The Game
Subject: Pokemon (Noncanon, First Person, Transformation)
Genre: Suspense/Adventure
Rating: K+ for death and physical violence.
One life comes to an end and another begins when Tyler Young inexplicably finds himself trapped in the body of his crush's pet Eevee. He soon finds his will and friendships put to the ultimate test when he becomes the king in a dangerous game of chess against the madman known as Bender.
Just something I've been thinking of on and off for months and finally decided to start a few weeks ago, lol. Although, what I'm posting here isn't particularly the final draft yet but it has been reread and touched up a couple times. Any suggestions or concerns you may have would be appreciated and the final draft will be posted on Fanfiction.net once I talk with my beta reader about it.
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Chapter 1
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The rush of the breeze that danced with my fur sent chills down my spine that had nothing to do with the crisp autumn air rustling the leaves of red and gold above me. My paws begged and pleaded for me to stop as sticks and stones on the forest floor scratched and scraped at them. But the desperate beating against my chest told me otherwise and threatened to bust my lungs that were already burning with pain from my relentless, coarse breathing. What I wouldn’t give to be back in my own body, resting peacefully at home, right now.
How ironic. That wasn’t how I felt a few days ago.
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I fell back into my favorite couch at the soda shop as the waitress ran a round of root beers around the table. My friend and I grabbed the mugs and lifted them in a toast. As I took a sip from my mug, Carlos nudged an elbow into my shoulder, causing me to cough a bit in shock.
“I can’t believe it, Tyler, we’re really going all the way,” he said. “One more victory and we’ll be leading Violet High straight to the regional wrestling championships.”
I couldn’t help but grin. It had been a long road, but we were really going to do it. We were going to fulfill the promise we made four years ago and bring home the world cup for Violet City. We had to. After all, it was our senior year, so this was our last chance.
And, I had another dream.
There was a reason that this was my favorite couch. It was right next to the window, and here she came, right on schedule. I have had a crush on Sarah ever since we met in junior high. In fact, I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t like her. She’s quiet, compassionate, and never had anything bad to say about anyone. Not to mention, she had the cutest face and softest looking waist-long blond hair. I just wanted to reach out and run my fingers through it.
“Forget it, man,” Carlos interrupted my daydream when I noticed my fingers were pressed against the window. “You know you can’t win against Jean,” he added jokingly.
I sighed and looked at the little brown pokemon curled up in her arms. I couldn’t name one time out of school that it wasn’t with her. I envied that eevee. What I wouldn’t give to be in its place, even if just for a day. As Sarah disappeared around the corner, my arm dropped onto the seat and I turned to Carlos.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I said and halfheartedly joined in on his laughing.
“Oh, don’t get so down,” he said. “I know a lot of girls who have their eyes on you right now.”
“Please, I don’t want fan girls,” I said.
Carlos laughed again. “You work out all the time and show it off with your sleeves rolled up. You’re asking for it. I know you don’t like long sleeves, but that’s not the only reason, right?”
I blushed. “Of course that’s the only reason!” I shot back, standing up. I loved to wear button up shirts, but hated having something on my arms. Rolling the sleeves up was a compromise.
“Calm down,” Carlos sneered. “I’m only pulling your leg.”
I sighed and sat back down, looking out the window. A disgruntled pair of green eyes under a mess of blond hair looked back at me.
Carlos ran a hand through his curly black locks as he pulled back his T-shirt and grabbed a bill from his pant pocket to tip the waitress who retrieved our empty mugs. She thanked him, bowed her head to us and left.
“Well then, let’s get going,” he said, standing up to stretch and noticed I was still staring at the window. “Come on, man.” He grabbed my arm, snapping me out of my reverie once again. I nodded and the bell announced our leave through the glass double doors.
A swift wind hit me in the face as I stepped out onto the sidewalk and a siren blared in my ears. In a flash of red, the fire trucks passed by and shot around the corner. I looked up to Carlos and realized from his shocked expression we both had the same thought on our minds. We took off at a dead sprint.
Sure enough, the sea of black smoke billowing into the gray clouds above was flowing from the blue, two story house at the end of the street. The front door flew open and a firefighter assisted a staggering Sarah through the threshold. When he removed his hand from her mouth, she coughed and took a tearful glance behind her.
“J-Jean!” Sarah stammered through sobs and coughs. “M-my eevee! Jean! He’s still inside!”
The firefighter patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’re searching,” he said and turned to look at the burning house as it uttered a screeching groan that Sarah nervously moaned in response to.
I watched on helplessly as two more firefighters ran out of the front door. “That’s it, the house is about to go,” one grunted. Sarah gasped and cried into the chest of the firefighter holding her up.
A pain spiked my chest and my heart started beating at a double pace. The anxiety I felt from the tears flowing down Sarah’s cheeks and the flames climbing the walls before me was crossed with a feeling of alert and, oddly enough, ambition. The fear that pulled my feet to the ground was defeated by the sudden strive that took the wheel.
“Hold it!” one of the firefighters shouted but I ignored him, disappearing into the flames that licked the door frame hungrily as the roar of the fire filled my ears.
I blinked, the smoke getting into my eyes, and pulled out a handkerchief to cover my mouth. I quickly had to close my eyes and my hand found the wall and I started trotting through the charred debris. There was something about the dark that nobody understood. Everyone says there’s nothing to be afraid of, but when your mind is in a frantic state, the dark whispers of an aimless bereavement that surrounds and traps the body in qualm. Blinded and deafened by the smoke and fire left me wandering aimlessly through the burning house. If you take away one’s senses, they become scared and helpless. But something within me managed to keep me going forward.
Every now and then, the wall would give away to another room, and I would duck down and scanned the floor through squinted, burning eyes. Tears were leaking out when I finally noticed the bundle of brown fur and crawled over to it. I opened my mouth to speak but the heat flooded into my throat and I replaced the handkerchief immediately. When I placed a hand on its back, it didn’t twitch to the touch and, after a couple seconds, I realized it wasn’t rising with breath.
I fell back onto my knees and sat there. Disappointment beat with my chest, along with something else. I felt a strong sense of grief and regret.
Then another groan erupted from the ceiling. I wrapped an arm around the pokemon’s torso and dashed out of the room, hoping against hope that Jean wasn’t gone yet.
I rounded the corner and the ground began to shake. I fell facedown as pieces of wood piled on top of me. I heard frightened yells from the open door down the hall. I could just about hear Sarah’s sobs beating at my ears. I had to bring Jean back to her, but I could feel the weight of hopelessness and distress coming on. But there was also a small light, and ferocity.
My entire body was gripped by the powerful hand of a paralyzing pain. I pulled myself and the eevee from under the wreckage but couldn’t bring myself to my feet. I started crawling, each stride sending a shockwave coursing through my bones. Every bit of me was screaming but I wouldn’t open his mouth or the smoke would definitely finish me off. Nonetheless, my body was bound to explode any moment.
My glass slipped off my nose, my eyes snapped shut from the heat, and my face felt as if it were swelling and my head felt as if it were being drilled into. Or maybe it was out of. I couldn’t tell.
I shook my head and returned my focus to dragging myself along the charred carpet. With every pull, I could feel my grip weaken as my arms and legs started to numb.
I then realized I had already lost my grip on Jean. I cranked my head, my neck roaring in protest, but couldn’t see him through my burning eyes. Even if I could, I was out of energy to even move.
A blanket of white fell over my head. I shook it off and realized it was my shirt. Then my spine stiffened and I dropped my head, exhausted. A prickling feeling erupted from all over my body. The handkerchief fell from my mouth and smoke flooded in.
I heard mumbling over my coughing. Footsteps started getting closer, every thump thundered in my ears. I felt a hand gently touch my back. I must have been going crazy because it felt ten times bigger than any hand I ever felt.
Then what I had been dreading the most came. “Jean!” Sarah cried. “Are you alright?”
The giant hands were now rubbing back and forth across my shoulder blades. The impression intensified the feeling of a thousand needles piercing my back.
“Please, wake up,” Sarah pled through more sobs.
I wanted to apologize. But, defeated, I finally let consciousness slip away from me, before I could even realize that one life already had come to an end.
Subject: The Game (A Pokemon TF Fic) 
Tue Dec 22, 2009 11:33 pm
