Explorers of Origin: A Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Fanfiction, Volume 1

Chapter 13: Gardevoir

A backstory, no matter the length, is skewed by everything around it.

"I still don't buy whatever you're chatting about. What does 'Sora' have to do with me?"

"It was your name, remember? The one set by your real life counterpart."

"What real-life counterpart? I am my own person."

"Oh, wow... there's so much you've forgotten then..."

"Why should I remember something that never happened? Besides, what the hell are you on about with this 'brand?'"

"I placed that brand on your left arm when you were fast asleep one night. Only our team could see it, which allow us to find you if we were separated unwillingly."

"And?"

"I thought it looked good on you, too."

"This Gardevoir's really into you, Pikachu. Are you sure you don't know anything about her?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, when referring to his real-life counterpart, you meant his original human form, right?"

"Uh-huh!"

"But if you're coming from what I think is a virtual world full of Trainers, how did you end up here?"

"That's a good question; I actually don't know. I hoped to get an idea after finding him, but since he can't remember me that well, it's tricky to piece together."

"Why am I getting a bad feeling about this..."

A deeply perplexed Pikachu struggles to cope with the conversation about the group's newest member, a mysterious Gardevoir claiming to be trained by his virtual avatar. Nothing that has been said seemed to be legitimate to him; it should not be possible that a piece of virtual data developed into a living, breathing Pokémon casually interacting with his teammates. Pikachu retained this logic inside his brain while Mawile and Espeon keep their open minds for Gardevoir's explanations. He knew a pinch to his body is useless. Yet, there must be some source that she pulls from to try to back up her claims.

"So, Sora is your given name, Pikachu?"

"I dunno."

"Come to think of it, Mawile, you and I should give each other some human names to address each other. We're gonna end up finding more of our respective species as we travel."

"You're probably right. Then again, we might frame ourselves in a way our fellow Pokémon find cringeworthy. Ya know?"

"D'aw, it's fine! Come on, pick a good name!"

"Hmm... how 'bout I call you 'Maaya,' Espeon?"

"Sounds exquisite! As for you, Mawile, do you like the name 'Inori?' It's supposed to be a name of a famous human that appeared in pop culture magazines in Koruno."

"I'm okay with that. We can also use them as code names during confidential missions, should we end up having to complete them."

"So much for girl talk..."

"Oh, Pikachu, you're such a poker face!"

Curious about the agreement Mawile and Espeon just reached, Gardevoir rejoins the chat bubble to figure out their intentions.

"Did you come up with those names so that Pikachu doesn't have to feel uncomfortable about his own?"

"That, and as a pre-emptive measure to recognize each other if we get mixed up with others in our species."