CHAPTER 1: A SHOCKING DISCOVERY
Everything began with a great black. The darkness. I felt myself floating inside an immense black ocean, devoid of light and devoid of gravity. I looked all around me with the hope of seeing any kind of glimmer in the horizon. But nothing. Absolutely nothing… No trace of color anywhere. Only black. The black so dark, so keen that it becomes blinding. The black which passes throughout the eyes like a laser and then comes to tickle the sensitive nooks of your mind.
I was prisoner of a gloomy world where senses seem to become non-existent. I couldn't see anything, nor hear anything, nor smell anything. No light, no sound. Nothing to touch, nothing to feel. Just where was I anyway? Was I dead? Was I comatose? That wasn't natural at all. What was happening to me?
I stayed there, all alone, floating in this dark infinite. I looked on each side once again. Nothing. Even by trying to lean so I could check out my body parts, I couldn't see anything. Everything had disappeared.
Finally, I started to feel something. A breeze seemed to come out from that infinite, non-existent horizon. A light breeze which began to wrap me up. What a feeling… It was the first sign that something could break up that void which was my prison. This blow felt so liberating. It became heavier and heavier without becoming violent. No, this breeze felt like it would become my saviour.
And then, while I was starting to suddendly take pleasure of that peaceful zephyr, I perceived something that loosely felt like a sound of some kind. Yes, it was a sound. I couldn't clearly say what it was, but it definitely was a sound. I could hear it for a moment or two, and then it went into silence. It was brief, but that moment seemed way much longer than it actually was. After a silence as brief as that noise, a new sound came out. It lasted as much time as the first one, but I had the impression that it was louder. Another silence. Would I hear that noise once again? Yes, it came back, even louder. It sounded like a whisper, but it felt like it was deafening to me. That's when I had the weird feeling that this sound was not an ordinary one. It wasn't the breeze that was making that noise. It came from elsewhere. That noise sounded like a call… A voice of some kind…
And each time the voice came back, the louder it sounded. Finally, I thought I understood that this voice was shaping some words, but I couldn't identify them. But as that voice became constantly louder each time it came back, I decided to wait. To wait that the words would take shape by themselves.
̏"Hello?" ̋
That was the first word I could clearly discern. Somebody was calling me, but how could I give an answer?
̎̏"Can you hear me?" ̋
Yes, I could hear it. But who was it? Where was that voice coming from? It was a masculine voice, no doubt about it, but I couldn't see anybody. Was that person visible? Was it a supernatural spirit who only communicates with you through your mind? I searched around me. Still nothing. Only the darkness, the breeze and this mysterious voice.
̎̎̏"Hello? Please, wake up. Wake up." ̋
Wake up? Was I asleep? Or unconscious? It all became clear. I was unconscious indeed and all those signs seemed to indicate that I was slowly regaining consciousness. This darkness… It was clear now, my eyes were closed. This breeze, it was the outside world. This voice… Somebody was near my body and was inciting me to wake up.
Then, suddendly, an intense lightning appeared in the distance. A horizontal line, white and shining, which was growing and getting closer to me. It got closer, and closer, and closer, and it engulfed me. It only lasted for a fraction of second but I felt like time was flowing in slow motion. Oh, what a painful light it was…
A silhouette then appeared in the midst of that light. An oval shape. With something at each end which pointed toward the outside. And in the middle of that shape, something different was pointing upwards.
I finally opened my eyes. I didn't know this innate gesture could require such a superhuman effort. Colors began to come back and they appeared on the silhouette standing in front of me. Blue. Dark and light. And some orange on the extremities. I also saw two black eyes staring at me.
I realized that I was laying down on my back, so I tried to sit up. I felt weak, but I finally put myself in a sitting position.
"You've awaken! Great!", ̋the voice said.
I looked in front of me and I finally saw whose voice it was. It was a Mudkip. He was looking at me carefully and I saw a large smile appearing in his face.
̏"I was worried", ̋he said, ̏"You were unconscious and you weren't responding." ̋
"Well I'm fine now," ̋ I answered, ̏"but… "̋ Then something hit me.
̏"Hey! Have you just talked?" ̋
The Mudkip looked at me with a confused look.
̏"Yes, I have… "̋ A moment of silence. ̏"Is something wrong?" ̋
He was really talking! A talking Mudkip! Oh God, I was dreaming, wasn't I?!
̏"You're really talking!!!" ̋
The Mudkip kept staring at me with the same exact look for a few seconds, then he watched me pensively.
̏"Are you sure you're okay?" ̋
"Well, I'm not so sure now!" ̋
̏"You look weird… Are you trying to make me believe that you've never seen a talking Pokémon before? I don't believe you." ̋
̏"I swear it's the truth! I've never seen a talking Pokémon in all my life!" ̋
̏"Well… The least I could say is that you're really strange for a Charmander…" ̋
̏"But I…" ̋ What? What did he just say?
"What? A Charmander?" ̋
"Well, yes. That's what you are. You're a Charmander…" ̋
I was scared now. He believed I was a Charmander!
This sounded like it was the craziest statement I've ever heard, but something seemed weird to me. I watched that Mudkip carefully. That kind of Pokémon is usually very small, but this one seemed to be quite tall. Actually, his head reached the height of my shoulders. And what's more, he was talking?
I looked at my hands and I instantly unleashed a cry of dismay. My hands and my arms were orange!!! I lowered my head and my eyes a bit more to see the rest of my body, only to discover that my torso was of a yellowish color and that my legs and feet were also orange. Short claws were emerging from the extremities of my feet, where my toes should have been.
I was panicked now. I touched my body with my small hands just to be sure that I was not dreaming. No, everything seemed real.
A horrific vision flashed through my mind… I slowly stretched my left hand behind my body and gently lowered my fingers all along my back. Until I reached something that felt extremely inhuman. Could it be…? I turned my head as far as I could only to realize that my fears were confirmed: I had a tail! A long orange tail ending with a flame!
There was no possible doubt now: I was really a Charmander!!!
The Mudkip was watching the whole scene with astonishment. He didn't seem to know how to react to the show I was giving him unwillingly. He didn't seem to know what to say, either.
̏"Are you alright?" ̋he finally said.
̏"Am I alright?" ̋I repeated, ̏"No, I'm not alright! You see me? I'm a Charmander!" ̋
The look on his face changed once again to a mix of surprise and amusement. Of course, I had just realized that I'd just said the most stupid thing I could say…
"Of course, you're a Charmander." ̋He answered, ̏"What's the matter? You think you're something else?"̋ There was some sense of mockery in his voice, but he was far from being aware of the seriousness in my words, especially of the answer I was about to give him.
"I am not a Charmander! I'm a human!" ̋
The look on the Mudkip's face changed completely. It was undoubtedly the last answer he was expecting.
̏"A human?" ̋ he slowly said.
̏"Yes, a human! A human boy!" ̋ I answered, insistent.
The Mudkip wasn't saying a word. He seemed to be studying me attentively, like he was trying to find out what was human into the Charmander which was standing in front of him.
̏"A human boy?" ̋
I had a sure feeling that he wasn't believing me. But how I could make him believe what I was saying? I looked closely and carefully at myself, once again. My reptilian body of a scorching, fiery color, my long tail… I had to face the facts, there was nothing, in a physical way, that would make believe that I had any human characteristic. I was a Pokémon, at least the apparence of one.
The Mudkip spoke once again: ̏"What happened to you, then? If you're a human, how did you become a Pokémon?"̋ Oh, the trick question…
̏"Well…̋"
I was searching inside my head, trying to understand my own situation, but no clue appeared to me. I thought very hard… No, I had no idea of what was happening. Or what might have happened before.
̏"I don't know…" I finally admitted, ̏"Everything's fuzzy in my head now. I can't remember anything." ̋
The Mudkip made his pensive look once again, while I was still confused about what was happening to me. I looked all around me, so I could see where I was. Maybe this place could be a familiar one…
We were in a grassy clearing, almost completely surrounded by trees. Big, majestuous trees. I thought I recognized that many of them were evergreen trees, but there were also smaller leafy trees, here and there. And there were also a few groves at the foot of some trees. But the place where I was standing was a bit distant from the trees. This grassy clearing acted like a light green path, crossing through the trees like a large avenue lightened up by the glowing sun.
What was this place? I really had no souvenir of a place like this one. I had never been there before… At least, I thought…
I turned myself towards the Mudkip. ̏"Where are we? What is this place?" ̋
̏"You've never been here before? It's the Tiny Woods." ̋
̏"Tiny Woods?" ̋I was thinking… No, that name was definitely not familiar to me.
"You don't know the Tiny Woods?"̋ the Mudkip asked.
̏"No, I don't know this place."̋ I answered.
̏"Oh my! You sure are the first Pokémon I meet who doesn't know about Tiny Woods! At least, tell me you know about Pokémon Square?" ̋
I was thinking once again… Pokémon Square? What is Pokémon Square? Is that a shopping center or something?
̏"Pokémon Square? No, I'm not familiar with that either…" ̋
I sensed the exasperation getting shaped inside the Mudkip's mind and getting drawn on his face? What did that mean? Would he finally concede that I really was a human transformed into a Pokémon ou would he simply shout out that I was totally insane?
̏"You don't know Pokémon Square either?"̋ A few moments of silence… ̏"Are you sure you're not making fun of me?" ̋
̏"No, I swear!" ̋ I said, exasperated as well, ̏"I don't know what's happening. I can't explain it, but something really weird is happening. I'm a human and then suddendly, I'm a Pokémon. I find myself into a place I don't know and I have absolutely no memory of what might have happened."
I got closer to the Mudkip, kneeled down and looked straight into his eyes, at the point I could almost see my Charmander face in his sight. ̏"I know it's hard to believe, but it's the truth. Please, believe what I say, please!" ̋
Our looks stayed crossed while Mudkip was trying to find something to say. Finally, he opened his mouth:
̏"It's… It's really hard to believe… But you seem so sincere… And so convinced of what you're saying…" He closed his eyes and a large smile appeared on his face. ̏"Alright, I'll believe you." ̋ Well at least, it's a good start, I thought. ̏"But,"̋ Mudkip continued, ̏"it might take a while before I get used to it." ̋
I stood up and watched the blue sky, devoid of clouds. ̏"Don't worry. You're not the only one."̋ I said sarcastically.
̏"Do you have a name?"̋ Mudkip asked. I looked at him. ̏"I've heard about humans and it would seem they give each other names to differ themselves from each other. Do you have a name?"̋
̏"Well of course, my name is…" ̋
My name… Hey, wait a minute… How was that possible? I couldn't even remember my name!!!
Mudkip looked at me with his eyes wide open. He seemed to be troubled, even slightly afraid. I imagined that there must have been a widespread sign of panic within my face.
̏"You… You don't remember that either?" ̋ he asked.
I tried to calm down, but I was completely messed up. It's so simple to remember your name and yet I couldn't! But why? What the hell was happening to me?!
I put my hands on each side of my skull. I had the feeling that my head was about to explode. I slightly leaned forward as a powerful force was surging within my mind.
̏"Charmander?" ̋ I could hear Mudkip's voice. His voice was calm and unruffled. He had practically kept the same tone since he began to talk to me when I woke up.
̏"Charmander?... Calm down…" ̋
I was breathing quickly, trying to release this feeling of panic from my body and which was paralyzing me.
̏"Calm down…" ̋
I put myself on my knees, panting like I had just run the whole Pokémon-athon without going to the pit stop.
̏"Calm down. It'll be fine." ̋
I was breathing normally once again. Calmness slowly came back within my body and my mind, but it couldn't erase that horrible trauma. The fact that I couldn't remember anything, not even my name.
̏"I'm… I'm sorry", ̋ Mudkip said, ̏"I shouldn't have…" ̋
̏"No."̋ I cut him off, ̏"No, that's OK. You couldn't know. I'm… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted like this." ̋
̏"No big deal… But I think I'm gonna give up questions for a moment, OK?" ̋
He said that phrase with a smile. I couldn't keep myself from smiling as well.
̏"It's… It's really a strange day."̋ he said, ̏"I mean… You are... very different from every Pokémon I know… It's… It's just strange…" ̋
Saying that it was ̎"just strange"̎ was an euphemism, but it was hard to find a more appropriate term to the situation. I was just finding myself there, in the middle of an unknown place, in a totally different body, in a complete state of amnesia. What else could possibly happen?
̏"Help me! Please! Somebody!", a voice said in the distance.
I had a feeling that my crazy day was far from being over…