Chapter 2: An Unfamiliar Land

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"Machop, stay careful out there, okay?"

"You worry about me too much, Mom. I'll be fine!"

Machop left his parents' dojo, stepping outside into the small town centralized around it that he knew too well. Simply known as Dojo Town, it was a rather peaceful and secluded area not far from the Capital, but Pokémon of all shapes and sizes would come to hone their skills at the famous dojo that his adopted parents owned. Hariyama and Medicham were famously skilled, after all, and Machop would often see his parents square up against some very tough-looking foes. Today it was his job to collect Berries in the woods near the Southern Pass, the only road out of the town.

"Sigh… another trip to the woods it is, then. I'll probably only need an Apple or two for this."

After bartering with the local Kecleon Shop, he bought two Apples, and made his way to the Red Woods. Nobody knew why, but most of the trees around these woods were always red. Apparently some time in the past, a Fairy type did it, or so he'd heard. Either way, the place wasn't dangerous at all, so he pressed on.

After a bit of walking, Machop found a Chesto tree and Pecha tree. Excitedly, he started picking the berries off the trees, and putting them in his bag, until suddenly…

WHUMP! Something fell to the ground behind him. Turning around, he saw a purple Pokémon a bit larger than him passed out in the red leaves. He didn't remember what species it was off the top of his head, but he knew it didn't look to be very strong. He had a hunch on what this Pokémon really was, but wasn't too sure yet.

"A Dojo master must be charitable and help those in need. That's what Dad always says, right? I think I can lift them..."

Machop grunted as he picked up the Pokémon. "Oh Zygarde they're heavy. If I'd estimate, maybe about 70 kilos? I should be able to carry them home, though."

Being a Machop, he had little difficulty carrying the purple scorpion back to the Dojo. At the front door, he knocked to get greeted by his parents.

"I'm back! I found some Chestos and Pechas, but I also found this Pokémon… They were passed out on the ground, I don't know where they came from."

His mother was a bit surprised, but then began to think. "Well we'll let them take the guest bed, but you know, they could be one of… them. I'll take a look at them to see."

His father, the Hariyama, smiled a bit. "Well, whether they're one of those guys or not, it doesn't matter too much. We'll get it sorted out from here, Machop. Thanks for getting those Berries!"

Machop's worry faded into a grin. It would work out no matter who that scorpion was, he knew it.

What does that voice mean? Entering a land unfamiliar to me? Seek the capital? World of Pokémon?! What happened last night for my dreams to be about this?!

Never mind about dreams. I have to wake myself up, get out of this hangover, remember what happened last night. I walked into my dorm, went to sleep, and… nothing. Maybe it was some kind of lucid dream. I feel so exhausted, though. Didn't I get a good night's rest?

Huh? I feel… a presence. Someone's here, in my dream with me. How does that even work?

Wake up? Open my eyes? Guide you? Who even are you?!

I slowly opened my eyes, confused about the dream I had. My bed felt weird, I felt weird, everything felt weird. I was laying on a bed with my back up, but it didn't look or feel like my bed. It felt pretty rigid, and didn't even have a mattress. At least my dorm one had that!

Did I pass out in someone else's house last night? Was I kidnapped or something? Why do I feel so tired? What's going on?!

I slowly attempted to get up, but collapsed in the bed again, burying my head in. Despite being seemingly rather rudimentary, made of only wood and straw, it was very comfortable, and almost prompted me to pass out again. Before I lost consciousness again, an unfamiliar voice spoke to me.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just… tired. Very tired."

My voice sounded oddly different. I could still hear it as myself, but it sounded a bit… lispier?

"I understand. It must hurt to not remember how you got here. Doug… that's your name, right? Unless you're primarily thinking about a friend or something."

Wait, what did they just say?

"How do you know my name? What do you mean, 'primarily thinking about a friend'?"

"Oh, that's right. You probably wouldn't know I can read someone's primary thoughts. All Medicham can. So you're one of those humans?"

"Yeah, I'm a human. What about it? What's a Medicham?"

"Oh… right. You might want to raise that head of yours up and take a look around."

Confused, I slowly raised my head up. Looking behind the bed I was on, I could see a window made of something that didn't quite look like glass. Outside, many… unfamiliar creatures seemed to be enjoying life. I turned to the right to see some strange looking bipedal… thing worriedly looking at me.

"Doug, this might be very confusing for you, but I think you aren't from this world. The things you are thinking about right now are alien to me. Hold tight for a second, I need to grab something. All will hopefully be understood in time, Doug."

With that, the "Medicham" left the room. I laid down in bed confused. What is a "Medicham"? The name felt familiar somehow. Pondering about the creatures I could see outside and my growing concern that I remembered them somehow, I looked down at myself.

My hands had been replaced with big purple pincers, almost the size of my head. I had what looked like a wingsuit a flying squirrel would have, but with a spike on each of them. I had a spiked tail. I looked like some kind of winged scorpion. Did I mention I'm terrified of scorpions?

I am not awake enough for this...

I let the bed take me, and passed out again.

"What's wrong, dear?"

"Thank you so much for helping, Hypno. I walk away for just a minute or two, come back and the Gligar passed out again! I figure your Dream Eater might alleviate some of his confusion, I can't imagine how shocked and disoriented he must be right now."

"Lady Medicham, do remember that my Dream Eater can only show sleeping targets their own memories, or directly rot away their dreams. I heard some humans seemed to know about Pokémon from somewhere. Perhaps he's heard of them, and I could use those memories…"

"As long as it calms him down. We need him awake and well."

"I understand. Let us begin."

And so our protagonist enters the world of Pokémon! Please be sure to leave a review if there are any big issues with the story! Thank you for reading, and until next chapter, this is Ketchup signing off!