This is a collaboration story between authors Knightfall and myself. Any and all characters within this story are the property of said authors. Pokémon and the regions of Kanto, Sinnoh, Hoenn, and Johto all belong to their rightful owners in Nintendo.
Unnamed Consequences
Chapter 1 - Forced Cooperation
The story starts in the quiet town of Pallet, in the shade of a large oak. A lone figure slumbered underneath the cool boughs, dreaming of the faraway lands beyond the Sinjoh Mountains far to the north.
"Hey, there you are! Dan! Wake up!" An eager voice shouted suddenly. The teen awoke with a start, slamming his head against the rough bark of the base of the giant tree. His vision swam as he tried to formulate a coherent reply.
"W-what do you want? What now?" he groaned as he went to rub the sore spot on the back of his head. He paused as soon as he touched the place of impact. The skin on his skull seemed to rise up far more than even the worse of bumps and there was a distinct lack of hair.
"Did you know that you smell almost the same as a Charmeleon as you did as a human?" the Eevee at his feet said, wagging its tail.
Dan blinked once as his vision slowly unfogged and he could clearly see the brown fox-like creature in front of him. "Who said that? Oh, lord, my head hurts," he asked as he looked about the area, though not feeling coordinated enough to attempt standing yet. He remembered where he was, roughly. The large trees that ringed the town and served as gateways into the untamed forest beyond were unmistakable.
"It was me!" There was no way the voice had come from any other direction; it was definitely the Eevee who had said that.
Dan took another look at the Eevee. "Y-you? But, you're -you're a Pokémon. Arceus, what did I drink last night? What did I even do last night?" he groaned as he pressed his hand to his head only to yank it away in pain as a set of bone-white, pointed claws greeted him in place of the fingers he had used and enjoyed his entire life.
"I should say the same to you! At least you can still stand!" the Eevee yelled at him.
"No. No! This is not happening! Whatever, or whoever you are, tell me what happened this instant! O-or ... Or I'll..." the teen shouted, unable to finish his threat as the sight of the new skin covering his body. An armor of deep-crimson scales coated him entirely, and legs were replaced with two stumpy feet that ended in claws. And, perhaps the most significant alteration of all, he now had a tail about as tall as he was tipped with a fairly large live flame on the end.
"I repeat: At least you can still stand." The teen took a deep breath as he tried to push the tidal wave of questions back in his mind and managed to listen to the talking Eevee. Using his new arms, he pushed his claws into the tree bark and slowly stood on his wobbling legs. His balance was only temporary as gravity proved to be too much for the newly-knit muscles in his legs to handle as he leaned against the oak for support. "Okay, maybe not. At least you'll be able to, though!"
"You're probably right ... whoever you are. What was your name again?" Dan inquired, scratching his head.
"It's me, Trace!" the younger Eevee cheerfully replied.
Dan tilted his reptilian head to the side. "I'm sorry, but I still have no idea who you are. You sound familiar, albeit vaguely, but that's it."
"You..." Trace chuckled. "You're joking..."
"Listen, I wish I remembered, but you could be-" The Charmeleon began explaining before being interrupted.
"You have to be joking!" Trace suddenly screamed.
"Calm down!" Dan snapped, coming off the tree and managing to stand under his own power. Trace refused to listen as tears started forming in the corners of his eyes.
"How can I be calm when my older brother can't remember a thing about me?!" he wailed.
Dan shook his head. "Brother? I don't remember having a brother, much less one that's an Eevee. Now, if you're done wasting my time, would you please try and figure out what happened here? Last time I checked, I was not a Charmeleon," Dan roughly brushed the Eevee's comments away as he strode a few steps past him looking towards the eerily quiet town of Pallet.
"If you'd like to be useful instead of screaming at me like a toddler, then come help me investigate Pallet." With that, Dan slowly began walking over the grassy fields that served as a buffer between the forest and the outskirts of the town. He could hear the Eevee paddling along behind him, muttering something to himself.
Pallet town was practically abandoned. No doors were open, no people were out in the streets. A lone Rattata, confused as all hell, was pacing around. Trace ran off towards it.
"Hey! Tr-Trace! Wait up!" Dan shouted as the younger Eevee skidded to a stop in the middle of the deserted road. The Rattata hadn't seemed to notice them yet, being too preoccupied in his own dilemma. Dan crouched down behind a car stopped in the middle of the street and motioned for Trace to quietly come to him.
Trace caught the hint as he silently trotted back across the blacktop. Dan had managed to, thanks to his new sharp claws, completely ruin the lock to the passenger door and hopped inside. As Trace leaped onto the soft seat, Dan eased the door shut, praying that the minute noise did not alert any nearby beings, be they human or Pokémon.
"Listen to me, Trace. If you're going to help me, you will have to follow a few rules. Alright?" Dan asked, and without waiting for a response from the Eevee, he continued with his improvised list. "Number one, since we've both transformed, we have to be careful of anyone. Until I say so, we need to keep clear of others. Rule two: stay close to me. Even if I'm not your brother, you need to stay with me until we do find him. Wherever he is," Dan explained, taking a deep breath after finishing the long-winded list.
"But you smell like..." Trace started, shutting up instantly upon a cold glare from Dan. I swear that's my brother... It smells exactly like him! But my brother was human too... And so was I! ...What's going on?
"Do you understand the rules? I don't care if I ...smell like him. As far as I can remember, I am not him," Dan hissed through his new set of sharpened teeth as he peered over the dashboard of the abandoned car. The small purple rat hadn't stopped his frantic pacing outside what seemed to be an apartment building.
"It's just a Rattata. I think we can take him if necessary. Are you ready?" Dan asked as he moved past the Eevee on the car seat and pulled up on the door handle, opening it.
"I suppose," Trace muttered quietly as the door opened. Dan tiptoed around the back end of the car, Trace following him as close as he dared. Taking a quick look around the rear tire, they both saw that the purple rat had still not yet noticed them, and had taken to backing himself against the front wall of the building.
"Alright, we'll surround him so he can't run off and see if he knows anything. Got it?" Dan elaborated as he formulated his plan.
Trace seemed unsure. "What if he's wild?"
"Good point. Though, I think that any normal Rattata would have figured out we were here by now. Something's off about this guy. So, the plan. You take his left and I'll go to the right." Trace nodded as he readied himself to dart towards the rat. Dan held up three claws, and slowly lowered them individually.
Once his last claw lowered, Dan jumped up, dug his claws into the metal covering of the trunk, and vaulted over the short distance of the roof of the car. In the meantime, Trace sprinted around the bumper and charged the terrified Pokémon. Dan landed on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the Rattata. His poor legs felt as if someone had messaged them with a hammer, but he managed to stand firm as the rat let out a squeal and darted, only to come to a halt as he crashed into the Charmeleon.
The Rattata quickly looked back and forth between the two surprise assailants as his nervousness turned into full-fledged panic. Even before Dan could attempt to calm the Pokémon down, the Rattata sighed as he slumped to the ground, unconscious. More than slightly confused at the radical turn of events, the two forced companions simply stared at their blacked out Pokémon of interest.
"Well, damn," Was all Dan had to say as he prodded the unconscious normal type with his clawed foot, with absolutely no result.
Trace stared. "H-how..." He stepped towards the unconscious mouse Pokémon and sniffed at it, before hearing his stomach growl. Smells good... Why does it smell good?...
Not noticing his younger companion's actions, Dan scratched his head. "Alright, well, we'll have to move him somewhere until he wakes up. I can carry him, but I'm the only one among the two of us that can open doors. So, looks like you'll be carrying him on your back until we find a safe place," the Charmeleon reasoned as he scooped up the small rat in his arms -surprisingly hefty for a creature hardly the size of his leg. He plopped the unconscious Pokémon on the Eevee's back, hoping it wouldn't be too much for Trace to handle.
"Got him?" Trace nodded, the smell from the Rattata filling his nose completely and clouding his thoughts. "Alright, I'll see about opening this door and finding someplace for us to set up camp," Dan continued as he clumsily grasped the smooth-barely able to reach the opening mechanism on the tips of his claws- bronze handle and used both sets of claws to ease the lever down.
Fortunately for them, the barrier between the outside and inside was not locked and the light red door swung inwards with a click. Dan took a precautionary glance around the street. It was as if every other living soul had been stolen by a malevolent grim reaper, the normally noisy urban area utterly silenced. Not even the chirping of birds or rustling of the trees planted along the sidewalk broke the oppressive tension that choked the air.
Despite feeling a cold shiver run through him at the scene, never in his life did he remember the town being so dead, not even after the terrorist attacks on Saffron three years ago. The whos and whats of the aforementioned attacks were still a vague memory in his mind, but Dan was willing to take any scraps of memory his mind was willing to throw his way.
Pushing the eerie street back in his mind next to all of his other questions, Dan poked his head into the foyer of the apartment building. It was just as empty as the town, but it hardly seemed as strange. It merely looked as if the doorman behind the desk had taken a holiday, leaving his post and the lobby unattended. Warm, welcoming lights continued to burn cheerily from their sockets in the ceiling and from decorative fixtures along the walls above the cozy looking set of a couch and chairs in the corner.
"It looks clear. Come on," Dan reported as he motioned for Trace to follow him up the small flight of concrete steps. Once all three Pokémon were safely inside the lobby, Dan pushed the door shut and jumped up to switch the lock down. "There, now we're good to go. I'd rather get on a higher floor, but the fact that the elevator seems out of order and those flickering lights on the stairs are giving me the creeps means we'll stay down here for now."
Trace looked at the elevator. There was a sign on it written in what looked to him like an alien script. "What tells you that?"
"The sign says it's out of order, plain as day. Can't you see that?"
"Are you sure? It looks like those confusing Unown glyphs to me..."
Dan tilted his head. "You honestly can't read that? It's simple Kantoen, Trace. Also, put him down on one of those chairs over there. We can keep an eye on him for when he wakes up," Dan suggested as he saw Trace still carried the Rattata. He pointed a claw at the cluster of cushioned furniture in the far right corner of the room.
"Just drop him off there and we'll plan out our next course of action. Looks like we'll be working together for a while until we get some proper answers. First things first, we should take stock of our situation. See what we know and need to figure out. And then, there's other things like food. I know I'm getting a bit hungry, how about you?" Dan asked as he started pulling an occupied chair into the entrance to the ominous stairway. "Can't hurt to be careful," he added, wiping his arm along his forehead only to realize that his reptilian skin didn't sweat.
Trace found himself staring at the unconscious Rattata. "Y-yeah... Hungry."
Dan chuckled at the younger Pokémon's response. Despite his earlier outburst and claim that they weren't brothers, Dan did feel a sort of kinship with the Eevee. Trace was just as lost as he was, if not more. Dan fully intended to find the kid's brother. And, until then, he would never be able to sleep again if something happened to Trace under his watch.
"Well, good. I suppose I can try to find something for the both of us to eat. Keep an eye on our 'guest', would ya? And avoid the upper floors. I don't like the fact that those flickering lights come straight out of a horror movie. Got it?" Dan inquired as he jumped up and undid the lock, not five minutes passing since he first locked it.
"Alright... Should I see if I can find a place on this floor to stay?" Trace suggested tentatively.
Dan shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, see if you can get the couch and chairs set up for us. Don't open the door for anyone. The codeword will be ... umm ... 'chariots'. Yeah, that works. No one else will figure that one out. I'll be back soon." Dan then pushed up on the lever and quickly slipped out of the lobby, barely missing slamming his tail in the closing door.
Now alone with the Rattata, Trace couldn't help but stare at their captive. He was hungry, and the critter looked oddly delicious. One part of his mind screamed that he shouldn't look at a Pokémon as a meal, but another part, a new, almost foreign feeling, told him that it was only natural. He inched closer to the chair the purple rat was laying on, the smell emanating from him was making his mouth water at the prospect of something to eat.
Just as he was about to pounce on the helpless rat, a sharp twitch shook the Rattata's body. Trace froze as the smaller creature stretched and slowly opened its eyes. Upon seeing Trace, and the Eevee's eyes radiating a hungry desire, the Rattata had more than enough sense to know that now was the time to split.
The creature scurried upstairs, darting under the Eevee and over the chair blockade Dan set up, leaving Trace with his thoughts. The Eevee was about to follow, but remembered his brother's words: "Avoid the upper floors. I don't like the fact that those flickering lights come straight out of a horror movie."
Trace sighed, curling up next to the blockade in case the rat ever came down. He was almost asleep when he heard a growl from upstairs, then a high pitched squeal, then nothing.
End Chapter One
Authors' Notes:
Knightfall: Well, this was interesting to write. A nice change of pace from all my other works, and a nice blending of the world of the main games and aspects of the PMD series. I can't wait to write the rest of it with Yusei.
Yusei: I've never written any story of this genre before. I think it's gonna be fun. ^^ Also, you should go check out Knightfall's stories. He's fun to write with!