Last time, Pyrrha woke up in the middle of the woods, with little memories about herself. There, she met up with trouble in a form of three Beheeyems and met Nuzleaf. After the duo got away from the trio of Pokemon, they then made their way to Nuzleaf's home. After a long time of traveling, the two finally made it... to Serene Village.
Upon entering the village, the first thing they did was head on over to Nuzleaf's place.
"I reckon we're here," he said to Pyrrha. "This here's my house." The house was made of wood, as were all other houses, and had a very homey atmosphere. The two Pokemon entered the place, and the Grass-type led Pyrrha to an empty room. "Here you are. You can bunk down in this room for now. It may not be much, but take it as you will."
"Thank you," Pyrrha gratefully said.
"No problem! And, well... as for the rest of it... What do you reckon you're gonna do?" Pyrrha knew what he meant by that and thought over a plan. "I can't help wondering why them Beheeyem were coming after you like that... But all that wondering in the world won't give me nothing but a headache. We could get us some answers if and when your memory ever comes backk. But until then, you can just stay here. Sound good?"
"Yes, that sounds lovely."
"Great. I wouldn't tell the other folks in the village about them Beheeyem, though. Might scare them off. And... lessee..." Nuzleaf perked up in realization of something. "That's right. You're about school age from the looks of you. So I reckon I should get you enrolled at the village school. People'll wonder even more about you if you aren't going to school at your age. So let's just agree that you'll go to school for the time being, all right?"
"I understand. I'll do just that," Pyrrha said.
"Good. Now I reckon I'll go and get that all took care off right away. So don't you stick one toe outside this house until I get back, you hear?" Nuzleaf started to walk out the room, leaving the confused Pyrrha inside. Before he left, he turned back to the Riolu and said, "You hear? You're not to go outside. Not even by mistake or nothing!"
"Right. I got it," she nodded in confirmation. With that, he left the house.
The moment Nuzleaf left, Pyrrha wondered what she should do to pass time until he came back. Of what she can see, there's nothing for her to do. Just then, she heard something just out her window.
"Huh? What was that noise?" she wondered out loud. Pyrrha made her way to the window to see what it was. Suddenly, a large shadow was seen outside, surprising her, and she jumped back from the window. "Whoa!" Just then, the shadow disappeared. Following its disappearance were crunching sound.
'Something's outside,' Pyrrha thought. 'It can't be... those Beheeyem?! I thought we lost them!' Even though Nuzleaf told her to stay inside, the Riolu knew that it would be safer to be outside if those Beheeyem were there. That said, she prepared herself and walked out the house.
Once she was out, Pyrrha cautiously looked around her.
'I don't see anyone out here, but I do sense a presence nearby,' she thought. 'Good thing I'm a Riolu.'
"I knew it!" a voice suddenly shouted from behind her.
Pyrrha jumped in surprise and turned to see what seemed like a blue frog with white paws/hands and white foam on its neck.
"I knew my eyes weren't playing tricks on me! I totally saw you go inside with Mr. Nuzleaf just now! Where are you from? What's your name?" the frog Pokemon asked.
"Um... My name? It's..." Pyrrha stuttered, not knowing how to deal with this Pokemon.
"I'm Froakie! I live right nearby, with my old pops!" the Pokemon continued. He then looked at one direction, having Pyrrha look at the same direction and see a blue and brown house nearby. "It's that house right there! So, where are you from? You're not SERIOUSLY Mr. Nuzleaf's kid or anything, are you? Like that could ever happen!" Seeing this energetic Pokemon laughing about the possibility of Nuzleaf having a child made Pyrrha sweat drop a bit. In fact, that little cheeriness of his was reminding her of someone. But who?
"Oh, right! But this is your first time here, isn't it?" Froakie realized. "In that case, I'll show you around! Come on!"
Before she had any say in this, Froakie was already pushing her away to the tour, much to her shock.
"What did you say your name was? Or- Wait, did I ask you that already? I didn't, did I?" Froakie asked. "Ah, what am I saying, you have to be called Riolu, right?"
"A-Actually, my name is Pyrrha," Pyrrha introduced.
"Pyrrha? Oh, so that's your name." Froakie stopped dragging her when they arrived at what seemed to be the town's plaza. "Sorry about that! I went and asked and never even gave you a chance to answer!"
Pyrrha couldn't help but look at him funny, in which the Water-type noticed.
"Hmm? Am I annoying? You're totally thinking about how annoying I am right now, yeah?"
Instantly thinking they were going off on a bad start, Pyrrha panicked and quickly said, "N-No! I didn't-!"
"Well, quit it! Sheesh! Gimme a break, you big Miltank!" Froakie said, not at all sounding guilty in any way. In fact, if anything, he seemed happy. "Heh! See what I did there? A little joke? With the Miltank?" The boy laughed at his own joke.
Pyrrha sweat dropped at how easygoing this Pokemon was, and that she didn't understand the joke he made at all. In fact, she found it really surprising how this Pokemon was so energetic and happy like so.
"So, now... That leaves us too... Ta-daa!" Froakie turned and spread her arms out wide. "Here she is! Serene Village! And her heart is this plaza here!" Pyrrha looked around and saw many Pokemon in the 'streets of the village'. "It may not look like much, but we've got most of the basic facilities here."
Froakie then proceeded on to explaining to her what the many shops were and what they did.
"It's probably too much to take in all at once so... I'll tell you about each facility in turn! Let's see, to start with, we're got-"
"There you are! Froakie!" came a shout, interrupting the Water-type.
Both Pyrrha and her acquaintance turned and saw another toadish-like Pokemon approaching them. This one was more of a greenish color and had a lily pad on his head.
"Eep! Lombre!" Froakie screamed.
"So this is where you've been! You're the one who tramped all through my lotus pond, aren't you?!" Lombre accused.
"I-It... It w-wasn't like that!" Froakie stammered. "I was just trying to have a little adventure!"
He attempted to run, when another shout was heard. "Froakie! Stop! Right! Zere!" Approaching from where he was going to run to was a yellow, hippo-like Pokemon with brown spots.
"Gah! And Hippopotas!" Froakie screamed out.
"You! You are ze one that vent into my cave, aren't you?!" Hippopotas also accused. "And vat's more! You took ze treasure I had hidden inside, didn't you?!"
This made Froakie sweat and stammered even more. "N-No... I was just... exploring a dungeon, and I happened to... uh... Well, you know how it is! You gotta have a reward after clearing a dungeon, right?"
'Quite the troublemaker, isn't he?' Pyrrha couldn't help but think.
Just when he was about to run... again... another shout was heard. "Stop right there! Froakie!" This time, blocking his path was a large, blue, tortoise-like Pokemon.
"P-Pops?!" Froakie squeaked out.
"Oh! Ol' man Carracosta!" Lombre identified.
"This where you've been loitering, child? What about your chores back home, eh? Playing hooky again to wander around, eh?" the big Pokemon questioned in an intimidated tone.
"No, Pops! I have a real reason this time-" Froakie tried to explain.
"And I know you've been snacking on the Oran Berries from my field again!"
This time, unlike the previous set of accusations, the froggie stood his ground. "I have not!"
"You have!"
"Have not!"
"I want the truth from you, child!"
"Yeah, I did eat them," Froakie casually spoke. "They were delicious!"
'What happened to all that gung ho against him?' Pyrrha mentally questioned in shock.
Apparently, those three weren't the only ones after her tour guide.
"Hey! I see Froakie over there!"
"Everyone! Froakie's been sighted!"
"Gaaahhhh!" And like that, Froakie hopped away.
"Don't you dare run! We'll catch you!" Carracosta yelled.
"We're coming for yooouuu!" And like that, a stampede of Pokemon all ran after the apparent troublemaker.
Meanwhile, Pyrrha just stood there in great shock, speechless with what had occurred. 'What in the world... did I just witness?' she wondered. Calming herself from the interesting sight, she then thought, 'Okay, I ended up left behind, but... since I'm here anyway, I might as well have a look around.'
With that, Pyrrha took a walk around the plaza, looking at the shops that were there, as well as making herself known to many. As she looked around, she heard a loud gasp.
"What?! Goomy did?!"
Pyrrha looked and saw a pair of Pokemon at a distance. One was a red face of some sort in what seemed to be a gray helmet, and the other was a pink and white deer.
'Hm? What's going on over there?' she wondered.
"Yeah, well, he insisted on going..." the helmet-wearing Pokemon spoke.
"No more excuses, Shelmet!" the deer shouted. "Tell me the truth! You and Pancham pushed him into this, didn't you?"
The helmet Pokemon, Shelmet, looked away at the accusation. "Th-That's... not fair, Deerling! He's the one who said he wanted to go! How can you stand there and blame us?" he asked. Of what Pyrrha can see and sense, he was playing the victim card.
"Quite easily. You're the ones who are always teasing poor Goomy, after all!" Deerling said. Of what Pyrrha could see, the deer really cared for whoever this 'Goomy' was. "Someday you're going to go too far, and it'll be too late for sorries then!"
It seemed that that got Shelmet to feel guilty, if only a bit. "I-I know that! No need to fuss so much."
"You're going to show me the way there. Right now." Without another word for an argument, the two Pokemon walked on.
Pyrrha couldn't help but be concerned for this. 'Those two kids... They must live here in this village, too, huh?' she thought. 'I wonder what's going on... They seemed pretty tense about something.' Call it instincts or something else, but something told Pyrrha that she had to follow them, that she must follow them. And follow she did.
After some time of walking, Pyrrha followed the two Pokemon to a gloomy-looking forest. There, the two were with a panda-like Pokemon with a leaf in his mouth.
"What?! He still hasn't come back out?" Deerling gasped.
"Yeah, that's right," the panda casually answered. "It's been a pretty long time, too. I knew he was a total wimp."
"No surprise there," Shelmet agreed. "He shoulda just admitted what a wimp he is and kept his mouth shut."
"But he had to go and talk big, like he could handle this kind of place. He was boasting, saying, 'I'll show you!' That's what got him into this mess."
"He's probably huddled up somewhere in the forest, petrified and sniffing back tears!"
While the two were casually and happily enjoying themselves in insulting a poor Pokemon that may be missing in the woods, Deerling and Pyrrha were not at all as amused.
'How could they?!' Pyrrha thought.
"You're so mean, Pancham!" Deerling shouted. "Goomy isn't even the same age as us yet!"
"Yeah, but he's the one who talks big. He got what was coming to him," Pancham said. "We figured it's our job to teach him a little something about how harsh the world is."
"And if something happens to him in there? What are you going to do then, huh? I'm going in after him!" Just as Deerling was about to head in, the two Pokemon stopped her.
"No way! You can't go in there, Deerling!" Shelmet shouted.
"What is something happened to you? We can't let that happen to our idol!" Pancham said. "We're not letting you step foot in such a dangerous place!"
Deerling was even less amused with this action. "Are you kidding me? Then fine! You go in after him!"
From where she stood, Pyrrha could sense the hesitance Pancham and Shelmet had at the idea.
"Y-You want us to go? Into the Foreboding Forest?" the panda Pokemon asked. After a moment of silence, he answered, "... No way. Why would we do that? I-I mean, it's n-not that we're scared or anything like that. I d-don't want you getting the wrong idea or whatever. You understand, right?"
'Tell that to your aura...' Pyrrha thought, sensing all of Pancham's true feelings and selfishness.
It was then, Shelmet noticed her. "Hm? Who's this?" This caught the other two's attention, as they turned to her direction. "Haven't seen you around before."
"Hello there," Pyrrha greeted, approaching them.
"Where'd you come from?" Pancham asked. "You're not from the village."
Pyrrha stayed silent, not knowing if she should tell them yet about her temporary stay in Serene Village.
"... What's the matter? Skitty got your tongue?"
"Well, no one's gonna understand you if you don't ever speak up," Shelmet told her.
"Well, I was thinking, maybe you wouldn't mind if I head in and look for your friend myself?" Pyrrha offered, much to their shock.
"What?!" Pancham gasped. "You'll go in there for us?"
"You sure about this? You do know this place is, like, super scary, right?" Shelmet asked.
"Someone has to get him out of there. It's only the right thing to do," Pyrrha pointed out.
"W-Well... If you really want to go and all, I guess we're not gonna stand in your way..." Pancham said. "But it's no skin off your backs if you get into any trouble in there!"
"Are you sure you're up to this?" Deerling asked.
"Of course," Pyrrha nodded.
Deciding to put her trust in her, Deerling asked Pancham, "Where was Goomy trying to go, anyway?"
"He shouldn't have gone that far in. There's a big ol' piece of paper in the forest, not that far from the entrance," he answered.
"A piece of paper?"
"When Pancham and I came exploring the forest before, see, we brought it to use like a tarp, so we had something to sit on. Then we got jumped by a whole bunch of scary Pokemon. Man, that was awful!" Shelmet explained. "You should've seen Pancham's face! Remembering it still cracks me up!"
A certain someone did not find it as funny as he did, as Pancham was fuming in rage... in which his companion just noticed.
"Eyaaarggghh!" he shrieked in fear.
"Back to the point," Deerling spoke, grabbing their attention. "So you guys left that paper there, is that it? And you told Goomy to go find it?"
"Yeah. We told him to find the paper and wring his name on it and bring it back," Pancham answered, calming down somewhat. "If he could do that, we said we'd admit that he had some real guts."
Deerling turned to Pyrrha again. "I'm so sorry about this... I think you've got the picture now. Will you really help?"
"Absolutely," the Riolu nodded, venturing into the forest.
"Be careful in there!" Deerling shouted.
As she ventured into the Foreboding Forest, Pyrrha fought off against many Pokemon that lived there, as well as collected some items. She couldn't help but be thankful she had placed all the items she had before in the Deposit Box Froakie told her about, as well as wonder what it was about the forest that was so scary. Or maybe it was that it was, but she doesn't scare that easily. It could be because she was a Riolu and could sense a Pokemon's presence, or it may had something to do with her past. Either way...
'I feel like I've come pretty far...' she thought to herself. Pyrrha sensed another Pokemon's presence nearby. Unlike the previous ones, though, this one had a more timid aura. 'Oh! That must be him!'
Picking up some speed, she saw a purple Pokemon with green circles on its body by a piece of paper, trembling and shedding tears in fear.
"Ughhh... Why did I come here...? I'm so scared..." he said.
"Hello there!" Pyrrha called out, scaring the little guy as he backed away from her.
The Riolu looked down at the paper near him. 'Is this the big piece of paper Pancham and Shelmet were talking about?' she wondered. 'It's got footprints all over it though. Or is this... a Pokemon's writing? It's hard to read but... I think I can kind of read them. Is it because I'm also a Pokemon now? Let's see... Goomy... That's what it looks like, I think.' She then looked at the frightened child in front of her and thought back to Deerling and the bullies description of him. 'I see... Then he must be the Goomy they spoke of. He made it all the way here and wrote his name like they told him to. That took some real courage.'
She approached Goomy, causing him to scream in fear, thinking that she was going to attack him. "GYAAAAAHHHHHH!"
"Whoa! Hey, it's okay! It's okay now!" she told him. "I'm a friend. I'm here to help you."
Those words were enough to calm him down. "... Huh? You-You're here to help me?" he asked.
A small smile formed on her face. "That's right."
New tears formed in his eyes... Happy tears. "Oh... Ooohhh... Waaaaaahhhhhh! I was so scared!" he cried out. Pyrrha walked closer to him and gave him a comforting hug, letting him cry all his fears away.
After calming down the poor Pokemon, Pyrrha led him back out, where the others were waiting for them. The sight of the two returning shocked Pancham and Shelmet.
"Y-You actually made it back?!" the former gasped.
Goomy nodded and took out the paper the two left behind, increasing their surprise.
"And you brought back the paper, too!" Shelmet also gasped.
"You even wrote your name on it?" Pancham asked.
Goomy nodded again, having the two look at the paper.
"... Hmph. What's up with this writing? It's so sloppy and all over the place!" Pancham insulted.
"It is not sloppy!" Goomy retorted.
"Too funny!" Shelmet said, joining in on the tease. "I bet you were too scared and shaking to even write properly!"
"That's hilarious! Come on, let's go show this to everyone!" Pancham grabbed the paper before Deerling or Goomy could have a say in it. "See ya, suckers! Hahahahaha!" And just like that, he and Shelmet took off.
"Hey! You two!" Deerling called. Unfortunately, they were too far away to be heard. "Ugh. I've had it up to here with them!" she exclaimed, raising a hoof. Deerling turned to Goomy, the angry look replaced with worry and concern. "And you, too, Goomy! I'm glad that you made it out okay, but what if there hadn't been anyone around to help?"
Goomy felt really guilty, as he didn't really think about that. "... Sorry, Deerling," he apologized. "I wanted to show them that I had real guts, too."
"Those two will just goad you into doing something crazy. You can't listen to them." Deerling took in a breath and exhaled it. "Well... you did give it everything you had. That's for sure."
Knowing that he was just complimented, Goomy looked up to Deerling. "D-Deerling!"
"You made it that far into the forest alone... And wrote your name, just like they asked. Even though your writing is sloppy..." The deer Pokemon looked away and muttered out that last part, not wanting to hurt his feelings.
Sadly, he heard it loud and clear. "Don't call it sloppy!"
"And..." Deeling and Goomy faced Pyrrha. "It's really thanks to you that Goomy got out of there in one piece today. We really do owe you. So thank you, Riolu."
"It's Pyrrha, actually," Pyrrha said. "My name is Pyrrha. And it's nice to meet you."
"Likewise," Deerling agreed.
Later that night, after returning to Nuzleaf's house, Pyrrha saw that they guy hadn't returned yet and decided to clean up around the house to pass time. Once he came home, she told him of what happened today.
"WHA- WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" he gasped out loud. "After I done told you not to leave the house! I done told you to stay inside until I got home, did I not?!"
Pyrrha was on her knees, as she was being scolded harshly by her temporary guardian.
"You'd best learn to mind your elders next time! But... well..." Sensing a change in his angry aura to a calm one, the Riolu looked up. "It ain't like I can't understand the itch to see the wider world out there. I reckon this must all be new to you, after all. It's a fine thing to have a love for adventure in your heart. Grown-ups will always be saying you can't do this, that, or the other. But there are things in life you'll never learn except by experiencing them for yourself. I reckon I'm pretty lax when it comes to adventuring and what have you. So, if you get a hankering to go adventuring around the village, you go right ahead."
A big smile formed on Pyrrha's face at his kind words. "Nuzleaf!"
"But, from tomorrow morning, you'll be attending class at the local school," he then informed. "So you tuck in early tonight to be all ready for your first big day."
"Right," Pyrrha nodded in agreement.
That night, however, Pyrrha couldn't sleep. If anything, she was bothered by the events that happened today. She wasn't bothered in a bad way; it was just... For some reason, when she was asked to help save Goomy, when she offered to save him in Deerling and the others' place, it felt quite natural for her. And she knew it wasn't just because she was being a good pers- er, Pokemon.
'I wonder... Did I always help others back when I was human?' she thought. 'Helping Goomy earlier felt really normal for me. I wonder why.' The Riolu shook her head. 'I can't focus on that now. I have to sleep and get myself ready for school tomorrow.' With that, she closed her eyes and let sleep take over her.