~Chrome Treecko~

Chapter One: Caterpie and the Earthquake

The blue Pokémon was walking alone in the Tiny Woods. He was small and cute-looking with his dark blue fins and orange spikes jutting out of his cheeks and a usually smiley face, but today, it was anything but smiley. He was deep in thought. He had a problem. The problem was that he had been interested in forming a rescue team for as long as he remembered, but it was just that he was so timid. It was noon in the Pokémon World - this was the only time he could be seen walking around in the woods. He wouldn't have had the courage to go into the Tiny Woods at night. How would he ever be brave enough to catch outlaw Pokémon and navigate mystery dungeons if he was too afraid to walk alone? And it was a problem he didn't see a solution to.

...

A Bug-type Pokémon with black and white butterfly wings was walking - err- flying - with her son, a small green caterpillar Pokémon. Unlike the blue one, they weren't scared to go into the woods at any time of the day. They were going to have a picnic in the woods, just like any other day.

Meanwhile, another Pokémon, a green one this time, was lying on the grassy ground. She wasn't moving; she was out cold.

Now as the blue Pokémon walked on, he saw a shape in the distance lying on the ground. A green shape. A Pokémon! With a gasp, he ran forward and looked at the Pokémon. Yup, it was definitely a Treecko. He had never seen any Treecko around these parts. "Wake up! Wake up!" He tried to revive the unconscious Treecko. "Come on, wake up! What happened?!"

The Treecko groaned and blinked and didn't answer. She blinked a few times more, obviously to focus her vision. But the first words she said completely took him off guard.

"Wait a second. You're a Pokémon."

Little blue one looked at her strangely. That was weird. Maybe she'd had a concussion? A bump on her head? Yeah, that must be it. Someone must have hit her on the head and now she was delirious. "What happened? Did someone attack you?" he asked again. It was another question that went unheeded because the Treecko held up an arm and stared at it instead.

"Wait. Wait. No. This can't be. Green skin? Three fingers?" She stuck her hand behind her back, feeling around for something. Then her eyes widened. "No way. A tail? No. That's not right. Not right at all. No. I can't have a tail. Maybe I'm dreaming. Yeah. Pinch my arm a bit here... Ouch!" She grimaced, and thrust her hand back again. "No! I've STILL got a tail! This isn't a dream. This isn't right. This just isn't right..."

She trailed off and stared at the Pokémon in front of her. He cocked his head and stared back strangely. "You're..." He said, "A little weird..." he shook his head. "Well, anyway, where do you come from? What happened? You were unconsious." With a groan, the Treecko replied, "That's just it. I don't know what happened to me and I don't live here. I don't even live in the Pokémon World." "What do you mean? You look like a totally normal Treecko to me." "That's just it," the Treecko repeated. "I'm not a Pokémon, or at least I wasn't - I'm supposed to be a human. Obviously I've been turned into a Pokémon for whatever reason."

The blue Pokémon frowned. A human turned into a Pokémon? How strange. "Well, I'm Mudkip Mizugorou, and you can call me Mudkip," he said. "What's your name?" The Treecko stood up. "I'm Chrome," she said. "That's a cool name," said Mudkip. Then his smile wavered. "...but what does it mean, exactly?" "What, you mean you don't know what chrome means?" Chrome looked shocked. Then she slipped into Dictionary Mode. "Chrome, a noun. It is the twenty-fourth element in the periodic table and is classified as a transition elem-"

She was interrupted by a sudden tremor. Not used to standing on her Wood Gecko legs, Chrome fell down again. "What was that?" gasped Mudkip. The next instant he was interrupted by a scream. "AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Mudkip and Chrome looked at each other. "Someone's in trouble!" exclaimed Mudkip and he began to run in the direction the scream had come from, followed by Chrome. They hadn't gone far when they bumped into a Butterfree, who was weeping and wailing. "Please, you've got to help my son!" she cried. "My son Caterpie and I got separated by the earthquake! He's lost in the woods!"

Mudkip looked determined. "Don't worry," he told Butterfree. "I'll go in and find Caterpie." He set off deeper into Tiny Woods. Then he turned back. "Are you coming, Chrome?" Chrome was silent. Should she follow Mudkip...? On the minus side, the woods seemed dangerous and there might be more earthquakes. But on the plus side, at least by going with him she was with the one character she knew in this strange world. "All right. I'm coming!" she yelled, and ran as fast as her Treecko legs would allow after Mudkip.