My eyes fluttered open sleepily, only to see an unfamiliar room in front of me. I froze for a moment, my heart beating fast. It was a nicely decorated bedroom, similar to my own but... different. I heard a noise outside the bedroom door and sat up, bolt straight. Straight blonde hair fell into my eyes and I shook it away. My heart thudded harder in my chest.
I didn't have blonde hair.
I was halfway through a full-fledged panic attack when my mother popped her head in the doorway. She looked ridiculous with the door still mostly shut and just her head poking through. Her short curls fell down sideways.
"Good, you're up! Have you decided if today's the day?" She looked at me expectantly. I just shrugged my shoulders. I didn't know what she wanted. My mind was whirling, trying to figure out what was going on. We were in some foreign house and I had blonde hair and my mom was acting like everything was totally normal!
Mom frowned. "You only have a few more days until you're Pokémon Trainer license will expire if you don't claim it," she stated. Pokémon? What the hell was going on?
"Okay?" I said. "Mom, what's going on?"
Mom finally stepped fully into the bedroom. She looked concerned. She walked over to my bed and placed her hand on my forehead.
"What do you mean? Are you feeling sick? You can probably get an extension if you're coming down with something." I batted her hand away.
"No, I'm not sick!" I said. "I'm confused!"
"Well, I'm sure you'll feel better after breakfast. Waffles, your favorite!" Mom was out the door as I heard someone (probably my sister) calling for her. As soon as she was out of sight, I let out a huge breath.
I climbed out of the bed and shut the door. I took in the bedroom once again, noting the pink walls with... Pokémon posters all over the place. Weird. There was a desk in the corner with an open notebook on top, so I walked over there for a look.
Jade, it read. At least my name was still the same. I sat down on the desk chair, pushing the pile of clothes on top of it to the floor.
I'm sure this is all very confusing. I don't have time to explain, so I'll give you the briefest note I can. You're in the world of Pokémon, though no doubt you've figured that out by now. I hadn't actually, but it sort of made sense. If you forgot the fact that Pokémon was fictional, you know. You've got your Pokémon Trainer license, which means you're now free to travel the globe battling Pokémon! That's the sort of thing you've dreamt of, isn't it. Maybe. Okay, yes, it was. Who wouldn't want to be a Pokémon trainer?
You live on Primer Island, a small town located on an island just south of Pallet Town. All you have to do is go to Pallet and meet Professor Oak. He'll give you a Pokédex, which has many more functions than you may realize. A Pokédex doubles as a camera, a map, your I.D., as well as any other function your typical smartphone might have. You will also use your Pokédex to pay for anything you might need (food, clothes, hotel rooms, souvenirs...). Don't be afraid to use it as much as you want.
Your bag is in the closet. It is very much like a Pokéball. That is, to say, it's bigger on the inside. You'll find that you will have more than enough room in there for all the clothes, food, books, souvenirs, and supplies that you could ever need. Don't lose that bag. It costs more than your house, so it's a once in a lifetime sort of purchase.
You must be scared. You've awoken in a new world with little to no explanation. Take the gift for what it is and go on your Pokémon journey. You have the rest of your life to travel all of the regions (Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, and Alola), so enjoy it. Take your time and see the sights. Make friends, battle Pokémon, win gym badges. Have fun.
Signed,
Your friend
P.S You have to take the ferry to get to Pallet.
I stood in front of the mirror. Just like the note had said, I'd found a pink shoulder bag hanging in the closet. I packed all the clothes I could find in the room, which were all variations of the same style. I guess if you're in an anime world, you gotta dress like an anime character. That means wearing virtually the same outfit everyday. I'd gotten dressed in a white top with a Peter Pan collar and a high-waisted, pink, pleated skirt. I had a pair of white tights under that with white sneakers that had pink Pokéballs on them. Whoever designed my new room really thought I had an obsession with pink.
I'd even found a round, pink hat and a pair of white sunglasses. Those both went on my head. With the blonde hair that went just past my shoulders, I looked liked the female trainer from the Pokémon XY games.
There was still a part of me that was freaking out as I pulled four books from my bookshelf, two journals, and many pens from my desk, and managed to fit them all into the bag. When I slung it over my shoulder, it felt like I had a sweatshirt in there at most. It was nuts. This whole thing was nuts! I looked around my room for anything else I might need for a Pokémon journey. I couldn't think of anything and figured I could pick up the rest on the way, if need be. Apparently trainers get unlimited money while traveling. Though it did make me wonder where the money was coming from. Was it government funded? Where did the government get the money?
At the last second, I turned back to the desk and ripped the note out of the spiral-bound notebook. I shoved the note in my bag's front pocket and left, heading downstairs.
"You sure took your time!" Mom called, not turning around from her seat in the kitchen when I entered the room. My little sister, Valerie, was sat facing me and widened when she took in my appearance. She looked the same, just like Mom did. She had long brown hair, brown eyes, and was about twelve or thirteen years old.
"You're leaving? Today?" Val asked. I shifted the bag on my shoulder and nodded. Mom whipped around to look at me, tears already in her eyes.
"Yep. I'll head for the ferry after I eat." I sat at the empty space at the table, where a waffle was waiting. It was kind of cold by then, but I didn't care.
"That's so great, Jadie!" Mom exclaimed. "You're going to have so much fun!"
"Why can't I go with Jade?" Valerie asked, a whining note in her voice. My heart skipped a beat and my eyes widened. The last thing I wanted on this weird journey/dream/whatever-the hell-this-is was my little sister tagging along. Luckily, Mom shook her head and sighed, as if this had been an argument they'd had many times.
"You can't go until you're sixteen, like Jade," Mom explained, her voice exasperated. Yep, they'd definitely had this conversation before. I took a big bite of my waffle.
"I don't have to catch Pokémon!" Valerie insisted. "I'll just go and watch."
"No, Val."
"But Mom!"
"I said no!" I quickened my eating, wishing for nothing more than to escape before Valerie had a total meltdown. Her eyes were already threatening tears.
Ugh. I ate so fast my stomach was hurting. I downed my milk and said, "Well, I think I'm off! I text you from my Pokédex when I get to Pallet! Tell Dad I said bye." I gave kisses really quick and was almost out the door and away from the tantrum when Mom called out.
"Wait! Let me get a picture before you leave." I sighed and twirled around, my skirt flowing around my legs.
"One picture," I said. "Then I have to catch the ferry." I had no idea how often the ferry ran. Valerie handed Mom her digital camera, her face streaked red from her tears. I smiled brightly for the camera, one arm up to hold my hat back. Mom tried to take a couple more, but I managed to slip out the door before she could.
Primer Island was small enough that no matter where you were, you could see the ocean. As someone who loved the ocean, I greatly appreciated this. I breathed a calming breath, soaking in the sea air. I wandered around the town a little, but spotted the ferry dock easily enough. I started walking towards it when something caught my eye.
"Bad! Bad, bad Eevee!" A pudgy woman had a rolled up newspaper in her hand was whacking a little Eevee with every 'bad'. "What a bad, bad Pokémon! You know better than to bite at my ankles! Bad!"
There was a small thrill running up my spine at seeing my first Pokémon in person, but it was greatly overshadowed by the disgust at the woman's behavior.
"Excuse me!" I found myself saying before I realized what I was doing. "What do you think you're doing?"
"What does it look like, Jade?" The woman asked, disdain dripping as she spoke my name. I bristled. "It's called training." She raised her newspaper again and I caught her arm. She was taller and heavier than I was, but I did my best to wrangle to newspaper from her grip.
"It's called abuse! You should never hit your Pokémon!" I cried, throwing the newspaper on the ground. "What kind of trainer are you?" The woman sneered at me.
"I'm free to train my Pokémon however I see fit," she said between ground teeth. "Now take a hike!"
"No." I stood up as tall as I could. I was a pretty short person, so that wasn't saying a whole lot, but still. "I won't let you hurt your Eevee like that."
"Is there a problem here?" I was surprised that I actually recognized Officer Jenny's voice before I even turned to face her. The woman immediately smiled sweetly at the blue-haired officer, who was eyeing us.
"No, not at all!" The pudgy woman simpered, her hands in front of her as a sign of innocence.
At the same time I said, "She's beating her Pokémon!"
"What?" Officer Jenny growled, glaring at the woman.
"Jade is a liar!" The woman shouted. "I would never hurt my poor, precious little Eevee." She ducked down to grab her Eevee, which did indeed look worse for wear, but the Eevee dodged her hands and scurried behind my legs.
There was a glint in Officer Jenny's eyes. "I'm afraid you'll have to come with me, Mrs. Kline. We'll have a nice long look at your trainer record and see if you should be allowed to keep your Pokémon."
Mrs. Kline spluttered stupidly, but finally bit her lip and nodded. Officer Jenny faced me, her face softening.
"I'll take care of this one, Jade. You'd better get going." I nodded, not even questioning how Jenny knew my name. It was that sort of small town. Jenny tried to grab Eevee, but it dodged yet again and clung to my leg. Its claw poked through my tights.
"Hey," I said gently, bending down. Slowly, I reached my hand out. Eevee flinched at first, but after a moment realized I wasn't going to hurt it and let me pet it softly. "It'll be okay. Officer Jenny won't let anything bad happen to you. I promise."
"You should take her," Jenny said. I looked up in surprise.
"What?"
"That Eevee. You should take her." Jenny grabbed onto Mrs. Kline's arm, practically daring her to object. "She trusts you. I doubt she'll trust anyone but the person who saved her."
I felt kind of weird at the thought of taking someone else's Pokémon, but I also kind of wanted to stick it in Mrs. Kline's face, so I picked Eevee up gently and held her in my arms.
"Well, Eevee? Do you wanna come with me? See the world, battle in gyms, and have a good time?" Eevee looked up at me, her eyes big and somehow so trusting. Finally, she nodded and butted her head against my chin. I giggled. "I guess that's a yes!"
Jenny smiled at us. "Good. Now, you'd better get going. That's the last ferry until after lunch." She nodded towards the dock. The ferry, which was a surprisingly small boat, let out a warning horn. I nodded, gave my thanks to Jenny, and hurried off to catch the ferry.
Once I made it onto the boat, I found a spot facing Pallet Town. Primer Island was only a mile or two off the shore, so the town was in pretty clear sight already as the ferry took off. I set Eevee down in my lap and scratched her head softly.
Pallet Town, home to Ash Ketchum. If Officer Jenny was real, did that mean Ash was too? Would I meet him? I hoped so.
I shook my head as the wind whipped my newly blonde hair into my face. I couldn't believe this was happening to me. There was a part of me that thought it might be a dream (how could it not be, the little voice in my head cried.), but I found as I sat there, cuddling with Eevee, that I didn't really care whether or not it was real. As long as I had a fun Pokémon journey, I could take whatever came my way.
Pokémon world, meet Jade Wheeler.
A/N: Welcome to Jade's Journal, my first ever Pokémon fanfiction! A few notes for anyone who cares:
1. Yes, this is a semi-SI OC centric story. I hope that's okay with you.
2. The characters are aged up, as I really don't think 10-year-olds should be allowed to travel the world on their own. You have to be at least 16 to get your Pokémon license in this story.
3. This will be an amalgamation of the games, the anime, and the new Pokémon I Choose You! movie. I will let you know when the movie chapters start in case you have yet to see the film.
4. Yes, I made up a city/island for my OC. I didn't want her in Pallet because I didn't want her to know Ash yet, but I needed a city that was basically Pallet Town. So I made one up. It'll probably be the only time I do something like that, but feel free to correct me on any future Pokémon-world related mistakes.
5. There's a poll up on my profile pertaining to this story. I would greatly appreciate if you voted on it for me!
Please, please, please leave a review! Let me know what you think of the story, or else if you think it's work continuing. Any review is a good review.
Until next time, trainers!