''People'll wonder even more about you if you aren't going to school at your age. So let's just agree you'll go to school for the time bein', all right?''
Lucky looked down at himself and frown. He never actually tought about it but his new body was really young wasn't it? He felt like he should be older than this. At least the blessing of having amnesia in this situation is that it won't feel like he has to relive his childhood for a second time, even tought that is the case.
But he had no way to know how old he actually might have been as a human. Was it really okay for him to act like a kid and befriend kids his own age even tought he might actually been older at some point in time? What was more important in a situation like this? How old his soul was? Or how old his body and mind were? This was a really confusing dilemna he never tought he would ever have to think about and yet here he was.
So all Lucky could do is nod at Nuzleaf seeing the logic in his words. Whatever way he felt about it, it would be suspicious if a kid tried to act older that they actually were. ''I reckon I'll get that all taken care of right away. So don't you stick one toe outside this house till I get back, you hear?''
Lucky nodded and with that Nuzleaf left the house leaving the human turned Riolu alone with his tought. He looked outside the window and for the first time gaze upon the world he ended up in. Without the looming threat of the Beheeyem chasing him.
It was weird in a way. This world was very different than what little he could remember of the human world. And yet there was something eerily familiar about it. As if he had done something similar to this before.
Before he could ponder more on this he was startled out of his tought by a shadow zipping outside his window. Lucky jumped back expecting to be attack by the Beheeyem again. He heard the sound of bushes rustling as whatever Pokémon that was outside ran away from the window.
The smartest thing to do would probably to hide somewhere in the house. But Lucky felt like he would rather be out in the open than trapped inside a house if he was to confronted those Pokémon again.
So despite Nuzleaf words of warning. Lucky stepped foot outside with great trepidation and steeled himself for another confrontation. Then someone step out from behind the house and Lucky came face to face with... A Fennekin?
At the sight of the Pokémon he felt his heart speeding up for another reason than fear. Lucky had never once considered himself to be attracted to Pokémon and yet in that moment he felt like the Fennekin was his entire world. The feelers on his head was twitching erratically for an unknown reason ever since he laid eyes on her.
He didn't know why he was so enamored with the Fennekin. It felt like he had reunited with someone he cared a lot about on very personal level. But that made no sense he had never seen her in his entire life, of that he was pretty certain.
''I knew it!'' Said the Fennekin in a very high-pitched girlish voice. ''I knew I saw a new kid move in with Mr. Nuzleaf! You're not really his kid right? Ahahah! As if that would ever happen!''
What was that supposed to mean? But before he could even wrap his mind around the weird insult at his caretaker. The Fennekin began to push him and went to give him a grand tour of the entire village. All the while Lucky had the nagging feeling of familiarity with the Fennekin. But he ignored it in favor of trying to learn the layout of what is going to be his new home.
Unfortunately before the tour could properly begin the Fennekin was chased by a stampede of Pokémon who had grieviance with his new friend. She had apparently gone on ''adventures'' and collected ''treasures'' from all her neightborhood which basically amount to her stealing food and shiny objects. It look like this kid really was the town's troublemaker. Maybe he should stay away from her if he wanted to fit in... But he quickly abandoned that idea when he realised how fond he felt of the fox arleady.
Lucky tried to ignore the pain in his chest as he ran throught Nectar Meadow. It had been painful when he had revealed that he was a human turned into a Pokémon and no one believed him. But he could live with it, it was hard to believe even for him and he was the one living it.
But them completely dismissing his concern for Budew just because they didn't believed his earlier claim was painful. What was even more painful was the fact that Fen didn't believe him either.
And he couldn't blame anyone but himself for that, him and his stupid mouth. He had never wanted to make Fen feel horrible despite her big mistake of leaving Goomy behind. He wished he could have found the words necessary to tell her that she needed to be better but that he still saw her as a friend. But instead she only saw his words as him now hating her. When that couldn't be further from the truth.
Despite how annoying she could be sometime with her childish antiques his heart told him he belongued beside Fen. Unfortunately that friendship might have ended before it could have truly begun. (And deep down he knew that he wanted so much more than just being friends.)
But he had no time to think of lost friendship now, as painful as it was. A poor innocent Budew was in danger and he was the only one that could save her. Steeling his heart the Riolu continued trudging through the dungeon and knocked out any wild Pokémon who dared get in his way.
After what felt like an eternity Lucky finally arrived at meadow and saw the little Budew he had been searching all this time. Unfortunately a group of Combee and Beedril had arleady found her and was about to attack the defenseless girl.
The Riolu ran and put himself in front of the covering Budew. ''Leave her alone she's just a kid!'' He said barring his teeth at the bees.
''Another thief! We'll show you what happen to Pokémon trying to steal our honey!'' Before he could even try to explain himself one of the Beedril threw it's stinger toward the Riolu. Lucky first instinct was to dodge but he realised if he did that Budew would be the one to take the hit. So with a grimace he braced himself and was about to take the hit head on.
However just before the stinger reached him a ball of fire came out of nowhere and incinerated the stinger in it's track. Lucky heard the sound of paws running toward him and to his shock saw the form of Fen appearing at his side.
''Leave them alone! They did nothing wrong!'' She cried, her eyes burning as brighlty as the flames inside her body.
His heart sore at having Fen with him and suddenly the hoard of bees surrounding him didn't seemed quite as threathening anymore.
Lucky and Fen made short work of the hoard before them. The two of them had only been exploring together once before at the school forest and yet. The way they fought together was like two Pokémon who had known each other for years, maybe even decades. It was as if they had done this so many time before that it became pure instinct. It had felt the same way that time they had fought Gabite in Drillbur Mine together. And he still had no explanation as to how their synergy was so amazing.
But despite that, by the end of the fight their young inexperienced bodies were nearing their limit and unfortunately the bee Pokémon were just too sturborn to stay down. They managed to knock all of them down, but they just came back up more enraged than anything. Fortunately just before things got ugly, the queen of the hive made her appearance and diffused the situation.
Now with an extra jar of honey in tow. The Riolu, Fennekin and Budew left the dungeon behind and reunited the young lost child with her mother.
Shortly after the incident Lucky and Fen had come to become official (Junior) Expedition Members. They went exploring after every days of school. Helping Pokémon in need of help and recruiting other Pokémon to join their cause.
Lucky felt happy to spend his day with Fen. He still felt flustered sometime when she didn't know the concept of personal space. But for the most part he was happy to just being friends.
He felt thankful for the fact his body had not yet went tought the Pokémon equivalent of puberty. It meant that his love was similar to a childhood crush and didn't include any awkward more mature feelings with it. Sure if he ever experienced Pokémon puberty then things could get really awkward. But that was assuming he would stay in the Pokémon world long enough for that to occur.
The thought of him leaving this world behind eventually sent a lance of pain in his heart. But he knew that it would probably be for the best. He didn't belong in this world or in this young body.
Days turn to weeks and then an entire month had passed. School had let out a while ago and they were nearing the end of the summer vacation. Recently the town had been plagued by rumors of a ghost haunting the school at night and the teachers winding up unconscious in the middle of nowhere.
Pancham decided to invite everyone for a stake out at night to catch the culprit red hand.
The most surprising thing was the fact that it wasn't Goomy who was the most afraid about the whole prospect but Fen. Apparently she had no fear about charging into dangerous dungeons without a plan, but ghosts absolutely terrified her.
As they arrived at the school grounds Lucky blushed at the way Fen was clinging to him every steps of the way. He caught Deerling shooting a knowing glance toward him which made him look away and blush even harder. And here he tought he had been good at hiding his true feelings.
Soon after the infamous ghost from the rumors actually showed and to their horror Pancham and Shelmet were kidnapped. Lucky, Fen and the rest of the schoolchildren had to enter the Ancient Barrow to save them.
It had been the greatest adventure they had been on yet. Shortly After that Nuzleaf made them go on another adventure by trying to scale Revelation Mountain. But they had to turn back when they realised how tight the security was.
For a while after that life returned to normal. But Lucky could tell Fen was even more antsy to start her career as an actual Expedition Society member after getting a taste of a real adventure.
Unfortunately she would get her wish all too soon when Lucky would spot the Beheeyem that had started this whole mess in the first place.
After confinding his worries to Fen the two of them decided to leave the village behind and go to Lively Town so that the Beheeyem wouldn't hurt the villagers in the crossfire. He didn't doubt that Fen partly suggested it because it gave her a good excuse to acheive her dream early. But he couldn't deny it was the right call to make.
The adults all refused or even laughed in their face when they told them they were leaving the village. But in the end despite their disaproval, they had no choice and that night they sneaked out of their house. Intent on leaving Serene Village behind.
Just before they could leave however the schoolchildren caught up to them and to their surprise they had a letter from the adults encouraging them to follow their dreams. So they couldn't encourage them to our face but was willing to look the other way huh? People, or Pokémon in this case could be so strange sometime.
With a heartfelt goodbye the duo left the remaining schoolchildren behind and thus began the start of their true adventure...
By the time they travelled through Sheer Moutain Cliff which was the first Mystery Dungeon they had to clear to reach Lively Town. The Sun had arleady gone down and made things too dark to continue.
''Lucky let's stop here for today. Let's spend the night here.'' Fen said once they reached a small cliff overlooking the countryside they had just left. Lucky nodded in agreement and the two of them set up camp together.
The good thing about being partner with a fire type was that it was really easy to start a campfire. He only had to set up the wood and Fen was all too happy breath fire on the wood. They both smiled as they felt the warmth of the fire melt the stress of the day away.
''I think we've made it over that big mountain by now. I bet we're probably almost to Lively Town.'' Fen stated with an excited smile on her face.
Lucky smiled and nodded.
''So! I guess I still really haven't told you what the Expedition Society is all about! Sure what we did by helping Pokémon back in Serene Village is a big part of the job. But that didn't cover the most crucial part of being a true member. You see the society's true goal is to make a full map of the world with something called the Pokémon Nexus. I can't wait to help contributing to make that map. To see every unexplored corners of the world. That's my true dream!''
Lucky stare at Fen happy and excited expression and he couldn't help but just smiled dumbly toward her. That happy-go-lucky personality was why he loved her so much. He shook his head suddenly realising his toughts were going in a dangerous place.
He told himself he should never take things farther than friendship and yet his mind always eventually came back to the subject. What was wrong with him? He really hoped this was just this body instincts working against him and that he hadn't been some sort of disgusting creep who liked underage girls as a human.
''Hey Lucky?'' The voice of Fen snapped him out of his dark toughts.
''Y-yeah?'' He asked somewhat surprised at how shy Fen suddenly looked as she was adressing him. Fen usually had no problem saying what was on her mind so saying her bashful like this felt kind of weird.
''I-I know you're a human and all. And it might seem weird coming from a Pokémon. But I've come to really like you since we've started working together.'' Lucky's held his breath and his eyes widened in slight panic. Ignoring his feelings had arleady been hard thus far. He really wish this wasn't going where he tought it was.
''I know it's probably too soon to think of such things. But Pokémon told me the same things about my dreams, so really I don't care if they think it's too early for it. I really like you Lucky. And...I would really love it if you could be my boyfriend.''
Lucky trembled and closed his eyes. He knew what he had to do but his instinct was screaming at him to accept her affection. His feelers were twitching erratically as if they wanted to warn him about something, but he could not discern what.
''I...Sorry, but no I can't accept.'' His finally said and he winced when his feelers snapped back to the sides his head almost as if they were angry with him.
Fen looked down and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. ''Oh...I get it, I'm sorry to put you on the spot like that. I was lucky enough to have a friend like you I shouldn't have gotten greedy. I'm really not girlfriend material.'' She chuckled but it was mirthless and barely hid the echo of her sobs.
Lucky eyes widened in horror and felt his feelers slapped him again. He couldn't let her think there was something wrong with her, not again! He couldn't live thought something like this again. He had to make this right! ''N-no! You're amazing as you are Fen. Any sane Pokémon your age would be incredibly lucky to have you!''
''My age?'' Fen asked, now confused. ''But you are the same age as me Lucky.''
Lucky winced at that and looked down. He had come this far might as well reveal everything. ''The truth is...I really like you too Fen. I don't have much memories of my human life but I don't think I've ever felt so close to someone as I do with you...The problem is, I'm pretty sure I wasn't a school kid before I turn into a Pokémon. I can't be sure how old I was but I think I was old enough to have arleady started a Pokémon journey and be independent. I might be the same age as you in this body... But I would always feel like a scumbag for dating a girl so much younger than my human self.''
Fen was silent for a long time after my confession. And I was afraid she would be now creeped out about the fact she had befriended someone potentially much older without her knowledge.
''I get it...I'm still happy with just remaining friend with you Lucky. Maybe once I evolve you could think about returning my feelings. Maybe it won't feel as bad then.'' She said somewhat hopefully and Lucky could only shrug, unsure.
Then the Fennekin looked up at the stars. ''You know it's funny. I don't remember much about what happened to me before I appeared in front of pops doorstep. But sometime when I look at the stars I feel like I've seen these same stars a really long, long time ago. And sometime I would feel like something that was really, really important that I used to have was missing from my life... Ever since you showed up Lucky that feeling has gone away. As if you just fit a puzzle piece that I had been searching for my whole life.''
Lucky looked down and blushed slightly. ''I... I feel the same way.'' He admitted a bit bashfully.
The two of them stayed in a comfortable silence after that. Soon enough they went to their bed and fell asleep. Ready to start up their adventure once again the next day...
AN: I didn't like how much of this chapter was basically a recap of the main plot. But I felt like it was necessary due to how early the attraction started for the main character of this one.
I think this chapter might be a bit uncomfortable for some people due to the perceived age difference discussed. So I want to reassure everyone that the romance won't really start until the partner learn that she's Mew and that both of them are actually way older than they tought.