Pokémon Fanfiction: Daybreak Dawn
Disclaimer I do not own Pokémon in any way, shape, or form.
Any telepathy from Pokémon will be in all Caps
Announcer for ending & beginning credits will be in this form Hello
Chapter 2: New World New Problems ( Note to write Pichu interactions you forgot)
Last time on Pokémon Daybreak Dawn, our hero narrowly survived the fury of the legendary Pokémon Heatran with the help of Pokémon ranger Ben. Healing from his grievous wounds, he looks in a mirror only to find an unfamiliar face staring back.
After looking at my appearance in the mirror, confusion racks through my psyche. I have vibrant crimson hair that shines with a luminous luster. The hair is of the wavy curly variety and ends with back and side fades. I possess a square facial structure with high pointed cheekbones, a broad forehead, a defined jawline, and a flat chin.
Distraught by my appearance, I look under my hospital gown to examine my physique. It's nothing special. I have a height of 5'6. My body lacks excess fat but also lacks much muscle. What stands out to me is not my physique but rather my skin color. It seems to be a light tannish color reminiscent of Hispanics with lighter skin complexions. "What about my eyes: maybe my eyes are still the same," I say with a small semblance of hope of finding a source of familiarity to latch onto.
Morosely, this wish fails to actualize. The eyes shine a translucent azure blue shimmering like diamonds lulling you into a calm and hypnotic trance that gives way in the middle of the iris to a pleasant light yellow that bewitches you with its warmth. A warmth like a single ray of sunshine shining through the clouds as they part and make their way caressing, you sensually with springs loving embrace.
"No, this isn't me," I say in anguish over this foreign appearance. I know this wasn't my original appearance. I clutch my hands onto my head, desperately trying to remember my former features. No definite images enter my head. My mind tries to remember the hellish void I previously occupied and the memories that resurfaced there. Yet, my memories failed me. What once held my visage was now replaced by a white silhouette of a human body, forever erasing a fundamental aspect of who I once was.
How did I come into this body? "Is it- could it- be?" I stammer in horror, grabbing my hands and placing them onto my mouth. Did I- steal someone's body? Did my second chance come at the expense of someone's future? My breath becomes more rapid, and my sense of control seems lacking. My body feels tingly, especially my arms and legs, which feel like they've become vibrators. A mental haze starts to overcome my mind, and my vision starts to spin while my breathing continues to accelerate.
While this was going on, my heart monitor showed a drastic spike in rhythm and noise, which I overlooked during my crisis. Before I know it, a group of three doctors rushes in, concerned about my health.
"Sir, are you okay respond with a yes if you're fine. Sir, we are here to provide aid should you require it. Gently, breathe in and out. I will go first" a man with a white lab coat, shaggy brown hair, and round glasses says.
He starts breathing in and out at a slow pace to get me comfortable and more inclined to listen to his suggestion, but I remain locked in place. My breaths only increase in speed by the moment as I struggle to breathe. I clutch my chest, hoping to alleviate the tightness, but nothing changes, only enhancing my anxiety. The doctor from before yells something to the rest that I only vaguely hear.
"Tranq him now, we can't afford to wait any longer!"
The first doctor remains in the room and sits on the bed while the others run out to find the needle. They return with a syringe filled with white liquid and hand it to the doctor standing on my bed. He reaches to inject the needle, but I start squirming and kicking, preventing him from administering the shot.
In between breaths, I screech "No" over and over, taken over by some irrational force of anxiety that compels me to fight. The doctor gets off the bed and yells to the others for aid.
"Hold him down while I administer the drug," he says in a grave tone.
The other two doctors pin my legs and arms to make the process easier as I kick and scream in protest.
"No, get off, get away from me," I frantically yell repeatedly in between breaths. I keep kicking and squirming to get away, but I lack the strength to overpower them. The needle pierces my skin, but the doctors refuse to remove their grasp on me. Slowly but surely, my movements become gradually sluggish, and I feel a great heaviness on my eyelids. Then my vision fades to black but not before hearing 'we'll have to run some blood tests.'
"Wake up. Come on you've been sleeping for hours: the tranquilizer should have worn off by now," a familiar and friendly voice exclaims. My eyes begin to stir, white light hits my eyes, and I squint while shielding my eyes because of the sudden change in light. I look in the direction where the voice came from to see Ben in the same attire he wore during our last conversation.
"Good, you're fully awake," Ben says with a smile on his face. "You know I didn't take you for a damsel in distress. Ordinarily, people don't get into trouble directly after escaping a tight jam. Attention seeking much, friend, but don't worry, I unlike, most won't judge," Ben says with a smug smirk on his face.
"Ya because I totally wanted to have an existential crisis fueled panic attack. I just had to cross it off my bucket list, friend", I say with a snappy snark-filled tone.
"Sheesh, I was only trying to lighten the mood before getting down to business. Here I thought we were becoming friends."
"Friends," I blurt out with an awkward and skeptical tone. "You don't know anything about me; we only met yesterday. You might have saved me thanks for that by, the way, but don't you think you're getting a little presumptuous."
Ben stares at me for a couple of seconds with bewilderment until he bursts out laughing. "You're a prickly little guy, aren't you," Ben jokingly responds.
" I AM NOT A LITTLE GUY," I say, trying to come off as menacing. Ben bursts into laughter again, and I pout my lips. "St-st-stop laughing," I stutter in embarrassment.
"Anyway, I completely disagree with what you said after all as my pa would always say," 'strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.'
I try to say something in response, but I can't get it out because his goodwill and thoughts of friendship were the only things that lead to my survival. I grumble under my breath, annoyed that I was forced to concede or seem like an ungrateful ingrate. "Forget it, so are you going to tell me what happened before I blacked out," I say, rapidly trying to change the topic to mask my embarrassment.
"Well, it's not much of a story to tell," Ben says while rubbing his hands on his head with a sheepish smile. "After you passed out, I managed to make a couple of rotations around Heatran with my charged stylist. Heatran tried fighting, but with Staraptor and Pichu, I managed to eventually pacify it long enough to reseal it. It's not anything incredible. After all, it's not like Heatran was at full power.
"Huh, not at full power bullcrap, then how much was it holding back," I state in a challenging manner.
"It wasn't holding back but rather couldn't access its full power," Ben defensively says with his hands up palms facing me. "The seal entirely restricts Heatran's power, so it needs time to build up to its full might. By my calculation Heatran only had access to a maximum of 40% of its power," Ben says inquisitively, shaking his head up and down. "You are really lucky I got stationed there for rounds in that area that day."
Sweat drops collect on my forehead as I imagine how worse the situation could have been had Heatran had access to its full power. "So even with your help, my survival was a fluke," I say, terrified, at the implications behind the statement.
" I wish I could tell you otherwise, but you're kinda spot on," Ben says awkwardly. "The differences between legendary and regular Pokémon are just so radically different power wise so don't beat yourself up over it. If we are all going, to be honest here, even with my skill set, I would struggle to contain a full power Heatran. So can we move on to the prominent issue in the room now?"
"Sure, ask me whatever you want: it's the least I can do after all you've done for me," I say appreciatively. We stare into each other's eyes for a minute under a suddenly tense atmosphere until Ben asks his question.
"Why and how were you deep in the Stark Mountains in the first place; access to the area is limited and only people with level 5 security clearance can get in, "Ben says in a grave and serious tone.
I try to give Ben a response but the brown-haired doctor from before barges in with a stack of papers.
"Sir ranger, I believe we have more pressing matters to attend to concerning this young man," the doctor says in an urgent tone.
"What's wrong," Ben says in confusion.
"Well, after taking blood work from the patient, we discovered that they show no matches genetically with anyone in the region."
"That doesn't mean anything maybe, he's an orphan or a visitor from one of the other regions," Ben states bluntly.
"You see, we also compared his genetics to the deceased and searched for any signs of citizenship among all the regions with Porygons but failed to find a trace of anything," the brown-haired doctor states nervously, pulling his glasses upward. "For all extents and purposes, this young man has no record of even existing in the world; it could be possible that he could be one of them," the doctor says with sadness and pity.
"You can't be insinuating what I think you are," Ben says with disbelief. "That group of people rarely show up, and usually they're the result of a set of certain spatial conditions being present at the right time. For Arceus's sake, those spatial events haven't ever occurred in Sinnoh even after their discovery in Alola," Ben states with irritation in his voice.
"I'm sorry to inconvenience you, Sir ranger, but the signs all point to that outcome as much as I wish otherwise. Although we can't be sure because we lack the equipment to measure the radiation, the hospital suggests you take him to Professor Rowan to make sure. The young man need not worry about payment; the hospital will foot the bill for him this time," the doctor states firmly. Then the doctor slowly leaves the room, leaving me utterly confused.
Who is the group the doctor was talking about, and why are they so rare? What happened in Alola, and what is its relation to spatial conditions? Finally, if no one shares my blood and I lack citizenship in any of the regions, does that mean that mysterious being crafted this body upon my transfer to this world rather than shoving me into another person's body? So, many questions, damn, I should have asked that doctor questions before he left.
"Hey, hey, are you listening to me," Ben says in annoyance.
"Huh, sorry Ben, I was deep in thought; what was it you wanted to talk about," I say with a sheepish smile.
"We need to check out and have Professor Rowan check for ultra-space radiation," Ben states with his arms crossed. "Before we go, I'm going to tell you all I know. To my knowledge, you are someone transported from your world to ours via an ultra-space wormhole. The usual terminology for people like you is Outsider or star children/ star child. The latter is the most common, so I suggest you familiarize yourself with the term. Now that we're done with our daily history lesson, we need to get to Twinleaf Town, but first, we need to remove your bandages, discharge you from the hospital, and get you new clothes because your old ones are unusable."
"How far is that" I said with minor apprehension in my voice. Although it's good to learn more about my situation, I am annoyed that I have to travel a long distance to have my problem sorted out. Won't that mean I have to have a ride on a Pokémon again; at least last time, I was unconscious. What do I do; I'm deathly afraid of heights?
"Hey, you okay: your face is looking a little pale," Ben says with concern in his eyes. "We can stay another day in the hospital if you're feeling under the weather, friend."
Yes, I have the perfect opportunity to explain myself to him now. Okay, deep breathes in and out. I need to tell Ben I'm afraid of heights should be easy. "I am ready to leave any time, and I'm excited to ride Staraptor to Twinleaf Town. Can you have Staraptor go fast: I want to feel the wind in my hair?" I say boastfully. In my mind, a completely different set of thoughts go on.
Why did I say that; I've dug myself into a hole damn my big mouth. I'm doomed; I cry imaginary tears in my head.
"You like moving at high speeds," Ben says with surprise on his face. Ben clasps his hand on my shoulder and states, "I knew we were going to be best buddies."
"Ya, our meeting was destiny," I say with a forced smile on my face knowing I had doomed myself.
"Wait a second," Ben says as if recalling something he had forgotten. "I never got your name; what is it?"
"Oh, that's simple," I say as if that's the easiest thing in the world. "My name is D-." After getting the first letter out, I realized something important. My previous name was synonymous with my former identity, but now I look entirely different. I wish I could use my former name, but things are different now. I can't shield my eyes from the truth any longer; the person I was before is dead.
To use my former name is wallow in a past now far gone. I will never fully move on if I choose to use it. Unknown to the confused young man, a white unseen silhouette tightly gripped his shoulders, weighing him down. I can feel the chains of my past bearing on me, pressuring me back into the poor behaviors of my previous identity. No, I refuse.
This time I will live my life to the fullest and find the happiness I failed to find in my first. I pondered for what felt like an hour to determine what my new name should be until I had a eureka moment. "Sorry for the wait; my name is Orion, Orion Young," I say with enthusiasm as an unseen blank white silhouette fades away slowly into nothing. I don't know what happened, but my very soul feels lighter, as if someone's stopped choking me, and now I can finally breathe.
"I don't know how you started with a D and got Orion, but whatever nice to meet you, Orion," Ben says with a bright and beaming smile.
I got up and had my bandages removed, of course, with the help of the doctors. They forced me to undergo final checkups upon having any last-second healing via a Chansey and a psych checkup with an Alakazam. Then I filed the paperwork for my discharge. The poking and prodding were embarrassing to my pride; why couldn't I be unconscious again. Ben, being Ben, made fun of the situation, but what takes the cake is that I'm currently wearing modified plastic bags as clothes since someone threw my burnt clothes out. Cough, cough Ben.
"Dude, it has been 2 hours: how many times do I have to apologize before you forgive me," Ben pleads with me.
"Well, maybe a certain someone should have thought of that before they threw out my clothes and made me come with plastic bags for clothes to a clothing shop," I say with plenty of resentment and venom in my voice. How am I ever going to live this down so many people saw me while walking here? Whatever pride I had before is 100% dead: at least my dignity has a friend to wallow in depression together with. A dark cloud looms over my head to manifest the depression within.
I'm happy that I least have still had my underwear: if damaged, he probably would have thrown them out too.
"Hey, think about it like this; you'll have a funny story to tell, and we can laugh about it later," Ben says optimistically.
I give him a piercing glare in response.
"Okay, how about I will pay for any two outfits you want, and you forgive me. Do we have a deal," Ben says, reaching out his hand?
"Deal," I say, shaking his hand and solidifying the promise.
When we get inside, we see many shoppers and a multitude of different clothing of different styles. The store seems to have separated more budget clothing and more expensive ones into different sides, and the types of people in those sections reflected that. I noticed that some well-dressed store associates were making rounds throughout the store in case customers needed help.
I tried my best to look as small as possible so that they would completely overlook me, but one made direct eye contact with me and started moving toward me. Upon seeing this, I tried to backpedal and leave, but the associate was right in my face before I knew it.
"Sir, your eyes indicated that you needed help, and looking at your current apparel, you are the most in need of help," the female associate says with an understanding and hopeful undertone.
Welp, I have nothing to lose at this point. Although Ben and I had an agreement, it doesn't mean I can't be petty through the follow-through. I grin maliciously in my head, knowing exactly how to exact vengeance without breaking the terms of the agreement. "You are correct ma'am, could you give me some suggestions; my current cl-cl-clothes are lacking," I say barely, pushing out the word clothes from my mouth. "Maybe you could show me some of your more expensive pieces: after all, money is of no consequence. Isn't that right, Ben," I state with a bright smile that masks ill intent.
Ben spits out "Yes," in a dejected tone. I hear him mumble something under his breath; I think something about it being the last time he tries to be nice. Hah, don't make promises you can't keep; you underestimated the strength of my pettiness. I cackle evilly in my head while maintaining the same facial expression on the outside.
I would love to say that the process was fast, but one outfit turned into two and two into 20 change sessions and with nothing to show for it. In all honesty, I would have regretted my actions, but outfit 21 turned my previous regret to ash.
I was wearing a white shirt with a bright silver outline around the whole shirt. It had a metal tag over the neck area. In the middle of the shirt, there was a gold emblem logo segmented into three parts. The top half had an image of Palkia and Dialga facing each other in their respective pink and blue colors. The bottom of the emblem housed a picture of Giratina in its original form, peering at them with a piercing glare of jealousy. Finally, in the middle of the emblem, there was a square with an S in black.
On top of the shirt, there was a long navy coat going down to my thighs. The coat had a large opening near the shirt area, making the white shirt easily visible. It had a Sakura flower design located slightly above the pectoral muscles on both sides connected by a string and a small tassel covering the bottom petals (the coat kinda looks like counter guardian Shiro Emiya's coat but navy blue). The coat had a wavy bottom portion and had another metal tag combining both sides near my waist. The coat had short sleeves exclusively so that my accessories below could be seen.
I had black fingerless gloves and durable plastic arm guard vambraces with a navy blue and gold color scheme. My pants were grey jeans outfitted with gold leg guards accompanied by black and white shoes. The outfit was completed with a hunter-green headband with a solid gold straight line running through it. In the middle, there was a sun with a hole filled by Acreus's head.
"This is perfect," I said. "I would like you to get another pair so I can have a spare," I said happily to the associate showing pride in my new apparel.
"No problem, I am happy to help paying customers. Do you want me to check you out in the front" the associate asked?
"I would appreciate that," I say with a happy tone, and the three of us make it to the cashier, where Ben proceeds to pay the bill. When Ben saw the Poké dollar amount owed, I could see a strained twitch in his eye, but he paid for it anyway.
"Come again," the associate says, and we leave the store.
After leaving, there were minutes of silence with no talking, which concerned me because usually Ben was bubbly and outgoing. "Ben, are you okay you've been quiet since we left the store," I say with concern in my voice. Maybe I went a little too far. I should have got a cheaper second set of clothes; I feel guilty now.
"Nah, it's okay: I'm slightly annoyed, but it could have been worse. Man, I'm really glad I didn't take you to a more expensive place now cause boy, you know how to spend."
"Hey, I know I spent a little too much; I already feel guilty," I say indignantly.
"If by a little you mean a lot, I would agree, but I digress. Get on, Staraptor. He was waiting outside for us: we have a long journey ahead of us."
"Yay, flying," I say in a forced tone, not excited to go on what I deem a deathtrap. Regardless, sometimes we have to do things we don't necessarily enjoy. Before I could think about the ride further, a beautiful song entered my ears. It was a soft and soothing melody meant to drain the stress from your body.
When I looked forward to determine the melodies' origin, I saw a Pichu playing the ukulele. "So, that's where you've been; I have wandering where Ben left you," I say with awe.
Pichu stops playing upon our arrival. It stares at me in confusion for a brief moment. Then a glint shines in its eyes, and it runs up and glomps me.
"Pichu Pichu," it squeaks out happily when nuzzling my cheeks.
"Sto-stop that tickles," I say, laughing.
Pichu then gets off and starts dancing around me. My face burns up with embarrassment, but it feels good. I smile and let Pichu continue dancing until Ben chimes in again.
"This is touching, but we have a schedule to keep," Ben says tapping, his feet on the ground.
Pichu looks up at Ben, then simultaneously pulls its right eye down and sticks its tongue out at Ben. Pichu restarts its dance with more enthusiasm.
Ben puts his head up in exasperation and mutters, "What am going to do with you." Ben looks up and snaps his fingers.
"How about I reward you with an Oran berry," Ben says pulling, the berry out. Pichu immediately stops dancing and rushes to the berry, but Ben stops Pichu with his hand. "Sorry, but I need a guarantee first that you will behave," Ben says with a devious smile.
Pichu pouts cutely hoping, that Ben will relinquish the Oran berry, but he stands resolute. Pichu puffs his cheeks, then runs and mounts the Staraptor.
"Your Pichu is an airhead," I state to Ben.
"True, but I wouldn't trade him for anything," Ben says fondly. "Now hurry up," Ben says while mounting Staraptor.
My anxiousness returns just thinking about flying. I stew in my thoughts for a while until I take a couple of deep breaths. I decide to get it done like ripping out a band-aid and quickly mount the Staraptor behind Ben. Before we launch, Ben whispers something quietly into my ears.
"I can be petty too; Staraptor max speed onward," Ben yells as the world blurs.
Staraptor's ascent creates a large amount of wind pressure until we stabilize in the air where Staraptor precedes to speed up further, creating a sonic boom. I hold onto Ben's backside as if my life depends on it feeling sick to my stomach. Pichu on, the other hand, has no trouble and seems to be enjoying it. It yips with enthusiasm and sparkles in its eyes. "Slow down," I frantically say to Ben as my cheeks flap due to the speed we were traveling.
"Huh, I can't hear you over all that wind, buddy; you're gonna have to wait till we get to Twinleaf," Ben says loud and unconvincingly, making it obvious he was only choosing to ignore me.
I regret everything: I lament in my head.
Our hero has taken his first steps in this new world. Questions have been answered, with only more being created. What will our hero learn from Professor Rowan? How will he help him? Will our plucky hero puke when he lands? See more next time on Pokémon Daybreak Dawn.
AN: Hi guys, VirtuousContract-King here. So, that was chapter 2. I know it's not the most exciting, but I'm trying to set the stage. I want to pace the story relatively well: so it's not too fast or slow. Don't worry though, the action is going to ramp up in the coming chapters. I dare you guys to try to guess what happens next. I doubt you'll get it right. Hope you enjoyed the chapter :)