Chapter 1: Rebirth
"So how is everything been going with you, girl?"
"Not much, honestly. Just the usual. Having to wake up early to work, and all that, just like you guys do. Honestly, I don't know where I'd be right now if Agatha didn't have this shop"
Aiden, Damian and me were currently on our lunch break, eating a small berry salad each. The Incineroar was obviously enjoying his food, while the Absol ate in a more moderate pace.
"The life of a cashier is surely tough..." Aiden said, rolling his eyes.
"Hey, shut up, alright? It's tougher than restocking, that's for sure! At least I need to know how to talk to Pokémon! You are not even making an effort with the boxes! Your species is super strong by default! Even Damian makes more effort when he does his nerdy math stuff with the store's earnings!"
"It is not nerdy!" The Absol interjected.
"Hi, you three" Agatha greeted while she floated towards us. "I hope you are not fighting each other on your lunch break?" She added, smiling and taken a seat next to us on the bench.
"Nah, just messing with each other" I replied, eating another berry from my plate.
"I was just joking! I know you'd never fight anyone, Ember!" She laughed. "Something that can't be said about our little flaming colleague..."
"Hey, it wasn't my fault that guy insulted my mother! Honestly, he deserved it"
"You know that if you were working at that moment, you'd be fired, right? You are the oldest of us all, you should act like that"
"I know boss..."
We spent the rest of our break talking to each other about what we usually did when we were young and those sorts of things.
"I swear, I am uncertain about what led me to work in this store, but I for sure don't regret it at all! It may be a small store that is trying to compete with the others, but it is my store, and I would not give it up for anything! Not even if it was reduced to mere rubble!" Damian passionately yelled.
"Calm down, Dami! You'll jynx the store and Agatha will have to close it down!" I laughed.
"Close that store? Not in a million years!" Aiden added. "Boss wouldn't do that even if she were on bankruptcy!"
"I told you that you don't have to call me 'Boss', Aiden"
"Force of habit. This isn't my first job, but it's the first one where the boss is this permissive!"
"I'll take that as a compliment, thank you"
Once we had finished our lunch, the Froslass got up from the bench and looked at us. "Alright crew! It's time to get back to work! The Pokémon that buy our products aren't going to the big department store, and we gotta keep it like that! So let's do this!"
"Aye aye, cap'n!" Damian and Aiden said, making a salute.
"Are you going to give us a motivational speech every time we finish our lunch?" I asked.
"Only when I feel it's necessary" She answered, floating away.
Aiden went first and followed Agatha, but just when I was about to stand up, Damian stopped me with a paw. "What's wrong?"
"I do not know, but my disaster sense is picking up something..."
"You and your Absol senses... What is it this time?"
Damian thought for a few minutes before giving me an answer. "I am not too certain. The only thing I can confirm is that these will come in handy" He said, giving me a pair of Oran berries.
"Aren't these the berries from your lunch?"
"I believe you are going to need them more than me" He finished, walking away.
You know, I'll never understand Absol's disaster sense, but when he says something is going to happen, it always does, so better keep these safe. I thought while following the dark type back to the store.
"Thank you for shopping with us, hope to see you soon!"
That was what my life looked like from Monday to Saturday. Greet a client, get the money when they pay for their stuff and say goodbye. Repeat it for who knows how many times, six times a week.
Some may say it's a boring life, but I prefer to call it 'simple'. I may not be one of those famous explorers, but I'm a cashier, something equally as important. How would explorers get their gear without cashiers?
If only I knew how drastically my life would change...
"Alright, lot! We are done for today! You can go home now!"
Those sweet words of freedom always managed to cheer me up. I picked my things from my locker and headed outside.
"Well guys, I'll see you tomorrow! Have a nice sleep!" Aiden said before waving us goodbye and walking away. He lived in a different street from us, so he always walked alone back home. It was a pity, honestly.
"Well, Mr. Danger, nothing has yet happened. Could it be the time when your sense fails?" I told Damian while we walked to our house.
"Keyword, yet. The feeling is stronger than ever. You got the Orans on paw, right?"
"Yeah, don't worry about it. Why are you so worried anyway?"
"This feeling... I have never felt something this strong before. It is almost making me sick. I am just not keen on finding out that something happened to you"
"And how do you know whatever you are sensing is going to happen to me?"
"...That is a very good point. I'm just worried about you, alright? I suppose you will go to your little clearing place that you always go after work, won't you?"
"Yeah, I'm going there, why?"
"Just be careful, alright? And stay alert for anything"
"Dami, you know I hate fighting..."
"I know, but you may have to if anything happens"
"...Alright, I'll be safe, promise"
The rest of the walk was spent in silence. There wasn't really much to talk about today. Damian suddenly stopped. "Well, Ember. See you tomorrow, alright? And again, be careful in that forest"
"Don't worry, Dami! If anything happens, I won't hesitate to shoot some fire at them!"
Damian smiled and turned to his house. "See ya tomorrow, Ember!"
"See you!"
The streets were full of Pokémon exiting from their jobs and going to their homes. I wasn't one of those. Instead of going to my house, I kept walking until the end of the street, where there was a small forest that surrounded the town.
I made my way through the narrow path. After a long day of having to deal with customers at the shop, it just relieves me to be alone inside of that forest for a bit.
Nothing to calm myself down like a small walk through the forest.
After a bit more walking, I arrived at my sanctuary: A little clearing in the middle of the forest with a river crossing through the middle of it. No sounds from the civilization, only the wind and the rustling of the bushes was heard.
As always, I sat at the shore of the river, letting the water get to my paws. It's the best way to relax, even if it is weird for someone like me.
Look at me, a Braixen who doesn't mind being wet. Maybe I am weird after all.
When I come here, I usually use this time to think about my day and what I would do the next one, like an all-alone therapy session, and that's just what I thought today would be too.
Fate had something completely different for me, however.
After some minutes of just zooming out and thinking about stuff, I noticed something odd with the water from the river. Normally, it was purely crystalline, and you were able to see the bottom of the river, but now, it seemed to have some sort of red tint to it. It was subtle, but it was there.
That color... It looks like blood!
I stood up and realized what this actually meant. This must have been what Damian meant! If there was blood in the river, there had to be someone hurt!
I started running upstream, looking for the source of the blood, and praying that whoever was bleeding was okay.
After following the river, I saw it. Someone was unconscious near the shore, and they were bleeding. I quickly ran towards the stranger and kneeled next to him.
A Lucario. Unconsciouss. That's definitely not what you see everyday, but it's not like seeing someone in this state was normal either. Whoever this Pokémon was, he looked like he had fallen from a really big distance, and hadn't even made an effort to break their fall. I quickly checked for pulse, and surprisingly (and thankfully) this guy had one!
That's when I realized that there were some weird things near the Lucario. Firstly, there was a red and rectangular metallic device. I had no idea what I was, but I had no time to ponder what that was or to look at the rest of the things.
Doesn't matter what those things are now Please, tell me I didn't lose them...
I pulled the oran berries that Damian had given me from my bag and put them in the Lucario's mouth. After a bit of trickery, I managed to make them chew the berries and swallow them.
Heavy silence fell as I waited for any sign that they were alright. Luckily, they began opening their eyes.
"Hello?! Are you there? Wake up!"
"Hello?! Are you there? Wake up!"
Ugh... My everything hurts...
I slowly opened my eyes and looked around the area. Everything was blurry, so I couldn't see anything, but I somehow managed to make out someone or something kneeling in front of me.
I'm...alive?
"Ughhh..."
The stranger let out a sigh of relief and picked up their bag.
"You are alive! Thank Arceus... I thought you didn't make it..."
Slowly, my vision became cleared, and I managed to see the person in front of me. I widened my eyes at the sight as I slowly took in what I was seeing. The person that was in front of me was not a human, but a Pokémon. A Braixen to be more specific. And to top the weird things, she was talking.
My first reflex was to stand up, but the pain in my whole body made me wince, making it impossible to move.
"Woah! Are you alright? Why the sudden jolt? You shouldn't be moving with those injuries of yours!"
H-How is she talking?!
"Y-You are talking! How?"
"What? Did you get hit in the head too hard? Of course I can talk! Like everyone else!"
"B-But you are a Pokémon!"
"So are you! Are you completely sure you are alright?"
I'm what?
Moving my head slowly, I tried looking at my body, but the sharp pain on my neck made it impossible. That only left me with the option to look at my hands.
Those weren't hands anymore. They were covered in blue and black fur, and had a spike extending from behind each of them.
These... these aren't hands! What...what happened to me?!
"I-..."
What an I? Why am I like this? Why can't I remember anything?
A shout from the Braixen took me away from my thoughts and snapped me back to the bitter reality. Slowly, I straightened myself and managed to sit.
"You look like you need some rest...and possibly some professional medical care. Where do you even live?"
"I don't-...I don't know. I don't know what I am doing here. I don't even know why I am like this! I barely remember who I am!"
"That...sounds like amnesia. That explains a lot, actually. At least you know who you are. Do you remember how you got here?
"I-"
Flashes of the sunset appeared in my mind. The girl, the attacks, the cliff, the fall...
"Someone pushed me off a cliff for no reason. Seems like I survived, with some...changes"
"You WHAT?! You got pushed from a cliff? But...why?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure. But it's hard when I'm sitting on the ground, unable to move a muscle"
"At least you survived! Not many Pokémon can share that experience!"
"Yeah..."
She tilted her head at that, but didn't say anything.
"That berry should have done its magic by now. Let me help you" She said as she extended her paw towards me.
I grabbed it and she pulled me to my feet. I somehow managed to stand up, but keeping my balance, however, was a whole different thing.
"Great! You at least can stand up!" She kneeled down and grabbed... "These things were next to you when I found you, but I don't know what they are..." She said, handing me the Rotom phone with its screen completely shattered.
"My phone!" I exclaimed, grabbing it from her paws, and pressing the power button. "Come on, come on...please work!" But even after I pressed it a thousand times, there was no response. The phone was useless. "Goddammit!"
All the while, the Braixen just stood there, eyeing me with a mix of curiosity and confusion. "Umm, what are you doing?"
"I'm trying to switch this thing on! But the fall must have broken it beyond repair!"
"...switch on?"
"The phone! Don't you know what a phone is?"
She shook her head. "You are weird..." She commented, before showing me a few red and white shards. "I found this too. I suppose you will know what they are?"
I squinted my eyes at the shards. The color scheme definitely seemed familiar, and the curved form indicated that it was part of a ball-like structure. Perhaps a Poké-Ball? But the only Poké-Ball I had on me was that of Mudkip's...
...
Mudkip! Oh shit, what happened to him?
I felt my breathing speed up as I remembered the scene at the cliff. That girl... Mudkip tried to protect me and who knows where he is now? I... It's my fault. I should have seen that something was wrong when he started growling at that girl!
The Braixen quickly pulled the shards away from me. "Seems like you remembered something"
"I...I did, yeah"
"What exactly? It may be useful"
"Before I got pushed off the cliff...I was with a Mudkip. He...I don't know where he is, and I'm scared that...the girl that pushed me off a cliff did something to him" Small tears appeared in my eyes, and the Braixen quickly grabbed my shoulders.
"Hey! Calm down, okay? I'm sure nothing happened to him. You have to believe in it, alright?" I took some deep breaths and felt how my breathing slowly returned to a more normal pace.
I finally nodded. "Alright. I just have to hope that he's alright. Thank you"
"Don't mention it" She sighed, letting me go. A long silent pause followed.
"Do you remember anything else?"
Well...I do, but...should I tell her? Is she going to believe that a human survived a fall and turned into a Pokémon? She might think I'm crazy, specially after my little display with the phone and the Poké-Ball. And even though I don't know her, I need to be on her good side for now.
"I...don't. Sorry..."
"Well, the fact that you remembered your friend is something. Do you at least have somewhere to stay? Money? Any other friends? After all the criminals that have been appearing lately, I can't go without making sure you will be okay"
I don't even know where I am now...
"I don't. I have no friends, no money, and nowhere to stay" I replied, looking down. It was then when I realized the severity of the situation. I was stuck in who knows where, in a body not my own, and with no money to spend. How was I supposed to survive?
"Do you at least know somewhere I could sleep at? Anything! Even if it's just the worst place in the entire world! Please..." I pleaded.
She probably expected something of that sort, but for the face she made, she didn't think I was that desperate. Her expression changed to that of thinking.
What can I do? She said there were criminals! I can't sleep in the forest! I'm sure that I won't survive an attack knowing that I can't defend myself! What to do? AGHHH! Why did this have to happen to me?!
The Braixen finally turned around. She looked at me, as if eyeing me and sighed.
"Listen, I don't know you, and you don't know me, and the way you act is really weird and creepy, but I won't be able to sleep knowing that I left someone that has lost his memory with no shelter at all"
She extended a paw to me. "You say you have nowhere to stay? I'll give you a chance. How about I put you up until you manage to remember anything or find somewhere to live on your own?"
She is going to do what?
"You would do that for me? A stranger you just met and that you just said that acted creepily? I... can't accept that if you are going to be uncomfortable around me"
She sighed again and shook her head. "Yes, I'd do that for you or anyone that needed help. I found you on the shore of a river, bleeding, and even though I really don't like the way you act, I take it's because you are confused. So please, just answer me before I change my mind"
I know that I won't last here. I can't even stand still properly! But is sleeping on a stranger's house the only option I have? And not any stranger, a Pokémon?
I looked at her.
Knowing that the other option is dying here, might as well take it.
"Alright, deal. You are willing to let me into your house? I'm willing to take it" I grabbed her paw and shook it. "Name's Jake, by the way"
She nodded and smiled. "I'm Ember. Nice to meet you, Jake!"
"A fire type called Ember? Original "
"You are one to talk! What does even 'Jake' mean? That sure is a weird name!"
I chuckled.
If only she knew...
"So uh... thanks for saving my life. Probably wouldn't be here without you..." I said rubbing the back of head with my new paw.
"You are welcome! But don't worry about it, really. Now lets head to the village, shall we?"
I nodded, giving a last look at my phone, and followed the fire type through the forest. We arrived at a path that cut through the shrubbery and followed it. Despite being in a new body, it sure felt like if I had been born with it. As if the knowledge of how to use it was inserted into my brain.
"What were you doing here anyway?" I asked Ember from behind her.
"This forest is the place I go to relax myself after work" She said without looking at me.
"Guess today has been different, huh? Go to relax, come back with a stranger behind you"
"Well, let's say I sort of already knew something like this could happen. I have an Absol colleague where I work, and he warned me about some weird disaster that was going to happen. The berries I had were given to me by him"
"It must have been my lucky day then! Thank you again for letting me sleep in your house"
"Please, it's nothing"
There was no more conversation for the rest of the trip.
After some time, we arrived at what looked like the outer part of a town, with its small buildings and houses. Each house was made with a combination of wood, rocks and other materials. The path we were walking on also turned from dirt to cobblestone.
Woah... Did Pokémon do this? It's so amazing! I can't believe this is real. How did they do it? And am I even still in Hoenn? This definitely isn't in any map I know!
Ember seemed to notice my interest in the town and commented. "You like it, hmm? Unfortunately, I can't give you a tour now. It's starting to become nighttime and I have to go back to work tomorrow"
I saddened a bit at that, but I obviously understood it. If they have built homes, why won't they be able to work?
It makes sense. If you are a Pokémon, you can't live from being a Pokémon trainer. There are a lot of things I should ask Ember. But how am I going to explain the purpose of those basic questions to her? Surely 'I have amnesia' doesn't work for everything.
The street were we passed was full of small buildings that I assumed were houses. We also passed in front of a medium sized building with a small hanging sign. However, the text in the sign was illegible. No matter how hard I tried, those letters didn't make any sense to me.
"'New Hope Town convenience store. All you need in just this building'. Here's where I work. Do you not know how to read?"
I shook my head. "It's not that..."
She didn't seem to dwell to much on it, however. "You sure have a strange amnesia. Come on, if we've seen the store before we saw my house it's because we didn't take the same path I took before I found you, and we are in the wrong street. We are a bit far from home, so let's keep going"
We continued walking for a bit around the street. The small houses were huge in number, and I almost felt like I was in some sort of rural town. There were a few Pokémon walking around, and even some small ones running around, playing. It was just like a human city.
We stopped in front of one of the houses, and walked closer to the door. The building was almost fully made out of wood, and the front of it was full of small potted plants and small berry trees.
"Here it is. Home sweet home!"
"Aren't you scared of accidentally burning the whole thing down?"
"Not really. The house is protected by a paint made out of Rawst berries, so it's very hard for it to catch fire from, let's say, a Charmander's tail flame"
"Woah... That's clever"
"Yeah, it was a huge breakthrough when it was first made, and it's renewable too! Now, where did I put the key..."
She started rummaging through her bag and eventually found a small wooden key. I didn't know what I was expecting, but she simply inserted the key in the lock and opened the door.
She turned around and gestured me to get inside, not before noticing my dumb stare. "What, never seen a lock before?"
"Of course! It's just...I wasn't expecting something that familiar after all I've seen..."
"What have you seen? Isn't any of this familiar to you? Not even a bit?"
"...nothing"
What I've seen? Well, talking Pokémon living in cities! That's enough to make me expect anything!
"That's a pity... Anyway, let's get inside, shall we?" She said, entering the house.
The inside was rustic. Small wooden furniture filled the inside and electric spheres hung from the ceiling. Not the biggest of the houses, but a house nonetheless.
The weird spheres were the strangest part. Were those the equivalent of light bulbs here?
"Welcome to my humble home! It's not much, I know, but the salary of a cashier doesn't allow me to buy anything much better. Trust me, I tried"
I looked around the whole house. This whole rustic feeling was kinda nostalgic. It reminded me of the good times I had in the small wooden hut my dad made for me and my friends when we were young.
"It's...perfect. Thank you again for letting me stay here. I'll need to find a way to repay you somehow"
She laughed and commented. "You are the first one that describes this place as 'perfect'. And don't worry about it. I don't need any repayment. I wouldn't let you stay in the middle of a forest!"
"But still, there's something I gotta do to make it up to you!"
She gestured me to the sofa where I sat down. My muscles felt relieved. Who would have thought that surviving a fall from a cliff was going to hurt?
"Wait here, I'll bring you something to eat"
"You don't need to bring me anything. I can just go with you and grab it"
"I disagree. Your injuries may be in a better state, but they are not completely healed, so sit down, and wait here"
Without giving me a chance to reply back, she went to another room which I supposed was the kitchen, and brought two apples. She handed them both to me and said "Eat them. You will need to be on the best condition possible for tomorrow"
I looked at the fruits, reluctant to pick them, something she took notice of. "Don't worry about taking both of them. I'll have something else later"
"Are you sure?"
She nodded and, despite still not being too sure about eating them, my stomach said otherwise. I finally picked the apples and tried eating them, but it was a bit hard with my new fangs. Ember sat next to me and eyed me curiously.
"You are really weird. You know words that I never heard in my life, ask questions that should be obvious even for Pokémon with amnesia, and act surprised to the slightest interaction with anyone. Are you perhaps not from around here?"
I almost choked with the last bite of my apple. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you are carrying some weird device in your paw, and seem reluctant to let go of it even after confirming it's useless. You called it a word I didn't even know existed, and let's not forget the shards. You remembered something when you looked at them, so clearly they have something to do with you. And also everything I said before. Are you perhaps from another continent?"
I looked at her.
So she knows something's up. There's no way I can tell her that I'm human, but I can't hide it forever. And I need to go back home someday.
"Y-Yeah! I'm not from around here"
"I already knew that, but from where exactly?"
"Ummm..."
"You don't remember, do you?"
"No, I don't" I nervously chuckled.
"Well, don't worry about it. For now, I'll bring you something to cover yourself with tonight"
She stood up and went to another small room which I guessed was her bedroom. Before she entered though, she stopped and turned towards me.
"Would you mind staying still until I'm back? You are still a stranger in my home and...well..."
"You don't want to take any risks, I get it. Don't worry, I won't move"
Ember smiled. "Thank you. I'll be right back"
So she doesn't fully trust me yet. It's only natural. After all, I'm just an amnesiac that's acting weirdly.
I took a look at my broken phone, trying one last time to make the screen light up. Obviously, it didn't work, but as Ember had said before, just throwing it away felt...wrong. As if I was throwing away the last memory of my human self.
"Alright, I'm back. I grabbed some blankets for you"
She left them on my side and sat again beside me again. "Thanks for keeping your word, Jake. Also, I forgot to tell you, but I only have one bed, which means that you will have to sleep here in the sofa"
"Sure, I don't mind..."
Ember took notice of my tone and how I was looking at the phone. "Is something wrong? You've been looking at that thing in silence for a while"
"No, it's just..."
"You are nostalgic, aren't you? But you don't know about what exactly. You don't remember your home and that thing you have is the only remain of it. That's why you don't want to throw it away, even if it's useless"
"Well...kinda, yeah"
A pause. We stood in silence for some time, not knowing how to continue. "Ember" I finally said.
"Yeah?"
"Hypothetically speaking, what would you do if you woke up in a whole different world, in a body not your own?"
"That's a...weird question, you know?" She awkwardly laughed. "But I guess my first step would be...find a place to stay? Where did that question even come from?"
I sighed. "You think I'm weird, even crazy, don't you?"
"What? What do you mean?"
"I'm just a stranger you found half dead on the shore of a river, stripped of his memories. You saved me just because that's what you thought was right, and even offered me to sleep in your house, ignoring every single red flag that pushed you back"
"Where are you trying to go with this?"
I left the phone on the table and looked her in her eyes. "I'm not who you think you are"
She raised a brow. "What does that mean?"
"I... don't know how you will react, but there's something I need to tell you. I won't be able to hide it forever"
I could swear she was starting to sweat, but still didn't move from her seat. "Hide what? Don't tell me you are an outlaw!"
"Wha- Of course not! I'd never steal a candy even from a little kid!"
Ember visibly relaxed. "Alright then. What is it then?"
"Alright, seeing what I've seen so far, it may sound like I'm crazy, but even then, I trust you not to tell anyone about it.
She nodded.
Here it goes.
"I'm not a Pokémon. I never was. I am a human. I somehow turned into one after getting pushed from that cliff"
Silence. For what fell like minutes, no one said anything. At least, until Ember bursted out with laughter.
"You really got me worried! 'Human', he says! That's a fun one! Humans are not real, you know that?"
I awkwardly laughed. "Yeah..."
"Now tell me, what's what you really wanted to say?" She asked when she managed to calm down.
"I don't...have anything else to tell you"
Her smile faltered, and a frown appeared on her face. "Alright, the joke is not funny anymore. Can you stop and tell me what you wanted to say? I really need to go to sleep soon"
"What the- What do you mean?! I'm telling the truth! I am a human!"
"Wow, you are way crazier than I thought. How do you expect me to believe something like that?"
As if on que, the phone I had left on my table vibrated and the screen lit up.
"Yes! It's on!" Without turning to look at the Braixen beside me, I quickly picked it. The clock stated that it was around 17:30, something that was obviously inaccurate, as I saw the Sun sink into the horizon a few moments ago. The next thing that grabbed my attention was the battery percentage: 3%.
This couldn't be more perfect!
"Alright, you want proof? Check this out!" I said, trying my best to unlock it. That's when I realized that I now only had three fingers. After many frustrated attempts, I managed to insert the correct code and the phone was now usable.
"Woah! What's that? How are you doing that?" Ember asked, looking in awe at the bright screen.
"I don't know. I'm not a human, am I?"
Her face grew into a frown again, and mine into a small smirk. When I looked back at the phone, the battery percentage had decreased down to 2%. That was a sign that the battery was broken, and that I didn't have much time.
"Quick! What's the best way to make you believe me?"
"What? I-I don't know! Maybe...uhh..."
I have no time for your stutters!
I quickly trapped on the galery app and then on a photo of me and my Unovan friends.
Hilbert, Cheren, Bianca... I miss you all so much...
I quickly shook my head. 1%. "Quick, take a look at this!" I yelled, tossing the Braixen the phone, which she caught in the air.
Her face immediately went pale the moment she saw the photo. Then, the phone switched off with the small icon of the empty battery popping.
I sighed. "Please, tell me you saw that! There's no other way I can prove to you that I'm a human!"
She didn't respond. "Ember?"
Her head slowly turned towards me. "Y-You... Those images... You are a..."
She leaned back on the sofa and put a paw on her forehead, her eyes looking downwards. She looked overwhelmed.
"B-But it can't be! Humans don't exist! They are legends! And you are one of them? One of those monsters?! But you haven't done anything to me! It can't be..."
I sighed again, this time, it was from shame.
I should have kept my mouth shut. I blew it.
"I'm sorry, Ember. I didn't mean to...scare you? I don't know how you are feeling... Anyway, I think...I think I should just go. Thanks for saving my life again"
But before I could stand up, the fire type grabbed my arm and stopped me from moving.
"Don't you dare move a muscle" She simply said.
We stood in silence for a long while. Ember seemed to be too busy thinking about what to do next, and I didn't have anything to add.
"What's the big deal anyway? Is seeing a human really that bad?"
"YES!" She snapped. "Humans are supposed to be a legend! And sorry to break it to you, but not good ones! Humans are supposed to be heartless monsters that try to enslave any Pokémon they come across!"
"Enslave?! Not all humans catch Pokémon, and yeah, some of them enslave them, unfortunately, but most of them are nice people"
She looked at me. A piercing glare that denoted even less confidance in me than before.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I know I didn't seem trustworthy before, even less now that you know I'm a human, but you gotta believe me! I don't want to hurt you or anyone! I just..." I sighed and leaned back on the sofa. "I just want to go back home with my partner. I never asked to be here. I wanted to live a normal life, but no! A stupid girl decided I had to die, and now I'm here!" Small water drops appeared in my eyes. "I want everything to go back to normal..."
Ember's angry expression faded into one of worry. After some minutes of just looking at me, she loudly sighed and leaned back on the sofa too.
"It's fine, Jake. I believe you"
I immediately turned to look at her. "What?"
"Yeah, I believe you. You don't seem to be lying to me, and let's say that whatever you showed me proves that you really are a human after all, so... I trust you"
"Really?"
She nodded. "But even like that, you'll have to live your own life once you can, okay? I can't let you in my house forever"
"I understand! Oh my god, thank you so much for believing me!"
"It's not like I have any other choice... Denying it would just be lying to myself" She put her hand on her forehead. "And I was one of those 'mons that didn't believe in legends... Sorry for calling you crazy before"
"It's nothing"
The room fell silent for another long time. After a while, Ember decided to speak again.
"Listen up, Jake. I'll give you this warning. Don't, and I repeat again, do not tell anyone about your origins, understood?"
"Why? Are humans treated that badly here?"
She didn't directly answer that.
"You are lucky that I was the one to find you. The legends that talk about your kind are almost always not nice at all, and they are believed by a lot of Pokémon out there. And most of them, are not exactly open-minded. If they found out, some of them wouldn't have hesitated to kill you or throw you in a cell for your entire life"
What?! Do all of that, just because of legends?
My optimism from before vanished in an instant, and Ember seemed to catch that. She sighed again and looked at me, her expression from before long gone and replaced by one of assurance.
"Luckily for you, Jake, you stumbled yourself upon one of those 'mons who decide whether someone is bad, not from legends, but from their actions. And I don't take back what I said before. I trust you, and I'm sure you must be a good guy. And you being a human won't change that! Even if I'm still trying to assimilate it..."
I sighed with relief once again. "Thank you, Ember. It really means a lot to me"
"You telling me something like that means a lot to me too. You are very trusting, you know that?"
"I can be, yeah" I grinned. "Does that mean you won't kick me out?"
She shook her head with a dumb smile. "No, you dork! Of course not! I can't let a human run around the world aimlessly! But you'll have to leave someday, as I already told you before"
"I can't thank you enough, Ember. Not just for giving me a place to sleep, but for understanding my situation too. I'm glad I got to meet you out of all Pokémon I could have met"
"Same with you, Jake. Now I know why your name is so weird... I could have stumbled upon a human that actually wanted to hurt me! He could have used one of those capsule-like devices on me, like the legends say!"
"Capsule-like devices? You mean Poké-Balls?"
"I don't know how they are called, but I know they normally are...ummm...red and white?"
"Ember, the shards you found next to me are from a Poké-Ball, you know that?"
Her eyes widened. "What?! And you didn't tell me?!"
"Hey, relax! I couldn't have used it on you anyway. It's already claimed..."
"You know what? I don't even want to know what you mean by that"
The conversation was interrupted when she suddenly yawned before looking through the window. The Sun was almost completely gone from the sky.
"Alright, human, it's time for us to sleep. I have to work tomorrow and finding you can't, and won't change that! Don't worry, I think I have a way for you to pass the time. You can grab as many covers as you want. Make yourself comfortable"
She stood up and walked towards her bedroom. Before closing the door, she flipped a switch and the orb above me turned off.
"If you need me, I'll be here, ok?"
I nodded and laid down on the sofa.
"Goodnight Ember"
"Goodnight Jake"
She closed the door and left me alone in the now almost dark room. I grabbed a pair of blankets and covered my body. Who would have thought I would need blankets while having fur?
I closed my eyes and started drifting off to sleep. I wanted to fall asleep as soon as possible and wake up back at home, in my human body, but I knew that was not going to happen. What Ember said still resonated in my head.
"If they found out, they wouldn't have hesitated to kill you"
Kill me.
After what happened today, that pair of words is not that scary anymore.
And with that, the darkness took over me.
END OF CHAPTER 1
God, I am really glad I'm rewritting this story. It really needs it.