"There is something terribly wrong with you", the girl says in an exaggerated growl.

  It doesn't stop me from laughing. For once, I am certain that I am imagining things.

  Pokemon.

  This thing that tried to assault me is a pokemon.

  That bird I saw on the hill was probably a pokemon as well.

  It was a hilarious realisation.

  I was probably sprawled out on the hallway of my military base, slowly bleeding to my death, and my mind decided to shiled me from all the pain by creating an illusion of an anime I used to watch when I was a kid.

  My laughter couldn't be contained, and frankly, I didn't want to contain it.

  Other people in the park must've stared at us like we were insane, but what did it matter. This whole thing wasn't real anyways. They were all just figments of my imagination. All I could do was laugh, as this girl with a high pitched voice stared at me like I'm a madman.

  I am a deadman, actually, I wanted to tell her, and you, you are not real.

  Neither is that racoon, that had decided to retreat back under the bench out of utter confusion. It probably thought me crazy as well.

  The racoon. Zigzagoon. My laugh dies down as I come to another realisation.

  Pokemon, I think as I hold my stomach that's starting to ache from all the laughing and hunger.

  I've never heard of a pokemon called Zigzagoon.

  I knew Pikachu, Charizard, and even Butterfree, but I have never heard of a Zigzagoon.

  My mind couldn't imagine something I've never seen, right?

  Amidst the whirlwinding thoughts, I reach back to my childhood, looking for traces of Zigzagoon in my memory. I might've just forgotten about that pokemon, the racoon-looking thing might be burried deep inside my mind. There are, however, no memories of Zigzagoon.

  Looking up at the girl, I see her eyes are filled with a wild mixture of confusion, worry and fear. She is questioning what kind of person she had stumbled upon, and I myself, could not tell her.

  Yet again, I could not promise her either of us were real in this moment, I couldn't even confidently state that I was alive.

  But from all the mornings I spent watching pokemon, I truly could not remember Zigzagoon.

  Reality felt scattered, its pieces desperately clawing at me.

  Taking a deep breath, I look at her again, and she seems so unfortunately real. Her red hair reaches just past her shoulders, curling at the ends, riddled with stray strands split at their ends.

  Had my mind truly creted an illusion for me to hide in from the pain of dying, I would assume a girl in front of me would look much better, like a godly mirage one might come across in a place between dreams and reality.

  This girl, however, she looks human.

  Short, her frame's a bit wider than it's usual for a girl, I doubt I would dream her up. Paleness of her skin doesn't do her any favours, punctuating any pores on her face and making her hands look almost like a skeleton. The only thing about her with any dream-like quality are her eyes, earthly green, they seem to be sick with curiousity. Even through all her confusion, those eyes seem to be smiling at me.

  I take a deep breath, straightening myself. For a second, I don't want to think about all of this, wheter this is real or not. In any case, the best I could do is play along with the insanity and see how far it gets me.

  The girl hasn't moved a muscle, only stood there, confused, looking at me like I was crazy, which I could be. Nonetheless, had she been an enemy who wanted to neutralise me or capture me, she would've done that by now.

  Looking at her better, I found it laughable that I even thought she could be a spy.

  Black thights covered her legs, showing how thin they were, in contrast to her widening shoulder, she had looked almost comical. The mid-lenght pink skirt that flowed over them definitley made her look more like a school girl than a spy, and a white blouse with flowery pattern only sealed the deal.

  "So, uh... what's the deal with you?", she says cautiously, noticing how I've been staring at her. She doesn't nudge, instead she stares back at me. I can't help wondering how she sees me, does she think me a threat? Instinctively, I hide my right hand behind my back.

  "Nothing", I clear my throat, making sure my voice sounds confident, "the racoon, ah, Zigzagoon, surprised me, that's all". I straighten my back, giving her a firm look. Even if she wasn't a spy, I wouldn't want her calling police on me, so I had to get my act together.

  "You're acting strange even beyond that", she runs her hand through the hair, and I can tell she's already easing up. A mistake that would be costly for any spy. Just in case she's baiting me, I stay alert.

  "Sorry, you sneaked up on me, I though Zigzagoon brought a friend", I try making it into a joke.

  "I didn't sneak up, I walked over normally", she says, her voice sounding like a mellow scold, "were you really that scared of a Zigzagoon? They aren't really that dangerous, you know".

  "I know", I nod, as I had thought, I could've taken that broom-tailed beast down. "As I said, it surprised me, that's all", I assert.

  "You seem awfully easy to surprise", she says under her breath, looking away from me. Another mistake a spy would never make. I ease up a bit.

  "Happens to people when you jump them", I offer her a smile, concluding that she most definitely a civilian. Since I ended up talking to her, I might as well get her to like me, try to get some information out of her.

  "If I'm being honest", I run my hand through my hair as nonchalantly as I can, "I am a little bit lost here, that really brings out my jumpiness".

  Admitting I don't know where I am might be a mistake, but with every word this girl seems like less of a threat.

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  "Oh, I can help with that", she perks up, a soft smile lingering on her face, "are you looking for anything specific?".

  "Well, no, not really", I try to come up with the best explanation on the fly, "honestly I've missed my bus stop, so I don't really know what town I'm in".

  She furs her brows at me again, her eyes darting to the side as if she was looking for something: "uh... what is a bus stop?".

  A jolt of unbelief surges through me. She doesn't know what a bus stop is? Wheter this place was real or an illusion, it was certainly a joke, strange in its cruelty.

  "The point is", I say hurriedly, realising I have no idea how I should talk to her, "I was looking to get to the town next to this one, I ended up here on accident, and I don't know where here is". I throw out the words in a single breath, with no better way to explain myself.

  "Alright", she nods, as if she had already accepted the fact that she's dealing with a crazy person who's imagining things like racoons and buses. "First thing, this is Verdanturf Town", she says slowly, "welcome, I guess".

  "Verdanturf", I try pronouncing this strange word after her, it tastes foreign in my mouth.

  "Yes", she says, slowly again, as if she's talking to a pre-schooler, "and you were trying to get to Mauville, I would assume?".

  "Uh, yeah", I lie immediately. This place was definitely not earth. And I don't remember a name of any town in pokemon anime other than Pallet.

  "Well, it's not that far away from here", she thoughtfully scratches her chin, "though I'm not sure how you managed to wander all the way here".

  "Bad luck", I offer.

  "How long did you walk for?", she ignores my attempt at a joke, "I mean, even if you were biking, it's at least a 3-day journey".

  I almost immediately understand that it would be hard to lie my way out of this one. "I have no idea, a few days, I got lost", I say, crossing my arms in an attempt to shield myself from any further questions.

  "Why were you going to Mauville?", my defenses fail immediately.

  "Meeting a friend", I respond simply, thinking that would satisfy her.

  It doesn't. "Where did you travel from?", she follows up immediately.

  "Pallet Town", I shoot out immediately, hitting her with the only town I know.

  "Uh", the look on her face turns into one of disbelief. "You're from Kanto region?".

  Had this conversation been a minefield, I would've been blown to pieces at this very moment. Honestly, I would prefer that to trying to lie my way out of this. I had no idea what I was saying, and I was adamnt on playing spy games with a girl that might not even be real.

  "Maybe I am", I say, feeling the tension rise up within me.

  "You're confusing, you know", she pinches the bridge of her nose.

  "I do", I say, fighting to urge to tell her that I am the more confused one between the two of us.

  "So, you decide to travel to a different region, and you manage to get lost?", she drawls out, "you're not very bright".

  "I'm just a guy down on my luck", I swallow the insult.

  "An idiot is what you are", she lets her high pitched voice ring across the park, "how did you even get to Hoenn from Kanto, a Pidgeot Travel, right?".

  "Right", I nod, clueless on what she means by that, but thankful she had offered me an answer.

  "Well, why didn't Pidgeot just fly you into Mauville then?", she rubs her forehead in disbelief.

  Pidgeot flies, I realise, it's that bird pokemon from the anime. I thought the name sounded famiar.

  "Uh, the Pidgeot got tired", I thread carefully around this topic, not wanting to say anything too out of place.

  "Long distance travel Pidgeot got tired, huh, you must be joking", she mutters under her breath, and I am certain that I have managed to say something stupid yet again.

  Looking at her, I'm not even sure why I'm trying to lie my way out of this.

  There were two options, either this whole thing wasn't real, or it was magic.

  In either case, just sgraight up telling her I'm not from this world wouldn't have any major concequences. If it turns out this is all real, she might think I'm crazy, but I'm confident that was her opinion already.

  On the other hand, why would I tell her any of that?

  Why was I even trying to strike a conversation here or prove to her that I belong in this world? It didn't matter. She had already related to me where I was.

  I'll just get any other information that I might need from her right now and here, I decide.

  "Not that any of that matters", I clear my throat, "I would appreciate it if you told me where I could get some food and a place to stay for a few days".

  Sizing me up, she seems to think about the answer. "Uh, I'm not exactly sure what you're looking for", she says cautiously, "honestly, I think you're lying to me". She's much smarter than she seems at first.

  "I'm looking for a hotel or something, and maybe a restaurant or something", I say, attempting to cover for my previous lies, while also hiding the fact that I'm really peniless. I will most likely spend the night on these very benches, hoping some Zigzagoon won't assasinate me in my sleep.

  "Why don't you just go to a pokemon center then", she raises her eyebrow, "you are a trainer, right?".

  "Do I seem like a trainer to you?", I widen my hands, letting her come to her own conclusion. I immediately come to regret this, as I see her eyes fixate on the scar on my hand.

  "You are 18, right?", she says carefully, "you definitely look 18".

  "I am", I nod, hiding my right arm again.

  "Well, don't you have a pokemon on you then?", she questions further.

  "No, I do not", I give her a firm look, hoping she would finally just answer my question.

  "You are a handful", the girl sighs, turning around on her heel, as if she's had enough of trying to figure me out.

  "Please, will you just tell me where I can get food, and perhaps a bed?", I say, not hiding the despair in my voice.

  "Pokemon center, I told you already", she says, turning around to look at me, "Verdanturf is not exactly a tourist destination, only trainers ever pass through here, so we don't really have a hotel or something".

  "Alright, so, a pokemon center", I nod, already tired of this conversation, "care to tell me how much the stay in there costs?".

  She gives me another one of her confused look before replying: "well, it's free, but you can't enter even if you payed, since you're not a trainer".

  "God, you're not helpful at all", I growl at the sky.

  "Sorry, for starters you could explain yourslef a little bit better, then I might be able to help out", she shrugs, making a child-like grimace at me. To think I was so bad at lying that someone like her could see right through me. "At least, be proper enough to tell me your name", she wags her finger at me as if she's scolding me.

  "Rory", I say, deciding that my name ultimately didn't matter, "Rory Mulligan".

  "Alright, Rory, I'm Cassie Lewis", she flashes me a knowing smile, "now, would you tell me what's really going on?".

  I take a step back. Cassie Lewis is a strange girl. To her, I should be a complete stranger riddled with inconsistancies. And I was. I knew she found me confusing. Yet, here she was, still talking to me, changing her confusion into a smile in a matter of seconds, as if meeting me was a game. Like I was a story, and she was looking for a bottom line.

  "I'm not from around here", I explain, not certain on how I feel about Cassie.

  "That much I gathered", her smile grows wider, "now, will you be so kind as to explain how you ended up here, I don't have a whole day, you know".

  Looking away, I mutter: "doesn't matter, not that you would believe me".

  "I already don't believe you", she seems to find her own response entertaining.

  "I can't exactly explain where I'm from", I attmept to side-step the question.

  "Try, at least", Cassie remains adamant.

  "Look, I don't know you enough to disclose that information", I say simply, not wanting to risk her thinking I'm actually clinically insane.

  "Well, do you need help or not", she offers.

  "I kind of do", I say, remembering that I'm hungry like a wolf.

  "Then say what's really going on, so I can try and help you out", Cassie sighs, twirling her burning red hair, "just hurry up, today's a big day for me, I only have like 2 hours".

  2 hours are not nearly enough for me to explain things. Not to myself. And definitely not to Cassie.

  Still, it's worth a try. I don't know anything about this world. Even if I tried asking someone else for help, they'd all end up being similarly weary of me, just like Cassie, since I couldn't even come up with a good cover up story. Besides, I needed information as soon as possible. Food was of utmost importance, but shelter was immediately behind it. If there were really pokemon in this place, sleeping outside isn't the safest bet.

  With a sigh, I decide that the best thing would be to attempt to explain to Cassie what's going on. To a certain extent at least.

  Worst case scenario, she'll think I'm insanse. If she puts me in a psych ward, that might not be the worst thing. At least they have food and shelter there.

  "I don't really want to talk about it here", I admit. Even though I have decided to try trusting Cassie, admitting to my circumstances feels wrong to do in public.

  She sizes me up yet again, and with a nod she concludes: "okay, I know a place, follow me".