AN: And thus we truly start our adventure. But, while this may be Chapter 1, there's actually a prologue to this. Since it doesn't take place in the Pokemon world and the Jumpchain series will eventually cross many different universe, it isn't used as the first chapter. Also, information on my profile will give a further look into this story that's too long to be a simple author's note. Check one, both, or neither out at your leisure.
s/11856709/1/Jumpchain-0-How-I-Got-Wrapped-Up-in-All-This
Feel free to critique and review. I'm open to all criticism, especially the ones I don't like.
Chapter 1: Me, Myself, and I
The next thing she knew, an alarm blaring beside her woke the brunette up from a deep slumber. She lazily swatted at it until she finally hit something that shut it up. However, the sunlight streaming in from a nearby window made sure that she couldn't just fall back asleep. Sitting up in her bed, sleep-clouded eyes surveyed the room around. Even without perfect vision, she could tell this wasn't her hotel room. She had to say, the fellow had done well for himself. She wouldn't call it magic but he had managed to get her out of there without injury and that was a success in her book.
Though the room he had stashed her in seemed awfully girly. The walls were plastered with pretty pastel patterns of pink and purple. And yet somehow it felt homey. They even had some boy band poster hung on the wall with some dreamy looking lead singer and... did she just describe the head of a boy band as dreamy. Wow, talk about a blast from the past. Must've been since she was young she ever described those bands as such. Still, Gregory, for she knew that was his name, seemed to pull it off. She chalked it up to still being sleep addled and decided now would be a good time to wash up.
For the sake of wanting to preserve whatever was left of her sleep, she pretty much navigated her way there with her eyes still shut. Yet despite being in an unfamiliar house, she knew the way to the restroom by heart. Just down the hall and to the left. She knew so well she had literally walked there with her eyes closed.
She turned on the sink faucet and cupped her hands beneath the running water. It was ice cold and she could feel goosebumps prickle on her arms. Just how she liked it. She let it fill her hands before leaning down and splashing it into her face. Now THAT got her awake. Finally with the sleep out of her eyes, she looked in the mirror, only to find a stranger looking back at her.
OK, that wasn't entirely true. It was indeed her face. Her face when she was, like, ten. A smooth faced youth with freckles along her nose and hair cut just above her shoulders gave a bewildered stare back at her. "This is some mad voodoo shit right here." The mirror reflected her words and she clapped her hands over her mouth. Her voice sounded high pitched and childish, alien to her ears and yet perfectly fitting her current body. But with her initial shock over, now she was growing furious. That conniving little magical prick! He did this to her!
"You think this is funny," she yelled hysterically at the ceiling, as if he was up there watching her with glee. "Is this your idea of a joke?! Well I ain't laughing! So you better change me back right now!" And she did get a reply. From downstairs.
"Young lady, you cut that racket out! Are you trying to upset the neighbors?!" She reflexively flinched as the booming voice of her father berated her from below. She immediately felt shameful and inconsiderate of what she did, even though she and Mrs. Fernworth were hardly on good terms. Or, despite her not supposing to know who the hell that was but inexplicably knowing anyways.
"Sorry," she yelled out in reply, although she wasn't entirely sure if it was meant for her father or Mrs. Fernworth next door. Although it did occur to her that yelling her apologies didn't make it any better.
Now that that was sorted out, the question needed to be sorted out as to what was going on. Why was she stuck in a ten year old's body. No, eleven. Definitely eleven and going on twelve and she wouldn't let anyone say otherwise. Except, that was impossible because she was 31 and well established in life. No, she wasn't nearly that old and was she really arguing with herself?! Right now she was just giving herself a headache and all this confusion was making her anxious. She instinctively reached for her back pocket but realized two things that made her suck air through her teeth. One, her animal print pajama bottoms didn't have back pockets, and more importantly, kids her age weren't allowed to smoke. But she needed something!
Retreating into her room, she ruffled a bit through her dresser before finding what she was looking for. A stash of leftover Halloween candy. All the chocolate had already been eaten up and a lot the other stuff, like licorice, had been thrown out and traded. But hard candy never went bad and she just so happened to have a bit of it stashed away. Charlotte fished out a blow pop and inspected it. It was no cigarette, but hopefully it would help. She unwrapped it with the haste of a nicotine addict and stuck in her mouth. She was actually really surprised with how much it helped. Maybe after all that time smoking cigarettes when stressed, she supposed having anything to replace it was better than nothing.
Now equipped with her placebo Marlboro, she began pacing the room. Ok, so it had been silly to think he could change this now. That fellow, she was gonna start calling him Mr. E, probably wasn't even aware of her plight. But he had seemed to follow through on his promise. And if nothing else, this proved magic existed. There wasn't any possible rational explanation she could think for this otherwise.
Now that Charlotte was of a sounder mind, she examined herself in a mirror, as if the brunette thought she might've missed anything the first time. And honestly, she couldn't say she looked that bad, for a kid at least. She was a bit more trim than she remembered being at this age. While no means fat, she remembered her stomach always protruding a little until she grew into her body, while the person in the mirror was looked pretty fit and then to her.. She was lightly tanned as if she spent a lot of time in the sun. And if her search through her wardrobe had anything to say, it was that she loved t-shirts and jeans or shorts. She hadn't found a single skirt in that dresser and she searched it quite thoroughly while looking for that candy. She also realized that she was going to have to get used to that person in the mirror actually being her. For ten year, Mr. E had said. She let out a small groan as she realized that meant she'd have to go through puberty again. Outstanding.
As if in response to her groan of exasperation, she noticed some sort of… creature had hopped up on her bed. What it was, exactly, was hard to describe though. It was like a fat pink ball, about two feet tall, she estimated, with stocky hands and legs. It had small black eyes and little blush marks over a comparatively small mouth. Two large triangles sat atop its head and she could only think of them to be ears, with a small tuft of curled fur between them. And on its back was a voluminous tail and a pair of small wings. It was some sort of animal, that much she could say, but it looked like none she'd ever seen. Animals don't look like bipedal pieces of cotton candy.
And yet, despite being at a loss for what it resembled, she knew exactly what it was. This was Marshmallow, a Clefairy her parents had let her choose from the pound on her last birthday. She was the perfect partner for mischief, having an impish personality to match her own. And while those wings on her back were too small and rigid to fly with, they did allow her to float…. Somehow. She had yet to figure out how. Ironically enough, Marshmallow was also a sucker for s'mores.
The pink Pokemon looked up at her as if to ask if everything was okay. The thing was sickeningly pink and cute. She liked it already. Charlotte gave its head a tousle and said, "Yeah, everything's alright. Just a rough morning." The Fairy type (Fairy what-now?) seemed to know exactly what she said and grinned before letting out a very cheerful, "Fairy!"
Wait, was this the partner Mr. E had promised her? Seemed a little on the small side, she'd kinda figured he'd give her something a bit more human and intelligent. However, she was 'assured' that Marshmallow was plenty smart and the best protection she could ever have. Eventually. At the very least, it was comforting to know the life she apparently lived before she took over her own body was going to provide her useful information on what was going on here. Because she if Marshmallow was any indication, this land was far stranger than home.
At least Mr. E seemed to have been honest. He had gotten her out of there. He had given her a partner. And if the view outside the window was any hint, she was in a city. Guess she might as well find out what else he had left her with. Given that this was an apartment bedroom, she didn't have to do more than a cursory look to see that a large satchel purse sat at the foot of the bed. They say you can tell a lot about someone by what was in their purse. Time to embark on some self-discovery.
First was the main pouch, because presumably that was where all the important stuff went. There was only three pouches after all, might as well go with the main one. And the first thing she sees when she opens it? A bike. No, seriously, there was a collapsible bike folded up in the main pouch. Even knowing how it opened up, she wasn't entirely sure where all of the rest of it went, and who carries around a bike in there purse?! This must be Mr. E's idea of a joke. When she asked for a mode of transportation, she'd been expecting something that didn't require pedal power. Then again, she was expecting to be the same age wherever he took her and that hadn't been the case either. Though she supposed she should be thankful, it wasn't like she could drive anymore.
Further inspection revealed a cellphone, or PokeGear as it was called, that, despite its blocky design, had a map, clock, and radio built in to it. Not quite a smartphone but it got the job done. She also found what was apparently a handheld Pokémon encyclopedia. Pointing it at Marshmallow gave her a height, weight, and even told her that it universally considered cute but rare. Charlotte guessed that even in this world, she was just 'born lucky', as her father would say. Both of them now. Finally, there was a special device known as an Echo Recorder. It didn't seem to have anything on it, though she 'remembered' it having an instruction manual saying that it recorded battles and then could replay them as a small hologram. Wait… they had hologram technology but her phone still looked like a brick? Was Mr. E just trying to find the cheapest way to get her what she asked for? Most indications right now pointed to yes.
So far, he'd stayed mostly true. But she still hadn't seen a labtop. She looked all throughout that bag. She refused to believe this thing could hold a collapsible bike and not labtop. Sadly, no such thing could be found. Charlotte sighed, setting the bag down and getting back to her feet. And with her sucker exhausted, it was back to the candy stash to grab another one. Geez, if she kept on sucking on them like this, she was going to need to need a lot more than just the leftovers of last October.
It was as she was turning away from the stash of candy that she finally found the labtop. Plugged into the wall outlet, sitting atop the writing desk in her room. Silly girl, of course! Why hadn't she thought to check the outlets beforehand, it wasn't like it wouldn't need charged. She took it off the table, brushing a red hat that was on top of it aside… and then noticed a small note fall out of the hats brim. Setting down the labtop, she knelt down to read the note.
As requested, I've saved your life and gave you everything you asked for. There… may have been some minor complications, but I'm sure you'll be able to handle it. Enjoy your stay in Kanto!
Still no name, but it was pretty obvious who had put in there. Despite her previous irritation with him, she found her attitude towards him softening after reading the Post-it note. After all, he didn't have to do this and he had done everything she'd requested. She picked up the hat to see if there was anything else in it, but it appeared to have nothing else up its brim. However, she did kind of like it. It was like a traditional newsboy cap, with a rounded top and a stunted brim, all done up in red with a pokeball design on the front. She decided she'd keep it.
…Oh, right! She should probably get dressed. While her pajamas might be comfortable, she'd rather not go outside in it. "Marshmallow, can you close the door for me?" The Clefairy immediately did as told, cementing in the fact that this Pokemon was likely a lot smarter than any pet she'd find at home. She wasn't entirely sure how she felt having it be in the room with her as she undressed, but told herself it wasn't any different than having a dog in her room. Even if Marshmallow eyes looked a lot more intelligent.
She eventually settled on an outfit that both sides of her psyche could agree on. A pair of black legging shorts with golden diamonds down the side and a white tee shirt with a flurry of hearts in every color of red and pink, all seemingly haphazardly scattered across the shirt front. She even found a nice green shrug to wear with her outfit. To top it all off, she used a green clover hairclip she'd found to make a ponytail off to the side, allowing her enough room to put on the red cap at a slightly askew angle. She looked herself over in the mirror, frowning as to whether she like it or not.
"What do you think, Marshmallow? Should I go out in this?" The pink Pokemon gave her what was unmistakably a thumbs-up. She doubted the Clefairy actually knew much about fashion sense, but it did considerably brighten her mood. She gave the little creature a brief hug before stuffing her labtop into her satchel purse and slinging it over her shoulder. And wouldn't you know it, the thing was surprisingly light for having a freaking bicycle in it. Confident she was ready to greet the world, she made her way downstairs, Marshmallow hot on her heels.