Welcome to Gaia! ::

Everything had been still and silent. It was all Leona had known for the longest time, even if she was only barely conscious of it. Then, there was a blinding light. It cut through Leona’s endless and timeless expanse like a knife, searing her consciousness. With a dull thud and a grunt, Leona dropped onto the grass in Twinleaf Town, and feeling the earth against her face, Leona attempted to stir, but she felt incredibly dizzy and weak, she couldn’t even think to try and form words, much less move her lips. Thankfully, she had appeared in front of a helpful stranger. 

Nikolaus had traveled a long way from home by now. He had opted to travel by foot for the most part to reach Twinleaf, deciding that the cityscapes of Unova was where he'd like to start his pokemon journey. Viktoria, his alolan vulpix, walked alongside him, sniffing around. It was her first time traveling this far by foot, so sometimes she'd fall a bit behind. “Almost zhere, Viktoria. Vould you like me zu carry you?” Nikolaus questioned his partner. She looked up at him and declined with a soft bark, trotting up ahead. Before coming to a dead stop as her fur ruffled a bit as she sensed something strange. Nikolaus looked up just in time for a bright flash of light before a figure appeared before him, a woman in armor and a blue dress, only for her to crumple to the ground soon after the light dimmed. Viktoria had skittered to stand behind her trainer's legs, peering over at the cause of the strange event while Nikolaus rubbed at his eyes to make sure he wasn't just imagining it, but the figure still lay there before him, as real as things can get. Curious and fascinated, he approached, kneeling beside Leona and gently placing a hand on her shoulder to stir her. “Are you oh-kay?” He asked, doing his best to keep his german accent from completely taking over. Viktoria had since crept closer, a cold wet nose sniffing at Leona’s face.

Leona barely heard Nikolaus, his voice distorted and distant sounding, but with his rousing and Viktoria’s prodding, her teal eyes fluttered open. Everything was a blur, and she had a hard time focusing on the figures before her. “Where….? What….?” Still quite disoriented, Leona was barely able to make any really coherent sentences, but she attempted to get up onto her hands and knees, an endeavor that was doomed from the start as her arms buckled and she fell to the ground once again with a grimace. Viktoria jumped back with a startled yelp when Leona fell, and a light gasp escaped Nikolaus at her fall, muttering something that sounded apologetic. He moved to try and help her sit up: he was not extremely muscular, but he was in good enough shape not to be too strained from lifting the armored woman. “Fraulein, you appeared zo zuddenly. In flash of light. As if Arkeus sent you.” He told her, obviously eager to help her as much as he could. Of course he wanted to start his journey, but helping this woman was more urgent. Besides, it was a very interesting turn of events. Leona was starting to hear the man beside her more clearly, but nothing he was saying was much sense. Still, she was thankful for his assistance in helping her up. She clung to him, still far too unstable on her own to hold herself up. “Fraulein…?” She repeated. “Doest thou speak my name…? And with familiarity…?” The name Fraulein didn’t sound quite right to her, but he’d called her so earnestly with it such that she had to assume he knew something about her. And what was this about appearing in a flash of light? “Prithee kind sir, if thou art such a man, tell me how—ungh….” She’d spoken too fast, forgetting her pounding head and numb mouth.

Nikolaus was relieved that she could somewhat hold herself upright, even if she still had to cling to him for stability. He blinked as she finally spoke, a bit taken aback. She talked like she was straight out of a medieval tale, but she had also seemed to mistaken his words for him knowing her. “Es tut mir leid - er... sorry.” He muttered, translating afterwards. He then did his best to drop his accent for the most part in hopes to help her understand. “I do not know your name. Just a passerby.” He explained, causing Leona to look troubled. “I see….” She had somewhat hoped he would have some insight on what was going on, or who she was. After all, she couldn’t remember much of anything at the moment, and it made her feel lost and uneasy. Nodding slowly, Leona attempted once again to stand with the taller gentleman’s help, successfully getting to her feet.

Meanwhile, Viktoria had sniffed around, wandering a bit away. She came across another pokemon, sprawled out on the ground. A Lucario? The snowy fox inched closer, prodding at the pokemon with a cold wet nose and a curious paw. The lucario seemed to recover much quicker than Leona, looking at Viktoria with curious red eyes and sniffing back at her. Her ears twitched as she shifted and sat up, taking in her surroundings. It felt so…. Peaceful here. It was strange to her for some reason. Closing her eyes, she scanned the auras of the area just to make sure nothing suspicious was going on, but when she saw a bright and familiar aura, she immediately jumped to her feet, turning around and running towards Leona and Nikolaus. “My lady!” She called, coming to Leona’s side, glancing between her and Nikolaus. The older gentleman didn’t seem to be doing her any harm, quite the opposite in fact, and for that she was thankful. Viktoria barked after the found Lucario got to her feet, the little white fox scampering after the lucario. She returned to Nick's side as the lucario spoke to the mysterious woman. “Oh, a Lucario!” Nikolaus exclaimed as the bipedal dog pokemon came in, apparently well acquainted with the woman. “I-isolde…” Leona gasped, recalling the lucario at once. “Aye, Lady Leona, I am at thy side.” Isolde promised, taking her other arm and throwing it around her neck to offer her more support. “Leona… Indeed… I recall….” Isolde gently hushed the knight. “Speak not Commander, thou must rest, I implore thee.” The lucario looked to Nikolaus pleadingly. “Good sir, might there be an inn or a ward to which we could take my lady? She must recover from her fatigue.” Leona looked somewhat irritated. “I need no ward, I must—hng…” Her small surge of confidence and strength quickly faded. “How now, Commander? Thou canst scarcely stand thy own. I implore thee, rest.” 

Nikolaus helped the woman to her feet, keeping her steady. It was still a bit weird how they spoke - it was very out-of-date after all. However, he could understand it just fine, as he has written in the same manner before. He was already considering what to do next - the lab was the nearest place he knew of here, and he was sure that Professor Rowan would at least be able to help. “There’s a lab nearby. Professor Rowan can help.” He replied, gesturing the direction with his free hand.

Isolde nodded slowly. “A professor! Indeed, a man of Arceus would surely help the lady forthwith, but a lab? Be this another of thy foreign words?” Though she was confused by the terms Nikolaus was throwing out, she willingly assisted him in getting Leona towards the nearby building - which made it much easier for Nikolaus. Once they were inside, Nikolaus got the attention of some of the lab assistants. “Zhis fraulein needs help recovering. Iz professor available?” He asked the assistants with a friendly smile. A female assistant seemed to brush off her initial fluster - she might have known of the author - and nodded, motioning to take a seat before rushing off to get the professor. “Danke schon~” Nick called after the assistant before helping Leona to sit down.

Both Leona and Isolde stared at the facility they had been brought into. Right at the entrance were two very large machines that lit up with bright cyan lights, and Isolde couldn’t help but steer clear of them both as they brought Leona to a chair. Another assistant brought a bottle of water over to offer. Nick thanked the assistant, taking the bottle and opening it before holding it out to Leona. “Here, drink some vater.” Leona looked at the bottle of water curiously as it was given to her, gently reaching out and grasping it. The plastic material was strange to her, and she wholly expected it to turn to liquid in her hands, but when the clear, cold, and flexible material held it’s shape, she smiled in awe. “What a curious flask…” She mused, taking a sip. The water inside tasted so sterile and yet fresh and cold as the exterior felt, it was quite the experience. “Isolde, thou must drink.” Leona insisted, trying to hand the water to her partner, but the lucario declined with a shake of her head.