Chapter 1

William’s Office

The wind howled outside the walls of my house. The snow had been piling up for a while now with the blizzard that had been in town for a few days. Despite this, inside was warm, and I had almost finished my newest project.

I had found an old gameboy at a thrift store, along with some other cartridges and components to keep me entertained through the storm. The old corroded circuitry was currently in the light of my desk lamp, being repaired. The cartridges were in various states of decay, save one shiny Pokemon game. This was quite a find as well, being in superb condition.

A space heater sat in the corner, near the television. I had kept both on as comforting background noise, as well as information on the outlook of the storm.

The weather station was doing a recap of the news. Notifications about power outages were displayed on the screen as well. Straining my ears to hear, I rise to turn up the volume. The wind rattling the windows and space heater rattling had started to drown out the quieted speakers.

Behind my back, the discarded game cartridge adopted an iridescent sheen. A soft glow came from it, unnoticed by me.

Sitting back in my swiveling chair, I pull the soldering iron from its sheath and the next wire from a drawer.

“Reports of snow piling up in front of windows and doors have been flooding in from across the county,” The news anchor exclaims.

Finishing off the connection with a neat point, I tin the end of the iron and sheath it again. I had started to get a bit hungry. Something warm was in order to soothe my uneasiness. With a snack in mind, I get up and reach for the plug to the soldering iron.

Right as my hand leaves my side, the power flickers, and the lights sputter. A jolt of surprise lances through me as the power then cuts out completely.

The battery-powered desk lamp provides a sufficient glow to see. So does the trio of blinking lights in the corner.

Wait…

Narrowing my eyes, I scrutinize the blinking lights. Red, green, yellow, and over again. They seemed familiar, almost hypnotic. Unplugging the iron, I take a step away from the eerie visitor.

With my movement, the blinking lights begin to move closer.

It’s just a dream. It’s just a dream, I think uneasily as the lights near. Not a dream, not a dream, notadreamnotadream, oh shit! I start panicking as the lights speed forwards suddenly.

With a rushing and twisting feeling, everything fades to white.

Oo~h, what a headache, I groan inwardly and try to get up.

Sunlight streams through my eyelids and the rustling of leaves can be heard. Forest sounds echo and chirp. Noticing the grass beneath me, I try to understand why I am not back in my bed at home. A light breeze brushes my back and I realize I no longer have my jacket, or any clothing for that matter. My brain's answer to all of this?

Very useful, brain.

After a quick self-assessment, I open my eyes. Moreover, I try to, my eyelids feel far too heavy to lift. Lifting my aching head, I slowly open my eyes and let them adjust to the light. The colors of the forest are in vivid technicolor. Everything has a cartoonish tint.

Looking down, I push myself to a sitting position. Something feels… off. I feel shorter than usual. I also notice my hands are completely numb. Doing another self-assessment, I realize what was wrong. A look down confirms it. No wonder I felt shorter, my body was the chibi-like one of the Pokemon Elgyem. Where my fingers once were, hypnotizing lights flicker softly. I can only guess my once-hazel eyes are now pale green as well.

Denying the fact that there was screaming would be unreasonable. There were many bouts of confused screaming. I am sure this reaction was perfectly reasonable for my situation.

After my small begin to ache, I take stock of the situation with a clearer mind. It seems to be around mid-afternoon, and a stream can be heard nearby. I realize that hunger from earlier is still present. However, movement of any kind is required to sate said hunger. My first attempt at walking did not go as planned. Standing on my stubby legs, I sway a bit and wave my arms comically. My face meets the ground soon afterwards as I grumble.

Struggling to a sitting position once more, I find a center of balance and will myself forwards. My foot hits a root and I’m tumbling through the air once again. I extend my arms to catch myself, but the ground never comes. My feet are still touching the ground, but I have stopped my fall with levitation of some sort. Lifting a foot, I find that the other follows with little resistance. Kicking off of the ground, I flip in place and level out.

How am I doing this? I wonder as I slowly bob in place. Thinking, I notice a foreign pressure coming from the back of my head. With an attempt, I scrunch my eyes will myself forwards. The result is shooting forwards with a whoosh of air.

"Woah! Woah!" I yell and lose my concentration.

I immediately slow and level out once again. This was going to take some getting used to.

After a few collisions with trees, I find that I have reached the edge of a clearing. An old fire pit of rocks can be seen half-buried in the ground, that means sentient life! A faint trail can be seen as well. Which appears to be leading away from a cave a ways back.

I still have not found food, and my hunger is worse. Looking around me, I find a convenient bush with what look like blueberries hanging from lower branches. I reach out and try to grab one, my arm bumps it and the berry falls.

"Perfect," I mutter to myself and touch town to grab it.

With repeated failures, my frustration grows until I kick off of the ground once more and make an angry gesture at the berry. The air ripples and juice flies everywhere as the offending fruit is squished. Shaking my head in disbelief, I try to understand, and possibly replicate this psychic power.

Flexing the same muscle that I used to levitate, I thrust my arm forwards once again and the bush is pushed back. Berries drop to the ground and I reach down, trying to bend the same ability for picking them up. Fruit flies skywards as I try to reign in control. Finally, I manage to float a berry in front of my outstretched arm. I notice that the fruit has a faint green outline that pulses softly. I snatch the foodstuff from the air with a petulant huff.

One berry seemed to be sufficient for something of my size. Since I don't appear to have a mouth, I simply hold the fruit to my face. With a faint noise, the berry seems to be absorbed into the area where my mouth would be. Questioning the logic of this will have to be saved for later when I have someplace safe to sleep.

Setting off down the darkening path, I hope to find something soon.

Author's Note

I tried to slow this opening chapter down to a reasonable point. Even with a delay getting this out, I was able to have it ready earlier than expected.

If any mistakes are found, make sure to notify me.

Thank you for reading, the next update will come out reasonably soon.

Addendum: Edited to fix spelling, continuity, and grammatical errors.