A Vacation, an Adventure, and the Story of a Lifetime

Chapter 73- Forest

It might not seem like much at first, but this chapter is the beginning of something big... Stay tuned for that! Until then, enjoy, my kits!

        -Luna the Space Fox

Key:

Author's notes

Thoughts

"Telepathy"

"Speech"

"{Pokemon speech}"

Disclaimer: If I owned Pokemon, this wouldn't be a Wattpad fanfiction and the Sun/Moon anime would've had the same animators as X/Y~

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"Alright, let's go!"

It was the next day, and Luna went out with Lunalox bright and early to train one-on-one with the hatchling. As Luna shifted into Pokemon form, they walked side by side into the woods, walking in pretty deep. Soon, they were unable to see anything but trees and the ground around them, not mentioning the bazillion dead leaves, bushes, and other small plants in the forest.

"Okay, so today we'll be testing our endurance before we start working on our moves. Let's see how far we can walk until one of us gets tired out," Luna said, her neck strained as she looked around. The world was so big when she was in her Pokemon form, forcing her to look up and around even more than usual. Jeez, no wonder many wild Pokemon are skittish. To them, the world is huge!

Lunalox let out a happy giggle in response, easily keeping pace as they continued through the woods. They stayed like that for quite a while, the only noises interrupting the silent were bird Pokemon calls and the rustling of branches and leaves. After about an hour, Luna and her partner came upon a stream, which they gratefully drank from until they were ready to keep going. Despite Melemele's rather small size, they still hadn't seen a trace of society since getting (purposefully) lost in the forest.

Both of them were just beginning to tire when there was a sudden crack sound off to their left- like a branch being snapped from a tree trunk, but it was at eye-level instead of way up in the canopy. Luna froze in place immediately, eyes wide as she brushed her tail against Lunalox's back, getting the younger's attention. Luna gestured to the origin of the sound with her ears, as if to say, "Wait; let's investigate, but cautiously."

She crept forward slowly, peering around the trees blocking her way to see a Hydreigon hardly three yards away. All three of its heads were staring at her and Lunalox, a mixture of curiosity and suspicion on their faces. I didn't know Deino and their evolutions could be found in Alola... Is this one friendly or hostile?

"{What are you?}" The rightmost head demanded, voice a deep growl. Luna flinched despite the dragon not having too harsh of a tone.

"What... do you mean?" Luna asked, voice thick with a combination of fear and confusion.

"{My brother means what he says. You look like a Pokemon, but not one we've ever seen before, and yet you speak and act like a human,}" the leftmost told her in a much lighter, more feminine tone.

"{And that Pokemon beside you looks almost identical to you, yet behaves like any other trainer's Pokemon we've seen,}" the middle completed, a blend of masculine and feminine traits- or perhaps a lack of both?- in their voice.

"{So I ask again: what are you?}" Righty repeated.

Luna forced the fur on her shoulders to lie down, trying to relax. They don't appear to be dangerous, and Lunalox and I are probably faster if it comes to running away. "Well, I guess that description isn't too far off; it was rather accurate, actually. To put it simply, I was originally human, but now I'm something in between." To demonstrate, she quickly shifted into human form, and then back. "And to answer your question for Lunalox: it's the same question I've been asking since she hatched, since I have no clue what species she is, either."

Righty and Center seemed to keep their shock (or whatever other emotions they were feeling) hidden, aside from the involuntary miniscule widening of their eyes and slightly tensed muscles, while Lefty merely clapped her pair of wings together, not even bothering to hide what she felt. "{That's pretty cool!}"

"{How peculiar,}" Righty mused, giving her a once-over. Luna almost wanted to shrink under the harsh glare of red-on-black eyes, but kept her stance proud and tall, a habit she'd picked up from being in the spotlight so often. People (and Pokemon) tend to believe you when you look like you know what you're talking about and are sure of yourself. "{How in Arceus' name did that happen?}"

"{If you don't mind us asking,}" Lefty added, knowing her brother could come off impolite in his directness.

Luna let out a laugh. "It's a bit of a long story, so I hope you don't mind... It all started when I came to the Alola region for a vacation..."

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"And that's the explanation Tapu Koko gave on what happened to me," she finished after going through the rest of the story. The three Hydreigon heads all nodded in understanding.

"{It's strange, but I think I get it. The bonds between humans and Pokemon often never go further than the likes of an owner and their pet, so spending your life among both worlds taught you how to empathize and understand Pokemon in a way others simply can't; all it took was a relatively powerful force to bring you to an in-between phase that more accurately depicts you as you see yourself,}" Center summarized.

Righty let out a huff. "{That's fine and dandy, but why are you and this... Lunalox out on a walk in the middle of nowhere without the rest of your companions? It's unsafe, especially for younger creatures such as yourselves where poachers have been hunting recently.}"

"I could ask you three the same," Luna joked, but paused. "I never did catch your names; I've just been referring to you as Righty, Center, and Lefty this whole time!"

Righty smacked himself in the face with one of his wings. "{Please tell me you're joking.}"

With a grimace, she shook her head. "Sorry..."

"{I'm Hida!}" Lefty exclaimed. "{My brother is Migiki, and this here's Chuka!}" She pointed to the center head.

"It's nice to meet you," Luna told them. "To be honest with you, Lunalox and I left pretty early to get some training in. We were seeing how long we could walk without getting tired before stopping to practice our moves. I'm still good to walk for a while- this whole meeting has recharged my muscles- if you are, girl."

Lunalox nodded. "{I can keep walking, too!}"

"{We'd be happy to show you around the forest!}" Hida cut in. "{Right, you two?}" Migiki let out an exasperated sigh, but didn't protest, while Chuka simply nodded. "{Yay! Maybe we can even introduce you to some of the Pokemon that live around here; finding another of our lineage is rather tough on Melemele, so quite a few locals helped raise us from an egg. Let's go!}"

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble for you, sure!"

Chuka waved them off with their wings- Luna called them wings, but each was really only a flat back tendril that emerged from the Hydreigon's back, all three of the heads able to control one pair, and they flew by merely hovering, somehow. "{Don't worry about it. We were planning on wandering around to warn the others of poachers, anyway. You're free to tag along with us, and it's no trouble at all.}"

"In that case, we're happy to come along!" Luna stood up from the tree she had been sitting against while telling her story, brushing the dead leaves and dirt off with her wings and paw. Lunalox merely shook out her fur, somehow managing not to hit the others with it, as the two began to follow their new Hydreigon friends.

*Hida comes from hidari, left; Migiki comes from migi, right, and migikiki, right handed; Chuka comes from chuukan, middle. The name pronunciations are as they would be said in japanese: Hee-dah, Mee-gee-key, and Chuu-kah. Hope that clears up any confusion.