Noelle and Cruz/Aqua/Aquaria

Being from another world where the demo pokemon are canon, Noelle is familiar with a different pokedex than everyone else. For the most part, the pokemon she knows are the same as what’s found in her current world, but there are a few that are different. In her homeworld, as the demo starters were canon, trainers who wanted to pick a Water-type starter from Professor Elm would receive a Cruz instead of a Totodile. For Noelle however, her Cruz was actually her fourth pokemon. She already had a Dratini from Lance and two Charmander siblings from Liza, but she also wanted to “do things properly” when she set out on her journey and pick one of the traditional Johto starters as well.

Arriving at the Newbark Lab, Noelle knew that she wanted either Chikorita or Cruz. She already had two Fire-types on her team and was planning on following in her father’s footsteps to train Dragon-types and similar pokemon. Meganium and Aquaria both resemble reptiles or dragons of a sort, so either one would be a good addition to the three pokemon she already had. In fact, she found that she was having quite a bit of trouble deciding which one she actually wanted. Both were so cute, and would grow up to be so strong… she couldn’t choose! Luckily, she didn’t have to. Cruz, getting impatient at how long this prospective trainer was deliberating, decided to show off her strength by leaping off the table and picking a fight with Noelle’s Dratini, who had been minding his one business at his trainer’s side. Once the fight was broken up, Noelle couldn’t help but be impressed at Cruz’s boldness, so she was confident in choosing the Water-type to bring with her.

Years later, when Noelle Falls, Cruz, now fully evolved into Aquaria, comes with her along with the rest of Noelle’s pokemon. Once Noelle is taken in by Interpol, there’s a bit of fuss over Aquaria since, while they have encountered various strange pokemon that came from other worlds, Aquaria is the first of her kind recorded. Noelle is a bit nervous to let these guys study her partner, but once she’s assured she can be there the whole time – and probably should be since she knows Aquaria better than any of the scientists at this point – she agrees to let them take some observations and tell them what she knows about Aquaria’s biology and the like. Interpol has a list of other-world pokemon that is sent out to the various Leagues so Noelle doesn’t have to worry about getting questioned for having such an unusual pokemon, but they still get plenty of stares in public. Aquaria on her part, loves the attention, preening at the fact she’s considered rare and special, the only one of her kind to exist here. Noelle finds her pokemon’s attitude pretty amusing and will answer any questions people may have about her, always happy to show off her beloved pokemon.

Draco and Kingdra

While Noelle having a pokemon from another world makes perfect sense, somehow all of Ethan’s other children end up with them as well. Whether this is merely coincidence or some kind of cosmic conspiracy is a well-debated subject in the family. In Draco’s case, it’s his Kingdra that turns out to be from another world, though he has no idea of this until he evolves and grows arms and small wings. Draco initially panics, wondering if somehow he interfered while Seadra was evolving and that messed things up, but once he calms down a bit and tries to think through what could have happened, he remembers that Ethan has a strange Tangrowth-like pokemon that supposedly evolved from a normal Tangela. At this point, Draco is a sullen teenager who currently despises his father for a variety of mostly petty reasons, so he immediately blames Ethan and Gela for what happened to Kingdra. Somehow, Gela must have corrupted Seadra or something since they did always like playing with each other.

Draco storms home to confront his father, but before he can do so, he runs into Noelle, who’s visiting home during a break from work. When she sees her little brother’s Kingdra, she exclaims that it looks just like the Kingdra did back in her original world and is shocked when Draco explains that this is what his Seadra evolved to look like. Later on, after dinner, the whole family sits down to try and figure out just how exactly this whole ordeal came to pass. After some debate, it’s Ethan who supplies the most likely answer, recalling how Draco first met his Horsea. When Draco was just a wee child of 7, he was quite jealous of how his cousin Arethusa had a Horsea and he did not. He wanted one of his own and begged and begged his parents to take him to Kanto so he could catch one. After all, Arethusa had gotten her Horsea from Clair, so if Draco could catch his own, he’d prove that he was better than her. Eventually, they relent, and Ethan and Draco head out to Route 12 for a day trip that weekend, ready to do some fishing.

It turns out that Horsea are fairly rare, however, so the trip ends up entailing quite a bit of sitting and waiting around. For Draco, it’s incredibly frustrating and boring. They’ve tried fishing, placing food in the water to lure pokemon, they even borrowed a nearby fisher’s Starmie that knew Surf to head out onto the water to search, but to no avail. The only pokemon they’ve found are the usual Magikarp and Tentacool. Just as Draco is beginning to give up hope, he notices a nearby commotion. Gela, who had been sitting on the edge of the dock splashing water with her tentacles seems to be interacting with another pokemon. Draco looks for his father, but Ethan is busy talking to a fisherman, so he heads over by himself. Lo and behold, Gela is playing with a Horsea! Draco can scarcely believe his luck as he fumbles for one of the pokeballs Ethan gave him and tries to carefully approach the pair. Horsea notices the incoming boy and beings to dart away, scared off from his new playmate by the approaching human, but pauses when he hears Draco’s desperate cries for him to come back, “Please! Please don’t go! I really want to be your friend!” Moved by this human’s sincerity, Horsea turns around and slowly approaches the docks again, as Draco himself is doing his best puppy-dog eyes in the hopes that Horsea will know just how much he wants to befriend him. Horsea glances at Gela, who nods encouragingly, then slowly approaches Draco’s outstretched hand and bumps against the pokeball, successfully being caught. Draco runs back to Ethan with his new pokemon, babbling excitedly about how he succeeded, and the two return home triumphant, Draco getting to ride on his father’s shoulders, pokeball in one hand and the ice cream cone Ethan bought him as a special treat in the other.

After recounting those fond memories of simpler, pre-sullen teen times, Ethan concludes that Horsea must have recognized Gela as being a pokemon from his own homeworld and approached her as a result. Draco has to admit that that explanation makes the most sense, but… on the one hand, he doesn’t want to acknowledge that Ethan was right about something so is grumpy, while on the other hand, this does prove that Seadra evolving into an odd Kingdra was Ethan’s fault after all so he wants to be smug… in the end he just mumbles something incoherent and sulks out of the room, though deep down he’s quite pleased to have such a rare and unique pokemon. Down the line, once the grumpy teen years are over and Draco is admitting he loves his father again, he does thank Ethan for being the reason he and Kingdra ultimately got to meet, and apologizes for blaming him for “breaking” Kingdra and thinking that Ethan’s Gelanla was weird, as his pokemon is perfect the way he is, just like Gela.