Chapter 4 - Foreboding Forest

This place was weird.

The Pokemon in the forest were totally feral, incapable of understanding any form of speech (other than, perhaps, a battle cry). They trudged over fallen leaves or flew from branches above, all of them taking advantage of the dimness that the canopy cast upon Espurr and I.

Once I picked up on the strange new environment, I drew in a breath to speak, but held fast. There was something about this place—something about me inside of it—that triggered a switch in my head. An intrinsic survival awareness… or something like that.

Combat. I needed to defend myself, because these Pokemon were wild and dangerous and different.

…And I wasn't completely sure I knew how to fight.

Espurr predicted that I was going to say something before I could open my mouth again, and politely asked, "Are you afraid?"

"It's… not that," I said, searching for the right words. I needed to keep my situation vague; telling her that I just woke up as a Snivy for the first time would only lead to more questions. "It's just that I'm not particularly experienced in any field of self-defense." I rubbed the back of my head and chuckled nervously.

She hummed and nodded. "I understand. You didn't strike me as one to be scared of a few trees, so I believe you. But don't be embarrassed about a lack of combat prowess. We all start somewhere, right?"

She took a few minutes to educate me on the basics of exploring the wilderness, from which foods were beneficial to the unpredictability of wild Pokemon, and how to deal with them, and so on. With her help I was able to determine that I knew two effective attacks: tackle and vine whip. Tackle was easy enough to understand so that I could immediately apply it to the wild Pokemon we currently ran into every couple of minutes. I just had to rush at an enemy and instinct took care of the rest. Simple enough. My vine whip, on the other hand, would still need some practice with aiming.

As we continued to encounter wild Pokemon, I came to appreciate her support more and more. Not just for how effortlessly she blasted most of what came our way, but also for the air of normalcy she seemed to bring. Being around her made everything going on feel a tiny bit less insane.

After walking for a few more minutes, Espurr broke the silence of the woods, this time to converse rather than advise. "That must've taken a lot of courage to stand up to the class clowns back there. Pancham may have a bark substantially larger than his bite, but even he's got a little combat experience. Insulting him to his face was a bold move." Then she narrowed her eyes at me and grinned. "I will admit, though, his reaction was very satisfying."

We shared a laugh. She had a point, though; I wasn't prepared to just take on anybody. Tackle was great and all, but I needed more.

I frowned as my vines slithered out of their holds and hovered in front of me as I walked. They'd been spurred on by a thought in my head that made me feel like I had some semblance of control, but unlike my other limbs, were still not totally mine to command yet.

I glared at them, in front of me, almost taunting me. I'm gonna learn how to use you. Just wait.

Regardless of my inexperience, the wild Pokemon here were vastly overrated by Pancham and Deerling. After mastering the basics of using my attacks, I found myself mostly at ease when dealing with them. The Stantler here were usually too slow, and I would simply sidestep them and tackle them from the side. The caterpie were too weak, failing to do lasting damage before they too were tackled or vine-whipped into submission. I even managed to properly vine whip a Tranquil (not before a few failed attempts), pulling it right out of the air and tossing it into the dirt below. Espurr excitedly clapped her hands at my accomplishment.

After a good hour and a half of walking through the forest, we heard a whimpering sound coming from a bush. In it we located Goomy, camped on top of a tarp that had his name crudely written on it.

"Goomy!" Espurr called to him. "We're here to help!"

"E-Espurr?" he squeaked. "A-and… who…?"

"My name is Sage," I answered. "I'm… new to the village."

"O-oh," the dragon-type said, blinking away some of the tears in his eyes. "Well, n-nice to meet you."

Espurr began to check him for injury. "Are you okay? Any damage?"

"I-I'm fine."

"What's that you're sitting on?" she said. Goomy looked down at the white tarp, before looking back at us.

"Pancham and Shelmet said that if I found this tarp that they had left behind out here when they were ambushed by wild Pokemon, and wrote my name on it, I'd be cool, or… or something like that. I can't really remember."

"Goomy." Her expression hardened. "How many times have their antics gotten you into these situations?"

Goomy hung his head. "No, I get it, I get it. It's just that… how can I be strong one day if I can't even prove those two wrong every now and then?"

"You've got plenty of youth left to worry about that, trust me," I said, cracking a smile. "Now let's get back before it gets dark. We'll prove them wrong together by bringing back that tarp."

Without objection, Goomy removed himself from the bush he'd been occupying. Fortunately, we knew the relative direction we had come from, and our return was going to be much quicker than when Espurr and I were busy scouring the bushes for Goomy's terrified form.

My mind fell into a static state as my feet dragged me forward, and it would've stayed that way had something not poked at the edges of my mind.

Not bad for a beginner.

I hummed in surprise. There was a voice in my head.

Relax, it's just me—Espurr. I can inject my thoughts into your mind.

I blinked and thought to myself, Perhaps there really isn't anybody normal in this village after all.

I heard that. To my relief, the remark was rather lighthearted.

…The reality isn't too far from that though, she continued in a more conversational tone. Serene Village doesn't get hardly any traffic, so we make do with who we have. It all depends on perspective I suppose.

Only once I felt Espurr's gentle presence leave my head did I dare ponder this.

Perspective? Was that what this whole changing-into-a-Pokemon experience was? Just a change of perspective?

I really wasn't sure. I had to admit, I really was starting to enjoy being a Snivy even though it hadn't hardly been a day. By no means was I content with my displacement, but I noticed that blazing through the Foreboding Forest got my adrenaline running, even if we were spending most of our time looking for Goomy. It really felt good to explore like this, to experience the open world. As uncertain as the future was, the lack of a past made me feel oddly free.

Deerling dashed up to us as soon as the three of us walked back into the clearing, and hugged an exhausted Goomy. Then he knocked him on the head with her hoof.

"Don't. Do. That. Ever. Again." Again, she gently beat her hoof on his head with each word. "You knew you didn't have to go in there."

While Goomy and Deerling reunited, I turned my attention to the two who had caused all of it.

I stuck my chin up. "So. How's that for 'competent'?"

"Wh—you got some kind of problem?" Pancham snarled back. He took a step forward but froze when Espurr shot him a look that promised him death if he didn't tread lightly. He mustered enough self-control to simply huff in discontent and storm away with Shelmet in tow.

Deerling, now finished chiding Goomy, walked over to us. "Thank you so much," she said, bowing her head.

"It's no problem," Espurr answered with a nod. "Thank Sage, he did most of the work."

"Only because you helped me figure out how to use my attacks," I added sheepishly, uncomfortable with taking so much credit.

Deerling thanked us both again, and she and Goomy were on their way.

I turned to Espurr and breathed a sigh of relief. "Seriously, thanks for your help in there. I don't know what I'd have done without it."

"It's my pleasure!" she beamed. "Perhaps that's one of the things that makes you unique, you know?"

I considered this for a moment before humming in agreement. She must've been referring to the thought she had read right out of my mind while walking back here.

"Maybe we're all a little strange in our own little ways," she added, flashing me a smile before heading down the path back to town. "I'll see you around."

I got a quick drink from a nearby stream before following suit. But on my own way back, a painful realization hit me and I facepalmed.

Nuzleaf.

I kicked the nearest pebble as far as I could into the trees. Okay. Okay. It probably, maybe wouldn't be that bad. I was fairly sure he wouldn't kick me out of his house after already enrolling me for school and stuff. But still, he was giving me housing that I'd done nothing to deserve; breaking his rules on the first day would be a bad look.

I arrived back at his house as the evening began to show its colors, and my fears were confirmed as I walked through the door.

"Dagnabbit—there your little hind end is!" he yelled, hands on his hips. "I done told you not to leave the house, did I not?!"

I allowed myself to be lectured for a couple of minutes before finally explaining the situation I had been wrapped up in. He didn't seem to mind that the Fennekin girl had dragged me around the village, but he seemed a bit upset that I'd gone into the Foreboding Forest and put myself in danger.

Yet, to my relief, Nuzleaf didn't press the matter far. He said that he understood my urge to explore; he just didn't want me to get caught by the Beeheyem, mainly.

We ate dinner and bid each other farewell for the night as I retired to my room. Without much energy left to think about the events of the past day, I drifted into a deep slumber.