“So let me get this straight,” Starly said, with an accusative stare. “You’re a Starly now?”
“Yes,” was all Kellyn could say.
“Do you know why?” she asked.
“No.” Kellyn stopped to think. “But do you remember? In Ryme City-”
“Wait!” exclaimed Steenee. “What does she mean, ‘now’?”
“Long story,” Kellyn quickly said to Steenee. “Anyway, Starly, remember that man who wanted to fuse humans and Pokémon toge-”
“Don’t just ignore me!” Steenee snapped.
Kellyn sighed. “The truth is... I used to be a human, Steenee. I thought you wouldn’t believe me.”
Steenee looked mildly surprised. “Is that all?”
“Huh?”
“As soon as I met you, I knew something was wrong. You couldn’t fight, you couldn’t fly... I couldn’t help but feel sorry for you.”
“So you pitied me?”
“Not quite. I don’t want people to pity me,” Steenee pointed at herself, “so why would I pity you? I wanted to prove that you were capable of so much more! And you know what? It worked!” She smiled.
Kellyn was pleasantly stunned. “You did all of that... for a stranger?”
“I hate to interrupt,” said Starly. “But since she said you can’t fly... mind if I teach you? I can think of the perfect place. Perfect-ly boring, you might say...”
“Good idea,” replied Kellyn. “Want to come with us, Steenee?”
“No thanks,” replied Steenee.
Starly guided Kellyn out of the jungle and into a grassy clearing, inhabited by creatures much like “the daughter of Entei and Suicune”. I wish I knew what they were called. She’d said it would be easier to practice from a treebranch, but this was the next best thing.
“How did you try flying the first time?” she asked. They stood on top of a small hill that was shaped like a half-cylinder lying on its side.
“I spread out my wings, jumped off a platform, and hoped I’d figure out the rest,” Kellyn replied. “Problem is, I have no idea how to move these.” He shook his wings slightly to emphasise how awkward they were. Starly stifled a laugh, and Kellyn frowned. “Not funny!”
“What were you trying to do?”
“I was trying to move them up and down.”
“That’s... not how it works.”
“So what am I supposed to do?”
“Uh...” Starly looked lost in thought for a few seconds. “Y’know the way you humans swim with your arms? Try moving your wings like that. I think...”
“O-kay?” Kellyn replied uncertainly. His wings were still spread out.
“Aim for the other side of the stream!” exclaimed Starly. Kellyn looked towards the edge of the village to see a stream that flowed down from a waterfall in a straight line, surrounded by rocks covered in glowing runes. He paused, so she looked at him. “What are you waiting for? Go!”
Kellyn jumped off the hill and tried to rapidly move his wings in a circular motion. For the first few seconds, he was neither falling nor flying, but remained at a level distance from the ground...
“Keep going. KEEP GOING!” Starly cheered.
...But soon, his wings started to tire out. He closed his eyes and braced himself for an unplanned dive into the water, when one of the inhabitants of this village pulled him out of the water with some all-too-familiar telekinesis and carefully placed him on the ground. Being lifted didn’t hurt, but it did feel strangely uncomfortable, like he was being gently tugged from every angle.
“Thanks,” Kellyn said, but his rescuer ignored him.
Starly landed next to Kellyn. “You’re not supposed to beat your wings that much!” she exclaimed, exasperated. “I... think you should practice gliding first.”
That evening, after a mostly successful gliding lesson, Kellyn decided to show Starly the edge of the cliff, where the wind had died down into a cool breeze. Now that the sun was setting, the rainbow was no longer visible, but the orange glow reflecting off the savanna’s river was just as beautiful. They noticed that Steenee was looking at the view, too, while Bounsweet had fallen asleep amongst the pink flowers.
“So... What happened to you?” asked Starly bluntly, staring at the torn-off stubs where Steenee’s lilac sepals had once been.
“Starly!” Kellyn snapped. “Don’t be rude.”
“It’s fine,” Steenee replied, turning around. “Really.”
“You mentioned earlier that you didn’t want others to pity you,” said Kellyn. “Would you mind telling us...?”
“Why?” Steenee finished. “I will. Back when I was a Bounsweet, so innocent to the world, I didn’t know what fear was. The only thing I had to worry about was being eaten by Toucannon, but I escaped every time. I always knew I was different, but I didn’t think much of it. That was, un-until...” - she sighed, and her voice started to waver - “I first saw humans.”
“If it upsets you, you don’t have to tell us the whole story,” Kellyn interrupted.
“No, no, it’s alright,” replied Steenee, taking a deep breath. “I was overly curious and eager to approached these humans, a-and...” She hurried her next words. “I-it turned out they were poachers.” Neither Kellyn nor Starly were surprised by this, but that didn’t make it any less impactful. “I-I fell right into their t-trap, and they... they...” Steenee started to cry.
“...Ripped your sepals off?” Kellyn finished, and Steenee nodded.
“That’s what they’re called?” Starly muttered.
“It’s okay to cry,” Kellyn reassured Steenee. “Don’t force yourself to smile...”
“Th-that was the hardest part,” said Steenee, her voice scratchy from crying. “Afterwards, I was crushed. I wandered the jungle that no longer seemed like a perfect paradise for months and months and months, hiding in the undergrowth out of fear... until I saw this Bounsweet being mercilessly attacked by a flock of Pikipek. I couldn’t just leave her there! Even though I was outmatched, I still tried to fight them off, one-by-one, and then... I evolved!” Her voice had now regained most of its enthusiasm. “We Bounsweet live alone in the world, never meeting our mothers or even our sisters - that’s normal - but she was so timid! I couldn’t just leave her alone! So I decided that I would protect her, so she would never have to go through what I did.”
Kellyn and Starly looked at Steenee in dead silence for several seconds, not knowing how to respond.
“So... do you want to spend the night with what’s-her-name?” Kellyn asked Starly, glancing over at the shack. “Assuming you like poetry, that is.”
“No thanks,” replied Starly. “I’ll probably sleep in a tree instead.”
“What about you?” he then asked Steenee.
“I would, but...” she looked over at Bounsweet. “I don’t want her to wake up alone.”
“That’s okay,” replied Kellyn. As the first stars of night appeared on the horizon, he hopped towards the shack.
That night, the Pachirisu finally reached the top of the mountain, where the stream flowed down from a waterfall. The air was still, the sky was clear, and the countless, unfamiliar stars illuminated the plateau in front of her. Her entire body ached, from her stubby little legs to her dry throat, but she couldn’t rest just yet. Desperately, she rushed towards the top of the stream - which seemed to be glowing - and happily lapped up the water.
On the other side of the stream was a village built into trees. She could not get there because she did not know how to swim. There were a few rocks in the stream, but she could not use them as stepping stones. She was hungry. She needed to eat in order to live. She ate a blue flower.
The bitter taste of the flower startled the Pachirisu back to her senses, as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been tipped over her. What was that all about?