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10:15 AM

I told Elaine about Elf, that I was a high school student from Australia, and that I had only ten years in that world before I could go back home. I didn’t know if she thought I was telling the truth or not though, I also didn’t know if emotions can convey if a person is lying or not since Ralts can sense the emotions of others through their horns. Though overall, it seemed as if she accepted what happened and didn’t give it a second thought.

After I told Elaine my story, she fell asleep in my arms. It left me alone with my thoughts. I was able to just relax for a moment and listen to the radio on my Pokégear. It was playing the theme to Twinleaf Town. Why is it that the music perfectly describes the situation? Is this Elf’s doing? Strangely, despite getting no sleep for nearly twenty-four hours, I wasn’t tired. Maybe this body had some sleep of its own before I inhabited it? I still couldn’t fully believe it, I was in the world of Pokémon, with a Ralts in my arms. I never even had dreams that were this wish-fulfilling.

There was a knock at the door, which woke up Elaine. “Hello? You in there?” The voice wasn’t Lucas’s or Johanna’s, it was a new voice yet, it wasn’t new. I’ve heard it before, years ago.

“Yeah, hold on.” I stood up, making sure the towel was tight around my waist. I opened the door to see a girl, very similar to Johanna but a lot younger, she looked to be roughly the same age as Lucas and was just a bit shorter than him. She had dark blue eyes, hair of the same colour that reached just above her waist. She wore a short sleeveless black and pink dress over a white undershirt. It was the female playable character. Her canonical name was…

“Hi, I’m Dawn! Mom told me to give these to you.” She held out a basket with all my clothes inside it. “Mum,” are Dawn and Lucas siblings? That’s different. Wait, then who’s Professor Rowan’s assistant? Does Professor Rowan have an assistant? Oh, wait. I’m supposed to talk right now.

“Hi, I’m Jack. Thanks for my clothes.” I said as I took the load of washing. “Could you tell your mother thanks for cleaning them? She’s a lifesaver.”

“No need to worry.” Then she jogged down the hall.

Only two sentences and I already get her catchphrase. I took a long look at the uniform in the basket. I need to buy more undies. “Hey Elaine, can you turn around for a moment?” With that, I got dressed in the white shirt and jeans that Johanna had lent me, and folded my school uniform into my bag, including my size thirteen school shoes. I’m going to have to buy new shoes and socks as well.

I walked out of the bathroom and went down the stairs to the living room. The layout of the house was very similar to the house in the games, but there was an extra floor between the main floor and the bedrooms, plural, as opposed to the single bedroom in the games. I could hear the sound of something sizzling on a pan. Oh god, I’m getting hungry.

Lucas and Dawn were both playing with the Turtwig that Lucas had received earlier that day on the pair of bean bags in front of the TV. A cat-like Pokémon was sleeping on the table, it had a long tail that curled multiple times, it was Johanna’s Glameow. I turned the corner to see Johanna putting some chicken fillets onto a pan. Wait… do chickens exist? What is she cooking? Is she cooking Pokémon? “What you cooking?” I asked as casually as I could muster, Elaine must have been able to sense my nervousness since she turned in my arms to look at me.

“Oh, hello! I’m making chicken burgers.” Oh, thank god. “Would you like some?”

I sighed in silent relief. “Yes, please.” Elaine tilted her head in confusion.

“I’ll prepare some food for your Pokémon as well.” That statement seemed to distract Elaine from my previous unease.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Oh no, I shouldn’t ask anything of a guest of mine.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. But thank you for offering.”

“Ok then.” I walked over to the table and took a seat.

As I pulled out my Pokégear. Johanna suddenly asks me, “If you don’t mind me asking, are from the Dochaku region?”

“Hm?” Dochaku? The hell is Dochaku? Is that the Pokémon equivalent of Australia? I need to see a world map. Hold on, does my Pokégear have a world map? I quickly entered the map application and scanned it for a world map option. There it is! After I pressed the “L” button, the map zoomed out. I kept my eyes on the south-east, where Australia is on the world map of my world. The whole map looked exactly like the world map from home. I navigated the indicator to over the top of the Australian continent and there it said, Dochaku.

“Well, your accent sounds like you’re from Dochaku,” Johanna said.

“Uhh, yeah. I’m from Dochaku.”

“I’ve always wanted to go there, what’s it like?”

“Dochaku?” I’ve never been to this world’s Dochaku, crap! What do I say? Just describe Australia mate! “Well, I’m from the more southern part of the region. So, any of the stereotypical eternal summer stuff doesn’t really apply to where I live.”

“What brings you all the way to Sinnoh, and even then, why Twinleaf town? There isn’t really much out here.” She asked as she took a seat opposite me and began petting her Glameow.

Johanna, you’re killing me here. “I sort of just… ended up here. One minute I was home then the next I was here… I don’t really know.”

“So, you’re traveling then?”

“Y… Yeah.”

“Then where are you headed to next?”

I… hadn’t really thought of that. Maybe I could take on Sinnoh’s Gym Challenge? Oreburgh City is nearby, maybe I could start there.”

She leaned forward, “What about Pokémon Contests? There’s going to one soon in Jubilife soon.”

“Heh, of course, a Top Coordinator would suggest contests.”

She leaned back in surprise and put her free hand up to her cheek, “Oh, so you know about that? Hehe.”

“Well, you have trophies and newspaper clippings around the room.” Which was true, throughout the lounge room were framed pictures of a much younger Johanna winning various Pokémon Contests.

“I want to take them down, but my daughter insists that they should stay there.”

“Dawn?”

“Yes, she wants to follow in my footsteps. Hehe.”

Suddenly Dawn stands up behind her mother, “I’m going to be the next Top Coordinator!”

Lucas replied, “You need a Pokémon first, Dawn.”

“That’s why I going to Professor Rowan in Sandgem Town tomorrow.” She pointed at her brother, “And you’re gonna take me.”

“You didn’t mention anything like that before.” Lucas’s Turtwig was tugging at his scarf, it was trying to get the attention that it had been receiving earlier.

Dawn tilted her head in what I thought was mock confusion. “Really? I thought it was a given.”

Johanna turned back to me and sighed. “They grow up so fast. Why is it that time just seems to go faster as you get older?”

“There’s actually a scientific reason for that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. When you’re, say… four years old, a year represents a quarter of your life. However, if you’re forty, a year only represents a fortieth of your life. As you grow older, what a year represents in your life becomes smaller and smaller over time. It’s not a question of how long a year is, but how long a year is compared to the rest of your life.”

“Huh… I guess you’re right. So, in perspective, kids have multiple lifetimes ahead of them, while us older folk have only one at best.”

“I guess you could think of it that way, yeah.”

“I still remember them when they were brought into the world together. Lucas was sound asleep, and Dawn was screaming her little head off.”

“Together? They’re twins?” I asked.

“Yeah. It was around their age when I started my journey around Sinnoh, I don’t think I’m ready to see them leave yet. Dawn’s all set to leave as soon as she can, and Lucas, well, he’ll quietly follow her sister to the ends of the earth and back. Unless Barry comes and drags him away. Hehe.”

They’re the protagonists, Jack, take the chance while you can. “If they want to go on an adventure, I could go with them, make sure they don’t get into any trouble.”

“No, no, you don’t need to worry about that. It’s not like they’re going away from home tomorrow or anything.”

“Heh, I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”

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