Coming out of a short dreary nap, I awoke to a strange sight.

Huh. That’s weird. I thought. The stucco ceiling looks kinda off.

I didn’t pay much attention to the darker shade of my bumpy ceiling. I felt good. The power nap I took oddly left me refreshed and reenergized, unlike how it usually dumped on more fatigue and grogginess.

A warm breeze swept through the cool room, but my warm fuzzy blanket-

Hmm. That’s weird. My blanket feels like it’s stuck to my skin.

That was OK though. I was in too good of a mood. Besides, I likely slept on top of most of the cozy blanket anyway, causing it to be unable to move.

I arched my back for a stretch, flexing my trembling leg muscles and wiggling my toes. My arms whisked over my head for their turn, but then a flash of something yellow spooked me. Immediately, I jerked up into a sitting position, and that’s when I saw it, or me, to be more accurate.

Yellow. I was all bright yellow! A furry, plushy, and glossy yellow! Me! A fully grown human man!

“What is going on!?” I shouted, but the unfamiliar cute higher-pitched voice that came from my throat confused me more.

Agitated and freaked out, I was suddenly shocked even more. Literally. Sparks of electricity flashed from the sides of my cheeks. I scuffled back on what I thought was my bed and hit the side of a curvaceous wall, only to realize I slept on no bed. I wasn’t even in my room. From the shimmering verdant leaves I saw through an arched split that formed a hole in the opposite wall, I assumed I was in some sort of hollowed crevice in a tree.

Calm down, Sax.

But how can I be calm!? I tried. I had to, in order to figure out what happened to me. Taking deep breaths, I felt up my fuzzy body, starting from my foreign skinny feet to the long soft ears on my head. I suddenly froze at the preposterous thought that crossed my mind.

Yellow. Rodent. Electric sparks from the cheeks. It’s like I’m a Pikachu.

I momentarily paused at the absurdity.

“NAHHH!” I dismissed the thought, shoving and swatting the impossibility away. Like, how was that even feasible?

However, the recognizable dark blue Oran Berries packed into a corner of the room started to make me think otherwise. The chirping sounds, that reminded me of a coo-coo bird, coming from outside confirmed my rejected thoughts.

“Pidgey. Pidgey.”

As in that Pidgey? The common bird Pokemon, Pidgey?

I jumped up from the soft emerald moss on the floor and hopped over to the triangular hole in the wall.

“No way…” I said with an open mouth, staring dumbfounded out at my surroundings.

Intense light from a midsummer’s day illuminated dense towering trees that endlessly packed a vibrant and lively forest. The air felt slightly heavy. It was sweltering and humid as the buzzing of insects echoed from all around. Rich vegetation scattered around the trees, basking in the light. The slight breeze jiggled the many variety of colorful fruit dangling in the trees.

I looked down at the ground and my eyes confirmed my disbelief. Pidgey, with light brown feathers on its back and a beige-white underbelly, pecked and picked at the eyeballs of a dead Caterpie, the caterpillar Pokemon. I was shook. For one, I was now a Pikachu. But for two, Pokemon eat Pokemon!

I mean, it makes sense. What else would Pokemon eat? Oran berries? Well, some do. But the TV show never explained or showed carnivorous Pokemon eating their fellow Pokemon! They only ate Pokemon food and berries, I think?

“I can’t do this! I don’t want to be a Pokemon! And why Pikachu of all Pokemon!? Arceus! If you’re going to reincarnate me, why not a Legendary Pokemon that won’t get eaten!?” I shouted to the sky, scaring Pidgey. It gripped its claws around the Caterpie’s dead carcass and flew away.

I waited but got no response from the Pokemon God. I wanted to curse, but I guess that would be blasphemous now?

Help. I need to find someone who can help me.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

I exited my new body’s abode. Standing on the branch, which would not have been that tall for my human body, I looked down at the steep vertical drop with hesitation.

I have to do this. I need to return to my real body!

Determination flooded out from within me, and I turned to the tree with my butt and tail facing out. I shuffled over, gripping onto the rough tree bark with the small fingers of my paw. Slowly, I climbed down. However, midway I realized the body of a Pikachu was rather nimble and my claws were rather sharp and strong. I decided to do something daring. Gripping firmly on the bark, I turned myself around with my head facing the ground and dashed down the tree trunk at full speed. The wind pushed against my face as the hard dirt floor rushed toward me. However, I was not alarmed. Rather, the exhilaration and adrenaline pumping from my heart and through my veins excited me like nothing before. I hated roller coasters, but now, as a Pikachu, I found myself enjoying the pump.

Nearing the ground, I leaped off the trunk, rolling in midair and landing on all fours like a professional acrobat. I looked up with my round black eyes that gleamed with excitement and smiled with full satisfaction.

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Holy cow! I just did that! That was fun as hell! Should I do it again?!”

The sound of a screeching Pokemon in the distant sky brought me back to reality.

“Fearow! Fearow!”

Dang. I just totally lost it. Focus, Sax! I need to find help!

I dashed off into the woods with my tail waving in the air. Trees raced by me as I dashed and dodged around them. I was fast, weaving in and out of the foliage. I noticed some other Pokemon like Rattata scurrying into the tall grass. I ignored them, thinking they could not help me. Leaping over a stretch of leafy shrubs, I came across a well-trekked dirt path.

Suddenly, a shout blared from my side.

“Oh my god! It’s a Pikachu! I’m gonna catch it!” The kid in denim shorts and a dirt-stained white sleeveless shirt took out a familiar red and white ball attached to his leather belt that I started to dread.”Go Pokeball!”

That rascal dared to throw a Pokeball at me! I have to admit, his aim was pretty good. The Pokeball zoomed through the air, heading straight for my face. I frowned and narrowed my eyes.

“You damn kid! I’ll show you not to throw things at people!”

Leaping into the air with my nimble furry yellow body, I spun around and launched my foot, kicking the metal ball right back at its thrower. I guess I was pretty strong for a Pikachu. The ball shot back like a bullet, nailing the kid right in the stomach. He gasped for air and collapsed onto the dirt before curling up into a ball.

“Owww. Ugh. Owwww,” he whimpered.

The kid moaning in pain freaked me out, and I rushed over to the fallen kid. “Hey, are you ok?!”

“Ugh,” he said, struggling to push himself up as I looked at him with worry. “It’s a rare talking Pikachu! I have to catch you!”

The kid was tenacious. He took out another ball on his belt and my eyes stretched wide, not wanting a repeat of earlier. I quickly dashed away, not wanting to be captured.

“Go, Squirtle!” He shouted, throwing the ball in my direction. It bounced a few times before plopping open in half, spewing out a glob of light that materialized into a standing light blue turtle with a dark orange shell.

“Squirtle! Squirt!”

I deadpan looked at the kid and at the light blue turtle Pokemon that was a water type. I could not hold it in. I needed to tell the kid.

“Brat. Do you even know that we are mismatched? Don’t you know about the different Pokemon types and their advantages and disadvantages? You should use a different type of Pokemon. Go on, I can wait.”

“Sqirtile is my only Pokemon right now! And don’t call me a brat! I’m not a brat! You’re just like my bullying brother who always calls me that! Squirtle, use Tackle attack now! Teach that bullying Pikachu a lesson!”

“Squirtle!” the water Pokemon acknowledged, charging at me in a kind of weird choppy run.

However, I was the faster Pokemon. I jumped to the side and whipped the attacker at its feet with my tail, tripping it and forcing it to stumble into a slide.

“Oh, no. That Pikachu used Tail Whip. Squirtle, are you ok?!”

Dumbfounded, I looked at the kid and paused.

I guess I did use Tail Whip? But it’s usually a dumb useless move. I guess not anymore.

I grinned evilly at the kid and his Squirtle. I was going to mess with the kid and his starter Pokemon. Dashing over with quick speed, I reached the Squirtle and continued whipping it with my tail. “Haha! Take that, and that!”

“Squirtle! Hang on! Use Bite!”

A sharp pain shot up from my tail and into my body. I jerked to glare at the perpetrator, who smirked while clamping down harder on my tail. I flinched from the pain, and it pushed itself off the ground and tackled me from the side, knocking me over. Pain ached from the sides of my body as I hit the floor from Squirtle ramming his arm and shell into me. That damn turtle did not let go of my tail either. Anger boiled from within me, and sparks of electricity flickered dangerously from my cheeks.

“Squirtle, hurry and get away!”

“Too late, brat!” I yelled, releasing my pent-up anger through the blast of electricity from my cheeks.

A bolt of electricity flashed, rushing into the squealing Squirtle, and lighting up the surroundings before I smelled the burning of charred flesh.

“Squirtle! No! Return!” The kid said, pointing his Pokeball at his Squirtle before a red laser beam shot out and pulled Squirtle into the metallic red and white ball. “Nurse Joy! I need to see Nurse Joy at the Pokemon Center right away! I’ll be back, Pikachu!”

“Don’t bother, brat! I won’t be waiting!” I shouted back, but I don’t think the kid heard me.

The kid dashed off, and I realized that help was not going to be so easy seeing how I was now a Pikachu that could also talk in the human tongue. I might even be restrained and experimented on like Mewtwo. The thought made me shudder. I was at a loss for what to do.

What now? I can’t seek help from humans who might try to catch me and use me like a slave. Maybe another Pokemon can help me, but can I even communicate with them? What if some of them try to eat me? What happened to the nice Pokemon world I know and love?!

Suddenly, a blue screen stopped my screaming internal thoughts.

LEVEL UP!

Pokemon: Pikachu

Pokedex No: 032

Type: Electric

Level: 1 -> 2

HP: 80 -> 87

Attack: 12 -> 15

Defense: 15 -> 19

Speed: 26 -> 32

Special Attack: 19 -> 23

Special Defense: 16 -> 19

Ability:

Static - Physical contact may cause Paralysis

Reincarnator - Increases base stats, removes limits on base four moves, learns moves quicker, ???

Held Item:

Inventory (Unremovable)

None

Skills:

Pokemon Language

Thunder Shock

Tail Whip

Quick Attack

Nuzzle

Sweet Kiss