My head hurt so much, too much for it to be a simple migraine. Behind my eyelids all I saw was a dream of thunder and lightening. In my dream I held someone's hand but I couldn't see their face. I felt like I was in water but I knew I wasn't and some force was pulling me away from him.
"Ash! Ash! Are you okay?" He yelled at me.
"I'm fine!" I screamed over the thunder and screaming winds of somewhere unknown. I looked around and saw walls that weren't made of any object that I've ever seen. My fingers started to slip, sticky and wet from the sweat of desperately trying to stay together.
"Don't let go!"
"I can't hold on. I'm sorry…" I let go of his hand and let myself fall into sea and darkness.
I opened my eyes and came face to face with a setting sun. Bubbles danced over the gentle crying ocean. I closed my eyes for a second. The sand was so warm. It felt like I was wrapped in a blanket.
"Are you okay?" The voice wasn't familiar. I opened my eyes saw an ocean blue penguin.
I jumped back, a small scream escaped from my mouth. For some reason my face became flushed. The Piplup laughed at me. He was small and something clunky hung around his neck by a thin string. The Piplup held his flippers under it as if he expected it to fall.
"What's so funny?" I demanded.
"You are, silly! Why are you so jumpy?"
I simply stared at the ocean-looking Pokémon. Why did I jump so much?
"Treeko?" He tilted his head. He wasn't looking behind me but there's no way he could be talking to me! "Hey." He waved a flipper in front of my face. "Treeko?"
"Who are you talking to?" I folded my arms.
"You." He seemed just as confused as I felt. "Aren't you a Treeko?"
"No. I'm human."
The Piplup laughed. "There hasn't been a human for years!"
I stomped my foot, getting ready to yell but as I lifted a hand I found it green and short. This wasn't at all what I was expecting, I'm not sure what I was expecting my hand to look like but not like this. I ran to the ocean and looked into it. Fear froze me.
"What is it?"
"I'm a Treeko…I…I'm a human though. How?" I wasn't talking to him but he answered me anyway.
"I'm not sure. Do you at least have a name?" Did he believe me? Maybe not.
I thought about it. What was it the voice called me? "Ash, I think."
"Pip. Is Ash short for anything? It sounds like it. There's this Pokémon in the square, her name is Ashton but she goes by-Oh!" The Pokémon was propelled into me, the necklace broke off.
Behind him two purple Pokémon hovered behind him. Zubat and Koffing hovered over the clunky object. "This looks kind of dull." The Zubat complained.
"Hey! Give me back my treasure!" Pip pushed me down as if I were in his way and went after the two juveniles.
Koffing kept him back by releasing smog. They both laughed as Pip gagged and coughed and retreated back behind me.
"Treasure huh? How much could we get this for, Koffing?"
Koffing pretended to think about it.
I was already sick of the two. Before I knew it a rock flew from my hand and into Zubats wing forcing him to crash to the sand.
Koffing growled, "You're gonna pay for that, brat!" He charged at me.
A small, almost missed, voice called instinct whispered to my muscles what to do. Claws came from my paws and I scratched as his eyes, face, body, anywhere I could. Pip came up next to me and head butted Koffing, making him land on his bat buddy.
"This fight was a fluke. Next time we'll beat you!" Koffing threatened as the two ran away. I watched them until they disappeared.
Pip was checking his treasure, making sure nothing damaged it. He wiped some of the sand off of it. "Thank you…" He was relieved. "I don't know what I would've done if I lost this."
I smiled and pat his back. "We should get you home. You look exhausted."
"Yeah…Oh but what about you? You don't have a home!"
"Oh yeah, huh? I guess we should live together." I rubbed the back of my neck. It didn't hurt it just seemed like an old habit that I've never done before. It felt strange yet so comfortable.
"I have a better idea." Pip grabbed my hand. For his hands being flippers they had a very tight grip to them, and he lead me off, running faster than I could keep up.