"Holy guacamole!" Zac said, looking around the lab with eyes as wide as billiard balls. "This one one heck of a bloody thing! It all looks so real!" He took a book off one of the professor's shelves, leafing through it.

"Sorry! Yeah Zac, that's me. Sign me up for whatever's on the menu, just give me a sec to get used to this all. It's a bit new to me, but as the nun said to the bishop, how hard can it be?" he said, grinning madly. He was having a hell of a time and he'd barely gotten his feet under him.

He nodded as the professor talked. Things were starting to come together. He'd woken up in more confusing situations than this before, this was nothing too wild. "A personality game. Okay, sounds easy enough," he said, putting the book down so he could rub his hands together. "Hit me with six of the best, doc!"

Zac let out a whistle, and scratched his chin. "Startin' me off with the easy ones, ay?" he joked. "I'll tell ya what, Doc, the first part is way harder than the second. I've always loved fairytales. I'll hedge my bets and use Jack and the Beanstalk and Cinderella, because they're both great examples of what I'm talking about." Buzzster was on a roll now.

"In Jack and the Beanstalk, everything's far from ideal. He's poor, his mum's sick, and he barely has two bent pennies to rub together. And then he gives his last thing of worth to someone who promises him magic. Now normally that would be a tragedy about a naïve boy, but no! Jack was right to chase magic, and it pays off! Wild adventures up into the clouds! Giants! Magical items that bring them wealth and happiness." He slapped the cover of the book he'd placed on the desk. "That's the world I want to live in."

Zac appeared to have forgotten about Cinderella, so he moved on. He pondered the second half of the question.

"I don't like Hansel and Gretel," he said. "Too much cannibalism."

The second question was far easier, and he shot back an answer almost as soon as the Ash had finished speaking. "Rum and coke. Easy. Everyone knows how to make one, and nobody's ever out of the ingredients. Besides, I've got a bit of a sweet tooth. Just like Hansel and Gretel I guess." He laughed, an easy laugh that filled the cold lab.

"Saved the best for last then. Just like a math test. Okay then doc, well how about I answer your question with a quote." He cleared his throat. “There's a part of me that thinks perhaps we go on existing in a place even after we've left it.” He nodded slowly, as if savoring the taste of the words. "I read that in a book once and it's stuck with me. That's what I think the afterlife is. It's the world still spinning once we're gone, but changed for us having been."

"Whoa!" Buzzster said, his face lighting up as he took the ball from the professor. "I know just what to do with one of these," he said, winking at Ash. He did a quick trick, moving it from one hand to the other in front of her, before making it disappear, only to pull it out from behind one of her ears. When that didn't elicit a strong reaction his smile dimmed a little. "Tough crowd I guess. Okay doc, what do I do with it?"

As if summoned by his words, the Pokeball burst open and a tiny creature appeared on the floor of the lab. It looked like a dog. No, a more like a hamster? Dinosaur? It was tough to describe, and all Zac knew is that he was really in the thick of it now. He looked at the ball, which had the name of the Pokemon written on it. "Chikorita. Is that its name? His name?"

"I'm a girl!" Chikorita said, in a voice bright like summer sun. She scampered over to Zac's feet. She looked tiny compared to his huge boots. "What's your name?" asked the Chikorita, as she started rubbing against it, releasing burst of herbal scent that made the lab smell more like a community garden.

"I'm Zac! And you're...a Pokemon?"

"Of course!"

Zac looked up at Professor Ash, and was about to ask her something very stupid but stopped himself. "So we're, like, family now?"

"Yay! Family!" cried Chikorita, and the air filled with the smell of lemongrass. Her head lead wrapped around Zac's leg like she never wanted to let him go.

"Well hell bloody yeah!" Buzzster said, looking between the professor and his new green friend. "I guess it's about time I find out where the rest of my family has gotten to. Doc! How do I find Chryssa?"