Chapter Text
The burned branches of Lostlorn did little to obstruct the rising sun as it began its path from the horizon. Every morning they had delayed the coming light, but without the abundant leafage the day’s approach reached unhindered. While this may have woken many of the Lostlorn’s resident creatures before they were used to, there was one who was not unaccustomed to this sunrise. After all, its home was outside the woods.
This particular creature in the forest woke as was routine for it, but that was the only part of its morning that fit its typical day. It was not used to waking up outdoors, and was quickly caught off guard by this disturbance to its habits.
Glancing around, the creature found itself in awe at the vibrance of its surroundings. Though the amount of color was small, peeking through the ash of its surroundings, it more than made up for it in its force of presence. The few remaining leaves practically glowed in striking shades of greens and blues that the creature had never before seen, lit up by the rising sun. The morning dew coating the woods reflected these colors around the forest, lights dancing around and hitting burnt trunks from every angle. Accenting this beauty were the various ashes wafting about. Stark white meandering about the air, coating the burnt blacks and umbers of the trees. It was truly a sight to behold, if one slightly unnatural.
The small creature took in its surroundings, distracted from its situation by the world around it. It was only after several minutes had passed that it finally began to question why it had woken up in a forest, and such a burned one no less.
It was then that the events of the previous night came rushing back to it. People in odd suits, flames consuming the forest, a barrier stopping escape. All of it forcing its way back into the creature’s memory, making it hold its breath as it recalled. After it was over, the creature felt some amazement that it was still alive. So much had happened, so much pain had been sparked, that it was a wonder that they were still here. For some reason, it didn’t continue down this path of thought, pushing past it to their next task.
Deciding that it would be best for it to find its way home, the small creature began to stand to make its trek. It then promptly fell flat on its face.
After getting a facefull of dirt and ash, the small creature tried to wipe itself off and recover. This was quickly derailed when instead of what it expected, a red paw came up to its face.
River screamed.
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WHAT’S GOING ON???
Minutes later, River was still somehow freaking out about their body. Their screams had gone uninterrupted as they processed their situation. It was honestly a miracle that they hadn’t run out of breath.
WHY AM I SO SMALL? I DON’T WANT TO BE TINY, I’VE GOT SHELVES TO REACH! Wait, can I even grab stuff anymore? I guess it doesn’t matter becAUSE I’M SHORT.
Perhaps saying that they were processing their situation was being a bit generous. They had given themselves a thorough check by now, but were still screaming. It was entirely possible that they had forgotten that they were still doing that. Finally however, they began to trail off.
Whoo, okay… So I guess I’m a Pokemon now? Why? Is this some reincarnation thing? I mean I’m pretty sure I did die… OH WAIT HOLY CRAP I DIED! Right?! I think I remember that happening…
Wait… if this is some reincarnation shtick, then where’s my body? I think this is the same area, so shouldn’t I be around here somewhere? I mean, my clothes are right there…
This might not be a reincarnation thing…
“Ya think kid?!!”
Startled by the sudden outburst, River tried to turn to the noise. They still weren’t used to the small body however, causing them to stumble and fall again.
“Jeez kit, I’ve seen newborns that’re more steady on their feet,” the voice remarked. It had an odd echo to it, but it wasn’t immediately noticeable. It had a strange tremor underneath it, as well as a quality that River couldn’t quite place.
I just woke up and things are already getting creepy. Wonder if we can beat last night’s record. River thought while trying to stand up. They failed of course, no one gets the hang of standing on their second try. The important part of it to them though, was what happened next.
“Sorry kit, but I doubt anything can beat last night’s trauma. I’d say you’re welcome to try, but please don’t. I don’t want you dying on me twice! Heh.”
Wha- can you hear my thoughts?!
“Of course I can! I mean, I am in your head here kit. Or at least sort of, it’s a kind of weird situation if you think about it—” Whatever the voice had been saying went on to be ignored as River started to realize what was just said.
Oh my god, I’m going insane. This is it, Catherine always said it would happen eventually. I think I’m a pokemon, and I’m hearing voices. This is it for me.
The voice promptly interrupted these thoughts, “Kit stop. As much fun as it is to see you freakin out, I’ve been doing it for the past ten minutes, and could use a break. So let’s just calm down and try to stand, alright? Try just moving one leg at a time until you’re able to support yourself.”
River wasn’t fully processing what was going on anymore, but they still began to do as instructed. As they moved each leg, they began to become more present, the task forcing them to pay attention. Eventually all their legs were in position and locked out.
The voice seemed proud of them, and then went on to give further instructions, “Alright, good job! Now ya try to steadily turn around. Nothing fancy, just try and move your front to the right, and your back to the left. Try and take it one step at a time.”
Once again, River began to move as instructed. They stumbled once or twice, but it seemed easier than they were expecting. It almost seemed as if their body knew how to move, and they just needed to help it along.
“Ah yeah, that’ll be the instincts kicking on in. Don’t pay ‘em any mind, they’re just there to help you along.”
When they were actually turned around, they began to turn their head up, since they had been staring at the ground to track their movements. When they actually were able to get a look around, they saw a rather odd sight.
Standing before them was a tall wispy creature resembling a bleached Zoroark. There were a few issues with it though. It was almost transparent, and was missing the signature hair-bead for its mane. Instead its hair was flowing around, as if underwater. It was giving them a grin that should’ve been terrifying, but River couldn’t bring themself to be scared of it for some reason.
Whatever other observations River was making about its appearance were swiftly cut off as it began to congratulate them on being able to move. “Great job kit! I gotta say, you got the hang of that faster than I thought you would. Anywho, I guess I better explain what exactly’s goin on here. But first: what'd ya think of my glow-up?”
I-uh
River’s fumbling was cut short again by the Zoroark(?) giving them a stern look. “Kit, while I can read your thoughts, I’d rather not. Just speak up. Sounds tough, I know, but just do it, don’t think about it. It’ll work.”
Slowly nodding, River began to test out moving their tongue in their mouth. Trying out their vocal cords they made a series of quick chirps and whines. If it was any consolation, the Zoroark(?) was being very patient with them.
They seemed to eventually get the hang of it, and spoke up with minimal issues, “Uh-oday. Okay! Okay, uh… So, nod-not to be rude, but who are you?”
The Zoroark(?) paused for a moment, and then made a big show of acting hurt, clutching its chest and everything. After quite a bit of wincing in “pain”, it began to speak. “Well kit, I’ve got to say I’m hurt you wouldn’t recognize your pal! Though I suppose my makeover has just been that good. It didn’t cover everything, but you did end up being right—” it gestured to a ghastly purple and red patch on its leg before speaking again, “—I did get a badass scar!”
Wait.
“It’s you!” River shouted at the Zoroark they had spent the night with.
“It’s me!” it exclaimed with a grin.
“Why are you…? And how am I…? Also how did—”
River was quickly cut off again, “Listen kit, I said I’d explain, so let me do that. Anyways, so you’ve probably noticed that you’re a bit… shorter? Yeah, that’s on me.”
The Zoroark kneeled down, and looked them in the eyes before continuing, “So, uh, when you were, well, leaving, I remembered something I used to hear about in the village—yes there is a Zoroark village ‘round here, don’t try to interrupt—and I figured I’d try it out on ya! I ain’t exactly the best at that kind of thing, but it was worth a shot since I couldn’t really make things worse, so here ya are!”
River just stared. “That explains nothing.”
“Yeah alright, I’ll try to do better. What I did is pushed all my remaining life force, think you humans call it ‘infinity energy’ or something stupid like that, into a conduit. Then I shoved that thing into your body, and sure enough, it worked! I am going to miss that bead though; it’s weird not having my mane all tied up.”
River tried to run through what they had just been told, “Wait, so is that why I’m a Zorua? Because you put a bunch of infini-life into me?”
The Zoroark looked a bit sheepish, “Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. I thought it would just bring you back. I mean, it did, but it seems to have done some other stuff, since you’re… you know.”
River frowned. One thing didn’t yet make sense to them about this whole thing. They could understand weird life donations from a Zoroark making them a… Zorua apparently, but that didn’t really cover everything.
“So why are you here? I don’t mean to be rude! It’s just you’re different too, and in my head? That’s what you said right?” River asked.
The Zoroark frowned at the question, and looked down. They didn’t waste any time responding though, however much they clearly didn’t want to, “Right… kit to put it bluntly, I gave you everything I had left. Technically I should be dead, but since it ain’t really your energy, I’m still here, if a little worse for wear.”
That explained the wispy appearance, though it hurt River to know. “You really didn’t have to do that… Not that I don’t appreciate it! It’s just—”
“Kit, it’s fine. I was going out already, so I’m just glad one of us got to make it out of that.”
They both sat in silence for a moment, before the Zoroark quickly stood up and started speaking again with a smile, “Now I think that’s enough angst for the past twenty-four hours, so instead let’s do something else! I believe some introductions are in order?”
“O-oh yeah! I um, well I’m Riv—” “I’ll go first!” the Zoroark declared, with little regard for what the little Zorua was saying.
“Anyways kit, you can call me Fern! The name kind of sucks, but the village elder wasn’t too keen on giving me something cool like Throat-slasher. After all my spectacular recommendations got shot down, I’m half sure she gave me this name as a joke.”
…
“You can stop staring at me, kit.”
River snickered, and spoke up, “Well, I’m River, um, River Dawn. There’s not really much else to say about me, but… yeah.”
Fern raised a brow. “Kit, I think you might be underselling yourself, but I ain’t your dad. So, now that that’s out of the way, what do you want to do next?”
“You're asking me?” River asked. They figured that the one of them who was (presumably) an adult would take charge here, but that clearly wasn’t the case.
Fern tilted their head and stared confusedly. “Well yeah, you're the one piloting here, I’m just around for the ride.”
That certainly caught River off guard. They weren’t really expecting to have the choice here, but it didn’t take them long to figure out what they’d like to do. “Well, I guess I’d like to get home, but I think my mom might freak out. She probably wouldn’t like her only child changing species right before we move regions.
“You know, you’re taking that a lot better than I thought. With your freakout earlier I thought you might start yelling about how your life would be different or something.” Fern said.
Confused, River looked Fern in the eyes and responded to his assumption, “No, I got that all out of my system earlier. Did you think I was just panicking about my appearance?”
“Kinda, yeah.”
“Oh. Well, anyways, do you have any advice for me? I’d rather not abandon my entire life.”
Fern found it almost creepy how well River was suddenly taking this. They didn’t let it show though, and instead pushed the conversation forward, “Well kit, you really lucked out in that regard. We can’t make you a human, but we can get you to look like one!”
River began to look concerned. Growing up near Lostlorn meant they were pretty familiar with the signature ability of the Zoroark line, but it didn’t seem too useful at the moment. They asked Fern the questions that were on their mind, “Illusions are great and all, but I don’t think they’re going to help me long-term. Aren’t people going to notice that I can’t touch anything? Or eat? I mean, I’m still going to be a Zorua, that isn’t going to change.”
Fern seemed confused by what River was saying; only getting more so as they continued. When they were done, he spoke up, “Wait, kit, where’d you get that idea? Illusions don’t work like that. Did you think that when we get hurt as an Onix or something the attacker was just lucky enough to hit where we were? Or that when people step over us as a tiny pokemon we’re just crouching down?”
River just stared at him. “Well, yeah. Is that not how that works?”
“No kit! Listen, illusions are ‘real’, but they can’t take a lick of pressure. They have mass and do ‘transform’ the user’s shape, but they fall apart if you so much as flick them. That’s why you can fly when you’re faking a winged ‘mon, or hit things with your tail as a Steelix. It’s tough to do, sure, but it ain’t just some pretty light show!”
Fern seemed almost indignant about what River had assumed, but he calmed down pretty quickly. He began to sit down, and started talking again, “Sorry about that, just got a bit ticked. The point is, the illusions should help you out for the time being. I’d rather teach you some moves to defend yourself first, but we best be getting you home as soon as possible. So kit, you ready?”
Standing a bit straighter, River looked at him determinedly. Nodding, they spoke, “Yeah. I’d like to let my mom know I’m alright, so let’s do this pretty quickly. How long do you think it’ll take?”
Once again, that sheepish look crossed Fern’s face. Seeing that River was getting concerned at that, they quickly spoke up, “Well truthfully kit, I don’t really know. Newborn Zorua can do it right out of the egg, but their skill varies. Not sure anyone’s ever had to teach it before.”
Well that’s not too reassuring…
“Hey! I tried!”
“Oh right, I forgot you could hear that.”
Fern gave River a look, before shaking his head and taking a few steps back. Sitting back down, he looked at them, before continuing to speak. “Like I said, I’m not sure if anyone’s ever had to teach this, but I can tell you what it’s like for me. You’ve got to focus on your body, and try to mold it. Keep in mind that it’s all imagination. You’ve got to clearly picture what you want in your mind, then make it real.”
Closing their eyes, River tried to do what Fern was saying. Focusing on a picture of themself in their mind, they try to push it out onto their body. It had been several moments, but no matter how much they tried to scrunch up their face in effort, nothing happened. Eventually, Fern got tired of watching and spoke up, “Hey kit, I think you’re missing something. What are you trying to do?”
“I was trying to make myself look like, well, me. I was doing like you said, try and picture what you want, and make it real,” River responded. They had opened their eyes now, and were staring hard at Fern.
Fern seemed lost in thought for a moment, seemingly pondering what exactly could’ve gone wrong. River was beginning to get fed up with this, and started pacing around. Anxious thoughts started to fill their mind, as they began to wonder whether or not they would even be able to do this.
We know that I got enough energy to change my body, but we don’t know if it’s enough to do anything else with. What if I can’t make illusions? I’ll just be stuck living as a Zorua, if I don’t get killed for not being able to not use moves! Is that even possible, this could be—
“Kit, will you shut up please? I’m trying to focus, and your anxious thoughts aren’t helping,” Fern cut in. He looked annoyed, but more tired than anything else. After a pause, he continued, “Listen, you can use moves and junk. I told you I gave you all my energy, and I could still do that stuff when dying. You’ve got enough of it now that you’ll gain your own as time goes on, so don’t worry ‘bout being a ‘dud’ or something. You’ll do fine, but you’ve got to promise me you won’t give up or start spiraling at the slightest failure, alright?”
River looked at them, and gave a slow, but firm, nod. “Ye-yes sir.”
Unexpectedly, Fern started laughing at this, and gave River another look. “Pssh, don’t call me ‘sir’ kit, but thanks. Anyways, I think I got what the issue might be. Tell me, how much ‘infinity energy’ (Arceus that’s a dumb name) you were feeding into the illusion?”
Tilting their head, River confusedly asked, “Was I supposed to be feeding any?” Fern nodded at the question, and tried to explain.
“Well yeah. To put it simply, everything requires that energy. When you feed something more than usual, it expands into a tangible effect that we call abilities or moves. Feed enough energy into your claws to do a claw-based move. Feed enough elemental energy into a point to do a projectile. Moves and abilities ain’t so much set rules so much as names we gave to consistent effects. I swear, too many folks get caught up in putting everything in little boxes, it really gets on my nerves.”
“W-wait, moves aren’t real?” River cried out.
Fern just stared, before cackling at them. “Of course they’re real kit; you try and tell me they’re not after getting hit by ‘Hyper Beam’! I just mean the distinctions are Tauros-shit. The only difference between ‘Ember’ and ‘Flamethrower’ is output, and you can’t honestly tell me there’s some deep reason for ‘Bubble’ and ‘Bubble-Beam’ to be classified separately. Move distinctions are nonsense, hell so are abilities! Do you have any idea how easy it is to replicate ‘Sturdy’ if you focus on it? It just comes more naturally to some species than others.”
River stared at him as if they’re whole world had fallen apart. This didn’t really reassure Fern, as he realized that he may have gone a bit too far. Deciding it was best to redirect the conversation, Fern pulled the topic back to illusions.
“Uh, I’ll get into my theories when we touch on moves… Point is, you need to feed it energy into your imagination. Don’t focus it anywhere else or you might fire off a blast or something. Though I suppose we should practice moves,” Fern said with a grin.
“Al-alright… Is there any specific effect I should try to make? Or should I just try and look like a human?”
The smile on Fern’s face managed to grow even further at that question, which he promptly answered, “Great question kit! I don’t think you should try to make anything too complex yet, just go with an Eevee or something. They’re similar enough.”
Closing their eyes once more, River tried to comply with his request. This time, they pictured themself with different fur colors, and no head tuft. They were surprised by how little they had to actually change, things like the neck fluff and size were easy to keep around. Focusing deeper in on themself, River was somewhat surprised to feel a gentle energy flowing inside their body. Realizing that this must be the donated “life energy” that Fern gave them, they focused on sending some through their mind. It quickly complied, changing its flow to feed through their mind, almost like a kind of circuit. Focusing it further, letting it into their mental picture. Finally, they pushed it forward a bit, and felt something change.
As they opened their eyes, Fern spoke up. “Well kit, you did fairly well for your real go, but you messed up the shadows.”
“People don’t really look at shadows anyways, do they? And besides, what do you mean ‘shadows’?” River responded, trying to defend themself. They had genuinely forgotten to affect their surroundings, but they didn’t see why it was such a big deal.
Fern was quick with their reply, “Well, the woods here are bouncing light around, so everything has a few shadows, but they’re faint. That ain’t the issue though kid. If you don’t cast a shadow, then you don’t cast one on yourself. You have no shading on you, honestly it looks freaky.”
River began to look at themself, and, sure enough, all the colors on their tan body were flat. You could hardly tell the difference between individual hairs, and there was no clear end from their body to tail. The lack of shading threw the entire visual off, making it completely unconvincing.
“I will say though kit, you did a good job on the shape and color. Seriously, that is a perfect Eevee, if you excuse the whole lighting issue. Good attempt!”
While they were trying to be encouraging, it wasn’t hard to see the effect that Fern’s criticism had had on the young Zorua. Realizing this, they tried to patch things up. “Listen, kit, no one gets it right on their first try. Illusions are hard to pull off, there’s a reason they’re such a rare ability. They require a ton of processing power and attention to detail, since you’re essentially rendering a 3D image in reality. Zoroark are hard-wired for it; the only others that can typically use it are strong psychics. Even with all of that, it’s still a tough trick to learn! You made a seriously good attempt, so how about we try again? You’re only bound to get better!”
River smiled and sighed, then released the illusion. They hadn’t realized how tense they were until they let go, but it was like releasing a muscle that had been held for too long. Letting a wave of calm wash over them, they turned to focus on what Fern would have them do next.
“So let’s see if we can’t improve on that! This time we’re going to try a Lilipup; it’s not too dissimilar, but you’ll be working with more colors and fur. Don’t forget the shadows this time!”
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Two hours had passed, and they had run through everything that Fern could think of to work on. He had River try a Charmander for a different body type, a Stoutland for the size difference, a Litwick for light-creation, an Execute for individual movement, a Swellow for flight, and those were only the more notable. The last three gave River some particular trouble. They had barely managed to get off the ground as a Swellow before passing out, overworking themselves far beyond what young Zorua normally went through.
After their recovery nap, River fought with Fern over whether or not they should continue practice. After much deliberation, (and quite a bit of yelling) they decided it would be best to head home.
This raised the question of which direction “home” was in, but they decided they would work it out eventually. River had the bright idea of walking opposite the forest-fire, as that was roughly where they came from, while Fern had the not-as-bright idea of sprinting in a random direction. That was a quick way to find out that he couldn’t get more than a couple dozen feet away from River, though not the smartest way to discover that restriction.
“You know, if you would have finished practicing the flying pokemon we could check out the sky, but nooo, you’re tired,” Fern complained while they were making their way through the woods.
“I passed out! I think that’s deserving of a break, don’t you?!” River responded angrily. They were still not amused by their companion’s attempts to cover everything in lesson one. While initially they had approached it with a firm determination, it quickly died out as their instruction became a manic drill-sergeant. The attempt at moving as a Voltorb was a tad too close to ‘traumatizing moment’ for their taste.
Fern just laughed at the angry teen, “Relax, I’m just messing with you kit. I guess I did go a bit overboard, but at least you can manage illusions now!”
“Yeah, for all of twenty seconds,” River countered. They still weren’t sure how something they were that unskilled with would help trick their mother, but Fern had assured them that he had a solution. He unfortunately had refused to actually share what the solution was, saying that if River knew they would only get angrier.
As ominous as that was, River chose to ignore it. They’d figure out what that was about when they got home, the more important part right now was actually making it there. They had been wandering for a while now, but the end of the forest still wasn’t in sight.
It was still early in the morning, but the sun was carrying along across the sky. That alone was enough of a sign for River that they were getting near the borders of the trees, as the deeper parts of the woods would block out the sky entirely. Fern didn’t comment, despite knowing the woods better, instead letting River take the lead. He assured them that if they made any mistakes he would bring it up, and from the practice they had gone through River knew all too well that he was telling the truth.
Eventually though, the wandering paid off, as River saw a familiar trail through the woods. It wasn’t a wide thing, not anywhere near as robust as the regional routes, but it was a good guide back to the neighborhood that they lived in. Relief on their face, River quickly informed Fern what this place was.
“So you’re saying you cut through Lostlorn every day on this path? Feeling a little less pity for you now kit,” Fern said after he was told. It seems even the forest residents knew the rumors surrounding the place, though why Fern seemed to take them so seriously was beyond them. After all, he lived in the “terrifying forest”.
“Well, it’s not like I was alone. And besides, there’s a trail! It doesn’t even go that far in.”
“Kit, I’ve seen week-old paths more worn than this,” Fern replied.
“Do you want to take the path or not?” River shot back. Fern raised a brow and held their paws up in a placating way, hardly containing yet another grin.
“Jeez kid, alright! Let’s go down your little dirt trail.”
That’s exactly what they ended up doing.