Darkness.
Darkness was all he could see. It expanded beyond the horizon, in the corner of his eyes, on all three and perhaps four dimensions, everywhere he saw was complete and utter darkness.
Instead of floating in the void, John felt he was standing on solid ground. He looked down to see where he was standing… it was darkness. However, he could see something else rather than just the darkness, his own body, not the Pokémon one, but his human one. He saw his tan-colored five-fingered hands, jeans, red sneakers, and beige leather jacket. All of the clothes he was wearing before he died, even his underpants were the same.
How did he remember what kind of underwear he was wearing that day? Hell if he knew.
“Where-?” He quickly shuts his mouth as he realized that his voice wasn’t as squeaky anymore. He opened his mouth again. “Where am I…?” He looked back at his hands. “Is… is this a dream?” He never had a lucid dream up until this point, so when he first awakened in the Pokémon world he thought it was strange until the weight of reality had crashed down on him the following day.
“You are correct, this is a dream, our dream.”
John turned around and screamed, falling on his back onto the dark floor and backing away a little from the creature he saw. “Wh-what? You…”
In front of him, MissingNo. stood still in its normal ghostly form. Even though the glitch particles around it were gone, the pool of static and Pokémon limbs coming out of it was still there below its head. The glitch Pokémon chuckled. “What? Don’t tell me you already forgot little ol’ us.”
The human realized that its voice wasn’t as glitchy anymore, probably because this was a dream as MissingNo. Said. His voice was still a bit intimidating with that reverb. John slowly got up, shrugging off the fear that plagued his mind as he kept eye contact with the eldritch entity in front of him. “I… forgot you were inside me…” However, he realized something terrible. “Wait… if you have access to my dreams… does that mean…”
The monochrome entity shook its head. “We didn’t pry into your memories, even though we currently have access to them. Although…” It moved closer to John, the Pokémon limbs being used as a form of locomotion. It leaned its head close to the human, its multiple eyes analyzing him as the human flinched. “We would never have imagined that a small little Joltik could be a human in disguise all along.”
The young man took a small step back on impulse, rubbing the back of his head as he looked aside. “Oh yeah… I forgot to tell you that I um… I’m a human.”
MissingNo. leaned back. “Interesting… so this is how humans truly look back in their world.”
John tilted his head in confusion. “Wait, weren’t you watching when my friends and I went into the human world…?”
The glitch entity chuckled again and lifted a finger from his claws. “Let me remind you that we're currently in a small hibernation. We're not awake inside your body, because if we was, not only would it hinder the process of stabilization but it would also make your body have… unpleasant side effects.”
John crossed his arms (oh he missed doing this… and having arms in general). “What sort of side effects are we talking about…?”
“Well… remember that vessel we were using when we met you and the others? You would become like that if we were awake.” John shuddered at the thought of becoming a creature akin to a glitchy monster from a creepypasta. “Not only that but you’d slowly start to lose yourself, making yourself nothing more than a loyal glitch Pokémon.”
John didn’t want to think about that further, or else he would regret being used as a “stability incubator” for the glitch entity. He tried switching the topic as he started to look around. “So… you’re gonna be dreaming of this void for less than two weeks?”
“That’s where you’re wrong” It chuckled “Remember that this is a dream, a lucid one that is, we can think of anything and it will come to reality. However… there’s one single thing that we’d like to imagine until I leave your body.”
John slightly tilted his head as he put his hands in his jacket pocket. “And that is…?” Suddenly, the void around them started to disappear and a flash of white appeared before a new environment started to shape itself, the human feeling the ground around him change into a softer and smoother surface. John looked around as the new scenery came into view. They were on a beach, standing on the sand in front of the sea in the time of a beautiful sunset. An orange-colored sea and sky could be seen expanding over the horizon. No one else was in sight. “Woah…”
MissingNo. stood next to John and did its best equivalent of a sit, sinking a portion of its head into the pool of static below it. “It’s our dream to experience a sight such as this.” It sighed a bit in disappointment. “We know how this looks from what Arceus told me when they were creating the world. We would be the first Pokémon to experience the world, to get a grasp of how it felt to live…”
John sat on the sand, crossing his legs before looking at the glitch entity with pity. “I… might not understand how that feels but uh… I’m sorry for you.”
The monochrome Pokémon gave a hearty chuckle before turning to the human. “Don’t be. We are beyond feeling sad now about that. After all, at least now we're finally getting a chance to see it after an eternity of being stuck in that prison.”
The human sheepishly smiled. “Yeah… I guess you’re right…” John looked back to the unmoving sunset, a frown creeping up on his face as he thought back on the conversation he had with Claire.
MissingNo. noticed the silence coming from the blonde human, making it ask. “Is something plaguing your mind, human?”
John glanced at the glitch Pokémon for a moment before sighing, bringing his knees to his chest. “Eh… it’s nothing big, it’s just… something that I said to Claire, the Vulpix in case you forgot.”
It lowered its claws to the ground. “Oh… that sturdy Vulpix. We have to admit, she has the fire needed to overcome any obstacle, I could see it in her resilience and determination. But what did you say to her?”
The human stared at the floor for a moment before opening up. “She had a little problem of… fantasizing too much of my species… she thought that every human had a pure heart, that they were some sort of benevolent beings that came from… I dunno, Heaven or something to help out Pokémon and save the world at the end of some magical journey. So all I did was give her a reality check once she went and saw how my species were in the human world.” He looked away. “Maybe I was a bit harsh at my words…”
MissingNo. thought for a little before shaking its head. “You weren’t. She had to realize one way or another, you needed to get your words through before something worse made her realize that she was wrong.” It looked to the orange sky. “It’s something that Giratina failed to do before we tried to leave the Hollow Forest. We did not listen to them and we paid the price…”
John looked at the glitch entity curiously. “What happened?”
Its giant smile faltered a little bit. “Once we left… my body started becoming unstable, corrupting the environment around us and corrupting more of our already broken body… we were forced to return. Even so, we kept trying, using my glitch Pokémon as vessels as a way to walk freely into the normal world. However… it wielded the same results, unfortunately.” It looked back at the human. “And that was when we accepted our fate and spent millions of years in that prison. You did the right thing, John. It would be way worse if Claire found out their true nature by other means.”
John stared at the sunset before huffing. “Yeah… I think you’re right…” Suddenly, small whisps of light started coming out of John’s body, more appearing by the second. “What’s happening…?”
“You are being woken up.” MissingNo. chuckled before rising from his pool of static. “It has been fun talking with you. Hope next time you tell us some fun gossip that happened with you!”
As the glitch entity waved with the disembodied claws and some Pokémon limbs, John smiled sheepishly. “See ya in the next dream…?”
The human’s body dissipated into white wisps of light that floated away, and the next thing he knew… he was on a couch.
The Joltik opened his four eyes and looked around the place a little confused, smelling dog breath for some reason and spotting silk around him. He looked at the source of the smell and saw Reya retracting her snout away from him. She smirked slightly in a vulpine way at him. “Rise and shine, John. I see you got used to being a bug type and made a small bed for you.” She chuckled.
The greenish spider blinked a few times, his awareness slowly but surely returning to him. “R-reya…?” He rubbed his eyelids as best as he could. “What time is it…?”
“It’s school time, John. You have to get used to it now.” She chuckled again. “At what time you would even wake up?”
John released a squeak akin to a yawn. “I used to wake up at like… ten in the morning most of the time…” Man, was he starting to regret returning to school life, it was taking away the freedom that adulthood offered.
However, that time was over. This was a new life he had to deal with.
The fire Ninetales tilted her head in confusion. “Wait, didn’t you have a job?”
John got up and stretched his small body. “I did, but I work remotely from my house on the computer.” He said before slowly stepping out of the silk-made nest. Maybe he was so tired that he didn’t even remember making it… that was a bit concerning to know. What other instincts would come out of him subconsciously? Better not think about that for now… “Anyways uh… is Clare and… Elsa… ready yet?”
“Izo is waking them up before getting ready to work.” Reya said before standing up. “You should get ready too, breakfast is ready.” She put a paw on her chest while making a proud face. “Made by yours truly.”
John chuckled before starting to hop away as he said. “Thank you!” He found out that the fastest way for him to move around the place is by jumping when Claire wasn’t around. He figured that he shouldn’t depend on others too much or else he would get a bit sedentary.
The Joltik arrived at the table, landing on it as he looked at his options. In the bowls, there was some source of juice (which he guessed was one of those weird fruits with healing effects), and on the plates, there were fried egg sandwiches. He still wondered where they acquire the eggs and meats of this place, he knew it came from Dungeon Pokémon but… did they actually keep them in farms or something?
Maybe some things are better left unknown…
Before he grabbed a bite of his smaller-sized sandwich, Claire entered the dining room, making the Joltik look at her as she sat on her seat. They traded eye contact for a moment, not uttering a word as they stared at each other. Suddenly, both of them spoke in unison.
“Listen, about yesterday, I-”
They interrupted themselves, noticing they were speaking over each other. John spoke before her this time. “Oh, uh… you can speak first.”
Claire looked aside while rubbing the back of her head. “No, no. You can say it first, I won’t interrupt!”
John sighed. “Well… if you say so. I-” John shut himself up as he noticed Claire’s icy twin walk into the dining room and sit on her seat.
They stayed silent as they started to eat their breakfast. Of course, Elsa noticed this and commented. “I know my presence is so powerful to silence an entire room, but you guys always talked it all out no matter what.” She sassily smirked. “It’s like you guys broke up or something.”
Both John and Claire said in unison to the ice Vulpix. “Shut the fuck up.”
“Well, looks like you didn’t break up… yet.” She chuckled before she started eating her food. The fire Vulpix and the Joltik took a heavy sigh before starting to eat their meals as well.
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After arriving at the school, they had another normal class with Iris, the Decidueye already growing used to the Joltik staying in her classes as an actual student rather than a wild Pokémon sneaking in.
The break came in and Team Net grouped up around a bench that was a bit more isolated from the others. Taro grinned as he began to speak first. “Man, I still can’t shake yesterday’s events out of my mind! It was like the most exciting shit I’ve done in my entire life!”
Amy sighed. “For me, it was the most stressful thing I’ve done in my life. I still can’t believe we actually went to the actual Distortion World and fought a failed creation from Arceus. And on top of that, we went into the human world.” She scratched the side of her face. “I don’t know if I should be feeling excited or be shaking from stress and fear…”
John did his best to shrug. “I guess you could feel both… also speaking of Arceus’ failed creation… I spoke to them in my dream.”
The Pokémon’s eyes widened at that revelation. Claire asked first. “Wait, you did? How? I thought that they would be sleeping inside you or something, so they couldn’t speak to you.”
“Well… through dreams they can.” John said, laying his body on the bench and sighing tiredly. “Apparently our minds are linked or some shit like that, so I met them in my dream or his dreams, I guess.”
Taro took a step closer to John, leaning forward and asking excitedly. “What did they say!?”
“Well, just told me the side effects that would happen to me if they were awake. I’d slowly become one of their glitchy minions…” They frowned upon hearing that. “But don’t worry, that’s not happening anytime soon. And I was able to confirm, even if a little, that they were genuine with their intentions.”
Amy put a paw on her chin. “Are you absolutely certain about that? We still don’t know if they are lying or not.”
John looked aside. “I dunno… I just feel like he’s genuine about it.”
Claire put a paw on her chin. “Maybe it’s because your minds are linked and you can feel each other’s feelings…?”
“I guess that may be it… but anyways, that’s a theory for another time.” John regained a bit of his composure while also failing to notice the approaching shadows behind him. “What we need to think about now is how to deal with Asuri-”
“Have you forgotten to hold a meeting with us, friend?”
John released a high-pitched squeak that was the equivalent of a scream, flinching hard as he looked back at Popo and Nana who were standing motionless and expressionless as ever behind him. “Stop doing that!”
Popo began while grabbing John’s left front nub. “We have been worried about you.” Nana continued while grabbing John’s right front nub. “You are being used as a vessel for the prisoner of the Great One.” “Is it changing your body?” “Is it influencing you to commit heresy?” “Is it deviating you from the path of enlightenment that the Great One has laid upon your soul?”
John struggled a little bit, getting his nubs off of the mice’s hand. “T-thanks uh… thanks for worrying about me but I’m fine in every way possible. MissingNo. is doing nothing to me and he won’t do anything to me.”
“We cannot assure that.” Nana said before Popo added. “When we look at your soul, it shows that it is unstable.” “What if that instability spreads throughout your whole body?”
“It won’t, I assure you that I’m fine and there won’t be any side effects. Now, can we please drop this subject?” John asked before the two mice nodded. He leaned close to the other members of the group while whispering. “Please don’t tell them about the dream I had, alright?”
“Yes.” The other Pokémon whispered in unison.
Taro then asked, hoping to change the topic for good. “Anyways… what were you saying about Asuri before John?”
“Yes, them...” John went back to the middle of the bench, the Tandemaus sitting beside him. “Because of them, humanity might be now aware of the existence of Pokémon, and this could turn into a serious problem later in the future.”
Amy nodded. “Yes… if what you told us about the consequences of Pokémon being publicly known as real… then it’s gonna cause a lot of chaos in the future.” She then looked aside. “Although… something else has been bothering me…”
Claire looked at the Shaymin while tilting her head. “What is it?”
The grass hedgehog looked back to the group. “Why would Asuri want to have ownership of Twitter? They are already rich here, why own another company?”
“Yeah…” Claire agreed until another thought came over her. “Wait a second… how did they even do that, anyway?”
“Uh… maybe they had an agreement over the phone?” Taro suggested as he scratched his cheek in confusion.
John shook his head at the impossible claim. “Nope, I know Twitter’s owner too much to know that he would never agree to pass ownership to someone else. So unless Asuri has what it needs to go into my world and threaten him, then I would believe he has agreed with them.” The Pokémon stood in silence as they stared at John with their eyes wide. “What…?”
The Tandemaus spoke in unison. “Maybe they do have those means. After all, was the internet not from your side originally? Or else, how would they be able to connect to the other side?”
The Joltik’s eyes slowly widened in realization. How was he so stupid to not realize this before? It was so obvious, because how could the Pokémon make a version of the Microsoft UI almost exactly like the original without copying? They had to have been in the human world before and see how technology works for this to happen. John was beginning to shake at such revelation. Pokémon had actually gone to his world before right under his nose and he didn’t know, no one knew.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
The Vulpix was the first one to notice that and asked. “John…?”
The greenish spider suppressed his shaking a little bit and took a deep breath. “I’m fine… I’m just a bit shocked at the information.” He took another deep breath before stomping a nub on the bench. “Alright, I figured out what we need to do with Asuri and possibly their CEO.”
Taro tilted his body in confusion. “And that is…?”
“We need to expose them to the public. Show the truth behind the internet to Pokémon kind.” He stated. “Or else things will quickly get out of hand. But since we don’t have much evidence yet… our plans are still the same as before. When we go to Asuri’s museum, maybe we will find some evidence there.”
Amy looked aside. “I hope you know what could be used as evidence or not because we need strong proof that Asuri is up to something bad, or else Pokémon might not believe us.”
“I will know… hopefully.” John said a little unsure.
The Tandemaus walked closer to John. “Our class shall be going on the trip as well.” “We shall assist you in exposing the false prophets who ruined the perfect realm of the Great One without permission.” “There shall be no mercy for such acts against our true lord and savior!”
John sheepishly laughed. “T-thanks… guys…”
The bell suddenly rang, and the Pokémon went back to their classes. As the students talked among themselves, John kept staring at Claire as she stared at the window beside her. He wanted to apologize so much to her at that very moment about that talk he had had yesterday, and he would’ve if it wasn’t for the snow bitch interrupting them.
He just looked at the blackboard with a sigh, waiting for the teacher who apparently was Mr. Zeta, that weird nutcase of a Pokémon. He wondered what kind of subject he taught normally instead of just taking kids into dangerous territory every time. Maybe he taught about Mystery Dungeons as a whole, those were a common thing in the world.
The door of the classroom opened, revealing a Pokémon John didn’t expect to see and he knew too damn well. A Pikachu, with a little more fur than usual and a fringe covering his left eye, walked to the table and jumped on it, brushing off dust from his fur before putting a book and a piece of chalk on the desk. He groaned and grumbled in a normal male voice which caught John a little by surprise. “Ugh, they need to add more concrete on these streets, too much fucking dust…” He cleared his throat and spoke, the Joltik noticing he had sharper teeth than a normal Pikachu (from what he’d seen of clips of the anime on the internet). “Good Morning class, you may call me Ark, your substitute teacher. No need for Mr. Ark, thank you.”
“Wait, where’s Mr. Zeta?” The Houndour asked while tilting his head.
Ark folded his arms behind his back and explained. “Don’t worry, he’s fine. He was just called by Asuri yesterday for a manual update. No worries, it’s normal for the Porygon line to receive upgrades as technology advances more and more. Although he might take a while to come back since he has to physically go to Asuri’s Headquarters, which is kilometers away from this town.”
Wait, Asuri updates Zeta’s species? It would be a slight problem once Asuri eventually goes down, but John hoped that they could find another company that constantly updated them as technology progressed. After thinking a little, he looked back at the teacher, who was looking rather menacingly at John with his black and white eye. John tried not to flinch, ignoring the small stare he was given, he was probably just analyzing the students… hopefully.
The teacher spoke again. “Anyways, could you students tell me your names before I start class?” He started pointing his paw finger at the students, pointing at the Vulpix first. “You first.”
Claire straightened her posture. “Claire!”
The teacher then pointed in order, the students speaking when the finger stopped at them.
“Taro.”
“Amy.”
“John.”
The Pikachu hesitated a little when he heard the Joltik’s voice before moving on to the next students.
“Cerbera!”
“Olivia.”
“Elsa~”
“Cindy.”
Ark then put his paws on his side. “Alright then.” He grabbed the piece of chalk with his paw and started levitating out of nowhere. “Let’s start with the class.”
Most of the students let out a “Whoa!” out of wonder while John was flabbergasted. “H-how do you do that!?” He asked.
The Pikachu looked at him and smirked. “I have the genes of a Raichu that’s psychic type along with electric. Since I wasn’t evolving…” He trailed off out of nowhere before immediately answering back. “Because of a rare disease that doesn’t let me evolve into my final stage, I taught myself levitation with the Psychic part of my core, since those types of Raichu levitate naturally.”
“I see…” John said.
The Pikachu then started scribbling on the blackboard, frowning because of his situation. Why was he put up to this?
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In a mostly brown office, cabinets laid open, a fan weakly spun above a table, and sunshine rained from the window as the room stayed silent… mostly. On the table, there were photos of mean-looking Pokémon scattered around as a Scizor analyzed them, humming deep in thought.
“It couldn’t be either Roderio or Wagsner, both have their crime organized in the Mist Continent. Bewsor has origins here and has a small portion of his organization in the continent, however, I doubt he found a way to do that, to humans nonetheless. Aria has more chances… although I hardly doubt that a lustful organization like hers would do something of this sheer scale… most Corrupted Pokémon are savages, but not that horny like dungeon Pokémon”
Reino groaned as he leaned back on his seat, mentally cursing himself for not pressing the robotic Weavile further for more answers. His mind just couldn’t let go of that moment, where his biggest piece of information just left a daunting clue to the mystery behind the Corrupted Pokémon, he didn’t even sleep this night.
“Oh, I get it… you’re one of the Pokémon trying to interfere with our plans…” “Here’s a small tip for you, bugsy! I’d suggest you stay out of other Pokémon’s business!” “We wouldn’t want any casualties on this mission.”
The steel mantis put a pincer on his head, a throbbing headache hitting him as he remembered those words. They had to be working with someone, he just needed to find out who the mastermind behind all of this was.
He would not rest until the case was closed for good.
Reino sighed before getting up, muttering to himself. “I’ll grab some water…” He left his office and walked along the hallway of the business building, walking to the water dispenser. As he walked, he wondered if the undercover agent he sent is doing alright in his temporary job. Was it a good idea to send him even when he knew full well it was dangerous?
His mind wandered back to the conversation he had earlier today with him.
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“Do you think he’ll actually come at this time of day?”
“Don’t worry, he always does. We’ve known each other for quite some time, and I know he’s not the type of guy to leave anyone hanging.”
Reino was in a garage dusting off one of the chrome jets of Raiden, the Miraidon, as they spoke to each other. The Scizor had texted a friend to come over to discuss a new mission… at one in the morning. He thought that he could cut sleep for today to plan ahead, after all, it’s not like one night without sleep would make him slack off on the job.
It was around midnight when his mind remembered something that might help him in the investigation. Those kids he encountered yesterday, he had a feeling that they could be of help, after all, that Vulpix helped discover the secret of the Corrupted Pokémon. And then there was that Joltik… he had a feeling that he was hiding something, but his mind had forgotten some important bits of his statement, so he had to uncover that secret.
After all, what are the chances of him being a human?
Raiden sighed and looked at the garage door that lifted, revealing a yawning Pikachu that walked into the garage. He didn’t even bother taking off his sleeping hat. He yawned before speaking sleepily. “What the hell, Reino… why couldn’t call me at a later time…?”
“Ah, there you are, Mark.” Reino stopped scrubbing Raiden’s jet and got up. “Sorry, an opportunity just presented itself and I couldn't afford to waste time.”
Mark the Pikachu scratched his back, relaxing his body. “So… what was that about a human that you said over the phone?”
“Well, some context first.” The Scizor said before crossing his arms. “Yesterday night, I found an interesting pair of Pokémon out on the streets at night. One was that Vulpix that I told you about who helped me connect the dots between the Corrupted Pokémon and the missing humans.” He then looked aside. “Although… her friend was even more interesting…”
The electric rodent rubbed his eyes, trying to get the sleepiness out of his body. “Interesting how…?”
“To put it simply… it was a Joltik that was the size of a baby with the most shady backstory ever.” He uncrossed his arms and looked back at the Pikachu. “I have a slight suspicion that he may be a human.”
That made Mark’s eyes snap right open. “Are you for real?”
The steel mantis nodded. “As I said, it’s only a small suspicion. I wasn’t with him very long to confirm it, however, he felt like one to me” His wings twitched. “The only reason he might’ve lied to me was probably because he’s aware of the human-turned-Pokémon disappearances.”
“So… what do you want me to do about it?” The Pikachu asked while crossing his arms.
“In short… I want you to keep an eye on him. And if my suspicions turn out to be true, could you ask him to spill the beans for us?” Reino smirked. “Should be easy for you to do it, after all, you were a human.”
Mark scratched behind his back as he started to sit in midair with his levitation, smiling a little. “Sure, fine, I’ll stalk him. After all, it would be nice to meet another human in person, especially in times like these.” He crossed his legs. “So… what do you suggest I do that wouldn’t attract much attention?”
“Simple.” The Scizor’s antennas perked up. “The reason why I called you this late is for you to prepare for an undercover mission.” The Pikachu tilted his head. “You see, some of my sources said that in that Joltik’s school, there is a teacher that is about to be absent for a whole week, and they require a substitute teacher.”
Connecting the dots, the rodent made an unamused face. “You want me to teach some kids while keeping an eye on a Pokémon that may or may not be a human?”
Reino crossed his arms. “It’s worth a shot, and you’ll also be preserving your true identity. Fake name and everything.”
The Miraidon then added. “I will take you there so you don’t have to fly all the way there.”
Reino approached Mark and put a pincer on his side. “So, what do you say? Think you’re up for it?”
Mark thought about it for a moment, putting his feet back on the floor. He had already dealt with children in his old life, his younger brother being the main one before living alone. He wondered what he was up to nowadays…
The Pikachu sighed, he had authority, even if he didn’t have the height anymore, but it wouldn’t hurt to teach some kids. “Alright, I’m in.”
----------------------------------------
As his mind returned to the present, Mark realized that class was already over once the bell rang. “Oh, already? That was quick…” He muttered before sitting at the edge of the teacher’s desk. “Anyways, class is over, y’all are free to go.”
With that, the students left the classroom, some of them saying “Bye Mr. Ark.” as they passed by the Pikachu. He ignored that, even though he wasn’t a fan of it, and focused on the Joltik, who was on top of the Vulpix’s head, passing by him, giving him an analyzing look as time seemed to slow down. With that, both electric types glanced at each other for a second before John left the classroom along with Claire.
After all the students left the classroom, leaving Mark alone with his thoughts. ‘ What do I do as a teacher again after class…? Ah, yes, make a report about the class after it’s done.” The Pikachu yawned, picking up the chalk and book before floating out of the classroom because his legs were feeling numb.
He didn’t have a lot of sleep after the conversation with Reino, he was almost used to it by the number of times that bug called him late at night. Mark had known Reino for quite some time now, way back when he was a Scyther and technology was in its beginning stages. He started working with the task force of the Pokémon world after suddenly waking up in this world. He used to work as a police officer back in the human world, so it was probably the main drive to become a cop in this world as well, even if he had lost his memories at the time. Even if Reino had left the task force some years ago, they were still good friends and worked together on some more… interesting cases.
After all, he had saved his life multiple times in the past. He was a great help when it came to his amnesia at the time. Although... his feelings towards him had eventually evolved into something he didn't comprehend yet.
As he floated through the hallways, ignoring the looks that some students gave him, he suddenly thought about the Joltik in his class, John. He didn’t act like a human… but for some reason, Mark knew for a fact he was acting even though he couldn’t really confirm it. Maybe he had spent too much time with Reino, but he thought it was one of those detective intuitions he heard in movies. What should he do to uncover the Joltik’s secret…?
“So, you’re the floating Pikachu I’ve been hearing around the school, aren’t you?”
The Pikachu was pulled out of his detective thoughts and looked at the shiny female Decidueye in front of him, landing back on the floor. “Oh, uh, that’s me. Name’s Ma- I mean, Ark.” Dammit, he almost made a slip-up. Hopefully, the owl didn’t catch it.
The Decidueye chuckled. “Are you shy? I mean, it’s understandable, it’s your first day here.” She extended a wing and made a smiling expression with her beak. “My name is Iris, nice to meet you, Mr. Ark.”
The electric rodent sheepishly smiled as he grabbed Iris’ wing and shook it. “Same as well Ms. Iris, but you can just call me Ark.”
“Alright then, Ark, you can do the same as well.” She retracted her wing and said. “I have a question… why didn’t you evolve yet? Won’t Pokémon mistake you as a teen?”
Mark rubbed the back of his head, making a (fake) sad smile. “The thing is, I can’t evolve into my final stage, I tried that already…”
Iris looked away in pity. “Ah, that’s unfortunate…”
“It’s fine, I got over it. Besides, I can still float like some Raichu out there thanks to my core, so it’s all good.” Mark said with a more enthusiastic smile before looking aside. “Say… I have a small question about one of the students here…”
The Decidueye tilted her head as she folded her wing. “And that is…?”
“About that Joltik… John.” The archer own subtly flinched as her eyes widened a little bit as Mark said that name, the Pikachu pretending not to notice Iris’ reaction. “Doesn’t he strike you as a little odd? He has the size of a baby… yet can talk?”
Iris huffed. “Well, he was odd at first, until he said that he was smaller than normal Joltiks and had 10 years old. And before you ask, he’s in a higher class because he is a prodigy.”
Mark put a paw on his chin. “Interesting… sounds like he’s a great student. That means he won’t be a hassle to deal with.” He giggled a little, his ears twitching as he heard the archer owl make a forced chuckle.
It was too easy for him to tell when someone was lying, after years of interrogation. Or maybe it was a little extension of his psychic abilities…
“Anyways… it was nice knowing you, Iris.” The Pikachu started floating again, catching the owl a little off guard. “See you sometime.”
She regained her composure and smiled. “Same to you.”
With that, Mark floated away from the Decidueye, going to the teacher’s room and entering it. He sighed and adjusted his fringe, almost showing a cut scar on his other eye. He closed the door behind him and muttered. “Well, Reino… it seems you may be right about this one.”
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After reaching home, John plopped his butt on the Vulpix twins’ bed, rolling on his back as he released a sigh of relief. He was starting to feel like a teenager again, going to school, being bullied verbally and (sometimes) physically, and being scared of certain teachers. It was like time had rewound a little and he was living the adolescent life again, but slightly better this time!
Speaking of teachers, his mind went back to the Pikachu substitute teacher. He didn’t know what it was, but for some reason, he felt like Ark was watching his every move during class. Was his child prodigy story, not that convincing? Well, that would suck, because he already went all in with that lie, so he couldn’t even change it.
“John?” Claire suddenly asked, making the Joltik turn to her. “So… about yesterday… I-”
The greenish spider interrupted her. “No Claire, you weren’t at fault there.” He looked aside in shame. “The problem is that I was too harsh with my words...”
The Vulpix tilted her head. “What…? No, you weren’t harsh at all.”
John looked back at her in confusion. “Huh…?”
Claire looked away with a grimace. “You… you were right, about humans, I mean.” She sighed as she sat down. “I was fantasizing too much about them… it made me think that they were benevolent deities that always helped Pokémon when in need.” She looked down in shame. “I thought that… with a human, I could finally make my dreams of becoming an explorer a reality. But after I met you, I realized that it wouldn’t be that easy… and it shows in the last Mystery Dungeon we went.”
John frowned. “Claire…”
“We would’ve died in that dungeon if MissingNo. was planning to kill us, as he said yesterday, he could’ve done it right in the beginning at the Hollow Forest.” She sighed. “I shouldn’t have pushed the others to come with us as well…”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Claire looked at the Joltik with a questioning look. “Yesterday was completely my fault. Even in the human world.” His face morphed into a grimace. “You all could’ve died because I retaliated against that criminal. I’m glad you guys didn’t, but I feel so stupid for putting you guys in danger and I felt like I should’ve died again as a result.”
Claire slowly opened her mouth. For a second, she almost saw herself 5 cycles ago after the incident . Being the only one to make it out alive, and blaming herself for everything that led up to it. Maybe that’s when the obsession with humans started and she’s only now realizing it… “John…” She held back tears after the realization. She couldn’t cry in front of John, not because he was a human, but because he was her friend and she needed to look strong to assure him that everything would be fine!
John sighed and looked away. “Sorry for my rant, I was supposed to be reassuring you and not-” Suddenly, the Vulpix licked John’s body, shutting him up and making his fuzz straighten up. After a moment of shock and surprise, John dumbfoundedly let out. “W-wha…?”
“John, please don’t blame yourself. You said to me that humans were just like us, if it means what I think it means, then you are bound to make mistakes like we do.” The Vulpix smiled as she got her head to John’s eye level. “I wouldn’t like to see you blame yourself over a decision like that, after all, my dad said that we learn from our mistakes.” She wondered what Hiro would have said to her after saying all of this.
John looked away and thought about it for a second. Damn, he just got lectured by a teenager, his friends would’ve laughed at him if they found out. Nonetheless, the Vulpix was right, he was blaming himself a bit too much, after all, no one died. He sighed and looked back at Claire and nodded. “You’re right… I shouldn’t blame myself too much for this situation. I may have messed up big time, but at least no one was hurt because of it.”
Claire wished she could say the same on her end.
Nonetheless, she smiled through the pain, Hiro wouldn’t want to see her like that anyways. Would she tell John about it? … maybe some other time, although for now, she could only do one thing. “Thanks, John.”
John made a little surprised expression before smiling behind his fuzz. “Thank you as well, Claire.” He then looked around, trying to find the foxes’ laptop. “Anyways, I need to speak with Harry to catch him up to speed.”
“Oh, uh… Elsa grabbed when we were talking.” Claire said, rubbing the back of her head.
“Wait, she did?”
Suddenly, the door of the bedroom opened, revealing Elsa standing on her hind legs while also wearing gloves on her forepaws. She looked at Claire and John. “Ah, so you finished the couple’s talk. Good.”
Claire retorted a bit annoyed as she snorted sparks of flames from her snout. “We’re not-”
Without any warning, the ice Vulpix walked up to John and grabbed him with her two paws. “I need you for a moment, come with me.”
John was caught by surprise as his movements were restricted. “What!? Why?!”
Claire’s fur stood up as some flames started coming out of her mouth as she spoke. “What are you gonna do with him!?”
Elsa turned to her twin with a smirk. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt your little boyfriend here. I’m just gonna show them to some people.” She said before walking out the door.
Claire tilted her head in confusion. “What is she planning…?”
Elsa started walking through the house with John on her paws. Maybe that was the reason she was wearing the gloves was so that she could pick him up. “Where are you taking me?”
The white Vulpix growled. “Shut up, peasant. You will find out when we get there.”
It didn’t take long until they reached the living room’s desk, which was the appropriate size for someone of stature, where the laptop was. After approaching the device, John noticed that it was opened in a site he knew too well. “Wait… is that Twitch…?”
Elsa muttered, not appearing in the camera. “Start talking after I talk, understood, bug?”
The Joltik was a bit confused. “Huh-”
Elsa then stepped in front of the camera as she did the fakest smile John has ever seen a Pokémon do while also changing the tone of her voice. “I’m back, my loyal viewers!” John could see the chat go wild.
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Yohomiemario832: Yo shes back!!!
JoshTV: Wait, she can stand on two legs? Sick
Favmommy01: OMG u so cute, I wanna hug u so bad!!!!!!
alpharad: Wtf, this stream is actually legit?
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Even if he focused on some messages, it could show that people were actually believing that Elsa was real and not some V-tuber program as Twitch users mostly expect. Although that was a problem, a huge one. If a real Pokémon started streaming and the viewer base of the channel started to increase, people would become aware of Pokémon and know they’re real even with the massive amount of Pokémon showing around social media now. Also, how the fuck did Elsa discover Twitch in the first place?
The ice Vulpix chuckled. “Good to see that you all miss me! But anyways, as requested, I brought another Pokémon that lives with me!” She lifted her paws, putting John in the camera. “Say hi to the camera, John!”
The Joltik was caught a bit off guard by that, making him stutter a little. “Wai- I…” He took a moment to process it all before finally saying after sighing. “Hey, guys…! I’m a Joltik, as you can clearly see… and uh… nice to meet you all!”
The chat went two times as fast so he couldn’t even read a single message. Elsa put John on the desk before tilting the camera to an angle where John and her face could be shown at the same time. Suddenly, a notification sound could be heard coming from the laptop, and John immediately noticing it was a donation. “Thanks for the donation! Even though I don’t even know what ten dollars are equivalent to Poké, I still appreciate it!”
John was just utterly speechless by all of this, so many questions were plaguing his mind at the moment, and he knew that he couldn’t receive the answer from Elsa because of very obvious reasons. He was tired and didn’t wanna deal with this, so he turned to the icy Vulpix and asked while whispering. “Elsa, can I go-”
“Oh, someone in the chat asked: “Can John make a drawing with his webs?” ” Elsa then turned to the Joltik with the same fake smile. “Oh he definitely can, can’t you, John?”
The greenish spider looked aside with a sigh. “I don’t really wanna, and I don’t even know how...” He said quietly before he felt the temperature around him drop as Elsa smiled a bit harder. He groaned before whispering back. “Fine!”
John got in front of the camera and waved at it a bit hesitant. Why was he doing this for her? For one simple reason really, he was forced to and Claire was not around to help him if the snow bitch threatened him. He sighed and prepared his silk, inflating his mouth as his cheeks puffed up. With less force than the usual String Shot, he released the silk on the desk, walking around as his mouth kept releasing silk. Elsa tilted the camera a bit more downwards, showing the drawing John made with his silk. It was a heart-shaped web.
“What a lovely drawing, my loyal subject!” Elsa said as the temperature rose once again, making John sigh in relief. She started waving John away. “I hope you liked the appearance of one of my many subjects!”
That was John’s cue to leave and he reluctantly agreed. Since he knew the duration of normal streams on these sites… yeah, he wasn’t gonna speak to Harry again for today. Maybe tomorrow, however.