CHAPTER 2: THE VILLAGE

The Abandoned Lighthouse

The first thing Ryan noticed about the lighthouse is that it seemed to have been in disuse for possibly decades or even centuries. The red and white paint that formerly adorned the outside of the tall structure had been washed clean by many storms over the years, leaving behind worn brick that would itself likely be eroded away in the years to come. The doorway was also boarded up, seemingly very recently, but there were a couple of loose boards towards the bottom, just enough for the small weasel to fit through, even with the bag that was over half Lena’s height. She set down the aforementioned bag near the nest that she was planning to have Ryan sleep in.

“Now, normally,” she said as Ryan passed through the partially boarded up door, “I like to sleep in the room where, in years past, the light would have been. Back in the day, human sailors would have been able to see the beacon for miles!

“But not only is that a very long flight of stairs for someone who can barely walk, the glass was all broken out a long time ago, so it’s not safe in a thunderstorm, especially not that high up.” She pulled some extra hay from a nearby pile to fashion an extra bed for herself. “So, we’ll be sleeping down here tonight!”

“Wait, human sailors?” Ryan asked. “So, there are humans in this world.”

The sneasel sighed. “As far as I can tell, no. Not in this part of the world at least. I have traveled quite a long way since I first woke up in some forest over a year ago now, but maybe humans still exist elsewhere…” She shrugged. “But what do I know? I’m no geographer.”

“You don’t know that. For all you know, maybe you were one as a human, if you were one,” the eevee said as he walked over to his bag. “Speaking of which…” He unzipped the bag with his maw and began pulling items out from it.

“What are you doing?” Lena asked deadpan.

“Trying to help you remember something, anything, about your past, your life as, or if you ever were, a human,” he said as he reached his paw deeper into the bag and struggled to pull out a simple ham-and-cheese sandwich, cut in half. “Here, eat this. Maybe the flavor will unlock a memory.”

The sneasel used a claw to split apart the bag and removed one half of the sandwich, and took a bite. After swallowing, she shook her head.

“Tasty, but it did nothing for me.”

As Ryan ate the other half- pokemon or not, he had to eat- he checked the bag to see what else he had that could possibly be of use to jog Lena’s memories. What he found was: his phone and laptop, which he was unsure if they even still worked, although they looked intact; some assorted snacks, which were probably just as useful as the sandwich; and ‘The Idiots Guide to Earth and Its People’, which could be worth a shot if it turned out she was a former human. There were other items as well, including basic toiletries, a indigo vest, white t-shirt, tan cargo shorts, fresh underwear and socks, and an insulated water bottle, none of which would be helpful in this current situation. He deliberated for a moment about whether he should even keep the clothes when Lena grabbed the water bottle from Ryan.

“Wh- hey!” he exclaimed. “That’s mine!”

“This feels pretty hard,” she said, ignoring the eevee. “Maybe I can recover my memories with blunt trauma!”

Ryan raised a paw to gesture her to stop. “Lena, no! That won’t-“

The metallic clang of the water bottle slamming against her head echoed throughout the inside of the tall, cylindrical building as she knocked herself unconscious. Ryan sighed.

“Never mind… let’s just… drop it for tonight.” He yawned. “Well, I should get some sleep…”

The eevee closed his bag again and leaned it against the wall beside his straw bed. He then pushed the unconscious sneasel onto the other bed before curling up into a ball on his own bed and trying to fall asleep despite the pounding rain and thunder.

The next morning, Ryan woke up to find that his new companion was still out cold. Sheesh, Lena, how hard did you hit yourself? Whatever, I hope she at least remembers how to read… Ryan thought as he reached into his bag to grab his notebook and pen. Then, he had a crushing realization.

Wait, I can’t write without thumbs… or can I? He tried to grab the pen, and somehow, he was able to grip it. The eevee then opened the notepad to write a message for Lena to see when she woke up.

‘Lena, if you can read this, I saw a sign on the beach, and I’m going to go to… wherever it is pointing. Feel free to catch up with me whenever you finally wake up from your self-induced unconsciousness. -Ryan’

It’s not pretty, Ryan thought, setting down the paper and looking at the mediocre penmanship, but it’s at least legible, I hope. He ripped out the page he had written on, placed it near the sneasel’s bed, and, leaving the notebook and pen behind, finally emerged from the lighthouse into the morning sun. He tried to bolt down the hill, but his being unused to quadrupedal movement combined with the grass still being wet and slippery from the previous night’s storm caused him to have an up-close encounter with the ground.

Maybe I shouldn’t run… he thought before getting back up and carefully continuing down toward a footpath that led inland. At the bottom, he saw the sign he had seen last evening. Ryan could tell that the shapes at the top were in the shape of Pokemon footprints, but he had no idea how to read them. Fortunately for him, there was also writing in what looked like English at the bottom, which he could read. It said, ‘to Luneria Village’, with the sign pointing in the direction that the path headed. So, the eevee continued walking that way. Although he was getting used to walking on all fours, one would still be able to tell that he was new to it if they looked closely enough. He considered himself lucky that nobody was there on the path to watch him.

Luneria Village

Before long, he arrived at what he could only assume was the village that the sign had pointed to. Some of the houses had a ‘boxy’ look, others more rounded, and still others had the shape of a Pokemon’s head. The town square, which, in the center, contained a clock tower, was surrounded by several stalls, such as one that looked like a Kecleon, in addition to some more standard shops, including a café and a bookstore. He also saw a couple more signs, one that read ‘To the Lairondacks’ pointing east, opposite from where he came from, and the other that read ‘To the Guild’ pointing north.

Mountains, huh? Ryan thought to himself. He paused in his thoughts as he looked at the other sign. A guild, too… wait… I’m turned into a Pokemon… there’s a guild… that can only mean-

Before he could finish his thoughts, a bandana-wearing cat who wasn’t looking where he was going accidentally kicked the eevee, catapulting him about 10 feet away.

“Ow…” Ryan muttered, a dull pain in his side from the impact. If he was unsure about whether it was a dream before, the pain he felt would have cleared any doubts, but he already knew this was all real. The litten ran up to Ryan, an expression of worry on his face.

“Agh! I’m so sorry! I really should’ve been looking where I was going!” the bunny groaned.

Ryan smiled through the mild pain as he got up. “No big deal. Happens to the best of us.” He tensed up at what the litten said next.

“Wait a second… you’re the human I saw on the beach yesterday!”

Ryan raised his forepaws defensively. “I-I have no idea what you’re talking about!” he lied, unsure of how this fire-type Pokemon felt about humans.

The litten rolled his eyes. “Don’t play dumb, Ryan. I-“

“H-how do you know my name?” the eevee said, raising a brow.

“Before you interrupted me, I was going to say that I was listening in on your conversation with that sneasel yesterday- Lena, I think her name was?- and I overheard that you two are humans!” the litten said excitedly. “Ooh, I’m talking to a real human! This is so exciting!”

Ryan exhaling a sigh of relief that he wasn’t hostile. He thought about correcting the litten’s assumption that Lena was a human, but decided against it. “Well, since you clearly know my name already, can you tell me yours?” the eevee asked.

The cat put a paw behind his head and laughed a bit. “Heh, yeah, got ahead of myself a bit there.” He extended his other paw. “Name’s Benjamin, but I usually just go by Ben.”

Oddly human name, Ryan thought as he shook Ben’s paw with his own. “So, um, before you, literally, ran into me, what were you up to?”

“Just going to get a smoothie from the café for breakfast. Hey,” the litten said, “would you like to come? I have enough money with me to get one for all three of us!”

“Three?” Ryan asked confused. “But there’s only two of us?” He then felt a tap on the shoulder. Looking over, the brown fox saw his weasel-like companion right next to him.

“Gyah!” Ryan yelped, nearly falling over in shock. “Lena! How long were you here?”

“Long enough,” Lena said deadpan before looking over at the scorbunny. “So, your name’s Ben, huh?”

“Yeah,” Ben answered.

“Okay,” Ryan said, “I appreciate the gesture, but I think I’m going to have to-“

Once again, Ryan was interrupted, this time by the growling of his own stomach.

“On second thought, maybe I will take you up on your offer,” the eevee added sheepishly. Ben giggled.

“Alrighty then! To the café!” the litten said, running toward the building Ryan noticed earlier as him and Lena followed. After passing through the door, the trio were met with the smell of various baked goods, and of coffee and tea.

Doesn’t seem like a place that would sell smoothies, Ryan thought as he hopped onto one of the chairs by the counter, but what do I know? Maybe they do here.

A few seconds passed as the three pokemon sat waiting, expecting someone to show up on the other side of the counter. Just then, they heard a voice.

“Hey there, Ben!”

The trio craned their heads behind them and saw what appeared to be a small humanoid pile of whipped cream with a pair of strawberries on its head and a smile on its face. It donned an apron and held a notepad in one hand and a pen in the other.

Ryan raised a forepaw in greeting. “Hello to you too, um…”

“You can just call me Alcremie, but you’re not Ben,” Alcremie answered before turning to the aforementioned litten. “Are you a friend of his?”

“We just met, like, ten minutes ago, but I guess so? I mean, he did offer Lena and I smoothies.”

The alcremie winced. “Smoothies? That’s no good…”

Ben cocked an eyebrow. “Why not?” He sighed. “Don’t tell me the blender’s broken again…”

Alcremie shook her head. “No, it’s working just fine, but… the berries… they’re all gone… I think someone stole them a couple of nights ago!”

Ryan glared accusatively at Lena. “What? Do you seriously think I did it? Don’t be ridiculous! I’ve never even stepped foot in this café before!”

“Whatever you say, Lena.”

“No, she’s right, Eevee,” Alcremie agreed. “Even if she had tried to, when I lock up the café every evening, I protect it with a barrier made of fairy-type energy. Poison and steel-type moves can easily break it down, but there normally aren’t any pokemon in the area with one of those that would want, or care, to steal from me… until now, apparently.”

A pause followed, with Lena breaking the silence. “I know metal claw,” she deadpanned. “My inability to is not the reason I didn’t do it. Rest assured, I would never steal from someone.”

Instead of feeling disappointment about the lack of berries, Ben felt determined. Determined to right this wrongdoing committed against Alcremie, and against himself and his new friends. “Don’t worry, ‘cremie!”

“Please don’t call me that,” the dessert pokemon said flatly.

“Okay, but don’t worry! The three of us will get your berries back!”

The sentient whipped cream, raised her arms defensively. “You don’t have to, really! I can just-“

The litten was already at the door, waving for his companions to follow. “Ryan, Lena, come on! Those berries aren’t gonna recover themselves!” Ben then proceeded to rush out the door, and Alcremie facepalmed as Ryan and Lena climbed down from their chairs.

“That Ben is such a handful. How have Cinder and Marcy not lost their minds?” she sighed before turning to the eevee and sneasel. “Please go with Ben to make sure he doesn’t get himself injured.”

The duo nodded and ran out the door after Ben. Alcremie sighed, waiting until she knew they were gone before leaving to do something else.