Normal Isn't Ordinary [Pokemon SI]

Reincarnation. To many–to most–it is the realm of belief and speculation. To a few favored (or disfavored) it is something far more concrete.

I was born twice. Both times upon a floating marble of blue and green known as Earth. The first time, I was born in a world dominated by humans. I was born in perhaps the most favorable of circumstances, to well-off and caring parents in a country whose wars rarely touched the home front.

Alas, good things are not to last. History had not ended. A few decades where weeks happen does not foreclose the possibility of weeks where decades happen. Many refused to learn these lessons. To acknowledge their failings and accept that you needed more than the lie of 1% annual improvement to win hearts and minds.
I died. How does not particularly matter, not any more. For while I was born again on Earth, it was far from the same Earth. I was not born to a land dominated by humans, but to one shared by humans and creatures of stunning powers.

Creatures known as Pokemon.

It took an embarrassingly long time for me to realize this. I was not a Pokemon fan. I had watched the anime only once, when I was ten and with my cousins. I had played only one game through to completion. I enjoyed it, yes, but was I knowledgeable about it? Absolutely not. Yet in my arrogance I believed myself to be safe. There were dangerous creatures about, but I would learn to handle them in school. Learn to befriend them. I would grow up in a place of newfound sciences and mystical powers, a place where the greatest danger were the half-baked plans of criminal "Teams."

I was wrong. So very, very wrong.
The first clues came from simple observation. Though my mind remained fuzzy and uncertain throughout infancy, I could tell that the meals my new mother made were smaller than normal, despite us living on a farm. At first, I considered that a cultural difference–I had, after all, been an American in my previous life. But then there were the haggard faces when she took me shopping in Blackthorn City, barely visible to my still-developing eyes. There were the men with guns and pokemon who stood watch over the town's entrance.

I must have reacted in some way, as I remember my mother whispering "the dragons will protect us." It was one of the first concrete memories I have of this place.



Hazy and fuzzy as my brain was in those early years, I did try to get things started young. I struggled to crawl and walk, relearned to force my mouth and tongue to speak words rather than noises. I learned the written and spoken words of Johto's language–one that was share with most of the surrounding regions. I played with the family dog–and yes, the Pokemon world had regular animals too. Thank God (or was it thank Arceus now) because a world with only a few hundred species would be an ecological disaster.

By the time I was two, my siblings decided I was worth spending time with. Mostly (I assume) because I could finally talk. Even if I did ask too many questions, according to them.

Jonnie, my eldest brother, spent most of his time training. Sometimes he let me follow him, though only on the condition I watch, and not talk. There was something absurd in watching him jump rope over the vine-whips of grass types and wrestle with a geodude. I even got to throw food for his pidgey when they worked on diving, though my chubby toddler arms meant the wheat seeds mostly just scattered around me. Much to my frustration and Jonnie's amusement.

Adam was my next-eldest sibling. He'd been born under a different name, but Adam suited him much better. If Jonnie was the chad pokemon trainer, Adam was the nerd. He loved mechanics, to the point he was taking college classes in his first year of high school. He wanted to be a rocket scientist, something I couldn't help but be grateful for, since it would keep him out of the war. He was also something of a teacher made miniature, always willing to help me out with reading as I struggled to make the mental shift from an alphabetic writing system to one based on characters. There wasn't much he could do to help me with maths, but when it came to sciences (and correcting my knowledge from a Pokemon-less world) there was no one better to talk to other than his Kadabra Euclid.

My youngest (but still my elder) sibling was Janine. She was nine years older than me, but only four years younger than Jonnie. Something that told me my birth was likely the result of war rations on latex and rubber.
Janine trained as much as Jonnie and read as much as Adam. She boxed with a Machoke and borrowed stacks of books from the Blackwood Library. She worked herself as much as she could, determined to get into the Blackwood Military Academy Secondary School. With exams coming up in a few months, she was even more tense than normal. Something I tried to help her with, only to get roped into asking exam questions.

Damn myself and my need to read!
"What is the quad-er-atic form-you-la?" I asked, making sure to mispronounce the word.

"Quadratic," Janine corrected. "X=-b+/-Square Root (b2​+4ac) divided by 2a."

"Correct," I said, flipping to the next card. "What is the average airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?"

"What?" Janine asked, hurrying over to the cards. "I didn't–you little twerp!" she exclaimed, looking over the card asking what the mohs hardness scale was. "Grrr!" she exclaimed as I giggled. "That–" she huffed. "Get out of here! Didn't you want to sit with Euclid?"

"Oh!" I exclaimed, and hurried off, swiftly blaming my three year-old brain rather than my long history of forgetfulness. "Euclid?" I asked as I hurried into the living room. "I'm sorry I'm late Professor Euclid."

Euclid huffed, but the title seemed to please him as ever, and he gestured for me to sit down. Carefully, I balanced myself onto the cushions.

"Today we are going to meditate," Euclid spoke into my mind. It was a little freaky, how powerful psychics were. Defending myself against them was one of the reasons that I asked Euclid to tutor me. That, and remembering there was something about auras.

Euclid had taught me more than I dared hope to learn. Though I was not a pokemon, I too possessed an aura in this world. I had yet to grasp much of an understanding of it, other than its presence.

"Breath in," Euclid told me as I closed my eyes, mind and soul retreating inwards. "Breath out. Reach in." I pictured myself diving from the skies, deep into the depths of the water. I saw the beating heart of my mind. "Reach out."

Hesitantly, tentatively, I approached. The faint ball of pale light gleamed. It hummed as I reached for it. My hand reached, brushing up against it. The pale light seemed to pop, only for my hand to clench and grasp it. Pulling it from my heart, stretching the bubble into my veins and skin.

"Let go," Euclid told me, and I did. The pale light retreated swiftly.

I returned to the world slowly. My arms were burning. My lungs struggled for breath. My three year-old body wobbled as I clenched my teeth in frustration.

"You are trying to learn as much as Abra, with a body meant for half as much sleep," Euclid chastised me. "Old soul or new, there are limits to the body and spirit."

"Yes Professor Euclid," I mentally sighed.

When I was five the army set up a guardpost a mile from our house. Apparently we, along with several other farms in the area, grew some of the plants needed for potions. Critical in healing both people and pokemon, the potions were understandably considered a military asset. One that needed to be guarded.

"Do you think the army's being pushed back?" I couldn't help but ask. My fingers twitched.

"Hush," Mom said sharply. "The dragons will protect us."

Biting my lip, I nodded, and hurried off to meditate with Kadabra. Nothing short of exhaustion would see me sleep that night.



In November, a month after my birthday, I saw the first wild pokemon. Rattata and zubat began to appear, where previously they had avoided the fields and storage areas guarded by Father's Murkrow. Jonnie and his Pidgey joined the family guard-duties. Janine was given a growlithe, and soon the newly-named Knightess was stalking the fields for rattata.

More pokemon came in December, geodude joining the rattata and zubat. We spotted a pack of graveler, who thankfully avoided the farm for rockier pastures. Jonnie was drafted, though he was yet to deploy. Adam, fortunately, won both an exemption and a scholarship for Goldenrod University. Janine . . . was pressing for early graduation. She slept as little as she could get away with, spending the rest of her time studying or training with her Growlithe.

Mom and Dad were busy as ever. Managing the farm became twice as hard when you had to constantly chase off wild pokemon.

As for me . . .

"Focus," Euclid reminded me. My Professor of Auras had grown as well. He would be leaving with Adam in the next school year, and would likely evolve beforehand. Already there were hints of a mustache, and his skill at crafting spoons was improving.

I at last dismissed my thoughts, casting my mind into my Aura. It pulsed, dark and pale tan, matching my breaths. I focused upon it. I focused inside it. For it was I and I was it and I could see all it could see–

My mind blurred, the sight of my aura fading from me.

I need this! I started at Janine's voice, nearly losing the thread connecting us only to grasp it tightly. If I don't make top of the class, that SOB Darian will, and him as an officer–

–more milk, said my mother's voice. After the last raid prices are bound to–

"That's enough," Euclid interrupted. He pulled on my, my consciousness snapping back into place.

I opened my eyes with a gasp. "I–that–"

"Congratulations," Euclid said dryly. "You have managed that which an Abra can do from birth."

"But I'm not an Abra," I shot back. "And that energy–it wasn't psychic."

"It was when you reached into their minds," Euclid corrected me. "But it is not at the start."

"I wonder–" my words faltered as a series of images arose in my mind. Me, punching like a Machamp. Lightning called from the sky at my very words. Darkness flowing around my like a cape–

"Perhaps in time," Euclid said. "For now, you have only started to learn."

"Jessica!" Mother called, interrupting our lesson. "Dinner time!"



One Year Later

My aura expanded, tan light shining through my veins. A tendril of light reached out, growing paler and brighter until it turned a light pink as it moved through the air. It tapped on Euclid's mind, seeking entry.

"More force," Euclid demanded before kicking me back out. I grit my teeth as the tendril whipped around to slap me, a sting ringing through my brain. I grunted as it shifted, throbbing pain running through the left of my head. Still I continued on, the pain manageable compared to the constant migraines of my previous life.

BOOM.

Suddenly I stopped, the tendril cut off half formed. "What was–"

BOOM.

"Kids!" that was Dad. He never shouted. "Up, up, grab your pokemon–"

"My papers!" Adam protested. "My–"

"Now!" Dad shouted. "Your mother–"

"She's–

BOOM

–field!"

"Adam, Euclid, make sure they get out! I'm goin–

BOOM

–"

"Let me–"

"Not now Janine!"

"Knightess–"

BOOM

"Fine!" Dad shouted. "Adam, get Jessica out of–"

CAW!

We all froze.

CAW!

Ice ran down our spines. Paling, we looked to the window.

MOLTRES

The sky was on fire. Pokemon were sprinting down from the mountains. Not just small ones. Grown Onix, Ursaring, Golems–even a Machamp–were fleeing from the burning sky above. They were not orderly either. Raticate pounced on Zigzagoon, Machop were crushed beneath Graveler–

"Mom!" Janine yelled, sprinting for the back door.

"Janine!" Dad yelled and rushed after her. Adam sprinted after them, Euclid following.

I froze for a moment. There was a stampede of pokemon. Animals dangerous enough to force humanity into cohabitation, and there was a stampede.

I drew on my aura as best I could and rushed after them, grabbing a kitchen knife on my way out. What I meant to do with it, I still don't know.

"Mom!" Janine shouted. "We need to go–"

"Why are you here?" Mom demanded. "Edgar, are things packed?"

"The go bags are ready, we need to–"

CAW!

Something heavy and flaming dropped from the sky.

"DIVE!" Dad demanded, and we did. My knife buried into the ground as the flaming something crashed onto our field, sending dust and dirt soaring into the air.

We started to get up, rubbing dust and dirt from our eyes.

ROAR.

We looked toward the something.

"Was that–"

"Murkrow!" Dad shouted, throwing his pokeball into the air. "Get the kids–"

A dozen stones, honed by the pokemon's aura, crashed into Murkrow. It dodged as best it could. A wing was clipped, and Murkrow plummeted.

"Aerial Ace!" Dad shouted. "Kids, run!"

"Dad–"

"NOW!"

I started running towards the house.

There was a flash behind us.

Something soared overhead, then crashed into the house.

"DIVE!" Janine shouted, and once more I obeyed.

A flash of light, visible even to my closed eyes.

A deafening roar.

My ears rung, hearing little else as I stumbled to my feet.

"Janine?" I asked, not hearing my own words. I stumbled around, unable to find her. "Janine! Adam!"

There was a faint sound. I turned, only to see Dad knocked down by a massive Onix.

Run.

I turned from the scene and ran. I ran from the stampede of pokemon, from the burning farm, from my siblings' unknown fate and my father's all but certain one. I ran as fast as I could, not knowing where I was headed.

Sometime the next day I came (mostly) to my senses. I tried to figure out where I was. It was warm, though not unseasonably so. Somewhere to the south, then. I looked to the sun, and the mountains. It would be easy to hide there. If I wanted to make it back home, I'd need to hide, at least until the Moltres went back to its rest.

The forested hillside and tall grasses felt dangerous now. It felt as though a swarm of pokemon were waiting behind each tree and underneath each blade of grass. It did not help my paranoia to see a swarm of beedrill hunting down some rattata.

I moved slowly that day. I managed to find some berries (thank Arceus for Jonnie's wilderness tips) and that–well, it wasn't enough, but it was better than nothing. Same for the water, which was thankfully provided by the fast-moving mountain streams I came across.

As the sun began to set I starting looking for somewhere to sleep. Somewhere sheltered. Somewhere–

I spotted a cave. Peering into it, I found it to be small. Hopefully no Zubats would eat me as I slept.



I woke up the next day, thankfully alive. I started the day with morning ablutions and swiftly began to make my way north again. Every step felt like I was dragging myself, yet I needed to be home. I needed to make sure–

No, I told myself. Don't give up hope. They could still be–

I hastily knocked on wood, only to startle a hoothoot who lived in the tree.

It glared at me.

I started backing way.

It flexed its wings.

I started running.

With the Demon Hoothoot behind me, I continued to make my way north. It was slow going, but I began to recognize some of the landmarks as I continued forward. The tall, sloping mountain that looked like a donphan's horn. The cave at the peak of another mountain, barely visible by looking up yet a wide spot of black to those looking over from Blackthorn.

Other landmarks were disturbingly missing. The signpost from Missus Gretchen's farm was gone, and the fields burned to the ground. I looked over towards her house, only to find it buried under a rockslide.



At last I saw my home. Fields burned by Moltres and torn apart by the Onix. The house was little more than shards of glass.

And father–

I sobbed. I wanted to run. Run from Mother and Father, who remained on the field. Run from the house of ashes and shattered glass. Run from it all.

But I couldn't.

The barn was torn down, and the house was destroyed. I searched them both. I salvaged what food and equipment I could, then took the shattered planks of wood. The wood pile slowly grew, even as the sun set. My mind focused on the task at hand, even as tears ran down my face. They deserved something. I could only hope Adam and Janine escaped, since I couldn't see either of them there.

BOOM

I startled, dropping the wood.

BOOM

No, I thought. Surely they wouldn't–

BOOM

I hastened to the wood pile. It had to be done now. I wanted to honor my parents, and that meant not dying. Bolstering my body with my aura as best I could, I pulled their corpses onto the pile of wood. I struggled. I clambered over the pile. I pulled and pushed and finally, finally, got them onto it.

Just in time to hear Moltres' CAW break through the night skies, roused by another Kanto night offensive.

Saying my prayers to Arceus quickly, I doused the pyre in gasoline and set it alight. The flames leapt upward.

I wanted to stay to the end. I wanted to ensure their souls moved on, that they did not become trapped as Ghost-type pokemon.

But I couldn't. Not if I wanted to live.

I ran, still not knowing where I should go.



Blackthorn City was out of the question. Close as it was, if there was a military assault in this area there was only one place for it to be, and I had no desire to wind up on a battlefield at the age of six.

So, north was not an option. Directly west meant going through the Dark Cave, with a single-battery flashlight and no pokemon.

South, and (eventually) to Cherrygrove City it was.



I found a water bottle at the house. Banged up and slightly leaky, but it was better than nothing. Of course, that meant I'd need to keep to the mountains if I wanted to regularly come across small streams, rather than wandering into one big river every now and then.

Other than the water bottle, I'd managed to grab a backpack, a potion, some instant soup packets and canned food, a kitchen knife, and a single pokeball.

I'm screwed, I thought, then forced myself to take a deep breath. No. I'm not. I just need to make it to Cherrygrove. Just a simple trek across the wild mountainsides for a hundred twenty kilometers. Alone. As a six-year-old. I took another breath. Fuck.



The explosions could still be heard the next morning. As the sun reached noon, I was fully exhausted. I needed a place to sleep. Another cave sounded nice, and this one had a stream only a hundred meters away.

I walked up to the cave, eyes blurry from exhaustion. I paid no heed to the stones beneath my feet save to ensure their steadiness. I cared not for the dirt, nor grass and trees I walked over and past as I made my way towards bed.

A roar shattered my delusions of sleep. Forcing my eyes to focus, I tensed.
Another roar. I tilted my head. It wasn't deep enough to be an Ursaring, nor an Onix. I wondered . . .

I stayed very still. My hand clenched the knife.

A small snout poked its way out of the cave. I slid the knife back into my backpack, and gently made my way forward.

"Hey little guy," I said gently as I could, inching towards the fur baby. "Are you–"

"R–roar!" the Teddiursa said unconvincingly.

"Hey," I frowned. "Did–did you lose your mother?"

The Teddiursa roared again, this time sounding full of pain.

"I lost my mother too," I admitted. I grimaced as tears came. My mother–my loving, trusting, hoping mother. The one who never failed to heal a bruise nor care for an injury. Who worked her hardest, day in and day out yet cared for each of her children's interests, and managed to finance three journeys despite the war.

I sobbed.

Beside me, Teddiursa sobbed as well. I reached out, and hugged him. He hesitated, then hugged me back, his claws gently resting on my back.



"I'm going to keep going," I told Teddiursa as daylight shone over the trees. He looked up from the can of corned beef. "I have siblings," I explained. "Brothers and a sister. I want–I need to see if they're okay."

Teddiursa grumbled. "Tedd-Teddi?"

"I can't stay," I said, hoping I understood him correctly.

"Ursa!"

"I–" I hesitated. "Can you give me a second?"

"Teddi?"

Taking that as permission, I sat back down. Reaching inside, reaching for my aura, I slowly expanded it. It was harder, my young body tired from days of hiking and my mind weary and grieving. Yet eventually I found it, pushed it, and formed a fain thread of psychic energy. Gently, gingerly I reached out to Teddiursa. I pressed against his mind.

Teddiursa started. I sent him an image of myself. He sent back an image of an Alakazam, and a feeling of questioning. I sent back an image of a baby abra, something that seemed to amuse him.

Then I sent images of my siblings. My family. A feeling of longing.

"Teddi!"

I blinked, suddenly back to reality. The thread snapped from my lack of concentration, but I managed to pull it back without a migraine this time.

"I have to go," I explained again. "But if you want, you can come with me."

"Ursa?" Teddiursa asked. Somehow, I knew just what he meant.

"Yes," I agreed. "I'll be your sister.""



Contrary to what I said, we did not leave the cave immediately. If threw as one thing Jonnie's lessons had drilled into my head, it was that having an untrained or disobedient pokemon could be far more dangerous than not having one at all. The most important thing was trust, and ensuring your pokemon did not deviate from commands.

So, we spent the day playing. I would give a command, using my limited psychic powers to convey an image of what I wanted. Not combat moves, not yet. Just simple, fun things. "Stand on one leg!" "Lick your nose!" "Hop up and down!" After about an hour, Teddiursa whined, conveying an image of himself sprawled over a sun-bathed rock.

"You're tired?" I asked, smiling down at him. "Okay, how about we switch it up?"

"Teddi?"

"You tell me what to do!"

"Teddi!" Teddiursa shouted excited. "Teddiursa!" The image I got was blurry, but I shifted to one foot. "Ursa!" Teddi complained.

"Hand?" I asked. "I–I guess I can try?" I offered. Moving to a softer patch of dirt, I placed my hands on the ground. Right, I told myself. Physically, I can't do this. But, I thought, channeling my aura. It surged from my veins, bolstering young muscles and readying my joints. I pressed against the ground, and barely felt it. I pushed off with my legs, only to find myself pushed too far and falling onto the ground.

"Ted-Teddi!" Teddiursa laughed.

"Ha-ha," I huffed. "Just give me a moment."

I tried again, but pushed to soft. Then too hard again, but managed to balance. Only to correct too much, and topple over backwards.

With Teddiursa thoroughly enjoying himself, I set to managing a balance. I had still not succeeded when my aura, thoroughly exhausted, finally gave out and I came collapsing to the ground as muscle exhaustion re-exerted itself.

"Teddiursa?" Teddiursa asked, eyes wide, moving closer.

"I'm fine," I said, pushing myself onto my back. "Just tired. How about we take a nap, then I show you some stuff about auras?"

"Ursa?"

"Aura," I said, and pressed into the fraying psychic bond. Images of tan energy surging forth were placed into his mind. Teddiursa pressed something back. An image of what could only be his mother, a truly massive Ursaring. She roared, and more than sound left her lungs. Tan lines flew forward, scaring the swarm of beedrill back to their hive. Teddiursa, paw covered with stick honey, smiled.

"Exactly!" I said excitedly.

"Ted-teddiursa!" Teddiursa exclaimed. Rolling to his feet, he bit onto my shirt.

"Teddiursa?"

With a light growl, Teddiursa began to pull.

"What–hey!" I protested, trying to stand up as he pulled me back to the cave. "Teddiursa!"