Third World's the Charm

"I am no stranger to finding myself in strange places suddenly. The first time was when I suddenly woke up in the Pokémon World and on top of that got turned into one. Other times were when either I used an Orb to get my Team the hell out of dodge or a psychic-type thought it was funny to leave me dangling above the next best cliff he or she could find. So, I was actually pretty calm and collected when I suddenly found myself in your world. Aside from one minor thing..."

Tapu-Koko enjoyed flying through the skies of Alola a great deal, so much in fact that it had become part of his morning routine to fly around, while at the same time checking up if everything on the island he was assigned to was alright. He pitied everyone, be they pokémon or human, that wasn't capable of flying. Of course, humans had found a way to mitigate this with airplanes or merely asking a pokémon capable of flight for help, but still most ground dwellers never in their lives experience the wind rushing against their face or the excitement that build up in their stomach when they took a ninety-degree dive.

Speaking of dives, Tapu-Koko decided to take one right into the trees of a nearby forest. Using one of his shields attached to his arms, he protected his face from the incoming branches. When he was about to hit the ground, the guardian deity pulled up and continued his travel between the trees. He didn't even bother slowing down, simply using his superior reaction speed to dodge every tree he might accidentally crash into. This would be impossible for most other pokémon, but Tapu-Koko was no ordinary pokémon.

In a matter of minutes, he had passed almost through the entire forest and would soon come out the other end, where the humans had build one of their cities. Usually Tapu-Koko directly ascended into the sky once again at this point, however, on that day, he did something different. He came to a full stop on this day, because something had caught his attention during his flight. Turning around in mid-air, the guardian deity chose a somewhat casual speed to retrace his steps. It didn't take long for the guardian deity to find what it had spotted earlier.

There was a human lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious. Alarmed, the guardian deity immediately flew down and checked up on the human. It appeared to be a male one of slightly above average height. He had black hair that reached the tip of his ears, wore a grey t-shirt that had a golden, winged badge attached to it. He also wore light-blue shorts and blue/red shoes.

Tapu-Koko moved close to the human's head and held his own above the mouth of the human. Luckily the deity could feel a slow, steady breath coming out of it. At least that meant he was alive. Further inspection of the body also showed no apparent injuries. Still, this was a weird place for a human to take a nap or go to sleep in general.

The electric and fairy-type decided it was best to wake up the human and see if everything was alright. As such he started shaking the human, gently at first, but a little rougher after the first few seconds. The pokémon was about to send light electric shocks through the human, but before he could do so, he heard a groan escaping the throat of the human on the ground. Tapu-Koko flew a little bit backward and watched as the human male slowly stirred awake. At first, he moved up one arm and put it on his stomach. Then slowly but surely he moved up his upper body, supporting it by using the other arm.

"Ow..."

More groans escaped the human, as he slowly rubbed his hand over his stomach. He tried opening his eyes, but got blinded by the light of the sun and closed them again. In order to mitigate that, he turned his head around and opened his eyes again, revealing their color to be a mix of green and brown.

"Oh man," the human spoke with a sore throat. "My stomach feels like it's been on a rollercoaster." The human set up and took a look at his surroundings. The guardian deity watched with slight worry, as the humans eyes shot wide open as if he had been woken up by lightning. His concerns only increased, when the human male suddenly sat up, only for his stomach to seemingly act up. He groaned in pain and curled into a half-ball.

"Are you not feeling well?" The question came out of Tapu-Koko's mouth on instinct. Of course, he knew humans couldn't understand his exact words, but at least they could interpret the tone in his voice. And while he usually only interacted with humans that had taken his interest, but he wouldn't just leave the human be, just because he wasn't interesting to the guardian deity.

"Man..." the male human groaned and turned his head to where he heard Tapu-Koko's voice coming from.

"Huh, what?" the human mumbled and blinked a couple of times. The guardian deity waited for the human to gather himself before he would speak up again. Said human rubbed his eyes with his arm, before looking up again. Almost as soon as he did, the hairless monkey jerked backward, taking Tapu-Koko slightly by surprise.

"What the hell, a pokémon?!" the human shouted on top of his lungs.

"Huh, what?!" Tapu-Koko shouted being surprised himself, not expecting this reaction, although in hindsight he should have expected something like this.

"Wait a second," the human continued "TAPU-KOKO?!" the human shouted even louder, than before, something Tapu-Koko thought was not possible.

"What the hell?!" the male human looked around in a frantic fashion. His head snapped around so fast, the electric and fairy-type half-expected it to come off, like a poorly made disguise of a Mimikyu. Finally, his eyes fell upon the pokémon once again.

"Okay, gotta stay cool, gotta stay cool," the human said to himself. "It's not the first time this has happened."

"Not the first time?" Tapu-Koko repeated, crossing his arms and tilting his head. "Do you fall asleep on the forest floor all the time?"

The human's expression turned into a deadpan. "Hilarious, dude. I wanna see you stay cool when you get randomly teleported somewhere in the middle of the day."

It was the pokémon's turn to jerk backward. "What?! Did you understand me?" the deity inquired.

"Gngh," the human flinched and rubbed over his stomach again. "Yeah man. I can understand you. Ungn..."

For a couple of seconds, Tapu-Koko could only stare at the human in front of him, as he was wincing in pain. Sure the guardian deity had heard of so-called pokémon interpreters, but those humans mostly relied on reading body language or so he had been told. But this one, did he really understand Tapu-Koko? He decided to test it.

"If you can understand me, then tell me what type Geodude is," the deity demanded.

"Normal or Alolan variant?" the human asked in return between groans. "Fuck it, in Alola it's rock-electric, everywhere else rock-ground."

Now Tapu-Koko was convinced that this human indeed understood him. He may not have been interesting before, but now he was fascinating indeed. However, the human was also hurting and this needed to be addressed immediately.

"Is there any way I can help you?" the pokémon asked. What followed was the stomach of the human making all kinds of rumbling noises that didn't sound healthy at all. Tapu-Koko grew even more worried, but it looked like the human was relaxing a bit.

"I don't take teleports all too well," the human explained. "Here we go." The human put both hands on the ground and pushed himself up.

"Be careful," Tapu-Koko advised and flew right next to the human, making sure he didn't fall to the ground. Luckily it looked like the human managed to keep his balance and stood straight up. The human proceeded to stretch himself, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Not really," the human shook his head. "But I'll manage. I'm actually more worried that I just got teleported into a random place. Again."

"Again?!" the pokémon echoed. "Wait, are you saying a pokémon teleported you into this forest?" the guardian deity asked. The human looked at the pokémon and nodded.

"Most likely. At least that was the case all the other times some psychic-type pulled a prank on me," he explained with a pained expression. "I can count on one hand how many times I actually wanted to be teleported somewhere. Anyways, that's not really important right now."

"Oh, I disagree," Tapu-Koko said sternly. "If there is a pokémon out there on this island that teleports people for fun to some place or other, then I need to have a stern talking to him or her."

"Eh..." the human put his hands behind his head, a sheepish smile appearing on his face. "Have you ever heard of a country called Germany?"

Tapu-Koko looked dumbfounded at the human.

"By the way, my name's Sebastian. Just call me Seb, though. Nice to meet you."

While Tapu-Koko and Sebastian were getting acquainted with each other, two pokémon that are already very well acquainted with each other were wandering on the beach. These two pokémon were the electric mouse Pikachu and the disaster-pokémon Absol. Each of them wore a red scarf around their neck with the Pikachu having a golden badge attached to her piece of clothing. Additionally, the Absol had a pink box with white lit strapped around her body and was carrying it dutifully. As the two pokémon followed the sandy beach, they drew the occasional curious glance from the one or other human.

"I have seen a lot of things in my life," the Absol spoke, as she looked around "but I never thought I would ever see so many humans at once." The dark-type looked down at her friend when she saw sparks escaping the red cheeks of the electric-type. "Are you alright?"

"Grr, I am not sure whether to be happy or to be furious," Pikachu explained, to which Absol raised an eyebrow. "A part of me wants to hug Jirachi for the opportunity he has given us, while the other part of me wants to deep fry him for screwing up so much."

Absol let out a sigh. "I told you I had a bad feeling about this. And Jirachi himself told us he had no idea what would happen."

"I know, I know," Pikachu angrily waved with her paw. "I was the one who insisted on going through with this, even though I knew it was risky. I should be happy that we at least get the chance of seeing him again. All we have to do now is to find him."

"Easier said than done," Absol mused. "We have never seen him in his human form. And there are so many of them. I don't know which one we should ask for directions first. Do any of them even know who Sebastian is?"

Pikachu let out a frustrated sigh and frowned. But just as quickly as it appeared, his frown was replaced with a smile, as a metaphorical light bulb appeared above her head.

"We can show them my badge!" she exclaimed, holding out her scarf. "I'm sure Seb has worn his badge a ton of times! Someone has to have seen him wearing it! That way we should be able to find him in a jiffy!"

Absol thought about the suggestion for a bit, before nodding. "This might actually work. Although given the number of humans in this area, it might still take a while to get the information we seek. Let's start with this one over there."

Absol pointed with her paw towards a brown skinned human with white hair. Like most humans, he wore a lot of clothing, most of which the dark-type had no idea of what it was called, as pokémon usually had no use for such things.

"Okay, let's go!" Pikachu ran ahead and Absol followed swiftly.

Back with Tapu-Koko and Sebastian, the guardian deity was currently leading the human out of the forest and towards human civilization. Using the opportunity of having a human as a conversation partner, Tapu-Koko asked a lot of questions and Sebastian answered them to the best of his abilities.

"I have a simple job," the human explained currently. "I handle the cash at the company I work at or rather, I am currently being taught how to handle all the money that goes in and out of the company. It's pretty boring, but I was always good with numbers, so it was a given that I would get a job like that."

"It took me a long time to grasp the concept of currency," Tapu-Koko admitted. "Humans used to trade with goods, like fruits and tools in exchange for other things. And even though it has been so long, I still don't see the benefit of having one thing to get you everything."

"Think of it this way. You need some tools from a smith. You're a farmer that grows berries. So you trade the berries to get the tools. Now, imagine a having growing vegetables. He too needs tools, but the smith doesn't want vegetables. However, the berry man wants vegetables. So the vegetable guy trades with the berry guy and then he can trade the berries for tools. Now imagine a fourth human, this one selling stones to build houses. He needs tools. The smith doesn't want the stones, the berry guy doesn't want the stones, but the veggie guy wants them. So he trades with the veggie guy, then with the berry guy and then he can go to the smith. Are you following me?" Sebastian asked with a teasing grin.

To his credit, Tapu-Koko appeared to be not entirely confused. In fact, it seemed as if he had figured out what his temporary companion was getting at.

"So, since everyone wants something else, it is easier to address everyone's needs by having something that everyone wants," the guardian deity deduced.

"That's the basic idea behind money," the human nodded in confirmation.

"Hmm..." Tapu-Koko was thoughtful for a couple of seconds, before asking his next question. "Do you work together with pokémon?"

"Not at my place," Sebastian shook his head. He needed to climb over a fallen tree in order to follow the guardian deity. "I know they do it at other places, but not at my company. And I'm pretty sure there isn't a pokémon out there that enjoys sitting for six to eight hours a day while doing nothing but math all day."

"That does sound boring," Tapu-Koko admitted. "What do you do for fun then?"

"Mmm, not so much, to be honest," Sebastian shrugged. "I play cards with colleagues during break time, I go to the gym to train once or twice a week and I play video games. Oh, but I also love just wandering around my home and get lost."

Tapu-Koko blinked. "You love to get lost?"

The human smiled wistfully. "Well, I love to explore places I have never been to. I actually wanted to become an explorer when I was a kid. That was didn't work out, so I did the next best thing and turned exploring into a hobby of sorts. I'll just take a direction and see where I end up." The human grinned at the pokémon, who in return just looked at the hairless ape curiously.

"You're an odd human."

"The fact that I can talk to pokémon didn't tell you that already?" he asked.

"Ah yes," Tapu-Koko nodded. "I am rather curious. How come you can understand pokémon?"

Sebastian didn't answer immediately. He bit his lower lip and contemplated about his answer a little bit, before saying something. "I am not sure you're going to believe me." The human hesitated for a little bit and the guardian deity waited patiently for the answer to come. Sebastian looked at the pokémon with worry, before sighing and telling him.

"I got turned into a pokémon once. A cyndaquill to be precise."

The human fully expected the pokémon to denounce his claim, saying that this was impossible. However, to the surprise of the hairless ape, the guardian deity remained silent for several minutes and looked at the human during the entire time. Sebastian was getting nervous but didn't dare to say anything else, knowing from experience how easy it was to anger legendary pokémon.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the guardian deity nodded. "I believe you."

"Say what?!" Sebastian exclaimed in surprise and shock. "Just like that?!"

The electric and fairy-type looked straight ahead, his expression hard to read. "I have lived for a long time, Sebastian. I know when someone blatantly lies to my face," he explained. "I have also seen many things happening that most would consider impossible. The fact alone that the two of us are having a conversation is proof enough for me."

"Er... thanks. Haha, I wasn't expecting you to believe me like that, honestly," the human scratched the back of his head.

"I would love to hear the story as to how you came to be a pokémon," the guardian deity inquired.

Sebastian's smile disappeared and was replaced with a thoughtful expression. "That... that is something I never managed to figure out." He looked to the ground and stopped in his tracks. Tapu-Koko accidentally flew a bit too far and needed to backtrack in order to stay right next to the human.

"I... being a pokémon wasn't all bad. In fact, I had a lot of fun and made more friends than I have as a human. Still, even with the help of my pokémon friends, we never really found out who was responsible for this. We did find a way to turn me back into a human though." The human male sighed wistfully. "It's a pretty long story."

The guardian deity chuckled goodheartedly. "I can imagine it must be. I take it you had some trouble getting used to your new body."

"You have no idea," the human grumbled and continued walking. "Since I was a fire-type, all of a sudden it hurt taking a bath. Pikachu practically dragged my ass into the river every other day." He shivered. "One time she went as far as to paralyze me. Granted, I was doing my very best to avoid taking baths, read running away and or hiding underground. Hey, don't give me that look! I was a male teenager at the time! Hygiene isn't on top of their priority list!"

Tapu-Koko burst out laughing. "That has to be the silliest excuse I have ever heard!" the deity exclaimed between fits of laughter.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, will ya? Aren't you supposed to be some kind of deity? And aren't deities supposed to be, you know... dignified or something?"

The only response Sebastian got was a mischievous smirk on the guardian's part. The conversation would have typically gone on for a bit more, but as it turned out, the two had reached the place where Tapu-Koko wanted to bring the human, namely the Pokémon School.

"Holy cow!" Aforementioned human exclaimed when he saw the impressive complex right in front of him. "This place is bigger than the sports stadium back at home!"

"It is quite impressive," Tapu-Koko agreed. "As I understand it, the humans on this island build this in order to teach their young about Pokémon and other things."

"Now that's a school I'd actually be happy to visit," Tapu-Koko's temporary companion stated.

"So, this is the place you mentioned earlier?" Sebastian faced Tapu-Koko. "You think the people here can help me?"

"Indeed," the pokémon nodded.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye then? I definitely owe you one."

"Oh, I'm not parting ways with you as of now."

"You're not?"

Tapu-Koko smiled at the human. "Would you mind doing me a favor?"

"I am not sure if you have thought this one through..." Sebastian said concerned, now following the guardian deity onto the school grounds. "I may have been a pokémon at one point and experienced my fair share of battles, trust me. But I am not a trainer, not even by a long shot."

"On the contrary," Tapu-Koko disagreed. "The fact that you have participated in battles yourself gives you a unique perspective that any other trainer is lacking."

"Maybe, but I usually don't tell other pokémon to use "that" attack or perform "x" maneuver, when the enemy uses move "y." Plus, it's been years since my last real battle," the human argued.

"Do not worry. You won't be battling today. And I am sure you have not lost all of your experience, have you?"

Sebastian let out a sigh and shook his head. "Can't really say yes or no to that question, honestly. Well, I do owe you for getting me out of that forest, so if we don't want to embarrass ourselves, I at least need to know your move set."

"Move set?" Tapu-Koko repeated.

"You know, the attacks you know. Like, I know all of you guardians have a special attack that-"

"TAPU-KOKO?!" multiple voices exclaimed, interrupting Tapu-Koko's companion. Both pokémon and human had not noticed that they had found the human they had been looking for. This particular human was not alone, however. In fact from the looks of things, there was a small banquet going on, where pokémon and humans alike were enjoying their meals. Or rather they had been enjoying their meals until the two newcomers arrived. Now every single one of them was busy staring at the guardian deity and by proxy at the human accompanying him.

Tapu-Koko and Sebastian in the meantime had their gazes fixed on the one person Tapu-Koko wanted to challenge. Sebastian had had his suspicions before, but now that he saw the one and only, never seemingly aging Ash Ketchum in front of him, he knew he had landed in the anime "dimension" of pokémon. And the best part was, he only found the time to watch the first three episodes of the new season.

"Another blind "playthrough" I guess," the human muttered, chuckling at the joke that probably only he would understand at this point in time. "Alright Arceus, bring out the butter. I'm going to make toast."