Chapter Text
Prologue
...
....
......
Where....
Where am I?
Jade thought, regaining consciousness. She blinked a few times, attempting to adjust herself to the light. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and groaned. What is this place? she thought.
She seemed to be in a shallow pool of water, but it didn't feel... Wet. She observed it acted like water, but strangely didn't feel like it. It had no temperature, and no texture or density about it. Jade stood up and started walking forwards. She didn't understand why she did, she just felt like it was necessary. As Jade was walking, she started taking in her surroundings. It was a pink, misty place. Suddenly, Jade's ears were pierced by a high pitched ringing. Loud, constant ringing that seemed to pound against her eardrums. Ringing that never seemed to stop. In fact, instead of stopping, it got louder. Higher pitched. It got to the point where the noise made her dizzy. So dizzy, everything seemed to fade.
And that's when she heard it.
"H-Help!" a voice cried.
Scenes started to flash before Jade's eyes. A pink pokémon ran with all its might. Its expression was scared, an anxiety of death written all over its face.
"Someone, please!" it cried in desperation.
Jade soon found out why; a Hydreigon was chasing it!
The Hydreigon snarled viciously, showing all its sharp, deadly teeth. Its blood red eyes were slits, their fur bristled. Suddenly, the dragon lunged itself at the pokémon, jaws open wide, ready to kill.
Then everything was black. Jade opened her eyes, only to be on her hands and knees. She sighed, knowing that everything was alright.
Jade was wrong. She looked in the non-water, which started to waver her shadowed reflection into something different. Her head started to shift, a spike shifting out of the back of her head. Her jawline became thinner, and two oval like tusks grew out of the sides of her face. As the transformation happened, the silhouette's reflection started to become colorized. When the transformation was finished, it was revealed that Jade had turned into an axew! Her spike had two circles on both sides, the same color as her primary. Jade's collar was smaller than usual, and her pupils were black instead of a darker shade of red. She yelped and fell backwards, startled by her new form.
That's when Jade woke up.
Ch. 1 - The Awakening of Jade Connors
GAAASP!
Jade's eyes shot open. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she frantically looked around the room. Just a dream, she thought, calming down.
"I thought you'd never wake up!" a voice rang.
Startled by the sudden interaction, Jade yelped, "Wh-Who are you?! Sh-Show yourself!"
"Hey, no need to freak out!" the voice said, walking into the room. "Here, let me introduce myself. I'm Tepig. Or Elliott. Personally, I prefer Elliott, but if Tepig makes you more comfortable, then so be it."
Sure enough, he wasn't lying. There before Jade stood a fluffy tepig. They had a tuft of hair/fur on their head, with red dyed ends. The tepig had chest fluff defining the head, and a deep blue scarf on the right shoulder. Jade rubbed her face in utter shock as she stared at the talking pig.
"What's wrong? Skitty got your tongue?"
Jade shook her head and laughed, "Hah! A-A t.. t..."
Elliott gave a confused look. "What's... What's so funny?" they asked.
Jade propped herself back up and replied, "Y-you're a pokémon. Pokémon don't talk."
"You're a pokémon too, aren't you? A-Are you sure you're okay?" The tepig asked, looking concerned. "I-I mean, I did find you pretty beat up, so maybe..."
Jade sighed, removing her hands from her face. "Yes, of course I'm okay. Plus, I'm-" Jade stopped, finally catching sight of her hands.
"You're... What?"
"I'm green." Jade muttered in disbelief.
Elliott chuckled and sat down. "Yeah, dummy, of course you're green. You're an Axew. Axew are green." he said, shaking his head, "are... Are you pulling my leg or somethin'?"
Jade shook her head, "I..."
"Whatever. Well, I can't keep you here forever, so, where're you from?"
Just as she was trying to phrase her response, a loud wailing noise from outside interrupted both of them. Elliott frowned and said, "Hold that thought."
He walked over to the window beside Jade and peeked out. Elliott then flicked his tail and looked at the axew. "Seems as if a Mismagius is upset out there for some reason."
Mismagius? Jade thought. Well, I guess I am In the pokémon world. I suppose there obviously would be others.
"... And watching it is entertaining, yes, but getting involved- I mean, helping would be better." Elliott said, smiling. "So what'da say? Will you help me investigate?
Jade, who was obviously distracted and lost in thought, muttered, "yeah..."
The tepig smiled with delight. "Come on, then!" he said.
"Wha-What?" Jade said, finally coming back into reality.
Elliott rolled his eyes. "How hard did you hit that head of yours, Axew? Do I need to teach you how to walk?" he joked.
Jade didn't appreciate the remark very much, but decided not to say anything and just go with it. At first, she was a bit wobbly standing up, especially with a tail now attached. One wobbly step after another, Jade made her way towards Elliott. Maybe I did hit my head pretty hard, she thought, frowning.
Elliott couldn't help but laugh at the poor, disgruntled creature. "You are going to have to learn to walk again!"
Jade huffed angrily, "I am not!"
Tepig rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he laughed, "just meet me outside once you learn to walk again. We don't need to attract too much negative attention."
Jade grumbled irately at his comment.
Elliott trotted outside smugly, looking back once at Jade before leaving completely.
Jade stopped trying to walk for a few seconds and took a break. I should know how to walk, she thought, Maybe it's the tail throwing me off. Maybe instead it's supposed to help me with balance a little. Yeah, that's it. Instead of letting it help, I'm fighting against it when I shouldn't be, Jade figured.
Taking a deep breath, she decided to try again, this time not fighting against her tail. Sure enough, when she started walking again, it was much better than before. Sure, she stumbled over her feet at times, but Jade figured it was just her getting used to her new body.
Now it was time to meet Tepig.
Jade stumbled her way out of the building and to Elliott, who was talking to the local officer, Arcanine.
"Sorry kid, but Mismagius is really upset right now, and we don't need to upset her more." Officer Arcanine said.
"But we can help! I swear! We-"
"No means no. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is."
Elliott growled. "Fine," he said, "could you at least tell me what happened?"
The officer mumbled something, then lowered down to look Elliott in the eyes. "Listen," he said in a low, gruff voice, "I'm not supposed to tell you, but..."
"Yes!" Tepig cheered.
"Hush!" Arcanine hissed. "As I was saying... I'm not supposed to tell you, due to safety and orders, but I think, personally, you can help."
"Really?" Elliott whispered.
"You did say you were a team, correct?"
Elliott paused a second, then confidently said, "Yes. Yes, we are."
"Well, you see here..." the officer said, looking around to see if anybody was watching, "Mismagius here was getting chased by... Something. Anyways, she and her child, Misdreavus, fled into a Mystery Dungeon to get away from whatever was chasing them. They somehow got separated - probably by an uncivilized 'mon - and got lost. Mismagius made it out somehow, but unfortunately for Misdreavus..."
"They didn't make it out." Elliott finished.
"Right." Officer Arcanine nodded. "And the police aren't going to do much. The teams do all the work."
"And that's why you're trusting us with this?"
"Exactly."
Just at this moment, Jade walked up to the duo. The officer straightened up and said, "Ma'am, this is a crime scene, and-"
"Don't worry, she's with me." Elliott assured.
The arcanine looked over at Jade. "Is this true?"
"Yuh- Yes sir."
The officer nodded and looked back at the tepig. "The dungeon is called Ragged Mountain. It's north of here." he said, motioning towards a pathway. "Follow that path there. It'll lead you to the entrance."
"Thank you!" Elliott said, turning towards the road.
"I'm counting on you Team...."
"We haven't decided yet," Elliott replied.
"Alright, I'm counting on you, Tepig and Axew!"
The two acquaintances both nodded and headed towards the dungeon.