Uncharted Skies, Unfollowed Paths
Wind, I could feel the wind on my skin, no, that's not quite right, that's not what wind feels like on it? Uhh, my head, why does it hurt so much? Wait, why does the wind feel so strange? Is it what I'm wearing? I could have sworn I was just wearing a light jacket and my cargo pants, that's definitely not what I'm wearing now, am I wearing covered in duck down? What the hell?
I attempt force my eyes open to the bright light, failing miserably, my head feeling like someone took a sledgehammer to it
Uhh where are my glasses? I ask to no one, but nothing but strange noises come out of my mouth. Uhh why does my mouth feel so weird? I could have sworn I brushed my teeth last night. I try once more to open my eyes, finally getting somewhere while pushing through this throbbing headache, attempting to reach over to nightstand next to my bed, attempting to grab at something, anything to make my headache go away, Tylenol maybe, I remember I had some next to me last night…
As my eyes finally start to open, the sun is in my eyes. What? The sun? I never open my blackout curtains? Huh? Grass? Why do I have grass under me? What happened last night, did I go overboard drinking with my friends? Oh god, my parents are gonna kill me, I never should have shown my friends where the liquor cabinet was! Did I get blackout drunk and wake up in the middle of a forest? Where am I?
I look around pensively, trying and failing to keep my mind off this damn headache, and try and get up.
Uhh my legs must have fallen asleep, or more likely, just haven't woken back up haha! I try and joke to no one, again confused as nothing but strange noises exit my mouth.
I look down at my hands, wait, these aren't my hands?! Aaah! I yell, finally something resembling a shout exits my mouth sounding somewhat like what I'm used to, but it's off, something wrong!
The throbbing aching pain in my head is replaced by a deep sinking feeling of wrongfulness, then replaced with complete and utter panic…
I look back at myself, finally turning my head to my body, but it's feels wrong, like my whole head is swinging around violently, that's not how a humans neck should turn!
It's as I'm finally seeing my body, it all clicks into place… this isn't right! It can't be?! How the fuck am I a seeing a honest to god LATIOS in the place my body should be?!
I close my eyes as tight as I can, opening them again to attempt to wake of from this wild dream, or perhaps nightmare is a better description…
Of course, it doesn't disappear. I don't wake up in my bed. Nothing changes.
Fuuuck I guess I'm a damn Pokémon now…
Well… it could be worse. At least I'm not a damn rattata…
I still doesn't change the fact I can't move. I think to myself, scowl appearing on my face, or at least, what my brain is telling me my face is doing. Do I even have a proper face anymore, it's more like a snout, or a beak? No it's not a beak, but it's definitely not a snout. Damn Pokémon head, what would I even call what I have now, whatever I'll just call it my face. I muse, somewhat disheartened.
How the hell am I supposed to move? I've got, wings? Can I even flap them?
I attempt to move them, getting them to somewhat shift around. Well that's a thought, I'd have imagined having a brand new set of body parts would be difficult to manage! Well, that's not to say it doesn't feel completely wild to move around wings you've never had, but still, while I can move them, there's no way in hell these things are gonna be flapping.
I think to what I know about the Pokémon I now inhabit. No inhabits not the right word, the Pokémon I now AM, feels more correct, but still nonetheless disturbing if I stop to think about it for more than a few moments.
Latios, one of the minor Hoen legendaries. Dragon psychic type, flies as fast as a fighter jet… wait, psychic? Oh now I remember, don't they float off the ground using telekinesis? How the hell am I supposed to do that?
I think quietly for a moment, thinking back through years of my manga and anime addiction. I guess I can try thinking about it really hard?
My headache, now gone, replaced only with a mild general discomfort throughout my entire body, though even that is slowly fading, allows me a chance to concentrate on my thoughts of lifting. Nothing happens. Let's try harder this time! Maybe that'll do it!?
I close my eyes (big mistake) and think about going up as hard as I can… and suddenly my body feels lighter, no, too light, I'm now rocketing upwards uncontrollably and and rapid speed.
Crash! My body hits a thick branch and I lose all concentration (thankfully), suddenly free falling. Woah Woah aah! Thud… I hit the ground hard. 'Cough cough' uuh, well, progress!
Two days pass, all focused on attempting to gain control of general movement… it's slow going but I'm definitely getting there! I think!
I'm able to (shakily) levitate in place, move forward, roughly, move backwards, even more roughly, somewhat move side to side? Ugh, I'm getting hungry… what the hell am I supposed to eat?
My stomach growls suddenly, and in a stroke of luck that in all likelihood presents a bad omen for what my luck draws next, a berry about the size of a small fist, a child's of course not an adults, falls out of a tree right in front of me!
Huh, well that's awfully convenient! I think cautiously, lucks never been on my side, what if this is poisonous? As I pick it up with my small three clawed hand. Well, I'm about to starve I guess I can't be too picky, as I bite down.
Mmmmn… it's juicy, sweet, with a hint of some kind of peppery spice, though only a hint. Absolutely delicious, now this may just be because I haven't eaten in two days, but man is that satisfying!
I look to the tree which dropped the fruit in question, not quite satisfied with just the one berry. I'm in luck! There's quite a few here! I carefully pick two or three more, leaving plenty for whoever else happens upon it. What? I'm not greedy! I tear right into my delicious first meal since first waking up in this body, finally feeling somewhat satisfied. Hmm, I should probably look for some shelter huh? I've been lucky that it hasn't rained so far, I'm probably in Hoen right? I'm a latios after all, and from what I remember from all the media, the weather here is atrocious!
I idly float along, trying my best to maintain about three feet of air between myself and the ground, and roughly plod along the side of a pretty steep cliff. Aha! I think to myself victoriously! A somewhat large cave opening right in front of me, just slightly elevated from the forest floor on the side of the cliff, only about a foot above it. Perfect! This'll do for shelter for now, no rain should get flow in even if a slight flash flood happens. I look myself over before entering, not wanting to track in any dirt, I peer at my silver and white body… wait, silver? Aren't Latios supposed to be blue? Well whatever, I'm clean, well, as clean as someone who slept on dirt and grass last night can be.
I make my way inside. It seems spacious enough. The cave doesn't extent very deep, only about 20 feet, but the roof of it seems to only reach about 10 or so feet, not too small, not too large that something could be hiding in the shadows or deeper in the cave. It's shaped generally like a somewhat round room, perfect for me.
Maybe I can get a fire started? I have plenty of dry wood, huh that's kinda surprising since I'm in Hoen… right? Well whatever, maybe I'm somewhere that stays dry enough for fire wood. Wait, why would I need a fire? How would I even start it? Uh I'm so stupid, of course I can't make a fire, you think I could rub a fire together with two sticks like some caveman with these short arms and small clawed hands?
Wait a minute! I'm a dragon type! Can't I breath some kind of dragon fire?
Nope… that didn't work. I have zero clue how I'm supposed to use dragon breath. Sure I'm a Pokemon, a dragon type legendary at that! But I have zero clue how im supposed to use pokemon moves. Why can I use telekinesis to fly but not breath fire?!
Well I should count my blessings. I have shelter, I can move freely, I'm alone, tired, kinda hungry, no no no those three aren't blessings! Ugh, I'm screwed aren't I?
1 month since transmigration…
Kalos, Vaniville Town, Mid Fall
A young girl of blonde hair, topped with a fashionable red hat, wearing a black sweater and red knee length skirt, taking a leisurely stroll through her admittedly small town with a small frown on her face, stops in front a a storefront window to peer at the variety of pokeballs being showcased to potential customers.
Sigh… she looks longingly at the others walking, taking an extra second to gaze at those with Pokémon stepping in line with them.
Umph! She stumbles forward as one of her good friends, a excitable young girl with brown hair shaped into something resembling like large rings of hair tucked onto the side of her head with long twin tails shooting out the side of each, roughly pats her back. "Oh come on, you're birthday's tomorrow! Cheer up! You're about to turn 14! You know that means only one more year before we leave for our Pokémon journey!" She shouts loudly for everyone in the square to hear loud and clear.
"Shauna!" The young girl reproaches with a red face. Clearly embarrassed by the sudden outburst. "I know it's my birthday tomorrow! You won't let me forget it! Yknow one of these days I'm going to end up deaf all because you can't seem to lower your voice even when I'm standing RIGHT next to you!"
"Oh come on Serena! If you can't be exited for your birthday, at least let me!" She somehow manages to lower to something slightly below a shout.
"It's just, ugh, fine! We'll celebrate my birthday tomorrow! Just come over to my house and we'll hang out, I don't want any crazy parties, just a few friends is enough, I can't stand large crowds, you know that, they make my head hurt."
"O-K" she says in a sing song tone, at last at a reasonable volume "but I'm bringing the cake ok!"
"Alright, fine, thanks Shauna, it means a lot"
Serena considers, though the slight frown is still barely present on her face
"Ok see you tomorrow!" Skipping away cheerfully, no doubt planning on ambushing her with a surprise party
Sigh "Why am I feeling this looming sense of danger at whatever she's planning" shaking her head at her ever too cheerful friend
Unknown forest, Mid Fall
How long has it been exactly since I became a Latios? Maybe a month or so? Ugh it's starting to get a little chilly, thankfully it isn't too bad.
My control over my movement has improved by leaps and bounds since I started learning how to use my telekinesis properly! Hell I can even move small rocks with my mind now! Sick! Well, it would be sick if I wasn't all alone in this damn forest!
Sigh… well, I guess I'm not completely alone, a few other Pokémon have showed up around me, some Fletching, some Buneary, it's too bad they run away as fast as they can as soon as they take one look at me… sigh.
Sure I've thought about leaving this forest. I mean supposedly I can fly as fast as a jet right? Well that begs the question, why haven't I? I'm glad you asked round semi face shaped rock number 3, I'm a FUCKING LATIOS! If I leave I'm gonna get caught so fast I won't have time to say Regigigas! I'm weak, lonely, helpless, and a probably shiny legendary pokemon… again I say, sigh…
I guess I'll just live the life of a cave hermit…
——————————————————————-
"""Surprise!""" Everyone shouts as I walk through my homes door unable to keep the genuine shock out of my jump scared face
"Happy birthday Serena!" Shauna yells excitedly, standing next to Teirno and Trevor, all holding just popped confetti pop cans
"Aah! You guys!" Serena exclaims in slight exasperation "I didn't expect you guys to scare me so much haha" her laugh trailing off, and surprised face being replaced by a small smile
"Well it's not a surprise party if you aren't surprised!" Teirno, putting his hand to his head "happy birthday! And before you say anything I know you said it should just be us, but we thought it might be fun to bring everyone!"
"Oh" worry starting to creep onto her features, as she peers inside her home to find… almost everyone from class that she's even remotely friendly with. 'This is gonna give me a migraine isn't it? Well they all came for me so I might as well try and bear through it and attempt to enjoy the party for their sakes'
Off to the side, looking at her daughter with a happy but somewhat worried face, Grace Gabena thought of the situation she had thought she had to agreed to, but had quickly gotten out of hand. 'I said yes to inviting a few people over, Teirno, Shauna, and Trevor, but this many is going to give Serena a few problems, I hope nothing happens to set her off, this didn't end well last time'
At about 5:00, just as the sun's light started filtering through the leaves on the tree's surrounding the quaint, but currently noisy house, a girl could be seen clutching her head tightly as she walks out through a sliding glass door 'I need some fresh air, while I'm happy they all thought of me, I've told them several times that I can't do crowds!' A tired look on her face, pain not letting up even with the distance 'I need to get away! I know! I'll go to my old spot in the forest where the Fletchlings are always gathering, I haven't been in years!'
Cutting through the small gap in the stone walls surrounding her neighborhood, with practiced ease, she makes it into a overgrown clearing and runs straight through a nearly empty, and eerily quiet forest
'That's strange? Where have all the Pokémon gone? There's not even any Zigzagoon or Buneary…' trekking forward, about 30 minutes later, she comes across a familiar berry tree, complete covered in Berrys and nearly untouched 'why aren't any Pokémon taking them? This tree is never so full…' grabbing a low hanging fruit and tucking it away for later 'one of mom's favorite snacks, she'll appreciate it'. Moving forward she comes to a large steep cliff face 'I'm close, but I haven't been in years, it feels different for some reason' a nagging feeling in the back of her mind is telling her something is there, but when she looks forward, she doesn't see anything 'why does this feel so strange, ah there's the cave! I wonder if my old stuffy I left last time is still there! It's been a while though.'
———————————————————————
Kalos, Small Cave near Vaniville Town
'Hmm? Why does it feel like there's something approaching? Is it a Pokémon? But they stopped coming anywhere near me.'
As the presence gets closer, just before it makes it in front of him, it stops, then, as he gets ready to run, a young girl cautiously looks into the cave from the side, she freezes in place instantly, the moment she lays eyes on him
'A human? Why does she look familiar? Ah wait how do I even begin to explain this?! My first human contact in over a month! I can't waste this opportunity!'
Completely frozen in shock, the moment she wistfully looked into her old forest hideout, Serena finally takes in the magnitude of what she's seeing
'W-What is that, it's so powerful! Wait! How can I feel that!' Eyes wide, she takes a step back out of slight fear, stumbling on to her backside as she trips over her own feet
'wait!' I try and yell out, again, only strang noises exit my mouth, that wont work, I cant talk with this body! Damn it! How do I let her know I dont want to hurt her!
Body language! I need to act passively, scaring her is the last thing I want right now.
As she stares up at me frozen in shock, fear and confusion, I slowly lower my hovering, and now my head down, the universal sign for submission right? I don't know a lot about Pokémon as they are in what my new reality may be, they always run away before I can interact with them, but I used to own dogs, and was somewhat of a general animal self taught expert (self proclaimed of course)
She looks up with slightly less fear, most of it being replaced by a look of confusion, but her body seems less tense, I hope I've communicated my non aggression clearly enough. She pulls her fist to her chest, eyes still wide, but she seems to be calming
"Um, Mr. Latios, you don't want to hurt me right?" She asks cautiously, looking around her for routes to escape, but not running yet
I slowly nod my head up and down, not wanting to startle her
"Oh, I'm sorry for startling you, you scared me too yknow" she says again slowly, looking for reassurance, and attempting to lower the tension of the situation
"Mm" I hum audibly, one of the few noises I can still make in this form
'Ugh how should I communicate in this form? I'm a psychic type Pokémon, I can try telepathy maybe? But how would I even go about doing that?'
Concentrating the best I can, I close my eyes and focus my thoughts on speaking to her
~h…o…~ I attempt to get through a greeting of sorts, but the girl jumps back in shock once more
'What was that noise in my head? Is it trying to speak with me?' Serena question herself, shock disappearing for confusion once more throughout this strange encounter of hers 'it definitely doesn't want to hurt me, is it communicating through telepathy? I've only heard of these in story's and online posts of second hand accounts of encounters, it's a psychic type right?'
It seems my attempts at communication failed. 'I don't know what I expected, even though I have the ability it's not like I know how to use it, maybe full words is too complicated, what about feelings!' Not letting my hopes be dashed then and there, I try reaching out once more, but instead of words, I focus on a feeling, one of safety
~*safety, curiosity, loneliness*~ in my attempt to simply show I'm not a danger, my other emotions leak out along with it. Feelings of curiosity at this line girl. Feelings of loneliness of being completely cut off from human or animal interaction.
'What's going on, is it projecting its feelings to me since it can't seem to convey words? Why does it feel so alone?' A small frown appears on her face, eyes slightly furrowing in response to this strange emotion she feels coming from the Pokémon in front of her
'Why is she making that face? Did I mess up again?' Sighing slightly, another vocalization I can still perform, something I guess is universal
"Are you telling me that I'm safe around you? And that you're lonely?" She asks quietly, but at a loud enough volume for me to hear
I listen to her question, knowing the answer can only be yes, 'did my subconscious feelings transmit to her as well as the overt ones? How else can she know Ive been so alone?'
I slowly nod my head up and down, the movement somewhat awkward, with my whole head seeming to bob up and down from the movement of my neck, still getting the point across
"Oh, well, will you be leaving here once I go back home?" She asks suddenly, I'm not sure for what reason, but I nod my head 'no' in response
"In that case, if I come back here another time, I'll still see you here right? If you're lonely, I can keep you company when I get overwhelmed and need to get away from everyone else maybe, only if you're ok with that?" A awkward smile on her face as she finishes her words
Realizing this is my chance to finally end my solitude, I nod positively a bit more enthusiastically than I'd like 'oops, still not used to this body, I feel a bit embarrassed to be so excited about something as silly as this'
A more genuine and brighter smile appears on her face at my nodding
She turns to leave, about to wave goodbye "I'm sorry, but I'm sure I've worri-" in a panic to stop her from leaving so soon, I do the only thing I can do and try to transmit more emotions to hopefully get her attention
~*panic-trepidation-need help*~ she stops suddenly, eye widening slightly
"You need help?" She whispers to herself, my much sharper hearing still picking it up. I wave my small hands in front of me in a gesture that would hopefully be interpreted as 'wait no I didn't mean it like that, don't panic' not sure how she would react as I feel I might have been too forward or coming on too strongly
"Oh, do you want me to help you with something then?" She asks slightly confused
I lower my body slowly, until my arms can reach the dirt floor, and try something I'm not sure will work. I start attempting to write in the dirt as she watches; I finish writing as she looks at the symbols in confusion
'What is he writing? I've never seen symbols like that before, is it some different language? Is he trying to communicate?'
"I'm sorry Mr. Latios, but I can't understand those symbols, I've never seen any writing like that before, are you trying to find a way to communicate with me?" As she asks me in confusion, all I can think is 'What a smart girl this one is, while I'm disappointed I can't communicate through writing, she figured out I want to communicate regardless!'
I enthusiastically nod my head 'yes' once more, this time making sure the movement is less awkward
Her face seems to brighten up in understanding and she continues once more
"Oh great! Hmm, I'm not sure what exactly I can do to help you, but if you want I'll try and find a way we can understand eachother better! How about this, I'll come to your hideout every day after Pokémon school and help out in any way I can, I'll even do some research on the side!"
Again nodding excitedly, she looks back at me in what I can tell is mutual agreement, deal made! I smile as best I can, or attempt to, she takes the gesture for what it is it seems
"Ok, deal! I'm really sorry but I truly do need to leave now, my mom and friends are probably worried about me, but I'll come back tomorrow alright!"
All I can do is nod 'yes' one last time and she smiles, turns around and waves goodbye for real this time. Maybe things aren't so bad after all
END CHAPTER 1