"Skye!"

The word rang in my head again and again. Skye. A pretty word, beautiful as the huge blue sky that stretched over the world like a dome.

Skye. That was my name.

Or was it? It could've been a warning, like "Watch out, the sky is falling!". It could've been the color of my eyes: sky blue. But...were my eyes sky blue? With a jolt of terror, I realized that I didn't know. I didn't know what color my eyes were, or what I looked like. I didn't know what I'd been doing before now. Though I knew I was supposed to have a family, I didn't know who they were. I didn't know my life before this very moment. I knew how the world worked, how to live, how to think. But I didn't know who I was (other than knowing that I was a human), or why I was underwater, foaming waves swirling around me.

I might've floated like that forever, if I hadn't realized that I needed to breathe. Panic surging in my chest, I frantically tried to swim, but the water dragged me back down, even though I wasn't wearing any clothes, which was weird. Even stranger, the water seemed to be weakening me. How was that possible? Water wasn't supposed to do that...was it?

A torturous minute passed. I tried to hold my breath, but I couldn't help propelling salty water into my lungs. Every attempt I made at swimming only made me weaker. Just as I was accepting the fact that I would drown, I felt strong hands grab onto my shoulders. The cold night air chilled my bones as I was pulled out of the sea. As I was about to look up at my rescuer, I noticed something in the water: my reflection. But the reflection was not mine.

It was the reflection of a cyndaquil.

Then the wind and the cold became too much, and I passed out.

…

"Is she alive?"

"Of course. She just hasn't woken up yet."

"There's no flame on her...her…"

"Her rear? Her bottom? Her bu-"

"Shut up, Wooper!"

I slowly opened my eyes, wondering what could possibly be going on. I lay on my stomach on a bed of leaves and moss in a small cave. Light filtered in through a hole in the roof, making the place seem almost cozy. Around me stood a wooper, a bayleef, and a totodile, though they looked somewhat larger than usual.

"Oh, good! You've woken up!" the bayleef exclaimed.

"W-what happened?" I managed to ask. Questions were welling up in my throat, but my mouth felt partially frozen and slightly elongated.

"Totodile - or, as everyone calls him, Puddle - found you lying unconscious in a cave by the coast, so he brought you over to his house and called me over. Wooper here just tagged along."

"How are you talking to me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm a human, right?"

"No, you're a cyndaquil."

WHAT? I couldn't be a cyndaquil. This couldn't be happening. I waved a hand in front of my face, but I only saw a paw. I bolted from my bed to a puddle. Somehow, it was hard to walk on two feet. I was leaning over too far. I was going to fall!

Just as I fell, my front paws darted out and stopped my descent. Before long, I was running swiftly on all fours, reaching the puddle in seconds. When I looked in, I wanted to scream. There was no human face. There was only the reflection of a cyndaquil.

"No! NO!" I shrieked.

"Are you okay?" Wooper asked, a concerned look on his face.

"No, I'm not okay! Do you see what I've become?"

"Weren't you always a cyndaquil?"

"No, I wasn't! I was a human!"

Suddenly, I felt warmth on my back. Flames were bursting from the red spots!

"Um...sweetie...can I ask you some questions? In a little bit, we'll go to see Lugia. If anyone knows what happened to you, he does! I'm Bayleef, by the way," Bayleef murmured soothingly.

"Okay," I replied.

"So, what happened?"

"I was underwater, and then somebody pulled me out, and then I fainted, and now I'm here."

"But how did you get underwater?"

"I...I don't remember."

"Where are you from?"

"Um...I don't remember that, either."

"What do you remember?"

"I was a human. My name was Skye."

As I said those words, I became aware of just how little I remembered.

"Well, what we have here is a severe case of amnesia. Skye must've bumped her head on a rock or something. Her memories will probably come back soon." Bayleef announced, turning to Puddle. She then turned back to me. "Why don't you get some rest?"

Rest seemed like the last thing I needed, as my head was boiling with questions. But as I settled back onto my bed, I realized just how tired I was. I could barely keep my eyes open. So, I gave in to my exhaustion and closed my eyes.

…

Shadows. Hundreds of them, circling around me. They were everywhere. And they were coming closer. I tried to run, but my feet seemed to be stuck to the ground.

"Puddle! Bayleef! Wooper! Help!" I cried. Nobody came. Desperately, I called for a pokemon I'd only ever heard of.

"Lugia! LUGIA! HELP!"

I rattled names of random pokemon off of my mind.

"Ho-oh! Koffing! Ratticate!"

"Yesss?"

I whipped my head around to see a mass of pokemon. Shadows darkened their fur and pooled around their feet. Their eyes glowed purple with hatred.

"No!" I yelled. "No! NO! HELP!"

There was a whoosh of air above me, and I looked up. Overhead was a black, almost humanish pokemon with a white lump on top of its head. Darkrai, the nightmare pokemon. Of course! This was just a nightmare. It couldn't hurt me...right? I closed my eyes, concentrating on waking up. This was just a dream. Just a dream. Just a-

"This isn't just a dream." Darkrai whispered. "It's a-"

Darkrai was cut off by a flash of purple light. Purple light, ripping the darkness from my mind. Purple light, forcing my eyes open.

I was awake.

…

I sat up, my chest heaving. Smoke wafted in front of my face, and I realized that I'd accidentally set my bed on fire. After quickly stamping out the flames, I tried to settle back into bed, but the shadows in the cave were too large for me to be calm. They reminded me of the horrible shadows in my dream.

Wait - were they...moving? Yes, they were. They were stretching, coming towards me like waves during high tide. Yes, it was a shadow tide. Just as it was in my dream, I couldn't move. They were all around me.

"Bayleef! Puddle! Help!" I cried. A moment later, Bayleef came rushing in.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Sh-shadows…" I stammered.

"Oh, don't worry. It was just a bad dream, that was all."

I nodded, trying to be reassured. But somewhere in my mind, Darkrai's words repeated again and again.

"This isn't just a dream."