Welcome to the (impossible) world of Pokémon

Have you ever loved someone with all your heart and being? Have you ever lived with someone, simply enjoying their presence because it was enough to brighten your day without words? Have you ever stopped and thought how blessed you were for having them in your life? It could be anyone, from family, to a best friend or a partner, maybe even a pet. After picturing these people inside your head, remember all your fond memories, the good and the bad times you went through together, everything you love about them…

…and think how it would feel if everything was taken away from you at once.

Dusknoir, the Gripper Pokémon. This feared Pokémon is said to travel to worlds unknown, using the antenna on its head to capture radio waves from the spirit world which command it; no one knows whether it has a will of its own. Some even believe that it takes lost spirits into its pliant body and guides them home, though it is known to mistakenly take the souls of those who yet have life left in them, albeit rarely.

But, it isn’t as simple as you being forced to leave them behind. No, if it was that simple, you could always try to go back to them with all your effort, just have to travel in reverse of how you arrived. You see, when saying they were taken away, she didn’t mean what you may think after reading that entry.

They died, each and every single one.

Normally, someone would be sad after such a fact, but she already had time to process such a loss (she ignored how her heart clenched at the thoughts of her mother being sad from her pretending to move on so fast). Still, she was lost, not knowing what to do for a birthday that no one cared about (a birthday meant for two people to celebrate together, now doomed to forever have someone missing, a constant reminder of what she had lost). And so, she slept in a cold bed, the single last remaining member of her family having left her not so long ago (refusing to eat and missing his previous owner, withered away despite her pleads and tears).

As soon as sleep took her, she found herself in the middle of the forest as night drew near, the shadow of a Dusknoir barely seen before being left almost alone.

Drifloon, the Balloon Pokémon. Wandering souls gathered together to form this Pokémon. Perhaps seeking company, it approaches children. Because of the way it floats aimlessly, an old folktale calls it a "Signpost for Wandering Spirits."

Above her head and the canopy, a single Drifloon floated without direction, letting the wind take it to wherever the wind declared. No purpose, no thought, just being carried away (she ignored the possible comparison). That is, until it heard a shrill call, which prompted it to fly towards a flock of Drifblim going towards the setting sun (she also ignored the jealousy flaring inside her chest).

Drifblim, the Blimp Pokémon. Some say this Pokémon is a collection of souls burdened with regrets, silently drifting through the dusk. Even while under careful observation, large flocks of Drifblim flying with the setting sun will inexplicably disappear from view once night comes. There's a rumor that if you catch a Drifblim floating on the wind at dusk, you'll be carried away to the afterlife.

Intellectually, she knew that Pokémon weren’t real. She was most likely in a dream, she thought, at any moment she would wake up and forget about it without a second thought. However, she could play along for now and let the thoughts wander (better this dream than nightmares of alchemy and botched revivals, of cursed graveyards for pets and devils that promised sweet lies). She felt the humid grass beneath her naked feet, felt the chill wind seep into her bones through her pajamas, fiddled with her locket that she never took off since then and let herself feel hope she had abandoned a long time ago.

…a woman who was lost on an icy mountain was reborn as Pokémon. These Pokémon arose from the spirits of people interred in graves; each retains memories of its former life. This Pokémon is said to have been born when a lonely spirit possessed a cold, leftover cup of tea. A once-departed soul, returned to life in Hisui. After being reborn as a ghost Pokémon…

She let herself dream of all her loved ones coming back to life, different yet the same. Sure, some may be twisted in the journey, but through love and care she was sure to make them whole. She had often wondered what she would come back as if she died. She… would like to be a Hisuian Zoroark, they seemed chill and aloof.

This Pokémon takes lost children by the hand to guide them to the spirit world. It is said to carry wandering spirits to the place where they belong so they can move on. The souls of its comrades cloak its body…

Of course, some people may believe that ‘spirit world’ is a euphemism for killing, but the Pokédex never shied away from the word after a while. Multiple pieces of media showed that ghosts were a thing in Pokémon, from Acerola’s Mimikyu to the uncountable ghosts encountered in the games. Spirits and souls were real in this world, and since they were real…

Said to purify lost, forsaken souls with its flames and guide them to the afterlife. A soul unable to move on to the afterlife was blown around by the wind until it got tangled up with dried grass and became a Pokémon. When taking spirits to the afterlife…

…then, it followed, an afterlife was real too. If she died and passed on without any complications, she could meet all her loved ones again and finally talk to them about what happened. It was a comforting thought, that after all was said and done, she would be able to meet them again, unlike the uncertainty of the real world. But this was a dream, so science and logic didn’t matter, for even the dead didn’t stay like that forever.

Ho-Oh, the Rainbow Pokémon. It is said that when lighting struck the Brass Tower, this Pokémon gave rebirth to three unfortunate Pokémon who died in the fire, thus the first Raikou, Entei and Suicune were born.

The dead could rise again in this world by Legendary powers in a new and powerful form. Through an act of charity, death had been defied, something unthinkable in the real world. Yet, Ho-Oh did it, and she could seek the Rainbow Pokémon to perhaps beg for her loved ones to be reborn as Pokémon. Yet, they would still be different, the apology gift not quite right, so perhaps she would seek a different Legend.

Xerneas, the Life Pokémon. Legends say it can share eternal life.

The Life Pokémon would surely be able to revive her loved ones. And unlike Ho-Oh, Xerneas was far more stationary and easy to find. If the Pokémon itself couldn’t revive her family, there was always using the Ultimate Weapon with it as the source, or perhaps she would fuel it with the souls of the suicidal, the elderly and fallen Minior. The problem, it arose, was that both hadn’t been shown to revive the dead without a body, and since she came from the real world, she couldn’t take the corpses with her. So, another wild hope failed.

Jirachi, the Wish Pokémon. While it sleeps, a tough crystalline shell envelops the body to protect it from enemies. Jirachi will awaken from its sleep of a thousand years if you sing to it in a voice of purity. It is said to make true any wish that people desire.

A wish-granting genie, its powers fickle. Even in the movie it featured, it was shown how finicky its wishes were, transporting already existing objects instead of creating matter from nothing. Wishing to have her loved ones back would surely backfire, and besides being extremely hard to find, the fact she would need to wait for it to wake up already made her decide against it.

Celebi, the Time Travel Pokémon. Revered as a guardian of the forest, Celebi appears wherever beautiful forests exist. It has the power to travel across time, but it is said to appear only in peaceful times.

Yes, if she was from this world, perhaps Celebi would suffice. Unfortunately, she would be in the incorrect space, so a simple time traveler could never give her what she wanted. No, for that, she would need a magnitude of power far higher.

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Dialga, the Temporal Pokémon. A Pokémon spoken of in legend. It is said that time began moving when Dialga was born and that time flows when Dialga’s heart beats.

Dialga could probably grant her dream. Even if her wish was granted, the Legend of Time could probably prevent a paradox being created from her seeking him out only to reverse her entire journey by eliminating the reason she went on it. The master of time would probably need the help of its sibling Palkia, the Spatial Pokémon, but it could be done. The only problem being how elusive those two were, being part of the Creation Trio and having their own dimensions would complicate matters… but a solution was within her reach, if a certain movie was true.

Hoopa, the Mischievous Djinn Pokémon. This troublemaker sends anything and everything to faraway places using its loop, which can warp space. It is said to be able to seize anything it desires with its six rings and six huge arms. Due to its bloodlust, this Pokémon summons strong foes to battle against their will, no Pokémon is safe.

If the movies held true, then a certain Hoopa was trapped inside a quaint little town in Kalos, waiting for its true power to be unleashed. If she found it and helped it, then every Legendary would be at her disposal. She wouldn’t even need to be in the mess when it was freed, she could simply visit its human friends and wait for it to return after it experiences freedom for a while, though helping would surely make it more amenable to her requests.

…of course, all this talk about rebirth and reviving and afterlives only applied if her loved ones were actually in this afterlife, instead of a different one out of reach (or, a more treacherous part of her mind thought, if her world didn’t have souls at all, their deaths forever permanent and impossible to reverse). While she would think that Palkia could theoretically reach everywhere, including from where Dusknoir whisked her away, it wasn’t certain. Yes, it was the master of space, but maybe there was a boundary between worlds that only something small and sneaky like Dusknoir could peek through, like how a mouse could reach between the walls of a house unlike the human owners. Maybe Ho-Oh and Xerneas couldn’t reach their souls, Celebi and Dialga unable to break the fragile flow of time of a world that knew no time travel.

So, even with the power of Living Legends, her dream could potentially never become true. It was a defeatist attitude, but she had to acknowledge the possibility even when in a literal dreamland (and also to find an excuse to not simply end it all and meet them in this fictional paradise, no journey required). And since she was living a fantasy, she would aim for the most impossible accomplishment of them all.

Arceus, the Alpha Pokémon. It is told in mythology that this Pokémon was born before the universe even existed from an egg in a place where there was nothing, shaping the universe with its 1,000 arms.

If every other Pokémon failed in granting her dreams, then who else had the power but The Original One? If she climbed Mount Coronet, if she reached Sky Pillar and then the Hall of Origin, she could have an audience with the closest being to an all-powerful deity and pray for a miracle… Or she could meet it at its lowest point, weakened and lacking some of its Plates, and request a favor in exchange for the Jewel of Life as reality itself was consumed around them.

And if Arceus refused? Well, it had been tricked before.

It had been defeated.

It had been caught.

If all it took was to fight a third-rate god into submission, then she would do it. Not like it would be too hard to do so in this dream of hers, where everything bended to her will. She had gone through this journey countless times inside her mind, not having anything better to do in all her lonesome. In fact, her starter was already approaching to start her journey. Hopefully, she would reach the end before she woke up to her miserable life in a home where no one waited for her to come back to.

The girl extended her hands and grabbed the Pikachu who had broken through the foliage, a she, if the heart-shaped tail was any indication. They stared at each other’s eyes, one in curiosity and the other in wonder. The scent of sweet fruits and ozone permeated the mouse, a small and adorable ‘Ka?’ was heard across the clearing and the yellow fur felt rough yet nice. She did not lick the Pokémon, but it almost felt like she would actually taste her if she tried. For a moment, the kid truly believed she was experiencing what holding a real life Pikachu felt like.

…Then she squished the electric type without thinking, like the curious, stupid 12-year-old she was, despite knowing better as the daughter of pet shop owners.

She immediately dropped the living battery as it started giving out static since the buildup shocked her hands, and before she could even start to curse after the instinctive action, a Thunderbolt passed right between her legs, the electricity making her legs’ hair stand on end. All philosophical and pretentious musings of grandeur were put on hold as her mind couldn’t think anything but oh crap this is real and I’m about to die before I even catch my first Pokémon and to a fricking Pikachu of all things!

She briefly considered punting the yellow ball of fur away from her, but maybe kicking the creature that could throw Thunders around wasn’t her best idea. It was just a squeeze, surely it wasn’t that big of a deal?

The wrath written across the Pikachu’s features begged to differ. So, instead of taking an electric attack to the face and hoping that she doesn’t die like a certain idiot, she hightailed it out of the clearing, blindly running through the forest. Her decision was rewarded when, as soon as she lost direct sight of the creature, the tree in front of her and a little to the right received thousands of watts of electricity and was blackened to a crisp. She stopped and gaped at the damage, before realizing that the attack was meant for her and resumed the escape with an out-of-place smile that wouldn’t be understood but by a few people.

Yep, definitely not surviving that, no matter what the Anime told me… Unless Aura passively protects everyone from-A Thunderbolt incentivized the girl to run faster and think later while also letting out a small giggle. It was only after her legs couldn’t even support her weight anymore that she stopped and rested against a tree, unable to do nothing but take desperate breaths as sweat covered her from head to toes.

…Pokémon Moves, she finished the thought with a stupid grin. She collapsed on the ground, frantically looking left and right in case the yellow menace managed to catch up to her. After some silent minutes with no new lights shining in the forest, she allowed herself to relax, only to begin laughing hysterically as the reality of her situation began to set in. She just ran away from a Pikachu, a real, flesh and bones, bona fide Pokémon! This wasn’t a dream, she really was kidnapped by a freaking Dusknoir, and…

She straightened her back as her eyes shot wide, fully taking in what her half-awoken mind had thought. She could see them again! It would take a lot of work, but the chance existed! Her dream could come true! Most of her plans amounted to assisted suicide if gone wrong, but she could do it!

No more staying in bed without anything to look forwards to. (She could practically smell dad’s deserts, congratulating them on passing a tough test and offering to breed whatever perfect IV shiny pokémon they wanted.) No more moping around, expecting an answer that would never come. (She could hear mom struggling with the animals, commenting on simply hacking a perfect Pokémon and being rebutted as dirty little cheater.) No more reminiscing on memories of days that would never return. (Michael had immediately asked for an Annihilape, and she would have laughed in his face when it was later banned in competitive if she had the chance.) No more contemplation of following Michael Jr.’s path, of simply… meeting them again. (She could feel Jr’s fur as she pondered her decision and finally chose Ceruledge, only to be laughed at when the shiny wasn’t a color-swap with Armarouge like she expected.) No more despair, no more sadness, no more self-destruction. (Her best friend laughing at her antics, her own pet Jr giving her warmth as she fell asleep.) She finally had hope again. (She could finally make amends with that day.)

Her hands were shaking and she couldn’t stop herself, a smile split her face from ear to ear without a care of how creepy it looked. She pretended to brush her long hair and take out some trash that got tangled in it as she actually cradled her head as she got over the shock, slightly manic in her growing excitement. Her foot began to unconsciously tap the Pokémon Theme and she barely resisted breaking out into song, uncaring of waking up potentially dangerous Pokémon in the process. She was full of energy and she didn’t know what to do with it, she needed to do something, anything!

She stared at the unknown stars above and decided to point her finger to the sky, not really sure why until she realized what she needed to do. A challenge, she was throwing her challenge to the heavens themselves in hopes Arceus would hear it (and maybe Rayquaza and a lot of Minior by accident too, since she was technically pointing at their porch).

“Listen here, you overblown llama stuck in a fence! I’m coming for you, and if-no, when I catch you, my dream will come true, or I aren’t Miu Monzón from… Elsewhere!” She decided, because she couldn’t just say she was a Faller as it was both untrue and actively putting herself in danger of being abducted by the International Police. “You better believe it, even if I gotta catch ‘em all like back in Hisui! I will do it! So you better prepare, because this Champion in the making is about to make her debut! I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of their souls, and-!”

Her rant was unfortunately interrupted by a chestnut to the forehead, which when performed by a grumpy and sleepy Pokémon using Fling, promptly knocked her unconscious.

But before Darkrai and Cresselia laid a claim on her, she still said the words she never thought she would so earnestly believe.

“-I will see them again!” she promised with tears in her eyes, both to herself and her ghosts.

…

In the 29th day of the 2nd month in the year 2024 AD, a young girl named Miu Monzón disappeared from Florida, USA.

In the same day of the same month yet in 1024 PK, the 13th intrusion from even beyond Ultra Space occurred, later codenamed as CE-13A: Hex Maniac.