"Come quick!" Dipper announced. "It's hatching!"



His Pokemon quickly gathered around. He currently had only three: Zazzy the Bayleef, Rocky the somewhat disobedient Onix, and a Bellsprout named Aggie. Dipper almost always had one or two Bellsprout with him. As a botanist and herbalist, he was particularly attuned to Grass-type Pokemon, which is why he had chosen Zazzy to begin with. (That, and the Voices had apparently wanted a Chikorita. It was quite convenient, really.)



This wasn't the first hatching Dipper had witnessed. He'd already hatched a Togepi egg his grandfather had given him. But the Odd Egg (as the Voices had referred to it as) was a bit different. Instead of outright cracking down the middle, it appeared to... vibrate? Its shell seemed to flicker in and out of existence, and its rounded sides seemed to turn oddly blocky.



Then the egg exploded.



Dipper was thrown back onto the pavement, coughing furiously. Zazzy quickly grabbed him with his vines, pulling his trainer back to his feet. "Are you okay?"



Hosts of the Voices tend to have a higher pain tolerance than most people, and Dipper nodded. "I'm fine. What... what is THAT?"



It was a little round pink creature, something like a bubble gum balloon. Its fur sparkled with an odd energy, and its eyes were an eerie green. Strangest of all, however, was the swirling green spiral on its forehead, which moved with an energy all its own.



It looked around curiously. Interesting, it said. So this is Goldenrod City. Once built to the glory of OLDEN. I was expecting something somewhat glitchier.



This is not what anyone expects their baby's first words to be, and Dipper was completely taken aback. "...pardon?"



Oh, I'm sorry, said the Igglybuff, if that was indeed what it was. I've forgotten to introduce myself. You may call me Asmodeus.



Dipper blinked. "As in... the Asmodeus?"



Depends on what you mean by 'the' Asmodeus, the Igglybuff explained. I am not the prince of darkness and I never was. I mean, do I LOOK like a 'prince' to you? (This was about the point where Dipper first realized that the Igglybuff was female. Honestly, he knew more about plant biology than animal anatomy.) But if you're referring to the glitch creature that traveled with the previous Host for a short but notable period of time, then I am she.



"But you're an egg." Dipper couldn't stop staring. "I mean, you were inside one."



I know. Courtesy of Celebi, whom you'll be meeting somewhat soonish. I've come to you in the form of the Odd Egg to warn you: you need to step up your game.



This was entirely confusing. "My game?"



YES. You have been chosen as the Host of the Voices, and right now, that involves two things. One, cleaning up the mess of Rainbow Rocket before they manage to reunite and bring down the Hau parasites on the entire region. And two, finding and defeating an entity on top of Mt. Silver that we only know as 'Oriana Shinku.' Whoever they are, they are also controlled by the Hau parasites, and they are extremely dangerous.



"But -- but I'm just a biologist! What am I supposed to do, throw leaves at them?"



No, you have Zazzy to do that. Asmodeus sighed. Just... in layman's terms, get good. Challenge the gyms. Recruit more Pokemon. Build an actual TEAM for once. I'm well aware of how utterly moronic this sounds, but the fate of this planet and everything on it may very well rest in your hands.



"You've got to be kidding me!"



I wish I was, Asmodeus said, sighing and visibly deflating. (Literally. What was this creature, some sort of squeaky toy?) But I'm not the one who chose you. It's Professor Oak who decided to give you the Pokedex that belonged to my former trainer, although just how the Voices reached you before you even got the Pokedex, I'm sure I don't know. If it was me, I wouldn't have chosen some overly privileged medical student with little to no survival instinct whatsoever.



"Okay, now you're just sounding like that Elijah guy."



I've worked with him. He hates Rainbow Rocket, too. Look, can we just shut up and save the world?



Dipper sighed. "Do I have a choice in the matter?" he asked sarcastically.



Let me think... no. Now let's get going.



The boy shrugged. "Whatever," he muttered, silently vowing to stick this sassy lost child into the PC as soon as humanly possible.