Is he paying enough attention to be able to distinguish between "a busy city street in Los Angeles" and "a literal forest"?

Does it count if he does so by running directly into a tree.

Why is there a tree in the middle of Tower Plaza??? He's pretty sure that wasn't there earlier?? Did he accidentally go up to the top floor somehow and not notice?

He blinks tears out of his eyes and tries to look around.

Trees! Trees everywhere! Not a building in sight!

?????

He is pretty sure buildings are not supposed to do that???

Is there literally anything besides trees?

There's lots of grass! It's really tall, for grass.

There's ... a big rock? A big tree stump? Near the tree stump there's what looks like part of a fence, except it's not clear what exactly it's fencing in.

There's a bit of a gap between some of the trees. It looks like it could maybe be a path.

He starts walking towards the maybe-path. It's kind of annoying to wade through the grass but it's not that hard.

Some sort of weird grey-and-pink creature holding a giant log jumps out of the grass and takes a swing at him!

??????

Can he run away again?

It's pretty slow. He can probably outspeed it.

Unfortunately, it's blocking the way to the path, so he doesn't really have many places to run.

He screams.

His voice is a little hoarse, for some reason.

No one is going to save him and he's going to die in the middle of this random forest because he ran away rather than having the guts to stand up to his pops and probably no one will ever even know or care.

A man comes running with a lasso.

Instead of using the lasso on the weird grey thing, he throws a red-and-white ball and a dog that was absolutely not small enough to fit in the ball comes out.

maybe he's in a coma or something and this is all a bad dream

He tries to figure out what the dog has to do with any of this.

It appears to be fighting the grey thing! The grey thing is hitting the dog at its weak spots but the dog is a lot faster.

If he's paying close attention, he might notice that the dog isn't wearing a blue coat, its fur is just actually partially blue.

...At least if the weird animals are fighting than neither of them are attacking him?

Eventually the grey thing appears to fall unconscious. It doesn't really look very injured but it's definitely not trying to fight anymore.

The man with the lasso holds up his ball. There's a flash of light, and the dog disappears.

"What are you doing here without your Pokémon, kid? Pinwheel Forest is dangerous. You're lucky I was on patrol."

He has no idea what a Pokémon is, but if he says that then Lasso Man will think he's stupid. Lasso Man will admittedly be right about that but that's not the impressment he's hoping to make.

"I lost it."

Why is this kid trying to lie to him about why he's in the middle of the forest with no Pokémon. Is he trying to get himself killed. You can't just lose a Pokémon.

...Although on second thought, he did see a couple of Team Plasma grunts running around. If the kid's Pokémon was stolen, that would explain how he got here, why he doesn't have his Pokémon, and why he's been crying this whole time.

"...Because of Team Plasma?"

"...Yeah."

He really does not want to try to pick a fight with Team Plasma. Rumor among rangers is that most of them kind of suck at battling, but supposedly they don't play fair. He could take one of them, but he probably can't take four at once.

"Why don't I escort you back to town and you can file a report with the gym?"

"That would be much appreciated."

He has no idea what sports have to do with anything but he would definitely rather be in a town than in the middle of this forest.

Lasso Man sprays something out of a green can that looks kind of like bug spray and starts walking.

They are not accosted by any more weird grey things on the way back to town. A couple of people do try to approach Lasso Man for unclear reasons, but they back off when he shakes his head and tells them he's on "official ranger business."

Then eventually they will arrive at a small town. The houses distinctly remember miniature warehouses, and the sound of an accordion is coming from a side street.

He really doesn't like big cities. He does his best to hide it. The kid is already freaked out enough.

............He had kind of been hoping that "back to town" would mean Los Angeles. Which was probably stupid, but go figure.

Lasso Man stops in front of a large building with vaguely neoclassical architecture. 

"You coming inside or staying out here?"

"I'll come inside." Approximately the last thing he wants to do is leave the person who can protect him from weird grey things with logs.

The interior resembles a natural history museum. There's something that could be a T-rex skeleton, if it didn't have wings.

Maybe it's a polydactyl or something.

Lasso Man walks up to someone in a lab coat. 

"Hawes. Good to see you." (It's not.) "Is Lenora around? We have a report to file about some Plasma activity, and I'd really like to get it over with quickly" because I hate anything that's not a forest "because I'm supposed to be on patrol right now and I don't want to miss anything important."

"Wow! I'll go get her right away!"

He runs off.

"I hear Team Plasma is in the area again, is that right?"

"Yeah, they stole this kid's Pokémon. Found him all by himself in the middle of the forest."

She turns to Sebastian. "I need as much information as you can provide about the incident and about the missing Pokémon. I don't know how long it'll take us to locate the people who stole it, but I want to be sure we can return it to you."

In hindsight he should probably have just told them the truth. But if Lasso Man thought he was this much of an idiot maybe he'd have just left him in the forest?

"I'm not from around here, so I'm not sure if you'd recognize it." Wow, that's incredibly suspicious. "Its name was ... Blaise. The man who took it has a burn mark on his chin, but he might be wearing a fake beard."

She was kind of hoping for a species name here — 'Blaze' is probably a fire-type, but that doesn't narrow down the possibilities very much, especially if she has to consider possibilities that aren't native to Unova. 

"Can you tell me anything else about it besides its name?"

He shakes his head.

He's crying again.

"Can you show me your trainer card?" Wait, no, if he's not from around here he might be from one of the regions that doesn't use trainer cards. "Your ID."

Sure, he can show her his school ID card. It's not like he had to give it back when he graduated.

What. What sort of useless trainer ID doesn't even had basic information like the number of badges he has? Even ignoring that, do you have to get the plastic card reprinted every time something changes?

She notes down his name, which is just about the only information of relevance on the entire card, and gives it back to him.

(She doesn't recognize the school name, either, but he already said he wasn't from around here.)

He ... has no idea what he's supposed to do now. 

...Oh, right. The kid's only Pokémon was stolen, and they don't have any leads on finding it, beyond just battling Team Plasma grunts until they find one who knows anything. It makes sense that he's freaking out.

"Technically we're not supposed to give starters out to people who already have a Pokémon, but given the circumstances, I think I could make an exception," she says. "Is that something you'd be interested in?"

He nods. He doesn't actually know what half of those words mean but it's clearly the answer she's looking for.

In that case, she can lead him through the museum into a small library. One of the bookcases is off-center, like it was somewhat hastily shoved aside, and next to it is a small staircase leading down.

The room downstairs resembles a study, though there are a few dusty museum exhibits as well. Lenora retrieves three red and white balls that look like the one Lasso Man had.

"As a Normal-type specialist, I'm afraid my options might not be the most useful for Pinwheel Forest," she says apologetically. "With that being said, would you prefer Lillipup, Patrat, or Audino?" She taps each of the balls in turn.

Probably if he asks her what any of those are she'll think he's an idiot, and if she thinks he's an idiot then maybe she'll stop helping him and won't give him a 'Pokémon.' She said they were all normal, so hopefully that means none of the options are too bad. 'Audino' sounds like it might have something to do with music, and he knows more about music than rats. 

He taps the third ball. "I'll go with this one."

Then she will transfer the Audino's trainer registration to him! This would be easier if his ID card listed his trainer ID, but it's not actually any more difficult than it would be to transfer it to a complete novice trainer, and she does that all the time.

It sure would be great if he had any idea what he was supposed to do with this ball!

He thanks her, takes the ball, and goes back upstairs.

Oh good, he seems to have things under control now. He looks to be a teenager, unless his region is very unusual he surely has years of experience by now.

The library is right where he left it. There are several neatly-organized bookshelves, with stepladders next to them; a few of them have people reading near them. There are smaller signs on the bookshelves that appear to be labels, though apart from the bookcase right next to him, he's too far away to read them.

The bookcase next to him is labelled "Pokémon." There's an elementary-school-aged girl leaning against it, wearing a blue dress. 

Finally, something helpful. He goes to take a closer look at the books on that shelf.

"Hey! Just because Lenora already gave away the answer doesn't mean you can get out of battling me!"

She reaches for a red-and-white ball attached to her bookbag.

He does not want to get into a sparring match with a seven-year-old! 

He sprints out of the library.

"Hey! You can't do that! Get back here!"

He is absolutely not listening to her. He is getting out of the building as fast as he can.

The city looks pretty much the same as when he left it. It's still mostly warehouses. There's a building with a patio off to his right and a tall building made of blue glass a few blocks away.

Are there any empty-looking buildings, or alleys, or anything else that wouldn't be full of people or grey things with logs?

It's kind of hard to figure out what's likely to have grey things with logs unless you know things about grey things with logs.

None of the warehouses are obviously empty, though probably some of them are empty and just not being obvious about it. There's an alley off to his left that doesn't seem to have any living creatures (of any species).

He presses his back firmly against the walls of the alley and cries.

Pops was lying, obviously he was lying, but he, he must have had a reason, if he'd told the truth everyone would have thought he was guilty and he can't be guilty, he and Mom are the only ones who have ever cared about him and his mom's been missing for years. He helped Sebastian become a prosecutor, if everything he said was true he's the only reason Sebastian was able to do even that much, and Sebastian was too useless and stupid and scared to figure out what was happening. 

And even if he knew exactly what happened, it wouldn't matter, because he's stuck somewhere full of dangerous wildlife and seven-year-olds that want to fight him, with no idea how to get home. 

He was supposed to be prosecuting a trial today. And the killer there was one of Pops's friends, too, but she must have done it, he was there when she confessed, but if his pops is in prison and he's stuck here then no one is going to know where to find the evidence and maybe she'll go free. (Maybe they'll postpone the trial, with him missing and the defense attorney dead, but that won't matter. They can't convict her without evidence.)

Theocratically there's no point being upset about something he can't possibly affect but that's absolutely not stopping him.

He is not interrupted. 

If he's out here long enough it's going to get dark. It's fairly quick, once it starts.

Probably he just wasn't paying enough attention to the time of day.

He should find somewhere to stay for the night, ideally somewhere that sells food. Unfortunately, he doesn't know anyone here and he might or might not have any locally valid currency.

The obvious thing to do would be to go back to the library and ask, if it's still open. But if he goes back to the library then he might have to fight a child and he really does not want to fight a child.

That leaves him with the warehouses, the blue glass building, the forest he was in before, or the alleyway he's in now, and he doesn't particularly feel like trying to sleep outside in April. He heads for the glass building. If that doesn't pan out he'll try the warehouses next, but there are a lot of them, and he doesn't have much way to distinguish between them.

Inside the glass building, various people dressed for travel are hanging around a table. To Sebastian's right, there's a counter with two clerks, which appears to go along with some kind of mini-store. In the back of the room is another counter, with a woman standing behind it and several unfamiliar machines. On either side of the back counter are staircases leading upstairs.

He does his best to look confident and approaches one of the clerks.

"Excuse me, but I'm new to the area. Can you tell me where travelers usually stay overnight?"

"Here in the Pokémon Center, same as most places. We'll be dimming the lights in a couple hours." He gestures at the floor near the table. "You can set down your bedroll wherever, as long as you're not getting in anyone else's way. Lodging is free, food costs extra."

In hindsight not eating for basically an entire day was probably a bad idea. In his defense he hadn't noticed how late it was getting.

"How much for a meal?" Does this place take dollars?

The clerk points at the shelf behind him. "Sandwiches are five hundred Pokédollars, muffins are a hundred twenty five, Casteliacones are a hundred but we're actually out of those, packaged snacks are five hundred."

If he can see the price tags from here, the symbol looks like someone got creative with a P.

...

What sort of sandwich costs five hundred dollars???

...Actually, if he ignores the completely ridiculous name, it kind of looks like the symbol for yen. (Sebastian, being American, is of course capable of recognizing this.) He doesn't remember the currency conversion off the top of his head well enough to know if that's a reasonable price but it's not like he's carrying yen on his person anyways. 

He's awfully hungry, though.

"I'm not from around here and I haven't had the chance to change my money yet. Is there anything you'd be willing to pay me to help with?"

"...Everywhere I've ever heard of uses Pokédollars. I'm not allowed to let customers battle for their stuff, sorry."

??????

"I wasn't asking to fight with you...?"

This clerk is so tired of working retail. "Look, kid, can you pay for the sandwich or not?"

"Give him a break," says the other clerk. "He's clearly had a long day." He turns to Sebastian. "We're not hiring right now, but we do buy pretty much anything, if you've got anything to sell."

He thinks for a few seconds.

He has:

• His clothing. Technically he could sell his jacket or his gloves, as long as the weather doesn't get any colder.
• His prosecutor's badge.
• His baton.
• His cellphone... nevermind, he must have left it back at the Grand Tower.
• His wallet, with his school ID, regular dollars, and house key.
• The ball with an "Audino," whatever that is.

He unpins his badge. From what Pops said, it's not like he really deserves to be wearing it anyway.

"How much will this sell for?"

The second clerk frowns at a price chart. "I've never seen anything quite like this, but it kinda looks like a star piece, don't you think?" He elbows the first clerk.

The first clerk isn't really seeing it but hey, whatever gets him out of this conversation fastest. "Yeah. Sure."

"I can offer you 4900 for it," says the second clerk.

That's ... about ten sandwiches. But it's not like he really has other options.

"That's acceptable. While I'm here, I'd also like to purchase a sandwich."

The second clerk takes the badge and hands him a sandwich and some money. "Anything else I can do for you today?"

He shakes his head and goes to sit on the rug near the table. He unwraps the sandwich and starts to eat it. 

The packaging says "MADE IN PALDEA" on it. It tastes strongly of pickles.

He has no idea where Paldea is. Maybe it's one of those small countries that no one pays much attention to, like Allebahst.

"...Do you want to sit at the table?" asks one of the people sitting at the table. "There's an open seat."

She looks about twelve.

He would really rather not.

He flourishes his baton. "I'd be happy to."

The table-sitters move around to make room. In addition to the girl, there's a teenage boy and a man wearing an enormous backpack.

"What brings you to Nacrene City?" asks the man with the backpack.

He would also like to know the answer to this question!!!

"Someone from Team Plasma stole my Pokémon, and the person who rescued me brought me here."

He glances at the Pokéball that Sebastian is very obviously carrying. "Did you get it back, then?"

"No, but Lenora let me have one of her starters." 

Hopefully he's not saying anything too ridiculous.

"Well, I hope someone tracks down your Pokémon soon! It's kind of ridiculous that the League hasn't put a stop to Team Plasma already."

"Giving speeches isn't illegal," says the twelve-year-old girl. "Even if they're stupid speeches."

"Stealing Pokémon is illegal."

"If they're breaking the law, then why hasn't the 'league' stopped them yet?"

"Because they can't just arrest everyone associated with Team Plasma just because some of them are breaking the law," says the guy with the backpack.

"Because Alder sucks at his job," says the teenage boy at the same time.

"He doesn't suck," says the backpacker. "He's just ... busy."

"Who's Alder?"

".......The current champion?" says the teenage boy.

"He said he wasn't from around here, weren't you listening at all?" says the girl.

"Well, maybe I just wasn't eavesdropping!"

So there's some sort of league of police officers, or possibly of prosecutors, who's supposed to be in charge of investigating crimes, and Alder is presumably in charge of it? If they're basically the police, then does that make Alder basically Damon not everyone who sucks at their job is in on a conspiracy.

"That's right. I'm from quite far away, so I don't know very much about your government yet."

"It's not like anyone else in the League has done a particularly great job of stopping Team Plasma either," says the backpacker. "I mean, has Lenora caught the people who stole this guy's Pokémon? No!"

Oh no, is he going to get Lenora in trouble for not catching a made-up criminal? 

"—Sorry. I know that's probably a sensitive subject."

"I only reported it a few hours ago." That'll buy Lenora until tomorrow, at least.

The conversation turns to a TV show called Eyes on Unova, and eventually the lights go dim.

He lies down on the rug, rolls up his jacket into a makeshift pillow, and falls asleep.

It's surprisingly easy, given everything that happened. He was up awfully late questioning Kay last night.

The lights turn on again at 5:00 AM the next day.

Why is he lying on a rug. Where is his pillow. Where is his—

Oh. Right.

The people he was talking to last night are packing up their things for the day. The clerks and the person at the other counter seem to have swapped out for new people wearing the same uniform.

He goes over to the counter and counts out some not-yen. "One muffin, please."

The clerk hands him a muffin. "You know, we do sell adventuring gear..."

He has a few day's worth of expenses and no obvious prospects of making more money. "How much does it cost?"

The clerk turns the price sheet so it's facing him. A bedroll is 1000 Pokédollars. The clerk thinks he might also be interested in a bag (1800 Pokédollars), some Pokéballs (200 Pokédollars for the cheapest kind), some Potions (300 Pokédollars), a water bottle (200 Pokédollars; includes a really confusing note about its lack of medicinal properties), an Escape Rope (550 Pokédollars), or some Repels (350 Pokédollars).

He wants a bedroll for sure, and he should probably get a water bottle too unless he's just going to be here all day, and he doesn't really want to carry them all by himself but he doesn't really want to spend 1800 not-yen on a bag either when he doesn't have any idea how he can make more money.

"How much can the bag carry?"

"...It's a normal bag?"

That's not helpful!!!

Ohhhh wait this is probably the weird foreign kid. There was a note about this from last night's clerk. "Bags can fit basically whatever you want. Anything here should fit just fine."

??????

That probably means it should fit a bedroll but it's pretty confusing.

"I'll take a bedroll and a water bottle and a bag." He counts out the money.

As promised, the bedroll fits into the bag just fine. There's plenty of space for everything else he's carrying, too.

Then he will put it all into his bag.

He goes back to the group of people he was hanging out with last night.

The one with the backpack looks like he might be leaving soon. The other two are still clearly working on packing. 

"What's up?" says the twelve-year-old girl.

"Do you know how people around here usually make money?"

"I think Unova's basically the same as everywhere?"

"I think my country is very unusual, compared to Unova."

"Your what?"

"The ... place where I'm from?"

"Oh."

"Um. Well if I want some extra money I battle people, and if I lose all my money battling then I go collect items in the woods and sell them back to the Pokémon Center? I don't know if that would work as well without Lilly though." 

She frowns. "You're, like, an adult though, right? You could see if anyone would hire you for an adult job, I guess...?"

Oh no, does this place require that people actually be eighteen to have normal jobs? "How old do you need to be for an 'adult job'?"

She shrugs. "I don't know, like fourteen? I'm eleven."

That's not that much younger than he was expecting but he is suddenly really curious what her parents are doing. Maybe she's with one of the other people staying here??

"What kinds of jobs do adults have?"

"There are, ummm, teachers and nurses and daycare workers and artists and gym leaders and gym trainers except I don't know if they get paid and scientists and musicians and rangers... and probably a lot more but that's all I can remember right now. OH! And the gym leaders in Striaton City have a restaurant! Okay now that's really all I can remember."

He could be a musician! He knows how to play several instruments!

...He thinks he knows how to play several instruments. For all he knows that was just one more example of Pops humoring him.

"...Can you tell me more about collating items? Who is Lilly?"

"I mean, you just go find items and then sell them, right? Lilly is my Lillipup, do you want to meet her? She's a really good finder, way better than me."

Sure, he will meet her Lillipup.

She takes him outside, retrieves one of the red-and-white ball things, and throws it. A puppy comes out. It looks vaguely similar to Lasso Guy's dog, but shorter and a lot less long.

The puppy barks.

Awwww. Cute dog.

"Can I see yours now? Pleaaase?"

He is kind of worried that he's going to mess this up but there's probably no way around doing it eventually. He throws his ball thing, trying to imitate the people he's seen so far.

(It's not, actually, very hard. Ten-year-olds can do it easily.)

It chirps.

THAT IS NOT A NORMAL ANIMAL

"Awww! Say hi, Lilly!"

The Lillipup barks.

"What's its nickname?"

No one told him he was supposed to give it a nickname! He picked it for the possible music connection, though it's hard to picture this creature playing an instrument. Mozart might be too obvious, but maybe he can use another composer name.

"Amadelphous," he says, after a brief pause.

"Wooow, that's the longest name I've ever heard. Nice to meet you, Amadelphous, and, uh, and Amadelphous's trainer who probably has a name."

"My name is Sebastian Debeste."

"If you're the best then why aren't you Champion yet? Or are you only the best trainer named Sebastian?"

He didn't even say his nickname. 

"I haven't been here very long," he says, instead of trying to explain.

"Oh right. ...Are you going to fight Lenora?"

He doesn't want to fight anyone! Why do people keep acting like that's a normal thing to do?

"I'm still learning about how things work in Unova."

"If you want to be Champion you'll have to fight her eventually but you don't have to start with her unless you want to."

Her dog barks.

"Hey, did you want to have a battle?"

??????

"Why do you look so surprised? Amadelphous isn't going to get any stronger just sitting in your Pokéball, you know."

Oh. 

In hindsight it makes a lot of sense that that's what people meant when they talked about fighting, and now he feels a little stupid. Maybe a lot stupid.

"Amadelphous, are you alright with that?"

Chirp chirp!

It would really be convenient if he had any idea what that meant but he thinks it doesn't sound angry...?

"I accept your challenge."

"Lilly, use Tackle!"

The dog runs straight for Amadelphous, bowling it over, but she stands up quickly.

"You've got this, Amadelphous! Hit it back!"

Amadelphous looks a little uncertain about what that means, but hits Lilly three times before looking back at Sebastian expectantly.

"Alright, Lilly, it's pretty tough! Use Leer!"

Lilly barks at Amadelphous. Amadelphous looks a little shaken.

"Hit it again!"

Amadelphous hits the dog again, though only twice this time.

"Alright, it's off-balance. Tackle it again!"

The dog rushes towards Amadelphous. This time Amadelphous looks a little more winded, but it picks itself up off the ground and stands at the ready.

Amadelphous looks more energetic than the dog at this point, and hopefully that means his "strategy" is working.

"Keep hitting it!"

Amadelphous hits Lilly three more times.

Lilly collapses to the ground, unconscious. Like the weird gray thing that attacked Sebastian yesterday, she doesn't look seriously injured, just tired. The girl holds up her sphere thing; there's a flash of light, and then Lilly disappears.

She hands him 240 Pokédollars in a mix of bills and coins. "Great fight! You should prooobably figure out what moves your Pokémon has, it looked a little confused there, but it seems really determined."

He pats Amadelphous on the head. "Thank you! Um, what do I do now?"

"Well, first we should get our Pokémon all healed up, and then you could go challenge Lenora's gym, or you could go through the forest to Castelia City, or you could go the other way to Striaton City. All of them have gyms so you'll need to go to all of them eventually if you want to fight Alder, but if you don't want to start with Lenora that's okay!"

(Amadelphous chirps happily.)

"How do we heal them?"

Blink blink. "...We just left the Pokémon Center."

"Things are very different in my ... region."

".....Okay. Well. We can get them healed inside."

She leads Sebastian inside and hands her Pokéball over to the nurse on duty at the back counter. The nurse sets it in some sort of machine, waits a few seconds, and then hands it back to her.

The nurse nods at Amadelphous. "You'll need to put yours back in its ball if you want me to heal it," she says to Sebastian.

(Focus, Sebastian. Your pops might think you're an idiot, and he's probably right, but you've seen people do this, you can do it too.)

He takes out his sphere and opens it up, trying to figure out how to operate it.

There's a flash of light, and then he's holding a closed sphere with Amadelphous nowhere to be seen.

Well. He did it, at least.

He hands the ball to the nurse. She puts it in the same machine, waits a few more seconds, and hands it back to him.

"See? Easy! ...Have you decided what you want to do now?"

From the sound of it, his options are:

• Go through the forest
• Stay here, where he's already made several clear social blunders
• Go somewhere else that probably doesn't involve the forest

"I can show you as far as the gate to Route 3, but I'm not headed that way, so after that you're on your own."

"I would appreciate that. Is there anything else I should do before I leave?"

"Are you set on supplies? There won't be another shop 'till Striaton."

He will figure out how far away Striaton City is (about half a day's walk, if you take the direct route) and purchase some more food for the road.

She trusts him to take care of all his supply needs! He's way older than her, he's probably been journeying for years.

Then he will follow her to the gate on the east side of town.

"Bye!"

"Thank you for everything!"

He steps into the gate.

The gate terminal has a few people, some chairs, and an electronic ticker board displaying some information.

Apr. 7, 2010          Nacrene City: Sunny         Route 3: Sunny

"Excuse me? Is the gate broken?"

Someone in a blue uniform leans over a counter and peers at it.

"...Doesn't look like it? Is it raining or something?"

"No. Sorry. I think I misunderstood something."

He runs out the other side of the gate. 

Outside, there's a clearly-marked road winding through some grassy fields and over a small stream. There are a few people hanging out near the road. Overall, it definitely seems a lot more pleasant than the forest.

2010.

He doesn't really think that explains everything he's seen? He was eight in 2010. He probably wouldn't remember if the countries were different but he's pretty sure he'd remember if it was common to be jumped by weird gray things when you were just trying to walk around. Sure, some animals have probably gone extant since then, but these are really weird animals.

Also he's pretty sure time travel is impossible, but Los Angeles turning into a forest is also impossible, so.

The road doesn't particularly seem to have answers for him.

Well, he's not about to just turn around and give up.

He starts walking.

An elementary-school-aged boy runs over to him.

"I was just thinking about a new battle strategy!"

"Did you want to ... tell me about it?"

"No, silly, I'm challenging you to a battle!"

He throws a sphere, and a pigeon comes out. (At least, it looks like a pigeon.)

He knows what to do now! He sends out Amadelphous!

"Okay, Pidove, use Taunt, just like we practiced!"

The pigeon rustles its wings. Amadelphous looks pretty mad at it.

He knows of one thing Amadelphous can do and it hasn't failed him yet. "Amadelphous, hit the pigeon!"

She is SO ready to hit the pigeon. She slaps it, twice.

"Okay, good! Now use Gust!"

The pigeon flaps its wings, sending a gust of air to knock Amadelphous back from it.

"Keep hitting it, Amadelphous!"

She's still pretty mad. She gets five hits in this time before needing to back off.

"Come on, Pidove, you're not going to let an Audino beat you, are you? Use Gust again!"

The pigeon repeats the same tactic as last time, knocking Amadelphous away.

"Amadelphous, do you think you can hit it five times again?"

Nope, this time she's off-balance a bit and misses the pigeon entirely.

 "Alright, Pidove, the taunt should've worn off by now, Taunt it again!"

(Sebastian can't tell what the pigeon is saying but Amadelphous looks pretty mad about it.)

"Just keep hitting it, it can't keep doing this forever!" (Right?)

Its first hit lands hard, straight in the Pidove's weakest point. Its next two are enough to knock it down, and the Pidove collapses.

Oh good, that means he won, right?

"Pidove, come back! Go, Roggenrola!"

The pigeon disappears into a ball. A blue rock with legs comes out of a different one.

That is a rock. Rocks are not supposed to be alive.

Amadelphous looks reinvigorated and ready to keep fighting! Actually, she looks even more ready than she did a few seconds ago, like she's feeling really good about defeating the pigeon.

"Hit the rock creature!"

She swings and misses.

He has been Studying Battle Theory in school. (This is why he taught his Pidove Taunt, even though he had to hunt down a TM for it. Battle Theory says that Taunt is a useful tool for limiting your opponent's options.) Battle Theory says that if he can stop the Audino from ever hitting his Pokémon, he'll basically win by default. (Unless the other trainer has a second Pokémon. Battle Theory has lots of opinions on that but his Roggenrola doesn't know any of the moves he'd need to know to pull it off.)

"Roggenrola, use Sand Attack!"

His Roggenrola kicks some sand in the Audino's direction. She furiously wipes sand out of her eyes.

"Just keep hitting it, Amadelphous!"

She blinks the sand out of her eye and launches herself at the rock creature, landing three decent hits. (They don't seem to do as much as they did to the bird.)

"Keep using Sand Attack! It's all part of the plan!"

The four of them can go back and forth like this for a while.

She tries her best, and manages to get in a few more hits, but by the time they've been going for a few minutes she's missing a lot more than she's hitting. Probably it's all the sand.

Step 1: Complete. All according to plan.

Now he just needs to make sure that none of its attacks do anything, even when they do hit. "Roggenrola, use Harden!"

The rock starts to curl in on itself.

He is beginning to think that his strategy of "tell Amadelphous to hit things" is relatively decent. It's going to be pretty hard for the rock to win unless it's just going for a war of attrition.

She ... actually seems to be struggling a lot more with the "hit it" strategy, even considering the sand and the hardness of the rock.

"It's okay if you can't hit it, just go at it with whatever you've got."

She seems to take that to heart, and starts kicking it with her forelegs.

It's not much of a strategy if you just stop using it! He will keep on telling his Roggenrola to use Harden!

If the Roggenrola is never going to attack, then Amadelphous can just keep doing this all day. It's not like he has anywhere to be.

Eventually he will decide it's well-defended enough. 

"Okay, now try tackling it!"

He is suddenly a lot more concerned.

"Keep up the good work, Amadelphous! You can do it!"

They can keep trading blows for a bit. If nothing changes, it looks like the rock is going to win out simply by being better-defended, but it'll be close either way.

"Try and aim for its weak point! It's vulnerable in its front!"

It's not clear how much she's picking up on his instructions.

But her next shot connects, dead-on.

His Roggenrola falls unconscious.

This wasn't supposed to happen! He had a strategy. You aren't supposed to lose if you follow your strategy.

He will pay out some money to the winner (not very much, he's still just a student) and try to figure out where he went wrong.

How is Amadelphous looking?

She seems pretty tired. If she got in another fight like that one she'd almost certainly lose.

Is he allowed to just turn around and go back to the Pokémon Center? No one's told him that's not allowed, but if it isn't he's going to feel really stupid. But it's not like he has a better idea, either, and he's barely made it past the gate.

"Do you want to go back to town and get healed up, or would you rather keep going?"

Chirp chirp!

He's not really sure what he was expecting. 

He can see more people ahead of him in the distance. He calls Amadelphous back to her ball and turns around, heading back towards Nacrene City.

The gate is still stubbornly convinced that it's 2010.

"Did you forget something?" asks the girl he was talking with earlier. 

"I'm here to get Amadelphous healed up. Is that allowed?"

"Yeah, obviously? I just wasn't expecting to see you so soon."

Oh no, is she going to think he's totally inculpable at weird-animal-fighting?

He hands over Amadelphous's ball to the nurse, then takes off as soon as he's gotten her healed.

Most of the people on Route 3 are kids, and Audino have a fair amount of endurance. If he doesn't mind possibly looking silly and wants to run back to the Pokémon Center every time things start to go wrong, he can make to to Striaton City without Amadelphous ever fainting.

Not in a single day, though. Is he going to travel in the dark, sleep in the Nacrene City Pokémon Center overnight, sleep by the road, or stop running back to Nacrene after every couple fights?

Are there fewer people who want to fight him if he travels in the dark?

Fewer, yes. None, no. Most of the other trainers seem to be going for the roadside camping option, but not all of them.

(He is actually pretty concerned on behalf of the children who are camping alone by the side of the road. If they were teenagers it would be one thing, but several of them look like elementary schoolers.)

If he can't avoid having to fight people by travelling at night, he'll go back to the Pokémon Center in Nacrene. He's planning to leave tomorrow before anyone else can ask him why he kept coming back.

They're mostly assuming it's a weird foreign thing. No one stops him from leaving in the morning. (The girl he was talking to had already left well before he arrived for the evening.)

He will just keep doing this until he gets to Striaton, then.

What sort of weird animals does he encounter?

Depends, is he venturing into the tall grass? What about taking a detour to fight some preschoolers?

...No.

Then he will encounter:

• A purple cat
• Some kind of weasel
• A pastel-colored bat with a heart-shaped nose
• A baby zebra that shoots lightning

Striaton City looks less like a warehouse district and more like a residential neighborhood. With a few exceptions clustered near the northeast part of town, most of the buildings seem to be low-rise apartments. There's a nice park with an ornamental fountain.

When he heads over to the Pokémon Center, there are some people gathered outside, seemingly waiting for something.

He will hang around listening for a couple minutes before he goes inside. What are they here for?

He can catch snatches of conversation.

"-think it's important to hear them out, don't you?-"

"-my cousin in Accumula was at the rally last week-"

"-don't see why they don't just arrest them all-"

"-know where he gets his clothes-"

"-this wouldn't be an issue if we still used Apricorns-"

"-why are you bringing up Team Galactic, does this look like Sinnoh to you-"

Huh.

He gets Amadelphous healed at the Pokémon Center (it looks pretty similar to the one in Nacrene) and heads back to join the crowd.

Several people in hooded grey uniforms are setting up some banners. In the center of the street, another man is giving them instructions.

He finds a speech on the edge of the crowd and waits.

He doesn't have to wait long. The man takes his place in the middle of the street.

"My name is Ghetsis. I am here representing Team Plasma. No doubt, many of you have already heard about the speech I gave in Accumula Town. Today, I have come to share my message with you as well." He pauses for effect. "Today, I would like to talk to you about Pokémon liberation."

"You're a bunch of dirty thieves, is what you are!" shouts someone from the crowd. His neighbors shush him.

He looks at the man, and the corners of his mouth quirk up in a smile. "We shall get to that later. For now, I simply ask you to consider what I am saying."

"We are all taught from birth that we humans and Pokémon are partners. That we live with each other out of choice. That both of us benefit from this relationship. However... Is that really the truth? Have you ever considered that perhaps we humans... only assume that this is the truth?"

"We force Pokémon to obey us, regardless of their true wishes. We order them around, as if they are our servants, rather than our co-equal partners. If Pokémon truly desired to live with us, what need would we have to confine them in Pokéballs?"

He glances at Amadelphous's ball, nested in his bag. She would leave if she wanted to, right?

"In a just world, we would see Pokémon not as tools, but as living beings, full of potential, from whom we humans have much to learn. Tell me, what is our responsibility toward these wonderful beings called Pokémon?"

"Liberation!" shouts someone in the audience.

(He tries to snatch a glance at them, but it's hard to see over the crowd.)

"That's right! We must liberate the Pokémon! Then, and only then, will humans and Pokémon truly be equals."

He pauses, glancing directly at the man who shouted at him earlier. "Now, some who oppose our mission have accused us of common thievery. But is it not the obligation of all people to protect Pokémon from abuse? We have never interfered with those who properly care for their Pokémon, only with those who mistreat them."

The crowd looks pretty uncomfortable with this.

"Everyone, I end my words here today by imploring you to consider the relationship between people and Pokémon... and the correct way to proceed. We sincerely appreciate your attention."

A pair of grey-hooded guards retrieve the banners, and he departs.

"Not going to lie, I wasn't expecting him to just admit to stealing Pokémon."

"Well, what was he going to do, lie? No one would believe him."

"Some people would probably believe him. People'll believe anything. My cousin thinks there's a secret eighteenth type."

"He has a point, though. It's not like anyone asked the Zebstrika in the Nimbasa power plant if they want to power the grid."

"Are you saying we should just not have power, dumbass?"

(The conversation will continue like this for a while, as people gradually trickle away from the crowd.)

A teenager who looks to be around Sebastian's age approaches him. He glances at Amadelphous's ball, and doesn't say anything.

"Did you need something?"

"I was just listening to your Pokémon... it was saying some very strange things."

They can talk?????

"What sort of things was it telling you?"

"...So you can't understand it? I thought maybe... nevermind."

"It says you are not from this region, and that you seem a bit confused about how to battle." And that it likes you, and that you've treated it with kindness, and that it wouldn't leave given the choice.

"Things are very different in my home region. A lot of what I knew wasn't directly appreciable."

(Don't ask if he means "applicable." People don't like it when you correct them, even when they're wrong.)

"...Would you mind showing me?"

He grimaces. "I am ... a trainer ... myself, and I would be interested in seeing what is so different about your style."

"Of course. Amadelphous, let's show him what we've got!"

He doesn't give his Pokémon nicknames. They're temporary companions, equal partners, not pets.

He sends out a Blitzle. It was fortunate that the gym leaders decided to pair him up against Cress, when there are Blitzle so close to the city.

"Blitzle, use Shock Wave." 

The Blitzle sends a jolt of electricity towards Amadelphous. She chirps indignantly.

"Amadelphous, hit it!"

She runs towards the Blitzle, slapping it twice.

"I see. So this is what your Pokémon meant... Blitzle, use Shock Wave again."

The Blitzle releases another jolt of electricity.

"You're tougher than it is! Keep hitting it."

She lands three solid hits, this time.

(Don't look upset. Normal trainers don't get upset about things like this, and you need credibility.)

"Blitzle, try using Charge this time. Save up your power."

It's a gamble, either way is a gamble, but if the Blitzle can land a particularly strong hit next time, it could synergize with the charge.

(He's most likely going to lose the battle regardless, but that's besides the point. The point is what the Audino has to say.)

"Keep hitting it while it's distracted!"

Amadelphous launches herself towards the Blitzle, landing five hits this time. 

It's just enough to knock the Blitzle unconscious. Sometimes you gamble and lose.

Chirp chirp!

He counts out some money. The fact that people can earn money from battling isn't a worse wrong than the institution of battling is, but it still feels distasteful.

"Thank you, Sebastian. I ... didn't expect to hear such things from a captive Pokémon."

"...I didn't tell you my name."

"Your Pokémon seems to know it perfectly well."

"Is there anything else she wants to tell me?"

"She mentioned earlier that your battling style was quite unusual, and I see what she means. Would you like some advice?"

"I'd be honored to learn more about Unovan techniques." Maybe if he says it like that it'll sound like he's foreign, rather than just that he's incompetent.

...Hopefully it doesn't turn out that the secret to not mistreating your Pokémon is something unique to his region.

"Most Pokémon know a few especially potent techniques, which we generally call 'moves' for short. When you first met your Audino, she was confused about some of your instructions, though she's figured out by now that when you command her to hit things you're satisfied with what scientists generally call a 'double slap' technique. That's certainly fine for now, but as your journey continues, you'll likely want to make use of other techniques as well."

And probably you'll want to catch more than one Pokémon, but that clearly crosses the line into advice that's unethical to give, no matter how nice he might seem.

"How do I determine which techniques Amadelphous knows how to use?"

He cocks his head to the side for a moment. "Currently, she can repeatedly hit another Pokémon, as you've seen. She can also attack another Pokémon with her forelegs — we call that 'Pound' — intimidate an attacker — 'Growl' — or clear herself of ailments, though not well enough to restore her energy — 'Refresh.' Assuming her Pokéball is registered to you, you should be able to check up on that yourself, though that won't provide as much information on what she's good at."

He shows Sebastian how to do that, and while he's at it how to estimate how much energy his Pokémon has left.

"Thank you."

He glances at the Pokémon Center. "I should get ready for the night. Will you be staying here as well?"

Headshake. "I'm not done travelling for the day."

He waves goodbye. (He doesn't stop by the Pokémon Center to get his Blitzle healed.)

That doesn't register as unusual. It matches most of the trainers he's fought so far.

Besides the staff, there are two other people staying overnight: a teenage boy and a middle-aged man. Is Sebastian going to start a conversation with either of them?

He's not really feeling in the mood for talking.

(The green-haired boy would have told him if Amadelphous wanted to leave, right? Right??)

Then he can get a sandwich with the day's winnings and go to sleep. Hopefully he's adjusted to the early wake-up by now.

Obviously. It's not like he didn't have to wake up early for school.

He gets breakfast and sets out to see what else is around the city.

Besides the garden he saw earlier and the Pokémon Center, there appears to be a path to a wooded area, something called the Striaton Gym, and something else called the Trainer's School.

He needs to challenge the gym eventually, but the Trainer's School actually sounds very useful! He'll go check that out.

The school appears to be a single room. There's one adult, and several children of varying ages, most much younger than Sebastian.

"Hello, young man!" says the one actual adult in the room. "Are you interested in studying at the Trainer's School? We have a quiz today, but if you'd rather read independently, that's also allowed."

Reading independently would probably be more useful, but he doesn't have the slightest idea where to start. He'll try the quiz, and maybe that'll give him a sense of what he's missing.

UNIT 5 QUIZ: STATUS EFFECTS

1. Which of the following berries cures poison?

a. Cheri Berry
b. Chesto Berry
c. Oran Berry
d. Pecha Berry

2. Which of the following manufactured items thaws a frozen Pokémon?

a. Antidote
b. Awakening
c. Ice Heal
d. Paralyz Heal

3. In general, which of the following would stop a Pokémon from being put to sleep with the move "Spore"? Circle ALL that apply.

a. Being a grass-type
b. Having the ability "Insomnia"
c. Being frozen
d. Holding a Chesto Berry

4. FREE RESPONSE: List one attacking move, one status move, one ability, and one item that can inflict a burn.

5. FREE RESPONSE: Some people have argued that sleep moves should be banned from tournament-level play. Do you agree with this position? Why or why not?

Is this what school always feels like when your pops isn't secretly pulling strings to get you good grades?

He circles A, C, and B, leaves question 4 blank, and writes something for question 5 about how sleeping is a valid strategy that trainers ought to be prepared to counter, then hands in his quiz.

The teacher hands it back a couple minutes later with a 2/5 marked and a smiley face next to question 5. 

Some of his classmates are still working on the quiz, does he want to grab a book in the meantime?

Sure. He picks one mostly at random. (The teacher probably thinks he's an idiot but it's not like he can make things worse.)

All About Evolution!

Oh, he's taken biology, he understands this already. He flips it open, just to confirm.

Chapter 1

Evolution is the process by which a Pokémon changes from one species to a different species.

That is specifically not how evolution works! (Right? Maybe it actually is how evolution works, and his pops just covered for him not understanding??)

Evolutions can be triggered in several ways, but some of the most common are listed below.

• Repeated participation in battles, particularly against stronger Pokémon
• Exposure to an object with high levels of energy, such as a Moon Stone
• Trading a Pokémon with another trainer

[...]

In some cases, it may be undesirable for a Pokémon to evolve. In most cases, this can be avoided by either using an Everstone to prevent the psychological state required for evolution, or by startling a Pokémon during the process. However, in some cases, these precautions may prove inadequate.

[...]

Several more speculative evolution methods have been proposed. For instance, researchers in Kalos have suggested that vertical inversion of an Inkay may be a necessary component of evolving it into a Malamar. However, as yet, this remains purely speculative.

[...]

Most Pokémon are part of a single "evolutionary chain." For example, Snivy can evolve into Servine, which evolves into Serperior. However, in some cases, a Pokémon may be able to evolve into multiple different species depending on the specific evolutionary trigger. 

[...]

Evolution may be alarming, but it's an important part of the maturation process. In general, if a Pokémon wishes to evolve, a trainer should not override its preferences. (For guidance on how to determine whether your Pokémon wishes to evolve, see Appendix A.)

Maybe it's just using weird language to talk about the normal process of changing and becoming stronger over time? 

There are photos! This is what Oshawott, Dewott, and Samurott look like. This is a Munna in the process of evolving. This is Tynamo and Eelektrik. They're not native to Unova, but here is an Eevee with all seven of its known evolutions.

Is school always this weird and confusing? Maybe school is always this weird and confusing?

Does this mean Pops was right?

"Alright, class, everyone is done with the quizzes, so let's get started with our next unit! Who can tell me what field control is?"

"Field control is when you use fancy techniques to give your opponent less flex-i-bil-i-ty! Usually by making it not be safe for them to switch out their Pokémon."

"Very good. Now, can anyone name the three types of entry hazard covered in our reading from last night?"

(It continues like that for a while. He tries his best to follow along but he's still pretty lost.)

Eventually they take a break for lunch.

"Sebastian, could you stay a few minutes to talk with me?"

"Of course."

The teacher pulls up a chair next to him. 

"I have to say, I'm ... confused. Your answer for question 5 was excellent — one of the best persuasive paragraphs in the entire class — but you're otherwise missing some basic foundational knowledge that I'd expect nearly anyone your age to be aware of. I don't want to pry, but that's the sort of thing that can sometimes be a sign of ... an isolated childhood, so to speak ... so if there's anything you want to talk about..."

He had been expecting the teacher to be disappointed in him but somehow this is worse. He shakes his head vigorously and reminds himself that nothing the teacher does could possibly hurt Pops.

"I'm just from very far away, that's all. My pops" only criticizes me when I deserve it "has been very supportive of my education."

"...Alright. Well, we all start somewhere. There's no shame in not knowing something."

That sounds kind of fake.

"Did you have any questions about the material, or would you rather go eat lunch with your class?"

What is a 'type.' What is an 'ability,' as distinct from 'anything a Pokémon can do.' Why is it called 'stealth rock' if you can clearly see the rocks.

"I should eat lunch. Thank you for your time, sir."

His classmates have gathered in the garden and are sitting around the fountain. They continue to mostly be about eight or nine years old.

He is starting to get kind of sick of sandwiches but he doesn't have anything else for lunch. He spreads out his jacket like a picnic blanket and sits down to eat.

"-gotta be lying. The SUN isn't even that hot and it's the sun."

"How do you know how hot the sun is? It's not like you've been there."

"Maybe someone asked Solgaleo?"

"Has anyone alive ever even met Solgaleo?"

"You're missing the point. If it's not true then why would they put it in the Pokédex?"

A girl who looks about eight years old glances up from the argument and notices Sebastian. "Oh! Hi! You can sit on the fountain too if you want."

Sure.

"What were you all talking about?"

"Cam's brother has a Pokédex and he says that Magcargo can be more than 18000 degrees Fahrenheit! Except that doesn't make sense, if it were that hot everything would just burn up."

"Well, it's not that hot on the outside, duh."

"Anyways. You're super old, do you know the answer?"

"I'm not from around here, the region I'm from is pretty different."

"That's okay, Magcargo isn't either! He only got its Pokédex entry because he traded with someone alllllllll the way over in Johto. Are you from Johto?"

"I'm not from Johto either."

"Oh. Well. You could still say what you think about Magcargo?"

Oh no, he was hoping to have to avoid taking a position on the complicated scientific question he has no context for. "If it were that hot, it would be hard for anyone to get close enough to measure it." (He thinks.) "It's more likely that someone exagitated its actual temperature."

"SEE, I TOLD YOU SO"

The kids start arguing again.

He will ... eat his sandwich.

Eventually one of the kids gets bored of the argument. "So why are you still in school, anyways? You've gotta be, like, at least thirteen."

"My home region is very different. I wanted to learn more about what things are like here."

"If you're from a different region can I see your Pokémon? I've never seen a Pokémon from another region before."