Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

THUD! I hit the ground. In a daze, I reached for my Poke Ball. But it was in vain. It had dissolved into nothingness already. I peered up to see a crumbling city in ruins. I must have fell for hours. How was I still conscious?

My name is Emma, by the way. That's one of the few things I remember.

Why was I in this nightmare? Was it an incubus, a mere hallucination? I pinched myself. No, this was real.

Suddenly, a boy, who looked no longer than 20, my age, darted over to me. I must still have been half-dazed, because I couldn't see him too well. Before I knew it, he picked me up and dashed over to the megapolis, just before I passed out again.

3 days later, I woke up in a makeshift hospital bed.

'Thank goodness you're alright!' said a deep, masculine voice.

Through my blurry vision, I could see the man more clearly. He had Goku-style anime hair, only coloured crimson with a cyan belt shape around it. His face was pale, although he had a chartreuse scar running along his chin. He wore chainmail armour with a heliotrope mark in the shape of an axe, although his arms were completely bare. He had colossal, spiky boots that extended across his entire leg. Yet I thought, with his friendly, relieved smile, that he didn't seem threatening at all.

'Hi. What is your name?' he asked. He had a rich, warm, mellifluous voice that put me at ease instantly.

'My name is Emma.' I replied.

'I'm Prentiss. The most powerful warrior and mayor of Koniec. And this here is my daughter Michael.'

I noticed the girl stood next to him, with hair shaped like an Arbok, pink except for the eyes and mouth, which were purple. Little caerulean locks fell down as well from the Arbok shape.

'Hello!' she said cheerily, bouncing up and down. 'We're gonna teach you the rules of this world!'

She sent out an Arbok (fittingly enough), while Prentiss sent out a Haxorus.

'Don't you use the Pokemon to fight each other?' I asked. 'It's how we do things in my world.'

'Nah.' Said Prentiss. 'Think Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Watch this!'

They absorbed the Pokemon into their bodies via their armour marks, an axe and a snake respectively.

'So that's what they're for!' I thought.

After their transformations, father and daughter had completely changed in appearance. Prentiss had a Haxorus's tusks and legs, as well as its bellowing roar, although he still spoke human.

Michael now had the lower half of an Arbok, as well as its head on top of hers. She hissed, then said, 'See?'

'That's quite cool.' I said.

'Yep. And you can do it too. This Spiritomb's taken a shine to you.'

Suddenly, a mark in the shape of the Odd Keystone appeared on me. That was really odd. I felt a slight edge of pain. I felt lethargic, then starving, then nauseous. Suddenly, Spiritomb jumped into me, and I felt like I was on fire. But two seconds later, I had distorted like a Kecleon.