Lost In This Game (Pokemon)

Chapter 4: Becoming Pixels

I felt a sharp, jarring pain in my head, and a white light blared through my eyelids. I tried to scream, but no noise escaped my lips. The light subsided, and I was facing myself. Well, not myself, but a cartoon version of myself. She fidgeted around as I would, and she smiled when I told myself to. Playing mirror, I raised my arm. So did the sprite.

“Woah,” we said in unison.

Her eyes and hair were superimposed, like standard Pokémon anime style, but the face was definitely mine. Her wavy, brown hair reached to her lower back, and her bangs were tied back with a silver clip. She wore only a simple white dress.

An invisible voice came through my ears, “Hello adventurer! We apologize for this screen, but we assure you that it will be the only video game-like screen you encounter during your journey. This is where you can customize your character’s hairstyle and clothing. You can purchase new clothes, and pay for a haircut while in the game, but now is the time to customize your sprite for free. The facial features cannot be changed, as they are generated from your real face. Please have fun searching through hundreds of outfits and hairstyles!” The woman giggled, and the voice was replaced by the quaint music from the game. A screen popped up in front of my sprite, and she stepped up to a mini runway, continuing to fidget.

“Do I really dance around like that when I’m bored?” I asked rhetorically. Instead of receiving an answer, I only received an echo from my mini-me. I sighed. “Well, better look at these clothes.”

There were really hundreds of different choices in each category. Whilst scrolling through my eyes caught a bright pink Lolita dress, with a tuft of fur on the head. “Wow… who in their right mind would wear something so tacky?” I said to myself.  I kept scrolling through the options, finally deciding on a blue off-the-shoulder top, a pair of black skinnies, and checkered Vans. I found a hairstyle that I immediately fell in love with: a wavy side-pony with a few bits on the other side hanging down by my face. It was cartoony and gorgeous, and I finished off the look with a white bow holding the pony. I smiled, and in parallel so did my sprite; her chocolaty brown eyes glimmering as she approved of the outfit as well.

“Well, how do I get out of here?” I called up to the ceiling, or what appeared to be so, “I’m done!”

The announcer came back onto the speaker. “Are you sure?” I nodded, and she continued, “Very well. Welcome to your new world!”

The screen went fuzzy, and disappeared. As it cleared up, I found myself looking at an unfamiliar ceiling. I was wrapped in fuzzy fabric, and soon realized that I was in a bed. Sitting up, I looked around. It looked like any other room from the Pokémon games: a PC in the corner, a TV with a game console attached, and a few dressers. However, this room was a bit different. There was another bed on the other side of the room. I giggled as I realized the person in the adjacent bed was Zeke. I guess roommates will be siblings? That’s a pretty cute detail.

I got out of bed, and looked down to notice that I was fully dressed; awkward. From Zeke’s bed, I heard a sudden snort, and he sprang up from his sleeping position.

“Hello Pokémon world!” he declared.

I laughed. “Hello Zeke!”

He drew back in surprise, but warmed up after realizing it was me. We both commented about each other’s fashion choices. Zeke chose medium-wash skinny jeans with small rips in the knees, with a black tuxedo t-shirt. He wore black All Stars that were covered in pre-made sharpie graffiti. I thought his whole outfit was adorable, especially when it was accented with his perfectly coiffed, dark blonde locks.

We walked down stairs together, still chatting about nothing in particular, and as we reached the bottom, a middle aged woman walked up to us. I figured it was an NPC.

“Aww, look at my babies, heading off to start their Pokémon journeys,” she cooed. Zeke looked at me, and we both giggled quietly. She continued, “Aspen, Zeke, remember you can always come home if you need to take a rest. Now go get your first Pokémon!” The woman pushed us out of the house, and we walked leisurely through our yard to the street.

“So,” I asked, “Do you know where we’re going?”

“The lab. Duh.”

“Well yeah,” I scoffed, “But where is that?”

Zeke opened his mouth to answer with a witty response, but closed it when he had nothing to say. Littleroot is a lot bigger when you’re in the game. We were lost.

I spotted a young girl with dark skin. Her lime green tank-top would be hard to miss anywhere. She skipped along the roadside merrily; her short brown hair bouncing with every step. I tugged Zeke in her direction, and as we got closer, I heard her humming a beautiful tune. I almost felt bad for interrupting, but tapped her on the shoulder nonetheless. She turned with a huge smile on her face.

“I’m sorry, but do you mind telling us the way to the Pokémon Lab?” I asked apologetically.

She smiled wider as she nodded, revealing pearly white teeth that contrasted perfectly with her dark skin. She said, “Follow me!” And quickly skipped ahead, leaving us confused. I snapped out of it quickly, and tugged Zeke along again.

“Thank you,” I said, after finally catching up. Zeke nodded his thank you, and smiled.

“What’s your name?” Zeke asked, making up for the lack of speech.

The girl piped up joyfully, “Lamia. And you two?”

“I’m Aspen.”

“And I’m Zeke”

She smiled, “Well, alright, we’re almost there Aspen and Zeke!”