"Eh?"

I woke up, confused about where I was. As I stood up, I took a quick look around to take in my surroundings. This definitely wasn't my room, if the lush green trees, the damp ground, and the weird animals were anything to go by.

‘What is going on?’ I thought to myself. A tiny gray bird with a red head zipped by right next to my head, giving me the scare of my life. I fell on my butt, my mind racing. I had definitely seen that animal somewhere, but I couldn't remember where. Come to think of it, I couldn't remember much of anything.

I knew I was in my room just a few moments ago, but I couldn't really remember where exactly my room was. I definitely needed to think for a bit; this was getting a bit trippy. I found a large log to serve as a chair and plopped down. Let's see, some basic information. My name is Marco, Marco something.

‘Hmm, don't remember my last name.’

I am 24 years-old. I work at a school, but not as a teacher. Nor a custodian. I think I was...

A social worker!

Yes, I am close to finishing my Masters in Social Work. I work as an assistant social worker while studying. I sometimes hang out with two of my co-workers and get baked after work. I have a girlfriend that is also studying, but she's doing a PhD program. We work a lot while eating dinner, but the last hour of the day is always spent snuggling and talking. In our free time, she likes to knit and read while I prefer cooking and listening to music. Like rap and metal, yes. I also listen to metal as I play games.

‘Which games? Why can't I remember the names? One is a dragon-something killing dragons. And vampires, and another dragon-something. The other... animals. Fake animals that fight and get stronger. Better. Evolve?’

...

Evolve!

Pokémon, I played a lot of Pokémon. And... that animal.

Fletchling, that's the Pokémon. I saw a Fletchling, here. Fuck.

My eyes widened. I had just seen a Pokémon. What was happening? How could I have seen a Fletchling? It's an animal from a game. They're not real. And yet, it looked so real.

Oh, shit.

The sudden realization that I had possibly been thrust into another universe so nonchalantly… Could wait till later. A growling... Dog? Cat? A growling animal was now staring at me hungrily, and I was apparently on the menu.

The red tuft of hair on the brown animal's forehead was very strange, seemingly out of some fantasy story. It was a Pokémon, one I shouldn’t have had trouble recognizing given the amount of times I played the sixth generation of Pokémon. The animal wanting to eat me was a Litleo.

Its eyes narrowed, its growl growing louder. I looked down, attempting to show the creature I was not challenging or threatening it. Its growling grew even louder, almost detracting from the sound of footsteps and human voices.

"Damn, that fucking Ranger didn't have shit on him. Not even a fucking potion. The next one we kill better have something valuable, or else Xerosic will have our asses skinned."

"Oh, don't worry about that. While you were busy battling the Ranger, I went looking through his camp and found a few injured Pokémon and an egg. He'll definitely be happy with that."

"Why would he be happy about a few injured Pokémon?"

"Because they're electric types. Xerosic will definitely want some of these to help with the computers and shit they use in the prison."

"Got it. And the egg?"

"I don't fucking know, it’s an egg!"

The two voices, both women wearing bright red suits, walked out of the bushes that were behind me.

Team Flare.

They looked between me and Litleo before both reached for their belts. The animal released a large stream of sweltering flames at us, one I barely dodged by jumping to the right.

The flames hit a red and white ball, partially melting the sides. Another ball was thrown into the air, opening with a bright white flash. A large bipedal creature, red and yellow flame patterns covering its entire body, landed with an audible thud.

“Maaaarrrrrrr!” it roared out with a sharp, menacing tone.

“Fuck, it roasted Scrafty’s Pokéball,” one of the women growled.

“Magmar, use Low Kick!” the other commanded, using the attack to create a distraction. The first woman grabbed another ball and threw it into the air, releasing a large gray and black dog. It immediately howled, its body gaining a slight red tint for a few seconds.

“What the hell is going on?” I asked myself as I stumbled away from the fight and into a nearby bush. One minute the forest was calm as I tried to wrap my mind around being in the once-upon-a-time fictional universe. The next, literal flames were seconds away from cooking me alive.

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The two women continued their battle against the Litleo, who was mangled up quite badly from the onslaught of attacks. A twig snapped, a sound I barely heard over the yells and sounds of fighting. I turned to see a larger version of the Litleo, a Pyroar. Its red and yellow mane resembling a shield made of fire. It was followed by another Pyroar, this one having a long mane flowing back from its forehead.

They stared at me, their eyes full of wrath. I could only assume it was their child that was being attacked. I said nothing, just closing my eyes and lowering my head into my arms. There was no way in hell I could survive an attack from them.

I heard them continue their stalking, getting ready right behind the two women. As the Magmar and Mightyena continued their brutal attack on the Litleo, the Pyroar both pounced on the trainers.

The male clamped its jaws on one woman’s shoulder, shaking her viciously like a ragdoll until she went limp. Blood was streaming down his jaws, forming a pool right at his feet. He dropped the body into the puddle, blood splashing out. Her lifeless eyes stuck in deep pain and shock.

The other Pyroar blasted a powerful Flamethrower at the other woman, her screams attracting both Pokémon. Once they realized their Trainers were being attacked, it was too late. One had a large chunk ripped out of her shoulder and the other was charred like someone forgot to take their ribs off of the grill.

The Mightyena and Magmar freaked, going on a rampage to avenge their fallen Trainers. Sadly, they couldn’t do much. The two Pyroar were a much better team, using their attacks as distractions in order to effectively take them both down with little effort.

Once the two were knocked out, the Pyroar chomped down on their necks. They dragged the dead Pokémon next to their Trainers before checking on the Litleo. The female Pyroar licked its wounds and tore off a piece of Magmar for the cub to eat.

A few more Litleo joined them and they all began eating the two Pokémon, all while the Pyroar stared in my direction. Luckily, they did not continue their hunt and left me alone. I sat there in shock. A near-death experience within a matter of fifteen minutes, and now there was peace and quiet.

I looked around at the trees, feeling a cool breeze pass through. It felt so surreal. A green caterpillar was walking a few meters away, crawling up a tree until it found a branch with a few oranges and began to nibble through it. Wait, oranges are not supposed to be blue. It looks exactly like an orange, but blue. Is that-.

An oran berry!

Oh, damn. This is more than a dream. I can definitely smell the berry from here and the Caterpie eating it looks disgustingly real. I never thought they would be so fuzzy, not to mention the thin trail of slime behind.

Out of nowhere, a Fletchling swooped down and picked up the Caterpie with its beak, squeezing enough for me to hear a crack before the bug went limp. The Fletchling, gulped it down while flying away.

The crack made me feel a bit nauseous, reminding me of the time I had seen one of the kids in my high school fall down several flights of stairs. That was the first time I had seen someone's shin cleanly break in half and rip through their skin. Their face and body was bruised and cut, blood collecting on the floor as we wai-.

I looked away, trying to forget about that unpleasant memory. My gaze landed on the two bodies that were burnt, mangled, and half-eaten.

*huuuggghhhhh*

I vomited whatever I had eaten last. Two deaths, four if you included the Pokémon, nearly being blasted with fire, finding myself in a completely new universe… I’m going crazy. I must be, ‘cause why the fuck else would all this be happening? I mean, I couldn’t even remember much of anything.

I knew I had a girlfriend, but I couldn’t remember her name. I’m sure I had a family, though that was pretty hazy. I couldn’t remember the name of the school I worked at or even who I worked with. I couldn’t remember much of anything besides the routine I followed everyday. Workout, drop off girlfriend, work, pick up girlfriend, cook dinner, work on my assignments, snuggle with my girlfriend, rinse and repeat.

And now I’m just gone?

What about my family? My girlfriend? Friends, coworkers? If someone I knew and got along with disappeared, I would definitely be worried. And here I am, in an entirely different universe almost getting killed. What the fuck?

I sat for a while, trying to ground myself.

I didn’t know anyone here. I didn’t have a full name since I couldn’t remember my last name. I didn't have anything on me except my clothes. I was currently wearing harbor gray wool loafers, khaki pants, a pewter colored long sleeve, and a charcoal puffer vest, but not the watch my mom gave me for Christmas. I had nothing to my name.

A quick search through my pockets proved me right. I didn’t have my phone, something most people had back home. The technology had to be advanced enough for cell phones to be a thing here; seeing those Team Flare grunts said just about everything about the possible timeframe I’m in.

As I kept falling deeper and deeper into my thoughts, I heard a shaking sound. I looked all around, but couldn’t find anything that moved. Then I heard it again, this time from the two bodies. I looked at the bloody corpses, trying not to vomit again, and saw a fanny pack shaking for a second before it stopped.

I walked over to the two bodies. The hip bag was mostly intact, with only a few cuts and a hole near the zipper. I stood there for several minutes, not believing the thought going through my head.

‘Am I really going to go through two dead women’s things?’

The only refuge I could take in the thought was that they were part of a criminal organization. That, and they were dead. Someone could make use of what they left behind.

I grabbed the woman's tattered jacket, checking the pockets for anything useful. I found a phone, similar to the smartphone I have, or had. From the hip bag I gained 1100 Pokédollars (1100$), a key ring with three keys, some sweet shades, a fanny pack, several berries, a Potion, a key card, a Team Flare ID, a flip phone, three Pokéballs, and an egg.

Holy shit, an actual Pokémon egg. The shell was very thick and warm, pulsing with an energy that I could feel wafting into the air. This… This made defiling a corpse worth it. But it might take some time for it to hatch, so I focused on the other things.

I turned on the phone, which had no password. I was able to go through her phone, finding three phone numbers, five apps, and several unsavory, well, very savory, photos. I deleted all of her photos after a few minutes of checking her out, admiring what used to be of a now charred body. God, am I that demented after seeing two people die?

After mentally bonking myself, I noticed the three numbers were constantly messaging her until yesterday. I guess the other woman will inform the bosses of her death. With that, I reset the phone. Fresh start for whatever the fuck was happening to me. I hope I don’t get into the habit of making everything not serious just to cope with it.

Once the phone was set up again, I saw there were now four apps: a Maps app, a Team app, a Scan app, and a Pokédex app. I immediately opened the Pokédex app, ‘cause priorities. I saw most Pokémon were already there, but their pictures were dimmed and had very little information. I opened the Scan app next.

Since there weren't any Pokémon nearby, I couldn't scan one. However, using the app on the Pokéballs showed me a Croagunk and two empty Pokéballs. I tried to scan the egg but was shown a message of "insufficient data/no readings." I guess it will be a mystery until it hatches.

I decided against releasing the Pokémon, mostly because I'm sure they were loyal to the dead woman and wouldn't take kindly to some stranger releasing them. Instead, I opened the Maps app. The app showed a blue dot for my location, yellow dots for villages/towns/cities, red dots for areas with lots of Pokémon activity or dangerous Pokémon, and a single green dot in the middle of the right half of the map.

My current position was near Santalune City, on Route 22. I zoomed in, trying to see how far I was from the main route. It seemed to be about a kilometer away. Not too far out. I decided to walk there and find my way to the city. As I started walking, I began to think about my situation.

I was effectively broke, seeing as I only have 1100$ and no way to make more money yet. I had a Pokémon egg, but it might be a while until it hatches. I was the only person to see two Team Flare grunts be attacked and eaten, so that might come back to bite my ass. And I had no way to go back home and get back to the life I was living.

But I was in the Pokémon world. The sole series I ever truly spent money on just to keep playing. A world that filled my head with useless knowledge, though not enough to call myself a PokéManiac. A world I truly had a chance to rise up and make something of myself, with creatures that could destroy my old world dozens of times over.

I saw a few more Pokémon I recognized. A Rattata was running with an oran berry in its mouth. A Pidgey was chasing a Scatterbug, while a Spewpa was aiming an attack at the Pidgey. As I continued my walk, I could feel a change in... something. I couldn't quite tell.

I stopped for a moment, looking around to see if I could spot something off. After a minute of looking, and not finding anything, I shrugged it off. I kept walking, taking another 5 minutes until I found the Route. It was a smooth dark gray road, with pavement on either side for those that weren't in some sort of vehicle. I checked the Map again and began to head west.

A few steps in, and I heard some rustling. The same feeling from before followed. When I turned around, I found a floating squid coming up to me, upside down. Its main body was a dark blue, with a pink forehead that had four yellow dots spread across it. The forehead was inside some clear membrane, which separated at the head into tentacles.

There were more blue tentacles at the bottom of its body. Its two eyes fell between the blue tentacles and its pink forehead. The eyes were separated by a beak, smack dab in the middle. The yellow dots began to flash again, resulting in me, once again, experiencing that weird feeling I felt earlier.

An Inkay was following me.