Today's Forecast : Sunny!
By Nido-Anon

"Fuck, my head hurts..."

I rub my eyes for a bit, sitting down trying to recover.

"I need water."

I pat down looking for my saddlebag, but find none of my equipment. The ground was warm to touch, and it felt super good to be sitting on it, despite the clear lack of grass. I try to squint and check my sides, only to see a green, round shaped-belly for what would be my lower body. My legs were completely gone.

"WHAT THE FUCK?"

I yelled as I frantically tried to move my missing limbs. My breathing got heavy, my heartbeat accelerated, and my vision blurred from all the sweat coming down from my head. This had to be a dream, I punched myself to wake up, only to end up with a swollen cheek and a reality check. It hurt, and I was still sitting on the ground with tears running down my face.

I tried to move my legs, but nothing happened. This new form resisted any attempt at moving them, invoking some kind of phantom feeling that surged towards my missing limbs. It was as if my brain had not caught up yet, sending signals to muscles it was accustomed to for a lifetime.
I could swear my toes were still in there, my legs still attached to me. But despite the feeling, any attempt to move them was unresponsive.
I looked at my arms, now some kind of fat blob that hardly reached into my now-cut legs, which were replaced by a green stump.
At least I had some fingers left. Despite my missing limbs and fingers, I didn't feel pain at all, except for the one from my self-inflicted punch.

I tried to calm down; I closed my eyes and basked in the sun for a minute. The feeling was quite relaxing, like being snug in a blanket at home and having a hot cup of tea on a winter night. Feeling refreshed, I tried standing up, but moving without legs proved to be quite the challenge. I felt as if I were playing a never-ending game of Sack Race. After falling on my face for a good minute, I kind of got the hang of it, getting into the rhythm and hopping a couple jumps ahead.

Now that I was feeling a bit better, I inspected my surroundings. It was a vast, sun-scorched desert. There were some cacti, and the occasional shrub and bush dotting the scenery. Reddish, dry earth was never ending in each direction I looked, only stopped by some mountains or dunes in the distance. The rugged terrain was adorned with the classic tumble bushes rolling around and seldom appearances of dust-devils formed by hot air updrafts, lifting dirt and sand everywhere. To my left, I could see a small settlement in the distance, so I started to skip towards it. I arrived at some kind of rural town, where there were no cars, roads, or power lines.

"Where the fuck did I end up in?" I muttered to myself. I gasped, as I did not recognize my own voice. "Aaaahhh," I slowly hummed.

My voice was a couple octaves higher now, as if being a sack of potatoes was not enough.

"FUCK." I cursed in my new and squeaky voice.

I sighed and approached the town, trying to find someone to guide me on where I was. The entrance was adorned with an old wooden sign, hanging from chains connected to a pole on each side. I could not understand what was written on it. At a glance, it was mostly wooden buildings, some covered in mud and with thatched roofs, the surfaces eroded by the hot wind blowing through the wide earthen road. The main road went on for a block and then ended in a big building with a fork. It didn't seem to go for much longer than another block after that.

I hopped towards this bigger building, trying to find signs of anyone who could help me. The town looked abandoned and left to slowly disappear in the sand. I jumped closer to the central building, which had 4 columns and an arched pathway that supported a tiled roof. When I got a closer look, the left window of the front was broken. Dust piled up at the entrance; to the left was a spitting jar, dry and empty. I tried knocking but found it wasn't locked when I pushed. The wooden door creaked while it slowly revealed the inside of the establishment.

As I hopped in, a gust of wind rushed into the building from behind me and into a giant hole on the leftmost wall.
The building looked mostly intact besides the demolished wall. The inside had rows of wooden desks and counters, still in good shape. On these were resting big opened books, which had their pages flying everywhere thanks to the air current flowing from the door now behind me.
Behind the desks, different-sized stools lined up.

On the back of the room were the remains of a metal door, deformed and mangled by what looked to be an explosion that had sent debris everywhere in the room. Beyond, the remains of wooden shelves, and another huge hole on the wall. Peeking from the new opening in front of me, I could see one of the houses with its upper floor completely charred and destroyed, which made me think there was some kind of attack on this town.

"That would explain why it's deserted." I talked to myself, just to make some noise in this ghost town. "I still can't get used to this squeaky voice."

I hopped into one of the houses, and approached a window to check for anyone. There, for a second, I saw my reflection, so I backed up to inspect my new body.

"So I turned into a Maractus. It's not that bad."

I spent a couple minutes inspecting myself; I had some sort of ears coming from my head, which ended in a big pink flower each. Also, I had a huge horn now. I tried touching it, and it was a lot softer than I imagined. I grabbed it by the end and flicked to the left, making my new horn wobble in place and emit a curious sound.

"Maybe being a grass type is a blessing, this will help me to survive the desert for a bit longer."

I was still thinking about the chairs at the bank and why they were so different.
Guess it made sense, as it was quite easy to enter and move inside most of the houses as a Pokemon. This was most likely an abandoned Pokemon Town!

The realization made me jump in curiosity and excitement; the scientific community would be amazed! I could be on the front page of the National Pokegraphic! I was already imagining how I would spend my fortune after milking the shit out of this discovery when it hit me.

First I had to find a way back home.

I decided to scavenge the town remains; maybe there was something I could make some use out of. After 2 hours, I came up with the following items:

A map, which seemed to be of this town. It showed a path northwest into what seemed to be another settlement, but I could not read any of the annotations on the names.

I also found a couple hats, some light clothing, and a bit of food. I tried putting on a hat, but it was impossible with my new body, as my ears would push it upwards and send it flying, and even if I tried pushing it down a lot, the horn would eventually rip through.

"You have to be kidding me!" I screamed, throwing it into the ground in frustration. I tried to step on it, but the lack of movable lower limbs made me jump and lose my equilibrium, falling on my back. A small tear of anger formed in my eyes while I looked at the sky in an attempt at calming down. The pierced hat was sent out flying by a gust of wind. It was a clear sky and still close to midday. The sun felt quite nice on my skin.

"Nothing I can change about my situation right now. I better get moving."

After calming down and giving up on wearing any hats in the foreseeable future, I kept checking my loot. I had found an olive-colored poncho, which could help me if I planned on hopping through the night. It was a bit hard to put on, as it would get a bit tangled by my head spikes. I ended up wearing it by first sticking my arms and stump in and then pulling it up.

I had also found a bag, which proved to be quite easy to put on, for a change. I used it to fill with my newly found treasures. There was a pouch, which I filled with dried berries, a handful of candles, and an empty waterskin. There was not much else to loot from these houses; it looked as if everyone had left a long time ago with everything of value.

When I was ready, I jumped towards the edge of town to try to find some directions. Maybe I could find a landmark or something to follow. I skipped up to a sign that I could not understand, unsurprisingly.

I tried comparing the letters on the sign with the gibberish that was written on the map, and they kind of matched up with a nearby village. I grinned, happy that I had a lead on where to go now. Finally, I could find someone to ask what is going on here.

I estimated at least 4-5 more hours of daylight, so I started the trip westwards. The arid terrain continued for about 30 minutes, without much to entertain my mind other than admiring how barren it was around here. It gave me some time to think. I had some memories of before I appeared here, but I couldn't recall my name or my face. I am certain that I was a human. I worked all by myself, kind of a freelancer, exploring old and abandoned landmarks. It was a bit of dangerous work, doing all those expeditions without a team, but it paid well enough when I found something to sell to any collectors. I did not recall much more of my past though, just that bit of information about my lifestyle before I came here.

After an hour of hopping through the desert, the scenery started to change. Little spots of green started to emerge in now darker dirt, clearly more humid. The air grew colder, and some new vegetation started to let itself be seen. Some trees, green bushes, and flowers started to appear, with prairie now marking the road ahead, which led into a slight hill. After climbing it with some difficulty, I could now see the village that was on the map right in front of me.

From where I was standing, I could see Pokemon in the distance, mostly Cottonee and Whimsicott, living in small wooden huts, decorated with what seemed to be their own cotton. It was quite the scenery, and a beautiful sight compared to the barren wasteland I left behind not too long ago. The prairie was now covering the grass everywhere I looked, with a lush forest bordering the village. The air was different too, feeling fresher and with a hint of pine. As I started my descent, I could spot colorful bushes and ferns I had never seen before, which seemed to be exploding with vibrant green foliage, growing in every direction.

I hopped towards the wooden huts and approached the first Pokemon I found to ask for directions.

"Excuse me.."

"Oh hello! You are a new face; it's nice to meet you!"

The long-furred Pokemon waved at me, then made a small gesture by doing a slight bow towards me. When it erected its head again, the sun at its back obscured its face, and it didn't help that I had the sun hitting me in the face the entire time. It made figuring out its features a bit hard, but it let the sunlight shine through the fur covering its entire body, making it look quite majestic. It was wearing a blue cap, and a tote bag, which seemed to hold paperwork inside.

“Hi! I'm kind of lost. Do you know where we are right now?” I asked while squinting, trying to look at its face.

"You picked the right guy to ask, Welcome to Cotton Valley, the best cotton in all of the Grass Continent, or so they say on the welcome sign. I’m Linoone, the fastest mailmon alive!"

"It's a pleasure, Mr. Linoone!" I welcomed him with a handshake. He had long claws, covered by dirt from running around on four legs. "Grass Continent?" I inquired with a head tilt, not used to the weight of my huge ears, which pulled it even further to the side.

"You seem a bit confused, friend. Did you walk the entire desert by yourself? If you need to take a rest, try the inn; the locals will give you a room to clear your mind." The Pokemon pointed towards a large hut, two buildings down the current path. "What is your name?"

My memories of the past still were blurry, and not a single name came up. "I-...I don't remember. I just woke up a couple miles south."

Linoone's cheerful demeanor faltered for a moment as he took in my words. "Oh dear, that sounds rough. You must be exhausted." He glanced at his tote bag, filled to the brim with letters. "I wish I could help you more right now, but I'm on a tight schedule with this mail delivery." His tone softened. "But listen, you're in good hands here in Cotton Valley. Ask for assistance in town, and someone will surely be able to help out! Good luck. We will meet again!" The long Pokemon adjusted its cap and, in a second, was completely gone. He left behind a cloud of dust, making me cough.

"Thanks Linoone!" I waved at the now smaller figure running north, which waved back while disappearing into the distance.

I hopped towards the inn. Maybe I could find somewhere to stay and process what was going on. On the inn entrance, there was a smaller Pokemon on the floor, a Cottonee.

"Hello!" I greeted the Cottonee, which seemed to be playing in the flowers with dolls, made of cloth and cotton. The toys looked really cute and well made, shaped like a chubby Pokemon with big ears.

"Hi! Here you go, you will be Mrs. Sunshine, and I'll be Lady Oran!" The child offered me one of the dolls with a smile, inviting me to play with her.
I shrugged and sat down to play. Maybe the kid knew something that could help me out. Also, those dolls looked really cool.

"Well, Hello Lady Oran, as charming as always, it's my pleasure to be here," I said in a playful tone.

"Ah, Mrs. Sunshine, right on time for tea time! How did you know?"

"Well, I was just passing by and remembered my old friend. How has time treated you?"
The kid was having a blast, playing with a huge smile on its face, upon realizing I would entertain her game for a bit.

"Softer than yesterday, coarser than tomorrow, Mrs. Sunshine! Let me serve you a cup of hot tea. It's good that you got here. Usually it's Mrs. Melon who joins me for tea time, but she has been quite busy lately."

Maybe she's talking about a friend that joins her playtime. I drank from the imaginary tea cup I was offered with gusto.

"Now how unfortunate Lady Oran, do you think Mrs. Melon is doing something important?"

"She used to come and drink tea every day, but since last week she has not stopped by!"

The kid sounded a bit preoccupied about this Lady Melon. "I see. Do you know where I can find Mrs. Melon at this time of day? Maybe I can talk some sense into her."

The kid's face brightened up again, and its voice got a lot louder.

"Of course, Mrs. Sunshine! You can find her in the long palace, besides the Royal Inn!"

"I'll talk to her, Lady Oran. Thanks for the tea!"

The kid smiled back and thanked me for playing with her, so I parted ways towards this "Long Palace." She showed me where this place was, just behind the inn.

I hopped around the Inn, to find a longer than normal hut. The entrance was covered by hanging strips of cotton, which graced me upon entering the hut, leaving most of the cotton balls stuck in my body, while the hanging string was torn from the top of the door.

"Rippp-" The entire door decoration was now covering me.

"You have to be kidding me!" I said while starting to pick the cotton pieces stuck to my entire body, each piece I touched with another part of my body sticking anew. Giving up on cleaning up without any help, I tried calling for anyone inside. "Hello, excuse me?" I hopped further into the hut.

The inside was a well-illuminated room, with 2 big windows on each side, with furniture mostly made of wood and vines. The floor was covered in a green carpet, and on the back was a pile of blue bags overflowing with berries and fruits of varied shapes and sizes. Besides them, a Nidorina was lying on the floor sleeping, with a purple sticky liquid drooling from its mouth. A puddle was starting to form under its head, staining the carpet.

"Excuse me, Ms. Melon?" I inquired carefully not to scare the Pokemon taking a deep nap.

"Ten more minutes, Pochi." The Nidorina rolled to the side and kept snoring, a huge snot bubble was forming from its nostrils.

I was quickly grabbed by the Poncho and moved outside the hut, without being able to see anything because of all the cloth covering my face when being dragged. I was outside trying to unscramble my clothes when I heard a voice in front of me.

"Let her rest, she has been working hard lately." A Poochyena was in front of me. It was wearing a bag and a scarf with a clover-shaped badge on it. "What can I help you with?" He sat on the floor and looked up at me, as if he hadn't just easily dragged me 5 meters without asking.

"Oh, hello..." I muttered, trying to unstick the poncho from my head spikes.

"You can call me Pochi! So, what are you doing, bothering my partner while she’s sleeping?" He tilted his head curiously, looking like a big puppy.

I held back a smile and started explaining my situation. Surprisingly, he seemed to understand everything pretty easily.

"I see. So, you’re one of those humans that keeps showing up from time to time, huh?" Pochi asked once I finished.

"Yeah… wait, that happens here?" I was a mix of relieved and surprised—I wasn't the only one in this strange situation.

"Yep, we get them every now and then. Usually in waves. Sometimes months go by without a single
one, and then, bam! They all show up at once."

"Quite interesting. I was just looking for a way to get back home. Have any of the humans who’ve come here managed to return?"

"I’m sorry, friend, but no one has been able to yet. Most of the humans are gathering at the Clover Guild, so you might find some information there. If you need a place to stay, just ask the Guildmaster for help!"

"I see. Is that who you’re working with right now?" I asked, pointing at his badge.

"Yep! We’re gathering supplies for an upcoming event, and my partner asked for some backup, so here I am," he said proudly.

"Do you think I can just stay there like that? I don’t have any money, and I’m not exactly used to this body yet to do much work."

"You can help us out today, and in return, I’ll introduce you to our Guildmaster. We’ll find you a place to stay. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good. I don’t have anywhere else to go, and honestly, I’m kind of lost, so I’ll help any way I can."

As Pochi explained how the Guild worked and answered my questions, the cotton curtains of the hut rustled. The Nidorina stepped through to greet us.

"Good evening, Pochi! Thanks for covering for me. She then turned to me. "And, uh..."

"I don’t remember, sorry." I answered.

"They are human, Nida. He will be helping you out the rest of the job, so play nice."

"Oh, great!" The Nidorina smiled at me. "Come on, we have some work to do. Think of something while we work, okay?" She shook my hands and continued, "My name is Nida. Follow me!"

I followed her behind the hut, where a grassy path led us to a small clearing in the forest. There, numerous berry trees grew, hidden from the main road. I left the poncho in the hut since it was covered in cotton, and I wasn’t worried about the desert night’s freezing temperatures anymore.

"We need to pick as many berries as we can before nightfall and then gather some firewood. So, help me out with these baskets."

She approached a tree, stood beside it, and began shaking it to make the berries fall onto the grass. We then gathered the berries into the bamboo-woven basket. After helping with that tree, we moved on to the next one.

"Give it a try yourself, but be gentle. We don’t want to harm the tree, okay?" Nida explained.

I pushed against the tree, trying to shake it back and forth to make the ripe berries fall off. Soon, most of the berries were raining down on us, some hitting my head. It didn’t hurt, but I ended up with four or five berries stuck on top of my head, dripping juice all over me. Some berries also landed on Nida, who had a few stuck to her as well. As I began picking the berries off my ears, I noticed her struggling to reach her back, unable to remove the fruit stuck to her spikes.

"Need a hand?" I chuckled as I picked the last berry off me and placed it in the basket.

She stopped trying to reach her back and sat down, facing away from me in frustration. "Please," she said begrudgingly.

I picked the berries off, noting the purple, viscous liquid seeping from the punctured parts.

"Are these safe to eat?" I asked.

"We can’t take these home; they’re contaminated."

She took the berry, split it in two, carefully discarding the grimy part, and handed me the clean half. "You’ve probably never eaten one of these before, right? Give it a try!"

I munched on the berry, feeling quite refreshed. It wasn’t sweet, but tangy and dry—not bad at all. "Hey, that’s pretty good," I exclaimed in surprise.

"When cooked, they’re even better. Just wait," she replied.

"Wait, you cook over here?"

"We do! I mean, not all of us, but some of the guild members are very good at it. It's quite the experience."

"Ohhhhh!!!, I can't wait! And all of this food is for cooking? What are we celebrating?" I inquired, quite excited over the news of real food, not just fruit.

"We are having a bit of a festival over at Capim to help with our sorry reputation around town." She explained while picking the berries on the ground and putting them in the basket.

"Sounds fun! Let me help you with that."

I said, helping her move the now heavy basket back into the hut. "I ran into a kid while coming over here. She mentioned someone called Ms. Melon. Was that you?"

"Oh yeah! I used to play with her a lot, but with all the festival preparations, I have been quite busy, unfortunately. I came here last month to do some community work, mostly helping out with the heavy lifting the Cottonee can't do. It was easy going, and I had a lot of free time! We've got a deadline to meet, so I've been picking up the pace to finish on time. That's why I've been so busy lately."

"That makes sense. She seemed pretty upset about it."

"I'll apologize once this is all done."

"Alright, let's wrap this up then," I said, continuing to help her with the berry picking.

Next, we went to get some firewood. She had already separated a couple logs she fell down days prior. She picked up a big trunk on her shoulder and put it next to a chopping block made out of an old stump. She started to chop down with a quick claw movement, parting the wood into smaller pieces, which I later tied up with cotton laces and stacked for transport.

"You seem quite resourceful, Nida. Where did you learn to do all of this?"

"You mean the cutting and lifting?"

"Yes, we humans normally need tools for this kind of work, but you make it look easy."

"It's nothing, really. If you think this is impressive, you should see what the other Pokémon in the guild can do. I just handle the simple stuff."

"Do you think I could do it?"

“You probably will be throwing beams and flashy moves in no time. It will come naturally.”
She answered coldly.

"I meant what you are doing, do you think I can do that? I don't see much of a reason to learn how to throw beams or slashing vines, but your skill set seems useful to have in a peaceful place like this."

She seemed surprised by my comment.

"I never thought of it that way."

We remained in silence for a couple minutes, the only sound being the chopping of wood.

"I'll teach you," she finally said. "Help me with the guild supplies until the job's done, and I'll show you how."

"Sounds great! With that knowledge, I could manage odd jobs, so it's a deal!"

We shook hands and continued working on the berry farm until dusk. We finished stacking all the firewood behind the hut and then moved the berries inside, packing them into bags to transport.

"That's all for today," Nida exclaimed while piling the last of the bags in the hut. She sat on a pile of cotton, took a small pouch out of her bag, and started munching on a berry. "Did you think of a name already?"

I considered sitting on the cotton, but after my last run-in with the curtain, I opted for a pile of hay instead.

"I was thinking... Sunny. What do you think?"

"Sounds cool, I guess," she said, munching on her food. Suddenly, she tossed one at me. "Catch!" The berry hit my horn and got stuck. "Looking sharp!" she cackled.

"Hey, don't make fun of me just because I'm not used to this body yet!" I shook my arms in frustration, which only made a rattling noise and made me look even more ridiculous.

"Pfft—Hahaha! Sure, whatever!" she laughed, pointing at me.

"It seems you two get along great already!” Pochi entered the room, while pushing the cotton curtain to enter the hut. Behind him, it was a small Cottonee and a Pelipper. "I brought a friend too!" The Cottonee jumped into Nida, who opened her arms to receive the fluffy Pokemon.

"Mrs. Melon!!" The kid exclaimed.

"Melon?" The Pelipper inquired.

"Thanks for flying me back. Pelipper, we will be fine. You should just leave."

"Very well, see you!" The big bird left the room and soared into the sky with a single flap of its wings.

"I brought some food, so let's eat!" Pochi said as he set his bag on the floor. A delicious aroma wafted out as he pulled out a large piece of bread. "How did the harvesting go?"

Nida was engrossed in her conversation with Cottonee, playing the part of Mrs. Melon, and seemed completely relaxed.

She held up a hand to pause their chat. "Oh yeah, everything went great. Our friend here is a real hard worker! We wrapped up the rest of the day’s work in just a couple of hours."

"That's great! After we are done with this, we should take some days off to relax." The Poochyena said with a sleepy face. "I’ll arrange for a cart to haul everything into town tomorrow,” Pochi replied, offering me a piece of the warm bread. The smell was comforting, like home. "You coming too?" He said in a dozed tone, and yawned afterwards.

I took the bread, savoring its scent before taking a bite. My mouth watered a lot more than I imagined. "Count me in. Thanks for bringing me along. I owe you one."

The gray pup swallowed his bite of bread, letting out a satisfied sigh before replying. "It’s the least we could do, but try to keep the whole ‘human’ thing on the down-low. Not all Pokémon are cool with it." He started spinning on the spot, and after four or five rounds, he sat down to look at me, he looked quite tired.

I nodded, and we continued our meal. After eating, Nida accompanied Cottonee back to the inn to her parents.

We went to sleep right after. I decided to sleep on the patch of hay I was sitting on earlier, while Nida coiled around her partner, letting him fall asleep with his head on top of Nida’s hindlegs. It was quite the cute sight.
I fell asleep quickly and soundly, exhausted after so much happening in a single day.

When I woke up, I was still a Pokemon. No big surprises, just the same chubby arms and big ears. The sunlight was now entering the room through the window, feeling extremely comfy on my green skin. I felt like a warm cinnamon roll, not wanting to leave the bed. I guess I'll just sleep for a bit more, not like I have to go to work early, right?