"The Ruby Files"
File #1: Into the Pokeworld
My adventure with Team Ruby began completely by accident.
Mind you, I wasn't expecting to be pulled into a parallel universe by a wolf-like Pokemon gifted with magical power, much less become a Pokemon myself...but I did, and when I did; I began to appriciate Pokemon and trainers for who they are: loyal teammates and best friends with a bond that never breaks.
But I digress.
It all started as I was coming home from school one afternoon, and giggling over the Pikachus romping in the wildflowers, the Bulbasaurs sunning themselves on treestumps, and the Squirtles in the pond by the roadside. I loved watching them all play, but it never crossed my mind as to why everyone usually left on some quest with a Pokemon on their tenth birthday. What was the point of the whole Gym Leaders and badges deal if you were not going to unseat the Pokemon Master anyway? (which was how 90% of my friend's Pokemon adventures ended) They'd find out about some other place, sign up for the League there, rinse, lather, and repeat the whole thing over again. The whole thing was pointless in my mind, and yet my mom and dad were expecting me to head out on the same journey myself. But I didn't feel like going, because I'd get the badges, get all worked up over beating Master Ketchum himself, get soundly defeated, and have to do it all again the next year!
So here I was, headed home after a long day at the academy...it was a fairly breezy day, so the wind kept blowing my long coal black hair about. No sooner had I cleared it away, did another gust send it back in my face. I guess that's the price you pay for wanting long hair.
I also remember that I was wearing my favorite T-shirt, a lovely hunter green shirt with a silver star on it, some jeans and some tennis shoes that had the shoelaces constantly coming undone, so I had to stop and retie them every few steps down the road. In fact, I was retying them for the millionth time when I saw an odd glow coming from a tree by my house. The old hickory, as I called it had been in my yard for a long time, and a colony of Illumise nested there during the day...but why would they be flashing their light when it wasn't dark out, and the Volbeats weren't even out yet?
My curiosity got the best of me, so I set my books by a rock, carefully climbed onto a branch that led into the hollow, and looked inside. But what I saw wasn't the Illumise colony lighting their light, but something even more amazing.
It looked like a wolf, only its fur was mainly blue and black, except for its stomach, which was a cream color and had a spike on it, presumably to defend itself from predators. For the most part, it was hovering in the hollow with closed eyes. I'm not sure if it was meditating or thinking about something or what, but my gut feeling told me to get a closer look. So after squeezing myself into the hollow from the branch, I crept toward the wolf-Pokemon; being extra careful not to disturb it.
Suddenly, it turned to face me, making me want to step back in fear. "Don't be afraid...Sammi." it assured me.
I was shocked! How did this Pokemon know my name? But I soon brushed it off as it being a Psychic type--or at least part Psychic. Even so, I decided to ask it "How do you know my name?"
"I see all that happens here in this world, and all the humans in it." the wolf-Pokemon explained. "I am Lucario--guardian of waves and the gatekeeper between here and the world of Pokemon."
Now I was really confused--if Pokemon were living with me in my own world, then how could they live in their own world connected to this one? I wanted to ask, but I just decided to trust this Pokemon--Lucario, on it. Besides, if I asked, he'd probably would say something along the lines of "All will be revealed in due time.", which would lead to more arguing. It just wasn't worth it to ask.
"I have brought you here because the world of Pokemon has been troubled by events large and small--it has been foretold that a human in the form of a Pokemon will right these wrongs and restore peace." Lucario continued, ignoring my blank look.
"And how do you know I can do this?" I countered. "I can't turn into a Pokemon, much less know how to handle one!"
"Calm yourself, Sammi..." Lucario replied. "You don't have the means to become a Pokemon and enter this world, so in order to give you access to the portal, I will first ask you a few questions...answer them truthfully, for your answer will determine your form in the other world." I swallowed hard--whatever the form in the other world part meant, I knew that this Lucario Pokemon meant business--and truly believed I was something special, something I had never heard before.
"Okay...Lucario..." I began. "Ask me anything you want, and I'll answer as truthfully as I can."
"Very well..." Lucario thought for a moment, then began. "Suppose that the one that you love is nearby, but there is no way for you to approach and declare your love for him...so what would you do?"
I thought about what I would do if I even had a crush to begin with, and a swarm of other girls around him--how would I declare to the world that I loved him? I could easily just look away, but then he'd think of me as shy. Plain screaming I LOVE YOU! wouldn't work either, unless I wanted the whole crowd to stare. Pulling a prank was out of the question too--then he wouldn't like me!
"I would just walk up and say hello." I answered. That seemed like a feasible answer in my eyes, and judging from the smile on Lucario's face--he must've liked that answer too.
"All right...if your best friend was being bullied by a rogue on the street, what would you do?" was Lucario's next question. This answer was easy...I'd march right up to the bully and stick up for my friend, plus give him a taste of my karate skills if he continued bothering the both of us.
"I'd stand up to the bully." was my reply.
"If you found a treasure chest, would you open it right away?"
"Oh yes!"
"Now, grab any finger on your left hand with your right hand." Lucario continued. He waited as I grabbed a finger, then asked "Which finger did you end up grabbing?"
"I grabbed my middle finger." I replied, showing him the ruby ring I wore on that finger.
"If a thief was harassing someone in an alley, would you help the person?"
"I sure would, even if I had to die for that person!" I smiled. Lucario just nodded in approval...but what I had answered was true--even if the supposed thief was armed with every sort of weapon imaginable, I'd make sure the victim would survive.
"Do you feel lonesome when you are alone?"
"Course not!" I smiled--I had the phone to call up a friend and talk, or even my own family to talk with, even if they were constantly nagging me to go on a Pokemon journey. If I could not get someone to talk to, I'd do something constructive to pass the time, not mope around and have a pity party.
"Suppose you were relaxing on the seaside...how would you feel?"
I smiled as I imagined myself in a beach chair, watching the waves, people running about, and Wingulls in the sky. "I'd feel very content, and glad I was away from it all."
"When you are on vacation, do you prefer to go alone or with others?"
"I feel safer with others--safety in numbers, they say." I replied.
This was enough to satisfy Lucario, it seemed, as he didn't ask anything after that question. "Based on the answers you have given me, which I trust as being true, I see you as a brave person."
"Oh?" I was interested.
"You like to see justice done, disdain evil, and have the courage to take on any opponent." Lucario continued. "As such, I think I know the perfect form you should take in the other world..." With that, he closed his eyes. "I must ask you to close your eyes too, so I do not blind you with the transformation magic."
"Transformation? Magic?" I yelped. My mind was racing--people magically turning into Pokemon only worked in stories, I thought--but now I was about to become the lab Rattata for such a spell! I wanted to protest, but I felt an odd sense of calm that led me to close my eyes. I listened as Lucario began chanting in a strange language, none of which I recognized until I heard the word "Charmander!" followed by a blast of power headed right at me!
I'm not sure what happened next, but when I woke up again, I found myself surrounded by trees--only now they looked dramatically taller than I remembered them being. Where am I? Was that whole thing with Lucario a dream?" I thought as my world flickered into focus--and the first thing I noticed was a Pikachu looking at me, curious. The big thing I noticed was how big it looked in my eyes--wasn't it supposed to be smaller to me?
That's when I took a look at myself.
Rather than having normal peach skin, it now was orange and scaly, except for my stomach, which was a yellowish color. Instead of fingers, I had three claws on each tiny hand. But the kicker was when I turned to look behind me--I had grown a tail with a small flame at the end of it! It hit me--Lucario had turned me into a Charmander!
You could say the whole forest heard my panicked scream.
"Hey, calm down!" the Pikachu assured me." I just wanted to see if you were okay! I heard something fall here and when I went to see what it was, there you were!"
"I'm all right..." I weakly replied after breathing deeply a few times. Albeit wondering why I've turned into a Charmander...
"That's great!" the Pikachu laughed as she helped me to my feet. "My name's Lita...what's your name?"
"My name is Sammi..." I replied..."and although this might sound crazy, I'm actually human."
Lita gave me a quizzical look. "Human? But you look like a perfectly normal Charmander to me."
"It's true..." I explained. "I was transformed and sent here--"
Just then, I heard the frantic flutter of wings overhead...my Charmander legs scuttled out of the way as a Butterfree landed before the two of us, and judging from how frantic she was, something was wrong.
"Is there something wrong?" Lita asked the Butterfree.
"Have you two seen any Caterpies around here?" the Butterfree asked. "I was watching over my two sons playing in the Tiny Grotto this afternoon when one of them fell into a crack in the ground...and he's not strong enough to crawl out on his own!"
"That is bad..." I added, out of pity.
"We'll find him, ma'am! Don't worry!" Lita assured the Butterfree as she she started off towards a patch of tall grass. "Well get him out as quick as we can!"
What do you mean, "we"? I thought as I darted off after Lita...
We both searched through the tall grass for the batter part of an hour looking for cracks in the ground. But no matter where we looked, we would always wind up back where we started again. Lita, being ever so optimistic, would find another path for us to search, we would explore it, and we would find that it went in a circle too like all the others.
As we were going down our umpteenth path, I heard my stomach growl. "Hey, Lita..."
"Hm?" Lita paused from digging through some more grass. "What's the matter?"
"You wouldn't happen to have any food on you, would you?" I asked.
"Why yes!" and Lita trumphantly held up an apple she had found. "You can have part of this and I'll eat what's left."
I was flattered...Lita sharing what little she had, with someone she barely knew? I had never known Pokemon to do this before...but whatever compelled her to do that, I was fascinated by it...but I didn't get much time to think about it, as Lita called for me to catch up.
I found her a few minutes later, looking inside a small crack in the ground. When I approached, I could tell she was looking into the hole with the lost Caterpie. He looked so scared...I had no idea Pokemon could have such emotion like that. Even so, I felt compelled to help Lita pull the Caterpie out. We pulled for a good fifteen minutes, but when he was finally on solid ground again, I looked him over to see if he was injured. "You all right?" I asked.
"Yeah..." he weakly replied. "Thank you, both of you!"
"You're welcome!" I smiled. "I'm Sammi, and this is my partner, Lita." I explained, gesturing to Lita."
"Thank you, Sammi and Lita!" the Caterpie smiled as he crawled onto my back.
"I'll give you a Ponyta ride back to your mom, okay?" I assured my passenger. With that, Lita and I went romping through the grass...
END FILE
