With eyes closed, a man sighs a long and sad sigh. Slowly, he reopens his eyes, his longing eyes staring at the three words he just wrote on his journal.

"Tsk," he tsk's through gritted teeth. He takes a slow and deep breath to calm himself down, and after releasing the breath he's holding, he slowly closes the journal and places the pen beside it.

He pulls himself away from the small table and slowly lies back down on his bed.

A hospital bed.

Ignoring the many sounds bouncing on the walls and halls, he stares at the ceiling, his thoughts elsewhere.

He closes his eyes as another sigh escapes his lips once again. Reopening them, he turns his gaze to the neighboring bed, where another man lies unconscious.

His frown goes further down as a doctor approaches him.

"Well," the white-coated man says, scratching his head with the dull-end of the pen. "Looks like you're stepping out soon." He smiles a small smile as he watches the man sit up on the bed. He hands him a clipboard and his pen. "I'll just need your signature since your parents aren't here."

He signs the paper on the clipboard rather quickly, and hands it back to the doctor.

"Thanks," the doctor says. "I'll send in a nurse to help you."

He nods and watches the doctor leave. After being lost in his own thoughts for a minute or two, he turns back to the other man lying on the other bed.

He frowns. "...sorry, bro," he whispers, "but as much as I'd like to stay and watch over you, I need to help mom and dad with money now..."

"How exactly are we going to return to your world?" Shock asks as he and his friends watch the blue bird clicking buttons here and there and everywhere.

"Like I just told you guys," Sky starts, and grunts as he pushes the lever up with his head. "Phew... Anyway, this whole place is from my world."

"Right, we got that," Vixie says, and Shock nods at her. "But...how are we going there?"

"One human figured out how to return," Saur says. "You'll use what they have discovered to return."

"Bingo!" Sky smiles a big smile at them. "To be honest, I originally planned to just transport this entire continent back to earth. Would be cool to have Atlantis back in my world, but, heh..." He shakes his head. "World leaders might scramble and race to grab Atlantis tech, and that is going to go pretty ugly pretty quick." He scratches his head with his wing. "That, and your world might wonder where a huge hole in Johto had suddenly come from."

The four friends look at each other and share a mixture of looks.

"Don't worry," Sky assures them as he resumes his task. "I've got this."

"Wrong button," Arceus suddenly says, stopping the blue bird from pressing a button.

Sky winces. "Er, right. I knew that."

Shock frowns and turns to Vixie. "It's not too late to change your mind."

Ears drooping, Vixie stares elsewhere.

After signing a few more documents at the reception area, the man takes a slow breath as he turns toward the exit of the hospital building. Steeling himself, he takes a step towards it, but stops as a thought pops in his head.

He turns back to the nurse behind the counter and asks, "Before I go, is it okay to visit a friend of mine?"

The nurse nods her head. "Of course."

"Her name's Krystal." He shrugs. "Forgot what her last name was."

The nurse inputs the name on her computer, finds a match, and instructs the man of her room and directions on how to get there.

"Thanks," he says with a nod and walks toward where his friend is staying.

Despite the nurse giving him directions on how to get there, the young man asks a few staff he happens to pass by, just so he won't end up getting lost.

Minutes of walking through the hallways of the hospital later, the man enters a large room just like his, where beds for patients are barely separated by thin curtains. Eyes on the numbers on the bed, he finally spots the number he is looking for, stops, and smiles at the young lady sitting on the bed.

"Um...yes?" she awkwardly says, brushing a few strands of her long black hair out of her eyes.

He tilts his head slightly. "I actually pictured you to be..." he pauses, his hand circling in the air like a wheel, "...prettier."

She arches an eyebrow. "Um...okay?" she says as her hand slowly reaches toward the buzzer.

He chuckles and scratches his head. "Fine, fine. I'll stop stalling." He extends a hand towards her. "Jay."

She blinks, and gasps. "Jay? You're Jay?"

He nods.

She stares at his hand, back to him, and back to his hand. She shakily grabs and shakes it. "Erm... N-nice to meet you?"

He arches an eyebrow, wondering why she was blushing. It's not like this is their first meeting. "Likewise, I guess." He then looks at their hands. "...You can let go now."

She let's go with a smirk. "It is you!"

Jay rolls his eyes. "Mind if I sit?"

"Sure!"

He grabs a small chair by her bed and sits on it. A frown—he smiles to—

"You miss them, huh?"

Jay sighs, his gaze falling to the floor. "A lot, yeah..."

She grins at him. "Especially Vixie, right?"

He glares at her.

"Aw, come on," she says. "No need to be all shy and ashamed about it."

"I'm starting to regret paying you a visit."

She chuckles. She smiles at him. "They'll be fine, Jay. Especially her." She winks. "Don't be so frowny. I doubt she'd want you to be like that."

He sighs and hangs his head. "I...hope you're right." He feels her grabbing his hand. Blinking, he looks up at her.

She smiles a supportive smile. "Jay, I know I'm right. Wanna know why?"

He frowns. "I'll bite. Why?"

She lets go and pumps her fist on her chest. "'Cuz I'm a teenager! That's why!"

Jay rolls his eyes, but chuckles nonetheless.

They continue to have random conversations, but eventually Jay needs to head back home. Or perhaps he should visit his workplace first. After exchanging numbers, Jay waves her goodbye.

"I'll try visiting you soon," he tells her.

"Bring a cheese cake or you're not welcome!"

He rolls his eyes, waves the chuckling girl goodbye, and walks out of the room, heading towards the exit.

The sliding doors slide open, and a young man walks out of the large building in frustration. A gust of dusty afternoon air greets him, making him close his eyes, waiting for the breeze to pass.

Adjusting the papers he has in his folder, he sighs and walks down the street with angry steps. "I need to calm down," Jay tells himself as he eyes his favorite hotdog stand.

"—aaaand we adjust the frequency here," Sky mutters to himself as he turns a knob. He then jumps off of that control panel, glides and lands on another. "And input the coordinates here," he says as he types on the keyboard with his primary feathers. He looks up at the screen in front of him, smiles, and nods. "And we're good to go!"

"Finally," Shock remarks, groaning. He and his other friends are lying down on the floor, some fast asleep.

A mechanical sound starts to hum in the room as sparks of electricity randomly erupts in the control panels.

"Whew," Sky says as he lands on the waking Bulbasaur's bulb. He turns and frowns at Arceus standing by the entrance of the room. "You really need to get this place checked out."

Arceus smiles in amusement. "Perhaps in another time," he replies as the monitors on the opposite wall starts to slide up to the ceiling.

And the wall itself starts to slide open, a bright light pouring inside the dim room.

"Oooooh," Fay chirps as she shields her eyes with her paws. "Something shiny!"

The wall finally slides away, revealing a large and spacious room...

...and a large beam of light bursting out from the majority of the floor, and consuming most of the ceiling.

"The heck is that?" Shock asks in shock.

"It's the portal that'll send us to many worlds!" Sky shouts in excitement, even though there's no reason to shout. "I adjusted it so it'll send us back to my world!" Despite him shielding his eyes with his wings, he closes them and starts to rub them. "God damn it! I don't remember it being this bright!"

Arceus lets out a hearty chuckle. "You four may step towards the light," he calmly says as the five turn to him, his appearance looking more godly with all that light from the portal. "Do keep in mind of the many unknowns that will present itself in your otherworldly journey." He bows. "May you have a safe travel."

The other four immediately bow their heads and say their thanks.

Extending his wings, Sky flies up and lands on Arceus' head, smiling down at them. "Well? Go on! Shoo!"

Vixie blinks at him. "And what about you?"

Sky takes a breath and sighs. "I'll follow soon after." He fails to prevent a frown from appearing on his features. "I, uh, still have something to return to mister god here."

"How are we going to find him?" Shock asks.

Sky smiles at him. "Don't worry. You won't be sent to my world until I join you guys, so I'll be your guide."

The Pikachu rolls his eyes. "Of course you will."

Sky laughs. "What? Don't think for one second that you guys have finally gotten rid of me!" He then gestures with his wings for them to go ahead. "I'll guide you guys to the other side, but after that, well, I'll return back to my body, 'cause, y'know, me being a spirit and all."

"Last one there's a stinky egg!" Fay chirps as she quickly runs toward the light with closed eyes.

An otherworldly hum echoes around the room as Fay goes through the portal.

Shaking his head, Saur smiles at his two other friends, and then follows the Rattata through the portal.

Steeling herself, Vixie takes a few blind steps toward the bright light.

"Feels like we're about to die," Shock comments.

"Not helping," Vixie growls.

Shock chuckles and blindly pats his friend's back. "You ready?"

She sighs. "As ready as I'll ever be." A small smile. "Let's go and see Jay again."

And together, the two walk through the portal, a hum echoing from the bright light.

He takes a breath, and sighs through his beak. "Welp," Sky says as he glides down and lands on the floor. He turns around and looks up at the towering figure of Arceus. "It was fun, and thank you for letting me stay, despite my, um..." He frowns and looks away. "My uh, shortcomings."

"You have done it out of love for your brother," Arceus calmly says as he extends a limb and pets the tiny bird's head.

With that done, Arceus pulls his limb back as the Taillow sighs and starts to glow.

Sky looks up to him and winks. "Well, I'll be seeing you, god-dude!"

Arceus nods as Sky is totally engulfed with a white light. "Safe travels, Kevin."

A young man pushes the door of his humble home open and walks out to their backyard, the light from inside repelling the darkness of the night. He looks around, ignoring the sounds of the sleepy chickens inside their fenced chicken house.

"Jay, dear," a feminine voice calls from inside, making him look back. "I just remembered that your dad's probably in the marketplace. I'll go and get him."

He blinks. "'kay, mom!" he shouts back, and hears the front door closing.

He turns back and smiles at the things they have in their backyard, relishing in the feeling of being back home. A cool breeze breezes by, and he uses that as his cue to go back inside—

He notices something from the corner of his eye. He quickly turns back and looks around, trying to find what that...yellow...was.

It was probably nothing, and so with a shake of his head, he goes back inside the house. As his gaze lands on their dining table, a frown forms on his lips as he recalls—

Noises. From outside the front.

Fearing that their trash is being ripped open by strays once again, he quickly runs out the front door with a broom in his hands, and spots something purple dashing away from their trash bag. He lets out a sigh as he walks toward the gate where they put the bag, hearing the door close behind him.

After checking and putting the trash back inside, he wraps the top to a close and tightens it...

...and hears scratching noises from behind him.

He blinks and slowly grabs his broom lying beside him. Now armed, he quickly turns around—

—and gasps.

The Vulpix flinches as she hears the surprised gasp of the human behind her. Ears and tail drooping, she slowly turns around and eyes him wearily.

"V...Vixie?" he breathes out in disbelief.

The Vulpix blinks...

...and blinks...

...and finally, the softest of smiles graces her face.

"Hi, Jay," she greets him.