Arc 4: Serial Experiments

Sometimes, I have to remind myself that I'm not in my old world anymore.

In the early morning when a dream is still fresh in my mind and I'm not fully awake, I still expect to wake up in my own bed in a normal world in a normal life.

It usually doesn't take long to remember that I ended up in the world of Pokémon. By unknown means, I got here but the story doesn't really end there. Of course, I cannot get an easy life when transporting to another world.

Unlike what the anime and games portrayed the world to be, this place was dangerous, far more dangerous than one would think a world with cute monsters could be.

Gods in the oceans and skies, monsters in human skin and threats that belong in a horror novel.

Just the realization that I ended up in a supposed fictional world sometimes really haunts me in the early morning.

I know that it's technically possible with both the many-worlds multiverse theory and the regular multiverse theory, but knowing that something can happen doesn't mean it won't be a big surprise when it actually does happen.

I opened my eyes, trying to find out where I was. My head still felt fuzzy and traveling the world (well Sinnoh mostly) meant you often woke up at weird places.

Then it all came back to me.

An army in the sky, Sabrina, Fay's attempt to kill Hunter J and Luna's attempt to get rid of Fay. A drop from the sky and a lot of panic.

A pained groan followed and I aborted my attempts to get up, feeling mentally exhausted.

That had been such a mess, I was just training my two Pokémon and suddenly a red Larvitar pops up. Shit escalated and soon I ended up in an all-out war between 2 groups.

My shoulder!

I got up and shook my right shoulder that had hit the ground when I crashed into the ground.

With great care and fear of possible suffering, I shook it.

You can imagine the relief I felt when no pain came. I studied it and it wasn't blue and bruised like I expected it to be, instead, I was met with a plain looking arm, no scars or anything.

Thank Fate for her small miracles

No longer burdened with the possibility of my arm being broken, I studied the room I was in.

I was lying on a comfy, yet plain looking bed with pure white sheets and a pillow still smelling like it had been washed.

A steel bed frame was mounted to a gray wall that was made of a smooth substance but had a rather cold feel to it. The gray paint on the wall sat between the color gray and green which resulted in the wall having the color of vomit, or at least in my eyes.

I was inside a small cubic room with a rather Spartan feel to it.

There was nothing really noteworthy in the room, nothing that gave it a cozy feeling. A metal cabinet was placed against the wall with a metal bench next to it. A pale lightbulb that hung from a wire in the ceiling lit the room in a surprisingly bright glow. No windows, no air vents, and no clock.

A black heavy-looking door blocked my way out, there were no cameras to be seen but that does not mean anything.

I checked my body. I was wearing a white shirt and shorts that almost reached my knees. Those weren't mine, did someone dress me in those?

Probably, and the discovery didn't ease my mind at all.

There was however nothing that indicated I had been physically harmed; at least that was something nice for a change.

With reluctance, I got out of bed, wobbly at first but finding my balance after a short struggle. The dizziness I felt before left my body as my bare feet touched the cold floor and an unexplainable shiver ran across my body.

I checked under my bed for monsters but only found some junk underneath it, empty water bottles and plastic remains of junk food.

Now I was certain there were no monsters underneath my bed (because they do exist in this world) I made my way towards the metal cabinet, that was my next objective.

My hands twisted around the black knobs and I tried both pulling them and twisting them but it didn't budge.

I didn't see a keyhole either and I had the feeling rust might have made this cabinet forever locked to the world.

I hit it and it remained closed. Not like I really expected anything.

With great care, I moved to the black door that I hadn't checked out yet.

It looked like the door I imagined would be fit for a prison, it only had a gap for the food tray and an inmate number.

An iron keyhole made it clear how it was supposed to be opened but I had no key nor did I have any lockpicking skills. Or anything to lock pick with for that matter.

"Thanks, Fate," I mumbled, just to hear my own voice again.

Like my prayers had been heard, something good finally happened.

Two figures appeared out of thin air and landed onto my bed.

"Dust!"

{I finally found you!}

A black-blue, almost dog-like creature stood on my bed and suddenly smiled brightly, a short moment of relief washed over her face before she managed to calm herself.

"Are you okay?" she asked with a semi-formal tone, her voice sounded a bit hoarse, like she had been sick. Knowing the condition I last saw Fay in, it was not too much of a surprise.

However, the second figure made my mouth drop.

An elegant white humanoid with intense red eyes stared back at me. Two red horns poked out of her green hair and it looked like she wore something that looked very close to a tutu.

Her eyes were focused on mine, an almost scary look that neared insanity, yet at the same time her entire appearance gave off a feeling of cuteness.

Not like how a puppy could be cute, but more like anime girl levels of cuteness.

I blinked. "Luna?"

Immediately after that, I wanted to slap myself, who else could it be? Still, it was a very confusing and overwhelming sight.

{I'm sorry,} Kirlia leaped forward and apparently her long legs could launch her pretty far. Before I could fully realize what was going on, she filled my entire vision and grabbed onto my chest like a spider, legs wrapped around my torso and two arms wrapped around my neck.

Kirlia laid her head down on my shoulder with a happy giggle.

{I promise I'll do better! From now on, I will never disappoint you ever again.} A telepathic voice sounded through my head, much like it was one of my own thoughts. Yet the mind voice sounded different and not only different to my own mind voice but also different from what Luna had sounded before

While Luna's telepathic voice was more like a child, this voice sounded more mature, not like an adult or something but closer to a teenager. It was really hard to place considering it was literally all in my head.

"Luna..." I stuttered in surprise. She was no longer a Ralts.

Luna leveled her eyes with mine and added with a small voice. {Please?}

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

She had evolved. Yes, a blind person could tell me that, yet my mind kept repeating and going over the thought like a broken cassette recorder.

It just seemed unnatural to me. It was probably just me, but seeing Luna suddenly changing from a Ralts to Kirlia was really fucking weird. Like seeing your cat suddenly turn into a dog or something. It was weird and my mind was still playing catch up with reality.

This was still Luna, just bigger and having cute horns and being completely different.

She had evolved from Ralts to Kirlia, most likely while I was unconscious.

I had wanted to see Luna evolve myself, and wanted to be there when the big event happened. Maybe it was a childish desire of mine but I felt how I imagined a parent would feel when missing out on your kid's graduation. I couldn't really place my jealousy but it was there.

{I did it for you!} Luna gave me a shocked look when she sensed my distress. {So I could be stronger, more beautiful, more useful!"

I patted her on the head, "Don't worry. I'm just glad for you, it took a while but congratulations."

Luna must have sensed my sincerity because she started to beam at me.

I knelt down and disentangled the newly evolved Luna from my body.

"However we can't celebrate now, instead we should look for a way out."

"I agree." Fay hopped off my bed and walked towards me with a small smile. "Although I truly am glad you are not dead."

"Same here!" I stretched my not-dead body, "Well, at least we are together. Next topic, does anyone know what the hell is going on?"

Both Pokémon gave me looks that said no.

"Okay, how did you two get here?" I went to my next question.

"We woke up inside a room very similar to this," Fay explained.

{We too were imprisoned.} Luna added.

"We had a TV," Fay scowled.

"But not a bed," Luna argued.

They had a TV, talking about favoritism. "Okay, I assume you two have no clue where we are."

{I could only find you by sensing your emotions.} Luna admitted. {My teleport has gotten stronger, or it feels like it.}

I nodded. "Okay Luna, how many people are nearby?"

{I can't begin to count them all.} Luna groaned, annoyed. {Something is interfering with my powers.}

Okay, guns blazing or Solid Snaking my way out of this mess was out of the question.

"Luna, can't you teleport us out of here?" I asked.

Again she shook her horned head, {Teleporting far away feels wrong. Something is definitely messing with me.} A shiver ran over my body. The way she said it, I didn’t know how I knew, but my guts told me that teleporting too far would be a grave mistake.

"Ugh, and teleporting through the door? You think you could manage that?" I asked hopefully. "You teleported to me without seeing this room, maybe evolving buffed your Teleport."

{Still no,} She closed her eyes. {I could only locate you and teleport to you, I'm sorry.}

The last part was telepathically mumbled.

I patted her on the head, still felt good. "Nah, don't worry about it."

Of course I did worry but no reason to share my doubts, right?

I looked around the room. There was nothing I could realistically use as a weapon, unless suffocating someone with a pillow was a fool-proof way to deal with being outnumbered.

Welp, improvisation it is.

"Fay," I pointed at the heavy black door. "Use Metal Dance on the door."

"Doesn't work," Fay immediately killed my hopes, "I can make dents in the door but it doesn't break."

They couldn't, damn that was weird. Guess the door is made of enforced metal or something bullshity.

I gave the door a good look, then slammed myself on the forehead. Why hadn't I thought about the keyhole?

"Luna, peek through the keyhole and teleport us to the other side." I sighed.

"Wait, we could have done that?" Fay's eyes widened.

I nodded bitterly, "Yup, line of sight remember."

Luna stepped towards the door with grace and jumped up to glare through the keyhole. A quick glance was all she needed.

Her eyes flashed white and my old friend nausea made a quick visit and kicked me in the guts.

After the feeling disappeared, I suddenly found myself in an empty hallway.

Bleak gray walls stretched out on both my left and right side with a pale light shining from above, illuminated by the glowing ceiling tiles. On my left side, more black doors decorated the hallway, all evenly spaced with nothing to distinguish between them except for the big numbers drawn on them with white paint.

No guards, no resources. Just an empty hallway with Riolu and Kirlia.

The floor was cold but clean, yet this entire place felt weird and off.

Without any real reason, I headed left and followed the hallway, passing through more black doors with ominous numbers written on them until I finally reached a door that was numberless.

I heard people talking on the other side.

I heard at least 2 different voices, a male and a female. The sounds were vague but I heard they were talking to each other without a concern in the world.

{I sense three beings.} Luna told me. I contemplated this new information. Of course, Luna could not detect Pokémon that were inside their Pokéballs but still, I assumed the two talking were humans based on their ability to speak, so that left one mystery factor.

There was no visible lock on the door and I felt I could push it open with just a touch.

I knelt down to meet my two Pokémon on eye level. Fay was looking nervous while Luna was eagerly smiling at the door.

With a quick gesture, I urged them to move closer and I whispered my orders.

"Okay, I am going to try something, cover me with the usual V-formation and get ready to intervene."

"You're going in there?!" Fay hissed.

It was not like there were a lot of other options. If I went the other direction I would inevitably run into someone else and 3 against 3 with the surprise on my side sounded a whole lot better to me than aimlessly wandering these hallways until something found me..

I got up and faced the door. I took a deep breath, 'Just another Monday.'

Deciding to go all out, I kicked the door open.

In hindsight, it was a bad idea because it hurt my bare feet. Deciding I was already heels deep into this mess I charged into the room, not wanting to waste the surprise and took it all in with one quick glance.

A red-haired guy sat on a wooden chair with his back to me. Opposite of him sat a black-haired girl, a brown oval shaped table was placed between them.

Against the wall there was a kitchen counter with a sink, microwave and furnace with various drawers and cupboards. The entire layout of the room made it look like a small kitchen but a really old one. The kind you see at your grandma's house with everything looking like it hadn't been used in years.

The 2 people had been playing a card game, the guy held a couple of colored cards with numbers in his hand and I oddly recognized it as a card game from my old world which I had brought over.

The girl let out a cry and dropped her cards on the table in panic.

She tried getting up and backing away from me at the same time, causing her to stumble and hit her knee against the underside of the table.

My eyes caught sight of something shiny lying in the sink, a knife.

With 2 quick steps, I reached out for it and with another step, I stood behind the guy who hadn't gotten over the surprise yet.

He tried backing away but the table got in his way and he too hit his knee. With a swift move, I placed the knife against his throat, almost cutting him in the process by accident. He froze as the silver blade slightly pressed against his flesh and for a moment a silence filled the room.

My breathing was heavy and adrenaline surged through my body. My hand was shaking and I was worried I might either drop the knife or kill the guy by accident.

Luna and Fay followed and took to my sides, claws out and eyes glowing. "Where the fuck am I?" I growled, hoping to sound intimidating but after saying it I immediately knew it wasn't what I intended it to sound.

I felt more like a crazed out drunkard or a mugger than an actual trained professional and everyone who saw me could tell.

"Hey hey!" The guy cried out as he dropped his cards and slowly raised his arms up. "Easy does it, we're all friends here. No need to point the pointy thing at me."

He swallowed and shot me a nervous smile without moving his head too much. "You are safe here." He reassured me with such confidence that you would almost forget he was my hostage. "You must be very confused."

I was.

"But everything can be perfectly explained if only-"

{In the corner!} Luna cried out.

My eyes shot towards the corner Luna pointed at. Next to the door was a white creature that, now I looked at it, was not a stack of white towels but a 9-tailed fox.

It yawned as it got up, its eyes lazily looking around the room in confusion. Icy blue eyes met mine and they went wide.

Oh shit.

The knife in my hand suddenly disappeared in a flurry of white snow. One second I was holding a knife, next second I was holding a pile of soft ice in my hand and the knife was nowhere to be seen.

"Snowflake, calm down!" The guy commanded the white fox like it was a dog. "This is perfectly normal-"

A white blur shot towards me.

Purple and blue met its path but Fay was rammed to the side like she weighed nothing more than paper.

Luna's Confusion didn't even seem to do anything as the white Nintetales stormed through it. A cloudy tail glowed silver and Luna too was slammed to the side.

Next second it felt like a truck slammed into me. I fell on my back as the Alolan Nintetales landed on top of me with its entire weight.

Its blue eyes stared down on me and it bared its fangs. A cold chill ran over my body as I saw a blood red tongue licking the teeth right in front of my eyes.

Welp, this is it. I just really hope it'll be quick.

I shut my eyes, not wanting to see my own impending demise.

You can imagine my surprise when a wet tongue scraped over my face and started licking me.

I fearfully opened my eyes and was met with the sight of the white Nintetales staring down at me with an almost wolf-like smile.

Its chest was heaving and its tails were happily sprawled out over my entire body.

The red-haired guy shot me a pained look before turning to face the girl while I was being crushed by the weight of an all too happy Nintetales.

"Go get the commander and tell him he's awake. Also, don't tell Sabrina yet otherwise she's going to be annoying again. It is too early to deal with her bullshit."

The girl yelped as the attention was suddenly placed on her before she stormed through the door.

The guy silently groaned while rubbing his throat.

"This is the last time I am going to guard the sickbay."