“Where am I?
Am I dreaming this?
I feel a pleasant breeze.
…I hear a voice from somewhere…
I wonder who it is?”
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Poke.
Poke.
Poke.
Poke.
Poke. Poke.
“E…Excuse
me. Please, wake up.”
She
rolled over.
“Come
on, wake up!”
Shizuka
opened her eyes, stood up and stretched, the forest surrounding her a welcome
sight.
Until
she realised she wasn’t supposed to be here…
“You’re
finally awake! Great!” The Mudkip in front of her was grinning.
“Wh…where is this?” She looked around trying to see
if she recognised the area.
“You
were passed out here. I’m glad to see you’re awake!” The Mudkip said, watching
her and wondering what she was doing. “I’m Jet. Glad to meet you. And you are?
I’ve never seen you around before.”
“How am
I even understanding you?” Shizuka asked, “I’m human.”
“Huh?”
Jet looked incredibly confused, “You’re a human? But you look like a normal
Charmander in every way.”
“What?”
Shizuka held up her paws… paws? She turned around, trying to get a good look at
herself. Catching a glimpse of something behind her she tried to see what it
was by turning around, but the thing followed her… she stopped and looked over
her shoulder. It was an orange tail with a flame at the end… her tail…
“It…It’s true! I’ve turned into a
Charmander!”
Shizuka yelped in her mind, completely confused, “But why? I don’t remember anything… I have to be dreaming…”
“Um…”
The Mudkip, Jet, was talking again, “You’re kind of weird. Your name? What’s
your name?”
“My name?” Shizuka thought, “I remember that at least. My name is…” “Shizuka, my name’s
Shizuka.”
“Oh…”
The Mudkip pondered this, “Shizuka huh? Well… It’s a funny name.” Jet giggled,
causing Shizuka to wonder if there was someone else who could help her.
Before
she could ask, however, a scared lady’s voice called, “Somebody! Please! Help
me!”
“Huh? I
hear shouts from over there!” Jet stated.
“I’ve befriended Mr State-the-obvious
then.” Shizuka
thought with a small smile as a Butterfree flew over.
“What’s
wrong?” Jet asked the Butterfree.
“It’s
horrible!” Butterfree replied, panicking, “My Caterpie fell into a cavern! My
poor baby!”
“What?”
Jet yelped as Shizuka frowned.
“A huge
fissure opened in the ground, and my Caterpie fell in!” The mother continued,
“He’s too young to crawl out by himself! When I went to get my baby, Pokemon
suddenly attacked me!”
“Huh,
you were attacked?” Jet asked, confused, “By other Pokemon?”
“Is it that strange around here?” The Charmander wondered as
Butterfree continued.
“They
must be enraged by the fissure and out of control… at least… that’s what I
think.” Butterfree gazed at the ground, “I’m not strong enough to fend off
those wild Pokemon. What will become of my baby?” It sounded like Butterfree
was going to start crying… if Butterfrees could, “Oh! What am I to do?! Oh
dear, oh dear!”
Jet
turned to Shizuka, who already had an idea what he was going to ask, “This
sounds bad, we have to go help!”
Shizuka
nodded and they raced to the fissure, climbing down safely and reaching the
bottom.
“What
do we do?” Shizuka asked Jet as they looked around, “Caterpie isn’t here any
more.”
“We’ll
have to go deeper into the caves and try to find him,” Jet said, giving her an
appraising glance, “What level are you?”
“Uhhh.
I don’t know.”
“Well
you’re quite small, so maybe you’re a low level like me.” Jet said, looking her
over again, “What do you know?”
“Uhhhh.”
Shizuka yelped and lashed out at a Wurmple that tried to attack her, her claws
racking it, causing it to faint.
“Scratch,
obviously.” Jet grinned, “So you must know Growl too.”
“Can we
just go?” The Charmander asked irritably, “The sooner we find Caterpie, the
sooner I can wake up from this dream.”
“Dream?”
Jet asked, but Shizuka was already racing down a corridor, “Shizuka! Wait up!”
She
kept on running, following the passageway around until she found a cross road,
“Hey Jet, left or right?”
“Uh,
right?” Jet hazarded, not knowing what the strange Charmander girl was up to.
She dove down the right passage way, keeping an eye out for Caterpie, only to
find herself in the first room they’d come to.
“Jet?”
She asked as she noticed something gold and shiney, picking it up awkwardly
with her paws, “What’s this?”
“Cool,
you found some Poke!” Jet grinned, “It’s money, you can use it in the shops in
town!”
Shizuka
grinned and passed it to the Mudkip who had a bag of some kind, before passing
Jet and heading back towards the passageway.
From no
where, a Sunkern burst out of hiding and attempted to attack.
This
time Shizuka was ready, using Scratch and knocking out the rampaging Pokemon.
“I feel kind of guilty, knocking them out like this.” She said, looking over
her shoulder before continuing, narrowly avoiding an attacking Pidgey, who Jet
used Growl on before Shizuka used Scratch to defeat, “Why would they suddenly
attack other Pokemon?”
“I
think it might be…” Jet paused to Growl at another Pidgey, “The Earthquakes and
things recently that’s disturbing the Pokemon and causing trouble.”
“What
Earthquakes?” Shizuka asked as she took the other path.
“How
could you have missed them?” Jet looked outraged as Shizuka took point and led
them down the stairs, which, considering they were natural, were remarkably
well made, “They’ve been shaking the island for days.”
“I’m
not a Pokemon, remember?” Shizuka asked as she emerged from the stairs only to
be assaulted by another Sunkern, which she Scratched and grinned, this felt
natural, like she’d always known how to do this. Most of the rooms on this
floor were empty, with no sign of Caterpie, other then some Poke and some
Pidgeys that attacked without warning.
Finding
the stairs to the next floor in the last place they looked, Jet took point this
time, only to be assaulted by a Pidgey and a Wurmple, who the duo knocked out
easily.
“What’s
this?” Shizuka asked as she nearly stepped on a berry of some kind.
“It’s
an Oran Berry
“Cool.”
Shizuka held onto it, “So what about these Natural Disasters? What’s causing them?”
“No one
knows. The island was pretty quiet until about a week ago and then…” Jet
shrugged, “Shizuka watch…”
A
Pidgey used Tackle on her from behind, knocking her over. She Growled as she
got up and counter attacked with Scratch, that had hurt… dreams didn’t hurt… “I’m not dreaming, am I?” She asked
herself as she headed downstairs again.
“Where
is this?” She asked Jet.
“You
really don’t remember anything do you?” Jet laughed, “This is Tiny Woods, where
a lot of low level Pokemon hang out.”
Shizuka
let the words sink in as she heard someone crying, “Come on Jet, I think I hear
someone.”
Jet’s
fins were shaking. “I think it’s Caterpie.” He laughed, racing a head of her as
they reached the bottom of the stairs.
She
didn’t understand why it was so light when they kept going downwards until they
reached the lowest floor, the trees that made up the walls of ‘Tiny Woods’ were
too densely packed to let Pokemon in or out, but their leaves let light in.
They
followed the sound of the crying to a Caterpie who was crying, looking for his
Mother.
“We
came to rescue you.” Jet said, not even waiting for Caterpie to turn around.
“Huh?”
It asked, turning around. The Caterpie was tiny, it couldn’t be long out of the
egg.
“Your
Mum’s waiting,” Jet continued, “Let’s get you out.”
“O…ok.”
Caterpie followed them, avoiding Shizuka nervously, avoiding the flame on the
end of her tail.
Safely
getting back up the floors and carrying Caterpie up the climb they got back to
Butterfree without many words shared, even though Shizuka had millions of
questions.
“My
baby’s safe,” Butterfree smiled at them, “I’m sorry, I don’t know how I could
ever thank you properly.”
“Oh,
that’s OK!” Jet grinned at her, “It’s been dangerous lately with sudden quakes
and fissures like that one. It was great to find your little boy unharmed.”
“Please,
may I have your names at least?” She asked.
“I’m
Jet.” The Mudkip nodded, “And this is Shizuka.” The Charmander nodded also.
“Cool.”
Caterpie looked starry eyed.
“He’s, uh… staring at me adoringly…those
sparkly eyes…It’s a little embarrassing… but this doesn’t feel bad either, it’s
like I’m a hero. Helping Pokemon in trouble might be a good experience.” Shizuka thought, “Or at least until I find a way to turn
myself human again.” She amended hastily.
“Thank
you! Jet and Shizuka!” Caterpie said, loudly enough for the whole of Tiny Woods
to hear.
“I know
it isn’t really enough,” Butterfree said, giving her son a look to quiet him
down, “But this is a token of our thanks. Please, accept it.” Butterfree gave
Jet an Oran Berry ,
another blue one that wasn’t quite the same as an Oran
“Thanks
for helping.” Jet said, turning to the Charmander once again, “You’re very
tough, I was sure impressed.” Then he looked quizzical, “So, what are you going
to do? Do you have any plans?”
“I suppose I should find out why I’ve been
turned into a Pokemon, but I don’t know where to start or have anywhere to stay
while I’m finding that out…”
“Listen
Shizuka,” Jet continued as if she hadn’t paused, “If you don’t have a place to
stay, you should come stay with me.” Shizuka thought for a moment, then nodded
and followed Jet back to town, where he stopped outside a large house with
flames in torches surrounding it. “Well,” Jet turned to her, smiling, “This is
the place.”
Shizuka
looked at it properly, it was orange and beige brick and kind of reminded her
of a furnace. “Wow.” She grinned, “I can’t explain, but I’m happy! I’m a human
being, but I like this place. I’m weirdly happy… perhaps it’s an instinct thing
for a Pokemon… maybe this is what it feels like to want to wag your tail… It
doesn’t matter! I’m happy!” She grinned, “maybe I feel that way because I’m a Charmander.”
“You’re
impressed, aren’t you Shizuka?” Jet asked with a hopeful look on his face. She
nodded in reply, “I thought so. I thought this would be a good place for you to
live, Shizuka. I was sure you’d like it.”
“I have
my own mailbox and everything?” Shizuka asked.
“Yeap,
they deliver mail from Pokemon straight to your mailbox.” Jet’s face turned
serious, “You know, like the fissure Caterpie fell into, there have been many
natural disasters recently, because of those disasters, many Pokemon are
suffering. I want to help Pokemon in these tough times. I want to help change
things so Pokemon can live in peace.” He got all nervous and kicked his back
feet, “So, uh… Well… I liked how you handled yourself when we rescued Caterpie.
Would you like to join me on a Rescue Team?”
“What’s
a Rescue Team?”
“You
don’t… Sorry, I forgot, not a Pokemon from this island. A Rescue Team does the
sort of thing we did today day in and day out, saves Pokemon who are trapped in
Caves or places like Tiny Woods, escorts weaker Pokemon to their friends in
dangerous places and generally are charged with helping maintain the peace.”
“So
they’re kind of like the Police?”
“The
who?”
Shizuka
frowned, the memory there but just beyond reach, “I’m not sure.”
Jet
laughed, grinning at his new friend and shaking his head, “You are defiantly
weird, but I like you.” Then his eyes widened, “Our Team name! We don’t have
one yet!”
“Isn’t
it your team?”
“We’re
the first two members…” Jet sounded embarrassed, “So Shizuka, what do you think
would be a good name for us?”
“Uhhh.”
“What do you call a Rescue Team?” “Tasukete?”
“What
does that mean?” Jet asked, looking at her askance.
Shizuka
thought for a moment and then grinned, “It’s a call for help.” She said
proudly, having remembered.
Jet
thought hard, “A Rescue Team who’s name is a call for help…”
“Nevermind,
I can think of something else…”
“No, I
like it.” Jet said hastily, “It’s a good name! In fact it’s perfect.” Jet took
on a stance that Shizuka could only assume was a proud one, “Rescue Team
Tasukete!” Jet grinned, “Let’s do good, starting tomorrow.” He headed off
somewhere.
“Wait,
Jet!” Shizuka called, “Where’re you going?”
“Home,
to sleep.” The Mudkip yawned at her.
“But I
thought you lived here?”
Jet
laughed, “Sometimes, but since you’ll be living here now, I thought I’d go
visit my old home.”
“I
don’t want to kick you out of your house…”
“It’s
fine, honest, I have plenty of places to go. Besides that house is very much
for Fire Types like yourself, it’s too warm for me.”
“Then
why did you buy it?” Shizuka asked, head tilted as she pondered.
“It’s
big enough for a Rescue Team base and…” He stopped at Shizuka’s grin, she
understood. “Anyway, I’m tired and I bet you are too…”
“Can
you tell me more about what’s going on tomorrow?” She paused, “Please?”
“Sure.”
Jet nodded, “Night Shizuka.”
“G’night
Jet.” “Hopefully in the morning I’ll wake
up from this crazy dream.”
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