"Alright, we've finally made it to the museum," Zayn announced, standing directly in front of the grand museum facade.
Behind him, Xavier and Rayne were bent over, catching their breath and sighing in sheer exhaustion from trying to keep pace with him.
"Seriously, how can you sprint that fast?" Xavier wheezed, wiping a thick layer of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
Zayn glanced over his shoulder at Xavier, his expression indifferent. "That's not important right now."
Turning his attention back to the museum entrance, Zayn noticed a tight perimeter of police officers guarding the heavy front doors. He narrowed his eyes. If only Gible were here, he thought wistfully. If he were by my side, I could just use Shadow Sneak to slip right past them and melt into the interior.
Meanwhile, Xavier's eyes scanned the growing crowd of attendees. His gaze locked onto Kyle, who was standing a short distance away conversing with a girl sporting vibrant, bright green hair.
Recognizing his friend, Xavier immediately marched over to them. Seeing this, Rayne quickly straightened up and followed close behind.
As they approached, Kyle looked up and caught sight of Xavier jogging toward him. A faint smile crossed his face. "Well, you guys took longer than I expected."
"We had to take care of a few things first," Xavier replied, still slightly out of breath. He then turned his gaze toward the green-haired girl standing beside Kyle. Pointing a finger directly at Nora, he asked bluntly, "And who exactly is this?"
Kyle maintained his usual relaxed, casual demeanor. "This is Nora. She's a friend of mine."
Xavier eyed her suspiciously. "From another reality?"
"Yeah," Kyle confirmed. He glanced around the bustling square, realizing someone was missing. "Wait, where's Zayn?"
"He was just at the front of the museum a second ago," Xavier replied, jerking his thumb back over his shoulder toward the entrance.
While the boys talked, Rayne and Nora stood to the side, quietly observing one another with mutual curiosity.
Breaking the silence, Nora gave a friendly smile. "What's your name?"
"You can call me Rayne," he replied politely.
Nora tilted her head, her eyes shining with interest. "Who's your Pokémon partner?"
In response, Rayne unclipped a standard Pokéball from his belt. With a crisp click of the button, the capsule popped open, releasing a beam of white energy that materialized on the pavement.
"Wick!" a small, candle-like creature cried out happily, the purple flame atop its head flickering with life.
"This is my partner, Litwick," Rayne said, gesturing proudly down at her Pokémon.
Nora knelt down slightly to get a closer look at Litwick. As she examined it, a subtle look of confusion crossed her face, sensing that something about this Pokémon was fundamentally different from what she knew.
Having introduced his own partner, Rayne asked, "And what about you? Who's your partner?"
Instead of reaching for a Poké Ball, Nora simply clapped her hands together twice. A moment later, a small Bulbasaur—which had been happily exploring a nearby flower bed—perked up its ears, turned around, and trotted back to anchor itself faithfully by Nora's side.
Rayne's eyes instantly lit up with wonder as he stared at the Seed Pokémon. "Wow... your Pokémon seems incredibly well-behaved. It looks so soft and huggable!"
"Of course he is," Nora beamed. She extended her arms, and with a joyful cry, Bulbasaur leaped effortlessly up into her embrace. Cradling the Pokémon gently, Nora looked at Rayne with genuine curiosity. "Have you never tried hugging your Litwick?"
Rayne slowly turned his head to look at Litwick. Litwick stared back up at him with its big, innocent yellow eyes. Rayne then looked back at Nora, his expression a mixture of disbelief and amusement.
"I don't know what kind of logic you're operating on," Rayne said, deadpan. "But you do realize Litwick is a Fire and Ghost-type, right? If I were to wrap my arms around it, I'm pretty sure I'd end up severely burned."
Nora blinked, staring closely at the purple flame dancing on Litwick's head as the realization finally clicked. "Huh... okay, when you put it that way, your logic actually makes a lot of sense."
"It's a basic survival fact, you know," Rayne chuckled.
"I'm sorry, I honestly didn't know," Nora apologized, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. "Where I come from, Litwicks are typically Electric and Ghost-types."
Rayne's jaw dropped, his voice spiking an octave higher in pure shock. "Wait, isn't that arguably way more dangerous?!"
"Not really," Nora countered smoothly. "Back home, people actually use their electrical static for physical therapy. So, I just assumed it worked the same way here."
Rayne stood frozen for a second, completely flabbergasted by the alternate reality physics. "Are you serious? It can do that? It sounds like the Litwicks in your world are way more versatile than a standard one."
Nora tilted her head, still looking a bit puzzled. "Are you absolutely sure you've never tried hugging yours? Who knows, maybe the effect is exactly the same."
Rayne let out a sharp, sarcastic laugh, pointing a dramatic finger down at his floating candle Pokémon. "Oh, sure, it's great for therapy—if you're looking for a therapy session that will literally end your life! You need to understand, the fire from this Litwick doesn't heal your soul. It burns it away!"
Nora smiled wryly, cradling her Bulbasaur a little tighter. "It looks like I still have a lot to learn about this world."