The Pokemon Philosophy

[Isabelle]

Continued from: The Price of Freedom

As soon as Lopunny stepped through the cloud of smoke bellowing from the gate’s entrance, she’s immediately blasted with a wall of heat. Against her fur, it was almost unbearable. Lungs filled with smoke, which taste of sulfur. She violently coughs out a lung as she cleared the smoke and steps into the blood red glow of the Ashen Steppes.
The skies burnt red with smoke and ash as a compliment. The ground was scorched, and pools of lava dot the land. Monsters of different shapes and sizes could be seen in the distance, but very sparse. Outside of them, it was a very lonely, hellish place. Lopunny felt the fear creep into her heart, and every bone and muscle of her body was telling her to turn back and go somewhere else, but she knew she had to go forward. This was the only thing that made sense to her. She scanned the horizon. She could see a long mountain range, but the one that stood out the most, the tallest of the bunch, looked more like a really tall plateau with a circle of smoke hovering over it’s ceiling. She guessed that must be Death Mountain. Her destination in check, her obstacles noted, all that was left was to take that first step…
Her knee keeled over and she fell flat on her face. Her nerves were probably out to sabotage her again. Climbing back on her feet, she started the long walk to Death Mountain.

She walked at an incredibly slow speed. Even though she knew she could run like the wind, her mind still felt safer going at a snail’s pace. She was constantly scanning her surroundings, head jolting towards every sound that would be made. But one sound made her stop in her tracks.
‘Foot steps?’ She thought.
She flopped her ears around, hoping to sense the direction of the source; footsteps, four of them, to the right of her. She heard it give off a snort. She turned slowly towards the origin of the sound.
It was a hyena of sorts, but twice the size and with giant spikes instead of fur. Upon noticing that Lopunny has sensed its presence, it gives out a huge roar and starts moving into a full out run in her general direction. Suddenly, snail’s pace didn’t seem safe anymore.
With a kick, she starts running at full speed, not even looking back, she’s just focusing on getting away from her predator as fast as possible. Upon making a good distance, she looks over her shoulder. The hyena was far in the distance, already giving up.
‘Am I really that fast?’

But that moment of introspection was a moment not looking at where she’s going and promptly trips on a rock. She’s thrown forward, making several hard hits against the ground before rolling down what has turned out to be a slope. She grasps around for something to grab onto as she continues to slide down towards what is quickly being identified as a cliff, but there is nothing but dirt and pebbles in front of her to grasps. She continues to claw at the ground, until she slips over the side of the cliff.
However, just as she’s about to plummet, she caught onto a dead tree, which is rooted in a 90-degree angle. The tree bends to her weight as she dangles at the end of the tree. The dead plant was oddly durable considering it’s condition. Considering she could recover pretty well from a fall thanks to her bounce ability, she looked down hoping there was a surface to land on, but just her luck, she was dangling 80 ft above a pool of lava. With nowhere to go, she struggles to climb up the tree.

But then she heard something flapping. Looking around, she sees what looks like a tiny dragon flying her direction. Dangling, helpless, she realized she was at this thing’s mercy. It flew up to her feet. She barely moved out of the way as it tries to nip at her toes with those big sharp teeth it had. It flew up to look her in the face. She could have sworn it was grinning at her. It started to fly away up towards the top of the cliff, and for a second, she thought it was going to leave her alone. But then it spat a tiny fireball at the trunk of the tree.
‘Oh Arceus, why?’
Thinking fast, she swung the now on fire tree towards the inner wall of the cliff. She swung back and forth until her feet touched. And just as she heard the trunk of the tree snap, she jumped against the surface of the wall with all her might, launching her through the air. She couldn’t see where her body was hurtling towards, but she readjusted herself to land on her legs, hoping she wasn’t landing in lava.
After a long airtime, she felt her feet touched what felt like dirt. She did her best to control the momentum of the landing. However she could only cut her momentum in half before she tumbled forward. She would roll to a stop, back against the ground. Miraculously, nothing was broken, but she could feel bruises all over her body, as well as a few cuts. Her pain was stupendous. She slowly drifted into unconsciousness as she succumbed to her agony.

But before her vision faded to black, she saw three indiscernible figures standing over her; accompanied by a voice.
“Aww, you poor thing!” She heard the voice say.

[Isabelle]

Lopunny woke to the sound of many many voices; hundreds of them way in the distance. Many of them were crying out with joy and laughter, while most were just having casual conversation. The sound reminded her of parties her trainer used to take her to, in fact she was convinced this was what she was hearing, but none of them were ever as large as the one she heard.
As her vision focused, she noticed she was in some open canyon; a path through the rock ahead of her. She could see figures moving in the distance; she couldn’t tell what they were just yet, but they weren’t approaching her.

She inspected herself. All her bruises and cuts were gone. Her fur had been brushed and combed to perfection. She pulled from her left ear the pocket watch medicham gave her.

‘Twenty-four hours? I’ve been out for twenty-four hours?’ She thought in surprise.

It was around this time, she noticed something around her neck. She tried to feel out what it was, but she couldn’t get a full gasp on it. She looked around. This part of the canyon was stocked up like a bedroom: half body sized vanity mirror, dresser, ect. She just now noticed she was lying down on a futon. She rises from the futon and onto her feet stepping over to the mirror.
Around her neck was a large pink bow that was tied in the back. In fact, looking into her reflection, she looked prettier than she had in a long time. Her coat was shimmering, her fluff was clean, and she smelled of lavender. She didn’t find it creepy that someone apparently groomed her in her sleep, that’s par from the course for most pokemon, but she wasn’t used to seeing herself like this. She blushed heavily at the sight, but at the same time, she really liked what she saw. She did a few generic modeling poses, imagining herself as one of the beauty pageant pokemon she’d see on TV.
She remembered the Lopunny she saw on that program, dancing for the crowd, surrounded by the light of her power. In front of the mirror, she did some of the ballet moves that Lopunny was doing, she imagined the oohs and ahhs of the crowd as she twirled in place in perfect balance. However, sleeping 24 hours straight has made her a little weak, she quickly got dizzy, spinning out of control and crashing back first onto the futon. She wasn’t even upset; she was still lost in the fantasy, giggling in delight.

She was so caught up in her elation; she didn’t notice someone walking into the canyon room thing.
“Ah, you’re awake!” The stranger said.
Lopunny jumped in surprise. The stranger wasn’t human, but she didn’t recognize it as any Pokemon she knew. It looked like a turtle with a green shell, but it stood on two legs. It wore thick-rimmed glasses.
“Please don’t be alarmed. We have no intention in hurting you. We did clean you up afterall.” He said. The turtle walked forward and bowed politely. “I’m Duggery, Duggery Koopa. Please stay here. The others will be so happy that you’re finally up!”
He ran off down the hall. Lopunny was having mixed emotions about all this. They must have been the ones who took care of her while she was out, but why would they do this?
Suddenly. a bunch of the turtles pour into the room; each of varying appearance. Some had hats, some had hair, but all of them looked with curiosity at the scared little bunny. Duggery walked in front of the group.
“Now now folks, don’t crowd her, you’ll just scare her.”
Another one of the turtles hands Duggery a plate composed of various steam cooked veggies. He sits down politely in front of her on the floor, placing the plate and a fork next to her on the futon. Slowly, she picked up the plate, inspecting it carefully. She takes a big whiff of it. It smelt pretty good. Knocking the fork to the floor, she picks up a piece of broccoli with her fingers, raising it to her mouth and eating it one big bite. The taste rushing passed her tongue; she gleefully starts munching down at a hasty pace.
“You must have been really hungry” Duggery said with a chuckle.
She hadn’t realized how hungry she was. She’d been too busy trying to survive. In fact, she doesn’t remember even eating the two days she was waiting.
‘I really needed this meal didn’t I?’ She thought
“Do you have a name?” Duggery asked. “Can you talk?”
She finished chewing her food and swallowed. Timidly, she began to talk.
“I- I don’t have a name. They just call me by my species.” She said nervously. “They call me Lopunny.”
Murmurs travel through the crowd of turtles.
“Well, Lopunny, we’re called Koopas.” Duggery spoke up. “That’s what our species is called.”
“Are you a type of Pokemon?” Lopunny asked.
The koopas all looked puzzled at this. The response confused Lopunny.
‘If they aren’t Pokemon, how do they understand what I’m saying?’ She thought to herself.
“Oh yeah, I must apologize. We kind of guessed you were a Prime when you made that crazy jump over the lava.”
She had already forgotten about that messy incident.
“Yeah, so we kind of figured your wounds would heal over time. So we may have had our mages put sleep spells on you until your wounds were gone.” Duggery explained; a bit embarrassed. “We also made sure you were fed. You looked a little undernourished. It was liquid food, it was all we could do while you were sleeping, but it’s better than nothing.”
“It’s okay,” said Lopunny, “At least I healed.”
“So um, we were wanting to ask,” Duggery was shifting in his seat, avoiding eye contact, “Could you please come with us so we may show you to our king? He’s never seen a Lopunny before, I think he’d be very much interested!”
She set aside her now empty plate. She thought about it. While the idea of meeting royalty made her a little nervous, anyone who rules such nice little turtle people must not be so bad.
“I don’t see why not!” She said.

Hundreds of koopas sit in a wide circle in a spacious area of the canyon. The rocks surrounding the walls make for a makeshift stadium. At one end is a huge Koopa, sitting on a pile of rocks in the shape of a throne with spikes on his shell and flaming red hair. He looks down to the middle of the area, where Lopunny stands, scared half to death.

[Isabelle]

Lopunny stood in the center of the large makeshift stadium, all eyes fixed carefully on her. She stood shivering in place, frozen with fear as the crowd continues its gaze. She saw in the corner of her eye, the great koopa king, massive in size, watching her with the most antagonizing of looks as he raps his fingers on the armrest of his hastily built rock throne. She knew she had to do something.
“H-Hi,” she began, visibly shaking in terror, “m-my name is Lolbunny-LOPUNNY!”
The crowd breaks into uproarious laughter. Lopunny’s nerves eased a bit when she thought she was winning them over, but then she heard the hoots and jeers fill the air. The Koopa King, who was laughing along with the crowd, turned to one of his advisors next to him and whispers in his ear. The advisor disappears in the swarms of Koopas. Lopunny slowly coward away from the laughs, falling to her knees with her arm in front of her face, helplessly hoping it would shield her from the mass crowing at her expense.
However, a large thud sounded from near her leg, her arm jolted out of the way as she scanned in the direction of the sound. A large hammer, about half the size of her head had made impact leaving a large sizable indent in the earth. She looked ahead and saw one of the Koopas with a shell like helmet, holding a hammer in his hand.
He tossed another hammer into the air. This time, the impact was closer, barely missing her foot by half an inch. She jolted to her feet, making a small scream. The crowd roars with laughter from this. The hammer koopa throws another; she barely jumps out of the way as it nearly hits her chest. She starts to run around the stadium as the hammer koopa continues to toss hammers at her, barely missing her each time. Every time a hammer hit the ground near her, she makes an audible yelp. This was a riot for the crowd, including the koopa king, who sat with an evil grin spreading wider and wider across his face through the entire thing.
One of the hammers grazed one of her ears, and she stops in her tracks to check it; rubbing the sore part which was a little red. She looked up at the hammer koopa, who already had a hammer in his hand, but he wasn’t throwing it; just watching her, waiting. She knew she had to do something about this.
She darted forward, the hammers started up again at full force. She ran around in curves around the stadium, steadily making her way towards the Koopa. When she was within a thirty-foot range of him, she launched herself into the air with one flying leap. A single hammer barely missed her as she flew through the air towards the koopa. She made a perfect pinpoint landing on top of his face, shoving it into his shell. She jumped off; landing in a short distance as readied her fist. As soon as he got his head out, he was met with the image of the Lopunny sending a flaming upcut into his shell, launching him above the canyon and away from sight.
The smoke settled and the crowd was in a stunned silence. Koopas all over the stadium just sat there with their jaws dropped. The Koopa King however, still had a smug smile on his face. He turned to his advisors to whisper another order.
Lopunny started to feel good about herself. But before she could enjoy the moment for too long, her smile turned into a frown as she watched the koopas roll out big black cannons. She heard the loud bang of one, and before she could even start a run, she felt a large object hit her in the back, making a small burning explosion. She heard another bang. She leapt straight up into the air, but still felt something impact her stomach, which launched her hard into the soil. Lying on the ground, her back aching, she could hear the crowd hooting and hollering at her suffering. Taking advantage of the brief lull in fire, she climbed to her feet, wincing in pain. The burning sensation from the bruises brought tears to her eyes.
Another bang, this time she went into a full run. She looked over her shoulder briefly to see what was behind her: It looked like a giant black bullet with an evil grin on it’s front. It was following her, homed into her every move. She kept running, but she couldn’t shake it.
Thinking fast, she spun around, kicking it as fast as she can, hoping it wouldn’t explode on her foot. The attack was enough of a nudge to send it off course, careening into the audience. Several koopas get launched into the air as the crowd cheers in excitement. The kick started to spark her imagination
Two more bangs rang out through the stadium. Lopunny ran, but this time, she began to do it with finesse. Her jumps were reminiscent of a deerling leaping in spring. The bullets would shake, shimmy, and get mixed up just trying to follow her flourished movements. She would spin in a few of the leaps, turning clockwise two or three times before landing perfectly back onto her feet. These would confuse the bullets the most as they were sent crashing into each other.
Two, three, or maybe even four more sets of bangs, but she ignored it allowing her ballet and acrobatic moves to do their work. She did back flips, sending two bullets crashing into each other headfirst. She did cartwheels, sending the bullets into a tailspin not sure which end of her to follow. For a while, she just lost herself, imagining herself as the Lopunny she saw on TV all that time ago. Though the audience was different and her life was in peril, she couldn’t help thinking she had become the Lopunny.
However, her fantasy may have been truer than she thought. She was so lost in the moment that she didn’t even realize that the bangs have long subsided, the koopas were no longer cheering at her pain, but were just cheering at performance, curious and excited to see what she would do next. They’ve only seen acrobatics like this on the battlefield from their enemies, but it was much different seeing it up close as a performance.
In her finale, she did a spinning jump from a handstand, her ears making a swirling design in the air. She adjusted herself in midair, and landing perfectly on her feet. The crowd gives her a standing ovation, and even the king koopa looked amused.
As it donned on her that this was really happening, Lopunny formed a smile wider than she had in a long time, and took a bow before her audience. But before she could stand up straight again, she felt a bunch of koopas approach from behind her and lift her up. They carried her straight up to the King’s throne, and plops her on the stone beside it. Two female koopas start brushing out the damage that had been done to her fur, as the koopa king reaches out and pats her on the head. She’s beaming with glee. At last, she felt like she belonged.
Beer was passed around. When some came her way, she politely refused. Other koopas started coming down to center stadium, each one eager to present their talents to the king. One did a juggling act with the bullets from before, another performed a song that was booed out of the stadium, and another told raunchy jokes about some guy named Mario. Lopunny was laughing and cheering along with the crowd, enjoying every minute. She spent the rest of the night sitting beside the king, as he seemed to not mind her company. Though it started out rough, it was the best night she had in a very long time.

Early the next morning, she woke up amongst the crowd of koopas, sleeping off the hangover. The king was nowhere to be found, but Lopunny could see giant footsteps wondering off a random direction.
Leaping up to the top of the canyon, she looked around to see Death Mountain still on the horizon. Direction set, she continued on forward, not even looking back towards her new reptilian companions.

[Isabelle]

Lopunny continued to cross the heated landscape. Death Mountain continued to get bigger and bigger on the horizon. She would alternate between walking and running to help close the gap and to conserve her energy. She couldn’t even run in the straight line as she was frequently coming across lava pools of varying sizes. Quite a few were the size of lakes. She made note to name every single large one: Lake Deathtrap, Lake Firespit, Lake Bunnydeath, Lake Burning Fluff, Lake Fire Hazard to name a few. It kept her calm to make light of the situation.
She was able to run from most predators. She’d come across some of those tiny dragons from time to time, but she was usually quick enough to duck behind something out of sight, and the few that did spot her usually flew off, probably to harass someone else. She was relieved she was avoiding battles. She really wanted to cover as much ground as she could before she had to sleep again. She couldn’t imagine finding any shelter out here anywhere.
The closer to Death Mountain she got, the hillier the landscape got. Hilly eventually turned into mountainous. She blessed Arceus that she could jump so well, making the climb way easier. She couldn’t imagine climbing the human way. Also, the closer to Death Mountain, the harder was getting to avoid those little dragons. Lopunny figured they must live somewhere near by; probably Death Mountain itself if the place truly lives up to its title.
She leapt rock from rock, slowly wearing herself down, but it made her feel accomplished when she cleared yet another mountain. Part way up one of the mountains, she saw ahead of her was yet another cliff. Carefully, she stepped over to the cliff side and peeked over. A giant river of lava ran for miles each direction.
‘The instant death river.’ She thought to herself.
Walking around would take too long and fording wasn’t an option, she knew her only option was to jump. The chasm itself was at least a hundred feet wide. Even she didn’t think she could jump that far. Options lacking, she paced back away from the edge. Making a bit of distance, she turned to face her new obstacle. Her nerves getting to her, she takes a deep breath. She does it a few times, in and out, in and out, but no matter what, her heart kept pounding like crazy.
‘Okay, no more stalling,’ she thought, ‘time to do this…’
With one big exhalation for what could be the last time of her entire life, she charged towards the cliff’s edge and took one very large leap.
She flew through the air, as she had many times before. She rose above the height of the other side, before she started dipping, lower and lower. For a second there, she wasn’t sure if she were going to land the other side. Something flew passed her, but her attention was entirely on the jump. In the last second, she reached out, grabbing onto the other edge of the chasm. She made it.
She clamored to lift herself up to safety. She gave a sigh of relief as her whole body was now flat on the ground.
But then she quickly jumped to her feet as she heard something swoosh by her again. She looks around drastically for the source, but before she could find it, she felt a fireball hit her in the foot. She leapt around, desperately trying to snuff out the fire. Thinking fast, she stopped still, digging up some burnt soil and burying her foot in it. The fire quickly suffocates under the earth. She could still feel the burn but at least it wasn’t getting worse.
However, as quickly as she put out the flame, she saw another flying towards her. Leaping out of the way, she looked from where the fireball came from and saw the small dragon. This time, she was done fleeing.
The dragon started shooting fireballs one by one. She reminisced with her fight with the hammer brother, and like that fight, she zigzagged around, making her a difficult target to hit. She closed the distance between them quick, grabbing the dragonling by the leg. With it wriggling to break free, she encased her other fist in ice and sent it flying toward the dragon, knocking it senseless down into the chasm.
‘That was oddly satisfying.’ She thought.
After taking a moment to breath, she checked her foot. A bit burnt and a little dirty but nothing too serious. She sighed in relief and set out again towards the tallest mountain in the distance.

[Isabelle]

Hill over hill over hill, Lopunny leapt up the ashen mountains. Even the smallest incline would block the view, hiding how much more she had to go, making it aggravating and heart wrenching to conquer another incline only to find another ahead of it. She got tired of jumping from rock to rock. The constant movement and action was wearing her thin at this point; either that or the high altitude air was getting to her. Every look behind her was both a reassurance that she was actually making some distance, and a horrified realization how much height had been gained behind her.
Who knows how long it’s been since she left the Koopas. The sky as unnatural as it is, it was impossible to know what time of day it was. All she knew was that her stomach was growling at her, and the dryness in the back of her throat was getting more unbearable by the hour.
As she jumped up each mountain, she awaited that soothing comfort of another peak, and when she got it, she felt the harsh sting of disappoint when the mountain ahead of her was not Death Mountain. She’d see it in the distance, and it would get closer and closer each peak she crossed, but it did not bring her joy when the next mountain looked about as tall as the last one.
So she kept going, jumping from rock to rock, dodging every baby dragon she’d see flying around, and trying to ignore the heat oppressively pressing against her fur that seems to permeate from everywhere.

Then, a miracle happened. As she jumped up yet another steep incline, as uncertain as ever of what other inclines are waiting ahead, she reached over an edge. Rising up from the earth was Death Mountain, the next mountain over. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She thought the heat was making her hallucination. But no, it was real, and the only thing in her way was the trip down and the valley inbetween. She stood there, eyes filling with tears, almost wetting the giant smile on her face. After so many bland hills and mountains, the sight of that plateau of a peak reaching into the sky made her think it represented true beauty. Scaling a mountain range or two could make anyone a connoisseur.
After taking in the moment for a spell and regaining her breath, she set out sliding down the mountain, eyes focused on the land below. However, she screeched to a stop when something else caught her eye. Something glimmering lower down the mountain.
‘Water!’
She controlled her sliding to make sure she would wind up next to the pool. The area was vacant; no competing creatures of any kind ready to fight for it. A sign marked the area “Goron Hot Springs” but she ignored that. She dropped down to her knees and started chugging down water. It was hot, and she could taste the minerals from the ground, but she didn’t care. The feeling of fluid rushing down her throat was cleansing.

She heard the sound of flapping in the distance.
‘Great, another one of those small dragons.’ She thought.
But this one was different. The flaps were slower, sounded heavier, and were coming straight for her. Pulling herself from her drink, not even bothering to wipe the dripping spring water from her maw, she jolts around to see a giant bird, like an eagle, flying towards her at an advanced speed. Before she could even react, one of its gigantic talons grabs her around the waist and lifts her up into the air.
She wriggles and writhes against the might of its claws, but nothing seemed to work against the beast’s mighty grasp. It flew around Death Mountain, and towards one of the adjacent mountains. High up close to the peak, it brought her to a giant hole in the ground that looks like it has been dug up by the bird’s massive talons, and awaiting the beast was a little chicks, mouths open awaiting their mama’s arrival.
She felt herself being dropped into the nest. She quickly climbed to her feet, as the babies encroached on her. She didn’t want to fight back, these were but children after all, but they were getting closer and closer and those sharp beaks were gunning for her. Reluctantly, she threw a punch on the nearest chick, admittedly she held back a lot. It didn’t matter much, as it was enough to knock the poor like bird out. Upon hitting the floor of the nest, the other two immediately jump on the fallen chick, tearing into its flesh and ripping at its organs. Lopunny, shocked and horrified at what she had just done and what she was witnessing, backs away, not even noticing the edge she was walking over.
One step and she was sliding down the mountain. Re-positioning herself, she faced the valley below. Her mind spinning from the events that transpired, she hardly noticed the eagle mother approaching fast to enact its revenge. She broke out of her thoughts as she saw the talons moving in to grab onto her. Then, something crashed into the bird. Jolting her head around, she saw that a much bigger dragon like thing with only two legs had pinned the eagle against the slope of the mountain. It bit into the back of the bird’s neck, causing an audible cracking noise before Lopunny turned away, wincing.

After a while, she slid to the bottom of the mountain. Death Mountain was one short walk away, but it hardly felt like a victory. It wasn’t accustomed for a Pokemon to blame themselves, but the blood on her hands now made her feel horrid inside. She plopped down onto the ground face down in the dirt. Wasn’t crying, wasn’t showing any emotion at all, her heartbreak had broken her. She couldn’t face Medicham now. All she could do was lie there.
However, she saw, not far from where she was laying, a cave going into the mountain. She pushed herself back up. Dragging her feet, which burned from all the sliding, she carried herself closer to the cave. The light carried some distance, but the cave traveled far into the darkness.
“Hello? Any monsters in here?” She said, her voice echoing into the empty caverns.
She half expected the space to be occupied, but she waited a minute, three minutes, five, and nothing came for her.
‘Shelter is shelter’ she thought.
She slowly inched her way into the cave, and took salvation in the darkness, away from viewing eyes of any possible predators. She plopped back face down onto the cave floor; a bit more of a twinge of pain this time from the impact, but she did not care. She sunk into her thoughts.
‘I’m a monster…’ was the thought that resonated in her mind as she slowly fell into a deep sleep.

[Isabelle]

Lopunny woke to the sound of voices.
“She looks like a bunny rabbit goro.” She heard one voice say.
“She’s our girl then.” Another chimed in. “Hey, wake up bunny goro!”
Slowly. she opened her eyes as her vision comes into focus. Above her were two round orange faces attached to even rounder bodies. They peered curiously down on her. She propped herself up to get a better look at the two.
“Hello.” She said groggily.
“Are you Lopunny?” asked one of the two.
“Ummm,” she had to think for a moment. “Yes, yes I am.”
“Then why are you in our rock mine?”
The words took a second to sink in. Her eyes shot upon as it finally dawn on her. She jumped to her feet, hands clasped together.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to trespass!” She started, “I just needed somewhere to sleep before going up Death Mountain!”
The two looked at each other in confusion.
“We’re not angry goro,” he calmly explained, “In fact, you could have slept at our village, we’ve been long expecting you.”
Confused, afraid, and tired, she took a second to process this.
“Wait, are you the Go-” She didn’t have a chance to finish her sentence. One of the two lifted her up and placed her on his large shoulder. They make their way to the mountain. She took this as proof of their identity.
The trip gave her time to process. She remembered the events of the night before, the death of the poor chick. While she felt a twinge of sadness, she tried her best to rationalize it. The punch she threw was in self-defense, and she didn’t kill the chick directly. She figured it was just the cruelty of nature that killed that chick. Not to mention, that eagle was dumb enough to build it’s nest within range of Death Mountain; the location where all these baby dragons seems to be coming from. Everyone involved with that nest was doomed to begin with. But she still felt like crap.
“So where did you come from?” The Goron asked, breaking her from her thoughts, “Never seen a rabbit like you before.”
“I’m not a rabbit, I’m a Pokemon.” Lopunny responded, “I’m from the same place as Medicham.”
“Master Medicham has told us many things about his world, goro. We marvel at the concept of never seeking freedom in the face of imprisonment. The thought was so alien to us, but he explained it well.”
‘What does that mean?’ Lopunny thought.

The two Gorons brought her up along a path around the base of the mountain. They crossed the threshold of some large rock door. Inside was a large cavern; woven tapestries decorated the walls, baring symbols that were alien to her. Many other Gorons were there, some where dancing, some where loafing around, some were transforming into balls and rolling around, but as the pair crossed the room, many dropped what they were doing to give Lopunny a good look over. As they crossed into the next room, the Gorons started to file in, following.
The next room looked like a dining hall, with long wide tables that stretch far in each direction. She was carried to the center of the furthest wall, where a goron, wearing special clothing to differentiate from the rest, sat. Lopunny guessed that he was the leader.
“You must be Lopunny.” The goron chieftain spoke. “I’m guessing you’ve figured out that we had been expecting you. For sometime really.”
“I’m sorry I took so long.” She responded candidly, “I had a few detours.”
“It’s quite alright young one. It’s a bit of a journey for someone so small such as yourself, so it’s understandable.” He climbed to his feet. “Plus anyways, who has heard of a rock who does not know patience?”
The room broke out in uproarious laughter, which took her by surprise. She didn’t notice the room had filled up. Didn’t help that she didn’t get the joke.
“We shall feast in honor of our new guest!” Said the elder followed by hurrahs all around.

The gorons sat along the long tables, a plate full of rocks in front of each. They hungrily scarfed down the stones one by one in so few bites. Lopunny sat next to the elder, a plate of strange looking veggies sat in front of her. She was told that it was steamed cactus from the Endless Dunes, but she didn’t quite fully understand that. After a small sample bite, she gorged. She forgot to feed herself again it seems.
The gorons sang, told jokes, and chatted for hours. Lopunny largely kept to herself and didn’t say much, but she listened as they told tales from their culture. Spoke of a legend of some hero of time. Spoke of princesses and dark skinned tyrants. It all sounded like something out of a fairy tale. She truly was in a different world.
After they have all eaten their fill, Lopunny turns to the elder.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but when can I see Medicham?” She asked.
“Well, I’m sorry but… Um” He began.
“He’s not here, is he?”
The elder jumped at the question, as if it was ridiculous of her to ask.
“What? No! He’s here. But you can’t see him quite yet.”
“Why not?”
The elder looked slightly ashamed.
“He told us not to let you see him until you passed a test.”
Lopunny took a second to process. Before she laughed.
“A test? Well, after all I’ve been through, I’m sure I’ll ace it!” She said, her laugh turned into a chuckle. “What did you have in mind?”

Lopunny stood in the center of a square boxing ring, her opponent was the elder himself wearing red boxing gloves. gorons on the sidelines were cheering, rooting for their favorites, and making bets. It was discouraging how many were betting against her.
The bell sounds off. She barely tilts her head out of the way as that red-gloved fist flies past her. She leaps out of the way of another blow, and another. She blessed Arceus for her speed.
The fourth punch threw him a little off balance. Spotting the window, she launched a punch so fast that is sent sparks flying through his body. At first, she felt stupid, using an electric move on a rock type, but it seems to have genuinely affected him none-the-less. After staggering back a bit, he rears up to throw another punch; his movement visibly slowed. Considering it worked last time, she threw another Thunder Punch, but to her surprise, no lighting came out this time, but it still connected with the goron and sent him back a few steps.
She looked at her fist in confusion.
‘I have Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, and Bounce. When did I learn a fighting type move?’ She thought, puzzled.
But then she barely ducked out of the way as he threw another punch. Reacting quickly, she countered with an uppercut. Knocking him off his balancing again, she began a succession of blows against the elder, each one sending him back a few inches. For the finale, she lit up her fist and sent a Fire Punch straight into his face, knocking him through the ropes and out of the ring. Then Lopunny proceeded to rub her knuckles in pain because punching rock hurts like heck.
The crowd roared in excitement. The elder got back up and silenced the group.
“I think that’s good enough.” He shouted so everyone could hear. “I’ll take you to Medicham personally.”
Lopunny smiled, her quest was at an end.

Out through a door in the back, the elder lead her up a path. In the distance, meditating on a ledge was Medicham. The elder left back for the village as she approached the focused master. She had finally closed the distance to 30 feet, when he finally broke his meditation to note her presence.
“You came.” He stated.
“I did.” She replied.
There was silence for a while before he spoke again.
“I am disappointed.”
“Di-disapointed?” She reacted.
She was confused and hurt. After coming all this way to see him, he was disappointed? Confusion quickly transformed into a boiling rage.
“How could you be disappointed? I braved lava flows, I fought dragons and giant eagles a like, I entertained the Koopa King himself, and I nearly died many times!”
“And why did you do it? Because a complete stranger told you to?”
Lopunny searched for a rebuttal, but couldn’t summon one.
“You had no reason to trust me, you didn’t even have proof that I saved you from the Gengar, heck, I didn’t even give you the reason I wanted you to come here, and yet you risked your life entirely on my orders?”
She was speechless. She hadn’t thought about why she was doing this. Suddenly she started to feel incredibly stupid. She kept digging for a reason.
“Well… you were the one that told me about my lineage and I thought…” She started, noticing how futile this was. She turned away in shame. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
“Yes, I’m sure it did,” he said in a bit more of a sympathetic tone. “Lost in strange place, it’s so much easier to follow the orders of another. It’s the only thing that makes sense when our kind has lost everything else…”
He gives off a sad little sigh.
“You’re a Pokemon alright…”

[Isabelle]

Medicham lead Lopunny up the mountain. She felt ashamed, stupid, and like a fool. She could have gone anywhere. She could have avoided everything. That bird would still be alive. She felt tears begin to well in the bottoms of her eyes, but she’s suddenly distracted by the grove of fruit trees they just entered.
“This is the only fertile soil for miles.” Said Medichan, not even waiting for her to ask. “Gorons need hobbies, and sometimes it’s not stereotypically manly stuff. I wouldn’t eat any of it though, deadly toxic.”
The fruits came in a varying barrage of colors, dotting a full color spectrum across the leaves. It is a wonder how anything could maintain a color in the oppressive red light radiating from the sky.
Medicham turns half way toward Lopunny, an intense look in his eyes.
“A long time ago, our ancestors had to chose sides.” He began.
Lopunny sat down on her knees and listened intently.
“Some chose to fight along side the humans but most chose to appose humanity. The humans were forced to raise pokemon just to protect themselves.
“At some point in our existence, we noticed that Pokemon raised by humans were not only happier, but much stronger than the ones in the wild. More and more sided with humanity, and over the centuries this would become part of our DNA. You see…”
He turns to face her and sits down in front of her.
“A pokemon in the wild will fight a human most of the time. This is our way to prove the human’s worth. When a Pokemon gets caught, its DNA is hardwired to suddenly want to obey their new master.
“The lack of freedom is its own liberation. Don’t have to make decisions anymore, don’t have to be responsible for our actions, its not our place to carry the burden of change that lies on our masters. Just let our lives fall into place as a routine where it’s safe, comfortable, and predictable. We’ve long given up freedom as a species, and it’s worked for us for centuries… mostly.
“However, it’s no longer going to work for you. You are in the Omniverse now; you are a prime. Your only master now is Omni, and he’s not going to tell you what to do. You’ll have to be your own pokemon.”
“But, what should I do?” She asked, sheepishly.
“I’m not going to tell you. You have to make your own choices now, and take responsibility for them. That’s the price of freedom, and you are going to have to pay up whether you like it or not.”
She had nothing to say, so she just sat there in silence. He didn’t really do a good job in selling all this to her, as she felt like she just been offered a bum deal.
“Freedom has its perks. You’ll soon see.” He said, reassuringly. He must have noticed her expression.
With a single movement, he was back on his feet.
“I will train you to fight, but only the basics. It’s your duty to develop a style that works. For the most part, I’ll be teaching you how to be a free Pokemon.”
He turned away from her.
“Our training starts tomorrow. Be here after breakfast.”
And with that, he walks off, leaving Lopunny to her thoughts.

[Isabelle]

Lopunny spent the rest of the day with the gorons. She spent most of it pondering everything Medicham had told her. Her day-to-day life as a pokemon seemed so trivial before, but everything had been re-contextualized by the revelation that has been laid before her. Suddenly, everything had so much weight to it. It kind of made her proud of her heritage… and a little sad because it is no longer part of her life anymore.
‘Why did everything have to change when I finally understand how good I had it?’ She thought; many times she thought this as the hours went by, the constant chanting of exercising gorons serving as her background music.
She was thankful the gorons had a bed available. She mused they were probably used to accepting guests. Considering the only pleasant neighbors they had were the koopas, she couldn’t blame them for being hospitable. It has been so long since she actually slept in a bed; the moment she hit that fabric covered surface she conked out. She slept like a buneary that night.
The next morning was largely uneventful. She ate breakfast with the gorons again. Medicham once again did not show up for the meal. She was curious where else you could get food in a land like this. Upon eating, she rushes off to meet with Medicham once more.

She briskly walked up the dirt road up the mountain. It was hot as it was per usual, but like a new set of clothing she had gotten used to it pressing against her body and wore it like it was nothing. She could see the trees up at the top of the incline. She passed by the rock she where first met Medi and climbed the path, scared, but kind of excited for what lay ahead of her.
But before she could get too much further, she felt something collide against her back. She jolted her head around, expecting it to be another baby dragon, but she saw nothing. She saw the brief glimpse of a blur as she felt another blow, this time to the stomach. She keeled over on the ground, fighting back her breakfast which was desperately trying to escape its acidic prison. She saw Medicham’s foot; stepping in front of her face.
“Not all enemies chose to face you up front.” He states calmly. “Not all of them will seek a fair fight. That is your first lesson.”
Lopunny coughed violently, she rolls around, desperately trying to find a spot where it didn’t hurt to lie. In the end, it was futile; it hurt no matter what.
Medicham sighed. He grasped Lopunny by the arm, his grip so tight that it only added to her pain. He pulls her to her feet.
“Come with me to the fruit trees.”
Reluctantly, she followed him, grasping her pained stomach.

Under the cover of the trees, Medi brewed some tea over a fire. He pours a cup and places it front of the rabbit.
“Drink,” he said, “it will help.”
Slowly, she brought the teacup up to her lips. It tasted like plain boiled water to her. However, considering the water she drank the other day, she wasn’t in any position to judge. Oddly enough, it did help cut the queasiness she felt.
“I remember when I was but a little meditite, I learned a move that would protect me from such attacks.” He began, but he paused and sighed, “but its no good to you, your kind can’t learn that move. And it’d take years to learn it the old fashioned way. It is too unfortunate.”
She tried to think of which move he was talking about. But before she could think that hard on it, Medicham abruptly changed topics.
“For now, we meditate.” He stated, shifting to a cross-legged position. “The purpose of meditation is to focus your mind, clear if of thought so you may be unclouded for a time being.”
Lopunny got in the same position. She was still hurting a bit, but it was becoming bearable.
“Let’s do one of the most simple meditations: breathing. In your mind, you must count your breaths. Breathe in until you count to five, hold until you count to five, and then exhale until you count to ten. Then repeat. Go ahead, try it.”

She breathed in,

‘1…2…3…4…5…’

She held,

‘1…2…3…4…5…’


She exhaled,
‘1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10…’


And she repeated.


And repeated.

And repeated…

Her mind goes into a lull as she slips into the routine.

But she could not help but think.
She remembered what Medi said.
About the move he mentioned. Her mind carried her away as she reminisced of a time not too long ago.

When it became clear Lopunny wasn’t going to be much use in competitions, her trainer gave her the task of fighting pokemon in the wild that he wanted to catch. She didn’t mind as much, since it was an excuse to be out of her ball. Of course, it was inevitable that even that task would be too much for her, but this is not about that time.
She remembered when her master tossed her out before a particular Pokemon. It looked like a little human boy with blue skin and small pants. Its head was composed of a white pointy bit along the top of the skull with two round monkey like ears on each side.
“Go get the wild Meditite, Lopunny! You can do it!” Her master yelled. “Use Fire Punch!”
Without hesitation, she threw a flaming punch towards the little pokemon, however it was not there. She looked around in confusion, and saw that the meditite had moved out of the way.
“Damn it, I hate detect! Go for a thunder punch!”
She launched a lightning fast punch to the pokemon’s direction, but again it wasn’t there anymore. Before she could think, she felt a sudden kick to her side. Its pinpoint accuracy hit a sensitive region between her organs, causing her to buckle.
“Oh shoot, it knows fighting type moves!”
Fighting type was the bane of Normal type Pokemon, and she knew quite well from experience why. Normal types were predictable enough to have glaring weakness that trained fighters could look passed and exploit in battle. And considering Fighting type moves were designed specifically to exploit weaknesses in defenses, this leaves all normal types at their mercy.
“Lopunny, quick, use Ice Punch! We’ve got to freeze him!”
Knowing it was stupid, she followed his commands, throwing an ice punch the pokemon’s way. The meditite moved to dodge, but this time it wasn’t quick enough. Her ice-cold fist made contact with its face. A thick layer of ice formed on it as it recoiled from the hit. The layer spread as it froze in place.
“Lopunny return!”
She felt herself turn back into energy as she got sucked back into her ball, but she had one more glance at her opponent. She pieced together that the meditite was sensing her moves somehow. She thought about how that would be so incredibly useful.
She thought about how it would be useful right now.

“What are you thinking about?” Meditite asked. He abruptly broke from her train of thought.
“Thinking? I-I wasn’t…”
“I know you were thinking. I can tell when you’re not.”
She recoiled a bit from this. He was reading her like a book.
“I’m sorry, I was thinking about that move you were talking about earlier.”
“You were focusing on that?”
“Well, yeah. I’m sorry, I won’t let my mind wander ag-”

Suddenly, she felt something, something coming towards her face. She looked forward to see Medicham’s fist coming at her.
She leapt out of the way. However, in a blur he disappeared again. She looked around expecting the next blow to come from anywhere. But then, for a split second, she could feel it coming. She moved away again just as his fist came passed the side of her face.
“Woah!” She yelled in surprise.
He started tossing punches her way, but each one she could feel coming long before she saw it. It felt like afterimages or echoes in her mind, but not with sight or sound but by some sense she had never felt before. She didn’t quite know what it was, but she liked it.
The final punch barely missed grazing her face. They both freeze in that position, her body contorting to avoid the knuckle sandwich that was across her face now. She looked over to Medicham, and much to her surprise, he was smiling.

After a moment to clean up, the two sat in the positions they were before.
“I wasn’t lying before.” He said.
Lopunny looked up confused, not entirely sure what he was talking about.
“When I said it would take you years to learn that move normally, I meant it. But there is nothing normal about a prime. While you were meditating, I noticed a light come from you. That is how you learned how to detect so quickly. You no longer have to train like everyone else. The power to grow lies within you and as long as your master is happy, you can have it.”
He leaned forward and took Lopunny’s hands.
“You are a prime, you represent pure freedom in the Omniverse. You now have more freedom than any trainer you’ve ever served under. While I listed the downsides of freedom, you now know one of its perks. Celebrate it, master it, because you now have the power to change the world, and I do mean that literally.””
He lets go of her hands and reaches for his tea. Taking a sip, he let another gleeful smile spread across his face.
“Then again, so can every prime. What makes you unique is what you chose to do. And that,” he refills Lopunny’s cup with more tea, “was lesson two.”

[Isabelle]

“So he told me a prime can do anything” Lopunny said, “but I’m having troubles thinking up things to do.”
Lopunny sits on a goron’s knee, neck deep in steaming water. Surrounding her was a dozen or so other gorons all sitting around, partially submerged in the natural bath. Half were giving her their full attention, while the other half were lost in their own bliss.
“I’ve never had to make a decision like this before. It’s just a lot to take in.”
“We’ve all heard stories from travelers, goro.” Stated one very big Goron. “Some have become the greatest of heroes, while others have become the wickedest of villains. While it would be foolish to think every prime is stronger than everyone else, it’s hard to deny that they have a power that a lot of us lack.”
Lopunny thought to herself. She knew she couldn’t become a villain. That she knew for sure. But she didn’t think she had the capacity to be a hero; too weak and too cowardly to do anything great. The owner of the knee she was sitting on noticed the look on her face, and reached out to pat her on the head.
“Don’t worry bunny Goro,” the short but muscular goron spoke, “You’ll discover your story. Just be patient!”
“Thank you.” She said rather sheepishly, moving in to give him a big hug.

There was a brief silence in the group, before the muscular goron spoke up again.
“We’re glad you’ve decided to come here with us.” He started. “So few of our female visitors decide to join in our hot spring gatherings.”
“Well, when would I ever get to go to a hot spring again?” She replied. “My master used to take me to the bathhouse all the time until a bunch of human girls started to call him a creeper; whatever that means. Humans are weird like that.”

“Hey guys!” Said a voice ringing out from nowhere. Lopunny turned to see where it’s from, and out appears three koopas, a red one, a green one, and a blue one. They all sit down into one of the shallow ends of the spring. The green one was donning a familiar pair of glasses.
“Duggery!” She yelled out from across the spring waving frantically gleaming with joy at a familiar face.
“Lopunny?” He said, the other two koopas looking up from hearing the name. “Hey, it’s Lopunny!”
She swam all the way to their end of the pool, sat herself down next to duggery and gives him a big hug. The other two koopas dons smiles themselves.
“I didn’t think I’d see you guys again!” Lopuuny said, snuggling the koopa.
“We were worried about you, where did you go?”
“Oh! Well, I realized I was late for something time sensitive, had to get going.” She explained
The gorons look on with curiousity.
“You’ve met these Koopas, Lopunny?” Asked a random goron.
“Oh it was amazing!” Duggery started with excitement, “she put on a dance show for King Koopa and hundreds of his subjects! I’ve never seen acrobatics like that outside the battlefield! Even Bowser was impressed!”
“Wohoho goro!” Laughed the small but muscular goron. “And you were acting as if you had no talents.”
Lopunny chuckle lightly, smiling with a bit of a blush. She thought about her time performing in front of the koopas. She remembered how much joy she had towards the end of the dance.
‘If all else fails,’ she thought, ‘I could always change the world on stage…’
She submerged deeper into the water, a blissful smile brought upon by the thought.

But another creature entering the water interrupted her thoughts. All eyes turned to the source and it was Medicham.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, getting comfortable in the water. “Had to do some prep work for tomorrow’s training.”
“Medicham, hi!” Lopunny yelled, waving.
He took one concerned look at Lopunny and then looked puzzled at the rest of the group.
“I thought this was an all male thing…” He said.
“That was never the rule actually.” Said Duggery, “Just the standard.”
“We should sit together Medi!” She moved in closer and gives him a big old bear hug. “I was just telling them about today not to long-”
But medicham shoves her off.
“On second thought, I’m not in the mood for hot tub.”
He promptly climbs out. Lopunny is puzzled at what she could have possibly done wrong. Meanwhile, the koopas are laughing uproariously.

A few dozen yards from the hot spring, Medicham is storming off, his face red.
“That girl… huff ...is too forward.” He spat out

[Isabelle]

The next day, Medicham showed Lopunny a new ability. With a sudden jolt, he would disappear and reappear somewhere else. She was reminded of teleportation; a power that used to give her Master a migraine when out trying to catch abras. However, he made it very clear that he wasn’t actually teleporting, but moving incredibly fast. An hour-long meditation session later and she had the same power.
Medicham would set up targets all over the place. With a jolt, the world around her moved passed her faster than she could manage. She missed the first target by a long shot. Situating herself towards the next one, she did another jolt, this time barely landing the target with a jumping spin kick.
She would dash from target to target, punching and kicking them in. While she felt her energy draining with each dash, she soon started to have fun. Laughing with a big smile on her face as the world goes by in a flash and another target gets smashed to bits.
With that technique understood, she wound up taking a nap after lunch from the exhaustion.

When she slowly woke from her slumber, she noticed that Medicham had set up a small wood manikin target.
“Now that you’re refreshed, I have a small exercise for you.” He said.
She scrambled onto her feet and quickly got in front of the target.
“Can you please use your Fire Punch on the dummy?”
Lopunny nodded at his request. With a bit of build up, she launched her fist into it with all her might, but she was shocked to see that only her plain hand was thudding against the grain.
She looked at her fist quizzically.
She tried again, this time trying an Ice Punch, but once again, no effect. She tried again with the Thunder Punch, again, nothing. Medicham shook his head.
“It’s as I had feared… You forgot them.”
Lopunny looked towards Medicham, then back at her palm.
‘Forgot them?’ She thought to herself, horrified.
Thinking back, she remembered other moves she used to know. Pound, Quick Attack, she guessed these were the moves she just got back. But why did she forget them in the past? Why did she forget? It logically made no sense. And why did she have to forget now? Medichan sighed.
“To make our transition to servitude more clean, we as a species, have limited ourselves to only four moves so it would be easier for even the youngest of our masters to give commands” He began. “What was for you Bounce, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, and Thunder Punch, is now Bounce, Pound, Detect, and Quick Attack… or would it be Extreme Speed? I don’t know in this context.”
Lopunny wasn’t even paying his conundrum any mind. She was too busy slowly freaking out.
“But… I… How do I get them back!?” She yelled exasperated.
Medicham, finally take note of her panic, grabbed hold of he shoulders to hold her still and looked her straight in the eyes.
“When you’ve accepted that you are a Prime, that you are no longer bound to those rules. It is then that your moves will return.”
He turns her back towards the dummy.
“Now try them again and remember what you are.”
He stepped away. Looking the dummy directly in its wooden face, she takes a deep breath.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Holds it.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Releases
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Her mind experiencing a brief moment of clarity, she rears her arm back.
‘I’m a prime. I command my own destiny…’ She thought to herself.
And as soon as that thought came left her head, she launched her fist into the dummy as hard as she could.
No fire.
She tried again.
No ice.
Her fist clenched hard and her teeth gritted, she tried again.
No thunder.


For the rest of the day, she would continue to punch that manikin, over and over again; her screams of frustration getting more and more intense with each failure. Medicham would try to get her to go to dinner with the Gorons, but she would refuse him, continuing to punch that dummy over and over and over, to the same effect. He stuck around for as long as he could, but eventually even he gave up, going off to wherever he sleeps at night.
It wasn’t until very late that she would turn in. Her body heavy from all the exertion of the day, she lumbered over to her bed, falling flat against its surface.
She remembered all those times those punches would impress her master, she remembered the impressed look on his when she’d set her fist on fire, or encase in ice, or sent lightning through a touch. To a 5-year-old, having a pokemon who could do that made him the coolest kid in school. She remembered when he would parade her around, saying he had the coolest Pokemon around. And while the novelty would one day wear off for him, she still remembered how those moves made her feel special and unique; like they gave her purpose. And now they were gone.
Her stomach empty, her knuckles bruised and bloodied, she cried herself to sleep that night, drifting off into horrible dreams.

[Isabelle]

Lopunny is running at top speed through an endless abyss. She didn’t know what she was running from, but the fear in her heart was real, so she kept going. She felt a presence behind her. While still at a full gallop, she cautiously looked over her shoulder, and stared directly into two red eyes, accompanied by an evil grin.
‘Gengar!” She wasn’t quite sure if thought or stated.
She used the speed boost trick to gain some distance from the monster, but soon the ground gave out to a sudden drop of elevation and she found herself flung airborne. A found second in the air was eventually impeded by oncoming earth as she hit the ground hard and tumbled to a stop.
Her head spinning, she looked around to get oriented with where she landed. Within her field of view was a tiny rustic village a mile or so from where she was, and a sign that read “Welcome to Mimilop!” Focusing on the village, she saw strange looking people populated it, but she couldn’t piece together what they were, like something in her mind was holding her back.
But before she could ponder it any further, she jolted her head behind her to see the Gengar face 10 feet from her. It quickly closed in, surrounding her in its vaporous body.

She jolted awake in bed, screaming. Her breath heavy, she could feel her heart beating hard against her chest like as if it were trying to escape. It took her minute to notice where she was and for real world logic to set in again. Her breathing slowing, and her heart starting to regulate, she took a minute to relax.
But as she began regaining her senses, the ache from her fists started to become apparent. The pain reminded her of the night before, and the weight of those feelings started to press against her again. She felt tears well up again, but she wiped them away. She couldn’t afford to cry again; at least not now.
She was quiet when she ate breakfast with the Gorons. They noticed pretty easily that something was up, but didn’t bother to ask; it was clear she just wanted to be with her thoughts. It was good she ate, as she had been ignoring the pain in her stomach. She wondered if she ignored hunger so often because she’s so used to being fed on a regular basis: either by the energy of the pokeball or from her trainer giving her food. She’d need to learn how to feed herself eventually. Thanking the Gorons for the meal, she solemnly made her way to the back exit, anticipating another full day of beating up a dummy.

Climbing up the mountain, she saw Medicham was meditating on rock again. She approached him.
“Medicham? I’m here for my training.” She said to him.
However, he didn’t saw a word.
“Medicham? Are you ok?”
She walked up to him and looked him in the face. He was in deep focus, cut off from the world around him. She figured she must have caught him at a bad time. She politely sat down in front of him, and waited.
Almost an hour passed and she was still waiting. Finally, his eyes suddenly flickered open.
“Welcome back,” she said.
He looked down at her, a little surprised. He blinked in a confusion, before a moment of realization came across his face.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I took so long. I was in the Astral Realm.” He said straightening himself out. Spotting Lopunny’s confusion, he continued. “That’s the world where dreams go. It’s kind of like Dream World from our universe. It’s a good place to focus and train yourself.”
She thought at first that he was making excuses for sleeping in, but then she notice a bleeding cut on his chest. He notices it to.
“Oh, looks like I got nicked a little bit in there.”
“I’ll go get help!” She yelled, jumping to her feet. However, Medicham signaled to stop her.
“That won’t be necessary. Instead, do me a small favor.” He begins, smiling. “Close your eyes, and focus on the image of me being bandaged up. Keep that up for a bit.”
Obediently, she closed her eyes and pictured him with his wound sterilized and a bandage securely in place. She opened her eye again to see that he still was bleeding.
“Try again, this time, keep focusing on it.”
She did it again, imagining that cleaned and covered up wound. She cycled that image again and again in her head, until she felt something inside her happen. She ignored the feeling and kept going, fearful that she would interrupt whatever Medicham was hoping to happen.
“You can open your eyes now.” He said.
She looked forward to see that Medicham’s wound was bandaged up. She looked confused.
“In today’s lesson, you will learn an art that only primes could know. We call it ‘summoning.’”

He walked her up the hill and into the orchard again. She looked confused at him.
“But… What about my punches? Shouldn’t we be working towards getting-” she started, but she was interrupted.
“Those will return to you in due time. This is a good lesson to learn while your hands are still recovering.” He said. “Not to mention, a far more important one considering it’s essential to your survival.”
He sat down, she followed suit.
“Now, without closing her eyes focus on your favorite food.”
She thought about those pink Pokepuffs her master used to feed her when she was younger. She imagined a full bowl of them. Suddenly, a ball of multicolored light appeared out of her. This surprised her so much, she almost lost focus, but she kept on going. She did recognize it as the ball Omni showed her when she first arrived in the Omniverse. The ball slowly took shape. It turned into the bowl of Pokepuffs, just as she had imagined.
“Primes can summon whatever they could possibly need. This an ability of all…” He said, but he stopped.
Lopunny was standing there with her mouth open, gleefully anticipating something of Medicham.
“I’m not going to feed you.” He said. She gave him a puppy-dog look. “Fine, but only once.”
He picked up one of the Pokepuffs and lifted it up to her already open mouth. She quickly munched on it right from his hand until it was all gone. She gives out a coo of pure joy.
Medicham sighs.

[Isabelle]

Lopunny and Medicham spent much of the morning practicing summoning, bringing a bunch of miscellaneous items into existence. One of the last things she summoned was a little welpling, which was oddly a lot more obedient to her than the others had been.
“Primes can summon mounts to allow them to travel more expediently through the verses.” He explained. “You’re not limited to just mounts, you can summon all sorts of lifeforms. These beings are called Secondaries, and they make up most of the people in the Omniverse.”
She thought about all the creatures she had encountered so far: the koopas, the gorons, the beats of the steppes, they were all summoned by Primes?
“Why would someone want to summon all those creatures?” She asked.
“Some want power, while others want companionship. Though most are summoned subconsciously. After all, you didn’t intend to bring Gengar here.”
She hadn’t even thought about where the ghost pokemon had come from. Did she really bring him here? Why would her subconscious do that?

Soon after that, they stopped for lunch. They ate what was left of the Pokepuffs while sipping on some tea. Lopunny however, had questions on her mind.
“How many Pokemon are in the Omniverse?” She asked.
Medicham thought for a second before responding.
“Too many to count.” He said. “Though, Pokemon primes are exceptionally rare. Almost all of them are secondaries.”
He took another sip from his tea.
“There’s some in every verse, but most of them either live on Cinnabar Island or work for the Pokemon Liberation Front.”
“Cinnabar Island sounds familiar to me for some reason.” She stated.
“That’s because it was named after an actual island in our world. It’s full of isolationist; just pokemon just wanting to live peacefully and get by.”
“And what about the Pokemon Liberation Front? Who are they?” She asked.
Medicham gave off a heavy sigh.
“Reckless and dangerous Pokemon who want to wrestle power from the humans. Their cause isn’t unfounded, but their methods are… questionable to say the least. They aren’t allies of cinnabar, so you may have to pick a side at some point.”
Lopunny looked at him quizzically.
“Why would I have to pick a side?”
Medicham laughed.
“It’s like I said, a Pokemon prime is quite rare and quite powerful. Who wouldn’t want a powerful ally on their side.”
Lopunny was quiet for a while. She didn’t quite see herself as powerful enough to warrant such attention, so she decided not to dwell on it.

However, her thoughts instead gravitated towards those secondaries. At least in her case, she was given an introduction. She imagined it being worse to get taken with no explanation at all.
“How did you come to the Omniverse?” She inquired.
Medicham was quiet for a few moments.
“My master was summoned here by some prime in the Empire. Um, by the way, that’s a human government in one of the verses. I was in my Pokeball when he came here, so I came along. Go figure.
“He was tasked with helping the empire with their Pokemon Liberation Front problem. The rest of the team and I travelled with him all over the Omniverse trying to hunt them down. That was until he decided what we were doing was wrong and quit. The empire didn’t like that at all.
“So in the end, he was locked up. He managed to let his pokemon go before he was captured and we all went our separate ways. I haven’t seen my trainer of my travel companions ever since.”
He looked a little wistful for a moment, but upon seeing the look of sheer empathy on Lopunny’s face, he smiled.
“Hey, I regret nothing. I understand now that change is a part of life and we have to adapt sometimes. That is exactly what I did. I’ve helped way more Pokemon than just you in the omniverse, some in worse off conditions than yourself. I’ve left a far greater mark on those pokemons’ lives and I owe all the experiences in my life for shaping me into the being that could accomplish that.”
He stood up.
“And change doesn’t take those memories away. I’ve created so many of them over the years. And I probably wouldn’t have had them if it weren’t for the changes in my life. The day I was brought to the Omniverse, the day I was traded ownership to my master…”
He sat down, chuckling.
“The day some trainer’s lopunny froze me with a lucky ice punch, leading to my capture.”
He took another sip from his tea. She stared at him, jaw dropped, dumbfounded. He looks over to her, and she just now notices that he has smile on his face a mile wide and a stream of tears going down his face.
“I always knew Primes made the impossible happen.” He said, choking a little bit. “But I didn’t believe it until recently. After all, I met you.”
Wiping his tears, he goes in for another sip of tea, but he is knocked for a loop when Lopunny suddenly gives him a big hug. After a moment of surprise, Medicham placed the cup carefully down, and reciprocated.

[Isabelle]

Lopunny was at breakfast when it happened.
She was amongst the rows of Gorons at the dinner table. She had her usual leafy greens while everyone else was chowing down feverishly. They must have worked up an appetite. The goron next to her was dropping a lot crumbs; every now and then, she had to pull a few pebbles out of her food. She wouldn’t be surprised if she swallowed a few tiny little stones, which will be hell to pass later.
The mail parakoopa arrived that morning. According to the gorons, they get so little mail that he only risks the trip once a week. Not surprisingly, they only got a package of rock polish, a bill for a sports magazine, and a crap ton of junk mail. Out of curiosity, she volunteered to look through the junk mail: a chain letter from some group called “Omni’s Witnesses,” some thing about insurance, coupons, and an ad for Koopio’s Pizza (lava baked to perfection!) However, as she was checking their menu to see if they had a vegetarian option, she overheard something the mail parakoopa was saying.
“Yeah, they were saying a ghost was haunting the Nexus. It even attacked a few people.” The post carrier said. “Some of the attacked people were sleeping at the time. They claimed the beast tried to eat their dreams. It is scary stuff don cha know!”
Lopunny had a moment of recognition.
“Excuse me, I’ve got to go.” She said, jolting onto her feet and dashing for the back door.

She climbed up that familiar hill. Medicham was waiting, smiling.
“Ah, I see you are eager today. Are you ready for your-” but he was interrupted.
“Medicham! Gengar is still alive!” Yelled Lopunny, “He’s attacked several people!”
His smile turned into a frown.
“Yes, so I’ve heard.” He said, a little bit of sadness in his voice.
“Those people… they’ve been hurt because of me!”
“Yes…” He responded, “…and no. It is not entirely your fault. You can’t blame yourself for this one.”
Lopunny was already a sobbing mess.
“But it’s my fault he’s here. It was because of my weakness people are getting hurt!”
“You did not choose to do this.”
“You told me I had to take responsibility for my actions. So it is my fault!”
There was silence between the two, medicham couldn’t come up with a response to his own cold stinging words coming back to bite him.
“I have to go fight him.” She stated.
“If that’s your choice. I have no right to tell you what to do.” He said, he looked her in the eyes. “But know this. If you leave the Ashen Steppes, don’t bother to come back, because I won’t be here.”
Lopunny’s eyes widen.
“I won’t be your student anymore?” Said Lopunny, her voice quivering.
“You were never my student, I’m simply a peer instructing another peer.” He said calmly. “However, I will still instruct you. I will just do it from wherever you choose to go next. The Steppes was my choice, it’s time to make yours.”
Silence befell again.
“Well, I guess this is goodbye then.” She said.
But much to her surprise, he gave her a hug.
“Good bye for now.” He said, “and good luck.”

She said goodbye to the gorons. They were weeping pebbles as she gave each one a hug. At the foot of death mountain, the gorons all stood, waving. Lopunny summoned a welpling (like the one she summoned the day before.) With one last wave, she got on the creature and took off at top speed.
She was somewhat confused as she was sure she could run faster than this creature was flying. However, at least she didn’t have to make the trip on foot again and actually going in a straight line this time was pleasant. At top speed, the other welplings weren’t as much of a problem this time around. It only took about fifteen to thirty minutes to reach the gate.
Dismounting her welpling, she took one more look around the steppes. It had only been about a week, but it felt like she had been here for months. Despite how rough it had been, she still felt a little twinge of sadness that she may never see this place again. But she remembered what had to be done. Gaining a look of determination on her face, she stepped through the gate without any hesitation.

To be continued in "The Price of Freedom" which is located in the Nexus