It felt as if I was submerged in a vat of warm milk. My thoughts were all muddled and I couldn't move my limbs. There were voices speaking, but I couldn't make out anything distinct.

Then suddenly everything came into focus as I heard an unknown voice saying, "Are you sure he…"

"Yes!" said Reese, "How many times—. Oh! Awake kid?"

I opened my eyes to see three people looking at me. "What happened? Where am I?" I asked confused. My head felt as if it was splitting, and my body was all sore and tired. I grabbed my head to stop the world from spinning, but it only aggravated the pain. "Uh…" I whimpered.

Suddenly, there was a berry juice in front of me. "Drink this," the voice commanded. I didn't have the strength to argue, so I sipped through the pipe. Warmth spread through my body, and the drums beating in my head slowly quietened down. "What happened?" I repeated, suddenly feeling disoriented by finding myself in an unfamiliar place with mostly unfamiliar faces looking at me.

"You tell us, kid. Did you see any Pokémon yesterday?" The man on Reese's left asked.

"No, why?" I was confused. Reese had looked ready to kill me when he was dragging me here. Now, he's just sitting at the back, smoking a pipe.

"Ya w're ha'f-mad yesterday, boy", Reese suddenly spoke, blowing out a puff of smoke, "Look'd like-a feral tried ta do ya in."

"What! What feral?" I asked, "I was not half-mad! I was trying to go somewhere else!" I exclaimed indignantly.

"Th'nk again, boyo. Ya're smart'r than runnin' away half-cocked." Reese snorted, then coughed harshly.

"Careful old man", came the voice of the lady who had remained silent until then, "And why the fuck are you trying to justify the kid. Probably just wanted to impress a girl" she huffed. "Brought me here for nothing."

"Yeah, you sentimental fucktard. Didn't you say he didn't change when you tried to scare him? Don't be blinded by what you thought the boy to be", the other man said.

"Okay okay. Time out", I said, tired of these strangers talking shit, tired of not knowing, tired of everything. My escape had failed, I had been put to sleep by what looked like a Pokémon, and at that moment everything just boiled over, "I don't want to interrupt this riveting conversation, but can somebody just start telling me what's going on!" I didn't realise that I was shouting at the end.

The silence after was deafening. The only sound was that of my breath. The room suddenly felt too small, and everything inside felt too volatile. My ears started ringing as I started feeling a pressure beneath my eyes. Did something happen? My body started stiffening and contracting in anticipation of the volatile unknown—if I were a dog, my hackles would be rising—and my mind started settling into a calm, detachedly analysing everything everywhere.

The man started growling, the sound not human, but more primal, more instinctual. The shadows in the room flickered and started gathering around the woman, slowly cloaking her. Her head was bowed and she was silent, but the silence—it was as if it was sucking in all sound in the vicinity. Reese just looked at me like he was seeing me for the first time.

I started feeling very afraid then. The shadows around the woman was flickering ominously. She raised her head, and fixed me with an unnerving look, with the white of her eyes slowly growing bigger and bigger until the pupil was little more than a dot.

Breaking away from her stare, I immediately regretted it when I saw the other man. The whites of his eyes had turned blood red. He was baring his teeth at me in what looked like a challenge. There was a part of me that was urging me to accept his challenge. Uncontrollable energy welled up inside me. My skin felt as if it was struggling to hold me together. Something within me was roaring in triumph: finally, something new! And even better: a challenge! My instincts bid me to bare my teeth in return.

Wait!

What the fuck is happening? I ruthlessly tried to crush my instincts, furiously gritting my teeth. This had never happened before. Everything within me tried to fight against the logical thing to do: which was to NOT FIGHT. I closed my eyes, breaking the staring contest with the red eyes, and tried to control my breathing.

Suddenly my instincts blared again, much more urgently, and I quickly jumped out of the way when the man—who looked as old as Reese did—hit where I was just sitting, somehow breaking the bed.

"Stop!", shouted Reese. "Lara, Gav, rein yourself in. This is just an uncontrolled child."

"'king" he called out pressing a button on a ball, "A little help here, please?"

The pink Pokémon that had spooked me yesterday came out, and with an audibly deep breath spewed out a ton of water everywhere, turning the two other people's attention to it. Then pink light came out of its eyes, making them fall, almost lifelessly, to the ground. The shadows dispersed. I was hit with a sudden sense of vertigo as the room seemed to pop into its original shape and size.

"Phew! Tha' was close." Reese said.

"What… just happened here?" I asked, half-hysterical. I was out-of-breath, and felt as if I'd spent the last few hours running a marathon.

"That's wha' happens when ya train just a single type o' Pokémon. Fucking amateurs."

"And since when did people start training Pokémon?", I asked sceptically. "Last I heard they are dangerous creatures no one should approach at any cost. And even if you do, how could they do what they did."

Reese snorted, "If ya start believin' what these backwa'er idiots keep preachin', ya'll never git anywh're."

Reese waved his hand offhandedly, "Fucking cowards lost a war w'th the town down south, and decided to cut of' fr'm ev'rywhere. Idiots.", he spat.

Ouch. That was painful. So, all I know of this world is nothing at all. Oh shit oh shit oh shit…

While a part of my mind was going through a crisis, I asked the obvious question, "Then what are you doing here?"

"Retirin'" he said in a short voice.

We fell in an awkward silence then. "Okay…" I said mainly to break the silence, but the followup question just fell from my tongue, "So can you tell me about Pokémon, and why yours has been looking at me creepily since it came out?"

"Not it, she's a she."

"Okay, and how would you know?"

"By askin' her, ya imbecile" Reese replied as if it was the obvious truth.

"Well, excuse me for believing that Pokémon are feral mindless creatures", I replied sarcastically.

"Din't ya u'derstand her yesterday?" Reese replied just as sarcastically, matching my tone exactly.

I blushed. "I was a little distracted with you attacking me." I said hotly. "So, the school was completely wrong?"

"Weeell so-so. If a Pokémon lives alon' all the time, it'll start gettin' feral. They get consumed by their type energies. And most non-feral Pokémon, although they can understand and communicate, they cannot strictly speak."

"Okay. That does not make sense at all, but I'll roll with it" I sighed tiredly. "Been doing that since I woke up" I muttered.

I'd just woken up, but wanted to sleep again. The events of the previous 15-minutes or so were truly tiring, and I was entirely wrung out. I looked at the berry juice that had tipped over when I jumped away in longing. The water that the Pokémon had spewed out had amazingly enough completely dried out. I sat in silence, trying to process all that I had seen and learnt.

"You mentioned type energies. What do they mean?"

Reese just sighed deeply. "Ah kid. I came h're ta escap' it 'll. Not involvin' myself in all this now. I'll send ya off to Lavaridge. Friend o' mine runs a trainin' house there. He'll teach ya. Okay?"

"Do you even need to ask old man? I have been wanting to leave this place since forever. At least I'm getting somewhere." I grinned, getting rather excited. Something just clicked then. "Oh wait! That's why you avoided my question before!" I realised.

"Yeah. Thanks fer lettin' me avoid it", he remarked offhandedly, "Too complicated, an' I'm retired from the shit."

"Now", Reese said firmly. "A couple m're things befor' I wake these shits up. When ya shouted at-us couple min'tes ago, You channeled some untyped energy—ask ol' Moore d'wn in Lav'ridge more 'bout it—it spooked these here. They'd come h're ta check if some feral was dragging ya away. You should thank 'em—" He scratched his chin, "Hmm… Naw tha' I think, it may've'een yer untyped energy that called t'ya…"

"I think so too, yes", Gav spoke suddenly. I was visibly surprised, both by him being awake so soon, and his eyes and teeth looking normal. Reese looked unsurprised though, so maybe he'd known?

"What 'appen'd there Gav? Lara losin' it is expect'd, youn' Ghosts are all that way. Bu' you?"

"Drop the fucking accent Reese" Gav groaned, palming his forehead, "I'm sorry kid. Looks like I've been slacking in my training."

"Sorry doesn't cut it" Reese exclaimed, "Ya damn near killed the boy. And did break ma bed. In return, ya'll take the boy to Moore and convince 'im to teach the kid."

"And", Reese added, "Don't insult my accent. It's the only relic of my seafaring days…"

"Yeah, yeah. I don't wanna hear this story again." Gave interrupted.

"The kid?"

"I'll take the kid, you lazy bastard."

"Then come, help me drag the little lady. Slowking wants to talk to the boy."

"Hmm…" Gav hummed, but got up and carried Lara himself on a Fireman hold and walked off, "No need to strain your old bones bastard: still in the prime o' my life. See ya later kid."

I was incredulous. The dude was just uncontrolled and barking mad a few minutes ago. Now, he looks and speaks like a normal well-adjusted person, as if that episode had never happened.

"Is this common?"

Reese just looked at me questioningly, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean", I amended, "Like turning all mindless and whatever they were, and suddenly being fine?"

"Don' ask me, kid. Din't I tell ya: I'm retired. R-E-T-I-R-E-D. Ya'll learn it later."

I was going to bug him more; it was obvious that he knew about everything, but he just raised a hand.

"Not now kid. She wants to talk. Introductions first. Meet Slowking. She is a water and psychic Pokémon. That means she can tap into the water and psychic energies in the world and shape them to her will. That also means that you are an open book until you learn how to protect your mind."

"Where did your accent go?" I questioned absently as I tried to process the utter bullshit he had just spewed. What next? Power of friendship?

"You should not discard things and values just because they were commonplace or disrespected in your previous world, child"

The voice echoed in my head. I turned and looked at the Slowking who was still vacantly staring at nothing.

"I can see I'm not needed. See ya later, kid." Reese hobbled away, and closed the door.

There was complete silence except for the sound of my breathes as I tried not to panic. I felt incredibly violated. I had always trusted in my thoughts to be private and utterly mine. To see this sanctity being defiled had shaken me even more than my rebirth. Suddenly, a shiver run down my spine. If she has read my mind, then she knows—

"Yes I do. Such a curiosity you are. A tear in the spacetime. Be thankful child, that the tear has already healed well. I would be forced to scramble your mind if it were not."

The strange energy from before again rose in my body. This time I realised it was what Reese had called untyped energy. I was too afraid to be tired anymore; too fearful to be cautious, so instead of pushing it down, I welcomed it, and was going to challenge—

"Don't bother child"—all my energy suddenly vanished, leaving me weightless and empty—"You are too young to be a challenge."

She turned to me, her eyes glowing blue. "Look at me", she ordered. My body locked into place, and I couldn't keep my eyes off her ominous ones. "I can smell the stench of the primordials in you. They have named you Drake of the Meteor Falls. Seek the place after your training."

Drake. As much I wanted to call bullshit, with what her voice sounding like those phone Crystal seers of my previous life, the name struck a chord within me. It was resonance; the energies within me crying out in jubilation for being recognised. I took a deep breathe in, trying to centre myself.

I gathered the energies as much as I could, and declared to myself: I am Clay. A sharp pain hit me. A feeling of dissonance suddenly crashed through my body. I am Clay. I tried again, blinking back tears. I didn't want to lose my identity. I am Clay. The energies were furious, bubbling against me: cancerous. I AM CLAY. My ears popped, and I fell—aware of the world, but not conscious—catatonic.

"You see" Slowking sounded almost sympathetic, "This a new life, child. You will need to embrace it wholeheartedly. Discard your old identity, lest it tear you apart from inside out."

I tried to say something, anything, but my body protested too much and my mind was all muddled.

"Sleep, " echoed through my mind.

I slept.

oOo

Done. Anyone have any ideas how to pace better?