Chapter Text
First, there was nothing.
Then, faded and muffled, she heard voices and saw the outlines of people. She couldn’t properly see them or hear them. Who are they? What are they saying?
Things shifted. She heard the strong but muffled sound of wind and rain. There was loud yelling.
And then silence once more.
So very slowly, as if something weakly crawled across the ground, she began to feel things. She felt her body, her muscles twitching a little. Became aware of her breathing. She smelled grass and dirt. She heard things; the faint sound of a gentle breeze rustling some leaves of a tree nearby. The distant chirping of a bird.
Then her eyes began to open. It took a while for them to adjust to the sudden brightness of the midday sun. As her eyes focused, they confirmed what she already knew.
She was in the middle of a forest. Laying on some grass. Trees surrounded her.
Her body felt…off.
She began to rise, pushing herself off the ground, and she looked down at her…claws? She stared at them for a minute, and then turned her head to look over herself.
She wasn’t a person. She was a pokemon.
Her mind raced with many thoughts, all forming together into pure confusion.
She’s not a pokemon, she’s a human, isn’t she? She remembers being human. She knows what pokemon she is as well, a jangmo-o. Not just a normal one either, but a shiny one.
I’m…I’m a human, aren’t I?
She tried to think back. Tried to remember. But her mind was muddled. Faint silhouettes of people appeared in her mind, faint and unclear voices tied to them. She…couldn’t remember.
Who were these people? Friends? Family? The memories of them felt just out of reach. But trying hard to remember them was just making her head hurt.
She closed her eyes and shook her head. Whether or not she can remember those people didn’t matter right now. How is she a pokemon now? But trying to remember where she was before she woke up…that was also gone.
Her memories were practically completely gone.
“Whoa! Hello there!”
She jumped, her heart pounding hard in her chest as she looked up, seeing a buneary appeared behind some bushes nearby and walked up to her.
The bunny looked over her curiously. “Don’t think I’ve seen you around before. Where did you come from?”
This pokemon is talking to her. She can understand.
…Of course, because I’m a pokemon too.
“I,” she mumbled, shaking her head. “I don’t know.”
The buneary looked puzzled, tilting her head and raising a paw to her chin. “Oh dear, did you hit your head on something? What’s your name?”
Name…I have a name. That I remember.
“I’m Dianne.” She looked at the bunny with a nod.
“Dianne,” the buneary repeated under her breath. Then she smiled. “Nice to meet you! I’m Lulu. I live in a town not far from here, we can go there and get you some help. Not to be mean at all, but you don’t look well.”
Right. I need to do something and not just sit here.
Slowly, the jangmo-o rose on her feet, a bit shaky and uneven, her legs trembling a little.
This was…very odd.
“Whoa,” Lulu muttered, stepping over besides Dianne. She carefully put her paws on her, helping steady her. “Yeah, I think you need help. Can you walk?”
Dianne took a deep breath, trying to focus. She had to adjust to this body. It was so different and foreign, in every way. “I think so,” she mumbled. “But some help would be nice.”
The buneary giggled. “No problem, you can lean on me! Let’s go, one step at a time! It’s not too far from here.”
The shiny nodded, and slowly began to step forward. Moving one leg at a time, she started to figure out how these legs worked and got into a rhythm.
Lulu walked besides her, keeping her paws hovering around her in case she began to wobble or fall over.
As they walked, Dianne thought about everything. Maybe her memories would come back over time. It would be nice to at least remember how she got here. Why was she here? There were so many questions she had, and no one she could honestly ask these questions to.
She glanced sideways at Lulu. The buneary was still smiling, but focused on making sure the jangmo-o was walking well.
…Why did something feel a little off about her?
This is the first pokemon she’s met here and talked to. Maybe she’s overthinking things.
After a few minutes, Dianne could walk a little better on her own, and they reached the town Lulu mentioned. She stopped at the edge of the trees, looking out at the scenery in front of her.
So many pokemon. She could barely keep track of which ones she saw. They were all walking, running, flying, floating. All over. She could hear them talking, having normal pleasant conversations with each other. Some smaller pokemon ran out from a building, all of them giggling as they rounded the corner of another building. Bird pokemon and others flew around in the sky above. The buildings were a mix. Some homes, a couple stores, the biggest building was in the middle of town, and had banners hanging by the front doors and one at the very top.
Dianne felt…overwhelmed. Her stomach twisted a little at the sight of all these pokemon. She suddenly did not want to be here.
“Ah, we got lucky,” Lulu spoke up next to her, and she waved a paw up. “Aqua!”
The jangmo-o flinched at her yell, and she looked around to see a vaporeon had paused in her walk and looked over. The vaporeon then walked over, smiling at them. “Hello, Lulu! And who’s this?”
“This is Dianne, I just found her right outside of town.” The buneary explained. “Can you take a look at her? She doesn’t seem well.”
Aqua then frowned, looking worried. “Oh my. Of course, follow me, right this way.” She turned and walked away, heading towards the building she was originally walking to.
Dianne hesitated before taking the first step into town to follow. All the sights and sounds and smells were still overwhelming. She hoped going into a place would help a little bit, and if she was going to be looked at, that was also a plus.
Lulu walked alongside her, still making sure she didn’t fall over. Dianne glanced around, noticing the other pokemon nearby had seen her. They looked confused and curious, but of course they would be. She’s someone new.
The two stepped into the building and the door closed. There was still sound from outside, but it was a bit more muffled now. A little less overwhelming.
The shiny looked around, realized this was something like a hospital. There were several beds (well, they were piles of hay and blankets technically) lined up in this large room, and several containers around (boxes and barrels). There was another pokemon in here resting on one of the beds, a jolteon. He was curled up and his eyes closed, a large bandage placed on his back.
Aqua stepped over to an open bed, nodding at it. “Here, you can lie down and take a rest.”
Dianne walked over to the bed, raising a foot to lightly touch over the blanket on it. Soft. She slowly climbed onto the bed, with Lulu next to her ready to catch her if needed, and then adjusted her legs until she was lying down on it comfortably.
“There we go,” Lulu muttered, finally lowering her arms and taking a step back.
The jangmo-o sighed, already feeling a little better. This bed was a lot more comfortable than it first looked.
“So,” the vaporeon looked over her. “Lulu said she found you just outside of town. I don’t think we’ve seen you around here. Where are you from?”
Dianne was quiet for a minute. She tried to think back to when she first woke up. See if there was ANYTHING before that. But it was still blank. She shook her head. “I don’t know,” she mumbled, looking up at Aqua. “I don’t remember.”
Both pokemon looked startled.
She was about to speak more, but she spotted something behind them. The jolteon laying nearby had opened his eyes and he was looking at her. But once he noticed he was spotted, he closed his eyes again.
“You don’t remember?” Aqua asked.
Deal with that later, I guess.
Dianne looked at her and nodded. “I only remember my name, and-” she paused. “And that’s it.”
How would pokemon react if I just tell them I’m really a human? Do they know what humans are? Maybe wait on that piece of information.
“Oh, you poor thing,” the buneary muttered, her paws raised in front of her face and she looked so concerned.
…Was she?
Aqua hummed, tilting her head. “May I examine you? I want to check for any injuries or signs of anything else.”
Dianne didn’t like the idea of others touching her, but this was different. She nodded. “Go ahead.”
The vaporeon stepped closer, lifting a paw and poking around at random parts of her body, gently turning her head left and right to take a better look. She asked Dianne to lift her front legs, move her tail, flex her claws.
“Do you feel any sort of pain or soreness anywhere?” Aqua asked.
“My head hurts a little, but not in that way,” Dianne muttered. “In terms of actual pain, I don’t feel anything.”
The vaporeon hummed again, taking a step back.
“So?” Lulu looked at her curiously.
“Well, honestly, Dianne is in pretty perfect health.” Aqua shrugged. “I don’t see or feel any signs of anything on you. And jangmo-o usually have pretty strong heads. I don’t personally believe your memory loss is tied to any head injury, but I wouldn’t totally rule it out.”
Dianne sighed. She wished the exam gave some form of an answer, but there was nothing.
“Since she’s new in town, then she has nowhere to go,” Lulu spoke up, looking over at Dianne. “And I have a feeling you don’t have any money.”
The shiny shook her head.
“Now hold on, Lulu,” Aqua raised a paw in front of her. “Before you go and do that, I’m going to make a suggestion. Let’s have Dianne stay here for one night, just in case.”
The buneary groaned loudly, frowning. “Seriously? But you just said she’s in perfect health!”
“But I want to keep her here just in case,” the vaporeon explained. “If something comes up overnight, at least she’ll already be here and we can help her right away. Ok?”
Lulu sighed, making a show of rolling her whole head along with her eyes, but then she nodded. “Ok, ok.”