Chapter 1 - Dawn

'Okay, fine. I admit it.'

7:46 am, August 22nd, 2019

The warmth of the morning sun's rays on my face comforted me as I woke up, especially considering the dream I had had that night. "Oohhh, what a horrible nightmare…" I murmured as I slowly turned onto my back. My memory of it was already becoming foggy, but I remembered that it felt so painful, like I was literally dying in more ways than one. "Wait-" As I opened my eyes, I noticed that I wasn't in my room, but instead in my parent's bedroom. 'Huh? Why am I here?' I wondered as I slowly looked around. I raised my arm up to check the time, and…

"Wha-"

I came face to face with a grey, furry limb. One that ended with three long, sharp, blood-red coloured claws. My eyes traced it backwards, where it was connected to a large tuft of black fur. In turn, the tuft was coming from a slender, grey-furred body. Where my torso was supposed to be.

'N-No way.'

For the second time today, I shot up and threw a blanket off me. Bad idea. There's a mirror positioned directly across from the foot of my parent's bed, and it was there that I got a full view of… something. In the reflection, there was a grey, anthropomorphic… Wolf? Dog? No, Fox was the most appropriate. Looking down, I saw a pair of digitigrade legs with the same set of red claws at the end, and long red hair extending close to the tips of the feet. The hair was coming from the creature's head as the largest ponytail I had ever seen. The sight of this creature jogged my memory. I was all too familiar with it - It was the first shadowy figure I had seen in my dream last night, which I was already beginning to doubt was actually a dream.

But the one thing I didn't see in the reflection was anything resembling my old self.

A shriek escaped my mouth as my heart began to speed up again. I felt sick. As I watched the reflection, the creature copied every move I should have been making. After all, it was me. 'Who knows about this?' It was then the door to the room opened and my mother walked inside. "W-What's going on!?" I asked through short breaths. She didn't reply, instead, she swiftly walked up and knelt next to me on the bed. Tears had begun to well up in her eyes as she embraced me in a hug. "Oh, Jason," She said. Though I returned the embrace, I was confused. She sounded like she was… Sorry for me? Like she already knew? "Here, come with me." Upon a closer look, I noticed she had a tired expression on her face. She mustn't have slept at all last night.

I lowered my feet off my parents' bed and gingerly tried to stand up. Unsurprisingly, I barely had any sense of balance and had to lean against the nightstand. "Need help?" I heard my mum ask. I nodded. She gave me her hand, and I slowly began to take a few steps using her as support. It was difficult; the small area of contact between my feet to the ground and the awkwardness of having digitigrade legs made it hard to even stand up, let alone walk. But eventually, we made it to the kitchen.

My dad was sitting at the dining table on his phone. He too had the same bagging under his eyes as my mum did. "Hello, Jason. Good to see you awake," He said.

"Hey, Dad," I replied. When he only sighed in response, I looked at him puzzled. It wasn't the reaction I expected to say the least. He's usually a pretty light-hearted guy, so I thought he would've said some witty response.

I felt my mum tapping my shoulder. I turned around to see her showing me a news article from the BBC on her phone. My eyes widened as I read the headline. 'BREAKING NEWS: 30% of the world's population transformed into Pokémon.'

'So this is a global issue. It's not just me, that's… good… at least I'm not alone in this.'

I continued reading. 'At approximately 3:35 this afternoon, an unknown phenomenon occurred in which reportedly 30% of the world's population was transformed into creatures from the hit media franchise Pokémon. The cause behind this is currently unknown. The British government is urging citizens to stay calm and avoid contact with those affected.'

'Okay, I think I have the gist of it now.'

A bolded line caught my attention as my mum scrolled through the article. 'We have confirmed that those affected are unable to speak anything other than their species name.' I felt my heart drop as the words branded themselves in my head.

'O-Oh. The… they can't understand me. That's why they responded like that…'

My mind immediately turned to the memories I had. My heart only fell further as I heard my laughter, my jokes, my conversations with loved ones. At that moment, I knew. Every experience I'd ever had in my whole life could never be replicated. Each memory slowly faded, bit by bit, until they weren't mine anymore. Sure, they were in my head, but they were husks that belonged to someone else, like looking through old photos not taken by you. 'Will I ever get to live through those again?'

I didn't realise how close I was to crying until my mum snapped me back out of my wistful imagination. 'Nonono, don't… don't go, please…' I felt a tear escape, even through my tightly shut eyelids.

"Jason. We'll always be here for you, and always love you, no matter what. I promise," She said softly. I timidly opened my eyes and smiled at her, rubbing away my tears. 'T-They'll care? Less about what I look like and more about who I am?' My thoughts were all but confirmed when she gave me another hug, which I quickly returned. "Anyways, you should get some food." Feeling much more reassured for the future, I nodded to her and headed to the counter to make my standard breakfast of buttered toast. I pulled two slices from the bread bin, put them into the toaster and turned it on. While the bread was cooking, I paced around the kitchen and thought about my situation.

'Okay, so I, and 30% of the world, been transformed into Pokémon. What a time to be alive. And nobody can understand us either. Hell, I don't even know what Pokémon I am. Maybe I can start from there, but Mum and Dad won't know what I want. It's essentially a language barrier. But from what I know, people only hear the name of the Pokémon that's talking. I just need to find a way to ask them what they've been hearing from me.'

I noticed my mum had left her phone on the counter for me to read, but she'd already left the room. Unsure of how to deal with the communication issue, I figured the best thing to do while waiting for my toast was to read through the rest of that article, and maybe see what's happening in Australia instead of the UK. However, when I tried to scroll, the phone had no response against my claws. I sighed to myself.

'Great. These claws don't work on phone touchscreens. Another problem to add to the list.'

I decided to go back to my room to grab my school-issued laptop, as phones were evidently off the table. I also took a wireless mouse, as I doubted the trackpad would have worked either. I brought both objects back to the kitchen and set them on the counter. I opened the laptop, connected the mouse, and immediately failed to type my password correctly.

'This is… gonna take some getting used to.'

With some focus, I managed to punch in the correct password and log in just as my mum came back. Various tabs of random Youtube videos, Gmail and unfinished homework were still open. "Oh? What are you doing with that?" She asked.

I quickly opened a blank text document and typed in a question. 'Think this might get around the language barrier?'

"Oh, that's smart!" she exclaimed.

"Hm? What am I missing out on?" Dad said. He looked over the laptop and read the line. "Ha, you're clever."

I chuckled quietly as I typed out another question. 'What have I been saying?'

"Oh, you said 'Zoroark' just earlier, whatever that means," He responded. I looked toward my mum for confirmation, who simply nodded in response. 'Perfect.' I opened an images tab and queried for Zoroark. A few seconds later, images of the Pokémon appeared, which I showed them. 'Well, that's me now.'

The toast was finally done, so I took it to the dining table with some butter and a knife. However, when it came to spreading the butter, I could barely hold the knife steady with my three digits. After a bit of time fumbling with the knife, I eventually gave up in frustration and reluctantly settled for plain toast. However, my mum intercepted me.

"Let me do that for you," she said as she took the knife from my hand. "Thanks," I replied, even though she wouldn't understand me. Just human instinct, I guess. I watched as she effortlessly spread a thin layer of butter across the toast. The last time I could remember having breakfast made for me was when I was 11. When she was done, she put the knife in the kitchen sink and left the room.

I decided to find information on my own while eating, so I took my laptop and mouse to the dining table. I checked various articles from news outlets, but they mostly said the same thing, with few exceptions.

'A look into Pokémon types and how this could help us.'
'Chaos in the streets of LA: Numbers reportedly over 90%.'
'Pokémon, what Congress has to say.'
'Global heatmap of transformation percentages.'
'What are they saying? People desperate for answers.'

I focused on an article published by the ABC, which would hopefully have more information about Australia. Since it would likely be repeating information, I scrolled randomly through it, only stopping to read key points or excerpts.

'It is assumed that less than 20% of Australians have been affected by the event last night.'

'Well, that's less than the average. I do wonder how most people reacted here, considering it did happen at midnight.'

'The PM is among those transformed. Our sources claim that he has become a Kangaskhan, a Pokémon based on the kangaroo…'

I silently laughed to myself. 'HA! That's actually kind of fitting. Still really funny, though.'

'...as a result, he has been replaced by the Deputy PM.'

'Aww, fair enough. Must be a tough job, to be pulled into that position and have to deal with everything that's going on.'

'All Pokémon are to be treated as extremely dangerous with no exceptions.'

'Huh. I feel like I should be mad at this, but it makes sense. Most Pokémon have really powerful abilities on their own. Oh God, and then there's the moves. A lot of people who got transformed aren't going to know what they're capable of until they actually do something, worse still if someone gets hurt. I imagine that their power flares up with stress, and stress is definitely at an all-time high right now. Speaking of abilities, I wonder what a Zoroark can do?'

'Hungary and Chad have reportedly fallen into anarchy.'

'Wow. Just wow. Didn't expect to learn today that two countries collapsed over a few hours. How many more are gonna follow suit?'

'Scientists are unsure of what has caused the event. No testing has been authorised due to public backlash.'

'Oh for- Of course everyone's gonna get mad. Even if we're all desperate to find a 'why' for this, Pokémon are still seen as people. R-Right?'

'Many governments are considering the implementation of the WHO exclusion zones, where Pokémon are prohibited from entering.'

My blood briefly began to boil. 'Seriously!? Is there something wrong with them!? Do they not see their own people as people anymore? For everyone's sake, I really hope this doesn't catch on.' A link was also highlighted within the line, which I opened. It led to an image of the WHO's suggested exclusion zones. Many major cities and populated regions were coloured. Most notably, the entire country and surrounding regions of Hungary were marked. Exploring the map, I noticed that the entirety of Victoria was marked as clear. Just to be sure, I zoomed into Greater Melbourne and found it free of any exclusion zones. 'Oh, thank goodness. Maybe we are safe here,' I thought relievingly as I closed the map and went back to the article.

'With large populations of the workforce out of action, the global economy will likely be trending downward over the rest of the year.'

'That's unfortunate. The future is gonna be an absolute mess, but we have much bigger problems we're facing right now, so can we focus on that, please?'

'The AFL and NRL 2019 seasons are expected to be cancelled, though no official word has been given.'

'Again, unfortunate, but too bad it doesn't really interest me.'

'In the wake of this event, the following concerts and tours have been cancelled…'

'Blah, blah, blah. How has a news article focusing on 30% of the world turning into Pokémon with no explanation already bored me.'

Midway through reading the article, I heard the door to my sister's room open. I looked up and came into direct eye contact with Katelyn, my older sister. "Uh… hi," I smiled awkwardly and waved.

"Chill out, Jason. I already saw you last night, no need to get embarrassed." I breathed a sigh of relief internally. I'm kind of self-conscious at times, and randomly turning into a Pokémon during the night certainly doesn't help. When she ruffled my long hair as she walked past me to make herself some food, as she usually does each morning, a thought struck me. 'Why is this so… normal? I mean, I know it never will be again, but I thought there'd be more conflict here. Apparently, there isn't going to be any in this house, thankfully.'

Since the news was somehow already beginning to bore me, I opened Discord instead for some levity from my friends. As expected, every server and chat I was in had been flooded with discussion about whatever happened last night. I only skimmed through them before heading to a group chat with most of my school friends. I'd been pinged several times, all of them at around one in the morning from Alex, who I was probably closest to.

'Jason get in here'
'JASON COME ON'
'...you're sleeping then, fine. You're gonna wake up to a world of chaos, buddy.'

I jokingly responded with 'Just woke up, what did I miss?'

Alex was the first one to reply, so I decided to talk to him. 'FINALLY. Dude the world's actually gonna explode or something.'

'Uh, elaborate please?'

'HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED.'

'Nonono, I do.'

'Oh okay. Anyways, it's absolute chaos in the US and Europe, there's apparently riots all over the place, especially on the Pacific Coast. They're saying numbers are as high as 90% there.'

'Geez. I kind of only cared about what happened in Australia. It's not so bad here though, less than 20%.'

'Yeah, and it happened at midnight for us, so basically everyone was at home when it happened. Definitely helped keep things calm.'

'Agreed.'

The group chat suddenly became eerily quiet. After a long pause, it was once again Alex broke the silence. 'Hold it. You got transformed, didn't you?'

In one message, he had managed to fill me with more dread than I had ever felt in my life. 'How could he know? He couldn't, there's no way.' I swear I could feel my heart in my throat. I really didn't want to tell any of them that I was a Zoroark this early, but I wasn't sure how to reply either.

'Jason?'

'...'

'Did you or didn't you?'

'Did you, Alex?'

'No, I didn't. Jason, tell me what happened or I'll just assume you became a Pokémon.'

The rest of the group chat was pushing me for an answer. After a few minutes of hesitation, I finally told them the truth. 'Okay, fine. I admit it. It happened to me.'

Naturally, most of them went wild with questions and remarks, but I wasn't focusing. I wanted so badly to undo what had just happened, to escape from the situation, but it was far too late. After a few long moments, Alex finally pinged me again. 'Into what?'

Defeated, I typed out 'Zoroark', sending alongside an image of the Pokémon, and let it sit among the countless messages being sent, their words turning into a blur. Finally, I was pinged again, pulling me out of my daze.

'Furry'

I let out an exasperated sigh. This one was from Jake. One of them was going to say that sooner or later. Fortunately, it managed to distract me from my untimely confession.

'JAKE NOW IS SO NOT THE TIME. Thanks for pinning me against the wall, Alex.'

'You're welcome!'

'By the way, did anyone else get transformed?'

'Nah, not that I know of.'

'...you have gotta be kidding me.'

I was quite annoyed at the fact that, somehow, I was the only one who was transformed among the people I knew directly. It made me feel like an outcast. Changing tabs, I noticed a new email had just appeared, which was from the school newsletter regarding the mass transformation. After all, it was still technically a school day. I posted the link in the group chat before reading it for myself.

'Dear parents, carers, staff and students,

Regarding the mass transformation outbreak that occurred last night, as of 8:15 this morning the Victorian Premier has declared that schools will remain open to those who have not been affected. However, we have ultimately decided that the rest of the week will consist of student-free days, although set work will be given on Friday. All students who haven't been transformed are expected to return to school starting from the 26th unless a valid reason is given. For those who have transformed, or will be unable to join classes next week, please contact us ASAP to let us know.

We understand that this is an unprecedented situation. For a portion of our cohort, this will also mean a significant and unexpected change in their lives. However, we urge you all to remain calm and stay alert to any official statements that will likely be taking place over the coming days and weeks.

Kind regards,
Principal Team'

When I switched back to Discord, I was met with very mixed reactions.

'ONLY 2 DAYS OFF C'MONNN'
'At least it's something, there's probably some kids going to school right now.'
'More days please'
'Niceee'
'Jason, you just get to straight up skip school?'
'WHAT'
'I mean, I don't have to I think, but of course I'm gonna skip. Besides, a week off's a week off, heck yeah.'
'Screw you, man.'
'Furry'
'JAKE'

'Yeah, no. I'm gonna get a headache from these nitwits. Especially you, Jake,' I thought as I quickly closed my laptop. 'So what do I do now?'

Since there wasn't anything to do at home, and school was also permanently off the table for me, I decided I would head outside and see what was happening in the world for myself.

Author's notes:

What a rude awakening for Jason here. At least things haven't descended into chaos… yet.

Lots of bold text and some info dumping here. I promise I'll try to keep it as low as possible in all upcoming chapters, since it's kinda unsightly IMO, and nobody likes info dumps. I've tried to break it up by inserting Jason's random commentary or comedic relief for each point, but I'm not sure about it.

BTW if you want immersion, reread the Discord group chat parts but try to imagine that all of the messages have horrible punctuation, bad capitals and make no grammatical sense (lol).

Finally, this marks the end of the initial release chapters. I'm hoping to finish C3 over the next few weeks and publish it by then.

See ya soon! (Hopefully)

Actual word count: 3300
Published October 1st 2023

Index:
'Thoughts/Telepathy'
"Speech"
'Typed/written text'