Episode 2: West
It was a rainy day outside. As the moisture came down from the sky, the winds shook the trees and the leaves were billowing in the wind. It was no condition to be playing outside or to do anything out there. It just wasn’t the right kind of day. To some it was the perfect day to be out and playing in the yard, as some kids had taken the idea to heart, but not to Westley.
West didn’t much like going out. Not because he hated going outside, but he just was working on things inside that made it so he didn’t have a lot of time going out. Aside from having a Vitamin D deficiency, he was content with having nobody to bother him while he was working on his things. Mostly robotics, he took a shine to those. He liked the mechanical movements and code executing perfectly. He liked it in a way that was difficult to describe to other people, but he felt that he didn’t mind. He didn’t mind much at all, actually. All he focused on most of the time was his next project.
That didn’t mean he didn’t like hanging out with his friends, however, and some of the “adventures” they had together were more memorable than the success of whatever he was working on was. He liked to be with his friends, however rare of an opportunity it was for him.
One day while he was coming home from school, one of his friends caught up with him. His name was Jack, and he was one of West’s finest friends. He had recently sold West a copy of his Pokemon Black game and he couldn’t wait to see how his friend was going to react form those first few moments.
“So,” Jack asked, “How is it going so far?”
“It’s been great! I got to pick an Oshawott for my starter Pokemon.”
“Really now?”
“What, is that wrong?”
“No, no, it’s just a good pick.”
“Ah, is the first gym leader weak to it? You can tell me, I won’t care.”
“Well, it won’t matter, since the first gym leader you fight depends on what starter type you picked. I believe you’re going to go after the grass-type leader.”
“Aw shucks.”
“Don’t worry though, if you talk to everyone then someone will eventually give you a Pansear, a fire-type pokemon that can carry your team though it.”
“Oh sweet!”
“Yeah.”
They talked along the way until they got to the point where they had to split ways to go home.
“By the way Jack,” West said, “What is you favorite Pokemon?”
“Oh, I haven’t played Pokemon in so long. I think maybe that grass monkey one is good. What was it, Simisage? Yeah, that one.”
“Cool! I think mine is Dewott. It looks so cool!”
“Wait, you’re not supposed to know that!”
“Well, I sorta looked up the starters and their evolutions. I needed help picking ones that I thought would be cool.”
“Well, if you don’t like to be surprised then I won’t stop you.”
“Alright, that’s fine. See ya later.”
“See ya.”
West and Jack parted ways and each returned to their home.
West walked past the kitchen, where his Dad was working on work meetings with his bluetooth headphones. He didn’t bother him at this time. West grabbed an apple and then went to his bedroom. There was not a lot of things he did with his father these days, but with the both of them being busy that was a given. At the very least, they both were open around the dinner time, though there wasn’t much to talk about. West was not one to talk much about himself or how he was doing. Neither was his father. Talking about that kind of stuff has been awkward and serves to expose whatever rooted feelings about a subject that one of them had, which was not pleasant for the other.
West went into his bedroom and began eating the apple. For some reason, he wasn’t feeling particularly inspired today. He didn’t feel like playing with his robots or even his favorite video games, nor did the computer really entice him to do anything. He continued eating the apple as he paced around his room, trying to muster up anything to do. Nothing really stuck.
Maybe I’m getting too old for this kind of stuff. He thought. I could also be developing depression, but I don’t want to think that way in case I’m wrong and offend someone with it. Maybe it’s neither? Maybe if I picked something up and really tried it out, I could possibly get into the groove of things. He finished his apple and threw the core away. I suppose I could play that Pokemon game some more.
He washed his hands and then took out his Nintendo DS and turned the console on. In the span of a few hours he had beaten the first gym leader, gained a new Pansear for his team, and managed to evolve his Oshawott into a Dewott. Later he was called down for dinner. His Dad had ordered their favorite deep dish pizza to eat. At the dinner table, his Dad tried to strike up a conversation.
“How was school today?”
“It was alright. How was work today?”
“It would’ve been fine if it hadn’t been for...” And away his Dad went on why work was hard today, and explained to him what was going on at the office and why their project was not working. West found it difficult to concentrate on what his Dad was saying, as there were not very many things he could relate to and lots of terms flew over his head, as much as he hated that happening.
Once his Dad stopped talking and the pizza was gone, they returned to their things. West didn’t feel like playing Pokemon anymore, so he saved his game and turned off his device. He began to feel a bit strange, but chalked that up to the pizza. Later on he took a shower, brushed his teeth, and then went to bed.
In the middle of the night, his leg began hurting really badly. He could best describe it as a shooting pain that went up his leg. It felt like something was cutting into him, and he immediately rolled the pant leg of his pajamas up to see what was going on and tore at what was causing him the pain. The pain went away, and in his hand he found a scallop shell. When he looked at his leg, he found the outline of the shell on it. The skin in and around the mark felt different, like it was covered with little bristles.
Did...did this shell come out of my leg?
He put the shell back in the place that was marked on his leg, in a bit of a dumbstruck way to make sure it really fit the place. Not only did it fit, but the shell stayed on his leg. Interested, he stood up and made some movements with his leg. He felt the shell moving with the force of gravity, but it still stuck to his leg. He was able to take off the shell just as easily as he was able to do the first time.
“Oh nelly.” As he became more light headed, he fell back on the bed and went to bed.
When he woke back up, not much else had changed. It was nice to have something attached to his leg to be able to keep around, but-
Wait, since when did I start caring about the shell?
Somehow he felt attached to it. In his defense, it was a very nice shell, and it was difficult to imagine anyone would want to not have it.
“I don’t need it. I don’t need it. I don’t need it...” He put the shell on the drawer and went downstairs…
“…I neeeeed iiiiit!” He ran back upstairs and got his shell back. He placed the shell on his leg and he felt so much better. “Guess I’ll wear some pants to school today.”
When he got to school, he felt a bit weird. He felt weird around school all the time, but this day was especially different. He felt queasy, a little dizzy, and most of all dehydrated. He went for the water fountain and took a few sips.
“Hey, West!” Jack was behind him and called out to him. “How’re you doing?”
“Uhh...fine.” West said. “Something happened last night though.”
“Oh really? What’s wrong?”
“Some this way, I’ll show you.” They went into an empty classroom, and West rolled up his pant leg to see the shell stuck to his leg. “This happened to me last night”
“Oh, nice, you got a sweet shell!”
“No, I mean, it came from me in some way, and it sticks to my leg no problem.”
The door opened and caught both of their attention. An adult had entered the room and saw the two of them sitting on the table.
“Oh, hello there. Why aren’t you in-?” She had her attention caught by the shell that was still in West’s hand. Then she noticed Jack. “Oh, uh...nice shell?” West began to put the shell away, and his hand instinctively went for his leg, which was uncovered, and the teacher saw how his shell attached to his leg and disappear down the pant leg. West was shouting at himself internally for blowing whatever cover he was trying to keep. It’s not natural for shells to not only pop out of someone’s leg, but also to stick without any help.
“...Hi.” West said, sheepishly.
The teacher sighed. “Don’t be afraid, I know what’s going on. First thing’s first, I need you all to know that the one with the shell is in danger now.”
“What, why?”
“Well, there’s a lot to talk about, but basically, you’re going to be a Pokemon soon, and there’s going there is likely going to be a Pokextinction member around here. That’s what usually happens anyway.”
“...What?”
“Hmm, well, I need you to stick around after school. Someone is going to get you and take you somewhere safe.” The bell rang, and people started piling into the classroom.
“What should we look out for?” Jack asked.
The teacher explained what a typical Pokextinction member looked like. West tried to get a mental picture of it, and managed to do a good job of it.
In a school such as this, I doubt anyone like that would be able to pull of something like that.
After the explanation was done, West and Jack went to class. There was not much interesting that happened after the teacher talked to them, and West was constantly thinking back on what he was being told.
I’m gonna be a Pokemon? That’s crazy, but it would explain some things.
Soon the announcer called. “Teachers and students, pardon the interruption. At this point in time we’re having security sweeps throughout the classes, so just continue as you are and things will be fine.”
“...Teacher, I need to use the restroom.” Jack said. He was excused, and he ran out the door.
A few moments later, a person came in with the exact uniform that the teacher described. West went wide eyed and began to panic, but he kept his cool to avoid being spotted and searched first.
The Pokextinction member went for one side of the classroom first. Thankfully it was the other side of the classroom that West sat, but that didn’t buy him enough time. A wand was raised and began being waved before the students. It looked like a metal detector, but West couldn’t be so sure that was the case. Pokextinction sounded like a nefarious group, who knows what kind of tricks they would have?
The scanner was getting closer and closer to West. What was he going to do now?
Suddenly, the fire alarm went off, and the students began to panic, as per usual student fashion. The Pokextinction member also seemed to be shocked by this. The teacher called everyone’s attention, excused the member, and gathered the students up to get them out of the building. West was pulled aside by Jack, who was around the corner and out of sight from the Pokextinction member.
“I pulled the fire alarm for you! I was looking into the window and saw that things were getting a bit dicey in there for you.” West thanked Jack. They slid past the Pokextinction member running in the other direction and followed their class outside.
Outside, they did role call for everyone to make sure their class got out of the room. Afterwards they were given time to go about while there was investigations on who started the alarm. They noticed the teacher that talked to them earlier, and the teacher motioned them to come over.
“The contact is here. They will take you to the base now.”
“Can Jack come too?”
“Sadly, no. He will have to stay here.”
West froze. Jack was his only real friend, and he would have to leave him behind.
“Er, no, I-”
“It’s okay. Really, this will be the best for you, West,” Jack said, “It’s going to be tough to see you go, but it’d be even tougher for me if I knew you’d been captured by these goons. Promise me you’ll stay at the base, okay? Don’t do anything stupid.”
“...You know who you’re talking to, right? The expert rule follower? I’d have to try to break the rules.”
“Then you’re on the right track then. Take care.”
The teacher took West and guided him to the other side of the school.
Thank you, Jack. If there’s ever a chance for me to get out of the base and help someone else out there, I’m gonna take it. For you, for my Dad, and for the humanity I seem to be leaving behind.
Thank you.
***
The next few moments were hard for West. There was nothing he really talked about with his rescuer. It was a Gallade called Troy, and he seemed to be very friendly and tried to interact with West through discussions and jokes. When he saw that they were not very successful, he stopped trying to make West laugh or otherwise engage him. That was okay with West. He was having a hard time comprehending all the things that he was leaving behind. He didn't care about wanting to hide away from evil people, he just wanted to be able to get with his friend and normal life again.
I get the feeling I'm going to hate this so much.
When they entered the base, he was taken straight to the base headmaster. Xander, an Aggron, greated him.
"Hello and welcome to the Pokeuman base! There's lots to fill you in on but luckily we'll get you settled in and...hey, what's wrong?"
West shook his head. His throat was starting to close up and it was hard to speak. "I just...I don't want to be here. I'm sorry, I know it must have been a hassle for you all, but I really just want to be home."
"I understand, but you've got an exciting life ahead of you and things will get better."
"But I don't want this new life! I don't want, no, I refuse to become a Pokemon!"
"Oh dear, that's not going to help with your development."
""Fine by me, I just don't want anything to do with any of this. I had to say goodbye to my friend today, possibly forever. And I don't know how my Dad is going to react to his son going missing. I just really need to go back home."
"As far as your father goes...and your friend, too I guess...well, I don't know what's going to happen for certain, but more often than not a clone replaces you and will exist as though you never even left."
West's heart sank. "So...they won't even know I'm gone?"
"It's an unfortunate reality, but that is the case. Other times people get killed knowing this kind of information. So I guess you could say you got the best case scenario. Nobody had to die to get you here."
"Oh..." West felt like there was a weight on his shoulders that got heavier as the topic went on. He was close to tears at this point. Not only in his reality, the things he knew, being ripped away from him, but also at being overwhelmed at the possibilities there are.
"Okay. I know this is tough for you, and I won't force anything on you just yet. Can you describe to me what kind of changes you're feeling?" West described to him the shell on his leg and how it got there. "So it sounds like you're going to be a Dewott then. I'll have you on painkillers until the second shell forms, then we'll wean you off of it. The rest of your transformation should be painless."
"O-okay."
"It seems like you're pretty torn up about this. Usually there's this big orientation that I do for new students, but you don't seem to be handling this new change very well. I'm sorry that this all happened to you. I know it wasn't easy for me to change to my surroundings, either. Some people go into this new life with open arms, some people reject it, but from what I've seen they're usually very thankful that this has happened to them."
"I...I guess I'll take your word for it."
"Your mental health also seems shot right now. For your first few weeks here I'll have you scheduled for some counselling to help you adjust and get set up for your class schedule and other things. I don't think you're at the point where you need meds or anything, but I do want to give your mental health some care first before throwing you into a whole new world."
"..."
"I'm also going to put you in a dorm room to help you out. Your roommate is a wonderful girl named Claire. You will be sleeping in different areas, so no need to panic there. Her transformation should be done right about now, a Braixen, I believe."
"..."
"Hey, it's going to be okay. I'm sorry, I'm terrible at talking like this. Well, I guess it would depend on who you ask."
"..."
"Well, I guess that's it. Would you like me to walk you to your dorm room?"
"Yes please."
They left the office and walked towards the room. West kept his head down. He was not interested in knowing the Pokemon he was going to be with from now on, and he didn't want to think about it.
When they got to the room, Xander knocked on the door and then inserted the key. He twisted it, and opened the door. On the other side of the door stood a Braixen that had just gotten up and was in front of the door.
West's heart skipped a beat when he saw her. For some reason, he felt a kind of connection that was being made between the two of them.
No, get it together. This isn't your thing. But she does seem nice though...
"Claire, this is your new roommate, West."
"Hiya! Good to see you. What's wrong?"
"He's feeling really down at the moment, but I have him scheduled to get some help soon."
"Ah, that's good."
"I gotta go now. I'll see you all later. I'll schedule a proper orientation for West soon, but for now things are going to be going slow and steady for him, alright?"
"Okay."
"Thank you."
He closed the door and the two of them were left in the room together.
"...Hi." West said.
"Hello. It's so nice to meet you!" She stuck out her hand, or paw, to West. He shook it.
"It's nice to meet you too."
"So, what kind of moves do you have?"
"What?"
"Y'know, Pokemon moves. Have you learned any yet?"
"I don't know."
"Well, just focus, close your eyes, and see if you can visualize the kind of moves you have."
"...Okay."
West closed his eyes. He took a deep breath. After a few moments, he went into the bathroom and hunched over the sink. A stream of water went from his mouth and into the drain.
"Water Gun, huh? It's kind of weak at the moment, but I'm sure it'll get better with practice."
"I don't want it to get better."
"What?"
"I don't want for this to get better. I want it to go away. I definitely don't want to have any part of this."
"Don't say that, it gets better, trust me!"
"Whatever."
"Any other moves?"
"Nope, that's it."
"Oh. That's unusual. I got my moves when I first began changing. In fact I...don't want to talk about it, actually."
"Okay. Xander did say that I'm struggling right now, so maybe this is just a result of that."
"Maybe so. What if you don't learn those moves?"
"I don't really care, if I have to fight I'll develop weapons or something, but I don't want to use Pokemon moves."
"...Okay. I understand." She went to the other room and picked up a book. "Let me know if you need any help with anything."
West went to the other side of the room and found a bunk bed. He flopped onto the bottom bunk. He was tired, he was sad, and he began crying into the pillow. This was all so new to him, and we really just wanted it all to go away.
After his cry, he stared at the bottom of the top bunk.
"...I should check and see if the beds need cleaning."
It was a rainy day outside. As the moisture came down from the sky, the winds shook the trees and the leaves were billowing in the wind. It was no condition to be playing outside or to do anything out there. It just wasn’t the right kind of day. To some it was the perfect day to be out and playing in the yard, as some kids had taken the idea to heart, but not to Westley.
West didn’t much like going out. Not because he hated going outside, but he just was working on things inside that made it so he didn’t have a lot of time going out. Aside from having a Vitamin D deficiency, he was content with having nobody to bother him while he was working on his things. Mostly robotics, he took a shine to those. He liked the mechanical movements and code executing perfectly. He liked it in a way that was difficult to describe to other people, but he felt that he didn’t mind. He didn’t mind much at all, actually. All he focused on most of the time was his next project.
That didn’t mean he didn’t like hanging out with his friends, however, and some of the “adventures” they had together were more memorable than the success of whatever he was working on was. He liked to be with his friends, however rare of an opportunity it was for him.
One day while he was coming home from school, one of his friends caught up with him. His name was Jack, and he was one of West’s finest friends. He had recently sold West a copy of his Pokemon Black game and he couldn’t wait to see how his friend was going to react form those first few moments.
“So,” Jack asked, “How is it going so far?”
“It’s been great! I got to pick an Oshawott for my starter Pokemon.”
“Really now?”
“What, is that wrong?”
“No, no, it’s just a good pick.”
“Ah, is the first gym leader weak to it? You can tell me, I won’t care.”
“Well, it won’t matter, since the first gym leader you fight depends on what starter type you picked. I believe you’re going to go after the grass-type leader.”
“Aw shucks.”
“Don’t worry though, if you talk to everyone then someone will eventually give you a Pansear, a fire-type pokemon that can carry your team though it.”
“Oh sweet!”
“Yeah.”
They talked along the way until they got to the point where they had to split ways to go home.
“By the way Jack,” West said, “What is you favorite Pokemon?”
“Oh, I haven’t played Pokemon in so long. I think maybe that grass monkey one is good. What was it, Simisage? Yeah, that one.”
“Cool! I think mine is Dewott. It looks so cool!”
“Wait, you’re not supposed to know that!”
“Well, I sorta looked up the starters and their evolutions. I needed help picking ones that I thought would be cool.”
“Well, if you don’t like to be surprised then I won’t stop you.”
“Alright, that’s fine. See ya later.”
“See ya.”
West and Jack parted ways and each returned to their home.
West walked past the kitchen, where his Dad was working on work meetings with his bluetooth headphones. He didn’t bother him at this time. West grabbed an apple and then went to his bedroom. There was not a lot of things he did with his father these days, but with the both of them being busy that was a given. At the very least, they both were open around the dinner time, though there wasn’t much to talk about. West was not one to talk much about himself or how he was doing. Neither was his father. Talking about that kind of stuff has been awkward and serves to expose whatever rooted feelings about a subject that one of them had, which was not pleasant for the other.
West went into his bedroom and began eating the apple. For some reason, he wasn’t feeling particularly inspired today. He didn’t feel like playing with his robots or even his favorite video games, nor did the computer really entice him to do anything. He continued eating the apple as he paced around his room, trying to muster up anything to do. Nothing really stuck.
Maybe I’m getting too old for this kind of stuff. He thought. I could also be developing depression, but I don’t want to think that way in case I’m wrong and offend someone with it. Maybe it’s neither? Maybe if I picked something up and really tried it out, I could possibly get into the groove of things. He finished his apple and threw the core away. I suppose I could play that Pokemon game some more.
He washed his hands and then took out his Nintendo DS and turned the console on. In the span of a few hours he had beaten the first gym leader, gained a new Pansear for his team, and managed to evolve his Oshawott into a Dewott. Later he was called down for dinner. His Dad had ordered their favorite deep dish pizza to eat. At the dinner table, his Dad tried to strike up a conversation.
“How was school today?”
“It was alright. How was work today?”
“It would’ve been fine if it hadn’t been for...” And away his Dad went on why work was hard today, and explained to him what was going on at the office and why their project was not working. West found it difficult to concentrate on what his Dad was saying, as there were not very many things he could relate to and lots of terms flew over his head, as much as he hated that happening.
Once his Dad stopped talking and the pizza was gone, they returned to their things. West didn’t feel like playing Pokemon anymore, so he saved his game and turned off his device. He began to feel a bit strange, but chalked that up to the pizza. Later on he took a shower, brushed his teeth, and then went to bed.
In the middle of the night, his leg began hurting really badly. He could best describe it as a shooting pain that went up his leg. It felt like something was cutting into him, and he immediately rolled the pant leg of his pajamas up to see what was going on and tore at what was causing him the pain. The pain went away, and in his hand he found a scallop shell. When he looked at his leg, he found the outline of the shell on it. The skin in and around the mark felt different, like it was covered with little bristles.
Did...did this shell come out of my leg?
He put the shell back in the place that was marked on his leg, in a bit of a dumbstruck way to make sure it really fit the place. Not only did it fit, but the shell stayed on his leg. Interested, he stood up and made some movements with his leg. He felt the shell moving with the force of gravity, but it still stuck to his leg. He was able to take off the shell just as easily as he was able to do the first time.
“Oh nelly.” As he became more light headed, he fell back on the bed and went to bed.
When he woke back up, not much else had changed. It was nice to have something attached to his leg to be able to keep around, but-
Wait, since when did I start caring about the shell?
Somehow he felt attached to it. In his defense, it was a very nice shell, and it was difficult to imagine anyone would want to not have it.
“I don’t need it. I don’t need it. I don’t need it...” He put the shell on the drawer and went downstairs…
“…I neeeeed iiiiit!” He ran back upstairs and got his shell back. He placed the shell on his leg and he felt so much better. “Guess I’ll wear some pants to school today.”
When he got to school, he felt a bit weird. He felt weird around school all the time, but this day was especially different. He felt queasy, a little dizzy, and most of all dehydrated. He went for the water fountain and took a few sips.
“Hey, West!” Jack was behind him and called out to him. “How’re you doing?”
“Uhh...fine.” West said. “Something happened last night though.”
“Oh really? What’s wrong?”
“Some this way, I’ll show you.” They went into an empty classroom, and West rolled up his pant leg to see the shell stuck to his leg. “This happened to me last night”
“Oh, nice, you got a sweet shell!”
“No, I mean, it came from me in some way, and it sticks to my leg no problem.”
The door opened and caught both of their attention. An adult had entered the room and saw the two of them sitting on the table.
“Oh, hello there. Why aren’t you in-?” She had her attention caught by the shell that was still in West’s hand. Then she noticed Jack. “Oh, uh...nice shell?” West began to put the shell away, and his hand instinctively went for his leg, which was uncovered, and the teacher saw how his shell attached to his leg and disappear down the pant leg. West was shouting at himself internally for blowing whatever cover he was trying to keep. It’s not natural for shells to not only pop out of someone’s leg, but also to stick without any help.
“...Hi.” West said, sheepishly.
The teacher sighed. “Don’t be afraid, I know what’s going on. First thing’s first, I need you all to know that the one with the shell is in danger now.”
“What, why?”
“Well, there’s a lot to talk about, but basically, you’re going to be a Pokemon soon, and there’s going there is likely going to be a Pokextinction member around here. That’s what usually happens anyway.”
“...What?”
“Hmm, well, I need you to stick around after school. Someone is going to get you and take you somewhere safe.” The bell rang, and people started piling into the classroom.
“What should we look out for?” Jack asked.
The teacher explained what a typical Pokextinction member looked like. West tried to get a mental picture of it, and managed to do a good job of it.
In a school such as this, I doubt anyone like that would be able to pull of something like that.
After the explanation was done, West and Jack went to class. There was not much interesting that happened after the teacher talked to them, and West was constantly thinking back on what he was being told.
I’m gonna be a Pokemon? That’s crazy, but it would explain some things.
Soon the announcer called. “Teachers and students, pardon the interruption. At this point in time we’re having security sweeps throughout the classes, so just continue as you are and things will be fine.”
“...Teacher, I need to use the restroom.” Jack said. He was excused, and he ran out the door.
A few moments later, a person came in with the exact uniform that the teacher described. West went wide eyed and began to panic, but he kept his cool to avoid being spotted and searched first.
The Pokextinction member went for one side of the classroom first. Thankfully it was the other side of the classroom that West sat, but that didn’t buy him enough time. A wand was raised and began being waved before the students. It looked like a metal detector, but West couldn’t be so sure that was the case. Pokextinction sounded like a nefarious group, who knows what kind of tricks they would have?
The scanner was getting closer and closer to West. What was he going to do now?
Suddenly, the fire alarm went off, and the students began to panic, as per usual student fashion. The Pokextinction member also seemed to be shocked by this. The teacher called everyone’s attention, excused the member, and gathered the students up to get them out of the building. West was pulled aside by Jack, who was around the corner and out of sight from the Pokextinction member.
“I pulled the fire alarm for you! I was looking into the window and saw that things were getting a bit dicey in there for you.” West thanked Jack. They slid past the Pokextinction member running in the other direction and followed their class outside.
Outside, they did role call for everyone to make sure their class got out of the room. Afterwards they were given time to go about while there was investigations on who started the alarm. They noticed the teacher that talked to them earlier, and the teacher motioned them to come over.
“The contact is here. They will take you to the base now.”
“Can Jack come too?”
“Sadly, no. He will have to stay here.”
West froze. Jack was his only real friend, and he would have to leave him behind.
“Er, no, I-”
“It’s okay. Really, this will be the best for you, West,” Jack said, “It’s going to be tough to see you go, but it’d be even tougher for me if I knew you’d been captured by these goons. Promise me you’ll stay at the base, okay? Don’t do anything stupid.”
“...You know who you’re talking to, right? The expert rule follower? I’d have to try to break the rules.”
“Then you’re on the right track then. Take care.”
The teacher took West and guided him to the other side of the school.
Thank you, Jack. If there’s ever a chance for me to get out of the base and help someone else out there, I’m gonna take it. For you, for my Dad, and for the humanity I seem to be leaving behind.
Thank you.
***
The next few moments were hard for West. There was nothing he really talked about with his rescuer. It was a Gallade called Troy, and he seemed to be very friendly and tried to interact with West through discussions and jokes. When he saw that they were not very successful, he stopped trying to make West laugh or otherwise engage him. That was okay with West. He was having a hard time comprehending all the things that he was leaving behind. He didn't care about wanting to hide away from evil people, he just wanted to be able to get with his friend and normal life again.
I get the feeling I'm going to hate this so much.
When they entered the base, he was taken straight to the base headmaster. Xander, an Aggron, greated him.
"Hello and welcome to the Pokeuman base! There's lots to fill you in on but luckily we'll get you settled in and...hey, what's wrong?"
West shook his head. His throat was starting to close up and it was hard to speak. "I just...I don't want to be here. I'm sorry, I know it must have been a hassle for you all, but I really just want to be home."
"I understand, but you've got an exciting life ahead of you and things will get better."
"But I don't want this new life! I don't want, no, I refuse to become a Pokemon!"
"Oh dear, that's not going to help with your development."
""Fine by me, I just don't want anything to do with any of this. I had to say goodbye to my friend today, possibly forever. And I don't know how my Dad is going to react to his son going missing. I just really need to go back home."
"As far as your father goes...and your friend, too I guess...well, I don't know what's going to happen for certain, but more often than not a clone replaces you and will exist as though you never even left."
West's heart sank. "So...they won't even know I'm gone?"
"It's an unfortunate reality, but that is the case. Other times people get killed knowing this kind of information. So I guess you could say you got the best case scenario. Nobody had to die to get you here."
"Oh..." West felt like there was a weight on his shoulders that got heavier as the topic went on. He was close to tears at this point. Not only in his reality, the things he knew, being ripped away from him, but also at being overwhelmed at the possibilities there are.
"Okay. I know this is tough for you, and I won't force anything on you just yet. Can you describe to me what kind of changes you're feeling?" West described to him the shell on his leg and how it got there. "So it sounds like you're going to be a Dewott then. I'll have you on painkillers until the second shell forms, then we'll wean you off of it. The rest of your transformation should be painless."
"O-okay."
"It seems like you're pretty torn up about this. Usually there's this big orientation that I do for new students, but you don't seem to be handling this new change very well. I'm sorry that this all happened to you. I know it wasn't easy for me to change to my surroundings, either. Some people go into this new life with open arms, some people reject it, but from what I've seen they're usually very thankful that this has happened to them."
"I...I guess I'll take your word for it."
"Your mental health also seems shot right now. For your first few weeks here I'll have you scheduled for some counselling to help you adjust and get set up for your class schedule and other things. I don't think you're at the point where you need meds or anything, but I do want to give your mental health some care first before throwing you into a whole new world."
"..."
"I'm also going to put you in a dorm room to help you out. Your roommate is a wonderful girl named Claire. You will be sleeping in different areas, so no need to panic there. Her transformation should be done right about now, a Braixen, I believe."
"..."
"Hey, it's going to be okay. I'm sorry, I'm terrible at talking like this. Well, I guess it would depend on who you ask."
"..."
"Well, I guess that's it. Would you like me to walk you to your dorm room?"
"Yes please."
They left the office and walked towards the room. West kept his head down. He was not interested in knowing the Pokemon he was going to be with from now on, and he didn't want to think about it.
When they got to the room, Xander knocked on the door and then inserted the key. He twisted it, and opened the door. On the other side of the door stood a Braixen that had just gotten up and was in front of the door.
West's heart skipped a beat when he saw her. For some reason, he felt a kind of connection that was being made between the two of them.
No, get it together. This isn't your thing. But she does seem nice though...
"Claire, this is your new roommate, West."
"Hiya! Good to see you. What's wrong?"
"He's feeling really down at the moment, but I have him scheduled to get some help soon."
"Ah, that's good."
"I gotta go now. I'll see you all later. I'll schedule a proper orientation for West soon, but for now things are going to be going slow and steady for him, alright?"
"Okay."
"Thank you."
He closed the door and the two of them were left in the room together.
"...Hi." West said.
"Hello. It's so nice to meet you!" She stuck out her hand, or paw, to West. He shook it.
"It's nice to meet you too."
"So, what kind of moves do you have?"
"What?"
"Y'know, Pokemon moves. Have you learned any yet?"
"I don't know."
"Well, just focus, close your eyes, and see if you can visualize the kind of moves you have."
"...Okay."
West closed his eyes. He took a deep breath. After a few moments, he went into the bathroom and hunched over the sink. A stream of water went from his mouth and into the drain.
"Water Gun, huh? It's kind of weak at the moment, but I'm sure it'll get better with practice."
"I don't want it to get better."
"What?"
"I don't want for this to get better. I want it to go away. I definitely don't want to have any part of this."
"Don't say that, it gets better, trust me!"
"Whatever."
"Any other moves?"
"Nope, that's it."
"Oh. That's unusual. I got my moves when I first began changing. In fact I...don't want to talk about it, actually."
"Okay. Xander did say that I'm struggling right now, so maybe this is just a result of that."
"Maybe so. What if you don't learn those moves?"
"I don't really care, if I have to fight I'll develop weapons or something, but I don't want to use Pokemon moves."
"...Okay. I understand." She went to the other room and picked up a book. "Let me know if you need any help with anything."
West went to the other side of the room and found a bunk bed. He flopped onto the bottom bunk. He was tired, he was sad, and he began crying into the pillow. This was all so new to him, and we really just wanted it all to go away.
After his cry, he stared at the bottom of the top bunk.
"...I should check and see if the beds need cleaning."
