Markus POV

Phobia was a big boy, and I had to thank my lucky stars that the world of Pokemon was such a caring and forgiving place. It had taken four of Chansey's eggs to fill him up, whereas mine had been just a small portion of one. The Chansey had been loving it, cheering Phobia on as he consumed egg after egg. The whole spectacle drew a small crowd as many stared in awe at my beautiful purple boy, and he was loving the attention.

“Hey, old dude! I challenge you, and your bug to a battle!” A trainer had said while marching up to me. He was young, if I had to guess around 15 years, and was wearing a very familiar orange uniform.

‘I guess I’m in the Scarlet timeline, neat! Wait, what did that kid say,’ I thought before scowling.

“Really kid, I’m only 25! Do I look old or something?” I whined, ready to throw down with a kid.

The kid laughed at me, palming his own Pokeball. “Jeez, I hope I don’t look like that when I grow old. So what about it, old timer, wanna throw down?”

I decided at this time, in this place, at this very moment in existence, this damn child was going to be obliterated.

“Hey, Phobia. Are you down to destroy some kid’s hopes and dreams,” I shouted, crossing my arms and staring down the little bastard. Behind me, I felt Phobia loom over me, as my favorite purple spider rose to his full high. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought this Araquanid had the intimidate ability, because with a little show of strength, the kid looked like he lost all confidence.

“Raq quanid! *With pleasure!*” Phobia announced, giddiness and terror oozing from his words. I had to do a quick double take. Phobia was pretty quiet most of the time, so hearing just how unsettling his voice sounded was a pleasant, yet unexpected surprise.

To the kids credit, he did shake off his nerves, stood a little straighter, and re-locked eyes with me.

“We’ll see about that grandpa! I’ll have you know I collected all eight badges! I even earned a gold border badge! I can take you!”

‘Gold border? What’s that supposed to mean?’ I thought, making my way to the battlefield opposite my opponent. My guess was that it had some kind of challenge attached to it, but that was speculation.

Before the match began, I shouted to the kid. “Hey, just a heads up, I’ve only got Phobia here. You don’t mind making this a one on one match right?”

The kid smirked. “Yea, I’ll take it easy on ya pops! Besides, I’ll only need the one to wipe the floor with ya!”

Fucking hell, these kids are assholes.

One of the nurse joys rushed over to referee our match. After letting her know our conditions, we started.

“This will be a one on one battle between Trainer Martin and Markus. The match will be concluded on withdrawal or knockout. Trainers, release your Pokémon!”

As Phobia was already out, I decided to ham it up.

“Go forth, PHOBIA! My Vessel of Horror!”

Thankfully, Phobia played along, making sure each of his steps were heard. Once he reached his spot, he released his voice, letting it echo through the field. We were just a couple of drama nerds it seems.

“Alright Red, this one’s gonna be a tough one, but you’ve got this! You have the advantage after all!” Martin cried, throwing his ball into the arena, and from it appeared a Talonflame mid flight. They cried out before looking down to see their opponent.

To Martin’s credit, a flying type has a pretty decent matchup against Phobia. The “Brave Bird” bird had been a menace back in its hay day thanks to Gale Wings.

I hummed in thought.

‘Maybe Talonflame is better in this world, since Gamefreak isn’t around to clip their wings.’

“Ready? Match starts!” The Nurse exclaimed, quickly dashing away from the field.

“Alright Red, hit ’em from above with Will-o-wisp!” And the talonflame was off, darting into the sky as a gust of wind helped them speed up. Motes of blue fire were conjured around them as it rose. At the apex of its ascension, the wisps darted towards Phobia.

Seems like Martins never fought an Araquanid before. I sure am happy I’m the one who gets to teach him.

“Don’t bother dodging, show them how useless their move is!” I shouted, watching as the wisps drew closer. Phobia stood stoically, taking the attack head on as it dissipated into nothing but smoke, as my boy was left unscathed.

Martin gaped at Phobia, bewildered that his move had been ignored so easily. He shook it off, readopting his cocky attitude.

“Fine, if they wanna sit still, let them! Pester them with air cutter!”

Blades of wind began swirling around Red’s wings as they flew, growing in power before letting them fly with a single beat of their wings. The move was flashy, I’ll give them that.

“Alright Phobia, time to use it. Liquidation away their attack!”

The sound of rushing rapids began, promising power. As the air blade closed in, Phobia raised their limb, and swung. I watched as the water whipped out past the tip of his leg, and sliced through the attack with little to no resistance, completely negating their attack once again. It was really interesting to see how Phobia could use the same move in a different way depending on his needs.

The match was at a standstill, Martin not letting Red get close, instead throwing out attacks from the air, but staying out of range, and Phobia and I not having any viable range options. At the rate things were going, it would be a death by one thousand paper cute. The kid knew this, as when I glanced over to him, he was wearing a shit eating grin. I needed something, and fast. It was watching Phobia slam down on an air cutter that gave me an idea. I waited for Red to start preparing another air cutter volley when I called out.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Alright let’s try something! Jump and use Liquidation on the ground. Try launching yourself at the bird!”

And dutifully, Phobia obeyed, letting both of his front limbs be covered by the rapid waters before slamming them into the ground. Plumes of dust were left in his wake as Phobia blasted towards their target. Martin tried to call for move, but it had been too late, as a pissed off water spider punched into his Talonflame, sending them careening into the earth. When the dust settled, there were two massive craters, one of them occupied by a very unconscious Talonflame.

I was shaking, my heart was pounding, and my eyes were darting across the field. The adrenaline in my system kept me active, and aware, searching for the next attack.

The feeling was glorious, and I reveled in its embrace. I understood then just what it meant to be a Pokemon Trainer. The passion for combat was infectious. No wonder people here were such adrenaline junkies.

This world is truly amazing.

Martin and I met in the middle of the field after collecting our Pokemon.

“You’re not half bad mister, for an old timer that is!”

“You neither, for an inexperienced whelp who just got whooped.”

We stared at each other, one daring the other to try something, before we both broke into laughter. The little shit wasn’t that bad.

“So you gottta tell me, what is that Pokemon? I don’t think I’ve seen anything like them before,” Martin questioned after our laughter died down. He had his phone out, pointed at Phobia, giving the screen a puzzled look as he flipped through something.

“Yea, Araquanids are beasts, and my boy here is an absolute monster. Their Water Bubble ability is so completely nutty and I love it! Doubling the power of water moves while also preventing burns is just the best,” I replied, giddy that I could gush about my Pokemon. I’d always enjoyed the times I could share my hobby in the past, as few times as that was. I quickly shook out the thought, returning to the current conversation.

Martin nodded along to my words, drinking in the knowledge before freezing, a scowl growing across his face.

“So that’s why will-o-wisp failed. Damn, that right there ruined my entire strategy. I’ll have to look out for stuff like that,” he said mostly to himself. He then shook himself out of this self reflection, and turned to me. “So where would someone find an Araquanid? I think I’d like to add one to my roster!”

Before I could answer, a familiar voice came from behind me.

“They’re native to Alola, and usually they’re on the restricted list. They’re considered a guardian on Akala island, making the natives quite territorial of their Pokemon.”

I let out a sigh as I turned to greet Agent Watcher. Surprisingly, he wasn’t alone. Accompanying him was the old ranger that helped me out, and a Gardevoir.

“I’d hate to interrupt the after-battle banter, but I’m afraid we’ll have to borrow Markus for a while.”

Martin looked like he wanted to argue at that, but slumped, reluctantly nodding.

“Thanks for the battle grandpa. I usually hang out around here after school. Next time we meet, I’ll smack ya back to the Stone Age!”

With that, Martin took his leave, b-lining towards the central lobby to get his Pokemon checked on.

“So, what could I do for you, agent?” I asked, turning my attention to the group. I noticed that they weren’t looking at me, but instead their attention seemed to be focused on Phobia, who had moved to loom over me. I coughed into my hand, startling the group as they looked at me.

Watcher cleared his throat, and started. “Right, apologies about that. I was hoping we could chat some more about yesterday, if ya don’t mind.”

“Yea I don’t mind, whatever gets me off the watch list. I can’t help but notice you brought some more friends this time though,” I responded, looking to the others. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Gardevoir, and it’s good to see you again, sir. Sorry I couldn’t thank you properly for saving my ass.”

“The names Takahashi, and just doing my job. Good to see you doing better,” the old ranger said, extending a hand, which I shook. His grip was akin to a vice, promising strength that lies beneath. I returned the gesture in kind, which he had nodded at. “Congrats on the win. If I didn’t know better, I’d ask if you were trained in Kanto, based on how you battle. I’ve got some criticism though, if you’re willing to hear.”

I smiled at the man, leaning in to show my genuine interest in what he’d have to say. I always appreciated advice from those much more knowledgeable than I. Our conversation was unfortunately cut short by Watcher.

“I’m sure y’all will have enough time to discuss this later. For now, I think it’d be best if we talked.”

I nodded, and Takahasi grunted his annoyance, which got a small round of chuckles from the rest of us.

“So, did you wanna talk now or…” I asked after everything settled, purposefully letting the rest of my sentence fall off. Watcher picked up immediately as to what I was implying, quickly glancing at Takahashi. The old ranger sighed, mutating something about a lazy Psychic before releasing his Arcanine. I quickly returned Phobia before stepping close, preparing for the inevitable teleportation.

It really didn’t help.

——————————————————————

‘It’s quite a lovely house,’ I thought after recovering from retching my guts out. I don’t think I’d ever get used to the feeling, and currently, the Gardevoir cackling up a storm behind me didn’t help. At some point, someone had brought me some nausea medication, and water.

“I have no clue how you guys can handle that. It’s actually torture,” I mentioned, walking into the home.

“Countless amounts of situations very similar to yours,” Takahashi answered. He had a thousand yard stare, probably reliving all of the times he was in my position. We fell into a silent understanding, shuddering at the memories of teleportation's aftermath.

The sound of someone slapping their knees drew our attention, and Watcher cleared his throat.

“Welp, since we’re on the topic of unpleasantness, I don’t see a better time to start. If you don’t mind Markus, I think picking up where we left off yesterday would be just dandy. So mind enlightening as to the quality of the Pokemon available to you?”

Damn, they were starting off with the hardest question to answer. I sighed, reaching into my pocket to grab my Switch. Reluctantly, I placed it on the table and slid it over to Watcher. He looked between the device and me, before inspecting it.

“So what am I looking at?” Watcher asked, picking up my Switch.

“Probably exactly what you’d think it’d be,” I replied. “A Nintendo Switch, filled with a bunch of Pokémon.”

He nodded, inspecting the device before calling over his colleagues, letting them take a look at it. When it was the Gardevoir’s turn to look, I saw their eyes widen, and flash blue for a second as they continued their inspection.

“Is everything alright? It looks like you saw something,” I question the Psychic type, hoping nothing bad has occurred. After all, they still had yet to open Pandora’s Box.

*Oh it’s nothing big. Your device just reminded me of an old myth from when I was younger. It has a similar color scheme to the Arc Phone,* a voice suddenly echoed through my head.

I must have been startled at that, because a moment later, I could hear more giggling coming from the Pokemon, and a sigh came from the agent.

“Don’t mind Green, he’s a bit of an asshole,” Watcher stated, his attention never leaving my Switch.

“It’s fine, just wasn’t ready for that. It must be nice having a translator for you!” I said after recollecting myself. “And if I’m not mistaken, are you talking about the Hisuian myth? I might know a bit about that subject.”

“*WHAT??!*”

This time, Green had spoken out loud, but instead of hearing the Pokémon’s name, it had been fully translated. Whatever was going on warranted a much deeper dive than I was hoping.

‘Later issue,’ I decided.

“Yea, back in my previous world, we had an entire game dedicated to ancient Hisui, and the events that unfolded. We played as the person who was displaced in time, being granted the Arc Phone. I never finished it, but I know a lot about it!”

“*Are you telling me that you know of ancient Hisui, and everything that we had spent decades trying to decipher,*” Green cried out, again not bothering to use their telepathy.

“If it makes you feel better, I’m sure it’s not completely one to one information, but yea,” I said apologetically.

It was at this time that I noticed both Watcher and Takahashi had paused their investigations, staring bug-eyed at the two of us. It was Takahashi who broke the deafening silence.

“Kid, did you just hold a conversation with Green, without him using his mind tricks?”

The expression on Green’s face had shifted from astonishment to complete bafflement as his eyes bulged from his head. “*YOU CAN UNDERSTAND ME??!!?!*”

‘I guess that “later” is now.’

“I can, when I first came here, I could sense the intention behind their words, but now I’m getting full sentences.”

A stillness settled over the room at the reveal. The group was taking in my multiple sudden reveals, and not handling it well.

“Fucking distortion kid, you sure don’t make paperwork easy,” Watcher muttered, bringing an end to the yet again building quiet. Their group all let out a soft chuckle as they went back to their work.

I idly played with Phobia’s Pokeball, trying to calm my nerves. My paranoia kept telling me that they’re gonna see the boxes and decide I was too much trouble to keep around, especially with what I had already revealed about myself. What didn’t help was Green constantly keeping me in their sight, their eyes filled with suspicion. I began to shake, seeing Watcher turn on the Switch.

It was then that chaos erupted in that sleepy house.

Watcher took one look at the boxes, and passed out.

Green took a defensive stance in front of Watcher, extending their hands as energy warped around them.

Takahashi and I shot out of our seats, releasing our Pokemon.

Fire erupted from Archie’s mouth, and the sounds of an angry river started beside me.

I looked down at my Switch, turning pale as I understood what happened.

Staring back from the screen were the icons of many Legendary Pokemon.

One of those Pokemon being Arceus themselves.

Thanks for Reading!