Disclaimer: I don't own the wonderful comic Pokémon Adventures, by Hidenori Kusaka, or anything related to the franchise of my childhood, Pokémon. Not making any money with this story either.

A/N: Original completion date: 1/2/13. Written as a late Christmas present for my two sisters. I used the Pokémon Adventures world for this story instead of the Pokémon animé world, since Pokémon Adventures allows me to be more dramatic than the TV show. I always appreciate reviews!

I took the title of this story, as well as all chapter titles, from Pokémon songs. The title is from the second season theme song "Pokémon World." ("We all live in a Pokémon world. I wanna be the greatest Master of them all.") The chapter title is from the third season theme song "Pokémon Johto." (It's a whole new world we live in...)

Rated T for one reference to female dogs as "bitches," blood, intimidation, torture, and violence.

In a Pokémon World

Once, a cruel man used a terrible power to change our world. He made everything the way he wanted it to be, and he ruled over everyone without exception. No one was brave enough to stand up to him—none except Vermillion and Cerulean. The two of them fought against the man courageously. They righted the wrong and returned everything to the way it should be.

—summary of a children's fairy tale, especially well-known in the Orange Islands

Chapter One

Whole New World We Live In

Red of Pallet Town strolled down Route 1, his three prized Pokémon—Bulbasaur, Pikachu, and Poliwrath—at his heels. He was on the road to Viridian City, on his way to the Pokémon Gym there, but he wasn't doing anything particular at the moment. His arms were propped behind his head as he daydreamed about the Pokémon League. Fame, glory, triumph—yeah, and Red standing in the winner's circle. Once he had earned his eight gym badges, he would defeat his rival Blue for the title of the region's greatest Pokémon Trainer.

His Pokémon were scampering along behind him, enjoying the sunshine, when they all came to a collective halt. Red heard their footsteps stop all of a sudden and turned around to see what was the matter. Pikachu's ears were perked up, and Bulbasaur and Poliwrath were looking up at the sky as though they could see something Red couldn't.

"Hey, guys, what's wrong?" Red asked them. He stared at the clouds, on alert. Pokémon could often sense impending events long before humans could—sometimes they picked up on things that were impossible for humans to see. Red waited uneasily for something to happen.

Like a blast from the world's largest Pidgeot, a sudden, ferocious wind exploded out of the blue. Red and his Pokémon were thrown off their feet. Using his arms to shield his face, Red tried to break his fall, but he never hit the ground. The wind bore him high above the trees on an updraft. His vest and hat were ripped off with ease. Gritting his teeth in concentration, he reached out and, as his Pokémon came pelting up at him, grabbed them. First Pikachu in his left arm, then Bulbasaur in his right. The two filled his arms, and he realized he couldn't catch Poliwrath, too.

But Poliwrath didn't need catching. Red stared into his first Pokémon's eyes and knew what Poliwrath would do before he did it. Poliwrath opened his brawny arms wide and latched onto his Trainer with a bear hug, wrapping his arms around Pikachu and Bulbasaur. Poliwrath's strength held the four of them together as they tumbled helplessly on the wind. Red felt more sick than he ever had in his life, and he struggled not to throw up.

But his motion sickness was nothing compared to the new sensation that suddenly began to affect him. Heat and pain seared over every inch of his skin, making him feel as though his clothes were on fire. He let out a howling scream, and the three Pokémon, seeing his pain, cried out, too. Red heard them and shut his mouth, turning his latest scream into a long moan. Through blurred vision he stared hard at them, assessing their situation. The wind was still as strong as ever: they were at its mercy. And now light was shining around him. He could only guess that the glow was what was causing his pain. Was it contagious? Would it spread to his Pokémon, or was it only effective on humans? Red didn't know, and he refused to take the risk that his Pokémon would go through the pain, too. He gave his Pokémon friends a smile wrought with pain and determination. It was the last his Pokémon would see of him for a long time. He pulled Poké Balls from his belt and held them out. Pikachu and Bulbasaur vanished into them, and Red let the Balls go. They were whipped away in seconds. Poliwrath met his eyes, confused and hurt, not knowing why his Trainer was doing these things. "Poliwrath…" Red shut his eyes tightly and shoved his oldest friend hard in the stomach. The Water Pokémon's grip faltered, and he and Red were pulled apart by the wind and blown in different directions. "I'll find you all!" Red bellowed. "That's a promise!" The wind tore his shoes off; he hoped it wasn't about to tear his legs off. The last thing he remembered was the ground rushing up at him.

The air was perfectly still. It didn't even stir the hair on Red's head, even though his hat was long gone. To his enormous relief, the pain in his body had abated. He slid his eyes open and focused them. Uprooted trees and debris were lying around him. Apparently he was all alone in a ravaged forest. He pushed himself up, tried to stand, and fell over. His balance was off—his muscles must be stiff from all that battering. He panted heavily and tried again, only to topple onto his side. Why couldn't he get it right? Reaching up to scratch his head, he got the biggest shock of his life.

His hands weren't hands. They were paws. Growlithe paws—he recognized them right away. "Aaaah!" he tried to scream. Only it came out as, "Gro-oooooow!" Horror struck him so deeply that for a moment he couldn't breathe. He staggered, fell over for the third time, and rolled to his feet—all four of them. Running without a thought to where he was going, he sprinted through the trees, covering ground faster than he ever had before. He ran till he was panting for breath, and when he realized what a dunce he was being, he put on the brakes. He stumbled but managed to keep his footing—moving on all fours was hard to master. This was getting him nowhere. He had to stop and think. There had to be a way out of this.

People. He had to find a town, or a Pokémon Center—anywhere where there were people. Or a phone? He could call Professor Oak, or his mother. But would they listen to the barks of a Growlithe? Red couldn't think about that now. He had to go, find someone to help him, figure out what had happened to him, and make it right. He circled uncertainly and decided to head north. That was where he had been headed before all this had happened.

He trotted on for hours without tiring. Growlithe were gifted with great endurance. When at last he saw a town in the distance, he ran for it with his tongue hanging out. He raced into town and looked around eagerly. The streets were milling with—

Pokémon. More Pokémon than he had ever seen in one place. They clopped and ambled and crawled and slithered and flew up and down the streets. Their grunts and cries filled the air. Where were their Trainers? Was it some sort of Pokémon parade?

Red reared up on wobbly hind legs and planted his paws in the window of a building marked, FOOD. His dog breath fogged the glass, but he didn't need to see much to know that there were no humans inside this place, either. More Pokémon. He tried a house nearby, and then a Mart. Pokémon—everywhere! And no humans to be found! What was wrong with this place?

Red's tail waved in the air, but in a disquieted way. There was something afoot here. Pokémon were the only creatures to be seen, but human articles littered the town peculiarly. A tennis shoe here, a backpack there, seemed to imply that their owners had left them behind, or left in a hurry. Red's thoughts turned darker, and the fur on his neck bristled without his realizing it. Had the humans here been turned into Pokémon, too? Did that mean that Red wasn't just imagining that he was a Growlithe? Or was this another one of those awful dreams of his?

He wandered the streets with the rest of the Pokémon for hours more as the sun set, and long into the night. At last he curled up on a threshold no one was using and fell asleep, only because he was too tired to do anything but.

As soon as he got up the next morning, Red looked around hopefully. His hopes were dashed when he saw that there were still no human beings in sight. His stomach too tight for him to even be hungry, he ran to the Pokémon Center. Inside, there were no nurses on duty, only Chansey running around rather aimlessly. Red hurried past them to the machines in the corner. He had used them many times to see the number of his Pokémon, as well as their stats and health. The machine could transfer Pokémon, too. That was what he was counting on. He figured since he was a Pokémon now, he could transfer himself. He pawed clumsily at the buttons, trying to program the site of transfer. It took him several attempts, but he managed to get the right destination in the end. Now all he needed was a Poké Ball. He nosed around on the floor until he found a dropped Ball that didn't looked missed. Picking it up in his mouth, he placed it onto the transfer grid. Slapping his paw on the "send" button, he whirled to touch his nose to the Poké Ball. He went inside it just as the machine hummed and sent the ball on its way.

The Poké Ball reappeared in a little Pokémon Center in Pallet Town. It quivered, and out burst Red. He stared around eagerly, but his tail drooped as he took in his surroundings. No nurses, no Trainers—no humans—to be found. He growled a Growlithe growl and galloped out of the Center. There was no way this was for real! No way had it happened to his Pallet Town, too!

But to all appearances, it had. The pastel hills of Pallet were full of Pokémon. But no Trainers called their names. No adults walked the sidewalks. No little boys and girls raced down the streets. Cars sat abandoned in the road, and the wind blew the odd piece of clothing or litter along in a lonely way. Red watched with a sinking heart as a knot of Rattata converged on a bowl of Poké Chow sitting on someone's front porch. Although the food was obviously not meant for them, the Rattata didn't seem to care as they scarfed it down and scurried off in search of more. In the café across the street, two Nidorino were fighting over a hot dog, and a Meowth lapped at a puddle of spilled soda.

Red gritted his canine teeth and ran up the street. Left on Hue Road, go two blocks, then up the side street until he could see the Oak Pokémon Lab. His house would be right next door, if it even still existed. Red didn't know what to trust in anymore.

He came to a stop on his front step, trembling. Did he dare to see what was inside? Could he bear it? Before he could dwell on it further, he leaned up against the door and fiddled with the knob until he could get it open. Then he went in.

There was nothing out of the ordinary that he could see. "Mom?" he called out. It ended up being a bark. No answer came. He crept up the hallway. As he continued to see nothing and no one, he began to trot faster. His barks became louder and more urgent. "Grow, Grow, Grow! Grow!"

There was no furniture out of place, no marks on the floor as though someone had been dragged away. The television hadn't been left on, and the kitchen was spick and span. It was as if his parents had simply left on a long vacation without telling him.

Them and every other human in town.

Or the world?

Red let out a vicious growl fraught with all the anger, confusion, and fear whirling inside him. He raced down the stairs and out of the house, knocking over a table and lamp on his way out. Now, at least, there were some upturned pieces of furniture, like an alibi for anyone else who might come knocking. He ran all over town, searching for the one thing he couldn't find. Clumps of Caterpie, Exeggute, and Pidgey scattered out of his way, squawking indignantly, but he didn't care. Never before would Red of Pallet Town have turned a blind eye on such a huge number of Pokémon all gathered together. But now he could hardly stand to see them all milling around, almost mocking him. Where were the humans? Where was the civilization? Where was Professor Oak, who would normally be in his lab working at this hour? Where was his infuriating rival, Blue, and how was it possible that Red missed even him? And most importantly, where were his mother and father?

Red kept up his search until he was completely exhausted. His paws ached, and his stomach was numb. Shocked grief had worn away at him until he could almost feel nothing at all.

He lifted his muzzle and howled at the noonday sun.

"Pup." The single, grunted word from behind him made Red look over his shoulder. A majestic Arcanine stood behind him, dwarfing both him and another Growlithe that stood off to the side. The Arcanine inclined his head in an imposing way, and Red's tail dropped instinctively. "Do you wish to come with me?"

"Come with you?" Red repeated dully.

"Yes." The Arcanine's eyes softened as he said, "It's obvious that you have nowhere else to go." Red wanted to snap at the Arcanine. He wanted to snarl that he already had somewhere he belonged. His home was less than half a mile away!

But he couldn't go back—not now, when everything was so wrong. He could lie on the porch, waiting for the inhabitants of Pallet Town to return. Or he could scavenge for human food like the other Pokémon in town. He didn't want to do either of those things. It was too hard for him to stand seeing his hometown like this. All he wanted to do was leave. And this Arcanine was giving him a chance to do that.

"Okay," he replied in a husky dog-whine. The huge dog Pokémon gave a nod and led the two Growlithe far from Pallet Town, into the almost endless forests.