7 Unnamed

When Carl saw that he was going to a Pokemon world, he had mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it was bound to be less stressful than dealing with vampires and demons in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer world he'd last been in.

On the other hand, he was one of the few people who had never played Pokemon. He'd only watched a few episodes of the show when his brothers had been watching it. So he had zero working knowledge other than that Pikachu was cute and electric.

"Oh well, just a bit of a disadvantage there. It's not like I won't learn as I go. And at least I'll have magic and my upgraded default body as well as any perks I purchase here, so surviving shouldn't be a problem. Just a matter of how much I can get out of this world, really."

After reading the introduction, he learned that he would again have 1000 cp to spend. He also got some starting gear, so that was nice.

He had a Bag that was bigger on the inside. "Hold the Tardis jokes, please."

A Pokegear. "Whatever that is."

An already filled Pokedex. "Is that like an index of Pokemon?"

Five Pokeballs. "Wonder how expensive these are? If I enter the world with no money I might need to hawk some of them until I figure out how to make more money."

Three healing Potions. "Well, that should help keep me and my pets alive until I can get more."

And a hat. "It's just a hat? It does nothing other than keep the sun out of my eyes? Like, it doesn't attract or repel pokemon, right?" But with nothing to give him answers, Carl could only move on.

Since Carl didn't have any idea of the benefits or demerits of one place or another, he decided he would roll the dice for free to determine his starting region. Once he selected the roll option from the form, the table and an eight sided die once more popped up in front of him. Picking up the dice, he rolled a 6.

He would be starting in Baguette Land, Kalos. "A place of culture, the arts, and snobby connoisseurs. Sounds expensive."

Carl didn't want to spend cp on something trivial like age, so he rolled the dice. "I'm gonna be the most dangerous 12 year old around!" Carl laughed when he rolled a 3.

Looking at the choices of identity Carl immediately eliminated Drop In. As much as he liked picking the free choices for more cp to spend, he knew nothing about the Pokemon world. He decided spending some cp first so he could gain some working knowledge of the pokemon world was necessary this time around.

Additionally, since the pokemon games weren't horror fests or filled with demons, and this pokemon world likely followed suit, Carl felt reasonably safe using this jump world as a test to determine just how much inserting himself with a background would affect him. He would only have the memories of a 12 year old, so he felt like it likely wouldn't destabilize his mind that had already lived for four decades.

Next he eliminated the City Life choice. The bonus for that identity was to be very acrobatic and adept in parkour. With his default body, he already had that ability, so he decided to choose something else.

The Small Town identity said he would be physically fit and have a small group of close friends. Thinking about it for a moment, Carl crossed it off the list. He was already default fit, and he would rather make friends himself after waking up in the world, rather than letting the automated whatever do it for him.

Additionally, Carl had just come from a 10 year trip in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer world where he made many friends and even had several lovers. He was still far away from being able to bring them into his jump, let alone a batch of new friends. And the idea of replacing his lovers and friends with a bunch of strangers that he wouldn't even be able to choose for himself made him reject that identity.

Looking at the Hermit option, he liked the idea of knowing about wilderness survival and knowledge of pokemon, but the negative of not being able to interact with people well and being nervous in cities turned him off.

Besides, he saw the Moneybags option that said he would get a good education, lots of money, and access to top of the line gear most trainers will never get, and he was sold. He figured he could always learn more about pokemon in the 10 years he'd be there, or buy it as an ability with cp, but having extra money and gear was never a bad choice, in Carl's opinion.

He spent 100 cp to choose Moneybags.

The next page Carl got to choose his starter Pokemon. He chose a free starter fox looking Pokemon that he learned was called a Fennekin. When he picked it, a status page showed up, letting him know what it was.

"Sweet, a fire one. Wait, it even eats twigs? Hahaha, that's funny. It's like she's an actual fox made from fire. Feed it wood and it burns." Carl laughed. "I was about to call her Fifi, because of her being a Fire Fox, but I think I'll go with Fiona instead. I can call her Fi as a nickname."

Going to the next page, Carl started looking at the Skills & Abilities available to him.

"Hmm, I'm already fit and good at parkour, so I don't need Physical Fitness or Free Running. I'll have a good education and money, so whatever I can't do myself, I can hire someone do to it for me, so Mechanic and Technician are out."

"I'll probably spend a lot of time in the wild, so I'll take Survival Training for 100 cp so I can spend more time hunting, training, and practicing. I've learned and practiced Jujutsu and Aikido a lot in my last world, so Combat training is out. The tracking skills of Ranger seem nice, but I figure I can learn as I go, and that's 300 cp. I don't care about blending in, although it would probably be very useful if I had enemies after me."

"Pokemon already understand English, right? So they won't have any problems understanding me. I figure I can use my magic to link minds with and understand what the Pokemon are saying, so I'll pass on Pokeglot."

"The effects of Aura and Psionics are replicable with my magic, no sense getting those when I've already got the abilities available."

"Savant for 600 cp will enhance me with perfect memory, calculator-like mental math, and better spatial awareness, so how can I not pick it? That will help me learn faster and improve all my future jumps. I also get amazing aim with firearms. Sweet."

"Finally, Champ In The Making does sound like it's important for team building, but it is 300 cp and would put me in the hole, forcing me to take flaws, which I want to avoid. And I haven't even looked at the gear yet. Well, it's only really an enhancement. I can probably make the team successful with hard work and fluffy feels." Carl finally decided not to buy it.

"Now to pick gear. I get HM Collection for free. Don't know if it's useful, but it's free, so yoink. Bicycle is free, get. Laptop is free, I'll have two or three of them. Nah, just the one available. Medical Kit is free, score. I know I've got a medical lab in my warehouse, but having more options to heal me or my pokemon isn't a bad choice."

"I'll take 400k pokedollars for 50 cp, naturally. Money makes the world go round. And 3x Master Balls for 100 cp seems like the thing to get for those powerful pokemon. Ooh, a Rebreather for 50 cp for underwater adventures, I'll take it."

"Handgun, Sniper Rifle, Tranquilizer Gun, and some of the other gear looks nice, but I would have to take some flaws to get them. I think I'll stick to what I've got now. I'll just buy whatever else I want in the world with my pokedollars, since I'll have some money."

"And thankfully I don't need to take any flaws. Especially that one that has a legendary pokemon out to kill me." Carl shivered. Sure he was a powerful magic user, but he had no idea how he would stack up against a legendary pokemon, and he didn't want to test it.

Clicking the finish button, the world dissolved around Carl.

Carl woke up excited. It was the start of his pokemon trainer journey! He loved his parents, he did, but they went overboard on his schooling. All day, every day, nothing but study! Study! Study!

He was sooooo ready for an adventure!

Sitting up, he saw Fiona laying next to him in bed. Mom had bought her for his 8th birthday, and she was the best friend, ever. She was fun to play with and mischievous, making his days of study slightly tolerable. She even kept him warm on winter nights.

"Hey, Fi, you excited to get started on our adventure today?" Carl excitedly asked as she woke, stretching and yawning. Fiona simply nodded as she curled back up for a few extra minutes of sleep. "Fine, then. Be that way. You can have a few more minutes of sleep. But we're leaving in, like, an hour, tops."

Carl got up and made his way to the bathroom. Flipping the light on as he entered, he did his business. He turned on the faucet to wash his hands, and then looked up into the mirror. The moment he looked in his own eyes, he froze.

Memories started flooding his mind. He stood rigid as the memories started filtering in. He was Carl, 12 years old, a genius. He never forgot anything, and he was a whiz at maths. He could do problems in his head like he was a calculator. His parents, once they found out, were so enthusiastic. They never sent him to public school. Instead his parents hired threw tutor after tutor to teach him and give him a super advanced education.

But he never got to make friends. He grew to hate studying because he was always cooped up all day every day. To attempt to cheer him up and encourage him in his studies, his parents bought him a Fennekin for his 8th birthday. They also scheduled in time for him to play with his pokemon, as well as making sure to hire some tutors to make sure he exercised and was physically fit. Because of his time playing with his fast little fox, he ran a lot. They liked to bounce around the mansion grounds, parkour running everywhere they could.

He was still that 12 year old Carl. But he was also the Carl who was jump chaining. Who had lived a normal life on a normal earth until the age of 33 where he started his jump chain. He had spent the last 10 years in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer world, learning magic, killing vampires, ending world threats, and protecting his sister and lovers while training hard and generally enjoying life.

He finally unfroze as the two different sets of memories settled in properly. He felt like he was who he always had been. He was Carl.

"Whew." Carl breathed out in relief after the merging of memories was over. "That was a rush."

Looking down at the still running water, Carl finished washing his hands. Carl then examined his face in the mirror.

"Well, the appeal stat seems to have worked, no acne. I like that the memories of growing up incorporated memories of exercise and free running. Makes it feel natural in this 12 year old body. No need to adjust to being so short again." Carl grinned at the feeling of being a young 12 year old again.

Even though he had the same abilities as a fully grown man in the warehouse prior to coming here, there was something just so energetic and…bouncy about being so young. Of course, he is kind of on the older side for a jrpg protagonist. "Eight year olds, saving the planet!" Thanks HCBailly.

To reassure himself that he still had access to his magic, Carl reached out for his magic like he had trained to for the last 10 years. He felt the energy flooding him, but not as much as there was when he was 27 at the end of his last jump.

"Huh, looks like this immature body can only handle so much energy." Carl muttered as he floated the soap, shampoo, and a few combs to rotate around him in a circular pattern. He felt a little bit of strain levitating the objects. "Looks like I can't slack on any training, magic or physical, as I grow up again. Not if I want to get back to where I was previously." Carl concluded.

Carl left the bathroom, and got dressed. He wore olive green pants, with many pockets, made to be tough for outdoor activity. He slipped into a long sleeved light grey shirt, a dark colored jacket with many pockets that was designed to keep him cool in hot weather and warm in cold weather. He was loving the technology of the Pokemon world already.

Completing the ensemble, he wore rugged, yet light weight, hiking boots, and his red hat. Now that he had memories of the Pokemon world, he felt like the hat was almost a necessary part of a trainer's uniform for some reason. It wouldn't be right without it. Not quite as important as a straw hat to a certain pirate, but up there.

Looking over at Fiona on his bed, and seeing through fresh eyes how realistic she looked, like a real animal, Carl was a bit surprised the world didn't look more like a cartoon. At the same time, with his 12 year old memories, it just seemed natural. It was the way it had always been.

Carl wondered just how dangerous this world would be for him. From looking at Fiona and the memories he had of watching pokemon battles on the television, he realized that the pokemon were real animals, not cartoon friends. Their abilities could be really dangerous.

His memories of people talking about the games and animes gave him the impression that the Pokemon world was always focused on the warm fluffy feelings of friendship and teamwork. Pokemon you hadn't caught yet were just friends you hadn't met yet.

Just how much of the actual world would be gritty reality? How much of the universe's natural laws pushed for fluffy happenings? In the past world Carl noticed the universe seemed to push for love drama to happen.

Just because he was lucky enough and worked hard at it, he managed to have several girlfriends. But that didn't mean he hadn't been an inch away from turning into a cautionary tale of what would happen to a man who pissed off several witches at once.

One of the complications that he could have bought for this world was having a Legendary pokemon try to kill him. So there was certainly deadly danger around. And he now knew there were plenty of dangerous meat eating pokemon around.

Carl decided it was best practice to treat the world like it was extremely dangerous. And if he ended up pleasantly surprised at things turning out for the better than expected, well, that would just be a bonus.

For now, it was time to pack. Carl looked at the stack of items the 12 year old Carl had set aside to be packed for his adventure.

He first pulled out his backpack that was bigger on the inside. "Let's see, going through the list that the 12 year old me wrote, we have a change of clothes, check. Toiletries, check. Bug spray, check. Extra hiking boots, check. Extra socks, check. Rain gear, check. Water canteens, check. Pokeballs, six, check. I guess Fi came with one pokeball, in addition to the five that the jump chain said I'd get." Carl smiled at that. A bonus was a bonus.

"Three master balls, check. It's weird that I know I only have these because of purchasing them for the jump, but at the same time I have memories of my parents giving them to me yesterday for my 12th birthday gift. Whatever, not something to worry over." Carl continued packing.

"Laptop, check. Bicycle, check. I love that all this is fitting in a normal sized backpack. Gotta love the perks that come with jumping. Rebreather, check. Medical kit, check. Three potions, check."

"HM Collection, check. Huh, good thing I went with the moneybags insertion method, cause I now know what things are. This HM Collection will be priceless for training my pokemon all the moves they need to know." Carl grinned widely. "And to think, I only got it cause it was free for Moneybags! I totally would have been kicking myself later if I'd missed out on it."

"Cash reserves, check. Gonna have to be subtle with pulling cash out. Don't want anyone to get tempted by a 12 year old carrying 400k pokedollars."

"Pokegear, check." Carl put his phone/radio/clock/map away in a protected pocket on his jacket. "I can only imagine that if this wasn't a pokemon world, no parents would be letting their 12 year olds wander around the dangerous wilds. Guess it helps that they have phones for emergencies to make them feel better about it."

Carl then picked up his pokedex that looked like a red square card. He pulled it apart, revealing a holographic interface that listed and categorized pokemon. He could view their information, and keep track of whether he's caught them or not through this device, as well as monitor the status of pokemon in this pokeballs. It would regularly sync the data with his laptop. The pokedex was for quick information look up while in the field, while the program on the laptop made it easier to play with the data and do research about various pokemon, as well as keep track of his pokemon's training.

The data on every single pokemon one was already filled out. Carl was happy with this treasure trove of information, it would be a good reference for his training journeys. He closed and placed his Pokedex into another chest pocket of his jacket.

Carl then put his wallet in his pants pocket. It held several bills of the 400k pokedollars he had so he wouldn't be flashing large wads of cash around to tempt thieves, as well as his Trainer Card.

"Come on, Fi! Time for breakfast!" Carl called as he ran out the room, Fiona sped past his legs before he reached the stairs. When Carl entered the dining room, he saw his parents already sitting at the table as their chef served breakfast. Fiona was already at her place, chowing down. "Man, Fi, you're just too fast for me." Carl said fondly as he petted her back on the way to his seat. Fiona wriggled excitedly from the attention, but didn't stop eating.

"Well, good morning, young man. Someone seems excited." His mom, Claire, commented cheerfully. She was a lovely lady in her 40s. She always dressed impeccably, and she was the social center of the city. She knew who everyone was, and helped her friends network to solve problems.

"Yes, I am. I can't wait to go out and start training!" Carl exclaimed, letting his 12 year old persona take the lead.

"Be sure to stay safe son. I'm still hoping you'll replace me at the company one of these days." His father, Clark smirked at him.

"Yeah, but that'll be in, like, a bajillion years from now." Carl declared. Fiona barked in laughter, which his parents joined in on.

"Yes, yes. Adventure first, boring work later." Clark laughed.

Carl squirmed a little at the gentle teasing of his dad. "It's not like what the company does isn't cool, dad. I mean, all the newest advances in trainer gear, pokeballs, and medicine come from our company. It's just…I haven't even seen the world yet. I'd like to learn about how our tech works in the field, and go and see new things, and meet new people before I have to go to work in the company."

Carl's father, Clark, had built up Poke co. into the large company it was. It was the number one company in the Kalos region. But compared to some of the companies that were global in scale, it was only a little fish. Poke co. specialized in pokemon training gear, always working on the leading edge of pokemon gear advancement.

"Perhaps we pushed you too hard in your education until now." Claire softly said. "But we just wanted the best for you. We didn't want your unique gifts to go to waste." She smiled proudly at Carl. "But you'd better call every day to let me know you're okay. If not, you'll be in big trouble!" She mock threatened.

"Yes ma'am!" Carl cheekily replied.

Carl soon finished his meal while chatting with his parents. They escorted him to the edge of their property while giving him more safety tips for his travels. They gave each other one last hug before Carl strode out on his adventure to be the best trainer he could be.

As Carl and Fiona were walking through Lumiose City, Carl was seeing the new/familiar city with fresh eyes.

On the one hand the city seemed so familiar from growing up here as the son of the owner of Poke Co, a large company that researched and manufactured gear related to the pokemon trainer profession.

His parents being the owners of such a prestigious company was the biggest reason they were able to get him the master pokeballs for his birthday. Not everyone has the connections to be able to afford such high end goods.

His parents, having built up the company from scratch to what it was now, was also the biggest reason they were so happy and went overboard when they found out he had an eidetic memory and was brilliant at maths. It meant that the company, the legacy, they were building could probably be passed to him with assurance that, with his talents, he would build it even bigger.

In his memories of growing up Carl had been introduced to many of their business associates around the city, and made the occasional trip to the factory. One of the things Carl learned from his memories of living in this world is that was huge, and only a small part of the world and people in it focus on pokemon.

This was a society that has a good enough science to create pocket dimensions to store creatures the size of a blue whale in a baseball sized device. Backpacks that were bigger on the inside than outside was just another example of this. Pokemon, for some people, was just that weird hobby that other people indulge in. But for the people who make pokemon their hobby or job, it's their entire life.

And his parents built their company to create advanced gear that would make the lives of pokemon and their trainers easier and better. To give them greater tools for training for the battles and arenas.

But on the other hand, seeing the city through the lens of having lived in different worlds, everything looked so interesting and new.

And while the vast majority of people in the world didn't focus on pokemon, their society was evolved from a time in the past when they were intimately connected with pokemon. If Carl were to compare it to anything as an analogy, it would be to his original earth's relationship with horses.

So much of human's culture in olden times was centered around horses. They were used to transport people and goods, to help farm, and to go to war. They were an integral part of human life. But as the industrial revolution grew, science and technology replaced the use of horses with machines.

In modern times back on earth, horses were more of a recreation for some people, while others made their whole life and career centered on horses. There were horse races, horse shows, and rodeo that brought in much money in advertisement and gambling.

And pokemon were in a similar place in this world that horses were in his original world. The only difference being the vast variety and abilities of pokemon making them wildly more popular to the average person than horses were in his old world.

So while looking around Lumiose city, Carl especially noted that there was a curious blend of people making use of modern tech mixed in with those who lived in a more old school manner. On the same street he could see people riding motorcycles, bicycles, and also having pokemon drag wagons. For those people who loved pokemon, they made them a part of their lives in any way they could.

Because of the pokemon craze/hobby, it was actually cheaper for those who were poor to buy a pokeball, catch a suitable pokemon, and train it as a draft animal, than it was to buy a truck to transport their goods to market. And it let them indulge in their love of pokemon.

The love of pokemon and incorporation of them into their lives was such a culture relic for so many, from living side by side with pokemon for so many years, that in many ways they couldn't step back and separate their lives from that of pokemon.

Here was a world that actually had science that could control space to an amazing degree. They were able to put huge animals in a baseball sized pokeball. They had backpacks that were bigger on the inside. And yet instead of using that technology as a means to transport their trade goods to market easier, they used it to catch and train a draft animal to drag a wagon.

It blew Carl's mind how they didn't really take advantage of the tech they have. The society grew to what it was with pokemon, maybe even because of the pokemon. As a result, they just couldn't leave the pokemon behind them.

As a result of pondering this issue, some memories from 12 year old Carl's studies popped up in his head. The key to the space manipulation tech came from human scientists who saw the talents of certain pokemon and managed to duplicate it with technology.

'So that's how they managed to have such advances in certain areas of technology, compared to back on my old earth.' Carl thought, finally having grasped the missing puzzle piece. 'So to say that this society's science and technology is intricately linked to the existence of pokemon is only touching the tip of the iceberg. And that's probably why human society still lives an almost symbiotic existence with pokemon. There is still so much we can learn from them.'

Shaking his head to dispel his musings, Carl focused on what he was doing now as he made his way to the market district.

"Got some more supplies to pick up before we leave, Fi." Carl said to Fiona questioning glance as to why they weren't leaving the city immediately. Fiona just gave the fox equivalent of a shrug as she continued to follow him.

Carl first stopped off at a firearms shop. The 12 year old him hadn't felt the need for extra protection because he had Fiona. But the current Carl had more experience, and had spent 10 years fighting vampires and demons. Having extra options to defend himself or attack was always the right decision.

He was just glad he was in a pokemon world. With animals in this world that can throw lightning bolts, fireballs, or even just put people to sleep with a thought, there didn't seem too much sense in regulating firearms heavily. So even a 12 year old like him could purchase weapons without having to go find a black market.

After looking over the shop's inventory, Carl purchased a 9mm handgun, a tranquilizer rifle, a .308 sniper rifle, and a decent amount of ammunition for each, as well as cleaning kits.

In the previous world, he'd only ever practiced with the sniper rifle in order to take out the Mayor and Glorificus, since they had been human, or at least the host of Glory was. Most of the demons and vampires would only have been slightly staggered by small arms fire, and sitting around at night trying to snipe room temperature vampires with thermal optics would only have been an exercise in frustration. So he hadn't used firearms.

But with the Savant bonus of spatial awareness and being a crack shot with firearms, Carl planned to practice and become adept in the use of firearms.

Carl once again blessed his backpack as he stuffed his purchases in it without increasing the backpack's weight or bulk

The next stop was the market, where one could find most any goods being sold. Grabbing a shopping cart he made his way through the various vendors, he loaded up with everything he could think of that the 12 year old him hadn't.

Seriously, 12 year old him didn't even think to get a tent for when he planned to stay outdoors. How was he planning to make a fire, rely on Fiona? What about toilet paper? Cooking without cooking gear? What about spices?

The 12 year old version of him had been highly educated, but lacked experience living on his own and dealing with many daily necessities. He had some vague notion of living off the land, not realizing just how much work would be required. But Carl, with his survival training perk, had a decent idea of what he would need to survive the outdoors.

Carl also bought a heater and AC unit that he planned to install in his warehouse. After purchasing everything, he wheeled the load over to a corner where there were few people. He discretely opened a portal and pushed the overloaded cart into his warehouse before moving on to the last thing he would purchase today. He would organize his purchases later.

At Fiona's questioning look at him opening the portal, Carl just smiled and said he'd explain it later.

Carl was planning on catching quite a few different pokemon and using them as training partners for him and Fiona. So he needed more pokeballs. He certainly wasn't going to waste masterballs on weak pokemon.

Once Carl had bought another 30 pokeballs and the various training gear and pellets available to boost training, Carl and Fiona finally made their way outside the city to the Southeast.

Carl pulled out his bicycle, unfolded it, waited for Fiona to jump in the basket on the handlebars, then set off for the wilderness area between Lumiose City and Santalune City.

As Carl pedaled along the walkway/bicycle path next to the actual road the cars and motorcycles were driving on, he enjoyed the view while reviewing the plans his 12 year old self had made, and modified them to suit his own purposes on this jump world.

The 12 year old him had been full of enthusiasm and wanted to train up a team of pokemon to beat the elite four, the best of the pokemon battle league. He didn't have much of a method in mind of how to do it, and he wanted to get out of the endless studying so much that he thought he would figure it out later.

Carl decided that he liked the goal his 12 year old self set, but for different reasons than youthful excitement. With his awakened memories, Carl had a more mature perspective and access to magic. He recognized that the more league tournaments he won, the more prestige it would gain for his family's company, helping them gain more contacts and resources to continue growing and being competitive in the pokemon trainer circles.

Aside from the benefits to his parents company, Carl knew that in future jumps he would likely have many battles, and not all of them could be easily solved with his magic and a ritual sneak attack.

He had been really lucky in the past world that he had actually watched the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel shows and knew enough about it to ambush the really bad Big Bads before they were ready for him. Otherwise he would have been as clueless as the show's characters about the big dangers and would have been battered around and played with just as easily as the Scooby Gang had been. It would have made for a very tough 10 years, indeed.

Recognizing that he couldn't always hope for advanced knowledge of the plot and enemies, Carl recognized the unique blessing he was given, to be in the pokemon world with magic on his second jump.

This 10 year span would give Carl time to learn how to train and fully utilize powers and abilities to fight in a relatively safe world. With his magic, he gained an edge on analyzing his pokemon that other trainers couldn't get through technology alone.

Just from sitting at the breakfast table with Fiona he had been able to use his magic to study her physiology. When he had given her a twig to chew on, he had sensed the flowing energies in her body, and how it manifested her flames.

Using his magic senses, Carl could delve into every aspect of how to fully utilize and bring out the maximum potential of the pokemon while training. And with there being so many types of pokemon, he could build a good database on a vast array of different powers.

He could then apply this training knowledge to training himself and others in future jumps, thus raising his survival ability.

Who was to say that Carl might not end up in a world in the future where he would have to build an army in order to win? With what he learned here, he would have a good foundation for training that army.

After several hours of peddling, Carl decided he'd traveled far enough outside the city. Packing his bicycle up again, he left the highway and found a decent place on a nearby hill to set up his campsite.

Looking around, Carl turned to Fiona. He reached out with his magic, establishing a mental link. "What do you think, Fi? Does it look like a decent place to set up our first training camp?"

Fiona spent a few minutes to evaluate the camp site. They were in a clearing on the side of a hill. There was a large rock on the uphill side that would give Carl a good area to open a doorway to his warehouse, though Fiona didn't know about it yet. The clearing was a good 50 feet across, giving a nice flat area for the tent and training. The elevation of the hill and the space between the trees let them see any who would approach the clearing, giving them plenty of warning.

[Looks good I guess.] Fiona thought while nodding for Carl's benefit.

[Glad you approve, Fi.] Carl thought back while looking at Fiona.

[W-What? How are you talking in my head?] Fiona cried out in shock.

[Well, that's quite a story. It might take a while. Why don't we go to a more comfortable place?] Carl opened up his warehouse, and stepped in. Fiona didn't hesitate, and followed him in.

After a short tour because there wasn't much to see in his warehouse yet, Carl and Fiona settled on the couches in the entertainment room and Carl spent the next few hours explaining the jump chain to Fiona. He had spent four years with Fiona already in this world, and everything he had learned about pokemon said they could absolutely be trusted. They were very loyal, once loyalty was given.

He talked about his time in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer world, showed Fiona his magic and what it could do, and talked about his plans for their training.

Fiona seemed really excited about their prospects. Jumping on the back of the couch, she posed heroically.

[We are going to destroy the competition!] She declared. [With my speed and supreme fire abilities, and your magic, no one will stand a chance against us!]

"The mistress of speed, Fiona herself, has declared it. It must be so." Carl played along, truly enjoying himself.

[Naturally so.] Fiona nodded imperiously in agreement, causing Carl to once more smile.

He was happy with his method of insertion into this world. It gave him such a wonderful companion for this adventure in Fiona. It felt…refreshing to have the memories of growing up in this world of Pokemon with his new family and Fiona. Definitely more innocent and clean than dealing with vampires and demons all the time.

At the same time, he realized that he would have to be careful in the future about insertion methods. If in the last world he had picked a demon background, for example, the memories of growing up as a demon or being vampire would have seriously twisted who he was. So he would have to remain cautious about what he would pick in the future.

"Well, time to get to work." After he and Fiona played around for a while, Carl set about putting up his tent and ordering his campsite. While he had the warehouse to fall back on, it wasn't good to always depend on it.

If he spent all his time in the warehouse, he would likely miss opportunities to find and catch pokemon, thus defeating his purpose of being out in the wilds.

One of the things he'd learned from his education growing up was that pokemon weren't the sole animals in this world. They were actually a type of mutation or evolution of the normal animals that lived there.

Two normal animals had a small chance to give birth to pokemon. A normal animal and a pokemon had a decent chance of giving birth to a pokemon. And two pokemon had a much larger chance to give birth to more pokemon. It still wasn't a 100% chance, but it was much more likely.

So he would have to actually spend effort to hunt down pokemon, unlike in the game where they just popped up from walking around in the grass.

After setting up his tent, a fire, and the cooking area, Carl and Fiona tested how his Warehouse worked. The barrier around the door seemed to work based off of Carl's expectations. If he concentrated on not letting anyone but him in, Fiona found an invisible barrier preventing her entry. When she had his approval she could enter, even when he wasn't looking to see when she tried to enter.

If she was inside the Warehouse when he closed the portal, she would pop up right next to where the portal previously was. If she was in her pokeball when he closed the portal, she would remain in the warehouse. Carl was especially happy about that loophole, because then he wouldn't have to leave Fiona behind when he left this world.

After their testing was complete, Carl noticed the sun was close to setting. With the evening approaching, Carl pulled out his pokegear and called his parents while preparing dinner for him and Fiona.

He spent a good amount of time talking to his parents about where he was and what his plans were for catching and training pokemon. His dad seemed especially interested in his training and made Carl promise to keep good records of everything he noted about his gear for the company to use for future products, while his mom spent more time making sure he was safe and would eat well.

"Food is ready, Fi!" Finally hanging up, Carl called out to Fiona, who had been exploring their surroundings. Fiona soon zoomed in and was sitting at their foldable dinner table, looking expectant for food. "Find anything interesting?" He asked Fiona as he served their dinner.

[Yup, I smelled a couple of grass type pokemon on the edges of the clearing, but they didn't enter the clearing. They probably retreated back into the trees when they saw the clearing was occupied. I should be able to track them down tomorrow.]

"Hmm, nice. I didn't expect to find some other pokemon so soon. You'll have to be careful though when we find them. With your mighty fire you might accidently kill grass types if you're not careful." Carl gently teased Fiona.

[Indeed, my fire is mighty.] Fiona proudly nodded.

Carl simply smiled at her pride in her abilities. From what he has seen of other pokemon of the same level, her abilities were a higher tier, in both speed and fire power. Thus, her pride was justified. Right as they were about to start eating, Fiona twitched.

[We have company. No cause for alarm, it's only a Ralts. She seems hungry.]

Carl looked in the direction Fiona was looking. He saw a small juvenile Ralts shuffling over toward him. Something in her posture looked nervous but hopeful. Seeing her looking back and forth between him and Fiona and nodding in approval, Carl realized the little Psychic/Fairy pokemon probably felt the bond and positive emotions between him and Fiona.

"Hey there. You want to join us for dinner?"

At her enthusiastic nod, Carl set aside a decent portion for her. She hopped up on the table next to Fiona.

"I'm Carl. This lovely lady here is Fiona. Enjoy the meal."

The Ralts nodded happily, then began eating like she hadn't had food for days. Carl smiled, amused again at how cute pokemon were.

Eventually, everyone was stuffed full. Carl cleaned up the dishes, packing them away until the morning. He then turned to talk to the Ralts, only to not see her around the campsite. Looking over at Fiona in question, Fiona gestured with amusement towards the tent. Looking inside, Carl saw the small Ralts curled up on his pillow, snoring away.

Smiling at the sight of the small Ralts making herself at home, Carl joined Fiona in lounging in front of the fire. Idly scratching Fiona's back, Carl thought about the opportunity he was being given. He got to experience the adventure and excitement of exploring the multiverse.

In the previous world, even when he'd been there for close to 10 years and had destroyed all the Big Bads he knew about from the show, he still couldn't fully relax. He knew there were nearly an infinite number of demons and gods wandering around that universe. And if he was noticed by them first, he could end up being their dinner before he even knew what hit him.

But here in the pokemon world, at a fireside at night where a beautiful panorama of stars adorned the night sky, next to his companion Fi, he felt…content…in a way. His drive to learn and survive the jump chain didn't go away, but he finally felt like the stress and danger was worth it. He finally felt glad that he was picked.

So many people he would never have met. Cordelia, Harmony, Amy, Marcie, Fred, Fiona, and his parents in this world, the Scooby Gang, and Angels crew.

Who knew what else he would experience in the future? Who knew what friends he would make on the way?

Eventually he and Fiona joined the Ralts in the tent and fell asleep.