Super surprise Christmas story debut!

Which is to say, a debut happening within the Christmas season, not a story about Christmas.

A big thanks to my fellow author and good friend Narwhal Lord, for helping me organize much of my plans for this story, and for his recommendations and beta reading of this first chapter. It is no exaggeration to say that both myself and this story owe him a great deal.

Chapter 1: The Greatest Thing That's Ever Happened to Me

It seems only fair to give warning: my story begins in a den of evil; a true shrine dedicated to the monsters that rule over our land. A building filled with trudging neophytes, trapped in their dedication to unseen masters for fear that they should lose all they hold dear. Great images depicting methods by which visitors may offer tribute to this place of sin. Artificial illumination stretched out in long rows overhead, shining cold white light down upon me. I cannot hide from them, my tied back hair denying me any possible refuge from the assault upon my senses. The curtain upon my face has been lifted; my senses laid bare!

I shouldn't even be here today! I'm not on shift!

I let out a sigh of defeat as I shift my shopping basket on my arm, staring dully at the rows of milk in front of me. Nothing saps your spirit more than coming into the place where you work on a day off. I can't believe I forgot to do the shopping after my shift yesterday! Now instead of just buying crap on the way home I have to head in again for groceries, because I'm an irresponsible shit and my fridge is empty.

So here I stand, shuffling around the grocery store like usual, only I'm in grey sneakers instead of my ratty work shoes, a collared green shirt instead of my black sweater, and a black jacket instead of a blue employee vest. The slight upgrade in wardrobe does nothing to ease my irritation.

It's a fight to avoid dragging my feet as I trudge along between aisles. I blame the nightmares for that more than general dissatisfaction though. Lately I've been dealing with them every other night. This morning was the first time I've woken up screaming blue murder since I was like, seven. A two decade streak broken. And then I went to the fridge and discovered I was out of absolutely everything.

Simply put, I'm having a crappier day than usual.

I slow to a stop as I reach the junk food aisle. Maybe I should buy some candy? Tends to make me feel better… until the regret kicks in. But something sugary would be nice…

Are you able to help me?

I pause at the question. Not usually one for dealing with customers off the clock. But I know how irritating it can be to find an employee sometimes from all the time I spend working here. "Of course." I say, keeping my face turned aside while I put my best 'service' smile on. I turn to the man behind me. "What do you need?"

The man in question looks up from his phone. "Sorry, what?"

I frown at the look of confusion on his face. "Didn't you say you needed help with something?"

"Uhh… no?" The man raises an eyebrow.

"Oh." I reply eloquently, my frown deepening. "Guess I'm hearing things. Sorry to bother you."

The man shrugs and goes back to texting, leaving me to wonder what I just heard. Maybe the lack of sleep is getting to me. Usually just makes me miserable though; hallucinations are not a normal side effect for me.

"Screw the candy." I mutter. "I'm buying this shit, going home, and getting some more sleep."

I've barely taken three steps when I hear the voice again.

Yes, you'll do nicely.

I turn on my heel and stare behind me. The only person visible is the man from before, who glances at me briefly, but immediately looks back to his phone. Definitely not that guy. Wasn't the intercoms either… I really am hallucinating, aren't I? Hallucinating some weird voice that… approves of me wanting a nap?

I'll send you over now. Do your best, okay?

"What the heck?" I mutter to myself. "I'm starting to think I shouldn't be trying to drive home right now. This is getting pretty intense."

As if in response to this observation, my body starts to glow. It may have been doing so for a while, it's rather faint. But as I look over my body uneasily, I start to notice orbs of light floating around me with increasing intensity.

My shopping basket falls to the ground as I stare at my glowing hands in bewilderment. I look around frantically, and see that my whole body is starting to look washed out, as if the color is being leached away. Then my feet lift off the floor. It feels as though my body is being pulled up by a cord, running the length of my spine.

"Whoa, what the hell is this?" I yelp in shock as I attempt to grab the shelf next to me to hold myself steady. To my horror, my hand passes through the shelf entirely. "What's going on here!?"

At this point I notice the man from before. He's holding his phone up as he watches me, jaw hanging open. The stupid prick is taking a video. "That's not even remotely helpful you ass!" I yell in frustration, pointing a judgemental finger into his camera.

Those prove to be my final words on Earth. A second later I've faded entirely into light.

You two should get along great!

"Go."

Apparently vanishing in a burst of light leads immediately to blacking out. Who would have guessed? It also seems to lead to a… horrible crick in my back, god damn! That might be because I'm lying on a stone floor though. It feels unpleasant to say the least. Kinda gross and gritty, to say nothing of the back pain. Somebody needs to sweep around here, wherever 'here' is.

"Let go."

Apparently I'm not alone at least. Whoever is saying that isn't far from here. I crack my eyes open and am happy to see that the crazy light show is completely gone by now. Quite the opposite in fact, it's pretty dark in here. I'm still indoors, but rather than a Walmart I seem to be inside some sort of ancient ruin? Not the sort of place I've ever seen in person but I don't know what else it could be. Though the exact details are beyond me. The architecture looks vaguely Greek, but my knowledge of archaeology is approximately jack shit so who can say for sure.

It all does look somewhat familiar though… Especially the blue green of the walls, that's awfully distinct. I've definitely seen something like this before. A National Geographic article maybe? I don't exactly read that sort of thing frequently, but I can't imagine where else I'd have seen something like this. Discovery channel? History channel- no, I've never learned anything from the history channel in my life. No one has.

"Let go."

Oh, right. I can just ask whoever that is talking. My back cries out in relief as I finally haul myself into a sitting position and stretch, looking around some more. Yeah, definitely recognize all this from somewhere. Green floors, blue walls, with weirdly mismatched beige pillars. This feels like one of those things that's gonna seem really obvious in retrospect. Now where's that voice coming… from…

That doesn't look like a person. They're about as tall as a small child, but bulkier, rounder, and made of blue clay. There are also glowing yellow openings where the limbs meet the torso. The figure has its back to me, bent over something on the ground I can't see from where I'm standing, but I still recognize what I'm seeing even from behind.

It can't be though, right?

"Let go, let go." The creature continues to chant in a sing-song voice. No, that's not quite right, is it? That should be: 'Go-lett. Go-lett.'

Golett.

Because I'm looking at a fucking Pokémon!

"What the fuck!" I yelp, scrambling backwards only to feel my hand sink into something soft and round. I look down in bewilderment to see I've crushed some sort of clay ball. Looking around, there seem to be dozens of these things, most of which have been sent scattering by my flailing around. There are others over where I was lying, forming some sort of shape…

Was I surrounded in these things?

"Leeeeeeeeeeh!" A distraught voice calls out, catching my attention. I look over to see the Golett from before running over, waving its hands at the retreating clay balls sadly.

I reach over and snag one without thinking, offering it to the little guy. "Uhh, are these yours?"

"Golett!" The Pokémon says shortly, grabbing the ball from me and running its hands over it to smooth its curves out perfectly again. It takes a good bit of time doing so, which makes its reaction when it sees the one I squashed kinda tragic in a silly sort of way.

"I'm sorry." I grimace, holding up the remains of the Golett's work. "I didn't mean to crush it. I just… kinda freaked out. I don't really know how I got here."

Golett pays attention at that, gesturing into the air and babbling excitedly. "You're saying I appeared in the air?"

More excited babbling, this time accompanied by a nod, which looks more like a very quick bow since Golett as a species doesn't seem to have a neck.

"Huh." I frown and stare up into the sky. "Well, that makes sense, I guess. I did kinda get abducted in a bright light."

"Gooooh" Golett gasps appreciatively.

"Yeah, it was certainly… something." I nod. "Though considering all the crazy nightmares I've been having and the fact I was dead on my feet when that happened, I'm not convinced I didn't dream all of this up."

Actually, I should probably check on that, huh? I reach over and grab a bit of skin on my arm. Before I do anything I turn to the Golett. "If this works, it was nice talking to you."

"Golett?"

I twist my arm. Kinda stings. But when I look over, Golett is still there, watching me curiously. "Hmm…" I muse for another moment, then reach up and slap myself in the face. Sharper pain, rattles my head a bit. Golett is getting a bit alarmed now, so I decide to stop the experiment with that. "Okay, I guess I'm not dreaming. Probably. Maybe I'm just in some sort of coma. Like Ash in all those stupid internet theories. Hey, we can write a new one just for this: the Ben Coma Theory!" I throw my arms wide in the air as I present the idea, chuckling at the thought.

"Golett?"

"Oh right." I look down at Golett. "That's my name, by the way. Ben."

Golett hums thoughtfully at that, then holds up a hand. "Golett!"

"Well it's nice to meet you, Golett." I reply, grinning ear to ear as I take the little Pokémon's hand.

"Golett!" Golett chirps back cheerfully, shaking my hand. It's honestly a little painful, I have little doubt if it wanted to this little dude could swing me around like a medieval flail. Thankfully it seems to be more interested in making friends so all I have to deal with is a strained shoulder. Makes me wonder what interpretation of the Pokémon world I'm in. Anime would be safest for me, wild Pokémon in the anime tend not to be aggressive in any way a bit of diplomacy can't fix.

As long as I'm not in the world of the fandom I should be alright. Fandom gets a bit too real sometimes for me to be comfortable there. Like if I'm in one of those edgy fan games I might as well shoot myself now.

Questions for later though. For now, I need to figure out what I'm doing here… Actually, no. That question's too big. The why and how of my arrival in another dimension is not something I'm going to be able to puzzle out on the spot. Best guess is some sort of Legendary Pokémon, obviously, but that still doesn't narrow it down too much. Lots of mons with the power to manipulate time and space, after all.

Let's settle for finding out what we can. I look around the room, but there doesn't seem to be much here. The room is fairly small, with a single exit into another room that looks equally dark. Golett and I are standing in some sort of lowered section of flooring, deep enough that were I sitting down only my head and shoulders would still be level with the floor of the entrance. There are pillars at each corner of the hole, and some sort of elaborate sculpture opposite the door, though all are worn to the point of near collapse. The sculpture does have a large hole in it that doesn't look like natural wear and tear though, stretching down deeper towards the base.

"A fountain, maybe. Or some kind of bath?" I muse, peering into the opening. "This almost definitely used to spit out water at some point long ago. Probably been… I dunno, centuries? This seems like a centuries sort of deal."

"Golett?"

"Just trying to figure out how old this place is…" I reply, before a thought occurs to me. "Say, how old are you, come to think of it?"

Golett hums thoughtfully, then holds its arms up, displaying five fingers. "Golett!"

I can't help but grin at the enthusiasm. "Damn, practically all grown up, huh?"

Golett puffs up proudly, the glow coming from its arms and legs brightening as it plants its hands on its hips. I chuckle and pat the little guy on the head, before continuing my investigation.

There are loud noises coming from the door, raised voices and some kind of rumbling. If I were to guess I'd say a couple of Pokémon are having some sort of battle. That could mean people, but it could also mean aggressive wild animals. Better not to risk it for now.

So with nothing else to really glean from looking around the room I move on to taking inventory of myself. My clothing hasn't changed, still wearing the same outfit as when I was shopping. So at least there haven't been any body swapping or transformation shenanigans involved in dumping me here. Keeping it nice and simple in that regard.

The interesting thing comes when I reach for my phone. Interesting because this isn't my phone. It's some kind of flip phone. A little bit of fiddling tells me that what I have here is some kind of Pokégear model. The basic interface is similar to a smartphone from home, but the design of it seems more old-fashioned compared to earth phones. My thoughts of it being old-fashioned are quickly done away with though when I tap a button on the side and it brings up a holographic display. It's like a midair projection of the screen, which both I and Golett gasp at appreciatively.

I spend the next few minutes playing with the Pokégear, looking through the functions while Golett excitedly runs his hands through the holographic screen. It has a call function obviously, as well as a built in radio, internet (the browser is called PorygOnline), and a map, which tells me that I'm inside Dragonspiral tower. That should have been obvious in retrospect; there's only a handful of places in all of Pokémon that even have Golett hanging around, and the rest are all outdoors.

It also has a music function, a little icon decorated with a Kricketune's head. Interface is pretty nice, and it seems to have all my music on it already, so that's… nice…

Wait, what?

I start scrolling through the music list more intently. Yeah, that's all my old music from back home. It's been transferred to my Pokégear. I guess whatever weird force brought me here decided running around with an IPod doesn't really fit? Would explain why my smartphone got replaced as well. Some sort of cosmic entity that exists to prevent weird inter-dimensional shenanigans by tweaking things so that I fit in?

That or I really am still dreaming. I give myself another experimental slap in the face and note how completely here everything seems to still be. "Hmm…" I muse, rubbing my chin thoughtfully as I look the music list over. Golett starts telling me off for slapping myself so much, and I absentmindedly pick a song to play as a distraction, the title music from Pokémon Generations. Golett stops in the middle of ranting to stare in wonder at the Pokégear as it starts playing music. Pretty good sound quality.

Anyways, now that Golett is too busy dancing to yell at me for doing dumb shit, let's think this over properly. My electrical devices all got updated, but was that really it? I'm pretty sure if I'm from a different dimension then anything that would have come with me would be a potential problem. I take another look down at my clothing, paying closer attention this time.

There is actually a change there. I didn't notice at first in the dim lighting since the styles and colors of everything are identical, but where my jacket used to have a logo from the creator, it now has a white Poké ball design instead. I set the Pokégear down carefully and peel the jacket off. It looks pretty much the same, save for the missing logo, but the tags are slightly different as well. I think this is some sort of Pokémon League brand in the same style as what I used to have. I hastily unbutton my collared shirt and check to see the same thing seems to have happened with that as well, though the quality of fabric seems to have improved. Feels more durable, less likely to pull apart if I tug on it. My old clothes were pretty cheap, so that's not particularly surprising.

I set the collared shirt aside, feeling comfortable enough in just my t-shirt for the moment, and take another look at the jacket. I need to finish going through my pockets still. Especially since it still feels way too heavy. My jacket was way higher quality than most of what I was wearing, so I doubt fabric upgrade could account for much of a weight increase… If everything on my IPod was transferred to my Pokégear, just what is it weighing down the chest pocket I was keeping the IPod in?

I unzip the pocket and find something far bulkier than what I was keeping there before. Something that makes my jaw drop. "Are you kidding me with this shit?" I stare in amazement at the Pokédex in my hand. "Get the fuck over yourself Apple, swapping an IPod for a Pokédex? I'd give a thousand IPods for a Pokédex. I'd burn Apple to the damn ground for a Pokédex! This is like trading a ball of dirt for a damn house! No offense meant of course Golett, your balls of dirt are absolutely lovely."

"Go." Golett replies in a distracted tone, still bobbing along to the music.

It takes a great force of will to set the Pokédex aside, but I know that if I start looking it over I won't be able to stop myself, and I still have a few more things to check on. A few items I had in my pocket. My cough drops have been replaced with a brand that has a beaming Primarina on it, titled Liquid Voice Lozenges after the Pokémon's hidden ability. My earphones have been replaced with what looks like a crappy generic brand, which I consider to be more than fair after the mind-blowing upgrades to my other electronics. My comb is… actually completely unchanged, save that it now says that it was made in Orre rather than China (which is a detail that I will not even begin to unpack right now). The uncashed cheque I had in my pocket is gone completely though, which I guess means I essentially paid 40 bucks to come here. Worth it. So fucking worth it.

My keys are… gone. Completely. No car key, no house key, no mail key… it's all gone. That's… a little worrying. Or rather a lot worrying, and a little bit heartbreaking. I guess it was too much to ask that my minivan get sent over with me. Farewell brave Titania, you were a magnificent vehicle and I shall remember you fondly. It was still worth it to come here, but maybe a bit less so now… I'm no car person, but I still felt attached to that van.

Last but not least is my wallet, which is where things get really crazy. My cards have been updated. A new bank account with a Cofagrigus on the logo. A Unovan health card with the silhouette of an Audino. Even my driver's license seems to be updated, despite the fact that I don't think I have a van anymore. I'm listed as a Unovan citizen, which raises all kinds of questions.

And most significant of all is my trainer's license. Because I apparently have one of those now. Registration date is listed, but the number is, weirdly enough, too low to be of use. Kinda figured the Pokémon world would be further in the future, but the number on my card is still in the triple digits. I check the date on the Pokégear to be sure, and yup, it's apparently 867 CE, which a quick search tells me stands for 'Capture Era'. Looks like the time when Pokémon capturing became common was considered important enough to merit classification as the start of a new age in this world, which makes sense, and is also very neat. It also means that this trainer's license was somehow issued seven years ago.

Whoever it was that brought me here must have been some sort of magic bureaucrat. That or very good at forging. But… that wouldn't explain the Pokédex, would it? I look down at the Pokédex, still sitting safely to the side. I suppose I should look at that now… though maybe this might be a good time to leave? Look things over somewhere cleaner, brighter…

A loud roar echoes from the door. I stare uneasily and look to Golett, who seems equally nervous about whatever's going on out there. "I'm thinking we should probably stay out of whatever's going on there."

"G-Golett." Golett nods a few times shakily, which looks more like its about to fall over due to the neck thing. I grin and start playing more music for the little guy to dance to. This time it's Guzma's theme from Sun and Moon. Figure it'll work well enough; I certainly danced along enough when I first heard it. Golett is quick to agree, shuffling around and gesturing for me to join him.

"Ah… maybe next time, little dude." I chuckle uneasily. "I've really got to check on all my stuff here. It's very important."

Golett makes a disappointed sound, but keeps bobbing along to the music despite my refusal, leaving me free to finish looking things over. Good thing, too. I'm a horrible dancer. This little guy can barely move its limbs properly in comparison to me and he's still blowing my skills out of the water through sheer enthusiasm. I settle for sitting myself down on the edge of the pool thing and bobbing my head to the music.

Anyways, Pokédex time! First thing to note: I can just look up Pokémon. No need to see them or catch them before I can get information on them. Nice to see game logic fucking off on that particular point, what's the point of an encyclopedia for magical creatures if it doesn't let you check on stuff beforehand? It also seems to have personal information on a screen similar to the trainer card from the games. Name Benjamin, certified for seven years, no Pokémon registered, no registered sponsor (whatever that means), and apparently I have five hundred thousand Pokédollars.

This last point has me freaking out for approximately twelve seconds before I manage to remember that Pokédollars are roughly based on yen. Which means by the standards of any respectable adult I'm barely scraping by. Less than scraping by really, since I don't believe I have a car or a house here. I'm probably a mess by this world's standards. Cool, nice piece of reality following me here. That's swell.

Last thing of note is that I'm listed as a Tier Two trainer. I pull out my plastic card again to double check and see it marked in the upper right corner. That seems like something that merits figuring out as soon as possible.

Which I guess means I should probably be going soon. I direct my attention to the door, but all seems to be quiet. Hopefully that means the battle is over, and I can leave safely.

Though that also means leaving this Golett behind as well. I sigh at that, looking over to the little goofball as he dances, babbling over at me. "Looking good, little guy!" I say with a half-hearted smile. Maybe it's how goofy he is, maybe it's his charming personality, maybe it's the fact that this is the first Pokémon I've ever met, but I'm really not looking forward to saying goodbye.

I brace myself against the edge of the empty pool to heave myself back to my feet, pausing as I notice one of Golett's dirt balls seems to have rolled its way near my feet. I reach down and pick the thing up, figuring I might as well round the little dude's art project up before leaving.

It takes me only a moment to realize what I've grabbed isn't one of Golett's clay balls. The weight is all wrong. What I've grabbed is far lighter, and yet also larger. Feeling curious, I start dusting it off, and discover something that looks similar to a QR code. Attempting to scan it with my Pokégear doesn't seem to work, so I try with my Pokédex's camera instead. Not sure what any of this new stuff is really capable of, so I see no reason not to try anything and everything.

"Poké Ball successfully registered to trainer Benjamin." An electronic voice chirps from the Pokédex, the screen lighting up with a serial number and the number from my trainer card.

"Oh no fucking way." I mutter in awe, resuming my dusting with a lot more effort, polishing at the thing with my jacket sleeve. The familiar red and white colors become clear before long, and I'm left holding a Poké Ball straight out of the games, marvelling at it as I dust my sleeve off. "Is this coincidence? Or did that magic bureaucrat set this up too?"

"Golett?" I look up from my prize to see that Golett has abandoned his dancing to see just what has me so excited. "Golett go let go Golett?"

"Just found a Poké Ball." I show it to him happily. "I guess you could say this is my first step on the road to becoming a Pokémon Champion!"

"Golett!" Golett gasps in awe, before suddenly tilting inquisitively. "Golett go?"

I snort in amused surprise, the response feeling very obvious in retrospect. Little guy has probably been living in this tower his whole life, I doubt he sees humans often, if ever. The finer details of Pokémon training probably aren't familiar concepts. "Okay, do you or any of the other Pokémon here ever get into battles?"

"Go!" Golett replies eagerly. He pumps his arms in the air in excitement, then throws a few punches at the air. "Golett let Golett!"

"Oh, you like battling, do you?" I reply, feeling somewhat surprised. "Not gonna lie, I didn't figure you for the type."

"Golett!" The reply comes immediately, a clear response that seems to shout 'It's fun!' as far as I can tell.

"Okay, so do you know what Pokémon Trainers are?"

"Golett!" Golett does another of its adorably awkward nod-bows, then freezes in shock. It looks up in me, gasping in wonder. "Goooooooooo!"

"No, I'm not a trainer." I chuckle. "I'd like to be, but…"

And then it hits me.

But… what?

I'm in the Pokémon world now. I have my game knowledge. And I even have the paperwork filled out, thanks to the Magic Bureaucrat.

There is literally nothing holding me back right now. I can achieve the dream I always had as a child; the literal fantasy I never believed for even a second could ever be real!

"Golett." I say, dropping to one knee. "I'm not a trainer, but I want to be. All I need is a partner. A Pokémon to stand by my side through thick and thin. A friend I can count on to go all the way to the top with me."

Golett lets out another gasp, raising his hands to his face. Then he throws a hand into the air, practically bouncing. "Golett! Golett golett golett!"

"Are you sure?" I ask seriously. "This isn't a decision to be made lightly. It could be a long time before you ever get the chance to come back here. You'd be leaving your friends here behind to stay with me."

Golett's arm lowers a bit at that. "Gooo…" He looks around the room uncertainly, taking in the surroundings. Then looks back to me, and clenches his fists. "Golett!"

Still a bit worrying… but if he has second thoughts I can always bring him back, I suppose. "Alright then. I guess all that's left is to use this thing." I hold up the Poké Ball, feeling suddenly nervous. Do I throw it now? What if it doesn't work? This thing is old as hell after all, it might not be in the best shape…

My thoughts are interrupted by Golett reaching up to push the button on the ball. Golett vanishes in a flash of red light, and a voice chirps out from my Pokédex, "Pokémon: Golett, Tier One. Capture restrictions in place on species." I look down at the Pokédex in alarm. Restrictions? Is this… some sort of legal thing? What the hell's going on right now? Before I can think further on the matter though the Pokédex continues. "Pokédex ownership confirmed. Capture is legal."

Everything goes silent. I stare blankly at the Pokédex, then to the Poké Ball in my hand. Is… is that it? Isn't it supposed to do the shaky thing? What was all that talk about tiers and capture restrictions? I'm a tier two trainer (apparently), so are the restrictions related to that? But what's owning a Pokédex have to do with it?

Too many questions, and not enough information to go off of. Clearly I'd be making a mistake to assume I know everything about how this world works just because I'm familiar with the games, manga, and anime. None of those touch much upon the sort of concepts I'm suddenly struggling with. I think my best bet may be to get myself to civilization quickly as possible, find a place to hole up in privately, and start browsing the internet. Do the Poké Google. Sooner the better, before I run into some restriction I should know about and there's more than just a computer to see me.

With that in mind I start packing up my stuff, loading my things into my pockets once more and shutting off my music. Things still seem quiet enough out there that I should be safe to leave. I climb out of the empty pool, and head for the door.

Before I leave though, I grab Golett's ball and stare down at it. I should probably let him out. Especially since he'll know his way around the tower better than me. "Golett, I choose you." I say nervously, tossing the ball into the air. Thankfully that works exactly as it does in the anime, and Golett appears in a flash of light, the ball closing by the time it's fallen back into my hand.

"Golett!" My new companion says cheerfully, raising a hand in greeting.

"Hey little dude!" I grin down at him. "Looks like everything worked properly. We're a team now!"

"Golett!" Golett cheers, throwing his hands into the air. I mimic the gesture bemusedly, and Golett waddles closer to me to hug my leg. "Goooooleeeeeeett."

"Aw! Happy to be with you too little buddy." I reply, bending down to pat him on the back. "I'm sure with the two of us together we'll be able to take on anything the world throws our way!"

And as we leave that dark, dusty room behind to face the greater Pokémon world, I truly believe it. I don't know how I got here, but I'm not going to let myself get caught up on things. I'm here, I'm a trainer now, and with Golett by my side I'm going to go the distance. To be the very best like no one ever was!

That attitude lasts approximately one minute, only to be shattered as I emerge from the hall into a room filled with dust, smoke, rubble, and clear signs of scorch marks. Like something just tore through here in a rampage.

And it's not difficult to see what that something might have been. It's big, it's white, it's covered with feathers, and it has piercing blue eyes that seem to glow with barely contained power.

When I said we could take on anything the world throws our way, I really didn't think the world would start with a fucking Reshiram.

And there it is, the first chapter of what should hopefully be a long and mostly lighthearted tale of friendship and destroying your opponents with magical creatures. I hope everyone enjoyed this, and the story to come.

With that said, for the sake of clarity I want to say now that this story should be uploading fairly infrequently. My FE story, Whispers and Songs, will remain my top priority until its completion. Until that point this will mostly be a side project for me to work on as a way of avoiding burnout. I have however, planned this story near fully. Ben's entire team, the regions he will be visiting and the order he'll visit them in, all the way to the final battle, are all plotted out. So while it won't update particularly quickly, you can all rest assured that the direction for the story is decided.

If you're looking for more to read in the meantime, I encourage anyone who hasn't to check out my other story, Whispers and Songs. It's decidedly more mature in tone, but I'm quite proud of its quality.

And if that doesn't suit your fancy, then I invite you to check out the discord group I'm part of: The Fanfiction Treehouse! It's a great community of fanfiction writers and readers from a wide variety of fandoms, complete with its own podcast (in which I make a guest appearance!). I hope to see you all there!

discord .gg/9XG3U7a