…
…
...wait, what? I'm alive?
No, human.
W-who said that?
That is not of concern right now.
...s-so I'm...
Yes.
...
…oh... is this heaven?
No. I would more describe it as the space in between.
Why am I here?
I am to send you back to the realm of the living. However, before I do that, I wish to ask you a question.
I... huh?
What is it that you desire most?
What?
Fortune, perhaps? Notoriety? Power?
What do y-
A way to cheat death? A weapon to conquer your enemies? A way to avenge your falling race?
I don't-
What do you seek?
I don't know, okay?! Just... I want the world to be a bit less of a shithole, I guess?
…
I see.
I suppose I should be sending you off.
We shall meet again, child. Until then, may fortune be on your side.
Wait, what?
Farewell.
No, wait...!
'Everything hurts.'
That was all that ran through my head as I suddenly came to. I was vaguely aware of water running nearby and a pair of hands rhythmically pressing down on my chest, though I couldn't focus on those when my lungs felt like they were on fire. As the figure in front of me backed away, I hacked and coughed, water pouring from my mouth. The figure looked on as the last of the water dribbled from my mouth and I wheezed in much-needed air. Arms shaking, I pushed myself off the ground, only for my legs to betray me, sending me back to the ground. Panting, I looked around to take in my surroundings. As suspected, I looked to be in a clearing next to a river, and in front of me was a rather nervous-looking Pokémon slowly backing away from me.
'How... did I get here?' I thought as I tried to retrace my steps up to this point. I tried to dig for a minute before coming to a disturbing conclusion.
I couldn't remember anything.
Not even a name came to mind. All that came to mind was being attacked, getting poisoned, everything going black, a voice questioning me, and nothing more. Did I hit my head in the river? I... no, I died for sure. But how was I alive if that was the case...?
As I tried to keep myself calm, a voice brought me back to reality.
"A-are you okay?" it asked.
I jumped, looking around to try and find whoever was speaking.
"Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you..." I snapped my head upwards as I realized that the voice was coming from the Pokémon above me, which I could now vaguely identify as a Treecko.
...wait, what?
Pokémon don't speak, do they?
'...what the...?'
I started trying to ask him how this was possible, but I quickly found the words couldn't come to me. In fact, I seemed to have forgotten how to even think in words, a series of frantic images and concepts replacing them. Instead of words coming out of my mouth, well...
"Shaaah?"
An animalistic cry escaped my lips. This only served to make the Treecko even more on edge, as he quickly backed away, swearing under his breath and looking ready to bolt at a moment's notice. I tried to hold my hand to my face in confusion, though I couldn't seem to manage it. As to why, a simple look down gave the answer: my arms weren't even long enough to reach my face. Rather, they had become short, stubby, and covered in white hair.
'...what? I... wh-what the f...?!'
Panicking, I tried to get up once again, only to fall over. Unfazed, I crawled over to the river to look at my reflection, then immediately stumbled back.
"S-sha?!" I yelped, terrified.
While I couldn't remember what exactly I looked like, I knew enough to say a white, furry, otter-like face should not have been looking back at me. I couldn't make myself out clearly in the water, but I could come to one conclusion.
Whatever I was, it wasn't human.
Watching me in my confused, scared state, the Treecko seemed to relent and started to slowly approach me.
"Um... y-you aren't gonna hurt me, are you?" he stammered. I looked up, my fearful expression slightly faltering. I couldn't even get myself off the ground and I could barely even tell what I was, and he thinks I could hurt him? Yeah, if only...
My thoughts were interrupted when I noticed the Treecko's surprised look.
"Y-you can understand me?"
'Wait, I can? Come to think of it, I... uh...'
How could I process what this Pokémon was saying if I couldn't even think in words? Honestly, I wasn't quite sure if I should be surprised by this of all things...
The Treecko waited for a second before seemingly having an idea.
"This for yes, this for no," he explained while nodding and shaking his head respectively. Unsure of what else to do, I reluctantly nodded. He let out a sudden victorious laugh, making me jump and upsetting my burning lungs in doing so.
"I... I, this... I can't believe it! A-an intelligent feral! The guild's gonna love this! I... I can finally make my own team! I can..."
He slowed down, seemingly remembering my presence as I tried to cough the pain away. The Treecko, a tinge of red on his face, cleared his throat as I managed to resume breathing properly.
"Uh... I guess I should introduce myself. Name's Rye, and, er, I'm an explorer!"
He gave a weak smile.
"Or, at least, I'm gonna be soon... do you have a name?"
I slowly shook my head no, my face wilting. The now-named Rye began contemplating.
"Oh, uh, l-let's give you one, then... I found you in the river, right? Maybe we could use that...?"
He looked like he was about to come up with something when suddenly, a rustling noise came from behind him.
"Sha!" I cried fearfully. Rye spun around, looking unsure of what was happening. A silhouette made itself apparent in one of the paths leading out of the clearing. Rye tensed up as I crawled behind him. I couldn't quite see what had appeared, but I did feel Rye relax as a voice rang out.
"Rye?! Is that you?!"
"Ms. May!"
Rye ran over to a fox-like Pokémon covered with leaf-like attachments, wrapping his arms around her.
'A Leafeon,' my brain told me. At least it wasn't completely devoid of info, I guess.
The Leafeon noticed me as more rustling began sounding from the path. As I watched, unsure of what to do, a large blue and red bird flew in, followed by a blue badger-like Pokémon. The Swellow and Quilava gathered around Rye as the Leafeon approached me, looking curious.
"I see you made a new friend while you were gone?" she questioned.
"Er, yes, ma'am, I saved him from drowning in the river just now." Rye answered as the Leafeon looked me over. At this point, the Swellow had caught sight of me and had begun staring at me, head cocked.
"Drowning? Odd for an Oshawott to be drowning..." she observed.
'Oshawott? Is that what I am?'
I continued to examine my unfamiliar body as the two kept talking. As I suspected, I looked no different from an average Oshawott, save for the signature scalchop on my chest.
'How did this happen? Did that voice do this? Why...?'
As I looked over myself, the Swellow cut in.
"It's feral, ain't it?" the Swellow asked with an accented but steely voice, eyes narrowing. "Just look at its posture. Doesn't look like it knows jack about groomin', either. Only a feral could pull that look off with a straight face," he said, staring straight into me. Rye's eyes widened as he tore himself from the Quilava's paws and stepped beside me.
"No, Mr. Pike, B-Beck's different! He can understand me, he's not... uh..."
'Beck? Huh...'
If I remembered correctly, it was a word meaning a mountain stream. I liked it. However, the Swellow didn't quite seem to feel the same way.
"Ya fuckin' named it?" Pike spat, feathers now expanding.
Rye shrunk back as the bird approached us. "I told you that ferals ain't to be trusted no matter what, and you've gone and made one your damn pet?"
The Quilava warily stepped in, nervousness on his face. "Now, Pike, we can discuss this once we've found Lotad's seeds. Besides, look on the bright side! It's the kid's first real mission and he's impressed on a feral! I've taught him well, eh, May?"
May didn't respond, seemingly focused on something off to the side. Pike glared at the Quilava, whose weak grin had melted away.
"I don't care if it can grant us eternal life, Arden. That doesn't change the fact it's feral. It's gonna raid our bags the first chance it gets and book it, I guarantee it. I advise the kid throws it back where he found it before it eats our eyes out."
Before Rye could speak up, Arden seemed to notice something and and gestured to May, who had gone still, her ears perked up.
"What?" Arden inquired.
"No sudden movements or loud noises. We need to get to the staircase, now. Pike, lead the way," May whispered. With a final wary look at Rye and I, Pike gestured to the path they had come from and began silently walking off. Arden, seemingly understanding something we didn't, followed him.
"W-what's happening, Ms. May?" Rye stammered.
May turned to us, fear apparent on her face.
"Keep Beck close and don't say anything. It's the Zubats. They're out hunting."
Quinite Forest
6F
"How much farther we got, Pike?" Arden whispered as we warily moved through the forest paths, occasionally pausing to listen for something.
"Half a mile, I'd say. Haven't seen any Zubats around, so we should be good for the time being."
Still trying to get walking down, I staggered along to follow the group, trying to not trip over myself. Rye, his hand clutching May as to not get separated from her, looked towards the trees nervously. Confused over the team's cautiousness, I pulled on his free hand.
"Sha?" I cried questioningly, hoping that would be enough.
"What's the matter?" Rye asked, clearly not getting my message. Trying to figure out how else to do this, I pointed to the ever-cautious adult Pokémon and gestured at the trees, giving a confused look as I did so. Rye cocked his head for a bit before his face flashed with recognition at my gesturing.
"Uh... Ms. May said there's a bunch of Zubats on this floor. The sun's going down, so they're all out hunting for prey. If they catch us, they'll-"
Rye stopped short as he realized the team had frozen, staring at a clearing up ahead. In said clearing, a bloated, purplish mass was lying on the grass, winged Pokémon covering it while chittering and making sickening slurping noises. May had her paw raised up gesturing us to keep still as Arden shook his head, obviously disturbed at the sight.
"It's the Sawsbuck from earlier. The fuckers poisoned it to death and now they're draining its blood. Poor bastard," he whispered.
'Wait, that thing's a Pokémon?!'
At that moment, I considered myself lucky to have not eaten anything. While I tried to keep my breathing steady as to not put my lungs through any more torture, May began to silently head into the clearing, much to Pike's horror.
"What are ya fuckin' doing?" he quietly demanded.
"The path on the other side is the only way to the staircase, right? Just stay close to the trees and keep quiet," she responded.
After much hesitation, the Swellow cursed to himself and followed. Watching them go, Arden turned to look at us, casting his uneasy glance onto me.
"Alright, Oshawott," he whispered, enunciating his words like he was talking down to a little kid. "You follow. You quiet. Yes?"
Although I was put off at his insistence to talk to me like that, I nodded, put my paw on him and followed him into the clearing, the slurps and gulps of the Zubats' meal not serving to ease the tension. About halfway to the path, a small yelp sounded from Arden. Lifting up his paw to find a small thorn in it, he then glanced back at the Zubats. They had stopped their slurping, and were now letting out high-pitched squeals and clicks, presumably to try and locate the source of the sudden noise. Panicking, I looked to Rye for advice, though all I needed was the Treecko's expression to figure it out for myself.
'Stay still if you want to live.'
A good few minutes passed, then the slurping resumed. Untold relief on his face, Arden gestured to us to keep moving. After that close call, it seemed all of us wanted out of this place as soon as possible, so it wasn't long before we had reached the path. As we hurriedly left the clearing, Arden let out a relieved chuckle. However, as we began to calm down, I stumbled, falling to the ground and snapping a few sticks.
'Shit.'
Looking up, I saw that one of the Zubats was now facing directly towards us, apparently having heard the noise. I tugged on Rye's arm, his looking back apparently alerting the others in the party. Their relief quickly turned into silent panic as the Zubat continued to stare.
'Please. Please, I'm begging you. Don't.'
Despite my mental pleas, the Zubat's face began to twitch...
...and it let out a long, bloodcurdling screech in our direction.
"RUN!" Arden screamed.
The dead Sawsbuck forgotten, the Zubats began to swarm towards us, drool pouring from their mouths in anticipation of their meal. We ran for our lives, not even bothering to keep quiet anymore. This only seemed to alert more of them, as dozens of the little demons started pouring out of the surrounding trees.
"Mr. Pike, can't you just fly us to the stairs?!" Rye screamed.
"I can't carry anyone but you, so unless ya want only the two of us to make it outta here, fuck no!" Pike replied breathlessly.
As they were talking, a large Zubat flock appeared out of the trees in front of us, diving in for the kill. May and Arden exchanged glances, quickly nodded, then began dashing ahead of us side-by-side.
"Alright, Team Apex, Point Forest tactic! Go!" Arden yelled. Pike perked up, then turned to the pursuing Zubats and flapped his wings, sending a blast of air at them and blowing them back through the path.
"That's only going to slow 'em down a bit, but that bit's all we need, I think," he hurriedly explained.
As the others charged, Arden's back burst into flames, which quickly covered the Quilava's body as he let out a battle cry. He jumped into the flock, distracting most of them as several leaf-like objects appeared around May and began to fly around her as she watched the flock warily. A burst of fire erupted from the blue mass as Arden ran out, bleeding in several places but still in fighting condition. Several of the Zubats, having caught on fire from his Flame Charge, flew away letting out horrific screeches. Seeing this, May sent the flying leaves at the remaining little demons. They began trying to flee, but the Magical Leaves seemed to follow them wherever they flew, quickly cutting them out of the air. Having finished her task, she ran over to tend to Arden's several bite wounds, despite his saying he was fine.
As I watched, I heard a scream from beside me. Quickly turning around, I saw that one of the Zubats had knocked Rye over and was now snapping at his neck. Eyes wide, I looked at the others. Arden and May were still busy up ahead, while Pike was still trying to hold back the approaching horde.
"Shaaah!", I cried fearfully, frozen in place at the sight.
'What do I do?! I... I can't let him die!'
Shaking my head, I watched Rye continue to struggle before coming to a decision: I charged towards him and tackled the Zubat. The good news was that my attack was able to knock the Zubat off Rye. The bad news was that I seemed to have angered it and it was now biting into my chest.
As my vision fogged, I saw a blur of green strike the Zubat, knocking it out as blood, presumably my own, dribbled from its mouth.
I weakly looked up as Rye, having dusted himself off after his Quick Attack, ran to my side, the others now gathered next to us. Pike was now panting, his energy spent by the Whirlwinds. It seemed that the Zubats were now closing in on us from both sides, their screeches growing louder by the second. It looked like we were out of options here, and judging by the glances Arden and May were giving each other, it seemed they agreed. The Quilava gave a final long look at the flocks before giving out a defeated sigh.
"Screw it," he said flatly. He dug through his bag before pulling a glassy blue sphere out and holding it high above his head.
"Activate!" he yelled. The sphere let out a blinding light as I felt myself get lifted off the ground. This feeling continued for maybe five seconds before I was thrown onto solid ground.
'...are we out of the forest? Are we safe now?'
I didn't have time to reflect on those questions any further, unfortunately, as the taste of blood began to fill my mouth. As my vision further darkened, I could vaguely see the team gathering around me, the last thing I heard before blacking out being Rye's desperate voice.
"Mr. Arden, get help! A berry, a healer, anything! ...h-hang in there, Beck! Don't die on me..."