"That's stupid," I replied automatically.

Florence looked fairly insulted, and she opened and closed her mouth a few times before she responded with a frosty tone. "Say what you like, trainer. You find yourself in the plains of Goldenrod, close to my community, called Enrui; that is a fact."

"But, but I mean –" she had turned and started walking again, so I struggled to catch up while continuing to talk. "Goldenrod – no open space – bit of'a forest, maybe – some routes – a plain?"

"This land has always been open, Trainer Monroe," she said easily, keeping up her fast pace. "You are not thinking of the Forest of Ilex, surely?"

Okay, now we were on familiar ground. "Monroe," I protested first, taking the stress off the first syllable. Then I gasped as I finally managed to pull even with her. "I know – ‘bout Ilex Forest. I, I'm just confused. What about the city?"

"A city? Here?" Florence laughed, and in a rather rude way, I thought. "You are sadly misinformed, trainer." Also, she was starting to get on my nerves with how she just called me ‘trainer’ all the time. "The nearest city is Violet, and it takes several days to travel there. In these ranges you will find only smaller settlements."

Only my refusal to get left behind kept me moving. This girl had never heard of Goldenrod City? How could something like that happen? After all, it's only the biggest city in Johto. That was assuming I was in the same region. But if I wasn't, how could so many other normal places still exist?

For a moment my mind ran wild with possibilities. Maybe I had been sent into an alternate dimension, one where everything was a little different but also a little the same? I had played a video game like that once. But no, that sounded too crazy to be real. There had to be a simpler explanation!

At that point we passed a stick shaved of its bark and sharpened on the end which had been stuck into the ground. Maybe five meters away on the left and right other sticks had been shoved into the dirt as well. I wouldn't have thought much of it, but Florence paused her fast walk for a moment (to my intense relief) and pointed it out. "There lies our border, trainer. Make sure your majū notes it; a territorial dispute would be most unwelcome."

"My what now?"

She shot me an odd look. "Your Drowzee."

"Um, okay?" I glanced behind myself, sheepish at having to be reminded that I now had a Pokemon. Drowzee had tried to keep up with us, but he had fallen a bit behind during the walk; his eyes were open wide and he was panting slightly. That made me feel guilty. I knew I should probably return him, but to be honest I wasn't feeling particularly safe, and having a Pokemon who could at least put others to sleep out there with me was unbelievably comforting.

Florence sniffed, then stalked forward once more. I wanted to keep asking her questions, to figure out what was going on, but she really, really wasn't making it easy. Besides, now that we had cleared one of the taller hills I could see a series of hut-like houses in the distance, with a beach not far behind that. There were other people spread throughout the settlement who were wandering about, chatting, and doing chores. A giant firepit had been built in the middle of the cluster of huts and several people stood around it prepping food. The whole thing felt a bit like a campground, though those fabric huts didn’t look anything like the tents I was used to.

Something seemed off about the entire picture, but I couldn't tell what it was.

"My village," Florence told me as we continued speed-walking forward. "We are not the most elite, but we have two trainers to our name –" yep, there she went with trainers again – "and we protect ourselves quite well."

"That's terribly fascinating and all, but I still don't know –"

"Florence!” The new voice that had (rudely) interrupted me came from a woman about my mother’s age. She had been doing something near the fire, but now she scurried towards us as her hands fluttered in the air. “Oh, my dear, wherever did you run off to this time? You know how I worry when you wander past the border."

Florence developed a rather resigned look as soon as she saw the woman. "I am fine, mother," she said as she forced a smile. "Nothing disastrous happened; this trainer found me."

"Oh? Oh!" The woman turned to look at me, then actually jumped half a foot in the air when Drowzee wandered up to stand nearby. She stepped back behind Florence and shivered.

At that point I realized exactly what was wrong with the village: there were no Pokemon. People were abundant, but no creatures were living alongside them. There weren't even any poke balls that I could see on belts, no sign at all of non-human life.

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"It's alright, mother," Florence said, her tone a bit softer now. "Trainer Monroe may look young, but his majū listens to him." And there she went again with her crazy terms. I frowned, noting that she used the word as a replacement for Pokemon – maybe it was a special dialect? My crazy alternate universe theory was gaining traction. "Do you know where Trainer Michael is currently located? We must discuss this with him."

"Of course," Florence’s mother said quietly, and she pointed in the direction of a group of men who were talking animatedly in front of one of the huts. Florence walked off towards them without another word and I followed her belatedly, sneaking a glance behind me as I left. The woman had her eyes fixed on Drowzee, almost like she was scared to let him out of her sight.

"Zeee, drow dru," Drowzee suddenly said next to me, making me jump and almost trip over my own feet. He caught my arm to stop me from falling just in time.

"Uh, thanks." I peered over at him. "Though… you do realize I've got no idea what you're saying?"

His trunk flicked up, then down.

"Okay then." Drowzee continued staring at me like he was trying to communicate in some fashion that didn't involve speaking, so I looked away a little awkwardly. My stomach chose that moment to growl loudly, which didn't really help the situation.

Drowzee was probably hungry too, for that matter, but I didn't like the idea of being nearby when he was 'eating'.

At that point we reached the group of men. Florence stopped and bowed. I followed her example quickly, though I probably botched it something awful. Drowzee stood next to me, looking around himself with a bored expression.

"Florence?" A young man stepped forward with his eyebrows raised. He was tall and pretty good-looking, with dark hair that fell just above his shoulders and warm brown eyes, though he also looked tired. He mainly stood out due to his clothing; he wore a jacket with leather patches along the arms and shoulders. It stood out strikingly when compared to the simple clothing everyone else had on.

"Trainer Michael," Florence replied quietly and actually respectfully, which shocked me more than a little. It also surprised me that he was a trainer; I couldn't see any poke balls on him, and most people displayed theirs proudly. "This is Trainer Monroe. I encountered him some distance outside of the borders. He requires food and shelter."

"Does he?" Michael looked down at me, and I waved at him awkwardly. He blinked, then frowned a little. "But you are still a child. You have befriended a majū already?"

I just stared back at him with my brow furrowed. I was becoming increasingly confused by the general tone that these people used when they talked about Pokemon. Pokemon were just a regular part of life! It was perfectly normal to see kids as young as five years old out in the city with only a family Pokemon as escort. So why was everyone so worried about Drowzee, and about me being a trainer?

There had to be some context clue I was missing. But what?

Clearly I had taken too long to reply, because one of the other men in the group chose that moment to chime in. "It could be a trick," he pointed out. "Drowzee are psychics; this one could be using the boy, manipulating him to get close to us."

“He is not!” I said right away as Drowzee brayed next to me. “I’m perfectly fine!”

Michael didn’t reply; instead, he tapped a finger against his arm and studied me with narrowed eyes. After a moment he turned to look at Florence. “Well? Have they acted suspiciously at all?”

I scoffed at being so clearly ignored, but Florence didn’t seem to notice. She now looked at me with a calculating expression. “I do not think so?” she said, though her voice was hesitant. “Though they did seem confused when they attacked the Snubbull herd…”

“Hear that?” one of the other men interjected quickly. “The girl was off in the wild again. You know you cannot trust her when it comes to anything related to majū.”

Florence quickly swiveled her head around to glare at the man, but the others were nodding along like he had said something perfectly sensible. I peered at her out of the corner of my eye, wondering what that was all about.

Michael hummed lightly and shook his head. “I do not believe you intended any harm, Florence,” he said calmly. “But we should be cautious above everything else. Therefore, I will test them.”

“What does that mean?” I asked at the same time as Florence said “I really do not think that is necessary,” but Michael didn’t listen to either of us. Instead, he stuck two fingers into his mouth and blew a piercing whistle that cut through the village like a hot knife through butter.

At first, it seemed like nothing had happened. Then I saw a small shape shoot out of one of the nearby huts and head straight toward us. I yelped and started to turn towards Drowzee to tell him to do something, but then I saw the look on Michael’s face. He didn’t look alarmed; in fact, he was smiling.

Well, Florence had called him a trainer. That meant he had to have a Pokemon. The small, round creature that I quickly identified as a Hoothoot had to be it.

The Pokemon winged over to us, arcing at the last minute so it could land on Michael's outstretched arm. I saw why he had leather patches on his jacket right away; the Hoothoot's claws looked plenty sharp, even if it was only standing on one leg. The little Pokemon bent down to nip gently at Michael's arm, then said "Hoo, t'oo?" in an obviously reproachful tone.

"Sorry for waking you up early, partner," Michael said in a soft voice, "but I need your help."

I frowned at 'waking you up'. Why hadn't Hoothoot been in a poke ball; why had Michael needed to summon it with a whistle? More importantly, I knew that Hoothoot were perfectly decent Pokemon, but they weren't overly powerful. Why had Florence treated this guy with such respect? I took a step back, uneasy.

"I need you to test these two," Michael continued, still calm, "and see if their bond is true."

The Hoothoot nodded once, then rotated its head around almost completely – which looked really, really strange – and focused its giant eyes on me.

And that was about when everything in my world turned upside down.