Into the Dark - A Pokemon Isekai

CHAMPION: ECO-TERRORISTS WILL NOT HOLD HOENN HOSTAGE

Hoenn Shinbun, 26 July, 2004

Champion Steven Stone, heir to the Rustboro City based Devon Corporation, addressed a crowd of reporters on the steps of the Pokémon League in Ever Grande City earlier today regarding the recent raids conducted by members of the Elite Four.

“I will not allow these eco-terrorists to devastate our beautiful region. They had twisted understandings of the delicate balance of land and sea that makes Hoenn so unique, and were working to destroy the region we all love. The Pokémon League will not allow them to harm that balance, nor will we let anyone else threaten Hoenn. Our brave Trainers and Rangers have already thwarted many of their schemes, but we beg the public to remain vigilant.”

This statement came on the heels of a rapid escalation of the threat posed by Teams Aqua and Magma, once thought to be common street gangs but whose threat level was raised to that of terrorist organizations after their assault on Mt. Chimney late last week. Proponents of the League have praised Champion Stone and the Elite Four’s rapid response to the situation, while critics have argued that the terrorists should never have been allowed to grow this large in the first place and that Team Aqua’s founder Archie has not been apprehended yet.

Archie has been raised to number one on Hoenn’s most wanted list, and authorities have listed a reward for any information regarding his location…

I whistled as I put down the paper. It was already almost two weeks out of date, but Professor Rowan had included it in the back of the manilla folder he had given me.

My mind was in a fog as I stared at the article. A big red “Special Edition” covered most of the top section of the front page, as well as a somewhat blurry photo of a handcuffed Maxie being led into a police van.

Maxie, as in the leader of Team Magma.

Up until now, things had been different from the games and the anime. This was a real world after all, and I had mostly come to terms with what that meant, that my knowledge wasn’t always going to be right or accurate.

But this? This changed everything.

As far as I knew, nothing like this had ever happened in the games, anime, or even the manga. If they had just tried to make Mt. Chimney erupt then that was about half-way through the games, and the anime too if I remembered correctly. There was still a lot more that was supposed to happen if I hadn’t gotten involved.

I couldn’t bring myself to be upset, however.

Maxie and Archie were madmen, and their actions would have caused incalculable harm to people and Pokémon across the region. By stopping them now, ensuring that Groudon and Kyogre weren’t roused from their sleep, lives had been saved.

A warm feeling spread in my chest as I stared at the newspaper. I hadn’t been the one to arrest Maxie and the others, but I had been responsible for helping to make the world a safer place.

Archie going missing was concerning, but I wasn’t as worried about that. His plans had been ruined, and his plot to get the Blue Orb to wake Kyogre up would be a lot more difficult without any of his grunts or his admins to back him up.

Ash and friends had even gotten a shoutout in the paper for helping to stop the situation on Mt. Chimney.

As far as I could tell, everything in Hoenn was working out wonderfully.

After Rowan had given me the paperwork we chatted for a little while before he and Lucas needed to go and take care of another meeting. After they left, I retired back to the Pokémon Center, braving the crowds again to get a room.

The free rooms were even smaller than the ones in Oreburgh City, and the receptionist had triple checked my Trainer License to make sure that I could even get one for free.

Apparently, a lot of people tried to take advantage of the Pokémon Centers here if they weren’t official Trainers.

It was still a distinction that I was getting used to, and I bemoaned my lack of formal education in this world that would have helped with the legalese involved. From my brief looks into the government of this world, I had found an overwhelming amount of information on the tangled rat’s nest that was the legal system.

Just because you had a Pokémon registered to you didn’t mean you were a Trainer, with a capital “T.” That was a legal term used to define somebody who trained and battled Pokémon as a profession, and had a host of other responsibilities and privileges. I vaguely remembered reading about this when I was still getting settled in and filling out the paperwork to be put into the system.

It hadn’t made sense to me back then, and it barely made sense to me now.

All it really meant was that most people who weren’t a professional Trainer or on their Journey weren’t able to get a room at a Pokémon Center, which wasn’t even all that comfortable in the first place.

I had gone over the sponsorship paperwork in the room while Venus and Zetian slept in a small pile at the foot of the bed.

The sponsorship was basically what Rowan had said it was, I would help the lab out with some research and would be paid to go on my Journey and challenge the Gyms. I would have to represent the lab in a good light as well, showing good sportsmanship in my battles and such. In case of emergencies, I could even be deputized by any government official, like a Gym Leader, a police officer, or a Ranger.

It was a little intimidating to be put in a position of authority like that, but I did a little research on the Pokémon Center’s free computers and the people on the forums said that kind of stuff didn’t really happen all that often. Overall it seemed like a good deal.

Then I had spent an hour or so lost in a daze as I re-read the newspaper and realized what a big change I had made to the world.

The next day I got the paperwork back to Professor Rowan, who presented me with a surprise.

/^\

“Professor,” I said with a strangled voice as I stared at the check in front of me. “What is this?”

“That, dear Alina, is a check.”

He had a very infuriating smirk on his normally impassive face.

“Would you please tell me why there’s thirty million dollars on it??”

His smirk deepened and he chuckled.

“That’s because the money transfer from Hoenn successfully came through last night.”

“Money transfer? Hoenn? What are you talking about?”

“Alina my dear, you were directly responsible for providing the information that led to the capture of five of the six most wanted criminals and terrorists in Hoenn, and it was just bad luck that Archie managed to escape. The Hoenn Pokémon League and Civil Government had rewards listed for any information that led to their capture, and it totaled up to the amount you see before you.”

His smile thinned. “After taxes, of course.”

I was glad I was sitting down, because I was feeling a little lightheaded.

“I thought the sponsorship from your lab was my reward, not… this.”

He shrugged. “You have provided us as a whole with so much information it’s almost hard to manage. Should your rewards not be equally impressive?”

That caused me to frown as I thought of something that had been bothering me ever since I had read the newspaper article in the first place.

“If it’s not too rude to ask, I’m happy that the Team Aqua and Magma people were arrested, but why did it take so long in the first place? I gave you that information almost a month ago.”

Rowan sighed. “That’s a good question, and one I wish I had a better answer to. The unfortunate truth of the reality is that it took me a much longer time to get even this much information out in the first place.”

“What do you mean?”

“While all of the Regional Pokémon Leagues are united under the Pokémon League Association, each of the regions also has their own civil government, with their own laws and regulations. I have a long-standing friendship with Cynthia- sorry, Champion Cynthia.”

He smiled fondly, a distant look in his eyes. “I remember when she was just an awkward, gangly teenager setting off on her Journey for the first time, all knees and elbows.”

I eagerly leaned forwards. Cynthia had always been my favorite Champion in the games, and I still felt fear whenever I heard the infamous piano notes of her approaching theme.

Unfortunately Rowan realized what he was saying, and cut himself off with a cough. “Anyways, I was able to convince Cynthia easily enough. She has a fascination with history and archaeology, and was familiar with the stories of the mysterious traveler in Hisui. It was easy enough to convince her of the veracity of your tale.”

“Wait, you mean Cynthia knows the truth about me?” I whispered, looking around cautiously despite the fact we were in a private room. “About where I come from?”

“I trust Cynthia with my life. I have trusted her with my life, and I am still here to tell the tale. She is not only a close friend, but she is also the most powerful Trainer in all of Sinnoh, and one of the top ten Trainers in the entire world. If she cannot keep your secret, who can?”

I flushed, feeling a bit silly.

“Right, of course. Sorry.”

“It’s understandable why you would be worried, but fear not – your secret is safe. As I was saying however, while Cynthia was easy enough to convince based on our past interactions, the rest of the world is more difficult. There are official channels to go through, policies and regulations, and information that must be gathered before any action can be taken. If I’m being honest, it’s almost a blessing that the Mt. Chimney attack happened when it did.”

I cocked my head to one side as I tried to figure out what he meant.

“You’re trying to say that the only reason the information was taken seriously was because of the attack.”

“Yes. It took longer than I would have liked to verify everything and make it presentable, but if we had contacted Champion Steven before the attack, who knows how long your tips would have languished in the quagmire that is government bureaucracy. Aqua and Magma were seen as street gangs that were unusually concerned about the planet, not full-blown eco-terrorists. As much as I hate to admit it, the rest of your information will take even longer to verify and make presentable. It’s just the cost of doing business when dealing with such large organizations.”

I sighed.

“You have done much more than you think Alina, so please be happy. If nothing else, you have saved countless lives by helping stop Aqua and Magma now, and you have saved us an unimaginable amount of time when it comes to this “Team Galactic.””

My heart started racing. “You mean you’re investigating Cyrus?”

“We are. The investigation is still in its early stages, but he is unofficially a Person of Interest, and we are working with the International Police. Team Galactic is still relatively small, with few actual crimes to their name, but they’ve already started to gather some attention. It will be a while before we are able to officially tie Cyrus to Galactic, and to level charges against them, but it will happen. Before you, we were only barely aware of the organization at all, so this is a massive help.”

He smiled, and pointed at the check in my hands. “Unfortunately, that’s likely going to be the largest reward check you’ll see, and that’s only because of the Mt. Chimney attack.”

I shook my head, still feeling a bit numb that things were going so well. “That’s fine. I didn’t do this for a reward.”

“I know that, and so does Cynthia. But it would shame us if we didn’t reward you. So please, take the money and spend it knowing that you’ve done an incredibly good thing.”

There wasn’t much I could do to argue against that.

/^\

I was well onto my second vanilla frappe when a shout rang out from across the street.

I had spent the afternoon at a delightful little streetside cafe in downtown Jubilife, enjoying a relaxing afternoon with some coffee and sweets. The café owners had a vanilla Alcremie, and every cup of coffee had a dollop of delicious cream on top. There was even a Fidough in the back who helped provide the yeast for their baked goods.

It almost made me want to get an Alcremie to make all of my food taste better, but I wasn’t sure if that would be fair to the Pokémon to be used for just that.

I was being a little more free with my spending now that I was going to have an actual income stream, but buying a Pokémon egg seemed a bit much.

“Hey!” The shouting continued, and I looked up to see who was shouting.

After a quick glance, I didn’t see anyone I knew so I returned to writing in the small journal I had bought to document all the Pokémon evolutions I could remember.

“Black haired old lady!”

I chuckled at the shout. Somebody was barking up the wrong tree; despite all of the different and normally unnatural hair colors like green or pink, the most common hair colors of Sinnoh were a lot like that of Japan: black or brown.

“Hey! You in the purple sweatshirt! Yeah I see you laughing!”

I blinked, and looked up again. Surely they didn’t mean me?

A young man was striding across the street, fury clouding his features. He looked… vaguely familiar, and I tried to place where I had seen him in the anime or in the games.

He was definitely looking for me though, as he stepped right up to my table, a thin rope line was the only thing that separated us.

“I’ve been looking for you!”

I looked around, but while most of the other cafe goers were trying to subtly watch the confrontation, nobody seemed willing to step up.

Also, what? I was twenty-three, which definitely wasn’t old.

“Uh, sorry? Do I know you?”

The kid, who must have only been sixteen, deflated slightly, before puffing himself up again.

“You dare? It’s me, your rival!”

Who was this kid? He was so familiar yet I was becoming increasingly sure that he wasn’t actually from any of the games or the show. His bright green hair screamed that he was at least a side character, but while his clothes were weathered I could tell they had been bought that way. A minor antagonist on Ash’s journey?

Then I spotted the studded black leather belt that held his Poké Balls, and finally recognized where I knew him from.

“Wait, Keith? From Sandgem Town?”

The kid flushed red, and I swear a vein started to bulge in his temple.

“It’s Kevin!”

“Oh, sorry, I’d had a really intense couple of days back then and I wasn’t on the top of my game-”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses!”

My eye twitched as he cut me off, and with a flourish he whipped out a Poké Ball.

“I want to challenge you to a battle!”

“No.”

The kid spluttered at my refusal.

“Why? Do you really think I’m so weak that I’m not even worth your time? I’ll show you!”

With a wholly unnecessary flurry of arm movements, Kevin held out his Poké Ball and with a flash of light a Golbat appeared, looking slightly confused and squinting at the bright daylight.

“Listen, I’m not trying to look down on you, I’m just trying to enjoy my coffee.”

Kevin seemed to wilt as he looked around, finally seeing that he had interrupted an entire cafe’s worth of people trying to enjoy their meals.

“I… oh.”

A furious looking waiter was starting to come our way, and I sighed.

“Listen, why don’t you put your Golbat away, sit down, and we can talk this over, okay?”

The kid practically shriveled up under all the attention, and meekly returned his Pokémon and dipped underneath the rope, sitting down as I closed my journal.

The waiter stormed over, but I smiled as I looked up at him, making the man hesitate.

“Hi, listen I’m really sorry about my… uh, acquaintance, here. You know how kids are these days. Could he get a…”

I looked at Kevin.

“Can I get an orange juice?” He mumbled.

“An orange juice? And I’d like a cinnamon roll please, I heard they’re great here.”

Kevin’s stomach rumbled, and his face flushed an even deeper shade of red.

“Two cinnamon rolls, please.”

The waiter still seemed like he wanted to say something, but eventually nodded, jotting down the order and stepping away.

It was a long and very awkward wait as Kevin fidgeted under the less-than-inconspicuous glances of the other patrons, at least until the food arrived and he began to tear into the cinnamon roll.

“They apparently have an Alcremie here,” I said, trying to make conversation. “And a Fidough.”

Kevin snorted from around a massive mouthful of food. “Them and every other cafe. They’re rare Pokémon in the battling scene, but most food places have a Pokémon like that on staff.”

He rolled his eyes. “Soooo original.”

I sighed. “Listen Kevin, what’s your deal?”

The kid looked over the top of his glass of orange juice at me. “What do you mean?”

I gestured at him with my frappe. “You’re the one who stomped up to me, declared me your rival, and challenged me to a battle.”

He hurriedly swallowed. “That’s because we are rivals!”

I blinked slowly. “Since when?”

“Ever since we locked eyes back in Sandgem Town! From that moment on, we were bound by fate, destined to challenge each other at every opportunity!”

A plane could have flown into my mouth as I gaped at the kid, and I even took the chance to look around at the other patrons, trying to see if this was normal or not. Judging by their incredulous stares, I figured it wasn’t.

“Uh, okay? First of all I’m an adult and you’re still pretty young, so I’m definitely uncomfortable with this dynamic you’ve created for yourself. Second of all, I think you’re the one who approached me in the first place back in Sandgem, I was just trying to do my shopping.”

“I’m 16!” He said, voice cracking on the last word. “I’m an adult!”

“Uh huh,” I said flatly. “Sure. Listen, I’m not really sure what you want out of this whole thing, but I’m not really into it.”

“What I want out of- we’re rivals!” His voice kept cracking.

“You can’t just go around declaring that people are your rival.”

“I… why not?”

The poor kid almost looked crestfallen, until he remembered that he needed to be angry.

“You can’t tell me what I can’t do!” He declared, and stood up, toppling the chair to the ground. “That’s it! Meet me behind the Pokémon Center for a battle once you’re done with your drink!”

With that he turned and began to storm off, then hesitated and turned back, sheepishly putting the chair back up.

“I can pay for the cinnamon roll and the orange juice-”

I sighed and waved the kid off. “It’s fine, I got it.”

“Then I look forward to our battle!”

Kevin stomped away, head held high. He didn’t seem to realize that I actually never agreed to battling with him, and even if I had, he hadn’t specified which Pokémon Center to meet at.

I sighed again, and sipped on my frappe.

When I eventually made my way back to the Pokémon Center I even looked at the battling courts in the back, and couldn’t see him. Either he had meant a different Center, or had gotten tired of waiting and had left.

Rolling my eyes, I went back to my room to take a nap with Zetian and Venus.