Without saying anything further, Sofia strides into the room and immediately goes to the fireplace where they take the kettle, and realizing that it is empty, calls to the Dratini that has stirred and is waiting nearby. “Be a dear, Dratini, and go fill this up from the lake please.” Dratini dutifully nods and grabs the kettle handle in its mouth and heads out the door which had been left open.

“Do you want help getting that fire going?” I venture, figuring it’s best to get on the good side of this unknown woman.

“If you don’t mind, my old bones get weary sometimes, so I’ll take a seat.”

I head over and get out my lighter from my backpack and get a small fire started with the wood and kindling that was next to the fireplace, with Sofia not asking me any questions and simply staring at me until I finish while the Dratini comes back in and sets the kettle on a hook above the fire. As I sit back down at the table across from Sofia, she asks “What can I call you?”

“My name’s Sam, nice to meet you, Sofia.”

“Nice to meet you as well Sam, now can you please let me know how you managed to find this lake.”

“Is this private property, I was unaware, I can leave if you would like, just please point me towards the nearest town so I can get on my way.”

“This isn’t private property exactly as you say, this is no more my property than it is any other person’s, this area though is the domain of the Dragonite’s, who do not like to have unexpected visitors walking up to their nesting grounds. So I repeat, how did you find this lake?”

How much can I explain to this person? They clearly come from a place where Pokemon are normal, so do I tell them that in my world Pokemon don’t exist other than as a kid’s game? No that would just cause more issues, maybe I just explain that I got here by accident, I don’t even have to mention another world.

“I ended up in the forest two days hike away accidentally, I had been parachuting and was planning on camping out in the woods, but the plane fly into some storm and I ended up jumping out and parachuting into the wrong location. I was not supposed to be in this area, and I apologize for that. As for finding this particular lake, Dratini there found my camp site on the first night I was here and warmed up by my fire, and the next morning when I asked them where to find people, they led me here.”

Sofia listens to the response intently and at the end turns to the Dratini and asks, “Is this your story as well, young one?” to which the Dratini nods along happily. “Well, that does help ease my nerves a bit as it does seem that you did come here by accident, but there are still several pieces I want to clear up. Where did your plane leave from and where was your intended camping location?” Before I can answer, the kettle whistles and Sofia holds up a hand to stop me from answering, while she goes over to the fireplace and prepares two cups of tea. Once she is finished, she sits back down at the table, placing one cup in front of me.

“Thank you for the tea.”

“Of course, now please answer my previous questions and also one more, where is your Pokemon team that you took with you on this camping adventure?”

Well damn, I don’t know how to answer any of those, even just the locations she asked for are going to be impossible to come up with. I only remember a couple of places from the original games, but I have no idea if any have an airport or even less any clue where to say I was planning on camping. As for the question about a Pokemon team will she believe if I say I don’t have any Pokemon? She seems nice enough so far, I guess I’ll just tell her the truth, worst case she doesn’t believe me.

“Well to be completely honest, my plane left from Portland, Oregon and I was planning on camping just northwest of Mt. Hood. However, I have a feeling that those places will be meaningless to you, since I don’t think I’m still in the same world I was when I left.”

“You are correct that I don’t recognize those names, but why do you say that you don’t think you are in the same world? That is a big claim to be able to travel between worlds. Do you have any proof?”

Proof? How am I to provide proof of pokemon not existing in my world? Maybe some of the stuff in my backpack will show that I am not from this world, maybe if I carried a cell phone, damn I really should have taken that with me, even though I wanted to disconnect. No there’s nothing there that can help me now.

“I don’t really have any proof unfortunately, but the main reason I say I’m pretty sure is that Pokemon did not exist in my world and the first time I saw one a few days ago once I landed from the plane, I was very surprised and confused about what it was.”

She sat there quietly sipping on her tea and did not respond to that statement for a full minute, before eventually turning back to me and asking “If you had never seen a Pokemon before that time a few days ago that would explain quite a bit as far as your story and how you have managed to show up here without any Pokemon of your own. Would you be a dear and come outside with me for a minute, I need to check something.”

“Sure.” I stand up and follow her out the door with the Dratini following us as well to head outside towards the lake. As we approach the lake she reaches down to her waist and reveals a set of Poke Balls on her belt that had been hidden by her jacket. She grabs two of them and with a casual flick tosses them out and as they approach the ground a matched pair of Pokemon form in the white beam of light. Both of them are floating in the air seemingly without effort, just over two meters long, with a long neck, a pair of wings that look like a jet plane, and two arms. One has blue coloration on its wings and head, with a red triangle on its chest and the other has the colors reversed, except for the rest of both of their bodies bearing a dull white color.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

She calls to the two of them “Latios, Latias I know you have been listening this whole time, do you believe this story of his?” Stunned by the idea that these Pokemon will be judging me I take a slight step back before the two of them fly forward without moving their wings at all and circle around me. After a second of them circling around me they both stop on a dime and raise themselves up and trill in a high voice “Laaatiii” and then head back to Sofia.

“Thank you, dears,” She says to them and then presses the button on the two Poke Balls and the two Pokemon return in a beam of white light. “Well, they believe you, so that is good enough for me. Let’s go back inside and discuss what you are going to do next.” With that she turns back around and heads back to the cabin and I follow along back inside. As we sit back down, Sofia turns to the Dratini and asks “What do you think, Dratini? What do you want to do next?”

“Draa Draa Tiiniiii Drattt” Dratini responds with a nod and a look at me before looking back at Sofia and nodding again.

“Well that’s an idea dear, I suppose that could work.” Sofia says to the Dratini, and then turns to face me, asking “What are your next plans then?”

“Honestly I don’t know, I would like to try to find a way back to my home I guess, but if there’s no way to do that then I guess I should find somewhere to live and get a job to live here.”

“I see, well I don’t know how to even begin trying to get you home, but I have another idea that might work for you, since you seem to be the adventurous sort. How about you become a trainer, go travel across a region or two and see the world before settling down? Learn what this world is about, and you might find a better calling for yourself. What do you think?”

Become a Pokemon trainer? I guess I could, but aren’t those mostly kids that do that, won’t it be strange for an adult to travel like that? Wait I can’t ask that since I told her I knew nothing about the world, maybe it’s different here than in the games anyways. Also traveling like that is going to get expensive, with food costs and everything as well as whatever I need for training costs for any Pokemon I get, how would I pay for that? And where would I even go, I don’t know anything other than the place where the first games were set, and I don’t even remember the name of that area, maybe Kanton or something like that?

“I’m not sure if I should, I’ve never seen Pokemon before a couple of days ago, I don’t know if I should be trying to train them, also I imagine that traveling like that gets expensive with food costs and everything, and I don’t think any of my money is going to work here, so I don’t think that I could do it. Also, where would I even get a Pokemon to come with me to start with?”

“You are correct that training can be an expensive path, however it is not uncommon for trainers to be sponsored and I have an idea for that which might ease your mind. As for whether or not someone new to this world should become a trainer, that is a fair question, however the Dratini there has already spoken for your character and both Latios and Latias thought you had a kind heart or else they would have reacted very differently earlier. Now my proposal for you to ease the issue of cost, I have been looking to introduce new ideas and new outlooks into my clan for a while now, and I think that you could be just the fresh infusion I have been looking for. I would propose to have the Blackthorn clan formally adopt you, giving you patronage as a member and funding your travels as a trainer as we do any other member. This would give you the funds to be able to travel where you will, but also as a member of the clan you would be trusted to be able to carry Pokemon that most trainers would not be able to have legally. Of course, you won’t know this, but the Blackthorn clan is one of the most highly regarded clans of Dragon Tamers throughout the world, so any league is willing to let you train any Dragon type which are most often restricted as too dangerous for the average trainer. All of this does have a counterpoint, as our clan members are most often the best equipped to handle any issues with wild Dragons, they are expected to answer the call to help in those situations. What do you think?”

“That’s a lot to think about at once, it sounds like a great opportunity, and I want to say yes, but I feel like I don’t know nearly enough to be able to represent your clan in the way you speak and to feel comfortable being looked to for answers.”

“As for the knowledge of Dragons and how to work with them, that is something we can teach, and have taught to many people before you, I am sure we can get you up to the task as far as knowledge goes without too much difficulty. The most important thing is being able to make a connection with a Dragon and I can see that you have already done that, once you have the one, making more and strengthening those bonds come much easier. Do you have any other concerns?”

This is insane, she just met me today and she wants to adopt me into her clan already. How can I say yes, I know nothing about this world, I don’t know if this will get me into enormous amounts of political mess, I would rather just find a quiet job and live a quiet life. My eyes drift over to the Dratini who gives me a determined nod and holds my gaze. Well, the Dratini seems to want me to accept, wait is this what she was saying about already making a connection with a Dragon, does she mean this Dratini? I did always love travelling, and this does seem like a good way to learn about the world, maybe I should take her up on the offer. Also, it seems like they will teach me more about how to be a Pokemon trainer, which I imagine will be just as useful if I do decided to settle down in the future.

”I do have one question, after I travel for a bit and be a Pokemon Trainer, like you say, if I do want to settle down and say start a business of my own, is there any issues with that and me being a clan member?”

“You would be free to do whatever you want, however if you do retire from being a trainer and do end up starting a business, the Clan does expect a small portion of your profit in order to help fund the next generation’s travels.”

“That seems reasonable enough, I’ll take your offer, thank you very much, Sofia”

“Within clan settings in the future, please refer to me as Elder Sofia. Clan members are expected to refer to the elders as such, but we do not hold outsiders to the same policy.”

“Sorry, Elder Sofia, thank you for informing me of this now.”

“Alright follow me back outside, we have one last thing to do here before we head back to the city.” With that she strides out of the room with me and the Dratini on her heels. She walks to the lakeside and only a couple seconds later I hear the crack of thunder and all of a sudden, a Dragonite is there standing in front of her. She looks at the Dragonite and nods solemnly and then speaks in a very formal tone “Sire of the tribe, as an Elder of the Blackthorns, I call on our ancestral friendship and agreements. I claim this one as one of my own, not by blood, but by soul and would have him be presented.” She pauses and looks to the Dragonite, who turns to look at me and holds my eyes for several seconds before nodding once. “Sam, please approach the lake” Elder Sofia calls to me and I head over to her side and stand facing the lake.

Without any warning the Dragonite roars and as the sound starts to die down, all the Dratini that had been swimming around the lake, mostly avoiding our location, immediately turn towards us and starting swimming this direction, forming a half circle in the water around us. Elder Sofia speaks up addressing the Dratini that have gathered “I present to the Dratini a member of the Blackthorns who is looking for his partner, does any of the gathered wish to present themselves?”

At this I hear a clear “Draaatiiini” come from behind me and turn to see the Dratini that I had first met in this world hold themselves up as tall as they can and look right at me. Elder Sofia continues but speaking to me this time “This Dratini has presented themselves to be your partner, young one, would you take him with you?”

“I would” I say and nod solemnly to the Dratini.

“Then it is chosen, Dratinis of the lake, farewell, until I beseech thee again.” Elder Sofia finishes and the Dratinis all scatter back to playing and swimming through the lake. She then walks to me and hands me a Poke Ball out of her pocket. “Please use this, walk over to the Dratini and hold this in front of him, he will do the rest.”

I take the Poke Ball from her and walk over to the Dratini and hold it out in front of him and he leans forward and taps on the button with his nose. Instantly a flash of white appears and the Poke Ball shakes once in my hand before settling down and then beeping once. “Thank you” I whisper to the ball as I hold it up to take a closer look but can see nothing different about it.

“Congratulations, now let us head back to the city” She pulls out two Poke Balls and releases the same Pokemon from earlier, Latios and Latias, she had named them. “We need to head back to the city, do you mind giving us a lift?” she asks them and they both float down to land gently on the ground. She approaches one and climbs onto its back, and gestures for me to follow suit onto the other one. I run inside and grab my backpack before gingerly approaching the other Pokemon and copying her movements to climb onto its back. “Hold on tight” she says and wraps her arms around the Pokemon’s neck, which I also copy. “Let’s go” are the last words I hear, before all of a sudden being a hundred feet up in the air and flying at incredible speeds south.