(I do not own Pokémon)

When he came to his senses, a young boy realized he was submerged in water.

He was weak and could hardly move, he couldn't open his tightly shut eyes, and fear gripped his being knowing he was deeply submerged and couldn't breathe, but he had no idea how deeply he was submerged.

The young boy, with all of his might, threw his arms down to carry himself up to the surface; it was all he could do to resist drowning. He just hoped he wasn't too far under the surface.

To his immense relief, his head broke the surface of the water, and the young boy was able to draw a deep breath and open his eyes.

Unfortunately, due to his sheer exhaustion and from having his eyes so tightly closed underwater, his vision was very blurry. However, he was able to make out what appeared to be land; with his last ounce of strength, he swam over to the land and flopped down onto it before losing consciousness.

The young boy soon woke up. He had regained enough strength to climb to his feet, so he did so and surveyed his surroundings.

He was in the midst of a gorgeous forest clearing; the trees around him formed a dense but beautiful canopy brightened by and occasionally broken by the sun. The grass on the ground was the purest green he could imagine, and in the clearing was a clear, shining pond. This must be where the boy was submerged.

In the midst of his awe in surveying his surroundings, more beautiful than anything he had ever seen, he tried to remember; what else had he seen? What was he doing there?

To his shock, the boy couldn't remember. He tried to remember something, anything…but nothing came to him. He remembered nothing, nothing about why he was in this beautiful wood, anything about his life, or even who he was.

He became dizzy with fright; who was he? Why couldn't he remember? He felt terrified and helpless, until he was able to recall something.

My…name….is…Luke..., he thought. It was with such certainty he knew it was true. It was the first clear thought he had since he found himself submerged in the pond. As he had no memories, he couldn't keep his thoughts together until he remembered his name: Luke. Yes, Luke. A fine name, it was. But, best of all, it was his.

Yes…my name is Luke. I'm…a…human boy, he thought. This he was also pretty sure of…but not quite. Something didn't feel right. But what did he know? He couldn't remember anything, absolutely nothing beyond that he was a human named Luke.

I'm a human boy, my name is Luke…I'm a human boy, my name is Luke…

This was an identity, his identity; it was all he had, as he could remember nothing, so Luke clung to it as best he could.

"Hey, are you OK?!"

This voice interrupted the stillness of the forest and broke through Luke's daze; he realized that he had been wandering around in a dizzy daze while all of this rolled through his mind. Now that this voice had broken his dizzy reverie, he turned around to see to whom this voice belonged.

The shock of what he saw caused him to stumble backwards and collapse, barely missing the pond. Luke stared in awe. No, this couldn't be real. These creatures didn't exist. Certainly, this wasn't the source of the voice that he'd heard.

Are you…are you a Pokémon? he thought.

Luke realized he must have said this aloud, as it replied, "Uh, yeah. Haven't you ever seen a talking Pikachu before?"

…Pikachu? he thought. I'm talking to a Pikachu? That's so...weird... He didn't say this aloud, instead shaking his head at Pikachu's question.

"Really? Oh, wow," Pikachu said. "You must have been living under a rock your whole life. We Pokémon talk like this. That's how it's always been."

Luke staggered to his feet, quite clumsily, and stared at Pikachu in confusion.

"Are you OK?" Pikachu asked. "You seem to be in quite the daze out here. That's really odd; I thought Riolu had a very tight sense of focus."

What?! Luke thought. What did he say?! Riolu?! He vocalized his confusion to Pikachu.

"Yeah," Pikachu said slowly. "You are very clearly a Riolu. I would know. Trust me."

No, no, I'm a human! Luke thought. I'm not a Riolu! I can't be a Riolu! How is that even possible?!

Luke dashed back over to the pond with surprising focus and clarity. Very hesitantly, he looked at his reflection.

A Riolu stared back at him.

Looking at his hands and feet and realizing they were Riolu paws, he screamed and ran around in circles.

I'm a Pokémon?! Luke thought. Pokémon don't exist! How am I a Pokémon?!

"Calm down!" Pikachu yelled as Luke realized he'd been yelling all of this. "What is wrong with you?!"

Luke stopped in front of Pikachu. He couldn't believe any of this; would this Pikachu believe him if he explained his situation? Would it be beneficial for him to explain?

Well, I've got nothing to lose, Luke thought. At least, nothing I can remember.

Luke explained his plight to Pikachu. He told Pikachu his name and that he was a human, but he couldn't remember anything.

"A…a human?!" Pikachu cried. "Are you serious? There's no such thing as a human! Is there…?" This was a tone of shock, not of disbelief or of doubt.

Well, as far as I was concerned until now, there was no such thing as Pokémon, Luke thought and said to Pikachu.

"Huh," Pikachu said. "It certainly would explain your bizarre daze uncharacteristic for a Riolu."

This last phrase still came as a shock to Luke, who wasn't used to this.

"What an odd but exciting story," Pikachu said, deep in thought. "Tell you what, I'm gonna just go ahead and believe you!"

Really?! It was wonderful to hear someone believed Luke. This one Pokémon Luke knew now, this Pikachu…Luke felt that if Pikachu really believed him, and it really felt like he did, he could trust this Pikachu.

"Yup, I'll believe you!" Pikachu said, re-affirming this. "You can call me…well, Pikachu, since that's actually my name. I don't have a name different from my species like you, Luke; most Pokémon don't, though you get a pass because you're human."

How readily Pikachu seems to have accepted this! Luke thought. And here I am still barely able to process this. But…why? He hated to be rude, but he had to ask.

"Well, how do I put this?" Pikachu replied. "I like to explore and discover things unknown. I've always had a spirit of adventure. It's why I was out here in the first place. I was exploring this forest, hoping to discover something on this adventure."

Explore. Discover. Adventure. These words made Luke's pulse race, his palms shake, and his muscles quaver with excitement. He…he loved adventure! Could this be a clue to who he once was? He vocalized his thoughts to Pikachu.

"You like adventures too?" Pikachu asked with excitement. "Wow! No one's ever shared my love of adventure before! You know what? I think it COULD be a clue to your identity!" Pikachu gasped. "Hey! I just got the greatest idea! You should come stay with me and my dad for a while! You and I could go on lots of adventures together! We could explore places unknown, and maybe find out who you really are! Come on, what you do say?! It'll be so much fun!"

This was quite the change from the somewhat cold and harsh Pikachu from a few minutes ago. This was an extremely excitable and earnest Pikachu, and Luke couldn't help but chuckle at Pikachu's enthusiasm, though he couldn't help but feel it too. After all, he loved adventure like Pikachu did. And, at this point, if ever there were anyone he wanted to go on adventures with, it had to be Pikachu, the only Pokémon he knew right now, and someone he knew he could trust.

Yes! Luke thought and cried. Yes! Let's go on lots of adventures together!

"All right!" Pikachu cried, jumping up and down. "From this moment on, you and I are partners! We'll be the greatest adventuring duo this world's ever seen!"

Luke couldn't help but cheer right along with the joyful Pikachu. However, Luke's exhaustion from his ordeal soon caught up with him, and he slowed down.

Pikachu laughed, not cruelly, but compassionately. "Ha ha! We'd better not start right away! You should have some time to recover," he said. "But…we gotta get back to my place, so we can get in one adventure today! What do you say?" Luke excitedly agreed, and Pikachu said, "Then come on! Follow me!"

Luke followed Pikachu to an opening out of the clearing and into the forest. He couldn't see very far in, though it seemed like he should be able to. He asked Pikachu why.

"Luke," Pikachu said, "you are looking at the entrance to a Mystery Dungeon."