Chapter 1: Serena

18 Years Later:

You know, as my name implies, you'd think that I would at least get to finish a dream, but no! Unfortunately for me, I had a servine for a mom. She was quick, light on her feet, and more importantly, she wanted me up early, hence the surprise of a freshly-installed alarm clock at my bedside after a night spent procrastinating sleep, then, well, not doing that.

Anxiously I shot up and flung an arm in the direction of the noise. Pitiful, leafy slaps ensued until finally. The click! The alarm's loud, siren-like tone hushed down soon after, replaced by nothing but the distant chatter of bird-mon. "That's new..." I mumbled groggily and pushed the vibrant covers and sheets aside before sliding off the bed and onto the cold floor with ease. Having a floor made of ice that never melted was fun. So to was the ability to actually enjoy it without breaking my snout. Was it really made of ice, or just covered? I never really cared to find out. My entire room, in fact, is something that would compel others to ask similar questions. Along the walls were flowering plants of all kinds that never seemed to wilt. The flowers were supported by beams with little to no support, and not a single vase nor pot accompanied them. It's as if they grew from the walls themselves.

My bed was the same in color, full sized with a flowering headboard. It at least made some sense in its construction, but the chandelier overhead was far from it. The glass fixture was fixed to the ceiling not by a pole, not by strings nor screw nor bracket, but seemingly by the glass itself. I never really needed the extra light with the sunlight reflecting off the floor and all, but I kept it for my mom. The only other source of light I kept was a small bedside lamp for late-night wandering. According to my parents, everything in the room, save for a few modern furnishings, had been created by me when I was born. The whole thing was a bunch of romantic hoopla if you ask me, but nothing else could explain the curious nature of its construction. Save of course for my powers.

Reality was, seemingly, my plaything. At least as far as my imagination was concerned. With the flick of a wrist, I could turn a whole room into a jungle jim if I wanted, yet somehow I hadn't managed to conjure up a way to throw a punch. I was a true jack of all trades according to my dad. Such is to say, I'd be fun at parties, if of course I bothered to go.

I could spread ice out along the ground, grow flowers from walls and turn a straw bed into a complete bed, but as far as I was concerned, anything super complexed ended up exploding in my face. I never quite got it. Neither did my parents, but it was pretty fun to use...most of the time. You certainly wouldn't catch me in the gym lifting weights, nor on the battlefield for the matter. It did come in handy for sneaking around; however, along with the occasional prank!

Wearily, I padded for the door and tugged lazily at its faux-ice handle. Too tired to care, my chubby, cream-scailed belly brushed lightly against the doorframe as I scuttled through the narrow oppening, nearly catching my tail leaf in the latch as I waddled off down the hall for breakfast.

Immediately, the sound of my footsteps alerted my mom, the servine whirling around the moment I set foot in the living room. She was a loving snake with a modest smile. Patient to a fault, she'd never once raised her voice at me, and yet. When it came to waking up in the morning, she wouldn't hesitate to welcome me with a pail of water should I fail to heed my alarm.

"Good morning, Sky!" The grass snake smiled, sapphire eyes beaming as she moved about the living room broom in hand. She pressed her hands together in a polite manner, her vines skillfully maneuvering the tool as if they had minds of their own. A skill I had yet to fully comprehend. "You're up early!" She added, though I knew she'd been the one to set up the alarm clock. Either she expected me to sleep through her melodic wakeup calls or...actually, she probably would've been right. "Any dreams?"

I shook my head tiredly and leaned back to stretch. "Not really. None that I could remember at least." I sighed. "That alarm was more vivid than anything I can remember from sleep." I giggled.

"Well good!" She smirked, sitting the broom aside and retracting her vines. "That just means it works. School starts today, and I can't have you being late on your first day!" She held me by my arms and beamed a smile of pride. "My boy's almost ready to graduate! End of the year, can you believe it?"

I sank back from her grip, a prickling shyness overcoming my form. "Mom, please." I sighed, giving in as she drew me into a hug. "You mean my fortress of solitude. I'm telling you, no one wants to talk to me there, or even go near me in the first place! They just make fun of me, so why go early?"

"Just keep trying. Someone's bound to look deeper." She squeezed my hand lovingly before letting go. "You're a lovely young snake. All anyone needs to do is ignore those nasty rumors. Look for someone like that and you'll make friends easily. It's how I met your father." I looked away, glancing nervously toward the door.

"Right." She sighed. "Bad example, my bad." She lifted my chin. "Find the one person that will listen. Trust me, they do exist!" She insisted. "Once you do, show them a fee tricks!" She giggled. "You know. Like that thing you like to do."

"That thing?" I tilted my head. "I do a lot of things."

The servine lifted a hand and pressed a digit to my nose. In the same moment, something floppy... Two somethings sprouted from the top of my head. They felt fuzzy. Fluffy even, and suddenly I had a good feeling about what she meant.

"How do you even do that?" I brushed a hand lightly at the top of my head to feel at the fur of a triangle-shaped ear. Shapeshifting was a fun pastime of mine. While I hadn't had the best luck with friends, becoming something else almost helped fill that hole. It was as if I could become someone else. Live another life away from my own troubles. Dreams like those came with their own perks. Namely, the ability to talk to strangers without the fear of laughter. But, if I clung to something like that, I think I'd miss my mom. Not that it troubled her much as she effortlessly triggered my powers against my will.

"A mother's secret!" She snickered, gripping at a hand that now seemed much closer to a paw. "In all seriousness, get changed back and hit the road. You'll be late."

Reluctantly, I shook my head of my new alpendages and put on my best attempt at a smile. "Whatever. Maybe all the nice students go early." I admitted, if only to ease my mom's concerns. "I'd better get going if that's the case! Love you, Mom!" Before she could tease me any longer, I stole an oran berry from the snack pantry, bid farewell to the grass type and hit the road.

There were no other buildings in our quiet, flower-ridden meadow. Our house, a solemn, yet welcoming property fit with its own flower garden and maibox, looked just like any old house in Fermata City. By all means, if the city wanted to, they could build houses just like it all the way from the forest to the coastline, but my mother had friends in high places. Wanting to keep my ability a secret, the mayor forbade any construction south of the city, or so I was told. Not that it prevented the rumors from spreading.

Nonetheless, the house was hers. She'd moved here with my dad just after they'd gotten married. On the last date of their honeymoon, my dad surprised my mom with what was now our house. Ours, being my mom and I. Needless to say it was the meadow that made the surprise seem romantic, not the house...as small as it is. It was a great place to live regardless, especially with the constant changes that resulted from a creative kit with no concept of the word safety. The only downside? It was an hour out from the city, which meant waking up an hour earlier.

I wasn't about to conplain about the route; however. I'd always had a soft spot for nature, and the path to the school was teeming with it! Dew-drenched grass tickled at my feet as I began my trek, enjoying the vibrant sights of the honey-scented flowers that thrived within the meadow grass. Tall, hedge-like grass swayed gently in the wind on either side of a narrow, plush-turf path, while a thicket of trees loomed overhead in the distance. A small forest, at the center of which stood the artistic capital of the Meladi kingdom!

Bird-types chirped overhead as I padded along, pausing every so often to take a look at my surroundings. At this point, the surrounding grass was thick enough to be labeled a grassland, and I could spot the beginnings of the forest canopy in the distance. I paused to take it all in, letting the cool, norning breeze wash over my scales, bathing my snout in sweet honey-dew and smokey pine. Then, it stopped. I was still nowhere near the forest, but the chirping, both above and below, had ceased. To add to my paranoia, I could've sworn I heard the grash shuffle.

"So much for getting to school early." I groaned, glancing around nervously for the source. Seeing nothing but the same greenery and flowers that I had observed before was far from reassuring, but nonetheless I continued my stroll. I was far from fond of people following me. I mean you've got the normal, personal space reason...and then you have the possibility that someone could stumble across me using my powers. Solitude and teasing...that I could handle, but I didn't want to know what would happen if the whole town found out. The townsfolk might even blame my parents!

Regardless, I settled on the wind as the culprit continued my walk. Up ahead, the meadow changed drastically. Where before there had been nothing but grassland and open plains was now a mass of trees and twisting foliage. Tremolo Forest, as it was called, was at the edge of town, and took a good half hour to get through. To my right was a small pond, its water lying perfectly still and undisturbed. Its gentle waters glittered enticingly, as if to welcome me into a warm, end-of-summer dip. The thought of wading about the shallow water, sunbathing as a vaporeon before a boring day of school was tempting, but the risk of falling asleep was great enough that I couldn't risk it. If I was late on my first day, my mom would...

"Well, well, well. If it isn't "the nightmare". A whiny, partly teasing voice barked out from behind me. I twirled on spot, catching a glimpse of a familiar tail flame as a charmander fell into view, cocky smirk and all. "Oh, excuse me I must be mistaken. That's almost too cool of a name." The fire type snickered. It was a charmander alright. The charmander. It was Burn, the most annoying fire type in all of Meladi, and by extension my least favorite classmate. Accompanying him were his two "puppets", a plustle and minun named Spark and Flicker respectively. The two cheered him on for his supposed performance, to which he spent the next minute berating for "ruining his entrance".

Loathingly, I raised my snout skyward and groaned. "What do you guys want? I don't have the time. I'm just trying to get to school. Can't you at least, I don't know, spend time thinking about your ambush strategy? If you haven't noticed, I could just walk off right now..."

Burn just grinned. It was a crooked, twisted grin. One that didn't fit on a pokemon our age, let alone one of his stature. Even I was taller than the guy! "Oh really? Then go ahead why don't you?" He took a few steps closer. "Since it's so easy to escape, run off to school." He cackled. "As if we'd let you. It'd be pretty bold of a grass type to turn their back on a fire type, and I know you, Dream. You're smart, nightmare boy!" He sneered.

"What's with the rush to school, huh? It's not like anyone wants to be around you anyway! Even I had second thoughts about this confrontation." He smirked. "You can hide it all you want, but you're a freak, and everyone knows it!"

I winced slightly at his words. The guy was known school-wide for being all talk, but he sure knew how to hit where it hurts. Luckily, the fire type was too busy berating his cheerleaders to notice. "You idiots couldn't come up with a decent ambush? Are you serious?

"That's..." I tried to say.

He glared back at me. "That's what? A lie?" Burn returned a mocking grin. "Prove it!" The charmander closed the gab between us and gripped at my shoulder. Not that I could see the glare that undoubtedly followed. The guy was as clueless as he was rough.

"My eyes are on the sides of my head." I shoved the reptile away, taking a few steps back for good measure. My shoulder stung from where he'd grabbed it. The damn bully had pierced my scales! "If you needed help in biology, you should've asked. Take some notes. It'll help." I spat.

In an instant, the fire type's grin turned into a scowl. "Alright. So you think you're funny, now?" He took a dangerous step closer. "Alright then. Since you're feeling so charitable, how about you help me with my battle studies? I have a couple of new attacks that I've been dying to try out." As if part of a hivemind, Spark and Flicker surrounded me. That momentary lapse in judgement had been all they needed to encircle me, allowing Burn his chance in the spotlight.

Normally I wouldn't have cared, but the guy was unusually confident. Had he actually learned how to breathe fire? Despite his name, Burn hadn't burned a thing. Not even his coach could attest to it. He was all talk, through and through. He'd only managed to make the battle club through sheer force of will, and his attacks? They were all normal type stuff. Your run of the mill tackle and the like. They were strong, almost monstrously so, but no one ever took the guy seriously.

Nonetheless, his tone had gotten my heart pounding. Nerves were not what I needed right now! They made it harder to keep my powers under control, and the last thing I needed was for Burn of all pokemon to see me using them!

Sure enough, as Burn readied a fist, fire concentrated around it and traveling upwards, licking about the scales of his arm and up along his shoulder as a devilish smirk overtook his expression.

In a last ditch effort, I lifted my hand to block. Come on! Green water types! Are there any? Lotad? Politoed? I squeezed my eyes shut and let my magic do its thing. Not unlike a paw, my leaf-like hand thickened, lending mass to each digit without sacrificing form or color. I was cheating a bit. To my knowledge, politoed had yellow-ish paw-hands and green arms, but I wasn't about to let the loudest of mouths see what I could do! He'd tell everyone!

As Burn geared up for his attack, I felt moisture gather up at the center of my palm. Water pulse. I'd used it before just for fun. It was easy enough, and it had just enough pressure behind it to knock the guy back! Before I could properly condense it; however, a loud-ish growl erupted from behind burn, stopping him in his tracks.

"Hey! If you like fire, why don't you try using it on someone who can actually use it themself?" A vulpix gazed down at Burn from her bolder-sized perch. Snout lowered, hackles raised. The vixen looked about ready to pounce as Burn whirled around to meet her. "Or maybe you should stop playing with fire before you get burned, because you obviously don't know how to handle it. It's called fire punch, not fire shoulder!"

"Oi! Mind your own business!" Spark retorted, an involuntary squeak latching onto every word and making the plustle blush.

Flicker elbowed the plustle with a sneer. "Spark, you dolt! What's with the squealing? You a baby pichu or something?"

Burn glanced at his companions with a sneer. "Quiet you two!" He groaned. "Who do we have here?" He glared back at the vulpix. "Don't tell me Dream got a girlfriend." He spat back. "Whatever. Doesn't matter if your a girl. You wanna defend this wimp, then put 'em up!"

"Oh? Misogyny now?" The vulpix replied with mock enthusiasm. "How very manly." She closed in on the charmander and grinned. "Don't worry, I'll make it quick." Embers crackled between her teeth as she spoke, flames leaking from her muzzle, fur bristling with rage. "Last chance!" she barked.

"You know what? Wasting this chance on a grass type would be pointless, but you?" He cackled. "Fine." Burn unclenched his fist, allowing the flames to curl back into a ball within his claws, which he then launched at the vulpix who just, stepped to the side?

"Nice aim?" She eyed the fireball as it passed, watching as it crashed and puttered out amidst a pile of gravel. "Wanna go again?" She turned her nose up at her own suggestion. The sapphire-eyed vulpix didn't even wait for a response as she unleashed a torrent of flames that easily engulfed his ball of fire and went on to completely consume him. His two companions fled then and there, leaving a dazed and confused Burn to stumble to his feet in anger. Even still, she charged him, stopping just short of his face with fangs crackling with embers.

"You're up!" She faked a lunge, causing the charmander to recoil backwards into the dirt and scramble back to his feet once more, fear clear in his breath.

"W-whatever." He huffed, barely managing to choke down a whine as he turned to leave. "We're going. We have much more important things to do than mess with this wimp. Let's go." He barked at the plustle and minun, who'd just about left him behind. "Hey!" He clambered after them. "Get back here!" He hobbled off toward the woods, an audible snifftle accompanying his words. Whoever this girl was, she rocked!

"Hey." The vulpix approached me, waving a paw in front of my face. "Are you ok? He didn't get you did he?" She glanced off in the direction he ran. "He won't be coming back. Come on, spill the beans! Who are ya?" She giggled. By then, the flames had all but vanished from her muzzle, leaving behind a smile far removed from its former ferocity.

I shook my head in surprise. "Huh? Oh um..." I chuckled nervously and shoved my hand down behind my back. "Right, sorry. I'm Dream!" I coughed. "Err, umm... No, I mean. My name is Sky." I sighed. "And yeah, I'm ok. There's no way a fireball like that would've hit me either." I eyed the pit of gravel from before pitifully. The former attack had stopped smoking altogether. "I'm fine, alright?" She didn't seem too convinced about that last part. Who am I kidding? Neither would I.

She smirked. "Oh really? You looked pretty nervous there." The fire fox giggled. When I failed to join in; however, her smile fell. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Uhh..." I paused. "Sorry, don't worry about it." I flashed her a quick smile. "So... I gave you my name. What's yours?"

She held my gaze steady, as if she were trying to read my mind. "Two names doesn't clear anything up I'm afraid." She fell upon her haunches and tilted her head to the side, flicking her sapphire eyes left and right. "A snivy named Sky..." She hummed. "Everyone calls you Dream, don't they? The girls in book club seem to think so." She shrugged. "Alright, Sky-Dream. Name's Serena!"

The vulpix lapped at a paw and carefully flattened her remaining stray tufts. "You were wondering why I didn't mind my business, huh?" She shook her head. "It's called good will. We're all living beings. I couldn't just sit idly by, especially with Burn. I can't stand the guy, believe me!" She groaned. "Look. I don't like bullies, and you looked like you needed help, so why not?" She flicked her tails about blissfully. Her fur had a rosy tint to it, making her appear pink as opposed to orange, and her nose, rather than the usual black dot, was instead white, accompanied by flecks of white freckles about her cheeks. "Gotca problem with that?"

"No!" I coughed. "No, it's uhh. Thank you!"

"You're welcome." The fire type raised a pinkish paw and flicked my muzzle. "So, is Dream just a nickname or something?" She frowned. "Forgive me for asking, but I've never heard anyone call you Sky. Is this about those jerks at school? About the rumors?" She growled under her breath. "I just don't get it. I know it's all just made up, but why? Why come up with cruel rumors like that just to make fun of a classmate?"

"It's not exactly...made up. At least by the people at school." I smiled awkwardly. "Dream is my nickname. My parents gave it to me when I was born, but it kinda stuck around for the wrong reasons when I started school." I sighed. "I prefer the name Sky with people I trust. It'd be a pain if that one became the posterchild of rumors as well, but regardless there's truth to what they say. It's just not accurate, per se."

Serena stared at me as if she expected a 'gotcha' or something, but her expression fell once she didn't receive one. "What do you mean there's truth to it?" She frowned. "They said you caused a blizzard in the cafeteria." She argued. "Books turned into flowers, lightbulbs were stars and pictures moved!" She shook her head. "Come on. How do you explain that?"

I bent down and scooped up a pile of dirt and presented it to her. In the blink of an eye, the sand was gone, replaced with a white, powdery snow before her very muzzle. "This good enough for you?"

"What the... Snow?" Her voice cracked in astonishment as she searched my hand frantically for any tricks. "You're a grass type, and that was sand! How did you do that?"

"With my imagination?" I shrugged. Seeing that a short explanation wasn't getting me anywhere; however, I carried on. "Look, I don't know why or how, but I can just... do stuff like that. Whithin reason." I padded a few steps away. "Push myself a little too hard and things can get a little messy, hence the snow storm, and the books, and..."

"I get it, Sky, you can stop." A look of realization washed over Serena's muzzle. "So that's why..." Her expression twisted into a grin. "Wait, so... If you only allow those you trust to use the name Sky, then does that mean we're friends?" She flicked her tails about eagerly. "Come on! I know your secret!" she teased. "There's no backing down now!"

Oddly, seeing her this hyped to be my friend calmed my nerves. By all means she should've been freaking out about the snow that had yet to melt, but here she was blackmailing me into a friendship. I couldn't help but smile. "I suppose so." I chuckled. "Are there any other friends I should know about? Don't tell me it's just you."

The sapphire-eyed vulpix battered my side with her paw. "Woah!" She grinned. "Of course there's more, but you'll just have to wait. We're going to be late if we don't pick up the pace, and I am not going to be late on the first day of school. My mom would kill me."

"Shoot!" I held out my hand just in time to catch a pocket watch that materialized out of thin air, alongside a formal school schedule. "Umm...according to this schedule, school starts in...ooh, five minutes..." I summed up, looking at the watch. Serena looked ready to panic after I said that.

"What? Five minutes?!" Serena grasped at my shoulders, her sapphire orbs staring daggers into my own. "Sky, my mother is the principal! Please tell me you have a way to get us there on time!"

I shook her off and motioned for her to calm down. "Relax. I'll have us in our seats in no time!" I paused. "Or, uh... I guess the closet next to our class works."

She issued a blank stare. "A closet? Wha..." She frowned. "Wait, how'd you know we're in the same class?"

I flashed her the schedule before flicking it to the wind. Upon hitting a tree, the paper became an apple. "It wasn't my schedule!" I grinned. "Now grab on! I've never teleported two before, but we're about to find out how it ends!"

The look on her face told me she didn't want anywhere close to a teleporting snivy friend at that moment, but it seemed the prospect of having to face her principal mother was even worse. "If we end up in the girl's restroom, I am not saving you!" She took my paw and, with one last look at the forest, we vanished.