Chapter 1 – Awakening

A/N: This story was completely spontaneous! I hadn't planned on doing a Pokèmon fic until much later. Surprise, everyone! Enjoy! (Disclaimer: I do not own Pokèmon or any associated products/services. They belong to GameFreak and Nintendo)

(1) "Run!"

(2) "I am running!"

(1) "Then run faster!"

*KRASH!*

(1) "Aagh! They've broken through! We have to get out NOW!"

(2) "There's no way we'll both make it. You go, D!"

(1) "What? What are you saying?!"

(2) "Just go! … I'm not afraid... I'll do anything to stop-"

(1) "LOOK OUT!"

*ZZWOMMM!*

(1) "NO!"


What a beautiful morning... I'm glad I decided to take my weekly constitutional today. A young eevee was strolling down a dirt path through the sunflower fields. His light brown fur with its cream-colored tufts was beginning to get damp from morning dew, and his deep green eyes were radiating happiness and energy. I wonder what kind of mission we might get today... I guess Kyla will tell me if anything came in the mail when I get back. The eevee inhaled deeply, enjoying the fresh air and waking himself up a bit more. Then suddenly he got an odd feeling... An instinct, perhaps.

"Unh..."

What was that? He stopped walking for a moment to listen for that sound again. "H-hello?"

"Ohm... Agh..."

It seemed that the noises were coming from the north side of the trail. The young eevee waded into the flowers, ears perked and wary of anything that may be nearby. Through all these bright yellow petals, surely it can't be that difficult to pick out something separate. After searching for a moment, he came to a small clearing in the field. There was a rock near the center of the open area, and someone was laying on the ground next to it, unconscious!

"Whoa! Are you okay?" he asked. No response. The eevee hopped over to the body, which turned out to be that of a vulpix. He glanced at its head, eyes are closed; and then looked for a heartbeat - yup, this person's alive! Judging by the proportions of the vulpix's chest to the rest of the body, he assumed it to be female. He put one paw on her right shoulder and shook it gently. "Hey, wake up," he pleaded. "I don't want to find somebody and never get to know them. Please, you've gotta be okay."

After about a minute of this, and no sign of acknowledgment from the vulpix, the eevee started to panic a bit. He had a paw on each shoulder now, and was shaking three times as hard as before. "Come on!" he shouted, "wake up! Be healthy!" Finally, the vulpix's eyes slid open just a bit, and the eevee eased off.

The vulpix lifted her head slowly and glanced around. "Where... am I?"

Her voice confirmed that he was right – she's female. "Why, you're in Sunny Meadow!"

Her eyes went wide at this. She looked around everywhere for whoever had answered her somewhat rhetorical question, but found only an eevee sitting a few inches away and tilting its head at her. "Who said that?" she asked, still looking at the eevee.

Puzzled, he replied. "Me, of course! Who else would it be?"

Her mouth fell agape and she did not know how to respond. "You... can talk?"

"Well, duh. Same as you. Why is that surprising..?"

"...T-t-talking... P-pokèmon..." was all the vulpix could muster. The eevee frowned slightly at this. What a strange person.

"You're... not from around here, are you? Acting a bit odd for a vulpix, I should think."

This got her thinking. Was she from around here? Where am I from? … I can't seem to remember. "I... don't know. I can't remember a thing." Then something hit her. "Wait... did you just call me a vulpix?"

"Well, I don't know your name," the eevee reasoned. "I figured it was best to address you by your species. Sorry if I've offended you or something." So strange... I'm gonna get to the bottom of this. "I'm Jay, by the way. Nice to meet you, err..?"

But she was too busy to respond. What does he mean, a vulpix? Suddenly she realized she was down on all four limbs, and it felt natural. She looked down at her hands – or where they should've been – and found two furry, burnt orange paws. Then she brought her head back up and twisted it around backwards. Tails had appeared where there once was nothing. Not a tail... six of them. The realization started kicking in, but she just couldn't fully believe it. I've turned into a Pokèmon!

During all this, Jay sat nearby, waiting and wondering what was the matter. Finally the vulpix's chocolate brown eyes focused on him once more, but there was something glazing them. Confusion... and perhaps a hint of fear. "What's the matter?" he asked calmly, hoping there was something he could do to help.

"I've turned into a vulpix..." she mumbled.

"I'm sorry?" Jay said. "I didn't quite catch that."

"You were right..." she admitted, a bit more audibly, "I've somehow turned into a vulpix..."

Jay looked quite confused at this latest remark. "You say that as if you weren't one before... Who are you?"

The vulpix thought about this for a moment. She discovered that she didn't know how to answer that. "I don't know. All I know for sure is that I was once a human... I think I'm about 17... And I remember my name. But nothing else."

Jay heard everything she said, but couldn't get over the 'human' part. "Are you serious? You're a human?"

"Well, I was, but I'm not sure you could technically say that now..."

"It's unheard of..." Jay couldn't contain his curiosity and excitement. "You'd best come with me. I couldn't live with myself if I were to just let you wander an unfamiliar area alone, and you can't go telling every Pokèmon in Treasure Town that you're a human who became a vulpix overnight. Either they would ignore you 'cause they don't believe you, or they'd try to chase you off."

"But you believe me, don't you?" she asked.

"I'm the co-founder and acting leader of Team Storm, not to mention being a Pokèmon with seven potential evolutions. I try to keep an open mind. Plus, you don't seem to be the type of person to lie to someone they just met."

"Oh, thank you!" The vulpix jumped up without warning and tackled Jay with a bear hug. "Thank you for believing in me! I've never met anyone so kind! ...Or at least, I don't think I have."

Jay struggled out of her grasp and jumped backup onto his feet. He blushed a bit at her actions and what she'd said, but she didn't seem to notice. Then he set off back through the sunflowers and toward the dirt path, motioning for her to follow. I wonder how long I've been here. The sun was noticeably higher in the sky than when he'd first gotten there, and Jay decided that he needed to get back home to his Team's base. "I guess you should come back home with me. I really need to get back, I've been out longer than usual already and Kyla will be wondering what's keeping me."

The vulpix simply gave a nod and followed him along. "So," Jay continued, "you said you remember your name. What is it?"

...Max, she thought, my name is Max. Max told Jay her name.

"Max," Jay repeated. "Odd sort of a name... but I like it." And with that, the two new companions – or, dare I say, friends – set off toward home. They had no idea what adventures and other assorted events they were to share in the impending future...