《Pokemon : Reverse Isekai One Shots》 The Journey of a Fossil Maniac Has no Bounds Ergggh Groaning, a man with spiky red hair that extended to his shoulders blinked his eyes disorientedly as he adjusted to the sudden flood of light that overwhelmed his senses. Sitting up, the man rubbed his eyes wearily and put his red, hard hat onto his head securely and looked around. The man judged by the cars bustling by and the pedestrians who were staring at him oddly, he had somehow been teleported out of the Grand Underground. Hup Rubbing his chin with his right hand, the man thought to himself as he began to take a look at his surroundings. He couldn''t quite remember what was happening before he had been teleported and when he attempted to recall the last moments before he blacked out, his head began to throb like a pincurchin had attached itself to the back of his brain. All he could remember with certainty was a black shadow possibly in the shape of an Absol at the corner of his eye and then...nothing. "Strange..." the man muttered to himself while looking down to his wrist where his Rotom Poketch was. Tap Tap Tap "Rotom?" ... "Rotom?" ... "Rot¨C" Bzzt Bzzt Bzzt "Rotom-etch at your service!" Phew. He had apparently dropped his rotom phone when the blackout happened, so if his rotom-etch had been broken too he wouldn''t have known what to do. "Call Grandpa" If there was a dangerous wild pokemon running amok in the Grand Underground he would need to alert the trainers before anyone got hurt. "Unable to connect. Unable to connect" bzzted Rotom before the screen turned black. The eerier feeling creeping at the back of his head made the hair on his neck stand up, and with a drop of urgency in his voice the man called out. "Call Grandpa" "Unable to connect. Unable to connect" was all he heard back and now the man began to tap his foot nervously and readjust the red hat on his head. "Call Professor Rowan" "Unable to connect. Unable to connect." Sigh Reassuring himself that they were probably just both busy, the man tapped at the screen of his Rotom-etch once more. "Maybe it was PokeTalk Sunday already?", he mused under his breath. "Rotom, what''s today''s date?" "Today is Tuesday, September 9th, 2XXX" Hmm. As he suspected, two days had already passed since he was in the Underground. Well, if Professor Rowan and grandpa weren''t answering then he would just have to return as quickly as possible before the situation got worse. "Rotom, open up the Map." "Unable to connect. Unable to connect." "...?!" Stunned by the response, the man checked the screen which was indeed black, and even though he had no reason for concern yet, the man couldn''t help but feel adrenaline begin to rush through his veins as he hurriedly pulled aside a passing student with earpods in both ears. "Excuse me, where are we right now?" "Sorry?" "Where are we?" repeated the man, resisting the urge to shake her shoulders. Giving him a look of confusion, the girl shrugged her shoulders and replied nonchalantly, "We''re in Akabira City onii-san" before putting her earpods back in and walking away. Akabira City? He didn''t know of any cities named that in the Sinnoh region... "What the heck is going on?" The man shook his head as if he could shake away the mist that was clouding his thoughts and decided it was time to take matters into his own hands and find the closest Pokemon Centre. Surely, Nurse Joy would be able to reorient himself on where he was and why his Rotom-etch wasn''t working. "Aerodactyl, come out!" AEROOO! Stepping on the grey pokemon''s back, the powerful wings lifted the two in the air and the man and pokemon began to circle the skies above the city. The grey skyscrapers certainly reminded him of the buildings in the Sinnoh region, and yet he couldn''t see a single sign of a Pokemon Centre anywhere! No. Even more strange... There was not a single sign of a pokemon anywhere... ****** 3 Hours Later "PLEASE RETURN TO THE GROUND NOW OR WE WILL FIRE!" "I REPEAT. RETURN TO THE GROUND NOW OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!" After taking a few breaks, the man let out a sigh of relief as he saw a police helicopter asking him to return to ground level and he put his hand with his left and tapped Aerodactly beneath him with his right to indicate they needed to stop flying now. Then, running up to the woman who had exited the helicopter at a tall building in the centre of the city he asked hurriedly, "Excuse me, is Officer Jenny available to talk? My name is Roark, I''m the gym leader of Oreburgh City. Here." Handing her the licence given to him by the Sinnoh Pokemon Association, he recalled Aerodactly back to his ball and waited patiently while the woman looked at his licence with furrowed brows. "What the hell is this supposed to be?" Tilting his head, Roark wondered to himself whether Office Jenny had properly trained the recruit standing in front of him. Every officer in the force should know this was an official licence handed out by the Pokemon Association. Each gym leader was only given one and with tracking, translation and even emergency SOS capabilities, it was a symbol of authority that even officials in other regions should recognise. However, before he could even open his mouth to speak, the woman sighed and muttered, "Looks like another crazy..." Then coughing to clear her voice, she motioned with her left hand as she began to walk back to the helicopter, "Come on, you''re coming with me." "Sure, I was thinking of meeting up with Officer Jenny anyway. Let''s go." One Month Later, Apartment in Akariba City Oof Roark dropped the box with his paltry belongings, and turned to Rampardos who was staring at him sadly as they looked around the empty apartment. "Rampa...Rampa..." Roark turned around and patted Rampardos atop his blue head and gave the mournful pokemon a faint smile that didn''t reach his eyes. "Come on, it''s not so bad. We''re finally out and who knows, if we search around maybe we can find some hints on how to return to our world." "Probo...Probo..." "Ahh, not you too Probopass." Hearing the sorrowful cry from the giant blue pokemon that was floating above the floor, he reached out to gently rub the pokemon''s huge red nose and readjusted the sandy moustache that had begun to droop due to Probopass''s gloomy mood. However, as Roark looked around the apartment, he was only greeted by an empty white that emanated desolation and so he sat down on the floor while Aerodactyl, Probopass, Golem and Rampardos made a circle around him while they hugged each other for comfort. Sitting in the circle of pokemon Roark''s head began to spin as he recalled the conversation he had with Officer Nakayama earlier in the day. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. A Few Hours Before "..." "..." Roark looked at Officer Nakayama with eyes that scream fatigued. With deep eye shadows due to a lack of sleep and bloodshot maroon red eyes, he seemed like a shadow of his former self. Meanwhile, Officer Nakayama looked at him with displeasure, confusion and perhaps even...wonder? "You are...free to go Roark-san." Jerking upwards from his seat, he repeated her words for confirmation. "I''m...free to go." Sighing, Officer Nakayama nodded sullenly and pushed a set of 4 red and white balls at which sight, Roark''s eyes filled with elation like a man who was being given water after walking through a desert. "My pokemon!" Officer Nakayama watched silently across the table as Roark excitedly began to talk to his pokemon who were likewise overjoyed to be reunited with their friend and continued, "We have a lot to talk about Roark-san so pay attention..." "You are no longer in the world you call ''Sinnoh'''' Officer Nakayama took in a deep breath as she did her best to prevent her eyes from rolling upwards in exasperation. She couldn''t believe that her superiors were making her entertain this crazy man''s delusions and releasing him with his dangerous robots or whatever they were. Ugh! If someone was hurt because of this she''d never be able to sleep at night. Sigh "You are no longer in the world you call ''Sinnoh''. This is Earth and you are in a country called Japan. Akabira City is in the Sorachi Subprefecture of Hokkaido..." "Here" said Officer Nakayama as she pointed to the city on the map while Roark bobbed his head in understanding to indicate he was following along. "There is no ''Sinnoh'' region, no ''Officer Jenny'', no ''Pokemon Centre'' and most importantly ''NO POKEMON''. Roark watched as she paused as if she were double checking that Roark understood this critical point, and enunciated it with extra force to get her point across. "After discussion amongst my superiors it was decided that we will register you as a special citizen, meaning you''ll be put into the government systems but will be monitored with this" and pointed to his gym licence which had been co-opted into his new tracker "and you will need to do weekly check ups here with me. Of course, you are going to need to keep your robots within the property we''re assigning to you unless you ask for special permission. Understood? Break a single rule and I''ll personally be coming for your ass" said Nakayama as she punched her fist into her palm, giving off an aura so threatening that Roark swore he could see a hungry Snorlax behind her. Present, Roark''s Apartment Roark sat on the couch of his living room after finally setting up all of his furniture provided to him by the government and thanked Arceus that he hadn''t brought Onix with him to the Underground when he had been teleported. Rampardos, Golem, Probopass and Aerodactyl were already pushing it and there was no way the rock snake pokemon would be able to fit inside. Roark leaned forward to pick up the remote to turn on the TV so he could watch the news and have some background noise while he tried to organise his thoughts. ... ... ... Nope. Nothing. Roark had no idea where to start. In a world without pokemon there weren''t even any legendaries he could seek out for help and without knowing anyone in this world, he couldn''t even reach out to Professor Rowan or anyone else in the Pokemon Association that might know something... Head pounding, Roark had a sneaking thought pop into his brain and wondered for a brief second if he had to resign himself to his fate and just accept a new life in this world. No. It was time for sleep, after refreshing his mind he was sure he would be able to think of something or view the situation from a different perspective. Calling the gang over, Roark snuggled next to Rampardos and the others in his bedroom and looked up at the dark ceiling. "Who or what had taken him here?" "What if that pokemon was hurting trains in the Underground?" "Who was taking care of the gym?" "What should he do if he was really trapped here forever? Should he get a degree in archaeology like he had planned to anyway in Sinnoh? The regulations in ''Japan'' seemed to be stricter than the Sinnoh regions..." Then, out of the blue, the faces of his parents popped into his brain and Roark felt a pang of loneliness which his pokemon sensed and in response wrapped their arms (or wings) around him so their warmth would calm him down. Thankful at least they were with him, Roark closed his eyes and let the voice calling out to him pull him to the realm of dreams. One Week Later RAMpaaaaa.... Holding his stomach pathetically, Rampardos was making whimpering noises while Roark was making retching noises beside him. That... Was pretty bad. Staring at the gooey mixture which radiated a toxic smell rivalling that of a Garbodor and resembled an alolan Muk in colour and appearance Roark''s other pokemon looked at the two with a mixture of pity and sympathy as Roark pathetically lamented his lack of cooking skills. While they were getting by with human food, Roark had done his best to create every possible mixture of pet food to make some sort of food that would be more palatable to his pokemon but... Clearly he should have paid more attention when Nurse Joy offered to teach him how to make pokemon food. Today, he had added a cup of large dog food, a cup of crickets, mealworms and other lizard delicacies along with some base ingredients and for some reason it had turned out as poison. When Rampardos had fainted after eating two bites Roark had thought he was exaggerating and went to take a bite for himself, but if he had taken another bite after that he most likely would have been well on his way to Arceus by then. Struggling to stand up, Roark jotted a note down in his food journal along with his past failed creations and weakly shouted to Rampardos with fire in his eyes. "Don''t worry Rampardos! I''ll definitely make the best Pokemon food you''ve ever tasted. Just you wait!" One Month Later Crash Probo. Probo. PROBO!! Rampa...Rampa... GOLEM! GOLEM!! AEROOOOOOOOO Looking at the toilet that had just been crushed to pieces by Rampardos''s large bottom, Probopass''s three Mini Noses whirled around the bathroom that was quickly flooding while Probopass''s moustache began to fly around as he panicked seeing the destruction. He had warned Rampardos multiple times not to use the human toilet but Rampardos had always insisted that it was fine as long as he was careful and made sure his bottom didn''t touch the toilet. Fortunately for the pokemon, Roark had finally found the secret ingredient necessary to make the pokemon food palatable but by adding rocks to the food, Rampardos''s poops had turned a bit more explosive than he remembered. Thus, loe and behold. As usual, Probopass was right. Meanwhile, as Probopass was losing his mind with worry, Golem jumped up and down trying to avoid the water and looked up at Aerodactyl who was flying above them and gave Golem a look back as if saying ''What do you want me to do?" to which Golem decided it was time to take matters into his own hands. Beginning to let sparks fly out, Golem shined with yellow energy which he then released towards the bathroom. BOOM Zrrt Zrrt Zrrt Golem began to light up in the darkness that resulted from the electric explosion and the four pokemon were left staring at each other as they wondered what they were going to tell Roark when he came home. One Year Later, Ancient Ruins Somewhere RAMPAAAA~~ Aero Aero Aero! Putting his hand above his eyes to block the sunlight, Roark looked up into the sky where Aerodactyl was cooing happily while Rampardos smiled at him and nuzzled against him excitedly. It was their first excursion outside the apartment and all of his pokemon were looking forward to returning to what they were used to doing back home. "Are you sure we can trust your pet bird with scouting Roark-san?" Roark looked downwards at the tiny man who had a genial face but a slight shadow of doubt as he looked at the pokemon flying above and walking beside them. Nodding confidently, Roark pledged, "Of course Professor Kaseki! You can count on them, I''d trust my life with my pokemon. They''re the best of the best!" Roark was very grateful to the older man who had taken him under his wing after enrolling in a university to get his archaeology degree and had finally convinced the professor to allow him to bring his pokemon on one of their excursions to search for ancient civilisations in the Middle East. Aero! AERO! "Aerodactyl, you found something?" "AERO! AERO!" Following up on the fossil pokemon''s cries, Roark called out Golem and Probopass to sense below the ground using electromagnetic wave manipulation in coordination with each other. "GOLEM!" "PROBO!" Finally, turning to Rampardos, Roark just tipped his red hard hat and wagging his tail in understanding, Rampardos began to burrow his way into the ground where Golem and Probopass had indicated. Six Months Later "KANPAI!" Professor Kaseki''s cheeks were flushed, peach red after drinking a few glasses too many and pulled Roark under his arm in celebration of their newest research paper regarding the uncovering of a complete tomb of an ancient king of Sumer. Even though they would need some more editing and reviews before it could get published, once it was released it was sure to get attention around the globe amongst the archeological community! "Let''s hear it for our youngest, Roark-san! It wouldn''t have been possible without him and his pet dogs!" "KANPAI!!!" Not really one for drinking, Roark politely drank a glass or two before slipping out from the party and called out Rampardos after making sure no one was around in his favourite, secluded part of the forest next to the university he studied at. It was surreal to him that he had already been separated from his home for almost two years now and was even more surprised by how quickly he had adjusted to the new environment. Even though there had been some rough patches along the way, overall life wasn''t so bad in ''Japan'' and he had even discovered the brilliant world of ''anime'' and was a particular fan of Gammamon these days who Rampardos, in particular seemed to like. "RAMPAAAA" Lying back to back with Rampardos, Roark looked upwards at the night sky where the stars were twinkling just like they did in Oreburgh City. Though he and his pokemon had make a lot of progress in their career, made new friends, and even started getting along with Officer Nakayama, who Roark still wasn''t sure if she believed his pokemon were robots or not, they had still made no progress on how to get home. But... Maybe they could make this their second home. As long as he had Rampardos and the others, he would never truly be alone and his dream had always been to uncover as many new fossils as possible so maybe he could still achieve this dream in ''Japan''... The pursuit of knowledge and new findings didn''t have to stop just because he was in another world after all! "Rampardos! Let''s do it! We''re going to be the best archaeologists in the world! Okay!" "RAMPAAAAAA" Turning around in his spot, Roark tried to hug Rampardos fondly from behind but felt the wind leave his lungs when Rampardos headbutted him lightly before he could. Hahaha. Letting out a cheery laugh, Roark felt a peace in his heart wash away his worries and continued to laugh alongside Rampardos in the forest while the bugs buzzed away under the moonlight. Two Years Later, TBS Broadcasting Centre, Tokyo, Japan "Roark-san, good job with the interview today! You''re all done, so should I escort you to the waiting room until Professor Kaseki is done with his part of the program?" "Thank you, that sounds great." Following the worker who led him away from the newsroom, Roark checked his Rotom-etch comfortably where the news read, "Young researcher Roark-san with renown Professor Kaseki develop Fossil Reviver and announce plans to open the world''s first Fossil Restoration Centre, right here in Tokyo!!!" Phew It had been a whirlwind of a two years as they attempted to recreate the portable Fossil Reviver he had gotten in the Galar region and soon they would be able to revive fossils here in Japan! It was unbelieve that they had succeeded and as soon as they had shown a demonstration with something this world called a ''T-rex'' thought to Roark it just looked like a smaller Tyrantrum, he and Professor Kaseki had been whisked from news station to news station all begging for an interview with the two hottest researchers of the year. And while the Fossil Reviver was the biggest headlight, Roark had steadily been making a name for himself and was on a steady path to get his PhD in archeology as he and the team continued to discover new fossils and ruins in the Middle East and Africa at breakneck speed with many calling him ''The Greatest Fossil Maniac'' of his generation. Knock Knock Knock Putting his wrist down, Roark opened the door and was met by the sight of a petite woman, with light, chestnut brown hair that extended just above her shoulders, a vibrant green top complemented by dark green, cargo pants and boots that showed an emphasis on manoeuvrability. Smiling at him, she went in for a hug which Roark responded with a hug back and greeted the genial woman. "Hey Gardenia" Fairy of the Forest ¡°Son of a Gengar!¡± Gah Patting herself down, Gardenia looked around wildly as she took up a fighting stance as if in preparation to fight some unknown enemy. Though one could hardly fault her considering what had just happened two minutes earlier. Eterna Forest, 5 Minutes Ago Ever since Roark, the Oreburgh Gym Leader, had disappeared in the Underground a month or so ago Gardenia¡¯s duties had only continued to pile up as she was now the sole representative of the Pokemon Association routinely checking on Route 206 and 207 which she and Roark had previously been splitting up between them. Thus, it had been a while since she had been able to relax with the grass pokemon in Eterna Forest and she took a deep breath in as the scent of the forest evoked a tranquillity like nothing else in her life. Truly nothing was better than the forest and grass pokemon!! Mmm. Stopping to smell the flowers, Gardenia spotted a ¨C ¡°What the¨C¡± Pausing in her tracks, Gardenia squinted her eyes and rubbed them to make certain of what she was seeing. Sure enough. The brilliant blue skin, the luscious white fur and the dazzling, curved horn. That was definitely an Absol. Was it a trainer¡¯s Absol or a wild Absol? Gardenia didn¡¯t know of any Absols living in Eterna Forest so this was a rather rare sight. Had it wandered in from somewhere else? Wait. Gardenia looked up to the sky where a shadow had blocked out the sun as the trees bent under the powerful winds that began to whip through the forest. Gardenia watched mutely with quivering eyes as mobs of flying and bug pokemon began to escape from the trees and fly away while her pokemon in their balls began to shake violently on her waist. Oh heck no. Gardenia loved grass pokemon but there was no way she was putting up with this spooky ghost business. Soothing her pokemon quickly, Gardenia began to run while petting the still shaking pokeballs on her waist. ¡°Come on guys, let¡¯s¡ª¡± HONKKKKK Gardenia turned her head at the loud noise and blinded by the light, she put her hands up helplessly as a truck crashed towards her, seemingly appearing from thin air. Preparing for the impact, Gardenia¡¯s body tensed up and then¡­ Present, Location : ?? Confused and disoriented still, Gardenia double checked once more that her body was in fact still in one piece and wondered if some pokemon had protected her from the truck. What the hell was with that truck anyway? Why was it in Eterna Forest and who was stupid enough to drive it straight in the path of a person! Surprise and shock now shifting into annoyance and frustration, Gardenia stamped her feet into the ground a few times while checking that her pokemon were in fact okay. Satisfied with their responses, she looked to the left and right where two people were staring at her without blinking. Wait, what?! Doubling back, Gardenia turned back to her left where an extremely handsome man was staring at her dumbfounded. With large clear eyes, skin that was brighter than Lanturn, fluffy jet black hair and a jawline that didn¡¯t even look human, Gardenia surmised he was probably a celebrity of some kind. Then looking at the second person, Gardenia wondered if the saying that ¡®beautiful people flock together¡¯ was true because the girl sitting next to him in the bush was equally beautiful, with curly, equally black hair, glowing skin and ethereal eyes that blinked slowly like a doe. Now realising that she was being watched by these two otherworldly strangers, Gardenia felt a wave of awkwardness wash over her and unsure what to do but recovering quickly she put on a bright smile and laughed awkwardly. ¡°Haha¡­ Nice to meet you! I¡¯m Gardenia, leader of the Eterna City Gym! Who are you two?¡± Step Step Step Rather than respond to her question, the two strangers began to approach her silently and before she could react in one fluid motion they had taken her left and right hand respectively and put their forehead to her hands in a greeting of some sort. ¡°We greet the Maiden-sama of our lord¡± ¡°We greet the Maiden-sama of our lord¡± Now wildly confused and feeling a bit put off by their strange actions, Gardenia took her hands back and tried to process what they were saying. Turning around in place, she spotted a shrine of some sorts with a stone statue lying within and put the pieces together. Clearly, these were followers of whatever legendary pokemon was the guardian deity of this forest and seeing her teleport in front of it, mistakenly identified her as related to the figure in question. Coughing to clear her throat, Gardenia opened her mouth to speak when she felt herself get picked up by the man and carried securely in his arms while the other girl followed closely behind the two. ¡°Oh my Arceus! Sir! Sir! Please put me down!!¡± However, ignoring her words the man pressed on in the forest path until they reached a clearing where a group of men and women had gathered in long cloaks of some kind. Placing her gently in the middle of the crowd, Gardenia looked around as the men and women all stared at her with bug eyes that reminded her of a Dustox (though on them it looked much less beautiful and much more creepy). Seeing her look at them however, the men and women quickly bowed and averted their eyes while the original duo stood behind her and declared loudly in unison, ¡°Our Lord Cthulhu has sent his divine maiden to grace the Earth before its destruction! Bow before the maiden and show your gratitude for being amongst the Chosen to be taken to the new world!¡± Blinking rapidly, Gardenia knew what was happening. Oh hell no, she was putting up with this BS. Gardenia considered herself a rather patient person but enough was enough! She didn¡¯t get her position as Eterna City¡¯s gym leader with patience and kindness alone! While Gardenia didn¡¯t know what nefarious actions this villainous team was up to, she knew that they wouldn¡¯t be doing any no-good deeds in this forest as long as she was around to protect it! Though she didn¡¯t know what forest this was, any forest was sacred ground in her eyes and she wouldn¡¯t forgive anyone who disrespected the hallow home of the grass pokemon! ¡°Roserade! Torterra! Help me out! Let¡¯s show these crooks not to mess with the forest!¡± Roseradeeee~ ¡°Tor! Tor! Torterrrrra!¡± ¡°Torterra, Earthquake! Roserade, use Leaf Storm to bind them!¡± Humph! Clapping her hands together and petting her pokemon happily, Gardenia felt very refreshed as she looked at the 15 or so people tied up with leaves in the hole created by Torterra and ignored their cries while she walked away to go find the closest Officer Jenny and report these no gooders. Were they part of that dreadful ¡®Team Galactic¡¯ she had been hearing about recently? Last she recalled, that girl and those troublesome boys with her had reported fighting with some men and women in strange suits at the Valley Windworks, right? And thinking about it, she was pretty confident that Cynthia-san had mentioned dealing with some of those crooks in Eterna City as well the other day¡­ Hmm . Putting her hands behind her head, Gardenia shook away the troublesome thoughts and took a deep breath in enjoying the fresh scent of this forest that she was certain she had never been to, and began to walk along a path marked out in the ground. Officer Jenny would be able to handle the complicated stuff, and if they needed her she would be ready. But for now, she needed to figure out exactly where she was and what was going on. One Hour Later Using Jumpluff as a set of eyes in the air, Gardenia let out a sigh of relief as she finally stumbled on a building of some sorts. With traditional Sinnoh-esque architecture, Gardenia was certain that she was still in the Sinnoh region, and ignored the voice at the back of her head reminding her that she had visited every forest in the Sinnoh region and had never seen this one before. Knock Knock Knock Kyaaaaa! Surprised by the attire of the stranger who had opened the door upon hearing Gardenia¡¯s knocking, Gardenia let out a cry and quickly called her two pokemon out to deal with the girl in front of her. ¡°Roserade, quick Grass Knot! Torterra, vine whip!!¡± Now, however, it was the girl¡¯s turn to let out a shriek and Gardenia covered her ears while she looked carefully at the young girl in front of her. ¡°EEEEK! KYAAAAAA! KYAAAAAA!¡± Narrowing her eyes in suspicion, Gardenia tried to recall the uniforms of the strange men and women and compared it to the gown of the girl standing in front of her. While they were strangely similar in design, the girl currently being held in Torterra¡¯s vines had a much more colourful outfit that reminded her of the Kimono Girls in the Johto Region and realising that she may have been a tad bit hasty, Gardenia prayed to Arceus she hadn¡¯t just embarrassed herself and attacked a completely innocent stranger and silently patted Torterra from behind to tell him to put the girl down. ¡°Err¡­sorry about that. I can explain. My name is Gardenia, gym leader of Eterna City and you see... I was in Eterna Forest doing my rounds, ahem, (official Pokemon Association business, I was definitely NOT slacking off!) when suddenly a truck appeared out nowhere and almost hit me! Can you believe it! Anyway, luckily it seemed a pokemon took mercy on me and teleported here but it seems like a Murkrow cursed me with bad luck today because when I landed some miscreants kidnapped me and tried to make me join their cult! So¡­¡± Voice trailing off, Gardenia looked downwards at the young girl who was drooling slightly having fainted from all the action and Gardenia prodded her slightly to make sure she was still alive. ¡°Uh oh¡­¡± Looking around, Gardenia broke a sweat nervously and whispered to Roserade and Torterra to pick up the girl while she pushed open the door that had been left half-open. Hmm¡­ While she knew in the Sinnoh region, it was well known that strangers were allowed to walk into almost any building they wanted to without asking or permission or knocking, she still wasn¡¯t completely sure whether this was the Sinnoh region or not, so Gardenia did feel slightly guilty as she waved Roserade and Torterra inside. ¡°It¡¯s probably fine though, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m a bad person after all!¡± thought Gardenia to herself and now fully convinced, Gardenia spoke up in a more confident voice, ¡°Hello!!! Excuse me, sorry. My pokemon and I are lost so we¡¯re sorry to bother you but it seems we¡¯ll have to trouble you for a little while!¡± However, it seemed no one was in the building because her voice echoed off of the wood interior for a little bit before dissipating quickly and Gardenia decided to keep moving ahead since she was already inside and sat down in the living room next to the fireplace. Ahhh. Cuddling up into the embrace of her pokemon, Gardenia finally allowed herself to get comfortable and let out a little smile while she wiggled her toes when she felt a prick after reaching out too far and hitting one of Ferrothorn¡¯s barbs. ¡°Oops, sorry Ferrothorn!¡± apologised Gardenia after seeing Ferrothorn retract quickly in surprise and reassured him quietly as she and her pokemon returned to their comfortable positions. Mmmm. It had been a long day¡­ ***** Ahhhhh Letting out a refreshing sigh, Gardenia followed up by yawning loudly and stretching her arms out while her pokemon began to move from their sleep. However, confused, she felt around her body where a blanket that was not atop her before sleeping had appeared and she lifted it so she could examine it more closely. Had one of her pokemon found it while she was sleeping? ¡°You¡¯re up onee-san!¡± ¡°....?!¡± Startled, Gardenia almost fell over while standing up and saw a small boy running around her and her pokemon in circles, animatedly waving his arms to show off his excitement. ¡°You¡¯re finally awake! Onee-chan said not to wake you so I¡¯ve been checking up on you since I woke up! You slept foreverrrrrr! Mom, Dad and Grandpa have all been awake for hours now meaning you¡¯re the last to wake up!!¡± Then grabbing her hand, the boy walked Gardenia over to the kitchen where bowls of rice, natto, egg rolls and fresh vegetables were neatly arranged, waiting for someone to come eat them. ¡°Grandpa said he would come to talk to you later and mom said you would probably be hungry when you wake up so she said to take you to the kitchen! I made these, here!¡± Pushing a bowl of rice over that was slightly burnt but overall in fine condition, the boy flared his nostrils with pride as he watched Gardenia, who was still rather dazed, numbly begin eating the bowl of rice with her chopsticks. ¡°We weren¡¯t sure what your pets would want to eat but I thought they might want these so I got these from the forest this morning!¡± Taking out a bunch of wild herbs from his pockets, the boy did a prayer before putting them in bowls and placing them in front of her pokemon to which they gratefully accepted. Seeing her pokemon munch happily on the plants, Gardenia realised she had really let her guard down despite not even knowing where she was and asked the boy who was petting Torterra with awe in his eyes, ¡°Um, excuse me kid. What¡¯s your name and where are we?¡± ¡°Hey, can I climb on his back?¡± asked the boy instead of replying whilst pointing to Torterra¡¯s large shell and tree. Smiling, Gardenia nodded her head in confirmation and seeing him playing happily she assumed he forgot her questions and was about to ask them again when the boy spoke up, ¡°My name¡¯s Ryota Fujisawa! I¡¯m 9 years old so I¡¯m a big boy now! That¡¯s what my dad says at least. What¡¯s your name onee-san?¡± ¡°My name¡¯s Gardenia, I¡¯m the leader of the Eterna City gym. Nice to meet you!¡± said Gardenia cheerily, matching the boy¡¯s positive mood and waited upon seeing his mouth open up again. ¡°Eterna City gym? What¡¯s that? Is that like our shrine or something? This is the Asahikawa Northern Forest City Shrine! My family runs it!!¡± Then sliding off of Torterra¡¯s back, the boy ran over to a picture hanging on the wall where an older couple Gardenia presumed was his grandparents stood in the centre of the picture while standing behind was a handsome man and attractive woman who she guessed was his parents while surrounding them was Ryota, the girl she recognised from yesterday and a boy who appeared to be around her age. ¡°That¡¯s my nan, granddad, mum, dad, onii-chan and onee-chan. But our onii-chan isn¡¯t home right now so it¡¯s just¡­¡± Pausing to double check the numbers with his fingers, Ryota looked up once he had finished counting and smiled revealing his missing teeth before finishing, ¡°The five of us now!¡± Sweatdropping in slight exasperation and not wanting to correct him, Gardenia nodded her head politely while she processed the information Ryota had just given her. The Asahikawa Northern Forest City Shrine?? She had never heard of such a forest in the Sinnoh region¡­ Nor a city of that name in Kanto, Johto, or Hoenn which were the closest regions to Sinnoh¡­ Feeling her stomach drop, Gardenia began to realise that she may have been transported somewhere much further than she had initially thought and paused her eating as this realisation made her mood sink faster than a pokemon under the effects of Gravity. ¡°Ah Miss, it seems that you¡¯re finally awake. I hope our little Ryo-chan hasn¡¯t been bothering you too much, has he?¡± ¡°Jii-chan!!!¡± (Granddad) Looking up, Gardenia saw an old man standing crookedly, bend his back over to hug Ryota who had rushed over to hug his grandad, and Gardenia got up quickly to bow and introduce herself for the nth time in the past two days. ¡°Hello, thank you very much for your hospitality! My name¡¯s Gardenia, I¡¯m the Eterna City Gym Leader! I specialise in grass type pokemon and I¡¯ll be sure to get out of your hair as soon as I figure out where the nearest city is!¡± Smiling enigmatically, the old man beckoned her to follow him and getting up from the table quickly, Gardenia was stunned by a beautiful courtyard that was hidden behind the shrine and sat down beside him under the shade. ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Both unmoving, Gardenia looked over to where the Ryota¡¯s grandad was sitting with his eyes closed while the wind moved the leaves slightly around in circles across the courtyard before flying away in the distance. ¡°I sense that you have much to say and many questions to ask. Start from the beginning and I will do my best to answer your questions to the furthest of my capabilities. You can probably already tell from looking at me hoho but I¡¯ve been watching over the forest here much longer than you¡¯ve been alive little one, so not much surprises me anymore. Speak freely to your heart¡¯s content and I shall listen.¡± Feeling gratitude well up from the depths of her heart, Gardenia unloaded all of her worries and began to release all of the questions she had bottled up thus far to the old man, starting with the strange gang she had met when she first arrived and ending with where she was from and what had happened when she had been transported to this forest. ***** Three Hours Later ¡°Well, like I said, you¡¯re free to stay as long as you wish. Amaterasu does not turn away those who come seeking shelter with pure hearts. You may be asked to do some chores of course but as long as we can provide you shall receive the blessings of our goddess.¡± said the old man as he grabbed his worn out cane. Then walking away to leave her alone with her thoughts, Gardenia¡¯s mind began to wander as she reviewed the points of her conversation with the old man who she had found out was indeed the head priest of the shrine as Ryota had hinted at. Sigh So, she was currently in a region called ¡®Japan¡¯ that she had never heard of and most importantly, did not know the existence of Pokemon, the Sinnoh Region or in fact any region that she had listed to the Head Priest. Besides the pokedex functions, none of the other features of her Rotom phone worked in ¡®Japan¡¯ and the Head Priest had no idea how she could get back home. The cult she had met earlier was indeed just one of the many cults that apparently worshipped a strange pokemon called Cthulhu from what Gardenia understood while this Shrine worshipped the Legendary Amaterasu and¡­this world didn¡¯t know the existence of Pokemon. This world had no pokemon. This world had no pokemon. This world had no pokemon. ¡°EHHHHHHHHHH?!!!!¡± Grabbing her chestnut brown hair widely, Gardenia let out a cry of confusion which summoned over her pokemon who had been napping on the other side of the courtyard and checked to make sure she was alright. ¡°What in Arceus¡¯s name was going on here?¡± At a loss for words, Gardenia began to stroke Torterra¡¯s head softly while he brushed his head against her thigh to soothe his trainer. Though he didn¡¯t know what was going on, Torterra knew the plants of this forest were not like the ones he knew and he too didn¡¯t feel comfortable in this strange environment. However, as long as Gardenia was with them, he never felt too afraid. ¡°Torterrrrrrrra, Torterrrrra!!¡± Brightening up at his encouragement, Gardenia slapped her cheeks to pull herself together and looked at her pokemon before yelling, ¡°Well¡­seems like we¡¯re going to be here for a little while guys so might as well get comfortable!¡± ¡°TORTERRRA TERRRA!!¡± ¡°Jump, Jumpluff!¡± ¡°Roserrrraddeeee~¡± ¡°FERRO, FERROTHORN!!¡± ¡°Cheeeeeerrriiiiim~!¡± ****** One Month Later, Asahikawa Northern Forest City Shrine ¡°Again, again! Do it again Torterra!¡± Laughing merrily, Ryota bounced on Torterra¡¯s back while asking the pokemon to lift him up once more with Vine Whip while Gardenia supervised the duo from afar. ¡°Here you go, Gardenia-oneesan¡± Bowing her head to accept the flower crown created by Ryota¡¯s older sister, Kasumi, and Roserade, Gardenia looked at the younger girl relieved that their relationship had improved so quickly despite Kasumi¡¯s understandable, initial fear after the rather violent first encounter. Even more so than her own relationship with Kasumi, Gardenia had been greatly relieved when she saw Kasumi quickly getting along with Roserade. If Kasumi had become afraid of grass type pokemon because of her, Gardenia would never have been able to forgive herself. ¡°Thank you Kasumi-chan, it¡¯s beautiful.¡± Blushing, Kasumi hid behind Roserade to hide her relief that Gardenia liked her gift, and began to dance happily in place in the courtyard. Sigh Letting out a deep sigh, Gardenia watched the kids and pokemon play peacefully in a scene that reminded her of Eterna City¡¯s gym, and found her thoughts drifting once more to her home. While she was surprised how little her life had changed after being transported to Japan, she couldn¡¯t help but wonder, ¡°Who was taking care of the gym and more importantly the gym pokemon and trainers?¡± ¡°Who was watching Eterna Forest and what if Team Galactic was making trouble while she wasn¡¯t there?¡± And of course, ¡°What were her father and friends thinking right now?¡± However, knowing these were useless thoughts, Gardenia got up to do her usual forest rounds where she interacted with the Japanese ¡®pokemon¡¯ which she learned they called ¡®animals¡¯ though they looked remarkably similar to pokemon she was familiar with, helped out any hikers or other visitors if requested, and input any important changes to the wildlife or plantlife in the database the Fujisawa Family maintained. Hmm¡­ Looking down at her Rotom phone where she had downloaded the map of the Asahikawa Northern Forest, Gardenia zoomed in on the last zone she hadn¡¯t been able to check. E1¡­ The zone furthest to the north, it was strangely marked in red which she assumed meant something was wrong with it and would require more caution when exploring. Welp, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem for an expert grass-type trainer like herself, whatever it was. ¡°Torterra, Ferrothorn. You two stay here and protect the shrine alright? Roserade, Cherrim, Jumpluff, let¡¯s go!¡± Breaking out into a sprint, Gardenia felt the wind blow into her face and toss her hair aside to and fro, while Roserade used vines to swing across the trees and Jumpluff floated a bit more slowly behind her. Meanwhile, Cherrim was snugly napping in Gardenia¡¯s backpack and the four made their way steadily to Zone E1 by midday. ¡°What the¡ª¡± Gasping at the horrible sight, Gardenia recognised right away what was going on that had caused this zone to be marked in a bright red. Seeing the arid soil, devoid of vegetation and life, the land was completely barren with only a few dying trees in sight¡­ This was desertification¡­ And judging from the looks of it, it was progressing much faster than what should be occurring through natural processes. Taking some notes and pictures with her Rotom phone immediately, Gardenia bent down next to take a soil sample while the grass pokemon she had brought with her looked sadly at the desert-like area that was readily expanding into the lush forest bordering it. ¡°Roser, roserade¡­.¡± Grimacing, Gardenia tightened the cap on the jar of soil and grabbed the forlorn vine Roserade had extended outwards, seeking comfort from her trainer. ¡°I know Roserade¡­ I know¡­¡± This was clearly the result of careless human actions¡­ How could they do such a cruel thing? No wonder there were no grass pokemon in Japan! Besides a few specialists like Cacnea and Maractus, most grass pokemon would never be able to survive in a desert environment like this forest was rapidly becoming¡­ This wouldn¡¯t do¡­ ¡°Come on guys, let¡¯s head back! Quickly!¡± ***** Later in the Evening ¡°What?! They did what exactly?!!¡± Nodding gravely, Ryota¡¯s grandad repeated himself, ¡°A few years ago, the Morioka Corporation was using the region right next to E1 for mass farming, and despite our warnings they proceeded to harvest for years carelessly from the land until one year¡­the plants just wouldn¡¯t grow and it became like what you see now. We told them ¡®If you continue to treat the land harshly, the gods would become angry¡¯ but they called us crazy and proceeded to poison the land with their chemicals. We can only hope the gods will have mercy and restore the land to its former state¡­however I fear that I will never be able to see it in this old man¡¯s lifetime¡­¡± Then, patting Gardenia on the back the Head Priest walked away sadly leaving the grass gym leader alone with her pokemon while they crowded around her wondering what she was thinking so intently. Tightening her right hand into a fist, Gardenia felt a surge of anger at the disrespect they were showing the land and looked at her pokemon with newfound determination blazing in her eyes. ¡°We won¡¯t be waiting for any gods! This is a job for us, we¡¯re going to save the forest if it¡¯s the last thing we do! You with me?¡± ¡°TORT TORT TORT!¡± ¡°ROSERADEEE!¡± ¡°JUMP, Jump, JUMPLUFF!¡± ¡°FERRRROOOOTHORN!!¡± ¡°CHERRRRIM!¡± ***** 6 Months Later, Asahikawa Northern Forest Zone E1 ¡°Ferrothorn, you know the drill. ¡®INGRAIN!¡¯¡± ¡°Cherrim, Sunny Day!¡± ¡°Roserade, Grassy Terrain!¡± ¡°Torterra, Use Earthquake to destroy the bedrock!¡± ¡°Jumpluff, Bullet Seed just like we practised!¡± Following behind Jumpluff as she planted the seeds Gardenia had ordered with Kasumi¡¯s help, Gardenia put more soil atop the seeds while Ryota followed behind her and watered the seeds carefully. Phew Wiping her brow of the sweat, Kasumi came over along with her mom bringing snacks and refreshments for the humans and pokemon. ¡°Gardenia-oneesan, you¡¯ve made so much progress! It looks beautiful!¡± Messing the younger girl¡¯s hair, Gardenia brusquely replied, ¡°Stop flattering me, there¡¯s still a lot of work left to be done, and if you should be complimenting anyone you should be praising the pokemon not me. They¡¯re the ones who have been doing all the work!¡± ¡°She¡¯s not flattering you, Gardenia-san. It¡¯s starting to truly look like it did when I was a child.¡± Gardenia looked around upon hearing Masako¡¯s, the childrens¡¯ mother, words and had to admit that it indeed was starting to look much better than it had half a year ago. From the seeds, sproutlings could already be seen and the once dry soil was replaced by fertile, soft soil that had a richness that was completely absent before Gardenia had started the project. ¡°The gods truly blessed us by bringing you and the forest spirits to us, Gardenia-san¡± said Masako with wonder and a drop of reverence mixed in her voice which embarrassed Gardenia. About to open her mouth to reply, Gardenia looked over where two luxury cars had pulled up with a man of tall stature, being escorted by numerous bodyguards and employees surrounding him exiting the front vehicle. Walking over in a few long strides, he cast a shadow over Gardenia as she pushed the children behind her defensively. Wearing a perfectly tailored suit that matched his stylized, slick black black hair, the man gave Gardenia the same vibes as when saw Chairman Rose from the Galar region on TV. No, even worse¡­ Smirking at her, the man ran his hand through his hair before giving her an arrogant look with his eyes and asked in a low voice, ¡°So you¡¯re the ¡®Fairy of the Forest¡¯ I¡¯ve been hearing so much about?¡± Then looking at her up and down, he snorted as if he could hardly believe it and as if he needed to verify for himself, he reached out and grabbed her chin to lift her face upwards so he could look at her face carefully. ¡°Interesting¡­¡± Shocked at his audacious and disrespectful actions, Gardenia¡¯s eyes widened like a jigglypuff that had just had its microphone stolen and before she knew it her leg had already started to move towards the man¡¯s groin. However, seeing their trainer being disrespected, Torterra and Roserade moved faster than her and Roserade had already tied up the man with thorny vines while Torterra smashed ahead of Gardenia straight into the man¡¯s sensitive regions with a powerful Iron Head. ¡°Morioka-sama!!¡± Seeing the terrible sight, the workers who had come with the man rushed forward to pick up their now fallen boss who was clutching his stomach area pathetically and letting out salty tears while staring fervently at Gardenia through bloodshot eyes. ¡°Y-Y-Youuu¡± Ughh Dropping his index finger which was wobbling in the air, seemingly in Gardenia¡¯s direction, the man passed out and was taken away while Gardenia tried to mentally recover from that traumatic experience. Not even the villains of Team Galactic would do something so heinous! Just thinking about it sent a shiver down her spine, and Gardenia made sure to thank Torterra and Roserade while Kasumi, Ryota and Masako came up to check on her. After reassuring them she was fine, Gardenia decided that that had been enough chaos for one day and accepted Torterra¡¯s offer to ride on his back as the four humans and pokemon headed back to the temple. One Month Later Patting down the soil, Gardenia couldn¡¯t stop herself from running her fingers through the soil that had become as soft as a Minccino¡¯s tail. This was life! This was what life was all about! The scent of freshly sown seeds, the sturdy feeling of the earth beneath her feet, the sounds of the pokemon running amok in the forest and the steady beat of the sun¡¯s rays giving life all that was beneath it. At the top of the world, Gardenia hadn¡¯t felt this good in a long while since arriving at this strange land but felt something was off and turned around to where the sun had now been blocked off by the same man who had arrived a month ago. Ignoring the trash behind her, Gardenia continued with her work while motioning with her head to Torterra to take care of the garbage. ¡°Stop, put me down this instant!!¡± cried the man as he was taken away. Gardenia rolled her eyes and debated for a second whether or not she wanted to entertain this maniac before relenting and telling Torterra to put him down. She had heard about him from the others after their brief encounter last month. Tsuyoshi Morioka. The spoiled son of the current CEO of the Morioka Corporation and apparently the one in charge of the idiotic projects that were causing needless damage to forests and Japan. If this world had any sense, they would have restricted the actions of these corporations but apparently they were allowed to do as they pleased and no one could stop them! It was so utterly dreadful, Gardenia imagined all the things she would do to them if they were in the Sinnoh Region right now¡­ If these people wanted to act like a gang of villains they would be treated like so! Brushing off his clothes after being put down by Torterra, Tsuyoshi gave her an amused smirk like things had gone exactly as he had planned and he laughed while crossing his arms in front of himself, ¡°You¡¯re the first woman to hit me and treat me this way. If this is your way of gaining my attention, consider it gained! I¡¯ll grant you the honour of being one of the few who have gained the title of ¡®Tsuyoshi Morioka¡¯s Woman¡¯ so now would be the time to grovel at my feet in gratitude.¡± ¡°....¡± ¡°....¡± Wow. Gardenia had never met such trash in her entire life and she could hardly believe that such a bad fruit had actually grown up like this for so long without being pruned from the tree. Well, Gardenia was certainly no stranger to taking care of some bad fruit and had no qualms about what she was about to do next. ¡°Roserade, SLUDGE¡ª¡± ¡°STOP!¡± Rushing forward, a man who looked strangely familiar to Gardenia ran up to the duo while waving his arms urgently. Pant Pant Grabbing his knees after sprinting for the first time in a while, the man paused for a bit to catch his breath as Gardenia watched him with a curious gaze in her eyes as she wondered why he was defending this man. Judging from his rather weak appearance, he was probably one of the Morioka grunts that followed their boss mindlessly like some sort of brainless Wishiwashi. Thus, moving forward aggressively, Roserade mirrored Gardenia¡¯s movements and began to wave her vines menacingly. Seeing their threatening actions however, the man quickly waved his hands to show he meant no harm and opened his mouth to explain, ¡°Ah, please don¡¯t misunderstand me Gardenia-san. I¡¯m not here to defend this piece of shit, it would just be troublesome for everyone here if you attacked him in broad daylight.¡± ¡°As for you Tsuyoshi-san¡­¡± Rotating his body to face Tsuyoshi, who had begun to back up when he had seen Roserade start spewing out some weird purple liquid that was now bubbling on the ground, the man threw a bunch of photos of Tsuyoshi lying on the ground holding his nether regions like a sad slug. Not even wanting to look at the images, Tsuyoshi grimaced as he stared at the man with a dangerous glint in his eyes and growled. ¡°So if nee-san¡¯s dog is here, I¡¯m guessing she¡¯s not far behind.¡± ¡°If you know then, why don¡¯t you retreat for today while you still have some dignity Tsuyoshi-san.¡± Grrr¡­ Tsuyoshi began to grind his teeth together as he felt a deep rage settle within his bones, but not wanting to mess with his older sister who was sure to beat his ass if she knew what he had been up to, he kept his mouth shut and barked out a ¡°Don¡¯t fuck with me! You¡¯re just Saori¡¯s little bitch at the end of the day so don¡¯t think I¡¯m done with you or Saori-nee!!¡± Tsuyoshi looked like he wanted to continue barking but the man cut him off with a crisp and clear reply, ¡°Oh, and Lady Saori wanted me to tell you that if you even think about taking any more projects from her, she¡¯s sure father will love seeing these on the news.¡± and emphatically gestured towards his phone where numerous scandalous pictures of Tsuyoshi were shown visiting certain seedy establishments, threatening women and inciting violence amongst others. ¡°Y-Y-YOUUUUUU!¡± Face now flushed a beat red, Tsuyoshi dug his fingers into his palms but managed to contain his rage and made his escape from the area leaving Gardenia, the man and her pokemon alone. Looking at the man with newfound respect, Gardenia thought she would have to reevaluate the man based on what she had just seen. Despite his rather fragile appearance, he seemed to have more of a backbone than she thought he would! Clapping her hands together, Gardenia complimented him aloud in a cordial manner, ¡°Amazing! You¡¯re pretty tough, just like a strong tree with roots!¡± Seeing the man¡¯s face now looking at her head on, Gardenia waved her pokemon over to introduce themselves. ¡°Hiya! I¡¯m Gardenia, though I suppose you already know my name? Well, anyways, I¡¯m an expert on plant Pok¨¦mon and a Grass-type Gym Leader from Eterna City! I wasn¡¯t expecting much from you but I guess looks can be deceiving! I should¡¯ve known better considering I just faced a challenger recently who looked pretty weak¡­but she and her pokemon sure showed me! Anyway, thanks for the help haha . I guess despite being a grass type specialist I still have a fiery spirit within me after all! If you had any pokemon on you, I would definitely challenge you to a battle right now!! Speaking of, these are my partners. Come on guys, let¡¯s thank the kind man for helping us out. This is Torterra, Roserade, Jumpluff, Ferrothorn and Cherrim!¡± ¡°Tort, tort!¡± ¡°Roserade, roserade~~¡± ¡°JUMPLUFFFFFFFF¡± ¡°FERRO, FERRO^^¡± ¡°Cherrrrrrrrim~¡± However, a bit overwhelmed by the strange animals he had never seen before and Gardenia¡¯s motorboat style of speech, the man seemed to shrink in size, a little bit afraid due to their enthusiastic greetings and chuckled nervously. ¡°Errr¡­hi! I¡¯ve heard a lot about the new ¡®Fairy of the Asahikawa Forest¡¯ from my mother already. Thanks for taking care of the temple while I¡¯ve been gone¡­I was pretty worried since I didn¡¯t exactly leave in the best of scenarios¡­¡± ¡°Your mother?¡± A bit confused, Gardenia gave him a puzzled look back as she waited for an explanation when she heard the familiar footsteps of a young boy behind her. ¡°Nii-san!!!¡± ¡°Ryo-chan!!¡± Picking up the small boy who had run into his older brother¡¯s arms, the man gave an embarrassed smile to Gardenia and held out his left hand while carrying Ryota in his right arm. ¡°Sorry, I haven¡¯t introduced myself yet. I¡¯m Ryota¡¯s older brother and the Head Priest is my granddad. The name¡¯s Naoko Fujisawa, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± Shaking his hand firmly, Gardenia smiled and replied with a simple ¡°Likewise¡± back and the two continued to converse on the way back to the temple while Ryota listened in from Torterra¡¯s back. ***** 18 Months Later, Tokyo, Japan ¡°Oh crap, we¡¯re late!¡± ¡°Jump, Jumpluff!¡± Stuffing her boots on quickly, Gardenia threw away her suitcase into the trash and tossed a backpack carelessly over her shoulder while the rest of her pokemon cheered her on from inside their balls. Only Jumpluff, who attracted the least attention (and if asked, was a drone according to Gardenia for all official inquiries) was out of her ball and using Fairy Wind to generate a slight gust behind Gardenia to speed her up. Gardenia waved hurriedly to grab a taxi when she heard a familiar voice call out to her. ¡°Gardenia-san!¡± Spinning around, Gardenia saw the bespectacled man she had gotten to know quite well over the past year and a half after working together on a more regular basis. ¡°Naoko-san! What are you doing here? I thought we all agreed to meet back up at the office?¡± Naoko gave her a half smile with his crescent eyes and opened the door to the limo first before answering her question. ¡°The Lady figured you would probably be running late and another meeting came up so we decided to pick you up and have the meeting on our way there.¡± Bowing her head to enter the limo, Gardenia thanked Naoko as she sat down and began to munch on some nuts and carrots that had been left out beside her seat. Stuffing her cheeks large enough she could be confused with a Greedent, Gardenia continued to snack, unbothered while a woman in a monotone, black suit, midnight black hair in a bob and sly, curved eyes stared at her from across the aisle. ¡°I trust your trip to the Sahara was satisfactory Gardenia-chan? If there were any issues, I¡¯ll be sure to punish anyone who gave you a hard time, okay? Just say the word¡± said the woman as she tapped her right fingers on her face enigmatically Mood soured that the woman had interrupted her eating, Gardenia decided it was probably time she acknowledged her employer and glumly answered, ¡°Yes, everything was perfect as usual, Saori-san.¡± Unfortunately, that statement was an annoyingly accurate description of her last trip to begin the study of reversing desertification in the Sahara. Even down to the meals, every last detail of her three month trip had been perfectly planned out. All the resources she had requested and even things she didn¡¯t ask for were already there when she arrived, the entire team of elite researchers had been summoned from across the globe and were ready and waiting for her when she arrived. Clothes, transportation¡­Anything and everything that could possibly slow down her work had been dealt with before she could even encounter them. Sigh Nothing less from the expected heir to the Morioka Corporation, Saori Morioka. However, even though all of this sounded great, to Gardenia, Saori still gave her the same dangerous aura as the first time they had met. One Year Ago, Tokyo, Morioka Corporation Headquarters. ¡°...¡± Tap Tap Tap Saori tapped the tip of her pen lightly against the mahogany wood desk that was conspicuously at the head of the office as she stared at Gardenia up and down with a gaze that was different yet similar to the gaze of her younger brother, Tsuyoshi. ¡°I trust that Secretary Naoko has already filled you in on the details of our contract, Gardenia-san?¡± asked Saori with an amused chime-like tone in her voice and upon seeing Gardenia nod her head silently, continued. ¡°He¡¯s such a good little boy, isn¡¯t he? I was so glad to be able to pick him up from that little forest of his¡­My instincts are never wrong you see with these things, you see¡­¡± Gardenia unconsciously felt a shiver run down her spine, as she swore Saori¡¯s eyes flashed red for a moment like a Seviper and wondered whether she had made the correct decision to follow Naoko¡¯s advice and meet with Saori after all. However, it was too late to leave now so she gripped Roserade¡¯s vine that had reached out to her and hardened herself to fight. ¡°I want you¡± Knowing that Saori was just teasing her, Gardenia showed no reaction and seeing there was no fun to be had, Saori dropped her pen in boredom and continued. ¡°Or¡­I should say I want the ¡®Fairy of the Forest¡¯ title that you have. You see, thanks to my bumbling fool of a brother, we¡¯ve been having a teensy bit of trouble with our public image recently and what better way to show our dedication to the environment than collaborating with a Fairy sent by the gods themselves? Think about it, Gardenia-san. I can tell by looking at you, you¡¯re probably wondering what I get from this little trade of ours and there¡¯s no reason to hide it from you. My idiotic father, despite my capabilities still wants to hand down his position to my brother due to anachronistic traditions in our family history so I¡¯ll need every card I can get¡­¡± Eyes sliding to the right where Roserade was standing beside Gardenia, Saori licked her lips greedily and continued to speak, now with a bit of spite dripping her voice. ¡°So if my father wants to stay bound by tradition, then I¡¯ll show him that even the gods approve of my succession; so let Saori-nee take care of everything okie-dokie Gardenia-chan! Sign that paper there and it¡¯s a win-win for everyone!¡± Looking down at the paper set in front of her, Gardenia reviewed the contract quickly one more time, and as she read she did like some of the more appealing terms like the Morioka Corporation being responsible for negotiating with the government regarding her pokemon so she would be able to have them with her liberally, even in other countries¡­ And most importantly, Naoko told her she would receive a significant amount of funding so she could travel the world and fulfil her mission to restore the forests of this world and so Gardenia counted the number of zeros at the end of the paper. ¡°Five¡­Six¡­Seven!!!¡± If she had any water in her mouth, Gardenia would have spat it out in that moment and with stars in her eyes she saluted Saori and shouted, ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to work with you, Lady Saori!¡± Unlike the Sinnoh Region, Gardenia had come to learn pretty quickly that in Japan, money was king and if she achieve any of her goals than she would need the sweet smell of money so even though she knew Saori was just using her, as she said both parties would benefit from it so there was no reason to say no at that point. Smirking, Saori brushed her hair out of her face and replied cordially, ¡°You can just call me Saori-san, Gardenia-chan.¡± ****** Present, Tokyo ¡°I¡¯m just so proud of our little Fairy! I¡¯ve been seeing your name all over the news and rubbing it into Tsu-chan¡¯s face has really made it worth investing in you and your little spirit friends! You¡¯ve really been working so hard, Gardenia-chan!¡± said Saori as she clapped her hands together merrily as if she was truly excited about Gardenia¡¯s nature restoration projects but Gardenia knew better. Snorting, she finished Saori¡¯s sentence in her mind with the tone in the business woman''s voice making it clear what she had meant by it. ¡°Working hard for me ¡± thought Gardenia but while cynical of Saori¡¯s words, had to admit that she did truly have a productive last year thanks to the resources offered by the Morioka Corporation. Focusing on the deserts of Africa first, Gardenia had already begun several surveys in all of the biggest deserts and now was ready to begin Project Celebi (Gardenia had named the project) next month. However, Gardenia quickly began to regret accepting the ride as she realised she was now trapped with Saori for another ten minutes and attempted to practise the mental exercises Lucian had recommended to her that would focus her mind. Unfortunately for her, Saori continued to gab her ear off and Gardenia was completely exhausted by the time they arrived at her flat. Somehow managing to summon the energy to still bow politely to the limo that had dropped her off at her flat with Naoko and Saori still inside, Gardenia ran inside her flat when she realised the fridge was still empty after she had thrown everything away before leaving for the last survey. Fortunately, there was a local grocery store next to the building so, tying up her hair, Gardenia got out of her travel clothes and walked across the street to grab some vegetables, eggs and rice. However, in her fatigue, Gardenia clumsily reached out to grab a bag of lettuce when she felt her hand brush against a man¡¯s hand roughly. ¡°Oh, sorry¡± Gardenia and the man said aloud in unison. Shaking her head, Gardenia told herself she just needed to make it through this grocery run and she could be back in her flat in a few minutes when she felt a hand land on her shoulder. ¡°Gardenia-san?!¡± Eyes widening in surprise at the touch, Gardenia swivelled around to look at who was speaking to her and took another look as she scanned the man head to toe. Dark maroon eyes, rusty, spiky red hair, and for some reason he was wearing a bright red hard hat inside the store. She knew that hat and she knew this man! ¡°Roark-san??¡± Now fully awake, Gardenia dropped the lettuce she had just grabbed and opened her mouth in wonder. ¡°Is it really you?¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s what I should be asking you¡± laughed Roark and now no longer focused, Roark and Gardenia abandoned their groceries and went to the neighbourhood park to talk. ¡°Everyone¡¯s been looking for you! Is THIS where you¡¯ve been all this time? How did you get here? Wait¡­ First, how are you and how are your pokemon? Have you all been well? What have you been doing here? Is anyone else we know here? ¡± asked Gardenia excitedly, happy to finally meet a fellow Sinnohian. Used to Gardenia¡¯s motorboat talking style after years of working together, Roark answered methodically, ¡°Yes. I have no idea, I was inside the Underground doing some exploring and then next thing I know, I¡¯m here! My pokemon and I have been doing well, we recently just came back from an expedition in the Middle East actually! We¡¯ve been looking for fossils but accidentally found the ruins of an ancient king which was pretty fun! And, I¡¯m not sure¡­You¡¯re the first person I¡¯ve met since I came here that knows what pokemon are! It¡¯s just so strange! I couldn¡¯t get used to it at first but I suppose you can get used to anything because we¡¯ve been here for almost two years now!¡± However, now wanting his curiosity to be sated, Roark turned the questions back on Gardenia, ¡°What are you doing here? When did you get here? Are your pokemon here too?¡± Now fully awake, Gardenia animatedly began to catch up Roark on everything that had happened starting from being hit by a truck in Eterna Forest to being recruited by the Morioka Corporation and starting Project Celebi to restore the forests across the globe while he listened patiently after calling out his pokemon so they could listen as well. After chatting till almost sundown, Gardenia and Roark finally parted ways after adding each other on Line so they could chat in the future if anything else came up and Gardenia finally returned home. Hmm. Tossing around in bed, Gardenia contemplated the pieces of information she had learned from Roark and began to corroborate it with her own experiences. So she wasn¡¯t the only person who had been transported to ¡®Japan¡¯ and strangely both people who had been transported were gym leaders. Was someone targeting the gym leaders and if so who? The only logical explanation was Team Galactic but unless they had somehow managed to harness the power of the pokemon of legend, Palkia there was no way that would be possible¡­ Sighing again, Gardenia decided she wasn¡¯t suited for this sort of investigative work and recalled the happiness she had felt working at Lake Chad the past few months. Seeing life being restored to the quickly drying out region as the Sahara continued to expand filled her with greater joy than almost anything she had ever experienced before, rivalling her times of being a gym leader in Eterna City. She had never tackled a challenge of this scale before and she certainly wasn¡¯t one to give up just because things looked daunting because she was sure once flowers did finally begin to bloom it would truly be a sight to see. Resolving herself to accomplishing this mission Gardenia turned her head to face Torterra, who had already fallen asleep, and touched his nose gently while whispering, ¡°Let¡¯s continue to grow together, okay Torterra. Let¡¯s grow good and strong together!¡± ¡°Tor¡­Tor¡­Tor¡­¡± Suppressing a laugh with her hand so as not to wake the snoring pokemon, Gardenia smiled to herself and let her eyes close as she and her pokemon finally rested after a long journey. Chapter Fin ************************** Epilogue Two Years Later, Tokyo ¡°Roark-san!¡± Hearing that he had won a prestigious Young Researcher award of some kind, Gardenia had flown in from Mali where she was currently working back to Japan to congratulate him. ¡°TORTERRRA!¡± ¡°ROSE, ROSERADE~~¡± Accepting the flowers that Roserade was holding, and patting Torterra¡¯s head, Roark turned to thank Gardenia who had stayed in touch with him the past two years, them being the only two people from the Sinnoh region as far as they knew in the world. Finishing congratulating all of his pokemon for their contributions to Roark¡¯s work, Gardenia finally sat beside Roark who had just finished his interview and teased him gently, ¡°So I guess ¡®Mr.Greatest Fossil Maniac of His Generation¡¯ will probably be too busy to talk lil ol¡¯ me now huh?¡± ¡°What are you talking about Gardenia-san! Name one person who hasn¡¯t heard of the ¡°Forest Fairy of Japan¡¯ yet!! You¡¯re all over the news for your environmental restoration efforts, I heard you even gave a talk at the UN meeting last year right?¡± ¡°Bah. You know that my contract with the Morioka Corporation means I have to keep my identity anonymous to keep up the mystery of the legend. So as far as anyone else knows I¡¯m just Gardenia, a regular office worker from Japan!¡± ¡°Well, my pokemon and I all know, and you¡¯ll always be our friend! You know that!¡± Smiling, Gardenia punched Roark¡¯s arm in a friendly manner and was about to open her mouth to speak when the two humans and all the pokemon fell silent. ¡°Call Incoming. Call Incoming. Call Incoming¡­¡± Looking at each other with confusion in each others¡¯ eyes, Gardenia and Roark looked at the device that was currently ringing. ¡°Call Incoming. Call Incoming. Call Incoming.¡± Checking the phones that were in their pockets, they looked down at Roark¡¯s wrist where his red Rotom-etch was brightly blinking with Rotom¡¯s face lighting up the device, ¡°Call Incoming. Call Incoming. Call Incoming.¡± Gardenia knew that they could still use many of the features of their Rotom phone and Rotom-etch like the camera, pokedex and other apps that didn¡¯t need connections to the Sinnoh Network but ever since arriving in Japan they hadn¡¯t even been able to call each other with their Rotom devices which is why they had added each other on Line instead. How on earth¡­ Tapping his shoulder anxiously, Gardenia hissed at him nervously, ¡°What are you doing! Answer it!¡± Hand trembling nervously, Roark nodded and gulped and tapped the screen to answer the call. ¡°Hello?¡± Ouch Roark winced as he felt Gardenia¡¯s fingernails dig into his shoulder and she apologetically let go and instead reached out to grab Torterra¡¯s head instead. ¡°....¡± Not hearing anything, Roark hesitantly repeated himself, ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°C¡¯EST UNE DISASTERRRRRRRRRRRR!¡± Recognising the voice almost instantly and the broken French, Gardenia and Roark looked at each other before yelling at ¡°FANTINAAAAAAAAA???¡± in unison. Fantastic Witch of Phantasms A Week After Gardenia¡¯s Disappearance in Eterna Forest ¡°Loony! Use Ominous Wind to create an enchanting sphere of radiant darkness, black as night and deep as the captivating abyss!¡± ¡°Mismagius, you help out too! Show off your charm and dazzle our spectateurs with Dazzling Gleam!¡± ¡°Drif, Drif!¡± ¡°Mismaggggius!¡± Flying in artful loops around each other in the air, the two pokemon released a fascinating mix of onyx black and opal pink sparkles that upon meeting in the centre of the stage exploded elegantly in Umi (Japanese Apricot)-like patterns. ¡°Fantastique! Now, it¡¯s time for the finale!¡± ¡°Loony, use Psychic to weave Froslass¡¯s Frost Breath and Rotom¡¯s Discharge together in a beautiful display of pokemon power!¡± ¡°Blooom!¡± Hearing Fantina¡¯s orders, Drifblim lowered its large body to the bottom of the stage and lifted two of its four arms while its eyes began to glow with incandescent blue light. Waving the two arms like a conductor it began to guide the electricity from Rotom¡¯s Discharge against the crystals produced by Frosglass creating a grand network of electric discharge that took on the shape of a large pumpkin. Knowing it was its turn to wrap up the performance, Mismagius retracted its body into its head while using Hex to create an illusion of a large witch¡¯s hat around itself before resting slightly above the icy blue electric pumpkin. ¡°C¡¯est fini!¡± ¡°Thank you for watching, I hope you all enjoyed the performance and please give a round of applaudissements for my pokemon!¡± Clap Clap Clap Taking the hem of her vibrant purple dress in one hand, Fantina put her other arm across her chest while bowing lightly to thank the audience for attending the special performance today with Drifblim, Mismagius, Rotom and Froslass all bowing elegantly alongside her. After that magnifique challenger the other day, Fantina was feeling particularly inspired after her first defeat in so long and thus decided to return to her roots by putting on a special exhibition in the Hearthome Super Contest Hall. Returning Froslass and Rotom to their balls, Fantina hopped onto Drifblim¡¯s top to which the Pokemon gave a small noise of surprise unintentionally. ¡°Drif!¡± Bending over the top of Drifblim¡¯s head, Fantina looked suspiciously at the pokemon. ¡°And what was that supposed to mean Loony?¡± ¡°Drif, Drif!!¡± Inflating itself up, Drifblim exaggeratedly used two of its arms to make the same pose as a Heroic Palafin but Fantina was not convinced and she looked down at her dress. Surely, she couldn¡¯t have gained that much weight to warrant such a noise from the Blimp Pokemon. As annoying as it was, as a Top Coordinator, Fantina worked diligently to maintain a certain level of fitness that was expected in the field but she had recently been preoccupied with other business and hadn''t been able to focus on her health as much recently. She had heard from that girl and the comedy duo that was tagging along with her, that Team Galactic had recently attacked the Celestic Town Ruins and with the news of Maylene and Crasher Wake¡¯s disappearance, the Sinnoh Pokemon Association was only putting more pressure on Fantina to figure out what was going on. And though Fantina hadn¡¯t been able to discover anything yet, it wasn¡¯t for a lack of trying. She had reached out to every connection she knew from her contest days, elite four members, Cynthia and the Professors but it seemed Team Galactic was much more elusive than the League had anticipated. Sigh Floating alongside the duo on the way back to Fantina¡¯s home, Mismagius sensed her trainers'' discouragement and moved closer so as to comfort the worried gym leader but sensing a disturbance in the air the Magical Pokemon put up her guard. ¡°Mismagius? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Ignoring Fantina for a moment, Mismagius paused midair to use its psychic abilities to scan the area. ¡°...¡± Sensing that it had formed a mental connection with another pokemon, Mismagius asked hesitantly, ¡°Who are you? Are you looking for help?¡± ¡°......¡± Curious as to why the other pokemon wasn¡¯t responding, Mismagius strengthened the psychic connection, ¡°....Help¡­Him¡­¡± Confused, Mismagius looked around floating lightly in the wind, until it finally spotted the deep blue, scythe-like horn of an Absol. ¡°...Help¡­I¡¯ll¡­Wish¡­¡± ¡°Mismagius?¡± asked Fantina quizzically but the Magical Pokemon was too preoccupied to notice her words yet again. Help who? How? Where? Wish? What did any of that mean? Left with more questions than answers, Mismagius began to fly towards the Absol but the closer she got the more she could sense a dangerous darkness emanating from the Disaster Pokemon until a wave of cold blackness overwhelmed her senses and terminated the psychic connection. ¡°Mismagius! Return!!¡± Turning around upon hearing the urgency in Fantina¡¯s voice, Mismagius felt itself being sucked back into its pokeball as an enormous tornado overtook Drifblim and Fantina leaving no trace of their presence anywhere¡­ *************************************************************************** Saint Laurent Fashion Show, Newest Creations by Saint Laurent Spring/Summer 2XXX Fashion Collection in the Carrousel du Louve Disoriented but awake, Mismagius took notes of the surroundings from inside her pokeball and gave a look of concern at Fantina who was struggling to stand and now grabbing the hem of her dress in an attempt to reorient herself. The surrounding area was eerily quiet save for a now rising wave of murmurs that could be heard from the collection of bodies that were staying directly at Fantina¡¯s extravagant, vivid, royal purple attire. Those who had their phones out began to unleash flashes of blinding white light while those who did not, took their phones out immediately to record the spectacle of a woman appearing from thin air. Click Click ¡°How gaudy¡­¡± ¡°Uncouth¡­¡± ¡°Low-life¡­¡± ¡°No class¡­¡± ¡°Hideous¡­Utterly Horrendous¡­¡± Mismagius began to shake with a powerful energy hearing the harsh language being thrown at her trainer and she sensed the change in the air as tall, lithe models continued to walk past Fantina while certain crowd members could be seen waving over security to approach her. Fantina was in no way gaudy or low class at all! She always held herself with poise that was expected from a Top Coordinator and worked tirelessly to show off the ¡®natural beauty¡¯ of her pokemon and Mismagius was always grateful to her for that. How dare they! How dare they disregard Fantina like this! Mismagiussssss!!! Mismagius didn¡¯t know who these people were but no one was allowed to talk bad about Fantina like that! Then, releasing itself from its pokeball Mismagius¡¯s eyes began to glow with an eerie, violet glow and fluttering its ribbon-like extensions, she unleashed a wave of multicoloured lights that covered the runway in a spectral glow. Finally having time to pick herself up due to the resulting silence, Fantina managed to regain her bearings and began to process where she was. Having been to Lumiose City many times in the past, while it seemed familiar, she could also recognise that this place was in fact, not Lumiose City. ¡°C¡¯est tr¨¨s bizarre¡­¡± Well, regardless of where she was, Fantina knew that she had likely interrupted some sort of important fashion show and she of all people knew how much effort was put into these so it was understandable that they were a little harsh with their language. However, if there was anybody they should be mad at it should really be that horrible tornado that had appeared out of nowhere she thought slightly indignantly. ¡°Mis¡­mismagius?¡± Fantina turned her head, hearing the slightly sorrowful cry of her pokemon who was currently floating in circles around Fantina¡¯s head nervously. Giving Mismagius a small smile to assure the Magical Pokemon that she was alright, Fantina gently touched Mismagius¡¯s ribbons and spoke up in a small voice. ¡°It was vraiment sweet of you to defend me like that Mismagius but it¡¯s time to release these people from your Confuse R¨C¡± ¡°Oh Mon Dieu!!¡± Grabbing Fantina¡¯s gloved hands with excitement, she saw a man in a sleek, all-black outfit alongside a woman of similar stature to herself, both carefully examining her dress with fervent passion emanating from their eyes. ¡°This is it!¡± ¡°Oui c¡¯est vrai! This is the design that will define the season! What is your name mademoiselle?¡± ¡°Who me? Oh!¡± Regaining her usual, bubbly energy Fantina put her hand emphatically on her chest and declared in a resoundant cry, ¡°Fantina, the Gym Leader of Hearthome, is also a Top Coordinate who aims to show off the charm of all ghost-type pokemon! She is, how do you say, tr¨¨s fantastique! Fantina being myself, of course!¡± A bit baffled as to why Fantina had chosen to reference herself in the third person, the man and woman both looked at her with obvious puzzlement and she gave a look of abashment realising she may have been slightly over dramatic in introducing herself. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Ahem ¡°Apologies¡­force de l¡¯habitude.¡± Clap Clap Ignoring her muttering, the duo that had walked up to her quickly summoned forth a ring of assistant designers and some security members to guide her to the back of the runway and Fantina asked in confusion to the woman standing aside her, ¡°Pardon, but where are you taking me?¡± ¡°To begin planning your next fashion show of course! You will be the lead designer for the next Saint Laurent Fashion Show in Milan! Oh and don¡¯t forget that lovely floating hat of yours, it really is such a genius detail, it adds so much to your aesthetic Fannytina! Simply genius!¡± ¡°Mismagius?¡± the Magical Pokemon asked in complete bafflement, but Fantina hushed her and hurriedly interrupted the woman before she could speak any further. ¡°Non, non, non! You¡¯re confused, Mademoiselle!¡± ¡°Confused? More like in love!¡± cried the woman with rapture in her voice. Fantina was now convinced this woman was thoroughly confused, Mismagius obviously wasn¡¯t able to learn Attract however before she could interrupt the woman, she saw two lanky youths shoved in front of her. Though they seemed slightly younger than her, they both were significantly taller and the woman slapped them gently on the arm while she introduced each one. ¡°This is ¨¦tienne and this one is Danielle. They¡¯ll be your assistants from now on.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Danielle¡± the woman who had been pointed out as ¨¦tienne while the man who had been pointed out as Danielle introduced himself likewise, ¡°I¡¯m ¨¦tienne. Here¡¯s your schedule for the next week, Miss Fantina. You¡¯ve already met the Creative Directors and with initial approvals cleared we¡¯ll have you in Milan next Wednesday so you can explore the venue. The theme is ¡®Evolution¡¯ this year so please prepare accordingly.¡± Continuing to talk into her ear, Fantina¡¯s eyes began to spin from all the information being thrown at her and before she knew it she was standing in front of a room of people who she had never seen before and was now apparently in charge of. ¡°Their names aren¡¯t important so you can just call them ¡®You¡¯ Miss Fantina or whatever else suits your needs¡­¡± Then a week later in Milan¡­ ¡°Here¡¯s the budget Miss Fantina. You can choose to bring your own team of stylists if you so desire or we can provide recommendations for you if you so wish¡­¡± And another week later¡­ ¡°If the theme is ¡®Evolution¡¯ then it would be natural to show the evolution of fashion from the past to now, no? The more gaudy the better.¡± ¡°Evolution can¡¯t be equated with extravagance! Simplicity and elegance is timeless!¡± ¡°Why not both? A fusion of classical and modern ideals in the next revolution of Saint Laurent fashion could work, no?¡± ¡°No, no, no! We need something that will start the next revolution! We can¡¯t play it safe!¡± Fantina groaned, hearing her newly assigned team members arguing amongst themselves as they began to decide on the outline for the production, staging, sound, choreography and music. Though she was used to having to organise performances for Contests it was still out of her realm to lead her own Fashion Show and she was feeling rather overwhelmed at the moment. Twiddling with the strands of Mismagius¡¯s extensions, Fantina wished she could contact her friend Valerie at this moment who was a master at making pokemon and people shine in the brilliantly creative fashion shows. But for some reason, ever since she had arrived in ¡°Italy¡± her Rotom phone was refusing to cooperate with her, meaning she was on her own for this one. Usually, Fantina¡¯s first instinct would be to use pokemon and trainer duos as models for inspiration but whenever she asked the models brought to her by ¨¦tienne and Danielle to show her their pokemon they instead gave Fantina a look of befuddlement and proceeded to show her pictures of their Furfrou-esque pokemon on their phones which they called their pet ¡®dog¡¯. While Fantina had never heard of these ¡®Dog¡¯ pokemon, though there was certainly variation in breeds, they lacked a certain ¡®je ne sais quoi¡¯ that would allow them to function as muses for her artistic genius. And thus, Fantina was now left without designs or even a concept while her team members continued to squabble amongst themselves in front of her. ¡°Oh mon dieu¡­what are we going to do Misdreavus?¡± bemoaned Fantina while rubbing her temple in small circles in a futile attempt to settle the growing headache. ¡°Magius?¡± While Mismagius wasn¡¯t completely sure what she could do to help, she decided to float atop Fantina¡¯s head to comfort the fatigued gym leader and Fantina rolled her eyes up appreciatively upon feeling the ghost pokemon settle atop her hair. Hmm¡­ Pausing upon feeling all eyes in the room turn to her, Fantina tilted her head in confusion wondering what they were all staring at. Then following the path of their eyes, she asked questioningly, ¡°Oh, have you never seen a Mismagius before? I suppose there must not be many in this region you call Italy? mused Fantina, whilst ignoring the strange looks her team was giving her. ¡°It¡¯s beautiful Ms.Fantina¡± exclaimed a rather youthful girl whose exuberance was emanating from her being upon seeing the magical hat settle onto Fantina¡¯s head lightly. ¡°Magiusss~¡± purred the Magical Hat, satisfied someone finally recognised its beauty and Fantina¡¯s eyes curved into crescents with pleasure. Clap Opening her eyes wide, Fantina put her hands to her mouth causing the men and women in the room to hold in their breaths with anticipation while waiting for Fantina to speak. ¡°Voil¨¤! C''est parfait!!¡± Satisfied with her new vision for the show, Fantina looked around the room with a newfound resolution in her eyes that put everyone on edge, unsure of where this was going to go. ¡°Let¡¯s get busy everyone! There is absolument no time to lose!!¡± ¡°Yes, Ms.Fantina!¡± shouted the team members but they gave each other side eyes as they observed Fantina hurriedly leave the room, leaving them with no idea of what she wanted from them. ********************************************************** Saint Laurent Fashion Show, ¡®Evolution¡¯ Showcase by Saint Laurent Winter 2XXX Fashion Collection, Milan Fantina closed her eyes and took in a deep breath to stop her trembling. This was unlike her. As a Master Coordinator she was used to standing on the stage but for some reason¡­today she felt more nervous than she had ever been. After months of deliberation, extensive coordination and arduous preparations it was finally the day of execution. If she was alone she knew she wouldn¡¯t be standing here today but hearing the speaker call her out to make the opening remarks she looked around at her pokemon who were floating in place, ready for her commands. Feeling a sudden surge of emotion as she looked at her team, Fantina held back tears and fanned herself hurriedly to compose herself. ¡°Oh l¨¤ l¨¤, what¡¯s with me today?¡± wondered Fantina but sensing her emotions, Frosslass, Mismagius, and Drifblim reached out to wrap her arms in their cloth-like appendages while Dusknoir patted her signature buns with Rotom buzzing cheerily in the background. ¡°That¡¯s enough silliness from me maintenant! Let¡¯s show everyone the brilliance of the bonds between people and pokemon through fashion~~¡± Frosssss~~~ Blim! Blim! ¡°Dusknoirrrrr~¡± ¡°Rotom!¡± ¡°~Magius~~¡± Then, stepping from backstage, Fantina walked down the runway with her head held high, back straight, and eyes brimming with vitality while ignoring the blinding flashes of the cameras. ¡°Merci beaucoup for coming today everyone! As you all know, today¡¯s theme is ¡®Evolution¡¯ and for many people and pokemon, evolution represents the culmination of experiences that trainer and pokemon share together! In other words, a celebration of the bonds between people and pokemon! However, like the esteem Professor Rowan has stated, the mysteries of pokemon evolution have yet to be fully understood¡­so today, my goal was to show a most fantastique display of Saint Laurent Fashion that builds on the experience of both myself and the brand while also pushing against the expected and I think you¡¯ll find that the future evolution of Saint Laurent is something no one will be able to foresee, even myself!¡± Then, returning the microphone back, Fantina gave a few small waves with a small smile on her face that betrayed her satisfaction with her speech, though few in the audience were able to understand her words. Watching the models lined up after she returned backstage, Fantina let out a sigh of relief that everything seemed to be in order but paused as she felt a nagging sensation at the back of her mind. Looking around she saw Mismagius, Rotom, Frosslass, Drifblim and Dusknoir all in their appropriate positions for the show so she deduced it wasn¡¯t her pokemon¡­ But what could she possibly be forgetting? However, hearing the music start, Fantina was jolted from her inner contemplation and held her hands together in front of her while the models began to catwalk on the runway in plain black dresses and conspicuous, pointy, witch hats. Fantina¡¯s greatest desire from this show was to show off the mystery of evolution that she had first felt when Drifblim had evolved from Drifblim after winning their first contest together. Ecstatic from their victory, Fantina¡¯s cheeks were flushed red with excitement as she eagerly anticipated what Drifblim would evolve into and wanted everyone in the audience to be able to relive the excitement of their pokemon¡¯s first evolution. Thus, she had come to the conclusion, in the end it all came back to Pokemon! And so, she had decided to enlist her team¡¯s help to make this wish become reality. Flying discreetly at the top of the room, Froslass had spread tiny ice crystals throughout the room which Rotom had energised with small bolts of electricity from Eerie Impulse while Dusknoir had covered them in a faint Ominous Wind that created an uncanny lighting in the room. Using the lighting as a distraction, Fantina observed as Mismagius¡¯s eyes began to shine brightly as she cast Hex on the dresses of the models causing the spectators in the audience to all see widely different designs that boggled the mind. ¡°Oh mon Dieu!¡± It hit her. She had completely forgotten to have Mismagius release the ¡®Confuse Ray¡¯ from Directors and other audience members at the Summer/Spring Fashion Show!!! Fantina had been so immersed with this project she had completely forgotten that she wasn¡¯t even supposed to be working on this in the first place!! ¡°Oh mon Dieu!¡± This was vraiment horrible! She was a complete fraud! Now beginning to pace agitatedly in her dress, Fantina zoned out while reporters, her team members and even people she didn¡¯t know came up to her to congratulate her for putting on the ¡®greatest fashion show of the season¡¯. Somehow able to make some closing remarks she couldn¡¯t remember, Fantina said her goodbyes rather listlessly while Drifblim floated down onto the balcony of her apartment. Stepping off lightly, she didn¡¯t even bother to change out of her clothes and instead sat on the couch in silence much to the worry of her pokemon. Feeling strangely unable to breathe, Fantina removed her gloves and scratched at her throat but no matter how hard she scratched, she wasn¡¯t able to relieve the pressure. Continuing to scratch harder she didn¡¯t even notice she was bleeding until Mismagius had wrapped one of its arms around her hand while Frosslass breathed icily onto her now red throat. Sensing her disquiet, Drifblim nuzzled closer to Fantina and feeling the familiar rotundness of the Blimp pokemon she closed her eyes to allow the call of Morpheus to distract her from the guilt. ****************************************************************************** Yawn Bzzt Bzzt Groggy from crying herself to sleep, Fantina pushed the strands of hair out of her face and wiped her mouth in a daze. Bzzt Bzzt Bzzt Bzzt Wanting to put a stop to the incessant buzzing of her phone, Fantina reached out slapping the table in front of her causing the phone to fall off causing her to hold back a groan. Just as she got up however, a cloth-like arm reached out to hand it to her and she squeezed Drifblim¡¯s tendril in thanks while answering. ¡°All??¡± ¡°Ms.Fantina! Have you seen the news?¡± ¡°News?¡± ¡°Turn on the TV! You¡¯re a hit!¡± exclaimed Danielle, causing Rotom to quickly dive into the TV and turn it on to the news channel. ¡°Fantina of Saint Laurent¡¯s latest Fashion Show is being dubbed the ¡®Fantastic Witch of Phantasms¡¯ in an astonishing display of fashion that has left audience members and viewers alike mystified! When asked to comment, Saint Laurent¡¯s representative has stated Fantina will be leading the next ¡®evolution¡¯ of Saint Laurent¡ª¡± ¡°Rotom, turn it off please.¡± ¡°--Tom?¡± Bzzt Confused as to why Fantina wasn¡¯t more animated like she usually was, Rotom muted the TV and joined the other pokemon as she massaged her temples in distress. This wasn¡¯t supposed to happen¡­ She hadn¡¯t been selected for her position because of her talent or skill. She wasn¡¯t even sure if the Creative Directors even liked her! If she had been more responsible, as Mismagius¡¯s trainer she should have reversed the confusion right away but instead had allowed herself to be swept away by the sudden surge of events. Now, she couldn¡¯t even tell whether the people who liked her show were actually interested in her fashion or whether they simply liked the name ¡®Saint Laurent¡¯... It was too late now however, and Fantina could only wallow in regret while her pokemon stood by her silently, casting the house in a sombre darkness despite the first rays of sun peeking through the windows. ¡°Dusk?¡± ¡°Not now Dusknoir¡± lamented Fantina, wishing to wallow in dramatic self-pity for a while longer. ¡°Dusk! Dusk!¡± Curious as to why the other pokemon had begun clamouring as well for her attention, Fantina looked up at the muted TV and her magenta eyes bulged looking at the screen. ¡°Is that¨C¡± ¡°Fossil Maniac Roark has received yet another reward for his development of the ¡®Fossil Reviver¡¯ and has just finished his acceptance speech here in Tokyo. Live at the scene is Reporter¡­¡± ¡°It IS Roark!¡± squealed Fantina as she saw the red-head walk off the stage but not before she spotted the red Rotom-etch she had gifted him at the last Sinnoh Leaders Summit. Seeing the red-headed gym leader, Fantina felt a wave of relief wash over her. Like her, Roark must have lost contact with the Sinnoh region after teleporting here and she rushed Rotom to establish a connection with the Rotom in his Poketch so they could make a call with the missing gym leader. Roark was like a younger brother to her as the newest member of the Sinnohian gym leaders so she felt at least one of her worries dissipate, realising he was doing fine in whatever region was being projected on the TV. Not only that, but Roark was also quite sensible and dependable so she was sure he would have some ideas about her current plight. ¡°Rotom! Tom!¡± buzzed Rotom as he hopped in circles around Fantina to let her know the connection had been formed. ¡°Is it working? All??¡± ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Roark? Is that you? It¡¯s me! Fantina!! You must help me! C¡¯est une disaster!!¡± ¡°Fantina???¡± cried two voices in unison from the other side of the call and Fantina swore she could recognise the second, female voice. ¡°Oui! C¡¯est moi! Did you not hear me the first time? This is no time for chit-chat Roark!¡± ¡°Fantina? I can¡¯t believe it! What are you doing here?¡± cried out the familiar, female voice and Fantina scrunched her brows trying to recall whose it was. ¡°Gardenia? You¡¯re here aussi?!¡± ¡°Yup! Been vibing in Japan since yesterday so I could surprise Roark tonight! Mr.Fancy Pants Researcher here got another reward tonight¨C¡± ¡°Japan? Where¡¯s that?¡± interjected Fantina, barely able to keep up with Gardenia¡¯s usual fast-paced speech. Hearing the confusion in her voice, Roark and Gardenia looked at each other with suspicion dripping from their eyes. They knew Fantina could be a bit of an airhead at times when she became immersed in her Contests but surely even she couldn¡¯t be that oblivious¡­right? ¡°Fantina¡­¡± began Roark hesitantly looking to Gardenia for support, neither wanting to confirm their suspicions. ¡°You do know that we¡¯re on Earth right?¡± ¡°Earth? Is that some sort of region?¡± Groaning behind him, Gardenia smashed her hand onto her forehead while Roark began to patiently explain the current situation of the three gym leaders. ¡°Don¡¯t be silly, Roark! Of course there are pokemon here! Why just yesterday, my assistant brought Priscilla over to battle Drifblim and Mismagius!¡± ¡°Priscilla? Who¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Oh some sort of strange pokemon, resembles a Herdier but tr¨¨s plain¡­ and much weaker as well¡­¡± Realising that she was likely describing a pet dog, Roark ignored Gardenia who was now falling over in her chair from laughter and continued to explain while Fantina gave simple ¡°mmms¡± in acknowledgement, though whether she was actually following him, he couldn¡¯t be certain. ¡°So neither of you know how to get back to the Sinnoh Region?¡± asked Fantina. ¡°No¡­I was hoping you might know something.¡± admitted Roark, neither he nor Gardenia finding any leads despite their searching. ¡°Ah well. Nothing we can do about that then. There¡¯s a much more grand problem, maintenant!¡± ¡°Problem? What kind of problem?¡± asked Roark with rising concern in his voice. If Fantina thought this was a bigger problem than it could even have something to do with Team Galactic. Finally able to explain the events that had happened to her since arriving in ¡®France¡¯, Fantina began to detail an exhaustive outline of the past months of her life with Roark listening sympathetically while Gardenia listened slightly less attentively alongside Torterra. ¡°And that¡¯s when it hit me like Un Nosferalto in Victory Road! I had completely forgotten to have Mismagius undo the Confuse Ray after all this time! And it¡¯s even worse now! It¡¯s impossible to tell if people actually like my fashion, my ideas, my art¡­for me or for Saint Laurent, C¡¯est juste terrible!¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you just quit then?¡± asked Gardenia while popping a Mikan slice into her mouth that she had grabbed while Fantina was storytelling to Roark. ¡°Quit?! Moi?¡± asked Fantina with bewilderment, but after overcoming her initial shock at hearing the word ¡®quit¡¯, she began to mull it over. While Fantina was in no way a quitter, there was no way she could remain at her current position in good consciousness. ¡°You don¡¯t have to quit forever Fantina! We know how important Contest Spectaculars are to you!¡± comforted Roark, understanding how difficult it would be to leave such a golden opportunity to rise in the public eye at Saint Laurent. ¡°Fashion would be too constrictive for you anyway Fantina.¡± continued Roark. ¡°In fact, why don¡¯t you bring Contest Spectaculars to life here in Japan? Japan is always receptive to new types of performances so it would be the perfect opportunity to start over fresh!¡± ¡°Hmm¡­.¡± Settling back on her coach as she mulled over the possibilities, feeling Drifblim¡¯s arm resting on her head, she moved her eyes up and looked into Loony¡¯s cute, red eyes that were shining with the same determination they had after their first contest performance. ¡°C¡¯est bon! Let¡¯s do it! Get ready Japan! Fantina and her fantastique pokemon are coming for you!¡± **************************************************************************** Six Months Later, Tokyo, Fantina¡¯s Flat ¡°Mmmm¡± Stretching her arms out behind her, Fantina put down the book she had been reading and let her hair down for the first time in months. Ever since quitting her job, it had been a constant rollercoaster of events as she began to plan out the first Contest Spectaculars in Japan. And though it had been more strenuous than anything she had done before, knowing the first Spectacular would be happening tomorrow she could finally allow herself to relax, even if only for a moment. She could tell even her pokemon were tired as Drifblim was beginning to sink in the air to lie down next to her while Rotom, who had occupied a light bulb was flickering on and off. In order to convince the sponsors that these Spectaculars were worth it, she and the team had made sure they showed off the most impressive performances in their life. Faith never wavering in each other, Fantina trusted her pokemon to perform and her pokemon trust her to guide them and together they were going to make dreams into reality starting tomorrow¡­ The thought of bringing Contest Spectaculars to Japan filled Fantina with a strange excitement but even this was not enough to resist the sweet call of sleep, and she closed her eyes surrounded by her pokemon and soon enough even Rotom had fallen asleep casting the room in a soft darkness. **************************************************************************** Another six months later, Tokyo Dome ¡°Bonjour Mesdames et Messieurs!! I am the Fantastique Fantina and I am vraiment contente to announce the Finale of this Year¡¯s Contest Spectaculars! Making it to the Master Class this year are six shining youths who are ready to show you everything they¡¯ve got on tonight¡¯s stage! Singing, Dancing, Fashion, Baking, Cooking, Mountain Climbing, Puzzles, Magic¡­anything is possible on stage!¡± Sighing with content, Fantina floated down from the platform she was standing on, hanging from Loony¡¯s arms and hopped gracefully to stand in front of the boys and girls who had gathered from across Japan to participate in her last Spectacular of the year. Though it was a shame these children weren¡¯t able to stand on stage alongside their partner pokemon, Fantina was content that she and her pokemon were able to push the stages of these children to new heights and she turned to face the cameras once more ready to let the dreams of the six stars shine in ways they had never been seen before. ¡°And let it begin in Trois!¡± ¡°Deux!¡± ¡°Un!¡± Part 3, The Fantastic Witch of Phantasms Fin