"I'll show you! I'll be the best, and no one will ever question it. I'll beat all of the trainers out there, and become the champion!" he yelled, his temper was flaring. "I'll go out there, get my own Pokémon and prove to you that you're wrong!"
"Please, you couldn't last more than five minutes out in the woods," the boy's mother rolled her eyes. "Now be quiet and eat your broccoli, you haven't touched it."
"No," he stood up from the table, the wooden chair screeching against the floor. "I'm done. I'm thirteen years old, most kids have left by now to go on their own journey, why can't I?"
"Because you wouldn't last more than five minutes in the woods. Besides, Sky hasn't gone out on a Pokémon journey either. She's just a few months younger than you."
"That's because she's waiting for me to go! She wanted to travel with me," the boy screamed. "I'm leaving wither you like it or not! I'm sick of you always keeping me locked up inside. You never let me go outside because of my lungs! I can make it; I wish you would just let me try!"
"Lake," his mother stood up as he ran out the door. "Get back here!"
Lake kept running. Tears started to run down his cheeks, but he kept on running. He didn't pay attention when the trees above his head were growing denser, making less and less light shine through onto him. He didn't notice that little life was ahead of him. Though, he did notice the burning sensation that erupted in his lungs. His eyes widened and he fell to the ground. Lake coughed up blood, the red liquid splattered on the dirt below him. He started sobbing. He was scared, there was no one here.
"Help!" he whispered as he curled up into a ball, trying to breath. "Please, someone help me."
"What do you want?" a voice appeared from below him. Lake shot up, and stumbled backwards. His back hit a dead tree. The boy's golden eyes darted back and forth, searching for the source of the voice. There was nothing there, nothing at all.
"What do you want, boy?" the voice growled, but it turned softer. "Just tell me, and I'll make it come true. I'll make your wish come true. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Lake nodded his head, "Who are you?"
"That's not important. What's important is that I can grant you your wish."
Lake paused for a moment, trying to ignore his aching lungs, "I wish…That I could beat the elite four and become the champion! I want to be the best out there, and I want to be able to breathe so I can do it! I don't want my lungs to hold me back anymore!"
The voice started laughing. Lake eyebrows narrowed down out of confusion of the malicious laugh. He didn't understand what was so funny about his wish. A red ball of light appeared, his eyes widened. Then, a skull shimmered. Lake tried to escape, but a bone chilling numbness encompassed him.
His skin started glowing. The boy's eyes widened and he tried to scream, but nothing came out. His feet started changing. His shoes fell off and blue webbed feet were slipping out of his socks. His hands soon became the same, but only white. He started shaking as he shrunk down to merely one foot tall. His clothes were lying in a pile at his feet.
"Be careful what you wish for," Lake looked up fearfully at the fully visible Duskull before it disappeared into nothingness. He then looked back at himself, seeing had changed form. He was a Pokémon.
"Lake!" he snapped his head back, hearing a girl running forward. He heard her, far better than he was used to. Lake could hear her breath heaving up and down, like she was running. It felt like he could even hear a faint heartbeat. Then, he realized just exactly who it was. He couldn't let her see him like this.
Lake scrambled to move, but fell. He looked at his legs in horror. They weren't moving like they should be, they weren't frog legs. Still, he had to get out of here before she found him. He had to hide his clothes. Crawling, just managing to pull himself forward, he managed to get his clothes and his body behind a tree, just before she ran by.
Clumsily, he managed to partly stand with the support of the tree and peered out from behind it. He watched as the girl desperately spun in circles, looking for him. She was the same age as him. Her strawberry blonde hair whipped her face. Tears were running down from her green eyes.
"Lake!?" she screamed, "Where are you? Please, come back! I'm scared for you. Your lungs can't handle that much!"
Lake was about to come forward, but then he realized his lungs weren't hurting. He could breathe without the familiar tightness. It must have been like what it felt like to take a breath for the average person. No, he was free now. He had to do this. Even if he was stuck in the body of a Pokémon, he would figure out a way to defeat everyone out there and prove that he could be better than all of the Pokémon trainers.
"Lake, please!" he looked back over to the girl as she fell to her knees, sobbing into her hands.
He felt guilt. She was his best friend. She was always there for him. When her parents asked her if she wanted to leave for a Pokémon journey, she said she wouldn't until he was able to. He only knew because he was right outside the window and overheard. She never told him that her parents offered her the chance of a life time, and he never brought it up. Now, he was leaving her to go on a Pokémon journey without her. Would she follow him, leave after he didn't return to finally get on with her life? He wasn't sure.
He tried to say her name to comfort her, but all that came out was a croak. Lake fell back to the ground; of course he wouldn't be able to speak. Not when he was a Froakie. He would have to find a way to turn back, even if it meant going after that Duskull. First, he would prove he was the best, by taking the same steps that Red took, and then he would go further.
The girl eventually picked herself up from the forest floor. She couldn't find him, if only she was there when he left, then she might have been able to stop him. No, she had to be running to the store to buy a new book. Now, now he was gone.
"Lake," she sniffed and slowly stumbled her way back to the town. Wiping her eyes on her sleeves, but the tears kept on coming.
When she got back the police were already there with their Arcanines. Her bottom lip trembled more, knowing why they were here. They were going to search for him. She ran into her house and up the stairs, praying to Arceus that they would find him.
"Grove?" her mother called from the bottom of the stairs. Her feet climbed up and opened her bedroom door. "They'll find him, honey. Don't worry."
"What if they just find his body?" Grove buried her face in the pillow and tried to keep herself from screaming.
Hours passed. Eventually Grove fell asleep. Her face was stained with tears when she woke up. She hoped it was just a dream, but when she looked out her window the police where there. She swallowed nothing out of anxiety, and slowly walked down the stairs. Her parents looked up and shook their heads. He wasn't found yet. Grove sighed and walked out of the house, wanting to see if the police knew anything.
"We found a pile of clothes, is this his?" Grove looked up at an officer handing a pair of shoes, socks, pants, and a shirt to Lake's mother. She started sobbing right away and nodded her head. Grove froze in her steps on the dirt path. If his clothes were there, then where was his body? "Did he also have a Pokémon, a Froakie?"
"No," Lake's mother stopped her sniffling, "Why?"
An officer nodded her head and a blue frog like Pokémon was brought over. It was struggling, trying to get away. "He caught the scent of our trackers, I guess they were wrong. Go ahead and release him."
"Wait!" Grove shouted as she ran forward. "That's my Froakie! I sent him to go look for Lake, maybe he found him." She took the blue Pokémon from the officer, "I'll talk to him to see if he found anything. Thank you for bringing him back."
She snatched the Froakie and ran off into the forest. The officers called after her, but didn't pursue her. Grove ran into the forest and knelt down to the ground before holding the Froakie out in front of her.
"Look," she whispered. "I don't know if you know where he is, but if you've seen a boy with dark hair, golden eyes, and paler skin, just tell me he's alive. He has issues breathing, and he can't be outside that much. Just tell me he's okay." Her bottom lip started to quiver and tears started to fall down her face. "I don't want anything to happen to him. Did you see him?" Her eyes stared pleadingly at the Froakie, hoping that it would understand. Slowly, the frog nodded its head up and down. "Is he alive?" It nodded its head once more. "Did he leave for a Pokémon journey like he wanted to?" The frog nodded its head again. "Thank you." She placed the Froakie on the ground gently, "He'll be heading to Kanto, then. I'll find him."