Bright afternoon sunlight pounded down onto the beach as waves washed up, gently lapping at the black fur of an unconscious Pokémon. "Wha…" The little Zorua stirred, blinking open her eyes into the intense sunlight. She sat back and lifted her paws to her drowsy eyes, rubbing the sleep from them as if she would wipe away all of her fatigue. The tactic worked in its own way. She may not have succeeded in whipping away her exhaustion, but as she opened her eyes and looked at the paws in front of her she scared herself right out of her lazy state.
"eeeeeek!" Heart pounding, mind racing, the Zorua flew backwards and let out another startled squeal as she landed into the cold salt water. She raced back onto the beach and stood there, closing her eyes tight, and panting. Where am I? What am I? Is this a dream? She wondered. Minutes ticked by and finally, she had calmed herself down enough to open her eyes again. She looked down at her paws, which had been hands only moments before. Or was it more then mere moments? Her paws were red, and her legs were a smoky grey color like any usual Zorua. Of course, she didn't know that. Pokémon, where she came from, were mere legends. Rumors if you may, of creatures of another world that once lived in harmony with humans. Rumors were rumors though, and she had long ago given them up as only that.
"Get a hold of yourself, Natasha, all you have to do is pinch yourself and you'll wake up." The little Pokémon tried to calm herself down again and lifted a paw to pinch herself. Instead she just stared at it in dismay. Finally she screamed out. "How the heck am I supposed to pinch myself when I have no freaking fingers? Didn't scientists think this one through when they declared pinching will bring all dreamers back to reality?"
Natasha collapsed onto the sand feeling hopelessly lost and confused. This felt so real! Only moments ago she was out with her friends at the movie theater getting tokens for a game at the arcade. One of the tokens that came out of the machine was a wired coin with a figure on it, a figure that resembled the outline of a Zorua. Did the coin do this to her? Natasha shook her head rapidly, trying to get rid of the ideas as if they were gnats buzzing fairy tales into her big furry ears.
"Alright, wake up time!" Natasha scanned her surroundings. A palm tree seemed like a promising way to force herself out of dreamland. She kicked back some sand and crouched lower to the ground, which was hard to do considering she was only about two feet tall. Her muscles tensed and her eyes narrowed onto her target, the trunk of the tree. "One, two, three!" She took of running, kicking up sand behind her. Each step brought her closer to the collision with the tree. Closer to pulling herself out of this strange dream. Closer to- "Pichuuuuu!" A strange creature suddenly fell out of the tree right into Natasha's path. She tried to put on the breaks, but ended up spraying beach sand into every direction. With one more scream and a last minute dive, Natasha found herself crashing into a tangle of branches of a bush at the edge of the beach.
Natasha stumbled out of the bushes, sticks were sticking up out of her fur and she was covered in dirt. A crash like that would have put anyone to shame, but she was absolutely beaming in joy. "That was great!" She chuckled, shaking her fur of as a dog in her world might. The shake seemed to bring her even more joy, and she did it again even though it wasn't at all necessary. The other Pokémon, a baby Pichu, shielded its eyes from the dirt that was flung of the Zorua's fur. "I can't believe it! I'm really really real! I'm not dreaming! I'm an extraordinary creature in a different place. Did I die?" She whirled around to the Pichu, waiting for an answer to the question. The baby Pokémon stuck shrugged and sucked on her tiny yellow paw.
Forcing herself to calm down was impossible. Natasha began rapidly wagging her tail. It was only when the violent started a mini sandstorm did she realize that she actually had a tail. Then she was even more thrilled. "Do you know what this means?" Again the baby Pokémon shrugged and continued sucking. "It means that I don't have to take any more orders from my annoying parents! No more being miss perfect. No more manners no more dresses no more fancy hairstyles boring gatherings or raising my pinky when drinking tea out of porcelain cups!"
The baby finally took her paw out of her mouth and stared at the crazy Pokémon in front of her. "You talk a lot" she said, then stuck her slobbery paw in her mouth again. Natasha laughed gently. "Sorry, just hyper. What's your name?" "Pichu!" The reply was muffled, as Pichu still had her paw in her mouth. "Alright Pichu, what do I look like?" Pichu was entirely shocked by her new friends question, but replied anyways. "Grey, black neck fur, red dos on your head, red paws, and a fluffy spot on your head with a red top. Your neck is spiky and you have a blue thing on your tail."
Natasha reached up a red paw and touched the spikes around her neck "Its my necklace!" she realized. With a turn of her head, so glanced at her tail. "My other necklace? That was on my neck before! How did it get on my tail?" Pichu just shrugged. "Where are your parents?" Natasha asked. There was no reply. Pichu seemed to have zoned out, deep into thought.
Natasha sat down, wincing immediately. She had sat right on top of her own tail! That thing would take some time to get used to. After standing and repositioning herself, Natasha sat down again, her tail safely behind her. "At times I wished I didn't have any parents. Mine were always getting on my case about every little thing! Natasha do this or Natasha do that, it was so aggravating!" Pichu just shrugged, and continued to gaze wistfully into the clouds. Natasha stretched onto her back and looked at them too. "
I like finding shapes in the clouds, do you do that too?" Pichu shook her head. "Then try it now!" A red paw pointed up to a big fluffy cumulous cloud stretched out horizontally and a triangle-shaped cloud above it. "See that looks like a sailboat!" Natasha announced merrily. Pichu looked and looked, straining her eyes to see what her strange new friend saw so easily.
When at last the sight of the sailboat in the clouds appeared to Pichu, the little yellow Pokémon was overjoyed. She leapt up onto her feet pointing as if her life depended on it. "I see it I see it!" she sang as she spun around and did a little dance. Natasha laughed. Whatever saddening thought Pichu had about her parents were gone with the wind. Now, her whole world revolved around the sailboat in the sky. That's how little kids are; humans and Pokémon alike.
"Iggilybuff!" Pichu shouted as she bounced from foot to foot. Her little slobbery paw was slicing through the summertime air pointing franticly at another shape in the clouds. To Natasha, it looked like a big circle with tiny arms and legs sticking out. Was that what an Iggilybuff looked like? Was Iggiliybuff a strange creature like she and Pichu were? Natasha thought for a moment, she seemed to remember creatures like this. What were they again? Pokémon? Yes that was it! Pokémon; make believe creatures that existed only in folk stories, and ancient texts, and child's books. How were they suddenly real now? Natasha tried to remember the stories, but it was hard to recall them, especially with all of the excitement of being in a new place.
"Im'a show Buzz!" Pichu declared, then she bolted through the woods, stumbling as she ran. "Wait!" Natasha called for her new friend to stop, but soon realized it was a hopeless cause. Once again, the strange Zorua found herself standing along one the beach of a world that wasn't her own. After a brief moment of staring of into the trees and considering her next move, she took off after the infant. She was a very independent girl, but she knew her limits. There was no way she could make it around an unfamiliar world in a form that wasn't human.
Natasha tried to keep up with the little Pokémon, but for a baby, Pichu was extraordinarily fast. Perhaps it was because Natasha wasn't used to running on all four legs and had tried to run on two at first. That mistake was soon corrected. It would be wiser to learn how to do things in her new form then try and force her new body to do things in the ways that were familiar to her. Occasionally, Natasha would hear a faint sucking noise, mixed with stumbling footsteps and lengthened breaths that told her she was right behind the baby Pokémon, but then, seconds later, she would loose track of the Pichu and find herself in silence again.
The used-to-be-human was about to give up when suddenly she heard a loud, desperate wailing. Was that-yes! It was Pichu's voice! Natasha weaved around the trees with new found zeal. Finally, she charged into the clearing. The scene that meet her made her pull back her lips to reveal shimmering, sharp, white teeth. There were five other Pokémon besides Pichu. One of them was cowering behind Pichu, he was yellow and black too, but didn't look like Pichu. Instead his arms were muscular, and his body was shaped similar to an egg. His 'ears' looked like electrical plugs, and he had a black thunderbolt on his stomach. "Don't hurt Buzz!" Pichu screamed, bubbling over in rage on behalf of her friend. Buzz, the Pokémon cowering behind her, seemed absolutely terrified.
The other four Pokémon were facing Pichu and Buzz. They seemed to be the definition of evil. Their eyes were filled with laughter as they poked fun at the baby Pokémon. "Whatcha ganna do, shock us? Oh I'm sooo scared!" An alligator Pokémon was talking, or at least, he reminded Natasha of an alligator. Her was dark brown and stood on his back too legs. He had a long narrow snout with sharp teeth, which stuck out of his mouth, which meant he would more closely relate to a crocodile in the human world. He had black striped and a pink belly, and his arms were folded across his chest showing of his narcissistic personality. Natasha already hated him with a burning passion.
Besides Crocodile Boy, there was a floating purple ghost with creepy hands that weren't even attached to it's body. It had a wide, gapping mouth that, in truth, took up the majority of its body. The creature had spikes protruding on either side of its head and white eyes that seemed to paralyze all those who gazed into them. "Haunt Haunt Haunt!" He chuckled as he floated closer to the infants in a threatening manner.
There was also a blackbird who looked like a crow wearing a which's hat. Her feathers were black as a raven's and her beak; a yellow sun. The tail of the bird was pulled narrowly at one part, then filled out to be as fluffy as a rabbit's tail. There was a red band around the narrowest part that seemed to Natasha to be like a hair band. Of course, however, it was indeed part of the bird.
Last, was the ringleader of the group. He was a black dog almost the exact same height as Natasha(in her Zorua form). He has pointy ears and silver plat on top of his head. Silver bands encompassed his wrists and two silver strips rested on top of his back. His tail was rather short, but not as short as a boxer's. The color of his belly was the same as his muzzle, a chestnut brown. "You shoulda surrendered this territory in the first place! Then we would have let you live…maybe." The black dog Pokémon smirked, revealing his sharp canine teeth. The muscles in his legs tensed, like a mountain lion about to leap.
"Leave them alone!" Natasha darted forward, standing in front of Pichu and her friend. She bared her own teeth as she glared at the four Pokémon before her. She had no idea how to fight like Pokémon fight. She still had trouble telling her new body what to do. There was no way she could take on the four bullies, but, they didn't know that. Natasha puffed out her chest and arched up her back, as she had often seen cats on animal planet do in order to look bigger. In this scenario, however, it did not have the desired effect of scaring away foes.
"What the heck is she doing?" The black bird asked. "I think she swallowed a balloon and is inflating." The gator boy offered up his best guess and gave a carefree shrug. "Looks like a Quilfish." The ghost added. It was the black dog Pokémon that offered the devilish plot. "If she's a balloon, I say we pop her!" The purple ghost vanished, then appeared right next to Natasha and gave her a sharp jab with his long pointy finger, which for some reason didn't phase through her as a real ghost would.
"Oww!" Natasha exclaimed in shock, then she lunged and snapped her teeth shut, but the ghost was already gone. "Look it worked!" Of course, Natasha had released the breath she held in and thus lost her puffed out chest. All four bad guys laughed menacingly, and Natasha grew even more angry. "You four are big jerks, I'll beat some sense into all of you!" The words were out of her mouth before she even knew what she said.
"Oh the lil munchkins ganna take us on to save the worthless babies!" The black bird cackled and threw her head up into the air. "I bet the little infants could beat her!" She added as she danced around in a flash of feathers. The others joined in on the mocking, and Natasha began to overflow with disgust. Never in all her life had bubbling over in anger like a volcano actually caused an eruption, but this time, it did! A blast of darkness erupted from her body and flooded over her enemies. It was charged with static of some sort and hit them all right on target.
"She can use Night Burst!" The black dog noted after he recovered from the shock. "She's stronger then she looks!" Squawked the blackbird. She seemed to be hurt more then the others, but they all seemed to be struggling, and defiantly surprised. "I'm not what I seem to be!" Natasha called with a smug look. Her eyes were sparkling and her head was held high. She was extremely proud of herself for managing to perform a real Pokémon move on her foes.
"We can do better" The black dog called, he glared at his new enemy with eyes clouded in hatred. "Team up!" He stepped forward and opened his mouth wide. Natasha didn't know what was coming, but she knew it wouldn't be good. A red glow appeared in the back of his mouth and she leapt out of the way. He was expecting that though. His blast of fire turned towards her as he turned his head to face her and she found herself overpowered and buried alive in the flames.
"You aren't what you seem? Ehh?" The black dog stepped closer "I haven't seen you around before, but I was hoping you had some fight in you! Guess not. Oh well." His words flustered Natasha; she wished she could be something bigger so she could smash him easily. She could almost feel herself growing. It was as if her tail really was growing longer, and her body really was changing to be more like a human. She could almost feel her snout grow longer too, and her teeth sharper. Then, as the flames cleared, her imagination painted expressions of total shock and fear on the faces of all four Pokémon as they stared at her giant monster self.
"That vile creature stole my look!" The angry gator charged forward, but Natasha caught him with clawed, webbed hands that matched his perfectly. The two stayed like that in a wrestling match, pushing each other back. They were the same size, and had the same body build. Was this another part of a dream? Was it still possible to be real? Now she was an entirely different Pokémon! She was the Crocodile Pokémon just like her opponent.
The two of them rested for a bit. The crocodile boy had the advantage of being used to his form and having more strength, but Natasha made up for it in adrenaline. She shoved her opponent down to the dirt and turned to his friends. "I'm not what I seem, am I?" she snapped furiously, baring her new crocodile teeth. The black bird, eager to protect her friends, raced towards Natasha, but Pichu was faster. The little electric baby Pokémon darted in front of the charging bird and unleashed a powerful spark attack. It was astonishing for a Pokémon so young to have such a strong move, and it surly helped that it was super effective against the bird. With an outraged chirp, the bird backed up.
"She's weak, just attack the midgets!" The dog Pokémon ordered. With a flash of purple, the ghost appeared right in front of the two electric baby Pokémon. "Boo" he exclaimed as he licked them both with a giant tongue. The two began shaking in pure terror, and they were unable to move. "Run!" Natasha shouted as she dashed over to shield them from the ghost. As she did so, the crocodile boy got up and swung his mighty tail, tripping Natasha and sending her face first to the floor.
"Not so tough now, ehh matey?" He asked as he placed a big reptile foot on her spiky back. "Dirt taste good?" She let out a hiss like noise and wacked him right on the rear with her own tail. When he was down, she rolled over and pinned him, then thrust his own head into the dirt. "You tell me!" she snapped, snapping her huge jaws closed right above his neck.
"Alright, Spooks, give snatch the midgets, come one Billy you can't loose to a girl, its disgraceful!" The black bird shot the dog an annoyed look as he barked out his last comment. "Boys are no better then girls!" She screamed. The dog paid no attention. Instead he sent another flamethrower at Natasha, not caring if it hit his friend, Billy, in the process. Natasha was ready this time, she waited until the flames almost hit her, then she leapt of her victim and tumbled away from the flames. Her sharp eyes turned to the ghost, who had a baby in each hand and was dragging them deeper into the woods. She raced through the woods, but the big gator body was ungraceful and slow. She found herself wishing for her first form and soon she was back to her old Zorua self again, charging around the trees with ease on her four short legs.
She heard footsteps behind her with her oversized ears and somehow knew that it was the dog who was chasing her, and gaining fast. "Leave us alone!" She howled in annoyance as she dodged a blow from behind and continued to chase the ghost who had swept away her friends. This world was much more action-packed then back home!
"If you didn't want trouble you shouldn't have gotten involved!" The dog snapped as he shot another blow towards Natasha. Dodged again. "My words were a warning not a plea! I suggest you back out of the fight before your turned to crow food!" "Mechi aint ganna eat me!" The dog argued, he shot a third attack, and this time chomped down right on Natasha's new tail.
"Owww!" Natasha roared as she tried to yank her tail free and continue running. Maybe having a tail wasn't such a good thing after all. The dog was pulling her back, and they were getting farther and farther away from the two baby Pokémon. The dog sank his teeth deeper with every pull.
Suddenly, Natasha remembered the first odd thing she had done, when she sent a wave of static darkness over her enemies. If she could make herself do it again then her problems would be solved! She focused hard, but concentration was not abundant with the singing pain on her tail. The dog's teeth burned! The snicker of the ghost Pokémon sounded through the trees and cries of terrified Pokémon bounced back with it. Another evil laugh followed the screams, and Natasha felt her teeth clench in anger.
Somehow, Natasha's anger controlled her strange power. As she filled up with anger for the second time, electrical darkness poured out of her. The move forced the black dog to release his grip, and gave Natasha the moment to speed up. The ghost had turned back to glance at the black cloud, and she had practically teleported over and swept the infants away from him. "No leave!" she spat. More darkness poured out of her and the ghost backed away. He wasn't so tough without his buddies around.
"Who knew a ghost could be such a scardy cat?" Natasha chuckled as she took a threatening step towards the purple ghost. "A few more blasts of that dark thunder of mine and you'll be to scared to even go outside!" Spooks barely managed to hold his ground until his friends came, and the moment they arrived he teleported over to them instead of staying in front of Natasha. When all four bullies were together again, they turned to face Natasha again, this time they were outraged, especially the dog and gator.
With blazing eyes and bared teeth, Natasha meant business. She stood in front of the two infants and glared at the vile creatures before her. "You haven't learned you lesson yet?" she spat. Her fur was fluffed up once again, as if someone had rubbed a balloon all over her body and filled her fur with static. "Were not the ones about to be schooled!" The gator snapped, then the four of them stepped forward at once. "Combined attack!" Squawked the blackbird. A beam of blackness, a stream of purple energy, a blur of feathers, and a blast of fire were all propelled towards Natasha at once. There was no avoiding it. All four attacks hit her full on, and she let them. If she dodged, they would hit the young Pokémon, and possibly be fatal.
Just before the moves hit her, Natasha started glowing, and, as the four moves knocked her out in a combined attack, they reflected right back at the users, twice as strong. That's how all five Pokémon fell to the floor at once, unconscious. Natasha, however, wasn't left to lie in the open like the others. Instead, the two grateful young Pokémon she had saved dragged her through the woods to their own secret area of safety.
"Wha?" Natasha blinked her big blue eyes open and scanned her new surroundings. She was in a small space, perhaps a cave of some sort. It was tight, yet cozy. On the other side of the small space were Pichu and her friend, Buzz. Light filtered into the area from an opening in one corner. "What happened? Natasha asked as she rubbed her eyes with her red paws. Her entire body ached. It was as if she had been slammed by a huge truck that was going a hundred miles an hour.
The two young Pokémon turned, then scrambled over to Natasha's side when they realized she was awake. Another Pokémon came over, younger then the other two. The Pokémon had a circular body and tiny nubs for arms and legs. On top of the little pink Pokémon head was a small poof of fur that, to Natasha, seemed like an afro in the making. The shape of the Pokémon seemed somehow a tad familiar, and Natasha realized that this was the Pokémon Pichu had seen in the clouds, Iggilybuff!
"I'm glad your alright!"
"Thanks for saving us!"
"How you become a warubiru?"
"You a good fighter"
Comments flooded out of the three little Pokémon so fast that they blurred together and Natasha had to pause to make sense of it all. "Your names Tasha or something, right?" Pichu asked. Natasha didn't recall telling Pichu her name, but she probably had let it slip during a conversation. "Natasha is my old name" she said after a pause, "but I'm thinking about changing it." Buzz seemed shocked "You can't change your name" he exclaimed with wide eyes "its what you are!" Natasha just shook her head "I'm not the same creature I was back at my home." She said after more hesitation. The little Pokémon all seemed very stumped.
"Do you ever feel like part of you has changed? Like you've grown a little, or perhaps even shrunk? Do you ever find yourself walking differently, perhaps with a prideful stride or a playful bounce in your step? Perhaps your outlook on life has changed, or even your outlook on yourself. What I'm trying to say is, if you go through some sort off drastic change in your life that turns you into someone different, then shouldn't you change your name?"
There was a long pause as the others tried to make sense of Natasha's speech. Once the words sank in, Pichu broke the silence. "What's your name then?" she asked innocently. Natasha knew the question was coming, and she had reflected over it for a while. "Crow" she said. Somehow the name suited her. Dark and mysterious, yet, friendly.
"Crow, can you stay with us? The meanies might come back!" Pichu pleaded, her eyes filled with fear. Natasha, newly named Crow, scanned all of their faces, Desperation and fear was plastered on all of them. They needed her, and quite truthfully, she needed them too. She had managed to beat her opponents this time, but she had no idea how. She didn't know what it meant to be a Pokémon, and these young orphans needed someone to look after them. If she stayed, they could help each other out. "Yes" Crow said, nodding her head firmly. "I will stay here with you, and I will protect you."
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