Author's Note Thingy: Alright! You're still here! Enjoy the first chapter!

Chapter 1: The Journey Begins

0 Deaths

Déjà vu feels weird. I know that's an obvious statement, and anyone who has felt it can agree with me on that, but I know something that trumps it. Having déjà vu, but with a few of the major details changed.

For instance, let's say you're saving Professor Birch. He's being cornered by a weak Pokémon that probably couldn't do much to hurt anyone, and you're the only one who can help. So you pull a Pokeball from out of his bag and save the day. He congratulates you on a job well done, and gives you the Pokemon you used to save him, everything's hunky-dory, and you begin your quest. Now let's say that happens again in the exact same way, nearly word for word. That's the déjà vu. However, the strangeness comes from when you replace the Treecko you used to save the professor with a black Charmander and the Zigzagoon terrorizing Birch is now a lavender Sentret. It's really an unnerving experience. Because it all seems so much the same, but there's one or two things sticking out like a sore thumb.

But sometimes you have to overcome the strangeness to be a hero. "Alright, so what do you know again?" I looked back down to the scanner that I got from the bag.

"Attacks: Horn Attack/Poison Sting"

What? Horn Attack? With what horn? Well, it was worth a shot. After all, there was a black and pink Charmander in front of me. Anything was possible. "Charmander! Hit it with a Horn Attack!"

Without wasting a single second, the Charmander began to charge at the Sentret. As he made his way to him, a shining light appeared around his forehead. It was bright and I could hardly see it, but it began to look like a horn was shaping on his forehead. The intensity of the light wasn't very strong, but it surprised me enough to make me look away for a moment. When I turned my head back, the Sentret was on the ground, preparing to get back on his feet. There wasn't a horn on Charmander's head. What?! Then how did it use Horn Attack? Was it improvising? After getting back up, the Sentret hit the Charmander with its Pursuit attack, but the Charmander was unfazed.

I wasn't sure if I believed my eyes the first time around, so I tried to make it happen again. "Hit it with another Horn Attack!" He immediately charged at the enemy. I kept my eyes on Charmander's brow this time as he cried out and collided with the Sentret. It was definitely there. There was a horn on that Pokemon's forehead. And it look Led as if it were made of light. Whatever it was, it faded away quickly. Looks like it was literally created for the sole purpose of using the attack. So, that's pretty awesome.

The Sentret was knocked to the ground next to the professor, not getting up any time soon. The Charmander turned to me with a wide smile and an open mouth, as if he were expecting an applause. Professor Birch stood up and wiped his brow. "Woo…thanks! You really helped me out there. Say, why don't we head back to the lab, and we can discuss it there….erm…..Fossil?"

"Yep, I'm the new kid who moved in earlier today." It's always nice to feel welcome to a new neighborhood. Just knowing that someone knows your name helps more than you'd think. Also knowing that you saved someone's hide helps, too.

"Alright! Well, away we go!" he said as he left the scene. Suddenly, I felt something tap my leg. I looked down to see a smiling black Charmander looking back up at me. I wasn't going to lie. He was pretty dang cute. I took one more look at him to make sure that I wasn't hallucinating his color, and I returned him to his Pokeball.

As I followed Birch back into town, he started to discuss with me a whole speech I had already heard before, just with one word changed. "Okay, so I suppose you're looking at this like I'm some sort of pathetic nut who would get scared by a Sentret. I mean, yeah I know, Sentrets are the weak ones, but clearly no one knows anything about these things! Have you seen a Sentret use Pursuit on its prey before? Yeah, it seems weak at first, but-" At this point, I had already phased out what Professor birch had to say and had my eyes on the PScan. I wanted to see some more information on this Charmander, just to see what it would tell me.

"Charmander- Lv 5

Type: Psychic

Ability: Serene Grace

Nature: Hasty"

Yeah yeah, I'd already seen all of that. What else was there that I could figure out? I fiddled around with some of the buttons until another screen showed up.

"CURRENT STATS

HP: 23/23

Attack: 8

Defense: 8

Sp. Attack: 9

Sp. Def: 13

Speed: 11"

That was more like it. More technical stuff. So, from what I gathered, this was a pretty fast lil' bugger with some nice defenses and decent attacks. Definitely a nice partner to start a journey with, so long as Professor Birch makes the same offer as he did last time I experienced this.

"So, Fossil," the stout man said as we entered the laboratory. "I've heard so much about you from your father. I've heard that you don't have your own Pokemon yet. But the way you battled earlier, you pulled it off with aplomb! I guess you have your father's blood in your veins after all!" Alright, so far he was following the script just fine. "As thanks for rescuing me, I'd like you to have th ePokemon you used earlier."

I tried my best to act surprised, like I did the first time. "Oh wow! Really?"

The professor chuckled. "Why, of course! I don't see why not?"

"Sweet!" I exclaimed as I let the Charmander out of his ball. He greeted me with a happy cry. "I think I'm gonna call you Freddy!" I stated while smiling back to the Charmander that smiled at me. I didn't see why not. Freddy was a fine name. I guess he looked like a Freddy to me or something. And it seemed like Freddy agreed with my choice, because he let out another happy cry when he heard me come up with it.

As I headed out the door, I heard Birch call out to me. "Hey Fossil! My kid, May is out on Route 103 studying Pokemon. It might not be a bad idea for you to go see her!"

I didn't need him to remind me, since I probably would have met up with her eventually, but I'm glad he reminded me. "Alright! No problem!" And with that, I was out the door.

The trip to Route 103 was just as wild as the rest of the day has been. It started off normally. I stopped by the house and showed my mom the new Pokemon. She acted like the color of it wasn't the weirdest thing ever. She told me my Trainer Card came in the mail. I had a look at it. That's when things started to get weird.

A lot of the stuff on my card was all the same. It had the same picture of me. You could see my messy black hair and tan skin. You could see my brown eyes and you could see my usual apparel which was an unbuttoned red flannel button-down with a navy blue T-shirt underneath. The strangeness of it all came from the bottom left hand. In that bottom-left corner, taunting me, was a logo for Ikol Inc. It wasn't even that creative of a logo. It could literally be typed out. Like so:

I K O L
N
C

But what was it doing there? Was it just a way of reminding me that I was a part of Bizzarrolocke? Was it some kind of sick power play? Was it identification? Who knew? I just knew that it would get weirder when I went through Route 101.

And boy did it get weirder. There were blue and orange Carvanhas just floating through the tall grass shooting bubbles and Igglybuffs (albeit with normal colors) shrouding itself with electricity and hurdling itself toward Freddy with volt tackles. We say a sky blue Ledyba shooting fire from its mouth. Naturally, this was all incredibly confusing for me, but Freddy just shrugged it off with no reaction to the colors or the moves. I guess we were living in a world where he was just used to it.

Oldale Town was normal enough. The Pokemart attendant offered me a free Potion, which I graciously accepted. There was still that weird guy who was trying to trace the footprints of some rare Pokemon. I didn't have the heart to tell him that Pokemon don't wear Reeboks. Either way, it was way funnier for him to find out on his own. I liked to guess when exactly he realized. Was it a gradual "Okay, hold on, this is it starting to look like a shoe…" or did it come to him all at once when he decided he was going to name the new Pokemon "Adidas"?

And the way up Route 103 was relatively normal, too. I didn't encounter any Pokemon that were willing to give me any trouble, so I didn't have to deal with that. I had to tell Freddy to be careful near the lake, though. I figured that the flame on a Charmander's tail still couldn't go out, or else it would die. Regardless, we made it up the hill just fine to where we would meet May.

Of course, you have to balance more normal with more weird. I stood there at Route 103, and everything seemed normal except for one major detail. May wasn't there. I was positive I was in the right spot. I was at the top of the hill right next to the tree that split into two branches about six feet up. It was unmistakable. I remembered it so clearly, which is what made her not being there so strange. Did she get flamethrowered by a Ledyba and die or something? Where was she?

Then, all of a sudden, I heard a voice. It was a feminine voice, but it wasn't May's. It was a little deeper and much smoother. I wouldn't call it sultry, but it was very pleasing to listen to. It may have been pleasing to me because the voice was singing. "Once I rose above the noise and confusion, just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion. I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high." My head jerked around trying to find the source, but to no avail. I only got a vague direction, but it echoed through the trees. "Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man. Though my mind could think I still was a madman. I hear the voices when I'm dreaming. I can hear them say."

I had found the source of the voice. It was coming from the tree that split six feet up. From behind it walked a girl wearing a olive green hoodie. The hood and her long red bangs covered a majority of her face, but I could see freckles on her and a lack of makeup. She continued her ballad. "Carry on my wayward son. There'll be peace when you are done! Lay your weary head to rest! Don't you cry no more." After singing, she began to make guitar sounds to match the guitar solo of the song. Kind of ruining the suspense and all, but I had to admit, it was a cool enough guitar solo that I had to agree with her decision.

Halfway through her improvised and dramatic air guitar solo, she caught me watching and stopped immediately. It was a shame, too. I was her only fan. She cleared her throat and removed the earbuds from her ears. "Pretty nice song, isn't it, Fossil?"

While her rock ballad struck a chord with me, I had to ask the important question first. "How do you know my name?"

The mysterious girl chuckled. "Would you believe it if I said I guessed?" After a brief silence, she followed up. "Okay, probably not, but whether you believe it or not, I know lots of things that you're just dying to know."

I was already annoyed. "Then why don't you tell me?"

She laughed again. "Where's the fun in that? Listen, how about this? You and me, we can have a fun little battle together. What do you say?"

"I was supposed to battle May here."

"Oh, you think you know what you're supposed to do? I suppose you also think that Charmanders are supposed to be orange."

This stopped me right in my tracks. This is all just as weird for her as it is for me. Well, maybe not as weird because she apparently "knows things", but I digress. After a moment of thinking over her point, I responded. "You said you wanted a battle?"

The girl pulled a Pokeball from her pocket. "I'm game if you are."

Freddy was already out of his Pokeball when we approached Route 103 and was already in a stance to fight when he heard something about a battle. Meanwhile, the hooded girl in front of us threw the ball up into the sky and said "Go! Slakoth!" The Pokeball broke open to reveal a light blue Slakoth. At this point, I had more or less expected there to be something wrong with these Pokemon, but it was still strange to see.

I hardly had to say anything, but I went for what felt natural. At least as natural as a twenty minute companionship could be. "Freddy, use your Horn Attack!" Charmander didn't waste a second as he charged the lazy sloth and rammed it with the light on his forehead. Slakoth flew backwards a fair amount.

I'd expect maybe some sort of "Oh no!" or "I'll get you back for that" or "Slakoth are you okay?" from any Trainer, but not another laugh. I was sort of afraid that maybe she had inhaled something strange next to that tree. "By the way, I don't think I mentioned this. I thought you would figure it out for yourself, but my Slakoth has Cute Charm, which means your little Freddy has fallen helplessly in love with my dear Slakoth."

I groaned. "I prefer my action without the romantic subplots."

"Really? I wouldn't have guessed it," she said with a snicker.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh nothing, except that according to how you seem to be acting, I may have a bit of a Cute Charm of my own," she teased.

My felt my cheeks turn red. I didn't have time for this. "Freddy! Hit the Slakoth with another Horn Attack!" I waited a moment. This was odd. Usually Freddy would be halfway through completing the move by the time I finished saying it. "Freddy, is everything okay?" I looked down to see that Freddy's cheeks were just as red as mine. Good lord, the Cute Charm was working. So far not so good.

"Awwww looks like the little Freddy has a crush! Well, if he's ready to take his feelings to the….next level…Slakoth! Use a lick attack!"

Ew.

After saying that, the Slakoth crawled over to Freddy and dragged her tongue over Freddy's face. I winced from, the sight of it, but it appeared that Freddy was doing a little more than that. He convulsed slightly every so often. I recognized the symptoms immediately. He was paralyzed. Great. Paralyzed and in love, what could possibly go wrong here?

My breathing started to get a little heavy. Freddy and I were in hot water. And on top of that, didn't the tape say that if Freddy fainted, the Pokemon Center wouldn't be bringing him back? We had to act quick. "Freddy, come on! You have to snap out of it! Horn attack!" That time I thought I saw him breaking out of the love spell for a moment, only to be too paralyzed to move.

"Hmm…oh well," the hyperactive girl giggled over my Pokemon's struggling. "Slakoth! Another lick attack! Oh, and friendly reminder, Fossil. These licks are super effective against Psychic types like Freddy."

"I know," I replied, fumbling through my Bag. I didn't know how low Freddy was getting, but I didn't want to take chances. I pulled out the Potion I received from the salesman in Oldale Town and sprayed Freddy down with it. I got on my hands and knees. "Hey Freddy, it's looking pretty rough out there." He tried to pull away from the medicine, wanting to get back out and fight. "Hey, hey, hey!" I exclaimed, pulling him back in. "Listen, I know that you're hasty, but you know what, I'm being hasty too, making you keep going strong with Horn Attack. So here's the plan. We can be hasty all we want, but we're going to do it the way that makes us win. Do you understand, Freddy?"

There was a moment of silence between us. A time of waiting. Maybe it was a time of reflecting and understanding. Maybe it was just paralysis. A few seconds later, Freddy nodded. "Great, now let's do this," I said encouragingly, spraying him down with a Potion.

"If you're gonna keep me waiting forever, let me know in advance so I know to bury myself here," the mysterious girl complained.

I ignored her comment and gave the order. "Freddy. Poison Sting." I prayed to anything listening that this would work. Fighting past paralysis, love, and the lack of experience using a new move, but apparently someone was listening, because out from the Charmander's mouth came a barrage of needle-shaped purple stingers all firing at the unmoving Slakoth. While it didn't appear to hit very hard, it wasn't the pure power we were looking for. We were looking for Serene Grace to do its job.

Suddenly, the sloth started to hack and wheeze. It worked. Slakoth had been poisoned. The hooded girl realized it, too and her panic was not hidden. "Slakoth! You need health back!" She took my example and shuffled through her bag looking for a Potion. Unfortunately for her, she came out of the bag empty-handed. "Alright, that isn't too much of a problem! I'll just take the health. Use Mega Drain!"

Slakoth began another slow crawl. This one was slower because of the weakened state it had been put in. In its laziness, it latched onto a paralyzed and unmoving Freddy and dug its claws in. Freddy cried out in some pain, but he knew he could take it. He just had to wait. His Special Defense was high enough. The battle had come down to both Pokemon's health draining away and the victor would be the one who fell over last.

It was a tense few moments that felt like years watching the poison sap away at the life of the Slakoth and seeing it try to find nourishment through Freddy and failing at making a profit. Every so often, Freddy's forehead would flash slightly, trying to break through with a Horn Attack to try to get whatever advantage he could. It was all too tense until the Slakoth fell to the ground. Freddy did it.

Despite her loss, the girl still smiled. "Well, that was one heck of a battle you gave us," she said as she pulled a smaller bag out of her bag. "Here you go!" she threw the bag at me as I was trying to put Freddy in his Pokeball. "It's a bag of five Pokeballs, so your Bizzarrolocke challenge begins now. Remember that you can only catch the first Pokemon you find on a route. Have fun, and remember not to die, big boy." With that, she flirtatiously blew me a kiss and began to walk away.

I couldn't stand for this. How did she know about Bizzarrolocke? How did she know my name? What was going on? Where was May? But there's one question I really wanted answered. "Hey! What's your name?"

She gave one final laugh. "You can call me Disc!"

"Disc?"

"Well, you call yourself Fossil, don't you?" She put a pair of earbuds in and walked away. I was left alone with an injured Pokemon and a bag of Pokeballs as I heard the sound of singing slowly fade away.

"Well you're a real tough cookie with a long history of breaking little hearts like the one in me. That's okay, let's see how you do it. Put up your dukes. Let's get down to it…."

Author's Shenanigans: Yeah! Chapter 1's done. I like this character way too much for my own good. But yeah hope you all like it.