Chapter Text
My home world was normal. I was a young adult, with a job and a couple of close friends. My parents loved and supported me, and I was fairly happy with my life. I played video games in my free time and one of the franchises I followed was the Pokemon franchise. Ever since I was introduced to Pokemon through the black and white anime, I was hooked.
Of course, Pokemon black and white was largely frowned upon at the time due to the practical reset of Ash Ketchum, but I myself really enjoyed the series. Whilst that is likely due to the fact that I had never seen the others before that one, which meant I had no basis on what Ash was supposed to be like as a character, it was my introduction to the Pokemon anime so the reset completely alluded me. Even when I did watch the earlier seasons of the show, Black and White still held a special place in my heart.
The first Pokemon game I ever played was Pokémon White 2 and my starter was Snivy the grass snake. I loved the sassy snake Ash caught in the anime and wanted that to be my partner. I completed the entire game with Snivy by my side, of course evolving him into Serpirior and defeating Iris the champion with him at the end.
I recently got my hands on a copy of Pokemon Black 2 and decided to go through Unova once more, this time choosing a new starter to be at my side. Selecting Oshawott I battled with Hugh my friend in the games, when Oshawott emerged from their pokeball I was surprised to see that they were a she. Starters weren’t often female and I’d never actually gotten one before, even though I have played many of the main series games. That fact made Oshawott slightly more special to me. We defeated Hugh’s Snivy and I saved the game after checking Oshawott’s nature. She was lonely. I went to sleep soon after with the belief that Oshawott would never actually be lonely as I would be by her side.
Oh how right I was…
When I woke up, I was staring up at the night sky and laying on some grass. I had gone to sleep in my bed so this made no actual sense. Sitting up, I got another surprise when a literal life like Oshawott shifted on my stomach and slid into my lap.
“What the…” I muttered, utterly lost. The Oshawott on my stomach woke up and rubbed her eyes with their left flipper, then stared up at me with a questioning gaze.
Oshawott didn’t seem scared of me, in fact she seemed perfectly at ease resting on my body. There was recognition in her eyes, so she knew me at the very least. I hesitated for a moment before patting her head gently. Oshawott smiled and leaned into my touch, preening under the affection.
“Okay…” I mumbled, still fairly confused, but now mostly filled with a sense of awe. This Oshawott is adorable! And she likes me!
Sitting up fully and gently picking Oshawott up I placed her into my lap properly and started glancing around, my eyes landing on a backpack beside me. Oshawott was perfectly content sitting in my lap as I reached for it and began going through its contents. In fact she nestled into it and I’m fairly certain that she went back to sleep. I mean, glancing around, it was fairly dark, so it must still be fairly late right now, or maybe it was early in the morning? Wherever we were.
Exploring the contents of the back pack, I discovered quite a few things. For one, there was a blue coloured Pokédex inside, which I immediately pulled out and examined. Touching it turned it on, but without it being pointed towards a Pokemon it came up with a title screen and showcased some basic information about its owner. Me?!
Owner: Holly Lamar, originating from Nuvema Town.
Occupation: Pokemon trainer endorsed by Professor Juniper.
Starter Pokémon selected: Oshawott.
I’m inside of Pokemon Black 2?! I wanted to scream, both in absolute excitement but also in absolute horror! ‘How the hell did I get here?!’
As I was freaking out internally, the curled up Oshawott shifted slightly in my lap, trying to get more comfortable. I forced my body to relax so that she could settle back down. Stroking Oshawott on the head gently she relaxed against my body once more and her breathing became deep and even again.
Placing the pokedex aside, I went looking through the back pack again, in hopes of finding more information. What I found wasn’t exactly what I had expected. There were a few items that made sense, since I had received them in the game after I received Oshawott. A town Map, the Xtransciever, a badge case (which was also blue), around 10 pokeballs and 3 potions. What I didn’t anticipate was multiple sets of clothing, a tent, a sleeping bag, some packaged food (both Pokemon and human food), a water bottle (that was full) and a book.
This back pack was absolutely massive on the inside and everything was perfectly organised into little compartments. I had always wondered how bags in the anime carried around so much stuff. I guess they have a little pocket dimension of sorts, like the ones in the games certainly do. After all, a normal backpack cannot fit a bicycle inside of it. Even if it could be folded up for whatever reason!
The only thing inside that I didn’t recognise was the book, so that was what I took out. Putting the backpack next to my Pokédex, (‘Gosh that is weird to think about’), I opened the book in my hands and started reading.
Human,
You have been brought to this world for a purpose. What that purpose is, is something you will need to discover alone. You have an identity here, but no connections. Your name is Holly Lamar and you are from Nuvema Town. The Lamar family you originate from passed away 9 years ago. Up until this point, you have been raised in an orphanage.
Your 10th birthday was 2 days ago, that was the day you were given the freedom to travel the world and leave the Orphange.
You received your Oshawott yesterday from Professor Juniper’s lab assistant. The professor is aware of you but has not met you in person, perhaps you will change that in the future?
This Oshawott is the same starter Pokemon from the game Pokémon Balck 2. Raise her well.
Ash Ketchum will arrive in the Unova region in 5 days time, marking the beginning of the Black and White anime series. Do with that information what you will.
It is time for your Pokémon adventure to begin!
As soon as I finished reading the text on the front page, the writing evaporated in front of my very eyes. Leaving nothing but a blank page behind in its wake. ‘What the actual fuck?’
Flipping the page over to the next one I discovered that this book was actually filled with information about the Pokemon world. It was some kind of adventure guide that also spoke about natural medicine, Pokémon’s preferred habitats, natures and abilities, type match ups, how Technical machines worked, the way that Pokémon Leagues functioned, what it meant to be a gym leader and how one would rise to become a Pokemon champion.
“A Pokemon journey, huh?” I muttered, still kind of starstruck.
Whilst I wasn’t unhappy with my previous life, I was finding it a little boring and far more depressing with how the world was evolving. Getting sent to the Pokemon world didn’t honestly sound too bad. Well, aside from leaving my parents and friends behind that is…
A frown overtook my face as the fact that I wouldn’t see them again settled in for me. A tear slipped down my cheek and landed on Oshawott’s head, she must be fairly sensitive to water as she woke up immediately and her big round eyes stared up at me with innocent concern written across her face.
Wiping my eyes quickly, I forced a chuckle out of my body, although it sounded wet. “Sorry Oshawott. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
Oshawott tilted her head and patted my arm with her flipped, “Osha?” Her voice dripping with confusion and concern. I smiled down at her sadly, “I guess everything just kind of hit me, almost everyone else begins their journey with their parents supporting them and giving them advice.” I began, doing my best to reword my sentences in my head so that I wouldn’t confuse her. Placing my hand on Oshawott’s head gently, “I always wanted that, but being an orphan and never getting adopted, I just don’t.”
Oshawott’s eyes widened as recognition began coating her features. ‘I guess Pokemon understand what the term orphan means.’ “I don’t exactly have a family to fall back on like others do.” I continued, “And now that I’m starting my very own journey with you by my side, it just kind of hit me that I will never have a human family.” Oshawott pushed herself into my arms, making me drop the book I had been reading. I hugged her tightly as she nuzzled into my shoulder. A few more tears slipped down my face, as I mourned the family I’d never see again.
Taking a deep breath, I patted Oshawott on the back and she looked up at me with her big round eyes. “Would you be my family, Oshawott?” I asked nervously. “I don’t want the Pokemon by my side to just be my partners, I’d like to build my own family with them being apart of it.” Oshawott smiled at me and nodded her head. “Oshawott!” She spoke with confidence as she tapped her scallchop in affirmation. “Thank you Oshawott.” I replied softly as I hugged her again, which she reciprocated happily.
I don’t know how long we sat together but by the time we pulled away from each other, the sun’s rays were shining down on us, illuminating the trees that were surrounding us.
Putting her down on the ground beside me, I grabbed my pokedex and placed it back into my back pack, picking up the book which I’m going to consider as my very own adventure guide, I put that inside the front pocket before pulling the bag up onto my back. I stood up from the ground and looked back down at my Pokemon. ‘My very own Pokemon!’ Grinning at her I grabbed her pokeball which was attached to my belt.
“Let’s get this journey started Oshawott.” I said, Oshawott nodded happily as I returned her to her ball and clipped it back onto my belt. Whilst I liked the idea of having her in my arms or on my shoulder like Ash, Dawn and Iris do, I wanted to orient myself first and figure out where I was.
And if what the book said was true, I had five days before Ash was going to arrive in Unova, and well, whilst I certainly wanted to meet him, there were a few things I’d like to do first. Namely, get to Accumla Town before him and catch myself a Tepig. Then, probably skip the Striaton city gym and hunt down that Snivy Ash caught, before doubling back to challenge Cress.
Cress was my favourite out of the 3 gym leaders and if I don’t make it back in time to challenge all 3 like Ash did, I wanted to face Cress in a gym battle. Especially since he was able to defeat Ash’s Pikachu in the anime.
Pulling out my town map, I got an overhead view of where I was and what direction to head in to get to Accumla Town. It wasn’t too far away so that was good. According to the map it would take me about an hour of walking to get there.
I hadn’t done much walking or exercise in my previous life, but I could already tell that this new body was different. On top of being young again and naturally having more energy, I was defiantly quite fit and probably fairly fast too. Beginning my trek, I set off towards Accumla town.
Ash had caught a lot of Pokemon in the Unova series, and honestly, that fact meant that he barely trained any of them. Even though I’d be taking two of his hard hitters and good typings he had around 7 other Unova Pokemon to fall back on. At least if I’m remembering that correctly.
Let’s see, we have Pikachu, Pidove and Oshawott. Excluding Tepig and Snivy, the next to be caught was Scraggy. Which he hatched from an egg after helping the daycare workers out during the Trubbish Squad episode. Then he caught a Sewaddle, I think the next one was Roggenrola? I might be wrong about that though. Either way he did end up catching the Krokorock that was following him and Pikachu around since the 3rd episode in the anime. He also got a Palpitoad during the poison crisis early on. I think that’s everyone. If we do count Tepig and Snivy, Ash had a total of 10 Pokemon during Unova, add Charizard in the 3rd season and we now have 11. Taking two of them away for myself might even help him in the long run. He’d have less Pokémon to switch between which will hopefully allow him to actually train them properly during his journey. Maybe his Oshawott and Scraggy will evolve this time around?
As I walked through the forest I came upon a river. And the first thing I did was take a look at my reflection. After all this wasn’t my body, so it would be nice to know what I looked like. My hair was dark blue fading into light blue near the ends. That could be natural since the anime has many different hair colours, the Striaton gym leaders are a prime example of that, but it was still unusual to see those colours on my head.
My face and mouth actually looked a lot like me, I was just a lot younger than what I was used to. Speaking of age, I wonder if Ash is actually going to be 10 when he arrives, or if he has aged since this is an actual world now instead of a Tv show?
Taking in my appearance and settling my curiosity I decided that it was high time I get to know my Pokemon companion, and a river was the perfect place for a little sea otter. Grasping her pokeball, I grinned and threw it into the air. “Oshawott, c’mon out!”
Her pokeball popped open and after a brief flash of light, my Oshawott emerged on the river bank looking directly at me. Her pokeball flew right back to my hand, surprising me slightly. ‘A homing mechanism?’ I wondered briefly. It did make a lot of sense now that I thought about it, but no matter.
“Oshawott.” I addressed her. “I want to get to know you properly so I figured we could train a little and have some fun in the river. What do you say?” That was when Oshawott turned around and noticed the gentle flowing water. The grin that spread across her face as she dived head first into the body of water made me smile. ‘She’s acting like Ash’s Oshawott during the training episode after he lost his 2nd gym battle. Perhaps that’s more of an Oshawott species behaviour than an individual one.’
Oshawott turned back to me in the water, now diverting her attention back to me. “Let’s see what moves you know.” I spoke as I grabbed my Pokédex from my back pack and held it out, the lens hovering over her. ‘I think I’ll store my pokedex in my jacket pocket instead of my backpack. It will make grabbing it a lot easier in the future.’
Oshawott. The sea otter Pokémon, a water type. Oshawott fights using the scalchop on its stomach. When it’s attacked, they retaliate by slashing their opponents with it.
Moves this Oshawott knows: Tackle, Water gun & Razor shell.
‘Just like Ash’s Oshawott.’ “Okay, let’s start out with razor shell on that rock!” I called out whilst pointing at a boulder about a metre away from the river bank. Oshawott nodded and grabbed her scalchop from her belly, it began illuminating blue and soon a scythe like blade appeared from it. Oshawott charged at the rock and attacked it with fierce precision. When she jumped back, the top half of the rock slid off of the boulder, having been cut clean off by the razor shell.
“Wow! You’re already really skilled.” I praised her, making her blush a little. “Alright, now use water gun on what’s left!” Oshawott shot out a jet of water from her mouth in no time at all and the attack absolutely soaker the half standing boulder.
“I don’t really want you charging headfirst into a rock with tackle, so for now, how about we work on our speed together.” Oshawott tilted her head at me, obviously asking how we were going to do that. I grinned at her, “We are going to play a game of chase. Or tag, to be more accurate. We are going to run on land and swim in the river. When you touch me on land I then need to tag you when we are in the water. This way, we can both have fun and work on our speed at the same time!”
Oshawott nodded her head in excitement, she probably didn’t think that training would actually be more of a game. But right now, since I didn’t have any other Pokemon to do practise battles, this was the best thing I could come up with. Plus it would help me gauge how quick my new body is and help me bond with my new Pokémon too. It’s a win win all around.
I found a swimming costume in my back pack and got changed whilst Oshawott swam around in the river. Then the two of us played tag together for about an hour or so. By the end of the game, we were both quite exhausted. After drying off and getting changed, I grabbed some of the packaged food in my back pack and the two of us had lunch, or was it breakfast? Never mind.
After eating, Oshawott hopped onto my shoulder and settled there, so I didn’t even need to ask if she wanted to hang out with me as we headed to Accumla Town, she made the choice for me. Together with Oshawott, we set out once more, and because of my earlier walking, it only took about 15 minutes to break through the trees and gaze at the town just below us.
“How about we have a real battle against another trainer?” I suggested as my eyes graced the battle club building. Oshawott nodded her head whilst grinning. ‘Looks like she’s just as excited about our first battle as I am.’
Entering the town, I of course stopped off at the Pokemon centre first. I had no idea how strong the trainers who were currently at the Battle Club would be, so to be safe, I had nurse joy check on my Oshawott before I went and challenged someone to a battle.
Oshawott was returned to me quite quickly with an all clear, so with that, we made our way to the battle club. When we entered the establishment, I couldn’t help but glance around at the place in awe. It almost looked like a really well refurbished gym from my world with a modern look, but even more impressive. Perhaps that’s the nostalgia kicking in since this is actually a Pokemon establishment built for battling and training.
“Hello there young lady.” A masculine voice called out to me from my left. Looking over I was greeted by the man I knew to be Don George. “Hello sir.” I greeted him politely. “My name is Holly and this is my partner Oshawott.” I gestured to the sea otter riding on my shoulder. “I was hoping we’d be able to have a Pokemon battle here?”
The man grinned, “A Pokemon battle ey? Well you’ve come to the right place. I’m Don George, the owner of this establishment. Follow me.” We trailed behind the larger man as he lead us through a door and into a rather large room with quite a few computer like devices. Going over to one he turned it on then stepped aside so that we could see. Oshawott was leaned over to get a good look at the screen so I reached up and brought her into my arms, wanting to avoid her possibly falling off of my shoulder.
“Trainers who are looking to battle put in their information, their current team line up and the type of Pokemon they’re looking to battle against. Have you got a profile of your own yet?” Don George asked. I shook my head, “No sir. I met Oshawott yesterday, so we’re just starting out.”
Don George smiled, “I thought so.” He typed a few things into the machine and a blank slate of a profile soon popped up. “Okay then. Let’s set one up for you. Place your pokedex against the scanner there.” He gestured to what almost looked like what the scanner of a printer in my home world looked like, except that it had a green and blue tint. Following his instructions I grabbed my pokedex and placed it on the scanner, and watched in real time as the previously blank profile was filled in with my information. The profile even had a picture of me and my Oshawott.
“Alright, you’re all set.” Don George said as I placed my pokedex back into my pocket. “Is there anyone in particular that you want to battle, or a certain type of opponent you’d like?” The question caught me off guard slightly, whilst I know you can be picky in these types of establishments, I really just wanted to battle someone. Anyone would be fine.
“I don’t mind.” I started to say, then I paused contemplatively. “… but, perhaps if there is any other beginner trainers like me that would be better.” Oshawott voiced her agreement from my arms, clearly agreeing with my tentative request. After all, it wouldn’t do us any good to challenge someone with evolved Pokemon just yet.
Don George chuckled. “Yes, that would be a smart decision. Let’s see…” He started searching through profiles at a very fast pace, clearly experienced with the system. “How about Daniel?” He asked, letting me look at this boy’s profile. He was 10 like me and had two Pokémon listed on his profile, a Pidove and a Patrat. He’d been registered at the Battle Club for a little over a week and was looking to battle another beginner trainer.
“What do you think Oshawott? Want to battle Daniel?” Oshawott grinned at me, “Oshawott!” She cried out happily. Returning her smile, I turned towards Don George. “If he’s willing to battle us, that would be perfect.”
“Excellent! He’s actually in the training room right next door along with a few other trainers.” He exclaimed proudly, the announcement catching me off guard a little. “That’s convenient.” I whispered to Oshawott and Don George led us into the training room. Oshawott nodded her head in agreement.
When we entered the ‘training room’ my first thought was that it looked like a regular human gym. Given Ash’s training episode I knew the everything was more intricate than that, but first impression didn’t say the room was that impressive.
“Daniel! You’ve got yourself an opponent!” Don George called out across the room. A young boy looked up from one of the mats, a Patrat was at his feet. ‘That must be his partner.’ “Cool!” The boy shouted as he and his Pokemon ran over to us. Daniel took one look at me and grinned. “I’m guessing you’re my opponent?”
I nodded, “That’s right.” “Osha!” Oshawott chimed in from my arms. “Awesome! My Patrat has been wanting to battle a water type for a while, so how about a 1 vs 1. Your Oshawott and my Patrat.”
“Sounds good.” I replied, my voice sounding steadier than before. ‘I’m looking forward to this.’ “Then let’s make our way to the battle field.” Don George spoke up.
~Timeskip~
“Alright Patrat, you’re up!” Daniel shouted excitedly as Patrat took to the field. “Let’s do this Oshawott!” I called out. Oshawott leapt from my arms and jumped onto her side of the battle field.
“Okay, this will be a one on one match. The battle will be over when one side is unable to continue. Are both sides ready?” Don George instructed us. Daniel and I nodded in unison. “Then battle begin!” His hand came down from the air, signalling the start of the match.
“Patrat use tackle!” Patrat darted forwards towards Oshawott, instantly following his trainers command.
“Oshawott dodge it!” I quickly called. Oshawott jumped to the right and narrowly avoided Patrat’s attack. “Okay, force it back with water gun!” I tried to make my instructions quick and to the point. Oshawott heeded my call and a jet of water shot out of her mouth, striking Patrat square in the stomach.
“Keep up the pressure! Use Razor Shell!” Leaping towards her opponent with her illuminated scalchop raised, Oshawott prepared to strike the Patrat.
“Patrat, catch that move with bite!” Patrat’s teeth made contact with our attack and stopped Oshawott in her tracks, catching both of us off guard. I hesitated, unsure whether to have Oshawott attack or retreat and Daniel took full advantage of that. “Use Tackle!”
“Osha wott!” Oshawott cried out as she was sent flying back. “Oshawott are you okay?!” I questioned her worriedly as she got back on her feet. The little sea otter nodded her head then turned her full attention back on her opponent.
“Patrat use tackle!” Daniel called out. “Oshawott use tackle too.” I responded quickly.
Oshawott and Patrat met each other head on the jumped away from each other. “Water gun!” The jet of water shot out towards Patrat. “Dodge it!” Patrat jumped over the blast before it could make contact. “Now use Bite!” Daniel instructed.
“Counter with Razor Shell!” I called out to my partner. This time when they connected, we were ready for Patrat to grasp onto Oshawott’s Scalcop. “Now use tackle!” I shouted as soon as they did so. Daniel hadn’t expected me to use his strategy, so Oshawott was able to get the upper hand and shoved Patrat away from her.
With Patrat now struggling to his feet, “Finish this with water gun!” Oshawott shot out the move as soon as she heard my instruction.
“Patrat dodge it!” Daniel called out desperately. We all watched as the kneeling Patrat just stared at the quickly approaching water gun and made no move to get out of the way. Oshawott’s move made contact and Patrat was slammed into the wall behind him.
When Oshawott’s attack ended, Patrat was laying against the wall with swirls in his eyes, signifying mine and Oshawott’s first ever battle victory!
“Patrat is unable to battle. Oshawott is the winner, which means the match goes to Holly!” Don George (as the acting Referee) announced.
“We did it Oshawott!” I exclaimed excitedly as Oshawott happily ran towards me. I embraced my Pokemon, congratulating her at the same time as Daniel was praising his Patrat for a good battle.
“Your Oshawott is pretty strong.” Daniel complimented us, as soon as he had recalled his Patrat into its pokeball. “Thanks. Your Patrat is pretty strong too.” Daniel held out his hand for me to shake so I did so, while still holding Oshawott with my other arm. “Let’s have a rematch some time, yeah?”
I grinned, “Sounds good to me.” Daniel smiled then headed out, most likely going to the Pokemon centre to get Patrat rested up. Don George approached us, “So how did your first ever battle feel?”
My eyes met Oshawott’s. “It was awesome!” “Osha!” Don George shot us a proud grin. “Good. Now that you have a Battle profile you’ll receive battle requests from other trainers and you’ll be able to issue them as well from any of the Battle clubs scattered across Unova.”
“Thank you sir.” I bowed as Oshawott decided to climb up my arm and settle back down on my shoulder. “No problem, it’s what I’m here for. I hope you have many more fulfilling battles Holly.” With that, Don George left the battle arena, leaving me and Oshawott alone.
With a battle now under my belt, I had one thing left on my mind, and that, was to find my next team member. “Let’s go and get something to eat.” I said and made my way out of the Battle Club.