~Wake Up and Smell the Sitrus Berries~ Chapter One

A sharp, bittersweet taste invaded my nostrils, and I sat up with a jolt. And then I promptly fell down in a clumsy heap.

Everything felt weird and strangely alien. First off was my sight; colors popped out at me in vibrant colors, and my field vision seemed to stretch sideways to include objects I would not normally see. Second off, instead of two points of contact with the floor, I had four, and as I looked down, I noticed the stark blue fur on my chest. Behind me, a black tail waved, tipped with a yellow star.

Panicked, I scrambled on my four unfamiliar legs and plopped onto a tiled floor. As I had not noticed before, I stood alone in a white room. Computers whizzed around me, hurting my eardrums, and metal tables and desks loomed high above me, bright and scary. Panting with fear I curled in on myself, watching the objects with wide eyes.

My eyes caught something moving, and honed in on it right away. On a shiny surface, a blue-and-black lion cub stared back at me, ears flat, lips curled back in fear.

A memory, hazy, drummed the back of my head.

Waves pounded the sides of the S.S. Gabby, nearly tipping it over. Below deck I curled under a blanket, fighting back the urge to vomit. Above me, I could hear my mother's bubbly screams as she was washed overboard into the foamy, vengent waters. I trembled, wanting to help, but also imprisoned with fear.

I knew this trip was a bad idea! No person could survive a two month sea voyage without something going wrong!

To calm myself down, and push back tears, I imagined a yellow mouse with a lightning bolt tail—Pikachu—the mascot of the Pokémon franchise. Next came fuzzy pictures of other Pokémon, namely a squirtle, a charmander, and a bulbasaur, along with other starters. Following, my favorite Pokémon, a flygon, joined in on the fun. Zipping through the ocean air, the flygon carried the four original 'starters' on his back.

Another scream pierced my ears, another wave crashed against the boat. Vertigo overcame me as the boat completely tipped over and I fell on the ceiling.

A shadow loomed over the Pokémon in the form of a honchkrow, beating its massive black wings.

Water began to fill the small cabin.

Cackling, the dark bird slammed into the five, causing them to fall into the icy waters.

Concentration broken, I struggled through the blankets curled around me and swam as the boat filled itself with salt water at an alarming rate. Tears ran down my face as I bobbed in the water. Tears for my family, no matter how pushy they were, and tears for my own life that was about to be tapped out like a water pipe in the summer.

A faint light appeared in the back of my mind as I finally ceded myself to the water. A majestic Pokémon greeted me, a golden spiked ring clasped around its bulging stomach.

Arceus.

That was all I remembered before darkness enveloped me.

Breathing heavily, fur spiked, I stood on four wobbly legs. Yes, that's it. Arceus must have brought me here and turned me into a shinx, but why was the question. Although I struggled to grasp this reasoning, I couldn't find any other explanation why me, an insignificant boy by the name of Charlie, a normal human, would still be alive—in the world of Pokémon. Unless this was all an afterlife dream. But then why would everything be so lifelike?

Still pondering over my situation, I did not hear the click of a lock, or the swinging of a door for that matter. I hardly noticed when a man sidled up behind me-that was, until he spoke.

"Sphinx! What are ze doing out of ze pokeball?" A foreign accent startled me and my ears out of their stupor after the harsh humming of the computers. Large, bulky hands snatched me up into their embrace, and my entire newfound body tensed.

Seconds passed before I regain my senses. A growl rumbled deep in my throat as a 'let me down or I'll bite your hand off' warning, but no matter how I struggled otherwise, I could not escape from his heavy-handed grasp. With a hiss, I bit down on the rough texture of his skin.

Violently tossing me away from his body, the man cradled his hand, making sure blood had not been drawn. As for me? I was thrown on the lab table, spitting and hissing like a feral cat who had just been violated (where were the amendments of the Pokémon Constitution when you needed them?).

Pokémon instincts may have taken over, but now that the high was over, I curled into as small of a ball as I could, ears flat against my skull.

"Ouch! Zey did not warn me of this! A feral sphinx, in my laboratory! What bad luck!" Mumbling under his breath, the man took wise precaution, keeping at least two feet between us as he skimmed past all the machinery to a couple round balls decorated in red, white, and black with a white button (obviously pokeballs, duh). "What is ze trainers going to think?! I better not have gotten a whole horde of feral Pokémon!"

Snatching the two pokeballs with one hand (the other hidden in his coat pocket), the man watched me with a suspicious eye.

Great... I had already been dubbed the trouble Pokémon on the first day of my supposedly new life.

Now that I got a good look at the man... No offense, but he was not the prettiest tool in the shed. An afro mop of brown hair adorned his muscular face, and although he looked clearly of french (or was it Kalos in this world?) descent, his lips were fat, and his body tan and packed with muscles. If I had seen this guy on the streets in casual wear, I would have assumed that he was a professional boxer, or even wrestler, but not a professional Pokémon professor.

Pressing the small button on each pokeball, the man released two Pokémon with flashes of bright light. Within seconds, a budew and a ponyta stood on the tiled floor. The flaming horse pranced nervously, eyes darting as it looked around the room; opposite of the ponyta, the budew sat poised, as though waiting for paparazzi to pop out and take pictures.

Relaxing into a more open position, I watched the three with a hooded gaze. The budew straight away pissed me off, and the ponyta slightly annoyed me with its nervous jig.

"Hey," I whispered to the fire pony, opting for conversation with the more inviting Pokémon. Out of the corner of my eye, I kept watch on the professor. "My name's Charlie. What's yours?"

"M-me?" the ponyta stuttered, and I nodded my head. "I d-don't have a name—c-can't get one until my t-trainer n-names me."

"Then will you at least cut out the dance?" I watched as the professor nodded his head in approval at the two Pokémon before walking to the other end of the room.

"W-why?" He slowly danced himself to a halt, but his eyes only continued to skitter around the room.

I frowned. "Because it's bugging the hell out of me. I don't need to follow your nervous legs when I already have a headache."

"Then just close your eyes, kitty cat." A new voice joined in the whispering, prissy and rude.

With a death glare that could probably freeze an emboar (in my opinion—I had a pretty good one going on when I was a human), I focused my gaze on the budew, who still sat poised, eyes closed. Well that just ruined the effect. Sure, the ponyta jumped, but I wasn't aiming it at him.

Letting out a warning growl to the grass Pokémon, I turned my head away from both of them, resting it on my newly found paws. While I still felt clumsy in my new body, I was getting better. Sighing, I closed my eyes and perked my ears, which were greeted with silence.

"By the way, I'm not turning away because I'm following your advice," I murmured just loud enough for the both of them to hear. "I'm turning away because I don't want to look at your ugly mug, sorry excuse for a rose bud."

"Oooh, boy, am I scared."

Resisting the urge to jump down and claw the budew, I tried to grasp onto anything else. Memories flooded into my mind, one after the other, taunting and depressing. First came my family, then my friends, then my best friend in the entire world, Halo, my black-and-white labrador mix. Tears beaded in my eyes, and with a supressed sniffle, I wiped them away with one blue paw. A mockingly quiet laugh echoed behind me.

First day, check and listed. Dubbed feral, rude, and a crybaby. What a great way to start this day. More tears flowed down my cheeks, and this time, I didn't try to hide them.

It was time for me to wake up and smell the sitrus berries; this life probably wouldn't be all sunshine and rainbows.

It was then that another set of hands, these soft and child-like, scooped me up. Startled for the second time today I opened my eyes, ready to claw someone's throat out. Only to look into two round orbs of honey brown framed by locks of caramel brown hair, topped by a white and black beanie like a chocolate and licorice sundae. A young boy held me gently in his arms, soft fingers brushing through my new blue-and-black underbelly fur.

A purr rippled out of my throat, and I instinctively cuddled into the person's chest, anger dissipating like a puff of hot wind.

"Hey there, buddy," he cooed in a soothing voice, mopping up my tears with the cuff of his sweater. "It's okay, it's okay. Why don't you come with me and escape these mean Pokémon."

Oh, even the boy though I was weak. Heaving a sigh, I didn't even try to grow angry. I felt washed out and left to dry. Closing my eyes, I fell asleep in the boy's arms.

A/N:

I am aware I have fallen short on many of my other stories, but those only fell through because of one thing: lack of planning. This time, I am taking a buttload of extra time to plot as thoroughly as I am capable of so that that doesn't happen.

For a while this idea has stewed in my mind, first bubbling up as a PMD story, and then simmering down and morphing into this. I am actually very proud of the setting I have come up with (which will soon be revealed), and I hope anyone who is reading this will like it, too.

I hope you buckle yourselves up and stick with me through the rollercoaster of a story this will develop into, my dear readers.

Reviews and constructive criticism are very appreciated!

Happy Writing!~

_-*Doodling Shadows