Chapter 1: A Destined Hero
Lilypad: Delightful welcome to all you guys! My name's Lilypad and welcome to my first Pokemon fanfic!
Sir Espeon: *yawn* Really Lily? It's four in the morning!
Lilypad: Don't mind my partner, he's a bit timid.
Sir Espeon: Hey! I'm not timid!
Lex the Dragonite: Well, technically, you are timid. It took you forever to get enough courage and update your story just because you are afraid people will hate it.
Sir Espeon: WHAT?! I'm busy the last two months trying to get my high school applications done!
Lex the Dragonite: Yeah yeah, lame excuses.
Sir Espeon: *eye twitches* Excuse me? *use Psychic on Lex*
Lex the Dragonite: Ouch! Oh it's on! *starts the fight*
Lilypad: Ooo, I wonder who will win! Oh, anyway, enjoy!
Alex's POV
My consciousness, it's drifting away...
The pain, it's starting to fade...
My body, it's going numb...
My memories, they're slowly slipping away...
What's happening to me?
Am I dying? I'm not sure...
All I know is things are not going to be the same for me after this...
...
...
Wait, there's a voice emanating from somewhere, a really serious and mighty voice.
"Human, this shall not be the end for you. Heroes never die! Don't give up now! Fills your heart with determination and move onwards! I shall lead you to another destiny of yours, one which you can save the world and fix your past failures..."
Wait! It's fading! No! Tell me more! Why am I here? What's my destiny? I have so many questions! Come back!
Suddenly, a blinding light fills my vision. I started feeling the consciousness flooding back to me and a newfound feeling of grogginess started welling up inside of me. I feel a pleasant breeze, fresh air flows by along with the rustling sound of leaves. A heard another voice, a much more feminine and timid one.
"Are you okay? Please wake up."
Jasmine's POV
Today's the day. The day I finally get to join an exploration guild is here. All I need to find a partner and get signed up. Simple right? Oh, who am I kidding? I'm pathetic... I'm timid little baby, a scaredy cat and a perfect target for bullies. How can I even possibly find a partner, let alone joining a guild.
And in case you didn't know me before, which I'm absolutely sure you didn't, I'm Jasmine, a timid Eevee living in Flora Town, Grass region. I was orphaned at the age of three and without any relatives, I was forced to live by on my own for the last seven years. Wealthier, luckier mons always look down to me like I'm some kind of trash. Bullies are always in hot pursuit of me whenever I'm alone in the streets. I cry myself to sleep almost every night and get haunting nightmares on the rest. I rarely get the feeling of love from anyone. The only one in this entire town is Mama Kengaskhan. The kindhearted lady always feels pity for me and help me with some of the aspects of my life. She helped me put up my shelter at the edge of town. We go out to forage for berries and apples every afternoon and she would occasionally cook me a heartwarming meal. She also let me play with baby Kengaskhan and talks to me like I'm a child of her own. I don't know if I could have been able to live through the days without her. But even with her to rely on, I still suffer from trauma of my parents's death and all the times I get bullied or ignored.
But hopefully, today's the day that I can change my destiny to a better one. The recruits come from everywhere in the region so I can still partner up with a new Pokemon from somewhere else. I am determined.
After hastily eating an Apple, I can rush out of my little shack and head into town. As I run through the busy streets, I can see many new faces around town, they're all new recruits here to find a guild in today's recruiting event. Just seeing this makes my heart filled with excitement. It's this happening? Am I finally gonna be able to escape my wretched fate? I soon reach the recruitment area, where every guild in the region has a stall to look for recruitments. I heard that the extremely tough and picky Miracle guild is here, along with their rival, the Omega guild. I don't even dare to dream of joining one of those two but I still keep my hopes up.
However, my hopes is completely shattered when I see two familiar faces in front of me, my two biggest bullies. Machop, the biggest brawn in all of Flora town's youth and Meowth, the biggest snot in this entire region.
"Well well, what do we have here Machop?"
Machop looks at me with a huge smirk.
"Wimp, I believe your shack is other way, are you lost?"
They snickers by themselves. I try to ignore them and keep moving toward the recruiting. However, Machop decides to stand in my way, blocking me from going any further ahead.
"I said your shack is the other way, wimp."
I try to find an opening to slip away into the crowd. However, Machop don't seem to give me any.
"Let me through, I need to get to the recruiting."
Meowth's face perks up. His smirk grew larger.
"Recruiting you say? I believe they don't accept total losers like you wimp."
I ignore the insult again and tru following another path to the recruiting. But as I step away, I feel myself getting picked up by the neck and thrown backwards. After soaring for two seconds on the air, I hit the ground on my back, hard. A rush of pain jolt down my backside. I wince in pain. I can hear the two bullies cackling to themselves and everyone around whispering something. I got up, my eyes get all teary. Seeing this, the two bullies laugh even more. I can hear more laughters coming from the crowd, probably from other mons in town that also make fun of me. The laughter gets louder and louder along with the whispers, making me feel unbearable. I can't hold it back anymore, I burst into tears and ran off to the continuing laughters from the crowd.
I run past by Kengaskhan storage not noticing the concerned look on her face.
Right now, I just want to be alone, and I know the right place to go. I rush out of town, past my shack, past the peaceful hills and finally reached a vast serene lake surrounded by woodlands and hills. This is Judgement lake. How it got this name? I don't even know. All I know is I go here every time I feel harassed or depressed to have some alone time. It's a routine now.
The lake is quiet, as always. The only sound I can hear is the rustling leaves flew by with the pleasant breezes. I sat down by the water, watch my reflection in it and think about my life. So far, it's been a horrible mess.
My train of thoughts is broken when I see waves rippling on the surface. I stand up and look around. The lake never have any waves, unless there's something in the water. Then, I immediately spot a small blue figure unmoving in the water. As I take a closer look, I notice that the figure is an unconscious Shinx. Panic well up inside of me as I jump into the water to drag the unconscious Shinx into shore. I check his heartbeat and sigh in relief when I feel his heart beating. Though, I still can't get to comfortable, his fur was still wet and his body was still cold. I shake his body, hoping to bring him back to consciousness.
"Are you okay? Please wake up."
Alex's POV
I open my eyes and saw something green. I could feel grass on my feet so I'm probably facing downwards. I feel lightheaded. Itchy feelings well up inside my throat. I cough furiously and finally throw up a lot of water. I could feel a hand patting my back for comfort. Wait, is it a hand? Why does it feel hairy and small?
"You okay?"
I look up to my rescuer to see something that almost shock me to death. It was a talking Eevee. I must have looked surprised as she tilted her head in confusion.
"Huh? It's there something wrong?"
I immediately jumped back.
"A... a... talking... Pokemon!"
She seems to tilt her head even more, her face is mix of confusion.
"What are you talking about? All Pokemon talk, well, maybe except for Wobbufett..."
I'm still entranced. Why is this Eevee talking like a human-being. And why does she say that every Pokemon can talk?
"I... don't... understand. Where am I? Why am I here?!"
She looks a bit bombarded by all my questions.
"Well, this is Judgement lake. And you almost drowned to death before I came here and rescue you."
"I... did?"
She smiled warmly.
"Yup, you did."
"Wow..."
My mind is still trying to process all this new informations.
"By the way, why did you got yourself almost drowned to death?"
I try to go over my memories and hope that I can find some sort of clues as to why I'm here but I can't seem to remember anything.
"I don't remember."
Her head is again tilted in confusion.
"You don't?"
"Yes, I don't remember anything. Oh, and why did you say that every Pokemon can talk?"
I'm not good at reading expressions but I'm pretty sure she's extremely confused.
"Well... I'm a Pokemon, you're a Pokemon, aren't we supposed to be able to talk to each other?"
Wait WHAT?! She must have chuckled at my surprise expression like I'm some sort of idiot.
"What do you mean I'm a Pokemon? I'm a human!"
Her expression turns to one of surprise and confusion.
"What do you mean you're human? You look just like a normal Shinx to me."
Hold... hold on! A Shinx? Me? I'm I not getting anything. Wait, from this perspective, she looks to be my size, and I'm pretty sure I'm standing on two... legs? I look down to see instead of human hands, there are two little blue furry paws. I jump back in shock and swiftly turn around to the lake surface. Through the reflection on the surface, I can see a face of a Shinx looking back at me.
Jasmine's POV
This Shinx is acting really... strange. He acted all shocked when I talked to him. He also referred himself as human and was surprised when he realized he was a Shinx.
"I... I've been turned to Shinx! How did this happen?"
Now he's referring that he's been turned to a Shinx. Normally, nobody would buy any of these nonsense. However, his expression, his reaction to all of this seems... real somehow.
"So you're saying that you were a human being, something us Pokemon hadn't seen for centuries, and now you've turned to a Shinx."
He nodded his head furiously.
"Yes, I can swear that's what has happened to me."
I stopped for a moment. I somehow tell this Shinx is honest. Still, I need a bit more information.
"So, you can't remember anything about your past. Then, can you at least remember your name?"
He looks like he was questioning himself to be able to remember his name.
"My name? Well,... it's..."
He stops for a moment as if he is taking one final fumble into his memory to find his name.
"...it's Alex... My name is Alex."
This makes me smile satisfyingly. There's no doubt this Shinx is being honest this kind of reaction.
"Well... hello Alex, my name's Jasmine. I live in a town nearby."
He flashed me a friendly smile.
"Nice to meet..."
But we were cut off by two familiar voices that I absolutely loathe.
"Well well, I see you've finally made a friend."
"Huh, you don't must both be losers to hang around with each other."
It's Machop and Meowth, they followed me here.
3rd Person POV
"What... what do you... want?"
Jasmine can't help but ask with a shaky voice even though she hates it. Two smug grins crack from the two bullies' faces.
"Well... we're simply looking for the third member of Team Brawls of Omega Guild."
Jasmine wince at that. These bullies somehow got themselves into one of the two most prestigious guild in the region.
"So, how does that have anything to do with us?"
The attention is turned to Alex. Meowth decides to answer with his most snotty voice.
"Well, you see, we see that there's potential in you Shinx, we would want to have you on our side."
Jasmine is clearly annoyed at this but is too afraid to show. Alex, however, is unfazed.
"Give me a reason why I should join your team or whatever all of this is."
It's true that Alex has never of any of these before but he decides to play along with these Pokemon since he doesn't like the vibe that these guys are creating.
"Well, we're a team in the most prestigious exploration guild in this whole region."
"And you don't want to hang around with that loser do you?"
Machop chimes in, pointing his finger towards Jasmine who's hiding behind Alex's back.
Alex's eyebrows twist in annoyance at this. First, Jasmine saved him drowning and believed him when he implied he was a human, he can't just leave her like this. Second, he can tell that these two are bullies and he knows for a fact that he cannot stand those.
"Then sorry, but I have to decline your offer."
The two bullies seems a bit annoyed at this.
"Well then, since you want to hang around with a loser, that makes you a loser too. And we don't tolerate those."
They get into a fighting stance, making Alex has no choice but to get in a stance himself.
Unbeknownst to all of them, there's a big red figure watching them from a nearby tree. She was watching the duo of Alex and Jasmine closely.
"Heh, let's start with the wimp first."
Machop says and lunges forward to Jasmine with a Karate Chop readied. Alex quickly reacts and Tackles him back. Surprised by the sudden retaliation, Machop grins mischievously.
"Meowth, help me out."
Meowth has already gotten his sharp claws out, his face looking menacing. He jumped at Alex with full force Fury Swipes. Alex, never feeling more evasive in his life, manages to swiftly dodge the scratches except for one that landed on his right cheek, making blood drips out slowly from the wound. Trying not to wince in pain, Alex takes a look at the situation he's in and tries to analyze it. Machop is about to come in with a Low Kick, Meowth is preparing a Pay Day attack to support Machop from a distance. Looking here, if he jumps to dodge the Low Kick, he'll be hit by the Pay Day and put Jasmine... Jasmine! That's it! He totally forgot about Jasmine.
"Jasmine, use Sand Attack on Meowth, I'll take care of the rest."
Jasmine nods but she is still frightened by the bullies. She always get picked on by them. No... She's not letting her fear overcome her this time. She immediately, stomps the ground, kicking up sand and sends it flying towards Meowth. Meowth, taking aback by the surprise Sand Attack, immediately flinches and falls back to wipe the sand off his eyes. Taking full advantage of the situation, Alex jumped into the air, dodging Machop's Low Kick before landing in the middle of the two. He Tackled Machop, making him fell face first into the ground before tripping Meowth by swiping his back feet. He sighs in relief and takes a step back, looking satisfied off his good work. The two bullies are on the ground with their faces covered in sand.
"That... was... amazing! How are you able to beat them so easily."
Alex turns around and notices Jasmine's praise.
"Analytical thinking and fast reactions. To be honest, I don't even remember why I'm capable of such."
Jasmine flashes a genuine smile. She is glad Alex decided to help her out.
Unnoticed by the two, Meowth has gotten back up with his claws ready. With a surprise lunge at Alex, he swiped across the Shinx's backside with a Scratch attack.
A rush of pain jolt down Alex's backside as he flinches from the surprise Scratch. He turns around and faces his opponent with a battle stance. Machop then gets back up on his feet and strikes Alex with a Bullet Punch, making him tumbles back. Alex winces in pain. He underestimated his opponents. Jasmine is wearing a worried expression on his face. Alex isn't looking to great and she's clearly incapable of standing up against these bullies.
"Well well, isn't so tough anymore, are you?"
Meowth approaches them slowly with a menacing grin and his sharp claws readied. Machop follows suit behind him. Alex gathers all his courage and glare at them but they appeared unfazed by this. As Meowth lunges foward at them with a prepared Fury Swipes, his attack is blocked by something hard. He jumps backwards to get a good view of what has blocked his attack to see a Charizard having blocked with a Steel Wing. The Charizard towering over him and Machop sent a intimidating leer at them, making their spine shiver.
"GET. LOST."
The two frightened bullies don't need a second warning, they sprint back to town for their lives.
Charla's POV
I sigh loudly before turning back to the two mons.
"You guys okay?"
The two still staring at her with amazement, nod in response.
"Good. Now let's get you two back to town to get patched up and registered."
The two little mons raise their eyebrows at me, clearly surprised or questioning what I am saying. I cracked an amused smile.
"I'm Charla, the leader of the Miracle Guild. I'm inviting you two to be a part of our new recruits."
The Eevee's face turned surprise and then overjoyed.
"YES! I can't believe this is happening!"
The Shinx, however, didn't seem that excited. He's still rather confused at this which I find amusing.
"Recruit? Can someone tell me what's going on?"
Okay, he really doesn't have a clue of what's going on. Is he from somewhere else? He acted just like... him when we first met. I wonder what's up with this Shinx.
"Oh, Alex. I forgot to mention this but we are getting recruited to an exploration guild as an exploration team! This is my life long dream."
Seeing the little Eevee's excitement make me can't help but feel happy. I noticed that the Shinx, named Alex, was also happy. He seemed to have caught up with the situation really quickly. Wait... Alex is a really funny name for a Pokemon, just like... his. Hmm... I also wonder what's up with this.
"So... would you join me in an exploration team? We can have many great adventures."
Alex smiled genuinely.
"Well, you're the only Pokemon I know Jasmine. Besides, I don't have any where else to go."
Jasmine's eyes lighted up with excitement.
"So it's a yes?"
With an approving nod from Alex, Jasmine started jumping around with excitement.
I stood there and watched everything with amusement. Though, what Alex said keep on making me more and more suspicious. He said that Jasmine was the only Pokemon he knew and he didn't have any where else to go. What about his family? Is he an orphan? Or maybe... was he once human?
Unknown POV
"Alex? Alex? Where are you?!"
Oh no! No no no! Alex! Where are you?
My face scrunched up with worries. Where can my partner possibly be? The battle was over, we... we did it. We stopped them. Then where can he be? We got separated in the explosion. I... I couldn't pick up his aura. Wait... is he over there?
I rushed towards an unconscious body surrounded by dying flames. It's no doubt that this is my partner. The messy blond hair, the pair of glasses which are all cracked up and broken. I quickly checked his life signs.
No! He's not breathing!
"Alex! No!"
I started to panic. I couldn't pick up any aura traces from him. His heart isn't beating either. Am... am I too late?!
"No..."
I hug the unconscious body of my partner. Tears started dripping down my eyes. I couldn't contain myself. My partner, my best friend in the whole world is now dead in front of me. We were with each other through thick and thin, and now... he left me.
"Why Alex?... If only I was here sooner..."
That's it. If he's gone. I'm not going to stay behind...
I gather all of my aura and channeled it into his body.
"Partner... I'm coming..."
I started feeling my consciousness fade away. I'm sacrificing myself. If he is actually gone, I'm going with him...
...
...
...
"Do you hear me?"
I was startled. I couldn't feel my body. Where am I? All that I can see is darkness.
"Who are you?"
The mysterious stern voice replied.
"Who I am is not important. What important is are you willing to go with your partner?"
I replied with a second of thought.
"I am."
The voice replied in a satisfied tone.
"Very well. Your friend was reborn in the world of only Pokemon."
...
...
He's alive?! It's he okay? I was about to say something when the voice continued.
"You need to look for a Shinx whose eyes are as blue as the aura flows in him. He has a friend who's an Eevee. If you can find him, you can help him be the hero once again... Aura..."
Lilypad: Well that's about sums it up this chapter.
Lex the Dragonite: We sure hope you all enjoyed it!
Sir Espeon: Constructive criticism are always appreciated.
Lilypad: We're signing out for now! See ya all next time!