Mister Patel's lecture on the utility available to a Ditto felt like it was almost designed to kick me into gear and get to work. After all, I hadn't branched out of trying to learn new things, and just relied on a transformation that I had grown used to and got the job done for just about anything I wanted to do. It didn't help that Bibarel was one of the only Pokémon around that actually had hands. While my transformation's instincts had followed how I was supposed to move when I had a brief, unfortunate stint as an Aron, my brain just struggled to keep up with having to move myself around on all fours. I kept wanting to lift myself up and change the posture, even with my body telling me everything was fine the way it was. That likely wound up being a big part of the reason I was bashed about so readily. I just wasn't used to listening to instincts that clashed against what I was used to.
And yet, considering I was wearing myself out so quickly when I did my transformations, it made me not want to experiment. What if I ended up wasting a transformation and needed it later in the day? Sure, this place was nice, but that pessimistic voice in the back of my head kept telling me that I needed to be ready. Ready for what? Who knows. But the idyllic, casual life of the pasture just... as soothing as it was, it felt so foreign to me. Well, I suppose adjusting my mindset would happen over time. No more stalling, time to experiment! I have to start at some point, and even if I don't make any strong progress today, there was always tomorrow.
The first thing I wanted to do was to see how much my prior knowledge could be used to help me in transforming. I won't pretend that I can remember every single one of the numerous Pokémon I had ever seen across the years, but I knew a bunch of them. Especially the strong ones. On the off chance this worked, though, I shied away from even thinking about turning into one of the legendary Pokémon or anything like that. Let's start with something simple, and one of my personal favorites.
Focus, focus. That long series of boulders that slowly increased in size, the rough crags of the exterior, the snake-like head and the shark-fin-like protrusion at the head. Onix, Onix, Onix, I want to turn into the big rock-snake! For long moments I strained to push out that same feeling I had with my other transformations, but no matter how much I thought I knew all the little details, it just refused to change. Come on! It has to work! Some of the Pokémon I daydreamed about turning myself into were just too rare for me to get a chance encounter with to kick-start my transformation ability. I can do it, I can force it from memory!
Long minutes of mental strain and rising frustration didn't get me any results, however. With a heavy sigh, I dropped my intense focus and devolved into a slumping puddle, rubbing at the area around my eyes with both hands. Shoot. That would have made things so much easier! I thought Ditto were supposed to be able to transform into anything they had seen? What was I doing wrong?
I remained sprawled out there and pondered the issue for a few minutes, just staring up at the sky and watching the clouds moving past, the Pidgey and Fletchling idly swooping about overhead. Hm. I could give up on this and decide to start my flying practice today. Being so light and just drifting around on the thermal flows of air seemed like it might actually be relaxing.
Wait a minute...? I suddenly had an idea of why my transformation from memory wasn't working! I had been so focused on the image of an Onix that I hadn't even considered any other details. When I transformed, I didn't just have to make myself look like another Pokémon. I needed to utterly and wholly become that Pokémon. I needed to think about the sheer size I would become, the weight my body would have, the way each part would move, the processes that kept some of their fantastical bodies going. I had just been focusing on a picture of an Onix in my mind. Of course that wasn't going to be enough to transform.
With a heavy sigh, I reluctantly put aside the idea of transforming into Pokémon I had never actually seen. It might be possible with a whole lot of work down the road, once I had a much stronger grasp on transforming, but for now I was going to be limited to whatever Pokémon I happened to stumble across.
With that out of the way, and inspired by the birds overhead, I decided that I wanted to get a taste of flying. A grassy field is probably the best place to practice, and if I didn't get carried away and pull an Icarus, then I shouldn't be at risk of getting seriously injured. In fact, this could be another way to test the limitations of my body! I had seen a Farfetch'd when I was on my way to the pasture, even though I hadn't focused on transforming into it at the time. There hadn't been any others besides that one. Could I transform into Pokémon I had seen but missed the chance to transform into at the time?
The mental picture was easier this time, the brown, duck-like Pokémon's image forming in my mind rather readily, complete with weaponized leek. This time, I felt the energy coursing through my body, rounding out my frame. Webbed feet pressed beneath me, pushing my body upward. Wings curled out at my sides, though neither one was holding the trademark leek sprig. I actually sighed with relief at that revelation. If I had summoned the leek, which was meant to be used as a weapon, it meant that it would be part of my body. What if I threw it? What if it got eaten? I shuddered and hurriedly dropped that line of thought. I just wanted the body for the flying lessons.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
As a bird, Farfetch'd was significantly larger than any of the nearby Pidgey, and I wanted to start getting used to flying as large as I could start, that way it might be easier for when I wanted to take even bigger flying forms in the future. I looked myself over, wing-arms turning and flexing in front of me. Honestly, with how Farfetch'd used its wings as hands to handle the leek, this might even be more useful that Bibarel's nubby little fingers if I needed to grab things in the future.
The instincts of the body had come with the transformation, so I left aside my fascination for my new feathery finger-substitutes and gave an experimental flap of my wings. It wasn't really a leaping take-off, it was more like I hopped like a frightened pheasant and used my wings to stall myself in the air briefly. A few more rapid flapping motions, and I was scooting in very long gliding 'leaps' through the field. I never got myself above about five feet off the ground, swooping low and rising back up with the next flap.
I settled for heading in straight lines back and forth across the yard, with only a little experimental banking from side to side to get a feel for how I had to steer myself. I had to work with both wings, but that didn't mean that all my maneuvering meant moving them symmetrically. In fact, most of them didn't, having to lift one and lower the other to bank, or flare them backward to catch the drag of the air and slow myself down. It was actually pretty fun getting used to it.
What I hadn't considered was that the Pidgey nearby might get annoyed with how it almost seemed like I was doing daring fly-by motions just over their heads as they pecked at the ground. A few of them took to wing and started to quite literally fly circles around me, diving at me in swooping attempts to peck at me. I was able to awkwardly twist out of the way, but I wasn't about to get in aerial combat on my first try. I landed, and the smaller birds mostly seemed to be satisfied at driving me away from them. One that was a couple inches taller than the rest, however, seemed like it wanted to push the issue.
It landed nearby, and scraped its talons across the grass, kicking up a veritable spray of dirt, dust, and grass in my face. I blinked my eyes rapidly, coughing as I could feel them watering from the debris. Oh god, Sand-attack was so much worse to experience for real than the games depicted. Sure it lowered accuracy, but the gritty feeling in my eyes was almost unbearable. "Hey! Knock it off! I was just practic-pfttth!" I made another spitting sound as the Pidgey repeated the dirt assault.
A smug, feminine-sounding coo was followed by a contrary "Make me!" Right. Most of the Pokémon around here were young, of course some of them were going to be headstrong. "Fine! You want to go? Come here!" I cried out with a quack of defiance. Still, many of the combat maneuvers in my mind required me to have a weapon to utilize. Most, but not all. I swooped at the smaller bird, a sheen of sky-blue energy gathering across my beak in a more defined point, and I darted my head forward in rapid Pecks to try and get even.
My opponent was openly laughing at me now, swooping around me in far more agile motions. While I took to the air in order to try and close the distance, I was still primarily fighting from the ground, while the Pidgey was much more comfortable in flight. "Can't hit me! Can't hit me! You're so laaaame!" She cried out repeatedly, making no moves to actually attack beyond swooping low to the ground and kicking more debris into my face. It's just a kid. I should be the bigger Pokémon and let it go. "Slow duck, fat duck, gonna be a dinner duck!" She called out in a sing-song voice, my eye twitching in annoyance as my brief hesitation at continuing the fight was all but washed away. "Get back here and say that to my face!"
After long minutes of thorough humiliation, I was left panting and huffing for breath, and the Pidgey just looked... so... so... insufferably smug! I had enough! I dropped the transformation into Farfetch'd, which drew a startled squawk from my opponent and caused her to pause her flight to hover in place and stare at me. But the light that had started to return me to a Ditto turned right back around as I returned to the beaver-like appearance of Bibarel. Without a further word of warning, I took a deep breath, felt a deep, dark blue energy surging inside my chest, and spat a huge torrential spray of water at the Pidgey.
It was a weird sensation, effectively spitting like a hose, but it certainly soaked the feathers of my opponent. In fact, it hit them with such force that they were sent back a few feet and landed in a sprawl, wings spread out and talons in the air, looking bedraggled and dizzy. "Hah! Take that you little-!"
A few soft sniffles, and then a piercing "WAAAAAH!" of desperately upset crying rose from the Pidgey, slowly flopping around and trying to get its feet underneath itself. Oh. I just- That was still a young Pokémon and I just... shoot! I felt awful almost immediately, the guilt making my stomach drop out from under me as I toddled over. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, that was too much! Are you okay? I didn't actually hurt you did I?" I frantically tried to calm the Pidgey, but she wasn't having any of it. The rest of the Pidgey flock was looking my way, and then a shadow crossed my face as a figure winged in front of the sun, briefly.
I say briefly, because it was at that moment a dive-bombing blur landed about two feet in front of me, keeping me from walking any closer to the crying Pidgey. A much bigger bird, with pronounced pink swooping crest atop its head, and its tailfeathers flared out in an aggressive display. It tucked its wings at its sides and stared down at me, even in Bibarel's form, and I swallowed a heavy, nervous gulp.
That was one angry looking momma Pidgeotto. Suddenly, venting my irritation didn't seem like such a great idea.