Chapter Text
Blues isn't really sure how it happened.
One moment, he was helping Enzan-sama at IPC—collecting data for a report to send to Ijuuin-sama via email—and then the next, there was a strange flash of blinding light the colour of pure gold, and suddenly they were in what could only be described as a featureless void. Astonishingly enough, he and Enzan-sama were in the same space.
A white-and-gold equine creature had suddenly appeared to them then, speaking without a mouth, though Blues could only hear a vague murmur and just barely made out something about... Pokemon? Before there was a rush of unnatural energy sending blinding agony shooting throughout his entire body.
There was another flash of golden light, and then they were free-falling from an unstable tear in the sky. Blues did the only thing he could think of, grabbing his operator and twisting mid-air to take the brunt of the impact. Strange as it happened to be, he was only grateful then that he somehow shared space with Enzan-sama, because the alternative would have been horrifying.
The impact knocked them both unconscious, though Blues lasted a little longer and had just enough time to see an unfamiliar beach before his systems forced him into an emergency shut-down to recover his lost HP.
And that's how Ijuuin Enzan and his NetNavi Blues arrived in Hisui.
The first thing Blues becomes aware of is an alert warning him of extreme damage. Low HP, corrupted memory, some systems and subroutines offline, auto-regen booting up and failing constantly... It's a genuine surprise that he isn't missing limbs or something as well. Or maybe he is and he just can't feel it yet. He can't feel much of anything aside from pain.
"Sha! Shaa!"
Something pokes his cheek. It's sharp, but it doesn't break his skin. Even so, he's instantly on guard, eyes snapping open and jumping to his feet.
He regrets it immediately as the alert screams at him and his systems glitch, making him woozy enough to fall to one knee with a groan. He presses a hand to his shades, covering his eyes in the hopes that his systems will recalibrate easier without visual input to disrupt them or disorient him.
"Sha? Osha?"
Another poke from the sharp thing, this time on the arm he's using to brace himself. He waves whatever it is off, grunting with annoyance, and hears faint pattering footsteps moving away. Thank the makers.
It takes his systems a couple of minutes to recalibrate to the point where he can open his eyes without the disorientation. He frowns at his surroundings, squinting to make out any details beyond the lingering glitches in his visual feed. It appears he's on a beach, though the reason why is a complete mystery to him.
Let's see... He should try calibrating his memory data next. Some of it is corrupted and fuzzy, thus completely lost to him—the worst of it is the most recent data, which is entirely unhelpful. The data from directly before that is affected by the corruption as well, but he can view it long enough to recall what he was doing before.
He was helping his operator with... emails? No, a report. He recognises the difference in files, even if the memory is a little glitchy with the details. So, he was helping his operator with a report, and then... what? Something happened and now they're on a beach and his memory is corrupted, for some reason?
Wait, his operator?
Enzan-sama! he realises with a jolt of shock.
He looks around frantically and only when he finally spots his operator does he relax, though only marginally. Enzan-sama is unconscious and shows no signs of waking up, and there's some strange little white-and-blue otter-like creature poking at him with a sharp-looking shell.
Blues takes offence to that.
"Hey!" he snaps, struggling to his feet. The otter coos and looks over at him. "Stop that! Leave him alone!"
"Osha?" the otter squeaks, pausing.
It can talk? No, wait, that doesn't sound like any word he recognises. Maybe it's just some kind of odd sound. Still, he's never seen a creature quite like this one before.
"Get away from him," he orders, taking a cautious step toward the otter. He doesn't immediately collapse and the alert is only a mildly-annoying background noise right now, so he moves closer.
The otter chatters at him, waving its shell, and he waves it away. All it does is hop back, avoiding his hand, and chatter at him again.
"Oshawott! Where did you go!?"
The otter perks up, looking toward a small wooden shack nearby. There's a path just next to it, cutting between two small grassy hills. Blues would take the opportunity to make a run for it, but there's only open ocean behind them and he doesn't want to aggravate any injuries his operator may or may not have by jumping up the hills to safety.
So, quite against his wishes, he simply hunkers down and carefully moves Enzan-sama onto his lap, checking him over. The only visible injury appears to be some light bruising on his right temple, which would be a relief—except humans are notoriously fragile and even the smallest injury could turn out to be life-threatening, especially when it comes to the head and brain.
But Enzan-sama is breathing, at least. And perhaps the person who called out can assist them, though Blues is still wary. They're in an unknown location, there's a strange creature bothering them, and he's somehow substantiated. You can't really blame him.
He doesn't have to wait long, thankfully. A girl comes jogging around the bend, head moving this way and that as she scans the area. Blues, who had been about to call out, pauses upon taking in her attire. It's quite... archaic, for lack of better terms. The outfit wouldn't look out of place in one of those old samurai films he's seen on the internet.
"Oshawott!" the girl shouts. "Where are—"
She finally spots them, coming to an abrupt halt and looking startled. Then the otter cries out and waddles up to her, waving its shell and babbling.
"There you are," the girl sighs, apparently deciding to focus on that for the moment. "Why did you run off so suddenly? I told you we were heading back to the village."
Village? Are they in Ameroupe, then? Although that's hardly the only country where villages still exist, so... it doesn't really do much to narrow things down.
"Sha!" the otter squeaks, waving its shell toward Blues and Enzan-sama. "Osha-sha. Sha-wo!"
The girl frowns and looks up, meeting Blues's eyes. He adjusts his grip on his operator and that's what draws the girl's attention to him. She gasps and jerks forward, only stopping when Blues flinches away.
Instinctively, he attempts to activate his Sword. All he gets is a harsh alert ringing in his systems and a red warning appearing on his shades, with the words 'WEAPONS SYSTEM OFFLINE' in bold lettering.
That's... concerning. He can't even access his standard equipment? Does this mean Battle Chips are inaccessible as well? He's hardly defenceless without a weapon, but it presents a massive problem regardless, and being unable to fight the way he's used to is deeply unsettling.
"Um, hello," the girl calls out, voice oddly gentle all of a sudden. "Is your friend injured? We have doctors at the village, they can help."
"...Is it far away?" Blues asks warily.
The girl looks surprised. "You're a boy? But that hair—"
"The village."
"Uh, right. No, it's just a few minutes along the path. The guards at the gate might be suspicious, but if you let me do the talking, I can get you in and we'll get your friend seen to. Okay?"
"...Okay."
Blues gets to his feet, making sure to be careful as he lifts Enzan-sama into his arms. He picks his way across the sand, half-listening to the girl talking to the otter.
"Is this why you ran off?" she asks. "You're a strange little Pokemon, aren't you?"
Pokemon. That word oddly sounds familiar. But his memory data is still corrupted and that's all he gets. He'll have to hope Enzan-sama isn't too badly injured and can help sort this out later.
The girl introduces herself as Akari and the otter as Oshawott. It's odd to name a creature after the noises it makes, but then again, some of the viruses in the cyberworld are similar. Mettaurs, for example. So perhaps he can't really complain.
He isn't really sure what to expect when they arrive at the village, but a single street with tiny, poorly-made buildings set up in a row is not it. The largest one is visible from the gate, similar to a town hall or a museum of sorts, and appears to be the only building in this tiny place that received any form of effort. The gate itself is made of wood and seems to have been made based on the old Japanese style, and is guarded by two humans in attire that looks very similar to Akari's—just red instead of blue.
Blues keeps back and allows Akari to do the talking, as she instructed. The guards keep shooting him suspicious looks throughout the entire conversation, even daring to give one or two to Enzan-sama. He can understand being suspicious of him, but an unconscious child? That's absurd.
Eventually the guards allow them in, though they mention they'll be keeping a very close eye on them, and Blues resists the childish urge to stick his tongue out as they pass through the gate.
"I'm sorry about Dorian and Kew," Akari says, leading him down the street. Oshawott happily bounces alongside her, occasionally dropping back to walk beside Blues. "Jubilife Village has only survived this long because we're so wary, but sometimes the Security Corps does go a bit overboard... No thanks to the village's general suspicion of anyone who's not from here..."
"I wasn't aware there were any villages this isolated anymore," Blues comments.
"Isolated?"
"There aren't any roads connecting it to major cities that I can see, and I don't recognise this area at all."
Akari gives him a strange look. "Uh... sure, whatever you say."
He frowns as she turns away. Somehow, he gets the distinct feeling that they were talking about two entirely different things just now. How odd.
And then he's distracted by their surroundings. The buildings aren't poorly-built like he assumed—they're actually quite well-made, it's just that they're tiny and look like they belong about a few hundred years in the past rather than the modern era. In addition, he can't detect so much as a single device with any cyberworlds or networks. So not only is this village extremely isolated, it's also lacking in technology.
That's quite unsettling. He's made for technology, literally. If there isn't any of it around here...
His worried thoughts come to an abrupt halt when he finally takes note of the few people in the village. Some of them group up and whisper together, shooting unsubtle glances toward him and Enzan-sama, while others openly stare and actually back away in one or two cases. All those eyes on them makes his core prickle with unease, and he unconsciously tightens his grip on his operator, shielding him from the stares even though he's not awake to feel them.
Akari was not joking about the suspicion, it seems.
Near the front of the large building is a small river, and built over it is a simple bridge. There's a large wooden wheel turning in the river's current, attached to a building that's only slightly bigger than the ones in the street behind them. In fact, the buildings on this side of the river are all a little bigger, but not by much and certainly not to the same extent as the largest one.
Blues is starting to feel like he and Enzan-sama have somehow found themselves in the past or something. All the archaic clothing and the style of this village does not help.
"Akari, my dear girl!"
He jumps and drops into a defensive stance immediately, covering his operator as best as he can. Oshawott gives him a puzzled 'sha?' and pats his leg while Akari sends him another strange look before turning to greet the person who just came out of the large building.
A dark-skinned human with purple eyes wearing a white lab coat, with a fluffy brown vest and striped pants underneath. The lab coat has some strange golden emblem on the breast pocket, and he also wears a purple-and-white pompom hat. The lab coat is, at least, familiar to Blues—the scientists at the Ministry wear them all the time.
"Did you manage to find Oshawott?" the human asks, and then comes to a puzzled halt when he spots Blues. "Oh! Er, hello. I must apologise, I didn't notice you there."
"Sorry, professor, we've got a bit of an emergency right now," Akari says. She gestures to Enzan-sama. "We need to take this, er, child? To the Medical Corps."
"Oh dear," the human gasps, eyes widening. "Introductions can wait, let us go inside right away!"
The interior of the large building—which Akari refers to as the Galaxy Hall—is quite extravagant in comparison to the simple village. As soon as Blues walks into the building, he sees a set of double doors wide open and leading into what's clearly an office—and inside it, sitting behind a desk, is a stern-faced woman with blue hair who doesn't so much as glance up upon their arrival.
It's not into this office that Akari and the human lead him, though. With Oshawott still waddling beside him, he's taken into a decently-sized room where various humans in a pink version of Akari's attire appear to work. There are beds here, along with screens between them for privacy, and a few injured humans lay on them.
It does not take a genius to realise this is a makeshift hospital. Although the lack of medical equipment is just as unsettling as the village was. Are these people really so isolated that they don't have access to modern medicine?
"Pesselle!" Akari calls. A woman sitting at a desk tucked away in the corner looks up. "We have an injured child."
The woman jumps to her feet, rushing over immediately. Akari directs her to Blues, who smothers down the instinct to back away or run and forces himself to allow her to at least take a look at Enzan-sama.
"Looks like an injury to the head..." Pesselle murmurs, brushing aside some of his hair to get a better look. She glances at Blues. "Are you this child's friend? Do you know how they were injured or when?"
"Er... I'm... not sure?" is all he can offer.
Pesselle blinks a few times, then suddenly leans closer and looks at him intently. He unconsciously backs away a little.
"Akari," Pesselle says, turning to the girl, "did you check and see if this child was injured too?"
Akari looks stunned. "Uh. Well. He was... awake? When I found him? So I just assumed..."
"I'll examine both of them, then. Do you know their names, at least?"
"Er..."
"You could just ask," Blues points out testily.
"Oh, that's right! Pardon my manners. How about you set your friend down on one of the empty beds and then tell me your names?"
He does as he's told, if only because this woman is currently the only chance Enzan-sama has at getting medical attention. The beds appear to be comfortable enough, at least. Though Oshawott does hop up and plonk itself down on the pillow next to Enzan-sama's head.
"Shoo!" Pesselle scolds it. "You're not allowed on the beds, you know that! Professor Laventon, please control your Pokemon."
The human with the pompom hat—Professor Laventon, evidently—chuckles awkwardly and picks Oshawott up, much to the creature's immediate displeasure.
"My apologies, Pesselle," he says, inclining his head. "This little one is more curious than the other two, you know that."
"I would still rather not trip over it every five minutes."
"Er... yes, of course. Come, Oshawott, let's see if Rei will be willing to help you clean your shell today."
"Osha, osha!" Oshawott whines, making odd grabby-hands toward Blues and Enzan-sama.
"No, they can't play with you. Let them rest for now."
The little otter complains the whole time Professor Laventon escorts it out. It may have been mildly annoying, but Blues still feels a pang of pity for it. It's not as though it was actually getting in the way or anything—Pesselle could have easily worked around it.
"Alright, back to business," Pesselle says. "Your names?"
"Er... my name is Blues. And my op— f-friend is, uh... he's called Enzan."
He's not sure if these people even know what a NetNavi is, to be quite honest. No technology, no networks, not even the slightest blip of a cyberworld—which means no one has PETs and definitely no Navis. And if they did know what one was, they would almost certainly be wondering how he's in the real world. They wouldn't be treating him like a human child.
"Blues?" Akari repeats, raising an eyebrow. "But you're wearing red."
Oh, for the love of...
"Why do people always say that?" he sighs.
Pesselle chuckles. "I imagine you're quite sick of it by now. Alright, I'll give— Enzan, you said?"
Blues nods.
"I'll give Enzan a check-over, then I'll give you one. Just a courtesy, no worries—you don't seem to be injured, but sometimes we can't see the cause of pain."
"Er... right."
He's fairly certain she won't find anything. Not from him at least. Though this does bring up an entirely new worry—how will she react when she discovers he isn't human? Despite his armour and bodysuit, he can at least pass for one, but a closer inspection will reveal the truth very quickly. It does not help that he can't bluff his way through a verbal check since quite a few of his current glitches and issues aren't comparable to a human's.
But that's a problem for the near future. For the moment, he's more concerned with Enzan-sama, who still has yet to wake up. That's bad. Humans shouldn't be out for this long. Maybe?
Dammit. His corrupted memory is not helping him remember human care right now.
He watches Pesselle closely, both wanting to make sure she isn't harming his operator and wanting to fill in the corrupted memory data for future reference, just in case. Though most of Enzan-sama's check-up is... quite lacking, compared to what his memory data allows him to remember. Without technology to assist, he supposes this is the best these humans can manage. Either way, it's a little disconcerting and he worries that Pesselle will miss something because of this.
"From what I can tell, he doesn't appear to be too badly injured," she muses, ghosting her fingers along the bruise on Enzan-sama's temple. "How long has he been unconscious for?"
"I found them about twenty minutes ago," Akari offers. "This boy hasn't woken up once."
"Hm... He may have a moderate brain injury, in that case. There's not much I can do about that, not unless he wakes up."
"He won't need surgery, will he?" Blues asks, fretting.
Pesselle gives him an odd look. "Er... it's not possible to perform surgery on someone's brain."
Blues bites his tongue. These people are isolated, he reminds himself. They likely aren't aware of how advanced medical procedures have gotten now.
"There doesn't appear to be any particularly bad damage done to his skull, at least," Pesselle muses, gently pressing down on the bruise. "He should—"
Enzan-sama's eyes snap open and he immediately lashes out, causing Pesselle to jump back with a cry of surprise. He struggles to sit up, glaring defensively, but a bead of sweat running down his cheek betrays his nerves.
Blues jerks forward, instinctively wanting to calm his operator down, but freezes when Enzan-sama's eyes snap to him. They're an unsettling ruby red colour, seeming to almost gleam with an unnatural light, and Blues swallows, trying to ignore the sudden quiver in his systems.
"...It— it's okay," he finally says, fighting to keep the slight tremor out of his voice. "She wasn't going to hurt you, she's a doctor."
There's a beat of silence. Enzan-sama's eyes gradually stop gleaming, but the red colouring remains, and he looks... puzzled.
"Wh-what's a... doctor?"
Blues's core turns cold.
"You— you don't—" He pauses to try and calm himself, but the rising dread is difficult to ignore. "You don't know?"
Enzan-sama hesitates, then slowly shakes his head.
Blues swallows. "Do you... know who I am?"
NetNavis don't need oxygen like humans do, but even so, he struggles to breathe. His core weighs heavily in his chest and he resists the urge to clench his trembling hands into fists, terrified that any sudden movements may be mistaken for hostility.
"...I don't," Enzan-sama says quietly.
Blues takes in a sharp breath. The trembling spreads from his hands to his whole body and if he were human, he likely would have collapsed by now. It feels like he's going to anyway.
Enzan-sama doesn't know him.
Enzan-sama doesn't know him.
"But..."
He pauses. A faint flicker of something that feels like desperate hope makes his core pulse.
"I think... I think I should?" Enzan-sama tilts his head, frowning a little. "You feel... safe. I-I can trust you. R-right?"
Blues lets out a shuddering breath. He lowers himself onto the bed, putting his arms around Enzan-sama, and presses their foreheads together. Somehow, he manages a faint smile.
"That— that's right," he whispers shakily. "I'm glad you know that much, at least."
After only a short hesitation, Enzan-sama brings up his arms to hug back. Even if Blues has no idea why he's substantiated like this, he's happy for it right now. It wouldn't be the same if he were just using his hologram.
And then the moment is ruined when Akari speaks up.
"Are you sure you two are friends and not something else?" she asks.
Blues pulls back a little to frown at her.
"What? It's a perfectly valid question!"
"Yes, but not right now," he retorts. "We were having a moment."
"Oh, then please, do excuse me. I shall leave you two lovebirds to your 'moment'."
"We're not!" he calls to Akari's retreating back. She simply waves in response, and then she's gone.
"...D-do you know that person?" Enzan-sama asks uncertainly.
"Well... I only met her just under half an hour ago. I'm not sure if that can be defined as 'knowing'."
"Oh, okay."
Pesselle steps forward and Enzan-sama's attention snaps to her, eyes flashing briefly. She stops, inhaling sharply, and Blues gives his operator a slight squeeze.
"It's alright," he says gently. "I told you, she's a doctor."
"...I still don't know what that is."
Blues blinks under his shades. "Oh. Right. Er... a doctor is a person who helps you when you're sick or injured."
"So... am I sick or injured?"
"Injured, yes." Blues reaches out to gently touch his fingers to Enzan-sama's bruise and immediately feels guilty when he winces. "Sorry. But your head has been hurt, so Pesselle would like to check you over. If that's alright?"
Enzan-sama shrinks in on himself a little, pulling closer to Blues. "Will it hurt?"
It's like his operator has been turned into a small child all over again. He only saw him this uncertain and nervous back when they first met—that memory data is, thankfully, untouched by the corruption. He doesn't know what he would do without his earliest and fondest memory data.
"It may, but she only wants to help, I promise," he says.
"...Okay then."
Blues gives him a reassuring smile, then nods to Pesselle. She moves forward with much more caution than before, eyeing Enzan-sama as if he's a live bomb or perhaps a dangerous and feral animal. Fine, perhaps his eyes are... strange now, but he certainly doesn't deserve this kind of suspicion. Not from someone who's meant to be a medical professional.
"From what I can tell," Pesselle says carefully, "you appear to have some form of memory loss. Do you remember your name?"
Enzan-sama frowns, narrowing his eyes and staring hard at the bedsheet. He's far too tense, so Blues carefully massages a hand between his shoulders, which appears to help a little.
"...E— En... zan..." Enzan-sama murmurs. "M-my name is... Enzan?"
Pesselle nods, smiling. "That matches what your friend here told us. Do you remember anything else?"
"...We fell."
Blues tilts his head and Pesselle furrows her brows.
"There was— something," Enzan-sama says, voice faint and far away. "A golden light. Then darkness. And— and then we were falling. But I don't remember anything after that. And I don't know how much I remember before that. I-I'm sorry..."
"We... fell?" Blues echoes, frowning to himself.
It sounds familiar. His memory data may be corrupted, but he can recall vague sensations, at the very least—and cold, rushing wind and a sense of high fear were among them.
Pesselle looks puzzled. "Do you remember where you fell from?"
"I— I don't... know? It was high up, I think."
Enzan-sama shakes his head, beginning to look faintly overwhelmed. Blues is about to tell Pesselle to leave him alone for the moment when his operator suddenly stiffens, looking over his shoulder.
"Enzan-sama?" he asks, worried. "What is it?"
"Outside," Enzan-sama says. "That big... rock thing. The, uh..."
Blues's frown deepens and he looks over his shoulder too. The windows behind them show an impressive view of a gigantic mountain range—not one that he recognises, which is frankly quite concerning—and there's some sort of energy swirling and crackling just above the peak.
"...What is that?" he asks.
"The mountain is called Mt Coronet," Pesselle explains. "That thing above it, well... We've taken to calling it the space-time rift. It appeared quite suddenly a few weeks ago."
"That's it," Enzan-sama says softly.
Blues and Pesselle look at him.
"That's where we fell from," he whispers. "That rift. I remember it."
Pesselle breathes in sharply. "I— I need to go speak to the commander."
She leaves abruptly, and although they're far from alone—the other injured humans and various others wearing the pink attire are still present—the room suddenly feels much emptier. Blues swallows and holds his operator close, feeling Enzan-sama pressing his cheek to his chest emblem.