Metamorphosis (Pokémon Watties 2017)

1: Under a Tree

Eight years later...

Swinging. 

Hitting. 

Every day that was his job. It had been that way since he was ten. Before Ayana had been taken away, she would occasionally come to visit him him, bringing company with her and Ralts to join himself and Sandshrew. Those days passed by in blurs of fun.

Ever since Ayana was gone, the days were always forever. Sure, Isa would try harder than ever to cut down the tree to possibly go after Ayana, but the work he did was still nothing in comparison to the size of the tree.

Isa had long since determined that the tree would never get cut down in his lifetime.

As he and Sandshrew sliced away at the great tree, he couldn't help but wonder why. There was plenty of other land around the village that could be farmed, but they had insisted that this tree be cut down before expansion. It was the only thing that was holding him back from going after Ayana, that and physical talent.

They were both sitting down on a log, taking a short break from the cutting. "How much longer do you think this'll take?" Isa asked, looking down at Sandshrew.

"Sand." It gave a little shrug, going back to scratching on the log.

"I figured you'd say that." Isa sighed, looking around the forest. After deciding that there was nothing there as always, he stood back up again, grabbing for his axe and preparing to start again. Right as he was about to strike the tree, a head popped out from the side of the tree.

"Hello?"

"AHH!' Isa jumped back, the axe dropping from his hands. He looked at the face, a boy with deep black hair and dark eyes.

"Sorry!" The boy cringed back, slightly stepping from behind the tree. "Did I scare you?"

"Just startled, that's all." Isa stood up, turning to face the boy. "I haven't seen you around before. You from Luminia or something?" Isa asked, referencing Axiom's capital city.

"Luminia?" The boy cocked his head, confused.

"Okay, so no... You're not from Axiom, are you? Everyone's heard of Luminia in some way."

"Axiom? Is that where we are?" Isa laughed a little, shaking his head.

"So you're one of the Djinn's Lost? Well, you probably don't know what that means either. Basically, a Djinn's Lost is someone who's been 'pranked' by the Djinn Pokemon Hoopa. Hoopa's known for tricking humans, sometimes taking their memories and dropping them in places for others to help them find their home. Either that or you could be a Dark Lander." Isa eyed the boy, getting another confused reaction. "You don't follow at all, do you?"

"Not really?..." The boy smiled a bit, looking at the ground. "Sorry about that."

"You're fine. It's not the first time I've seen memory manipulation." Isa shrugged it off, starting to approach the boy. Before he could fully approach, he was countered by a large Pokemon. The Pokemon was similar in stature to one like Rika's Sylveon, standing on four legs with short horns that curved backwards. It looked up at Isa, growling.

"Woah, calm down girl!" The boy held a hand out to the Pokemon, getting down on a knee to match its height. "He's not trying to hurt us."

"So that one is yours?"

"Yeah. It's one of the few things I actually know. She's a Houndoom, and she's been with me for the past couple of days. She stands guard while I try to sleep, and keeps an eye out for other kinds of danger." The boy starting petting the Houndoom, causing the Pokemon to relax a little.