I came to with a nagging pain in the back of my skull and a tongue lopping the side of my cheek.

Buddy! I am sorry, are you okay?

The Growlithe… no, Buddy, had mounted my chest and was facing me with a worried expression. This close, with his head facing down, I could see some of his eyes that his fur covered up previously. His eyes were green, and I could see…tears? Dogs can cry now too? Let’s forget everything I ever knew, I guess.

“I’m fine,” I said, pushing myself up while Buddy scampered off of me. “You just took the wind out of me, and I think I hit my head. No blood though.” I ran my hand through my hair to check, and it was dry as a bone.

Good! I am sorry again, Buddy human! I did not mean to hurt you!

“It’s all good, Buddy,” I said, giving a half-grin to the worried Growlithe. “No harm, no foul. Uh… Okay. So… is that Teddiursa still around?”

A what?

Me, he’s talking about me. I’m here.

Buddy spun in place, doing 360 more degrees than necessary to lock..eyes?...with the wild Teddiursa. Buddy stood between me and the sapient teddy bear, hackles up.

You! Who are you? Are you here to hurt us? I will fight to protect Buddy!

Um, no. I just wanted a battle. Mom said humans had trained Pokemon and I wanted to practice when I saw him walking around earlier.

Oh. Yes! Buddy! May we battle?

The Pokemon’s conversation was moving a mile a minute, it seemed, as Buddy spun around to face me directly, inquiring for permission.

“I…guess so, sure. Did you want to battle on your own, or…”

You must guide me, Buddy! Our bond will prove us victorious!”

Oh, geez. I guess I’m Buddy too, now that I’m conscious enough to grasp that he’s been calling me that since I woke up. And, what, our bond will prove us victorious? Power of friendship, woohoo, I guess?

“Okay. Uh, well, I don’t want either of you getting too hurt,” I said, looking between Buddy and the Teddiursa. “So… how about battling to first knock-down instead of fainting, I guess?”

Sounds good to me.

Yes Buddy, I am ready!

Okay, so… Ah. The Teddiursa removed its paw from its mouth and stepped towards a slightly larger clearing between the trees. Buddy kept himself between the bear Pokemon and I, rotating slightly to keep himself facing the Teddiursa until it stopped walking and faced Buddy. With a short swing of its paws, I saw its claws shoot out of its paws, and he shouted its name, affirming it was battle-ready. Buddy did the same, saying his name and the Teddiursa charged.

With a mild panic that this started so quickly, I said a little louder than a normal speaking voice, “Buddy! Howl to pump yourself up, then charge and try to Bite him!”

Buddy took a more athletic position and gave a loud awoooo, then ran forward a few steps to meet the charging Teddiursa. Teddiursa was ready, and started swinging at Buddy with his claws, with what I assumed was either Scratch or Fury Swipes. Buddy took one on the side of his front left leg as he dipped to dodge, and leapt up to bite the Teddiursa on its side. The Teddiursa grunted in pain, and pushed Buddy away. They separated a few feet, looking each other in the eyes. Buddy winced as his hackles rose a bit further, and Teddiursa held its side with its paw, both of them bleeding slightly.

Okay, so moves are a thing. I didn’t think too much about it, but it’s good that this is intuitive enough that I can at least understand what to do here. The blood is notable, though I’m not glancing more than twice at it. There was never any blood in the games, but it doesn’t take more than a cursory glance to understand that of course this would happen.

I can’t see Buddy’s face, but the Teddiursa is grinning like a madman, as if he’s enjoying his spar. He grunts and starts to yell as he flexes. I can see a sort of red aura floating around his body and…

“Buddy! He’s using Bulk up! Shoot an Ember to prove it useless!”

Buddy immediately rears back and fires…well, fire, at the Teddiursa. Small, kiwi-sized balls of flame are sent flying out of his mouth towards the bear as it cuts off his attempt to Bulk Up and tries to dodge. It succeeds, for the most part, but a few catch it on its back foot and…Teddiursa trips.

Aw man, you knocked me down.

Buddy! We won! We are victorious!

Huh, I was ready to keep going. I guess I did say to first knockdown, huh?

“Good job Buddy,” I said as he turned to face me and galloped in my direction. “You too, Teddiursa. You guys okay?”

Buddy stopped at my feet and looked upwards at me, wagging his tail incredibly fast. I could see some blood dripping from that Scratch on his front leg, but the cut doesn’t seem to be deep, and he only reacted to it once just before the Ember. He seems okay outside of that. The Teddiursa has one paw in it’s mouth and another on its side, kicking the dust and facing downwards. Pouting in his loss, I guess.

Thank you Buddy! We are good!

I knelt down and went to give him a scritch behind the ear, and Buddy leaned hard into it. He even started kicking his back leg a bit. The Teddiursa looked up at us and gave a sigh.

Thanks for the battle. I need to work on that. I’ll see you guys around. Bye!

Before I could blink, the Teddiursa had turned around and held a paw over it’s head as it waved goodbye.

Goodbye! Thank you for the victory!

“Buddy! Don’t say it like that!” I scolded. “That’s mean. Thank him for the battle. Thanks Teddiursa! Take care!”

I am sorry Buddy! Sorry, Teddiursa! Thank you for the battle!

The Teddiursa gave another wave without turning around and disappeared in the forest, heading eastward. After watching for a minute and continuing to give Buddy best boy pets, I stood up and glanced back south towards the building I saw earlier.

“You want to go back in the ball?” I asked Buddy, pulling away from the scratches and grabbing the ball from my belt. “You can stay out too, if you’re okay. Just don’t let that scratch get dirty.”

I would like to stay with you, Buddy!

Buddy pushed up against my leg like a cat scratching it’s hip would, and gave a shake of it’s entire body, letting a little bit of dust from the battle fall off his orange coat. Hm… orange..

“Hey, before we go,” I questioned Buddy. “Are you like… aware, as to what you are?”

Hmm? Buddy is Buddy.

“No, I mean like, your species. Like I’m a human…”

I am a Pokemon, Buddy!

“Yes,” I breathed out, getting a little exasperated at how simple he seemed to be. “But I mean like…. We just faced a Teddiursa. That Pokemon was Teddiursa, and you are?”

Oh! I am a Growlithe!

How I interpreted him saying Growlithe as Growlithe is beyond me, but it was clear as day, somehow.

Leading up towards my ultimate question, I ask “Okay, good. Did you know that there are Growlithe that look different? They don’t have this beautiful mat of puff in front of their eyes.” I give the hair on top of his head another scratch, which he doesn’t hesitate to lean into.

No! I did not know!

“Hm,” I ponder. “Can you see color? I’ve heard some animals can’t see color like humans can. Like, what colors do you see around you?”

Green leaves, blue sky! You are…brown and white! I am white and red!

“So you can’t see orange, huh?”

Where is orange? I know orange! It is like this leaf!

Buddy runs over to a tree nearby and touches a bush at it’s roots with…yes, orange flowers coming out of it.

“Yeah, that’s orange,” I positively confirm. “You’re orange too. A little darker than what you pointed out, but definitely not red.”

No! I am red! See, look I…what??

He turns his head sharply while keeping his back end still to look at his coat, and though it’s a little awkward, he manages to see his orange coat. At his surprise, he starts trying to.. I guess he’s trying to touch it with his nose, like he did the flower. But it looks like nothing other than a dog chasing its tail for half a dozen loops until he stops, jumps at attention, and faces me.

I am orange! Why am I orange?? I am supposed to be red! Buddy, help me!

“No Bud, you’re fine,” I chuckle a bit. “It’s nothing to be concerned about. I don’t know a lot about your variant species in particular, but I was pretty sure it was supposed to be red. Orange just means you’re a shiny.”

Shiny?

“Yeah, shiny,” I begin to clarify. “A purely visual difference. Nothing is wrong with you at all. I don’t know what it’s like here, but what i’m familiar with tells me that for every four thousand of a particular species, or maybe even for every eight thousand, only one will be colored differently. It’s just how you look, and it means you’re…special. More unique than the rest of your kind.”

So I am special! Yes, Buddy is special too!

“Me or you?”

Yes! But you, you said I was special so I am saying you are too!

“Well, thanks,” I say, smiling. “Okay, so we gotta go that way.” I point towards the building just a few minutes away now. “Hopefully we’ll find people that can tell us where we are… and help us get some place to stay. Food and water too. Be good, okay?”

Okay! I am a good boy! Let’s go, Buddy!

“You sure are a good boy.”

Buddy and I begin to walk towards my original destination, with him running circles around me the entire way. We don’t talk on the way, Buddy merely pants in excitement every time he does a loop and just seems excited to be here.

After a few minutes of walking, we end up in a clearing in front of the building I saw from a distance. Up close, I can see it’s about four stories high with tinted windows taking up most of the wall space on each floor, aside from the top floor that has no walls. There’s no door on the side of the building we approached, so we start to walk around it in hopes of finding one. After turning a couple corners, I see the entrance. A no-nonsense double door, about the height of the entire first story and wide enough to fit a small pickup through. Not knowing the etiquette, I tell Buddy to simmer down and sit by my side (which he does immediately), and gave a knock.

A few seconds go by when the door opens inward, and a woman wearing what I can only surmise is some sort of black, spandex one-piece underneath an unzipped, red and yellow jacket answers the door. She seems to be a little younger than me, maybe late 20’s, early 30’s? I shouldn’t guess though. She’s a little shorter than my six foot, tall for a woman from what I’m familiar with,and she has…teal…hair. Wow. Abnormal, but okay. This is a Pokemon world, after all.

“Can I help you? Come on in, you could have just come in,” the woman says, opening the door for me and giving me a questioning gaze.

“Yes, thank you,” I say, stepping in, Buddy at my side every step of the way. I take a cursory glance at the room, and it’s fairly barren. A refrigerator in the corner with a table and some chairs in the center. A few shelves with a microwave and coffee pot on top, and a few cabinets. Stairs in the corner leading upwards, and little else of note.

“Well, take a seat, take a seat,” she says, stepping past me and pulling out a chair for herself. She sits down quickly, and kicks a chair on the opposite side of the table for me. “What brings ya here? I’m Tabitha, a Ranger here. Here for a report?”

“Not..exactly. Um,” I ponder, realizing now that I did NOT have a plan for what I would actually say when I met somebody. “Buddy and I, that’s my Growlithe here, are um…”

Hello!

“Hey there, Buddy! Who’s a good boy?” she asks in a baby voice, instantly soothing some of the stress of the situation out of me. Buddy prances up to Tabitha to get some pets. “He… He, right? He’s a good one. I can see he’s still young with how he’s acting. My little sister has one too. Doesn’t really look like this. It’s a normal one? Is he from some other region or something? I didn’t know there were Growlithe variants.”

“Yeah, he’s a good boy. And yeah, he’s from a small part of Sinnoh, if I remember right,” I say, giving a grin to the casual conversation. Having some time to get my thoughts together, I continue. “Yeah, so, I don’t want to lie about anything, and I have a pretty crazy story to tell. I woke up in the middle of the forest a little north of here with Buddy in his ball, not knowing how I got there. The last thing I remember, I was shot a few times by an intruder in my home.”

Tabitha continued to give Buddy scratches, but her face tensed up severely at my message. “Shot? Any idea how long ago this was? You walked up here okay. I saw you battle that Teddiursa too, and you seemed okay.”

“Nope, no idea, and I’m okay now, from what I can tell,” I say, raising my eyebrows at learning my first battle was observed. “Look, like…here. I was shot a few times, all in the torso. I’m gonna show you, okay?”

I start slowly pulling up the corner of my shirt so I don’t come across as a complete pervert, and her tense brow softens just a little as she starts to watch. After my shirt is above the wound, I roll up that part of the shirt in my hand so she can see. Her brow softens in surprise, and she slowly stands up and approaches me.

“That’s healed over good, shame it left a scar,” she says, kneeling down to get a closer look at it. “Actually kind of looks like it healed over like a full restore does on a Pokemon after getting a severe wound. You said you had more? Take it off, let me see.”

She stands up, and grabs my hand and pulls me upward. I stand, and she takes a hand at the hem of the other side of my shirt and starts pulling up. Not having to be told twice by a woman to take off my clothes, I pull my shirt off the rest of the way.

“Wow. Okay,” she says, taking in my wounds. “I have no way of telling how old they are, but they look like they’ve healed over fine. And you don’t remember anything since you were shot?”

“No, nothing,” I lie, thinking I should keep my interaction with what I presume was Arceus to myself. “I was shot, I thought I died, and now I’m here. Frankly, I don’t even remember Buddy. I didn’t have any Pokemon to my name. He seems happy enough with me, and he’s clingy as hell though, so it’s safe to assume he’s mine one way or another. I think. I just let him out when I met that Teddiursa.”

Of course I am! You are my human, Buddy!

“Well, you’re right about that,” she says, looking at Buddy with a sad grin. “He’s certainly acting like you’re his entire world. Uh, so… where are you from? I guess you don’t remember if a police report was filed?”

I grimace, thinking quickly of an acceptable answer. Continuing in fashion of not wanting to lie, I ask “Arkansas? I was in Harrison at an apartment I was staying at, last I knew. Maricopa before that, though.”

Tabitha looks away with a furrowed brow as she thinks. “I’m not sure. Not here, anyway. Region?”

“USA? America?”

I’m given a blank stare in return. “So not Johto?” she asks. “Let me get a map. Come with me, there’s one on the second floor.”

Tabitha turns and steps toward the stairs in the corner, leaving Buddy and I behind. I follow, then stop for a moment to put my shirt back on, and continue onward. Buddy stays at my heel like the loyal hound he is the entire time as we arrive on the second floor. Floor two isn’t much different than the first, aside from the lack of appliances. There’s a few more tables, and one desk in the corner. However, the tables are laid out with…maps. One of them appears to be what I can only assume is the local area, as I can see mountainous terrain on the sides of the map with forest in the middle. The station I assume we’re at is circled, and further south from that are a bunch of little homes drawn in. A town, I guess. On the opposite side of the map is a…lake…

“Lake of Rage? Are we near Mahogany town?” I question, putting together clues from our conversation that we’re presumably in Johto and the appearance of the map.

“Yep,” Tabitha says, walking over to the other table. “Nothing classified there, but you really shouldn’t check things out like that not in an official capacity without permission.” Tabitha softly scolds me. “But it’s fine. So you know about Johto, then? That should help. Sounds like you’re from real far off, if your story is to be believed.”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

“Yes. A little. Sorry. I’ve always thought this part of Johto was beautiful from what I’ve heard of,” I say, reminiscing about my days of chasing Raikou between Route 42 and 43 for hours at a time, because the stupid thing never went anywhere else. Thinking about what she said there at the end, I grimace a bit again, adding “Sorry if it sounds bonkers. I’m just not really sure what to do. I’ve..never exactly seen a map with both Johto and America on it.”

I lied as smoothly as I breathed, and Tabitha huffed in return, stepping over to the other table with..huh. A world map, laid out.

It’s easy to find some of the mainline regions here, which is absurd to see in a serious capacity. Johto and Kanto are easily identifiable, apparently taking up a fair chunk of space on the northeast corner of the map. Almost directly south of Kanto are an archipelago of Islands with the name “Sevii” written over a few of them, so it’s clear what those are. Still in the northern hemisphere, but clearly much warmer as it’s closer to the equator. Southwest of those, almost in the direct center of the map, seems to be the Hoenn region. Sinnoh is northwest of Hoenn, further north than the Kanto-Johto continent, and the Alola archipelago is directly south of Sinnoh just below the equator. Kalos and Unova are fairly close to one another both in the southwest part of the globe. There’s more regions scattered that I can’t identify on sight, though I do feel like I’ve heard of Galar before. Maybe Sword and Shield? That’s about where I’d say Australia would otherwise be. There’s about five more notable ones, the biggest one saying Paldea south of Hoenn. Tabitha and I examine the map for a few minutes before she speaks up.

“So I’m not seeing America on here,” she says. “Anything look familiar?”

“Yes, but no,” I say. “Nothing personally familiar, though I know of a lot of these places. In relation to where America would be compared to these though? No idea.”

Tabitha looks at me with a serious look on her face for a moment before it falls.

Trying to get a read on me, maybe? Well… I didn’t lie that time, so…

“Sorry. I’m not sure what to tell you,” Tabitha apologizes. “Uh, so. I guess..what do you want to do from here?”

“I.. didn’t think I’d get this far. I didn’t even know how this conversation would go,” I admit, releasing a sigh. “I can tell you something though, and maybe you can give me an idea? About what I was doing back home.”

“Sure, shoot.”

“My daughter disappeared… I’d say eight months ago, but I’m not sure how long i was out of commission. Eight months before I was shot, anyway,” I say. Buddy pushes up against my leg in sympathy, and I hear a little whine that I interpret as Buddy’s family, no…. “Official investigations and my own looking around told me a whole lotta nothing. Almost like she just up and disappeared. She was sixteen at the time, so she’s at least seventeen now. About your height, five foot nine. Skin tone similar to mine, extremely wavy auburn hair that went down a bit past her shoulders. No Pokemon to speak of at the time. In good shape, maybe 130 pounds. Very friendly, a little outgoing, and a geek, through and through. She’s always been into Pokemon and everything about them. I could see her becoming a professor here.”

As I continue on and on about Taylor, thinking about what she might be doing in this world, I can feel my eyes start to water. She would love it here, I think.

“I’m sorry,” Tabitha says, eyes tearing up on her own. “You seem young, I wouldn’t strike you to have a teenage daughter. That’s terrible. So no idea where she went? And I guess…” she looks down, and wipes her eyes with her wrist to stem her own sympathetic tears. “You’re going to keep looking?”

“Yes, absolutely,” I declare. “No idea where she went, but there was never speak of hide nor hair of her back home. Maybe she ended up somewhere here? Or one of these other regions? Strange things happened to me, what with being shot and translocated who knows how far,” I say, starting to speak clearer from stemming back my own tears. “The only issue with continuing my own search is funds. I have no idea how to make money here. Back home, I was a software engineer, but I was only really fluent in the proprietary languages that the company I worked for used.” Thinking about the facts and how I can properly say this without outright lying is difficult, but I don’t really want to admit to being from another world. “Without my equipment and even knowing where it is in relation to me, I’m afraid I’m little more than a homeless man.”

Tabitha sniffles again, and looks at me with questioning eyes. “If the idea is to look around for her and make some money at the same time, going on a circuit makes the most sense to me.”

“A circuit? Like… a gym circuit?”

“Yeah. Season just started up, actually,” Tabitha says, her own face cleared of her earlier emotions, now giving me a determined look. “You took down that Teddiursa real quick with your Buddy. And if his variant has the same type as our local Growlithe, you have a type advantage over the leader here too. Good way to get some quick funds to, I don’t know, maybe print out some flyers with your contact information and leave around town? Then travel to the next city, and continue, maybe?”

Her idea gives me little pause. It makes a lot of sense. I feel guilty doing something that I could have only dreamed about as a child when I need to find Taylor, but… “I think…that’s a good idea, though I admit to not being a fan of enjoying a gym circuit while looking for her. It makes a lot of sense, as long as I can win enough to stay in the black. I guess, worst case… maybe a larger city like Goldenrod would be a good base of operations?”

Tabitha beams at me. She’s pretty, damn. “Exactly! Okay. Uh, with how strange things are with your story, I don’t think I should file an official report… But if you head south from here at a good pace for about half an hour, you’ll end up in Mahogany town. You can register at the Pokemon Center, which isn’t too far from the north entrance. Head west til you reach the edge of town and then south for a few minutes and you can’t miss it. Big building with a red roof.”

I beam back at her, grinning at her enthusiasm and helpful information. “Thank you. So much. Having something to do when I woke up in such confusion… You’re an absolute Godsend, Tabitha. I have no way to repay your generosity.”

“Oh no no!” she exclaims, waving her hands in front of her. “It’s fine, Mister… I just realized, I didn’t catch your name. I’m so sorry!”

“Heh,” I chuckle, realizing I never introduced myself. “I’m sorry about that. My name is Silas Green. And, for what it’s worth, my daughters name is Taylor Green. It’s good to meet you properly, Tabitha.”

Tabitha smiles at me, saying “It’s good to meet you too, Mr. Green. Is there anything else I can do for you while you’re here?”

“Silas, please. Mr. Green is my father. And no… no, I don’t think so,” I say. Buddy pushes up against my ankle, mutters his name a few times to pass along a message to me. “Oh. Uh, as much as I hate to ask this after how good you’ve been to us... Any chance you have some water? I haven’t had anything since I woke up, and Buddy asked for something to drink too.”

“Absolutely!” Tabitha exclaims. “I’m sorry I didn’t offer anything sooner.” She hitches her head to the side a bit, looking at me and Buddy a couple times. “You understood he wanted water from that, huh?”

Well, that question told me a lot. Understanding them clearly, not common. Thanks Arceus.

“I guess so,” I chuckle. “He’s just that good of a boy, where a look can tell me everything. He’s so smart!” I crouch down and give Buddy scritches behind both ears as he falls into nirvana.

Tabitha laughs and turns, peeking over her shoulder at me. “Okay Silas, come on with me downstairs. We’ll get you guys something to drink and send you on your way.”

After expressing my gratitude to Tabitha and having our fill (Both of us drank like horses, guess we needed it more than I thought), we dismissed ourselves with an awkward bow after Tabitha bowed and bade farewell. She also wrote down a number on a piece of paper with a..blush?...and passed it off to me before we left, asking me to keep in touch and giving me a quick hug. After letting her know I didn’t have a phone to do so, I told her that I would give her a call as soon as I managed to get one. Buddy and I left, much like the Teddiursa, walking into the forest with an arm over my shoulder waving, as I thought to myself…

I still got it. Nice.

Buddy and I trekked southward and through a gate after about half an hour of walking into Mahogany Town proper, and… it was a small place. It’s more of a village, really. I can see more forestry not far to the south and east. It looks clear past the buildings out to the west, but if the video game topography was anything to go off of, there should be some small rivers to pass, along with Mt. Mortar before reaching Ecruteak city. Buddy and I follow Tabitha’s directions to a T, eventually finding the large building in question.

The size of a hospital in a small town, and easily the largest building here, the Pokemon Center honestly stood out before we even made it into the town. I surmised it was the Center at first, but getting closer not only confirmed it, but told a story on it’s own. Pokemon healthcare is a big thing here. Battling must be that big of a thing. And that a lot of people must come through here to necessitate this much space, even if it’s not used constantly. Plus, who knows? Maybe it is used constantly. I hope not though. Seeing Buddy get scratched earlier hurt my soul enough, even though he’s been acting perfectly fine.

Buddy and I reach the entrance to the building, not having seen many people since entering town. A few elderly folk here and there, giving a wave as we walked past. Friendly, I thought to myself, always waving back with a smile. That’s a great vibe. I guess, thinking about it, that’s probably fair to expect from what always came across as a sleepy town like Mahogany.

We enter the front doors, opening automatically for us as we get close. It’s…empty. Dead empty. Stairwells to the left and right leading upward. Large, double push doors on the far walls. A lot of soft, plush couches and chairs with tables all around, as if the entire ground level at the entrance is a waiting room. I can see what look like a mix of telephone booths and computers up against one of the far walls (I’ve seen those in the anime, I think to myself), and a few TV’s close to the couches showing something I’m not terribly interested in right now. I walk up to the desk, front and center, still seeing nobody around. I do, however, see a bell, and I give it a tentative ring after looking around for people again.

A moment goes by before I hear a “chanseeeeeey!” chant it’s name behind one of the double doors to the side, pushing it open. I could interpret her clearly as well, a clear I’m coming message. Behind her is.. Yep, I expected this. A woman, perhaps early 20’s with bright pink hair that just seems normal on her. I can tell it’s not dyed. This is definitely…

“Hello, and welcome to the Pokemon center!” she says clearly and with a smile, stepping behind the desk to greet me. “My name is Nurse Joy. How can I help you today, sir?”

I smile at this entire situation. Nurse Joy just greeted me. How can I not smile?

“Hello, ma’am. My name is Silas, and I’m here to first and foremost, give my Buddy here a checkup. I’d also like to register for the gym circuit? I guess I also need some sort of identification valid for Johto.”

Her grin maintains, but I can see her brows furrow a bit in confusion. “Well, for the first order of business. Absolutely.” She leans over the desk to look at Buddy. “And this is your… Is this a Hisuian Growlithe?”

My eyebrows pop in surprise at Buddy being identified, but I’m impressed. “He is! There’s a long story with him, and if you need to know, I’m happy to share. I’d just like to get myself situated as quickly as I can, though, if that’s okay.”

“Of course! This is my first time seeing one in person,” she says, her expression softening back to what it originally was. “Now, Buddy, was it? Good boy” as he wags his tail at her positive identification. “Why don’t you go with Chansey to the back and she’ll give you a look over, okay?”

Buddy looks up at me with a bit of a whimper that breaks my heart, as I interpret him asking do I have to? I nod, give him a few pats, and say “This is gonna be normal for us, so keep on being good and go back with her. She’ll make that scratch feel way better, and make sure you’re doing A-OK, okay Buddy?”

Yes, Buddy!

I chuckle and turn back to the nurse as Buddy trots away with Chansey, going through the double push doors.

“Okay, so.. You’ll need identification first before you register for the circuit. Folks our age typically don’t start this late in life,” she says, before exclaiming. “No offense! I’m not sure how old you are, but they’re usually teenagers. Your beard says you’re otherwise.”

“It’s not a problem,” I say, raising a hand to stop her. “I’m 37. And there’s no way you’re anywhere near my age.” I mock her tone by saying “our age” and give a grunt. “You’re not a day past 20.”

She giggles, and says “Well, I’m 22, but you certainly don’t look 37. I wouldn’t guess past 25. Anyway. So identification. Some paperwork for that, but I have to ask first. How did you get into Johto without the proper identification.”

I smile at the friendly flirting, and then take a deep breath at the question. Here we go, how difficult will bureaucracy be?

“I don’t know.”

“You… don’t know?”

“Correct, I do not know,” I confirm. “I woke up with Buddy a little north of the Ranger outpost on route 43. I spoke with Ranger Tabitha there, and like I told her, the last thing I remember is being shot at home.”

I pull up the corner of my shirt, back away from the counter to showcase one of the scars, and continue. “It’s been long enough for me to heal, but I have absolutely no idea how I ended up here. I went from thinking I was bleeding out to waking up from a nap in the forest. I have nothing on me except the clothes on my back, Buddy, and his ball. And this water bottle Tabitha gave me,” I add on to the end with a shake of plastic.

Joy’s brow furrows in confusion, putting together all the information. After a moment of concentration, her brow loosens and looks up at me after raising her hand a bit to signify I can go back to hiding my scar. “While strange, this world is a strange place and Pokemon can do strange things. I can think of numerous things that happened that led to you ending up here, most notably a Ghost taking a liking to you and making sure you were okay. A Ghost or a developed Dark or Psychic can easily ensure you don’t remember how you healed and what happened in between, and any of them could get you from where you’re from to here,” she confidently tells me. “So in light of that information, and the fact that your Buddy looks at you like you’re the light of his life, I’m inclined to ask no further questions. It sounds like a difficult conversation to continue to have.”

The tension I didn’t know I had in my shoulders loosens at her understanding. I have had two serious conversations with two women since I arrived, and they’ve both been so damn understanding. Bless them, they’re great.

“I.. appreciate that,” I say, catching my breath from this revelation. “So…”

“So!,” she exclaims. “Name, date of birth, all that good stuff. Fill this form, we’ll print you an ID, and get you registered. I can also get you a room upstairs so you can rest and clean off.”

I smile, and from the bottom of my heart, I tell her “Thank you, Nurse Joy.”

An hour later, the paperwork is finished. My photo is taken, and my ID is printed out and handed to me. I’m advised to never lose it, and I’m guided up to my room, with the Nurse telling me that Buddy will be back in my hands as soon as the checkup is finished. Chansey will come up with his ball, even.

Five star service, man! I’m sitting on a small bed in a no-nonsense room. There’s a radio in the corner, a writing desk, small bed, and a small walk-in bathroom with a shower attachment. It’s about all you need as a traveling trainer, and apparently… they’re free. Free to gym circuit participants, anyway. Not challenging gyms often enough can lead to a lapse in the free part, but that won’t be a problem. We’ll try, at the very least. Buddy is brought up to me soon enough, and I let him own to check out the room. He commandeers the foot end of the bed, as I head downstairs for a moment to pick up the (free!) food for the both of us.

The cafeteria isn’t large, but it certainly gets things done. Nobody else is staying in this center, as any natives have already left the city and most folks tend to tackle the gym here near the end of their circuit. You can go in any order you want. But if you’re not from here, I guess it doesn’t make sense to go out of your way to challenge it early. I’m given a plate of pasta and some bottled tea, and there’s two sealed bowls of food for Buddy. I’m advised to mix them and let him have half now, and the other half for breakfast, based off his size and typing. Some sort of good mix for fire types and rock types, and…yeah, Buddy is also a rock type. I couldn’t have told you that. Taylor probably could have though.

Back in our room, Buddy and I eat with gusto. Much like the water incident, we didn’t realize how much we needed it until the first swallow. Buddy quickly falls into a food coma as I take a quick shower, and sit down back on the bed next to him. I pull out my ID just to get a glance at it before bed, trying to come to terms with what I see in my photo.

My dark brown hair is full. It wasn’t before.It’s a few inches long, hanging down the sides of my head and curling into itself. I still have my beard, which is nice. My face looks…thinner, but still filled out. A healthy thin, not unlike how I looked 20 years ago. My brown eyes are bright, brighter than I ever remember seeing in the mirror. I can just about tell that it’s not like I’m fully reverted to when I was younger, exactly, having facial hair, laugh lines, and a wrinkle between my brows, but… Can’t shake a stick at this kind of gift, can I?

Arceus above, I was given a healthy, maybe even a younger, body. Thanks, God. That’ll make this trek easier. I questioned how I’d manage it, but after some mild hiking today and actually seeing my body both in the photo and in the shower, I think I’ll be fine. Especially with Buddy by my side. I put the ID on the desk next to me, and lean back into the bed, looking forward to training Buddy the following day to prepare for our first gym challenge. We win that, we get some money, and then the search for Taylor can start in earnest. I close my eyes, preparing for a good nights rest.

I whited out.