[Somewhere...]
Darkness. An overwhelming black. A void with seemingly no end in sight. No light or colour, but simply shadows. There was nothing, nothing at all, besides nothingness itself. Not a noise or sight, nothing to touch and nothing to smell. A vacuum of empty space vacant and desolate.
At first, one would have equated this experience to the space in-between falling asleep at night and waking up. When you don't dream, plainly finding yourself awake in the morning a few seconds later. And yet, the temporary sleep didn't end. Rather it remained in everything, stretching on and on forever. However, it wasn't an objectively unpleasant experience. It was devoid of good and bad sensations, simply a place were existence occured and nothing else.
The only comparable situation would be if one were to be drifting away at the bottom of the ocean, or floating gently further into the oblivions of space. Granted, without the added concerns of needing to breathe or crushing levels of pressure.
It was easy to disregard at first, thinking that any moment now the void would vanish and in return a homely bedroom would take it's place. A comfortable bed with freshly smelling sheets. A dresser and draws with family photos, awards or memorabilia perhaps? And yet, the bedroom wasn't appearing. It was strange however, the sight of a warm, comfortable home was a nice image, but that wasn't his home, nor was it his bedroom, or his clothes or awards.
Now that he thought about it more closely, what had his bedroom looked like? It certainly didn't look like that, or at least that's what he believed. No, it most certainly wasn't, but what then did it look like? This soon began to bring more questions forward. Wait, what did my house look like? Where exactly am I from? Do I have a family? Friends? How old am I? What am I? WHO am I?
Well that last question was simple enough, his name was [Y/N]. He was sure of it, it was the only thing that sounded right in his head, whatever way he tried to phrase it. [Y/N]. [Y/N], what though? Did he even have a last name? That was a silly question, everyone has a last name! So why for the life of him could he not just remember his stupid last name. It was one of the easiest questions, even a young child could have answered it, and yet it was so far out of reach.
Everything was out of reach in the void like space. Concepts of space or time didn't even appear to be applicable to his current whereabouts, wherever exactly he was. Wait. WAIT! WHERE THE HELL WAS HE?! He had been able to pass of the blackness around him as sleep. However, as he became more aware of his surrounding he also felt more awake then he had ever felt in his entire life. It was as if he were slowly drifting in a direction, though which direction he wasn't certain. The currents that pulled him along controlled him now. His own body was out of his control.
[Y/N] began to feel an immense anxiousness and a sickly nausea, heavy weight pressed hard against his skull. He grew warmer and warmer by the second, so warm that he felt he couldn't hardly breathe. Desperately clawing at his neck, he swallowed hard and found resistance. He kicked his legs violently, shaking his entire body as hard as he physically could. His nails began clawing into his neck, a hot liquid forming at the tips of his fingers. The first REAL sensation he had felt this entire time, besides fear. He was drowning, or he was suffocating. He was being pulled and pushed, slowly squeezed until all the life was wrung out of him.
In the darkness, the only way that [Y/N] could rationalize the realm around him was obvious. He was dead. He had died, somehow. How exactly, that was unclear, just as everything else before the void around him was, besides his first name. He was [Y/N]. [Y/N]. [Y/N]. Repeating his name felt somewhat comforting actually. As if, despite everything else having been taken from him, he still had this last remaining fragment of his self to latch onto. His name was something no one could take from him, even in death.
Had he been killed? That would have sucked. It was a funny thought to imagine a spirit contemplating the many possibilities as to their own untimely death. If he even was dead in the first place. Though, how else could he understand his current predicament. There were no pearly gates, but no fiery pits of hell either. Once again, there was nothing. A space in-between then? That was the most logical explanation, besides having fallen into a coma maybe? That would have also sucked.
The nausea subsided. The pain and contortions ended as quickly as they started. Surprisingly, [Y/N] actually felt much better then he had previously. He felt destressed, lighter even, more energetic. A new spring in his step. It was a nice diversion away from whatever else he had just experienced. He just had to struggle for a little bit, now he was fine. Completely fine. Definitely wasn't scared for his life or anything, nope. The bravest of the brave.
His body kept drifting slowly along. What more was there to do now? He was lost in the current, maybe the best course of action was to simply give in. [Y/N] closed his eyes, exasperated. Well, now he would need to get adjusted to his new home in the afterlife, he supposed.
A flash of light appeared through the space before him. [Y/N] instinctually raised a hand to cover his eyes, as if he was trying to get a few extra hours before school. Then another, and another. Now multiple balls of slight began circling around his vision. His eyes kept themselves shut, refusing to open. It definitely wasn't out of fear or anything, no way! He was the bravest of the brave!
A gargantuan sound broke the void, and not just in it's volume, the sheer existence of the noise seemed to threaten the stability of the very world around him. [Y/N]'s eyes darted awake, covering his ears, and yet his hands provided no defence, the abyssal cry as loud as it had been originally. The noise wasn't simply in the void somewhere, no. It was everywhere. A distorted whale noise was the best way to describe it.
The lights danced around him, like the souls of the dead, bouncing off of the air from one spot to the next. The appeared to be playing with one another, almost cute in a weird way. And they excitedly jumped around [Y/N]'s head, quickly growing harder for his eyes to keep up with them all. While he was focused on the three flaming balls, he hadn't noticed the shifting shapes within the darkness. While still obscured, a solid amalgamation began to form from matter.
In rapid succession, the starlike balls began racing faster and faster, spinning around him in a circular motion. Until they fired off from their course, crashing into the void. And yet, they hadn't simply crashed into the darkness. A blinding golden glow tore through the black, forcing [Y/N] to cover his eyes once more. Through squinted vision, it was difficult to make out, but sure enough something stood before him. A ginormous creature, it's skin was the whitest white imaginable. The golden rays basked off of it like the sun.
In [Y/N]'s crude imagination, he sort of saw a deformed giraffe? A very strange looking horse with what appeared to be poles sticking out of it's torso? What the hell was it? There wasn't even much fear left, rather fear felt like an unnecessary emotion in this instance. The sheer complexity and difficulty trying to comprehend the thing before him seemed a monumental task. From the angelic being's head, a golden ball of light separated from the whole, slowly falling down towards the young man below. Sceptical as he may have been, he felt no malice from the gesture, accepting the golden orb with little hesitation.
As it made contact with his body, its touch was warm and euphoric, the golden rays washing over his entire torso, sinking into his body itself. While he had felt good before, now was a much different feeling. [Y/N] felt strong, and durable, but also fast. His head once cloudy now felt much more clear, though the lost memories didn't seem to have returned. It was as if he now saw things from an entirely new perspective, no longer limited to the auspices of a normal human.
[Y/N] began to drift faster, and noticeable moving upwards. Gaining a more weightless feeling, the comfort of sleep began to return to him, his eyes growing heavy and his will to remain awake slowly slipping away. The creature before him grew brighter and brighter, but he could tell its gaze remained solely on him. Why was that? Did it expect something from him, or was it simply looking for a reaction? Big questions like that were better asked at another time, when he didn't feel so tired.
He began curling up into himself. The golden glow brighter and brighter by the second. Soon the once dark world was now entirely replaced with the blinding light, which occupied every inch of blackness. In that same moment, when all the darkness was overcome, [Y/N] fell soundly asleep. It had been one of the most comfortable sleeps of his entire life.
... ... ... ...
[Y/N] woke up. His mind was at peace, completely calm in those first waking moments. Though, why exactly wasn't clear to him. Had he not just gone to sleep the same way he did every night? Wait, where did he go to sleep last night? Did he even sleep in a bed?
In the near distance, the noise of a lazy stream trickled away. The sounds of animals, bird calls and a cricket's song. He felt a cold breeze caress his cheek, making the hair atop his arms and legs stand up. His back started to ache slightly, only now just realising how hard the surface he now lied upon was. Even his head quickly grew a migraine, causing him to wince.
However, the worst pain he felt was at the bottom of his foot. Perhaps it was some extreme pins and needles, yet it felt as if daggers had stuck themselves into his leg. He tried to move past the pain at first, keeping his eyes shut, but then it grew unbearable quickly. [Y/N] finally opened his eyes. He was surrounded by nature, trees and bushes and shrubbery. A peaceful stream ran adjacent to him. In the far distance snow-capped mountains stood tall and intimidating. Strangely large birds flew high in the sky, resisting the sun's glare.
What took him by surprise the most was when he turned his attention to his lower leg. A small, bipedal, grey goblin looking creature sat upon his foot. Its small fangs sunken deep into the fabric of his jeans, and refused to let go. [Y/N] eyes went wide, not even finding time to question how he had appeared in the middle of nowhere. No, more pressing was the tiny monster that was currently trying to take his entire leg off and eat it for dinner! "HEY! GET THE HELL OFF ME..." [Y/N] began, trying to find an accurate name for the tiny demon, "DEMON, YEAH! GET OFF ME SHITTY DEMON THING!"
[Y/N] began shaking his leg violently up and down, trying to sit upright. Yet, despite the aggressive struggle, the shark thing refused to let go, clamping down its jaws even harder. It was soon becoming even more unbearable, any moment his leg was sure to come clean off. "Why you little..." He mumbled to himself, readying his fists. If this thing was trying to make off with his leg without a fight, well it had another thing coming to him!
And just as [Y/N] was about to lay a smackdown on the tiny shark monster, a soft voice called out from the treeline behind them. "Gible! Gible! Where have you gone off to now?!" It was evidently a woman's voice, and whatever a 'Gible' was, she sounded concerned for it. Gible is a pretty stupid name for a dog, he thought to himself. Once again, [Y/N] locked eyes with the demon on his leg, "That's it, you've gone and done it now."
With all his force, he slammed down upon the monster's head. And yet, while [Y/N] had expected to send the demon packing, the reverse was true. "SHIT!" He called out, holding his bruised hand tight, he wouldn't have been surprised if the bone itself had fractured entirely. It was like he punched a boulder, and the shark thing hadn't budged at all. Rather, it appeared even more motivated, its eyes furrowed and determined.
Searching all around him for an impromptu weapon, [Y/N] wouldn't just let himself be taken out by some monster of the night. Soon his fingers, muddied and caked in dirt, latched onto a decently sized rock, with a protruding edge perfect to crush a stupid rock monster's skull in. "You asked for this you little shit!" He hadn't killed anything before, or at least he assumed he hadn't. This time it was life or death however, there was only one option.
Holding the rock right above the creature's head, just as [Y/N] was about to crash it down he could hear someone running in the grass nearby. "GIBLE! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO BITE RANDOM STRANGERS!" Noticeably, upon the advent of this stranger's arrival, the small monster's eyes darted away from its target. So you ARE Gible, [Y/N] realised, though he still contemplated bringing the rock down either way, considering the Gible hadn't let go.
A young woman crashed down next to him, instantly grabbing onto the small shark-thing with both hands, and pulled with all her might, "Gible, this isn't funny now!" [Y/N] turned to see the stranger next to him, very concerned as to why this person was treating a DEMON as a pet. Soon enough, the monster relented disappointedly, dropping the wounded limb with an annoyed expression. "You can't just keep biting everything you see, Gible!" The woman scolded again, letting out an irritated huff, "What am I to do with you..."
The woman was young, perhaps early twenties, with sweeping blonde hair that covered one half of her face, small black accessories protruding from out her hair. As she chided the shark demon thing as a parent might to a child, [Y/N] was completely perplexed. "What the hell is going on..." He had no recollection where he had been last night, or the day before and so forth. Not a home or a family or even friends. He remembered nothing, nothing except for his name. He tried to think back to his sleep, the dream he had so vividly remembered before, but now had started to fade away into vague colours and shapes.
"I'm so incredibly sorry for what my Gible did to you. She runs off whenever I take my eyes off of her for a second! If there's anything I can do to make up for this, anything. I mean it!"
[Y/N] looked at the woman, "Lady, what the hells going on here? Was I drugged or something?" He asked, more so exhausted with the situation already, rather than angry. Quickly he began checking his body, feeling for any poorly stitched injuries. Hopefully he still had all his organs intact, that would be a really awful way to start the day. "I must be hallucinating or something, because I've never seen a dog look like that..." The blonde woman tilted her head slightly, "A dog? Sorry, I've never heard of that, is it from a foreign region? Perhaps you could describe it to me?"
He looked back at her with just as much confusion, "You don't know what a dog is?" She looked slightly offended at his comment, "Well you don't know what a Gible is, what of it? And don't call me lady, I'm not that old!" [Y/N] shook his head, "Listen lady, your shark demon nearly took my leg off. I wouldn't be starting that with me now! I know my rights!" He shouted, the stress of the situation clearly starting to get to him. The blonde seemed to notice this too, flashing him a small smile, "I'm sorry for that once again, she's really hard to control right now."
She took a deep breath, before sticking out her hand, "My name's Cynthia. I'm from Celestic Town, it's up northwards, have you heard of it?" [Y/N] shook his head, cooling down a bit himself, "Can't say I have..." Now that he had overcome the stress, he was simply stuck with the reality that he was in the middle of nowhere. He didn't know anything about himself besides his name. He took a deep breath, "Hi Cynthia, nice to meet you. My name's [Y/N]. From..." He tried his hardest to search every corner and crevice of his memory, yet nothing made itself clear. "...Somewhere, not really sure right now." Taking another look around, the best thing to do in this situation was to get some bearings.
"Cynthia, where are we right now?" Her smile grew slightly larger seeing the situation defuse, and she was happy to help. "Oh, well we're just outside of Sandgem Town." She answered, though this meant nothing to him. "The town where Professor Rowan, the Champion of the Sinnoh Region, does his research?" Cynthia continued, not entirely sure how much information to give, [Y/N] face remained just as blank. "Awesome, I have no idea what any of that meant."
He then pointed at the weird shark dog thing, "And, what's that demon supposed to be?" The Gible stared daggers at him, and he responded in kind. Cynthia's face brightened even more, clearly very enthusiastic about the monster in her care, "OH! This is Gible!" She held the monster up high like a puppy, "This is a very rare Pokémon in the Sinnoh region. It's a dragon-type! I was lucky enough to be given her as my partner! Every trainer needs a partner Pokémon!"
[Y/N] raised his hand as if he were in class, "And, answer this as if I knew absolutely nothing about whatever that thing is. What the hell is a Pokémon?" Cynthia couldn't help but stifle a laugh at his comments, "Are you sure you're not just messing with me right now? It's a really convincing act if so!" He stared back blankly once again, "I'm used to dogs. You know, walks on four legs, two ears, fluffy tail, bright eyes, undying loyalty." Her eyes lit up with understanding, "Are you sure you aren't mistaking whatever a dog is for a Shinx? They sound awfully similar."
"What's a Shinx?" He asked, "It's an electric-type. They are quite common around Sinnoh, you will see them very often in the woods. Families usually have them as pets. That or a Glameow." Dots began to connect in [Y/N]'s head once he heard the name Glameow, "What's that one look like?" Cynthia pointed an index finger towards chin, "Like a Glameow I suppose. Long tail and whiskers, with a cute muzzle." That just sounds like a cat... [Y/N] thought to himself.
[Y/N] held a hand against his temple, unsure as to what he should be doing next. "Alright, thanks Cynthia for the help, I appreciate it." She smiled sweetly at him, "Not to be a bother, but do you think you could lead me to the nearest police station? I have no idea where I am to be honest with you." Without hesitation she nodded her head, "Of course! It's the least I can do after what my Gible did." She held out an outstretched hand, "Come on, it's best we get your leg looked at sooner or later, too. Don't want it to get infected."
He looked back at the blond girl. She almost seemed too nice, people weren't usually this receptive to strangers who they found in the woods, right? Especially those who appeared completely and utterly insane. In turn, he grabbed her palm, pulling himself off of the ground, "Do you need help, or can you walk alright?" [Y/N] shook his head, quickly spying a large stick from the floor, "No need, but I appreciate the thought."
"I'm sure you'll find some help in Sandgem town, they've been more than welcoming to me since I arrived earlier this week." Cynthia said warmly, "And, if you want to learn more about Pokémon, fortunately for you, Professor Rowan is always receptive to potential trainers. I'm sure he would love to lecture you all day, trust me I know..." [Y/N] gazed off into the distance, surprisingly mesmerised with the sheer beauty of nature around him.
Everything seemed just in its place, undisturbed and natural. Small 'Pokémon' as he had now learned, seemed to be everywhere, and not afraid to show themselves either. Whether or not he was still in a dream, at least it was a pleasant dream, despite the soaring pain in his leg. They're still remained many questions however. Who was he, and how did he get here? What had he seen in his dream that had felt so important? Why was this cute blonde girl so suspiciously nice to a complete stranger? Perhaps it was just his own pessimism, but it didn't feel right.
As the three walked from the stream, [Y/N], Cynthia and Gible held tightly in-between her arms, now locked in an iron grip. Unbeknownst to either one of them, by this seemingly ordinary day, two of the world's greatest trainers had crossed paths for the first time. Sinnoh's future would be largely shaped by the two going forward, though neither understood that at the moment.
Rather, they simply enjoyed the walk. Every few minutes [Y/N] would point at a new monster and ask, "What's that one called?" Cynthia would give a rapid response each time, "Oh, that one's a Bidoof." and "Those in the tall grass are called Buneary." While they had only met minutes before, a strange kinship was forged that day between the two. One of the strongest the world would ever know.