Chapter Text
Ugh.
Arceus, I feel awful.
Am I dreaming? Dead?
Wait, what is –
Is someone poking me? I-
Mordecai slowly opened his eyes to a blurry grey lingering over him. He blinked a few times to clear up his vision; and the grey shape quickly revealed to be a Banette dressed in a shawl.
Huh? Mordecai had many questions. Why was this Pokemon with him? Where was its trainer? He would’ve actually asked these questions and more if he hadn’t been interrupted.
“Oh thank Arceus, you’re alive,” The Banette sighed with relief.
“eeeeAAAAAAHHHHHH!” Mordecai shrieked as he scooted back, adrenalin rushing back to him like a river after a dam breaks – yet he could not bring himself to run. The Banette tottered towards him. “Yeah, I get that a lot.”
Mordecai stammered incoherently before finally being able to make out “....you.... talk....”
The Banette crouched down before him. “Yeah, I talk. You talk. We all talk. Are you dense?”
“Huh?” Mordecai tried to stand but struggled, as his legs felt like stilts. “Wh-what do you mean you talk? Pokémon can’t talk.”
The Banette’s face fell into a face of utter confusion, before saying “But you’re a Pokemon.”
“WHAT?” Mordecai reeled back, shocked and offended. “I’m not a Poke-” He put his hand out, then screeched when he caught a glimpse. His hand was now a metallic gauntlet, with a curved blade protruding from the back.
Shaking, he looked down at the rest of his body to see if he had changed any more. His arms were also grey and attached to his body via red shoulder pads. His body was now grey, with crescent-shaped blades going through his stomach, his thighs were chunky and red, and his calves were metallic, similar to his forearms. He recognised every new feature as that of a Bisharp’s.
As Mordecai’s words dissolved into gibberish, the Banette stared up at him, confused, before realising, “Oh, you’re a human, aren’t you?”
Mordecai blubbered a bit more before finally saying “Yes!” He leaned towards the Banette, practically growling, “What have you DONE to me!?”
The Banette stepped backwards a bit, hands in the air like it was being arrested. “I’ve haven’t done anything but find you here!”
It brushed something off its shawl. “Look, there’s not much you can do now, so you better get used to it.” It held out its hand, “M’name’s Cassidy. They/Them.”
Mordecai stared at them, then wrapped his new hand around Cassidy’s and slowly shook it. “... I’m Mordecai. He/Him.”
“Help! Help!”
Their meeting was disrupted by a distressed Luxray running up to them, “Huh... Oh Arceus.... are you Cassidy of Team Shadowdew?” it asked in between breaths.
Cassidy looked over at it, smiling, “Yeah, I am.”
“Oh thank Arceus,” the Luxray sighed in relief, “My name’s Goldie. My brother, Rhinestone, has fallen into Viney Overgrowth-”
“Viney Overgrowth? Damn!” Cassidy stepped back, shocked, “Quickly! Lead the way!”
Goldie ran off and Cassidy followed- but not before they grabbed Mordecai’s wrist and pulled him along.
Goldie lead Cassidy, with Mordecai in tow, over to a small pit. Moss grew on the edges and the air that escaped felt strangely moist.
Cassidy pointed towards it, “Here?”
Goldie nodded.
Cassidy stared down the hole a bit longer before saying “Mmmm... that’s not good....” They gave him a thumbs-up, then grabbed Goldie’s paw, “We’ll get him out as fast as we can.”
As they said this, Mordecai, who had just processed everything that was happening at the moment, simply asked, confused, “We?”
Instead of getting a proper answer, Cassidy just grabbed his wrist in their free hand and leapt into the hole, pulling him alongside them. Mordecai felt himself freefalling through the air, watching the ground come closer and closer. This was it. He was going to die, far away from anything he knew.
The next thing he knew, he was flung at a wall.
“Grab the wall!” He heard Cassidy cry, and he scrabbled to do what they said, knowing it was life or death.
“Now, follow my lead...” Cassidy instructed, “Goldie, you’re my right arm; Mordecai, you’re my left. Goldie, climb down one step!”
Goldie, who was shaking on the wall, gingerly climbed down a bit. His paw slipped, but he managed to restore his grip in time.
“Now you, Mordecai!”
Mordecai reluctantly looked down, before taking a single step down, terrified that he was going to fall. When he remained somewhat stable, he relaxed a bit.
Cassidy continued this pattern, moving down slowly one step at a time. Meanwhile, Mordecai silently panicked, until they finally hit the ground.
“Hah... hah... oh Arceus...” He panted, completely rigid, while Cassidy and Goldie watched. Finally, Cassidy spoke.
“...Uh, yeah, we should be going. What Pokemon is Rhinestone?”
“Sableye.” Goldie answered.
Cassidy nodded before waddling off into the cave, Goldie bounding off behind them, leaving Mordecai behind. Left without many other options, he trotted off after them into the plant-consumed swamp of Viney Overgrowth.
He ran up to Cassidy’s side and took the chance to ask them some questions.
“So, uhhhh....” He said in a whisper low enough so that only Cassidy and him could hear, “Can all Pokemon talk?”
Cassidy shrugged and replied nonchalantly, “They do here.”
“Okayyyyy.... A-are there any other humans here?”
“Former humans, y’mean? Yeah, quite a lot actually – or so I’ve heard.”
“Uh-huh... did they.. ever go home?”
“...home?” Cassidy stuttered, “I .... don’t know-”
Before they could say any more, Goldie rushed past them, roaring and crackling with electricity. The two stepped aside to see what he was threatening – a Victreebel.
Goldie arched his back and opened his jaw, ready to release an attack – before being held back by Cassidy. “No, no,” They said as Goldie calmed down, “Let me handle this.”
They slowly walked towards the Victreebel, whose mouth watered as it prepared to consume its prey. They raised a claw, which quickly became aflame with shadowy energy, as the Victreebel rushed forward, prepared to swallow them whole. Cassidy charged towards the hungry beast and slashed it across the mouth.
The Victreebel released a bloodcurdling screech as it reeled back and collapsed. Cassidy turned back to Mordecai and Goldie, brushing their hands together. “Best if you stay back,” they said, “The last thing I want is for you to get hurt.” They glanced over at Mordecai and said, “This goes for you too.”
Mordecai’s mouth hung agape before he asked, “Why?”
“B’cause,” Cassidy whispered harshly, “You’ve only been a Pokemon for a few minutes. You’re probably not a super-experienced fighter.” They turned their head over to a corner, “Hey, go get that fire-shaped seed. It’s a Blast Seed; we might need one.”
“Cassidy, I got the Slow Orb...”
“Good - now, couldya get that berry? The blue one, over there.”
Mordecai had been walking for what felt like an hour and all he had done was act as Cassidy’s errand boy, and he was sick of it. He noticed a Lombre out of the corner of his eye and prepared the blades on his arms to fight it – before Cassidy stopped him. He watched as they slammed it down with a Shadow Ball, which only added fuel to the fire.
He walked on, silently fuming, before he saw something pink out of the corner of his eye. He squinted as he tried to make out what the pink thing was. Was it a Pokemon? Curious, he made sure Cassidy wasn’t looking before slowly slinking away.
When he got close enough, he discovered it was an Oddish – but something was off about it. It was completely one shade of pink, and gelatinous too, like it was made of jelly. Mordecai was completely baffled at first, but then again he was surrounded by talking Pokemon and turned into a Bisharp. It might just be an alternate form, like he had heard about.
He slowly approached the Oddish, sharpening his blades (which he found to be rather ticklish) as he prepared to attack it. But no matter how close he got to it, it just stared at him with dead eyes. Wow, it isn’t even trying! he thought. Cassidy has nothing to worry about, this is going to be easy!
He took a deep breath, dived at it blades-first – and was rendered dumb when he was met with no fanfare. No screams of pain, no blood, not even a flinch.
“What the-” Mordecai exclaimed before walking away – and taking strands of pink slime with him. His eyes followed the slime in horror back to its point of origin – the Oddish, who just continued to stare.
He tried to back away further, but the slime only stretched more. All the while, he refused to break eye contact with the Oddish – which, to his shock, melted into a puddle of hot-pink goo and began to slither away.
Mordecai was pulled to the ground and dragged across the mud, his torso blades carving a canal as he struggled to free himself. Every time he pulled at his bindings, they just sucked into the gooey pile a bit more, making them shorter by the second. Completely helpless, he tried his last resort, hoping that someone could save him from his mysterious, but most likely horrible fate.
“HELP! HELP ME!! PLEASE!!!” He cried as the slime dragged him away. When no-one heeded his call, he started to sob, knowing that no-one was coming to help. His crying quickly began to soften as a purple haze clouded his eyes... which left as soon as it arrived.
And as soon as it disappeared, he felt himself stop moving.
“Huh?” he said as his vision cleared up – and realised that his jelly shackles and captor had been melted into a puddle of fizzy liquid that was quickly absorbed into the ground.
Breathing heavily, he looked over to see Cassidy, claws outstretched and breathing in sync with him. Goldie stood beside them.
“Mordecai!” They ran over to him and held out a hand. Mordecai grabbed it and used them as support to stand up – and was immediately scolded.
“What the hell were you thinking, running off like that? If I hadn’t gotten to you in time, the Energy would’ve consumed you!” Cassidy barked with a face of disappointed anger.
Mordecai sighed, “....I’m sorry. I just...”
“No excuses, sir. You broke my rules, and you faced the consequences,” Cassidy growled, before switching to a more lighthearted tone, “But I guess this is your first time in a dungeon. You get a pass.”
Mere seconds after they said this, a flash of blue ran between the two Pokemon, leaving them slightly winded. They looked over to see Goldie bounding over to a Sableye that sat curled up and on the verge of tears.
“Rhinestone! Rhinestone!” He called, and the Sableye perked up, a smile forming on its face. “Goldie!” He called back.
Goldie began to nuzzle him and Rhinestone stroked him back as Mordecai and Cassidy came running up to them. As Mordecai nearly collapsed from having to run, Cassidy just stood cooly as they flicked an egg-shaped badge on their shawl, causing a pillar of light to surround the four. The light lulled Mordecai into a drowsy state, and he slowly drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.
When he regained sense, Mordecai and the other three Pokemon had been teleported outside a cabin-looking building. Immediately, Cassidy and the reunited brothers huddled amongst themselves, with Mordecai pulled in.
Goldie had grabbed Cassidy’s claw and was shaking it furiously. “THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!!!” He squealed happily, “How could I ever repay you?!”
Cassidy stared before pulling their hand away, “How ‘bout you just give me the reward you promised?”
Goldie stuck a paw in his mane before presenting it full of coins to Cassidy, who curled a claw over it to collect them.
As the brothers bounded off, Cassidy turned to Mordecai. “200 Poke, huh?” They said, fiddling with the coins, “Decent pay.”
“Uh-huh,” Mordecai nodded, not really sure what they meant.
“You’ve a lot to learn, man,” Cassidy continued to smile. “We’ll split it, 80-20. Speakin’ of sharing...”
Mordecai wasn’t really expecting a Pokemon to have a house, and he especially wasn’t expecting a Pokemon like Cassidy to have a house like this. The walls were pale green, and every surface was either cushioned or decorated with floral print. It felt like he had just stepped into a dollhouse – and the only tether it had to its owner was the fact that they were, well, a doll.
“That’s the kitchen, and that’s the living room,” Cassidy guided him through the place, “There aren’t really a lot of rooms, haha... C’mon, I’ll show you the bedroom.”
They pulled Mordecai through a door to a room that was still green and fluffy, with a couple of shelves, a futon and an actual bed.
“You’ll sleep here,” Cassidy explained, gesturing towards the futon. “I know it doesn’t look like much, but trust me – combined with the carpet, it feels like you’ve ascended. Also... please be careful with, y’know,” they put their arms up and wiggled them to hint at Mordecai’s blades.
Mordecai just stared and opened his mouth to speak but was stopped when Cassidy started talking again.
“Well, we’ve done quite the mission, ay? Time t’ rest up for tomorrow!” They said as they crawled under the blanket on the bed and immediately dozed off. Mordecai, without anything much he could do, slipped under the covers of the futon.
Cassidy was right – it was the most comfortable thing he’d ever slept in. He might’ve appreciated it more if he could actually sleep, but his thoughts screamed at him, keeping him awake.
Discomfort in his new body.
Questions about his new acquaintance.
Fear of this new place.
Rest did not come easily to him.