Three weeks later

After the pride’s attack, mom’s training has changed considerably.

They haven’t bothered us since. Two casualties for a meal is just not sustainable, but the fear remains, and with all of us training together, mom’s attitude shifts.

Her encouragement is frequent and heartfelt, and completely unnecessary. We all know what’s at stake now. I usually stand to the right of one of my remaining two sisters, her right eye now an unseeing milky white.

We focus on gaining stamina, hopping and jumping for hours to make sure we can escape a dangerous situation. My body has become noticeably stronger, in no small part because I’ve grown a couple centimetres in only this short time.

Mom has yet to teach us another attacking move, but I feel I could get the hang of Quick Attack if I practiced for a few days. I take care to notice when I’m using Type Energy instinctually to help my movements, and keep track of its depletion.

Mom has, however, started teaching us another move: Baby-Doll Eyes. I… can’t do it. Or rather, I could, I think, if I really wanted to. But mom tells us to appear small and cute and… pitiable, and I just can’t bring myself to do it.

Is that really our best shot at surviving? To throw ourselves at the attacker’s feet and hope to look too pathetic to kill? I refuse to believe that.

I know Lopunny have the Cute Charm ability in the games, and thinking about it, I’m pretty sure I could accept… infatuating an opponent, making them think I’m appealing and they shouldn’t hurt me. But that feels different, somehow.

So instead, while my siblings practice flattening their ears and letting their eyes fill with moisture, I practice my kick.

And think about how to convince mom to tell me where the nearest Route is.

In these last few weeks, as Spring slowly gives way to Summer and the humid warmth of the forest forces us to sleep apart for the first time, I have often laid on my back and stared at the ceiling, thinking.

Although I have few memories of the Pokémon anime, I do remember Team Rocket’s talking Meowth. If I’m going to live among humans in some way, I have to be able to communicate. Luckily, Buneary and Lopunny have lips, albeit thick ones with not a lot of sensitivity, so I think I may be able to learn to talk.

For that I need to actually listen to people speak. Therein lies my current predicament. Mom’s not just going to let me wander off to go hear humans talk, not after what happened. So I've been planning the conversation we’re going to have when today’s training ends for days now.

I thought of bringing up the topic of humans, and the question that would inevitably follow. Where the hell had I heard about humans? I spent hours thinking of convincing lies, all on the extremely believable level of ‘I heard a couple Starly talking about it one time’. It took me an embarrassingly long time to change my train of thought.

Do I need to lie?

Now, as we finish our set of squats and prepare to leave for today’s grove, I sidle up to mom.

“Hey, mom.”

“Good work today, child. You all are growing very well.”

“Thanks. Listen, I want to ask you something… Do you know much about humans?”

“Humans?” She turns to look at me, seeming confused.

“Yes, you know I want to go see the world, and I should learn about humans before I go. Is there a place nearby that they pass through?”

“I… Yes, but, you cannot just go into the forest to look for humans. You know the danger! And, and how did you hear of this? No humans have come here since you were born. I have never mentioned them.”

She looks concerned now and, it pains me to see, a little afraid.

“Yeah, well…” I fidget, feigning reluctance, though the nerves are real, ”remember when I asked you to teach me to fight?”

Her gaze sharpens. “You have been different since that day. Focused. I thought the Ursaring scared you.”

I shake my head. “No, you inspired me. I want to be as strong as you, but… I remembered things.”

“Things? What things?”

“Human things, like… like great steel and stone human nests, and steel running-homes, and talking, and writing, and ways of counting, and so much more… A human life.”

“A… a life?”

Slowly, her expression shifts.

“You do not talk as we do. Even now you struggle, like your father struggled, like you need more words than there are.”

She takes a step back, away from me. I flinch.

With a flash of guilt, and a visible breath, she steps toward me.

I’m supposed to wait for her to work through things, but my curiosity gnaws at me.

“My… father?”

“Yes,” she responds, absently, “he is a Trained Pokémon. He returned to the Burrow this Spring, and he talked about these things you describe. Your siblings will meet him next Spring, hopefully.”

I nod, and wait for her to continue.

“You…” she gulps, “Are you my child?”

“Yes! Of course, mom, yes! I remember learning the foods and, and breastfeeding and… I care about you! All of you! I would protect you with my life-”

My words are a rush, and mom quickly puts a hand on my head. I shut up.

“Yes… Yes. You have. I am sorry, child, I did not mean that. I am just… confused.”

I nod quickly. “Yeah, yeah that’s okay. I think it’s weird too. I was drinking water at the creek with everyone and things just sort of snapped into place. But I’m still who I was. Just… more, now. And I know what’s out there, or at least I think I do. So I can’t just stay here forever. That’s why.”

We both take deep breaths, trying to dispel the tension. Only now do I realize that we’ve completely stopped moving, and my littermates are gathered around us, staring.

My smallest brother, white fur still short and patchy in places after it was burnt, speaks up hesitantly.

“Sister has… human powers?”

“I… kind of?”

“Woooah…”

Mom composes herself, and takes charge again. “Alright children, go on. There are Cheri to be eaten.”

We make our way to our favourite clearing, and after a while mom speaks up again.

“Child, if this is your wish, I will not stop you. Go learn of humans, of Trainers and Rangers and all their impossible things. But we will bring you to the edge of the Route after eating, and bring you back at dusk. The Ranger humans patrol the path, so it is safer than most places. But you must be careful. Please. Promise me.”

I try to convey my seriousness with my eyes.

“I will be careful. I promise.”

I spend the rest of the day refusing my siblings as they ask me to demonstrate my ‘human powers’, the requests including mindreading, shapeshifting, and somehow flight. Where in Arceus’ name they got these powers from, I have no idea.

-0-

The following day, after speeding through my after-training lunch, the whole family sets out east, into new territory. We cross colonies of Wormadam and Kricketune, a large flock of roosting Starly, and a particularly unfriendly gathering of Dustox, which mom pacifies with a few kicks. After about thirty minutes of careful walking, the forest thins, and I see the outline of a well-travelled path running north to south. Now that we know the way and the territories we’ll pass through know the score, future trips will be faster.

I thought I would be happy to get what I wanted, and to a large extent I am, but I also feel guilty for how the conversation with mom went.

But why? It went pretty much as I had hoped and planned for, and that feels like the issue. Did I manipulate mom into agreeing to this?

I convinced her, told her the truth about myself. I also planned the flow of the conversation beforehand. Start small, then ask, she’ll say no, tell her about the memories, reaffirm love, restate my dream in an inspiring way, now the initial ask seems small in comparison, and to say no would break the flow of the emotion at the time.

That felt wrong. But it would have gone the same way had I resolved to tell her about the memories in the heat of the moment, rather than the night before. Did it become immoral just because it was planned? Was I supposed to sandbag it to make the conversation fair somehow? It was still heartfelt. I can’t make heads or tails of it.

I decide to think about it later, and we stop just a few trees away from the path.

“Alright child, few Pokémon linger on the Route, since it is considered Ranger territory, and the few that do are too young to know better. Your father told me that this is good for Trainers, to allow them to catch Pokémon while they are weak.”

Mom’s words feel gross, like the Rangers are setting up traps for children so they can be captured when they don’t know any better. Was it like this in the games?

Not that it matters. This is how it is now.

“We will come back before dusk for you, alright?” mom says, cupping my cheek to look me in the eyes.

“Be safe.”

I nod, and my siblings wave goodbye as they turn back to the forest. They’re much better disciplined in unfamiliar places, which I’m glad for.

I settle in to wait for humans, trying to get the hang of Quick Attack to pass the time.

Not much else happens for the rest of the day, except that I knock myself to the ground with the inertia of my upper body. I belatedly realize I can’t just enhance my legs for Quick Attack. I have to use my core too. I’m confident I’ll get the hang of it soon.

It does cause me to sort of… Naruto run since my weak arms can’t keep up, but that’s a sacrifice I’m going to have to make.

On the second day, I’m consistently getting off short bursts of speed, and having fun super-hopping back and forth, when the crackle of a dried-out fruit snaps me to attention.

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An annoyed click of the tongue follows, and I finally locate the source of the sound. A Shinx. The same Shinx from the ambush.

We stare each other down, a bare ten meters apart.

My body tenses in anticipation, ready to dash as soon as he moves.

“You do not act like prey.”

His enunciation is deliberate, each sound crisp and properly finished before the next one begins.

I stay silent.

“I am not here to hunt you,” he says at length, and deliberately sits on his haunches.

I slowly untense.

“Then why the stalking?”

A languid shrug. “Instinct.”

“… Do you want something from me?”

“That river trick. That is not what Buneary do.”

“I guess not.”

A silence stretches.

“Your mother killed two of ours.”

My lip curls, a half-snarl. “You were the aggressors. It seems a fair trade.”

He ponders this, then nods. “Fair enough.”

…

“So?”

“So what?”

“The river trick.”

“You were hunting for food. I gave you something else to eat.”

He shakes his head minutely.

“No. You knew our lightning would stray to the water.”

“And why should I tell you?”

“There is no water here.”

“You’re too far away, I’ll escape.”

“Am I?”

“And I have mastered our kind’s control of our body. I can’t be paralyzed.”

“A bluff.”

It was.

He studies me.

“…What do you want?”

What do I want? This is an extremely dangerous situation, but also an incredible opportunity. I have in front of me my species’ prime predator, and he’s willing to negotiate. But I had promised mom I would be careful.

“Do you swear on your pride to keep any bargain we strike here?”

He straightens immediately, his mask of indifference cracking for the first time.

His golden eyes narrow. “…I do.”

This could turn out to be a Darwin Award level gambit, or the greatest move of my admittedly short life.

“Train with me.”

“What?”

“I can learn how your kind fights, improve my skill and gain experience in a safe way, and you can learn how our kind fights, and do the same. We both benefit.”

“You would help me practice killing your kin?”

“That’s the first rule. Neither you nor your pride attack me or my family again. But you are a predator, you must eat meat to live. I’m not happy about it, but I wouldn’t kill every meat eater in the world and call it fair.”

He gapes at me, disbelieving.

“You are not a Buneary. I am sure of it.”

“Second rule: no drawing blood. Bites and Scratches are held back, and a solid hit counts as a loss. The Thundershocks are as weak as possible too.”

“I know how to play!”

They would call it play.

“Third rule: you leave an hour before dusk. Agree to this, and I will tell you all that I know about your kind.”

“You are serious.”

It isn’t a question. I answer anyway, “Yes.”

He thinks for close to a minute.

“And you are strong enough for me to benefit from this?” He tries to sound indifferent, but I can see it in his eyes. He’s intrigued.

“Yes.” I will have to be.

“You will tell me what you know, and how you learned it.”

Hmm. Honestly, I don’t see the point to the secrecy routine. The worst he could do is not believe me. Or rather, the worst he could do is eat me, but I’m trusting my gut that he’ll keep his word. He seems suitably proud and concerned with his self-image to not want the oathbreaker label. Plus he kept his cool when we evaded him at the creek, so he’s not prone to frustrated tantrums. A miniature lion.

“Agreed.”

“…Agreed.”

Huh.

“Alright, we play.”

“Wait-“

Immediately he begins charging a Thundershock. Thankfully, it’s telegraphed to hell and back, the bands on his wrists lighting up well in advance, giving me time to hop to side and evade it with time to spare.

To his credit, he doesn’t pause and rushes straight for me, claws out for a Scratch.

I hop back slightly to avoid it, and prepare for a front-kick, now nearing a hundred hours in practice time. My right leg snaps out with a rapid twitch, hitting Shinx on the forehead.

He stumbles, then shakes his head. “Ow! You are supposed to hold back!”

I put my foot down. “Sorry. You okay?”

“I am fine! I do not need the concern of prey.”

“Sure… wanna go again?”

“Yes. Do not expect another win.”

Unfortunately, the following bouts prove him mostly right.

Now that he’s careful of my quick movements, Shinx rarely makes an attack that is bound to fail, and mostly waits patiently for me to come to him, only to deliver rapid counters. When I refuse to engage, he comes at me at a trot, feinting a Scratch often with the shoulder he’s just raised, waiting for my nerves to crack before his real hit comes.

There’s a tense moment when I focus on his raised paw, only for him to bite toward my neck. His tiny needle-like teeth touch the sides of my throat, and I freeze.

He too freezes, as if unsure of what to do.

Carefully, trying not to startle him, I turn my head, and look him in the eyes. As usual, his wide golden orbs study me, unwavering.

After an interminable moment, he opens his jaw, and I fall to my heels.

Neither of us mentions it afterward.

I catch him with a Quick Attack-Pound combo a couple of times, and notice he has trouble dodging sideways. His instinct is usually to duck or jump backward, and a hit from the side has him turning his body in my direction, and only then jumping away from me.

I ponder how to fix that while we rest from the latest round, only to notice the rapidly setting sun.

“Shinx, it’s time. Come back tomorrow.”

He looks to the sun, then scowls.

“You did not tell me how you knew.”

“I’ll be back tomorrow.”

He regards me silently.

“Hey, I put a lot of trust in your promise today. The bargain goes both ways.”

“…Tomorrow then.”

He leaves without looking back.

I exhale four hours’ worth of air.

Holy fuckamoli. I can’t believe that worked. Now that the adrenaline has faded, I can’t believe I actually did that. What in the Kentucky Fried Hell was I thinking? Except it worked.

Mom soon returns, the gaggle of my littermates in tow. She breathes a sigh of relief when she spots me.

“So? How was it?”

“No humans. I got some practice with my moves. I think I figured out Quick Attack.”

“That is great! And this is only the first day. Soon it will be tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”

I join my siblings, and head home.

-0-

“I should what?”

“Stand with your legs further apart. You have difficulty dodging to the side, since your legs are made to run forward. Your spine is flexible, but you don’t always have time to turn, as you saw yesterday. But if you open your stance more, your legs will be at an angle with the ground, and pushing up with one side will move you sideways too. It will probably feel weird at first, but it should let you evade faster.”

I manage to halt my excited explanation and observe Shinx, as he gains a thoughtful look.

“I had thought to train with my tail to guard my flanks after yesterday.”

“Oh, yeah that’s good too. Why not both.”

He nods to himself. “Both.”

Today feels like the first day of proper Summer in Eterna Forest. The sky is clear, the air is dry, and the wind didn’t show up for work. Our improvised performance review begins as soon as Shinx and I reconvene at the Route’s edge, and it looks like he’s as eager to resume as I am.

“Now you.”

“Me?”

“How many real moves do you know?”

This shift toward me really shouldn’t have been surprising, but somehow is.

“Uhh… two?”

“…I know six.”

Wow. That’s kind of depressing. ”What are they?”

“Leer, Scratch, Tackle, Thundershock, and Charge. Father says I am close to learning Bite.”

“Well, I’m just a Normal type, there’s not a lot I can really do.”

Except that's not really true, is it? Buneary and Lopunny can learn all kinds of moves, from elemental punches to Fighting moves, Flying moves, even whatever the hell Mirror Coat is. Since I gained these memories, the specifics of Pokémon here have proven pretty accurate, so I'm relatively sure I can learn that too. My musings are interrupted when Shinx speaks up.

“That kick is practiced. It could be a move. Why is it not?”

Good freaking question.

“I’ll ask mom later.” And start my own long overdue investigations on the nature of Type Energy.

“Take care not to lose your value as a training partner. Neither of us want that.”

The lines he probably heard from his father lose a lot of their edge when delivered with his kitty voice, but I know better than to say that.

“I’ll make sure of it.”

The next couple hours pass much as they did yesterday, until the sound of footsteps gives us both pause.

Around the bend in the Route comes a lone boy, looking about ten years old, decked all in blue, and excitedly peering into the treeline. Most bafflingly of all, alone.

“Hellooo!? Cool Pokémon!? Come join me on an awesome journey!”

His words are remarkably similar to English, like a local dialect or something, which gives me great hope for the future.

He walks through the path without a care in the world, and Shinx gains a calculating look.

“Humans are said to be rich in iron. This child looks weak. It is important for a future Luxray to eat red meat and drink red blood, with much iron in it.”

How does he know this? No, that’s not important right now.

“Shinx!” I hiss, “you can’t just eat a human child!”

“Why not? It was not one of the rules.”

“Humans don’t let that kind of thing go! This place would be crawling with Rangers in minutes!”

“And how would you know?”

I’m about to respond when I’m hit in the head with something.

The last thing I see before red light envelops me is Shinx’s startled expression.

Then darkness.

-0-

When I next open my eyes, I’m in a field of windswept grass dotted with flowers. The sky is clear as I look up, and the sun is lower in the sky. It somehow feels like it’s earlier in the day, rather than later. The trees in the distance are not the ones from the forest. Where…?

A cry breaks me from my confusion, and I look across me to see a Starly puff up at me in aggression.

“Let’s go! Get ready to lose!”, he squeaks, and only then do I notice the young girl standing behind him, pokéball in hand.

“Come on Buneary, we’re gonna win the first fight of our adventure!”

I turn around to see the boy that chucked that ball at me. Everything suddenly makes horrible sense.

No.

I quickly turn to the Starly, already looking poised to dash at me. “Listen, I don’t want to fight you. Just wait a second while I explain to my… to him, okay?”

“We fight now! What, are you scared?”

“No, I-”

“Starly, Peck!”

“Tackle him, Buneary!”

The bird jumps towards me, beak glowing with energy, and I hurriedly hop sideways as far as I can.

“Starly, stop! I’m not fighting you just give me a minute-” ”Quick Attack, Starly!”

This time I barely manage to fall backwards in time for him to pass over me in a rush of air.

“Buneary what are you doing? Tackle him!”

I flip to my stomach and push myself up to my feet by unrolling my ears, looking frantically around. Trees in the distance to my left, maybe a hundred meters out. A town to my right, closer, small houses with colorful rooftops.

I run for the trees in a rush of Quick Attacks.

“Buneary, no! Come back!”

I look behind me just long enough to see the boy raise a hand with a pokéball in it. Was he wearing a red shirt before?

“Return!”

Wait no, stop! No no no no-A red light envelops me, and I’m back in the darkness.

-0-

I emerge in a sealed room. No windows, two doors, one on either end of the room, emergency exits. I’m too small to reach the handles.

“Come on Buneary, be brave, okay? We can do this!”

I look back to the boy. He’s wearing a yellow shirt.

How long has it been?

“Ready, go!”

“Buizel, Water Gun!”

“Dodge!”

I jump to the concrete wall of the room, then again into the air, only now taking in the rest of the cramped space. A bare concrete rectangle with a depression for a sandpit where rough lines are marked in white. The Buizel stands on the other side of the sandpit, spewing water onto where I was barely a second ago, in front of another young boy, who looks on excitedly.

“Again, Water Gun!”

“Tackle it!”

I look down towards the Buizel, realizing I’ll fall on her before she can aim up at me. Sorry about this. I extend both feet at the moment of impact, launching the Buizel’s skull into the dirt. Before she can get up, I extend my ear and send a Pound into her gut.

She lays on the ground, moaning.

“I’m sorry, I…” I can’t think of what to say.

“Buizel! Are you okay?”

“Yes! Great job Buneary, I knew you could do it!”

I turn to the boy quickly and thrust my hands out in a Stop! motion. I try to speak, to say ‘Wait!’, but my mouth refuses to cooperate. All that comes out is a shrill “Aaaiieet!”

“Yeah! Now we’re really gonna show Travis on Monday, get ready!”

Monday

I screech, only for a red light to envelop me again. Back in the ball.

-0-

I’m in the field again. It’s a cloudy afternoon now. The boy is wearing a white shirt. In front of me is a Bidoof, another kid behind him.

“Go!”

“Come on Buneary, show him how strong we are! Tackle it!”

“Rollout, Bidoof! Squash it!”

I jump toward the boy immediately, grabbing his leg and trying to force my mouth to form words.

“Wait, no! We’re fighting Buneary! Come on.”

I hear the Bidoof start to roll behind me.

I hop to his shoulder, away from the field, but he flinches and I awkwardly land on his head.

“Aaaah!” His reaction is to grab me with both hands and throw me away, back onto the path of the Bidoof’s Rollout.

I barely avoid being flattened by rolling sideways on the grass, my heart hammering in my ears.

“Come on Bidoof, get it!”

The beaver swerves around and comes in for a second pass, faster than before. My limbs don’t respond fast enough.

He trips over a rock hidden in the long blades of grass, falling flat on his back.

Before I know what I’m doing, I mount his stomach and start punching as hard as I can. He tries to roll onto his belly but I don’t let up, hammering his face in Frustration until he stops squirming.

Bidoof dissolves into red light, and I fall to the grass below.

“What the hell was that?! Your Pokémon’s crazy!”

“Shut up, Travis! Buneary’s just too strong for your weakass Bidoof!”

“That’s not a trained Pokémon, that’s a crazed animal! You’re the worst trainer I’ve ever seen!”

I rise to my feet, my breathing fast and shallow, barely hearing the children’s shouting.

“Screw you! I’ll show everyone how good I am!”

I stand there, in a daze, only now comprehending what I’ve done.

“Come on Buneary, we don’t have to listen to losers. We’ll show Julia how good we’ve gotten.”

Oh God.

I freeze for a second, unsure whether to turn to the boy or to run, but I’m enveloped in red light. Back in the ball.

-0-

It’s morning again. The field is the same as the first time, and in front of me is the same Starly.

Slowly, I turn to the boy. His shirt is red.

Can’t run.

Can’t talk.

“Come on Buneary, let’s crush them this time!”

Fight. Red light. Back in the ball.

Fight. Red light. Back in the ball. Fight. Red light. Back in the ball. Fight. Red light. Back in the ball.

I’m screaming. I’m on the ground, screaming until I gasp for air, when hands grab onto me.

I kick, punch, squirm, but they won’t stop.

LET GO

I bite. Suddenly another scream joins mine, and I fall to the ground. I sprint for the woods, a frenetic pace that leaves me heaving in seconds, but I can’t stop.

A red light envelops me.

NO

Back in the ball.