I was glad that the moon was relatively full tonight, and there was practically no cloud cover. It provided more than enough light for me after I broke through the canopy and into the open air. Flapping my wings as hard as I could, I headed for the telltale height of the broken-off broad tree that marked the Pidgey nesting area. I might have made the trip a little faster as a Pidgeotto, but I felt like now wasn't the time to go breaking the mold, and I was used to flying as a Pidgey. That, and I was still a little worried that there might still somehow be a way I could get found by those trainers or their Pokemon, so picking a transformation that was both harder to see and less likely to stand out seemed like a good idea.

I tried my best to remember where the Beedrill had been swarming in case I needed to show anyone the way back to this spot, but it was a huge freaking clearing that someone had clearly made relatively recently in the woods. The only reason they were going to get away with that was simply that it was fresh and no one had passed by yet. If the Pokemon Rangers, or the police, or whoever they sent out to deal with this couldn't find the big gap in the forest, they were so incompetent it might be better they didn't even try.

When I finally arrived, I swooped my way up to the highest nest, noticing that Pidgeotto was already staring at my approaching figure. Aside from her and the Pidgey I knew well, here were a few other Pidgey lingering in the broad nest that crowned the tree, looking particularly small and timid, likely freshly-hatched little ones. They all huddled around the bigger figure of the Pidgeotto and peeked out from underneath her wings, affected by the agitated state of their mother.

"It's a big problem." I dropped the matter on them abruptly, not wanting to waste any time beating around the bush. The longer it took to deal with the issue, the more time those bugs had to hatch and either get caught or combine into the growing swarm. "There's at least dozens of Beedrill gathering, and that's just the ones I can see. There's a group of trainers in an unfamiliar get-up catching them regularly, too, so I have no idea how many Pokémon they've got up their sleeves, but it's enough to scare me silly."

Pidgey glanced up at her mother, and chimed in quietly, "If it's really that bad, Mom, do you think we should move the flock further away? Just in case?"

A narrow-eyed glare and a firm shake of the head was her reply. "There's just as much risk leaving as there is staying. It's not so simple to just get up and fly away. There's other flocks whose territory we'd intrude on, and that would cause even more problems. And if the humans are content to gather up the Beedrill, then I'm willing to let them until some other humans come along to deal with them."

"Look, it's your tree and I'm not going to tell you what to do with it. I came here to tell you that I think it's bad and to collect my friend, what you do now that I've told you is none of my business." I retorted a little more sharply than I should have, but I was hardly thinking clearly. It was late, I was tired, I was hungry, I ached from pretending to be a rock for hours on end, and I've got a long flight back to Mable's pasture yet tonight. "Pidgey, I'm going back to tell Mable, she's the only one I trust to try and tell all this to that might actually believe me, and she can call the cops and it's out of my hands. Shoot! First day of tentatively trying out this 'adventure' business and I'm already discovering bug-swarms that they could write horror movies about!"

I was using the time to try and catch my breath, which warred against the rapid-fire pace of my speech, barely putting a pause between my words in my haste to get out what I wanted to say as quickly as possible. I was rattled, and all I wanted was to have someone stronger than me step in and tell me they were going to handle things for me. I was already having to forcibly restrain my wandering mind from pondering just how bad it would be if the pasture had to deal with a swarm of angry Beedrill. My mouth felt dry, and my breathing pace only picked up more and more.

A feathery smack to the back of my head was actually surprisingly welcome, and I peeked over at Pidgey as she had moved over alongside me. "Calm down! Stop freaking out! It's not that bad. Yeah, there's a lot of Kakuna in those woods, and if they all hatch? That's a big problem. But we saw hundreds of Kakuna, and maybe like a dozen of them hatched? They all aren't going to evolve before sun-up. And we already have an idea of how to deal with the problem, too! If we can get the humans involved, they can catch all the Kakuna and keep them from being a danger when they evolve, or spread them out to different areas so there's a bunch of small, normal-sized swarms. Mable will know what to do! Catch your breath, and then we'll fly back. I'll go with you." Pidgey tried to reassure me and settle me down, finishing up by staring at her mother with a timid gaze, as if asking permission.

Pidgeotto merely gave a short bob of her head, seemingly not having any objection. "You're a big bird, now, you can make your own choices. But if things get out of hand, you can always come back to the nest. You'll never out-grow being a hatchling in front of your mother." The bigger bird actually seemed to have an expression of approval, and I was slowly calming my rapidly-beating heart, my breath no longer coming in desperate gasps for air.

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My eyes closed, and I measured out my breaths. Don't panic. Don't think about anything. After I spent several long moments in recovery, I nodded and jerked by head toward the edge of the nest. "Ready to go?" I asked, and Pidgey nodded, the pair of us taking to wing and starting our flight back to Mable's house.

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After we flew for several minutes, I felt my body tensing up again despite my best efforts. I shook my head to clear it, frustrated with myself. Come on, it's barely been five minutes flying! We aren't even out of the woods yet, literally, so stop worrying. But this time, my reassurances in my own mind did nothing to stop the tension I was feeling in the base of my wings, the feeling of being watched making the back of my neck tingle. I twisted around, glancing to either side, and then eventually behind me. The wind blowing in my ears was the only sound I could make out, aside from the flapping of our wings.

Suddenly it was no longer a tension in my body, it was my instincts screaming at me as I saw a shadow block the moonlight across my companion for the briefest of moments. I realized I made a repeated blunder I was still struggling with despite all my flying practice. I still needed to learn to look up. "Move!" I shouted and shoved Pidgey to the side with my own body, feeling a pair of talon-clad claws almost as big as my entire body scrape painfully across my back. It felt like someone had drawn fiery lines across my wingspan, and I struggled to keep flying after taking an attack from something much stronger than me.

The figure was flapping its wings in an eerily silent fashion, and a pair of large red eyes stared at me, the comparatively massive bird turning around to face us after its dive-bombing fly-by. The horns on the bird stood out in the moonlight, and what light there was almost seemed to gather in its eyes. An intense stare aimed my way in a captivating fashion. It was a Noctowl, and at first I thought we had been discovered by one of the Pokémon of the group I had a run-in with earlier. But why would they be going out of their way to harass Pidgey in the middle of the night?

The direct, borderline greedy fashion in which it was staring at me after wounding me sent shivers down my spine. I hadn't ever before known was it was like to be stared at as prey. Not as a combatant. Not as someone to compete against. But as food. I almost felt numbed, but I tried to call out to negotiate all the same. "Wait!" I shouted, flying backward to give myself more space. The Noctowl didn't seem concerned about the brief distance I was able to retreat. If anything, it seemed to be noting the increased efforts I had to put forth to maintain my flight after the injury, and the patient expression it wore seemed to be willing to let me wear myself out. "There's an emergency in the forest! There's a huge swarm forming, we have to get the humans! Otherwise the whole forest could be at risk!"

"How dreadful." The retort came in a dull, vaguely-masculine tone. It had an odd reverberation to it, and I brought myself to full alertness. I didn't want to fall into any tricks, like being hypnotized, so I was focusing on the larger bird's chest rather than looking into its large, crimson-hued eyes. "The forest shall endure regardless, even if there is a danger to some who reside within." It was a casually dismissive remark, the sort of lack of concern one had for poor weather when they intended to remain indoors all day. Something that was completely and utterly beneath notice and unworthy of further consideration.

I didn't see any point in trying to persuade my opponent further. It wasn't going to be negotiated with, it was merely stalling, waiting for me to tire so it could make another move. It was bigger than me, most likely faster than me, and there was no way we were going to just get past him as it was. I felt heat rushing through me, and I realized I was clenching my beak so hard it was making my jaw cramp. Why? Why is this happening now? This isn't how it's supposed to be. We were just going to practice for going on an adventure, and now everything's going wrong, one after another. This... this isn't how all of this is supposed to happen! That stupid owl wants to eat me.

"I don't want to hurt anyone. I wanted to live out a fantasy." I muttered, almost to myself.

The remark drew a sneering expression and a short, mocking laugh from the Noctowl. "Don't we all? Don't worry, fantasize all you like. I won't stop you." It almost sounded... bored. Just staring at me. Watching. Waiting.

The heat running through my body I was feeling intensified, and I saw red. I was angry. Angrier than I had ever been in my life, in either of my lives. I was angry at things going wrong. I was angry at being attacked, at being stared at like prey. Above all, I was angry at myself for suddenly realizing how intensely naïve I had been behaving with my lackadaisical planning toward some sort of idealized adventure. I was so worried about people, I hadn't considered that Pokémon aren't just going to get along with one another. I'd been lulled into a false sense of peace by being surrounded by almost nothing but kindness since I arrived in this world. But Pokémon could be just as bad as humans could be, if not worse.

I began to shift back to my natural form, the white light of energy coursing over my body as I began to fall downward toward the tops of the trees below. I saw the astonishment in the Noctowl's eyes as he saw me change. Catching myself midway, I redirected the transformation into a form that more suited my intense anger, equipped to let me vent my feelings in the upcoming fight. Thin wings spread from my back as my figure enlarged, slowing my fall, and my arms extended out into long scythe blades. Green carapace shone under the moonlight, my figure etched with a mimicry of battle-hardened scarring. I was a Scyther once again, and I landed atop the tree, using my fluttering wings to balance on the uppermost reaches of it.

I aimed my right scythe upward, directly at the owl, while the left drew the tip horizontally across the air before my throat in a universal threatening gesture. "Thanks for teaching me something important, just now. Don't worry, I'm very considerate. I'll be sure to teach you a lesson in return."