How did you get here? Was there a call to action? A stray ray of light that guided you?

"Wakey wakey, Vic."

With halved eyes and a crooked grin on his orange beak, he stared up at a beaming Lea, her yellow face matching the sunrise at the crevice entrance.

He covered his eyes with a wing. "Lord, help me, she's a morning person."

Lea giggled.

I'm a person who's ready to stop sleeping in a cave, and that starts now.

These are illegal hours.

Excuse me?

Time needs to start at ten in the morning, that way nothing can sneak up on me.

So you're lazy.

I'm practical.

Did you think it so? Did you dream the right dreams?

"Are you okay?" asked Zoe in her softest voice, her spiky white mane a bit too close to Sam's face.

Sam swayed in place to keep himself awake. He breathed through his nose and cleared his throat. He whispered, "There's no coffee… on this island."

Zoe blinked and shook her head. "No, why would there be?"

Sam rolled his eyes. He mumbled, "Who knows?" out the side of his mouth.

Did you suffer? Did you succeed? Are you bound together, or is it merely coincidence?

They had set up a system for navigating inland. They would carry palm leaves to line their path and pebbles to mark their progress. In a forest of pure greenery and the occasional pastel flower blooming against the vestiges of light poking through the treetops, any indication of where they'd been would be enough.

So Vic carried stones in his wings while Lea and Zoe had leaves draped over their backs. Sam scouted ahead, letting his growing sense of smell guide them. Last night, he could smell the cave water by his bed, the sea outside, and the damp sand dotted with hoof, foot, and paw prints. All of it kept him awake through most of the night. He said he could find them a stream, and that no one was in any place to argue. So, to save time, no one did.

It was for nearly an hour they walked, making what felt like little progress. Only their system had assured them they were going anywhere at all, and they only stopped when Vic found a large stick felled from a tree, free from any leaves.

With that big grin of his, he held it aloft for the others.

"That's a branch," Lea said bluntly, unimpressed.

"A long one!" decreed Vic, the farfetch'd smiling brighter than anything under the tree cover.

As Lea looked on with a raised eye, Zoe and Sam could only share a glance, unable to match the enthusiasm on display.

And they continued on, Zoe was cautious of the rising impatience on display from all present, Sam growling at himself for his inability to find water, and Lea starting to lag behind as Vic seemed more interested in his possessions than anything else.

So when she suddenly came face to face with a giant, green and yellow bug, she nearly screamed out of instinct. Yet, when she recognized the creature for what it was, the joy she felt brought her the attention of the others.

"A caterpie, so cute!" she shouted, the zebra trotting in a circle out of excitement. "Hi, little one!"

"Caterpie?" asked Vic, looking to Zoe's side to see what she saw.

The giant caterpillar creature, with its void like eyes and red antennae, was a rather unimpressive sight, especially as it raised part of itself from the side of its tree to look over Zoe, then the others.

"Weren't always creative with the names, were they?" Vic pondered.

Lea stepped next to Zoe. "Good morning," she addressed the caterpie. "My friends and I are looking for a freshwater source. Do you know where we can find one?"

The caterpie just stared.

Sam kept far back from the bug, sticking his tongue out at the creature.

Unfortunately for him, Zoe noticed this.

"Be nice to it!" Zoe scolded him.

"I got a thing about bugs that are bigger than me," Sam said, taking another step back.

"Most things are bigger than you," Vic noted.

Vic grumbled, "Don't remind me."

"Pardon my traveling companions!" spoke Lea to the caterpie, as loudly and clearly as she could, bringing everyone back to attention. "Again, we're new on this island and need water, food, and shelter. Can you help us? Were you human as well?"

The caterpie did not respond well to the raised voice. To show its displeasure, it shot out a thick, sticky webbing over Lea, coating her fur and the leftover leaves on her back.

"Ahh!" Lea shrieked, as eloquent as she could be in these circumstances.

"That's string shot," Zoe matter-of-factly told Lea, poking at the webbing with her hoof. It would not give.

"Guh?!" Lea added.

Vic, unamused with seeing Lea be attacked by a giant bug, whacked the caterpie with his new weapon. The pokemon was knocked toward Sam, whose fight or flight instinct went into overdrive as the grossest thing he'd ever seen in his life shot at him at incredible speed.

In this case, Sam chose fight, and he pounced on the caterpie midair, paws first, sending the bug down on its back, unconscious.

"Hey, you tackled it!" Zoe yelled with a smile right in Lea's ear as she collected the remains of the string shot in a pair of palm leaves poked through her hoof.

Lea shook herself free of the webbing and Zoe's rising volume. She walked over to the knocked out bug and kicked it with her back legs. Cross eyed, it rolled over to its other side.

"Is it dead?" Lea asked, watching it intently, lest it attack again.

"Nope, just fainted," Zoe said, walking up next to Lea. "I think we just beat our first wild pokemon."

"Please stop playing with it," Sam said, a queasy tone to his voice.

"Fainted, huh?" asked Vic, taking his own turn to poke the bug with his stick just as Lea stopped. For all the movement, the caterpie did not respond to any of it.

"I'll take your word for it," Vic noted with a raised brow.

Sam groaned, going back to leading the others in search of water.

Another hour or so passed as they walked on. The last of their pebbles and leaves behind them, Vic began whistling a tune, raising Sam's hackles. Before the dog could complain, Zoe joined in, the zebra whistling harmony with the duck and lightening the mood for enough of them for Sam to know he was outmatched.

Still, Lea was concerned that they'd gotten no closer to finding anything, and she spoke to herself.

"Freshwater and a good food source. That's what we need," she mumbled, trudging on.

Vic overheard the giraffe, and added, "How 'bout a hotel?"

Hearing that, Sam chided, "With wi-fi."

"And an arcade!" Zoe shouted, her exuberance a far cry from when she'd first met everyone.

"Or one of them fancy black tie restaurants," Vic said with a nod, closing his eyes and imagining a meal that wasn't just wild berries.

With a smile that had eluded her for most of the day, Lea made clear her position on the matter. "Heck, I'd settle for a bed!"

Sam stopped. Looking back at Lea, he said, "Now you're tal-"

But before he could finish, his ears perked up at the sounds up ahead.

Talking. People were talking.

Sam, once a human, sniffed the air and followed the sound with swiveling ears. The others followed close, excitement growing at the thought of someone who might have lived somewhere with running water.

Yet, when they got to the clearing, sunlight finally in front of them once more, smiles faded at the sight before them. Then, they hid, and watched.

In the tree cover was an opening, almost a perfect circle, sunlight streaming down on a patch of dirt. Tied to a tree at the edge of that dirt patch, looking like he'd just taken quite the hit to his eye, was a crab, with one claw much larger than the other. Both claws were just as tightly bound to avoid cutting the ropes. It sighed as it listened to the ranting leafy reptile pacing in front of it.

"You're an idiot," said the reptile to the crab, tired, bags under its eyes as it spoke. "But I can forgive that. What I can't forgive is you trying to send me back without a plan."

"I was hoping, Hazel," the crab coughed, "That you'd come peacefully."

Hazel rolled her eyes.

"I don't care what you think. We both know that the captain isn't going to take kindly to deserters." Hazel stopped pacing, then looked the crab directly in its eyes. "I can't listen to her anymore, Mint. If I wanna survive, I gotta do it alone, so that's what's happening."

"Then let me go," Mint pleaded, writhing against his restraints. "I'll just say I couldn't find you, say you were too far gone."

Hazel turned his back to him.

"You want me to trust you, but for what?"

Mint's words were caught in his throat.

The four former humans watched these events unfold, listening to every word. Before they could look to each other about what to do, it all became clear.

Hazel stepped back from Mint, remorse across her face, but her neck pulled back, as if raising a weapon.

"If I take you out, they'll know not to come for me." She bit her lip. "They'll know I'm a threat."

Mint gasped.

"That's insane! If you hurt me, they'll come for you. They'll hunt you down, Hazel!"

To Mint's dismay, Hazel scoffed.

"Do you really think you're that important to her?"

I think I know why you were chosen. I have a good guess, at least.

In an instant, four switches flipped. Someone was in trouble, and none of them were going to stand there and watch someone suffer.

Sam was first to act, jumping from behind the bush to tackle the lizard, sending it down onto her side with a grunt and a cloud of dust.

Hazel shook her head,

"A rockruff? Against a bayleef? Are you kidding me? That's what she sends?"

Mint blinked, not believing what he was seeing. "I didn't call for a-"

Zoe was next. She had stepped from behind the bush, strafing around Hazel. With a tilt of her head, she charged forward at full speed, sending the bayleef tumbling over again.

This time, she didn't bother commenting.

She sent out a trio of razor sharp leaves right at Zoe's head. Expecting as much from the grass type, Zoe ducked just in time, only losing a few hairs from her mane as the leaves brushed over her, wind whipping in her ears.

Not one to give in so quickly, Hazel reared her head again, this time aiming for the dirt, hoping to catch her enemy at the legs.

Before she could fire, Sam tackled her again, then scratched her face, just above her eye.

Hazel shot to her feet, sending Sam falling to his back with a crack, the dog whining at the contact.

Towering over Sam, Hazel teased her prey as she wiped the blood from her face. "We don't play games here, puppy," she growled.

"No wonder you ain't no fun."

Hazel's eyes widened. Before she could turn around, a heavy stick cracked her skull as Vic sent his weapon down over the bayleef.

Once again, Hazel was on the ground. This time, Zoe's hoof pressed into her chest, as both she and Sam stared her down with a rage that betrayed their size.

Hazel watched as her three opponents caught their breath. With a devilish grin, the sunlight above began to pool around her, as though it was a part of her now. Vic, Sam, and Zoe shielded their eyes as Hazel's bruises and cuts healed before them.

Then she stood up, dusted herself off, and looked down at Vic. "Don't you think that stick's too big for you, little farfetch'd?" she teased.

If Vic was phased, he didn't show it. In fact, he laughed.

"If y'all want us to beat you up again, we can. We got plenty of free time."

The bayleef dug her feet into the ground. She either didn't realize her other opponents were nowhere to be seen, or if she did, she didn't care.

The laughing duckboy was going down first.

As she readied another leaf attack, Vic interrupted.

"I seen caterpie more threatening than you."

Hazel ground her teeth. She stamped a foot on the ground.

"Oh, you're a comedian," she growled.

He shook his head. "Nah, I reckon I'm more a tactician."

She faltered. "And what makes you say that?"

He laughed again.

"Cuz I been distractin' you long enough for my buddy to sneak up on you."

Lea slammed Hazel with her rear hooves, sending the bayleef back down onto the ground one more time, directly next the waiting Mint, who in one swift motion snipped off Hazel's largest leaf, the one right on her forehead.

The resulting forest-shaking screech had little effect on the new fighters, adrenaline still pumping as they collected themselves. Vic helped Mint tie up the bayleef as Sam addressed Leah and Zoe.

"Did we just kick some ass?" he asked, as surprised as he was hopeful.

"We did!" Zoe said, shaking in place. "We had our first real, actual Pokemon battle and I guess we were the Pokemon but we still won even if it was like five against one but that's whatever because we actually did it and I did a good job and you did a good job and we all did such an awesome job and…"

Zoe continued, prancing in circles in the distance as Lea gave Sam a nod.

Lea sighed. "That was good of you to, uh-"

"Take charge," Sam interrupted. "Like I've been doing."

Before they could get in another fight, Mint addressed them, Vic in tow.

"My goodness gracious!" the crab said, laughing nervously. "That could have gone so terribly wrong. Thank you, thank you so much!"

He sidestepped over to the freshly unconscious bayleef.

"Hazel's been scaring me half to death. Hopefully when I get her back to base, she'll be able to listen."

He looked around at everyone for a moment, then gave an awkward laugh.

"I have no idea who you are, so you probably don't know me, huh? But you helped me anyway?"

Lea stepped forward. "It wasn't a problem at all, sir. It was the least we could do."

"Yeah," Sam tagged on his own comment, annoying Lea. "It was the right thing, so that's what we did. Easy."

"Easy?" Mint scoffed, but he stopped himself, clearing his throat. "My name is Mint. A kingler. Deck hand of the great ship Sylvian, conqueror of stormy seas and distant lands!"

Mint looked around and realized that his boasting meant nothing to his rescuers, but it did get Zoe's attention, who had joined the conversation after finishing her personal celebration.

"But how'd you find me?" he asked. "I never sent out a rescue request. I don't think anyone would have. I've only been gone for…" he counted on his smaller claw. "A couple hours."

"We were just passing through," Sam answered with a nod.

"We found ourselves on this island a couple days ago," Lea added, making herself as tall as she could.

"We're humans! Well, we were," Zoe noted with a bashful smile.

"How long have y'all been on here?" Vic asked, gesturing with his stick toward Mint.

The kingler blinked, then held up his claws. "Slow down. What's a human? What kind of pokemon is that? Or is it a region?"

Lea, Vic, and Sam shared a glance, then collectively said, "Uh…"

Zoe's eyes widened. Duh, of course! She spoke quickly. She had to.

"I think you misheard us," she said.

Sam stared, eyes raised. "No."

"We-" Lea began.

"We said we were humid!" Zoe interrupted. "It was so hot on the beach. We walked into the shade and found you here."

"Oh!" Mint laughed, slapping himself with his claw. "Okay, yeah. That makes sense. But you're not part of an expedition team, are you? I don't remember you on the ship."

"We ended up here ourselves," Zoe answered with a confident nod.

Mint gasped. "Oh, no! Did you get caught by the storm a few days ago?"

Zoe smiled at the easy out, but hid it as well as she could. "Yes! It was awful. Completely capsized. We're lucky we all made it."

Nodding, Mint stepped over to Hazel, checking the tightness of the ropes. "In that case, and as thanks for helping me, I wish to offer you all an invitation to visit our base of operations. Just follow me, and uh… help me carry her, please. She's gonna be really heavy.

At that comment, Hazel groaned.

"With pleasure!' Zoe chirped, lowering her head as she tugged on the bayleef's restraints.

Looking back at the others, checking to see that Mint was still preoccupied, Zoe gave everyone a look that screamed 'I totally got this' as her teeth tightened around the rope.

Whether or not she had it wasn't the worry. It's what she had that concerned them most.

All the same, Vic helped get Hazel onto Zoe and Lea's backs. After a couple annoyed looks, even Sam offered to help.

And as they headed to their next destination, walking through a pathway forged between trees toward another beach, Sam looked over at Zoe.

"I'm a rockruff?" he whispered to her. "Really? That's what they call me?"

Zoe nodded, and smiled, quite pleased with herself.

Lea and Vic just shook their heads and stayed close together as the noontime sun hid behind the trees once more.