Private/Closed Into the Pokéverse

[NotaViolinist]

May contain: cartoon violence, light descriptions of viscera (blood/innards). Please be aware of your triggers before joining! Also check the discussion board for rules.

~

"Professor Laurel?" Aine called into the suspiciously quiet laboratory. "Are you here?"

"In the basement!" Came the distant reply, followed by a loud crash and a yelp. Aine hurried down the stairs to see what was the matter.

The professor was at her workbench, elbow-deep in Magikarp viscera. Her hair was frizzy and parts of her lab coat were stained with splotches of dried blood. As a professor who focused her research entirely on Pokémon biology, this was hardly a surprising sight. "Hand me another jar, I dropped the first one." She pointed to the line of jars on the station behind her. Aine carefully stepped over the shattered remains of said jar and grabbed another one, handing it off to the professor.

"Professor, the new trainers are on their way here right now," she reminded. "You should probably clean up before they arrive." Laurel snorts at her.

"What, kids these days afraid of a little blood?" She waved her arms wildly and Aine ducked to avoid getting splattered. "If they can't handle this they won't be able to handle your gym, or any of the subsequent ones."

Aine sighed. "At least wash your hands." She turned and started to head back upstairs. "Which starters are we handing out today?"

"I think we recently got a batch of Kanto starters, let whoever gets here first choose which they want." Aine nodded to herself, grabbing the 3 Pokéballs and setting them on the counter. As the first gym leader, it was her duty to help set the newest trainers on the right path... especially with a professor like Laurel.

Just as she was finishing up, there was a knock at the door. "Someone's here!" she yelled, double-checking that everything was passably clean. With a flourish she threw a Pokéball, sending out her Oddish. He blinked sleepily at her, leaves drooping a little.

"Too early for you, huh," she murmured, scooping him up. He cooed a little and nuzzled into her arms, immediately falling back asleep. Nocturnal creatures, seriously...

She gently nudged the door open with her foot, revealing the newest trainer.

 

[Captain Pokémon]

Neon stood at the door. He was dressed in his normal attire, and a Riolu was on his shoulder.
Neon and Riolu both posed at the same time, as if they had practiced.
"Hello! I'm Neon! I'm a new trainer, but I'm still strong! This is my partner, Riolu!"
Riolu waved and struck a cool pose. (I am having so much fun writing this, xD)
"We came here all the way from Wyndon, in the Galar region! Have you been there? It's so cool!" Neon increasingly spoke faster.
" It's so cool and has a bunch of Pokemon! Also, there's this HUGE stadium where people get to battle the CHAMPION! Isn't that awesome?! Also, there's a clothes shop, and barber, and Pokemon center! There's also this thing called Rose Tower! It's really cool! Do you know who Rose is? He's this guy who owns SO MANY companies! He's also a great trainer! Speaking of great trainers, have you ever met Leon?! He is so strong! Me and Riolu hope to beat him someday!" Neon slowed down.
"Oh! Sorry, I've been going on and on and on and on and on for a while haven't I? Sorry, I do that sometimes. Anyway, I'm Neon, but you probably knew that cause I already told you."
Neon extended his hand for a handshake.

 

[Sunlight Isekai Overdrive]

Nito walked by, his Snivy resting upon his Backpack. Looking at the paper he was holding.
"I suppose that's where we have to go." He muttered, picking his Snivy off his backpack to carry.
"Did you sleep well, Dracoss? Yeah, The plane was something else." He poked at his little Grass-snakes nose, chuckling as it "Coo"ed.

Listening in on the Posing boy talk, he heard an unfamiliar name. Leon.

He sighed, walking over.
Don't make direct eye contact, don't make direct eye contact. Don't make direct eye contact. He thought, trying to look away from the Boy without being rude.
"My name is Nito. And this," He lifted Dracoss up, her snake-like tounge sticking out. "Is Dracoss."

 

[Captain Pokémon]

Neon turned around and saw the boy, but kept his hand extended to the woman at the door.
"Oh, hi! Uh, I didn't see ya there! I'm Neon! And this is my partner Riolu!" Riolu looked interested by the Snivy, and cocked it's head to the side.
"Anyway, I see you got a Snivy! That's neat! I bet my Riolu would get along with it great!"
Neon looked excited by the new arrival.
"Oh, are you here for this thing too?"
Neon held up the same paper that Nito has.
"Yeah I'm here for that too. Which region are you from? No, wait, lemme guess! Uh..is it Unova?"

 

[NotaViolinist]

Aine looked between the two boys, one of which was still awkwardly holding his hand out for a handshake. She shook it, then shook the other boy's hand as well, stepping aside to let both of them in. Neon's Riolu seemed curious about the laboratory, wandering about and poking things. Nito's Snivy, Dracoss, on the other hand, seemed content to stay in her trainer's arms.

Oddish tottered over to the two of them from where Aine had set him down, greeting both of them with a nudge to the leg.

There was a loud explosion from down below and all three of them jumped in tandem. "Don't come down!" the Professor shouted from the basement. "Flappy, a little help?!"

Flappy, her Wingull, practically rolled its eyes as it stretched its wings and took off down the stairs. There was a pause and then the sound of Water Gun being used. Aine made a face: not exactly the best first impression a region-renowned professor could have made. She looked to gauge the two new trainers' reactions.

 

[Sunlight Isekai Overdrive]

He shrugged, going back to letting his Snivy.
"Maybe. Maybe not." He said, following the Woman.

Looking around, he and his Snivy jumped at the sudden Crash, looking down.
"I mean... What the hell...?" He muttered, his Snivy jumping down to poke at the Fellow Grass type.

Nito looked at the Wingull flying down, fascinated.

 

[Captain Pokémon]

Neon jumped at the explosion
"Dang! What's down there, an Electrode?!"
Neon looked very surprised by the explosion, and Riolu growled at the floor/lower level.
Neon picked up Riolu and set him on his shoulder.
"It's okay buddy, probably just a lab malfunction."
Neon cautiously looked at the floor, as if expecting another crash.
After a few seconds,Neon walked inside the lab.

 

[LordBallGuy]

After getting off a ship from Canalave City Jack and his partners, Grotle and Buizel all were ready for a new adventure! "Alright! I Guess this the place, guys!" He looked a Grotle and Buizel and smiled then said "All you ready to-" Suddenly, Nathan was interrupted by a loud sound

Nathan and the rest of his team were startled by the sound "What is the name of Arceus was that!?" He got off from the ground and slowly approached the door

He went into the room looking around, he spotted another trainer "Hey, trainer? Is there a problem? I was just about to enter until I heard an explosion!! Is everything alright?"

 

[Captain Pokémon]

Neon looked across the room and saw Nathan
"Huh, more people. Sweet! I'm Neon!"
Neon waved and Riolu nodded his head at Nathan.
"Anyway,I'm pretty sure the noise came from downstairs."

 

[Sunlight Isekai Overdrive]

Looking behind him, Nito sighed.
"What Neon said." He said, going back to watching Dracoss poke at the Oddish.
"My name is Nito. A pleasure to meet you, as it always is to meet People." He chuckled a bit, shaking his head as he looked back at the newcomer.

 

[NotaViolinist]

"Ah, good, you're just in time," Aine greeted the newcomer. "Now that you're all here, I'll introduce myself. My name is Aine. I'm a grass-type user, and the first gym leader new trainers tend to face." She gave them all an awkward half-smile. "The Professor'll be here any minute, so if you could wait just a moment-"

"I'm here!" Professor Laurel burst out from the stairwell, having taken it two steps at a time. Her hair was formed into a messy side braid, and Flappy the Wingull was perched on her head. In addition to the bodily fluids on her coat, there were now also char marks from the explosion. She looked deranged. Aine facepalmed. "What'd I miss?!"

"Well, these are our three trainers: Nito, Nathan and Neon. Names starting with N are really popular nowadays, aren't they?" She gestured behind her to the Pokéballs on the counter. "Here are the starters, you'll each be receiving one." The Professor beamed.

"Well, welcome to the region! My name is Professor Laurel, I'm also called the Pokémon Professor around these parts! I study Pokémon biology; y'know, dissecting cadavers, running samples, the works. Then my research gets added to the Pokédex! Cool, right?" She pushed her glasses up with her index finger, ignoring the fingerprints that smudged the glass. "Anyway, here are the starters." She nodded at Aine to open the Pokéballs.

"This is Bulbasaur." The stout-legged grass-type popped out of the ball and stared at the trainers with a deadpan look. "He's pretty serious, doesn't take anyone's crap."

"Next is Squirtle." The water-type posed as it came out of the ball, head held high. "This one is very sassy, and I don't know why. I'm sure he'll make an outstanding companion, though."

"Finally, Charmander." The fire-type lizard dashed off in a flash and hid behind the table leg. "Hey, it's okay," Aine soothed. "He's really timid but I'm hoping that one of you will help him feel at home."

The three starters watched the trainers with varying levels of interest. "Since Neon got here first, I think it's only fair that he gets to choose first. Is that all right with everyone?"

 

[Captain Pokémon]

Neon fist bumped Riolu.
“Yeah! See, I told you there was a benefit to waking up at 5:00 A.M!”
Riolu shrugged, and agreed to disagree.
“Hm...”
Neon considered his options.
“I think I’m going to go with Charmander.” Neon waved at the Charmander.
“Hey dude, we’re gonna be traveling together! Doesn’t that sound cool?”

 

[Sunlight Isekai Overdrive]

"Beings that I Got here second, I suppose it's my turn next."

He looked at the remaining two Pokemon, nodding his Head.
"I choose Bulbasaur. He'll be great addition to my Grass team." He said, pointing towards the Bulbasaur.

"Grass types are the most interesting types in my opinion. Sure, Psychic types exist, but Grass types can make you Feel more connected to your surrounding area." He thought, looking at his Dracoss.
"That, or I guess I've just fallen for their beauty."

 

[Captain Pokémon]

Neon shrugged.
“I dunno.”
Riolu communicated with Charmander, trying to get it to open up.
Neon watched.
“I bet this Charmander is gonna grow up to be the best Charizard ever!”
Riolu pumped his fist in the air, and Charmander moved slightly closer to Neon.
Neon picked up Charmander’s pokeball and put it in his bag.

 

[NotaViolinist]

"Oh, I wasn't expecting that," Aine shrugged. "Ah well, I guess I'll take Squirtle with us. Maybe if there's a trainer down the road later that wants to join they can take care of him! For now, though, back into the ball you go." She returned Squirtle to the ball and turned to the trainers. "We'll go out to Route 1 now and have you battle some wild Pokémon-"

All of a sudden, the phone started to ring from the basement. "Oh, I'll just be a minute!" Professor Laurel sprinted down the stairs to answer it. While she was down there, however, Aine noticed something strange happening on the ceiling. A large spiral of energy was coalescing and expanding, opening up a wavering portal. It started to suck the four in.

"Hold on!" Aine shouted, but it was too late. The portal snapped them up, and it instantly vanished as soon as the last person has entered.

Falling out of the portal, the four of them landed with a thump on the ground. Groaning, Aine shook her head and blinked as she looked around, stunned. They were at the top of a grassy hill, blue sky overhead and not a building in sight. At the base of the hill was a flowery meadow. What was particularly unusual was that there wasn't a Pokémon in sight: no Combee, Beautifly, or even Ribombee were flitting between the flowers. The whole place was eerily silent.

 

[Captain Pokémon]

Neon landed face-down.
“Ow.....”
Riolu and Charmander got up and poked Neon repeatedly.
Neon groaned and got up.
“Ow..what the..where are we?”
Neon looked around, and noticed there were no Pokémon,except for the ones they brought with them.
“And..where are all the Pokémon?”

 

[Sunlight Isekai Overdrive]

Landing on his back, he grunted. Dracoss making her spot on top of his Chest, while Bulbasaur rolled his Eyes.

He lifted his head up, looking around.
"Agh, I don't know where we are." He muttered, lying his head back down.
"All I know is that everything that happened within the past few moments have been painful."

 

[Captain Pokémon]

Neon groaned again, and nodded his head.
“You’re not wrong.”
Neon looked around again, double checking for any Pokémon, besides the ones they brought, and found nothing.
“Agh,seriously, where the heck are we?!”

 

[LordBallGuy]

"Good question...But still, what is this place-" A sudden shaking noise cut the silence.

He ran off following the noise...
A high pitched whistle noise followed by the sudden noise revealed an odd looking Pokemon.
But something was strange it was something nobody has seen or heard of. It popped out of the flowers, making its high pitched noise.

Keeping his eye on the mysterious Pokemon, he called out

"Hey, everybody! Over here, I think I found a Pokemon!!"

 

[NotaViolinist]

Aine pulled Nathan back quickly. "Careful," she warned. As the adult, she needed to figure out what was going on before anyone challenged any unusual Pokémon. She surveyed the area. The odd Pokémon made its cry again, and she narrowed her eyes as she looked at it once more.

"Hey... I think it's a Mincinno!" She took another look. It seemed to have gotten red juices on it from god-knows-where so its pelt was covered in a strange pattern, and there was a flower stuck to its head so it looked like a grass-type. Glad to have solved that mystery, she released Nathan's arm, but there was still something very clearly wrong. A large shadow flew overhead and the Mincinno quickly fled into the meadow.

"That's... not good," Aine commented as an abnormally large Skarmory landed in front of them, beak snapping and razor-sharp feathers fluffing up in their direction. It seemed to almost be in pain. Oddish waddled over to it, uncaring of the threat, and cried and dashed away as it tried to peck him.

"We're going to have to fight," Aine decided, sending out her Cherrim which blossomed in the harsh sunlight. "This guy seems way too strong to capture, so don't even bother to try. We'll all have to fight together to defeat it." She glanced at the three boys. "Now's your chance to prove how good you are. Work together and achieve victory!"

 

[LordBallGuy]

He smiled "Alright then, let's do this!!" He immediately sent out his Pokemon Grotle
"Grotle, use Razor Leaf!" Sharp leaves flew at the Pokemon, denting the Pokemon's steel, durable body

"Yeah, take that!" he yelled But the wild Skarmory was not gonna be humiliated by a turtle. It flapped its wings and then flew at Grotle, grabbing it with it's claws, airborne, The Skarmory dropped the Grotle hard on the ground.

 

[Sunlight Isekai Overdrive]

Nodding to the Researcher, he turned to Dracoss.


"It's now or Never."

Wincing as he saw the Grotle fall, Dracoss turned to the Skarmory.
"Alright, Dracoss! Let's see if a Vine Whip would work!" Nito yelled. Though it was Less-effective than other tactics, it would be a Great distraction for other, Stronger Pokemon.

Dracoss rolled her eyes, vines from her back rushing towards the Skarmory, entangling the Steel Board.

 

[Captain Pokémon]

“Haha! Alright, finally! Time for a battle! Let’s do this Riolu!”
Neon looked pumped up, and Riolu nodded.
“Alright Riolu, use Blaze Kick!”
Riolu was off in a flash, and jumped on the Skarmony and pummeled it with Blaze Kick, doing major damage due to it’s Steel type.
Skarmony cried out.
“Yeah! That’s it Riolu!”
Neon said, and jumped up in excitement.

 

[LordBallGuy]

The Skarmory, getting weaker, it was time for another attack


Nathan's Grotle was ready to beat this thing.


"Grotle, use Crunch!!" Grotle charged at Skarmory with brute force, chomping on it.

The Skarmory began to shake violently, trying to release the Grotle.

"Great job! Now, release then use Rock Smash!" The Grotle soon released it's grip, making it go flying, from the Skarmory shaking it off. Grotle landed on its feet.

Woah, that was so cool! he thought to himself

Then, Grotle headbutted the Skarmory, damaging it badly due to it being weakened.

The Skarmory groaning and wobbling, fell to ground fainted...

 

[NotaViolinist]

Aine watched the battling trainers with approval. It seemed like they were working together well, which was good. As it fainted, the Skarmory started convulsing, and right after that it somehow woke up again. It seemed to not be registering anything around it, picking itself up like a zombie before fleeing into the sky. Something was very clearly wrong with it, but for the moment Aine didn't have the capabilities to help it. If only the Professor were there...

But now, the most important thing they needed was to figure out where they were...

In the very far distance, she noticed a signpost at the edge of the meadow. She beckoned for the others to follow and started wading through the field of flowers in that direction. Now that the imminent threat was gone, Pokémon started appearing from their dens and nests again, populating the field once more. Combee drifted lazily through the field, Starly and Fletching flew overhead from the trees, and Sentret and Zigzagoon darted around their feet as they passed. Even the berry-juice painted Mincinno came back out to give a grateful wave with its tail.

As soon as they came within reading distance of the signpost, Aine let out a gasp. Route 1, it read. "This... this isn't Route 1, though!" But as she took a closer look at the scenery, she noticed that (ignoring the field of flowers) the land DID look fairly similar to the land outside of the lab. In fact, the lab should have been built right atop the hill they had landed on. But it simply wasn't there.

I think we're in another dimension, she thought. We're going to have to find the Professor. She's the only one who would be able to get us back. As she was debating internally on what to do next, she looked around to see what the others were doing.

 

[Captain Pokémon]

Neon took in the scenery, and whistled.
“Not a bad place now that the big dumb bird is gone,”
Riolu agreed and nodded it’s head.
”Hm....”
Neon watched all the Pokémon.
“I guess there are Pokémon here after all.”
Neon saw the sign.

What? This isn’t route 1, Riolu and I passed through route 1 to get to the...
Wait, where’s the lab?

Neon looked very confused.
Neon turned around to his Riolu.
“Riolu, do you sense anything odd about this place?”
Riolu nodded and frowned.
“Hm...”

This isn’t right....

 

[LordBallGuy]

Nathan sat down under a tree and watched the Pokemon
“Huh, I guess there really are Pokemon here”

"Hey Grotle an thoughts about this place?" Grotle sniffed the air, enjoying the soothing smell

"Yeah, it's pretty nice here-"

Nathan looked to his right and saw the sign.


"Wait... This isn’t route 1, if this is route 1, wheres the lab?"

 

[Captain Pokémon]

Neon saw a tiny little Toxel sitting in the grass. (Yup! It’s time, I’m about to add Toxel to my team.)
Neon frowned.
“Hey, I’m no professor, but I’m pretty sure that Pokémon grows up to be strong! Right Riolu?”
Riolu nodded, pretty sure that it does.
“Well, time to catch it! Alright Charmander,time for your first battle!”
Charmander looked at Neon and cocked it’s head to the side, unsure.
“Oh c’mon, it’ll be fun!”
Neon looked at Charmander with hopeful eyes, and Charmander agreed.
“Hah hah! Alright, let’s go! Charmander, use scratch!”
Charmander did so, and the Toxel fell on it’s back, then got up and looked mad, and used Acid.
“Uh oh.”
Charmander barely avoided it.
“Whew, alright Charmander, use growl, then ember!”
Charmander did so, and the Toxel looked weakened!
“Alright, let’s go!”
Neon threw a Pokeball with a ton of emphasis, and the Toxel would go inside.
One shake.
Two shakes.
Three shakes.
Caught!
“Yes! We did it!”
Charmander and Neon and Riolu celebrated!
Neon picked up the Pokeball and let Toxel out, and the Toxel sat down and looked up at Neon.
“Hey guys, come see what I just caught!”

 

[NotaViolinist]

Aine nodded a brief hello at Neon's new Toxel. She was sure it would be happy with its new trainer, but she had bigger fish to fry. If this was Route 1, then all they had to do was follow the road to get Thyme Town, the place where her gym was located. Yeah... the road that didn't exist.

Was there even still a Thyme Town? Was her other self even a gym leader? Did she even exist in this dimension? Needless to say, her anxiety levels were through the roof. Looking around, she oriented herself with the sun and the time her watch said it was, and determined which direction was north. Then she gestured to the boys to follow as she started wandering in the direction of the town.

There was a small line of trees blocking their path, and Oddish bumped into her heels as she stopped abruptly. She scanned the trees. If her calculations were correct, Thyme Town was just on the other side. All they had to do was get through the small forest and they'd be there. But the tenseness of that battle with Skarmory was still on her mind. They'd have to stay alert in case something like that came up again.

 

[LordBallGuy]

Nathan looked through the trees, trying to see if there was a safe way through.
Then he thought of an idea to get through the forest without conflict. He looked in the sky and sent out his Staravia
he recently caught.

"Hey, everyone I've got an idea!" he waved to everyone as he looked at the sky. "What if we use Staravia to get across the forest? He could pick us up one at a time and get to Thyme Town in no time!"

 

[Captain Pokémon]

Neon considered this.
“Yeah, that could work.”
Neon’s Riolu tapped Neon’s head.
“Oh yeah, you sure that thing can carry us all, considering most of us also have backpacks and such?”
Neon seemed to contemplate this.
“This is just a precaution, if you believe in your Pokémon, then I’m with ya!”
Neon’s Riolu agreed.

 

[LordBallGuy]

"This could be really hard, but it's our only hope!!"
He looked over to Staravia "You ready buddy? Let's do this!"

He looked at Neon.

"Here, you and Riolu get on Staravia's back first. Don't worry, he'll make sure you won't get hurt!"

"Also wait for everyone to arrive, we don't want to split up in this situation were in okay?"

He patted Staravia "Here, you can get on now"

 

[Captain Pokémon]

Neon nodded.
“You got it!”
Neon looked at Riolu.
“Ready buddy?”
Riolu nodded and got on Neon’s shoulder.
“Alright.”
Neon climbed on Staravia.
“Alright, let’s do this.”

 

[Sunlight Isekai Overdrive]

Nito kept quiet for most of the time, thinking.

Considering that we are somewhere unknown, we should tread lightly. He thought. That Skarmory was on his mind, and he was thinking about what else could be around, hidden.
Dracoss snuggled up around his neck, almost Purring.
Looking at the Staravia, he gulped.
"Y--Yeah, I'll pass up on flying. I'll just walk." He shuddered, Dracoss taking the Liberty of knocking the Pidove Pokeball out, the Small, Pigeon-like pokemon popping out.

 

[LordBallGuy]

"Just gonna walk? Alright that's fine, just be careful"


With Neon on Nathan's Staravia.


Staravia begone to flap its wings, preparing to fly. "Good Luck out there!"
Staravia soon took off, flapping its wings majestically into the distance...

 

[Captain Pokémon]

Neon and Riolu both seemed to enjoy this.
“Wooh! This is fun! This is SO much better than a plane!”
Neon yelled.
“Who needs planes, right Riolu?!”
Riolu pumped it’s fist in the air.
“Exactly what I was thinking buddy!”
Charmander was huddled up in Neon’s backpack, afraid.
Neon picked up Charmander out of his backpack.
“Come on dude! Look, it’s cool!”
Charmander looked around, and smiled a little.
“See? When you’re a Charizard, you can fly like this too!”
Charmander turned around and gave Neon an excited look.

 

[NotaViolinist]

Aine and Nito looked at each other for a moment before they traipsed into the woods. Thankfully, it wasn't very thick, and Aine could easily see the sun through the branches overhead. There were a few bug-types crawling about, but for the most part there was nothing she deemed dangerous roaming around.

The edge of the forest came up faster than she expected, and she gave a thumbs-up to Nito as they stumbled through the bushes and onto a street. Up ahead she noticed Nathan and Neon standing with Staravia. She waved to them, it must have been a pretty short flight.

Looking around, she noticed some things that were immediately off. Thyme Town had always been a serene place, full of nature and life (part of the reason she chose to become a grass-type gym leader). But the brick streets of her hometown seemed run down and unkempt; there were crumbling holes and dull spots everywhere. Not only that, the trash cans were overflowing with garbage. There was no one out, despite it being a sunny day.

Her gym was straight ahead. She gestured for the others to remain where they were and went to take a peek inside, slightly hopeful and slightly fearful. The lights were off and it seemed abandoned. She let out a sigh, not knowing whether to feel disappointed or relieved.

There's got to be at least a Nurse Joy here, she thought, and on that note she went back to the others. "The Pokécenter's just around the corner," she said. "After that battle with Skarmory it might be a good idea to get some rest." She made a determined face. "Let's go see if there's anyone who knows what's going on."

 

[Captain Pokémon]

Neon agreed.
“Sounds good, might also buy a few more potions while we’re there.”
Riolu and Charmander followed close behind Neon as he walked towards the Pokécenter first, and Toxel was riding on Neon’s shoulders.
Neon took in the scenery, if that’s what you’d call it.
“Hm, when I got a glimpse of this place before, it was much nicer. This dimension kinda sucks.”
Neon walked inside the Pokécenter.

 

[Pinch]

Bentley was walking down the way, his Duskull drifting in the air by his side, before they spotted a run down and abandoned town in the distance. "Wonder what happened to that place, let's go check it out." Said Bentley, Duskull agreed with a nod. The two explored the abandoned town together, going through the buildings but not finding much. "Let's check the Pokemon Center over there next, there's bound to be some abandoned goodies in there!" Bentley said with an excited tone.

The two entered the Pokemon Center, and to their surprise there were other people! Bentley approached the group to ask them what they were doing. "Uh, hello. I didn't expect to see any other people here, do you know what happened to this place?" He asked.

 

[Captain Pokémon]

Neon looked behind him and saw Bentley.
“Oh, hey! I’m Neon, so on, so forth.”
Neon would make a “let’s move on” gesture with his hand.
“We don’t know what happened here, but I’m pretty sure nobody here payed their mortgage payments.”