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billycorn · 5 days ago

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Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Chasing Storms

Collab with @billycorn

Whisked away to a world where only Pokémon existed and humans are believed to be only myths, Katherine, a human-turned-Eevee is forced to live as a Pokémon among them, unaware of her purpose. New friends, daunting challenges, and adventures come by, and Katherine is determined to protect the new life she has grown to love dearly. She still has many questions left unresolved at her second chance in life, but the inner child in her only wants one to be answered...

A pmd fic about found family- littered with comedy and angst

Chapter 1: An Unfamiliar Place

Summary: A Charmander finds a seemingly mentally deranged Eevee in the woods...

The Charmander grasped his fingers around the strap of his wicker basket. He hoisted it up to his back, sliding his head in the loop, and adjusted the strap to his left shoulder. He opened the door before grabbing a flute on his way out, placing it in a small pocket of his basket and adjusting the green scarf around his neck.

As he stepped outside into the forest basked by the orange hue of the afternoon sun, he made his way across the thick greenery, searching for berries and maybe even a few apples. He couldn't stay in the same place for too long, unfortunately, as wild predatory Pokémon might catch on to his habits to plan an attack.

His ears aren't as good compared to some mammalian Pokémon, but they were enough to hear any suspicious sounds of a predatory feral lurking nearby. Until now he didn't sense any sign of danger, which was great; he was in a bit of a hurry. The forest still smelled fresh and lush after all those years of living nearby, and he's already familiar with the scents and sounds that come in it.

After what seemed like an hour, the corners of his mouth upturned to reveal a soft smile as he found an oran berry bush, just right next to a small copse. He grabbed one, pulling it off the stalk to check if it was ripe enough. He tossed it over to his back and into the basket it went. He was about to pick more when he noticed a tuft of fur just inside an ordinary bush next to the oran one.

“What the…” His voice trailed off as he tried to pull it out of the bush.

"Ow!”

The loud shriek sent the Charmander back away immediately. His ears were still ringing when the mysterious Pokémon finally revealed itself, looking weary as if it just woke up from a long nap. It flicked its large ears and shook the dust from its brown pelt, letting out a large yawn as it blinked to adjust its eyes to its surroundings. It was a fully-grown Eevee. He stared in silence, mouth agape, as the strange Eevee looked down at its paws.

“Man… I must be dreaming.” The Eevee spoke as she rubbed her eyes. "I still have to go back to school tomorrow… but I don't wanna-”

She glanced down at her paws again.

“Wait… these aren't my hands-” The Eevee, who didn't seem to notice the Charmander, started frantically checking herself.

“HOLY FRIGGIN’ ARCEUS!”

The Eevee screamed and anxiously started to go around in circles. “I'm… I'm an Eevee now, I'm in the woods, and I'm not in my apartment. That means…”

She paused, the mixed emotions on her face suddenly morphing into joy.

“I don't have to take the exam anymore!” The Eevee laughed hard and leaped victoriously into the air. "Take that, school!”

Instantaneously, she became aware of her surroundings and looked at the Charmander in front of her.

"Oh, I didn't see you there. Hi…?"

“...Hi." The Charmander replied skeptically as he slowly edged away from the weird girl he had just seen. “You’re… not from here I suppose?”

“No. Can I ask what place are we-”

"We're in the middle of Apple Woods. Now excuse me, you're alright now I guess, so I'll be on my way.”

He was about to leave but the weird Eevee girl stopped him in his tracks.

“Wait!"

His brows furrowed.

"What is it now?” The Charmander asked as he adjusted the strap of his basket. "If you're a wild Pokémon trying to lure me into your trap, I can guarantee you, I won't be fooled.”

“I'm not a wild Pokémon!" The weird Eevee girl protested. "Tell me, were you involved in bringing me here? Are you the one who somehow just turned me into a Pokémon?”

"What? I have no idea what you're talking about. I can tell that you were an Eevee for a long time.”

“No, I'm not. I was a human."

Charmander just stared at her. His face scrunched up, his nose twitched, and he just lost it.

“Pffft….” He tried to hold it in, but he couldn't at the absurdity of the situation. “HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Eevee’s ears shrunk back in embarrassment. Maybe she shouldn't have done that.

“Okay… that was a good joke. You had me with that one. Are you a comedian doing undercover or something?"

“Am not!” Eevee objected, still embarrassed. “Well, maybe you weren't one of the guys who brought me here, but I am a human!"

“All right, that got old pretty fast." Charmander sighed and lowered his head to look her in the eye. "Listen, crazy human Eevee or whatever, your acting is quite convincing, but there's no way I'm going to believe some unintelligible baloney about a human somehow turning into an Eevee.”

Eevee felt like a Decidueye's arrow just pierced her chest. In this world, maybe nobody is gonna believe her.

“Anyways, I'm heading home now. See ya, crazy human Eevee or…. whatever.”

But I was a human…

She's all alone again. No human nor Pokémon in sight, just her and the woods. Wiping a tear from her cheek, she turned to pluck a berry from the bush beside her. Food always made her feel better.

She snacked on the berry until her paws got sticky. Food at this time didn't make her feel better, at all. With an annoyed huff, she set out to rub her paws on a patch of grass. They didn't do much, but she had enough anyway. She wandered off on her own, looking at whatever tree she passed by.

If she was lucky enough to find a hollow one, she'd get some free shelter all to herself. Maybe even get close to bodies of water to get a drink. The forest is eerily quiet, but the afternoon light gave her a speck of courage to continue wandering around. She felt like she was walking for hours, but she didn't give up.

What was it that the Charmander said again? Wild Pokémon? Thinking of that made her shiver. Eevee sat down for a while to catch her breath, losing hope in her new, sad life.

Perhaps college exams were better than this after all…

She also tried standing up on her hind legs earlier before, but she had to stop, fearing her spine would give out. No use doing that as a quadruped cat-dog-fox thing, that was stupid of her to do so.

Eevee heaved a sigh. Her ears drooped low against her head, but she was too exhausted to care. Her claws kept getting in the way of her walking, unsheathing without her will to do so. Even with the hours that passed by, she still wasn't used to her new body yet.

“I thought living alone was easy, but… out here?” She shook her head and her ears flopped along. She could not do it herself. Even in a new world, she's still the loser that she is. The sun is already setting and she still hasn't found any shelter.

“Arceus… this is not good.” Eevee whispered to herself as she walked silently. As she whipped her head from left to right, her eyes scanned for other Pokémon as she stayed hidden behind a tree.

Maybe this wasn't so bad-

“Hey Ryan, are you sure you smelled some food in here?”

Eevee's furs stood on end as she heard the voice. She had to think, fast. She glanced down at her unsheathed claws.

Please, let me do it.

She leapt up, clinging to the bark of the tree with all her might. She reached up to climb, one paw at a time to hoist herself up to the nearest tree branch to hide.

“Of course I smelled food here! I have a sharper nose than you!”

The Eevee, clinging tightly above, looked down to get a good look at the two predators. A dragon with two heads bickering with each other came into view. Her mind quickly recognized the Pokémon.

“Maybe you're just lying to me so you can have all the food to yourself!” The other head roared as it rammed itself into the other.

“Idiot! We have the same body! How can I even hide food from you, if you're just there right next to me!"

From above, Eevee sighed in relief, looking at the two heads arguing with each other. She could literally kiss this tree out of gratitude for saving her life right now.

She said it too soon.

The branch snapped in half and the other end plunged to the ground with Eevee on it.

She yelped in pain as she fell on her back, right in front of the two hungry dragons.

“Damn, you're actually right this time. Arceus has blessed us!" One head said as it drooled at the sight of the terrified Eevee. She froze at first, her body quaking at the possible end of her fate.

She gathered herself and ran for her life.

“After her!" The other head hollered.

She zipped through logs and fallen branches, narrowly avoiding collision with a tree. She had never ran this fast before. This was too soon for her to end!

For a blind being, they were gaining on her, fast. They've locked on to her scent, heads snapping viciously at random in her direction. She continued to run for her life, even though her lungs felt like they were about to burst from over-exerting herself.

One of the Zweilous heads raised its neck, as if to breathe deeply. It snapped its jaws open to release a Dragon Pulse straight at her, plummeting at a high speed, exploding as it made contact with her body. The attack sent her flying like a pathetic ragdoll before falling limp to the ground, unable to move in pain.

She urged herself to stand up but failed. Zweilous bounded right up to her, preparing another attack to finish the job. She covered her head with her paws as she shut her eyes tight, afraid of what would happen next.

“EEVEE, LOOK OUT!”

The two heads looked up just in time for a Blast Seed to be hurled right at them, causing a huge explosion. It almost sent the Zweilous staggering backwards, roaring as they frantically searched for the culprit within the smoke around them.

Charmander emerged from the smoke, wielding a Dragon Claw as he lunged at the Zweilous without warning. The two headed beast was taken aback as Charmander swung a violent slash at one of its necks, wounding it badly.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" a head bellowed, slamming a Head Smash at its target. Charmander darted sideways, narrowly dodging the attack. He clouded his fist in flames before landing a Fire Punch on his opponent, searing the dragon’s skin with burns. In pain, the Zweilous fled, leaving him and the Eevee alone.

Charmander turned to her, eyes gleaming from the dying flames. He ran towards her, appearing concerned.

“Are you okay?!” He cried out, wrapping the Eevee in a warm embrace. “I'm so sorry Philip…”

Who in the world of Arceus is Philip?!

She laughed nervously, patting him on the back with an awkward smile. “Hey, I'm not dead yet."

"Oh.” Charmander let go, letting her sit on her own. “I-I’m sorry I left you alone...”

“It's not your fault." She put on her dumbest smile. "I mean, I'm sure you're not obligated to crazy human Eevee to any other way right?”

“You're still mad about that?"

“Kinda." She drawled, trying to stand up. “Arceus, that hurt."

"From Zweilous or what I said?”

"Zweilous."

“I assumed you knew how to fight since you somehow managed to travel on your own to Apple Woods." Charmander said, brushing the dust off his skin. “I didn't know you… y’know.”

"I told you, I didn't come here on my own. Someone brought me here.” She replied, ears pinned back to her head in frustration.

“Uh-huh, sure.” Even with all that, he still doesn't believe her. “Anyway, I'm Blake. You?”

“Katherine. Kate for short." She answered, averting her gaze.

"I'm also an explorer. I can escort you back home if you like, and I'll do it quickly too.”

“I don't have a home.”

Blake raised his brows, his eyes widening in surprise. "You're kidding, right?”

Kate shakes her head, pawing the ground underneath her. Blake slapped a palm to his face.

“Damn, you're not only crazy, but you're homeless too?!" He exclaimed, and she glared at him. Blake scratched his head, still weirded out by the strange girl. As he turned, intending to lead her outside of the forest, he heard her speak.

"Oh, no, I sure hope I'm not left alone to die out here~”

He snapped his gaze back at her, looking repulsed. “What in the world of Arceus are you doing?"

"Oh Arceus, I'm just a poor defenseless Eevee, who could be so cruel?!”

Blake's left eye twitched. “Don't you dare guilt trip me. It's not gonna wo-"

Kate lowered her muzzle, looking up to accentuate the biggest puppy eyes she could muster. The Charmander heaved a sigh.

“Listen-”

"Yes…?" The weird Eevee girl asked innocently. Blake groaned, already annoyed.

“I'll let you stay- if you can contribute at least one thing in the house.”

"I can help you clean!”

Blake shook his head. "You literally have no working thumbs."

“Maybe I can use my tail…"

“No. That's unsanitary. And I'm not brushing it for you!"

“Dishes?”

"No. You look clumsy as hell. There's no way I'm letting you break any of them."

Kate huffed, muttering quietly.

"Also-” He added, raising a finger. "You can sleep on the couch, and you're not allowed to enter other rooms except the bathroom. If I ever see you doing any funny business, feel free to leave and never come back.”

Kate nodded, desperate to have shelter.

“Let's see if I can trust you. Do we have a deal?”

“It's a deal." She agreed as he motioned for her to follow him. It took them a long walk, but she took the time to immerse herself in her surroundings as the trees parted to reveal a waterfall, flowing towards the river below.

“This is Waterfall Cave. Some explorers found a secret mystery dungeon there long ago, though it was a pain to get in there.” Blake chuckled, glancing up to the entrance, which was covered by the continuous stream of water.

“What's a mystery dungeon?” Kate asked curiously.

"They're places that constantly shift, but never changing, sometimes appearing randomly in places that don't have dungeons. Even now, nobody knows where they're really from. Some say they're space-time distortions, which I'd say is believable enough. And it's my job to explore them.”

“Wait, so you're saying you enter dangerous space-time thing’y places just to wander around and try not to die?!”

“It's kinda like that sometimes, not gonna lie."

Kate laughed a bit. "And you're okay with that? And here I thought I'm the dumb one.”

Blake rolled his eyes. “Hardy har har."

The two continued walking in silence, following a path near the river of Waterfall Cave. Kate noticed that he walked rather fast, as if he was in a hurry all the time. She had to trot faster to keep up, in fear of getting left behind again.

“Are we there yet?" She asked, her tail and ears sagging down.

“We're almost there.” Blake replied, adjusting his scarf. “My house is located near this river, and it's close enough to Treasure Town.”

He then pointed a finger forwards, right towards a shabby shack which is now visible in front of them.

“That one. My humble home."

"Huh, not bad.” Said Kate as she padded alongside him.

“Right?" Blake puffed his chest out proudly. “I made it myself!"

"Oh, I guess that's why it looks half-ass-”

“Don't even say it."

“What? I was just gonna say assessed!"

Blake rolled his eyes. “We both know that's not the word you were going for."

Kate snickered, shrugging. "Was worth a try.”

Blake stepped on the small stairs leading to the door and turned the knob to head inside. Kate followed suit, eyeing the interior of the house. It wasn't too big nor too small, holding a homely feeling and the smell of wood with a cupboard and three doors on the sides. A small ragged carpet adorned the floor with an old rickety looking couch sitting beside it, close to an open window of the house.

Blake headed into his room and Kate waited patiently by the door, fiddling with her paws. He came out holding a lamp with his hand, blowing a small stream of fire to light it up.

“Sorry, no electricity today." Blake sighed, scratching the back of his neck. “I didn't have enough Poké on me to pay the bill."

"It's fine.” Kate answered, her stomach starting to rumble audibly. She grinned sheepishly as she pawed at the floor.

"Ah, right. What do you want for dinner?” He asks, opening the cupboard. “I got some… oran, oran, and more orans-”

“Orans are good enough for me, thank you-"

"Alright, catch.”

Kate's paws flailed wildly in the air trying to get ahold of the berry, but it slipped across and smacked straight into her forehead. A frustrated growl escaped her throat as she tried to grab it with one paw. It kept slipping out of her grasp, so she sighed, sat down and held it with both paws instead.

“So, Eevee, where did you come from?" Blake asked curiously, biting down on his berry.

“If I told you, you wouldn't believe me." Kate deadpanned as she chewed on her share.

"...Right. You were gonna say human town?"

“I’m from Canalave City. It doesn't exist here, right?”

“Arceus, you still think you're a human?"

Kate sighed and shook her head. "See? Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me.”

“They sound too far-fetched! Of course it's gonna be hard for me to believe that!” The Charmander groaned. He had enough craziness for one day.

“Whatever.” He gobbled his berry whole and swallowed it, heading into his room. "I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow.”

And with that, she was all alone again. She knew Blake is being wary around her as she is still a complete stranger to him, but damn, that Charmander is cold for a fire type. She finished her berry and padded towards the couch, leaping on the cushioned seat. The couch isn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but hey, at least it was something better than sleeping in an oran berry bush.

Kate glanced down to her paws again, flexing the toes and ran her claws across the cloth. She still has so many questions, why she was brought here, and why she turned into an Eevee. It was great that Blake took her in, but she could at least make herself useful. She didn't want to be a burden, and especially for someone she just met. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Whatever she was thinking right now can be done tomorrow.

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