I was surprised and excited! After all this time of searching, I had finally gotten a job! With most of the businesses in my town already well established, not many of them needed new hires… at least not ones who were basically still kids.
“Make sure to show up here by 10:30 AM tomorrow, not a second later!”, said the interviewer on the phone, who called to say I was accepted.
“Yes sir! I look forward to working there!” I replied. ...but I’m looking forward to that paycheck even more, hehe I thought. I was sure most employees felt the same way.
That night I went to bed, I was so excited I could barely sleep. My Dedenne came up to cuddle and sleep with me. “I’m finally going to earn money, and then I can finally get you that new wheel!”
“Dedenne~” He replied softly. I could see in his eyes as he lied down on me. Finally, I was able to get to sleep. Later I was awakened by an odd feeling, it felt like my nose was being tapped… I opened my eyes, Dedenne was booping my nose to wake me up, like he often did.
“Ah, good morning Dedenne! You hungry?” I went to the kitchen as he followed along. When I went to get breakfast for us, I noticed the clock. “It’s already nine-thirty?! I have to get ready for work!” Wanting to be early for my first day, I ate breakfast and got ready in a hurry. After I gave Dedenne a goodbye pet and told him I’d be back later, I hurried over to my new job.

It was an ordinary-looking warehouse and was very old. I remember that it had been abandoned for a while, until these new people moved into it and announced they were hiring. I was honestly unsure of what they did… but so was everyone else I could find. Fueled by excitement, I jogged inside and went to the front desk of the manager’s office, where I was told to report to. A man in a suit sat inside, more well dressed than I expected for someone who worked in a warehouse. “Ah, come in? You must be Edward right, he was are only new hire for today.”, he explained.
“Yes, I am,” I replied. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”
He nodded and stood up. “Come with me,” he instructed, and I followed obediently. We walked through large rooms and store places, filled messily with boxes and wooden crates. Most of them were labeled, with the names of local stores, who I assumed had rented space in the warehouse. Much to my surprise, there weren't any other workers, neither people nor Pokémon. Eventually, we got to a room, there were many wooden crates all over the floor in an unorganized fashion, and empty shelves lined the walls. “This is your lone task for today”, explained the manager. “I need you to move all of these crates onto the shelves in this room. Doesn’t matter what goes where, as long as it isn't on the floor!”
I tried to count the crates as he talked, but with their number and the sheer size of the room, it was impossible. I figured there must have been at least 50 or so, all decently sized, and likely full of items. “I think I can do that if given the time…” I replied anxiously “Where’s the forklift?”
The manager laughed. “That’s a good one lad! Why would you need a forklift when you’ve got arms? And don’t tell me you’re not strong enough, that’s the same complaint given by those who would’ve been your co-workers. Now get to work, I’ll check back on you later.” He walked out and as I heard the door close, I noticed a red light appear on the wall- a security camera. They’d know whether I was working or not.
Well, here goes nothing. Literally… I told myself. I began to try and pick up a crate, but as soon as I got it off the ground, its weight made it slip out of my hands and it dropped onto the ground. I tried to do so again, but I just ended up making the same mistake. Dragging the crate on the ground, I discovered only scratched the floor up. Oh no… they aren’t going to be happy about that… After I tried several more times to pick it up with the same results, the manager stormed back in angrily.
“How could you possibly mess this up?!” he demanded. “This is super easy!”
“If it’s so easy then why don’t you do it?” I inquired. I realized asking a superior like that could’ve cost me my job, but at this rate I was too tired to care. Before I could react, he threw a bunch of powder in my face, causing me to sneeze so hard I fell over. As I looked at my hand about to get up, I noticed it was turning green. I continued to sneeze, each time I changed more and more. When I finally stopped sneezing, I started to come to, though my nose still felt odd. I looked in one of the windows, my reflection was unmistakable. I was a Snivy. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop looking smug.
“Well?” the manager said. “Get back to work!”
I tried to object, but all I could muster was “Sni! Snivy~”. Both mad and still confused, not quite sure this was real, I walked over to the same crate and tried once more to lift it up. My arms were shorter now, but I was able to use my new vines to help. On my way to carrying it to the shelf however, I sneezed once more and dropped it again, causing the lid to bust off and spilled what looked like rancid berries everywhere. Eww! I thought, covering my nose. Why are they storing rotten food?
“That’s it, I’m done with this!” shouted the manager. “You’re fired!”
I tried to protest as I was shoved out the door, but I could no longer speak English. The only creatures who could understand me now would be other Pokémon. “Ho- how was this even possible?” I wondered. I hurried home, a few times however I was ambushed by wild Pokémon, but I was able to deflect them easily. Maybe being a Snivy won’t be so bad I thought.
After I was finally home, I had to try and figure out how to get inside. My keys were in the pocket of my pants, which seemed to disappear along with my other clothes when I transformed. As I was looking at the lock and trying to figure out if I could use my vines to pick it open, I remembered that one of the lock on my bedroom window was broken. Before anyone could see, I opened it up and squeezed inside.

“Who dares to invade?!” shouted an angry, but cute sounding voice. I closed my eyes and curled up. As Dedenne appeared in the room I realized it was him who had said it. He walked up and sniffed me. “You smell like any old Snivy, but mixed with the smell of… home.”
We looked at each other. “Dedenne,” I said. “It’s me, Edward!”
He began to gain tears in his eyes and then gave me a big hug. “I- I always wanted to be able to communicate with you.” From that point forward we were able to live a great life together since we already had every appliance we needed, and I still knew how to use them, though I do now have to climb up onto counters, being shorter and all. Luckily since human food was no longer an issue I believe these berries that we seem to find all over will suffice.