((It has come to my attention within the past month that I am not the first person to write a story using this concept. I found out that another user began a story with a similar setting as mine late last year. Nevertheless, I'm going to continue writing this one because I feel mine has a unique enough spin to make it its own thing, and I've already developed the universe enough in my head that I feel it'd be a waste not to get it down on paper. But for the purposes of this fic, it does not take place in anyone else's universe. I hope you all will still be able to enjoy, and as usual, comments and constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.))

Alex's first hint that something was wrong when blinked his eyes open was that he heard a woman speaking. He didn't have a visitor, did he? Also, it seemed like something was rather off with the ceiling. And that certainly didn't feel like his bed. So where was-? Then memories of yesterday rushed back to him. Memories of him being at his coworker's place. Memories of the city being in complete turmoil. Memories of him turning into a mew. His heart made several flips as he recalled these events, and an uncomfortable jolt shot up his body, causing him to flinch.

"Alex? You up?" a familiar voice spoke, coming from across the room. Alex looked up to see Nick sitting at the couch eating an omelette with the news on.

Alex sat up and blinked away more of his tiredness. "Erm... sorta. So what's... um, where's..."

"Preston went out earlier," Nick explained after Alex trailed off, "I think he said he just needed some air. Poor guy's taking it especially rough," Nick said with a hint of worry in his voice.

Alex blinked again and rubbed away some of the fog in his vision, also trying to get his thoughts in order. That's right, Preston had turned into a pokemon too. A druddigon. Alex glanced back at his other coworker, Nick. "And you?"

"I mean, I'm not the one who turned into a pokemon, right?" Nick asked with a shrug.

"Well yea, but you can still have thoughts on it, right?" Alex sat up all the way, stretched his body, and leaned back into the couch cushions, becoming more alert for the day by the second.

"Eh, I... dunno. I've mostly just been watching the news and trying to browse through reddit and some of the pokemon forums. Emphasis on trying, anyway. I'm still sorting through the whole thing, and there's only so much I can find with the internet being as screwy as it is right now, but I can tell you this much; everyone else is flipping shit."

"Yea, I can imagine," Alex muttered in a barely audible voice. Then a somewhat irrelevant thought occurred to him that he decided to voice anyway. "Hold up, I thought the both of you had work today?"

"Nope. Got a call from the bossman this morning. They're shutting everything down for at least a week. So is everything else, actually. The entire city is still... not functioning. Mostly cuz of all the car accidents. They news heads said enough people got into a wreck that it's gonna take a few days to get it all sorted out and get the bare essentials up and running back to normal again."

"A few days for the essentials? You mean like police and ambulances and stuff?"

Alex was surprised to a flash of worry on the normally laid back Nick's face. "Pretty much. They said that they got overloaded fast, and there's not gonna be any quick way to sort it out. The roads alone are gonna take days to clean up fully."

"I... wow." Alex sat there gobsmacked. There were no words that could express the emotion or thoughts running through him, so he said nothing more.

With the abrupt uneasy silence hanging over the both of them, Alex and Nick just sat watching the news, which seemed to be permanently locked onto the pokemon phenomenon. "...are unsure as to what caused the invasion, but government officials from all but eight countries have confirmed that some variation of unknown creature has suddenly appeared overnight. The white house has yet to-"

"Every single country? Are you kidding me?" Alex nearly shouted, cutting off the reporter.

"Yea. You were right yesterday. It seems like it's a worldwide thing. There have actually been sightings of a few legendary mons too, like... I found these out while browsing reddit and the news. I was reading something about a moltres in Australia, a... xerneas, I think it's called, in Russia; a ho-oh in Japan- kinda fitting, actually- and there's actually been two different claims of articuno sightings. One in Greenland, and one here in the USA."

"What state?" Alex asked, interest immediately piqued.

"Iowa. I haven't seen pics of some of these though, so I dunno how much of it is true. But there are a couple floating around on the internet, and someone did post a video of the Iowa articuno turning into a boy. Poor kid couldn't have been older than twelve and he has to go through that."

"Holy shit." Alex's mind was reeling. 'Should I try and find and meet up with this kid? No, I can't, that would require me showing him who I am, and it might not even end up being him. Hang on, I can't leave town right now anyway. How am I even gonna-'

"Alex? You okay, dude? You're makin a weird face."

"Huh? Uh yea, just fine," Alex muttered with a grimace. He tried to take a breath to calm his nerves, but it ended up not working in the slightest. "Actually, no. I'm not. I'm very much not fine. I should be excited that pokemon exist now, and I guess on some level I am, but it comes nowhere near the level of just how fucking terrified of everything I am! U-err- people turning into pokemon came at the direct expense of... well, everything! Everyone! I don't even know how I'm supposed to get home cuz I've no way to get out of town unless I want to spend seven or so hours walking, and I can't even imagine what the others more directly and more severely affected by this whole thing must feel. I just- urg, FUCK!" Alex slammed the couch pillow he had been using as hard as he could, then buried his head in his hands, trying to focus on steadying his shaky breathing and his jittery body.

Alex heard a sigh and some shuffling, then he felt Nick sitting down next to him. "Trust me dude, I'm right there with you... I'm really worried not just for me, but for my family too. I don't know if they're safe, or if one of em has also turned into pokemon, or what. But worrying and stressing yourself like this isn't gonna do much good for ya. We'll get more info somehow. But we need to go at it the best way we can."

Alex let out a scoff, almost feeling insulted by Nick's remark, but he didn't respond further.

The two sat in silence as they listened to the background noise of the news reporter describing the pokemon sightings as well as the mass gridlock that was currently taking place all around the world. After several moments, Alex looked up from the palms of his hands and fished out his cellphone from his pocket. No new messages. That's probably a lie. At least one of his friends or family members had to be sending messages en masse to him, either trying to see if Alex was okay, assuring him that they were okay or were otherwise going to be okay. At least he hoped so. Then Alex narrowed his eyes as yet another slightly more important thought occurred to him. "Hang on a sec, how did Andrew even get a hold of you this morning? Aren't the lines still jammed?"

"Huh? Oh! That. Yea well he didn't actually get a hold of me. I got a voice mail."

"A voice mail, huh..." Actually, sending one to his parents was probably a good idea. At least to let them know he was safe for the time being. Assuming they're safe, themselves. Alex felt his chest go cold at that last thought and decided to push it away for now. 'No, they're fine. They have to be.' Alex scrolled down to his father's cell number. He didn't bother trying to call him. Instead, he directly selected the voicemail option. "Hey dad, I uh... just wanted to let you know that I'm okay. Sorta. I mean I'm safe. Not hurt or anything. I stayed the night at my coworker's place in downtown Austin. But I'm freaking out right now. So if you guys could just... let me know if you're okay?" Alex felt Nick softly placing his hand on Alex's back. "You might have to voice mail instead of call or text, I dunno. But my coworker says he got a VM from our manager this morning, so... I dunno. Oh and if you could, do you think you can swing by my place and let my roommate know I'm okay? If he's there, anyway. If he isn't, don't worry about it, but um... *sigh* just please... please get back to me asap. I love you guys." Alex ended and sent the voice message. He took a shaky breath and realized he had started tearing up in the middle of the message. He silently thanked his coworker for being there right now.

"Your family's fine, man. You'll see. You've got this, Alex," Nick said, running the palm of his hand over Alex's back in circles in an effort to comfort him.

Alex nodded and blinked away the tears. "Y-yea... they'll be fine. I'll be fine," he muttered, trying to cheer himself up. Alex closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. 'In... and out... I'm good. Just gotta keep my head held high.' Alex wasn't sure if he believed himself yet, but given his situation, Alex figured it was the best he was going to get right now. He decided to just press onward. "Alright, so what's the game plan today, then?"

Before Nick could respond, the front door unlocked and opened. Preston stepped inside the apartment and closed the door behind him. "Hey, I'm gonna walk over to the hospital in like half an hour. I managed to get through to my mom and she and my sister are both there."

"Holy shit man, are they okay?" Nick asked with concern lacing his voice.

"Yea, my mom said it isn't life threatening or anything like that, and quite frankly they don't have room for her with more serious cases showing up, but they're still there, so I have to go and visit them." Alex studied Preston's face as his coworker explained himself. He just looked tired. He didn't even sound relieved. Just... tired.

"Oh good. well hope everything goes well for ya, man. Be safe out there," Nick said with a nod in Preston's direction, starting to return his attention to the television.

"Actually, Nick, you think we ought to go too?" Alex asked glancing between his two coworkers.

Nick frowned and raised an eyebrow. "You mean to check up on Preston's family?"

"N-no, not that. I mean our families. Relatives WE have that might be there."

Nick nodded in understanding. "Ah, gotcha. Well you're free to, but I gotta to pass. None of my family would be here downtown. They'd be in one of the South Austin hospitals if they got hurt. Nah, I gotta figure out how to get to South Austin today, even if it means walking there."

Alex nodded in disappointment. "Right... makes sense."

Preston then narrowed his eyes. "Speaking of, I thought you lived up north? How come you're wanting to tag along with me downtown?"

"Ah well that's cuz my roommate and family sometimes makes trips in the city. Yea, I still need to get home, but if they're there, I don't wanna miss em."

"Hmm... well alright. I'm leaving in half an hour, though, so get ready. Feel free to fix yourself some eggs or something if you haven't eaten."

Alex nodded as Preston went off to his room. But even as he did as Preston suggested and made himself some scrambled eggs, he found himself unable to eat more than a few bites before losing himself in the news broadcasts on TV, anxiously waiting for the time to go by. The more he watched and the longer he waited, the more any confidence he had given himself had began to fade, until Alex wasn't able to process anything the reporters were saying through his own head as it ran rampant with worry. 'How on earth are we gonna get through today?'

Alex and Preston were both silent as they made their way through town, neither of them knowing how to break the tension of everything happening around them. There were metal shards strewn everywhere in multiple areas they passed along the way- surely remnants of car wrecks that have been more or less cleared up. They were about three blocks away from their destination when they started seeing scenes of accidents that hadn't been cleared up. Some of them, Alex was relieved to see, had people and the occasional pokemon standing by them hugging, clearly thankful their loved ones had gotten out safe. Others weren't so lucky. One of such scenes held a figure that caught Alex's attention and when he ran over to inspect it, he saw that it was a riolu, seemingly unconscious in the driver's seat of an especially mangled up convertible that happened to be overturned. Alex knelt down by the car and tried to help it out, but when he reached out to help, he found that its body was cold and stiff to the touch. Alex recoiled and started shaking. Preston gently pulled Alex back and helped him up. "There's nothing we could've done. C'mon, man..." Alex forced a stiff nod and kept moving alongside Preston, but found himself staring solely on the ground in front of him as he did so.

Even as the duo approached the hospital, they could see groups of people hanging out outside the building. Some people had minor scrapes, bruises, and what Alex guessed were sprains, but were otherwise not much worse for wear. Others held various parts of their bodies, indicating they had minor fractures and dislocations that couldn't be attended to immediately. There were a few pokemon in the crowd as well with various minor injuries, some of whom at least had a group of people around them. Alex was able to identify a scorbunny, cacnea, stantler, buizel- oh dear, was that a klink? That certainly would be a very awkward one to turn into, even if that person somehow was a pokemon fan and they knew what it was.

"It wouldn't surprise me if all the city's hospitals are like this," Preston muttered, interrupting Alex's musings and bringing him back to reality. "My mom mentioned that she had to be taken to like... three hospitals before they were able to give her a space to rest in the freaking lobby."

Alex's eyes widened. "It's that bad?"

"Oh absolutely. An entire city as big as Austin thrown into complete gridlock all because of car accidents? That's bound to get all hospitals in the city switching to code black... ah, there's the entrance. C'mon," Preston said anxiously, speeding up his pace towards the main entrance of the building.

Alex took another quick glance at the surrounding pokemon, then followed Preston inside.

"I'm gonna be honest, Alex. I know what I said about all hospitals being full, but holy shit I didn't expect to see this many people and, err, pokemon... in one place."

Alex and Preston had only taken three steps in the doors before being unable to easily progress any further. There were people sitting and standing everywhere, some with pokemon accompanying them. Most of the pokemon that were there, however, were on their own. 'I guess it's to be expected. Not like anyone would recognize their friend or loved one if they were a completely different species,' Alex reasoned in his mind. Not a moment after he finished the thought, there was a bright light that caught everyone's attention in the room. Alex watched as the glow dimmed within seconds, revealing a very shocked teenage girl. "Katie? Katie!" "Mom!" Even as everyone else returned their attention to their own issues, Alex couldn't help but smile as another family was relatively safely reunited.

"Guess it's still wearing off for some people..," Preston muttered in a voice that Alex was almost certain wasn't meant specifically for him.

"Maybe this is one of those things that you have to learn how to control?" Alex suggested helpfully, though pursing his lips as he did so. Even though it was the truth, Alex still felt like he was lying to his coworker and friend.

Preston gave a sigh that he managed to make audible even in the cacophony of people talking. "If it is, please tell me how so I can avoid turning into that thing again. I'd rather avoid it if I can help it."

Alex had to fight back a small scowl. 'Whelp, if it's anything like how I transform, then I've got good news for you, buddy,' Alex thought tiredly. "I guess..."

Preston's expression softened and he gave Alex a side eye glance, but said nothing more. He continued scanning the crowd of people for several seconds. "This is just madness. I don't know how anyone could be found in this- oh! MOM! Err... IRIS!" Preston shouted out, then started wading his way through the sea of people and pokemon.

"H-hey! Don't leave me behind!" Alex quickly followed Preston, trying not to lose him. He heard out a lady call out Preston's name, which Alex assumed was Preston's mom.

Preston practically muscled his way through the ocean of people over to a particular corner of the hospital lobby where and older lady stood and a black haired girl who looked slightly younger than Alex sat. The lady's and the girl's faces lit up when Preston approached and the older lady gingerly hugged Preston. "Oh honey, thank goodness you're safe! Oh-! Owowow! Careful with me, my ribs are cracked!"

"Oh shoot, I'm so sorry Mom! I forgot!" Preston backed up almost into Alex. "Are you guys okay? What happened to you?" Preston went on as he and his family started catching up, but Alex found himself tuning it out as he himself started scanning the crowd for anyone he knew.

To his surprise, he was able to spot a familiar face rather quickly. His heart jumped and Alex immediately started weaving his way around the numerous bodies in the hospital lobby. 'Oh please please please tell me that's actually her.' Alex bumped several people, some of whom were vocal in their protest of Alex's recklessness, but he paid them no mind as he tried working his way towards the woman he thought he recognized. Then, he was able to get close enough to see the side of her face. "Mom!"

The woman, a middle aged smaller but well built brown short haired woman, turned to face Alex and her facial features shifted from shock and quickly turned into joy and relief. "Alex! Oh thank goodness, you're okay!" The woman rushed forward to meet Alex in a strong, tight embrace. The two simply held each other for several moments before separating enough for the woman to gently grasp Alex by his shoulders. "Are you hurt? Did you come here for medical attention?"

Alex embraced his mother and he let out a shaky sigh, letting the staggering amount of relief flood his chest. "Thank goodness... No no, mom, I'm fine. I came here looking for you guys. Are you okay though, Mom? Do you know where Dad and Cassie are?"

Alex's mother looked pensive. "I... I don't know where your dad and sister are. I'm fine. I wasn't actually on the road at the time, but I've been walking to hospitals since dawn looking for, well, you guys. Some of the front desk receptionists have been incredibly unhelpful at even attempting to help me find my family," his mother spat in annoyance. "Honestly, I understand that they're filled to the brim, but could they not be bothered at all to even TRY and identify their serious cases? Just the serious ones is all I'm asking!" Alex's mother gave an irritated exhale, then sighed and pulled Alex into another tight hug. "I'm just so glad you're okay though, sweetie..."

Alex nodded and for a moment, neither said a word. They held their embrace, paying little mind to the sea of people and the cacophony of noise around them. "I'm scared, Mom. I don't know how to find Dad and Cassie. I don't know if I should head back home. I don't know where to go from here. I'm just... ugh, I know I should be an adult now and be able to figure out what to do, but..," Alex trailed off.

Alex's mother broke off from the hug again and fixed a stern motherly look at him. "Alexander Lawrence, don't be absurd. Even if you were the wisest sage in the world, you'd be lost in this situation. Nothing in the universe could prepare anyone for a large amount of the human population turning into pokemon of all things without any warning, causing a world record traffic accident leading to country-wide gridlock. That has absolutely nothing to do with you being independent in the slightest," Alex's mother snapped.

Alex flinched slightly and looked down. Perhaps that was a ridiculous thing to say, given the circumstances. "R-right, sorry..."

Alex's mother's face softened up again and gave his cheek a gentle caress. "I'm sorry, sweetie, I can't imagine this is at all easy on you either. Look- I'm going keep searching downtown for your father and sister. Are you planning on coming along?"

Alex hesitated. "I... probably not. Not downtown, anyway. I have to check my place for my roommate and friends."

Alex's mom frowned, but nodded. "I understand, sweetie. In that case, on your way home, could you check your father's office? It's the only other place I could think of that I'm certain he could possibly be at if he's not at home. You know where it is, right?"

Alex nodded stiffly and gave another shaky sigh. "Yea. I can do that."

Alex's mom pulled him into another tight hug. "Alright. Please please be safe, sweetie. And message me when you get home. I know it may not go through right away, but do it anyway, okay?"

"Sure, mom."

After separating from his mom, Alex tracked down Preston and let him know he was breaking off to head on home to try and find his friends and the rest of his family. He and Preston exchanged well wishes and Alex left to make the long trek home. As he made his way through town, he looked around again. In the city itself, the car wrecks were sparse. But he still made his best effort to avoid as much of the damage as possible.

The idea was a lot simpler in theory. Even though he managed to avoid most of the damaged vehicles, there were still emergency service vehicles, people, and pokemon everywhere. Alex bit his lip as his vision was flooded with flashing lights and his ears with the cries of people, various pokemon, and the occasional siren. He happened to look around the corner of a building he was passing to see a shinx that had multiple wounds being carried away on a stretcher as it weakly cried out in pain. Alex's blood went cold and the memory of the riolu he couldn't help flashed in his mind. He averted his gaze from the scene and forced himself forward, but the shinx's pained cries echoed in his ears for a few moments longer.

Alex didn't know how much he had walked by after that moment. He kept his eyes entirely locked to the ground and let his feet work on autopilot, taking him the route out of town he normally would take with his car. He took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself after witnessing- no. Best not to even think about it. There's nothing anyone could've done there. 'But you're Mew.' Alex snarled. "Shut the fuck up, brain. I don't even know what all I can do yet, let alone have the skill and training to actually pull it off." That seemed to quiet any other similar thoughts for the moment. Alex took a shaky breath and continued onward, until he finally reached the highway that led him out of downtown Austin and towards his home.

Unlike the hospitals, the highways were alarmingly barren, save for the multiple cars littered up and down the roads. Some of them weren't even damaged. But it's not like they could go anywhere, given that they were completely boxed in by other vehicles, totaled or not. And it certainly didn't help matters considering exactly which highway they were trapped in. Traffic jams were a regular thing under the best of times.

Alex squinted his eyes slightly, taking long observing looks ahead and behind him. He was mostly on his own, but he did see a few other people walking along the service roads just as he was. No pokemon, though. Huh. He glanced down to the lower part of Austin's highway. Lifeless. Just like the service roads. It was incredibly unnerving, but a much welcomed sight compared to the horrors he had just seen. Alex had to press onward, though. He needed to find his friends and the rest of his family. Alex forced himself to look only at the ground in front of him as he headed out of the city.