Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a blistering day as Sadie readjusted her backpack and stepped off the bus onto the hot asphalt of the Old Faithful visitor center parking lot. She was glad to be off the cramped bus, having been on it for about an hour and a half. It was a different bus then the one she had ridden up to west Yellowstone, as she had been on a Greyhound bus all the way from Idaho Falls.

Sadie had ended up sitting with an older couple on the ride up to Yellowstone who seemed to be the stereotypical sweet old grandparents. Ed and Marsha had taken it upon themselves to keep Sadie entertained with stories of their kids and grand kids. It had hurt a bit hearing about a healthy family dynamic, probably because it just reinforced how unhealthy her family had been. 

They had asked her about herself, and after some hesitation Sadie had told them that she was a zoology student starting her last semester of college. It was just some of the required math and english classes she had put off till the last minute. She was stopping at Yellowstone on her way back to school from an internship at the Cincinnati zoo. She and her older brother had been saving up to go to Yellowstone before he died and it was only recently that she had gotten to a good place mentally to go. They had asked about the rest of her family, but Sadie had deterred any more questions about them by telling them that it was only her older brother she had been close to. She hadn't talked to the rest of her family in years.

After a bit of an awkward silence Ed and Marsha had quickly changed the subject to what animals she had been working with during her internship. She had explained that she had been working with the carnivores, mainly the tigers, but she had also helped out with the wolves on several occasions. Sadie had been surprised to learn that Marsha had been a zookeeper for the Idaho Falls zoo; she had been the lion keeper but had retired about a year ago. Marsha had given Sadie her number and told her to contact her if she needed help getting a job after she was done with college.

 The bus driver had let them know at that point that they were a few minutes away from west Yellowstone and to get ready to disembark. Once they had reached West Yellowstone and gotten off the bus they had parted ways. Sadie had stopped by the Grizzly & Wolf discovery center and bought a book at the giftshop on the wolves of Yellowstone before getting on a bus that was headed to Old Faithful. She hadn't really minded talking to Ed and Marsha but talking about her older brother had hit her hard. It had been a blessedly quiet ride to Old Faithful.

Sadie pulled herself back to the present as she walked to the Visitors center. She checked her watch to see what time she would need to head back to the bus. It was 11:32, so after checking the old faithful eruption timer in the Visitors center window, which said about 5 minutes, headed inside the visitor center. She would watch it later, and since most people were heading out to see the geyser she decided to head inside.

  Sadie stopped to use the restroom, and as she washed her hands, she studied herself in the mirror. Her hair was up in a ponytail and the blonde roots of her hair were starting to show, she'd need to re-dy her hair brown when she got back to her hotel room. Her contacts made her eyes appear hazel rather than her normal blue and were a pain to clean when something got in her eye. Her freckles were more pronounced, usually they were barely visible but spending so much time outside over the summer had caused them to darken.

Sadie had been dying her hair ever since she left home at the age of 18 and her older brother had bought her some contacts a few months later. It hurt knowing that if her family found her they wouldn't hesitate to try to ruin the life she had started to build for herself. Though she had noticed that, annoyingly, people seemed to take her more seriously now that her hair was dyed. Shighing, Sadie finished washing her hands and after drying them she re-tied her ponytail and headed out of the restroom to go explore the visitors center.

 Sadie wandered around the visitors center looking at the exhibits for around 30 minutes, people had started trickling in from watching the geyser and the visitors center was filling up quickly. She finished looking around and headed outside, checking the timer for old faithful she saw that she had around 40 minutes before it would erupt again. She decided to headed to the general store to go be a good little tourist and find some souvenirs, and maybe some food. 

The general store was loud and crowded as Sadie stepped inside and started to look around. The store was full of shelves, racks, tables, and stands with a variety of merchandise. She had to weave through the crowd to look at the things being sold. She wasn't really interested in any of the clothes or mugs but did stop to look at the notebooks. She ended up grabbing one of the many scenic notebooks from one of the spinning displays along with a pen. Stopping to look at the keychains she grabbed a small flashlight. Wandering around a bit more she spotted the swiss army knives and picked out one of both the large and small. She glanced over to where the food court was, but seeing how busy it was, decided that the snacks in her bag would be fine until they stopped back at West Yellowstone.

Sadie headed over to one of the checkout lines and noticed a table displaying huckleberry foodstuffs. She scanned the table and her eyes fell on one of the bags of taffy. Taffy and odd flavors of candy had been some of the things her brother had really enjoyed, so she grabbed a bag for him. He would have definitely gotten some if he had been here. 

As Sadie continued to the checkout she stopped at a display of fleece blankets. Looking them all over she ended up grabbing one of a landscape somewhere in the park. She then finally made it to the start of the line for one of the registers without getting side tracked. She spent around ten minutes waiting in line and checking out but she was finally free of the crowded store.

Sadie paused by a bench to stuff most of her purchases into her backpack and attach the flashlight and smaller of the two pocket knives to her very sad keychain. It only had two keys on it. One was to the small cylindrical water and fireproof safe in her backpack that held all her important documents. Was it stupid to have that in her backpack? Probably, but she was too paranoid to leave it in her hotel room. The other was to the storage unit where most of her stuff curently was. She usually had more keys on it, but those had been for her dorm at school and apartment while she was i nterning at the zoo.

 The only other thing on her keychain was the small eevee charm that her older brother had given her for Christmas one year. Nostalgia and sadness washed over her as she looked at it. It brought back some of her happiest memories, her brother letting her play his Pokemon games, or watching the Pokemon anime together in the rare moments the rest of their family wasn't home. To this day the Sun and Moon arc was still her favorite in all the anime because of that. Sure, she had watched the other seasons of the show, but Sun and Moon was the one she had watched with her brother.

Sighing, Sadie stuffed her keys back into her left hand pocket and swung her backpack over her shoulder. Glancing at the timer for Old faithful she could see it now read ten minutes. Slipping her arm through the other strap she headed over to the viewing platform where a crowd was starting to gather. 

 Sadie quickly decided that she would rather stand than sit on one of the benches. She placed her backpack on the ground and stuck her foot through one of the straps to deter someone from trying to grab it. She checked the timer again, and seeing as she still had a few minutes before Old Faithful was estimated to erupt, she pulled out her phone and started up the Pokemon ROM hack she had been playing on the way back west.

Her brother had suggested it to her, but she hadn’t gotten around to playing it before he died. It had taken her a while to come to terms with his death, so it had only been recently that she had been able to play it without crying. She had never been able to make it past naming her character, until about a month ago when she had found herself unable to sleep.  

It was a really interesting game, you started in an old abandoned lab and as you searched for a way out you would come across five different machines and have to answer some questions to open the corresponding lock on a big steel door. You also got a Pokemon from each machine and could name it before you move on to the next machine. The pokemon had updated sprites and/or stats, added secondary typing, different abilities, completely different typings, or just normal pokemon.

After getting five pokemon and opening the locked door you found yourself in a room where a successfully cloned mew was held. It was partially shiny with the secondary typing of fairy, and once you freed the Mew, it would join you. Though, not as a battle pokemon, but as a companion pokemon that would help with obstacles like small trees and boulders, and teleport you places.

After you befriended the Mew you got to name it. You actually had no choice but to name it or else you couldn’t move on. Once you named the Mew a machine with a warp pad would turn on and you would have to answer a few more questions, You then got warped to a random region based on your answers.

Sadie had gotten Alola as her region, which she was thrilled with. You could catch one more pokemon to add to your team when you got to the region so she had looked up on the wiki what pokemon you could find in the Alolan region in this game and where. She was pretty sure she wanted a Rockruff, and after learning from the wiki that the shiny odds had been upped decided to catch that as her final teammate.

The thing about the ROM hack was that you couldn't change out the pokemon you got from the machines, and you could only catch one other pokemon and then that was it until you completed the main story. 

Sadie had gotten what in her opinion was a pretty good team; A Charmander with a updated sprites for its line, a Shinx with a secondary typing of steel, changed stats and a new ability, an Oshawott with a secondary typing of fighting and changed stats, a Treecko with the secondary typing of dragon, and a Jangmo-o with the busted typing of dragon/fairy.

Sadie had also seen on the wiki when looking at the Rockruff page that there was a very small chance you could get a dusk Rockruff, but Sadie wasn't that dedicated as there was no physical difference between the normal and dusk Rockruffs and it would have been a long and tedious process of soft resetting.

Since all her other pokemon, including the Mew, were female she was going for a girl power team. So after getting some plot out of the way. It might have been following Ash's adventure in Alola but she wasn't sure. She hadn't paid attention, she was too focused on getting a shiny rock puppy!

She had been shiny hunting for six hours total, most of which was done on the bus ride out to Idaho Falls. She had run into quite a few shinies, none of which were Rockruff. Just a lot of grubbin, pikipek, and yungoos.

Sadie directed her small sprite through the patch of tall grass for what felt like the billionth time. She saw one of the encounter animations start to play, when she heard the crowd around stir. She glanced up from the game and saw that Old Faithful had started to bubble.

Looking back down at her phone to save and turn it off she felt her heart skip a beat when she saw what she had ended up encountering. After six hours of looking she had finally gotten the shiny Rockruff she had been looking for! Quietly celebrating, She quick saved and then turned off her phone as she slipped it into her pocket, the warmth of achievement glowing in her chest. She would catch her when she got back on the bus. Removing her foot from the strap of her backpack she picked it up by the top handle and watched with the crowd as Old Faithful begain to erupt.

 The crowd was cheering loudly so Sadie didn't immediately hear the person walk up behind her. She was turning her head to check out of habit, when blinding pain exploded in her chest. Sadie’s legs collapsed and she landed hard on her right side. The pain in her chest was unbearable, it felt like she had been run through by a white hot poker. Her vision started to go dark almost immediately, and as everything faded around her she could smell the metallic tang of blood. She could feel something hot running down her chest and hear people start to scream as she lay on the ground, unable to move or scream because of the pain. Her vision faded completely and she felt herself drifting away from the pain and noise.

Sadie wasn't really sure when she came to or where she was. She was no longer in pain, even though she still seemed to have a body, and her hand was still holding the handle of her backpack. Even though her eyes were open there was just nothing to see. She also couldn't tell if she was floating or lying on something, honestly it just felt like she was in a void.

Sadie wasn't sure how long she was in the “void”. She was in too much shock to really process what had happened, but at some point she suddenly noticed a spot of light that was growing larger the longer she looked at it. It took her a moment to realize it was getting bigger because whatever it was was drawing closer.

Whatever it was came to a stop right in front of Sadie, it was huge but was far too bright for Sadie to tell what it was. There was an overwhelming feeling of power, but also of peace and comfort that seemed to radiate from it, and she felt herself relaxing. 

The being spoke and the words seemed to vibrate in her soul “This is a dying wish I will happily honor, and your six companions shall come with you to help you adjust to your new life. May you find peace and joy in your new life, I wish you luck, Sadie.”

As the light began to grow brighter, and as Sadie started to lose consciousness. She thought she heard a familiar voice, her older brother said, “Have fun, and good luck little sister!”

—-----------------------------------

Awareness slowly returned to Sadie. She could feel sunlight on her skin and see it through her closed eyelids. The air was muggy and smelled of warm earth. She was lying on her right side and could feel grass tickling her arm and face, and what she thought were a few small rocks and maybe a stick poking her in the side. She could faintly hear what sounded like a woodpecker drumming on wood. Oddly enough She could still feel the handle of her backpack in her hand as well, and her shirt was strangely sticky as well.

Sadie probably would have found it peaceful, but she was currently trying to process what had just happened to her. She was pretty sure she had died, and then maybe been isekai’d. She wasn't sure about the last part though. Panic and fear started to make themselves known, remembering the strange encounter with the Giant glowing being and possibly her brother’s spirit didn't help her state. She let go of the handle of her pack and curled up into a trembling ball.

Sadie tried to take slow calming breaths but she could feel tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes, and despite her best efforts her breathing had become short and ragged. Sadie started to cry as she tried to process what had happened to her. She was pretty sure the person that had walked up behind her had stabbed her in the back, and she could still smell blood which was probably what was making her shirt stick to her skin. Why had she been stabbed? Was it a planned attack or had she been a random target?  She was suddenly shocked out of her dark thoughts however when she heard something shift nearby. 

Sadie froze and then slowly opened her eyes and uncurled as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight streaming through a small gap in the forest canopy right above her. Slowly and carefully  sitting up so as not to spook whatever was near her. She directed her gaze to where she had heard something shifting around and felt her heart freeze in her chest when she saw what was making the noise. Six creatures were in a small forest clearing with her and they all had very concerned and uncertain looks on their faces. The one that was floating in the air tilted its catlike head and gave an inquisitive and concerned “Me Mew?”

Chapter Text

“Impossible!” was all Sadie could think as she sat there frozen watching the six pokemon who were in the small clearing with her. They were the pokemon she had gotten in the ROM hack. They were no longer 2D spirits, instead they looked very similar to the pokemon in the Detective Pikachu movie.

There was Peril the Charmander with bright blue eyes and tail flame, more lithe than a normal Charmander. Scout the Shinx with the secondary typing of steel, her tail was tipped with a silvery four pointed star. Scep the Treeco who would gain the dragon typing when she evolved into a Sceptile, she also had a scar on her chest that looked like the number seven. Riptide the Oshawott with the secondary typing of fighting, whose scalchop’s outer edges were a noticeable blue. Chime the dragon/fairy Jangmo-o whose large scales looked like they were edged with light blue crystal. And finally Glory the partially shiny Mew whose dual colored fur was cream and bright blue, and who had the secondary typing of fairy.

Sadie was starting to hyperventilate and had to place a hand on the ground to brace herself as she tried to calm down. There was a strange ringing in her ears and she was trembling a bit. She could faintly hear the pokemon, HER pokemon actually, talking to each other and then the sound of them coming over to her.

Sadie jumped when she felt something soft and warm drape over her shoulders, looking up she found Glory there. Her other pokemon joined them and proceeded to hug or rub up against her. She flinched as she felt something touch her mind and a musical voice filled her head. She couldn't understand the words, but the tone was comforting and a little concerned. Sadie glanced at Glory as she was the only one in the cleaning who had the ability to do so. Glory rubbed her furry head against Sadie’s cheek, still trying to soothe her.

Sadie took deep gasping breaths, trying to calm down but still very overwhelmed by the events of the day. She did her best to hold back her tears, but some still slipped out. Her pokemon stayed by her, Scout actually scrambled up onto her lap and started liking her face, trying to get rid of the tears.

That got a rather strangled laugh out of Sadie, and she started petting Scout’s bright blue fur as she continued to take deep, calming breaths. The panic started to dissipate, and after a few more minutes, she heard the musical voice again. Glory must have seen her confusion, and realized that she couldn't understand her, because she felt glory consider for a moment and then instead of words, images and emotions filled her mind. She was pretty sure it was all the pokemon, not just Glory, who were sharing this time.

There were some short memories of the lab, Alola, the shiny rockruff, and the strange powerful being Sadie had met. The rest of it was images and emotions that went along with the memories. She was a bit overwhelmed by the info dump, but did her best to sort through everything.

Sadie hesitantly voiced her best guess as to what they were trying to say. “You remember the lab, the little bit of traveling we did and finding the shiny rockruff. Things looked different than they do now, more pixelated and 2D, so you're all aware it was a game. You then met something incredibly powerful that explained to you what was going on and asked you to do something. Protect me? And the world looked a lot different from what you remember when you woke up in this clearing, more what I'm used to.”

Glory gave a mental conformation but also showed the series of images and emotions again that were of the powerful being asking them to protect her. “So there's more than just protecting me?” there was a chorus of agreement from the pokemon, and she tried to figure out what else there was.

It took several tries, but Sadie eventually figured out what they were trying to say. “To continue being my friends?” there was a chorus of excited cries from the pokemon, and she blinked rapidly to clear the moisture gathering in her eyes. “Th-thanks. It means a lot. I’m not quite sure what my goal is yet, but I’ll do my best to be the best trainer and friend I can be for you guys.”

Her pokemon started cheering at this and happily bouncing around the clearing in celebration. Glory floated off Sadie’s shoulders to join the others, and a brilliant glow surrounded her small form. The glow faded as glory landed on the ground as what was most definitely an Eevee. As she watched the pokemon run around the clearing, something occurred to Sadie. “Hey Glory, is it uncomfortable to stay in a shape other than mew, and are you still able to use your mew powers? You know the whole knowing every move? ” Glory paused her dash around the clearing and turned to look at Sadie, head tilted. “ Ee ee eevuie? ” Sadie felt Glory’s mental presence gently brush her mind, and she saw Glory’s eyes widen and her tail start wagging furiously when she saw Sadie’s idea.

“So you think it's a good idea?” Glory’s tail kept wagging as she nodded excitedly. “Thanks Glory. I’m pretty sure most people have never seen a Mew before, as they don’t often show themselves to people. So that could cause some trouble, as I know that there are groups here who would do anything to get their hands on you.” Glory nodded seriously and then hopped up to lick Sadie’s face, but ended up knocking her flat on her back.

Sadie started laughing in surprise as Glory started licking her face. Taking this grand opportunity, all her pokemon dog piled her and gently began rough housing with her. Sadie happily tussled with them for a bit and laughingly said, “Just be careful, I'm not as sturdy as you lot are.”

As they were roughhousing, Sadie felt her arm bump something that felt like it was made out of cloth, and looking over she saw her backpack. She had completely forgotten about it when she saw her pokemon. Sadie sat up and some of her pokemon rolled off her as she reached over and grabbed it. Her water bottle, covered in a variety of stickers, was still in the side pocket, and the enamel pins were still on the left strap.

Sadie’s pokemon gathered around as she unzipped the main pocket, and gave her confused looks when they saw the inside. Sadie sat there frozen for a few seconds, her mind trying to process the strange sight that greeted her.

On the outside, the bag still looked normal, but the inside was the problem. It was now much larger than it should be. The main pocket now looked like it was three ft by three ft with her things in one corner of the pocket. The things she had bought at Yellowstone were there along with her change of clothes, snacks, her copy of Tress of the Emerald Sea, and documents safe. Sadie studied the side where her computer pocket had been and found a new zipper that had three sides. Unzipping it, it opened to a fan like sorting system where in one of the slots Sadie found her laptop, charger, mouse and Bluetooth earbuds, along with the charger for both her phone and earbuds. In another was her Kindle and it's charger. Re-zipping the two pockets, Sadie moved to the second large pocket.

It was a bit smaller than the first one but still mind-bogglingly big. Inside was a larger version of the first aid kit that had originally been in there, a notebook, pencil pouch, and her small bag of toiletries that she had forgotten to put back in her suitcase.

Re-zipping that pocket, she opened the smallest one and found her pouch of interesting coins and a random assortment of stuff that had probably been at the bottom of the other two pockets.

Remembering that she actually had things in her pockets, Sadie removed the contents of her pockets to see what she still had on her. She laid the contents out on the ground and in total she had; Her phone, wallet, keys, some gum, small notebook, pen, and a few random coins. She added the coins to her coin pouch and put her wallet and keys in the smallest pocket.

As she lifted her keys to put in her pack, Glory and the others took notice of the Eevee charm on her keychain. Sadie couldn't help but smile as Glory sniffed the charm and then happily batted at it, tail wagging. “You like it? My brother sent it to me one year for Christmas.” the other pokemon were now examining it and were happily taking turns batting at her keys.

Sadie let them play with her keys for a bit before she put them in her pack. She returned the notebook, pen, and gum to her pockets and then picked up her phone and studied it. It didn’t look like the one in legends Arceus, which was nice, as she’d rather not deal with That whole mess, and she was pretty sure the presence had been Arceus.

Turning it on, Sadie found that the emulator had closed, she sighed and opened up the apps tab and started scrolling down to the emulator when she saw one of her Pokédex apps. Sadie stared at it for a moment, there was no way it would work. Right?

Tapping on it, it opened and Sadie sat there baffled but delighted as the pokemon loaded on screen, and tapping on one of the pokemon, its info came up. Grinning now, Sadie closed the app and scrolled up to the Bulbapedia app. Holding her breath, she tapped the app and gasped in delight when it actually opened. Her pokemon gathered round to see what she was looking at on her phone. “This is one of the Pokédex apps that's on my phone, and this particular one has the most info on and about pokemon. Didn't think that any of the Pokédex apps would actually work though, guess I got lucky. This is good for us though as it helps me know how best to train you all for battles, if you guys want to of course.” She got excited and eager cries of agreement from everyone at this.

Sadie turned her attention back to her phone, and because she was curious, typed in the search bar for the anime. She got a page not found, and trying to search for one of the games got the same result. Odd, but Pokemon and mechanics were still available, which was really the only thing that she cared about.

Closing the apps, Sadie remembered what she had been originally looking for and went and opened the emulator. Tapping on the Rom hack, the start sequence played, and tapping on the screen she skipped the animation that usually played. The trainer card appeared, and she could see that her pokemon’s sprites had disappeared, thought the game crashed a few seconds latter.

She supposed it made sense that the pokemon disappeared, she tried again, but this time as soon as she saw the trainer card she went into the quick saves. They were all gone, and the game crashed again a few seconds later.

Honestly, out of everything that had happened to her that day, she was more upset about losing the shiny Rockruff than anything else.

Sadie sadly closed the emulator and turned off her phone. As she was about to put the phone back in her pocket, her reflection caught her eye. She stared at it for a moment before quickly turning her phone back on and opened the camera and turned it to selfie mode.

Looking at herself, she felt numbness returning. She now looked to be about 12, and thinking back to when her pokemon had been sharing their memories, she was definitely shown the age she looked now. She wasn't sure if the reason she hadn't noticed was shock or if her mind had glossed it over. The other thing was that her hair was no longer dyed, and her colored contacts were gone.

Her pokemon had noticed she was starting to take calming breaths again and started hugging her again. She sat there petting Glory, trying to figure out how she felt about this new development. She wasn't overly thrilled about being 12 again, but she could live with it. Besides, from what she had seen, she knew that in the games and anime, people were generally far less concerned about letting children run around unsupervised with elemental wielding animals.

At this point, it finally sunk in that she was in a completely different world. Not only that, but she wasn't sure if she was in a game universe or the anime one, and she definitely preferred the latter over the games.

Her appearance wasn't that big a deal, her family could no longer reach her, so she had no need to disguise herself. It was a small comfort, but shed take what she could get right now. The bigger issue was that she didn't have a place to stay. Though judging by the climate, she was probably in Alola which tended to be the friendliest region, so if she could find Prof. Kukui or Kahuna Hala, she would probably be okay. Her backpack and phone could probably prove she wasn't crazy, and she was pretty sure she remembered Prof Kukui having a Lucario, so that would help as well. That would however mean talking to people, which she didn't really like doing. Pokemon were fine, they looked like animals, though Sadie knew they were just as smart as humans.

Sadie didn't really enjoy interacting with people. Her family were awful people, her older brother being the only exception. Not to mention her experience in elementary and high school. By the time she had started college, her outlook on people was pretty low. Therapy had helped a bit, and so had her internship, but after getting stabbed she wasn't sure how well she was going to do with being around people.

Shakily putting her phone back in her pocket, Sadie quietly thanked her pokemon and gently put Glory on the ground. As she went to get up, she suddenly felt all the hair on the back of her neck stand up, and saw her pokemon tense up as well.

Freezing in a half crouch, Sadie slowly turned around, being careful to not make any sudden movements. She tensed up when she saw what was floating behind her, a pokemon she recognized. Tapu Koko, Guardian of Mele Mele.

A brilliant orange crest of feathers on his head and similarly colored tail feathers. Each of his arms sporting a half of a mainly yellow shell decorated to look like a stylized roster, and ending in an ebony beaklike hand. Piercing blue eyes studying her Tapu Koko silently floated in the air in front of her. There was something blue in his left claw, but she was a lot more concerned with Tapu Koko himself than what he was holding.

Sadie’s mind raced as they studied each other. She was familiar with the Pokédex entries for Tapu Koko. Curios but with a bit of a temper, she knew she had to be very careful when interacting with him as she would rather not set him off. It didn't help her nerves that she could feel the electrical aura that seemed to radiate off him

Taking a steadying breath, Sadie did her best to relax as she looked at Tapu Koko, but didn't make eye contact. She did her best to speak softly and calmly as she addressed him. “Tapu Koko, Guardian of Mele Mele, it’s a honer to meet you. If we are trespassing on your turf, we’ll happily leave if you can point us in the right direction, cus we're a bit lost.”

Tapu Koko seemed a bit taken aback, though rather amused by her reaction as he started chuckling. Sadie was still worried, but she unconsciously relaxed at his laughter. It helped that she felt her pokemon relax as well. They all jumped, though, when he gave a loud trill and tossed the blue thing he was holding to her.

Sadie managed to catch what ever it was and then before she could take a look at it, she felt her hand seize up, and blinding light poured from between her fingers. There was a strange sensation, a sense of connection and balance, but it faded along with the light.

Sadie’s hand finally relaxed, and she got a good look at what Tapu Koko had tossed to her. She felt her heart drop when she saw exactly what she was holding. A Z-ring with an electric blue band. The stone it's self was a faint bright blue with a small electric blue diamond on the bottom. There was no Z-crystal in it, which Sadie considered a small mercy.

Her pokemon gathered around to study the Z-ring, and Sadie looked up at Tapu Koko, a tad panicked, but did her best to speak calmly.

“Tapu Koko, I'm honored, but why me!? I'm not from here, I don't really know your customs or the traditions behind the Z-moves. I'm nobody! Is’int there someone else who would be able to use it better?”

Sadie’s voice cracked a bit, and her hand fell to the ground as she stared blankly at the Z-ring. She wasn't sure why she was here, or why she was even still alive. And why did she have her pokemon from the ROM hack with her. Along with her backpack and Pokédex apps that still freaking worked? She didn't want to mess up whatever timeline she had woken up in, either, especially if it was the anime. She was no Ash Ketchum, she was just someone who was trying their best to survive life, and she had already failed at that.

Sadie felt something touch her head, and looking up, she found Tapu Koko resting one of his claws on her head and looking at her with what seemed to be kindness. He patted her head a tad awkwardly, as if he wasn't really sure how to help. She felt her mouth quirk up slightly at this, and as Tapu Koko backed away rather quickly, she felt something touch her hand.

Looking down, Sadie found Peril gently holding her hand and looking up at her with trust in her eyes. She felt Glory jump up on to her back and then drape herself on her shoulders again as the other pokemon joined Peril. Peril gently took the Z-ring from her hand and carefully placed it on her wrist. The ring briefly flared with light, then went dark again.

The message was clear, they trusted her, even if Sadie didn't understand why.

“Thanks.”

It was all Sadie could manage to get out as a warmth she wasn't used to slowly started to fill her chest and her throat closed up.

Taking another shaky breath, Sadie looked back up at Tapu Koko and quietly whispered, “thanks, I will be sure to take good care of it.”

Tapu Koko nodded and then floated over to the opposite side of the clearing where there was a small break in the foliage. He turned, and looking at Sadie, gestured for her to follow with a “Ta Pu KoookO.”

Sadie quickly scrambled to her feet, swinging her backpack over her shoulder as she did. As Sadie did a quick scan around the clearing to make sure she didn't forget anything, she asked her pokemon “I think we might be going for a bit of a hike, if you want to stay out I won't stop you, but if at any point you start feeling tired just let me know, and I'll put you back in your ball, okay? And riptide, I should probably carry you, as it may be harder for you to keep up.”

Her pokemon nodded, and she picked up Riptide, Glory hopped up onto her shoulders as she did. Turning to where Tapu Koko was floating, she gave a small bow and hesitantly walked across the clearing to where Tapu Koko was waiting. He turned and ducked through the gap in the foliage. Taking another deep breath, Sadie looked at her pokemon and then followed.

Three and a half hours later, Sadie was still following Tapu Koko. They had stopped after an hour and a half by a stream and berry tree so she and her pokemon could catch their breath and eat something. She had offered Tapu Koko a huckleberry taffy, which he had taken quite a liking to. He now had the bag of taffy in his possession, as she had given it to him in thanks. All her pokemon except Glory had decided to rest in their poke balls once they set off again.

Sadie's legs were starting to get sore, and she was dripping with sweat as it was a lot muggier than she was used to. As they had walked, she had kept an eye out for wild pokemon, but hadn't seen any. Though, considering their guide, it wasn't really that surprising.

The trail they were on looked to have been made by pokemon and The hike had been mostly downhill with the occasional uphill stretch, so Sadie was pretty sure they were heading down to the coast. Hopefully that meant Tapu Koko was leading them to someone who could help. She was however a little miffed to find that she was now short enough to walk on the path without having to hunch over.

At some point, Sadie realized that she could faintly smell salt, which Glory mentally confirmed. Looking to her left, she thought she saw what she thought might be the ocean. As she was trying to catch a glimpse of the ocean through the foliage, she felt a sudden mental warning from Glory. Whipping her head back around, Sadie had to jerk to a halt so she didn't run into Tapu Koko, who had suddenly stopped.

Tapu Koko reached out a claw and dragged some of the foliage out of the way, with his other claw he gestured for them to go through the newly created gap. Sadie, whose heart was still racing, quickly bowed and then ducked through the gap, momentarily blinded by the sunlight.

Sadie yelped as she found herself suddenly sliding/skidding down a steep dirt incline, she stopped with a loud splash in the small stream. Her heart was pounding as she quickly got up, and she and Glory could her Tapu Koko’s amused cackling.

Sadie felt Glory’s furry and quickly whispered to her, “ We’re fine, so please don't start something. He’s a fairy type, it's part of his nature to play tricks on people. Yeah, it wasn't nice, but I'm too tired to worry about it right now, and I'm not hurt, so please let it go.”

Glory grumbled but stayed in Sadie's arms as Tapu Koko floated over them and started down the packed dirt road that was next to the small stream that Sadie was now standing in. She quickly scrambled onto the road and resumed following the chaotic fey. A few minutes later they rounded a bend in the road and Sadie froze when she saw the buildings in front of them.

Thatched roofs rose into the air, with one of the buildings being built into a large tree. A white planked wooden bridge led to a painted wooden arch with some palm trees by it, which opened on the courtyard around the buildings.

The good news, Sadie was now pretty sure she knew what universe she was in. The bad news, she still didn't know when she was, and if she had arrived before, after, or around the time ash did. And if so she was going to have to figure out how to deal with the chaos that seamed to follow him around. Though if that was the case she would have the advantage of knowing the Alolan anime fairly well, and she had her pokemon, so she would probably be okay.

She stood in the middle of the path, trying to figure out how she felt about this new development, petting Glory in an attempt to keep herself from panicking to much. She wasn't really able to start processing, though, as Tapu Koko, realizing she had fallen behind, zipped back over and tugged on the strap of her backpack to get her moving again. Sadie quickly resumed walking, trying to ignore the knots that were forming in her gut as they approached the pokemon school.

Sadie didn't really get much time to look around as they continued into the school. There was nobody around as they walked through the halls, which was fine with her. The passed through a few classrooms, and a room that she vaguely recognized from the anime, the one with the fossils that ash had walked through his first day in Alola. They turned down a hallway and Tapu Koko came to a stop in front of a door. He turned to her and gestured to the door. Sadie hesitantly came over and stood in front of the door, the knots in her stomach now much harder to ignore. She could faintly hear people talking behind it.

She glanced down at Glory and then to Tapu Koko. Glory scrambled up onto her shoulders and rubbed her furry head against Sadie cheek as Tapu Koko fished another taffy out of the bag and made a go on gesture with his claw. Taking a deep breath and with great effort, she lifted her hand and knocked on the door.

Sadie quickly backed up a few steps as she heard the voices inside pause, and a few seconds later the door was opened by a man with long gray hair and a loud Hawaiian shirt. “I'll be with you in just a- MISS, ARE YOU OKAY!”

Sadie jumped and backed up against the wall in confusion as the rest of the people in the room came to the door, confusion quickly turning to shock and concern, their eyes focused on her. Glory quickly hopped into her arms.

“Wh-what?” was all Sadie could get out as she looked at the other people in the room, all of whom she was pretty sure she recognized. One of the men, who she was pretty sure was Prof. Kukui judging by his lab coat and cap, spoke up.

“Kid, you're covered in Blood!”

“O-oh, r-right.” Sadie bemusedly looked down at her bloodstained clothes, because right, that had happened. She had just forgotten that with the whole Tapu Koko showing up and the three and a half hour hike.

Sadie looked back up at the adults, “I-its fine, it looks a lot worse than it actually is. I wasn't even bleeding when I woke up”

Sadie could feel Glory’s amusement at her poor communication skills through some sort of faint link Glory seamed to have made. None of the adults looked at all convinced, in fact they looked far more concerned than they had a minute ago. The lady with long blonde hair, and green eyes, Lusamine, Sadie was pretty sure, seemed to be the most concerned, and was about to say something when Tapu Koko, who Sadie thought had flown off by this point, let out a very loud, and in her opinion, far too cheerful “TAPUUUUU KOOoooKOOOOO!”

Sadie barely flinched, her nerves were too shot at this point to really react that much, but Glory’s fur did puff up. The five adults, however, all jumped and hurried out into the hallway. They were met with the sight of Tapu Koko cheerfully retrieving another taffy from the bag and carefully unwrapping it. He inclined his head to the adults, waved cheekily at the man who she was pretty was Kahuna Hala, patted Sadie on the head, and then zipped down the hallway out of sight.

The adults stared after him for a few stunned and baffled seconds, and then they turned back to Sadie, questions clear on their faces. All Sadie could really think to say was, “He seemed to really like the huckleberry taffy I bought. It is something he can eat, right?”

The adults didn't seem to know what to do with that statement, and it was Kahuna Hala who finally spoke, “It's not just your shirt that is covered in blood, you have a rather nasty looking scratch on your arm. Come sit down and tell us how you ended up covered in blood and accompanied by Tapu Koko. It sounds quite…. Interesting.”

Sadie looked down at her arm. There was in fact a large scratch on her arm, and she wasn't sure how she hadn't noticed getting it. Probably it was the same reason she didn't remember that she was covered in blood. Now that she was actually paying attention to it, she was aware of the dull pain throbbing in her arm.

Sadie was herded into the room by Lusamine, who she wasn't entirely sure why she was here. She was pretty sure the room was principal oak’s office. As she was steered towards the couch, she managed to clear her mind enough to ask Prof Kukui

“Professor, you have a Lucario, right? Could you bring him out? I don't think you all will believe me otherwise.”

All the adults looked even more concerned at this and Kukui looked rather startled on top of that, but he nodded. Sadie sat down on the couch and Principal Oak came over with a first aid kit. Lusamine took it and opened it while the other lady, who she recognized to be Prof Burnet went to get a wet towel. Sadie opened her mouth to protest that her scratch wasn't that bad and she didn’t need first aid, but quickly closed it again when she felt Glory mentally shush her. Everyone else made themselves comfortable as Kukui pulled a poké ball out of his lab coat pocket and released his Lucario in a flash of blue and red light,

“Hey buddy, could you give us a helping hand, Miss- Oh! I don't think we got your name!”

Sadie looked away from Lucario and haltingly spoke, “O-oh. My name is Sadie Cane.”

Kukui nodded, “Miss Cane here was hoping you could help verify her story.”

Lucario studied Sadie for a moment and then nodded. Prof. Kukui sat down and Kahuna Hala spoke, “Go ahead, Miss Cane.” Sadie nodded, and as Lusamine and Prof Bunet started taking care of her arm, nervously started talking.

Chapter Text

An hour later, Sadie found herself waiting outside Prof. Kukui’s classroom with Prof. Burnet. Sadie ignored Burnet’s concerned looks and stared out at the distant sea, trying to sort out her feelings about the last hour.
It had taken around half an hour to explain what had happened to her and where she was from. A few minutes into her explanation, her Pokemon had let themselves out and joined her on the couch, which had caused a bit of a stir among the adults due to some of their unique appearances.
It had helped to focus on them as she talked. Her explanation of her knowledge of their world had come to a sudden end however when she tried to mention the anime, as it felt like someone had closed their hand around her airway, cutting it off.
Someone had gone to get her some water, and while she was drinking it, Glory had let Lucario know that there were things Sadie apparently couldn't talk about. He had been pretty understanding about it and helped cover for her.
It had been interesting seeing their reactions to her story. She had been the most worried about Lusamine’s reaction, but oddly, Lusamine seemed more… grounded and far less obsessive than she would have expected. Glory had actually checked to see what Lucario was picking up from everyone in the room, but he wasn't sensing anything bad.
After Sadie had finished the water and managed to convince them that what she had been about to say wasn't important. Hala had explained that her experience wasn't unheard of, in fact one of the most famous examples was the child who helped in Sinnoh around 250 years ago.
Sadie had correctly guessed that Tapu Koko had stolen the Z-ring from Kahuna Hala, but when she tried to give it back he had refused and said
“If Tapu Koko saw fit to give it to you, then who am I to argue? He considers you part of Alola, and so do we.”
The conversation had then moved to how exactly to help her. There was no question that she would be living in Alola, what with Tapu Koko taking such an interest in her. The main problem was her trainer registration and where she would stay.
The adults wanted to see if they could get her a special trainer's license, and Prof Burnet was going to see if Prof Juniper over in Unova could help with that since she had better connections. Sadie had given her permission to tell Prof Juniper the truth about her situation, so Prof Burnett had gone off to call her.
As for where she would stay while in Alola, both Lusamine and Prof Kukui had offered their houses, though Lusamine said she would need to check with her kids before anything was decided.
Sadie was leaning more towards staying with the Aether’s than with Kukui. It was mainly because she would rather not have to live with Ash. Nothing against the guy, she just didn't want to have to deal with his brand of chaos 24/7. She was pretty sure they had picked up on her wariness of staying with Kukui because they were quick to assure her that if neither of those worked out they would find somewhere for her to stay.
Sadie had figured that it would probably be a good idea to tell the two Aether siblings the truth right off the bat, as in stories, it never seemed to turn out well for the people who lied about that kind of thing. She would only lie as much as necessary, and they were definitely more than necessary. Besides, she wasn't sure how Lusamine’s relationship was with her kids, and she didn't want to mess it up.
She had lent Lusamine the wolf book as proof as well, so hopefully that would be enough. Lusamine had seemed surprised but grateful, and had promised not to tell anyone else about where and what Sadie was.
One thing that helped put Sadie at ease about Lusamine was the fact that she didn’t hide that she was curious about where Sadie was from, but did seem to care more about Sadie as a person and not as something to study.
Burnet had come back from calling Prof Juniper and said that the Unovan professor would be happy to help, and wouldn’t talk about where Sadie was from without her permission. She would also be providing a Pokédex for her, which Sadie was silently thrilled about as she wouldn’t have to deal with a Rotom dex. Prof Juniper had also suggested they come up with a cover story for Sadie.
Everyone had agreed and promised not to talk about where Sadie was from, and They had come up with the cover story that Sadie was from a very remote place in Unova, which is why her knowledge was spotty on this world’s culture and pokemon. Someone from the place who was close to her, they were going with her grandfather, had travelled to a remote island that had a strange effect on some of the Pokemon. He had found her Pokemon and brought them back to said remote place, and that’s how Sadie got her Pokemon. The place was destroyed by some natural disaster, Pokemon or otherwise, and Sadie had been teleported to safety by one of her “grandfather’s” Pokemon.
Principle Oak had also explained the difference between delta Pokemon and regional forms or variants. Delta Pokemon have a different type but look like any other individual of the species. A regional form was a different type and appearance from others individuals in a different area.
Moving on from that, they had gotten lost on a tangent about the differences between the two worlds. For one, the years here were four times as long and people aged accordingly, there were also four cycles of the seasons in one year. For another there were some animals here, mostly livestock, though no one was really sure how they had managed to survive long enough for people to domesticate them. Some pokemon were still raised for food, but most people were moving away from that and a lot of alternatives had been made.
Sadie had also learned why everyone was in Principal Oak’s office. Principal Oak, Prof Kukui, and Lusamine were there to discuss her kids attending the school at some point. Prof Burnet had been looking for Prof Kukui to discuss something professory before heading to Unova in an hour, she had moved her flight to tomorrow as Sadie would now be joining her, and Hala was there because he saw Tapu Koko steel a Z-ring and then fly off towards the pokemon school.
After that, Sadie had kinda tuned out of the discussion as the adults ironed out the rest of the details, too tired from the day's events to pay attention any longer. She had actually started to nod off before the adults noticed and wrapped up.
Lusamine and Prof Burnet seemed to have picked up on the fact that she was a tad overwhelmed and suggested she stay at Prof Kukui's as it was quieter than the city, where Burnett's apartment was. She had been a bit hesitant, but Prof Burnet had offered to come with, and her Pokemon seemed to like the idea.
Before they all headed out, Hala had thought to ask if her phone could still make calls, and surprisingly it could. Sadie had added all five of the adults numbers to her now empty contacts list, returned most of her pokemon, then followed Prof Kukui to his classroom so he could grab some homework he needed to grade.
His classroom had more desks than shown in the anime, so as far as she could tell, Ash hadn't shown up yet.
Sadie heard Prof Kukui’s footsteps as he exited the classroom, so she tore her eyes away from the sea and turned around to face him.
“Sorry for the delay, it took me a sec to find all the essays. Ready to follow me?”
Sadie tiredly nodded as Prof Burnet spoke up, a note of amusement in her voice
“Yes, let's go.”
Kukui nodded and started down the hallway, with Prof Burnet walking next to him. They started talking about something professory, Sadie followed them, tuning out the conversation, and still thinking about the past hour. She couldn't really wrap her head around all that had happened in the past few hours, and at this point she was too tired to even try.
Exiting the school, they went back the way Sadie had come with Tapu Koko and passed the place where she had exited the forest. She mostly just focused on putting one foot in front of the other as they walked so she wouldn't trip from how tired she was.
After what felt like another hour of walking, but was probably only fifteen minutes, Sadie suddenly realized that someone was calling her name. Looking up, she saw both professors looking worriedly at her.
“W-what?” Was her stuttered reply.
“I was wondering if you wanted anything in particular for dinner.” Prof Kukui asked.
Sadie thought for a moment and then shook her head, “no, not really.”
Kukui nodded as Prof Burnet asked, “Are you doing okay Sadie?”
Sadie nodded, “Yeah, it's just been a long day.”
The two professors nodded, though they still looked worried. As they rounded a bend, Kukui's house came into view. It was very odd seeing it in real life instead of drawn in a cartoon, some serious déjà vu for her.
Sadie couldn’t really muster enough energy to look around as they climbed the wooden porch and paused for a few seconds as Kukui unlocked the front door. He turned to them, “After you.”
As they stepped inside, prof. Kukui turned on the lights. “ Alright, I’m going to start dinner. I hope I don’t overheat the stove. Sadie, the bathroom is there if you want to rinse off the blood real quick before dinner. You're welcome to let your Pokémon out if you want too.”
Prof burnet looked over from setting her bag down, “while you’re doing that Sadie, I can get some food ready for your Pokémon if you like.”
Sadie nodded to the two of them, too tired to verbally reply, and retrieved the poke balls from her pocket.
Sadie released her new friends as Kukui headed to the kitchen area to start cooking, “poke food is in the top cabinet, Prof Burnet.”
As Prof Burnet went to get the food, Sadie let her pokemon know what was going on. After some insistence she managed to convince most of them to go eat, Glory however would not budge, so Sadie just gave up and headed to the bathroom.
The shower felt nice after the long, hot hike, though it took some scrubbing to get all the dried blood off her skin. The only hint that she had been stabbed were two patches of darker skin, one on her chest right over her heart, the other on the upper left side of her back, where the knife had pierced her.
Sadie felt a little better after the shower and change of clothes. She gathered her Blood stained clothes, paused so Glory could hop onto her shoulder, and then stepped out of the bathroom. She was greeted with the smell of curry and the sight of the rest of her Pokémon sitting on the couch, apparently already having finished their food as Prof Burnet was picking up the food dishes, her Munchlax cleaning the rest of the food out of his dish. Prof Kukui had just finished cooking, as he traded the empty food dishes with prof Burnet for three plates full of food.
Sadie's Pokémon noticed her, and they all hopped off the couch to come greet her, alerting the two professors to her presence.
Prof Kukui looked over, “Just in time, Sadie! The food’s done. Let me put these in the sink, and then I’ll put those in the wash for you. We’re eating on the couch”
Sadie nodded and bent down to pet and greet her other Pokémon as prof Burnet spoke “Yes come sit down, and Kukui, I’ll take care of those after dinner, could you put her shirt in cold water for a bit to see if you can get any of the blood out.”
Kukui nodded and took Sadie’s bloodstained clothes and headed to the laundry room as she sat down in the corner of the L shaped couch, her Pokémon settling down around her. Burnet handed her a plate of food and set a dish of pokefood down for Glory as well. They all started eating and a few minutes later Kukui joined them. “ Okay, I set the shirt to soak.” Taking a seat on the couch, he grabbed the last plate and then looked up at the TV, “hey, do you two mind if I turn on a show?”
Sadie looked up from her plate and tiredly shrugged. “I don’t mind.”
Honestly, it would be nice to have the TV on as she wouldn’t have to talk. Burnet didn’t mind either, so Kukui grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels. He stopped on surprise surprise Alolan Detective Laki. The episode seemed to be about Laki trying to figure out who of the party guests murdered Mr. Boddy.
Sadie finished her food just as the ads came on, and was about to get up to go put her dishes in the sink when Kukui took them from her.
“I got it Sadie. You’ve had a long, sunny day.”
She settled back into the corner of the couch, a strange tight feeling in her throat. Glory, also done, hopped up into her lap and curled up. Sadie stroked her soft fur as she watched the show, the rest of her Pokémon gathering closer. Chime lay down right next to her, with Peril and Riptide sitting on her other side, Scout joined Glory on her lap, and Scep sat on the back of the couch. Soon enough, she had drifted off to sleep without realizing it.

—————————

Hours later, Sadie jerked awake, something having woken her from a nightmare. She sat bolt upright, confused and scared, forgetting for a moment where she was and what had happened the previous day. It came back to her as Glory placed a paw on her arm and gently touched her mind, her calming musical voice a tad soothing. Sadie shakily took a deep breath and stroked her fur as she looked around. She was still on the couch, though either Burnet or Kukui had gotten her a blanket and pillow. The room was faintly lit by the floor to cealing aquarium, so she could see the rest of her Pokémon were on the floor or table, worried looks on their faces. The blanket was a bit tangled, so she had probably been thrashing in her sleep and woken them.
“S-sorry I woke you guys.”
Chime tilted her head and gave a soft, questioning cry. Glory helped nudge her towards what Chime was asking.
“I was having a bad dream, probably not the last I’ll have either. Thanks for waking me up.”
Chime made the scales on her back smack together, causing an eerie wind chime noise to ring through the room. It was an oddly calming sound, and as Sadie checked out the window to see what time it was, she heard someone stirring up in the loft. The horizon had gotten brighter, so Sadie untangled herself from the blanket and got up to go check the time and use the bathroom.
Coming out of the bathroom a few minutes later, she found Prof Burnett starting a pot of coffee.
“Good morning, Sadie. Did you sleep okay? You fell asleep towards the end of the episode, and we didn’t want to wake you up.”
Sadie gave a weak smile,
“It wasn’t the worst I’ve slept, did chime wake you?”
“Don’t worry about it, this is usually when I wake up anyway, and besides we have a lot to do before our flight in a few hours. What do you want for breakfast?”
“I’m good, I never really feel like eating first thing, what exactly are we going to be doing? Oh! And where’s the pokefood? I need to feed them.”
Burnett nodded and quickly explained how much to give each of them and which type, as Sadie’s Pokemon quickly hurried over. Burnett's coffee had finished brewing by the time Sadie had finished feeding her Pokemon, and after pouring herself a cup, Burnett sat down at the counter and gestured for Sadie to take a seat. As Sadie sat down, Burnett laid out the day’s plans.
“Well the first thing we need to do is stop by the pokecenter to get your Pokemon checked over, then you need to get some shots and a check-up before we head to Unova. We also need to get you some warmer clothes, as it’s currently winter in Unova, though we may need to wait until we’re actually there for that.”
Sadie hesitatingly nodded
“Sounds good to me, what time do we leave?”
Hmm? Oh, how about an hour ? We still need to get breakfast, and Kukui has a temporary license for you. Though I’m a bit surprised he’s not up yet.”
At that moment they heard Kukui coming up the stairs and a sleepy “Alola” from him. Sadie jumped a bit as he did. He came over to them and held a small booklet out to Sadie.
“Here you are Sadie, it’s a Substitute for a proper trainer’s license. When you get to prof juniper’s lab, she’ll hopefully be able to give you a helping hand in getting a special license.”
Right, prof Kukui was very fond of Pokemon moves.
“Oh, thanks. Hey, how did the episode end, by the way? Did Laki figure out who killed Mr Boddy? I know he was found in the study, but I think I fell asleep before he revealed who it was and what they used?”
Kukui chuckled as he walked around the counter, poured himself a cup of coffee and started making something for breakfast. Burnett got up to help, motioning for Sadie to stay seated when she tried to get up to help.
“It was Mr. Green with the lead pipe, and I’m sorry, I should have turned on something else, seeing what you just went through.”
“Oh! Don’t worry about it. I wasn’t bothered.”
“Still….”
“Seriously, it's fine.”
Kukui dropped it, and as he and Burnett prepared breakfast, Sadie heard something scratching at the door. She jumped and turned to look and found her Pokemon sitting by the front door, looking back at her, apparently having finished their breakfast. Burnett looked up from the stove.
“Go ahead a let them out, we’ll call you when breakfast is ready”
Sadie slid off the stool and grabbed her boots, then opened the door for her Pokémon and stepped out after them. She sat down on the steps to put on her boots as her Pokemon went off to do their business.
Finished with her boots, Sadie got up and walked around to the edge of the hill overlooking the beach. There was a soft breeze coming off the ocean, and there was the tang of salt when she took a deep breath. Turning around, she watched her Pokémon as they started exploring the area inside the white fence.
Glory was staying close by, as was Peril who seemed a little nervous as she was looking around. Chime was serenely wandering around, Scep alertly following her around. Scout was happily bouncing from spot to spot batting at a pebble, Riptide happily joining in.
Breathing in the clean, cool air and watching her Pokémon, Sadie felt herself relax a little. She sat down on the grass and just watched them for a while, Peril came over and sat down next to her, Glory joined them a moment later. They sat there for a while, just enjoying the morning. The soft morning light illuminating the dew coating the surrounding plants. Burnett soon called for them to come in and for Sadie to go wash her hands.
Three hours later, after she had packed her now clean clothes, stopped at the Pokecenter to get her Pokemon the shots they needed, and then stopped at the doctor for Sadie to get the necessary ones as well, they were now sitting at the airport waiting for the plane to board.
Both of Sadie’s arms were sore from the shots she had just gotten, she had only gotten the necessary ones, but it was still a lot. She was currently eating a malasada, trying to ignore the feeling that she was in danger even though logically she knew she was fine, flinching slightly at all the noise as prof Burnett worked on her laptop. Their seats were up against the wall so that helped, along with the fact that Glory was perched back on her shoulders.
She may not have been totally at ease at Kukui’s, but it was still somewhere she would consider safe. She knew that both Prof Kukui and Prof Burnett were good people, so that helped with her usual general wariness of people.
Sadie flinched again as someone walked by and Burnett looked over at her.
“Are you doing okay, Sadie?”
“I’ve… been better. I usually try to avoid crowded places, and after yesterday…”
“Ah. Do you want to talk about it?”
Sadie shook her head, she didn’t feel like talking right now, and here probably wasn’t the best place to talk anyway.
“Well, if there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know.”
Sadie nodded again as a call for boarding came over the speakers, causing her to jump a bit at the sudden noise. They grabbed their things and headed over to the gate, Lusamine must have gotten them first class as their tickets were some of the first called to board.
Once they had gotten to their seats, Burnett had her take the window seat as she stored her carry on in the overhead compartments. After everyone was seated on the plane, the safety presentation played on the screen, as well as the attendants demonstrating. Sadie was amused to see that the video was a cartoon Pikachu demonstrating how to buckle the seat belts and what to do in case of a crash. A few minutes later the plane had started taxing down the runway and she and Glory looked out the window as they took off.
The city and island grew smaller, and they were soon flying high over the ocean. It was a beautiful sight, seeing the sunlight reflecting off the waves far below. She was still aware of the other people on the plane, but now that they were actually moving, she felt a bit better. As they continued flying, she and Glory would occasionally spot a small island or a Wailord spout. All of which would be quickly out of sight. At some point, she ended up falling asleep as her body dealt with all the shots she had gotten earlier and the poor night’s sleep.
She was awoken by Prof. Burnett letting her know that they were landing in Castelia city in about twenty minutes. Sadie yawned and stretched, wincing as her sore arms complained, then sleepily looked back out the window. Night had fallen already, as Unova was apparently 6-8 hours ahead of Alola, and she could already see the lights of the city on the horizon.
It was an uneventful landing, and since Burnett only had the carry on, they wouldn’t need to stop to grab luggage. It took several minutes after landing for them to actually get off the plane, but once they did, Glory hopped back up onto Sadie’s shoulders as Burnett steered her towards a nearby shop.
“Come on, we need to get you a coat and some warmer clothes as Nuvema town is rather cold this time of year. Then we have a connecting flight to Striaton city, where Prof. Juniper will meet us.”
Sadie unenthusiastically followed her into the clothing shop, coming out thirty minutes later with a bag of new clothes and a light blue coat. Glory had decided that the hood was an excellent place to perch. The airport was pretty big so it took them a bit to get to the next gate, they made it as boarding had just started and after taking their seats on the smaller plane Sadie soon fell back asleep.
She was gently shaken awake about an hour later, the noise of people gathering their luggage loud in her ears. Burnett looked at her sympathetically as she grabbed her suitcase.
“I’m sorry, you can probably sleep on the drive to Nuvema.”
Sadie sleepily nodded, grabbed her backpack, and followed Burnett off the plane. Burnett led her through the airport, which was much smaller than the other two. They headed through security where Sadie showed the temporary license and then outside to the pickup spot. Sadie was now very thankful for her new coat, as she could clearly see her breath suspended in the cold air. Burnett checked her phone before leading Sadie over to a bench to wait.
“Prof. Juniper should be here in a few minutes, did you sleep okay on the plane?”
Sadie looked up from petting Glory
“Yeah, though I’m still tired. Why is Prof. Juniper picking us up?”
“Well, I was coming to talk to her and Prof Fennel anyway so she said she’d be happy to pick us up, which is lucky as the Unova league is about to start, and it’s a pain to get a car during the week it’s going on.”
Sadie’s forehead scrunched up at that, had she arrived during the Unova arc? Of all the seasons of the show it was the one she had watched the least, she had never had anything against it, it had just never held her attention like the others. She felt Glory sifting through her memories of the show, and seemed to note her silent question of if Ash would show up before she headed back to Alola.
“Huh.” Was all she ended up saying.
Burnett was about to say something else, but before she could, a silver car pulled up and a woman with light brown hair and a lab coat hopped out and waved to them.
“Hello Burnett! How’ve you been? This must be Sadie, nice to meet you!”
She walked over and gave Burnett a hug before offering her hand to Sadie to shake. Sadie gingerly took it, a little taken aback by how energetic she was, considering the hour.
“N-nice to meet you, this is Glory.”
Prof. Juniper smiled as Glory waved from Sadie’s hood. She opened the back door for Sadie as Burnett put her suitcase in the trunk. Sadie thanked Juniper and got in the warm car, Glory hopped out of her hood onto one of the back seats. Juniper and Burnett both got in and Juniper started driving.
Two hours later they were at the lab, Sadie had ended up falling asleep again on the drive down to the lab, and Glory had woken her up a few minutes before they had pulled up to the lab. Prof juniper parked her car and they all got out, Burnett grabbed her suitcase and Juniper led them inside, looking over her shoulder at Sadie,
“You up for a meal Sadie, or would you like to go straight to bed?”
“Food sounds good, though I’d like to feed my Pokémon first if that’s okay.”
Juniper nodded and led them to the kitchen, where she started a pot of pasta as Burnett helped Sadie with feeding her Pokemon. Sadie sat on the floor as they ate, trying not to fall asleep as the two professors talked, waiting for the water to boil. An hour later, Sadie collapsed into bed in one of the empty assistants rooms, too tired to change in to her pajamas. Her Pokémon happily joined her moments later. She was asleep soon after.

Chapter Text

Two weeks had passed since Sadie had arrived in Unova, and a lot had happened. After she had gotten breakfast the first day prof juniper had helped her with some paperwork for a trainer’s license application, then supplied her with the trainer handbooks she would need to read to pass a test to get her license. She had started reading them that day as prof juniper examined her Pokémon and documented them, backing up what Sadie had told the adults at the Pokemon school about her Pokemon being different.
She had read the books for a while before taking a break to get to know her Pokemon better. She had started by seeing what flavors they liked as that would give her a hint to what their natures were. Glory was fine with anything, Peril liked sweet things and disliked spicy things, Scep was also fine with anything, both Scout and Riptide liked sweet things and disliked dry flavors, and chime liked bitter things while detesting spicy things.
She had then spent the next few hours coming up with a meal plan for them so that they got the nutrients they needed. Since they had all agreed to battle, and since there was a very high chance she would be dealing with the walking chaos magnet that was Ash, she wanted to be as prepared as possible when the ultra beasts started showing up. She had given them each her own examination on top of the ones nurse joy and prof juniper had given them. As they weren’t exactly like most of their species, at some point she wanted to find some regular examples of their species and see how hers actually differed.
She had asked prof juniper the next day if she could examine one of the Owshawots she gave out to new trainers, and had found, for Riptide at least, the only difference she could find was the color of the scalchop, backing up what Principal Oak had said.
The next thing she did that day was pull up the Bulbapedia app and see what moves they knew and could learn, then go down the lists to see what they knew Glory apparently could learn a move by seeing it performed, recordings or in person, which was going to be very helpful.
Peril knew ember, scratch, smokescreen, and surprisingly dragon pulse. Scep knew Quick attack, pound, Lear, and Magical leaf.
Scout, as a regional variant knew some different moves than a normal shinx, and was also probably considered an alpha, though prof juniper was verifying that. Sadie probably should have figured out based on how big Scout was compared to her other Pokemon, but everything had been so hectic that she hadn’t really noticed. Scout knew Thunder Shock, metal claw, quick attack, and tackle.
Riptide was also a regional variant so she knew water gun, tackle, rock smash, and Sacred Sword. Sadie was pretty sure she remembered seeing something about how an Oshawott could have that move as an egg move in Ultra Sun and Moon if you breed it with a Smeargle that knew it.
Chime was the last and a regional variant so knew protect, tackle, fairy wind, and dragon tail.
They each only knew four moves each, but when she had asked Juniper and Burnett they had been surprised to learn that in the games, Pokemon could only have four moves, that apparently wasn’t the case here. Sadie probably would have made several lists of moves to learn that night if Burnett hadn’t come and made her go to bed.
The next several days were spent reading the books, bonding with her Pokemon and watching the Unova league. She also explained in more detail where she was from and what had happened to Prof Juniper who had only gotten the cliff notes version. She also explained to the best of her ability the differences between her Pokemon and normal Pokemon.
They ended up waiting on flushing out her cover story because someone from the Pokemon league would need to come and give a report on her to be able to get the special license. Prof Juniper had already contacted Champion Alder, so someone was coming a week after the league ended, she said it would probably be one of the Elite Four here in Unova, but assured Sadie that the fact that she was an Otherworlder would be classified.
Sadie also started helping with the starter Pokemon. She helped feed and care for them alongside her own pokemon, and after the league ended, a few kids came through to get their first Pokemon. She ended up getting roped into battling them, which was good practice for her and her Pokemon, with them winning about half of the battles.
She ended up taking the test for the normal trainer’s license about a week and a half after arriving in Unova. Mostly the questions were just checking to make sure she knew what the rules were. According to the two professors there was usually a second part to the test to make sure the applicant knew how to take care of a Pokemon, but could be skipped, as in her case, if a professor vouched for the person’s experience.
Two weeks after she had arrived, Burnett had to head back to Alola and juniper had to go pick up the person the league had sent, she also had a package to pick up at the pokemart in Accumula town. Sadie had volunteered to pick it up while Prof Juniper did that, as she wanted to get a grooming kit and stop by the battle club in Accumula town, mainly so she and her pokemon could get some experience battling more than just brand new trainers. She also wanted to see people’s battling styles and strategies, as she had noticed while watching the league that there was a lot more to battling than just yelling out moves.
Sadie walked into the kitchen for breakfast that morning and started measuring out food for her Pokemon, writing down how much she was giving them this morning and what the food was. The two professors came in as she was putting the food down. Prof Burnett was still yawning so just waved good morning as she headed over to the coffee machine. Prof Juniper however walked over to Sadie.
“Good morning Sadie, did you sleep any better last night?”
Sadie finished placing the food down and shrugged,
“It was a bit better, I haven’t been waking up suddenly as often so that’s been nice.”
“I’m glad you’re sleeping better. The results from your trainer test came in and you passed with flying colors. Here is your Pokédex, it acts as a backup trainer’s license, usually I’d print out a card for you, but I thought I’d wait until after the league assessment results come in to do that as it’s one less thing to print.”
Sadie took the offered Pokédex and slid it open. It was the Unoven style of Pokedex, and the pokeball pattern was a bright turquoise with the rest of the case being a light grey. Pointing the Pokédex at Peril and pressed the white button in the middle of the pokeball pattern. The Pokédex dinged and a somewhat robotic voice emanated from it.
“Charmander, the Lizard Pokemon. Charmanders health can be gauged by the fire on the tip of its tail, which burns intensely when it’s in good health.”
Sadie thought that it was done, but it kept talking.
“This charmander was found on a remote island so it has a unique bone structure, its typing remains the same as other charmanders however.”
Sadie looked questioningly over at prof juniper
“We had to add special entries for all your Pokémon except Glory, the league requires it for new varieties of Pokemon discovered. It’s mainly just so the league isn’t having to deal with multiple reports of the same Pokemon.”
Sadie nodded,
“That makes sense, what other Pokemon have additional Pokédex entries?”
Prof Burnett had started getting things out for breakfast at this point, and Sadie and Prof Juniper joined her as they talked.
“Most Pokemon that are the same species but that are from different regions have slight differences in appearance, like markings or slight variations in color. You get the occasional Delta Pokemon, so that’s put in just so people can check if they end up battling the trainer who owns them. Take Your Shinx, Scout, for example. She is actually in the gray area between a delta and a regional variant, as she looks almost identical to a Sinnoh shinx, but has an added type and different ability. The extra entries are added to avoid confusion, and so the league doesn’t have to deal with multiple reports of the same Pokemon from confused trainers.”
“So it’s generally a note that the league and professors are aware of the Pokemon, so don’t raise a fuss about it?”
Prof. Burnett laughed,
“Yeah, that’s a good way to put it!”
Sadie nodded a slight smile on her face and sat down to eat.
After breakfast, Sadie grabbed her pack, new belt, and Pokédex, and got in Prof Juniper's car. An hour later, they had started passing houses as they entered the town, and Burnett turned to talk to Sadie.
“I’ve been giving Lusamine updates on what’s going on, and she’s said that her kids are fine with you staying at their house, so that’s been settled. She’ll give you a call at the end of the week to introduce you to her kids, as she has work the rest of the week.”
Sadie nodded and once they pulled up to the pokecenter, got out and waved. As she got out, Juniper called after her
“I’ll text you when I get back from picking up whoever the league sent.”
Prof Burnett rolled down the window and waved as Sadie started walking to the front doors, “See you soon, Sadie!”
Sadie waved back and walked inside the Poké Center. After wandering around for a bit, she found, with Glory’s help, the grooming kit Prof Juniper had suggested. She didn’t grab anything else as it was starting to get too loud for her and just took a deep breath as she approached the counter.
The past two weeks had actually been the most peaceful she had ever had; she was no longer always on edge, worried that someone would find her. Sure, the way she had gotten to the Pokémon universe was a tad traumatic, and she was now wary of crowds, crowded places, and people coming up behind her. And sure, her people skills were now worse than they had ever been, but she would take that over constantly worrying that they would find her.
Once she reached the counter, she handed over the note Prof. Juniper had given her and the kit, and using the new card she had received yesterday, as all new trainers received some starting money from the league. Apparently, money was completely digital here, which kinda made sense, she doubted anyone could, or wanted to, hack past an army of porygon.
After she had retrieved the package and put it and the kit in her bag, she headed across the street to the battle club and, after taking a deep breath, headed inside.
It wasn’t as busy as Sadie had been expecting, maybe because the league had just ended? She approached one of the screens and started looking through the trainers, as well as entering herself into the system. None were really standing out to her, and she was about to ask Glory her opinion, when she gently tapped her face and gave a quiet “Eev Vee” and flicked an ear to the left, just as someone shouted her name.
Flinching violently, Sadie turned around and found a young trainer, around 10 or 11, charging towards her, a Snivy trotting at his heels. She actually recognized him; he was one of the new trainers who had gotten a Pokémon from Prof. Juniper and had challenged her to a battle. She and Riptide had won that battle, but she was guessing Joey probably wanted a rematch.
“Hey, you're Sadie, right? You feel like a rematch against me and my Snivy? We’ve gotten a lot stronger since last time!”
“O-oh! Y-yeah, sure we’re up for it.”
“Great! This way!”
They head to an empty battlefield, where a guy was boardly sitting up against a wall in a cheap-looking folding chair. He perked up when they came in.
”What are the conditions for your battle today?”
Sadie looked over at Joey
”Same rules as last time sound good?”
He grinned,
”Sounds Perfect! It’ll be a one-on-one, Mister!”
They took their places on opposite sides of the field, the ref coming to stand on the side of the field. After getting their names, he raised a small flag
“The battle between Sadie Cane and Joey Smith will begin. This is a one-on-one battle. Ready?”
Sadie let out Riptide, who looked around curiously, then zeroed in on the Snivy standing right across from her.
“Begin!”
“Snivy! Hit 'em with vine whip!”
“Riptide, bat the vines away with your Scalchop! Then use water gun!”
Riptide mostly managed to smack the vines away, only getting clipped by one of the glowing vines instead of getting hit head-on. She managed to get a solid hit on the Snivy, but it did a lot less than in their first battle.
“Like I said, we got a lot stronger! Snivy, keep using vine whip and don’t let up!”
There was a defined note of cockiness in his voice, and Sadie could tell that they had definitely practiced the move a lot as it was much harder to avoid the vines than the last time they had battled. She called out to Riptide,
“Get in close and bat the vines away, then use tackle!”
Riptide did her best to dodge or deflect the vines and only got hit twice before she managed to slam into the opposing Snivy, knocking it over.
“Snivy, get up and use Vine Whip again!”
Sadie wasn’t sure whether to pity or admire his stubbornness; he could probably win the battle if he switched it up some more. As it was, both Pokémon were quickly tiring, and it was going to be a very close battle.
”Riptide, keep out of the way and then use Rock Smash!”
Snivy’s vines lashed out again and again, and Riptide kept dogging or deflecting the vines. Finally, just as Snivy managed to land a powerful hit with one of his vines, Riptide slammed her scalchop into Snivy’s side. Sadie was guessing it would be considered a critical hit as both Pokémon were knocked out, little swirls appearing in their eyes. The ref raised his flag.
“Both Pokémon are unable to battle, this match ends in a tie.”
Sadie trotted over to Riptide to check on her, as Joey came over to check on his Snivy. As Sadie returned Riptide once she got up, then looked over at Joey, he was definitely upset, though trying not to show it. She hesitated, then, steeling her nerves, spoke
“That was a really good rematch. I can really tell the two of you’ve been working a lot on Vine whip. Something you can try is getting that level of skill with other moves, and even learning new ones.”
Joey considered her words for a minute, then grinned, the weight from his defeat evaporating.
“We’ll do that, and next time we meet, me n Snivy are gonna win!”
He recalled his Snivy and headed off to get his Pokémon healed. Sadie was standing up when Glory again let her know that someone was approaching. Looking over, she realized a few people had come to watch the match, mostly older people, and that one of the spectators was coming over. He was an older gentleman, and he smiled when she met his gaze.
“That was a wonderful battle. I don't suppose you would be up for a battle against a new Pokémon of mine?”
Sadie considered for a moment before nodding, feeling a little more at ease now that she had something to focus on.
“I’m up for it. One on one, I’m guessing?”
“Yes, that is correct. Are you ready?”
He took Joey’s spot on the other end of the battlefield as Sadie returned to hers. She found Chime’s pokeball and then nodded
“Ready.”
The ref raised his flag, “This is a one-on-one match between Sadie Cane and Howard Davidson. Ready? Begin!”
Sadie released Chime at the same time Mr. Davidson released his Pokémon, a Lilipup. Sadie took her new pokedex out and held it up to scan the Lillipup
“Lillipup, the Puppy Pokémon. The long hair covering Lillipup's face is an excellent radar, which senses conditions in the surrounding area.”
Mr. Davidson looked a little surprised as Chime stretched and looked around, “That's a unique Pokémon you have there, it’s a Jangmo-o correct ?”
Sadie nervously nodded and put her pokedex away as she answered him.
“She’s a little different than the ones you find in Alola.”
“Oh? Then this should be an interesting battle, you may go first if you would like.”
“Th-thanks, Chime, tackle!”
Chime, who had been sitting serenely on the dirt field looking curiously at the rather aggressive-looking Lillipup, exploded into action. She lunged forward, aiming for the opposing Pokémon, her scales clinking together.
“Lillipup doge and use lear.”
Ignoring Mr. Davidson’s command, the Lillipup ran forward, its body suddenly glowing with golden light. The two Pokémon smashed together, the Lillipup coming out of the clash decidedly worse. Chime skidded back a few inches but didn’t look too hurt.
“Oh dear, I’m afraid we’re still working on our teamwork. Lillipup, use bite.”
Sadie got the feeling that he didn’t expect his Pokémon to listen, and that this battle was more a lesson on teamwork for the Lillipup than anything else. The Lillipup just ignored his command and shot forward, body glowing gold again.
“Chime, protect!”
A glowing teal sphere appeared around Chime, and the Lillipup slammed into it hard and bounced off, landing on its side.
“Hmm, Lillipup, up and use Lear.”
Lillipup ignored him again and got up, staggering a bit as it did. It opened its mouth and lunged forward again, little fangs gleaming with a slight glow.
“Chime doge to the side and then use dragon tail!”
Chime darted to the left, tail glowing green, slamming it into the Lillipup’s side, sending it tumbling across the field. It staggered up and wobbled a few steps back towards Chime, growling, before it collapsed, little swirls in its eyes.
“Lillipup is unable to battle; the winner is Sadie!”
Chime shook herself, causing an eerie windchime noise to ring out through the room before happily trotting back to Sadie as Mr. Davidson recalled his Pokémon.
“Thank you for the battle, I can tell you and your Jangmo-o have a bright future. Hopefully it will rub off on my Lillipup. Good day Miss. Cane.”
Mr. Davidson tipped his hat and walked off, a pleased look on his face. As he left, another trainer approached Sadie. Glory didn’t have to warn her this time. The girl looked to be about her age, well, her new age, so about 12 or 13. She was using a nice-looking wooden cane to help her walk, but what caught her attention the most was the Pokémon walking beside her, a shiny Raboot.
There was a cheerful smile on the girl's face as she held out her hand for a handshake.
“Hi, I’m Rosie Thorn of Aspertia City! Those were some pretty great battles you just had! You and your Pokémon up for some more?”
Sadie cautiously took the offered hand and shook it.
“Sadie Cane, from… Hau’oli city, I’m up for it. Would three separate battles be okay?”
“Sure! Three separate matches sound good! Oh, this is Aurther by the way!”
The now-named Aurther removed a paw from his pocket and waved, a bored look on his face as Sadie pulled out her Pokédex. She already knew what he was; just like with the Lillipup, she just wanted to know what her Pokedex would say.
“Raboot, the rabbit Pokémon. Its thick and fluffy fur protects it from the cold and enables it to use hotter fire moves. This is Raboot’s shiny form.”
“Nice to meet you, Aurther, Rosie.”
They took their places on opposite ends of the field, the ref stepping up for the third time.
”These will be three separate matches between Sadie Cane and Rosie Thorn! No substitutions! Ready? Begin!”
They had each pulled out a Poké Ball, and at the ref's shout, released the Pokémon inside. Sadie had chosen Peril, while Rosie released what Sadie recognized as a Sewaddle. She immediately scanned it.
“Sewaddle, the Sewing Pokémon. Sewaddle hides from its enemies by covering its head with a hood made from a leaf, and is known to eat its leafy clothing when food is scarce.”
“Dang, not the best match up, Happa, but we can work with this! Use String shot!”
“Peril, doge, and use smokescreen!”
The Sewaddle, apparently named Happa, sent a line of silk shooting towards Peril. She managed to dodge out of the way of the silk, then sent a thick stream of smoke towards Happa.
“Happa, use Razor leaf! Some of them should hit even if you can’t see! Move around a bit if you can!”
“Peril, use Ember and aim for the leaves!”
A small cloud of glowing leaves burst out of the smoke, about half of which Peril managed to set on fire, the remains of the ember landing somewhere in the smoke. She shook off the rest of the leaves as they hit her. This repeated two more times, one of which she was pretty sure grazed Happa, before Sadie noticed something. Every time Happa used razor leaf, there was the faintest of green glows before the leaves would burst out of the smoke that hung unnaturally still over half the battlefield.
“Happa, keep using razor leaf!”
“Peril! Put as much power as you can into this ember and aim…. There!”
Sadie pointed towards the faint glow that flashed as Happa used razor leaf again. Peril took a deep breath, pooling more power, before sending a blazing ember into the smoke, the razor leaf hitting her a moment later, making her stagger a bit. There was a bang and a cry of pain as the ember found its mark, and the smoke started clearing up.
“Happa, you still good!?”
There was no reply, and the smoke fully cleared, revealing a knocked-out Happa, little swirls filling her eyes.
“Ah Frick.”
“Sewaddle is unable to battle, Charmander wins! Please return your Pokémon and send out the next two.”
They returned their Pokémon, both of them quietly thanking them as they did, and Sadie grabbed Scep’s Poké Ball.
“Both trainers ready? Begin!”
She released Scep as Rosie released her second Pokémon
“Let's do this Sparks!!”
A white and blue squirrel Pokémon appeared in a flash of light, a pachirisu, which she promptly scanned with her pokedex
“Pachirisu, the EleSquirrel Pokémon. It gathers static electricity and hides fur balls along with its favorite fruit under the eaves of houses.”
It wasn’t overly helpful.
“Scep, use magical leaf.”
“Sparks, use quick attack to dodge in and get close!”
Scep created around two dozen glowing green leaves before sending them towards Sparks, who glowed white and managed to dodge through most of the leaves as Sadie hastily called to Scep, “Quick use Pound!”
Scep managed to land a Pound as Sparks rammed into her, causing them both to slide back a bit. “Okay, Sparks, use Thunder Shock!”
“Scep, jump up and use magical leaf again.”
Sparks released a small but bright bolt of electricity, which Scep barely dodged, and managed to hit Sparks full on with another Magical Leaf, despite Rosie's call to dodge. It didn’t really do much damage.
“Hm, okay, Sparks, use Nuzzle!”
“Scep, stay out of reach with Quick Attack, Nuzzle paralyzes while doing damage!”
Scep nodded and darted away, surrounded by a white aura as Sparks rubbed her cheeks, causing them to spark, then took off after Scep.
“Sparks, use quick attack to catch up!”
“Scep, magical leaf when she gets close!”
Sparks darted forward, and as she got close to Scep, Scep whirled around and hit her point-blank with magical leaf. It looked like it did more damage than the first two times, and did slow Sparks down a bit, but the nuzzle still connected, causing Scep to tumble backwards, small arcs of electricity dancing across her body as she tried to get up.
“Scep, you good to keep going?
“Treee–kco!” Scep staggered back to her feet, body still crackling with electricity.
“Tough pokemon, won’t be enough though! Sparks, use play rough!”
“Cr– Scep, use magical leaf, and see if you can spin it around yourself!”
Scep did her best to follow instructions, but it wasn’t enough. Scep was clearly out when the dust cleared, though Sparks had definitely taken some damage. She recalled Scep, quietly thanking her as the ref called, “Treekco is unable to battle, Pachirisu wins! Ready your third Pokémon!”
“Great job, Sparks, You’re up, Arthur!"
The shiny Raboot walked forward to take his place on the battlefield as Sadie grabbed Scout’s ball and released her onto the field
“Whoa, okay, that's a big Shinx, she’s like twice the size of a normal one!”
Scout cheerfully called out to Rosie and Arthur before settling into a ready stance, fully able to look Arthur in the eye.
“Her name's Scout, Prof Juniper’s pretty sure she’s an Alpha, but is still getting that verified.”
“Dang! Really, that's so cool!”
“Thanks.”
“Are both trainers ready to begin?”
“O-oh yeah, your move, Rosie.”
“Thanks! Arthur use ember!”
“Scout doge with quick attack, and then use thundershock.”
Arthur kicked an Ember at Scout, who happily zipped out of the way of the Ember, then sent a jolt of electricity towards Arthur, who managed to leap out of the way in time.
“Right, Arthur, use Flame charge and don’t let up!”
“Scout, doge, and use Thunder Shock again.”
Arthur’s body was surrounded by fire as he shot towards Scout, who barely dodged out of the way but managed to land her thundershock this time. It didn't seem to bother Arthur much, and he swung around, still covered in flame, and slammed into Scout, sending her skidding back half a foot, wincing a bit from the flames.
“That is honestly impressive; usually, that sends Pokémon farther back. Well then, use Double Kick!”
“Scout, get out of there with Quick Attack!”
Scout tried, but the boost from two flame charges was enough that Arthur was able to land two super effective kicks, the attacks actually sending her tumbling this time. Sadie had noticed that as Arthur used Double Kick, the fur on top of his head gained an orange glow, so he probably had Libero. Scout staggered back to her feet, growling, fur sparking a bit.
“Arthur, use Double Kick again, we’re nearly there!”
“Scout, use Thunder Shock!”
With the speed boost from flame charge, Aurther managed to kick Scout before she could release the thundershock, knocking her out this time.
“Shinx is unable to battle, Rabboot wins!”
Sadie recalled Scout. There was a definite sting to defeat, but there was no denying that it was helpful, as she had already noticed a thing or two that they could work on. Glory tapped her, and she looked up from Scout's pokeball to find Rossie standing in front of her, hand outstretched to shake. Sadie shook it,
“Thanks for the battles, me and my pokemon have been staying at Prof Juniper's lab, so the most experience we usually get is from trainers who just got their first pokemon.”
“No problem, it was a lot of fun! Come on, we should head to the Poké Center!” Rosie waved to the ref, then started to head to the door. Sadie followed, after quickly thanking the ref, and Rosie started talking, “Happa’s battle went about as well as I expected. I actually just caught her. How did you figure out where she was in the smoke?”
“Th-there was a slight glow whenever Happa used Razor Leaf.”
“Oh, that's smart! I hadn't noticed that!”
“Thanks, though I definitely have things to work on.”
“Oh, everyone does, but something I noticed you're mostly reacting to stuff, not taking the initiative, that could be something to work on.”
“Yeah, that was one of the things I noticed I could do better on.” They exited the Battle Club. Sadie nervously asked, “How did you get Arthur? Isn’t he from Galar? And what about your other Pokémon?”
“Oh, my family was in Galar from when I was nine till about eleven. Arthur lived near the house we were renting. This was when he was still a Scorbunny, and we ended up becoming friends. When I was finally able to get my own Pokémon, I asked if he wanted to be my starter, and he said yes! Sparks is from when my family stayed in Sinnoh for a few months, and Happa I just caught since we finally moved back to good old Unova! What about you? Who was your starter, and how’d you meet your other Pokémon?”
They had reached the Poké Center, and they handed their Pokémon over to Nurse Joy and went and sat down to wait.
“Umm,” Sadie nervously stroked Glory’s fur, who did her best to help her know what to say,” I think Peril is technically my starter as I got her first, but I got them all on the same day at a lab. I’m still getting used to it, though, as I only got them this month.”
“Wow, I figured you were a new trainer, but you work so well with them, I thought it had been longer, especially getting six Pokémon at the same time! How did you manage that?”
“It's… really complicated, and I don’t want to talk about it. It’s nothing illegal, though!”
“Oh, okay. Oh! Do you wanna swap numbers? That way, if you wanna rematch, you can let me know!”
“Oh, sure, but I'm heading back to Alola in a week or two, so unless you’re heading to Alola, it might be a while."
“Oh, right, you're from Hau’oli city. Honestly, I’ll probably end up there at some point, as my family travels a lot. Besides, there’s a Pokémon I want to catch that lives there that I didn’t think to look for in Galar, as I know I could have found it there.”
They traded numbers, Nurse Joy calling for them a few minutes later. They parted ways outside, and after checking her watch, Sadie texted Prof. Juniper, letting her know that she would be waiting at the park by the Poké Center. It wasn’t very cold out, but she still checked with Scep and Chime to see if they wanted to stay in their poke balls. They decided to stay out and sit with everyone as they watched people walk by the bottom of the hill. It was peaceful, a nice change from the battle club and poke center.
Sadie got out the kit and set to work combing the knots out of Glory’s fur. She had been brushing Glory daily with a borrowed comb, but her long ruff and tail fur still got tangled easily. The rest of her Pokémon started playing as they waited for their turn.
After finishing with Glory, she moved on to Scout. A few minutes in Glory alerted her to someone coming towards them. Sadie looked over and found a young man with his green hair up in a ponytail and a black and white baseball cap perched on his head, walking towards them, a slight smile on his face. Sadie was pretty sure she knew who he was.
“Hello, your friends are certainly an unusual bunch. My name is N. Mind if I join you?”
Sadie, a little surprised, as she actually recognized him, nodded, and he sat down next to her. Her Pokémon came over and eyed him suspiciously, Peril doing so from behind her.
“He’s okay, guys, no need to be like that.”
Most of them relaxed and went back to chasing each other around, though Peril opted to stay hiding behind her.
“They're quite protective of you aren’t they, usually my friends are much more, well friendly.”
Sadie shrugged, “Yeah, something happened a couple of weeks ago, and ever since they've been protective since I’ve been having a bit of trouble dealing with being around people.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Hm? Oh, may I?”
Riptide had grabbed a brush from the kit and was holding it out to N. Sadie snorted and nodded, rather amused. N took the brush and started brushing Riptide. They sat in comfortable silence for a while. Sadie had moved on to Chime, and N to Scep before he spoke again.
“It strikes me as rare for such a strong bond to exist between trainer and Pokémon.”
“Is it? I haven’t seen or participated enough battles to have a good idea of what you're talking about, but from the few I’ve seen, those people had a very good bond with their Pokémon.”(She didn’t mention that most of the battles were one person, honestly, she didn’t think she could have if she wanted to, she had tried talking about the anime several times since her first day in Alola, but each time had ended with the same result, her double over coughing.)
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw N tense up. Right, if she recalled correctly, he had beef with Pokémon battles in the anime. Before he could say anything, Sadie spoke
“You're not a fan of Pokémon battles, I take it?”
He looked at her in surprise, a little taken aback, but nodded
“Yes, I don’t like the idea of forcing friends to fight.”
There was an intensity to him, a slight scowl on his face.
“ I can understand that, though if it makes you feel any better, I’ve asked my Pokémon if they want to battle, so it’s been their choice. ”
He studied her for a moment
“I still don’t agree.”
“And that's fine. It’s good to have your own opinions on things, as it would be pretty boring if everyone were the same. I think it's just important to remember to stop and listen to other people, and respect the fact that people can have different views on things but still be civil..”
N sat there for a while just taking care of Scep, thinking.
Sadie’s phone buzzed, and after checking it she started putting the kit away.
“Well it was nice meeting you N, but I’ve got to head out. Come on guys, we can’t all fit in the car.”
Her Pokemon quickly trotted back over as N gave her back the cloth he had been polishing Sceps scales with. She returned every one but Glory and Peril and tucked the kit under one arm as she slung her pack over her shoulder. Glory hopped onto her shoulder as she picked up Peril. N finally spoke, responding to her last comment
“I agree. Oh I don’t think I ever got your name.”
“My name’s Sadie.”
He nodded and waved as she walked down the hill towards the waiting car, Peril waved back over her shoulder at him. As she approached the car she could see someone in the passenger seat, probably the league person, who looked vaguely familiar actually. She got in the back seat, and after placing her bag and Peril on the seat got buckled in, as she was doing that prof juniper asked
“Who were you talking to up on the hill?”
As Sadie rummaged in her bag for the package she spoke.
“Some guy called N, I think he came over because he noticed my Pokemon. He was kinda interesting. I got your package by the way.”
“Thanks so much Sadie! It wasn’t too overwhelming in the pokecenter for you, was it?”
“It was… definitely a bit loud, but I got the package and kit pretty quickly, so it wasn’t too bad. The battle club wasn’t as loud or crowded, but I actually had to interact with people, so I didn’t stay very long, I did manage to get in a few battles before it got too much for me.”
As she had been talking she had started taking care of Peril while prof juniper drove, the league person had been quiet this whole time, but at Sadie’s mention of battles they finally spoke.
“Oh how did your battles go?”
Sadie looked up from Peril to answer and froze. Oh she most definitely recognized her, this was Cynthia, Sinnoh region champion, though not wearing her usual outfit. Also not a member of the elite four.
Sadie’s brain finally restarted and she answered Cynthia, deciding that since ignoring her problems had worked so far, she might as well continue. She got a distinct sense of disapproval from Glory for that.
“I won two, lost three, and one was a draw.”
Her words were more clipped than she meant to, probably because she was now on guard. Cynthia wasn’t a bad person, she was just very intimidating. Juniper appeared to have picked up on Sadie’s weariness as she spoke up as she drove
“Oh right, Sadie, this is Cynthia, she’s going to finish assessing you for your special license.”
Sadie bemusedly looked at the two of them, she supposed it made sense that a champion would need to come assess someone who wanted a license to carry around seven Pokemon, or maybe it was because she had a Lucario, it was probably one of the two, maybe both?
“Nice to meet you. Out of curiosity, is it common for champions to come assess people for this trainers license?”
Cynthia started laughing, while Juniper looked apologetic “Sorry Sadie, I would have warned you, but they didn’t tell me who they were sending either, like I said, I thought it was going to be a member of the elite four, not a champion, or you specifically Cynthia .”
“Yes, sorry about that, it would generally be someone lower down in the league, but since your situation is so…unique, we felt that it would be best if a champion took this. I volunteered specifically because I’ve always been fascinated by stories of Otherworlders since they are so intertwined with the history of Sinnoh. Don’t worry, everyone agreed that you definitely need a cover story, so all your information will be heavily classified. No one except the champions know where you’re actually from.”
That did make her feel a little better,
“Oh, um, thanks… what other stories are there about otherworlders, I only know about the one from Hisui?”
Cynthia brighted, and the remainder of the ride was spent listening to her explain all known instances of Otherworleders and the legends surrounding them. Sadie was content to let her talk and did her best to focus on taking care of Peril’s scales, and not think too hard about who she was in the car with. Glory was helping with her anxiety, but it wasn’t as bad as when she had first arrived in this world, which was nice. Though, it might also be that, despite being intimidated by Cynthia, she knew that she was a good person.
Besides, some of the stories were interesting, like the one from Unova about an otherworlder from several centuries before the legendary dragon was split, who helped save ancient Unova from a great evil with it. There were others from several different regions, but that and the Hero of Hisui had been the main ones that had stood out.
She did want to ask some questions about the Hero of Hisui, but they had made it to the lab, and Sadie took the opportunity to escape the car and go find her pokemon some food.