Chapter 31

Lane didn't get nearly as much sleep as she would've hoped for that night, considering what was waiting for them in the morning. But Elisa obviously needed a simpler kind of support. There was no way she wouldn't be there for her, even if it made her a little weaker tomorrow.

Besides, there was Cedar's other instructions lingering in her mind, keeping her awake even after Elisa finally stopped squirming. She couldn't make the trip as herself, or else invoke the wrath of enemies she could not understand, let alone fight.

We've learned more about legendary Pokémon in a few weeks than the scientific minds of the entire world have learned in a century. If Lane lived through this, maybe she'd be the one giving lectures at university conferences.

Or maybe she'd just be the first one to get killed on the road to progress.

If she wanted to survive her trip, there was a single obvious task for her to perform. She needed to copy Elisa.

In some ways, the power was what had first interested her in mew, when she was still a child. Mew were like ditto, but they didn't imitate. They understood all species, they learned all moves. That made them more powerful than any Pokémon alive, no matter what Cedar said about them.

But just because they were capable on paper didn't mean Lane could actually do it. For at least an hour she stared at Elisa, willing it to happen. Her girlfriend was about the same size, and not particularly big or strong. Changing into something so similar should be easy. She even had a living model to work with, instead of needing to stretch her imagination as she apparently could.

It was only when the last gasps of moonlight had faded and the sky began to turn orange that Lane finally felt something. A distant longing, straining towards the light at the window. Maybe she was going about this all wrong. It wasn't about changing, exactly. It was about understanding what it meant to be something else.

The stiff breeze through their meadow, the endless red flowers, and trickle of pure meltwater streams. The sun on her back, and the simple contentment in knowing that she was living her purpose, even if that purpose was a humble one. Elisa was wrong to mock shaymin, and not just because their rumored powers were simple.

They didn't need to make the world tremble and crush mountains to be doing something worthwhile. In that moment, Lane understood them in a way she hadn't the night before. Of course they wouldn't live inside—that was stupid. The world was out there, the soil and wind and wonderful sunlight. This was a dry, suffocating prison.

Something smacked up against the window, prying it open the rest of the way. Cedar gripped the ratty screen in his mouth, tearing it away. "Night's over. Time to fly while it's light."

He squeezed in through the opening, prying the window a little too far off the wall. It strained, then cracked, swinging out over nothing.

He landed in front of them, grinning down at Lane. "Well look at that, firstborn. Kittens really can do tricks." He bent down, nuzzling her leafy back.

It was at that moment she knew she'd succeeded. She wasn't floating anymore. But it also didn't seem like she actually needed to float. She stood on four stubby legs, and when she spoke her voice squeaked like Elisa's. "We're flying, right! I don't want to be carried!"

"Speak for yourself," Elisa grunted, sitting up. "I don't know how to fly.

Where would I have learned that?" Then she saw Lane, and her mouth fell open. "Sweet Arceus you did it. H-how?"

Lane shrugged, a miniscule gesture on such a small body. But with Elisa so close, she would see.

"If your mate doesn't want to fly, you can carry her," Cedar said, interrupting them. "But it's not very fun to ride. She should fly too."

"I don't know how," she said. "You saw me… I was human yesterday, no thanks to you guys. I didn't learn how to fly crawling around and wishing I was tall."

"Hmm." Cedar shrugged. "That might make sense. Humans do have to learn basic things. But the firstborn knows already. She just needs some help."

He bent down, gesturing to his back. "Climb up, kitten. I'll take you to the flowers, then you can fly back for your mate."

It was easier said than done. Lane scrambled for a few seconds, tiny legs struggling for grip. But being so small had given her plenty of practice climbing her way around. Eventually she was up on the shaymin's back, holding on as best she could.

"Stay put, it's close," Cedar said. Then they were up, through the open window, and soaring down to the field. Already the air was thick with green and white bodies, dozens and dozens of them now. They all looked like Cedar, and from the way they moved, had apparently started playing in the air above.

Lane squealed at the air whipping around her, feeling suddenly small and helpless. She didn't have opposable thumbs, or any easy way to hold on while they flew. It was all she could do to keep from falling until they finally landed again.

"Are you afraid of heights, Lane?" Cedar asked, his voice back to the infuriating smugness of the day before. "I thought you lived in the sky."

"I'm not afraid," she argued, sticking her tongue out. "I'm just… it's easy not to be afraid when you can fly. If I fell off, I'd just fall."

"If you fell off, I'd catch you." Cedar tilted his shoulder, dislodging her to tumble to the ground in front of an oversized shrub.

"This part is easy. You don't have to learn how to change, really. Just find a flower, and get some of what's inside. You'll see."

It wasn't much of a search, they were all the same kind. Which makes sense. If I needed some raw materials to fly I would want to keep them close too. Lane hobbled over to one of the biggest, most inviting-looking flowers, sticking her head up into the opening.

The flower was plenty big enough for her, with a smell sweeter than anything she'd tasted in weeks. Maybe Dominic had been onto something with flowers after all.

As the pollen dusted up against her face, Lane felt strange. She yanked her head free, just fast enough to stop from tearing the flower apart. Her stubby legs were growing, her body lengthening and stretching. She didn't have to think about it, or concentrate—it just happened.

"There," Cedar declared, patting her on the shoulder with a paw. "The stories about your powers are true. Now that I see you, I think I like you better in ground forme. You seem more like a ground than a sky. But maybe that's because you're a kitten. I know firstborn do that differently than the rest of us."

Lane tilted her head to the side, trying to make sense of what Cedar had just said. It seemed to have meaning, though even understanding the words meant nothing for the context. With her connection to his mind, it might've made sense. But she didn't have that anymore. "I don't know what that means."

Lane covered her mouth, gasping at the words. They no longer sounded high and squeaky. If anything, it was probably the closest to her human self she'd ever sounded. Almost… "What… am I a guy again?" She lifted one leg, with far less tact than she would've had prior to spending weeks with Korina.

Lane was male again, all right. In fact, it seemed that all these flying foxes were male. "Fuck me." He slumped onto his haunches, head spinning. Did he actually feel embarrassed about it? That only cut his confidence even more.

"Ground for sure." Cedar patted him on the back again, then pointed up into the air. "Get your mate. Sun's about to rise. When it does, clan moves. You promised."

If Elisa stays this way, this is going to get even more confusing. Lane lifted into the air, zipping upward with a rush of wind and arcing parabola that he hadn't been expecting. He spun wildly for a few seconds, before correcting himself, and turning towards the old house.

It wasn't anything like flying as herself. But learning to understand shaymin somehow meant understanding how they flew, too. How he could learn that by copying one who couldn't fly, he would try not to think about, just like the other things he was trying very hard not to think about right now.

But just because he could somehow still take off didn't mean that he knew what he was doing. Lane stumbled and smacked into the wall on his way in, sliding roughly down the wood before landing ungracefully in the blankets.

"Alright, I got it! I'm okay! I didn't squish you, did it?"

Elisa appeared in the doorway. How she'd opened it in Lane's absence was impossible to know for sure, but it might have something to do with the lopunny that wasn't there anymore. "You're back. And… damn, you're as big as that annoying one."

"Sure am," he said, trying to muster his enthusiasm. "We should probably figure something out to do to carry you if you're gonna ride. It's hard to hold on when the Pokémon knows what they're doing, and I definitely don't."

They searched for a few moments, until Elisa pointed up at an old bag hanging from the wall. A purse, maybe? Its color had faded in the sun until it was a sickly yellow, but the straps looked sturdy enough. Lane secured it over his shoulder, then bent down so Elisa could climb inside.

"You smell different," she said, scampering into the opening.

Lane deposited the pokéball beside her with his mouth. "Yeah. So turns out mew aren't the only ones who get weird with biology. I'm trying to decide if I'm happy about this or not."

He lifted up again, banging his bare side into the wall, careful to avoid smacking Elisa into it instead. Then they were out, flying unsteadily up into the air. Lane couldn’t see it, but he could smell a thick trail in the air, leading to the crowd of foxes. He didn't need a promise to make sure he would be part of this. He wanted to be part of it. Wherever so many shaymin were going had to be a nice place.

Elisa poked her head out the opening, looking out at the crowd as they flew. "Are you sure this is safe? I don't feel very safe in here!"

"We could try to find you a pokéball," Lane suggested. "I think? I don't know if it would work on you. Do you think it could tell that you're human?"

"No," she said, head vanishing into the cloth. Her voice was still audible, possibly thanks to Lane's oversized ears. "I'm no longer curious about what Pokémon feel like when they're inside. Forget that crap."

Cedar zipped past him, waving one paw. "Stay with us, kitten Lane! We fly until sundown. Do you feel strong enough for that?"

"No," he answered. "But I guess I'll find out if I can do that."

"You'll be fine," Cedar nudged him, then kept right on flying, circling him once, then shooting to the front of the group.

Almost as one, the flock of legendary Pokémon shot forward, towards heights Lane had only ever visited briefly aboard commercial aircraft.

He had no choice but to follow.