Author's Note: Lugia is obviously from Pokémon, which I do not own and have no rights to. Also, italics indicates telepathy. This story is very much an AU story, and doesn't really touch on Pokémon at all other than importing Lugia to a universe very much like ours. As for what Lugia are doing in our universe, well...that'll be explained in the next chapter. If you came here looking for Ash, Misty, Lance, or any such character, you might want to just hit "back" now, because unless this story really gets away from me they won't be showing up. Those of you who read the "snippets" story I wrote, which was until now, the only one you had to judge me by: this story is very different in tone. The snippets story offers decent insight into my sense of humour, but not really into my writing style.

Perhaps I should start by introducing myself. I am Michael Toyo, and I was once like you. Mundane, ordinary—a college student, like most others, just gliding through on his way to a degree in Computer Science...until that one fateful day, when I was approached by someone who identified himself as "Alistair Silver". He was a slightly odd man, dressed in a faded suit. He wasn't that unusual for my school, but something about him struck me as different.

I was too right about that.

We chatted for a while about current issues—the upcoming elections, the hurricanes battering the Gulf Coast, and sometime during that conversation he asked me to help. He wanted to know if I wanted to help keep the world's climate on track. I assumed that he meant some kind of large-scale project to counteract global warming.

I was wrong about that.

Of course, when offered this chance to do good (and being a rather naïve undergraduate at the time), I leaped at the chance to accept. I was at a research university, and hoping for a chance to do some research that mattered. Of course, it did matter! However, it wasn't in the way that I expected.

Mr. Silver had given me a place and a time to meet him and his colleagues. He wanted to meet me at a Japanese restaurant a few miles out of town over lunch. That seemed fairly reasonable, as he wanted to let his associates get to know me before I started working with them. I arrived slightly early, and was surprised to see everyone already waiting for me. I ordered some sushi—toro and a spicy tuna hand roll—and was met with knowing grins. We lost ourselves in casual conversation until we had all finished eating, and then discussion turned to the project. They were impressed by my enthusiasm for the job, and offered to show me around right then. I took them up on their offer, and followed their cars to a beach.

I was surprised by the location, to say the least. My colleagues started a discussion of the rising water level, and mentioned that if nobody did anything to prevent it, the land for over a mile inland would disappear under the water within a fairly short timescale. One of them, who had introduced himself to me as Mr. Bozu spoke up: "Are you sure you want this job? It can be stressful at times."

"Would it be a job if it wasn't?" I replied.

Bozu chuckled. "Sure, kid, but this is usually more stressful. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Of course!"

"Very well." And with that, he stepped back to Mr. Silver and Ryujin, who spread out around me. I noticed their eyes glowing blue, and then I blacked out.

I woke up confused. My brain was buzzing with new information, but I couldn't seem to harness it. I tried to stretch, and that's when I noticed that my body didn't seem to be working the way it usually did. My arms seemed very clumsy, and my legs felt...odd. And was that a tail!? When I got my eyes somewhat focused, I saw Mr. Silver standing in front of me, and noticed I was in a dim cave.

"What did you do to me?" I shouted. Or rather, tried to shout. All that came out was a musical cry.

"I see you're still disoriented. I'm really very sorry about the distress. We didn't lie to you, per se. You will be working to keep the climate on track, just in a way you weren't expecting."

"What do you mean?" I tried to ask. Again, all that came out was that mournful cry.

"Ah, I keep forgetting that our new recruits aren't familiar with telepathy. In your current form, you won't be able to speak verbally. You are able to communicate through telepathy, though. Just focus your thoughts at the person you need to talk to..." Like this, he added. Just concentrate, it should come naturally.

What did you DO to me?, I asked

Gave you a form more suitable to the task at hand. You can be told everything, now, but I'll try to keep it to the basics. There have always been a few Lugia on this world, working to modulate the climate. We are very long lived, and have the ability to protect ourselves, but one of us was caught by surprise in a weapon test and was killed before she could escape. We managed to remove her body, but there weren't enough of us to keep the world in balance, so we needed to find a replacement. Your mind suggested you were a suitable prospect, but we had to be sure you would share our goals.

But...does this mean I can't have any contact with humans now?

Don't be foolish. You will learn how to assume a human form soon enough. We have the ability to take on any of three forms easily—a human form, a pure Lugia form, and a hybrid form. How do you think we contacted you?

And with that, "Mr. Silver" stepped back from me and began glowing a bright bluish-white. After a few seconds, the glow faded and he stood before me in a form that seemed somehow familiar. He was a giant silver-colored bird, with the silver marred only by a blue patch on his belly, with smooth skin and a sleek pointed head ending in a powerful beak. The wings were fairly long and ended in five finger-like appendages. The tail was thick and had spikes near the end, and there was a spiked blue "mask" around the eyes.

That looks...familiar somehow I said.

Silver looked thoughtful. We don't advertise our presence, but we are sometimes seen. It is possible that someone who saw us later included something similar in their artwork

I remember now! You were a legendary Pokémon in the games I used to play! This is ridiculous! This can't be real, I must be hallucinating! I 'yelled' franticly.

I assure you that we are very real. Without us, the climate of Earth would be very different and with great probability inimical to life. However, if you need time to adapt to your new conditions, I can leave you in peace for a while.

I think I need some time to contemplate this. I affirmed.

Silver left, diving out the water on the floor of the cave. I thought about what I'd be missing, and decided that apart from my friends and family there was nothing really worth going back to. I wondered if I'd be able to ever see my friends again. However, it looked like there was no reversing the transformation, so I'd never be able to go back to the way things were. I resolved to ask Silver if I could ever see them again the next time I saw him, and drifted off to sleep.

Ending note: Well, that's the first chapter of this story. I hope you liked it, but if you don't, don't worry! These first few chapters are mainly explaining how Michael got to be where he is, and also a bit of how the world works. I can't promise that this story will be updated that often, as my workload varies quite a bit. Of course, I started writing this story as a way to procrastinate on a paper, so...it might end up updating more often as the amount of stuff I have to procrastinate on increases. You never know!
Also, in case you haven't read my profile or missed this in the mess: I like it when I get positive feedback, but I also like it when people criticize my writing constructively. I really do! I love to know where I screwed up, so I can fix it. Flames, however will be donated to Amundsen-Scott Station to help defray heating costs after I get done laughing at them.