Nate woke up groggily and groaned. Every muscle ached and he could barely move. Slowly, he sat upright and looked around.

His vision was blurred at first, but his eyes soon adjusted. What he saw confused him – he was sitting in a huge field, which was quite odd.

"Are you alright?" A voice asked.

Nate looked around for the source of the voice, and located it as a girl with large blue eyes and – Nate blinked. Now that was very weird. Her hair was pink.

"Who are you?"

"My name's Mew."

Nate sputtered and coughed in astonishment.

"Mew? As in – the Pokémon Mew?"

"Yip."

"But – Pokémon don't exist."

Mew smiled. "Not in your universe."

"Ok," Nate said, "Even if Pokémon do exist – and I'm not saying they do – you're not a Pokémon. You're a human."

"Mew is a Psychic-type Pokémon, correct?"

"Right…"

"Therefore, I can mess with your mind and make you think I'm human, when I'm actually a Pokémon!"

"There is no logic involved in that statement."

"I'm a legendary Pokémon, Nate. Logic does not enter the equation."

"Alright, but how do I know you're actually Mew and not just a person with freakish pink hair?"

In an instant she had vanished. Utterly perplexed, Nate looked around, but he couldn't see her anywhere.

Then he heard a giggle coming from above his head. He looked up to see Mew, the cutest of all Pokémon, calmly floating in the air.

This was too much for Nate. He closed his eyes and thought, This is a dream. When I open my eyes, this will all go away.

"No, it won't. Don't you see? This is real."

Nate opened his eyes again and stared at Mew.

"But I didn't say anything…"

"You didn't have to. I'm Mew. Psychic. And the sooner that you realise that this is real, the better for all of us."

She darted down and started tugging on his hand.

"C'mon. Get up."

Nate started to, but he stopped abruptly when he caught sight of his own hand. Ironically, the first thing he thought of was the saying, "Know it like the back of your hand."

He had never studied the back of his hands before, but he knew without an inkling of a doubt that his hands had changed drastically in the time that he was asleep. They were grey and covered in fur and instead of fingers, he had three blood-red claws on each hand.

"What the hell… what happened to me?" He whispered in shock and awe.

"I thought you'd ask that. I don't have a mirror handy, but there is a lake nearby. I'll lead the way."

When he reached the lake, Nate cautiously approached the edge, half excited and half apprehensive about what he might see.

He looked into the water, and the face of a Zoroark stared back.

He gasped and jumped back in surprise.

"Do you like it?" Mew asked.

"Like it?" Nate replied, spinning around to face her. His face split into a grin.

"I LOVE it!"

In fact, he was so excited that, before he had time to think about it, he shot a Shadow Ball into the air, barely missing Mew.

"Watch it!" She yelled, swerving to avoid it. "Ghost is super-effective against Psychic, you know."

Then she looked at him and grinned.

"However, I must admit that I am impressed at how well you've adapted. I wasn't expecting you to use any move, let alone one like Shadow Ball, until after you'd undergone rigorous training."

Suddenly the smile disappeared from her face.

"dookie hasn't adapted as well as you have, unfortunately. He hasn't even woken up yet!"

"dookie? dookieshed's here?"

"Yeah, did I forget to mention that? Sorry, but when you can read people's minds, you keep assuming that other people can do the same. He's on the other side of this lake."

Nate looked across the water, but the lake was too large for him to see clearly to the other side.

"I don't feel like walking more," Mew complained.

"Ready to Teleport?"

Without waiting for a reply, she placed her paw on Nate's shoulder. They both shimmered and disappeared.

Nate was extremely surprised at what he saw when they reappeared on the other side of the lake.

dookie was a Blastoise.

And Nate was a Zoroark. After he had discovered this fact, Nate had been too ecstatic to realise how strange that was. Now, however, one word kept on bouncing around in his mind, "Why?"

Mew must have sensed the confusion is his head, because she said, "I'll explain later. Right now, though, we have to try and wake him up."

She changed back into her human form, "To prevent him from freaking out when he sees me," she explained.

She glanced at Nate. "I suggest you do the same."

"How?"

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Nate, use your head. You are a Zoroark. Master of illusion, remember?"

"Oh, right."

Nate had no idea what he was doing, but he followed his instincts. In an instant, a human was standing where the Zoroark had been.

Mew sniggered. "Not bad, for a first attempt. Except…"

"Except what?"

"Your hair."

"Huh?"

Nate spun around and glanced at his reflection in the water. His hair was dark red, with black tips. In other words, Zoroark hair.

"My bad."

He closed his eyes and concentrated. This illusion took much longer to take effect than the first one. This was because Nate actually liked his Zoroark-style hair and didn't want to change it.

Soon his hair was its usual coal-black.

Mew turned to dookieshed and shook his shoulder, trying to jerk him awake. dookie didn't react at all.

"I don't actually have a clue how to do this." Mew said worriedly.

"Let me handle this," Nate said confidently.

He crouched down and yelled, "Hey dookie! Nintendo has revealed a new event Pokémon!"

As Nate had expected, dookieshed immediately jerked awake.

He smirked and looked at Mew. "See? Easy, when you know what to do."

"Allow me to introduce myself," she said, extending a hand towards dookie. "I'm Mew."

dookie's eyes widened in surprise and he looked quizzically at Nate.

"Is she serious?"

"Yes. I didn't believe it either, at first, but then…"

"Then what?"

Nate turned to Mew. "Show him."

Mew obligingly showed dookie her true form in all its adorable pink glory.

Unexpectedly, dookieshed started laughing. "I'm delusional. Completely delusional."

Mew, hovering nearby, muttered pessimistically, "And he hasn't even found out yet…"

dookieshed abruptly stopped laughing.

"I haven't found out what?"

Mew looked at Nate, "You tell him."

"Maybe you should see your reflection."

Puzzled, dookie got up and walked to the water's edge.

When he saw that he was a Blastoise, his reaction was completely different to Nate's.

Whereas Nate had reacted with happiness, dookieshed reacted with plain disbelief.

He collapsed on the ground, staring at his gigantic Blastoise hands.

"It can't be," he said, "it's impossible. I drank too much. I'm in a coma. Anything, but it can't be real…"

He groaned and put his head in his hands.

"dookieshed," Nate said, annoyance plainly audible in his voice, "this is real. Just accept it."

dookieshed looked at Nate and shook his head.

"It can't be. It defies all the laws of – well, everything. I'm willing to bet that you aren't even real."

Mew spoke, and her voice was full of anger, "Nate was infuriating enough when he thought it was a dream. But you, dookie – you are infuriating beyond belief. If you don't accept the reality of your situation within three seconds, you will sincerely regret it."

"I can't."

"One."

"This cannot be real."

"Two."

"Logic says…"

"THREE!" Mew yelled, and at that instant, she fired a huge ball of psychic energy towards dookie.

He roared in pain, and slumped onto the cold, hard ground.

Just as Mew was gathering energy for another blast, dookieshed yelled, "It's real!"

"How do I know you really believe that, and are not just saying it?"

"The pain," dookie explained, "convinced me it is real. That pain was no product of my imagination."

"So," he continued, "I'm a Blastoise."

"Indeed you are," Mew replied.

At this confirmation, dookie glanced, confused, at Nate.

"But, how come I'm a Pokémon and Nate's not?"

"Actually, dookie," Nate said, grinning, "I am."

dookie's jaw dropped, uncomprehending. "What?"

Nate cast away his illusion and stood, revealed in all his Zoroark awesomeness.

Dookieshed was speechless.

Still grinning, Nate turned to Mew.

"Ok, Mew, now dookie is awake. Explain this."