Leaves rustled dozens of meters away. Tiny insects crawled beneath fallen logs. Somewhere high above, birds chirped with astonishing clarity. The world had become far louder and far sharper.
"This is both the cutest and the most humiliating thing that has ever happened to me," I thought, unable to voice the sentence properly. "If my little brother ever saw this, I'd never hear the end of it."
But would they ever see it? Would they ever know? Would he ever return?
Before I could continue my identity crisis, a plump beetle crawled across a nearby tree root. Almost instinctively, my cheeks began tingling. Tiny sparks danced across the red sacs before a thin bolt of yellow electricity shot forward.
Zap!
The unfortunate insect never knew what hit it.
Almost immediately, the familiar blue screen appeared before my tiny face without me even thinking about it.
"Experience Gained: +1"
The funny part was that the experience point didn't go directly to me, but it went to that blue screen thingy. I just need to transfer the point to my current body, and that was just easy. This small maneuver gave me hope that Pikachu wasn't the only Pokémon I would be having in the future.
But I still don't know how that roulette worked. But that could be looked on later as now I needed to stronger and survive for the time being.
An evil little grin, or whatever the Pikachu equivalent of one was, spread across my tiny. face.
"...Sorry, little guys."
A burst of yellow lightning leaped from my cheeks.
Zap!
Another.
Zap!
Then another.
Soon I was darting around the clearing like an overexcited yellow blur, occasionally using Quick Attack to squash insects before finishing others with tiny bursts of electricity. It wasn't exactly a glorious battle worthy of legends, but every few moments the blue screen would faithfully appear.
"Experience Gained: +1"
"Experience Gained: +2"
"Experience Gained: +1"
Watching those tiny numbers slowly pile up was strangely satisfying. They weren't large enough to make me jump for joy, but every single point represented another step toward surviving this insane world. Still, I wasn't stupid enough to let excitement cloud my judgment.
This was the forest surrounding Gray Terminal, which in turn bordered the kingdom from One Piece. If insects this large existed, then something much bigger almost certainly called this place home. Every instinct I possessed, both my own and Pikachu's, repeatedly warned me not to wander around as though I owned the forest.
Those instincts turned out to be worth trusting. More than once, my ears suddenly stood upright while every strand of fur along my back puffed up without me consciously deciding to do so.
Whenever that happened, I immediately stopped hunting and hid beneath thick roots, dense bushes, or fallen logs without questioning the feeling. A few moments later, I would hear heavy footsteps somewhere in the distance or the rustling of something far larger than myself moving through the undergrowth.
I never caught a clear glimpse of whatever it was, and honestly, I had absolutely no desire to find out.
Once the danger passed, I resumed my routine with far more restraint than before. Instead of recklessly throwing Thunder Shock at every unfortunate insect I spotted, I quickly realized that my electricity wasn't unlimited. After several attacks, the tingling in my cheeks noticeably weakened, while a faint exhaustion settled over my tiny body.
Level 15 or not, I still had limited stamina. Wasting energy on every passing bug was a great way to end up helpless if something truly dangerous appeared. From then on, I relied mostly on Quick Attack or simple tackles against smaller prey, saving my electrical attacks for moments when they actually mattered.
Hunger eventually reminded me that experience points weren't the only thing keeping me alive. Fortunately, Pikachu's instincts proved useful once again. Whenever I approached certain berry bushes or fruit-bearing plants, I instinctively knew which ones were safe to eat and which ones I should avoid entirely.
Some brightly colored fruits looked delicious to my human brain, yet every instinct screamed at me to stay away from them. I wisely listened. Instead, I filled my stomach with sweet berries and a handful of unfamiliar but surprisingly tasty fruits, washing them down with water from a narrow stream whose scent somehow assured me it was clean enough to drink.
As the hours passed, I grew increasingly comfortable moving on four paws. At first it had felt awkward, but before long I found myself weaving between roots, leaping over fallen branches, and climbing low rocks with surprising ease.
Remaining a Pikachu simply made more sense. My human body was barefoot, and painfully noticeable. Thankfully in my transformation the clothes seemed to get stored away somewhere and would come back to me when I turn human.
That was a huge relief.
Another thing that was awesome was that my body had healed over time. In the start the cuts and bruises carried over, but as time went by with experience, those injuries vanished away too, show how good of a regeneration I had.
Eventually, the golden sunlight filtering through the towering canopy began fading into shades of orange before darkness slowly claimed the forest. The daytime chorus of insects changed into unfamiliar nocturnal sounds that somehow made the entire place feel even larger than before.
Deciding it was foolish to keep wandering at night, I searched carefully until I discovered a hollow inside the trunk of an ancient tree. It wasn't particularly spacious, but it was dry, hidden, and just large enough for a small Pikachu to curl up comfortably inside.
Exhaustion finally caught up with me the moment I lay down. My tail naturally wrapped around my body for warmth while my ears twitched at every distant sound outside the hollow.
Despite the constant reminder that I was stranded in another world, my eyelids gradually became heavier until I eventually drifted into sleep. That night, my dreams brought me back home. I saw my parents calling my name from downstairs while my little brother burst into my room carrying his Nintendo Switch, excitedly asking if I wanted another Pokémon battle.
For one brief, precious moment, everything felt normal again... right until I woke up alone inside the hollow of an unfamiliar tree, the cold reality of my new world waiting for me once more.
The thick greenery spread outward as far as my vision went, accompanied by the constant chirping of birds, the rustling of leaves overhead, and the distant cries of creatures I couldn't identify. For a brief second, my mind drifted back to the dream I had just left behind.
"No," I muttered to myself. "Not now." Nostalgia was comforting, but it wouldn't put food in my stomach or keep me alive. Grief was a luxury I simply couldn't afford anymore.
I climbed out of the hollow tree and stretched my tiny Pikachu body before glancing around the forest. Yesterday had taught me several valuable lessons. Never waste electricity when a tackle would do. Never ignore Pikachu's instincts.
Most importantly, never assume I was anywhere close to the top of the food chain. Somewhere inside this forest were predators capable of turning me into breakfast without a second thought. I intended to make sure they never got that opportunity.
I wondered how eating a Pokémon would feel like.
"... PIka." (Not now, this isn't the time for dark humor)
The day settled into a familiar rhythm. I hunted insects whenever they crossed my path, using Quick Attack far more often than Thunder Shock, carefully preserving my stamina for emergencies. Every now and then I would stop to nibble on berries or fruits my instincts recognized as edible while quietly listening to the forest around me.
As the sun climbed higher into the sky, the familiar blue screen shimmered into existence before me after I willed it.
A single line of text appeared before the screen transformed into another spinning roulette of glowing cards. I hadn't expected the roulette to arrive again after summoning the screen. I instinctively sat down and watched as hundreds of cards flashed by once more, though this time the spinning slowed much sooner than before.
The roulette came to a stop with two cards floating neatly before me instead of one.
Card Obtained: Inferior Poké Block
Card Obtained: Heal Potion (Restores 30% Health)
"...Huh?"
I was disappointed to say the least as I was expecting another Pokémon. Even a Caterpie would have been fine but it seemed I was expecting too much.
Instead, I had received... supplies? The first card depicted a simple brown cube resting on a small plate, while the second showed a crystal vial filled with shimmering green liquid and had 30% Recovery written neatly beneath it. It wasn't what I expected, but considering I was currently homeless, barefoot, well, usually, and living inside a forest, perhaps practical rewards made more sense.
I was now in human form as I tapped the Poke block.