“In a World Where I Feel So Small, I Can’t Stop Thinking Big.”

Neesha’s definitely going to need another bath when she gets home. Covered in cave dust, smelling of salty seawater, she’s still got specks of sand around her face and now her behind is probably all dirty and muddy from being dragged across the ground by River. She probably didn’t have to put up with anywhere near as much when she was a human. Who knew being turned into a Pokemon would be so messy?

“Okay! We’re finally here!” River exclaims, finally letting go of Neesha’s tail.

Neesha, admittedly, had mostly been spacing out for the entirety of the dragging session, mind a whirlwind, just processing everything in her life that could have potentially led up to this point- Well, not like she can remember much at all in the first place, but how did it even come to this anyway-

Oh.

Oh gosh.

Neesha’s gaze slowly turns out to the outlook of Serene Village, nested just underneath a large tree on a hill overlooking the village and the lake it resides by.

The sun is beginning to set, the blend of colors in the sky turning darker, like a painting of orange, purple and green, the stars in the sky more visible now than they were during the day. Neesha stares, speechless, her eyes going wide and her jaw dropping in wonder.

It looks so…

Cozy.

That little village sitting beneath the stars.

Easily the prettiest thing Neesha has seen in the last few days.

“Isn’t it amazing, Neesha?” River speaks up again, sitting herself down at the edge of the hill. “You can see everything from here. The plaza, the school, the houses… Everyone in the village comes up here, so I wanted you to see it too, heheh.”

Neesha goes ahead and sits down too, besides River. Feels nice to finally have a moment to relax. Today’s just been nonstop everything. “I think I remember seeing this place when Nuzleaf brought me into the village for the first time, but we were so focused on trying to get back home that we didn’t stop to look, didn’t even give it a second glance.” Well, that and she was still coming to grips with becoming a Pokemon at the time to really appreciate it.

The two share a moment of silence together, just staring up at the stars in the sky, the clouds covering the sky, some of them darker than others, thanks to the sun being hidden behind them, casting them with a bright, colorful outline around the edges.

“Can you believe it’s already been six months? I’m still not used to seeing… Well, that, when I look up at the sky.” River chuckles softly, her legs kicking gently over the edge. “You spend your whole life thinking, ‘yeah, the sky is blue,’ but it’s not just blue anymore. It’s blue, orange and green now.”

Oh yeah, very crazy it’s been six months. Only problem is she can’t remember anything from more than two days ago! “Y-Yeah, it’s, uh… It’s pretty wild to think about, huh?”

River sighs contentedly, her gaze pointed up towards the sky again as she smiles warmly. “In a world where I feel so small, I can’t stop thinking big…”

“Hmm?” Neesha’s ears flick, glancing over to River. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, lyrics from a song I heard over the radio.” River chuckles with a smile. “My pops has a radio that picks up stations aaaaaaaaallll the way over in The Veil, the place where all those cool robot Pokemon come from!”

R-Robots? There’s robots now? Just- Just nod along, Neesha. “O-Oh! Uhh, really? That’s, uhh, neat.”

River just nods, seemingly oblivious to Neesha’s culture shock as she turns back to the sky. “It’s a song about this guy walking his own path after leaving his hometown, making his way to this giant, towering city in the hopes of finding some sorta purpose, to find some kinda big, grander meaning to his life.” Her gaze becomes more dreamy, her body relaxing. “I think about it a lot, because it reminds me so much of myself.”

“I grew up hearing stories about rescue teams, exploration teams my whole life. They’d always go on these huge, elaborate adventures, seeing the world, helping Pokemon wherever they could, and I wanted to be like them so, so bad.” River laughs to herself, wonder in her voice as she gazes up at the sky. “And now that everything has changed, it’s only made me wanna go out on an adventure even more.”

Neesha just listens, letting River speak her part, a small smile curling up on her lips. “I kinda picked that up from you a bit earlier, but I didn’t know you were so… Passionate about this whole adventuring thing.”

“Well, yeah!” River nods as she turns her head to face Neesha. “The world is so different now! Just think about it, Neesha. Past, Present and Future all converged together? Think about how many new places there are! Places that have yet to be explored! All the new things we can learn, all the places we can see, all the Pokemon we can meet!”

River sighs as she turns back to the sky, the clouds drifting on by. “That’s why I want to go to Noe Town and join the Expedition Society so badly. I wanna have all kinds of adventures! I wanna make a map of the new world!” She smiles a few seconds longer, then her expression falls as she looks down. “But… I can’t.”

“Huh?” Neesha blinks. Well that’s a rather sudden downer. “Why not?”

“Too young.” River responds. “Expedition Society doesn’t allow kids to join. But even if they did, Noe Town isn’t even on the same continent. It’s across the ocean, and passports are worth more than I could ever hope to buy. Not only that, but all the adults in the village say it’s too dangerous to leave the village anyway.” She crosses her arms, gaze turning back towards the village. “Adults are always like this, they always say, ‘ohhh, it’s too dangerous,’ or, ‘ohh you can’t do that, that’s not how it’s supposed to be.’ It’s almost like they’ve forgotten what it’s like to be a kid, or like they were never kids at all.”

Neesha’s ears droop. Yeah, that does sound, uh… Like a bit of a roadblock, yeah. She can’t say she’s too surprised? Given River’s rather… Unpredictable nature, let’s say, but even so. Neesha thinks back to the day before, about how Nuzleaf told her to stay inside. But then River happened, and then Saline and Shelmet happened, and then Goomy happened. “Yeeeeeaaaaahhhh, I get what you mean.”

“Thing is, we’d never get anything done if we always listened to them! You gotta get a little reckless sometimes, you know?” River’s expression becomes much, MUCH more determined now as she stands back up, hands clenched into fists as she gazes up at the sky. “But I don’t care! I’m following my dream! I wanna be just like that guy in the song! Going where I want instead of where I ‘should!’ I will not give up! Never!”

Neesha smiles, chuckling softly. Never would’ve expected this from someone who had the whole village chasing after her when they first met. It’s inspiring, really.

“You’ll support my dream, right Neesha?” River turns to her with a wide smile. “Even if no one else does?”

If only River wasn’t so good at putting people on the spot… At least it’s an easy answer this time. Hard to say no after watching her pour her heart out like that. Neesha smiles and gives an affirming nod. “Of course, River. I’ll support it, even if nobody else does.”

RIver smirks and nods. “Just you watch me.” And she turns back to the sky. “I’ll give it my best shot! I’ll show everyone! EEEEEEEEEVERYOOOOOOOOONNNEEEE!”

Her voice echoes across the landscape.

Shiloh and Shelmet are probably very, very confused right now.

The thought makes Neesha laugh.

---

By the time Neesha gets home, the sky’s gone dark. The star’s are shining and twinkling across the sky at their fullest, now, the village has gone quiet.

She pokes her head into Nuzleaf’s home, eyes glancing around. “Hey, Nuzleaf? I’m back!” No response. “Nuzleaf?” She walks on inside, eyes glancing around more, though he’s nowhere to be seen.

She stops when she steps on something that isn’t wood. It’s paper. A note left for her. Curious, she leans down closer to the note, eyes sweeping across it as she reads.

“Hey, Neesha! I’m sorry to spring this on ya on such short notice, but somethin’ real urgent’s come up and I have to get it taken care of right away! I’ll prolly be away for a few days, so you’ll be havin’ the place all to yourself for the time being. Left plenty of food for ya, so you shouldn’t have to worry about that front. Stay outta trouble and don’t skip school, y’hear? I’ll see you again soon!”

Nuzleaf

Something urgent? That’s… Interesting. Nuzleaf doesn’t exactly seem like a busy guy. What could he be up to that he had to leave so fast? Maybe she shouldn’t overthink it too much, but it’s enough for her to raise an eyebrow.

Still, can’t really dwell on it too much. More urgent things to think about, like getting clean.

Seems like he at least left the tub ready for her, that’s good.

“Hup!” She climbs up and hops in, letting herself relax as the water envelops her. Already, feels so much better.

There’s a lot to think about.

How busy today was, how much they actually got done.

Goomy should be okay now, that’s the most important thing.

At the same time, though, went trespassing in a cave, got stuck in another anomaly, and fought a giant Gabite by defeating with the power of spice.

The life of a Pokemon sure is an eventful one, huh?

But that’s still the thing, though.

Why is she a Pokemon in the first place?

She thinks back to what Nuzleaf said when she’d first met him, about how humans haven’t been seen on Earth in a long time.

Why?

What happened to the humans? What happened to her?

Is the reason why the humans aren’t around have something to do with the reason why she was turned into a Pokemon?

She needs to try and learn more, she doesn’t know enough at this point.

But those flashes, too.

Were they memories?

But why did they feel so disconnected?

One was being shamed at school, the other was at some sort of temple? With artifacts?

Just… Who was she before this?

What did she do to make a whole group of Beheeyem angry at her?

Too much thinking, way too much thinking…

She should just sleep on it for now.

That’s probably the better option. Too exhausted, brain hurty, need rest, bad.

Tomorrow’s another day, after all.