Each star in the night sky represents our lost freedom; us, the Poke humans who are hunted by scientists and those who believe in false prophecies. We are not rare, we are hidden. We are not to be made projects out of either. Humans have forgotten us, and not one has seen us for a while. This was our way. The more they didn't know, the safer we'd be. Now, to them we are just simple legends. It has been over a thousand years since a human had spotted us; uncle Torkoal had promised us that, which was good. Because none of us wanted to be captured and undergo experiments, it didn't seem right. That is why we abandoned all humanity and fled deep inside of the forest. But even we need to go and visit the nearest towns to check on the humans
That's what I was doing now, checking on them just to see whether they had caught on or not. It was dangerous, but we had to keep our homeland and our kind safe. We had many of the forest Pokémon on our side and that was how the forest stayed together in peace. But these days, it is beginning to change. The Pokémon are getting riled up because of the recent pollution and adventurers in the forest. Too many humans are getting close to our home in the middle of the forest and island. It was beginning to feel less safe than normal, and more teams of Pokéhumans are venturing out into the towns to look for ways to stop it.
"Pheo? Stop spacing out, people are staring and hurry up because mother is waiting!" A tall boy said to me, grinning. His name was Whil. He was half Whimsicott and half human, and so uncle Torkoal named him that.
Whil was tall, but friendly overall, although most humans tended to think of him as threatening. He had no choice but to wear the thuggish like hat he had found a long time ago. He had small but noticeable horns that curled around by his human ears. He had to hide them under a hat because his hair was not long enough to hide them, and he never wanted it to be. Even though winter was approaching, he still refused.
"Why do we have to lie in public?" I asked him as we walked down an alley to the closest research centre. I didn't like to lie; we could've just walked past all the stares without even saying anything.
"For our own safety, we don't want to seem suspicious or different. A lot of humans normally have a set goal in mind whenever they go outside on a walk, so we have to pretend to be like them. Understand?" He told me harshly, though I was used to this treatment. He wasn't good at being human himself. Humans can't do half of the stuff we do in our tag games or in our obstacle courses for practise games.
"Fine," I replied bluntly, rolling my eyes and balling my fists, ready to enter a trapped domain. I could feel my own ears wiggle underneath my thick hair. I kept them down with as much strength as I could. My instincts willed me to run. It was my first time out to a human town with an important mission. If I messed up, that was it for our forest, and my own family. "Let's get this over and done with already."
"Not that simple, human's love the Company of strangers." Whil laughed heartily, and then opened the door to an exploration place. Pictures of rare Pokémon and special places in the forest covered the walls. Three funny looking humans were talking to what seemed to be the owner of the exploration shop. As we entered, I noticed a cute Pokémon on a boy's shoulder. It cocked its head at me curiously. I felt bad for it because it probably was going to be confined in a Pokéball for most of its life. I felt bad for it, until I saw the human pat its head very gently. The Pokémon smiled and let out a small whine of happiness.
I tore my eyes away and looked closely at the pictures that lined the wall. A large patch of pretty flowers was featured in one, and it made my heart stop. I lived near that patch of flowers, which meant the humans were nearing the homeland. It was so quiet, that I could hear everything that was going on, including the conversation the four humans over yonder were having.
"The Shini Island special? Made of those extra rare flowers? I hear they are good for your health." Said the tall boy knowingly, nodding his head at the owner of the exploration shop. "Your wife makes the best? Wow! I sure would love to try them. Baraun flowers are supposed to be beneficial for both Pokémon and humans."
"Really? I guess they are tasty then?" The boy said as his cute Pokémon ran down his arm to take a look around. I froze up. Baraun flowers were the flowers in the pictures, which meant the humans had been stealing from the forest. Whil walked up to me and took a look at the picture.
"Isn't that...?" He started, but he gave a wince when I stomped on his foot to keep him quiet. I had to gain the courage my family did not have. This would be my first contact with a human.
"Baraun flowers?" I asked, walking up to the owner, smiling politely. The three humans turned to look at me as if they'd only just noticed we had entered the shop. How ignorant, they should've noticed, otherwise I could've stolen one of those sill stupid things they call good luck charms.
"Yes, extra rare and tough to cook, they can only be found in one place in the forest, but it is said a fierce Pokémon guards it, and only Pokémon can grab the flowers without being hurt badly by that fearsome Pokémon." The man explained.
"I see. Are you going to pick them?" I questioned with a false smile. The man nodded and threw a red and white ball into the air. It bounced open and a bird Pokémon flew out of it with a loud squawk. I knew that Pokémon very well, because in truth, I was that fearsome Pokémon who guards the flowers. They belong to the forest and the creatures that belong in it, I am not going to let any human waltz up and take them. They are to be used for healing the sick Pokémon in the forest, not for human benefits. The man made his Pokémon sneak into the forest and pretend to be a forest Pokémon. Smart, but also very stupid. I would teach that Pokémon a lesson myself, but not right now.
Suddenly, a pair of hands gripped my own, I flinched from shock, and my ears almost perked up, but Whil saved me by placing his hand on my head to stop them. The boy who had grabbed my hand was red in the face.
"Speaking of rare flowers, you-" He began, but was cut off by the redheaded girl who was holding a small egg-shaped Pokémon in her arms.
"Shut it Brock," She glared at him foully, grabbing his collar and dragging him away from me. I didn't understand. I noticed that Whil had took his hand off of my head though.
"Is he ill?" I asked, confused.
"Well, you could say that." The other boy explained, then turned and noticed his little yellow Pokémon had something in his little paws. It was a picture of a shrine. "Hey, Pikachu, what have you got there?"
"Pika? Pikachu... Chu." Which meant, What? I don't know because I was going to ask you.
"That looks cool!" The redhead said with a happy smile. "Let's go there!"
"Didn't you hear about the legends of this Island yet? Going to the shrine on the night of a full moon can be dangerous." The man warned them, but smiled nonchalantly as he spoke. I wasn't amused, but the three tourists seemed to be. The Pikachu mewled and crawled back up to get on his trainer's arm. It was rather sickening to watch, but at least he wasn't in danger.
"Alright, sorry, lovely chatting with you, c'mon Pheo, we'll be late to meet up with the others if we don't hurry..." Whil grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the store, he didn't stop until he knew we were out of all eye sight. I was a bit breathless from his fast pace, but I didn't complain. I was worried about the forest. "Go back to your original form, Pheo. Otherwise those humans will want to know more about you and the flowers."
"I don't want too." I retorted bluntly.
"Why? It's for safety reasons. I only care about-"
"No means no, Whil... I won't do it." I said defensively.
"Please?" He begged, his eyes growing wide. He was using the move charm to try and lower my guard, but it didn't work against me. I wasn't going to turn back into my original form until we reach the forest. It was too risky otherwise.
"No. Now where are we meeting the others?" I asked him with a glare.
"Here. We may have to wait a while, they may be being held back for some reason." Whil reasoned a little upset that I didn't return to my form. He, just like I, had the urge to protect. It was a very natural instinct and it couldn't be stopped until safety was apparent. We were waiting for nearly an hour. We didn't say much to each other, but that's the way it went.
A group of four people came walking out of the alley and grinned at us. They didn't seem to have any bad news like we did, so we were quiet when they explained. A girl with blue hair and yellow boots decided to explain what she and her friend had found. Her friend had fiery hair and dark blue eyes. I knew who they were. They called themselves team opposition. Why? Because the girl with the blue hair was actually a Piplup, and the girl with the fiery hair was a Typhlosion. Fire and water types do not normally get along, however, these two did. I liked them for that. Seeing the differences in each other is also a good way to see things that are the same. Anyway, these two are the best duo there is for finding information on the humans.
The other duo was two the Chatot brothers. The only duo we were left waiting for, returned after five minutes of waiting. A girl with silver-grey hair and reddish-brown eyes, it was hard to tell when she wasn't in her true Poochyena form. Her partner was tall with black hair that had a grey spot on the bangs. I nodded at them and we began to talk about all of our findings all together on the way to the forest.
"So, what else did you find? Nothing? Pine and I found a lot!" Lily the Piplup girl smiled. "Although, it didn't seem like they were close to our homeland yet. We should still warn uncle Torkoal though."
"They found the Baraun flower hiding spot." Whil exclaimed loudly as we neared the beginning of the forest. Everybody suddenly stopped in their tracks and looked at me accusingly. I shook my head, I knew it was my fault for being too nice and trusting, but I couldn't exactly do anything now.
"Pheo! You were supposed to guard that from humans for your whole life! What happened?" Timn, the taller Chatot brother asked me, shocked.
"I have protected from humans, but they have been sending their Pokémon out to get it for them. Not only that, but they are using it to make food... how disgusting." I growled, my ears popping up from under their hiding spot. We were far enough in the woods so that nobody would see us anyway. I decided to revert back to my original form, and began to quickly run on my four legs. My true form was a Furret. But not just any Furret, I was special because of my ringed Pink fur. My brothers and sisters had brown fur, so I was an oddball. Some Pokémon are scared of me because I am like this, but I can't blame them. Just like how I can't blame anyone for what happened to the secret flower spot but me.