2: A New Life

2: A New Life

Chris took a look over her new body. Judging from her size, she couldn't be more than a month old.

"Flare! Come back to the den!" Her mother was calling her.

Now how did she know that? She hadn't spent two minutes in this body. And yet the knowledge was there. She was Flare, a young Growlithe, and had two brothers: Blaze and Torch. Her mother and father were Arcanines.

She jogged back to the cave, a large Arcanine meeting her at the entrance. "You know you shouldn't be out here alone," the mother said.

"But why? Daddy goes out on his own." Where were these words coming from? It's almost like she couldn't control herself. She merely spoke.

"Because your daddy is grown up. He knows the forest and its dangers and how to avoid them. Now get back inside." The mother nudged her back in with her nose.

She walked back inside and sat by the wall. Two other Growlithe, her siblings, had woken up and were wrestling across the floor. For the time being, she simply sat and watched, using the chance to watch young pups in their own environment up close.

A few hours later, another large Arcanine slowly lumbered into the cave. Chris looked up at it and gasped slightly. It was her father, but something was wrong. He was limping and several small cuts bled from his side.

Her mother quickly jumped up and ran over, supporting him to their bed. "What happened?"

"I…stumbled across one of them. It tried to fight, but I scared it off." He lay down with a grunt and breathed deeply. He looked to be in extreme pain. The other cubs gathered around, looking up in fear. He looked down on them with a look of love. "I think it's time we told them."

The mother took a step back. "W…what?"

"They have to learn sometime. It might as well be now."

The mother looked over him, the cubs, and back to him before nodding silently.

"Come here, children." The cubs moved closer and sat. "I am about to teach you one of the most important lessons of your life." The boys grinned; Chris did only slightly. "In this world, there are two types of beings. There are those like us, who live in nature. There are hundreds of different creatures, each unique."

"You mean like those furry things with the huge tails?" Blaze asked.

"Yes, just like those. Most of them you do not have to fear. But there is another type of being that you must avoid at all costs: the humans!"

Inwardly, Chris exploded in joy. No one had ever truly learned what wild Pokemon thought of humans, and here she was getting it straight.

"The humans are evil beings. They strip nature to the bone. They infect it with pollution. But there is a bigger reason you must fear them. A group of humans called 'trainers' capture those like us and force us to fight each other."

Blaze laughed and fell to the floor. "Come on, Dad. We've heard that horror story before."

Torch look quite startled. "A…are you serious? There are ones like us that fight each other?"

The father nodded his head, stopping Blaze's laughter. "It is very true."

"What do they look like?"

"When you see one, you'll know. Now go outside and play a bit. I need to rest."

Chris didn't really feel like playing. Instead, she went to the back of the cave and settled down for a nap. For several minutes, her thoughts kept her from sleep. This was the first time a human has gotten a real look at Pokemon's views and they turn out to make the human's look like monsters. It was on this note that she drifted to sleep.

It seemed that not a moment after she shut her eyes, then they opened again, this time somewhere completely different. There was a solid white ceiling over her. She reached up a hand, her human hand.

She twisted over. A digital clock read 6:32 in big red numbers. It was time to get ready for work.

As she showered, she thought about last night. It was the most vivid dream she had ever had. She could remember every detail as if she had lived it. She decided to ignore it for now. There was another person at the lab that was well studied in dreams. He could help.

At the lab, she happened to meet him in the lobby. "Hey, Brian. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"I had this really vivid dream last night, and I'm wondering if it means anything. I was…" Something stopped her. She knew the words she wanted to say, but they wouldn't come. She tried again, "It was…" The words seemed stuck in her throat.

A voice came into her head. "The stories are for you alone and no others."

She recognized the voice. It was the entity from her dream.

She shook her head. "Forget it," she said as she turned and walked off.

The bathroom brought some solitary relief. Alone, she went to the closest mirror and looked straight through it. "Alright, what's going on?"

The image in the mirror began to slowly flow and mold until it changed from her face to the strange Eon from last night. "You know what is going on. I explained last night."

"No. That was a dream!"

"And yet here we are again. A dream it may have been to Chris, but it was not to Flare."

Chris looked at the strange creature in slow realization. "This is real. I'm not just imagining it?" It shook its head. "You mean I actually live as a Pokemon?"

"You do."

Great! The biggest thing to ever happen to a human and she couldn't share it with anybody!

"The stories you may not share, but lessons of one are for all mankind."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The creature gave a sort of smile. "You will know." It disappeared in another swirl and Chris' face returned to the mirror.

She was about to scream and try getting it back when the door creaked open. She quickly turned on the water and pretended to wash her face.

Chris read over the schedule. The young Growlithe that arrived yesterday was in for some basic testing. And she was supposed to help.

Promptly at 2 o'clock, the canine was brought in and set on the table. She came over with a light sedative and injected it into the creature's arm. It cringed, but didn't fight back. She gave it a quick scratch behind the ear.

The Professor came up beside her. "Ok, start with a blood test. Then take a small muscle sample. If possible, I also want to take some stomach samples."

Chris nodded slowly. She got another needle and turned back to Growlithe. It hadn't moved at all. She put in the needle carefully and took only a small amount of red liquid. The creature looked at her as she handed that needle to another and picked up a small scalpel. "Don't worry. This won't hurt at all."

It blinked and let out a heavy sigh before returning its gaze forward. It barely moved for the rest of the operation.