Chapter Text
“Well, this seems like a good time. It sure took a while, though..." A male voice spoke out to me within the blackness. He sounded strong, like he had a high level of authority. Wait a second, where the heck am I?! I'm definitely awake, but I feel like I'm floating. At first, I thought I was underwater, so I instinctively tried to swim. My mind felt stuck in a heavy fog, unable to make sense of up and down. Things quickly cleared up when I realized that I didn't have any arms or legs; in fact, I didn't have a body at all! The realization sent my mind into a logical spiral. Hang on… If I don't have a body, that means I don't have ears, and if I don't have ea-
“Try not to overthink it; it may be a lot to take in, but I think you'll adjust quite well to what I have for you.” After the voice finished, a white-ish yellow light began to appear, slowly growing in size. It seemed like the voice came from this light, and while it was strangely comforting, it was definitely welcomed. Curious as to what he meant by his previous statement, I wanted to actually see what he had. Somehow, despite not having a body and consequently not having a mouth, I managed to get the question across, not that I heard it... I heard the voice respond though, which was the only way I knew I spoke. “You’ll find out soon enough. I'm afraid if I showed you now, it would raise more questions, which we don't have time to go over.” Not wanting to be disrespectful, I acknowledged, however the heck that works. “Now, I don't want you to freak out when you wake up, so I'll make sure you're in a safe area when you do. Why don't you go ahead and enjoy some rest?” As the light drifted away, so too did my conscience fade. Before I drifted off to sleep, the light spoke one last time, muffled until the light vanished. “I'm sorry, you're al-”
The sound of ocean waves stirred me from my sleep, and a small headache emerged as I awoke. The most notable thing to cross my mind was how sore I was. Well, I have a body again, at least, so that's a start. Not a great one, though... I was on my side when I awoke and found out that the ground was not solid... well, at least not entirely. I open my eyes to find myself on the beach, yet surprisingly close to the shore. The waves didn't reach me, but they came really close. There were some large stone peaks protruding from the sand. Some just stood straight up from the ground, while others connected to form a big arch.
I tried to roll onto my chest and push myself up to stretch my back by extending my forearms. This worked out in my head, but in practice, the whole process felt wrong. I got onto my chest, only to find out my legs were also under my chest with my arms. Shouldn't my legs be stretched out behind me? I look down and find that my chest is covered in a bunch of frosty white fur. Uhh, why is my chest furry? I pull out my hand from under my chest, except it's not a hand. Instead, a teal-blue paw, which faded to white further up towards my shoulder, was what I was greeted with. Amazed and confused at the same time, I attempted to stand up... on four legs. Oh dear, this is going to take some getting used to. Not knowing how to walk on four legs, I decided to just move one foot at a time towards the shore. I didn't have to move very far since I woke up so close to the waves. Looking down into the water as it flowed past my newly discovered paws, I got a quick look at my reflection. Despite the moving water and its refractions, I could clearly tell that I was not a human like I remember being. I had two large ears on my head, which had the structure of a fox, and I had purple eyes with a bright teal iris surrounding the pair of moderately sized pupils, black pupils. Huh, that's a new one; I've always wondered how they actually see... So, am I a Vulpix now? I turned around, as best as I could with such a strange body, and stepped away from the water, one step at a time. Man, it's going to be embarrassing to have to ask someone how to walk...
I took some time to further explore my new body's movement capabilities, starting with the confirmation of having a tail. Well, technically, it's not just one tail... there were six of them. Each tail was independent of the other, both visually and physically. One of the differences that I noticed about the set of tails was the fact that they were straight, though they curved downward a short ways past the root and leveled off to be straight again. Aren't Vulpix tails supposed to curl at the end? These seem to curve a little bit when they're close to the ground, but this is still totally different. They're not even staying in a tight formation either. It's like they're just as scatter-brained as I am... As I recalled the image of a Vulpix compared to my body and noting the altered look, I took a moment to try and move my tails. Somehow, despite not having a clue how to even move my bones or muscles or whatever is in these tails, the movement was not unified, as some tails moved in different directions while a couple obeyed my confused mind. Through the strange, wavy movements, I managed to get the concept down and brought the set of six tails together and started to move them in unison up and down. This feels so weird. Yet, at the same time, it's incredibly fun to wiggle these things around. I don't know how I'm doing this, but it is such a wacky and interesting thing. Before I knew it, my excited mind caused my tails to wiggle side to side. The subconscious movements felt even weirder and they stopped as my mind focused on the strange feeling.
After messing around with my newfound tails, I moved to finding other things my new body can do. As I tested the range of motion for the major parts of my body, I've also come to notice that my new forepaws are quite flexible, being able to reach the back of my head and not just right behind my ears. What felt strange about all of this, though, was the fact that I knew I was a human before, and I recognize that I'm now a Vulpix… with most of my memories intact. The big issue is that I remember almost everything about being a human, but almost nothing about myself personally. Shouldn’t my memory be totally gone or something? Hang on, why am I so calm about all of this? I feel like I should be freaking out right now… And yet… I had a feeling this would happen. Puzzled at myself for my strange peace of mind, I remember what that voice said earlier. Could that be why? Well, it's as good an explanation as any. I sat down and pondered my next move. I should probably explore a bit. Maybe there are other Pokemon around. My thoughts were cut short by a yawn that decided it had something to say. And I'm tired... Well, if my body says it's tired, I should probably listen to it. My tails actually look like they'd be decent pillows. I decided to put my theory to the test as I leaned back and let my body fall onto my tails. This turned out to be a very painful mistake, as the next thing I felt rendered me unconscious.