Willow

Willow had started to get the hang of moving in her new body, and had been pacing around the clearing for a little while now. She was reluctant to leave – the flowery clearing felt safe to her, whereas the forest beyond was ominous and unknown.

One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.

She still had to think about walking, about which order to move her legs. Her new body felt strange and uncomfortable. She felt exposed and yet protected by her layer of fluffy fur, and controlling her tail was tricky, and wasn't coming naturally to her.

One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.

She knew she had to leave eventually. She just wished she had at least some idea of where she was, but she knew nothing! Pacing hadn't helped her remember what had caused her to wake up here, with the body of a rattata. It was frightening.

One, two, three, four. One, two, three...

She froze. The bushes lining the outside of the clearing were rustling in front of her. She stood, stock still, unable to look away. Then two red points of light appeared among the leaves, starting straight at her.

Willow yelped, and the shock made her fall to the ground. She heard a giggle, and watched as a mawile pushed its way through the undergrowth, emerging into the clearing. It didn't come any further, simply stopping and looking at her curiously, head cocked to one side.

Willow looked back at the pokémon, reflexively cocking her head too. She knew that mawile had cute appearances, and this mawile was cute. But that cuteness was a trap, to lure prey close. Willow also knew that mawile had huge, dangerous jaws made of steel horn on the backs of their heads. Was this mawile trying to lure her in to eat her?

Willow shivered, and felt her pulse increasing. If that was the case, she was in serious trouble. She could barely walk, let alone run, to make an escape. Then she had a sudden thought. Who had giggled?

"Hey, is anyone out there?" she shouted, scrambling to her feet. She was wary of provoking the mawile, but she couldn't think of anything better to do. She watched the mawile, heart in her mouth, to see if it would attack, but something much more unexpected happened instead.

"Uh, I'm right here?" the mawile said, giving a small wave. Willow yelped and fell over again. The mawile had spoken to her, and she had understood! She heard it – no, her – laughing, and realised it had been the mawile giggling the first time too. She watched the mawile approach her. She was tall – easily double Willow's height. Willow realised again just how small she was in her new form. The mawile stopped next to her.

"Are you hurt? How come you keep falling over?" the mawile said, looking down at her. Willow didn't know what she could say without sounding stupid. She figured her best bet was to try and find a human to talk to, or at least to communicate with, so she asked:

"Umm... Do you have a trainer?"

The mawile cocked her head to one side and put her hands on er hips. "Trainer? Like a human?" Willow nodded, and the mawile folded her arms. "Is this some kind of prank? Who put you up to this?"

"Wha-" Willow gulped. Had she said something strange? "Er, sorry if I offended you. I just wanted to see a human. Do you know where I could find one?"

The mawile shook her head. "Nice try Rattata, but everyone knows there are no humans in this world. You should try to come up with a trick that isn't so obvious next time!"

Willow was stunned into silence. She tried to think of something to say, but her mind was drawing a complete blank. No humans? So there was no one for her to talk to. And what did this mawile mean when she said 'this world'? There was no way that she had been transported to a whole other world... was there? Her thoughts were broken by a three fingered hand poking her in the nose.

"Are you just going to lie there all day? I don't know how you found this place but it's where I come to be by myself, so if you're done, could you please leave?" she said, tapping her foot on the floor. Willow started to panic. Leave? Where could she go? She had no idea where she was! She scrambled to her feet once again, frantically trying to think of something to say to continue the conversation. She took a deep breath, swallowing down the panic rising in her chest. She knew she had to stay calm, that panicking would get her nowhere. Right now, this mawile was the only person... no, pokémon, who might be able to help her, so she had to say something.

"I'm sorry!" she said again, "I promise this isn't a prank, I just woke up here! I was trying to learn how to walk!"

The mawile frowned. "What do you mean, learn how to walk? You're clearly not a young rattata, you should know that by now."

"I..." Willow shook her head. "I'm really sorry to bother you, but I need some help. Can I explain what's happened to me from the start?"

"Is it a long story?" the mawile asked. She still looked sceptical. Willow looked at the ground, ashamed. She didn't want to put her through any trouble, but she was her only hope right now.

"Not long, just... a little unbelievable. Sorry."

"Don't be sorry," she said. Willow looked up, and saw real concern on her face. "If you have a genuine problem, I'll gladly listen, and try to help you in any way I can, no matter how crazy it sounds. Once I find a partner, I'm planning on joining the Society, you know!" she said proudly. Willow had no idea what this 'Society' was, but she was grateful this mawile was willing to help.

"Okay," Willow said, as the mawile sat down in front of her. Willow stood awkwardly, not trusting herself to sit down with her without somehow messing it up in her rattata body. "Like I said, this is going to sound really unbelievable, but I promise it's the truth. I'm..." Willow swallowed. Surely there was no way she would believe her? She took a deep breath, and continued.

"I'm actually a human," she said. "I woke up like this earlier, with no memories of my past except that I was a human." She looked at the mawile, expecting the worst, but she she just looked confused.

"A human? You look like a perfectly normal rattata to me. Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," said Willow, holding her breath. Was she going to accept her story? She watched her fold her arms and think for a while, until she eventually replied.

"Alright. Go on, what else?" she prompted.

"Wait, you really believe me?" Willow asked, hardly daring to believe it herself.

"Well, it adds up," the mawile said thoughtfully. "No one knows about this clearing but me, so to start with you're somewhere you shouldn't be. The way you were pacing around, concentrating... Well, if this isn't your original body, then that explains that. And your weird questions make sense as well."

Willow realised the Mawile must have been watching her for some time. She almost wanted to say something about it, but the mawile was still talking

"So the question is, what do we do with you?" she paused for a moment, and then revised her question: "Actually, I guess the question is what do you want to do?"

"Wait, me?" Willow said, starting to feel light headed. She felt very out of her depth.

"Yeah, you," replied the mawile, smiling encouragingly. "The way I see it is this: You've turned up here, a pokémon who's actually a human, with no memories. If I was in your situation, I would want answers. Unfortunately, I don't have a clue where to start with that." She stood up. "So I think the only thing to do here is what you want to do. You could ask around, but a lot of people might think you're crazy. I guess I could take you back to Baram Town and we could look for a job for you and a place for you to live, for now."

Willow was struggling to keep up with all the information. She would have to get a job? She realised that she might be in this situation for a long time, and her heart sank. This body wasn't hers, and she wasn't sure she wanted to get used to it. The mawile was definitely right about something though – she did want to find out how she'd ended up in this situation.

"Okay, that sounds good," she said meekly. "I think I do want to find out about my past, but starting small sounds like the smart thing to do. What kind of jobs do pokémon do?"

"Umm..." she seemed to falter a bit. She crossed her arms again. "Well, you could try Café Connection? When I think about it, none of the jobs you could get around Baram Town would really get you to places beyond the town, so you wouldn't get any closer to discovering your past. Hmm..." she remained deep in thought for a moment, and then she spoke again, more slowly this time.

"This is a bit of a long shot, but... the only job I can think of that will get you out of town would be if you joined the Society, but you need a partner to join... And, uh, do you remember earlier I mentioned I was looking for a partner? If we form a team together, I'm sure there would be many opportunities to look for stuff about your past."

She looked at her hopefully. "What do you say?"

Willow realised she was holding her breath. Things seemed to be moving at lightning speed. She had woken up as a pokémon less than an hour ago, and already she was being invited to form some kind of team with another pokémon she'd only just met. She still felt very light headed, but when she thought about it, the mawile's request seemed like the best option for her right now. It meant she could stick with the one pokémon she could be sure believed her story, and if what she said about this society was true, she would have opportunities to try and figure out who she was, and where she'd come from. Still, there was something she had to ask. She let out the huge sigh she'd been holding in, and asked:

"Are you sure you'd want me on your team? I mean, you know what I am, so you know that I have no idea how anything works in this world... or how to be a pokémon... or anything."

"Good point, but..." the mawile looked her in the eye, smiling. "I just have a good feeling about this. I've been looking for a partner for a long time now, but not many pokémon are interested in joining the Society these days. Everyone I know says it's a waste of time, what with the world being in such a peaceful state... But I think there's always someone who needs help, and I want to help as many pokémon as I can! I don't know if you feel the same way, but you don't seem like a bad pokémon. So... what do you say?"

"I accept," Willow said, quicker than she expected herself to. She was surprised at this, but continued, "Thank you so much for all of this, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come."

"Hey, no problem!" she said. "Did you get the hang of walking yet?"

"Kind of," Willow smiled. "My name's Willow, by the way."

"Willow, huh?" the mawile smiled. "Like the tree. That's a pretty nickname."

"Nickname? What do you mean? That's just... my name," said Willow, confused.

"It's probably different in the human world. Let me explain," said the mawile, "In this world, pokémon just go by their species name, so my name would be Mawile. Some pokémon have a nickname that they only tell their friends, so for you that would be Willow. You shouldn't really ask a pokémon for their nickname, they'll tell you if they're comfortable doing it. I don't have a nickname, so you can just call me Mawile."

Willow nodded, taking it all in. "So I shouldn't just go telling everyone my name is Willow, that would be weird?"

"That would be a little forward, yeah," Mawile laughed. Willow had another question:

"Is having a nickname an uncommon thing? Why don't you have a nickname?"

"I was an only child and my parents never came up with one, and I just never really came up with one myself either."

"Oh," said Willow, frowning. "Mawile feels a bit impersonal to me, like if I called someone 'Human' back in my world." She looked around for inspiration. "Can I call you Lily? Like the flowers in this clearing."

"Huh?" said Mawile, folding her arms. For a second, Willow was worried she'd offended her. Maybe suggesting nicknames was something you shouldn't do? But all she said was, "How do you know the names of these flowers?"

Willow was a bit taken aback, but answered, "I'm not sure. I guess it's just something I know. I think it's just events I lost, not knowledge."

"That's good to know," the mawile replied. Then she smiled, and said "Lily. I like it, I think it suits me. Just out of interest, are all humans nicknamed after plants?"

"Not all of us, no," said Willow, smiling weakly. Mawile, newly nicknamed Lily, laughed.

"Well, Willow, let's see if we can get back to Baram town before dark!"

Lily led the way into the forest as Willow followed, still having to concentrate to not trip over herself. She felt relief welling up inside her. She hadn't admitted it to herself until that moment, but she had been really, really afraid. She had so nearly been abandoned in a world she knew nothing about, and she felt so lucky to not only have a guide, but a guide who believed her story. She was still very anxious about her future, but at least she had someone to fall back on, to ask for help, and to talk to when things might get tough.

She was not alone.

One, two, three four. One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four...