Chapter Text
“Liz? Liz?”
A whisper of a voice calling my name. A soft sensation in my back burns in the dream. It stung a little, though it left… a relieving sensation.
“It is! Her wounds are healing!”
Not much younger than me, tending my wounds from…
…from?
I don’t quite recall myself getting injured in this dream. It takes me out of it, but I guess I need to try and wake up. The faint stinging sensation made itself sharper, the cool relief slowly overshadowing it.
“I’m glad… Wait, please don’t wake up just yet–”
Uncertainty rising in my heart, I slowly wake.
A green lush forest surrounds the clearing I was in, a tall figure in front of me-
A Blaziken…?
Wait, it’s Axel! My partner!
His tall and scrawny build greets me, crouched down as he looked down at me, his short-trimmed feathers in his head mimicking that somewhat obnoxious haircut that I’ve always kinda disliked— flaring out into a curl of sorts, the longer feathers falling underneath the ‘haircut’ in a single strand.
“Crud, she’s waking up…”
He had a dorky expression on him, even as he frowned at the sight of whatever it was that he saw, even as worry began to take him—
Wait a second.
“Did— did you just… talk?”
Axel’s eyes opened wide like plates, he stared at me with mouth agape in a dumbfounded expression.
“You just… spoke Unovan.”
He opened and closed his beak a few times, but nothing more came out.
This can’t be real. This has to be a dream. Am I dreaming? Where am I? Don’t dreams kinda fizzle out when you start questioning them— or was it the other way around? Why am I laying on the ground—
Underneath me, I see two blue paws.
I raised a hand to try and getting myself up—
And one of the paws moved along with me.
I tried to force myself up—
And those paws moved as well, the surprise sending me to the grassy ground. I tried to reach my bruised nose, but I only felt a soft, moist and big nose, along with seeing the two paws moving closer to my face.
Wh—
I brought my hands forwards, and the paws showed themselves. Clenching and unclenching my hands, I saw the paws follow along with the motions, my fingers not registering the soft skin of my limbs, but instead the rough padding of a paw.
“Ok, ok, don’t panic,” Axel spoke, clear as day.
Well, I am starting to panic now!
“But, uh,” he stumbled on his words, scrambling to find an explanation, “this- this is a dream! Yes! Y-You fell asleep, and you’re dreaming right now!”
Is–is this really a dream? Would a dream Axel tell me this is a dream? Wait, what would he even tell me in a dream?? Wait, no, he’d tell me to calm down. He would try to comfort me, and try to calm me down. But he would absolutely not be panicking as he is now!
And even then— I want nothing to do with this dream!
So I raise my hands, and try to— guh, my fingers aren’t responding. They feel like they’re sore and swollen, and I can barely stretch them out!
Screw it, a bite will do as good!
“GYAH─!”
“L–Liz!?” Axel shouted at the sight of me biting myself, “Wh–why would you—!? Agh, are–are you ok?”
It’s real. It feels real.
My tongue felt a warm, coppery taste, as looking down showed me a trail of red rolling down the side of my discolored arm. The paw opening and closing blurring out as the ground below me starts swaying, and I feel my head swaying as I try to bury the burning sting in my arm. “I–I’ma Pokemon…” My breath spikes, as I fill my lungs with breaths shorter than they should be— they feel small, so I try breathing deeper, and faster, and deeper and faster and deeperandfasterand—
A wall of fluffy feathers stopped me dead in my thoughts. It’s— it’s Axel, he buried me in a hug, pulling me closer to his warmth.
My arms instinctively hugged him back, my hands tightening on his feathers. They’re warm, they’re really warm, but not an uncomfortable one. They’re made even cozier with how fluffy they were to the touch, the faint smell of tree bark and grass dried out from his body heat.
“I’m here, focus on me, ok?”
I took a deep breath, and though it’s a bit strange how potent the scent burned my nose, the comfortable sensation drowns any hesitation.
Groudon’s sake, it’s even fluffier than I remembered…
…
…
I… struggled to gather the strength to pull myself off of him. He helped, but it feels as though he’s pushing most of my little weight. He held my arms gently to give me support, but the gesture squeezed my arms a little bit, making the bite sting even more.
“Better?”
I grit my teeth, though not a whole lot. “…I think.”
“Uhm,” he muttered, trying to gather his words, “sorry for… all that. I wasn’t sure how you would react…”
I blinked. Hearing him speak in clear Unovan was not something I was ever expecting… The way his voice sounded was something so different to what I envisioned in my head.
“I–It’s fine.” I hesitated, before repeating, “It’s fine… I’m…”
Fine.
I’m not really fine, I don’t think.
As I swam in my thoughts once more, a pluck interrupted my thoughts, the sound of a bottle cap coming off dragging me back to the ground. Once I register that Axel was holding something I recognize it as a Potion, the purple bottle unmistakeable for a seasoned trainer. Or, well, anyone mildly interested in Pokemon.
“I— I have some leftovers from earlier, I used it for your–” The Blaziken winced, before whispering, “…Your back.”
“Huh?” I tried to turn around— the feeling of my now foreign body stopped me from fully doing so.
“Er, you had some weird wounds… like…” Axel stopped for a second, putting a claw under his beak and humming to himself. “Like bruises and some burns… or, something like that…”
“Friction burns?” That’s what they were called, right? “Did I fall on something?”
“I’m… not sure.” Axel sprayed my arm with the healing spray, letting it rest once he was convinced it was fine. He stood up, turning around to take in our surroundings.
It reminded me of the forests of Oldale, with trees surrounding us on all sides and blocking all sight of anything that could be beyond our immediate vicinity, bushes and flower plants painting the green scene around us. The pleasant smell of moist grass and leaves left a great impression in my mind, all those years ago. But it was different here. The wind didn’t blow, the ground was bare, no moss or weeds or even pebbles to populate the earth below. Moreover, the canopy felt eery, every tree looking completely identical to one another, down to the individual branch. No matter where I looked, it seemed the foliage was designed to disorient me, a twisting distortion of tangled green that writhed and curled inwards, forming a great, horrid maze.
No matter where I looked, I wasn’t able to tell where the two of us fell through. The forest canopy above us didn’t let any bit of the blue sky show, barely letting in light through the leaves.
“…I really don’t like this place. It’s…” What word would even work here? Creepy? Unsettling?
“Neither do I.” Axel stood up, the grass below him rustling and cutting the silence of the fake forest— not even the leaves rustled in this place, now that I notice.
I like the quiet whenever I visit forests back in Hoenn, but… this is too much.
“…Let’s get out of here.” Axel muttered, though loud enough that I could catch it.
“Alright, just let me pack my bag,” I answer, walking over to where my bag is.
However, in doing so I discovered another serious problem: walking. My legs felt incredibly uncomfortable and clunky, and the grass felt so wrong under my feet, now unnaturally sensitive that sent shivers up my spine on every step.
I wish I had shoes. Where…did my shoes go?
“Oh, uhm, here,” Axel saw me tidying up the little mess he made when rummaging through my bag, and he handed me the bottle of healing spray.
It feels… awkwardly big in my hands, but I manage to pocket it. I zipped the bag closed, pulled the flap over, hoisted the strap on my shoulder, and took a step away from the clearing, onwards to a clear path between the trees. “Let’s go.”
Fwump!
After a single step, my bag fell to the ground, the strap being much too big for me.
Axel stifled a laugh, but asked “do you want me to carry it for you?”
“…I–I’d appreciate it.”
“YOW!” My face is once more acquainted with the soft grass below me.
You know, I’m starting to think Dewotts aren’t bipedal like how most people say. I’ve seen pictures of them, and they’re usually hunched over, sorta. I think. As far as I know, it’s hard to walk upright with these legs, and my hips are hurting really bad. On the other hand, I’m not willing to drop down on all fours to just test that theory.
“Uhm,” Axel starts, but I stop him before he can say anything.
“I’m fine! I’m good, I’m good,” I say, standing back up right away. At least it’s been getting easier to do every time, standing up and all…
It’s been like the twentieth time I’ve fallen on my face now? At least in the last ten minutes. I think. With the lack of wind, with how the sun doesn’t seem to change in position, it’s been really hard to tell how much time passes by. Not to mention that Axel has my bag and I can’t really check my X-transciever. Every time I fall goes about the same; I hit the ground, I shake the grass off of my… fur… and then stand back up with a bit of struggle. Then we get moving once more, and it’s back to me awkwardly walking in these weird legs. Ugh, this is going to be a long evening, is it?
Especially since, well, it doesn’t help how every room we’ve checked in this place looks the same.
Uh, ok, so…
This weird forest is, well, weird. The clearing we fell into wasn’t the only one in the forest— every now and then, deep into each beaten path, we would come across clearings that had even more paths leading out of the rooms. With how some were arranged, and with each path feeling like a corridor of sorts, me and Axel just sorta joked that they were like rooms in a big house or something in the beginning. Now? We’re almost aimlessly wandering around, hoping to find the right way… somewhere.
The wind recently started picking up, but only in short bursts. I’m not sure exactly how, though, it doesn’t make much sense to me.
But most importantly, it doesn’t make sense to me how we’re not doing any progress. We haven’t seen any other person, we haven’t seen any other Pokemon, I even think we’ve been in the same rooms several times over! But I wouldn’t be sure, with how every room looks about the same.
Wait, actually, “Axel? Do you think we’re going in circles?” I asked my partner behind me.
But he didn’t respond, keeping his gaze on the paths in front of us.
“Uhm… Axel?”
“Buh— huh?” He perked up at my insistence. “Wh–what were you saying?”
“Uh, that we might be walking in… circles…”
“Oh, uh… sorry, I haven’t really noticed… this place is making me feel…”
“Distracted?” I huffed.
“Er, something like that,” Axel answered letting his head hang to the side, a frown edging at the corner of his beak.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen him so absent-minded, actually. And… it might not be that he’s distracted. I turned around, slowing down and looked him over. He wasn’t even looking at me, he was looking down at the ground, holding one arm with his claw and scratching at his feathers. His gaze shifted from time to time, darting to the walls of trees and the ground below us.
Hang on. I know that look in his eyes… he’s not distracted, he’s anxious. Reeling. Itching for a fight. Or at least that’s what I think he called it, I never really knew what he said exactly.
…Huh, food for thought, I should-… talk with him later.
“Hey, Axel,” I started, “if we see any trainer around or a wild Pokemon, we’ll try giving them a fight, how’s—”
I didn’t get to finish, as Axel—
Guh—
…As Axel gave the fiercest of glares he’s given me yet.
It quickly vanished, but it took him a blink or two before it did. “Oh uhm, s–sure, that sounds good.”
…I remember how he was pretty moody back when we were teens and he had just evolved into a Combusken. Well, the two of us were pretty moody, but he was even more so as far as I remember. I mean, I even remember him getting mad for a whole day when a kid said he didn’t want to fight us. It’s usually fine, and sure, he sometimes kept glaring like that for a while, but… I don’t ever remember him glaring like that.
Is it because I’m a Pokemon now? I am about half his height now, all things considered, and I have to look up to him with how tall he is. At least, more than usual. He freaking towers over me…
Nevertheless, I’m left shaking somewhat, and I think Axel realized it too because he started talking not long after.“Hey, uh–”
I didn’t immediately turn around, still somewhat shaky from the intense gaze.
My partner took a fair second to recompose himself, taking a deep breath and standing a bit straighter. “Hey, we’ll get out of here. We’re going to find another Pokemon and fight them, turn you back into a human and then we’ll be off home again, alright?” His voice evened out as he spoke, whatever tension he had slowly waned over time.
“Right… right!” I tried my best to cheer myself up, but it didn’t sound particularly convincing. “We’ll get out of here, you’ll see!”
He chuckled at my response and pumped a fist, “That’s the Liz I remember. Though, uhm…”
“Hm? What is it?”
“Er… maybe I should be going in front? We’ve been going in circles, I think, and I didn’t know how to tell you…”
I stopped dead in my tracks. “…How can you tell?”
“You’ve, uh, taking a lot of left turns in these paths…”
…
In the quiet aftermath of the revelation, my gaze fell to the ground, where I decided to simply focus on a particular blade of grass. All the while, Axel stepped forward and took the lead for the two of us, he shook my shoulder and pointed forwards.
I took a long, deep breath or as long of a breath I could take— being under half my height made my breaths shorter.
“Hey, I haven’t seen this one before, I think,” Axel muttered, “think it’ll lead anywhere?”
The two of us trudged forward into the path that Axel found, though it wasn’t any different from the other ones we’ve crossed. Trees still surrounded us, leaving only an occasionally curving path, the leaves and branches unmoving from the lack of wind, each and every single tree identical to the next down to the patterns and partitions in the wooden bark. It irked me, not that it was hard to figure out why. Even Axel looked uncomfortable, though it could also be from the ‘battle-anxiety’ so to say. The only solace was the occasional gust of wind, as weak as it was.
The one clearing that we found was different from everything before was one with a Pokemon idling inside— a wild Oddish appeared!
Or at least I thought it was a wild one, since I didn’t see any trainers or other people around. It had its back turned to us, so I’m guessing it didn’t notice us just yet, despite us not being sneaky about approaching. The ground didn’t have any marks or tracks of people moving about, either, so it wasn’t like it was left alone by someone. Probably was just here long before us.
Axel took a few steps into the clearing, though I was right behind him, keeping close at a fair distance of the Oddish— it wasn’t like I was scared of it… ok, maybe I was, but it was mostly seeing that weird Pokemon be about my size now that creeped me out. Axel could kick it away if it attacked us out of nowhere, so I wasn’t that scared.
Though…
“Right, I should probably ask it… but… is it really worth the time?” I looked up at Axel, stepping next to him to get a good look at his face. “I mean, you can just punt it away… it’s not gonna be much of a fight now, is it?”
“It’ll do.” He was blunt with his response, with his eyes focused dead ahead and looking like he was trying his damndest to keep himself in check, jaw clenched and brow furrowed.
Hell, holding myself up with my hand on his leg I could feel him shaking a little bit, ready to spring at any second.
It wasn’t looking like the Oddish would turn around anytime soon, so…
“Hey? There?” How do I even ask a Pokemon if they want to fight? “Uh, my–my friend here wants to fight, and uh… do–do you mind if we fight you? Don’t worry if he looks intimidating, it can be just a little spar.”
The Oddish still didn’t turn around, even when I spoke to them.
Rude.
“…Hey?” I called again. “Are you listening? Me and my partner wanted to fight, he needs to let off some steam, and I was wondering if you could help us with that.”
Still no response, the grass type most likely ignoring us at this point.
“Hey!” I stepped closer, “I’m talking to you! We want to fight, and we—”
It turned around, eyes rolled up—
And a puff of yellow dust shot towards me.
I tried to step back away from it, but couldn’t get out of the way in time— that was a Stun Spore! The cloud stung my skin as soon as it engulfed me, sending shivers as my whole body stung from the attack—
And when I tried to get another step back, my legs completely seized up.
“Liz!” Axel rushed up to the Oddish—
But he stopped his kick to dodge another cloud of spores.
I flailed my arms around as I tried to balance myself from falling, but even they stopped moving long before I could fully regain my balance, my muscles tightening and going rigid.
But before I could even cry out for Axel to watch for the incoming attack of the Oddish, its head leaves glowing a vibrant green and rearing back for—
I couldn’t even react in time, the leafy blades suddenly right up in front of me as they slashed down.
The only reason I didn’t scream was because the rest of my body decided to seize up along my legs, finally giving out as I fell to my back from the attack’s weight.
As my body crashed against the grass with a muted thud, I heard the unmistakable slam of Axel’s Blaze Kick.
The distant thud of something against the bark of the trees all but confirmed what I had thought.
I-I was still paralyzed though… I–I couldn’t move my arms.
They wouldn’t move, my muscles were tight and unresponsive, the feeling like having a very tight bandage rolled along the length of my arms and legs, restricting my movements and keeping me locked up. And worst of all, it stung. The spores were horribly itchy and pulling at my muscles on top of the burning cut from the attack, something warm rolling down my chest— most likely blood, but my body would still not move when I asked it to.
It hurts. It really hurts— it’s not like I haven’t been hurt by Pokemon before, but this stings. Is it because it was a grass-type move? Is it because I’m a water type, and I’m freaking tiny compared to how I was? Is it just because I’m a Pokemon??? Did Axel go through this all the time he was hurt!? Even trying to move made my skin feel like it was going to rip apart with how large the cut felt— or at least I think, I can’t even feel my arms anymore! Or my legs! O–or even my chest— is this the Stun Spore’s fault!? Is it something else!?!?
In the corner of my eye, Axel stepped closer to me— shivering a little bit as he was forced to kneel down, his muscles seizing up for a few beats, before standing up again and rushing to me. I lost sight of him, but by the sounds of something unzipping and the loud rummaging, I could tell he was rummaging through my bag.
I tried to speak to him— tell him to be slow or he might tear up my bag, but not even my lips obeyed me. In the end, loud stomping came to my side, some spraying reaching my ears as Axel kneeled down next to me. I could only get a glimpse of his face, desperate eyes looking at my body and trying to figure out how to deal with it, before going out of view and eventually—
A fierce stinging coursed through my body as I felt the wound on my torso close up, my leg twitching at the sensation— skin crawling, blood running through this fur in me, the only thing I could manage to do against it was clenching my teeth, a muted scream held by the paralysis strangling my throat and keeping my voice shut.
Even though I still didn’t have any sensation in my arms, they eventually relaxed, the paralysis cut short and let me move them at last. The first thing I did was to bring my hands to my chest, feeling no trace of the warm cut wound, nor did I feel any missing spots of fur or anywhere without some sensation. What in the world…?
I sat up with some effort, careful to pull the tail to the side so as to not sit on it, and I looked down to my chest to inspect it. As I thought, there wasn’t any sign of the wound, not even a weird feeling…
Axel cut me off from my thoughts, “A-are you alright!? I used a Full Restore— I know those don’t come cheap, but I didn’t want to— I didn’t know what—”
I hugged him back tight, or at least as tight as I could, which seemed to stop him from panicking, “It’s fine! I’m fine, and— are you ok!? Did you get hurt!?”
Pushing me away a little bit, he shook his head, “I’m good, all I got nicked by was the Stun Spore, and even th—” a shudder running through his body stopped him in his tracks, wincing at the feeling.
I sighed, grabbing hold of the Full Restore— or, well, tried to, his hands were holding it incredibly tight. Even when his grip lessened, I still had to pry his hand open. And even in my hands, I struggled to handle it— it was so hard to grab it! It was so big compared to my hands now, and I had to hold it in both of them to even hold it steady!
Since Axel was hugging me when he seized up, he was still keeping an arm tight around me, so I struggled to get the last bit of the Restore on him— I’ll have to be smart, a little spray to the arms, let them heal up…
A few heartbeats pass and the hug lessened into a limb hold. Free from the paralysis’ literal grip, I step back a little bit and conservatively spray the medicine around his body. Even if it was little left, it was only the light paralysis left, so dealing with it wasn’t much of an issue.
At last he was free from the effect, and he held me again in a tight hug, though not nearly as strong as the last one.
I… never realized this, but his arms are so big now. I still can’t get over it. He is taller than me, even when I’m not a Dewott, but for his arms to fully envelop me in a hug…
…Well, it’s… not uncomfortable.
“R–right, uhm, are you feeling alright?” It felt like minutes had passed when he spoke again, letting go and inspecting me once he did.
“Yeah… the Restore… I can’t— do you think it would’ve done that? Heal a wound like that?”
“Huh?” He recoiled, “W-well, I’m not sure… it didn’t look that bad, but at the same time, I’ve never seen medicine heal wounds that fast…” He sighed, letting his head hang to the side. “I’m sorry about—”
“I–it’s fine! It’s fine, I think it might’ve been the right decision in the end…”
I’m pretty sure that you’re supposed to heal the condition first, so that it may not affect the healing after. And I’m pretty sure that Axel would’ve fumbled the order, so using the Full Restore is actually the right call here… for how expensive it is. At least it was well-used, impossibly quick healing aside.
Though I was standing, Axel was sitting on his legs to be on my eye level, and only now I can finally realize how big he is compared to me. It’s… admittedly not that bad, since I can— and have— hug him like a huge pillow.
By Groudon I can hug him like a huge pillow.
Without even considering it any further, I let myself get lost in his feathers, my body melting at the cozy warmth that he gave me. The arms embracing me back and mildly scratching my back send shivers down my spine, making my leg bounce in place. I didn’t mind it, I was having the time of my life in Axel’s arms.
“I’m…” He suddenly started, “I’m sorry that happened, I’m—”
“It’s fine, it’s fine…” I tried to reassure him. “We’ll be fine.”
I felt him nod in the embrace, slowly letting me go once again. I didn’t let him, of course, but—
A small gust of wind passed by us. It wasn’t like we hadn’t felt the wind breeze past us before, but they were always small, brief moments of wind, and they were barely noticeable to the two of us— hell, even I only realize they happened when looking in hindsight. But this one was a noticeable gust compared to the empty, quiet ambience of the forest. Axel’s hair feathers battered against the wind’s currents, and the fur on me bristled at the cold sensation. I finally let go of Axel, turning around to try and follow where the wind had come from. He himself did the opposite, looking to where the wind led to. I didn’t catch anything, but Axel did.
“Er… is that—?”
I turned around, and tried to figure out what he had seen— but either my diminutive size or just… being unable to find whatever he had spotted didn’t let me see the discovery.
Without words, the two of us stood up and started following where the wind led us— to a room we hadn’t explored, past the Oddish we took down. The path was short, this room so much closer to the next compared to all the previous ones infuriatingly enough. In it we found something…
Ok, what is this?
A gray, concrete staircase leading to shadows above us, beyond the tree canopy. The room’s ceiling was completely covered in leaves and tree branches, barely letting the sunlight through, and the staircase leading somewhere above it. The room was otherwise completely empty, no pokemon in sight nor any paths leading out of the room— it was a dead end, and most likely the only thing left for us to find in this place. Though maybe the stairs were the answer to our exit.
But whatever the staircase led to was obscured by some odd shade along the stair’s path, and if we were to climb it up we’d have to cross that wall of shadows.
“…Ok?” Axel read my mind, blinking and staring with a deadpan expression in his face. “This is…”
“Absurd,” I finished for him. “This is absurd. It’s a staircase in the middle of a forest.”
“Didn’t— didn’t we see one like this in that old abandoned place in, uh, Striaton? Was it?”
“Yeah, but that one wasn’t smack dab in the middle of a forest clearing— and there was a whole facility overrun by grass! This one is just… here!” I nearly shouted, pointing at it with both my arms, “it’s like it grew with the forest!”
“A stair tree.”
“Yeah, like a stair tree!”
“Stairs grow in trees now.”
“What in the hell, yeah!”
Between our shouting, though more like me shouting and Axel staring dumbfounded, neither of us wanted to move closer to the thing. It wasn’t like there was anywhere else to go, considering that the other paths in this place led us around in circles. But at the same time, the way that the staircase lost itself above the tree leaves…
Foreboding.
After a moment of silent staring, Axel muttered “…Beats getting lost in here, though.”
“Wha– you’re not planning to go in there, are you?”
“…I mean, what else do we do?”
I hate to admit that he’s right. I don’t want to go there, but in the end there’s nothing that we can do here. “Alright. But let’s stay close together.”
The stairs kept on going up, leading through the leaves and tree branches to… more forest. It was like the thick canopy grew even thicker and was suddenly replaced by dirt all around us as we walked up. And so, it left us in the middle of a clearing much like when I woke up with the staircase behind us.
It took me a fair few moments to recompose myself, after all, I don’t think you’re ever supposed to walk through a treeline to find another layer of grass and land— how does that even work? Where’s the sky, the sunlight, where’s the everything?
But much like before, it didn’t take long for the two of us to set off once more. It was me trudging through the grass and Axel taking leisure steps so that I could keep up with him. I don’t know how to feel about that, at least not yet. Probably bad, but I know that it’s not really his fault. It’s no one’s fault, actually, but it still didn’t stop me from feeling bad about it. Sometimes, he’d be in the front and I’d be forced to watch as he significantly slowed down, his gait even looking awkward at certain points.
And whenever I tried to get my mind off of how much larger his steps were compared to mine, or how I would bump into him and just barely do anything to him with my diminutive size, I would end up noticing something even worse about the place we were stuck in! Like how alone we were, not counting the… mindless wild Pokemon we spotted from time to time, or how we didn’t find any berries or fruit in any of the trees… or any flowers or things like that…
As time went on, it all started to blur together… The rooms we went through blended into a long, long walk that stretched for hours— or, was it?
Between Axel being about twice my size, between how empty and maze-like the forest around the two of us was, it was starting to drive me insane— I can just tell that I was going to go insane. And— and would I rather wild Pokemon appear here? Sure, Axel can just punt anything that appears in this place, but I’d rather not take any chances with wild Pokemon. The attack earlier hurt, and I can still feel my torso stinging. Whether it be because of the paralysis or because my skin was slashed, I couldn’t tell. Though something tells me it wouldn’t matter.
I hate this. I hate grass types. I hate paralysis, I hate wild Pokemon— screw going back to the League Challenge, when I get back, once we’re out of here, I’m retiring for good!
…Somehow, I feel I won’t end up doing that when I get back.
And a grumble brings me back to earth, my stomach reminding me that I haven’t eaten in, what, hours? Between getting stuck on my thoughts and lost in the endless walk of this damn forest, I was well about absolutely done with everything. It’s been HOURS, and we were still not even close to being out of here! We’re already had to go through several staircases, and no sight of anything but the forest all around us!
“Axeeeeeeeeel,” I groaned, “how long has it been?”
“Uh,” he rummaged through my bag once more, fishing out my X-transciever, “it’s been about twenty minutes since the last time you asked.”
…
I’m going insane.
It just is, I’m going to go insane, and it’s going to be in the middle of the forest, with no one but Axel and I’m going to go crazy as this dirty, grimy, smelly Dewott!
Ugh, just WHERE are those—
“STAIRS!”
That wasn’t me.
Uh…?
The path in front of us stretched forwards for a fairly long distance, two figures running towards us— wait, those were pokemon!
One was a big ball of yellow fluff, an orb swaying left and right behind them. On top of the yellow fluff, there was a red dot.
…Was… was that a Mareep? And a–a Talonflame? Or, well, its pre-evolution. I never get the Alolan Pokemon right. And did it carry a small bag strapped around its wool? D’aww, that’s so cute, their trainer must’ve gifted them a little bag!
…And then I caught the faint smell of copper from them. “Axel, they’re hurt— get some potions out!”
Without hesitating, he was already getting one of them out of the bag and on his way to the two.
“Hey! Over here!” I waved at them. They notice the two of us, and begin their sprint towards us— or, rather, the Mareep starts their sprint towards me, the fire type collapsed on top of them.
The ground shakes with every one of Axel’s steps—
Wait, that can’t be right.
I hear more rumbling in the room to our left, deep into the corridor.
“Axel, WAIT!”
A Rhyhorn crashed into the wall near me, Axel just barely managing to get out of the way.
Shoot. What first? The Mareep and their partner first. The two Pokemon should be able to reach me if Axel keeps the Rhyhorn occupied. If not, Axel will have to lead the ground type away. Heal the wounds of the two, bandage and get them out of danger— If the next room over is empty, I can leave them there. Axel should be able to handle a few rock-type attacks, but I’m going to need to be fast to heal if he gets nicked a few times too many. Rhyhorn should be high on physical defense, too— but it’s heavy—
A bag smacking me in the face stopped me in the middle of the thought. As Axel struck a Double Kick after a dodge, the ground-type tried to Stomp him, but my partner was just a little bit too far out of reach.
“Move! Quick!” I called for the two small Pokemon, and they quickly rushed to my side after the shout got them out of their stupor.
However, it also got the attention of the Rhyhorn.
Tough luck, bucko.
Axel smashed its side with his fist, Rock Smash shattering a bit of their rocky armor with the impact and killing any of the momentum that the dual type would have achieved with its running start— my call distracting it long enough for Axel to smash their side.
“Sweep him off, then Rushdown!”
With a huff, Axel dropped to the ground, Low Sweeping the feet of the much larger pokemon.
As it hit the ground, the Blaziken leaped straight in for a High Jump Kick, striking their side with a sound that brought a shiver to my spine. Two kicks followed right up, and when he landed came a myriad of attacks in a Close Combat, trying to finish off the wild Pokemon from the opening he had gained.
Turns out, it wasn’t quite necessary— the last attack sent the Rhyhorn flying off into the distance, smashing into another tree wall further down the corridor, embedded deep into the wood and dropping to the ground with a deep thud.
…Actually, I think that last portion of the Close Combat wasn’t necessary. Was Axel—
“A–Axel, were you blowing off some steam?”
After holding a low stance for a second or two, he huffs and nods quietly, not taking his eyes off of the distant wild Pokemon.
Awwwwwwww, my little birb just needed to punch something.
Thud.
Oh, shoot, the two Pokemon—
I turned around and found the Mareep collapsed on the ground.
Shoot, shoot, shoot—
I tried to zip open my bag, but ended up fumbling the zipper, though Axel was suddenly next to me to take over and get the potions at the ready.
Handling human-made medicine is tough as a Pokemon. Luckily, the Mareep only had some minor wounds, mostly bruises and smaller cuts that barely got through their wool. The… not-Talonflame had it worse, the wounds and bleeding more pronounced than their partner. Oddly enough, they seemed to be old…? They were healed, but not like healed from a potion or medicine, rather… healed on its own.
Regardless, a Revive alone wouldn’t cut it here— healing the wounds before using one is recommended so that the pain won’t be around once they wake up. It’s true that they work against the pain, but some trainers do think that healing a bit previously is best, myself included. I don’t stir them awake once the healing’s begun; I wouldn’t want to bother the little things. Plus, it takes time for the Revive’s effect to complete, so if they were to struggle or tussle they’d just open their wounds back up.
Though that leaves the issue of getting ourselves out of here…
“I… could put them in a Pokeball, no?”
“I doubt it’d be a good thing— and you’d have to explain to the Center why you’re carrying more Pokemon when we get there…”
“Wouldn’t they understand? They’d probably understand.”
“One, that’s if we get there before they’re logged under your name, and two… that’s if…”
Axel’s gaze traced my body, up and down. He didn’t have to say it to me for me to understand…
“I… I’ll be fine, once we get out of… wherever it is we are.”
The two of us sighed, a brisk gust of wind blowing past us.
“I’ll carry them,” Axel suddenly piped up.
“Wha— then you won’t be able to fight!”
“Only if we’re attacked before we react.” And with that said, he took the two Pokemon gently in his arms and lifted them up, ready to go to the next room over where I spotted the stairs before.
“Wait, wait,” I interrupted, “I’ll scout.”
“L–Liz,” he stammered, “you might get hurt if—”
“I’m not gonna fight, I just need to make sure to not be noticed before you start.”
Even though I tried giving him a reassuring look, the frown in his face didn’t disappear. He nodded after a bit, if hesitantly so.
And so I turned around, and took a step into the stairs.
Just a little bit more.
Please, let it be just a bit more.
Holy GODS above, we’re OUT!
I–I think. The air is no longer stale and still, the trees moved around us, the sky was clear and the clouds passed by in the early evening sunlight. There were chirps of distant Flying Pokemon, some buzzing from Bug types, and a gust of wind passing under us carrying fresh air that I greedily took in.
And it all felt alive. I say so because whatever was in there was certainly not.
The last… floor, I guess I could call it, was somewhat uneventful compared to the previous ones, with one Budew disappearing behind a corner just about when I spotted them, so we didn’t have to worry about it.
Looking into the distance, I see… trees. A lot of trees, some grassland, a… mountain? Just… where were we…? I can’t have been, I dunno, teleported out of Route 13 just like that, right?
“Axel, what… do you remember before we got here? You were awake before me, right?”
“Uhh…” After we had set the two little Pokemon into the grass and made sure the bags were in proper condition, we sat down both to catch our breaths and to find our bearings… to little success. “Not a whole lot…? I just woke up not too far from where you were, a corner away or something like that… it took me a bit to realize that, well, it was you, but I started doing the healing for your wounds before you woke up.”
Not quite what I was referring to. “And before that?”
“I…” He squinted his eyes, struggling to find the image in his mind, “Nnnnno–? Nothing? We were in our camp, we set off for a walk… and then I was waking up in the corridor of sorts.”
I sighed, “So you too, huh…?”
Soooooo… what do? We have no idea where we are, if we even are in Unova, I’m stuck as a Dewott for now, by the looks of it, we’re carrying two unconscious Pokemon, and we’re cut off from the rest of my team and Kyla given by the fact that my Xtransciever has no signal at all.
“Well, there must be something we can do about all this, no?” My partner spoke as my thoughts went by, “we can probably go back home the way we got here, but…”
First order of business would be finding water, food and shelter— we have some food in my bag, but honestly the idea of opening bags of Pokemon food is not a good idea unless you’re absolutely sure that there’s no wild Pokemon around. I’ve only got one or two bottles of water, and we didn’t pack much since we weren’t going to stay out for too long. We have no idea where we are and going in a random direction is not a good idea considering these two Pokemon with us— they looked like little children, so I assumed they were kids. I didn’t see any running water inside… whatever it was that we went through, so no chance of going back for whatever reason. We don’t know what other pokemon are in the surrounding areas, but considering the Rhyhorn that we spotted, sticking around might not be a good idea. Maybe I could stay here while Axel goes around and try to see if he spots a traveler or something? Not really the best idea, I’ve got no one else with me while these two are unconscious. It’s not like it’s late, should we wait on the two kids to wake up? Should I go out and find passing people or any kind of—
“Liz! You’re spiraling out again.” Axel’s voice dragged me back to earth, crouching down in front of me and holding me by the shoulders. “Whatever you’re thinking of, drop it, you didn’t even hear me calling you!”
W–wait, I didn’t?
I took a deep breath to try and calm myself back down, even if just a little bit.
“Ok, you must be worried about how we’re going to stay alive here in the wilderness, but consider— there’s two kids running around in a creepy maze, with bags and stuff, they must have come from somewhere, no?”
Right— right! The kids had a bag with them, didn’t they? “Their trainer might’ve put a map in it, and some healing items too, no?” If it’s a trainer’s bag, it’s probably got about the same stuff I have, no?
Though Axel smiled, he did so with a bit of a grimace, “you sure it’s ok to rummage through someone’s bag just like that?”
“Err… i–it’s not like we’re going to take stuff, we just need a map of these places.”
And with a somewhat satisfied sigh, Axel relents and lets go.
Once I’ve taken the bag off of the Mareep and peeked inside, I found… a bunch of different berries, one or two glassy orbs, some… seeds? And a map! It’s made of parchment or something like that, but it’s a map nonetheless!
“Found one!” I unrolled the map, gently handling it with my awkward grip.
On the map, there were…
“Well, it’s written in…”
Welp, they look like just a bunch of scratches and stuff.
The map itself is sort of elaborate, several shapes and formless blobs colored in different patterns, likely representing different terrains and such. Most noticeably, three spots are marked with an inverted triangle, one of them directly next to a dark-green blob.
I don’t really get what they all meant, given how little colors it had or how any of the words written were basically gibberish, but I could sorta tell that the squiggly blue lines are rivers. I told Axel as such, who reacted with a hum.
“So, these are rivers, and these would be…” he pointed to the green blobs, “…land? Mountains?”
“Don’t mountains have these weird rings around them in world maps and such? The, uh, elevations?”
“Right, then… maybe forests?”
I looked at the map once more, and there were more things drawn in more detail, noticeably some inverted triangles pointing at some spots in the green blobs, and some crude doodles of a house in— I guess the coast? Of this place?
“Wait, look, if those are houses, then it could mean these two are from there?”
“But we have no idea how long it’d take us to reach that place…”
I sighed, putting the map right where we found it in the bag and… sat down.
There’s still something I can think of, right? We have a forest nearby, though there’s that weird maze thing that I didn’t even notice where we left from, we could find some fruit to eat, that’d be safer than opening bags of processed food. We could get to civilization, if we’re lucky and the place marked down in the map is close enough!
A sigh coming from Axel made me turn my head, “I think we could all take a rest,” he said, looking at the two kids.
“I can figure something out while we rest, we can— whah— hey!”
He grabbed me by my sides— and he lifted me into the air—!
“Not gonna let you, we’re taking a rest. If I’m already tired from walking forever inside that place, then you must be exhausted.” As he spoke, he set me down in the grass near the two resting kids, and I don’t want to be lifted like that ever again. And after he sat down, he patted the grass next to him.
I could only give him an odd look.
“The only real option that we have is to wait until these two kids wake up and ask them where we are. Hopefully someone comes looking for them.”
…What if the ones that come are—
“And no, we’re not thinking any further than that, we are going to rest. You hear me?” He interrupted me with the best stern tone he could manage, which was a bit comical with the expression he had.
…Sigh. Fine.
I sat down on the spot he patted, the grass feeling incredibly weird on my legs and butt, not to mention how the… tail felt incredibly wrong, as it twitched against the blades of grass.
At the very least, the breeze’s nice.
…Maybe I’ll figure something out later. Maybe I should take a rest, like he says.
Maybe…