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Chapter 4

When she woke up in the morning, Meri was informed by the Nurse Joy that her "friend", Colin, had left, looking upset, which prompted Joy to ask what was wrong with the boy.

While she had spent the night at the Pokémon center, the same as Colin, she never went to the creep's room. Even if she had, it no doubt would have been awful. Not just because the guy was a total jerk, but the rooms were also cramped for single trainers and the beds were more like cots than beds. Apparently the bigger towns had much better rooms that had their own showers in them. The showers here were stalls that you got ten minutes in with mostly cold water. Hopefully it was true and she could take a long, hot shower, where she could really take the time to clean every part of her body.

"I don't know," Meri thought for a second, before laughing. "He gets a little upset when he doesn't get everything he wants. He's fine." I hope he stayed up all night waiting. While still annoyed about his repeated, and failed, advances from yesterday, the ass-kicking she gave him earlier the day before totally made up for it.

Breakfast was provided by the Pokémon center, just as dinner had been last night. None of it was fancy or flavorful, but it was filling. Several trainers of various ages, although most of them close to her age, took advantage of it. Oran juice, a bagel, and some HypnO's cereal with milk were what she had for her morning meal. Some muffins were also stuffed into her backpack for later.

The next stop was the Pokémart, which was next door to the Pokémon center. Meri was the only one in there when she walked in besides the clerk. "Hello, young girl, how may I help you today?" He had an inviting smile. He must have had a good couple of days of business with new trainers coming through.

"No, I'm just looking right now," she said to him, smiling back.

"Alright. I'll be right here if you need anything," he smiled again. The man was in his early 30's. He kept himself tidy: well-combed and thick black hair, great posture, and looked rather fit.

The Pokémart itself was about the same size as a gas station store. Except it had more travel items and items specifically for Pokémon trainers. There was lots of food in bright packaging in brands and names she had never heard of, but not much fresh stuff. Besides, if the Pokémon centers always gave out free food, she wouldn't need to stop here often, unless she was really craving some junk food.

Meri couldn't help a weird feeling she was getting. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until she looked around. Behind her, it looked like the clerk was looking at her. After pretending to look at some Pika Party Zappers! candy, she turned around to look at the only other person in the shop. When her head turned, she could have sworn his turned away from her. Now she went to the back, where there wwas a variety of drinks, desserts, and frozen meals behind glass doors. In the reflection, her fears were confirmed: the owner was staring at her ass, not that it was that big. God, is every guy a pervert here?! Now he was licking his lips. Needless to say, she made her way to the exit.

The creepy shop owner started to look busy behind the counter when she turned around. When he realized his eye candy was about to leave his store, he tried to stall her. "Was there something you were looking for? It might be in the back!" he grinned anxiously.

"No, I suddenly realized I already had everything I needed. I need to get going now," Meri said nervously.

"Is price the problem? I can get you a good deal…or negotiate," He urged his young customer to reconsider.

The look in the man's eye when he said the last part made it disturbingly obvious that he had some sort of dirty fantasy in mind. "Nope, bye!" Meri hurried her way to the door without paying attention to anything else he had to say.

"At least take a free potion…" he trailed off, but was already gone, out the door. Sighing to himself, he spoke aloud, "Oh Jeremy, where did you go wrong this time? Why do they always run?"

Meri spent the rest of her day on Route 103, trying to forget the morning's events. She only got about 10 miles into the route before she had to turn back. There was a large area blocked off for construction of a bridge being built from Route 103 to Route 110. This couldn't be that big of a route. She was almost to the end of it, but still had time to get back to Oldale around sundown according to the Pokédex.

On the way to the construction zone, Meri ran into two trainers. One was an elderly man battling with a recently caught Zigzagoon, and the other was a boy at least five years younger than her who was camping with his parents. He had a Pidgey. Both of them were pretty easy to take on. While the older man didn't seem to care how the battle turned out and was gracious about his defeat, the young boy cried afterwards, accusing her of cheating. There were also plenty of wild Pokémon to fight on this route, but she didn't catch any since they didn't hold any interest for her. The Pokémon from the beginning of the game never did since they were usually pretty weak.

From those battles, Oshawott reached level 8, learning Water Gun along the way. While walking back, the two companions met their second Littleroot native. She had what the Pokédex identified as a Snivy. It looked like a smug little bastard. Kinda cute too, but not as cute as Treecko.

The girl came up behind Meri and tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey Meri, how's it going?" it caused her to jump in surprise, and made the girl behind her giggle. "It's just me, Teresa."

"Oh, uh, hey, Teresa," I have no idea who you are, Meri kept the thought to her head. "I'm not bad. So, what are you doing out here?"

Teresa ha long, bright pink pig-tails that almost went to her waist. Her eyes were almost the same color as her hair for some weird reason. While about the same height as Meri, she was not as thin. She was wearing a thin white blouse that allowed anyone to see her dark blue bra underneath, and tight black short-shorts. "Training, duh, what else? That's the kind of question I'd expect from Serenity," Teresa had a jovial tone, then suddenly got serious. "I'll get straight to the point, you are one of only two people from Littleroot I haven't battled yet. So far I'm undefeated. 10 and O, counting a few other trainers I've met. I'll admit I was surprised when I didn't see you waiting at the lab for the first choice of whatever fire Pokémon you wanted, but you're still my biggest rival, and I expect a good battle. Don't disappoint me!" She smiled before taking a few steps back. "Throw out your partner, whoever your starter may be!"

There was no time for Meri to really say anything to her apparent rival. "Alright, go, Oshawott!" she threw the ball out just a couple feet in front of her, the light materializing into Oshawott just a moment later. "Hey buddy, we've got ourselves a serious match this time." She looked down at him. "You ready to go?"

The little otter had a determined and surprisingly fierce look in its eye when it turned to face her. "Osh," it firmly grunted while nodding to her, before turning its head to its soon-to-be opponent. He would be at a type advantage, but didn't seem to care.

There was a few moments of staring between the two trainers and their two Pokémon, the air thick with tension before the first move was made. "Snivy, use Vine Whip!"

"Dodge it, Oshawott, then spray it with Water gun!" Meri yelled. Her Pokémon just barely dodged in time. While Water Gun wouldn't be very effective, it might be enough of a distraction to get Oshawott in close to use Tackle. That was the hope at least.

"Duck, then Leer, Snivy!" Teresa ordered her Pokémon, who was able to perfectly time it's moves, just barely getting its head under the spray of water, and before another command could be called out for its opponent, it was glaring fiercely. "You've got this won, Snivy! Finish with Vine Whip!"

Oshawott looked almost frozen in place by the Leer. This move was much more impactful here than in the games. "Oshawott, get out of the way!" Meri's Pokémon took a second to snap out of its daze, but it was a second too long, and he ended up on the receiving end of a Vine Whips to the face. He was knocked back and onto the ground. He was out of it and clearly unable to get up. She sighed in disappointment. "You did good, little guy…" she said softly, before returning him to his Pokéball. There was a buzzing and beeping from her pocket. She knew what it would say, so instead she turned her focus to the victor of the battle.

Teresa was grinning. "Not bad. I had the type advantage, so I can't be too disappointed with this," she checked her Pokédex. "Looks like I had a couple levels on you, too. You've got some catching up to do, or else I'll be finding a new rival."

My first loss…damnit. "It was just one battle, so don't get cocky."

"If that's the case, heal your Oshawott, and we can fight again right now," said Teresa, her seriousness was reflected in both her eyes and her voice.

Meri looked down, slightly ashamed. "I don't have any potions."

Then Teresa suddenly looked knowing and empathetic. "Was the guy at the Pokémart—"

"Yep! Eye-groped my ass!" Meri was red in the face. "So, uh who got Treecko?" she asked, trying to change the subject away from her uncomfortable morning experience.

"I figured you would ask about Torchic or another fire-type," the surprise was evident in her voice. "But Treecko ended up with Jackson. He was an easy win. Anyways, what are your plans after today?" Teresa asked.

Meri thought for a moment. "I guess I'll just follow the standard route to get all of the gym badges."

"Great, that means you'll keep getting stronger and might keep up with me. Good luck, Meri," she started walking fast and then turned around and kept walking while waving. "I look forward to the next time we meet in battle, rival!" And then she faced the other way and was soon out of sight.

"She's a strange one… But I guess this wouldn't be Pokémon without a rival." Meri laughed a little, feeling a few twinges of worry about being stuck in this world but pushed them aside so that she could get Oshawott to the Oldale Pokémon center quickly.

There was no trouble on the way back from Route 103. The Nurse Joy was still friendly as ever. Unless it was a different one. It's not like she would be working 24/7, that would be inhuman and creepy. But still not as creepy as the shop owner next door.

When she got back, she was really hungry. A muffin and a power bar wasn't enough for as much walking as she had done. There were a couple soups to choose from, some rolls with butter packs set nearby, milk, and a few other things laid out on the table where breakfast had been served earlier in the day. She decided to go with a thin vegetable soup, milk, and then several rolls, most of which would be saved for later.

There were five other trainers in the lobby eating, since eating in rooms was not allowed. Three were in a group together, and so were the other two. One in the group of three, a boy, asked if she wanted to join them at their already cramped table, but she declined the invitation. She would prefer to be alone, at least until Oshawott was back.

A few of the other trainers had their Pokémon out. Meri recognized three of them: sitting by the group of two were an Oddish and a Ledyba that seemed to be having their own enthusiastic conversation apart from their trainers. In the group of five there were two Pokémon out, but it looked like each had at least two or three more, and had been travelling for some time. One was a Nidoqueen, which surprised her with short it was. They looked liked they would be really big, but It had to be close to a foot shorter than her. The other Pokémon by the larger group was unfamiliar to her. It looked like a cross between a shark and a dragon that stood on two legs; a tail with a fin, arms that had fins, and spikes on its arms and legs. While mostly blue, it had some red on its front torso and a golden cross folded onto the front of its head, which had to cylinder protrusions coming out the sides. It was a terrifying sight, as it was at least a foot taller than her, especially when its blood red eyes looked at her.

This would be a good time to check her Pokédex to see what it was instead of burning in its malicious gaze. Pressing the scan button on the side, it beeped, then went to the Pokémon's dedicated page and speaking. "Garchomp: The Mach Pokémon. It is said that when one runs at high speed, its wings create blades of wind that can fell nearby trees." It was ground and dragon types. Going through the moves it learned and more into its information only made seem like more of a horrifying force.

"Excuse me, miss, I have your treated Pokémon for you," came a cheery voice to the right of Meri. It was the Nurse Joy, naturally.

Meri turned her head to see the indented tray with just a single Pokéball on it. "Thank you," she said as she grabbed the ball and the nurse pleasantly smiled at her before walking away. She finished her dinner and then headed to her tiny room to retire for the night. Her dreams were full of strange things and nightmares that awoke her a few times, covered in sweat. She had to sleep in just her underwear so that she could get cool and comfortable enough to get back to sleep. Yet when she woke up for the fourth time at 4 and couldn't get back to sleep by 5, she decided she might as well get up.

At least there probably wouldn't be too many people that wanted to take a shower this early, so she could wash all the gross off of her. The warm water, while short-lived, relieved some of the stress of her dreams before it turned to cold water and flushed away any sort of remaining drowsiness. A quick breakfast that included grabbing a few more muffins and she was off to Route 102.

The first few hours were largely uneventful. She ran into the occasional Pokémon she didn't recognize, or wasn't in this region or on this route in Sapphire, but none of them were worth catching except the single Ralts she had seen, but it Teleported away practically before she had been able to launch an attack on it. If she wanted one, she'd have to just throw the Pokéball right away, if she ever saw a wild one again.

There weren't any trainers around so far, much to Meri's disappointment. After losing yesterday, she needed a confidence booster. Her legs were starting to get sort of tired, so she decided to take a little break by a large pond. She had a few snacks and drank some water while she sat, trying not to think about the thoughts that had been trying to weigh her down since she got to Hoenn.

According to the Pokédex, it was still only 8:49 in the morning, so she was probably pretty far ahead of most of the trainers that had stayed the night in Oldale.

This route had been far more open than Route 101. There were large fields and clearings here, some with short grass, and others with the tall grass she'd first encountered only in the forests of Route 101. Off in the distance were large trees that seemed to go on for many miles. There might be more Pokémon in there than out here, she took a mental note to go there later.

There were berry bushes on the other side of the pond. Berries could be really helpful for her Pokémon in battle or could be good, so she decided to go check them out. It was a quick walk around the edge of the water to get there. These berries were more like full-on fruits than what they were called here. It was around twice the length from the bottom of her palm to the tips of her fingers.

The berry was mostly pink, but had some light green zig-zags going all the way around its spherical shape. Its texture was somewhere between firm and squishy. Is it safe though? She couldn't just sit down and start eating it where she was sitting. Then Meri remembered there was a book in her backpack about this sort of thing, so she pulled it out and onto her lap. After a couple minutes of checking and then double-checking in the Poisonous section, it was a pretty sure thing that it was safe, but it was still worth checking the Safe section. It was all the way in the back.

The Watmel Berry, a very juicy and very sweet fruit, was pretty common in Hoenn, except in the Northwestern part. It seemed like it would be delicious so she went ahead and took a bite into it after setting her book to the side. It was a little different than she expected, but still as advertised, and somehow familiar. Then it hit her. It's a watermelon! Well, that should have beem obvious; watermelon, watmel, same thing… This was a lot better than most of the watermelon she had ever had, partly because it didn't have a hard exterior she needed to get the fruit out of, partly because there weren't any seeds so far, and it was just so incredibly flavorful. Its cool juices ran down her chin, then into her lap and on the ground.

And then her stomach was in pain. Horrible pain, worse than any cramps she'd ever experienced, it was like a sledgehammer had been swung full-force into her midsection. Meri keeled over, closing her eyes and covering her stomach with both arms. Barely a moment later, her hands and feet began to feel searing pain that slowly moved up her limbs. "Oh God, what's happening?" she moaned in her pain.

The pain just kept coming as it engulfed her whole body in its flames. She tried opening her eyes through the pain to see if she was being attacked or something. To her absolute terror, what looked like red and grey fur was growing out of her skin, and she found that trying to brush it off only made the pain stronger. Soon her bones, muscles, and every single part of her body were in horrific pain and she was getting closer to the ground, she couldn't even keep her eyes open any longer.

Meri was screaming now, louder than she had in her whole life. "Someone help me! Someone, please!" Her body was changing shape: it was getting much smaller, except for her ears, nails, and teeth, which she could feel stretching longer. There was also a pain like a knife trying to escape her body from just above her ass. Meri felt to feel something growing back there. There was nothing she could do but pass out from the agony.

Everything was so weird when she woke up. It took a moment to gather herself after Meri remembered what had happened. It was terrifying and hurt so much, but it was gone now, it seemed. She wasn't in any pain, but everything felt unfamiliar for some reason. Wobbling, she picked herself up off of the ground to find that she was standing on four legs instead of two, and was very close to the ground. Why am I standing like this?

Looking down, there were red paws just in front of her. Paws? That can't be right… She groggily stumbled over to the pond just a few feet away. She looked down into the water to see a little dark grey and red fox-like creature staring back at her. This couldn't be right, but she knew; it was obvious: she was staring back at herself.