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Satoru's arrival to the world wasn't dramatic. There were no prophetic storms or sky-tearing events or even a crater; he arrived quietly. Peacefully. Like the universe had gently set him in the grass and simply walked away without a sound, generously allowing him some rest after what he'd been through. Satoru didn't know how long he had been asleep, but he could recount every detail of his awakening. The first thing he became aware of was gentle winds and the sounds of nature. Cricket chirps, bird songs, the occasional croak of a frog or a toad. Yet, despite all that, the world was quiet in a way he had never experienced. There was no cursed energy weighing down on him like a mound of filth and Six Eyes provided no input of the environment around him.

He hated it. He appreciated it. He wanted it to go back to how it used to be and he wanted to enjoy the peace a while longer.

What really woke him up was the tugging on his sleeve. It wasn't an attack and it didn't feel like a fear response. It was just...persistent. Then came the quiet growls as whatever tugged him began to grow frustrated. Satoru opened his eyes then, realizing first that he was laying on his stomach in a thick patch of tall grass. Then he looked over to see what was trying so hard to get his attention and—

Is that a ********> Eevee?!

He shot up, the poor Eevee tumbling as his arm jerked out of its fangs, and looked around. Satoru was in a forest - he wasn't sure which one - and all around him he could see a variety of random Pokémon. Pokémon! Either he was super ultra mega dead-dead or Sukuna's slash had cut more than just his Infinity and sent Satoru tumbling through the fourth wall.

"Eevee."

Satoru looked down at the Eevee and it stared back up at him. Its gaze held nothing that he was familiar with when others looked at him. No reverence, no disdain, no admiration, no expectations; he couldn't remember the last time anyone or anything had looked at him that way. Even the people who had treated him more like a person than a weapon or a nuisance or a pretty face - Suguru, Yūji, Shōko, even Ryōmen Sukuna, the b*****d, of all things - never really dropped their expectations or conceptions of him. But then....Why would some random Eevee look at him with any of that? It didn't know Satoru. To the Eevee, Satoru wasn't The Strongest; hell, he wasn't even Satoru.

He was just a weirdo it found knocked out in the grass. Someone who was obviously lost that it, for whatever reason, decided he looked like he needed company. Maybe that was why when the Eevee turned its back to him and took a few steps before looking back at him with a clear look of "Well? Are you coming?" with nothing but the pure assumption that he would, Satoru followed. He didn't really need help; Satoru could figure it out on his own just fine. Find his way around without much trouble. But, he let the Eevee guide him through the forest. That said, the Eevee didn't take him to a town or a camp or anything he might've expected.

It took him to a small shaded den near a stream. Berries were tucked in the back and there was a small nest of leaves and other soft material, mostly feathers, inside the space. The Eevee's den, obviously. Too small for Satoru to even fit his shoulders into, but that didn't stop the Eevee from yipping at him. He got the distinct feeling that this wasn't the Eevee inviting him to its home or even offering him shelter. To Satoru, it felt more like the Eevee was saying, "You can sit here until you figure yourself out." And, that was...something. Something new. Something foreign in that way that it shouldn't exist.

Because when had anyone ever given him that option? To just sit and think? More than that, when was the last time he ever needed it? It was actually incredibly insulting.

He sat. And the Eevee spun twice before flopping against his leg like it was the most normal thing in the world.

He didn't know when he fell asleep. All he knew was that he did because he woke up early the following morning to dewy grass tickling his nose and, for a moment, completely forgot where he was or what had happened. Then he felt something warm pressing into his side and when he looked, it all came flooding back to him. He didn't think about it, though, and stared at the Eevee that had its back wedged firmly into his ribs as if he might drift away otherwise.

Satoru let his head fall back onto the grass.

"You don't even know me."

The Eevee's ear flicked, but it didn't wake up. Satoru lay there for a while longer.

Satoru learned that Berries were, in fact, edible. He already knew that, of course; it was in the lore. But, video game lore was very different from real life....Even if he still wasn't fully convinced it was real life despite everything indicating that it was. Especially his Six Eyes, which had kicked back into full gear not long after he woke up to the Eevee tucked into his side the previous morning. He would say he was relieved Sukuna's slash hadn't shredded his blindfold, but considering he was wearing his sorcerer uniform and not what he had worn to his fight with Sukuna, it really had nothing to do with luck.

"Lunchtime!" he exclaimed, dramatically presenting the Berries he had foraged. "Today's menu: Berries I definitely don't know how to test for ripeness!"

The Eevee sniffed at them for a good minute. As it did, it pushed Berries either toward Satoru or pawed them closer to itself. He stared, unimpressed, as the Eevee pushed the last Berry and then stared back at him.

"Did you just give yourself the best ones?" The Eevee tilted its head innocently. Too innocently. "Wow. I fight off an army of Beedrill for these Berries and this is the thanks I get? Rude."

They ate together anyway, sitting side by side in a silence that Satoru lets settle.

It was early in the morning and Satoru was sitting on the bank staring into the stream like it owed him answers. Well, maybe not the stream, but the universe definitely did. But, he couldn't stare down the universe. Not yet. Maybe one day; there was no telling what Gojō Satoru could do when he was released from whatever binds restricted him to his own world. So, the stream was the stand-in. He liked to imagine the natural quiver as the water flowed was the stream quaking in fear.

"Vee~"

Satoru looked over to watch as Eevee played with an Oran Berry like it was a ball, swatting it between his paws and tossing it around. It was honestly a miracle it hadn't burst yet. Then Eevee tossed it a little too hard and it flew over Satoru's head, landing in the stream with an audible plop! to be carried off by the current. Eevee tried to chase it, but the moment he jumped into the water, he regretted it instantly and scrambled back to land completely soaked.

Without thinking, Satoru scooped Eevee up and tucked him into his jacket. Eevee didn't resist; he just curled there like that was where he belonged. Satoru pretended not to notice that he carried Eevee like that for the rest of the day.

They were lying in front of the den, the little leaf nest abandoned for the night. It still astonished Satoru how removed they were from everything. There were no cities, no people, no danger. Just stars. And Satoru talked; not to Eevee, just aloud.

"You know, where I'm from, I couldn't imagine something like this," he said, reaching up until his hand blocked out the stars save for what could be seen between his fingers. "Being strong means you don't get normalcy."

Eevee crawled onto his chest and tucked his head under Satoru's chin, purring in that way Eevees apparently do when they're comfortable and content and safe. He huffed but let his hand fall to run gently over Eevee's back. He brought the other arm up to rest his own head on and stared up at the stars again.

"There are so many. Back home, if you're lucky, you only get to see the brightest of them."

Eevee's ear flicked, reacting to the noise rather than what he was saying, but that was okay. Satoru continued to scan the sky until his eyes landed on the brightest one he could find. He didn't move his hand from where it rested on Eevee, but he pointed regardless.

"You're like that one, I think. Bright. Steady....There when I needed you to be." A soft laugh as Eevee tucked himself further against the underside of his chin. "...Yeah. Hoshi. That works."

That was it. That was all it was. There was no fanfare or "I name you" or expectation that Eevee - no, Hoshi - even heard him. Satoru just started using it.

It was raining that day. Well, no; that was inaccurate and too generous. It was pouring; raining Littens and Growlithes one might say. A storm had rolled in with no warning. Satoru had to wonder if it was because of a Pokémon with how it just appeared out of nowhere, but he didn't dwell on it for more than a couple seconds. Instead, he dropped his Berry haul and sprinted back to the den. He didn't give what he was feeling a name, but he didn't think he needed to. It was obvious in the way he sprinted, using Infinity to push whatever might be in his way off the path.

"Hoshi!"

He burst out from the bushes and found the den half collapsed from the rain and wind. He hurried over and dug through the debris. Hoshi was there; curled under his tail and shivering. Satoru reached down and took him into his arms, tucking him into his jacket again.

"It's okay. I have you."

Hoshi relaxed instantaneously, curling against his chest under the jacket, and that was the moment Satoru knew things had shifted. Or, maybe he had known it for a while and just didn't want to recognize it yet.

"...Yeah. I'm here."

Satoru started wandering farther and farther from the den, mapping the area to figure out where he was. Hoshi trailed behind him. Not glued to him; he explored, sniffed, and zigzagged. But, every time Satoru turned around, Hoshi was there. Not because he couldn't survive on his own; he very obviously could. But, every time they made eye contact when Satoru turned to check on him, the message was clear.

"Where you go is where I'm going."

Satoru noticed, but didn't say anything. Instead, he simply adjusted his pace so Hoshi didn't have to hurry.

Hoshi had discovered his blindfold. Or, rather, he had discovered it wasn't part of Satoru's face. The way Hoshi stared at him like he just had his entire worldview dismantled almost made him laugh. It was like watching a baby try to make sense of seeing an aunt or uncle that happened to be their mom or dad's twin for the first time; poor Hoshi hadn't seen Satoru without his blindfold until then. He usually only took it off at night when he was ready to tuck in and Hoshi would usually be fast asleep by then. And since he only slept for three hours, he was always up before him.

It happened a little while after he'd washed the Stunky fluid out of his clothes and blindfold. Hoshi approached him, staring intently, before he pounced up and latched onto his blindfold with his fangs. The fabric slipped off his face and settled around his neck. Satoru was startled out of his internal debate on dimensional theory and realized he had a tiny fox dangling from his neck.

"If you wanted to see my eyes again, you could've just asked."

Hoshi sneezed but didn't let go of the blindfold. And Satoru? Satoru laughed. Real and unguarded as opposed to the performative laughter he generally let out. It had been years since he'd produced that sound; he almost thought he couldn't anymore, though he got pretty close with Yūji. Hoshi froze for just a fraction of a second before he wagged his tail like he had just achieved something important.

He did, even if he never fully understood why.

It was late at night again, but they weren't at the den this time. Satoru and Hoshi had wandered farther than ever. The den is too far to walk back to in the dark. Instead, the two of them were camping on a cliff that overlooked the rest of the forest and from that cliff, Satoru could see the ocean. He knew where they were now: Alola. That was more of a blessing than he let himself admit. Mostly because he couldn't be sure it wasn't a blessing but by design. It seemed too coincidental he would find himself in the region he had the best chances of encountering the main star of his inter-dimensional travel team.

"...I should probably get ready to leave."

Truth be told, Satoru still didn't know where he would go. His first choice was home, obviously, but it felt wrong to return to a place he no longer belonged. Besides, he didn't think there would be any reason for him to go. As far as he was concerned, there was only one of two things he would find: His students dead and Sukuna wreaking havoc or his students, at least some of them, alive and Sukuna defeated. In both cases, Satoru could honestly say he felt no drive to stay. He cared about people in that way people cared about strangers, but his students had been the center of everything he had done, so Sukuna could burn the world to ash for all Satoru cared in that scenario; it wasn't as if he wouldn't have done it himself if he was driven far enough.

He had killed the higher-ups, after all, and there was a reason he had ripped out at least one of their hearts.

As for the scenario where his students were alive? If they were able to succeed where he failed? Well, there was no reason for him to be there. There was nothing he could do for them.

"Vee?"

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere without you."

Tomorrow. He would get ready to set out tomorrow. He'd worked through enough theories and composites; it was time he settled on one. And, the one he settled on would take a while. He could find most of the Pokémon he needed in Alola; or, at least he was sure he could. Porygon-Z might be a bit difficult to find, but it was difficult no matter what. Lunala would prove to be a bit of a challenge if only because it was a Legendary. But the others? Alakazam, Lunatone, and Gengar? Easy.

It was Celebi that was the real problem. He wasn't going to try to find a Celebi in Alola, so he would have to travel to Ilex Forest.

Yao had decided to come along. "To assist if necessary", he said. Jasper didn't really need help and to be frank, things would go smoother with Lorenzo if Yao just stood back and let him do the talking. Jasper still brought him along, of course, because he had offered to bring him and he liked to think he wasn't a jerk. But, he did emphasize that Yao should let Jasper do the talking on their first stop. The Syndicate wasn't exactly a friendly place and the last thing he wanted was for Yao to accidentally say something that tipped them off.

He could pretend his clothes were one of Jasper's designs. It would be easy to do considering Jasper very deliberately avoided meeting people in his home clothes. But, he couldn't hide Yao's "extraterrestrial" status if the wrong thing was said.

There was a brief moment during departure preparation where he wondered what the best way for the two of them to travel together was, but he remembered Yao existed outside the rules of the ARK; he wasn't an entity registered in the system. That meant passenger limits wouldn't apply to him the same way aggression settings didn't, so he decided they would just take Byzant. He was already his go-to for long trips and wyverns were the fastest flyers in the ARKs, so it would cut gathering time down significantly. That was how, not even ten minutes after leaving Jasper's base and flying out the cave, he and Yao arrived at the White Cliffs. Or, at least, what used to be the White Cliffs; it was all just one massive Tek fortress now.

Jasper hated it. The metal walls, the hover skiffs flying to and from the Syndicate's aerial bay, the abhorrent amount of Tek variant Creatures. Everything about it was wrong and reminded him, in some vaguely familiar way, of what had gone wrong with Earth. But, he landed Byzant just outside their security perimeter regardless of how much he hated their base and dismounted. He could tolerate it just long enough to get what they needed.

"Remember to let me do the talking. Just...stay behind me and don't let them provoke you."

That last bit was for himself more than it was for Yao. Jasper took a breath before stepping into the perimeter, ignoring the automated guns as they tracked him. They weren't set to attack Survivors and tamed Creatures, just wild ones. Which was good because he forgot Kisami was on his shoulder until the Featherlight chirped. That could've been very bad.

"What do you want, freak?"

Okay. Rude. He and the Syndicate didn't get along, but he hadn't done anything to deserve to be insulted. Jasper looked up at the Survivors lining the top of the wall.

"Where's Lorenzo?"

"Depends on what you need him for."

"He and his team owe me a favor. I'm here to cash it in."

He watched as one of them pulled out a radio and called it in. It was a good five minutes before Lorenzo finally showed up, appearing through the Tek gate on his favorite metallic raptor. Probably the best-looking Tek Creature that Jasper had ever seen; black with radioactive green accents and eyes. It was a shame they didn't name their Creatures; he thought it deserved one.

"Alright, let's get this over with. What do you need?"

"I need Tek. Some hardware."

Lorenzo stared at him for a long moment before chortling.

"You want Tek? Finally trying something new after....How long have you been here? Nineteen years?"

"It's not for me. I'm doing a favor for Syd. Do you have any spare or not?"

"...Fine. What kind of Tek are you looking for?"

Anything that could be reworked into Yao's ship, right?

"Just a skiff."

Lorenzo made a motion with his hand to tell the guys above them to call it in. It was awkward to wait, especially with Lorenzo looking back at Yao repeatedly as if there was a question he wanted to ask, but chose not to for whatever reason. When the stuff he requested was passed to him, Jasper relaxed just a little.

"You know how to deploy a skiff?"

"I'm Tek-avoidant, not incompetent. Besides, I told you it's not for me, so I don't need to know anyway," he said. "...Thank you."

"Whatever you say."


Their next stop was Empyrea and unlike the Syndicate, their base was much more pleasing to the eye. Most were built on the land; some of them even in the water. But, Sydney's tribe built theirs on the back of a titanosaur, something that didn't even spawn naturally in the Valguero ARK and had to be manually spawned in at the Overseer console. While the Syndicate's base looked like a metal fortress, Empyrea's was a massive stone castle. A mobile haven perfect for a nomadic tribe where the only way in or out was by air. Easy enough to find if you knew their route and Jasper had it memorized.

Another thing that set Empyrea apart from the Syndicate was that the gates were always opened for him. Byzant glided into their hangar and landed with much more care and consideration than he had when landing near the Syndicate. Sydney was there before Jasper and Yao dismounted.

"Jasper! Hey! Long time no see!" she greeted as cheerfully as she always did. "What can I do for you this time?"

"I...need some Element."

Her reaction wasn't all that different from Lorenzo's. She didn't laugh, though. She was just surprised.

"Element? Are you—Well, no. I guess you are sure; you wouldn't be asking if you weren't. But, what on Earth do you want Element for? You hate that stuff."

"Look, it's...complicated, okay?"

"...Does this have to do with what happened with the sky box earlier?"

"No? What happened to the sky box?"

"Sometimes I forgot you live in a cave. It split open like the world was ending again and something came in, but no one got a good look at it before it just...blipped out of existence."

So, that was how Yao's ship ended up underground. Jasper felt a little vindicated even though there was nothing to be vindicated from.

"That's weird, but no; nothing to do with that. Kind of a...personal project."

There was a moment where Sydney looked between him and Yao with a look he couldn't describe. Like she knew he was lying. She was good at that; knowing when Jasper wasn't being honest.

"Right....And, does your 'personal project' have a name?"

Jasper wished the simulation wasn't so realistic. He didn't need people seeing how red he turned. But, it wasn't his fault; not when Sydney said that in such an insinuating tone. What was the reason?

"That's not—Did you have to say it like that?!" he exclaimed, further embarrassed by the way his voice cracked. "His name's Xiangli Yao and I'm doing him a favor. It's not that dee—seri—Just—! Do you have any Element you can spare?"

Sydney was cackling, but motioned for him and Yao to follow her while asking Noel to look after Byzant. The storage was on the lowest floor of their castle, so it took a good while before they had what they needed. Jasper wasn't sure how much Yao might need exactly, so he settled for a stack and even then, he was pretty sure he wouldn't need that much. Yao could keep the excess, though, just in case he needed to make any future repairs.