Quietly in the distance, birdsong could be heard as the sounds of nature filtered in through the window of a two story house. Said house stood within the boundaries of the town called Petalburg where the normal type gym leader, Norman, resided. Inside the quaint yellow house's second floor was a young boy's room, and his name was Lyonell.
At the sound of the birds chirping their morning song outside, Lyonell yawned as he tried to wipe the sleep away from his eyes. With a quick sweep of his arm the boy easily pulled the blanket from on top of him and brought it to the wall on the left side of his bed while swinging his legs over onto the right. He was still quite sleepy as he sat there, pondering if he should go back to bed or not. There was no need to get up so early, it was summer vacation now; it had started only a few days ago. Telling himself it's probably best to stay up now since he was sitting upright, Lyonell proceeded to get to his feet, sliding his slippers on before walking towards the bedroom door at the far side of the room.
As quiet as it was though, just barely below the sound of the birdsong he could hear the low sound of growling? Lyonell looked around his room, eyes still blurry from trying to wink the drowsiness from his body which didn't help his observational skills. There was a few moments of silence before he saw a flash of light brown fur race across his bed beside him before he felt a weight on his chest, toppling the very unsteady human to the ground. A second later his face began to get covered in licks from a small and sandpaper-like tongue to which he quickly tried to push the owner of the tongue away while laughing. "Noah! Noah stop that!" The boy laughed as he picked up the rather large Eevee and held him above his body with a smile.
Noah barked in response, his tongue trying to lick him again as his tail swished back and forth behind him in the air. Lyonell has had Noah since he was six, and the two had been best friends from the second they laid eyes on one another. Noah was only a few months old at the time, but now the large Eevee was almost eleven, which would put Lyonell at sixteen, seventeen tomorrow. The last time Lyonell made any measurements on Noah had been only a few months ago he weighed about twenty-eight pounds and stood at almost two feet tall.
"Hold on, boy. I just got up; I told you that I don't like it when you jump on me as soon as I wake up." Lyonell told him, and Noah cocked his head to the side, but seemed to acknowledge what he said and yipped his response, but all that the boy heard was the all too familiar word "Eevee!"
With a smile and a rub to the top of his head, Lyonell stood up and opened his bedroom door. "Come on, let's go and get some breakfast!" Noah would 'Vee' in response to that and take off out of the bedroom and towards the stairs going down into the rest of the house. Lyonell was about to follow after his lifelong friend when he realized with a start that all he was wearing were a pair of slippers and his underwear. As fast as the boy could he reached for his dresser only a few feet away and pulled out a pair of blue jeans from the bottom drawer and a pink shirt from his second from the top drawer. Once he was at least properly dressed so nothing was revealing itself, Lyonell quickly headed for the stairs himself, passing by the bathroom and down the staircase to enter his kitchen across the hallway.
Inside there was his mother, clothed in a magenta V-neck top and a pair of white pants that looked way too tight to be comfortable enough to walk in much less sit. His mom had always been one to try and be 'hip' and because of it would almost constantly embarrass Lyonell whenever they went anywhere public such as the food store or and clothing department, despite the fact that he was wearing an article of pink clothing. It's not that what she wore was what made him embarrassed, and his choice of clothing was too much different, in fact his favorite color was pink, but it was simply the fact that she tried too hard to act like a teenager whenever she saw him.
"Oh! Lyonell!" His mother quickly spoke as she noticed him walking into the kitchen. "Good morning, dear. I thought you might be up, Noah came down here so quickly he almost swept me off my feet!" Lyonell chuckled at her words as he watched his Pokémon standing at his bowl of Pokémon food and munching it down quite ravenously as if he hadn't eaten in days. "Boy its sure is amusing watching him eat. He's so adorable; he's almost as big as his evolutions should be." She noted to him, smiling down at the Eevee she knelt beside.
"He is quite adorable mom." He agreed while pulling out a ceramic bowl and box of wheat squares from the cupboards; as well as a jug of white milk from the fridge before heading to the counter to prepare his food. As he poured his milk and cereal in, he looked back at the fridge and noticed a yellow piece of paper that was attached to it by a small round magnet. Looking closely enough to read the flier he noticed that it was about recent wild Pokémon commotions in the nearby forests.
Lyonell's mother must have seen him starring at the paper because she had asked him about it. "Do you know about what has been happening out there?" She asked him, but after a few seconds of silence she explained herself. "They say that a lot of the Pokémon living in the forests are becoming more hostile to anyone who is traveling through, whether they be Pokémon, human, vehicle. It's as if the entire food chain has been flipped on its head." The older female stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it a bit. "I'm sure it'll solve itself out in no time, but until this all blows over I would like you to stay in town, okay?" Her warning didn't fall on deaf ears, but he never gave any verbal response as he had been starring at his bowl of cereal the whole time; he did give a nod however. In another room they could hear the door open and his mother raised her hand as she left Lyonell in the kitchen. "Karl honey! I need to tell you something before you leave!"
The door closed again as his mother and father stepped out of the house and Lyonell continued to stare at his food in front of him. "Wild Pokémon have been attacking people who travel through the forest? What's going on? I've met and play with a few of the forest Pokémon and they've never acted in such a way." Beside him, Noah had jumped up onto the counter next to him and found him in a state of apprehension. That went away quickly, however, as Lyonell looked at Noah and scratched under the Eevee's chin for a few moments. "Hey bud, wanna go out to the forest today? I need to see some of our friends to make sure they're okay." Though his voice only told him of his species name, Noah had cocked his head in confusion; possibly he had overheard what his mother had said they shouldn't enter the forest. "I know she said we shouldn't, but I can't keep still knowing that." The boy explained. "I need to know that our friends still know it's us and won't attack us."
Noah was a bit apprehensive at this. He had fully understood what the woman in purple had said, and that worried him as well, but something just didn't seem right about going out to see them. Nonetheless, The Eevee nodded in understanding at his master's words and yipped his response, which to Lyonell he could easily tell that Noah understood, and was okay with such actions. The boy smiled, eyes closed as he scratched behind his Pokémon's ears. "Thanks buddy, let's get going then before mom figures out what we're up to."
Lyonell was quick to finish off his cereal before placing it, and rinsing the bowl out inside of the sink before heading for the front entry way. He knew his mother and father were just outside so he couldn't go out the door that way, but there was still the back door. As quietly as possible he grabbed his running shoes and black backpack; then headed for the back door, putting both his shoes and backpack on as he left the house.
Outside was his backyard, nothing fancy but a few bushes along the chain link fence that covered quite a large expanse of grass, almost larger than his entire house. Noah followed him out the door before Lyonell closed it, locking it with his key before placing it in his jean pocket. There were no words exchanged between them as they needed to remain quiet for their trip to the forest, which in the distance was visible and only a couple hundred yards away. Both, Eevee and human, streaked across the yard with speed unlike any they've tried before, but at the same time as silent as possible. Noah was the first to reach the fence, easily bunching up his leg muscles on the last stride and launching himself just high enough to clear the metal bar at the top. Lyonell came second, the fence was only waist high to him so when he approached the fence, he had his left arm out to catch the top of the fence. As his hand touched the metal he latched onto the bar and in one swift motion leaped over the short barrier sideways, his left leg barely skimming the metal pole that lay across the fence and landing on the other side quite easily before resuming his sprint.
It only took a minute for the two of them to reach the forest boundaries on the north end of Petalburg City and they were quickly swallowed up by the shadows of the forest canopy. Lyonell took this time to slow down and catch his breath by bring his pace down to a jog, and soon after to a walk. His Eevee slowed down as well, keeping his ears pricked for any sounds of approaching Pokémon in the area to which there were none for the moment. "They have to be around here somewhere." The boy mumbled just barely above a whisper, but Noah still heard and looked around as well for their Pokémon friends, though their search was short lived.
Through the rustling of the wind in the trees, the human could hear the sound of crackling electricity only a few yards away. As he searched for the source of the noise he was compelled to walk up to a rather large oak tree, Noah following behind him curiously and staying low, growling very quietly as he hid in a bush near the tree. Immediately in front of the both of them were a small group of Pokémon which had no reason of being together: A Pichu, Azurill, Togepi, and Munchlax. "Baby Pokémon? What are all of these guys doing here?" All four of them seemed to be cowering together as they looked to his left, and Lyonell probably would've done the same if he was in their position. To his left only a few yards away were couple of Nuzleaf who looked outraged for whatever reason he had no idea about.
Something seemed off about the Nuzleaf though, they seemed distressed somehow, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Even as he thought, his time was running thin as the trio of older Pokémon seemed to shout something in their native tongue before one of them formed an Energy Ball using Nature Power and the other two began to summon leaves into the air for a Razor Leaf attack.
Time seemed to stand still, Lyonell couldn't move his body as he stood there beside the tree, his mind fractured as he couldn't make his mind of what to do in that moment. "What am I going to do? Do I attack the Nuzleaf, or do I Take cover from their attacks?"
The area around Lyonell seemed to flow back into real time as he made up his mind. As the attacks launched across the open space of grass, the boy dashed out from behind the tree. For a split second, he reconsidered the action he had taken, but his mind was determined as he now stood in front of the four defenseless baby Pokémon.
Noah only watched as his trainer jumped out in front of the attack, yet as brief as it was, he couldn't just stand by. The oversized Eevee jumped out of the bush he hid behind as well, firing off a rather large Shadow Ball which collided with the Energy Ball the Nuzleaf sent at them. Both attacks blew up on contact; however that didn't stop all of the spinning leaves that were directed straight at Lyonell.
He felt the rush of wind first from the canceled out moves before a moment later, an infinite cluster of leaves began to slice at his body, cutting through all of his clothes like they were butter. The flurry of sharp leaves continued for less than five seconds before the wind stopped. Lyonell felt exhausted, however he never stopped standing as he stared at the Nuzleaf from afar. His friend looked up to him, concern and annoyance evident on his face as Lyonell glanced at the Eevee and back to their attackers. "Why did you attack them? They didn't do anything to you!"
As expected though, Lyonell didn't receive a response. The trio of Pokémon across from him remained silent, and after a few moments they straightened their backs before quickly running off into the forest. Noah was about to take off after them, but Lyonell placed his hand on the Eevee's back, running his hand across comfortingly. "It'll be fine, they're gone now, and we saved these little guys from harm."
The Eevee didn't seem too sure that everything would be alright, in fact, something in his very being was telling him that soon, their world would be flipped upside-down. Acting on this feeling, Noah attempted to tell his human friend his concerns, though as one would expect, Lyonell couldn't portray the exact meaning of his friend's words, and oddly enough, didn't see his concern.
Lyonell smiled one last time at Noah before standing and looking up at the sky. The sun was almost at its peak height, indicating it was now midday. That was when they began to notice that the area around them started to grow a bit darker, and the light from the sun was beginning to fade behind a veil of darkness. "What's going on, Noah?" The boy asked his Eevee to which Noah simply shook his head, as if saying "I don't know." It seemed like someone had just flipped the switch to the sun, turning it off.
That was when they heard it, a voice which would haunt their days to come. "Darkness shall rule this land, and those who continue to follow the light will perish." Everyone seemed to shudder in unison to the threat that came from the bodiless voice and scanned the area, trying to find the source.
"Everyone, follow me, we need to get out of here." Lyonell told Noah, as well as the small Pokémon still beside him. None of them argued or gave any protest as they were all scared of the voice that spoke without a body, and the area around them which was growing darker by the second. Moving quickly, the group of Pokémon led by Lyonell headed in the direction that he hoped was Petalburg City. Noah followed behind the group, watching for any danger as they went on.
Every step they took crunched leaves and snapped twigs, all of which seemed to echo in the darkness that held the forest. The baby Pokémon were scared, staying close to one another in hopes that they would soon reach safety, but time crawled on ever so slowly, their hope beginning to fade. Lyonell wasn't an exception as the young man was beginning to have his doubts that he'd ever make it back.
As all hope seemed to be lost, he heard a growl behind him which made the hair on the back of his neck stand up straight. Noah and the other Pokémon were the first to face the growl; with Lyonell being next to turn to see the source of what had startled him. Standing in a frightening battle stance with fangs bared and claws unsheathed, a Mightyena was standing behind them.
The Pokémon at his feet, with the exception of Noah, all cowered in fear behind Lyonell. Noah stood tall and growled at the Mightyena. Scared or not, this Eevee was going to protect the ones behind him, or at least that's what he intended to do, had the Mightyena not acted first. Lyonell predicted the move before Noah could, but could only watch as the dark type drew in a large breath of air. He released a massive roar at the Eevee, creating wind. It was strong. So strong that Noah was blown away by the wind, and moments later the Eevee turned into red energy as it shot back towards Lyonell's belt returning to his Pokéball.
Lyonell didn't wait until Noah was fully returned to take action. Pichu jumped on to his shoulder, and he quickly picked up Azurill and Togepi, holding them in his arms as he ran from their foe. Sadly, due to Munchlax's size, Lyonell couldn't pick him up so he ran beside the heavier Pokémon, staying just behind him in case the Mightyena caught up to them. Together they ran as fast as they could for what seemed like eternity until Lyonell was forced to skid to a halt.
Stretched out in front of him was a river that ran as black as the air that he breathed. For a moment, he forgot his pursuer as he stood stunned, studying the water's surface as it rushed to his left. "Was the water black from reflection? Or was the water itself black?" Lyonell thought to himself before he felt a sensation that he had felt only minutes prior.
Time seemed to be at a standstill, there was a choice to be made, however he couldn't even figure out what his choices were. Lyonell's mind was in a panic and couldn't think straight. He knew the Mightyena wasn't far behind him. Did the boy even have time to make a choice?
A mere moment later he was returned to his senses as pair of canine fangs sunk into his arm. Lyonell yelled out in pain as he took his elbow and jabbed the Mightyena in the head, making it back reel from the blow. Without a moment's hesitation, Lyonell bent down and shoved the Munchlax beside him into the water before jumping into the rushing river himself.
Immediately Lyonell's vision was filled with darkness as the raging river swept them along quickly through the current. Many times Lyonell was pulled under water, he couldn't breathe, and his consciousness was fading fast. Finally, he couldn't hold on any longer. His vision quickly faded to black and he slipped into unconsciousness.
Light quickly filled Lyonell's vision as he awoke with a start. The boy jerked onto his side, rolling off of his back as he began to cough up water from his lungs. His senses were dulled and he felt disoriented.
A few minutes of coughing and hacking up water later, Lyonell closed his eyes and rubbed them. They felt sore, his entire body felt sore, but at the same time he felt energized and full of intuition. His mind felt free, like there was no limit to what he could do, and that's when he could sense it. At the reaches of his mind, he could smell something that he found familiar, an Oran berry. The scent was so vivid that he could recognize as easily as he could recognize his own Pokémon.
"Noah!" He called in panic, immediately standing up; a bit wobbly at first from his disorientated sense of balance, but when he thought about it, his balance immediately corrected itself and he was fine. There wasn't time to process that however as when he stood up, he quickly noticed something pink above him. "Huh? What's that?" Lyonell, realizing it was the end of a tail, and began following it, hoping to find its owner. As he traced it to the end, he was shocked to find it attached to himself "What is this?" The boy stuttered in panic. He then immediately pulled his arms behind him and grabbed the tail before noticing that his hands were now covered in pink fur and were a lot smaller, as small as a Pokémon's paw! Lyonell's mind was in a whirlwind of distress, he couldn't handle what he was processing, yet it all seemed vaguely normal.
He tried to take a few deep breaths as he observed his body. From his feet to his face, his entire body was covered in pink fur. Each of the digits on his paws had claws on them, and he found them to be razor sharp when he tried poking himself. He had pink triangle-like ears as well as very long feline shaped hind legs, yet his hips were evolved enough to stand on them alone. "I'm a Pokémon. I'm a Mew?"
Lyonell's words came slow, but steady like his breathing. His ears pricked up at the sound of small groans from nearby, behind him his mind told him. The Mew turned and walked in the direction in which he heard the groans in question and found the baby Pokémon he had been trying to protect. He quickly rushed to them, first arriving at the Azurill who was just now regaining its consciousness. "Hey little guy, you alright?"
When the Mew's words reached the water type, it opened its eyes to look at him. The Azurill's eyes quickly changed from small slits to being wide open in a mere fraction of a second. "Mew!" Came its stuttering female voice. "Mew it's really you!"
As she spoke, it seemed to awaken the other children around them and as they got up, he could hear murmurs from them too as they all stared with wide eyes like the Azurill's. "Hey, I'm the human who saved you earlier! I'm still him!" Lyonell tried to tell them, but all that was returned were some confused stares.
It was the Munchlax that probed the next question. "But you don't look like a human?"
Lyonell could only let out a distressed sigh as he looked up to face them, setting the Azurill back on her feet. "Yes, I look like a Mew, and I don't know why. All I know is something happened between when I encountered you all, and when we woke up here." He couldn't give a more accurate time description as he didn't know when exactly something would've transformed him into a Pokémon. It could've been when he was scratched up by the leaves of the disturbed Nuzleaf, or the bite from the Mightyena who had seemed more agitated than it should've been. That's when he remembered the daunting voice that spoke to him after the Nuzleaf left. What did it say? "Darkness shall rule this land, and those who continue to follow the light will perish?"
Nothing made any sense now, especially that mysterious voice which definitely did not sound human. It was almost like a Pokémon's? His thoughts on the subject trailed off however, as he noticed something more pressing. "Hey, have any of you seen my clothes?" Lyonell asked them all, but all he got was a collection of head shakes from the lot of them.
"Hey, is it that stuff up there?" He heard the male Pichu ask him while looking up into a tree. The Mew followed the little child's gaze up towards a high branch in one of the trees above them to see a flash of pink blowing in the wind. He then noticed his jeans and backpack, which were lying quite precariously on top of two branches. Any disturbance to either branch would cause the bag to fall, and all the food and medical supplies stored within to fall to the ground and break.
Lyonell found himself walking towards the base of the tree, and saw that his shoes, which were still tied, sat on the roots extending into the ground. He looked at his paw and flexed it, causing his claws to slide out of his fingers. With a quick, deep breath he jumped up and latched onto the trunk of the tree, his claws digging into the soft bark. A moment later, a loud thud was heard as he fell to the ground. Pieces of tree bark scattered around him when he fell, covering both him and the ground around him.
"Mister Mew! Are you alright?" The Pichu asked him, looking worriedly at the panting cat.
He put the backside of his paw on his forehead as he tried to catch his breath before chuckling at the little guy's worry. "Yeah, I'll be fine. But the bark on the tree is too soft. I can't climb it using my claws." Lyonell explained, as he stood back up and stared up into the leaves of the tree.
He stared up the tree towards the leaves above. The newly made Mew had to find a way to get his backpack if he ever hoped to free his best friend Noah, or use any of his supplies for survival. What was he to do? Should he follow his instincts, or should he formulate a plan to get his bag?
Lyonell took a deep breath and closed his eyes, staring at the underside of his eyelids. "There has to be some way to get them. I'm a Pokémon now, Mew even!" The cat told himself as he reopened his eyes to look up at the bag which still hung precariously on the branches above. "If there was ever one thing I know Mew could do, it was levitate. I should be able to do that. I'd just have to think about it."
Time seemed to slow down around him as he closed his eyes once again and brought his head down to face the ground. Spreading his arms apart, Lyonell focused on the thought of flight, soaring through the skies like a bird, a wingless bird. Suddenly, that's when figures started to flash across his mind. They looked weird; he'd never seen such symbols before. The first looked like an 'F' with a curved vertical line, the second looked like a key of sorts you'd see for unlocking a six-sided peg, and the last seemed like an arrowhead stuck in an 'L'. "Hekem, Lyr, Yahkem. Hekyem." Lyonell told himself, the symbols were letters from another language, and he knew what they meant. "Fly!"
A moment later the pink cat's legs began to levitate above the ground. It wasn't much, but there were a few inches between his feet and the grass. Taking this time to get accustomed to the feeling, Lyonell now opened his eyes. He heard a small gasp from the Pichu beside him. Keeping himself afloat would be effortless once he got used to balancing without any holds.
"Wow! You can fly, Mister!" The little Pichu beside him said in amazement. He had his paws in front of his chin as a smile spread across his face from red cheek to glowing red cheek, but his excitement was short lived. Commonly known about Pichu's was that they had barely any control over their natural electrical storage within their bodies. As his excitement about Lyonell floating next to him increased, his cheeks couldn't hold the discharge his body produced, leading to stray sparks releasing from his body and electrical sacks before they were redirected at his body, causing him to shock himself.
Lyonell watched in worry as the poor mouse Pokémon hurt itself in its excitement. "Are you alright, little guy?" He asked, turning his body so that his stomach was facing the ground while his legs pointed towards the tree trunk next to him. Carefully he touched the Pichu's arm and pulled him up to his feet. The mouse could barely keep himself upright however, and he quickly sat down on his rump.
He would have to let the toddler rest there for a bit for he had a more pressing task at hand: retrieving his backpack. Keeping his mind on flight, Lyonell ascended rather quickly into the air, using his paw to trace the tree so as to not lose control. Ten, Twenty, Thirty, and finally forty feet in the air he traveled the tree, reaching the branch containing his human items.
There was a pause as he stared first at his bag and then his paws. Looking back to the bag again, he realized that he now faced another predicament. He had no thumbs anymore, and most of his food containers were screw on caps to avoid any Pokémon from getting into it. He couldn't think about food now, although his stomach was growling as if to protest this thought. More importantly, he needed to focus. Lyonell wrapped his arms around the strap on the bag and floated a bit higher to take it off of the branch.
As the bag was lifted into the air, most of his clothes, including his Pokéball belt fell to the ground below, weighed down by his shoes to force them down faster. Pichu had been watching from below and quickly got out of the way to avoid being hit by the heavy clothes. Now possessing what he wanted, Lyonell descended back down to the ground, setting his pack on the grass before moving closer to his belt.
On it was only one Pokéball since he had been unable to catch any other Pokémon besides Noah. The Mew continued to stare at it for a little while longer, slowly inching his paw closer to the metal ball. "What am I going to tell him? What is he going to think of me once he finds out I transformed? Will he still think of me as his trainer and friend?"
Lyonell stared at Noah's Pokéball, conflicting emotions racing through his mind as he pondered his choices. On one hand, he could release Noah from the Pokéball and attempt to explain what had happened. However on the other hand, he could feel his friend's anger through the ball. Noah was growing restless being trapped in his Pokéball, and while Lyonell felt guilty for keeping him in he didn't particularly feel like getting yelled at by his best friend. What should he do? Let Noah out, or keep him in?
Lyonell bit his lip as he stared at the spherical piece of metal in his paws. There was only one answer to his dilemma, and it was to try and explain what happened to his friend, Noah. The Mew clicked on the small silver button, causing the Pokéball to expand in his grasp before pressing it again. Instantly the device flew open, a red beam of energy shooting out of the bottom half and arching up and behind Lyonell to hit the ground a foot away.
He turned around after the ball closed up again to see the red glowing form of an Eevee appear before the light dissipated, leaving only Noah in its place. Noah opened his eyes, his vision blurred at first due to the earlier roar forcefully shoving him away, After a few seconds he could see clearly again. Though what he saw was far from believable, as the Pokémon floating right in front of him was none other than the legendary Mew!
"Mew!" The large Eevee stuttered, staring in utter shock. "I- What are you doing here?" As much as Noah was flustered by the pink cat's appearance, he tried to remain as level headed as possible, though that only earned him a few chuckles from said Mew.
As he laughed, Noah began to suspect something was wrong, only to be confirmed once he heard Mew speak. "Noah, it's me, Lyonell." When Noah heard what Lyonell said, he felt hysterical at the news, and didn't want to believe it at all. His Master, a Pokémon? It was impossible for a human to transform into a Pokémon! Wasn't it?
His friend scoffed, pulling a paw over his long ears as if playing everything off as a joke. "Yeah, good try. Who's playing an illusion? Is there a Zorua around her or a psychic type?" Noah asked, standing up and walking around. "Hey! Come out whoever is playing this trick on me! It's not funny!"
Lyonell couldn't believe that Noah didn't believe him! He had to find some way to make the Eevee trust his words and just maybe he could with one of his Pokémon powers. The Mew closed his eyes, concentrating on another of a psychic type's most basic techniques: Levitation. Suddenly four symbols passed by his mind, all of them recognizable: A key shape 'Lyr', a connected I 'Iya', a seven with half strike 'Hefhed', and a lightning strike 'Tayem'. "All of those letters I know! Lyr, Iya, Hefhed, Tayem. They spell out Lyhem! Lift!"
As Lyonell figured out what the word meant, he held out his right arm, somehow knowing that it would aid him. He kept his arm straight, pointing at the Eevee before a blue hue began emanating around Noah, holding him still. Opening his eyes, which were glowing blue just like Noah's body, Lyonell brought his arm up in a slow ascent, which in turn began to lift the Eevee into the air.
Noah yelped in surprise, unable to move, as his body suddenly flew up into the air without warning. "Hey! Put me down!" He shouted, as he struggled to move, attempting to break free of the psychic hold. Lyonell chuckled as he pulled Noah back towards the ground, facing him so that his friend could see that it was really him. "Lyonell." The Eevee mumbled, looking at him through now calmer eyes, not ones of hysteria and confusion. "It really is you."
Giving a nod of confirmation, Lyonell released his friend, carefully setting him back on the ground all while shutting down the psychic ability. As the last of the glow left his eyes, Lyonell began to speak. "I'm sorry that I can't give a very good explanation that this, but the gist is that after you were sent back into your Pokéball, I was forced to run away from the Mightyena and after he nicked my shoulder, me and those Pokémon from before got swept away by the river." Finally finished, Lyonell awaited Noah's response, however his friend remained silent. Although he explained as best he could, Lyonell was concerned that the poor explanation wouldn't be enough for his friend.
His concerns were unfounded however, as Lyonell was quickly pulled from his thoughts when Noah head butted his shoulder. "Hey, as long as you're safe, that's all I care about." Noah smiled at him, his tail wagging happily behind him, and seeing this sight caused the Mew's tail to follow suit. Despite having gone through a lot in the last few hours, nothing surprised Lyonell more than what came out of Noah's mouth next. "Let's battle!"
Lyonell couldn't think of anything else to say except: "What?"
That earned him a short laugh from the Eevee in front of him who raised his paw to cover his mouth. "I said, 'let's battle!'" Which only made Lyonell stare at him longer, and when he wouldn't respond, Noah continued. "The reason I want to battle is simple. If you know how to use your attacks, you could defend yourself if we ever get separated! Plus it wouldn't hurt to have a second hand in case the kids come into harm's way."
Despite his shock from what Noah said to him, Lyonell managed to shake his head to clear it before putting on a smile. "A battle, huh? That sounds rather interesting." He thought to himself, looking around the nearby area. "Fine, Noah. I accept your challenge. Let's go somewhere a bit more open though. The clearing I woke up in would be perfect."
Noah nodded to his friend and followed behind him. As Lyonell floated on, his tail bobbed in front of Noah's view constantly and, being the playful Eevee that he was, he began to bat at it occasionally which was something Lyonell didn't mind at all.
As the group reached the clearing, the children quickly left the field and hid in a concealed bush nearby, their anticipation building. Taking note of where the children were, Noah and Lyonell took their places on the battlefield. Staring each other down with grins plastered on their faces, the two squared off with more than fifteen feet between them. "Don't go easy on me." The Mew chided, smiling as he lead with his left side, left arm in front and diagonal to try and block or alter the course of incoming physical attacks.
Noah on the other hand had his hind legs bent, ready to spring forward with his forelegs spread a bit wider than his shoulders to give him a leading head start on dodging left or right quickly. "I wouldn't dream of it!" He called out.
Lyonell's heart raced, his blood roaring in his ears as he thought about the battle he would have with his friend. He was ready for it, and wanted to beat his lifelong friend at his best subject: Pokémon battles! There was no way he was going to lose to Noah, not when he had multiple attacks at his disposal. "Let's do this!"
Lyonell squared off with Noah, both Pokémon staring at each other with enough intensity that you could almost see the sparks flying between them. "You can take the first move." Noah told the floating cat. He could see the concentration on the Eevee's face, as he was trying to predict his first attack, his first movement, his first thought. Already, before the battle even started, Lyonell had a choice to make. What would he do?
After a moment of thought, he knew exactly what to do, a psychic type's most basic of moves: Psychic! Lyonell closed his eyes like he had before, raising his paw up to point towards Noah, readying himself to pick him up again. Noah saw the movement and knew what was to come. In preparation to evade the Psychic, he charged up a Shadow Ball in his mouth, not much bigger than his head and shot it at Lyonell. At the same moment, Lyonell finished preparing to levitate the Eevee, however in order to do so he would've needed a clear line of sight. When he opened his eyes, Noah was gone, and a black glowing orb filled his vision. Unable to dodge, Lyonell was hit by the Shadow Ball and flung backwards.
The Mew yelped in surprise as the explosive impact from the Shadow Ball shot him into a tree. Noah couldn't help but let out a short chuckle as he watched his friend and former trainer hit his back against the trunk. "Oh this will be a fun battle." He said under his breath, grinning from ear to ear as he got ready to attack. "My turn now!" He shouted, disappearing in a streak of silver, his body visible for short moments at a time as he sprinted at Lyonell.
Lyonell knew he was in trouble; Quick Attack was a very fast move, faster than most other moves. He had to find a way to avoid it quickly, or he would be taking another hit before he could recover. He felt himself a bit annoyed at the fact that Noah hadn't even let him finish getting his attack out before the Shadow Ball was in his face! If he wanted to use super effective moves against him, then Noah could get a face full of fighting type moves!
Closing his eyes, Lyonell thought of fighting type moves, Aura Sphere, Brick Break, and Focus Blast. As he did, letters of the other language began to flash by his vision. The 'C' with a top line was 'A', the backwards 'G' with a dot was 'U', the cane was a 'R', and the 'C' again being 'A'. "Ayem, Yoodt, Roht, Ayem. Those letters say Ayohm. It means Aura."
He opened his eyes again, pulling his right hand back, fast as lightning. As he held it back in place, a light blue sphere with a purple core formed in his right paw, spinning quickly in every direction. "Let's see how you like this!" Lyonell shouted, as Noah reached striking range. He quickly brought the ball down on top of Noah's head as the Eevee got within arm's reach. Noah screamed in pain as his skull was slammed into the dirt, his face getting buried under the ground by the powerful collision of their abilities.
Sensing that the Eevee couldn't be driven underground any further, Lyonell released his attack, and the orb of aura blew up. Lyonell quickly flew back to avoid any explosive damage. When the smoke cleared, Noah was struggling to stand up inside of a six foot wide crater created by his own attack. It felt good that he was able to produce an attack such as that with such little experience as a Pokémon, he was becoming stronger, but he was looking at Noah with concern. "Did I go too far?"
The thought was quickly brushed away however as Noah stood up moments later, shaking the dirt off of his pelt and jumping out of the hole to stand on solid ground. "Hah! Nice attack, but don't think that means you won!" He shouted up to Lyonell who was now floating near the lowest tree branches.
Lyonell looked down at Noah with a smirk. His friend was having a blast, literally and figuratively, despite getting an attack to the face. "Oh this is far from over for you." Lyonell told him, getting ready to make his next attack.
Noah grinned up at him; his body turning silver again as he took off, quickly running up the tree. Lyonell was ready for him this time. With plenty of time to dodge out of the way, he used his aerial maneuverability to his advantage, and dropped lower before heading back towards the tree which Noah jumped from. In reaction, Noah looked back, landing his paws on a tree in front of him before jumping back and spinning in circles as he went out, spinning in all directions.
Lyonell knew this trick, he taught it to Noah when he was only five. Swift combined with a flurry of spins to make them go everywhere, ensuring that the stars never missed no matter where they might go. Yellow glowing stars shot out towards every direction as Noah descended towards the ground. Lyonell was forced to try to dodge the onslaught of stars; however he knew it was futile. More and more of the stars began to cut at his body. He gritted his teeth, bearing the pain as lines of blood came from the cuts across his arms and legs.
He growled ferally, his eyes turning to slits as he gave into his Pokémon instincts to give him a fighting edge. The Mew's arms glowed white, feeling almost like solid rock as he soared at the Eevee on the ground. Noah's eyes widened as a white glowing arm connected with his chest. He tried to bear the pain, but it was too much as he was launched backwards by slamming him straight into, and through a tree trunk, leaving a hole where the Eevee's body hit. After tumbling for several more seconds, Noah came to a halt on the opposite side of the tree.
His body was shaking, and he could barely stand despite wanting to continue. Noah knew however that he wouldn't be able to do much more until he healed up. Taking two super effective attacks one after another would take its toll on any Pokémon. Lyonell floated over to him, his eyes back to their round irises and his fur no longer standing on end ferociously. He could see the Eevee was in pain, and a few more hits like that would probably put him out of commission for a while. He knew he could end the battle right there with another attack from that close, but at the same time he could simply ask for Noah's surrender, ending the battle that way as well.
Lyonell looked at his friend, feeling sympathy for him and put out his paw to help him up. "Want to call it a draw?" The Mew asked, looking at him with a calm expression. Noah glanced up at him briefly, and after helping himself up with Lyonell's help, sat on his hind legs with a tired smile.
"Thank you, friend." The Eevee said, with a nod to him. "Do you wish to rest?" He asked. Though Lyonell gave no words of answer, he did answer with a nod to Noah.
They both motioned to the kids to come to them and they gathered together around Lyonell's bag which he opened using his psychic abilities. All six of them ate the berries that were stored in his backpack. All that remained in the pack was a container of water for each of them to drink from.
"We don't have any more food." Lyonell thought to himself as he looked around at the other five Pokémon sitting before him. "If we don't get food soon, we may not be able to eat anything tomorrow morning." He had only two choices now: Wait until morning to find food, or risk treading the night sky for food now. Which would he choose to do?
Lyonell sighed to himself as he looked off into the darkening sky above them. The clouds were hardly visible in the almost non-existent light of the moon, yet strangely enough, it was a full moon in the sky. It seemed almost as if there was a darkness to the woods still like before when he first entered the woods either that morning or previous day, Lyonell still couldn't remember.
He hadn't noticed until Noah had pushed his paw into the Mew's side to bring him back from his thoughts. "Hey, you alright, Lyonell?"
A soft smile had opened up on his face as he put his own paw on the Eevee's head to comfort him. "Yeah, I'm fine." There was a pause as he looked at his friend, who, still despite Lyonell's belief, was as tall as he was with the two of them sitting down. "Hey look. I am going to go out and gather some food for tomorrow. I hadn't planned to feed this many Pokémon, including myself."
Noah seemed almost shocked at what his friend was telling him, and Lyonell could see it on his face that he wasn't about to make this easy for them. "No way am I letting you go out there alone!" He had stood up quickly as he demanded that his friend stay at camp with them. It was dark and dangerous out in the woods, and the encounters with the Nuzleaf and Mightyena would only strengthen his argument should he bring it up.
"We need someone to stay at camp with these kids. There's no way I'd be able to protect them!" Lyonell countered him, bringing up a valid point that Noah had far more experience in battling as himself than he did as a Mew. Though that left out the difference in physical and mental endurance, something that Noah was bound to bring up. Before he ever even had the chance however, the Mew quickly floated up off the ground and started to back away, waving to Noah and the baby Pokémon. "Bye kids. I'll be back with food later for you all. Listen to my friend Noah; he'll keep you all safe while I am gone!"
Without another look back, he floated away from the camp as he heard his friend holler from far behind him. "Lyonell! Just don't cause yourself anymore trouble!"
Using his new found senses as a cat, Lyonell began to try and pick out berries around the area he was searching in. He could smell Oran berries, Rawst berries, Cherri berries, and all other sorts of them in all shapes and sizes. There were so many in fact it overwhelmed him to the point that he almost forgot how many different kinds there were in the world.
"So many to choose from, but so little time to collect them." He told himself, looking around now with his eyes open to float by and pick them out with his paws. At some point his cat hands were full with berries, but it was a far cry from enough to feed them all. Then an idea struck him as though the answer had been there all along, but just now thought of it. "Oh duh, I can just use psychic to hold them."
Lyonell closed his eyes with haste; he didn't have too much longer before the others would start to fret about his safety. There was a faint blue hue that surrounded the berries had had cradled in his arms and slowly let his arms fall, letting his psychic powers do the rest of the work. He smiled at his achievement, but also a bit hot that he hadn't thought of the idea before; feeling a bit embarrassed for it. With the embarrassment behind him, Lyonell quickly gathered the rest of the berries that would suffice them through the next day, and possibly into the day after that. When he was done, the moon was all the way at its highest point in the sky, signaling that it was midnight, twelve o'clock AM in human time.
"It's time to bring all of them back." The Mew thought to himself, looking around to orientate before in the direction of camp. It was only when he could smell the scents of the baby Pokémon and Noah did he relax a bit, knowing he was reunited with his friends. That was when he noticed it, causing Lyonell to stop instantly where he was and look around. There was a scent that he hadn't noticed before; the sense of darkness grew thicker around him and a feeling of someone watching him.
Suddenly it hit him, bloodlust. Lyonell turned on a dim, reacting out of instinct a psychic barrier appeared in front of his hands as he pulled them up to guard his chest and body. It didn't help him however as a body of fur colored black and gray crashed through the shield, shattering it into pieces and slamming him to the ground, causing him to slide and tumble nearly twenty feet away.
He struggled to reach his feet again, his legs shaking with the effort to support his own weight due to the hit he took. One glance up confirmed his feeling of who the Pokémon was, and made him regret coming out here in the night. It was the Pokémon who attacked him at the river's edge and pushed him into the water: Mightyena. With a shudder Lyonell attempted to shake off the tackle and floated back into the air to face him. "Why did you attack me in the forest earlier?" Lyonell asked the Mightyena, moving his left hand forward and his right hand back in a bit of a defensive and offensive stance.
His question only made the wolf like Pokémon laugh out loud with a snarl combined with it. "Isn't it obvious, runt?" He asked threateningly, licking his lips. "I want food!"
Without another word, the Mightyena opened his mouth; dark energy formed around his teeth and lunged at the Mew. In an instant Lyonell made both arms glow white and let his attacker bite onto his left arm. Pain seared throughout his body, and every nerve, muscle, and bone went cold as teeth broke the skin and blood gushed out of the wound. Lyonell powered through the pain quickly, his eyes snapped open, and he raised his right arm as high up as he could before bringing it down on top of Mightyena's head, hearing a sickening crack and then a thud as its head hit the dirt.
There was a sound of leaves and bushes being disturbed and suddenly Noah came up on Lyonell's right side, looking up at him before looking down at the Mightyena lying eerily still on the ground. "What happened?" Noah asked him, moving over to check on the downed Pokémon.
"I- I don't know." Lyonell stammered, not yet realizing the full extent of what had just occurred. "I was coming back with the food for tomorrow when I sensed a...what I could only describe as a thirst for blood. Then he leaped at me and bit down on my arm." He described, lifting up his bleeding left forearm. "Next thing I knew I…" The Mew looked down at his right forearm, now for the first time noticing the blood all over it. "I killed him…"
Noah stared down at the Mightyena and felt around his body, and gave a small shake of his head as he stepped off of it. "He's not breathing." He looked back up at his partner and saw the look of shock on his face. "Come on, let's get you back to camp. It's not safe to be sitting out here alone." The Eevee explained to him, ushering him towards a group of bushes nearby. "I moved us inside here for better shelter."
Together the two of them crawled into the enclosed area of the tangle of bushes and thorny vines, luckily none of them getting caught on either of them as they made it inside. "It stinks a bit inside here too so it'll mask our scents from any intruding Pokémon." Lyonell laid down on the opposite side of where the kids were all sleeping, they all huddled together on one side of the small burrow. Noah laid next to Lyonell, his back to the kids as he looked down at his friend's arm and began to lick away the dried blood. He didn't care that his friend did this; Lyonell was too far gone in shock to focus on what was going on around him, only his thoughts remained with what happened only a few minutes ago.
"Don't beat yourself up over it." Noah told him between licks, Lyonell's forearm almost clean of blood with the exception of the clotted blood that sealed his wound. "Maybe it was meant to happen; sometimes you just can't control these things. Some decisions are made for us."
"Yes, but I could've decided to not attack him! I could have decided to stay here for the night and wait until morning!" Lyonell snapped at him, though in a hushed voice as to not waking the children.
"What could've happened then if you hadn't gone out tonight then?" Noah asked. "Maybe that Mightyena could've gotten the drop on me and possibly killed me in the process instead, or maybe killed one of the kids."
There was a long pause as the two stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. A chill ran down the Mew's spine as he realized those were two possibilities that he hadn't thought about. Maybe it was for the best that he went out at night instead of waiting until tomorrow, but now he had to live with the consequences of half of their supply of food and an injured left arm. Luckily though, no one else was hurt, and that's what he thought was best right now.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Lyonell began, looking at the Pokémon from over Noah's side. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it." Noah told him, looking around and sniffing the air. "We should both get some sleep. You especially."
He didn't do much to protest, he knew sleep was probably the best way to shake off this feeling of dread he had over him since the attack. With that in mind, Lyonell laid his head down on the ground and sighed as he moved onto his back so he could look up at the night sky.
Thoughts ran through his mind as he looked up and thought back on what had happened so far in the past day. Like why had he decided to disobey his mom and go out into the forest? That was a simple answer: He had Pokémon friends in the forest he thought might get hurt from this news of some Pokémon attacking humans and other Pokémon alike out of nowhere. Why had he jumped in front of the baby Pokémon? That again was a simple answer: He couldn't just stand there and watch them get hurt; he had to keep them safe. Then what about going to get food that night and what happened with the Mightyena? Lyonell thought that was best with what Noah had explained: Sometimes, things just happen, it wasn't his choice for the Mightyena to be killed, the choice was made for him, and he reacted out of instinct to survive.
In all of these scenarios, Lyonell thought each was the best decision he could make at the time, and hopefully turned out to be the right thing to do down the road. Who knows what kind of trials he'd have to go through to get back his normal life and how he would get these kids back to the safety of their parents.
Lyonell sighed and closed his eyes finally. With that mental debate aside, his mind was finally as clear as it could possibly be, and found peace out of it. Now with a clear mind, the Mew finally found sleep.
End of Act 1