Early Bird [Pokemon SI]

Everything is kind of terrifying, but also a little bit cool. 

The wings are new -- I can’t fly or anything, but I can jump very, very high. Gave myself half a heart attack when I tried leaping and ended up shooting myself straight into the branches of the trees. Coming down is a new experience, and while my heart pounded terribly, my small little wings seemed to know what to do in order for me to glide back down safely. 

Sight is new as well. I’ve needed glasses half my life; mom always blamed games, and reading, but what kind of mom doesn’t do that. But, while the newfound perfect vision is appreciated (whoa, look at all those leaves!), I still find myself mesmerized sometimes, just sitting and staring, at little wisps I can’t entirely grasp, as if centering my focus seem to chase them from my attention altogether. I’d just find a nook or crevice to hide myself in within the curled branches or knotted roots, and watch. 

And well, the main thing, the biggest difference -- I am now so very, incredibly, tiny. 

Being a Natu is all fun and games, until you realise that probably 99% of all the other Pokemon are bigger than you, and that they like to make that known. 

I know I should be counting my blessings, whatever they are. This forest that I’ve found myself in was relatively peaceful. Like those pretty little pictures they’d show in the anime, just those ideal snippets. We were mostly small pokemon, prey -- grass types, bug types, bottom of the food chain types. While most of them still stood taller than me, side-by-side, there weren’t any obvious threats to my, you know, life. 

And even then, I was a bird! Not even just that, a psychic! The fellow pidgeys and pidgeottos were omnivorous, but they had enough decency to feed on things that were not me. There were a couple that bullied me early on, chuffing me with their wings from branch to branch as I tried to maintain my balance (still getting used to the heights thing…), but after I froze up and stared at them a bit they thankfully decided it wasn’t worth their effort. 

I myself foraged on the bountiful grounds of the forest. Takes up a surprising chunk of each day. The others aren’t really inclined to share if you aren’t family, and sometimes they like to stake claim on whole berry bushes and whatever, which was… understandable. But annoying. 

There was more than enough to go around. I hear the other ‘mons sometimes thank the Legendaries by name before they eat, like they’re gods, like a prayer. And I accept that they gotta take care of their own -- grass types reproduce by the season, and I constantly see the young ones playing with each other in the clearings.

I haven’t really seen any other Natu, or Xatu around. Quite the outsider. Add to the fact that I was human before all this, and had no idea how I got here… 

Still, day-by-day living tends to have that freedom about it. Time seems… slower, a pace that follows the forest’s own heartbeat. And even if it’s still filled with necessity, there’s a… serenity, that comes with being one with nature, taking one step at a time, finding one meal at a time.   

That’s what I keep telling myself. 

Now, I trundle along, hop-hop-hopping my way over shrubs and roots. It took some practice getting used to this method of travel, measuring my not insubstantial jumping strength. I’ve been having to move around the forest, area to area, in order to find the food I need. Digging for new shoots or reaching high for young buds, the occasional very nice berry. 

And despite being so small, I have to be glad I’m a herbivore, and altogether not the lowest thing on the food chain. Don’t think any of the fights I’ve been in yet were that serious, but we managed to resolve them. I could stand my ground, a little.

There’s a rustle in the leaves that’s swift and immediate, not caused by the flow of the winds. Automatically, I burrow myself into a hollow in the tree, the shadows hiding everything but the brightness of my eyes as I continue looking out. 

The rush of the chase is broken as a rattata grinds itself to a stop in the clearing, panting. He looks around frantically, as the leaves rustle again and a furret crashes through the shrubs, languid body pouncing on the rodent. 

The rattata makes a high, brief yelp, wildly looking for help, and for a split-second out gazes meet and his eyes widen, before the furret gets into position to tear into his throat.

Because, well, there’s also that. 

——————————

Admittedly, the process of adapting to this new, different body was based largely on instinct. 

If I thought about it too hard, started comparing my limbs to my old human ones, I’d just end up tripping over myself -- and with my new body shape, that meant… rolling. On and on until my beak got caught in the ground. That was awkward.

I suppose that meant I’d kept the brain of this Natu, even if my only memories were that of another body. I have to be very grateful for at least that — the instinctive knowledge being essential to my survival so far. The ability to use my wings to glide. The ability to use my beak and claws in exchange for fingers to look for food. 

The ability to stand perfectly motionless, even as the furret’s sniffs grew increasingly loud as she stretched her body against the tree I was in. 

I see the tip of her twitching nose, chops still bloody, edging over the lip of my little hollow. I see her draw a sudden breath in recognition, and she straightens up to put her face directly in front of mine, eyes narrowed. “Oh,” she says, in a horribly unimpressed voice. “It’s you. I was hoping for some cute little pidgeys for dessert…” 

I don’t need to blink as I would a human anymore (I remember something about birds having a third eyelid..) and that allows me to meet her gaze steadily even as I respond in a small voice. “I thought that you were hungry enough to forget your promise, and was about to eat me.”

She snorts. “Noooo, not a psychic. Never a psychic. Way too much trouble.” 

She pushes off from the bark, landing back on all fours. I jump from my position, down to the leaf-strewn ground with the quietest crinkle of dried leaves under my weight. I see Furret lick her lips clean of the remainder of her meal, flashing the white of TEETH. 

It’s a deliberate power play, and she eyes my lack of reaction carefully. (The truth of the matter is that haha holy fuck I’ve been waiting to die like ten times a day now but it’s a natu’s instinct to just stare.) 

Furret seems to huff to herself. “You’re a weird one, but I guess all psychics are,” she says, then turns around so her back is towards me. The movement is slick in the way only her species can be, and she curves her neck back to look at me with a flick of her ears. “Do you need a ride back to the Springs?” 

“I’d appreciate that, thank you.” I’ve been raised to be overly polite my entire life, no reason to stop now. I brace myself, calculating, before taking a leap onto Furret’s back. She doesn’t check to see if I was securely balanced before taking of at a casual trot towards the heart of the forest. 

“I know I promised not to hunt you and all, but that’s only because you’re the new guy, and those pidgeotto are dicks. Still no progress with whatever you’re doing?” 

I have no idea what I’m doing, half the time. She takes my silence for an answer. 

“It’s been, what, three weeks? Weather’s good right now, but if you’re going to take off, you gotta do it before the stormy season. Whatever you’re looking for is going to have to wait -- Noctowl’s not going to like finding a random bird here when she comes back.” 

I don’t have anywhere to go. I can’t really say this aloud; that’d just be pathetic. Furret’s the kind of ‘mon to fill silence with her chatter, and I’m not really sure why she was being so lenient with me; I doubt I make a very good conversation partner. Best not to anger her, though. 

“What makes you think I’m looking for something?” I ask, and she pauses a moment, rolling her shoulders. I’m knocked off a little and spread my wings to stabilize myself. 

“I mean, that’s what you natu do, right? You like all those ruins and stuff. Can’t see no other reason for you to be here.”  

That’s something. A purpose? A reason why I’ve suddenly appeared here? Could it be a path that would somehow lead me back home? 

“...Something you’d like to tell me?” I say, each word sharp and precise. Can’t afford to show any weakness; I need to know more about this. 

Furret halts in her tracks and does a quick shake, giving me a split-seconds notice before she drops to sit on her haunches. I manage to flip myself as I glide to the ground, so that I stand facing up at her. 

“Look, I dunno, okay. Most of the time these are just stories the elders tell us to make us scared, right?” Furret has, I don’t want to say it’s scary, but it’s a scary expression. Her brows crease together, snout twisted in a look of deep thought, baring the tip of her fangs. But there’s an edge of wistfulness, as if looking back on something fond. “But our place, our forest -- we’re special. We have a Voice. Not sure if it’s meant to protect us, or chase after us, or something, but the elders say that whenever it uses its power, the entire forest sings with it.” 

And it’s something to go off of. I still don’t know where I am, what’s happened to me exactly, but at least now I have an avenue to search from. Pokemon has brought me lots of wonder, playing the games, watching the anime, but I’m still not comfortable with the thought of spending the rest of my days as a tiny bird. 

“Urgh, if you’re doing anything weird, stop it,” Furret whines, and I realise that I’d been staring unblinkingly at her. Oops, did I get lost in thought? 

“Sorry, thank you for -- “ 

“Stop it already, damned psychics, knew I shouldn’t’ve -- “ She paws at her ears, pressing them flat against her head, and I lean back in confusion. 

I don’t have time to worry because at that moment it hits me. 

A THRUM of power that rushes past us like a wave, invigorating everything it touches with pure energy. It flows through the earth, and the plants soak it up, spreading from root to bark to the tips of the leaves. There’s a sound that I more of feel than hear, ringing in deep melody, each chime reverberating through every living thing, completely impossible to ignore. 

Oh, I think to myself, as I recognise exactly what was going on. I’m as still as a statue, but this time it’s because my mind is spurred into action, pieces clicking into place. 

Oh that’s… Celebi.