He could perceive nothing but darkness. An impenetrable blackness surrounded him, waiting for an opportunity to engulf him. He attempted to move, to find an escape from the suffocating darkness, but found that his body had been rendered immobile. The darkness was holding him down lightly but firmly, preventing any movement.
Suddenly, he sensed that the darkness was approaching him from all sides, like the coils of a serpent constricting around its prey. He could make no move to resist; he could only wait, helpless, as the darkness closed in around him. It pressed down on him, its incredible weight threatening to smother him. He tried to call out for help, but found himself unable to create a sound.
Just as he was beginning to give up all hope of escaping, he heard a voice. It was very faint, as if the speaker were shouting from a great distance, and he could not make out any words, but it was unmistakably a voice. The voice called out again, louder this time, and he saw a small ray of light pierce the darkness enveloping him. This time, the voice was much clearer, making it possible for him to hear some of what it was saying.
"…ake up… Can yo… r me…"
He did not know who the speaker was, but somehow he knew that he must follow their voice to escape from the darkness. He found that he could move his body with some difficulty, so he began to slowly move toward the light. The darkness clung to him, its cold claws trying to pull him away from the light. But he struggled against the darkness, and he gradually progressed toward the light.
As he approached it, the light became brighter, until it seemed to shine with the intensity of a small sun. As the light grew stronger, he felt the darkness begin to recede, releasing him from its clutches and allowing him to sprint toward the light. Soon, the light had entirely filled his vision, leaving him completely blind. The light gradually began to fade, and the world around him slowly came into focus.
The first thing he became aware of was the fact that he was lying on his stomach. The ground was soft and covered with lush, green grass. He could see numerous trees beyond the field of grass and ferns, leading him to assume that he was in a clearing within a forest. He was surrounded by the earthy scent of nature, so powerful it was almost overwhelming.
He began to push himself up with his arms when he noticed that something seemed off about them. He paused for a moment to consider this. What was wrong with his arms? Had something changed? He looked at them closely. They were covered in short blue fur and he had a bony bump on the back of each of his paws. There did not initially seem to be anything wrong with his arms, but the more he thought about it, the more sure he was that there was something fundamentally wrong about their appearance.
His thoughts were interrupted by the voice he had heard earlier, "You're awake! Thank goodness. I was starting to think you were dead!"
He turned around to see a green, bipedal reptile with a red underbelly extending to its bottom lip. Its thick tail was a darker shade of green than the rest of its body. It had an indent in the top of its head, above its yellow eyes. It stared at him with its slit pupils and had a cheerful grin on its face.
"Hi, I'm Basil. I found you unconscious out here, so I tried to wake you up. Nothing I did was working though, so I was starting to give up and think that maybe you died. But I guess I did something right, because you're awake now!" it laughed.
He was only half listening to Basil. He was still staring at his own paws. By now, he was sure that something was wrong with his body. He began to look all over himself to see if he could determine what was wrong. He had more blue fur on his abdomen, and black fur on his chest and legs. He felt two pointy ears on the top of his head. He had two black appendages on the sides of his face. His tail was covered in blue fur.
This body part felt the most wrong. The weight of his tail felt unfamiliar and awkward, as if it were protruding much farther from his body than it should have been. In fact, he began to suspect that he should not have a tail at all. For some reason, he could not shake the feeling that the very existence of his tail was completely incorrect, as though it were a third arm that had spontaneously grown on his body.
Although he was becoming increasingly convinced that something was very wrong with his body, he could not remember being any different. In fact, he could not remember anything. He realized that his memory was completely blank. He failed to remember anything about who or what he was.
He began to feel panic when he discovered his amnesia. 'Who am I? What am I? What's going on?' he thought, alarmed by his own inability to remember anything about himself or his current situation.
"Um… Are you okay? Can you hear me?" Basil asked.
He stared at the creature. "Wh-what are you?" he asked.
Basil stared back at him for a moment before replying, "Come on! You can't expect me to believe that you're in Amaros and you don't even know what a Treecko is!"
"Amaros, what is that?" he asked cautiously.
Basil appeared stunned that he had never heard of Amaros. "You're in Amaros right now. You know, one of the Four Kingdoms? Honestly, have you been living under a rock your whole life?" Basil said.
"I don't know," he replied, hanging his head in embarrassment. "I can't remember anything."
"What?!" Basil exclaimed. "You can't remember anything? Your name? Where you're from? Nothing?"
"No," he said. "I can't remember any of that stuff. But I feel like something is wrong with my body. Like I'm not the way I'm supposed to be."
Basil stared at him, confused. "You look like a perfectly normal Riolu to me," he said.
'Riolu,' he thought, 'is that what I am?' But something still felt wrong about his body. He felt short, and his weight felt uneven. It felt like someone had haphazardly attached weights to his body. He was sure by this point that he was not supposed to be a Riolu.
'But if I wasn't a Riolu, then what was I?' he wondered. He felt as though there was a word hiding in the crevices of his subconscious, a word that would give him the answer he sought if he could coax it out. Desperate for any information he could find about his past, he dug deep into his mind, searching for the word. It felt as though there was something actively resisting his efforts, withholding the desired knowledge from him. Finally, he managed to overcome the mental obstacle and find the word he was looking for, although it raised more questions than it answered: Human.
He still did not understand. He could not even remember what a human was, but he had become convinced that he was supposed to be one. 'But what happened?' he wondered, 'How did I become a Riolu? Why am I here?' Unfortunately, his severely lacking memory was incapable of providing any answers to these questions.
"Hello?" Basil said. "Are you just going to keep zoning out whenever I try to talk to you? What is a Riolu like you doing in Amaros?"
"I'm not a Riolu!" he blurted out. "I'm a human!"
For several moments, Basil blankly stared at him. Then, the Treecko began to chuckle. "Yeah, right. Everyone knows humans are just a myth. Honestly, you're really weird," Basil grinned. "I think I like you."
"I'm serious!" the human-turned-Riolu shouted. "I really am a human! That's the only thing I can remember." He slumped over, ears drooping. "I can't even remember my own name," he said.
Basil was silent for a few seconds before responding, "Well, human or not, it sounds like you could use some help. You can come with me if you'd like to. If you've forgotten your name, I guess I'll just call you Riolu. At least until you remember what your real name is. Riolu are really rare in Amaros, so we probably won't have to worry about getting you mixed up with others. Are you okay with that?"
Riolu nodded, "That'll be fine. But I still don't understand any of this. What is Amaros? From what you've said, it's obviously a place, but I don't recognize that name at all. What is a Treecko? Or a Riolu? Why am I here? And why can't I remember anything?!" His voice rose to a hysterical yell.
"Calm down!" Basil said. "Getting into a panic isn't going to make things any better. I can't help you with those last two things, but I can tell you all about Amaros and Pokémon on the way back to Verdura. Before you ask," he added, anticipating Riolu's next question, "Verdura is the capital of Amaros."
Riolu and Basil began to walk, leaving the clearing behind and following a dirt path among the trees. Riolu looked around, trying to absorb as much of his surroundings as possible. The trees bordering the path were dispersed widely enough to allow him to see into the forest around him for a short distance. The forest became denser farther from the path, making it difficult to see much further.
The forest was full of life. Smaller plants flourished among the tall trees. Several bushes held blossoming flowers, adding many beautiful colors to the brown and green of the forest. Their pleasant scents drifted through the air. The lush vegetation filled the area, giving life to the forest.
Riolu saw various creatures wandering the woods. Some of them walked or crawled along the ground, while others climbed the trunks of trees or flew from branch to branch. There was incredible variation in the creatures' appearances and behaviors. Most had fur or feathers of some sort with widely ranging colors. Riolu saw a small blue creature running along the ground with what seemed to be leaves sprouting from the top of its head. Many traveled in pairs or small groups with others of similar appearances, while others were solitary. None of them acknowledged Riolu or Basil as they passed.
As they walked, Riolu questioned Basil about the world that he had apparently wound up in. If he was going to be here, in this body, for a long time, he might as well try to learn all that he could about it.
"So what is a Pokémon?" he asked.
Basil thought for a moment, then said, "I'm not really sure how to describe Pokémon. It just isn't something that you need to explain very often, you know? Every creature I can think of is a Pokémon.
"Well," he added, "I guess humans wouldn't be Pokémon, assuming they actually exist like you say. Anyways, there are hundreds of different species of Pokémon. We come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. And each Pokémon has one or two types. I'm a Treecko, so I'm a grass type. Riolu like you are fighting types."
Riolu was surprised that Basil knew his type. 'Didn't he just say that Riolu are uncommon around here?' he thought.
"Wait a minute," he said. "How do you know my type? In fact, how do you even know what a Riolu looks like if there aren't any around here?"
"Well," Basil replied, "I've been studying as many different kinds of Pokémon as I can lately, including Riolu."
"Studying? What for?" Riolu asked.
"Ever since I was a little kid, I've always wanted to be part of a Royal Squad. That's my dream: to join a Royal Squad and go on all sorts of adventures," said Basil. He remained silent for several seconds, apparently lost in thought.
It was clear that Basil was not going to keep talking of his own accord, so Riolu prompted him, "What's a Royal Squad?"
Basil was so lost in thought that he jumped slightly at the sound of Riolu's voice. After a few more moments of silence, he replied, "Royal Squads are teams that work for the Queen of Amaros. They do all sorts of missions: rescuing people, exploring unknown areas, retrieving items, even defending the queen herself!" He grinned excitedly, "They're so cool! I would give anything to join them!"
"So what does studying Pokémon have to do with being a Royal Squad member?" Riolu asked.
"To become a Royal Squad member, you have to be able to fight," Basil said. "So I figured that it would help my chances if I know about the sorts of Pokémon I might have to fight if I get in. I know about Riolu and Lucario—" He saw Riolu's look of confusion at this new name, then clarified, "Lucario is the evolved form of Riolu. Evolution is another big part of being a Pokémon. When a Pokémon evolves, they take on a new, stronger form. Anyways, I spent time studying Riolu and Lucario because they're supposed to be really strong. But most of them live in Colos because all of the mountains make it a better place for them to train."
"So you're studying all the species of Pokémon to become a member of a Royal Squad?" Riolu asked.
"All the species?" Basil responded. "Of course not! There's no way I'd ever be able to memorize every single kind of Pokémon. There are just way too many."
"How many kinds are there?" Riolu asked.
"There are hundreds and hundreds!" Basil said. "I couldn't even begin to guess how many there are in the world. Just when you think that you must know them all, a few dozen new species show up out of nowhere!"
The two walked in silence for a few seconds before Basil turned back to Riolu. "So, is there anything else you want to ask me right now?"
Riolu thought for a moment, then said, "There is one more thing I'd like to know about. What are the Four Kingdoms? You mentioned them before, but you never told me much about them."
"Well," Basil replied, "the Four Kingdoms are the four nations in the Vulnus region. The kingdoms are Amaros, Colos, Valoden, and Latus. Colos and Valoden are pretty war-like countries. They constantly get into fights with one another, but there hasn't been a full-scale war in this region in a while. Amaros shares a border with both Valoden and Colos, so we wind up having to cool them both down a lot of the time. Latus is a kingdom on an island off the coast of Colos. They don't usually get involved in wars and other things going on between the three other Great Kingdoms. A lot of people say that Latus is full of cowards who are too weak to win in a fight."
Basil looked up at the trees above them. "We should be getting close to Verdura right about now," he said. "There will be plenty of time for you to find out more about this sort of stuff after we get there."
The pair travelled in silence after this. Riolu watched Basil as they walked. He was not entirely convinced that Basil really believed that he was a human. He couldn't tell if Basil thought he was lying or insane, but he thought that Basil probably believed one or the other.
'What if he doesn't trust me at all?' he thought, 'And how could I blame him? I told him that I'm human, but according to him there's no such thing as humans. How could I expect him to believe me when I'm telling him something that he thinks is impossible?'
Riolu found himself feeling wary of his companion. 'If he doesn't trust me, how can I trust him?' he thought.
Riolu wasn't sure what Basil was thinking, or if Basil trusted him. Despite his doubts, Riolu decided that he had no one else to turn to, so he would go along with Basil for now. If it turns out that going with Basil is not his best option, he will find his own way in this strange and new world.
Riolu and Basil continued to walk along the forest path until Basil began to slow down. "We're almost there," he said.
To Riolu's surprise, the trees did not seem to thin out as they approached the capital. In fact, the foliage above thickened as the trees grew larger. The trees soon towered over them, colossal guardians of the capital. The leaves on their interlocking branches blended together, becoming a sea of green overhead. Despite the thick canopy high above, sunlight found its way to the ground largely uninhibited by the leafy layer.
Riolu and Basil crested one final hill and Riolu saw an incredible city sprawling below him. He was surprised to discover that the capital of Amaros was not just a city hidden within the forest, but a city that was a part of the forest itself. All of the buildings were constructed using either wood or stone. Many of them seemed to be at least partially merged with the trunks of the massive trees whose growth seemed to have been undisturbed by the bustling city that had developed at their bases. In the distance, Riolu could see parts of what seemed to be an enormous white castle, although trees obscured much of it.
Riolu stopped in his tracks and stared at the city before him, overwhelmed with awe at the sight of a city merged with the trees of the forest. Below him, he saw Pokémon of every shape and size wandering the streets and paths that meandered among the city's buildings and trees.
Basil turned to Riolu and grinned. "Well, here we are," he said. "Welcome to Verdura."