The sound of waves splashing the shore ebbs into my head. The cooling sand feels comforting under me, and I don't recall how I got here, in this calm sounding place. My eyes feel heavy and I leave them closed, not wanting to wake up from this dream. Thoughts drift through my mind, but I can't make out anything. People without faces, memories I don't remember, and voices without a sound, washing away like footprints on the water's edge when I reach out. There was a storm, a figment of it crashing into place, and someone reaching out for me. I couldn't hold on any longer, and my grip falters. The face escapes me in the dark, swirling mass, and so does consciousness.
"Hey! Are you okay?" A girl's voice chirps, bringing me back to the world. My body feels sore from having passed out on the sand, and I let out a groan as I try to stretch it out. The sun is shining as I blink my eyes open to see it, and the girl. My vision must be blurry, and I try to wipe the sand from off my face as the figure of the girl gets closer. She isn't a girl at all! My hands touch my cheek, and they don't feel human. I wasn't wearing gloves, was I?
"You must have passed out on the beach." The voice doesn't match the body, but it must be true. A torchic with blue eyes looks at me with concern, no trainer around.
"Where's... your.. trainer?" I cough, pointing at her, but she gives me a confused look. My hand isn't a hand, but the paw of an...
"You're a strange eevee. Did you hit your head on a rock?" The torchic laughs nervously, but still worriedly looking me over in case I did. I'm an eevee. An eevee. This must be a dream. Yeah, torchics don't talk, they just chirp. This has to be a joke, or a dream. I don't remember anything from before, so maybe I did hit my head on a rock. The vision of the storm plays through me like a broken record, and I definitely remember human hands.
"I-I'm not an eevee." I say to myself. "I'm human."
"Human? You look like an eevee to me. Maybe you aren't okay." The torchic motions with a small wing to my tail that curls over my front paws. She then adds friendly. "My name is Ember, what's yours?"
"Luna." The name pops into my head, and I know it's mine. That's all I can remember, besides the storm. And me being a human. Ember smiles in the way that torchic's do, and it somehow relieves me.
"That's a strange name for an eevee!" She giggles, but not in a mean way. I must be very strange to her, and I don't blame Ember. She then looks out to the rising sun, and I mimic her. The view takes my breath away, and somehow, my mind is at ease. There are krabby on the sides of the cliffs, blowing bubbles that dance above the water's surface and reflect the sun's golden glow. It sparkles and everything is peaceful.
"You know, this is my favorite place." Ember says quietly, as not to disturb the moment. "I always go here when I'm sad, like today."
She turns away, and so do I.
"I want to be an explorer, to learn all there is to know. It's so exciting, to find unknown places and treasures! And solve mysteries! Oh, like my relic fragment. See?" Ember sets down a rock that she had been holding, showing it to me. There's some strange markings on it, like it is a part of something bigger.
"But, I mean, I've only read about exploring. I keep trying to join this guild, but I never get the courage to do it. Pathetic, right? I'm a torchic, but I'm such a coward." Ember sighs, kicking half heartedly at the sand with a talon, then looks at me hopefully.
"Luna, maybe you and I could-"
"WELL, look who we have here!" A wheezing voice comes from behind us, and a streak of blue swipes the relic fragment from between us, Ember letting out a cry as it vanishes. I whip around, my long brown ears flattening against my head at the thieves. A koffing and a zubat with Ember's treasure!
"Couldn't get in the guild again, huh?" The purple gas ball chuckles, both clearly enjoying Ember's misery at the memory. I don't like these two already.
"I-" She tries to puff her orange feathers, to make herself look bigger to the thieves.
"Look at the chicken, trying to be brave!" The zubat flaps its wings with a dark glee as it tauntingly tosses the relic fragment up and down. I've had enough.
"Give back her relic fragment. Now." I growl, trying to be threatening. These clowns don't look that tough, just underlings. They do look intimidated, and back up.
"If you want it, you'll have to get us first!" They both cackle as they flee to a nearby cave. Ember watches them go, unsure of what to do.
"What...what should I do? My relic fragment..." She trails off, her eyes starting to fill with tears. I can't leave her like this, and I won't let them get away.
"Ember, we have to go after them." I tug at her tiny wing with a paw, almost dragging her to the beach cave. "Come on!"
"Thanks." She stops trembling, and her body feels warmer, like a burning flame. An ember. "Yeah, let's get them!"