A New Body, A New Voiceby Nitro IndigoChaptersChapter 1: Poison PointChapter 2: Keen EyeChapter 3: LunchboxChapter 4: UnawareChapter 5: Gale WingsChapter 1: Poison PointAuthor's Note The original version of this chapter was called “Welcome to the Jungle”, published on the 4th February, followed by a revision called “Awakening in the Jungle” on the 8th. Chapter 1: Poison Point Autumn Blaze couldn’t remember how long it had been since she had been sent into exile. She had once marked each passing day with a tally chart on a nearby rock, but she’d long since ran out of room. From her vantage point on the edge of the cliff, she had watched the rainy and dry seasons come and go in the savanna below, but the view served as her only companion in her lonely, repetitive existence. She knew there was a wider world out there, full of thriving kingdoms, advances in magic, and most importantly of all, theatre… but it seemed like she'd never be able to see any of it from where she was now, even in the long lifespan of a kirin. So it was a pleasant surprise when she exited her shack one morning to see a funny-looking bird frantically hopping out of the jungle. She had spent far too much time watching the local birds out of boredom - to the point that she had stacks of parchments covered in poetry about them - and it looked far too dull and chubby to be any of them. It stared at her longingly with its oval-shaped eyes, which only added to its out-of-place look, and she couldn’t help but feel sorry for it. The poor thing clearly wasn't able to fly, but it didn't look injured either. Maybe it was a fledgling that had fallen out of its nest - no, a fledgling wouldn't come all the way out here. So what did it want? She was perplexed for a moment, until a realisation hit her: it must be hungry! She used her telekinesis to pluck a few red berries - her favourite food in the whole wide Peaks of Peril; they had a wonderful sweet and sour flavour - out of a tree at the edge of the jungle, hoping it was a herbivore. When she placed the berries down in front of the bird, it furiously pecked at them like it had never eaten before in its life, getting juice all over its short beak. Autumn Blaze couldn’t help but chuckle slightly. The bird tweeted in a way that sounded almost like words - or more specifically, the same word repeated over and over again - but not quite there. It sounded grateful, but also confused, and there was still a nervous look in its eyes. It didn’t take her long to realise why. Having lived in silence for so long, Autumn Blaze had gained the ability to pick up on even the faintest of noises. Now, she could hear a buzzing sound coming closer and closer and closer… She looked towards the jungle to see a giant hornet with spears for arms flying towards her. No, calling it “giant” was an understatement. Giant hornets were about as long as one of her toes - and didn’t make honey, as she knew all too well. This hornet was gigantic, about the same height as her. If the frowned look of its saucer-like red eyes was any indication, it was also very, very angry. Autumn Blaze stood perfectly still, hoping it would go away. That was the best way to deal with hornets, right? Except, she quickly realised, the hornet wasn’t coming towards her; it was coming towards the bird. It leaped behind the rock in terror just as the gigantic hornet was right in front of them. There was a clink sound as the hornet’s spears, one after the other, struck the rock hard enough to chip off gravel. Were they as hard as steel? A second later, the hornet furiously buzzed as it noticed the bird behind the rock. Without even thinking, Autumn Blaze lunged towards it as her entire body was engulfed in flames, tackling the hornet to the ground. At the same time, the hornet stabbed a spear into her side - hopefully, her nirik fire would be hot enough to cauterise the wound. The hornet quickly pulled the spear out - she noticed that the tip was singed - and then it collapsed, covered in scorch marks. Had she… killed… it…? No… its wings were still twitching. As Autumn Blaze returned to normal, the bird hopped out from behind the rock and frantically tweeted at her in a grateful tone, before its eyes widened in shock. She wondered what the problem was… until she noticed that there was a splash of purple liquid spreading across her cream fur, along with a small but sore stinging sensation. She hurried towards her shack and lifted up a tall, thin jug of water, desperately pouring it over the wound. While it did wash all the venom off her fur, it didn’t help with the pain one bit. What to do, what to do… As she frantically looked around, the bird pulled a long, green piece of cloth off her washing line and dropped it over her back. She used her telekinesis to tie it together, creating a makeshift bandage. “Thank you thank you thank you!” she exclaimed. Later that morning, Autumn Blaze was laying down in her shack, the bird perched on her desk as she tried to write a poem about it. “Let’s see… Brown bird, didn’t you see? / You were almost killed by a giant bee… Yes, I know it’s not a bee, but I can’t think of anything that rhymes with hornet! Also, of course you saw that you were almost killed by a giant hornet! What am I even writing…” The bird tweeted impatiently. She finally realised what word it sounded like it was saying: star. “Star! That’s it! Brown bird who came from afar / You light up my life like a star… wait, that sounds too ro-man-tic. That being said... I think I’ll call you Star!” She was so enthusiastic that she accidentally dropped her quill on the desk, and it snapped. She considered plucking one of Star’s feathers, but the poor bird had already been through enough. Not to mention, the feathers were probably too short. Star hopped off the desk and looked around. It seemed very interested in a barely-noticeable, yellowed map of the world that hung on one of the walls; Autumn Blaze moved everything that was in front of it to get a closer look. As she did, she was hit with a pang of sadness. Not once in her life had she ever left the Peaks of Peril; the slopes were far too steep and sharp for any kirin to climb down. Everything she knew about the outside world came from books, written from as early as when the kirin had an entire kingdom. This map had been left behind by travelling ponies, so it was probably decades out of date. One day, Star would fly away and leave her alone again… if not literally, then metaphorically. But for now, Star was here, and the closest thing to a friend she’d had in years. “Of all the places in the world,” she said as she regained her enthusiasm, “I’d like to visit Can-ter-lot the most. Wait, did I say it right?” She pointed at a mountain in the middle of the map. “I’ve heard it’s Equestria’s heart of art and culture, and most importantly, theatre!” Kellyn had survived a sinking cargo ship and foiled a plot to mind-control every Pokémon in the world, but today had been the scariest day of his life. It had all started as soon as he awoke in an unfamiliar jungle. He’d tripped over and fell into a bush, disturbing a seemingly giant Beedrill… only to discover that the Beedrill wasn’t big, he was small; he’d turned into a Starly. It was a blessing that he’d met… whatever her name was as soon as he did, and that she was willing to give him food and shelter. He almost felt guilty that she’d gotten poisoned, but it wasn’t really his fault. Come to think of it, they were lucky it was only one. Normally, Beedrill attacked in swarms. After all the drama and excitement was over, he had been left with three questions: Where am I? Why am I a Starly? What is she? The map answered his first question. In the centre was a large, tapering continent covered in railroads that he didn’t recognise in the slightest. He assumed he was on a tabletop mountain in the south, based on a pin poked into the map. The edges of the map showed other, cut-off continents, decorated with drawings of creatures such as dragons and Blitzle and Sawsbuck. That didn’t explain how he’d gotten here, but it was a start. He didn’t have answers to his other two questions, though. There was a blank in his memory; he couldn’t remember going to sleep the night before, but something told him this wasn’t a dream. It reminded him of an incident in a place called Ryme City where a man had temporarily merged humans’ consciousnesses with their Pokémon’s bodies, which made international headlines. If that was the case, was that Beedrill originally a human, too? What about what’s-her-name? Which brought him to his final question. “She” could best be described as the daughter of Entei and Suicune - the legend of Ho-Oh and the Beasts had been one of his favourite stories as a child - but neither of them had hooves. She displayed both Fire and Psychic properties, and perhaps strangest of all, didn’t seem to understand Pokémon speech. He’d always thought the universal Pokémon language was a myth, but he’d clearly understood the Beedrill yelling at him to “go away”. There were also some… pressing issues. For example, how was he going to learn to fly? Chapter 2: Keen EyeSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter 3: Lunchbox“Can you tell me more about this Big Sis of yours?” Starly asked as they ventured into the jungle. “She’s very strong!” exclaimed Bounsweet, the first time Starly had heard her sound... happy. “She doesn’t have the same parents as me. I never met mine.” “Oh,” replied Starly, worrying she’d touched a sore spot. “That’s sad...” “It’s normal,” replied Bounsweet, sounding confused. The jungle itself was fairly pleasant. Sunlight streamed through the long, droopy leaves of the bendy trees, which were shorter than ones she’d seen in temperate forests. Their branches were linked together by thick, dark green vines that Caterpie, Wurmple, and Sewaddle used as tightropes. The ground was covered in bushes and the occasional fern, and she saw a Pancham happily feasting on bamboo shoots, the lucky thing. The Pokémon, meanwhile, were not pleasant at all. A Cubone and a Mudkip argued over which direction to go, disturbing a Bulbasaur who was curiously poking at some flowers with its vines. Starly and Bounsweet hid behind a bush and watched as a Butterfree and a Cutiefly fought over territory. “I was here first!” yelled the Cutiefly in an annoying, high-pitched voice. Despite being way smaller, it furiously flew towards the Butterfree and tore a hole in its wing with its pointy mouth. In retaliation, the Butterfree flapped its wings and created a gust of wind that sent the Cutiefly slamming into a tree trunk, but that just made it even angrier. The Cutiefly furiously beat its tiny wings, creating a horrible buzzing sound that was loud enough to shake a few leaves off the trees and scare what looked like a few tiny Skwovet. Bounsweet covered her face with her leaves again in response. “What’s that?” exclaimed the Cutiefly. A low-pitched buzzing sound caught every Pokémon’s attention. “I’d better get going,” replied the Butterfree. Panicked, the two mortal enemies flew away in opposite directions. Starly looked across to see a Beedrill clumsily flying low to the ground; upon closer inspection, it was covered in burn marks. She hopped out of the bush, keeping her distance, and the Beedrill collapsed on the ground in front of her. “Where did YOU come from?” demanded Starly. “Rudely awoken by intruder Starly...” Beedrill panted. “Chased him to the edge of the cliff... burned by charcoal Ponyta...” His antennae twitched. “You smell like intruder Starly.” He pointed his spears towards her. “Whoa! One thing at a time, okay?” exclaimed Starly, trying not to panic. While she was an excellent flyer, she had barely any battle experience. “First of all, I haven’t met any other Starly around here. Second of all, in what way was this Starly an intruder?” Beedrill lowered his spears. “Starly woke me up. Couldn’t find hive.” So he must’ve been defending his territory. “Okay... and what’s your hive like?” “Live under Vespiquen’s protection. Thousands of us.” “Thousands?” Starly was surprised. “I haven’t seen any Beedrill around here.” “Not only that. Don’t recognise forest.” “I don’t recognise this jungle, either,” said Starly. “I just woke up here a few hours ago. Which means... oh.” She turned towards the bush. “Bounsweet,” she shout-whispered, “you said that you lived in a jungle, right? Is this your jungle?” “No...” Bounsweet shook her... head. Which was her entire body. “My jungle was greener, and darker, and full of flowers.” “Then Steenee could be anywhere,” replied Starly. Unfortunately, all that accomplished was making Bounsweet cry, and she had no idea how to cheer her up. She could tell Bounsweet that everything would be fine, but how could she lie to a child? “Beedrill?” asked Starly. “Have you seen a yellow Steenee anywhere?” “What is Steenee?” Beedrill tilted his head in curiosity. “It looks like... my friend,” Starly replied. “It’s okay, you can come out now,” she shout-whispered, a cue for Bounsweet - who was still crying - to hop out of the bush. “But taller.” “Haven’t seen... sorry.” “You could still help us find her,” replied Starly. “Too burned to fly.” Beedrill’s wings weakly twitched with pain. “Oh,” replied Starly. “Don’t worry, I’ll find something. Stay here, Bounsweet.” Starly flew high amongst the treetops, scanning up and down and all around for Rawst Berries, but she couldn’t find any. She didn’t cover the whole jungle, of course - that would’ve taken far too long, and she didn’t have all day - but it was barren of fruit in general. Instead, she searched for the next best thing - water - but the stream from the clearing didn’t continue into the jungle, and she didn’t have anything to carry it in. Hunger was catching up to her, and she was about to give up... until she noticed a palm tree! She had no idea what one was doing so far from the ocean, but she’d take it! She pecked at the stem of a ripe, green coconut until it fell to the ground and split in half. When she landed on the ground and dipped her beak into the half of the coconut that was facing upwards so she could eat its flesh, she realised it was full of water. That’s it! Unfortunately... it was too heavy for her to carry. She’d have to push it all the way back to where Beedrill was. This would take a while. By the time Starly reunited with Beedrill and Bounsweet, she had eaten most of the flesh of the coconut. It was now light enough for her to carry, so she carefully picked it up and splashed its water over the large burn mark on Beedrill’s abdomen. It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do. “So... what was that ‘charcoal Ponyta’ you mentioned earlier?” asked Starly. “Like Ponyta, but whole body was on fire,” replied Beedrill. “Defended intruder Starly.” “How rude of them!” exclaimed Starly. Any Pokémon with common sense knew better than to disturb a Beedrill, even by accident; this Starly, whoever it was, had it coming. “Are you hungry?” asked Starly, gesturing at the half-eaten coconut. “No thanks. Don’t eat fruits.” “Bounsweet?” “I can photosympathise,” replied Bounsweet, who had now stopped crying. “Photosynthesise,” Starly corrected. “Anyway, I think we should spend the night here, and go looking for Steenee tomorrow, when Beedrill’s strong enough to fly again. What do you think?” “Good plan,” replied Beedrill. “Okay...” sighed Bounsweet. “This place is scary, though.” And so Starly and Bounsweet spent the rest of the afternoon searching for a safe place to sleep, with Beedrill agreeing to find them the next morning. The two eventually found the ideal place to stay: a small clearing where a ring of bamboo shoots surrounded a few rocks. As he stood outside of what’s-her-name’s shack, Kellyn realised that he was hungry. Hadn’t he just eaten about an hour ago? Or was it longer? The sky told him that it was the afternoon, but morning didn’t feel that long ago. He looked up at the tree that the red berries grew on. They didn’t taste of anything, but he was still alive, so he assumed they were safe to eat. Unfortunately, he couldn't reach them. He hopped back to the shack, hoping that what's-her-name could figure out what he wanted... but then he noticed a collection of vegetables just outside of it. There was a basket of cabbages, a jar of bananas, a dull, spotted apple, and a green, striped pumpkin. Jackpot! He pecked at the soft, white flesh of the apple and savoured its juice... but it still didn’t taste of anything. Still, he was glad to have food. What’s-her-name wouldn’t mind, right? “NO!” what’s-her-name screamed theatrically. Kellyn slowly pulled his beak out of the apple, and noticed that a face had been crudely drawn on it... and that what’s-her-name looked like she was about to literally burst into flames. “NOT MR. APPLE!” Kellyn quickly hopped away from the shack, towards the other side of the cliff, where he had fallen into a bush earlier. He heard light footsteps, and his wings reflexively spread out. He wasn’t normally this nervous; was it an instinct? A pale yellow Steenee skipped towards him, her movements as graceful as a ballerina. Realising he wasn’t in danger, he awkwardly folded his wings to his sides. His attention was immediately drawn to her lilac, hair-like sepals... or rather, her lack thereof. The two longest ones had been torn off. He’d seen shiny Pokémon that were mutilated, even killed, by poachers so their parts could be sold on the black market many times before, and it always shook him to the core. He knew it was rude to stare, but he couldn’t help it. “Hi,” said Steenee, snapping Kellyn back to the present. “I saw you fall into that bush earlier, and I was wondering-” “Are you going to attack me?” asked Kellyn. “No, of course not,” replied the Steenee lightheartedly. “I was just going to ask... have you seen a Bounsweet anywhere? She’s very shy.” “I haven’t, sorry.” Kellyn shook his head. “I think the best place to look would be that jungle, but I am NOT going there again today.” “How come?” “I was chased by an angry Beedrill.” “I was chased by an angry Cutiefly. Do you know how hard it is to land a hit on one?” “I don’t, unfortunately,” Kellyn sighed. “Because... I don’t know how to fight.” “Don’t worry. I might be able to teach you,” Steenee said. “I’ve fought plenty of Pikipek in my life.” “I’m actually a Starly now...” “Now?” “Long story.” Just then, what’s-her-name trotted up to them, carrying a few of those flavourless red berries with her telekinesis. She dropped them in front of Kellyn. “Sorry for getting angry earlier. To make up for it, I brought you some lunch!” She looked surprised when she noticed Steenee. “I see you’ve made a new friend! Well, the more the merrier!” “What’s she?” asked Steenee. “I don’t know,” replied Kellyn bluntly. “Also, she can’t understand us.” He spread out his wings, hoping that would signal that he wanted to be left alone. Fortunately, what’s-her-name seemed to get the message. “Well... let’s get training!” exclaimed Steenee. She picked up a berry. “After lunch, of course.” “I know you’re not a Pikipek,” said Steenee, standing in front of a rock covered in tally marks, “but they tend to attack by shooting seeds. I think you should try that first.” She had helpfully gathered the berries’ seeds into a pile in front of Kellyn. He picked one up in his beak. “Now, aim at me and spit it out. Except - don’t aim at me, aim around me.” Kellyn spat out the seed... and it landed straight on the ground without any momentum. He tried again and again, to no avail, until he had used up every seed in the pile. When it was clear this wasn’t going to work, Steenee came up with another idea. “Why don’t you try pecking the rock?” she asked, stepping away from the rock. Kellyn hopped towards the rock and pecked at it with as much force as possible, but all that accomplished was making his face hurt. He tried pecking the short tree’s trunk as well, but got the same painful result. Clearly, his beak was too blunt to be used as a weapon. “Well, that was... fruitless,” Steenee said, giggling at her own pun. By this point, the sun was setting. “Shall we call it a day?” “Yes...” Kellyn yawned. “I’m sure what’s-her-name won’t mind if we stay in her place for the night.” He slowly hopped towards the shack. “Starly...” Steenee said, following him. “Do you have any friends?” Kellyn frowned. He had been so occupied with his own problems that he hadn’t stopped to think about that. “Yes. There’s a Starly, and some humans as well.” He left out the part that he was a Pokémon Ranger and Starly was his partner. He didn’t want to confuse Steenee. “Do you want to look for them, too?” “Maybe. They could be anywhere...” He looked up at the sky longingly. “True... but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.” After spending all day following a stream up the mountain’s slopes, an exhausted Pachirisu looked for a safe place to spend the night. She found a bush and curled up behind it, but a sharp pang of hunger interrupted her before she could fall asleep. The clear sky’s moonlight drew her attention to a stem covered in small, blue flowers, and she curiously nibbled one. It tasted bitter, but not unbearable, so she pulled the stem out of the ground and ate the rest of the flower. Unlike her friends, she didn’t have much experience with surviving in the wilderness, but if she ate one a day, it would keep her going for a while. Before she drifted off to sleep, a question briefly crossed her mind: I wonder what these flowers are? Author's Note Shortly after this chapter was posted, I made some minor edits, mainly to the last section. Chapter 4: UnawareThe next morning, rather disappointingly, nothing had changed. Kellyn was still a helpless Starly, he was still in that cluttered shack on the edge of a cliff, and he was still stuck with the annoying, inexplicable daughter of Entei and Suicune, a nickname that made her sound far more dignified than she actually was. “Good morning!” Steenee exclaimed. She reminded him of his over-enthusuastic little sister, and he felt himself frown. Where was his family right now? Were they thinking about him? What about Keith, or Rhythmi? “Time to continue training... what’s the matter?” “Nothing,” Kellyn said bluntly, hoping she would move on. She didn’t. “It has to be something.” “It’s just that...” Kellyn sighed before continuing. “I was thinking about people I might never see again.” “People?” asked Steenee, tilting her head. “You mean, like, your trainer?” Kellyn wished he could facepalm at his choice of words. “No.” “Don’t worry. Whoever they are, I’m sure you’ll find them again some day.” Steenee looked up longingly. “Just like Bounsweet...” “Anyway, let’s get going,” said Kellyn. The wind had died down today, and they headed towards the tally-covered rock to continue their training. He noticed something unusual about the tallies - there were horizontal lines through groups of three vertical dashes, instead of four. “I’ve realised the problem with yesterday’s training session,” said Steenee. “I was treating you like a Pikipek! What can you do that a Pikipek can’t?” Kellyn closed his eyes and pictured a Pikipek. A Pikipek's defining feature was its long, sharp beak, but what was Starly's? Forming large flocks... Being loud and annoying - the perfect Pokémon for what's-her-name... Longer wings... That's it! Kellyn spread out his wings and tried to flap them to create a gust of wind... but it didn’t work. Instead, he ended up slowly and awkwardly moving them slightly up and down. “I... don’t think that’s how flying works,” said Steenee. “I wasn’t trying to!” replied Kellyn. To emphasise his point, he flicked his wings forwards... and came within a hair’s breadth of hitting Steenee. His eyes widened. “Sorry.” “Try that again,” said Steenee. “Huh?” “You could use your wings to attack!” exclaimed Steenee. “Just... don’t use me as a target.” “So what should I use instead?” asked Kellyn. “I don’t want to slam myself into a rock again.” Steenee stopped to think, then she walked over to the bush and pulled out three twigs. She returned and stuck them into the ground in front of Kellyn. He hopped over to the first twig and flicked his wing at it... and it barely wobbled. “Try harder!” exclaimed Steenee. Kellyn slapped the same twig with his wing, and this time, he knocked it over. “Again! Again!” she cheered. Kellyn hopped as quickly as he could towards the next twig with his wings outspread, and knocked it over in one go. Finally, he charged towards the last twig and cut it in half with his wing... and got a splinter. Ouch. “GOOD MORNING!” Autumn sang as she sprang out of bed, standing on her hind legs and spreading her front legs out wide. “Isn’t it going to be a looovely day, Star?” she said after dropping to all fours. “Star?” She picked up books and moved around furniture, but Star was nowhere to be seen, and neither was his new friend. “STAR!” she shouted, galloping out of her shack. They weren’t on the cliff, either. There was only one other place... “Good morning!” an extremely cheerful voice yelled, startling Starly so much that she fell off her branch. She looked across to see Bounsweet bouncing up and down. “Ugh... good morning to you too...” Starly groaned as she pulled herself up. Her mood was instantly lifted by a familiar buzzing sound approaching. “Search for Steenee?” asked Beedrill. “Yes!” exclaimed Bounsweet, hopping onto Beedrill’s back. “Wait!” exclaimed Starly. “Before we go, where haven’t we searched yet?” “Beyond forest, there is cliff,” said Beedrill. “Could search that direction.” “Hm...” pondered Starly. “I say let’s go!” Now that their training session was over, it was time for Kellyn and Steenee to venture into the jungle. It was so early in the morning that the rising sun cast long shadows, making it darker than usual, but thankfully, most of the wild Pokémon were asleep. “Are you sure you’ll be able to defend yourself now?” asked Steenee. “I’m... not,” sighed Kellyn. “That’s why I didn’t want to go here alone. But it’s not the strongest who survive, Steenee. It’s the smartest.” “Are you talking from experience?” “Yes, but... it’s a long story.” “You’ve been awfully secretive,” said Steenee, a stubborn frown on her face. “What’s the matter?” Kellyn almost said that she wouldn’t believe him, but that would just raise even more questions. “You wouldn’t understand.” Steenee stopped walking and put her hands on her hips. “Do you think I’m stupid?” “No! It’s not like that!” exclaimed Kellyn defensively. “It’s just that... something unbelievable happened to me yesterday.” “What was it?” “Well... it’s the reason I can’t fly, and why I needed you to train me...” Kellyn normally wasn’t this self-conscious. Had the transformation changed his personality, too? “Oh? Are you injured?” “No, it’s... not like that at all.” Before Steenee could reply, he heard the sound of wingbeats. “Is that her?” asked a female voice. A Starly swooped down and landed in front of Steenee, inspecting her curiously. ...Followed by an all-too-familiar buzzing sound. Kellyn’s eyes widened in shock as he saw the same Beedrill from yesterday, and he quickly hid behind a tree. “Yes...” a high-pitched voice trembled. “I found you!” A Bounsweet bounced off the Beedrill’s back and hopped towards Steenee... who then promptly kicked Starly in the face. “What was that for?” yelped Starly. “You kidnapped Bounsweet!” shouted Steenee sternly. She kneeled down and hugged Bounsweet, and her voice became soft. “Are you okay?” Bounsweet started to cry. “But they... helped me...” she sniffed. “...Oh.” Steenee looked dumbstruck and guilty at the same time. Beedrill’s antennae twitched. “Can smell intruder Starly!” he exclaimed, pointing at the tree Kellyn was hiding behind. Nervously, Kellyn desperately searched for a bush to hide in, but he didn’t have time. It wasn’t the Beedrill who attacked him first, though. Instead, the Starly flew towards him and slashed him in the side with both of her wings, one at a time, knocking him to the ground. He tried to get back up, but couldn’t, and he suddenly realised how weak he was as he watched Steenee kick Starly in retalliation. Starly was followed by Beedrill, who was poised to stab him with his spears... Autumn Blaze galloped into the jungle, desperately looking for Star. Eventually, she found him hiding behind a tree... and loudly gasped when she saw him being relentlessly attacked by another star-bird and the gigantic hornet. It was this kind of fighting that lead to... no... she didn’t want to think about it. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head to remove the memory. “STOP!” she yelled at the top of her lungs, her toes beginning to light on fire as she used her telekinesis to yank Star away from its attackers. The yellow, bipedal thingy from yesterday that smelled of fruit then walked up to her, as if pleading for her to put Star down, so she did. Autumn Blaze kept her distance as the creatures stopped fighting. Were they... talking? She sat down to watch. “Don’t hurt him any more!” exclaimed the Steenee, who was now standing protectively in front of that intruder Starly. “Just... listen what he has to say.” “Move out of the way,” growled Starly. She hopped up to the intruder Starly and leaned right into his face. “Why were you stupid enough to provoke a Beedrill?” “It was an accident, okay?” the intruder Starly sighed. His voice sounded unfamiliar, but his tone, his cadence, his choice of words... it seemed impossible, but...? “I was lost, and I didn’t know that Beedrill lived here.” “Not my home!” Beedrill yelled. “Kellyn... is that you?” asked Starly. “Starly... you’re a girl?” asked the intruder Starly. Did he really never notice? “You got a problem with that?” “No, I’m... cool,” Kellyn stammered awkwardly. Starly had so many questions. Author's Note I have a hard time writing Newverse fanfics. There are several reasons for this - I keep coming up with new ideas, the pacing is too slow, I feel compelled to add loads of characters, and I don't feel like I'm writing My Little Pony fanfiction. If you have any advice for how I could improve, please let me know. Chapter 5: Gale Wings“So let me get this straight,” Starly said, with an accusative stare. “You’re a Starly now?” “Yes,” was all Kellyn could say. “Do you know why?” she asked. “No.” Kellyn stopped to think. “But do you remember? In Ryme City-” “Wait!” exclaimed Steenee. “What does she mean, ‘now’?” “Long story,” Kellyn quickly said to Steenee. “Anyway, Starly, remember that man who wanted to fuse humans and Pokémon toge-” “Don’t just ignore me!” Steenee snapped. Kellyn sighed. “The truth is... I used to be a human, Steenee. I thought you wouldn’t believe me.” Steenee looked mildly surprised. “Is that all?” “Huh?” “As soon as I met you, I knew something was wrong. You couldn’t fight, you couldn’t fly... I couldn’t help but feel sorry for you.” “So you pitied me?” “Not quite. I don’t want people to pity me,” Steenee pointed at herself, “so why would I pity you? I wanted to prove that you were capable of so much more! And you know what? It worked!” She smiled. Kellyn was pleasantly stunned. “You did all of that... for a stranger?” “I hate to interrupt,” said Starly. “But since she said you can’t fly... mind if I teach you? I can think of the perfect place. Perfect-ly boring, you might say...” “Good idea,” replied Kellyn. “Want to come with us, Steenee?” “No thanks,” replied Steenee. Starly guided Kellyn out of the jungle and into a grassy clearing, inhabited by creatures much like “the daughter of Entei and Suicune”. I wish I knew what they were called. She’d said it would be easier to practice from a treebranch, but this was the next best thing. “How did you try flying the first time?” she asked. They stood on top of a small hill that was shaped like a half-cylinder lying on its side. “I spread out my wings, jumped off a platform, and hoped I’d figure out the rest,” Kellyn replied. “Problem is, I have no idea how to move these.” He shook his wings slightly to emphasise how awkward they were. Starly stifled a laugh, and Kellyn frowned. “Not funny!” “What were you trying to do?” “I was trying to move them up and down.” “That’s... not how it works.” “So what am I supposed to do?” “Uh...” Starly looked lost in thought for a few seconds. “Y’know the way you humans swim with your arms? Try moving your wings like that. I think...” “O-kay?” Kellyn replied uncertainly. His wings were still spread out. “Aim for the other side of the stream!” exclaimed Starly. Kellyn looked towards the edge of the village to see a stream that flowed down from a waterfall in a straight line, surrounded by rocks covered in glowing runes. He paused, so she looked at him. “What are you waiting for? Go!” Kellyn jumped off the hill and tried to rapidly move his wings in a circular motion. For the first few seconds, he was neither falling nor flying, but remained at a level distance from the ground... “Keep going. KEEP GOING!” Starly cheered. ...But soon, his wings started to tire out. He closed his eyes and braced himself for an unplanned dive into the water, when one of the inhabitants of this village pulled him out of the water with some all-too-familiar telekinesis and carefully placed him on the ground. Being lifted didn’t hurt, but it did feel strangely uncomfortable, like he was being gently tugged from every angle. “Thanks,” Kellyn said, but his rescuer ignored him. Starly landed next to Kellyn. “You’re not supposed to beat your wings that much!” she exclaimed, exasperated. “I... think you should practice gliding first.” That evening, after a mostly successful gliding lesson, Kellyn decided to show Starly the edge of the cliff, where the wind had died down into a cool breeze. Now that the sun was setting, the rainbow was no longer visible, but the orange glow reflecting off the savanna’s river was just as beautiful. They noticed that Steenee was looking at the view, too, while Bounsweet had fallen asleep amongst the pink flowers. “So... What happened to you?” asked Starly bluntly, staring at the torn-off stubs where Steenee’s lilac sepals had once been. “Starly!” Kellyn snapped. “Don’t be rude.” “It’s fine,” Steenee replied, turning around. “Really.” “You mentioned earlier that you didn’t want others to pity you,” said Kellyn. “Would you mind telling us...?” “Why?” Steenee finished. “I will. Back when I was a Bounsweet, so innocent to the world, I didn’t know what fear was. The only thing I had to worry about was being eaten by Toucannon, but I escaped every time. I always knew I was different, but I didn’t think much of it. That was, un-until...” - she sighed, and her voice started to waver - “I first saw humans.” “If it upsets you, you don’t have to tell us the whole story,” Kellyn interrupted. “No, no, it’s alright,” replied Steenee, taking a deep breath. “I was overly curious and eager to approached these humans, a-and...” She hurried her next words. “I-it turned out they were poachers.” Neither Kellyn nor Starly were surprised by this, but that didn’t make it any less impactful. “I-I fell right into their t-trap, and they... they...” Steenee started to cry. “...Ripped your sepals off?” Kellyn finished, and Steenee nodded. “That’s what they’re called?” Starly muttered. “It’s okay to cry,” Kellyn reassured Steenee. “Don’t force yourself to smile...” “Th-that was the hardest part,” said Steenee, her voice scratchy from crying. “Afterwards, I was crushed. I wandered the jungle that no longer seemed like a perfect paradise for months and months and months, hiding in the undergrowth out of fear... until I saw this Bounsweet being mercilessly attacked by a flock of Pikipek. I couldn’t just leave her there! Even though I was outmatched, I still tried to fight them off, one-by-one, and then... I evolved!” Her voice had now regained most of its enthusiasm. “We Bounsweet live alone in the world, never meeting our mothers or even our sisters - that’s normal - but she was so timid! I couldn’t just leave her alone! So I decided that I would protect her, so she would never have to go through what I did.” Kellyn and Starly looked at Steenee in dead silence for several seconds, not knowing how to respond. “So... do you want to spend the night with what’s-her-name?” Kellyn asked Starly, glancing over at the shack. “Assuming you like poetry, that is.” “No thanks,” replied Starly. “I’ll probably sleep in a tree instead.” “What about you?” he then asked Steenee. “I would, but...” she looked over at Bounsweet. “I don’t want her to wake up alone.” “That’s okay,” replied Kellyn. As the first stars of night appeared on the horizon, he hopped towards the shack. That night, the Pachirisu finally reached the top of the mountain, where the stream flowed down from a waterfall. The air was still, the sky was clear, and the countless, unfamiliar stars illuminated the plateau in front of her. Her entire body ached, from her stubby little legs to her dry throat, but she couldn’t rest just yet. Desperately, she rushed towards the top of the stream - which seemed to be glowing - and happily lapped up the water. On the other side of the stream was a village built into trees. She could not get there because she did not know how to swim. There were a few rocks in the stream, but she could not use them as stepping stones. She was hungry. She needed to eat in order to live. She ate a blue flower. The bitter taste of the flower startled the Pachirisu back to her senses, as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been tipped over her. What was that all about? Author's Note Special thanks to Discord user dawnbreez for giving me advice on how to write the “learning to fly” scene. I promise that Autumn Blaze will have more to do in the next chapter.
Chapter 1: Poison PointAuthor's Note The original version of this chapter was called “Welcome to the Jungle”, published on the 4th February, followed by a revision called “Awakening in the Jungle” on the 8th. Chapter 1: Poison Point Autumn Blaze couldn’t remember how long it had been since she had been sent into exile. She had once marked each passing day with a tally chart on a nearby rock, but she’d long since ran out of room. From her vantage point on the edge of the cliff, she had watched the rainy and dry seasons come and go in the savanna below, but the view served as her only companion in her lonely, repetitive existence. She knew there was a wider world out there, full of thriving kingdoms, advances in magic, and most importantly of all, theatre… but it seemed like she'd never be able to see any of it from where she was now, even in the long lifespan of a kirin. So it was a pleasant surprise when she exited her shack one morning to see a funny-looking bird frantically hopping out of the jungle. She had spent far too much time watching the local birds out of boredom - to the point that she had stacks of parchments covered in poetry about them - and it looked far too dull and chubby to be any of them. It stared at her longingly with its oval-shaped eyes, which only added to its out-of-place look, and she couldn’t help but feel sorry for it. The poor thing clearly wasn't able to fly, but it didn't look injured either. Maybe it was a fledgling that had fallen out of its nest - no, a fledgling wouldn't come all the way out here. So what did it want? She was perplexed for a moment, until a realisation hit her: it must be hungry! She used her telekinesis to pluck a few red berries - her favourite food in the whole wide Peaks of Peril; they had a wonderful sweet and sour flavour - out of a tree at the edge of the jungle, hoping it was a herbivore. When she placed the berries down in front of the bird, it furiously pecked at them like it had never eaten before in its life, getting juice all over its short beak. Autumn Blaze couldn’t help but chuckle slightly. The bird tweeted in a way that sounded almost like words - or more specifically, the same word repeated over and over again - but not quite there. It sounded grateful, but also confused, and there was still a nervous look in its eyes. It didn’t take her long to realise why. Having lived in silence for so long, Autumn Blaze had gained the ability to pick up on even the faintest of noises. Now, she could hear a buzzing sound coming closer and closer and closer… She looked towards the jungle to see a giant hornet with spears for arms flying towards her. No, calling it “giant” was an understatement. Giant hornets were about as long as one of her toes - and didn’t make honey, as she knew all too well. This hornet was gigantic, about the same height as her. If the frowned look of its saucer-like red eyes was any indication, it was also very, very angry. Autumn Blaze stood perfectly still, hoping it would go away. That was the best way to deal with hornets, right? Except, she quickly realised, the hornet wasn’t coming towards her; it was coming towards the bird. It leaped behind the rock in terror just as the gigantic hornet was right in front of them. There was a clink sound as the hornet’s spears, one after the other, struck the rock hard enough to chip off gravel. Were they as hard as steel? A second later, the hornet furiously buzzed as it noticed the bird behind the rock. Without even thinking, Autumn Blaze lunged towards it as her entire body was engulfed in flames, tackling the hornet to the ground. At the same time, the hornet stabbed a spear into her side - hopefully, her nirik fire would be hot enough to cauterise the wound. The hornet quickly pulled the spear out - she noticed that the tip was singed - and then it collapsed, covered in scorch marks. Had she… killed… it…? No… its wings were still twitching. As Autumn Blaze returned to normal, the bird hopped out from behind the rock and frantically tweeted at her in a grateful tone, before its eyes widened in shock. She wondered what the problem was… until she noticed that there was a splash of purple liquid spreading across her cream fur, along with a small but sore stinging sensation. She hurried towards her shack and lifted up a tall, thin jug of water, desperately pouring it over the wound. While it did wash all the venom off her fur, it didn’t help with the pain one bit. What to do, what to do… As she frantically looked around, the bird pulled a long, green piece of cloth off her washing line and dropped it over her back. She used her telekinesis to tie it together, creating a makeshift bandage. “Thank you thank you thank you!” she exclaimed. Later that morning, Autumn Blaze was laying down in her shack, the bird perched on her desk as she tried to write a poem about it. “Let’s see… Brown bird, didn’t you see? / You were almost killed by a giant bee… Yes, I know it’s not a bee, but I can’t think of anything that rhymes with hornet! Also, of course you saw that you were almost killed by a giant hornet! What am I even writing…” The bird tweeted impatiently. She finally realised what word it sounded like it was saying: star. “Star! That’s it! Brown bird who came from afar / You light up my life like a star… wait, that sounds too ro-man-tic. That being said... I think I’ll call you Star!” She was so enthusiastic that she accidentally dropped her quill on the desk, and it snapped. She considered plucking one of Star’s feathers, but the poor bird had already been through enough. Not to mention, the feathers were probably too short. Star hopped off the desk and looked around. It seemed very interested in a barely-noticeable, yellowed map of the world that hung on one of the walls; Autumn Blaze moved everything that was in front of it to get a closer look. As she did, she was hit with a pang of sadness. Not once in her life had she ever left the Peaks of Peril; the slopes were far too steep and sharp for any kirin to climb down. Everything she knew about the outside world came from books, written from as early as when the kirin had an entire kingdom. This map had been left behind by travelling ponies, so it was probably decades out of date. One day, Star would fly away and leave her alone again… if not literally, then metaphorically. But for now, Star was here, and the closest thing to a friend she’d had in years. “Of all the places in the world,” she said as she regained her enthusiasm, “I’d like to visit Can-ter-lot the most. Wait, did I say it right?” She pointed at a mountain in the middle of the map. “I’ve heard it’s Equestria’s heart of art and culture, and most importantly, theatre!” Kellyn had survived a sinking cargo ship and foiled a plot to mind-control every Pokémon in the world, but today had been the scariest day of his life. It had all started as soon as he awoke in an unfamiliar jungle. He’d tripped over and fell into a bush, disturbing a seemingly giant Beedrill… only to discover that the Beedrill wasn’t big, he was small; he’d turned into a Starly. It was a blessing that he’d met… whatever her name was as soon as he did, and that she was willing to give him food and shelter. He almost felt guilty that she’d gotten poisoned, but it wasn’t really his fault. Come to think of it, they were lucky it was only one. Normally, Beedrill attacked in swarms. After all the drama and excitement was over, he had been left with three questions: Where am I? Why am I a Starly? What is she? The map answered his first question. In the centre was a large, tapering continent covered in railroads that he didn’t recognise in the slightest. He assumed he was on a tabletop mountain in the south, based on a pin poked into the map. The edges of the map showed other, cut-off continents, decorated with drawings of creatures such as dragons and Blitzle and Sawsbuck. That didn’t explain how he’d gotten here, but it was a start. He didn’t have answers to his other two questions, though. There was a blank in his memory; he couldn’t remember going to sleep the night before, but something told him this wasn’t a dream. It reminded him of an incident in a place called Ryme City where a man had temporarily merged humans’ consciousnesses with their Pokémon’s bodies, which made international headlines. If that was the case, was that Beedrill originally a human, too? What about what’s-her-name? Which brought him to his final question. “She” could best be described as the daughter of Entei and Suicune - the legend of Ho-Oh and the Beasts had been one of his favourite stories as a child - but neither of them had hooves. She displayed both Fire and Psychic properties, and perhaps strangest of all, didn’t seem to understand Pokémon speech. He’d always thought the universal Pokémon language was a myth, but he’d clearly understood the Beedrill yelling at him to “go away”. There were also some… pressing issues. For example, how was he going to learn to fly?
Chapter 3: Lunchbox“Can you tell me more about this Big Sis of yours?” Starly asked as they ventured into the jungle. “She’s very strong!” exclaimed Bounsweet, the first time Starly had heard her sound... happy. “She doesn’t have the same parents as me. I never met mine.” “Oh,” replied Starly, worrying she’d touched a sore spot. “That’s sad...” “It’s normal,” replied Bounsweet, sounding confused. The jungle itself was fairly pleasant. Sunlight streamed through the long, droopy leaves of the bendy trees, which were shorter than ones she’d seen in temperate forests. Their branches were linked together by thick, dark green vines that Caterpie, Wurmple, and Sewaddle used as tightropes. The ground was covered in bushes and the occasional fern, and she saw a Pancham happily feasting on bamboo shoots, the lucky thing. The Pokémon, meanwhile, were not pleasant at all. A Cubone and a Mudkip argued over which direction to go, disturbing a Bulbasaur who was curiously poking at some flowers with its vines. Starly and Bounsweet hid behind a bush and watched as a Butterfree and a Cutiefly fought over territory. “I was here first!” yelled the Cutiefly in an annoying, high-pitched voice. Despite being way smaller, it furiously flew towards the Butterfree and tore a hole in its wing with its pointy mouth. In retaliation, the Butterfree flapped its wings and created a gust of wind that sent the Cutiefly slamming into a tree trunk, but that just made it even angrier. The Cutiefly furiously beat its tiny wings, creating a horrible buzzing sound that was loud enough to shake a few leaves off the trees and scare what looked like a few tiny Skwovet. Bounsweet covered her face with her leaves again in response. “What’s that?” exclaimed the Cutiefly. A low-pitched buzzing sound caught every Pokémon’s attention. “I’d better get going,” replied the Butterfree. Panicked, the two mortal enemies flew away in opposite directions. Starly looked across to see a Beedrill clumsily flying low to the ground; upon closer inspection, it was covered in burn marks. She hopped out of the bush, keeping her distance, and the Beedrill collapsed on the ground in front of her. “Where did YOU come from?” demanded Starly. “Rudely awoken by intruder Starly...” Beedrill panted. “Chased him to the edge of the cliff... burned by charcoal Ponyta...” His antennae twitched. “You smell like intruder Starly.” He pointed his spears towards her. “Whoa! One thing at a time, okay?” exclaimed Starly, trying not to panic. While she was an excellent flyer, she had barely any battle experience. “First of all, I haven’t met any other Starly around here. Second of all, in what way was this Starly an intruder?” Beedrill lowered his spears. “Starly woke me up. Couldn’t find hive.” So he must’ve been defending his territory. “Okay... and what’s your hive like?” “Live under Vespiquen’s protection. Thousands of us.” “Thousands?” Starly was surprised. “I haven’t seen any Beedrill around here.” “Not only that. Don’t recognise forest.” “I don’t recognise this jungle, either,” said Starly. “I just woke up here a few hours ago. Which means... oh.” She turned towards the bush. “Bounsweet,” she shout-whispered, “you said that you lived in a jungle, right? Is this your jungle?” “No...” Bounsweet shook her... head. Which was her entire body. “My jungle was greener, and darker, and full of flowers.” “Then Steenee could be anywhere,” replied Starly. Unfortunately, all that accomplished was making Bounsweet cry, and she had no idea how to cheer her up. She could tell Bounsweet that everything would be fine, but how could she lie to a child? “Beedrill?” asked Starly. “Have you seen a yellow Steenee anywhere?” “What is Steenee?” Beedrill tilted his head in curiosity. “It looks like... my friend,” Starly replied. “It’s okay, you can come out now,” she shout-whispered, a cue for Bounsweet - who was still crying - to hop out of the bush. “But taller.” “Haven’t seen... sorry.” “You could still help us find her,” replied Starly. “Too burned to fly.” Beedrill’s wings weakly twitched with pain. “Oh,” replied Starly. “Don’t worry, I’ll find something. Stay here, Bounsweet.” Starly flew high amongst the treetops, scanning up and down and all around for Rawst Berries, but she couldn’t find any. She didn’t cover the whole jungle, of course - that would’ve taken far too long, and she didn’t have all day - but it was barren of fruit in general. Instead, she searched for the next best thing - water - but the stream from the clearing didn’t continue into the jungle, and she didn’t have anything to carry it in. Hunger was catching up to her, and she was about to give up... until she noticed a palm tree! She had no idea what one was doing so far from the ocean, but she’d take it! She pecked at the stem of a ripe, green coconut until it fell to the ground and split in half. When she landed on the ground and dipped her beak into the half of the coconut that was facing upwards so she could eat its flesh, she realised it was full of water. That’s it! Unfortunately... it was too heavy for her to carry. She’d have to push it all the way back to where Beedrill was. This would take a while. By the time Starly reunited with Beedrill and Bounsweet, she had eaten most of the flesh of the coconut. It was now light enough for her to carry, so she carefully picked it up and splashed its water over the large burn mark on Beedrill’s abdomen. It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do. “So... what was that ‘charcoal Ponyta’ you mentioned earlier?” asked Starly. “Like Ponyta, but whole body was on fire,” replied Beedrill. “Defended intruder Starly.” “How rude of them!” exclaimed Starly. Any Pokémon with common sense knew better than to disturb a Beedrill, even by accident; this Starly, whoever it was, had it coming. “Are you hungry?” asked Starly, gesturing at the half-eaten coconut. “No thanks. Don’t eat fruits.” “Bounsweet?” “I can photosympathise,” replied Bounsweet, who had now stopped crying. “Photosynthesise,” Starly corrected. “Anyway, I think we should spend the night here, and go looking for Steenee tomorrow, when Beedrill’s strong enough to fly again. What do you think?” “Good plan,” replied Beedrill. “Okay...” sighed Bounsweet. “This place is scary, though.” And so Starly and Bounsweet spent the rest of the afternoon searching for a safe place to sleep, with Beedrill agreeing to find them the next morning. The two eventually found the ideal place to stay: a small clearing where a ring of bamboo shoots surrounded a few rocks. As he stood outside of what’s-her-name’s shack, Kellyn realised that he was hungry. Hadn’t he just eaten about an hour ago? Or was it longer? The sky told him that it was the afternoon, but morning didn’t feel that long ago. He looked up at the tree that the red berries grew on. They didn’t taste of anything, but he was still alive, so he assumed they were safe to eat. Unfortunately, he couldn't reach them. He hopped back to the shack, hoping that what's-her-name could figure out what he wanted... but then he noticed a collection of vegetables just outside of it. There was a basket of cabbages, a jar of bananas, a dull, spotted apple, and a green, striped pumpkin. Jackpot! He pecked at the soft, white flesh of the apple and savoured its juice... but it still didn’t taste of anything. Still, he was glad to have food. What’s-her-name wouldn’t mind, right? “NO!” what’s-her-name screamed theatrically. Kellyn slowly pulled his beak out of the apple, and noticed that a face had been crudely drawn on it... and that what’s-her-name looked like she was about to literally burst into flames. “NOT MR. APPLE!” Kellyn quickly hopped away from the shack, towards the other side of the cliff, where he had fallen into a bush earlier. He heard light footsteps, and his wings reflexively spread out. He wasn’t normally this nervous; was it an instinct? A pale yellow Steenee skipped towards him, her movements as graceful as a ballerina. Realising he wasn’t in danger, he awkwardly folded his wings to his sides. His attention was immediately drawn to her lilac, hair-like sepals... or rather, her lack thereof. The two longest ones had been torn off. He’d seen shiny Pokémon that were mutilated, even killed, by poachers so their parts could be sold on the black market many times before, and it always shook him to the core. He knew it was rude to stare, but he couldn’t help it. “Hi,” said Steenee, snapping Kellyn back to the present. “I saw you fall into that bush earlier, and I was wondering-” “Are you going to attack me?” asked Kellyn. “No, of course not,” replied the Steenee lightheartedly. “I was just going to ask... have you seen a Bounsweet anywhere? She’s very shy.” “I haven’t, sorry.” Kellyn shook his head. “I think the best place to look would be that jungle, but I am NOT going there again today.” “How come?” “I was chased by an angry Beedrill.” “I was chased by an angry Cutiefly. Do you know how hard it is to land a hit on one?” “I don’t, unfortunately,” Kellyn sighed. “Because... I don’t know how to fight.” “Don’t worry. I might be able to teach you,” Steenee said. “I’ve fought plenty of Pikipek in my life.” “I’m actually a Starly now...” “Now?” “Long story.” Just then, what’s-her-name trotted up to them, carrying a few of those flavourless red berries with her telekinesis. She dropped them in front of Kellyn. “Sorry for getting angry earlier. To make up for it, I brought you some lunch!” She looked surprised when she noticed Steenee. “I see you’ve made a new friend! Well, the more the merrier!” “What’s she?” asked Steenee. “I don’t know,” replied Kellyn bluntly. “Also, she can’t understand us.” He spread out his wings, hoping that would signal that he wanted to be left alone. Fortunately, what’s-her-name seemed to get the message. “Well... let’s get training!” exclaimed Steenee. She picked up a berry. “After lunch, of course.” “I know you’re not a Pikipek,” said Steenee, standing in front of a rock covered in tally marks, “but they tend to attack by shooting seeds. I think you should try that first.” She had helpfully gathered the berries’ seeds into a pile in front of Kellyn. He picked one up in his beak. “Now, aim at me and spit it out. Except - don’t aim at me, aim around me.” Kellyn spat out the seed... and it landed straight on the ground without any momentum. He tried again and again, to no avail, until he had used up every seed in the pile. When it was clear this wasn’t going to work, Steenee came up with another idea. “Why don’t you try pecking the rock?” she asked, stepping away from the rock. Kellyn hopped towards the rock and pecked at it with as much force as possible, but all that accomplished was making his face hurt. He tried pecking the short tree’s trunk as well, but got the same painful result. Clearly, his beak was too blunt to be used as a weapon. “Well, that was... fruitless,” Steenee said, giggling at her own pun. By this point, the sun was setting. “Shall we call it a day?” “Yes...” Kellyn yawned. “I’m sure what’s-her-name won’t mind if we stay in her place for the night.” He slowly hopped towards the shack. “Starly...” Steenee said, following him. “Do you have any friends?” Kellyn frowned. He had been so occupied with his own problems that he hadn’t stopped to think about that. “Yes. There’s a Starly, and some humans as well.” He left out the part that he was a Pokémon Ranger and Starly was his partner. He didn’t want to confuse Steenee. “Do you want to look for them, too?” “Maybe. They could be anywhere...” He looked up at the sky longingly. “True... but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.” After spending all day following a stream up the mountain’s slopes, an exhausted Pachirisu looked for a safe place to spend the night. She found a bush and curled up behind it, but a sharp pang of hunger interrupted her before she could fall asleep. The clear sky’s moonlight drew her attention to a stem covered in small, blue flowers, and she curiously nibbled one. It tasted bitter, but not unbearable, so she pulled the stem out of the ground and ate the rest of the flower. Unlike her friends, she didn’t have much experience with surviving in the wilderness, but if she ate one a day, it would keep her going for a while. Before she drifted off to sleep, a question briefly crossed her mind: I wonder what these flowers are? Author's Note Shortly after this chapter was posted, I made some minor edits, mainly to the last section.
Chapter 4: UnawareThe next morning, rather disappointingly, nothing had changed. Kellyn was still a helpless Starly, he was still in that cluttered shack on the edge of a cliff, and he was still stuck with the annoying, inexplicable daughter of Entei and Suicune, a nickname that made her sound far more dignified than she actually was. “Good morning!” Steenee exclaimed. She reminded him of his over-enthusuastic little sister, and he felt himself frown. Where was his family right now? Were they thinking about him? What about Keith, or Rhythmi? “Time to continue training... what’s the matter?” “Nothing,” Kellyn said bluntly, hoping she would move on. She didn’t. “It has to be something.” “It’s just that...” Kellyn sighed before continuing. “I was thinking about people I might never see again.” “People?” asked Steenee, tilting her head. “You mean, like, your trainer?” Kellyn wished he could facepalm at his choice of words. “No.” “Don’t worry. Whoever they are, I’m sure you’ll find them again some day.” Steenee looked up longingly. “Just like Bounsweet...” “Anyway, let’s get going,” said Kellyn. The wind had died down today, and they headed towards the tally-covered rock to continue their training. He noticed something unusual about the tallies - there were horizontal lines through groups of three vertical dashes, instead of four. “I’ve realised the problem with yesterday’s training session,” said Steenee. “I was treating you like a Pikipek! What can you do that a Pikipek can’t?” Kellyn closed his eyes and pictured a Pikipek. A Pikipek's defining feature was its long, sharp beak, but what was Starly's? Forming large flocks... Being loud and annoying - the perfect Pokémon for what's-her-name... Longer wings... That's it! Kellyn spread out his wings and tried to flap them to create a gust of wind... but it didn’t work. Instead, he ended up slowly and awkwardly moving them slightly up and down. “I... don’t think that’s how flying works,” said Steenee. “I wasn’t trying to!” replied Kellyn. To emphasise his point, he flicked his wings forwards... and came within a hair’s breadth of hitting Steenee. His eyes widened. “Sorry.” “Try that again,” said Steenee. “Huh?” “You could use your wings to attack!” exclaimed Steenee. “Just... don’t use me as a target.” “So what should I use instead?” asked Kellyn. “I don’t want to slam myself into a rock again.” Steenee stopped to think, then she walked over to the bush and pulled out three twigs. She returned and stuck them into the ground in front of Kellyn. He hopped over to the first twig and flicked his wing at it... and it barely wobbled. “Try harder!” exclaimed Steenee. Kellyn slapped the same twig with his wing, and this time, he knocked it over. “Again! Again!” she cheered. Kellyn hopped as quickly as he could towards the next twig with his wings outspread, and knocked it over in one go. Finally, he charged towards the last twig and cut it in half with his wing... and got a splinter. Ouch. “GOOD MORNING!” Autumn sang as she sprang out of bed, standing on her hind legs and spreading her front legs out wide. “Isn’t it going to be a looovely day, Star?” she said after dropping to all fours. “Star?” She picked up books and moved around furniture, but Star was nowhere to be seen, and neither was his new friend. “STAR!” she shouted, galloping out of her shack. They weren’t on the cliff, either. There was only one other place... “Good morning!” an extremely cheerful voice yelled, startling Starly so much that she fell off her branch. She looked across to see Bounsweet bouncing up and down. “Ugh... good morning to you too...” Starly groaned as she pulled herself up. Her mood was instantly lifted by a familiar buzzing sound approaching. “Search for Steenee?” asked Beedrill. “Yes!” exclaimed Bounsweet, hopping onto Beedrill’s back. “Wait!” exclaimed Starly. “Before we go, where haven’t we searched yet?” “Beyond forest, there is cliff,” said Beedrill. “Could search that direction.” “Hm...” pondered Starly. “I say let’s go!” Now that their training session was over, it was time for Kellyn and Steenee to venture into the jungle. It was so early in the morning that the rising sun cast long shadows, making it darker than usual, but thankfully, most of the wild Pokémon were asleep. “Are you sure you’ll be able to defend yourself now?” asked Steenee. “I’m... not,” sighed Kellyn. “That’s why I didn’t want to go here alone. But it’s not the strongest who survive, Steenee. It’s the smartest.” “Are you talking from experience?” “Yes, but... it’s a long story.” “You’ve been awfully secretive,” said Steenee, a stubborn frown on her face. “What’s the matter?” Kellyn almost said that she wouldn’t believe him, but that would just raise even more questions. “You wouldn’t understand.” Steenee stopped walking and put her hands on her hips. “Do you think I’m stupid?” “No! It’s not like that!” exclaimed Kellyn defensively. “It’s just that... something unbelievable happened to me yesterday.” “What was it?” “Well... it’s the reason I can’t fly, and why I needed you to train me...” Kellyn normally wasn’t this self-conscious. Had the transformation changed his personality, too? “Oh? Are you injured?” “No, it’s... not like that at all.” Before Steenee could reply, he heard the sound of wingbeats. “Is that her?” asked a female voice. A Starly swooped down and landed in front of Steenee, inspecting her curiously. ...Followed by an all-too-familiar buzzing sound. Kellyn’s eyes widened in shock as he saw the same Beedrill from yesterday, and he quickly hid behind a tree. “Yes...” a high-pitched voice trembled. “I found you!” A Bounsweet bounced off the Beedrill’s back and hopped towards Steenee... who then promptly kicked Starly in the face. “What was that for?” yelped Starly. “You kidnapped Bounsweet!” shouted Steenee sternly. She kneeled down and hugged Bounsweet, and her voice became soft. “Are you okay?” Bounsweet started to cry. “But they... helped me...” she sniffed. “...Oh.” Steenee looked dumbstruck and guilty at the same time. Beedrill’s antennae twitched. “Can smell intruder Starly!” he exclaimed, pointing at the tree Kellyn was hiding behind. Nervously, Kellyn desperately searched for a bush to hide in, but he didn’t have time. It wasn’t the Beedrill who attacked him first, though. Instead, the Starly flew towards him and slashed him in the side with both of her wings, one at a time, knocking him to the ground. He tried to get back up, but couldn’t, and he suddenly realised how weak he was as he watched Steenee kick Starly in retalliation. Starly was followed by Beedrill, who was poised to stab him with his spears... Autumn Blaze galloped into the jungle, desperately looking for Star. Eventually, she found him hiding behind a tree... and loudly gasped when she saw him being relentlessly attacked by another star-bird and the gigantic hornet. It was this kind of fighting that lead to... no... she didn’t want to think about it. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head to remove the memory. “STOP!” she yelled at the top of her lungs, her toes beginning to light on fire as she used her telekinesis to yank Star away from its attackers. The yellow, bipedal thingy from yesterday that smelled of fruit then walked up to her, as if pleading for her to put Star down, so she did. Autumn Blaze kept her distance as the creatures stopped fighting. Were they... talking? She sat down to watch. “Don’t hurt him any more!” exclaimed the Steenee, who was now standing protectively in front of that intruder Starly. “Just... listen what he has to say.” “Move out of the way,” growled Starly. She hopped up to the intruder Starly and leaned right into his face. “Why were you stupid enough to provoke a Beedrill?” “It was an accident, okay?” the intruder Starly sighed. His voice sounded unfamiliar, but his tone, his cadence, his choice of words... it seemed impossible, but...? “I was lost, and I didn’t know that Beedrill lived here.” “Not my home!” Beedrill yelled. “Kellyn... is that you?” asked Starly. “Starly... you’re a girl?” asked the intruder Starly. Did he really never notice? “You got a problem with that?” “No, I’m... cool,” Kellyn stammered awkwardly. Starly had so many questions. Author's Note I have a hard time writing Newverse fanfics. There are several reasons for this - I keep coming up with new ideas, the pacing is too slow, I feel compelled to add loads of characters, and I don't feel like I'm writing My Little Pony fanfiction. If you have any advice for how I could improve, please let me know.
Chapter 5: Gale Wings“So let me get this straight,” Starly said, with an accusative stare. “You’re a Starly now?” “Yes,” was all Kellyn could say. “Do you know why?” she asked. “No.” Kellyn stopped to think. “But do you remember? In Ryme City-” “Wait!” exclaimed Steenee. “What does she mean, ‘now’?” “Long story,” Kellyn quickly said to Steenee. “Anyway, Starly, remember that man who wanted to fuse humans and Pokémon toge-” “Don’t just ignore me!” Steenee snapped. Kellyn sighed. “The truth is... I used to be a human, Steenee. I thought you wouldn’t believe me.” Steenee looked mildly surprised. “Is that all?” “Huh?” “As soon as I met you, I knew something was wrong. You couldn’t fight, you couldn’t fly... I couldn’t help but feel sorry for you.” “So you pitied me?” “Not quite. I don’t want people to pity me,” Steenee pointed at herself, “so why would I pity you? I wanted to prove that you were capable of so much more! And you know what? It worked!” She smiled. Kellyn was pleasantly stunned. “You did all of that... for a stranger?” “I hate to interrupt,” said Starly. “But since she said you can’t fly... mind if I teach you? I can think of the perfect place. Perfect-ly boring, you might say...” “Good idea,” replied Kellyn. “Want to come with us, Steenee?” “No thanks,” replied Steenee. Starly guided Kellyn out of the jungle and into a grassy clearing, inhabited by creatures much like “the daughter of Entei and Suicune”. I wish I knew what they were called. She’d said it would be easier to practice from a treebranch, but this was the next best thing. “How did you try flying the first time?” she asked. They stood on top of a small hill that was shaped like a half-cylinder lying on its side. “I spread out my wings, jumped off a platform, and hoped I’d figure out the rest,” Kellyn replied. “Problem is, I have no idea how to move these.” He shook his wings slightly to emphasise how awkward they were. Starly stifled a laugh, and Kellyn frowned. “Not funny!” “What were you trying to do?” “I was trying to move them up and down.” “That’s... not how it works.” “So what am I supposed to do?” “Uh...” Starly looked lost in thought for a few seconds. “Y’know the way you humans swim with your arms? Try moving your wings like that. I think...” “O-kay?” Kellyn replied uncertainly. His wings were still spread out. “Aim for the other side of the stream!” exclaimed Starly. Kellyn looked towards the edge of the village to see a stream that flowed down from a waterfall in a straight line, surrounded by rocks covered in glowing runes. He paused, so she looked at him. “What are you waiting for? Go!” Kellyn jumped off the hill and tried to rapidly move his wings in a circular motion. For the first few seconds, he was neither falling nor flying, but remained at a level distance from the ground... “Keep going. KEEP GOING!” Starly cheered. ...But soon, his wings started to tire out. He closed his eyes and braced himself for an unplanned dive into the water, when one of the inhabitants of this village pulled him out of the water with some all-too-familiar telekinesis and carefully placed him on the ground. Being lifted didn’t hurt, but it did feel strangely uncomfortable, like he was being gently tugged from every angle. “Thanks,” Kellyn said, but his rescuer ignored him. Starly landed next to Kellyn. “You’re not supposed to beat your wings that much!” she exclaimed, exasperated. “I... think you should practice gliding first.” That evening, after a mostly successful gliding lesson, Kellyn decided to show Starly the edge of the cliff, where the wind had died down into a cool breeze. Now that the sun was setting, the rainbow was no longer visible, but the orange glow reflecting off the savanna’s river was just as beautiful. They noticed that Steenee was looking at the view, too, while Bounsweet had fallen asleep amongst the pink flowers. “So... What happened to you?” asked Starly bluntly, staring at the torn-off stubs where Steenee’s lilac sepals had once been. “Starly!” Kellyn snapped. “Don’t be rude.” “It’s fine,” Steenee replied, turning around. “Really.” “You mentioned earlier that you didn’t want others to pity you,” said Kellyn. “Would you mind telling us...?” “Why?” Steenee finished. “I will. Back when I was a Bounsweet, so innocent to the world, I didn’t know what fear was. The only thing I had to worry about was being eaten by Toucannon, but I escaped every time. I always knew I was different, but I didn’t think much of it. That was, un-until...” - she sighed, and her voice started to waver - “I first saw humans.” “If it upsets you, you don’t have to tell us the whole story,” Kellyn interrupted. “No, no, it’s alright,” replied Steenee, taking a deep breath. “I was overly curious and eager to approached these humans, a-and...” She hurried her next words. “I-it turned out they were poachers.” Neither Kellyn nor Starly were surprised by this, but that didn’t make it any less impactful. “I-I fell right into their t-trap, and they... they...” Steenee started to cry. “...Ripped your sepals off?” Kellyn finished, and Steenee nodded. “That’s what they’re called?” Starly muttered. “It’s okay to cry,” Kellyn reassured Steenee. “Don’t force yourself to smile...” “Th-that was the hardest part,” said Steenee, her voice scratchy from crying. “Afterwards, I was crushed. I wandered the jungle that no longer seemed like a perfect paradise for months and months and months, hiding in the undergrowth out of fear... until I saw this Bounsweet being mercilessly attacked by a flock of Pikipek. I couldn’t just leave her there! Even though I was outmatched, I still tried to fight them off, one-by-one, and then... I evolved!” Her voice had now regained most of its enthusiasm. “We Bounsweet live alone in the world, never meeting our mothers or even our sisters - that’s normal - but she was so timid! I couldn’t just leave her alone! So I decided that I would protect her, so she would never have to go through what I did.” Kellyn and Starly looked at Steenee in dead silence for several seconds, not knowing how to respond. “So... do you want to spend the night with what’s-her-name?” Kellyn asked Starly, glancing over at the shack. “Assuming you like poetry, that is.” “No thanks,” replied Starly. “I’ll probably sleep in a tree instead.” “What about you?” he then asked Steenee. “I would, but...” she looked over at Bounsweet. “I don’t want her to wake up alone.” “That’s okay,” replied Kellyn. As the first stars of night appeared on the horizon, he hopped towards the shack. That night, the Pachirisu finally reached the top of the mountain, where the stream flowed down from a waterfall. The air was still, the sky was clear, and the countless, unfamiliar stars illuminated the plateau in front of her. Her entire body ached, from her stubby little legs to her dry throat, but she couldn’t rest just yet. Desperately, she rushed towards the top of the stream - which seemed to be glowing - and happily lapped up the water. On the other side of the stream was a village built into trees. She could not get there because she did not know how to swim. There were a few rocks in the stream, but she could not use them as stepping stones. She was hungry. She needed to eat in order to live. She ate a blue flower. The bitter taste of the flower startled the Pachirisu back to her senses, as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been tipped over her. What was that all about? Author's Note Special thanks to Discord user dawnbreez for giving me advice on how to write the “learning to fly” scene. I promise that Autumn Blaze will have more to do in the next chapter.
