Loosely inspired by Saphroneth's Master, Pokemon?
Within the depths of Lostlorn Forest in the region of Unova, a zorua crept through the undergrowth slowly, ears pricked forward to detect sounds.
The small pokemon's paws pressed silently on the ground as it crouched low among the grass.
"And where have you been, Ailette?"
The zorua froze as a zoroark loomed out of the gloom.
"H-hi, mom," Ailette gulped.
"You've been looking at the humans again, haven't you?"
Ailette sighed, standing up and shaking herself. "Yes," she said, lifting her chin stubbornly.
"It's bad enough you gave yourself a name like them. Do you plan on running off and being caught by them as well?"
Ailette hesitated. "Well...no, but-"
"No buts. You know the rules."
The zoroark's gaze softened and she gently touched the zorua's ears. "Please, I don't want to lose you too."
Ailette nodded. "It's just so...dull here," she muttered, tail twitching as her mother scooped her up.
"It's safe, at least," Zoroark replied, nuzzling her.
"But humans are getting bolder every day," Ailette said.
"The Swords of Justice will keep us safe."
Ailette sighed and let her mother carry her into the depths of the forest.
Ailette watched the human woman kneeling in front of a rock slab curiously.
The female appeared to be crying, which caused the young zorua to tilt her head in confusion.
What was the point of crying over a rock? Just go out and find a new one if your old one died...somehow.
It wasn't the strangest thing Ailette had seen humans do. Sometimes they liked to go out into the woods, take off their weird cloth skin and start touching one another.
Ailette's mother had found that most amusing, and while once again telling her daughter to keep away from humans, told her that was how they procreated.
The human woman got to her feet, wiped her eyes and left the area. After a few minutes, Ailette crept up to the rock and stared at it. Weird scratches marred the surface, which the zorua attributed to another weird human quirk.
Her gaze dropped lower and she leaped back in alarm to see a tiny human staring at her out of a weird square shape. Looking at it closer, Ailette saw the human wasn't moving.
Was it trapped in the weird square?
She touched it and yiped as it fell forward, showing a blank white square. Flipping it with her paw, she stared at the black-haired human inside it.
Ailette got an idea and focused, closing her eyes. Her form rippled and changed, taking on the same image as the human in the picture before her.
Her body grew and lengthened and she carefully stood up, wobbling as she tried to get her balance.
How on Groudon's firm earth humans ever managed to walk around on two paws was something Ailette couldn't even begin to fathom and she dropped down to all fours, only to run into a problem.
The human anatomy didn't lend itself easily to four-legged travel and she wound up slamming her face into the stone header.
Reeling back, her disguise poofed and she pawed at her throbbing nose, eyes watering in pain.
"Ailette!" hissed a voice. "What do you think you're doing?!"
Ailette rolled to a sitting position and watched a zoroark melt out of the woods.
"Hi, momma!" Ailette said cheerfully. The zoroark didn't budge and Ailette squirmed under her mother's stern stare.
"This place reeks of grief. What are you doing here?"
Ailette glanced at the rock and her mother followed her gaze.
"Ah. So they've buried one of their dead here. Irritating. I hope we don't get a Ghost-type lurking about. The pansage are enough to worry about..."
Sighing, the zoroark blinked and shook her head. "That's enough wool-gathering. The sun will set soon and your bedtime is coming up."
Ailette flattened her ears. "I'm old enough to set my own schedule," she muttered rebelliously.
"Only when you actually listen to me, will I allow you to set your own rules. For now, home!"
Ailette nodded and walked toward her mother. As they turned to go, Ailette cast one last glance back at the grave.
"Momma, you were once a trainer's pokémon. Can you read what's on the...grave?"
Ailette's mother froze, eyes pinpricks, fur standing up. With a shaky breath, she banished the memories her daughter's words had brought to the front of her mind and stared at the stone.
"Someone named Ash Ketchum was buried there," she said curtly. "'Taken too soon' and all that other mush humans like to decorate their corpses with. Let's go."
The two illusion pokémon faded into the forest.
Ailette's mother, as it turned out, was not happy when she learned about what her daughter had been using her power for.
"Why are you trying to turn into them?!" she growled as Ailette sank lower onto her belly in front of her. "Have you forgotten what humans did to our - to the pokémon of Unova?"
"Tore down our homes to develop homes for themselves," Ailette said, not looking at the zoroark.
"Exactly! And it's our duty to make sure they don't take any more. So focus your energy on that instead of trying to mimic them."
Ailette nodded curtly and her mother dismissed her with a paw flick.
Scampering away, Ailette let her power cover her, giving her the appearance of a common patrat, which allowed her to move around easily - just another among thousands.
Reaching the edge of the forest, she cast a glance at the grave.
The woman hadn't been back since the first time Ailette had seen her. The photo had long since vanished and the grass had very nearly swallowed the stone.
Ailette briefly took on the guise of the child she had seen before reverting to her normal form. She wondered if she could use it to go into the human settlement, but had never worked up the nerve to try.
Too many risks and for what? Probably another lecture from her mother, she thought bitterly. Ailette understood her mother's worry well enough. Her father had vanished one day and a gang of humans had been sighted shortly thereafter, with many captured pokémon.
They had then set the forest on fire and fled. By the time the conflagration had been quelled, they were long gone and life had slowly returned to some semblance of normalcy.
Ailette flicked her tail and pounced after a falling leaf. Catching it in her paws, she bit into it before tearing it to shreds.
Panting, she sat down and watched the grave
Staring at the various indents indicating words, she looked for the group of ten she was reasonably sure spelled Ash Ketchum and looked for similar shapes among the other words, trying to puzzle out what it said.
Without references, however, she hadn't made any progress, much to her chagrin.
With a sigh, she got to her paws and disappeared back into the forest.