Chapter Text
I woke slowly to the feeling of hot sun on my skin. The gentle growing warmth filled me with a soft peace I didn’t know I had been missing. I couldn't remember the last time I had fallen asleep in the sun, when I had felt this relaxed at all. Then the sound of waves crashing over the sand filtered through. Warm water lapped at my legs.
I'm at the beach. The thought made me smile. I hadn't made the time to go to the beach in years. Fluorescent office lights and soft dim lighting, monitor glow and phone screen, that's the only light I had seen for as long as I could remember.
It was pleasant until I realised I was soaked through. The discomfort brought with it a feeling of exhaustion. Sand clung to my wet clothes, making them feel rough against my skin. The feeling of warmth and peace leeched out of me into the sand beneath.
I tried to sit up and a wave of nausea washed over me. With a gasp of shock I hust managed to turn to the side before I coughed up thick salty seawater. I was stuck hacking and retching for a few seconds. Now my mouth tasted of salt, disgusting, I needed something cool and sweet to clear the taste.
How had I ended up here? Had I drowned? How many people have just seen me nearly throw up on their beach? I didn't dare look round, I could feel the accusing eyes drilling into me.
I rubbed the gritty sand from my eyes and steeled myself before taking a look around. Beautiful stark white sand shone back at me as far as I could see to my left and right. Ahead of me was clear crystal sea water with gentle soft waves. Heavy laden palms grew out over the beach from a bank of green further inland behind me.
It was the type of scene you saw in adverts and knew you wouldn’t be able to visit without at least a six figure salary. Certainly not the type of beach I could ever afford to wake up on hungover. It was deserted, I was the only person in sight.
At least nobody had seen me retch.
Seagulls called over the sound of the water, crabs were waddling around in the surf. It was paradise, but I felt like crap.
How the hell did I get here? Did I go on holiday and forget? An expensive holiday I couldn't remember? I tried to recall something, anything from the last 24 hours, but my memory was fuzzy. Partner meeting on Thursday, boardgames on Friday, (rock and roll!). Nothing about a holiday.
I concentrated and an image floated into my mind. A dark room lit by a monitor. My cosy chair. Sore tired limbs and a brain that was full of fog from making far too many decisions. Sprites on the screen. A Pokemon ROM maybe? It had definitely been a long day, I could still feel the weariness.
Trying harder to recall more threatened to bring back the nausea. So I pushed it down. Work out where I am, get some water, then I can think about how I got here. One step at a time.
Shit, what if I had hit my head? Concussions were bad right? What if I was stuck on a beach with a head injury and nobody to help?
My clothing was soaked and sandy, but drying rapidly in the heat. Jeans, a t-shirt and a dark hoodie. Not really beach attire. The boots on my feet certainly weren’t. They were full of water, which didn't bode well for the state of my feet if I had to walk anywhere.
I hadn’t dressed for the beach, so clearly I wasn't expecting to wake up on one. I checked my pockets, no wallet, no phone, no keys. That shot a spike of fear through me and woke me up a little more.
Was that it? Robbed and dumped?
That made me laugh, a little anxious bubble escaping my lips. What sort of thieves dump their victims on a perfect beach like this?
I took a breath and ran my hand through my shaggy hair. The hand was wet and sandy, my hair was laced with dry salt. It felt horrible, but it made me feel a little more grounded too.
Movement caught my eye, and I sat up straighter, straining to focus on it. Perspective shifted as my blurry vision cleared. It was a red crab. One of the ones I had thought was far away.
My breath caught in my throat as I realised it wasn't far away, it was huge! Easily almost two feet tall. I had never seen a crab so big, it hulked in its shell, large claws held high as it stepped through the driftwood. Now that it was approaching me, I started to feel a little knot of concern in the depths of my chest.
My mind filled with images of those claws closing on my limbs, crushing them. I pulled in my legs involuntarily. Crabs don't attack people. But… What if?
Something about it was familiar too. Spikes on its head, two heavy claws, large eyes. Six stubby little legs that came to sharp points. A lobster-like tail.
The silhouette unlocked a memory.
Corphish.
Water-type. Crustacean Pokemon. Gen 3. Base stats: Low HP, high Attack, decent Defense.
I shook my head, pinging my nausea. Of all the things to recall right now.
“Damn, I must have really hit my head if I am seeing Corphish on the beach…” I said to myself.
My voice was raspy, hoarse and very croaky, like I had been out on a bender and not had water for a couple of days.
The ‘Corphish’ paused for a second when I spoke, appraising me warily before rushing in, clacking its claws and grabbing at my wet jeans.
“Hey! Asshole! Leave me alone!”
I kicked it, intending to knock it aside and was shocked when my foot connected with the solid creature. It didn’t shift an inch, and my leg jarred uncomfortably. It was like kicking a rock. If it wasn't for the heavy boots I would have probably cracked a toe.
It replied to my kick by whacking my leg with a claw, and I cried out in pain as it connected. It was like getting hit with a hammer.
I just kicked a Pokemon, this has to be a dream.
With a mighty tug against its grip I tried to free my jeans. The wet fabric started to tear and I winced. It had that awful crab like trait of constant busy movement, its legs shifted continually which triggered something primal in me. I had to get away.
Once again I tried to free my jeans from its grip, but it was incredibly strong. I felt like I was fighting a boulder. There was a moment, while I pushed and pulled against the giant crab, where my brain showed me an image of this conflict.
There I was sitting in the surf on the beach, soaking wet, fighting over a pair of trousers with a
Pokemon…
It was a ridiculous sight.
“Reason for absence - Attacked by Wild Pokemon” probably wasn’t going to go down well in my quarterly performance report.
That was the moment things got terrifying. Clearly fed up with me tugging, It suddenly swung again, faster than I could see. The strike wasn’t as strong but it impacted my leg in a loud crack that made me cry out again.
That hurt way too much for this to be a dream.
In panic, I scuttled backwards away from it, jeans finally giving up the ghost and ripping with a loud tearing noise as I wrenched them from the other claw. I scrambled up the beach and slammed into something solid with a heavy thunk. A rock?
No, not a rock.
It shifted when I hit it. Looking back and up another Corphish loomed over me, so close I could see the barnacles on its shell and the resealed crack down its side where something had managed to shatter it in the past. This one was huge, and it loomed over me like a mountain on the beach.
It swung a massive weighty claw down at me and I only just managed to duck it by throwing myself to the side into a dune. I didn't have the forethought to close my mouth, gasping from the shot of fear and ended up with a mouthful of expensive sand. I spat it out in gritty lumps, trying to keep track of my new nemesis.
Sharp pointed feet danced a staccato beat around me as it moved to take a second swing, and down by the water I could see the other one coming up to join in.
"Oh fuck, I am about to get killed by Pokemon!”
The words slipped from my sand crusted lips before I could think. The mix of fear, adrenaline and absurdity made me laugh again. About to die, crushed by these red crabs, I felt more alive than I had in years.
When was the last time I felt ANYTHING this real?
I rolled out of another attack as the two closed in.
My leg was agony, I couldn’t risk trying to stand while the sharp feet clattered around me, while the heavy claws smashed into the sand again and again. My breath was coming faster and faster, my heart hammering.
THWIP-THWIP-THWIP
Wings cutting through air. The crabs hesitated.
Something crashed down in the sand in front of me, a fluttering mess of feathers and kicked up sand. The Corphish down the beach staggered and tried to cover its eyes, as did I, but the new arrival didn’t hesitate. It ducked under the Crabhammer of the closer Pokemon, rolling under it and standing in one smooth movement. As it rose it brought up what looked like a sword, and used it to deflect a second blow, not stopping it but redirecting it up and away.
My vision cleared, that wasn’t a sword. It was a leek. The pokemon that had flown into my rescue was a duck. A Farfetch’d.
It spun, kicking up more sand with yellow webbed feet, bringing its sword up and under the hurried guard of the Corphish, striking it one-two-three times in quick succession and driving it back.
Sand-Attack. Fury Cutter. I knew the moves it was making. Years of mainstream games, romhacks, card games. It was familiar but so different at the same time.
This wasn’t turn based, there wasn’t time for the Pokemon to think. They were fighting in the moment, on instinct.
The Farfetch’d’s momentum was good, keeping its foe off balance with repeated strikes and interrupts, building up the damage on the Fury Cutter.
The Corphish hissed in frustration, bubbles erupting from its mouth at speed and shooting for the duck. They hit sand, Farfetch’d wasn’t there anymore, it gracefully slipped through the attack, bringing the leek around whacking the Corphish hard on the leg.
With another loud hiss the Corphish fell as the leg cracked, a thick rotten smell filled the air and an orange liquid oozed from the wound. Farfetch’d stepped back, glanced back at me and we made eye contact.
I felt a flash of connection. Why was it doing this? Wild Pokemon were supposed to be feral, but this one had stepped in, taken a risk for me. When was the last time anyone had taken a risk for me? Then, with a guilty flash, the second thought followed: When was the last time I had taken a risk for anyone?
Something inside me swelled. I pushed myself to my feet with a pained grunt and the pokemon nodded.
Then it looked back as another two crabs swarmed out of the sea. Four against one, those odds made me feel sick. Having been bullied for years as a child I couldn’t stand to see it as an adult, and here was my protector being ganged up on.
I looked around the beach, a broken pier, a ruined sign, there was a shipwreck a little further down and driftwood scattered everywhere.
“Fuck it. You aren’t doing this alone buddy.” I said it more to myself and I saw the Farfetch’d’s stance shift. Chest a little higher, shoulders a little further back. Now that I was looking, it was favoring one of his wings. Was it injured?
I reached down, grabbed a piece of wood. It was weathered, the salt crusting the wood cut my hand, but it was real, heavy and solid. It felt good in my grip, even with the trickle of blood.
It should have been a charge but my leg still hurt too much to put a lot of weight on it, so with a hobble and a scream, I raised my stick and raced for the approaching crabs.