Almond frowned. There didn't seem to be anything else he could do. HIs mom was going to kill him, but that might not have to be a problem since there was a good chance the world would be ending. In some ways it was probably worst than his mom killing him, but at least it didn't feel so personal. There was a plus in everything if you were willing to stoop down to find it, and in the situation he was in, stooping wasn't a problem. His mother hated tattoos and constantly warned him that if she ever caught him with one she'd take it off with a cheese grater and then gut him like a fish, but not the way a professional would do it. Oh no. She's make sure to get the process to take as long as possible. No quick death for him.

That is, if the doomsday sayers, any one of a dozen cults gathered around the perimeter of the military controlled section in the middle of town, knew what they were talking about. Almond doubted it, but one could never say when something that came from a loon's wasn't just crazy talk. Even a broken clock was right twice a day, three times if you counted spring forward and fallback.

The day had started out as regularly as possible and then after a long day of work all the news channels, as well as some of the more kid friendly ones, started showing what was at the center of his town. Apparently space was a physical thing and someone had cut it something deep. So deep in fact you could see clear through to another realm of existence. At least that's what everyone was saying. Nobody could see past the inky blackness, and whenever a robot tried going in the signal disappeared along with the mechanical body.

"Here you go hun." The nice waitress said as she put down an apple fritter and his cup of green tea. "Enjoy. It could vary well be the last sweet you ever eat." With that she gave him a grim smile and headed back to watch the news with the rest of the staff. So Almost frowned and gave the new marks on his arm an angry glare. It didn't disappear or even shrink back in shame. Such was his luck.

He sighed and hung his head in frustration. "The world's going to end and I'm going to spend it without a soul complain with. "

How?! Why?! HOW DID THIS EVEN HAPPEN?!

The questions ran through Haruki's mind as she stared at her arm. She had received a rude awakening this morning when she looked at her arm and saw that there was a tattoo there. The tattoo resembled a seed and from that seed was one vine that was connected to a black flower. If her boss saw her with this, he would fire her! Not to mention what her parents would do if they saw her with this...! She shuddered at the thought of how they would react. She had scrubbed at the offending marks that marred her arm, but they never came off.

After that, she had decided to keep her jacket on in the workplace, so that the tattoo would be effectively hidden. On the way there, she had heard of the breaking news about the strange tears in space, and the other anomalies that occurred along with the investigations. The spaces around these tears were quarantined, which to Haruki's chagrin, caused her to take detours to her job, and she arrived late.

"HARUKI! THERE YOU ARE! WHERE WERE YOU?!"

The shrill voice of her boss echoed throughout the building, causing Haruki to flinch as she felt as though her eardrums were about to burst. She answered, "I'm sorry I'm late, Sir. I had to take a detour to get here..." Her boss huffed "Yes, yes, don't let that happen again! Now! I need you to go and get coffee for me and my guests! Here is the list. Now, when you bring our coffees, don't you dare say a peep or even bring attention to yourself in ANY WAY! Got it?!"

Haruki accepted the list and she nodded answering, "Yes Sir!" before he waved her off and she took the cue to leave. She would have loved to retort sarcastically, or punch him, anything! But nope. She wanted a future, so she had to keep herself quiet. Besides...she probably wouldn't have come up with a witty comeback even if she tried anyways...

She exited the building and ran for the nearby cafe, knowing full well how testy her boss can be if he didn't get his coffee in a certain amount of time.
She soon entered, and she went up to the cash register, thankful that the line was short and requested the variety of coffees that was on the list. It was the usual coffees and as always, she ended up paying for them.

As she waited, she heard the nearby waitress speak to one of the customers, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes. Pessimistic much? Haruki didn't think that this would be the end of the world. If anything, this is probably a new scientific breakthrough, and Steven Hawking and the other physicists are probably hard at work trying to figure out what the tears are and why they are appearing. If she was wrong and it was...well, no skin off her bones.

She blinked at the customer's sigh. She felt somewhat bad for him, but she remained silent. She really wasn't much of a social butterfly. She couldn't help but think that he would think that she was weird if she suddenly approached him and started talking to him, for no reason. She noticed that his arm seemed to have similar markings to hers, but she didn't stare or make any indication of it. Considering his words, Haruki figured that he must have been having a rough time as well, so she requested a coffee for him, paying for it herself. What harm could an anonymous act of kindness do? ...Other than to her budget.

She waited for the coffees and as she did, she watched the silent TVs with subtitles, as the news continued talking about the tears.

Almond sighed again. There didn't seem to be anything happening. Something should've been happening. This was the beginning or the end, and all any of the news stations were doing was talking to crack pot religious fanatics or the same military officers over and over again about how much danger they were in, what could be done to make things better, and so on and so on about all the things they needed to pay for that would keep the country, no the world, safe. It was obviously a grab for more funding, but Almond didn't say anything about it. Why bother? Nobody was going to listen to him, and if he did, all he'd get for a reply was a shaking head and a lecture about how he should be more positive. Why? He was positive! There wasn't any doubt at all the military guy wanted money. How was that for being positive?

Something tickled the back of his mind and then he realized there was someone else in the room. He didn't bother trying to hide his curiosity. After all it wasn't anything weird to wonder about who you were alone in a building with, staff excluded. She looked a little familiar, but that was probably just due to the fact everyone came to the same place. Before he could open his mouth one of the waitresses stopped by and put down a cup down the table in front of him. "Here you go." She said without any mindfulness of her duty and then hurried off before he could let her know he hadn't ordered anything else. He watched the woman get back into her group and then shrugged. He turned his attention back to the coffee for a few seconds before deciding it probably wasn't poisoned and taking a quick sip. "Yum."

A few second went by like school children learning to do cartwheels, oddly bumpy before he turned back to the young woman. "What do you think?" He said to her from his table. He would've added more, but he wasn't sure if he was curious if she thought the military wanted more funds or if the world was going to end.

"Oh my god!" It was one of the women from the group. Her face had gone white and so had the others. "They all pointed at the television." It was odd since nobody else was paying any attention to anything else. On the screen there had been the rip, the military forces(infantry, and then tanks with artillery a little further back), but now, right outside the possible wormhole black soldiers were pouring out. At least that's what they looked like from a distance, but several close ups revealed the soldiers weren't people at all. They looked were in the shape of the soldiers, with their helmets and guns slung on their backs, but they appeared to be made of some kind of stone that was much blacker than even Obsidian.

The waitress was taking forever with that order...
Haruki couldn't help but wonder if she was going to be able to get back to her boss and his guests before he even started considering firing her for her incompetence. She tried not to stress over it by watching the news and rolling her eyes at the religious people and the military's words. She snapped out of her thoughts when the guy she ordered coffee for, spoke to her asking her what she thought. She looked around to make sure he was talking to her, before she answered, "Well...this is quite a scientific anomaly..."

Before she could finish though, one of the waitresses screamed and she looked to see her pointing at the TV. Haruki looked back at the TV and she stared in shock as black obsidian like soldiers marching out of the rifts. She couldn't help but gasp as the soldiers easily slaughtered the real soldiers and destroyed the tanks and other artillery. Haruki adjusted her glasses as she studied the footage and after a thought came to mind, she looked out of the window to confirm her thought. She could see them. A lot of those black soldiers were heading this way! Right towards this very cafe, and at a fast speed too.

After coming to that conclusion, she tried to warn everyone "They're coming this way!"
The cafe didn't seem to hear her, because they were still paying attention to the TV (but she supposed that was better than a panic...). She hurried out of the cafe, knowing that she needed to get out of there before it was too late.

"You know" Almond said, scratching his chin and narrowing his eyes for a better look. "Those things can really move. I mean, they were way on the other side of town when they got out and now, now most of those residential buildings are starting to look really families." He pointed at a red building he passed by every day on his way to work. "I know that one!" He almost jumped out of his seat, but the knowledge of the coffee and hot tea that would fly into his face gave him a pause. "I know that one." He whispered as loudly as he could but the other people in the room didn't turn to him. They kept watching the television. At least the staff didn't. He checked the other woman but she wasn't there. He blinked twice before he looked around for her.

"Hey!" He called as he saw her just before she left the room. "Hey! Wait up! I don't know if that's a good idea." He hurried after her and called out for her to stop running because the soldiers were coming towards them, and were raising what passed for their weapons as they did. "Get down!" Almond yelled! Unsure of what else to do he jumped towards the woman, hoping to get a hold of her and pull her down before those weapons started spitting fire, or molten rocks, or whatever the hell the obsidian men used as projectiles. .

Haruki sprinted as fast as she could, seeing the soldiers had their attention on her. She could feel the adrenaline rush as she tried to run, but she saw molten rocks shot straight at her, and before she even knew, she slowed and was tackled to the ground by the same guy she had been talking to earlier.

After they both hit the ground, she instinctively covered her head with her hands, trying to protect herself from heat and the embers that flaked off of the projectiles. Fear easily engulfed her heart, and she couldn't help but beg mentally for this to be a nightmare and for someone-anyone for help.

After she had mentally called for help, she felt her arm grow warm as the tattoo made itself apparent through her shirt and jacket sleeves. A portal appeared and a hooded figure stepped out, standing in front of Almond and Haruki, facing the mockery of soldiers. The portal immediately disappeared after they stepped through. A voice chanted an incomprehensible series of words, an incantation, "Enna metela venier iisula!"

Haruki, who had looked at the figure in curiosity when he chanted the incantation, noticed a small snowflake at first, and soon a blizzard had surrounded them, protecting them from the soldiers' fiery missiles, and freezing any soldier that came too close.

While the flurry whirled around them, the figure turned to the both of them, and spoke, "What are you two waiting for? ...The fate of this world rests in your hands..."
Haruki blinked and she asked as shakily stood up, helping Almond up as she did, "Wh-What? What are you talking about?!"
The man simply continued as though she hadn't said anything, "Destroy their cores and defeat their leaders. Both dwell in the other worlds,"

"I'm going to die, aren't I." It wasn't a question, but you couldn't tell by the voice. You had to read between the lines and see the period at the end. "This isn't how I wanted to go!" He closed his eyes and tried to curl up into a fetal ball so tight even light couldn't escape. "It wasn't supposed to be this way. I was supposed to go at the ripe age of ninety-eight after giving up on the world and getting my heart to blow up after an extensive visit to a Las Vegas all you could eat buffet!"

Then something happened. Strange mumbling filled the air and a new figure appeared. Almond hadn't seen where the man came from, or woman. He was only assuming it was a man because of the voice. A bit of snow landed near him, and that was just the first frost before the avalanche. Soon they were surrounded by cold. It was so bad a part of Almond couldn't help but look longingly at the heated projectiles, wondering how close he could be to one of those spheres of warmth before it did skin damage.

Which was when he noticed they stopped coming. "What in the world?" He looked around and saw the black soldiers weren't firing any longer. They weren't doing anything. They only stood there like statues, covered in snow. The figure spoke again but this time he spoke in English. He told them they were responsible for the world and stopping whatever the things were. First however they needed to destroy the creature's cores.

"How?" He said as he got to his feet and looked around. There was a metal bar on the ground. He picked it up and gave it a few practice swings. "Hope this works." He hurried up to the first creature, in case time was a factor and took a swing at its center of mass. The marks on his arm flared yellow and the air suddenly grew still. The bar made an impact like a bullet going through eyes, and pieces of frozen demon minions went everywhere. "Wow!" Almond took a moment to blink at the destruction but then hurried on and did the other four villains.

"Come on." Almond said to the woman. "Maybe this is what we're supposed to do?" Without waiting for either of them he started again towards where the rift should be.

""

Haruki shouted after Almond as he charged with a metal pole, heading for outside of the snowstorm that was protecting them, "No! Wait!" It didn't take a genius to figure out that charging to face an army of whatever those things were was a very bad idea. She looked to the hooded figure and she could easily sense that he was rolling his eyes (even though she couldn't see his face under the hood). She watched as the hooded figure pulled Almond back towards them with just a wave of his hand, before he could even step out of the snowstorm and allow the soldiers to kill him off. The figure scolded Almond, his voice just dripping with tired bitterness, "Do not mistake my words as a mission to undergo a meaningless endeavor. The cores are separate from those beings, and the rifts you see will not aid you,"

He waved his other hand towards his side, and a different rip, one that showed a peaceful scenery on the other side, appeared and he told them, "Look for portals like these. They will aid you. Now go," Haruki looked at the portal and back to Almond, and she started "But what about-" The figure snapped calmly, but impatiently, "There is no time for questions now. Go, before they build a resistance to the ice," Haruki looked at the soldiers to see what the figure was talking about. Some of the soldiers that were entering the snowstorm were now slowly moving, not easily frozen anymore.

So it was either jump through that nearby portal...or face those guys. ...She'd rather take her chances with the portal. She looked to Almond and she said "Alright, let's go!"

Maybe he got ahead of himself. Sometimes that happened. One second he thought he was busting up the soldier like entities and then next one he was being pulled back and scolded about running head first into danger by the strange spectral figure that brought on the miniature blizzard. "Oh." Almond blinked. "Well, I'm new at this." He sighed and then shuddered, hugging himself. "Plus I'm freezing. Not sure how your not cold but I can't feel any of my extremities." Then he laughed, it was nervous. "But thanks for not letting me die. That's appreciated and won't be forgotten." He scratched the back of his head because it seemed like something one should do when one was at the center of unwanted attention.

"They build a resistance." Almond nodded at the strange figure. "So then, is it an evolutionary thing like those monsters from that movie." He rubbed his numb arms to try and get something similar to feeling back into them. "They bred like rabbits and each new generation had something new." His brow furrowed in frustration. "God damn this is going to bug the hell out of me until I can figure it out!" Then he caught sight of what the thing was pointing at, and how the other things were starting to get close. They were still moving like snails on an straight away but that was still more than what he felt comfortable with.

A part of Almond wanted to make the whole. "Ladies first" joke but was only still alive because the thing had saved his life, a few times in a couple of minutes. It was sadly his turn to be a hero. He swallowed the lump in his throat. It took three tries before he nodded at his new partner and jumped in.

It wasn't anything like he thought it would be. He thought the portal would take a long time and he'd feel something that could only be half-heartedly explained by terms like "falling up, down, and every way possible while at the same time being completely still" but what it was really like was taking the last step off the ladder when there were two you forgot about. "Ouch." He whined as his knee protested against the force of the impact. "That hurt."

He paused to look around. The immediate area was filled with tall grass. There were a few houses in the distance. "Hey!" Somebody called. He couldn't see the person's face, but the figure was definitely a man. "What are you doing over there! Don't you know its dangerous walking around in the tall grass alone?"

Almond tilted his head. "Is it just me or is this really familiar?" As in response there was a rustle in the grass behind him.

The hooded figure didn't say anything in response to Almond's words of gratitude. Haruki wanted to correct Almond, and tell him that the correct term for what was happening to the soldiers was acclimation, but she bit back her tongue. Now was not the time for nitpicking. After he jumped into the portal, she followed after him. At the last minute, she turned to see the spectral figure disappear, just as the portal closed on her. Soon enough, she found herself standing in tall grass with Almond. Ignoring her own dizziness and remain standing (no matter how much she wanted to fall as well) she looked to Almond and she asked "You alright?" after he had fallen to his knee.

She looked around her surroundings and she mumbled "Where...?" A voice caught her attention and she looked towards the source. She adjusted her glasses, trying to see who it was, but she couldn't see the details. She figured that it was an older man from his voice. After Almond asked his question, she answered "I don't think it's just you...this seems familiar to me as well..." She heard the rustle behind her and Almond, and she turned around to see...

"WOAH!!! WHAT THE HECK?!"

She couldn't help but shout in surprise as she saw a bird, but it wasn't just any bird...it was a Pidgey! IT WAS A POKEMON!!!

She looked to Almond, and she asked "Are-ARE YOU SEEING WHAT I'M SEEING?!" They weren't in just some random word...They were in a world where Pokemon existed! She couldn't believe it herself. She started pinching her arm trying to see if she was going to wake up, but it didn't work. She mumbled as the Pidgey looked like it was going to swoop at them, "Oh, right. We should probably run," She then started to turn and head away from the Pokemon.

Almond nodded at the young woman. "Yeah, I think so. Nothing seems to be broken, at least that's true if any of those people on television that say its not broken, because if it was you'd know it, are any sources to go by." He moved his knee and winced a little but the pain was one of those types that only complained for a few seconds before going away. "Oh yeah. I'm sure I'm going to be fine. How about you? That drop was kind of doozy. You didn't get hurt, right?"

He wasn't the only one who'd seen this before, or at least somewhere imagined seeing this before. "It's a big bright, isn't it? I mean the grass, and the sky, their lighter than they should be even in the sunlight." He turned his attention back to the old man who'd called at them. He was running now. Waving his hands frantically like a first time thrash metal band goer. "Get over here!" He yelled as he moved. His voice didn't carry very well. Maybe it had something to do with how much cardio you needed to do regularly before you were able to run and shout at the top of your voice for any period of time.

"Hmm?" Almond's left eyebrow arched as he turned to see what the woman was talking about. "What is--" He paused and leaned forwards to get a better look at the thing behind him. "That's." He shook his head and opened his again. "That's not right. It looks just like a pidgey, but that's just an anime/manga/ video game/ franchise character. They don't exist in real life."

He blinked when she said something and then turned to look at her. "What?" There would've been more but the bird lunged into the air and then rushed at him. He didn't have time to move and felt the bird's tiny body smash into him with a tackle attack. It wasn't fatal, even Almond could tell that from right away, but it hurt like hell and a half. He clutched his stomach and moaned. "Cheap shot. Cheap shot. Besides, they never get to attack first, at least that's how it goes in the game." He wheezed.

Suddenly massive shadow appeared overhead. There were tiny wings and a bulky body. It grew and grew until there was a large orange form in front of them. It stood taller than either character and easily outweighed them combined. The creature, despite its imposing size had a kind face. There were big black eyes, filled with intelligence. The creature didn't have to do much to bring things to a peaceful end with the pidgey. It simply spread its legs, leaned forward and let out a roar that would've made a lion go "Nope. Nope. Just nope. I'm going back to the cage." The bird-pokemon's reaction was about the same. It took off along with another dozen or so of its friends.

"Hey!" It was the old man. He was out of breath when he reached them. His hair was white, and his eyes were green. "Are you kids okay? I saw the boy get hurt and so sent my friend here." He walked up to the beast and patted it on the shoulder. "To give you guys a hand."

Haruki shook her head at his question about her well being, showing that she was okay, despite the scrapes she received from the incident earlier back in their world. After he finished taking in the surroundings, and as he asked his question regarding her suggestion, he got tackled by the Pidgey. She watched as he clutched his stomach and kneeled down in pain, and she answered his comment about the attack and the game, "Well...this is clearly not a game," She prepared herself mentally to fight off the Pidgeys, since the guy was in no shape to stand up and run right now. Before she could get into a fighting stance, something jumped over them and landed in between them and the Pidgeys. She easily dodged one Pidgey that tried to swoop at her.

She winced at the roar and she covered her ears at the last two seconds of the roar. The roar had successfully scared off the attacking Pidgeys, and Haruki commented, somewhat making a reference and a joke, "Huh...It was super effective," She turned to see that an old man run up to them. Haruki nodded to the old man and she answered, "We're ok. He may be a bit winded, but neither of us are seriously hurt," She then thanked him, "Thank you so much for your help!"

"A bit winded?" Almond gasped as he tried to straighten out his legs. "I can't feel anything below my waist." He paused and gave that a few seconds of thought. "But my voice isn't high so the bird really did just get me in the gut. Good. The family jewels are safe, for now." He took in a big breath of air and forced himself the rest of the way up.

"Anyways. Thanks for helping us out..." He narrowed his eyes to get a better look at their savior "Professor Oak?"

The man nodded and gave them both a friendly smile. "Well, its nice to know someone recognizes me and here I've been worried my research wasn't being read by anyone." He offered them both a hand to shake.

"Oh." Almond said trying his best to keep from smirking. "I'm sure more people have know about you than you'd realize." Before the man could reply he turned to the pokemon who saved them. "And this must be your dragonite. He's magnificent." The golden pokemon let out a happy sound that could've still struck fear in anything with half a brain. There was some rustling in the bushes as more wild pokemon decided to put some distance between themselves and the beast with more base points than a pseudo-legendary.

"WEll." Professor Oak said, looking around. "It's getting a bit late and there's more wild pokemon running around after the sun goes down, a lot more predators too. Would you two like to have dinner with me at my lab?"

"Sure!" Almond said, almost jumping. "I mean, yeah, that would be okay, right?" He was talking to his travelling partner.

Haruki chuckled at his gasp of a question and she commented "That's what usually happens to someone after being hit in the gut like that..." She looked in deadpan and a sweat drop appeared on her head as she mumbled quietly as he forced himself to stand, "...Did you really have to say that last part out loud...?"

She looked back to the older man as Almond spoke, and when he said the name, Haruki immediately recognized him. It may have been a while since she played pokemon, but she certainly knew who the character Professor Oak was. She didn't say anything, but she smiled brightly. She couldn't believe that she was meeting Professor Oak, for real. She nodded in agreement with Almond's comment about the Dragonite.

She was somewhat surprised that Professor Oak offered them dinner at his lab. She chuckled at Almond's excited reaction and she answered his question, "I don't see why not. It sounds great! Thank you,"
She then realized something. They should probably introduce themselves, especially since she didn't know the guy's name. She said "Oh yeah! Where are our manners? My name is Haruki! It's nice to meet you, Professor Oak," She then looked to Almond, expecting him to introduce himself, so that it didn't look weird (two partners traveling with each other and not knowing each others names would count as weird in her book at least).

The professor watched the back and forth between the two, smiling the entire way through. "Oh yeah!" Almond blinked after Haruki introduced herself. "I'm Almond, a plant too." There was a weird pause that Almond couldn't help but feel was radiating from him. "I mean like how all the professors are named after real world plants." Oak opened his mouth to speak, but Almond waved his hands frantically, shaking his head. "No. Never mind. I was thinking of something else." Luckily his stomach saved him, which was a first. "Uh. Hate to be pushy, but about that dinner, and threat of wilder pokemon coming out."

Professor Oak looked between the two a few times before shrugging and turning to walk back to his lab. He motioned for them to follow him. "Well then that's settled. We'll have dinner at my lab, and while we eat you kids can tell me what you know about my research, and more importantly explain to me why it is you're walking around in the tall grass like that. Haven't either of your parents explained to you two the danger wild pokemon pose to unarmed travelers like yourselves?" There was an urge for him to turn around and really start lecturing but the fact everyone came out of the mess just fine caused him to hold his tongue.

After a few minutes the group arrived at a large white building. "Ah. Here we are. It's not much, but I call it home. Now please, come in." He turned the knob and opened the door, motioning both of his guest to go inside.

Haruki stared at Almond after he spoke his name and made the extra comment. She stared in silence along with Professor Oak, tense about the whole fact that Almond just started sounding crazy. Thankfully, his stomach growled, interrupting the both of them. However, Haruki had a feeling that they weren't out of the woods yet in regards to this. So she started thinking of excuses that she could use to explain Almond's words away. She had a feeling Professor Oak wouldn't believe them if they told him the truth, just like anyone in their world.

Thankfully the professor just shrugged. She followed as Professor Oak spoke to them, somewhat scolding them for being in the grass. She answered his question with a hesitant and embarrassed laugh, "They did, they did. We just...forgot for a brief moment," She then realized something important and she asked while they continued to walk through the town (she was guessing that this was Pallet Town) "Er...Professor Oak, out of curiosity, did you see anything...weird when you saw us out in the tall grass?" She was curious if he saw the portal they jumped out of, but knowing the question seemed weird, she continued "Almond and I thought we saw something strange, so we went into the tall grass to investigate,"

Soon they arrived at a white building and Professor Oak invited them in, and Haruki thanked Professor Oak politely before entering the building. She looked around the inside, while she waited for Almond and Professor Oak. She wondered silently to herself what time period they were in. They may be in the Pokemon world, but what generation? Was Ash about to start his journey? Or is he already long gone and in a different region?

"Not that I can think of." The professor said, putting his hands in his pockets and looking back at the grass they were just in. "Well wait a minute." He rubbed his chin and looked at the two. "There was one thing that was a bit odd, but I just put it off to being my old age." He gave a hearty laugh at the joke. Almond joined in, because it seemed like something he should do. "See, I was looking at the vary spot I found you two in. One second there wasn't anything. It was just high grass, the kind you see everywhere and the next you two were there. It almost looked like you both fell out of the sky. Neither of you looked like you knew where you were. So I figured something was wrong and that's when I started calling you two."

He pointed at a nearby table at the corner of the room. "But please, have a seat. I'll get everything set up as soon as possible. Actually, I was almost done before I got to you two." A worried from flickered across his face. "I hope it didn't get burned." He turned and hurried to a nearby room. "Come on dragonite. If I can't find my oven mittens again your going to have to take it out." The large pokemon nodded and hurried after its master.

"Well." Almond turned to Haruki. "He seems pretty nice, don't you think? I have a good feeling about this place." He smiled and leaned back in his chair. "Plus I'm starving. I could eat a magikarp, or whatever it is people eat here. Which I've always been curious about. You never see any regular fish or cattle in the pokemon anime so there's a good chance people are actually eating pokemon." He grimaced a little but his stomach grumbled at him.

"Hi there. Sorry about the wait." The man was carrying a bunch of plates and silverware while the dragonite had the main dish which was something like a roast. "It's not very fancy but I can guarantee you its delicious." He put the plates down, along with the silverwear and cut both of his guest, himself and dragonite a hearty slice. "Well eat up while its hot."

Almond didn't waste anytime cutting a piece of the meat and taking a bite. "Wow. This is pretty good. What is it?" He hadn't wanted to ask, but now there was no way around it.

"I'm glad you like it." The professor replied. "It's honey suckle with a pinch of cinamon."

"Honey suckle, what?"

The professor, for the first time seemed uncomfortable with their presence. "You two aren't really around here, are you?"

Haruki remained silent when Professor Oak answered her question. Well...now she somewhat knew what it looked like to someone else when they appeared. No portal...just them falling out of the sky. She obliged to Professor Oak's offer for a seat after he and Dragonite headed into the kitchen. She looked to Almond when he spoke to her and she nodded in agreement to his question, "Yeah, he is," But she remained tense considering what was probably still happening in their world, and what the cloaked figure said to them before they left.

When Almond mentioned what people ate here, she wanted to face palm herself at the fact that he carelessly brought up the Pokemon anime, when Professor Oak could very well be listening. At this point it was kind of too late to warn him. She glanced to the kitchen in concern, before she grumbled to Almond quietly "I really don't want to think about that..." The train of thought on whether the people of this world ate Pokemon or not led her to thinking about their home, and what could've happened to it and the people they cared about, while they were here. She suddenly felt as though she lost her appetite.

Soon enough, Professor Oak came in with the meal and the dishes and silverware. Haruki thanked Professor Oak politely before she began eating small bites. Before Almond spoke up, Haruki complimented with a genuine smile, "This is delicious!" She stared at Almond in deadpan after he had blurted out his question about what it was. She tilted her head in confusion at the answer. It didn't sound like they were eating Pokemon...

She snapped out of her thoughts, when she noticed that Professor Oak seemed uncomfortable around them now, and when he asked his question. Judging from his question and demeanor, the fact that there aren't any wars or disputes between regions in the Pokemon anime/games, and Almond's words earlier, she figured that he wasn't talking about them being from a different region. But this was just an assumption. She couldn't assume like she did a little earlier. She sighed in resignation as she laid down the silverware on the table, and put her hands in her lap as she answered "No, I'm afraid not,"

She waited for Professor Oak's reaction before she spoke, carefully thinking over what she should say and considering each possible reaction.

"I thought as much. This isn't a big town so if you two had been around for any length of time I would've met you in no time. That makes sense but what doesn't is if not from here where are you two from? I'm sure this isn't a hometown to either of you and there's no way you could've traveled any distance without being attacked by a wild pokemon. Especially after Almond was rendered incapable of defense by an average pidgey. So where is that you two came from?" The professor looked from one person to another, waiting for something of an answer.

"We're from another world" Almond said, swallowing a mouthful of the sweet meat. "Also this is really delicious, regardless of what it is." He paused and swallowed again. "So long as it isn't anything like soyent green." He cut another bite and watched the man's reaction. He didn't look like he was taking it well. The mouth was hanging open and there was a chance he forgot how to blink because his eyes stayed open so long they were watering. So Almond decided to continue. "We were attacked back at our own world. There were these things. They looked like our own, but black, blacker than anything you've ever seen. Imagine a night without stars, deep at the center of a black hole and you still don't know just how dark these things were. They starting slaughtering people after coming from a strange hole. One thing led to another and before you know it, here we are, getting attacked by a pidgey and saved by a dragonite. It's been an interesting experience. I can tell you that much." Another bite, time to chew, and swallow. "But that's the only thing I can say with any certainty."

"I'm sorry." Professor Oak dabbed his forehead and started to lean back. For a second it appeared he was going to fall back down but dragonite in its human level wisdom saw what was needed and quickly scooted a chair under his master's bum. "I'm sorry. It's just that's a bit hard to take in. Another world, with black beast--who look like the rest of us." He closed his eyes and put his hands together as if in prayer. "But as much as I wish I could, I'm not sure I'd could just dismiss what your saying." He looked up and then back and forth between the young faces in front of him. "Something is going on here, and its not just you two."

The old man got to his feet and hurried to look out through a nearby window. "There've been incidents as of late. Wild pokemon have always been a threat, but for the most part, food needs excluded, humans are usually the only things they attack, but in a nearby town called Pewter city something is going on. There's corpses of pokemon and humans turning up all over the place. Nobody knows whose responsible, but there have been images of shadowy figures like black pokemon. People only catch a glimpse before whatever it is disappears but not long after there's a scream and another corpse is found."

Plate cleared Almond put down his silverware. "Could be more of those shadow things."

Haruki was relieved to see that Professor Oak was alright with her answer, but before she could even respond to his next question, Almond spoke up. She raised her eyebrows and hissed disapprovingly "Almond!" but he continued after talking about the food, ignoring Professor Oak's shock and the fact that he wasn't taking the information very well. Almond continued telling Professor Oak about what had just happened to them, and she mumbled in addition, "Interesting isn't how I would describe this..."

She looked to the Professor as he looked like he was about to faint. She stood up, ready to help Professor Oak sit down, but his Dragonite already did the job, pushing the chair forwards for Oak. She sat back down as he apologized once more. She nodded to him and she answered his apology, "There's no need to apologize. I understand that it's hard to believe," She blinked at his words, surprised that he believed them easily, and she perked up in attention when he mentioned that something did happen here. She watched as he went to the window before he explained the incidents.

She had her fingers on her chin in thought and after Almond commented on the incidents, she nodded in agreement, and she added her own thoughts, "I wouldn't doubt it. From how it sounds, those shadows are mimicking Pokemon in this world," She looked out of the window as well to see that it was night, and she commented to Almond, "It looks like we'll be heading to Pewter City tomorrow morning,"