Klaine Advent 2018 Day 7: Gradual

Dimension five: Pokémon

Blaine wakes up because the road is wonky. He is in a passenger’s seat of a van.

“What’s up, sleeping beauty!”

Blaine looks next to him and behind the steering wheel is Cooper. That’s new. He hasn’t seen Cooper in one of these dimensions before.

“Hey,” Blaine says, not knowing what else to say. This is the thing that he hates the most about this dimension hopping. He just gets thrown in the middle of a story. He always needs to figure out who he is and what is going on without raising too much suspicion. He knows that he supposed to be in a Pokémon setting, but what many people don’t realise is that the Pokémon canon and universe are huge!

“Sorry, I dozed off. Where are we exactly?” Blaine asks. That must be a safe question.

“We’re almost there, squirt. We’re on Route 218. You missed the end of the boat trip to Canalave City and the smaller boat trips in Route 218,” Cooper answers excitedly, “Can’t wait till we’re finally in Jubilife. Time to start anew, right?”

“Right, of course,” Blaine says back and he looks out of the window. Blaine knows of Jubilife City. They’re in the Sinnoh region and apparently, they’re moving from another region.

Blaine looks around. There are a couple of stickers on the car windscreen. They’re all Kantonian, so Blaine assumes they’ve moved from the Kanto region. He has no idea why, but unless it’s necessary to find Kurt, he doesn’t care.

He gets his confirmation when he sees two tickets on the dashboard. They’re tickets for a boat from Kanto to Sinnoh. He puts one of them in his bag.

After a short drive, they arrive in Jubilife City. Blaine knows he’s supposed to focus on finding Kurt as soon as possible, but he can’t believe he’s seeing Jubilife City like this. It’s huge! Blaine’s played the Sinnoh games, where they only show a limited pixelized version of the cities.

“Taking in the view?” Cooper says knowingly.

They drive to an apartment building and Cooper parks in front of the building. “Home sweet home.”

Blaine’s feeling of bliss doesn’t last long. His first instinct is to leave and explore Jubilife in the hopes of finding Kurt, but it wouldn’t make sense to Cooper. After all, this is not Blaine’s own dimension. So instead of exploring, he is stuck in the apartment. He helps Cooper and a Machoke Moving Company with the move.

By the time most of their stuff is in the apartment, it’s gone dark.

“I’m heading out,” Blaine says the moment the Machokes leave.

Coopers face falls. “I thought we were gonna order some takeaway and celebrate us finally leaving our dead-ass parents in Celadon City all the way back in Kanto?”

Blaine sighs. He doesn’t want to waste time, but again, it wouldn’t look right to Cooper. “Right, of course. Sorry, got a bit too excited about finally living here.”

“’S cool, squirt.”

And that’s how Blaine gets stuck with Cooper for three days. He’s never been in a single dimension this long. He’s stayed in the apocalyptic dimension for almost two days and that felt like a lifetime.

Cooper is overbearing in every dimension.

It’s nice in a way. In Blaine’s dimension, Cooper’s been in LA for too long. They barely spend time together. Here, Cooper is the older brother Blaine had always hoped for. They explore Jubilife together, they go shopping together, they have dinner together. It’s nice, but Blaine still wants to leave.

No dimension is nice enough without Kurt.

After three days, Cooper must’ve realised that Blaine wants to actually leave to see more of Sinnoh.

“As long as you have your phone with you!” Cooper says when Blaine’s getting ready to leave. He has his bag, his phone (he wonders if it works in different dimensions), and a couple of Pokéballs that apparently belong to him.

“I have.”

“Cool, you can take the bike, you know?” Cooper says. He had bought a bike from Eterna City through the internet. Blaine’d never imagined there would be internet in the Pokémon world.

“Thanks. Will you be okay?”

Cooper nods and then grins. “Remember Matilda from next door? Yeah, we kind of have a date. So I’ll be fine.”

Blaine’s eyes widen. “Shut up!”

Cooper nods happily.

“Glad for you, Coop,” Blaine says and he hugs Cooper goodbye, “I’m gonna miss you a lot.”

Cooper frowns lightly. “You’re acting as if we’ll never see each other again, squirt.”

I won’t see this version of you anymore, no, Blaine thinks, but instead he says: “Don’t ruin the sentiment, Coop.”

Blaine says goodbye and he leaves to roam around Sinnoh. He has no plan and no idea where he’s going. He does buy a map in the Pokémart. Blaine might like Pokémon, but he’s not a die hard fan and he doesn’t know the regions by heart.

He moves to Route 204 heading Floaroma Town so that he can buy some berries. Thanks to his bike, he gets there pretty easily. When he’s in Floaroma Town, he decides to open up his six Pokéballs. He knows from Cooper that he’s not a Pokémon trainer, but that he still has some Pokémon from different regions as friends. Apparently, their dad travels a lot and he brought back some Pokémon. Not for Blaine. Oh no, Blaine just stole them from his dad’s office, because he didn’t trust him to treat Pokémon kindly.

Blaine throws the Pokéballs and they all open. In it are a Banette, a Gengar, a Mismagius, a Shiny Mimikyu, a small Pumpkaboo, and an Alonan Marowak. They are all Ghost-type Pokémon, which surprises Blaine.

Blaine stares at them and they all stare back at him.

“Uhm. Hi,” Blaine waves awkwardly and to his shock, the Pokémon with arms wave back.

All the Pokémon have a curious look on their face. Blaine scratches the back of his head. Why does this feel so awkward? It’s as if they’re evaluating Blaine.

“So, uhm, I know this is a bit weird. I still don’t really know how all this dimension stuff works, but I am assuming you don’t know me. I mean, you do, but you know the version of me who belongs in this dimension. Uhm, I can’t really explain what happened to him, since I don’t know either, so I also can’t promise you he’ll be back after I leave I mean- Jesus, I don’t want my version of this dimension to turn into a Phantump or whatever, but uhm, all you’ve got is me right now.”

Now that Blaine has said it out loud, he can’t help but wonder what does happen to the other versions of himself? After all, to Blaine it feels like he just takes over the lives of those other versions for a day or sometimes longer. But will they return when he and Kurt move on? Is his space version currently battling Santana on the McKinley Air Craft with a confusingly long number? Is his magical self on his way back to Ilvermorny with the others? Did the version of himself in the apocalyptic dimension survive his injuries? Is his famous self currently facing bad press because he disappeared with another guy instead of greeting fans?

Blaine decides it’s a question for later. Right now, he has to talk to his (are they really his?) Pokémon.

“Well, I am Blaine. Hi.” He waves again, and some of the Pokémon wave back again, “I am just like your Blaine, but from another dimension. I need to find my fiancé named Kurt and a really weird book. Do you think you can help me out?”

He has no idea how his Pokémon can contribute to the search to Kurt, but the Pokémon all seem to agree.

In fact, Gengar moves to Blaine’s bag that was lying in the grass.

“What is it?” Blaine asks. He takes out all his stuff from his bag, which isn’t much: clothes from the first day, the ticket from the boat, his knife from the apocalypse, the phone from his home dimension, the town map, and the bike keys.

Gengar stands next to the map.

Blaine puts the rest of his stuff back in his bag and he unfolds the map. The other Pokémon move closer as well and Marowak points towards Canalave City.

“What is in Canalave City?” Blaine asks and Marowak does his cry. It sounds cuter in real life, but Blaine can’t understand it. Luckily, there’s a Pokémart in Floaroma Town and Blaine buys a Sinnoh Region Guide Book.

He reads the section about Canalave City. “You want me to go to the Canalave Library?” he asks and his Pokémon all make affirming sounds.

“Well, let’s get going then.”

Blaine’s sitting in the library with his Pokémon surrounding him. He’s not the only one with his Pokémon outside their Pokéballs, so it’s not weird. All his Pokémon are interested in the books as well, except for Mimikyu, who’s staring longingly at a poster of a Pikachu.

He reads out loud (to the annoyance of some others) about the Sinnoh Myths. “‘…as the Lake Guardians are being observed by many, including Sinnoh’s current Pokémon Champion Gilbert’- hey wait a minute. Where is Cynthia?”

Mismagius makes a noise.

“Oh, of course, sorry. I am in a Pokémon setting, but I am not really in the actual storyline of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.”

Pumpkaboo also makes a noise.

“Yeah, sorry, I can’t explain it to you, but in my dimension, the Pokémon world is nothing more than a fictional story. There are no Pokémon where I’m from.”

Banette makes a noise as well and she almost sounds offended.

“Sorry, it’s the truth,” Blaine says and he shuts the book closed, “This is not what I am looking for, though. Mimikyu, it’s really nice of you that you’ve given me this book to read, but it’s not the one I’m looking for.”

Mimikyu doesn’t listen. He’s still staring longingly at the Pikachu poster.

Mismagius floats around the library, looking for the next book. They’ve been in the library for a while now and Blaine’s told his Pokémon that he needs a certain book, but now his Pokémon are giving him random books to read.

He’s this close to accepting that the book isn’t in Canalave City when Pumpkaboo floats to another bookshelf. Blaine immediately recognises the book.

“Pumpie, you’re amazing!” he yells out and other library goers shush him.

Blaine takes the book out of the bookshelf and he opens it. As expected, he finds two shapes underneath the word ‘Pokémon’, but Blaine’s mood drops when he sees the shapes. They’re incredibly generic. One is a square and the other one is a rectangle. It could be anything.

Blaine sighs. He turns to his awaiting Pokémon. “Okay, this is not as easy as I want it to be, but let’s just head out and look for Kurt, okay? I am taking the book with me. Maybe Kurt can recognise what we need.”

His Pokémon nod.

They leave the library and it is a pain to take the book with him, since the librarians notice that Blaine’s not a member, but they succeed. Blaine and his Pokémon walk, or for some, float, around Canalave City, pondering what to do next.

Blaine still has no idea where to find Kurt.

Then, a sailor starts to shout and Blaine jumps in shock, almost dropping the book. “Boat incoming! Open the drawbridge!”

It’s a passenger’s ship and people on the dock are waving. It’s quite a sight and Blaine waves back. “This is cool,” he tells his Pokémon. The Pokémon with arms wave as well.

“Blaine!” he hears Kurt yell.

Blaine’s head jerks back towards the ship. Kurt’s standing on the dock of the ship and he’s jumping up and down from excitement.

“Blaine, Blaine, it’s me! I found you!” Kurt waves frantically.

“Kurt!” Blaine yells back, “It is so good to see you!”

Kurt and Blaine are hugging and kissing and crying. They haven’t seen each other in three days and they’re just so happy to see each other. Marowak is applauding them.

“You would not believe how much I’ve travelled!” Kurt says proudly, “I’ve been on that damn boat for two days. I didn’t even get seasick.”

“So good to see you, love,” Blaine says.

“I’ve got so much to tell you, but I suggest we go somewhere private.”

Blaine looks around and people are watching them. It’s not negative attention, but Blaine would like some privacy right now. All his Pokémon go back into their Pokéballs and Blaine unlocks his bike. They travel back to Route 218 and they find a silent spot between the trees to sit down.

“Okay, so, I wake up in a bedroom and my dad and Carole are in the house, which is crazy. Then, I see a Pikachu on Carole’s shoulder and I remember that I am in the Pokémon world, right?”

Blaine nods.

“So the thing is, I don’t know shit about Pokémon. You play the games, not me. But anyway, I hear my dad telling Carole about this rumour about the Andersons, a rich family from Janto, or something.”

“Kanto,” Blaine corrects him.

“Yes, sure, Kanto,” Kurt rolls his eyes, “So anyway, my dad tells Carole about the Anderson sons, Cooper and Blaine, and that they’ve moved to Sinnoh. I am freaking ecstatic for a while, because I figured out where to find you, till I realise Sinnoh is a completely different region. I didn’t know there were different regions!”

“Wait, you travelled all the way to Sinnoh from another region?” Blaine asks, impressed, “Which one?”

“Oh I don’t know,” Kurt says, “It’s on my ticket, though.” Kurt fishes something out of his pocket. It’s the ticket from the boat.

“You came all the way from Kalos?!” Blaine says, surprised.

“Is that far?” Kurt asks, “I mean, sure, I was on a boat for two days.”

“Well, it’s not the farthest, because that’s Alola, but let’s just say that there are a couple of regions relatively close to each other, namely Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh. And then you’ve got the regions that are farther away, namely Unova, Kalos and Alola. Kurt, you came all the way to Sinnoh to find me without knowing where to find me in Sinnoh!”

Kurt laughs. “Yeah, good thing you happened to be in the city with the port.”

“Yeah.”

“But okay, I have no idea where I am and how to get to this Sinnoh, so I tell dad I’m heading out. I take a bag, some money, and four Pokéballs that are apparently mine. I buy a map and I find out I live in Couriway Town, which has a train station with a train that can take me to a port city, namely Courmarine City, and I blow all my savings on a ticket to Sinnoh. And here I am.”

“So, that train station does have a purpose! It’s useless in the games. Can I meet your Pokémon?”

Blaine knows that he should tell Kurt that he has the book in his bag, but he’s just so excited. Besides, there’s no apparent danger in this dimension. They can afford to just hang out and talk for a while.

Kurt blushes. “I honestly have no idea what they’re called, since I only know of Pikachu and Bulbasaur, so I just called them Susan, Erik, Ritchie and Lily. Don’t ask me about the names!”

Kurt takes the Pokéballs out of his bag and he opens them. “This is Susan,” he says and Blaine laughs when a Gardevoir appears. The name Susan suits her.

Then, a blue Flabébé appears. “Erik.”

Then, a Vulpix. “Lily.”

And last, to Blaine’s surprise, an Alolan Ninetails. “And Ritchie.”

“Gardevoir, Flabébé, Vulpix and Ninetails,” Blaine tells Kurt and Kurt’s Pokémon nod. Flabébé flies around Kurt’s head and Vulpix jumps on him.

“They’ve been excellent company these past two days,” Kurt says.

Blaine also introduces his Pokémon to Kurt, and Kurt thinks they’re kind of scary, but they’re Ghost Pokémon, so Blaine understands.

They sit between the trees and they feed berries to the Pokémon. They talk and Blaine tells Kurt what he’s seen in the past three days. He tells him of the beautiful flowers in Floaroma Town and the amazing atmosphere of Jubilife City. He tells him about Cooper.

They lie on the grass together, looking at the sky, while their Pokémon play together. They almost forget they’re supposed to move on.

It’s starting to get dark and Kurt says: “We need to find the book.”

Blaine sighs. He doesn’t want to leave.

“I’ve, uh, I’ve had the book with me all this time,” he admits.

Kurt raises an eyebrow.

“That’s why I was in Canalave City, the port city. It has a library.”

“And you didn’t think it’d be a great idea to tell me?” Kurt asks indignantly.  

Blaine turns red. “Sorry, I forgot about it.”

“You forgot about it?”

“Look, when’s the last time we spent time together?” Blaine says back, “The last few days have been hectic with all this dimension hopping, and even before that in our own dimension, we barely saw each other. Really, Kurt, when’s the last time we spent more than two hours together? We have school and work. I missed you! I’ve missed you these past few weeks, Kurt!”

Kurt’s face softens. “I’ve missed you too, sweetheart.”

Blaine takes Kurt’s hand. “Please, forgive me for forgetting, but I haven’t felt this peaceful in weeks. I haven’t been able to just be with you like this in a very long time.”

And one day, they’ll make it back home, and it will all be over.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to get annoyed,” Kurt says, “I get it. I’ve missed you too, but I think it’s time to continue. We have to gradually continue travelling through these dimensions.”

Blaine knows he’s right and he nods sadly. He takes the book out of his bag and he opens it to the right page. Kurt frowns when he sees the generic shapes.

“Yeah, I’ve got no idea,” Blaine says.

“This is going to be difficult.”

“We at least have a place to stay if needed,” Blaine says, “This road leads to Jubilife. It’d be awkward explaining to Cooper why I let a guy stay over after one day of knowing him, but I’ll take it.”

Kurt shakes his head. “This is getting us nowhere.”

“Then maybe we should head back to Jubilife before it gets dark,” Blaine suggests.

Kurt nods and he starts gathering his stuff. It’s lying everywhere.

Blaine does the same.

But when Kurt picks up his ticket from the boat to Sinnoh, a gust of wind blows it out of his grip.

“Hey!” Kurt tries to catch it. He’s not the guy who wants to litter in a forest. The ticket lands on the page of the open book and both Kurt and Blaine are in shock when it disappears into the page. The square is gone and the ticket appears as an image.

“Oh my God,” Blaine says and then he remembers that his ticket is still somewhere in his bag. He finds it and he smiles widely when he sees it’s a rectangle shaped ticket. He shows it to Kurt. “This is my ticket from Kanto to Sinnoh. I’ve had it with me all along, I just never knew the book needed it.”

“Yes!” Kurt says.

Blaine’s about to put the ticket on the page, but then he sees his Pokémon watching him. He stops himself from putting the ticket on the page and he turns to his Pokémon instead. He motions to them to come closer.

“So, I guess this is goodbye,” he says sadly. He can’t believe how attached he’s grown to these six creatures.

Mimikyu sounds confused.

“As I told you, I am not your Blaine. I just filled in for him,” Blaine says as he pets all of his Pokémon on their head, “It’s time for me to leave.”

Gengar shakes his head and Mismagius sounds sad. Marowak hangs his head.

“I really hope that your Blaine returns to you quickly. I’ve got no idea. It’s been a wonderful day and I will miss all of you.”

Pumpkaboo has no arms, but it flies against Blaine, so Blaine sees that as hugging. Banette makes a distressed sound.

“It’s okay,” Blaine says and he looks to Kurt, who’s baffled, “I have him.”

Banette nods.

“Give Cooper some love from me, okay?” Blaine asks and his Pokémon nods. Then he puts them back in their Pokéballs one by one. He pets every one of them.

“Susan, Ritchie, Lily, Erik!” Blaine hears and he sees that Kurt’s saying goodbye as well. Then, Kurt’s Pokémon disappear into their respective Pokéballs. It’s time to leave.

They put all their Pokéballs on the ground, together with the bike. Kurt’s keeping the bag, if possible.

Blaine puts his ticket on the page and it disappears into it. It later reappears as an image and a new word starts forming on the next page.

“Supernatural,” Kurt reads out loud.

“Oh, I hope it isn’t referring to the TV show,” Blaine sighs and he watches the word grow.