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~~ Chapter 1 - Vibrations ~~

One of the strange things about dying and waking up as a pokemon, is that you know, in these stories you’re supposed to be something cool, or connected to the storylines of the games or anime, right? Well, I died as a human and woke up as a pokemon about a month ago. I had expected a call to adventure. You know, cracks in the sky. Rayquaza’s hyper-beam arcing through. Nest burning down from Team Rocket lighting the forest on fire in search of slowpoke to poach. 

Nope, none of that. None came. I had just died as a human on regular-old-no-pokemon earth, and woke up as a leaf-type pokemon in the middle of a peaceful forest. For the most part, I’ve been able to live without much hassle. I’ve learned a couple of abilities, though the biggest so far has been string shot and crafting with the silk that comes from my mouth. 

There was that one night, I was running and slid under a rock. Stumbled on a bunch of venipede. Not gonna run under rocks any more. News flash: If something looks like a good hiding spot, something else is probably in there, and they’re not gonna be too happy sharing their hiding spot with you.

Anyway, I never got the damned call to adventure. No Ash Ketchum trying to catch me, no Team Aqua trying to flood my region, nothing! And, well, I couldn’t accept that a random chance of fate would slam me from boring old reality into the body of a Pokemon and then be happy with me living a banal, normal pokemon life out in the wild. 

Not only is that boring, it’s just… It’s just too dark to think about. Especially when I can’t even poke-speak! I tried talking to the animals; you know, doing the whole poke-speak thing, from the anime? Yeah, no. Doesn’t exactly work. At least not for me.

Tried to talk to a pidgey once, but it just attacked me! A single gust almost sent me toppling to my doom, but a couple well-flung leaves from my forearms convinced the stupid bird that I’m not worth the effort. Right. My other 'ability'. When I was a human, I was pretty good at flicking cards across the room. The arm structure on this body means I’m pretty damn good at flinging things from them. I know, I know, Razor Leaf is one of the basic bitch ranged attacks, but damn does it feel good to embed leaves deep into tree bark.

Oh right. Uh, about that. I wasn't actually sure what pokemon I was right then. The last games I’d played was my older brother’s HeartGold and my friend’s Black 2…that I never finished or returned. I’d been getting better and better at remembering pokemon’s names every day, but at this point I was drawing blanks. 

The pokemon that shared the nest with me—the ones who were there when I woke up. They had frowny faces, and I dressed them up in cloaks. Well, blankets, really, of leaves. I couldn't place what kind of pokemon those little nest-mates were, either. Memories from playing the games were getting clearer, but what ones used leaves for blankets, like these grump-faces?

In the games, pokemon could only learn four moves, but I’m pretty sure I can do at least six, though biting and bug biting feels like complete cheating. I figure four moves was just a game mechanic, rather than an actual limitation! I can’t even imagine a world where pokemon could only learn four moves.

So yeah, there I am: I know I’m at least grass-type, based on my leaf-arms and some instincts which help me attach leaves, grafting them onto my body. I’m probably also bug-type, based on the silk that my mouth produces when I sew and graft, but I haven’t found a good reflection yet. I had a guess, though my vision wasn't fragmented, like I'd expect if I had turned into a bug, so until I caught my own self in a mirror or window, I wouldn't really know for sure. 

I’ve got leaves wrapped around me, and there’s the occasional compulsion to grab large, healthy, or strong-looking leaves off bushes and trees, grafting them onto my natural ones. It’s kind of like armor, but only kind of. It’s more like living armor…that I stole from other plants. 

So there I was, this pokemon, covered in leaves, having ditched the bug-nest I woke up in, as far as I know about a month old, probably an evolved form, running out from underneath a rock, departing angry venipedes, their red markings shouting "death if you get close," seeking my route to civilization, leaving our quiet little forest behind.

That’s when I felt the rhythmic thumping coming from the ground, followed by a smooth high-pitched, vibrating whistle in the air on my antennae. Being sensitive to vibrations in the air is an interesting feeling. At this distance, the high-pitched whine is like a pair of electric hair clippers vibrating against your jaw. 

Only for me, it was at the top of my head, jittering through. The sound was translated directly and the leaves on my arms and body— stiff though they were— vibrated as well. But it is coupled with the physical sensations as well. I looked up at the trees, rustling in the light breeze of the air, my vision wobbling like a nerve in my eye was misfiring, causing the scene to jitter and blur even more than my vision already did.

I had chosen my journey already. Sensory issues would not get in my way. No humans, no trainers, no cataclysmic rumblings of a once-long-sleeping legendary threatening the region, no. Just, the vibration from the whistle of a train in the distance. That was it. A train was my call. On the forest floor here, there wasn’t really anything that could tell me no. Well, other than meeting up with a predator, I guess. 

None showed up to stop me. After cutting off a couple leaves, I used the silk that came from my mouth to sew them onto my arm-blades. Checking the leaves that made up little pockets on my legs, I had stored there a couple of hardened leaves for use as ammo in case of another bird attack. Wouldn't do much when meeting a strong bird-type like a full-grown pidgeot, but it worked for the small-timers.

 I plucked some berries from a nearby bush, seeing a small patch of savory earth, I sprinkled some of the richer-smelling soil on top. Eating the quick snack, I turned and headed toward what felt like the direction of the train. From the location of the sun in the sky, it was to the southeast. 

The vibrations eventually stopped, but as I walked through the trees, the tastesmells in the air were already shifting in flavor. Where the last was a mute lavender, this was a more earthy metallic taste in the air, that was sensed by both my tongue and the antennae. I was still pretty clearly in the forest, and had even noticed a couple of flashes of silver in the air, reflections of the sun as the metal crossed above. My instincts—they said, "Hey, watch out! Birds!" No accompanying rhythmic thumping I'd have expected from a small plane, I eyed them streaks as they flew across the sky.

Skarmory, probably. Anything that was too far away was a blur, though they were moving pretty leisurely. Circling for prey? I took a step closer to a row of trees, passing under their shadows, taking a more deliberate approach in the south-eastern direction, skipping under the cover of the foliage and trees. The flyers didn’t seem too interested in me, at least. Or they hadn't seen me. 

Hopefully I just looked like a plant-type to them, or they just hadn’t noticed me… They ate metal and other bird-types, right? It was hard to imagine my constitution being very nutritious to them. Pretty sure I’m not even worth the energy to attack. The thought of facing off with one of them; it sets the deeper instincts on edge, regardless of what I imagined the steely birds' diets to be. Whatever bug-grass-type I was, my other half, my instincts, they did not consider us to be a predator, no siree.

One of the interesting things about being a grass-type is that I’m painfully-aware of the sun’s location in the sky. Call it instinct, call it whatever, a day spent under the sun is like walking and constantly having that feeling of "Oh, I’m going to do something big, I just know it," having all the energy in the world...but then not being able to actually go through anything but the vaguest motions of what I wanted to do. The sun feels TOO GOOD not to sit under, and when you’re in the shade while the sun’s out? Gotta move to be under the sun again. That’s right. I get high from being in the sun and soaking up its rays.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The ground had grown hardened, and the grass and bushes gave way to a semi-consistent path. Not disappearing, but moving to the sides. It was hard soil. I was walking on a trail. An actual trail! By humans?!? 

Well, maybe. Could just be a common path a lot of other pokemon like walking down. The path where the sun was strongest, it seemed like someone had long ago pushed the trees back. On either side of me though, were a bunch of flower-like pokemon, their petals wrapped tight as they slept. 

They reminded me of sunflowers. The Pokemon world was really something. Sunflorae.

I pressed forward, hovering near the side of the trail in case I saw a human and needed to dive into some shrubs. There was a squish, a small spark crackled, my body convulsing. I staggered. I shift a half-step forward, stepping slightly further into the sticky webbing, the world slightly spun. I paused. Covered in leaf-clothing, I’m light enough to be carried by a pidgey’s gust. At that moment, I felt particularly light, and learned I was pretty far from anything that could compete in straight fights. 

That was an electric shock. 

I was standing on a web.

 A web from a pokemon. 

An electric web. 

Uh. 

Spiders existed in pokemon. And spiders eat bugs. And I’m a bug. In that second half-second, I paused my steps. What electric bug-types are there? Joltik, I thought. But joltik didn't lay webs? Then I saw it: giant spider, about half my height, looking at me from behind the sunflower pokemon. Watching me. Instead of pausing, my limbs, all of my motion stopped. 

I froze.

Do they hunt in packs?

If so… Even if I had a decent field of view, I still couldn’t see directly behind myself. I didn’t see or feel the vibrations of any other movement. Nothing to the sides. The spider seemed content to stare me down. Eyeing me. Seeing if I would be a good spider-meal? 

Just what I needed. To be paralyzed as a spider sucks my innards dry. Nope. That’s a nope nope nope. Hazarding a glance down, the link was pretty tenuous, if sticky, with small arcs of electricity zapping about between them. I hadn’t stepped into the main web, behind where the spider was standing.

It hadn't attacked me yet, which was a good sign. One shock of electricity and some bad luck, one hit of paralysis, and a meal of me was likely on their menu. Instincts said to run, to stomp, to turn and escape as fast as I could. No. I'd said, competing with the inner pokemon. Instead I held still, kneeling, moving my arms down, bending my legs, avoiding to get more of their webbing on my legs, keeping my eyes forward, on the stranger and potential predator.

Slowly, I extended one of the leaves on my arm, like a knife-blade in slow motion, disconnecting the web I had stepped in from the webbing that led into the bush. The yellow spider chose not to move, so I stepped to the left. The giant spider chose not to release another spark of electricity. Pausing again, I stepped further, finally, when they chose to simply observe, I moved to the opposite side of the trail. Presumably, those six unmoving eyes decided that making a meal-of-me wasn’t worth the cost of admission. 

Which I was grateful for, because, well, I don’t actually know how I’d fight an electric-type. Bugs aren’t exactly known for their resilience to weather big attacks, are they? And even if we were, it’s not like I could rely on the games’ type charts. Bug-types usually poison other pokemon and run away, waiting for them to die, right? A spider that’s laying a web probably isn’t looking for a fight either. Scratching that one down to luck. 

When I made it a good distance away, I turned around in front of the trail and made a dashed down the trail. Eventually, the threat and panic reduced, the higher and later rays of sun lulling me back to a kind of rest. On a leisurely pace through the trail, the rays of sun breaking through the canopy, I daydreamed of meeting humans, meeting their pokemon, and making friends. Occasional squawks or chirps of various pokemon were all that disturbed my dreams. 

At evening, my pace quickened with the falling of the sun. It was as if I were waking up from a daydream while driving a car on a long road trip. The realization hit me anew. I’m a POKEMON! I’m literally TRYING TO FIND HUMANITY? 

I only really knew two offensive techniques, other than biting. I could fling leaves, you know, like Razor Leaf; I could flip out the leaves that are grafted on my arms, like hecking swords or blades! I could maybe also use my internal silk stores to make a thick rope? This stuff took time to dry, and didn't feel like it’d be good for anything…but…slowing…the…enemy…down… Like a string shot.

With the sky turning a dark shade of pinks and oranges, I hit the first real sign of humanity (outside of the trail and a couple of shoeprints, anyway). It’s literally a sign. I…couldn’t read it. My vision is warbled, the sign covered with marks and lines that looked like they should have meaning. Some kind of runic language? 

Hmm, I thought. It was plausible that the pokemon world would use a different language than English. Ugh, I groaned. 

Oh well, I don’t have time to think about it. I need to see the city! Since the sign seemed to be where another trail and the one I was on merged, and was facing the one trail, I continued my course, away from where I had come, and away from where I had found the sign, assuming it led the opposite direction I wanted to go.

While I practically ran down the road, I decided the world was a death trap. Living in the wild sucks: Death at any moment? And no one to talk to! Other grass-types were dumb. For all that I doted on them, the grumps just sat there, all clothed in the leaves I made them, looking angry all day! I wanted conversation! A partner! Someone who smelled good! At least another pokemon like me. Which they were not. And well, they didn't smell bad. But. 

The lumps, bunches of boring grumps! They clicked and cried as I left, but I just couldn’t stay in the nest. 

While walking through the night, I occasionally paused, grabbing a berry here or there to eat. I was taller than most things I’d met. But not tall enough to scare off a couple venipedes! Berries were getting harder to come by, though the storage of energy from the photosynthesis kept the actual hunger pains at bay.

I needed to decide what to do if I was going to meet a human. Would they try to catch me? How did pokeballs work in this world? Pokemon didn’t die in either the anime or the games. And I couldn’t poke-speak. And I was able to run away from a pokemon without it turning into a full battle. I couldn't rely on any prior knowledge other than the most basic outlines. 

The smell in the air began to shift again, away from the light metallics, and  to a lightly acrid, smoky smell, drifting into my senses. SOMEONE or SOMETHING had been burning something. Wasn’t a small or old fire, at least.

Continuing the trek was easy enough, just requiring that I walked and stayed on my toes (hah! Get it? I don’t have any! Or feet). And then I came across the first sign of actual, living humans other than that train. Well, first sign? First humans. Uh, they looked kitted out with a few pokeballs on their hips. 

Nope, no thanks, keep your ball. I’ll just shadow along from back here.

Bushes became real interesting as I foraged for some berries. Gosh, they were so SLOW. I could pass them, but then what if they pull out a bird-type, or worse, fire? Nope, yeah, no thanks, not happening.

Using my human-smarts, I could probably-maybe outsmart most pokemon, but the chances of one being able to simply crush me through sheer experience or attrition is way too high. Or, what if I were to get hit by a pack or just overwhelming force? Yeah no, fighting as a pokemon was still way too risky. 

While trailing behind, I tried to listen in to what the hikers were saying...but the words were sliding off. Whatever they were saying. I could tell there was structure, and that they were saying things, but just like when I tried to read the sign, the meaning of what they were saying never connected. Word and sentence recognition just wasn’t there. Well. Maybe the story would be different if I had actually-good ears instead of vibration sensors? 

You’d think that sensing vibrations from speech would help more, but actually, there’s a lot of different vibrations all at once, and it’s more useful for sensing "is something there" than communication.

Whatever they were doing, they were on their way home. When they finally stopped, we were at… more trail, but this one was lightly paved. And there was a pair of bikes. Were they going to bike… home in the dark? They must not live very far from here, or were just going home from a weekend of camping. It had to have been getting pretty late, at least. They must not have any bird-types they could fly on, either. Well, whatever. 

A couple minutes of quickly-waning patience later, and the two of them were gone. They had lights on their bikes, so at least other people could SEE them. 

With the humans gone, and probably heading towards civilization, the energy I was practically buzzing with began to leak, and my speed among the trail increased, as I began to run my bug-legs through their paces (heh).

Filled and charged with stored up energy from a day in the sun, I ran towards the unknown destination of the unknown human city.