Chapter 2
"-uck," I stared at the newspaper before me, then looked at Mudkip. He cocked his head to the side cutely, curious as to why I was freaking out. "Come on bud. We need to figure shit out."
Ignoring the man with the cigar again, we left to head towards the beach. Once we got there, I took stock of things.
"Okay, Mudkip. The world we're in is called the DC universe… or one of them. I think."
"Mudkip."
"Look, I know it's confusing, but there's like fifty-two different DC universes… Well, more like 104 if you include the dark multiverse."
"Mudkip?"
"Doesn't matter. In the end, no matter what DC universe we're in, we'd have the same problem. Food, water, shelter, and figuring out what to do from there."
In some ways, it was to my benefit that I'd been dropped into another world already. I had experience on my side. That and the fact I'm a huge damn nerd. First, I had to think about where I'd found myself.
Hawaii. I'd never been here before, though like a lot of people I'd dreamed of it. Only so many times you can rewatch cinematic masterpieces like Johnny Tsunami without wanting to visit the place. At least Hawaii was civilized. I mean, there were still some sections of wild territory I could hide in, but at least they had milkshakes.
Actually, milkshakes brought up something else. Namely, money to buy the milkshakes. I had 3000 Pokemon Dollars. All completely useless now.
"Mudkip," I looked down at my bud. He raised an eyebrow at me. Then he looked at one of the Pokeballs on my belt. One I always felt reluctant to open.
"...He's going to be so damn smug," I said.
Mudkip sighed, giving me a little look.
I sighed in return, reaching for my belt and popping off the Pokeball, snapping it open. He appeared in a bright red flash before me.
"Alakazam!" he cried proudly. The Pokemon before Mudkip and I was about a foot shorter than me, with brown fur going from dark to pale across his body, and two long protrusions coming off his nose that looked like a mustache. His three-fingered hands each clenched a spoon. He looked around for a moment. Then his eyes met mine.
I felt a mind press against my own, the telepathic touch not invasive, but questioning. With a bit of a grimace, I let him in.
"What have you done, young one?" the voice said in the tone of an ancient elder admonishing a student. Well, I say voice. Really, it was his thought-speak, his mental thoughts being conveyed directly into my mind. Only Pokemon who had a strong psychic power could do it.
"I've had fuck-all to do with this," I said with a scowl. "Here."
I sent a mental image of what had happened, trying to convey it as clearly as I could.
"As ever, your thoughts are a chaotic mess," Alakazam said with some admonishment. "However, I see what you mean. Much like my world, this one was seen through the lens of fiction in yours… I have to wonder if Team Rainbow Rocket was attempting to access this world, or if Lord Arceus was sending us here."
"My money is on that llama," I said immediately. "Explains how I showed up in the Pokemon world from the start."
Alakazam nodded. "...You have already come upon the problem we must solve. Survival. We are in this world, whatever the circumstances. You have experience with similar places."
"Not Hawaii," I said with some trepidation. "I don't remember anything about the islands."
"A failing of your world's education, I'm sure," Alakazam ignored my glare. "Then we must discover what we can. Without a flying Pokemon on our team, we are left with much more simple forms of reconnaissance."
"Hopefully we're on the Big Island," I said without thinking. I blinked thoughtfully at that. Oh right. I guess I knew a few things about Hawaii, if only from random facts overheard as the years passed, like someone in the Netherlands knowing a few things about Ireland.
"You will need to speak to those who live here, then," Alakazam crossed his arms behind the small of his back, shaking his head. "Get your bearings. If this world truly is a DC universe, we will have enemies we may need to fend off."
"Not likely. Even with you guys, I'm probably going to end up being just one more random guy trying to help, not someone enemies will try to hunt down," my time in the Pokemon world had beaten any concept of how 'special' I was out of me.
"Don't be foolish," Alakazam narrowed his eyes at me. "You may be random. I and your Pokemon are not."
Fair point. Cloning was depressingly common in comics. And Pokemon had DNA, whatever their fantastic powers. For a moment, I thought of Rainbow Rocket. Those guys may have been chumps, but a few Pokemon had been enough to make them dangerous. I could knock those guys out with a couple of punches, but their Machops and Haunters would tear me apart.
Whatever. That wasn't the issue right now.
"Alakazam, can you stay here and make some sort of shelter with Gurdurr?"
"You want me to do grunt work?" he asked pointedly.
"Wouldn't be talking so big if I had gym badges," I grumbled to myself. "And no, I'm not asking you to build it specifically. I'm asking you to keep my favorite construction worker from going nuts."
Alakazam narrowed his eyes. Then he twisted his spoons around before placing them at his waist. "Good point. Then I would suggest we go somewhere more secluded," his voice echoed in my mind. "If Hawaii is as much of a tourist trap as you believe it to be, then I am most surprised we haven't been seen yet."
"..." Mudkip and I shared a look.
"You've already been seen. With a Pokemon," Alakazam sighed. "Very well. Summon the architect."
I grabbed Gurdurr's Pokeball and popped it open. As he was summoned, he twirled his weapon of choice in his hands, a large steel I-beam.
"Gur, GURDURR!" he roared as loud as he could, crowing his dominance to the world.
"Quiet down, you steel-brained buffoon!"
"Calm down," I told Alakazam. "If you sensed someone nearby, you would have told us."
He gave me the sort of look my dad used to when he thought I wasn't getting the point.
"Gurdurr," the rambunctious fighting type stuck his tongue out at Alakazam, then laughed happily.
"You are my least favorite person," Alakazam said with a shake of his head.
Gurdurr stuck his tongue out at him again.
"Get along you two," I said with some trepidation at this duo I was trying to get to work together. "Gurdurr. We need somewhere to live," a glint came into his eyes. "Nothing crazy! Just something temporary. As long as it can block some rain and cold," I looked around the sky. "It looks pretty early in the morning, but I'd rather have the place ready in case Hawaii decides to start a storm."
Not much risk of that, considering how beautiful the day looked, but you never knew.
"...Gur."
"No, it doesn't need a pool."
"Gur, Gur."
"Look, you can add in rooms to a building later, but this needs to be TEMPORARY. Extremely so! It doesn't need a cathedral spire."
Gurdurr gave me a look like I was asking him to betray everything he stood for.
"Dude, we'll build something crazy later," I said with a sigh. Seriously, Gurdurr's were supposed to be obsessed with demolition. Why was mine the only one who loved creating things? And why was that somehow more of a problem?
"We will take care of it," Alakazam said while raising his spoons high. Gurdurr and him traded a brief glare before they nodded at me.
I hesitated for a moment. Then I sighed and nodded. "Come on Mudkip."
"Would it not be better to carry him in his Pokeball?" Alakazam asked pointedly as Mudkip hopped onto my shoulder again.
"If I get jumped by Doomsday falling out the sky, I'd rather have my tiny water cannon out and ready to fight back."
"If Doomsday showed up, you'd die."
"But not as fast if Mudkip is around. He'll go back in by the time we get near people. Right now, I want to make sure we avoid getting blindsided."
"Kip!" Mudkip said with some pride in his voice.
Alakazam sighed as Mudkip and I walked off.
Mudkip slipped back into his Pokeball once we were close to our destination. I went back to the tourist shop, entering inside confidently. I walked up to the cashier, a bored looking older Hawaiian man who had a white t-shirt on. The store was interesting inside. I could see dozens of handmade items, from vases, to bowls, to small Hawaiian paintings and other art. There were also a lot of pictures of the area, with spectacular views of the beach two Pokemon were currently bickering on.
"Aloha," the cashier said with a small smile as I walked in. "What can I do for you, kane?"
"Kane?" I blinked, surprised.
"Means man, boy," the Hawaiian man said with a grin. "You need help looking around?"
"Not really," I said while walking up to him. "I'm actually a bit lost."
"Ah," he looked outside. "You can't find your parents, eh?"
Oh right. I'm in a teenage body. Fucking…
"Nothing like that," I said with a grimace. "It's more that I've been hiking for a while, so I wanted to know if you had a map I could take a look at?"
"Ah," the man nodded, apparently used to dumb tourists getting lost around here. "I gotcha, kane. Here," he turned and rummaged through some stuff before pulling out a map and taking a look at it.
As he did, I linked my mind to Alakazam's. He paused in keeping Gurdurr from building a second story to look through my eyes. It was a trick we'd figured out. Alakazam. One of the smartest Pokemon in existence. And capable of memorizing everything he ever read. Good way to take advantage of that power was to have him do it through my eyes.
As the map was passed to me, I held my gaze steady on it. The man helpfully pointed at one section of the map. "We're right here. The beautiful Waipio Valley!"
"It's a gorgeous place, that's for sure," I agreed, getting a proud smile from the man.
I took a closer look at the map. We were on the Big Island, the largest section of Hawaii. Well, we were a VERY long way off from home. In more ways than one. If I remembered correctly, it was also not very densely populated. It had a lot of people, but not as many as a place it's size could contain. Which meant I had more of a shot at hiding around here. Nice.
"Thanks for the help," I told the man with a smile.
"Sure you don't need anything else?" he said in the tone of a man hoping for a customer.
"I'm good. I might come back soon though," I said quickly, lying as I rushed out of the door. Just then I realized something and stepped back through the door. "By the way, you know Batman?"
"The superhero?" the cashier said, surprised. When I nodded, he grinned. "Yeah, he's on the Justice League, right?"
"Your man out there thinks he's an urban legend," I said with a chuckle, nodding towards the older man outside still smoking his cigar.
"That's Akamai," the cashier rolled his eyes. "Probably doesn't care about anything outside the valley. He still thinks the Civil War was yesterday."
I grinned at that. I knew the type. With a final wave, I headed out.
I walked fast until I was out of sight of people, then brought Mudkip back out.
"We might be better off than I thought," I said to my water bud, stopping to let him back onto my shoulder before I continued walking. "This place may be a tourist hotspot, but if we had to pick a place to hide out on the islands, we've got a chance."
The Big Islands would have lots of wilderness for us to dip into. I didn't have to worry as much about my Pokemon getting kidnapped and cloned, or worse. Not yet, anyways. In the last world, the goal I'd settled on was finding a way to my Earth. Being in DC didn't change that goal. In some ways, it made it both easier and harder. While transdimensional technology in this world was relatively common, it was also guarded by the sorts of people you wouldn't want to mess with.
My right hook and Pokemon could handle things in the world of Pokemon. Most grunts hadn't learned how to fight to the level of martial artists, and I could depend on my Pokemon to take down the superhuman threats.
DC, on the other hand, was chock-full of bad guys who were either martial artists training to kill you with a flies wing, tech geniuses with power armor, or people who used the forces of the universe to crush buildings. Or all three, if you were phenomenally unlucky.
I was pretty sure I was phenomenally unlucky. I'd do my best to build up to hunting down a way to travel home. For right now, the goal was survival.
Mudkip and I got back to the beach after another long walk, finding the secluded section Alakazam and Gurdurr had chosen for our temporary abode. Gurdurr was working on a roof now, tying fronds together. I felt some relief that Alakazam had succeeded in his goal of holding Gurdurr back from going too crazy.
The house he'd made was built with wood, put together so it was a single room large enough for all of us. It must have taken little more than an hour, considering how long the walk was from the beach to the tourist shop. The magic of Pokemon vitality and strength.
"Nice job buddy," I said to Gurdurr.
"...Gurdurr," he said in disappointment.
I sighed. "I know. Don't worry, next time I ask you to build something, you'll be able to go all out," he gave me a narrow-eyed look. "I promise."
He gave me a bright smile at that, nodding. With more enthusiasm, he tied the final piece of the roof, finishing off the house.
"Now, I believe sustenance will be necessary," Alakazam pointed out, the elder Pokemon floating on air, his legs crossed, spoons spinning over his palms.
"I regret wasting my last Lava Cookie while we were fighting in those damn caves," I grumbled. Team Rainbow Rocket really loved their damn poison-types. A Tentacruel had hit me with a Toxic while I'd been choking out his trainer. I'd had to toss her aside and chow down on the restorative pastry to cure the poison coursing in my body.
By the way, Lava Cookies in the Pokemon world are rice crackers. Not cookies with melted chocolate in them. Disappointing. Still delicious, but disappointing.
"Focus," Alakazam admonished me. I sighed and nodded.
"Mudkip, go ahead and head out into the ocean. We'll need some fish. Enough for all of us."
Mudkip nodded firmly, hopping off my shoulder and rushing into the waves, barking excitedly before disappearing under the water.
In the meantime, I pulled out another Pokeball and snapped it open.
In a flash of red light, a small creature appeared. She was red, shaped like a slug, with cute little eyes and a big smile. The tiny thing blinked slowly, looking around as she started moving around. When she saw me, she smiled affectionately.
"Slugma!"
"Hey, girl," I smiled at her and rubbed her head. Slugma felt so warm. Not quite burning, but enough to feel it. "We're gonna need a fire soon."
"You're using a living creature of magma as a lighter," Alakazam said with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm working with my friends to find a way to survive the day, yes."
He didn't say anything to that, only chuckling.
Slugma let out a cute gurgle as she accepted headpats. I looked over at Gurdurr. "I'm going to imagine that you made a chimney in there."
He had the decency to look embarrassed.
"It's fine. Can't stop you from showing off entirely."
"Gur."
"Slugma, can you go light it?"
"Slug!" she said happily, going over to enter the house, Gurdurr watching her nervously as she left a trail of burning leaves.
"I believe, Mahmoud, you are forgetting a few things."
I didn't reply to him, knowing he'd say what was on his mind soon.
"We were sent here by Arceus… Here. Of all places in this world," Alakazam pointed out slowly. "Why this place? Why this time? I know you. While you are proactive in most aspects of life, you do not enter battle unless prompted."
I looked out into the ocean for a moment, thinking. Alakazam watched me, our minds pressed against one another. Then he backed away.
He was right. There had to be a reason I was in Hawaii. In the DC universe. I wrote a fanfic similar to this once upon a few months ago, though the memory of what that story had entailed escaped me now. This was different though. Why had I been sent here?
I pondered that for a moment longer, staring out at the sun beating down on the ocean and beach.
Mudkip brought back a bevy of fish that I didn't know the names of, making sure to get some seaweed while he was at it. The little guy was always worried I didn't eat enough greens.
Slugma had a small fire lit very quickly, so I was soon cooking fish and squid over a flame. With the food cooking, I released my last two Pokemon.
First, my dinoboy.
"Tyrunt!" the miniature T-Rex let out a roar as ferocious as he could make. Which, despite his cuteness, was pretty darn ferocious. He was about the size of a large dog, with most of his body being his massive jaws. He looked around at us, taking in the wooden shelter we were in. Then he smelled the food. Narrowing his eyes, he prowled toward a large fish currently steaming over the fire. "Tyyyyyyy."
"Not even going to say hi?" I said with a grin.
He looked over at me. "...Tyrunt."
Then he looked back at the food, salivating.
I chuckled. Before I could pop the last Pokeball, Mudkip did it for me. My last Pokemon sat briefly on the sand, her yellow outfit flopped over. After a bit, she stood up, her costume popping into its full height. Two long yellow ears with black tips perked up as she looked up at me with her real eyes, two fake ones on the head of her disguise cocking to the side. She cooed at the sight of me, zipping forward to hug my leg.
"Mimikyu!" she chirped.
I bent down and gently rubbed her back. Mudkip hopped over to join us, bumping his head with hers, getting a pleased sound from her. "Hey, girl. We're in a weird spot."
Slugma and Gurdurr walked over to greet Mimukyu, the disguised Pokemon preening at the attention. I sat in the sand and reached to take the fish and squid out of the fire, only for it to float over to me. Alakazam. He spread it out so everyone had a large portion, then we got to eating. As I chewed into some squid, I broke down my plan.
"Here's the idea. First, I wanna head somewhere with a volcano."
Slugma was circling around us. Thanks to her body's physiology, if she stopped moving, she would begin to cool, eventually breaking apart. Thus why she continued to strafe around us while happily eating. At me mentioning volcanoes though, she perked up.
"Yep. We're going jewel hunting," I said easily. "If we head out to the right place we can get something nice. Alakazam?"
"There are some places we may be able to look," Alakazam stroked his mustache. "I will need more information, however. The map that you saw was sadly not informative on active volcanoes."
"We'll head to a town first then," I stroked my chin. For a moment, I missed my beard. As a teenager, all I had was some tiny wisps. "One with a library, or at least internet connection. Find out a bit more about Hawaii. We'll need a raft. Thankfully, I played a video game that taught me how to build that."
"You are saying that specifically to annoy me."
"Little bit. Jokes aside, you feel like giving us a tug?" I asked Mudkip.
Mudkip nodded, eyes sparkling. "Mudkip, Mud!"
Then in that case. "Tyrunt," the small dinosaur looked up at me, his mouth full. It was adorable. "You'll need to stay in your Pokeball for the foreseeable future," he stared at me, surprised. "Just for now. You and Gurdurr."
Gurdurr jumped, annoyed. Tyrunt and Gurdurr let out twin sounds of anger and disappointment.
"Guys, we'll be on a raft, in the middle of water. Tyrunt, you're too heavy. And Gurdurr, you haven't learned how to swim."
Both stilled at that. Tyrunt cocked his head. Then he looked over at Slugma. She was still circling.
"Yeah, Slugma too," I said with some discomfort. Half my team was going to be useless out on the water. Well, not useless. Gurdurr could technically fight really damn well if he had a solid boat to work on. But not a rickety ass raft, where he might fall into a raging ocean and drown.
Better to stick with those who would survive.
Slugma burbled a sound, her sadness clear. Mimikyu went up and hugged her friend, the two girls resting against each other for a moment.
"For now, bed," I said with a sigh. "Tomorrow, we'll head out and find a way to get to the right place. Slugma?"
The small lava monster nodded. She pressed her forehead to Mimikyu before backing up to look at me. I raised my Pokeball and pulled her back into it in a flash of red light.
Slugma, sadly, could never spend as much time with me as the others. She could never sleep. The only rest she could get was in her Pokeball. Anything else meant death.
I pushed the melancholy thought away and laid down on a bed of leaves. Tyrunt rushed to my left side, resting his head along my arm, his tail landing on my belly. Mudkip went to my right, my arm wrapping around him.
Mimikyu carefully removed her Pikachu costume, hanging it up on a random piece of wood sticking out of the wall. I carefully hid my horror at the sight of her true form. While I'd seen it a lot since getting her, I could still never get used to it. She was still cute, but somehow her body filled me with terror as well. She hopped onto my chest and wrapped long eldritch arms around me, letting out horrifying contented sighs.
Alakazam floated on a telekinetic wave of power, his spoons floating over his palms. Gurdurr strode over to the door, carrying his steel I-beam.
"Not going to sleep?" I asked Gurdurr.
He looked back at me. Then he raised his I-beam and slammed it endfirst into the sand, embedding it next to him. "Gurdurr."
He would guard us while we slept.
I frowned. Finally I nodded. "Okay… Wake me in thirty minutes, okay?"
Gurdurr nodded firmly.
The last thing I heard before sleeping were the snores of my infant T-Rex, and the sounds of Gurdurr and Alakazam speaking peacefully.
Author's Note: First night in the new world. Next chapter will be more action-packed, promise. In the meantime, please consider supporting me on , where all chapters show up four days ahead of time for only five bucks. Later!