It rained again last night. Just beautiful really. The drumroll of thunder in the heavens, the flash and crack of lightning reading to caress the earth lovingly. It's times like these when I wish we could wash away the sins of the human race

Whenever it rains, I forget my age, forget I'm eighty-three years old and getting older. And when its nights like that, I remember. I was eighteen at the time, and IT was a tremendous thing to happen at such a young and tender age. It has been years since I've seen my friends and family from before IT happened.

"Leo, take Flash out before it starts to rain!" The shout came from the direction of the kitchen where my mom was baking a batch of cookies for the family game later that night. I rolled my eyes, grabbing and umbrella and the leash. "I'll take him for one of my long walks, he's been running around the house for a while now," I yelled back to her from the front room. There was no answering reply so I clipped the leash to the collar of the dog, a bouncing Labrador, eager to go.

We stepped out the front door and I grinned at the darkened sky as two cats - each with fur black, brown and soft to the touch - ran up to me anxious to join me on the walk.

I stepped off the porch and, opening my umbrella, set out. I glanced up at the trees – their gold-yellow and red leaves dancing in the wind – standing guard around the clearing where we lived. I smiled fondly as a memory surfaced, of when my family and I first moved here and how I was nervous of the woods, completely different to the comfort I now found there.

Leaving the gravel path of the driveway, my hiking boots clunked across the dirt path I had made over the years through the forest, the dog zooming back and forth from a bush to a tree to a particularly interesting leaf, excited to be out and about.

Running a hand through my wavy chestnut hair, my trench-coat blew behind me in the wind, revealing a blue short-sleeve shirt and dark jeans. In the shelter of the trees above, birds and squirrels hid from the coming storm. I heard thick drops of rain begin to fall on my umbrella and my smile widened in pure delight.

Lost in my thoughts, I never noticed when we had left the path. A stray bolt of lightning that seemed to be right on top of us startled me and my companions. As both the ringing in my ears and the light in my eyes faded, I saw to my dismay that not only was I in a place I no longer recognized, but that my dog and cats had run off, frightened, and nowhere to be seen.

I shouted and whistled for them as the wind tried and succeeded to blow me over, knocking my breath away it was so strong. As I stumbled back to my feet, I glanced around me frantically and that was when I noticed them. The glowing eyes. They were all different – red, yellow, blue, but all of them had something in common. They were all staring at me! I twirled in a circle, muttering to myself "It isn't real, they're not there," seeing them all around me.

I had never been so scared. I laid down on the ground and curled into as small a ball as I could, closing my eyes shut in the hopes that this would all go away.

The wind slowly died down. Without the wind in my ears I could hear a low muttering from where I had last seen the staring eyes. Through my tightened eyelids, I saw a bright light appear, seeming to come from everywhere.

The muttering turned into a quiet gasp of what seemed to be surprise, and the last thing I felt before I was inexorably pulled into a deep sleep was a light dust falling on my face.

I opened my eyes blearily, bot knowing how long i had slept, only that I was somewhere warm and wrapped up in what suspiciously felt a lot like the woolen inside of my coat. The only thing I saw was the cozy darkness. Voices slightly muffled came through and I almost called out to them when i realized that...I didn't recognize them!

"What should we do with it?" asked one voice questioningly.
"Well, we could keep it inside for now. It obviously belongs to someone. Look at how well groomed and well-fed it is!" replied a second one enthusiastically. "We might even be able to get a reward for it!"
"We'll put up pictures in the town nearby and contact the authorities and whatnot." This last voice seemed to be feminine and more authoritative.

I was worried about where i was and who these people were, but was still quite curious about who or what they were talking about. Is it a pet? That's what it sounds like, I thought to myself. I struggled to get out of the cocoon of warmth I was in, and blinked in the sudden discord of color and light that met my eyes. Everything seemed to be completely covered in bright or dark colors that almost looked as if it were gently swirling while staying in the same spot. I shook my head and it slowly disappeared from my vision. Must have been a trick of the light.

"Hey guys, look! It's awake!" This was the enthusiastic voice from earlier and I looked around to behind me from where the voice had come from. I sat on a couch near a kitchen in which was a small sink, fridge, and a round plastic table around which were three people. Two of them were women and the last was a man. One woman was wearing a black leather jacket, green mini-skirt, brown t-shirt and beads in her long red hair. The second was wearing a business suit, a notepad in hand though her pencil seemed to be stuck through her raven-colored hair which was in a bun.

The man was the last one I really got a look at, though he probably should have been the first to draw my attention, because he always seem to be moving, always fidgeting in his seat or doing something with his hands. He wore a grey tee, dog-chains and a pair of khaki cargo shorts which were filled to the brim with something.

At first I thought their attention was on something behind me but there wasn't anything there. "Do you think you can tell us where you live, little one?" Said the woman in the suit. I turned back and looked at them each in turn. "Do you mean me?" I asked, pointing at myself. "Yes, you." I squinted at them suspiciously, but not really seeing anything to be worried anymore about, mentally shrugged and said, "1463 Fae-ring Lane." They all looked at each other and the guy let out a loud laugh and the woman in the leather jacket gave a small smile.

The suit-woman (which is how i was coming to call her) held out her notepad to me and grabbed for her pencil. "Why don't you write it out for us?" I rolled my eyes and made to get off the couch, but fell instead, to much laughter from the man who was glared at by the other two. I stood up, slightly embarrassed, when I saw something strange. Everything seemed to be several feet taller than I thought they were.

The first thought that went through my head was, That's weird but anymore thoughts that might have came went straight out the nearby window off to my left when I looked down and saw I was no longer human.

I squeaked and looked at my hands, now paws and covered in light blue fur and a white knob on the back of each arm. I fell back down, and saw the rest of me was covered in fur as well, though my legs and chest were black instead. I shook my head as fast as I could and rubbed my eyes to see if that would help with what I hoped was only a hallucination.

I got up and searched for a mirror, anything that could show my reflection. The glass of a oven gave me full visual of my body, but I only wished I hadn't looked, for I could see that to my terror and amazement, I was now a Riolu!