"Are you okay? Please wake up!" came a voice as I started to open my eyes. My vision was blurry, and I saw a yellow thing above me. It had two red things on it's face. "You're awake!" he said. Definitely male, but why didn't I recognize him? Should I have?

    I groaned, and slowly got up. A necklace hung around my neck, some coin with a four-leaf clover carved through it. I also apparently had a bag, but it looked extremely worn. The leather was scratched in places, and the buckle on it was a round thing with what looked like wings, with a layer of rust or tarnish covering it. Then I looked at the one who was next to me. "A Pikachu? Do I know you?" I asked, getting to my unstable feet.

    "No, you don't. My name is Pika, by the way. What's your name?" The Pikachu watched me curiously. Why couldn't I remember what happened?

    I looked in my bag. "I-I don't remember." There were rocks, books, charcoal, two journals and one being empty and one new, a flute of some kind, some food, a camera, two canteens that were full of something, and a jacket obviously too big for me. None of this I recognized. A name was on the cover of the used journal. Well, there were two names. Though, one was circled. "I guess my name is Pearl."

    "Well, what's a Charmander doing at the beach? And how are you still alive, if you came from the water?"

    I swung my head toward Pika. "Excuse me?" I looked at my body. Sure enough, I was a Charmander. How was I alive right now? "Uh, I don't know. Where am I? Does anyone here know me?"

    Pika looked at me strangely. "We could try someone at Wigglytuff's Exploration Guild. That's their badge right on your bag. Maybe one of them knows you?"

    "A Guild?" My mind was racing. What is my life? Who am I? Where am I? I had knowledge, but no memories. I found a picture in the oldest-looking journal of a human girl sitting with a treecko, a book in her hands. She had long brown hair, brown eyes, and a kind look on her face. Maybe I can figure it out later, when I'm alone.

    "You also have a strange eye color. I've never seen a Charmander with brown eyes before!"

    I clutched my head with my tiny talons and shut my eyes tight. "Wait, wait, wait!" This body surely should've felt more familiar to me, but my fingers were too small, my tail was simply unmanagable, and the way my jaw was formed... "I think I was human before this, Pika. But I can't remember anything of my past." As I said that, I looked at the ground. Brown hair was in the sand.

    Pika noticed, picked out the hair, and sniffed it. "A scent comes with it, and It smells like you, only not as fiery."

    I looked at my talons again, murmuring, "Why can't I remember anything?"

    Pika put his arm on my shoulders. "We'll figure it out. You sure are a weird Charmander, Pearl. Brown eyes, your name, coming out of nowhere. Let's go and see the Guild."

     As Pika turned around, I noticed two purple blobs coming downhill on a path. For an instant, my heart started racing.

     I remembered something small.

     We -- who's 'we'? -- ran in complete darkness, the glitter of purple and the menancing sounds of claws scrabling after us loud in my ears, echoing off a cave's wall.

     I heard someone male urge me on, but not just me, someone else too. I looked back, and purple was the only other thing I could see in the gray and black place we were in.

     The memory faded as abruptly as it came, and I realized the purple blobs were a Zubat and Koffing. Slowly, deliberately, they approached us.

     I had a feeling this wasn't going to end in friendly parting.

     Immediately, when within range, the Zubat rammed himself into Pika, and after Pika's exclamation of surprise more than pain, a piece of rock fell from his paws.

     "Well," the Koffing started, his voice male and oozing like poison gas from him, "I do beg your pardon."

     "Hey!" Pika growled, his cheeks sparking in anger. He stood back up and glowered at the two. I, myself, was looking at, studying, the rock Pika dropped. "Why'd you do that?" Pika demanded.

     I started to edge toward the rock. It had a strange design, and from the Zubat's stolen glances at it, they wanted it.

     The Zubat laughed, and for a moment my heart sped up again. That laughing sounds like-- "Can't figure it out?" the Zubat taunted, his voice mocking. "We wanted to mess with you! Can't face up to us, can you?"

     "Wh-what?!" Pika's stammer made me tired of not speaking.

     "Shut up," I hissed, huffing out a plume of fire. "Leave him alone."

     The Koffing looked at me, and spat gas at me. It was only at the last second before I realized I shouldn't puff out another plume of flame. I didn't know if it was explosive.

     The Zubat went back to taunting Pika. "That's yours, isn't it?"

     Pika's eyes went wide. "No! That's --"

     "Sorry, kiddo," the Zubat said, mock sympathy in his voice. "We'll take that!"

     I lunged forward, but the Zubat was too quick, and my form too bulky. He snatched the strange stone and hovered above my head as I pushed myself up from the sand, growling.

     Pika exclaimed something to be a mix between unbelief and a form of "No!" as the Koffing started to laugh. It wasn't like the Zubat's, but it still was annoying.

     "Whoa-ho-ho! Not gonna make a move to get that back? What's the matter? Too scared?" Bringing himself up, he continued. "I didn't expect that you'd be such a big coward!" Turning to the Zubat, "Come on. Let's get out of here."

     Before leaving, the Zubat stuck out his tongue and said, "See you around, chicken. Heh-heh-heh!"

     There was a cave behind me I hadn't had time to notice, and the duo made a beeline right for it. I was furious about how they treated another Pokémon that I had a hard time moving until they were out of sight in the darkness.

     Pika was the first to speak. "Ohhh," he groaned, in despair. "Wh-what should I do?" He faced me, and I got the feeling his previous words were for himself. "That's my personal treasure. It means everything to me." His eyes turned glassy. "If I lose that..." Suddenly, he tore himself away from the dark mood he was in. "No!" Determination was etched into his very being, it seemed. "There's no time to waste! I've got to get it back!" He turned to me, suddenly uncertain. "Hey, Pearl, I know we just met and you probably have no idea what's going on, but can I ask you to help me?"

     I huffed out another plume of fire. "Absolutely. I would have gone after them anyway if you hadn't asked."

     "R-really? You'll really help?" Hope, now. Hope joined the determination. "Th-Thank you! Let's go, quickly!"

     I nodded mutely, and followed him.

     The cave, which I learned later was called Beach Cave, was very wet. Once we were inside, I felt myself hesitate. "It's full of water?" I asked, nervously. It was obvious, but I couldn't stop the words from coming out.

     "Well, yes," Pika replied. "It's right next to the beach. When the tide is high enough..."

     "I have to be careful, otherwise, if my tail goes out..."

     "You'll be okay, Pearl. Come on, the less time here, the less time you need to worry."

     We sped through what turned out to be called a Mystery Dungeon, a place that changed every time a Pokémon visited. It was never the same twice. Before we knew it, we got to the fourth level, and confronted the Koffing and Zubat.

     "Uh," Pika said quietly, once the two were in view. I nudged him and he called out, "Hey!"

     The duo were facing the water, as we were standing on a type of penninsula. Rocks poked out of the water on all sides, moss growing on the moist surfaces. When they heard Pika's call, they turned, half a second of alarm on their faces.

     It didn't last long. "Well, well," the Koffing said, "if it isn't our old friend, the big chicken."

     I heard Pika mutter something, and nudged him again. Once more, he called out his defiance of being stolen from. "Give me back what you stole from me! That's my personal treasure! It means everything to me!"

     I had flinched at the word treasure, and apparently the Zubat didn't miss it, either. "Treasure, you say? So that thing really is valuble, huh?"

     In a low voice, the Koffing added to his partner's idea. "If could be worth more than we'd hoped for, I'd say. We ought to try selling it. Who knows? It might get a good price." He laughed at his own statement. "All the more reason not to give it back!"

     Pika was about to exclaim his disbelief when I put a talon over his mouth.

     I huffed out a new puff of fire. "Give it back, or we'll have to take it." My words were calm and laced in a threat — I wondered briefly where I'd gotten that skill.

     "If you want it back that badly," the Zubat said, mock sympathy once more in his voice, "come and get it!" He started laughing again, believeing Pika ws too afraid to get it. And he might have been right about that.

     But I wasn't.

     I spat an Ember at them, mostly the Koffing with his gas all around him, and the fire caught. The gas made a minor explosion, startling more than hurting them. Pika took his cue and used a Thunderbolt on the Zubat while I took on the Koffing.

     The Koffing was still dazed from the sound and sight of the explosion, and immediately I rushed up to him and used Scratch, not wanting to ignite him with me a foot away. He got knocked down.

     "Pearl!" cried Pika, and when I turned around I noticed the Zubat heading straight for me. I was near the water's edge.

     He was trying to hit me into the water. He knew my tail going out would kill me.

     In a panic, realizing I could die in the next two seconds, I leaped at him, spitting multiple Ember attacks as I did so. As I did, I heard the sound of static and heard Pika cry out in his victory over the Koffing. When my Ember hit the Zubat, it was over.

     The duo groaned their pain as we towered over them. We let them stand, and the Koffing was the first to speak. For once it was without laughing.

     "B-blast it... How'd we get wiped out by wimps like them?" I growled when he called me a wimp. I didn't know about Pika, but I definitely wasn't any such thing.

     The Zubat spat at us, and threw the rock at me. I caught it with ease and handed it to Pika. "Here you go. Take it, then!"

     "Don't think you're so awesome," the Koffing warned. "Your victory was a fluke!"

     "Yeah, just remember that!"

     Before they ran from the peninsula, I called after them, "Want a rematch then? Come on!" They didn't even turn back.

     Looking down at his stone, Pika was so happy, joy was in his eyes. "Oh, it's my relic fragment!" His grip tightened. "Am I ever glad... I actually did manage to get it back." He turned to me, his eyes glassy again. But this time, he was smiling. "It's only because you agreed to help me, Pearl. Thank you!" He hugged me, and then we made our way out of the cave, and away from the moisture and threat of my death. Nice note to end on in a victory, right?

     When we were outside, on the beach, again, he thanked me again. Half ignoring it, I was thinking about how coincidental it was that I was right here at the right time. I was able to help because I had appeared, survived, and woke up here at the exact right moment. This was the right thing to do, right? Pika wasn't playing me, and those weren't just thugs to get a stolen treasure back? I looked at Pika, focusing on the happiness in his features. I smiled back, a small one, before returning to my thoughts. No, that is his. I don't think some Pokémon can fake being so grateful.

     Pika placed the rock on the sand in front of me, in between us, and let me have a decent look at it. He also started to explain it. "Here's what they stole. This is a relic fragment... Well, at least, that's what I started calling it.... But this relic fragment, it's my precious treasure. You see, I've always like legends and lore..." At the mention of legends, he gave me a half smile, probably thinking that I'd assume he's crazy for believing that stuff. But I knew nothing, so I didn't ridecule him. "I always get so excited when I hear tales from the past! Don't you feel the same way? Hidden troves full of treasures and strange relics...uncharted territories veiled in darkness..." Darkness? Dark...ness... Darkness... The word stirred a feeling of hopelessness and despair, but I didn't know why. "And new lands just waiting to be discovered! Such places much be full of unimaginable gold and treasure! And history! Wouldn't it be amazing to make historic discoveries? That's what I always dream of. It's all exciting to me. So one day... I happened across the relic fragment. I admit it looks like junk —"

     "No it doesn't!" I corrected.

     Pika smiled and continued. "— but still, take a closer look." The design looked ancient to me, and intricate. It looked cool. "See? That inscription forms a strange pattern, doesn't it?" I nodded in agreement. "There must be some significance to this pattern. This relic must be the key to legendary places! To areas where precious treasure lies!" He took a breath. "At least that's the feeling I get. That's why I want to join an exploration team. This fragment must fit into something... somewhere! I want to discover where that is. I want to solve the mystery of my relic fragment! So earlier, I tried joining an exploration team as an apprentice..." Pika looked away, out into the sea, or ocean or lake, whatever it was. "But... I chickened out." He faced me again. "What about you, Pearl? What are you going to do now? You lost your memory, and somewhow transformed into a Pokémon... Do you have anywhere to go and stay after this?"

     I thought about it. I knew nothing. Had nothing but a bag of books and some food. And, to top it all off, I had no idea who any Pokémon was other than this Pikachu. I didn't even know if I could trust him, but a little voice in my head said I already did. He trusted me, to help him get his treasure back and tell me the story of it.

     "If not," Pika said into the silence, "can I ask a big favor? Would you be willing to form an exploration team with me? I'm convinced that I can form an effective exploration team with you, Pearl. So will you? Please?"

     I had had a feeling it was going to go this way. I decided. "I have nowhere to go, I know nothing, and right now the only Pokémon I can even begin to trust is you. It would be dangerous form me to refuse, plus... We're kind of in the same boat, right? Maybe I can find my memories this way, or some Pokémon who knows me."

     Pika's eyes shown. "Really? You will? Yes, thank you! We're going to be a great combo! Let's make this happen. First, we should go to Wigglytuff's place and sign up as apprentices. That's where we need to train to become a first-rate exploration team. I'm sure the training will be very tough. But let's give it our best, Pearl!"

     "Always!" I cried, pumping my talons in the air for a moment. Either my life was going to get hard or I'll have fun exploring, or both, but either way, I had Pika at my side. He seemed sincere. In that moment, I gave him my trust.

✎ ❦ ➳ ❦ ✎
Ah! The first chapter! I'm so happy to finally have this out. It's been sitting for a long time — I never originally planned for the World of Darkness to be a thing. But then that happened.

March 3, 2017