Chapter 4

Markus POV

As it turns out, sitrus berries aren’t the cure-all I had originally thought they were. Instead, they act more like a painkiller, temporarily dampening the pain. I learned this valuable lesson thanks to the excruciating pain coming from my broken limb.

‘At least I’m not going through this alone’ I sighed, glancing at the groaning Zangoose being attended to by the Pachirisu. The little squirrel had taken to the role of an emergency nurse, finding different types of berries from thin air. When Phobia had asked the two if they knew where any other humans might be, only Lechonk had responded, and had set off in order to find some help. Phobia had been looming behind me, cautious of the downed Zangoose. This allowed me to have a better look at him.

Araquanids are big Pokemon, and Phobia was no exception. He was the same height as I was, but his body was much more spread out. His purple limbs showed power as the water bubbles on each joint glistened. Tied around his abdomen was the Choice Band, boosting his already impressive attack power. The neat part was that the Band seemed to be custom made for Phobia. I chalked it up to whatever weirdness allowed him here in the first place, and the fact I was far too tired to try and theorycraft.

I reached over, running my hand along Phobia’s leg. They felt really smooth and wet to the touch. He must have enjoyed the feeling, because the next second he started making some noises that I registered as contentment.

“Thank you, I don’t know what I would've done without you, all of you guys,” I stated, smiling at the Pokemon. The Pachirisu shot me a thumbs up and a smile before returning to their work with the Zangoose. Phobia looked towards me, staring deep into my eyes. They nodded, and head butted me, submerging my head in their water bubble. I was let free a few moments after, and I gasped for air, laughing as I did so.

“If that’s how you show appreciation, I’m gonna need to learn to hold my breath, and fast,” I teased, pushing the Araquanid playfully. I was then set upon by a very angry squirrel, who started berating me for overexerting my body before shoving yet more berries into my mouth. I sighed, letting out all the pain and exhaustion today brought as I gazed wistfully at the sky. My eyelids began to droop as I slowly let myself fade into a peaceful unconsciousness.

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I was awoken by a cacophony of sounds. Shaking off the grogginess, I tried sitting up, only to come into contact with an angry Phobia standing above me, with their limbs covered with rushing water. Nestled into my chest was a shivering Pachirisu, trying their best to not bring attention to themselves. I brought the little squirrel closer to me in an attempt to comfort it as I tried to figure out what was going on. My eyes went wide as I spotted the cause of everything.

Standing a distance away was an Arcanine, crouched down, preparing an attack. Flames lick its jaw as it stared down Phobia. Next to the angry fire dog was an older man dressed in a red get up. He had been screaming into some device, much of it being lost in the noise of rushing rapids that was Phobia’s Liquidation. He must have noticed my movements, as a second later we locked eyes.

“FUCKING DISTORTION, WE GOT A LIVE ONE! ARCHIE, RESCUE MANEUVERS!” the man shouted. The Arcanine nodded, and blurred into movement. They slammed into Phobia with a bone-rattling crack as the wind caught up with the move. Phobia was pushed back slightly, having brought his limbs into a guard, blocking most of the damage. He brought down his limb like a waterfall, missing the Arcanine as they had blurred away again, but completely obliterated the area it had once occupied. When the dust cleared, I saw both the Arcanine and the man were standing in complete bewilderment and terror, and Phobia stood nearly unblemished, slowly meandering back to guard over the Pachirisu and me, and the sounds of crashing water once again deafening me.

I tucked the Pachirisu into my hood as I slowly rose, patting Phobia’s side.

“Phenomenal job big guy, that Liquidation of yours is monstrous. I think we can call the fight here though, as these should be the guys we called for.”

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Phobia seemed to relax at this, letting his attack die down as he returned to his usual looming position as I made my way over to the two new arrivals. The Arcanine took a defensive position next to their trainer, staring warily in my direction, but I could tell it didn’t have much fight left. Phobia must have gotten some licks in judging from the damp spots it had, and the destruction around the area. The old man had a stoic expression, but his eyes told me he was having a religious experience seeing my bestest boy's power.

‘Praise be to the Choice Banded Liquidation’

We stood staring in silence at each other until eventually I broke the silence.

“Sorry about that, Phobia here was just standing guard. Are you guys here because of the Lechonk? If so, we could use some help. I’ve got myself a broken arm, and the Zangoose in the crater isn’t much better.”

This seemed to snap the man back to attention, though my casual tone seems to unsettle him slightly.

“Yeah… yeah that’s us. Didn’t realize this beast was yours. Let’s get you guys to a center and getcha patched up. Afterwards I’ve got some questions for you,” He said, letting out some tension as he did so. “Come on Archie, play time's over.”

The Arcanine relaxed, and started whining at the man looking between him and Phobia. They seemed disappointed that the battle had ended so abruptly, but dutifully resumed its task. After carefully gathering the Zangoose, and the older man applying more thorough first aid, the two approached me.

“Looks like we’re all set. Before we start, I have to ask. Have you experienced teleportation before? If not, you’ll wanna brace yourself. A lot of people have compared it to the feeling of falling.You’ll probably want to return your Pokemon, it’ll make the ride far less bumpy,” the man warned me. I must have grimaced since the man held my shoulder and tried to reassure me.

“It’s not that bad after your first one, just takes a little getting used to,” he said, unaware of the reason for my reaction. I smiled and nodded, too tired to make any remarks. Instead, I took out Phobias Pokeball before realizing I had no idea how to work these things. I turned toward the man, ready to ask for assistance. When I did, I saw him staring breathlessly at the ball, having what might have been his third mental breakdown.

‘Me too buddy,’ I said wordlessly, before trying to get his attention. “This might sound silly, but do you know how to return a Pokémon? I’ve never worked one of these before.”

“Middle button,” the man eventually sputtered out, and I nodded to him in thanks, returning Phobia. It seems like we all need a nap later. I pocketed the ball and waited patiently as the man made his way to his partner.

“Right, Archie, Mesagoza main center,” he said.

‘Mesagoza. So I’m in Paldea. Makes sense with the Lechonk that was around,’ I mused, bracing myself for whatever was about to happen.

The air around us started to shake as it encompassed the small group, and then the world blinked out.

It really did feel like falling.

It was then that realization dawned on me. I had forgotten my Switch in the meadow.

Fuck.

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I thought teleporting would be easy for me given my most recent experience, but shifting back to reality proved that wasn’t the case. The falling feeling persisted for fall longer than it should have, even while on solid ground, and the nausea it brought was debilitating. As bad as I felt, Pachirisu must have had it even worse, since after a moment he had stumbled out of my hood and fell onto their face. I had sprawled out on the floor, trying desperately to recover, when a handful of nurses and Chansey came by with stretchers to collect the three of us. As they stole me away, I looked to the old man wanting to thank him, only to see him pacing while frantically muttering into that same device from earlier. I waved goodbye anyway and shouted my thanks. The man’s probably busy beyond belief.

The staff rushed me into a room and helped me get settled quickly. While they were gathering my vitals, one of the nurses and a Chansey approached me.

“I hope you’re doing well this afternoon sir. I wanted to let you know our staff is working to get your arm back in order before sun down! We do have to ask if you’ve got any identification or Pokemon that need attending,” she said, holding out a silver tray with obvious Pokeball indents in it.

“I do, but it might be a bit… odd,” I said hesitantly, reaching for my wallet. As I did so, I felt a familiar object resting in my jeans. Pulling it out, I saw my Switch had somehow made its way back to me. Magic space llama bullshit I assume. I was more concerned with how used to everything I was getting.

Ignoring that for now, I snagged my wallet and Phobia’s Pokeball. The room went quiet, only gasps and subtle mutterings filling the open air as I placed his Pokeball and my driver’s licenses onto the tray. The Chansey nodded, and smiled at me as they waddled out of the room.

I turned to the nurse, who was looking at me dumbfounded, and asked “That’s the second time today that people went quiet looking at Phobia’s Pokeball. Why is that?”

I could guess why but I wanted to hear it from them. After all, they handed these out to the player characters all the time.

The nurse didn’t say anything at first. Instead, looked at me, and snorted.

“You probably get that a lot. Sorry and thank you sir!” she chuckled, leaving the room as she was speaking.

Weird.

I just laid back, and let myself get treated. Almost immediately, my arm felt significantly better thanks to the powers of Chansey. After everyone had cleared out, pulled out the Switch and started it up. Instead of the boxes on screen, I saw a timer for seven days slowly ticking down with no other details. I tried every button I could press, yet it only ever showed the timer. Reaching a dead end, I put it away, and settled in for a much needed nap.

I was woken up by the sound of the hospital door creaking open. Stepping into the room was a blonde haired man, wearing a brown trench coat, sunglasses, and an honest to God (Arceus?) cowboy hat. The man noticed I was awake, dipped his hat as an apology, and started addressing me.

“Pardon the intrusion, Mr. Fletcher, but I think it’d be best if we had ourselves a chat. My name… isn’t important, so feel free to call me Watcher. Agent Watcher of The International Police Services. Now we’ve gotten a strange report about an Unovan runnin’ around Paldea’s fields with an unregistered Master Ball and a false identification. You wouldn’t happen to have anything to say about that, would you Mr. Fletcher?”

Fuck.

Not even a day into a new world and I’ve already ended up on the FBIs watchlist.

Thank you for reading!