Chapter 2: Making Friends

Author's Note: To any people who wanted classic Pokemon, I promise they'll show up. But for now, certain themes I want to explore depend on what I have chosen. I ask only for patience. Soon you'll get a Mega Charizard soaring in the skies of Apokolips as it destroys Parademons. But that's a later problem.

PYJ

It was midway through the flight that I realized two things.

First, as fast as Latias is, there is no way we could escape Superman if he decided to investigate us. Faster than a Jetplane is not faster than the speed of light, which many versions of Supes can outrun.

Second, Latias was very quickly acting strange. Her former happy eyes were shifting in confusion. She was looking at the land below us as we flew out of Metropolis, looking at the unfamiliar land in confusion.

Here's the thing. Pokemon are sentient. Let me say that again, in case the idea hasn't produced the right amount of realization.

Pokemon are sentient.

That realization filled me as Latias stopped above farmland looking around.

Where am I?

I should mention for those who don't know that Latias is one of the few Dragon/Psychic types. One of two I think, the other being her brother. So, thought-speak. And mind-reading.

"…Aw crap." I said slowly.

Master? She looked at me, her adorable face a combination of fear and confusion as her voice echoed in my mind. Is that really you? What's that funny stuff on your face? You got a beard?

I rubbed at my face, realizing few characters in Pokemon had my luxurious beard. Let alone the kids you use as avatars in every game.

"Listen, this is all a long story. One I know the bare amount of. Can we land, so we can talk?"

From the look of wonder in her eyes, I could tell some of my thoughts had gotten to her. Still, she nodded, aiming for a bit of open land. She landed with ease, changing back into her normal form with a loud 'whoosh' of power.

I landed on my feet, only to nearly fall as my knees refused to work briefly. Latias kept back as I tried to figure out how legs worked, to focused on looking around. We stood in a small grove of trees, a large cornfield nearby with a farmhouse in the distance. I tried not to think about that house, of who, in this universe, could be living inside-

Who are the Kents?

I sighed, turning to look at Latias. She looked back at me, adorable as all get out. Seriously, Smaug would be ashamed to be related to such a cutie.

She was bird-like in a lot of ways, with an aerodynamic body and smooth feathers. Her lower half was red, with wings shaped like a jet planes and fin-like feet she used as rudders, though she floated in front of me on her own psychic power. Most of her upper half was white, with a blue triangle on her chest, triangular ears, and a red face that had a white triangle in the center.

Overall, she looked like if a fighter jet came to life and became the most adorable being in the universe.

I felt a warm wave of affection, and realized my thought had broadcasted. She smiled happily, then looked confused again.

Where are we master?

"Boy, is that hard to answer." I rubbed my head, throwing my backpack on the ground and thinking. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Flying! We were going to Mossdeep! She trilled her name happily. It was fun.

Huh. That was where I was going when I last played my 3DS. I had to pick something up from the waters neaby or something. A Pokemon maybe? So… this really was my Latias? As in the one on my game, nothing but bits of code, and now a full fledged organic being?

Mugyuu, your thoughts are funny Master. She came closer and stroked her head against me. She was warm, and her skin was smooth. I hugged her, trying to think, and she trilled her name as she leaned on me.

"This is too much." I sighed. "I need to plan. What would Batman do?"

Hide the Pokeballs away, and never use them even if they could prove amazingly useful in the future. Seriously, dude had a horde of futuristic weaponry he held back on, including Nth metal. Might be exaggerating, but something told me my planning would never be quite matched up with Batman's.

"Okay, what would Wonder Woman do?"

There we go. My favorite superhero, bar none. Kind, intelligent, powerful, and willing to be ruthless when it required. The Princess of Truth, a title that she lived and breathed, and one that made me, a constant liar, admire her that much more.

So what would she do?

Well for one, she wasn't real, same as Pokémon like the Latias in my arms, so-

My mistake was apparent immediately. But in my defense, I'd rarely dealt with the idea of thinking to loudly.

What!? Latias pulled away from me, her arm smacking into me as she did. The pain that followed that reminded me just how much stronger Pokémon are than humans. I'm not real? What does that mean!? Why are you thinking that!? What happened?

The pain in those eyes of hers. If I didn't make it clear, here it is again. Pokemon are sentient. All of them. With all the pain, love, and sheer danger that comes with being that sentient.

And now, I had one in my head, her mind projecting the real pain in her mind, the sadness as she felt the truth of my words. She knew that I, deep inside, had proof she was not real. That she didn't exist.

I had to do something. So I turned on the nerd. The part of me that's constantly analyzing situations, the part that enters a hardware store for something and immediately starts planning for the zombie apocalypse.

"Okay…" I said slowly as her bright yellow eyes stared at me, horror and confusion in them as they watered. "Listen. I thought you weren't real once. It seemed like the truth. But here you are. As real as I am."

And oh god, that made me realize I might not be real either. Which had her eyes widen once more as she read the thought.

Different tack. Am I real. Yes. I can feel the wind, the dirt on my cheek, the acid from nearly throwing up. I'm real. So this is a simple application of Multiverse theory.

I was still panicking a bit as I faced the superpowered being before me, but I found myself calming as I felt a hint of curiosity in her mind behind the fear. I focused on broadcasting my thoughts to her. Then I did the hardest thing any person in the modern age can try.

I started thinking.

Right, the Multiverse. In my own history, Pokemon is fictional. Video games, books, movies. But so were dozens of things. Things that reflected our own. The Multiverse was the answer. An infinite universe, made by every choice, every possible permutation of the universe. The slightest shift in an atom could lead to two entirely different universes.

So, with Latias before me, and the DC universe surrounding me, this was simple to figure out. Pokemon are real. Someone had dropped me here, with some of my favorite Pokemon, and gave me nothing more than that.

But this was real. Even if someone was writing this down on a page right now, it was real. This universe, and my Pokemon, are real. The DC Universe was real. The Multiverse, infinite in nature, allowed us to exist in this universe together.

We are real. And the thought rang in my head, clear as a bell.

As Latias calmed, still confused, but reassured by how certain I was, I nodded. This was the situation. And it was time to deal.

"You okay?" I asked her softly.

She nodded. Yes master. I'm still confused. Did you tell Giratina and Palkia to bring us here?

Well that was interesting. Both as a theory, and proof of Latias' intelligence in bringing that theory up. No animal could think that way.

But…

"No. I can't see any reason why I would decide to have them move us. Even if they did, I don't know why they'd bring us here." I frowned. "How did you get here? The Eon Flute is supposed to signal you from wherever you are to me."

I… She frowned. I don't know. I was flying with my brother. And then you called me.

Well shit. How the hell does that work. In the game Alpha Sapphire, you gain access to the Eon Flute, which gives you the ability to summon Latias to give you a free flight. She doesn't even need to be in your party.

Apparently, it still worked, but instead it brought her to Metropolis. And I had no proof she would be sent back to her home universe. Until I figured out if she would be safe, in a world with radar and spaceships, I'd be keeping her nearby.

"Okay," I say that word a lot. "I still have questions. Like how Chesnaught, Heatran, and you all followed my orders. I mean, if I have a Charizard on my belt, will it listen, or will I end up needing to do an Ash-saving-from-the-ice thing?"

She blinked, expressive eyes thoughtful. Do you have your badges? Maybe that's why they listened.

Now I blinked. Huh. "Good idea."

I walked over to the bag, followed by the hovering dragon. She looked over my shoulder as I opened it. I blinked at the sight before me.

"Huh. Pretty full for such a small bag." Then again, the games always had you carrying a hell of a lot more than most bags. Hammerspace maybe, like the Pokeballs? As Latias once more let out a 'Mugyuu' at my thoughts, I began taking the objects out one by one.

Various medicines, berries, and foods went into one pile. A foldaway bike and other larger objects in another, including a spacesuit of all things. The various things I would give to my Pokemon went in yet another pile, like the TM and HM disks. And finally, the Megastones, bright and shining, went in a final spot.

With the brief organization done, I lifted up a small case, opening it under Latias' watchful gaze. Inside were sixteen badges.

"Sixteen?" I looked up at Latias. "That's too many. I should have eight at most, from Hoenn."

To my surprise, she shook her head. "Remember master? You got some from Kalos, before you met me and the others."

Now that was interesting. Apparently my playing the two more recent games had become a shared history for Latias' perception of me. Why not all the others though? I'd played nearly every Pokemon game over the years. Why just the most recent two? (I had a moment of fantasizing being Red, AKA the OG badass trainer.)

I looked over myself. Come to think of it, I wasn't dressed like the Alpha Sapphire protagonist either. I had normal clothes, a shirt, jeans, and sneakers, with a hat to go with them, none of them in the design that character is known for.

More mysteries I guess.

"Okay. One more thing I guess." I reached for my belt, and before I could think too hard about it, threw out a Pokeball.

Out came Chesnaught. The Grass/Fighting type blinked in the light, then yawned, digging his feet in the dirt beneath him. Then he looked at me and Latias, a smile on his face.

"Chesnaught."

Huh. So they do just say their species name. That's going to frustrate some biologists, since the ability to articulate their own name should mean they can say other things. Though considering some Pokemon, that might be just the start of their frustrating scientists...

Latias trilled happily, flying over to circle Chesnaught. He laughed, a rough roar of sound, as she circled. At the edge of my mind, I could feel her telling him about what had happened, like hearing a whispered conversation. I waited nervously, hoping he didn't hear something he didn't like.

I don't care who you are, a bear with superpowers that you feel might attack you is a terrifying prospect to face.

When Latias stopped, Chesnaught looked at me, then shrugged.

"Chesnaught, Ches, Ches." He waved his hand around, then shrugged. "Cheeeeeesnaught."

Apparently we were cool. How anticlimactic.

Of course, then he lifted up the food he'd somehow stolen and started scarfing it down.

"Wait, how the hell?" He'd been a full six feet away from that food. How? Chesnaught only gave me a wide, mischevious grin before eating some more.

With Chesnaught eating and peaceful, I opened the next ball, which was a Master Ball interestingly enough. Heatran came out, as big as ever, and radiating warmth.

Her reaction was interesting. Unlike Chesnaught's relaxed confidence, she looked around timidly. When she saw me, she seemed to brighten, running over to press her head to my leg in a enthusiastic bump. Considering her head was a few dozen pounds of solid metal, that hurt quite a bit, but I endured. Only cried a little bit.

She pressed close to me, unused to the smells and sights around her, as Latias did the breakdown. The dragon type seemed to have a good relationship with all my Pokemon actually. Well, the two I'd shown.

So, next one. This ball was green and black in a camouflage pattern. When I threw it and saw the shape that appeared, I wondered briefly if I had a pink blob on my team. Then it turned. A Chansey. AKA a Pokemon who was basically a nurse, healing the sick and injured. And also secretly a pretty badass creature. She was tiny, pink in color with three hair-like growths on the sides of its head, tipped with a darker shade of pink. On the center of its belly was a dark pink pouch that contained a single white egg. Its arms were stubby, and she stretched them out as she yawned. She was cute, but there was a strange maturity about her. Which made sense, considering her natural occupation. I've never met a nurse who hadn't seen as much pain as some Vietnam Vets.

She looked at me as Heatran peaked out from behind my leg shyly. Chansey looked me over, then smiled peacefully, not saying a word in favor over of walking over to me and sitting down. Chesnaught looked at her for a moment, then his eyes widened fearfully. Chansey noticed, and only gave the bearlike Pokemon a smirk, which made him look away.

Okay, what the hell? My Pokemon have beef with each other? They'd been data a day ago, and now Chansey and Chesnaught have history? This is just-

Nope. Focus. I need to know what team I have, so I can be able to plan. So far, I had a good team. Discounting Latias, whose role, though critical, was not technically a combat based one, so far my team had Chesnaught as a tank, Heatran as my long range attacker, and Chansey as a healer/defender. At least, those were their roles in the game. In fact, I was pretty sure of what my team was now. I'd only dipped my toes into the whole competitive fighting thing, but my first team looked very similar to this.

Three more left. The next ball was a standard pokeball. Unleashing brought exactly what I expected. A Slowbro. He was mostly pink, a darker shade than Chansey, except for his belly and mouth, which were a tan color. He stood on both legs, had eyes that looked at us with a lazy kind of boredom, and when he yawned I could see teeth that reminded me of the enormous fangs hippos are famous for. And of course, he had a Shellder on his tail, with a gray spiraled shell, and fangs digging into the tail.

He surprised me slightly by ignoring Latias, who tried to explain things. Instead he went to sleep. Well, that was anti-climactic. Still, his appearance was the final proof that the team on my belt was absolutely my first competition team.

So the final two balls on my waist scared the shit out of me. Because if they were what I was thinking…

"Chesnaught." He looked up at me from where he'd been contemplating something. "Be ready. If this next one attacks… I'm trusting you here, okay?"

Master? Latias said, sounding concerned. Chesnaught looked startled, but nodded firmly. Apparently while he was a bit of a prankster, he had my loyalty.

My completely undeserved loyalty. Guilt filled me briefly, but I forced myself back into the game. I reached for my belt. Heatran, feeling the tension, nudged closer to me, her shyness in full force as the warmth in her body got stronger. Latias floated above me, and Chansey took a position next to Chesnaught, whatever animosity between them gone as they tensed at the throw of my Pokeball. Even Slowbro crooked an eye up from where he was sleeping, one of the Mega Stones near my bag glowing ominously as he did.

We all felt like fools when Jirachi appeared.

It was tiny, even shorter than Chansey by a full foot. It had a white body, and short stubby limbs, with small flaps on its arms. A small seam on its belly hid its third eye, which was somehow adorable in a freaky way, while two more eyes were closed on its face. On its head was a 'hat', yellow with blue flaps attached to the triangular things points. And finally, two streamers.

Seriously, Pokemon designs had started getting way too complicated as time went on. What happened to just drawing a turtle with cannons and knowing you'd made something cool? So many details on Jirachi, man.

Jirachi snored as it floated there. Latias flew over to it, nudging it curiously as Chesnaught gave me a wide grin, apparently amused at how worried I'd been. I looked at him, frowning angrily.

"Oh what are you so smug about?"

"Chesnaught."

"Okay, how the heck did you fit that much sarcasm into your freaking name?"

"Ches."

I snorted. "Yeah right, like you ever have."

Jirachi woke up suddenly, looked around with big black eyes.

Hm? A high, childlike voice echoed in my, and our, minds.

Uh oh.

Oh, oh my! This place is new! I like this place, its so pretty, and you think it's the Kent farm, what is a Kent, can we eat with them, who is Martha, why do they say she makes nice pies, what are pies, and can we eat, hi Heatran, hi Chesnaught, hi Chansey, hi Latias, hi fat Master, hi tree, oh, trees don't talk, lets play! Who is Ray Naerveaz?

And so on. Damn, talk about a sugar rush. And fat? What the hell? I get a paunch and suddenly I'm fat. Dammit, I'm going to start working out. Get on the Bruce Wayne diet.

The tiny legendary was reading my mind as she was talking, having an entire conversation with all of us based entirely on our reactions to her speech. I projected a thought, trying to keep her from running away. Then, feeling Chesnaught's smug eyes on me, threw out the final ball.

Mistake.

That was the only thing to come to mind. I had made a mistake. When the ball came open, and a red light dumped the creature within on the ground, a storm cloud gathered in the skies above. I felt my stomach fall, and my mouth go dry as thunder began to boom.

Yellow feathers, spiky all over, with a black plumage beneath. A long thin beak. A bird. A bird whose eyes opened, and whose body began to gather electricity to itself. It wasn't tall. It didn't need to be. It carried a majesty of its own.

Zapdos. One of the Legendary Birds. A Pokemon so powerful it could turn lakes to steam and power cities for days. It wasn't legendary in the way Jirachi and Latias were. Their legends were sweet and caring, reminding us of the good in the world, of the wishes and dreams to be.

Zapdos is legendary in the way a war is. The anger, the destruction, the sheer uncaring for what a mortal being thought of it. Is Everest legendary for its majesty, and the sheer willpower needed to crest it, or for it's kindness? It looked at me, eyes judging, trying to gauge me as I held my breath, and the storm-clouds above continued to boom, its feathers alight with enough electricity to destroy a mountain. The yellow bolts bounced around it as it's eyes glared, the static making the hair on my arms raise and turning the grass beneath it to ash.

The other Pokemon, just as startled by the Electric Pokemon's entrance, gathered near me, tensing. Zapdos ignored them. They were beneath it's grand power. Only I held its attention. The air crackled. Even Jirachi was silent, staring between me and Zapdos with wide eyes.

Zapdos leaned in. I felt fear deep inside me.

'No. Stop. Think. What do we say to the Legendaries. Not today.'

I held in a giggle at the misappropriated quote. That bit of mirth stabilized me.

Latias. Connect me to him. Now.

The dragon did it, trusting my judgement despite how little I felt I deserved that faith. Zapdos' mind was nothing like Latias'. Latias had a clear mind, joyful and happy, always looking for the next adventure. There was power, sure, but a bright and clear sense of it, of the happiness that life brings.

Zapdos felt like the sky, its thoughts so huge and encompassing I felt like I'd be swallowed by it. Unlike Latias, it thought not in words, but in concepts, in ideas and instincts. Sentient, yes. But a part of nature all the same. And as I connected, I almost drowned in the sheer power of that ancient mind.

But for all my weaknesses, I am human. And no creature created from blood and flesh can match us in the brains. Intelligence, willpower, sure. But sheer imagination? We are the kings of that realm.

I showed Zapdos. I showed that impossible electric creature just what we were up against. Every memory I had of the DC Universe. The simple beings, the intelligent beings, the brutish ones. The Lex Luthors, the Gorilla Grodds. Then I went deeper. Apokolips, Oa, the universe as I could remember it. The galaxy of darkness and light in one, echoing through the stars and seeing planets as nothing but pieces on a board.

And finally, I thought of them. The worst of this universe. A monster of misshapen muscle and spiky bones, Doomday, who had killed even the greatest of all heroes. A clown, seemingly a normal man, the avatar of chaos, horrific in his insanity and willingness to massacre for the sheer joy of it.

One last image. I could feel Zapdos staring at me, its enormous mind shaking under my assault. So I struck once more.

A man. Tall, muscular. Grey skin, a face like shattered granite rock. And within that face, red eyes blazed. There were no words for those eyes. No words for the horror of the mind in control of that power. He was fire, and blood, and hatred deeper than the world. In his quest for conquest, even the greatest heroes of the cosmos and the worst monsters of hell were pawns in a grand mission for hiswishes. He was coming. I had no doubt of that. And when he came, he would bring us all to our knees if we didn't fight back.

I sent a message to Zapdos, as it listened to my mind. It wasn't in words, but the most basic emotions I could project.

This world is enough to destroy us. We are strong. But they, are something beyond that. But not if we work together.

The message I got in response was not in words, but in concepts. It was slow, ponderous. The sky will take its time to decide if lightning strikes or not.

I told the thunder to join me. And the thunder spoke back.

I found myself with a full Pokemon team.

PYJ

"Now what the heck do we do?" I asked myself, rummagin in my back as my Pokemon to their time to take stock of the world they'd found themselves in.

Zapdos was standing nearby, separate from the others, but still a part of the group. It was calm now, and the storm clouds above had disappeared. The others were relaxing, though Jirachi still gave Zapdos nervous looks every once in a while. I think we all did really.

I checked over my badges again, and felt another rush of guilt. These weren't mine, not really. I'd gotten them from the safety of a video game screen, or so I was guessing. My Pokemon had faith in me, undeserved faith gained from battles I'd pushed them through without having to take the pains myself.

As much as the thought pulled guilt from my core to light, I had work to do. Because of all the toys in that bag, one had escaped me.

I could not find a damn Pokedex.

Like, are you serious? The number one tool of a real trainer, the thing that turned them from simple fighters to true explorers, allowing them to study and refine their knowledge until they became the terrors of their worlds. One of the most advanced computers in fictional history. And despite all my rummaging, I could not find it.

What. The hell.

I did find something else.

"Oh you must be kidding." I lifted the jacket in my hands, holding it out for inspection. The contest outfit. AKA, the outfit from the games that is worn whenever one enters a Pokemon Contest. It was gaudy as hell. Red with black outlines, and a big shoulder feather, with jewel things on the lapel. "Wow. This is just… wow."

I put it down, then looked at the skies. We'd been sitting there for a while now, and my Pokemon were getting antsy. I'd thought I wouldn't have to wait long. Hell, even before Zapdos brought the thunderclouds, I should have attracted his attention-

Then I saw it. A dot in the sky, coming towards us at a careful speed. I rose up, attracting the attention of my Pokemon.

Master? Latias asked, Jirachi floating in next to her. Heatran nudged my leg, her warmth making me smile.

"It's all right. Just… stay cool, okay?" I sighed, trying to stay calm. "Hopefully this is one of the good guys. Just in case, Chesnaught, be ready to intercept an attack. Zapdos, Latias, take to the skies and keep them from flying away. Otherwise, just stay calm."

The dot came closer, obviously taking pains to be easy to see. I noted the black suit, and realized this wasn't Superman like I'd expected. Unless it was a darker version. Still, I waited. Even if it wasn't him, the dot was taking pains to be obvious about it's approach. If I waited, maybe made contact with someone, I could try and explain things. And if worse came to worse...

My Pokemon can turn a city block into a warzone. That gave us a shot.

Then Latias, Slowbro, and Jirachi jumped.

W-Wow. Latias said in awe.

Hes… big? Jirachi seemed both confused, and just as awed as Latias.

Slowbro didn't move, he only seemed to focus on the now man-shaped figure flying towards us. The Shellder on his tail had gone stiff, eyes looking the same direction.

"Uh, guys? Are you okay? Whats… oh." My voice was weak as I realized what was going on. "Right. Psychic-type."

The figure landed before us. He was tall, broad-shouldered. He wore black spandex, with a long blue cape stretching behind him. On anyone else, it would have looked crazy, but he seemed a king to me.

His green skin somehow helped.

"Hello." He said with a gentle smile, his red eyes crinkling calmly as he looked us over. "Quite the group you have here."

I stared at him, a bit overwhelmed.

J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, my own personal Pokemon team, and a whole world spread before me.

Still the first day by the way.

PYJ

Author's Note: Made for SpaceBattles