A Bull-Headed Start

I’m awakened by the gentle sound of trees swaying on the wind. The sound’s quite pleasant, and it makes me want to lay on bed for a few more minutes before starting the day proper. That’s until I question why I’m hearing such a sound in the first place. My eyes slam open to see my surroundings. The sun is high in the sky. Looks like I overslept. Around me there aren’t any sort of walls or windows, but a various assortment of trees. (What? Where did my room go? Am I in a forest?) The tree swaying sounds pick up as the wind increases in intensity, blasting me in the face and proving to me that I’m outside. I move my right hand to try and shield my face, but to no avail, it doesn’t reach.

My heartbeat quickens at my inability to carry out such a basic motor task. I decide to stand up from my laying down position, and I’m thankfully able to lift my body from the flower bedding bellow. As I tense my legs to stand up, I simply can’t. My arms are glued to the ground, locking me into a quadrupedal stance. Looking down only reveals a big black beard of sorts. Lifting my head back up proves to be harder, as if it now weighted more, further adding to my confusion.

Walking in this form doesn’t feel extremely awkward like I would have thought, but I lack any sense of fluidity. My movement's extremely sluggish, as I need to actively think what limb to move next. First my right arm, then my left leg, followed by… My train of thought stops the moment I collide with a tree trunk quite a distance to my right, halting my movement. Whenever I attempt to move forward or tilt my body to the left, it’s as if something protruding from my head is gluing me to the trunk. I eventually work out how I should go about moving backwards, which succeeds at getting me out of the bind. Inspecting the trunk reveals a stabbing mark piercing the bark where I felt a protrusion was touching. (Was that thing there before?)

I keep my distance from all other trees I walk past, still startled by the unspeakable happenings I’m experiencing. I eventually come across a puddle. Thinking I could use some water to clear my thoughts, I walk toward it. Then pause, unsure how I’d even go about drinking it, completely disregarding if it’s drinkable at all.

The moment I tilt my head down to take a sip, I’m not met with my reflection, but with the sight of a beast! Its head, black in color, stands out from the even darker mane around it, which has blue, tear shaped markings at the bottom, where the mane splits into two tuffs pointing outwards. The head also features a spiral horn to each side, extending horizontally and having a small, upwards pointing tip at each end. Two triangle shaped eyes with simple, black pupils, gives it an angry look. The beast most closely resembles a bull.

A million emotions flood my mind, mostly fear at the sight of such a menacing creature, plus a bizarre sense of familiarity, as the creature looks like, a Pokémon? Specifically, a regional form of Tauros. (What was its full name? Paldean Tauros Aqua Breed? Couldn’t it have been a Pikachu? Or something that doesn’t need four nouns to be classified? How is it that I’m even seeing a Pokémon at all?) As I try to make sense of it all, it comes to me that all I’m seeing is just a reflection. That combined with mine being suspiciously absent can only mean one thing. I’m that monster.

It would explain why I'm now stuck on all fours, how I managed to collide with that tree despite being nowhere near it, and why my head feels so much heavier. But it leaves a big question unanswered: (Why am I a Pokémon? How did this even happen? What’s the meaning of this!?)

My confusion quickly turns into a pure boiling rage. In my anger, I start running in no direction in particular, aching to leave behind this forest that has done nothing but antagonize me. The dash eventually gets me out of the forest and, without thinking, right into a humid cave. As if to mock me for a bad decision, the light just up and vanishes from behind me the moment I crossed trough the maws of the cave. (What!? Who did that!? Couldn’t give less of a crap, I’m already here, and I won’t let anything stop me!)

My pace is unaffected by the low visibility and uneven, rocky ground. Soon, I arrive at a featureless opening, save for a small, weirdly shaped rock in the center that appears to be, levitating?

(This makes no sense!? I can’t stand to see something as stupid as a rock defy basic laws of physics. It must be smashed to bits!) My body moves to attack, ramming my skull smack on the center of what now can be identified as a Geodude.

The attack sends the foe flying towards a nearby cave wall, vanishing from view before colliding.

Following the attack, I’m afforded a feeling of clarity. After destroying the wild creature, the rage at the sight of my new appearance subsided and the urge to run headfirst in one direction had vanished. Right after questioning why I got so up at arms about a rock, it slowly dawned on me the gravity of the situation I unwantedly got myself into. Being now stuck in a cave whose entrance had presumably disappeared, containing other Pokémon that might jump at the chance to attack, assuming that the Geodude from a moment ago would have tried to hurt me given the opportunity.

Shaking my head to ease the pain from the recent skull bash, I take a look at my surroundings, finding two possible paths forward. (One ought to lead outside, right?) Approaching the one to the right as clumsily as right after waking up, nothing about it hints at an exit. While from the other one, the howling of wind can be faintly heard, showing much more promise.

Before I can leave the chamber trough the left path, a blast of water hits my side. A turn of the head reveals the attacker as a big-headed turtle with a minute shell and body, having entered from the pathway I first examined. A Chewtle.

With hesitation, I move to fight the feral Pokémon, attempting to swipe it with my left horn. However, it dodges easily by leaping into the air. From that position, the tiny turtle opens its maw and bites the top of my head tightly, refusing to let go as I thrash in pain to get it off of me.

The futility of my attempts to get the creature off begins to cloud my judgement, and I again find myself fuming with rage. Wishing only to make the little fuck pay for the pain he’s causing me, I bash my head against a cave wall, pinching the Chewtle in between. It takes no time until its body gives in and turns to dust in front of my eyes. (Down already? But he’s still got to pay for that bite!) I frantically look around, and find one of the paths forward. (Whatever! I’ll just take it out on whoever I find next!). Craving more combat, I once again charge forward into the unknown, with no say on the matter.

A few days pass. Trying to find much of anything, be it shelter or any form of civilization proofs extremely difficult given my sudden urges to find and run over feral Pokémon. The most I’ve found are what appear to be dirt roads, dividing extensive fields into two halves as they stretch for an unknown distance. Following them every time I happened upon one was a no brainer, but after what felt like an hour or so of walking, the lack of anything other than a seemingly endless road would drive me nuts, pushing me to veer off to find feral Pokémon to attack. Still, the presence of roads tells me that there is, or at the very least was, a civilization in here. How advance is it? Hard to judge.

Having nowhere to call home gave me no option but to sleep in the open once it turned dark. Although the only creature I’ve found outside of those dens of ferals is the rare bird here and there, flying so high up in the sky I couldn’t distinguish if they were a Pokémon or not, I was opposed to sleeping completely exposed. Instead, I’d look around in forested areas for big bushes I could sleep next to that would conceal me from at least two directions, giving me a faint sense of security. Making sure that the spot is not close to a den, since I didn’t want to figure out if its inhabitants were able to exit the place.

For nourishment, I had to turn to eating grass. The taste was almost non-existent, think of lettuce on its own, but even more tasteless. At the very least, it does satiate hunger, even if it needs to be ruminated… The first time I felt the food going up my throat back into my mouth, I felt as if I was throwing up.

The highlight of my diet was the occasional apple found inside of some dens of feral Pokémon. Every time I came across one, I chose to crush them with a hoof and eat them alongside the grass bellow it, adding a hint of flavour to my otherwise bland meals.

The only thing that served to tell the days apart were the different types of dens I’d be dragged into. The vast majority of them looked like ordinary forests. So ordinary in fact, that it’s hard to tell if I’ve been to some of them more than once, due to them containing mostly the same vermin and grass Pokémon across one another.

Caves are also a common type of den. Checks out, they’re enclosed spaces, after all, and the creatures within them are probably unfaced by the darkness. Far more surprising are the dens located seemingly in the open. I can’t help but be reminded of that one in the middle of a shallow river, with impossibly tall reeds serving as walls. How couldn’t I, the creatures there were actually quite tough, and ended up knocking me out. Fortunately I woke up right at the entrance, but unfortunately, I was fuming so much that I went right back in to get my revenge…

That place was proof that the dens disobey space-time continuum, if the disappearing entrances weren’t enough of a tell. Some of the rooms found inside were wider than the river itself! And all the while, I had an unrestricted view of the sky... Wonder how that room would have looked like from a bird side view.

Perpetuating the cycle of unwillingly entering the bizarre, warped pockets of space, I find myself being driven to a particularly shaded forest. My rage decreases as I run over small vermin after small vermin, each turning to dust after impact. That is, until coming across an equally small, but more alive looking Sentret as I reached a slightly more spacious part of the trail. With no questions asked, I send the rodent flying as I did all other ferals I’ve found so far. Unlike them, however, she doesn't disappear once she hits the floor, letting out a cry of pain rather than the mindless screeches I've heard so far. The creature sits on the ground, grabbing the folded end of her tail with her paws.

My rage finally subdues, meaning that I don’t go for a follow up attack. Instead end up questioning the more human like behaviour of the Pokémon in from of me.

Shortly after, I hear the sound of slow, thumping steps that get louder and louder. " Stop that... Sentret!", a fatigued voice calls out.

“Pero qué?” I exclaim at hearing words being spoken, and in English at that. (Did the fucking brits colonised wherever the fuck this is?). In turn, I’m then taken aback at the lower pitch of my voice, product of my new, larger body.

A long neck bearing bananas at the top end and a large brown bag at the bottom peeks from out of the foliage. It belongs to a Tropius, who enters the area. His gloomy expression hint at him being the speaker from before. Sentret rises from the ground upon seeing the sauropod, and start running away from him, following the trail in the direction I just so happened to be blocking.

I block the little meerkat out of pure instinct, in spite of me getting yelled to do that very thing. I hesitantly prepare for a horn attack, but I’m so slow to throw it out that the Sentret easily avoids it. This exchange repeats again and again, until a barrage of leaves coming from the direction of the Tropius assaults the tiny foe, flinging her into the air. The grip she had on her tail starts loosening, revealing that it was concealing a green crystal orb with swirls in its interior that gets launched in a different direction.

I go after the Pokémon, who quickly gets up and leaps over me, now having access to an unblocked escape route that she swiftly takes. Both the Tropius and myself being only able to helplessly watch.

“She got away…” The Tropius laments in a depressing tone. “At least I managed to retrieve the stolen item.” He says as he slowly walks towards the orb the Sentret was holding. Once he has it within reach, he operates his neck to first open his bag, then grab the orb with his mouth to finally store it away.

After finishing, and from that same position, he turns his head to me, getting unexpectedly close. “Thanks for the help. I'm...” He pauses for a brief second, hard to judge if he’s being careful with his world, or just extremely fatigued. ”…not as agile as a Pokémon like that. I didn't intend to... chase after it for so long.” Letting out a big sigh as he says it. “It's fortunate you were here for the assist. I've never come across... another explorer in a dungeon before.”

(A dungeon, he says? But this looks nothing like it! It’s a forest through and through!) Cogs start spinning in my mind, putting the newfound information into place. (Talking Pokémon, explorers, so called “Dungeons” that distort the space around you when entered. Could this be… Pokémon Mystery Dungeon!?)

The revelation leaves me dumbfounded. It’s been staring at me ever since I made it to that pond. It gives credence to all I have experienced so far, from the Pokémon transformation down to the creatures vanishing once I run over them. As stupid sounding as being in the world of a videogame might sound, it makes too much sense for it not to be the case. And besides, this isn’t my first rodeo dealing with nonsense like this, all it takes is a look at the mirror to affirm that. In that sense, the idea proves to be even a bit reassuring.

Tuning back in to the ‘real’ world, the Tropius nervously looks around, before saying "W-well, uh... Thanks again. I'll be heading out now." As soon as he finishes his sentence, he’s already heading back the way he came from.

(Darn, He’s going to leave me here just like that? Not going to say anything else? Is he on a hurry or something? He alluded to being explorer, and also mentioned that he’s heading out. If so, maybe I should as him if I can go along with him. He probably knows how to best find the exit. Or at least he knows it better than me. Then it’s decided. I just need to tell him that… Ah, I need to tell him…)

I haven’t spoken English out loud in a hot minute. That combined with the snippet of my new voice I just heard can only mean that it’s going to be a colossal task to not cringe at my words. But if I don’t act fast, he’s going to end up leaving me. Can’t let that happen. “Sorry, you mind if I tag along?” I shudder at the words that come out of my mouth, feeling completely alien. Still needing to get some more points across, I ready myself for round two. “I’m a bit lost myself, and you look like you know where’s the exit.” This time, I cringe at my choice of words, rather than the delivery.

"Y-you want to tag along?" Tropius looks back at me, appearing a bit stressed out before letting out a sigh. "Alright, it's the least I can do... for you after you helped me out.” He lets out a faint smile and motions me with his head. “Follow me, the exit was... back this way."

“On it” I say in return, moving the way he pointed with his head and proceeding to follow him at my somewhat limiting speed. Now getting to hear the thumping steps from earlier right in front of me.

The trip back is uneventful, with only a few foes to speak of, such as Petilil and Belsprout. Tropius takes point and handle them easily, with one to two meaty stomps. Only complaint is that, with how slowly he approaches the enemies, the encounters drag on for longer than necesary.

Wanting to speed thing up, I end up taking the initiative against, yet another Belsprout that ends up blocking our path, much to the Tropius’ surprise. Though without anger taking over my body, the best I can pull out is a sorry display. No matter how many horn attacks I go for, they all get dodged by the feral, his vine live body proving to be hard to pin down. I would have ended up going berserk over the Belsprout’s unreal evasiveness, were it not for a well time stomp from the Tropius that takes care of it all. “Let’s continue,” he says, refusing to look at me, something that his long neck lets him easily achieve.

The outdoors' light eventually comes into view at the end of an overgrown path, signalling the exit. Once out of the shadows and under the clear blue sky, Tropius takes a deep long breath, and lets it all out in a sigh of relief, clearly glad to be out of that place. "F-finally... out of there...”

His tiredness has been all but erased in the brief time he’s been outside, now appearing to be more collected and contemplated. The change is so jarring that it warrants me asking. “Hey, were you alright in there? The way you looked, it was as if you were about to collapse at any time?”

Tropius starts looking around nervously upon hearing that, clearly wasn’t expecting such a question. "O-oh, y-yeah. Chasing after that Sentret just really tired me out, haha..." He quickly replied, lacking confidence on what he said.

Nothing is exchanged for a brief moment, as the Tropius turns his head straight up to the sky in an exaggerated manner, and I'm left staring at him. "W-well, I'd best get going. I need to get the orb back to its owner, y-you know?" As he says it, I’m reminded that unlike him, I have no place to go.
The sauropod hits the road, all the while I can’t help but think of what to do. (Should I ask him where’s the nearest settlement from here? Not sure how well they’ll react to a stranger with no money to his name coming out of nowhere… Would my episodes of rage even allow me to live in somewhere resembling society? Or am I just condemned to roam the wilderness, a prisoner of my emotions? If so, maybe I could ask for where’s a good place to forage for food, and any place that could serve as shelter that’s located near drinking water. That last one might raise some eyebrows, given that this world seems to be no stranger to the concept of outlaws. Gosh, I gotta make up my mind before he leaves!)

To my pleasure, the Tropius takes the first step, by, paradoxically, stopping dead on his tracks and turning his neck back at me. After giving me a confused stare, he questions: "...Is everything alright? Don't you have somewhere to go?".

“No, I don’t.” I reply swiftly, throwing caution to the wind.

"I thought you might say that.” The Pokémon replies, adopting a sadder expression that thankfully doesn’t reach back to the gloominess from when we first met. "Let's see... umm... does ‘soyjak’ or ‘Skibidi toilet’ ring any bells?" He physically recoils as he says ‘Skibidy toilet’.

My jaw is left wide open. (Skibidi toilet? Here of all places? Is this guy eight or something?) “Yes! It does. But how do you know that!?”

"Like I thought. You're a human, aren't you? Though between the Spanish speaking and your... uh... less than stellar fighting skills, that was pretty obvious.”

“Ah, I had no idea you managed to catch that. Sorry, I hadn’t heard any voices in here up to that point. Your shout had me so confused that I didn’t notice I replied to you in Spanish.” I let out a small chuckle to better hide my embarrassment. “But hang on, what you said… Does that mean you’re also a human?”

"That's right." Despite exhaling from his mouth, his tone transmits a feeling of acceptance, with only a small hint of disappointment. "Here, follow me. I'll explain as we go." He beacons me with a turn of the neck, and I follow thus, reaching his side in short time, as we venture into the vast plains in front of us.

“So where are we going?”

"We're not the only former humans that got turned into Pokemon. Most of us have gathered together in a guild. It's nice to be around others in the same predicament as you... mostly. The building looks like a gigantic tree stump on the outskirts of Capim Town. It's not too far from here, mercifully."

“Capim? So, we are in the... Grass Continent? Like in the games?” Doesn’t hurt to double check if I’m truly in a game world, even if all the evidence so far makes it nearly guaranteed.

"Yup, that's right. You're fortunate to be acquainted with the games - most aren't so blessed in that regard like you or I."

No one says much of anything following that. Instead, we both choose to remain focused on the road ahead for what felt like half an hour. Tropius moving surprisingly fast, giving me a bit of a tough time following him. Amidst the silence, I’m left wondering how many people his two answers entailed. In time fire my next question to break the silence. “How many people are there at the guild?”

"Heehee, that's a tough question! I'm too large a fellow to fit inside most of the guild, you see! But I've met so many wonderful friends... I'll try my best! " The dino gets all gitty, before launching into a long speech. "There's Phanpy, he's this round little blue fellow, then there's Ross, hehe, make sure not to step in all that green goop he leaves everywhere! Oh, there's Kiyo, he's a real grumpy little guy but he's really nice at heart, haha. Toge's a very unique individual, he always has such interesting things to say! There's also..." He starts enumerating a wide variety of both species of Pokémon, as well as nicknames, some of them raising a few eyebrows, like when he suddenly shouted KFC as one of the names. On the topic of shouts, it’s as if after each name he says, his tone gets cheerier and cheerier, to the point that it’s starting to get in my nerves.

The roll call goes on for so long that it ends up becoming little more than white noise. As I try my best to tune it out, I’m then hit by a sudden question. "Ohhh, hey! I just realized! You haven't told me your name? What is it, oh I'm just dying to know, my new friend!" He says in an overly excited tone.

(Crap, my name! What do I say? I could just give him my real one, but I feel it would stand out too much from the crowd of unusual nicknames, short English names and Pokémon species the other humans seem to go by. What do I call myself then? Just Tauros, perhaps? Hmmm… That doesn’t sit right with me. I turn to possible nicknames, my mind pretty much sticking together random pairs of syllables. All of them end up being much worse than just going by Tauros. Man, why is this so hard! Growing dissatisfied, I recall the many names the Tropius just nagged me about, in a desperate attempt to derive some semblance of inspiration. As I do, I can’t help but keep coming back to that KFC name…)

Throwing all caution to the wind, I ready my answer, making a conscious effort to dial down my fever pitch as to not shout it. “You can call me Cachopo.” I ended up going with a dish I’m fond off. A beef dish at that… Referring to myself as food did send a chill down my spine, but also, a faint feeling of acceptance towards my new bovine form.

"Ka-cho-po?" The Tropius says slowly, hardly butchering the pronunciation, not like there’s much to butcher, from my point of view. "Oh, what a wonderful, lovely name! Yay! I hope that means I can add you to the list of guild members now." He replies in a manner unbecoming of his stature. "Oh, that's right! I never even told you my name, haha! I'm Tropius, it's great to meet you!"

(What’s the deal with this guy? He looked but a few steps from the grave just an hour ago!) I’m growing more annoyed by the minute, I could forgive an overly chirpy tone, but that manic laugh just now?

I try to reel him back in by continuing the conversation. “How come there are so many people at the guild?” I give it some though as to why that could be, quickly fearing the worse, I follow up with: “Is there… Now way home?”

"Hmm, I don't know! New humans just keep popping up all the time, just like you! As for your second question... we've been here for about three years now, and some have tried to find a way back! But nobody's found anything yet, how sad! I don't really mind though, because I get to meet so many new friends living at the guild, it's so wonderful there! It makes me wonder why they even bother searching for a way back! After all, this world is so wonderful, and..."

(Is this guy for real? He's telling me there's no way back and that I'm possibly stuck like this forever, and that's how he acts? What the fuck is wrong with this re... Oh god, am I getting angry at him? Don't tell me I'm going to start lashing out at him! No! I can't do that! He's trying to help me! How do I stop this?)

Shaking in place as I combat my urge for violence, Tropius comes to a short of realization and dashes towards a tree a bit further down the road, proceeding to sit under its shade.

I dash after the fat fuck, my itching rage still trying to take over my mind. He greets me with: "M-man, all t-this running around today's g-got me beat. I-I'm just gonna rest here, why don't you go on ahead without me?” The leaf that covers the top of his head is drenched in sweat drops, was all of that from his sudden sprint just now? “You should be able to find the guild easily if you just keep following this road. Like I said before, it looks like a gigantic tree stump, you can't miss it. Once you're there, just ask around for the Guildmaster - any guild member should be able to direct you to him."
I merely nod, and take his instructions as the perfect opportunity to leave him behind before making something I would regret. I try my hardest to remain in the road, but my instincts get the better of me, and I end up braving into the wilderness, stumbling into another dungeons...

I returned to the road hours later, having satiated my need to bash skulls into mine, but at the expense of wasting valuable daylight. The sky lights up with orange hues as I stand in front of what appears to be the guild.

Peeking from the door frame, I see a wide variety of Pokémon standing around the main hall, all of them smaller than me, making it look baren. The area closest to the door is nearly featureless, having little more than board brimming with papers in one of the walls. The back of the room is a different story, with doors and a hallway leading to multiple different instances, topped off by a spiral wooden staircase leading both up and down. Some of the Pokémon standing around are looking towards the room to the left with expectation.

I thoroughly assess who of these former humans would be the best one to ask for directions to the Guildmaster’s office, as Tropius instructed me to do. But seeing them all from outside the building makes them feel unapproachable… (Maybe I’ll have an easier time once I’m inside.)

Slowly walking in, many members of the guild turn to face me one after another, just to quickly return to their conversation, paying me little mind. Only two groups of Pokémon are exempt from this.

The first group consists of a snow white Vulpix in a vest and cap, a Sandshrew wearing a sky-blue neck scarf and a flatly colored rose by her left ear, and a small Fletchling roosting atop the shrew's head, seemingly invested in her floral accessory. The trio pay me no mind as I approach the end of the hall, choosing instead to keep to themselves. That was until I looked at their direction. All it took was one second before the three returned me the stare. The Vulpix’s in particular, it was beyond distressing to be in the receiving end of it, it felt as if my retina were starting to freeze over… The moment I diverted my gaze due to the extreme discomfort, they continued their chatting.

The second one, opposed to the first, couldn’t stop observing me, or at least, one member, a rotund Zangoose, couldn’t. His companion, a Seviper, oddly enough, was instead left wondering what got him so enthralled.

“You ssssure you haven’t sssseen that one before, Musssstel? I think you already esssstablished that Tauros can have either brown or black fur,” the Seviper said as he slithered over to the other side of the so called Mustel. He in turn stopped locking eyes with me and reached into his bag, taking out a gold-plated book from it, and frantically looking through the early pages.

“I’m telling you, this one’s different! Normally black Tauros have shorter and less pointy horns compared to brown Tauros, but the ones on this one are longer, curled and even have small pointy ends! The mane is different, though that could have been achieved through delivered stylization. As for the tails, look at them, they’ve turned to form a sort of propeller!” His last comment has me turning to see that for myself. After verifying that he wasn’t lying, I relax them to get them to flow down, hoping they won’t attract much unwanted attention to his rear like that.

At this point there’s no reason to ask someone else, so I in turn approach the red striped ferret and his sidekick. As the former remains lost in his book, I ask: “Excuse me, do you know whe…“

“Aha, see here?” Mustel interrupts me, signalling to his partner as a golden glimmer radiates from a segment of one of the opened pages. “Tauros Aqua Breed, fighting and water type. It’s a variant of specifically the black Tauros, so that makes it a variant of a variant. Fascinating… Could there be more variants of the black Tauros out there? How about the brown one? Would it be possible for this variant to have even more variants of its own?” The book wielding Pokémon gets lost in is hypotheticals, while continuing to ignore me.

“Hello? Are you listening?”

“Buddy, I think he wantssss to talk with you.” The snake tries to pull the scholar out of his trance.

“Really? How convenient!” Mustel slams his book closed, finally deciding to address me directly. “Tell me, do you know other Tauros of variants other than brown, black or aqua? If so, could you describe how they differ from other Tauros to me? I need to know for my Pokédex!”

“Uh, sorry, I don’t know other Tauros, let alone niche forms like myself. I simply woke up like this one day not too long ago, and it wasn’t until today that I found non feral Pokémon.”

“Oh, sorry to hear that…” The thrill of his earlier discovery disappeared without a trace. “I take it you’re here to join the guild.”

“That I am. I was found by a member going by Tropius, he told me to ask around for where the Guildmaster’s office is at, so if you’d be kind enough to point me there, I’d appreciate it.”

“Tropiussss, eh?” The Seviper interjects. “You just had to find the only guy I can think of that makes Musssstel here look thin by comparisssson!” He laughs hard, the feelings being far from reciprocated by his partner. “The office issss at the third floor, facing the common room. You should ssssee it as ssssoon as you leave the sssstairs.” The sharp blade at the end of the Seviper’s body is raised high, pointing to the spiral stairway I’m to take.

“Got it, that’s all I need. As for you.” I turn my gaze back to the Zangoose, who’s clutching the gilded book with both arms. “Do you need me to meet up with you some other time to get info for that Pokedex you said you had?”

“Ah, don’t worry about that, this thing fills up with information mostly on its own. Plus you’ve already proven that you wouldn’t be of much help in telling me if there are further Tauros variants,” the ferret says making a dismissive sign with one of his claws.

“Well, I’ll see you around, if everything goes well.” I try to wave goodbye at them, but my forelegs don’t have the range of movement required. I end up doing a bow begrudgingly. In turn, Mustel uses one paw to do the gesture I wished to do, and his Seviper uses his blade to a similar end, as the two see me head to the upper levels.

I climb the stairs as best as I can. Having to both turn and climb on all fours proves to be harder than expected on a first go. I'm forced to approach it one step at a time. Thankfully no one’s going down the stairs, as I'm taking up most of the space horizontally.

Arriving at the third floor, glad to be out of the stairway, I find myself at a common room as I was told. I approach the wall to get a better look at the plaques adorning the doors, and the first one reads ‘Guildmaster Lliam’. How’s that even pronounced? ‘Gi-am’, perhaps?

I knock on the door softly and awkwardly with a horn. The sound’s quite low, but a gentle voice that I assume belongs to the Guildmaster catches it and invites me in. “Come on in!” I try to open the door by pushing it with my forehead, and it thankfully goes quite smoothly. I enter the chamber, tilting my head as to not bump my horns into the door frame.

"Oh, a new face, take a seat!"

I’m greeted by a blue cat wearing a black robe, with two large, folded ears at both sides of his massive head. Undeniably a Meowstic. The Pokémon is sitting behind a short desk with plenty of files staked at the edges or littered in the center. There are two small stumps in front and to the side. To even entertain the idea of me sitting on something so small is laughable, so I instead shove them to the side with the blunt side of my horn, and end up sitting on the floor, which is rather embarrassing.

“Tell me, what brings you here?” The cat Pokémon changes his tone to a slightly more professional one, as he leans to his desk.

“I was told by some tall, tree looking dude that you all here were humans...”

“And I assume that makes you want to join us, right?” He affirms with confidence.

“Oh, yeah, I guess. I've got no place to stay. Haven't been anywhere near something that resembles society since I woke up like this...”

“Fret not, we've all been in your situation, lost and confused. But ever since we came together, things have only looked up.” A big grin forms in his face. “Now to stay here, it'd be best if you could contribute in some way. The most straight forward method would be to do explorer work, taking missions and outlaw bounties from the board at the hall. Doesn't have to be anything mayor, just small fetch quests will do.”

“Or you could maybe take a position at guild itself. I wouldn't be opposed to having a second transporter, and I bet you'd have no problem pushing a cart, no matter how heavy the load,” he says as he examines my physique.

(I don’t think I could be trusted with any form of delivery, that’s just asking to get it destroyed.) “Sorry, I don't think I'm well suited for that position…”

“Ah, don't sweat it, I'm not telling you to start right away. After all, I'm sure you're tired, and you'll need a few days to get acquainted with the surroundings, and your new form.” His tone goes back to being soft and understanding.

“First things first, in order to register you as a member of our guild. I’ll need your name, what might that be?”

(I already told Tropius a name, things could get confusing if I give him another, not that I’ve come up with a better one.) “It’s Cachopo.”

“Decided to go by a nickname? I see. You're not the only one who's apprehensive about using their human name, if that makes you feel better,” he says before reaching for an empty document and noting something at the header.

“Ok, I'll fill up all the paperwork on my own. Trust me when I tell you, you don't want to be here to see it.” He jumps off his stool and starts searching the contents of a drawer. The sound of small, metal bits colliding with each other can be heard before he pulls out whatever he’s looking for and slams it shut. He then walks around the desk and to my side, moving one of the stumps out of his way. I tilt my head to look at him as he does so.

“Mind turning to face me?” He gestures the turning motion with his left paw, his other one being concealed under his cloak.

“Sure...” I do as he asks, and my mane ends up faces him. He ponders for a bit, before stretching his right paw, revealing that he’s holding a clover shaded badge, that he promptly pins to the bottom left of my beard like mane. (Thank god he did, I’ve got no idea how I would have done that on my own, with hooves instead of hands.)

“Here you have it, saves me the trouble of looking for you once all the forms are taken care of.” He scratches the back of his head, clearly not looking forward to doing that task. “Do you like it there? Or should I pick a different spot?"

“It's fine where it is.” I reply in short, dismissing any of his worries.

“Great. Now if you follow me, I'll take you to your accommodation.” “There should be some free rooms over at the seconds floor.” He walks over to the door leading out of his office and opens it. I leave the room in short, again, being careful with my horns, and he closes the door, before taking the lead.

He's walking quite slowly, to my chagrin. Only when going down the stairs is he able to create some distance between me and him, but that’s only because I'm finding descending the spiral staircase about as tricky as ascending it. If I had been assigned to a room on the third floor, I'd be fuming right about now.

Once at the second floor, he takes me into a hallway, still at his relaxed pace. One end of the hallway, to be more accurate, since they seem to loop. The experience is not exactly pleasant. There might be plenty of room horizontally for me and another Pokémon to walk past, but not enough to turn around if I overshoot my destination. Reason being that I can’t turn on a dime in this state. The feeling of crapiness is exacerbated by the Guildmaster stopping every so often to examine the door to his side, only to remember that room belongs to someone, or at least that's my assumption.

It thankfully doesn't take long before he finds a vacant room. He knocks just in case...

…And out comes a short, big headed, green and brown Pokémon, holding brightly colored drinks, one in an arm, and another being wrapped by a vine like protrusion coming out of his shoulder. No doubt, the Pokémon in question is a Chespin, who doesn’t seem particularly enthralled by the sudden visit.

“Guildmaster? Do you need something this late in the day?” The Chespin says, standing a bit uneasy on his feet, and leaning on the side of the door he just opened. Shortly after, a Wooper joins his side, also unsteady on his approach.

“Ah, my apologies Team Cozy, I was taking this new member here to a vacant room, and got yours messed up.” The Guildmaster bows repeatedly as he apologizes for his blunder. The two guild members don’t say anything, and they just shut the door.

(Is this guy for real!? How does he not know what room each member of this guild is at!? That should be expected of the head of a place like this! Unless... He's got to be doing this in purpose! Purposely walking slowly and stopping at doors to box me in this corridor! Bet he skipped inspecting some of them to try and make it a bit less obvious, but he won't fool me. He better not be lying about the accommodation, because if that's the case...)

As all those thoughts cross my mind, Lliam puts a paw to his face, and shakes his head. Perhaps out of embarrassment, or maybe he's trying to remember something. Something seems to click in his mind a few seconds later, and he dashes further down the corridor. Again he knocks at the door, and after getting no response, opens it up.

The moment I hear the sound of the door open, I immediately sprint to where it originated from.

“Here it is! Your new room. Why don't you step in an- AH!” Lliam turns to face me only to be met with what all those feral dungeon Pokémon saw last before crumbling into dust. He quickly sidesteps, and luckily for me, I don't veer off to the side to give him a horn stab. My attention is instead turned to the insides of my new room, more specifically, the handful of furniture it contains.

The small chest at the far end is the first one to go, the impact detaches the lid and tears down the walls of the container, revealing that there’s nothing inside of that garbage. I keep stomps my forelegs on what little remains of the chest until it ceases to do so. Then, I turn back to face the door. A tall wooden rack enters my field of vision and becomes the next thing to smash. I assert it one meaty impact, and that’s all it takes to break it into small shards - only the circular base and a short segment sticking out of it remain recognizable. Trying to stab the base, I end up instead making it slide all the way to the wall to the left, colliding with a wooden table that’s too short for me to possibly use. (Do they expect me to use that crap!? All more of a reason to bash it until there’s nothing left.)

The two right legs are the first to go, offering little resistance as my horn crush them in half. Unsurprisingly, the right side of the table falls to the ground without legs to support it, begging me to climb atop it and destroy it once and for all. The remaining legs give in at my weight, giving me a flat surface to stomp the planks that made up the surface of the table with all four of my legs. Only stopping once the table is taken care of.
There's only one thing that remains, a pile of flattened cotton, placed in the middle of the room. (What even is that? A mat? Well, it’s not going to remain as such for long.) My berserking body immediately moves over to stomp it, but the already flattened material is impervious to that. (Gonna have to bust out the horns for this one). A stab with the tip of the horn followed by a quick tilt of my head upwards, shredding the mat. The mat eventually splits into two pieces, then three, and four, reaching up to five, and by the time it increases to six, the severe annoyance I had just a moment ago evaporates, being overtaken by a feeling of sheer catharsis.

The sensation quickly fades, as I take a look at my surroundings, I see in terror that my furniture has being reduce to piles of splinters! (Don’t tell me, is the Guildmaster going to kick me for this!? Oh nonononono, this can’t be! I can’t go back to the wilderness!)

As the Guildmaster peeks his head through the door, I fear the worse. “My, that's unfortunate... You must have it rougher than I thought in that form. Don't beat yourself over it, alright?” (Huh? Is he not going to kick me?) “You'll need to get replacements for the things you broke tough, or at the very least, a new bed.” 8Bed? I don’t remember seeing anything like that in the room. Did I break one without noticing? Or maybe, he was referring to that cotton mat.) “Head down to the storage room and see what you can find. I assume you can manage on your own, right?”

“Yeah, probably...” (The last thing I want is to awkwardly stare at him as he gets me back up furniture for my room.)

“Great! After you're done, head to the mess hall for a bite before giving the new bedding a try, alright?”

“Ah, I'm not that hungry, I already ate in the way here.” (I really hope he doesn’t ask what, saying that I eat grass feels really degrading. Another reason to avoid the mess hall is that I’d rather not come across a large group of Pokémon after causing a ruckus in here. Someone must have heard it, at the very least, that Chespin sure has.)

“Oh well, guess you'll have to wait for breakfast before you give our chef’s cooking a try,” the Guildmaster’s says with a serene tone. “If you excuse me, I need to get started on your registration forms if I want them to be done before next day. I’m off then!” He waves me with one paw and leaves me in my new room. Not for long, as I take to the hallway soon after, aiming to reach the storage, as I was instructed.

The storage room is spotless. Lots of boxes and cabinets are dotted around, their contents listed on hard to miss labels. Orbs, wands, various thrown items... checks out that a guild would keep many of these items in stock. Anything not useful for dungeoneering is more off to the side. There are musical instruments off in a corner, and a single mirror rests against a wall. Hey that could make my room not look completely baren!

As I approach it, the black Tauros appearing out of one of the sides of the reflection makes my heart skip a beat. Heh, of course. I don't know why I still expected to see my human face appear instead. Hard to believe that all of this is real, even a few days in... Who knows how long it will take me to adapt to a different reflection, or if that'll happen at all... Best not to take this mirror into my room.

Taking a corridor that’s off to the side, I find a room containing boxes brimming with food ingredients, all placed near a non-spiral staircase. Would have loved to use that to get down here, though on closer inspection, with how narrow it is, I may not be able to fit through it. On top of that, the sound of dishes being placed hint at a kitchen being what's at the other side. They probably don't take kindly to random Pokémon waltzing in unannounced.

Returning to the storage room, I take a more thorough look to try and spot any furniture. Only thing that could be classified as such are a few wooden chests of various sizes, resembling the one I broke in my room. Just a few of them have their sides visible, and in said sides, there are labels defining the contents, like with most other containers, so they're most likely all being used. There's a chance that at least one of them is empty, but since at the moment, the only possession I have to my name is the badge I just received a few minutes ago, it's not worth the trouble of looking through all of them.

I walk across the room to the corridor opposite to the one I inspected. A chilly wind can be felt as I come close to it. Closer inspection shows it’s actually a ramp that leads outside. The cart parked to my left seems to confirm this. (Could it be related to that transporter position the Guildmaster mentioned?)

With little else to inspect, all that’s left is to check the third and last hallway, when something catches my eye. It's not quite furniture, but something tells me I'll find it more necessary than the usual chair or table my human brain still hopes I'd be able to use. A lime green blob that had remained hidden until now behind a stack of boxes is lying face down, appearing to be the only thing not to have been meticulously sorted for easy access. Approaching the item to better examine it, my mind tells me the best way to make it face up would be to kick it forward as hard as I can. Not questioning why I wouldn't just grab it with my mouth, I ready my hind leg for a strike, before realizing that it's no were near the item. Instead, it's what used to be my right arm, but now serves as a foreleg that has to do the bidding. I pull it back and... BAAAM!!! The item smashes against the wall and bounces a few centimetres back, landing on its side, where it can be identified as a Substitute Doll.

The whole action feels really nice. The stress that had started to build up as I failed to find much of anything gets dispelled after the strike. I start thinking and a question form in my mind. Could I use this to quell my anger before I'm about to lose control?

I need to keep this thing, but would someone miss this doll if I take it away from storage? The way this was unceremoniously left in a corner, someone could have misplaced their personal belonging. I try to look for someone or something that can give me an answer, and I instantly find a small, white, short limbed being with wings on his back near one of the cabinets, a Togetic. He's shorting the contents of a big sac with "Seeds" written in big letters into different small containers, flying up to reach the upmost ones. Safe to assume he's the one responsible for the meticulous levels of organization present in this place.

I slowly approach the Quartermaster, carrying the doll in my mouth that I later carefully place in the ground once I’m close, as to be able to address the Pokémon. “Hey you, uh... Is it ok if I keep this doll?”

“Oh, yo-you wanna t-take th-that!?” The Togetic is incredibly flustered by my question. His words stuttering, and his gaze fixed on the substitute doll. This reaction to such a tame question leaves me so puzzled and worried that it overpowers any feelings of frustration over not getting the outcome I want this body is so prone to amplify.

“Huh, can I not have it? How come it is in the storage room, then?”

“Ah! nonononon-no. Y-You can t-take it, its j-just that, m-maybe y-you shouldn't...”

“Why is that? Does anyone else needs it?” No idea why this Togetic is so reluctant about telling me the reason upfront.

The quartermaster thinks for a short while, his expression changing to one of disgust before muttering "N-No..."

"Alright then, I'll help myself to it, then." I reply in a glad tone that only last a short while, as I remember that I need to acquire the materials for a bed, or else I'd be sleeping on the floor. “By the way, do you know where I can find bedding materials? I need them for my room.”

“B-Bedding? Its inside t-that big b-box labelled ‘C-Cotton’.” He points with one of his nubs to a container to my left. “B-But w-why would you n-need it? I t-thought Team Cozy already pr-prepared beds f-for the vacant r-rooms. Are y-you p-perhaps j-joining the guild alongside s-some t-team m-members?”

(Yikes, looks like I’ll have to be upfront about how I shredded everything in my room…) “No, I joined on my own. It's just that I accidentally broke the furniture in my new room, including the cotton bed.”

The moment I finish my phrase, the Togetic goes completely motionless, aside for his wings keeping him suspended in mid-air. He remains in silence with his head hung low before springing back into action, tossing aside the timidness seen before in our exchange.

“You what!? You destroyed your bed in the very same day you arrive at the guild!? A bed made out of the very same cotton that Team Cozy has fought to the nail for years! Risking their lives to ensure that everyone in this guild, even future members like YOURSELF, are provided with the highest quality rest that can be found in this world! You're telling me that after being in the receiving end of this most honourable sacrifice, you're going to SPIT all over it!? The last thing this guild needs are more ungrateful swines that are too busy pilling on sex offender charges to be grateful for, or even notice the gargantuan amount of work that many virtuous members of this guild do on a DAILY BASIS for the bettering of everyone’s live here! You must be nothing but an agent of evil set on ELIMINATING everything that's cozy! If I let you take some cotton, it'll be mere seconds before you destroy it and come back for more, and more and more, until you've erased even the smallest speck of cotton dust from our supplies. Forcing Team Cozy to brave into another live threating voyage to secure more cotton for the residents of this guild. Only for all of it to again go to WASTE by your own hoof, sending Wooper and Chespin back to danger again and again until they DIE, all thanks to YOU, you MONSTER! I'd rather die trying to stop you before you put your devilish plan into motion than let you take Team Cozy away from me! I won't spare any of the items found here or even the structural integrity of the building we are at if it means preserving the coziness we know today...”

(Wait, he's gonna what!?) I was so taken aback by his crazy ramblings and farfetched logic that I only now processed that he's threatening to kill me! Without delay, I bite the substitute doll and run to the spiral staircase. Looking back to see how the Togetic reacts to my cowardly move, I find him flying in the same spot a before, looking in the direction I was at, and continuing blabbering nonsense, unaware of my absence. I take this opportunity to grab a big bundle of cotton from the box the Togetic pointed me to before going full on psycho mode. I put both the cotton and the doll in my mouth, really wishing I had hands or arms to carry this stuff. Turning to see the Togetic one last time before returning to my room, I find that he’s still at it.

At night, I return to the site of the wreckage. I move all the chunks of wood into the center of the room along with the shredded remains of the old cotton bed, giving me some room to work with.

The new bundle of cotton sits in front of me, awaiting flattening. The doll sits to my side, to thankfully relieve the frustration than trying to do any form of dexterous task with hooves is inevitably going to bring.

I start by just stomping the cotton with a foreleg. Upon retracting it, I see the cotton return to almost its original position, not really having extended to the sides. That would have been too easy.

Next attempt I also start by stomping it, just to then drag the clump of cotton under my hoof to the nearest edge. Results are more palpable, but my hove slides off of the material before long, again, and again, and again... and again...

I can feel my heartbeat rising, and my judgement starting to cloud as I move to attempt the same thing expecting a different result at a rapidly increasing rhythm. (I need to stop now, before I go berserk!)

With no hesitation, I turn to the doll I snatched from the storage room, and start beating it repeatedly with my two forelegs, as if I was throwing a flurry of punches with two arms, only needing to firmly plant one leg on the target before I can retract the other one for the following hit as to not end up falling forward.

A few hits are all it takes to calm me down, but returning to the task I was doing, I find that my hoof now takes even less time to slip from the cotton! (Was it because that side is already flat enough?) I start working at pushing the cotton outward at an untouched part, and it still slips earlier!
(What even is this!? How is this getting harder? This makes no sense!?)

Before I can assert the cotton a horn stab, I collect myself and instead start pounding the doll.

The cycle repeats: my hooves slip more and more, and the doll receives a beating every time I'm at the verge of snapping. Progress ends up slowing down to a crawl, so I decide to call it quits for now once the pile is at least big enough to contain my four limbs.

I adapt the same sleeping position I've used the prior days, bending my forelegs and hindlegs, to then rest my weight on them. Doing something like that as a human not only would have been incredibly uncomfortable, but I'd say it'd run the risk of breaking my arms. As a Tauros, however, my forelegs are perfectly capable of enduring it without a wince of pain.

Before I fall asleep, I contemplate what's has happened today. It’s been a bit stressful getting started at the guild, and I did ruin a neatly prepared room. Heck, that’s all I can see laying here in the center. But I’m incredibly glad that I’ve found not only civilization, but people who are going through similar struggles as mine. Things can only pick up from here. And hey, for the short time I’ve had the green plush, it’s already done wonders to keep my anger on check!

Wanting to give the doll a final look before dozing off, I come to a chilling realization. Suddenly, the Togetic's hesitation and my increasingly slippery hooves have a reason behind it. in the spot where I battered the doll while struggling to make the bed...

...Lies a white stain.