Chapter 3: An Unfamiliar Form

Not much to say for this chapter. Without further ado, let's get into chapter 3!

I felt my senses going away as I drifted into dreaming again. I felt a bit bad for falling asleep so quickly, but couldn't remember why. I knew I needed sleep, though. I had felt so tired…

Soon after falling asleep, I began to dream again. I dreamt about a night sky filled with colored stars. Looking in front of me, I could see a blue star almost completely enveloping my vision. Something about the sky felt familiar somehow, but I didn't know what. The blue star felt comforting and familiar. I wanted to stare at it, to go to it, but I couldn't move.

Looking down, my eyes got blinded by how bright the red star below me was. It was right below me, and my feet were floating in space. Unlike the blue star, it felt alien and unfamiliar. As soon as I tried to get a closer look at the red star, the dream cut out somehow.

A moment later, I was standing in my younger brother Nick's room, watching him play some kind of game with his friend. They were huddled over their DSes, doing whatever. I looked at them, and approached to see what game they were playing. Soon after looking, it came back to me.

The Pokémon Trainer on the screen was having a link battle with the other DS. The memories started to come back. Memories of Nick and my older brother Mark trying to get me into Pokémon, memories of me always just saying no and doing my own thing, memories of almost feeling like an outcast in my family due to not knowing most of the mons in the Dex, faint memories of the series that was Pokémon. It was hard to not know about it, given how popular it was, but I never saw the appeal at all.

The dream shifted into a strange image. 2d sprites of two different Pokémon that I had probably seen at one time or another. One looked like some kind of fighter, and the other was a purple scorpion. I shuddered looking at the scorpion, but then started to think about what had happened earlier, what I saw before I passed out, what shocked me into passing out in the first place.

That "Medicham" I had talked to was a Pokémon. And based on what I saw when I looked at myself, somehow I was too.

With that revelation, I woke up startled. Yanking my head up and looking off the side of the bed, I saw the "Medicham" from earlier, as well as a new creature that seemed to have a pendulum in its hand.

"I see you're awake," the yellow creature said, "are you feeling okay, Gligar?"

"I'm fine… but what's a 'Gligar'?"

"Gligar... it is what you look like now. I'm glad you're feeling fine. Now, do you understand what we are? What this world is populated by?"

"I'm... a Pokémon? You guys are... Pokémon... too?"

"That would be correct. For some reason you have taken the form of a Gligar. Because of that, you might have some difficulty adjusting to our world, but don't worry. You're not the only human that was sent here."

"What do you mean, miss... err..."

"Just call me Hypno. Over the past day, many passed out Pokémon claiming to be humans have been found throughout our continent. None of us knows why this is happening, but their spirits are still human spirits, despite their physical form seemingly changing. You're the only human we've found nearby so far."

The part about human spirits jogged a memory I had. Those words in my head, the last thing I remembered before waking up here.

"No matter what, though you may look different, your spirit will remain the same… I advise you to seek the capital..."

Those words rang vividly in my mind. I told the two Pokémon in front of me about them, and they talked to each other for a moment, before turning back to me.

Hypno finally replied. "I'm not quite sure if this is true, but those could have been words directly from the God of Order, Zygarde. They're the one that keeps dimensional anomalies in check, after all."

"Then, why was I sent here in the first place?"

Medicham thought about it for a second, then answered. "That's what we don't know. I figure it was probably some kind of dimensional anomaly, but the fact that so many humans ended up here? I'd say it was some kind of freak accident!"

Hypno spoke up. "Either way, Zygarde also said you should seek the capital, right? Smackbone City is the capital of the whole continent, and it's just north of our town."

I pondered that for a moment. "Then… I guess I should head north?"

Medicham gave me a concerned look. "Not before we get you used to that form of yours. If you ran out now you'd probably just fall over!"

"Oh… right."

A bit later, I got up and we walked out of the room and into the main training grounds. There, Medicham took me her husband Hariyama, and her adopted son Machop. I got to introduce myself to the punching bag sumo wrestler and the burly kid.

Machop quickly piped up excitedly. "Hey, Gligar! I was the one that found you passed out in the Red Woods!"

I wasn't sure what to say to that. Before he could ask any questions, Hariyama looked me right in the eyes, stomping right towards me.

Hariyama looked somewhat confused. "What are you doing walking around, kid? Is that glider of yours just for show, or what?"

I was a bit intimidated by his size over me. The guy struggled to even fit in this dojo, and though I didn't know how relatively big I was I figured he was about twice my height. I shuddered for a moment.

"W-what do you mean by that? I-I'm an adult."

The big guy thought about something, then seemed to have an idea.

"Let's see if this'll jog it. Vital Throw!"

Before I knew it, Hariyama had grabbed me and launched me right into the air. I felt my view flip upside down as I kept going up. I felt like I was going to throw up, or something, when suddenly I felt a strong urge to hold my pincers out to their sides. I did so, and prepared to hit the ground... but never did.

I looked down, and realized that I was gliding midair! I couldn't stay stagnant in the air very well, but I could keep my height if I glided forwards. A smile appeared on my face as Hariyama gave some applause.

"I knew it would work! Dear, that's now four hundred one points me!"

Medicham gave a sigh. "You always have to be so competitive, don't you... well, either way. If you hardly know how to glide, I think I should give you some training before you head out to the capital. Machop, would you be okay with sparring with Gligar for a little while?"

Machop grinned from ear to ear. "Okay with?! I'd love to train!"

As the three Pokémon smiled and laughed, I thought about what I had gotten myself into. What kind of training was going to happen? Will I ever not flinch when looking at a mirror? I didn't know at that point, everything felt so odd. Even the Pokémon in front of me hardly felt real, and I was talking to them! I gave a sigh.

If I make it to the capital, will the mons there be able to send me home? I sure hope so.

The training took a while, mostly because Machop kept vastly overestimating how strong I was. He'd wallop me with kicks after chops after sweeps. Eventually, after I had been beaten to the point where I was bruised in several areas, we decided to stop, and by we I mean I begged him to stop after he hit me with a "Karate Chop" for the seventh time.

"Please... I'm done..."

"Ehh, fine. Here, take this. It'll help those bruises."

Machop handed me some kind of blue fruit. I stared at it quizzically.

"Go on, eat it!"

After a moment's hesitation, I slowly ate the blue berry. As I swallowed it down, I felt the bruises I'd gotten slowly lose their soreness, and before I knew it I was feeling just fine.

"What was that blue thing?"

"It's an Oran Berry. What, do those not exist in the human world? Anyway, let's start our fighting again!"

I shuddered. "Please, no."

Machop looked at me with a disappointed expression. "Ugh, fine. You can learn how to fight when we get on the road. For now, follow me, I'll guide you around the town!"

Machop walked out the large entrance to the Dojo, and I followed, trying to practice my gliding along the way. What I saw out there was a relatively small yet lively town, with what I assumed to be various Pokémon talking, playing, buying and generally enjoying life with each other. Some kind of fox Pokémon was running around in circles, saying something about wanting to be a bolt of lightning. A bird Pokémon was sitting on a nearby tree, seemingly throwing sand to pester and annoy mons. Machop guided me to the store, which was manned by a chameleon around my height.

"That's Kecleon. He runs the stores, and is part of the Kecleon Network."

Kecleon Network? "Uhh… what's that?"

Kecleon butted in. "The Kecleon Network is a high profile network of Kecleons spanning the entire planet! We all keep in touch, and make sure to keep our prices all the same! We also keep the currency identical around the world, so you can thank us for being able to use Poké worldwide!"

"And I assume Poké's money here?"

"You'd be right on the money, haha!"

As Kecleon laughed at his own pun, Machop bought some items he said we'd need.

"Apples are good for when you get hungry. Oran Berries heal most wounds when you consume one whole. Ethers should give you the energy to use your moves more…"

He talked on and on about various different items and their uses, but eventually I kind of spaced out. I snapped out of it when he said it was time to go.

"Go where?"

"We're going to the capital, duh! My parents said it was my job to take you there, so let's get going!"

I blinked a few times. "We're going already? Ugh… fine."

Before we left, Machop went back to the Dojo to say goodbye to his parents. We walked back to the entrance of the Dojo, and while he was saying goodbye, Medicham looked at me for a second.

"Gligar? I've got something I'd like to try."

I perked up. "Huh?"

"Come on inside for a minute."

I did so, and she showed me a crystal ball.

"I also work as a fortune teller. I believe it to be good luck to tell someone's fortune before they go on any outings. Would you like yours told?"

I gave it some thought, and decided there was no reason not to. "Sure, why not?"

"Then let us begin."

We both stood still. She stared at the crystal ball for a moment, before holding her hands up to it and expending a bit of psychic energy. The ball began to glow, and became a stunning blue color with a hint of red.

"This means... hm. I don't know what blue means. I believe it might be because you're a human, but the crystal ball seems to show an alternate color when presented with your spirit."

She stared at the ball some more, and sighed. "I think that means I won't be able to tell your fortune. Sorry."

"That's alright. I'll guess I'll get going now, then. Goodbye, Medicham!"

"Good luck, Gligar!"

I bid Hariyama farewell on the way out, and walked up to Machop, who was waiting impatiently at the north border of town.

"Well? You finally ready to head out? I've been waiting for, like, minutes."

I sighed at Machop's eagerness. "I guess so. Let's get going."

I took one last look around Dojo Town, and then the two of us left for the Southern Pass, heralding the beginning of my journey to the capital, and the beginning of a much grander adventure.

Bit of a relatively longer chapter here, and one with some exposition. Hope you like the direction the story's going! Once again, if you've got any huge issues with the story, feel free to leave a review, and this is Ketchup signing off!