WHAT? I'm an Azumarill that Turned Into a Human!

1st Edition

Chapter 1: Azumarill Gets Lost, Eats Something She Found on the Ground, and Becomes a Human

The glittering, clear blue waves lapped up onto the sand of Route 104, only making it a little ways up the hill before receding, leaving nothing but sea foam in its wake. Trainers were scattered here and there across the beach, some fishing, some playing, and some just enjoying the scenic route. Up the hill, some trainers were battling in the tall grass, their audience of Poochyena and Zigzagoon watching intently on the off-chance the trainers decide they want another Pokémon. I was watching the battle too, but from a much farther difference, so far I was almost hidden in the trees on the edge of Petalburg Woods. Not only did I not want to be anywhere near that scary-looking Absorb the Treeko was using, but I didn't want to be near the trainers. Humans were scary, especially Trainers! Did those Poochyenas and Zigzagoons not know that?

Almost as if they knew I was thinking about them, the trainer using Treeko had it do a particularly large and even more scary-looking Absorb, and I retreated back into the trees with a squeak. Can't they take their battle somewhere else? Somewhere where they're not scaring the local Azumarills? Oh yeah, by the way, I'm an Azumarill! There's a lot of us around here, but we don't really come out on the Route much. We just stay in the ocean, where it's nice and cool and trainer-free. And even if there wasn't a nice ocean, we wouldn't have time to come up on the Route! We're too busy taking care of the Marills and making sure the Wingulls behave themselves - they always seem to go crazy around that old guy that lives in the cabin up the way. It's a very busy job, and the old man doesn't even seem to appreciate it at all! All he cares about is his own Wingull, Peeko. I don't see why he loves Peeko so much, she is super annoying! All she does is fly around, squawk at the Marills, and eat berries. That's what happens when a Pokémon lets itself become a pet... All it has to think about is food!

Oh my gosh there's a Pecha berry on the ground!

I forget my hiding spot for a second and rush out to get the berry, plopping myself on the ground and picking it up happily. Hey, I'm still a better Pokémon than Peeko! Pecha berries are just my favorite, that's all. I make sure it's firmly secured in my paws - it's hard to pick up things when you have no fingers - and take a bite out of the tip of the berry. Every Pokémon knows that's the sweetest part! My tail bounced happily on the ground as the juicy sweetness exploded in my mouth, and I was quick to take another bite. Sooooo yummy! In fact, it was so yummy that I forgot to wonder about where it came from until it was already halfway finished. "Well, aren't you a cute one! Did you like the berry, sweetheart?" I nearly drop the berry in surprise and look up, to see a lady standing over me with a basket full of berries. My Pecha berry must've fallen out of her basket! Well, I hope she doesn't ask for it back. I've already taken a bite out of it, that makes it mine. I make sure she knows that by holding the berry tighter and bouncing my tail in a threatening way. We have lots of tail-bounces to tell how we feel, sometimes our tails even bounce without us meaning for them to. Every Azumarill knows what a threatening tail-bounce means - back off before I Water Gun you in the face! But apparently, humans don't understand tail-bounces, and rather than look scared she just laughs. "Aren't you a dear, bouncing your tail like that! Would you like another berry, dear?" I feel very offended. That was an excellent tail-bounce, and she didn't even get it.

I would like another berry though, please and thank you.

Somehow, even though she doesn't understand a tail-bounce, she does understand that I want another berry. Maybe she's not a lost cause for a human after all. The lady smiles and reaches into her basket, pulling out a particularly yummy-looking Pecha berry. My tail bounces again with happiness, and this time I didn't even mean for it to. It does its own thing sometimes. "Here you go, dear." She sets it down on the ground, and as I reach for it, she does the unthinkable.

She tries to pat my head.

I shoot straight up from the ground and grab my berry, before running back into the trees. "Oh, I'm sorry!" The lady calls out after me, but I'm too busy running to pay attention. You never, ever, ever pat a Pokémon's head if they're not yours! And especially not Azumarill heads! Our ears are very sensitive, and we don't even let each other touch them except if it's absolutely necessary. So a random human lady with a berry basket definitely doesn't get to touch them! Our heads are off-limits to humans. You'd think they'd know that by now, but humans never learn. I'm so caught up in thinking about ears and humans and berries, I don't even realize I've gone a lot farther into Petalburg Woods then I've ever gone. This is why we Azumarills try to keep the Marills out of the woods, it's way too easy to get lost! I turn around and around, trying to figure out where I came from. Yeah, that was probably a bad idea, now I don't even know where I came from! Stupid lady with her stupid head-patting hands and her stupid berry basket... Wait! My berry! I look down to make sure I've still got it, and it's not in my paws! Being lost wasn't fun, but I guess it could be okay. Being lost without a berry? That's the worst! I must've dropped it while I was running - curse my lack of fingers! - so all I've gotta do is find the way back and I should find my berry again! I'm still not sure which way I went, so after a few seconds of very hard thinking I decide to spin around again and go in the direction I end up facing. There's no way this could go wrong!

Normally, the sun setting over Route 104 would be quite nice. With the final rays of sun reflecting off of the ocean and bathing the Route in a soft golden light, everyone, Pokémon included, could take a moment and appreciate the sunset. But right now, it was my worst nightmare! It was already hard enough exploring the woods with sunlight, without it this would be even worse! And also, I don't really like the dark... I try to ask the sun to stop setting, but despite promising a berry to it, it seems insistent on continuing to set. Soon, the woods are completely washed in a twilight glow, and I am very afraid. And even worse, I'm hungry! I still haven't found my berry! My little legs are getting kind of tired, which makes sense. You try and get far on two tiny feet! I decide that maybe I can take a little break, and find a nice soft patch of moss to sit on. I can't believe I got lost... All the Marills are probably wandering off into the tall grass and getting themselves caught, and the Wingulls are probably... Well, they're probably doing the same thing they always do; being annoying. But they're being annoying without me! I stand up, feeling more determined then ever. I've gotta get home before they get too annoying! Wait, no, not that. Nevermind! I'm sure I've got a better reason to get home then that, but I'll figure it out when I actually do get home. So, with renewed energy, I start heading off in a new direction!

OH MY ARCEUS I'M SO TIREDDDDDDD. It feels like I've been walking around in circles, and I probably have! I do that sometimes, I get mixed up with directions... That energy I had earlier has completely gone away, and I feel even more tired then I was before. Even worse, it's starting to get really dark! There's still some moonlight coming through the canopy, but for the most part it's obscured by the trees. Now, I'm a super brave Azumarill, and I don't get scared by something so silly like the dark! So, the water that's making my eyes go all blurry... Is totally sweat! Because I'm so tired! Sweat or not, I have to take a minute to sit and wipe it away, making totally-normal-sweat-sob-noises. I sit for a while, definitely not crying, until a light makes its way through my cloudy eyes. I blink away the last of the tears - SWEAT! - and look up, the pink light shining right into my eyes. I squint a little bit and start walking towards it, because at least that's some kind of goal. Walking towards a mysterious pink light is better then walking in circles! As I make my way towards where it seems to be coming from, I wonder for a second if it's maybe my lost Pecha berry. They are pink, after all, and maybe moonlight shining on a berry reflects the color? But unfortunately, as I make my way into some kind of clearing, I see that it is not in fact my berry. Nope, it's some weird gem thing laying in the center of the clearing.

Now, I'm not the most proud of this moment. But when I picked up the gem, I noticed it was strangely soft, and it almost didn't feel like a gem at all. Maybe it was my berry after all? It was pink, it was soft, and I couldn't really see what it was. There was definitely a chance it could be my berry, even though I didn't remember running through any clearings. It could've rolled here, or something? It didn't matter. I was hungry, I hadn't found my berry yet, this could be my berry, and that was that. So then, I did something I probably shouldn't have done. Something that would send me on an adventure beyond my wildest dreams. Something that would prove that just because things are pink and on the ground, they are not berries. But I didn't know any of that, as I held up the gem-possible-berry. I just did something that I thought was perfectly rational.

I lifted the gem, and I popped it in my mouth.

And everything went black.

"I'm telling you, May, I heard the crying this way!"

"Brendan, we've been walking for thirty minutes. You have no clue where we're going, just admit it."

I scramble up from where I was laying on the ground - did I fall asleep or something? - when I hear the voices in the distance. On one paw, hearing people meant I was certainly close to the edge of the woods, but on the other paw... Humans! I look around frantically for somewhere to hide, and spot a nearby bush. Definitely not the best hiding spot, it isn't a particularly thick bush, and I look around for a better hiding spot. But I hear the humans' voices arguing in the distance, getting closer by the second, and decide that the bush would have to do. I dive into it, feeling the branches scratch at me. Weird, normally my skin is thick enough to not be hurt by much of anything. I hear the humans' voices stop for a second, before picking back up again, and I strain to try and hear them. Do I have leaves in my ears or something? Normally my ears are so strong I can hear a Marill from all the way up the hill! Well, it doesn't matter, I can hear them well enough when they get closer.

"You heard that, right?"

"Of course I heard it! Something is definitely this way!"

"So, you're going to admit that I was right with the direction? And that you were wroooooooong?"

"Shut up, Brendan."

I stifle my squeak of nervousness with my hands - HANDS?! I look down at what are definitely not paws, and cry out as I see fingers. Ten fingers. Just like humans. I try and tail-bounce, no bounce and no tail, I try and wiggle my ears, no ears except for these weird things on the side of my head, and when I look down... LEGS. Not normal, Azumarill legs, but long human legs with human feet and toes on the ends. I practically leap out of the bush, landing in a jumble on the ground. A jumble of human parts. So it's not the bush that did it to me... I was hoping that maybe I just stumbled into some demon turn-Azumarills-human bush. But nope, no matter how hard I try to get them off, I still have human legs and human hands and no tail. Why couldn't humans be born with tails? They make everything so much easier. Honestly, how do they even communicate without them?

"Oh my Arceus! It's a little girl!"

"What? W-wait up!"

Oh right. They communicate by talking. And the talking is getting very close - right in front of me, in fact.

I look up and see two more humans in front of me. They're wearing matching head bandannas, but one's a girl and one's a boy. Their outfits almost match too, but they're still different. I realize I've just kind of been staring at them, and look down at my human feet. I still can't get over how weird and short they look. "Hey, don't worry, it's okay! We're here to help you." The girl says, putting on a kind grin. The boy at her side moves closer and kneels down at my level, looking right at me. "Where are your parents? What're you doing in the middle of the woods?" Talking seems so easy to the humans, and it's always been easy for me when I scolded the Marills. But what if when I try and talk to these people, it's just gonna sound like "Azu Azu, Azumarill?" I decide that I don't even want to try, and attempt to run away. But I'm not used to these long legs, and trip over them immediately, rolling over before landing head over heels on the ground. I hear the girl stifle a laugh, but the boy elbows her (or at least I think he does, I'm kind of upside down right now) and rushes over to me. "Oh my gosh, are you alright? You don't need to run from us, we're gonna help you." I don't trust humans, and especially not Pokémon trainers - I can see the Pokéballs clipped to their belt and bag strap - but I really need help if I'm going to get out of here. Not only is it going to be hard to walk with human feet, but they're also a lot more sensitive. Just from jumping in that bush, my feet are already scratched up. Human skin is so weak. I don't think I'm going to be able to make it back to Route 104 alone, so I decide to try my paw - er, hand - at talking to them.

"U-um... Hi?" The voice coming out of my mouth feels unnatural, it doesn't feel like my own. I mean, to be fair, it isn't technically my voice, it's human-me's voice. But it also felt weird just to have a voice, one that wasn't "Azumarill!". Luckily though, the humans seem to understand me just fine, and the boy smiles. "Hi! I'm Brendan, and this is May." May doesn't seem to like Brendan introducing her, but shrugs it off and looks down at me. "What's your name?" Uh-oh. I don't really have a name. My first instinct is to just say Azumarill, but I think they'd find that a bit weird. So, I open my mouth and say the first thing that pops into my head. "Um... My name's... Azu?" If the two suspected anything by the way I hesitated when saying my name, they certainly didn't show it. "Nice to meet you, Azu! Now, what're you doing in Petalburg Woods all by yourself? And so late at night, too?" May asks. At least I can answer that truthfully. "Um, I got lost, and I've been walking around all night..." May and Brendan share a concerned look, and he seems to consider something before looking back at me. "Do you have parents?" He says suddenly, and May's mouth drops open. "Brendan! Don't just ask like that!" He scoffs and looks at her. "Oh, and you're normally so delicate with your words." Before they can start bickering, I decide to chime in. "Um... No. I don't." That's true, too, I just showed up from an Egg one day. That's how most Pokémon are born, after all. The two stop fighting immediately, and May seems to make a split-second decision. "Alright, I'm gonna take you to my dad's place, okay? The Pokémon Lab. We're gonna get this sorted out."

I don't know what the Pokémon Lab is, and it sounds a little bit scary. But I'm tired, my feet hurt, and I don't know what's going to happen to me. "Mm... Okay." I say, and May smiles at me. "That's the spirit! Let's get going though. It's a bit of a hike, I'm really surprised you made it this far." When I hear 'a bit of a hike', my face scrunches up with worry. I could barely make it a couple of steps with these legs, how am I supposed to make it all the way to the Pokémon Lab? And even if I had my normal legs, I don't think I'd be able to make it all the way. Brendan notices that I look worried, and it takes him a second before he understands. "Don't worry, you don't need to walk all the way." He slides off his bag and dumps it quickly in May's arms before she can protest, and gestures to me. "Climb on my back, I can carry you!" Now that May knows what he's doing, she slides his bag onto her back with little complaint, although I can hear her grumble under her breath. Well, I'm sure she'll be fine. I'm just glad to get a free ride! I walk over to Brendan hesitantly, and he boosts me up onto his back easily. "Wow, you're pretty light. Just make sure to hang onto me, okay? Don't want you to fall off." I nod and do what he says, wrapping my arms around his neck. We start walking - well, they start walking, I'm just riding - and before I know it I found myself lowering my head onto Brendan's shoulder. Right before I fall asleep, I briefly wonder how different it's going to be as a human. Maybe it won't even be that bad. They seem a lot nicer then I thought before, after all.

Then I fall asleep, and dream of berries and berry-looking gems.