P r o l o g u e

She came around slowly, almost uncertainly. Something was wrong, she could feel it; the blackness was everywhere. She could see nothing; it was as if she was submerged in shadow.

Dimly, she realized that her eyes were not open. However, she felt as if she had no strength, as if some force had sucked all of her power from her body. It took her a moment to realize this was wrong, this was not how she was supposed to feel. Something was strange, something was off.

The shadows suddenly felt as if they were smothering her, and she struggled to take a deep breath of air, only to realize that she could not. The shadows of her mind were holding her down, pressing down on her with an incredible force. As she realized this, she was suddenly alive with fear, every part of her tingling. She began to struggle in her mind, to fight the darkness, as if she could claw through it. The shadows pressed back, but their grip seemed to have weakened as her will rose. She could almost – almost, not quite – feel her jaw clench stubbornly, and she fought back all the harder, raging against these strangers in her mind. They did not belong here; this was her place, not theirs.

Get out! She screeched, and the shadows released their grip, vanished. Strength suddenly flowed into her limbs, and with a breath – a gasp, really – her eyes shot open.

The first thing she saw was the bright blue sky, dotted with the softest clouds she had ever seen. She frowned at them, as dim images of gray structures and gray skies flitted through her mind, but they vanished, as if swallowed up by lingering shadows.

She sat up slowly, and again her face creased in a frown. Something was not right, she could feel it. She stumbled slightly as she stood, but found that she almost immediately regained her balance, as if there was something else helping. She was suddenly aware of a strange weight, and as her hand reached back to her rear end, she felt something new. A…tail?

Her eyes widened in surprise, as other differences became evident. Her tail felt strange to the touch, scaly, and when she wiggled her fingers, she found that one was missing. Fear made her new scales prickle, and seeing the glint of clear water, she hurried towards it. Her once smooth, long-legged gait had turned into an awkward waddle, and when she peered into the water, she saw why. The ghost of the body she had owned before still haunted this new one, and as she stared into the water, she saw both of them; the blue-eyed, brown-haired, slim, human girl that she had once been, superimposed upon this short, stocky body, with its blue scales and gleaming red eyes. Her jaw, once so petite, had lengthened substantially, jutting out stubbornly, as teeth that had once been tiny curled over her lips in almost a grin. The corner of her mouth curled up, as if amused; that, at least, she had in common with her old body. A yellow v-shape splashed her chest, and she turned to see red spike-fins dotting her back.

A Totodile, she thought, and it was as if bringing the name of what she now was banished her past body from her mind, for when she peered into the water again, all she saw blinking at her was a Totodile; nothing more, nothing less.

This isn't who I was! She thought, struggling to hold onto her identity. I was something else once…a human! Now I'm this thing…a Totodile. But how? Why?

"Yo!"a voice squeaked at her from behind, making her turn. She blinked into bright green eyes set into an orange face.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Do I look okay?" she snarled, surprised by the venom in her voice; it had come so easily. Was she normally like this?

He blinked at her, and swallowed nervously. "You seem like a normal Totodile to me," he said uncertainly. "I mean, I saw you lying there by the lake, so I came down to help…but you got up and you look okay, so...?"

"Well, I'm not okay," she said, before taking a deep breath. Don't be ill-tempered, she scolded herself. You're in a strange place, turned from a human to a Totodile somehow. Now is not the time to be running around making enemies. If what he said is true and he came to help, he can't be the bad sort, and that sort of stupid, gallant behavior is easy to manipulate. He could be a reasonable ally; Charmanders are strong.

That's what he was, a Charmander; the name popped into her head easily, as if she had known it for a long time. Did I interact with Pokémon as a human? She wondered, but pushed the thought aside. Her stomach was growling in a way that she was certain was more fiercely than a human's stomach, and she was weary. She needed somewhere to rest.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" the Charmander asked. "I'm Singe, by the way. And you are…?"

"I don't know," she said tiredly. Weighing her options, she plunged forward. "I don't think I'm a Pokémon," she said quickly. "This sounds insane, I know it does…but I think I was actually once a human."

Singe didn't run away or scream like she had expected. Rather, he seemed to take it in stride. If anything, it seemed to excite him. "Really?" he breathed. "A human? Are you sure?"

"Either that, or I'm insane," she remarked, although she wasn't so sure it wasn't a possibility.

"I'm pretty sure you're not insane," he said, and she was surprised that he sounded earnest. "This has happened before, you know."

Her eyes glinted, and she leaned forward, grabbing him by the shoulders with her sharp-clawed hands. "Really? How?" she demanded.

Singe looked frightened, and she released him, surprised by the ferocity that had gripped her. Was it the Pokémon instinct in her? Or had she been savage, even as a human?

"It's happened twice before, that I know," Singe continued, still looking a bit nervous. "There was a pair of Pokémon that stopped the comet that was going to destroy the world, and another pair that helped return Dialga to his normal state; their species were lost to history, but we still know of their exploits. The first Transformed met a normal Pokémon and they created a rescue team together, then saved the world. The second Transformed created an exploration team with a normal Pokémon…." His eyes gleamed. "You and I should make a legend team!"

She was too tired to even wonder at what he meant. "I just need a place to rest," she said with a yawn. "All this saving-the-world crap can wait, I don't have time to mess with it. If I'm a Pokémon, that's all well and good, I don't care. Whoever turned me into one had better look out, because I'm going to hunt them down and take back what they stole from me. Maybe I'll be a human again, maybe I won't, but no one takes anything from me!" She realized she had bared her fangs in a snarl.

Singe cocked his head to one side. "What did they steal?"

"My memories," she answered. "Everything. A moment ago, I thought I knew how I looked as a human…but now I'm not so sure. I can't even remember my name."

"How about Sapphire?" he suggested. When she looked at him quizzically, he blushed. "Because, um, your scales are so pretty," he mumbled, and she could have sworn he blushed. "Like the, um, gem."

"Sapphire," she repeated, tasting the name. There was a certain power to it, like the power of her new body, and she found that she liked it. "Sapphire," she said again, and smiled at Singe, aware that smiling meant she was showing off her large teeth, probably capable of ripping the small Charmander in half with a single bite. Singe didn't seem to get the message, for he simply smiled at her, goodwill lighting up his humble face.

"If you're tired, I think I know a place where you can go," he said. "Team Blitz had a team base near Dewdum, but they moved on to a bigger one and it kind of fell into disrepair. You can live there for the meantime, until we decide what to do about you." He said 'we' so confidentially, as if Sapphire had already agreed to joining a 'team', whatever that meant. She decided not to correct him; the thought of a place to sleep was incredibly tempting.

"Let's see it," she commanded. With a grin, Singe dashed away, faster than Sapphire would have thought possible. She followed him as quickly as she could, finding a sort of waddling-running rhythm. She wasn't incredibly fast, but she wasn't truly slow, either.

He led her from the lake into warn paths through the forest. She was suddenly aware that they had been on a high slope, as a tiny town unfolded before them, tucked securely into a little valley. Small houses dotted wide streets, and her eyes widened as she saw the roofs sparkle.

"How…?" she asked Singe. His grin grew wider.

"A long time ago, it was cooler here, and the dew that gathered on the roofs used to last all day," he explained, his voice having the tone of repeating something often quoted. "However, after the comet, the weather changed, and it grew hotter here. Dewdum was named for its dewy roofs, and we couldn't let them go; so, in the mornings, Ice Pokémon to freeze the dew. It melts throughout the day, and by dusk it's gone. A Glaceon does it now; pretty, huh?"

She nodded, almost transfixed by the frozen dew, before the sound of a twig snapping alerted her to Singe moving on. She began following him again, down a less worn path, which ended at a small pool in a clearing. In the pool was a large rock, and upon this rock, a hut had been built. It was shabby, nothing spectacular even in its prime. Now, the windows were broken, the paint peeling, the roof sagging.

"It isn't much," Singe said quickly, seeing the disdainful curl of her lip, "but it will do for now, right?"

Sapphire was about to object to living in this shack, but another wave of weariness stopped her. Singe was right, it would do for now. She could check out real estate later.

"There's a bridge you can—" Singe started to say, stopping as Sapphire sprang into the pool. Swimming came easily to her, as she had expected it would; the water slide smoothly over her scales, and her large nostrils could peek over the edge of the water without exposing the rest of her body. She swam a few laps around the pool; her tail, while useless on land, was powerful here. Using it, she propelled herself into the rock, digging her claws in as she pulled herself up. She panted for a moment, before waddling into the house, pushing the door open – it was almost hanging off of its hinges. Light streamed in from the broken windows, showing dusty wooden floors. There was a cushion on the far wall that she guessed was supposed to be for sleeping. The thought of lying on it filled her with disgust, but she had no choice. She practically fell on top of it, and her eyes were closed in an instant, even as dust filled her nose. Within mere moments, exhaustion had swept her away.

AN: So, this is sort of a game I used to play on Red Rescue Team, starring Sapphire and Singe. RR was SO much better with the new ones. On the old ones, your partner used to give you choices (the results were still the same, but w'ever, you could see your partners reactions and such, at least) and you could actually interact with him/her. Plus, it seemed like they really cared about you enough to come with you when Alakazam and his groupies are after you; in Time, your partner is so whiny and he/she is only with you because stupid Dusky grabbed you like rapists. D:

Anyway, this is obviously far FAR into the future, compared to RR, BR, EoT, and EoD. We'll do some more world-building next chappy. :3