Chapter Text
Welt did remember he came from another world originally. But he lived his entire life on the Continent. He'd made a home here. He never took a mate, but he still had family. He'd worked hard to build this town and to defend it, this place called Sanctuary. It was proof of the concept that different types of Pokemon could actually live together.
It was good.
There wasn't no conflict. That was impossible, but it was nice to have a community instead of everyone sticking to their own kind and sticking it out on their own.
Welt had been ready to go. He was old. His body was starting to fail. The last thing he expected was to wake up somewhere unfamiliar-
Welt forced himself to take stock of the situation, suddenly realizing with horror how unfamiliar his body was. His joints were all in the wrong places and he didn't have a tail- His ears didn't move and- His teeth were so blunt-
Welt tried to stand up but he couldn't- These legs were so weird- Someone came up from behind and it made Welt tense as he prepared to give the Pokemon trying to sneak up on him a warning- But he faltered. That wasn't any kind of Pokemon Welt had seen before. It was tall, it stood on two legs. It had golden hair on its head and... Some accessory on its face. It was making noise, but Welt couldn't tell what it was trying to say.
The tone sounded... Not aggressive.
Whatever it was, it seemed to be beckoning Welt. But Welt kept struggling to stand up. His body- It seemed to be the same species as this other... Creature? But he didn't know how to stand up like that- He was used to four legs, not two. He flinched at being grabbed, but it was to help him from falling over.
Welt was deposited at- Oh. This is a table. There's food now. Welt dug in. He heard a noise coming from the other creature. Its eyes were wide and it covered its mouth. Welt just stared back before he kept eating. It was good... If really intense. The flavors nearly burned his mouth with how rich they were. He wasn't used to this, even with some of the more creative meat-plant combinations he'd eaten before.
Then it took Welt to what looked like a den. Sort of. The thing that was probably a nest however, Welt didn't like it. It looked too exposed of a place to sleep especially with this other creature here...
Welt crawled over to a doorway and oh! This space was a lot better. Small, dark, and also it had a barrier in form of the door. Better than nothing. So, Welt curled up and shut his eyes. He hoped this was a dream.
It wasn't a dream.
Welt was disgruntled to find that... He was still here. He thought he had died, but he's here in this... Small body. Is he a child? That was terrifying. He hadn't been a child in a very, very long time. His stomach rumbled.
... He should practice using this body. Otherwise, how is he supposed to get food? It took some stumbling, but Welt started to get used to how this body worked. It was weird and Welt sincerely missed his tail that helped with balance. But he figured it out.
Then he looked out the opening in the wall- Oh! There's a flock of Pidgeys. Welt was unsure about this body's voice, but- He tried to chirp to beckon some of them closer. One seemed curious enough and wasn't fast enough to stop Joachim from grabbing it and snapping its neck. The other Pidgeys flew off, but that was fine. One was probably good enough to feed him for now.
Welt was cursing these blunt teeth, making it more difficult to penetrate the feathers and get to the meat. But as he was finally starting to dig in, that other one came in. He made a loud noise then he tried to grab Welt's food from him! Welt growled at him and tried to hold onto it, but it was ripped from his grasp. Welt snarled at him and he jumped for his food. He got it! He scampered out of the room. He needed a place to hide, somewhere he could eat in peace- Oh! There was a space underneath that should be deep and narrow enough. Welt squeezed himself in there with his meal and he resumed his meal.
The other creature was whining trying to get Welt to come out probably. Welt just glared at him with suspicion. He tried to steal Welt's food! If he was so hungry, he should get his own! A hand tried to reach for him and Welt swiped at it. He lacked his claws, but he still had at least some nails... He wished they were sharper, though.
This body was so... Weak. Soft. Helpless. Welt hated it.
The creature was sobbing.
Welt ignored it... At least for now. He ate his fill and left the remains under there for leftovers for later. He crawled out from his hiding place and the creature perked up. It suddenly grabbed Welt, making Welt hiss and back away. It faltered. It pulled out something from its pocket- Then started rubbing it against Welt's face- Welt hissed and spat- But it ended soon. Oh. It was just getting the blood off of his face. Welt guessed that wasn't too horrible.
The creature was still looking rather... On the verge of tears.
It kept making noises. Welt could only stare back. He wasn't given any real hints on what this creature was saying.
Welt curled up on top of one of the comfortable-looking seat pillows? He thinks that's what they are. They have some wood and they're elevated, but close enough. He waited. The creature was doing some weird things Welt didn't understand. Some weird bit of metal he was making noises at.
After that though- Some horrendously loud sound hurt Welt's ears! The creature was holding onto some metal beast that was screaming! Welt hissed and fled back into his hiding place. The creature stopped and desperately tried to get Welt to come out by he refused.
Then a bunch of other weird unfamiliar creatures also showed up! The first one, with red hair- It kept growling at Welt and trying to grab him. Welt bit its hand to let it know that Welt didn't like it trying to touch him. It seemed mad, but Welt was managing to fend it off enough....
This went on for a while, with multiple of those creatures making those weird noises, trying to get him to leave his place of safety. But then... Despite the crying of the golden-haired one, there was one with hair the color of moss. She was waving... Oh! That's meat! Without any feathers or fur on it or anything? Welt cautiously came out and sniffed it. Then he took it and started to eat it.
They kept making noises. They wanted him to follow them. Welt was suspicious... But he went along with it for now. Up until they tried to stuff him inside some metal monster! He hissed and scratched until they dropped him.
But then one of them released a Torterra.
"You're causing quite the trouble, little one," the Torterra said.
"I don't understand what's happening," Welt's voice sounded wrong. Why was his voice wrong? "These- Whatever they are- They keep trying to grab me and take my food away."
"... Little one? Do you not remember?" Torterra asked.
Then Welt was picked up (begrudgingly) and placed on Torterra's back. There was more noise and... As they traveled, Welt curled up and listened to what Torterra had to say.
He said that... These creatures were humans. Welt was a human too. It called him Joachim. Welt corrected him and explained his name was Welt. He doesn't remember being human.
Torterra explained that his individual name was Lime. Lime... A bit of an odd name if Welt was being honest. He didn't question it, though.
Lime said that the crying golden-haired one was his... Father. Welt was a bit shocked at that. Suddenly he felt a bit bad for trying to bite and scratch him. The others were Welt's father's friend. Lime said they were all like family. He remembered when Welt was a baby, even smaller than he was now.
"I don't remember how to be human," Welt confessed. "I can't understand them."
"You'll learn again," Lime reassured him. "You said you were a Pokemon? What kind?"
"I was an Espeon..." Welt said. "I miss it... But this is my life now, isn't it?"
"I'm afraid so, little one," Lime answered.
"I'm not that young, I'm over eighty years old," Welt said with a frown.
Lime rumbled in amusement. "And yet you inhabit the body of a small human child. You certainly do not act like that age."
Welt felt a bit embarrassed and he supposed he had been... More reactive than he normally was.
Lime warned him that the humans were taking Welt to... A doctor? Some kind of healer? Because they thought something was wrong with Welt to make him behave like this. Lime warned him to not bite any more humans. Welt promised he'd try.
But it was hard to fight the instinct when they all started grabbing him.