Topa was right, I had been waiting for this. It was one of my first thoughts after I realized I was a vulpix, but I would probably not go as far as calling it "a long while". The idea I would turn into a vulpix never crossed my mind. I had been a pokemon for only a week, and although I was very eager to learn how to breathe fire, I was also scared of it.

"You have two different kinds of powers," Topa started explaining. "The first is the one I will teach you first: breathing fire. Be cautious in your use of this power, for you will be breathing actual fire and could easily set the house ablaze should you breathe a flame in the wrong place."

She read my mind. So I was able to use actual fire? That sounded extremely dangerous - and excitingly powerful.

"So... I could kill someone?" I asked, disgusted by the idea.

"Very easily! You are obviously not allowed to, and I doubt you will reach any situation where you might in your future job."

"My future job? What? I thought I was just a pet. What's that job you're talking about?"

"You did not know?" Topa asked, genuinely surprised. "I imagined it would be one of the first things Agnes told you when you were released from the pokemon centre."

"She didn't tell me anything. I don't know what I'm doing here, why I was adopted by this family, why I was wounded, or..."

I couldn't explain the sudden contraction that shut my throat down and prevented from finishing my sentence. It felt like my tongue collapsed into my throat. I was trembling, and my vision was blurred.

"How you became a vulpix," Topa finished, cuddling with me to try to console me.

She waited until I felt better to continue.

"Well, I suppose I will start with that, then. Agnes is currently in training to be part of the police."

I sat down. Was that why she rescued me? I was going to be... just a police dog?

"Are you alright?" Topa asked, worried.

"I'm fine," I said, standing up.

I didn't want to think about it. I had to wait how it was, then see how much I liked the idea. I didn't have a choice anyway.

"So I assume you learnt the laws from Agnes?"

"Correct. The laws are rather complex and I did not understand all of them, but a short summary is you are not allowed to kill under any circumstances."

"That sounds logical, at least," I replied.

"However, there are regulations regarding injuring someone," she added. "If you are attacked, you are allowed to defend yourself. If you injure the human that attacked you, you will not be punished, as long as the injury is not permanent. If you are attacked by another pokemon..."

She paused for a second.

"You can fight to the death. Pokemon injuring or killing other pokemon or animals is not punished. If the pokemon belonged to a trainer, the police will investigate and punish the trainer responsible for the event."

"So... pokemon lives are less important than human lives?" I asked.

"It seems so. If one day I decide go to the forest behind the manor and kill every animal I find, no one will do anything to stop me."

"That's..."

I couldn't finish my sentence. I was already aware that most humans considered animals to be inferior and that animal life had less value than human life, but now that I was on the inferior end of the spectrum, it sounded extremely wrong to me. I sat down, staring at my front paws again. I felt desperate, as if my situation had just become unbearably worse. The humans here considered me inferior to them, and yet, I myself was a human. A human!

"Hey," Topa said, poking me with her muzzle. "You look upset. Did I say something wrong?"

"No," I replied, trying to explain. "It's just that... as a human, I considered animals to be less intelligent than me, but I never considered them inferior to me... Whatever that means. But now... now I'm not a human... and I'm inferior."

"You are inferior to no one," Topa replied calmly. "That is what some humans think. It does not mean it is true. We are all the same here in this world. What a group of creatures think cannot change that."

I was surprised by her reasoning and unexpectedly deep thinking. Once again, I felt like I was talking to another human, and it made me uncomfortable.

"So... What are the punishments for breaking the laws?"

Topa remained silent for a few minutes, trying to remember.

"If you injure a human and you were not being attacked, you will be taken to a special place with cages. There are cages for humans too."

"A prison," I replied. "That's called a prison."

"A prison," Topa repeated. "Yes. You are locked up for months, or years, and in general there will be someone in charge of getting you back on track. You are supposed to obey your human blindly."

"So if Agnes orders me to injure someone, I get punished ? That doesn't sound fair."

"Why not?" Topa asked, surprised. "Agnes only gave the order. You followed it. At the end of the day, you are the one who injured the person, not Agnes."

I couldn't agree with her reasoning, but it was valid.

"And... if I kill a human?"

"You die," Topa replied instantly. "You will be taken away by the police and killed. You can also be killed if you yourself kill another pokemon that did not attack you."

So that was it. My life now was... inferior. On top of that, if I did what was expected of me as a pet, I could possibly die although I did nothing wrong. That wasn't the kind of life I expected as a pet - especially not as a pet.

"I don't want to be a pet," I pouted.

"You have no choice in the matter," Topa replied, coming to me to hug me. "You are Agnes' pet. She is a good person, so you will not kill or injure anyone. Besides, you are still recovering from an injury yourself. Even if something happened, Agnes would protect you. And so would I."

"Isn't my role as a pet to protect her? Not the other way around?"

"You protect and look after each other," Topa replied. "There is much more to being a pet than obeying orders and cuddling when asked to."

I remained silent, thinking about my own relations to my pets. I felt like I had been doing it wrong all this time. I considered my pets less intelligent, and I only expected them to obey me. I never considered the pet-master relationship as anything but a superior-inferior kind of relationship.

Understanding that I was going into negative thoughts again, Topa poked me with a smile.

"Enough explaining for today, is it not? How about learning to breathe fire? That was originally what we came here for!"

I wasn't too excited about it anymore. The idea of being considered inferior by the person who saved my life and probably the person I would grow to love most was depressing. Topa was visibly doing her best to lift my mood, but I ignored her encouragements.

"Ruby," she eventually said, sitting down very seriously in front of me. "What are you thinking about? You look very sad."

I was unsure whether to tell her or not, but realizing she would be my only confidant, I decided to be honest:

"It's just that... When I was human, I had pets and... I considered them inferior to me. I didn't even think love was possible between a human and a pet, at least not the kind of love you have towards your family. And now... now I'm on the other end of the relationship and I am inferior."

I felt ashamed of saying it and admitting that I was just another arrogant human. For a second, I thought the reason why I became a vulpix was to teach me a lesson about human-animal relationships, but I quickly got rid of that stupid idea.

"You are not inferior," Topa repeated. "Humans may think you are, like you seem to have been considering your pets inferior, but you are not. We are all the same here. A person and an animal or a pokemon can develop bonds as strong as any."

"I never considered my pets to be part of my family... I saw them as friends." I choked, "Just friends. I'm... I'm ashamed. And sad. Maybe I hurt them by not giving them enough love and I never realized... and now I'm the pet and..."

I didn't know what else to say. I felt terribly ashamed of myself.

"If Agnes treated you the way you treated your pets, would you be happy?"

"Definitely," I answered instantly.

"Then you have nothing to worry about! You are a good pokemon. Well... You were a good person. Hopefully that does not change!"

"I don't know," I replied, gloomy. "Can we even compare my human behaviour to... to now?"

"Would making such comparison bring you anything positive?"

"I don't think so," I answered, thinking for a moment.

"Then let us not do it. Come on, stand up. This is crucial for you to learn. You are expected to know how to breathe fire, and you being unable to would be suspicious. They might blame the wound, but it is best to make sure that does not happen"

She was right. I stood up, doing my best not to let my feelings get the better of me. This was extremely important, and although I had lost the energy and excitement, I was still very eager to learn.

"I am not sure how to explain," Topa admitted after several minutes of silence. "Young vulpix learn this very fast, with or without their parents. I never thought I would have to explain how to breathe fire one day."

"Sorry," I said, blushing and turning my head away.

"What are you apologizing for? You did not do anything wrong."

"I don't know, I just..." I hesitated. "I feel like a burden to you now. If at least I was a real vulpix..."

"You are a real vulpix," Topa insisted. "Look at your paws, your tail, your fur. You are a vulpix and you have this power inside of you. You only need to learn how to use it."

"My mind is not the mind of a vulpix... I'm a human."

"Then let the vulpix part of you teach the human part of you."

That sounded extremely weird, but it got me thinking. Was there a vulpix part of me at all? Was the vulpix whose body I stole somewhere in my brain with me? Would I be able to call her for help or information?

Aware of how ridiculous I probably looked, I sat down, muzzle towards the floor, and tried to imagine what a vulpix looked like in this world. I couldn't use the mirror above the sink because it was too high for me to reach. After a few minutes of intense thinking, I gave up and decided to wait until I found a mirror.

"Let us begin, shall we?" Topa asked as I stood up.

"Okay."

"You are new to this body, so you might not know much about it. Focus on your chest. Do you feel it?"

I closed my eyes, trying to focus on what was on my chest. I realized after a few seconds that it felt very warm and crackling like a campfire.

"I can," I said, opening my eyes again.

"This is where your fire comes from," Topa explained. "Humans think that there is a flame burning in our body, and that it disappears when we die, but they are wrong. This is simply the source of your powers. Together with your winter coat, it enables you to still feel comfortable even in extremely cold temperatures. When winter comes, Agnes will want you to stay with her as much as possible, because you have this warmth she can use to keep herself in a comfortable temperature range."

I remained silent a few more seconds, enjoying the warmth coming from my chest. I couldn't locate exactly where it came from - it felt like it was somewhere in my ribcage, roughly located around the heart, but I could feel its effect to the tip of my paws and tails. It felt like a ball of fire was protecting my heart in particular.

"This is... strangely comforting," I said, enjoying the feeling and wondering how I had not felt it before.

"It is! The warmer it is, the better you are. Humans call it the inner flame. When you are sick, its power diminishes and you are more vulnerable. Naturally, when a vulpix dies, their inner flame dies with them."

"So... that's it? That's where my powers come from?"

"Your real flames, yes."

"Real? You mean there are flames that aren't?"

"Oh. I am sorry, I forgot to explain that. Yes, you have two kinds of powers. The real ones, like our fire, are actual fire, or whatever element they are. You can set something ablaze with it. Light the chimney. And... kill someone."

"They are real flames? Then... pokemon fights..."

"Those are your second kind of power," she continued. "Those are... not real. They do not set things on fire. You cannot drink that water. They are special."

"Not real? How can something not be real?"

"Those powers only interact with creatures," Topa said. "So... if I use them on you, you will feel pain, but I could try my hardest to set a leaf on fire with it, I would fail."

"So they just... cause pain, right? They are the ones used for battles?"

"Most of the time, yes. Of course, sometimes, two pokemon end up fighting to kill each other. And then... They use their real powers."

That sounded extremely scary. I wasn't sure I wanted to try a pokemon battle at all anymore.

"Humans have called those 'unpowers' and have classified them in a certain number of different types. For example, for us, we can use unfire. There are eighteen different types. Unnormal, unfire, unwater, unelectric, ungrass, unice, unfighting, unpoison, unground, unflying, unpsychic, unbug, unrock, unghost, undragon, undark, unsteel and unfairy."

This gave me at least a bit of information - it meant that whatever world I lived in was probably at least past the pokemon X and pokemon Y games, due to the presence of the fairy type.

"How do I use those?" I asked.

"It is difficult to learn. Unlike your inner fire, you have nothing to directly feel them. Human research on the subject is not very advanced. They have detected that we use different kinds of energy and have named them as I listed before. They also discovered that a pokemon's body is surrounded by up to two of those energies. This lead to attributing a type to each pokemon, depending on what energies their aura is made of. You and I are pure unfire type."

"So... that means there is a matchup chart, right?"

"Correct!" Topa replied, excited that I was actively learning. "All pokemon know it, and humans seem to have figured it out too."

"So... what happens during a fight?"

"With unpowers, the fight lasts until someone's aura is depleted. In general, having your aura depleted is very painful and leads to fainting."

I shivered. I wasn't quite ready for pain - especially not if I could avoid it. Pokemon battles sounded worse as I learnt more about them.

"Older pokemon, or pokemon with more experience in battle, have thicker auras and can withstand more moves. When you are hit with a move, it destroys part of your aura and that is what causes pain."

"Aura?"

"Yes. The aura is the energy, or energies, that surround your body. You produce it constantly but not consciously. It is that aura that you use for moves. As you said, there is a matchup chart, which means some unpowers are either effective or not effective against others. Some are even completely useless against specific ones. For example, as an unfire type, you will be vulnerable against unwater moves, and your own moves will be particularly effective against ungrass type pokemon."

"How do I recover it?"

"Your body regenerates it over time. If you are not using it, the excess aura simply dissipates and is useless."

It made little sense to me that something like that was possible. I spent several minutes debating to myself whether or not it was true. Then again... I myself had turned into a vulpix and teleported to a world visibly different from mine. Why would there not be other forms of magic?

"It's weird," I eventually said.

"It is how it is," Topa replied, smiling. "You can feel those energies around yourself, but also around other pokemon if you are close enough."

Topa walked up to me and laid down by my tails.

"Close your eyes and try to feel the energy I emit."

I obeyed, but after several minutes of focus, I had to admit:

"I can't."

"You are a vulpix. Of course you can. You simply do not know that yet."

I tried a few more minutes, focusing with all my might on Topa. Unfortunately, I could smell her odour and hear her heart beating, but that was all I could do.

"I can't..." I whined, sitting down in disappointment.

"Alright," Topa said, standing up. I have an idea. Do you allow me to attack you?"

"Pardon? What... What are you going to do?"

"I am going to throw an Ember at you. Being hit by it should help you identify what it is."

"Ember? That's just a fireball, right?"

"Indeed!"

"It will hurt, right?"

"It will be somewhat painful, but you being a Fire type, you will not be affected as much as other pokemon. Fire against fire is not very effective. I am not sure why humans talk about fighting fire with fire. It is clearly not a good idea."

I chuckled, amused by her reaction to the phrase.

"It's just a phrase," I explained. "It's used when you use your opponent's strategy against them. It's not literal."

"Oh," she said, surprised. "I never thought of that. Are there many of these phrases?"

"Quite a lot," I replied, trying to think of more. "It's not important."

"Very well. I will show you real fire and unfire first."

After finishing her sentence, she breathed out a little flame. I could feel its warmth and see its light. The flame was short and rotating like a whirlpool. Right next to Topa's muzzle, the fire was of a blinding white colour. As it continued its journey to nowhere, it turned yellow, then orange, then red, and eventually disappeared into thin air. It looked a lot like a flamethrower, and it was sent by Topa.

"That was real fire," I said.

"Yes. You will learn this first. I hope it will not be too hard for you, but you will have to learn to control your powers. Remember what I said earlier."

I was impressed, and excited again by the idea of breathing fire.

"Now, this is unfire. A simple fireball that you spit at your opponent. Humans refer to this as Ember."

She waited a second, then spat a fireball that travelled straight ahead, before hitting a wall and vanishing instantly. The fire looked real, but was emitting no light and no warmth. There was something weird about this ball that I couldn't understand. It was a strange feeling in my guts, or in my brain, as if I was suddenly reminded of something I used to love doing.

"Can you do that again?" I asked.

She threw another Ember at the wall. This time, the fireball was bigger than the previous one, but travelled at the same surprisingly high speed. It gave me the same weird feeling that I couldn't describe. I could feel, in my chest, the warm sensation Topa explained me about before changing. It felt slightly different, somewhat... excited. I myself felt like I had a lot more energy, and I felt extremely impatient and surprisingly confident.

"I feel weird," I told Topa, hoping she could help.

"That is normal. Can you feel your inner flame changing? That is due to the energy I spent to throw these Ember. You detected the energy and you are now getting ready to fight. Of course, we will not fight, but your body is preparing for it."

This felt extremely weird. I felt like I had no control over my body, and I was merely doing what it told me to do.

"Now..." Topa walked back a few steps.

She threw an Ember at me. I was hit before I realized the Ember was thrown at me. I instantly felt an entirely new kind of pain. It was like the pain was located outside of my body, covering it whole. Although the fireball hit me in the muzzle, every little bit of my body seemed to hurt, from the tip of my tails to the top of my snout. It was a very harsh and violently sudden pain, that disappeared less than a second after appearing. After it was gone, nothing had changed for me. My fur was not burnt, there was absolutely no pain anymore, and I was still standing where I was, tense and shocked.

My inner flame seemed to be more excited than ever. Although being hit by the Ember was painful, it felt very exciting, as if my body was demanding more. My inner flame was going completely crazy, expanding to reach the back of my throat. After a few seconds, it returned to its normal size. I was extremely excited and full of energy.

"Can you feel it, now?" Topa asked.

"I'm not sure. I can... feel something. Something's changed about my inner fire. It became big, really big. And... different. It's not like a flame. There's something more."

"Exactly. And this something more that you feel is the equivalent of your inner flame for your unpowers."

"I feel... good," I admitted. "Excited. Full of energy. I would run around for hours if my belly didn't hurt."

"That is your body getting ready for a fight and asking for more," Topa said. "We pokemon enjoy those fights a lot, although it leads to a lot of pain, it is probably the most fun we have."

That at least explained why pokemon fought one another that way.

"What about the trainer, then?" I asked.

"I will answer that later," Topa smiled. "For now, learn to control your inner flame."

She came to sit next to me.

"Do you remember how you felt like your inner flame was growing?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Try to reproduce that. Make your inner flame grow."

It took me several minutes of intense focus. I tried remembering the feeling it gave, but I couldn't duplicate it exactly. Thinking of real fire, I eventually could feel my inner flame grow.

"I think I did it," I said.

Talking made my inner flame return to its normal size, which disappointed me. I would have all that effort to do again...

"Perfect," Topa said, satisfied. "Now, you have to detach part of it and send it into your muzzle. Think of it like... rewinding time when you swallow something."

"So it's like vomiting?" I asked, slightly disgusted.

"Technically, yes, but it does not feel like it at all. Throwing a flame is pleasant. You will probably find yourself doing it without realizing it."

I closed my eyes, focusing on my inner flame. I managed to make it grow again. When it reached my throat, I did my best to remember how I felt when vomiting. Although nothing happened at first, I realized that the inside of my mouth was getting very warm. Blowing air from my muzzle as if I were whistling as a human, I was astonished to see a very small flame escape my muzzle and travel a few centimeters forward, before evaporating.

"Congratulations, Ruby!" Topa said, excited. "You just learnt how to breathe fire!"