Like No One Ever Was

The amusement park was not the only attraction we saw in our time in Unova. We traveled all about, visiting the different cities of my father’s homeland. Occasionally, I’d know some sight or monument and feel a twinge of nostalgia and faint remembrance. Did I see these sights in my life here before I remembered my past life, or were these just images on pixels that were close enough to pull at some muddled memory?

Those thoughts caught my mind at times, but they didn’t hurt as much as they might have a year or two prior. Humans were quite adaptable, and I had grown to accept my (honestly quite comfortable) life.

One of the places we visited was one of the big film studios. My family’s connections gave us a pass wherever we wanted to go, and we got the chance to meet several stars. There were the human actors of course, but also plenty of Pokemon stars as well. Usually, those Pokemon wore some kind of accessory or would be actively filmed to help tell them apart from the other Pokemon working on the sets.

I’d been on film sets occasionally in my past life, and other than the Pokemon it worked much the same here as it did there.That alone was a big change, in terms of scripts with there being a Pokemon script for all the Pokemon watching that often had ever-so-slightly different messages for the Pokemon audience than the human one. There was also the special effects they could manage and one other obvious change. “Everyone does their own stunts?”

“Of course. Why would it be otherwise?” The director I was standing nearby answered. She had been introduced to us at the start of our tour as Director Z, and according to Cyan was a woman with a bold new style for many of her films that had won her much acclaim and criticism.

She was a short woman dressed in black jeans, a black shirt with striking long red hair, wearing a distinctive pair of glasses and had piercing light blue eyes. The cast seemed to have taken a small break from filming, while some of the actors were waiting on the sidesover their lines and memorizing their marks while they waited for another take.

“I just wondered what would happen if they got tired or the like. Some of the Pokemon aren’t battlers, but they have to do a Move over and over again as the scene gets reshot.” I pointed out to the director, though I was already piecing together where my assumptions had misled me. This isn’t like my world where you want stunt doubles trained for the action scenes. They have Pokemon and Potions that can heal most accidents that would happen on set.

“We do have understudies, if something happens to our stars, and plenty of Ethers stored up, on the offhand chance we need them. If need be we have our movie magic to fill in any holes in the production. I used to be a Special Effects manager before moving on to directing. We don’t need to make up for such things often, however. Our actors are used to long days and plenty of hard work, much like your Pokemon, trainer. Though that doesn’t excuse being sloppy with their lines!”

She said the last sentence louder and directed at an Emolga who had been running over some of his lines.

The electric-squirrel Pokemon looked sheepishly at us, saying: “Emol, olga-” before cutting off his protestations at the director’s sharp glare. He started speaking to himself again, going over the lines. While I didn’t know Emolga well enough to understand the differences between before and now, from the way the director nodded her head, I assumed that he was doing them ‘right’ now.

“I see, your illusions must come in quite handy with this work.”

I wasn’t looking directly at her, but I saw ‘Z’ stiffen out of the corner of my eye. I also must have been louder than I thought, as every head in the studio (save my family who was a bit distracted over by the makeup department) turned to face me. “Ah. Um…” Was that a secret? Should I have not said anything? Crud, abort, abort!

Before I could try and spin a plausible misdirection, the director dropped her visual illusion, revealing her true Zoroark self there. “How did you spot me?” She asked, a hint of bemusement in her voice. Ok, whew, didn’t out her.

“A couple of things. You understood Emolga very well, commented on my status as a Trainer oddly, and the lights are being moved all around.” Pointing at her shadow I said, “Your shadow moves about half a second behind the lights.” Also, your illusionary clothes make you look just like a Zoroark and your name is ‘Director Z’ for crying out loud!

“Hehehehe,” she laughed. “Good eye, young one, it will serve you well in the future.” Don’t I know it. The potential of flight is very tempting, but honestly, enhanced senses are a huge advantage as a trainer, I was really lucky with my Aura. Or did my Aura form that way as a result of my desires? So many questions.

She waved for the others to continue and took me to the side. “Were there any other questions you had for me?”

“Well, the first is, why hide your identity?”

“Some people can be overly judgemental of a Pokemon in a position usually held by humans. I trust my staff but for outsiders, I’ll don an illusion to greet them. Also, it’s fun to see if they figure it out or continue cluelessly.” Despite hearing her voice clearly as human speech, I could pick out a quiet echo of her ‘Pokespeak’ underneath, the sounds she was actually making.

“That’s some impressive illusive control,” I commented. “They can’t see what I can either?” I asked, jerking my head towards my family. She nodded. “Whoa. And you got your start in special effects?”

“I started as a Gopher when I was just a kit. Had to work my way up from the bottom after… Plasma.” I winced.

“Ouch, that sounds rough.”

“It’s fine,” she said automatically. “My trainer decided the words of a delusional fool and the public sentiment were worth more than my own desires, so I decided that she was right and maybe I didn’t need her. And I didn’t; it was hard, but look at me now - I’m a director in PokeWood studios, one of the greatest in all the world.” There was pride and sadness in her words, an old wound I’d tripped over that still hurt.

“Yeah, you have.” Silence reigned awkwardly for a minute before I bowed. “Thank you for giving us this tour. I’m looking forward to seeing the film when it comes out.” I thought ‘A Dance among the Heavens’ was a bit overblown as a name and romance wasn’t my favorite genre, but I was still interested to see it now. Much like machines, it’s fascinating to get a look underneath the finished product and see how it all looks and compare the two.

“It was no problem. I’m looking forward to seeing your career as well. Dun has already become quite a hit online.”

“Really?” I guess people were recording the match, but I didn’t think it’d be anything that special.

“Oh yes, it was quite the stir. A little girl defeating a Gym Leader? And in a serious battle? That doesn’t happen every day.” I nodded the reasoning making sense, and a few more pieces clicked into place as to why people might have been paying so much attention to Dun that was deeper than just ‘rare Pokemon from another region’. “Plus,” she added “He is quite photogenic.”

“Thanks, but I don’t think he’s looking to get into cinema any time soon.” I said, and she pulled her teeth back in a facsimile of a smile that seemed to say ‘That’s so adorable’.

“Not what I meant, but if you do ever feel the desire to be on the big screen, give my people a call.” She pulled out a business card hidden within her fur and passed it to me.

Feel like I missed something there, but oh well. “Thanks,” I took the card, holding it up to Miles to enter in the contact info. Soon after that, I rejoined my family and we continued our tour of the studios.

***

“You sure about this?” The pilot asked me for the umpteenth time. I wasn’t annoyed, however; there was no room for that with the nervousness and excitement building up within me.

“I’m sure.” Cyan had gone with my parents to a fashion show by Elesa and I hadn’t really felt like going to that, so now I had the free time to try out my experiment.

“Alright, strap in until we tell you it’s safe.” She headed to the cockpit leaving me sitting in the passenger section of our jet. Shortly thereafter, I felt the plane begin to lift off, and I closed my eyes, trying to meditate.

Feel the air around me, feel the rise, the essence of flight. It’s all around me, and all around the world. Types are fundamental building blocks of the world, literally. Each one is inscribed on a Plate somewhere, connected to the Creator. Pokemon feel and use this Type through Aura. I can use Aura. I am one with the Flying and the Flying is one with me? Scratch that, come up with a better mantra.

The ride up felt so enjoyable and peaceful that I got the announcement we had reached cruising altitude in what felt like a very short time. Not that we were going to be cruising, per se. The seatbelt light was still firmly on as, after making sure there wasn’t too much turbulence in the sky, we began lifting again, until eventually…

“We’re beginning our first zero gravity section, you may take your seatbelt off. Go nuts,” the voice came out and I unbuckled, throwing myself into the air. Even before the captain had said it, I could feel the sensation of weightlessness throughout my body. Hanging slowly in the air, I somersaulted through the empty air in the plane, giggling uncontrollably.

“Having fun, bzzt?” Miles asked, bemused as they recorded my first moments in zero gravity.

“This. Is. Awesome!” I shouted, spinning around like a leaf in the air. I had gotten the idea from a music video I had watched in my former life, how they had made it by clipping together pieces of when the plane was flying down to let the band float around as they sang. And now I can do it too, this is great!

For a moment, a split second, I felt an energy soar inside of me that I’d felt clearly just once before. No mere bliss, like a crystal clear elation that made everything sharper. As I drifted about I tried to grab it closer, study the energy within me further… only for it to escape me. Even up here, like this? No, I can’t get discouraged, gotta try again.

When I had flown for the first time, the despair and confusion as I fell turned to indescribable joy as I floated to the ground, I’d felt on top of the world. Further attempts on that hill had failed, and I started to get discouraged, wondering if it was a fluke, or what the point was. There’s no failure here though. Whether I make a breakthrough or not, this is awesome. I’ll just keep on trying and having fun.

Any immediate attempts to try again were shut down, however, by the captain flipping on the seatbelt sign again indicating the dive time was over and we were going back down. Flipping around, I kicked off of the ceiling and dived through the air and back into my seat, just as gravity took hold extra hard.

For every chunk of time we had in the top of the parabola, there were periods of 'extra' gravity in the lifts and dives. Then a few minutes where the plane leveled out before trying again. This gave me time to strategize my approach for each segment (as well as just revel in how cool it was).

Should I focus on an attempt to do something with the energy? Maybe instead of just trying to hold it, especially in zero-g where I’m already floating, I should try to use it. Moving the air gently around the cabin seems like a good start.

The next zero-g section we went into, I lifted myself and tried to swirl the air around me. For nearly the whole thirty seconds I peacefully drifted, but… Nothing. Can’t feel it this time. Next time- no, I think I’m missing something in my method here.

Settling back down, I waited again, deciding the next time not to bother with trying to hold onto or use my Aura at all, not even to focus on sensing it. I’m just going to have some fun. There was plenty of fun to be had, bouncing off the walls, spinning through the air, and just enjoying the moment.

“Bzzt, what was your goal that time?” Miles inquired, seeming confused by my methodology.

“Nothing! Just enjoying the moment.” I wish I could have Dudunsparce out here with me as well. The pilots had put a strict kibosh on that, even with us promising that he wouldn’t use any Moves. Unfortunately, his new size just made them too leery of the prospect. Given all the waivers I had to sign, I think they were pretty nervous about just me doing this.

“I was able to feel my Aura three times that go-round,” I added, causing Miles to literally drop their jaw (they could shift the plasmic projection of a mouth downwards while keeping their eyes in one spot).

“That’s excellent, Nemona bzzt!”

“Yup!” I said brightly. “I think I’m starting to see where my problem was before. Flying is an element of freedom. Trying to grab a hold of it like that wasn’t working, I need to just... exist in a state of it.” Easier said than done, admittedly. Even just trying to actively sense my Aura can make it slip away, so sometimes I can’t even sense it. And I do need to find a way to be able to sense my energy properly. Luckily, I’ve got a few hours to practice here.

***

There was plenty of trial and error over the remaining few hours. I tried being still, and I moved about. There were moments when my Aura seemed to burn like a beacon, times when I would be on the cusp, noticing it in sputters, and times when I couldn't feel anything at all. I meditated thinking of nothing at all, I tried to think of everything. I played music, I danced, I even shadow-boxed against Miles to see if I could reach it through a ‘fighting spirit.’ Most of all, I played, just luxuriating in the feeling of weightlessness, freedom from the gravity binding me to the earth so very far below.

I did the last one the most because it proved to be the best at letting me get a sense of my Aura. As our flight was coming to an end and we began our descent, I found I could keep a good sense of my Aura, even while just chatting with Miles.

“It’s not steady, there are still times when I lose focus or focus too hard and it slips up, but I have a way better grasp on it now. I can actively feel my Aura enhancing my vision and hearing now, and can tell it’s always been doing that.” It made me wonder if I could turn it off, or crank it up, to see and hear things even further away. That’s definitely experimentation for another day, though. I’ll wait to talk to Tulip before trying anything like that.

“Bzzt, that’s super impressive Nemona! You’re a prodigy at training yourself as well as others.” They commented and I laughed.

“Not sure about that. Today has been awesome, a huge breakthrough, but I’m only doing so well because of all the practice I had before. It feels like everything I learned then is finally clicking into place.”

Focusing so much on ‘training’ my Aura had been getting in my way. It was clear now that trying to force myself to be able to use my Aura had been an obstacle in and of itself. I believed I wasn’t ‘getting it’ fast enough, and so pushed myself for months on end unnecessarily - no, counterproductively. I feel like there’s maybe a lesson there for my life in general… Not for training Pokemon perhaps, I believed myself to have a decent grasp on the limits there and never got frustrated at the rate of my team's growth, but other things. Like my musical lessons.

Why did I even push myself so hard? My Pokemon can do so much more naturally. I mean yes, Aura is cool. It’s superpowers, how could it not be? My mind flashed back to scenes of fiction from my life. I’d always adored superheroes; there was a reason why Spider-man was one of the first pieces of fiction I wished to recreate. Right, not a training goal, but a desire…

Glancing out the window I saw that we were nearing the ground, just about to land. Quickly I flicked off my seat belt, prompting a slightly nervous buzz from Miles. “Nemona, what are you doing, bzzt?”

“What I want.” This isn’t a ‘need’, just a pure desire. The joy of flight. This has been so much fun, and even if this isn’t smart or I could wait, I don’t want to. I want to fly. Right before we touched down, I jumped, pushing myself out of my seat and into the aisleway. Immediately I felt gravity trying to push me down, but there was a stronger force fighting against that within me.

I didn’t need to ‘reach out’ or ‘grasp it’ because it was one with me. Spirit and body were aligned for a single purpose. So as the plane hit the ground, I did not, floating above the floor.

There wasn’t much time to celebrate, however, as unmooring myself from gravity meant that the plane was still barreling ahead as the wheels rolled on the tarmac and I… was not. The back end of the plane raced up to reach me, Miles giving a panicked cry as I forced myself forward. Not just floating, flying ahead too! Keep pace with the plane like Miles does instinctively with his Ability!

I was panicking, passing through the curtains towards the restroom and very near the tail end of the plane. The rate at which it was getting closer was slowing down, but still increasing, and I punched my arm out as if reaching towards where I wanted to go would help me. Wait, it… it might. Straightening out my body I adopted a Superman pose, the iconic image helping me fly forward.

Passing back through the curtains, I began gaining ground, my efforts, combined with the plane slowing down let me gently drift back towards my seat. Miles was stuck, floating there and looking at me with awe. “Y-you…”

As the plane came to a full stop, I shifted my body back upright, landing down gracefully. “Yatta! I did it!” I exclaimed, throwing my arms up in the air.

Before I had time to revel too greatly in my success, spots started swarming in my vision and I felt myself getting dizzy. “Whoa, what’s going on-” Then darkness took me.