Chapter Text
Marinette felt more dizzy than she ever had as she woke up in an unfamiliar forest. The trees around her were thick and tall, towering over her as she laid on the dirt floor. As she stood up, her legs felt weak and wobbly on her paws. She felt like she had fallen a long way, though she wasn’t sure how that could be possible.
“Wait a minute…” Marinette said aloud. “Paws?” She repeated from her thoughts. She looked down again. She was much closer to the ground than she usually was when standing up. Where her feet were supposed to be, she saw two brown fluffy legs with small paws. She looked behind herself in a panic. Two more legs, and a bushy tail!
“What on earth?” Marinette spied a puddle and ran towards it - galloped, she supposed. The eyes that were reflected back at her were a dark brown, almond-shaped. In any other situation, this creature would have been adorable to her. But...Marinette was this creature, this little brown dog...thing. She was in the middle of a forest. Nothing made any sense. Marinette couldn’t remember anything since she laid down the night before to sleep, a human. She had been studying for a test she had tomorrow in physics, and then….forest.
“Ma’am, are you alright?” A polite male voice said behind her. Marinette couldn’t help but jump out of her skin.
“Ahh!” She cried, startling the figure behind her as well.
As Marinette opened her eyes again, she saw who was behind her. It was a pikachu! Marinette wasn’t the biggest Pokémon fan, she hadn’t watched the show or played the games, but she knew who Pikachu was. Who didn’t, after all? The pikachu gave her a concerned look, tilting its head and scratching its left ear nervously with its...hand? paw? Whatever.
“S-sorry. I...um...I don’t know if I am. I don’t know why I am... this .” She said, gesturing to herself with one paw.
“Why you’re…?” The pikachu was understandably confused. How on earth would Marinette even explain this?
“I...um. I’m not usually a...pokémon?” Marinette looked down for a moment, realizing how crazy this sounded. “I’m a pokémon, right?”
The concerned look returned.
“Yes, of course you’re a pokémon.” The pikachu replied. “What else would you be?”
“A human!” Marinette replied, emphatically.
“A human?!” Pikachu repeated. “You’re clearly an eevee, ma’am.”
An eevee. That’s what she was. The name was vaguely familiar.
“Well, I see that I am an eevee now, but when I went to bed last night...I was human.” She must have been losing her mind.
The pikachu put his hand on one of his red cheeks and smushed it as he seemed to think deeply.
“I’ve never heard of anything like this before. Oh, where are my manners?” The pikachu smiled brightly and offered his hand. “I’m Adrien.”
Marinette shook it, the most familiar thing she had done since she woke up here.
“I’m Marinette. Thanks for trying to make me feel better, Adrien.”
“You’re welcome, Marinette. We’ll uh...we’ll figure this out, I promise.” Adrien was clearly not that sure, but it still made her feel better.
Just as a comfortable silence had begun between them, the sound of rushed flapping wings coalesced in a large butterfly pokémon appearing between them.
“Please, I need help!” the pokémon pleaded, tears in her eyes. “Caterpie, my baby! They’re lost in the woods!”
Adrien and Marinette gave each other a silent look. Even though they had just met, Marinette felt like they were able to say so much without a word.
Adrien spoke first. “We’ll help you find your caterpie, Miss Butterfree!” He ruffled his hair, which made a tuft between his pointed ears. Marinette nodded.
“We’d be glad to help!”
Butterfree’s tears hung in her eyes, but her expression took on a hopeful shine.
“Oh, thank you both! Thank you so much.”
Without another word, the pair followed Butterfree deeper into the forest. Little did Marinette know, this would be the beginning of a miraculous rescue team that would turn this humble world of Pokémon on its head.