Chapter 1: Ocean Rescue

A young Eevee quietly followed her older sister up the stairs to Wigglytuff's Guild, where she was supposed to become an apprentice in order to form an Exploration Team. Sighing, she looked up at the quiet Umbreon that was her older sister. Her sister was part of a well-known Exploration Team, Team Yami-Hikari. Thus, most Pokemon held high expectations for her.

/Yep, that's me. Cute, aren't I? I didn't evolve for quite a long time, actually. It was pretty embarrassing. Not that Carlos minded./

Stopping at the top, the Umbreon approached her teammates waiting at the grate. There was Blake the Blaziken, Helio the Pikachu, and Corona the Delcatty. Corona was the leader of Team Yami-Hikari and was usually nice, unless you challenged her to a fight. She approached them.

"Lune, I'm glad to see you made it. Is this your sister?" she asked, looking at the Eevee. "She looks so cute! What was her name again?"

"Sandra," the Eevee replied quietly.

"Sandra is a cute name for you!" Corona giggled. Then she looked at Lune. "So, let's do this."

"Yeah," Lune turned to her younger sister. "Get on the grate so Diglett can get your footprint."

"Huh?" Sandra peered past her sister in order to see the grate. "It's not going to tickle me or anything, right?"

"No," Lune grumbled. "Just do it. We have a mission to go on, so I don't have time to baby-sit you."

Sandra nodded and stepped onto the grate. Nothing happened at first, causing her to relax. Then she nearly jumped out of her fur when something actually shouted up at her from the grate.

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!"

"Who's footprint? Who's footprint?" a second, much louder, voice shouted.

"The footprint is Eevee's! The footprint is Eevee's!"

Sandra screamed, leaping off the grate and tearing down the stairs in a flash. Lune shouted at her but Sandra ignored her. Gotta hide, gotta hide, gotta hide! She raced through Treasure Town and tore down the path leading to the beach.

/See what I meant by me being afraid of nearly everything? If I hadn't met Carlos when I did, there's no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't be where I am today./

Upon reaching the beach, Sandra finally slowed to a stop. The sun was beginning to set and the Krabby were blowing bubbles. Smiling, she sat down and watched the display in awe. She always felt happier watching the bubbles float across the brightly-colored sky. If anything, she envied them.

I bet bubbles don't have older sisters, she thought sourly. Bubbles don't have to live up to their siblings' reputations or accomplishments. They just get to be free and float across the sky, not worrying about being told what to do by anyone. I wish I was a bubble…

Further down the beach, a Pikachu groaned as he struggled to wake up. Opening his eyes, he took in the sight of the beach blankly. Where…am I…?

"So, you finally woke up. You had me worried, Pikachu."

Slowly, the yellow mouse struggled to his feet and looked up at the voice's owner. A blue puppy with black markings and white disks on the backs of his front paws sat there, watching him. The puppy's eyes were firmly closed, his black ears shifting slightly with the ocean breeze.

"Huh? Riolu don't talk," the Pikachu coughed, trying to get the salty taste out of his mouth. "Where am I?"

"You're outside of Treasure Town, Pikachu. And why aren't I supposed to talk?" the Riolu asked, tilting his head slightly to the left. "You're talking too, I hope you know."

"Of course I can talk. I'm a human!" the Pikachu said.

"A…human? You look like a Pikachu to me. Then again, your aura does seem odd for a normal Pokemon."

"Well, I'm a human!" the Pikachu barked. "And my name is Carlos, not Pikachu."

"So, you do have a name. Mine is Lucar. Pleasure to meet you,"

"Lucar, why are your eyes closed?" Carlos asked. "Riolu normally have their eyes open, even when they're sensing aura."

"You sure know a lot about my kind, don't you?" Lucar commented. "To answer your question, I'm blind. I can only see by continually sensing the aura of my surroundings. I'd…rather not talk about why I'm blind, if you don't mind."

"It's okay," Carlos replied.

"You're really a human? Odd, since this world is filled only with Pokemon." Lucar noted. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"I'll prove it! I…" Carlos suddenly fell silent. "Um…uh…?"

"Is there a problem?" Lucar asked, growing uneasy with the long silence.

"I can't remember anything," Carlos muttered. "Only my name and that I'm human. What's going on here?"

"You might have gained amnesia somehow." Lucar suggested. "You might have been carried away by the storm last night and hit your head on something. The possibilities involving a storm are pretty diverse."

"O…kay?"

"I have a good idea that might help you figure out why you've lost your memory." Lucar added.

"You do? What is it?!" Carlos cried.

"Oh, that's easy. We'll just ask Guildma—"

"AAAAAH!"

Lucar and Carlos snapped to attention, looking toward the other side of the beach. A tiny Eevee was cornered against the ocean by a Gengar, an Absol, and a Manectric. The Eevee was shaking like a leaf. Absol and Manectric growled menacingly but hung back as Gengar stepped forward.

"So, your Lune's kid sister? What a weakling!" Gengar laughed.

"We expected a challenge from the sister of a powerful Exploration Team member." Manectric added.

"It seems we've overestimated you." Absol agreed. "You're not worth our time."

"G-g-go away!" Sandra cried, tears appearing in the corners of her eyes.

"Should we?" Manectric asked, practically begging for Gengar's permission.

"Hmmm… Sure, why not?" Gengar said idly, stepping aside.

Manectric struck as fast as lightning, crashing into the Eevee and sending her sailing into the water. The moment she hit the ocean, she started sinking like a rock. Her limbs refused to move as her hydrophobia took over. I'm going to die, she thought.

Sharp teeth grabbed her by the scruff and hauled her above the water. It was Absol. The Dark-type started swimming further out until he reached the drop-off, where the shallows instantly became deep and the waters turned dark. Absol smirked. "Have a nice swim."

"NOOOO!" Sandra screamed.

Her body locked up again as she was forced underwater, sinking once again. Absol's form swam away, leaving her alone in the suffocating darkness of the ocean. She squeezed her eyes shut, salt burning them. Her lungs were screaming for air. Somebody, help…me…

/Do you know what it's like to drown? Some of you might. I do. It's even worse when you can't swim or are afraid of the water entirely. Drowning to death is a horrible way to die. I just got lucky. I survived./

A hand grabbed Sandra's paw, startling her. Her chest feeling constricted, she opened her mouth and unleashed the breath she had been holding. The hand dragged her through the water. Up, down, left, right, she didn't know which way she was going. All she knew was that her mind was getting fuzzy. So…sleepy…

The next thing she knew, three more hands joined the first and pulled her out of the ocean. Placing her on the sand, a hand pressed against her chest. A voice, so heavenly and kind, spoke to her. Could that be Arceus?

"Hang in there, Eevee!" the voice cried.

Suddenly, her throat was clogged with salt water. Coughing, she spat out as much of the vile liquid as she could before gasping for breath. Opening her stinging eyes, she saw two Pokemon leaning over her. As her vision cleared, she saw that they were a Pikachu and a Riolu.

"Are you okay, Eevee?" the Pikachu asked. The heavenly voice was his.

Sandra could only nod, focusing on breathing. Then she heard shouting. Turning her head, she spotted her older sister and her teammates cornering her attackers. She couldn't hear what they were saying but whatever it was ticked Lune off so much that she jumped on Gengar and screamed at him.

After the trio fled, Team Yami-Hikari approached Carlos, Lucar, and Sandra. "Are you all okay?" Corona asked. "Sandra, you poor thing!"

"Don't worry, kiddo. We showed those punks a thing or two." Blake bragged, smirking.

"Thanks for helping us," Lucar said. "Those three would have surely beaten all three of us had you not come along."

"Yeah, thanks." Carlos nodded.

"Hey, Sandra. You okay?" Lune asked.

"I think so," Sandra said, her voice raspy from the salt lining her throat.

"Good," Lune sighed. She turned to the Pikachu. "Thanks for saving my sister. You're pretty brave."

"Uh, thanks?" Carlos replied. "Lucar, where did you say I had to go?"

"To the Wigglytuff Guild," the Riolu replied. "Guildmaster Wigglytuff is very powerful and wise. He might know why this happened to you, Carlos."

"You're going to the guild?" Helio asked. The older Pikachu smiled. "If you're planning on making an Exploration Team, why not make one with Sandra here?"

"Exploration Team?" Carlos repeated.

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea!" Corona agreed. "We can take you kids to the guild right now. I guess we'll have to put that mission on hold until tomorrow, Lune."

"If you say so," the Umbreon muttered.

"Do you need help getting up, Sandra?" Carlos asked.

"I'm okay," The Eevee rolled onto her stomach and got to her feet. After a few false starts and a lot of stumbling, she finally managed to walk straight. "Let's go."