David realised he was going to have a bad day when he woke up in an alley. He realised he was going to have a really bad day when the stench hit him and he felt the ground squelch as he shifted. When the sludge he was lying in grew eyes and hands in response to him getting up, it continued the downward trend for how his day was going.

"Oh no no no no, not there not there" David mumbled as he backed away "Just close your eyes and go back to bed". And for a brief moment it worked. Until an inhale brought the smell back. David opened his eyes, matched them with the dark sludge now looking at him and screamed. Sadly for his state of mind, the sludge opened its mouth and screamed back.

From there, things were a blur, David turned and ran away down the alley. The sudden light at the entrance blinded him. He bumped into someone as he stumbled out onto a busy street.

"Arceus!" they recoiled, stepping back but David grabbed the man's shoulder, unintentionally transferring some of the slime stuck to him onto their suit.

"M..m..monster" David stammered, pointing back into the alley and rotating the man towards it.

The man shook David's hand off his shoulder, grimacing when he noticed the state of David and his suit. The suit moved toward the alley, peering in while his right hand moved towards his belt. The alley was dark compared to the street so it took a moment before David was able to spot what was creeping towards the two of them. David backed away further. It was after him.

The man slowly turned towards David, trembling.

"What. It's a small GRIMER! And from your state, one you know all too well." With a scoff the man turned back into the alley and began yelling out "Shoo!" and waving his arms and briefcase above his head.

David stared, shocked as the sludge scooted back into the depths of the alley. He was so surprised he didn't see the man gave him a dirty look before continuing down the street.

"Grimer?" David questioned as he turned, eyes wide and saw a street full of colours, people and Pokemon. This was not his world.

All around people were running back and forth. Pokemon were scurrying about underfoot or overhead. People were riding Pokemon down the main thoroughfare. Even stopping at traffic lights! The road was wide and surrounded by tall buildings spaced far apart. David couldn't see an end to the buildings so it seemed he was in a city, but it was far too open and clean compared to any he knew.

The place was absurd to him, a carnival of colour and looming energy. He backed up against the wall, the travelling flood passed him by, obstruction now removed. David got several looks from the passersby and he stared right back. People were wearing a wide variety of clothes, including a few ornate suits like the man he had grabbed but on the whole their outfits looked more suited for a hiking trail than a city street.

It was only when a small doglike Pokemon took a wide berth from him that David was brought back to the present. David thought the dog was a Dark-Fire type but beyond that he couldn't recall. Thick fur covered its body and grey bonelike protrusions jutted out from its back and joints. To David it was frightening. All David could think of as he looked at the tusk like teeth on the side of its mouth was Attenborough narrating the death of prey animals. The speed and decisiveness of each death.

And now that predator was staying away from him and shaking its snout in distress. The smell off of his clothes must have been worse than he could tell. He needed to figure out what to do. Glancing down it was clear that step one was clearly a shower and a change of clothes. Dark murky patches of slime covered his front and seeing as he had been lying in a Grimer, his back must have been worse. He was wearing loose sweatpants and runners, all in all he was ready to either relax on the couch or play some kick around. These clothes weren't all that suitable compared to the outfits around him. David was beginning to feel a chill as he stood still.

'What can I do?' David thought. Catch a Pokemon? He had no pokeballs and he wasn't about to try to wrestle the Grimer into behaving. Go to the police? He knew they existed in the games but they were always useless against whatever flavour of villains were about. And what would he even say?

'Excuse me, I have been kidnapped and brought to your world. Could you send me home?'

David wasn't sure if this happened in the Pokemon world but back home he would be locked up.

Could he get home? Home didn't have anything resembling teleportation technology let alone the ability to change worlds. While the Pokemon games were incredible, he couldn't remember any world travelling technology and there definitely wasn't anything advanced in that alley. No, he thought. There was no technology that could help but this world had existences unlike his own. Legendary Pokemon. Maybe they could help him. If normal Pokemon could teleport, then Legendary Pokemon could do more. Maybe that was how knowledge of Pokemon came to his world. Someone had come and gone before him.

David smiled. This was a goal, he could work towards this. He straightened and stood off from the wall.

'I have beaten everything in the world of Pokemon many times and I did it all when I was a kid.' He could do this. He… smelled. Okay he needed something smaller to work towards first. A shower. He narrowed down the priorities to a simple 3 step program.

Shower

Pokemon

Find the Legendaries

Alright there were a few kinks and missing steps but it was something.

In the games the first move in every new area was to find that red healing building. David waited for a gap in the people and Pokemon and set off down the road. He got about 20 metres down the road and to a junction before finding a signpost. It had a few street names on it but it was the two signs at the top that caught his eye. They had no words, just a red and blue design of three shapes that together looked like a pokeball. They were also pointing back the way he had come.

"Gotcha." David grinned, turning around. He could do this.

David was still feeling a bit unsettled as he walked but when he was surrounded by Pokemon it was easy to put aside. As each passed him by, he tried to remember its name and type. There were many he couldn't recall. David could only shrug and mark them down as normal types. His favourites were easy to spot but in real life they were.. different. None had smooth edges or cutesy features.

A Machoke and Nidoking that passed him really brought that home. The Machoke was about as tall as a teenaged boy but built twice as thick as any body builder. The strangeness of its proportions were highlighted by its reptilian head with sharp teeth and snake-like head fins. Aside from small exposed red veins of muscle on its arms, its greyish skin held a gleam which reminded him of the shine on plastic or glossy leather. Each step caused its muscles to flex and David thought he felt some vibrations through the ground as it passed.

The Nidoking was a different story. While the Machoke was on the pavement following behind a trainer and held some semblance of normality, the Nidoking walked on the road. It stood as tall as the Machoke but it was much longer. Hunched forward it walked beside a trainer, tail swinging behind it. It must have been about 9 feet tall from its spiked head to thick tail. David wasn't the only one looking either. The Pokemon's ears twitched side to side as its appearance was met with excitement from passing kids and glances from adults.

David was surprised that it was only excitement from the kids. The Nidoking looked powerful but dangerous. Covered in a scuffed plate like exoskeleton, large sharp spikes extending from its body like a mace. These were not the cute monsters he had as a kid.

It made him wonder what they were instead.

The number of large Pokemon in sight only increased as he spotted a large red topped building at the centre of a junction ahead. It was a bright building, clean and metallic looking against the concrete buildings around him. It also looked very similar to the design from the game. Well as much as pixel art can look like a multistorey building. The similarity calmed his stomach anyway.

A constant stream of people walked in and out of the building through the separate entrance and exit. The area between the road and building was full of flashes as Pokemon disappeared into balls by the entrance and others reappeared as the trainers exiting let theirs out. He was a little surprised at the trainers. None of them were kids. The youngest seemed to be a little younger than him which put them in their late teens.

Any Pokemon walking up to the doors were met by one of two security guards. The guards were dwarfed by some of the Pokemon but it was the Pokemon that were shying away or disappearing. A luminous "Pokecenter" sign hung above the doors. The sign gave off a glow even in the morning sun.

David walked up to doors, alternating between weaving between Pokemon and avoiding what seemed to be a takeoff/ landing area between the road and building. Now closer, he could see that one of the guards were not quite as small as they had looked beside the Pokemon. David wasn't a tall man, just shy of 6 feet which left him slightly above average depending on what shoes he was wearing and the right guard towered over him. The guard was one of the tallest men David had ever seen and was quite bulky.

To his surprise the other was as short as he had looked from afar and was of more interest to David. The other guard was a Hitmonchan. A dark cloak hung around its shoulders, matching the dark jacket the tall guard was wearing. The Hitmonchan's tan colouring and wooden mask-like head with 5 raised sections forming a crown made the difference between them clear.

Unfortunately for David, his focus on the guards was matched. The taller guard had his eyes on David and as David walked up to the door. Waved him over to the side.

"Can I see some ID please?" He barked when David was close. The guard was a fair bit older than David but looked healthy? A few grey hairs could be seen in his closed cut hair and his face was weathered but lively.

"I don't have any. Can I speak to someone?" David replied, trying not to rub his arms or draw more attention to himself or his clothes. It didn't work and the two of them were starting to gain an audience. Not that David hadn't gotten a few glances as he walked up to the entrance but being watched and called to the side was different. His stomach was in knots.

"No entry without a trainer licence. Come back later" The guard said and indicated for him to move to the side with a nod of his head.

"I don't have a trainer licence. Can I just go in to talk to someone? I need help." David replied, not moving a step but shrinking inwards. He didn't know where he was, let alone where else he could go. The guard tutted, looking a little exasperated and shook his head before replying.

"Do you have a registered Pokemon on you? We can get your ID off the ball if you've lost your licence." David could only shake his head and respond in the negative.

"I don't have any Pokemon."

"Then I can't help you. There's nothing here for you and everyone is too busy with the tournament crowd to assist with non standard requests."

"I don't know where else to go." David pleaded, seeing his only lifeline disappearing. The guard gave him a look before groaning and having made a decision, turned back towards the doorway and shouted out to the Hitmonchan.

"Box, I'll be back in a second"

"Chan"

With that response the guard gestured for David to follow before walking around the side of the Pokecenter. When they got there he pointed to a similar looking blue topped building.

"Down 5 buildings on the left from the Pokemart is the League Admin Office. If you don't have any ID that's where you should start. It will have the League insignia on it. That's all I can do for you." With that the guard turned and walked back to the entrance, immediately shouting out at some trainer and their Pokemon who were trying to slip indoors.

With no other option or ideas, David waited for the chance to cross the road. He followed the directions and walked until he was the right number of buildings down. David stood in front of what looked like a standard office space barring a large silver mountain logo across the front of the building. He took a breath and walked in.