DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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As Jasper unwound Skyy's bandages, the room filled with the sickly sweet stench of the seeping wounds.  As the last of the fabric gave up its reluctant hold on the pokémon's fur, the human gasped as the deep cuts opened again, oozing fluid and eliciting a groan from the pokémon.

"Fuck me!" said Jasper helpfully, reaching behind him to grab a spray from a shelf, and liberally coating the area with blue liquid, which caused Skyy to shudder until the anaesthetic properties took effect.  As the drug kicked in he gave a sigh of relief, allowing the gym leader to let him lie back as he examined the wounds thoroughly.

Lips pursed thoughtfully, the human probed the wound cautiously with a thin glass rod, the end of which was soon coated with cloudy pink tinged mess.  Giving Chris a loaded look, he gave the wound another spray, before sitting back in concern.

  "Well, that's a bloody mess" he said, a worried frown crossing his face.  As Skyy tried to rise, he put a heavy hand on his chest, keeping him down and told him to lie still.

"OK, I won't beat about the bush on this.  These are pretty bad.  The infection runs deep, and you're just lucky you got here now.  Another day more and you'd have been really out of it."

Giving Chris another look, this time sternly, he said "Why didn't you deal with this sooner?  He's your pokémon, and your responsibility.  Do you want him to die?"

Chris started, before holding up a hand and stopping Jasper from continuing.

"Mate, let's get a few things straight!  One, of course I don't fucking want him to die.  He's my friend, and the entire point of us being here is to get him help.  Second, he's not my "anything", thanks very much.  No one owns him but him.  So, don't try the hard shit on me.  We got here as soon as we could."

Jasper clearly considered his response, before nodding.  "Fair enough, although bringing a wild pokémon into the city is a pretty dangerous thing to do, you know.  At worst, the Rangers might have nailed you.  At best, you could have had some dip shit try battling, or even worse, catching him.  You were lucky to get here unmolested"

  A dark expression crossed his face as Chris frowned.  Cracking his knuckles, he replied quietly "They'd want to try it.  We've had a pretty trying couple of days, and my patience with stupid is over."

Jasper gave him a thoughtful look.  "That's all well and good.  But a shiny is rare, and any trainer worth his salt would be all over you like a rash to battle.  Keeping him free would be difficult."

A shiny?  Chris looked at Skyy, who shrugged in confusion.  "OK, I'll bite.  What the hell's a shiny?"

Jasper looked surprised, but answered the question, pointing at Skyy.  "He is, of course.  He's a shiny pokémon."

Chris rolled his eyes and shook his head.  "I have no idea what that is, mate."

Jasper glanced at Chris shrewdly, stroking his chin as he replied.  "A shiny pokémon is one that differs to the species norm, usually in coloration, but other differences too.  Take his fur, for example.  It's a markedly deeper blue than usual for a lucario.  Not to mention the lack of a chest spike.  He is different than what is considered true, by the book.  It's also pretty rare, which makes him valuable."

  Skyy snorted, a wry expression crossing his face and Chris grinned at him.  "Yeah, he's pretty special, alright.  Went to a special school, rides in a special bus... real special!"

Looking confused at the reply, Jasper continued.  "Seriously though, if a trainer finds he's wild, he's fair game, legally."

The grin dropped from Chris's face, replaced with determination.  "Again, I'd like to see someone try.  Regardless, how do we help Skyy?"    

Regarding the prone pokémon, who'd been listening intently, Jasper sighed.  "It's not that simple.  The facilities here aren't designed for this sort of situation.  This is a training centre, not a full blown medical facility.  Apart from the regenerators, it's not set up for significant medical emergencies on wild pokémon.  But without a ball, they can't be used.  I can clean up the wounds and give him some antibiotics, but his chances of recovering are hit and miss.  If we could get him a ball and into the regenerator, I'd say he'd come good real quick, so..."

  Stopping as Chris shook his head, Jasper shrugged again.  "Dunno, dude.  It's risky.  Are you sure you won't capture him?"

As Chris went to refuse, he paused as a furred hand grasped his arm.  Turning to Skyy in surprise, he watched as the ruby eyes regarded him intently. 

"I trust you with this, Chris" said the pokémon, getting to his side painfully.  "If it's the only way, then..."

As Chris shrugged off his hand and shook his head harder, a little frantic at the implications of what he was saying, he stuttered "No!  I won't be anyone's slave master!"

Jasper looked at him, and said "Not even to save his life?"

Stunned speechless, he looked helplessly from the human to the pokémon, indecision stark across his features.  When Skyy smiled, and nodded, he sighed in defeat.

"Fuck this" he said, "I don't want this.  But if it needs doing, and it's the only way, then..."

The wide grin returned to Jasper's face, and as he got up, he slapped the human hard on the shoulder, causing him to wince as his bad arm jarred.  "That's the spirit!  Let me get some trainer application forms and a ball, and we'll get him in the rejuvenator"

  After he left the room, closing the door behind him, Chris turned on his friend in desperation.  "I shouldn't do this, Skyy" he started, but trailed off as the pokémon shook his head again.

"I told you, I trust you!" he said into the intervening silence, causing Chris to sit back and groan.

"I don't like this" he huffed, and Skyy nodded.  "Nor do I, but if it's the only option...", and he shrugged.

The pair sat silently for a minute, until Jasper returned with a clipboard and small red and white ball.  Eyeing the thing doubtfully, Chris took it as the gym leader passed it over, before giving the human a confused look.

"How's it work then?" he asked, receiving a raised eyebrow in return.  Thankfully, Jasper didn't question his ignorance, simply pointing to the front and the button clearly visible. 

"Press it once to activate it.  Press it again to catch or release the pokémon.  The recessed hole in the back is the release button.  Just be warned, once released, your pokémon are fair game to whomever see's them.  Not my rules, but that's how it works."

  Passing the clipboard to Chris, he looked down to the attached form, a wry grin crossing his face.  Somehow he thought hi driver's license would make for unusual ID here, given the address was literally out of this world.

"Umm, I come from a long way from here" he said to Jasper, who gave him a grin.  "Yeah, I gathered that from your accent. You can nominate a home town gym as your address, if you don't have a home base.  I'll be prepared to vouch for you, if you want?"  At Chris's nod, he took the clipboard back, filling in the gym details for him, and returned it for completing.

With the paperwork done, Chris returned his attention to the pokeball.  At Jasper's smiling nod, he pressed the button, nearly dropping the thing as it expanded from golf ball size to that of a tennis ball.  Giving Skyy one final look he received a grin in reply, so reluctantly pointed it at him, holding his breath and pressing the button a second time.

A bright beam of light enveloped his friend, who was silhouetted brightly before it suddenly disappeared, taking the pokémon with it.  He shuddered as the ball rocked in his hand for a moment, fingers closing around the shrunk form until it became ominously still.  He brought it to his face, rotating it slowly as he examined it closely.  It reminded him of the ghost trap in the original Ghostbusters movies, and he shuddered to think of what it was like being stuck in there.  Reaching out suddenly, he handed it to the waiting Jasper, who accepted it solemnly, gesturing him to follow as he made his way through the facility to the regeneration room. 

  Jasper began a detailed explanation of the inner workings of the machine, but paused as he noticed Chris staring at him glassily.  With a chuckle, he tried a different approach. 

"Put ball in slot, press button, wait for green light...presto!  All good again!", and Chris shot him a wry grin.

"Yeah, real simple.  Even Einstein would have understood it.  Shall we get on with it?"

With the ball in the machine, Chris broke his rapt attention away as the gym leader turned to him with another grin, and said "Now, how about that drink, trainer Chris?"

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Jasper offered to shout for lunch, a fact Chris was not particularly unhappy with.  Given his source of income in this world was presently non-existent, while he didn't like the charity, he had little option so accepted the gesture gracefully.

He was initially surprised at the lack of meat dishes on the menu.  While some seafood was featured, most of the items were vegetarian or full vegan.  Probably not all that unusual, given most of the "animals" here were sentient.  Having them fight each other was one thing, but it seemed even the locals stopped at eating them.

  Not wanting to show his ignorance, he let Jasper order for them both.  As the pair sat on a rickety table on the pavement at the front of the restaurant, a large umbrella shading them from the hot lunch time sun, the gym leader leaned over to tap beer bottles with him, a smile on his face as he sat back to take a long pull from the frost-covered glass.

"Aaaah, that's the thing!" he belched, swirling the amber liquid idly.  Chris took a sip, finding the beer cold and malty, with a hint of a fruit taste that escaped him.  Just what he needed, he thought, scoffing off half the bottle before sitting back with a sigh, only to find the gym leader eyeing him intently.

"Do you want to tell me what really happened?" Jasper said, taking another drink.  "Let's face it, that pokémon didn't get those injuries in battle, and I see your shoulder isn't a happy chappie, either.  It's also clear you're not "from here" anywhere I know.  That accent is...different.  I've travelled to every corner of this place, and never heard anything similar.  Not to mention, you are pretty much ignorant of anything pokémon-related; I've seen how you look around at them, almost in disbelief.  That's not normal, dude."

  Chris eyed the gym leader cautiously, reluctant to trust anyone unknown with the truth if he could help it.  On the other hand, it really was his secret to share, though he swore never to reveal the true nature of their encounter with the rednecks to anyone. Not until he came to terms with it himself, anyway.

Perhaps it was the alcohol kicking in, or simply the mental exhaustion following the past few traumatic days.  Regardless, he soon found himself giving Jasper full blown, albeit heavily censored version of their troubles, all reference to the redneck brothers excluded.  The gym leader listened silently, at several times near to interrupting, but waited till Chris trailed off at the point of their arrival at the pokémon centre.

Looking uncertainly at Jasper, Chris fell silent waiting for the other to reply.  He didn't know if the gym leader would simply think him a liar, or mentally challenged.  But after receiving a grin in reply, he breathed a sigh of relief as Jasper leaned towards him, and spoke.

  "Wild few days you've had then, dude.  Not that I don't believe you.  Hell, it's too crazy a story to make up, and certainly explains a lot of the oddness surrounding you two."

Leaning back in his chair, Jasper regarded him seriously.  "If it's any consolation, I've travelled the length and breadth of this continent and its islands for over 15 years, and heard some pretty strange tales in the passing.  This urban legend of a gateway to another world has been around forever, although I've never met anyone who's actually seen it, let alone passed through.  Real freaky shit!"

Giving Chris a sudden look, he said "Do you think you could find it again?  The gateway, I mean?"

Chris considered it for long moments, coming up with the reluctant conclusion that, with a lot of help, he could do so.  "Last I saw it, the gateway wasn't working" he warned, and the gym leader shrugged. 

"Doesn't matter.  Just knowing where it was would be pretty awesome.  There are some people I know who would pay good money for that information; serious money; if you wanted to do so."

  Chris nodded, and warned "Even if you could get through, you might not like what you discovered there.  My people can be... difficult, at times.  They don't really like surprises, and if you rock up, it might not be the best idea.  Your call, though."

Jasper considered his words, before nodding.  "I won't push you on that" he said, swirling his beer before downing the last dregs.  Calling a waitress over, he ordered them some more drinks as their food finally arrived.  As they started on their meals, he looked up at Chris, and said, with a mouth full of salad, "Well, when you want to go home, let me know, and I'll see what I can do for you.  Till then, consider yourselves complimentary guests of the Star City gym"

As Chris expressed his thanks, the gym leader shrugged off his words.  "Seriously, you're the most interesting thing to happen around here in years.  I've been stuck here as gym leader so long, my brain is beginning to dissolve." Grinning with teeth full of lettuce, he chuckled "Besides, you don't think I want to be kept out of all this, do you?  Hell, this is pretty awesome, so count me in!"

  Once Chris stopped laughing, the pair went back to their meals, keeping the conversation muted till they finished.

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Many more drinks followed, and the pair eventually found themselves staggering back to the centre, laughing as they went.  Chris found Jasper a jovial individual; certainly not the serious sort he'd expect to be running a large facility like the Star City gym.  On the other hand, he occasionally caught the human watching him through shrewd eyes, whenever Jasper thought he wasn't watching.  Not as dumb or as drunk as he looks, thought Chris, but then again, neither am I. 

By the time they re-entered the facility night was falling, the early evening sky ablaze with amber highlights.  Checking his watch, Jasper concluded that Skyy would still need another 12 hours inside the machine, so showed Chris to a vacant dorm room at the back of the centre, where his gear awaited him.  Wishing him a good night, and that he'd see him in the morning, the gym leader left, leaving Chris alone for the first time in days.

  The bed was soft and inviting, so Chris wasted no time in slipping free from his clothes, and lying back on the soft mattress, he stretched out on the bed and breathed deeply, considering his options.  Things were looking up; although he'd take everything offered them with a large pinch of salt.  But his natural caution kept him wary, especially after their encounter with the redneck brothers.  He'd watch his back, and do the same for Skyy, until they knew the real deal.

With that thought, he drifted off to sleep...

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The ear splitting sound of an alarm clock sent him bolt upright, as the morning sun streaming through the window.  Glancing at the clock radio on the bedside table showed it was still early; 6am local time.  As the piercing ring stopped, he looked up at a small monitor mounted high on the wall, as it came to life with a flicker.

A now-smiling Nurse Joy beamed from the screen, nodding politely, and advised that breakfast would be served in the cafeteria from 8am.  Afterwards, the first training session of the morning would commence at 8am sharp in the main pokémon arena, central stadium.  Jasper was giving a demonstration of local fighting techniques, concentrated around electricity-types, whatever that meant, and all trainers were welcome to attend.

  Turning his thoughts to the gym leader left more questions than answers.  Clearly, the guy was no dope, but what exactly his position was here at the centre escaped Chris.  The stadium was obviously an important facility, and having the principal instructor interested in his welfare was both good, but puzzling. 

Shaking his head clear as he could determine no ulterior motive in his behaviour, he decided to continue as planned, while keeping a watchful eye on how events developed.  At worst, the pair could do a runner back to the forest, and travel to Skyy's people, although how they might accept Chris as a human outsider was anyone's guess.

Slipping from the sheets, he gave the room a cursory explore, finding small but comprehensive bathing and laundry facilities behind a sliding door on the far wall.  Rummaging through his pack produced one set of clean clothes, and plenty of dirty ones, which he crammed into the odd looking washing machine, turning it to "clean" and crossing his fingers as he pressed the start button. 

  A shower was next, and he took his time, soaking the muck and stress from his lanky frame in the warm water.  After he discovered something vaguely resembling shampoo in a dispenser mounted on the shower wall, he scrubbed his hair and skin till it tingled in the hot water.

The towel warmed in the sunlight from the window was nice and soft; the first truly clean thing he'd had against him for days.  Furthermore, he was surprised to find the washing machine had not only cleaned his clothes, but dried them also, in the short time he'd been washing.

Just before 8am, he slipped from his room in clean gear, pocketing the key but leaving his back pack on the bed ready to go.  He was unsure just how welcome his continued presence would be in the centre, but at the least he could probably cover the cost of breakfast with the funds he had.

With the hallway leading to the main common room was practically deserted, he had trouble finding anyone to provide him with directions to the cafeteria.  In the end, he resorted to accosting one of the many pokémon wandering the halls, feeling stupid as he asked the thing for directions.  The orange lizard-thing with the burning tail looked at him solemnly, before pointing a clawed finger towards an opening in the far wall, returning a quiet "char...", and nodding as he thanked it in return.

  Shaking his head at the crazy world he'd ended up in, Chris took the indicated passage, pushing through large double doors to pure disorganised chaos.

The place was very busy; not packed, but near enough to it.  The humans present were well outnumbered by the pokémon, many camped on the floor or benches besides their trainers, but others scurrying, flapping and flurrying around madly.  The noise, too, was incredible, and Chris wondered how anyone could hear themselves think, let alone talk in the mad house.

The age-group of those present startled him.  Many of the humans were obviously young; some as young as early teens; and he was surprised to see so many not only alone, but effectively unsupervised.  Others were older, and even a few grizzled trainers kept to the shadows, ignoring the mayhem going on around them.

Seeing a long serving counter against the far wall, hot boxes steaming with the cooked contents within, he made his way to the start of the queue, grabbing a tray and plate, as well as some cutlery, and took a long look at the available food.  Again, mainly fruit, cereals, toast and vegetables were the order of the day, and he found himself suddenly longing for a good, thick steak and eggs, rare and delicious.
 
As he piled his tray with food, followed by a mug of something that was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike coffee, he reached the server at the end, fumbling for his wallet to pay for the meal.

  The matronly woman looked at him with a frown as he drew out some notes, and told him "Trainers card, please!"

Passing it over, she scanned it with a wand before handing it back, and turned to the next person in line.  When he paused undecidedly, money still at the ready, she huffed.  "Hon, trainers eat for free.  Now, if you'd so kindly stop blocking the queue, I'll get on with my job"

Nodding in surprise, he juggled both his wallet and tray, thinking for a moment that perhaps things would work out OK here.  Manoeuvring through the crowded room towards a distant, newly vacated table he'd spotted earlier, Chris caught the tail end of a discussion that seemed to have the room abuzz.

"Shiny..." he overheard from one group of youngsters, who looked excited.  Another table were discussing the advantages of lucario, and how luck the trainer was who owned it.

Pondering the news that he and Skyy were sudden celebrities, he made his silent way to the booth, tucking into the breakfast with gusto.  After polishing off the whole tray load, Chris leaned back to take a cautious sip of the odd beverage, staring into the brew until a shadow covered the table.  Looking up in surprise, he found himself staring at a shiny silver badge pinned to the right breast of the uniform worn by a human standing above him.  Startled, he glanced around, only to discover the room had fallen into an unnatural silence, every eye, human or otherwise, directed towards him. 

  When the newcomer nodded at the seat opposite and said "Mind if I join you?" Chris could only nod mutely as the human dropped opposite him with a sigh, eyeing him with interest.

"So, you're the new lucario trainer that has the grape vine buzzing?  My name is Scott Rivers, and I'm with the Star City Rangers.  I wonder if you had time for a quick chat...?"

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