Prologue

~Jack Blake~

He sighed. He did that quite a lot in the past two hours of wandering a forest that seemed to be endless. He didn't know how he got there. One moment he was just returning from a rather satisfying workout in the gym and the next he felt leaves crunch beneath his shoes. When he looked up, he saw an expansive canopy of foliage. That much, he could have barely stomached. It was rare but there were cases known of people simply blacking out and wandering somewhere. What defeated that thought immediately was the fact that those trees were of a kind he simply didn't know at all.

He nearly had a nervous breakdown when he saw a caterpie climbing one of them. It was that moment that he realised that he was either in a coma or he somehow crossed over to the Pokémon world. Giving up on finding civilization anytime soon, he searched for a spot he could rest in to properly process his situation.

Soon he found a nice big opening in one of the trees and carefully entered. He stopped when he saw glowing blue eyes staring at him curiously. The eyes were situated within a head that looked like the tree stump of a Japanese white birch on top of a wispy body that didn't look as if it could properly support the head, and yet it did.

He knew this Pokémon. He knew it well. It was a staple in all of his teams, at least if it was available, for the simple reason that he wanted to give it a good home. Phantump. The soul of a child, trapped within a tree stump.

He didn't move when it slowly floated closer, apprehension clearly warring with the natural curiosity of a child. Once it was nearly close enough to touch him, he slowly reached out. It regarded the nearing appendage but didn't pull away when he started to pat it's head.

The sensation was a peculiar one. It's rough texture clearly reminded him of wood but at the same time, it felt warm and was slightly softer to the touch. As if it had blood running through it's ligneous head.

The little fella stiffened, alert for any attacks or foul play from his side, but it still didn't pull away. Slowly, under his gentle ministrations, it relaxed and finally decided to float into his arms. He smiled softly as he entered the hollow tree completely. He still had some protein bars, quite a few actually since he always made ludicrous amounts and put them in his big chunky backpack among other things. Including some self-made sports drinks and copious amounts of water.

He liked to be prepared and had just refilled everything which aided him well in this situation. Thinking on what else he had with him, he absentmindedly fed the little fellow one of his bars. Only after it had carefully chewed the mass of nuts, fruits, almond butter, and honey did he think on the possibility of it not reacting well to the ingredients of another world. His short-lived worry was unnecessary though as Phantump cheered at the taste and quickly turned in his arms to beg for more.

"Just one more. I need to get by on those until I find my way back to civilization, you little glutton."

He grumbled good-naturedly. Giving him a somewhat excited nod, the childlike Pokémon proved that it understood the english language which made him hopeful of nonexistent language barriers. Grabbing one of his favourites, the one containing bananas for a slight extra dose of carbs, he slowly fed it to the Pokémon that pulled on his heartstrings solely by existing.

"I need a place to rest before I continue my journey. Can I spend the night here? It's ok if you refuse."

He just wanted to clarify. He didn't want to invade another's home more than he already did. The blue-eyed ghost didn't even think about it before snuggling into his chest. Clearly, he was welcome. Once again, a soft smile spread on his face.

"I have absolutely no idea why I'm here. Or how for that matter. But being allowed to show you some kindness has already made it worth it. If this arrangement in this world is permanent, then I'll have to admit, I won't really miss my former life. There wasn't much there except for the routine that kept me going. Work, fitness, martial arts, video games, and writing."

With how the adorable snuggler was glancing upwards while he talked, it was clear that they were listening. He rather suddenly realised he had no idea if they were male or female.

"By the way, are you a boy or a girl? If you're the former bop once, otherwise bop twice."

Twice it was and so he learned that she was female. As he stroked her head and narrated some of his life's experiences, he continued to think on his situation in the background.

There were some strange things he noticed. The backpack seemed to be bigger on the inside for example, and there seemed to be more stuff in it than what he packed. Now wasn't the time to check but he'd make sure to do so before continuing traveling through the woods.

The bar he'd eaten tasted more vibrant and intense than he was used to, hinting at the fact that the ingredients were adapted to this world's equivalents, which would make them into a kind of poffin or something. He was curious as to what else had changed.

Pulling out his phone under the curious eyes of Phantump, he had his hunch proven when suddenly, the screen lit up with the face of a Rotom. It's cheery voice echoed through the hollow tree.

"How can I help you, owner?"

He thought a bit on the sheer absurdity of it all before resigning himself to more of the same in the near future. He collected himself and gave the little girl a light squeeze that made her snuggle up even more, clearly enjoying his warmth, before answering the question.

"First of all, I'd like to know your functions."

Instead of verbally listing them, some symbols appeared on screen. First and foremost, a classical device, reminiscent of the Gameboy Colour could be seen on the upper left corner with the word Pokédex just beneath it.

The second symbol was a Rotom with several rings around it that seemed to revolve around it's form. Beneath, the word Poké-net could be found. It was placed in the upper right corner.

Lower left was a symbol that reminded him of some of those old-school mini-maps in earlier RPGs and that was just what it was. Lower right was home to a fancy lens that read 'Scanner'. The function should have been pretty clear but he had to check what exactly the thing could scan for.

In the middle, there was something different though. Something that woke his curiosity. A tiny cartoonised version of his face was winking at him. That much could mean many things and it wouldn't have woken his fervour quite as effectively as the words beneath it did.

'Personal Stats/Team Stats'

Clicking on it made the screen smoothly transition into listed information with several tiny <I's> that probably allowed him to view additional information.

[Name: Jack Blake

Aura: Unlocked

Affinity:

Minor: Universal

Major: Ghost

Team:

Provisional Member:

Phantump <Shiny Aberration>]

He took a moment to process what he read here before noticing a tiny little message icon blinking. He was fairly certain it wasn't there earlier but he wasn't entirely sure as he was distracted by the shiny new 'Apps' on his phone. Clicking it, he opened a message as expected. The sigh he released after reading it was the mightiest yet.

"Yo. I kinda mighta made an Oopsie. You were dead for a couple of seconds. You really shouldn't have been. But I messed around with some new shiny toys and didn't care for proper safety protocols. So I made you better. The god of your dimension threw a fit and threatened to contact his and my superior over the matter if I didn't fix the shit I caused, after all.

I revived you. But since you already entered afterlife by accident, I couldn't just send you back as that would've gone against natural order or some shit. Dunno about all that, it's not my expertise. Anyways, I read your memories and found out about your favourite worlds. Among those, I have a special fondness for the Pokémon world so that's where I decided you would go.

Don't expect everything to be the same as you are used to. The version I threw you into is a bit messed up and powerlevels are beyond the fucking scope. Anyways, since I didn't want you to just get rekt immediately, I threw you some bones that will make you quite the powerhouse In the future, if you keep at it that is.

First: I upgraded some of your stuff and your backpack has an automatic replicator built in for all the foodstuffs you personally create. Only you can operate it so don't go around lending it to anyone. Same for your phone by the way. It has loads of data from your past world that you'll be able to access via the Pokénet in addition to the local web. It will highlight the facts already known to the world.

It will also be able to debunk bullshit and confirm theories. But you'll have to put in the work first and write up a proper idea. It won't work on short prompts. The other functions are pretty much as described. The scanner works for everything if you properly configure it beforehand. For Evo Stones, you'll need a proper reading of an sample saved to scan the vicinity for their existence, just to give you an example.

The map is an interactive one with your live position marked. Use it to find your way back to civilization, you moron. Running off in a random direction like that. You happy-go-lucky idiot. Seriously, you are fortunate that I placed you in a relatively save environment. Nevermind that. The next function is the Dex.

The Pokédex has all the entries of all generations of your dimension's games for all mons that were introduced at the point of your... Accident. You will need to scan them to actually unlock the entries, though. There is also quite a bit of bs in those entries and that will be highlighted.

Next: I unlocked your Aura. It was surprisingly easy since your body is pretty well developed by normal standards. I adapted it to the physical level it should have had if you trained with equivalent intensity in this dimension and lo and behold, you were only a hair short of achieving active Aura by yourself! Impressive, dude. Really impressive. For an imbecile.

In addition to that, I gave you a small affinity to all types to make training and befriending mons a bit easier for you. Surprisingly, you already had a Major Affinity for the Ghost Typing from fucking dying by deathray. Enjoy the second creepiest affinity, only trumped fairy! Muhahahaha. Seriously, don't mess with the fairies. They are way closer to the mythological version in this world. Vindictive little blighters. They are still canonically friendly as long as you don't piss them off, though.

Was that everything? I think so? Wait, no. There's one more perk. Humans in that particular iteration of the Pokémon world can become quite strong. They do so by bonding with their mons. It's mutually beneficial and the deeper the bond, the more one can draw on what the other has to give. Most trainers in the world can support one or two bonds. Genii might be able to stomach three or four. True Prodigies would have a potential for five at the max.

That's where you would have ended up at. I honestly didn't expect your aptitude to be so good. But I don't do things in halves. Well, except for safety protocols. They are for pussies after all. But you represent me in that dimension, even if no one but me knows that. So you'll fucking excel, you hear me? So I doubled that. You can support up to ten bonds. Abuse the shit out of that.

That's it for the most part. Don't do anything I wouldn't do and have fun with your second chance! Cheerio!"

His expression had slipped into a perfect deadpan at around halfway through the message. He looked down onto the little girl who layed there, snuggled in his lap. His features softened and his gaze expressed surprising amounts of fondness for the short time they had spent together. He could feel himself relax in her presence.

"Provisional member, huh..."

He didn't have anything against it. Not at all. Ever since his first Phantump, he pulled them all along into the newer gens. He even made an effort to regularly 'exercise' with them by beating the league or some other challenging trainer with them. He affectionately called them his Corpse of Trees.

It was a play on the word copse and their ghost typing if that wasn't clear. And the fact that they left only corpses in their wake. As expected of a team full with level 100 max EV and IV (He invested quite a bit of time into farming those bottle caps. Only the best for his not-so-little children) ghost-trees.

Starting out his second chance in life with his most loved Pokémon was a blessing. If he ever met that strange fellow who killed him, he'd have to thank him for sending him to this place where he found his first family member in this new and exciting world.