Chapter 1

"Thank you very much!"

I walked away from the Kecleon Brothers' store, munching away on my Apple. I needed to save my strength. Today was the day I was going to join the Guild, of course. I had tried before, and it was pretty scary looking, but by tonight I knew I would be an official explorer!

I was scared.

Now normally, the great Rito was not scared. But there were stories. Stories about Wigglytuff's Guild. They say that the training is rigorous, and the Guildmaster is fearsome. Nobody will even tell me what happens if you make the Guildmaster mad…

I shook my head to try and clear the thoughts. It was time to do this- time to be strong. Looking up the steps to the Guild, I took a deep breath to unsuccessfully calm my nerves, and then headed up slowly. The last thing I needed now was to make a fool of myself and fall on simple steps.

What I saw there in the falling sunlight was Wigglytuff's Guild in all its glory. Even from the outside, it was intimidating. Two totem poles rested on each side, and a torch carrying crackling fire flanked each. Smack in the middle of the setup was what appeared to be a teepee of Wigglytuff's head. A scary iron gate barred the way in. Maybe there was a button or something.

I stepped forward.

"Pokémon alert! Pokémon alert!" a voice screamed below. I jumped about…ten feet in the air? Scared out of my wits, I looked down to see some sort of grate below me, leading to what at the time looked like the darkness that would be the death of me. My feet moved faster than my mind, though as soon as my mind caught up it agreed with immediate flight. As I ran away, I faintly heard behind me, "False alarm, just another psycho!"

I panted upon reaching the bottom of the long staircase, then looked around me. In the fading sunlight, I could see barely any Pokemon around, but I scurried to the beach, not taking any chances. If I headed home tonight, surely someone who I had bragged to about joining the Guild would see me. Damn it, I thought bitterly as I crossed onto the sand, though I was more startled and upset than angry. I had come so close this time! I had actually taken a step forward! But as soon as somebody spooked me, I fled. What a big baby I was.

Settling myself on the smooth sand, I stared out onto the setting sun. Its gentle light and reflection off the waves managed to calm me down some. When a bubble drifted into my vision, I looked slightly up. Perched on the cliff above me were several Krabby, blowing big, beautiful bubbles. Bubbles, waves, sunset…

I sat back, taking it in. "I always come here when I'm feeling down..." I muttered happily to myself. Not many other Pokemon knew of this restful haven. Deciding to find to get closer to the surf, I got up and…what was that? I turned my head back to the flash of green I had seen out of the corner of my eye. Was that a...Pokémon? Immediately, I ran up closer to find that it was a Pokemon. This was…uh…a Chikorita. Clearly female, by the conservative way she curled up on the beach. So what was a courageous, helpful Shinx like me going to do for a young, helpless maiden?

Well...I panicked.

I did the first thing that came to my mind- I shook the Chikorita desperately, having never been in such a panicked state before. "Hey? ...Wake up! Please...wake up!"

The Chikorita stayed still. Sweat began to pour down my face, and as I was about to perform a crude form of mouth-to-moth resuscitation, she began to stir. I stepped back and watched her eyes open, grinning as she slowly drew into an upright sitting position.

"Huh...?" the Chikorita mumbled, glancing about her surroundings with a nervous and confused gaze.

"Oh thank Arceus! You woke up!" I exclaimed, then gave her a half-grin. "I probably woulda passed out if you hadn't woken up when you did."

An awkward silence ensued, in which she stared directly into my eyes with her big red ones. When it was starting to get creepy, she suddenly asked with a confused frown, "Why are you talking?"

Now it was my turn to be confused. "Uh, yeah, you come from a mute village or something?" She gave me another confused look, desperation obvious on her face. I felt bad; nobody usually wakes up randomly on the beach. "Uhm…sorry…look, my name's—"

I stopped talking as I watched her turn around and around, looking at herself, as though she were a Lillipup chasing her tail. Of course, however, she wore a look of complete fear and disbelief. I felt obligated to say something. "Uh…are you alright? You were just unconscious here, when I found you—"

"What do I look like to you?" the Chikorita suddenly asked frantically, staring right into my eyes once again.

I stumbled over my words before replying, "…A Chikorita. You look like a perfectly normal Chikorita. Now, as I was saying, are yo—"

The Chikorita let out a small yelp of despair before running over to the surf and staring right down into it. I scratched my head with a paw, wondering how I even got into this weird situation to begin with. Finally, the Chikorita slowly came back over. Her face was an expression of complete calm, except for her eyes opened wide in shock as she stared at some point in space.

"I am a Chikorita," she said quietly to herself as I watched nervously. "I am a Chikorita…" She closed her eyes tight and looked at the ground. "But…I'm not a Chikorita…"

"Are you mentally sound?" I finally deadpanned, putting a paw on her back. Sure, I can understand the confusing circumstances, but this was just nonsense. My sarcastic demeanor slipped once again when she looked up with tears in her eyes. I was not the one in trouble here, I reminded myself. Try to communicate, I pushed myself.

"Ah…I meant…what do you mean, you're not a Chikorita?" I tried.

Thankfully, I got a response. "I'm not a Chikorita. I'm a human."

Well, not the response I was expecting.

"WHAT? A human? But you're not! I can see you perfectly clearly…"

"Please, try to understand," she interrupted. "I know I'm not a Chikorita. This is…somehow…I got turned into a Pokemon. Please, believe me." Those tearful red eyes, with a smidgen of hope, accompanied her plea.

To this day, I still don't know what happened there. It was certainly farfetched, the idea of a human waking up as a Pokemon one day. Maybe it was because I lived amongst good Pokemon who rarely lied. Maybe it was because this Chikorita herself had no reason to lie to me. I don't know. But I do know that in that moment, for whatever reason, I put my full trust in her words.

"Yes. I believe you," I stated seriously. The Chikorita's face flooded with relief, and I smiled back at her, glad to have relieved some of her stress. I took this as an okay to continue. "So. What's happened? Can you tell me why you're here? And how you became a Pokemon?"

Her face became thoughtful at my words, then dismayed as she looked up at me. "I…I can't. I don't remember anything."

I frowned, thinking. "You don't remember anything? Nothing at all? Besides being a human?"

She took a deep breath. "Let me try…" I watched as she closed her eyes tightly, not daring to break her train of thought. When she opened them, she gave me a half hearted smile. "Only one thing…"

I smiled reassuringly. "That's alright. Better than nothing. What is it?"

"My name. My name..." She took another deep breath. "My name is Ivy."

Having taken on the role of comforter at this point, I gave another smile, this one big, and it brought out a small smile from her too. "Ivy. That's a beautiful name. Good thing you could remember it."

Ivy nodded, and I caught the sparkle of hope in her eyes as the sun dipped below the horizon.