Zorua

Babump babump babump… her heart seemed to be pounding rapidly in her throat. She set a paw down and stepped on a dry leaf, making it crinkle. Her nerves went all rigid as her black fur stood on end. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to whine and cry, but then she would be caught too. She pulled her paw back and crouched down under the bush.

Just beyond the cover, there was a human there with large heavy boots that kicked up dust every time he put his foot down. She could see those boots with those metal spikes and smell them with their mud and leather. He laughed, making her shudder. "Now that makes this trip more than worthwhile," he said proudly. He set down a black and grey sphere in a shallow cup that was attached to another human device. That one made some noises, causing a light to appear near the sphere. Then the man walked off a few steps.

Babump babump.

Her jaws moved slightly, trying to cry out but not wanting to. She was going to be all alone now and she didn't know everything she needed to to be on her own and there were some scary Pokémon around and scary humans and all alone! What was she supposed to do? The man was still there, but he wasn't quite looking. Maybe if she took the Pokeball…

Babump, babump.

The other option was living all alone.

Terrified of that, she hurried out of the bush as quickly as she could; the rattling of the leaves caused her to move quicker as she got up on her hind paws and tried to get the Pokeball. But she simply couldn't grip it like that, as it was too smooth and her trembling paws were too small. So she focused on her inner power and transformed into a small human. Her new form was like a girl she'd seen not too long ago, with a pretty light dress with ribbon bows and larger bows on cute shoes. But she wasn't as skilled at making her transformed state have color, so the hair was dark gray while everything else was some form of gray. She could pick up the Pokeball easily as a human.

"Hey!" the man shouted in a booming voice that sent shivers straight to her bones. "Put that back, kid!"

She gripped the ball in both hands and ran, her heart continuing to race. Hearing his heavy boots behind her, she hurried on blindly until she shot out of the forest and onto the hard road that the humans used. There was nothing to hide in now, as there were large fences along most of the road. What did she do now?

Before she could find a place to hide, she heard a roar to her left. It was one of those things that humans rode, with two large wheels, a bright light in front, and an awful stench belching out behind. And it was coming her way. With the man in heavy boots behind her, she bolted to the right, following the crooked path of the road until she came across a building.

There was so much light in there. There were lights out here in the road, but there were still shadows to hide in. In there, it was all light. And all enclosed, with the sky completely blocked off. Even worse, there were people inside.

"Give back that Pokeball, thief!" the boot man roared, still running after her.

At least those people weren't mad at her. She ran into the building, rushing right by humans who were all twice as tall as her human form. Some of them cried out; one yelled at her for doing so. Thankfully, there was another wide door leading back outside, straight across from the one she had gone through. She kept running, hoping to find another forest.

And found a city beyond that. There were even more lights here, in all kinds of colors like blue, red, orange, and white. Some of the lights were even powerful enough to reach into the sky in fully visible beams. There were fences and buildings and poles and flags and so many human things that bewildered and terrified her. But there was also a lake, behind a fence, with some bushes alongside it.

She ran until she came to a shadowed spot, then went to the fence and squeezed herself through the bars. Then she crouched down by the bushes, which were formed so straight and regular that they almost didn't seem real. From there, she watched as the boot man ran by, stopped, then chose the wrong direction to keep running and yelling.

She'd escaped him. Relieved, she clutched the Pokeball to her chest and stayed like that for a moment. Once her heart had calmed back down to normal, she examined the ball. How did she get it open? There was a line between the black and gray but when she put her fingernails to it, she couldn't find a place to grip and pull it apart. She squeezed it and nothing happened. She turned it around and around, trying all the lines to find a place to pull it open. Nothing seemed to work.

Whining, she patted the Pokeball, wishing it would work. Then it slipped from her fingers, hitting the dirt. Her heart skipped a beat as she tried to grab it, but it had started rolling down the slope. And it went right into the lake.

She cried out and plunged in after it. The lake turned out not as deep as she thought it was, but she was still soaked when she pulled the wet and muddy ball out. And it nearly slipped out of her grasp again, so she clutched it in both hands tightly. What now? She was so close and yet still alone. Not wanting it to fall back into the water if she lost her grip, she went back through the fence and started to head back for her home forest.

"There you are!"

Oh no! Her heart started racing again as she realized the boot man was standing between her and the building that led back to the forest. She turned and ran quickly, in such a panic that she didn't notice the other human until she ran right into her. Not only that, but the Pokeball slipped out of her grip once again. Not wanting to lose that, she scrambled onto her knees to get it back.

"Don't let her get away again," the boot man said.

"What's going on here?" the woman asked. When she looked up at her, she noticed this human was tall and thin, wearing an odd hat with long dangly things coming off it. An Emolga glided around her, eventually coming to land nearby. He seemed to be with the woman in the dangly thing hat.

"That little punk stole the Pokémon I just caught," he said, his face snarling.

Babump babump. She burst into tears, whining and keeping the Pokeball close. She could sense the power from the Emolga, so he would surely beat her if they tried ganging up on her. After all, she was only a few days old.

The boot man started walking towards her, but the woman stepped between them. "What exactly did you just catch?" she asked.

"Why do you want to know?" he asked. After a pause, he said, "A Zoroark. I know I'm not going to get lucky enough to get another one there any time soon."

"You seem to have caught this young one's parent," she said. "This is a Zorua."

"That's…" the boot man looked at her, hesitating. "I caught it fairly."

"You'd separate them? Even if you meant to catch her too, it seems you've already earned her distrust."

The boot man clenched his fist; she whimpered.

The woman with the dangly thing hat went up to the boot man. "Here, I'll cover the cost of the Pokeball…"

"That's much less than what that Pokémon is worth," he insisted.

"Just the Pokeball," she said sharply. "As you failed to observe the situation long enough to know that the Zoroark was likely protecting a cub."

"All right, but I'm still going to issue a complaint against the League." The two humans did something, then the boot man left.

The woman then came over to her. "Don't worry, little girl," she said in a kind voice. "I'm not going to hurt you or catch you. If you give me that Pokeball, I'll let your parent go."

Uncertain, she whimpered and clutched the Pokeball defensively. But the woman was being nice and she'd gotten rid of the scary boot man. So she reluctantly passed the Pokeball over. The woman then brought her to a big building that was really bright inside, with many people inside. She stayed close as the woman went up to one of the human devices and set the Pokeball in there.

And seconds later, her mother appeared right there in front of her. The Zoroark growled, tense at the strange bright place. The Zorua cried out and ran to her, hugging her. This night had been terrible, but at least things were as they should be. With her mother there, she wouldn't be alone.

…

Zorua White entry: To protect themselves from danger, they hide their true identities by transforming into people and Pokémon.

It matches up a little with the recent Zoroark and Solosis story! At least in terms of location.

I wonder if people really wear wires like Elesa does...