Growing Up in a New World

by Nitro Indigo

Rating: everyone
Tags: Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Adventure, Crossover, Alternate Universe
Length: 8372

When the Pokémon arrive on Equus, three children seek to be reuinted with their families.

When Arceus transports most of the Pokémon to Equus, there is much panic in Stagland, Empire of Deer. The forests suddenly become feared like the Everfree in Equestria, full of creatures with potentially dangerous powers.

On this fateful day, a fawn named Ilex meets a shy pink deer named Flora. She says she came from someplace called "Unova", and was separated from her herd. Turns out that Flora is a Deerling, one species of the newly-arrived Pokémon. Meanwhile, a young boy named Tyler, from the Hoenn region, woke up in these same woods as a Pichu, along with his family's lazy house-Skitty named Coco. His older brother Jasper started his Pokémon journey the previous day, but where is he now?

Now lost and alone, these children seek to find their families. How will they grow up in this new world?

Published 2016-08-14 16:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-08-25 17:42:27 UTC

Chapter 1A: A Meeting in the Woods (Ilex)

Day one

I remember all too well the day the world changed forever…

It was a morning in early spring, and the residents of the Imperial City of Stagland, Empire of Deer, were beginning to wake up. The city was mostly made of hollowed-out oak trees – the Imperial Palace being the largest – and was surrounded by forests of aspen trees, with smooth, white bark.

I was at home, reading a book about what plants were helpful and harmful; back then, I wanted to be a doctor. The book was old, and the pages were starting to fall out from over-reading. I was on a page about poison joke, a blue flower-thing from the Everfree Forest in Equestria which can apparently inflict curses, when suddenly, without warning, there was a bright flash of light.

What was that?

It only lasted about a second, but it was terrifying, like the visual equivalent of the sound of a stick of bamboo hitting a rock. I bolted downstairs, and told my mother, who seemed slightly concerned, I was going out to investigate what just happened; they usually trusted me to go into the woods on my own if I was back in about an hour.

The forest of aspen trees was full of unfamiliar creatures, all of which were asleep. A bright green gecko-thing was lying face-down on a branch, near several oversized pink and green caterpillars. A normal blackbird flew away in panic. Underneath the tree, there was a stream with several spherical blue things asleep around it, some with mouse-like ears, and some that looked more like rabbits. Further away, there was a group of yellow rabbit-things with zig-zagging tails, and nearby was a creature that looked similar, but was smaller, paler and had triangular ears, next to a pink and cream cat. A group of four wooden bipeds with long noses, one of which had leaves for hands, were on the ground. How did they get here? Did it have something to do with that flash?

Eventually, I came across a deer who looked around my age. Her pink colouring made her look a bit like a pony. I nudged her with one of my front hooves, hoping to wake her up. Eventually, she stirred.

“Where… am I…?” she said, rather quietly. It took me a moment for my mind to be able to register what she said, as if she was speaking in another language that I understood. She stood up, looked around and almost panicked, until I raised a hoof to her shoulder.

“You’re in the aspen forest, just outside the Imperial City,” I said. It didn’t seem to help.

“City… that must mean… h-h-h-hu… mans… and I’ve never seen a brown Deerling before…”
I was about to ask her why she believed in humans, and why she associated the word “city” with them, or if “Deerling” was some obscure synonym for “fawn”, but there was a more pressing issue at hand. “How did you get here?”

The pink deer took a deep breath. “I got scared of a thunderstorm and got separated from my family… have you seen them anywhere? I ended up in a forest, but it looked nothing like this one, then I fell asleep…”

“What did it look like?” I heard the sound of branches snapping in the distance, but I tried to ignore it.

“The trees were brown, and a lot wider than these. It was darker than this place.”

I paused as I remembered several maps I’d seen throughout the years, and there wasn’t any forest matching that description in the nearby area, and I don’t think a sleepwalker could cover that much distance. “Do you know the name of the general area you were in? Like, what the forest you were in was called, or even the country or something?”

“I think it was called… the Unova region?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know where that is. This place is called Stagland.” She looked confused. “You’re not from here, are you?”

Suddenly, I hear a branch breaking, right behind us. It was the group of wooden bipeds I saw earlier, now wide awake, led by the one with leaves for hands. I looked at the pink deer, as if we both thought the exact same thing: danger.

The scenery flew past me as I ran and I ran and I ran back to the city, the pink deer close behind me, but the wooden things still kept up with us. The leader was incredibly agile, jumping several metres at once.

“What… what do you think those are?” I said. The pink deer looked behind to get a closer look. We deer have eyes on the sides of our heads to spot predators better, but this doe didn’t, for some reason. She turned her head back.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “Never seen them before...”

“But this can’t be their territory, because I know these woods well, and I’ve never seen them before either. Or any of these creatures, for that matter.” I had noticed that most of the creatures here had woken up now; at once point, I noticed that the green gecko-thing seemed to be having an argument with one of the blue things.

“Wait… how come you’ve never seen-” the doe was interrupted by one of the smaller bipeds snapping a branch that was almost on top of her. She dodged it, then stopped. She leaped very high into the air, then spun around, trying to kick the wooden thing with one of her hind legs. She missed, crashed onto the ground, and looked hurt, but her leg didn’t appear to be broken, or anything. She got back up and repeatedly kicked her enemy with her other hind leg, knocking it down and giving her enough time to escape.

“Awesome!” I exclaimed. I wish I could fight like that... “Are you okay, though?”

“Sure…” the doe replied. “I’ll be fine.”

Despite her injury, the doe still managed to keep up with me. We continued running until we finally reached the edge of the woods. We thought we had finally outrun our pursuers, until we heard something land behind us. It was the leader, followed by his two remaining cronies.

“We’ve chased you two far enough,” said the leader. Like the pink deer, it took me a moment to register what he said.

“Leave,” said one of his cronies.

“Somehow, one of us Nuzleaf got knocked out earlier,” said another.

The trio moved closer to us, ready to attack.

“…That was me,” said the pink deer. “Why were you chasing us?”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I whispered. The doe nodded slightly.

“Nonsense! Don’t you know never to trespass on another Pokémon’s territory?” He raised an arm into the air, as if preparing to strike that. “It’s basic etiquette.”

What’s a Pokémon?

“SHUT UP!” the normally quiet doe suddenly shouted. “This isn’t your territory!”

“What makes you say that?” the other crony – I assumed that their species was called Nuzleaf – asked.

“I don’t know where I am. I’m from this place called Unova, but I just woke up here earlier! And I’ve never seen any Pokémon like you there before!”

“She has a point,” said one of the Nuzleaf. “I know the forest we came from like the back of my hand, but when I woke up this morning, it looked completely different, even if the trees look similar.”

“This guy,” the doe turned her head towards me, “said I was in Stagland, wherever that is.”

“So? What does the funny-looking Stantler have to say?” the Shiftry said, pointing towards me. I almost asked what a Stantler was, but I didn’t.

“I know these woods well, and I know that this isn’t your territory. I’ve never seen anything like you before; I met this doe in these woods earlier, after there was a bright flash of light.” I shuddered slightly as I remembered the flash.

“…Maybe you’re right…” the Shiftry grumbled. “Come on, Nuzleaf. Find your friend, then we’ll find our own part of the woods. But don’t you two come trespassing on us again…” He muttered something about being outsmarted by a couple of kids, then he and the Nuzleaf turned around and left.

“Thanks,” I said to the doe. “My name’s Ilex, by the way.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” the doe replied. “And I’m called Flora…”

“You did most of the talking. Anyway, I need to go home now. My mother might be getting worried about me.”

“Okay… I’d rather stay here, though. Just in case I find any of my family around here…”

“Okay, then. Want to meet me here tomorrow?”

“Maybe…” Flora sprinted away, rather nervously.

I returned home, about half an hour after I left, to my mother, who had a rather stern look on her face.

“Are you okay?” she asked, sounding both angry and concerned.

“Yeah. I had to run away from these wooden thingies called Nuzleaf and Shiftry who thought I was trespassing on their territory, but-”

“Are those some of the monsters that appeared today?”

“Monsters? They weren’t monsters at all.”

“Sorry, what?” my mother sounded like I just casually said that the universe exploded, or something.

“I met this pink deer, her name’s Flora, she said she’s from someplace called Unova. The Nuzleaf and Shiftry tried to attack us, until we told them that this wasn’t their territory.”

“You talked to them?”

“Yeah, they can talk. They were confused, and didn’t know where they were.”

“Ilex… that’s dangerous! Some of the monsters – ” she looked at me “– sorry. Anyway, there’s been countless incidents of them damaging all sorts of places, and attacking deer, and…”

“Maybe we just need to be more understanding,” I said, before heading up the helical staircase that lead to my room, of sorts, before this conversation got any more awkward.

That night, I was up reading the book about plants again, when I heard something outside. An owl of some sort landed on a nearby branch, looked towards the ground, as if searching for prey, before flying away, towards the aspen forest.

These creatures, whatever they were, definitely weren’t monsters. They were just lost and confused, trying to live their lives as normally as possible. If only I could convince others about that…

But one question still lingered in my mind: where did they come from?

Chapter 1B: A Shocking Awakening (Tyler)

The day before

“How am I supposed to – why is this game so hard?”

My brother Jasper and I were playing this game called Silver and the Doorway of Dreams, an isometric platformer about this weird Sylveon/Gardevoir/Cresselia thing called Silver, who was actually pink. It’s a rather old game – it was a launch title for this console called the Crescent, which is almost as old as Jasper – and it’s very girly, but we’d always loved the game since we got it, and the console, second-hand a couple of years ago. It was fun, but there was one problem: we’d been stuck on this electric dragon boss – Raigon, I think it’s called? – for several months now. Jasper found his attack where he sends an electric shockwave across the ground to be really hard to dodge, while I basically mashed random buttons.

After getting the umpteenth game over in this night alone, I handed the controller over to Jasper.

“I think you’re supposed to do this,” he said. He repeatedly used Silver’s dash attack against the boss, but eventually she was hit and got thrown backwards. And again. And again. Game over.

He threw the controller onto the floor in frustration, waking up our house-Skitty, Coco, who was asleep on the floor nearby. She screeched, and I had to pull her off the sofa. Then, I turned the Crescent off. On the other side of the living room, there were some photographs and awards from when our mom was a Rhyhorn racer; Rhyhorn racing was also how she met our dad.

It was a shame we couldn’t beat Raigon, because this was the last time we’d see each other for a while. The next day, Jasper would become a Pokémon trainer – Coco wasn’t a battling Pokémon.

“So, Jasper… which Pokémon will you pick?” I asked.

“Treecko, I think,” he replied. “They’re really cool – just imagine, travelling through a deep forest, your Sceptile leaping through the trees nearby… it sounds awesome. But… you’re going to be lonely, aren’t you?”

I nodded slightly, almost sadly. I had some friends at school, sure, but Jasper was always the closest to me. He’d make sure I never did anything stupid, and kept me out of trouble… I hoped he’d be okay on his own.

“I hope this Treecko protects you… and I hope you protect this Treecko.”

Day one

Today was the day. Jasper would leave home and become a trainer. I was feeling nervous, knowing that my best friend would be gone for a while.

Mom kept asking Jasper to check if he had everything he needed, over and over and over. She asked him to call back every now and again, and tell her what he was up to. Our mom was single, and seemed to be worried that he would get lost, or something, on his journey. He reassured her, saying that countless other kids had survived their trek across the Hoenn region, and that he had to leave home eventually, and this would be his chance to see the world. I even said, holding back tears, that I hoped his Treecko, or whatever starter he chose, would protect him, just as I said last night.

It was the weekend that day, so I went back into the living room once he had left. I debated with myself if I should play Dooway of Dreams or not, to see if I could beat Raigon on my own, but worrying it would feel “different” without Jasper. Eventually, I turned the console on, with Coco on the floor nearby, awake for once. Just as the console’s startup sequence finished, with all of the CGI letters in the logo appearing one at a time, I suddenly felt strangely tired. Coco suddenly fell asleep too. I collapsed onto the sofa, still holding the Crescent controller.

“Rest now, my children, for when you awake a whole new world shall be your home.”

“Ugh… where am I…?” I groaned, my voice sounding a lot higher-pitched than usual.

All around me, I heard countless sounds, some of which sounded further away than anything I’d ever heard before. It was mostly the sounds of countless Pokémon sleeping, with the occasional rustling of leaves.

I opened my eyes. I was in a forest full of white trees – aspen trees? There weren’t any of those in Hoenn. They also looked vastly taller than I imagined they would be.

I stood up. It was then that I noticed that I was a lot smaller than usual. I looked at my arm, which was pale yellow, with very short digits. I was shocked – literally, in fact. Upon noticing my arm, I was suddenly zapped by something. There wasn’t any lightning or appliances around, and it was then I realized that I was a Pichu. That shock felt all too real, so it couldn’t have been a dream.

At first, I was overjoyed. It was so cool to be a Pokémon! That excitement quickly turned into panic, however, when I noticed there was a predator right in front of me.

RUN AWAY!

I hyperventilated, and almost electrified myself again, when I realized that this “predator” my instincts, I guess, were telling me about was just a Skitty. Coco, to be exact. Still feeling a bit nervous, I gently nudged her, being careful not to shock her.

“Morning…” someone yawned. I quickly realized it was Coco; since I was a Pokémon now, I could talk to other Pokémon. She tiredly stood up.

“Coco!” I exclaimed. “You’re never going to believe this, but… I’m Tyler!”

“Tyler? Oh, yeah, that kid… wait, I thought Tyler was a human…” Coco sounded bored.

“I really don’t know what happened. I just… woke up here as a Pichu.”

“Prove it.”

“Last night, Jasper and I were playing this game, then he threw the controller on the floor, and it scared you. You always get scared by things like that.”

“I remember now… I was tired back then…” Coco sounded rather unsurprised by all of this.

You’re always tired, I thought.

“Anyway,” I said, “I… I have no idea where mom is, or anyone else we know. I… what should I do…?”

“Find civilisation?” replied Coco. "Whatever it is you humans do..." She said "humans" in a way that sounded like she'd do the quote fingers if she had any.

But where was civilisation? I had no idea where we were, and there were no signs of humans here. Was this some kind of nature reserve? A dream? How did I become a Pokémon, anyway?

My ears twitched as I heard all sorts of sounds. Leaves rustling, branches breaking, Nuzleaf... and the unnerving sound of wings beating overhead. I looked up, and heard a screech. It was a Staraptor.

There were no Staraptor in Hoenn.

"Run!" I exclaimed. I found it easier to run on all fours, which seemed to come naturally to me. Pichu are surprisingly fast. I had no idea where I was going, or if Coco was following me... I just needed to find safety.

At one point, I stopped to catch my breath, and noticed a group of wild Pikachu. I thought about joining them, but... I didn't. I needed to find a town, or city, or something. Maybe there would be humans, maybe they would know what happened. Except... they couldn't talk to humans. I didn't think this through... but I couldn't sleep alone in the wilderness. Maybe a trainer would take me in. But would I want to be a trained Pokémon?

I also noticed that the Staraptor had gone, and so had Coco.

Eventually, I came across a part of the forest that consisted of oak trees. In the middle of this forest was the tallest tree I'd ever seen, possibly the tallest in the world. Something pink was asleep near the roots of one of the trees - Coco.

"Took you long enough," she yawned, after I approached her.

"What? What? How?" I spluttered, shocked.

"That Pokémon - a Stara-ara-raptor, I think he said - was actually nice. He said he was a human too, and hadn't seen any for miles around... he brought me here."

"What was the Staraptor's name?"

"I think he said his name was Chief or Quiche or something. Wasn't paying attention."

"No-one I know, then. But why did he bring you here?"

"I said I was lost, and he said that this place was inhabited. Not by humans, mind, but some other things... what were they called again?"

I heard the sound of hoofsteps as something ran past us. It looked like a Stantler or Deerling or something, only with darker fur, and it seemed to be scared of something. It didn't even notice us.

"Oh yeah... those guys..." Coco mumbled. "Quiche said they were scared of Pokémon... even cute ones..."

Just where were we?

That night, I couldn't get to sleep. This was quite possibly the worst day of my life, and definitely the weirdest. I was a little Pichu that was prey to many Pokémon, in a faraway land with no humans. I had no idea where my family was, and the only "person" I knew here was the world's most bored Skitty. That shock hurt, but... this all seemed to unreal. Maybe this was a dream after all...

When I was little, I always liked to imagine that Silver was always watching over my dreams. Maybe she could help me understand what was going on.

Eventually, I fell asleep, wondering if this was a dream I would forgot when I woke up in the morning. Where do you suppose those dreams go?

Chapter 1C: This World Is Not Our Reality (Bandit)

Day one

Every night, I have the same dream...

I was a Sceptile, and I was running through an endless forest. The trees’ branches blocked out most of the sunlight, while their trunks were covered in vines. I could run on the ground and leap between the branches with ease. But despite this… something about being a Sceptile didn’t feel right. And it’s not the fact that I’ve never dreamed of being a Grovyle. I can’t explain what feels wrong… you don’t have time to think when you’re dreaming.

But this night, the dream was different. I was usually alone, but this time I saw my new trainer, Jasper, in front of me. As I got closer to him, he disappeared… and the whole world went white as I became a Treecko, like I am in the real world.
It felt as if I was falling down a vertical tunnel, full of silhouettes of life forms I’d never seen before. Some were bipeds, some were quadrupeds, and some were neither… and then, I heard a voice that sounded vaguely familiar.

“Rest now, my children, for when you awake a whole new world shall be your home.”

I awoke on a thin, but still sturdy, tree branch in a forest I’d never seen before. The trees had white bark, and I could hear a stream running nearby. It felt peaceful, almost… until I noticed that on the other end of the branch, there was a group of very hungry Wurmple, and some… green guys I’d never seen before. They were coming towards me, as if they thought my tail was a leaf. Something about their stares was very unnerving. I tried to quickly climb back down the tree, but I slipped off the thin branch and landed in the stream below.

SPLASH!

A spherical-ish blue and white Pokémon – a Marill – who was asleep in the stream woke up.

“What was – Bandit?” he said, confused.

“Hey, who’re you?” I asked. “Bandit was the name my trainer gave me, and he hasn’t seen a Marill yet!”

“But I’m – Wait, you can – what?” the Marill replied. He looked around, as if trying to look for the source of some problem. He noticed his zig-zagging tail with a sphere on the end, and looked confused, like he’d never seen himself before. I was no expert on Marill behaviour, but that definitely wasn’t normal.

“I’m Jasper,” he said.

“No you’re not,” I replied, bluntly. “Jasper is a human. Unless you’re a different Jasper…”

“Look, Bandit,” the Marill, whose name was apparently Jasper, said. “I don’t know what happened here. I just woke up in this place as a Marill… wait, is this real?”

I hit him.

“What was that for?” he whined.

“You can’t be hurt in a dream,” I replied. “Anyway, prove to me that you’re Jasper.”

“A few hours ago – or yesterday, I don’t know what time it is now – I chose you as my first Pokémon. You looked lonely,” the Marill said. “I have this little brother called Jasper, and he said that if I chose a Treecko, we’d both protect each other.”

“So you really are Jasper, then…”

Jasper looked concerned. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s…. nothing.” Truth is, I really was lonely. I was in that professor’s lab for what felt like an eternity, and a new starter Pokémon can’t be brought in until one of the same species had already been chosen. I always wondered why nobody wanted to choose me – Treecko are cool, right? “Anyway, I don’t know where we are either. Know where we should go?”

“Let’s see…” said Jasper. “When you become a trainer, you have to learn survival skills… um… oh! If you ever get lost, follow a body of water. Settlements are usually nearby. But… which way do we go?”

“Excuse me, but are you two lost?” someone said. That someone was an Azumarill, who was in the stream nearby.
Jasper and I debated as to who should talk to her. We decided that I should.

“Excuse me, madam,” I said, putting on my best formal voice, “but yes, we are lost. Would you, perhaps, know where any human civilization may be?”

“Please, drop the formality,” the Azumarill replied. “To answer your question, I honestly don’t know.” I felt slightly disappointed. “But that part of the forest…” she pointed to one end of the stream “looks very dark and dangerous. I’m not sure, but I think you should go the other way.”

“Well, we better get going,” I said, gesturing to Jasper to follow me.

As we journeyed through the forest, we noticed all sorts of equally confused Pokémon. I saw a startled Fletchinder who had recently awoke, trying to calm down. A clan of Sneasel stood in some high tree branches, looking down upon us suspiciously. Or maybe they were just trying to figure out where this forest was. I wasn’t sure.

This forest was very different from the one in my dreams; it was claustrophobic, uninviting, confusing, distant… and no sign of humans anywhere. Technically. Sorry, Jasper.

“Wow!” Jasper exclaimed, as he noticed something. It was a green stone, which glaringly reflected the little sunlight from above it.

“What is it?” I asked.

“That’s a thunder stone,” replied Jasper. “It can evolve certain Pokémon, though I can’t remember which ones right now. Looks cool, though. Should we keep it?”

“Go ahead. It could come in useful, and even if it doesn’t, it can be a keepsake of sorts. The only good part of this forest.”
Jasper couldn’t pick anything up with his Marill nub hands, so I had to carry it. We could do with a bag.

“I can’t wait until I evolve! I could be an awesome Sceptile!” I exclaimed.

“And I get to be an... uncool Azumarill.” Jasper sounded disappointed.

“Don’t worry, that Azumarill from earlier seemed pretty nice.”

Oh, past me… if only you knew.

Eventually, as the sun set, we ended up in a forest of oak trees, with the tallest tree in the centre. I overheard two… somethings… talking. The two of us hid in the long evening shadows.

“Have you seen any of those monsters around today?” one of them, who sounded female, asked.

“Yes. Giant insects, birds of prey, weasels… this could seriously unbalance the ecosystem,” said the other one, who sounded male. “And it’s not just here. It seems to be all over the world. I’ve heard that in Equestria, dragons have been terrorising ponies… and they’re not like any dragons we know of. It’s like they came from the Everfree Forest, and somehow ended up here.”

“I wonder how they’re dealing with the monsters. A lot of trees have lost a lot of branches today, and who knows how much more damage can be done. But where did they come from…?”

Equestria. Ponies. Everfree. These unfamiliar words made me confused. Just where was this place?

I stepped out of the shadows, and into the sight of the couple.

“Monsters? You mean like… us?” I said, with a hint of anger in my voice.

“It talks?” the female one said.

“Yeah, of course I can talk. All of us monsters can talk.” I started sounding more intimidating. “How do you not know what Pok-”

I was interrupted by Jasper tugging on my arm.

“Okay, maybe they were a bit rude,” he shout-whispered, “but do you really need to start a fight?”

“I wasn’t trying to start a fight! And besides, fighting is what Pokémon do!” I complained.

“But not with random strangers! And besides, judging from what they said, I don’t think those guys were Pokémon at all…”

When night finally came, we fell asleep in the outskirts of the aspen forest, close enough so that the oak part of the forest was in sight, but far enough that none of the not-Pokémon would notice us.

I was running through an endless forest again… I wasn’t alone this time, though. There were a few vague shapes, like vague ideas of life forms.

Pony sounded like Ponyta, and they don’t do well with dragons. The guys I saw earlier looked a bit like Stantler, but with bigger eyes, and darker fur. There were a few aspen trees in this dream forest, but otherwise it looked the same as usual.

This “Everfree Forest” was apparently full of monsters. Must be a lot more dangerous than this forest, then… but what about the dark part of the forest the Azumarill told us about?

Chapter 2: Exploring the Forest (Jasper)

The morning sun was shining down through the leaves, the birds were singing… and I was still a Marill. It wasn’t a dream, then…

Were Tyler and mom okay? Where were they? Are they here? Tyler was just a little kid, and I didn't even know if he was with mom or not.

Bandit, who had recently awoken, had been asleep in the tree above me, leaving the thunder stone hidden in the leaves.

“What should we do today?” I asked.

“Try reasoning with the locals?” he replied. “Easier said than done…”

“We’ve already established that those locals are scared of us, so no,” I said. “So how about… oh! We need to defend ourselves in this forest. Know any moves?”

Bandit leaped up, turned around in the air, and hit me with his tail as he fell back down.

“What was that for?” I exclaimed.

“Well, you asked me if I knew any moves.”

“Fair enough… let me go next!”

I leaped towards Bandit, trying to strike him with my tail, and ended up landing on the ground face-first instead.

“That all you got?” Bandit snarked. This made me angry, in a competitive sort of way.

Focus… focus… what else can a Marill like me do? Oh, yes!

I took a deep breath, and released a spiral of water from my mouth. Bandit tried to dodge it, but failed, and ended up hitting a tree.

“It’s not very effective…” he muttered. “Anyway, fair enough… for a beginner.”

“Coming from you?”

“Touché.”

I paused for a moment. “Anyway… uh… there’s something I’ve been worried about,” I said, slowly.

“What is it?” Bandit looked more confused than concerned.

“I have a family, and… I’m not sure where they are, if they’re even here. They definitely won’t even recognise me…”

“Though luck,” Bandit snarked, climbing back up the tree.

“Listen, Bandit,” I said, slightly angry, in a serious way, “this may be some kind of joke to you, but it isn’t to me.”

Bandit stopped climbing the tree, though he still held onto the trunk. “Hey, calm down!”

“True, but please be more considerate in the future. Anyway… what do we do today?”

“Get to know this forest? Easier said than done…”

Suddenly, a shadowy figure leaped down from the trees. Their yellow eyes and sharp claws were rather intimidating. Bandit was so shocked by their arrival that he fell of the tree trunk, while I readied myself to attack.

“Whoa! Calm down!” the shadowy figure said. “Don’t think I’m going to steal something from you just because I’m a Sneasel!”

“Sorry,” I said. “But what are you doing here, no offence?”

“None taken,” said the Sneasel, who went to lean against a tree. “Anyway, name’s Ivory. I was just looking for Pidgey eggs, when I overheard you two talking about where to go. Seriously, though, I could barely find any Pidgey eggs, just a lot of rubbish tiny ones…”

“So, Ivory,” Bandit said. I could tell from his voice that he was already starting to get along with Ivory more than me. “Know your way around this place?”

Ivory looked uncertain. “Sort of. We woke up in this forest, met this other Sneasel claiming to be a human, saw a group of annoyingly territorial Nuz–”

“Wait… a Sneasel claiming to be a human?” I asked. So I wasn’t the only one!

“Yeah,” said Ivory. “My group and I woke up, and we came across this other Sneasel who was really confused by anything. He said he was a human, we didn’t believe him, but we let him join us. Poor guy must’ve had a hard life.”

“Thing is…” I said, hesitating, because I wasn’t sure how Ivory would react, “You probably won’t believe this, but I’m a human too.”

“Or was,” Bandit added.

“No way,” said Ivory. “You’ve got to be joking.”

“I’m not lying!” I exclaimed. “And I’ve already been through this whole proving thing.”

“Whatever the case, I’ll be on my way,” said Ivory, before leaping away, into the trees.

Later that day, Bandit and I were exploring the forest, slowly and cautiously, since we might as well get used to our new home for the next who-knows-how-long. Marill weren’t built to climb trees, so Bandit followed me on the ground so we didn’t get separated. He also made sure to bring the thunder stone with him. Unlike yesterday, we weren’t trying to get anywhere in particular, and kept a mental note of where we were this morning.

This exploration made me realize how much better my hearing was as a Marill. I could hear the stream we followed yesterday in the distance, and the faint voices of Pokémon all around. A Staraptor flew above the forest, as if he was patrolling it.

Of course, this journey also made me realize that this forest was rather boring, in comparison to places I’d seen pictures of. Besides a few flowers, almost all of the plants were aspen trees, and it was very bright for a forest. I’d occasionally see one of those locals come in, wary of the Pokémon, as if they were helping out the forest in some way. It only made that city of oak trees look even more out of place.

Eventually, I came across a clearing in the forest. In the clearing was a whole group of Pikachu; some were gathering berries (that I’d never seen before), while some were looking out into the forest from the high trees. One of the lookout Pikachu, with a heart-shaped tail, leaped down, and talked to us.

“Hiya! I’ve never seen you two before!” she exclaimed. “Are you lost?”

“No, not really,” I replied. “We’re just trying to get used to this forest.”

“I can help! For starters, if a Pokémon gets mad at you for trespassing on their territory, don’t attack them. That’ll make the problem worse. Just run. Works for me!” The Pikachu grinned, as if she was proud of getting into trouble. “Also,” she added, “these trees are really weird. The bark is all slippery, and the branches are too small. I much prefer Santalune Forest over this place.”

“So you’re from… Kalos, then? What do you think of this place?” I asked.

“I don’t like it at all. Confused Pokémon could attack at any moment, the trees all look the same, and these berries taste funny.” She looked around, as if she’d heard something. “By the way, my name’s Rainy. Who are you?”

“Well, I’m Bandit, and this is my awesome sidekick Jasper!” I was annoyed by Bandit calling me his sidekick, but I didn’t say anything.

“Jasper?” asked Rainy, scratching her ear. “That’s a human name!” She sounded like she was accusing me of something.

“Long story,” I quickly replied.

“Fair enough,” she said. “It’s only a name.”

Rainy’s ears picked up again. I heard a distant roaring sound of some sort, which was coming closer every second. The air was heating up.

“RUN!” several of the Pikachu shouted at once.

I didn’t look back; I ran away from the forest fire as fast as I could, which wasn’t very. I didn’t even look to see where Bandit or Rainy were. I was a Water-type, sure, but I couldn’t put out a fire of this scale on my own.

As I ran, trees collapsed and Pokémon fled. The flames spread so quickly that I could barely see in front of myself. I couldn’t even find the stream anywhere. I hoped that the Azumarill was okay.

I noticed that the Staraptor from earlier was rescuing some Pokémon. I called for help, but my voice was drowned out by the roaring of the fire.

After what felt like an eternity, I finally made it to the city of oak trees. This part of the forest was a lot less dense, so there was less chance of the fire spreading here. But what had caused it?

I looked around. A lot of the locals were gathered around, and there were plenty of Pokémon I recognised too. The Azumarill, Ivory, along with four other Sneasel, Rainy, and… Coco? But there was someone missing.

Bandit.

I couldn’t leave him… I couldn’t leave him… What to do… what to do…

“Water-types! WATER-TYPES!” I shouted. Several Pokémon, including the Azumarill, turned towards me, but I was largely drowned out by all of the commotion. “I NEED YOUR HELP! THIS FIRE WON’T PUT ITSELF OUT!”

“He’s right,” said the Azumarill. “LISTEN, EVERYONE!” A lot more Pokémon were paying attention now. “This Marill has something important to say!” I then started telling everyone who was interested what to do. I told those who could fly, or were fireproof, to look for anyone who was trapped, while those who knew Water-type moves would put out the fire.

“Um… there’s a friend of mine trapped in there,” I mumbled.

“That Treecko? I’m sure someone will find him.”

“Bandit. His name is Bandit. And I’ve got to find him! He’s my friend!”

“I’m sorry, but it’s dangerous for a child like you to go into a fire like that.”

I wanted to argue with her, but she had a very good point. I may be a Water-type, but I was a very inexperienced one.

The Azumarill leaped into the air and blasted a jet of high-pressure water from her mouth, dousing several trees at once. I copied her with my weak water attack, which only put out a few leaves. I noticed Ivory and the other Sneasel trying to use ice to put out the fire, to little success.

Still, at least we were trying…

The search-and-rescue went on for what felt like hours. Even after most of the fire was gone, Pokémon were still being rescued. But there was still now sign of Bandit.

As evening approached, a Fletchinder nervously fluttered overhead, panicked.

“It’s all my fault… my fault… my FAULT!” they stuttered, guiltily.

After a moment, one of the local dark-brown-Stantler-Deerling-whatevers, a young male, decided to talk to the Fletchinder.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, with genuine empathy in his voice.

“I-I got scared… and I accidentally burned a branch… which spread to the whole forest… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

There was a lot of murmuring in the crowd about how “this bird was dangerous”, and why that kid was talking to it, or that the bird could talk in the first place.

The kid in question stopped to think for a moment. “While it’s true the damage has been done, and you should be responsible for your own actions… it was an accident, wasn’t it?” The crowd gasped.

“R-really…?”

“Ilex!” someone in the crowd shouted. “You can’t possibly be trying to sympathise with something... that MONSTER that destroyed the aspen forest, right?”

“QUIET!” Ilex (I assumed that was his name) shouted, which sounded rather jarring. “While it’s true that these guys that arrived yesterday CAN be dangerous, they’re not all scary! Yesterday, I met this doe, Flora, and then was chased by some wooden guys. After they’d chased us for a while, we learned that they were just confused, lost, and thought this place was their territory. Speaking of which, Flora, are you here?”

“I am,” a Deerling (who was definitely a Deerling, not one of the locals) said in the crowd.

“And the fact that these creatures, monsters, whatever you want to call them,” Ilex continued, “helped save the forest, and saved each other regardless of species… they can’t all be bad, can they?”

“Th-thank you…” said the Fletchinder.

“Come to think of it,” said one of the not-Pokémon in the crowd, “I think I saw one of those weasel things guiding a fawn out of the forest.”

“True, true,” someone, presumably the “fawn” in question, spoke up. “I was scared of him at first, but he said he was as lost as I was.” A Sneasel, who definitely wasn’t Ivory, looked incredibly awed and overjoyed.

I smiled. Despite the fact that the forest had been almost completely destroyed, there was still hope. Plus, I helped to save it… but it wasn’t just me. It was everyone.

"It'll take time for the forest to heal, but... your organisation skills really helped us out," the Azumarill said later that day, with a smile.

In the middle of the night, I was finally reunited with Bandit. It turns out that he dropped his thunder stone, and got trapped under a branch trying to pick it back up. He was rescued by that Staraptor, who said his name was Keith, and that he was from some place called Almia. I vaguely remembered hearing about Almia. Apparently, there was a lot of rangers there.

As for Bandit, he didn’t get to keep the thunder stone. He seemed a bit disappointed, but he was glad that he made it out alive.

It took me a while to fall asleep by the roots of one of the oak trees that night, with Bandit nearby. As I fell asleep, I remembered that I saw Coco earlier… was my family here as well?

Chapter 3: Arceus' Word (Bandit)

Day three

I was running through a forest, but I wasn’t a Sceptile this time. I was a Treecko, but still surprisingly fast, and Jasper was following me. The forest in my dream began to look more and more like the aspen forest… until eventually, one tree turned red, then another, then another… and I lost Jasper...

Trees were collapsing behind me as I ran and ran and ran, until…

I screamed as I woke up. I was lying near the roots of an oak tree, facing towards the charred remains of the aspen forest. I then suddenly remembered the previous day…

“Are you alright?” the Staraptor asked.

“No…” I muttered weakly. I was trapped under a branch, so burned it was almost like charcoal. My hand was almost in reach of the thunder stone.

The Staraptor carefully lifted up the branch.

“Hold on!” he exclaimed, as he prepared to lift me up in his talons.

“But what about…”

“You’ll have to leave the stone behind.”

I hoped that stone was fireproof… but that wasn’t what was important. What was important was that I was being saved.

From the air, the burnt forest looked almost unrecognisable. The air was so thick with ash that I could barely make anything out, even when my eyes were covered by… what were they called again? Oh, yeah, nictitating membranes.

“Thank you…” I whispered.

…It was hard to think about. If I could cry, I would’ve cried tears of joy when I was reunited with Jasper. But I couldn’t.

“Bandit, are you okay?” asked Jasper. He seemed surprisingly calm about the whole situation – maybe it was his optimism? Or maybe it was because he helped saved the forest.

“Oh, I was just thinking about yesterday,” I said.

Whatever the reason, I couldn’t help but admire Jasper’s organisation skills. I heard that he, with the help of that Azumarill, helped organise the search-and-rescue yesterday. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here now.

Humans were amazing. They taught Pokémon of different species to work together. They had built things that a Pokémon could only dream of. I’ve heard of some things called “video games” – just imagine, a story that you control yourself!

So why were there no humans here?

There were more important things than the lack of humans, though, like the vast field of charcoal that was once the aspen forest. A few trees were still standing, and Jasper almost fell asleep under one, but I told him not to, just in case they collapsed.

If I was a Sceptile, I could help replant this forest, but I wasn’t a Sceptile, and I’m still not. I considered talking to some other Grass-types later.

“Bandit,” said Jasper. “I was just thinking… I saw someone I recognised the other day, or at least I think I did.”

“Who?” I asked.

“I was just about to say!” he snapped. “It was Coco, a Skitty I know. At least, I think it is…”

“And?”

“I’d like to go look for her.”

“Go ahead.”

Jasper and I stared at each other for a moment.

“What, were you expecting me to come with you?” I asked.

“Yes, actually,” he replied.

I followed Jasper around the tree city, looking for this Skitty. I would have liked to climb the trees, but they were spaced too far apart for me to jump between them. While we still got a few odd looks, the locals seemed not nearly as wary of Pokémon as they were before. Eventually, we came across a Deerling, who looked like she was pacing nervously.

“H-hello,” she said, quietly, to Jasper. “You must b-be the one who organised the forest rescue…”

“True,” replied Jasper, “but I couldn’t have done it without everyone else. Also, I think whoever was giving the speech mentioned you…”

“Ilex,” the Deerling said. “His n-name is Ilex, and he’s my friend…”

“Oh, okay, that’s nice to know,” said Jasper. “Anyway, we’re looking for a Skitty – seen any around here?”

“Y-yes…” said the Deerling. “Just outside that tree… Ilex lives there.” She pointed, then started talking quieter. “He said he was going to school today, but I thought school was a human thing… though I don’t know much about humans.”

Jasper thanked the Deerling, then headed towards the tree she pointed to. The tree in question was hollow, and I saw a few windows in it. Strange.

We looked around the roots of the tree, in opposite directions. I didn’t find anything on my side, besides a stick I decided to keep, but I heard Jasper gasp.

“Coco? Is that you?” he exclaimed. I went to see what had happened, and I noticed that Jasper had found that Skitty he was talking about, and a Pichu.

“Should I recognise you?” the Skitty, whose name was apparently Coco, mumbled, boredly. Jasper then spend a good minute or so trying to prove his identity, before the Pichu interrupted him.

“Jasper!” the Pichu exclaimed. “Is that really you?”

“Of course it’s me!” Jasper replied. “On this night, a star shines bright, a great legend is made…”

“…As long as you remember her, she’ll never truly fade,” replied the Pichu. Apparently, these two had some shared interest in poetry.

“So it really is you, Tyler!” exclaimed Jasper. He was about to introduce me to Coco and Tyler, when we were interrupted by a voice from nowhere.

“Greetings citizens of Equus, both old and new.”

We all looked around, trying to see where it came from, before we realised that the voice was telepathic.

”I am Lord Arceus, creator of the creatures that you have seen over the past few days. You have no reason to fear me for I come in peace. I am the one who brought the creatures you see to this world, they are known as Pokémon.”

I held the stick in both of my hands, instead of just one.

“I have my reasons for bringing them here, I will be holding a summit with the world's leaders so that they can help inform their citizens the best. For now I issue a warning; Even if some do not appear as such, the Pokémon are just as intelligent as any other creature that calls this world home. Since they are MY subjects I will not tolerate their mistreatment or abuse. Treat them as you would your own neighbour.”

I started bending the stick. Why didn’t this “Arceus” person tell everyone that in the first place?

“Pokemon who have awoken in this new world, do not seek to harm the natives of this world. To the Pokémon that experienced certain... Changes... when you arrived; you are the ones who proved that not all of your kind deserved vengeful retribution, consider this your reward. To live new lives, free of the burdens of the old world, a chance to start anew. As sentient beings of varying intelligence, the laws of the respective countries you now reside in apply to you, and only those laws.”

I snapped the stick in half, then threw it on the ground. Separating families and changing their appearances so they won’t recognise each other counts as a “reward” now? And worse still, ARCEUS did this? Why?

Humans were amazing. They taught Pokémon of different species to work together, they built things a Pokémon could only dream of… why would anyone want to take that all away?
“That is all for now, the Pokémon are not to be harmed simply out of spite. If you have any qualms with what I have done, I reside in a temple located within the Everfree Forest and welcome all who would like to speak, or a pocket dimension outside of the space time continuum, so if any of you wish to face the sheer power of a god, feel free to come by.”

“That’s it,” I snapped. “Does anyone know where this Everfree Forest place is? Anyone at all?”

Jasper put a hand on my shoulder. “Bandit,” he said, “I don’t think trying to confront Arceus is a good idea. And besides… that Everfree place could be dangerous.”

I remembered hearing someone mention the “Everfree Forest” the other day, which was apparently full of monsters.

But still… I had to do something about this!