Chapter Text
“You, who have saved Inaba from utter chaos,” A voice echoed.
“Who? Who are you?”
Avoiding the question, the voice continues on. “We need you again… I call upon you, S..o..u.....j.....”
The voice cuts out, and my ears rang as the world flashed white.
I opened my eyes... where... am I?
Sky… clouds… it seems I, Souji Seta, am...
Falling.
Wait, falling?!
Why am I falling? Where am I? What’s going on?! I screamed, but to no avail; is anyone else here? Am I going to die? I think I'm going to die.
My body… feels so weightless. My vision….going…..black…
I felt a harsh impact… 'My ass is cracked now', as Yosuke would put it. My back hurts, but only a little…? The thing I’m sitting on seems… soft. But it smells bad. In fact, this place smells... grassy. It's kind of relaxing.
Talking about relaxing, I heard a... familiar voice call my name.
“Hey! Hey, are you ok?"
A creature stared down at me, with fire surrounding their figure and something... No, two things were around their neck. I blinked a few times before my vision cleared. Wait. Were my eyes just playing tricks on me, or was it really…?
“H-hey there, uh… Are you ok,” He asked again. “You fell and it uh, looked like it hurt big time..”
The voice. The.. ‘hair’. The headphones. It all clicked into place. Without missing a beat, I replied immediately. “Partner?”
The creature’s eyes widened, staring with his mouth open before replying within record time. “Partner! It’s really you, oh god I missed you, haha…ha.” He smiled a bit, nuzzling me. I nuzzled him back.
I sat up slightly, looking around. What was this? Grass, and trees all around.. Seems like a forest clearing. Below me, what softened my fall was a large glowing mushroom. Convenient. There’ll probably be a me-shaped mark there for a good while. Wait… talking about me… My arm… Why is it grey and stubby?
“Oh, you’ve, uh, noticed too, huh?” Yosuke chuckled nervously. “Yeah uh, we’re not exactly ourselves… I woke up in this body after a super tiring shift at Junes and was extremely confused. At least my headphones are still here, even if I don’t have anything to listen to with it. It’s a comfort item y’know? Wait, shit, I’m rambling, sorry...” Yosuke nervously played with his headphones. I smiled. That’s my partner.
“I’ve been doing a bit of snooping since it seems like I’ve been here for a while longer than you and uh, the people around here… They call me a... Fusion? ‘Quilava’ and… ‘Croakie’? Is that what it was called?” Yosuke tapped his chin a few times in thought. Cute.
"And uh, you look... pretty small dude." He was putting his... er... paw, on his mouth, holding back laughter. Small? I'm taller than him, though.
Wait. I looked at my body again, this time in closer detail. All of me was grey, and kind of smokey - or rather, shadowy looking. I.. I really am a pokemon! I’m a Marshadow! I... it's a bit weird how I know what the name of what I am is.. and, Pokemon. The species that inhabits this world... wait, what? Nevermind, I'm confusing myself. I hopped off the large mushroom. Wow. I really am smaller than Yosuke. I'm not exactly complaining, though. He's obligated to give me piggyback rides now, anyways.
"You think the others are here?" I asked Yosuke. He croaked- wait, croaked? That's absolutely adorable. I could even see a small vocal sac. But his eyes widened.
"I uh, didn't want to think about that," He croaked nervously again while scratching the back of his neck. "because usually they're all involved when we get ourselves into some weird mess that usually involves the end of the world?" That was true.
"We should get looking as soon as possible then." I extended my arm - albeit, short and stubby - to Yosuke. He Hi-fived my hand. Not what I was going for, but still good nonetheless.
"Let's go, partner!"
> And that...
was the start
of the Investigation Team's
adventure in the Pokemon World.