I came to in near-darkness. All of the lights in the Pokémon Center were off except for a few blood-red emergency lights on the walls near the ground, and it took my eyes a while to adjust to the faint light.

Thankfully I wasn’t on the ground anymore, with a quick glance I found that I was in a hospital bed, but my body still ached like I had just been run over by a truck. The worst of it was my head, which felt like somebody was pounding on it with a sledgehammer.

It was easily the worst that I’d felt since I had to drag a ton of Combee and a Vespiquen through the night to get to Oreburgh City.

The fact that I had only done that a month ago was making me reconsider my career going forward.

“Hello?” I rasped out, my mouth feeling drier than a desert.

Nothing.

“Hello!?” I tried again, louder, and this time there was a noise in the distance.

A small light grew closer and closer, a candle flame, but something must have been wrong with my vision. I blinked several times and tried to rub at my eyes, but no matter what I did, it was still purple.

It was also… suspiciously low to the ground?

The little form finally came into focus as it stepped around a chair.

A tiny Litwick stared up at me, its golden eyes shining in the darkness. It let out a cry that sounded like nothing more than a soft and distant wind, then turned and scurried out of the room.

“Wait!” I called, struggling to sit up. “Come back!”

The light disappeared around a corner, leaving me in the dim red light once again.

I shivered. I couldn’t be sure, but it felt like the temperature had just fallen. Unless…

“Am I dead?” I whispered, staring around in horror.

Litwick were Ghost-type Pokémon, and I vaguely remembered a Pokédex entry saying that they sucked away people’s life energy and took them to the Ghost World, whatever that was.

But… I couldn’t be dead, could I?

I had been hit on the head pretty hard, and ghosts weren’t simply stories in this world.

After all, if psychic powers existed, why not ghosts?

Besides, there was the Old Chateau, which while it could have been Ghost-type Pokémon playing tricks on people…

I tried putting my hand through the bed, and thankfully it didn’t pass through, instead hitting the sheets comfortingly.

The light returned, and I froze.

I’m not dead, I’m not dead…

“Oh! You’re awake! Good, I was starting to get worried!”

A nurse rounded the corner, and I felt the tension wash out of me.

“Easy does it!” She said, hurrying over to my side. “Do you remember where you are?”

I blinked up at her. “Eterna City?”

“That’s right! Can you tell me your name?”

The nurse took out a pencil light and flashed it in my eyes, causing me to wince.

“Alina Knighton.”

“And the date?”

I opened my mouth, then closed it, trying to think. “The 31st of August?”

“Close enough! It’s actually September 1st now, you were asleep for a good couple of hours. Do you remember talking to me?”

“No- wait, maybe?”

Vague memories swam through my mind as I tried to think about where I had seen her before.

“You… helped me before, right? I remember getting lights flashed in my eyes.”

“Hmm, a little bit of confusion, but I suppose that’s not unexpected. You had a concussion, I was the one to help check you out and make sure that everything was okay.”

“Wait, a concussion? Aren’t you not supposed to sleep?”

She looked confused as she stared at me. “What? I mean, I suppose if it was a bad concussion sleeping wouldn’t be good. But we didn’t see any strange pupil dilations and you didn’t have any problems with walking, so it was fine that you slept.”

Frowning, I tried to blink the spots from the pen light out of my eyes. “I could have sworn that I was told that sleeping was a bad idea…”

“Well I’m not sure who told you that, but we’re medical professionals!” Her smile was like a spotlight in the dim flickering flame of the Litwick.

Stupid American healthcare system. I grumbled to myself.

“Anyways, you seem like you’re doing much better than the last time we talked, but I would still take it easy for a couple of days. Especially stay away from bright computer screens.”

She laughed, but there was a little bit of tension in it. “Of course, it’s not like that’s going to be particularly difficult, all things considering.”

“What do you mean?”

She gestured at the red emergency lights in the otherwise dark Pokémon Center around me.

“The power’s out, but- oh, that’s right, you’ve been asleep. We have a backup generator, but it was purchased almost twenty years ago, and hasn’t been used since then. Some very kind Trainers have helped by letting their Electric-types power some of the more important machines, but there’s only so many of them, and they need their rest too. Only the most critical parts of the Center have power, so we have to rely on our little helpers like Yanki here.”

She gestured down at the Litwick, who puffed up in waxy pride.

“But it’s nice and sunny outside for once, so do you think you can walk?”

Mentally checking how my legs felt, I nodded.

“Okay good! Give me your arm, let’s take it slow and easy...”

/^\

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Eterna City had been a decently sized city, with maybe 300,000 people living in it. Now a third of it was under several feet of mud and dirt.

All of the rain from Primal Kyogre’s mere presence had inundated the ground, turning the mountainside into a thick layer of mud. A small earthquake, common in the region, had shaken up the mud just enough for it to start flowing, and Eterna City was unfortunately right in the way.

The devastation was almost too much to comprehend. Just yesterday there was a thriving city here, and now…

The nice nurse had left me to my own devices when I proved I was able to stand and walk on my own without falling over. She’d wanted to stay and keep an eye on me, but another batch of survivors had been found in a buried house, and she’d had to go and help.

Thankfully she had given me my Poké Balls before she ran to the emergency room, and Venus, Zetian, and Kōjin were all safe and sound, if a little shaken up.

I was sitting on the roof of the Pokémon Center with my companions huddled around me, looking out at the city. The battling courts behind the Center had been taken over by a small tent city, and I could see a stream of people going to the Gym, which had also been converted into a shelter.

Nobody died, thankfully. Most people’s Pokémon had felt the mudslide coming and warned their Trainers.

“Damn you Archie.” I whispered to the wind.

People and their Pokémon were moving around in the city, working to clean up the devastation. Ground-types were one of the most useful types right now, using their moves to help make moving the dirt and mud more manageable. The few Psychic-types that were in the city were helping lead search and rescue teams, while Fire-types worked to dry out the massive puddles and small ponds that had formed with all of the rainfall.

There were a few people who were staggering around, obviously lost and confused at the destruction around them, but thankfully they were quickly taken aside by a worker and sat down with some food and water.

Even so soon after the massive destruction, people were already beginning to bounce back.

A familiar figure nearby caught my attention, and I frowned.

“What’s he doing here?” I asked Venus, who looked at me in confusion.

Then she followed my eyeline, and her tail started wagging.

I thought about just staying on the roof of the Pokémon Center, but my curiosity got the better of me, and I had been given the green light to wander around by the nurse.

“Let’s go see what he’s up to.” I said, pulling Zetian and Kōjin back into their Poké Balls while Venus scrambled up my clothes and onto my shoulder.

Most of the Pokémon Center was still dark, with only the actual hospital parts being powered by the generator and whatever Electric-types they had, but enough windows were open to provide some light as we made our way down to the ground floor.

The sun felt nice after days of rain, even if it was still rather humid outside, and I had pulled a nice sundress on instead of my normal traveling garb.

Carefully picking my way through the detritus-filled streets of Eterna City, I slowly approached the intersection I had spotted earlier.

A small work team was busy working to clean out the rubble in front of a cafe, and a few heads looked up as I approached.

“Alina?” A voice called in surprise, and I waved.

“Hi Lucas!”

I turned to the leader of the work-party as she approached, an older woman with a well-worn hard hat and a Machoke by her side. Much to my delight, the Machoke was wearing an orange hi-vis vest.

“Can I help you?” The woman said, a bit gruffly.

“I saw my friend here working, and I came to say hello.” I gestured towards Lucas. “I didn’t know he was in town.”

“Hmph.” She looked between Lucas and I, then nodded. “Alright. It’s about time for lunch anyways.”

The rest of the work crew cheered tiredly, and a couple slapped Lucas on the back in thanks as they made their way towards a small stack of bento boxes. A Swinub was sitting contentedly nearby, and blew a soft Icy Wind at the lunches to make sure they were cool for the workers.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, pulling him to the side. “Last time I saw you, you were running away from me in Jubilife.”

The kid flushed, and rubbed at the back of his neck.

“Yeah, sorry about that, by the way. I guess I just got caught up in the moment.”

I shrugged. “It’s okay, I was just taken off guard and surprised. Plus it's weird, it’s not every day when you have somebody declare you as a rival.”

It was still ridiculous that rivals were even a thing, but the Pokémon world was weird like that.

“Anyways!” Lucas said, blushing even more. “I just got into Eterna City last night.”

My eyebrows climbed towards my hairline. “Before or after the landslide?”

“After. We were on the road when the rains hit, and I thought that it would be just a few hours until the rains stopped. Then they didn’t for a couple days, and I was starting to get more and more concerned for Maggy and Sunny.”

Those would be his Magby and Monfernape, unless they’d evolved in the past few weeks. At the moment most of his team were Fire-types, and would have been especially vulnerable to the mass amounts of rain.

“Eventually I got so concerned that I decided to push on through to Eterna City in the night, regardless of the rain. I wanted to get to the Pokémon Center but when I got here…”

His eyes dropped to the ground, and his shoulders slumped.

“So much of the city was gone.” He said, voice quiet.

He’s only sixteen. I thought with a grimace. For all that the teenagers of the Pokémon world had so much more freedom than my old world, they also had a higher level of responsibilities.

“But!” He said, eyes firming as he set his shoulders. “The rains stopped, and I figured out that I would be able to help. Hardy’s been really useful in helping to break down the rubble into more manageable pieces. It’s also been really good for him to burn off some of his energy, smashing things has really helped him calm down.”

Lucas frowned, and gestured to my head.

“But are you okay?”

“Hm?” I reached up. “Oh, the bandage. I got a small cut from getting kicked in the head. I’m fine though.”

“I, what?” He spluttered. “Kicked in the head? What happened?”

I sighed, and looked around for a piece of rubble big enough to sit on. “It’s a long story.”

/^\

“Wow.” Lucas stared at me, eyes wide as I finished the story of what had happened the past couple of weeks since we had last seen each other.

“That’s…”

“Crazy? Scary? A lot?” I offered, sighing as I leaned back to stare at the clear blue sky.

After having it rain for so long, it almost seemed weird to see a sky not covered with dark black storm clouds.

“That’s awesome!” He exclaimed, his shout causing a few nearby Starly to take off in surprise.

I tried not to sigh as he completely missed the most terrifying aspects of my life since leaving Jubilife City.

“You fought a real Dusclops? And a poacher! Man, I wish my life was as exciting as yours!” Lucas pouted. “All I did was dig around in some caves.”

“Wait,” I said, blinking at him. “Caves?”

“Yeahhh, I suppose it’s a bit of a long story too.”

His stomach growled, and he clutched it with a panicked expression.

“Oh man, I don’t have any food! I gave the last of it away to some people who’d lost their house!”

This kid is too good for this world.

“Come on.” I said, gesturing. “I was sitting on the roof of the Pokémon Center for a little bit, and I saw a store on the other side of town from the collapse that looked like it was still open.”

“I don’t know…” He said, looking around at the clean-up crew, half of whom were trying and failing to look like they weren’t listening in to our conversation.

“I’ll buy.”

“Okay! Let me check in with the boss. Hey boss-lady!”

The supervisor of the work crew looked up from a sandwich as Lucas shouted at her.

“Eh?”

“Would it be okay if I took my lunch with my friend here?”

She looked blankly at him.

“Kid, I don’t even know your name. You don’t work for the city, you just… kinda showed up and started working. You can do whatever you want.”

“Great! Thanks boss!”

“I’m not your… nevermind.”

She went back to eating her sandwich, and Lucas grinned at me.

“Okay, let's go eat! It started way back after I last saw you in Jubilife City, I was talking with Professor Rowan and he mentioned that Hardy might do better if I got some advice from somebody who was familiar with Fossil Pokémon, so he sent me to Oreburgh City to meet up with Leader Roark, and we got talking and then he mentioned that there was an old man up here who knew all about caves and fossils, even more than he did! Then I needed a way to get up to Eterna CIty, and there was this old woman from Galar who was trying to set up a cross-country taxi service, but as it turned out her Corviknight had hurt it’s wings, and couldn’t fly without getting a new Metal Coat to fix them, but the only person who was willing to trade a Metal Coat had a Mawile with an impacted tooth, so I had to go find a dentist who was willing to pull a tooth, but he needed…”

I smiled slightly as we walked down the ruined street, while Lucas talked incessantly about his adventures while we were separated.

Eterna City was still heavily damaged by the mudslide, but at least it was beginning to bounce back, and a little bit of normalcy among the chaos went a long way to making the whole situation feel a lot less dire.

Then I stopped, and looked at him with pure confusion.

“Wait, you had to do what for a Psyduck?”