Chapter Text
He hadn't intended to go through the wormhole. It had appeared beneath his feet without warning and pulled him under on his usual trek to Jubilife village. Disoriented, Ingo sat up and blinked wearily at the same bare white landscape of the Alabastor Iceland and assumed he had fainted. It wasn't until three hours later spent trudging through the snow that he realised something was amiss. He could see lights. Where the Pearl clan's tents should have been, there were large, well-established buildings.
His heart jumped in his throat, and he felt he might faint for real this time.
The people in Snowpoint looked at him with concerned, questioning gazes. The experience was remarkably similar to when he'd first arrived in Hisui. All people could think to do upon seeing him was stare and whisper. This wasn't right. His nerves increased with every step. Irida. Where was Irida? Sneasler? Paulina? Gaeric? Calaba? Young Lian? He found himself struggling to breath, icy wind numbing his throat. A feeling like his chest being compressed. Crushed, slowly.
There were more eyes on him now. He flinched as a hand was placed on his shoulder and he whipped his head around so fast his hat fell crooked. He stared into the eyes of a woman that looked somewhat familiar. The galaxy corps lady, his brain supplied. The young doctor that was well versed in medicinal herbs.
"Sir? Are you feeling alright? Would you like come inside and rest?" His gaze shifted to the building behind her with a bright orange roof. It too looked vaguely familiar, though he was certain he'd seen nothing of the sort in Hisui. He nodded numbly, and was ushered inside, a warm drink pushed into his hands.
"That device, it's Unovan, isn't it?" Nurse Joy asked as he handed over his pokemon for her to heal. She made some comment about his pokeballs being an odd design, but it didn't seem to reach him. Ingo blinked, unsure of what she was talking about until she gestured to his wrist. He'd been wearing the bizarre bracelet-like object since he first arrived in Hisui, but it was presumably broken. Now still, the screen remained black.
"I'm... not sure." He looked down at the X-tranceiver and breathed. In and out. "..Truthfully, I'm a bit lost. Could you tell me where I am?"
The nurse cocked her head slightly to the side. "This is Snowpoint City."
He returned her confused expression, face blank as if he were expecting her to elaborate.
"In Sinnoh."
The staring match continued. Ingo was at a loss as to what to say. Sinnoh? The false name the clan's had referred their respective deities as? He opened his mouth and closed it again. Realising perhaps that she wasn't going to be getting much out of this rate, Nurse Joy spoke again.
"Is there someone you can call? The phones are free to use. You can stay the night too if you wish. No charge."
Ingo nodded dumbly, and stepped out of line after retrieving his pokemon to allow the person behind him access. The tiled floors seemed to swirl as he wobbly made his way to the nearest chair. The room was spinning. This wasn't right. After finally adjusting to life in Hisui, he'd been caught and spat out into yet another unfamiliar world. He clutched Gliscor's pokeball tightly like a life-line, hands shaking.
He had no idea how to use a phone, not that it mattered, as to his knowledge, he had no one to call. It was growing dark outside. He was given a room for the night, but he couldn't sleep.
He released a few pokemon, Gliscor and Alakazam. They looked around, appearing as equally confused as he had been at their new surroundings. He stroked the top of Gliscor's head robotically, looking out the window. He wondered if Dawn had been transported to this world as he had, or if she was still in Hisui. Her situation was similar to his after all. How he longed to see a familiar face.
With much of his memory before Hisui missing, he was unsure whether or not this place was supposed to be of significance to him, but one thing was for sure, it wasn't his home. Maybe it had been at some point, but he had no way of recognising it now.
He wanted to go back.