A Day in the Field
“C'mon! Wake up, Chespin! Are you gonna sleep in all day or are we gonna do something?”
Groaning, I sit up and let out a loud yawn. Looking around, I see the walls of my guild room and a very eager Wooper. “So it wasn't a dream, I really am stuck as a Chespin...”
“We've been over this already!” Wooper says as he begins to nudge me impatiently, not giving me time to dwell on it. “Aren't ya interested in checking everything out now that you're here?” He's right, if I'm going to be stuck in this world there isn't a chance I'm going to waste it sitting inside! Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I get up and make my way through the guild halls.
As we walk through the halls, I begin to recall what happened last night. We had been getting a bite to eat during some singer's show when a bunch of the other guests recognized her song as something from the human world, which pretty much gave all of them away. I ended up going along with it despite never having heard it before in my life, mostly as a way to get to know some of the other former humans. One thing led to another and I somehow ended up joining a makeshift guild with them all. Part of this felt awfully like being recruited into a cult, but it was either this or sleeping in a bush somewhere.
Wooper looked starstruck when he found out nearly all of us used to be human, but something about the other guild members doesn't quite sit right with me. They don't seem outwardly malicious, but the way they talk, the things they remember...It's a hard thing to put into words, like I got stuck sitting with the weird kids during lunch. I've definitely talked to a bunch of people that acted just like them. Most of which would be the kind to play a game at a relative's funeral for a laugh while the rest of them would laugh at the absurdity of it.
Still, I feel like I have no choice but to stick around. I can't just sleep outside, after all! Something tells me it won't be all of us saving the world, or whatever it is we're here to do. Maybe I'm simply being paranoid and things will change? After all, I've spoken maybe ten words to one of them once last night, and that was just to tell them I used to be human. Surely some of the guildmates will get their act together.
As I take my first steps outside, the sunlight washes over me, filling me with energy and instantly perking me up! “Oh yeah, that sun works wonders!” I even begin to feel more optimistic about all of that other stuff as well!
“Alright!” Wooper speaks up. “So is my solar-powered partner ready to go exploring and tell me all about you-know-what?” Giving a quick nod, I follow behind him as we leave the town.
We begin walking through the hilly plains, towards a destination only Wooper knows for the time being. It wasn't ten seconds we were out of town before the barrage of questions started. “What was being a human like?” “Is there anything really cool in the human world?” “What did you live in?” “Do humans actually know magic?” The questions were rapidfire, not even giving me a chance to answer. It was like I was taking a walk with a little kid on a sugar rush.
“STOP!” I shout, trying to get the questions to stop. Wooper recoiled, looking hurt. I hadn't expected it, but seeing his reaction made me feel really bad. Even though I had only known him for a day so far, It felt as though I had just hurt someone I care about. “...Look, I'll gladly answer all the questions you want, but I need a chance to respond, okay?”
“Okay!” All of a sudden, Wooper's usual smile returned as if nothing had happened. “So do humans actually know magic?”
“Nope. Not a single drop of magic in humans. There are a few people that like to pretend they do, but it's all just a performance.”
“Oh...So are humans super strong?”
“Some of them can get really strong with a ton of training, but most of them aren't like that at all.”
“Um...Can humans do anything cool?” I could sense Wooper's disappointment, like a small child slowly realizing Santa wasn't real.
“Not on their own, but there are a bunch of things humans make that can do all of that stuff for them!”
As if flicking a switch, Wooper's cheerfulness was back in an instant! “Really?! Like what? C'mon, tell me!”
“Let's see...If you can think of it, humans have a machine for it. Flying, swimming, heating and cooling homes, lighting areas without the use of fire, the list goes on. There are even machines that hold songs and don't require any kind of singer or musician to play music for you.”
“Really?! Can you build anything like that?”
Letting out a small laugh, I say “Not even close, sorry. At best I could maybe build a glider, which lets you...well, glide from a high height. A little like a bird, but without being able to go any higher.”
“Aww, but still, all of that sounds really cool! You should try making a glider someday!” Just by looking at Wooper's face, I could tell his imagination was running wild. “So, what do humans think about Pokemon? You looked like you recognized me when you first saw me, so they must know about us!”
“It's just a g-” I pause for a moment, thinking how best to word this. “Pokemon only exist in stories, kind of like humans in this world.”
“Huh...you know, I thought humans would be all-powerful or something, but they sound kind of helpless without those...machines, you said?”
“I'm sorry if this is disappointing but...humans aren't actually that good at a lot of things. But the machines we built more than made up for all of our shortcomings.”
“Oh...oh! Maybe since most of the guild is former humans, you could work together to build those machines?!”
Not wanting to completely crush Wooper's optimism, I say “We can try it out someday.”
“Yay!”
Now it's my turn to ask some questions. “So...why are you so cheerful all the time?”
“Why wouldn't I be? It's a nice day out AND I'm showing my new friend around the area!”
“Yeah, that IS pretty nice, isn't it?” I give Wooper a little pat on the head. I have to admit, his near-unrelenting optimism is beginning to rub off on me. “By the way, can you do anything other than spit water if we have to fight something?”
“You betcha! I've been practicing for a long time just in case I ended up teaming up with a human!”
“You trained for the absurdly low chance that some human would fall near your pond and join y-”
Wooper cuts me off with a “Check this out!” Looking over, I see him pick up a nearby rock with his mouth. Wooper tosses it up in the air, and with a quick spin he smashes the rock with his tail. The rock goes sailing across the plains, a CRACK echoing through the area as it slams into a tree!
Instinctively, I shout “It's a home run!”, much to Wooper's confusion.
“What's a home run?”
“It's...it's something from some game humans play where they hit a ball as hard as they can with a bat...well, that's like a large stick. A lot like what you just did.”
Wooper's eyes just about sparkled as he heard my words. “Really?! That's amazing! Can we play that right now? Please?”
“We need more than just the two of us to actually play it for real. However...” I scoop up a couple rocks from nearby. “I can chuck these at you and you can hit them away, how about that? That's something humans do.”
“Yes! Give it your best throw, Chespin!”
Wooper readies himself as I stand decently far away. I look at the rock in my hand, and throw it towards Wooper with all my might! The rock bounces against the ground and lands nowhere near him. I grumble as I remember that throwing things with my new Chespin arms is nothing like throwing as a human. I opt for an underhand throw this time. Wooper leaps forward, batting the rock with his tail once more! I watch as the rock sails out of sight, stunned at just how good at batting Wooper was.
“How did you...How are you hitting them that hard?”
“Told ya, I've practiced it for a long time!”
“Uh huh, well if we ever need to hit another bird out of the sky, I know what to do now.” I can't shake the feeling that Wooper is hiding something from me, but there's no hint of anything bad from him at all. Could it be that I'm just a little paranoid? Pushing these thoughts from my mind, we get back to our walk.
We continue on like this for a little while longer before we come upon a large lake. “Here we are!” Wooper announces. “I always love coming here for a nice long swim.”
“I dunno about this, Wooper. I mean, I wasn't the best swimmer before all of this, but now? I don't know if I can swim at all.”
“Relax, you'll be fine! Besides, if you get into trouble, I'll help you out, okay?”
“Well...” Kneeling down near the water, I dip a hand into it. The water was cool, but not uncomfortably cold. How different could swimming be, even as a Chespin? “It does seem like a nice day for a little dip.”
“Race you in!” Before I could respond, I see Wooper dive right into the lake.
I wade into the lake, still feeling a little uneasy. The water feels pleasant, cooling me off after so much time walking in the sun. Venturing far enough to where the water came up to my neck, I lean forward and attempt to swim. I feel a twinge of panic as my face dips underwater, but I find that I'm able to stay afloat relatively easily. Things actually felt pretty close to how swimming as a human felt. I wasn't any stronger a swimmer, but I certainly wasn't any weaker at it either. There was no doubt that I'd be able to swim well enough to not drown at least.
Wooper leaps out of the water, doing a flip in the air before landing near me with a gentle splash. “See? You can swim after all!”
“Yeah, haha...guess it's not much different than swimming when I was human.” I flip over in the water, floating on my back as I stare up at the sky. It's so peaceful out here, nothing at all like the dreary city I used to live in. “You know...if I wasn't staying at the guild and could get a house built or find a cave to hide out in, I'd like to live out here.”
“All the more reason for us to team up and go treasure hunting! You'd like that, right?”
“It sounds like fun, but let's wait until after I get a little more used to everything before going on a real adventure.”
After all, there's nothing wrong with spending a few days in my new world relaxing and soaking in the sights.
After a few hours of swimming around in the lake, I make the call to head back to the guild. The sun's beginning to set by now, and I don't want to be caught in the middle of nowhere in the dark. Wooper tags along behind me as we retrace our steps, trying to get back to town while we can still see. The moon wins our little race however, and we have to stop once it's too dark to see.
“Well, this is great” I grumble. “What do we do now, sleep in the middle of a wide open field?” I'm starting to wish I was turned into something that can breathe fire or something.
“Oh, I know what we can do!” With those words, Wooper's body began to glow a bright blue! The surrounding area lights up as I stare at my friend-turned-lantern, baffled.
“What the, how are you doing that?!”
“I've known how to do this for awhile too!” Wooper announces proudly.
“Let me guess, did you train yourself how to become a nightlight because you thought you'd be stuck in the middle of nowhere with a human?”
“Nope! I just found some strange disc and after touching it, I knew how to do this.”
“Oh yeah okay I believe you. Totally.” I say sarcastically. I wrap a vine around Wooper, holding him up in the air. “Just stay up there so I can see well enough to get us back to town.”
The rest of the walk went off without a hitch. Wooper is full of surprises, thankfully most of them useful. Tired from the walk and lack of sunlight, I head to the guild's kitchen. I see a Munchlax inside and they don't look happy at all as they scrub and clean the dirty kitchen.
“Hey...Who are you?” I ask.
“Oh great, ANOTHER one of you crazy guild members. Can't I get some peace while I try to clean this miserable mess you all call a kitchen? I'm not in the mood to hear your stupid inside jokes.”
I recoil a little at his abrasiveness, shocked. “Hey! I'm not here to bug you, I'm just here to get food. Of course, looking at this place, maybe I should head into town instead.” Was the guild's kitchen always this dirty?
The Munchlax lightens up a little, but still sounds irritated. “Just eat some berries or something, does it look like I can cook right now?”
Ignoring how rude he's coming off as, I rummage through some drawers, finding a few berries for Wooper and I. Trying to calm him down, I say “So...are you another hu-I mean, another Pokemon that found the guild?”
“Unfortunately. God, what's wrong with everybody here? Someone came in here earlier and asked me if I'd die if he pulled my apron off. One idiot came in and was chuckling while he asked me if I had seeds to feed him, and another moron called me a big guy and then burst out laughing. This has been going on the ENTIRE day! Then there was the one who...”
I listen to him rant about his day of being harassed by the other guild members, each of them using human memes that got more screwed up the longer the Munchlax talks. I hold back my laughter as I clear my throat. “Let's just say I've...dealt with Pokemon like them for a long time. I know what their inside jokes are, but I put up with it because I don't feel like sleeping outside. They're not all bad...well, probably not all that bad.”
“They had better cut it out or else you guys are gonna be out a chef. Seriously, you're the only one today that HASN'T shouted some stupid nonsensical joke at me. What's your name, anyways?”
“A-” Catching myself, I cough before continuing. “Just Chespin will do. And you?”
“Beast. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to clean up the filth that these idiots made.”
Once I return to my room, Wooper begins bugging me once more. “Oh! All the guild members have human inside jokes?! Can you tell me about them? Can you?”
Laying down on my “bed” of hay, I mutter “Trust me, you're better off not knowing most of them. Some things are better left a mystery.”
“Aww, c'mon!”
“I'm serious about this, Wooper. It's all stuff from the human world, and it's impossible to explain it to someone whose never been there.”
“If you don't tell me, I'm gonna ask one of them!”
“...Maybe someday” I say as I try to get comfortable, failing miserably.
“Yes! G'night, Chespin!”
In reality, there was no chance I was going to explain it to him. Someone like him shouldn't be corrupted like that. As I feel my eyelids growing heavy, one thought rings through my mind, louder than all others.
I need an actual bed.