The first thing I remember is the cold.
Not the gentle kind that comes with winter mornings, but a biting, bone-deep chill that made my whole body tremble.
Something thick and slimy clung to me, cold and wet against my skin—or at least I thought it was skin.
For a long moment I just lay there in the dirt, trying to breathe through the shock. The air smelled strange. Earthy. Damp. Wild.
When I finally managed to move, something cracked beneath me.
I flinched and pushed myself upright—only to freeze as I looked down.
Eggshells.
They were scattered everywhere around me, pale fragments littering the ground like someone had dropped a dozen boiled eggs and smashed them all at once. Jagged pieces stuck to the strange slime coating my body, and for a second my brain refused to process what I was seeing.
My first thought was absurd.
What the.. hell?
That made no sense. People didn't hatch.
A sudden breeze cut through the trees and I shivered violently. Instinctively, I lifted a hand to wipe the slime from my face—
—and stared.
That was not a hand.
Small.
Blue.
Fur covered.
A black paw pad sat squarely in the center, with tiny claws at the tips of fingers that were definitely not human.
My breath caught in my throat.
Slowly—very slowly—I raised the other one.
Another paw.
My heart started hammering.
"This… this isn't funny," I tried to say.
What came out instead was a small, confused sound.
"Ri…?"
My eyes widened.
'What the fuck?!'
My head started spinning almost immediately. I tried again, forcing the words toward my mouth the way I always had before.
"I—"
"Rrri… ro…!"
The noise that escaped sounded like the confused squeak of a broken toy.
Panic flooded my chest.
My brain worked just fine. I could think the words perfectly. I knew exactly what I wanted to say.
But my mouth refused to cooperate.
It felt like my vocal cords simply didn't know how to form the sounds. Every attempt came out as some pathetic little chirp or squeak.
"Ri… riolu…?"
The unfamiliar word slipped out before I even realized it.
I froze.
Where the hell had that come from?
My body felt wrong in other ways too. My limbs were short and awkward, and when I tried to push myself upright my balance immediately failed. I tipped sideways and landed back in the dirt with a soft thump, more eggshells crunching under me.
Great.
Fantastic.
I was naked, covered in slime, surrounded by what looked like the remains of an egg, and apparently incapable of speaking like a normal human being.
My breathing quickened as I stared down at the small blue paws in front of me.
"…Okay," I thought desperately. "Okay. Don't panic."
Which, of course, only made the panic worse.
Carefully, awkwardly, I tried again to sit up.
This time I managed it—though it felt less like sitting and more like a clumsy balancing act.
My body wobbled as if it didn't quite remember how gravity worked yet.
Every movement felt unfamiliar.
Muscles flexed in places I didn't remember having muscles.
Something behind me twitched.
I froze again.
Slowly, I turned my head—and caught sight of a short blue tail swaying uncertainly through the air behind me.
My stomach dropped.
"…That can't be mine…. What the hell is happening to me!" Or really What happened to me?
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to think. Trying to rewind my memory.
I swore I had just been at home.
Sitting on the couch.
My sister had been pacing around the living room, talking a mile a minute like she always did whenever she had something on her mind.
"He smiled at me today."
"You should've seen it."
"God, he's so cute."
She had been going on and on about her best friend again.
I remember leaning back with a sigh, half listening while she kept rambling about how perfect he was.
I had just opened my mouth to respond—
—and then…
Nothing.
No flash of light.
No weird portal.
No dramatic anime nonsense.
Just—
Here.
My eyes slowly opened again.
The forest around me stretched tall and unfamiliar. Thick trees climbed toward the sky, their branches forming a shifting canopy overhead. Pale morning light filtered through the leaves, and the air smelled damp and earthy.
Birdlike cries echoed somewhere in the distance.
Leaves rustled in the breeze.
The ground beneath me was soft dirt mixed with grass and broken pieces of eggshells.
Eggshells.
I hatched.
The thought once more sent a wave of dizziness through me.
"Rrr… ri…"
My voice cracked into another useless squeak.
"Great," I muttered—at least, I tried to.
My body wobbled as I attempted to stand.
Immediately, my legs buckled.
"Ri!"
I collapsed back into the dirt with a soft thud.
Okay.
Okay okay okay.
Don't panic.
Step one: stand up.
That seemed like a reasonable goal.
Planting my small blue paws against the ground, I pushed upward again. My limbs trembled as I lifted myself, and for a brief moment I managed to balance.
Everything felt wrong.
My legs bent differently than I expected, and my center of gravity sat much lower than it should have. My tail swayed behind me like a counterweight I didn't remember ordering. Hell, did I even order this at all? I wondered, as if god did some sort of race change catering.
I took a cautious step forward.
My foot landed.
My other leg tried to follow—
—and I tipped sideways again.
"Ri!"
Down I went.
Flat on my face.
Leaves puffed into the air around me.
For a moment I just lay there, staring at the dirt.
…Baby steps.
Slowly, stubbornly, I pushed myself upright again.
One paw forward.
Pause.
Balance.
Then the other.
It was clumsy. Awkward. My whole body wobbled like a toddler trying to walk for the first time.
But this time—
I didn't fall.
I stood there in the quiet forest, breathing hard, and—
"Pfft! Hahahaha!"
Sharp laughter suddenly cut through the trees.
The sound startled me so badly my legs gave out, and I dropped straight onto my backside with an undignified thump.
More laughter followed, louder this time.
"Oh wow," the voice wheezed between snickers. "That was even better the second time."
I whipped my head toward the sound.
Perched on a low rock a few feet away was a small blue creature I hadn't noticed before. It had four legs, large ears tipped in black, and a long tail ending in a yellow star that swayed lazily behind it.
Bright golden eyes sparkled with amusement as it watched me.
For a moment my brain stalled.
A cat…?
No.
Not a cat.
My stomach tightened.
A lion cub…?
No.
Something far more familiar.
My eyes widened.
A blue body… black ears… star-shaped tail…
Is that a… Pokémon…?
Does that mean—
"Oh man, I can't breathe," the creature laughed, clutching its stomach with one paw. "You looked like a newborn Bidoof trying to ice skate."
The words snapped me out of my spiraling thoughts.
"You think that was funny?!" I shot back, scrambling upright again.
The little Pokémon grinned shamelessly.
"Very."
He hopped down from the rock with an easy flick of his tail and padded closer, circling me once like he was inspecting something weird he'd found in the woods.
Up close, there was no mistaking it now.
A Shinx.
My brain immediately began racing.
If that's a Shinx…
Then where the hell am—
"You're doing it wrong."
I blinked.
"What?"
"Standing," the Shinx said casually. "You're doing it wrong."
My eye twitched.
"I literally just learned how to do it five seconds ago!"
"Well yeah," he said, shrugging. "That's obvious."
He gestured toward my still-wobbling legs.
"Most hatchlings can walk immediately."
I stiffened.
"Well maybe I'm not most hatchlings."
"Clearly."
The Shinx plopped down on his haunches in front of me, still wearing that smug grin.
For a moment he just stared.
Then he stuck out a paw.
"Name's Miro."
I hesitated.
"Miro?"
"Yeah," he said with a small shrug. "Heard humans using names for each other a while back. Figured it was a good idea."
His star-shaped tail flicked lazily behind him.
"So I picked one."
He tilted his head slightly.
"You got one? Oh what am I saying—you were just born! Weren't ya?" the Shinx named Miro lamented.
"Let's see… considering you're new to this world, and absolutely terrible at walking…" he tapped his chin with exaggerated thought. "…let's call youuu… Rookie!"
Miro flashed a toothy grin, clearly proud of himself.
I stared at him.
Rookie…?
"Hey!" I protested. "I'm not—"
My attempt to stand taller immediately betrayed me.
One step forward.
A wobble.
My back legs slid awkwardly and I nearly pitched forward again before scrambling to catch myself.
Miro watched the entire thing in silence.
Then he slowly sat down.
"…Yep," he said with absolute confidence. "Rookie."
My ears flattened.
Okay maybe the name fits a little.
"Look," I muttered, trying to steady myself again. "I just need a second to figure this out."
"You've had several seconds," Miro replied dryly.
He stood and padded closer, circling me once.
Not mockingly this time.
More like he was studying something.
"You're leaning wrong," he said.
"What?"
"Your weight."
He reached out with a paw and nudged one of my back legs slightly outward.
"Spread those a bit."
I blinked at him.
"…Why?"
"Because you keep tipping over."
"…Fair point."
I shifted my stance the way he showed me.
My legs wobbled at first.
But this time I didn't immediately lose my balance.
Miro's tail flicked.
"Better."
"You sound very confident for someone who just met me."
He shrugged.
"Walking's easy."
"Well excuse me for not mastering it in thirty seconds!"
Miro snorted.
"Most hatchlings do."
My eye twitched.
"Great."
He hopped lightly onto the same rock he'd been sitting on earlier and looked down at me.
"Try again," he said.
"Forward this time."
I hesitated.
Then lifted one paw.
Slowly.
Carefully.
I placed it in front of me.
My body wobbled.
My tail swung wildly behind me like it had a mind of its own.
But—
I didn't fall.
"…Huh," I murmured.
"Don't celebrate yet," Miro said.
I took another step.
Then another.
Clumsy.
Slow.
But still upright.
A strange feeling bubbled up in my chest.
I'm doing it.
I took one more step—
—and immediately tripped over a root sticking out of the dirt.
"WHOA—!"
I tumbled forward into the grass.
There was a moment of silence.
Then—
"Pffft."
I looked up just in time to see Miro trying—and failing—not to laugh.
"You were doing so well," he said.
"Shut up."
He hopped down from the rock again and padded over.
This time when he circled me, his expression looked less amused and more thoughtful.
"…You're weird," he decided.
"Thanks."
"No seriously."
He gestured vaguely at me.
"You move like someone who knows how to walk."
"…I do."
"But also like someone who doesn't."
"…Also accurate."
Miro tilted his head, clearly trying to puzzle that out.
After a moment he just shrugged.
"Whatever."
He flicked his tail toward the forest path.
"Come on, Rookie."
"Where are we going?"
"Walking practice."
He started trotting away without waiting.
After a few steps he glanced back.
"You coming?"
I pushed myself upright again, wobbling slightly.
"…I might fall."
"Probably."
"…You're not helping."
Miro grinned.
"You'll figure it out."
He flicked his tail once more and started walking again.
"…Eventually."