I’d ridden a plane exactly once before—twice, technically, since I’d needed to take a return flight home. I had only been a child back then, so my memories of it weren’t great. They mostly consisted of staring down at a tablet’s screen and walking through the airport itself.

  Now, I was actually aware enough to look out the window. It was as if I could see the entire world from where I was, miles up into the sky. For hours, there was nothing but water, but the ocean flowed through shades of blues as we flew west over different underwater environments. Once we hit land, I could see how the terrain itself shifted from an enormous desert into rolling hills and swamps.

  The engines on the plane’s wings rumbled with a constant thrum, and the occasional blowing wind sent vibrations through the cabin. The trees beneath us grew to be taller and taller, and I soon became able to see the distant, cleared-out tarmac of our landing site.

  A short chime rang out.

  “Please remain seated. We will be landing shortly.”

  The sound of the pilot’s voice made me sit up straighter. I felt like bouncing around, but that kind of reaction would have been immature. Still, I was filled with energy; I could not contain the excitement building in my chest.

  It wasn't every day that I got to visit a brand new region, even with all of the travel I’d experienced recently. The moment the plane landed, I stood up, and then I was forced to suffer and wait for everyone around me to sluggishly retrieve their luggage and begin shuffling out.

  Though I wasn't moving any faster than anyone else, I still felt like I was running, but it took a short time to reach the door and step out onto a rolled-over staircase. Standing there, I knew I was ready.

  As I breathed in, I could taste the chill in the air. Even with all of the nearby planes, there was a qualitative lack of pollution.

  Everything was fresh.

  “Welcome to Mistralton,” I whispered to myself.

  Of course, it was my very first step into this new region when everything went wrong. Someone shouted at me from way off to my left, and I turned far too late to see a mass of blue, black, and pink careening directly my way.

  “Watch out!”

  A big ball of fluff with wings slammed straight into my face. A wet heart shape stamped right into my forehead. That impact sent me stumbling back into the side of the airplane, and then that hit saw me bounce off the metal and fall forward.

  I also bounced off every step on the way down.

  “Are you okay?!” that same voice yelled in panic. “I knew this would happen—I shouldn’t have sent him into a crowd!”

  A squeaking whine came from my side, and the world felt like it was spinning. An ache in my face told me that part of my skin had definitely been stamped bright red.

  But I couldn't help it. I laughed. I rolled onto my back and stared up at the clear blue sky. Far above me, I could see a metal bird gliding over the airport. I couldn’t tell if there was anyone on its back or not, but its mere presence was enough for me to smile.

  Even now, a full year after entering this world, it was hard to avoid the wonder I would feel at times. I might have had no idea how I got here in the first place, but I didn’t really care. What mattered was that I was here now and that I had the chance to fully explore what this world had to offer.

  After all, almost everyone’s childhood dream was to enter a world filled with Pokémon.

  The creature that had slammed into my face was a Swoobat. The metal bird in the sky was a Skarmory. Pushing a cart full of luggage was a multi-armed Machamp. A Drilbur used its wide claws to flatten the earth alongside some construction workers digging off to the side.

  All of those fancily-named creatures were Pokémon, beings that I once thought existed only in video games. They were little monsters that could be sucked into shrinking spheres for easy capture and transport. They were creatures that rewrote the rules of reality itself just to engage in friendly battles.

  “...Okay, seriously,” that voice from before said, “I've asked if you're okay three times now, and you've just laid on your back and giggled.”

  Blinking, I sat up.

  “Sorry. I’ve been told I get distracted pretty easily. Didn’t mean to worry you—a few bounces off the stairs aren’t going to do much to me. I’ve taken worse falls before.”

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Proudly, I patted the chest of my coat—thick, cushioned, and warm enough to keep out the chill. It covered my arms and stretched almost to my knees, giving me enough of a resistance to hits to ensure I was fine as long as I remembered to tuck my head and roll.

  “Glad it’s nothing worse,” the person standing above me said.

  The young man sending me a concerned-yet-amused look was one of the construction workers, and he spoke in good humor as he offered me a hand. I clasped it to let him pull me up, taking a moment to brush some loose dirt off the tan fabric of my outfit. With the way my hair had fallen, I also had to push back some stray, blonde strands to make sure they didn’t block my vision.

  The construction worker looked me over to make sure I was really okay before continuing to speak.

  “Name’s Jack,” he said. Right away, I could tell he was younger than most of the other construction workers here, probably someone not too far out of high school. “I’ve been helping with the work to expand Mistralton Airport. And this little pest here is Swoobat. He was supposed to be off retrieving something for me.”

  The creature that had crashed into my face let out another whine.

  “Did he not?” I asked as I shook Jack’s hand when he offered it again. “Or, did he drop whatever it was when he hit me? And—oh, wait. The name’s Nicholas, but most people just call me Nick.”

  “Nick, then,” Jack said. “And, yeah, Mac left his toolbox in the hangar. I asked Swoobat to get it, but what I didn’t expect was for a plane to pull in, and when it comes to big crowds...”

  “Swoobat gets easily distracted?” I provided.

  On Jack’s shoulder, a fluffy blue bat with ears larger than his head used one of its wings to try to hide its embarrassment.

  “Swoobat is part Psychic-type. He’s pretty in-tune with thoughts and emotions,” Jack said. “A plane's worth of people can really throw him off. There’s a reason his species tends to live in caves.”

  The Swoobat perched on Jack’s shoulder was yet another reminder of the world I now lived in—a world where people and Pokémon partnered together. That partnership tended to be for far more than just fighting: Pokémon were friends, family, and close companions. They were used to assist with work all the time to the point that society and Pokémon were intrinsically linked.

  It was a connection that I loved to see, but of course, Pokémon were still primarily used for battling.

  “You a Pokémon trainer?” Jack suddenly asked.

  “Huh? What?”

  It took me a second to realize I’d been looking at his Swoobat a bit too intensely.

  “You don’t seem that bothered by Swoobat hitting you, so you must take hits like that pretty often,” Jack said. “You also don’t seem to be nervous about being around an evolved Pokémon?”

  “Well, yeah,” I admitted, gaining a cheeky smile as I rubbed the back of my head. “I have a few Pokémon with me. Not many, but enough to be a decent threat in battle.”

  As I brought my hand back down, I could feel the slight weight of two shrunken Pokéballs within one of my coat pockets, and I could also feel the additional weight of the electronic watch on my wrist, the device still in a deep slumber.

  “I see,” Jack said, eyes flicking over the crowd of people descending the plane’s staircase and sending a glance to a cart of luggage being pushed toward a small building set to the side. “Well, I think I owe you an apology. I can take a few minutes off work. I’ll walk you to the terminal—a couple words from me, and you’ll get your bags back faster than waiting in line!”

  “That’d be great. Thanks!”

  Jack turned on a heel and started to lead me away, the Swoobat on his shoulder leaning against his head and using Jack’s hard hat as support.

  For an airport, Mistralton's was somehow both excessively large and excessively small. Outside of a single, compact building, it lacked any major terminals that could support large groups of travelers, but this place likely had more runways than most cities' airports. Dozens of hangars had been built to support how this place managed most of Unova’s cargo, and I could tell that these runways were primarily used by shipping companies and amateur pilots.

  A passenger plane landing here wasn’t too common, but with the current events going on—and with all the construction taking place—things were likely shifting so that more and more people would be entering Mistralton shortly.

  “So what brings you to Unova, anyway?” Jack asked as he brought me across the airport.

  “Same thing as most other trainers, I’d think,” I said. “Work, technically, but mostly just personal interest.”

  “Ah. You sponsored?”

  “In a way,” I replied quickly, doing my best not to think about it. “I get some money on the side to help pay for taking care of my team, but I don’t have to push a product or show up in commercials or anything like that.”

  Jack went on to ask me where I was from, and I answered with a technicality—Paldea. In truth, I was from another world, but that origin was from over a year ago at this point, and I didn’t need to go out of my way to reveal that.

  So, my impromptu guide just hummed as he led me further and further away from where the plane landed.

  It didn’t miss me that no one else was walking the same way.

  But I maintained my casual smile, despite that.

  “So if you're a trainer from another region coming here due to work, then that means you’re here for the tournament,” Jack eventually said.

  “The World Coronation Series?” I asked. “I mean, yeah, it only happens every five years or so. I’d think being in it is pretty obvious—it’s the biggest tournament in the world.”

  “And you’ve registered?”

  “I did.”

  “And now you’re seeking to climb the ranks, just like every other trainer who signed up to compete.”

  I could already tell where this was going, and I rolled my shoulders to loosen up.

  Jack continued to lead me forward, bringing me to a short space set between two hangars. Within that alleyway, he then turned around with a sharp glint in his eyes.

  “Yeah, you’ve already put the pieces together, huh? Didn’t bring you this way just to help you out,” he said, pushing an arm to the side to stretch. “You’re a trainer. You’re competing. You’re trying to make it to the top just like everyone else. And, if you’ve just arrived, then you haven’t had the time to win and gain any points!”

  Jack gained a cocky smile.

  “All of that means you have to be in the Normal Rank, same as me!” he said. “And we both know that being in the same rank means you won’t be allowed to run from this battle.”

  The Pokémon trainer moonlighting as a construction worker grinned, using his thumb to push up the edge of his hard hat. On his shoulder, his Swoobat dramatically brought out its wings to make itself look like a threat.

  Despite my own smile, I did let out a short sigh. Already, I was retrieving a Pokéball from my pocket. Getting into a battle like this was a bit of a detour, but it was nothing I wouldn’t have searched out myself.

  “You’re right,” I said to Jack. “Since I signed up before heading over, I was placed in the Normal Rank just like every other new registree. And, since I only just got here, you're also right that I have no recorded battles.”

  “Knew it!” Jack said with a deepening grin.

  “Except,” I continued, taking the interruption lightly, “you’re very wrong about something else: My team and I don’t just try to win our battles; we win our battles outright.”

  Locking eyes with Jack, I could already feel the Pokéballs in my pocket shake slightly as my team started to wake up. On my wrist, my smartwatch crackled with static.

  Jack had challenged me expecting to face a trainer not ready to battle on such short notice. Unfortunately for him, he had picked the wrong opponent. My team was stronger than he realized, and we were always prepared to take on any fight.

  Welcome to the new long fiction! Chapter two should already be up, and if it’s not, it’ll be up shortly.

  Pokémon mentioned in this chapter:

  Drilbur