~=~ DISCLAIMER ~=~

'Pokémon' and 'Pokémon Mystery Dungeon' belong to Nintendo.

"Agh! It hurts, IT HURTS! Make it stop!"

Raphi squinted his eyes as hard as he could. Another scream escaped his throat as the rest of his bones broke one at a time, slowly reforming themselves. He spit out a fluid which he presumed was his own blood.

Wh-Wha-at i-i-isss-s ha-appennnn-in-ng t-to m-mme?!

All of his fingers and toes painfully merged together, forming paws. Light brown fur started to sprout everywhere, covering his whole body. His eyes burned infernally while every part of it began shifting and reconstructing. His teeth splintered and rearranged themselves, causing massive internal bleedings in the process.

His clothes ripped and faded into nothingness when his agony grew once again, reaching his ears. The ear cartilage on both sides was torn apart und newly divided.

He screamed on top of his aching lungs until they and other vital organs collapsed inside of him, reconstructing themselves and suffocating his anguishing screech.

Yet another twinge struck his body, causing him to finally black out.

…

"Wh-Where… Where am I?" Raphi stammered, batting his eyelids.

The pain was gone, replaced by an overwhelming cold.

"No wonder." he mumbled and shuddered. "I'm on the slope of a snowy mountain in the middle of the night, caught in a blizzard, buried half underneath the snow!" Coughing heavily, he continued: "This day can't get any better…"

Still exhausted and freezing, he started to faint again, barely seeing the silhouette of somebody coming right his way.

…

Gasping for air, Raphi awoke, feeling much better, but still a little weak nonetheless.

Carefully examining his surroundings, he checked for danger, but found none. To his surprise, he lay in a cave covered in a warm blanket, with a fire near him. Furthermore, a hole in the ground near the fire held some drinking water in it.

"I see you're finally awake. How are you doing?" a voice said behind Raphi. He quickly turned around, only to see his own confusion in the eyes of a Glaceon in front of him.

What the …? A Glaceon? B-but I can understand it and… His thoughts were interrupted by the Ice Pokémon.

"I must say, it is extremely rare to find a Leafeon in this area..." She examined Raphi while smiling curiously.

"I um- WAIT WHAT?! LEAFEON?!" He anxiously looked down, discovering a pair of paws. Terrified, he sprinted to the drinking water, ignoring the worried looking Glaceon. Please don't be real, please don't be real, PLEASE DON'T BE REAL!

Raphi froze at his own reflection, his mouth completely dry, his eyes spread wide open in shock. No longer was he a young man with curly hair. Instead, a horrified Leafeon stared back at him. When he tilted his head slightly and raised one paw, the Pokémon in the water followed every move without delay.

"I… I r-really am a… Leafeon…" the former human stammered.

"Of course you are, why wouldn't you be?" questioned the Glaceon, entering the reflection to his left. "Are you alright?" she asked with a worried gaze.

"N-No… This can't be! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!" He shed a tear into the water, disrupting the reflection. "I am supposed to be a human, not a Pokémon!" the Leafeon cried, stomping on the ground with his right front paw out of anger and confusion. Oh god… What...?! N-No, why?! HOW?! I-I think I'm having a mental breakdown!
Raphi grasped his head and breathed heavily. To his surprise, he felt a stinging pain and instantly pulled back his paws to examine the cause. OUCH! W-Wait, are these… claws? Oh no, why is this all happening?! This whole situation… it can't be real! I'm not supposed to be like this! I AM A HUMAN AND NOT A POKÉMON!
After a few minutes passed, he finally calmed down and partially accepted the truth. Swallowing his anxiety, he turned to face the Glaceon.

"I… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Oh, where are my manners: I'm Raphi… the Leafeon, apparently."

Not showing any sign of fear, the Glaceon looked him in the eyes. "Nice to meet you Raphi! I'm Glaceon, but you can call me Glace for short. You said, you were a human before? Then why do you look like a Pokémon?"

"That's just it. I have no idea how and why I got turned into one. All I can remember is my name and personality. I woke up in the middle of the mountains, that's all I know. Believe me or not, but I'm telling the truth." answered the Grass Pokémon.

"Actually, I do believe you" said Glace without hesitating and chuckled. "The reaction to your mirror image was real, no doubt." Her vision turned more serious. "You were truly scared when you discovered it. When I found you, you were unconscious and completely covered in snow, only your head was looking out. I was wondering how anybody could get lost this far into the mountain…"

"Oh, so you were the silhouette I saw before blacking out! – I was wondering how I got here, but that explains it. Thank you very much for saving me, I probably would've been frozen to death by now!" Out of habit he wanted to stretch out his hand, but remembered that it wasn't possible anymore, so Raphi went with a smile instead. "I fear I don't have anything of value to show my gratitude though."

"Oh don't worry about it, saving Pokémon is my job. You were lucky I was on my way back from an expedition." Before Raphi could ask what exactly her job consisted of, she continued: "I'm part of a guild that specialises in rescuing Pokémon in danger and helping those in need. Oh yeah, before it slips my mind, I found this near you!"

She walked to the spot where Raphi woke up and picked up two torn halves of a scarf with her mouth and dropped one piece in front of him.

"I suppose this was your accessory as a human? Do you mind if I keep the other half? I think it would look great on me!" said Glace, expecting an answer.

The scarf was a mixture of olive green, red and grey colours and slightly ripped at both ends.

"No, of course not, keep it! I suppose it was mine, though I can't recall it." he said, inexpertly putting the piece of fabric around his neck.

"Great, thanks!" Enthusiastically (and with much more elegance) she donned her half of the scarf. "Anyway, what are you going to do now?"

"I knew this question would come." Raphi stared on the ground and paused for a second. "Since I don't have any memory of the events that caused all this mess, I don't have a clue on what to look out for. The world is big, the solution to this problem could be anywhere. Without a hint, it is basically hopeless. It would be reasonable to just accept my fate and live a life amongst Pokémon until I die."

Glace listened in silence to his words. She wanted to build him up, yet she couldn't think of the right words. Her eyes started to glisten with tears at the depressing situation.

"However," Her ears rose when she heard his strong voice. She looked him directly in the eyes, which were full of determination. "Like I said, I recall my name AND my personality. As a result, I know my characteristics. And one of my defining traits, one of my greatest strengths - is my determination. If I've set myself a goal, I'll try everything to achieve it! With every little step, I'll come closer to the finish line, no matter what! I am going to find out why I am here and how I'll get back to where I came from, even if I have to travel to the end of the world - and NOTHING is going to stop me!"