SUMMARY:
Following a short nap, a sheltered teenager is transmigrated into the world of Pokémon. With no clear or easy way to go back home, he embarks on a journey of self-recovery that changes his life for the better—all the while coping with his various issues with the help of his new companions. Pokemon SI that highlights mental health, addiction, and recovery.
[CH 1 - Sink or Swim]
"Darren, would you like to hear about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?" someone said in a sing-song tone.
I shoved a textbook into my backpack as the low-pitched notes of a random, inaudible heavy metal song echoed throughout my ears. Hopefully, whoever was trying to talk to me would soon give up in favor of conversing with someone else. The best outcome would be that they'd talk to another person, preferably someone who'd occupy them with a productive or otherwise engaging topic. Worst case scenario, they'd give me a harsh glare that I'd shrug off without as much as a care in the world.
Not like I gave a shit about how some random people thought about me. All these people were lucky enough to enjoy their lives without the intervention of something out of their control. I wasn't so lucky to be privileged with such a luxury.
Then, the person spoke once again, far clearer than before. "Darren, can you hear me?"
I grabbed my notebook and pencil, shoving them into my backpack with a touch bit more force than I intended. Seriously? Who the hell was trying so damn hard to talk to me at the end of the school day? With an irritated look, I turned to face my would-be addressee. Quickly, I stopped the scathing hellfire of a reply from escaping my throat in favor of silently staring in annoyance.
I hoped the fact that I had my earbuds in meant that I could deter everyone from speaking to me as soon as class ended. That was one of the many standard defensive maneuvers I employed throughout the school year, one that had proven to be effective against almost everyone in my classes.
Unfortunately, however, Lia–my best friend for as long as I remembered–knew better than to give up at such a paltry defense. And she definitely didn't count in the "almost everyone" category compared to others.
It also, sadly, didn't help that she also knew what exactly to do when I didn't say anything in reply, having dealt with me and my shitty attitude whenever it popped up.
"Darren, are you listening? I know your music volume isn't at max. You always keep it at low volume so you can eavesdrop on people," Lia paused, her annoying lively green eyes peering through her bangs to meet my dull brown ones. Ugh, I hated when she did that. "You know how much I hate being ignored. Even a simple 'No' would be fine."
I stood still, not unlike a mouse in the sight of an average housecat, as she proceeded onward without fear—unyielding at one of many social interaction escape provisions I held secret within the confines of my mind. With soft steps, she closed the gap between us and stopped in front of me. And then, with a swift movement of her arm, her hand fell onto my shoulder.
Almost immediately, I flinched back at her touch. "Alright alright! You know I don't like that, so why the hell—" Unconsciously, I stepped back frantically to make space between the two of us. Taking in a deep breath to calm myself, I took out my earbuds, the rumble of far-too-happy students chatting amongst themselves filling my ears.
One of Lia's brows rose as she held her hand in front of her face, definitely in amusement if her barely hidden smile had anything to say about it. Damn it all. That was a mean and devious trick, exploiting one of my many weaknesses.
Dusting off my shoulders, I met her twinkling expression with a flat look. "So, what were you asking again?"
"You don't remember? I told you in our first class earlier today, but I managed to get a study group together for our upcoming exams. Adrian, Tamvi, Rae, Jordan, Ty, Megan and her friend-but-not-really Danny are all joining. Chris might join but he's not sure, but he might also bring some of his friends along. Soooo, are ya joining?" she asked excitedly.
"Sounds fun, but not today," I replied, moving back to my desk and shoving the last of my supplies–a mythology book I had borrowed from the school library–into my backpack, before closing it with a quick zip. "I've got a short shift at Target later today, but it starts in a half hour and doesn't end until 7. Holiday sales and all that means rush hour. Knowing my luck, I'll be stuck there for the whole shift."
I rolled my eyes as Lia began to fake-cough into her fist, the mere thought of working retail part-time far too much for her to handle. "At any rate, I'm free tomorrow. I don't have another shift until the weekend hits, so I'll join you guys then. The boss is merciful like that sometimes." Admittedly, I hated working there, but it strengthened my will to be as polite as possible. Even in the face of utter evil itself in the form of the occasional Karen or some other overly entitled customer.
It had taken a lot of effort and answering lots of vague questions with specific answers, but I
somehow managed to get hired at that place. Even after being rejected by three other retail stores, at that. Though I had to say, working part-time sucked–if only because the wage was honestly subpar compared to working full-time–and working part-time
retail of all jobs was even worse in that regard.
In any case, work was work and my college tuition wouldn't pay for itself no matter how much I thought or wished for it. The discounts for being an employee were just a little side bonus, anyway. The real reward was the break room, where I could sleep as much as I wanted when I wasn't on shift.
It beat sleeping on the poor excuse of a bed I had at home. Moreso since I had managed to fall asleep at a normal time for once. That was definitely nice for a change of pace.
"C-can you buy me something?" asked Lia with a small stutter, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"Sure. What do you want?" At my inquisitive look, she hesitated. Twirling a strand of her brown hair with a finger, she looked off to the side. "I want you to buy…"
I regret ever asking. Moreso since I agreed to buy it for her with no delay whatsoever. My face flushed with embarrassment as she began to excitedly recall the details of what she wanted me to buy.
Every single last detail of them, down to the fine print of all things. I didn't even know these had a fine print until now!
Damn me and my almost non-existent dignity and pride. Damn my willingness to be a good friend to the only person in my life that I held a barely stable friendship with. Damn my weakness to puppy eyes and everything cute in the world.
Damn it all to hell and back.
After finishing my shift and purchasing what Lia requested without so much as making eye contact with my curious coworker, I sprinted over to the break room with the receipt and shopping bag in hand. My shift of stacking boxes and cleaning the shelves finished not too long ago, but it wouldn't be for another hour that mom would be here to pick me up.
It was too awkward, standing outside of the store with what I was holding. And I sure as hell didn't want any more attention than the typical passing glance people gave me. Not to mention that standing outside with nothing but a leather jacket to protect me from the winter breeze was
probably not ideal. Doubly so with winter exams soon.
Hey, did I mention that I'm a terrible planner yet? Because I am definitely terrible at planning, especially regarding anything in the future. If only due to my indecisive brain and thought process never letting me stick to one specific schedule.
As such, my "plan"–if it could even be called such with how haphazardly strewn together it was–was to have a small nap before she arrived. My back acted up like a motherfucker while I was moving all those crates around and hopefully some well-deserved rest would be enough to alleviate my spinal misery for at least a little while.
For a brief moment, it would allow me to go back into my former modus operandi of being a recluse. Even if it was for a mere thirty minutes compared to how long I had spent being a practical shut-in.
"Those were the days," I muttered with a smile. Just like that, the floodgates broke, memories rushing out to fill me with nostalgia. I remembered lounging in my room all day, watching the latest episode of a show or anime without a care in the world while in my bed. I remembered skipping school and sleeping my problems away, the comfort of dreams taking me away to somewhere better.
Ah, the wonders of childhood innocence and greed. What I would do to relive those memories again—
Ugh, what am I doing? I wanted to have a nap, not do some short, but long-needed self-reflection! And at the entrance of the break room no less!
After doing a quick look-around to make sure nobody saw me standing around like an idiot, I hurriedly made my way into the room. Taking off my jacket, the warm air from the AC enveloping me, I put it onto the coat rack on the wall along with the shopping bag. The paint on the wall had chipped slightly, but it was only notable because everything else was pretty well-off.
I don't know how, but my coworkers prior to me being hired had somehow managed to get one of the storage rooms to be repurposed into a break room.
"Come on, cloud bro. Get paralyzed already so I can catch you." someone pleaded in frustration, the low pitch of their voice and use of words instantly clueing me onto who exactly was in the break room with me.
My curiosity peaked, I walked over to the table to see what all the fuss was about. I glanced at my coworker's laptop screen and, almost instantaneously, felt myself and my inner backseat gamer die a little bit inside.
Hunter–a senior coworker agonizing over trying to capture Landorus–acknowledged my presence with a slight nod of his head before focusing back onto dealing with the legendary, furiously tapping his hotkey. Deciding to be nice for a change, I pulled a chair over and sat myself down next to him with a knowing grin.
"You know Landorus is a Flying/Ground type, yeah? Thunder Wave is not a good option for it, but I've heard that Hypnosis works nicely." I heard a sharp intake of breath, but before he could say anything I cheekily added, "I also heard that Dusk Balls are better than Ultra Balls when it's night time, which it is right now."
After one liberal use of Hypnosis by switching to his Gothitelle alongside throwing a couple of Dusk balls, Hunter finally caught Landorus. With how he skipped the pokedex entry and nickname screen before unceremoniously slumping down into his chair, I didn't want to imagine how long he had been failing in his attempts to catch it.
He turned to me with an expression of gratitude that I honestly didn't deserve whatsoever. "Appreciate the heads up, 'Ren. Forgot to save before starting the fight. Woulda lost hours of progress if you hadn't helped."
I shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Just make sure to remember it all for next time. Don't want any fuckups to happen, yeah?" I stood up, stretching my arms and cracking my knuckles before making my way to the other side of the room. "I'll be taking a nap on the couch. Won't be staying the whole night." The second part drew out, a yawn escaping my lips at the last moment. Throwing myself onto the cushions, I embraced the comfiness and warmth.
Man, I was more tired than I thought if I was soothed by the cushions of a couch in the break room of a
Target of all things.
"Not the whole night for once?" asked Hunter curiously.
Was it really so weird that I wasn't staying the whole night? Had I done it so much that
not doing it was an outlier? Regardless, I couldn't dignify a typical nod with my current position, so I settled for giving him a thumbs up instead. Hopefully, he didn't prod any further.
I didn't want to drag anyone else into my problems. Lia was already enough,
there was no need to add someone else in—
He let out a low hum of understanding, the wheels of his chair scraping against the marble floor. "Gotcha. Well, I'll be out for a moment. Going to grab some grub and clean up the rest of the place. Enjoy your nap, 'Ren." I heard the door close with a slight creak, heavy footfalls fading off into the distance.
Not even more than a few moments later, my brain fully embraced dreamland and I was out like a light.
Waking up was, if I had to personally describe it, a sad experience. A truly sorrowful experience indeed. The shift from vivid dreaming to the harsh wonders of reality, the grogginess that weighed down my entire body from head to toe, the sudden tiredness that gripped my brain with a vice so undeniably tight that it made me wonder why I was even awake at all.
Usually, when I woke up, I'd just stay in bed for a bit. Think about things. Ponder about the most riveting of things and topics and stuff I liked to do in my spare time. My thoughts would drift between going to sleep again or harshly criticizing my future plans for the day.
Some say that's a product of seeking success, but I see it as a mark of constant failure molding me into who I am. Something I hated the most, even more than
him.
—A cold gust breezed along my arm, breaking me out of my thoughts, and I couldn't help but shudder. Did Hunter open it up again? It would explain why it was colder than usual. Even the AC couldn't stop the winter breeze from entering through the…
Something wasn't right there.
I moved my numb arms, lifting myself up and getting something rough onto my hands. "There's no fucking windows in the break room. Not a single damn one," I said with clarity.
My brain, now supplied with that vital information, allowed my body the strength it needed to move. With a grimace and adrenaline rushing through my veins, I pushed myself up onto my feet and—
I stumbled to keep my footing as I stood up, and despite the moonlight going through the tree leaves surrounding me–I ended up in the middle of a fucking forest somehow–all I could see was darkness. Light, I needed light. Phone. My phone had a flashlight feature, and as far as I remembered I had charged it to full while I was working my shift.
Hopefully, my goldfish memory of all my flaws wouldn't be what ended me tonight.
Frantically fishing through the backpack that was somehow brought with me, I found that I still had my wallet, a bag of snack bars, all of the textbooks and books I borrowed alongside other school supplies, and a pair of spare clothes. Rummaging even further, I discovered my comb, an extra pair of my prescription glasses, and—
I grabbed my phone with my now mud-covered hands and stumbled to turn on the flashlight feature. A beam of light filled the dark expanse ahead of me, lighting the way. Yet, instead of the hope that I anticipated, all I felt was utter disbelief and shock pairing nicely with my jaw that dropped onto the floor.
Right in the middle of that very beam of light, a dark sphere floated along with a hint of mischievousness. Wisps of purple fog surrounded it as though it were a pyre; the
thing's appearance becoming clearer with every detail I noticed, from it's damnable cheeky smile to the eyes that were—
My disbelief and shock were instantly overshadowed by the fact that the Gastly, a damn
Pokemon of all things, was meeting my eyes. A motherfucking Pokemon. What the fuck? Aren't Pokemon
fictional? How am I seeing one right now?
"Gaaaaaas," intoned the purple gas orb, and I instinctively moved back a couple of steps; if only from the sheer impossibility of this entire situation. Simultaneously, I began thinking about just where the hell I was. I certainly didn't feel like I was in Kansas or any other place that existed in real life.
Well,
my real life, at any rate. A world without Pokemon sounded more fictional to the people of this world than one that had them. God, that was jarring to think about, but I had more pressing matters to attend to. Like the fact that I was staring down a motherfucking Pokemon and that I had no idea where I was.
As far as I knew, Pokemon didn't exist on Earth, so that meant I was in the world of
Pokemon, where fantastical creatures roamed the lands and lived amongst humans. But then that begged the question: which continuity? There were the anime, mainline games, manga, mystery dungeon, colosseum, Pokemon Snap, and so many others that I couldn't even remember. I could have ended up in one of those sole continuities, or maybe a weird mix of some of them.
…If I ended up in one of those dumbass grimdark fan-games, I am going to kill whoever sent me here and then off myself. Nobody should have to deal with the horrendously bad writing and fandom lore those games have regarding "realism". Moreso if I ended up inside one of those fanfiction stories where Pokemon are adorable murderbeasts that don't hesitate to rip off the head of a person or their trainer if they were slighted in the least bit. I didn't want to be unceremoniously ended by Ratata or Caterpie before I could even attempt to find my way home, no siree.
Not to mention as to why I was here at all. I had no clue why I of all people was the one sent to the world of Pokemon. I was a nobody compared to the vast population of people, and I had nothing to offer besides my extremely baseline and incomplete knowledge of the franchise. If I had to take a guess as to how I came here it would be a Legendary Pokemon, like Hoopa or Giratina, but it had been so long since I read anything lore-related that the reasonings I thought of all sounded like useless jargon to me.
Fuck. I wouldn't be able to see Lia, Hunter, Mom, or anybody else for a while. Lia wouldn't get the gift she wanted me to buy for her. She was so excited for it too, especially since she really wanted to give it to someone. And Hunter wouldn't have anyone to give him some necessary Pokemon details. I sent my heart out for him and his 100% Black and White Pokedex completion run. There was also the fact that my family and I had spent a lot of time and effort planning out my birthday party. It wouldn't be for a few more weeks at most, but they had wanted to celebrate my eighteenth birthday with a more-than-special occasion, and I couldn't just say no to—
Halting my train of thought, I turned my phone's flashlight to face the direction where the rustling noise came from. Slowly, I approached; leaves quietly crunching underneath my shoes as the silence of the night made my anxiety spike even higher than before. With my hands shaking and covered in sweat, I brushed aside the branch that was between me and whatever had made noise, and found
nothing. Not a single thing that could've made the noise.
I let out a breath of relief, one I didn't realize I had been holding. "Fucking hell." I muttered, turning around to face the Gastly. To my slowly mounting dread, it wasn't there anymore.
Shit! Where did it go?!
Harsh laughter suddenly echoed throughout my ears, the noise driving me mad with fear and mocking me, as I put my hands up to cover my ears to no avail. I turned my head and looked around to try and see where the hell it was, but I couldn't see the damn gas ball anywhere. Having my light spazz all over the place didn't help matters much either.
Something warm dripped down my ears and fell onto the floor, but I didn't dare to look. I needed to find a way to stop this, but I couldn't move my legs and everything was in pain—
Then, almost immediately, the laughter ceased assaulting my ears; overtaken by the silent ambience of the forest. I looked around, my hands shaking from fear and paranoia. Did the Gastly go away? Were my ears finally free from the torment that fucker was inflicting upon me?
Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw it. That damnable purple orb, with something floating alongside it. My backpack. How the hell had it taken my backpack?
The realization struck me like a lightning bolt. It must have been when I raised my arms up to block that harrowing laughter. That was when it managed to unravel the shoulder straps and take it off of me, while I was distracted by trying to get rid of the noise.
"Gas, gastly," snickered Gastly, floating off into the treeline with my only chance of surviving in the unknown.
And I was having none of it. First it hurt me, and now it was stealing my stuff? Shaking off my fear and pain, I chased after it with newfound motivation. "Get the fuck back here and give my stuff back, you purple menace!" I growled.
At the edge of my vision I could see other pokemon that I didn't bother giving more than passing a glance to. Some of them were flying, others were perched onto the branches, and some were even staring curiously from behind some leaves and trees. But they didn't matter right now.
That Gastly and my backpack, the only thing besides my phone which connected me to my world, were about to disappear. I'd be damned if I let this jackass take it all away without giving it a fight to remember.
I started grabbing anything I could off of the ground and threw them at the bastard. Branches, pebbles, stones, even a damn Leek of all things. There wasn't much that I could do against a Ghost type, so I was banking on the fact that one of these things could stop it for even a moment.
They all passed through Gastly harmlessly, the damn bastard letting out that haunting laugh once more, but I didn't let that stop me from continuing my onslaught. I was discouraged from my lack of progress, I'd admit that. I'd been chasing and throwing shit at it to no avail; from throwing more objects just to get a single opening and my backpack from it—
I picked up another stone and, taking an amateur pitcher's stance, chucked it. This time, it actually managed to hit it right in its smug little face. Granted, it did nothing more than just that, but man did I feel a wave of catharsis wash over me at its disbelief. It was like getting a one-up on those know-it-alls in my class, but more fulfilling and worthwhile.
My confidence reignited, I picked up similar stones–they were a dull teal color I noticed–and started chucking them as fast and efficiently as I could without hurting myself. The Gastly moved more erratically, bobbing and weaving between what I was throwing, and even had the gall to turn around to face me. God, what a prick.
I threw another stone, missing again, and the fucker made the smuggest looking face I had ever seen on, well,
anything. "Gas, gas ly. Gastly," It said, shaking my backpack with its non-existent hands before floating off again.
With a growl, I chased after it again. Brushing a few branches aside, I made my way through the treeline and felt my heart drop into my stomach.
Good news, the Gastly stopped running from me, and it looked like it was done with playing this dumb game of cat and mouse. Bad news, the fucker had stopped at the edge of a river, and it was holding my backpack over it.
Not even a moment after I made eye-contact with the purple annoyance, it dropped my backpack into the water with a smirk that made me want to beat its face in. I didn't know if that counted as animal abuse since I couldn't do anything to actually hurt it, but damn I was really considering it before I proceeded to jump into the water.
God, it was freezing. The water got all the mud off of me, but there was no doubt that my phone was irreversibly damaged from all the water here. Aimlessly flailing myself around, I grabbed my backpack and tossed it onto the other side of the river. I didn't want anything in there to be scavenged through, especially the snack bars and my wallet.
The current became inexplicably stronger, and it was then that I came to an intelligently stupid realization.
For all my flailing around in the water,
I didn't know how to swim. Rather ironic, really. Living in California but not knowing how to swim. Fun–or not-so-fun–fact, I almost drowned two times in my life. The first time was at a neighbor's pool when I was eight and the second at the beach during a high tide when I was twelve, but I hadn't considered taking up lessons because of how I basically almost never did any swimming of the sort. Truly, I was a grade-A dumbass with no one to match my stupidity.
My regret instantly hit me, but the fast-flowing water hit even harder as I was submerged. I felt my leg scrape along something sharp, and water entered my mouth as I tried to yell in pain. My eyes opened in a panic, water rushing into my stomach, and through the glimmering of moonlight I saw a faint streak of crimson trailing me. Damn it all. My leg hurt and my stomach burned inside, but I didn't think—
Yeah. I didn't think. God, I was an idiot. One of the greatest idiots of my generation. A real piece of work I was. Thinking I could ever be a productive member of society. Thinking that I could do something more than be a waste of space. Thinking that, for all intents and purposes, I would have a bright future ahead of me.
He was always right about me, and I was always wrong. I should have just fucked off and stayed a shut-in like the hermit I am. If I hadn't gotten my job, I wouldn't have ended up in this mess. I wouldn't be bleeding out and then subsequently eaten by whatever Pokemon was in or near the damn river.
I was going to die. I was going to die, and this time there was no one nearby to save me from my stupid mistake. I—
The rush of water and rapid beating of my heart drowned out my thoughts, and my consciousness faded to darkness.
