Chapter One

I was woken by a jolt and an electronic voice that seemed to come from far away. It took me a few seconds to remember why it was so dark. I was inside a Pokeball, that’s right. But what was happening now? Before I could even get to my feet, the ball rocked again. I tumbled sideways and immediately felt as if I was falling. I half expected my stomach to drop through the floor.

After a dizzying display of blinding colours and my Pokeball twisting all over the place, I thought I was going to be sick. It was all I could do then to retreat inside myself and try not to panic. It could have been minutes or hours later, but eventually the horrible sensation stopped. My legs were so wobbly, I couldn’t stand. I heard voices again, this time high pitched and very human. Suddenly the darkness was replaced with blinding light. I blinked awkwardly as my eyes adjusted.

I seemed to be inside a Pokemon Center. I had heard tales of them from other Pokemon. They were hospitals of sorts, where Pokemon and trainers could rest. I looked around for my trainer. The tall, male human with the Samurott, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“Ugh… it’s not cute at all!” A tiny voice cried shrilly from the floor behind me. I spun around, wondering if the floorboards had started to talk. Instead I saw a minute human child, a female. She was pouting as she surveyed me with her beady little human eyes. She hardly reached my knee.

“Why do I keep getting ugly Pokemon! How about a Jigglypuff or something?!” she moaned indignantly. She was already turning away, back to a buzzing machine in the corner. Trainers were placing Pokeballs there, which promptly disappeared before being replaced by another ball, sometimes of the same type, sometimes different.

Rude little blighter, I thought, as the girl held up my Pokeball and unceremoniously returned me to it without even introducing herself. I wondered where my trainer was. But wait… if this girl had my Pokeball… then she must be my trainer?!

With horror, I realised what that machine in the corner really was. It was a way for trainers to swap Pokemon. I had heard of trading before, of course, but nothing so random, so brutal. Sending your Pokemon away to trainers you didn’t even know - who could be sociopaths! – seemed to me to be highly irresponsible. Humans, what will they think of next?! Before you know it, they’ll be swapping their own children! And not a bad idea, I thought, if they had a snooty little kid like the one I’d just met.

Anyway, I wasn’t too worried for myself, knowing I could easily squash a pesky human, but I thought of all the poor, tinier Pokemon out there who were being used as trade bait, shipped off without a concern. Just when I thought I could maybe trust people, they come out with something like this! Unbelievable! If I ever saw the trainer with the Samurott again, I vowed to feed him to a pack of Scyther. Or hungry Chansey. Have you seen those things eat? Well count yourself lucky. It’s repulsive. Every Pokemon knows that Chansey are ruthless killing machines. I can't believe humans employ them in Pokemon Centers. The fools!

Before I could think any more about it, the dizzy sensation started again, followed by the blinding lights. This wasn’t as bad as the first time, because at least I knew it would actually end at some point. Sure enough, just when I thought my lunch was about to part with my stomach, the spinning stopped. I was nervous about what I would find this time.

Once my eyes had adjusted to the change in light, a young female stood before me. She was taller than the previous human and I immediately liked her a whole lot better. Maybe because she was smiling instead of pouting at me.

“Wow, a Rhydon! It looks strong!” she exclaimed. A young Farfetch’d was perched on her shoulder, preening itself. I rumbled a hello, but it ignored me. Charming.

“Hi there, Rhydon. Why would anyone trade you, huh? You can’t find any Rhydon here in Hoenn. Must be my lucky day!” the human smiled warmly.

I started to think that maybe I could deal with this human. At least she was friendly and appreciated my finer attributes. The bird would have to go, though.

“Let’s just get you checked out!” she said, with much too much enthusiasm, “Wait here!”

She wandered off towards the back of the Pokemon Center – a different one to the one I had been in previously, I noticed. As she weaved between other humans and Pokemon, I wondered why I needed a medical. I felt pretty fine. But I guess the trip through that creepy machine was enough to fatigue even the strongest Pokemon. Yes, a health check was probably required after all that.

Instead of returning with the nurse behind the counter (or even the horrible, beady-eyed Chansey watching us hungrily), my new trainer was leading a green-haired human over. His hair was ridiculous, by the way. It looked like a shrub had begun to grow on his head. Anyway, this punk kid with the green hair took one look at me and frowned. I saw my trainer’s smile begin to disappear and a nervous flutter began in my stomach.

“I’m sorry, but its IVs are terrible. Frankly, I can see why it was Wonder Traded. A 0 in Speed… ouch. It will never outrun anything. And that Defense stat…” the green-haired human began.

I punched him before he could finish the sentence. Just kidding. But I was starting to get a bit ticked off. What the heck are “ivs” and who is this guy to judge me? I sure had better Defense than him. Maybe we should try it out? But no, while I fumed silently, the shrub man walked off and my new trainer looked at me sheepishly.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think you’re quite right for my team,” she said. “I’m sure you’ll find a better home out there with someone who really values you. I only train Pokemon with Perfect IVs, or at least Outstanding ones.” At this, she patted the Farfetch’d on the head. The stupid little duck grinned meanly at me.

I still had no idea what an “ivs” was. Did I smell? Were my horns too sharp? Was she calling me fat?! Either way, I got the gist. She didn’t want me and I would very soon be taking another trip through that hellish machine. I very much wanted to slam her and her overgrown bird into a wall, but I resisted. I simply sat on the ground, doing my best to retain my dignity after being publicly humiliated in front of every human and Pokemon in the place, in a way that I didn't even understand. I refused to look at the girl, despite her babble about how I would find the perfect home and someone to love me.

Bah! That was it. I was done with humans. Now that I had this bad “ivs” hanging around, it was obvious no human would want me. Was that why I was traded in the first place? Was that why no human had ever captured me before? Was my bad “ivs” so obvious? I felt so terrible I didn’t even really notice as the girl returned me to my prison and sent me back through the machine. I knew I was doomed to spend the rest of my life being insulted by humans and tortured by spinning lights. I was feeling so bad that if I could have ended it all then, I just might have.

But I didn't. And so I find myself here in a dark Pokeball, waiting anxiously for the next human to call on me, insult me and throw me back. Joy.



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The chapters are gonna be short because I'm terrible at writing long stories and I get bored easily so I hate putting in fillers haha. After backtracking a bit, we now find ourselves at the point at the beginning of the prologue. Who will this new trainer be? Will our brooding hero ever find someone to love him? Stay tuned!