Chapter 3: The Woman of the Woods

Naga set off to the west, alternating between jogging and walking. As night fell he neared his hometown. But it was too late to go back. He decided to set up camp in the forest near his house. It was not raining, so he decided to set up a sleeping bag and a fire.

"The forest is beautiful at night, don't you think, Cubone?" Naga said, looking at the fireflies and night stars.

"CUBONE!" The pokemon said, with a smile.

Naga played with cubone for a bit before he heard an odd noise, like a singing. "I'll be back, QB." Naga said, pocketing his knife and making his way towards the voice. It was haunting, a mixture of beautiful and terrifying, drawing him closer, it sounded like something from a dream. There were words but he couldn't quite make them out.

As he followed, he lost track of where he was going, becoming lost in the forest without even realizing. He peered behind a tree and saw…something. A person? A humanoid pokemon? It's eyes glowed through the shadows, but the rest was hard to make out. Naga heard a feminine voice whisper "run," and so, he listened.

Naga sprinted at breakneck speed, unsure of what kind of horrible trap he had wandered into. The forest was dangerous for a young man like him, full of evil monsters. He was lost, panicked, he could barely see as he slammed into trees and heard movement all around him. Naga would have kept running until his legs could move no longer, but he tripped.

Naga began to pick himself up, but heard the voice again. "You are safe now, you needn't run any longer." Naga didn't exactly trust that reassurance. He stood up and turned around to behold the figure.

She looked something like a human, but not quite. Eyes a bit too big, proportions a bit too short. The figure was feminine, in a thin, almost transparent, white dress. Her body was plump and stout, with protruding hips. Her skin as black as pitch, with bright golden blonde hair flowing in the night breeze. Her lips were thick and almost glowed pink, with no nose or ears to be seen. The figure seemed to sway as it gracefully walked, looking as if it was gliding, towards Naga.

"Stay back!" Naga yelled, pulling out his knife.

"I do not wish to harm you," He heard the voice speak again, yet the figure in front of him didn't seem to be moving its mouth.

"Are you- Who's talking!?"

"It is I, the figure in front of you. I speak to you with my mind," It responded, inching closer.

"What do you want with me!? You told me to run, why are you following me?"
"I'm sorry, human. When you heard me before, I was singing an evil, horrible song. My perish song entices prey but it kills those who stick around to hear it to its completion," As she spoke she approached Naga, putting her hand on his cheek,"But I don't wish to harm you." Her presence was simultaneously comforting and discomforting, this mysterious figure seemed to have nothing but affection but its nature was unknown.

"Wh-what-who are you?"

"I am Jynx."
"Jynx? Y-you're a pokemon?!" He asked. He had heard of a pokemon by that name but never knew much about it.

"You could call me a monster. I see no difference. You can understand me when I speak to your mind, even if my voice is gibberish to you, and I look like a woman."

"What do you want with me?"

"I hadn't expected to meet you here tonight, but, I want to know you. I want to know what it's like to be a human. That's what all Jynxes want, that's why we dress up like human women; sing and dance like you. I tried going to your village before, but they rejected me," she said, leaning into his face, clearly trying to entice him.
"I-If yo-I'm, I ca-"
"Would you indulge me, human, in a kiss?"

"A ki- you're a- I-" Naga didn't know what to say. She was beautiful, but he had just met her, and she was a pokemon!? She could think like a person, was it so wrong? Well, he didn't have to decide, as she leaned in, and her soft warm lips met his. The moment was bliss, and seemed to last hours in a single second.

"Thank you," she said.

Naga took a moment to try to contain himself. "If you want to travel with me-"
"YES! Please!" He heard the voice speak into his mind. She sounded excited in an adorably human way, a harsh break from the mysterious aloof facade she had worn before.

"Um, allright. Well, I don't really know where my camp is anymore."
"I can help you. If you'd allow me to peer into your mind, and read the memory of your walk?"

"Allright."

As she led him back to his camp, they spoke.

"My name's Naga. You see, I'm a frontiersman. I'm off to a life of adventure! I want to train pokemon to fight, and grow stronger myself, discovering new places! My big goal is to be the first person to make it to the west coast! But my rival, Kappa, stole my goal, and is on his way too!"

"I see, this Kappa, is he a bad man?"
"I wouldn't say he's bad. He's a bit of a jerk, a spoiled rich kid, but he's not evil."

They arrived at the camp, and Naga explained,"Cubone, this is our new friend, Jynx. She wants to go on our journey with us!" Cubone smiled, hugged Jynx, and layed in her lap as she pet him, and talked to Naga.

"So, Jynx, what can you do in a fight?" Naga asked with excitement.

"Sodo flu la la mo-" She cut herself off, realizing she was speaking aloud and not directly to his mind. She began again. "My powers are psychic in nature. Right now, I can only read minds if the target allows it. My perish song, of course, is deadly and evil, and I don't want to use it on any people or pokemon! The best I can do right now is my psywave; A blast of pure psychic energy. But, it's power varies wildly, and I can't control it well."

"Don't you have any ice powers? I heard Jynx have ice magic?"
"Not all of us. You see, archetypes are important for psychics and all sorts of magic. Different Jynxes wear different outfits to invoke different archetypes. The sexy, cool red dress of most jynx allows them to invoke the powers of ice. But I only have this simple cloth, with no secondary abilities to speak of."

"Archetypes? What's an archetype?"
"Archetypes are ideas, molds that people are cut from. A strongman is an archetype, a gun-wielding gangster is an archetype. It helps channel our magic to have an image to work towards."
"I see. So, my cubone here," Naga thought aloud,"It's the baby of a Charizard, but when it's mother died, and never lit it's flame…"
"Yes, it never gained the spark, or saw the role model that would turn it into the Charmander it was meant to be. When it took on it's ancestor's bones, it invoked the powers of those bones. Did you notice it's cry change?"

"YES! When I first met it, it sounded like it was saying 'Charmander' but then it started saying 'Cubone!" Naga was amazed by this discovery. "So, if we get you different outfits, could you get different powers from them?"
"If they have enough of an archetype in the minds of the people, I can use my psychic abilities to invoke them, yes. Cool club women, fiery hula girls, majestic princesses…"

As the night got late, and Naga prepared for bed, he realized "I only have one sleeping bag."

"Oh," Jynx spoke to his mind as her cheeks seemed to brighten a red,"That's okay with me~"

"You sure you wanna be sleeping on the forest floor?" Asked Naga,"If you want, I can put you in a Pokeball.

"Oh," Jynx responded, clearly disappointed,"A pokeball. Sure," she said, not wanting to push her luck.