The Zapdos' Journey
Prologue: Memories of an Old Life
Date: January 23, 2005
For centuries, humans and Pokemon have lived, worked, and played together all over the world. Though, when the Pokemon were tamed by humans is unknown, they have had a strong interaction with each other for as long as any text, document, or drawing has existed. The interaction goes far beyond living together as separate beings but goes as far as the two becoming one…
Area: "Abandoned" Warehouse in an undisclosed area of northern New Jersey…
"Hey, Ninetales, light the fire up some more, would ya?" The beautiful, nine tailed fox Pokemon raised herself onto her legs and lets loose a small fireball at a homemade fireplace, immediately causing the weak flame to flare up. At the same time, I rose from my bed in the corner and walked over to my loyal companion and stroked behind her ears, "Thanks, Nine".
"No problem, Zai" she replied as she nuzzled up against me. Before you wonder how I knew she said that, I'll tell you right now that I can understand any Pokemon's language. Why, you ask? Well, it's a basic thing when you're a hybrid. I've been one since I was about 7 or 8 years old apparently, but to me, it seems like only 3 years since I became one…
Date: February 8, 2002
As far back as we can remember, humans have had to rely on each other to create new and better things, eventually leading to the modern, high-tech society of today. One of the most relaxing past times of this society is video games. For the past three and a half years, a popular game from Japan known as Pokemon, has made itself quite popular worldwide.
Area: The house in a small New Jersey town I once called "home"…
"Another week of school is finally over! Man, High School just keeps getting tougher, and I'm barely half way done with Freshman Year…" I groaned as I tossed my backpack in the corner of my room, "Boring, too… ever since I beat all those GBA games I got for Christmas, there's been nothing to do. I knew I should've asked for a Gamecube, or something…"
I walked down to the kitchen to find a rather large package on the table. I thought it was something for mom until I looked at the address label and saw it was for me! What was more curious as to what it was, though, was the sender's name and address:
Nintendo of America Prototype Testing Team
Address Undisclosed
I looked it over quite a few times to make sure I wasn't misreading. "Why would a company like Nintendo send me, of all people, a prototype device? I didn't enter a magazine contest or anything, I think. And why did they send the package without a return address? Especially after all the recent letters with anthrax in them that were sent to various people."
My mom stepped out of the pantry in the back of the kitchen.
"Michael, that package is for you apparently, how was school?"
"The same as it's been for the last 5 months, mom. Boring and annoying."
"Well, it's better than being bad"
"Yeah, you're right… I'm going to go upstairs and see what this package is." I grabbed the box and went back to my room. I grabbed the scissors from my drawer and carefully cut the tape off the box, and peered inside. "What's this…?" I opened the top flaps of the box and pulled out what appeared to be a giant Gameboy Color, with a cartridge slot for a screen, and instead of a cartridge slot on the top, it was a long cable that could attach to the printer port of the computer. "Cool…" I stared at the strange thing in awe for a sec, then pulled out a small book in the box and opened to the front page.
"Congratulations! You've been randomly selected… yadda yadda, play all your multiplayer Gameboy games online… compatible with any computer…" I mumbled to myself, "Nice!"
I flipped the page and read more about the actual product, and then closed the book and observed the device some more. "I still can't believe I was chosen for this kind of thing. Don't they normally have people whose job it is to try these out? Well, I guess I shouldn't complain, since I'm getting this thing free of charge. Where am I supposed to write the review though? Maybe once I try this out, I'll get more information." I picked up my GBA game holder, which had my Crystal Version in it and took it, as well as the device and manual to the computer room.
"This goes here, and I guess the game goes in this… just hook that up to the back of this, disconnect the printer… and, done!" After running a brief tutorial program and getting connected to the server, I had to register info like my name, age, and location. Afterwards, I immediately loaded my favorite duo from my Crystal game to use in short battles. I had spent hours upon hours raising my Zapdos from my old Red Version and my female Ninetales from my old Silver Version to level 100 without the use of Rare Candies, so that I could make the most of their stats.
I connected to the main server to see who else was on, but, not to my surprise, the player's room was empty, probably because the other people who had gotten the prototypes weren't using them yet, or already had used them and signed off. "Oh well," I thought, "maybe tomorrow the other people will be online tomorrow or sometime this weekend…" I made my way to the single player, online battle generator and fought a computer controlled team of two, a Raikou and an Arcanine to see how well my two did against two of the same type. The computer was incredibly hard to beat, and a lot smarter than the players in the actual game pak. After two or so battles of barely winning, and about 10 lost battles, I decided to call it quits for the day, because I was getting unusually tired. As I went to disconnect, the status screen for the adapter said "Virus-A-New-Beginning.exe added to file directory."
"What's that? 'A New Beginning' is that story I was reading a few days ago, I didn't get to finish reading it. Maybe next time… but why is that the name of a file and why does it say virus? Ah… too sleepy now. Sleep first, then worry about this…"
Unfortunately I had to disconnect everything, in case the printer needed to be used by my brother or mom, so I packed everything up and brought it back to my room. I put the online adapter on my desk and am about to lay down when the device starting making a weird beeping noise. I turned around and looked at the device, and then I reached out for it to pick it up and...
"BZZZT!" A large surge of electricity ran through my body and caused an immense amount of pain, so overwhelming I couldn't even scream. I fell over and blacked out as I landed on my bed…
"W…where am I…?" I rubbed my head groggily. I opened my eyes slowly and I saw that I was lying outside, facing the beautiful pink sky of dusk. I was lying down on some strange, soft things. I looked to my side closely and became confused, "…feathers? This isn't my bed… ugh… I feel like I've been asleep for weeks…" A cool breeze flowed over me. A heard a strange motion of wind, and suddenly I was faced with a giant, spiky, yellow-feathered wing rising up, one on each side of me. I nervously shot up and looked forward, my eyes suddenly grew wide with awe and disbelief…
A giant head, with the same yellow feathers turned sideways so I can see it's piercing, black eye, and it's long, pointed beak. The mighty beast let a loud screeching "ZAAAAAAAAAA" sound! Terrified, I looked down, away from the beast only to be facing, what appeared to be a mile long drop to the ground!
"AAH!" I nearly jumped out of my skin. As if instinctively, I immediately got down on my belly and wrapped my arms around the giant bird's head.
"You desire more from life than what you currently have, do you not?" a mysterious voice called out from seemingly nowhere.
"Who said that?!" I yelled out, terrified.
"I did" the beast turned it's head towards me, and it's eyes showed warmth and calmness, "…do not be frightened that you can understand me… please focus on the question at hand. Do you desire a… different life?"
"How… I don't understand… what's going on?"
"The world you know of is not the one you are meant to be in. Do you wish to throw your old life away and live in your true home world?"
"What do you mean 'home world'? I'm on Earth, aren't I?"
"In a way, yes, but the Earth you belong on is different from the one you live in. Hurry, the time is near to make your choice…" the bird nudged it's head forward at what seemed to be a giant wall in the middle of the sky."
"Can't you just fly around that?!"
"No, unless you choose to go. Otherwise, you will be smashed into that wall. Even I am unaware of what happens to you after that. You may return to your old life, or you may die from the impact of the wall. And if the wall doesn't kill you, the drop will."
"Gah! Okay, okay! I'll go, please, just don't let me die!!"
"You have made the wiser decision… just keep holding on to me like you already are and whatever you do, don't let go…" the massive yellow bird suddenly picked up speed and headed straight for the wall! I gripped tighter.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh…ohhhh!" I yelled as the bird suddenly shot straight upward seconds before hitting the wall. I gripped on for dear life, I tell ya! I was so scared that I blacked out again.
Once again, I woke up somewhere different. This time, I was in a rather large room, with a small window on the wall on one side of my bed, and a desk with a lamp, a clock, and a notebook on the other. I glanced over at the clock and looked at the time and date, 3:33PM, February 9, 2002. "February… 9th?! I've been asleep for almost a day! What a weird dream… but wait? I must still must be asleep, cause I'm still not in my bed…"
"What are you talking about? Are you talking to me?" a soft, female voice called out to me.
"Huh? Uh no, sorry, I thought I was alone in here…" I replied as I rubbed my head tiredly. Strange… my arm and head both felt… different. I sounded different too, a bit higher pitched.
"Don't be silly, I always sleep by you, to protect you, Zai."
"Uh… thanks? Wait, what did you call me? Who are you?" then I made the biggest mistake of the day, I threw the blanket off of me and looked down at the floor beside the bed. And came face to muzzle with a Ninetales. A real live Ninetales. She looked just like I thought a Ninetales would look like if it could exist in real life. I nearly fainted again, "Oh my God…" But that was nothing compared to seeing a large, orange beak coming from my face! I was frozen in fear… I couldn't move!
"What's wrong Zai?"
"I… I'm dreaming, aren't I? This place, this 'thing', and you are all just figments of my imagination right?" I started sweating nervously. I normally could tell if I'm dreaming or not, because things don't feel the same when I dream. Everything seems quieter in them. But this felt as real as anything.
"I guess that fight yesterday took a lot of you. You're still dazed!"
"Dazed? No way, this is too real for me to be dazed…" I leapt out of bed and looked down at myself. I was a Zapdos… sorta! I still had a human shaped body, but all the features were Zapdos like! My feet, they stuck out far in front and behind me. They were like bird's feet only bigger, with three long, scaly, clawed toes in the front, and one in the back. I was wearing a night shirt and pants, but I went into the closest room, which luckily was a bathroom, and quickly removed them to look at the rest of my body, which was hard, because of my new tail getting in the way of taking off my pants, which seemed to have been custom made with a tail hole.
My entire body was covered in soft yellow feathers, from my head, all the way down to the grayish area where the tall, long feet started. My arms were covered in them, too, though, they were all around spikier than the rest, and were pushed back towards my shoulders. My fingers were each a feather, though, a bit tougher and flexible, like human fingers. I looked in the closest mirror and saw my head and face. My head… oh boy, it looked just like a Zapdos head! Though, instead of the feathers on the back of my head standing out in all different directions, they were pushed back mainly, as if I had combed them back. Additionally, my beak was a bit shorter in comparison to a normal Zapdos beak. I could see behind my body, and look at the short, spiky tail feathers that had sprouted from my back.
"H-how… what… why? So, none of that was a dream? Is this the new life I was told about?" I just kept staring in shock at myself in the mirror, trying to piece everything together, "okay, so I've been awakened to a new world. Pokemon are real and can speak English, I'm a Zapdos-human thing, and apparently…" I hear the sound of gentle winter waves from an ocean hitting the side of a wall, "…I'm living in some coastal area now."
After repeating those lines over a few times, I stepped out of the bathroom, only to have Ninetales screech at me.
"Eeeep! Zai, you're not decent! Put some clothes on!" She ran into the other room. I looked through a few random drawers in the room, and eventually found some decent looking clothes. I had a bit of difficulty getting the clothes on with my large beak in the way of the shirt, and my tail for the pants, which it turns out, I have both holed and non-holed pairs of, so I had to look at about three different pairs before I found a holed pair.
After that whole mess was over and done with, I looked around the place I had apparently been staying at, and it was very spacious, but fairly well decorated. It was like I was living in a warehouse. I decided that it was time for some answers.
"So, uhm, Miss Ninetales…"
"Zai, what's wrong with you today? You woke up late, you're freaking out over everything, and since when am I a "Miss"? You've always called me Ninetales or Nine, since the day you evolved me from Vulpix, so many years ago."
"Good," I thought, "that's one question down, but it just brings up many more…" "So, you're my own Pokemon…"
"You're one and only, of course!"
"Wait, you're my only one?"
"Yup, you got me when I was but a baby Vulpix, as a gift from…. your mother when you first became aware of your hybrid form, don't you remember? You once told me the whole story when I was old enough"
"Hybrid form? Aware?" I shook my head, "okay, Ninetales, I'll tell you what. I think I have amnesia, and I can't remember a few things right now. I'm just gonna ask you a few questions until my memory is jogged, okay?"
"Okay, Zai, no problem…"
"First of all, why do you keep calling me Zai? Isn't my name Michael?"
"Well, yeah, in your human form you're named Michael Avia. But in your hybrid form, you've always called yourself Zai Dos, at least, as far back as I can remember. It's your nickname."
"Okay, well, what do you mean "human form"? Do you mean I can turn back into a human? How?! …Avia? Oh well, sounds a lot better than my real last name…"
"Yes, and you can remain that way for almost a week without reverting back."
"Reverting back? You mean this is my 'real' form?"
"Well, yeah, I mean, you told me most form shifting hybrids adapt their hybrid form as their normal one, around the age of 7 or 8. To answer your previous question, all you have to do is focus on what your human form looks like and you should shift back easily… I mean, you do it all the time… I don't know how you could forget all of this. It's like you're not even you."
"Well," I thought deep for a moment and then shook my head. I figured it would be better to have my own questions answered before I raise questions from others, "anyway, where am I?"
"In Olivine Harbor… you know, In New Jersey? Close to New York City?"
Okay, Olivine Harbor… no such place in New Jersey… but wait, if Pokemon are real, then maybe some things like names and such have been changed to be closer to the Pokemon World.
"Alright, I get it, but… why am I here? Do I actually live here?"
"Well, yeah. This abandoned warehouse is where we went to settle down by ourselves after… you know…"
"No, I don't know, in fact, I don't know any of this. It all feels familiar, but my mind refuses to remember it."
"Then maybe it'd be best if you didn't remember it right now… you told me not to bring it up before…" I thought hard about it and decided it would be best if I didn't find out. I'm in a different world now, with different people. My mom and brother aren't even here probably but back on the other world. Whoever must have been here in my place has a problem with their mom. Though, when Ninetales brought it up, I couldn't help but get a sad sinking feeling hearing about it.
"Okay, so let me get this straight, my name is Michael Avia or Zai Dos. I'm living on my own, at the age of 14, in an abandoned warehouse in Olivine Harbor, New Jersey. I'm a Zapdos hybrid who can become a human form, and I own only one Pokemon, you. And, somehow, you can speak human English."
"Yeah, that's pretty much it, Zai. Except, I'm not speaking your language. Most hybrids can just understand us Pokemon in their hybrid form. Normally when you're human you can't understand me, unless I point something out to you."
"Okay, that's all… I think I need some time to myself, okay?"
"Alright, I hope your memories come back soon, Zai. I miss the old you."
My tail feathers twitched up a bit as Ninetales went into the other room. I decided to try shifting. I went into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. I was amazed at what had become of me, but now wasn't the time to stare in awe at myself again. If I wanted to go outside, and talk to other people, I figured a hybrid would freak them out, so I should try shifting back to, what I hopefully thought, would be my old self. I guess I HAD done it before, because within seconds of closing my eyes and concentrating, I felt a tingle through my body. I felt the smooth, pointy feathers sliding into my skin, my beak became shorter an softer until it became a normal human nose and mouth, my feet shrunk and became less twig-like, as the back toe moved to the front, and the final, fifth toe had somehow appeared out of seemingly nowhere.
After the tingling stopped, I opened my eyes and looked in the mirror. Normal, old, everyday me. I breathed a sigh of relief, when I checked my body out. Everything appeared to be normal and all my clothes were fine… except for the large tail hole in the back of my pants. I left the bathroom and went to put a more human-friendly pair of pants on.
"Ninetales! I'm going outside for a while!" I yelled into the other room.
"Niiiine!" she replied. Guess she was right about the language thing.
I stepped outside and got a good look around. It was quite cold and quite empty, but then again, this area WAS supposedly abandoned. I prayed that it wasn't far to town, but luckily, "Olivine Center", as it was known as, was only a short walk from the harbor. I was quite surprised when I reached town.
"Hey, Zai! How's it going?"
"Hey, it's Mr. Dos! Been a week since you've been to town!"
"Huh? Zai, you barely ever walk around in your human form"
Random people from the streets and shops were greeting me! And they somehow knew I was a hybrid! And apparently, I wasn't alone. In addition to the not too surprising Pokemon various people were playing and working with, there were also teenage and even adult hybrids talking and shopping! I tried not to stare, but I was so interested in the hybrids and Pokemon! A real live Sandslash, Growlithe, and even a Kadabra! And then the hybrids… there were several Eevee hybrids, a Charizard, a Gardevoir, even a Ninetales hybrid!
I was shocked to beyond belief. Not only did I apparently belong in this world, but I also fit right in among the population! After sorting everything out, I decided to head back, since I didn't have any money on me to buy any food. As I was walking back, I saw a team of Wartortle and Mudkip Pokemon and hybrids helping each other put out a fire that had broken on the edge of town through use of their Water Guns. I put my hand to my forehead and then pinched my arm to make absolute sure that this just wasn't some unusually long dream. I didn't wake up again in my bed in my room. Even after that, I still wasn't sure that I wasn't dreaming, but I was sure about one thing. I'm definitely not on the same planet I was yesterday.
And so, that's how it all began. Of course, that still leaves a lot to be explained, like, what exactly happened to me over the next three years of my new life and when and how did I meet Xavier, Seraph, Chris, Rick, and the rest. But those adventures, I'm afraid, will have to wait until next time.