“Hey, are you alright?” the voice asked, pushing past the disconnect that seemed to be what my senses told me about my surroundings and what I knew to be real. Or what I thought to know what was real. Forcibly pushing down those thoughts, the fear, the confusion and my desire to start screaming at the world, until it went away, I opened my eyes back up. The small Lizard, or rather Pokemon, in my arms was still there, it’s signature flame still merrily burning at the tip of its tail, its scales still feeling as real as it had before.

Standing, I turned around, keeping my mind off the light that was now illuminating the clearing, a much larger clearing than the one I had gone to sleep on, ignoring the strange, glinting being that stood nearby, instead I focused on the woman in front of me. She looked human, no horns, no wings, no tail, nothing that threatened my perception of reality, just a rather tall, blonde woman, dressed in a dark coat. Something about her set me at ease, as if nothing bad could happen while she was with me. Or maybe my mind was playing tricks, simply latching on to the one thing that wasn’t alien or a cold, dark forest in an attempt to escape reality.

“Where…” my voice came out as a croak, forcing me to clear my throat and try again. “Where am I?” I managed to ask on the second try, as I kept my eyes focused on the face in front of me, something that was surprisingly easy. The woman was simply beautiful, from the sharp nose, to the slight crow-feet around her eyes and the few, grey hairs lurking between the blonde. But her most striking features were her eyes, grey and piercing, giving me the impression that nothing could escape her vision.

She looked me up and down again, the freezing wind reminding me that I was just wearing what little I had worn to go to sleep, just an old t-shirt and shorts. Despite the cold air and the way it made me shiver, I felt heat rising in my cheeks, my arms wrapping around me in an attempt to keep warm.

“Mount Coronet, maybe half-way to the top.” the woman answered, making me blink in disbelief. It couldn’t be, it just could not be. There was a camera somewhere, trying to make a fool out of me or something. The cold air, the way I was freezing, made a dream unlikely but just to make sure, I pinched myself, trying to wake up.

“Why can’t that be?” she asked, her lips slightly raised into a smile. Only then did I realise that my denial had been said out loud, not just in my head. “We are on the eastern slopes of Mount Coronet, in central Sinnoh.” she repeated, and I felt my head go side to side, still trying to deny what seemed to be reality. A beeping sound from nearby caught the woman’s attention and she pulled a strange tablet-like gadget from within her coat, studying it for a moment.

“Curious, oh so very curious.” she muttered, before looking back at me. “Would I be right in my assumption that you didn’t go to sleep here?” she asked, causing my eyes to snap back to her.

“Yes, I think so.” I replied, my mind whirling, confusion and disbelief almost drowning out all rational thought. Another gust of wind blew through the clearing, causing my teeth to chatter as my body shook again.

“Here, take this.” the woman told me, shrugging off the cloak she was wearing, holding it open for me. Once it was around me, I instantly felt warmer.

“I would ask you to come with me. The Porygon will just need a few more minutes, then we can get back to the League. Maybe there, we can clear up some of the confusion.” she told me, her voice still friendly and compassionate but something in her voice made it clear that refusal was not an option. Not that I would have refused, for now, she seemed to be the only thing that made sense in this crazy, whatever it was. Dream? World?

“Why don’t you pack up your things in the meantime?” she asked, nodding towards the tent I had slept in. I felt myself nod and focused on the simple, mechanical task. However, as I bent down to get into my tent to pack, Charmander, the lizard I had clung to a minute before, rubbed its, or was that his, head against my stomach, shattering the willing ignorance I had used to blot out parts of reality. Still shaking my head, I noticed the red-white object lying next to the tent-exit, some part of my mind insisting that it was what it looked like. A Pokeball, even as another part insisted on the impossibility of that. Pokemon were not real, just like Pokeballs but despite what I thought to know, my senses seemed to disagree.

Reaching down, I picked up the ball, feeling its smooth metal surface, the strangely clear button on the front and noticing a pair of smaller buttons on the side, right where my thumb would go, if I held it with the front away from me. One to send out, one to recall. Before I could wonder where that certainty came from, I held the front towards Charmander and gently pressed the recall-button.

“Get some rest, Charmander.” I ordered, as a red beam of light was projected out and fully pressing the button in caused the Pokemon to glow for a moment, before vanishing. How did I know how to do that? Forcing my mind away from that question, I crawled into the tent, taking a moment to get into real clothes, or what I had worn on my journey so far. Essentially, I simply pulled on a pair of running-shorts, not even bothering to change my shirt. Given that clothing had been something I had to carry, I had been wearing as little and as light as possible, the sturdiest things on my body had been my boots.

As I laced up my sturdy hiking-boots, I realised that something had changed. I could have sworn that my boots had a small logo on their side, though I couldn’t recall what it had been. Somehow, it was no longer there.

It had to be the exhaustion talking, or maybe I was having some weird dream. Closing my eyes for a moment, I tried to recall the memories of that simple task, done dozens of times, lacing up my boots, tucking in their tongue to avoid any chaving, and the emblem on that tongue. My mind drew up a blank,

Opening my eyes, I reached over and grabbed my phone, my constant companion over the last few weeks, my literal link to my friends and family. My hand easily grasped the familiar form, though it felt a little weird, strangely cold to the touch, and when I pulled it from beneath the jacket it had rested under, I froze, staring in disbelief.

What I had in hand was a lot of things, a bright shiny red, not the anthrazit of my phone, it was made of metal, with a quite sturdy, almost rugged, feel to it, not the smooth, polished plastic of my phone and it had a button on the side, with thin lines across the metal hinting that it could be opened with said button. It was a lot of things, but not my phone. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, the almost mocking realisation that I was holding a Pokédex in hand popped up. Pressing my eyes shut, I, once again, simply ignored the reality around me, pushing away the knowledge that something deeply weird was going on, simply focusing on taking one metaphorical step after the other. Freaking out, screaming, possibly crying and completely losing my mind, as tempting as it was, had to wait. And I had to keep it together.

Drawing from an inner strength I hadn’t been aware of, I let my body’s habits take over, to efficiently pack up my stuff, to put away the strange objects I refused to think about, or think about the fact that they had perfectly fitting spaces in my pack and prepared fixtures on my belt. It didn’t take long, there were only so many things I had been lugging all over the lands, and a few minutes after crawling into the tent, I was able to crawl back out.

I had to engage in another exercise of selective perception, ignoring the impossible creatures that were moving, some of them floating around my camp-site, even ignoring the woman who appeared to be giving commands to them, instead focusing on taking down my tent. One step after the other, I could deal with everything later. Just keep it together, my mind reminded me.

“I’m done.” I told the strange woman, who looked a little chilled, reminding me that I was still wrapped in her coat.

“Excellent. Now, I think the Porygon gathered as much data as they can, so we can get somewhere warmer.” she told me, a friendly smile on her face. Taking a set of those red-and-white spheres she was carrying on her belt, she mirrored the movement I had used a few minutes earlier, quickly and efficiently calling back all but one of the floating Porygon, before calling out, into the woods.

“Rio, come back.” Moments later, a rustling sound caught my attention and a tall, easily two metres in height, and slightly bulky humanoid figure came into the bright light that emanated from a glowing orb in the centre of the clearing. The light glinted off the figure's blue body in an odd way, realisation dawning but quickly suppressed by necessity.

“Excellent. Now, if you don’t mind, let’s get back somewhere warm.” she told me, as both, the gleaming figure and the floating, almost rubber-duck like looking thing came closer.

“Who…” I tried speaking again, hysteria threatening to break past my self-control. “Who are you?” I managed, getting a compassionate smile in return.

“You are still confused, that’s okay. I am known as Cynthia, the Champion of Sinnoh.” she told me, before looking over to the floating rubber-duck. “Zee, take us home.”