There had been no sign that we were nearly at the road until the tree cover suddenly cleared and I could see sky once again. Looking to the west (according to my watch) was a large mountain range that faded off into the distance both to the north and south, with many of the peaks covered in snow which considering the moderate temperature at the moment must mean those mountain peaks were incredibly high. My team dropped to the ground with their tongues hanging out panting after running after Tom and his dodrio for the past hour, as he had been setting a rapid pace through the tress. Multiple times he had stopped to allow me to catch up as his dodrio had been able to easily leap the odd fallen tree or depression in the ground whilst I had had to stop and find a way around, showing that a pokemon was clearly a faster mode of transport in undeveloped terrian. Combined with only one encounter on our trip out of the forest were a wild pokemon had tried to challenge our passing, a fearow, Toms dodrio had turned all three of its head to face it as it swooped down and blasted it with a mixture of what looked like lightening, fire and ice, blasting the bird pokemon back into the trees without even slowing down. I had found that impressive for the speed and accuracy was incredible and better yet Tom hadn’t even turned his head let alone say anything to his pokemon, dodrio had just seen it coming in and dealt to it. So after that little show the rest of the trip out had been fairly quiet. For being the pokemon world/universe I kind of thought that we would have seen more pokemon but there did not seem to be many about. Maybe we were just moving too fast that they didn’t bother coming out of the trees and grass to challenge us?

Coming to a stop on the road I slowed to an idle before turning the bike off while Tom, still on top of his dodrio, walked over to me. His pokemon was not even breathing hard after running for what felt like hours. Tom and the dodrio just came to a stop a few feet away and just started staring at me. Not knowing what he was thinking or wanting me to say I tried to think of some topic of conversation. “So, ahhh, was it just me or did there not seem to be many pokemon about on our ride out?” I asked looking away from him and his glaring murder bird. “Kinda expected to see more about, you know, in in the trees or long grass”.

Tom grunted before replying. “Noticed that did you? Something has spooked up the pokemon in this area which what I was looking for when I ran into you”. Directing his gaze from me to the forest where we had emerged from he started rubbing his chin in thought. I could guess he was thinking about something so I didn’t interrupt him as he did his thing. Looking around I made sure my team hadn’t wandered off but they were all being well behaved and just hanging out around the bike, still keeping an eye on Tom’s dodrio. “Their attitude really has changed since Mew did his thing” I thought to myself. “They never used to be protective”.

A light cough brought my attention back to Tom. “Josh, I’m going to have to part ways with you here. Something is going on in the forest and I need to start looking into it. If you keep heading down the road here” he said pointing away from the mountains, “you should reach Viridain within an hour if you keep up the pace on that bike. Are you comfortable going on your own from here on out?”

“Yeah I can do that. Thanks for all the help Tom, I’ll let you do your thing. Good luck finding whatever it is you are looking for”.

I turned away from Tom and sat down on my bike. “Alright guys up you hop” I called out to my eevee’s, tilting my head towards the back of the bike. One by one all the eevee’s jumped up onto the back of the bike, which was a lot easier now that they were smaller than when they were normal dogs. With a turn of the key and push of the ignition button the bike started and with one final small wave we headed off east towards Viridian City.

Driving on the road was significantly faster and smoother than driving through the forest. We were able to reach the outskirts of the city within an hour, as I could see the time go on the bikes digital speedo though I was pretty sure it was not 3am in the morning considering that the sun was starting to go down. Might need to figure out what the new timezone is once I get settled. And im guessing either change my clothes or loose the bike as a lot of people are staring as I go pass. I’m not really sure what I am doing wrong as I know how to drive and after seeing the first car over take me earlier I knew they drove on the right hand side of the road here. Sure it’s the opposite than what I’m used to but there is not a lot of traffic on the roads, mostly people walking with the odd pokemon following them. It was a fun drive in as I passed a decent amount of young people heading out of the city into the forest or down the road I just came from. I am not the best judge of age but the majority of them seemed to be teenagers heading out in small groups. Now I have not seen the pokemon show in years but I do remember that when Ash started his journey he was 11. And still was 11 decades later. But looking at the groups I passed driving in as they stared at me on the way in no one was that young, bar that one family with their two children but they looked like they were off for a picnic. “I’m guessing that this world is not exactly like the show or games. But probably for the better. I always thought that in reality sending 11 year olds off into the wilderness would result in a lot of missing kids.” I thought to myself as I passed another group of 3, one of which pointed at me to his friends as I drove past. That was the first real sign that something that I was doing was slightly odd. Because, I mean, in general, people don't just point at you. But then again, I'm guessing it's because I had all five eevee’s sitting behind me, while most people walking around it either have only one or no pokemon with them. That said you could see the odd person wearing a belt with with one or more Pokeballs on them. “Hopefully the process for buying poke balls isn't particularly complicated, because I will stand out if I never put my pokemon away” I thought to myself. This came to mind because I was not enjoying being stared at all the time. Thankfully, I was still driving relatively quick, therefore the people staring at me and that one group that pointed were left behind quickly. As I continue to drive down the road, the houses started to get denser and denser. Which to me meant that I'd started to enter the suburbs of the city. Now the next trick was was going to be a finding this Pokémon centre. Eventually I came up to an intersection that had a series of signs in front of it . I stopped and had a look hoping to find a sign that would direct me to the centre. I was in luck as up above me pointing to the left was a big sign with the medical cross picture on it. Now this could either mean a human hospital or the Pokémon Centre I wasn’t sure. So I took a gamble and decided to follow it. Turning left, I drive for another couple 100 metres before turning a slight bend and seeing it, the Pokémon Centre. Coming to a stop in front of it I turned the bike off and had a good look at it. The building looked exactly like you'd expect. The walls were completely white, with windows on the front of it looking out towards the road and a bright red roof. It looked like the Pokémon Centre from the games had come to life. As I stared at the building noting all its features (it looked like a combination of a vet clinic and a backpackers accommodation) , I realised that I was stalling. Going inside I was going to end up speaking to people who would ask me questions I couldn’t answer. And should I tell them I’m not from here? That where I’m from this is a game? Their reality is a lie? Rubbing my hand through my hear I let out a heavy sigh. Those where some heavy questions and most likely would get me kicked out for being crazy. But alternately I was somewhere where I might actually be able to get help and be okay. It was all starting this sink in. I don’t know where I am, I can’t call anyone for help. I’m actually way over my head here. Now I'm not The type of person that panics easily, but then I'm also not the type of person that gets into bad situations, so I've never really had a real reason to panic. Suddenly appearing on a different planet and/or dimension was a fairly good reason to panic in my opinion. “Keep moving” I thought to myself. Its worked so far. Hopping off my bike I started walking towards the front door of the pokemon centre when I heard a call from behind me.

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“Eevee?”

Pausing I turned around and looked at my team on the back of the bike. I wasn’t sure which one of my team had called to me but I could see they were poised, ready to jump off the bike and follow me. I experienced a moment of confusion looking at them. Back home having the dogs stay on the bike when I went inside a building or was doing something was what they were trained to do. It stopped them from wandering about getting into trouble or following me inside. No one wants a muddy dog in their house. But they aren’t dogs anymore and I am not back on earth either. It’s a pokemon centre, so surely they are allowed to come in with me? And I probably shouldn’t just leave them on the side of the road in an unfamiliar place either. I could feel a headache starting as I began double guessing myself on everything.

“Ahh sod it. Come on guys, with me”

With a rush my team of eevees jumped off the bike and all came and stood my side and together we walked into the pokemon centre.