“Ugh.” David rubbed his eyes, smudging crust against his skin. The squawking continued, each burst of noise accompanied by a throb from his brain, informing him that he’d stayed up too late with Venonat last night.
“Cloudburst?” David yawned, muffling his own words. “What’s going on?”
The fabric of his tent was bright orange verging on yellow. He reached out, searching for the zipper. Cloudburst let out a slow squawk. She was annoyed. So was he.
“What time is it?”
The tent opened with a hiss and bright sun blurred his vision. Groaning, David blinked suddenly damp eyes. The prairie became visible one spot at a time. Far too much yellowish grass, Cloudburst, Venonat’s pokeball, a tall tree with an expansive canopy, more grass, Cloudburst, another tree... wait what?
David rubbed his eyes, pressing in until there was a faint popping sound. He looked again, blinking furiously.
There were still two Pidgey outside his tent. One beside Venonat’s Pokeball, the other a little further away. But they weren’t just any Pidgey. David’s eyes widened in miscomprehension.
There were two Cloudbursts outside his tent.
Now, David wasn’t the best at identifying Pokemon. He would admit that to anyone, but he knew Cloudburst. Spend enough time with someone and you’d notice the small things even if subconsciously. When met with a doppelganger, your brain rebelled, shouting inconsistencies until you reached that uncanny valley level of unease. It was their posture, the step with the wrong foot forward, the lack of recognition in their eyes, the odd tilt to their smile, the unfamiliar freckle, the wrongly placed wrinkle.
He got none of that while looking at these two Pidgeys. They were both the same, from their height to the uneven line where cream feathers met brown on their wings. Both had a broken feather on their left breast, a mark from training with Venonat yesterday. There were two Cloudbursts in front of him, identical from the claws digging into the dirt to the tousled crest feathers.
“What the...” David blinked furiously even as he pinched himself.
One of the Cloudbursts hopped towards him, landing unsteadily. The other, who was closer to Venonat’s pokeball, screeched and spread her wings out. The movement clarified things. Mirror images though they were, the two Pokemon moved differently. It was like a reflection in water changing as waves swept past.
“Cloudburst, what’s going on?” David asked the Pokemon closer to him and Venonat’s pokeball. Who was this other Pokemon that looked exactly like her, and why hadn’t she attacked them yet?
A sibling? A twin lost a birth? Could Pokemon have twins? Two Pokemon from a single egg, or two eggs laid at once?
“Piiiiiii-dgey!” She hopped towards the doppelganger.
The other Pokemon let out an excited chirp and hopped closer to David instead of meeting Pidgey. They fixed him with their eyes — Cloudburst’s eyes — and the black iris shimmered gray.
Cloudburst squawked.
A shiver worked its way up David’s spine.
The doppelganger let out a shrill and began to waver. Its tail feathers and wingtips collapsed.
“What the fuck?”
The Pidgey melted, outer extremities first, but the effect rapidly moved towards its center. There was no blood or bone, but David’s stomach twisted as he watched Cloudburst disintegrate in front of him. He glanced to the side to reassure himself, towards where she buffeted her wings at the mess, beak snapping in the air.
Is this a new Move? He looked back at the collapsing mess. What did you do Cloudburst?
The mass drifted out across the ground as it lost cohesion. Yet, it didn’t seep into the ground or flood out like a liquid. Colour began to blend together, cream and black feathers fading to a gray as a bloody red faded to pink.
Wait.
“Pidgey.” Cloudburst folded her wings.
The mass began to move. A hole formed and rose in the air, the pink-gray mass collecting together. The mouth opened and closed, making a noise halfway between a pop and a clown horn.
“Ditto?” David asked in confusion. It was the transformation Pokemon. It had no evolutions, but could use a Move that let it become any other Pokemon and learn their Moves.
The pink-gray blob wobbled and slid closer to him.
Cloudburst squawked loudly, flapping her wings with just enough energy to send a strong breeze the wild Pokemon’s way. The Ditto stopped, its body rippling under the wind. It wasn’t quick, having only traveled a foot closer.
David looked back and forth between the two Pokemon. It was too early for this.
“Cloudburst, what’s going on?”
The Ditto reformed itself, ‘standing’ up and making another of those popping noises. Cloudburst spread her wings threateningly. The Ditto didn’t move any further.
David was stuck at the edge of a standoff without being able to understand any of the negotiation. He ran a hand down his hair, still messy from sleeping. “I’m going to go wake up. You two sort this.”
He turned, ignoring the next pop, and Cloudburst’s slow, put-upon squawk. It was a reflection of how crazy this world was that he could turn his back on the situation. This wasn’t at the top of the list for weird things to happen to him. Cloudburst could handle it. If she hadn’t started a fight with the wild Pokemon yet, there was probably a reason for it. David was not going to get in their way.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The two Pokemon continued to communicate while David dug through the tent for breakfast supplies. They didn’t stop as he prepared the food. He took the time to take down the tent while he waited, knowing that setting food out for Cloudburst was unlikely to make the situation any better.
Fifteen minutes later, Cloudburst hopped over and shot him a dirty look before pecking at the pouch that held her food. The Ditto slid across the ground towards them, but stopped a few meters away from the larger Pidgey. It did not transform into her again.
“All good?” David asked, rising from where’d he’d been waiting out the two Pokemon’s talks.
Cloudburst batted at the pouch, squawking with irritation. The Ditto made another popping sound.
“Fine.” David served her, then himself food.
The Ditto deflated a little as they both ate. It was hard to guess the Pokemon’s size as it was always moving, but he had been watching it for a while. If he had to guess, it was actually quite small, perhaps the size of a honeydew melon if gathered in a ball. That was tiny for a Pokemon.
“Are you a baby?” He wondered aloud.
The Ditto rose up, seemingly excited to be addressed. It made another popping noise.
David looked down at his meal, then at Cloudburst’s pecking bites. He felt a little guilty. His breakfast mush, a mix of grain and water, was not going to be very good for a Pokemon, but Cloudburst was not about to share. Scooping a bit up with his spoon, he tossed it towards the wobbling Ditto.
The wild Pokemon began popping in excitement, falling on the thrown food.
Cloudburst spun her head at the noise. She watched the excited baby Pokemon for a moment before glaring at David and shifting her feathers. He could feel her judgment.
“They’re just a baby,” David protested.
She tossed her head and returned to her meal.
The Ditto rose up into the air again. All the mushy grain was gone. It made a popping noise at David.
Oh crap.
-.-
As they hiked through the day, the air grew saltier. The winds rose as well, powering over the plains and brushing the tall yellow grass back. The sea beckoned, and with each step a little excitement grew in the team.
With the wind against them, David didn’t feel the heat as badly, though sweat still gathered on his brow. It was the effort of walking up an incline, though faint. When he turned around he could see quite a distance across the plains. The occasional dark green dot of a tree was the only interruption in the landscape, which stretched out to a hodgepodge of colors from marsh and forest at the edges of his vision.
Above Cloudburst circled, seeing far more from her heights with eyes that were designed for this kind of work.
“Nearly there!” David shouted up, wiping his head with his forearm and setting off again.
As the minutes passed Cloudburst began to fly lower, gliding until she was barely at David’s head height. It was more difficult to remain at this level, but after so long in the marsh forests, she knew this kind of flying well.
David’s legs began straining as the inclination rose ahead. His steps quickened. The crest of the hill was ahead, and in the wind shadow of this peak, David could feel that they were nearly there.
Cloudburst’s wingbeats became easier as his steps grew heavier. She cawed at him, amused as his breaths became pants. David made a face at her and pushed on. He could hear crashing waves. They called him.
The top of the hill was bare aside from the occasional rock. Nothing grew there so exposed to the elements. The dirt was dry and sunbaked. Occasionally, a clod would break off and be carried away.
His head grew level with the crest. Cloudburst’s caws became a high pitched shrill as the sudden return of the wind took her by surprise. David wanted to laugh, but he didn’t have the breath to. His steps were heavy, which was good as he reached the top and the world fell away. This was not a hill, but a cliff.
Beneath the sea gleamed. It was a beautiful light blue today. Crashing waves caught the sun and shone in a cross-hatch pattern that carried on to the horizon. A wide expanse of white bubbles engulfed the base of the cliff. It seemed to reach out nearly as far away as he was.
David stood there in peace for a second before the wind noticed him. It shouted its surprise, pulling at his jacket and inflating the sides. He didn’t struggle to breathe, but could feel the wind trying to steal his breaths away. There was nothing else to do but laugh.
“Piidgey!” Cloudburst called in determination. She powered her flaps, struggling against the breeze. She was close to him, but not quite at the crest. He’d reached there first.
“Can you feel it?” David shouted back, lifting his hands up to cup the wind. “The ocean?”
Cloudburst squawked, pushing further. David could feel the strain. She drew level.
David laughed again.
Cloudburst chirped her victory. She pressed forward, using powerful beats to propel against the wind. She crossed over the edge.
David felt the panic. “Cloud?”
A blast of wind caught her right wing. She twisted with it, but that put her out of shape for the following gust from the front. She began to spin.
His eyes widened. His hands began to move.
Cloudburst shrieked. It was a horrifying shrill noise, full of confusion and fear. She began to fall, wings flapping desperately, but failing to gain purchase as the wind raged. The tips of her feathers began to glow lavender. It didn’t help.
The cliff edge rose past her. David felt the panic rise. A gust struck again, throwing her towards the rocky wall, and then the fall below.
David clicked the button, hand thrust forward. She burst into light, but he couldn’t look away. When he felt the weight and movement in the pokeball, he retreated, heart racing from the edge. A good ten meters down from the crest, he released her.
It was all that fear from her first flights and tumbles all over again.
“Cloudburst! How are your wings? Are you-”
Squawking anger, she took to the air, wings already glowing as she launched herself up. Here in the shadow of the hill, there was nothing to hinder her speed.
He saw her rocketing back to the cliff edge and began to run. “Cloud!”
She crossed over.
“Cloudburst!”
This time she got further out, nearly five meters, past where he could see. It made his stomach drop. His tired muscles squeezed more speed out of his legs.
He heard the shrill of fright before he could see her. Pokeballs didn’t work through solid material.
When he reached the peak, her pokeball was outstretched, and he clicked as soon as he saw the uncontrolled blur of feathers a-fall. He held the ball shut with both hands while he descended this time. Cloudburst raged against his control, the pokeball pulsing in his hands. When she stilled, David took gulping breaths and released her.
Cloudburst screeched as she was released. She threw her wings wide and launched herself into the sky.
“Stop!” David ordered.
She faltered, but flew forward another meter. A gust smashed into her, and her wings didn’t sweep to match the challenge. Cloudburst didn’t lose control, but the wind carried her back towards David. Gliding down she landed by him. Her wings sagged, exhausted. Her breast rose and fell in large gulps.
“Cloudburst. What was that? You could have been hurt.”
With a flap of her wings, she hopped up and pressed the outstretched button of her pokeball herself, disappearing in a flash of light.
David listened to the howling wind and crashing waves for five breaths before screaming.
“Fuck!”
Palming Venonat’s pokeball, David set off. He wanted to get as far away from the cliffs as he could before nightfall.