It was just another day in Kanto for me, Dan. I was on Route 12, going down the long path of bridges to reach Route 13. Ditto were there, so I heard, and being a Pokemon collector I had to get down there to finish my Pokedex and "catch 'em all."

Everything felt calm for the longest time, just walking alongside the calm waters. Almost nobody but the fishermen and I were there. Then one noticed me, a young Trainer boy looking ready for battle.

"Hey, you!" he cried, putting his rod down for a moment. "Why don't we-"

"Not in the mood!" Without a second thought I unleashed Fearow from her PokeBall and commanded her to fly.

We were soon above the clouds, me flying on her sturdy brown back. I felt a little guilty, not battling him. I didn't have much money on me, and even if I could get some from battling others my Pokemon couldn't afford to lose any health for the coming battle.

I'd lost focus on where Fearow was going. I wanted to land in Route 13, where I should have gone before, but she sent us all the way back to Lavender Town. I sighed and made my way back via the long, long bridge. This time I was careful about sneaking past the fisherman, who was now concentrating on fishing rather than unsuspecting Trainers.

Finally I was at Route 13. I came to a small patch of grass surrounded on three sides by trees. Finding Ditto wasn't as hard as I thought, actually; sure, I found a couple of Bellsprouts and even a Farfetch'd before catching a glimpse of one, but it didn't take half an hour to find one. My PokeDex immediately identified it poking out of the tall grass, giving a brief description of the Transform Pokemon. As I tiptoed closer I could see it was just a pink blob. I thought people were just being bland about describing it, but that was all it really was.

I could hardly stand letting it squish around nonchalantly for another second. I sent out my Alakazam, whom I nicknamed Psycho back when I was young. We had a special bond, especially in battle because we never lost a match together. "A-la-ka!" he chanted upon release, gripping the spoons he used to channel psychic energy tighter.

"Use Calm Mind first!" I commanded. This was our strategy every battle. Following my order, Psycho took a deep breath and concentrated on only the Ditto.

"Dit?" The blob finally turned around, looking dazed. Slowly, while my Pokemon was calming down, he transformed into an exact copy of Psycho! It looked so strange, and made me want to capture Ditto even more.

"Now use Psychic!"

"Zam!" He held his spoons out in front of him, channeling his psychic power through them. It came out in the form of a large, purple beam, which hit Ditto in the chest. It was apparently a critical hit, since the Pokemon was knocked out in one shot. Ditto reverted back to its original form, laying out cold in the grass. Having done a good job, Psycho returned to his PokeBall.

PokeBalls have the annoying feature of not capturing a Pokemon you've knocked unconscious, so it looked like I'd have to try again. I was discouraged from finding another one or waiting six hours for this one to wake up again. Then I thought it would be a good idea to go back to that fisherman and apologize, then maybe battle him.

I started to make my way towards the bridge of Route 12 when I stopped myself. The bag, something inside of me beckoned. What about the bag? Was something special in there? I took the backpack off of my shoulders, shuffling through my things to see if there was anything unusual in there. There wasn't. By the time I looked up, I saw something that would change my life forever.

Something appeared in front of me, standing on the bridge. I could only describe it as a fuzzy hologram of someone, or something. The orange-and-purple thing was not from this world, I knew. It couldn't even be a ghost. "Battle," it said in a cold, robotic voice. I had no choice but to accept, as he sent out his Pokemon immediately.

The "Pokemon" was another hologram, only this one shaped like the letter L. My PokeDex didn't identify it as anything, so it definitely hadn't been recorded anywhere. I thought I could see it smile, but could an otherworldly thing such as this smile?

I was stunned. This was all beyond belief. The PokeBall in my hand felt different, and I felt different too. "G-go, Psycho," I stuttered.

I hoped my Alakazam could somehow bring me back to reality, that he was something normal I could hold on to, but instead was no longer himself. He was not an Alakazam, but a Bulbasaur. I felt crushed inside, as if my friend had gone and been replaced with another. I just looked at it for a while, a tear coming to my eye, and I thought I saw Psycho - no, Bulbasaur - flicker. What was going on?

"Use Calm Mind," I ordered weakly, but the Bulbasaur shook his head and backed away. Now I knew it was Psycho, only in another body, and that was even worse. Adding to the sadness was the fact that I couldn't back out from a Trainer battle, yet the only move I could really make would be a bad idea, according to Psycho. Sooner or later I would have to attack. After all, the holographic Trainer had already given me the upper hand by waiting quietly for my first move.

I rubbed the tears away, finding the strength to repeat myself more forcefully. "Use Calm Mind, now!"

"Bul...baaa..." Psycho was trying his hardest to calm himself under the circumstances. He flickered more and more until suddenly he exploded violently! I would have laughed any other time, but seeing my old friend knock himself out just trying to calm down crushed me.

The explosion, as big and fiery as it was, didn't make the enemy budge. I shook my head and kneeled beside the smoking Bulbasaur, picking him up and crying over his body. He would heal from this attack, but never from this moment. Now I felt even weirder; I could feel myself flickering in and out of time and space. I felt like I would dissolve into nothing, and so would Psycho. I felt terrible and heartbroken.

Then I thought, Maybe he won't want to fight if I throw a PokeBall at it. It sounded like a good idea, mainly because I had no other at the moment. Pushing back more tears I recalled Psycho. I took the ball I was going to use on Ditto and threw it at the thing, and I wondered for a moment if it was solid. The ball bounced off of it, as though it were a brick wall.

Sounding deceptively normal, like a youngster, the holographic Trainer said, "Hey! Don't be a thief!" The two faded out of existence, as if they had never been.

I hoped everything would be over then and there, but it wasn't. I still felt the flickering. My vision blurred. Every man I saw looked like me, and every Pokemon I encountered looked like a Charizard. Just about the only thing I saw normally was my Fearow as we flew away. I hoped I just needed medical help. Nobody else had noticed, let alone glanced at our battle. It was a strong possibility. But I didn't have a history of insanity. How did this even happen?

ooooo

I knocked on the door three times. "Mom? It's me, Dan." I hadn't come back to this house in about a year, even though I was only twelve years old. Best of all, the house remained unchanged from its original state, even in my mental state.

"Dan?" she shouted back. She said the word as if she'd never had a son. I felt alienated from the rest of the world now, forgotten by my own mother. She opened the door with a smile, and I almost smiled, too. She hugged me, and I felt safe with her. She looked just as I'd always seen her.

Then she destroyed all of that in three lines:

"You're name's not Dan, silly! It's Zzdzznzznzz! What are you talking about?"

Again I felt like a man venturing into an unknown world. What was she talking about? I was never named anything so gibberish and hard to pronounce as Zzdzznzznzz. Maybe she'd gone crazy, too, like me.

Or maybe it was the world around me that had changed.

I backed out of her hug and stared at her in disbelief. "Really? I thought it was Dan," I replied shakily.

"Boys will be boys," Mom sighed. "Why don't you come in for a while and we'll discuss what's troubling you, okay, honey?" She put her hand on my shoulder and walked in. I even flickered once and she didn't notice.

I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe any of it.

I told her I just wanted to go up to my room for a while, and she let me do so. Upstairs I fed Psycho some food, not wanting to go to the Pokemon Center out of fear. I started writing down the events that occurred that day, July 16.

Today is that day. I feel myself fading away more and more every second. I'm afraid maybe I'll fade out of existence entirely before I even finish writing this. Maybe this is somehow tied to me not battling that man, or fighting the Ditto with Psycho. Or maybe life is a game and this is a glitch in the