Chapter 3: A Fiery Surprise

I awoke to a forceful nudge to my head. As I stirred, I was suddenly greeted by a sloppy wet lick on my face. My eyes slowly opened, and I found myself face to face with a grinning Mira. Grunting, I sat up off the ground.

“Eevee!” Mira jumped off me, wagged her tail, glad that I was awake.

“Ugh, what happened?” It felt like my body was slightly sore all over.

Looking around at my surroundings, I was shocked to find myself in a dense forest. The canopy towered overhead, shafts of light glistened down and illuminated disjoint patches of dirt and grass. It looked as if this forest was well aged, with tendrils of ivy climbing up the many tree trunks, vying for the faintest beams of sunlight. The refreshing smell of moss and trees permeated the crisp air, not a trace of pollution. I found myself sitting in some kind of small clearing, surrounded by thick foliage. I’m definitely not in Kansas anymore.

I struggled to my feet. It had to be that strange device! I noticed that I was still holding the ODT device; however, it appeared to be inactive. No matter how much I prodded or fumbled around with it, the high-tech display remained inert.

Oh well, I guess I might as well try to find my way out of this mess. There were no visible paths out of the clearing, just uninhabited wilderness. I bent down to Mira, who was busy chasing her tail around in a circle.

“Do you know where we are?” I asked. Her ears perked up, and she looked around briefly, before slowly nodding at me. Mira bounded off into the shrubbery, before calling back, “Eevee!”, expecting me to follow. She apparently knew where to go, and I had no better idea than to follow.

Trampling through bushes and clambering over rocks, we slowly trudged through the overgrown forest. It seemed to me like we were wandering around in circles, although Mira led forward with a bold confidence, bounding in and out of tree roots and through bushes as easily as a fish in water. I tried my best to keep up, but she still had to wait periodically for me to navigate the thick terrain.



Soon we reached another small clearing, a little larger than the first. “Eeveeeee!” Calling out her name, Mira ventured forward. Glad to be out of those damned woods, I followed her out, hoping for a small break to catch my breath.

“Quil!”

The bushes on the far side rustled slightly then exploded in a cloud of thick, black smoke, enveloping the two of us. Coughing, I fell to my knees, trying to find clearer air.

“Quil! Cynda!”

I could hear a fierce cry from what I assumed to be our unknown assailant. The smoke slowly cleared, revealing a small creature in the clearing. Its dark blue fur covered most of its short stubby body, changing to tan on its belly. A few large red spots glowed dimly on its back. Wisps of smoke dribbled from its mouth as it menacingly stared at me.

I can’t believe it, a Cyndaquil! Which means... It suddenly dawned on me: this must be the Pokémon world! The ODT device must have somehow transported both of us to Mira’s native realm.

“Cynda-quil!” It reared on its hind legs, before charging towards me. Surprised, I didn’t have enough time to react before it tackled me square in the stomach, bouncing back acrobatically and landing on its feet. Gasping for breath, I fell backwards into the dirt.

“Vee!”

I lifted my head to see Mira jump into the fray, knocking the cyndaquil lightly to the floor. “Ee Eevee!” she yelled angrily.

“Quil?” The cyndaquil stopped struggling for a second, as if recognizing something. Glancing around, its eyes fell on Mira, and a look of shock spread across its face. It excitedly tackled Mira, both of them rolling on the ground. “Da-quil!”

“Eevee vee!”

The two wrestled around playfully; clearly, they must have known each other. Somewhat relieved and a little bruised, I carefully stood up and brushed myself off. “Mira, is this cyndaquil your friend?” I inquired. The two stopped playing, and the cyndaquil reverted to a cautious stance one it remembered I was still there.

“Eevee!” Mira nodded and bounded back over to me. Cyndaquil tensed noticeably at this and reverted back to his battle stance, warily keeping its eyes on mine.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. I’m a friend of Mira over here” I bent down and gestured to Mira, who gave a reassuring smile before jumping into my arms and giving my face a lick.

“Cyn!” Cyndaquil crept towards us slowly, stopping a couple of feet away. It looked torn deciding whether to trust me or not. I carefully placed Mira down, and turned to Cyndaquil, who immediately relaxed. After a moment of thought, it looked up at me smiling, and gleefully blew a noxious puff of smoke into my face. “Cyndaquil!”

“Arg, Ack!” I descended into another fit of coughing, falling on my back a second time. I could hear Cyndaquil laughing hysterically as I cleared my lungs. It bounded up to my fallen form and sat directly on top of my chest, grinning triumphantly.

“Feisty little guy, huh.” I indignantly sat up, making Cyndaquil lose his balance, and he fell down on his back. I glanced over at Mira who was sitting quietly on the sidelines, obviously amused at our antics.

Turning to them both, I said, “I never introduced myself properly; my name’s Mark.” They smiled at me curiously before bounding off around the clearing, chasing each other playfully. I could hear them bantering back and forth, but naturally, I had no clue what they were saying. Sitting down against a tree, I decided to take a closer look at the ODT device; perhaps I could figure out how to get back home.

Fishing it out of my pocket, I saw the normal green LED blinking in the corner. It’s active again! At a single touch, the main display popped back in the air. I carefully browsed around and finally discovered a sort of help manual.

- - - - - - -
Omni-Dimensional Transporter

(Summary)
The Omni-Dimensional Transporter (ODT) is a teleportation device that enables macroscopic objects to quantum-tunnel from one dimensional point to another.

(Usage)
To initiate travel, select the desired location then press ‘Activate’. The ODT must recharge after each use, usually taking anywhere up to several hours, but can vary depending on the distance travelled. Each departure and destination point is recorded in memory, for quick access.

Technology by Origin Labs™. All Rights Reserved.
- - - - - - -

So it IS a teleporter, I mused. Looking through the history log, I found the last departure location, supposedly my bedroom on Earth. Excited, I immediately tried activating it, only to find the message [Recharging]. I guess I just have to wait a while longer. Relaxing, I leaned back in the shade, watching the two pokémon dance around the beams of sunlight illuminating the clearing.

-  -  -  -  -  -  -

I left the human, Mark, behind in the shade, and chased Cyndaquil around. I was so happy to be back home; finding myself suddenly in a strange place was pretty scary, but thank goodness everything turned out okay. I made a brand new friend, not to mention eating those sweet berries.

“It’s so great to see you again! I thought you were gone forever after you disappeared yesterday!” Cyndaquil exclaimed, darting back and forth as I gave pursuit. Cyndaquil was my best friend; we had known each other our entire lives, growing up together in this forest. We would often leave our home area and explore the surrounding valley region, mostly due to my unending curiosity. He always claimed to enjoy seeing the new sights, but I think he went along just to make sure I was safe, and to get some new battle experience whenever we encountered trouble. I think it was sweet, him being protective over me, but I thought it a bit rash even for him to attack Mark unprovoked. I mean, how do you make new friends if you always attack first?

“So how come he calls you ‘Mira’?” Cyndaquil posed to me, dancing just out of reach. Although he was a bit faster than me, I happened to be more agile, nearly pouncing on him whenever he slowed down to turn. Frustrated, I slowed to a stop, catching my breath.

“It’s a name Mark came up with when I first met him yesterday,” I explained. “I like the name, so I think I’ll keep it.” Cyndaquil circled back, playfully nipping at my tail as I dodged out of his grasp. “If he’s going to refer to us by names, I hope it fits me properly,” he commented, “No way I’m going by any dumb name.”

We rolled around in the grass for a few minutes, before Cyndaquil finally emerged from our scuffle, victorious. Exhausted, we adjourned to the quiet shade. I noticed Mark still sitting against a tree, staring intently at that glowing black stone he had.

Cyndaquil stared at Mark for a while, then spoke, “I’m surprised you’re so friendly towards him. Weren’t we always told to never blindly trust humans?”

“I tell you, he’s not like all the other humans we’ve seen or heard about; he’s actually really nice and caring,” I defended. Staring off into the sky, I continued, “You know I’ve always dreamed of exploring the world with a good trainer, and this might be the only chance I get.”

-  -  -  -  -  -  -

I watched the two play for a bit, gamboling around before taking a rest in the shade nearby. They appeared to be close friends, with all their childish antics. Although I wondered, if this was Mira’s home, why lead me to it? It couldn’t be that Pokémon were innately friendly; Cyndaquil’s impulsive ambush precluded that. Regardless, I need to find my way out of this forest, find some people, figure out how I got in this mess. Rising, I walked over to the two. Mira happily bounded over to greet me, but Cyndaquil still seemed guarded, not budging from his spot. I guess he needed more time than Mira to warm up to me.

“Okay, you two, here’s the deal. I need to find my way back to civilization, and I was wondering if you wanted to tag along with me?” At these words, Mira’s face visibly lit up. Crying out, “Eevee!!” she leaped onto me, crawling up my arm and settling on my shoulder.

I reached my hand out to Cyndaquil, in an inviting gesture. “How about you?” I offered, hoping he was feeling friendly. Cyndaquil looked from me, to Mira, to my extended hand. “Cyndaquil?” he inquired, to which Mira replied in a firm tone, “Vee.” Sighing, Cyndaquil reluctantly stood up and nodded.

“Great! Now, do either of you know which direction to go?” I asked embarrassingly. Cyndaquil chuckled to himself, before taking the lead and showing all three of us out into the forest.

- - -

The canopy gradually opened up, sunlight peeking through the cracks as we walked, the trees and bushes thinning to smaller clumps, replaced by grass. I could see for dozens of meters through the undergrowth, as opposed to in the heart of the valley, where my vision was clipped at a dozen feet. As we walked onward, the silence gave way to the calls of other pokémon: pidgey screeching from the branches, or the scampering of rattata hiding in the bushes. With the more manageable terrain, the forest started coming to life.

A few creeks crossed our path, the rocky landscape cutting a scar across the woodlands. Gathered at the water were some of the larger forest inhabitants, like furret and stantler, having a refreshing drink. We, too, stopped for a snack and a drink, finding plenty of ripe berries growing on the trees; it appeared that the sweet fruit grew in great abundance in the forest. The water surged in energetic rapids, carving out the valley we now travelled through, and so we followed it onward, hugging the banks and being careful not to fall in.

As the sun settled into mid-afternoon, we finally stumbled upon a well-worn dirt trail. Grassy banks lined the sides, obviously cut through on purpose by human activity.

“All right, I think we made it out of there! Not long now before we find a town or city.”

With renewed vigor, I set out at a brisk pace, itching to find some answers as to where I was exactly. Mira rode atop my head, sprawled lazily over my hair, admiring the change of scenery. Cyndaquil on the other hand, ambled back and forth across the path, examining the scents wafting in the air. Enjoying the fresh air, I struck up some conversation as we walked.

“So, Cynadquil, do you want a name as well?” He glanced in my direction, before shrugging his shoulders and continuing to explore the grass on the side of the route. Thinking back, I remembered how confident Cyndaquil had been to attack me, even without the use of fire; he’d be quite a proficient fighter once he evolved. Determined and powerful, he seemed to have followed me just to be with Mira, an admirable friendship.

“Hmm... What about the name ‘Pyro’?” Cyndaquil considered it for a moment, trying to decide if he liked it enough. “I think it fits your skill and abilities quite nicely,” I added.

“Quil!” Agreeing, his back burners ignited as he puffed out a slender flame, causing a small clump of grass to shrivel up in charred embers.

“Welcome to the team, Pyro.” Grinning widely, Pyro marched down the path, Mira and I at his heels.

- - -

Shadows lengthened and late afternoon approached as the sun slowly traced its arc across the sky. The trees around the path thinned as we rounded the top of a hill, affording us our first glimpse of a large, sprawling town below. “C’mon, race you both down the hill!” I urged, dashing forward with renewed vigor, Pyro and Mira hot on my heels.

As we passed into the outskirts of town, the dirt route gave way to larger paved streets. I noticed there were quite a few trainers among the pedestrians, some of which were accompanied by their pokémon. Smaller types like pikachu and skitty were common, playing with their trainers and each other in yards and around storefronts. The few large species we saw were exceptionally fearsome; one glare from a tyranitar we passed, and Mira shrieked, scampering to hide behind me and Pyro.

As we approached the center of town, we discovered a medium-sized park filled with thickets of small trees and open grass. The trainers were more numerous here, with both people and pokémon enjoying the sunshine. We entered the gate and I immediately noticed the large building in the center, with its distinctive red roof and pokéball logo.

“Aha! A pokémon center. Just what I was looking for,” I exclaimed, making a beeline for the front doors.

Mira and Pyro hung close behind me as we stepped into the spacious lobby. Sunlight streamed from a skylight, illuminating the many plants that lined the waiting benches. Being what I assumed to be a medium-sized town, I was surprised at how many trainers there were, milling around, many with their smaller pokémon out of their balls, interacting and playing with each other while their trainers waited.

“Stay close, you two. The last thing we need is for some random trainer to try and catch you,” I warned, walking up to the front counter. Surprisingly, the nurse at the counter wasn’t Nurse Joy; her long blond hair was tied back in a knot as she casually typed away at a computer.

“Welcome, how can I assist you?” the young woman asked, looking up at me with a wide smile.

“This might sound like a strange question, but I was wondering if you could tell me where I am, and if there’s a pokémon laboratory near here.” I was still a little cautious about just flaunting the ODT device around, since I didn’t even know fully what I was dealing with. I figured the local professor, if he existed, would be able to answer my questions and help me out.

“Not at all, we get travellers passing through here all the time.” Reaching down, she pulled out a guidebook from under the counter and opened it up to reveal a map of the region.

“We’re here, at the base of these mountains.” She pointed to a small dot, next to some squiggly contours. “The nearest laboratory is a few dozen miles along the range.” She traced out the route on the map with her finger, before noticing Mira and Pyro as they struggled to climb up onto the counter. Mira finally managed to clamber up, turning around a few times and jumping unexpectedly onto my shoulder. I patted her softly on the head, and she purred softly in response.

The nurse smiled. “Although, if you just want to register for a trainer’s license without a starter pokémon, you can do that here,” she added.

I was intrigued at this possibility; I had intended to get answers as fast as possible, but becoming a trainer in the process hadn’t crossed my mind. It probably would be safer for Mira and Pyro if we were travelling through populated areas for a while. I would still need to visit the laboratory anyways, but I might as well be prepared for anything.

“That would be awesome, I’ll register now then.”

Grinning, she pulled out a huge stack of paperwork. “Begin here.”



It took about an hour to finish the registration, and I was presented with a shiny red pokédex, six pokéballs, and a nice starter stipend. Apparently the League, wanting to draw as many new trainers as possible, decided to promote the sport with an incentive; all the better for me, as I didn’t have any money from this world. We booked a free room at the center for the evening, and Mira immediately jumped around playfully in the fluffy bed. Pyro on the other hand quickly settled down for the night, finding a cozy warm spot near the radiator.

After we all settled down and relaxed for awhile, I called the two of them over and explained that I wanted to tag them with a pokéball so they wouldn’t be captured by other trainers, that I’d keep them out whenever they wanted. Both hesitantly agreed and timidly nudged the activators on two of my pokéballs, disappearing in a shimmer of red light. Releasing them again, I stowed the balls away on my belt before sitting down on the bed to take another look at the ODT device.

The display illuminated as expected, only this time a blinking green indicator in the corner of the interface indicated a full recharge.

This was it, I could finally go back home! Standing up excitedly, I was about to speak out before I noticed Pyro peacefully resting at the foot of the bed, and Mira just starting to settle down on one of the pillows. I guess one night wouldn’t do any harm. I’d hate to leave now after settling in and everything. Sighing, I quietly clambered onto the other side of the bed. Patting Mira softly between her ears, I turned out the lights.

“Goodnight, you two.”