At the crack of dawn I was nudged awake by the one friend I still had from the old world. Deme insisted I get up as soon as possible because we had a big day ahead of us, but even after he left to wake the others I just closed my eyes again, not even bothering to move from my spot; I couldn’t return to the warmth of a bed or the calm comfort of unconsciousness though. There was too much on my mind to warrant resting for even a moment more. Deme’s presence was a constant reminder that I had to keep searching because it meant the others could be here too. I needed to find the rest of my team, to make sure they were alright, and to make sure no one had hurt them because Arceus knows they'd been through enough in their lives as it is.

Ah, but I digress. I decided there was no time like the present to get my day moving, silently cursing Deme for waking me up so damn early in the morning. Who even wakes up at the crack of dawn anymore?

I went to run a hand through my hair to make some sort of an attempt to fix the usual, unavoidable bedhead I was faced with every morning in the bathroom, but I stopped short at the sight of my paw, remembering I didn’t have the same body. I guess I'm still getting used to becoming a Pokemon, even a whole day after the fact.

Shaking my head slightly, I got up to check in with the others before we got started on today's trek. I spared a glance at the campfire from last night and saw that it was already completely covered up with dirt, most likely the work of Deme who was surprisingly the one fire type of my team that was actually aware of the destructive consequences that their powers could have if they weren't kept in check. I swear, in one month alone I’d been singed more times than I can count on both hands- er, paws.

I didn't see the rest of the group anywhere in the immediate vicinity of our campsite, but I heard somebody in the distance. One voice was definitely female and the other... well, I wouldn't exactly call the other a voice; it sounded more like a collection of grunts and growls. I followed my ears away from the camp in the direction of the road, passing through a thin layer of foliage. To say I was surprised would have been an understatement. It seemed that the new member of our party was already proving to be more trouble than she was worth. She and Deme were going at it, calling each other various obscenities that I couldn't quite make out since they weren't exactly speaking clearly. That, or I really needed a cup of coffee.

I approached the bickering duo, noticing Trixie off to the side watching the two with an amused smirk plastered on her face. As I neared the two I could finally make out their dialogue clearly, which, now that I mention it, with my heightened hearing it’s odd I had to be so close to understand them. Maybe I was still groggy from lack of coffee. Boy I could really use some coffee.

"I'd challenge you to a battle, but a Magikarp would put up more of a fight."

"I hope you become a Spoink. Then you'll have to fucking bounce for the rest of your life or your heart'll stop."

"Oh yeah? Well-"

"Guys, that's enough!" I shouted, stepping between the two of them before they actually started sparring. "I don’t know what it is you're even arguing about, but surely we can come to some sort of a-"

The Purrloin, who I still hadn't properly introduced myself to, snorted before falling to the ground on her back and rolling about in a throe of giggles while Deme merely smirked before averting his gaze downwards to inwardly chuckle at something.

I have no clue what they could have been laughing at, but it seemed to have something to do with me. Maybe my fur's filthy from sleeping on the ground last night? Maybe there's something stuck in my teeth?

"What? What's so funny?"

The two of them stopped laughing after I posed my question, only to resume their cackling twofold.

I sighed in resignation and just let them laugh at whatever they thought was so funny. I'd figure it out once they decided they'd had enough.

"I'm not going to stoop so low as to teach you how to groom yourself." "I'm going to go foraging with Trixie soon because we're out of food; if you want to tag along you'd better resolve your issue quickly.”

Trixie trotted after Deme and stopped halfway to turn and announce, "Cypher, we're going to head just inside the forest. We’ll wait for you there.”

I watched them walk off together, still unsure what was so bad about my hair. I couldn’t exactly see it since I didn’t have a mirror. I started pawing at my hair to try to grab it and bring it into my field of vision but failed miserably. I was so concerned at that point that I was about to start running in circles trying in vain to catch a glimpse.

“Here, use this to see what you look like.” I turned to see the Purrloin sliding a shiny, reflective piece of what appeared to be metal towards me on the ground. I moved over to it and finally saw my reflection for the first time that morning. My hair was a disheveled tangle of cream fur, much worse than any bad hair day I ever had as a human.

I turned to the snickering Purrloin, nearly shouting at her in panic, "How did this even happen?"

“I found it in some bushes when I first woke up here. It’s so shiny! Isn’t it pretty?”

“No, not that, I mean my hair… fur.”

"Don't ask me! You probably just slept weird..." She said dismissively.

"Well how do I make it look normal? I can't go around looking like this all day!" Since when did I become such a diva.

A mischievous grin flashed across her face at the thought. "Hmm, that's an idea... but I couldn't have you walking around looking anything short of absolutely adorable!" I blushed a bit at the thought of me being adorable, but I guess that's to be expected with me being so little and puppy-like. Luckily for me, my orange fur covered the fact that I was blushing for the most part, but I still think she knew. “Here, watch me. This is how you flatten down any hairs that are sticking up at awkward angles.”

She licked the back of her paw a couple times and ran her paw over her head as if to smooth down her fur. She repeated it a couple times although I don’t think the additional cleaning was a part of the demonstration. I started to mimic her and it didn’t feel like too strange of an action to mimic, aside from the part where I had to lick my paw- after all, who knew where my paws had been? Using the reflective piece of metal the Purrloin provided me with I quickly worked out the mess atop my head so we could join the others. Just as I was finishing, a thought struck me.

“Uh, by the way... I never got your name.”

“My trainer gave me the name Cali. I suppose it fits pretty well.”

“Alright, thanks Cali, I’m Cypher.” I pawed over the shiny trinket and we hurried off to join the others.

“Good work out there in the field, grunt. If you keep it up maybe one day you’ll prove to be trusted enough to become an admin like me.”

“Yes sir.”

The admin left to join his fellow admins fresh off of their missions, but I waited until I couldn’t hear their voices anymore before I relaxed. I had been tense the whole time, especially after we finished our mission to steal Pokemon. I didn’t like the idea of stealing any Pokemon from trainers, but I had to. I had to work my way up the ranks so I could find my parents. They had to be holding them somewhere, so it was just a matter of time until I found out where.

I looked around my living quarters. It was pretty small, only housing a bed and a dresser to store my clothes. Nothing more adorned the walls or floor aside from the Rocket poster on the back of my door with their slogan plastered all over it… subtle brainwashing techniques at their finest. Aside from the aforementioned furniture and poster, my quarters was pretty bare. No carpet, no rug, no tables or chairs. There was a fellow grunt resting on the top bunk, but he wasn’t an issue to me. I hardly talked to him anymore. It was hard enough keeping up appearances in front of the admins. I couldn’t risk letting anything slip out in front of my roommate. If I said anything sympathetic to anything, he’d rat on me in a heartbeat at the prospect of a promotion. Our daily conversations began and ended with “Hello”.

I couldn’t let my Pokemon out of their Pokeballs because it was against protocol. That would be another reason for my roommate to rat me out. Did I mention his Pokemon of choice is Raticate? Even his teeth resemble a Raticate’s. It’s creepy.

I had no choice but to just lie down and listen to my own thoughts for yet another night.

It wasn’t too long before we met up with Deme and Trixie in another clearing not too far away from our campsite. They were searching through some bushes, and it appeared they’d not fared too well on their own in their search for nourishment.

“How goes the struggle?” I called out as we neared the duo.

“It goes,” was the unanimous response.

“What’s the situation?” Of course I reverted back to how I used to talk as an Admin- tone, phrasing and all. Old habits die hard I suppose. I’d break out of the old ways eventually, I just needed some time.

Deme quickly filled me in on how they were looking for specific types of berries because of course there were poisonous ones and others that tasted too bitter. Trixie claimed it was for everyone’s sake but I had a feeling it was to accommodate for her own personal preferences. Cali and I joined in immediately, feeling the discomfort that hunger brought with it as it neared everyone’s usual breakfast time. As we got to work, the hunger pains seemed to affect Trixie the least- omitting Deme. He's always hid his true emotions from me, including hunger and pain. I never really knew why, but my guess was always that he doesn’t want to seem weak in front of me for whatever reason.

As we searched the bushes to determine which ones were safe to eat and picking them, I ended up at a shrub near Trixie and decided to strike up some conversation to fill the empty silence that hard work tended to leave in its wake.

"So Trixie, why do you know so much about surviving in the wilderness? Is it your job or something?”

“No... it’s not my job or anything like that.” The speed at which she was picking berries slowed a bit. “I just spend a lot of time outside of civilization. I’ve had to learn how to adapt and survive out here.”

Now I was genuinely curious to know more about the pony that… well, maybe not saved our lives, but she did save us a lot of time by explaining the basics of how this world works and giving us some sort of direction so we weren’t walking around aimlessly looking for an answer to our dilemma. She said she spent a lot of time in the wild but it wasn’t her job so was she some sort of outcast? She had to learn how to survive out here meaning she didn’t have a means to do so in civilization… There was only one way to find out.

“Wouldn't you rather live with other ponies?" The expression she gave at hearing that brought pain to my heart. She looked so conflicted. There was a mix of anger welling up underneath her broken and shattered feeling of sadness and yearning that I picked up from her the first time we met her. There was something that was always eating at her from the inside and I had just said something that magnified that feeling tenfold. There was nothing I could do but watch as she struggled to come up with the words to respond.

"I just travel a lot, okay?" She looked away, not even caring to continue picking berries. I could tell she didn’t answer my question fully. Sure, there may have been some truth to it, but she didn’t lose her pained expression upon the admission that she travels.

I kind of know how she felt. I wasn’t entirely alone for 11 years since I had my team with me, but it was hard not being able to talk to my brother and my childhood friends anymore. It was like I had no one to go to. No one to talk to who could tell me that it was alright, that I was doing what I was doing for good reasons, that I wasn’t like them, that I was still sane! I couldn’t get a response or any sort of validation I was on the right path. I was just alone to my own thoughts. I was the only voice in my head and after a while there was no way to be sure it was even me anymore. I knew I had to try to reach out to this fellow lost soul and let them know I understood their struggle.

"That must have been pretty lonely, being all by yourself-"

"Just drop it alright?" She scowled at me, moving over to another shrub with edible berries in it, not even bothering to pick the rest of the bush clean. I didn’t want to push the issue anymore after witnessing her reaction to just a little prodding, so I just made a mental note to save that conversation for later. I couldn’t just drop the issue after all. Maybe I’m being a bit selfish by trying to help someone else to make myself feel better, but I could tell she needed it too.

I got back to work and slowly but surely we filled up a bag full of berries for the road. We met back up by the road to pick up where we left off yesterday, had a small snack for breakfast which Cali opted out of since she was full from shoving nearly half of the berries she picked into her mouth. Trixie seemed to have forgotten about our talk earlier as she was back to her usual self, cracking jokes and making snide remarks. Cali felt the brunt of her artillery for taking a fraction of our findings for herself. I think she took it a bit hard on her, she had been out in the wild for as long as me and Deme after all. I was hungry myself, but I had more self control than the young Purrloin. She had to have been famished to have been unable to wait.

Not much longer after we finished eating, Deme took the lead down the path to Canterlot, with Trixie following behind as the navigator and Cali and I taking up the rear. Hopefully by the end of the day we’d make it to our destination.

Author's Note

This chapter is dedicated to glitchhunter5000 for essentially demanding for me to come out of hiding.

Magikarp
Spoink
Raticate