The next morning, rather disappointingly, nothing had changed. Kellyn was still a helpless Starly, he was still in that cluttered shack on the edge of a cliff, and he was still stuck with the annoying, inexplicable daughter of Entei and Suicune, a nickname that made her sound far more dignified than she actually was.
“Good morning!” Steenee exclaimed. She reminded him of his over-enthusuastic little sister, and he felt himself frown. Where was his family right now? Were they thinking about him? What about Keith, or Rhythmi? “Time to continue training... what’s the matter?”
“Nothing,” Kellyn said bluntly, hoping she would move on.
She didn’t. “It has to be something.”
“It’s just that...” Kellyn sighed before continuing. “I was thinking about people I might never see again.”
“People?” asked Steenee, tilting her head. “You mean, like, your trainer?”
Kellyn wished he could facepalm at his choice of words. “No.”
“Don’t worry. Whoever they are, I’m sure you’ll find them again some day.” Steenee looked up longingly. “Just like Bounsweet...”
“Anyway, let’s get going,” said Kellyn. The wind had died down today, and they headed towards the tally-covered rock to continue their training. He noticed something unusual about the tallies - there were horizontal lines through groups of three vertical dashes, instead of four.
“I’ve realised the problem with yesterday’s training session,” said Steenee. “I was treating you like a Pikipek! What can you do that a Pikipek can’t?”
Kellyn closed his eyes and pictured a Pikipek. A Pikipek's defining feature was its long, sharp beak, but what was Starly's? Forming large flocks... Being loud and annoying - the perfect Pokémon for what's-her-name... Longer wings... That's it!
Kellyn spread out his wings and tried to flap them to create a gust of wind... but it didn’t work. Instead, he ended up slowly and awkwardly moving them slightly up and down.
“I... don’t think that’s how flying works,” said Steenee.
“I wasn’t trying to!” replied Kellyn. To emphasise his point, he flicked his wings forwards... and came within a hair’s breadth of hitting Steenee. His eyes widened. “Sorry.”
“Try that again,” said Steenee.
“Huh?”
“You could use your wings to attack!” exclaimed Steenee. “Just... don’t use me as a target.”
“So what should I use instead?” asked Kellyn. “I don’t want to slam myself into a rock again.”
Steenee stopped to think, then she walked over to the bush and pulled out three twigs. She returned and stuck them into the ground in front of Kellyn. He hopped over to the first twig and flicked his wing at it... and it barely wobbled.
“Try harder!” exclaimed Steenee. Kellyn slapped the same twig with his wing, and this time, he knocked it over. “Again! Again!” she cheered. Kellyn hopped as quickly as he could towards the next twig with his wings outspread, and knocked it over in one go. Finally, he charged towards the last twig and cut it in half with his wing... and got a splinter. Ouch.
“GOOD MORNING!” Autumn sang as she sprang out of bed, standing on her hind legs and spreading her front legs out wide. “Isn’t it going to be a looovely day, Star?” she said after dropping to all fours. “Star?” She picked up books and moved around furniture, but Star was nowhere to be seen, and neither was his new friend. “STAR!” she shouted, galloping out of her shack. They weren’t on the cliff, either. There was only one other place...
“Good morning!” an extremely cheerful voice yelled, startling Starly so much that she fell off her branch. She looked across to see Bounsweet bouncing up and down.
“Ugh... good morning to you too...” Starly groaned as she pulled herself up. Her mood was instantly lifted by a familiar buzzing sound approaching.
“Search for Steenee?” asked Beedrill.
“Yes!” exclaimed Bounsweet, hopping onto Beedrill’s back.
“Wait!” exclaimed Starly. “Before we go, where haven’t we searched yet?”
“Beyond forest, there is cliff,” said Beedrill. “Could search that direction.”
“Hm...” pondered Starly. “I say let’s go!”
Now that their training session was over, it was time for Kellyn and Steenee to venture into the jungle. It was so early in the morning that the rising sun cast long shadows, making it darker than usual, but thankfully, most of the wild Pokémon were asleep.
“Are you sure you’ll be able to defend yourself now?” asked Steenee.
“I’m... not,” sighed Kellyn. “That’s why I didn’t want to go here alone. But it’s not the strongest who survive, Steenee. It’s the smartest.”
“Are you talking from experience?”
“Yes, but... it’s a long story.”
“You’ve been awfully secretive,” said Steenee, a stubborn frown on her face. “What’s the matter?”
Kellyn almost said that she wouldn’t believe him, but that would just raise even more questions. “You wouldn’t understand.”
Steenee stopped walking and put her hands on her hips. “Do you think I’m stupid?”
“No! It’s not like that!” exclaimed Kellyn defensively. “It’s just that... something unbelievable happened to me yesterday.”
“What was it?”
“Well... it’s the reason I can’t fly, and why I needed you to train me...” Kellyn normally wasn’t this self-conscious. Had the transformation changed his personality, too?
“Oh? Are you injured?”
“No, it’s... not like that at all.”
Before Steenee could reply, he heard the sound of wingbeats.
“Is that her?” asked a female voice. A Starly swooped down and landed in front of Steenee, inspecting her curiously.
...Followed by an all-too-familiar buzzing sound. Kellyn’s eyes widened in shock as he saw the same Beedrill from yesterday, and he quickly hid behind a tree.
“Yes...” a high-pitched voice trembled. “I found you!” A Bounsweet bounced off the Beedrill’s back and hopped towards Steenee... who then promptly kicked Starly in the face.
“What was that for?” yelped Starly.
“You kidnapped Bounsweet!” shouted Steenee sternly. She kneeled down and hugged Bounsweet, and her voice became soft. “Are you okay?”
Bounsweet started to cry. “But they... helped me...” she sniffed.
“...Oh.” Steenee looked dumbstruck and guilty at the same time.
Beedrill’s antennae twitched. “Can smell intruder Starly!” he exclaimed, pointing at the tree Kellyn was hiding behind. Nervously, Kellyn desperately searched for a bush to hide in, but he didn’t have time. It wasn’t the Beedrill who attacked him first, though. Instead, the Starly flew towards him and slashed him in the side with both of her wings, one at a time, knocking him to the ground. He tried to get back up, but couldn’t, and he suddenly realised how weak he was as he watched Steenee kick Starly in retalliation. Starly was followed by Beedrill, who was poised to stab him with his spears...
Autumn Blaze galloped into the jungle, desperately looking for Star. Eventually, she found him hiding behind a tree... and loudly gasped when she saw him being relentlessly attacked by another star-bird and the gigantic hornet. It was this kind of fighting that lead to... no... she didn’t want to think about it. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head to remove the memory.
“STOP!” she yelled at the top of her lungs, her toes beginning to light on fire as she used her telekinesis to yank Star away from its attackers. The yellow, bipedal thingy from yesterday that smelled of fruit then walked up to her, as if pleading for her to put Star down, so she did.
Autumn Blaze kept her distance as the creatures stopped fighting. Were they... talking? She sat down to watch.
“Don’t hurt him any more!” exclaimed the Steenee, who was now standing protectively in front of that intruder Starly. “Just... listen what he has to say.”
“Move out of the way,” growled Starly. She hopped up to the intruder Starly and leaned right into his face. “Why were you stupid enough to provoke a Beedrill?”
“It was an accident, okay?” the intruder Starly sighed. His voice sounded unfamiliar, but his tone, his cadence, his choice of words... it seemed impossible, but...? “I was lost, and I didn’t know that Beedrill lived here.”
“Not my home!” Beedrill yelled.
“Kellyn... is that you?” asked Starly.
“Starly... you’re a girl?” asked the intruder Starly.
Did he really never notice? “You got a problem with that?”
“No, I’m... cool,” Kellyn stammered awkwardly.
Starly had so many questions.