Chapter 4: What Was Never Gone
The moment Aarav pressed YES, the forest tore away.
Not violently—absolutely.
One instant he stood on Paldea soil, sunlight filtering through leaves, Pokémon moving naturally around him.
The next, there was no ground.
No sky.
No sense of direction.
He was pulled forward so fast his body lagged behind his awareness, the sensation ripping through him like a vertical drop on a roller coaster that never leveled out. His stomach twisted violently, nausea slamming into him as if his organs were trying to escape the motion.
He gagged, breath forced from his lungs.
The speed was unreal.
Air didn't rush past him—space itself folded, stretched, and snapped forward in layers. Colors streaked into incomprehensible lines. His vision blurred so hard it felt like his eyes were vibrating inside his skull.
Too fast—
Then the darkness shattered.
Aarav burst into a vast, endless expanse.
Pokémon.
Thousands—no, tens of thousands.
Entire ecosystems floated past him, suspended in a boundless void, each one self-contained and perfectly stable. He wasn't just seeing individual Pokémon—he was moving through habitats, zones, regions of life.
And he knew them.
His breath hitched.
To his left stretched a wide Paldean plain, golden grass swaying beneath herds of Lechonk and Oinkologne. Smoliv rolled lazily between patches of soil, while Arboliva stood tall and unmoving like living landmarks.
Above them, the sky churned with motion.
Fletchling and Fletchinder streaked through the air. Squawkabilly flocks clashed noisily mid-flight. Far higher, a Kilowattrel glided in slow, effortless arcs, lightning flickering faintly across its wings.
Aarav didn't just recognize them.
He remembered them.
He shot forward again.
The environment shifted seamlessly.
A dense forest enveloped him—thick canopy, layered shadows. Tarountula silk webbed the trunks in familiar patterns. Spidops prowled methodically along branches. Grafaiai watched from hollowed bark, heads tilting in recognition as he passed.
Recognition.
Not curiosity.
Not hostility.
Recognition.
Aarav's chest tightened.
"This is…" he thought, mind racing.
The void carried him onward.
An ocean unfolded beneath him, vast and alive. Finizen leapt joyfully through waves, spinning in arcs he'd seen a hundred times before. Veluza cut through the water with predatory precision. Below them, massive forms drifted slowly—Dondozo, ancient and unhurried, with Tatsugiri riding alongside them.
Aarav's speed slowed slightly.
Enough for detail.
Enough for clarity.
That's when he noticed it.
Some Pokémon shone differently.
A shiny Pawmi, fur a deeper, richer orange, sprinted across a grassy island and looked up as he passed. A shiny Cetoddle rolled clumsily across ice, its pale coloration unmistakable. Far off, slicing through a prehistoric sky, a massive shiny Roaring Moon glided with terrifying grace.
Text flickered faintly near them as he passed.
ATK +21
DEF +14
SPD +18
His heart slammed.
"No…" he whispered.
Memory surged.
Grinding late nights. Team planning. Breeding chains. Optimizing stats. Watching numbers climb slowly, painfully.
A game.
His game.
The one he'd played obsessively.
The one he'd lost.
Five years ago.
He remembered trying to log in. Once. Twice. Again.
Account does not exist.
Gone.
Erased.
"How," Aarav thought, stunned. "How is this here?"
As if answering, his motion slowed again.
Something small collided gently with his chest.
Aarav gasped and instinctively reached out.
A Pichu clung to his shirt, tiny paws gripping fabric, cheeks faintly sparking. It looked up at him with absolute familiarity, tail twitching excitedly.
A second later, a Toxel latched onto his sleeve, eyes bright and alert. A Bonsly bumped clumsily against his leg and wrapped its stubby arms around him.
More followed.
A Happiny floated close, smiling softly. A young Riolu hovered near his side, aura calm and steady, eyes focused on him with quiet trust.
They weren't afraid.
They weren't confused.
They were happy.
They crowded close, clinging, following, orbiting him like they'd been waiting.
Aarav's breath shook.
"…You're mine," he whispered, realization crashing down. "You're all… mine."
It made sense.
Of course they recognized him.
These weren't wild Pokémon.
They were his Pokémon.
The ones he'd raised. The ones he'd trained. The ones he'd logged in every day to care for.
Around them, mature Pokémon reacted differently.
A fully evolved Lucario stood at the edge of its habitat, arms crossed, aura steady—not hostile, not aggressive. Just acknowledging. A massive Garchomp circled from afar, powerful wings cutting through the air, gaze locked on Aarav with something like approval.
No fear.
No challenge.
Respect.
Aarav felt it settle into him like a truth he'd always known but forgotten.
This place wasn't random.
This wasn't a punishment.
This was storage.
Preservation.
Every habitat passed with increasing intensity.
A crystal cavern glowed with Glimmet and Glimmora, light refracting through jagged walls. A volcanic field roared with life as Charcadet, Armarouge, and Ceruledge trained relentlessly, flames and spectral blades clashing in controlled bursts.
Then—
The air warped.
The presence hit him like gravity.
A massive silhouette loomed ahead.
Black and red scales.
Ancient power.
Aarav's breath caught as he passed through the edge of the territory.
Koraidon.
It stood still, massive body grounded, eyes locked on Aarav—not hostile, not aggressive.
Acknowledging.
Beyond it, separated by invisible distance, Miraidon hovered in silent contrast, energy pulsing softly beneath synthetic scales.
Legendary Pokémon.
Contained.
Watching their trainer pass.
The smaller Pokémon clinging to Aarav loosened their grip reluctantly as his movement slowed to a stop. One by one, they drifted away, pausing only briefly before returning to their habitats.
Aarav was left alone.
The void around him darkened.
Silence pressed in.
Then—
Something descended in front of him.
A screen.
Not the small prompt from before.
This one was enormous.
It stretched infinitely upward and downward, lines of cascading light flowing endlessly across its surface. Symbols shifted rapidly, rearranging themselves with mechanical precision.
It radiated weight.
Authority.
Finality.
Aarav swallowed.
"…So this is where you tell me what happened to my account," he muttered.
The screen stabilized.
Text began to form.
And the void went completely still.
[ END OF CHAPTER ]