AN: My update of the day. The way things are looking, I should have the next restoration Berserker chap out tonight. If not, tomorrow for sure. I'm just closing up the next chapter.
Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own content and my balls.
Chapter 3: Finding Myself
In hindsight, burning and sinking the only ship in sight and all the supplies aboard was not the greatest plan.
But that's why it's called hindsight right?
Yeah.
I'm fucked.
I pondered on my situation while sitting on a log and looking at the waves.
When I came to, I found myself on the beach of the island with three worried Eevee's curled up on my chest.
They were quite ecstatic about me waking up and I didn't even have time to think straight before being drowned a second time.
Except this time it was in fluff and I was ok with it.
From the footprints to the side of where my body was, I took it that Charizard had rescued me.
Quite kind of the angry fire dragon but he was gone when I woke up.
If I ever met the guy again, I would give my thanks.
I didn't know how long I was out for, but the sun was rising when I opened my eyes and I was greeted by the incredible sight of the sunrise on a tropical island in the Pokemon world.
Bird Pokemon of all kinds flew through the air, water Pokemon moved through the water and jumped above the surface before diving back in, and a variety of sounds rang from the forest behind me.
It was a symphony of nature, waking to start a new day like nothing had happened last night.
Just a drop of sand in the ever flowing tide of time.
It puts things in to perspective you know?
Makes your problems feel much smaller than they were and I couldn't help but laugh at it all while getting confused looks from my trio of helpers.
Speaking of the Eevee, they seemed to have decided to stick with me.
I offered them a chance to leave and I got bitten and scratched so that path died quite quickly.
Thankfully they avoided my burns.
And speaking of the burns, I realized a few things.
One, I was healing really fast.
I never had burns this bad before but I knew I should be seeing such rapid progress after a single night.
I wasn't sure if it was this body, the heal pulse from Slowbro, whatever Eevee did to me, or some mix of any of them.
Two, the very edges of the burns had already finished healing but the skin was scarred. I wasn't sure if I would be healing without lifelong scaring from this.
And three, I finally got a good look at my face in the reflection of the water.
It was…quite a sight.
The burns went from my elbow, up the shoulder, the side of my left neck, the lower portion of my ear, and came over my eye in a spike like shape.
It was different from someone like Zuko from the Avatar who had a circular scar.
For me the spike shape went over the eye, seemed to hit my eyelid, and reached up to my scalp in a thin line on the left side.
From the right side, there was no damage. Neither were my lips impacted.
It wasn't pretty and I didn't truly care what I looked like, but it would be nice if it healed well.
What really surprised me however was both the fact that my eye was still fine, and the color of it.
According to the child's memory, this body had blue eyes before that went along with the vermillion color hair received from the mothers side.
But what I saw in the reflection were vermillion eyes looking back.
And not only that but a draconic slit replaced my pupil.
Well, I say that but it's not a full sized slit.
It's more of something in between a normal circular pupil and a slit pupil.
The slit is noticeable however.
I didn't know how that impacted me so I ignored it for now.
It was kind of cool in a way but maybe that's just my boyish side.
What was much more important to me was to deal with my mind and health.
It was time for some serious reflection into everything that happened last night and who exactly I am.
But first I needed to get at least some basic shelter and supplies set up.
I checked myself over.
My shirt couldn't even be considered rags, it was just strings left on a small portion that couldn't even be used as rags so I took it off. I used to much of it to form the Molotov cocktails.
'Worth it.'
I was wearing good hiking boots and outdoor pants good in various weather conditions since the child had actually planned on coming to a remote island.
Within my pockets all I had was the knife I was using and the zippo style lighter.
That was it.
That's all I got.
Thankfully, that should be enough for now.
'I can go try to salvage things from the ship later on.'
There was no fucking way I was entering that water again till my burns healed.
I actually shivered recalling that pain.
'Hopefully it was at least a good disinfectant.'
Salt water in the ocean is not ideal for cleaning a wound but it's better than nothing. If you can stomach the pain anyway.
Getting to my feet, I signaled the trio of Eevee who were laying in the shade to the side of my log.
"Come on you three, let's find some water, food, and shelter. We can think of what to do after that."
"Eev."
""Ee.""
So here I was, a young child with an older mind of mixed and broken memory with no idea who he was, walking through a tropical jungle on an uninhabited island alongside 3 loyal and adorable Eevee after starting a Pokemon slave rebellion and sinking a pirate ship.
Would make a killer story huh?
I chuckled at the thought and observed my surroundings.
The air was fresh and invigorating, the temperature was mid 70's Fahrenheit, and the jungle was teeming full of life and energy.
The sheer vibrancy of nature took my breath away.
My mind recalled times of camping and training off the beaten path in my college student memories and the beauty of nature couldn't even compare to this.
And as I walked, various signs of Pokemon were moving around the jungle, making noises and either looking on curiously or running off.
Just from a casual walk, I saw half a dozen species.
Caterpie, Rattata, Pidgey, Oddish, Mankey, Sentret, Ledyba.
I caught glimpses of them as I walked.
'I guess that goes to say this island isn't strictly set to one region's Pokemon.'
I didn't know where in the world I was but it didn't matter for the moment.
What mattered was my short term problems.
I already knew the island was uninhabited from the child's memories.
One thing I did find curious however was that among the Pokemon I saw, I saw two different reactions among them.
About half of them reacted like I would expect but they had this… feeling I guess of intelligence.
There was a gleam in their eyes and actions that seemed remarkedly intelligent.
On the other half, I got the same feeling I did from a feral animal.
They either growled at me until realizing I was bigger than them and ran away, or they froze like a deer in the headlights before running.
I had the feeling of a memory fragment nagging at me but it didn't come up to the surface until the Eevee's made a pre-emptive move.
I paused in my step as they growled with their ears pointing up straight.
The three of them crouched low and tensed for a moment before diving into a bush.
The next thing I knew I was getting a new perspective to the laws of the jungle as my adorable and fluffy companions literally tore up a rattata and ate it raw.
A lightbulb went off in my head at the sight.
'Ah. Right. So that's how it was.'
It was something casually known from the child's perspective.
People and Pokemon ate other Pokemon in this world.
But there was a difference.
Among Pokemon kind, only around half have intelligence. How one forms it I am unsure but I know that people didn't eat any Pokemon with intelligence.
Even injuring an intelligent Pokemon out of combat without good reason was considered a crime.
But non intelligent Pokemon were feral animals.
They might use a few Pokemon moves but they were feral without intelligent thought.
Pokemon ate them and humans followed their example.
Of course, non Pokemon animals exist as well.
Even regular insects exist.
It was a full scale food chain just much more complex compared to my college student life where humans stood at the apex.
"Ee."
I looked down as the lead Eevee brought me a piece of bloody meat and I chuckled at the sight and bent down to pat her head.
"It's ok girl, eat up. I don't think it will be good for me to eat raw meat at the moment."
"Eev?"
"Haha I'll be fine, thank you, go on."
At my urging she shrugged and enjoyed the meat.
'Theres a lot of things I'm open to doing to survive but let's push back eating raw meat unless absolutely necessary.'
I internally grimaced at the thought before shaking it off and giving my partners a moment to finish up before we moved on.
I didn't really care for their blood stains.
The college student's marine father had a hunting dog and it wasn't weird for it to hunt squirrels or birds. It even killed a deer on its own before.
'I should get a hunting canine Pokemon.'
My eyes drifted to the three happy and adorable Eevee.
'Maybe later. Something like a Growlithe is definitely in the cards though.'
That was another thing I noticed.
I had a lot of knowledge on Pokemon.
Not crazy details like I was someone obsessed with the games in my first memory set, but between the two sets, I had quite a decent idea of what was what.
At first I couldn't recall anything, but as soon as I saw the Pokemon, the memories associated came with it and I had a basic info like its name and type.
It wasn't perfect but it was something.
Already I was seeing a lot of conflict between the memory sets on what is and isn't real in this world but I would really have to sit down and go over it better.
The walk continued until I caught the sound of moving water and waved the Eevee in the direction until the foliage parted to reveal a river flowing through the jungle.
A gentle river flowing through the tree's and glittering in the sunlight.
"*Whistle* now that's a beauty."
"Ee."
I stood there taking in the sight for a moment while the eevee's rushed forward and drank from it.
One of them, I think it was the male, just stuck his whole head in the water much to my amusement.
'Guess I follow by example there.'
Kneeling by the water, I cupped some and brought it to my lips.
I swirled it around and tasted it but I couldn't find anything wrong with it.
My mind flashed back to a lesson the college student learned from his father in the woods.
"Water is vital to survival. Now you usually can't visually see if something is wrong with water, the issues come from bacteria.
If you can, you should always try to boil it first and let it cool. But if not, there are a few good signs to keep in mind.
Is the water flowing or stagnant? Flowing is better.
Do you see animal tracks or anything else drinking from it? If another body is safely drinking it, most likely you can to."
That was good survival knowledge back on earth but that was on a planet poisoned and dying from human's.
The rain wasn't even fresh on earth.
But this wasn't earth.
The child's memories all but confirmed that with his own Botanist father teaching him that most inland bodies of water were drinkable.
This world was pure and untainted by the hands of humans.
Hell, it even had a legit god that had been seen, let alone the consistent sightings of legendaries.
'If I'm remembering it right, humanities population is only a fragment of what it was back on earth. Humans are not the apex predator here.'
A large smile grew on my face at that thought.
'I think I like that. I like it a lot.'
Anyway, the water was cool and refreshing.
I didn't realize just how parched I was until that moment.
My lips were cracked and my hair had sand all over it.
The feeling of relief at sticking my head in the water was wonderful.
And this time, my burns enjoyed the cool sensation without the added salt.
I kept my head under as long as I could before coming back up and waving around my wet vermillion hair on the poor and defenseless Eevee.
"Ee!"
"Hahaha, I really needed that."
I cleared the water from my face as I got fluff tackled.
"Ha bring it on you little fluff ball!"
"Eev!"
"Oi! three on one is unfair!"
"""Ee!"""
The three of us tumbled around play fighting by the side of the river and had a blast.
Thankfully they were a little conscious of my burns, but they weren't so fragile anymore either.
It still felt nice.
Rolling around and laughing felt like a nice tonic from the craziness of it all.
In the end I stood victorious.
It doesn't matter that the trio had claimed the high ground while I was panting on the ground, I still consider it my win either way.
I sat up and the four of us rested for a minute while I gained my bearings.
'Hm.. I need to find shelter while the sun is still up.'
Following the river up took my eyes to the stand alone feature of the island that towered over the tree's.
A rocky mountain.
Not a very tall one, but a good few hours climb.
As far as I could tell from the child's memories and the glimpse I got from the ship, it seemed the island was somewhat circular.
I couldn't get a full image with my quick glance but the mountain is definitely the tallest point of the island.
'Which means that's my best shot of getting the lay of the land. It's a good thing I didn't get a trauma from rock climbing like I did with fire.
But then again, I didn't die directly from climbing but from falling whereas I died directly to fire.'
I tilted my head and pondered on the logic behind it before ultimately shrugging.
'Fuck it, I'll take what I can get.'
"Come on you three, we're heading for the mountain."
"Eev."
We followed the river up towards its source as it took us in the direction of the mountain.
The walk was never boring with three curious cat/dog/fox hybrids poking and sniffing everything around.
And the friendly Pokemon along the way made it all that much more interesting.
By the water side we saw single and pairs of Pokemon drinking peacefully. Caterpie, Rattata, Nidoran, and we even caught sight of a Doduo before it took off.
Through the tree's bug Pokemon were zooming by.
And in the clear water you could see various fish and water Pokemon going by.
I was able to identify magikarp as the main source but also others like Goldeen, Remoreid, Wooper, and I caught sight of what I believe were Krabby's on the bed of the river since it was quite shallow.
It was a marvel of life, but the walk got harder the longer we went.
Never mind that I hadn't eaten anything in a while, or that I was still injured, or even that I was a small child and had short legs.
Even with all that, this was a jungle and the humidity was raising as noon came around. And the elevation climbed slightly as well.
I was already sweating up a storm just after the first hour and a half but that's when nature decided to throw me a bone.
"Eevee!"
I rose a brow as one of the trio called out to us.
It was the youngest of the bunch.
And yes, I decided to list them slightly on the walk so far.
The lead Eevee is the older sister, the male is the middle brother, and the other girl is the younger sister.
I have absolutely no idea if I'm right, but I'm going with it anyway.
The youngest called out and sniffed the air before jumping into a bush.
I gave the eldest a look.
"Should we be going after her?"
I got a shrug in response as she sat down so I took it as a good chance to take a break and dunked my head in the water again.
It was only a few minutes later that the bush rustled as the youngest Eevee came back to us.
Except she held a certain fruit in her mouth that caused a memory to flash by.
'An Oran berry.'
Eevee ran up to me and put the berry down in front of me with a big smile.
"For me?"
"Ee!"
I smiled gently and ignored the berry to pick up the little Eevee and hug her.
"Thank you little one, I appreciate it."
"Eev!"
She happily licked my face and I laughed as I let her down.
But then another memory hit me and I frowned.
'Wait a second… aren't berries…'
A certain buzzing sound reached my ears and my eyes shot open as the memory cleared.
'Berries are not that common in the world, and if you ever find them in nature, they are likely guarded by a group of Pokemon!'
"You three! To me, quickly!"
I saw movement in the brush as Pokemon fled and just in time it seemed as a swarm of Beedril broke through the tree's and surrounded us while they hovered in the air.
The youngest eevee's ears dropped as tears gathered in her eyes but I kept her behind me with the other two.
Thinking quick, I held up the Oran berry in my hand and heard the buzzing grow louder before I gently and slowly placed it down on a rock in front of me.
The buzzing grew lower for a moment before a larger Beedril than the rest broke from the swarm and directly approached us.
It wasn't only larger but it hard scars and cracks along it's body showing years of fighting damage.
"Beedril."
It pointed at the berry and I titled my head.
'I can't legit understand you dude.'
Still, I figured no response was a bad idea.
"Uh.. we apologize for taking your berry, we didn't realize it belonged to your swarm. We mean no harm."
I tried to get the main points across and looked straight into the eyes of the Beedril leader.
It took a moment but I saw it nod it's head and fly down toward the berry.
It picked it up with both its stinger like hands and with a final look, turned to move away.
But just then, the youngest Eevee jumped out.
"Ee!"
My eyes opened wide as I tried to grab her but she dodged my hand.
The Beedril leader turned around and looked at her as she yelled something.
"Eev, ee, Eevee!"
I saw the Beedril tense and I was ready to jump in but the eldest sister stepped up in front of the youngest and spoke next.
The Beedril took a moment to respond.
"Bee, beed, bee."
Eevee pointed a paw at me and the Beedril turned its head toward me once more with its eyes that I couldn't tell where they were gazing at before it turned and called out to the ones around us.
A few Beedril broke off and went back into the jungle while the eldest Eevee said something with a smile and they began to speak in their poke language while I was lost.
I tried to follow their body language and understand their intent but an actual conversation was a bit too complex for me.
Meanwhile the other two had laid down with their eyes still watching carefully so I took it as a 'relax but keep your guard up' type of situation.
It wasn't needed apparently since a minute later, the Beedril returned and to my surprise they flew over to me and put down some Oran berries on the rock beside me where I put the one before.
I looked at the berries and then to the leader who flew closer.
It pointed a singer at me but I didn't flinch and gave him a curious look.
He pointed it at my side and I saw it was pointed at my burns.
Then it pointed at the berries and nodded satisfied.
I got the message and bowed my head slightly.
"Thank you. I will repay you one day."
The Beedril seemed to buzz in amusement? I wasn't sure how I could tell but it seemed to be a happy sound as it pointed at the youngest Eevee and nodded her way before it turned and took off again.
I looked at the pile of half a dozen Oren berries and then to the Eevee's.
Two of which were looking supremely satisfied while the male was laying down with its eyes closed.
"Can someone tell me what just happened?"
"Ee."
"Right, makes sense."
I shook my head and chuckled before picking up a berry.
It was the size of my childlike hand.
Hell, it looked like a blueberry but was the size of a full tomato.
"You three want one? They are pretty big."
The three shook their heads but I saw drool on the corner of the youngest's mouth and smirked.
I put one down before them.
"It's fine guys, they gave us six of them, I can't eat all of it right? It was a team effort."
The eldest and youngest struggled as they hesitated but the male seemed to take my words at face value and nodded before stepping forward to take a bit.
His sisters seemed to lose their hesitance at that sight and rushed forward.
I couldn't help but laugh even as I saw him make sure he only bit a third of the berry.
Seeing them enjoying themselves I took a bite as well and my eyes widened.
An explosion of flavors flooded my mind as I hovered in a celestial abode with dancing berries and my clothes being blown clear off my skin….
Yeah… it tasted like a damn good berry. Without the dramatic effects.
It had the same texture as a blueberry despite its size.
But what really was special was the effect.
I felt my hunger rapidly fade as strength came back to my limbs.
It wasn't like an energy drink but more like I just woke up from a good nap.
And not only that, but my skin started tingling around my burns.
Nothing visible was happening to my eye, but the strong itchy feeling is a clear sign of rapid healing compared to my already accelerated healing speed.
I marveled at the effects of such a simple berry and before I knew it, it was gone and I was staring at my hand.
"That was…."
"Eev."
"Yeah, that."
I shook my head from my reverie and quickly put the remaining berries in my pockets before the trio of eyes looking at them could dive on it.
It's not that I don't want to share, but considering they can fill you up so easily, I wanted to save them for if we can't find other food.
I rolled my shoulder lightly and cringed a bit at the feel of things rubbing together before waving my hand.
"Come on, we're over half of the way to the mountain."
"""Ee!"""
With enthusiastic cheers, we continued our hike through the dense jungle.
While we walked, I recalled the information I remembered about berries.
Contrary to the games on this world, it seemed like it was very different in reality.
The child wasn't the son of two successful researchers for nothing. His father seemed to have studied berries in great detail.
Berry's as people would call them fall under ten types that have different healing effects.
All other berries are derivatives of these ten and are not as effective. There are even those who do not have healing effects but rather poisonous effects.
The main ten berries that are taught to even children from a young age are:
Cheri Berry - Cures paralysis.
Chesto Berry - Cures sleep.
Pecha Berry - Cures poison.
Rawst Berry - Cures burn.
Aspear Berry - Cures freezing.
Perism Berry - Cures Confusion.
Lum Berry - Cures all status conditions and confusion.
Leppa Berry - Restores stamina.
Oran Berry – Increases rapid health recovery.
Sitrus Berry – Greatly increases rapid health recovery.
Further, there are others with mild to serious poisonous effects such as the Nanab berry that has a tranquilizing effect that children are taught to avoid.
But even without an ailment, the ten main barriers are perfectly fine to eat and taste great.
The technical terms of how the berries work is not mandatory education but it seemed the child learned about it from an over enthusiastic father.
The Oran berry isn't a magical berry or something, but it works by greatly speeding up the body's metabolism as well as carrying an explosion of nutrients packed into it's flesh.
It sends the bodies recovery process into overdrive through these nutrients and quickly metabolizing them to transfer necessary nutrients everywhere in the body, which is especially useful when dealing with wounds.
The effect is not instant healing, but gradual.
'Hm.. that makes a lot of sense. From the college students life, I can recall that even though the human body can metabolize various foods, it only absorbs a small percentage of the nutrients. The berry not only provides nutrients and speeds up your metabolism but also increases the absorption of the nutrients.
What a fascinating product of nature.'
And it really is.
But contrary to the games, it's not so commonly found.
Berry tree's require very rich soil and specific climates to be able to grow.
Not only that, but they are monsters of a plant that don't allow anything around it to grow because the tree sucks up all the nutrients in the area.
It's due to this that the trees are while not rare, uncommon to find in nature.
Humans have done their best to grow them in contained environments to minor degrees of success but those successful products are what fuel the human and Pokemon medicine products that flood the markets.
Antidote, Burn Heal, Ice Heal, Awakening, Paralyze Heal, Full Heal, and other products are all results of scientists combining berries in various chemical formula's to make the medicine.
And they come out in two forms.
The main one is the ones that work on Pokemon. They have almost instantaneous effects on Pokemon.
The second one is the ones that work on humans. They are not instant but work incredibly fast that even a broken bone can be healed overnight.
I tried to recall the reason from the memories of the Botanist.
'Damn a child's attention span, pay attention! I think it had to do something with the dilution of the medicine? Damn it, I can't recall more than that. If it's the result of the dosage it would make sense. Pokemon are far more resilient and aura inducive then humans after all.'
I smiled at the feel of the effects of the Oran berry on myself.
'No wonder it gave me a feeling of being full, it was a nutrient bomb, these things are full meals.'
Still, I understood how precious they were.
The reason the berry tree's found in nature are often not approached is because they would be guarded by a single powerful Pokemon or a group of strong Pokemon.
That's the information I recalled when Eevee came back with an Oran berry.
My eyes drifted to the happily walking youngest of the trio and I couldn't stop the gentle smile that grew at the sight of her adorable self.
'Thank you little one. Danger or not, you were doing it for me.'
Even only a day in, the bond between us was growing strong.
Another hour and half later, three hours from where we first hit the river and around four hours from the beach, we finally reached the base of the mountain.
"*Whistle* Now that's a real beauty."
It was a massive monolith of a rock.
The tree line stopped a few feet from the base of the mountain but being up close I could understand just how big it was.
I couldn't visually see the sides of it but from my estimation, I would say it was cylindrical in shape.
"Huh… I don't see a real path here."
It was mostly sheer stone wherever I looked.
"But that's not a real issue for me."
Looking up, I saw numerous ledges and cracks going all the way up. Not to mention cracks and crevices large enough for a large man to fit in comfortably.
"Ha, it's a good thing I'm overflowing with energy right now, this seems like it should be fun."
I wasn't sure if it was the memories from the college students life that was affecting my excitement to climb such a thing or not, but I didn't really care.
There was so much uncertainty with everything going on and it happened so fast.
Who am I? Why am I? What am I?
So many questions were abound in my head, and the chaotic storm of broken memory fragments from two different lives were bouncing around like pin balls.
I probably should just make camp down here in relative safety and go through things, but I didn't have to make the smart decision.
I was still injured, I didn't know how strong my current body was, and I didn't even know what I would find up there.
But I was still going to do it.
Because I can, and because I wanted to.
I can figure out the details as I go. For now, I wanted to move and work off all this energy.
I turned my gaze from the mountain to the trio of Eevee as I wanted to ask if they were able to climb but I blinked when I saw them missing.
I spun around to the jungle but didn't see them but before I could grow worried, I nearly jumped at their call.
"Ee!"
"Eev!"
"Eevee!"
I looked up at did a double take as I saw the Eevee's already a dozen or so feet up on a ledge and waving at me with a 'hurry up slowpoke' type of look.
"But…how.."
The three seemingly chose to ignore me and go back to playing as they jumped from the ledge they were on to the next.
"….right. I'll just get going then."
Choosing to ignore the cat part of the eevee's that could climb so easily, or maybe it was part mountain goat? I got started on my own."
The rock was sturdy and packed nicely so it wasn't brittle and dangerous to latch on to.
Stretching my limbs like this did pull on my burns but the effect of the Oran berry was prominent here as it was more itchy than painful.
The climb was long, it pushed my young muscles hard, and my chest was heaving like a storm but none of that could take away from the bright smile on my face.
An hour in and I was already around two hundred meters up.
I sat down on a ledge with the Eevee sitting next to me and marveled at the view I could already see.
"It's beautiful huh?"
"Ee."
We could see over the tree tops, gazing at the vast ocean of greenery before us with the outline of the ocean in the distance.
The green of the trees were practically glowing with vitality. So much so that it made one feel energized just gazing at it.
I got to my feet after the short break.
"Come on, let's keep going."
The three nodded and continued their game of tag climbing up the mountain while the poor human over here had to do things slowly.
Jokes aside, I was surprised by just how strong this body was.
And when I say strong, I don't mean I could lift double my weight, but my stamina was beyond what I thought a human should possess.
'Or perhaps that's just the college students memories taking precedence. It is around twenty years of memories and experience compared to only around eight or so years so it's not strange for me to think more from the older ones perspective.'
I was strong enough to lift my own body weight and my momentum didn't break pace through the climb as my stamina kept pumping.
'Could also be the Oran berries effect now that I think about it.'
I shrugged and let it go, I wasn't going to complain.
I was enjoying the hell out of the climb and I didn't want it to end so soon.
The challenge was invigorating and stimulating me to keep going.
One hour became two, two became four, and before I knew it, the sun was beginning to set in the distance as I was around halfway up the mountain.
I held on with a firm grip with one hand as I looked into the horizon and felt my breath be taken away by the beauty of nature.
"Guys! I think we should find somewhere to settle in for the night. See anything?"
The eevee's kept ahead of me by a dozen meters or so but they always waited for me to catch up before moving on.
They spread out and looked around and by the time I reached them, the 2nd oldest of the group, the male, found something and called for us.
I maneuvered myself in his direction while the other two bound across ledges with a damn near skip in their step.
"Stupid adorable fluff balls, how the hell did humans even survive in this world if practical baby normal type Pokemon were able to move like that?"
I grumbled to myself and reached the ledge they were standing on.
"Hey boy, find something?"
"Eev."
He pointed a paw to the side as I pulled myself onto the ledge and fought off the mischievous youngest Eevee who licked my face while I couldn't fight back or risked falling.
"Bah, down girl, down. Haha, you little demon. Alright. Where is it?"
I moved over to the side of the ledge and found what Eevee discovered.
It was a large crack in the mountain side that widened inwards to create a small cave like space that could easily fit all four of us.
"Great find boy."
I patted his head and gave him some affection.
"Eev!"
He smiled in joy while I ducked my head to enter the crack and paused.
"Is this…hot air?"
I walked further in and was able to stand up while I felt the heat of the space.
"How is there hot air in here? Is there another entrance?"
I felt around the walls until I found the source.
A few cracks in the stone were blowing out hot air into the space and leaking out through the entrance.
"Huh, maybe there's a lava source deep underground. Well, I won't complain, this is a nice convenience."
Natural heating, a safe and private cave, three fluffballs and a gorgeous view? What else could I ask for.
"Alright, we'll stay here the night, you guys ok with that?"
I turned while asking and stopped to laugh as I saw them curled up and dozing off already.
"Right, stupid question."
I patted their heads and sat by the entrance to look at the view.
'Sleep well little ones… and thank you.'
I really was grateful for them.
A large part of my optimism in all of this has to do with them.
They were the first faces I saw in my new life and they have been nothing but loyal and helpful along the way.
'It's only been 24 hours or so and I already can't see myself separating from them. Ha, life sure has some weird twists and turns.'
As my thoughts turned inward, I began to seriously contemplate my current situation.
'Alright, I've been putting off some questions long enough. Let's set a few things straight.'
I closed my eyes and tried to empty my mind.
Meditation wasn't foreign to either sets of memories.
The college student was taught it as self-discipline training from his father, and the child was taught it from his parents when the mother got into a big health regiment mood of hers.
I chuckled at the face of pain the botanist father had when she switched all the food for healthier options.
'Let's start simple, who am I?"
Was I the college student? The child? Or something else?
'I'm not either of them. So that would make me something else. Someone else. But…'
If I have their memories, and I'm currently using the child's body, does that not mean they are both a part of me as well?
'Perhaps so. I have been referring to them as 'the college student' and 'the child' this whole time. But maybe I should start thinking of them as past lives. As 'MY' memories.'
I thought deeply on that for a moment.
'If I believe that, then both memories parents would be my own wouldn't they? Or perhaps my past lives parents is better to be said.
For I am the result of them, but I am not them.'
I huffed in amusement.
'I'm starting to sound like a wise old Chinese philosopher or something. I am you, and you are me.'
Shaking off such thoughts, I focused again.
'Very well, I shall accept them as my past lives. It would help if I had names for them.'
Names.
I didn't have a name, I didn't know what my past lives names were, and even the Eevee didn't have names.
It was all a bit confusing without identities.
'So I need a name?'
It was a place to start at least. Something to anchor me to my current reality.
Dozens of names flew by my mind but I didn't feel a connection to them.
'No, no, not you, Ha! That would be funny but no. Hm… this is harder than I thought.'
I opened my eyes with a huff to see the night sky and shook my head slightly as I felt my neck length hair on one side tickle my nose.
'It seems night already fell huh? Time flies in meditation.'
Reaching up a hand, I grasped a strand of hair and brought it to my eye level. It glinted in the moon light.
'Vermillion. What an interesting natural color.'
I was amused about it when I saw my reflection before but it really is an interesting color.
It's not pure red or orange but a strange mix like dancing flames. It was redder at the base and more orange like at the tips.
The right side of my head had neck length hair while the left side had shorter messy hair thanks to you know, getting a partial flamethrower to the face.
Not fun stuff.
On that thought, I brought out the lighter from my pocket and rubbed my thumb over it.
I put my head on my knee and gazed at it.
Outside of the Eevee, I only had two things left from my 'birth'. A bloody knife and the lighter.
The flame like pattern was clear in the moonlight and I suppressed a physical shiver as my vermillion eyes reflected on its metallic surface.
'Heh, still going to have to deal with that.'
I flipped it over and saw the script letters at the top.
{BLAZE}
I thought on both memory sets.
'Life was as fun as one could make it in my first life. Earth had its beauties but it felt restrained. Like I was trying to distract myself from reality with hobbies and things I had to do.'
Earth life wasn't living. It was believing you were alive to be able to live in the reality it represented.
'And my second life was cut so short. Never having the chance to truly begin.'
The memories from my second life were simple and without much complexity. Dreams, goals, desires, they didn't have time to truly bloom.
'And now, I have the potential of my second life along with the mind of my first. I'm not truly either of them, but they build up who I am through the broken pieces of the two.'
I flicked open the lighter with a soft 'clink' and rested my thumb on the flint.
My thumb trembled for a moment from the physical trauma.
'Two lives gone, both never truly having the chance to live, but now I have that chance. I have the greatest gift I could ever ask for.
No restrictions, no limits, only me and my own will.'
My thumb came down and a flame sparked to life as it glowed in the vermillion color of my iris's.
'Blaze. I'll set my new life ablaze and nothing will ever put out my flame again.'
I shut the lighter with a sharp *clink* and looked up at the star filled sky.
The beauty of nature was breathtaking and awe inspiring.
Being so high up, no light pollution or greenhouse gases blocking the view of the celestial bodies, or whatever other issues earth might have had was giving me a view I could only see in science fiction movies back then.
It was mesmerizing and I felt like I could stare on forever.
"Ee."
A soft call broke me from my thoughts and I turned to see the eldest Eevee walk up to me.
"Hey girl, can't sleep?"
She walked up and rubbed her body along my side with a purr before plopping down to my side with her head on my knee.
"Eev."
"Heh, yeah, what a day huh?"
"Ee."
I rested a hand on her back and slowly rubbed and scratched her gently.
She purred under my attention and I smiled and closed my eyes.
Just enjoying the moment.
For better or worse, this was my life now.
My body was eight years old; my mind was whatever years old, and my heart was one day old.
"Life is interesting huh?"
I put my other hand behind me and leaned back to look up at the stars better.
"Eev."
We just silently sat and looked on at nature's beauty.
The wind blew gently but the warm air from the cave was keeping us nice and toasty.
I still felt the effects from the berry as my body wasn't hungry or thirsty.
My burns still itched but otherwise didn't truly bother me. The burning had faded to the back of my mind, as strange as that sounded since I was still in fact in pain.
'I guess that 'little' salt bath of mine has given me a new appreciation and threshold for pain. Still, pain is pain and it's not pleasant.'
I chuckled at the thought.
"Ee?"
I shook my head as I looked up.
"It's nothing. The stars are beautiful huh?"
"Eev."
I looked on and tried to recognize any of the constellations but ultimately failed.
'I recall my Marine father trying to teach me how to navigate by the stars but it was a failing endeavor. I could only really fit two things in my head that I could recognize. Heh, that old man beat my ass for wasting his time, but he wasn't serious, it was all in good fun.'
I smiled at the memory as the wind blew my hair around.
'It was a good life. I was blessed with wonderful parents in both lives, but now I'm on my own.'
I wondered if their souls had gone on to a new life or if some form of consciousness remained in some afterlife.
'If you can hear me somewhere, thank you mom and dad's. thank you for all that you did for me, for the love, for the time, for all you sacrificed.
I'll live this life of mine free and unrestrained. I won't waste it; I'll strive for higher limits and find things that bring me joy.
I'll try to stay healthy and as safe as a wild guy like me can haha.
And mom, I'll find a woman as beautiful and passionate in soul and appearance as you were.
So please, rest in peace and don't worry. I think I'll be alright this time.
I think I'll be just fine.'
It might sound simple, but I did my best to convey as much emotion as I could.
The emotions from both lives, the emotions of people who truly loved and cared for the parents they had.
They held places in my heart, but they ultimately were not mine to claim.
They were the parents of those lives.
But I was still grateful to them.
Grateful to those wonderful people.
I hoped they would rest easy.
"Eevee."
I opened my eyes in surprise seeing Eevee up close and pushing against my chest as she looked at me.
"Huh?"
"Ee."
She moved closer and licked my cheek as I realized they were wet.
'I'm crying?'
I moved a hand to my eyes and chuckled at Eevee's actions.
"I'm alright girl, thank you. Just thinking about some stuff."
"Eev."
She looked at me steadily and I couldn't fight those eyes.
My arms wrapped around her smaller form and I hugged her gently as she pressed into my neck.
She didn't say anything as I cried.
I didn't know why I cried at first but it came to me part way in.
I cried for what once was.
I cried for the end of those lives that were cut off.
I cried for the loss.
I cried for what was lost.
I let it out, I let myself be free.
Nothing would chain me, not even myself.
We stayed like that for a period of time before I stopped crying and gave her a gentle squeeze.
"Thanks girl."
"Ee."
She pulled away and licked my cheek affectionately and I chuckled.
"You adorable fluff ball."
"Eev!"
She puffed out her chest proudly and I tore down that pride by petting her into a puddle on my lap.
We settled down for a minute before I spoke up.
"We need names."
"Eevee?"
"Yeah, for all of us. We need names to identify as."
"Ee."
She nodded her head and I picked up a stick near me.
The ledge on the mountain had a bunch of dirt so I started drawing in it.
"Ladies first, I'll give you some options."
Her ears perked up as she adjusted on my lap and looked on excitedly.
I went through whatever name popped up in my head at the moment but in hindsight I wasn't the best at picking a name.
Cinnamon, Luna, Starlight, Sunny, Amber, Eve, Sandy, Evie, Fluffles, Sparky, Pluto, Rocky, FluffyMcGee, Vulcan.
I went with whatever popped up and got paw slapped and play bit for most of them.
I thought FluffyMcGee was a great one.
We laughed and messed around as I went through dozens of options and explained some of them with deeper meanings but the picky little fluff ball was not so easily satisfied.
It must have been half an hour before I found something that clicked.
I wrote out something else and pointed my stick at it.
"Alright, alright, how about this one?
Isis. She was a goddess of magic and wisdom among other things. She was said to be 'more clever than a million gods'. It's a bit of an exaggeration but it's fitting isn't it your royal fluffiness?"
Eevee stared at the written word with adorable intensity for a moment before ultimately nodding her head proudly.
"Eevee."
I sighed in relief.
"Alright girl, from here on, you shall be known forever more as the Isis, the fluffy goddess."
She narrowed her eyes at me for my cheek and bit me.
"Ow! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, easy girl, gah… my hand!"
She eventually let me go as I had teary eyes and made her stake clear on my lap.
"Alright sheesh, no more teasing for now."
"Ee."
She nodded and then pointed a paw at me.
I titled my head before it clicked.
"Ah, your saying it's my turn?"
"Ee."
I put a hand on my chin in thought.
"Hm… I'm not sure."
I've been thinking on it for a while but nothing ever felt 'right' in a way.
Eevee jumped off my lap and took my drawing stick with her teeth and I rose a brow when she started writing in the dirt.
"You know how to write words?"
A muffled "Ee" was my answer and a moment later I had a scrunched up face at the product of the chest puffed out proud Isis.
I looked between her and the….name… with a great amount of hesitance.
[Ho0mAn]
"Eev."
She waved a paw like I should praise her and I was a bit stuck.
"Hmm…*cough* right, yes, well… you are a very smart Pokemon you know that?"
She nodded her head proudly and I took it as a good time to sucker punch her.
"So I'll say I'm not using that."
She nodded her head again proudly but stopped mid movement and narrowed her eyes at me like I just said something impossible.
"Ee?"
"Yeah, sorry girl, that would be like giving you the name 'Pokemon'."
Her eye twitched and the result was what I expected.
She bit me.
We rolled around some more with my laughter and her outraged calls before we settled with me laying down defeated and her laying on my chest.
I looked up at her huffing face and smiled but just then, my eyes trailed from her head to the view directly behind her head.
'Huh, maybe there is one constellation I recognize.'
The stars were clearly defined and I picked up one of the two I could actually say I would always be able to find.
Orion's belt.
The trio of stars was strangely something I could always find alongside the North star but that was self-explanatory.
It surprised me that the constellation would be here as well.
I followed the belt and saw the full outline of Orion, the godfather of the hunt in Greek myth.
The great hunter, lord of hunting, Patron of male hunters. Orion was a giant huntsman and a demigod son of Poseidon. After his death, he was placed among the stars. He was later brought back from the Underworld and became the god of hunting.
It somehow resounded in my mind.
'I love the wild, nature calls to me, I was born on a ship and returned from the dead. Or perhaps was born from two separate deaths into something new and living.
Orion huh? Didn't he have his trio of hunting wolves as well?'
My eyes turned back to Eevee and I chuckle vibrated in my chest that had her ears twitching.
'Maybe not wolves but I do have a trio of deadly fluff balls.'
"Orion."
I tested the name out loud and liked the sound of it."
"Ee?"
Eevee opened her eyes and looked at me.
"Orion. That's my name. Named after the immortal godfather of the hunt. A mortal who had his legend placed among the stars and was reborn as a god."
Eevee hummed and looked at me contemplatively before nodding.
"Ee."
"You like it?"
"Ee, eev."
She licked my chest gently and I patted her head.
"Orion and Isis huh?"
"Ee."
"Heh, this is start of our adventure Isis, this is where it all begins."
She looked deeply into my eyes and gave a nod before she rolled onto her back ignored me.
I laughed at the sight.
'Yeah, don't be so serious.
I'm Orion now. This is my life now.'
I settled down and felt my eyes closing as sleep finally came for me but just then.
"Ee!"
"Eev!"
The two younger siblings decided to make their presence known and jump on me.
"Oof!"
The eldest looked on in amusement as the other two pressed their paws against me and shook me.
Safe to say, they wanted names to and I wasn't sleeping till they got them.
It was going to be a long night, and I wouldn't replace it for anything in the world.
*Line Break*
Elsewhere, a young girl with red eyes and purple hair giggled to herself as she divined the scene.
'Orion huh? So you're the one whose existence opens a chance of happiness for me. I'll be watching closely.'
She didn't know where he was, she couldn't hear his thoughts or clearly see his actions, but she could use her psychic abilities to look in for pockets of time.
Sabrina found her chance, and she wasn't going to let go of it.
She would watch and learn and see his worth with her own eyes.
For with her knowledge came pride.
Pride in who she was and her power.
Power that required someone she could respect to be close to her.
And if he fell through, well, she could always take forceful means.
But for now, she would watch.
Watch as a legend was born.
Chapter end.
Coming Soon: The Mountain