Nathan the Riolu Part 1

Four months ago…

I was walking with my Pokémon in a deep part of the forest. I had beaten all the Gym Leaders, won all the tournaments, and defeated all the trainers. (All before I turned sixteen) What was there to do now? I had recently fallen into a state of semi-depression, although it could be called boredom. I had some of the strongest Pokémon in the region. The strongest one that I owned was my Typhlosion. He had been given to me when I started my journey. We had been through everything together. I had several other well-trained Pokémon; Espeon, Raichu, Umbreon, and Buizel. We made a pretty great team. We all became very close friends over the years, we were practically family. My real family consisted of my younger brother, Drake, my mother, Naomi, and my father, Alex. I had grown up as an only child for about six years before my brother was born, but even before that I had dreams of becoming a Pokémon master. We went through many hardships, but in the end we always pulled through, coming out even stronger in the end. We all laid down to rest that night. (I never kept them in their poke balls) They all fell asleep quickly.

I had wanted to go to the temple ruins nearby but they had all shown signs of exhaustion. I however was not tired. I decided to let them sleep. I would only be gone for a little bit and I knew they could take care of themselves. After about half an hour of walking, I finally arrived. I had heard that the villagers wouldn't go near this place because of something that I labeled as mythical. I tried to go through the front door but it was stuck, of course! I was going to try to find a back door when I noticed a portion of the wall around the entrance had collapsed. I turned on my flashlight and continued further. There was no light but that of my flashlight. I must have walked through passage after passage for at least an hour, all the while leaving a trail of wire behind. It's not like I wanna get lost. I was about to leave dismal place when I thought I heard movement just a ways down. As I turned the next corner I saw that one of the rooms was lit up. I entered the room to find a Pokémon sitting on the floor just out of the light.Before I could say anything I heard, as if through the back of my head, "Greetings human…"

Did it just speak to me? I turned around to make sure no one was behind me.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"My name is Mew and you are?"
I didn't really know about giving it my name, but how could it hurt?
"Umm… my names Nathan," I replied.
"Hmm… well I can tell you're not lying to me, so you must have some credibility."
All I could manage was a, "Thanks…"
He seemed trustworthy so I told my story from when I left home to when I arrived here. Finally it replied
"I can sense that you are unhappy and confused on what you will do next."
I was surprised by his response, "How do you figure that?"
By this time I was sitting across the floor from Mew.
"While you appreciate the things that you have, you still want more… but you don't know what it is that you desire," it replied.  
"I guess you're right but it really isn't anything you should be worried about," I answered.
Mew smiled,"Oh I can't say that I'm worried, but I wouldn't mind helping you."
"How?" I asked.
"What if I told you that I could give you a brand new life? What if I gave your life a whole other meaning? "
I smiled this time, "I'd say that you were lying."
He was actually laughing when he heard this, "I can't blame you for being doubtful but if I could, would you accept?" he asked.
"Of course!"
at that moment a sudden pain flashed through my whole body. "Aaagh, what are you doing!?" I was on the ground in pain. I couldn't hear anything over the high pitch in my ears, but I know that I must have been screaming.
"Please try to calm down your making this harder for me to complete!" I couldn't respond I was in such agony. I closed my eyes and blacked out.

When I awoke I saw Mew.
"What the hell was that!?" I screamed.
"It's all done." Mew said.
"What's all done?" I said through clenched teeth.
"You still haven't noticed? Look at yourself!" he laughed.
"What are you talki-"
I couldn't finish when I looked down I didn't see my body anymore, what I saw was a much smaller body covered in blue and black fur. I looked for my hands but they were gone, they had been replaced by paws! I felt around my head my nose was now a muzzle my hair was gone but I had two dreadlocks on the sides of my head. I turned around and sure enough, I had a long blue tail! I then noticed that I didn't have any ears I felt all around until I found them. They were on top of my head, they were little soft pointy ears.
"What the… what is this?" I said weakly.
"That would be your new body." it paused, "or should I say your new life?"
I couldn't believe it I was a…a…uhh… what the hell was I?
"I can tell you're confused, in case you don't recognize yourself you are now a riolu, and let me add that it wasn't easy to make either! What with the breakdown of your DNA and, well much more complicated things that I don't expect you to understand."
All I could say was, "Wow…" Mew must have been proud of itself because it continued,
"I made it where you will be able to keep your human speech along with your mental speech and yes, you will be able to speak with other Pokémon." It said, satisfied with its work.
"You could've at least told me what you were gonna do! I was terrified!" I shouted.
It looked really disappointed.  I really didn't want to hurt its feelings, "Look, I'm sorry I got upset it's just this a bit of a shock for me."
Mew smiled,"I understand."
I pondered my new body, it really wasn't so bad. In fact this may be exactly what I've needed! Of course, it's so obvious! I may not have known it before but this exactly what I needed.
"I can't begin to thank you enough!" I said.
"It really wasn't too hard, you know, after you blacked out."He laughed, although I could only chuckle nervously.. Then suddenly I remembered,
"Oh crap! I left my Pokémon back in the forest! I must've been here for hours!I really wanted to thank Mew further but by now my Pokémon were probably worried sick!"
Mew seemed to understand, "Goodbye and thank you for the conversation."
I had an idea,"Come with me! You could travel the world with us!"
Mew laughed really hard this time, "Sorry but I have jobs to do on this planet that you couldn't even begin to comprehend, but thanks just the same."

We parted ways and I headed back to the camp I had made last night. All of my Pokémon were awake and apparently worried. I began to approach them when Umbreon cut me off.
"What do you want? If you can't tell, we're a little busy!"
I could tell that he was agitated. "It's me."
Apparently it was all that needed to be said because they all looked up at me.
"That voice…" said Umbreon.
It all happened so fast I was knocked over before I could blink. I had four Pokémon on top of me almost instantly!
"What happened?"
"Are you hurt?"
"When did this happen?"
"This is impossible!"
With all of them on top of me it was getting hard to breath, considering they were all bigger than me now! I was able to calm them down long enough to explain my story.
Afterwards they didn't have much to say until Buizel asked," So what are you going to do now?"
"I guess I've gotta go home." I replied.
"Why?" asked Typhlosion.
"Because in case you've all forgotten I told Drake that I would be there when he got his first Pokémon. I was going to leave in a couple of weeks, but I'll have to leave soon considering it'll be impossible for me to buy a plane ticket." I said.
We all laughed.

I'm home!

After three months of traveling on foot, sneaking onto a boat, and avoiding trainers, I had finally made it! I could see my house now. It was a two story house with at about two acres of yard. It was a pleasant place to live, being two miles from the city. I was in front of the door with all of my Pokémon behind me I thought of what to say. I must have stood there for a while because Espeon finally said, "What are you waiting for?"
I sighed, "I know, I know... it's been nearly two years since I was last here and now when I do return it's like this."
I couldn't help but look at my tail when I said this. I couldn't wait anymore I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. I heard footsteps approach the door then my mom opened the door. She gasped a little, but she quickly recognized everyone, everyone except for me.
"You're all Nathan's Pokémon right? But then who are you? Did he catch you recently?" she looked at me.
I just said it. "It's me Nathan, Mom!" She staggered a bit.
"How did you just talk!? And what did you just say?"
I laughed a little, "Surprise!"
She couldn't believe it, though I couldn't blame her, it's not every day your son becomes a Pokémon! To make a long story short it took about three hours to convince everyone in my family that I really was me, and even longer to get my mom to stop crying.

Now what?

Everyone finally accepted that I was a riolu from now on. My mom was not impressed.
"You were the Pokémon champion! You could have had a great life!" she would constantly remind me. But even she soon accepted the truth.
I spent most days in my room; I had recently acquired a habit of meditating. At first when one of my family members asked me a question I almost always responded with poke talk first, and I would usually get an annoyed or confused look. Now I spent a lot of time sitting by the windows looking at the route that lead through the forest just outside of town. I desperately wanted to leave the house and start an adventure. I had made a plan for leaving; I decided that I would leave with Drake when he started his quest. Now all I had to do was convince him.


New friend.

Drake should have been back by now from getting his first Pokémon.I was really excited for him. That's when he came inside. He seemed to be out of breath, who could blame him it's four miles there and back!
"So which one did you get?" we all asked at once.
He opened the poke ball to reveal a Treecko! It was a good choice, though I would have gone with the fire type, but I wasn't about to rain on his parade.
"So I suspect you'll be leaving to go on your journey then?" asked my mother.
"Yeah today actually, if you guys don't mind." He said.  We all quickly responded with "no problems", "don't worries", and "sure things".
I thought that I'd have more time to ask but I to make it quick. I found my brother packing in his room.
"Uhh… hey Drake?" I asked.
"Yeah?" he replied.
"Well I… umm… I was wondering…"
"Yeah?" he asked.
"It's just you're going on your journey and all and I thought…that I might…go with you." I looked at him hopefully.
"I don't know…" he started.
" Don't worry I won't get in the way or anything I'll just take Typhlosion with me." "What about your other Pokémon?" he asked.
"Somebody has to keep mom and dad company while we're gone." I replied.
"I guess it couldn't hurt to bring you along… but I don't want you or Typhlosion trying to help me with battles!" he said seriously.
"No problem I'll just be along for the ride." I said.
"Why are you bringing Typhlosion though?" he asked.
"Someone's gotta watch out for me, don't they?" I replied.  
He laughed, "I guess so."
I hadn't noticed the treecko standing on the bed.
"Umm… hi." I said.
"Hello what's your name?" It answered.
"My names Nathan, yours?" I asked.
"Mines Treecko." It said.
"What are you guys saying to each other?" my brother asked.
"Oh right!" I said in English this time, "We were just getting each other's names." I told him. Now it was Treecko who was confused.
"How do you know how to speak like him?" It said awestruck. So I told my story for what seemed like the hundredth time.
"That's incredible!" it yelled.
"Well it seems you two are friends, so I guess I have to let you come with me now." My brother laughed.

It was nearly night so my brother got into bed and brought his treecko back into its poke ball. I didn't sleep. I never slept during the night. I usually slept for about six hours during the day and stayed awake for the rest of the day and all of the night. My mom was concerned but I just told her that I was now nocturnal, even if that wasn't really true. Although, I personally preferred the night life myself. So I left the house and went into the backyard where I would usually meditate for hours on end. It was cold this night, which was good. I absolutely hated the heat.As I sat there feeling a few cold breezes pass through my fur I closed my eyes and tried to exercise my aura. It was hard to focus my aura at first. At first everything just came as a blur that barely resembled what I was trying to see, but now I able to see things that were at least across the road.I decided that I would be pretty good with this stuff in a few months. It had been awhile before I could tell that the sun was coming up.
"I'd better get back to the house. Drakes so eager he'll probably be getting ready to leave in about a half hour." I said to myself. I got up and walked back to the house.

First steps.

We had been walking for about four and a half hours now and I was getting tired. I took the poke ball off his belt that I knew contained my Typhlosion. I pushed the button releasing him. My brother asked me why I released him. I climbed on to his back, laid down, and fell asleep.

-Hi it's me Drake I'll be talking for a little while now.-

As we traveled I noticed a few trainers on the road, "They must be trying to fight new trainers." I said.
It was by accident but I got the attention of one of the trainers. I was about to walk away but it was too late he had already released his Totodile.
"This won't be too hard." I thought. I could see that he only had one poke ball. I also saw that his only Pokémon was water typed giving me the advantage. I released Treecko from his poke ball. Treecko saw the other Pokémon and looked at me for a moment, looked back at his opponent ant then nodded his head.

It was my first battle and my first loss.
While my treecko had a type advantage he still hadn't learned any grass-type moves yet. The Totodile, on the other hand, had already learned headbutt! I gave him a little money for the battle, not that I had much, and finally made it through the forest to a small town with a poke center. By the time the nurse had taken Treecko and began healing him Nathan woke up.
"Why are we in a Pokémon center? Did something happen to me?" He examined himself.
I couldn't help but laugh. I was about to explain when I received my treecko back.I looked nervously at Nathan.I could tell he was holding back his laughter, but he was doing a pretty poor job of it.
He couldn't help himself,"You lost already?" he laughed.
"It was my first battle! Okay?"
He was about to comment further when the nurse noticed him.
"Oh did he need to be healed too?" she asked.
I had a great idea for revenge.
"Uhh… no but I just caught him recently and I think he may need to be examined, you know in case of diseases. Oh, I nearly forgot! He hasn't had his shots yet either!"
Nathan had gone from mad laughter to shocked silence…

It's me Nathan again; it's time for my point of view!

The nurse was approaching! I looked at my brother, at the nurse, then back at my brother,
"God I hate you!" I whispered.
The nurse didn't seem to notice. "We'll just bring you to the examination room for your checkup, okay?" The nurse said cheerfully.
She picked me up and as she carried me away I looked back to find my brother and Typhlosion rolling on the floor laughing.
"I have to get them back for this!" I told myself.
The nurse then placed me on the table and put her stethoscope on my chest.
"Inhale…exhale…hmm… good heartbeat…no large amounts of shedding." She said as she rubbed my head.
"Well, you're perfectly healthy, have you been eating lots of berries?" she asked.
This was such an awkward situation all I could do was nod my head.
"All that's left now is your shots." She smiled.
My eyes widened.
"I'll be right back." She left. It was a couple minutes before she returned. "Your trainer told me to tell you that he will be waiting outside." she said.
She held several syringes in her hands.
"I assure you this won't hurt too much."
I found little comfort in her words. It was about ten minutes till I was finally out of there. As I went out the front doors I saw my brother and Typhlosion waiting nearby. When he saw me his face immediately brightened.
He came over to me and smiled, "So how'd it go?" he laughed. I responded with a growl."I'm gonna kill you!" I screamed and I jumped up and kicked him in the face. I smiled but only a second before I was tackled by Drake.
"Grr! You're such an ass!" I yelled.
"It was bad enough that I lost! You didn't have to make fun of me!" he yelled back.
We must have fought for an hour…

Let's not fight.

I was sitting on Typhlosion's back and I was exhausted! Typhlosion had such a warm body that it was hard not to fall asleep, but I was too scared to. We hadn't said anything to each other after that police officer had split us apart. Neither of us slept the night before. We didn't trust each other enough; we were both scared that one would have their revenge as soon as the other fell asleep. I had gotten no sleep for nearly twenty-four hours. I had spent all night punching a tree, while my brother had been chopping away at a stick with his pocketknife.
I thought he was gonna fall asleep first at one point, but he just gave me an evil smile and pulled an energy drink out of his backpack. Surely that was cheating! Needless to say it was a rough night for both of us. I was so tired! I could tell he was fading too, he had just finished his last energy drink. I looked at him and he noticed.
"What?" he said angrily.
I gave up. "Drake I can't keep this up! I'm sorry I made fun of you and beat you up in front of-"I tried to finish.
"You didn't beat me up! I totally won that fight!" he interrupted.
"Fine you won! Please, can we stop this whole fight now?" I didn't care what it took, even if I did have to swallow my pride!
He hesitated. "Fine," he forced a smile, "No more fighting for us okay?" he said. "Agreed!" I replied. We shook hands/paws.
"So what should we do now?" he asked.

Drake's POV

I turned towards Nathan for a response but he was already asleep.
"Typical." I said. "You got enough room for two?" I asked Typhlosion.
Typhlosion groaned.
"Guess not." I threw out a blanket, fell down, and went to sleep.