Chapter Two: A Strange Change
What's going on? Where am I? I feel a light breeze. There's someone calling me. I wonder who it is.
"Hey! Are you ok? Hello? Hey!"
Sari woke to someone calling her and trying to shake her awake. Her vision was fogged, so she couldn't quite tell who it was.
Suddenly, Sari was slapped across her face several times.
"Yow! Ok! Ok! I'm up!" she yelped, springing to her feet.
She turned to face an unexpected sight. The person standing before her wasn't a person at all.
It was a Pokémon. It was a foot taller than her, sporting four white bows, two on each side of its head. Its body was mostly black, with a purple face. Two white bows ran the length of its body and unlike most of its kind, its eyes were green.
"Are you ok?" it asked.
"Ahhh!" shrieked Sari, "A talking Gothorita! That's impossible! A talking Gothorita!"
She fell backwards, catching a glimpse of her feet. They weren't really feet, they were flippers!
"You sure are strange for an average Oshawott" chuckled the Gothorita.
"I'm a what?!"
Sari bolted to the lake's bank, leaning over to face the water's surface. She froze in shock. Sure enough the Gothorita was right, Sari was an Oshawott.
She had the brown nose, the white head, freckles, even the scalechop on her tummy.
"Wahhh! I've become an Oshawott!" shrieked Sari. She was so freaked, she started to hyperventilate.
"Whoa! Whoa! Calm down!" cried the Gothorita. It pulled back on Sari's shoulders, forcing her to sit where she stood.
Sari's breathing began to steady, the Gothorita handing her a Pecha Berry. She ate it hungrily.
"You ok now?" the Pokémon asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks" answered Sari.
"What were you hollering about?"
"What?"
"You know. You yelled something about becoming an Oshawott."
"Oh. Well it came as a shock to me, since I'm a human."
The Gothorita looked puzzled. "Human?"
Sari scratched the back of her head, laughing nervously. "Um, never mind," she chuckled. Sari let her eyes wonder to get an idea of her surroundings.
"Uh, where exactly am I?"
"We're on the banks of Phione Lake" answered the Gothorita, frowning slightly for the change in subject.
Phione Lake? Strange, thought Sari, does this world have only Pokémon?
"Um . . ." piped the Gothorita.
Sari took notice and turned back to face the little Psychic type Pokémon. It appeared to have something on its mind. Sari cocked her head to one side, proceeding to find out.
"What is it?" she asked.
The Gothorita hesitated a bit, showing her shyness by tracing the ground with her foot. "Um, my name's Gwen. What's yours?"
Sari took note, "Oh! Nice to meet you, Gwen. I'm Sari."
"Sorry?" Gwen said, puzzled.
"No, not sorry, Sari. S-a-r-i, Sari" Sari corrected.
"Ooooh! Sari!" giggled Gwen. Sari giggled too. It was quite rare of someone to mispronounce her name and then laugh at their mistake.
"Um, sorry about using my Wake-Up Slap on you," apologized Gwen.
"That's ok," replied Sari, "It got me up didn't it?"
Gwen smiled. She wasn't sure why, but there was something about this strange Pokémon that she really liked.
She suddenly felt a presence behind her before being shoved forcefully to the ground.
"Hey!" Sari shouted, as Gwen toppled over.
"Oops, clumsy us. Heh, heh, heh!" cackled a Pokémon sarcastically.
Sari glared. One out of two Pokémon stood before her. The second was hovering just above the first, its heart-shaped snout twitching occasionally. The Pokémon that had shoved Gwen had a smug grin on his face. He appeared to be carrying a long log of petrified lumber. The other smiled wide, its front tooth clearly visible.
"What's the big idea, pushing her like that?" demanded Sari.
"She was in my way," replied the Timburr, propping himself against his hunk of wood and pretending to examine his nails, "Chickens are always getting in my way."
Gwen cheeks went red as she shot the Pokémon a deathly look. Sari threw a similar glare. The Timburr merely snickered in response.
"Hey Brick, look what I found" said the second Pokémon. The Woobat used Psychic to lift a fairly big white orb in the air for his partner-in-crime to see. The Timburr's eyes widen with interest.
"Hey! That's mine!" Gwen shouted, pouncing to snatch back her treasure.
The Woobat lifted the orb out of reach, Gwen face-planting on the ground. The blue furred Pokémon then teased Gwen with the orb like a Skitty with a piece of string. Frustrated, Gwen lashed out, throwing a Shadow Ball at the Woobat.
The Pokémon was quick to dodge and unleashed a powerful Air Slash to counter. As the blades of air came towards their intended target, a jet of water crossed the wind's path, blocking the attack.
Surprised, Gwen, the Woobat, and the Timburr (who had been watching from the sidelines) turned towards the attack's source.
Sari was standing firm, aggression burning in her eyes
"Sari, was that you?" asked Gwen.
Sari didn't answer. Instead she removed her scalechop, a blade of water appearing at its tip. She charged and slashed at the Woobat, knocking him clear out of the air.
"Hey!" shouted the Timburr. He picked up his lumber and took a swing at Sari's head.
It hit its mark, sending Sari to the ground by Gwen's feet. Gwen quickly stood up boiling with anger.
"Just who do you two think you are?!" she demanded.
The Timburr snickered. "The name's Brick" he answered.
"And I'm Stomp," said the Woobat, "Short fur, 'If I had feet, I'll stomp all over you.'"
Sari's head throbbed as she managed to stand, her scalechop lying by a nearby stump.
Uh . . . my head's killing me, she thought, but I can't back down now, not while I have a friend to defend.
"Gwen," whispered Sari, "I have an idea."
Gwen listened carefully as her friend explained her plan. She nodded, ready for action.
"Hey, Stomp!" called Sari, grabbing the Woobat's undivided attention. "It's too bad you don't actually have feet. But even if you did, you couldn't stomp all over me even if you tried!"
"I could too!" fumed Stomp, a vain on his head bulging a bit. Loosing focus on the orb, he took off after Sari. She looked back and pulled at her face, taunting him to keep up.
Gwen turned to face Brick who had started to make his way to the orb. Using her Psychic, she quickly moved the orb out of reach. Brick tried using his lumber to knock the orb away.
"What's the matter? Can't reach?" teased Gwen.
Brick fumed. He swung his lumber, fiercely trying to get at the treasure. Gwen giggled, enjoying her payback. Sari soon rejoined the two with Stomp following close behind, exhausted.
"We're not leaving until you hand over that treasure!" declared Brick.
"Do you even know what it is?" Sari asked.
Brick hesitated, "N-no but, we still want it if you have it!"
Sari snickered. Suddenly, as she took a step forward, a large shadow streaked across the sky. Sari watched it disappear above the trees. She looked back at the others as Brick was kicking dirt at Gwen.
"Hey!" shouted Sari, "Knock it off or we're gonna get in trouble!"
"Heh, so? We're just gonna bolt right before that happens" said Stomp.
"But there's something out here. We should stop!"
Brick laughed. "Ha! There's no one here who can-"
As if on cue, a Mandibuzz emerged from the bushes nearby shouting, "WHAT'S GOIN' ON OUT HERE?!"
Everyone jumped at the sheer size and volume of the irritated Pokémon.
"Well?" she asked.
Sari recovered fast and calmly stepped forward.
"I'm terribly sorry, ma'am," Sari politely apologized, "My friend and I were just minding our own business, when these two," she gestured toward Brick and Stomp, "came along and started harassing us."
The Mandibuzz looked Sari over, acknowledging her sincerity. She then turned her attention to the two bullies.
"You two," she began, "I thought I told you to keep to yourselves and not cause any trouble. What do you boys have to say for yourselves?"
Brick and Stomp looked down at the ground.
"We're sorry, Miss Hornbeak" replied the twosome.
"Don't apologize to me" said Miss Hornbeak, gesturing to Sari and Gwen.
"We're sorry" they told the girls flatly. The pairs shot each other a "this isn't over" glare.
"Good, now get!"
Brick and Stomp sped off into the forest under the Mandibuzz's watchful eyes. She sighed and rested a feathered wing to her head.
"Those two're always causin' trouble round here," she said.
Sari and Gwen exchanged puzzled looks.
"Um, thanks for helping us" said Gwen, picking her treasure off the ground.
"Don't mention it" Miss Hornbeak replied with a smile. She took to the air, leaving the girls alone by the lake's bank once more.