Like No One Ever Was

Leah had obviously misheard me and said “Yes young miss, this is a Pokemon known as Rotom. It’s-”

“Really strong! It can possess things and have different forms. Wash Rotom has the least weaknesses, only to Grass I think. Heat Rotom has only two, but it has a ton of resistances!” I exclaimed exuberantly. Rotom is so cool a Pokemon, I always loved having one on my teams in the… games.

“That’s… correct.” She was a bit surprised but rallied back quickly and settled her face back to a neutral smile. “Your father will be happy to hear you know so much. Why don’t you go wait in the den as you look up whatever you want to look up.” It was less a suggestion and more an order I numbly followed as I was dealing with this new information.

Inside the den, I saw the television showing a tournament, where a Lucario was fighting against a Tinkaton. Or maybe a Tinka…tuff? The hammer looks kinda small. Unbidden, a fan image of a ‘dynamax’ Tinkaton popped into my mind, a meme of where only the hammer grew larger. The humor of that mixed with my own sadness as I really tried to deal with the fact that I was stuck in a not-so-fictional feeling world and started to cry.

“Oh no! Bzzt. You seem to be upset. Shall I grab the staff-” Rotom said, reminding me of their presence.

“N-no!” I quickly said, reaching out as if to grab him before he stopped drifting towards the door. I’m glad that no one else heard my outburst. I also guess that’s why they were fine with me searching up whatever - Rotom is sorta the perfect child lock, able to both redirect, block, and report on anything I search, or even anything that happens to me.

It was creepy, in a way, but seeing the back of the phone case and the obvious worry in its eyes, I couldn’t be upset with it for wanting to help me. I need to find out more about this world, just- figure things out.

“I think I heard about a trainer, Ash Ketchum-”

Rotom answered immediately “Bzzt, Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, the champion of Alola and reigning champion of the Master’s Eight tournament.”

It looks like I’m out of anime town at least. It was a relief in many ways - I hadn’t watched the anime in years and while I’d be tempted to get involved in the craziness and help ‘save the world’ a bunch, I wasn’t sure I wanted to leap into that. Out of curiosity, I decided to look up ‘Who is the current Paldean champion?’

That turned up a couple of different results, as I was reminded that Paldea had multiple trainers with the ‘champion rank’, rather than one champion. Skimming over some of their battles and team compositions, they seemed decent, but very few of them seemed ‘champion’ material, at least in my eyes. The ‘los Primero’ did seem slightly better, with a pseudo legendaries in Baxcalibur as his ace.

Blake Hogan. Never heard of this guy before. A bit more digging revealed why. Paldea hadn’t had a great run with champions in tournaments abroad the past few years. Oh sure, our ‘champion ranks’ did really well as elites in the other tournaments, but the bigger events, like the conferences and Masters Eight, they didn’t rank highly.

When I went to play some of the videos, Rotom pleasantly surprised me again by sending the video straight to the television, casting it without my input. “Thanks, Rotom.” Then I set about watching. There were other things I could be doing, panicking about my situation chief among them, but I decided to push that away for the moment and just enjoy myself.

These battles are fun. I enjoyed the games enough but… they were just games. So cool to see how they’re done for real. Terrain was employed quite well in these high level battles, using even little things like ground types breaking up the ground just to interrupt movement and reposition. There were still very flashy destructive attacks too, of course.

“What Move was that?” I wondered aloud as I saw a Zangoose move like she was going for a Slash, but then just sorta grab and squeeze the Mighteyena with her claws only.

“That was ‘Crush Claw’, I believe.” Rotom said. “Though I’m afraid I don’t know all the specifics of the move, I’m a Rotom Phone, not a Rotom Dex.” I blinked. But don’t they all have the app?

“What moves do you know?”

“Oh Bzzt, I have a decent knowledge. Absorb, Accelerock-”

“No no no,” I laughed. “What moves do you know?” That seemed to flummox the phone for a moment.

“I am capable of Astonish, Double Team,… and I can probably do Thunder Shock.” It eventually said, the matches still ongoing as we spoke. Ouch, not a lot there. Rotom automatically gets a really strong attack in any form, but there’s only so much that one Move can do in a fight.

“Have you ever thought about battling? I bet with some training you could even wipe the floor with guys like that,” I said, pointing to the screen. Admittedly, I had waited until it showed a Grass Type that I felt fairly confident Rotom could beat with most of their different forms. Honestly, kinda surprised someone used an Arboliva to a tournament this high. I mean, clearly, this world is not the games. Pokemon aren’t limited to four Moves at a time and a small cliff isn’t an impenetrable barrier. Even a Pikachu can be worthy of World Champion, but… this trainer doesn’t look like she knows what she’s doing.

Her Pokemon was getting blasted around by the Turtonator her Alolan opponent had out, not able to mount a proper defense let alone offense. Arboliva’s ability was at least triggering to set up the field, but that was when the other trainer started dancing…

“… Ohh! It looks like Arboliva has been hit by a powerful blast and is out!!” The announcer said after Inferno Overdrive wiped out not only the olive pokemon, but also the field, burning down the Grassy Terrain she had tried to set up.

Rotom looked at me dubiously. “Thank you for the support young miss, but I don’t think I’d ever do something like that.”

“Well, that’s just cause you don’t know any Z-moves.” My own words gave me a sudden realization. That’s why we aren’t doing well in the high level tournaments - we don’t have the Terra Orbs! Just like the Pokedex App, they haven’t been invented yet.

It was hardly the only reason, admittedly. Kanto, Johto, and Sinnoh didn’t have an abundance of Mega Stones or any Z-Crystals and I assumed they were doing alright. It does mean I can’t rely on my knowledge of the world perfectly though. My knowledge in… Nemona’s body.

Nemona was a canon character in the latest mainline console Pokemon games, and arguably one of the most important. As you play the game, she’s your Rival, one of the first other characters you’re introduced to. She teaches the player the ropes of how to play the game, and brings you to the school and encourages you to fight gym battles and go against the Elite Four… so that in the end you can fight her, the Champion. Her battle tendency was legendary, much meme’d upon on the internet, but she’s definitely no slouch in a fight, constantly pushing the player until they can become a champion too.

What does it mean to be a major character? I’ll be involved in helping shut off the Time Machine, going down to Area Zero with the ‘player character’, Arven, and Penny. Should I change things? Can I change things?

My curiosity piqued, I researched the topic, curious to see what would be said about the mythical ‘Great Crater of Paldea’ in this world. To do that I grabbed toward my phone, before stopping as it hovered in front of me. “What can I help you with, bzzt?” Right, my phone is sentient now, that’s something I have to deal with.

“Uhh, just wanted to look some things up on the inter- on the PokeNet.” I hastily corrected myself. “Umm, I’ll just type them in myself, if you don’t mind.” They didn’t object, easily allowing me to hold their case and begin typing. I was just too used to doing so in my past life to try just asking Rotom to search everything up. In many ways, the PokeNet was similar to the Internet, though from a quick glance there were less search engines and social media. Many videos were available, mostly on Pokemon and I saw that Rotom was streaming such highlights from Pokevid, the videos uninterrupted as I trawled through the online world for information about the most dangerous place in Paldea.

A plethora of warnings, restrictions, and recommendations to avoid were the first thing that hit me, popping up on the first search. After acknowledging that I knew all the risks, what I got was a League site saying how any exploration to the Great Crater had to be League approved, and it didn’t sound like they approved of missions often or easily. The last time they had approved of a mission to the bottom, Area Zero, had been Heath’s expedition, 200 years ago.

On the other hand, considering how often historically any trips to Area Zero, trying to claim its ‘treasures’ have ended up just pouring money and lives down the drain, I do see where they’re coming from. Still, potential revocation of trainer license? That’s harsh. Then again, the price of failure there is usually death, so they have to hit you with something scary like potentially losing all your Pokemon to try and keep you out.

“Surely you aren’t considering going to the Great Crater, Nemona?” Rotom asked nervously, reminding me of his presence from the back of the very screen I was typing into. “If you’re looking for any rare Pokemon, I’m sure your parents can buy them for you.

I frowned. “No, I’m not going there. At least, not for a long time, till I’m grown up.” Or however old I’d be by the time Arven decides to go down there… again. Maybe I can at least pre-empt the first trip that would end up hurting Mabostiff?

That was still a lot to deal with so I elected to not do so. Which meant having to deal with the other thing I was trying to avoid. I’m in a different world. Different (plot relevant!) body. How did this happen? What should I do? More than just future plans, I had to think about how to blend in. I would probably get put in an asylum if I tried telling Nemona’s parents I was a thirty year old who ended up inside their daughter’s body. If they don’t think I’m some Psychic or Ghost type possessing her at least.

That worrying thought had me quickly scrambling to look up how likely such things were, as well as discreetly try and see how much of a ‘deathworld’ vs. ‘anime world’ this version of Pokemon was. Rotom will keep track of what I search at least, so I can try and search around for info on types of Pokemon in the wild, statistics, and stuff like that.

Despite Ash existing and all, it wasn’t a perfect anime world. There were certainly disappearances every year from young, inexperienced trainers out on their journeys. The numbers overall weren’t bad, however. Only a dozen or so every year from the Great Treasure Hunt. That’s pretty impressive considering just how big Uva Academy is, and how many people of all ages are considered students. The school, unsurprisingly, had some of the best records for such things. I knew it wasn’t a perfect picture, especially since they hardly advertised ‘people die here every year’.

Further investigation muddied the waters, however. So, a lot of the students, especially the older ones who act more as researchers, might not even leave the school library. One guy mentioned his ‘treasure’, a dusty old research scroll from the age of Paldean Kings and Queens found buried in a part of the library, and no sign he went anywhere else during that time. But also, some of the records show students disappearing off the records after the Hunt… but only because they went and found their treasure, which turned out to be like, a desire to be a baker or something and dropped out.

Still, I thought I had pretty good chances of surviving in this world, provided I kept my wits about me. There’s not a lot about specific types or regions to avoid either. Basic generalizations existed, Ghost types being ‘spooky’ and often seen as pranksters, for instance. Grass types having a tendency for nurturing personalities, etc.

‘Gimmieghoul’s are such pests. One of them confused me for a moment, forcing me to empty out my purse looking for a coin, then ignored all of my Poke Coins! I had to spend so long picking them back up.’ One blogger angrily posted. Huh, I guess no one has managed to evolve one into a Gholdengo then. Understandable - in the game you’d need to farm the specific coins off nearly every chest in Paldea to make enough. If all the Gimmie’s hoard part of the gold, no one could see what they evolve into.

The fact that the possession wore off, seemingly naturally, was also surprising to me. I investigated further and saw that most types of mind control or subversion were either ignored by people or quickly broken. Maybe humans developed natural defenses against such things? Like they did to other attacks? Changing tracks, I started looking at more wilderness videos than battle ones. It was still very Pokemon centric, but outside of the professional arena’s they demonstrated that people could survive a stray attack or two.

“Wow, that Magnezone is pretty strong,” I idly commented, having watched some nature documentary-esque videos as I researched. This one showed a Magnezone near the top of the ridge to the Great Crater scaring off some Braviary that flew by with some type of electrical attack I couldn’t name. That was about as close as any official videos got to the Great Crater, and even that one repeatedly warned the dangers and that they had a team of Rangers standing close by off camera. All this and Arven still snuck into the Great Crater. How desperate was he to see his parent?

“They can release powerful discharges of lightning, bzzt!” Rotom helpfully supplied. “Do you want a Magnemite when you’re older?” A pattern was already forming as I looked up the different Pokemon, especially any I stopped on or seemed interested in. Rotom would ask me if I wanted that Pokemon. I figured it was the equivalent of asking a kid ‘what (job) they wanted to be when they grew up.’

“Nah. They’re pretty tough and strong, but the double weakness to ground is killer- It’s rough. I really like Electric types that can eliminate their only weakness, like Eelektross or Rotom.” I think that Magnezone can use Magnet Rise as well to do that? But they’re pretty slow from what I remember, and time wasted in a battle is killer. “If those Braviary’s were better trained they could have hit it with a few Fighting moves and taken it out.”

On that note, I looked up how much a Life Orb cost and if it was a thing here, recalling that Braviary had Sheer Force which could combo well with it. Immediately after reading the price tag, I closed the tab. That is a lot of zeroes. I know I’m maybe rich now, but I’d feel guilty buying that… Even if Life Orbs are pretty cool.

“Dinner time!” Leah’s call came out, and I blinked, realizing that hours had passed in my research.

“Coming!” I yelled back and started scrambling for dinner. The sudden reminder made my belly growl and I was quite aware of how hungry I was all of a sudden. Washing up in the kitchen, I made my way through the house, running to where I recalled the Dining Hall to be. By the time I got there, I was puffed from the running. Okay, I know this house is big and I’m a kid now, but that’s kinda ridiculous. I have got to work on my stamina.

When I looked up, I took in the Dining Hall, getting the full picture of it beyond my blurry baby memories for the first time. A long table, capable of seating a dozen on each side was in the center of the room, an elegant tablecloth draped on top of it that looked fancier than some tapestries hanging on castle walls. Above it hung an elegant crystal chandelier that I could now recognize was in the shape of a Dragonair. Off to the sides stood a few butlers and maids, ready to take care of any request and bring out the food and plates to and from the kitchen. At the very end of the table three people were sitting down.

The two adults were dressed in some of the most garish outfits I’d ever seen. The woman was wearing a shoulderless dress suit, held up by a thin circular strap around her neck and had her white and dark yellow hair up in a bun. The man beside her had something close to some of the martial arts gi’s I’d worn in my previous life, but too fancy and flimsy for any combat sport. The cut of the robes wasn’t right for it either, and the shimmery gold quality to it and the belt didn’t work. His darker yellowish hair is put in a bob cut. Both of their outfits were made of a silky, eye-catching gold material with black diamond trim and patterns. Wait, there’s only one set of characters that can be this flashy. They’re…

“Surprise! We caught a quick flight back and made it in time for dinner.” O’Nare, my mother in this life, said, clapping her hands together.

“Yeah, and I had to wait for you and now Nims,'' the third, much younger person at the table said. I turned to look at her. She was about nine or ten years old, wearing a dark blue skirt and white blouse with lace trim that weren’t anywhere near as gaudy as our parents, but still screamed ‘incredibly wealthy’. She had long white hair, like O’Nare, but it hung loose down to her shoulders, with a single lock of red, much like my green ones, though on the opposite side.

It took me a moment to realize she was talking about me, at which point Billy - our father - said “Such stoicism, Cyan! That’s the Glitterati way, pushing through the hardships! But your sister is here now and the chef has cooked up some delicious lobster for us, so we don’t have to wait any longer.” He motioned to the chair on the other side of him and I rushed up, sitting down.

The meal was delicious, cooked to absolute perfection and I was ravenous. Enough so that I was nearly distracted from the fact that I’m a member of the Glitterati family. Oh boy. This is gonna be a wild trip.

As we ate, Billy and O’Nare, or rather ‘mother’ and ‘father’, regaled us with their trip to Johto. “The dancers put on a splendid show. And the use of special effects, to mimic the ‘burning of the sacred tower’. Incredible!” Billy said.

“Indeed. The girls were so in-synch with their eeveelutions.” O’Nare commented. Okay, so that is a term here, good to know. Then she turned to us. “What have you girls been up to?”

Cyan sat up straighter. “I’ve been studying the economics books you gave me. I’m already on chapter five. I think Nims has just been rolling around in the dirt.”

“Hey!” I said, affronted by what she said. I don’t think even the original was that bad, just overly focused on battles. “I’ve been looking up tons of stuff.” My childish lisp snuck in once again as I wasn’t paying enough attention, unfortunately undercutting my words. Billy and O’Nare didn’t seem to mind, but Cyan looked a bit disbelieving.

“Oh yeah? What’s the relationship between supply and demand then?” She asked. Our parents - Still so weird to think of them like that - tried to explain that I was too young, but I cleared my throat.

“I was mostly looking up Pokemon stuff, but the amount you have, or supply available, determines how much can be charged for it, or the demand, and vice versa, right?” Really not the best at Economics, but I think that sounds about right.

Billy clapped his hands together. “Well done, dear. Our daughter, the little genius. As expected of a Glitterati scion.” I blushed at the weird praise, while Cyan looked a bit shocked. Both him and O’Nare then launched into a lecture, explaining the reciprocal nature of both in much greater detail. They just seemed like ditzy tourists in the DLC, but I guess they don’t each run a massive national company by being dumb… at least when it comes to the details of those jobs.

‘Mother’ was the president of Paldea Realty, while ‘Father’ ran the Rotom Phone Company. When he brought up an example using his company and the phones they made, Leah chimed in from the side. “Nemona is actually quite interested in Rotoms. She mentioned some facts that even I didn’t know about earlier today.” The adults all turned to me, curiosity piqued, and even Cyan was looking at me questioningly.

Guess there’s no way to squirm out of this. “Uh, yeah. I just think they’re really cool in how they can change types based on what machine they possess. And they can also enhance the machine to use really powerful attacks based off of some appliances. That plus their Ability, Levitate, covers any weaknesses from the Electric side they always have, which makes them great battlers!” Was that too much? I hope it wasn’t.

Billy practically had stars in his eyes, holding a hand up to his face as if awed by my ‘brilliance.’ “That’s… correct! Rotom can do so much for us, it’s incredible! We designed the Rotom Phone to make best use of all of their incredible abilities - a regular machine would be burnt out in just a day being possessed by them. We actually make the Rotom Battle Catalog as well, and a number of other appliances for them to use. Not many Rotom’s like battling, however.”

I wonder why? From what I looked up most Pokemon enjoy fighting, in the wild or with trainers helping lead them. They say that all Pokemon have that drive to grow stronger, though few actually seek out to permanently hurt other people or Pokemon. Though that’s almost always followed by a warning on how territorial some Pokemon can be and to be cautious when traveling in the wilderness.

Dinner was finished and I was soon sent off to bed. It felt early, but given how crazy everything had been so far, I was happy to take the excuse.

The bedroom was almost castle-like to my memories from my old life. . A bed that reminded me of royalty took up the center back end of the room. It was adorned with silky curtains that gleamed almost marble-like as I could see the burl wood frame inviting me to sleep. There was an open box of toys on one side, with a mess of plastic Pokemon scattered nearby. Adorning another corner was a small table fit for a child’s tea parties with matching chairs. The closet (if you could call it one) was bigger than your old apartment. Clothes both fancy and functional lined the walls, and I wondered how much money went into the entire furnishings of the room. Thousands of dollars, or whatever the equivalent was the minimum cost for the extravagance in front of my eyes.

Leah quickly ushered me to bed, closing the curtains and cutting out the moonlight that had been streaming in. I didn’t resist, flopping down into the bed, too overwhelmed to even resist her unnecessarily tucking me in. Think that’s enough for tonight. Let’s see if I can wake up and find it was all a crazy dream tomorrow.