"Go investigate this," "go investigate that..." Aaaarrgh, if Ho-oh didn't have me by my crest, I'd show Palkia how dangerous water was! For the last decade, nothing but this and that. Every time a spatial anomaly appeared, he wouldn't leave his spot and instead kept sending the rest of us to investigate it.

Gee, I don't know, why don't YOU investigate the multiple "mobile spatial anomalies" you find so interesting and want gone! I'd rather be maintaining the immense pollution in Riverside than dealing with Deruta City's stupid anomalous properties.

I only somewhat calmed down as I approached the walls of Deruta. The tall walls vaguely reminded me of the chaotic dungeons, and the many dungeons which had vertical floors. The only difference between the two was that the mystery dungeons didn't contain clean barbed wire.

Damn this accursed job, of course I would have something like barbed wire to slip past. Had to take this one step at a time, Suicune...

I put my paw up to the wall, and drew the water out from the porous material. It was only a few droplets, but it would be enough to do what needed to be done. With what little I could draw, I used one of my many gifts, and began to clamber up the walls, repeating the process of drawing water out of the crumbling concrete.

After a couple of stumbles, I managed to get to the top of the wall. Beyond the barbed wire, I could see the gray rubble and ivory towers of the city, denoting the ever present, and stark divide that the golems built for humanity. No matter which city it is, they all have some form of it. It's disgusting. I briefly wondered how this was any better than leaving them in the wilderness, as I launched myself towards the gaps of the barbed wire, expending energy to use my gift, transforming into the smallest pure water type I could think of at that moment. I slipped between the wire as a Wishiwashi, and began a rapid free-fall towards the road.

Lamenting my situation, I tried to psyche myself up. Remember! This is completely necessary for my job! . . . Oh, fuck, this was going to hurt.

I quickly transformed into a far more acceptable form just before hitting the ground. Between the fact that I had just expended all of my energy transforming twice, and the pain of doing a belly flop onto rough asphalt, I was left on the ground for an extended period of time. My muscles screamed out for mercy, the pit in my reserves hollowly bellowed at every heart beat, and my nerves lit up like a city.

I would rather die than admit to the others that I may have sat there, balled up tightly like a Sandshrew, baking in the sun for several hours. Once I finally found the motivation to get up, I was quick to get moving. I wasted so much time with that stupid stunt, and with hindsight I realized I should've just taken the barbed wire down instead. It would have been a benefit to those trapped in the slums. I made a mental note to do that on exfiltration.

I adjusted my blue metal sunglasses, grabbing the purple fishing hat off the ground and putting it on my head. "Alright Palkia," I mumbled to myself as I began to wander into the city. "I shall investigate, and deal with the anomalies if possible. Don't make me twist your arm over the second favor you owe me."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=POV & TIMESKIP-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. I hope your break was well," the radio crooned up, with this irritating, two tone voice. I was forced against my will to listen to the broadcast. "This broadcast will focus on 1st grade level English reading and writing."

Over these last few days, I've learned something. I REALLY don't like resting my feet for this long! I struggled with the leather strap on my leg, trying to free it from the binding. There would be no luck though, as there was a metal lock on it, and I didn't have a means to bust the lock. If this was a PMD world, I'd have fucking healed by now.

With not much else to do, I decided to just look around at the interior I had gotten oh-so-familiar with. There was the coffee table that my leg had been bound to. I could see my foot resting on the wobbly black table, the strips of cloth that Klarity used very visible, freshly replaced in the last few hours.

My eyes wandered over to the furry in question. She was hunched over a foldout table, listening intently to the radio, her tail swaying across the dirt floor. I could see her electronics equipment, most of it resting on top of the table. The radio itself was on a separate foldout table, perpendicular to the one she was currently sitting at. Even without looking directly at it, I could catch its scrap metal interior the standing microphone mere inches away from the bulky box.

For all that this hovel was worth, Klarity was an interesting figure. She couldn't really read or write, unless it was involving circuit diagrams. She also kept nicking shit off of me while I was her captive. A favorite target of hers was my phone. At the very least, she was kind enough to bandage up my foot after I stepped on the glass shards, and gave me my boots back.

Briefly, my mind wandered back to after the chase. Almost immediately, she leapt into action, putting me on top of a garbage bin and tearing apart her shirt to wrap my foot up. She then lugged me to her so-called "den," which was far less like a home and more like a little hole found in a collapsed building, with a communal latrine outside.

From there, I learned a fair bit about her and the world. I don't think she suspects I'm not from this world though, just that I hit my head REALLY hard. Hopefully. At first, she called herself Indiana Jones, but when I glared at her, she changed it to Laura Croft. After staring at her for a bit longer, she finally admitted that it was actually Klarity, with a K.

She was a Thievul with a penchant for thefts of all kind, from identity to music, though frankly she looked like a really dedicated cosplay of one. If it wasn't for her trying to steal my arm with her tail, I'd still be struggling to believe that it was real. I don't think robotics can replicate the warmth and weird, dry fleshy feel inside the tail bag. I reflexively clasped my hand, shuddering at the feeling.

Initially, I wondered what her job was. She spent the first two days barely here. I soon learned, however, that she was gathering resources and contracts so that she could repair electronics and the construction of new ones to pawn off. It seemed to be something she quite enjoyed, and I'll admit, I'm a little jealous I wasn't doing that job myself. It seemed like fun and easy work.

Still, this world seemed like shit. I heard plenty of bad things from her favorite radio station. It was called "Morganite Radio," though sometimes it was also called "Clover Radio." I didn't know the difference, frankly, just that the announcer was the same for both. Crime apparently ran rampant no matter where you were, guests called in constantly to complain and ask for help, and the announcer guy lived in what could only be described as a war zone.

Wherever the fuck I was, it sure as hell wasn't as idyllic as the clover guild. Why couldn't it have been the clover guild?

I let myself tune back into reality, and specifically the radio for a moment. ". . . different meaning. These are called homophones. It's perhaps the strangest part of English, but many st-" The radio was suddenly cut off as the broadcast went silent. Klarity looked over, frowning.

"Huh? Aw, don't tell me," she trailed off, staring at the radio in discontent . Eventually, she stood up and banged on the radio's exterior twice. She grumbled as she began messing with it. The radio crackled to life as it easily tuned into another HF signal, this one playing a mariachi cover of Cuphead music. The conclusion was pretty simple. Sighing, she turned to me, and a familiar sly grin that exuded a sinister aura began to creep up on her face.

Oh god, not again!

I quickly shoved my hands in my pockets, trying to hunker down my wallet and phone, though I forgot that I had taken off my sweater and put it on my lap. This was a fact she took swift advantage of, running up to me and grabbing my sweater. With my hands in my pockets, I had no means to immediately retaliate, and I couldn't move with the table in the way. I groaned at my loss, while she snickered to herself.

After a few moments, I decided to just ask. "Can I have my sweater back?"

"I don't know, can you?" 21 years old and she's got the humor of a 40 year old teacher. I don't even know what's worse.

"Genuinely, damn you." She laughed at my anger, before tossing my sweater back.

"Yes, you can have your sweater back. It won't do me any good anyways." She hummed as she began grabbing things from the shelf that she dug out of the wall. "I've got some grocery shopping to do!" Her soft, cheerful sing-song tone, coupled with its vibrato somewhat soothed my ears, not that I would ever have admitted that in front of her. Besides, who gets THIS excited over shopping?

Then, something I had been wishing for since doomsday happened. She grabbed the key off of her radio table, and then walked over to the table. With a click, I heard the lock pop off.

"You have a few choices," she started, "you can leave, which I kind of expect, or..."

Or? Why did she trail off at or? I've learned that staring at her tended to get me answers, so I stared her down, trying to pry the answer out of them. She looked very uncomfortable, averting her own gaze. "Nnf, alright, or you can come with me! There, happy?"

"Come with you?" I didn't even have time to process what that actually entailed before I blurted out the question.

"Y-yes, I just..." She seemed to be struggling to say it. I softened my gaze somewhat, in hopes of being a little less harsh on her. "I don't get to talk to many people unless it's for contracts. It's been nice having someone to just... Y'know, hang out with." She slowly raised her tail, hiding her face behind it.

Oh. She just wanted a friend... and slash or a housemate. "Well, I'd be glad to come along then." I'll figure that second part out later. With that, I tried to stand up for the first time in almost 4 days. I finally stretched my muscles while standing up...

My eyes closed as ecstasy washed over me, my muscle fibers finally pulling apart. Awww yisss, this is a feeling I've missed.

I heard rattling as she shoveled all sorts of shit gleefully into her tail bag. Relaxing from my stretch, I opened my eyes to see what she was packing in. I saw a spool, a soldering iron, a pretty large looking MacGyver'd battery pack, and some of the many components on her table. I wondered what she'd need all of that for, though I didn't get in contemplating my options as she brushed past me.

"I'll be waiting outside! Don't keep me waiting too long." She stuck her tongue out at me before stepping out through the curtains. I didn't have to be told twice, slipping my boots on and immediately heading out to meet her.

The bright sunlight blinded me, scorching my retinas. I hissed in pain. It may have been approaching sunset now, but that didn't mean it wasn't still bright out! Fuck!

Klarity giggled at my expression. "Well, come on Gordon! The light's burning, and the day market is closing soon!" She began to head off with a skip in her step. I quickly caught up to her, my boots rhythmically thumping against the sidewalk as I walked alongside her.

Klarity gave me a mini-tour along the way. The agricultural district soon arrived into view, the sidewalk giving way to nothing but road. This was where she'd be shopping supposedly, wasn't terribly far away from her home. The way they grew things here was interesting, for sure. Instead of having large fields, they instead had rows upon rows of vertical farms, lined with goldenrod, as well as neon and cool green crops. I think I saw sweat, but I wasn't sure if that golden stuff was wheat.

"Hang on a moment," Klarity spoke. She dug into her tail, and soon produced a circuit board with some capacitors on it. It seemed the lines were handmade. "You can follow me if we want. I'm just going down that road!"

I decided to follow her... not like I had much else to do. She soon stopped, standing in front of a person with metallic-looking skin. They had small, sharp bumps across their skin, a yellow visibility vest, dark gray stripes, and striking yellow eyes. I could spot two green, circular pads swaying behind their back, complete with sharp bumps. I'll be quick to admit that I wasn't quite sure what exactly I was looking at... Some kind of Eldritch horror?

"Evening Charles! I've got your regulator right here!" Klarity offered the circuit board to them. The Pokehuman took a moment to respond, staring at the circuit board. He then wordlessly took it with a plant-like hand, their fingers tipped in the same metallic coloration.

In exchange of the circuit board, he handed Klarity a fairly large wooden carrying box, filled to the brim with all sorts of greens! That regulator thing must've been worth a lot for him. Maybe it helped regulate the water flow around here, or something. There was strawberries, broccoli, cauliflower, and mandarins. I wonder if she'd share the mandarins tonight.

Klarity was quick to turn around and leave, with a skip in her step. I wanted to ask a bit more, but I struggled to come up with questions, watching as Charles trudged off towards the vertical farms. I figured I'd meet them again, since Klarity knew them on a first name basis. Turning around, I began to jog to catch up to Klarity.

It was a little bit of a walk, to the point that the sun finally set by the time we arrived, but eventually we entered what she called the "commercial lane." While there was a set of sidewalks on each side of the road, the sidewalks were almost entirely inaccessible due to all of the pop-up store fronts.

Just behind these tiny storefronts were buildings that heavily resembled strip malls. Many of the stores were blocked off, though these ones were closed anyways and proudly proclaimed night time hours on their doors. There seemed to be a general agreement that these open street shops should only block the stores that haven't opened yet, as I began to notice that the strip stores that were open typically had nothing to stand in your way.

Klarity entered one in particular, a mostly unmarked storefront with some Japanese symbols on the front door. I wasn't quite sure which alphabet though. With not much else to do, I entered right behind Klarity, the smell of meat immediately getting my mouth watering. The place appeared to be a stereotypical butcher's shop, complete with a glass counter with an assortment of meat, and even a window into the refrigerator. There was a strange machine on the table, which appeared to have a set of buttons labeled 1 to 5. My eyes locked into the cashier's solid red orbs, and a small bout of panic set in, before I relaxed.

The Pokehuman before me gave me quite a shock. After all, it was hard to miss the long golden locks barely obscuring his sharp ears, the general golden tone of his skin, the bushy two-toned mess behind him, and the red orbs. Unlike Charles before him, I could easily identify that this was a Ninetales, and I could tell that he had seen better days. Despite that, he had a soft smile on his face.

"Heya Mr. Anzai!" Klarity cheerfully smiled at the golden Pokehuman before us. "You said that the pump was failing?" Anzai, with a weathered left hand, pressed a button on his end. The machine crackled to life, and I heard Klarity's voice come from it, although it came out as complete gibberish to me.

Anzai leaned down to speak into the device, his voice hard to hear over the hum over the whitenoise of the refrigerator. Klarity was swift to press the 1 button after he was done speaking, and his voice came out of the device again, albeit much louder and clearer. "Ah, Ms. Thievul. It's good to see you. Yes, the second coolant pump is failing."

"You can count on me!" Klarity took out the soldering iron and a screwdriver, before bolting off to the refrigerator.

That left me alone with the kind-looking Ninetales. There was awkward silence, as I just stared at the machine, trying to figure out how it worked. Was it using an AI algorithm? Was it magic? Did he curse it? It was very cool, however that thing worked!

Deciding to test its functionality, I tried to make some small talk. Unfortunately, I didn't have many topics, so I just seized on the first one relevant to him. "So, uhm, how long have you had this job?"

Anzai seemed a bit confused on the question when he heard it repeated back to him. After muttering something, he replied. After he was done, I mimicked what Klarity did, and pressed the button labeled 1. "I've had this job for at least 20 years now. I'm glad for my customers, I wouldn't have been able to maintain this for that long." I noted that his muttering didn't seem to have been picked up by the machine itself.

"Ah, I see." Well, crap. Now what? "Are the customers nice?"

Anzai hummed. "Nice? I suppose you could say that. I didn't expect there to be so many entitled customers, but I suppose retail is retail, no matter where or who you are."

"Oh, I see. Have you ever used your," I paused, not sure if it would be rude to ask it. I decided that I'd ask anyways, since what was the worst that could happen? Klarity could back me up, or at least I hoped so. "Hypnosis to deal with particularly bad customers?"

Anzai found some sort of humor in it, snorting. "I've been asked that question many times. I have before, though only when either my safety is in jeopardy, or if my customers are. It's a very easy way to subdue someone long enough to get them in enforcement custody."

I relaxed, a weight off of my shoulders lifted. Okay, so apparently I'm not the only one, and he doesn't feel slighted by it. Good! I'm learning things about this world already, and I don't look terribly suspicious for it! "What caused you to become a butcher?"

Anzai took a minute to explain, the machine filtering out his pauses. "It's a long story, but after the meteors, we were all left without a good supply of food. The farmers, they did what they could, but some of us, well." The machine stopped, and he gave a lopsided grin, showing off his razor sharp teeth. He must've cut his own statement to pull that off. "We're not all herbivores. I decided to help many to learn how to properly butcher meat, but none of them could stay afloat. I was eventually surprised with my own shop. I tried to reject it, but they refused. Eventually, I settled into this surprise role of mine."

"I see. I take it you had some experience prior to this job then?"

"Of course. I was a butcher for almost 50 years, before my children took over my shop."

"How interesting! Must be nice having that kind of experience," I spoke.

"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? But when you celebrate your birthday on February 14th, the experience feels more like a burden."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," was basically all I could choke out. It left me very uncomfortable. A hefty silence fell over us as I just sat there, trying to ignore the fact that I just drudged up unfortunate memories for the Ninetales.

"Do not feel terrible. It's not all bad, despite how it looks. Deruta may be trying to tax me into oblivion, and our conditions may be poor, but we have purpose. I don't think I would have ever made it far without it. I have a lot of respect for those who worked hard to put me here, and I have done my best not to fail them."

"I'm glad to hear it," I spoke. I wanted to say more, but Klarity suddenly came back from her job.

"Got your pump working again! Fire alarm and dishwasher was also on the fritz, so I just repaired those too. It was a pretty easy fix, so no extra pay required."

Anzai was very grateful, and produced a huge hunk of pork, as well as a slab of beef rib. He quickly loaded those into a nicely varnished wooden box, expressing his gratitude in Japanese without bothering to translate it. Klarity didn't stick around for a whole lot longer, saying her thanks and saying her farewell in what I could only assume to be Japanese.

Klarity handled the boxes, unwilling to hand me the boxes of food. "Well, that was productive!" The dusk light gave her this uncanny appearance as she stared back at me.

"I'm glad you think so," I spoke. I was about to say more, but I trailed off, instead catching something in the corner of my eye. I turned to get a better look. Someone stood in the alleyway between two of the strip malls, their clothing adorned with an unusual color scheme.

Their preferred color appeared to be blue, as their sunglasses, leather duster, and even pants were various shades of blue. The exception to these shades seemed to be the purple hat, and the chain cufflinks on their duster. For some reason, this color scheme in the shadows made me more than a little unsettled, but I couldn't place why...