Chapter 2 - The World of Pokemon

On any other day, Jay's walk to the town would have been fairly simple. As a lucario, though, staying balanced seemed like a Herculean task; his new digitigrade stance did not agree in the slightest with his previous notion of how to walk on two legs.

"Of course I couldn't have become a pokemon with flat feet," he lamented while picking himself up from the fourth fall of the day. Undeterred, he brushed off some sand that clung to his still-drying fur as he began to press forward once more. He couldn't afford to slow down; he had a lot of ground to cover before he made it to the town.

As he continued, he gradually found the rhythm of moving in his new form. He stopped thinking of himself as walking on his tip-toes and tried to let his legs move in a way that felt more natural. He also found that his tail served as an important counterbalance, though he tried not to think about the implications that having an entirely new limb entailed.

You can take stock of yourself later; for now, just focus on making progress.

Once he began to get the hang of things, his journey became markedly more pleasant. When he wasn't spending all of his time staring at the ground in front of him and concentrating on keeping his balance, he could drink in more of the idyllic scenery.

The sand of the beach gave way to the grass of gently sloping hills dotted with lush trees. The oranges and pinks of the sunrise had faded out of the sky, being replaced by a soothing light blue and a few lazy clouds. Even without the dazzling dawn colors, though, it was still a huge step up from the dreary and light-polluted skies Jay was used to.

Under different circumstances, this would be pretty relaxing, he mused as he trudged forward.

His peaceful view of the clouds was interrupted by a shadow passing through the sky… a bird of some sort. A bird pokemon, to be more precise. Jay squinted against the bright light of the sky to make out its blue and red feathers: a swellow. It flew swiftly overhead; far faster than any bird he had seen back in his world.

Because of how quickly it moved and how long he took to identify it, the potential threat that the creature posed only registered after it had passed over Jay and made it a considerable distance away.

Still, once the thought had developed, it was impossible to ignore: what would he do if another pokemon tried to fight him?

He glanced down at his now pawlike hands as he considered the idea, catching sight of the dried blood still clinging to his fur from when he had punched himself. He was a fighting type pokemon now, and had experienced his newfound strength firsthand. Hopefully that would be enough to scare off any would-be attackers.

Though, perhaps even more noteworthy than his newfound strength were the spikes affixed to the back of his paws. They looked sharp enough to be used as lethal weapons. He shuddered at the thought and resolved to handle them with extreme caution.

Jay pushed the line of thinking away as he realized that he was nearly at his destination. One final hill stood between him and some desperately-needed answers.

His steady ascent provided a dramatic unveiling of the town. Gradually, he saw structures that had no resemblance to the modern houses and storefronts that he had become accustomed to. The wooden buildings of the town looked more like a quaint medieval village from a work of fiction than a real place that he could identify.

Different body, different world, different time period. How the heck does something like this even happen?

Before he could ponder the question further, he noticed something that took precedence. Swathes of different pokemon species dotted the streets below. That wasn't what surprised him, though.

It was the lack of a certain other creature.

There wasn't a single human being to be seen. Pokemon strolled the streets in a casual bustle in the same way that a town full of people would. Those two facts combined implied that Jay was now in a world with no humans in it whatsoever.

Scratch that; different body, different world, different time period, and no humans in sight. That must be a bingo on the cosmic punishment card.

On one hand, getting captured by trainers was no longer a concern. Though, more pressingly, his already astronomically unlikely story just got all the more unbelievable.

Not only that, but he now had to deal with the prospect of fitting into a society composed of an entirely different species. At least with humans, he could have explained his plight and then continued acting normally. With pokemon, it was likely an entirely different story; he could barely walk properly without tripping over himself! That would surely draw unwanted attention.

He stared down at the town for a while, considering his increasingly absurd reality. "Well, it's not like I have anywhere else to go," he mumbled to himself as he surveyed the town, "I just hope someone down there has some answers…"

"Oh, I know lots of answers!"

Jay yelped, swiveling his body around to face the source of the high-pitched voice.

Given that he was still unacclimated to his new legs, the hastily performed motion coupled with his panic led to another fall. He glanced up from the ground, finding himself face to face with a small yellow rodent.

The small yellow rodent, to be more precise.

"Woah! Hey, mister, are you okay?" the pikachu asked, concern evident in his squeaky voice, "I didn't mean to scare ya!"

If he needed anything to drive home his situation, the talking and emoting pokemon in front of him certainly got the point across. The uncanniness of the creature's very human mannerisms sent Jay reeling.

"Hey, can ya hear me?" the pokemon pressed, snapping Jay out of his shocked stupor by waving a paw in front of his face.

"I'm fine." It was all Jay could manage as he picked himself up off the ground, keeping a wary gaze on the pikachu.

"Okay!" The pikachu seemed completely unfazed. "So, what kind of questions didja have?"

"Questions?"

"Y'know, you said something about getting answers, and I know a lot of answers! So, ask me some!" the pokemon demanded, practically jumping with excitement.

Jay took a moment to rein in his thought process and assess the situation. The pokemon looked pretty young, if his hyperactive mannerisms and squeaky voice were anything to go off of. He wasn't hostile, so he didn't seem to pose much of a threat.

This could actually work to his advantage; if he could glean some information before he went into town, it could help him avoid drawing unnecessary attention to himself.

It was worth a shot. It's not like it could make things any worse than they already were, anyway. "Alright, have you–"

"Wait! Before you ask me a question, I get to ask you a question!" the pikachu interrupted in a matter-of-fact tone.

Jay sighed, knowing all too well that he was likely the single worst person to use as a source of information at the moment. "Well, you can ask, but I don't think I–"

"Are you a lucario?"

Jay was dumbfounded by the simple question. Surely it had to be some kind of trick, but he had no idea how. "Uh, yes?"

There was a beat. The pokemon stared at Jay, wide-eyed. Sparks began to fly from the pokemon's fur.

Yep, that was definitely a trick question. Jay braced himself, preparing to be on the receiving end of a pokemon attack for the first time.

But the attack never came.

Instead, the electricity discharged harmlessly in the air around the pikachu as his excitement boiled over. "Yeah, I knew it! This is so awesome, mom will never believe that I met a real lucario!" the pikachu shouted as he jumped up and down, beaming.

Jay's confusion only increased. Why was he so excited?

Remember, focus on answers, not more questions.

First things first, he needed to check if he really was alone. "It's my turn now, right?"

The pokemon simply nodded eagerly, too energetic for words.

"Have you heard of there being any humans around here?"

"A humans? Nope, never heard of that mon before," the pikachu confessed. After a pause, he added, "Why, is he a bad guy you're gonna beat up?"

Jay sighed. Well, that confirms that theory.

"It's nothing like that. I just wanted to know if you had seen one."

The electric mouse almost looked disappointed that there wasn't imminent conflict, but quickly rebounded. "Oh, now it's my turn to ask a question! Are you an explorer?"

"No." The relief Jay felt from receiving another easy question was short-lived, as the pikachu had now adopted an actively glum appearance. "Why, are most lucario?"

"Well duh, everybody knows about the lucario warriors and explorers who saved the world."

Dread coursed through Jay's veins, freezing him in place. Warriors? Saved the world? What was he getting himself into?

Failing to notice the deer-in-headlights expression that Jay had adopted, or simply not caring if he did, the pikachu continued, "I've heard all about 'em! That's why I wanna be a great explorer one day! When I'm old enough to join the guild, I'm gonna go through all sorts of cool dungeons and find tons of treasure!"

Jay barely heard the energetic pokemon. Surely this pikachu just had an overactive imagination. There's no way anyone would expect him to fight, right?

"And then they'll tell stories about me, too!" the pikachu concluded, raising his fist into the air with a flourish.

Jay shook his head as he tried to pull himself back to reality. He had to stop freezing up; he could worry about the ramifications of the pikachu's words after he was done talking to him.

Still, the conversation had taken an odd turn. The young pokemon was ranting about his hopes and dreams, and it would've been rude for Jay to interrupt him with more questions.

Instead, he settled for something in the middle: "So… you want to explore places?"

"Yeah!" the pikachu cheered, "That's one of the reasons I come up here every morning. See that maze of bushes over there?" The pokemon pointed towards a massive clump of foliage to the left of the town.

Jay just nodded, intrigued.

"They call that place... The Maze," the pikachu explained, pausing for dramatic effect, "It's a super dangerous dungeon with a buncha treasure! And I'm gonna explore it one of these days!" He gazed at the so-called dungeon as though the green leaves on every hedge were made of solid gold.

Despite his anxiety, Jay still found a bit of humor in the pokemon's blind optimism. The area he was pointing to looked more like a poorly kept hedge maze than a threatening dungeon.

Weren't all dungeons below ground by definition, anyway? Perhaps this pikachu really did just love to exaggerate. He seemed like the type, anyway: young, naive, fond of telling wild stories with no basis in reality…

Wait a second, Jay thought as the gears continued to turn in his head, This pikachu thinks that lucario are superheroes and hedge mazes contain perils and treasure… and you're still taking the first part seriously?

You know, maybe in hindsight, using a random kid as a source of information was a poor choice…

Jay mentally kicked himself as he considered the notion that the entire conversation, and all the panic that went with it, was a waste of time. After all, it was hard to direct any of his frustration towards the pikachu, who was still beaming with excitement at the prospect of glory and riches.

At this point, all he could do was bow out of the situation and walk into town in the hopes of finding someone who could provide more reliable answers.

"Well, good luck with that. I should probably head into town now…"

The pikachu, who was still staring longingly at the hedge maze, seemed to hardly hear him. "Okay, bye!"

Jay was thankful that the pokemon had become lost in thought and began walking down the hill without another word. It didn't take long before he made it to the town.

He had to admit that the town's architecture was far more impressive than he would have expected from pokemon; although the buildings were archaic by his standards, they seemed sturdy and had a rustic charm about them. Some were even multiple stories tall.

As he slipped into the thoroughfare of the streets, Jay found himself wandering aimlessly. He made it to a bustling intersection before he stopped for a moment, taking it all in.

It was one thing to see a single pikachu, but being surrounded by dozens of real, living pokemon was enough to leave Jay baffled. His eyes shifted from pokemon to pokemon as he stood in the center of the intersection.

An azumarill attempted to beckon passersby into what appeared to be a small storefront. A chesnaught carried a massive crate, struggling to hold it far above the crowd to avoid damage. A wartortle seemed to be powerwashing the cobblestone streets of the town with a stream of water from its mouth.

It really is just a pokemon society. No humans, no pokeballs, just… pokemon.

The longer he took in the sights of the town, the more he realized that some of the townspeople were staring back. In front of one building, a scyther eyed him curiously. A passing quagsire stared at him with an expression of pure shock, focusing on him so intently that it nearly tripped as it walked by.

It was only then that Jay began to consider that he had no actual plan.

He was an outsider in a town full of pokemon, with no idea of how he should act or where he should go. Not only that, but he was also already attracting unnecessary attention. If there was a clear next step, Jay certainly couldn't see it.

His musings were interrupted when a totodile sprinting down the street nearly ran into him. "Outta the way!" the pokemon yelled, charging through the crowds of commuting pokemon.

"Hey, wait up!"

Jay had barely finished reacting to the totodile when a charmander, who must have been chasing the other pokemon, sped past him. Already off-balance and still a bit shaky on his new legs, Jay tumbled onto the cobblestone street.

He felt heat flush his face as pokemon in the crowd turned to face him. He tried to pick himself back up, but stopped when he felt a stinging pain behind him. Too far behind him.

It was that unwieldy new limb that he had been ignoring, but this time he wasn't sitting on it. He twisted himself around in confusion to see what was causing the burning feeling.

It was fire.

His tail was on fire. Whether it had been caused by the charmander's open tail flame spreading when he had passed or if it was due to whatever higher power that had put Jay in this situation arbitrarily deciding to stir the pot even more didn't matter much to Jay at the moment.

All that really mattered was that his tail, a limb he shouldn't even have, was on fire in front of dozens of pokemon, creatures which shouldn't even be real.

Jay sat there, as still as a stone, staring at the fire. In a way, it was perfectly emblematic of his entire morning.

It occurred to him that he should probably be doing something to try to put out the fire. Throwing himself back onto the street, he attempted to roll along the ground to snuff out the flame.

But he only made it halfway through a single roll before getting stuck. Panicked, he attempted to pry himself up from the street, but it was as though his chest had become glued to the cobblestone.

It only took a few more moments of fruitless struggling before he realized what had happened: the metal spike protruding from his chest had become wedged in a crack in the street, keeping him rooted to the spot.

So he was stuck there, laying in the street with his tail on fire. Out of options, he went to his last resort: mentally berating himself.

You just had to go into town without a plan, didn't you? You couldn't have waited for the crowds to die down? In what world was stop, drop, and roll going to work with a massive spike sticking out of your chest? Why would you–

Jay's thoughts were cut short as water splashed across his body and a hissing sound filled his ears. The burning pain of the fire was replaced with the cool relief of water, and Jay realized that he was being doused to put out the flame.

He glanced up as his rescuer to find a vaporeon standing in front of the crowd, amusement glinting in his eyes.

"Well howdy, partner. Looks like you were in quite the bind there."

"I was, thanks," Jay mumbled with a sigh of relief. He tried to stand up to thank the pokemon properly before realizing that only one of his problems had been solved. "Uh… I'm stuck."

"Try pushin' yourself up slowly, that'll do the trick."

Amazingly enough, the advice worked perfectly. Jay's chest spike became dislodged from the ground surprisingly easily when he wasn't flailing around, and he finally managed to climb back to his feet.

"Thanks. Again, I guess."

"Don't mention it. Actually, I should probably be apologizin' to you. I've told those two not to race in the streets a thousand times; somethin' always catches fire." Chuckling, the pokemon added, "Though I never thought I'd see the day where someone catches fire."

Despite his embarrassment, Jay felt obligated to make polite conversation with his rescuer. "Oh, are you their caretaker?"

"Nope, I'm the whole town's caretaker," he said, nodding towards a white band wrapped around one of his front legs with an ivory badge pinned to it.

"The name's Gill, and I'm the leader of this town's justice team. You look a tad out of it, why don't we head out of the street and talk somewhere quieter?"

Justice team? Is that what they call law enforcement around here? Despite Jay's misgivings, the vaporeon seemed kind enough; he had saved him, after all.

It wasn't like he had any other options, anyway.

"Alright." Jay complied, following as the pokemon led him to a lush plot towards the edge of the town. Trees and bushes dotted the area; it was a quiet park, seemingly devoid of anyone else.

Jay breathed a sigh of relief; he was finally away from the prying eyes of the crowd.

After scanning their surroundings, the vaporeon turned back to Jay and spoke. "So, what's a lucario doin' all the way out here in Seabreeze with his tail on fire?"

The question caught Jay off guard. "I thought you knew why my tail was on fire. A charmander ran by, and I tripped."

"Fine," Gill shot back, a sharper edge creeping into his voice, "I shoulda been more specific. What's a lucario doin' way out here in Seabreeze at all? And lookin' like you just went through the wringer, no less."

At that, Jay looked down at himself quizzically. Sand, saltwater, and blood still clung to his fur from earlier in the day, having barely been washed off by the light stream of water the vaporeon had used to douse the fire. He probably looked like a wreck to the average pokemon; no wonder he had received so many sideways glances.

Walking into town covered in dirt and blood, another great decision.

Still, his frustration didn't help him come up with a decent response to the question that had been posed. He had literally no explanation for how he had ended up on the beach, and no time to fabricate a believable excuse.

It appeared as though the only reasonable option would be to tell his completely unreasonable story.

"Well…" he started, trying to avoid making eye contact with the pokemon, "I'm not really sure. I just woke up on the beach, with no idea of where I was. I thought that–"

A torrent of high-pressure water crashed into Jay before he could continue. He was thrown backwards, his back smashing against the trunk of a tree. Even still, the water continued to flow, crushing him against the trunk and stinging his nerves.

After a few moments, the stream relented. Jay was left bewildered and hurt, glaring at the water type who had attacked him. He was surprised his back wasn't broken after a crash like that, but it still ached nonetheless.

Gill, on the other hand, held an expression of surprise and remorse. "Oh, shoot, sorry!" he apologized, taking a step towards Jay, "I honestly had you clocked for a faker."

"W-what?" It was all Jay could choke out between lungfuls of water.

"Y'see, there'd been talk in the guild about zoroarks disguisin' themselves as lucario. You seemed like such an odd case, I thought you were one of 'em."

Jay stayed silent, dumbfounded at how his day managed to get worse and worse as time went on. Although the attack had cleaned his fur, he was soaking wet once again and felt sore all over.

"You mentioned wakin' up on the beach with no memory? Judgin' by the blood and the saltwater, I'd wager you fell into the ocean, hit your head, and contracted a bad case of amnesia," Gill posited helpfully.

Well, that's a lot easier to swallow than the story you were about to tell him. It would be far simpler to stick with that explanation than risk being on the receiving end of a hydro pump again. Though there was an element of dishonesty to it…

He didn't have time to decide if he wanted to commit to the lie before Gill continued.

"What all do you remember? Where you're from? Your name, at least?"

Jay quickly considered the optics of responding with 'from a world where you're a fictional creature' and decided against it. "Jay."

The vaporeon tilted his head. "Huh."

Had he been expecting a full name? "Jay… Mirzam?"

Now Gill seemed even more confused. "Well, which is it?"

"Just Jay, I guess."

Gill looked Jay up and down one more time before sighing. "Well, Jay, I'll be honest; I have no idea where you're from. Lucario are rare enough as-is and your name isn't ringin' a single bell."

Jay hadn't exactly been expecting the pokemon to recognize his name, considering his situation. Though one part of his statement stuck out. "Lucario are rare?"

"Rarer than reviver seeds. The last known one on the continent disappeared about twenty years back."

"Oh." That explained the pikachu's excitement and a lot of the looks he had been getting. Of course he'd become a rare pokemon that would attract a lot of attention.

The vaporeon opened his muzzle to speak again, but he was cut off.

"Gill! There you are!"

The pair turned to see a raichu sprinting towards them. Her voice was laced with worry. "Have you seen Spark anywhere? He's not back from his morning walk yet."

"Ah, howdy Jolt. I haven't seen him around, but I'm sure he'll be back soon enough," the vaporeon said dismissively.

"Are you sure? He's been talking about going to explore The Maze ever since he evolved, I'm worried sick that he might have decided to finally act on it. I would go to check on him myself, but I've got patrons to tend to."

Something clicked in Jay's head. The Maze, a raichu… "Was he the pikachu I talked to on my way into town?"

The raichu snapped to face him. "Yes, he always loves to go up to the hill near the coast! Is he safe?"

"Well," Jay mumbled, sheepishness creeping into his voice, "He mentioned that maze place you were talking about, and wanting to explore it… just before I left. That was the last I saw of him."

In an instant, the raichu's attention was back on the vaporeon. "Gill, you need to go and help him! He could get hurt in there by himself!"

"You're right," Gill said, "Jay, we're gonna to have to put this on hold. Go wait in Jolt's inn; I'll be back in a flash."

Jay nodded, relieved at the idea that he might get to take a break after his crazy morning.

"Keep him safe!" the raichu commanded as Gill began to trot off in the direction of The Maze. Jay moved to follow the concerned parent as she made her way back into town.

But, of course, the day had other plans in mind.

"Help, help, Gill!" a young voice yelled out. The trio turned to see a charmander sprinting towards them. Jay recoiled, ensuring that he kept a wide berth from the pokemon's tail flame.

Gill glared at the fire type. "Son of a salazzle…" he muttered to himself, "What is it this time?"

"Gill! We were racing and we were going through the berry orchard and I did this really cool dive to get ahead but I accidentally hit a tree and now there's a fire! You've gotta help!"

"I thought I told your brother to stick close to you so he could manage your little arson problem," Gill said, glancing at Jay's singed tail.

"He's trying!" the charmander cried, "But it's spreading too fast!"

Gill shook his head. "Fine then, change of plans. Since Jolt has a business to run and I'm on fire duty, Jay, I'm gonna have to ask you to go and look for the kid."

"…What?"

"You'll be fine; The Maze isn't as scary as most folks act. Just head down that path and you can't miss it. There shouldn't be anythin' inside that could give you too much trouble."

Hadn't the pikachu mentioned The Maze being dangerous? Originally Jay had doubted the truthfulness of his statements, but so far everything he said had been correct…

…Which meant that the young pokemon was by himself, in danger.

Still, that didn't make Jay qualified to help; he still had no idea what was going on. "I, uh, don't think I'll be able to do much…"

"Please, lucario, I need to make sure he's safe!" the raichu insisted, tugging on his arm to get his attention, "I've told my son stories about your species' heroism, you need to live up to them!"

Jay's eyes met the raichu's. Her son was in danger, and he was the only one who could help. Plus, apparently his newfound form had a reputation to uphold; he couldn't ruin everything for other lucario by being completely useless.

"…Alright, I can try."

"Thanks, partner. Take this," Gill instructed, holding up his front paw and showing off the badge-clad band wrapped around it.

Jay crouched down and slipped the band off the vaporeon's arm, his shorter fingers making the task somewhat difficult. The ivory badge bore an odd design; it looked like a circle with wings. "What is it?"

"A rescue emblem," Gill explained, "If you find the kid in the dungeon, tap the button in the middle and hold on to him. It'll teleport you out after it charges up."

Teleport? Do these pokemon really have technology that advanced? After all he had seen that day, Jay didn't bother doubting it any further. After a bit more fumbling with his unwieldy paws, he managed to slip the band around his arm.

"Thanks, but what was that about–"

"The fire!" the charmander, who had been nervously pacing around the group, finally cut in.

"Right," Gill said, gesturing towards a path out of town, "The Maze is down the path. Good luck, Jay." Without another word, he bounded off at a breakneck pace in the direction of the fire, the charmander trailing behind him.

Jay and the raichu stared after them for a moment, saying nothing. Eventually, she broke the silence.

"You should probably get going, lucario. Bring him home safely."

"I'll do my best," was all that Jay could promise. He turned away from the raichu and began walking down the path to the dungeon.