Chapter 1: Wake Up, Washed Up

January 20th, 5:00 pm

Beachy Outskirts

Coast Continent

---

“Ugh, what happened?” Joseph wondered as he continued to lie down on the sandy beach he had washed up on. Slowly, he opened his eyes to see sand (go figure). He then heard a voice to his right.

“Ugh, am I dead?” The voice said.

Joseph attempted to stand up, only to stumble over and fall back down into the sand with a resounding *thud*.

“Huh!? W-who’s there!?” The voice called out.

Joseph tried standing again only to once again fall, this time straight on his face.

“What’s going on? Why can’t I stand up?” Joseph asked, frantically trying to stand up on two legs, only to fall onto all fours. It was then he got a good look at his arms, or I guess forelegs would be the proper term for them now. They were covered in bright yellow fur with an almost sparkly sheen to them.

“W-w-what the-” he said, raising his paws to his face, trying to process what he was looking at.

He then looked up to see a Riolu giving him a rather puzzled look, “Are you ok?” she asked, looking rather concerned.

It was at this moment that Joseph’s eyes went completely white, he was completely in shock.

“D-d-d-did you just s-speak?” Joseph asked in complete terror of what that might imply.

“Uh, yeah, why?” Riolu responded

Joseph staggered towards the edge of the beach nearly face-planting into the sand again, he then looked into the water checking his reflection.

There he saw it, he had been transformed into a Pokémon! Yellow fur covered most of his body except his hind legs which were black, his ears were much bigger and had an orange star in each one, the top of his head had a tuft of fur sticking up from the rest, and most shocking of all he had a long, star tipped tail coated in black fur everywhere except the tip which was coated in orange fur instead.

“You’re scaring me, what’s wrong?” the Riolu asked, picking up sand and passing it from paw to paw.

Joseph, still processing his reflection, forced himself to face the Riolu, “If I told you, you’d think I’m crazy!”

“Well everyone’s gonna think I’m crazy if I tell them what happened to me back at Purity Heights,” she remarked “Let’s just start with how you ended up on the beach,” she suggested.

“O-ok…” Joseph replied hoping he could still remember what had happened and to his surprise, he could! In fact, he still had all of his memories which was strange, he remembered playing games and reading stories where humans became Pokémon and in 90% of them the human lost their memories.

He then explained what had happened up until that point to the Riolu.

“Boy, am I lucky!” the Riolu said, laughing hysterically.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Joseph asked, trying to raise his nonexistent eyebrow. Or was his whole face his eyebrow? I mean, it had fur all over it now. He cut that train of thought off before it distracted him.

“I’m lucky I didn’t wash up on this beach as delusional as you did!” The Riolu laughed, pointing a digit directly at Joseph.

Joseph sighed and said dejectedly, “Told you, nobody was going to believe me.”

The Riolu was caught off guard; she thought he was kidding; little did she know he was telling the truth, a truth that was very hard to prove.

“Wait, you’re for real!?” she blurted. ‘This could be very bad.’ she thought, all her life she had been told humans were the harbingers of the apocalypse or worse.

“What reason do I have to lie to you?” Joseph questioned, expecting no real viable answer.

“You’re trying to scare me, aren’t you?” she remarked.

“How is being human scary?” Joseph asked, desperately trying to convince the Riolu that he was indeed human, the keyword was.

She however replied with something that was a little unnerving to Joseph, “Humans have brought this world to its knees on several occasions, they’re nothing but pure soulless evil!”

Joseph was flabbergasted, in all the stories he had heard humans came to the Pokémon world to save it, not destroy it.

“WHAT!?” he blurted as he slowly backed up the best he could given the fact that he still hadn’t found his bearings with his new quadrupedal body. “B-but, I thought humans were heroes! I-I swear I’m not evil! P-please, don’t hurt me!” Joseph said, panicking, looking back and forth frantically, afraid of what even a particularly weak Pokémon could do to him.

But to his surprise, the Riolu put her paw on his shoulder and said, “It’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt you, and I’m not gonna let some fables influence how I treat you.”

“Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Joseph shouted, lowering his head into the sand.

“However,” she said assertively, “You cannot tell anyone or let anyone find out about you being human, because if they do, they will not be as merciful as I am.”

“Got it!” Joseph said, nodding his head for good measure.

“And,” The Riolu continued, “If I find out you are evil, you can eat my Vacuum Wave! Kapeesh?”

“Yes ma’am!” Joseph squeaked as his eyes shrank to molecular sizes.

Finally, the Riolu scoffed, “You can stop calling me ‘ma’am’ I’m like 13.”

The pair stared across the beach until the Riolu noticed the Oshawott that had been sitting there the whole time.

“Ah, I almost forgot!” The Riolu shouted, sprinting over to the unconscious Pokémon washed up just a few feet away from them, “Oshawott? Oshawott! Get up!” she cried desperately, attempting to shake him awake.

Joseph slowly stumbled his way over to the Riolu’s side, only to see tears form in her eyes.

“We gotta get him some medical attention!” Joseph declared, “He’s not dead until the doctor says he’s dead!”

The Riolu wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded “You’re right!” she said, picking Oshawott up and carrying him over her shoulder “We gotta get him checked, like right now!”

The Riolu sprinted off towards a town in the distance as Joseph shakily tried to catch up. Eventually, the Riolu went back for Joseph.

“C’mon, pick up the pace! We can’t afford to waste time!” she shouted in a panic.

“I c-” Before Joseph could even finish that sentence, he felt the Riolu grab the tip of his tail and begin to drag him with her at mach speeds. Or as close to mach speed as a panicked little Riolu could go on her two stubby little legs.

Eventually, the pair arrived at a pretty big building that was shaped like the head of a Lanturn, complete with an antenna that split into a Y shape, light orbs tipping each end.

The Riolu rushed to the door, setting Oshawott beside her as she frantically knocked.

“Please let us in!” she begged, “We have no idea where we are, and we need a doctor quickly!”

For a moment there was nothing, no reply, no reaction, not a sound. Moments later, though, a small white Pokémon with stubby little arms and a flame atop its head passed through the still tightly shut, door as if it weren’t even there before slipping back through it and opening it.

“The infirmary is down the ladder in the hall on your left.” The Litwick announced, pointing towards the ladder.

---

January 20th, 5:30 pm

SurfSpark Guild

Basement Floor 1

Coast Continent

---

Quickly, the Riolu picked Oshawott back up and grabbed hold of Joseph’s tail again before sliding down the ladder and rushing into the infirmary. Immediately, she was met by a tall Pokémon with leafy arms that seemed to grow olives.

“Oh poor thing,” Arboliva said, bringing her arms to her face, “Togetic! Meganium! We’ve got an emergency!” she shouted, taking Oshawott from Riolu and running into one of many patient rooms within the room they were in.

‘This place is big!’ Joseph thought to himself, ‘It’s like a mini hospital!’

Suddenly a small, seed-like Pokémon approached Riolu “Salutations! Twas thou whomst escorted the fallen Oshawott correct?” said the Budew.

“Uh, yeah (I think?).” Riolu said scratching her head, ‘This guy sounds like he’s trying way too hard to be fancy.” she thought.

“In that case, thou should seek refuge with our fine guild. Come along now! We’re due for a meeting with the Guildmaster, so we can discuss this matter!” The Budew said exiting the infirmary and continuing down the left hall.

‘This guy really wants to sound fancy, huh.’ Joseph thought ‘I envy his commitment but doesn’t anyone find it a little annoying or if not annoying at least a little confusing?’

Riolu and Joseph looked at each other and nodded before following the Budew down the hall. They eventually took a right and entered a room with a giant map tacked to the wall. There was some sort of strange writing Joseph couldn’t make out, accompanying an arrow that pointed toward a landmass that had beaches and palm trees all over it.

Also in the room there were two other Pokémon, a fish-like Pokémon with lights hanging from its head, and a tall lanky looking one that had odd, mustard yellow and deep purple colored fur, with a black and yellow ribbon-like feather trailing off of its left ear, and on the end of each of its arms it had long, poison tipped claws that looked fit for climbing rugged mountains.

“Ah, Budew! How are things going?” the Lanturn asked.

“They could be better, but they could also be much worse,” Budew said, seemingly dropping his formal tone, “These two were just gonna ask if they could crash here for tonight while we take a look at their friend.”

“I ain’t seen you two ’round here before. You catch a wave?” Lanturn asked the pair, shooting them a smile, he seemed to like seeing new faces.

“Uh, yeah, maybe a bit too literally” Riolu said rubbing the back of her head, “My friends fell off a cliff into the water below, while I jumped in after them.” Riolu explained with a sigh, “My friend Oshawott is in the infirmary because he wouldn’t wake up, and he hit his head on the way down.”

“Well, don’t worry, he’s in the best hands on the Coast Continent!” Lanturn said, bringing a fin to his chest.

“Coast Continent!?” Riolu gasped, “How’d we end up on the Coast Continent!?”

“I dunno,” Lanturn replied, “where were you before your little accidental voyage?”

“We were on the Crag Continent! There was this purple goop that ate everything up, and we got backed up onto the side of the cliff!” Riolu squeaked, she had no idea how she not only survived the fall unharmed, but also how she ended up halfway across the world.

“Is that so? Well, I believe you, but just in case, we’re gonna have to send one of our dudes out there to check up on things.” Lanturn said, sweating at the thought of goo that could dissolve anything in sight. “For now you two dudes can chill here, there’s an empty room across from here, you’ll be staying in there until Oshawott is recovered. Sound good?”

“Uh, yeah but just one thing, I’m not a dude, I’m a girl.” Riolu said nervously

The tall Pokémon behind Lanturn began laughing, bringing its claws up to its face to cover its mouth. “He knows, that’s just how he refers to other Pokémon.”

“I’m sorry, but who are you? I’ve never seen a Pokémon like you before.” Riolu said, almost disregarding what the tall Pokémon said.

“The name’s Nail, Nail the Sneasler!” Nail said grinning.

“I’ve never heard of a Sneasler before. Are you like some sort of weird version of Sneasel?” Riolu asked curiously.

“Yep, I was a poison type Sneasel, and they all evolve into Sneasler.” Nail said, proudly showing off his claws.

“Don’t encourage him, he has no idea what he’s talking about” Lanturn scoffed, “There’s no such thing as a poison type Sneasel!” Lanturn declared as he stared at Nail, the two locking eyes and glaring at each other.

“Um ok, we’re just gonna go to our room now if that’s ok.” Joseph said, breaking his awkward silence.

For a moment Nail looked at him, ‘That’s strange, Shinx don’t normally have green eyes.’ Nail thought before Joseph and Riolu left the room.

As the pair entered the room, Riolu shut the door behind them, then immediately plopped onto a bed made out of a pile of straw. “So can I ask you something?” she asked as she looked up at Joseph who was staring out the window of their pretty spacious room.

“Yeah?” Joseph said as he looked back towards Riolu who was lying on her bed like it were a bean bag.

“Are you sure you’re ok? I noticed you were struggling to walk on our way here,” she asked, concerned about any potential injuries Joseph may have received, “You’re not hurt are you?”

“No I’m not hurt” Joseph replied, “I’m just not used to walking on four legs yet.”

“Huh? I thought all humans were four legged.” Riolu said. She had heard all the humans that came to this world were Pokémon that walked on four legs.

“Well, maybe after they enter this world, but not in their worlds.” Joseph explained.

“I’m not sure if I follow,” Riolu sighed.

“From what I can tell based on what you told me, all the humans who have ended up in this world have undergone a species change.” Joseph elaborated, “So for example, I went from being human to being a Shinx.”

“So humans are a species, you say? I thought it was just a classification for evil Pokémon.” Riolu said, raising an eyebrow and bringing her paw to her chin.

“Yeah, humans are a species, they usually live in a world where Pokémon are fictional creatures, but I guess every once in a while you get situations like these.” Joseph explained, hoping to ease the confusion in Riolu’s expression, but all that did was create more confusion.

“So, like we only exist in books?” she asked.

“Not just books, anime, video games, and movies too.” Joseph said, not expecting Riolu to get any of what he just said.

As he expected, Riolu immediately asked, “What is any of that stuff?”

To which Joseph replied, “I don’t think I can explain it in a way that will make sense to you.”

“So, it’s stuff from another world?” she asked.

“To put it simply.” Joseph sighed, relieved that he wouldn’t have to explain the concept of video games, or even TV in general, to someone who would probably never understand what he was saying.

“Must suck though being taken from your home and being forced into an unfamiliar body,” Riolu said dejectedly, “I feel a little bad for you, even though I still don’t know the whole picture.”

“Yeah, and the worst part is I don’t even know why I’m here.” Joseph said, holding back tears, thoughts of his family flooding his mind.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure there’s a way for you to get back home.” Riolu said, comforting Joseph as he continued staring out the window.

“Thank you,” Joseph said, letting the tears he was holding back fall, he then remembered he hadn’t told her his name yet, “so do Pokémon here have names?” he asked, trying to gauge whether it would be safe for her to call him by his name.

“Some don’t, some do,” she replied, “like that Nail guy, for example.”

“Call me Joseph.” he said, “It would make me feel comfortable.”

“Alright, Joseph, it is!” Riolu declared, “My name’s Riolu, but I’m open to name suggestions.”

Joseph looked around the room taking in every little detail he missed while he was focusing on the outside world, he noticed a desk with some ink and what looked to be a diary or journal of some sorts, he shakily made his way over to the desk, stopping right next to the chair which was a bit taller than him but still shorter than Riolu. He then tried standing up on his hind legs and reaching his forelegs up on top of the chair and attempting to pull himself up on top of the chair, he got on top of it for a moment but as soon as he did he came crashing right back down.

“Are you ok!?” Riolu shouted as she quickly ran to Joseph’s side.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” he said, “I just lost balance while trying to climb up on the chair here.”

“Do you want help?” Riolu asked, “I can just pick you up and put you on the chair if you need.”

“That would be nice,” Joseph said, sighing, “I just wish I could still function in this body.”

“Well at least you tried,” Riolu said, chuckling “if you don’t try you’ll never get back into the swing of things.” she said as she wrapped her paws around Joseph lifting him into the chair before continuing “It’s probably the length of your tail, how long was your tail as a human?”

“Nonexistent” Joseph said, chuckling a little before sighing, “Humans don’t have tails.”

“They don’t!? Then how do they stay balanced!?” Riolu gasped, perplexed at the fact humans could stand not having a tail.

“I don’t know, we just don’t need a tail.” Joseph replied, “Having one now feels super weird, it’s like my spine is way too long.”

“Yeah, sorry about pulling on it earlier, that probably felt so horrible for you.” Riolu muttered, looking down at the floor guiltily.

“You’re fine, I understand why you did it, but yeah you’re right it felt like you were trying to rip my spine out of my body the whole time.”

“Speaking of your body, why are your eyes like that?” Riolu asked.

“Oh, they seem to have kept the color they had when I was human,” Joseph answered before quickly commenting, “you shouldn’t start sentences like that, the way you worded it makes it sound weird.”

Riolu, ignoring that last bit, replied, “Humans have green eyes!?”

“They can, most don’t, but I do.” Joseph said, smiling. But before he could elaborate further, there was a knock at the door.

“Hello, can I come in?” a feminine voice asked, “I’ve got some things to tell you two.”

Riolu quickly opened the door only to find nobody there, only to realize she was staring over the Pokémon’s head.

“Down here!” the voice said.

Riolu looked down to see a short Cyndaquil standing at the door, “You two brought in the Oshawott right?” the Cyndaquil asked.

“Yeah,” Riolu responded, “do you have any updates on his condition?”

“He’ll live, but he’ll be bedridden for a few days.” The Cyndaquil said, lowering her head apologetically.

“Alright, that’s a relief, thanks.” Riolu sighed.

“Where are my manners?” the Cyndaquil asked rhetorically, “The name’s Cinder, head of intelligence at the Surfspark Guild and honorary member of team Shiny Star!”

“Nice to meet you, Cinder!” Joseph called from the desk in the corner of the room.

“Nice to meet you too-” Cinder cut herself off after getting a good look at Joseph, particularly his eyes, ‘There’s no way! Another human turned into a Pokémon!? In another world entirely!? I need to tell him!’

Cinder came into the room, shutting the door behind her and walked towards Joseph, “What’s with your green eyes?” she asked.

Joseph was shocked, had he been found already? He quickly came up with an excuse, “Nobody knows why, but when I was born my eyes were green.”

Riolu rolled her eyes, ‘Really!? You literally had to lie to save your life and THAT’S the best you could do!?’ she thought.

Cinder rolled her eyes underneath her eternally closed eyelids, “I know what you’re hiding!” she accused, pointing her nubby little arm at Joseph while flames lit up on her back.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about!” Joseph squeaked, sweating bullets.

‘He’s cornered!’ Cinder thought, ‘He really is human, isn’t he?’ Cinder thought, “You’re a human, aren’t you?” Cinder asked.

The green in Joseph’s eyes went pale white as he froze, “H-how d-did-“

“Shhhhh!” Cinder hissed, “Before you freak out, I should probably explain.” Cinder continued, “I am not going to tell anyone else about this, because their reaction won’t be as pleasant as mine.”

“What about that was pleasant!?” Joseph snapped back.

“Relax,” Cinder said, “I only did that, so I could make sure I got the truth out of you.” she continued by saying, “You remember that whole team Shiny Star thing I mentioned?”

“Yeah, what about it?” Joseph questioned, wondering where she was going with all this.

“Well we were famous explorers, keyword were, until I got separated from them, but that’s not the point, the point is our leader was like you, a human who became a Shinx.” Cinder explained, “Your green eyes were a dead giveaway to me that you were a human!”

“So let me guess you outed your leader, banding together to kill him, then went on your merry way.” Joseph deadpanned.

“No! I got separated by some weird rift thing, and now I’m light-years away from my home in the Grass Continent!”

“So what you’re saying is that you’re from another world where humans aren’t seen as monsters?” Riolu chimed in, desperately hoping Cinder wasn’t moments from incinerating Joseph.

“Precisely!” Cinder cheered, “And that’s why this is our little secret, you don’t tell anyone I was friends with a human, and I won’t tell anyone you are one!”

“Ok, I trust you.” Joseph said reluctantly.

“Great, now let’s go eat! I’m starving and want to take my mind off of this whole topic.” Cinder said, gesturing her stubby little arms toward the door.

“Is something wrong with talking about humans?” Joseph asked before carefully stepping off the chair back onto the floor.

“Not really, but it brings up bad memories of the other guild members explaining what the policy on humans and human sympathizers is,” she said shuttering, “If they find out you’re one of those things they knock you out, and cut off your head!”

“EXCUSE ME WHAT!?” Joseph blurted, his eyes growing wider than they ever could as a human.

“Relax I’m just teasing you,” Cinder said laughing, “It’s way less tame than that!”

Joseph scampered towards the door, not wanting to hear what was more brutal than beheading someone.

Cinder giggled, “Finally you decide to get a move on!” she deadpanned, “Let’s go eat!”

The three went back down the hall and to the ladders they had entered from. But instead of using the ladders to go up or down, they passed by, entering a hall on the opposite side. The right hall leads to a massive dining room lit by multiple crystal chandeliers that resembled the Pokémon Chandelure. In the room there were medium-sized circular tables with adjustable chairs, and little crystal Litwick candles to match the chandeliers. Across the room there was a balcony with more tables outside, the balcony was hanging from a spot carved out of the cliff side, which may raise a few concerns at first until you realize the whole thing is still somehow inexplicably structurally sound.

The balcony had a brilliant view of the vibrant sunset, one more vibrant than any sunset Joseph had seen back as a human, ‘It’s so pretty!’ he thought as his eyes sparkled at the sight of the vibrant shades of orange in the place of the sky’s natural blue, and the cotton candy pink clouds that were so fluffy, you’d want to replace your pillow with one.

“I can see you’re enjoying the sunset.” Cinder said, pointing towards the balcony, “The Coast Continent has some nice sunsets, so it’s only natural we’d have a good place to view them here at the guild.” Cinder sighed, “It reminds me of the times my team and I would admire the sunset on the Grass Continent.”

Cinder was now holding back tears as memories of her team sitting along the beach as the Krabby blew bubbles that glistened like diamonds in the light of the sunset, flooded her mind.

Cinder managed to fight back her tears, “You two go find a seat, I’ll bring us some food.”

Joseph started walking towards a table on the balcony, slowly realizing that he wasn’t staggering as much anymore.

“Do you really think this is a good idea?” Riolu asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, this is a great idea!” Joseph said, oblivious to what Riolu was hinting at/

“Did you not see Cinder fighting back tears after she mentioned her team watching the sunset together?”

“No, I didn’t catch that, but I’m sure we’ll be fine anyway.” Joseph said, staring at the sunset once again.

“Whatever,” Riolu responded, rolling her eyes, “If she gets upset though the blame is on you.” she deadpanned.

The two sat down, making sure to leave the seat facing away from the sunset open for Cinder, hopefully minimizing the chances of her bursting into tears.

After a short wait, Cinder came back with three plates, each one had tons of berries and other fruits on them, but one of the plates clearly had way more than the other two.

“Here you go!” Cinder exclaimed as she placed the two smaller plates in front of Joseph and Riolu, placing the third in front of the seat to Joseph’s right before sitting down in front of it, “I went easy on you two tonight, but let me know if you think you can handle more food.”

“I think this is more than enough.” Joseph squeaked, intimidated by the thought of having to eat a mountain of food like the one on Cinder’s plate.

“You sure you’re ok, Cinder?” Riolu asked, concerned about the fact, she took a seat with a view of the sunset.

“I’ll be fine!” Cinder replied, looking ready to scarf down the mountain of food in front of her, “I might be small, but I have a huge appetite!”

“That’s… Not what I was referring to…” Riolu said facepalming, “You were holding back tears after that statement about your team,” Riolu clarified before asking “Are you sure you’re gonna be ok if you watch the sunset?”

“I’ll be fine,” Cinder sighed, “I normally don’t get like that after watching the sunset.”

Joseph eyed his food, recognizing the berries on his plate as the ones from the Pokémon games he had played as a human, there were multiple Oran berries, a Rawst berry, a Cheri berry, and most notably a Custap berry. Though he recognized the berries, he had no idea what they would taste like, given the fact none of them existed in his world.

So he decided to eat something he had tasted before, a bright red apple, but before he could take his first bite, he was stopped by Cinder.

“You should eat your Oran berries first,” She suggested, “They help everything go down better.”

Riolu spoke up before Joseph had a chance to speak, “He’s probably worried he won’t like the taste.” She said, “With the way he’s been eying his food, one might assume he’s never eaten an Oranberry before.”

“Oh, right, I forgot that might be a problem.” Cinder said, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. “Don’t worry, Oran berries are like water, it’s impossible for you to dislike the taste of them.”

Joseph held an Oran berry in his paw, trying to think of the best way to eat it before deciding on chomping a huge chunk off of it. ‘Cinder was right,’ He thought, ‘nothing jumps out in particular about this berry.’

“See? It’s not bad, is it?” Cinder asked rhetorically, she could tell by the underwhelmed look on Joseph’s face that he understood what her previous comment meant.

“Can you tell me what the other ones taste like?” Joseph asked, looking at Cinder as she scarfed down half of the mountain of food on her plate.

“Huh? Oh, sure!” She said looking up from her plate with food particles and berry juices all over her face, “The Rawst berry is a bit bitter, the Cheri berry is spicy, and the Custap berry is super sweet!” she explained while pointing at each berry as she spoke about them, “You should save the Custap berry for last.”

Joseph finished off the Oran berries, eating the Rawst berry next, he winced as the subtle bitterness hit his tongue, “Yeah, I don’t think I’m a fan of that one.” he groaned.

“Well, that’s good to know.” Cinder said, laughing, “I’ll try to remember that for tomorrow.”

Joseph continued eating, reluctantly finishing the Rawst berry before eating the Cheri berry, which he actually liked; it wasn’t super spicy but just spicy enough for Joseph to enjoy it. Next he ate the apples on his plate, they were nothing special, just apples, although they did taste slightly sweeter than normal due to his new body’s stronger taste buds.

But then came time for the Custap berry, Cinder had been waiting to see his reaction to its sweetness the whole night, ‘Seeing other Pokémon react to the taste of Custap berries is one of the funniest things in the world.’ she thought to herself.

Joseph took a big bite of the Custap berry and immediately his eyes began sparkling, he had never tasted so sweet in his life, part of him wanted to believe it was because of his stronger taste buds, but another part of him wanted to believe things would be no different if he was still a human. Quickly, he ate the rest of it, savoring its extremely sweet juices.

“I think that was the sweetest thing I’ve ever eaten!” Joseph exclaimed, looking at Cinder while his eyes continued sparkling.

Cinder started laughing again, “Your eyes are sparkling!” she giggled, “I’ve never seen someone react to the sweetness of a Custap berry like that before!”

Joseph couldn’t stop smiling, the berry’s sweetness and Cinder’s rather cheerful tone made him feel happy, so happy in fact he almost forgot about his situation.

Riolu had already finished her meal. Satisfied, she headed to the edge of the balcony to get one last look at the sunset before heading back to the room. Moments later, she was accompanied by Cinder and Joseph, who were also watching the sunset.

“The sunset’s so pretty here.” Riolu said, staring at the orange sky as it slowly turned a deep purple, “It makes me feel like it’s summer already.”

“It’s always summer here on the Coast Continent!” Cinder cheered, “Even now in the middle of January!”

“January!? It was June for me before I got to this world!” Joseph blurted. There was almost nobody left on the balcony at this point, so Joseph wasn’t afraid of anyone hearing him.

Although unbeknownst to him, the one remaining onlooker was paying attention and made a mental note about what he had heard.

‘So he’s from another world as well.’ Nail thought, staring at Joseph’s group from a distance, ‘Given the fact his eyes are a weird color for a Shinx and the fact he’s hanging out with her, I’d say I get the picture.’

Cinder sighed, “I feel you, it was late October in my world when I got here, but when I woke up here it was the first day of June.”

“I guess time here doesn’t line up with our worlds.” Joseph said, although his statement was pretty obvious.

“Well, I’m going for seconds.” Cinder said, “If you two are full, you can go back to your room now.”

“Going for seconds!?” Riolu gasped, “Wasn’t that enough!?”

“Nope!” Cinder exclaimed, “I’m not done until my belly feels like it’s gonna burst!”

She then ran back into the main room and towards where food was being served.

“Some appetite she’s got, huh.” Nail said as he slowly approached Riolu and Joseph.

“When did you get here!?” Joseph shrieked, startled by Nail’s rather sudden appearance.

“I’ve been here the whole time.” Nail chuckled, “So Cinder found another lost one, interesting.”

“Lost one?” Joseph questioned.

“It’s a term Lanturn came up with for Pokémon who end up here from another world,” Nail clarified, “That makes four of us here at the guild.”

“Who’s the fourth one then?” Joseph asked.

“A Bellossom named Hula, weird name I know, but supposedly it’s a type of dance where she’s from.” Nail said, “She’s the guild’s lead gardener, but she also helps me train the other guild members.”

“So you’re like the head coach, then?” Joseph asked, raising his nonexistent eyebrow.

“Well, we use the term combat trainer, but that works too.” Nail chuckled, using his claws to cover his smile.

“Well, thanks for the info.” Joseph replied, “We’ll be heading to our room now. Bye.

“Sleep well, you two.” Nail said, waving at Joseph as he and Riolu headed back to their room.

When the two returned to the room, Riolu plopped onto her bed similarly to how she did when the two entered earlier. Joseph on the other hand went back to the desk he was sitting at earlier. He got up into the chair, just barely keeping his balance, to find a box with a note next to it on the desk.

“Hey Riolu, there’s a box up here with a note attached, It says it’s from Cinder!” Joseph shouted to Riolu just in case she had fallen asleep.

Riolu walked over to the desk and took a look at the note. “What are you talking about? This note makes no sense!” Riolu huffed.

“Wait, you can’t read it?” Joseph gasped.

“No, it’s just a bunch of weird lines that make no sense!” She continued.

“Fine, I’ll read it.” Joseph sighed.

Howdy Joseph! Howdy Riolu!

I just wanted to thank you and Riolu for sharing dinner with me!

It’s been a while since I’ve eaten dinner with other Pokémon, mostly because I’m a bit awkward around others.

But seeing you two reminded me of my friends back home, which inspired me to try and talk to you.

As a token of my gratitude, I’d like to give you two a high-tech watch.

We normally only give these to teams that work for us, but the Guildmaster made an exception for you two.

The watch should be easy enough for you to figure out, but if you do need help with it or just want to chat, call me.

That about wraps up what I wanted to say, so see ya!

-Cinder

“How could you read that!?” Riolu gasped.

“It’s in human script.” Joseph answered, “But how did she write it?” He wondered.

Joseph was puzzled; he had no idea how she could have learned to write like that, especially considering Riolu’s reaction to the script.

“Hey, there’s something on the back.” Riolu said, scratching her head while trying to read the script to no avail.

Joseph looked over and began to read the back of the note.

P.s.

My human friend taught me their script, so I thought it’d be fun to write in it. I’d recommend reading this note to Riolu though, just so you’re on the same page. Also, if anyone else asks about this script, tell them it’s an art project.

“Well, that explains it.” Joseph sighed, facepalming at the fact he hadn’t thought of that possibility. “Let’s just open the box.”

Riolu slowly pulled the ribbon on the box and opened it up. Inside, you wouldn’t believe it, there was a high-tech watch!

“Wow! She wasn’t kidding!” Joseph blurted.

“What is this thing?” Riolu asked, staring at the watch like it was some alien device, which in a way it was.

“It’s a watch! It tells time!” Joseph said, squealing in excitement as he quickly went to put it on.

“Can’t you just look outside to see the time?” Riolu scoffed.

“Yeah, but this tells it exactly, even down to the millisecond!” Joseph shouted. He was ecstatic that becoming a Pokémon didn’t mean losing out on the luxuries he had grown accustomed to as a human, at least not entirely, anyway.

Joseph slipped the watch onto his wrist, or was it technically his ankle now? He didn’t care, he could tell what time it was again!

Turning the watch on showed a bunch of runic symbols that were incomprehensible to Joseph, “Uh, what does any of this mean?” He asked, staring at the watch as if he had summoned a demon.

“I guess it’s my turn to read,” Riolu sighed.

Hello

Swipe the screen to view apps

Touch the screen to close

“Whatever that means,” Riolu huffed.

“Ah, I see,” Joseph replied, tapping the screen. The tutorial screen closed, and the time was displayed in similar runes.

“It says it’s 9:36 pm.” Riolu said, still not understanding what it meant.

“Wow, it’s really late.” Joseph said with a yawn, “We should call it a night I guess, we’ll figure out the rest of the stuff with the watch tomorrow.”

“Sounds good.” Riolu yawned, “Hopefully tomorrow isn’t as crazy as today was.”

“Well, personally, I don’t think anything is going to top today anytime soon.” Joseph chuckled.

The two plopped down onto their beds, Joseph fumbling around in his in an attempt to find a comfortable position to sleep in.

‘Never did I think sleeping would be this difficult as a Pokémon.’ He mused, still struggling to find a comfortable position.

Riolu was already fast asleep while Joseph kept fumbling, before eventually opting to bury himself with some of the straw to act as a blanket, but keeping enough under him to act as a cushion.

‘Good enough.’ He thought, ‘Now hopefully I can actually get some sleep.’