Four-thirty in the afternoon.
The wild Pokémon ecological observation trip was officially over.
Zane was physically and mentally exhausted from walking all day. After a quick dinner in the cafeteria, he went back to his dorm, collapsed onto his bed, and fell asleep almost instantly. He was so out of it that he didn't even notice the small, white figure poking its head out of his backpack.
"GAH?"
Cramorant slowly turned its head, its vacant gaze locking onto the Ralts now standing on the desk.
Ralts immediately zipped back into the safety of the bag.
Cramorant tilted its head, confused.
After a long moment of silence, Ralts cautiously peeked its head out again, nervously surveying the room. Seeing that the strange bird had decided it wasn't a threat, Cramorant flew to its familiar spot on the bed and closed its eyes.
Ralts let out a silent sigh of relief. It gently floated out of the backpack using its psychic powers. Its eyes lit up with excitement and curiosity as it looked around at all the human objects.
It drifted over to the desk and reached out a small hand, poking at the lamp.
CLICK!
Its finger had found the switch. A bright light instantly flooded the desk.
Ralts froze, then vanished in a flash of movement.
The person on the bed didn't stir.
Ralts's racing heart began to calm down. It reappeared at the desk, sat down on a stack of books, and began to swing its legs leisurely, its gaze fixed on the sleeping human boy.
—
In the middle of the night, a noise startled Zane awake.
He opened his eyes and saw a Gardevoir standing in his room. Not far from it, the Ralts from before were looking down at the floor, their posture screaming guilt. The scene looked exactly like a little girl who'd snuck out of the house being caught and scolded by her mother.
Zane jumped, his sleep-addled brain struggling to catch up.
Did I miss something important?
The Gardevoir's eyes were filled with a stern, parental anger. Zane instinctively activated his ability.
Species: Gardevoir ♂
Type: Psychic / Fairy
Ability: Telepathy
Base Stats: 518 (HP: 68, Atk: 65, Def: 65, SpA: 125, SpD: 115, Spe: 80)
Moves: Psychic, Teleport, Double Team, Moonblast, Wish, Calm Mind, Psychic, Future Sight
Current Mood: Angry
Status: Perfect
Friendship: 1 (a tiny bit)
Gardevoir... Ralts...
Wait, don't tell me these are the same two from the forest?
He shifted his focus to the Ralts.
Species: Ralts ♀
Type: Psychic / Fairy
Ability: Trace
Base Stats: 198 (HP: 28, Atk: 25, Def: 25, SpA: 45, SpD: 35, Spe: 40)
Moves: Growl, Double Team, Psychic, Teleport
Current Mood: Guilty
Status: Perfect
Friendship: 40 (In its heart, you are a hero who fell from the sky)
Yep. It was definitely the one he'd met before.
Zane didn't dare to move a muscle. The Gardevoir's aura was suffocatingly powerful; he could tell it was easily over level sixty.
Wait a minute. He looked closer at the scan. Not mother and daughter. More accurately, it was father and daughter.
The Gardevoir was male.
The two stood facing each other, seemingly communicating through thought alone. After a moment, Ralts let out a pitiful cry. It walked dejectedly over to the Gardevoir, shot one last, disappointed look in Zane's direction, and then both father and daughter vanished from the room.
Zane was completely baffled.
I just went to sleep. What did I miss?
From the Gardevoir's anger, he could guess that Ralts had snuck away from home again. But how in the world did it end up in his dorm room?
Is it because I accidentally saved it? Is this like in the anime, where a grateful Pokémon shows up wanting to be caught?
The idea of that trope actually happening to him in real life felt completely surreal. He belatedly realized he might have just missed out on a huge opportunity.
Then again, he thought, reconsidering, even if Ralts was willing, there's no way its human-hating dad would ever agree to it. Zane could feel the lingering hostility from their first encounter. Getting past that Gardevoir would be a nightmare. The only way to catch Ralts would be to somehow win over its father at the same time.
And catching a father-daughter duo is just... weird.
Besides, he had no chance of beating that Gardevoir in a fair fight. Not unless he sacrificed himself to trigger Cramorant's auto-protect nuke mode, anyway.
He sighed, regretting the missed chance. But Cramorant didn't give him much time to dwell on it.
The next morning, Zane walked into his living room and was greeted by the sight of his bird with a struggling Pikachu in its beak. A stampede of a million Tauros thundered through his mind.
"LET IT GO!" he yelled, horrified.
But it was too late.
The Pikachu, which hadn't been struggling much before, chose that exact moment to retaliate.
"PIKA—CHUUUUU!"
A massive surge of electricity erupted from the Pikachu's cheeks. The bolt of lightning filled the entire room, and this time, Zane felt the full, paralyzing shock.
"GAH!"
Cramorant's beak flew open in surprise. The Pikachu took its chance, squirmed free, and landed on the floor, eyeing the bird warily.
The Thunderbolt ended. Cramorant was completely unharmed. Zane, on the other hand, was not okay.
But to his surprise, as the volts coursed through him, he didn't pass out.
So, humans in this world really ARE a special type of Pokémon, aren't they?!
In truth, Cramorant had absorbed the vast majority of the attack. Only a tiny, residual current had actually reached Zane.
"Pikachu!"
A worried shout came from outside.
"PIKA PI!"
The Pikachu's ears twitched. It immediately leaped out of the open window.
Zane, covered head to toe in black soot, lay on the floor. "Stop," he wheezed, "bringing weird things... back home!"
Cramorant just gave a dopey, "Gah."
Zane wanted to cry.
The door was pushed open, and a little girl, one of his students from his other class, ran in, hugging her Pikachu tightly. Her eyes went wide when she saw the smoking figure on the floor. "Teacher Zane, are you okay?"
Zane coughed out a puff of smoke. "I'll be fine... once the paralysis wears off."
Five minutes later, he was back to normal. The girl explained, "Pikachu and I were just playing by the river when that Pokémon swooped down and flew away with him!"
Zane bowed his head, his face a mask of misery. "I am so, so sorry. It's all my fault. I should have been watching my Pokémon more closely."
"As long as everyone's okay," the girl said, hugging her Pikachu, relieved. "Well, Teacher Zane, I'll be going now!"
Zane personally walked her out. He returned to his room and stared at the blank-faced bird.
Cramorant tilted its head. "Gah?"
Zane sighed. "..."
Someday, it's Magikarp, the other day, it's Feebas. Today, a Pikachu. He didn't even want to imagine what it would bring back tomorrow. If he let this continue, he was half-expecting it to show up with a baby Kyogre one of these days.
"Aaaargh..." Zane groaned, running a hand through his hair.
It was official. He had to start limiting Cramorant's time outside of its Poké Ball.
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