Pokemon Max: Final Showdown

Ch. 63 A Curse and a Gift Part 3

We sat down at a table in a restaurant. Evidently we were getting half off because of this guy. They wanted to offer no charge, but he insisted on paying something.

He sighed as they left. "I swear, get in a movie, and everybody's ready to give up the last parachute..."

He sat back. "Alright. Let's talk. Who are you?"

"My name's Todd." I replied, not really looking at him.

"Okay, well I meant more about you."

I sighed. "I dunno what you want to know. I don't understand what is even happening."

He leaned back and chewed on a straw for a second. "You said you didn't recognize Team Phoenix. Hmm... I don't know how. Their Pokemon exploiting research was the biggest news of the decade."

"Really?" I asked. "How long have you guys known about Pokemon?"

"They've been around for as long as anyone can remember, why?"

"Where I'm from, we had only just found out about them last year. Most people don't even know what they are."

He frowned. "That's not right. It can't be."

I looked up at the sky. "Telling you the truth. Where are we, anyway? Awfully beautiful weather."

He sighed. "This is Alola. I don't know much about it. It's an island chain that only recently joined the official Pokemon League Committee. Not many people knew much about it, it was kind of like Hawaii."

"You know about Hawaii?"

"Uh...duh. Why wouldn't I?"

I sat back and held my head as my strangely and somewhat painfully powerful brain processed the information I had received.

"Hang on, I think... okay, this is weird...I think we might be from different worlds. Different universes I guess. Something about how you said you had Hawaii, and Pokemon, but my friend who is in the Pokemon world hasn't told anyone about another world, and certainly not about Hawaii. I mean, no one thinks about Hawaii."

(sorry guys. I don't know what's up, I'm just very anti hawaiian today)

"Umm...okay. Not the weirdest thing I've been through. You seem pretty, I dunno, okay with that, though."

"Yeah, well, I recently went on an interdimensional road trip and battled a super Pokemon. So, not the weirdest thing I've been through."

He sighed as a waiter walked up and gave us a basket of bread. I grabbed a piece and chewed on it thinking carefully.

He spoke up finally. "So...what's your story?"

"Where I'm from, like I told you, nobody knows what Pokemon are. Someone I know discovered them, but her research was stolen, and it was used to create a mutagen that turns people into Pokemon. Me and some other people got hit by it. We've been doing some, you know, hero stuff."

"Huh. Well. I guess it's my turn... My dad hit a Lucario with a car, and some weird guy made him a Lucario."

I looked at him.

"Yeah. I don't know why, either. Anyway, long story short he got back to normal, and later, he got turned back, and for some reason I was transformed with him. And, uh, long story but I also managed to transform my girlfriend. And, my mom."

"Wow. I need to improve my story a lot."

He sighed. "Well, now that that's out of the way, we should probably focus on our friends. They were taken by Team Phoenix. They must have known I'd come here. My dad sent me to check out some of the new Pokemon here, but something tells me I'll have to hold off on that." He stood up and left a few bills on the table.

I sighed and stood up. I pulled out my backpack and put a little bread in there. I zipped up and followed him. I came up beside him.

"So. You know where we're going?" I asked him.

"Nope."

"...Should you probably know?"

"Yeah."

"Uh huh."

He pulled out a map. "My dad gave me a map just in case I needed it. It shows each island. We're at the bottom of this big one up here. I think we might want to start with this one." He pointed to an island just South of us. "It's the most busy, so there's most likely to be enough energy and resources that they would need for at least a small base."

I nodded. "So how we gonna get there?"

He folded up the map. "I guess we'll have to take another boat. And I just spent $100 on getting over here..." He rolled his eyes.

"Trust me, if I'm involved, you haven't seen nothing yet." I told him.

"I'm sure I haven't." He smiled and started walking to the dock.

"Hey, I never got your name." I asked him.

"It's Jacob. Jacob Simmons."

We shook hands. A guy who could turn into a Lucario and a guy who could turn into a Sandslash. Working together at last.

Isn't that just a gift?

---

Taylor opened her eyes. The world around her was gone. It was all black. It felt hazy. She looked around, and didn't see anything or anyone. Soon, though, some details began to appear. Images of her house seemed to form around her. She felt happy to see it, but her scenario made her suspicious. Soon, she felt her feet hit the ground. It almost felt real, but she couldn't see anyone. She walked all around her house, but no one could be seen.

She suddenly heard a sound from her room. She walked in, and saw something was under her sheets on her bed. She reached out slowly, and yanked them away. What she saw astounded her.

It was a Lucario. Like the one she had been fighting since she got her powers, but different. It seemed more feminine, and also there was one significant difference. She was covered in golden blonde fur rather than blue. She felt her rise when she came closer, and she reached out to touch her to see if she could wake her up.

The eyes snapped open.