Serene Village is… Well, serene. It’s still early in the morning- Is it morning? The sky makes it so hard to tell. Either way, it must be early hours, nobody seems to be out and about. As far as Neesha can tell, it’s just her and Nuzleaf. Still hurrying just a little bit to get somewhere a little more secure and safe, Nuzleaf leads Neesha into a house just over a bridge. Right by a waterfall too, there seems to be a lot of those around these parts, huh?

The house is big and spacious, mostly empty. Not even any proper sleeping quarters either. Does Nuzleaf just sleep on the floor? Apart from that, it’s at least cozy. Has a nice wooden interior, sparsely decorated. Feels nice to finally be inside somewhere. Nuzleaf peers back out the door, letting out a sigh of relief. “Ain’t no sign of ’em, reckon we ditched ’em for good.”

Letting out a sigh of her own, Neesha lets herself drop down to the floor, splaying her legs out across. Who were those Pokemon, anyway? I don’t think I’d have recognized them even if I did have my memory.”

“Them’s were a couple o’ Beheeyem.” His eyebrows furrow as he hums to himself, scratching at his head. “S’odd, though. Beheeyem ain’t usually seen ’round these parts. Reckon they shouldn’t even be here at all.” He glances back at Neesha as he steps away from the door. “Whatever ya done to make ’em angry, they must’a been pursuin’ ya fer a good while.”

Neesha’s eyes glance down at the floor. Well, maybe if she could remember what they were chasing her for, that’d make things a bit easier, wouldn’t it? Sadly, she still can’t find anything no matter how hard she tries to sift through her mind. Nothing but her name, only her name.

“Either way… Yer welcome to stay here s’long as ya need. Room’s yers, far as I’m concerned. Know it ain’t much, but it’ll hold ya.” Nuzleaf chuckles with a smile as he leans back against a… Cauldron? Or is that a tub? Big round thing filled with water, could be anything as far as she knows. “Reckon ya got any idea what yer gonna do now?”

Neesha pauses for a moment as she looks back up at Nuzleaf, expression conflicted, uncertain as she rubs at her head with a hand- paw. Paw, still gotta get used to that. “I don’t know, try to not die, I guess?”

“Hey, that’s a start.” He muffles a laugh as he turns to gaze back out the door. “Prolly ain’t a good idea to be tellin’ the rest of the village folk ’bout the Beheeyem, though. Don’t wanna go causin’ up a panic. ‘Till then, though…” His gaze returns to Neesha, humming to himself. “Ya look about school age. Could go n’ get ya enrolled at the village school.”

Oh no. Neesha’s ears droop as a look of disappointment crosses her face. “That includes trying not to die of boredom, too.”

Nuzleaf rolls his eyes and muffles out a quiet laugh. “I know y’ain’t prolly up fer it, but the truth is, if yer just sittin’ ’round here and y’ain’t really doin’ nothin’, folks’re gonna start wonderin’ more about ya. Keepin’ a kid holed up in my house fer seemingly no reason? Ain’t exactly the best look fer either of us, y’hear?”

Well, he’s not exactly wrong. Those aren’t exactly very flattering implications. She sighs as her ears droop, resigning herself to her fate. “Yeah, yeah, I guess I can go to school…” Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

“I reckon I oughta go get that taken care of right away, then. That means, fer the time bein’, no steppin’ outta the house fer yer own safety, kay? I’ll see ya later, Neesha.” He waves to her as he steps out the door, leaving Neesha all by herself.

Neesha silently watches him leave, deciding to make herself comfortable on the floor. She should rest a bit. Just for a while. She could use a nap, in all honesty.

---

Crick!

Neesha is jumpstarted awake as she hears a sudden sound. Something from outside, wood falling over, maybe? _{“W-What?! No, no no no no no, they couldn’t have found me already!”} She mutters to herself in a panic, heart racing a mile a minute. She tries to peer out the window, but Nuzleaf’s windows aren’t clear and see through. They’re very opaque and blurry, making them impossible to look out of.

But what can’t be mistaken is a shadowy figure suddenly looming on the other side of the window.

Neesha gasps and stumbles back away from the window, trying to back away as much as she can, hyperventilating and breathing heavily, shallowly, as the figure disappears. A series of quick footsteps can be heard, the sound of leaves and grass crunching following around behind her until it suddenly stops.

_{“T-They found me! They… N-No, Neesha, think rationally, j-just calm down.”} She quietly tries to reassure herself, heart pounding in her chest. _{“I-It can’t have been the Beheeyem, the Beheeyem float, t-they have legs and feet but they don’t touch the ground. I-It’s gotta be something else, right? B-But what if they decided to walk just this one time to try and get me to let my guard down?”} She knows she should stay still. She knows she shouldn’t get up from her spot.

But that didn’t mean her paranoia couldn’t get the better of her. Slowly, shakily, she gets back up onto her fours, trembling with each step as she pokes her head out the door eeeeeever so slightly. She gulps, drawing in a shaky breath. “Uhh… Hello?”

“Hello!”

The face of another Pokemon quickly and unexpected rolls up in front of Neesha’s face from the side, causing the Fennekin to scream and stumble back into the house, knocking down the conveniently placed pile of wooden logs that Nuzleaf had stacked up right by the door. Neesha barely even has any time to recover before her uninvited guest waddles their way into the house.

It’s a Chespin. Looks to be around her age too.Her face is practically beaming with light as she smiles, leaning against one of the logs as she stares down at Neesha amidst the pile. “Sorry! When I saw you walking in with Nuzleaf I just had to make sure I wasn’t seeing things! Here, lemme help you up!” Before Neesha can even think to extend her paw out, the Chespin is already pulling her back up, causing the Fennekin to fumble and bump against the wall before regaining her bearings.

She’s still in a bit of a panic, still recovering, heart still absolutely racing as she pants heavily. “Uh-” Is all she manages to even speak before the Chespin opens her mouth again. “I’m River! It’s so so SO nice to meet you! I live with my pops right over there, see? Right next door!”

Neesha’s head whips around, mostly from the adrenaline, not really an action that required much force but she’s still in fight or flight mode. It’s a house not too dissimilar to Nuzleaf’s, a blue outline around the open door. “…H-Huh, well would you look at that.” She awkwardly turns back to face River, ears pinned back slightly. “I’m, uhh, Neesha. I-“

“Neesha? That’s a pretty name! Nice to meet you too, Neesha! I’m River! Wait- Did I already introduce myself? I totally did, didn’t I? Heheh!~” The Chespin laughs to herself, Neesha trying with all her might to not dash back into Nuzleaf’s home right on the spot. River’s certainly… She certainly is, isn’t she?

“Oh, yeah!” River exclaims. This is probably your first time here, right? Well, lemme show you around! I’ll give you the grand tour!” Without warning, River grabs Neesha’s paw and holds on tightly. “Come on, follow me!”

“Uh-” Neesha freezes up as she stares down at River’s hand tightly gripping one of her paws. “Why do I get the feeling I’m not being offered a chooOOOOIICCCEEE?”!” River quickly pulls her along, Neesha dragging her paws against the ground as Neesha eagerly pulls her over the bridge.

“Oh my gosh there is SO much I wanna show you! I gotta take you to the plaza, it has like, everything there!” River continues dragging Neesha, looking straight ahead and not really looking back at the fearful Fennekin she’s dragging along the path. If she could see her face right now, Neesha is absolutely mortified.

“Are you kidnapping me?”

“I mean- You don’t need to call it thaaaaaat, but I guess I am in the loosest sense of the term, heheh!~”

_{“Help me.”}

---

The plaza is the heart of the village, and boy does it show. Plenty more Pokemon up and about here, now that Neesha had spent some time sleeping. Still not quite sure what time of day it is, the colors of the sky are sorta giving her mixed signals on that front and-

“And we’ve got this biiiiiig cafe over here, and the Kecleon shop overe theeeeeeerrreeee- Apparently in some parts of the world, Kecleon shops are run by two Kecleons! I think a majority of time they’re brothers!” River speaks up, interrupting Neesha’s train of thought. Or, to be more accurate, River hasn’t stopped talking ever since she met her. “I know it’s not a whole lot, but we make do with what we have here, you know?”

And finally, after what felt like an eternity, a moment of silence, Neesha can finally hear herself think again, her body going practically as still as a statue as she tries to catch up on, well, everything. Funny enough, she’s still in fight or flight mode, having not calmed down at all. Her body just doesn’t know whether to book it or stay. River glances back at her again, smiling innocently. “You’re totally thinking about how annoying I’m being right now, aren’t I?”

“Wh-What?! No- You’re not being annoying!” Neesha blurts out nervously, ears pinning back. “I-It’s just- I mean it’s a lot, and I mean a WHOLE lot to really take in and I haven’t really-“

“You toooooooootally are.” River grins cheekily as she leans over and reaches an arm out, booping Neesha on her snoot with a finger, to which the Fennekin’s muzzle scrunches up worryingly. “Well, quit it, ya big, goofy miltank.~” She chuckles to herself. “See what I did there? With the little joke, and the miltank?~”

Neesha blinks once, twice, thrice, quadrice. “…I don’t-“

“There you are, River!”

Well there’s an unfamiliar voice. Neesha and River stop dead in their tracks as their heads turn to face the source of the voice, a very angry, very disgruntled Looking Lombre storming his way over to them.

“Oh heeeeeeeeeeyyyy Lombreeeeeeeee!” River’s demeanor suddenly becomes far more nervous, though she still tries to keep up that upbeat tone. “How’s it goiiiinnggg?”

“Don’t you dare try playing coy with me, River!” Lombre shouts, practically everyone else in the plaza looking at them. “Did you go stomping through my Lotus Pond AGAIN?!“

River laughs nervously, slooooowly backing away from Neesha, as Neesha just stares on in awe, speechless. “I meeeeeaannnnn… I miiiiight’ve done that? But it’s not like I was trying to do it on puuuuurpose or anything, I was just having a little adventure, is all! There’s no harm in-“

“Hold it right zere, River!”

Oooooh boy, another voice. Heads snapping back around, Neesha and River catch sight of a Hippopotas, stomping towards them in a manner much similar to Lombre.

“Oooohhh and Hippopotas too! How’re you doing? We’re just, uuuhhhh, you know! Having a little walk out in the plazaaaa aaaannndd eeerrr…”

“You vent into my cave, did you not?!” And a heavy accent, too, wow. “And did you not steal ze treasure I had hidden inside?!”

…Did River seriously just straight up commit robbery? Neesha goes ahead and takes a step or two more back from River.

“N-No! I didn’t steal it or anything! It’s just, uhh… Y-You know!” River gradually becomes even more nervous, sweating a bit as the little leafy stems on her head droop downwards. “Every adventure has to have some sorta prize at the end, and, uhhhh-“

“Riiiiiiveeeeerrr!”

Here we go again.

A Carracosta this time. Big fella, very tall.

_{“H-Hey there, Pops…”}

A few stomps later, after approaching River, the big blue turtle stares down at her with a disgruntled look in his eyes. “I’ve been wondering where you were, child. Loitering again? Neglecting your chores?” He sneers. “Snacking on Oran Berries from the field for the third time this week?”

River gasps dramatically, acting all offended as her hands go to her cheeks. “Pops! How could you accuse me of that?! I didn’t do that, not this time!”

“Yes you did.” Carracosta responds flatly.

“No I didn’t!”

“Yes. You did.”

“Okay I did.~ Not my fault they’re so good!”

Neesha is just besides herself at this point. She’s not even doing anything, she’s simply standing awkwardly on the sidelines while, apparently, every single Pokemon in this village seems to have run into some sort of trouble with her.

Literally.

“THERE’S RIVER! GET HER!!!”

That had to be nearly everyone in the village in the distance, all homing in on the Chespin.

“Uhh- Okay, we’ll have to do this later!” River starts booking it, scrambling away as she glances back at Neesha. “Sorryneeshaigottagonowseeyoulaterbyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeee!”
A whole dust cloud washes across the plaza as a whole group of Pokemon start chasing after River, Neesha just standing by and watching it all go by, until finally, once again, silence.

What.

In the name.

Of Arceus.

Just happened?

How does a single Pokemon manage to attract the attention of everyone in such a small village? Suddenly, being chased by only three Beheeyem doesn’t seem so bad.

“You sent him in there all by HIMSELF?!” Oh lord not another voice.

Hey, it’s not directed at River this time, that’s a plus at least.

Slowly turning around, Neesha spots a Deerling speaking with a Shelmet, the former of which has a rather angry, if not furious expression on her face, while the Shelmet retracts into its, well, “Shellmet” a little. “H-Hey, don’t look at me! He insisted!”

The Deerling scoffs, her gaze narrowing. “As if. You and Shiloh put him up to this, didn’t you? What did you tell him you were gonna do if he didn’t go? Well?!”

“S-Saline, you can’t just blame us! Y-You know how Goomy gets when he-“

“Can it. I don’t wanna hear any more of your excuses. You can stand there and pretend you don’t pick on him almost every single day, but one day, you’re gonna go too far and nothing you say will make up for it.” She puts her hoof down, craning down so she’s more at eye level with the Shelmet, voice low. “Take me to where he is. Right. Now.“

Silently nodding, and quite possibly fearing for his life, Shelmet nods, his body clanking as he hops along the ground out through the village gate, the Deerling, Saline, following right behind him.

How much has happened in just today?

It’s all making Neesha’s head spin.

“I can’t just let them be, can I?” Neesha thinks to herself. “I dunno who Goomy is, but if he gets hurt and I did nothing to help, then…” She winces, scrunching her eyes shut.

_{“Sorry, Nuzleaf.”}

With a determined fire in her eyes , Neesha walks through the village gates.