1 New Life

"So...my name is Alexander Onasis…"

"That's right! Keep going, dear!" The woman replied, a thick layer of worry and adoration in her voice.

"And I-I'm...m… a...five year old child?!"

"You're getting there, Alex!" She chirped, bobbing her head in encouragement. "Also, don't forget you've lived right here in Snowpoint City from the day you were born, and your favorite pastime is playing in the snow with your Eevee! You were going to go out shopping with her today." Then, her shoulders drooped, a somewhat regretful expression replacing her cheerful one. "But...now - now… I guess the two of you are going to have to cancel that, seeing how somehow, you lost your memories after falling down the stairs and hitting your head yesterday."

I frowned, massaging my temple with my middle and index finger slowly. The soft and comforting feel of the bed helped me to calm my growing nausea and sense of dread, and so was the presence of this woman. She helped, though not to a great extent. With pale blue eyes and long white hair that was pulled back into an off-center ponytail on the right side, wearing a thigh-length strapless dress with a faint color gradation from white to pale blue at the hem, as well as a small artificial snowflake on a silver chain, thin, rectangular silver earrings and white, wedged heeled boots - she was jaw-droppingly gorgeous. An honest to god MILF.

"And you are…?"

"Elise Onasis. Your mother."

I blinked. "Wow. That's...unexpected."

She pouted, her plump lips puffing out. "What? Are you surprised?" A smile spread across her face. "Then again, I can't really blame you. I suppose my obvious youth…" Her hand gently washed over the side of her cheek. "...contradicts my motherhood to a fault…"

A bead of sweat slid down my forehead as I gulped. "I guess…?"

What was on with this woman?

"Ah… The curse of being too beautiful is… truly a burden only I can bear…"

"..."

She coughed once and clapped her hands together. "Well! My age aside, how are you doing? Any discomforts, aches, pains of any kind? You did hit your head pretty hard…"

"Hmm? Oh…! Uh...yeah. Actually, I think everything's fine. Nothing really seems to hurt anymore…" I replied as I attempted to move my body.

All of it proved to be working alright, until I tried stretching my neck. As I did so, a sharp burst of pain shot up through my throat, making my mouth burn fiercely as I let out a groan of hurt. It felt incredibly cramped as if I hadn't moved it in days. "...Well, other than my neck. It's still a bit sore when I try to move it."

"That's great! No-Not the neck part, of course - but...but, you know what I'm trying to say. It's wonderful that your recovery is going well. I was really worried that something worse may have happened to you, dear…"

This woman seriously seemed invested in me, for a reason that I was still trying to decipher. Did she seriously think that I was going to believe her identity as my "mother"? Lady, I'll have you know that my mother disowned me and kicked me out of the house, so don't try to play no games!

Honestly, something was going on here. First, I woke up in this bed next to this delusional woman who thought that I was her son. A woman, as a side note, was hot AF. Sounds like the plot of a shitty fanfic, if you ask me. Second, she was staring at me. Hard. As if she was trying to stare into my soul or something. Like, hello? If this is some kind of scripted out event, please come out and tell me!

A few seconds passed as she observed me. Finally, she smiled.

"Mmm 'kay! I think you should be fine. Telling that should calm Alfred for at least a little while. He's worried sick out of his mind since he can't see you, and he can't even work because of it!"

"Uh-huh." I stared at her blankly. "Wait… who's Alfred?"

"Oh, yes of course! I forgot to tell you." She beamed. "Alfred's your father, dear."

… The hell? Why do I have random parents all of a sudden? What's going on?

"Hmm…" I frowned, straining myself to think. Something really was… odd here. And I wanted answers. "What does… my father do?"

My "mother" gave me a concerned look as she watched me. "Your father's a breeder, dear. A wonderfully talented one, seeing that he is quite famous throughout Sinnoh."

"Woah woah woah - " I stopped her, raising a hand. "A breeder? What does he breed - dogs, horses, something like that?"

"Dogs? Horses?! Don't be silly, dear." Mrs. Onasis seemed rather confused. She pursed her lips, touching them with her index finger slowly. "They can't fight, so why should we go through the effort of breeding them? Leave that to the farmers."

"Then what…?"

For a second, in his heavily confused and irritated mind, he thought. 'It can't be… Humans?!'

She cocked her head slightly to the left. "Well… since you seem so confused on the whole subject - I might as well...Yes, that's what I should do…"

"Mrs. Onasis…? What -"

"Oh! Stay right there and watch." The woman leaned back and turned around. Holding up both hands to the side of her mouth, she yelled. "Eevee! Can you hear me? Alex is awake - you can come in now!"

"Vee!"

A few seconds passed, and finally, something ran into the bedroom with a light spring on its feet… or paws. I watched in utter awe as the… thing pranced to my side, hopping onto my bed with a magnificent leap.

The small mammalian, quadruped creature had primarily brown fur. The tip of its bushy tail and its large furry collar were cream-colored, and it possessed short, slender legs with three small toes and a pink paw pad on each foot. "Eevee" had brown eyes, long pointed ears with dark brown interiors, and a small black nose.

It looked at me in an absolutely adorable manner, eyes sparkling like an uncut diamond. "Evee Vee!" It cried out.

��

"What. In. The. Hell. Is. That?!"

"Language, dear!" She scolded me, lightly bopping me on the side of my head, making me let out a yelp of pain. "I didn't raise you to use uncouth words. And look! You hurt Eevee's feelings!" Grumbling, I looked towards the creature. It did seem… oddly familiar.

"Vee…" Its ears drooped, and the tail that was furiously wagging around stopped its ecstatic movement. I gulped as I saw a slight glimpse of sadness threatening to pour out of its eyes.

"Wait wait - " I tried calming it down. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings…I'm sorry - "

"That you should, young man." With a sigh, the woman stopped her reprimanding and picked up the creature the same way someone would pick up a puppy. She gently ran her hand through its fur, trying to soothe it from bursting out in tears. "I'm sorry, Eevee. You know how he hit his head yesterday? Well, he lost his memories. He can't even remember me! Can you believe that? His own mother! He didn't mean anything he said, so please don't cry."

"Vee…"

"Mrs. Onasis…" She shot me a glance. "What exactly is going on…?"

The woman shook her head, and sighed. "This-This… This may be a bigger problem than I anticipated…" She pinched her brow, groaning as she tried to think. I could almost see her brain working overtime trying to solve the situation. "What should I do...what should I do...what should I do…?"

She paced the room, biting her lip as I watched nervously. My brain was still trying to catch up with everything that had gone down in the past few minutes. From the corner of my eye, I saw Eevee watching me through the arms of my mother. Our eyes made contact through the room, and for several seconds, we just looked at each other. I was the first one to break away.

Finally, the woman's head shot up. And looked at me.

"Alright!" I jumped at her loud noise, and so did Eevee, seeing her surprised expression. "Questions. Any questions you have for me?" She blushed as I looked at her with a blank gaze. "W-W...What?! I can't think of anything right now, and it's easier for the both of us."

Well… That was true…

"Okay." Elise propped up, her attention fully on me. "Main question. What is…" I gestured to Eevee, much to its annoyance. "...That?"

"Hmm…" She rubbed her chin in a questioning manner. "So you really don't remember anything, huh? Well, I did it before, so I guess I can teach you again! Okay, listen up! Eevee, and it's a 'she', mind you, is what people in our world call - "

"Pokémon!"

"...Pokémon don't exist."

That got a rise out of Eevee. It - well, "She" now - let out a growl as she heard that statement.

She gawked at me. "You must be joking! Then how do you explain this fluff ball of cuteness?!" Raising Eevee above her head, she held it high as if it was some kind of national treasure. The creature preened in pride at the compliment.

'Fuck… What the hell is going on with me?'

"Are you… being serious?"

"Why should I not be?"

"Pokémon… As in Pokémon battles, gyms, and League…?"

Mrs. Onasis smiled at me, seemingly satisfied with the recognition in my voice. "Yes! Is it finally coming back to you?"

'Pokémon… Snowpoint City… Eevee...Sinnoh Region and Pokémon League..doesn't that sound like - '

"Mrs. Onasis."

"Hmm?"

"C-Can...an...you give me a mirror - a handheld mirror or something similar?"

She watched me for a few seconds, and shrugged. Leaving the room for a few minutes, she returned with the object. Taking the mirror, I looked into it.

I tried to breath. It was a simple act, something that all living beings did out of pure instinct. Really, it was easy. But I couldn't even do that. Not when I looked into the reflective surface that was given to me. I know that I was looking at myself but…

That wasn't me.

My hair was now a pitch black, a perpetual twilight shade that was messily tousled. The plain brown eyes that looked back at me every morning were now crimson, a bright wine-colored red that resembled the purest of rubies. I gently pushed my hair from my forehead, revealing a deep white scar that was likely the cause of this whole mess. Unlike the sickly pale skin that I had before, it was now fair. Even paler than what I remembered, my skin was now as white as snow, and free of any marks that had followed from my teenage years. With high cheekbones and naturally straight teeth, I couldn't even find a semblance of my old self in this new body.

And I was definitely not twenty three. I looked five, just like my "mother" had told me.

'What the hell happened…'

This wasn't a lucid dream nor was it some kind of ultra vivid hallucination. I've had those before. It was too real, the woman too animated, the Eevee too vibrant. Too alive. The woman wasn't just a figment of my imagination, she was my honest-to-god mother.

And...Pokémon. 'Shit.' The new body I was in just confirmed what I was thinking - and that wasn't a good thing in the slightest. Pokémon meant exactly that. Fictional monsters that had the power to control the very elements, creatures that had enough power to send humanity back into the Stone Age. And… gods. Fucking gods. Pokémon that were so powerful that they could reshape the very universe with their respective abilities.

Impossible as it may be… I think - no, I knew this was real. Somehow, someway, I was in the world of Pokémon.

'Bu-But...how?! Wait, how the fuck did I even get here?! I was - I was -'

Oh yeah. Construction site. Big storm. A massive, and by my ass I meant huge, iron beam falling down towards me. And…?

'Shit...did I die?'

How'd I end up in this child's body? Why in the world of Pokémon?

… I have no explanation. Nobody could have one. I suppose a merciful deity took a pity on me, and saved me. I was allowed to live, just not on Earth. For a long time, I was silent. I didn't know what to do.

And Mrs. Onasis - well, my mother now - snapped me out of my daze.

"Alex, dear…?" She reached forward, taking my hand in hers. "Are you alright? You haven't talked to me after taking a look at yourself." Her gentle voice almost made me want to give in right there and just unload all my secrets right then and there.

I looked at her, trying to think. No matter which you diced it, trying to explain what had happened to me would be an absolute chore.

"Well…? Do you...can you remember anything now?" Once again, the hopeful undertone in her voice did what it set out to do; making me want to answer. I watched her with contemplation filling my mind.

I wagered my options quickly. The first was to tell her was that I wasn't her son, not really, and that I was actually a guy who came from Earth and had no fucking clue how I entered Alexander's body. Except... well, that wouldn't end well in the slightest for me - even though I liked this woman in the short time that I met her. Still, whatever affection she had for me was clearly familial - and I really didn't want to find out what would happen if I told her who I really was.

The second option was, well, to bullshit my way through and try to find my place in this new life. It has been years, and I mean years, since I even touched the Pokémon anime or any game for that matter. While Pokémon has been the first game I ever played and held a unique place in my heart, I wasn't really that much of a hardcore fan to continue following it past my childhood. Hell, when I was younger, I would dream about Pokémon, hoping beyond reason to become a trainer.

The world of Pokémon was so damn large, with so many characters and locations and events that came and went that I couldn't even remember half of them. I didn't know much of the lore or history or shit, which would make it even more fun to explore. It brought back a flame inside of me that I thought had died with my childhood.

I pondered deeply, weighing each path. In the end, however, I chose the second one.

Fuck getting dissected. I wanted a fun life.

"Well?"

Shit. I was stalling and she was starting to look really worried right now - not to mention the Eevee that had been staring at me the whole time. How was I supposed to act again? Hell, I didn't know anything about the kid! With an inwardly groan, I just tried to act "natural". So…

"I-I'm...I'm… sorry." Fuck. Bad start. "I...It's just… a lot to take in. You know… with all that you just told me…" I released a bated sigh, trying to expel the anxiety clouding my lungs.

"...Yes, I suppose it is…" She looked sympathetic, or at least fooled to some extent. "I can't imagine - waking up and just… forgetting everything! Your friends, family…" Eevee let out a purr of utter pleasure as the woman stroked the undersides of her ear with her thumb, stroking her good spot. She smiled. "...and Pokémon."

Silence fell upon the room. For the next few seconds, I tried relaxing, letting the worry clouding my thinking to dissipate. In an attempt to clear my growing agitation, I tried to breathe.

Inhale through the nose.

Exhale through the mouth.

Repeat.

Looking up, I faced my mother, who looked like she was in her own pool of thinking. "M-Mo...Mother…" Fuck, that was awkward. Still, that got her attention seeing how her head shot straight up, eyes glittering in happiness. I gulped.

"Can I...May I try holding Eevee?"

"...Eevee? What do you think?"

The Pokemon watched me through its brown eyes. Once again, we held eye contact for a couple of seconds. This time, however, I locked on, not letting the Pokémon get the better of me. It was an… odd experience, to say the least. The way it was looking at me felt like it was trying to see past my appearance, to figure out all of my secrets. However, after a couple of drawn out mental battles, it looked back up to my mother.

"Ee vee!"

"You do! Well, what're you waiting for? Go ahead!"

She released the Pokemon from her arms, letting her hop back up on to my bed. We stared at each other for a couple of moments before it walked closer to me. Finally, after pacing around, it curled up on my lap and made itself comfortable.

With a shaky exhale of relief, I laid a hand on the Pokemon, feeling it stiffen then relax at the feel of my fingers. It was...soft. Like touching a cloud, or just a fluffy ball of… fluff. Indeed, the paragon of vocabulary that is I. While the feeling was incomparable to anything I ever touched … it felt familiar - or somehow recognizable to an extent. Have I… have I touched her before? That wasn't possible; from what I can remember, this was the first time...Could it be?

Stroking the top of its furry head, I whispered. "...Eevee?"

"Ee...vee?" She looked up, her head cocked as confusion filled her eyes, a cute sight to be sure. The Pokémon turned to me quickly, as if it recognized the seriousness in my tone and knew that it should listen. It came as a surprise… she was smarter than I anticipated.

Seconds passed slowly as I struggled to find the right words.

I let out a sigh, scratching the back of my head as my mind whirled with unreal speed. Fuck, why was it so hard to talk? Just say the damn thing already. I opened my mouth, then closed it, before groaning. A sound of annoyance rumbled in my throat before I opened my eyes and looked at the Pokemon on my lap.

"Eevee…" I started off, gently caressing her cheek. "I-I… I am not - or ever will be - the person you thought I was. He's… gone now."

"...Vee?" It replied, though I didn't know what it was saying. "Vee vee...Ee Vee!"

"I-I'm...I'm sorry. I can't...remember anything about you. How we met, how we interacted, hell, I don't even know you feel about me." I chuckled as I rubbed her right ear. It let out an unrestrained purr of enjoyment as it rubbed against my fingers.

Despite the attempt at trying to distract the Pokémon, I could tell it was listening to everything I was saying. "...Eev-ee…"

"It's stupid…but I just wanted to get it out there. The bond we had together - whatever that was - is gone. And for taking that away from you, I-I'm sorry." I murmured, wincing as her purring stopped almost immediately.

Looking back at it later, I had no idea how long we stayed there, just staying in silence. Maybe it was minutes, perhaps it was hours, all I knew was that was that it was not enough.

"No matter how I try to remember… I ca-can't do anything about it!" I said, rubbing my head with a frown. "As for your friend, trainer, or whatever I was before, he's gone. This is me now."

Eevee remained silent, but I could see it on her face. The realization.

I tried smiling, but the words only came out with great effort. But still, I held strong. "And… that means that you are not my Pokémon anymore."

Normally, talks like these weren't particularly my strong suit and I sure as hell didn't want to do it. But, it was necessary, for the both of us. To build something anew, one must sacrifice something for its future. And that was exactly something I was doing. Killing off the bond Eevee and past me had together to create a new one. "I-I...It..just doesn't feel right. To lose that bond and keep going as if nothing is wrong."

Watching the pain on her face made me want to wilt a little, but I persevered. I pressed my hands against her cheeks.

"You seem cool, Eevee. But...that's exactly why I don't want to chain you down to a dying relationship as I won't be able to fully replace the person you thought I was."

"...Evee."

She seemed sad. On the verge of tears, if I wanted to be honest. A small smile slowly formed on my face as I looked at it. I titled her face up, letting her see the grin on my face. Oof. Now, it seemed baffled. Slightly indignant too, if I had to guess.

"That's why as the new Alexander Onasis, I wanted to ask you…" The grin on my face grew wider. "...if you wanted to be my Pokémon?"

"...Vee?" It paused.

"I-I...I want to become a trainer. A trainer so strong that no one can even come close to challenging or defeating. And I want you on my team when I do that."

"So…" I put out a hand. "...wanna become a legend, Eevee? Together, with me?"

Eevee's mouth was open but nothing came out of it.

Numb with shock, her expression told me she was stunned out of her mind, taking over a full minute to process what I was offering. Apparently, neither was my mother, seeing her own shocked expression.

'A… trainer, huh?'

It almost seemed to be too good to be true. To live out my dream in the world I had fantasized about as a child. The chance of becoming the best was only the icing on the cake.

And I would be damned if I just left one of the most evolutionarily-diverse Pokémon out of my team.

Seemingly unable to speak, Eevee gave a shaky nod. With a smile blooming on my face, I patted her soft head, enjoying the thrill of scoring the Pokémon. After a single moment, my rubbing seemed to snap her out of her confusion, making her eyes glimmer with emotion, before all further will collapsed and the Pokemon threw herself at him.

Eevee barreled into his chest, making him tumble backward into my bed. I let out a chuckle as she rubbed herself all over him, letting out mewls of contentment as I scratched her belly. The adorable creature began to lick my face, her tiny tongue running over my nose and mouth.

My laughter grew louder as it snuggled deeper into my shirt, squishing her warm body all over mine as if trying to leave a scent.

SNAP!

The sound of a picture being taken made us both freeze and turn. And to both of our surprise, my mother was holding up a camera as it snapped picture after picture of the two of us.

"Heh...heh...heh…" She panted heavily as she held up the camera closer. "You two… are so adorable!"

Needless to say, both Pokémon and man took up arms to bring down the Avenger-level threat once and for all.