Cassie had led us into a small coffee shop, nearby the park. By the way she nonchalantly made her way betweeen the tables, I could tell she was a regular.

  I, on the other hand, felt alianated as I tried walking in between sturdy looking wooden tables. My eyes stayed fixed on a creature that seemed to be working as a server. It was definitely a pokemon, though I had no idea which one. It looked strange, like a mix of a bear and a cat that stood on its hind legs. Its white fur sported a single red stripe, plastered across it chest, and its sharp looking claws made me question if a creature like that should even be allowed inside.

  "Hey, Portia", Cassie waves over at the bartender, "tell Zangoose to get me my usual, and my friend here will have the same".

  If I had any idea what they offered at this place, I'd be mad at Cassie for deciding instead of me, but since I had no idea, the gesture was welcome. More importantly, I knew what that bear-cat thing was now. Zangoose, another pokemon I've never heard of.

  I follow Cassie towards the table in the far corner of the café, grateful that she had picked a spot far from the small crowd that was already sat.

  Zangoose followed closely after us, and as it turns out, Cassie's usual was a croissant of some sorts and what seemed like an instant latte.

  "Just to point out", I cough up, feeling my face turn red, "I don't have any money". Nevertheless, I am grateful at the mere sight of food.

  She raises her eyebrow at me questioningly, but her expression quikcly turns into a smile. "I thought I would pay this time anyways, so it doesn't matter", she waves me off, "but how the hell did you end up in Verdanturf without any money?".

  "It was not exactly under my control", I admit carefully, looking for her reaction.

  She takes a casual sip of her latte before responding: "frankly, I find you utterly peculiar, Rory Mulligan, I can't wait to hear what kind of explanation you come up with".

  Bracing myself, I recount my thoughts once again. I will tell Cassie the truth, as much of it as I can explain. Whetver she believes me or not is up to her. I just hope this doesn't come back to bite me. But, just in case this place is real, I need someone to explain it to me.

  "I am not from this world", I don't attempt to dance arount the topic. This one thing is crucial, one thing that she has to understand. That I have no idea how this world works nor what it is.

  Cassie takes a bite of her croissant, as if I had just told her that the sky is blue.

  "Try again", she says, not even looking at me.

  Quiet desperation sneaks up on me. I should've seen this coming. She had no reason to believe me, I knew. But I was attempting to explain myself here, grappling to find my footing in this new place. I didn't expect her to know how it felt, not knowing if you were real or not, but I wish she would at least try and give me the benefit of a doubt.

  "Right", I sigh, leaning back in my chair, defeated. "If you can't even believe me when I say that, then there's no use attempting to explain anything else".

  "Are you really trying to guilt me into believeing you are not from this world?", she chuckles lightly, but her laugh fades away as soon as she sees my expression is stone cold.

  "That scar on your arm", she gives me a careful nod, "are you sure you didn't fall and hit your head, you might have amnesia or something similar".

  "I don't", I bring my arm across my chest, finding the mere assmuption I had amnesia insulting. Although, it made sense from her point of view. "I got this 6 months ago, I was trying to exit my plane after pilot practice, my leg got stuck, I tripped and fell", I explained, blushing. I wish that I had a more heroic story to tell her, but this was the whole truth. I caught my hand on the edge of metalic plane doors, and they weren't exactly gentle.

  "A plane?", she raises her eyebrow at me, and frankly, I am glad that that is the part she decides to focus on.

  "Yes, a plane, like a big metal vehicle that has wings and can fly", I explain, "don't you have those here?".

  "No", she looks at me, almost disgusted by the idea, "we use pokemon to fly, why would we want a big metal thing?".

  So, they really don't have planes in this place. I doubt they have buses either.

  "Whatever", I sighs, "point is, I don't have amnesia".

  Cassie gives me another careful look, as she digs into her croissant. "I just find it hard to believe, that's all", she says after a few moments of silence.

  "Believe me, I find it hard to believe too", I exhale sharply, "but that's how it is".

  "So", she draws out, and I can see curiosity sneaking its way back into her gaze, "how did you end up here then, portals or magic or some third thing?". It's easy to tell she still thinks I'm joking, and is poking to see how far I'll go.

  "I just woke up here", I say simply, "on the hill above the town".

  "You just woke up?", she repeats my words, leaning closer in towards me.

  "Yes, well, the last thing I remember was that our base was being raided by the enemy army", I say firmly, "I was shot, I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, I was here, feeling as if I had just woken up".

  "You were shot", her face twists into a gravely expression.

  "Yeah, I'm a soldier, happens to the best of us", I shrug, suddenly realising that the idea of this might seem more natural to me than to Cassie.

  "How are you not dead?", her mouth gapes open.

  "I don't know", I admit, "I think that I might be".

  I see her hang back in her chair, a look of utter shock running on her face, as she realises that she might be talking to a ghost.

  "I'm fine though", I wave my hands around, rushing to reassure her, "though i don't know how, but I'm fine, see I don't even have the bullet wound". I raise my t-shirt over my head to show off to her that my chest are clear of any wounds, and her face turns pink in an instant. It takes me a second to remember that I'm not in the base, and that taking your clothes off to show you're not wounded might have different connotations here.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  "Okay, okay, so", Cassie shakes her head, attempting to recollect herself, "so you want to tell me you're a soldier from a different world?".

  It's my turn to leave my mouth hanging open. "Uh, well, now", I stumble on my words, "to be completely honest, I don't really need you to believe me". Cassie seems insulted at the notion, so I quickly add: "what I mean is, I know this is hard to believe, and all I really need you to know is that I have no idea what's going on, I just appeared here with no money, and I really don't know what I'm doing, how things work in this place, or anything".

  "Alright, alright, calm down", she gestures for me to ease up, and I realise that my word vomit has been a bit too loud, catching the attention of the Zangoose.

  "Sorry", I quiet down, "I'm just really confused by all of this".

  "Fine", Cassie's voice softens a bit. Her green eyes carefully fly over my face, as if she's trying to asses if I'm lying or not.

  "I can't exactly believe your whole story", she says carefully, but I believe that you are lost and in need of help".

  "Good", I nod. From the very start, I didn't expect Cassie to believe me, and I didn't need her too. All I needed was someone to explain this new world to me. "So please", I lean over to whisper at her, "food and shelter, I need to know how to get those".

  "I don't think I can help you out with that", she shrugs, and my hopes sink.

  "What was the point of me telling you all of this then?", I plead in disbelief.

  "To see if I can help you", Cassie says simply. "The matter is simple", she continues in a softer tone once she sees my spirit go down, "if you were a trainer, you could stay in pokemon center, you would have a room and 3 meals a day for free, but since you are not, there's really not much I can do for you".

  "Really?", I attempt, "you don't have any tips or?".

  "Look, Rory, this is not exactly a tourist spot, you could rent out a place if you had any money, but since you don't I can't really help out much", Cassie sighs.

  "I can get a job, do you know where I could get a job?", I try negotiating with her, as if she's some sort of all-knowing being that could sort out all of my problems.

  "Uh", Cassie draws out, "look, you're 18, not too many jobs you could take here, I could help you look for something if I had more time, but I'm leaving tomorrow".

  "Help me look today then", I lean in even closer, trying to sound as convincing as I can.

  "Rory", her voice turns sharp, "I can't".

  "Why can't you?", I ask desperately.

  "For once, this is Verdanturf, the job market isn't exactly blooming, it takes adults weeks to find something, for you, it will definitely be even longer", she says matter of factly, "besides, I have to prepare for my journey today, you know, you really picked the wrong day to appear".

  "God", I exhale, rubbing my forehead as to chase away the slowly-manifesting headache.

  "Sorry", Cassie says apologetically.

  "It's fine", I say in a low voice, "I can't expect you to solve all of my problems, it's not your job, I just have no idea what to do, that's all".

  "Look, there might be one thing I can do for you", she clears her throat, "but I can't exactly make you a promise".

  "Sure, I'll take anything", I shrug in defeat, "not that I have any avenues to venture into at the moment".

  "My aunt is a pokemon researcher in the town", her demeanor makes her seem as if she's conspiring.

  "Alright", I nod along, completely confused as to how exactly this solves my problem.

  "Me and two of my friends are getting our starters today", she relates carefully, "we're leaving on our journey tomorrow morning". There's a spark in her eyes as soon as she says it, and I suddenly feel stupid not asking her about it. Maybe she wanted me to?

  "Alright, I'm listening", I say, taking a mental note to ask her about her journey later. And about pokemon as well, that knowledge might be useful, since they are apparently real.

  "If my aunt has any spare pokemon at her lab, I could convince her to assign you one", she says, "that way you can register as a pokemon trainer and you'll get to stay in the pokemon center".

  The idea seems endearing to me. Not only do I get free food and shelter, I also get a superpowered pet. "Really, you would do that for me?", I say excitedly.

  "I can try doing that", Cassie gives me a warning glance, as if to tell me not to jump the gun. "I have no idea if aunt Lydia has any spare pokemon", she explains, "and even if she does, there is a catch".

  "What's a catch?", I raise my eyebrow.

  "You can get registered as a trainer, but if you go more than 2 months without making any gym challenges, your registration will be automatically cancelled", she explains in a surprisingly formal tone, "so, yeah, you'd have pokemon center right for only 2 months, for starters".

  "That's fine", I nod, "2 months will be enough for me to find my footing here". That is, if this whole world doesn't just dissapear when I take my last breath, I think.

  "You could travel to Mauville and challenge the gym there to prolong that", she notes shortly, "but that only buys you a few more months, if you don't earn your first badge in 6 months, your regisatration gets cancelled as well".

  "How many ways are there to get cancelled", I sighs, thinking that this might be trickier than it seems.

  "Well, beyond just blatantly not taking part in the circuit, the only other way is for you to commit a pokemon-related crime", she explains simply.

  "Roger that", I nod, "thank you for the information".

  "It's fine", Cassie smiles at me weakly, "you seemed like you needed help".

  That red hair of hers, framing her face, making it look soft in a very childish, innocent way. Those green eyes have never seen war, I'm grateful to know that, but I can't help hating her at least a little bit for it. Had she lived the same life as me, she wouldn't be picking up strangers in parks, trying to help them.

  Cassie is unmaimed, I decide, and all of a sudden, I get the urge to run from her.

  I don't, for a simple fact I owe her, company at least. Besides I need some more help.

  "Uh, by the way", I say, my shoulders falling down, as I sink my teeth into the chocolate-filled croissant. "I know you don't believe me, with the whole other world thing, but, eh, I think I should tell you that pokemon don't really exist in my world".

  Her face shifts in disbelief again. To her, I think I'm a huge culture shock. "What do you mean, pokemon don't exist?".

  "Well, I mean, they do", I explain, "but like, they are made up, they are a cartoon, and a video game, I think, they are not real".

  "That's impossible", she slams her hands on the table, her voice rising an octave, "what, is your world empty then, you have only humans?".

  "No, I mean we have animals, but like normal animals", I reassure her, "they don't breathe fire, or shoot electricity, and stuff like that".

  "Oh", she thinks about it, "well, that's alright, not all pokemon breathe fire". Somehow, I'm glad Cassie has given her blessing to the regular animals in her own convaluted way.

  "Yeah, it's a long story", I scratch my head, "but just a heads up, I don't really know much about pokemon, so I could use some advice".

  "And that's another long story", Cassie says with a smile, "wish I had time to explain it all to you".

  "That's alright", I return her smile, "maybe just some basic tips and tricks for surviving?".

  "There's not exactly a guide to living in this world, you know", she laughs lightly, and I feel somewhat stupid, "the best I can tell you is to take care".

  "Right", I believe, her words echoing through me. There's no guide to living in general.

  "You say you're going on a journey though", I decide to pop the question. It was so clear she was excited about it, and she deserved that I listen to her. "What's up with that?", I ask.

  "Most people end up going on a journey when they turn 18", Cassie's face is beaming with some sort of light, contrasting the shadows of the café. "It's hard to say what's up with that though, since everyone has their own goal".

  "You said something about the gyms", I offer. Gyms are something I remember from the anime as well.

  "Yes, the gym challenge is the basis of being a trainer", she bods excitedly, "some people aim to earn all 8 of the gym badges and qualify for the conference".

  "And other people?", I question.

  "Other people challenge gyms to learn new things and grow stronger, or to test themselves", she says, "there's really no rules".

  "And you, Cassie?", I wonder.

  "I will probably end up challenging all of the gyms eventually", she shrugs, "since both Xander and Leo want to do it".

  "Your friends, I guess?", I raise my eyebrow.

  "Yes", she nods, "the three of us are going to journey together, so I'll definitely end up challenging all of the 8 gyms".

  "But that's not your main goal?", I give her a cautious look.

  "Not really", she shrugs, with a playfull smile, as if she's inviting me to ask more.

  I happily take the bait.

  "Why are you journeying then?", I ask with a smile.

  Excitment jolts across her face as she says: "I want to become the greatest magician".