CHAPTER TWO:
THE DRAGON AND THE WOLF

-Ruffles-

I couldn't believe there was someone else like me.

I thought it might be true at first. I mean, why would I be the only one transported to another world, and turned into some kind of thing?

But to see another human-turned-Pokémon. It made me happy knowing I wasn't alone.

Also, he seems nice. Who would've thought that a giant dragon would be?

I was initially scared of him. But, as he talked to me, I could tell that he was about as afraid as I was, of being thrown out in the wild, with no way to survive. We were in the same boat.

"Hey, wake up," I heard, opening my eyes.

Udon was in front of me. Looking over my sleeping body.

I was very groggy. It felt like I hadn't slept at all, but as I got up, I noticed the sun had risen in the sky. I looked down at my paws. They were still the same as last night. I was hoping that this would've all been a dream, somehow.

"Wha- what time is it?" I asked.

"I have no idea," Udon answered. "I let you sleep a little longer, you know, since you really needed it."

I was shocked. Did Udon not sleep at all?

"Well, thanks," I said, rubbing my eyes.

"Anytime," he said. I noticed he had some berries in his hands. "Here, you should probably eat something."

I grabbed some of the berries out of his hands and began to eat them. They tasted pretty good. It was then that I realized I hadn't eaten anything since I got here.

"We should start looking for a way out of here," Udon said.

I nodded my head, and we started walking.

"Hey, Udon?" I asked. "What do you remember about being a human?"

He paused for a second, trying to think.

"I don't remember much," He said. "Everything before I woke up on the beach is sort of a blur. But I do know I was in my bed, going to sleep. You know, before it happened."

It seemed like he had the same mental block I had. Like there was something pushing the memories of his past life away.

"Then I remember the words," Udon continued.

My eyes went wide. The words.

"Welcome to the World of Pokémon."

How could I forget them? They were pretty much taunting me.

"You saw them too?" he asked, looking at me. He could tell what I was thinking.

"Yeah." I answered. "It was like they were…"

"Right in front of you?" he asked. "Yeah, that all happened to me too."

Maybe there was more to our shared experiences than I had originally thought.

"Hey," I said, after a short while of silence. "What do you think the rest of the world is like?"

"You know, I hadn't really thought of that," Udon answered. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know," I said. "I was just thinking… maybe there's more like us out there. More people turned into Pokémon. Or, you know, whatever we are."

Udon smiled and looked at me.

"Maybe you're right," he said.

We went on talking for a bit while we walked. It was nice to have someone to talk to through all this. I didn't feel as alone as before.

Before we knew it, we got to the edge of the woods.

"Wait. Is that it?" I asked.

In front of us was a large clearing. I could see something in the distance that looked like some kind of city.

"We did it!" Udon cheered.

We both celebrated, which turned into a hug. Of course, I had to jump up a bit to be able to reach him, but it was nice.

"Well, what's next?" I asked.

"I think we should head towards civilization," Udon answered. "Maybe try to get a place to rest somewhere."

I couldn't agree more. We needed somewhere to sleep. We were both exhausted.

"Yeah, definitely," I said back. "Let's go this way. Towards that city."

"Sounds like a plan," Udon said.

As we walked, I couldn't stop thinking about how much we had both gone through. I wonder if Udon had it as rough as me when I was brought here. I felt relieved, though, that I wasn't by myself anymore.

-Udon-

It felt good to finally be out of that forest.

And knowing that there was at least some kind of society out there. It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

Of course, Ruffles' company had helped a ton. I don't think I would have been able to get out of there if it weren't for him.

I did worry about him a little bit, however. He still had injuries from the day before. I wondered what actually happened to him.

"So, Ruffles," I said while we walked. "You never told me how you got hurt yesterday."

He looked over at me. "Well, like I was gonna say earlier, I had just woken up on the beach. Then… there were these dog-creatures."

He paused for a second, like he was having trouble talking about it.

"They weren't like us," Ruffles continued. "They were, like, feral. And…. Then they just started attacking me out of nowhere."

He sounded pained while telling his story. Should I stop him?

"I tried fighting back, but… I'm just not a fighting kind of person," he explained. "Long story short, I managed to run away from them. But not before, you know…"

"Yeah," I said back. "I'm sorry I asked."
I could tell that talking about it took a toll on him. I guess I knew I could trust him then. He didn't seem like someone that could possibly hurt me.

"No, no, it's fine," he said, wiping his eyes. "I guess I should've told you sooner."

We walked in silence after that.

I knew, in my heart, that Ruffles was a good soul. Would this be the start of a lifelong friendship?

Well, I guess if we don't get back home, that is.

But even if we didn't get back, at least we had each other.