Summary: What if the Worm Entities visited the world of Pokemon? Follow Red as she starts her journey through a world filled powerful people each with their own agenda.

Redworm 1.1

"Is she going to be okay?"

"Oh, don't you worry young miss. I've seen this before. She should be coming around any minute now."

I opened my eyes and saw two silhouettes against a too bright light. As I moved my arm to shield my eyes I noticed the linoleum beneath me dug into my elbows and tailbone. Wait, why was I on the floor? Perhaps seeing my confusion one of the voices I heard responded. He sounded old.

"Your mother said you had quite the shock," the old man said.

Wait, was that ? I nodded dumbly as my memories caught up to me. Suddenly it all came back. What promised to be the best day of my life quickly turned into the worst. Today was the day that Professor Oak was going to give me my first Pokemon. Long hours spent in and around his lab doing whatever errands needed doing were going to pay off. He was going to trust me with a Charmander he had bred specifically for battling. Until this morning when the professor gave the pokemon to his nephew instead. This morning I jumped out of bed ready to begin the rest of my life, until my mother had told me the bad news. Now I wasn't sure if I could drag myself off of the kitchen floor.

"Now, now, none of that young lady." Mr. Fuji said. He knelt down and began to pat me on the shoulder. I brushed his hand off and pushed myself up into a sitting position.

"You don't understand. It's all ruined! I helped Professor Oak raise that Charmander from an egg. He's still growing, but I just knew that together we would be great." I said. It hurt to give voice to my dream. I knew this couldn't happen now, but I also wanted someone else to know what could have been.

"Why would he do this to?"

"I was not there, but I suspect I could offer a good guess." He waited for me to nod before continuing. "Professor Oak, while an admirable scientist, has absolutely no social awareness. His ideal life would be one surrounded by his research and with no interaction with other people at all. I do not think he remembers your name. I think he may not even know the first name of his secretary.

"The young Mr. Oak, while abrasive, has at least a modicum of social training. Enough to perform simple manipulations such as waiting for his uncle to be in an especially impatient mood and pestering him until he was given exactly what he wanted."

At that my shoulders slumped. I was beaten before I could even start, and by nothing more than a spoiled boy.

"Ah, giving up already? I didn't know that the future league champion would be so easily hindered. Perhaps I should find a different companion for my friend," Mr. Fuji said with a tragic note of finality in his voice. There was a mischievous glint in his eyes, though.

"One of your friends?" I asked, almost breathless. Mr. Fuji was a weird old man. He never called himself a trainer or talked about owning pokemon. Instead any pokemon that accompanied him he called 'friends.' And what friends they were. I can remember him riding into town on the back of a Lapras who made the waters rise well above the high tide markers even at low tide. Once he was accompanied by a Golem who made Professor Oak's lab shake with every step it took. He was going to trust me with one of his pokemon? I only just noticed that my mouth was hanging open as I stared at him. I closed it with an audible snap.

"Yes, one of my friends. I daresay this one is a bit too young and energetic for me. I must warn you, though. Hers is a sad story, even though it has just begun. I sincerely hope that you two have plenty of good and happy chapters together to balance out the rough start she's had."

With that he pulled out a small pokemon that had been snuggled up in his robe. The pokemon was a light brown with a lighter tone over her chest. Tail to head she was not longer than Mr. Fuji's forearm, though he was reasonably tall. She was also wearing a skull over her head like a helmet. Underneath it I could just make out tear tracks running across the pokemon's face. As soon as I saw her I knew that she was special. She stood out in a way unlike any pokemon or person I had ever seen. Inexplicably Mr. Fuji's kind smile and my mother's tearful joy were hopelessly outshone by rise and fall of this little creature's chest. We were going to do such great things together.

With my new companion safely snuggled against my side I turned back to .

"What kind of pokemon is this? I've never seen one like her" I asked.

"Well, I believe that she may be a unique pokemon. Her mother was taken from her at a critical point in her development. I don't believe that she will turn out like others of her kind. She responds to the name 'Cubone' however." He said.

"What happened to her mother?" My own mom interjected.

Mr. Fuji's features drooped.

"A gang of criminals was targeting wild pokemon trying to force rares to emerge. I daresay they succeeded, but at a cost they did not foresee. Cubone's mother was able to hold them off, and her ghost is currently haunting their homes." He said.

"Are they going to get away with this?" I surprised myself with my demanding tone. At this, Mr. Fuji's features hardened. His look of anger and determination was one I had not seen on him before.

"No, they will not. But I take pride in valuing the well being of my friends above the ruin of my enemies." His face settled back into that of a kindly grandfather. "But let me not keep you from starting your journey, or myself from continuing mine."

My pack was cinched snugly around my chest, Cubone was sitting on my shoulder with her left hand buried in my hair, her right gripping a bone club, and the door to my home was shut behind me. Undoubtedly mom was watching me through the kitchen window, but I had said my goodbyes and was now facing my future. I approached the trail that led through the fields north of Pallet Town. As I approached the trail head I was able to discern a figure lying down with his head pillowed by his backpack.

Evidently he saw me coming as he stirred and rose to his feet. Gary Oak. I didn't see him often. He visited his uncle Professor Oak for a week or two every year. Every time we did meet it was decidedly unpleasant. He would bully me or others, and make demands of adults while acting like he was only getting what he deserved. Last week he had assumed that I would jump at the chance to be his girlfriend. His shin was still reminding him of my answer. Rather than trust me to know my own opinion, he actually said I was 'playing hard to get' and spread that rumor to everyone that would listen.

Now he had just tried to steal my dream, had indeed stolen a pokemon I had helped raise, and looked like he intended to make a nuisance of himself as I exited Pallet Town.

"Hi Red, glad to see you got a pokemon. Looks a little weird though. I can let you feed my Charmander, if you'd like. He's a cool pokemon, not some loser wearing bones." He called out.

I felt Cubone's grip beginning to pull my hair. She was letting Gary's words get to her. I knew better. I knew that he could seldom back up any of his boasts. The only thing he was good at was getting under peoples' skin. I fixed him with a stare.

"..."

"Ah, classic Red. Well, if you don't want to talk how about a battle?" Without waiting for my response he flung a pokeball towards me. Charmander appeared in a flash of red.

"Charmander, use Ember!"

Cubone and I both pushed off of each other to avoid the burst of flame that headed our way. As I fell towards the ground it occurred to me that Cubone and I hadn't trained at all yet. Despite that, I felt confident. I knew just what to do.

"Cubone, Fissure!" As she landed she struck the ground with her club. A tiny crack appeared and rocketed towards the Charmander who was catching its breath. Before he could move the fissure traveled beneath him and his foot was trapped.

"Charmander use Ember again!"

"Cubone, spiral in!" I'm not sure why I was sure that Cubone would know what I meant, but she did. She started running around and slowly towards the Charmander. He twisted as much as he could to keep track of her, but was forced to expose his back as his foot was thoroughly stuck.

"Now!"

Cubone leapt inward and struck Charmander with a Pound of her club. The pokemon fainted right away. It must have been quite a hit.

"Well, I guess the pokemon I got wasn't that strong after all. He's useless if he can't even beat a little baby crying still crying for its mommy," Gary said. I clenched my fists.

"Boneclub!" I ordered. Cubone got my meaning and immediately struck Gary in the shin. Huh. Looks like she hit almost exactly the same spot I had kicked.

As Gary whimpered on the ground I made my way towards his Charmander. The poor pokemon couldn't help it if his owner was a jerk. I worked at the dirt around his foot until his ankle came free. As I did I noticed that his eyes were only half lidded. He had heard what Gary said.

"Charmander," I whispered fiercely. "You are not useless!"

His eyes opened fully and stared into mine. I felt he understood me. He understood how much I wanted for him to be my pokemon. We were both disappointed that he ended up with Gary, but there was nothing either of us could do about it.

"Unfortunately, I can't say the same for your trainer." I added with a grin. That seemed to restore some of the Charmander's humor, and it let out cry that sounded like laughter.

I stood up.

"Come on Cubone, we have a journey to start."

AN: Cross-posted from SpaceBattles