Chapter Text
Dib Membrane had once been the town crazy, mostly due to his obsession with ghosts and aliens. His determination that his classmate was an alien didn’t help either.
That all changed, however, when Zim disappeared, and he met his first pokemon, an abandoned Shuppet who he rescued and nicknamed Fantasma. With her at his side, Dib grew into a formidable trainer, and ended up moving to the Sinnoh region to become a Pokemon Coordinator. It turned out that a flair for the dramatic, which he shared with most of the Pokemon he collected over the years, was an asset in contests. As he accumulated fame, fans, and Pokemon, he thought that maybe, even with his dad disappointed he didn’t go into science, and the nagging desire to seek out the secrets of the universe, he could be happy.
*********
Dib had just won another contest in Hearthome City, where he now lived, and was prepared to find a restaurant to have dinner when he heard something that made him freeze.
“So this is where you ran off to, Dib-Stink? I admit, it is larger and cleaner than where we went to school.”
He whirled around to see green skin, violet eyes, that stupid wig…. A face he hadn’t seen in years. “Zim?”
“As perceptive as ever,” the alien sneered. “So, is that silly competition I just watched how you spend your time now? That seems beneath you.”
Dib flushed slightly. “For your information, Contests take a lot of skill, and well trained Pokemon. And I happen to be one of the best.”
“Whatever you say, Dibling.”
“What are you doing here anyway? You disappeared years ago, I thought you went back to your home planet, or died or something.”
Zim’s smirk fell at that, suddenly looking very uncomfortable. “I do not wish to discuss it out in the open, can we go to wherever you live now?”
Dib eyed the alien a moment before deciding that even if he did try something, his Pokemon could protect him, so there was no harm in allowing it. “Fine, come on. My apartment’s not far.”
He led the way to his apartment, where he greeted the (mostly ghost type) Pokemon he’d left home and released those he’d used in the contest. Fantasma was quick to nuzzle up to her trainer, though she eyed Zim with suspicion. She didn’t like strangers.
Zim eyed the Shuppet with just as much unease. “That is one of those ‘Pokemon’ the adults always had, yes? Why is it rubbing against you that way?”
“Because I give her food and attention. Love built on blatant bribery, the best kind.”
“Shup!” the ghost type agreed. “Shuppet?”
“Yeah yeah, hang on, I’ve got it.” He moved to the kitchen to get the food for his Pokemon, looking to Zim as he started getting out their bowls. “So, what did you not want to say outside?”
Zim suddenly looked extremely uncomfortable, avoiding eye contact. “Well… Let’s just say I’m back for good this time. But… Not as an Invader…”
Dib frowned in confusion, turning to face him fully. “What do you mean?”
“I said that was all I was going to say!” Zim snapped, but quickly calmed down. “I just… Don’t know how to adapt to living as an adult on this planet and not a child. Most adults have those strange Pokemon creatures, and most careers are related to them, but I have none, and I don’t know much about them.”
“So you want me to help you get a pokemon and teach you about them?”
“That is about the gist of it, yes. You are the only human I could really go to.”
Dib considered it a moment. “Ok, here’s the deal. I’ll help you, if you answer my questions about your race and other planets.”
Now it was Zim’s turn to look thoughtful. “I reserve the right to refuse certain questions, but other than that, deal.”
“Ok, deal. And I guess you can stay here until you find a job and apartment, if you don’t mind sharing the couch with Maldicion, my Absol. He likes sleeping on the couch more than his bed.”
Zim gave the pokemon currently eying him from the couch a wary look, but nodded. “I can deal with that.” He paused and gave him an odd look. “Do all your pokemon have such odd names?”
“They’re not odd, I just pick a word they make me think of and translate it to Spanish.”
“I see… What are all of them? And their names, I suppose. I’m curious.”
“Well, Fantasma here is my closest partner, and a Shuppet. Maldicion’s an Absol, then there’s Jefe, my honchkrow-” He cut off as said bird pokemon landed on his head. “Yeah, you, you big attention whore. Now get off, you’re really heavy.” After distracting Jefe with food, he continued his list, giving his pokemon their food as he spoke. “This lovely lady is my froslass, Heilo, and the also lovely Caletre here is my Duskull. And last but certainly not least, Reindo, my haunter.”
“I see… And they are all friendly?”
“Fantasma can be a bit touchy if you mess with her food, and none of them care for loud, sudden noises, but other than that, yeah. Speaking of food...” He opened the fridge and glanced through what he had. “Let’s see… Zim, you can eat nachos, right?”
“Huh? Er, yes, Zim can eat nachos, why?”
“Well I guess that’s dinner, I’ll just cook up some ground meat to put on mine. I’ll get started once I change out of my suit, give me a second.”
While Dib went to his bedroom to change, Zim took the chance to look around the small apartment. It wasn’t very big, but his attention was grabbed by a shelf displaying numerous pictures and Contest ribbons. He examined some of the earlier ones, where Dib was younger, and looked through to see how his team grew, how he grew, how his outfits became more elaborate and his expression gained a self-assured, confident air. He was so different from the bitter, reclusive, obsessive boy he once knew.
Then again, he thought, noting the moth-like theme that seemed to be a trend with Dib’s outfits. He may still have that obsessive streak.
About then, Dib came out in a simple t-shirt and sweatpants, and went to the kitchen to make dinner. It was a little awkward for the two ex-rivals, but they got through the meal, and Dib went to bed, leaving Zim alone once more.
Fantasma and Jefe opted to follow their trainer to his bed, while Maldicion claimed his usual half of the couch, and the rest moved to their own beds. With little else to do, Zim snuck Dib’s laptop and headphones out of his room to watch a few human movies. It passed the time, at least.
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When morning came, Zim dragged Dib out of bed, despite his protests that it was too early. The coordinator muttered grumpily through making himself and his pokemon breakfast, and threw a box of snack cakes at Zim when he complained he couldn’t eat bacon, but he perked up after eating, and drinking copious amounts of iced coffee.
“Ok,” he finally spoke up after waking up fully. “To start your life here on earth, you’re gonna need a pokemon. I can take you out of town to catch one, and you can use one of my pokemon to battle the one you want so you can catch it.”
“Yes, fine, whatever you say. Let’s just go, Zim is tired of sitting around.”
After a quick shower, Dib got dressed, called his pokemon into their pokeballs, and led the way out of town.
It took a lot of walking, and Zim rejected many pokemon they came across, until they came across a pink pokemon lounging by a pond. Its vacant stare reminded him of Gir, who was guarding the ship at the moment, so he decided to ask for a little information. “What is that one?”
“Slowpoke? It’s a water and psychic type, but-”
“Psychic?” From the human movies he’d watched, Zim thought a psychic pokemon would be just the thing to fight ghost pokemon, like the psychics hunted ghosts in the movies. Since most of Dib’s pokemon were ghost types, the choice was clear. “I want that one!”
“Really? Ok… Here, you can use Jefe, and here’s a great ball to catch it.”
Thanks to the Slowpoke’s lazy, calm nature, it was very simple to catch, and Zim let out a loud victory laugh. “Yes! Victory! I have caught the Slowpoke!”
“So you have.” Dib scanned the Pokeball with his Pokedex. “Looks like it’s a female, and she knows watergun, yawn, confusion, and water pulse. Are you going to give her a nickname?”
“Of course I am!” Zim scoffed. “I shall give her a name that strikes fear into the hearts of all! PINKIE!”
Dib had to fight not to laugh. “Pinkie? Seriously?”
“Hey, pink is the color of POWER!”
“Whatever you say, Zim. Anyway, let’s get her to a pokemon center to heal up, then you can start training her.”
“Yes! I am quite eager to battle you, I am sure Pinkie will easily defeat you!”
“What? Don’t be ridiculous, my pokemon are way higher level, and she’s at a huge disadvantage.”
Zim stopped short. “Wait, what? Surely a psychic must be strong to ghosts, like in the movies I watched!”
“Dude, psychic types are weak to Ghost and Dark types.”
“So, against your pokemon…”
“She’s at a massive type disadvantage.”
“Blast!”