It had been such a busy day.

Auberon had never been the kind to enjoy being on camera, nor had his best friend, Devereux. Instead, the two had allowed the spotlight at the Mistveil Laboratory to be taken by one of their much more outgoing colleagues; one of the field researchers who were bringing in some of the Paldean Pokemon to begin with. It allowed for someone camera friendly to be interviewed, and freed up the pair's time to work with the Pokemon themselves, opening up both exam room space, and the outside grounds of the laboratory to observe and examine the Pokemon on both a clerical scale and a natural one.

It was… remarkable. There were still so many mysteries when it came to Pokemon in the Deprin region — where they had gone, why they had gone, why they returned, what happened, what was different… and of course, the newest question of where had these new Pokemon appeared from? Devereux had an intense passion for the research and searching headlong for those answers, so Auberon had been more than happy to let the taller man take the lead on things. It was inspiring to watch, and a beautiful curiosity. It was also just a lot.

By the time afternoon had rolled around, Auberon desperately needed a break. He loved his work — dearly — but a full morning under public scrutiny while trying to focus was beginning to wear on his nerves. Devereux had shooed him off, telling him to get some fresh air and take a walk; he himself was fine with finishing up as the craze of the morning winded down and things leveled out again. There was plenty of data to go over later.

And so, Auberon had.

Egg removed from the lab incubator and tucked safely into a portable case slung over his shoulder, and Argente released from his Pokeball, Auberon stepped outside into the sunlight. The little dragon shook out his scales with a happy growl, did a big stretch, and the pair was off. It was a beautiful day, when one wasn't trapped in the sterile environment of the Laboratory. The sun was out, the sky had the kind of clouds you imagined shapes in, the breeze was just perfect, and—

"Oh! Dr. Dechiel! Over here! Can you spare a few minutes to chat with Mr. Alex here and tell us a little about this Pawmi?"

— …goddamnit.

Back straight, smile warm and inviting, posture easy, just a little tilt, and, "Of course! I'd be more than happy to chat. Alex, was it? Dr. Dechiel, senior medical for the Lab. A pleasure."

It was both a blessing and a curse that the interview didn't last long. Alex was interrupted by a commotion rising up around the camera crew, echoed by distant screams somewhere up the road towards the park that was part of the Mistveil University campus. After a hand raised to his earpiece to listen to someone, Alex looked back towards him, then back at the camera again, seeming to stammer over the update. "Sorry… I'm… getting news that someone has… fallen out of the sky!? They're… they're alive but…"

"Someone has what!?" Auberon whipped around on the reporter in shock. "Alice. Take care of things here."

"Yes sir," the tech nods. "I'm sorry everyone, but—"

Transmission be damned or otherwise, Auberon was already gone, taking off down the street with his Jangmo-o hot on his heels. It could be any kind of emergency. A suicide jump, or a stupid college stunt gone wrong, or Arceus forbid, one of their techs like Miss Casey falling off of her Pidgeot — his feet flew over the asphalt, presence of mind only present enough to protect the Egg from being jolted by impact. By the time he turned the corner and paused to look, the incident was already clear.

There was a fair crowd of people in the park in the grass — both typical city goers, and university students enjoying the day as they scurry from class. A veritable panic was going through the onlookers, and in the center of them was a prone body. Swearing, Auberon took off again, skipping a few steps on the way down. "Argente, please help," he says as he approaches. The Jangmo-o leaps out in front, shaking himself to clang his scales in melody, drawing attention to himself and his approaching trainer. "I'm a doctor — hey, doctor, back up please, give us space! Thank you, Hen — yes, I'm a doctor!"

As the people spread out a little bit, Argente clacking his teeth at anyone trying to crowd in, Auberon drops to his knees in front of the unconscious individual, raising his hands gently to the Chatot still perched on him. "Hey — hey, it's okay, breathe sweetheart, I'm here to help. I'm gonna help your trainer, just hang in there." First thing to do was check for pulse. Steady, still breathing. The next was checking the man's head for any immediate injury from the fall — when none was found, a quick scan over his body found no outlying immediate injuries elsewhere either. Okay.

"Hey, you — you, yes. You see the post over there? Hit the emergency service button, and then go up to that building, right there, and find a faculty member. Now! Hang in there, bud, help is here. Where's my damn phone…" Auberon patted his pockets down for a minute before pulling his phone out as the bystander takes off, speed-dialing his first contact as he continued to examine the individual. "Devereux?"

"Aubie? What's wrong? I thought you went for a—"

"There's someone passed out in the park over by the university campus. Get a room ready, the Lab's closer than the hospital and just as equipped."

"What? Oh my god, of course, immediately. What happened?"

"Reporter said — hey all of you. What happened? Someone said he fell out of the sky. Yes? Is that accurate? How far — okay. Did you hear that?"

"Heard and moving. We'll be ready."

"Thanks, Ru."

—

Blessedly close to the Laboratory, not much time had passed by the time that services had arrived and the unknown trainer with the Chatot had been transported to the Lab. Devereux was out, fending off any outside influence and the DNN with what little information was available, vying for space and privacy. In the room itself, Auberon had gotten to work. Before he did anything, he was taking vitals. Blood pressure, temperature, the works. He looked over the Chatot too; she seemed fine, if not shaken from what he could see. Any immediate spine injury or head trauma had been ruled out on the scene, as absolutely miraculous as it was given eyewitness testimony. But one could never be too safe.

Argente was curled up with the Egg incubator in one of the room's chairs, watching his trainer quietly. As Auberon went about doing the work to get the vitals, he looked to the trainer's bird. Chatot were a remarkably intelligent species, capable of human speech. And this one had been calling for help, glued to her person's side. He glanced to the belt full of Pokeballs, safe on the exam room's counter, and back to the Chatot. "Okay. Things are going to be alright. It's safe, now. While I'm checking your human over, sweetheart, can you tell me anything? Who he is? What happened?"

---

Auberon scratched his neck and sighed, looking at his clipboard again, and then once more to the Chatot. He watched the little scarred up bird totter along her trainer's chest, whistling… and he chuckled as she barrel rolled right off. At least she was in good spirits, away from the crowd. And he seems stable, aside from fainting… Argente inclined his head from his seat with a little croon of returned greeting, before he sat up quietly to watch.

"Ah — thank you, darling." Auberon smiled at her as he reached out to gently pick up the proferred wallet. It was no brand he had seen before, and as he listened, he found himself… confused. Concerned. He didn't recognize a single thing in this wallet. A strange currency, unknown companies… the photos were useful at least — perhaps Pokemon in the belt that belonged to this person? The Chatot was present in one of the photos; Auberon looked up, brow creased as he fished the ID out of the wallet. The things she said, noises she made…

Well, it almost sounded like the plane had crashed, or that there was some kind of hideous malfunction. But if that were the case, there would be wreckage, and every emergency service in the area would be responding. And even if it had been a case of someone opening a door to the plane and shoving this trainer out of it… there had been no flights overhead, and passenger planes were so uncommon to begin with. It could be an accident involving a Pokemon, but…

Slowly, his eyes went back to the ID, fingers gently sliding the plane ticket he'd also accidentally pulled out into view. Sebastian O'Hannigan… "Well," he said softly to the bird, "It's all okay now. You don't have to be scared, now. The danger is over…" the doctor trailed off as he continued to read. Birth date from… decades ago? That couldn't be right. Auberon's gaze slid back up to the trainer again. Now, he knew cosmetic surgeries were a thing. But there was no physical way that the listed date matched this individual's physical appearance, surgery or otherwise. But there was more.

The notation… Galarian native.

His eyes drew to the ticket behind the ID. An unknown air company… from Galar… to Alola. "…Alola," Auberon breathed, barely audible. "But I don't… how could that be—"

He was interrupted from his reverie, almost leaping out of his own skin, when this Sebastian very suddenly sat up with a gasp. His heart felt like it was hammering, and he carefully tucked both ticket and ID back into the wallet, shutting it.

It took Auberon a minute to remember how to even speak. He was simply staring at the man as he sat up and recentered himself. A voice in the back of his mind reminded him that to gawk was rude, no matter how impossible the circumstance, so Auberon offered a friendly smile, leaning on a leg. "Hello yourself."

He hummed softly, watching and listening to the back and forth between… Clo, was it? The Chatot? Ah… short for something, likely — Clo… not Cleo — Chloe? "It's what any decent person would do. I'm glad I was within earshot. Dr. Auberon Dechiel — more than blacked out, from what I hear, but that was what made you my patient, yes."

Auberon's smile faded immediately as Sebastian moved to stand up, and Argente stood as well, the little Alolan dragon ready to act until Chloe pecked his patient back into sitting. Something in his chest twanged with pride, or approval, or… something. "Your little one has the right idea — you just passed out. You can sit up, and… here." He picked up a water bottle off of the counter, and offered both it and Sebastian's wallet to him. "But no standing. Not until I check you over for concussion. If what's been said about you falling out of the sky is true, it's nothing short of a Xerneas-blessed miracle you're unharmed, but I want to check you for concerns of a concussion anyway."

The doctor looked back at the chart on his clipboard. There was no spaces for anything outside of a Deprinite, so it wasn't… the most useful. Sighing, he tossed it onto the counter before grabbing his little light from his lab coat pocket, stepping over in front of his patient. Before bending to be at Sebastian's height, he gestured over to his Pokemon partner and the egg. "This is Argente, and… to be determined. Look straight ahead? I'd like to check your pupils. You're free to use one of the Lab's phones once you're cleared. I'd rather not take a chance with a potential head injury. Now…"

He pauses, and clears his throat. "I did check your ID. But I'd like to be certain. Could you confirm your identity, please?"

---

"No need for thanks. I'm a doctor, it's what I do. But you're welcome — and thank you for … unfortunate circumstances aside, getting me out of an interview." Auberon snorted, even as he caught Argente giving him a disapproving eye. "And a pleasure to formally be introduced, Miss Chloe."

Auberon went about checking Sebastian's pupils as he listens — no sign of trauma from there. They react as expected. Then he raised a hand, one finger up to the side. "Follow my finger with your eyes, don't move your head." As he listened, he is careful to not let his brow furrow or concern show. The things this man was saying… no, that — none of these things can be possible. Galar? The Alola League? Sinnoh? "Good. Thank you. You can relax a moment." …I fear a moment might be all you or myself have to relax, if what you say is true, he thought.

Auberon crossed back to the examination computer, typing notes and something else into it as he glanced back towards Sebastian. "Yes — it was closer than the hospital, nearly on our front step. But we've just as good of resources." There were normally other tests he would do, but… there remained the absolutely enormous question of what exactly was happening here. This went far beyond — and with physical evidence — a simple accident. "I'm going to put in for a CT scan. By all accounts, headache aside, you seem miraculously healthy. But I would rather err on the side of caution. Can you give me the date? Day, month, year. Day of the week. And the time, please."

He sighed. There's — there's really no medical protocol for this. He could call the psychiatrist, but again, there being physical evidence put a rub on everything. An individual falls out of nowhere, with eye-witnesses, from the sky where there is no plane overhead. He is miraculously seemingly uninjured, but traditional recall tests are — impossible, with what would be considerably loony answers, were it not for the very real and very foreign… everything, in his wallet. And his Pokemon, a very intelligent Chatot, can corroborate. For the first time since the creatures' return, Auberon felt entirely out of his depth.

"You are currently in the as of now only regional Pokemon Laboratory, located in Mistveil City." Auberon pulled up the wheeling chair by the computer and gently perched on the edge of it, going about checking Sebastian's knees for injury before looking up to him, sitting back a bit. "...I would rather err with caution, Sebastian, because I cannot verify the information you've given me. I don't really…" He frowned, and tapped his fingers against his knee. How to say? What to say? "You've… hm. I fear perhaps, we may be on similar pages of confusion. Now — let it be known, I do believe you, but… Mistveil City is in the Deprin Region. There's not been contact — much less planes — from other regions in... a very long time."

---

Auberon hummed quietly in acknowledgement to the piercing and fillings, taking note mentally even as he thought about everything else going on in the whirlwind that was his mind. Who exactly was this person? What was happening, here? Did Mistveil Hospital lose a psych ward patient? But that didn't explain all of the collective evidence that he had fallen out of the sky…

Something in him genuinely believed Sebastian, but there were simply so many questions. He opened his mouth, prepared to quietly inform the mystery trainer and his Chatot that there was, unfortunately, no reaching an Alolan hospital, much less Alola on the whole… or any other region for that matter — and his mouth snapped shut again a moment later, brow furrowing in that quiet way he had of only showing just enough emotion to be personable without letting the full breadth of what he was feeling be known.

"…Excuse me?" His eyes turned to Chloe, his own eyes narrowing just that tiny bit. He could understand disappointment at being somewhere so unintended, perhaps, but aggravation? It was far from his fault what happened! Across the room, Argente went from laying down curled up with the egg incubator to sitting up, his eyes on his trainer, ready to step in if he had to. Auberon quietly gestured a hand at him, stilling the little dragon as he listened, he himself watching Sebastian and measuring his breaths.

"I assure you, Sebastian. I am far from joking." He did not refute their similarity in age, though the year on Sebastian's ID had made that improbable. Nor did he say anything about this mention of… 'Chat-Tok', though he didn't know what that was, either. There was a lot of things he didn't know. It was semantics, at this point, and minor enough to not be worth arguing. "I, like many Deprinites, don't care for jokes about the Rapture either."

Auberon straightened his back as he sat up, and then sighed, looking over to the Jangmo-o and standing. "Argente, love. My wallet?" The little dragon chirped, before digging into the bag settled next to himself and the incubator. Once Auberon's wallet had been fished out, the doctor retrieved it from his Pokemon to remove his ID, and glanced back down at the bag. "Alani?" With a little whir, his Rotom phone slipped out of his bag, lifting itself up to plop itself into his open waiting palm. "Thank you, darlings."

The doctor walked back over, holding out both his personal ID, and his badge from his labcoat for Sebastian to examine. Both confirmed his identity, with the former registering him as a native citizen of Aspermont City, Deprin, and the latter confirming his residency with the Mistveil Pokemon Laboratory as senior physician. "Normally, I would find myself in a position of believing you to be making a joke in poor taste, seeing as Deprin hasn't had outside contact with the world since the Rapture. But I find myself believing you. I am not clever enough to come up with so complex of a ruse in such a short time, so if you can't believe me, here are my identifiers, and I will repeat once again with all seriousness. Alani, if you'd pull up the map application, please?" The Rotom-Phone acquiesced, pulling up in front of Sebastian the regional map, which proceeded to zoom in to show Mistveil City on its screen. "You are currently in the Pokemon Laboratory of Mistveil City, located within the Deprin Region. The location you fell from was just down the street — thank you, Alani dear — there, near the university."

There was a lot more Auberon could say, but much of it would drift into either aggressive-sounding or accusatory territory, which he was attempting to avoid. It didn't help that there was so much that he couldn't explain; everything he said, however, would appear as perfectly genuine in his body language and cadence. He wasn't lying. The entire situation was just… overwhelming, a bit beyond his — or anyone's, really — scope, and intensely beyond the pale.

---