The next morning, Sam and I woke up feeling pretty good. We had spent a large part of the evening before talking about human things. Sam was pretty amazed at some of simple things we had, and the fact that we didn't have any types or special moves.
"So, let me get this straight..." Sam said as he finished his breakfast. "You guys don't battle each other in order to get stronger?"
I imagined two bulky men wrestling. "Not exactly." I answered him. "Some people exercise in order to get stronger, and we have many different types of competitive games to challenge each other, but we generally don't fight unless we have to."
"Fascinating..." Sam replied, lost in a train of thought. I imagine that he would be a scientist or Philosopher if he grew up on earth.
We finished eating, packed up everything, and headed out of the hotel room towards the front desk. When we got there, they said to stay while they checked the room. I guess they wanted to make sure that we didn't mess it up or break anything. After they found that all was in order, they gave Sam his 100 poke back, and we were on our way again, this time to Capkin town!
As we walked, Sam told me about moves. "Moves are like..." he thought for a moment. "Remember how I used ember on that pidgey? In the dungeon? Well, that was me using a move!"
"Oh... so if I were to use a move..." I started, thinking for an example. "Then I would have to swipe with my claws?"
"Kinda." Sam replied. "I don't know so much for normal types, but for me, in order to use a move I have to really dig deep down into what I'm feeling! Like with that pidgey, I felt you were in danger, and I knew that I had to do something! So I used ember to stop it from hurting us! Make sense?"
"I guess so..." I said, still somewhat confused. "So in order to use a move on something, I would have to believe it was going to hurt us?"
"Well.... no. I mean, it works like that sometimes, but you need to be able to use it whenever..." he trailed off. I got the feeling that he never really thought about how he uses his moves until now.
"Maybe I could try a few things?" I suggested. "See what works?"
Sam nodded, so I jumped up in front of a tree.
"Hey you! Tree! Stop picking on Sam!" I leapt at it, scratching it with my claws. After that attack, I stepped back to see how much damage I had done.
I was surprised, however, that I had barely done a scratch, so to speak. I had tried to leave deep cuts into the tree with my now canine claws, but there were only a couple scratches on the bark. I tried again, but with the same effect.
"How do I friggin scratch this harder? Don't normal type Pokémon have moves like this?"
"They do... I just, hrm..." Sam replied, still trying to figure out how to explain something he didn't quite understand himself. "Maybe we'll figure it out more as time goes on?"
"Yeah... I guess we'll have to." I said. We still needed to reach to Capkin town, and that would take at least a couple weeks I would guess. Maybe we could practice in the evenings before we go to bed? We kept walking.
After walking for probably another mile, I decided to ask Sam something that had been bothering me for a while. "Hey Sam?"
"Yeah?"
"Your tail... does it hurt?"
"Huh? My tail? No, it doesn't hurt. Why'd you think that?"
"Well," I started. "Most animals where I'm from don't have fire on their tails... in fact, you're the first thing I've seen who's okay being on fire consistently."
Sam was quiet for a moment. "Well, my tail only really hurts when it comes in contact with water." He said thoughtfully. "I guess it would feel the opposite for you? I mean, most other Pokémon seem to like the rush of cool water on them, are humans the same way?"
This was an interesting thought. Could it be that fire-type Pokémon like Sam were more attracted to heat and fire? "Well, for the most part, a lot of us would like to take showers and even baths."
"Well, I can't stand water!" Sam said with his tongue out, wearing a face of utter disgust. "I mean, it's good to drink water of course, but other than that, I hate it! I never take baths if I can help it! If I could find somewhere hot and humid, that'd be the best for me!"
I could tell Sam was serious about this. Is Sam just a really serious type of person? He seemed to get flustered when I've joked with him, and he completely broke down that one time. Maybe I need to ask him about how he feels about me?
"Hey Sam?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you... okay with jokes?"
"Wha-what do you mean am I okay with jokes? I love 'em!"
"It's just that, earlier, the other day when I was saying we shouldn't make a team... I was trying to joke around with you."
"Uh- really? I thought that you really just didn't like me or something! That wasn't a really nice joke!"
"Yeah, I guess it wasn't." I looked down as we walked. "I just had thought that by that point, you would know that I wasn't just gonna leave you."
"S-sorry." Sam said. "I- I haven't been the most social Pokémon in my life. Maybe I just didn't get the joke?"
"Yeah.. I was trying to be sarcastic- at that time."
Sam held out a big sigh. "When I was younger, a lot of my brothers and sisters would play and fight and practice their moves... my family and everyone I knew were into that kinda stuff... everyone except for me. I didn't like getting hurt or bruised or anything like that. I felt... out of place.
"Eventually when it was time for us all to leave home, I didn't want to leave. Everyone else was leaving, but I just felt alone. I'd rather stay inside and read a book about fighting than learn how to fight. Because of that, I didn't have much of a relationship with other Pokémon my age.
"Eventually, I decided that it was time, and so I left my parent's home, and moved to that forest. I didn't really talk with others much, and I only really read books about adventuring so that I could maybe do it myself one day. Then I met you, and I thought 'this is my chance! I should go on an adventure with you!' That's when I decided that I would stop being such a baby and go fight."
I listened to Sam. So that's why he didn't take my joke, he's more of a fragile person... "Well Sam, maybe I could let you know what's a joke or not until you get it?"
"Yeah, I'd like that. Thanks."
"Of course... you big chicken!" I nudged him in the arm as he looked over at me. I smiled at him, and he got the message that it was a joke. He smiled back.
I was beginning to think things would get better.
——————————-
Eventually, we arrived at our next spot to camp for the night. We laid out everything and then Sam said we should try battling each other.
"Wait, like, me fight you?!" I said, slightly panicked at the thought of my fire companion burning me. "What about your fire?!! I don't want to get burned!!!"
"Don't worry." Sam said, a bit too relaxed in my opinion. "I have some rawst berries in my bag. They heal burns."
I still didn't want to fight him. "Are you sure this is the best way to learn my moves?"
"It's gotta be! You've got to learn these things from experience! Now, attack me when you're ready. Just give me all you got!"
I hesitated. Here I was, never fought anyone else in my entire life, and now my giant fire lizard friend is telling me to come at him. What do I do? He's looking at me, with such a confident look on his face.
"Alright, here I go!"
I ran towards him with all my might. I threw a punch at him, hard as I could. I closed my eyes.
...
...?
I opened my eyes to find him with his face in a clawed hand. "You're not a fighting type." He said. "You don't have fighting type moves. You're a normal type... you should have moves like tackle, bite, quick attack... just to name a few." He looked really embarrassed.
"Honestly, I don't even know what you mean by moves! Anybody can move!" I was feeling very abandoned here. "What in the heck is a move?!!"
"I guess you wouldn't know..." Sam sighed. "A move is... well, it's a way of attacking that works better for certain species than others. For example, anyone can kick, but voltorbs (which are like unto giant round spheres) don't have legs, and so kicking doesn't work very well as a move for them. Does that make sense?"
"I guess it does..." I said, trying to picture how a giant ball could eat or sleep or even do anything at all. "But what about me? Can't I punch?"
"Well you could," Sam continued. "But your body wouldn't be able to put as much power behind it. Your species just isn't quite built for it. It's far easier to fight using what we call moves, which are ways to attack the best way your species can."
"Ohh... That makes sense. So if I want to fight well, then I need to fight in ways this body can?"
"That's right! Good thing you're not a delta species or anything, that would be a whole lot harder!"
"Delta species? What are those?"
"Well, delta species are what we call Pokémon who were born with the opposite type than their species should have. For example, a charmander that shoots water out of his mouth instead of fire. He'd be a delta species charmander. They are highly uncommon, and I've only read about them."
"Wow. I guess that would be pretty rough growing up. I mean, everyone around you expects you to be one type, but instead you are the opposite?"
"Yeah. From what I've read, they've mainly been outcasted from a lot of towns. Pokémon would say that they are unnatural and would treat them very poorly. They typically leave and are never heard from again."
"Gosh." Who knew that Pokémon could be so brutal? Maybe this was different than the Pokémon my brother watched on tv?
"Anyways! We need to try again!" Sam said, shaking off the unpleasant mood. "Try tackling me or using bite!" He got back into a fighting stance.
"Okay." I said as I got into position. "Three... two... one.... go!"
This time, I leapt at him. I ran and jumped at his center mass in effort to do a tackle. He actually stumbled back a few steps. (Wow, this body really is built for moves like that!) I thought to myself. But I guess I was thinking too much, because I then felt heat over my shoulder. I spun my head around to find my tail ON FIRE! "ACK!" I hollered loudly in surprise. I rolled over in the dirt to put it out, then faced Sam.
"Come on! Don't tell me that's all you got!!" He said with a smirk on his face. He obviously was less fragile and more competitive when he was confident, that's for sure. I took a step towards him.
"Oh I'm far from done..." I said smartly. "That was just a warm-up!" I then dashed over to the side, into the bushes.
"Uh... w-where'd you go?" Sam asked me, half-confused. "Eva?"
Just then, I jumped right onto his back.
"AUGHH!!!" Sam yelled, claws trying to reach me on his back, tail whipping back and forth. I was biting him on the neck with my little teeth. Like a little vampire. Or werewolf. Either one. I held this for quite a while before he finally fell to the ground.
I knew he wasn't hurt, I wasn't biting hard. I just saw that the best place to annoy him would be a place that he couldn't reach. I snuck through the bushes, then pounced onto his back. He finally muttered "fine. I give up."
"Say uncle." I said, sitting on him proudly as if he was my fallen beast.
"Why?"
"It's what us humans say when we give up. Uncle."
"How did that- you know what? I'm too tired to ask. Uncle."
I finally climbed off of him so he could get up. He rubbed his neck where I had been nibbling slightly in order to irritate him.
"How did you come up with that plan?" He asked me, still rubbing his neck.
"Well, I knew I didn't want to hurt you, and I realized that you couldn't reach back there as easily. So I just knew that I had to get behind you without your attention, and the rest was simple."
"Wow..." Sam said, slightly astonished. "I wish I could think like that. You'll have to teach me a thing or two about noticing those kinda things."
As we healed up and got in bed, Sam started wondering aloud.
"I've always wanted to meet a human. I mean, I thought they were just fantasy and fiction like in my stories till now, but... wow. I'm so glad I met you, Eva."
"But what if I am fantasy?" I teased. "Maybe I'm just a figment of your imagination, a bit of undigested berry in your stomach?" I tried quoting Ebeneezer Scrooge from a Christmas carol. "What if this is all just a dream???"
"Then I don't ever want to wake up." Sam said simply with a smile.
I laid onto my back. "Do you think one of those stars are my world?" I asked Sam.
"Maybe." Sam replied. "Maybe this isn't the first time something like this has happened. I mean, where did the idea of humans start in this world? Seeing how our concept of humans are so similar to who you are, maybe you're not the first to come here."
"Well, there were the other three from the book." I corrected Sam.
"Well yeah, but I mean- what about before the book? Or what about the stuff those humans did to save the world before? A whole lot of the stories I read had fictional humans in them, turning into Pokémon, and then saving the world. What if you have to save us all from something? What if Jake really is a bad guy?"
This started to weigh into my reality. "Maybe... we should just talk about this more tomorrow." I said. "I'm pretty tired and we need to sleep."
"I guess you're right." Sam said with a yawn. "Good night Eva."
"Good night Sam."
I knew it would be harder to sleep after that.
Author's note
Thanks again for reading! I felt like this one took a while longer to bring out, but if it did, I just wanted to make sure I did it right.
Again, thanks for reading! I plan for a lot of stuff to happen soon, I just need to get them to where they need to be. Stay safe out there!
Alexander