Hoopa heaved and panted, their disembodied hands supporting their body on the floor as they recovered from the dark grip that grabbed them by their soul and dragged them all over the city in the air. They had landed on the floor from an open window behind them like the Pokémon who was pulling them with that invisible string knew that they’d be coming from that specific window.
Speaking of that Pokémon, she was right beside them.
Alice sat on the desk of her secondary office, not even looking at them. Her fur was a bit ruffled around her head and her arms too, likely from a recent fight she had with someone the genie didn’t know about. She corked that damned bottle that tied him to anyone who had in its possession, the Prison Bottle. The bottle that recalled him immediately to her office in a matter of minutes.
After closing the bottle, the Meowscarada sighed and spoke dissapointedly. “Why do I always have to do everything by myself?” She finally glanced at Hoopa with her menacing, crimson-red eyes, a paralyzing glance that would strike fear into anyone’s heart and soul. “You’ve been up to something behind my back this whole time, haven’t you?”
That stare sent literal shivers through the genie’s body, despite the ghost typing they had. It was the look someone gave when they demanded a straightforward answer without any kind of misleading information or else… the consequences would be severe. However…
That silent threat didn’t make the portal-maker falter, they had already helped their last hope enough for this madness to end. Now… all they had to do was just rely on John with that powerful-looking energy the human had bonded with.
Hoopa looked at Alice, a pleading expression present on their face to mask the feeling of accomplishment in their mission. “W-what… what are you talking about…?”
The bipedal feline turned her office chair in Hoopa’s direction, crossing her legs afterwards. “Playing dumb now, are we? Well, I suppose that’s obvious when you’re probably feeling so proud of yourself for finally managing to summon a human behind my back and having him acquire some strange power to catch me by surprise.” She clasped her paws together, leaning forward on her chair a bit. “Now, tell me. I’m very curious, how did you do it?”
Oh? She already had caught on to what they did with Palkia? They were certainly hoping that she’d mistake John for just another human who had just been transported to this world. But they supposed that the Joltik- or rather, the Galvantula’s actions had been a tad bit too reckless. How did they even end up in the human world last time anyway…?
Hoopa quickly sat up on their rear while looking directly at the Meowscarada, trying to avoid suspicion. “Did what? I swear I didn’t try to summon another- GAH!”
Suddenly, a big black dark matter hand came out from Alice’s back and grabbed onto the little mythical, holding them into a body-crushing grip. Alice’s face took on a menacing tone as she spoke in a calm but venom-coated tone. The portal-maker could tell the masked Pokémon was getting desperate. “Enough games, Hoopa. You already stalled long enough. I know that while I was busy, you have helped the human somehow. Now tell me where you sent him, or else…”
Despite the killing intent that the Meowscarada showed with her now black-sclera eyes, Hoopa knew she couldn’t kill them or threaten them. “F-far away f-from a bitch like you, th-that’s for sure! Y-your empty threats don’t work, you need me!”
And sure enough, instead of being absolutely crushed or turned into stone, Alice let go, letting the genie fall back on the floor, their wispy tail end flickering a bit from how weak they were at the moment. The feline sighed, the giant hand returning to her body. “You are, unfortunately, right about that.” She turned back to the computer on her desk, typing away something that Hoopa couldn’t really see. “But mark my words, Hoopa. It doesn’t matter where you sent your little hero to. Be it the undiscovered deep seas, unexplored cave systems, another world entirely, or even the void itself…” She looked at Hoopa with the most terrifying side-eye they had ever seen in their life. “I will make sure my own claws strike him down.”
The mythical stared, petrified from the threat they received. After staring at them for long enough, Alice returned to typing away on her computer. She seemed to be sending an email to… someone. Hoopa didn’t recognize the receiver, but they hoped it wouldn’t put a damper on their own plans.
The horned mythical turned away from the monster disguised as a Meowscarada and stared outside the window. It was already night. ‘I hope I made the right decision sending everyone there… it was the only option I could’ve thought of…’
“Ooh boy, glad this part of town is quiet.” Elise turned around. “But no need to fret anymore about being spotted guys cuz…” The human lazily motioned her hand to the building in front of her. “We’re here.”
Taro and the other Pokémon carefully approached the human as they kept watch on their surroundings, ears sharp and nose sharper to identify any human that came near them. But, they supposed it was better to trust the human’s judgment; they didn’t notice any humans around for now.
Team Net (and Elsa) have been following the human, Elise, back to her home after her shift ended. They’ve been quite wary of their surroundings as they walked on the streets of human civilization, hiding and pretending to be like the animals John mentioned way before. Well, they didn’t need to hide anymore since they finally arrived!
When the Togedemaru stopped looking around, he looked at the house in front of them, noticing it was a bit different from the ones they’d seen around the inclined hill of spaced-out human settlements. The building in front of them was definitely the most striking out of the neighborhood. It was… the less old and unkept one out of all the others.
The other houses had peeling dry paint, dusty/broken windows, or even tall grass with some vines and other overgrown greenery creeping over the house or some walls and fences. Elise’s house, while nothing special, didn’t have any of those problems… well, at least on a wide margin like the others. The white walls of her house didn’t have any peeling paint, however, there were a few noticeable crevices with visible bricks exposed, and the grass around the front porch seemed to be mostly trimmed to a good enough degree. The house itself had two floors and even a garage.
Taro had never seen much human architecture aside from the human video games he played, the tall buildings during the last time they were in this world with John and Claire and when he decided to look for pictures on the internet about human houses for more info on the world in case they wound up in the human world again.
Which was… way earlier than he expected. He hadn’t even begun to research human culture yet to blend in!
Woes for another time whenever he has an opportunity. He just had to be glad that during their first day in this new world, they got lucky and got a temporary home to sleep in.
Amy, in her majestic new form, took a few steps toward the house, inspecting it from a distance. “So… this is your house, right?” She asked before the human nodded. “Hm, it looks-”
“It looks like a Lugia decided to cause a massive hurricane here, just like all the other excuses for houses here!” Elsa honestly said before groaning out loud. She then turned to the human. “Are you absolutely sure this is where you live? I imagined creatures as revered as humans back in our world lived in more sophisticated places than this… shack.”
Someone needed to remind him. Why the fuck did they decide that keeping her around was a good idea? If it was up to him, he would willingly let Elsa be in that spot she wouldn’t move away from when she threw her temper tantrum. For an ice type, she sure had the attitude of a fire type, didn’t she…?
Popo and Nana approached the ice Vulpix. “If you do not appreciate the shelter you have been given…” “Then you would not have any problem sleeping outside.” “Would you?”
Elsa trembled a bit in fear before looking aside while trying to keep a stoic demeanor. “W-well… I suppose that… any shack shall be enough to accommodate a princess as might as myself!”
Elise giggled a bit, ignoring the ice type’s insult to her home. “Y’all are quite a group, aren’t ya?” She put her hands on her side as she kicked her foot back and forth. “But to answer your question. Yes, this is my home. And yes, this is the normal neighborhood for lower-class buffoons like me.”
Taro then managed to hear the human grumbling something along the lines of taxes and government… but he couldn’t really make out what she wanted to say. Instead, he spoke reassuringly. “Well, I do think it’s nice! I just hope that this place is safe for us to rest and stuff...”
The female human turned to the spiky rodent, looking aside for a moment. “Well, if Mom doesn’t make a fuss about it once I introduce you to them, you’ll probably find it safe to live… when my siblings aren’t involved that is.”
“Your… siblings?” Amy asked, looking back at the human in confusion. “Are they as much a hassle as Elsa is to one of our friends?”
“Hey!” The ice Vulpix growled, the temperature dropping a little around her. She shouldn’t get angry, Amy was just spitting facts.
“Well uh… depends what you might call a hassle.” She looked at the house again, seeing one of the windows. The light was on inside whatever room that was. “I guess you’ll see one of them if he decides not to wake up the sleeping beauty.” Elise sighed before she started walking to the door, she then held up her hand behind her. “Wait here for a moment. I gotta talk to Mom about you guys. So uh… wait here until I’m ready to introduce all of you?”
The human received nods from the group, even an unamused nod from Elsa. Taro spoke afterwards. “Don’t worry, we’ll be patient. She probably needs to mentally prepare herself for seeing us.”
Elise nodded before entering her house. Meanwhile, Taro’s mind wandered to Elise’s mother and her reaction to seeing them. Judging from how the previous adult human encounters went… he was definitely predicting another repeat of responses. Hey, maybe she’d replicate Elise’s reaction 1 to 1, like mother like daughter, perhaps.
Taro turned to the rest of the group, a bit curious about how they thought the situation was gonna go. “You guys think Elise’s mom gonna react well to seeing us?”
The Tandemaus twins shook their heads simultaneously (he swore sometimes those two seemed like one person in two different bodies). “Negative.” “Based on previous encounters with humans that have spotted us.” “There does not exist a singular timeline where they shall not scream in terror.”
Amy sat on the ground and scratched her cheek. “Uh… hopefully it’ll be different. I just hope we can sleep under a roof tonight.”
Elsa commented while looking at her phone. “No shit. I hope I don’t have to pay for a hotel room or something since I already spent too much money today! I don’t know the exact value of this dollar currency but it sounds like a lot!”
Taro crossed his small arms, looking back at the house with a frown. What if they didn’t get in? There was a very high chance of them not getting accepted into the house and having to find somewhere else to sleep, or worse… on the streets.
The Togedemaru shivered at the thought.
His “bad scenario simulator” stopped running in his head as he could hear the muffled voice of a different woman within earshot. It seemed to be coming from inside the house…
“... I dunno why the hell do you think that I’d let you bring more bed partners after that pathetic excuse of a man waltzed his way into our home and ended up with me calling the cops!”
“Mom, shut up and listen! They’re not even normal humans. They’re just-”
“Oh, either we’re bringing pets into our home or you’re bringing demons disguised as normal humans! Either way, I’m telling them to get the hell outta here!” The front door opened, revealing a woman with black hair, styled with dreadlocks around her head, glasses, and a casual dress. She looked furious. “Alright you lil’ shits, get the-...” She stopped yelling once she looked at the creatures sitting in front of her house. She stared at Team Net for a moment before speaking. “... Elise, what kinda breed are these flea-gatherers? Never… never seen a rat this fat before…”
Wait, was she talking about… him?
“What do you mean fat!?” The Togedemaru squeaked a bit annoyed.
The woman completely froze, standing still in the doorway like a statue. After that, Elise appeared beside her mother. “Mom! I told you-”
“The… the rat… he… he…” Elise noticed that the middle-aged woman was tilting backwards. Before she plummeted to the ground, the younger human caught her mother, realizing that she literally had fainted on the spot.
Team Net gathered around the humans as Elise called out a bit concerned. “M-Mom!?”
Popo and Nana suddenly kneeled in front of the mother and daughter and spoke simultaneously. “O Great One, may you bless this soul as they rest within your domain while their vessel rots and decays within ours.”
Elise turned her head to the twins and shouted at them. “She’s not dead yet, don’t say that!!!”
Just like the woman’s claim, it was true, Taro did hear shallow breathing and saw the older woman’s belly slowly inflating and deflating. He sighed in relief, glad that he didn’t kill the human with a heart attack.
“Uh… does that mean we… won’t be allowed inside then?” Taro asked, a bit unsure of their fate now.
Amy shot him a light glare. “Now’s not the time to care for that. We said we would help Elise and we’ll start by owning up to our own mistakes!”
The Shaymin walked to the doorway and Elise looked at her in confusion. “What… are you gonna do?”
“Could you put her down? I’m gonna try waking her up with something.” Amy requested and, a bit hesitantly, the human did what was asked of her and put her mother on the floor. The mythical Pokémon approached the downed woman and took a deep breath. A moment later, for some reason, her scarf-like appendage suddenly… uh… Taro didn’t know how to describe it, it just sorta bloomed like a flower. After that strange thing, a soothing and relaxing smell washed all over them.
The smell Taro’s nose picked up felt so good like he was dipping his whole body in a relaxing hot bath that washed away all his stress, worries, and regrets. He enjoyed every second of it, basking in the smell until a new voice pulled him away from the bliss and peace.
“Sis, what’s goin’ on here!? I heard Mom’s voice from all da way up so like-”
The Pokémon and the human looked at the source of the new and heavily accented childish voice. Coming from the stairs, a human boy with long black and messy hair who only wore shorts and flip-flops made his presence known. The more the Togedemaru looked at the boy’s hair, the more it looked like a Pyroar mane from the upper half of his head.
The boy froze as he took in the situation before his eyes. “Woah… the heck happened ova ‘ere? What are…”
Elise groaned and ordered. “Damian, go back to your room! You shouldn’t-”
The boy blinked momentarily as the sweet smell dissipated from the room. His eyes then lit up a bit as he clenched his fist in glee. “Heck no, sis! These r’ real, IRL, Pokémon in mah house and I’m not lettin’ this moment pass!”
Elsa looked at the human with an annoyed huff. “Kid, if you are blind, my servant peasants over here are trying to wake up your mother.” Taro and the Tandemaus twins glanced at Elsa at the mention of servants. “Until we are done, you are dismissed from this area.” She said while waving her paw in a “shoo” motion.
“Holy cow, they speak too!”
It was then that a groan was heard between the group and all eyes were focused on the middle-aged woman who was slowly waking up. Her eyes fluttered open as her awareness returned to her, grunting all the while waking up. “What… happened?”
“There, she’s awake now!” The human boy, or Damian now, exclaimed while grinning widely. “Now I can play with y’all!!!”
“Uh… just wait a moment, okay?” Taro said to the boy, rubbing the side of his head a bit sheepishly.
As the old woman got up, Elise crouched next to her mother who looked at her a bit dazed. “E…Elise…?”
“Now Mom, don’t panic but like…” The younger human then pointed at Team Net, her mother turning her head to stare at them.
It took a few seconds until the woman’s eyes widened in surprise, her breaths getting more ragged and shallow as she scrambled for Elise’s hand. Once she grasped it, she crawled back a bit, fear written all over her face. “S-stay away you f-freaks! Don’t think of touching my family!”
“Mom! They’re not monsters! They’re just innocent…” Elise let her gaze wander to Popo and Nana for a moment before returning back to her mother with a sheepish look. “Mostly innocent and thinking creatures, just like us!”
The Tandemaus twins stepped forward, putting their hands on their chests and bowing. “Our deepest apologies for entering your humble abode in an untimely manner.” “We are experiencing a dire moment that forced us to move away from our current home.” “We cannot go back for now so we do not have anywhere else to go.” “We insist that we may rest here for an undetermined amount of time.” They raised their heads. “In the name of the Great One, we shall be your new knights if you accept our proposal of staying here!”
Everyone stayed silent at the twin’s words, a bit shocked by what they said. As the awkward silence entered the room, Taro wondered about Popo and Nana. ‘Are they really gonna commit to the whole bit or…’
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Before they could think about that any further, Damian suddenly snuck behind Popo and Nana and scooped them up in a hug from behind, lifting the mouse into the air like they were plushes. “Gee, y’all r’ so soft!” He then stroked one of them on their chin, and oddly enough, both of the mice’s tails started swishing from side to side. “Cuties!”
“Hm… adequate outcome.” “This is ideal.” The twins said.
“Damian!” The older human said before Amy stepped closer to her, making the woman flinch back a bit in fear.
“We promise we won’t be a danger to you or your family. If we’re gonna stay here, we’ll help you with anything you guys need.” Amy proposed with a determined expression. “Please, we just… have nowhere to go.”
Damian hugged Popo and Nana a bit tighter as he looked at his mother. “Ma! Can we ‘ave ‘em?! Please!?”
The fear on the woman’s face receded a bit as she realized neither she nor her family was in any danger. Despite the still expression on her, Taro noticed many thoughts going through her head at the moment. It left him a bit nervous, his tail swishing from side to side slowly like a metronome. Despite pacifying her a bit, would they even manage to stay in the house? What if she just expels them from the building and they’re forced to sleep outside?
Taro, with his anxiety spiking a bit, added as a safety measure. “We promise that we’ll do our best to stay out of trouble even. So don’t worry about us ruining something in your house!”
The mother, seemingly more relaxed now, sighed and got up, supporting herself on the wall. She sighed as she turned to her daughter. “Elise, I… I dunno about this. They… I dunno what they are and now they’re asking for a home? You know that we don’t have the money to properly care for them.”
Elsa asked while taking a step forward. “You haven’t told her who we are yet?”
Elise rubbed the back of her head while turning to Team Net. “Sorry, I was trying to uh… ease her up a little until she saw you. You prolly know how that went…”
The ice vulpix huffed before putting a paw on her chest. “Well, miss, let me inform you that we are Pokémon. And no need to worry about any monetary issues you might have. All I’ll need is a computer, a camera, and a microphone; and I’ll have enough money to take care of ourselves.” She then pulled out her phone from her fan of tails. “Technology really is incredible, isn’t it?”
The older woman stared at Elsa, wide-eyed and mouth agape. Her face screamed disbelief all over like what she saw was an impossibility. Well, Pokémon as a whole coming to their home was already a big impossibility. “I… I think I’m gonna faint again, this is too much…”
Elise put her hands in her pockets and spoke a bit amused. “Oh yeah, forgot to tell ya they know how to use human tech.”
“For real!? That’s so cool!” Damian spoke next before walking to his mother. “Ma, ya ‘ave to let ‘em stay, please!”
The twins both nodded. “We agree with the young soul.”
The family’s mother rubbed one of her arms and sighed. “If this is some kind of test set up by God… fine, I’ll let ‘em stay here.” Taro and Amy beamed silently, while Elsa sighed in relief. Popo and Nana on the other hand stayed expressionless as the human boy twirled around in pure glee, holding the twins like they were plushies. “But I sure hope you kids pull your own weight. If ya don’t wanna get treated by pets and get thrown out, prove ya ain’t one. Got it?”
Taro and Amy nodded determinedly as the Togedemaru spoke. “Don’t worry about us. We’ll help you and take care of ourselves to the best of our abilities!”
“Says the ‘mon that is in a group that doesn’t know how to cook.” Elsa stated, making Taro roll his eyes. She then directed to the old woman. “Don’t worry about that, at least these guys can help you to cook something.”
Elise crossed her arms as she looked aside. “Uh… I don’t know how the Pokémon world is in regards to cooking and stuff but like… we mostly order food from other places.”
Damian decided to add his own piece while sitting on the ground and scratching lightly the two mice’s bellies. “Yep, Ma’s cookin’ just comes when we ‘ave tight money.”
Popo and Nana leaned onto the touch, nuzzling their heads with the human’s fingers with their still faces. “We shall help you if you have no food left to tenderize.” “We shall hunt a proper meal suited for your vessels.” “We shall not let anyone in this house under the protection of the Great One starve to death.”
The house stayed silent again before the afro-haired boy spoke with a giggle. “I like ya two, you’re funny and cute!”
Elsa sighed and walked up to the older woman, putting her paw on her fluffy white chest. “Like I said before, with the money I gain from my hobby, I shall aid you and your family in any financial needs!”
The woman scratched her cheek as she pondered what she heard, finally registering what the vulpix meant without panicking. “Uh… you really sure about that? You said you need a computer, a camera, and a microphone, right? What do you even do to get money? Or were you lying earlier…?”
Elise looked at her mother and smirked a little bit as she put a hand on her side. “Would you believe she paid for their lunch in the food place I work at?”
“She WHAT!?” The older human said in complete surprise. “So you’re really sayin’ that these animal creatures from if I heard correctly, a franchise for kids are capable of doing jobs and paying for things???”
Taro glanced at Amy for a moment, a paw on his chin. “I feel like we’ll have to endure these comparisons all the time we’re here…”
Amy’s gaze landed on the Tandemaus for a moment, seeing them enjoy the affection given to them without any sort of complaint or creepy comment. She hummed in thought before looking at the rodent again. “I think we’ll have to endure worse than that if our previous theory holds true…”
Oh yeah, that theory they made back at the restaurant. So… it wasn’t just him, it seemed, both Popo and Nana were enjoying a human’s touch as much as he did when Elise patted him before. Taro didn’t know if it was a Pokémon thing or a human thing since he definitely didn’t lean in longingly for more pats when his parents did that to him as a child.
Is that the reason why these animals from the human world are domesticated? That might be it… aside from that cat they’d seen in that alleyway, and those canines he’d seen walking on the street in Elise’s neighborhood, he didn’t have many examples to confirm nor deny those theories.
The young woman stretched her body and asked her mother. “So, Mom, has the supper arrived yet?”
Her mother nodded. “Yeah, left at it on the fridge as usual.”
“Okay then, I’ll heat it later.” She looked at Team Net with a smile. “Before that though, I can show you to the room where you’ll be sleeping meanwhile, sounds good to you guys?”
Elsa sat on the ground, tilting her muzzle upwards in elegance. “I hope you prepared the most dazzling bed, fit for a prestigious Pokémon like me! After all, I deserve it after I am donating a bit of my kindness to your family!” Team Net just stared daggers at the ice Vulpix who corked a brow at them. “What?”
Elise chuckled. “Uh… it’s a bed alright, but you’ll have to share it with someone then since we only have two leftover mattresses.”
“Yeah, we can work with that.” Amy spoke after nodding. “Since we’re quite small, I think human mattresses would fit us well.” She then passive-aggressively glared at Elsa with a smile. “Of course, you wouldn’t mind sharing, right, Elsa?”
The snowy fox growled a bit while rolling her eyes and mumbling. “Of course not…”
The young woman suppressed a chuckle. “Alright, sweet. Let’s go, everyone.” She then glanced at her brother and spoke. “Damian, could you release our guests, please?”
“Aww, fine…” The boy said before putting Popo and Nana and crouching down next to them. “Can we play later…?”
The Tandemaus looked at each other before their gaze fell on the human again, nodding. “We shall do some activities together later.” “You shall not be forgotten on our schedule.”
As they turned away and walked to Elise, Damian smiled and spoke. “Thanks a bunch!”
Damian’s and Elise’s mother sighed and rubbed her temples. “I’ll be in the living room, watching TV. If you guys want anythin’, just come and ask.”
Taro nodded. “Thanks, Miss… uh…” He rubbed the side of his head, smiling sheepishly. “What’s your name…? We forgot to ask.”
The human waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t sweat it, Mousy. Just call Veronica.” With that, she turned around and lazily waved at Team Net before walking to what was supposedly the living room.
“Anyway.” Taro’s attention snapped back to Elise, motioning the team to follow her. “Come with me, the room you’ll be using is on the second floor like the others.”
With that, Team Net (and Elsa) followed the human up the stairs onto the second floor of the house. The second floor had a small recreational area beside where the stairs ended, a computer set against the railing overlooking the stairs being visible. Beyond that little area, there was a hallway with five doors and even a trapdoor with a rope on the ceiling.
Elise motioned with her hands around the second floor. “So, besides the stairs is the family computer. Don’t worry, Elsa, we’ll put everything you need for your… streams…” She said a bit uncertain, definitely in disbelief of what she said. “Back to second floor tour.” She then pointed at each door individually, starting with the one in the far right of the hallway. “That’s one of the bathrooms, if you, uh… use them. Then that’s Damian’s and Erika’s room. Erika is my and Damian’s sister, but you haven’t met her since she’s currently… or at least hopefully asleep.” She then continued to the door in the middle. “That’s where you guys will be sleeping. It’s the guest’s room. Don’t uh… mind the clutter there, we haven’t cleaned it up.”
“Well, if it at least has a bed for us, we surely won’t mind.” Taro said sheepishly with a giggle.
Elise smiled back. “Yeah, fair.” She then pointed at the other doors. “The other rooms are my mom’s and mine. Also, I should say this now before an urge to explore passes over you.” She turned to them and crouched, clasping her hands together and looking at them with a serious expression. “Do not enter my room under any circumstances unless it’s an emergency, understood?”
Amy tilted her head. “Um… and that’s because…?”
“You’re a girl, right? Have you ever had any crushes… if you know what term is?”
“Uh… no? I was never interested in roman-”
Elsa suddenly interrupted the Shaymin with an amused huff. “As a ‘mon of refined taste such as me, I very much understand why you would seal off your room for anyone but yourself. I’d do the same if I didn’t have a twin sister, after all.”
The human put a hand on her side and smiled after getting up. “Glad you understand then.” She then walked to the middle room and opened the door, turning the light switch inside. “Anyway, hope you like your new room for now. Just uh… don’t mess up anything in there, okay?”
Taro nodded before running to the room to see what was inside a bit excited to know what it was like.
Once he got inside the room, followed by the rest of Team Net, they started to analyze the new room. The room had the same feeling as the entrance of the house but with some extra things. White-painted walls and ceiling, a window beside one of the two beds in the room, a wardrobe across the room opposite the two beds, a wide desk beside the door, and a chest in front of one of the beds. Overall, quite a spacious room for Team Net.
Popo and Nana nodded as they stated. “It shall be quite an interesting experience not sleeping in our home.” “Yes, but even so…” “Our sleep shall be watched and guarded by the Great One.”
That made Taro curious about where the strange mice Pokémon slept, but he kept the question quiet for now. He supposed it was only a cave or something. They WERE living in the Distortion World, so he wondered if that famous cave connected it to that dimension.
On an unrelated note, he found the room he and the team had gotten for themselves quite… not that charming but not that bland either. However, something about the room made it feel like someone else had been living here for quite some time… since humans liked wearing clothes as he saw in many examples, of course, they might be switching the dirty ones out a lot just like some Mimikyu have some spare cloths to cover themselves, but… if this was a guest room, why would there be a big wardrobe if guests normally stay one or two nights most of the time?
Well, he could ask Elise or anyone else in the family another time. After eating such a feast back at the food place, he was feeling quite sleepy… ah, but before that, he should bathe a little. His fur might’ve dried from the rain, but it still was dirty from the debris of the battles.
And it seemed that Elsa was on the same page as him, but WAY more vocal about it. “Thanks for the room tour and all, Elise, but well, I’d like to take my beauty bath, please. I went through literal shit before crossing over to this world so I’d like for a bath, pronto. You wouldn’t mind if we used the bathtub, right?”
The human rubbed the back of her head. “I don’t see the issue, so no, I don’t mind. If Mom already drops so much hair, then a bit of fur wouldn’t be an issue for the drain.” She then put a hand on her belly, Taro’s ears flickering after he heard a small grumble coming from it. “Anyway, I gotta eat my food. Hope you get used to your new room.”
With that, Elise went away as Amy spoke out. “Alright, Elise, thanks for everything!”
As the human went away, Team Net walked further into the room while Elsa stayed behind. “Well, it’s time for my beauty bath. Have fun scouting everything this peasant-tier room has for me.”
As Elsa walked away, Taro sighed. He was hoping that he’d be the first one to bathe, but of course, it had to be Claire’s delusional twin… she would’ve probably frozen him if he tried to wash first. It sometimes genuinely felt like she had something against him.
Still though, now that she was busy on a bath that was definitely gonna take minutes to complete, now it was just Team Net in the room! Or… part of it…
Taro sighed as he lay on the ground, staring at the ceiling as his paws rested on his belly. “Holy Mew… today was one of the most hectic days of my life… like, on par with the day we first went to the human world through the Distortion World…”
Amy sat on her haunches as she put a paw on her mouth. “I’m noticing a trend here that I don’t like…”
“We should not let the events of today restrain our souls.” “We have a mission to accomplish that will decide the fate between two worlds.” “We must reunite with Friend to increase our chances of defeating the heretic.” “Friend is the Chosen One.”
As much as the Tandemaus' ramblings were insane and very… old-timey, Taro couldn’t help but just agree with them at the moment. Whatever happened to John was the thing that they needed to have a chance against Alice and her schemes. He just couldn’t help but wonder… was… everything that happened so far, John’s appearance to this world to now all just the work of fate? There were too many coincidences for it to be not something about fate!
Uh oh, it seemed that Popo and Nana’s absurdity was getting to him…
Taro rolled into a sitting position and smiled a bit sheepishly. “Well, chosen or not chosen doesn’t change the fact we gotta help him defeat the bad guy, just like in those stories about other humans! It will definitely be hard, sure, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible! And just think how cool we’ll look if we save the world too!”
“IF we save it…” Amy said, a little doubtful of the situation. “Do we even tell the humans about this stuff too?”
“We advise against it.” “It is unclear how human nature is, therefore, there will be no way they shall react to such a situation.” “There is a possibility they do not believe our claims since there is also the possibility that humans did not even have world-ending events like ours.” The Tandemaus argued, proving a good point… however…
“Are we sure they haven’t experienced something like that before? From what I’ve seen from some of their weapons, it looked like they have…” Taro pondered.
“Well, still, whatever the case, I guess our mission is pretty simple.” Amy said while tapping her chin with a paw. “We first gotta find John one day… then make sure he gets the proper training and then take back the fight to Alice with his new powers. But… there’s gotta be way more steps in between… like, there might be a chance Alice even hired some humans here to keep watch on this side…”
Taro tilted his head and asked. “What makes you say that?”
“It’s pretty clear that she had more contact with the human world since she basically stole the designs to aid with her plan. What was stopping her from controlling some humans from the shadows?” Amy hypothesized, bitter concern growing in her voice.
Taro crossed his arms and frowned. It was true, there was no telling if Alice was already steps ahead of them and planned for an event like this… “Shit… we gotta be extra careful around humans then… who knows who out there in the streets is siding with Alice…?”
“We already have the information that the company known as Twitter is already tainted with her presence and control.” Popo stated before Nana added. “We shall avoid it no matter the costs along with other potential big companies who are affiliated with Twitter.”
Amy nodded. “Yes, that sounds good. We might have to use the internet anonymously as well in case she also has digital Porygons secretly monitoring it too.”
Taro nodded. “Yep, can’t get caught while spying what’s going on with the wor- WAH!”
Suddenly, the rodent was scooped up from behind, fleshy arms wrapping around his round body as he was lifted up. Taro whipped his face around to see Damian’s gleeful grin. “Yo Pokémon gang! Now that Sis isn’ ‘ere tah stop me, I can finally stay with y’all!”
The human closed the door behind him while still holding the Togedemaru. For some reason, instead of wanting to squirm out of the human’s hold, he felt… like he shouldn’t, like those arms were there to comfort him and keep him from any harm directed his way. ‘That… that feeling again? This is so strange…’
The Tandemaus twins spoke out. “Human, if you excuse us…” “We were in the middle of an important-”
Amy waved at Popo and Nana dismissively. “No, no, he can stay for a bit. We were pretty much done with the conversation anyway.”
The boy’s expression morphed into one of curiosity as he asked. “What were y’all talkin’ about?”
Taro put his paws on the human’s arms as he looked up. “Just uh… about what we’re gonna do next. Don’t worry about it, okay?”
“Okey!” Damian said blissfully before moving on to another question. “So, I knew what Pokémon yer friend, Elsa, was! What Pokémon are ya guys? Never seen any like ya on videos!”
Amy responded first, although a bit hesitant. “Well, I’m a Shaymin. My species can make flowers bloom with the power of gratitude, and recently… I also learned how to fly, which is pretty neat.”
Damian’s eyes basically sparkled at that from excitement. “So freakin’ cool! Could you let me fly with ya then!?”
The Shaymin stammered a bit before sheepishly smiling. “I-I think you’re too… heavy for that…”
The human deflated a bit in disappointment. “Aww man…” He then recovered a little when he turned his attention to the Tandemaus twins. Geez, are human kids so quick in getting over stuff? “And what are ya two?”
Popo and Nana answered simultaneously while smiling creepily at the boy. “We are what is known as a Tandemaus. Living successor of the true God that has been tarnished by traitors and heretic deities. We shall vanquish them all, all in the name of the Great One. They shall rise once again to their true greatness so all souls shall reach their true enlightenment!”
Taro and Amy stared eye-wide, hoping that the human boy wouldn’t cry from fear of the menacing mice in front of him. However… “Oooooh, that’s awesome! I dunno if God will like you uh… vanqui… vanque… vanish ‘em! I dunno if God would like that… but I’ll root for this Great One if ya think they’ll help everyone! Lotsa folks need it, after all!”
The twins looked at each other. “We have successfully converted another soul for the cause.” “They shall be saved.” “There is no need to sacrifice this one.”
Taro grew concerned for the human’s safety, however, he didn’t have to question that now since the human fully directed his attention to him. Damian had lifted him up and turned him around, getting to eye level with him. “Now, you! What’s yer species?”
“Uh… Togedemaru, I uh… shoot electricity.”
“Cool!” The human said excitedly. Taro was pretty sure with his excitement, he’d probably be a canine Pokémon, but he didn’t know what kind. He could practically see an invisible tail wagging behind him… “Could ya guys show yer magic? That’d be awesome!”
Taro immediately shot that idea down. “My magic is kinda… destructive so uh… I rather not for now.”
Popo and Nana shook their heads. “It is not your time to learn what we are capable of.” “You shall know when the time is right.”
Before Damian could get disappointed again, Amy saved the day for him. “Well, I can do this since it is a move.” The Shaymin pointed her eyes to the chest, her entire eyes overtaking a purple glow while the chest gained a faint but very noticeable purple glow. The heavy-looking object then started levitating off the ground. There were even some very minuscule creatures crawling away from where the chest was a second ago.
Damian gasped in clear excitement, dropping Taro on his lap as he watched the floating chest in awe. To be honest with himself, the Togedemaru was also quite amazed at what Amy was doing. He wished he could learn telekinesis as well, that way he didn’t have to jump just to reach high objects.
The chest’s lid was a bit loose, so when Amy put the furniture back down, a piece of paper slid off of it, falling slowly on the ground.
The Shaymin sighed and looked at Damian with a smile. “How was that?”
“Was AWESOME!” Damina basically shouted in excitement. “That’s so sick how ya look at an object and it floated with just yer mind! Now try it on me next!”
Amy sheepishly laughed at the human as Popo and Nana walked past her. “Maybe not on you… just to be safe.”
“Aww man…” Damian pointed while looking away. “I thought Pokémon would be all up to all sorta crazies…”
One of the Tandemaus picked up the paper off the ground and looked at it with the usual blank expression. “Hm… interesting…”
Taro looked at the twins in confusion, wondering what they saw on that paper. However, before he could ask, a voice from downstairs could be heard. A voice that was obviously from Veronica. “DAMIAN, IT’S BEDTIME, YOU HAVE SCHOOL TOMORROW!”
The human sighed before shouting back. “OKAY MOM!” He let Taro back on the floor as he got up. “I got school tomorrow… still tho, can’t wait to see y’all tomorrow after I return! Unless… any of ya want to come with-”
“Uh… I think your mom would immediately chuck us out of the house if we did something like that… so maybe not.” Taro responded before the boy could even finish. If he had learned one thing about John after he had told them what happened on his true first day at the school, it wouldn’t have ended well if one of them had gone to a human school. “Yeah… sorry.”
Damian scratched his cheek as he looked aside. “Nah dudes, it’s cool…” He then smiled again excitedly while his gaze returned to Team Net. “But at least I see y’all after school, so it’s all good!” He then stepped out of the door while speaking. “G’night guys!”
Amy and Taro returned the gesture before he focused back on Popo and Nana. However, the photo in one of their hands was gone. It did draw more confusion from the Togedemaru, however, he was not gonna question it now, he was drained. That’s what happens when he gets tossed around like a ball by the bad guys…
The bath could wait for tomorrow.
The rodent yawned before walking and hopping onto one of the beds. “I’m kinda tired, I’ll head to bed for now. Too much stuff for one day…”
Amy sighed. “Yeah, it really is, isn’t it? I wonder how John and Claire are fairing…”
Popo and Nana chimed in. “We should not assume the worst.” “Friend and fiery soul are strong.” “They shall be well.”
Taro got himself comfortable on the bed. There were no covers, but he didn’t need or want them. Sleep was more important to him at the moment. “Yeah, hopefully so…” The Togedemaru turned to the flying Pokémon and requested. “Could you turn off the light, please?”
“Yeah, sure.” Amy said that before looking at the light switch, a single psychic flip made the switch turn off the lights. “Goodnight Taro.”
“Night, guys.” Taro spoke before closing his eyes slowly, curling his limbs tightly as he turned more ball-like. With that, with his worries put into pause, for now, the Togedemaru drifted asleep.
“Rexio, for the love of Arceus and everything holy, don’t tell me you think this is a good idea.”
“Oh Aureum, this is definitely not a good idea, it’s our only idea. You know I start getting desperate when I’m hungry, right?”
“But to think you’d go this far to invade a ranch of all things and eat the livestock of those creatures…”
Team Dino stood in front of a large barn under the moonless night of the sky. The breeze of the night brushed by their scales, leaves rustled, and the muffled sounds of mooing came from the barn, which was… getting a bit annoying. And here he thought that all of those Tauros-like creatures would be sleeping by this hour.
It was already clear to the Tyrantrum that he and Aureum were in another world (or probably some very isolated spot in one of the continents but that was highly unlikely). They’d been roaming for what seemed like days, but it was only a few hours until night rolled around. During their walk, they decided finding a resting place among civilization would be a good idea. They reached what appeared to be a small settlement with a lot of those strange cars parked by the place.
After trying to talk with a Gardevoir-looking creature, Rexio, of course, had spooked them so badly that they ran away along with the same other creatures too.
They decided that looking for a place to rest and asking for information wasn’t worth it at the moment so they decided to focus on another thing: food. It was easy for Aureum to find food. Despite the scarceness of trees in the area, there were some growing close to some settlements, and that was what her species needed to satiate her hunger in times like these. Although, she complained about not having salt, vinegar, or even pasta to accompany it. Rexio didn’t know if the Aurorus just liked to complain or if it was a common quirk among her species.
Herbivores and their dumb pickyness…
As the night progressed, Rexio got hungrier until they found a certain ranch, judging by the plain fields, the very short fence, and the scent of grassy droppings permeating the area.
And now the duo was here, the Tyrantrum ready to steal some of those scaredy creatures’ livestock to satiate his hunger. So what if his plan wasn’t the best? He was hungry! Bite him, he had no other options!
“Listen, do you honestly expect those puny scaredy creatures to look at me, see that I’m hungry, and give me food willingly? They looked at me like they expected me to eat them, just like any kid does!” Rexio complained, crossing his small arms while pouting as best as a Tyrantrum could.
Aureum rolled her eyes. “Well, they also looked at me in fear. But… whatever, I guess you do have a point.” The tundra Pokémon then walked to a set of trees a small distance away from the barn and lay against their side, the trees bending a bit under the weight of her body. “Don’t take too long, though. Who knows whenever one of those beings notices? Our bodies aren’t quite… stealthy.”
The Tyrantrum waved dismissively. “I know, I know. I’ll try to grab two and move out.” With that, Rexio stomped onwards into the barn after opening the door (and possibly breaking a lock). “I’ll be back soon.”
“Okay, I’ll keep watch.”
Rexio was glad that the barn was very tall and large so it’d fit a massive Pokémon like him. The mooing from the not-Tauros intensified a lot, making him groan a bit in annoyance. But that didn’t matter now. Judging by the size of the barn, there were a lot of those bovine creatures for the picking so he could satisfy his stomach! Even though he could look and pick the juicer ones, he had to act fast, or else someone might check in on the barn and spot him.
The reflective eyes of not-Tauros stared back at him as they kept mooing uncontrollably. Arceus, why was the place so dark? Aside from the eyes, he couldn’t even see the creatures themselves! ‘Gee, does this place not have a light source or something? Can barely see anything here… ugh, whatever, I’m supposed to be rushing here, not being picky.’
Meanwhile, the Aurorus scanned the area, observing the barn’s entrance and surroundings from her resting spot. Her neck swayed from side to side as she kept watch. She wasn’t sure a human would appear this late into the night just to check on a few mooing creatures. Hopefully not and Rexio would secure his meal easily-
Wait, what was that in the distance?
… Oh crap… how was she gonna warn Rexio without drawing attention to herself!?
Wait… what was that long iron tube on the creature’s hands alongside a flashlight? Aureum hoped Rexio would get out of there unscathed… actually, better hope would be if Rexio didn’t accidentally kill anyone there. Those creatures looked very frail…
Back to the very humble Tyrantrum, he was looking not-so-humble at the moment. In the darkness of the barn, Rexio had one arm and his whole mouth occupied holding two whole not-Tauros. The one on his big maw was mooing the loudest as the Tyrantrum’s sharp teeth sank into its flesh. ‘Arceus-dammit, stay still! Stop struggling!’
As Rexio started to walk back to the entrance of the barn, a ray of light flashed on his face, forcing his eyes shut as his growl got muffled by the bovine in his mouth. Once his eyes readjusted, the Tyrantrum saw a silhouette standing at the entrance of the barn, holding the source of the light he had been blasted with.
Oh, it was one of the fleshy scaredy creatures… wait, was it pointing something at him besides the flashlight?
“The hell am I lookin’ at!? Try’na eat the cows too??? Aw hell naw, ya may be a big lizard but ya ain’t slick!” The silhouette spoke as it gripped the… tube? Harder.
The Tyrantrum, not wanting to stir some trouble, waved his arms defensively, not being able to speak with his mouth currently holding big. And because of that…
BOOM-KACHICK!
A loud flash came from the tipsy end of the pipe and, suddenly, Rexio felt a bunch of hot needles pierce through his scales a bit and even touch his flesh. However, despite the small tingle he felt on his belly, uh… it didn’t hurt much, just felt like a bunch of Cutiefly stinging his stomach with fairy energy. And of course, these… cow creatures were mooing louder.
As Rexio looked at the scaredy creature with a confused and annoyed glance, they started quivering in fear and started backing off. Once they took a few steps back, they threw the tube on the ground and ran away while screaming.
‘... uh… welp! Sounds like it’s time to go!’
The dragon Pokémon left the barn and found Aureum standing in front of it, a frown etched on her face as misty air started forming around her body. “I heard a loud noise! Did something happen-?” The long neck Pokémon paused and looked at Rexio’s belly a bit surprised, gasping a bit. “You’re… you’re bleeding…”
Rexio waved his free arm in dismissal before stomping out of there, motioning Aureum to follow. The Aurorus nodded before throttling behind him as well, leaving their massive footsteps behind.
Well, that didn’t go as Rexio expected, but hey, he got his free meal, so all was well! Although… he would’ve loved it if the meat came with the right spices… ah well, cooked meat was already enough.
