Pokenutter
pokenutter
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2008
- Messages
- 151
- Reaction score
- 2
Notes:
First off, I watch the Pokémon Anime in Japanese. Thus, I've grown used to referring to characters by their Japanese names. For those who aren't familiar with the Japanese terminology, I've provided a mini dictionary at the end of the chapter.
Secondly, this is not based off of Coshi-Dragonite's Ashchu tales. I did read the webcomic, and enjoyed it thoroughly, but this is not a continuation of that comic.
Third, POV will change basically every chapter. This is to add to the story, as Satoshi is not the only central character.
Finally, trivia will be provided at in the user comments at the bottom of the screen. A lot of planning went into this, and I wanted to share the design process.
Enjoy, and look for each weekly chapter. I'll update on Tuesdays. If you want to comment, please PM me.
Sunday 1/3
"Oi, Satoshi! Hey, wake up Satoshi-kun!"
There was a rushing sound, and then I was wet from head to toe. I opened my eyes. No… This wasn't where I had gone to sleep. This was smack dab in the middle of a forest. Where were Hikari and Takeshi? Pikachu? My sleeping bag?
"Finally, you're awake!"
I looked in the direction that the voice was coming from. A Pikachu was sitting on the top of a nearby tree, stowing away a large red bucket.
"I had honestly thought that maybe the transformation had gone wrong, but you seem unscathed."
Transformation? Wha?
"In any case, when you want answers, just follow the berry trail."
With that, he leaped away, leaving me utterly confused.
Talking Pikachus? Transformation? Berry trail? Nothing was making sense to me this morning. I decided to get up. As I pushed myself up, I got a good look at my feet.
Yellow.
What the heck? Yellow mouse feet? Tail?
Oh, crap.
I flashed back to that day in Johto. In the outskirts of Fusube City, My friends Kasumi, Takeshi, and I had met a traveling witch named Leelee who, by way of an innocent mistake, had turned me into a Pikachu. When all was said and done, however, the spell wore off, and everything was normal again. Or, so I thought.
Why was I a Pikachu again? This made less sense than Rocket-dan usually did. I began to ponder this. Then, a falling Nanashi berry narrowly missed my skull.
I picked it up, and inspected it. Odd… There were no Nanashi trees anywhere near here. Then, an Ubu berry landed a few feet behind me, followed by a Pikachu-sized satchel.
There was nothing in the satchel, except for a note with a smiley face on it, so I put the berries in the satchel. A thumping sound came from my right, so I turned and looked. There was a more or less straight trail of berries being dropped from the treetops. I followed them, picking up every berry that fell.
Eventually, when I picked up the last Oran berry, I was standing in front of a large pine tree. The bark was damp in some spots, and dead in others.
The needles had long ago fallen off, and a large hollow spot in the middle had been filled up with Bonguri fruit.
The berries had completely stopped falling, and I was alone, stranded in an unfamiliar area, in a Pikachu body. I was pretty much screwed.
Before I could move to another area to search for more berries, some sort of monstrosity leaped out of the dead tree. It was about my new height, but it had the features of a Pikachu, an Itomaru, and a Naetle. As it eyed me, I made a dash for the clearing where I'd woken up. Suddenly, another pair of figures, shorter than the first, rounded a corner, and blocked my path. These new figures looked like Prasles or Minuns with bits of Kimori, Nidoran, and Bakuuda.
The three figures advanced slowly on me, almost zombielike in their movements. Eventually, they had me cornered against a tree. I clamped my eyes shut, waiting for a killing blow, when all of a sudden, I heard a strange noise. It wasn't a snarl, a growl, or really anything threatening. It was more like… laughter.
"Oh my God, can you see yourself?"
One of them reached behind their head, and removed their face. Behind the mask were the lapin features of a Minun. She laughed again.
"Honestly Clarence, you've outdone yourself! Are you looking at this guy?
I swear, I've never seen anyone so close to wetting themselves!"
She began to roll on the ground laughing.
"We ought to do this more often!"
Then, the other two masks came off. One of them was the Pikachu from the clearing, and the other was a Prasle, face blue from holding in laughter. The Pikachu approached me sheepishly.
"Sorry, Satoshi, but, you know, Halloween was yesterday, we had props left over, and those two made me do it…"
If the Minun disagreed, she didn't have the breath to debate it, and the Prasle was just starting into his own little bout of giggles.
I began to realize that I'd just been pranked. I was about to tell them just what I thought of them, when the Pikachu began to drag me away. He pulled me through a few other clearings, and finally, into a large sunny area on a lakefront.
He turned to me.
"My name is Clarence Theodore Percival Waldorf IV, but you don't have to remember all of that. My father used to work for Silph. I was fairly well-off, as you might say."
I opened my mouth to speak. "You're human? Then why are you a Pikachu?"
"Shut up, Satoshi, and let me continue. I completed my Pokémon quest very quickly, and returned home to finish my schooling. About the same time that I returned home to Yoshino City, a carnival set up shop. I quickly became friends with the magician, an old woman named Amaya, who taught me about true Pokémon Magic, not just parlor tricks. Anyway, when I was assigned an extra-credit assignment, I chose to compare and contrast human nature and Pokémon nature. The easiest way to do this was to become a Pokémon."
"Amaya allowed me to become a Pikachu for a month, and live among my favorite captures. I learned a lot over that time, and my research became central to my life. Then, when the spell wore off, I left for a month to do business as an adult for the second half of my research."
"I was shocked at the atrocities that humanity was capable of committing. I witnessed firsthand the exploits of Rocket-dan. In the Houen region, I saw the war between Aqua-dan and Magma-dan. In Shinno, I heard whispers of high crime and of a new world order. I returned home, ashamed to be human."
"I sought out my old friend Amaya, who could maybe make her spell permanent, but I found that, in my absence, she had died, and the carnival moved on. I finally found the carnival in Asagi City, but they didn't have a new true magician."
"As luck would have it, one of the workers recognized me, and pointed me in the direction of Masara Town, where Amaya's daughter, Leelee would be studying. I trekked long and hard to find this Leelee, and eventually found her. She agreed to perform the spell, if I would go on a sort of quest immediately to try and restore my faith in humanity. I accepted."
"We kept in contact staring the day after I became a Pikachu. Eventually, I heard rumors about an accident. A young boy from Masara Town who had been the subject of an incomplete Pokémon Communication spell. One who had become a Pikachu."
"I contacted Leelee, and she said that the rumors were true. A young boy called Satoshi had wanted to speak with his Pikachu. He had, indeed, been in the middle of the spell malfunction."
"Now, I had done some research, and I knew that malfunctions on this scale don't simply disappear. Rather, they are like ripples. The effect never truly ends; it just reappears from time to time. In short, every year around this time, you will become a Pikachu again."
He paused to let it sink in. Then, he continued.
"I began to follow you. I must say, however, I was beginning to seriously doubt if I could ever trust my fellow humans again, but then, you entered the picture. You alone restored my faith in humanity. I mean, that business with the Dragon trio... Anyway, because of that, I will return the favor. Whenever you turn, I will protect you."
I didn't understand the last part, and asked him to explain.
"It's very simple. Every year, you'll turn into a Pikachu, and I'll provide you with somewhere to stay."
"But what about Hikari and Takeshi? I could just travel with them until it wears off. Oh, my God! They're going to be so worried!"
"I don't think that the greatest Pokémon master is going to be a Pokémon himself. If you hide this, your chances improve. Oh, and Prasle wrote a note to them, explaining what's going on."
Just then, Prasle appeared.
"Hey, Clarence, I've writing finished the note."
Clarence spun around. "What? You didn't leave it at their campsite?"
"Sorry, I-"
"Never mind, I'll go bring it to them. Prasle, show our friend Satoshi around."
Prasle nodded sheepishly, and then took me to another nearby clearing.
"Okay, Sato-kun, let me give you the lowdown. First, our principal residents. Over there, we have Gonbe, who is our resident moocher. When it comes to food, don't believe a word that he tells you. He's not an original resident, but he does contribute to the community occasionally, and that's why he hasn't been thrown out by now."
"Next, we have Tropius, who is sort of like our town elder. Any problem you have, he can answer. He's fairly young too, so senility is not something that we have to worry about. He may be the wisest here."
"Next, we have Kamex, who's away for a while. He might be back by the end of the week, but I doubt it. He's law enforcement. When he's away, Clarence takes over."
"Nassy is over there, but don't talk to him. He's practicing for the only sport that he knows, and doesn't like to be interrupted."
"What sport is it? It looks like he's just standing there."
"Tree imitation. Don't ask me the rules; I've never understood them. All I know is that he has this huge rivalry with an Usokkie from around Tobari City. He's never won against that Usokkie, and every year, he trains at perhaps the dullest sport I've ever seen."
"Anyway, over there we have Minun, the most beautiful person I know, inside and out."
"Is she your girlfriend?"
"I'll tell you when I have an answer. We've been kind of on-and-off for the last five years."
"Five years? How long have you known Clarence?"
"Three. Since we met him, our relationship has been mostly stable, but when we're apart, it hurts much more."
"Anyway, I'll explain our living arrangements. Over in that direction is a large oak tree. It's been hollowed out, and has several floors built in. That's our living space."
"That old dead tree where we scared the pants off of you is our food supply. The Bonguri fruits look like a Pachirisu's hoard, so it deters the non-Gonbe thieves. Under that is our 'Berry-treasure.'"
"Over at the lake is our water source, and past it is our cemetery. NEVER mention the cemetery to Clarence if living is a long-term goal of yours; Flygon, his first and best friend, died last year, and is buried there, and Clarence is a lot more emotional than he seems."
"So, any questions?"
"Yes. When can I speak to Takeshi and Hikari?"
"We're in the middle of a dead zone, but Clarence is working on a device that will get around this limitation. It should be complete in 3 days."
"When will Clarence be back?"
"Well, it took us 8 hours to drag you here, but that was lugging someone the whole way. He should be back for lunch."
"Okay, then. How can I understand what you're saying? Last time that this happened, I couldn't speak Pokémon."
"That'd be Clarence's doing. The guy is a mechanical genius. He actually figured out how to manipulate the sound waves coming from the surrounding area, and translate specific ones in a way that you'll understand. He condensed it into a pair of microchips, and put them in your ears. However, when you change back, the chip deactivates. It needs a lot of power to run at that size, and Pikachus are electric-types. Besides, you only need it as a Pikachu, so the crutch will be removed, and not burden you."
"Okay, One more question. How isolated are we?"
Before he could answer my question, shouts sounded from close by. A Pachirisu dashed by, followed by several armed men. I turned to Prasle, looking for an explanation.
"Okay, that's not supposed to happen."
Japanese to English Translations
Satoshi (kun)-Ash
Hikari- Dawn
Takeshi- Brock
Fusube City- Blackthorn City
Leelee- Lily
Rocket-dan- Team Rocket
Nanashi Berry- Aspear Berry
Ubu Berry- Grepa Berry
Bonguri Fruit- Apricorns
Itomaru- Spinarak
Naetle- Turtwig
Prasle- Plusle
Kimori- Treecko
Bakuuda- Camerupt
Yoshino City- Cherrygrove City
Shinno- Sinnoh
Asagi City- Olivine City
Masara Town- Pallet Town
Gonbe- Muchlax
Kamex- Blastoise
Nassy- Exeggutor
Usokkie- Sudowoodo
Tobari City- Veilstone City
Trivia- In the original design for this, Clarence was just another Pikachu. The idea was for Satoshi to metamorphose into a Pikachu, and run away in embarrassment. He would then run into a Pikachu who had seen the whole thing, and explain basic theory about Pokemon Magic. This got dull to think up ideas for, so I redesigned the character into a disillusioned human, maybe what Cyrus of Ginga-dan (Team Galactic) could have been. Clarence helps the story seem less Mystery-Dungeony by integrating another human character, and adding some pretty heavy technology.
First off, I watch the Pokémon Anime in Japanese. Thus, I've grown used to referring to characters by their Japanese names. For those who aren't familiar with the Japanese terminology, I've provided a mini dictionary at the end of the chapter.
Secondly, this is not based off of Coshi-Dragonite's Ashchu tales. I did read the webcomic, and enjoyed it thoroughly, but this is not a continuation of that comic.
Third, POV will change basically every chapter. This is to add to the story, as Satoshi is not the only central character.
Finally, trivia will be provided at in the user comments at the bottom of the screen. A lot of planning went into this, and I wanted to share the design process.
Enjoy, and look for each weekly chapter. I'll update on Tuesdays. If you want to comment, please PM me.
Sunday 1/3
"Oi, Satoshi! Hey, wake up Satoshi-kun!"
There was a rushing sound, and then I was wet from head to toe. I opened my eyes. No… This wasn't where I had gone to sleep. This was smack dab in the middle of a forest. Where were Hikari and Takeshi? Pikachu? My sleeping bag?
"Finally, you're awake!"
I looked in the direction that the voice was coming from. A Pikachu was sitting on the top of a nearby tree, stowing away a large red bucket.
"I had honestly thought that maybe the transformation had gone wrong, but you seem unscathed."
Transformation? Wha?
"In any case, when you want answers, just follow the berry trail."
With that, he leaped away, leaving me utterly confused.
Talking Pikachus? Transformation? Berry trail? Nothing was making sense to me this morning. I decided to get up. As I pushed myself up, I got a good look at my feet.
Yellow.
What the heck? Yellow mouse feet? Tail?
Oh, crap.
I flashed back to that day in Johto. In the outskirts of Fusube City, My friends Kasumi, Takeshi, and I had met a traveling witch named Leelee who, by way of an innocent mistake, had turned me into a Pikachu. When all was said and done, however, the spell wore off, and everything was normal again. Or, so I thought.
Why was I a Pikachu again? This made less sense than Rocket-dan usually did. I began to ponder this. Then, a falling Nanashi berry narrowly missed my skull.
I picked it up, and inspected it. Odd… There were no Nanashi trees anywhere near here. Then, an Ubu berry landed a few feet behind me, followed by a Pikachu-sized satchel.
There was nothing in the satchel, except for a note with a smiley face on it, so I put the berries in the satchel. A thumping sound came from my right, so I turned and looked. There was a more or less straight trail of berries being dropped from the treetops. I followed them, picking up every berry that fell.
Eventually, when I picked up the last Oran berry, I was standing in front of a large pine tree. The bark was damp in some spots, and dead in others.
The needles had long ago fallen off, and a large hollow spot in the middle had been filled up with Bonguri fruit.
The berries had completely stopped falling, and I was alone, stranded in an unfamiliar area, in a Pikachu body. I was pretty much screwed.
Before I could move to another area to search for more berries, some sort of monstrosity leaped out of the dead tree. It was about my new height, but it had the features of a Pikachu, an Itomaru, and a Naetle. As it eyed me, I made a dash for the clearing where I'd woken up. Suddenly, another pair of figures, shorter than the first, rounded a corner, and blocked my path. These new figures looked like Prasles or Minuns with bits of Kimori, Nidoran, and Bakuuda.
The three figures advanced slowly on me, almost zombielike in their movements. Eventually, they had me cornered against a tree. I clamped my eyes shut, waiting for a killing blow, when all of a sudden, I heard a strange noise. It wasn't a snarl, a growl, or really anything threatening. It was more like… laughter.
"Oh my God, can you see yourself?"
One of them reached behind their head, and removed their face. Behind the mask were the lapin features of a Minun. She laughed again.
"Honestly Clarence, you've outdone yourself! Are you looking at this guy?
I swear, I've never seen anyone so close to wetting themselves!"
She began to roll on the ground laughing.
"We ought to do this more often!"
Then, the other two masks came off. One of them was the Pikachu from the clearing, and the other was a Prasle, face blue from holding in laughter. The Pikachu approached me sheepishly.
"Sorry, Satoshi, but, you know, Halloween was yesterday, we had props left over, and those two made me do it…"
If the Minun disagreed, she didn't have the breath to debate it, and the Prasle was just starting into his own little bout of giggles.
I began to realize that I'd just been pranked. I was about to tell them just what I thought of them, when the Pikachu began to drag me away. He pulled me through a few other clearings, and finally, into a large sunny area on a lakefront.
He turned to me.
"My name is Clarence Theodore Percival Waldorf IV, but you don't have to remember all of that. My father used to work for Silph. I was fairly well-off, as you might say."
I opened my mouth to speak. "You're human? Then why are you a Pikachu?"
"Shut up, Satoshi, and let me continue. I completed my Pokémon quest very quickly, and returned home to finish my schooling. About the same time that I returned home to Yoshino City, a carnival set up shop. I quickly became friends with the magician, an old woman named Amaya, who taught me about true Pokémon Magic, not just parlor tricks. Anyway, when I was assigned an extra-credit assignment, I chose to compare and contrast human nature and Pokémon nature. The easiest way to do this was to become a Pokémon."
"Amaya allowed me to become a Pikachu for a month, and live among my favorite captures. I learned a lot over that time, and my research became central to my life. Then, when the spell wore off, I left for a month to do business as an adult for the second half of my research."
"I was shocked at the atrocities that humanity was capable of committing. I witnessed firsthand the exploits of Rocket-dan. In the Houen region, I saw the war between Aqua-dan and Magma-dan. In Shinno, I heard whispers of high crime and of a new world order. I returned home, ashamed to be human."
"I sought out my old friend Amaya, who could maybe make her spell permanent, but I found that, in my absence, she had died, and the carnival moved on. I finally found the carnival in Asagi City, but they didn't have a new true magician."
"As luck would have it, one of the workers recognized me, and pointed me in the direction of Masara Town, where Amaya's daughter, Leelee would be studying. I trekked long and hard to find this Leelee, and eventually found her. She agreed to perform the spell, if I would go on a sort of quest immediately to try and restore my faith in humanity. I accepted."
"We kept in contact staring the day after I became a Pikachu. Eventually, I heard rumors about an accident. A young boy from Masara Town who had been the subject of an incomplete Pokémon Communication spell. One who had become a Pikachu."
"I contacted Leelee, and she said that the rumors were true. A young boy called Satoshi had wanted to speak with his Pikachu. He had, indeed, been in the middle of the spell malfunction."
"Now, I had done some research, and I knew that malfunctions on this scale don't simply disappear. Rather, they are like ripples. The effect never truly ends; it just reappears from time to time. In short, every year around this time, you will become a Pikachu again."
He paused to let it sink in. Then, he continued.
"I began to follow you. I must say, however, I was beginning to seriously doubt if I could ever trust my fellow humans again, but then, you entered the picture. You alone restored my faith in humanity. I mean, that business with the Dragon trio... Anyway, because of that, I will return the favor. Whenever you turn, I will protect you."
I didn't understand the last part, and asked him to explain.
"It's very simple. Every year, you'll turn into a Pikachu, and I'll provide you with somewhere to stay."
"But what about Hikari and Takeshi? I could just travel with them until it wears off. Oh, my God! They're going to be so worried!"
"I don't think that the greatest Pokémon master is going to be a Pokémon himself. If you hide this, your chances improve. Oh, and Prasle wrote a note to them, explaining what's going on."
Just then, Prasle appeared.
"Hey, Clarence, I've writing finished the note."
Clarence spun around. "What? You didn't leave it at their campsite?"
"Sorry, I-"
"Never mind, I'll go bring it to them. Prasle, show our friend Satoshi around."
Prasle nodded sheepishly, and then took me to another nearby clearing.
"Okay, Sato-kun, let me give you the lowdown. First, our principal residents. Over there, we have Gonbe, who is our resident moocher. When it comes to food, don't believe a word that he tells you. He's not an original resident, but he does contribute to the community occasionally, and that's why he hasn't been thrown out by now."
"Next, we have Tropius, who is sort of like our town elder. Any problem you have, he can answer. He's fairly young too, so senility is not something that we have to worry about. He may be the wisest here."
"Next, we have Kamex, who's away for a while. He might be back by the end of the week, but I doubt it. He's law enforcement. When he's away, Clarence takes over."
"Nassy is over there, but don't talk to him. He's practicing for the only sport that he knows, and doesn't like to be interrupted."
"What sport is it? It looks like he's just standing there."
"Tree imitation. Don't ask me the rules; I've never understood them. All I know is that he has this huge rivalry with an Usokkie from around Tobari City. He's never won against that Usokkie, and every year, he trains at perhaps the dullest sport I've ever seen."
"Anyway, over there we have Minun, the most beautiful person I know, inside and out."
"Is she your girlfriend?"
"I'll tell you when I have an answer. We've been kind of on-and-off for the last five years."
"Five years? How long have you known Clarence?"
"Three. Since we met him, our relationship has been mostly stable, but when we're apart, it hurts much more."
"Anyway, I'll explain our living arrangements. Over in that direction is a large oak tree. It's been hollowed out, and has several floors built in. That's our living space."
"That old dead tree where we scared the pants off of you is our food supply. The Bonguri fruits look like a Pachirisu's hoard, so it deters the non-Gonbe thieves. Under that is our 'Berry-treasure.'"
"Over at the lake is our water source, and past it is our cemetery. NEVER mention the cemetery to Clarence if living is a long-term goal of yours; Flygon, his first and best friend, died last year, and is buried there, and Clarence is a lot more emotional than he seems."
"So, any questions?"
"Yes. When can I speak to Takeshi and Hikari?"
"We're in the middle of a dead zone, but Clarence is working on a device that will get around this limitation. It should be complete in 3 days."
"When will Clarence be back?"
"Well, it took us 8 hours to drag you here, but that was lugging someone the whole way. He should be back for lunch."
"Okay, then. How can I understand what you're saying? Last time that this happened, I couldn't speak Pokémon."
"That'd be Clarence's doing. The guy is a mechanical genius. He actually figured out how to manipulate the sound waves coming from the surrounding area, and translate specific ones in a way that you'll understand. He condensed it into a pair of microchips, and put them in your ears. However, when you change back, the chip deactivates. It needs a lot of power to run at that size, and Pikachus are electric-types. Besides, you only need it as a Pikachu, so the crutch will be removed, and not burden you."
"Okay, One more question. How isolated are we?"
Before he could answer my question, shouts sounded from close by. A Pachirisu dashed by, followed by several armed men. I turned to Prasle, looking for an explanation.
"Okay, that's not supposed to happen."
Japanese to English Translations
Satoshi (kun)-Ash
Hikari- Dawn
Takeshi- Brock
Fusube City- Blackthorn City
Leelee- Lily
Rocket-dan- Team Rocket
Nanashi Berry- Aspear Berry
Ubu Berry- Grepa Berry
Bonguri Fruit- Apricorns
Itomaru- Spinarak
Naetle- Turtwig
Prasle- Plusle
Kimori- Treecko
Bakuuda- Camerupt
Yoshino City- Cherrygrove City
Shinno- Sinnoh
Asagi City- Olivine City
Masara Town- Pallet Town
Gonbe- Muchlax
Kamex- Blastoise
Nassy- Exeggutor
Usokkie- Sudowoodo
Tobari City- Veilstone City
Trivia- In the original design for this, Clarence was just another Pikachu. The idea was for Satoshi to metamorphose into a Pikachu, and run away in embarrassment. He would then run into a Pikachu who had seen the whole thing, and explain basic theory about Pokemon Magic. This got dull to think up ideas for, so I redesigned the character into a disillusioned human, maybe what Cyrus of Ginga-dan (Team Galactic) could have been. Clarence helps the story seem less Mystery-Dungeony by integrating another human character, and adding some pretty heavy technology.
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