After a long quiet, with the sound of flying Pokémon chirping in the distance as they passed overhead through the sky above the plaza, their calls echoing softly against the surrounding buildings and mixing with the faint rustle of leaves from nearby trees.
Satoshi reached out and gave Clemont an unexpected firm, reassuring pat on the left shoulder, his hand landing solidly on the fabric of Clemont's jacket and pressing down for a moment before pulling back.
"If I were you." he said calmly, "I would've done the same."
"For someone younger than me, you got guts."
Clemont blinked, surprised by the simplicity and sincerity of his words, his eyes widening slightly behind his glasses as he turned his head to look at Satoshi directly.
He looked like he wanted to explain more, to clarify what he'd meant earlier about things "Starting," his mouth opening slightly as if to start speaking, but Satoshi just gave a light shrug, as if brushing it off, his shoulders rising and falling in a quick, casual motion while he kept his expression neutral.
Whatever it meant, he didn't press.
Didn't need to.
In truth, Satoshi had no idea what Clemont was referring to, his mind turning over the words without any clear connection to what he knew from before. This wasn't how things were supposed to go, not here, not this early, the sequence of events feeling out of order compared to the patterns he remembered.
But Satoshi wasn't about to let that uncertainty show, keeping his face steady and his posture relaxed as he stood there.
He adjusted his visor hat and kept walking, calm as ever, pulling the brim down slightly with one hand to shade his eyes more from the light filtering through the clouds while his feet continued at a steady pace along the path.
"Weird how they'd go straight to kidnapping, though." he mused out loud, his voice carrying into the open air as he glanced sideways at the buildings lining the plaza.
"In the original story timeline, Team Flare was all about secrecy. They didn't start getting loud until the end."
"Original timeline?" Clemont frowned, his brows drawing together as he matched Satoshi's steps and tilted his head in confusion.
"Forget it." Satoshi said smoothly, waving one hand lightly in a dismissive gesture without breaking his stride. "Just talking to myself."
Clemont didn't push further, though the confusion lingered on his face, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked ahead and adjusted his glasses with one finger pushing them back up the bridge of his nose.
But Satoshi's thoughts continued in silence, his mind working through the details without speaking them out.
'In the anime… this whole Mega Wave business doesn't surface until the Mega Evolution specials. That's after Ash reaches Shalour. Which means we've skipped months ahead in plot threads.'
The implications were heavy, each piece connecting in his head like links in a chain that pulled the overall picture into something shifted and unpredictable.
'If the story was collapsing or overlapping into itself, it wasn't just about the pacing—it was about roles. The usual protagonists weren't here. Ash wasn't in Kalos. And now Team Flare was moving differently. Sloppier. More aggressive.'
'Or maybe just more desperate.'
And all that meant one thing: there were no guarantees anymore, no set paths or expected outcomes that he could rely on from what he knew.
No plot armor. No divine timing. No easy save waiting at the eleventh hour, everything resting on the actions taken in the moment without any outside assurance.
Just Satoshi.
He glanced at Clemont, who was still visibly turning things over in his head, his gaze distant as he walked with his hands clasping the strap of the backpack where Aipom Arm attached to it.
"Whatever you destroyed." Satoshi said at last, breaking the quiet between them with his voice steady as he looked forward.
"Someone wants it bad enough to threaten your sister. So if I were you, I'd stop blaming yourself and start preparing. Because they're not going to stop."
Clemont's lips pressed into a thin line, his mouth tightening as he absorbed the words and let out a slow breath. But he nodded, his head moving up and down in a single, determined motion.
"You're right." he said quietly, his tone carrying a note of resolve as he straightened his posture slightly. "I'll triple the security. Check for signal traces. If they were tracking her, I need to—"
"You should also focus on the tech that could protect everyone too." Satoshi cut in, voice firm but not harsh, his words coming out clearly to redirect the conversation without raising his volume.
"I'll keep an eye out on the street."
"…You're volunteering?" Clemont asked, turning his head to look at Satoshi with a mix of surprise and appreciation in his eyes.
Satoshi gave a slight grin, the corners of his mouth lifting just enough to show a hint of confidence.
"Not like I have anything better to do."
And he meant it, the statement fitting the situation as he saw it without any exaggeration.
Because whatever this world was becoming, whatever version of Kalos it had twisted into—it was no longer someone else's story, the events pulling him in directly and making it his own path to navigate.
It was his. And he intended to see it through to the end, step by step until whatever conclusion came.
As they walked, the city's noise began to return around them—soft chatter from people passing by on the paths, the rumble of passing cars on the nearby streets, distant music playing from a shop or performer somewhere in the distance, all blending into the background as they moved along the edge of the plaza.
But Clemont kept glancing at Satoshi from the corner of his eye, his brows knit slightly in thought, his gaze shifting sideways without turning his head fully.
Eventually, curiosity won out, building until he couldn't hold it back.
"…Hey," Clemont said, adjusting his glasses again with a quick push from his finger.
"I don't think I caught your name, sir. And where are you from, anyway? You don't sound local."
Satoshi tensed, just barely, his muscles tightening for a fraction of a second in his shoulders before he relaxed them again.
It was a simple question. Innocent. But it tugged at something much deeper, pulling at the layers of who he was and where he had come from that he couldn't explain directly.
He couldn't exactly say. "I'm from a completely different reality where your world is a game and a TV show." the truth sitting there in his mind but unspoken.
So, he lied—but smoothly, naturally, as if the answer had been rehearsed, his voice coming out even without any hesitation.
"I'm Satoshi," he said with a small smile, extending the introduction casually. "From a small village. Kind of out of the way. Not even on most maps, really."
He shrugged lightly, his shoulders moving up and down in a quick motion to downplay it.
"I'm traveling the world now, just to see what it offer. Kalos is actually my first real adventure."
Clemont blinked, his eyes widening slightly in mild surprise. "First?"
Satoshi nodded, confirming it with a single movement of his head. "Yeah. Just started a while ago."
It wasn't technically false, the words aligning with how things had unfolded for him so far.
Clemont seemed to accept that, giving a small thoughtful hum as he processed it and let the sound trail off. Then he offered his hand, extending it forward with an open palm.
"Clemont. I'm the Lumiose City Gym Leader and welcome to the Lumiose City."
Satoshi pretend to raised an eyebrow, lifting one brow slightly in a feigned show of mild surprise, and shook his offered hand firmly, their palms meeting and gripping for a moment before releasing.
"Didn't expect to run into someone important."
"I don't like flaunting it." Clemont said, sheepish, his cheeks coloring faintly as he scratched the back of his head with one hand. "But I've got a responsibility to the city. And… to Bonnie."
Satoshi simply nodded, acknowledging it without further comment.
There was a pause before Clemont's eyes flicked toward him again, this time with a spark of curiosity lighting up his expression as he tilted his head slightly.
"So, about earlier… Bonnie said you saved her from two Team Flare grunts. But I didn't get to see any of it."
Satoshi glanced at him, cautious, his eyes narrowing just a bit as he waited to see where the conversation was going.
Clemont continued, smiling faintly but with an edge of honest interest, his mouth curving up at the corners while he kept his tone light. "Would you… be willing to have a battle? Just a friendly one. I'd like to see for myself how you fight. You must've done something impressive to catch her attention. She's seen me battle dozens of times and barely looks up anymore."
Satoshi chuckled softly, the sound coming out low and brief from his throat. "Is that so?"
"She said you used moves in a completely different way." Clemont added, more intrigued than competitive, his eyes brightening as he leaned forward slightly. "I'm curious."
Satoshi looked ahead for a moment, his gaze shifting to the open space in front of them, then back at Clemont, meeting his eyes directly.
"…Alright," he said. "You're on."
"Let's see how a Gym Leader fights firsthand."
Clemont smiled, stepping back and pulling out a ball of his own, his feet shifting to create more distance as he held the Poké Ball in his hand.
"Then allow me to formally welcome again you to Kalos, Satoshi."
The battle was about to begin.
Clemont stepped back further, adjusting his glasses with one hand as he tossed a Poké Ball into the air, sending it arcing upward before it opened.
"Let's go! Bunnelby!"
With a flash of light and a familiar cry, the gray-furred rabbit Pokémon landed on the cobblestone with a confident stance, its oversized digging ears twitching slightly as it planted its feet firmly and looked forward.
Satoshi didn't react outwardly. He didn't need to, keeping his expression steady as he observed.
'Bunnelby. Normal-type. Quick reflexes. Fast start, but not great on endurance.'
This much, he already knew, the facts pulling from his memory without effort.
In the anime, Clemont had an Bunnelby—reliable, adaptable, deceptively tricky. Still, information was power, and Satoshi had no intention of underestimating a Gym Leader, even in a friendly match, his mind noting the potential moves and strategies that could come into play.
He exhaled slowly and focused, letting out a controlled breath as he centered his attention on the space between them.
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┃Specie: Bunnelby #659
┃Level: 24
┃Ability: Cheek Pouch
— Moveset —
› Dig – [Ground | Physical]
› Mud-Shot – [Ground | Special]
› Double Slap – [Normal | Physical | Multi-Hit]
› Quick Attack – [Normal | Physical | Priority]
____________________
'Quick attack, huh… so he's swap double team with a priority move?'
Satoshi gave a subtle nod to himself, the movement small and internal as he processed the data, then plucked Zigzagoon's Poké Ball from his hoodie pocket and sent it forward with a flick of the wrist, the ball spinning slightly in the air before opening.
"Here we go, you already fully heal anyways."
In a burst of red light, Zigzagoon landed with a short bark, tail flicking with high energy as his paws shifted eagerly on the pavement, moving back and forth in short steps.
Clemont smiled. "A Zigzagoon? Interesting choice." Raising an eyebrow, cuz he didn't expect him to pull out common Pokémon, his brow arching up as he tilted his head and crossed his arms loosely.
Satoshi simply responded, voice even, without any change in his tone.
"You'll find he doesn't fight like most of them."
He stepped back, slipping one hand into his pocket, his feet adjusting to a wider stance as he positioned himself further from the release point. "Ready when you are, Gym Leader."
The breeze blew faintly through the city street, stirring small bits of dust on the cobblestones and rustling the edges of nearby banners or leaves.
Somewhere nearby, music and life continued, unaware, the sounds of conversations and footsteps carrying on from the plaza beyond.
But here, in this open field, the first true clash between the old world and the new was about to begin.
And Satoshi was ready.
*
To be continued...
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