How to be (a) snake,
Issue #2: Dragon days, feline nights.
A soft blanket and a flat mat on the ground were everything Hans needed to get the best sleep of his life, especially after a day of being dragged around with a vine around his neck and getting beat up by an angry innkeeper. He slept so well that he almost forgot about the nightmarish situation he was in and instead dreamt of slithering around like a normal snake would. He didn't want to wake up from it, but his body had other plans and forced itself awake in need of some water. Slowly opening his eyes, Hans was surprised by what he was seeing: Arms, his arms! They were back! Hans was ecstatic, finally getting to feel and see them again. He quickly rolled on the bed to get up and—
THUMP
The short distance between the top of the mat and the wooden floor below was enough to make him wake up, "Ow," Hans muttered to himself, while his previous joy turned into frustration. He looked around the room and realized it was the middle of the night, Mr. Gible was snoring loudly on his bed, and Noodle was once again nowhere to be found.
The Dragonair crawled towards the door, part of his body still wrapped in the blanket because of rolling around in his sleep. He looked up at the doorknob and realized that he wouldn't be able to reach it from the ground even if he raised his neck. Thankfully, no one had bothered to close the door well enough and it was slightly ajar, or someone had been in their room while they slept, what mattered is that he could go out.
Hans crawled through the guild halls and went down the stairs to go outside, staining himself with a green trail painted on the floor on the way there.
Once outside, he took a moment to appreciate the night sky, noticing that it was clear from almost any light pollution and that the stars were in completely different places. This small moment of beautiful scenery made him think that maybe, just maybe, this place wasn't so bad at all.
Recalling what Mr. Gible had told him, Hans slowly moved towards the pond at the back of the guild, as it was the only spot he knew that had water on the place. He took some time to find the pond, having to avoid a field of flowers so as not to crush them and move around a Tropius that was sleeping quietly in the guild's backyard. When he finally reached the pond, the Dragonair didn't think twice and sank his head into the water, drinking more than enough for the night.
The water tasted weird, to say the least, Hans couldn't pinpoint if it was because the water was from another world or if it had something unknown in it. Safe to say, he was more than happy with it and was ready to go back to sleep, but an unknown voice rang behind him when he turned around to leave.
"Psst! Hey you, pink dragon!"
The Dragonair looked back, the voice was coming from the bushes but whoever was speaking couldn't be seen, "M- Me?" asked Hans, he was too tired to even think about what was happening and spoke out an instinctual reply.
"The only pink dragon around."
Surprisingly, Hans did what a normal person would do when hearing voices coming from bushes in the middle of the night and turned around to go away. He felt goosebumps doing so, fearing that whoever was in there would come out and get him, but it never happened.
When he was pulling himself closer to the front doors, Hans caught a glance of something pink and round hanging from the ceiling, it was Noodle's yo-yo. The Dragonair looked up and saw her sitting on the edge of the roof and staring at the distance. He wanted to ask her what was she doing up so late at night but assumed it was behavior similar to the one of cats from the human world and, without a word, continued towards the room.
"Up and at 'em, it's morning!" Shouted Mr. Gible, making both of his partners groggily get up from their respective beds. Without wasting much time, Noodle wrapped her vine around Hans and dragged him out of the room, even if the pink dragon was still half-asleep.
"What time is it?" Asked Hans while sliding down every step of the stairs.
"I have no idea, but the sun is out, and that means we must get up!" Replied Mr. Gible "Besides, I want to see what kind of food they serve here, it can't be much worse than plain berries and apples."
"Food? That means we're going to the mess hall?" The snake worriedly asked
"Unless you want to try your luck with that innkeeper."
Hans sighed, "I hope I don't draw too much attention, you know, being a shiny and all," he said right before they entered, "I- I don't like being the center of attention."
Mr. Gible grinned, "Shiny? Is that a word that means girl-colored or something?" He skipped inside, followed by Noodle, "Come on, I don't think anyone cares about that," the blue dragon called out to his partner.
The Pokémon inside the mess hall noticed the new faces and warmly welcomed them.
And then Hans got dragged in.
"EVERYONE LOOK, THERE'S A SHINY AT THE DOOR"
"A WHAT?!"
"Uh oh"
"That's fake and ga—"
"SHINY NEWFAG! SHINY NEWFAG!"
"Fake and gay? Newfag?"
"I NEVER EVEN SAW ONE IN THE GAMES!"
"WHAT ARE THE ODDS?"
"One in five gorillions!"
"Six gorillions, actually."
"Is this... Because of you?"
"Why is everyone freaking out so much?!"
"LOCOOO PERO QUE ME ESTÁS CONTANDO."
"That pink really stands out!"
"Great."
"Look Chespin, that's the Gible I saw the other day!"
"Cute onahole-shaped newfag!"
"WHAT?!"
"Two pseudos?! That's unfair!"
"It's not. A single CHILLER mogs them ALL!"
"Chiller?"
"Tied up in a vine, so kinky!"
"I wish that was me."
"No, you don't."
"AIIIIEEEEE SHINY-SAMA."
"Shinner!"
"I don't get it, where's the shine?"
"Oh, that's the guy that was speaking with the bushes last night"
"Tropius saw that?!"
"Pokéworld melanin."
"..."
After that spontaneous chaos, the team sat down for breakfast. The mess hall had calmed down now, it seemed like everyone was exaggerating their reactions. Mr. Gible and Noodle were oblivious to what they said and looked more bothered by the noise than anything else, but Hans knew exactly what they meant. He didn't expect the guild to have that kind of people, but he now understood why it was called Clover Guild.
While they ate, a small Pokémon approached their table, it had its eyes closed and there was a faint blush under its cream fur. "Excuse me miss, I couldn't help but notice your presence," it sat down with them without any invitation, "I get called a degenerate for being myself, but when someone like you barges into the mess hall while being tied up for everyone to see, no one bats an eye!"
Hans squinted his eyes in confusion at the Cyndaquil, "Miss? Degenerate?"
"Yes, you and me, missy," he swiftly responded.
The Dragonair hesitated for a moment at his words, "What are you talking about?" he knew exactly what Cyndaquil was talking about but couldn't believe someone got that idea from them.
"Oh, come on, don't make me say it out loud!" Cyndaquil said with a grin, "If you don't know what I mean, I could, you know, teach you."
Was he hitting on him? Hans genuinely couldn't tell but assumed he was, "I'm a guy, you know."
Cyndaquil snickered in response, "That doesn't make it worse."
Hans was running out of ideas and social fuel, he glanced at his teammates for help, but Mr. Gible was focused on his food and Noodle didn't understand what they were talking about, "I- Is that all you wanted to talk about, Cyndaquil?"
Cyndaquil waved his paws dismissively, "Of course not, I wanted to ask if you'd let me join in on your next session of—"
"I can't move by myself, the vine is for dragging me around," Hans explained, staring in disbelief at the Cyndaquil.
The fire-type Pokémon gasped and blushed in response, "T- There's humiliation involved too?! Please, you gotta let me–"
"I'm sorry, mister cinder quill," This time, it was Mr. Gible who interrupted him, "But we have to go now, we've got a very important mission to do," He said, then got down from his stool and started walking away, waiting for his teammates.
"But I haven't finished my food..." Noodle said with a pout, but got up regardless, following Mr. Gible with Hans in tow.
"Leaving so soon? You didn't even tell me your names!" Cyndaquil called out as the team left the mess hall.
"I didn't know humans liked vines so much!"
"He wasn't talking about that, Noodle," Explained Hans.
"What a freakshow, looks like it's the perfect place for you, fag," Mr. Gible teased with a chuckle.
"Says the guy who thinks the feds are on him," Hans quickly replied, "Besides, it wasn't my idea to come here."
"Are you dumb? The guildmaster is a psychic, he read my mind yesterday!" The small dragon retorted, "And this is all a special operation, it's not like I want to be here with all of these freaks."
While her teammates argued, Noodle grabbed a random request from the nearby job board. She tilted her head to look at it, then flipped the paper sideways, then upside down, then backwards before finally regarding her partners.
"Hey guys," Noodle interrupted them, "There's this mission. It says that a little... Uh, Cyndaquil wants some apples from..." She scratched her head while looking down at the request, "The Oran forest!" She cleared her throat before continuing, "You two wanna do that, as a first job?"
"Are you sure it says that?" Asked Hans, noticing how hesitant Noodle was.
"I'm fine with whatever it is to get out of here before the psychics melt my brain," Said Mr. Gible while doing the closest thing he could do to crossing his arms, "We should go out now. We'll travel slow with this dead weight," He pointed at Hans while saying so
Hans frowned at this, then sighed in frustration, "I hope I'm not too much of a hindrance in there."
"Dont worry, it's just the Oran Forest. I don't think we'll have much trouble, Mr. Gible and I have been there many times before," Noodle stored the item request on her satchel and walked out, snake in tow, "But it'll probably take us the whole day to get there because of having to carry you around."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. No need to remind me of it."
"Well, you'd be much easier to carry if you were just a small Dratini."
"It would be even better if I had legs and you didn't have to carry me at all," In that moment, Hans remembered what Dragonair's evolution was, "I- I just realized! I have to evolve into a Dragonite! That way, I would have both arms and legs. And be tall, and powerful, and intimidating and—"
"Blah, blah, blah, power fantasy," Mr. Gible cut him off, "How do you even know you can do that, hm?"
Noodle was also curious about her teammate's knowledge, "Yeah, do humans evolve too?"
"I think they—we do," Hans responded hesitantly, "You're a native. Any ideas on how to evolve?" he asked while looking at his feline teammate.
"Well, you have to go somewhere and touch... something," Noodle was quite evasive about his question, "I think there's one of those things in the Air Continent but that's very far from here."
"How do you know that if it's in another continent?" Mr. Gible interrupted with a skeptical look.
"I've... Been there," Noodle replied awkwardly.
"Sounds like you're an illegal."
Noodle was visibly startled by his statement, "Tch, I- Illegal? Absolutely not! I've never done a- anything illegal, ever!" She answered nervously, avoiding his gaze.
"I didn't know your kind existed in this place," Mr. Gible added with a chuckle, "Hey Hans, do you think they've got some sort of wall here?"
Hans raised an eyebrow at his question, "Sorry, I don't understand burger humor."
"Well, I don't know what boring sausage men laugh at." Mr. Gible scoffed.
Hans rolled his eyes at these words, Mr. Gible's constant snarky remarks were getting annoying now, especially the ones that hit a little too close to home. He wanted to get along with the ones who helped him so much in the short time he had been on this body but wasn't able to. Hans couldn't help but think it was his fault, that maybe he was boring. After all, he never laughed at any of his teammate's jokes. Was there something wrong with his humor? Now that he thought about it, he barely smiled ever since getting there, and most interactions with others were awkward at best.
Hans wondered if he would be better off returning to his old life without trying to change things. He wouldn't be such a nuisance to the team if he let them go out on adventures while he stayed behind doing nothing. They would probably be more efficient without him, and he wasn't even sure if they liked him; Noodle was aloof and evasive when talked to, and Mr. Gible laughed off almost everything he said. This only made Hans hate his body even more than before. Not only did he hate becoming something with no limbs, but also so contradictory to his personality.
Deep down, Hans knew that he liked hating himself like that, that he liked being alone and isolated. Maybe having friends just wasn't his thing, and he was more than fine with that. After all, he was good at being alone.
"Heh, how pathetic." Hans said out loud without noticing.
"Did you say something?" Mr. Gible asked, turning to look at him.
Hans replied with silence, too lost in thought to hear his words. And they all remained that way for the rest of the trip towards Oran Forest; Hans was focused on his thoughts, staring at nothing, Noodle was almost paranoid after what Mr. Gible had said, looking around as the walked, as if scouting the place. Meanwhile Mr. Gible himself was absent-mindedly fidgeting with his power band-turned-tie.
The team arrived at the dungeon by noon, earlier than they had expected. Once inside, Noodle handed the vine tied around Hans' neck to Mr. Gible, then massaged her shoulder with a sigh.
"Your turn."
"Fair enough."
Seeing how tired Noodle looked, Hans wanted to help his partners and tried to make himself useful, "H- Hey, I can fight too! Remember that Hyper Beam I shot at the inn?"
"I remember we had to save your helpless ass," Mr. Gible stated.
"I don't there's anything worth using it against in here," added Noodle.
"How did you even do that thing?"
"Uhm, well, I only remember that Crabrawler stepped on my... Tail," Hans cringed, "And then I shot it," he looked away in embarrassment, "N- Now that I think about it, Noodle is right, I shouldn't use it here," Hans sheepishly mumbled, but really, he just hated the feeling of shooting it.
"Nuh-uh, no backing out when you offered to help, especially now that we've got company!" Mr. Gible grinned while pointing at a Caterpie that was slowly approaching them.
"Hyper Beam for THAT?!" Hans protested, "We should use it against something more powerful!"
"This is your first dungeon, you don't know what is and what isn't powerful. Those little shits are more dangerous than they look," Mr. Gible skipped towards the tip of Hans' tail, giggling excitedly, "Come on buddy, take aim!" he practically bounced in place while waiting for his teammate to look at the Caterpie.
Hans sighed in frustration, he turned his head around, hoping that nothing would happen and this whole thing was pointless, "Okay, but just this o— OOOOO!" before he could finish speaking, Mr. Gible jumped on his tail with full force, Hans felt the same things from the fight with Crabrawler—energy running through him, muscles tensing up, and finally, a beam of light coming out of his mouth, blasting the Caterpie right in the face and leaving no trace of it once he stopped shooting.
Mr. Gible momentarily stared at the short trail the attack left on the ground with a stunned expression, "That was amazing!" he said while clapping, or at least doing the closest thing he could to it, "I didn't know you were a portable nuke!"
Hans was extremely tired after firing the attack. His head felt heavy and his whole body was aching, but hearing Mr. Gible call him that caused a small smile to form on his face, "A weapon... To surpass..." he breathlessly giggled at his own joke.
"You okay?" asked Noodle while crouching next to Hans, having noticed how bad her teammate looked.
Hans craned his head up to look at his partner with the little energy he had left, that Hyper Beam had been more powerful than the last one and as a result it drained him even more. He took a deep breath before muttering a single word, "...No..." Noodle grabbed an Oran Berry from her bag and stuffed it into Hans' mouth, but it had no effect, and he slowly fell asleep.
"Is he dead?" asked Mr. Gible, not looking very concerned for his friend and still staring at where the Caterpie was moments ago.
"I doubt it," Noodle shrugged and lightly kicked on Hans' side to make him react, which had no effect, "He's just taking a nap," she stated, then picked up a nearby apple and put it in her satchel, "Come on, we need a few more of these."
Mr. Gible remembered that this time, they went into the dungeon for a reason, unlike their previous explorations. He grabbed the vine tied around his partner's neck to carry him along, then walked next to Noodle in silence.
Hans being asleep made the team much quieter, Mr. Gible didn't have anyone to tease and Noodle wasn't very talkative. They walked through the dungeon collecting any item they saw and defeating the weak savage Pokémon with Slashes and Tackles from both of them, which was how the team worked before meeting their serpentine friend, who may not be the most helpful teammate but can be quite the chatterbox.
After a while, they had collected all the apples requested in the job, and before either of them could notice, they were already outside the dungeon.
"I'll never get used to that," Mr. Gible said, then started walking away, hoping that whatever direction he chose was the way to the guild. He stopped after a few steps, however, because his stomach was roaring hungrily. He turned to Noodle with a tired face, "Got any food in there?"
She looked back at him with a knowing grin, "We didn't pack anything before coming here," she rummaged through her satchel and took out one of the apples from their job, taking a bite out of it without a second thought.
"Hey! Those are from our mission, right?" asked Mr. Gible, looking more hungry than concerned.
"Yup," Noodle replied with a mouthful of apple, throwing one of the fruits at the dragon.
"Then why are you eating it?!" questioned the Gible, catching the apple in his paws and quickly biting into it, "Why are we? Don't we have a client to give them to?"
"We never even met up with the client," Noodle looked through her bag again, "Because it doesn't exist," she handed him the job request, which Mr. Gible took in his paws to read.
"It says that this is a rescue request," he looked up at her with uncertainty.
"Which means we can eat these!" Noodle smiled and took another bite.
Mr. Gible played along and laughed uncomfortably, "Yeah... I guess you're right," he walked over and put the request back in her satchel, "But why did you make that up instead of telling us about the rescue job?"
Noodle looked away sheepishly in response to his question, "I don't want to talk about it."
"Huh... Alright," Mr. Gible glanced up at her suspiciously, "We should go back now, I want more of that guild food," the dragon said before finishing his apple and walking away.
The trip back was a bit less quiet than the dungeon exploration, even if both of them were tired and hungry, "Next time, we have to pack supplies before going out," Noodle said with a smirk, "Try not to distract yourself with Hans too much and forget to do so."
"I don't know what you're trying to say but it's wrong," Mr. Gible replied, "We should do an actual job too," he continued with an annoyed, almost scolding tone.
Noodle averted her gaze bashfully again, "Ah, yeah, and read what the request says..." she paused awkwardly, "And help people in need," she muttered hesitantly, as if it was difficult for her to say that.
Once the team got back to the guild, it was evening already. Mr. Gible untied the vine around Hans and Noodle tucked it under her fur. She discreetly put the job request back on the board while her partner carried the Dragonair upstairs, when the blue dragon came back, they both went into the mess hall.
With heavy eyelids, Hans slowly woke up and was met with the wooden ceiling he stared at to sleep last night. He winced in pain, every part of his body hurt, and he couldn't tell if it was a result of the Hyper Beam or something unknown. He craned his neck up and glanced around the room; nothing. Hans was, for the first time since getting here, truly alone. Not even that traitorous inner monologue of his, the one that tried to take over his voice and let out all those spiteful thoughts, was there.
He didn't think about anything, and simply laid there, staring at the ceiling in silence, but he felt like something was off. He didn't feel at peace because of being alone and away from the noise, and he didn't feel good for having time to himself either, but rather, he felt something he had never experienced before; an unmistakable feeling of pure, sheer dread.
His eyes widened and he felt paralyzed—even if he couldn't move already. Fear wasn't something he was used to, contrary to loneliness. And there he went again, his mind started racing with thoughts, a train going nowhere as always. At this point, it was a habit to overthink even the slightest thing. He pondered why he felt such a sudden and powerful feeling, was it because of his limbless predicament? Was he scared of the world that surrounded him? Maybe he felt in danger, it could be more of an instinctual. It didn't take long before he started thinking out loud, talking to himself, and letting that inner monologue come out.
"Maybe I should—"
The moment he started speaking, Mr. Gible barged inside unceremoniously, making a beeline for his bed and noticing that Hans was awake, "Oh. You finally woke up," he mentioned, then offered the Dragonair an apple, "Here, you must be hungry," the blue dragon placed it in front of his partner before continuing, "You could've had actual food if you didn't take that nap."
Hans sighed and took a bite off of the apple, "You wanted me to do the thing."
"You didn't pass out last time," Mr. Gible sat on his bed, "The intelligence operation is going well. I've managed to collect lots of information today."
Hans raised his eyebrows momentarily before remembering what he was talking about. This was all supposed to be some kind of operation, so he played along, "What did you discover?"
"That the 'people'," he made keystrokes with his paws, "They've sent are as dumb as you," hearing this, Hans wanted to interrupt him with some banter, but let the Gible continue instead, "I mean, if you're going to be placed in a cool world and body, why wouldn't you choose a cool name?!" Mr. Gible started ranting, "I'm calling myself like this because I can't reveal my identity, but I swear these guys have picked the worst codenames ever!" Hans nodded as if he understood what his partner was saying, "Remember the chicken thing from last night? His name is KFC!" the Gible scratched his head, "Isn't that a... Chicken factory or something, back in the human world?"
Hans nodded again, "Exactly, a chicken factory, because chickens are factory produced," he chuckled, "Weird name indeed."
"And remember the smiley-face guy I told you about?" Mr. Gible continued, "He kept talking about 'losing the game' and 'sneed'... Whatever that means."
"I don't think you'll get it," Hans held back a laugh, "What else?"
The Gible sighed, "I'll tell you later if you care so much, I'm tired now. I've been screaming in my mind all day, trying to keep away the big boss from reading my thoughts."
"T- The... Big boss?!" Hans repeated, perking his head up.
"The guildmaster..." Mr. Gible stared at his teammate in confusion, not knowing why he reacted like that, "The blue cat guy."
"Oh... The big boss," Hans nodded, "Are you sure he's trying to get into your mind? He looked like a cool guy."
"Of course he is! I can feel it in my head... I think," he paused hesitantly, "I don't know where to get tinfoil in this world."
There was a small moment of awkward silence after that before Mr. Gible started talking again, "You know, it's infuriating."
The pink dragon curiously tilted his head, "What? Mind-readers?"
"No, these guys... They're really good at playing nice people, it almost makes me forget that they're all feds," he said with a little smile, gazing out the window longingly.
Hans was surprised to see even a tiny bit of softness from his ever-so-cynical teammate, "What if they're nice people?"
Mr. Gible grinned cheekily in response, looking back at him sidelong, "Nah..." he walked over to the desk next to the window and picked up the scarves and badges they had left there last night, then threw a pair at Hans, "Here, you should put this on, it's supposed to be our uniform now," he smirked toothily while squinting his eyes, then laid down on his bed, "Wake me up when you decide to stop being miserable."
Hans frowned at his nonchalant gesture, then looked down at the scarf and badge his partner had just thrown at him, cursing at himself for not having limbs. How pathetic, he couldn't even put clothes by himself, he thought, then rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling again, hoping he would fall asleep and wake up with something else to do other than think.
He wasn't able to sleep no matter how hard he tried, and his thoughts were filled with insecurity and hatred towards his body. It was practically a form of self-mockery, reminding himself how good it felt to have arms, and how horrible it is to not have legs.
It wasn't just the awareness of his body that kept him awake, but also the fear he felt before. Hans was growing increasingly paranoid, his eyes were wide open and his nerves on edge, he kept glancing around the room almost instinctively, seeking danger that wasn't there, as if he could ever do anything to potential threats being what he is.
When Hans finally looked at his lying body, he felt a cold shiver run through him. Staring at himself always gave him goosebumps, it was too shocking to see that he had really become a living noodle.
Noodle... That thought made him remember about her, he looked at the empty bed on one side of the room and realized that it had been a couple of hours since Mr. Gible got back without her. What a friend Hans was, completely forgetting about a member of the team and having no clue where she was. He felt uncertain, thinking that she may have left or something bad happened. It was a strange feeling, he had grown attached to his two partners quicker than to anyone else in his life, maybe it was because they had basically become his limbs, or because they were so friendly from the moment they met.
He shivered again, was the night cold or was he truly that worried for someone he met a day ago? No, that was too cynical for him to think, they were the only friends he had after all, and he was worried indeed.
He could barely bat an eye, it wasn't just dread and uncertainty keeping him awake, but most importantly thirst. Should've saved that apple from before, he thought.
Hans rolled sideways until he got off the bed, then crawled towards the door. The same thing that happened last night was repeating, he was even going to the same pond he told himself to not drink of, except this time, it was much worse. He didn't just move at the usual snail's pace, but his body hurt a lot. He winced every time his underside dragged along the wooden boards, and his neck felt stiff, so he was even slower to move.
Eventually, Hans managed to go outside the guild, he was on his way to the pond when he spotted a pink round object floating mid-air. He couldn't figure out what it was and thought that he was allucinating for not sleeping, until he looked up. Noodle, there she was, perched up on the edge of the roof, playing with her yo-yo and gazing off into distance. She didn't seem to notice the bright pink serpent crawling a few feet under her.
Hans wanted to talk to her, but kept on moving to the pond instead, hoping that some water would help him out. Once he got next to the pond, hesitation grew on him, remembering how strange the water felt last night. He dipped his head in anyways, opening his mouth underwater to drink as much as possible before running out of breath. When he withdrew, he heard that voice coming from the bushes, again.
"Psst! Over here!"
Hans looked at the bushes and immediately regretted drinking from the pond again, he thought the water was making him go insane.
"Yeah, you, the pink guy. Come over here," The voice said, yet the speaker couldn't be seen. Strangely, Hans didn't feel the same fear he did back on his room, and now, he could actually be in danger.
"Who... Are you?"
"Shhh, you'll see later. Just come over!" the voice demanded, Hans felt oddly compelled even if he knew it would be a bad idea. It was as if his own body wanted to move just to go in there, as if it was a force of nature ordering him to do so. He couldn't even tell if the voice was really coming from the bushes. Just like last time, Hans turned around silently, and sluggishly crawled back to the entrance of the guild.
When he was approaching the main entrance, he noticed that Noodle wasn't on the roof anymore, but on the stairs of the front doors instead. She looked at him through the corner of her eye and smirked, "What are you doing up so late, Hans?"
Hans stopped in his tracks for a moment to respond, "What are YOU doing up this late?"
Noodle shrugged while closing her eyes, "It's fun to be awake when everyone else is sleeping."
Hans settled next to her on the stairs, "I... Guess you're right," he stared up at the night sky, and didn't feel amazed like before, but rather, scared. It was inexplicable dread that came out of nowhere, the stars remembered him that this was a completely unknown world for him, and that he was in a body he didn't know how it worked. Hans felt tiny, pathetic and more scared than before. He shivered, and this time, he knew it wasn't becaus of the cold of the night.
Noodle noticed this and glanced down at her partner, "Something's wrong?"
Hans snapped out of his thoughts when hearing her voice and stopped shivering, "Actually... Yes, but I don't know how to describe it."
She nodded in response, then looked away again, "It happens."
"I guess so," he kept his gaze on the sky above, letting his wander again, wondering what this conversation was even about and why they were outside still. Hans knew that he should go back to sleep, and yet, he stayed there, next to her, in silence and under the dreadful night sky.
"These guys say a lot of new gen stuff," said Noodle.
"New... Gen?" Hans repeated, recalling what he told her it meant, "Oh, yeah, new gen... What did they talk about?"
"I didn't understand most of what they said, so you'll have to explain me later," she said, "I asked Mr. Gible what 'sneed' meant, but he didn't know what it was."
"I'll do it..." Hans paused hesitantly, "But you'll have to tell me all about this world, I have to learn to live again."
"Sure, but I'm not the best guide there is," she scratched her muzzle before continuing, "Maybe other guildmates know better."
Hans faked a sigh, "Guess I'll have to socialize," There was a brief moment of silence after that, and he started thinking about what they just said. Now he wasn't so scared by the idea of talking to strangers, not after what his partners said about the guild, even if his first impressions weren't the best. This was his new home after all, and he felt like he would fit right in after what happened in the mess hall.
"That stunt you pulled back there was really cool," Noodle interrupted his thoughts again.
"Y- You mean the Hyper Beam?" Hans chuckled, "I can't even do it by myself."
"Well that's what we're a team for, we'll be there to step on your tail!" she joked.
"I don't think you get it, it's as if I'm not meant to use it, that's why I can't shoot it out of my own will," he pondered about the attack for a moment, "And I feel horrible after using it... I don't really want to do it again."
"So what, I'll just have to keep fighting everything by myself?" she asked with an annoyed tone.
Hearing his teammate say that made Hans feel guilty, he wanted to help the team, but thought that doing it like that was dangerous for him, "W- Well, maybe, yeah."
"It's alright," To his surprise, Noodle's response was quite positive, "I think I'm getting good at it," she said while smirking smugly.
Silence came over them once again, more time for Hans to think. He recalled their talk about evolution and wondered why she was so stubborn on taking the team to Pokémon Square, after all, a Dragonite would benefit their team and get rid of his hinderances. But now, evolving didn't look as good as it did just a few hours ago. A small part of him wished to remain a snake, to adapt to this body and learn everything about it, but he didn't know why. For him, there was no logical reason to stay a Dragonair, so why was he having this dilemma now? The thought of staying on a body so alien to that of a human, one that involved so many problems and made him feel useless was sickening, and yet, that doubt remained.
"Do you want another hug?" Noodle suddenly asked.
"No," Hans quickly replied, he was so deep in thought that he didn't even process her words, "Hey Noodle... Do you think I should evolve?" he asked dubiously.
"Maybe," she plainly replied with a shrug, "But I don't think you can."
"Why?" Hans asked with an annoyed tone.
"We shouldn't go to the air continent," she looked away with a frown, "It's a bad idea to go there."
Hans wondered what her reasoning was, but didn't feel like it was a good time to ask about it. He pondered evolution again, as Noodle was quite reluctant to the idea, and Mr. Gible didn't know or care about it. The Dragonair realized what his partner had said a few moments ago, and he really wanted to give her that hug back, but even then, he was still doubtful.
He still felt that fear on this spine, the same that came when he was left alone, which was the one thing he thought he was good at. After thinking about it while his gaze drifted among the sea of stars, Hans realized what this irrational fear was and where that doubt came from. He feared being alone.
Not only his body had changed, but his mind too. Loneliness felt horrible, contrary to the enjoyment his human self felt in it. He longed for companionship, especially from his team, to the point where he felt like he couldn't be separated from them. Hans now knew why he doubted evolving, he thought that becoming a Dragonite would separate him from his friends because he wouldn't need their help anymore. His egoistical side even believed that him being a snake was the glue that kept the team together. It was quite twisted, currently, he didn't just want them by his side, but need them, as he was practically useless on his own. The Dragonair sighed and couldn't help but wonder what would happen to the team if he managed to evolve. He questioned what he needed the most, the team by his side, or his limbs back. Hans didn't realize that he could be able to get both, but his traitorous mind made him believe it was one way or the other, almost as if subconsciously, he wanted to remain a snake.
The pink dragon yawned, fatigue was finally getting to him. He was tired of thinking, tired of doubting his own ideas, tired of himself. Another yawn came by, it wouldn't be long before he drifted off to sleep, but before closing his eyes, he met the ones of his partner again.
"Noodle, I've changed my mind, I think I do want that hug."