Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, Game Freak does, none of the characters belong to me so don't sue.
Summary: It's one thing to wake up with no memories, it's another thing entirely to go from being human to being a Pokemon, but now Cody has to unravel his memories as he makes his mark on the Pokemon World with his partner as they become a team, but with time halting will they be enough or will all of time fall apart?
Chapter 01: Trouble at the Beach
A lone figure drifting in the ocean grimaced as flashes went through his head.
'Whoa! Wh-wh-whoa!'
'Are… Are you ok?!'
'No! Don't let go… Just a little longer.'
'N-n-no, I can't… Hang on.'
"Uuuurgh." The figure muttered, his head pounding as the voices faded, bleary eyes opening right as he washed up on what seemed to be a beach if the sand around him was to be believed during a sun rise. "What? Where… Where am I?"
The figure attempted to get up, but none of his limbs seemed able to move as his vision was swimming.
"I can't… Drifting off," The figure slowly closed his eyes, worried about how he was feeling, especially since he can't seem to feel his fingers. "No come on, stay awake."
But try as he might, the figure eventually succumbed to the warm embrace of darkness, the pain he was feeling melting away as he lost consciousness.
…
Hours later on a nearby hill overlooking the ocean, a young Vulpix paced in front of a rather large tent that seemed to be in the shape of a Wigglytuff, her red fur neatly groomed with a bag hanging off of one side, but her pupiless eyes betrayed her nervousness before she slowly licked her dry lips, trying to work up the courage she needed at this moment, her six red tails twitching when the wind blew past her.
"No, I refuse to be paralyzed by this any longer!" The Vulpix said a look of determination sliding across her face. "I can do this… I-I can."
Desperate to do this, she walked forward, onto a wooden grate only to jump when a voice called out.
"Pokemon Detected! Pokemon Detected!"
"Whose Footprint?" A louder voice echoed, answering the first one, startling the Vulpix even further.
"The Footprint is Vulpix's!"
Vulpix gave a fearful scream, jumping off the grate before chastening herself for that show of cowardice. "That shocked me," Taking a few breaths to calm her heart, Vulpix adopted a saddened expression. "... I can't do it. I can't bring myself to go in."
Sitting down, Vulpix reached in her bag to pull out what looked to be a rock with a strange drawing on it, looking it over as it seemingly glowed in the sunlight.
"I thought that holding onto my personal treasure would inspire me, but I can't… I'm such a coward." Vulpix closed her eyes to stop the flow of tears that threatened to escape, picking up the rock to put up as she walked off.
Unknown to her, two Pokemon saw her actions as a Zubat and a Koffing came out of hiding. "Hey Zubat," The purple crater Pokemon known as Koffing spoke up, toxic fumes exiting the holes on his body. "Did you get a load of that?!"
"You bet I did Koffing." Zubat said flapping his wings until he landed on the ground, his blue fur ruffling in the wind.
"That little wimp that was pacing around… Had something good right?"
"That wimp had something that's for sure," Zubat confirmed opening his mouth, using his sonar to track the Vulpix as she walked off. "It looked like some sort of treasure."
Seeing what Zubat was doing, Koffing grinned. "Do we go after it?" He asked despite knowing the answer.
"We do." Zubat nodded to Koffing before the two took off after Vulpix, making sure to keep out of sight.
Eventually Vulpix made it to the beach in time for the sunset to begin as the local Krabby began to blow bubbles into the air, the fire vixen gave a smile at seeing the countless bubbles sparkle from the sun's light.
"Wow! What a beautiful sight," Vulpix said in awe. "No matter how many times I see this, it's still breathtaking."
Every day when the sun begins to go down, the Krabby would always blow bubbles out into the air, making this one of the best spots for Vulpix to go near the end of the day.
"... This is where I always come when I'm feeling down on myself," Vulpix said thinking back to her 'cowardice' a few moments ago. "Seeing this scene always lifts my spirits."
Before she could sit down, Vulpix happened to look to her left, blinking as she saw a strange sight. "Huh? What's that?"
Her curiosity getting the better of her, Vulpix walked towards it before gasping as she saw an unconscious Piplup laying there, some light injuries on him showing he was in a fight recently and before she knew it she was rushing over and gently lay her paws on his chest, shaking the aquatic Pokemon.
"What happened? Are you okay?" Vulpix asked looking concerned, not one to walk away from something like this.
After a few shakes the 'Piplup' began to stir. 'Ugh.' He thought opening his eyes to see Vulpix nearly in his face looking relieved.
"You're awake, thank goodness."
'Piplup' blinked in slight confusion, wondering who this was before the Vulpix got off of him, letting the penguin get up, looking around. 'Where… Where am I?' The Piplup thought crossing his flippers a lost look on his face.
If he was focusing he would've noticed how different his arms felt but right now he was just lost.
"You wouldn't move at all, I was really scared for you," The Vulpix spoke up, gaining the Piplup's attention as she gave a friendly smile, one that was a little timid given how she didn't know how this Piplup would be like. "Do you have any idea how you ended up unconscious out here?"
"I was unconscious?" Piplup asked not getting that but he said it quietly to where the Vulpix didn't hear him.
"... Well I'm Ahri." The Vulpix said attempting to be friendly. "Happy to meet you. So who are you? I don't think I've seen you around before."
"No I suppose you don't see many humans." The Piplup said in a light mood, trying to think. 'Okay come on who am I-? … Oh come on why can't I remember?'
But Vul-no Ahri's next sentence made the Piplup pause. "Human? You look like a totally normal Piplup to me."
"What?" Piplup went to place a hand on his head to stave off a headache only to stare at the flipper.
Quickly Piplup looked over himself before rushing towards the Ocean, stumbling in the process, to see his reflection making him tense while Ahri tilted her head in confusion wondering what was wrong with this Pokemon who went quiet for a few seconds-.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" The Piplup suddenly screamed making Ahri jump as the Piplup backed up, tripping over his own feet as he landed on his back, kicking up sand.
'H-How?! I remember being human-or I think I do.' The Piplup thought his heart beating like crazy against his chest. 'No I'm certain I'm Human.'
But then how did he turn into a Piplup?! People don't change species like that.
"You're… Odd," Ahri said unsure of what was going on as she slowly backed away from the Piplup, thinking he was a little unhinged-probably from being attacked. "Are you pulling some sort of trick on me."
"I wish, I don't know what's going on but I know I'm not a Piplup."
"So you're telling the truth?" Ahri decided to humor him for now. "So what's your name?"
"My name?" Piplup closed his eyes trying to think because as cloudy as his mind was, he knew his name but he just couldn't focus for a bit. "Cody, my name is Cody."
"Cody?" Ahri rolled that name off her tongue a bit, trying the name out with a nod. "Okay, well you don't seem to be a bad Pokemon at least."
Just a bit crazy.
Ahri then looked nervous. "Sorry I doubted you but more and more bad Pokemon have been popping up lately," She explained to Cody who tilted his head in confusion not seeing his eyes widen as he tried to point at something behind her, unknowingly cutting his voice off when she spoke again. "A lot of Pokemon have gotten aggressive as well, it's just not safe anymore-."
With that said something slammed into her, sending Ahri flying right into Cody, knocking him down as her 'treasure' fell out of her bag while Koffing and Zubat floated where she was.
"Owie." Ahri muttered, getting off of Cody who groaned in slight pain from being hit.
"Well, I do beg your pardon." The Koffing said in a mocking tone, making Ahri glare his way, irked from being shoved.
"Hey why did you do that?!"
"Heh-heh-heh! Can't you figure it out?" The Zubat asked mockingly. "We wanted to mess with you, can't face up to us, can you?"
"Wh-What?" Ahri asked taking a step back while Cody looked between the three of them as if watching a tennis match, his eyes on whoever spoke next.
"That's yours isn't it?" Zubat asked landing right next to the rock making Ahri's eyes widened as she quickly checked her back to find it gone. "Looks like it's ours now."
With that said he grabbed it while Koffing laughed, seeing how Ahri tensed. "Whoa-ho-ho, not going to make a move to take it back?" He asked in a taunting tone. "What's the matter too scared? I didn't take you to be a coward."
"See ya around Chicken." Zubat waved as they took off towards the cave that was past Cody who glared at the two already not liking them.
"Oooh," Ahri moaned sadly making Cody look at her a concerned look on his face. "Wh-what should I do?"
On hearing that question, Cody hesitated.
The most obvious answer would be to get back what they stole, but it wasn't really any of his business. What's more he didn't know how to do anything as a Pokemon.
Sure in theory if he was a Piplup he should be able to fight like one, yet in reality he's pretty sure he's never been in an actual fight before in his life-or at least according to his missing memories. And even if he had fighting as a Human and fighting as a Pokemon were two very different things.
Besides it was just a rock that they stole.
Cody looked from Ahri to the cave, indecision on his face.
But could he really stay out of this given how nice Ahri has been since he woke up? Even if he was useless in a fight she should be able to put up a better one than he ever could.
"It's my personal treasure, it means everything to me," Ahri muttered, seemingly forgetting that Cody was there due to losing it. "If I lose that-."
"Well what are we waiting for?" Cody spoke up without thinking making Ahri's head whip up to give him a surprised look.
"Huh?"
"Come on, they couldn't have gotten far," Cody said gesturing to the cave. "If we do nothing your treasure will be gone for good."
That did it with Ahri's surprised face turning to one of determination-albeit with some unease showing. "You're right, now isn't the time to look down on myself." She said running off towards the cave with Cody right behind her.
Although a tiny part of Cody's brain was telling him to get out while he could but he ignored that bit not wanting to leave someone alone after they were just robbed.
"Okay this cave is definitely bigger than I thought." Cody said with wide eyes as they moved quickly through it, the Human turned Pokemon taking the time to getting used to moving in his new body.
"Welcome to a Mystery Dungeon." Ahri said earning a befuddled look from Cody who went to ask but stopped before he could.
He'll ask once they get her treasure back.
"Incoming." Ahri said shrinking back in fear as a Shellos came out of nowhere launching a mud-slap at Ahri who barely dodged it in time, but that left it to hit Cody who stumbled backwards, his vision a little messed up now due to the mud being in his eyes. "Cody are you alright?!"
"I can't see!" Cody cried out stumbling before the Shellos took advantage of that and tackled him. "Ow! Get off!"
Raising a flipper, Cody instinctively did a Pound Attack, sending the Shellos back a foot, leaving it open to a Feint Attack courtesy of Ahri.
The two combined attacks was enough to send Shellos flying into the nearby pond where it sunk unconscious.
"Alright we did it." Ahri said looking happy before seeing Cody still stumbling around. "Come here."
Using her tail, she lead Cody towards the pond where he was able to wash his face to clear his vision. "Thanks."
"It's no problem." Ahri said finding it a bit surprising at how brave she was being when before she was too scared to go into a Mystery Dungeon or into the tent earlier.
Yet here she was with a stranger who claims to be Human, chasing down a pair of thieves who took her treasure. If she was by herself, Ahri was pretty sure she would've been too scared to get far. But seeing Cody hit the Shellos despite being blinded seemed to inspire her to ignore her fear.
Not knowing Ahri's thoughts, Cody looked ahead. "Now to find them."
It went on like this for a bit, the two of them fighting off the Pokemon who lived in Beach Cave ranging from Shellos to Corsola, through it all Cody was surprised by how well he was fighting, using only two moves known as Pound and Growl which he seemed to be able to use on instinct while Ahri switched between Feint Attack, Ember and Tail Whip, the two of them making short work of the Pokemon that attacked.
Nothing really was said between the two either as they were pretty focused, Ahri seemed to calm down a bit with each Pokemon they defeated because Cody noticed how scared she was-not that he blamed her given how they were surrounded by Water Pokemon and she was a Fire Type, he would've been terrified in her position.
They did find an Oran Berry to take with them, Ahri mentioning something about Mystery Dungeons always dropping items, further confusing Cody but he didn't ask for her to elaborate as of yet, they even found a gold coin that Ahri identified as Poke, the currency of the world they lived in.
But they couldn't take every item they found such as a Sleep Seed or an Apple as Ahri said that her bag wasn't an 'Exploration Bag' or whatever she meant, but a small bag with only limited space that she usually had filled with her treasure.
Before long they reached a dead end inside of the cave where they saw Zubat and Koffing speaking to each other.
"What do you mean you had no idea this was a dead end, I thought you've been in here before!" Zubat said glaring at Koffing who scoffed.
"I never said that, it was you."
"Was not."
"Was so."
As they argued, Cody and Ahri got ready. "Hey!" Ahri called out breaking their argument up as they looked momentarily surprised before grinning smugly.
"Well, well, if it isn't our old friend the big chicken." Koffing said, all of Ahri's courage dwindling at that insult as she took a step back.
Seeing that, Cody placed a flipper on her shoulder making her look towards him before she confidently stepped forward again. "Give me back what you stole from me! That's my personal treasure, it means everything to me."
"Treasure you say?" Zubat asked his curiosity piqued. "So that thing really is valuable, huh?"
"It could be worth for more than we'd hoped for I'd say," Koffing's grin got bigger. "We ought to try selling it, who knows? We might get a good price."
Koffing chuckled at Ahri's shocked face.
"All the more reason not to give it back."
"You can't." Ahri said her tone almost pleading.
Having enough Cody stepped forward this time. "You won't get anything because we're taking it back." He said wanting to punch these guys.
He really disliked how they were acting.
"Oh really?" Zubat asked thinking that this was too good to pass up.
"Yes." Cody said before launching himself at Zubat but that left him open to Koffing who quickly Tackled him, sending him flying to the ground.
"Big talk from a wimp." Koffing mocked with Cody quickly getting up but Zubat flat out tackled him as well, making him stumble back.
Seeing them gang up on Cody, Ahri quickly ran forward. "Get back!" She shouted unknowingly learning Roar, the force blasting Koffing and Zubat back, the latter dropping the rock that Cody quickly grabbed.
"Ahri catch!" Cody lobbed it at her before Zubat could recover and take it with Ahri quickly grabbing it.
"Hey!" Koffing went to use Smog but Cody intervened with a Pound, the collision of the move made Smog miss while Ahri jumped to the side to be safe launching an Ember at Zubat who tried to use Supersonic on Cody while he was focusing on Koffing.
The Ember ended up flaring up, showing that Zubat was burned with Ahri following up by using Feint Attack, knocking him into Koffing who Cody used Pound on once more sending the two into the ground.
"Not so tough now are you?" Cody taunted with a cocky grin that Ahri copied a second later feeling just as confident due to how they were doing.
"Blast it how are we losing to wimps like these two?" Koffing asked as he and Zubat were back in the air, no longer looking smug.
"Forget that let's get out of here," Zubat said wanting to get treated for his burns, but he snarled at the two. "You only won because we underestimated you wimps, if we meet again you'll get yours."
With that said they took off running past the two while Ahri sat down looking tired but happy. "We got my treasure back." She said a smile going across her face. "Thank goodness."
"Good for you." Cody said happy that they won but feeling a little sore from the hits he took from both the random Pokemon in this cave along with the two thieves.
"It's only because you helped me Cody," Ahri said turning to look at the Penguin Pokemon with tears showing in her eyes. "Thank you."
Cody coughed looked a bit embarrassed, obviously not used to someone thanking him like that. "How about we get out of this crazy place." He said not wanting to spend another minute in Beach Cave.
"Thank you very much." Ahri said again with the two back on the beach the sun still in the process of setting, she managed to get rid of the tears of happiness on the way back.
Cody silently rubbed the back of his head. 'I only helped because I happened to be there and saw the crime take place, was that the right thing to do?' He thought before smiling. 'I guess so, Ahri is clearly grateful. It's nice to be appreciated.'
Ahri looked down before placing the rock between her and Cody. "Since you helped get it back I figured you would like to know what it was," She said with Cody looking curious. "This is a Relic Fragment-or at least that's what I started calling it."
"Relic Fragment?" Cody asked a quirked brow.
"Uh-huh," Ahri gave a nod of confirmation. "You see I always loved legends and lore, I always get so excited when I hear tales of the past! Don't you feel the same way?"
Before Cody could answer, Ahri looked at the setting sun, a shine of excitement in her eyes as her tails twitched to match it.
"Hidden troves full of treasure and strange relics… Uncharted territories veiled in darkness," Ahri shivered at the thought of finding them, her grin getting bigger. "And new lands just waiting to be discovered. Such places must be full of gold and treasure. And History! Wouldn't it be dramatic to make historic discoveries?"
'Wow she's pretty passionate about this.' Cody couldn't help but think, surprised by how she described this but he smiled.
Her passion for this was pretty contagious, he could see what she meant from how she was describing them.
"That's what I dream of, it's all so exciting for me," Ahri then coughed looking a bit reserve, a faint blush going across her cheeks as she realized she was rambling. "A-Anyways it just so happens that I found this Relic Fragment. Sure it does look like junk but take a closer look."
Intrigued, Cody did so to see the pattern on it and he tilted his head studying it.
Though he might not remember much even he could tell this was an unusual pattern. It looked like some sort of gear with what looked to be a compass in the middle, or at least that's how it looked to Cody.
"There has to be a meaning to it, this Fragment could lead to a legendary place just waiting to be explored," Just like that passion was back in Ahri's tone. "At least that's the feeling I get."
"I can see why, the pattern is pretty unique." Cody said with Ahri smiling widely.
"Right?! That's why I tried to join an Exploration Team, this fragment must fit into something… Somewhere! I want to discover where that is," Ahri then look down in shame. "Earlier, I tried to join an Exploration Team as an Apprentice… But I was too cowardly."
Cody had so many questions now that they didn't have to worry about getting the Relic Fragment back.
What were Mystery Dungeons? What's an Exploration Team? Why was he a Piplup? What happened to him?
So many of them yet he didn't know what to ask first.
"What about you, Cody?" Ahri looked at the silent Penguin who blinked in surprise at the question as she recalled his predicament. "What are you going to do now? You lost your memory and somehow turned into a Pokemon."
She wasn't sure if she 'believed' that last part but on the off chance that it was true, she wanted to help Cody given how he helped her get the Relic Fragment back. Especially because if it was true, Cody would definitely have no place to stay or anyone to help him.
"... If not can I ask a big favor?" Ahri looked a little hesitant, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath to calm herself. "Would you form an Exploration Team with me? I think we made a good team in that cave and who knows, maybe doing this will help you out?"
'Form a team-? I just met her and I'm getting recruited out of the blue?!' Cody thought unsure of what to say. 'I-I mean it's true that I have nowhere to go and I have no clue what I need to do to find my memories… Ahri seem's nice enough but I don't know anything about this world or really about her besides the fact that she's passionate about myths and ruins.'
Then again that could be a good reason to do this.
Forming a team would ensure he has a place to stay, food to eat so he won't starve and she has a point, perhaps doing this could help him find answers to what was going on. And by forming a team with her it would ensure that if anything does happen he would have help to deal with it along with help in getting used to being a Pokemon for the time being until he finds a way back to being Human.
Seeing no real downsides to this, Cody smiled. "Sure thing Ahri."
Ahri's eyes lit up as she cheered. "Really? Alright we're going to be an awesome combination, let's make this work." She said looking very happy by his answer. "First we need to head towards Wigglytuff's place to sign up as Apprentices, that's where we get the training we would need to be an effective Exploration Team."
"Seems reasonable enough." Cody said relieved that they would have training instead of just jumping into it like they did with the cave.
"The training will definitely be tough, so let's give it our best Cody." Ahri said holding her paw out.
"Nothing but our best." Cody agreed taking the paw with his flipper, the two shaking on it, creating the beginning of what would be a close bond, the two not knowing the small, seemingly unimportant first steps they were taking would someday make a huge ripple in the future of what's to come.
Only time will tell if their resolve is strong enough to challenge the dangers that lie ahead.
To Be Continued…
Alright the first chapter is done and while not a lot happened the beginning is set up with the team being formed between Cody the Human turned Piplup and Ahri the Vulpix, it's based off of my playthrough of the game so this story is a bit of a novelization but it'll have its own twists as time goes on.
What do I mean by that? Well, you'll have to wait and see.
Yes Ahri is an obvious reference to League of Legends-never really got around to playing that game, but I figured the nickname would work with Vulpix given the evolution being Ninetales.
Oh and sorry if the fighting was lackluster at this moment but just remember both Cody and Ahri are around the same level as Starter Pokemon so it stands to reason that they'll have some trouble for a bit in the beginning. But unlike the game they will have more than four moves, just to add some diversity and you can expect some anime-like fights where they use the terrain and their surroundings to their advantage later on.
So tell me what you think and I'll get the next chapter out soon. Oh and I'll also be out of town, going to a cousin's graduation so don't expect any updates for a bit unless I find the time.
Here are the Party Stats for this story so far-or at least what they were when I reached this point.
Current Strength
Cody
Lv. 7
Moves: Pound and Growl
Held Item: None.
Ahri
Lv. 7
Moves: Ember, Tail Whip, Feint Attack and Roar.
Held Item: None.