Hi! It has been years since I have last written a fanfiction, so I decided why not do something with my summer break.
Rated K+ for very minor swearing, and no adult themes.
I do not own anything in the Pokémon franchise.
Enjoy!
"Damnit Ash, everyone knows that electric attacks don't do anything against ground types," I groaned at the dimly glowing TV in front of me. I leaned back into the firm throw pillows lining the leather couch, as I returned focus to the show. Glancing towards the corner of the room at the clock, I noted it was already almost 3 A.M., just seven hours before I had to be at work that same day. "Fine… I'll stop after this episode," I yawned, talking to myself.
While I had been playing the Pokémon games for over half of my life ever since one of my friends showed me a cool new game called Pokémon Diamond, I was never really interested in the show. I had watched a few episodes here and there, but it really didn't click like the games did. However, whether it was nostalgia or just an insatiable hunger for more Pokémon content in my life, I made the spontaneous decision to watch the show from the beginning.
Finally finishing the episode and smiling tiredly as Ash received his first gym badge from Brock on the trail, only to decide to join him on his adventures, I lazily rolled towards the front of the couch and reached for the table in front of me, grabbing the remote. As I pressed the button, the faint glow of the TV abruptly stopped, leaving just the moonlight streaming through the window behind me as my only source of light.
"Alright we're leaving, see you all tomorrow," I announced, waving in the direction of the filled cubicles. A few mumbled byes could be heard over the loud white noise of the fans and clicking mechanical keyboards. I turned toward my friend and coworker Ed, giving him a small smile. "Last night I started binging the Pokémon show and I have to say, it's not really what I expected, and I mean that in a good way." He raises an eyebrow as we push through the exit door into the evening glow.
"What do you mean by that? I know you've been a fan of the franchise for a long time-"
"Actually, I've really only played the games. The show has always kind of just slipped through the cracks," I interrupted, understanding his confusion and he nods, confirming my assumption.
"Well," he paused as he opens his car door, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, bye Drake." I gave him a simple wave, and parted ways, travelling a few spots down until I spotted my car, a navy-blue Mazda 6.
The still-fresh bowl of popcorn warmed up my lap, as Ash and his friends made their way through the forests of the Kanto region. "Yo- is that a Charmander?" I half-choked as I struggled to chew through my full mouth of popcorn. Sure enough, the show's tell-tale flame and orange base was revealed to be a small Charmander on a rock. "Well, if I've learned anything from watching this show so far, he's going to get that Charmander at the end of the episode," I jokingly said, poking fun at the show's inherent predictability.
I felt a small, cool breeze run down my neck, as the Charmander looked up towards the group. Shivering from the sudden chill, I reach behind me to close the window behind the couch to block off the wind, only to find the window already closed. That's weird, I thought to myself, as I reach for the remote to press play on the now paused show. Strangely, this didn't seem to resume the show. "Are you serious," I deadpan, as I pull off the back plastic cover of the remote to check the batteries. I removed and replaced each battery, pushing the volume button and sure enough, the volume changed. "Oh well, the TV's probably just being slow," I sigh, leaning back onto the leather couch, shoveling my hand through the now half-full popcorn bucket for another handful.
Looking up towards the TV, I recoiled a bit, only to giggle at the image displayed. I had somehow paused the show perfectly where the Charmander is being shown dead center, his large eyes seemingly staring straight out of the TV onto my slumped body. Suddenly, a wave of light-headedness washed over me, my sensory awareness worsening. I reached a shaky hand towards the water bottle on the ground next to the couch but found myself too weak to lift it. Soon after, my vision narrowed, and everything went black.
The soft breeze chilled my body as I slowly regained my senses. The sounds of leaves rustling, branches breaking, and water flowing filled my hearing, as my eyes slowly focused on the lush branches above me. I tried to lift my head and arms, only to give up, due to barely having the strength to blink. Suddenly, the sound of breaking branches filled my left ear. I tried to let out any sort of noise, but all I could manage was a simple breath.
"No way! I can't believe my luck," a baritone voice called out on my left. The footsteps stopped, and an old face stuck out in front of my vision. The man, likely in his 60s, gave me a wry smile as his white coat trailed in the wind. "Don't worry little buddy, everything will be okay…" he trailed, as I could feel my body shifting as a small object whacked my shoulder, until everything went black once again.
When I came to, I seemed to be suspended in some sort of unknown substance, with no control over my body or environment around me, yet still fully lucid. Panicking, I struggled to find some sort of way out of this prison, to no avail. Suddenly, a warm feeling drifted up my system, instantly filling me with a rush of euphoria, with all previous pain in my shoulder and throat disappearing instantly. A soft voice trailed through my ears, as if the source were whispering right next to me. "The new trainers will love you."
I had no idea how much time had passed- hours, days, perhaps even weeks. The blur of noise seemed to blend into a jumbled soup, unable to make out any single noise, yet still feeling fully immersed in the pitch-black environment surrounding me. Until one day, it ended.
"Pokéball, go!" the loud, childish voice shook me to my core. A forceful, yet not painful force yanked at my form, as the pitch blackness suddenly turned into blinding light. The first thing I noticed is the heat, a hotness pulsating throughout my body as if I had a very high fever, yet my physical condition seemed perfectly fine. Then, I opened my eyes.
"Ah! Who are you? Why are you so big?" I stammered as I saw a huge man, the one from the forest, standing next to another almost as large boy, the latter covered by a piercing grin. As the two people seemed to process my words, the older man's calm demeanor dropped as his jaw dropped, his mouth agape yet still staring at me.
"Ah! A talking Charmander!" the boy yelled, jumping a few feet back. A what now? That's when I caught a glimpse of my reflection from a powered off screen.
"What the hell?" I looked down, eyes widening and breath quickening as where my arms were supposed to be, instead were two stubby, bright orange arms, with short claws at each fingertip. I looked up in alarm at the two now standing over me. "What happened to me! I'm dreaming! This isn't real!" My vision narrowed as I hyperventilated, until I passed out.
"…take this soothe bell, it will he- oh, he's awake!" Groaning, I opened my eyes, finding to my dismay that I was still in the lab, and I was still a Charmander. "Ash!" the older man commands, and the boy nods, taking out a small silver bell, hanging by a red ribbon. Panic started to build up again, but soon stopped as the soft ringing of the bell filled the room. Suddenly, I felt much more at peace with my strange situation, as my expression slowly relaxed. The boy smiled once he noticed I had calmed down enough to where I wasn't at risk of another panic attack.
"Welcome back Charmander, it seems you have quite the story to tell," the old man chuckled, as the boy nodded in agreement. I rolled my eyes.
"Well first, who are you? Where am I?" I questioned.
"I'm Professor Oak, and this is Ash, your new trainer. This is Pallet Town, the town right next to the forest we found you injured," he explained. Wait a second. I knew that hairstyle looked familiar, I just couldn't put my finger on it, since I was too busy panicking. No way was this happening. This was too good to be true.
"Well, tell us more about you," the professor interrupted my thoughts. Shoot. I could have told the truth and risked some major confusion or tell a white lie and make the situation much easier. I decided to opt for the lie, since I had been playing Pokémon games for a good majority of my life.
"I was a human from the… uh – Unova region but woke up one day in that forest as a Charmander. The rest is history, simple as that," I explained, stuttering a bit as I struggled to come up with a suitable lie.
"That's quite the story," Oak exclaimed, clearly interested. I nodded uncomfortably, no one sure what to say next. I took the time to examine my new form. My eyesight had noticeably improved, as if I were wearing my contacts which were obviously not in. Curious, I turned around and gazed at my new flaming tail. It was hot to the touch, yet I did not reflexively recoil, nor was it uncomfortable. My feet and hands each lost a finger, but luckily, I still had opposable thumbs. Had I been turned into a quadruped, it would have taken much longer to get used to my new form.
"So Charmander, do you want to journey around the region so we can become the next Pokémon masters?" Ash grinned, as I relaxed internally, mostly because Professor Oak didn't press any questions about my previous life, and the silence was broken. I nod, meeting Ash's outstretched hand with my own.
"As excited as I am to travel the region with you Ash, there's only one problem. I've been a Pokémon for… however long ago you found me in that forest, so I don't exactly know any moves…" I trail off, looking down at my claws. "Actually, on second thought, these things look like that can do some serious damage," I joke, earning a small chuckle from the duo.
"Great! I can't wait to show you to mom!" Ash exclaimed, as the professor handed him my Pokéball. "Come on Charmander!" I smiled; his enthusiasm was contagious. As we ran towards the exit, the professor's voice echoed through the room.
"Hold on a minute! You forgot your Pokédex!" Ash turned around, giving a sheepish grin.
"Hehe, sorry professor. We were just too excited," he explained while giggling.
"Well, I understand you're excited, but this is important too," he affirmed, as he handed Ash the bright red Pokédex.
Hello, I am Dexter, a Pokédex assigned to trainer Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. I jumped back in surprise when the device spoke, while Ash looked down in awe.
"Now try scanning Charmander," he instructed, as Ash pointed the scanner toward me. The machine made a few beeping sounds before speaking.
Charmander, the lizard Pokémon. Obviously prefers hot places. When it rains, steam is said to spout from the tip of its tail. This Charmander knows the moves scratch and growl. Wait, growl? How would I… oh. I guess that makes sense.
"Remember, if you ever see a Pokémon you have never seen before, scan it with the Pokédex to get more information like that. It not only helps you in your travels but will help me in my research." Ash is practically bouncing at this point, not unnoticed by the professor. "Well Ash, you both seem very antsy so I'll let you go, good luck out there! Make sure to tell Delia I say hi-" his voice trailed off as we run out the door and down the path.
"Aww, he's adorable!" Delia cooed as she pats my head. The feeling was weird, almost foreign, but not unpleasant. "Did you name him?" Ash looked at me, his cheeks blushing in embarrassment.
"Actually, I wasn't planning on it but now that I think about it, it would be weird to call you Charmander since you had a name before, well, you know," he said. Taking the que, I responded.
"My name is Drake," I responded, as Delia's eyes widened.
"Wow, you can speak human? Ashy, I can already tell your journey will be special." Ash nodded, a grin forming.
"That name suits you well!" Now it was my turn to blush.
With that, as well as a series of hugs and Delia making sure Ash changed his underwear, we started down the path towards Viridian City.
As Ash and I walked up to the border marking the entrance to Route 1, he stopped a few feet before the sign. Noticing the sudden pause, I stopped, looking up at him.
"Alright Cha- Drake, this is our big moment. Once we cross this line, there is no going back. Are you ready?" I stared at him, and then looked onto the road ahead. I used this moment of clarity to really think about this interesting situation I was getting myself into. Just a few days ago, I was a very average guy, with really nothing special about me except maybe my love of the Pokémon franchise. Now I was standing outside a large pathway full of who knows what, being led by a boy just over a third of my age. I thought about the show I had started watching before the transformation. Maybe I was in the show's timeline, and I was going to follow those events? But if that were the case, I would have likely been either a Pikachu, or the Charmander left on the rock during the episode that seemingly sent me into this mess. Well, I guess if we got attacked by a flock of Spearow, we would at least be following an alternate version of that timeline.
"Drake?" Ash looked down at me, worried. I gave him a curt smile in exchange.
"Sorry, I was just thinking. I'm ready," I affirmed. I heard Ash give a deep breath, as he willed his shaky legs to move. I nodded to him reassuringly, just one step at a time. Finally, we crossed the line, as a huge smile covered his face.
"Look out world! I, Ash Ketchum, will be the next Pokémon master!"