Only a few hours pass after the encounter with the Butterfree hoard, and nothing else seems out of place. Yanma flies around and investigates small groups of sleeping Caterpie and Weedle, secretly searching for the absolute most perfect berry. Without realizing, however, Yanma bumps headfirst into a Pidgey nest- knocking it off the branch it was resting on.
Tass barely sees the nest fall, being cascaded by shadows made by the early evening sun. The bundle of twigs hit the loose dirt and shatters on impact. Out of the nest flies out a single Pidgey. A very upset Pidgey. The Pidgey glares at Tass, chirping angrily under its breath.
Without warning, the Pidgey charges Tass and knocks her to the ground. Her head hits the dirt and bounces just a little, making her vision grow the smallest bit blurry.
"Ugghhh...c'mon man, it was an accident," Tass groans, sitting up and holding the back of her head. She looks up just in time to dodge another oncoming charge, only this time the Pidgey meant to strike with its wing. Tass rolls to the right just as a small bush behind her gets its leaves blown off, and she crouches under Yanma, who readies itself for a fight.
"Okay Yanma, let's stay calm. Tackle and Wing Attack so far, nothing out of the ordinary, right?" Tass assures herself. "Ready to see what we can do? I know we just started today, but no time like the present!"
Yanma nods and shrieks, flying directly towards the Pidgey who just pulled itself out a tangle of leaves and twigs. "Tackle, Yanma!" Tass yells, and Yanma obliges. In a flash, Yanma slams its whole body into the Pidgey, sending both Pokemon flying back into the foliage on the ground.
Pidgey moves first, but only by a second. It responds with a sharp jab from its beak, causing Yanma to shriek again and fly towards Tass- only for it to turn back around and prepare itself again- with determination across its brow.
"Good, but a little more control next time buddy," Tass smiles nervously. "Let's see what else we got...Yanma, Quick Attack!"
On command, Yanma darts around the battlefield. In a circle around the Pidgey, Yanma gains incredible speed and maintains control over its flight. Pidgey growls and brings its wings close to its chest, inhaling slowly. Before Tass could recognize what's happening, Pidgey flings its wings wide open and send a powerful gust of wind forward.
"YANMA! LOOK OUT!"
The Gust forces the trees in front of the Pidgey to lean back, sending surrounding bug Pokemon and various foliage flying into the distance. Pidgey looks proud, grinning smugly at Tass as if saying, "That's all?"
Tass grits her teeth and glares at Pidgey, knuckles turning pale. But before she could do anything, Yanma suddenly appears and swipes Pidgey with its wings- forcing it back a little less than a meter. Pidgey shakes its head and forces a scowl, locking eyes with Yanma who had already returned to Tass' side.
Tass takes a deep breath and calms herself, "I'm sorry, Yanma. I'll never doubt you again. Now let's hurry up, the sun is setting faster and faster."
Yanma nods and revs its wings, making a warbling noise as its body begins to shake rapidly. Tass looks confused for a second but realizes what's happening and follows Yanma's lead. "Yanma, Double Team then Quick Attack!"
Yanma quickly darts around the area, so blindingly fast that it creates afterimages. Pidgey tries to focus on the real Yanma, but it can't look around fast enough! Soon enough, it completely loses sight of the original and sees itself surrounded by more than 30 Yanma. Pidgey attempts to charge up another Gust, but before it can, Yanma swipes it with its wings again. Pidgey stumbles but keeps upright. However, Yanma flies past and swipes at it again. And again. And again.
Soon enough, Pidgey is getting pelted by nigh invisible wings, kicks, and headbutts from every direction. Not enough time to attack, not enough time to dodge. Yanma, after more than 30 seconds of mind-numbing speed, finally stops and plants its legs into a nearby tree trunk. Pidgey finally catches Yanma with its eye and immediately launches forward with glowing wings.
"That's Wing Attack, Yanma! Dodge and counterattack!" Tass yells out. As the Pidgey nears, Yanma pushes off the tree as hard as it can.
Can't miss in a straight line
Yanma rolls in the air, tucking its wings and legs against its body and spinning as fast it can. Tass' eyes grow wide and bright with excitement. Time for Yanma seems to slow down for a moment. Pidgey notices far too late what's happening and can't change course.
Like a high-speed arrow, Yanma uses Quick Attack to torpedo itself forward. Instead of making contact with any part of Pidgey's wings, Yanma's bulbous head strikes Pidgey directly above its eyes. In the fraction of a second, the wild Pidgey is sent careening backwards, tumbling against the wind as a shockwave sends leaves and grass into the air.
The Pidgey slams into a tree roughly 15 meters back and hits the ground with a thump. Yanma lands roughly on the ground a few feet from Tass, breathing a bit heavy and covered in bruises. Tass scoops Yanma into her arms and rubs its head softly.
"Good job buddy, I don't know where I'd be without you. Thank you so much," Tass sniffles. She smiles down at Yanma, and Yanma peers back up at her- giving a little smile. "You ready to get to town?" she hums, standing slowly. Tass walks forward with a gentle gait, making sure not to move Yanma around too much.
"That was a battle, huh?" Tass says to herself as she walks past the Pidgey. She isn't sure if it's dead, but she doesn't think it could've survived such an attack. She stops and pauses, contemplating. "I've wasted too much time messing around the forest. I might get to town in time, but if I don't, I'll be stuck in the middle of a black forest surrounded by wild Pokemon..."
She glances down at Yanma, then to the Pidgey, then back at Yanma. "You...don't eat meat, do you?" She asks. Yanma tilts its head, then looks at the Pidgey. Then back to Tass. Yanma shakes its head and weakly points a leg towards a berry dangling slowly above.
"Oh duh, what am I thinking. But then..." Tass' stomach growls. She slowly moves her eyes towards the Pidgey on the ground. Crimson blood slowly leaks from all over its body and mixes with the dirt below. "I haven't eaten at all today..."
Tass reaches out a hand, but suddenly jerks her hand back. "Why do I feel...bad? I eat meat all the time. The hunters come back with Tauros and Miltank meat almost every day. We grill Magikarp. Why does this..." She crouches and carefully inspects the Pidgey.
"Why does this feel so wrong? Cause I did it myself? That's silly, right? I mean, everything needs to eat. And I need meat to survive. So, I guess I just..." Tass carefully lifts the Pidgey by one of its wings. As she guessed, it passed away from the battle.
Tass takes a deep breath and sighs, grabbing a few sticks and large fallen branches from around the area. She wraps the Pidgey in leaves and rests it inside of her burlap bag. After 10 minutes or so, Tass has rough campfire supplies. Yanma, already resting on the grass, munches quickly on a large Oran Berry. In no time at all, Yanma springs back up and flies quickly around Tass.
"Good! I'm happy to see you feeling better, buddy! Before tomorrow, we need to come up with some strategies and combination moves. Now, can you help me find some rocks? We need to surround a campfire with them, so the fire doesn't spread...I think?" Tass questions. "Uggghhh, Hust would know this. Of course, he can hardly spell his own name, but I don't know anyone better at surviving in the wild."
Tass looks up at the sky, just as the sun starts its final descent behind Dark Cave. "Come on, Yanma. Help me find somewhere to shelter for the night. And don't forget the rocks!" Yanma doesn't waste a second. In the blink of an eyes, Yanma darts through the surrounding trees. Weaving in and out of branches, flying to and fro, Yanma scans the entire surrounding area.
After a few minutes, Yanma lands solidly in front of Tass and stands proud, pointing one of its legs South-East. "Wait...Back the way we came? We missed something?" Tass waves a hand forward, and Yanma takes the lead. Taking care to stay in the increasing shadows of the trees, Tass and Yanma make their way. Just as the sun leaves their view, Yanma buzzes excitedly and grabs Tass' hand with 2 legs.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Tass laughs, grabbing hold of her burlap back so it doesn't fall off her shoulders. As they break through the tree line, Tass sees a small clearing; A slightly shallow but wide cave sits in the stone, and surrounding the entrance is a collection of berry bushes with a small stream running just a few meters away.
Tass jumps into the air and yells out, "FUCK YEAH, YANMA!" as she pumps her fists in front of her. Yanma uses Double Team to create afterimages, placing them around Tass as she celebrates, and begins flying around her. It takes a moment, but when Tass sees it, her mouth opens slightly and her eyes shine.
The sun had just set, and the stars finally showed themselves. Yanma and the afterimages surround Tass, swirling like a whirlpool, all buzzing and humming a strange melody. As the Yanma tilt to form a funnel, the light from the stars bounces off each wing and form a spectacular show of glistening lights and rainbow rays.
Because of the way they're circling, the Yanma clones drown Tass in a cyclone of radiance and sparkles. The light bounces its way out of the funnel and screams into the sky. Far and wide, Pokemon and people alike look over the tree line and see little glimpses in the night sky. For a while, Yanma and Tass dance around the newly lit bonfire.
Hours pass, and the 2-person party finally dies down. Yanma is deep asleep, but Tass sits and writes in her notebook, scribbling away in the firelight, grinning madly to herself.
One by one, I'll log them all. Never again will we be caught by surprise. Never again will I lose my-
PIDGEY
FLYING/NORMAL(?)
<1 METER, ROUGHLY 30 CM
SMALL BROWN AND YELLOW BIRD, LIGHT IN BUILD
NOTES: DEFENSIVE AND SMUG. PROTECTS NEST WITH LIFE, POWERFUL WINGS ALLOW FOR STRONG GUSTS OF WIND AND SOLID STRIKES, BEAK IS SHORT AND BROAD FOR JABBING STRIKES
As she finishes her entry, Tass lets loose a heavy yawn and lays back, resting her head on her bag. Yanma slowly crawls over, waking for just a moment, and curls up against Tass. She takes a deep breath in, then out, and closes her eyes.
I took a life for the first time. I'm just like every other life form. I need to survive. I'm not special. I'm just a human. And today, I proved myself capable.
Tomorrow, I'll have to do it again.
And again.
And again.