Ch. 1
This terrifying sensation..! It could only mean I was falling!
"Wahhh…!"
I opened my eyes as soon as I was able only to see an expansive land filled with greens, blues, and browns. I yelled out in great fear as my falling drew me closer and closer to the land below. There was nothing I could do as I passed the clouds. All I could do was close my eyes and pray I wouldn't feel the pain of death…
Huh? Am..I..alive? Uh….everything is spinning. Can't see anything. My body aches in pain I can't even describe.
"H-Hey are you OK?! Come on, wake up...Come on!"
Where am I? Wait. I hear something…someone calling out to me…but who could be…?
Is that-?
"Hey! You're awake! You OK?"
What? A P-P-P-Pokémon! A Pokémon is talking to me!
I frantically looked around. All I could see were trees surrounding me. It was clear I landed in a forest. I looked up and could see that many branches were broken. It appeared the trees broke my fall. I was undeniably lucky; it was nothing short of a miracle. I couldn't believe I survived such a fall.
"You sure you aren't hurt or anything?"
This Pokémon that was talking to me, it was about the same height as I. Colored in green, yellow, and a soft cream color, it sort of reminded me of a snake as its body appeared to be in the shape of an S. Its tail had the shape of a leaf with only three petals. In fact, instead of a leaf, I could also say it reminded me of a fan. Its hands were small compared to the rest of its body as well as having only three digits on both hands. The Pokémon also had what looked to me a gold colored collar. On closer inspection, the collar rose to the back of its neck but had no arch to connect both sides.
…Th-That's right…I got turned into a Pokémon so I guess I can understand other Pokémon now?
"Does it hurt anywhere? Can you hear me?"
The Pokémon drew closer and looked at me imploringly. Its ruby eyes showed it was being sincere in its concern. Because I was still disorientated, I could only meekly nod my head at its question.
"…Whew! What a relief! You know you fell straight out of the sky, right?"
…Out of the sky? Right…Yeah I think there was some kind of light…Then I fell for a long time.
"Boy, are you lucky or what! You haven't got a single scratch after falling all that way? That's fantastic!"
"I wouldn't say that. Although I may appear to be fine, I'm in plenty of pain. I did come falling down after all. Are you hurt?" I asked.
"Me? How polite of you to ask. I'm quite fine. I was just very surprised. Regardless of being a girl, I'm quite tough."
Ah. I see, so she's a girl. I probably would never have guessed. Even by looking at Pokémon, appearances are still deceiving. I'm glad she told what gender she was; otherwise I would have made a terrible mistake in addressing her.
"I'm Snivy, by the way. What about you? What's your name?" she inquired.
"My name? Oh, my name is Shin. It's nice to meet you Ms. Snivy." I bowed my head in my greeting.
"Shin. Your name's Shin? Well, nice to meet you! But please, just Snivy. Charmed, I'm sure," she answered with a warm smile.
"But, where did you come from, Shin?" she asked.
Where did I come from…?
I could only show a solemn expression as I looked towards the sky.
She looked flustered as the mood suddenly turned gloomy.
"Well, I mean, I know you came from the sky just now…But I haven't seen you before. So I was asking where you were originally from—where your home is! Of course, it is pretty mysterious how you fell out of the sky like that…But you can't tell me you actually live up there, right?" she happily joked.
Ha…I suppose not. Even if I were to say I came from the other side of the sky, it's not like anyone were to believe me. Not anyone normal at least. If there was at least some sort of hole in the sky or something then maybe…But I don't want to lie either. I guess I'll just have to come clean to her.
"Actually, the truth is..."
"WHAAAT?! Y-you're actually a human?!" she yelled.
Ahaha….Well, this type of reaction was to be expected. I could only smile wryly as she continued to be surprised.
"And you got turned into a Pokémon because some voice was crying for help?"
"Yes, that's right."
"So you fell straight out of the human world and into this one?"
I nodded my head. Her reaction was to be expected, but she looked more dubious about my story than I'd hoped.
I-I guess it was too much to hope that anyone would believe me.
"…. … …"
"…. … …"
"All right. Got it."
"Eh?"
"I believe you! I believe your story, Shin."
"What?! Just like that?! Without any proof or anything?" I exclaimed.
I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with surprise. I just told a ridiculous story that, to a Pokémon, would be ridiculous. If our positions and beings were reversed, even I would find this story suspicious. I'm not sure what to feel from her belief in me other than surprise.
"Sure, I know it's a fantastic story to believe. Humans don't exist anywhere except in fairy tales, or that's what I always thought," she said.
"I don't blame you, it's the same for us," I said.
"Yeah. And it seems totally impossible that a human could just turn into a Pokémon and fall outta the sky one day. But, do you know what I think? There are a lot of mysteries in this world. But the truth is that maybe…those things aren't all that mysterious at all. Maybe they're just things that I don't know about yet and that's why they seem mysterious.
"Wow. That's pretty open-minded," I said in admiration.
Snivy honestly believed everything I said about my origin. Such faith in a complete stranger is uncommon. I could only stare at her and just feel dazed by her happy-go-lucky personality. She was definitely something.
"Heheh. That's why I want learn about all kinds of things and see all kinds of things. I want to meet mythical Pokémon that no one else has ever seen! I want to explore ancient ruins and deep caves! And more than anything, I want to have an adventure! That's right! I want to be an adventurer! And that's exactly why I traveled all the way here to—"
Just as she became more and more passionate about her desire to become an adventurer she suddenly realized something and yelled,
"Aughhhh! I forgot! The most important meeting of my life!" she despaired.
She looked really troubled and started to panic. It must have been pretty important to have ruined her momentum.
"Is something the matter?" I asked.
"Augh! I've got to get there ASAP, but…The path ahead looks really tough. It'll be hard to make it through alone. Argh! What should I do?"
She started to mutter something with a serious expression on her face. I could only really make out her saying something about a tough path ahead of her.
"That's it!"
She suddenly came running to me and looked at me fiercely. I suddenly had a feeling something was
going to happen…
"Shin! Please! Will you come with me through the path ahead? My journey is so close to being over, and everything I want is so near. But if I don't hurry, I might not make it in time! I'm really not sure if I'll be able to make it through on my own. Gahhh! There's no more time to explain! Just come with me, OK?!"
She then rushed behind me and started to push me through the forest.
"Wh-whaaat?!"
That's all I could manage to say as she forcefully pushed me farther down. Oh well. It's not like I'm not used to unreasonable requests. I don't really have anywhere else to go. At least, if I go with Snivy, I won't end up lost and alone.
"Wow! It's beautiful! It's just bursting with nature here."
After traversing the sea of trees, we came out into a clearing that was hugging a mountain. A waterfall was nearby and it gave the area a rather cool feel to it. Looking around, I could see there were plateaus above ground. It seemed that there was a cave opening at the top, but I couldn't really tell from where I was standing. Naturally being near a mountain, there was rubble littered around here and there. Farther down the path there was a small wooden bridge going over the river created by the waterfall. Farther in still there was a pile of rocks and boulders piled neatly with a trunk of tree resting on top of the pile. It appeared that the trunk fell from higher up so it made me cautious of anything that could come crashing down.
"This way, Shin! Come on! Hurry!"
Following Snivy, we crossed the small bridge and walked towards her destination. I was taking in the sights when she suddenly stopped and made me bump into her.
"Huh?! The bridge has collapsed!" Snivy worriedly said.
Is it really that bad?
I came up to her side and peered at the former bridge before me. The bridge used to be made of stone. Maybe the makers of this bridge took into account the possibility of rocks falling down on occasion on it. What they didn't take into account was the off chance of a rock slide coming down. I looked down the gap and could see no traces of the bridge. All I could see were tawny colored rocks.
"What am I gonna do? How am I supposed to get there now?" she panicked.
"Is it really that bad? This gorge isn't as big you make it out to be. I think we could jump across it," I suggested.
"No, I wouldn't want to do that. What we do if one us of didn't make it? Or what would happen if where we landed caused that part of the bridge to fall down into the gorge? No! I want us to be as safe as possible. Ah!"
After declaring that safety came first, she looked around in order to see what else could be done. She then gave a cry of relief and walked towards a cave entrance she spotted.
"Looks like there's no choice but to try going through there. Let's go, Shin!"
I nodded in affirmation and followed her lead towards the cave. I guess she thought that the caves were connected somehow and could take us over the gorge. In any case, it was an alternate path so I followed Snivy into the cave.
The cave itself wasn't anything out of the ordinary. There was light so it wasn't too dark inside. There was greenery growing on the walls. Occasionally we would see some vegetation growing nearby, but overall this cave was something ordinary. I thought that the Pokémon world would end up completely different from what I was used to, but when it came down to it, it was as ordinary as the human world.
"Shin! Look out!"
"Huh…? Ooof?!"
I felt the wind knocked out of me as I was attacked by surprise. The unknown assailant tackled me and I was knocked down. I struggled to get a look at who was attacking me, but assailant managed to get out of my view. Whatever it was, it backed off but only to come to my side in order to have a better angle of attacking me.
Aware of this, I hurried to dodge and just managed to jump out of the way. Noticing that it missed, it turned around and began to glare at me.
"This is…?"
Now that it stopped, I stared at my opponent. It was a Gothita. It may have been the same height as I was, but it didn't appear to be all that intimidating to me. Gothita's face was a shade of lavender that contrasted its crystal blue eyes and rose colored lips. Its head also complimented its black and white body. Since I was tackled all of a sudden, I had thought that I was going up against something bigger than me. Even though I was confused as to what I should do, I couldn't afford to underestimate my enemy. If I recalled correctly, Gothita was a fixation Pokémon that stared at things so obsessively that it wouldn't notice being attacked. Its white ribbons were also said to increase its psychic power.
Sensing that I needed help, Snivy came to my side.
"You okay, Shin?" she worriedly asked.
"I'll be fine. How do we get past Gothita?"
"Well, how else? Gothita attacked first so we have to defend ourselves!"
"Defend, huh? Let's hope it's not too strong then."
Snivy came up with a plan of attack and then she hurried to surround Gothita. I thought it would take notice of Snivy but it didn't even budge. I guess I was its new source of obsessive observation. Lucky for us, but a new problem occurred…
"Do I even know how to use a Pickachu's attacks?"
This posed a real problem. I'm a Pickachu so that meant I was an Electric-type. I'm weak against Grass, Ground, and Rock-types. I'm strong against Water and Bug-types but my opponent was neither of these. It was pure Psychic. Objectively speaking, we were on even ground in terms of type matchup, but that's it. In terms of experience, Gothita had the upperhand. Gothita has been a Pokémon all its life. I've only been a Pokémon for a few hours. I don't even know how to use my moves, much less what moves I know.
"Can't do anything other than just hope for the best!"
With blind hope, I started to strafe Gothita. As I thought, its only target it is me. This gives Snivy a chance to attack it without worrying about retaliation. As for me, I was left to duel Gothita until Snivy could find an opening.
OK. Shall I try using Quick Attack? I'll try imagining a fast tackle.
With that in mind, I charged at Gothita. Sensing my intentions, it readied itself to receive my attack. As soon as I took off, my body flew towards Gothita.
Fast…! Is this Quick Attack?!
I rapidly approached Gothita without at an alarming speed. This was Quick Attack, an attack that struck before the enemy had a chance to counter. I stiffened my body as I was about to make contact.
"There!"
I yelled as I struck Gothita. The force of the blow launched Gothita towards the wall behind it.
I did it! I executed a Quick Attack!
I surprisingly didn't hurt. Was this because I was a Pokémon? I had thought that being a former human might restrict my ability to use moves, but that wasn't case. It almost felt..natural. It felt like it was a long lost memory that suddenly came back when I most needed it.
Gothita collapsed on the ground but it quickly got back up and charged at me with its arm raised.
Snivy yelled, "Watch out! That's Gothita's Pound!"
Pound, eh? I thought as much as well.
Dodging it was a simple matter. What really concerned me was when it would begin to use special type moves…
Realizing that I could just a straightforward move, Gothita suddenly stopped and began gaze at me with a serious look.
Speak of the devil….Gothita's eyes are glowing in a misty color. Got to get out of its line of sight…!
Noticing the change in Gothita's expression, I came to the conclusion that it was going to use Confusion, a psychic-type move that leaves the victim's body to the user's whim with the possibility of inducing a confused state after its use on the enemy. The only way I could think of avoiding it was to get out of its line of sight. I moved and avoided Gothita's gaze until it gave up on its move.
While I was dodging, Snivy landed some blows in herself. She unleashed flurry upon flurry of Vine Whip lashes. It didn't appear that it had it had any effects from my point of view, but when Gothita gave up on Confusion, I could tell it was getting tired. Sweat appeared on its brow from fatigue and it was breathing heavily.
All I need is one more push and it'll be over!
There was only one move that could end this decisively. One of Pickachu's electric-type moves, Thundershock. I believed I only used Quick Attack by sheer luck. I imagined the combination of speed and a physical strike and my body responded with the move I hoped for. If I could imagine Thundershock, then maybe the same thing could happen. This was the only way to end this in one fell strike!
Alright, focus….
Thundershock. A strike of lightning ed from my body. I imagined electricity running through my body looking for an escape. I imagined this electricity finding an opening and rushing forth to strike.
As if responding to my desires, my body glowed brightly with electricity. Then it took shape and rushed towards Gothita. Gothita was being shocked by who knows how many volts of electricity until I stopped and it collapsed on the ground, somewhat burnt from the heat exerted.
"Not bad. Are you sure you were a human before?" Snivy commented.
"No, I'm pretty sure I was a human a while ago. So this was a Pokémon battle up close and personal, huh…?" I muttered.
No matter how I look at it, this battle happened. It wasn't a dream. I felt the pain of being tackled. I saw and heard my enemy attack and suffer an attack from me. Everything I witnessed happened and I made it happen as well. If I ever wanted proof that what was happening wasn't a dream, this scene here was it.
Noticing my grave face Snivy tried to cheer me up.
"Hey, cheer up, Shin. You beat Gothita. You simply defended yourself and now that it's over, we can move on."
"Yes, but what about Gothita? We can't just leave her here."
"Don't worry! We Pokémon are more resilient than you may think. I don't know what impression you have of us, but just because we get knocked down, doesn't mean we'll be out for long. Besides, this Gothita lives here. I'm sure she'll wake up soon enough and go somewhere to rest."
I could only simply nod at her logic. As much as it pains me, she was right. I simply defended myself and it's not like I could do anything to help now. If Snivy says she'll be alright, then that's all I need to know.
"Anyway, thanks Snivy. You helped me out back there."
"Hm? Oh, that? Hardly. You did all the work. I just threw in some jabs here and there."
"I don't think throwing lash after lash of Vine Whips could be considered a few jabs…" I sarcastically said.
"Hahah. Yeah, you're right," she said embarrassingly, "but let's move on. We've used up too much time on this one battle. We still need to get out and back down onto the path."
She motioned me to hurry up and I started to go towards her when I noticed that a berry was lying
next to Gothita.
"What's this? A berry? Looks like….an Oran Berry!"
Snivy came back, annoyed that I wasn't hurrying up.
"Hey! What's the hold u—Oh, you found an Oran Berry! That Gothita must have dropped it after being knocked out. Better take it with us. Never know when it'll come in handy!"
With that in mind, I picked up the berry and took it with us through the cave.
It wasn't long before we made it out of cave. We went through some winding paths that could make anyone disorientated if they were not careful. Light was pouring out of a small incline and when we came outside, we were above from where we first entered. The waterfall I saw was behind us and the gorge was in front of us. That being said, there was still no way across the gorge. The only thing around was a dead tree planted near the edge.
"Hmm…maybe we can use this tree as a makeshift bridge?" Snivy inquired.
"I don't know. Is it even loose enough for us to push? Also, is it long enough to reach the edge…?" I said with doubt.
I examined the tree in order to see what I could do. It looked to be an old and withered oak. There were some cracks near the base of the tree telling that it was structurally weak. If enough force was applied, then it could fall over towards the gorge and make a bridge. It appeared long enough and it should be able to hold our weight. All that was left was to push it over.
"It seems that we can use it to cross the bridge. I'll try to knock it down."
I cautioned Snivy to step back as I made some distance between myself and the tree. If I was going to knock it down, then I'm going to need all the force and speed to topple it over.
"Alright, here goes. Haaaah…!"
I rushed the tree with all I had and made contact. It began to budge as I pushed more and more until it finally gave in. The tree began to split from where the cracks were and fell towards the other side of the gorge making a bridge for us to cross.
"Great! Way to go, Shin! Let's hurry across."
Man, wherever she has to go, it must pretty important for her to be in this big of a rush. Even I'm starting to feel that we don't have much time to waste for whatever it is she's trying to obtain.
We crossed the bridge and then entered the cave that was on the other side of gorge. If this cave was the same as the one we previously entered, then it should bring us down towards the path.
This cave wasn't any different from the previous one. There were other Pokémon wandering about but we avoided them in order to avoid lengthy battles. On our way towards the exit, I gave the Oran Berry I found to Snivy as I noticed that she was becoming somewhat tired from constantly pushing herself. She graciously took and ate it and immediately her vigor returned. I can understand why she told me to take it with us. Even though I did have a battle, I wasn't as tired as I thought I'd be. When Snivy noticed the exit, we picked up our pace and went through
The light made me shield my eyes for a bit, but it definitely was the other side.
"All right! We finally made it to the other side! We're nearly there, so let's give it our all!" Snivy encouraged.
With that, we made our way towards the east exit and made our way past the ragged mountain. The trail we traversed led us towards a plain that had nothing buy spring grass as far as the eye could see. There were trees laid about, but they seemed lonely as they were so far from the forest. In any case, the trail was clear and it wouldn't be long before we would reach our destination.