The next morning I woke up to the sound of a bell ringing and a horde of fluffy pressure all but forcibly carrying me out of the dam to a chant of overlapping "Food!" from all the Bidoof. I guess it was time for breakfast, then. Once I was actually able to separate from the hungry horde, I followed along at my own pace, basking in the morning sun that was just cresting over the treetops and stretching myself out. "That was actually a pretty comfy night's rest. I'll have to figure out what's going to be my 'spot', though. It's not like there's any other Ditto around, so it's a little weird being the odd one out. Even the Azurill are at least a pair."

It wasn't lonely, by any stretch, but I felt out of place. Even with everyone being friendly, I still felt like I was just a visitor. And with the doubts I had been having about being happy here in the long term, I still wasn't sure I wanted to come around to seeing the pasture as my home, either. It'd be that much harder to leave. Still, not having anywhere to call your own home would be kind of... sad. Until I made up my mind on how I was going to progress going forward, I was likely going to just have to suck it up and deal with my confused emotions.

I was briefly jarred from my moping thoughts by Mable's cheery tone giving me a "G'morning, Ditto. Too sleepy to help sort berries this morning?" It was a friendly sort of teasing, as she casually handed me an allotment of the little blueberry-like Orans for me to settle in and chow down on. I gave her a nod, and a short 'Dit!' "Thanks!" in return for my breakfast. Her attention shifted through the crowd, speaking a little bit with each of the Pokémon in turn. The berries were pleasant as always, but I just felt too distracted by my thoughts to properly enjoy them. Once Mable moved on, I fell right back into the slump of overthinking.

I was growing more comfortable with my new body, and adapting to a new mindset, over the past couple of days. I knew I wanted to have a real, proper journey. That much I had decided for myself. And honestly, if I wanted to have any realistic shot of seeing all the amazing places that were out in the deeps of the wilds, I needed a Trainer. The support of a team around me, others who had my back when things got tough or even just to keep me company on the journey. The support of a Trainer themselves, with access to all the things that a lone Pokémon didn't have. A trainer could take you to the Pokémon Center, earn money through battling to buy food and healing supplies, handle the logistics of travel and be there for any issues that arose with other humans. So, what was I going to do about a trainer?

The kids that came to the pasture were one option, but in that case, it was likely that I would be tagging along with someone who might not have the same sort of grand journey goals that I did. I wanted to see more than just the nearest few towns, even more than the entirety of just one region. I wanted to see the world! A trainer with that sort of strength and freedom wasn't likely looking to take on new members to their teams, however, so it was more likely that I needed to find myself matched up with a young trainer who had suitably matching aspirations and we would have to work our way up to it, together. For the umpteenth time I wished I could just clearly speak to humans. This would be so much easier if I could get my point across clearly, without having to play charades!

Should I try and write? Would it be too odd for a Pokémon to be able to write? Everyone seemed to understand that Pokémon, at least some of them, were smart. Heck, some of them were smarter than humans were, if the Pokédex entries I half-remembered about examples like Alakazam and Metagross were accurate in this world. But, what if... no, no. Stop that train of thought. I need to get my point across, and the only way I can do it is by writing. Stop thinking about all the ways things could go wrong. They're not going to stick you in a laboratory and do weird testing on you just because you can write. They're busy trying to figure out things like Mewtwo, or something.

When I came to my senses and looked around, everyone else had already finished breakfast and wandered off to go about their day. The sun had actually moved overhead a fair bit, instead of barely cresting the treetops. Had I really just zoned out with my thoughts for that long? Alright. Let's file 'write out a plan' under my tentative ideas going forward, after I figure out exactly what I do want. For the time being, though, I needed to be active and to wear myself out a little so I wouldn't just sit around and think too much. Fortunately, I knew just where to go to get started on that.

I moved across the open grass toward the area the birds liked to flock, peering around and looking for my Pidgey competitor from yesterday. Honestly, I still had a lot of trouble telling apart different Pokémon of the same species, only really remembering that she had been slightly larger than the other Pidgey I had seen. The shine of energy coursed over my frame, resuming the Farfetch'd form I had been using for flight training. That should be flashy enough to get her attention and have her come over on her own, saving me from having to admit that I couldn't pick her out of the flock.

Sure enough, once the transformation finished, she swooped over and went for an immediate fly-by wing swat atop my head on her way to land. I ducked down sharply, feeling the barest tickle of feathers atop the crown of my head. "Guess you were ready for that, huh?" She seemed almost pouty that I hadn't let her hit me as a greeting, and I shuffled in place, giving my own wings an experimental flap.

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"Of course. You'll get plenty of more chances to hit me today. That is, if you still want to practice. Or did you want to try and have our mock battle rematch first thing, so neither of us can use being tired as an excuse?"

"Wow, you want to battle me again already? Are you sure a couple hours of learning how to dodge is going to make enough of a difference?" The cocky demeanor in the Pidgey was still apparent, but I had an idea that might help me level the playing field without resorting to going too far like I did last time.

"It's going to help some, for sure, but I actually need to go get something before we start if we're battling..." Under her watchful stare, I flew up to the upper reaches of a nearby tree and broke off a branch that wasn't quite as long as my wing, and would make a suitable baton. It may not be a leek, but all my instincts in this form were screaming at me that I needed to have something appropriate to fight with. I trusted they knew more about battling than I did.

"You went and got a stick?" The Pidgey asked, confusion plain in her tone.

"Farfetch'd normally have a leek sprig or other similar plant they use to fight with. I may not have the perfect example, but this should be close enough to let me put up a little bit more of a fight!" I held the stick out in a swordsman pose, aiming the stick in her direction.

"No, no sticks!" She declared, making my enthusiasm deflate slightly.

"What? Why?"

"Because you asked me to teach you how to fight like I do, dummy. I don't fight with a stick, so no sticks!"

Now my own expression soured. I hadn't really thought of that. I suppose training for general combat in the air was a smarter idea. I wasn't training to fight like a Farfetch'd, I was training to fight like a bird. Most birds couldn't use weapons. With a heavy sigh, I tossed the stick aside. "You're right. I probably shouldn't. Hang on. If I'm going to learn to fight like you, I should do this properly."

I let the energy of transformation course through me, shifting back toward my blobby form and halfway through changing into a Pidgey. Specifically, a copy of my training partner. It still used more energy to shift forms than I liked, but if I caught myself partway through, I felt like it used less energy than reverting totally back to normal and then shifting all over again. "That's not fair! You can't turn into me! That's weird! It's too weird! I don't want to hit myself!"

I rolled my shoulders in a shrug, spreading my shorter wingspan and adjusting to being a smaller bird. "Too bad. What better way to learn to fight like you than to do it as you, right?"

She seemed to accept the answer, but wasn't terribly happy about it, flying up into the air to get ready to start our practices again. "So do you even know how to fight in the air? And I don't mean by crashing into someone to hurt yourself more than you hurt them." She asked me, looking doubtful.

"Hey, dive-bombing face-first into an enemy is a valid strategy! There are several attacks based specifically around that!"

She merely rolled her eyes with an exasperated "Boys." as if that explained everything that needed to be said on the matter. "Well if you want to try and hurt your opponent without breaking your own beak in, try and put the energy in your wings, and push it out when you flap. You can do it without interrupting your flight, and you can even mess up your opponent's flight if you catch them off-guard. Don't crash, dummy, I don't want anyone to see not-me eating dirt!"

That was all the warning I had before she swooped at me, a sheen of sky-blue energy forming across her wings, leaving a vague trail behind her as she dove toward me. I almost thought she was hardening her wings to impact me with a Wing Attack, but she veered aside at the last moment, giving a particularly hard flap of her wings in the process. A surprisingly intense wind lashed at me, sending sharp pains through my own wings as what felt like the impacts of whips came from the air. I gasped a hissing breath, and struggled to keep my wings moving naturally. "What was that?"

"Mom says that's a Gust! Though, when she does it she calls it a Hurricane instead."

Gust had to be one of the most universal starter flying-type moves, so it made sense. I tried to channel the energy into my wings, as she had. The instincts were there, and the energy flowed across my body as instructed. When I swooped past her to unleash the wind strike, however, she merely twisted away from me and flared her wings as wide as she could. She caught the impact of my attack and used its force to lift herself higher in the air, taking almost any harm out of the blow. "And if you're good, then a sudden blast of wind won't bother you as much, when you're expecting it!" There she was, sounding all smug and satisfied again. It had been impressive, I suppose.

"Now, learn to flare your wings out to catch the wind, follow the flow! Just don't let it blow you into a tree or anything!" She called out, diving at me again with a renewed sheen of energy across her wings. Great, I get to be target practice again, already? My favorite. Still, I was determined that this time, I was going to catch her off guard at least once before our training session came to an end. Of course, that didn't happen, but the idea that I might get her next time was what kept me getting up into the air after being blown around. Laugh it up. I'll learn all your tricks here, before I beat you in that rematch!