Being a mentor was a pain.

I’d taught before, but it was usually off and on, giving little lessons on different things to different people. Mentoring was very different. Pikachu wound up following me around more often than not, even staying over some nights.

While the time we had wasn’t enough to pass on everything I knew, I think I hit all of the important bits, teaching her how to be a good Guardian, and ways to improve herself to get better.

As the time for my departure neared, I began to finish off my preparations. I already had a bunch of clothes of various types to suit whatever environments I found myself in, but there were other things I needed to secure before I was ready to go.

Food was the most important.

While I was sure I’d find some along the way, I had no way of knowing if I’d be able to forage enough to keep myself well fed. So I’d be bringing at least a couple of months worth of food with me. Fortunately, I’d been able to tap into the powers of Dialga and Palkia when I’d created my item box. By using time and space, I’d been able to make a large item box in which time did not pass.

Bwahahaha! Never shall I let myself starve! Not when I can stockpile food year round and have it ready whenever I want to eat. Even cooked foods would always be available to me…

Unfortunately, I had yet to come up with a good excuse for why I could use it as a human, so until I did, I’d only be able to use it in secret.

But that’s what my bag was for! I’d cling to it and never let anyone else else look inside, and then pull whatever I need out of it, so long as it is something that could actually be in there. Sadly, that did not include the hot food, but I think I’d be fine. After all, when I come across humans I should be able to get good food off of them, I’ll just have to give them puppy dog eyes.

After food were camping supplies.

I was going to play a human raised among pokémon, so I wouldn’t have much. Some well weathered cloth for a blanket and maybe a towel, some stones to make sparks with, something to carry water in, perhaps a battered-looking canteen?

I’d secured a small amount of iron, so I’d been able to turn it into steel and make a few things, though I tried to keep those in good condition. Sadly there was no chrome to make stainless steel, so I had to be careful of rust.

Hmm, what else? Plates, bowls, utensils, all of those got packed away. I grew the things rather than crafting them. I’d made wooden ones ages ago, lots of them since I was practicing playing with plants.

It took me days to think things through and ensure I had everything I thought I could possibly need, and even then I was sure I’d forgotten something, but that’s what powers are for. I was gathering what food was available while I was doing this.

I’d used pikachu to help me do my preparations, since she’d been following me around like a baby chikorita. It served as a test as to what was available and where to find it.

Just in case anyone decided to check, I did stow some basics in the pack I fashioned, though I’d leave it in my inventory till I got close to civilization.

---

Summer came to an end and autumn began. And with it the migration of the majority of the avian population. I waited a few days for the majority of them to clear out, since I didn’t want to get caught up in their business. Plus, the different flocks got a little defensive about where they were headed, and I didn’t care much beyond where the closest human habitation was.

Fortunately, I did have a clue. The letter from the orb-god with little more than hints and clues about things that it should have explained in detail. It did say that when I was ready to leave the valley I should head due west and I’d find a trail. This was also the same part of the letter than basically yelled at me not to fly, which I’d taken and would continue to take VERY seriously.

With all the supplies stowed away, including enough food to last through to spring should it be needed, I had one more detail to take care of, and then it was time to leave.

I needed to choose who to entrust with the home I’d built.

Bah, I’m took the easy way out. I threw it to the Elder Guardian. Let him deal with it. Most of the stuff there was made with a humanoid in mind, and he was one. If he doesn’t want it, he can decide who uses it. Maybe make it Guardian HQ or something.

Business done, I had a small party with my friends, and the next morning set out with the sun.

---

Heading away from the rising sun, I quickly approached the mountains that surrounded the western edge of the valley. I’d been out that way before, but not often. There wasn’t much of interest in that direction, and most invaders came from the north or east.

I was staying in my mew form for the time being, but I’d gone autumn camo so I didn’t stick out too much. While I was intending to heed the advice in the letter, I hoped that it wouldn’t count zooming around a few feet off the ground as flying. I mean technically it was, but it was the same height many of the evolved pokémon’s heads were, so I think it’d be fine.

Having to navigate the woods at just above ground level was annoying. I went as fast as I could while dodging trees, bushes, rocks, and occasionally pokémon. Fortunately, I was fast enough that most of those I flew past caught only the barest glimpses of me before I was gone.

Unfortunately, I was not always the fastest pokémon around.

More than once, I had to fend off or dodge attacks from some pokémon I’d pissed off by invading their domain without permission. Sometimes, I could deescalate the situation and not have to actually battle, but other times The opponent wouldn’t stop short of being knocked out… or killed.

In my travels, I learned a bit more about the region outside of the little valley I’d grown up in. What I found reminded me of primitive tribes or feudal civilizations. The strong ruled their areas and the weaker pokémon obeyed their commands or left, in one way or another.

Some of these rulers were kind to their subjects, or to visitors passing through their areas.

Others ruled and occupied an area by overpowering and subjugating the other inhabitants.

Still more claimed a domain solely for their species and all others who entered were attacked on sight.

I tried to find areas ruled by the strong but kind whenever night approached. They were usually willing to let me spend the night, especially if I shared some of my food with them. If I was unable to do so, I tried to find an area with no presence and dug in for the night. Literally. I created small caves, preferably on a cliff or a large rock, and then closed them off except for air holes.

This method wasn’t perfect, but it gave me plenty of warning that someone was trying to get to me through the rock the one time I was discovered. I defeated my attackers, moved to a new place and dug back in.

It took me two weeks before I found the trail I was looking for. Given that I was flying decently fast, I thought I’d have found the place earlier. Then I considered why it told me to head west. Some of the area bosses were quite powerful, and I had quite a hard time with a few.

What if the west was the lowest difficulty, but a longer distance? I might have otherwise tried to head another direction and ended up running into a boss that was out of my league...

Putting that horrible thought out of my head… I am embarrassed to say I almost missed it, blasting over the narrow trail and into the trees on the other side before I realized what I’d just passed.

Quickly turning back around, I headed back to the trail. It didn’t seem like it was used very often, being mostly grass-covered instead of the dirt showing from lots of use. The only reason I knew it was a human made trail rather than one made by pokémon or animals is the sign I saw. Had I not seen it, who knows how much longer I’d have had to go to get anywhere.

I scouted the area real fast, but didn’t see any signs of recent visitors to the area, so I landed on the trail and turned human. Shapeshifting doesn’t take me too long, not for a shape I’m familiar with, so within seconds a little girl was standing on the trail. Regardless of the fact that I knew there was nobody nearby, I scrambled to get dressed. Who knew when someone might show up. Some fliers are really fast.

The clothes I wore were the low quality ones. They were obviously not made by human hands, being ones I’d specifically fashioned using my early method of cloth making. I’d covered something in a web of spider thread, cut it off, and stitched it together with some thinner threads. They were better than the early stuff in that they wasn’t as holey, except where they were supposed to be.

No longer being at risk of being called an exhibitionist, I pulled on my pack and walked over to the sign.

Muk… It was almost all text. I only got pokémon language, not human, so I couldn’t read it. There were a few lines of text with arrows, but no other symbols, pictures, or maps to help me.

That left me with a choice. Do I head north or south?

With no idea what region I was in, I had no idea which direction would get me to a city, town, or whatever faster, and I’d resolved at this point to stay human in case I came across any.

I facepalmed.

I was being an idiot. While I might not know where I was or what was nearby, perhaps the local pokémon would.

Taking a look around, I didn’t see any pokémon in the immediate vicinity, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. Using some sensory skills, I was able to pinpoint the pokémon in the vicinity. There weren’t too many of them. Sadly, while I knew they were there, it didn’t give me any other information, so I had to be careful in case they were hostile.

Ah, muk… of course the first one I find is a skarmory. Fortunately, it’s snoozing in its nest. I carefully back away, not wanting to disturb it. I’d had to fight one of the things before, and it wasn’t pleasant. The things are really fast. With it asleep I could always try to drop some thunderbolts on it, but that’d draw potentially negative attention that I’d rather avoid. Also, I’d rather not possibly wound or kill a pokémon that hadn’t done me wrong. For all I know this one lives off fruits and berries, but I wasn’t taking the risk.

After safely retreating, I search for another pokémon. It’s a bit of a hike, but I found a field of rocks. There were all sorts of sizes, but I knew this was what I was looking for. It was a field of geodudes and their evolved forms, graveler and golem.

The species were generally peaceful unless you really pissed them off, though they were a pain to argue with. Also if you got in a fight with a group, you could end up between a rock and a hard place.

Few of the pokémon were awake, but I could see a few moving about, so I carefully made my way onto the field to make myself known.

I got their attention right quick. Humans tend to stick out a bit in the wilds after all. The ones who were awake shouted, waking the sleepers, and drawing all eyes towards me. I stood still. I didn’t want to get into a fight.

It hadn’t crossed my mind earlier, but I didn’t know how humans were perceived by most pokémon. Hopefully not poorly.

I tried calling out to them.

“Hello, sorry to disturb you, but I was wondering if you could answer some questions for me? I’m a little lost.”

It also hadn’t occurred to me that humans don’t speak the pokémon language...

“HUH!?”

“It talks like us!”

“Is it really a human if it can do so?”

The cluster of dudes all speaking at once sounded like a rock slide, raspy voices shouting to be heard over one another until finally a booming voice spoke.

“SILENCE!”

The cluster goes silent, as do the surrounding trees. Whatever birds had been around had likely flown away once the noise had started.

A boulder I’d assumed was an actual stone moved, arms and legs extending to allow the pokémon, that I could now see was a golem, to stand. It was HUGE! It was at least twice as large as the next largest golem I’d seen. Was this guy mega-evolved? Gigantimaxed? Well, I’d never know.

It turned its face and looked down as it towered above my frail body. So far none of those present had tried to attack me, so I had hope it was just curious.

“Hmm, hello little human.”

“Hello, great one. I apologize for disturbing your rest.”

It never hurt to flatter those who can flatten you.

“Bah, you weren’t loud, it was these rocklings that woke me up. Though I don’t regret having met you. This is the first time I’ve met a human who could speak our language. It was worth waking for. So little one, what seek you here?”

“I’m lost and was hoping you knew how to get to where other humans live, or could direct me to another who could point me in the right direction.”

“That’s all you seek? Not to add one of our number to your team?”

“Yes, great one, I just need directions. I also don’t have any who follow me.”

It narrowed its eyes.

“You don’t have any pokémon of your own, yet you venture into this land? You are courting death, little one.”

“I can defend myself to a degree, though I do know there are dangers I cannot defeat.” I use my telekinesis to lift some branches. I’d have lifted rocks, but I didn’t want to find it was a baby geodude or something. “I came here from the east, where I grew up in a valley surrounded by pokémon, never meeting humans.” I conveniently left out the part where I wasn’t actually a human.

“A psychic. Interesting. I met some like you before my trainer perished and I returned home. Well, if you are seeking others of your kind, there is a path they sometimes travel over that way.” He gestured to the trail I’d stumbled upon. “North will lead you to a great city eventually, but it is far distant. Though smaller, there is a town to the south. It will still take many days of traveling, but it is far closer.”

I smiled brightly at the golem and give it a courteous bow.

“Thank you great one! You have saved me.”

“You are welcome, little one. I hope you can reach your destination safely, the path is less dangerous than the wilds, but it is still far from safe. Farewell.”

With that, the golem resumed his portrayal of a boulder. The other pokémon glanced at me, but didn’t speak. Some waved, so I waved back. I returned to the trail and began walking south.

I don’t know how long it will take, but I have a direction. I’m ready to meet some humans for the first time in my new life.