PokeStory

Prologue: "Pokemon Fever(dream)"

The void is darkness and light. The void is life and death. The void is everything and nothing.

And then the void becomes a single presence, reaching out… I am aware, and the presence knows me.

The presence is an old man. An old man, who is… sleeping?

He awakens with a start, and asks what time it is.

“It’s 4 in the morning,” I reply, somehow knowing this was right.

Memories flood my consciousness, feelings of a life, an identity. Suddenly I can see, the world in front of me, the darkened room we stand in, the old man before me.

Our eyes meet.

“Are you a boy, or a girl?” the old man asks me.

I was a little surprised by the question. It’s not something I’m asked a lot.

“Hey man,” I said, “Maybe questions like that were okay in 2001, but this is a different time, and you can’t just go around labeling everyone like that.”

The old man is breathing heavily, a look of madness in his eyes that betrays a sense of youthful wonder and alcoholism. Sweat gathers at his brow.

“I’m a boy,” I sigh.

The man perks up at this, as if a light were turned on in the darkest corner of his mind.

“I’m OAK, the POKEMON PROF!”

I don’t know why Oak yelled his name and occupation, but that was hardly the strangest thing about today, so I decided to roll with it.

“This world is inhabited by creatures that we call POKEMON,” Oak continued. “People and POKEMON live together by supporting each other.”

Okay, I thought, now the old man was starting to make some inroads. He still seemed nuts, but at least he knew his stuff—maybe ‘Pokemon Professor’ is a real thing, after all.

Oak said that people interact with Pokemon differently. Some people play, some people battle.

“Kind of like cock fighting, Professor?”

Oak ignored me.

“But we don’t know everything about POKEMON yet,” he continued, seemingly reciting a prepared speech. I began to wonder if he even remembered I was in the room—it was like he was staring right through me, past my body and into some unknown horizon.

“There are still many mysteries to solve. That’s why I study POKEMON every day.”

Suddenly, my vision blurred. When it cleared, I saw not the image of the professor, but of my own body, standing as though posed by some invisible force.

“Now,” asked Oak, “What did you say your name was?”

Was Oak somehow causing this out-of-body experience? Could I be in danger? How was this even possible?

My thoughts were broken by Oak screeching, his head turning from side to side, eyes wide open.

“CHRIS-MAT-ALLAN-JON-CHRIS-MAT-ALLAN-JON-CHRIS-MAT-ALLAN-JON”

Terrified, I said my name is Daniel. The screeching stopped.

“DANIEL, are you ready?” Oak asked me, his voice returning to a calm, even tone.

“Ready for what?” I asked. “What is this place? Who are you?”

“Your very own POKEMON story is about to unfold,” Oak replied.

There was a certain finality to the way he said it, almost as if I wouldn’t be coming
back. He said something about challenges and fun, but in my present state, it was hard to listen to all of it.

I froze, unable to move, as the image of my body began to shimmer, and shrink down into a smaller version of itself… somehow, I knew it was still me, but it lacked so much of the detail it once had, like a 2-D approximation. I tried to scream, but there was no air in my lungs, and no mouth to have pushed it through.

“I’ll be seeing you later!”