Vines & Briars

Chapter 1: Slick Surprise

The young man was first aware of the sound of wind and the feel of fresh air running across his skin.

It felt warm and soothing to him. Why, he wasn't really sure. The last thing he could remember was a lot of white and cold, so the warm breeze definitely felt nice.

Everything else in his memory seemed to be missing. His memory was such a massive blank that it was clear he was forgetting something and there were surely a few important facts among those memories. So it was little wonder he was sure he had forgotten something important.

What was it? What have I forgotten?

Digging through his brain for memories, he remembered one thing clearly enough.

I'm human… I'm sure of that much.

He could vaguely remember hands, legs and wearing clothes. The more he thought about it, the more certain he became that he was human even if he couldn't remember the details.

But there was something wrong. He didn't feel human.

He was alive… he was breathing. He had form. But something about himself just didn't feel right.

Well… I'm not going to get anywhere if I don't look around.

So he opened his eyes.

Around him were trees. There were all sorts of plant life around him. Short grass, some flowers… but most of all, he seemed to be in some manner of forest as there were a number of trees all around him.

He pushed himself up, off the ground and blinked a little blearily. He felt like he had been asleep for quite a while and so his body was still getting itself into gear.

Reaching up, he wiped one eye to try to wake himself up a bit faster… and then noticed the appendage that he had used to do so.

It wasn't a hand… but a vine. He recoiled a little in surprise and looked at the vine, which froze, staying still.

He followed the vine to his side and from there… he looked over his body.

This is not a human body… I can't remember much but I know this isn't a human body.

Perhaps he would've panicked more if he had remembered his past more… but he had sensed from the start that something wasn't right, so while the revelation that he wasn't in a human body surprised and shocked him somewhat, it didn't render him lost in horror or alarm.

On the contrary, he oddly found himself rather accepting of what he saw as he looked it over.

I guess I'm in this body and that's that. Not like I can change myself, right?

His body was much like a snake's in appearance. He was small, but his body was long and narrow, about two feet in length and a head that was pointed with a protruding nose. His back was a vibrant green, his long smooth belly region a cream color, and he had a tail that sported a fan-like trio of leaves on the end. Though he looked much like a snake, he also had a couple of short, leaf-like arms and a rather stubby set of legs that seemed to serve more as hands and feet respectively. His shoulders were accented by a slender, gold-colored leaf on each side that was rather like the collar-tailings on a high-class suit.

He definitely was not human.

Still… I know I was human once… so how did I end up like this?

The former human tried to get up and spent several moments finding his balance on his short limbs. He seemed to be alone so there wasn't any need to hurry the process. Pushing himself up certainly wasn't any trouble as vines sprouted from the area around his "hands" and seemed to reach out a fairly good distance. They obeyed him much like any hand or arm.

Eventually, he managed to find a standing position where he wasn't about to fall forward or to either side. He could stand without using the vines like kickstands on a bike.

Alright, that's one challenge down. He couldn't help a small chuckle at the fact that he had had a tricky time just standing under his own power.

Now… can I walk? Or… do I move some other way?

He leaned forward as he tried taking a step forward with his short legs and ended up falling on his stomach as he leaned too far forward and the front of his body fell down.

Urf… nope.

He used the vines to push himself up and rediscover his center of balance before reattempting to walk.

With legs that seemed to be centimeters in length, walking proved to be an even more difficult task than remaining in a standing position. If he didn't fall on his face or stomach, then he fell sideways and had to roll onto his stomach and push himself up again from there.

After getting up again for the fifth time or so, the boy was starting to feel embarrassed.

Can't even walk… sheesh. How am I supposed to survive very long at all like this? Even if nothing attacks I can't even really move.

A few more attempts at walking, and he finally managed to move forward without falling over in any direction, giving him a sense of accomplishment, even for such a minor action. Then again, it seemed that moving in this body required a lot of thought. Not only did he have to step forward with his feet as short as they were, but also use the tail he had to balance himself and position his body as well with the step.

Then there was the matter of turning. A slightly exasperated groan escaped him as he contemplated the difficulty of that, given how much trouble he had had just walking. He knew he would get nowhere fast though if he only went in straight lines.

So he proceeded to practice turning on top of walking around more. Once he had gotten walking down enough that he wasn't falling down, the action became much easier. Turning was a tricky affair but he avoided falling down this time and soon figured out the key aspects of that action as well. He spent a minute or two more walking around the clearing he was in, letting his mind memorize the rhythm and pattern of movement. By the time he finally felt like he could walk without thinking about it too hard, he couldn't help noticing that the movement of his feet was so minute and smooth that he looked rather like he was slithering along through the grass, not walking.

I guess this body really is rather like a snake's despite the limbs…

At this point, the boy finally gave consideration to the question of where he was. His mind drew one enormous blank at that though. He wasn't any closer to an answer as to how he'd ended up as this snake either. There wasn't anything to that looked like it could transform someone. Just trees and grass.

He looked himself over once more, wondering what he was exactly anyways. He tried to dig through his mind for an answer, hoping one would arise like how he had remembered he was human, but nothing arose except one word: Pokemon.

He got the impression that that name was a little more general though. He seemed to remember applying that name to many different creatures.

I guess just one of many? Argh… wish I could remember…

He grimaced but decided to put the thoughts aside for the time being. He couldn't remember anything else specific yet.

I'll probably remember in due time, just need to keep it in the back of my mind at least.

The questions set aside for now, he focused on what he was going to do right now. He needed to figure out what manner of forest this place was. Was there a settlement somewhere nearby? Humans? More creatures like what he was now?

Well, I'm only going to figure this out if I go out into this forest and look around.

So he set out.

-0-

The forest was a quiet location. He walked past countless trees, the sun obscured by the branches overhead and while he searched for somewhere specific to go, he saw nothing.

Trees, flowers, more trees… endless rows of trees.

Perhaps what was more disturbing though was that there wasn't anything around. There didn't appear to be any other creatures around except for himself. That alone was simply unnatural and as he realized how alone he was, it sent a chill running through his body.

Easy… I'm probably just in an uninhabited area. There's someone or something in these woods somewhere. There has to be.

The former human continued silently forward, searching for anyone to talk to or at least observe but as he continued to see nothing but trees, he started to worry again.

Lost already? Try following the sun.

The voice in his head wasn't his own, so he was suitably shocked when it came out of nowhere.

"Who's there!?" he yelled at thin-air. No one responded though, in his mind or aloud.

Follow the sun?

He looked up and could only see the sunlight shining through the trees.

Well, how am I supposed to follow the sun if I can't see where it is?

Looking again though, he realized he could see the tree shadows at least and the light was enough for him to make out the direction of the shadows. By logic, the sun was in the opposite direction the shadows went.

He then put his own shadow behind him, and proceeded in the direction he was facing.

After a few minutes of walking though, nothing had changed about the forest around the human-turned-pokemon. He checked his shadow and blinked, quite surprised when he found his shadow was not behind him, but to his side now.

I haven't been walking that long, have I?

He shrugged this off though and turned so his shadow was behind him once more.

It wasn't long after he started in the new direction; he checked his shadow once more just to be sure and was astonished to find it had somehow moved in front of him.

Something's not right here.

It was as if the sun had shifted position very quickly overhead so it was somehow behind him now.

Feeling a touch frustrated with the unnatural behavior of his shadow, he turned around entirely and made sure the shadow was behind him, and then he tried to proceed forward while watching his shadow behind him the best he could, to make sure it didn't move around him again without him noticing.

Naturally, he ran into a tree.

Ow… what the heck is up with this forest if the position of the sun can shift like that in a blink? He thought as he rubbed the side of his head that had hit the tree and got up.

Stepping around the tree, he continued onward, now attempting to watch the position of his shadow and where he was going. He managed to avoid running into another tree but as he passed through the shadow of one tree, he looked at his shadow and found at it his side once more, whereas it had been properly behind a second ago.

The boy didn't bother any further with trying to solve the mystery of the forest. All he knew, was that the suggestion to follow the sun had been implanted in his mind, he had no other ideas, and so that was what he would do. Even if his shadow insisted on moving around him when he couldn't see it.

He turned so it was behind him yet again and proceeded in the direction the sun was in.

The tricky affair of watching his shadow as he walked through the forest continued for a space of time which he had no way of measuring. He might've been there a few hours… or it might've been a few minutes.

But a break finally appeared in the trees and he looked up to be faced with the sun shining down on him, unconcealed by tree branches overhead. The warmth seemed to energize him and he felt a sense of freedom.

However, life decided to become considerably more chaotic right then.

Out of the trees, dropped several things that looked like over-sized acorns with feet. Behind them, followed a trio of creatures that looked rather humanoid but distinctly like they were made of wood with stocky legs. They had a single leaf growing from their heads and very pointed noses.

"Halt, trespasser! These aren't called Shiftry Woods for nothing, y'know! No one comes through here without paying their respects to the Boss!" one of the three wood-men said in a fairly arrogant and commanding tone.

"That's right!" the acorn-like creatures chimed in together afterwards. It was rather apparent they had practiced this entire display and for the lone boy, if it hadn't been quite so intimidating, it might've been cute.

"W-wait? Shiftry? Who's this boss you're talking about?" the former human stammered, finding himself rather unsettled by the concept of creatures clearly not human speaking English.

Wait, but I'm not human anymore, so how can I speak then?

He didn't really have the time to think about that though.

"Silence! You'll come along now and you'll pay your respects! Now!" the wood-man said, quite insistently. This was followed by a chime of "Pay your respects!" by the acorns.

Thoroughly confused, there wasn't anything he could think to do but surrender to this group and come quietly. He wasn't sure why he needed to pay anyone any respects but he was sorely outnumbered and he had little to no idea of anything about himself, much less his surroundings.

Maybe someone can tell me something more about where I am.

This band didn't seem like a group who would tell him anything. But that was the least of his concerns anyways.

Two of the wood-men stepped forward and grabbed him with more force than absolutely necessary. One grabbed him by the neck (thankfully, he could still breathe) and the other grabbed his tail and they lifted him from the ground.

The group then proceeded to carry him off, ignoring his yelps of pain and discomfort.