Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The rain was pouring, and you and your friends were stuck inside. All you guys wanted to do was invade the gyms that waited for you to take over, but there was a storm out there. It was after school, and on a Friday, of all days for this to happen… it had to be on the weekend! At least you guys picked your friend’s house, which had a pokestop, but that’s all you could do. Truthfully, you wanted to hang out with your friend alone, but they dragged you along this hell hole that you had to bear with.

“This sucks.” One of your friends complain—he was on Team Valor, like you are. You nod in agreement and decide to pull up a search engine. Quietly in your corner, you search up images of the team leaders. Unfortunately, there aren’t many of your leader, but there are of the other two.

“Cheer up, guys! We made cookies!” two of your friends pop out, and both are girls. They’re tall, beautiful, and could even pull off handsome—they’re both on Team Instinct. They were like the Hufflepuff to your Gryffindor. Your eyes lit up to the sound of cookies, and you tried to pull yourself back to your feet.

No, this beanbag is too comfortable to move, the back of your mind groaned in complaint, but the friend who dragged you here offered you a hand up. You could feel red plaster onto your cheeks, and you take their hand. They were on Team Valor like you were, and preferred to have called they/them. You’ve known them for a long time, so long that a lot of their friends liked to tease both of you.

“Kyaa! There it is! The (y/n) x handsome!” both girls from instinct screamed, but the other said “handsome x (y/n)”. They immediately glared at each other, and if they weren’t holding cookies, you assumed they would’ve pulled a fist fight.

“Do you want me to shove your least favorite cookie in your mouth?! It’s handsome x (y/n)! Look at that pose just now!” she said while lifting up a cookie, but from your distance you couldn’t tell what it was.

“Ew get that away, I’m allergic! That’s why I dislike them! Do you want to kill me? And it’s (y/n) x handsome! Look what just happened! They got lifted up, and now they’re gazing at them!” she pointed a cookie at our direction, and she was about to take a bite out of it, but someone stole it from behind.

“That’s enough, ladies. You’re going to scare them away, and they’ll be walking in the rain back home together.” The man spoke calmly, and he was the oldest out of everyone here. He was on Team Mystic, and you and your friend hated him greatly, solely because he took all the gyms. He ate the cookie and muttered “Mm, this is really good,” and went to dive for another.

“Ahhh… why’d you have to mention that… they’d be so cute walking alone! If only we had an umbrella for them to share….” Both girls were coordinated once again, and you and your friend gave them an eye roll. You’ve only known those in the group for about a week or so, so it was hard to get used to them, but the images were kind of funny.

“Here, this is the kind you like, right?” they asked you, and you gave them a nod and took it from them. You could see the two instincts looking at you expectantly for another answer, but instead you started munching away on your cookie. The Valor from before came over and took a handful of each flavor.

“Dang, you guys went all out. No wonder I heard lots of noises in the kitchen.” He laughed, but one of the instincts quickly put a cover over the box before he could take another cookie.

“No more for you, you eat too much! You’re like a Munchlax! How do you stay skinny?!” while she hid the cookies, the other offered him more from her batch and he started to take a specific flavor out of them. It was your favorite, and you wanted to take some home with you.

“Skill, it takes lots and lots of skill! How do you guys pull handsome more than any other guy—hey!” he stopped when the tall mystic took some of the cookies out of his hand. Quietly, he came over and handed them to you. You could see your friend looking surprised from the sudden outcome.

“You wanted this kind, didn’t you? There’s only so much of this flavor. I like it, too.” You felt sick to your stomach, and you didn’t know why. You had a hard time getting along with this guy. Not wanting to be rude, you took the cookie anyway, and looked out at the rain. There was lightning now, and the lightning was beautiful to watch.

“Oh, sorry! We didn’t have enough to make that flavor… ahh!” the instinct who closed the box screamed when the power suddenly went out. You could hardly see, and it was dark outside, so there was no sun to help you. Your heart started to race and you pulled out your phone. Apparently, all your other friends had done the same, as they had their screens on. One of them was smart enough to turn on the flashlight on their phone, it was your friend who was right next to you.

“You’re going to waste battery doing that. I’ll go find the real flashlights.” One of the instinct girls said, and she walked off. The other instinct followed behind her, and she dragged the boy valor with her. He was saying ow the entire way. You were left with the mystic and your friend.

“Aren’t you two glad you came? They seem to really like you two. I’m glad the twins finally made friends. It’s hard being the older brother.” The mystic said, and he was referring to the two instincts. Your friend brought the phone light to their face and nodded, but the mystic laughed at them.

“I’m not sure if you’re trying to be scary or not. I’ll be back, I have to grab something from my room.” The mystic finally walked away and you were alone with your best friend, who was munching on cookies. You started to wonder how the boxes got left behind.

“Wow, these are amazing. I’ve never tried their cooking before. We’ll have to come back more often. I’m jealous they have a pokestop.” You realize that they were getting closer to you, and their body was warm. They showed you their Pokémon Go screen, and you two watched if any Pokémon would appear. Unfortunately, there was none in the area, despite there being a pokestop.

“…Are you cold? I can go get a blanket. I saw one by the beanbag you were on earlier.” They stood up, and you let them move. They grabbed the blanket and while they did so, you opened your game to click the pokestop. They came back and they were about to wrap the blanket around you, but they slipped. Before you knew it, you two were beside each other, them on top of you. You clutched your phone in your hands, and they stared at your eyes. You both jump when the lightning gets louder, and you could suddenly hear a beeping noise on your phone and theirs.

You go to check your phone while your friend worked their way off you, and you could see that the game froze. You tried everything to bring it back to life, but the game was still frozen. You groaned in complaint and tried to turn the phone off to restart it, but then you felt a zap creep up your arm. It felt like the lightning from outside was creeping up your shoulders, and through your whole body. You started to feel dizzy, and you didn’t know what was happening to your friend. You suddenly blacked out.

Chapter Text

You woke up and shivered, feeling the raindrops splash on your face. You looked around and saw that you were no longer indoors. Your friend’s house wasn’t nearby either. Instead, you were around a bunch of trees, and in front of you was someone sitting on a rock. It was hard to tell their height or their gender, but you could pinpoint their long, white hair. Their skin also looked dark, and you only knew that because of the lightning that struck above you two.

They grabbed their hair and twisted a portion of it, and held another object in the other hand. You were trying to figure out what they were doing, but it was too hard to see in the dark. When the lightning came out again, you saw that it was a pair of scissors. Quickly, you got up, even though the ground was muddy and slippery.

“Wait, no!” you weren’t sure what was happening, but you knew that this wasn’t right. You knew that they weren’t your leader, and you didn’t know why they were in front of you, but you knew that if they did that… the others would worry for them. You wanted to stop them, no matter what it took.

They stopped, and only a few strands of hair were cut off. You sighed in relief that you managed to stop them, but now they appeared hesitant. It was hard to see their face, but you knew clearly who it was: it was Blanche. You weren’t sure if you were in a dream or not, as all of this felt so real to you.

“You were watching…? I was hoping to do this without anyone seeing…” they placed the scissors in one of their pockets, and stood up. Their whole body was soaked from the rain, and so were you. While they stared at you, they walked on over and grabbed your chin. Their hands were cold, and your body was warmer.

“I don’t recognize you. You’re not on a team either… how did you find me?” they gazed at your eyes and you gazed back at them, and they wouldn’t pull away. You couldn’t move, except for the small shivers from being hit by the rain.

“No answer, that’s fine. You promise to keep this a secret, don’t you? I’ll hold off for now. What will I do to keep you from telling them, hm…” they rubbed your jaw, and it felt cold as ice. You tried to move away this time, but Blanche kept their grip.

“Since you’re not on a team… you can join mine. You will be an exception, understand? This is how much I don’t want anyone to find out about this. You’ll accept, won’t you?” they whispered in your ear, and you could feel a shiver run down your spine. After Blanche placed their hand on your wrist, you were finally able to break free. Your wrist felt cold as your jaw did.

“Do I have a choice? I thought trainers could choose on their own. I wanted to be on—…” you tried to talk back to them, but Blanche leaned closer and brushed your hair.

“That doesn’t matter right now, dear. You’ll join my team. If I find that you’re trustworthy to not say my secret, then… you can leave.” They frowned, and you weren’t sure what to say to that. You gave them a nod, and Blanche whistled loudly.

A large Altaria came over to them, and you looked shocked. Blanche patted the large bird and held out a hand for you. Unsure where else to go, you took their hand and they helped you on the Altaria.
“Is this your first time flying? You hold on like this. Let me take you back.” Blanche moved your hands around and showed you how to hold onto the pokemon. You looked back at Blanche who sat behind you, and seemed calmer now. You immediately turned your head when the pokemon lifted itself in the air and took off. You closed your eyes, but opened them when you felt arms wrap around you. You could see Blanche’s jacket and dark hands hold tightly onto your stomach.

--- time skip cause the author is lazy to write what you guys fly over... that is one hardcore birb though –-

When the bird landed, you could see a house. The house looked a lot different than the ones in your neighborhood. You hopped off soon after Blanche did, and Blanche allowed you inside. They walked off to grab you a towel, and then tossed it at you. Unsure why they didn’t just hand it to you, you started to dry yourself off. When you pulled the towel off your face, you could see everything around the room once the light flickered on.

However…

“Blanche? Where did you go? And you’re all wet! And… who is that?” it was the valor team leader, and they were nosy. You stepped back into the wall when she walked over to you, startled by their sudden reaction. Candela patted your head, but you could see Blanche walk on over to her.

“What are you doing here? How did you get in? Is Spark here too?” they didn’t sound happy at all, but Candela didn’t seem to care.

“It’s not nice to kidnap people, Blanche. And yeah. We tried calling and calling, but you wouldn’t pick up. We got worried and came over. Come on, let’s get you some dry clothes.” She pushed your back and started to lead you into another room, and Blanche grabbed her.

“I didn’t kidnap them, they were in the rain and had no Pokemon! And you’re going to have them wear my clothes?” Blanche’s voice rose up higher, but Candela didn’t seem to understand what the big deal was.

“You’ve been acting strange, Blanche. You put them under your hospitality, they might as well have your clothes.” She made Blanche move their hand off her, and she continued to lead you to the other room.

“Hi Cande—who’s—hey!” Spark yelled when Candela closed the door on him. She went on over to the dresser and picked out some of Blanche’s clothes, and handed them to you.

“Sorry if they’re too big or too small. If they don’t fit, you can wear some of Spark’s. He always brings extra.” She said and left the room so you could change. When you found a pair that could fit you, you stepped out. Spark and Candela looked at you in amazement, but Blanche looked away and crossed their arms.

“You look so good in that! Tell me, what team do you plan to join?” Candela asked, and when she did, Blanche finally made eye contact with you. You stepped back against the wall and muttered team mystic, and Candela looked confused at your reaction.

“You don’t sound so sure. You have time to think about it, since you’re not strong enough yet. You gotta have some pokemon, at least. We’ll take you to Professor Willow tomorrow.” She smiled at you and Blanche rolled their eyes and started to walk out of the hallway and into their kitchen.

“You don’t sound so excited, Blanche. What’s wrong?” Spark asked and went on over to them, but Blanche turned on the tea kettle. You went into the room and looked around the kitchen, as it was a lot more spacey than what your instinct friends had.

“Nothing, I have work to do. It’s better than doing nothing in this storm.” They took out their phone and flipped through it. You remember you had yours and went to turn it on, and Candela watched. She ended up taking it from you soon as she saw the huge crack on the screen.

“Holy Arceus! Your phone’s broken, and it’s the good kind, too! It—it still works! Amazing!” she grinned and clicked the Pokemon Go app on your phone, and you tried not to panic. She waited for it to open, and when it did, you saw that everything was… different about it. You also had no pokemon on your team anymore.

“Wow, you really are a beginner! What were you doing out in the storm? Do you live nearby?” she started to pester with more and more questions, but Blanche came over and hit Candela on the head with a book from behind you. You looked up at them, and they appeared to be unamused.

“You’re going to scare them. We can fix their phone, now give it back.” You watched Blanche pull away and go back to their book. Candela huffed in complaint and gave you your phone back. You quickly put it back in your pocket and looked between the three.

“You two can go home, you don’t have to stay,” Blanche put their hair up in a ponytail and you could see the back of their neck.

“Nuh-uh. Leave you? Alone with a stranger? We know zip about this newbie, Blanche, yet you invited them over!” Spark sounded concerned as Candela. You knew something was wrong with Blanche, but you didn’t know what. Yet Blanche acted calm, and they went to turn off the tea kettle without giving Spark a reply.

“Blanche, it’s freezing in this place!” Candela complained and turned on the fireplace. Blanche told you to come over and you did, and they handed you a tray with two tea cups.
“You two can go back home!” they rolled their eyes and pointed at the tea, and their eyes focused back at you.

“That one’s Candela’s, and that’s Spark’s. What kind do you like?” you say the drink you want but Blanche raises a brow and makes it for you anyway, and places your cup on the tray. You went over to Spark first and he took it happily, then you gave Candela hers. She narrowed her eyes at you and made a curious hum as you placed down the tray.

“What’s your name, anyway?” she asks, and your mind froze.

Name, name, name, name…

You repeat the phrase over and over, yet you can’t seem to remember. Suddenly, a nickname appears in your head, and you shout it out with your hands clenched together. Both Spark and Candela look at you with surprise, and Blanche walks in with confusion.

“You said I’d scare them? And is that really your name?” they came over and sat on their rocking chair and watched you closely. You could feel your wrist get colder and you moved closer to the fireplace. You looked for the right words to say, but nothing was coming out, so, you went to sit by the fire next to Spark. Spark touched your wrist and you jump in surprise.

“Y/N’s freezing! I thought you were bad, but they’re worse!” Spark exclaimed, and he was about to pull on your sleeve, but you pulled away. Blanche let out a sigh and they stood up. They grabbed the blanket from behind the rocking chair and approached you, placing the blanket on your back.

“Is that better? Your face looks brighter now.” They looked you up and down, but Candela tapped their back and placed her hands on their shoulders.

“Sorry about this, Blanche almost never has anyone over except us. May I talk with you for a minute, or two?” Candela had an annoyed grin on her face when Blanche tried to protest, but she pulled them away before they could. Before you knew it, they were out of sight.

Chapter Text

You watched your former and new leader leave, and suddenly you were left alone with Spark. He held onto his tea and stared at you with his blue eyes. You weren’t sure how long he was staring, or how he even got that close to you. You backed away and huddled under the blanket.

“It’s weird that Blanche brought you home. Do you know something that we don’t? Hmm?” you jumped when Spark got close to your face. When he got no answer, he moved back to his spot and sipped at his tea.

“I saw you got a mark on ya. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Candela. She’ll flip. Something strange has been going on with Blanche lately. It happened since it’s been raining for almost a week. If you can figure it out for us, we’d be grateful.” He looked solemn as he looked down at the tea in his cup that was almost gone. You looked down at yours, and realized you hadn’t drank any of it yet. You took a sip, and were reminded of home.

Home… this wasn’t your home. You remembered that you weren’t sure how you got here in the first place… there were more problems than Blanche right now. You weren’t sure who to tell. You had to tell someone. You looked at Spark expectantly, like he could read your mind, but Spark was confused.

“What’s wrong? Do I have something on my face?” you shook your head and took out your phone. For some reason, words weren’t working for you right now. You flipped through your phone gallery until you found a picture of your house, and you showed it to Spark. Spark’s confusion started to spread across his face even more.

“Hard to see with the cracked screen… so that’s your house? Doesn’t look like Kanto, where is that?” he asked questions that you didn’t know how to answer. You continued to flip through your phone, and you could feel your cheeks go red when you saw your best friend’s picture. Spark took the phone from your hands and squinted at them.

“They’re a Valor? I see the Valor logo on their shirt, haha. Is there more?” he touched the screen without your permission and found a picture of all your friends in one photo, including you. You covered your face, trying ignore the fact that someone as important as Spark was looking at… that.

“Wow, those two are twins! And they’re on my team, I want to meet them! The tall guy is obviously a Mystic, and you’re…? That’s you?” he zoomed in to see you, since the crack covered your photo, but it was easy to see your Valor logo once he made the photo larger. Immediately, you snatched your phone back and flipped through your gallery once again.

“Why’d you say Mystic if you prefer Valor? Is it because of Blanche? I don’t get it. You’re making no sense.” He ruffled his hair in frustration and you stopped looking through your pictures. Truthfully, you weren’t sure what else you were going to look for. Your mind was all over the place, and you couldn’t think straight. You clutched onto your stomach when you suddenly felt it turn into knots.

Blanche came back in and looked at your direction. Walking over to you, they grabbed your shoulder and kneeled next to you.

“You haven’t eaten anything, have you? We’ll make you food. Candela decided to start you a bath. We can talk tomorrow, when it’s not so late. But it’ll have to be early - before I do anything.” You nodded, agreeing to that. “Tomorrow we must show the trainers around, you can come, too.” While Blanche spoke to you, you nodded at everything they said. Now it made sense—your stomach was hungry, and stressed. All you had eaten today were those delicious cookies… the cookies you couldn’t eat anymore.

“I’ll make you something. What do you want to eat?” you weren’t sure what was up with Blanche’s sudden change of mood, but you had a feeling it was due to Candela. You muttered what you were craving, and Blanche smiled.

“Luckily, I have that in the kitchen. Spark, come help me.” They grabbed Spark’s arm and dragged him away, even though he was still confused after what he saw. Letting out a sigh, you went to the hallway to find the bathroom, but an arm stretched out and blocked your path. You looked up, and your eyes met with Candela’s yellow ones.

“I dunno what’s going on, but I don’t like it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t trust you… it’s just that you’re… hard to read, like Blanche is. Anyway, I have a favor to ask you.” You looked at her curiously, what favour was she going to ask of you?

“Protect them.” she continued. “I know I must be asking a lot, but… it’s not every day Blanche invites someone over.” She looked at you, so full of worry, and you gave her a nod in response. She sighed in relief, and moved her arm away from you.

“I have no idea about your end, but maybe you should try talking to Blanche more about yourself. They might like that.” She winked at you and opened the bathroom door. You looked at the bath water, and your eyes were drawn to all the supplies of shampoo on the wall. None of them look familiar, but this was Blanche’s hair we’re talking about.

“Go ahead and use that one. You can use everything else if you’d like. Oh! Here, we brought you pajamas. We just thought about it.” She gave you a pair that had, coincidentally, your favourite legendary bird on it, and placed it on the counter. When she was done, she walked out of the room and closed the door.

You placed your broken phone on the counter and went to take the bath they made for you. The water was, thankfully, still the perfect temperature. You almost fell asleep in the tub until someone came and knocked on the door.

“Y/N? The food’s ready, are you done?” it was Blanche. You stood up and opened the curtain to reply, but Blanche was already in the bathroom. Blushing furiously, you grabbed the towel and without thinking, you threw it at Blanche. Instead of hitting their face, Blanche caught it, and looked at it with confusion.

“I’m not like Spark, I won’t think depraved thoughts. Gender doesn’t matter to me. But if it makes you that uncomfortable, then here.” They handed you the towel back while they looked away, and you swiped it from them, closing the curtain to dry off privately. Well, kind of privately.

“And… wear these arm warmers. They’re not much, but they’ll work.” You could see their shadow place them on the counter, and self-consciously you looked at your wrist. There was a blueish, silvery mark on it. It looked almost like a tattoo. You started to look all around the rest of your body, but you saw nothing else like it.

“I’ll explain that later, don’t worry too much. For tomorrow, I’m making you my assistant.” You stopped and pulled your head out from behind the curtain. Blanche leaned against the door, and they raised a brow when you popped out. Without saying anything, you quickly grabbed the pajamas, but you almost knocked down your phone. Before it could fall on the floor, Blanche caught it. They were about to place it on the counter, but then they saw a picture.

“…And you have some explaining to do. Spark’s right, I know nothing about you.” You heard them place the phone on the counter, but that was all you heard. You watched the water drain from the tub, and when it was gone, you changed into the pajamas. When you stepped out of the tub you noticed that Blanche had left, in their place was...a Vaporeon?

“Va?” The Pokemon tilted its head at you and watched you closely. After giving it a pat on the head, you walked out and see Blanche leaning against the wall and holding their head.

“I suggested you sleep on the floor, since those two are taking up the beds, but Candela snapped at me. You can take my bed. I have a lot of work to do, so I don’t mind. It’s this—…” Blanche stopped as you approached, staring at them intently.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get some sleep. I can take the couch. This way.” They led you to their bedroom, which was at the end of the hall. You went inside and saw a huge, king sized bed. The mystic symbol hanging above it majestically. On the nearby wall there was a cabinet full of award medals and pictures. Curiously, you looked at them.

“Hm? I collected those over the years. I didn’t become the mystic leader by random choice. Do your parents have any medals?” when they asked you a question, you become unsure. For some reason, it was hard to think about the other world that you knew so well. You felt your body start to get colder, starting from the arm up. Immediately, you shook your head in response.

“It’s strange you haven’t started your Pokemon journey, yet you’re old enough to. That’s why I’m making you my assistant tomorrow, and-” they came over to you and grabbed your wrist, lifting up the arm warmer they gave you.

“Articuno’s never done this to anyone besides me. What are they protecting you from? Why do they want me to help you? You… wanted to be on Valor, didn’t you?” your eyes grew wide and it was hard to process everything. You tried so hard to find the right words, but you couldn’t.

“Sorry. I’m getting carried away again. I’m just as confused as you are. Try not to let anyone know about this. I know I’m asking a lot, I just… I can’t think.” Blanche squeezed your arm lightly before letting go and rolling down the arm warmer for you.

“Blanche! Our Pokemon were playing around and Jolty paralyzed Vaporeon again!” Spark rushed in through the door and you spun around. Somehow, Vaporeon slipped away from you. Literally.

“Again? How many times this week has that happened? Could you help us?” Blanche sighed, pulling a strange berry out of their pocket.

“Feed this to Vaporeon. I’ll help Spark catch Flareon and Jolty.” You nodded and Spark led you to Vaporeon’s location. The water type was curled up in the bath tub, unmoving. You rushed over and hesitantly touch the smooth water type, trying to give them the berry. Almost instantly, the Vaporeon’s mood brightens up and it licks your fingers.

“Hey, you’re pretty good at that. Wait in my room with her and we’ll settle things down.” While Blanche followed Spark, you sat down and watched the Vaporeon curl in your lap. You could hear a lot of racket in the other room. It felt like a while before things began to quiet down, Then, there was a moment of silence before Blanche returned, their hair a mess.

“I’m never going to get any work done at this rate,” They sighed. “Make sure to get some sleep, it’s late. I’m going to be doing my work in here, if you don’t mind. I’ll be quiet.” After they closed the door and locked it, Blanche sat down at a desk and put their hair up, and faced your direction. They started to work away. All you could hear were the small strokes they made on the paper. Vaporeon curled up next to you, and soon you began to drift off to sleep.

Chapter Text

When you woke up, you could feel something touching your face. You opened your eyes to see Vaporeon extremely close to you. You were about to let out a sound, but you immediately covered your mouth. In the corner, you could see Blanche on their chair, who was sound asleep with their arms on the desk. Getting Vaporeon off you, you grabbed one of the blankets from the bed and carefully draped it over Blanche’s shoulders. Blanche remained sound asleep. Feeling well rested, you decided to walk around the house, with Vaporeon behind you.

You saw Candela asleep on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket. Seeing this, you assumed that Spark was also off in dreamland. It seemed that you and Vaporeon were the only two awake. You went over to the back window and looked outside. It was still raining, but it had died down a little. You were about to open the door to head outside, but felt someone tap your shoulder.

“Are you hungry? What are you doing?” Startled, you turned around to see the familiar blonde behind you, and noticed that he had a plate of food in his hands. It was then that you remembered that you hardly ate last night thanks to all the excitement and you nodded. Grinning, he handed you the breakfast meal that he made.

“Always gotta have breakfast. It’s the best meal of the day.” He said with a bright, chipper smile. “I need to wake up the other two. The Professor won’t be happy if they’re late... Wait, did you wake up Blanche?” he asked, but you shook your head in response and headed over to take a seat so you could eat. Spark simply followed and sat down across from you.

“Ah man. Ok, I’ll wake up Candela, but can you wake them up for me? I feel like I do this all the time. Early bird always catches the worm, they say, but I feel like I am the worm.” He let out a deep sigh and picked up his cup that was on the counter, taking a sip out of it. You looked your food over, but for some reason, you still didn’t want to eat. Your mind continued to wander aimlessly.

“Are you listening?” when Spark nudged you, you give him a nod in response. He looked you over carefully, and he grabbed your wrist again. Spark pulled down your arm warmer, and the mark on your wrist started to look bluer. It wasn’t the color of a bruise, but the color of…team mystic? When he frowned, he covered the mark back up and took another sip of his drink, but then he moved his cup aside and placed his head down on the table on top of his arms.

“Nnn… this week is going to be long, I can feel it.” he kicked the bottom of the counter as he whined, but he suddenly shot back up.

“But! We should think positive! You’re like… you’re like a main character, the source of it all! What will happen to this ordinary person who’s no longer ordinary? That must be exciting!” Spark stretched his arms upward, and after he was done, he stood up from his chair.

“Make sure to eat, and when you’re done, wake up Blanche. Don’t worry, they aren’t the devil when they’re half-asleep. That’s Candela. If you hear noises from our end… well, you get what I’m saying! Bon appetite!” with a wave of his hand, Spark ran off. You looked down at your food, and you could feel tiredness hit you, but you shook your head and decide to eat as much as you could. The meal was from another world after all, no reason to waste it!

Once you finished, you placed the plate in the sink. Then you turned around to head to Blanche’s room. Just like Spark had said, you could hear noises from his and Candela’s end. Remembering what he told you, you decided to ignore it and headed towards Blanche’s room; the Vaporeon moving on ahead and pushing open the door for you.

Your eyes wandered to the white strands of hair that were the most visible in the room. Blanche was already up by the time you got there, and they had their eyes on the mirror in front of them. They held onto their long hair, and you could see in the mirror that their face looked solemn, but not like what you were used to with the pictures you were familiar with. Something about their face seemed… sad. You went to take another step to check on them, but you stopped, suddenly you could see that Blanche was naked from the top down.

You turned your head soon as Blanche looked at you, and you stepped back to the door. Almost tripping over the Vaporeon, you grabbed onto the door handle to catch yourself.

“I guess I should’ve locked that… I never thought of it. I’m so used to those two being the only ones here. You could’ve woke me up, I wouldn’t have minded. I did say I had to wake up early.” As they spoke, they put their hair up in a ponytail, and you focused on the Vaporeon in front of you.

“It smells like Spark made food, that makes it a little easier… hm? Oh, you’ll need clothes for today.” Once they were finally dressed, you watched them move to their dresser and pick out an outfit for you. They paused for a moment before handing you your new clothes.

“This should be professional enough. You don’t have to worry about looks too much, they’re just a bunch of kids. We’re starting with the junior division. None of them should have their parents with them, since they’re old enough to have a journey of their own. And… wear this. That way they know who you are.” Blanche placed a lanyard with a business card on top of the clothes, and it already had your nickname on it.

“I’m going to go eat, and make sure that Candela didn’t beat up Spark. We can talk later.” After you stepped aside, Blanche moved past you and gave you a light pat on the head. Trying to register the reaction that just occurred, you decided to focus on getting dressed. You tied the blue tie and pull the lanyard over, completing your look. looking yourself over in the mirror, you weren't certain how to feel in this outfit - but it did look professional. Now dressed, you stepped outside, and saw something you didn’t expect.

Chapter Text

When you walked in, the living room was a disaster. You stepped on over to Blanche, who was eating calmly, despite their house being a mess. Candela was lecturing Spark in another room, and you could hear a few words here and there.

“They’re a handful in the morning, but you get used to it. Candela always cleans her messes, so I don’t bother. They do make an interesting duo, though. Are your friends like that?” you thought about the question and shook your head, unable to remember much about your previous friends.

“I see. I’m not sure if we’re really friends either, but they do say close friends fight the most.” Blanche said as they finished eating. “Mm… that was good. I’ll tell the others we’re leaving.” They put the dishes in the dishwasher and went in the other room. When they returned, they slipped on their jacket and grabbed an umbrella.

“They’re going to take a bit longer. We should go on ahead. The Professor will want to know who you are.” They opened the door, pulling out the umbrella. Blanche paused for a moment and handed you a spare jacket. You put it on.

The walk was mostly quiet except for the sound of raindrops falling. No Pokémon could be seen scurrying about, but if you looked closely you could make out some hidden within the foliage.

“There it is.” Blanche nudged you lightly and you could see the lab up ahead. The two of you went inside, and Blanche closed the umbrella, putting it away.

“Professor Willow? Are you here?” Blanche called out, and you could hear a shout from around the corner. Curiously, you went to find the source of the sound, and you spotted the Professor with tools in hand.

“Morning. I have to do a few repairs. Can you hand that to me?” you saw the nearest tool, handed it to them. After a few tweaks, the machine finally turned on.

“Oh… there are the x-rays of those Pokémon that I took.” Blanche looked amazed, and you looked over their shoulder. You could see the evolutions of certain Pokémon. A Pikachu into a Raichu, and its various changes.

“Do you see that? I captured each moment through an x-ray. The phases seem to vary with each type. It’s stunning, really.” They sounded excited, unlike before. Their mind was focused on their work until they leaned back and bumped into you.

“Sorry, I got carried away. Professor Willow, this is (y/n). I know the junior division starts today, but they’ll be my assistant. They need at least one.” After they explained, the Professor raised a brow.

“I see no problem with you having an assistant, but… why them, if I may ask? You were complaining about not wanting one, and now you want one? I’m confused.” He placed the tools down and looked you over carefully.

“I know, I know, but… could we talk privately in another room? I don’t want those two barging in here.” They said and the Professor nodded, leading the way to a room that was more spacious. When Blanche came in behind you, they locked the door and pulled the curtain down. Professor Willow looked at them confused, and was about to speak up until Blanche pointed at your wrist. Understanding what they meant you pulled the cloth down. The Professor looked shocked.

“I… I see! And your name’s (y/n)? Wow, to think this happened now… okay. That means you’ll be joining Team Mystic, right? I’m saving the starters for the junior division… I know! You can have this one.” they pulled out a pokéball, and handed it to you. You opened it up, and out came an Eevee who looked around before it turned its head to you.

“Blanche is studying the eeveelutions, so maybe yours can help their research if you wish to evolve it.” You picked up the Eevee curiously, and it tilted its head with the same expression, as if it wanted to copy your emotions. You tilt back the other way, and the Eevee did the same. Blanche walked over to you and patted your head while they stared at the Eevee.

“How cute, like you two were meant for each other. I’ll help you with your new Pokémon, okay?” they pulled a smile, but you couldn’t tell if it was meant for the Eevee or for you. You let the Eevee crawl onto your shoulder when Blanche pulled away. Soon as they did, their phone started to ring. You could see on the line that it was Candela.

“Hello? Yes, we’ll come right out. Right, sorry. What?” you could hear on the other line, but you only made assumptions judging from the expressions that Blanche made with each answer. While Blanche talked, they walked out the door, hanging up the phone.

“Are you coming?” they asked you, and you followed with the Eevee on your back. The Professor also walked out, but mentioned that he had to do something in another room and to meet him in there later. Before you walked out the door, you were handed a bunch of papers by the Professor. With piles of papers in hand, you and Blanche made it to the other two leaders. Spark looked tired and distressed, while Candela had her arms crossed.

“You always leave without us, Blanche. I keep saying we should go as a group. I know you have your new assistant, but…” she shook her head.

“You said that over the phone. What did you do to him?” Blanche pointed at Spark, who seemed down. Candela shrugged.

“Thought he was hiding something, so I tried to get information out of him again since he gave me that look like he was. Got nothin’, and now he’s sulky because I pinched him too hard. Hey, do you need help with that? And what a cute Eevee! Spark, come look!” she walked on over to you and pointed at the pile in your arms. The Eevee made a soft squeak and wagged its tail playfully behind you. Spark brightened up when he saw the Eevee and grinned.

“It suits you! I was wondering what the Professor would do with that Eevee.” You clutched onto the papers while everyone crowded around you. The pile was kind of heavy. When you glanced away, the Eevee suddenly jumped off your shoulders and onto the pile, which caused you and the papers to fall over. The Eevee hopped onto Spark, so she was fine, but the paperwork was a mess now. Thankfully, you were saved by Blanche, who grabbed your back and held onto you.

“Are you alright? The Professor should’ve known that was too much…” when Blanche clutched onto your side, you felt them pull you closer than you expected. You looked up at Blanche, and Blanche looked at you. Your eyes locked and there was definitely a connection… or maybe you were reading too much into it. The moment was suddenly interrupted when Candela grabbed the papers and handed them back to you and Blanche.

“Here. These are for Team Mystic, right?” As Candela handed you and Blanche even sized piles of paper, Blanche moved away a bit, giving you a bit of space. You both stared down at the papers, and narrowed your eyes at them around the same time.

“Ahaha! You two are perfect for each other. Go do what you two need to do. We’ll prepare everything else.” Spark winked at you when you looked up, but your eyes went to Candela. She tilted her head and gave you a smile along with a nod. As if she wanted to break the moment of silence, Candela pulled Spark by the ear and dragged him to wherever they needed to be. You and Blanche were left alone.

“There’s no time to organize these again… let’s put them in the storage. I’ll find the flyers…” Blanche started to lead the way and you followed behind. The whole way there was quiet until Blanche opened the door. Inside the room, there were a lot of files and pokeballs that lined up neatly.

“Those are saved for trainers that participate in school. We let the Pokémon out onto the fields. The files are trainer’s information on tests and such. The ones that we have are gyms that have been taken over by mystic. It’s quite a lot…” while Blanche explained for you, they placed the papers in a spot that’d fit. Carefully, they took the papers off your pile, and left you with the flyers.

“You’ll be passing those around. It’s the training regimen. Each team has a different one. The Professor thought it up for us…” Blanche looked around at the pokeballs, and grabbed a few empty ones. They found a backpack in the storage, placed the balls inside, and slung it over their shoulder.

“This will be for you. Yours got soaked, right? Don’t worry about owing me, you’re already doing enough as it is by being my assistant.” They smiled, seeming amused with you. Blanche’s smile faded when they heard a noise behind you. It was your Eevee, and it was being as curious as always. Quickly and almost precisely, Blanche grabbed you and pulled you closer. You placed your hands on their chest and look over, seeing the fallen basket that was on top of the cabinet not too long ago. In its place was your Eevee, who looked down at the both of you with the tilt of its head.

“…Your Eevee is something else. Let’s clean this up and go meet the trainers.” Blanche twirled the strands of your hair, and you could feel shades of pink plaster onto your cheeks. You had no idea what was going on in your mind right now, but you tried to ignore those thoughts and just focus on picking up the fallen items. After cleaning up the mess, you returned your Eevee and followed behind Blanche.

Chapter Text

When the time came around, the stage was crowded with trainers. You peeked out to look at them while Spark did his speech, and right when you were about to feel nervous, Blanche patted your head.

“You get nervous, too? I do all the time… don’t tell the other two. I’m hoping it’ll be easier with you here.” Once you looked down at Blanche, you could see their arm shaking. You reach over and grabbed their hand that was on top of your head, it was warmer than expected.

“Hm? I’ll be fine…” they blinked with an expression of surprise, and after Candela’s speech, you two were next in line. Each speech was roughly thirty minutes, and when you two went together, time felt shorter. You helped handout the flyers, while Blanche explained Team Mystic to the kids. Blanche took the time to introduce you, and when they did, everyone looked at you with curiously.

Soon enough, all the speeches were concluded and it was Professor Willow’s turn again. You followed Blanche back to the lab. The walk was quiet, even when you two made it to the building. As you went into the pokéball room, Blanche grabbed your arm before you could start gathering the pokeballs.

“Damn, what is up with me today…” you heard them mutter softly, but it was hard to see their expression. Blanche had their head down, and you could feel them still trembling. They held tighter onto your arm and rested their head on your shoulder.

“I need a minute. I always get like this after a presentation… it’s so hard to hide it from the other two…” they sighed after their words and pulled you closer. You could immediately feel their body heat. It was strange, since Spark said Blanche was usually cold.

“Are you two done collecting them? The Professor sent me to help.” Speak of the devil. Spark made his way over and Blanche let go of you. Flustered, you both started to work on gathering the pokeballs that were necessary for the trainers.

Spark came inside and stared between the two of you, but he ignored the awkward situation and decided to help. At least, you assumed he was going to continue ignoring it.

“Hey, what took you two so long? Are you going to tell me?” he nudged your shoulder, whispering while he stood next to you. You shook your head and tried to focus on your work.

“Quit pestering them, Spark. Let’s hand these out.” Blanche sighed and headed out of the room. You rushed after them. Spark ran after you two, and he stopped you for a second.

“Ya gonna tell me what happened?” Spark was persistent and he gave you a raised brow, but you shook your head silently. He hummed slightly and gave you a pat on the head.

“I dunno how you’re doing it, but you’re somehow leeching your positive energy onto Blanche. I’ve tried many times. Keep at it.” With a chuckle, Spark ruffled your hair and moved on ahead. Blanche yelled at you two to hurry up, and you both ran up to Blanche, but Spark went further ahead. You weren’t certain if the energy you gave off was positive or not, but you took the intuitive leader’s word for it.
When you all made it back, you helped open the pokeballs one by one. Each trainer could pick a starter.

While everyone was busy and you were alone, one trainer walked up to you and tapped your shoulder to get your attention.

“Are you…?” the voice was familiar, and you both stared at each other in surprise.

“I was right! It is you! I didn’t recognize you at first because you were with Blanche. Why are you with Blanche? I thought you’d be with—” you quickly covered your friend’s mouth and went to drag them away from the crowd. You sighed in relief.

“…Anyway, I’m glad you’re here. I had no one to explain this phenomenon. The Professor invited me to this thing. Can you believe it? He thinks I’m 12! I didn’t bother telling my real age. I took this chance to get a Charmander. Hey, what did you—” your friend was cut off when Blanche came in view and tapped your friend’s shoulder.

“I don’t know what you are doing but you should be with the rest of the trainers. Wait, are you…?” when your friend turned around to face them, they offered a handshake. You saw Blanche flinch, but they took the offer.

“I’m Sorrel, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for taking care of my friend. If you don’t mind, I’d like to travel with them.” Your friend kept a smile on their face, and you gave them a glance. You might have forgotten a lot, but you knew that wasn’t their real name. You knew because of the name you’ve given them on your cracked phone.

“They happen to be my assistant. I’ll tell you what. If you win in a battle against them, then they’ll go on a journey with you.” Blanche smirked and placed an arm over your shoulder, almost protectively. Your friend faltered a little.

“…And not against you?” they asked, but Blanche shook their head.

“That wouldn’t be fair now, would it? Even if I used a starter, I’d still win. No offense. Oh, and if you don’t want me to say your real age, I suggest you keep quiet about our deal. I don’t want anyone getting the wrong idea.” Blanche looked highly amused, and your friend seemed defeated until they pointed at Blanche.

“Fine, but if I win… not only do they get to travel with me, but they get to join Team Valor. It’s only fair. Unless you want me to tell your supporters how much of a fraud you are?” your friend grinned.
“Hm? What do you mean?” Blanche seemed confused.

“You know what. I know them better than anyone. They want to be on Team Valor. I don’t understand why they’d choose Mystic, unless they were forced. It’s your fault, isn’t it?” after he spoke, Blanche fell silent. You could feel your wrist begin to chill.

“Fine. I accept your challenge. I’ll go talk to Professor Willow. Let’s go.” Blanche led the way, and you walked beside your friend. Blanche kept glancing at your friend like a hawk.

“What’s with the friendly atmosphere, guys?” Spark waltzed up to you and your friend and put a hand on both your shoulders. Blanche turned around and walked backwards.

“I thought you were watching the kids?” Blanche tilted their head as they stared at the group.

“No, that’s Candela.” Spark nodded and let go of your friend, but he still held onto you.

“No. She’s getting the gym ready.” They both slowed down after this sudden turn of events.

“Then who’s watching the kids? The Professor?” Blanche asked, but Spark shrugged. Your friend was trying so hard not to laugh, and you hit their shoulder to try and make them stop.

“I don’t know what you were supposed to be doing, but go back to watching the kids. I’ll get the Professor.” Blanche was about to turn around, but stopped when Spark grabbed Sorrel.

“What about them?” Spark asked.

“They’re coming with us. Just go.” After Blanche crossed their arms, Spark sighed and went to check on the juniors. The three of you met up with the Professor, who was in his lab, and Blanche did all the explaining. After hearing a brief explanation, the Professor agreed. All of you went back to the group. Blanche told you and Sorrel to go on ahead, so that way there’s less suspicion from the crowd.

“Hm… I wonder why the three leaders don’t hide themselves like they did with us…” your friend muttered as you two walked, and you shrugged.

As the two of you neared the crowd, you could see Spark and Candela glaring at each other like no tomorrow. This wasn't good.

Chapter Text

When you arrived, Candela was making a scene in front of the kids. She was glaring daggers at Spark, even when Blanche came into view. Spark seemed worried, but looked relieved when he saw Blanche.
“Blanche, tell her I’m not lying!” he pointed at Candela, who looked about ready to throw the pokéball in her hand at his head. Before Blanche could reply, they approached the two squabbling leaders and dragged them further behind the bleachers. You were now alone with your friend, and the juniors. They recognize your lanyard and looked to you expectantly.

Hesitantly, you grabbed your pokéball and tossed it into the air (in a, surprisingly, professional manner). The kids are all distracted by your Eevee companion, and seemed to have forgotten that a fight even happened.

“Good idea. We did get our Pokemon, so we should bond with them, right?” your friend smiled, letting out their Charmander. The fire-type went to join the Eevee, and the other trainers started to pitch in. One after another, there was a mixture of each starter type. Both you and your friend looked at the pokemon in amazement. The world that used to be known as a kid’s game was now the world you walked and breathed in, and … were more than likely stuck in. Thinking about this, you couldn’t help but frown - a feeling of homesickness bubbled up, but soon disappeared as you felt your wrist pulsing with energy. It stopped when Blanche came around the corner.

“Y/N, could you come here a moment? And trainers, we’ll be right over.” They sounded calm, which immediately relaxed the children. You shuffled away from your friend, passing through the crowd. Once you were with Blanche, they placed their hands on your shoulders in front of Candela and Spark. Both looked away from each other.

“If Y/N can do a better job than you two can, then that’s a problem. Candela, I understand that Spark knows something we don’t, and won’t tell us, but that shouldn’t be an issue right now. He might not have listened, but today’s an overwhelming day for all of us. We’re getting the new trainers worried.” Blanche looked at them over your shoulder, and both seemed to have calmed down after they glanced at you.

“Sorry, it was my fault. I didn’t sleep last night. And, Blanche? You need to explain to us once we’re done. I’m going back out.” Spark was the first to speak up. He walked past you and Blanche, and when he did, you felt Blanche tighten your shoulder. Somehow, you knew that Blanche understood what Spark wouldn’t say to Candela.

“Why do you two always know things before me? I don’t get it.” Candela stared at Blanche, but when they said nothing, she let out a sigh and walked past you two.

“Articuno made this complicated…”Blanche sighed. “We should announce your battle. I have a way around it, to loosen up suspicion. Come on.” Blanche let go and you followed. When you arrived, Candela and Spark had let out three starters and were explaining the basics to the trainers.

“Now that you have your Pokemon, who would like to have a match with my assistant? They have a Pokemon around your level. When the match is over, I’ll help pair you with a practice partner.” After a show of hands, Blanche chose Sorrel. He had his Charmander ready, and your Eevee was raring to go.

“I’ll show you my pride as a future Valor, Blanche. Candela, watch me. I’ll be the top ace on your team!” you could hear the boasting excitement that your friend had. He called the first move, and the match started.

“Use Growl!” your friend—no, your first ever rival shouted with confidence. Their first move may sound petty, but you knew this wasn’t a video game anymore. Those ‘useless’ moves were now a necessity, and you were meant to use them with care. You knew that, and so did everyone else.

Especially your Eevee.

The Eevee’s ears lowered by the noise, but they twitched slightly, waiting on your command.

“Sand Attack!” you hollered; today, you felt confident, and your Eevee noticed. The normal-type moved its hind legs and kicked the dirt in the battle field wildly, causing the Charmander to cover its eyes with its hands.

“Scratch!” the Charmander moved out of the way, and aimed its extended claws at the Eevee’s face. Although you used a move that causes the opponent’s accuracy to lower, the Charmander still managed to make the hit.

When the Eevee was forced to turn its head, you saw that its cheek became red. Your face turned pale when the blood dripped out of its brown fur. This was reality. You were no longer in the game. You had to keep telling yourself those words. It was time to wake up, and focus.

“Again, scratch!” Sorrel had a confident fist pump as they easily called out the moves—they even said it before you could react.

“Sorrel, one after another!” you heard Spark holler, which made Sorrel give a scoffed look. You sighed in relief, glad that turns were also part of the existing reality.

“T-tackle!” uh-oh, a stutter from you. Didn’t matter, this was simply a beginner battle. Your Eevee managed to hear you, and went charging after the fire lizard. The tackle managed to hit, even though the Charmander attempted a dodge—the sand attack from earlier surprisingly helped. Your Eevee used its full body-weight to shove the Charmander, which was able to push its foe to the ground.
The Charmander made struggling noises as it kicked its feet to get out from under your Eevee.

“Again!” while it struggled, the Charmander swiped at its opponent and hit your Eevee’s side, listening to Sorrel’s command. Your Eevee started to drip more blood, right under its belly. This time, the fox was struggling to stand.

You could feel yourself panic, and the marking on your wrist started to sting. You covered it up with your other hand, while thinking of the next move.

“G-growl!” you didn’t want your Eevee to suffer any longer. The Eevee’s fur collar puffed up defensively, similar to a cat’s tail, and a loud, yelping rumble immersed from its tiny body. Its yelp helped its defense, resulting in the Charmander to fall back from its opponent.

“One more time, use—” Sorrel was about to shoot the command, but suddenly the lights had begun to flicker.

Blanche intently the battle; their eyes glued on you and your Eevee. The match was harder than battling NPC’s in the game, and your friend made it difficult to predict just what he was planning. Both of you were half-way through the match, when then the lights went out. If it weren’t for the Charmander’s flame, it would have been impossible to see.

“Stop!” you heard a male voice, it was Spark. The two Pokemon stopped their attacks, and everyone looked in his direction.

“I’m going to see why the generator isn’t turning on. You’ll have to stop the battle. Candela, you should stay and watch everyone. Blanche, could you check outside?” Spark was suddenly the center of attention, even you had your eyes on him until Blanche tapped your shoulder.

“Sure. Y/N, come with me.” You nodded, returning your Eevee to it’s pokeball.

“I’m coming with you!” your friend called out, but Blanche pulled your arm when Sorrel got closer.

“No. You stay here with the group. You’d make a good leader, so help Candela. Let’s go.” You were able to see your friend’s expression change when Blanche complimented them. They looked astonished that the mystic leader was good with their words. Blanche dragged you out of the gym and you both headed outside. They soon stopped, turning their attention to the roof.

“Nothing appears to be wrong with the building.” Blanche said thoughtfully. “ I’m glad Spark knew I was uncomfortable around all those people…” they sighed and kept close to you, since they had the umbrella. However, the wind was getting worse, and it started to blow your umbrella. Blanche’s grip stopped and the umbrella blew away. Quickly as the wind, Blanche covered both of you with their jacket. You two were closer than before.

“We need to stop ending up in these situations.” There was a pause. “I’m… relieved the match got interrupted. I really like you as my assistant. You’re making it easier on me.” They let out another sigh, “I wish we could run back home together. This is taking way longer than usual, because of the storm. Do you like it here? If you want to go back home, just say so. If you live with anyone, they might be worried.”

As Blanche dragged on with their sentences, you thought you could sense them worrying and panicking. You shook your head no (even if you wanted to go home, you couldn’t) and turned around to hug Blanche.

“I… I see. You like being my assistant then, despite my rudeness the first time we encountered each other. I hope you won’t forget our promise. In your match, I’m not sure if you noticed, but you were losing. Your Eevee was worried about you. Your Pokemon is pretty intuitive with your emotions. You two will make a good team someday.” Blanche smiled, and you could feel your cheeks turn pink, but it went away when the storm got worse.

“I’ll have Vaporeon look. Let’s—nngh.” Suddenly, before Blanche could even move, they felt a lot of pain. They leaned against you, and they started to feel awfully heavy.

“M-my pokéball, it’s the first one, can you…” you nodded and clicked it. Vaporeon came out and looked at Blanche worriedly.

“Go see what caused the power outage,” Vaporeon obeyed and walked around the building. You helped Blanche get under the roof where it was dry. As soon as you did, Blanche started to shake, and suddenly collapsed. Unable to think, you tried to nudge them awake, calling out for them to wake up but they were already passed out.

Chapter Text

Spark helped you get Blanche inside, while Candela stayed behind. Sorrel decided to stay with Candela; he was determined to become her assistant. You waited by Blanche’s bed, nervous to find out who the doctor was. For some reason, the Professor wouldn’t give his name although he did mention that Blanche had a number of health issues.

“That guy always takes his sweet time…” Spark muttered while pacing back and forth, still no sign of the doctor. You tried not to watch Spark, but the thought of a fictional character being there right in front of you was still astounding. But, his pacing may have caused more nerves to rise. However, his presence kept you motivated. Perhaps that was just the Spark atmosphere.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” a voice chimed through the room as the door opened, and a tall man with a calming smile appeared. In his hand he held a tablet computer, and glasses that looked… rather ridiculous over his eyes. His hair was under a nurse’s hat, and he had an Articuno on his vest.

“You’re Y/N, right? The Professor told me about you. I hope Spark wasn’t too hard to handle. I hear he drives Candela insane if he waits too long.” Hearing the remark, Spark glared at the man and leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. The doctor approached, checking Blanche’s pulse, and then started to type things into his tablet.

“This happens rarely, but it has become more frequent as of late. It seems to happen whenever the weather gets bad.” he sighed, and looked up when the regular lights turned back on. At the same time, Blanche awoke; their upper body straightening itself while their eyes wide. This startled The doctor and he fell backwards, landing right against you. The sudden impact caused, the hat on his head and his glasses to fall onto the ground. You could see his bright blue eyes and raven hair. Somehow, the man was familiar.

“Cookie thief,” you said bluntly, causing Spark to hold back a laugh. The doctor looked up at you, and moved to pick up his hat.

“You caught me, Y/N. I’ll explain later. For now, I’ll check on Blanche’s health.” He still spoke calmly as he would back in your world, though you both had known each other only briefly. He stretched his arm towards Blanche, only to have them grab his wrist, a glare in their eyes.

“You’re explaining now as to why you know Y/N. I’m perfectly healthy, you know this, doctor. Or should I call you by cookie thief?” Blanche’s eyes were watching the tall boy like a hungry hawk, with eyes that could pierce even the strongest armor. Which honestly made you wonder just what their relationship was really like.

“You heard that?”

“Loud and clear. Now explain.” Blanche retorted, squeezing the doctor’s wrist tighter.

“It’s true that I’m from this world, Blanche. But I’ve had the ability to travel between worlds. It seems when your assistant made contact with me, they were able to come here. I do not know how to fix that. And fyi, I did not steal any cookies. We both have similar tastes, and I gave Y/N one.” Half-way through his explanation, Blanche’s expression changed, and they loosened their grip on the other mystic. When they did, Blanche crawled off the bed, grabbing your shoulder. You could feel the mark on your arm tingle, and it was getting heavier by the minute.

“I see, so they didn’t explain to you. It seems I spilled the beans, I humbly apologize.” The mystic spoke with a nervous smile, and it was then that you knew something wasn’t quite right. You were expected to say something, but you were at a loss for words. You secretly hoped Spark would speak up, but he was rubbing the back of his head and heading to the door.

“No one leaves this room until we end this discussion. Y/N, why didn’t you tell me?” Blanche gripped tighter, and their stare sent chills down your back. Your heart was beating faster, but it calmed down when the doctor grabbed your arm and tugged you away from Blanche.

“Blanche, you’re going to make your assistant anxious. Let’s sit down in a cozier room. You did say you’re fine now, after all.” The doctor smiled and pulled you closer to him, enough to where you could feel his warmth. He moved his hand to your wrist, feeling the mark that was there, which caused your body to tingle. When you shivered, Blanche grabbed your free hand and stood up from the bed, dragging you over to the door. The doctor calmly let you go with them.

“Spark. Do not mention this to anyone. Not even Candela. I do not know how she will react to my current situation.” Blanche said, their free hand beside Spark, closing the door so he couldn’t escape.
“Y-yeah. Got it. I won’t tell a soul, cross my heart, I swear to Arceus.” He was smiling nervously, and looking at you worriedly. When he was done with his mini prayer, Blanche pulled away, opened the door, and started to lead the way. They were quiet while they headed to a calmer room, but you could tell that behind that quiet demeanor was an anger that raged like a violent storm, as there was something about the atmosphere around Blanche.

When they got to the door, they pushed you against it, and put an arm above your head. Blanche stared you down, like they were determined to read your mind.

“I do not know why you didn’t tell me, but I do understand. If I were in your situation, I wouldn’t want to tell anyone, either. You’re smart, for someone on my team, now. I’m sorry for dragging you into my problems, but now you’ve dragged me into yours, so we’re even. Y/N, I’m not taking back my word when I said you must be my assistant. I’ll… help you find a way back to your world, but…” they paused, as if to try and find a way to hammer in whatever point they wanted to make.

“I’m also going to convince you to stay. I like you.” Their expression stayed the same, but it looked more like they tried to copy yours. They grabbed a strand of your hair and twirled it absent-mindedly.

“As my assistant, that is.” They whispered in your ear, and finally pulled away before the other two could see the situation. Your face must have turned a light shade of pink for you heard a small chuckle coming from the mystic leader. Blanche carefully moved you away and opened the door, while they allowed you to enter first.

You walked on in and sat on the cozy sofa, while you waited for Spark and the doctor, uncertain why they fell behind and left you alone with Blanche.

Chapter Text

While you sat on the sofa, you kicked your feet absentmindedly. Blanche was pacing back and forth, staring at a tablet that had a decent amount of information on it. They kept muttering your name over and over, and it was beginning to make you nervous. You were already nervous, but now those nerves were rising.

“Y/N, Y/N… your name isn’t in the records, only what I put in last night…” they sighed, and looked overwhelmed from everything that was happening. You looked down and noticed you were fidgeting this entire time. The whole room was beginning to fill with a nervous atmosphere, and you had to do something to change that.

Immediately, you stood up and said Blanche’s name, but at the same time, Blanche said your nickname. You both looked confused, but it stopped Blanche from pacing, at least.

“…I’ll go first. That doctor of mine mentioned world travel. I do not know of any Pokémon that is capable of doing that. Do you?” you tried to think of anything that came to mind, but you shook your head. Memories from the other world were still hard, it was a surprise that you remembered the doctor in the first place.

“He should be able to do it for you, since he mentioned it so casually…” Blanche still looked conflicted about you leaving—they really wanted you to stay.

“What were you going to say?” they asked, and you looked them over. You shook your head with uncertainty, as the thought left your mind. Blanche nodded, as they seemed to understand. They went over and took a seat next to you, showing you their tablet.

“I’m capable of seeing my members through this, and you’re listed here. If I wanted to see more, I would have to ask the Professor or someone higher.” They sighed, and you looked over your information. All that you had was your nickname, a profile picture, and your current team. You started to edit the page, filling in whatever was missing in the blanks, such as age and date of birth.

“…You didn’t have to, but it’s appreciated. You can mark Kanto as your hometown, for now. Where is that Spark and the doctor?” Blanche took the tablet back, and closed the window. They started to open another folder, but it was taking a while. You looked at the door while they did that, and noticed the door handle move.

“Sorry for being late. I decided to grab someone else.” The doctor opened the door, and you looked to see who was behind them. It was a curious Sorrel, who gave a light wave to both you and Blanche.
“…What do they have to do with this?” Blanche asked while they stared Sorrel down. Your arm started to get cold again… you knew right away that Blanche had a grudge against him.

“I’m from Y/N’s world, so it's obvious I should be part of this conversation. Spark went to get the Professor. And I grabbed someone else.” Sorrel spoke calmly, unlike before. When he and the doctor got out of the way of the door, a slight shiver ran down your spine, and you squished yourself closer to Blanche. Candela waltzed on in, arms crossed,staring Blanche down with her piercing yellow eyes. They stared back with their cold green ones, not once losing contact.

“The Professor will be late. He’s escorting the kids out. They already got their Pokémon. You’re not leaving me out of this, Blanche.” She said rather coldly, but you knew she had her reasons. Blanche nodded, and Candela took a seat next to them. The couch was starting to get crowded.

“Where did Spark run off to?” Blanche asked, not looking at anyone in particular.

“Don’t know. He was right behind me…” the doctor responded while leaning against the wall next to Sorrel, who had his arms crossed, and made a face - but he didn’t move from his spot.

“That’s not like him. He’s the type to know everything.” Blanche sounded concerned for their friend. They picked up their phone, and you couldn’t help but look. They seemed to be sending Spark messages, all of which were surprisingly informal. You looked at Candela could see that she was also spamming Spark, but you couldn’t read anything she sent.

“We might have to begin without him… doctor, I’ll start with the first question. Are there any others we should know about besides these two?” Candela asked, pointing at you, then Sorrel.

“Hmm. There were others at the house. My sisters, and another boy. My sisters don’t know how to world travel, so they shouldn’t be a problem. The boy is new to our group, and he has a suspicious aura. These two are also new to our group.” You tried to process everything the doctor was saying, but that night was still a blur. You do remember seeing twins on your cracked phone… which still needed replaced.

“And how did you meet these two?” Candela stayed calm while she took notes.

“That’s an irrelevant question.” He sighed.

“Just answer.” She demanded.

“I knew Sorrel first. We’ve been friends a lot longer, but we rarely had time to hang out. We met at school. Y/N… I met through my sisters. We found out Sorrel knew Y/N when we all gathered at a coffee shop. We decided to invite them over one night. It was raining badly.” The doctor spoke calmly, and while he did, you tried your best to recall anything. Nothing was coming through your mind, but when you pulled out your phone, you did remember lightning.

“It was raining badly that night in Kanto, too. Harder than usual… and now it’s dying down. Except for the wind, since it seemed to have made the power go out.” Candela said, looking up from her tablet.

“Wasn’t Spark supposed to look into that?” she asked.

“Only the generator, he told me to look outside. I did send Vaporeon to check around the building. At least the emergency lights popped on after a while…” Blanche said while looking at their phone, but there was still no answer from Spark.

“Your Vaporeon has been gone longer than usual. We need to pause this meeting and check it out. Sorrel, you’re coming with me. We’ll split in groups.” Candela said while standing up. The moment she did, the door cracked open.

“Wait…! Sorry, I got your messages... but something urgent happened!” when the familiar blonde opened the door, you noticed right away he was soaked.

“Spark! You were outside—that’s…” Blanche ran over to him and noticed Spark had something wrapped up in his jacket. Inside was Vaporeon, and while the Vaporeon didn’t need the jacket to dry off, you realized why the jacket covered it.

“We need to send her to the infirmary.” Blanche said, taking the Vaporeon into their arms. The Vaporeon whimpered, and you saw a huge gash on its side. If the jacket wasn’t wrapped safely around the creature, there would be blood dripping on the floor.

“I tried, but it’s not working. And I don’t have any potions on me… I didn’t think I’d need them, so I left them at your house.” Spark said, worry in his eyes.

“You idiot…! You’re a leader, you should bring them everywhere! What else happened? You came awfully late.” Blanche said, searching in their pocket for any potions.

“The Professor… I couldn’t find him anywhere. I only found his phone.” Spark pulled a phone out of his pocket, and you weren’t sure what the Professor’s phone looked like, but you were certain it was his.

“I’m going on ahead. Blanche, your Vaporeon is poisoned. Here’s an antidote, let’s all keep in touch.” Candela said as she stood up and handed the antidote to Blanche, who quickly used it and started to spray the painful potion onto the Vaporeon. The medicine stung the water type, but it started to look healthier by the minute.

“I guess I’m going with Spark.” The doctor said after Candela and Sorrel left the room. Blanche looked at them, narrowing their eyes.

“Spark, keep an eye on him. Make sure not to lose sight of him either..” Blanche said, and Spark nodded.

“I can do that. Let’s go!” Spark pulled on the doctor and dragged him out of the room. Now you were stuck alone with Blanche yet again.

“This is quite a mess, I’m sorry. This will be your first mission as my assistant. We might have to go up against someone powerful. I would say you should join the battle, but… you’re not ready. Let’s search for the Professor for now.” Blanche spoke calmly, and you nodded in response. You both headed out of the room, and started to look for the Professor together.