Author's Note: And here we go, the actual transformation plus meeting with the team. Also, some mild foreshadowing that I hope isn't too blatant. Anyway, we'll be picking up a bit more soon, I promise.

Chapter One: Monkey Business

Where…was she?

Hannah groaned, squeezing her eyes shut more tightly as she rolled over. It felt like she was lying on the ground, which was…weird. She remembered falling asleep on her bed, and she still should've been in her room… Even if she'd fallen onto the floor, it had carpeting.

Slowly, Hannah sat up and rubbed her eyes. Something felt weird about her hands, too, now that she thought about it. She blinked, and then her vision focused.

All right, she was definitely outside. Hannah stared up at the barely-clouded sky above her before glancing down at her hands. Her eyes bugged out of her head—her hands were yellowish and lacked digits beyond thumbs. Then she noticed her feet; they (and her legs) were green. There was something swishing behind her; she glanced back and saw a tail.

What was going on?

Hannah scrambled to her feet and promptly tripped flat on her face. Her heart pounded as she pushed herself back up. This had to be a dream. A really, really weird dream brought on by school stress. Yes, that was it. She'd wake up any minute now and find herself staring at her Algebra textbook again.

Hannah pinched herself—or at least, she tried to. Her awkward mitten-hands wouldn't allow for much more than a sharp clasp. …Nope, she still didn't wake up. She was still…whatever she was.

Maybe if she could find a mirror, or at least some clear-enough water, she could see what she'd turned into. It wasn't a very comforting thought, but it was all that Hannah could focus on right now. She carefully looked around, trying to get a good view of her surroundings. Hannah seemed to be in a wide field. There were a few trees off in the distance, and, when she squinted, Hannah thought she could see a small pond near them.

She padded her way over to the pond, sighing in relief when she saw it was relatively clear. Hannah leaned in for a closer look, taking in as much of her appearance as she could. Large ears, a bushy growth on her head, a tan-and-green body… She was pretty sure she recognized this kind of Pokémon. Hannah knew she'd seen pictures, and she'd heard that some lived on a route not too far from her family's home.

Pansage, she thought eventually. Hannah was a Pansage. But why? How? Could she change back? What if she couldn't be human again? Then what—

Hannah whipped around when she heard voices. There were two more Pokémon approaching the pond, and they hadn't noticed her yet. A small blue dragon and a mostly-black humanoid one…Bagon and Gothorita. They were together, and they seemed to be having a casual conversation. Were they friendly? Maybe she could ask them for help?

But how would she go about that without sounding completely crazy? They probably wouldn't believe Hannah if she just blurted out that she was a human. Finally, they reached the pond, looked up, and noticed her. Hannah must've looked pretty confused—and her thoughts were still a wild jumble—as they looked varying degrees of concerned.

"Are you okay?" the Gothorita asked.

"Yeah, you look terrible." Bagon nodded. "…No offense."

"Er…I…That is, I-I…" Hannah stammered out. "W-where is this, exactly?"

"Oh, boy, this again?" Bagon sighed. "Well, we're not too far out from Post Town. I don't know how you could get lost in such a short distance, but we're going that way anyway. I guess we could help you back if you want?"

'This again?' Hannah blinked at the phrasing. Had he helped someone else who'd gotten lost recently? Gothorita merely gave him a side-glance at that, shook her head, and looked back at Hannah.

"Don't mind Heath. He's not as mean as he sounds, I promise," she said, ignoring the 'Hey!' of protest. "Do you have a name?"

"Er…Hannah. It's Hannah. Uh…it's nice to meet you?"

Well, they did seem willing to help, Hannah thought. Even if they couldn't fix her, maybe she could get some real help in this Post Town place they mentioned. That would be a start, right?

"Okay, Hannah." Gothorita nodded. "My name's Mia. I've been hanging out with Heath lately since I didn't have anywhere else to go. How about you come with us for a while?"

"Mia, come on!" Heath groaned. "She looks completely lost, and you're just going to dump that on her?"

"Oh, please, Heath," Mia sighed. "It's not like we're doing much of anything right now. Besides, Hannah might need someone to show her around."

Well, that was true… Hannah did need some help figuring out where things were… It probably wasn't a good idea for her to be alone right now, either. Until she could figure out what was going on, it would be better for her to stick with someone else.

She still wanted to know what had happened, of course. How had she gotten here? Why was she a Pansage? But…the answers might be here somewhere. And until she could find them…Hannah wouldn't turn down any help, especially when it was being directly offered.

She took a deep breath and nodded. "All right; that does sound like a good idea. Thanks, Mia. I think I'll hang out with you guys for a while."

The Psychic-Type smiled as she went on. "Okay. No objections, then, Heath?"

He shook his head. "I guess not. We might as well… Just keep up with us, okay? Now let's get going. It shouldn't take too long to get there."

"Oh, Heath…" Mia shook her head as well before glancing back at Hannah. "Well, let's get going, all right?"

Hannah bit her lip and nodded before scrambling after them. She still had so many questions, but…

…Well, maybe she'd figure things out soon. For now, she'd stick with these Pokémon and see what she could learn.