It was akin to blinking, only that it wasn't your vision that vanished for the literal blink of an eye, but the world that blinked, before changing in that same time-frame. At least that was what it felt like and the sudden, instantaneous change attested to that feeling.

Instead of standing in a cold, windy forest on some mountain-slope, we were in a room with all the aesthetics of an old public building, or maybe of a bunker. There was no window that I could look out of, only grey concrete walls all around, illumination coming from something that looked like neon-tubes.

“Thank you, for your help. My name is Dani...” I introduced myself, only to stumble a little at the end. There was more to my name, of that I was certain, but why couldn’t I recall. It wasn’t a title, like the Champion of Sinnoh Cynthia had used, but something else. Suppressing the feeling of discongruence, I focused on Cynthia. And her title, a title I knew, though how I knew it, I wasn’t quite certain. But Champion of Sinnoh meant she was the strongest trainer in the Region, that nobody could beat her, and somewhere in the back of my mind was the memory that she was seen as one, if not the, strongest trainer around the world. How I knew that, I couldn’t remember, but the information was there.

“Nice to meet you. Now, as I said, I think we can help with your confusion, the data gathered by the Porygon seems to confirm my fears. But first, if you don’t mind, I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine, who can make sure that you are physically unharmed, if that is okay with you?” she asked, her voice calm, confident. But while her voice made me want to trust her, the words she spoke shook me, down to my core. Why was there a concern for my physical state? I was feeling fine, as well as I had felt in a while, even the soreness in my legs from climbing up-hill had vanished.

Not certain what was going on, I agreed and Cynthia guided me out of the room we had appeared in, and down some hallways that kept the wonderful concrete aesthetic. There were some windows to look out of, but sadly, the only thing one could see at the moment was the darkness of night. When I stepped up to one, I could see countless stars above, more than I had ever seen before, but nothing that hinted at human civilization, no lights in the distance.

“Ah, Lucian, good to see you.” Cynthia greeted a well-dressed guy who came almost running down the hallway, looking worried.

“Everything alright?” he asked, looking Cynthia all over, as if checking for injuries. It didn’t look like he had even consciously perceived that I was there, his focus completely on the woman I was with.

“It wasn’t just a code G, wasn’t it?” he asked, once Cynthia gently pushed him away.

“No, it was not. Here, why don’t you take a look at the data the Porygon-swarm gathered and begin a preliminary analysis? I have to take care of our guest, I’m afraid she was caught up in some…” she paused for a moment, looking me over for a second, “gigantic trouble.” she finished, strangely stressing the G-sound.

I wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but the guy seemed to have realised something, or maybe he had only now realised that I was there, and his piercing eyes scanned me up and down, making me feel like he could look right through my clothes, my body and right into my soul. It was a little scary, my arms subconsciously wrapping around me in a protective gesture. I could hear Cynthia clearing her throat and suddenly, I felt better, warmer, as if her sheer presence was wrapping around me, like her coat did.

“Enough of that. I’ll take her to Joyce, we can meet in my office once I’ve got her initial impression.” Cynthia reprimanded him, her voice just as gentle and confident as it had been, but the guy instantly nodded and, without giving me a second glance, turned around quickly, walking away and turning a corner.

“Let’s get going. The sooner we make sure that everything is as it should be, the quicker we can clear up your confusion.” Cynthia told me, continuing to guide me through the drab hallways, until she opened a set of double-doors, confidently striding inside. I felt a little as if I was being dragged along in her wake, but she was quite gentle about it. Still, I didn’t get the feeling that rejecting her arrangements was in any way possible. She felt more akin to a force of nature, than a normal human.

“Hey Bee.” Cynthia greeted the strangely oval being that was waiting behind a counter, my mind a little numb at this point. Why wouldn’t there be an oval, pink and white marshmallow almost as tall as I was standing in an infirmary. And why wouldn't it move around, looking at me with wide, compassionate eyes?

“Dani, normally I’d say we wait for Joyce, but why don’t you take a load off, sit down and get comfortable? Just relax for now.” Cynthia told me, nodding towards one of the beds peeking out from behind a curtain. By this point, most of my mental strength was needed to keep going, to simply set one foot in front of the other, without screaming or suffering a hysteric breakdown at the impossibility of it all. Accepting her directions, I woodenly walked over to the bed, set my backpack down and let myself collapse on the comfortable bed.

Closing my eyes helped to keep my mind from going off the rails, as I simply focused on breathing in and out, not letting my thoughts wander to any of the impossibilities around me.

“You couldn’t schedule your emergencies during the day, could you?” an unfamiliar voice asked, forcing my mind back to my surroundings.It took a great effort of mental and emotional strength, to push myself back up, into a sitting position.

“Ah, you know how it is, I can’t let you get your beauty-sleep or you’ll find someone to sweep you off your feet and we’ll lose one of the best doctors around. Can’t have that now, can we?” Cynthia’s voice asked teasingly, getting a chuckle in response.

“Let’s take a look at your emergency. You gathered data, right?” The other voice asked. I opened my eyes, and the voice was coming from a beautiful woman, a lot younger than Cynthia, and dressed in simple, comfort-clothing, with a white coat pulled over what looked like soft-pants and a sweatshirt.

“Not on her, no. I had to focus on other things out there.” Cynthia admitted, before looking at the door. “Speaking off, why don’t I leave the two of you alone, so you can make sure our guest is all right? I need to check on a few things anyway.” she asked, getting a nod from the white coat, before looking at me. Not certain if I wanted to be left with the unknown woman, I still decided to nod, a small part of me hoping that I would just wake up, finding that it was all just a weird dream.

“Great, I’ll be back soon.” Cynthia promised, before turning and leaving the room. I was still wearing her coat, the warm garment far too heavy for the heated infirmary, but somehow, I didn’t want to take it off just yet.

“Now, young lady. As you may have heard, my name is Joyce, or Nurse Joyce, if you will, and this is my dear friend and partner, Lady Bee. She’s a Blissey, as you likely know, and together, we’ll make sure that there’s nothing wrong with either you, or your partners.” she told me, pointedly looking at my hands. Following her gaze, I noticed that I had, at some point, subconsciously taken out the apple-sized, white-and-red ball I had put away earlier. A part of me wanted to press the small button, to call out the impossible being within, but instead, I forcibly unclenched the fingers wrapped around it and stretched my hand out.

“Can you please make sure that nothing is wrong with him?” I asked, before remembering that I needed to introduce myself, too.

“Oh, and my name is Dani, and the one in there is Prince Charming, or Charm.” I added, trying to cover up my slip in manners with a friendly smile. My smile froze a little, when I realised that I wasn’t sure where the names had come from, they had simply slipped out of my mouth, feeling right.

“Wonderful.” Nurse Joyce took the ball from my hands, before gesturing for me to lie down.

“Let’s see if everything’s alright with you.” she added. The pink-white marshmallow stepped forward, waving two stubby, small arms in my general direction, the tips glowing with a weird, pink-white light that somewhat mirrored the border-region between the colours of it’s fluff.

A minute or two later, the marshmallow was still waving, while Nurse Joyce had stepped away, taking the ball she had taken from me through a door and into another room. Finally, after what had felt like an eternity but had likely been less that five minutes, the waving stopped and Joyce returned, holding a book-sized tablet, looking at it with wide eyes.

“Well, so far, so good.” she told me, her smile seeming a little forced, “You are in fine physical condition, if slightly dehydrated and suffering from mild hypothermia. If you don’t mind, why don’t I go and get you a nice cup of tea?” she suggested, something in her voice sounding off to me. Regardless, I nodded, before closing my eyes again.