Welcome to yet another one of my stories. Welcome... to Land & Skye. This is an original story based entirely in the 4th generation world of Pokemon. I'm sorry but due to my lack of experience and knowledge about anything to do with 5th generation pokemon, nothing from Pokemon Black or White will be appearing in this fan-fiction.
This is a transformation story, but unlike my previous two, this is not based on the Mystery Dungeon games. Nonetheless, it does have connections to the previous story: Life in Flames. So I would advise reading Life in Flames first at the very least before starting into this story. Otherwise, a few plot-points might not make sense.
Please enjoy. Any and all feedback as I work on this will be appreciated.
Disclaimer: This story and the main character are my own original ideas. I do not own the Pokemon franchise in any way, shape, or form and I have no affiliations with the company. They may sue me if they can find me, but I am sure I am not worth the effort.
Land & Skye: Living a Legend
Chapter 1: Wishful Thinking
Kendel had recently moved into Sandgem Town with his family. The town was to the south, near the ocean in the Sinnoh region, and there was little in the way of activity.
The town was composed of a few varied buildings, half of which were devoted to services toward pokemon. There was a PokeMart, a Pokemon Center (where trainers could go to have pokemon healed), even a lab where studies were carried out.
He and his family hailed from Eterna City to the north. It wasn't that far of a journey to get to Sandgem, but unless you were a trainer, it could be a dangerous trip with several pokemon in the way.
Eterna City hadn't been that active of a location, but it had interesting locales, including an odd statue that was positioned atop a stand in the city.
The statue and the various trainers that passed through were the main two influences that gave Kendel an interest in pokemon.
The boy wasn't interested in being a trainer himself. Despite his nature, he was more interested in just pokemon, the creatures themselves and their natures, not commanding them.
Kendel was fifteen, almost sixteen years old and knew how to take care of himself. After several careful trips into forest the city was named after, no one could deny that Kendel could handle most situations by himself, even if he was young. He'd even dared to visit the Old Chateau, a long-abandoned, haunted manor inside but near the edge of the forest, on occasion. He visited it all alone no less.
There was little doubt: Kendel was a brave kid… some of the adults called him a troublemaker for his antics but he never caused any real mischief. He was simply being adventurous and exploring like many kids, both his age and younger.
He tended to wear a red shirt with blue jeans. A fairly generic fashion statement but Kendel didn't particularly care about that. He kept his brown hair (some would've argued it was a ruddy hue) fairly short and his rather tame blue eyes always belied his adventurous nature.
That adventurous streak was precisely what would be the end of him in Sandgem Town. He was sure of it.
He was bored out of his mind in the place.
There was very little to explore around the small town.
No haunted house, no forest, not even a small statue of any sort. Just small fields of grass to the north and west of town, and the beach to the south. The nearby trees were too closely packed together for him to go exploring in the woods nearby. The lake to the west was a little too far for his parent's comfort so they restricted him from visiting there. The local pokemon were small and quite uninteresting after only a day of observation.
Kendel was grateful whenever one of his parents decided they needed to visit to Jubilife City just north of Sandgem. That was the closest Kendel got to an interesting activity anymore.
When he had first seen the pokemon lab where Professor Rowan supposedly worked, he had tried paying a visit only to find the professor had gone on a trip. "Another one," according to one of his assistants. Rowan was, according to both scientists, rarely at home and was quite frequently abroad, studying.
It went without saying that Kendel was disappointed. He looked around the lab that first day a bit but saw very little that would keep him entertained or interested in the lab.
He hadn't reentered the lab ever since.
-0-
Thus, the boy was down at the beach this day, drawing in the sand. He wasn't sure what he was actually drawing, as his mind was too sidetracked on his utter boredom.
He wasn't much of a swimmer and even if he had been, there were plenty of pokemon out there that made a trip out on the water quite dangerous.
"Change of scenery… yeah… like the scenery back at Eterna was dull. Why'd they have to drag me down here? Even the square with that statue was more interesting than this place." Kendel said, mutterin sullenly to himself.
That was the main excuse his parents had made about the move down to Sandgem Town: a change of scenery. However, lower costs also had a hand in the decision. Kendel had overheard the discussion between his mom and dad.
Any way he looked at it, Kendel was stuck at dull, unassuming Sandgem.
"Ugh. I am so… bored." He groaned through his teeth. In frustration, he swiped at the sand, wiping away the doodling he had done with a stick.
He looked out at the sea before him.
I swear… any pokemon would be having a better time than I would right now. I just want to get out of here. I want more freedom. I want to explore. He thought, staring down the sweep of sand he'd left.
Kendel doubted he could get a proper trainer's license… He just couldn't be bothered to do the work required to get one. And besides that, being a trainer didn't feel like what he wanted to do with himself.
It's just not what I'm cutout for.
He sat down on the sand and rested his arms across his knees. He then bowed his head and rested his forehead atop his arms. A position that was the statement of boredom coming from him.
He was tired of Sandgem. He wanted to go back to Eterna City... at least see something that might add some spice to his life.
He had been braving not just one or two days of boredom now. Not five days.
Kendel… had been bored out of his mind for two weeks. And it didn't look like it was going to end anytime soon.
I need to get out of here before I go mad. ANYwhere but here. He thought desperately. He was considering pestering his parents about moving back to Eterna. Perhaps even he'd run off to the lake and stir up a little worry through that. He just wanted something interesting to happen.
Unexpectedly, he got his wish.
Kendel's exploration trips into the old haunted manor in Eterna forest had left him with a sharp sense for when he was being watched. It made it difficult for the ghost-pokemon within that run-down place to get the jump on him.
Kendel looked up as he felt right then, a sense of someone watching him.
He glanced around the beach… there were no people, no pokemon that he could see out in the sea or on the beach.
Then something lightly brushed the back of his neck.
Kendel quickly turned around and blinked in surprise when he found himself looking at a pink, furry face.
He knew immediately he was looking at a pokemon and quickly scooted away, turning around to face the one who had snuck up on him. His heart was immediately hammering as the pokemon in question had been mere centimeters from his face.
Geez! Silent! I'm not even in tall grass here. I'm out in the open!
The pokemon's silence was helped by the fact that it was hovering off the ground.
A once-over of the pokemon's appearance showed that it was a solid, bubblegum-pink in color. The pokemon looked like a small cat, with short forearms that had little hands and back legs with rather over-sized feet. It's long slender tail gently, slowly waved left and right, the end feathery in appearance. Its large, unblinking eyes were a somewhat hypnotic shade of violet or they might've been a bright blue, and they were staring at Kendel in a very curious manner. The color, its size (it would've fit in Kendel's arms easily), along with its triangular ears and other features, gave the pokemon an adorable appearance.
Kendel knew about a fair number of pokemon for his age but he'd never seen this one before. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly to calm himself down. It hadn't attacked him after all… yet.
Maybe it won't attack me… I was just sitting here after all.
It drew up to him, cocking its head wonderingly.
"Um… hello…" He said, blinking as he stared back at the pokemon. He didn't really expect an answer he would understand, but he was wondering what the cat was staring at so intently.
He watched as the little feline stared a little longer, then its gaze dropped and looked at his shirt, coming to a halt as it saw the remains of a small candy bar sticking out of his pocket. It dropped its head lower until its hindquarters were over its head. It was nearly hovering upside-down in a rather silly position.
Kendel noticed where the pokemon was looking and pulled out the candy. There wasn't much left. The boy tried to conserve whatever candy his mom would allow him to buy on visits to Jubilife. They lived on a tight wallet.
"Uh, you want some?" He asked, a little uncertainly, holding it up for the pokemon to see more clearly, which had straightened up so it was up-right again. He wasn't really sure if it was safe for the pokemon to eat this but it didn't seem repulsed by the sweet. It blinked, staring at the candy.
"Mew?" it chirped, in a small, soft voice. Judging from its expression and the tone of its voice, it might've been saying, "Can I?" or something along those lines.
Kendel's heart jumped as he realized the pokemon he was looking at. Being that pokemon usually spoke little but their name, this pokemon was obviously Mew.
No way… Mew? The legend… the pokemon that almost no one sees?
He had heard of Mew, however he hadn't expected it to look like this. The various charactures he'd seen couldn't describe the pokemon's very presence. In fact, he could've easily stated that many of them didn't do the pokemon's actual appearance justice.
The human immediately took a bit of the candy and gingerly held it out to the little cat. His hand was trembling now with excitement. He was praying it wouldn't fly away.
Mew hovered closer to his hand, inspecting the bit of food and it set a hand on the candy. Kendel immediately released it and the pokemon looked at the candy briefly with curious eyes before it curled up into a fetal position and started to nibble away.
I… I can't believe it. It's just hovered right up to me. I... I need a camera... anything to prove what I've seen!
Unfortunately, he had no such tool on him and if he left to get one, he was sure the pokemon would fly off while he was away, never to be witnessed again.
He kept giving the little cat more pieces of candy as it finished one piece after another. He was trying to keep it around as long as possible. He didn't want it to leave. Not so soon.
As he handed the last of the candy bar to the pokemon, he sighed. He wasn't looking forward to when it decided to move on.
"Man… this… is just awesome… you are just awesome..." Kendel murmured, looking at the little pokemon's figure. At the soft, fine hairs that coated every inch of its body. How it hovered off the ground silently. It seemed so graceful, even just doing little at all.
"I really wish I could be like you. Just free… no worries… you've got it so much more than I do." he said quietly, a faint, amazed, and somewhat jealous smile on his face.
Mew seemed to be listening and understood him, because it looked up when he said this and blinked at him, as if to say "Really?"
It took a moment to pack the remainder of the candy in its mouth and swallow, not taking its eyes off of him the whole time. Mew then uncurled from its position in-air and drew up to Kendel again.
"Hey… I don't have any left, sorry." The boy said quickly, leaning back as the little cat hovered up to him once more.
For some reason, he was no longer so happy to see Mew. In fact, Kendel was feeling a sense of foreboding. He was suddenly rather scared, and his heart pounded in his chest, seemingly aware of danger on the rise.
Mew didn't respond to this but continued to hover closer to his face, until they were almost nose-to-nose. The boy struggled to think of something to say but he didn't manage to open his mouth before Mew reached up and gently set one hand on Kendel's forehead.
It felt like he had received a rather hard push to that precise point on his head and there was a whoosh as everything blurred and vanished. The boy was suddenly alone in a completely blank space of darkness.
"What-? Where-?" He stammered, confusion promptly setting in.
He looked around, trying to determine where he had been sent.
"Where the heck am I?" He finally yelled.
Someone giggled in response to his outcry. It was a rather cute laugh, like a child's. Whoever was giggling might've been anywhere from six to eight years old.
"This is a psychic link, silly! I haven't moved you anywhere."
The voice was definitely a child's and the same as the one who had been giggling.
Kendel looked around for who was speaking and his eyes fell on Mew who seemed to have come out of nowhere. The pokemon was partially curled up, its hands up over its mouth and its eyes shut. It was shaking with laughter, something that only made it appear even cuter.
"Wait… you- you didn't just-" Kendel started.
"What? Speak?" Mew spoke, though his mouth didn't move, "I'm connected directly to your mind. Of course you can understand me. I swear, you're one of the sillier humans I've met." it spoke as if this were the most obvious thing ever.
Kendel blinked, stunned. He hadn't seen its mouth move, but some part of his brain knew it was the cat that was speaking to him.
Mew… it's actually talking to me? What? What?
Before Kendel could descend into madness over this revelation, Mew continued, barging in on his thoughts.
"So you wanna know what it's like to be me, huh? I'm kinda bored myself so I've got a perfect game in mind for this." Mew said, sounding excited. He spoke rather quickly, sounding like a child in many ways.
"Game?" Kendel echoed. His mind had gone blank and he didn't completely comprehend what he was hearing.
"Yep! I think it'll be a lot of fun. C'mon, I wanna play!" Mew rolled over in air, so his belly was face-up and he was staring longingly at Kendel upside-down, "Pleeease?"
"Uh… sure… a game's fun." Kendel said lamely. Had his mind been more awake, he might've realized what was coming next as a result of his answer.
"Yay!" Mew cheered as soon as the word "sure" had been spoken. The pokemon rolled up right again and bobbed up and down in excitement.
"Okay, the rules are simple enough: It's Tag! I won't make it easy for you though!" Mew finished on a teasing note, like he was hiding a great surprise for Kendel. The pokemon then turned and started to fly away. He abruptly stopped though and turned around again.
"Oh yeah! By the way, you better make sure you don't get caught or you'll never catch me!" Mew called over to him.
"Wait. What? Wait a minute!" Kendel yelled after Mew and started to chase after the cat. However, it quickly vanished from sight.
"Wait!" Kendel yelled again but to no avail. Mew was gone.
Then suddenly a lot of petals the same shade of pink as the cat started to rain down around Kendel. He shook his head, the petals tickling and irritating him.
Trying to get away, the boy ran forward through the blank darkness, waving his arms around to get the petals to go away.
His foot fell into something and he found he couldn't lift it. He looked down to find himself standing in the center of a massive, crimson flower with yellow markings upon it. His foot was entangled in vines, holding him down.
Then the flower closed up around him, like it was eating him.
The human promptly screamed and tried to punch the petals of the flower, trying to force to open up and release him. However, he soon found his movements slowing and becoming more restrained. He was being enveloped in vines and plant-matter.
I don't wanna die!
"Help!" he cried, his voice getting choked and then stopped as he was encased in a cocoon of leaves and flowers. It didn't seem assistance was forthcoming. he was alone. Unconsciousness soon claimed him as he was deprived of air.