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"Ugh five more minutes."
"Yeah no can do."
With no warning there was a harsh jab to his side and he shot up instantly and was face to face with a girl with blue hair in a ponytail with a boy with short blue hair not far behind her.
"Hikari, you could've been a little nicer."
"Yeah? But violence is funny."
"This is why people are scared of you."
The girl, who the boy called Hikari, waved him off while rolling her eyes at him. From the quick interaction Peter observed he thought the two seemed like siblings more than anything.
"He's wearing weird clothes like you were."
Peter knows he wasn't supposed to hear what the boy whispered but he did, the perks of advanced hearing. That caught his attention. Hikari didn't look out of place. She wore a kimono similar to the boy, it was probably a uniform he deduced because of the matching emblems both had.
"No. I was wearing casual clothes. That" she pointed "is a whole cosplay."
Cosplay? It suddenly hit him. He was still wearing the Iron Spider suit… with no mask. With the realization he jolted up. Turning his head wildly to take in his surroundings. It was a field. A field with green grass, green living trees, and a nice blue sky. It wasn't Titan. Last he could remember was being on Titan with Mr. Stark and everyone else. This wasn't Titan and he didn't recognize anyone here.
"Oh hey look who's awake."
There was a laugh to her tone. The boy beside her seemed to go through several different emotions, from confusion about Hikari's comment on his suit to rolling his eyes at her for laughing at him. He seemed to take in the panicked look on Peter's face and took a deep breath before speaking again.
"I'm Rei. I'm a member of the Survey Corps of the Galaxy Team along with-"
"Akari Akai!"
Hikari, now dubbed Akari, cut Rei off to introduce herself. Akari then held her hand in front of him offering help off the ground. Hesitantly he took her hand and let her pull him up.
There was silence for a moment. The three stood all together with no motion. Akari faked a cough noise into a fist.
"This is where you introduce yourself."
Oh. Right. That.
"Oh, I'm Peter."
He didn't really want to give either of them a name. He was still in the suit. But something told him saying he was Spider-man wasn't an acceptable answer here.
Akari made a look that suggested she didn't expect him to give a real response. He stuffs that knowledge with the "ask about later" thoughts along with the comments that might suggest Akari being from somewhere else.
Rei nodded, committing the name to memory. He then asked the question on his mind.
"Peter, do you remember how you got here?"
Peter had to think. He was on Titan. He got there after following Mr. Stark and Doctor Strange. There was then the people called the Guardians of the Galaxy. Then Thanos showed up and then… and then…
Peter paled. He died. Thanos showed up, got the time stone from Doctor Strange to spare Mr. Stark's life, left, and then won.
Peter felt his body tear itself apart, enhanced healing rapidly attempting to pull himself back together. He remembers stumbling and crying out to Mr. Stark and him telling he'll be alright even though they both knew he was lying to make Peter's last moments less scary.
Akari flicked his forehead. The small bit of pain it caused snapped him out of the flashback. Rei looked at her like it was the wrong thing to do but he was almost certain trying to use words to pull him out if it wouldn't have worked.
"Um Earth to Peter."
There was a softness to Akari's voice that wasn't there before. It wasn't patronizing by any means it just lacked the tone her voice usually carries. Her usual snark was absent.
The phrase she chose was hilariously ironic. He was definitely not on Earth when he died.
"I died."
Akari and Rei shared a similar look of horror. He didn't expect anything different when he blurted it out.
"Well shit uh-"
"Akari-" Rei hissed.
"That's a way to get here. I fell out of the sky."
Peter was thankful for Akari's switch of topic back to herself. He didn't understand her joke though, it must've been an inside joke. Rei saw the look on his face and gave a small laugh.
"She actually fell out of the sky. Scared Professor Laventon he thought she was dead at first. Not a single scratch though it was weird."
Now it was Peter's turn to stare. Akari burst out laughing.
"Laventon's scared of pretty much everything. Not much of feat there on my part."
Peter's starting to pick up on the fact Akari likes to tease people. He can't tell if intentional or if she just speaks her mind. It could probably be both. He can't judge her based on a few minutes of knowing her.
"Professor Laventon is a part of the Survey Corps. Hikari and I work alongside him working on the pokédex."
Peter's confusion must've been obvious since Rei continued on.
"The pokédex will be an invaluable tool that will have records on all kinds of Pokémon including things like their types, heights, weights, alternate forms, and more."
"A what?"
Rei looked confused at that.
"You don't know what a Pokémon is?"
"No? Why would I?"
Rei spared a look towards Akari. But Akari just shrugged.
"Well that could be a problem."
"You think?!"
"Is him not knowing what a Pokémon is really the most concerning thing about this situation? He did say he just died."
"But it doesn't make sense! Pokémon are everywhere. You even knew what Pokémon are and you don't even remember most of where you came from."
Akari winced at that. From everything Peter has heard he would’ve assumed Akari knew where she came from.
Akari sighed and then pulled a red and beige ball looking object from her satchel. She held up the ball for him to see.
"This is a pokéball."
She opened the pokéball and out came a round bird with a green bow tie. It was beige with a white mask around its beady eyes. There was not a single thought in those eyes.
"That is a Pokémon called Rowlet."
"Rowlets fly noiselessly on delicate wings. Rowlet's have mastered the art of deftly launching dagger-sharp feathers from those same wings."
Rei supplied. He was reading from a book he could only assume was the pokédex that was mentioned.
The Rowlet continued to stare at him then nodded at him. He took that as gaining the Rowlet's approval. Better to gain its approval than get on its bad side, Rei did mention its feathers could become as sharp as daggers. The Rowlet demonstrated its flight and then claimed his shoulder as its new perch.
"I've been trying to get that asshole to like me for weeks now what the fuck."
Akari crossed her arms and swore under her breath. Thanks again for enhanced hearing because he was dying laughing after that. Despite not hearing what Akari murmured, Rei began to laugh as well after seeing Akari's sour expression.
"I think you're the first person Rowlet actually likes."
"It's an honor. The little guy is adorable."
He placed his hand on the Rowlet's head and gently began to scratch it. The Rowlet let out a little coo showing it enjoyed it.
"Despite not even knowing what a Pokémon is, you're not afraid of them."
"Is there a reason to?"
He already knows the Rowlet doesn't pose a threat to him. If it did his spidey sense would've warned him already.
"No. Everyone in this damn region is just overly paranoid."
Akari rolled her eyes.
"Hikari, you know why. You've helped a lot but there's still a lot unknown about Pokémon and most are just scared."
"Pokémon are similar to people, some people are harmless and some are assholes."
"That's one way to put it."
"All and all it's just a fear of the unknown."
That actually made a lot of sense. It reminded Peter of the Sokovia Accords. Fear of the unknown was exactly what they were born out of. Though he believes accountability is needed he really should've looked more into the Accords before fighting for them. He's listened to enough of MJ's rants now to know they are a corrupt abuse of power. People tend to be afraid of others with more power than them. That's just a fact.
"People tend to be afraid of what they don't know about."
He gathered his thoughts enough to form them into a sentence. In response Akari let out a groan that almost sounded like a 'yeah'.
Rei looked up at the sky. Peter quickly noticed he was checking the sun. The sun was still up but no doubt would be going down soon. At least before being brought here it was May so Peter thinks it's most likely getting near 8 o'clock.
"We should get going. You don't want to be out here after dark unless you're insane like Hikari."
"Hey! Some Pokémon only come out at night. If we're going to finish the 'dex we're going to need quote unquote 'insane' like me."
"I appreciate what you do Hikari. I just have my survival instincts intact and I'm hoping Peter does too."
"Ehhhh. I've been told I'm reckless and have no sense of self preservation."
"We're doomed."
Rei deadpanned while Peter and Akari began to laugh.
"Where are we going to go?"
Peter finally asked once the laughter died down.
"To Jubilife Village. It's where the Galaxy Team headquarters is."
"We'll have to introduce you to Cyllene and she'll probably make you do some trials which were, pffft, reallyyy easy so literally don't worry about it. The infamous Rowlet who hates everyone liking you is already a great look for you."
"For now you will probably have to stay with either me or Hikari. I don't believe there's any empty living quarters at the moment."
"Wait! Before we go, catch!"
Akari threw Rowlet's pokéball at Peter which he caught with ease.
"She's your problem now! No returns!"
So this was a new beginning. He's going to find a way to get home. He needs to make sure everyone is okay, May, Ned, MJ, and Mr. Stark. But for now he's got Rowlet on his shoulder and Akari and Rei leading him to Jubilife Village as the sun began to set behind them.