Desert Train? Local hour: Morning

  (The introduction from last chapter if people skipped Chapter 0)

  The young man woke up distressed, looking around and to himself. He hyperventilated as he stood around and…Nothing hurt. He checked himself but nothing felt off. He could stand up and double-check. Nothing was broken. Then he looked around. He wasn’t in the building, or his home, or the street. The ground trembled a bit, as he looked around. He was on board a train that passed through the desert, thanks to the windows on the sides.

  The train had a modernized classic aesthetic, with lights on top that form chandeliers and fancy comfy booths.

  He knew two things. He died. He knew he died at that moment. His mind raced thinking how he still was breathing and kicking around.

  And the second thing is when he looks at his reflection.

  It wasn’t his face. But it is now.

  The reborn took a moment to clear his own eyes, rubbing multiple times, pinched his arms, and slapped his face.

  He shook his head, his eyes widened once again as he sweat nervously “Not a dream. This is real…I died by that blond man and I am here now….I am here. And not in my body. Okay okay okay okay. Breathe, breathe slowly and steady.”

  It took him several minutes to stop hyperventilating and breathe calmly before checking out again the place. First of all, there were six other passengers on the train, split in each booth, however, two of them were talking out some stuff he didn’t give too much attention to at the moment, as they were talking over some documents. The second thing, besides his booth, his coffee table had some documents on top of it. Due to him being the most close to those, at hand range, he quickly check them out. Medical records, an international passport, a train ticket, and some other documents that had information related to…’him’. No to him directly, but to the body he inhabited.

  What caught his eyes and his attention the most: an identification document, like a classic ID, slightly bigger, but on the front was a body image of him and eighteen unique slots, big enough for stickers. Under it a case with those same eighteen slots, but big enough to put some sort of medals on those. It had even semi-defined shapes and everything.

  And the name it had was “Ephiron”. The same as his classic nickname.

  His mannerisms kick in, taking his time to put everything in order, in the same pile from bigger to small,, and inspect this mysterious ID. It showed his money, his ‘name’, his age, barely eighteen, he was some years younger than before. Heck, surprisingly the hour…10:31, “neat” he added on his mental record. He took another moment to look outside. It was a desert with its dunes and a…train…wreckage of some sort. Heck, he even saw the figure of a beast that looked like an-

  “An Absol?!” He was set back a moment as he observed the figure. Thank Arceus that the train traveled slow enough to have that mere glimpse of attention to check the skin, the white fur, the face, and the details. Everything correlated to that unnerving Pokemon. That was a Pokemon. He couldn’t believe it. “That’s a real Pokemon!” He pinched once again with force and then smiled booze for a moment before the realization kicked in, changing it to a more sad and serious tone.

  He realized that he may be in a situation called “Isekai” or whatever his many ex-friends called it now. “Another world…Then why I didn’t start as a kid or…in my body? Why I am here, at this specific moment?”

  Then his brain recalled some important information about the Pokemon he witnessed. Multiple entries in fact:

  - “It appears when it senses an impending natural disaster. As a result, it was mistaken as a doom-bringer. “

  - “Absol has the ability to foretell the coming of natural disasters. It lives in a harsh, rugged mountain environment. This Pokémon very rarely ventures down from the mountains.”

  - “It senses coming disasters and appears before people only to warn them of impending danger.”

  - “Rumored to sen-“

  “Okay, I get it!” He slapped himself on the head, having an encyclopedia inside of it. He memorized each and every single Pokemon due to his love and obsession for the franchise. But maybe he had a delusion from the recent trauma too. Or it felt like another possibility inside of his logic. He sat down sighing as trying to recall his memories. "I remember that whole day…I remember why I used those Pokemon. That guy was predictable. I remember why participated….I remember that beating and my body and my head torn apart….My name was…..was….Why…Why I can’t remember my old name…Or the face of my family….did I have parents? A sister? A brother?… Did I have a family even?!”

  His body began to tremble, sweat, feeling weak. Anxiety and panic clouded his thoughts as he tried with all his might to recall that information. “Was because he hit me in the head before I...Oh god, oh no…no no no no….I have to remember them. I have to. I have to find a way to remember them…But that Absol, in the middle of the desert?!… Does that mean that a disaster will happen… again?! Please, just let it be my imagination…Hell is this even just inside my head before I completely died back then?…. No, I remember him hitting me last…And the sensation-“

  But every thought was interrupted by a new voice. A voice that approached him without much care or thought while sitting next in front of him. A feminine voice of one of the passengers that was on his right talking things.

  “Okay, thank you very much! I’ll see you when we get into the city!” The figure sit in front of the reincarnated and slide over the booth, to be just in front of them. She waved kindly, getting the attention of the pensive figure. Her bluish-beautiful hair in contrast with their black scarf and the white and black dress quickly made the man focused on what happened around him. “All right, hello there!”

  (art made by @CeriseCrescent (her twitter tag))

  She placed her open hand on her chest and kindly smiled at the boy. “Your turn now; sorry for the wait. My name’s Ame. I’m the manager of the Reborn League. You were also looking to sign up for it, right?” She expressed as she took the documents on the table and quickly checking were correct. The man barely had time to even react, his face of surprise felt subtle to look at, as Ame continue, “It would be great if so! We’re finally just getting things off the ground again. Truth is, after the incident a few years ago, the whole region was almost completely abandoned…even by the Pokemon…”

  Ephiron’s expression was filled with confusion, as he raised a bit his hand, wanting to ask what happened. But quickly was interrupted by Ame’s finishing ordering most of the documents she needed for a fast read, cheerfully claiming her views “Uh, but! Don’t let that worry you! It might not be an ideal place, but our Gym Leaders are like nothing you’ve ever seen before, and I think you’ll find Reborn to be a region like no other too! I’m coming back from some business out of town, so I figured I might as well introduce myself early and get a head start on everyone’s registration. Could I see your boarding ticket, please?”

  Ephiron shook his head, as he tried to look for the leftover documents and quickly picked up the ticket he left aside and gave it to her. His mouth trembled trying to apologize, but it came with no force. Ame took a couple of seconds to read “Ephiron. I guess is that time already, huh? Well, okay, I’ve got you down….Is there some special instr- Oh right right your pre documents…right… let me read it real quick… “

  Ephiron could barely hear her while she mumbled something out of “antidote” or something weird as “minty-fresh”, he could check through the windows that there was going inside a wall, as the city began to reveal itself. It was an architectural impossibility to have such blocks of cement beside a literal giant desert. He barely had time to watch more when Ame commented. “All set then! We’re almost to Grandview Station, so after we disembark, just follow me to the Grand Hall. There,…”

  She let a moment of suspense as she revealed, “I’ll give you a starter Pokémon to kick off your adventure in Reborn. Then if you’ll-”

  Ephiron widened his eyes. For that brief moment, his emotions felt like a mixed bag of negativity and excitement. “This is another world! This is aw-“

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  But both were suddenly interrupted by a sudden apparition. Behind Ephiron, an enigmatic floating figure, completely dark to view, only shaped by a fedora and a coat, enshrouded in a mysterious and terrifying ghostly aura. Completely obscured of view of his face, his hands, or anything resembling human. After that brief interaction, Ame’s cheerful attitude faded away, replaced by a creeping anxiety and a panic attack. She stood up, looking around the place way more anxious and scared than Ephiron felt a few moments ago, checking everything.

  “Something’s not right…Shouldn’t we be decelerating already?!” Her face instantly filled with hurry as he rushed towards Ephiron and grabbed him by the body before pushing both of them, crashing against the window. Both broke out of the train cabin in time. Both flew out, falling violently against the ground outside of the station. Both got concussions and slashes through their bodies. Ephiron got knocked out hitting the floor, while Ame got to be conscious of the next unfolding scene.

  The train roared against the station as it crashed against the platform before exploding in smithereens, generating a multiple catatonic explosion, enough to make the whole city tremble and break apart the whole station. Ashes scattering the whole vicinity, as screams faded away in the roaring flames of the combustion. Many Pokemon and people fled away as chunks of rocks and hot metal came around. But luckily, Ephiron and Ame were just outside of the radius problem. The police department came running to evacuate any survivors as well as close up the perimeter searching for any perpetrator.

  Well, the building survived as well, but barely stood up, cracked up so much as it could go down any moment to dust. They helped out Ame and Ephiron, placing them just outside of the now crumbling building once the zone felt secure.

  Lower Peridot Ward. Local hour: 11:04

  

  “Brother, do you think that other universes exist?” A feminine voice echoed, as the other person felt distracted. This voice repeated the question, before exclaiming “Hey…”

  “Hey…”

  “Hey!….” The voice increased the volume as everything began to spin.

  “Hey! Are you okay?! Wake up” Ame voice echoed in Ephiron’s head, as he held his head in pure pain. Placing his other hand around him, trying to stand up. He almost tripped but Ame quickly caught him on time. Ephiron groaned in pain, feeling every fiber of his body in that horrifying pain, way dizzy to open his eyes yet. Luckily, nothing of their stuff was damaged in the outcome. But the commotion let Ephiron out of breath and words. He sat down in one of the nearby debris as Ame finished inspecting him, sighing in relief.

  “Thank goodness, you’re okay!” She expressed shy happiness, however her eyes were filled with grief and pain. “That train exploded right as we pulled into the station… I’m…I’m just glad I could get us out of there in time, but everyone else-” Her face paled as she held her arm on the side before inhaling and exhaling and shaking his head. She tried to recompose herself as she continued. “Well…There’s no use thinking about that now…” She turned around, facing the building, looking through one of the cracked windows, seeing the hand of one of the victims sticking out through the stones, lying dead, before turning to him, her voice filled in pain, “Why did this have to happen?… Who would even-“

  “Hi hi!!!!!” Another feminine voice, way more cheerful and feminine interrupted Ame’s loud thoughts as she came back, another figure came running into place, fascinated by the big explosion, and looked at the damages with excitement. This figure had green bright ponytail hair, with an electric motif in the hair doing a zig-zag, held by a scrunchie, her eyes and eyebrows had the same color tone as her hair. She wore a hoodie of cream yellow and orange details, a pleated mini skirt and thigh-high socks of that orange, and sports shoes of that yellow tone.

  (art is not mine: Check out ????????????: ?????????????? (Fanseries) on twitter)

  Ame plainly said “Julia.” Before turning to the new woman on the scene with anger in her eyes, on the edge of exploding. “Julia, what did you do?”

  “Whaaaaaaat? I didn’t do anything!” She exclaimed raising her arms before continuing, “I was at the Gymmie-Gym, and the suddenly BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!! So I came running!” She bounced in place as she looked up more at the damages than the actual situation. “Cuz, you know, if things are exploding, I gotta be there to see it!!!” She stuck her tongue before Ame and Ephiron turned to each other a bit confused by her demeanor in this detrimental situation. Heck, even Ephiron had a couple of glasses stuck in his hair and both clearly had some injuries from the incident and she didn’t even care.

  Ame interrupted the awkward silence before expressing a simple “Huh.” Before regaining perspective on the situation, she stepped backward, contemplating the whole building before commenting to the both of them. “Based on the timing…this must have been a deliberated attack. Somebody rigged the train to destroy Grandview Station….Or maybe it was…” But Julia interrupts Ame’s investigation.

  “If they did want to destroy it, they could’ve tried a little harder!” Ame and Ephiron looked a bit horrified to Julia, as she continued explaining. “I-I mean, the structure’s still standing! What’s up with that?! This is like a six out of ten job, at best!”

  “WE NEARLY DIED!” Ephiron thought as he regained foot on himself, Ame’s silence backing him up as he stuck a hand to him for him. “And why is Ame investigating?! Shouldn’t be the Police’s job?!… This is definitively a Pokemon world if they are this-”

  Ame finished her statement “…Anyway, whoever was behind it could be still monitoring from nearby. I’ll have the perimeter locked down. We may yet catch them.” She turned to Ephiron for a last quick check-up, adding “I’m going ahead, Ephiron. There’s another Trainer who was meant to register with you and the others at the same time, so find her and then come see me. I’ll be in the Grand Hall, just down this road. You can’t miss it. And don’t worry about all of this. I’ll have it completely taken care of.”

  As she walked away, Ephiron sighed exasperatedly as he over-cleaned his dust off, taking several minutes to think. “I…Don’t want them to finish the job. I should…get a Pokemon for self-protection. Maybe…Dear god I nearly died aga-“

  “So you’re Ephiron?” Julia interrupted his pensive face, as he snapped back out of it. “I’m Julia, captain of cheer and pep, and all things bubbly and bright!” She smiled at him before snapping her fingers and pointing at him. “Pop quiz! Are you going to take on the Reborn league?”

  Ephiron was set back by that sudden question, but something in him quickly reacted and nodded multiple times, going from a shy nod to a more determined one, as he gathered the strength to stand up. “Correct!” Julia backs it up, “Then I’ll see you very soon, because I’m also the Electric Gym Leader!~ I will be looking forward to your challenge, so go on! Get down to the Grand hall already!” She expressed impatiently before stepping aside, giving him a way to go ahead.

  A bit uncomfortable, the man slowly goes ahead and walks past her, still a bit shocked by the situation. He heard the policemen talking to each other, commenting about the investigations.

  “The device was remotely triggered. According to the radio signal, the detonation device had to be in a fifty-foot radius. The station on the outside is barely fine, but on the inside is trashed. We could send cargoes away, but our transport infrastructure has been tampered with and will take long to rebuild.”

  “The culprit was that close?! Oh nonononononono-, let’s get down there now!” Ephiron’s mind raced, moving his legs in a hurry as the fear settled in. While walking away, he could see a better view of the lower parts of the city. On the north: Suburb houses filled those streets, as the floor had dirt, trash, and all kinds of leftovers all over the floor, mixed with bottles and cigars. The police locked down the whole zone as some citizen tried to walk past them to their own homes to no avail, creating a fuss with them. The survivors of the tragedy gathered around on one side, as one woman cried out. The only thing Ephiron could hear was that she lost her fiancée in the tragedy.

  This city was beside a lake, on the south, the water had a greenish-gray color. It was filled with pollution to the brim, and most Pokemon fled away from those waters. Ephiron walked, half running while looking around and his back, reaching his destination, not too far away from the station. Other people, still in lockdown, looked at the waters and the disaster nearby, melancholic on the beautiful place that once was that great city.

  Distracted, a voice caught by surprise the young man, this one reaction in fear as he quickly stepped away from the source before looking. It was a little kid, holding a ‘Potion’ in their hands and offering it to the man. “You look hurt…I know potions don’t work on humans but…just take it okay! Take care!” She expressed before running back to her mother, this one patting her head proud of that action. A tiny smile drew on his face, seeing such sweet innocence still in such a dirty world, taking with a nod before breathing a bit. Turning to his left, back at the north, he saw the large stairs serving as a half wall to the building in the middle of the park.

  This semi-spherical building had column arcs holding the infrastructure, as an ‘X’ symbol of four colors: blue, red, green, and purple, decorated the top of the building, above the door. The rest of the building itself wore these colors, but the door only held these four colors in lines with a black frame. To Ephiron it felt a bit surreal to see such a clean and impressive building near the low streets of the city, or is what he thought while walking up the stairs, still aching in pain in each step.

  In front of the door, waiting near the end of the stairs, a woman stood to the arrival of something, but as she noticed the newcomer arrive, she uncrossed her arms and stepped in front of Ephiron. Unlike the modern-looking people that inhabitable the city, this one had an oriental sense of clothing, with a multi-layered kimono of gray and black tones. In the logotype of her clothes and her skirt, the Tai Chi symbol decorated those clothes, and her long blackish hair showed some type of wildness and order, Under these appearances, it revealed a training uniform.

  Before she began to speak, Ephiron blinked a couple of times, “Okay, this is definitively another world. Like why…Just….I am in a coma? Don’t think so…”

  (Official art from the game, made by Falcon)

  Unlike Julia or Ame, she felt way more determined and their voice felt deeper. She salute before and asking, “Hey, are you Ephiron?” The man nodded, then she continued. “I am Victoria. It’s a pleasure to meet you, but is everything okay?” Her eyes fixated in the damages he sustained form the accident, as she expressed empathy for him “I heard what happened at the station…Well,” She reassured him as she nodded and place a hand on his shoulder. “you’re here, so I guess you’re all right. Let’s go ahead and get registered. Don’t worry, it shouldn’t take long. Let’s go inside.”

  As she went ahead of him and open the double frame door for him, revealing the interiors as the bright light blinded him a moment.

  It has some quality of life changes.

  Rejuvcap: Hard lvl limit, will be explained later.

  Fieldapp: This is just to show the different characteristics of the field.

  Weathermod: Don't worry about this one, doesn't affect nothing at all.

  Antidote: No poisoning damage outside of battle.

  Mintyfresh: Adjust some natures....This is aviable later, this is just if i REALLLYYY nee dit.

  Unrealtime: Don't worry about this one, doesn't affect nothing at all.