Chapter 2
The next morning, the room was aglow with the sun's light, and Katherine woke up feeling content in the sunshine. She sat up, rubbing her eyes slowly to adjust, before looking towards the other girl with a smile.
She froze as soon as her eyes caught sight of the girl still asleep on the armchair. Hesitantly, Katherine rubbed her eyes again. It didn't change anything.
The girl was blue. She hadn't noticed last night, more focused on her injuries and also working with fading light, but that was pale blue skin. Even her hair, still in its braid but messy with sleep, was a deep purple color, although that wasn't entirely out of the ordinary.
Katherine stared at her for a moment longer. She really was blue. She also was really cute. That might have been what was throwing her off more. She was also still fully asleep, which might have made the fact that Katherine was watching her still weird.
As her brain started working again, Katherine moved. She grabbed Blossom's pokeball from where she had left it on the nightstand the night before and ducked into the bathroom once again.
Once the door was shut behind her, she let Blossom out. The Bounsweet looked at her, reflecting absolutely none of the confusion and uncertainty that Katherine currently felt.
Katherine looked between her pokemon and her reflection in the mirror over the sink. "There's a girl out there with blue skin. A cute girl. With blue skin!" Blossom chirped at her. Katherine buried her face in her hands. "I don't know why she has blue skin- I don't know anything about her, but I invited her to stay the night anyways. Was that a mistake?"
Blossom chirped at her once again, more fiercely this time. When Katherine didn't react, her pokemon bumped her arm, once again letting sweetness fill the air. Katherine took a deep breath and lifted her head up.
"You're right. She was hurt, so I did what I could to help. That's a good thing." She ran two fingers over one of Blossom's sepals in a gentle stroke. She trilled appreciatively in response. Katherine couldn't help but smile at her pokemon, before locking eyes with herself in the mirror. She had made the choice to help, and would follow through in doing so.
Later, Katherine wasn't sure how long she spent looking at herself in the mirror, thinking. At some point she had shaken herself out of it and decided to get ready for the day, given that she was already in the bathroom. She was halfway through brushing out her hair before a crash from the other room sounded, followed by a yelp from what must have been the other girl.
Katherine stopped mid brush, the hairbrush catching in her hair, only to fall out with a clatter when she rushed to the other room.
The girl was half fallen out of the armchair, looking around confusedly. The sound had roused the pokemon she had brought with her, which had returned to its distrustful corner vigil. It looked more agitated than the night before, but that might have just been Katherine being able to see it better.
As Katherine stepped into sight, the girl's eyes snapped to her. They were a pretty golden color, Katherine distantly noted, and also slightly oddly shaped. They were also wide with uncertainty in a way that echoed Katherine's earlier experience.
There was a babble of indistinguishable words that Katherine was beginning to suspect was more foreign language than just the girl being out of it. She shook herself slightly, before speaking words that Katherine could understand.
"Where am I?"
Katherine took a deep breath and smiled. "You're awake! I don't know how much you remember of last night, but you came back here with me after I found you injured on the beach. Speaking of which, how are you feeling?"
The girl blinked a couple times, as if trying to recall what Katherine was talking about. "I'm okay! I'm still kind of sore but at least my head doesn't hurt as much." She picked herself up so that she was fully back on the armchair as she spoke.
"That's good." There was a moment of silence while Katherine tried to figure out how to ask what she was thinking without being rude. "Does- I mean- The blue skin is normal for you, right? It's not painful- or?" She trailed off awkwardly. "Sorry."
She was answered with laughter as the girl held her hands in front of her as if double checking the color. "Yeah, perfectly normal, at least where I'm from! I guess it's not the same this side of the wormhole?"
Katherine laughed with her, before the end of her statement registered. She cleared her throat. "No, not around here. Now what's this about wormholes?" From where she had fluttered to Katherine's side, Blossom bobbed as if in agreement.
"I think that's how I got here. I've never done it myself, but I've heard that the Ultra Recon Squad up in Megalopolis travels through dimensions through the Ultra Wormholes."
"Oh." Katherine said, not knowing how to respond to that. "Okay. So that's how you'll get back home?"
The girl's face fell, and she shook her head. "I doubt it. From what I understand, which isn't that much, the Ultra Wormholes have been very unstable lately. I doubt the Recon Squad will risk a rescue mission."
Katherine frowned at that. "Your people would just abandon you like that?"
"Of course not!" The girl was quick to refute that. "It's just, they have their own problems to deal with. I'm sure my family and community will do everything in their power to find me, but after all, dimension travel is..." She trailed off.
"I'm sorry." Katherine offered.
"It's alright. Of all the worlds I could have ended up in, I think this one is a pretty good one." She squinted at the window. "It's very bright, if nothing else."
That made Katherine smile. "I haven't been here very long either, but I agree, the Alolan Sun is much brighter than how it was back in Kalos."
The girl nodded thoughtfully. "The Alolan... Sun? That's where the light comes from?"
"Well, yes." Katherine paused. "Do- do you not have a sun in your dimension?" The other girl's face remained blank. "A moon? Even stars?"
Finally, she lit up in recognition. "Oh, no, we don't. At least, not anymore."
"So you just live in the darkness? That seems kind of sad, but maybe I'm wrong."
Katherine was answered with a quick shake of the girl's head. "No, we have light. Or at least everyone close to Megalo Tower does. The rest of us make due from what reflects from Megalopolis." She shrugged. "At least that light never burned me!"
"Oh!" Katherine exclaimed. "I totally forgot that you were sunburnt!" She took a few steps forward before stopping in her tracks. "Do you mind if I take a look?"
"Sure! You know more than I do about... what did you say? Sunburnings?"
Permission received, Katherine approached the girl's side, Blossom fluttering up to her shoulder as she did. The other girl held out her arm for examination, wincing at the movement. Katherine was careful to be gentle as she pulled the torn edges of her sleeve out of the way. This close she could tell that the make of all the girl's clothes was strange, but that made sense for being from another dimension.
A whole alternative dimension. Katherine still hadn't entirely wrapped her head around that yet, and didn't think she would be doing so anytime soon. Certainly, for now, freaking out about what might count as aliens was lower priority than helping the girl in front of her.
With the day's light, Katherine was able to get a much better look at the sunburn she had seen last night. It wasn't as dark as she had feared; probably in due part to her not being aware of the girl's skin color when she had first clocked it. It, like most sunburns, would heal with time and the avoidance of further irritation. Regardless, it had to have been painful, and would continue to be so while it healed.
"I'm happy to say that you'll be just fine!" Katherine announced, stepping back. "Certainly some Rawst Berry Lotion would be a big help but the damage has been done. Now you'll just have to keep it cool and wait."
The girl smiled at the news. It was a very pretty smile, Katherine thought. "That's great!" Her smile turned sheepish. "Do you know where I could get some of that lotion?"
Katherine laughed. "I'm sure there's a shop somewhere around here that sells some. You're not the first visitor to Alola to get sunburned, although you have a great excuse for not exactly being prepared. Speaking of which..." She looked at the other girl's battered and torn clothes. "You could probably also use a change of clothes as well."
"Probably." The girl agreed, albeit pensively.
"Don't worry. I can help you get some of those as well." Katherine assured her. "It'll be a fun shopping trip!"
That did bring the girl's smile back, which Katherine couldn't help but return. "I appreciate it-" She paused. "Uh, what's your name?"
"Oh." It hadn't even occurred to Katherine that the two of them hadn't even yet introduced themselves. So much had happened and it hadn't even been a full day yet. "My name's Katherine!"
"Katherine." The girl repeated softly. "Well, thank you for all of your help, Katherine!" She finally stood out of the armchair, stretching as she did so. "Shrub Berry, at your service."
The name was unfairly cute, which meant that it did fit the girl, Shrub, well, Katherine thought as she leaned down to pick the fallen hairbrush back up. She did still have half her hair to finish brushing, after all.
As she started to pull the brush through her hair, the movement dislodged Blossom from her shoulder. The Bounsweet fell to the floor with a squeak, followed by another one as she righted herself. From the corner where it hadn't moved, the strange pokemon Shrub had brought in, probably also from another dimension, giggled.
Katherine felt like giggling too.