Gible

Was I dreaming? That was my first thought after waking up. 

Looking around, I was surrounded by still darkness, similar to the empty void I experienced when reincarnating.

I died? No…This feels different. I tried to calm down the rising anxiety in my heart. Despite feeling similar to when I reincarnated, my senses were still functional.

I finally found you! A sudden roar tore through the void's silence, shaking me from my daze. Its words appeared clear in my mind. Despite the ferocious roar I gave a small sigh of relief, whatever it was, it meant I wasn't alone.

Of my fears, one of the greatest ones was to be stuck in an endless void, never to escape.

"Who are you!?" My voice pierced the echoing silence, I cautiously surveyed my surroundings.

Don't worry, you're fine. The voice roared again, though not as intense. Despite my attempts, I couldn't pinpoint the owner of the voice.

I continued observing my surroundings until I noticed a small figure floating towards me. Its body was round and a dark blue, camouflaged in the void. 

Watching the creature longer, realization dawned on me. It was a Gible, whose small body seemed to float through space. Despite its small figure, I knew Pokemon were not to be underestimated, especially those of the dragon type.

I waited as the Pokemon approached, for some reason I felt a slight comfort from it, opposed to fear. After a few moments it stopped moving just a few meters from my chest, it uttered a single word.

Master.

…

My eyes slowly opened, peering up at an unfamiliar ceiling.

"Where am I now?"

"Hmm?" Feeling a soft warmth on my chest, I looked down to see a sleeping Ruby, her cute ears occasionally twitching.

"Was that real?" I couldn't help but mutter, I was still too unfamiliar with this world, to the magic it held.

I tried to remember how I fell unconscious, mentally walking through my last few actions. One moment I was walking and the next my mind started to—

"Shit!" I sat upright in bed, a confused Scorbunny jumping to the bed's edge. Her lightning fast reactions allowed her to wake up milliseconds after I moved. Though I didn't notice, my focus was on something else. 

My locked memories, they were gone.

I peered inside myself, searching for any changes in my mind or body. But no matter how much I looked, any traces of them were gone, including the one that called out to me. What's happened since I fell asleep?

The river's there at least, I gave a sigh. Although its eerie appearance and size kept me on edge, now that my memories disappeared, it was the only proof of my past life.

Looking down, Ruby walked up to me, concern evident in her big red eyes.

She's so adorable! A tang of guilt for waking her up hit me like a hammer.

"Come here Ruby!" I stepped out of bed, swooping the small fire bunny into my arms. She let out a little giggle.

"Were you waiting for me to get up? Thanks for staying at my side," she nuzzled her left cheek against my chest. 

Looking at her happy expression warmed my heart. Despite only having Ruby for a short time, there was an immediate type of affection I felt for her, one I couldn't put into words.

Is it because of the incident with the river, I thought back to what happened during the fight with the Team Plasma trainer, how a stream reached out to Ruby. Despite how much I disliked this thought, it was weird how comforting I felt with Ruby.

"Tell me, did you take my memories?" 

"Scorbunny?" She let out a confused chirp. I just laughed, already expecting this.

Turning my focus to the river, there was a small red stream coming off the main body, though I couldn't sense where the end was. As soon as it left my mind, its presence disappeared.

Wait. Shifting my focus to another part of the river a few hundred feet away from the first stream, I noticed a second one. When did this appear?

"Atlas?" a voice called from behind the door. 

Putting down Ruby, I saw the door open, revealing Caitlin.

"You're awake!" Rushing over, Caitlin gave me a hug. Despite her being older than me, Caitlin stood at just 147 cm, placing my height a few inches taller than her.

After a few seconds she broke the hug, a smile adorning her face. However, it quickly turned into a slight frown.

"You passed out—despite your health being in good condition—just like when I found you. Is there something you're not telling us?"

"Caitlin…" I didn't even know how to answer her question. Forget deciding if I wanted to lie to her or not, I myself wasn't sure why I passed out at the enclosure.

Thankfully as if Arceus was looking down upon me, the new sound of footsteps came from the hall outside.

"Are you okay?" The second one to enter the room was Rosa, taking Caitlin's place as she ran to hug me.

"With you guys here I am," returning the hug, our faces were a few inches away when I gave her a large smile. She blushed, breaking away from me.

"S-sorry, you're still healing, it's a miracle you weren't injured more defending us from that trainer! Hilda was also cut by their pokemon…" Rosa wore a regretful expression, it was obvious how she felt.

"Don't feel sorry, me and Hilda told you to stay hidden, you did the right thing by staying safe," I put my left arm on one of Rosa's shoulders, our eyes sharing a moment for a brief second.

"Thanks," her eyes beamed with happiness.

"Let's go, everyone else is in the living room, Hilda and her mother left for groceries, but Cynthia and Juniper are still here" Caitlin interrupted, regaining her composure. In fact, a grin now plastered her face looking at me "There's something you have to see."

Calling Ruby over, she jumped on my shoulders and we left the room, my eyes glancing around at the rest of the house.

Noticing my wandering eyes, Caitlin commented, "We're currently at a home belonging to Cynthia." 

"Looks homey," I absently commented, though her words quickly left me slightly stunned. I didn't remember Cynthia ever introducing herself to me. Thinking about Caitlin's comment, realization dawned on me.

Of course, Cynthia's a regional champion, it would be weird if I didn't know who she was. Currently no one knew about my lack of information on this world, Caitlin and Juniper only quizzed me on Pokemon information like names or the type chart. I had enough knowledge on these topics from my past life that they probably chalked up some of my missing knowledge as a product of being an orphan. 

I didn't realize till now how many positives my background as an orphan had. Even if I didn't know who Cynthia was, I probably wouldn't seem suspicious. 

Reaching the living room, Juniper and Cynthia sat at a round wooden table, a large blue and red egg lying between them. Noticing us enter, they turned their heads toward us.

"Atlas, do you feel hurt? You need to hydrate after waking up." Juniper instantly bombarded me with questions which, after a few moments, I convinced her I was fine."

Finally, Cynthia rose from her seat, walking up to me, she reached out her hand, which I proceeded to shake.

"You don't know me Atlas, but I'm Cynthia, and let me tell you, Juniper and Caitlin speak quite highly of you," Cynthia gave a warm smile, before turning back towards the table, where the large egg was.

"Do you know what that is?" 

"An egg, correct?" The egg felt oddly familiar, despite never seeing it in my life, similar to how I felt about Ruby.

"You're right, but which species of egg?" Don't tell me…

"The color is similar to a Gible, and you're most famous for your Garchomp, so is it a Gible?"

"Rosa must have whispered you the answer" Caitlin whistled out, impressed by my guess.

"You're right, that's extremely impressive," Cynthia continued, "Once more, a powerful pulse can be felt coming from the egg, it should hatch any day now. Want to feel it?"

"Really? That would be amazing," I replied excitedly, but too much so. A million questions were entering my mind at once, including what would happen if I touched the egg.

What if it did hatch? Is that safe to do in front of Cynthia? I didn't know Cynthia's character very well, but Caitlin trusted her, and the dragon trainer was very reliable in the games. Besides, there was no way I was sneaking this egg past Cynthia.

Step by step, I walked to the table, my eyes unable to leave the egg. Stopping just a foot away from the table, I stared at it. Its size was slightly smaller than a beach ball, the red stripes meeting together to form a claw.

Taking a deep breath, I stretched out my left arm and placed it on the egg, the soft texture of its shell soothing the skin of my palm.

**Crack**

The egg's shell began to break apart.

"It's hatching!" I heard Caitlin and Rosa call out. Cynthia on the other hand was quiet, a shocked expression on her face.

Within moments, a bright white light encased the room, replaced with a new baby pokemon.

"Gible!" The small dragon type yelled out, surprising me by jumping into my arms. 

What? This darker color, it's definitely the Gible from my dream

All of this occurred in a few moments, giving Cynthia barely any time to register what happened, but when she shook out of her trance…

"THE F***!? WHY DID IT CHOOSE YOU," Cynthia couldn't contain herself, immediately screaming out at me.