Chapter 1: The Singer’s Debut Act

I wake up, head throbbing. Oorgh… where am I? I open my eyes. A face is right in front of me. A shiny Phantump. “Aah—! A Phantump! Get away from me!” I scramble backward, my heart jumping into my throat. The Phantump flinches. Then it speaks. “…I didn’t want to hurt you.” 

I freeze. …It just talked. Pokémon can talk? That’s… weird. No, that’s impossible, right? I stare at it, trying to process what I just heard. “W-What are you even saying?” I blurt out. The Phantump looks even more confused than I feel. I narrow my eyes. “If you ‘didn’t want to hurt me,’ then why were you floating right above my face?!” 

It replies, “I was just confused to see one of your kind here.” What do they mean by “my kind”? Do they mean humans? “Yeah, I’m a human.” I say, “So what?” The Phantump looks me dead in the eyes, then looks me up and down, smirks, and says “Yeahhhh…no. You’re not a human.” Not a human? What is this Phantump talking about? “Well kid, I am sure that you’ve never seen a human before.” I said “So who are you to judge if I’m one or not?” 

The Phantump replies “Well, I’m pretty sure I know what humans look like,” They say, narrowing their eyes. “But we won’t get into that right now.” The Phantump just keeps staring at me. I feel my annoyance spike. “Kid, you’ve got no idea what I really—” “A-ACHOO!”

I jerk forward mid-sentence.“…Ugh. Sorry. Where was I…” I glare back at them. “Right. You have no idea what I really am!” The Phantump doesn’t respond. They aren’t even looking at me anymore. They’re just staring at a bubble drifting through the air. “…Are you even listening to me?” The Phantump looks past me again. “Ooh… look at that pretty bubble!” “A bubble?” I echo, still annoyed. But I glance anyway.

It floats gently through the air, drifting too smoothly to be normal. Strange… where did it even come from? I lean in slightly. Wait. Inside it—My reflection. I freeze. “…What?!”

Chapter 2: First Impressions, Worst Impressions

A Popplio. A Shiny one. That’s what’s looking back at me in the bubble’s reflection. I stare at it. It stares back. "...No." I lift a paw. The Popplio in the bubble does the same. My stomach drops. "...No. No, no, no…! I am mortified! The Phantump just chuckles. “Told ya,” they say, in a singsong voice. I glare at them. “How is this funny?!” I snap. “This is my lowest moment!” They just keep floating there, way too amused with themselves. How rude. 

This kid is being so rude right now. I look back at the bubble. A shiny Popplio stares back at me. The bubble suddenly pops. Cold water splashes straight into my eye. "AAH! AAAAH!" I jerk backward in surprise. Big mistake. I can’t find any balance. I'm tipping over.

"W-Whoa—!" Thump! I land flat on my back against a tangle of tree roots. "AAAAH!" I slowly open my eyes. My head is resting at just the right angle for me to see my body. I freeze. Indigo. Round. Tiny flippers. And…no legs...That's it. That's the last confirmation I need. I really am a Popplio. A…shiny Popplio. 

No wonder I couldn't keep my balance. I don't have legs anymore. I just... flopped over. But this could still just be a dream, right? No…my back still aches from landing on those roots. It…hurts. Which means...this ain't a dream. The Phantump grins. "So... Do you believe me now?" I sigh. "...Yes." Their grin grows wider. "Say you were wrong." "...I was wrong." "Good." They nod smugly. "Now say you're a stupid, ignorant baby." I stare at them. "...Why would I say that?" They shrug. "Because it'll be funny." "...No, I’m not gonna say that." 

"Well," they say with a little giggle, "I was going to lead you to the city." They point off into the forest. "If you refuse..." They giggle again. "Good luck finding it!" I realize I practically have no chance of finding the city without them. So I comply…“Urrgh! Fine!…I’m a stupid…ignorant…baby.” I say reluctantly, and also very annoyed at this Pokémon’s childish antics. 

The Phantump bursts out laughing. Hard. Like, really hard. They’re practically crying, and having fallen to the ground from laughter. “Pff—! HA—! I can’t— I can’t—!” I stare at them, absolutely mortified. My face burns...I will remember this. One day. I am getting them back for this. …I keep waiting for them to stop. To take a breath. To calm down. They don’t. The Phantump just keeps laughing. Harder, even. Still rolling there like it’s nothing. I blink…Right. Of course. Phantump don’t need to do that, do they? They aren’t alive, they are spirits!

I could be here for hours. Annoyed, I make a decision. I don’t need them. I can find the city myself. My eyes flick to their satchel…Map. Perfect. Before I can talk myself out of it, I lunge for it. I reach for the satchel. My fingers brush it—Got it. “Ha—!” I barely have time to celebrate before—WHAM! Something slams into me from the side. “Oof—!” I hit the ground hard, the breath knocked out of me. The satchel is gone. The Phantump is hovering over me, clutching it tightly. “…Hey!” I snap. “What was that for?! 

“Stealing’s wrong, y’know!” they say, as if they didn’t just body-check me into the ground. The Phantump hovers there, still holding the satchel. They watch me carefully. “…You’re mad,” they say. “Of course I’m mad!” I snap. I drop into what I think is a battle stance…Whatever that even means in this body. “Give it back!” I lunge forward and swing. “Pound!” My flipper hits them—Or at least, it should’ve. It just…passes through. Nothing. I blink. “…Huh?” The Phantump tilts their head. “Oh. Right,” they say sarcastically. “That won’t work on me.” I stare. “What do you mean it won’t—”I try again. Same result. Nothing.

My confidence drops immediately. The Phantump watches me for a second. Then they yawn. Loudly. Mockingly. “…Really?” they say, still floating there with their satchel in their grasp. I glare at them. The Phantump lets out a long sigh. Like they’re already done with me. They turn away, still holding the satchel. And start drifting off through the trees. I stay frozen for a moment. …No map. No way to fight them. No idea where the city is. “…Tch.” I grit my teeth and follow. Defeated.

Chapter 3: The City of “Darkness”

On the walk, I warm up to the Phantump...barely. We talk, and I learn that his name is Twig. Weird name, but I keep my mouth shut. I soon see something on the horizon. “What’s that?” I ask. “That’s the Blackened Tower, that is!” Twig replies. “The city’s central landmark! The city is built around it!” I look at him, confused. “Couldn’t you just say that it’s a nucleated settlement?” I ask. 

Twig looks at me, his turn to be confused. “What does that word mean?” he says. “How old are you?” I ask. “You never told me.” Twig replies. “About 8 or 9, why?” Well, that makes sense. He’s mentally similar to a 4th-grader… “I don’t feel like explaining it,” I say. Twig looks a little sad. “Oh, okay. I just wanted to know, cuz—Oh! We’re here!” “This is Srylith! Many call it the City of Darkness!” We are at a large stone wall, with two guards, both Murkrow, guarding the city. 

I am awestruck. The city is huge! I thought it would be something smallish, something that would be fully traversable in the span of an hour or two. This was huge! I’m already pumped to see what it has in store. The guards let Twig in after he shows a pass-looking object (an ID Card/Entry Pass, to clarify) but they don’t let me in. They ask about me, to which Twig replies with “Oh, she’s with me! I’m taking her to get registered.” The guard on the left immediately changes up their tone. 

They offer to escort me to where I will be registered. As we walk, I look around at everything, in awe. This was all made by Pokémon?! I can’t believe it! I am surprised to see that I am being escorted to the Tower. That must be where I’m being registered. We are there, and we enter! What could be inside? A grand, nice entrance hall filled with Pokémon? Some town banners, maybe? Some desks at least?

Nope.

It’s small, empty, and very dusty. All there is is a spiral staircase. I ask about it, and the Murkrow tells me that this is an empty floor and things all happen on the floors above this one. “So we have to go up…” I say as I take a glance up. “…all that?!” “Yes,” that bird says nonchalantly. Twig and my escort head to the spiral’s center, where a stone tube lies, an entrance hole at its bottom, and they fly up it, with Twig only saying, “Good luck!” before disappearing up too! HOW RUDE!

I am irate. But, admitting defeat, I suck it up and go all the way up, to the 3rd floor, where my “““friend””” and the Murkrow are just sitting there, with bored expressions I might add, while I’m practically DEAD ON THE FLOOR IN FRONT THEM!! I am so miffed that ghosts can’t be killed, ‘cause if they could, this kid would be…Dead. Where. He. Stands. I feel like attacking him at least, but I know that I don’t have any moves that can hit him.

I sit there deathly silent. I don’t say a word. I don’t even look at him. I just sit there, silently fuming. The Murkrow, which I vastly prefer over Twig, knocks on the door and leaves. “Wait! Don’t leave me with Twig!” I shout as the Murkrow walks away. I’m stuck with this wood-brain. Greeaat! He’s doing a mockingly content and smug face. I feel like attacking him, but knowing that I don’t have any moves that can hit him, I sit there deathly silent. 

I’m still absolutely furious. Twig is sitting there with that same stupid, mockingly content expression on his face. Oh, how I wish I could wipe that look off his face. I suddenly feel something. A move. I don’t know how I know it, but I do. Icy Wind. I blink. ...I can use Icy Wind?! I don't care how or why I suddenly know that move. I have a move that can hit him. And not only can it hit him... It's super effective. 

I slowly turn my head toward Twig. He’s still making that stupid face. I stare at him. He stares back at me. I take a deep breath. Then I unleash Icy Wind. A blast of freezing wind rushes out of my mouth and straight toward Twig. His smug expression instantly disappears. His eyes widen in shock as his entire face becomes covered in ice. I stare at him. Twig stares back at me, frozen in place. ...Worth it.

Suddenly, the door opens…

Chapter 4: Bubbles

It’s a Sneasel, a Hisuian one. I find that weird. Why is it a Hisuian Sneasel? Aren’t Hisuian forms adapted to Hisui’s climate? But this is a temperate area, so a Sneasel, a Pokémon already known for living in mountains, being here? And that could be normal, but a Hisuian one?! And he just saw Twig with an ice-covered face and me just sitting there. 

That must’ve been a weird first impression. He invites me in, but stops me and tells me, “Hey, can yoooooouuuuuuuu....uuuuhhhh…nevermind-nevermind, just come in.” The Sneasel points at Twig. “Also, what happened to him?”

“That’s not important,” I say. They say, “Well, it’s time to get you registered!” I sit in front of their desk, and they pull out a form and start with, “Name?” “Eeeeerrrrrrrrrrrm…damn, I can’t remember!” I say. “I need to put a name on here, though,” they reply. I can’t think of anything, though, so I tell him to give me ideas. “How about…Bubbles!” they suggest.

Honestly, that sounds good enough, so I accept it. “Great!” they say. “Now…Origin!” “I’m actually also unsure about that too,” I say. The Sneasel is surprised. They say, “With how much you ain’t remembering, you seem like an amnesiac, so I’ll skip that too. How about gender? Do you remember that at least?” I at least remember that. I’m a girl!

“How old are you?” the Sneasel continues. “I’m…not sure,” I reply. “Ah yes…” they say. “An amnesiac.” “Are you a minor or not, though?” I was definitely an adult before this happened. I tell him this. “Well, that should be enough for the registry,” the Sneasel says. “Now we need to worry about where you will live.”

Chapter 5: Stuck with the Stump

“First, what should I call you?” I ask. “Oh, call me Tyler!” he replies. “Now…to get back to the original issue, you will need someplace to stay until you can get a place of your own.” He goes through the openings. I’m fine being with whoever for like a month or two. But it turns out it’ll take a while for him to get the records straight, so I’ll be sleeping in the tower tonight! 

Tyler leads me to the guest room. It’s actually not that bad. It’s pretty bland, but the bed is comfy. I get comfy quickly, but I still have issues processing what happened today, all the transformation and new world stuff…and Twig, so I can’t sleep. Eventually, I do fall asleep, though. 

I have a weird dream. I am in a dark place, human again, and there is a light far away. On closer inspection, it’s an exit sign. As I run towards it, it keeps moving away, and as I keep chasing it, I am slowly being transformed, unable to keep up. Truly weird.

I wake up, heart pounding. It was just a dream, but still, it was pretty terrifying. I get out of bed, checking myself. “Yup,” I say, annoyed. “Still a Popplio. No dreams in dreams, I guess.” I leave the room, and Tyler meets me outside, giving me breakfast. Some toasted bread with berry spread.

After breakfast, Tyler heads back to his desk to work on my living sitch. A couple hours later, he brings me to who I’ll live with for the next month or two. I’m honestly okay with anyone, as long as it isn’t…HIM. Tyler brings me to the house and knocks on the door. I’m wondering who it could be? But…

Twig answers the door. I look at Tyler. “Tyler?” I ask. “Where’s the nearest cliff? Cuz I’m not living with this guy.” “Oh, don’t say that,” Tyler says. “I’m sure you’ll get along well enough!”

I begrudgingly come in, deciding to speedrun getting my own place. What now? What do I even do from here? After finding my room, I decide to go outside. I tell Twig it was to check out the neighbourhood. Heh, loser. He thought! I really just wanted to be away from him as much as possible.

I walk around, and I meet a couple nice characters, like a Shiny Scorbunny that lives across the street, or a Nickit that lives two houses across from me.  I talk to them and learn that their names are Ruby and Elliot, respectively. Nice names, and even nicer Pokémon, at least compared to Twig.

Ruby is the quiet type. She’s not one to open up easily. Elliot, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. He’s energetic, talkative, and friendly, striking up a conversation with just about anyone. I’m honestly confused, and Ruby seems able to tell. I dunno how, but she can.

She offers a small chat, to ask me about my sitch, but I say I’m fine, just confused, and annoyed because of TWIG. But once again, she can tell there’s something on my mind. How can she tell? I admit that there is A LOT on my mind. I tell her about the last two days, and about that weird dream. 

I explain to her that I was a human. At those words, Ruby is surprised. “Yeaaah, suuurrrre,” she says. “Nah, sis, you were not human. I don’t believe in baby stories like those. I’m 15, almost a Raboot, so I don’t believe in such stories.” …Damn, that must be a late bloomer.

Also, this is the second time someone mentioned me being “baby”! This is out of control. I tell her to believe me, cuz I’m sure I was human. But she just dismissed me. Aaaaurgh…