Hey! Guess who's back, back again? Kai the Raichu! Glad to write up yet another chapter. I'm honestly shocked as my story is already at 900 views and that type of attention is honestly just very nice to have. I'm honored that there's some of you guys out there that genuinely enjoy my stories. Now, i'll get right back into it so you guys can get what you came here for!

Jay's PoV

Having woken up before his Oshawott, Jay decided to go online using his computer and see if he could find anything related to his Oshawott's strange behavior after his injury. Searching up 'strange behavior after injury in Pokémon', he didn't gather much- it just seemed like stories about trainer's Pokémon becoming incredibly hostile. But that wasn't what had happened with Oshawott at all- he seemed to literally get smarter afterwards.

It was strange, and Jay wondered if it was just in his head. Had Oshawott been this smart all along, and he'd just not paid any attention to it? He pushed the thought off, knowing that it couldn't possibly be the case. If it was, he'd never have viewed Oshawott as 'stupid' or anything like that. Or at least, he hoped so..

He saw his Oshawott move around on his bed a bit. He seemed to be sound asleep, but Jay thought for a moment. Maybe he could put his smarts to the test a bit- with his permission, of course. The Oshawott seemed to be perfectly fine with performing hard tasks based on their video gaming session the night prior, so maybe Jay would do a few short intelligence tests to see how smart Oshawott really was.

'It couldn't hurt too much,' Jay thought, printing out some sheets of basic problems relating around math and logic. If he could do this, then Jay would seriously have something to be impressed about. His Oshawott had no reason to know all of this stuff, considering he'd never went to school as far as he was aware, but maybe there was a small chance he did and his Oshawott was a Pokémon genius..

Otto's PoV

Slowly waking up, Otto saw Jay casually using the computer. Thought he wasn't sure why, he didn't really care much; he had bigger things to worry about anyway, like how he was going to wake up his brain. He'd had a really nice and long nap, so all he wanted to do was go straight back to bed.

'I need to be at least a bit productive. If I let my brain fall into laziness, I might just stay as a house pet forever and not do anything greater..' He thought, pushing against the feeling of sleeping again and massaging his head. Otto eventually did wake himself up, only to see Jay looking at him.

"..Hey, Oshawott? Do you know how to write?" Jay asked, and Otto thought for a moment before nodding. He didn't see why he wouldn't know how to write when he's retained the rest of his skills despite becoming an Oshawott.

"Okay then. So, I was wondering if you could try and do these worksheet things. Since you were able to do that video game thing earlier, I was wondering how much you knew.. and stuff. If you don't mind," Jay awkwardly said.

Otto thought about it for a minute. While he didn't exactly want to go back to doing worksheets after he was made so miserable by them while he was still human, it would keep his mind sharp and prove to Jay that he knew his stuff, so he nodded.

"Okay.. uhh, good luck," Jay said, handing a pen and paper to Otto. He could clearly see that Jay didn't expect him to get very far, and it was mostly just average addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems.

'Of course he doesn't know I was in high school at one point.. or that I even used to be human, so how could he expect me to know this?' Otto thought while filling out the worksheet, trying not to get too frustrated with being underestimated. It wasn't Jay's fault, he wasn't aware of his past.. and Otto didn't even know how he'd react if he actually did know. It made Otto a little anxious. Would the thought of knowing Otto used to be human break Jay? Would he never want to talk to Otto again because it was just.. 'too weird'?

Otto didn't know, but he eventually handed the worksheet back. He knew that if he managed to communicate with Jay through writing, telling him instantly he used to be human could majorly backfire. He'd probably wait a bit.

"..Where did you even learn all of this?" Jay asked, surprised as Otto had gotten them all right. He shrugged, acting like he'd just picked it up from somewhere.

"Well, uh.. good job!" Jay said. "Maybe you wanna try something way harder, like.. my biology homework?"

'Of course he'd try and use me for his work..' Otto thought, shaking his head no as Jay sighed.

"..I mean, you are at least, like.. emotionally intelligent, I know that. You have feelings, and you know to how to express them without words. That's pretty cool too! But since you know how to write, maybe we could start talking through you writing on the paper. We can actually talk."

Otto nodded in agreement, grabbing the worksheet he had finished and writing on the back.

'Can I pick a name now?'

"..Oh, sure, just try not to pick anything that would upset my parents. They're already upset enough at me.."

Thinking about how crucial this could be, Otto paused as he tried to think of a good name. In a way, picking his old name would keep an aspect of his old life alive, but it was a really basic name that he didn't think was too special. Especially as an Oshawott, the name Otto just felt very, very common. But when he didn't want to forget that human aspect of himself, he eventually put Otto down on the paper.

"..Otto. Okay, that definitely works. I got a question for you, though. A lot of Pokémon go on adventures with their trainers and battle people and all of that. Would you want to do that at all?"

Otto quickly scribbled a 'No' on the paper. He definitely wasn't looking to get into a battle and get injured for some stupid competition- he didn't want to make that his whole life. He'd rather find value somewhere else.

"Okay then, Otto. That makes sense, honestly.. battling seems kinda painful. Is there anything you do want to do then?" Jay asked.

Otto thought again, before smiling and writing down 'Read'. He really liked sitting down and enjoying a good book, and if Jay could help him get access to books again, that would be great!

"You like to read? I have some fantasy books I used to read a lot, but.. I usually play video games instead. You can have them if you want," Jay said, and Otto's was visibly excited. He couldn't help but smile- he could still continue one of his favorite activities!

Jay handed him a few books, and Otto quickly got absorbed into them. Quickly turning through the pages, he was glad to be able to explore such a magical world and read just like old times.

"I gotta go to school now, Otto. I guess i'll see you later. Once my parents come home, we can tell them about your name," Jay said as he left the room, leaving Otto to read silently on his own.

As Otto flipped through the pages, he realized how much he enjoyed spending time with Jay, which shocked him. Just 24 hours ago, he basically hated him, and now Otto was already missing him as he left the room. He wasn't sure if it was because of being a Pokémon making it easier for him to forgive and connect with people, but he was glad to be able to form a genuine connection with Jay. Maybe living out his life as a Pokémon wouldn't be too bad..

And Otto looked over at the computer, and smiled. He at least had the computer open to look at anything he wanted, alongside Jay's game console. He could probably continue learning stuff on the Internet, at his own pace- mostly info about being a Pokémon and maybe some more math too. He wanted to keep his mind sharp without being stuck in the depressing classrooms that defined most of his human life, so this was probably the best he could get for a while. It seemed that Otto could make things work for a while.

So, for the day, he just read his book and made sure to mark his page before cycling through the games on Jay's console. Lots of them were really fun, probably because Jay wasn't that much older than Otto when he was human so they held somewhat similar interests, and Otto scrolled the internet for a while and got used to using the computer and mouse with his paws. It was significantly easier to pick up than when he was playing on the console, so he was able to watch a few videos.

Eventually, Otto did hear Jay come back home, and he very carefully managed to tightly hold on to the guard rail and move down the stairs without falling to greet him.

'Guess this is the start of my actual new life,' Otto thought, happy to have settled into a routine he liked.

End of chapter! This one is a lot more basic with Otto and Jay just hanging out, but I felt it sets up well for what I have planned. Remember to review and follow, and I hope you enjoyed!