After a few more activities in P.E. class, it was break period. Pokémon from different classes were free to hang out with one another and do whatever (inside of school rules, that is). A Joltik was eating a package of gummies, he had received before school, alone on a bench. He didn’t know what was wrong with these jellybeans, but after eating some of them, it felt like he was… more energetic? Now he was doubting that these gummies weren’t actually drugs…
Claire had invited him to play with her and the others, but he refused. Reason was that he just wanted some time alone to think about some stuff now that things had calmed down. But thinking back on it all… wow… a lot happened without time to process it all.
So first off, the internet from this world is the same as Earth, which sounds impossible but when thinking about it… it does sound like something plausible, after all, Pokémon has a lot of bullshit that had yet to be revealed. He subdued his fear of bugs with help from his mom (which still feels weird to say when saying it out loud, just at the thought of him having a mother that’s also a spider). For some reason, there’s a criminal organization transforming humans into straight-up monsters, and he could very well become a victim. And just to shake off a feeling of dread, he had another feeling of dread by playing dodgeball with a bunch of magic-powered creatures that, you know, casually switch between four to two legs.
But in actuality, it wasn’t anything to stress over. Yes, the humans turning into monsters is a big issue, however, it is easily avoided if he blends in perfectly. After all, who would suspect a bug to be a human-
“Greetings.” “Friend.”
John screamed in a squeaky high-pitched tone. He turned to look at the white rodents who startled him. Oh yes, this was an issue to actually stress about. It wasn’t because of the sacrifice crap, he knew that it was just for the scares, but instead, it was because they looked like they could use him as a chewing toy at any time. He just couldn’t trust creatures whose mouths were filled with sharp teeth. John took some steps back, dragging his gummy package with a sheepish smile. “Heeeeey guys… what’s up…?”
Popo took a step forward. “It is time for the second part of your test.” Nana followed. “Your physical skills have proven that you are no ordinary Pokémon, like your soul.” “Thus, this test shall prove if you are capable enough of handling the Great One’s presence alone.” “After all, the majority of souls are not fit for the sight of such greatness itself.”
John started to mentally sweat. “Um… what kind of test is this…?”
The Tandemaus leaned their heads forward. “An interview that will decide your fate depending on the answers.”
Oh great… this was the day he is getting eaten, isn’t it? “Uh… what are the stakes here exactly-”
“Let us begin with the first question.” Nana interrupted and Popo followed. “What is your ideal life?”
“Seriously? No… questions of body type or what is your greatest fear?” John asked as his muscles relaxed a little.
The Tandemaus just stared silently at John for a moment before speaking. “Silly friend.” “We have known that since we looked at your soul.” “It is quite a silly fear for a soul indeed.” “But we do not judge a soul on the quality of the fears, they are unimportant for a sacrifice.” “We just like knowing the fear of the souls we like, so we can be acquainted more with them.”
The Joltik rubbed the back of his head. “Aha… that’s um… flattering to know.”
“Back to our question, friend.”
“Right…” John looked around as he thought of the answer. He honestly didn’t think much about how his life could be if he got everything he wanted ideally, so whatever answer he thought about would be simple. “So… I don’t think about it much. But… ideally, I just want to live a good and calm life along with my friends and… well… my family, I guess…” He looked away, a bit nervous about the answer he had given.
John looked back at the duo of mice, who were staring with the same soulless expression as always. “Interesting.” One said before leaning back. “An interesting response indeed.” The other said before leaning back too. “The Great One has a similar thought.” “But they are less comprehensible for the weak and mortal mind.”
John sheepishly laughed. “Great to know we uh… share something I guess…” The Joltik started walking backward to the edge of the bench. He glanced back to see where he was stepping. “Well… nice interview guys, gonna go now-”
The mice were in his face as John looked back, making him scream again. “Next question.” The yellowish spider started shaking. Just the sight of these mice just caused so much dread and anxiety for the poor Joltik. “What if one day, your world completely gets changed and you were forced to start all over again? What would you do?”
The Joltik gulped and stammered. “U-um… I… I would…. I would analyze the situation to… to plan and adapt accordingly so I can… do better.” Popo and Nana just stared for another awkward moment. “Uh… did I-”
“Excellent answer.” “Adaptability and rational thinking is something the Great One loves.” The mice tilted their heads. “It is time for the final question of the interview.” John gulped. However, to make it even more scary for the little spider, the mice leaned their heads closer to John while asking. “What would your reaction be if you met an eldritch being that is unimaginable to your mortal mind?”
“Erm…” John looked to the side. He would have lied and said something that is not to their liking just to fail the interview, but the way they just stare at him… it’s like one wrong question and they sink their teeth into his flesh. The Joltik guessed that they just wanted honest answers instead of right or wrong answers. “Alright… um… I guess that I would be a bit scared, confused, and amazed about what I was seeing. Typical hu-… I mean… mortal reaction. However, I would try to comprehend what it was and not panic after the slight scare.”
After another awkward moment of staring, the duo leaned back and smiled. “Our suspicious were correct.” “You are truly a remarkable vessel.” “Not just physically.” “But mentally as well.” “We have decided.”
John held back a scream at the sight of the sharp teeth. “U-uh… decided what…?”
“You shall have a meeting with the Great One. It shall decide your fate today at night.”
“W-WHAT!?” John waved his nubs in front of them. “B-but, I don’t even know where he is, so unfortunately… I can’t-”
“It shall come to you at midnight.” “To encounter it, stay in front of a reflective object.” “Preferably, a big one.” “You shall know when it appears.”
“B-but…” Before John could protest, the Tandemaus jumped off the bench and walked away.
“We shall meet again friend. Hopefully, for us, the Great One shall grant you enlightenment.”
John stayed in silence for a moment before looking back at his pack of gummies. “I don’t think I’m hungry anymore…” Alright, now he was getting some red flags from all over. He was thinking that this so-called Great One would be like something imaginary and the sacrifices were a synonym for eating people. But the way they said to look in a reflective object and that whatever the Great One is would come out of it, just made John really anxious. “It’s fine, it’s fine… it’s just a prank and whoever this “Great One” is… probably fictional.”
The bell rang and every student went back to their classes.
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John sat on his table as he looked around the class. It seemed that everyone (that he had seen the previous time he was in the class) was there. John, unfortunately, sat in the middle of a nine-seat class, meaning that he was the center of attention. If he wanted to, he would sit in the back of the class, however, he couldn’t because of two things. One, the back row already had owners. Two, the owners were unfortunately Elsa and her cats. On the middle row, sat him and Cer… Cerb… the skull dog, and in the front row sat Claire, Taro, and Amy.
When the Joltik locked eyes with the dark canine, he noticed that he was staring directly at him. John stared back at him for a moment before asking a bit nervously. “Erm… is something wrong…”
Claire started looking back, just as the fire dog started sniffing John. Claire’s initial thought is that Cerbera was going to eat him, however, the fire type said something way worse than the Vulpix expected. “This smell… John, I know what you are!”
The Joltik felt time stop all around him as his stomach dropped. He just had one job to blend in and it’s all going down the drain already? John stuttered as he did his best to put on a sheepish smile. “O-oh really…?”
“That’s right! This smell is unmistakable! You’re just like me!” The Joltik tilted his head at that. Was he… “I am… or was… a wild Pokémon just like you!”
Claire and John both let out a sigh of relief. John mustered the strength for a fake smile. “Yep! O-oh boy… how did you find out so quickly?”
The Houndour grinned. “That’s easy! You got the smell of someone who came from the wilds!” Cerberus put a paw over John. “I’m glad there’s someone as superior as me in this class! After all, there’s no way simple Joltik would play that well in P.E.!” He started laughing, making John sheepishly laugh with him too. However, their laughs were stopped once the door to the classroom opened, making Cerbera stay still on his hay seat.
John flinched a little once he took a look at the teacher. The teacher was a large dinosaur-like creature, with grey scaly skin, blue stripes on their legs, tail, wrists, and neck, sharp bone spikes coming out of their knees, neck, and the round blue top of their head. Speaking of that feature, wow did that look hard. If someone got hit by a headbutt by that thing, they would get launched to the moon. Also, for some reason dinosaurs are alive here? … That’s good to know. ‘Just the usual weirdness of the Pokémon world… what else is there to expect by this point, gods?’
“Good morning class!” The dinosaur said with a gruff voice and the class replied with a “Good morning Mr. Pachy!” The teacher walked in front of its desk and put a book on it. He looked at the class, eyes locking on the Joltik after searching. “Oho, so there is a new student. Care to make introductions for me, please? I am informed that you already presented yourself to the class.”
John stuttered and looked down. “W-well um… name’s John and as you can clearly see…” He looked back up with a sheepish grin. “I’m a Joltik!”
“Well, you’re certainly a rare specimen of your species. Quite small but intelligent, I see. My name is Parchos, but you can call Mr. Parchy, your history teacher.” John nodded rapidly, he just wanted to get the class to start ASAP before anyone else gets any more suspicion. “Anyways, erm…” Pachy opened the book on his desk and began skimming through the pages. “Got it.” He looked back towards the class. “So, today’s class is about the very continent we live in. The Fire Continent!” The Rampardos started pacing in front of the teacher’s desk. “As you know from the previous year, this continent was the last one in being discovered, around seven hundred cycles ago. Once found, there were lots of new types of Pokémon discovered.”
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John put a nub on his chin. ‘So this continent basically the America of this world huh…? Wonder what kinds of other similarities it has.’
The Houndour of the class raised a paw. “Teach, teach, teach!”
Mr. Parchy turned to the excited Cerbera. “Yes, Cerbera?”
“Why is it called the fire continent if there are almost no fiery places? Why there are no Volcanoes as well?”
The teacher chuckled. “Good question, kid.” He cleared his throat. “At the time of discovery, this continent was filled with active volcanoes, filled to the brim with fire type Pokémon. Groudon was found resting here as well at one point in that time.” The kids let out curious noises at the mention of Groudon while John just stared in confusion. “However, as time moved forward, the volcanos became inactive and wildfire types were forced to move out from the newly-formed mountains. An example of one of those mountains is Mt. Gelo.”
At the mention of that name, Claire’s eyes widened as she started shaking. Tears came out of her eyes as her vision faltered. John noticed that the Vulpix did not look fine and decided to ask. “Claire… is something wrong?”
The teacher stopped his explanation to look at the fire type fox. “Is… something wrong Claire?”
She came to her senses and looked at the teacher. “I-it’s…” She wiped her tears. “I-I’m fine teacher… it’s just…” She trailed off, looking away before glancing back at the teacher. “I just need to go to the bathroom…”
While no one was looking, Elsa frowned and looked away. The Rampardos nodded. “Sure, you can go to the bathroom…”
Claire nodded and walked out of the classroom. John just stared at the Vulpix in confusion. Just what was happening with Claire? ‘Hope she’s alright at least…'
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The fire type Vulpix entered the female bathroom, not even bothering to turn on the lights, it was all her fault. She opened the faucet and let water fall in the sink, the sound of water reverberating around the bathroom, it was all her fault. She splashed some water on her face, letting it wash the dirt and impurities away and making her fur drip a little, it was all her fault. She looked at the mirror and saw her sad and pathetic expression, inner struggles full of guilt eating her away, it was all her fault.
It was all her fault it was all her fault it was all her fault It was all her fault it was all her fault it was all her fault It was all her fault it was all her fault it was all her fault It was all her fault it was all her fault it was all her fault It was all her fault it was all her fault it was all her fault It was all her fault it was all her fault it was all her fault It was all her fault it was all her fault it was all her fault It was all her fault it was all her fault it was all her fault-
It was all your fault, Claire!
“STOP!!!” Glass shattered in front of Claire, making her snap out of her inner turmoil. She opened her eyes, panicked stricken, and began to calm down and control her breathing. She looked around her to see shards of the mirror scattered on the floor. How did that happen? She didn’t care, she just wanted to get her mind off of him. “… Hiro…”
Claire splashed more water onto her face and got away from the sink. “I can’t let others see me like this… what would John even think of me?” She needed to look strong and brave, or else how would John feel safe in this world? How would she be able to protect him if the worst comes to worst?
The Vulpix then returned to the class, entering the class with a forced smile. “I’m back!” She looked over to the Joltik and gave him a nod, returning to her seat. However, the Joltik didn’t buy that act just by looking at Claire.
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After school was over, everyone took the bus back to their home. While on the bus, the Joltik noticed that Claire was silent throughout all the bus, just responding to certain things when Taro and Amy spoke to her. ‘What is going on with her?’ John thought before looking out the window on top of Claire’s head. ‘I’ll ask her once we get home…'
After a small while, the two Vulpix and the Joltik got home. Strangely enough, Elsa didn’t do any of her usual comments towards the duo as she usually does every time they leave the bus. John thought that it was because of the dodgeball game, but that wouldn’t make sense, she would just annoy him even more if that was the case. After entering the bedroom of the house, John jumped on the bed and finally decided to ask the Vulpix. “Hey uh… Claire?”
Claire looked back at the greenish-yellow spider while taking off her uniform. “Yes, John?”
“So uh… about what happened in history class today…” Claire physically froze, making her stop removing her uniform. “What happened that you suddenly started shaking?”
The orange six-tailed vulpine stood silent, before clearing her throat. “W-well…” She looked back at John with a forced smile. “I just had a small seizure, it happens sometimes.”
John frowned. “Are you sure it was just a seizure…? I don’t think there were enough signs to be a seizure…”
“It’s because you’re used to human seizures. Pokémon seizures happen differently!” Claire kept smiling forcefully as she continued taking out her uniform.
John, however, was still not buying it. However, he didn’t have enough evidence to push a bit of info out of her, so he left it at that for now. Claire mentally sighed in relief. “Hey Claire, where’s your laptop? I need to ask Harry something. And before you get excited, no it’ll be just text.” The Vulpix pointed at the laptop while holding her uniform with her mouth. John jumped on the desk where the device was and opened it up with a lot of strength and effort. Wow, even opening a notebook is a pain for his tiny body.
John turned it on and after a couple of seconds, the home scream appeared with the Asuri logo on the wallpaper, being just two claws (more like katars, do they even have that?) crossed together. Even if John didn’t like the idea of a company from another world plagiarizing from the original, he was actually thankful to them to let him still use the internet. John opened Discord again and saw that Harry was online. He began typing.
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image [https://file.garden/ZeEYyRamDG12bOk5/Screenshots.jpeg]
image [https://file.garden/ZeEYyRamDG12bOk5/Alice.png]
image [https://file.garden/ZeEYyRamDG12bOk5/CEO.jpeg]
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It was as he feared. Pokémon were slowly but surely starting to reveal themselves to the world through the internet. A side of John mentally reassured himself that everything would be fine and the world would continue as normal, however, another side of him told him to panic and that his world would fall into chaos. He took the calm side of him and took a deep breath, looking at Claire who was sitting beside him looking at the conversation. “O-oh, didn’t see you there.”
The Vulpix smiled while wagging her tails. “Yeah, just wanted to see what you were typing to Harry.”
“Well, it’s kinda a concerning topic…” He looked back to the images, looking at the last one specifically. That profile picture was that same masked cat from that invitation video, meaning that was truly the CEO of that company. But that message was worrying… what is she planning?
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Elon Musk was busy checking his Twitter on his computer as usual, posting a stolen meme here and there, and replying to some big verified people. It seemed that people didn’t really like the action he took of firing some employees of the company, unfortunately, they would never understand that it was the best action for the company and the future of the new era of Twitter.
Suddenly, his phone started to buzz and vibrate. He took the phone and started speaking. “Yes?”
A female voice spoke on the other side. “Mr. Elon? There is a call from someone that is… strange… but I think you should hear them out…”
“Pass the line to them.”
“Understood.”
The line cut before being redirected to another voice that had a more smooth female voice. “Good morning, goodnight, or afternoon Mr. Elon. My name is Alice Mishima, the CEO of Asuri Technology Industries from the Pokémon world. And I would like to-”
“Wait, wait, wait.” The man chuckled. “Pokémon world? Seriously?”
“That is indeed correct. This might sound like a joke, but it is the truth.”
“Whatever joke call this is won’t get me. It’s so bad that is funny-”
“Have you not checked the trending tab yet?” Elon then looked at his computer and checked the trending tab. And one of the top 3 trending things was Pokémon. “If you want proof that my joke has a little bit of truth in it, be my guest.”
The man furrowed his brows as he clicked on the Pokémon tab. It then showed posts and retweets of photos of realistic Pokémon along with some screenshots of the new game crowding the trend. Elon just tried to think of excuses in his head that it probably was some Photoshop crap or some really talented artists. Although, he reached a video that had a realistic Lucario using some moves against a dummy. He couldn’t help but stutter while trying to talk to her again. “W-what do you want…?”
“I know all about you. I did my research, and you’re just the man I need, that would be essential for something later... I want to make a deal…”
“What kind of deal?”
“Simply put, I want you to give ownership of Twitter… to me.” That made the man choke on his own spit. “You cannot deny that, ya know? The entire thing is falling apart as we speak, you don’t want it to shut down just when you got the ownership do you?” Before the man could speak again, Alice interrupted. “Also, the thing is, you cannot deny this deal. If you do, one of my best hackers will take control of Twitter anyways. Which will you choose? The easy way or the hard-”
Suddenly, the man just hung up the call. Seriously, who did that woman think she was? Thinking she can just prank him and take control over the entire company? All of that made his good mood disappear, just made him more stressed. “Just another one of those little shits that call here… how did she get past the secretary anyways? Gonna need to find someone else…”
Before he could get back to doing what he was doing, a portal appeared in front of the door, making the man fall out of his chair from the scare. The portal had a golden outline, almost like a ring. From the portal came three strange creatures. On the left, there was a floating genie-like creature with two horns, pink hair, and two floating disembodied hands as well. On one of the horns, there was a ring hanging on it as well. It seemed that the creature was frowning, looking aside.
On the right, there was a black and pink bipedal lizard creature with a feminine-looking body as well, snorting smoke from her nostrils.
In the middle, there was a green bipedal feline, who apparently had a mask on her face. With her arms folded behind her, Alice spoke before the man could. “It appears that you have chosen the hard way…” She shrugged. “It is something expected from a man that fired most of his employees in less than a week.”
“W-Who… what… what are you…?” The man asked, backing up to a glass wall with absolute fear.
“If it isn’t obvious at this point, we are Pokémon!” She then walked slowly towards the man. “As I remember correctly, I gave you two options... and you have chosen the hard way… so some drastic measures are needed for this deal to be done…” She stopped and looked back at the Salazzle who nodded in return. She walked over to the computer of the CEO and started messing with it.
“W-what are you doing!? S-stop… stop this at once-”
The Meowscarada put a finger over the man’s mouth. “Ssssshhhh… no need to cry about it. Don’t worry, we are only doing this for the good of both worlds…” She pulled back her paw and folded her arms behind her again, looking at the Sallazle. "How are you managing?"
The Sallazle looked at Alice, pointing her thumb at the screen. "It seems we need a password, boss girl."
The Meowscarada hummed as she looked back at Elon with a fake pleading look. "Would you be so kind as to give your beloved password to us?"
The man was slowly crawling towards the phone a bit away, subtly. "I'm gonna fucking call security at you freaks of nature! Like hell, I'm gonna give the passwords to dumb anima-"
Suddenly, Alice's claw started glowing with some dark purple aura. The aura changed its shape into a scythe made out of darkness in a second. Alice put the tip of the scythe near the man's neck as her smirk disappeared, turning into a menacing glare. "That. Wasn't. A request..."
Elon Musk shrieked and flinched at the sight of the scythe before nodding rapidly. "Fine, fine! I-I'll give you the password!"
"Good..." Alice dissipated her scythe and looked back at Hoopa who was leaning at the door, still frowning. "Hoopa, guard the door, there is obviously a security camera here who saw our entrance." With a flick of her paw, she launched a dark slash projectile at said cameras. "Send any security personnel who tries to enter, somewhere else, got it?" Hoopa slowly nodded and left the room. Alice turned to Elon who was still shaking in fear, she approached him again. “Your usefulness is not over yet, Elon Musk.” She grinned. “We have something else to do, and for that, we need your help. After all, you are not the richest man in the world for nothing.” Alice chuckled. "Project Wonderland is about to truly start."
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It was almost midnight. The Ninetales and Vulpix already went to bed. John pretended to sleep in Claire and Elsa’s room so he could access the mirror in their room. Honestly, it was a big enough mirror, so whatever it is that those mice planned would be good enough. However, John couldn’t stop thinking about how much bullshit all of that sounded. Seriously, who would appear at midnight through a mirror? Only if it is a horror story monster that’s for sure… do they even have those here?
John looked at the clock, thankfully with his spider vision, he could see in the dark well. It was midnight as the clock pointed. John looked back to the mirror and waited for something to happen. However, nothing was really happening except for the slight feeling of anxiety growing within him. The Joltik sighed and turned away. “Thankfully, they were just joking at least…”
Suddenly, the mirror started to darken without John looking. Two big red eyes appeared for a second and looked at John before disappearing. From the mirror, a black tendril with a red sharp tip wrapped around the spider and pulled him into the mirror. No one could hear John’s scream.