Chapter 1: Those That Live on This Planet and Those That Have Come to This Planet
Birds were chirping on the gentle wind. Leaves rustled in response within their trees and bushes. A waterfall softly roared nearby. Green was predominant in the area, followed by soft browns and blues. The verdant scene was the source of calm for a prone figure. A blue-furred canid with black markings on their face, feet, and chest was stirring, unsure why the grass and trees gave them a feeling of calm when they felt they should be concerned. Eyes opened to reveal not the common red eyes of its kind, but rather a dark and soft brown. Upon its brow were a pair of orange-tinted goggles with a brown strap. There appeared to be buttons on the sides, two to each of the lenses.
Groaning, the small figure slowly got up. "Ugh. Wh- where am I?" Their voice was masculine, yet young. Not a child, yet not quite of age. Slightly rough with a hint of what can only be described as a Hispanic accent. "Oh man, so thirsty. Wait, water. Water." Staggering over to the small pond the little waterfall fed into, he knelt over and took a few large drinks. "Oh, thank God," was the small response made by the little canid.
After a few calming breaths, they focused within, eyes closed. Okay. Where am I? Where was I? Wait. Oh no. Who am I? Panicking, the small canid brought its arms up to its head before curling into a fetal position. I- I can't remember! Oh man, oh man, oh man! Okay, calm down. This isn't going to help. Think. His outward panic becoming less and less apparent as they focused on their thoughts. My name, at least. Can I remember that? … Rex … something. Darn it, I was hoping I could remember my last name. I'm… an E.V.O.? Okay, not sure what that means, but I remember it. I remember that I'm more human, though. And that I can … build things? Machines? From myself? As they focused, blueprints sprang into their mind. Oh. Yeah, that might sorta explain it. But how? And why do I get the feeling I've forgotten this much before? Groaning, they moved their paws on their head to ease the headache that was surely building, somehow not quite touching the goggles on their head. Okay, that's not helping. Rex stood up on their hind legs and opened their eyes and finally noticed the reflection in the pond.
"Huh? That's not… wait." Leaning closer, Rex got a better look at…. Himself.
"WHAT!? What, how? Why?! I- uh, what?!" Frantically flailing and examining himself, he still couldn't get over his current appearance. "I know what I look like, and this isn't it! How-?" He cut himself short as he looked up as down one path from the forest there were three floating figures. They all were identical as they appeared to be brown gemstone humanoid appearing with three stones on each of their arms which lit up in strange patterns as they faced each other. What are they- His musings were caught short as one of them lashed out with a limb. "Woah! Hey!" As the attacks kept coming, something kept flickering in the back of his mind. I don't know why, but I feel as though I can fight back. As the attacks kept flying, the other two creatures joined in. Maybe I shouldn't risk it. Rex then turned and ran as fast as he could.
After a few minutes of running -and somehow not all that short on breath-, Rex nearly runs directly into another creature. This one seemed to have an ashen brown appearance with a pointy nose and a leaf growing from their head. They were humanoid in build and appeared to be perhaps someone of a ninja-like stature. Their legs were swollen in appearance, almost as if they were wearing poufy pants. However, when they spoke, they had a southern accent.
"Woah! Kid, where's the fire?"
"Kid?! Wha- no, never mind. Anyways, we gotta get out of here!" Rex exclaimed to the strange creature.
"Now, I'm not sure why a riolu would be runnin' around in this area." Around that time, the strange gem-esque creatures caught up to Rex. They made their light signals to each other before then attempting to attack the new creature! "Woah! Hey!" After glancing at each other, both the new creature and Rex new they had to get out of there as quickly as possible. "Quick, kid, this way!" Without even trying to argue, Rex followed them. After a couple more minutes of running, "Okay. I think we've lost 'em now."
"Oh, thank God," Rex breathed in relief, which was short-lived when the stranger turned on a heel, enraged.
"Now look here! Your childish antics got me wrapped up in it now! What did you do to get them Beheeyem mad at ya anyhow?"
Rex felt lost. First, he just met this guy, secondly, he didn't know what a beheeyem is, and lastly, he doubted he's ever encountered anything like those beheeyem before.
"Wait, wait, wait. Now hold up. I have no idea what you're talking about. Okay? First off, I have no idea what you or whatever those gem-monster-things are. Second, I don't even know how I got here. Third, I only know my name! How could I have done anything to them!"
After that outburst, both parties became very aware of the other. Rex especially about himself. Eventually, he mutters just loud enough for the stranger to hear, "I'm supposed to be a human. I don't even know how I ended up like this." Shoulders, head, and ears hung low, Rex starred at the ground. He didn't want to look at the stranger. Their sympathy was written all over their face and he just didn't want to deal with any of what was transpiring right now.
"Rex, huh?" Rex started and looked at the speaker. "Well, I'm Nuzleaf," the creature, Nuzleaf, said, "though I'm a little surprised that you don't know what a Pokémon is, kid. Also, it's a little hard to believe you're a human, but with all that you said earlier, I reckon that be the case…."
"Pokémon?" It was such a cutesy word, almost sugary, yet at the same time, it felt serious. On top of that, Rex was sure he's never heard of that word before. "Yeah, I have no idea what you're talking about."
Sighing, Nuzleaf shook his head and spoke plainly towards Rex, "Well, that's what you'll know as us 'monsters'," Nuzleaf stressed the word as Rex lightly flinched, "that way you don't seem so outta place."
"Got it. So-." Rex was cut off once they heard the beeping and saw the lights of the nearby beheeyem that were still in hot pursuit.
"We've gotta move! Now!" Rex yelled and rushed down the path ahead, nearly pulling Nuzleaf with him.
"Woah! Hey- I get it! Easy!" Nuzleaf protested, "You don't have to pull so- WAIT!"
Stopping on a dime, Rex looked back as the leaf Pokémon. "What, why?"
"That there is a mystery dungeon!" Nuzleaf exclaimed, pointing to the entrance of the woods the path pointed towards. Yet, before he could explain further, the sounds of approaching beheeyem closed in. "No time for explanations, now. We'd best get in there!" Resuming their sprint, both Rex and Nuzleaf darted into the denser part of the woods.
Once inside, Rex could feel that something was off with the air around him. "Okay, this is weird. Where exactly are we and what's a 'mystery dungeon'?" He rotated a bit on the spot, posed to fight in an instant if needed.
"This is Lush Forest, and a mystery dungeon is one of many strange places that cover the world of Pokémon," Nuzleaf explained, "These places are quite dangerous as their layout and path changes every time you enter one."
"Perfect! We can lose the beheeyem!" Rex exclaimed, excited about the current situation and completely ignoring the potential danger.
"Yes, but we might run into trouble. Enemy Pokémon makes places like these their hideout."
"Enemy Pokémon? Like thugs and gangsters?"
"Exactly! You can't just run headlong into one, unlike what we had to do," Nuzleaf surmised, "Tell ya what. I'll least lead the way for now. Make sure we don't run into anyone too troublesome." Rex could only wonder how well-trained or experienced this Pokémon was to know about such things or even about combat, but then decided that if it was well-known for thugs to make places like this their hideout, then it may just be common knowledge about mystery dungeons. Nuzleaf, true to his word, took the lead and started leading Rex through the dungeon cautiously. The canopy looked eerily solid, almost like a full ceiling. Rex never realized it, but his paws made no sound as he crept through the dungeon behind Nuzleaf. After a few silent minutes, Nuzleaf turned around suddenly. "Re- yikes!" Nuzleaf jumped as he didn't expect Rex to be suddenly behind him, his expression had morphed quickly from confusion and worry into that of shock.
"AH! What?!" Rex, too, jumped for he didn't expect Nuzleaf to suddenly spin on a dime.
"Uh. How-? How did you walk that quietly?"
"I was?" Rex then had a thoughtful look as he contemplated what could it be.
"Yeah, it was mighty spooky, kid," Nuzleaf breathed, both in relief and curiosity.
How can I move quietly without a problem? Rex's mind began to wander, I mean, was I trained? Oh, did I have a ninja for a teacher? Was I going to be a ninja? Wait! A super spy! Nuzleaf saw the contemplation on Rex's face. He snapped his fingers in front of the young riolu's (human's?) face to bring them back.
"Okay, Rex, we need to be focused, we don't want to be caught-," Nuzleaf's sentence was cut off when they both heard a hissing behind them. It looked to be a large viper, perhaps a bit more than twice in length as Nuzleaf was tall, mostly purple in color with a yellow underbelly. Its fangs protruded past well past it's lower jaw as if they couldn't rotate to fold in. Perhaps the more striking thing about this viper was the fact that the end of its tail was a blade. Rex had immediately dropped into a defensive stance that was both trained and had felt natural whereas Nuzleaf was nearly caught completely off-guard.
"What are you punksssss doing in my hideout!" The viper was fully enraged, thrashing its tail wildly to slice either of the two Pokémon. Nuzleaf was startled back just out of reach, before steeling himself. Rex, already out of reach braced and readied to retaliate against the purple viper.
"Hold on, kid, I'll handle him," and true to his word, Nuzleaf did. He darted in with a grace that defied his poufy legs as dark energy gathered in his right hand. With that same hand, Nuzleaf made a swift uppercut to the viper's jaw, flipping it back and knocking it fully unconsciousness. Rex was stunned, yet far from speechless.
"Woah! How'd you do that?! What was that energy? Can every Pokémon do that? Can I do that?!"
"Woah, woah, kiddo, one question at a time!" Nuzleaf was a little overwhelmed at all the questions being leveled at him. "Okay, first off, that's called a move. Pokémon can use all sorts of moves to defend themselves. That was a moved called Payback; a dark-type move. Each move and every Pokémon has a type." As Nuzleaf examined Rex, they could tell that not only were they absorbing every word he said, but he seemed a bit lost. "Okay, hopefully, there aren't any more Pokémon like that on the way while we find the exit, because explaining moves, types, and type matchups are going to take a while."
One long explanation later, they were further along in the dungeon as well as Rex being more versed in type-matchups. A few turns in the maze of a dungeon a revelation was made light.
"Heh, I reckon we're lost," Nuzleaf stated simply, a look of concern mingling with confusion. Looking around, he turned to Rex, "Why don't you take the lead for a bit. Don't worry, I'll be keepin' an eye out for them Beheeyem."
"… Okay then," Rex said hesitantly stated. Not sure I should but I guess I'll find out. Inching past Nuzleaf in the narrow hallway they had found themselves in, Rex took the lead looking for a way out. It wasn't long until he spotted a fluffy, white dog Pokémon in a room with one exit. They looked like an unkempt poodle. The tunnel out was long and winding, though it had to be the exit due to it being the source of wind being funneled through, catching the quadruped canid's fur. Weird, I just noticed that the wind doesn't move through the trees easily, if at all, Rex noted, It's official: I'm in a coma and crazy. Despite his internal deadpan, Rex cautiously approached the Pokémon.
"HEY!" The white-furred dog barked, noticing Rex's approach, "MY TURF!"
"Is that all you're going to say?" Rex was apprehensive. I don't know if I should fight it. I probably should, that way I can figure out how to fight here properly.
"YEAH! MY TURF!" The dog barked one more time and lunged, teeth snapping. Reflexively, Rex's hand shot out in a left hook, catching it right in its jaw. It barked another, "MY TURF!" before lunging again. During that time, within his mind, the blueprints drew themselves. "Come on…." Rex tried to build something but it seemed to fail, especially when the white dog clamped down with a strong bite.
"Ow! Ow ow ow ow!" Rex flailed his arm to remove the dog, succeeding in only getting its head to bob in all directions. "Let go of me!"
"MY-!" Before the dog could finish its sentence, Rex drew his left arm back and out of its now-open mouth and threw his right fist in a full punch. While the enemy Pokémon was still reeling, Rex threw a wild haymaker with his left fist and kept alternating repeatedly, rarely letting the Pokémon a chance to retaliate. However, the dog did and snapped for Rex's head between punches. Seeing this, Rex ducked, crouching, and kicked out with both of his feet at its chest, causing the white canid to fly upward a few feet before crashing to the ground.
Over where Rex had entered the room from, Nuzleaf's jaw dropped open, narrow eyes as wide as they could possibly go. Rex stood up and walked over to the downed Pokémon. Looking at their glazed over eyes, he grew concerned. Uh oh, is it…? Around then it whimpered "My tu-urf….", Rex felt relieved. "Oh, thank God, it's only knocked out."
"That was AMAZIN', KID!"
Rex nearly fell flat at Nuzleaf's amazement. "Kid -Rex-, how'd ya do that?"
Rex stared at his companion, uncertain of how to answer. "I'm not sure. I just, reacted, ya know?"
"Well, at least we know you ain't defenseless, kid," Nuzleaf stated, "although, earlier, some glowin' blue lines appeared on your hands. What was that about?"
"What? Blue lines?" Rex's brow furrowed in thought. I wonder…. He then focused on the blueprints in his mind: a pair of large gauntlets. As he stared at his hands and saw them: grid-like and geometric lines of blue. However, they began to flicker out the longer he focused, refusing to build.
"How'd ya do that, Rex?"
"I don't know," he responded to Nuzleaf, "but I feel that I can build something, yet for some reason, I can't. Argh!" Rex threw his head back and arms down in exasperation. Nuzleaf merely wore a look of confusion blended with concern.
"Well, nothing we can do about that right now. Why don't we get out of here before any more Pokémon show up," and with that, Nuzleaf headed for the exit with Rex trailing behind, many questions unanswered in each of their minds, yet both knowing that they may not get the answers as soon as they'd like.
After a quarter-hour of travel (with most of it being run), Rex and Nuzleaf see a shape in the distance.
"There it is! Home! Serenity village! Let's hurry, Rex. I don't want to be stuck out here any longer than necessary," Nuzleaf stated. Rex nodded in agreement and both all but broke out into a flat-out sprint to get at least in town. Nuzleaf ran up the road and stopped in front of the third house they encountered. Once they reached their destination, Nuzleaf ended up stooped over, hands on his knees, and Rex ended up slouching on the side of the building. Both were out of breath, panting to catch it.
"Well *pant*, here we are. *pant* Home, sweet *pant* home," Nuzleaf breathed. Meanwhile, he removed a small key from underneath the floor mat in front of the door. Once the door was open, both Rex and Nuzleaf staggered in, worn and exhausted. "You can use that *pant* room over there. *pant*"
To the right of the entrance was a single room. It seemed to be a storeroom primarily, yet it was open and roomy in comparison to most storerooms. Wait, where would I have been to even compare…. Rex's thoughts trailed off, unsure of how to finish forming that sentence. Two steps further into the house and he suddenly face-planted onto the floor.
"Rex!" Nuzleaf rush-hobbled over, "Are ya okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. Just. Super tired, ya know?" Rex managed to mutter out. Weakly, he managed to get up. "Huh. Guess all that running and fighting wore me out more than I thought."
"Don't worry, Rex. I'll make ya the bed. I reckon you've earned all the rest ya can get," Nuzleaf stated, "We'll talk in the morning." Within a few minutes, Nuzleaf had laid down a soft bed of hay for Rex in the storeroom and one for himself in the main room. Minutes later, snoring could be heard from the leafy Pokémon. Rex lay in the bed of hay, staring at the ceiling.
Why am I here? How did I end up turning into a Pokémon, or Riolu, I guess? Rex's mind kept running with thoughts. He brought his paws up to his head, finally noticing the goggles. Huh? What's this? Pulling them off of his head, he examined the leather, metal, and glass. Noticing the buttons, he pushed one of them. A light humming resonated from the goggles and the tint changed slightly. Qué huh? Putting the goggles over his eye, he idly noticed a perfect fit. His focus, however, was through the lens. Everything had a different hue. Looking around with them, he glanced in the direction of Nuzleaf. Around the soft reds and light blues were the bright reds, oranges, and whites that made up Nuzleaf's prone form. Face scrunched up in curiosity and thought, Rex, pressed another button. Nuzleaf disappeared, but everything was a tint of blues and purples. Okay, that's weird, too. Another button pressed, and Rex could see the interior of the walls, as well as just past them. Including Nuzleaf's skeleton. "Gah-!" Rex juggled the goggles and pressed the final button. I really hope I don't need to use that function again. Chancing a final look, he brought the goggles up to his eyes. His vision was dark.
"Huh?" Baffled, Rex took the goggles away from his eyes and scrutinized the technology in his paws. Are they broken? Bringing them back to his face, Rex waved a paw in front of the goggles. A blue blur waved passed. Okay, what?! Rex moved his paw in front and examined more closely. His paw was still, yet the blue blur wavered as if whatever the goggles were seeing were swarming. Moving. Creepy…. Tired and not wanting to think too much about it all, Rex placed the goggles off to the side and curled up. As he drifted to sleep a final thought flitted through his mind.
I wish I could get my memory back.
AN: Special thanks to YellowAngela for her support and aid in proof-reading the first draft of this story! More will come, though like my other stories, slowly. So just be patient, please! Also, I have a poll up for the next story/chapter. It's on my profile now. Check it out!