2 Drumroll Please

*Chirp* *chirp*

The sun was up, and the skies were blue, signifying that it was morning, and also that it was time to wake up.

A young boy seven years of age was sleeping peacefully in his room, until-

*Tap* *Tap-tap-tap*

A sound entered the child's ears, intruding in his dreams.

*Tap* *Tap-tap* *Tap-tap-tap-tap*

Raiden Creed rose up and opened his eyes groggily, looking for whatever it was that was being super annoying while squinting.

He then saw the source of the tapping. A bird landed by the window, pecking on the windowpane occasionally.

"Oh, it's just a Pidgey." He closed his eyes and laid down, trying to fall back asleep.

"..."

"..."

"A PIDGEY?!?"

And so, it was time for the others to also wake up.

"WAHH!!!" A boy of his age woke up screaming, jolted awake thinking it was the end of the world.

Wait... of his age? The boy-next-bed was clearly just a kid.

"Uhhh... Ray... Why'd you shout like that? I was gonna beat the gym when a Pidgey suddenly screamed at my face." The boy said sleepily while rubbing his eyes.

Was that his younger brother? He never knew he was so... different? What happened to him that his brown hair turned black?

"Sorry Max. I was just surprised by the Pidgey by the window." Raiden replied, still confused.

How did he know this kid again? Did I ever know a 'Max'?

"What, did you have a nightmare again about that time when a Pidgey scratched your face? Yeah, ahahaha, that was funny..." Max laughed sparsely before yawning.

"No I didn't. And I'm not scared of Pidgey anymore. It surprised me, is all." Raiden didn't know where his words came from.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Wake me up when it's time for... breakfast..." Then Max went back to sleep, lying face down.

Silence ensued for a moment, while Raiden sat still, trying to recall what happened last night.

'Ahh... I died...'

'...'

'Oh well.'

He came to terms with it rather quickly. After all, there was nothing he could do.

He was calm. Because, it felt like it all happened seven years ago as 'new' memories sprung up his mind.

No, it wasn't that he had new memories, but it felt like he had recalled his past life.

His past family might have been sad, heartbroken even, but he knew they were safe. He was sure of it, though he didn't know why.

The lightning most probably struck only him, and his mother should have received his life insurance. Maybe 7 years had passed, and they surely would have moved on.

Now, it was time to think about himself.

He was -drumroll please...-

Reborn in a Pokémon World!

There were Pokémon everywhere! Millions of Pokémon running through the plains, hiding in the forests, deep in the jungle, beneath the ocean, flying in the skies and even in households!

All these lives exist in a delicate balance, representing the unity of this beautiful world - Elendel.

Elendel was yet to be tainted and polluted, as human civilization only occupied a single percent of this vast world. Technology advanced in a different direction, because the existence of Pokémon helped its cause. The main purpose of technology is efficiency and effectiveness, helping to simplify human living.

In Elendel, a single forest may be larger than four or more cities combined, and there were hundreds of forests, plains, lakes and river scattered about. Different biomes harbor many kinds of Pokémon, an ecosystem of their types and characteristics, arranged accordingly through hundreds of years of adaptation and evolution.

And in this Pokémon world, there were three things that followed him here:

His name.

His looks.

And, surprisingly or not, his pendant.

He was still Raiden Creed. He was not anymore the 14-year-old Raiden of Earth, but the 7-year-old Raiden of Elendel. He was the kid with memories of his past life, not the teen in a body of a child.

His looks were the same as when he was seven years old in his past life, though he is healthier looking and vibrant now. Maybe because there isn't much pollution in the air here.

Uncle David -or Dad- found him in the middle of the forest, fortunately not devoured by wild Pokémon. He couldn't just leave him there, so he and his wife raised him as if he was their own.

They never hid the fact that he was adopted, but always assured that he was family nonetheless.

He was very close with Max, they did everything together, even baths. They were of the same age, maybe only a day or two difference, but were raised together as if they were twins. And they always fought for whoever was the older brother.

The only thing that connected him to his biological family here was his pendant. At least, that was what the Brown couple thought. He was pretty sure that he had no parents here, feeling that he was 'transferred' to this world.

Or else, how could his pendant follow him here? Unless it came together with him when he was conceived, which is just plain madness. And apparently, they got his name from the engraving on his pendant.

He never thought it was possible, for such a tiny object to be able to connect dimensions.

He wasn't even sure if this was still the same reality he once knew. But one thing's for sure, he was alive and that's all that matters now.

He spent many minutes thinking to himself when Mom called them down for breakfast.

Shouting back to let her know he was awake, he smacked his brother's butt to wake him up.

"Get up. Let's eat breakfast." Raiden said while fixing his bed.

"Oww... Five more... minutes...- Okay, okay! I'm up!" Max exclaimed when he was dragged of the bed by the leg and almost fell. He was grumbling as he was folding his sheets, something about sleeping rights.

Raiden waited for him and they went down the stairs together.

Breakfast was already on the table and their parents were there waiting for them.

"Good Morning Mom, Dad." They greeted.

"Wash your hands first before you eat." Mom said to the both of them.

As soon as the family started eating, Raiden was blankly staring at one dish on the table.

It was chicken.

"What... what Pokémon is this?" He asked hesitantly.

"Duh. It's a Torchic, dummy." Max stated the obvious.

'It's still chicken, right?' Raiden chose a drumstick part and took a bite.

'Mmmmm... Soft and tender meat...' Though it was a Pokémon, chicken was still delicious.

"Hey Dad. Where did they get all the Torchic to be food? Do they hunt them from the forests?" Max asked curiously.

"No. They raise them in a poultry farm by the thousands. Uncle Ben, who lives two houses away, works in a Torchic farm." Dad explained, knowing that they already understood the food chain. They already had that talk months before, and they took it quite easy. They were more concerned about the taste, it seems.

Raiden continued asking. "But... what if a Torchic evolves into Combusken?"

"Or what if all Torchic evolve into Combusken or even Blaziken and break out?" Max then demonstrated a Blaziken while roaring.

Mom and Dad gave a chuckle. It was the everlasting 'What if?' questions after they barely graduated from the 'Why?' questions. Well, not really.

"Evolution is not that simple. Pokémon need much time and energy before they can evolve. It may take a wild Torchic 5 years, or even 6 years just to evolve into a Combusken. Even a properly trained Torchic needs at least 4 years. But in poultry farms, they only live for 6 months before they are... sold." Dad almost forgot to censor his words. It was not a good idea to draw an image of slaughtering Pokémon in children's heads.

"What if the Torchic attack the workers, like using Ember? How do they stop that?" Raiden imagined thousands of fireballs shooting towards his face.

"Well-"

"You will learn that in the future. Finish first your food. It will grow cold." Mom interjected before Dad began his lecture.

"Uh huh. You will both begin Pokémon lessons in school next week, right?" Dad changed the topic.

"Yeah! Teacher said she will show us her Pokémon! She also said that she had won 7 Junior badges when she was younger!" Max said excitedly. He can hardly wait to meet strong Pokémon.

"Oh right, Dad! You have never showed us your Pokémon yet! Didn't you say you would show us when we're seven or eight?" Raiden remembered it clearly.

"Did... Did I say that?" Dad asked nervously while watching his wife glare at him from the side.

"Sigh... Well, the Pokémon league said to keep Pokémon away from children until they are old enough. If the teacher says so, I guess it's okay now?" Mom said with a smile, but not before pinching her husband in the sides.

"Wow! You'd really show us!?" They were surprised. They just tried their luck by asking. Mom always resolute when saying it was not the time yet.

"AFTER breakfast. You're not done yet, are you?" Mom said strongly.

The children ate like Munchlax, and in no time finished eating. After clearing the plates away, it was show time.

"Alright. Hehehe. Stand back. Meet my most trusted Pokémon, my Partner. Can you tell me what he is?" Dad asked while smiling as he took out a Pokéball from his belt.

"Come out, Pharaoh."

With a flash of light, a Pokémon now stood in front of them. It was a bipedal Pokémon with a yellow coat and white underbelly. It had black rings on its neck, ears and tail, and two red crystals in the middle of its forehead and at the tip of its tail. It was-

"An Ampharos!" Raiden guessed. No... He knew.

"Correct! Nice one, Ray! You need to study more, Max." Dad laughed.

"Awww... How did you know that, Ray? You must have cheated!" Max accused. They were always together, so how did Ray know, and he didn't?

"Uhh… I must have read it in some book. Dad, where did you get an Ampharos? I thought it was impossibly hard to get a Pokémon in its Final Evolution?" Raiden avoided the question by changing the topic. He couldn't just say he learned it from his past life!

"You must remember that I work as a woolhandler of Mareep and Flaaffy in our own farm. You know, selling wool to make clothing? But managing hundreds of Mareep and Flaaffy is very difficult, thus we use an Ampharos to control them. Pharaoh here is the leader of the herd." Dad explained.

Max excitedly asked, "How many Pokémon do you have, Dad?"

"I have 3 Pokémon including Pharaoh... And no, I won't show you now. Maybe in the future." Dad anticipated what Max was going to ask. He was Dad after all.

"What about yours Mom? What are your Pokémon?" They asked Mom who was washing the dishes.

"I left some at your Grandparents' house and some I let roam around. After all, I can't let them stay in the Pokéball for seven years, can I? Next time when they come back, I'll show them to you." Mom said as she wondered if they were alright.

Raiden and Max acquiesced and then went back to asking about Pharaoh and Dad's job until they were satisfied.

"Alright, that's enough, I gotta go to work. Listen to Mom, 'kay?" Dad returned Pharaoh inside his Pokéball.

After a quick hug and goodbye, Dad left for work, leaving them to play with each other. An invisible Pokémon battle then took place.

"Yaahh!! I am Dialga! Taste my Hyper Beam!"

"Ha! I'm Palkia, I teleported behind you! You can't hit me!"

"Hyper Beam again!"

"You can't use Hyper Beam twice in a row!"

"Then, I'll just turn back time and stop it before you can dodge!"

"What! Then I'll warp space around me so that all attacks come back to you!"

"You can't do that!"

"You can't do that either!"

While they were bickering, another legendary appeared.

"Ha! I am Arceus, and I'll make both of you take a bath!" Mom joined in.

"Eek! That's not allowed!"

"Ahahaha!"

Raiden was very happy with his current family and felt very excited for next week when they would finally learn all about Pokémon.

Raiden had high hopes for the future, as his journey awaits.