The pond was heavy with pale mist. A single, tiny ducklett lingered on the surface of the water, her eyes closed in sleep and belly full of berries. Cottony clouds filled the sky, but a sliver of moon and a dusting of stars escaped being smothered and sparkled on the pond. The reflections didn't waver—the surface of the pond was mirror flat tonight. An odd occurrence, but no one was there—or awake enough—to notice it.
A graceful foot touched the water, sending ripples slowly across the pond 'til they lapped at the ducklett. She roused and drowsily opened her eyes. More ripples nudged her, but she didn't take notice. Was someone there? As far as she knew, she was the only resident of the pond, aside from a few stray magikarp. It had been a long time since the last visitor, too. Nobody came to this pond if they could help it. After looking around a little and finding nothing, she had half a mind to go back to sleep. She caught a movement out of the corner of her eye, and turned to face it.
"Hello...?" she quacked quietly, not really expecting a reply.
All thoughts of sleep left her as she watched the stranger dance-the first time she'd seen the phenomenon. It was a human—she couldn't tell if it was a girl or a boy; she hadn't had much contact with humans in her pond. The mist covering it made it harder; the only things she could make out were its face and hair. Its eyes were open, but she felt they might as well have been closed—there was no intelligence behind them. Its hair was a soft feathery white that tufted about its head and over the blank eyes. She didn't know much in the way of human expressions, but something about the way this human moved seemed so sad and lifeless that she couldn't help but empathize. Something dawned on her. As irrational as it was, she knew would do anything to make this human smile.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, she heard a gong sound through the still night air, and the scene before her disappeared entirely. She whipped her head about in confusion—where had the human gone? Was it ever really there? Was it a dream?
A voice cut through the dark and sent chills up her spine. "Oh ho ho, what is this? A little ducklett thinks she can help the prince?"Prince? What's a prince?, she thought distractedly.
She turned, eyes wide, to the direction of the voice—nothing was there. It sounded again behind her, ruffling her feathers further. "You want to help him, do you?"
Slowly, she turned towards the voice again. A bulging pair of glittering eyes stared back at her. A monster-! Horrified, she watched as a face appeared and joined the eyes—a grinning mouth full of teeth fought the eyes for her attention.
"Hmm," the face said. "Maybe we can make this work…it would be rather interesting, eh?"
Not waiting for any response, the face leaned close. "I can give you a way to save the prince, little ducklett." A hand appeared, looming between the face and hers. In its large white fingers hung a simple, round, ruby red stone on a delicate silver chain.
"This stone will allow you to save the prince, my dear," it said.
"Save… the prince? But, who's the prince?" She looked at the stone to distract her from the horrible face. It laughed.
"The prince is that human you saw just now, of course! He's not in the position to save himself, you see," it explained. "If you take this pendant, it will give you the power to save him."
A single question ran through her mind: How?
"This stone has the power to give you everything you need on a journey to save him. He needs his heart back, the prince, and you will be the one to give it to him."
His heart? That must be why he was so blank-looking. It must be so sad not to have your heart… She straightened, looking the monster right in the eye.
"Oh, so you'll do it, then? Wonderful!" It grinned even wider, if that were possible. She wondered vaguely how it was able to tell what she was thinking.
Another hand joined the one holding the pendant, and the two gently placed the chain around her neck.
A flash of red light blinded her momentarily, and she lost feeling in her wings and legs. Her skin burned and prickled, but not so terribly as to make her cry out. She sunk suddenly, splashing awkwardly as her rear hit the stones at the bottom of the pond. A chill swept over her, and she moved to draw her wings about her—only to find that her wings were gone. Instead, she had long, pink limbs…
"Whaa—!" she clapped a hand to her mouth, eyes wide.
She was a human! She looked over herself in amazement—no more feathers, beak, or webbed feet. Those had been replaced with their human-y versions, although she wasn't sure on their names. She tried to stand. Everything felt too long and big and heavy. "Is this what being a human feels like?" she wondered aloud with her new human mouth, moving her head to get a good look at the rest of her. Her tail was gone, too!
The voice laughed again, and she glanced around. The monster wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Good, it looks like you'll adjust to your new body quickly. Now, before I go I must warn you: If you act like a ducklett in any way—you will turn back to your old form. When you do, water will return you to a human, but you must be wearing the pendant."
She was relieved to hear it was leaving. "But—where do I go?"
"There is a town not far from here. Just follow the path. I'm sure you'll find it, my dear." She could have sworn it was hiding a chuckle. "Au revoir," it said merrily, and the pond fell silent.
She looked around the pond one last time to make sure the voice and face were really gone. Satisfied she was alone, she inspected herself again. It was fascinating—every part moved just how she wanted it to, as if she had been born in this body instead of a ducklett's. It was a little cold, though. Without feathers, the cool night air was free to chill her. There was some tradeoff, though—she now had a head of hair as thick and fluffy as her feathers had been, which twined alongside her back and down past where she assumed her bottom was. If only it covered her whole body.
The path led right from the shore of the pond and off into the dark woods. She gulped; she hadn't gone very far into the woods before. Trees loomed high above her, and only a sliver of moon lit the earth between them. Not very inviting.
"Who knows what kind of things live in there?" she thought aloud. Despite the unsettling situation, she found she quite enjoyed this way of speaking—her tongue moved around a lot, in ways that surprised her. She didn't have to move her tongue much as a ducklett. She'd have to try talking in human speech more.
"Well, I need to get going!" She knew she was talking to no one, but it was still pleasing to practice. She lifted her chin and set off along the path.
Edel sighed; she really needed to get an assistant. Her house and laboratory combination was a messy one, and it was hard to clean and watch a four year old at the same time. Maybe she could put an ad up in town—certainly an aspiring scientist would be willing to help her out, no matter that she was called "odd" and "eccentric". Science didn't recognize popularity labels.
She rubbed her eyes and then glanced around her basement lab wearily. It was quaint, and that was putting it nicely. Half her equipment was two or three gens outdated, and needed manual updates to run smoothly. The other half was handmade, and only needed the occasional patch. The old and the handmade were placed purposefully around the room—she only had so much space to put all of it, and it was like a life-size puzzle when she got a new piece of equipment.
On the east wall, facing the entrance, was her reason for living—her collection of evolutionary stones and held items. Nearly every known stone or item was on that wall, carefully labeled and resting in a little wooden drawer. Mega stones, fossils, evolutionary stones and items, pokéballs, battle effect items, potions, and anything else a pokémon could carry were on that wall—or were going to be, as soon as she laid her hands on it.
She had been researching these items since adolescence, testing their connections to pokémon and battling. There was always a scientific explanation, and that extended to the "magic" of the items too. It didn't hurt that in the process she became very well acquainted with all of the items as well.
Uzura liked them too. Her daughter often accompanied her on the expeditions to find new items, and kept her company while she experimented. Although she wasn't the best reader or conversationalist (yet), Uzura always managed to make it a happy experience.
Edel's eyes flicked to the spot on the ceiling where she knew Uzura was sleeping upstairs. The house was tiny, yes, with only two cramped bedrooms and one bathroom, but it was enough for the two of them. Uzura was delighted to have her own room, and Edel had her lab.
The clock chimed that it was half past two, and Edel sighed. Time to head to bed herself. She got to her feet, rearranged the pile of papers lying on her workbench, turned off the light, and went upstairs to the kitchen.
After pouring herself a glass of water, Edel turned to head to her room—but stopped when she heard a voice outside. She approached the window quietly and listened.
"—And I'm certain someone will tell me where to find the prince. It's not like people are mean like that caterpie was, right? Boy, he had a dirty mouth! I wonder if he thinks he can get a trainer with a mouth like that—," the voice continued on, and Edel frowned. What was a child doing out in the woods at night—and a young girl, too, by the sound of it?
She listened a little more as the voice grew closer. Finally, curiosity got the better of her, so she grabbed a flashlight and stepped out into the night.
The girl stopped when she saw her, and Edel had to stop herself from dropping the flashlight in surprise. The girl was stark naked!
"Who are you? And where am I?" the girl asked. She didn't look at all ashamed of her nudity. Edel didn't know if it would be rude to laugh—she hadn't quite had the experience of meeting a nude, apparently amnesiac stranger in the dead of night before.
Edel cleared her throat and carefully trained her eyes on the girl's freckled face. "I'm Edel, and I live here," she said. "You're about a half a mile from Kinkan town, although I'm afraid the gates are closed this time of night."
"There are gates?" She looked disappointed.
Edel wondered where this girl came from. She can't have gotten far in her state—someone would have stopped her, surely?
"Yes, there are gates," she said. After a moment's pause she added, "Who are you?"
"Uh…," the girl stammered. "I'm not sure how to answer that."
"Okay…. Then can you at least tell me why you're naked?" Edel had had just enough of the nudity, thank you.
"Naked?" The girl was silent for a moment, then a look of realization dawned. "You mean I'm not supposed to look like this?!" Her eyes grew wide, and Edel wondered even more about this girl's history.
"Er, no. Not really," she said. She sighed. "Please, come inside. I think I can help you out." Edel motioned towards the open door, and the girl followed her inside.
"A ducklett? Is that true—?!" The girl had explained everything from the last few hours: the mist, the dancing human, the pendant, all of it.
The former ducklett sat across from her new friend, now dressed in one of Edel's nightgowns. The garment was much too big for her petite frame, but it was better than nothing. An empty mug of chocolate sat on the table in front of her, the third she had chugged. Who knew human food was so good?
"Yeah," she said quietly. "I don't really have a name, I guess? I've never been with a trainer, and I lived alone in the pond."
Edel sipped her coffee thoughtfully. "I think we should give you a name. I can't just call you 'the ducklett girl'," she said.
"Really? Wow…" She looked at her hands thoughtfully, wondering what kind of name she would get. "It feels like a big deal..!"
Edel chuckled. "I suppose it is," she said. "Although normally, people get their names when they're born, I guess you could call this a rebirth. So it's only natural, yes?" She picked up a pencil and notepad from the far end of the table and began writing.
"How about… 'Sophia'?" She glanced at the girl, who shook her head.
"I-it sounds nice, but…" she trailed off.
Edel nodded. "You just want the name that's right. It's understandable." She rattled off a few more, checking the girl's face for her response.
They went through about twenty names before the girl shook her head violently and said, "No! All of these names are too sophisticated and elegant for me! I mean, I know you're just trying to help me find a name, and that's really nice and all and I really appreciate it especially since I'm new to all this human stuff, but really I'm just a ducklett! All these human names sound too good for me. I just need a simple name, a simple name for a simple ducklett!" Her cheeks reddened from the outburst, and she clutched the table waiting for Edel's response.
Edel's eyebrows had risen during the girl's outburst, and now they lowered to their normal position. "Well then," she said slowly, rolling a word around in her mouth, testing it. "How about 'Duck'?"
The girl looked at her fingers, still holding onto the table's edge, and released them. "I..," she raised her head, looking Edel square in the face. "I think it's perfect."
Edel smiled, and the girl named Duck grinned back.
"So," Edel began, breaking the small moment of silence. "This …monster…. gave you the pendant, which is how you're a human right now?" She gestured to the stone at Duck's throat.
Duck nodded. "Yeah, although it didn't explain how it worked, just the rules about me staying human."
"And he—it—didn't tell you how you would save this prince?"
"Uh-uh. It just said to go to the town," she said, then stopped. "By the way, you're… you're a woman, right?" Edel raised her eyebrows again, and Duck stammered. "I-I just asked because I don't know how to tell human genders apart because I have only met three humans before you and none of them told me how to tell it apart and it wasn't really necessary while I was a pokémon so I didn't worry about it but now I can't go around calling everyone 'it' or even worse call someone the wrong word—" she groaned and slumped onto the table. "Sorry…."
Edel had to keep herself from laughing. "Don't worry, Duck. I understand," she said, waving a hand placatingly. "Yes, I'm a woman. And if you couldn't tell, you do have the body of a human girl—" (Duck let out a sigh of relief) "—and if you really want to know some of the physical differences between human genders, I can give you tips later. But honestly, for now, don't worry about it. Anyone worth anything won't give you a fuss—but in the future, don't ask them directly. It's just a little rude, you see."
Duck nodded, which was hard with her chin still on the table. "Thanks."
Edel shook her head. "Don't worry about it." She eyed her empty coffee cup. "You know, we should both get some rest. Today has been a big day, and tomorrow will possibly be even bigger."
Edel set up a cot in the open space between kitchen and living room, and soon Duck was settled in and fast asleep. Edel spent a moment watching her, then yawned and walked tiredly to her own room as the clock chimed four. She was going to have a headache tomorrow.
Duck awoke suddenly as a loud crash sounded in her ear, clamping a hand over her mouth to keep from squawking. In front of her stood the tiniest human she'd ever seen—a toddler? Was that the right word? Unless she was a runt too, this one couldn't be very old. Her hair had the same pale greenish-blue tint that Edel's did, like pond water in the afternoon. Her skin was pale as well, paler than Duck's, and with fewer spots. Duck guessed this was Uzura, the daughter Edel had mentioned the night before.
She half smiled, trying to be polite. "Hello. Are you Uzura?"
A quick staccato drum tap was her reply. "Yes-zura. Who are you-zura?" The girl had lovely wide, deep blue eyes that glittered with curiosity. Duck could sympathize—she likely knew even less than this little girl.
"I'm Duck," she said in reply. Uzura tapped her drum thoughtfully (thankfully, a little less harshly too).
"Do you have pokémon-zura?"
Duck was taken by surprise. Technically she was a pokémon, but she didn't think that counted. She shook her head, and felt bad when Uzura's face fell.
"Why not-zura?"
"Wh-why not? Well, um… I don't have any, uh, pokéballs?" Well, she didn't. Pokémon were known to occasionally carry items in the wild, but she herself had never carried anything more than a few berries, let alone a pokéball.
"Like this-zura?" Uzura dug in her pockets and pulled out a pokéball, gleaming except for a fingerprint-shaped smudge of peanut butter.
A thought crossed Duck's mind—could she be caught in a pokéball in her human form? She doubted it. Pokéballs weren't made to catch humans, after all, but she didn't want to find out.
"Yeah," she said. "Do you have a pokémon, Uzura?" She was curious—did humans usually catch pokémon this young?
Uzura shook her head. "No-zura…. Mommy says she'll help me catch one though-zura!" Her eyes brightened when she spoke of her mother, and Duck couldn't help but smile.
"Well, then, I know you'll catch a great one," she said. Uzura tapped her drum enthusiastically in response, and Duck winced.
Edel's door opened, and Duck's mouth opened in awe. Edel's outfit was lively, offsetting the tired smile on her face. Duck had never seen a dress like hers— purple and red and gold, covered by an austere white and purple coat that looked like another dress itself. Duck wondered absentmindedly how she knew these words, having never worn clothes before. Maybe Edel had mentioned them while she was dressing her?
"Good morning," Edel said. "I see you've met Uzura." She smiled, picking up her daughter. "Are you being nice to our new friend Duck?"
Uzura smiled brightly and held her drumsticks in the air. "Yes-zura! She doesn't have any pokémon, though-zura."
"Hm," she said as she nestled her daughter on her hip, then motioned to Duck. "Would you like some breakfast?"
Duck's stomach gurgled at the thought of food. Edel chuckled, and then set Uzura down so she could start cooking. Duck sprang to her feet. "Please, let me help, Ms. Edel!"
Edel turned, her eyebrow raised again. "Don't be so formal, Duck. Please, just call me Edel. And if you must help, you can aid me with the dishes once we're done with breakfast." With that, she turned back to the kitchen and began cooking.
Duck and Edel chatted through breakfast. Edel mused that Duck knew so many words she hadn't before because of the stone, or possibly because of her human form. Duck wondered if she'd forget that she wasn't human before, and also wondered how human food could taste so good. The two of them watched Uzura eat voraciously and messily, sharing a smile when the empty pokéball on the table got another smear of peanut butter on it.
"So, Duck. Do you have a plan?"
Duck eyed her empty plate, biting her lip. "Not quite. I know I need to find the prince, wherever he is. I have a feeling he's in this town, but that's all I know. I don't even know how to save him once I do find him…"
"Well, I don't know about any princes, but there are a few nobles who live in town," Edel said. "I think the best thing for you to do would be to go into town and ask around. I'm not one for gossip, so I'm afraid I'm not much help." She glanced at Duck, noticing the nightgown and remembering last night's incident. "But," she added, "You're going to need some clothes, whatever you do."
Duck felt herself blush. It wasn't her fault she hadn't known that clothes were important! She nodded.
Edel continued. "I don't really have anything your size here, so I'll go into town after breakfast and buy you some. I would take you with me, but…" She trailed off, and Duck got the distinct impression that wearing nightgowns in public wasn't exactly normal.
The two cleaned up the dishes (and Uzura). Edel stuffed her wallet into the pocket of her coat, and then made sure Uzura was fully dressed. "I would leave Uzura here, but I don't want her to get into trouble, and my poor Beryl would have his hands full."
She pulled a dark pokéball from her pockets and opened it, releasing the pokémon inside in a small stream of light. A sableye appeared; not even two feet tall, with dark sleek fur and glittering eyes.
Duck knelt down in front of it. "Hello there, Beryl," she said, holding out her hand to him. He grinned, and shook her hand with his own tiny one.
"Pleased to meet you, human," he replied. "I would ask your name, but you can't really understand me, can you?"
"Oh, you can call me Duck," she said cheerily. "And yes, I can understand you just fine."
His jaw snapped shut for a moment, and then the grin came back full force. "You're an odd one, aren't you?"
Duck smiled back. Normally she'd be offended, but something about the glint in this sableye's diamond eyes eased her.
Edel and Uzura watched the exchange in silence. Uzura turned to her mother. "Is she talking to Beryl-zura?"
Edel nodded slowly, her eyes on the two in front of her as she thought. "Yes, dear," she replied. "It seems like our friend here can talk to pokémon."
Duck turned to her, still crouching. "Oh, I didn't tell you? I guess I forgot to mention it before… it seemed like a smaller detail compared to everything else."
Edel shook her head. "It's probably for the best. Now you will have even more individuals who might know how to find your prince." She turned to her sableye. "Beryl, please watch the house and Duck while I'm gone. You know what to do." Beryl nodded.
And with that, they left.
A few hours later, Edel and Uzura returned to find Duck and Beryl playing a game on the table with assorted screws and nails, and it was nearly impossible to discern who was winning.
"Having a good time, are we?" Edel asked, setting her shopping bag on the corner of the table so as not to disrupt the nails.
Duck carefully picked up a tiny screw and placed it somewhere else. "Yeah! Beryl is great company." Edel saw the blush on his face, but decided not to mention it.
"I'm glad. Now, let's try on your new clothes, shall we?" She gestured to the fat bag on the table, from which a few bits of cloth peeped out.
Duck stood, bowing her head to Beryl in playful deference. "Thank you for the game. I'm gonna have to forfeit, though—I know I'm not going to win against you," she said, and grinned ruefully. Beryl nodded sagely, and Duck followed Edel into her room.
Edel's room was small but overflowing with character. Her bed lined the far wall, a white wood affair made up neatly with a thick red quilt and white pillows. Portraits of Uzura and Beryl hung on the walls, and a white wardrobe stood next to the window, its doors slightly ajar. A white chest of drawers squatted in the corner, and scattered atop it was a seemingly random array of stones and jewelry spilling out of a pale purple jewelry box. A small desk and chair, white like the rest of the furniture, sat below the window, covered in books and papers and a small gadget that Duck couldn't name.
Edel pulled the chair away from the desk and motioned for Duck to sit. She did, and had to pull her eyes from the quiet comfort of the room around her to focus on what Edel was saying.
"—Managed to find something I think is your size, dear. I had to guess, but if it's too big I'll be able to tailor it a little for you." She had pulled out a few pieces of clothing and handed them to Duck. "Try it on, I'll be outside." She left and closed the door behind her.
Duck looked at the clothing in her hands for a second, and then set about putting it on. She wasn't completely sure how to do it, and had to whisper questions to Edel through the door about how to put on some of them, but eventually she got it right.
She tried on her undergarments first, which, thankfully, fit well enough. Then she pulled on her new nightgown, which was much shorter than Edel's, although similar in design. It was simple, with only a little ribbon in the front for decoration. It also came with a pair of pants for the cold winter nights, which were several inches long for her. Edel said she could roll them up for her—she wouldn't want to hit a growth spurt and need new ones.
Finally, she got to her day clothes. Once dressed, she looked at herself in the mirror attached to the wardrobe door. First was a pale blue turtleneck sweater with fancy lace that covered her wrists and fit perfectly. Edel had thoughtfully found a pair of ducklett themed short overalls, with a heart-shaped flap covering her front and pockets shaped like wings. Underneath those she wore a pair of simple white-and-yellow-striped stockings (although they were just a tiny bit too big). She even had matching blue and yellow shoes. Her pendant glittered at her neck, too big to be stuffed under the collar of the turtleneck. Edel also supplied a ribbon for the end of her braid.
Edel had bought her everything—which made her burn with an uncomfortable mix of guilt and gratitude. She opened the door for the waiting Edel and Uzura, and turned in a circle for them. When she stopped, though, she found she was crying.
"What's wrong, Duck?" Edel asked worriedly, rushing over to put a comforting arm around her shoulders. Duck shook her head and sniffed, trying to suck the tears back in.
"Nothing's wrong," she replied, her eyes still watery. "I just… You're the first person to be so nice to me and I don't want to let you down or mess up and I also don't want to leave because its so nice here—but I have to save the prince like I said I would, so I can't, even though I want to—," she stopped when her voice broke. "Just… thank you, Edel."
Edel tsked. "Of course, Duck. And you're always welcome here."
Uzura's voice chimed from below. "Duck is a friend-zura! Please come back-zura!" Duck looked down to see Uzura hugging her knees and smiled.
She sniffed one last time. "Thanks you guys," she said as Beryl appeared in the doorway. "You too, Beryl," she added, as he padded over and hugged her as well.
The four of them spent the next day making sure Duck's things were all in order. Edel quickly and neatly embroidered "DUCK" on the inside of all of her new clothes (Beryl helped), and gave her a little sackcloth satchel to put them all in (and then embroidered her name on that as well). She also made sure that Duck was not without several pokéballs, and a smattering of items that would work for any pokémon. Beryl joked that it was a shame she couldn't use them herself, and Duck had to explain to Edel what he'd said that was so funny.
"It's a shame everyone can't talk to pokémon," Edel mused as she put some fruit and berries in Duck's bag.
Duck shrugged as she swept the floor—she'd insisted on helping out around the house. "Some of them can be pretty foul-mouthed," she said.
"So not any different from humans, then." Edel closed the satchel and cinched it tightly.
"No, I guess not." Duck finished sweeping all the dirt outside and put the broom back in its place by the stove. She suppressed the thoughts that rose from that statement-what kind of people would she encounter? Would they all be as friendly as Edel and Uzura?
It was well past three in the afternoon now, and there was nothing else to prepare or clean. Duck sighed—no sense putting it off any longer. She put her shoes on, and then took the sack from Edel and hefted it onto her back. Standing in front of the door, she fought the sadness that welled fresh tears in her eyes. Edel's hand rested on her shoulder gently.
"You can do it, Duck," she said quietly. "You are a strong girl."
Uzura patted her hand. "Good luck-zura!"
Duck smiled, sniffed loudly so as not to cry, and then walked quickly outside.