The Johto Diaries: Another Pokémon Crossover

Chapter 1: A Scandal in New Bark

"KYUUUN!"

The strange sound that broke the silence of the break of dawn was enough not only to wake up Rodowena, but also to put her on high alert. She bolted straight to a small window of the storage area she's in, but all she saw was a blue blur that flew upwards as soon as she was able to look outside.

"Ugh, just when I thought things would finally stop getting weird," Rodowena muttered, still looking around in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the thing that made the strange sound earlier, but to no avail.

Then again, weird things had been happening since last night: strange men arriving at their orphanage and throwing everyone out, a random sailor letting her become a stowaway in a ship, and now, a strange sound coming from an unknown source that abruptly woke her up. She surmised that things will get even weirder from here on. After all, she made the choice of leaving her homeland for possibly a new life in another region

Rodowena then noticed her reflection on the window pane. She just realized that she was still wearing her bedtime clothes from the orphanage. This won't do at all, Rodowena thought. If she was going to go out of this place when the ship arrives to the destination, she would not be caught dead in her pajamas.

Looking around, she thought that if this is a storage area, there should be something else being stored here aside from the whole stack of diaries from last night, so she decided to look around.

Sure enough, Rodowena found a long clothes rack that contained clothes for children her age.

"I might as well steal other things while I'm here," she sniggered as she made sure the door to the storage area was locked before taking off her pajamas and took a green t-shirt, a pink vest, gray leggings, and a blue short skirt that happened to go well with her old shoes from the orphanage. She also took two hair ties to tie her hais in pigtails and a blue baseball cap that seems to be inspired by some kind of Pokémon. Lastly, she took a sling bag for items she might obtain during her travels.

She looked back at her reflection on the window pane and told herself, "Yeah, no one will ever be able to tell that I came from an orphanage with this outfit."

The sun has already risen by the time the ship arrived to their destination. By the looks of it, it was a very small pier located in a quaint little town that was even smaller than Aspertia City.

Rodowena decided to sneak out of the storage area early on in order to avoid being seen by other staff and passengers of the ship. Last night was already a narrow escape from that lone staff; it'll be a different story if multiple people sees her.

Tiptoeing out of the storage area, Rodowena didn't see too many people inside the ship's cabin. Those few people even looked like they were apathetic with everything in their surroundings. She didn't pay this too much mind, but then found it weird when she saw that the staff were acting the same way. It was as if they don't even know that they have already arrived.

Still not wanting to question this incredible luck she's having right now, Rodowena made her way to the exit as fast and as quietly as she can.

One problem arose when she reached the bridge that connected the ship to the pier: the man that found her last night in the storage area sat guard at the end of the bridge. He seemed to he on the lookout for something... someone that might want to enter or exit the ship.

Should she make a run for it, Rodowena asked herself. Looking around, it was the only way she could safely leave the ship without risking drowning.

Without thinking twice, Rodowena bolted straight along the bridge until he was past the staff on guard and kept on running until she thought she was in a good distance from the ship. When she looked behind her, however, she was aghast when she saw that the man didn't even move an inch from where he was sitting. He only looked at her intently, or, Rodowena was unwilling to admit but swore that she saw, even endearingly.