Elise had definitely had weirder days. It comes with being a Pokemon Ranger and all the fun and excitement that brings, but having an Ursaring and her two cubs wave you down for a chat? That was new. It was also worrying.

There were very few situations in which a wild Ursaring with two cubs needed help, and she could not think of any that were good. Thankfully, if someone had stolen one of her cubs, the whole forest would have known by now. So at least not that severe.

With caution, she leaned up against a tree as her partner, Umbreon, talked with the Ursaring. She would not move from this spot until given permission to do so. She knew the rules, and the Ursaring knew them too.

This wasn’t the first time she’d traveled through the Ursaring’s territory, and it would not be the last. Part of her job was to check in with all the territory leaders and check on the migratory patterns of the Pokemon within, or around, Eterna Forest. Which, to be fair, was not as difficult as many made it out to be. Once a year, an inspection was required on the territory leaders, just to make sure if any of them had gotten themselves killed, or a new big bad Pokemon had come and bullied them out. It was rare, but it did happen. Very rarely, they would be a problem that the Pokemon themselves needed help with. Most of the time, they were simple things. If a drought happens and they lose their water source, they’d find help. An Ursaring wouldn’t do that though.

“Umbri” Umbreon nodded and sauntered back toward her, as the Ursaring growled to collect her cubs and go on the move.

“Are we supposed to follow?” Elise asked her partner.

She got a simple nod and a gentle headbutt to her side with the attempt to hurry her along. “Well, okay then. How bad is it?”

Umbreon raised one of her paws, and then see-sawed it back and forth.

“Okay, not that bad then. Backup needed?” She asked.

A shake of the head and more gentle headbutts to get her moving was the response. That was enough questions. Her partner knew what risks were, and if she didn’t think they needed backup, then they didn’t need backup.

Elise followed the Ursaring and her cubs at a safe distance, stopping when they stopped, and always being in sight. After a few hours, they were deep within the confines of Eterna Forest, and on the outskirts of Ursaring's territory. Soon, they would cross into the fairy’s grove, and this Ursaring knew better than to trespass, so they should be near their destination.

Suddenly, both the Teddiursa cheered their name and sprinted forward ahead of their mother. Ursaring shook her head in exasperation but didn’t call them back. Very curious behavior.

Within moments, Elise heard a man's voice shouting from up ahead. “Well then! Look who we have here! Come to steal some of my berries again?”

“Teddi!”

“Ted!”

“Ursa, Ursaring.”

Elise looked to the Ursaring, who held a hand out, gesturing for her to take the lead. Elise looked to her partner Umbreon, who looked at her calmly, and then walked forward.

Walking right by a fully grown Ursaring was a test of her resolve, but if push came to shove, Umbreon could hold her own. She might not win, but she could stall Ursaring for a long, long time.

As she passed the Ursaring, she came into a small clearing and to a sight she never expected. Neat rows of hundreds of berry trees of all types and flavors lined up, surprising her. It was a treasure trove of food for any kind of Pokemon. There were Orans, Leppas, Sitris’, Chestos, Choples, Figys, Grepas, Hondews, Lums, Occa’s… the list went on and on. Each tree brimmed with plentiful ripe berries, and many of them had fallen around the base of the trees.

In one of the isles between the trees Elise saw what she was brought here for. A man sat on the ground with both of the Teddiursa climbing over him and sniffing for berries. He held a grin as one of the Teddiursa shuffled through his torn and ragged pockets and found its prize with a squeal.

This man had seen much better days. He was obviously severely malnourished, and if his unkempt beard and long wild hair was any indication, he’d been out here for a long time.

“Ursaring!” Ursaring shouted her name loudly, which drew the look of the man. Elise’s heart almost broke when their eyes met, as the man began sobbing with relief nearly oozing out of every pore in his body.

He must have gotten lost and found himself stuck here for... a long time.

Ursaring nudged her forward with a gentle paw slap, which earned it a growl from her Umbreon, but it didn’t seem to care. It kept its eyes fixed on the man, while two confused Teddiursa attempted to console him as he cried on the ground.

She’d been a part of search and rescue before, it wasn’t uncommon at all. Maybe once a month these types of cases would happen, but this man wasn’t stuck out here for a week, or even a month. He’d been out here for many, many months, judging by the trees he’d grown.

With confidence, she strode forward as Ursaring called her cubs back. They ran right by her, and that was probably the closest that she’d ever get to them ever again. The man had calmed down, but he was in a heap on the ground as he took shuddering breaths.

Elise kneeled in front of him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I am Ranger Elise from Eterna City. You’re going to be okay.”

—--------------------------------------------------------------------

“...you’re going to be okay.”

Ethan had never thought this day would come. It's been nearly a year since he arrived, and for the first time… he could talk to a human. He’d long since finished his cabin, cleared the meadow, and done all he could. There was nothing left for him here, except for the Pokemon.

The dark-haired Pokemon Ranger in front of him looked stoic, but he could see that she was also concerned, which, to be fair, was probably justified. He didn’t know exactly what he looked like, but he’d seen glimpses of his reflection in his stone bowl of water. He… stopped looking after a certain point in time. It made things worse.

“This is my partner, Umbreon. She will not harm you, but I’m going to need to ask you some questions. Is that okay?” Elise asked, her hand still on his shoulder.

Ethan looked at the black mix of a cat and dog off to the side. It had golden rings on its body which glowed faintly, even in the light of day. It gave him a smile and laid down on the ground, resting its head on its paws. “Ye-Yes, please go ahead. Ask whatever you need.”

“Okay. First, what’s your name? Do you have any identification?”

Ahh… I forgot about this part… Ethan thought.

He did have identification, but it was his NYC driver's license. In no way shape or form, that was going to work here. He still had his wallet somewhere in his cabin, but he had no use for it for, well, nearly a year.

“Ethan. Ethan Reed. I don’t…”

Elise waved her hand reassuring him. “That’s fine. Your name will be enough. How long have you been out here, Ethan?”

Ethen took another shuddering breath and clenched his eyes closed. “About a year.”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The sharp intake of breath from Elise made him somehow feel worse. He knew this situation wasn’t his fault, but maybe if he had risked a trek toward civilization it would have been different. He wouldn’t have had to wait for help. He would have—

“That’s a very long time, and you did well to live that long, Ethan. Did you get lost? There is no shame if you did.”

Ethan was sure that if he told her the truth, that she would think he was insane. He would think he was insane if he were in her shoes. But, he doesn’t even know where he is. Not just the general area. He doesn’t even know what region he is in. What was he to do? Lie? He could, but that would just create trouble later on when she discovered he didn’t have any papers. He needed to just… tell the truth. Just, when he knew they would take it seriously.

“You will not believe me. You’re going to think I am insane, but I am still going to tell you the truth. Is there Pokemon who can tell if you’re lying or read memories? I would like one of those.”

Elise frowned and tightened her grip on his shoulder. “There are Pokemon able to read your mind and search your memories, but that is a very serious avenue to take. You can tell me. I’m not going to think you’re insane.”

“I’d like to have a Pokemon read my memories. Then, they can verify that I’m telling the truth. When you search my name in whatever database you have, you’re not going to find any mention of me. I don’t even know where I am.”

Elise’s frown deepened, and her voice turned serious for a moment. “Are you a criminal, Ethan?”

“No. I'm just lost and out of my depth. Use your radio and ask someone to search for me. In the meantime, I’ll sit here.” He responded instantly.

Elise looked at her Umbreon and they had a silent conversation. When it was over, she stood and gripped the walkie-talkie attached to her shoulder. She walked away, toward his cabin and away from the Ursaring and her cubs as she spoke with whoever was on the other side.

Umbreon stayed where it was.

They both sat there for a while, before Ethan broke the ice. “I’ve never seen an Umbreon before. Lots of Pokemon passed through here, but nothing like you. You see these trees? I planted them all, and Pokemon came and went. All eating their fill.”

Umbreon didn’t blink, smile, or make any other reaction. It laid there and stared at him. He fidgeted a bit and figured maybe he should introduce it to the others? No, he probably should just stay here.

“Teddi?”

Looking up, he found one of the Teddiursa was gazing back and forth between Umbreon and him. He smiled and patted his lap, which caused it to smile and tumble over to him. It sat in his lap and he rubbed its head as he growled in contentment.

When Ethan looked to the Umbreon again, it was looking over its shoulder toward the Ursaring, who stared daggers at the Umbreon with muscles tensed. If it made any hostile move, it was going to have a fight for its life.

“I don’t think a Pokemon Ranger’s Pokemon would do anything… but, just to make sure. Do nothing. Umbreons like you are strong indeed, but it would demolish you. These little guys pack a punch too. I’ve seen them fight.”

Umbreon, without moving its gaze away from the Ursaring, scoffed.

The thudding of footsteps approached from behind, and Elise spoke up as she passed him by. “Okay, you weren’t found in any databases. Do you have any form of ID so I can confirm that the name you gave me is legitimate? Anything, at all?”

Ethan nodded slowly, and gestured for the Teddiursa to run back to its mother. It did so, and Ethan got up from the ground. “You don’t get to ask questions about where it's from until that mind reading Pokemon gets my story. Okay?”

“Deal. I have some other rangers coming over here to help with getting you to safety. We’ll take you to Eterna City.”

Ethan led them to his cabin and noticed that someone had moved the door. It was a weird habit he had, but once he had an actual door instead of vines, he had gotten used to rubbing the lines it made through the dirt smooth with his feet. Right now, there were lines. Also, the Oddish who lived right by his house kept their eyes on Elise with judgment.

Elise had entered his cabin.

“Did you find what you were looking for inside my home?” Ethan asked, as they paused right outside the door.

“I was just checking to make sure there was nothing in there to harm me or my Pokemon.”

Ethan stared at her in a moment of awkward silence. “Wait outside.”

She gripped his arm as he tried to turn, and had her other hand next to her belt, where Ethan could see six Pokeballs. The first he’d ever seen, and he was being threatened by them.

“Where are your Pokeballs or Pokemon.” She asked, tersely.

“I don’t have any.”

In her shock, Elise’s grip slackened, and Ethan shrugged her off. Umbreon growled and put herself in between them. He looked back and forth between them in disbelief. “Am I really that untrustworthy? I think if an Ursaring lets me hold her cub, I’m pretty trusting. You broke into my hom—cabin. You broke into my cabin and I’m the one that’s untrustworthy? Fine. Follow me inside. I don’t care. You’ve seen everything already, anyway. The Oddish saw you do it, by the way.”

Elise eased up and Umbreon backed down. He watched as she flicked her eyes toward the nearby Oddish. They all looked away at the exact same time, acting completely innocent.

After rummaging around in his cabin under the watchful gaze of Elise and Umbreon, he eventually found his wallet tucked away in between some of his stashes of berries. He opened it and made sure that everything was still there, then took out his ID and handed it over.

Elise looked back and forth between the picture taken and Ethan, then flipped the ID back and forth in her hands, trying to make sense of it. Ethan helpfully told her what half of the numbers meant. “It has my address, date of birth, expiration date… plenty of information. On the back, you can even see that I'm an organ donor.”

Next, Ethan pulled out his debit card, credit card, and some bills. “These also have my name, and this is money. I’m not from here. And, as I’ve said. You won’t believe me if I told you so I really need that mind reading Pokemon.”

Elise frowned as she sorted through his wallet. When she was finished, she handed everything back to him. “Wait here.”

She stormed outside, but Ethan followed her, much to the displeasure of Umbreon. “I’ll wait next to the Oddish. Go do your thing.”

For the next few minutes, he watched as Elise had a heated discussion with someone over the walkie-talkie. Umbreon was next to him, once again, and never took its eyes off of him.

“I’m from another world.”

He slowly turned his gaze to Umbreon, who somehow raised a singular eyebrow in response. He stared forward again and snorted. “Yeah, that’s about what I expected.”

After another ten minutes passed, Umbreon’s ears perked up, and it looked up at the sky. Ethan followed suit and watched as two enormous birds circled about in the air. After a few seconds, each dived and landed in front of his cabin. A large plume of dust and dirt flew everywhere, and Ethan had to cover his eyes to shield them, before he finally got to see what these Pokemon were.

The first thing he noticed were the two passengers in similar attire to Elise. So, these were probably her reinforcements. The Pokemon themselves were familiar, but this was his first time seeing them in real life.

The first was a dark feathered bird with a puffy white tuft of fur attached to its chest. It looked to be wearing a witch's hat, and its keen eyes scanned the surroundings with acute awareness. It was a Honchkrow. This was a Pokemon he actually knew a decent amount of information on, as it was one of his favorites when he played the games. Moxie was a very useful ability for a novice to beat the game with.

The other one was slightly smaller, but still one of the biggest birds he’d ever seen. While it's gray, black, and white feathers and enormous taloned feet didn’t give away much, the large red pointed mohawk styled feathers atop its head did. It was a Staraptor.

Each Ranger dismounted from their respective birds and scanned his little clearing with shock and a little bit of awe. That alone made him feel a little better about his situation. If nothing else.

They, the two male rangers, gave him a simple nod and then met with Elise. He watched them talk animatedly, gesturing towards him repeatedly, before one of them came over and introduced himself.

“My name is Ranger Roberts, and I have some questions for you, if you don’t mind.”

Ethan nodded. “Go ahead.”

The next few minutes resulted in the exact same manner of what happened with Elise. What is your name? How long have you been here? Can I see your ID?

After each question, Ethan added on that he wanted a Pokemon that could see his memories and prove that he wasn’t lying or insane. They kept asking about why what he had to say would make them think he was insane, but he refused to answer.

Eventually, they finally decided to fill him in on some of their information. Elise was the apparent leader in this small group, as she was the one to talk with him. “We want to take you to Eterna City. Specifically, to a Pokemon center. It’s a Pokemon League mandated building, so you can have a Pokemon read your memories there. We cannot do that out here in the wild, as that would be a severe breach of the law.”

That sounded fine and reasonable to Ethan. At this point, he just wanted to have this over and done with. He wanted to see civilization and be a part of society again. He wanted this nightmare to end.

There was only so much he could handle on his lonesome, and he would admit that he was dangerously close to having a mental breakdown toward the end of his stay. You can only talk to Oddish’s and Hoppip’s so many times before you start to lose your sanity.

“Where is Eterna City? What Region are we in?”

The question took Elise aback, but she answered regardless. “It’s North-east of here, about twenty minutes away by flight. You’re in Sinnoh.”

With a giant sigh of relief, Ethan released the breath he didn’t know he had held. “Okay. I at least know where that is. Is the champion Cynthia?”

Elise stared at him for a moment, concerned, but nodded her affirmation. “That’s correct.”

“Then let's be on our way.”