The forest floor was cold beneath Sam. He felt his hand press into damp detritus and long-fallen leaves. The sun had vanished in the sky, plunging the world firmly into night. A few faint beams peaked through, but a heavy canopy otherwise blocked the moon's light.

  At least the trees are tall.

  He wasn’t sure why, but he laughed. After everything, he found it ridiculous that his first thought was to celebrate that he was in the deepest parts of Ilex Forest.

  Sam pushed up into a seated position, somehow feeling both lucid and dazed at the same time. He had a clear memory of falling, but he wasn’t sure where or what he had fallen through. He had passed through that arch, certainly, but it was like the blurry world that rushed past him had existed without existing at all.

  The only thing he knew was that he had gone somewhere and that right now, he was here.

  They pushed me. Why did they push me?

  That single question repeated over and over again in his mind as he sat on the forest floor.

  Why?

  Why did Mismagius trick him? Why did Typhlosion push him through the portal? Why did they rip his team’s Pokéballs away?

  Why did no one else know?

  His stomach churned. He trusted his Pokémon. It shouldn’t have happened. It felt like a betrayal, but when he pictured their expressions...

  Typhlosion looked like she was in just as much pain as I am right now. She didn’t want to do it, but neither did Mismagius. Except, both of them did it anyway.

  They weren’t happy. But they looked as though they thought they needed to do it no matter what. Did Mismagius know something? She lived in this forest. That has to be related to why she organized all of this in the first place.

  Sam knew his Pokémon. He knew that Mismagius had come up with the plan. Typhlosion would have never done something like this on her own without telling him first. It wasn’t a prank, nor was it a trick. He’d been sent to a completely different part of the forest, alone, without anyone on his team, and without any form of supplies.

  Quickly, the thought made Sam check what he still had on him. As far as he could tell, he only had his clothes. His Pokémon were on the other side of that portal. His backpack was still where he’d placed it when he sat. The New Pokédex was likely where he’d left it on the root when he stood up. And Typhlosion now possessed all of his team’s Pokéballs.

  That just left him—

  He couldn’t help it. He laughed again.

  “The berry bread.”

  The loaf was still in his pocket.

  Weirdly, it was comforting to know he still had food.

  “Alright, Sam,” Sam whispered to himself. “You’re alone in a forest with only a loaf of bread on your person. You have no water, shelter, or Pokémon to keep you safe. You have no devices to call for help, and since your team is responsible for pushing you in, no one is going to know they need to go out and search for you in the first place.”

  He was trying to go over his situation to feel better, but he had to stop when he realized that nothing he said helped.

  He sat in silence, and then the faint cry of a wild Pokémon echoed in the distance. The sound reminded Sam of just how deep he was in the Ilex Forest—dangerous Pokémon could be wandering out here. Without any Pokémon with him, he didn’t have any good ways to defend himself.

  As bad as his situation was, it would have been easy to allow himself to fall into negative thoughts, but at this point, he had more than enough practice pushing past those. Instead, Sam simply took a deep breath and schooled his mind.

  If no one is around to help, then I have to help myself. My priorities are water and shelter. I also need to find a way to get to a town or a Ranger station so I can call for help.

  If he had his full team with him or if people knew he was stuck out here, he would be better off staying in one place. However, all of the people who would worry about him thought he’d be out here for several weeks. They would only know he needed help if he didn’t show up at the Conference, and the Conference was weeks away.

  Strapped for options, he recognized that only he could do anything to save himself. Thus, he chose a direction and began walking, searching for anything that could help him find a way back to his team.

  There wasn’t much light out here given it was the middle of the night. He didn’t remember passing out while falling, but he had experienced a sudden change in the time of day. It had been just about noon when he stopped to rest with everyone else. The strange time difference was a little weird, but right now, the important part was getting back.

  In the distance, another faint cry echoed out, and Sam was once more reminded of how wild Pokémon filled these woods.

  It also reminded him of the warning he’d been given:

  The Voice of the Forest.

  Is it responsible for this? Did it work with Mismagius?

  He wanted to get to the bottom of whatever happened, but again, his priority was returning to his team.

  So Sam walked, alone, hiking through the woods. Though it was dark, he didn’t have much trouble seeing ahead of him. He was a bit worried about injuring himself by tripping on a root or the like, but the trees here were so large that any root was essentially building-sized.

  His path weaved. He had no clue what direction he was traveling, only that he was traveling somewhere. No matter what, he knew he’d find something eventually. He just needed to keep going forward, no matter how much his solitude caused his heart to hurt in his chest.

  But it wasn’t too long into his trek that he saw a shadowy figure suddenly shift to his right.

  Instead of panicking, Sam felt nothing but relief.

  “Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you! I’m not alone. We’re not alone! So they got you too, huh?”

  The shadow attempted to dart behind a tree, and then sharp eyes peeked out from behind. They were trying their best to hide their appearance and maybe resemble something unique, but Sam could recognize that mischievous grin from anywhere.

  “Haunter?” Sam called out. “Are you coming out?”

  He heard a huff from his Pokémon, annoyed at how his scare had failed.

  Haunter left his shadowy hiding spot, and Sam had never felt as relieved as he did in that moment. Haunter didn’t even look upset at his failure to scare him. If anything, he looked guilty for trying to do that to Sam right now, of all times.

  “Are you alone? Alone other than me,” Sam clarified when Haunter looked at him and giggled.

  He was hopeful as he waited for a response, but after a quick look around, Haunter just replied with an unfortunate shrug.

  “So there aren’t any Gastly nearby, and there’s no one else from our team. It was only you out there? And I bet they didn’t even mean to shove you through. You just... happened to be in my shadow when I fell.”

  After a few more quick questions, Sam was able to decipher the situation—Typhlosion and Mismagius had intended to send only Sam through, but they hadn’t noticed Haunter. Everything had happened so fast that he’d never left his torpor.

  The only thing Haunter remembered was the last bit of falling, and then he and Sam were alone. While Sam was getting his bearings, Haunter had scampered off into another shadow when he recognized this perfect opportunity for a scare.

  “Mismagius and Typhlosion pushed me through this... weird archway thing,” Sam explained. “I fell, and then I think I woke up here? Anyway, as far as I can tell, we’re still in Ilex Forest, but we’re much deeper in. Everyone else should still be back at our campsite from before, so we need to find a way to return to the team.”

  Raising an eyebrow, Haunter glanced around again. Sam did as well.

  They had certainly reached their target destination of the darkest parts of the forest, but right now wasn’t exactly the time for training.

  “Sorry, Haunter. I know you want to evolve, but this is an emergency situation. We can’t just abandon everyone else.”

  Despite Sam’s words, Haunter didn’t seem to think this was an emergency. He just snickered, basically seeing Mismagius and Typhlosion’s actions as nothing more than a prank.

  He was a Ghost Type, after all.

  Meanwhile, Sam’s feelings were more complicated than that. Haunter’s reaction was more positive since those two possessed his absolute trust. While Sam logically knew that both would never do anything to hurt him, it was still painful to experience them planning something like this behind his back.

  “I’m not a Ghost Type, so I’ll need your help. I have food, but I don’t have water or a place to stay,” Sam said. “It’ll be safer to move when it's not night, so can you help me out? Search for anywhere I can rest or work to keep aggressive Pokémon away. Please, Haunter. I’m placing my safety in your hands.”

  Immediately, Sam’s request hit Haunter, and Haunter’s expression turned serious. With the stiff demeanor of a professional, he sent Sam a salute to promise he’d get that done.

  And then he cackled at that action and slipped off, entering the nearby shadows to maintain a careful perimeter around Sam. Haunter would do exactly what Sam asked and search for a temporary shelter while also making sure any hostile wild Pokémon wouldn’t approach. He was honestly one of the best Pokémon Sam could ask to have with him out here. Between Haunter’s growing sensory abilities and his expertise with Hypnosis, he could detect and ward away any attackers with ease.

  But there were downsides, too.

  Sam had no Pokéballs on him, not even Haunter’s. If Haunter became critically injured, Sam had no way to put him in stasis or use a Potion for treatment. That meant Destiny Bond, while great at delaying a tough foe, was otherwise unusable. Same for any move that caused him to hurt himself like the timer-inducing Curse.

  The only way Haunter would be able to heal was if they were lucky enough to find an unguarded berry tree. Except, Sam knew just how rare something like that was. The berry bread could maybe provide a slight amount of healing, but Sam needed that bread for food, which meant Haunter could only really heal if given plenty of time to rest.

  But we’ll be traveling. Staying in one place is just asking for a wild Pokémon to attack us. Haunter could rest in my shadow if he needs to, but if he ever gets knocked out, he won’t be conscious enough to be able to dive in.

  With them being so far off-Route, avoiding threats was more important than fighting them off.

  Still, Sam felt much more confident knowing he had at least one Pokémon at his side.

  He resumed his hike with renewed energy, trekking over the uneven floor of dead leaves and scattered roots. This deep in the Ilex Forest, it honestly felt as though he was walking through a city’s downtown district. The trees out here were so old that they matched the heights of skyscrapers. Grass Type energy could cause plants to grow into impressive things, and these trees had literal centuries to age while passively feeding on that.

  This place was ancient. It almost felt primordial, but it wasn’t quite that.

  Eventually, Sam heard the sounds of uneven footsteps walking across the leaves—an attempt by Haunter to creep him out while also sending him a sign. However, it was hard to not notice the Ghost Type’s suppressed giggles, and Sam followed the signal to move around one of the massive trees.

  Haunter led him to a stream.

  “Oh, good.” Sam knelt at the water’s edge in an attempt to look it over. He could see the barest shape of its banks while also hearing the constant movement of its flow. “This stream might be good? I have no fire or any way to boil it, but if I can’t find anything else...”

  He was a bit thirsty, but he could at least wait until morning to see how clear the liquid was. If there were signs of Water Types nearby, he would know it’d be safe to drink. If they weren’t, he would just have to keep moving. But the stream also represented something important—if it went on for long enough, there was a chance that following it could bring him to a river, and then following that river would give him decent odds of finding civilization.

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  “We’ll look for a safe place to stay nearby, and then we’ll follow the water once it’s day. I don’t know if it’s safe to drink or not right now, but some more light will let me know how clear it is. The berry bread might let me bribe some Water Types into making some drinking water instead, but if we don’t find any or if they’re hostile, we’ll just need to keep going until we’re back.”

  He heard something shift behind him, and an exhale sent cold air running across his neck. Taking that as yet another form of acknowledgement by Haunter, Sam stood up, still trying and failing to make out the water in the stream.

  “No matter what, we need to return to everyone else. They’ll be waiting for us, even if they’re the reason we’re...” Sam shook his head. “Even if we don’t bribe any Pokémon, that berry bread is dense enough to last for a few days. The important part is to conserve energy. But as long as we aren’t too far away, we should last long enough to make it back.”

  Sam was incredibly thankful to his mother. Before leaving on his journey, she had him go through a “training camp” for a few weeks. Without that, he wouldn’t have known what to do or all the little tricks for surviving out here. His own experience on his journey helped as well. Without all of that knowledge and experience in his mind, he’d probably have been more freaked out.

  Finally feeling confident about their next steps, Sam turned back around to check on the source of the breathing, expecting to see Haunter.

  It wasn’t Haunter.

  Eyes stared back.

  Eyes that were so incredibly familiar.

  For a second, it felt as though his heart had stopped.

  Sam had never been more terrified in his life.

  Before him, the floating Pokémon saw his fear and smiled, and it wasn’t the expression of Haunter or any of the Gastly. Red eyes, rimmed with yellow, curved up with glee, and the Ghost Type let out a haunting giggle that echoed throughout the woods around them.

  With Sam frozen, the Pokémon bobbed in place, happy to have succeeded in its scare. The short dress of its body bounced alongside it, and the strands of hair on its head waved in an unseen wind.

  “...Misdreavus?” Sam whispered, his throat dry.

  The Pokémon saw his expression and suddenly rushed his face.

  She giggled in delight when Sam fell back.

  Misdreavus was celebrating, laughing, cackling at a scare well done. She was a Ghost Type. A real Ghost Type. Nothing about her was fake; the world was far too cold right now for this to be an illusion.

  “How?” Sam breathed.

  The wild Pokémon, unaware of the depths of his question, simply stuck out her tongue in a cheeky taunt.

  Sam’s brain wasn’t working.

  His eyes felt like they weren’t working.

  Yet, he couldn’t ignore reality. What he was seeing was completely, undeniably, undoubtedly, true.

  That’s Misdreavus. My Misdreavus. But.. she evolved. She’s a Mismagius. And she’s traveled with me. She would know how to scare someone better than this!

  But it’s her! I know it’s her! It’s not her sister or another Misdreavus or any different Pokémon that just happens to look the same. It’s... her, and she scared me, and she...

  Sam swallowed a shaky breath.

  And she doesn’t recognize me.

  His concept of reality was falling apart.

  Misdreavus’s smile was far too familiar. The way her eyes glimmered in delight was far too telling. He’d seen this exact expression plenty of times when they journeyed together.

  She was undeniably his Pokémon.

  But she also wasn’t.

  Misdreavus wasn’t his Pokémon yet.

  “How?” Sam repeated.

  He didn’t want to face the truth.

  Misdreavus, his Misdreavus, turned his way and cocked her head to the side in the equivalent of a shrug. She clearly thought he was asking how she scared him, but his question carried so much more meaning than that.

  Her appearance answered too many questions, and Sam finally had to admit to himself what had happened.

  That archway wasn’t a portal.

  It hadn’t just brought him deeper into the forest.

  The unexpected presence of night was too much of a gap. He had never actually fallen unconscious and had seen the seasons change around him. The presence of the unevolved Misdreavus was too much of an impossibility. So all of that together combined into a single, undeniable fact:

  By being pushed through the archway, somehow, Sam had been sent backwards in time.

  He wasn’t sure why Misdreavus agreed to it. She didn’t know him. She hadn’t traveled with him. And Sam didn’t actually know her.

  Yet, she had easily agreed when he asked for help.

  Misdreavus spent only a single moment to consider it before moving up and down with an eager laugh. She almost immediately turned away to zip through the forest, but she stopped and turned toward him, impatiently waiting for him to catch up.

  She has so much energy. She’s so young.

  She didn’t have that passive sense of melancholy that Sam had seen her sometimes enter. This was a Misdreavus that was new to life, one that was excited to experience new things. Honestly, Sam wouldn’t have been surprised if she had come into being within the past year.

  He followed Misdreavus—his Misdreavus—and Haunter followed by his side. The much stronger, much more stealthy Ghost Type stuck to shadows but made sure to stay nearby.

  He was just as quiet as Sam. This... past version of their friend didn’t notice him at all.

  “Do you remember when Misdreavus first came at us in the forest? How she looked so betrayed when we attacked her?” Sam kept his voice to a whisper so that Misdreavus didn’t hear, and in the shadows of the great trees, Haunter responded with a tense nod. “Do you think... Do you think she recognized us?”

  Silence persisted.

  Haunter thought about it.

  Back then, Misdreavus recognized Sam.

  But Misdreavus did not recognize him.

  “Haunter, I don’t think you’re supposed to be here,” Sam whispered slowly. “I think... Mismagius did this on purpose. And Typhlosion must have known for a while. They wanted me to be here for a reason, but you... I’m sorry. Can you stay hidden? I don’t think you should reveal yourself to her. Please. Just... I don’t know. Can you stay on guard?”

  Haunter looked conflicted. It was the most conflicted Sam had ever seen his Pokémon look. And even with that expression, Haunter kept sending glances Misdreavus’s way, and Sam knew why.

  She’d slipped past his attention.

  But she had slipped past his attention because he had unconsciously let her. He was too used to ignoring her presence to notice her before she approached Sam.

  Something about that stuck with Haunter, but he still nodded to accept Sam’s request. For now, he faded into the nearby shadows and resumed his perimeter. Right after, Misdreavus glanced behind her to check on Sam. She sent him a curious look.

  He replied with a smile, and Misdreavus smiled back.

  In the end, she didn’t bring him too far away from that steam. Maybe just a few trees over—but with how large these trees were, it was still quite the distance. She stopped in front of where a root bent upwards to curve out of the earth. Its arcing shape made Sam feel a bit sick at the unfortunate resemblance, but she eagerly dove into the gap made by its hump.

  Following her in, Sam had to crouch to fit under the root, but he could tell she had led him into some kind of short den. A flicker appeared in front of him, and just a foot away from his face, Mismagius strained with focus to conjure a single, ghostly light.

  Sam looked around.

  There were some neat rocks. A collection of colorful leaves. A pile of shredded-yet-stringy bark that could serve as a nest. And pressed against the wall was a mound of half-rotted berries.

  The smell was sickeningly sweet.

  Not needing food herself, Misdreavus made a noise to offer Sam one of them, but he just forced back his grimace and shook his head.

  “Thank you, but I have food of my own,” he said as he pulled out the berry bread.

  Misdreavus saw and eyed it greedily.

  Sam eyed it as well.

  “...Here.”

  Though it was his only food, he couldn’t say no to her, and he pulled off a tiny chunk to hand it over.

  Happily, Misdreavus snapped up that small piece and chewed on the new flavor, making satisfied noises. Meanwhile, Sam tried to clear a space on the floor. He ignored how a bunch of creepy crawlies scattered away when he swiped his hand over before sitting down.

  Every ounce of his attention was on the Ghost Type in the room. She was his Pokémon, but she... wasn’t quite there yet.

  “How long have you lived here?”

  Misdreavus shrugged again, unsure. Time-keeping didn’t exactly seem to be her strength, as young as she was. However, Sam could tell this den had been the only place she called home.

  “Do you have any friends? Family? ...A trainer?”

  She tilted to the side before shaking her head; Misdreavus was living alone.

  An awkward silence stretched out between them. Misdreavus just seemed happy to be near Sam, excited but unsure how to interact with another being in her home. Meanwhile, Sam was doing his best to ignore his existential crisis, struggling to say anything that might be considered small talk.

  It was awkward. Uncomfortable. Unfortunate.

  Sam remembered just how sad she had looked when he and Haunter had attacked her back then. He couldn’t imagine how long she spent alone—how long she was yet to spend alone before she properly joined them.

  “I... have a team.” He wasn’t sure why he was talking about this. He didn’t know what else to say. “I train Pokémon. A bunch of them. Ghost Types. I’m, uh, a specialist with that Type.”

  Curious, Misdreavus tilted her head.

  “Oh, I’m a trainer?” Sam tried to explain. “Of Pokémon. They aren’t here right now, but I work with them. We try to get strong. And, well, they’re all Ghost Types—like what you are. A Ghost Type. Pokémon can be defined by a bunch of different Types of energy, and you’re, uh, a Ghost?”

  Misdreavus moved closer, intrigued, and Sam’s chest hurt. This deep in the woods and alone as she was, she didn’t exactly have a way to learn about this.

  Subtly, Sam glanced to her den’s entrance to see eyes watching them.

  Haunter looked in.

  “Ghost Types are... spectral. Ethereal. They exist past the usual bounds of life and death,” Sam said. “They can do things like phasing into shadows, conjuring darkness, and then they can also do far more esoteric stuff like laying curses or inflicting illusions.

  “It’s like...” He paused. “That wisp you conjured. How much do you know about it?”

  Despite her eagerness to listen to his words, she’d also been focusing on maintaining that light.

  Sam looked it over. It was providing a dim, purple glow that let him just barely see the rest of the “room.” The wisp wasn’t anything like a Will-O-Wisp or a Hex, but it was still something—the barest amount of pure Ghost Type energy needed to start conjuring a Shadow Ball.

  “You could probably develop that into a move,” Sam ended up saying. “Actually, I bet you already know a few moves, huh?”

  Bringing up her chin, she replied with a proud node. While she didn’t seem familiar with the concept of trainers or the specifics of Types, she still lived in the deep woods. Out here, Pokémon had to know how to fight.

  “My team knows a lot of moves. Shadow Ball, for starters, kind of like I said. We usually fight by using status moves to weaken our opponents, but my Pokémon also know a lot of really cool, more unique kinds of moves, like Double Team or Smokescreen or Agility or Shadow...”

  Shadow Sneak.

  Sam went quiet.

  He got distracted by talking about his Pokémon.

  He got the sense he shouldn’t have been telling her about them.

  Yet, even as he went quiet, Misdreavus looked up at him with an extreme amount of awe. He grimaced, but she was excited. The question she then asked him was like being punched in the gut.

  Misdreavus wanted to know if he could teach her all of that, too.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I should have— I think I should sleep.”

  Sam looked away, but Misdreavus just nodded, understanding that other beings had to sleep at night. She moved back to give him room, and Sam laid down on the cramped dirt floor.

  I messed up.

  I messed up so bad.

  He wasn’t dumb. He could put the pieces together. After that conversation—

  Where did Mismagius send me?

  Misdreavus wanted him to teach her. She wanted to learn all those cool moves. Her moveset was likely not that expansive right now, but back when they first met, Misdreavus had known more than a wild Pokémon should have known—suspiciously so. His theory had been that she had a trainer in her past, but with him being here right now...

  It was me, wasn’t it?

  Sam hated that realization.

  Forcing his eyes closed, Sam tried his best not to think about it. He tried not to consider what the implications would mean.

  It took much, much longer than he wanted, but he finally fell asleep.

  With how his schedule was shaping up, it was more of a nap than it was a night’s rest, but it was at least something that let him briefly ignore everything that was on his mind.

  Eventually, light peeked into the short entrance to Misdreavus’s home, and it woke Sam up.

  The sun was rising.

  There wasn't much illumination, but a scattering of sunbeams peeked through the canopy’s dense leaves. Between the trees’ branches, the barest hints of color were visible. Sam could just barely tell in which direction the sun was bringing itself through the sky.

  That let him know which way was east.

  Which meant he now knew the compass directions.

  Which meant, based on the map Chuck’s wife had shown him, he had a general idea of which way he’d need to head to be brought back to civilization.

  Following that stream would definitely help, too.

  When I first entered the forest, Diana gave me this berry bread. Did she know something like this would happen? It’s the only food I have. She mentioned it would ward off the Voice of the Forest, but now I’m thinking that wasn’t the real reason. I think she gave it to me so I would have food in case of the worst.

  ...I bet she knows more.

  This situation was too impossible. Sam’s only clue as to how this might have happened was from Diana’s warning about “the Voice of the Forest.” Diana likely knew more than she shared, but she currently existed somewhere in the nebulous future.

  Sam had no idea how far back he was in the past. And he was also worried about making waves. He didn’t want to do something like prevent his birth or prevent the capture of any of his team’s Pokémon.

  But he wasn’t even sure if that was possible. The past was the past. It should have already happened. If he was from the present—or the future—all of this was already set. He was just... living through it. Which maybe meant all of his actions were pre-ordained, and that maybe, just maybe, meant that free will wasn’t actually a thing.

  “Or you know what? Let’s not think about it. Existential crises aren’t worth having so early in the morning.”

  There was a bad taste in his mouth that he wouldn’t be able to get rid of by brushing his teeth. He didn’t have any supplies to help him get ready.

  Without anything else to do, Sam climbed out of the hole and did his best to try to find the sun.

  He could tell that Haunter was still nearby. The Ghost Type had stayed on guard all night. Sam could see his Pokémon dart through a gap between two roots, appearing as a moving shadow that briefly revealed his location.

  Haunter saw that he’d been noticed and sent Sam a thumbs up. Subtly, Sam sent back one of his own in reply.

  Then, behind him, Misdreavus was suddenly right there.

  She yawned as if she had been sleeping as well, but Sam knew that Ghost Types didn’t need to sleep. She was just mimicking something he’d done when he first woke up in her home beneath the tree.

  “Good morning,” he said, trying to push back his nerves.

  Misdreavus said her name to repeat the greeting and then looked at him with such hopeful eyes.

  “...You want to know if I’ve given it any thought.”

  She nodded eagerly.

  She really wanted his advice.

  Unfortunately, Sam was unable to do anything but bite his lip and turn away. He tried his best to not think about what this meant and how much it hurt.

  But had to do so anyway.

  Misdreavus was doomed. She wasn’t doomed to an early fate, but she was doomed to this time period in the past. After he had caught her in the future, she had never properly answered any questions about her history—because why would she need to? After all, Sam would just experience all of it himself.

  He knew that her moveset hadn’t been the moveset of a normal Misdreavus. She had to have been trained. Not just anyone in Johto was aware of Shadow Sneak. She also acted as though she had a trainer that she dearly missed.

  Samy hated it. He knew what that meant.

  The pieces were all there. It was obvious at this point.

  He’d been the one to train her. Or, he would be the one to train her.

  And then he would leave, and then then she would spend an unknown amount of time trying to reunite with him.

  In a way, it was bittersweet, having the confirmation that he would find a way back but also the confirmation that he’d leave her behind. Misdreavus was doomed because she would be abandoned. She would be doomed to wander the forest after forming an attachment to him.

  And I can’t stop it. It's a truth to her species. Misdreavus and Mismagius are known to get caught up in obsessions. Morty’s Mismagius had an obsession with tea parties, and Misdreavus...

  Misdreavus’s obsession will be with me.

  Those hopeful eyes continued to stare up at him. Even if he ran now, it wouldn’t work. He had already caught her interest.

  Worse, he also knew he wouldn’t be able to say no. He couldn’t just leave his Pokémon behind.

  So, in that moment, Sam made a promise, swearing something to both her and to himself.

  No matter what, he’d search for a way to stop that abandonment. He’d find a way to make sure Misdreavus would never have to spend ages searching for someone who wasn’t there. The past was set in stone? Not while he could do something about it. He would find out who or what was responsible for this—the supposed Voice of the Forest, most likely—and then he would wring their neck until they agreed to help.

  He’d fix this, but in the meantime, he’d do whatever he could. If Misdreavus was doomed to be miserable, then he’d do everything in his power to make sure she would be happy right now. The past was the past, but the future could change. What happened would still happen, but Sam was in a position to change what tomorrow would bring.

  He would fix this.

  Somehow.

  He would make this all work.

  “I’ll train you,” Sam ended up saying.

  And right away, Misdreavus excitedly pulled up in the air, bouncing in place with glee.

  Sam’s basic plan wouldn’t change. He’d follow the stream back to civilization, hopefully reaching Arborville. He was yet to visit the town, but Diana was—would be—from there. She’d known about the Voice of the Forest, which meant other people stood to know as well.

  So he ignored the sour taste in his mouth and the tension he felt in his chest. With the promise he made, Misdreavus would be coming with him. He’d do everything he could to find out more while simultaneously training her. He would make sure she had the time of her life, and then he’d make sure to find a solution.

  He would make things better. Sam swore he would find that cursed Voice of the Forest, and no matter what, he’d force it to help.

  Perhaps related yet unrelated, but paradoxes can canonically exist in the Pokémon universe, with Paradox Pokémon being the biggest example of that. They aren’t actually from the future or past. Rather, they are Pokémon that inspired their own existence—hence, “Paradox.”

  There are a few others, like basically every example of time travel in the anime (I’m looking at you, ), but there’s also technically the paradox of what inspired Professor Oak to give Pikachu to Ash. This situation is a little different, but expect to receive more and more answers as the arc goes on.

  (Although, I’ll quickly note that I currently have no plans to include Paradox Pokémon in this fiction.)

  Sam’s Team:

  Approximate Team Strength: 5 Stars

  Haunter (Ghost / Poison Type, Male, Naive Nature +Spe/-SpD)

  Abilities: Levitate

  Moves: Hypnosis, Lick, Confuse Ray, Spite, Mean Look, Hex, Shadow Punch, Night Shade, Acid Spray, Ominous Wind, Shadow Ball, Dream Eater, Nightmare, Curse

  (Ghost Type, Female, Hasty Nature +Spe/-Def)

  Pokéball: Friend Ball

  Abilities: Levitate

  Moves: Growl, Psywave, Astonish, Confusion, Confuse Ray

  Pokémon included in this chapter:

  n/a

  huge thank you to everyone reading! Your support keeps this story going.