Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hop didn’t know when he started falling.

He didn’t understand why he started falling, or how long the fall was?

Why is everything black? 

Why can’t he feel anything?

Where is he?

He feels his body drift, weightless, through the vast blackness, the thick fog enveloping all that surrounds him. 

How long has it been? 

…Is Leon worried about him? 

A radiant glow disrupts his equilibrium, each sphere emanating its own unique hue, casting a mesmerizing color from each; 

Red. Yellow. Purple. Ruby. Violet. Blue. Green.

They twist and twirl, weaving through the air as they orbit around the teen.

Until they all vanish….right into the palm of his hand.

“Wake up.”

Huh?

“Wake up!”

…Who are you…?

“WAKE UP!”

Ding.

Ding.

Ding.

Is…Is it morning already?

“I better hurry up and find that uniform before someone spots me...”

Finally, Hop feels the need to open his eyes. He blinks a few times, as his hand moves to rub at them, only for his elbow to hit some nearby wood.

“Fuck!”

Did he move too close to his headboard in his sleep? That’s never happened before. 

Hope looks around, feeling up his surroundings only to be left with walls, tightly wrapped around his body. It’s almost like a coffin.

Was He buried alive? 

Or worse, is he dead?!?

“Urgggh... This lid weighs a ton!” A voice calls out, followed quickly by a chuckle. “Then…Try this on for size! Mya-ha!” 

Fire?

Is this bloody fire???

The boy scrambles around pushing, prodding and punching the mystery walls in an attempt to escape from being roasted to bits. He was so panicked that he didn’t realize he was falling until he crash into concrete floor.

“Eugh! That hurts even more!” 

“What?! You ain't supposed to be awake!” The voice screams. 

Hop whines as he forces open an eye to look up at the creature standing beside him. A talking Pokemon?

He’s never seen a Pokemon like that before though…

“I never seen a Pokemon like you before!! Are you an evolution or maybe a different looking Pokemon? What was that called again? Right, a shiny!” He scrambles to his feet, eagerly pulling the creature into his arms, “I should get you to Sonia and check out this new discovery!”

“Hey wait a sec human! Whaddya think you’re doing!”

“What do you think?! I’m taking you to Soni…..” 

Hop’s excitement vanishes the moment he surveys his surroundings. The room is covered head to toe in stone, its walls adorned with dark Victorian hues stretching as far as the eye can see. In the center, a chandelier hangs, more intricately sculpted than any artwork Hop has ever seen. That’s not what worries Hop about this place though, No, all of that is normal compared to the hundreds of thousands of coffins floating eerily around the room. He half expected a Haunter to peak out of one of them, yet they all sit there, unmoving.

He’s never seen this place before.

He’s been around most, if not all, of Galar, yet he’s never seen this place.

This moment of weakness gave the creature (Pokemon?) just enough time to escape his grasp and attack.

Hop Hop barely dodges the searing flames, before taking the opportunity to run down the long corridor. Far away from the fire Pokémon and FAR away from the creepy haunted room. 

As he was running, he didn’t have the opportunity to pause and analyze his situation. Not like analyzing things has ever been his go to thing anyways, but especially not now. Despite everything that’s happening, he can only think to himself one thing.

Where the bloody hell is he?!?

Chapter Text

Hop ignores the cat-like Pokémon screeching behind him as he continues to run away from the flames.

The long hallway stretched ahead, lined with nothing but closed classroom doors and creepy-looking paintings. Each one of their eyes follows after him as he runs. The classrooms wouldn’t offer him much cover, but he worked with what he got and ran into the nearest room. 

The lecture hall is filled with rows upon rows of chairs, enough to easily fit over 100 students. Each desk was polished to a spotless shine, not a scrap of paper or speck of dust in sight, as if the room were waiting for something important to begin. That, alongside the entire room being fashioned with dark wood and accents of regal purple, the classroom resembles a college classroom more than a high school room.

This is quite different than the school he attends. He could still vividly remember the desks with gum stuck to the underside and bits of trash crammed inside. There was even a time when Victor’s jeans got caught on a wad of chewed gum, forcing Hop to pull him free.

Victor complained about his poor jeans for days. It got to a point where Gloria claimed she was going to purposely put gum on him next time he spoke about it. 

Victor and Gloria…..

He needs to get home.

Hop slides behind the farthest row of desks and crouches silently for a few moments. His heartbeat beats wildly in his chest, but he can’t relax.

Not yet. Not until he’s safe.

Cautiously, he peeks his head out again, eyes scanning the room.

To meet eye to eye with the Pokémon.

“Foolish human! Did you really think you could slip away from ME?”

The grayish cat scowls, its teeth curving into a twisted grin. The gray ears on top of its head burn with a blue fire. And its eyes are a piercing blue. It’s like if a Meowth were merged with a Litwick. 

It speedily climbs up the stairs until it stands in Hop’s face. The blue flames flicker at the movement. It’s close enough to sizzle the edge of Hop’s hair. 

“Now, unless you wanna get burned to a crisp, take off that—“

CRA-CK!

The sound of a whip cuts off the cat. It yelps, jumping away from Hop in an attempt to get away from the danger. Instead, a long, black cloth wraps around it, binding his limbs and torso in an instant. The fabric stretches and contracts, moving as if alive. “Me-YEOW! That hurt! What gives?” It complains.

There stands a tall, lanky man, holding a long black cloth that drapes all the way down to the ground. The man is shrouded in a weird ensemble, every inch of him buried beneath layers of eerie attire. A top hat perches atop his head, casting a faint shadow over the mask that obscures his eyes, save for two gleaming yellow pupils that pierce through his dark sclera. A long, feathery cape cascades from his shoulders, concealing the rest of his body. 

“Consider it tough love.” He replies to the cat, though his attention is quickly turned towards the boy.

“Ah, I've found you at last. Splendid. I trust you're one of this year's new students?” He asks, though he doesn’t take the time to wait for a response. “My, were you ever eager to make your debut? And bringing a poorly trained familiar with you? That is a clear violation of the school's rules.” He shakes his head, disappointed.

“I’m really sorry, sir, but I have no idea what you’re talking about…”  Hop, despite not knowing the details of this school, feels his chest tighten at the thought of breaking some rule. Did someone get hurt because of him?

“If you can just explain—“ 

“As if I'd serve some lowly human!” The Pokémon calls out, twisting and turning in the cloth. “Now lemme go!”

“Yes, yes. Rebellious familiars always say that. Do be quiet for a bit, won't you?” The man dismisses, waving his hand. That causes the black rope to tighten around the creature.

“I’m sorry, sir, but your…..cloth(?) seems to be hurting the Pokémon. Shouldn’t you let it go?” Hop slowly stands from the desk, a worried expression on his face.

The man, still ignoring any of Hop’s comments, just shakes his head disapprovingly. “Dear me. Of all the students I've dealt with, you're the first with temerity enough to open their own gate and step out of it. Does the very notion of patience elude you?”

He clicks his tongue. 

“No matter. Your orientation has already begun. Let us return to the Mirror Chamber.”

The man turns, causing his cape to swivel after him.

“Student…? What do you mean?!”

Hop calls out, following after him with hurried steps. 

“You awakened in a room full of gates, did you not?” The man finally answers, still continues to walk out of the classroom. Hop follows.

“All of the students here at the campus arrived by passing through such gates. Although typically the students have restraint enough to wait until I open them before waking up.”

“Well, my lid was blown off, so I guess I’m special.” Hop attempted to joke. The man doesn’t seem as amused.

“The culprit appears to be that familiar of yours. You're the one who insisted on bringing it, so curtailing its behavior is your responsibility!”

Familiar? 

“But he’s not my-“

“But now is not the time for such prattle. You've a student orientation to attend! Go on, now. Make haste.” 

The two stop in front of a large brown door, bigger than both of them combined. The man pushes Hop towards the door, but Hop only turns back towards him.

“Again, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” He feels his anger bubble out. This man is gettin’ real annoying, real quick.

“Hm? Have you not fully regained consciousness? The timespace teleportation must have addled your memories...Well, these things happen, I suppose.” He shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly.

He raises his hands to jester towards the sudden picture beside him. It’s a tall, Ivory castle with many windows and flags across it. It looks like it came straight out of a movie.

“Ahem,” The man clears his throat, “This is 'Night Raven College'. Budding mages blessed with unprecedented talent gather from all over the world here at the most prestigious magical academy in Twisted Wonderland. And I'm the board chairman-appointed headmaster in charge of looking after this college, Dire Crowley.” 

“So, this is a magic school?!” Hop exclaims, his brown eyes sparkle in awe. Of course, he’s never heard of magic, even with the scientific enigma of Pokémon. Humans aren’t able to use magic. 

Thinking about it, where is Twisted Wonderland anyway?

“Only mages deemed worthy by the dark mirror can attend this school. The ebony carriage should have gone to get you as well-” 

Crowley continues to yap about the carriage, but it all goes over Hop’s head. He’s too busy thinking about how he got hit by a black carriage ended up with him getting brought here. 

The two boys, Hop and Victor, were in the Wild Area training their Pokémon. Their camp was set up nearby, with a table full of curry ingredients, just waiting to be cooked. 

“Ayo Hop, I’ma head further this way!” Victor called out, his body half turned the other way to follow after his Sobble. Hop gives him an affirmative nod.

“Well, if you go that way, then we’ll go this way, right Wooloo~!” He grins as his partner circles around him happily. Victor gives a thumbs up. 

“Just don’t get lost!”

“Hey! I’m not the one with a bad sense of direction! You should watch out for yourself!”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re starting to sound like Gloria!”

The two boys laugh as they head in opposite directions. Maybe Hop was too distracted by the banter or the prospect of new Pokémon to catch that he didn’t notice the flash of black appear in front of him. He didn’t have the time to react, only hear as Wooloo baa-s in panic at the sight of him suddenly falling to the ground. 

Yeah, he remembers now. That’s what happened. 

Poor Wooloo…Hop hopes it’s okay. 

The trainer trails behind the headmaster as they return to the coffin room and approach the massive doors, even larger than those in the classroom. Pushing aside his unease, Hop steps forward to stand beside Corlwey as he swings the doors open.

“Maybe he got a stomachache?”

“NOT AT ALL!” Crowley yells, stepping inside. His shoes click against the stone floor, silencing the entire auditorium. Hop attempts to keep his stride, but he eventually falls behind the taller man, giving him a better view of the stage in front of him.

There stand five figures, all collectively looking between the headmaster and him. ( There also seems to be a tablet there, too, but that doesn’t make it any less scary.)

 Fuck man. What did he get himself into?