"You could start by reciting a text you have memorized, maybe a song or poem. Once it has a little to work with it can try to learn more vocabulary by showing you pictures and having you name them, and grammar by providing example sentences and having you mark them as grammatical or not.

Mind if I step out for a bit while you and Kellim work on this and make sure my schedule is freed up? My boss should be cool with a last-minute PTO request on the grounds of 'something really weird but not strictly policing-related came up and Kellim's unusual skill as a psychic bridge is needed', it's happened before, but my boyfriend will probably want some additional explanation of what's going on."

"Your - ah - I think that should be fine," the magic animals seem tame.

He can recite the Anthem of the Bright Way without choking on it if he doesn't try to be rhythmic or tuneful.

Frank hovers as Kyeo recites the song, then moves to go.

"See you in a bit, um—crap, I never introduced myself, how rude of me. I'm Frank. Frank Jones. What's your name?"

"Kyeo Sebe Luk."

"See you in a bit, Kyeo."

Frank steps out. He's gone for about an hour; in that time, the machine translation program is able to get up to the level of a rudimentary phrasebook, sufficient for simple transactions and conveying that one doesn't speak the local language.

Frank knocks on the door as he returns.

"Come in?"

Frank enters holding a phone. It's a different one from the one he had earlier.

"Got you one of my old phones to borrow until you have your own! It's pretty crappy but it can run the machine translation program, and it's got a prepaid card with a few hours of calls left on it. I can also get you a government ID made if I know your age, apparently being spat out here by a portal counts the same as being born here, for citizenship."

Oh he'd been so optimistic with the free room and whatnot that this was a civilized place. Prepaid. "Thank you. How long are your years?"

"A year is three hundred sixty-five days and a day is twenty-four hours and an hour is sixty minutes and a minute is sixty seconds and a second is—"

Frank inhales.

"One, one thousand," he barks rapidly.

"Well, that's... as far as I can recall identical to Earth Standard, so I'm - maybe twenty-one soon or recently but probably twenty."

"Twenty-one is the age to drink alcohol here, if that influences what you want me to report."

"Alcohol is a vice."

"A common opinion! So's the opinion that it's one of the great joys of life, though, so I figured I'd give you all the information. I'll give them a birthdate that has you at twenty, turning twenty-one soon."

"Thank you."

"No problem! Anything else I can help you with today, or should I leave you to your machine training? Dinner is served at the Pokemon Center around 6 PM—that's about two hours from now—and they'll ring a bell to call you down for it."

"Once this software is more fully trained how will I load it onto the phone?"

"Oh, just make an account. It's the little button on the top left, looks like a cartoon person. Then everything you do on the laptop will be backed up to some data center somewhere, and then when you log into your account on your phone it can be downloaded."

"I see. - how are you spelling my name in this alphabet?"

"K-y-e-o."

Account account. "My first name will suffice here?"

"Yeah, you can make it anything! As long as you'll remember it. Or you can use the password manager, it's the app on the phone with the shield icon and it's got a little in-app tutorial."

"Maybe once I can read. It took me a long time to learn my second language, though I suppose a third might be faster."

"Fair enough! What else can I help with for now?"

"Other people who have been - portaled in - came from worlds with Pokémon, but they're new to me, what do I need to know about making sure that I am - safe, polite, etcetera -"

"For safety, the most important thing is not to leave the bounds of a city and go walking the routes until you have a Pokemon of your own. The gates of cities in Unova look like this," he shows a picture of a building on his phone, "so don't go through there without a Pokemon or a Trainer as an escort. If you wanna get to a different city without walking the routes, you can fly on a Pokemon or take a vehicle of some sort, we've got boats to Castelia and from there you can get about anywhere. Etiquette around Pokemon is...you give them the same amount of personal space you'd give a human, you've been giving me a normal amount. If you wanna pet one or give them a treat, you ask their Trainer if it's okay. Pokemon don't really mind being ignored, but if you wanna put a Trainer in a good mood and they have a Pokemon out, it doesn't hurt to ask the Pokemon's name or what it does."