Anywhere could be considered to have abundant food compared to the barren wastelands that were the third and fourth levels, but this bountiful harvest was overkill. Not only was there almost every kind of berry we were familiar with, but there were also a couple new ones! I hadn't noticed how much variety there was until dinner time, I had to admit. Among the Oran and Persim berries, a couple in the pile stood out— some looked like giant blackberries, others like big and shiny blue spheres with a yellow straw-like peel covering half of it.
The most intriguing one had a yellow stem and three soft pink fruits, resembling a shrunken down bunch of bananas. What caught my eye was a small cut in the peel (possibly from one of the other kids' mishandling it), showing off how thin it was. As soon as we were all sat down, I grabbed it and bit into one of the fruits.
... this is a gummy worm.
"Good or bad?" Chloe immediately shot out. My surprised face must've been dramatic.
"Good. I just wasn't expecting it," I answered. I tore one off the stem and passed it to the now ecstatic bird.
She pecked at it excitedly. "This is so cool! Nanab berries!"
Though she was a bit enthusiastic for my taste, I agreed with Chloe. I couldn't remember the last time I had an actual banana, but I knew this tasted better. Plus, I'd gotten tired of having to throw away the peel starting from kindergarten. Woah, bananas without all the useless work and garbage involved! Who'd have thunk?
Anyway.
I'd only munched through my first Nanab when I noticed Chloe had completed devoured hers. She hopped to the pile, and, grabbing another by the stem, started dragging it across the grass to her spot in the circle. Looking a little exhausted, she sat down and started pecking at the bunch.
"... are you sure you should be eating that much?" Kieran said after some silence.
"Don't fat-shame me," she joked.
"What?" Kieran sputtered. "No, of course I didn't—"
"That's pretty transphobic, dude," Lola said sarcastically. "You gotta come for her like that?"
"Mucho transphobia," Chloe nodded.
"You're a bird!" He said. "You need to be light to fly! I need to be light to fly! Gab too!" I guessed Kieran was out of the zeitgeist on those types of jokes. "Flying types need to fly!" he groaned.
"Will you chill?" Micheal laughed.
Gab quipped. "Hm, maybe not. No Ice types here."
We must've been on that stupid conversation for a couple more minutes, but I kinda zoned out. I was starting to get a hang of using the Pokémon games' jargon, but being assigned categories as to what kind of monsters we were... well, let's just say Chloe had been by far the most enthusiastic about the entire situation. I didn't feel like dwelling on it more. Instead, I focused on the level. Someone had to. What features popped out in the jungle? The lush trees and resources. The statues and white bricks. The plush grass.
That grass was heaven compared to the last couple of levels where we'd slept on different types of stone. This was without even mentioning that there wasn't ever any bugs in the grass. I guess there really were only Bug types in this world. Anyway, this level really wanted us to take a vacation here. I wouldn't fall for it. Sleep would only come after battle.
"That hit the spot," Micheal sighed, leaning back in satisfaction. That attitude was shared by the rest, even a calmed-down Kieran. Today had worn us down, and there was nothing better to recover the morale than ravenous feasting.
Well, nothing other than gladiatorial combat!
"Ready, Micheal?" I asked. Sunset was going to start any minute now, and I wanted at least one battle in. We needed to practice.
He tilted his head hesitatingly. Crap. He was going to back out. The others tiredly looked around, no doubt ready to follow his lead. Lola was the first to yawn, of course. Not on my watch!
I jumped to my feet and ran the couple meters between us and the bricks. As I stood on the sun-bleached floor, I cupped my hands around my mouth.
"You wanna go?" I heckled.
Kieran laughed and elbowed Micheal, the latter looking nonplussed. He shot him a look and turned his head to face me. There was no change of expression, but his ear flicked. He padded toward the practice arena wordlessly.
"There we go!" I exclaimed. I patted the Litleo on the back when he was within reach. No response. He walked to one side and as the others placed themselves on the bleachers, I made my way toward the opposite side.
My step was confident and I breathed in some fresh air, the day's end cooling the temperature to a more bearable level. Wide open, free of trees, no cliffs nearby; the battlefield seemed like the perfect place for practice. This level was practically reading our minds and manifesting what we needed, like that one room in Harry Potter.
I swear, if I had a dime for every time I needed to Google something's name while stuck here...
I took on my best battle stance. I'd taken karate classes before this— for years, in fact. I knew how to properly prepare myself for hits. My feet were grounded, my knees slightly bent, my hands clenched into fists and held close to my head.
I hadn't gotten up to a brown belt for nothing.
Before me was Micheal, my opponent. He'd shared some karate classes with me a couple years ago, but only stayed for a few months. Not only did he know next to nothing, he also had no way to implement the small set of skills he'd acquired as a biped.
A quick glance to the the bleachers confirmed Kieran, Lola, Gab and Chloe were sitting or lying down, watching with varying mixes of curiosity and excitement. A couple relevant healing berries, like Rawst or Oran, were there just in case. Lola yawned, incorrigible. Eyes back to Micheal, he coughed out a bit of steam. Right. Now he had fire on his side. That was something I hadn't mock-fought before.
"On three?" Kieran stood up. Micheal and I nodded. The Beedrill cleared his throat. "One, two, three!"
Right out the gate, an Ember was shot in my general direction. Shoot, Micheal had gotten fast! Was that only one cough of buildup? It being Micheal, however, meant that the Ember didn't even come within ten feet of me. And as a Pokémon, that looked a lot farther! While not needing to dodge, I ran a semi-circle on the opposite side, closing in on Micheal. If his main tactic involved a long-range attack, I'd need to get up close to counter with melee strikes.
When he was only a few feet away from me, Micheal ran off to avoid the punch I'd been preparing. Plain punching wasn't an official attack, but it was an effective one. As Micheal got further away, running the edge of the battlefield, I found myself wishing for something long-range for myself. Bide was out of question, of course. Not only did I not want to be a sitting duck again, but I also did not want to destroy this place. That left me with the type of attack I'd actually been looking forward to.
I was excited about Psychic moves. Super strength was nice and all, but fighting was something I could already do. Lifting stuff with my mind or sending headaches to people? That was new and interesting, and the only couple things I wanted to do here before going back home.
"Come on, Micheal! Stand your ground!" Lola encouraged— mockingly, no doubt. Said Litleo was near where I'd started, a couple meters away from the bleachers. I noticed Chloe wasn't with the group, probably out flying over us.
"Hurk!"
Another fireball. I shielded my head with my forearm in a practiced motion, fist clenched. It was a good yet unnecessary instinct. The Ember came closer than the first time, but skidded to a halt in front of me. It was… convenient. Something lighter to practice on. I tried to clear my mind of everything else, my focus sharp and raging. My thumb rubbed my fingers continually to remind my body not to go into Bide mode. I visualized lifting the hot, ovoid object into the air and throwing it back towards the one who'd thrown it up.
Wait. Ew.
That was enough to snap me out of my seconds-long trance. Micheal was crouched in anticipation, and the benched crowd was waiting for my next move. Ugh. Psychic didn't come. Even Confusion, however stupid its name was, didn't grace me with its presence. I resorted to the tried and true method: basic cavewoman instincts. I kicked the Ember away, it narrowly avoiding Micheal and bouncing off a brick. Sliding on the floor for a few moments, it stopped sparking and became immobile. A faint smoke fizzled out.
Well, great! Next method it was, then!
I ran toward Micheal again, but this time, he remained in place. His eyes were slits and his haunches rose. My God, he really was just a fire-breathing cat at this point. Meanwhile, I was still a sports machine ready to punt him as soon as I could reach him. He appeared as focused as I was.
When I was about to reach him, he opened his mouth, taking in a breath. A point blank Ember?
Try that and I punch it right back in your mouth, motherf—
Micheal then roared, red shockwaves pulsating around him. I stopped running abruptly. It wasn't from surprise or fear, just confusion. The red waves emanating from Micheal's mouth glowed intensely, making me realize how dark it had gotten around us.
The roar suddenly stopped, the attack with it, and you could hear a pin drop in the next few moments. I say "roar", but it was no more than a yell with some pizzazz. I stared, at first in awe, but it didn't take long before I started laughing.
"Did you really just do that?" Kieran joined in. His wheezing was so intense I was surprised he hadn't fallen to the ground.
"Shut up," Micheal mumbled. His ears were drooping, and while his eyes and mouth showed a deadpan look, his pupils were dilated. He was mortified.
"Whatever you say, Simba," Lola chuckled, and bowed her head as low as she could toward him.
I snorted. Even if Lola was a flippant, snarky annoyance of an Absol, sometimes she got a joke across to me. Chloe landed next to us, shaking out her feathers. Micheal squinted through the dark. Now that this pause had occurred, it was easy to see that now may be a good time to go back to camp.
"I think we're done for today," Micheal sighed.
"… I guess it's a draw?" Chloe asked.
I would not take that lying down. "A draw?! It's a forfeit!"
"Neither of you hit each other," Gab said. "Not much of a win anyway."
"Oh!" Lola gasped. "Put it in, Gab."
The Absol and Emolga high-fived, and I gritted my teeth. "Postponed. The match has been postponed. We should battle tomorrow. All of us. This is yet another example of why we need to practice!"
I swore I saw an eye roll from Micheal, but it was too dark for me to be certain. "That sounds fine, but we should turn in first."
Again, the others only joined in when Micheal nodded in agreement. Why? When had we decided he was leader? Was there a vote I'd missed somehow, even though I'd never taken any time away from the group for myself? Nevertheless, he'd agreed with me in the end. I won because it was a good idea.
It was good to finally get a hang on our teammates' abilities. Most of the time we'd been too busy fearing for our lives because of some dumb level gimmick. Something about the tropical climate must've put us in a vacation mindset and relaxed us. We couldn't let it last, but it was nice to have a break. Well, as much of a break as intense exercise and trying to fathom magical powers could be. First thing in the morning, we'd be productive, as we needed to be. And soon, we would be on our way again.
At dawn, I was sat on the warm grass. The air wasn't quite as warm as yesterday afternoon, but it wasn't much colder either. Humidity still reigned. I'd gotten as much rest as was needed, and my watch shift was almost over. My new shift partner, Chloe, was far more tolerable than Lola, so we didn't bother switching back. Gab hadn't seemed to mind. Chloe was polite but excitable, and tended to get bored fast. She'd gone to fly around the area, executing small circles over our campground. I had my back to the group and watched the thick of the jungle, occasionally glancing toward clearer patches and the granite wall. I sighed, looking at those odd Meditite hands I'd been forced to call my own. They were blue and only had three fingers. Absolutely stupid.
I heard someone stir behind me. A quick glance, and I learned it was Kieran getting up. I turned my head back towards the vegetation. Dawn was only just starting, so my shift was not over. I'd watch until I was allowed to stop.
Kieran sat next to me, yawning. "Morning."
"Morning," I replied. "I didn't have breakfast yet. You can have first pick."
"I'll wait for the others. Where's Chloe?"
"Flying," I said. I waved toward a blue and white speck in the sky, and received a distant greeting as a response. Other than that, the jungle was quiet.
"I still can't believe how fast she learned how to do it. She was a Pokémon for like, two minutes, and she could figure it out," he said.
"She's smart," I countered. "And flying makes sense once you get the hang of it. Psychic powers, though…" I groaned.
Kieran grinned, brandishing his stingers. "I guess that's a bit more complicated than stabbing stuff. What were you trying anyway?"
"Anything," I said. "Doesn't matter for now since I can resort to the basics, but I need to do more."
"I hear that," he sighed. "You wanna hear what Chloe told me about flying? It might help."
"Shoot."
He talked moving his stingers, as if he was trying to pick the words out of the air. "It was something like… don't just think of doing the move, think of where it's coming from. So maybe don't try to lift something with your brain, but try to figure out what part of your brain could do it? How'd you do Bide anyway?"
I hadn't tried to, I knew that. All I could come up with at the moment was that feeling of… fight or flight? But I froze. That wasn't like me. Still, maybe that engaged some sort of Meditite reflex shoved into my brain, completely uninvited. I just wanted to last the battle, which at that point felt impossible since the Butterfree was wiping the floor with Kieran and dodging all of our attacks. So I had to brace myself. Was that it?
If so, that was Bide figured out. What was Psychic? Or Confusion? Hell, that one where I could teleport? That one felt like it could be very important. Might be the flight option. That left fight, but I had that covered. Maybe not "fight", but…
Defend.
That's what telekinesis was in essence, right? I would be commanding other forces to do the dirty work for me. With that in mind, I sighed, closed my eyes, and concentrated. I heard Kieran chuckle next to me, but I ignored him. I wasn't having breakfast until it clicked. I needed to find that source. My train of thought whirled around.
What about that one entry saying I should only eat one berry a day? Would that help with making psychic powers more powerful? Nah, that was still so freaking dumb.
No more distractions. Defend. Defend. I'm under attack, and I need to defend.
Defend me. Help me.
You know when you try crossing your eyes for the first time, and it doesn't work? It was that exact pain and weird sensation. But as I opened my eyes, somehow I knew I was doing something.
I focused on that feeling, noticing a faint blue glow around my body. I closed my eyes again to not let it distract me. I just let the attack grow. Even though I couldn't see it, I sensed that three floating orbs had appeared around me, charging up until they were ready to launch. With one mental command, they were flung forward, and I opened my eyes to see them off.
The orbs were glowing a bright royal blue, flung into the jungle with debatable aim. One hit a nearby tree, another flew into a puddle, and the last one unceremoniously fell to the ground and popped like a water balloon. Hell, it actually made a smaller puddle where it hit, and there was certainly a wet spot on the tree the first had struck. Considering that symptom, the spring predictably didn't have any discernible changes, barring a few new waves. Maybe I'd just added more water to it.
"Holy crap!" Kieran exclaimed. No doubt he'd woken up everyone who'd been sleeping. "I friggin' forgot about Hidden Power!"
"Hidden Power?" That confused me. It wasn't in the list of moves that I'd heard about.
Chloe landed next to us, right on cue. Man, all she ever did was explaining, wasn't it? "Hidden Power! Each individual Pokémon has an innate random type when using that move! I guess yours is Water type?"
That perplexed me. I'd been told I was not a Water type, despite being blue here and awesome at swimming back home. How come one of my only attacks was water-based? Hidden Power's weird gimmick had been explained, but it still felt weird. I was a Fighting and Psychic type with a Water move. To be fair, being a Pokémon in the first place was weird enough already. Surprising complications and more intricate strategies only added to it. The thought of picking a game up once we got home had crossed my mind a couple times, but I couldn't really believe I'd follow through. It didn't seem like my cup of tea. Besides, if we did get home, chances are our problems would be gone by then.
… if? If we get home? No, we're getting home. Keep at it and don't stop until you aren't a Pokémon.
"Is it breakfast time yet?" Chloe yawned. Glancing at the three Pokémon not in our conversation, we confirmed they were awake.
"Looks like it," Kieran shrugged, and walked back toward camp.
I guessed I needed to refuel to help with figuring out that weird new move. Just a quick rest. I'd eat, then battle. Battle, then eat. And above all, keep going forward.