...this is way worse. Way worse.

You stare blankly at the dorm around you. When Crowley said, 'character', you think he meant dead. A dead character.

You stare blankly at the building in front of the gate you and Crowley stand in front of, the gate about as tall as your belly button(?). The windows are boarded up, roof tiles broken or missing and showing small holes in the roof, beat up lawn, broken or rotting planks of wood in the walls, and a spiked fence missing several posts surrounding it.

Well, at least the lawn is pretty big, meaning plenty of room for Pokémon training. Just spread a bunch of grass seeds and get Grace to use Rain Dance, and the lawn should be growing in a matter of a few days.

Walls and roof? More of an issue... but if you pick up a part time job you may be able to afford enough to buy needed materials to fix this place, and your Pokémon would love to help you rebuild...

You look over at Crowley, who has a small- yet nervous- smile on his face.

"As a question Headmage..." You tilt your head, "Do you perhaps offer jobs? I'd like to be able to afford repairs on this place, if you'd please."

Crowley seems fairly surprised that was the first thing you asked of him when you saw this 'Ramshackle' place (at least, that's what he said the name of the dorm was), which makes sense. You are 16, and yet you're quite responsible. Considering you spend so much time sleeping outside and exploring Paldea, it's fair to say you quickly became responsible.

"Oh! Right- dear- I will see what I can do. Now, scoot inside now. There you go."

He ushers you towards the door, and you open the gate and step along the path and onto the porch.

You yelp as your foot falls through a rotten plank on the porch. Crowley quickly reacts and grabs you from under your armpits and pulls you out, gently setting you next to the hole.

"There you go, watch your step now." You nod slowly with widen eyes, and a flash of red and white comes from your bag as Moonstone comes out, standing daintily on the porch as she examines you for injuries.

"Moonstone, I'm fine..." You chuckle out at your Umbreon, who makes an annoyed, "Bree," in response.

Crowley opens the door and gently pushes you in, and the vague sense of hope the inside of the dorm was nicer immediately disappears.

Dust and cobwebs everywhere, and furniture covered in worn tarps...

Well, at least the furniture isn't completely destroyed. Probably in miserable condition, but you can survive until you can afford to repair necessities.

That construction and repairs elective you decided to take at Pomelo Academy is definitely coming in use now. Lovely that you know basic plumbing, electrical, and other construction work. Amazing how much Pomelo Academy has to offer...

You look around and up at the ceiling, noticing a slight crack above where Crowley is standing... and the crack is widening..?

"Now, this should keep the elements out for the time being-"

You pull Crowley out of the way as a bit of the ceiling comes down and slams into where he was just standing.

"...sir, I believe you and I have very different definitions of "keeping the elements out"..."

Crowley nods slightly as he pulls away from you and quickly regains compsure, "Uh- yes- right. Now, I shall return to my research. Do try to find something to busy yourself, perhaps exploring to find anything to start on repairs... But don't let me catch you wandering campus! Ta!"

And with that, he leaves. Guess you shouldn't have hoped deep down he would help you with repairs...

But he did say he'd look into getting you a job, so things should be fine.

You turn around and look around again, humming slightly as you and Moonstone step into the building and start roaming.

You open every single door you two come across, peering into all the rooms and looking at the things inside.

Reminds you of when you first started exploring the Academy back home...

--------

"Okay... Chile, Moonstone."

You look down at your Fuecoco and Eevee respectively, Chile in your arms and Moonstone perching on your shoulders as you straighten your sun-hat quickly.

"Look at us! Day two at the Academy and finally getting to really see this place now that classes are out! Are you excited? I'm excited!"

Chile makes an excited chitter and Eevee makes a chipper, "Eevoy!"

You roam down the sun-filled hallways, looking outside the large windows at Mesagoza in amazement.

This place is so welcoming and lovely... you absolutely adore being here, and you've only been here one day!

You roam around the barely inhabited hallways, you and your Pokémon looking around in awe.

You'd have Koraidon and Miraidon out here with you, but Professor Clavell told you you weren't allowed to let them roam freely around the school, much to your disappointment.

They seemed so sad when you left them in your room... broke your heart, to be honest.

You spin around as you walk, taking in everything in your surroundings.

Then, you slam into someone back-first.

"ACK-" You yelp as you stumble and spin around, and the person you bumped into angrily huffs out a, "HEY!"

You look directly at that Arven guy. The same one who gave you Koraidon and Miraidon's Pokéballs after you fought him, and the one who wants to you to explore and make sandwiches from those mysterious 'Herba Mystica' things with him during the annual "Treasure Hunt" at the Academy.

"Oops! Sorry!" You say as you smile politely and sweetly, tilting your head, "Should've watched where I was going..."

Arven thinks for a moment before sighing and shakes his head, "Yeah... you should've." He says, his voice slightly annoyed yet seeming to calm down when he recognizes it as you.

"...what are you even doing?" He asks, raising an eyebrow. You notice even now he's wearing the same giant backpack as always, yet you regularly always wear your sun-hat indoors so...

"Exploring!" You say with an excited grin, "I never got a chance to explore the school since I transferred here yesterday, so I barely know where anything is..."

Arven raises an eyebrow, "You... don't know where anything is?"

"Nope..." You say with a quiet sigh.

"..." Arven hesitates for a moment, "Would you... like a tour?"

You tilt your head, "Does that imply you'd want to give me a tour?"

Arven glances away before nodding curtly, "Yeah. I'd give you a tour."

You and all your Pokémon smile in an excited sync, "I'd love that!" You practically squeal out in excitement.

And so, he took you on that tour. And you did finally figure out where things were, so your directionally challenged self wasn't walking in circles for hours on end.

--------

You and Moonstone sit on the damaged couch in the main room as you examine the potential construction supplies you found. Most notablely was the slightly strange shaped hammer, so that's nice.

You could've sworn you kept hearing faint voices as you and Moonstone explored, and even Moonstone heard them...

So you and your Pokémon were on slight guard, and you've sent out your other Pokémon who aren't in your boxes, which includes Toto.

Chile lazily rests his head on you lap as he stares calmly at the supplies, the little fire bird on his snout chirping quietly. You all relax peacefully to the sound of the harsh rain outside, and you set up some buckets under a few holes in the ceiling to catch the water.

"Okay... we'll start repairs as soon as possible. But for now, we need to rest and get used to our situation. We can skip training if you all want, though we may be a bit rusty when we get back home..."

All your Pokémon huff and start arguing back against not training in their own ways, and you chuckle and shake your head.

"Okay! Okay! We can train still... we'll wake up at 6 am tomorrow. Mind setting an alarm..?"

"On it!" Toto says with an excited beep as they float around you excitedly, "Alarm set for 12 hours and 34 minutes from now."

You make a satisfied nod (seems like it's 5:26 pm right now, so no one back home really knows your gone) before a thought crosses your mind.

"Uh... Toto, are we able to acess boxes right now?"

"Beep boop! Lemme check!" Toto freezes mid-air, before Sweet Apple's (your Hydrapple) Pokéball materalizes on the table, and said Pokémon immediately comes out, "Beep beep! Seems so!"

The Hydrapple makes a confused chirp and hops over to you, seeming confused as to where it is. Chile raises his head and starts giving Hydrapple the down-low, as the smaller Pokémon starts looking more and more concerned.

"Toto? Mind please sending a message out to all the Pokémon in my boxes to see if any want to come out?"

"Aye aye! Boop!" Toto freezes mid-air again as Koraidon and Miraidon excitedly pop out, and Terapagos neatly lands out onto the table.

Terapagos makes an excited chitter-esc sound as it waddles over to you on the table. You smile at the little gem-esc Pokémon as you pick them up and gently set them in your lap, where they happily sit down and look at the animal book you were just skimming through.

You were going to skim through all the books you grabbed to get a basic idea of the world you were in and what it contained.

To be honest, this world seems amazing, despite it's lack of Pokémon. Dragons- interestingly enough- aren't a type! And they're pretty rare or something like that.

And creatures that bury in apples aren't Applin. If Kieran were to find this out, he'd be slightly disappointed.

Okay. Probably really disappointed. Your friend really likes Applin. Even enough that he gave you one during the trade.

"GWAH!" Everyone immediately gets on edge as you flinch at the sound of something slamming into the front door.

You stand up immediately, holding Terapagos in your arms as you set your book down on the table with the other books.

You nervously creep out into the hallway, Koraidon and Miraidon peeking out with you as you four peer out and see the door fly open.

"IT'S POURING OUT THERE!" The cat from earlier! It's back! Except dripping wet and the fire in it's ears are merely faint blue sparks. He slams the door as he spins around and sees you, and his ice-blue eyes widen.

Your expression blanks as you fully step out into the hallway, tilting your head. "...what?"

"Bwahaha!" The cat bursts out laughing, "The look on your face is priceless! Like a bat that got blasted with a water gun!"

Bat... little Noibat like creatures that are usually black or brown in color. Something called a 'mammal', and the only ones that can fly. Interesting to be honest.

He scampers over to you and shakes himself off, spraying you with water as you flinch back.

"As it I wouldn't sneak back onto campus the second I escaped pryin' eyes! You all got no idea what I'm capable of!"

You grumble as you lift up Terapagos to keep them from getting wet for no reason.

"Ugh... watch the water, pequeño gato de fuego!"

The cat places his paws on his hips as he stares up at you, before pointing at Terapagos as the fire in his ears flares back up. "What's that thing?"

You shrug, tilting your head as you bring Tera back down to chest-level.

"This is Tera, or Terapagos," You explain, "They're one of my Pokémon, known as the "Tera Pokémon". They're a pretty rare Pokémon, but they're cute and I'm their trainer."

The cat tilts his head, looking confused.

"...er... what are you doing here?" You ask, "Weren't you... kicked out?"

"I ain't givin' up on goin' here just 'cause I got kicked out one measly ol' time! And if you think otherwise, you don't know Grim!" He stomps his foot a bit, looking determined.

"...why are you so determined to go here you'd break into my new dorm?" You ask as you tilt your head, a slight grimace on your face.

The look Grim gives you is akin to like you just asked him if he wanted to try eating Terapagos... which you'd never do, Arceus no.

"Isn't it obvious?" He asks as he waves his little arms in the air.

"...no. Not at all." You say with a shake of your head.

"I was born to do this! I'm a magical prodigy in the makin' to become one of the greatest mages who's ever lived! So I've been waitin' and waitin' for the black carriages to come for me..."

Grim crosses his arms and kicks at the ground, "And hey... hrmph! That Dark Mirror's got no eye for talent!"

You sigh and crouch down, a comforting smile on your face.

"I'm sorry you couldn't be chosen to go to this school... if it makes you feel any better, I'm stuck here and not allowed to be a student. So at least you're able to stay off campus..."

Grim gives you a look, "Well, you at least get to be on Campus- MYAH!"

Grim reels back as some water splashes from the ceiling and onto his head, snuffing the fire in his ears out again.

"Bw- bwah!" He covers his ears with his paws as he glares up at the ceiling, "A hole in the roof! Those flaming ears are my trademark, y'know? I can't let them get doused!"

You sigh and look up at the ceiling, "Y'know what? I'll go look for more buckets. You can stay here until the rain passes, but then you are leaving my dorm, you hear me? I'm not getting in more trouble thanks to you."

You internally cringe at how rude and blunt you're being. Usually you keep yourself as upbeat and chipper as you can, but this new world completely threw off your idol persona, unfortunately...

You spin around and walk deeper into the dorm, Grim scampering after you.

"I dunno know why you don't just magic those holes away. You could have it fixed in a jiff. Ahhh, right." He smirks, "You can't use magic. Pffft, man you're useless." He chortles, and never have you wanted to punt something so badly.

No Y/N... gotta be a nice and friendly person, especially in this new world. Getting people who can just casually use Pokémon moves themselves mad at you is a stupid idea...

"And... why don't you do it? You're staying here for now. If you're really a "magic extraordinaire" Grim, why don't you just use your magic..?"

"Ha! You want ME to help YOU?" Grim scoffs, "Heh, you got the wrong idea. I'm just a stranger takin' shelter from the rain with the kind-ish soul that's here. You ain't the boss of me! If you had some cans of tuna to trade, well, that'd be another story. But I don't work for free."

"...good to know," You say with a sigh. You have no idea what a 'tuna' even is...

You, Grim, and Terapagos walk towards the room where you first found the buckets, Koraidon and Miraidon trailing after you.

You can swear you hear whispers as you walk, and you grimace.

"...this place really is worn, huh?"

"Yeah... what're you, a scaredy cat?" Grim gives you a smug smirk.

"...no-" You response is cut off by loud and echoing laugher.

...looks like you aren't alone here with your Pokémon and Grim here. Oh dear Arceus...