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step one

Don't Act Until Certain

It was a siren's song that woke him. A high, warbling tune that sang through the trees and rippled the leaves overhead. Almost like a bird-song, twittering notes and pitches up and down the musical scale, but scattered throughout it were half-words and syllables that he couldn't make out. Unless a…

Unless a… a…?

He groaned and flopped onto his stomach again after the second effort of sitting up. He was almost fine on the ground. Not entirely peachy, but down there the blood didn't rush to his head like it did whenever he tried to push himself up. The helmet didn't exactly help; the pounding reverberating against it and back through his skull… it was only making matters worse.

No, he decided then that he was happy on the ground for the moment. He felt the sun on his body where the light filtered through the canopies above. He focused on the feeling of warmth.

It was… interesting. He had lain in the sun before—it was silly to say that he never had. But never had he had this kind of warmth flow over him from just the sunshine. A sort of calming warmth that made him want to lay there for just a little while longer… almost like he was under the several layers of blankets of his bed and didn't want to leave.

He focused on the warmth and the feeling of the grass around him. Just lying there, frowning every so often as a cloud would drift in front of the sun and he would lose the warmth. It was a lazy day, and he decided he would stay there for a little while longer. Just a little more until he could feel his ears again over the headache. Maybe a little more. Maybe a little more and drift away into sleep.

…but then it again, it might be dark out when he wakes up and then what will he do? Well, he certainly didn't remember falling asleep out here in the first place and yet no one had bothered him so far. He could stay here until morning.

Yes, that's what he would do. Just lay and sleep this weariness off. In the morning or evening or whenever it will be when he wakes up, he'd figure out where he was then. He'd figure that out then. Now though—

"H-hey! You alright?"

The best laid plans...

Someone ran up to him and he felt the grass ahead of him bend as whoever it was skidded to a stop.

"Hey, you okay?" A scratchy voice that had more curiosity than concern. Whoever it was sighed. "Out cold. Figures."

He felt his shoulder shake.

"Hey! Wake up! It's not safe to just snooze out here in the open! Oi, com'on!"

He winced. It wasn't like this newcomer's voice was grating, it just reminded me of his headache which, upon realizing it had been ignored until now, hammered him on the head anew. He flinched and groaned, a hand coming up to rub his forehead only to find the helmet. Fishing lower and lower, he found the lip only to bop into his nose.

Groaning even more, he flipped back the helmet and raised both hands to his face, rubbing his forehead.

"Um. A-are you okay, Cubone?"

"Cubone?" He mumbled, coughing in surprise on how dry his voice was. He forced himself into a sitting position, flinching with the pounding in his head. "I don't think I have a Cubone."

…wait, 'have a Cubone?' That would mean he was a Pokémon Trainer.

...wait. Was he a Pokémon Trainer?

…wait.

He pressed his fingers against his skull.

Wait.

"Did you take a hit on the head or something," The stranger more concluded than asked, the voice again flaring up his headache. "Ehhhh—is it even possible for a Pokémon to forget what they are?"

Forget.

He froze.

There was nothing. His mind was blank.

Oh no.

Wait. Just wait.

"C-c-can—" he coughed. "…can you say that again?" Why did his voice sound so dry? How long was he out?

"I mean—you know how you can forget stuff when you get hit on the head?" The voice audibly shrugged. "I'm wondering if it's possible for you've forgotten what kind of Pokémon you are."

"What kind of…?" He drifted off as he looked through his fingers. A Totodile stood a few strides away, the small, blue crocodile pacing along the forest floor. If he was sitting, how was that Totodile taller than him? He dropped his hands and looked around; the trees seemed gigantic as well. No one else was around. "…where are you?"

The Totodile shook his head as it paced back. "Alright. I'm gonna be honest, not sure how amnesia covers that."

He flinched, his helmet flopping back over his eyes. He almost pulled it away before he realized there were two holed over his eyes, perfectly cut in the white material so he could see quite clearly. In fact, it felt like it fit his head perfectly when it was down like this. A small part of his mind wondered why the helmet arched so far out in front of him, but the rest was focused on a much more pressing realization.

"You—was that you. That just talked. Just now—the Totodile."

The Totodile tilted its head, red eyes narrowing slightly. "Now you're just messin' with me."

That certainly was the Totodile.

He pushed himself away, but caught himself on something and ended up on his back. He rolled onto his front. His helmet stayed on throughout all that. It really shouldn't have. He shook his head—the helmet stuck to his head without any sort of rattle or weight. He pushed himself up.

Hands—he collapsed back onto his stomach. Hands. Hands.

Not hands.

Claws. He had claws.

Two clawed fingers, thumb, wide palm in between. Brown skin—no brown scales—scales that ran up his arm to his shoulder—he wasn't wearing anything! Brown scales with a lighter, more creamier brown over his stomach. On his back, two spikes stuck out of his spine on the way down to a

down to a

down to a

tail.

A tail.

He swallowed and looked back up to the Totodile with wide eyes.

He had a tail.

He had a revelation.

"I'm the Cubone," he said, barely making a sound. "And-and—that means…" He ran a finger—no, a claw along the top of the nose of the skull, pushing down on it and feeling the pressure underneath for most of the way down it on what would then be his snout underneath. "This isn't a helmet—"

He the world blurred as he collapsed again.

A blast of pain snapped it back to focus.

He snapped up into a ball, shivering, hyperventilating, cradling his damp tail, holding it to his chest.

It bit him—that Totodile bit his tail!

his tail

tail

"Howdid you even manage to?" The Totodile sighed. It noticed the fear in his eyes. "Okay, sorry about that but you were losing it again." Much quieter, to itself, "I didn't think that would actually work." It cleared his throat and knelt down next to him, offering a hand. ...claw? Paw?

It… wasn't threatening. It seemed to be concerned. He slowly uncurled himself.

"I'm Sobek," The Totodile grinned a grin full of teeth. "And you, 'sides the weirdest Pokémon I've ever met…? Eh, Cubone aren't all that common here. So…?"

After much glancing between the Totdile's eyes and its hand, he took it and was pulled up. He teetered on his feet—he couldn't exactly stand straight up—like a human except he wasn't a human—it felt more natural to half-crouch, knees locked at an angle, and subtly rock back and forth on his feet—more towards the single talon of the foot than the heel. It felt natural, it felt right and those two feelings disturbed him.

But Sobek—like… like…? Where did he hear that name before?

Sobek blinked, huge mouth smirking in surprise, "You're tall for a Cubone. Like, a head taller." It glanced him over, "Oh, you got longer legs. A runner then, right? Nah, still way too tall."

He took a step back from the fang-filled jaw level with his eyes, stumbling over his tail.

He had a tail. His tail.

"I-I—what?"

Deep breaths, he was taking deep breaths, fighting the urge to hyperventilate with deep breaths. With wide eyes he glanced around—the trees were giants with the lowermost branches so far up in the sky and the bushes scattered around on the forest floor towered above him and the grass below came up to his knees—and he was on a path—a path!— the grass beyond the trees easily grew to heights taller than he was and everything was so huge so huge and he wasn't a human but a cubone so small and he had a tail a tail a tail a tail a—

wham!

He teetered. The Totodile steadied him by the shoulders, its eyes extremely apologetic.

"Oi." It tapped him on the nose again, much lighter this time. "Stop doing that. You are starting to freak me out. What's wrong?"

He swallowed heavily. The Totodile was leaning down to eye-level with him. Leaning down to eye-level, head angled and slightly tilted so it could study him better. This small Totodile that was so huge because he was so tiny. "Whoa. Steady. Seriously, what's going on with you?" it said slowly and carefully. "You can tell me."

He pushed the Totodile off him. He took two steps back and he shook his head but his legs gave out and he fell to the grass and the sunlight was getting brighter and the world was getting fuzzier and—he shook his head. Deep breath. Calming breath. "I—I d-don't know what's going on! I'm—! I'm human. Human!"

An incredulous look frowned in Sobek's eyes with the very corners of its mouth. "…sure. Just, um. Just don't faint the next time you look at your reflection."

His body shook more and more as he looked over himself again. His legs gave out and he fell onto his tail.

"N-no! No! This—this isn't right! I… I c-can't remember anything." He looked at his hands. "Human. These should be human hands—not a Cubone's. Not a Cubone's." Panicked tears welled up and he shrunk into a ball. "I can't remember anything. I can't remember anything." He put his hands to his face, trying to find the best angle to hold it over his helm. His helm—helmet. His hanks jerked away only for his entire body to convulse. He ripped off the skull and threw it away. His hands covered his eyes, thumbs along the jaw. "There's nothing. Nothing at all. I'm just—I'm supposed to be human—I'm supposed to be—!"

his mouth and nose were part of the same—

His sobs drowned his voice.

Sobek slowly looked away from where the helm had landed. It sat down across from him. Very carefully, "What about your name? Can you remember your name?"

"My—?" His sob stole his voice, but he looked up from his hands and met Sobek's eyes saw the genuine concern in them. In the eyes of a Totodile larger than himself, genuine concern. Genuine concern. His eyes fogged over for an—Daaaaay-viiiiid…!

"David. My name is David." He blinked, eyes refocusing. A strange sneer crossed his snout—David didn't know how to smile with his new face. "My name is David." The strange sneer disappeared. "…that's… the only thing I remember. My name is David, and I'm a human."

but he wasn't a human he was a cubone tiny tiny cubone so tiny with a tail a tail his tail

His tail. His. Tail.

"David." Sobek tilted its head, eyes humored but trying to hide it. "That's a sil—"

"Somebody! Anybody! Please help me!"

Sobek was on his his feet at 'some'. Its head snapped around and around as it spun in a blue blur. "Oh, no…." The world panged as the helm was slammed back on his head and his legs wobbled as he was dragged back onto them. "Getupgetupgetup!"

"What—" Sobek pointed through the trees behind David.

A Butterfree darted through the trunks, weaving through them all at a breakneck pace. It glanced at them, disappeared behind a tree, then darted back out and towards them.

"Eeeeehhehehehhhh… we've been spotted," Sobek said quietly.

"What?"

"Well, it's kinda clear we're not feral. I mean, you're a Cubone—dah! And you're too pale to be irrational! I—we don't have time to do that! Oh, I'm not going to like this…." Sobek faded off into a groan.

"…what."

"Please help me!" the Butterfree pleaded as it skidded to a stop in the air above them. David looked up at the huge bug.

H… huge bug. Gigantic. Collosal. Titantic. A Butterfree. A Butterfree. "My baby! My poor little Caterpie! Please, you must help me!"

Sobek winced and glared at David when the Butterfree glanced back the way it came. Sobek cleared its throat, "Okay, calm down ma'am. Take a deep breath and tell us what happened."

Ma'am? Oh, the large purple spots on the lower wings… male Butterfree don't have those. It then hit him: the Butterfree was normal sized, he was small—most Cubone are only a foot tall. Totodile, two feet. A third and two-thirds meters, respectively. He was probably one foot, six inches—half a meter, maybe a bit more, judging his height from Sobek.

He visibly flinched. Where did that come from?!

"Oh, I was out for a walk with my little Caterpie when another earthquake struck!" She started. Earthquake? Another? …shouldn't he have felt that? Even Sobek would have definitely mentioned it when it first found him. "And… and… oh my poor little baby fell into a fissure in the ground. When I tried to get my baby, wild Pokémon attacked me! Please!" She hovered down close to them; David felt the gale around her wings. They were less solid and more a silver haze around her.

The two took a step back in unison.

The Butterfree flew closer.

The two took another step.

She chased. "You must help me—you two boys are the only two non-wild and rational Pokémon I've found so far!"

The two of them quickly found themselves with their backs against a tree, the Butterfree sobbing only inches away from their faces, her wings flapping violently behind her.

"Um," Sobek cleared it—his throat off to the side. "Lady, we're not—"

"But the time I reach the Square to get help from there my baby— oh, my poor baby! Please you must help me!" The silver haze took on a mix of purple powder that fell behind the Butterfree. "You must!"

That's—! That's—!

THAT'S—!

"Okay!" Sobek snapped. "We'll try to find him!"

"No-no, you will find him!" The Butterfree screeched, "You will find him!" The purple powder fluttered past them, arching around them and the tree. David had long stopped breathing. He was busy watching the color draining from the grass just next to his knee.

"We will find him! Okay! Okay! Please, let us get going!"

"Oh, yes! Yes, I'll wait here for you!" the Butterfree cried, her relief mixing in with the hysteria. "When you find my baby, you can bring him right back here and I'll be waiting." She fluttered a little ways away and ceased shedding powder. "You know where the Tiny Woods are, yes? The fissure opened up there in the largest clearing! Please, go! Go now."

"Yesma'am," Sobek said and shimmied along the tree away from her.

"Aren't you going to help your partner, Cubone?" Butterfree asked. There was far too much courtesy was in her voice. Sobek spun back around; David was frozen against the tree, and what little Sobek saw of his face under the skull didn't matter, they were both the same color.

"B-b-b-but-I'm—" David swallowed. The Butterfree tilted her head. Big red eyes. Big red eyes with a blank sheen. Gigantic. Colossal. Piercing. Outlined by more purple powder behind her. "I'm-I'm not—I'm a—I'm-I'm-I'm—!"

"Don't worry about the grass types—it's just Tiny Woods, buddy!" Sobek butted in with a fake laugh, grabbing David's arm and pulling him away. Sobek looked to the Butterfree, her head tilted the other way, blank red eyes emotionless. "Ha-ha, he's a ground-type, see? H-he's always a little hesitant—with grass-types, you know? It's like if a bir—your Caterpie. He's as good as right here. Right next to you. And us? We're gonna make that happen. Right now. Right right now."

He pulled David along behind him, the Cubone too terrified to trip over himself.