Chapter Text
I woke up on a beach.
Bright lights…
My head feels dizzy…
My whole body feels… strange. Fuzzy, almost.
I slowly open my eyes and look around.
“Where am I?”
I push myself up from where I was lying and look around again.
Sand.
Water.
Trees.
Nothing looks familiar.
I don’t recognize this place.
“This isn’t anywhere I recognize…”
I slowly get to my feet.
My legs feel strange underneath me.
I take a step.
Tap.
Another.
Tap.
Tap.
“I really hate being here right now…”
I look around again.
“It’s… unsettling.”
I begin rubbing my hands together.
The feeling of something soft brushes against my fingers.
I stop.
“…What is this texture?”
I rub them together again.
“Why is it so soft?”
I slowly look down.
I freeze.
Paws.
…
Paws.
I stare at them.
My breathing becomes unsteady.
Paws…
“What…?”
I lift one of them.
It moves when I move it.
I turn it over, staring at the strange paw attached to my body.
In the one I already loathed.
“What am I now?”
“Am I more of a depressing creature than I already was?”
Not like I could remember how I looked like before..
As a human.
All I know is that I’m disgusting.
But first what am I now…
My mind races.
“Am I a Pokémon?”
It makes me want to scream.
I try.
Nothing.
No scream.
No familiar voice.
Just a strange sound that doesn’t feel like it belongs to me.
One so foreign that-
I freeze.
I freeze.
“This has to be a dream…”
It has to be.
There’s no other explanation.
I close my eyes tightly.
I wait.
Nothing changes.
I open them again.
Still here.
“No…”
look around desperately.
“I want to leave.”
My voice begins to tremble.
“I need to get out of here.”
I don’t know who I’m talking to.
I don’t even know if anyone is listening.
“Please…”
I lower my head.
“Let me out of here.”
Silence.
I stand there for a moment.
Then a thought crosses my mind.
Who am I even talking to?
I stare at the ground.
“…I’m probably just going crazy.”
I begin to walk.
I don’t know where I’m going.
I just know I can’t stay here.
The trees loom over me as I leave the beach behind.
Their shadows stretch across the ground.
“Please…”
I keep walking.
“Someone… anyone…”
Nothing answers.
I walk farther.
And farther.
The forest seems to grow around me with every step.
Before long, I can barely see the beach anymore.
I have no idea where I am now.
I’m completely lost.
Nothing dangerous has happened.
I’m fine.
I’m completely fine.
I keep telling myself that.
Maybe if I repeat it enough, I’ll believe it.
I isolate myself with my thoughts as I continue deeper into the forest.
Then another thought occurs to me.
I don’t even know what kind of Pokémon I am.
“I wish I knew…”
I look down at myself.
But how am I supposed to find out?
It’s not like I can see my own face.
And even if I could…
I don’t think it would be the real me.
Whatever the real me is.
I hate this.
I hate not knowing.
I hate being trapped inside a body I don’t recognize.
I hate being alone.
But there’s nobody here to help me.
For now…
I guess I have to survive on my own.
I keep walking.
The farther I go, the darker the forest becomes.
It almost feels like the darkness is following me.
I shiver.
“I better find somewhere to sleep…”
Or should I even sleep to begin with.
No I should.
Eventually I spotted something between the trees.
A small opening in the rocky part of the forest.
A cave.
Looks primitive and uncomfortable…
But it should work.
I cautiously approached it and peered inside.
It didn’t look very big but it’s good enough for a night.
I step inside.
The darkness felt strangely comforting compared to the forest outside.
It felt like a place where I could….
Stay.
Forever.
But why sulk in loneliness temporarily when I could do it forever.
Although it already felt great for the creature that I am now.
I settle down against the cold ground.
For the first time since waking up, I allowed myself to stop moving.
My thoughts begin stirring again like a concoction someone decided to cook up one night.
“Why am I here?”
I stared into the darkness.
“Maybe it was…”
I paused.
“Maybe it was fate.”
I let out a quiet and shaky sigh.
“Or just bad luck, perhaps.”
I don’t know.
Either one is possible.
But both are terrible.
I curl up slightly struggling to find a good position to sleep.
“Or maybe.”
I hesitate.
“This is my own personal hell.”
The thought makes me a shiver in a way that was almost pleasant.
I look towards the entrance.
I haven’t found anybody… or any kind of civilization.
Maybe there’s people out there to help me.
Maybe somebody knows what’s happening to me.
No-
They shouldn’t be concerned about me.
I’d be too much of a burden to them.
And I did find someone.
I lower my head.
Maybe they’d be willing enough to carry me as a burden to give me some answers.
I close my eyes.
For now, that’s all I have.
Questions and despair.
And the slim hope that somewhere out there…
Someone is even willing to help me.
Then I went to bed at last.
In the cold and uneasy floor.
But then I went to bed at last.
The cold air stayed with me throughout the entire night.
I barely slept.
Every little sound outside the cave woke me up.
Every movement made me wonder if something was coming.
Eventually, morning came.
I opened my eyes.
For a moment, I forgot where I was.
Then I remembered.
The beach.
The forest.
That stupid creature I am now.
And the loneliness.
Nothing had changed.
I sighed and took a deep breath.
“… I must keep pushing through.”
I slowly got up.
My stomach growled.
I froze.
I hadn’t eaten anything.
Not since I woke up.
“I need to eat…”
The thought alone made me feel exhausted.
I stumbled outside of the cave.
Now that I think about it.
The chances of surviving out here were low.
Maybe even nonexistent.
I’m not fit to live here.
I’m an outcast.
A stranger in a world that doesn’t even fit in their own body.
Comparing to the situation right now being human must have been easier.
At least… I think it was.
I don’t remember what being human was like.
But somehow, I feel like it had to be better than this.
“If I wasn’t a Pokémon…”
I stop myself.
I don’t even know what I would’ve been if I wasn’t one of these little filthy creatures that I am now.
But still…
“If I wasn’t a Pokémon, maybe I’d be living a ‘happier’ life.”
I look ahead.
Instead, I’m stuck walking down an endless path that seems to lead to nothing.
No destination.
No purpose.
Just trees.
More trees.
More silence.
More walking.
The forest seemed to stretch forever.
A never ending wonderland.
A wonderland I could rest.
The tall trees tower over me, their branches twisting together high above my head and blocking out almost all the sky.
I could barely even tell what time of day it was.
Not like I knew what it was to begin with.
The farther I had walked, the more everything looked the same.
The exact same trending patterns.
One tree becoming another.
Then another.
Then another.
Then a-
Sorry…
But it wasn’t just that.
Even the little patches of bushes scattered seemed to blur together to one thing I couldn’t even recognize.
I was already going insane aren’t I?
I can’t tell where I’ve been anymore.
I can’t even tell if I’m walking in the right direction.
The only thing I can hear is the occasional rustling of leaves, the distant chirping of Pokémon, and the sound of my own footsteps.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Eventually, I find something lying near the path.
I cautiously approach it.
Rations.
Food.
Berries.
I stare at them for a moment.
Then my eyes widen.
“Finally…”
I quickly grab them.
It’s not much.
But it’s something.
Something that can keep me going a little longer.
For the first time in days, I feel a tiny bit of hope.
Hope.
It’s such a strange thing.
An abstract idea that people hold onto when they have nothing else.
A reason to keep moving.
A reason to believe tomorrow might be different from today.
Maybe that’s all I’m doing.
Holding onto something that might not even exist.
Then there’s fate.
Another idea people believe in.
If fate really exists…
I look down at the ground.
“Then fate is cruel little thing that is eating away at me.”
Additionally to that, I don’t know why I was brought here.
I don’t know what I’m supposed to accomplish.
But if fate expects me to build a life here…
Then maybe it brought me here just to watch me suffer.
And if I’m supposed to be some kind of hero one day…
They can give up on that idea.
I wouldn’t make a very good hero.
“I’d die.”
The words come out quietly.
Almost casually.
I don’t even feel surprised using that word anymore since probably forever.
Because just maybe that’s what I’m meant to be.
A stepping stone in someone else’s future.
A stepping stone in someone else’s future.
Someone else will become the hero.
Someone else will make a difference.
And I’ll just…
be forgotten.
But I’m fine with that.
I continue walking.
Deeper into this hell that was made for me.
And as I went.
The forest grew darker as I went.
Or it didn’t at all.
I wouldn’t know.
I don’t know the time.
I don’t know anything.
All I know is that I’m slipping.
I continue walking.
Deeper into this hell.
My eyes narrowed.
The canopy above became thinking, making everything just darker and more empty.
Shadows stretched between the trees which made the forest seem even larger than before.
Sometimes I think I see something moving between the trunks.
Whenever I turn to look, there’s nothing there.
Just trees.
Always trees.
What time was it?
I don’t know…
I lost track.
***
Hours pass.
I don’t know exactly how many.
I’ve stopped counting.
I eat when I find something.
I sleep wherever I can.
I walk whenever I have the strength.
And somehow…
I haven’t encountered anything dangerous.
Not even once.
Am I lucky?
Maybe.
Or maybe the world simply hasn’t noticed me yet.
Then…
Rustle.
I stop.
My ears perk up.
Something is moving in the bushes.
My heart begins pounding.
“A Pokémon…?”
I take a step backward.
“Oh.”
I swallow.
“This is where it ends.”
I don’t even know why I think that.
Maybe it’s because I have no idea how to fight.
Maybe it’s because I don’t even know what my body is capable of.
Maybe I’m simply tired.
I lower myself into a defensive position.
“Okay…”
I take a shaky breath.
“Come on, then end me.”
The bushes shake again.
Something jumps out.
A Weedle.
I stare at it.
It stares at me.
“Oh.”
The Weedle charges.
I panic.
I don’t know what I’m doing.
I stumble backward, barely avoiding its attack.
“Wait! Wait!”
It attacks again.
I react without thinking.
I move.
I strike.
I don’t even know how.
The Weedle falls.
Silence.
I stare at it.
It’s defeated.
I won.
…
I won?
I slowly look down at myself.
“I… won?”
The realization doesn’t make me happy.
It almost feels insulting.
Of course I won.
It was a Weedle.
Weak.
Small.
Something like that should’ve have been able to defeat me.
But it didn’t even compare up to me a little lost creature that doesn’t even know how to fight.
But also I didn’t know what move I used.
And I didn’t even know what I was doing.
And I just….
Survived.
I stare at the Weedle for another moment.
“I’m pathetic.”
I turn away.
I keep walking.
Eventually, something catches my attention.
Light.
A huge, blinding light shined through the trees ahead.
stop.
My eyes narrow as I stare toward it.
“…Oh.”
Maybe this is it.
Maybe this is where it finally ends.
A strange sense of relief washes over me.
“How hopeful.”
I begin walking toward it.
Then faster.
Then I run.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
My footsteps grow quicker as the light becomes brighter.
The trees begin to thin.
For the first time in days, I can see more than a few feet ahead of me.
I don’t care what waits on the other side.
Death.
Another nightmare.
Something worse.
Anything would be better than this.
I run faster.
Until finally…
I burst through the light.
I stop.
I blink.
Nothing happens.
I’m still alive.
I slowly look around.
My eyes widen.
The forest is gone.
Instead, an enormous open field stretches out before me.
The sunlight is warm.
The grass moves gently in the breeze.
After spending so long beneath the dark canopy, the open sky almost feels unreal.
The world feels…
different.
Brighter.
Vivid.
Alive.
I stare ahead.
Then I see it.
A farm.
Fields.
A open one at that.
But it’s still something despite its spaciousness.
But I know this meant one thing.
People.
My heart skips.
People.
That means civilization.
That means someone….
I think…
But someone who might know something.
Someone who might be able to tell me what happened or not.
Because I might burden them unintentionally.
But they just might help me anyway.
I take a shaky breath.
For the first time in days, something other than hopelessness fills my chest.
I take another step forward.
“…Maybe.”
Maybe this isn’t the end.
Maybe this is where everything begins.
I look toward the farm.
And for the first time since waking up…
I know what comes next.
Salvation.
WARNING: UNDER HERE IS THE OLD VERSION OF CHAPTER 1 IT’S HERE FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES. IT’S OUTDATED AND DOES NOT FIT MY WRITING STYLE NOW. PLEASE SKIP TO END OF THIS CHAPTER IF YOU WISH TO CONTINUE. (This is only part of a rewrite I’m phasing out. No story will be changed at all just rephrased and structured differently. The following chapters receiving rewrites are 1-4 as of now.)
I woke up in a beach
bright lights…
I feel dizzy….
My body feels fuzzy, “where am I?”
I get up from where I was and I look around me….
Where am I? “This isn’t anywhere where I recognize..”
I began to walk in circles.
tap tap tap
“I really hate being here right now, it feels…. unsettling….”
I rubbed my hands together but that’s when u finally noticed…
that my hands were no more but now they were paws…
“what is this texture?”
“Why is it too soft?”
I look down to notice paws…..
Paws…
Paws….
What am I?
Who am I?
A Pokemon perhaps?
I want to scream but I can’t, because to me this feels like an insufferable dream I cannot escape out of.
I hate this.
I just wish to be let free.
Please, I beg of you! But Who am I talking to?
…
I’m must be going crazy.
I then begin to walk away from the beach just so I can keep my body occupied as if I’m not stressed enough as I’m already am….
Soon enough I noticed a forest which then the trees loom over me while I walk past the beach…. I beg for someone to let me free but nobody came.
So then I walk further and further in this labyrinth….
Luckily there isn’t anything dangerous as of now so i’m completely fine….
Then I began to isolate myself with my thoughts….
Now that I think about it, I have no idea what Pokemon I am…. But so I wish I knew but it isn’t like I can see my face or even tell what I even am and if so I would know it wouldn’t be the true me….
I truly hate this, I have to survive alone.
So of Course,I go in deeper in the forest soon it feels like the darkness is creeping up on me.
the sun begins to dip…
I better find somewhere to sleep.
Soon enough, I finally find a small cave I could rest in, It’s not very big but, good enough for the night, good enough for a worthless creature.
I soon settle In and then I begin to stir in my thoughts.
“Why am I here?”
Hmmm, possibly it was fate or bad luck perhaps, it’s a possibility I am willing to accept.
I soon realize I haven’t found civilization yet, and yet if I do, I possibly could get some answers, at long last I went to bed at last…
cold air the entire night…..
cold
cold
Insufferable air…
Restless sleep…..
I get up at long last after a long time.
I thought this was a dream but nothing of course had changed.
I then sigh and take a deep breath, I must keep pushing through.
My stomach rumbles, I haven’t eaten a single thing yet as of now, I must eat of it’s over for me….
The Chances of surviving here are low to none. So of course, I’m not fit to live here, an outcast and stranger to this place would not survive here.
If you think about it being Human is easy in some ways than an other. If I wasn’t a Pokemon now I would be having a happier life, now I’m stuck walking In an endless path to nothingness.
Now finally Back on the path, on the way, I finally find some rations, something that can instill me some hope for a little more longer for my meager survival.
Now you may not find this important but I’d like to introduce some of my ideas that I hold dearly onto, first is Hope, which is an abstract idea we all hold on too but for me especially it’s a reason for to keep pushing forward in this life of suffering.
But additionally there is fate, another idea people believe in and if that is true…..Then fate is a cruel creature that expects me to have a life here in order to watch me suffer for entertainment, and if I’m supposed to be a hero one day, they should give up on that idea, I would die, so I’d rather be that stepping stone in someone’s future….
For a while I’ve been walking in which I would consider it as a hell especially made for me.
Of course, I have been here for days perhaps? I’ve lost track of time. It’s hard to tell when you don’t have a watch or anything to tell time.
But, up till now there hasn’t Been a single danger that has touched me.
Am I lucky?
Maybe, but sooner or later, out of nowhere I heard a rustle in the bushes.
A Pokemon? Oh this is where it ends….
I ready myself for the worst, the worst possible scenario is my inevitable death! Oh the Pain!
Soon, a Weedle came out of the bushes and attacked me.
Oh this is the part where I die isn’t it?
I fought against it…. Luckily, I won the fight…. Somehow. I barely put up a fight…. Of course me who is someone inexperienced in this practice. But of course, the thing is weak, despicable, and something so weak and talentless couldn’t compare to a person who doesn’t even know to fight…
How sad….
Eventually, I see a huge blinding light. Oh, this must be where it comes to an end… of this small and insignificant life I hold onto…..
How hopeful.
I begin to run to the light.
Tap tap tap.
I make it to the other side thinking this is where it end, the blinding light that shows me to the afterlife, but in reality it’s freedom to the outside..
It’s bright and vivid…
And now appears to be an open field in the middle of nowhere…. But I also spot a Farm, which means people….
People who could save me…. Which now I know what’s next for me….. The salvation for my future….