I knew what to expect. Underwater. Unable to breathe. Swimming desperately upward to the surface to try to return back home. Back to my team. But I couldn’t.
I inhaled water after my lungs were at the edge of exploding, dooming myself as I let the cold seawater in. Yet again, I was unable to return no matter how hard I tried, slowed by this Eevee body and dragged away from the storm above by an unknown force. Yet again, everything faded to black.
I awoke with a start and looked around me. The below-deck part of the ship was definitely dark, but since I only saw Arimis sleeping with Pirth and Althi nowhere to be found, I decided to head up to the top deck to see where everyone was. To my surprise, I found the rest of the team sitting in a circle by one of the masts, eating berries. I hurriedly joined them and was greeted with a “just in time, d’Alin! I was going to have Althi go and wake you, but now that you’re here we can begin discussing our upcoming mission.”
“What about Arimis? Shouldn’t we wait for her?”
Garchomp glanced at Starmie, who through my thoughts said I talked with Arimis and she explained that, though she’s new to being on a rescue team, she has experience in combat and knowledge of the field. I’d say let her get some sleep.
I nodded and sat down, stuffing my mouth with berries. But a thought stuck, and I asked, “hold on, I know we’re on a ship but I always thought that the Lapras Ferry was, well, ridden on a Lapras.”
With his mouth stuffed with berries Garchomp said, “Well mate, you’re not wrong. Y’see, most of the ferries are just Larpases, but they also built ships some time ago. If I remember correctly, some Pokemon which wanted to travel between continents were just too damn heavy for a Lapras, so they have a small fleet of these ships. They’re also more efficient for trade between continents, I suppose.”
He paused for a moment then continued, “also, piracy is on the rise. There’s already infamous captains like Nines and Ironjaw, and a lone Lapras has trouble fighting against a whole ship, so this is something of an answer.”
“I have another question, Garchomp,” said Althi.
“Shoot,” he responded, still eating berries.
“Why are your eyes different?”
This question caught me off guard and I glanced at Garchomp, whose eyes weren’t the yellow I recalled the Pokemon having, but rather purple with a black pupil. I was surprised I hadn’t noticed it until now.
Garchomp only laughed. “Well,” he started, “my mum was a Selazzle who was actually an explorer… she’s who inspired me to join the Federation in the first place. Well, she rescued a Garchomp who had gotten trapped in a dungeon, and the rest is history. Though, the more I see Selazzles around the more I know that my pa is a really freaky guy. Anyways, I wound up a Garchomp but got my mum’s eyes. And her sense of adventure, too, since I followed in her footsteps. Hell, she even taught me a few tricks.”
“Like what?”
Starmie interjected, saying, %crimson%“I know they’re our trainees, Garchomp, but you shouldn’t just go and reveal your ‘ace’ to everybody, the fact that it’s a rumor is bad already,” interjected Starmie. Even though it was impossible to read her nonexistent face, it was clear that this was something she had talked to him about again and again.
Garchomp only laughed. “Ain’t you right. Sorry, Althi, maybe you’ll see it, but let’s hope you don’t have to. It’s a pretty dangerous technique.”
We quickly moved on, with Garchomp continuing to explain to us how to identify seeds, techniques to flash through dungeons, and finally how a team should operate.
“A good team,” he said, “consists of different niches. Specialties. See, look at Starmie and I. I’m admittedly pretty callous so I focus on clearing floors, so my specialty is combat. Starmie here takes care of everything esle. Whenever we need to detect rifts or, more often, we find the Pokemon that needs rescuing, Starmie will be the one to ensure they’re alright, protect them with screens, what have you.
%crimson% But I can fight, I just don’t like to. I prefer to protect.
“Oh of course, and fight you do. In dire situations like in a monster house - that’s when the dungeon pools up its energy to summon a horde of ferals - I use my secret technique to clear the room. But if I’m exhausted from it, then I’ll call on Starmie to help.”
The conversation continued, and though Althi tried many times to get Garchomp to reveal his “technique,” it was met with failure, since Starmie would always tell Garchomp to “shut up” when he was on the verge of diverging it. Arimis soon joined us, and at that point the conversation shifted to what we should expect to do upon making port.
Garchomp asked his partner, “Starmie, what do you think?”
*The winds were nowhere as good as you told Team Eevee, Gar. We’ll be able to debark at dawn, as was expected, at this she gave a glance at Garchomp, who only smiled sheepishly, so we can drop our belongings off at the Guild we’ll be staying at and take these four to a nearby dungeon to assess them. See if they’re able to go on our mission.*
Garchomp turned to us. “You heard the boss! Orders are to sleep up so we mosey on out first thing in the morning. Now, where was I…”
The sun was setting and I was quite tired as Garchomp bid everyone farewell and went to talk to Starmie on his own. Pirth and Althi, in their own conversation, went below deck. Arimis simply stood and looked over the side of the ship. Not needing to interpret for her, I walked further down the deck and watched the setting sun.
I wasn’t tired only because of the incessant drilling Garchomp made us go through on “how to walk in formation” with us parading around the deck, much to my chagrin, but that certainly didn’t help. I mean, I expected Pirth to screw up walking, but he’s got excellent ears, I thought, if only Althi was capable of listening.* Not literally, of course, but over and over again she’d hurriedly walk in front of Starmie and Garchomp, making us start from scratch. Over. And. Over.
No, I was tired because of the things on my mind: what Garchomp mentioned about humans, my body, and my impending sleep.
About humans, when I mentioned that I’d heard about them, his response was simple: according to the Federation, their very existence meant trouble. He relayed to us what he and Starmie were briefed back in Water Continent, about how the narrowly-avoided temporal disaster years ago was caused by humans - they’re not a myth, but exceedingly rare - entering the world, that they caused nothing but trouble for the Federation, with Garchomp mentioning something about a forest burning down and something about linking them to rifts - breaks in time and space that, though uncommon, could apparently lead to major disasters.
Though he said all this half-heartedly, I didn’t know if it was because it was the typical Federation-mandated response or if he was tired after all the drilling. Either way, I had shared a glance with Arimis who gave me a look of concern mixed with pity, but said nothing.
At this, my thoughts shifted to myself. The whole time I’ve been here, as an Eevee, went by so fast that I didn’t have any time for myself to digest anything.
I’m an Eevee, I thought to myself matter-of-factly. A pang of fear struck me. This, all of this, was actually real. This couldn’t possibly be a dream. Somehow, I thought, I was actually transported to this world.
Not only that, but it felt… strange, this new body. Having a tail, feeling a constant anxiety - apparently Eevees were known for running away, according to Garchomp, so we’d just have to be extra strong-willed to not do that - and walking on all fours.
Realizing I was sitting like a dog while watching the sunset, I raised myself onto my hind legs and threw my forepaws onto the railing. It deeply bothered me that standing upright felt so unnatural in this body.
Fuck it, I’ll get used to it. There is no way I am going to be treading around on all fours like an animal. Sure, there were worst things to be transformed into - hell, I could’ve been a Pineco or something - but I did not want to walk on all fours. If I was to retain any connection I had to humanity, it was that I would try to walk upright.
My thoughts then shifted to my dream. There was my ticket out, but I knew what was coming, and it seemed the dreams only worsened. Was it the fear I had by nature of me being an Eevee? Partially, I thought, I mean, who wants to dream of suffocating over and over again?
I knew in order to return I’d have to face the dream. I shifted my attention to Arimis, who was also looking at the sunset, albeit on the main deck and not on the raised deck where I was, by the captain’s wheel. Maybe some other night, once I’m more used to this body, I’ll try to return, I told myself as I let go of the railing and, still on my hind legs, took one step towards Arimis, then another, then-
I tripped and tumbled down the stairs, landing with a solid thud that, unsurprisingly, got Arimis’ attention.
d’Alin! Are you alright? I heard in my mind as she rushed over to me.
“Yeah, I’m alright, thanks for your concern Arimis. Hey, I was wondering… do you think-”
Do you wish for me to calm your mind while you sleep?
“I thought I didn’t ask you to read my mind.”
I didn’t d’Alin. It was quite obvious when you were beginning to ask me for something, and there was only one thing I had offered to you. She looked away despondently and I heard in my mind, I’m sorry d’Alin, for reading your mind once without your permission. I did say I wouldn’t do it again...
I looked at her and saw her eyes watering. Crap, now I’ve made her sad. “It’s no problem, Arimis, I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions. I’m tired and, especially after hearing what Garchomp said about humans, as much as I want to go back I am already dreading sleep as-is and I wouldn’t be able to make it. I just want to rest, not worrying about drowning again.”
All I got was a solemn nod from Arimis, who was still hurt by the accusation. You don’t normally dream until the latter half of the night, so I’ll be sure to be there then. Goodnight.
I should leave her be. I already apologized, I told myself. Before heading below deck to rest, I turned back and saw the quickly-setting sun reflecting in Arimis’ eyes, and I resolved to myself that I’d make sure to not try to offend her again.
I was once again floating underwater, weightless, seeing the storm rage above me, though it didn’t seem as strong as before, almost as if it had subsided. Almost. But I’m here, I realized, with fear welling within me, *I’m here and I am going to be fated to drown and-”
My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden feeling of serenity that enveloped me, a warm pink-and-purple blanket that removed me from the stormy ocean entirely, beaconing me to relax. So calm was that moment that it felt like I was blacking out from the dream once again, but this time not in disappointment that I was unable to reach the ship, but rather in a soothing embrace that was so comfortable I couldn't help but fall back asleep, even if I was already dreaming.
I slowly opened my eyes as I woke and noticed that I was still lying on Pirth, with Althi resting beside me curled up in a ball. I glanced forward and saw Arimis looking at me, observing me awaken with eyes that beheld a cautious curiosity.
Thank you, I thought, not wishing to speak so that I wouldn’t wake my companions, that was the best sleep I’ve had in ages.
But she just continued to stare and, suddenly, turned around and made her way to the top deck. Is she ignoring me? I carefully righted myself up and, wishing not to make a ruckus, relegated myself to walking on all fours and followed her.
It was twilight when I went above deck: not quite sunrise but not completely dark either, with a distant light rising from the land to our right. Land! Though the ship’s still moving, we must be close to port, I think. My thoughts return to Arimis and I see her in the same spot as yesterday, looking at the distant horizon’s fading stars.
“Arimis! Hey, is everything okay? I tried to say thanks. It really was the best sleep I got.”
You tried to say thanks or you thought thanks? I heard, though she didn’t shift her gaze.
“... I thought it.”
With a hint of anger the alien thoughts returned to my head. I told you, d’Alin, me reading your mind was an incidental mistake and it wouldn’t happen again. I don’t go back on my promises whenever I make one to someone.
Goddamn it, how do I keep messing this up? “Look Arimis, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to assume. Look, maybe I was overreacting a bit, I don’t mind communicating with you through thoughts, it just, well…” I paused, wondering how to phrase this. “Look, firstly I don’t want to make any excuses, I just want to give you an explanation: I’m not used to this kind of thing. Humans can’t read other humans’ minds, so the idea of my mind being a place only for me has been the norm all my life. I’m not used to it hear, but… but I can be.”
At this Arimis looked back at me. “Is there any way I can let you in, or know to let you in? As a show of good faith?”
A heavy breath emanated from Arimis as I heard just call my name. I’m sure you’ve droned out conversations but the second you hear your name you’re drawn in, right? Do the same, and it’ll work just fine. She returned to looking at the sea.
“Got it.” I said before pausing, then thinking, Arimis?
Another pause before the thought of yes? entered my mind, to which I quickly thought, thank you for your help, last night, I mean. I got some really good sleep, the best I’ve had for a long while.
Don’t mention it, anything for a… teammate. Arimis said before looking back at the horizon. I approached and, once beside her, threw myself onto the railing, finally able to be standing. I caught a curious glance from Arimis but none of her thoughts entered my mind. “Anything for a friend,” I corrected her.
Arimis and I both looked out at the night slowly giving way to the light of day, the approaching in silence for some time until Arimis says, d’Alin, sometime I’d like to show you one of the reasons why I stay up at night. It’s not the main one but, well, I like to look at the stars. It’s something, a memory, I always told myself I’d share with a friend. Would you do that with me, before returning to your world?
I looked at her and, catching her eyes, said, “you have my word. Besides, it’s not like there’s much I can do to return. If you’re up for it, I’d take your calm mind every night.”
I can certainly do that. Arimis said while looking at me before her eyes glanced behind me. I turned around only to get a faceful of Garchomp grinning wildly.
“Well good morning, you early Pidgeys! I take it you two mates are excited about our little adventure!”
Arimis glanced at me, clearly expecting me to speak since, well, she couldn’t. “Yep! We sure are. And where’s Starmie?”
Garchomp seemed satisfied. “She’s waking the other two. Our first order of business is to deboard the second we hit shore, which looks like it won’t be too long,” he said, glancing behind us to the part of the ship that faced land, “so go and make sure your bags are all packed. We gotta run through a nearby dungeon, so let’s hope that someone is needing help there so we can make some dough, and that we do it quick since I’ve got a contact I gotta meet with at sundown.”
“Let me clarify,” said Starmie, who appeared behind Garchomp, “we don’t want anyone stuck in a dungeon, we’ll just take their mission if that happens to be the case. And we certainly won’t rush through a dungeon just to make it to a pub, right, Garchomp?”
“Whoops, yep, haha, that’s what I meant. Now let’s not dilly-dally over it and get ready to get to town!”
Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg4MTsa32RM
I was in awe in Pokemon Square. While I had spent virtually no time exploring Treasure Town since I was immediately ushered into the guild after Beach Cave, then sent to the docks which circumvented the town completely, I was able to take in the busy life of Pokemon Square, with Pokemon huddled in streets and bustling between stalls, even at this early morning hour. Garchomp said he had to go pick up something at the post office, so the rest of us looked at stalls. Well, everyone save Arimis since she decided to take a nap under a tree.
I decided to use this time to get to better know my other teammates, Althi and Pirth, who I had neglected talking to outside of training yesterday. While Althi began to argue with a vendor over a particular bow, I asked Pirth, “hey, Pirth, just out of curiosity, how did you and Althi get into being explorers?”
“Well, that’s a great tale, d’Alin. Well, you know how Althi and I met, right?”
“I do.”
“Well, she protected me and, even though I feel like I’m doing more protecting for her now, since I’m twice her size and better at fighting,” said Pirth, “she was always about getting stronger and helping those who needed it.”
Pirth paused for a moment, then said, “I think that’s why she helped me. When Pokemon at the orphanage started to bully me because I was a shiny Leafeon, calling me a fucking Deerling, those shits, she stepped in. It was while I was just hatched from an egg. She’s always been about helping those less fortunate than her, and I guess naturally that just drove her into wanting to be an explorer. She’s been wanting to do it for such a long time.”
“And what about you?”
At this Pirth merely smiled. “I- I never was really interested, I just joined because she’s my sister, and I know what she wants to do is the right thing. I personally never really cared too much. But… but hearing all these wonderful new sounds and strange smells and feeling the ground shake from so many footsteps, it’s just something I don’t think I would’ve experienced if not for her. So I think that I like being an explorer.”
Wow, this was oddly profound for Pirth, I’m honestly quite-
“Except Deerling, I made Althi promise we’ll never rescue a single Deerling. All of those son-of-bisharp mistakes should be left to rot in whatever dungeon they fall into, stupid fucks that think-
Yep, there you go, I thought, drowning out Pirth’s rant, I shouldn’t have thought anything otherwise, my bad for getting my hopes up.
Althi returned to us with a look of anger on her face. “That greedy Kabutops didn’t give me a discount even though I’m the leader of Team Eevee! Plus, it was so hard to talk to him since he was looking down on me and not showing me his mouth. Ableist!”
Before I could respond that I think the Kabutops just didn’t know - a testament to Althi’s ability to read lips, if anything - a voice called out to our team from the crowd, and we followed it to a hollering Garchomp that towered over us and the rest of the small mons in the Square.
“Ah, there you lot are. I got the package at the Post Office and put it in storage. Did you do the same with any valuables?”
“I thought,” responded Pirth, “that we only did that if we thought we might have to abandon the dungeon and would leave stuff behind?”
Nonsense! Good practice is good practice! Take currency, for example. It only weighs you down in a dungeon, and if I taught you anything yesterday, it’s that the Kelceons in there jack up the fuckin’ prices like a bunch of-”
“Okay, Gar, I think your rant yesterday about the Kecleon Syndicate was enough,” interrupted Starmie, who then looked at us and switched back to telepathy. Where’s Arimis?
“She’s sleeping under a tree at the edge of the Square.”
Well, do go wake her, will you? It’s about time we make it to one of the newer dungeons nearby, one that’s not yet on the map: Swiftwater Stream.
Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYi-xYZbC60
Team TwinStar and Team Eevee both stood at the entrance of Swiftwater Stream. Though the river that flowed through Pokemon Square was to our right, what appeared to be a branch of the river running in reverse was before us, its inlet and outlet obscured by heavy mist.
Garchomp asked, “well, is everyone ready to go in?” After nods from all of us, he looked ahead, shouted “follow me!” and dove into the false river.
Starmie quickly followed, as did Pirth and then Althi, leaving only Arimis and I behind. I hesitated, and anticipating what she’d ask I said, “no, I actually really love water. I’m just not used to it in this body.” I looked back down at the misty water swiftly running uphill, took a breath of air, and dove.
Trying to keep my eyes open, I saw the river take me almost instantly to a floor where I was thrown from the running water above me onto solid ground, save for small pools of water here and there. I looked and saw everyone getting their bearings, and Arimis appeared beside me. Her expression shared the same whiplash I had.
No rifts here! We can proceed as normal, declared Starmie, and just as we practiced, we got into line behind Garchomp. Surprisingly, Althi found her spot and kept to it. We wandered from room to room, and in the passageways Garchomp took care of the few ferals we ran into, his attacks shattering them into a million pieces of light and dust.
When we entered the large room which contained the stairs, that Garchomp stepped back and let us to the fore, where we saw four sleeping Pokemon, one for each of us. “Althi, Pirth, Arimis, d’Alin; left to right, respectively and one at a time. Don’t step in unless your teammate asks you for help.
Althi was up first. The closer she got to the sleeping Piplup, the more she lost her swagger. She hesitated, then ran headfirst into the feral, waking it. It was stunned enough to miss its first attack, letting Althi get another strike in, but it wasn’t enough to take down the Piplup, and it hit Althi with a bubble beam.
At this hit Althi froze, put her tail between her legs, then came running back to us, crying loudly.
“Althi,” called out Garchomp with as low a voice he could muster, but I could see he was trying to suppress a grin clearly brought out by Althi’s wailing, “tone it down! You’ll wake the other ferals!” But Althi, being deaf, obviously did not hear Garchomp, nor did she know how loud she was. It should then come as no surprise that the rest of the ferals then awoke.
The rest of us sprung into action almost immediately. Garchomp said, “Starmie, can you finish off the Piplup and take care of Althi while I back up the other three?” As I approached the rightmost feral, a duck-looking Pokemon that I wasn’t able to identify, I glanced to my left to see how Pirth and Arimis were doing.
I saw Pirth’s ears twitching, ascertaining the position of the large Quagsire that was lumbering towards him. As it made a large step and began to swing, Pirth deftly stepped back, letting the attack miss, then lowered his head and rammed into it. The Quagside was thrown to the floor, and Pirth attacked it again, shattering it to smoke and shards of quickly-dissipating light.
Arimis was even more impressive. She kept her distance from the Octillery, seemingly predicting where it would attack and moving to avoid the hit before all else. She seemed strangely focused, though I wasn’t certain if it was just her avoiding hits at all costs or her focusing of psychic energy.
I got my answer when a burst of purple-pink energy enveloped the Octillery and appeared to crush it, leaving behind only a shimmering mirage. She stood proudly over the fading smoke, then looked to me. Suddenly, I heard in my head, d’Alin, watch out!
I turned my attention back to the duck Pokemon only to realize that it was already upon me, hitting me with a powerful tackle.
Pain shot up my right foreleg, where I was hit, but more powerful than that was an almost overwhelming fear that screamed at me to run away, get to safety. My whole body was involuntarily shaking as I righted myself back up, the adrenaline pushing me to run coursing through my veins.
No, I thought, I can do this. Don’t be a coward or you’ll never make it back.
The Pokemon tried to tackle me again, but I dashed to the side and struck it with a tackle of my own. This threw it back, and as it righted itself back up, I lined myself up for another attack. I didn’t quite know how to activate an attack, it just came naturally. Well, perhaps it’s also that tackling something doesn’t require much thought at all.
My heart was pounding, still begging me to leave, but I eyed the feral. It seemed to almost shimmer as it readied itself for another attack, and I decided I’d meet it head-on. We both threw ourselves at each other, but I was thrown to the ground, my chest aching from the impact. The feral, on the other hand, quickly regained its footing and started to fly into the air, reading a killing blow.
Shit, I thought, maybe I should’ve listened to my cowardly instinct. I tried to move, but the front of my body refused to listen. I was beat.
I braced myself for the blow, but as the feral started to dive towards me, a shimmer of dark-blue, which radiated immense energy, appeared before me. The feral, struck mid-attack, immediately shattered.
It was Garchomp. He leaned down over me, and his strange eyes met mine. “Well shit, mate, got hit hard, huh?” He looked up and said something to Starmie, and I saw an oran berry appear in his claw, which he lowered down to me. “Eat it, will ya?”
I obeyed and was quickly filled with a numbing sensation that drove the pain away, and I felt the strength and function return to my body, enabling me to get back up.
“You did good, mate. I would’ve thought you’d run away, but you almost had him,” Garchomp told me, a dash of pride in his voice. “So long as you don’t get distracted you might have some real potential.”
While the oran berry helped quite a bit at making me feel better, Garchomps words were twice as effective. I felt invigorated, alive, ready to press on. Garchomp must’ve seen this since he asked us to follow him up the stairs and into the rest of Swiftwater Stream.
The remainder of the dungeon followed suit in a similar manner; Garchomp and Starmie would clear the passageways and, once in rooms, would step aside and let us take care of the ferals. Pirth and I would take lead, brawling with the ferals, and towards the last two floors Althi even joined in, managing to take down what was told to me to be a Ducklett.
“Roll with the tackles” as Garchomp told us, and though it was certainly unpleasant to get hit at all, he showed us how to handle physical attacks better than just being taken out in one hit.
Althi seemed to be better able to take a hit or two before running away, and I was very much able to lessen the blows if I could properly anticipate the attack.
Pirth, on the other hand, simply did not care, brute-forcing his way through whatever ferals he came across, needing a steady supply of oran berries in the process. But based on the stupid smile he bore, he seemed to enjoy the fight.
Arimis was a completely different story. She didn’t even get so much as touched by the ferals, and seeing her skirt around ferals and use psychic to dispel them was as impressive to see on the last floor as it was during our first combat.
At the final floor - how Starmie knew this was so I had no idea - Garchomp gave us all congratulations once we cleared the room which contained the last pair of stairs out.
“You all did exceptionally well,” he said, “and we managed to chart this newly-formed dungeon! If there’s any good way to start building the reputation of Team Eevee, it’s by putting your name on a map, quite literally, hah!”
Also, I must say I am quite impressed Arimis. You managed to not get hit even once, correct?.
An unusually somber nod came from Arimis, but I just chalked it up to exhaustion. I mean, using your mind the whole time and exhausting your body jumping around is a surefire way to tire yourself. Nonetheless, I made a mental note to follow up with her later.
As we ascended up the stairs and were thrown from a river back up to solid ground, we all shared a cheer. As we began to journey back home, though, Althi seemed oddly dejected, so I slowed down my pace to talk with her.
“Hey,” I started, making sure to walk in front of her and turn my face to the side so she could read my lips, “you did good! What’re you worried about?”
Althi kept walking silently for a moment, but since she made eye contact with me I know she “heard” me. Is she just wondering? Or does she not want to talk? After a few more moments I decided it was the latter and began to pick up pace to give her some space, but before I could she said, “I need to get stronger.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I don’t like fighting up-close, but I need to be able to be as strong as Starmie and Garchomp. I wanted to be a part of a Rescue Team to help others, but I’m too much of a coward,” said Althi with a sigh.
Before I could respond, Garchomp, who was behind us, interjected, telling Althi, “Y’know, even I don’t consider myself strong. We’ve all got ways to improve, even for me in combat. I’d call anyone that can defeat me ‘strong,’ and since I can always learn from those that are stronger than me, I’ll always be improving.”
Althi looked up at Garchomp, who realized that she couldn’t hear him from behind and repeated himself once again to her.
“Oh, so if I want to be strong so I can help those in need, I have to be able to beat you.”
“Uh, I mean, that’s certainly one way of qualifying your strength,” Garchomp laughed, “look, I know you’ve got noble intentions, so I got no problem saying that you should model yourself after anyone that can beat me. Or yourself for that matter. If you want to be strong and help others, never think of yourself as the strongest.”
Althi’s mind seemed to get to work, as she was quiet for a moment until she asked, “Garchomp, where did you evolve?”
“Well y’see, since Starmie and I are from Sand, a common thing people on our continent do is go to the Tree of Life to evolve. But other continents do it differently. If you’re here on Air, for example - especially since you’re an Eevee - if you want to evolve, Eeveelution Forest would be your best bet.”
Althi nodded and retreated back into her mind. Garchomp and I talked the rest of the trek back to Pokemon Square, letting me learn more about the world and especially information about humans which, much to my dismay, were seen by the Federation at best as “the enemy of my enemy” in relation to their apparent propensity to establish rescue teams. Our conversation went by so quickly it took me a moment to realize that we had wound up in a tavern bustling with activity.
“You mates grab a seat. Starmie, you know his description?
Starmie said nothing, but I assumed they had a psychic conversation based on them staring at each other silently, leaving for the rest of us to just awkwardly watch.
Starmie departed, and Garchomp said, “how do y’all think you did?”
“I think I did pretty good. I mean, I got hit hard, but I hit them back harder,” said Pirth, who then shifted his attention to in front of him, speaking to nobody, “hey barkeep! I’ll have a-”
“Woah woah, Pirth, normally I wouldn’t mind. Hell, I’d even buy you lot a round after such a successful mission. But no drinking tonight.”
Though the thought of drinking hadn’t even crossed my mind since I became an Eevee, Althi and Pirth let both let out a groan and, in unison, asked, “why?”
Garchomp only smiled toothily and said, “For good reason! I consulted with Starmie after we left Swiftwater and we decided you lot are a-okay to take along to the next dungeon! For our special mission.”
The somber mood was replaced by a cheer. A flurry of questions was thrown to Team TwinStarby all of us, but Garchomp hushed us and turned to Starmie who had returned with another Pokemon in-tow, a Weavile. He asked our new company, “Weavile, this is going to be the crew. Care to introduce yourself and what treasure you said you found?”
The Weavile turned to us and said, “Hey, name’s Weavile, I’m an explorer from Mist and I go and research possible dungeon vaults. Came here after my partner and I had a bit of a falling-out. While here, I found a dungeon in a nearby mountain where some legendary birds used to roost and had a whole little village dedicated to them. I call it Ruined Roost, and that’s where we’ll be heading to. That is,” he said, turning to Garchomp, “if you have the ‘key.’”
At this Garchomp with both his claws reaching into his bag, revealed a strange orb with shifting colors. Weavile approached and inspected it, closely looking at the surface and then holding a claw up to it to measure it, before declaring, “well, looks like it’s the shape and size of the hole! Must be it if you Feds say so!”
“What treasure,” Althi asked, “are we going to get?”
“Well, apparently the locals there had a vault where they’d collect the feathers from these birds before the whole place was abandoned when a dungeon appeared there. I found the vault room, and it was sure cold as shit, so I’d assume there are some Articuno feathers there.
“Articuno?”
“Those are real?”
“Fuck yes. And a single feather is worth a fortune. Now, seeing that I can’t open the vault on my own, I requested Garchomp here since he’s pretty well known for his combat skills.” At this he turned to Garchomp and, a bit of amazement bleeding into Weavile’s voice, he said, “is it really true that you’ve got a secret combo?”
The initial objections by Starmie couldn’t suppress Garchomp’s enthusiasm, especially after hearing that he was well-known, so he said, “well, you said that you made it through the dungeon just fine on your own, so I’m really only here to safeguard the relic. But yes! I’ve got a one-two combo that’ll clear any room. First I hit the ferals with a status effe-”
GARCHOMP. A loud screech rattled from within our heads, and the minds of seemingly everyone else since the whole tavern went silent immediately. Sorry, Starmie said to everyone before turning to Garchomp and Weavile, sorry, but that’s not something Garchomp’s supposed to tell anyone, especially someone we just met.
“No worries! I’ve heard enough… and I’m sure whatever it is is a worthwhile secret. I’ll do my best to make sure you don’t use it when we’re in Ruined Roost.”
Garchomp only nodded, and I heard in my mind d’Alin, can you do me a favor and say you thought he was a treasure hunter, not an explorer. I turned to Arimis who seemed to be eyeing Weavile with suspicion. I just shrugged (well, as close as a shrug a quadrupedal Pokemon can make) and asked Weavile, “Garchomp told us you were a treasure hunter, not an explorer.”
Weavile let out a light chuckle and scratched the back of his ear.
“Well, I mean I am, but I prefer to call myself an explorer. Treasure hunters get bad raps, you know? I do go after treasure, but that doesn’t mean I’ll just leave some poor trapped Pokemon behind.”
Please tell Garchomp Weavile looks like the one on the most wanted poster.
Excuse me? I never saw a most wanted poster, and I certainly didn’t want to accuse this Weavile of being a criminal, but when a desperate please entered my thoughts, I said, “Uh, Weavile, you know you look like the guy on the most wanted posters.”
Though Garchomp and Starmie turned intently at Weavile, he merely gave out a hearty laugh and pulled out from his bag a most wanted poster of… Weavile, slamming it down into the table with his claw.
“Haha! Is this what you’re referring to? Yeah, a lot of us Weavile’s look alike and sound alike, so of course I carry this damn thing around. I mean, what kind of criminal would have his own wanted poster, right? So here ya go.” I looked at the poster and thought it did look like him, but I hadn’t seen any other Weaviles before.
“Last thing I want is this opportunity to make some big bucks to just be swept away since we don’t trust each other, so are y’all okay I got an evil look-alike? Or should I just go?”
We all agreed that it really was no worries, and I apologized for the accusation. But Arimis didn’t budge, and I heard her voice in my mind which said, Ask him who his partner was in Mist.
I turned to Arimis and said, “please, whoever it is that you’re thinking of, it’s not him.”
“Oh?” said Weavile, who saw me speak to Arimis, “is she the one asking me the questions? Through you? Oh, it’s no problem, I remember back when I was in Mist, my partner had a mute kid. A newly-hatched egg. Not an Espeon or Eevee though,” he said with a grin before turning back to Garchomp.
“Well, great to meet you all, Team TwinStar and,” he said, turning to us, “what’re y’all?”
“Team Eevee!” said Pirth proudly.
“Right then! TwinStar and Eevee, great to meet you both.” Weavile looked at Garchomp and asked him, “I suppose we’ll follow through with the plan I detailed when I sent out the letter to Federation HQ? Meet at sunrise, full-day’s trek, then enter the dungeon?”
Garchomp nodded and agreed, then turned to Starmie and Team Eevee and said, “well, mates, our little meeting is adjourned. Be sure to get some rest since we got a whole day of walking tomorrow.”
We all prepared to go back to the inn where we were staying - at Federation expense, of course - but Garchomp didn’t move.
“What about you, Garchomp?” asked Althi.
“Rules for thee, not for me,” said Garchomp with a wink as he motioned for the barkeep.
We said goodbye to Garchomp, then to Weavile who walked away in the opposite direction.
But as we walked towards the inn, I stopped for a second, Weavile’s words of trust ringing in my mind. Starmie noticed since the next thing I heard in my head was everything okay, d’Alin?
“Starmie, is it alright if I go chat with Garchomp for a quick moment?”
You know the way to the inn?
When I replied in the affirmative, all I heard was just don’t neglect your rest, we’ve got a long journey tomorrow.
I hurriedly went back to the tavern to find Garchomp mid-swig of a drink. “Oh, well hey mate. Sure didn’t expect to see you again tonight. Everyone know you came back here?
“Yeah.”
“Alright, well what’s up mate?”
“I was thinking about what Weavil was saying, about how we need to be honest with each other if we want to work effectively.”
“Uh-huh.”
“So, I don’t know how to tell you this, and I don’t even know if it’s entirely relevant, but I figured since we’re working alongside you and we-”
“d’Alin,” interrupted Garchomp, “whatever it is, just shoot.”
I inhaled deeply and gave myself a moment for my courage to rise before telling Garchomp, “I’m a human.”
Garchomp just looked at me, though his head remained forward unmoving. “Oh.”
I paused for a moment. “Oh? Is there something I should-”
Instantly he apologized, saying, “ah, I’m sorry mate, I was just caught off guard. Come, let’s step outside so we can speak about this more… privately.”
He stepped out of his seat, leaving his drink behind with some Poke coin by it, and walked outside. I followed him until we came upon a bench in a now-empty part of Pokemon Square.
“So you’re human? You not just pulling my leg?”
I sighed and said, “no, I’m not screwing with you. I was a bit conflicted about whether to tell you or not, and I know it’s got nothing to do with the mission, I just wanted you to know that you were going in with a human, after hearing all the things-”
“Let me clear something up, first, mate. What I said earlier, those were all Fed talking points. Shit I gotta repeat to everyone that asks. Look, believe it or not I’ve worked with humans before?”
“Y-you have?”
“Well, I’m almost certain of it. Back on Sand, after I heard from the Feds about how humans generally make really weird references and act very… well, not how you’d expect. I ran into a team. I’ll tell you what, that whole trio was a fuckin’ show. Called themselves Team KANTOOO. A long “o” for whatever reason. There was a Charizard who thought he was hot shit, a Dragonite that kept talking about “Smoke-On” whatever that meant, and those two were definetelty human. All the telltale signs. They had a Pikachu accompanying them that didn’t seem to get a lick of what they were saying. Anyways, weirdos or not, they joined Starmie and I in a dungeon, but they weren’t in it for the money. They wanted to help some poor schmuck whose family had no Poke to their name, but they went for the mission just the same.”
Garchomp reminisced over the memory, then continued, “At that moment I realized the Feds were full of it. Well, I dunno about their claims about rifts and temporal instability or whatever, but what I do know is that humans can be no different from any of us Pokemon. Sure, some might lie straight to your face, sure, they might make strange references that no one knows about, but they’re not all bad. Just like Pokemon, I think, a human can make the choice to be on the side of justice or the side of evil.”
Garchomp turned to me. “I saw you in the dungeon, d’Alin. I could tell you were scared, but you persisted. You kept fighting ‘till the very end. Human or not, I can tell you’ve got good intentions. That’s something about me: I’m pretty Arceusdamn clueless when it comes to talking with Pokemon regularly, but I can tell a lot based on how Pokemon fight.”
“So, what should I do? Should I keep hiding that I’m a human to others?”
Garchomp thought about this for a second, then replied, “Here’s what I know: the Federation is barely tolerant, if not actively hostile to humans. I told the idiots of Team KANTOOO to tone it down, but knowing those fools that’s an impossible task.
“I also know that Wigglytuff’s Guild - Chatot especially - is not very keen on having humans around. Some forest fire or something. “I’ve heard-” and at this he lowered his voice to a whisper “-of rumors of a guild associated with humans. Goes by the name of Clover; that’s actually why Starmie and I were assigned to Wigglytuff’s Guild: to draw away customers from the Clover Guild. If you want to feel safe, I’d say you should look into that. I mean, again, I’ve heard their really really strange, but that’s a telltale sign that they might be human.”
All this took some time to process, and Garchomp gave me time. After some moments of the two of us sitting in silence, the cool wind blowing by us, I asked Garchomp, “do you trust me?”
After all, I thought, all this started with the question of trust and honesty. Can I still explore beside Garchomp? Beside Team Eevee once I tell them and knock it though Althi’s mind that I am actually a human?
Garchomp looked at me with a toothy smile and said, “d’Alin, mate, I could give two shits if you’re human or not. I saw you in that first fight, how you looked to make sure your teammates were okay before entering your own fight. I’m happy to have you beside me. Just… just promise me one thing.”
My heart fluttered. “What is it?”
A glint appeared in his purple eyes as they seemingly gazed into my soul as he said, “promise me you’ll do your best to make this world a better place. Human or not, you’ll do what you know to be right and just.”
Did Garchomp really think so highly of me? No, he’s just a good person, must say this to everyone he seriously talks to. I shoved my rapid succession of thoughts aside and told Garchomp, “I promise you, Garchomp, I’ll do just that.”
Satisfied, Garchomp stood up and gave a hearty laugh that almost woke the town. “Head off to bed, you. I’ll catch another drink then make my way back. See you first thing in the morning.”
I walked back to the in alone in the night, enjoying the night sky. It was much clearer than back on Earth, but since I was in the middle of a town it was still tough to see everything. Nonetheless, from what I could see I was struck by beauty. I really do have to, I thought, take up Arimis on that offer sometime.
When I made it back to the inn and sauntered up to the room booked for Team Eevee, I opened the door to find Pirth and Althi asleep on the large bed, with Arimis at the foot looking out the window, taking in the full moon.
I was wondering when you’d show, d’Alin.
Arimis, I thought with emphasis, trying to let her know she was good to read my mind, shouldn’t you be sleeping?
She only smiled. *I try, but it’s tough. I’ve been, well… thinking. That, and I was waiting for you. Do- do you want me to calm your mind again tonight? I can quite easily wake myself when I sense you’re about to dream.
Holy shit psychic types are weird.
Firstly, you don’t have to be psychic, you just have to be adept enough at using psychic. Secondly, no I’m weird. Me being unable to talk made me more reliant on using my mind than others. Being mute isn’t too bad, considering my circumstances.
Ah you can read my mind. Sorry, I thought as I lept into the bed, finding a place not taken over by Pirth and curling up into a ball. Whether or not I like it, I do have to move around by walking.
Thinking about standing up?
I keep forgetting you’re in there. I’m going to sleep now, so any thoughts that pop up while I drift off are going to be dangerous, so be warned.
I can read between the lines, d’Alin, no worries. Goodnight to you. Arimis projected into me as she returned to looking outside the window, apparently not yet tired enough to fall asleep.
I prepared to drift off, ready to enjoy a night of blissful sleep, and I realized that until tonight I haven’t been able to look forward to going to sleep for a long, long time.