Chapter Twenty-Four - Fluff and Drowning

"Well, I suppose we can turn this into more training time while you're... otherwise occupied," Jazz said.

"Mhm hmhmm hmhmm mmh hmm eah hmmm mhmhm," Broccoli replied.

Jazz couldn't make out what she was saying since her face, and in fact most of her upper body, was currently buried into the side of a particularly large mareep.

The pokemon in question was taking it stoically, chewing on a cud of grass while sometimes turning to the side a little to inspect Broccoli's current status.

It was hard to tell if Broccoli was alright, mostly because all that Jazz could see of her was her behind--wiggling little tail and all--sticking out of the mareep.

"Buh uh huuuhn," said Choco from nearby.

He was currently buried to the behind in a juvenile mareep standing next to the herd's biggest. His little rear paws wiggled, and Jazz wasn't sure if she should help him or not.

She sighed. "Yeah, no, this is a wash," she said.

***

"A-azu," She cried out, but her momma didn't hear her.

She tried to cry again, but a wave came up and splashed her in the face. She coughed, choking on salty water. This was too much water. Water as far as she could see.

Home wasn't like this. Home was a space with a big river and momma and lots to eat.

She was so hungry. Hungry and thirsty and tired.

The water swelled, and she clung to her tail. It was the only thing keeping her afloat now. She thought she was a good swimmer, momma had told her so, but the waves since the big storm were too much.

"Azu!" she cried out between little coughs. Coughing was hard. It took a lot for her to cough, but she had to, there was water in her and it hurt. "Azu!"

A glint on the surface of the water, and she felt hope. It was a big floating thing. Metal, not another pokemon. She tried to swim closer, but that was too much.

"Hey, what's that?"

"A floatation device?"

"No, look, it's weird. A pokemon?"

"Toss a net over."

Azurill gasped, then sunk under the water as something hard and rough and heavy crashed onto her. She was shoved in, and even her floaty tail couldn't keep her from sinking.

Then she was pulled out and bumped against the side of the metal thing. "Well, damn, you're right, it is a pokemon. Never seen the like."

"Weird little thing. Reckon it's worth anything?"

"Hm, maybe. Toss it in the back."

Azurill was tugged out of the net. She blinked, trying to see what was happening. There were two humans, in sleeveless jackets and with wide-brimmed green hats. Momma had warned her and the other azurill about humans, how they didn't always understand the Ways things were done. They were dangerous.

But she was grabbed and held up by one of them, inspected before being dropped onto the back of their floating machine.

Azurill slumped. She was hungry, and tired, but now she wasn't forced to swim. Being out of the water made her feel so heavy... her eyes closed her eyes.

When she woke up with a start, it was to discover a loud splashing around them. The floating machine wasn't a machine. It had a large blue pokemon at the back. "Momma?"

But it wasn't momma, it was a pokemon that Azurill didn't recognize, with big human-like hands that gripped onto the boat and feet that were kicking so hard that water was being tossed up behind them. They were moving, and quick.

"Azu? Azurill?" What, what's happening?

The big plue pokemon looked her way. "Pol, poliwhiiiirl," they said. Hello, fish.

"Azu?" Fish?

"Pol pol poliwhirl." We are fishermen, my trainer and I, and we caught you. "Poliwhirl." You are fish.

Azu frowned. She wasn't a fish.

She didn't feel like arguing though, so she cuddled close to her tail and pressed herself in close to it. She missed momma, who was warm, and had big arms to hold Azurill in.

The next time she woke up, the boat was bobbing along gently. The Poliwhirl at the back was now sitting up on the edge of the boat, its legs kicking much slower. They were barely moving at all.

Azurill perked her head up. The sleep had helped, she was more awake now, though the hunger was all the worse, and she was so thirsty. Ahead of them was a sheer cliffside, with a few birds hovering above it. Long wooden piers stretched out alongside the coast, with some people standing on the docks and a few boats stopped alongside it. There were more humans there, with strange hats and some were holding onto long poles.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Heyo!" one of the men on the boat called out. "Look at what we caught!"

He reached over, and Azurill cried out as he grabbed her by the thin strand between her body and tail, lifting her up for the people on the piers to see.

"You caught a balloon?" someone asked with a distant shout.

"No, you idiot! It's some weird pokemon! Better than anything you've ever caught, you magikarp collecting moron!"

There was laughter, and Azurill couldn't help but feel like it was mean. She twisted around and took a big gulp of air, then she spat at the human holding her. A small, weak jet of water escaped her mouth.

Momma had been so proud when she had been able to spit a Water Gun across the entire river. Now it barely made the human flinch.

But that was all she needed. Azurill bounced hard off the bottom of the boat, then made it over the edge. She hit the water with a splash, then started to swim. She gave it her all.

Behind her, there was shouting and cursing, and she bobbed under the water on instinct when a ball of some sort was thrown her way only to splash into the water next to her. She continued to swim and swim. Once, she looked back and saw the poliwhirl chasing after her.

Their eyes met. "Azu," No!

The next thing she knew, the water around her was moving faster than she could swim... in the opposite direction as the poliwhirl. "Poli... whirl! Good luck! Fish!

She arrived at the coast a long time later, a spot where the big human pier led into a flat space with a few buildings and lots of tall grass. Azurill climbed onto the beach, then dragged herself forwards.

This wasn't home, she didn't know where to find food, but... but there was stuff to eat here. She stumbled into the tall grass, then gasped as she found a big, juicy grasshopper. It ended up in her mouth after she smacked it with a weak Water Gun.

She continued to stumble through the grass, pausing when she heard and felt other things shifting nearby. There were pokemon in this area, and she didn't have the strength to fight anything. Even the other azurill back at the river would beat her now.

Azurill continued though. The thirst was tugging her onwards.

She arrived in a spot where the ground rose, and she decided to follow it up. That led to her eventually making it to the top of those big cliffs overlooking what had to be the ocean. That was where the Big Storm had dragged her, wasn't it?

She shivered and kept away from the edge of the cliffs.

Soon, she discovered more human stuff. A fence. She wanted to go around it, but it went on forever. The grass on the other side was much shorter, however, and there were some pokemon there, big white balls of fluff chewing on grass. They seemed... harmless.

More importantly, they had big metal things with water in them to drink from.

"A-azu," she said with determination.

She walked right under the lowest bar of the fence, then stumbled ahead all the way to the water. One of the pokemon there eyed her. "Mareeeeep?" What are you doing here?

"Azu, azurill," she begged. I'm thirsty. Please.

The big pokemon looked at her, then nodded its head to the water.

She moved to the edge, wishing she had arms like momma to be able to climb with. Then the mareep gave her a shove with its head, and she found herself dunked in fresh water. It was a little stale, like the pond water momma had warned her against, and it was lukewarm from sitting in the sun, and it had mareep saliva, and it was delicious.

"A-azu, azu azu," she said. Thank you, thank you, thank you. The next thing she knew, she was crying again.

The mareep looked at her, the one who'd helped and several others. They looked to each other, then nodded. There were small 'meeps' and 'mar mars' between them as they spoke to each other, but Azurill was too exhausted to keep track.

Eventually, another pokemon came. It was like the mareep, but bright yellow and much, much taller. Some instinct told her that this one was a danger, but not to her. Strong, like momma. "Am, ampharos," they said. Hello, little one. You look like you need help.

Azuril hesitated, then nodded. She did, she needed lots of help.

The ampharos smiled, then extended a limb down to her. "Amph, ampharos!" Let us help you, then! We'll find someone to take care of you.

***