Hello again everyone! I hope you've all had a good start of the week.
What Lies Beyond provided the characters Jake and Swift, I do not own them.
Shieldliger001: As a programmer I can say that something can begin without ending, it just has to be recursive.
Fer1323: All that will be revealed in time.
Rocker on: You'll see what's next as it happens, no spoilers here. No, Mesprit just increased Joshua's empathy and shielded his mind. That would still be too much stress on their mind. There's no secret to getting around the one month rule, only Arceus's gift allows it.
On with the story!
I adjusted the straps on my backpack once again, no matter how much I fiddled with it I could never seem to get it right. Alejandra and I had spent much of the boat ride below deck, keeping to ourselves. People tended to avoid us, and those that didn't tended to want to harass us. Only one, a man not much older than I, had offered us kind words.
We had passed the time talking; I tried to fill Alejandra in on human society and etiquette, but it felt to me that not all of it would be relevant given that we weren't completely human. Still, Alejandra was curious about it so I didn't really have a choice in the matter.
We disembarked, stepping out onto the docks, the sun to our backs. I had found out that I could still perform photosynthesis, albeit to a much lesser degree. It was enough to where I could skip a meal if I was in the sun for several hours, but even that was pushing it.
"So where are we going first?" Alejandra asked. "We gonna just be following that magic compass or whatever it is?"
"No, I thought we would go visit your dad first, show him that we made it." I said.
Alejandra smiled. "I think he would like that." We clasped hands, walking out into the city. We took the most direct path possible, following a main road.
I felt eyes on the back of my neck. I glanced over my shoulder, but didn't spot anyone who seemed to be overtly watching us. "Is something wrong?" Alejandra asked, noticing my agitation.
"I'm not sure." I said. "Keep an eye out." We kept walking at the same pace, approaching the city limits.
"Where do you think you're going, you filthy hybrids." The last word was drawn out, the y overly stressed.
The speaker stepped away from the wall she was leaning on, almost leisurely walking out to block our path. "Who do you think you are, walking around here like you belong? You don't belong anywhere!" The woman said. She looked like any other person for the most part, wearing jeans and a light jacket. Three pokeballs were visible, attached to her belt.
I glanced around. People were ignoring the commotion, giving us a wide berth. No help forthcoming, I turned to the woman. "We're on our way out, we don't want any trouble."
The woman placed a hand on one of her pokeballs. "Well I won't let you leave until I teach you a lesson about showing your face around here." She sneered. What was her problem? I thought to myself.
She clicked a pokeball, releasing a Lucario. It silently glared at us, taking up a fighting stance. This was escalating far too quickly. I glanced around again. The street had emptied out, no one was going to help us. I steadied my breathing, reaching deep into the well of power inside me, waiting.
"Lucario, Close Combat!" The woman called out. Faster than I could react, it charged at me, slamming a fist into my sternum. It felt like I had been hit by a truck. I staggered backwards, barely remaining standing. The lucario charged at me again, but this time I was ready, forming a ball of energy and letting the lucario run itself into it. The pokemon was thrown backwards almost a foot, giving Alejandra a chance run up and punch it, flames engulfing her fist.
The lucario grunted as the blow struck, but hit back immediately, striking her in the side. "Leave her alone!" I shouted, rushing at the lucario, gathering energy in my leaves. The pokemon tried to block the strike, but got a slash down its arm for its trouble. The lucario began gathering aura, preparing to throw, when suddenly a voice called out from behind me. "What's going on here?"
I turned around to see a man wearing a red jacket striding towards us, a swellow perched on his shoulder. He had long white hair, tied back in a ponytail, but he wasn't old. I couldn't quite place his age but he couldn't have been too much older than I was. The capture stylus strapped to his belt revealed him to be a ranger. Rangers were another thing that I had heard about but never actually seen, my hometown was developed to the point that a ranger would have nothing to do, no nature to protect.
"Because whatever this is is ending now." He said. He seemed to convey this sense of authority, despite the fact that rangers really didn't have any. The lucario dissipated the sphere, glancing back at its trainer. The trainer silently recalled it and stormed off, giving me a withering glare as she went.
"You alright? That was quite a nasty hit you took." He said, once the woman was gone from sight. The swellow tilted its head, looking at me.
I took a deep breath, wincing as my ribs moved. "I'll be alright, don't think I broke anything." I said, turning to Alejandra. "You alright?"
She nodded. "What was her problem, we weren't even doing anything?" She asked.
The ranger shrugged. "It's pretty common for hybrids to be attacked for no reason. You from somewhere that's not the case then?" He said, turning to her.
Alejandra glanced at me, seemingly looking for guidance. "It's a long story." I said.
The swellow gave me a dubious look. "Why did she need you to answer that?" It asked.
The ranger glanced up at it. "Don't be rude, Swift." He said.
"Wait, so if you can understand each other," I asked, leaving the question unfinished.
The ranger grinned. "I don't think I've introduced myself. The name's Jake, and my partner here is Swift." He said. "And I've got a bit of a long story as well. Would you two be willing to talk? I'll buy you lunch."
Jake led us to a small bar off of a side street. It was well maintained for the section of town it was in, and was relatively empty. The first thing I noticed were the horns growing out the sides of the bartenders head. The few other people here also were obviously non-human, with tails and ears and even one man with salamance wings growing out of his back.
We sat down at a table towards the back of the room. A waiter brought us menus and water, a tuft of feathers on his head marking him as part torchic.
"So," Jake said, reaching up and scratching Swift's head. "Why don't you tell me your story. Doesn't have to be everything, but you two intrigue me."
"So." I said. "I used to be human, but was somehow turned into a pokemon along with another guy I knew. We fought, I ended up beating him and evolving. I wandered a bit before meeting Alejandra and her father, who were both pokemon, but her dad was another human turned into a pokemon. We ended up falling in love, and went out in search of a way for me to return to being human. We ran into this growlithe hybrid named Caleb,"
Jake cut me off here. "Caleb? Good to hear he's doing well. He's been busy helping people like you for a while now. Sorry, continue."
"Not a problem, he really did help us a lot, it's nice to meet someone who knows him. Anyways, we were attacked by the other guy who was transformed but he had evolved into an arcanine. He hurt Alejandra so we rushed to a pokemon center. After we headed out again he waited a day before attacking as there were always too many people around. He threatened to kill Alejandra so I hurt him. I probably shouldn't have done what I did but I let what he said get to me. He ran away after that. We were able to convince enough legendaries that we needed help for Arceus himself to help us. He gave us the choice of me being fully human or us staying together. I chose the latter so we ended up like this. That was two weeks ago now." I said, taking a sip of water after I finished speaking.
Jake leaned back in his chair. "Arceus, huh? I've heard some crazy stories in my time but that's one hell of a journey. My story seems almost normal compared to that" He said.
"That's an exaggeration if I've ever heard one." Swift said.
"It was hyperbole, cut me some slack here." Jake said. "So me. I was born in a lab, I'm the result of a very, very twisted experiment. I'm what's called a shifter, meaning I can turn into a pokemon at will. It's quite a bit different from the kind of transformation you had though, puts no stress on the mind. What I turn into is a hybridization of a jolteon and vaporeon, strange, I know. Anyways, I think I can help you guys out somewhat. Seems like both of you need to learn to fight in your new bodies, and I'd be able to teach you. Whaddya say?"
He hadn't told much of his story, I noted. He gave a list of facts more than a cohesive tale. I was gonna have to press him on that sometime.
I looked over at Alejandra. "I'd like to." She said.
"Alright." I said, turning back to Jake. "We're in."