciously she rubbed a faint scar on her collarbone that continued down beneath her shirt.

Immediately she was dogpiled – quite literally. Tiana buried her head in Leaf's hair and trilled sweetly the way a mother dragon would to her children, Mika launched herself into her lap and warmed up her fur a little so Leaf was engulfed in comforting heat, and Mana didn't so much as utter an aggrieved yip at being unceremoniously squashed against her chest. The rest of her Pokeballs – and her PC! - started shivering as the rest of her wonderful, amazing team tried to send her their support. Including the Master Ball containing her newest companion.

Leaf tried to pet everyone she could reach, blinking the beginnings of tears away. “You guys are the best.” She said, before joking, “I think you might be a bit too much for the chair, though!”

The wooden easy chair was creaking a little warningly, after all.

When her Pokemon sheepishly returned to the deck, Leaf became aware of some shouting. Looking out across the water, she saw two new ships approaching – a large one with the proud banner of the local law enforcement, and a smaller caravel with a black flag.

Leaf was a little bemused that the police force of this 'World Government' couldn't come up with a better name for themselves than just 'Marines'. “Are they gonna start a fight within shooting distance of a civilian post?” She asked warily, pushing herself to her feet. “Don't you do it...”

Mana moved to her side, her ears flaring forward and ready for trouble, while Mika and Tiana stared uneasily. Leaf glanced across the deck, trying to calculate how many people eating outside that she could reach if things went south in a hurry.

The crack of canons launching made her curse and take a bracing stance.

Then someone on the ship ballooned three times his size like he was a Quilfish flaring his spines at an enemy. Leaf gawked at the sight for a few precious seconds before suddenly both the guy in question and the canon ball were both flying towards the restaurant.

“Mana! Tiana!” She yelped, pointing hurriedly – too shocked to give proper directions.

Fortunately, her team is on the ball. Mana's ears flared with psychic power; the explosive canonball froze mid air the moment it was siezed in her field, perilously close to the roof of the Baratie but not impacting the structure. Tiana flared her wings and surged into the air, catching the ballistic teenager – or trying to. The impact of him crashing into her chest send the surprised dragon type flying backwards several yards just narrowly missing the mast.

“Into the ocean,” Leaf urged when her throat unlocked, her mind still playing catchup. Mana chirped in acknowledgement and discarded the canonball into the waters far from the deck, where it exploded harmlessly beneath the surface. “Tiana, are you okay up there?!” She yelled.

A dazed warble answered her a moment later. Followed by a joyful male voice shrieking “EEEEEHHH?! A DRAGON!”

Leaf felt a sweatdrop sliding down her cheek at that. “What the...?” She mumbled, dazed.

A moment later Tiana reappeared from the far side of Baratie, awkwardly flapping back down towards her trainer despite the burden of a boy in red literally winding himself around her chest and neck like a Christmas ribbon. Leaf stared, blinking violently as Tiana stumbled upon the deck and began flailing her small arms as she tried to free herself from the human Ekans squeezing her silly in his excitement.

“You're a dragon! A real life dragon!” The boy cheered, not even acknowledging the inhuman way his body was contorting like something out of a horror movie. Leaf stared with him doing a decent Golbat impression as he stretched(?!) out his neck and hands to look at Tiana's face. “Whoooooa! You're so cool! Look at your eyes and wings! I can feel your scales all over! You're definitely a dragon!”

“Leggo! Leggo of me!” Tiana freaked out, pawing frantically at his torso. “Stop crushing my throat!”

“W-Wha...” Leaf managed very intelligently, her throat going dry.

The boy blinked – Tiana's thoughts delivered to him by an equally stunned Mana – before giggling maniacally. “Shishishishi! Sorry!” He promptly untangled himself and hopped onto her back with a rubbery snap, one hand immediately steadying his eye-catching Straw Hat as he returned to normal human proportions. He's dressed in a red vest, blue jean shorts and sandals; he's tanned skinned and slender and has a bright, beaming smile that emphasizes a scar underneath his left eye.

So...maybe he's not some kind of horrifying human created by a deranged Gengar? His smile is way to warm and friendly for that. Leaf was pretty good at reading people's emotions (except for when she wasn't, right when she needed to be-) and that was... oh. It was the friendliest look she'd gotten from someone who'd never met her before.

“A real dragon... Ace will be so jealous.” He patted the back of Tiana's neck. “Hey, dragon! Join my crew!”

“What?!” Tiana twisted her head to stare at him. “No! I have one trainer, and that's Leaf!” She pointed her tail vehemently at the slack jawed girl.

The boy looked over at Leaf like he'd just realized she was there. “Trainer?” He wondered, hopping off of Tiana's back. His eyes immediately lit up again when he saw Mana and Mika. “Oh! Oh oh oh! What are those?!” He darted up to Mika and was only stopped from giving the fluffy Pokemon a huge hug by Mana instinctively grabbing him in a psychic hold. “Awk!”

“That's me,” Leaf said when she could speak again. “I'm their trainer. These are my Pokemon. What are – who are you, exactly?” She flushed badly at her slip up, mortified that she'd almost addressed a person as a 'what'. But where she came from, nobody could stretch that way and survive. No human could manage that!

The boy – okay, that wasn't fair, he's probably around her age judging by his appearance. Leaf turned eighteen a month or so ago and after everything she'd gone through, she felt a lot older than she actually was. The boy pressed his hands against the psychic barrier, baffled and confused and curious like a child. “What's this? There's an invisible wall in front of you!” He said.

“That's just Mana using Barrier,” Leaf responded weakly. “Can you please tell me who you are and how you – you were just stretching your body like it was made out of modelling clay?”

The boy blinked doe like eyes at him. “I'm Monkey D Luffy. I'm gonna be the King of the Pirates!” He declared. “I ate a devil fruit, so my body's made of rubber!” He said that like it was a completely normal and not insane thing to tell someone. “So this dragon is yours?”

Leaf nodded, opening her mouth to ask him further questions only for Luffy to barrel right over her. “Awesome! You should join my pirate crew!”

“What?” She sputtered.

“The other two can definitely come to! What are they? They look like cats, but fluffier and cuter and one stands on two legs. They're so interesting!”

“Well-”

“I bet Nami will like them a lot. Girls like fluffy animals, don't they? My crew will catch up in a second, I'll introduce you to everyone!”

“H-Hey-”

“Oooh, this is so exciting! Wait here, I'll be right back!”

“W-Wait a second!” Leaf protested, but Luffy was already running off down the deck like a Pontya in a road race, waving excitedly out towards the pirate ship. “This conversation is feeling a little one sided!” If he heard her, he gave no sign of it. “...Oh boy.”

Mana shivered uncertainly. Somehow she suspected that if she were a Xatu, she'd be having some very intense future visions and would have started having them the instant that strange boy latched onto Tiana's neck.