Location: Home, Bedroom
Date: July 10th

I had a weird dream last night.

Lyra and I were sitting beneath this massive tree that pulsated with rainbow energy. We were having a picnic and it was delightful. I went to give her a piece of Dedenne's Aspear Berry Licorice (don't know why, I know in reality Lyra doesn't like it), but Lyra's face was all weird. Her eyes were red, her feathers went from orange to dark gray and white and she screeched at me so loudly I used my front legs to cover my ears. I tried using my vines, but there were empty holes where my buds should've been!

Everything got terrifying after that. All the grass turned brown and dead. Strange purple energy spiraled up the tree, sapped away the colorful pulsation, and made the tree rot. The sky got all dark, and countless Murkrows cawed loudly and took to the skies. Then I woke up.

Weird, right? Not quite as terrifying as my hay bed nightmare from Serene Village, but still bizarre enough to stick with me afterwards.

When Lyra woke up, she shared a dream of her own. We were stargazing under a massive tree that pulsated with rainbow energy. She went to hand me a Nomel Berry Cookie when I suddenly had red eyes and was all gray and black and screamed...you get it. It was basically the same dream I had with some stuff reversed.

I shared my dream with Lyra, and we both marveled at how we had similar dreams. I theorized it had something to do with our harmony scarves and the evolution thing we underwent. I wonder what's the deal with that rainbow-pulse tree...

Well, disturbing and bizarre as it was, it was a mystery for another day. We needed to get up and get going.

Location: Baram Town Plaza

Lyra and I decided that without anyone to hinder us, we should properly explore the Air Continent today.

Some interesting Mystery Dungeons opened for us, but...we didn't have any expedition requests to go on. I wanted to check out one of the dungeons regardless, buuuuut...Lyra wanted to go on proper expeditions. We've left plenty of folks waiting already and blah blah blah.

See, this is what I hate. Limiting my exploration to where the Connection Orb wants me to explore. I get it. Pokémon are in need and we should help them and all that stuff. Thing is, Pokémon are always in need. Spend so much time trying to help everyone, you'll have no more time to do what you wanna do. While you're helping one Pokémon out, three more will need your help.

I feel so torn because this is what Lyra wants to do, but there are other things that I wanna do. Our Expedition Society Rank will only increase if we help those in need. Oh, wanna explore somewhere else? Psh, fine, but your rank won't increase and you wasted a day.

Come to think of it, I haven't told her about the deal I made with Ampharos. We agreed that I'd try this for a year and leave if I'm still not happy with what I'm doing. How could I have forgotten to tell her?

Well...I'll tell her after our expedition tonight. For now, I guess we're going back to the Water Continent to take care of yet another rescue mission in the Cave of Training.

Joy.

Location: Home, Bedroom (night)

Okay, nevermind. I'll tell her tomorrow.

As we were on our way home, we saw Nuzleaf! He came to visit! Ahaha!

I won't lie, I ran at him out of excitement. This time though, he knelt and was able to catch me before I collided with him and we hugged. Eeee, I was so thrilled to see him, I kinda...cocooned us with my vines, which completely baffled him.

"What in tarnation!? I didn't know you could do that! Ah geez, ease on up there, kiddo. Reckon ya might crack my bones if'n ya keep that up."

Ahaha...as we were unhugging and I was retracting my vines, I was feeling a little awkward and embarrassed. Not just because of that aggressive display of affection. (I missed him, okay? Gimme a break.) The last time Nuzleaf and I saw each other was the uh...the evening prior to my sneaking out...that he knew I was gonna do and wrote a letter for my classmates to deliver when I inevitably did.

Yeah...Lyra and I kinda left on awkward terms with our parents. I mean, what was I supposed to say? Sorry for sneaking out that night. Looks like I broke my promise after all, eh? By the way, thanks for coming to see me off. Turning point in my life, and you said your goodbyes with a letter. At least he tried to say goodbye. I didn't say jack when I left...

Bah. Y'know what? Screw that noise. Screw letting awkwardness get in the way. I told him I was happy to see him.

Nuzleaf's expression suddenly dropped as he slowly stood back up. His eyes were wide and his mouth agape as he stared at me. I rose an eyebrow up at him. What? What is it? Lyra gasped in horror and ran up to me.

"Irau...what have you done!?"

What the fuck? What did I do? All I said was-

"HI 'HAPPY TO SEE YOU'! I'M NUZLEAF!"

...

Oh, fuck my life!

Realization washed over me and I uttered a pained groan, more embarrassed that I let that happen than from the joke itself. Lyra and I flopped onto the ground and Nuzleaf looked up as a blue bolt of magic shot from him up into the sky and burst into a white shockwave. The shockwave stretched for thousands of miles. Fathers within range of it (including Carracosta) raised their heads and shed a single manly tear as they welcomed another to their ranks. Nuzleaf had completed his IPAD initiation. He was now a proper father.

I did this. I brought this monstrosity into the world. I opened the door for that terrible, classic dad joke. Now I must live with the repercussions, knowing full well that the world was irreversibly scarred in the form of yet another cringey jokester.

Truly, a sad day for all non-paternal figures everywhere.

...By the way, from an outsider's perspective Nuzleaf is doing a stupid pose and I have one of my vines curled like a fist and shaking my head disappointingly. We look completely stupid, but I could hear Jirachi telling folks to move along. We're just having a moment.

Ohhhh. I get it now. Back on the first day we came here when I harshly criticized the Society members, saying I couldn't believe how incompetent they were and everything. When Swirlix ate all their food and they collapsed. Surely, they weren't being serious about that situation. They were having a moment, just like Nuzleaf, Lyra and I were. Okay, that makes sense. Hey, don't judge me okay? We've already established how I'm bad at picking up on cues in social situations. No need to rub salt in my wounds.

As the moment started to die off, Lyra asked Nuzleaf what was he doing here. He said he had some business nearby to take care of, and figured he'd drop by to see how "us kids" were doing.

So, Lyra brought him up to speed. We really surprised him with the fact that we successfully joined the Expedition Society. Jirachi vouched for us, saying we're full-fledged members. Nuzleaf figured we'd "dig yer heels in" until we were accepted, but he was shocked to hear we got in so easily given how kids weren't allowed to join.

Lyra told him that our leader's a little...fickle. He made an exception for us the night we arrived in Lively Town. Nuzleaf didn't want me to leave him in the dark and asked what it's like. Ahaha...with Jirachi right there, I couldn't be as honest as I wanted to be. Lyra was able to speak on my behalf and chatted his ear off saying it's great and awesome and everything we hoped it would be and...yeah. I'm glad Lyra's the chatty one. We've established how bad I am at lying, right?

Jirachi asked Lyra who Nuzleaf was, and she explained that he was her next-door neighbor and I'd been living with him prior to coming here. Jirachi got all starry-eyed.

"Oh, I get it! That's in addition to being Irau's father, right? I mean, I saw that IPAD initiation completion."

Nuzleaf didn't have time to answer since Jirachi was already firing off things a parent would normally want to hear anyway.

"These two are really giving it their all here at the Expedition Society. Such good kids!"

Nuzleaf was uh...embarrassed by Jirachi's paternal question and was relieved when the subject shifted to our work. I mean, he admitted he's my parent before, but to have someone so bluntly talk about it was a little...tactless and awkward. It put us both on the spot.

He thanked Jirachi for taking such good care of us. He was a little worried we might've been pestering the Society too much if we weren't allowed in, so to hear that we were not only accepted but doing great work was mighty nice.

Then...he turned to me. Oh jeez, I was hoping he'd keep the attention on both Lyra and myself in general instead of focusing on just me. He had an apprehensive look on his face that made my insides twist in guilt.

"Are you still worryin' about the way y'all snuck out of the village? Don't you pay that no nevermind. I understand."

But...I...ugh, I found my voice and spoke up. It's not "no nevermind", it was an awful thing that I promised him I wouldn't do again. Like he didn't have enough to worry about! I left without even saying goodbye...

Nuzleaf knelt in front of me and pet my head. He said that I had nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes the path you want to take, and the path others want you to take aren't the same, and you must decide which one you'd rather traverse. Once you start down one path, you begin missing out on experiences you could be having on the other. I was forced to choose, and I chose the path I wanted to take instead of his. Nothin' shameful about that.

That being said, he asked if any of my memories have come back to me. I...I said only a couple of my uh..."scum" memories resurfaced. Nothing really telling of my past. He poked my forehead in a familiar way and asked if I remembered what he said before.

"Mental scars are a reminder of what you went through, not where yer goin'. Remember that?"

Yeah, I remembered that. The pink apron woman and the blonde-haired teenager...no matter what they made me feel before, neither of them determined where I was going.

Hm...a lot of things have been kind of uncertain, but I've been just rolling with them. His path metaphor made me think of the deal I made with Ampharos. Sure, I agreed to give this Society thing a year, but how many opportunities am I missing out on while that year whittles away? Then again, if Nuzleaf's theory about my Chikorita age being 1/3rd my human age is correct, then that means I have three times the amount of time I'd anticipated. Where's the rush?

When that was settled, Nuzleaf openly asked about the Beheeyem. That uh...that surprised me. I'd completely forgotten about them! Even back when they were problematic, we agreed to keep them secret.

Well, I mean...we haven't seen them. For all I know, they could've moved on or given up on hunting me. Even when we were on the road, we had no indication they were onto me. I guess it's alright to talk about them now.

Lyra asked Nuzleaf if he'd seen them around Serene Village, but he said no. Since they attacked him as well, he had his things all packed up in case he had to make a run for it, but they never made a move. I won't lie, hearing that made me feel a little foolish. I made a big deal about leaving the village to keep everyone safe, and nothing happened. I mean, maybe it's because I left that nothing happened, but I feel like nothing would've happened anyway. We just don't know.

Lyra said it's a good thing we haven't seen them, but there's something unsettling about it. Jirachi asked about the Beheeyem, and I felt the blood drain from my face. I uh...wow. Maybe we shouldn't have said all this in front of Jirachi. If the others find out I'm being hunted, will they kick me out? Logic would say no since they're all about helping others, but you never know.

And then freaking Lyra dropped the bomb about me being human! No hesitation or anything, she was just like, "Oh yeah, we haven't told you guys that yet huh? Well, here's Irau's big secret that I'm gonna spill without even asking her first." What the hell, Lyra!? What are you thinking? We can't just go around telling whoever we please! I expected Nuzleaf to start chewing her head off, but...no? He just stood there and let it play out like it was nothing.

I...you...WHAT!? I thought others finding that out was a bad thing! Now it's totally cool? For crying out loud, I'm trying to keep up with all this weird twisty logic. Would I understand this crap better if I had natural Pokémon instincts?

Wait...does Nuzleaf not know about my lack of Pokémon instincts? Eh, whatever. Hardly matters now. I didn't ask.

Jirachi was...surprisingly understanding about my being human. He said something about how this happens all the time, and Nuzleaf said he reckoned that this has never happened!

Hm...if it has happened before, I'd like to meet the human-turned-Pokémon. Maybe we can compare notes or share our experiences or...talk about how certain things don't make sense yet make perfect sense to our friends. It'd be nice to have a pal who understands that stuff.

Well, Jirachi said that he'll inform the others that Pokémon are hunting me so they can all do a better job of keeping me safe. Hoo...that's a relief. It's nice to have so many strong Pokémon to rely on. Feels less...tense and scary. Plus, this means I won't have to lie or hide anything about my past anymore. I can finally be open and honest! Hell yeah, now I can come clean to everyone about anything on my mind!

Ahaha! Maybe there can be more to my relationship with the Society than just awkwardness, after all.

Nuzleaf expressed his gratitude to Jirachi, then said it was about time he hit the road. Before he left, he hugged both Lyra and I in each arm and said it was mighty nice to see us again. Congrats on joining the Society and work hard. Lyra asked him to say hi to everybody in the village for us, and to deliver something to her pops. She handed Nuzleaf a letter and he was on his way.

I...hehe...I guess I had a big stupid grin on my face afterwards because Lyra and Jirachi teased me, saying they never saw me so happy. Hey, I got to make amends with my father, the one being in the world I'd been completely open and honest with since my arrival. I mean, I try to be that way with Lyra as well, but...it's not really the same. Lyra gets emotional so easily and she's so high-strung...it's hard to talk to her about things sometimes. There's a lotta confusing things happening, and sometimes I miss Nuzleaf's guidance. No matter what arose, he always had a plan.

Anyway, that night at dinner Jirachi told everyone about my human past and how the Beheeyem were hunting me. Everyone was surprised at first. Here I expected a million questions or comments, but...everyone just began eating dinner. As if nothing happened. When they were done with dinner, they just...left. Retreated to their rooms like everything was normal.

I...okay, there's something otherworldly creepy about how nonchalant they were. I mean, Ampharos has known about me being human since that night he and I made the deal on the roof. Judging from their initial shocked reactions, he clearly didn't tell the rest of them. So, if they're only finding out about this now, then why are they perfectly fine with that?

Then again, Lyra and I based our expectations of them off what we understood from Serene Village. Others finding out I'm human there is a huge deal because it's such a small village where strange occurrences aren't the norm. The Society goes on all kinds of adventures all over the world. Maybe this isn't the first time they've met a human-turned-Pokémon after all.

Even so, I expected at least one of them to ask why I didn't say anything at first. Or at least one comment or compliment or...something. Everyone dismissing it is probably the most disturbing reaction we could've hoped for.

Still, Lyra made a point that at least we don't have to worry about keeping it a secret anymore. With that out of the way, I don't have to keep any secrets. Isn't that nice?

Ahaha...poor, sweet Lyra. We've looped back to what I started this giant entry off with. I do still have one secret that I haven't told her about. But...seeing Nuzleaf today and getting those secrets off my chest...that's enough vulnerability for one day, I think. I'll tell Lyra about the deal Ampharos and I made tomorrow.

Despite the emotional ups and downs, I'd say today was a good day.