PMD One Wish (Reboot) Chapter 1: A Rude Awakening
Cass was laying in the soft, earthy ground. He gradually regaining his consciousness. Cass felt dizzier than a Spinda. He could hear muffled voices ringing out near him. He couldn't quite make out what exactly they were saying. All he could muster from the conversing duo was that one was female and one was male. They sounded around his age.
"Who is that?"
"Hm. Look's like a Shinx."
Cass felt the grass to his body, swishing around slightly in the light zephyr. A vibe of peace was sent throughout Cass's body, as if this place was an old previous home of his. However, as his mind slowly returned, he felt another sensation, this one not so delightful: pain. The voices suddenly adapted a worried tone. Cass could now somewhat make out their words.
"Is he okay?"
"I would assume not. Look, he has a gash on his hind leg."
"Oh my Arceus!" A gash? That did not sound too pleasant. Cass attempted to slowly open the eyes on his grimacing face. He lifted up his body slightly with his arms. Wait a minute, why would they say "hind legs?" Cass pondered this question and it just seemed rather redundant to add "hind" to describe his legs."
Then Cass felt strange. It was as if the body he was currently inhabiting wasn't even his own. He tried to grip the ground it his pain, but his hands didn't feel the same.
At last, Cass managed to open his eyes, revealing a scene entirely unexpected. He was staring down at blue, furry paws. They reminded him of a Shinx. He had never seen one in his home region of Hoenn, but he happened to be familiar with them. An electric type, if he wasn't mistaken.
If Cass wasn't freaked out before, he certainly was now. Through proprioception, Cass could conclude that the paws and legs belonged to him. But that didn't make any since.
"We need to do something!" This was the final phrase Cass heard spoken before passing out again.
Cass woke up on a rather soft surface, his hind leg in bandages. He slowly opened his eyes once more. He was laying on his side, a Sylveon in front of him, wearing a... nurses cap? Cass's leg twitched in pain. "Hold still," ordered the Sylveon. Cass jolted upward, then immediately fell back to his previous position, as he couldn't maintain his weight with his injury.
"H-how are you talking!?" Cass yelled. The Sylveon then pressed one of her ribbon-like feelers against his forehead.
"Huh... You do not seem to have a fever... Are you alright?"
"No, I'm not alright! What the heck is going on?" Then it hit Cass. "No... I'm... a Shinx?" He did his best to refrain from shedding a tear.
"I think you may need some form of mental examination testing. I cannot picture how a hind leg injury could effect your neural state." There was a sudden knock on the door. "Hm?" The door opened softly, revealing a Fennekin and a Riolu. "Oh, you two. I will allow you to enter, but no one else, please. I'm ordered to only authorize two Pokemon per patient.
The two Pokemon hared toward Cass's bed. The Fennekin was the first to speak, possessing the female voice. "Are you alright?" Cass was still shocked that he could understand them. He still heard the same form of speech as he had from Pokemon back where he was, except he could somehow interpret the meaning in which they were conveying.
"Um... no?"
"What is that band on your foreleg?" The Riolu inquired.
"Huh?" Cass's focus shifted to his left ar- leg. His previous despair morphed like a ditto into curiosity. He was wearing a band with a sort of hollow, transparent half-sphere on it, containing some kind of glistening crystal. "Odd. I don't remember how I got this."
"If you don't, then do you happen to know how you received your injury?" said the Riolu.
"No."
"Hm. Then could the band possibly have something to do with the injury?"
"Huh. I haven't thought of that. How would you know to ask if I knew how I got the damage?"
"Alright!" exclaimed the nurse. "Time's up. May I ask you kindly to leave?" The two Pokemon left without question. The nurse turned back towards Cass. "You, mister, should get some rest. A good sleep and you'll be ready to leave tomorrow.
After a few hours of pondering what exactly had happened that day, Cass involuntarily fell asleep due to exhaustion.
Darkness. Cass stood in an empty space, entirely void of anything besides black. He looked down and couldn't see his own body. Cass had, previous to that night, never had any dreams even closely resembling this. He called out. He didn't receive a response.
Cass woke up the next day. The nurse wasn't in the room. He took more time to think. Was he really a Pokemon now? Where was he? He had a feeling the answer wasn't Hoenn. Wait... What was Hoenn like again? What was it like!? Cass found that could only remember scraps of his life previously, one of his few memories being that he lived in Hoenn and that he was... or had been a human.
The Sylveon nurse entered. "Here, eat this, and you should be good to go." She handed Cass what he recognized as a Sitrus Berry. Cass munched it down in seconds. "Hungry?" the nurse chuckled. Then, all of a sudden, her expression shifted to that of someone being very serious. "Look, some complications have arisen. We have no information on you. You couldn't be identified as a citizen of the Temporal Village. Do you know what this means?"
"No?"
"It means that you are either an outsider or illegally residing here."
"I-I'm an outsider, I guess."
"It shouldn't be too difficult to be registered as a citizen. I just need a photo of you and information and take it up to Meganium."
"Meganium?"
"The leader of the village. I am surprised you wouldn't know her yet. I mean, she's the leader of one of the two strongest villages." Cass contemplated whether or not he should tell the nurse that he wasn't from around here, and used to be a human while she mumbled a few things while looking at a sheet, jotting things down with a pen in her feeler. "Male... Hey, what's you're name again?"
"Cass."
"Alright, now to take your photo. Come with me."
Cass fell off the bed, not helping his still healing, but almost finished, leg. He attempted to take another step further but once again fell to the floor. "Oh come on, it shouldn't hurt much anymore," the nurse stated. Cass wanted so badly to tell her that the wasn't the reason, but decided to keep it to himself. After a few more pathetic attempts to take a step, the Sylveon nurse just grabbed him in her feelers and walked to a room with a camera. "I'm beginning to wonder whether or not you should stay here longer."
The room was simply white with a camera towards the end, positioned to where there was an even space between both walls on its sides. There was a white sheet facing the camera. The room reminded him of photography places back in Hoenn. He wasn't really thinking about that, however. He was distracted with being annoyed from the constant color white in this building.
The mildly irritated Sylveon slowly descended Cass to the floor and moved over to the camera. She used her feelers to press a button. There was a quick flash of a bright light, and it was over. "Alright, we're going to have to get you registered. Think you can walk now?" Cass took a step forward. Great progress so far. He put his other front paw in front of him. He slipped and fell onto his stomach. "Alright, I guess not." She grabbed him with her feelers once more and walked out of the building.
The air outside was brimming with warmth. No, not the temperature. It felt to Cass like he was home, except he wasn't. Was he? Cass saw Tepig dancing, Hoppip skipping, and Pawniard dueling as he was carried through the lively village. As Cass turned his head to face the opposite direction, I found a face staring back at him. It was the face of a wise-looking Alakazam. The psychic-type wore a curious expression on his face. Cass was blushing of embarrassment. Thank Arceus for fur. Huh. He never thought he would ever say that.
Eventually, the Sylveon and Cass had arrived at the registration building. It seemed like a simple wooden building. They entered. There was a Meinshao at the registration desk. The nurse dropped him down on a chair while she went up and submitted some data. Cass wondered how the Sylveon was able to do this. She probably had a busy schedule at her career. Huh, this place must have worked differently.
Cass waited for nearly two hours. He decided to use the time to examine his body further. The absence of thumbs was most likely what had gotten to him the most. He was also mystified by the band on his... front leg. The crystal contained within it emanated a very strange vibe, one of which was indescribable.
Was he going to be a Shinx, permanently? What was his family doing? How would they react if they saw him like this? Who WERE his family? He held back his tears. Now was not the time to be having these thoughts.
Suddenly, a quadruped green Pokemon appeared from behind an entrance behind the desk, which was facing the right side. The Pokemon turned her head. "Greetings, I am Meganium. I'm you have heard of me, as I have heard much about you." She had? How? That was the question on Cass's mind at that moment.
After a brief moment of deep thought, Cass was called out by the nurse. "Be respectful! This is the leader if our village, in which we take pride in!"
"S-sorry. Hello," Cass greeted.
"I come to welcome you to the Temporal Village, Cass." Wait! How does she know my name?, thought Cass.
"Th-thanks." Meganium's grin grew slightly, almost as if she had read his mind. Unfortunately, Meganium decided to brush off the question entirely. "Do you happen to have anywhere to go after this?"
"N-no-"
The nurse interrupted. "A few Pokemon volunteered to help him with that." This left Cass to wonder for a moment: Who? "A Fennekin and a Riolu, if I am not mistaken. They are watched over by an adult Chatot, I believe." Oh, them.
"My name's Skyler, and this is Vince," stated the Fennekin as she, Cass, and Vince were walking down the streets of the village, heading home. By walking, for Cass that meant being carried by Vince, the Riolu, over his shoulder. Vince didn't look very ecstatic about that. By now, it was dark out. "Sorry for not mentioning earlier."
"That's alright!" Cass replied. As soon as he had said that, he saw a Gliscor running off-road in the corner of his eye. Cass stopped and turned towards it, as did Skyler and Vince. It was carrying a white bag.
"What a load I got today!" said the Gliscor, obviously not noticing the trio standing there. A Hitmonlee dropped in front of it from seemingly nowhere, wearing a yellow scarf.
"Stop right there!" He shouted before kicking the Gliscor in the stomach, it loosing it's grip on the bag.
"Wow, Knock Off!" exclaimed Skyler.
"Hm." was Vince's reaction.
The Hitmonlee kicked mud into the Gliscor's face, causing it to stumble around clumsily, blinded. The Hitmonlee followed up his attack by leaping high into the sky, above the buildings. He put his leg outward and slammed it against the Gliscor's head as gravity did its work, effectively knocking the apparent criminal out.
The Hitmonlee picked up the criminal with ease and seemed to just disappear from the scene all together with his great speed. "Who was that?" Cass inquired in wonder.
"An explorer," Skyler said vaguely.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Huh? You don't know?"
"Really?" Vince remarked.
"Um... No?"
"Are you sure didn't also hit your head?" Vince questioned.
"No, I didn't!"
"Then how come you don't know anything, not even how to walk? You're obviously not a kit."
"Guys... I have a confession to make." Suddenly, Cass decided that now would not be the time. Not when anyone would have the possibility of hearing him. "...Later."
"Huh?" Vince and Skyler said in unison. "Why later?" Vince continued.
"I don't want anyone else to hear."
"What kind of secret are you keeping?!"
"I'll tell you when we get... home," Cass replied.
The three Pokemon stood just outside the door of a somewhat run-down one story home with one window. The door had its handle down nearly to the ground. Vince placed his paw on the handle and pushed it downwards, allowing him gently apply pressure onto the door, causing it to stay open. "Shh, Marcus may still be asleep," Vince warned. Cass wanted to ask who that was, but figured that now it was best to remain quiet.
When they had entered, the first room in which had been encountered was the silent living room. There was a green couch on the left side of the room. In the back of the room was a table. To the right was a bookshelf, containing possibly over a hundred books and mounds of knowledge. The room gave off a somewhat eerie vibe to Cass.
"Hello! Hello!" A Chatot appeared from another room, making Cass jump.
"Marcus," Skyler chuckled. "You know we're too old for you to scare us like that anymore."
"Is this the one you were talking about, about?" the Chatot asked cheerfully.
"Yep."
"Okay. It's about time to go to bed, bed!" Cass was stunned at how Marcus accepted him in so easily. Vince picked him back up and carried him to the bedroom as Marcus stared in confusion. When they arrived at their destination, a room with three mats, Cass was eager to ask questions. Vince dropped him on one of the mats.
"Alright, I'll tell you my secret if you answer some things for me first."
"What kind of 'things'?" Vince said in reply.
"Why did you take me in without a second thought? Why are there already three mats in this room, instead of two? Wha-"
"Desmond," Vince interrupted.
"Huh?"
"Desmond. You see, some time before you came along, we had a friend, a Raltz, named Desmond. He used to live in this house with us. You remind me, no, us, of him. He was injured when I found him, and now I've discovered that you don't know how to walk yet, just like he didn't when I found him."
"What happened to him?"
"He was killed." The entire conversation ended there.
Cass did not sleep well that night.
Cass and Vince sat up on their mats in the morning. Skyler was off somewhere else. "Look," Vince said. "We have school tomorrow, so you're going to have to learn to walk."Ugh, thought Cass. He had hoped that he at least wouldn't have to worry about school, being a Pokemon. As it turns out, he had absolutely nothing to look forward to.
"Wait... What day is it? Like, of the week?"
"Day 3."
"So... Tuesday?"
"Huh?"So they use numbers for the days of the week, Cass thought. "How many days do we have school?"
"6 a moon."So that must be a month, Cass decided.
"Oh."
"Let's get started," reminded Vince.
"Oh, right!" Cass replied.
"Stand." Cass rolled off of the mat, falling to the wooden floor on his back. He turned over onto his stomach. Cass attempted to lift himself up off of the floor, his four legs trembling. After trying for a moment, Cass managed to stay upright. "Good. Now, left front paw forward." Cass obeyed. "Right back paw forward." Cass began to move his paw. He felt himself lose balance, nearly falling over. He extended his paw further outward to the right, just barely correcting himself.
As this continued, the two began a conversation. "So... what's an Explorer?" Cass started.
"Hm. Still can't get over the fact that you don't know. You definitely have amnesia."
"At least you're right about one thing."
"That makes more sense." Cass refrained from explaining the rest at the moment. He wanted Skyler to be there to hear it. "All right, so an explorer belongs to a guild, in which the members take on missions of discovery or justice, such as finding a lost treasure or saving another Pokemon. Explorers form teams, each member wearing a scarf of the same color, corresponding with the team name, at least, that's how it works here in the Temporal Village. Other villages vary on the themes of names of the teams, which are called Rescue Teams, even though they don'talways rescue Pokemon." This was a lot to take in, especially added up with the realization that Cass was a Pokemon now. "Skyler, Desmond, and I used to be a rescue team. Team Green, to be exact.
"Wow, alright," said Cass. "But... where exactly am I?" Due to Cass's talking, he lost his concentration and fell over. "Ugh."
"The Temporal Village, Hikage region. One of the strongest and prosperous villages. Enemies with the Spacial Village. Now that I've given you information, can you provide some for me? What was your secret you mentioned earlier?" Cass realized that he wouldn't be able to delay it any longer.
"I'm... a human." Vince's jaw dropped to the center of the planet. Skyler happened to walk in at that exact moment. "Well, I used to be. I have no idea what happened..."
"Are you okay?" Skyler walked over and placed a paw on Cass's forehead. Cass could feel warmth emanating from her body. "You must've hit your head or something."
"No! I swear-" For a moment, Cass questioned himself internally. What if he had hit his head? No, that would be ridiculous! He had obviously been a human... Right?
Cass was lying once more on his mat after a long day. He had learned how to walk in a wobbly fashion, constantly falling. At least it was a major improvement from before.
He lay contemplating the current state of his life. Had he been a human? Had he not? Surprisingly, this had not mattered to him most out of everything. He was more interested in becoming an explorer.
This chapter may or may not still be a WIP! Comment below if something seems off or bad, so that I can correct it. Please post your constructive critism if you have the time. Thank you!