The All-Fandom Realm

Finding new worlds wasn't entirely foreign to Varren as they explored the universes. However, it was rare to find a world that was a sort of nexus point of different universes. These occurrences were extremely rare so this piqued their interest as each one had different universes connected to them. As Varren made their way towards the surface of the planet, they were lucky enough to spot a city. They changed their course for said city.

Before they got too close to this city, Varren changed their appearance to that of a woman. The woman was a young adult, somewhere in her late 20s, with long blonde hair that came down to the middle of her back and green eyes that were filled with cautious curiosity. Her outfit consisted of casual Earth clothing; a tank-top, leather jacket, jeans, and some boots.

Varren surveyed her surroundings more critically to find the best place to land. Outside the city's limits were woods which seemed harmless enough, however, she knew better than to let her guard down when something seemed harmless. Something did catch her eyes, though. Smoke. It wasn't enough to be a fire that was out of control, but it indicated life. Someone was camping outside the city, but not deep within the woods.

With her decision made, Varren started towards the smoke, when she was within 15 feet she gently landed on the ground. Careful steps brought her closer to the source of the smoke and fire. Spotting a campsite and a figure moseying about, Varren slowed her steps. "Excuse me?" Her gentle voice called out.

Jerry Jay had found himself in this strange world after a run-in with a mysterious Pokémon. This place, so familiar in a lot of ways, and yet also strange, forced him to take a moment to collect himself. He hadn't seen a single Pokémon while he was here, and that scared him. His usual happy-go-lucky attitude was greatly tested as he did little more than stare into his campfire.

Upon hearing the call, though, he turned around and quickly stood up.

"Oh! Hey there!" he said, revealing a long, silvery flute in his hands. He took a light bow as he spoke and smiled brightly. "The name's Jerry Jay, at your service! What can I do for ya?"

Varren was taken aback by the cheeriness of the man. He seemed to be in a world that was foreign to him yet he seemed okay with that or perhaps it was a front for others to not worry about him. Either way, he appeared to be getting along well in the world given the circumstances.

She smiled softly, "I'm Varren, I'm new to this world. What is this place exactly?"

Jerry sighed, his previous cheer a little bit doused. "Your guess is as good as mine." Then he blinked. There was something about what she'd just said to him. "Wait. Different world. I... I really am... in... a world without Pokémon..." His eyes shot wide open. "Please tell me you know what a Pokémon is!"

Now his cheer was replaced with a far more wide-eyed and frantic expression. Clearly the stress of his situation really was getting to him.

Pokemon? No, she couldn't say she knew what that was in all honesty. "Sadly, I do not. Whatever they are they sound interesting!"

Varren frowned upon seeing how upset the other looked now. An idea popped into her head that could maybe help him relax or at the very least not be so frantic about the situation. "Do you happen to have a photo or video of one of these creatures?"

Jerry hung his head at her answer. He straightened himself up and sighed. "I can do you one better," he said, pulling a small, red and white ball from his belt. "There are hundreds of different types of Pokémon out there... well, I guess not here."

he tapped a button in the middle of the ball with his thumb before tossing it into the air. Its red and white sides popped open, releasing a stream of glowing white energy and landed on the ground and took the shape of a short, bipedal creature. The light faded from it, and in its place was a short, blue jackal-like creature with a black band around its eyes. It looked around him, and suddenly appeared quite nervous.

"This is Riot, my Lucario," said Jerry. "He's a Pokémon. I have five others on me right now."

Meanwhile, the thing Jerry had called "Riot" took a fighting stance reminiscent of a martial artist and positioned himself between Jerry and his new visitor.

"Riot? What's gotten into you?"

Varren, were she to use her powers to look closely, would notice that this "Pokémon" gave off a strong aura that interacted with the auras around it. It seemed to be reacting to her aura, using it to somehow see through her disguise in some crude way.

Watching this creature appear from this ball was both fascinating but also nerve-wracking. Any number of possibilities could come from whatever appeared from it. However, what appeared wasn't so terrible.

Lucario. That's what the creature was. "Five others? More Lucarios or differnet species?" She found this all fascinating. These Pokemon were like pets.

Riot seemed more than capable of fighting as well. Which was confirmed when Riot took a fighting stance against her. This wasn't just a protective stance to protect Jerry from her either. Varren could sense Riot's aura. Powerful. So, Riot could tell she wasn't what she seemed if his aura was any indication of his power.

Interesting.

"Riot is quite intelligent to trust his instincts." She made no move to fight either of them, keeping her distance as to not provoke Riot's ire.

"He's also better trained than this," Jerry said. "Riot, relax. This is a friend."

The Lucario turned to glance at Jerry. It remained in its stance, but gave him a quick bark, trying to communicate something to him.

Jerry then narrowed his eyes very slightly, trying to process what was going on. "Riot? What's wrong?" He approached him, but the Pokémon reached out a paw to stop him.

"I'm really sorry," said Jerry. "Something about you is scaring him. I've never seen him like this before." He took out the red and white ball again, and in a flash of red light, Riot was converted to red energy and pulled back into its previous container. "So yeah, I have other non-Lucario Pokémon with me, but after what Riot just did, I'm a little nervous to let them out. They really are friendly, though, I swear!"

As Riot was removed from the field, Varren sighed in relief. Though, she was wary of the other Pokemon Jerry had in his possession. If Riot was any indication then these Pokemon had the capability of just sensing her power.

She smiled, "I have no doubt they're friendly. I can understand their wariness with strangers, especially in a new and unfamiliar world." Varren hummed softly as she moved closer to Jerry. "Tell me more about these Pokemon. What exactly are they? How many species are there?"

Jerry smiled, his sadness mingling with very real enthusiasm for the subject. "Oh, there is no way to count them all," he told her. "More and more are discovered all the time all over the world. I know of hundreds myself. That's why it kind of freaks me out to see a place where... there are absolutely none."

He sat down at his camp site and gestured for her to join him. "They're capable of incredible power if you train them right. I used to battle with other Pokémon trainers to see who could bring out the most of that power. Not everybody likes battling, though, but my team loves it."

She frowned, understanding his pain, "It must be hard to see so many of them then suddenly see essentially none in the world."

Varren followed after him and sat down nearby. "So, some of them are used for battles while others are kept as pets, right?" She looked at him for confirmation of her assessment before speaking again. "Is there a known Pokemon that is considered the most powerful? There are rankings for their power levels, right? Or something similar?"

"There are some that are considered legendary," said Jerry. "Some of them they say are in control of the weather. The legendary birds come to mind, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. Different regions have different legendary Pokémon. There are also Groudon and Kyogre, the land and sea-making Pokémon. There are quite a few different ones, and it's hard to think of which one is most powerful. For my money it would be one called Arceus. It's said that he is the ultimate creator of all Pokémon, making it a kind of god in its own right. I've never seen it,though."

He sighed and turned his attention back to the fire.

"Now it looks like I never will."

"A creator of Pokemon. I shouldn't be surprised that such a thing exists."

Varren frowned when Jerry turned back to the fire.

"Not entirely true." She gave a small smile. "How badly do you wish to return home, Jerry?"

"I don't know," said Jerry. "I... I want to explore every new place I go to, but a world without Pokémon is... I've never been this scared to be in a place that looks so... normal otherwise."

He looked toward the city, though the trees, hilly as the terrain was, still obscured most of the man-made scenery. "But I feel like there's also an opportunity here, and yet... I guess I just have no idea what I want."

Varren nodded, "Understandable. I couldn't imagine living in a world without those around me that I knew or were close with."

Her eyes went to the horizon, or what would've been it between all the terrain. "I left behind a lot. Friends, family, my cat." She frowned now. "Wonder how Cap is doing..."

"I'm going to assume that your 'cat' isn't actually a Pokémon," Jerry teased. "But I can't just sit here forever, and I'm not going to."

He looked over at her, a small plea in his expression. "Do you mind us hanging out for a while? Having someone to talk to is actually really helpful right now."

She laughed at that, "No! He's a Maine Coon cat. Big and fluffy boy! I named him after a good friend of mine that...to put it lightly, left us. So, I tried to keep a small piece of him in my life."

"Of course," Varren gave Jerry a bright smile. She turned to face him, excitement in her eyes, "Tell me something about your family! What were your parents like? Any siblings? Favorite sibling?"

Jerry grinned with a sort of relief.

"Well, my family is actually really small," he told her. "I never had any siblings. For a while it was just me, mom, and Nana. Once I decided to set out on my first Pokémon journey, my Pokémon sort of became my family."

He took out another of the little red and white balls from his belt and gave it a light toss, releasing a large butterfly-type creature into the air with yet another flash of white.

"This is Stringsy, by Butterfree," he said.

The creature he called a Butterfree, flitted about around the lady next to Jerry, making high-pitched, excitable warbling sounds. It didn't seem to fear her at all, like his previous Pokémon did.

Varren perked up at the mention of his small family, "Tell me about your mother. What was she like?" She fully turned to face him now. "Found family is good too! That's really the only family I have, but I cherish them just as much as I would my real family."

Seeing Jerry take out another of the Pokeballs got her attention. Which one was he going to summon now? She was not prepared for the large butterfly creature that appeared.

"That's..." She extended a hand to the creature, a gesture of curiosity.

"These Pokemon never cease to amaze me. Each one, in its own way, is fascinating."

"You're absolutely right," said Jerry. "Each one is special and amazing, and I had hoped to see them all in my lifetime. That'll prove difficult around here, though, so that's rough."

The "Butterfree" flitted down to her extended hand and examined it with its compound ruby eyes. He squealed and took hold of her hand with its tiny forelimbs, placing some of its weight in her grasp. Meanwhile, Jerry spoke on.

"Well, she's a very patient woman," said Jerry, staring back into his campfire. "See, I wasn't necessarily the best kid growing up. My dad was a cop, and died when I still a kid, and... well, I didn't adjust to that well. She and Nana introduced me to things that essentially saved my soul, my Pokémon... and my flute."