AN: I will definetely edit this one-shot again someday. And please don't hesitate to give me your honest opinion on it. Whether good or bad.

With that said, enjoy reading!

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"Finally in Anistar City!" A raven-haired boy with gray-blue eyes exclaimed while pumping his fist in the air. He patted his Arcanine on the head.

"Arca!" his companion Pokemon cheered.

" Well, someone sure looks happy. " said a voice.

" Off to get the seventh badge, I suppose? " asked another.

The ravenette whipped his head to the right, seeing a rather tall blonde man and a green Flapple walking towards him. The eleven year-old smiled upon seeing his friends; they met in Lumiose several months earlier.

" Hello, Zack." The blonde man greeted him with a small wave of his hand. The man's ice-blonde hair was tied up in a low Ponyta-tail, he had blue eyes, wore a white shirt underneath a jacket with the pattern of flames printed at its ends, a pair of faded blue jeans and had a silver bangle with a shining stone fixed at its centre; a Blazikinite.

" Ah! Blaphes! " Zack nodded at the Apple Wing Pokemon. Lowering his voice he continued," Long time no see, Blaziken. "

The blue-eyed man tensed a little. He glanced around before saying," You might want to refrain from calling me that when were outside. "

Zack clasped a hand over his mouth. " Sorry, I kinda forgot." The ravenette then carefully asked," Any luck at finding your Trainer?"

Blaziken shook his head but then, something caught the blonde's attention; from the corner of his eye, the now human Flame Pokemon saw a cloaked figure disappearing into a smaller street. However, he kept it for himself. Meanwhile Blaphes flew next to Zack.

" So what are you going to do after checking in the Pokemon Center? " he asked.

" I'll probably tour the city. Check out that famous Sundial and all..." the ravenette's voice trailed off as he stared at Blaphes.

" What? " the Grass/Dragon type finally said after an awkward, silent moment between the three.

" Ah! " Zack snapped out of his thoughts." Nothing, I just...It's always quite a shock to hear you speak. I constantly have to remind myself that you, Blaphes, are a human trapped in the body of a Pokemon and that its the other way round for Blaziken. "

" Shocking, right?" Blaphes agreed beating his small wings a tad faster, " Had I known that I would be transformed into a Galarian Pokemon after being sucked into an ultra-wormhole, I would never have gone to Alola with that wretched woman! "

Blaziken clicked his tongue. " Who cares about a grumpy geezer like you? " the ice-blonde snapped, " And don't you dare speak ill of my Trainer! "

The Flapple snorted, " Your Trainer vanished into thin air right after our arrival Kalos, fire chicken! "

" HUH!? Who're you calling chicken, you flying apple! Stupid Captain Nicompo- " Blaziken boomed. " I'll carbonise- "

Zack's shoulders slumped. The ravenette started walking away, " I'll be waiting for ya folks at the café then..." He sighed as he took out his phone to look up how he would get to the said café. But before going there, the boy headed for the Pokemon Centre to heal his team.

***

The doorbell jingled as Zack stepped into the café found near Anistar's infamous Sundial, accompanied by his Meowstic, with Arcanine back inside its Pokeball.

" Welcome, sir. " A waiter greeted the ravenette, " Would you like a table? "

Zack nodded. " I'll sit at the terrace. "

" Understood. " The man in a black apron answered. Zack was then guided to the terrace and sat down at a table in the far left corner. There was another pink-haired girl seated two tables away, enjoying the view together with her Dedenne. The boy briefly gazed at the sea before ordering a cup of tea for himself as well as chocolate cake for Meowstic.

" Meows! " the Constraint Pokemon exclaimed cheerfully as she tapping her blue paws on the table in rhythm. Zack chuckled.

" You really do like chocolate don't you, Euclase? Maybe I shouldn't spoil you guys that much. "

Hearing this, Euclase's yellow eyes widened as she started protesting.

" Alright, alright. I won't stop spoiling you. " Zack laughed. But the ravenette's eyes soon trailed towards the pink-haired girl who was busy chatting with her Dedenne. But his attention soon shifted to the waiter who brought his order.

Roughly quarter an hour later, a shriek echoed throughout the café, causing Zack to almost let go go of his teacup while Meowsic flinched. The previous waiter and the owner came running to see what had happened. The girl's Dedenne had disappeared during the few seconds she had gazed at the sea.

Zack's gaze narrowed. It seemed like he was the only one to notice small yellow particles floating away through the window.

***

Meanwhile

Blaziken and Captain Nicompo-

" HEY! DONT YOU CALL ME BY THAT STUPID NAME! " Blaphes suddenly yelled in a half-empty street of Anistar. Blaziken gave him a weird look.

" Finally going crazy, huh? "

" As if! " the Shiny Flapple snapped back," Anyway, why'd you run off like that? "

The blonde rolled his eyes, " O great Blaphes, you had such great arguments that I couldn't bear the shame of- "

" I'm not buying it, fire chicken. " Blaphes cut in.

Blaziken sighed." I know. "

An awkward silence fell between the two. Suddenly, a crashing sound was heard. Blaziken and Blaphes whirled around only to see a broken flower pot lying at the doorstep of a shop. Small, yellow particles could be seen floating away.

" That was weird. " Blaphes remarked. The blonde next to him kept quiet. Blaphes flapped his wings faster, continuing down the street until he heard a gasp.

" Blaphes. " came Blaziken's voice.

The Flapple halted." What? " he asked, not looking back.

" Tell Zack I'll be hanging out in the city till late. "

Blaphes snorted. " Again? You've been doing this quite often those past few days; going out on your own. Preventing me from accompanying you by tricking Nurse Joy into baby-sitting me. Are you still going to keep secrets from me? "

There was another yet brief silence.

"Yeah...For now...I'll fill you in when I come back. " Blaziken's shoulders slumped, " Try waiting for the boy at Anistar's Gym. Speaking logically, it should be the next place he'll be heading to. "

***

Zack and Euclase heaved a sigh of relief as he finally reached the Psychic Gym. They had somehow managed to both pay the tab for their meal and sneak out of the café before the delicate situation escalated into a bigger mess. Still, Zack felt that something was amiss. Where did the girl's Dedenne go? It surely could not have vanished out of the blue? And what were those small yellow particles for? Was there some kind of meaning behind them?

Questions swirled around the ravenette's head. The boy was so absorbed into his thoughts that he barely noticed a referee pushing the Gym's door open and ran into it.

" Ack! " he cried out falling down due to the impact. Euclase hurried to her Trainer's side and gently rubbed his forehead.

" AAAH! I'm so, so, so sorry!! " the female referee exclaimed holding out her hand," Didn't notice you coming, kid. "

" Nah. It's ok, ma'am- thanks, Euclase. " Zack grabbed the referee's hand and stood up. " I was deep in thoughts and paid no heed to my surroundings. "

The woman gave him a troubled smile. That was when Flapple arrived.

" Flap-Flapple! "

" Ah, is it your Pokemon? " the blue-haired woman asked.

Zack briefly glanced at the Apple Wing Pokemon, " ..Yeah? "

The referee's features hardened. " A challenger, I presume? "

Zack nodded.

The referee sighed, " Sorry, kid. You won't be able to challenge the Psychic Gym today. " she announced.

" Wha-WHY!? " the ravenette almost shouted.

" Well, Olympia has been missing since this morning, about around nine oclock. No one knows where she went. Not even her own Pokemon and they're normally always by her side. " The referee's eyes were full of worry, " I was on my way to close the Gym until, well, I quite literally slammed a door into your face. "

" I see. I'll come back another time then. If I ever manage to find Olympia, I'll bring her back here. " Zack said, walking away.

" Yeah. Thanks! " the referee replied waving at them.

" Things are getting weirder by the hour here. " Blaphes remarked once they were far enough on their way back to the Pokemon Center.

Zack gave the Flapple a questioning look.

Blaphes shook his tiny head. " It's just an impression. "

Zack thought for a while. " You might be right though. I've never heard of a Gym Leader who's gone missing. Where's Blaziken? "

" He said he was going to hang out on his own for a bit. He's been acting weird lately. Maybe his Trainer's craziness finally rubbed on him. "

" Now that I think about it...Blaziken never talks about his Trainer and you seem to know her well, Blaphes. "

" There's nothing good I'd be able to say about her, Zack. At least not on her adult self...but when we were kids however- "

" That sounds interesting enough. Blaphes, the great hacker's childhood! I dont feel like investigating those disappearances today. Tell me more about that Trainer of Blaziken's when we get back to the Pokemon Center. "

" ... " Blaphes stared at the ravenette. Being in Zack's company had always made the former human feel strange; his guts told him danger was near yet he knew running away was not an option.

***

In the dead of the night, Blaziken was following a petite, womanly, hooded figure among the streets of Anistar City.

The blonde man briefly glanced at the giant Sundial; standing tallest, its pink gem-like structure shimmering under the moonlight before halting a few metres away meters from a nearby café as the person entered the supposedly closed building, locking the door after them.

Blaziken cautiously made his way to the building. He peeked inside through the window. His blue eyes narrowed when he caught glimpse of a cloak disappearing behind the high counter. He waited for one hour.

Then two.

Tired of waiting in the cold streets of Anistar, Blaziken sighed. He could not afford to wait any longer. If he did, Zack would start worrying about him getting caught and the boy might rush here thus exposing himself to danger.

Feeling frustrated, Blaziken walked back to the Pokemon Center. He had to solve this problem as soon as possible since with each passing hour, more and more people and Pokemon were disappearing. The blonde decided to come back later to investigate the café. But for now he could only keep his mouth shut and wait.

***

One week later

Zack was woken up by the deafening sound of multiple objects either crashing or falling down with a loud clank coming from the lobby. Less than a fraction of second later, Blaziken and Flapple were running down the corridor. Panicked, Zack followed in their wake. When he reached the Pokemon Centers lobby, the ravenette saw Nurse Joy on her knees crying on Blaziken's shoulder.

" Wigglytuff..." she sobbed as Blaziken helped her up while Blaphes, the now Flapple human tried to comfort her with a series of 'Fla' and 'pples' that probably made no sense or whatsoever.

A smirk crept onto the eleven year-old's face but it was quickly replaced by a worried expression as he as he neared Joy and the others. " There, there, Nurse Joy. Calm down and wipe your tears. I'll get you something to drink." Zack said.

" Don't worry ma'am, " Blaziken reassured her while gently holding her hand, " I promise you we'll find Wigglytuff and solve this mess. " He smiled brightly to encourage the pink-haired woman, " For now you need to hang in there. We still need you, Trainer's still need you- thought there aren't many left. "

Joy smailed faintly, nodding her thanks, her eyes red and swollen. Blaziken glanced out the window while Zack brought Nurse Joy a glass of water. His eyes widened both in surprise and confusion. The sky had somehow turned in an eerie shade of dark pink!

" I'm heading out! I'm gonna put an end to this once and for all. I've got way more important Skitty to tackle aside from this weird disappearances! Look after them, Captain Nicom! " the now human Flame Pokemon shouted after grabbing his jacket and taking the Apple Wing Pokemon, Zack and Nurse Joy by surprise.

" DON'T CALL ME THAT! " Blaphes snapped back, " AND DON'T ORDER ME AROUND! "

" Be careful! " Zack warned him.

***

Blaziken scanned his surroundings as he ran towards the café. Anistar City's streets were devoid of any kind of living beings. His steps echoed loud and clear in the air making the former Pokemon even more nervous.

' What happened? How in the world did all those citizens along with their Pokemon disappear in only one night?' he tought, ' It doesn't make sense. There were only one to two people or Pokemon disappearing over a day until yesterday

He finally reached the café after a ten minutes run. Kicking the door open, Blaziken hopped over the counter. Something creaked under his feet when he landed. He flung away the copper-coloured carpet away and briefly stared at the wooden trap door that was revealed to him. He climbed down the equally wooden stairs, his head throbbing and his legs starting to feel numb.

Blaziken continued down a long narrow corridor. It abrubtly turned left and the blonde went along with it. His step faltered when he entered a giant room.

Countless humans and Pokemon laid on the floor unconscious and wrapped in shadows that seem to come out directly from the ground. Nurse Joy's Wigglytuff was found on the right. The Sundial stuck out from the shadows that also covered the left wall. Seemingly thinner shadows hung to the Sundial like a net to prevent it from falling forwards. A giant screen was fitted it the wall found opposite to Blaziken.

' SYNCHRONISATION COMPLETE ' was displayed on the screen.

In the center of the room stood a woman whose fingers danced across the keyboard of a computer. Blaziken guessed that she was in her late twenties based on her appearance. She ran a hand through her shoulder-length light-brown hair. Suddenly, her frail frame was shaken by violent coughs as she clutched her stomach, vainly trying to put a stop to the torture her body was undergoing.

Blaziken took this opportunity to close the distance between them while carefully avoiding the unconscious people and Pokemon.

Finally, the woman stopped coughing. She buttoned up her blue vest then froze.

Blaziken froze too, fearing for the worst. There was nowhere for him to hide.

Slowly, she turned around to face her uninvited guest.

" How much longer were you going to stare? And who the hell are you?! " the brunette shouted, feeling irritated for some reason.

She looked extremely worn out. Her emerald eyes held a miserable and empty gaze. Upon seeing her face, Blaziken was shocked yet he smiled. It was her; the one he had been searching across the Kalos region for, his trainer, Shima Katsumi born in a clan who was given the power to control shadows by the Umbrage Pokemon, Marshadow.

Although this particular Shima was older than he recalled her being, Blaziken instantly dismissed that thought. Despite her now glaring at him with a knitted brow, the ice-blonde haired man could not help but feel happy. However, he knew that he had more pressing matters to address.

How did Shima end up in Anistar? Why was she kidnapping the citizens of Anistar? More importantly, who was behind this mess. On top of that,it was only normal that she could not recognise Blaziken with his current appearance.

Blaziken felt a pang of sadness form itself inside him but he tried to ignore it. Holding up his hand, he showed Shima the silver bangle decorated with delicately drawn flowers that was around his wrist. Placed at the centre of the bangle was a Blazikinite. The woman's eyes lit up when she recognised the bangle but she soon scowled afterwards.

" How..? Why do you have this!? " she hissed.

" You gave it to me. "

" Hah!? I remember gifting this bangle to my Blaziken...not a handsome- I didn't give it a human! "

Blaziken gave her a half embarrassed smile.

Shima's expression twisted into one of utter disbelief. " That's utterly impossible! Unless my Pokemon turned into a human! " she grinned, "That'll happen when Magicarp fly. "

Blaziken let out a small awkward laugh. " Funny...that's exactly what happened...I turned into a human, Shima. "

The brunette furiously shook her head, " Nonsense! "

The man took a step forward. " But its true. I got sucked into an Ultra-wormhole during a mission in Alola and when I was finally spat out,I had somehow turned into a human and Blaphes got turned into a Flapple. "

Shima shook her head yet again then cussed. " You're wasting my time. " she spat, " I'm going to get yelled at if this continues..." She suddenly lowered her head, fist clenched, her voice low. " My team left me...I wasn't strong enough- "

" Thats not true! " Blaziken protested.

" Shut up! " the brunette yelled, " What do you know? This... " she took out a dagger, " is the only thing I am good at even though I don't like it. "

Blaziken's eyes widened. " Wait- "

But it was already too late. Shima's figure blurred and she vanished from his sight. Seconds later, she reappeared behind him. A muffled stabbing sound was heard. Blaziken gasped.

" I'm sorry. " Shima whispered," I'm sorry, really sorry..."

The ice-blonde haired male coughed out warm, crimson liquid. He looked down at his chest seeing the dagger's blade protruding from it. But, when he brought his hand to his chest, the former burst into small, bright yellow particles which slowly floated away. His whole body followed as he slumped against Shima who kept repeating sorry as if it were a mantra.

Soon, Blaziken's conscience faded away.

***

" SIMULATION FAILED!! " said a robotic voice out of nowhere, " END OF TRIAL PHASE N0.101" The message echoed throughout Anistar City.

" End of what? " Blaphes repeated as he flapped its small green wings. " Zack, we need to Joy- "

" Shut up. Use Flamethrower! " the ravenette ordered his Arcanine. A column of flames shot towards Blaphes who took a direct hit and was sent crashing into the Pokemon Center's counter. The Apple Wings body burst into yellow particles, vanishing soon after.

Zack patted his Arcanine's head," Good job as always, girl. " Arcanine happily licked her Trainer's cheek. Zack giggled.

" ZACHARY RICHMEL, YOU SHALL BE SENT BACK SHORTLY. " said the same robotic voice from earlier.

" Man, it was about time. I had enough of playing the good little child. "

***

Blaziken's eyes burst open as the Flame Pokemon frantically gasped for air. However, his actions came to a sudden stop when he saw his reflection in the glass. He had reverted back to a Pokemon again. The bipedal swung his arm. It collided with the glass layer, smashing it open.

' Good. I'm not staying here.' The Pokemon thought.

He pulled away all the weird cables that had been stuck on his head. Blaziken heard shouts and hurried footsteps coming his way. He stepped out of the cocoon-like case he was kept in but as soon as he stepped out, his legs gave out.

" Bla-ziken!" he cried out as he pathetically fell down. Trying to muster up the little strength he had left, the Fire-type starter looked up and froze.

Before him were several other replica of the cocoon-like case he was in. Except these ones had a chocolate-brown haired boy, a light-brown haired girl along with many other Pokemon among which was a Chimecho. Blaziken recognised the boy as Blaphes; Blaphes as a human. He was not a Flapple anymore. Then he recognised the girl; it was Shima! The real, thirteen year-old Shima!

Blaziken saw red. He wanted to scream, to beat up somebody, save those to children but he did not have any strength to do so. All strength had left his body.

Suddenly, a raven-haired man- probably in his late twenties with gray-brown eyes stepped into the Flame Pokemon's line of sight. He wore a white lab-coat over a blue shirt.

" Bla...(Zack) "

The ravenette winked at the Fire-type. " Awww...woke up rather quickly, didn't you Blaziken? " he glanced over his shoulder towards the other cocoon-like cases. " Don't worry, we won't harm those little ones...You should cheer up instead."

" You, your friend, trainer and teammates will all contribute to help the Professor develop the Pokemon Dream World to an extent never seen before! " Zack chuckled, " Now, now sleep tight, buddy. " The scientist paused. He glanced behind Blaziken then ordered his Pokemon," Hypno, Hypnosis then Dream-eater! "

Blaiken wanted to move but no matter how many times he tried, he did not budge. Soon, his vision blurred and seconds later everything went black.

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Word count: 3511 (excluding this)