Novels2Search
Pokémon: Dust
Interlude 1

Interlude 1

Part 1

Eevee anxiously paced along the shore of a small pond, hoping her new friend was alright and that Mew got to them in time. Her ears twitched, and she looked up to see Mew floating down along with a figure suffused in a blue glow, who was lowered gently to the ground. The figure didn't get up.

"Oh my gosh! Are they okay?" Eevee asked as she ran as fast as her four legs could take her. She placed a paw on their shoulder and an ear over their fur-covered mouth, sighing in relief when she heard their deep breathing.

"I think he'll be a-okay!" Mew said. "He just had the crap scared out of him. Literally."

Eevee took a tentative sniff. "I don't smell anything smelly."

"Well, I cleaned him up on the way here. Teleport can be used to move things other than me," Mew giggled. "It was still kinda gross, even though I didn't actually touch anything."

"Can… Can I take care of him until he wakes up?" Eevee tentatively asked.

Mew looked at Eevee, then the adult human, and smiled. "You like him, huh? Like, like like. You want some alone time with your savior?" she teased.

Eevee blushed and turned away. "I just want to make sure he's okay…. A-and it's not like that!"

Mew just giggled. "Suuure it's not. Well, if you're going to watch him, let's take him to your den," Mew suggested as she carefully cradled the human in her psychic grasp. "Race you there!"

Eevee ran, trying to keep up with the finicky cat. "Hey, be careful with him!"

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Eevee glanced at her friend from the entrance of her den the next day. The sun was setting again, and he still hadn't woken up. Mew had come by earlier and healed some of the more severe injuries he had, which seemed to ease his breathing.

Eevee sighed and sat next to him, dropping an apple on the ground before taking a bite. As she ate, her mind wandered back to her life over the past several months.

When she first woke up all that time ago, she found herself in an unfamiliar place with no memories. She had wandered, feeling increasingly tense as she walked through the corridors of the maze-like tree, though she couldn't pin down why she felt this way. Then Mew appeared out of nowhere, startling Eevee and introducing herself before dragging the unsuspecting amnesiac into one of her games.

Eevee shuddered at the memory.

Something sounded from behind her. She looked at the form of her friend lying on his back, noticing he was shivering. It was a cooler night, she supposed, and he didn't seem to have that much fur to keep him warm.

Decision made, she crawled onto his chest and laid down, trying to cover as much of him as she could with her comparatively small form. After a few minutes, his teeth stopped chattering, and he was still again.

"Good night," Eevee whispered before laying her head down, falling asleep to the rhythmic beating of his heart.

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"What's happening to him?!" Eevee cried as she ran as fast as she could. She heard her hooman friend cry in pain all the way from where she was watching what he called a 'bag'.

"Shush. I need to concentrate, or he might die," Mew said, her paws on either side of his face.

"Die?!" Eevee yelled.

"Shush!" Mew cried in a strained voice.

Eevee watched worriedly as the hooman spasmed and crackled as if he were charging an electric attack.

"There we go!" Mew said as some kind of energy came out of the hooman's chest and flowed into her. "Just one more thing to do…."

Then he began to shrink. Not much, but it was noticeable. The fur around his mouth vanished. After a few minutes, things seemed to calm down, and Mew wrapped her tail around his wrist.

"Whew. That should do it. I'll need to stay physically connected to him to make sure he's good, but I think he'll be fine," Mew said.

"What happened!?" Eevee demanded.

Mew looked up at the energy flowing in the center of the room, then to the silhouette of Sir Aaron, and shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure, but Ethan is not a normal human. Something reacted with his very being and gave him energy that his body wasn't made to handle. I had to make some changes to him so he could survive."

Eevee looked over Ethan again and sniffed the air. "What changes?"

"Well, for one, he's half the age he used to be!" Mew giggled. "And he'll be able to handle the energy that almost killed him. With time and practice, of course."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Eevee stared uncomprehendingly and sighed. "How long is he going to be out this time?" she asked.

Mew hummed, slowly floating to a ninety-degree angle. "I'd say until tomorrow morning, give or take a few hours. We'll take him to my place this time! Ooh! We can have a sleepover!"

As she levitated him again, she picked up his glasses that fell to the ground, peering into them again before discreetly teleporting them away. "Now, then. Let's get this party started!"

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Part 2

Professor Oak stood from his chair and stretched, arms spread over his head, before grunting in satisfaction. Finally, finally, he had finished poring over and transcribing what he felt could safely be copied from the Pokédex app on his newest trainer's phone.

The device was truly amazing. It could store hundreds of gigabytes of data and process complex requests in seconds, if not faster. It was years ahead of what was available in this world for something that could fit in one's pocket.

A series of beeps drew the professor's attention to his computer. After sitting back down and typing in his password, he found that he had several new notifications.

"I'm not surprised. I was at it for-," Oak checked the clock on the wall. "...four hours this time? No wonder my old bones are stiff."

He went through his emails first, pleased to see that his request to present his new findings at Celadon University was approved and confirmed to take place in two weeks. Another email from the Goldenrod Radio Tower had a reminder that his next appearance on DJ Mary's show was just a few days away. That would be the best time to promote his presentation.

"Ah, Ash and Ethan just got their second badge! They're making remarkable progress," Oak mused as he browsed through their profiles. "Only three Pokémon each, though. They should really pick up the pace on that front. They've got more than enough funds to maintain a full team."

The professor rolled his chair to his workbench and picked up one of the two latest prototypes of the Pokédex he designed based on Ethan's phone. "Ah, good! It passed all hardware and OS checks. I'm sure Ethan will be more than happy to field test this once it's ready."

He glanced at an open notepad where he kept the names of a few Pokémon that caused him concern. The name at the top of the list particularly had him worried. "Mewtwo…. Does it exist here? Who would create such a-"

Professor Oak blinked. "What was I doing? Ah, yes. Ethan will love this for sure," he said as he set the prototype back down and stood once again. "I could use something to eat. I wonder if Alakazam would mind getting some seafood takeout."

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Part 3

He was happy once. He remembered meeting his parent's eyes for the first time. His mother was an umbreon. His father, an espeon. For months, he was happy.

Then, the human wearing black came, and those happy memories now only brought tears and longing for what once was.

He watched from his hiding place as his parents fought to protect him. They were no match for the monster the man in black commanded. They were beaten, and then they were all taken.

"Hmmm…." the ugly human said, looking into the cage the whimpering eevee kit was forced into. "We scored big time! We can sell the runt and keep this pair for breeding. We have a money-making machine!"

The monster of a Pokémon grunted in response, the sound like a rumbling of stones.

He didn't know how much time passed after that. His mother stopped moving completely after a while. Her chest didn't even move, and his father wept openly over her unmoving form as the vehicle jostled beneath them.

"Son," his father choked out. "Don't let this experience taint your perception of humans. There are many more good humans than there are evil ones. Like my old trainer…."

The eevee kit focused on his father in the cage opposite him, trying to understand what he was trying to tell him.

"It's too late for your mother and me, but you can still live a good life," he said, hacking out a cough that left dribbles of blood trailing down his chin. "When you find a good human, never leave their side. They will take care of you."

The cracked gem on the espeon's forehead flickered and glowed before a faint click sounded inside the Eevee kit's cage, and the door flew open.

"I know you've never been much for words, but I love you. Your mother loves you. Live for yourself. Live for us. Live a good life. This is the last wish your mother and I have for you," Espeon said, smiling and holding his kit tenderly in his psychic grasp one last time before throwing him out the cage door and into the greenery around them.

The eevee kit landed with a grunt but didn't bother to get up. His parents were gone, and the human didn't come back. The reality of what happened crashed down on him, and he cried. His parents were gone, and he didn't know where he was.

Live for yourself. Live for us. Live a good life.

He didn't know how long he lay there. He was abruptly brought back to reality when something hard hit the back of his head, and the strangest feeling overcame him. Everything went dark, and he felt something closing in around him. He tried to fight it but was too weak, too drained from what he had gone through.

"Hah! Wha' luck! An eevee, in the mi'dle of nowhere. Now it's all mine," Damian grinned as he pocketed the Pokéball and continued down the path.

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Part 4

Ethan stared at the starry night sky from his sleeping bag, deep in thought. He couldn't recognize most of the constellations, but he could make out the big dipper and the north star that it pointed to.

"Just like home. But at the same time, it's not," Ethan whispered to himself.

One month. Just one month ago, his life turned upside down when a freak incident landed him in the Pokémon world. He looked to his side and smiled. Eevee seemed to be resting peacefully, oblivious to the world around her. His recent catch, Sandshrew, was resting on his other side.

Daisy and her clefairy slept side-by-side, as well as Ash and Pikachu. Misty and Brock didn't have any of their Pokémon out, which was understandable. Rock Pokémon probably wouldn't be terribly comfortable, and Misty's water Pokémon were usually out only for short periods unless there was a body of water nearby.

Ethan was grateful for his friends, human and Pokémon alike. He'd probably be in a depressed funk otherwise.

Something wet dragged itself across his face, and he stiffened before relaxing. "Hey, Eevee. Couldn't sleep either?"

Eevee shook her head before inviting herself into his sleeping bag and crawled up to his chest, kneading his shirt before lying down.

Warmth bloomed in his chest, his worries set aside for the moment as he raised his hand and stroked Eevee's back. "Thanks, Eevee. You always know when I need you."

Eevee chuffed and settled her head into the crook of his neck.

"I may have lost my old world, but I'm glad I ended up in this one and met you," Ethan said in barely a whisper as he closed his eyes and let sleep take him.