I’d been walking southward for days, yet failed to come across a single human. I did run into plenty of pokémon though. Well, that wasn’t really surprising considering I was in the wilds. It might not be the true wilderness, but there were no amenities, shelter, or anything else.

I don’t know if it was because of the presence of a trail, or because they were more familiar with humans for other reasons, but most of those I encountered were not trying to really hurt me. That is not to say I didn’t get attacked though. I was. A lot. However when they realized that I didn’t have any pokémon partners to battle against, they usually left me alone.

Usually.

There were a few that didn’t. Those who hated humans, those who were angry and wanted a fight, even if I didn’t have pokémon, and those who got protective of a child in a place they shouldn’t be.

The first actively tried to kill me. I responded in kind. I might prefer to be more peaceful, but there was no way I was going to let someone, regardless of species, get away with attempted murder.

I typically tried to stay out of the minds of others, but these attackers got the full brunt of my psychic attacks. After blasting their minds, rendering them unconscious or at least temporarily immobile, I ended their lives as quickly and painlessly as possible. I might be disgusted with them, but there’s no need for me to be cruel. A quick stab of my iron dagger to the brain and they were gone. I stored the corpse in my inventory in case any parts were useful. I’m pragmatic like that.

The second type, the fight enthusiasts, I battled. Even in human form, battling and using my skills can make me stronger. At least these guys didn’t try to kill me, even when they won the battle. I stuck to a typical human psychic’s skill set. Mental attacks and telekinesis, so they had a chance. I do love a good fight, so we got along. Some even accompanied me for a bit after fighting, talking tactics and such.

The third type were the meddlers. Not that they were malicious or anything. They were the ones who were worried over my safety and traveled with me while in the area their group claimed. Some of them were quite doting, insisting on giving me snacks or helping me with obstacles that were not a problem.

I couldn’t hate them. They were nice, even if they were sticking their noses in my business. Plus the free food was nice… unless they had a very different diet than me. I will eat some leafy things, but humans can’t eat the normal leaves from trees. And I refused bugs. That was just gross and to be avoided unless there was no other choice.

I’d been on the trail for over a week when it connected to something else. A road, though there was still a hiking trail alongside it, though FAR better used and maintained than the one I had been on.

Even better, there was a building and people!

Less good was that I had an ursaring on my ass when I found it. The jerk had been following me, driving me out of its territory, attacking me whenever I stopped for too long. My problem was that I’d reached its territory after an exhausting battle and didn’t have the strength to force it to knock it off. And without the chance to rest, it was taking forever to recharge, especially since I had to use it to boost my physical capabilities.

So I was really glad when I spied civilization at last.

Gathering the remains of my energy, I hurled myself forward, the ursaring right behind me. I don’t know if it was fed up with me and intended to finish me off, or just getting in some last hits before turning back, but it didn’t seem to realize its own predicament.

Civilization meant pokémon trainers. Trainers who, hopefully, would step in to save a child under attack by a pokémon.

The humans saw me coming, then their eyes widened when they saw what was behind me. Fortunately they had the presence of mind to release their pokémon and prepare for battle.

Ha! That dumb bear was still focused on me, not realizing it was in danger until it was struck by multiple attacks. One of the attacks was a lighting strike, causing it to seize up, then it collapsed, unable to handle the forces that were brought to bear against it.

Now here was a dilemma.

I was safe, but this was definitely NOT how I intended to introduce myself to the world. How do I proceed from here?

I turned my attention to my saviors, the pokémon, and decided that they were who I’d go to, not the humans. There were four of them out, but only three had attacked the bear, the other looked like it was getting ready to play defense should it be needed.

What made me decide this was that one of the pokémon was an alakazam. A psychic pokémon. This boded well for me.

“Rynn rynn, Telarynn!” <Thank you, you saved me!>

Yes, I was speaking pokémon. I don’t know why the language was the way it was, making speakers say their species name. I had a guess it was because the creator named the species and didn’t want humans calling them something else.

Anyways, the language is more mental than sound-based, which is why pokémon could understand each other, regardless of what they actually said with their mouths. They still need to physically speak, but it’s a minor component compared to the rest.

That is why I was able to speak my own ‘dialect’ of the language. Being a mew, I should have been going all “mew mew” but that’d be a bad idea since it might give me away. So I’d worked on talking pokémon in my human form and was able to learn to speak using my name, rather than my species.

Back to the present, I was sure I was surrounded by astounded faces, not that I could see them since my face was planted in the side of the alakazam I was glomped onto.

The humans were speaking to each other, curiosity and confusion evident in their voices. I couldn’t understand most of what they said, though I did hear a few things I could understand, the names of pokémon. I mostly ignored them. The alakazam was comfortable to the touch.

Then I was being separated from the target of my affection. Looking up, I could see the face of the alakazam as it looked down at me.

<Who are you that you can speak our language? And can you please let me go?>

I reluctantly let go.

“Telarynn! Rynn, rynn tela.” <I’m Telarynn! Sorry, I was just so happy to meet someone who wasn’t trying to attack me. I grew up speaking like this> I tilted my head in a manner I hoped was cute. <The others I spoke to also seemed surprised. Is it really weird like they said?>

“Alakazam. ****** ****** *****.”

Our conversation was interrupted by one of the humans, the one I assume was her trainer considering that she used her hand to guide me towards the woman.

The woman crouched down to look into my eye. I clung to the alakazam, suddenly shy, and tried to hide behind her, but she didn’t let me.

“****** ******. ****** ******?”

Yeah, I didn’t understand a word of that. I looked up.

“Rynn? Telarynn? Rynn tela…” <Alakazam? What’d she say? I can’t understand what she’s saying…>

She looked back down at me.

<Hmm? You can speak to us but not your own kind?> I shook my head. <She introduced herself and asked your name. Her name’s Naomi, she’s my trainer.>

I looked back at the woman and introduced myself while pointing at myself.

“Telarynn.”

She smiled and babbled some more at me. This was going to get really annoying…

<She wants to know where your home is and why you’re in such a dangerous place.>

<Can you talk to her, like in her mind or anything? I can do it with pokémon, but I don’t know how it’d work with humans.>

She gave me a surprised look.

<You’re psychic?>

I nodded.

<That will make this a lot easier. Relax your mind. I’m going to link us together. Mind reading and talking can always be understood. I’ll guide you.>

She reached one hand out to her trainer, while the other rested on my head. Naomi looked at it for a moment, then took it. There was an odd sensation in my mind, and then I felt a link form in between the three of us.

{Hi! I’m Telarynn. Call me Rynn.}

{Hello Rynn. I’m Naomi. It’s nice to meet you. Can you tell me what’s going on with the ursaring?}

{It didn’t like me being near what it claimed as territory, so it attacked me to chase me away. It’s really mean and wouldn’t even give me time to rest.}

{OK, but why were you on that path to begin with? Can you tell me where you live or how to contact your parents?}

{I… I never met my parents. I grew up in a place with pokémon, but I needed to leave. A big golem told me how to get here on the path.}

She stared at me for a moment, then her attention was called away by another trainer. Since we were linked I could understand her side of the conversation.

{She apparently doesn’t know Common, though is able to speak to pokémon easily since she says she grew up with only them.}

{I don’t know! We haven’t gotten very far yet. My alakazam is using its psychic powers to let us talk mind to mind.}

{That I know. The ursaring was being territorial. It apparently didn’t like anyone intruding on its domain. I’d talk to the rangers, it may need to be put down. I wouldn’t want a pokémon even on a barely used trail that will attack humans so readily.}

{Yeah, I’ll see what I can find out. Can you call the police? They should know what to do with the girl. Oh, her name’s Telarynn, Rynn for short.}

She finished talking to the guy and he headed off to do stuff, pulling a phone from his pocket as he did so. It sounded like I’d be the cops problem to deal with. Hmm, I wonder if I’ll get to meet an Officer Jenny?

{How long was the ursaring chasing you?}

{Since last night. I had to keep moving or it’d take a swipe at me. It wrecked my bag.}

It was maybe ten in the morning now. I’d been on my feet for most of a day. If I didn’t have my core to draw on I’d have already collapsed. I pulled off what remained of my bag and showed it to her. It was mangled and mauled. It could barely be considered a bag anymore considering its condition. If I hadn’t stowed most of the contents to prevent them being lost, I’d have lost them in my flight. The only things remaining were my shabby blanket and some berries.

She looked at the condition of it and her face hardened before looking over her shoulder and yelling.

{JOEY! YOU TELL THE RANGERS THAT IF THEY DON’T PUT THAT THING DOWN, I WILL!}

I winced at the volume.

I was also starting to sway on my feet. Now that the danger was over the adrenaline was working its way out of my system and exhaustion catching up to me. If I wasn’t holding onto alakazam, I’d be on the ground already.

Naomi noticed my condition after making her threat.

{Ah! If you’ve been awake since yesterday, it’s no wonder you’re dead on your feet. The center has beds available for weary travelers, lets get you in one.}

She picked me up, though the link was broken when she did so.

I was barely conscious, but there was one last thing I had to ask.

<Do you have any way to help me understand the human’s language? Common, I think she called it? I can learn it the hard way if I have to, but I’d rather not.>

<That will depend on how flexible your mind is. We’ll see after you are well rested.>

<Okay… good… night….>