Ok, yes I know this chapter is a bit tedious, but this just explains a few things and gets some stuff cleared up before the main plot kicks in. So just hang in there!

Also, just to clarify:

-this is telepathy-

this is thought

"This is normal speech"


As soon as the button was pressed, the pain kicked in. I have already covered what it was like, that mind-numbing, excruciating, unholy pain. I have no idea how long it lasted, it could have been mere seconds or thousands of years – time seemed to have no meaning. However, it was still long enough for me to wish that I could just die, right then and there, rather than deal with it any more. When it did stop, I half feared I had gotten my wish. When I opened my eyes, it only seemed to reinforce my belief that I had died. It was only when I realised that I was still holding the ball, and that it seemed to be projecting a force field of some sort, that I understood that I wasn't. As far as I could tell, I was no where, literally. All that greeted me was complete void of nothingness that hurt the eyes to look at. I closed my eyes and somehow drifted off to sleep, probably due to the pain and the sudden drop in adrenaline.

I awoke to a strange red light. It seemed to be emanating from a small orb about the size of my fist. Of course, I quickly realised that it was only small due to it actually being quite far away. My little bubble swiftly moved towards the light, seemingly drawn to it. It seemed like an eternity before I started to get scared, then again, my watch had stopped, so I had absolutely no idea how long it really took; could have been a few seconds, really. Nevertheless, when the red sphere blocked out all sight of anything around it and seemed to dominate the entire forward view, coupled with the fact that I still seemed to be hurtling towards it at a breakneck pace, I was more scared then I had ever been in my life. When actually hit it, I lasted long enough to see an explosion of red before passing out.

I awoke to the feeling of soft, dew laden grass and I managed to convince myself that it was all just some bizarre, alcohol induced dream. You know, it actually worked, right up until the point were I opened my eyes and saw the night sky whizzing by at a billion light years a second. You know what the first logical idea my brain could come up with at that very moment? Scream. Loud. I happily complied.

When my throat began to scream back at me that nothing was going to get me and that I should stop screaming, lest my own vocal cords strangle me to death, I stopped and decided to have a sticky beak. When I had finally stood up, which was a feat unto itself considering the fact that the ground seemed to be constantly moving and that my legs felt like I hadn't used them in weeks, I quickly deduced that the 'ground' was defiantly not a planet. It was at a rough guess, maybe one or two kilometres wide and a good solar system long. Yes, you heard me correctly. It was so long that I could not see the actual end of whatever it was I was standing on. It also seemed to have a decent enough atmosphere and radiation shielding, that much I guessed because I was, frankly, still alive. What I had originally thought of as grass actually turned out to be some sort of moss and it seemed to cover the entire, err… whatever it was.

By this point, I had managed to recover enough for my brain to register something else quite shocking. The hand I was using to feel the 'grass' wasn't mine. That little revelation would have opened another half hour of screaming, if my throat wasn't already about to sign my own death warrant. So instead, I settled for a simple panic attack. After a few minutes, my breathing slowed enough for me to think in a semi-rational way. First, I convinced myself that this was my hand and that it was just furry and shaped differently; very differently, to be exact. I seemed to have lost a finger somewhere, resulting in me only having three somewhat stubby fingers and a thumb, which, thank god, was still opposable. My palm and finger tips were padded, like that of a dog or cat's, and felt like soft leather. Each of my fingers, including my thumb, ended in a short and very sharp, hooked claw. Both my hands were furry, excluding the padded areas, and the fur was a dark grey in colour, which slowly bled into a light yellowy-cream colour along my arms. The pads were the colour of tanned skin. I also noted that I wasn't wearing any clothes, which really didn't surprise me much as it paled in comparison to absolutely everything else. It didn't really matter anyway, since you couldn't see anything under all the fur; which also didn't really matter since there wasn't anyone else around that I could see. My chest had the same dark gray fur as my hands, which, once the rib cage stopped, turned back into the yellow-cream colour until it hit my knees, then it when back to being dark gray. I stood up to get a better look at myself and nearly toppled over, having put my weight on my ankles; which were now half way up my shins. After a few minutes of learning to stand, I figured out that I should just let instinct kick in. Once I did, everything became much easier. Looking at the way my knees bent in an oddly lupine manner, it immediately reminded of how a Lucario stands and I began to wonder if I had become one. Once I looked at my three toed feet, I dismissed that idea pretty quickly. Each of my toes, excluding the inner toe, which was sitting half way between my 'foot' and my ankle, sported the same sort of claws that my hand did. Lucarios don't have claws and, as if to further differentiate myself from them, I didn't have a chest spike and I was pretty sure I didn't have one on my back either. I sat back down and subsequently yelped in pain when I sat on my tail. My mouth finally kicked into gear at that point.

"How the fuck did I get a tail?!" I more-or-less yelled at no-one in particular, "No, scratch that, how the fuck did I get any of this?!" I ranted like this for quite some time, getting slowly more and more explicit in my language until I got tired from yelling and getting no answers. I sat back down again, being careful not to sit on my tail again, sighed and took another look at my tail. It rather reminded me of a cat's; that odd cylinder shape. Like the rest of my body, the fur on my tail was short and coloured a dark gray, right up until the tip which suddenly became much longer, comparatively, and fiery red. The tassel, for want of a better word, was sprayed out and somewhat messy, giving it a wild look. I stretched around to look at my back and discovered two things. One, the dark gray colouration didn't stop at the rib cage, like on my chest, but instead followed my spine; thus the reason why my tail was dark gray, I guessed. Secondly, I discovered that I was much more limber than I was as a human. I reasoned that my spine probably wasn't as rigid as my human spine was, giving rise to a few obvious advantages and disadvantages. The first was that it meant that I was much more flexible than I could have ever hoped to be as a human and that I was probably less likely to beak my spine. The disadvantages being that I could possibly twist my spinal cord, or maybe even pinch it between my vertebrae. Moreover, if my spine was less rigid, maybe my other bones were less well connected too – which could mean I could dislocate an arm or something easier. Of course, I only knew for certain that I was more flexible; I was new to this body and I wasn't exactly a doctor, so my guesses were less than educated. I began to wonder what colour the fur on my face was and, not having a mirror, I opted to try another method. I felt around on top of my head and 'found' my hair. For some bizarre reason, it stood straight up and didn't seem to like being pulled down; every time I tried to yank a cluster down so I could see it, it would only get so far before rocketing straight back to were it was to begin with. Although, as with everything, persistence and boredom have its rewards; after much pulling, it began to loosen up a bit and, with every tug, it came further and further down until I could see it. It was that same yellowy cream as most of my body seemed to be, so I logically assumed that my face was the same colour. I was surprised to find, however, that the tips of my hair slowly bled into the same fiery red as the tip of my tail, only slightly lighter in shade – of course that could have just been the fact that it was much closer to my face than my tail. I released my hair, expecting it to shoot straight back up like before. It didn't, instead it when back up a bit and just hung there, giving me an interesting looking bang. I stopped playing with my hair then, realising that I could probably do that to the rest of my hair and I didn't want to look any weirder. Moving my hands around the rest of my face, I determined that my ears were lupine and furry, with little tufts of hair on the ends. I also seemed to have a slightly snout-like face – my jaw and nose bleeding into each other and jutting out slightly. As a human, my canine teeth were already quite noticeably long and it was no different here. Running my tongue against my teeth, I found that most were quite sharp and pointed, but my back teeth were like my human molars – grinding teeth. I guessed I was mostly a carnivore from the shape of my teeth, which would be very useful information latter on. Thinking about food, I realised I was hungry. But I only ate a little while ago… I thought, but mentally slapped myself with my own reply, That's how it seems to you, but for all you know you could have been out for days. I swore again, this day was just getting worse and worse. Suddenly, with my new-found heightened senses, I smelled something that put me right on edge. Seconds latter, I began to get drowsy. I fought it as hard as I could, but I was soon fast asleep.


-Wake up, we're here.- Said a slightly feminie voice in my head as I slowly came too, slowly drifting from my dreams of pink bunnies and floating ice cream. (I hate those ones, they never have chocolate...) -You know, you have a mouth that could put the entire Navy to shame.-

"And, where is here exactly?" I replied, my sleep addled brain not registering the complete oddness of the situation. Once it had, I shook my head, "Ok, that was just plain odd."

-No, it is called telepathy. Anyway, I have to tell you a few things before you get going.- Replied the voice, completely ignoring the first question. It normally takes me a few minutes to really come to, but the word 'telepathy' made me sit up and take notice. I glanced around and everything came back in one great, big rush of memories; the pain, the glowing red sphere, the waking on something in deep space covered in grassy moss (which I noted I was still on), finding out I wasn't human – everything. Well, almost everything. I had forgotten that I had a rather sore throat from screaming so much and when I was about to yell in fright once more, the scream was immediately put on hold as my throat screamed right back at me. -There is no use in getting all worked up, it won't help and will just mean that we have to wait longer before I can send you on your way. So sit down, shaddup and we will begin.-

"Uh, yes ma'am?" I croaked.

-Good. Now, I have no idea who you are or why you are so important, but my leader told me to help you, so I am, k?- It said, -Now, it seems that you have come from another universe, which I find surprising since I only spend my entire existence keeping the wall of reality stable! Anyway, it has happened and you are now stuck here so, I am your introduction to this universe and the planet you will be assigned. My leader thinks you were once human, is that right?- It was a few seconds before I responded, having taken in a hell of a lot of information just then and finding it hard to swallow, prompting her (I was sure it was a her by this point) to ask again.

"Uh, yeah – yeah I was, err, am. I think…" I managed. Pitiful, I know, but it was the best I could do at the time. Heck, I couldn't even get it together long enough to nod my head.

-Good enough for me.- She said, in a clerical voice, -It seems you are quite powerful, or at least will be once you are settled in, and it is quite hard to hide power when you are so unique, which you are. I have been asked to give you a power to better hide yourself amongst the humans. You will be able to switch between your human self and your pokemon self and even exist as both human and pokemon in separate bodies. Do you understand?- I swallowed.

"Pokemon…?" I asked. I would have said more, but my brain was refusing to work.

-Yes, pokemon.- She said, somehow conveying a sigh through telepathy, -They are the dominant life form in most of this universe, although not on the world you will be going to. There, humans are the dominant being and are unique to that world. Must I explain what a Pokemon is?- I shook my head, -Good, Do you understand the rest?-

"More-or-less, yeah, I think so." I looked around to see if I could pinpoint the speaker, when I remembered I was probably standing on them, "So, Pokemon are real? In my universe they are just a game, a-a story to us."

-That is the way of most universes. They are often created by the combined imagination of another universe. Some, though, are created without that input. It gets complicated.- She paused, possibly realising that she should just get on with it, -Anyway, you now have the power I explained. Well, to tell the truth, I gave it to you while you slept. She laughed at that, Ok, shape shifting requires a lot of concentration, but don't worry, it gets easier the more times you do it and the less complicated the transformation. Becoming human should be very easy, just concentrate on how you looked before you became a Pokemon. It also helps if you make some sort of ritual to help concentrate, something simple, though, so you can do it in a pinch.-

"Ok…" I said slowly. Well, here goes nothing… I put my hands together in a prayer position, just in front of my chest, and concentrated on how I looked as a human. "Well, that sucked," I said as I opened my eyes, "nothing…" I trailed off as I looked at my hands. They were human and I even had my clothes! "SWEET!" I yelled, "That is awesome!" I tried it the other way and it was just as easy.

-Um, ok… I guess you're more powerful than I thought…- Said the voice, sounding slightly apprehensive, -Well, ok then, try splitting yourself. Just focus on both forms at the same time and think of them as becoming separate. Be careful though, as it might be a bit disorientating.- I nodded, then put my hands together again and did as she instructed. It worked, but she had somewhat glazed over just how disorientating it really was. It is hard to explain just how weird it felt, seeing, feeling, smelling - everything was in double. I could even feel two minds and that was the weirdest, having two minds thinking under one control. One mind wasn't controlling the other, mind you, but instead, both minds worked as one. I briefly wonder if this was how it felt to be part of a hive mind. I managed to work out how to filter out the other mind's influence and finally separated. I was now able to get a very good look at my Pokemon form. He stood more-or-less my height, give or take an inch (it is hard to tell with the hair), and, as I had guessed, my face was the yellowy cream colour I had thought it was, however, it was the eyes and ears that had me going. The colouration on the tips of each ear turned into pitch black triangle pattern, completely contrasting to the surrounding fur. My/his eyes were ice blue. My human eyes were blue too, but they were much, much darker than what I/he has. I thought about the problem I was having with describing my two selves, so I figured I ought to give my Poke-self another name.

"I was thinking…" I managed to say when I realised that both of us were saying it at the exact same time. I tried moving an arm, and my other self followed exactly. I thought about that and then came up with, what I thought was, a simple solution. I made my Poke-self move in a different way to how I was moving. It hurt like hell and I nearly gave up until I saw that it was working. I felt something snap in my mind and suddenly I was able to move my two halves independently. I, as my human self, tried speaking again and I was relieved when my poke-self didn't say anything. "I was thinking." I repeated, "I need a way to differentiate my human self from my pokemon self, how do you think I would do that?" The answer was simpler than I thought.

-Give your pokemon self a name that's different to your human self, Dumbass.- I got the mental image of a hand slapping me on the back of my head. Whether my own mind conjured that up, or the creature I was standing on did, I couldn't tell. I ignored the insult and obliged. I thought for a moment, before coming up with something I thought fit.

"I shall name thee, Drake." I said, putting on an English accent and mocking a medieval style of speech.

"Thank you, kind sire." Drake replied with a bow, doing the same medieval English accent I had done. We both laughed at this, although the voice reminded us we were still laughing at our own joke and we quickly stopped.

-That isn't all, though. We have agents on the planet that are registering you as a trainer as we speak. We took the liberty of doing a bit of research and agreed that this is the best course of action for you.- She said, sounding rather smug about it, -We will need a name for your Pokemon self's specie, as it is quite unique.-

"Um… yeah sure." I looked at Drake, what would be a good name for his specie? Well, he kinda looks like a lion, or some sort of big cat. He definably has a feline look to him, that's for sure. Although, I just can't get over that Lucario aspect. Hey, I know, how about a Liger? Hmmm, maybe a slightly different spelling… Wait Syther is derived from sai, with a 'y' instead of 'ai'. I could go Lyger, then. Yeah, that's it. "How about Lyger? L-Y-G-E-R." I said, spelling it out.

-Ok, that shall be your specie's name.- She said, the next bit caught me off guard, though, -What shall you call your evolution?-

"Evolution?!" I exclaimed, that thought hadn't even crossed my mind.

"I can evolve?!" Drake also exclaimed, completely mirroring my own thoughts and feeling. (Although, it is hardly surprising seeing as he is me and I am him only in another body – oh great I've gone cross-eyed.)

-Well, of course.- The voice said, obviously thinking we were idiots for not considering it, -And it will need a name. Look, I need to get this stuff down pat before I send you guys off into the world, otherwise you'll raise suspicion. Although with the way you act, I'd be surprised if you'd last ten minutes down there before someone figures you out. And would you PLEASE fuse back into one being, it is rather odd feeling seeing the same soul in two separate bodies and I'd rather it would stop.-

"Oh, um… ok, I can do that." I concentrated and he disappeared into a red light that flowed into my body. Something in the back of my mind compared it to the flash from a pokeball, but nothing else came of it. "So, a new specie? Can you tell me anything about what he'd look like?"

-No, it is as big a mystery to me as how you got here in the first place.- She sighed, -But, I can tell you that the humans would consider him a Dark/Fire type and that he'd be similar in structure to your current form.-

"Ah, well…" My mind was blank. I seriously couldn't think of anything, nothing at all. I'm usually good at naming things, but now – nothing. It was a few minutes before my train of thought ended up here: Damn it! Just think of something. Wait… Darkness and fire…? What about a demon then? Aha, I know! "Efrit. E-F-R-I-T, at least I think that's how it is spelt. He was a fire demon from Arabic legend in my universe, but I don't know much more than that."

-Very well then.- There was a pause, then, -It was good meeting you, but hopefully I won't have need to see you again. Goodbye.- And that was that. I suddenly found myself within a bubble of sorts and being flung through space. It was a very exhilarating feeling, yet still maintaining a hit of control; it was like the feeling you get when you ride a rollercoaster. I realised that I hadn't even get to say goodbye; I didn't even get the creature's name for crying out loud. But those thoughts were put aside when I saw it: the Earth. I first noticed it as a blue dot, but it rapidly grew bigger as I hurtled towards it. It is a strange, peaceful feeling seeing your Homeworld from the outside. Unfortunately, I didn't get to enjoy it for too long. I soon hit the atmosphere and everything turned bright red. Actually, that's not entirely true; I could have sworn I had seen some blue in there. Anyway, that too quickly left as I began to slow down. Of course, my luck had yet to even kick in, so I definably didn't land softly. In fact, I reckon the bubble sped up at the last second just to make a bigger boom when I hit. Seemingly to just drive the boot in further, the impact knocked me unconscious. And low and behold, I uttered those immortal last words that all who see their imminent doom/failure/general-bad-thing-that-they-cannot-stop minutes before I hit.

"Ah, shit."


Well, technically 'Ah' isn't a word. But, in this particular phrase, it is for some reason. Blame inconsistent language.