Cotton

A Clover Guild Story
By Ribombee-anon

Note: A slightly updated version of this story can be found here: https://rentry.org/RibombeeJournal#cotton

The Clover Guildhall had a storeroom, and it was a mess. My partner Sneasel and I examined the chaos of random items strewn about and piled everywhere, sometimes reaching even higher than where I sat on Sneasel’s head. Neither of us had the slightest idea how it got so bad after only a few days of having a guildhall. We were equal parts impressed and annoyed.

“Um... should we try to clean it?” I asked timidly.

“Nope,” Sneasel said. “None of this is mine. I’m not cleaning up everyone else’s crud.”

“Well, we’ve got to do something about this. How is anyone supposed to find what they need if it’s so messy?”

Before Sneasel could reply, her ear suddenly twitched. She turned around and said, “Someone’s coming.”

“Adding more junk to the junkyard?” I muttered.

After a few moments, we saw one of our guildmates, a kind yet somewhat nervous Chespin, walk into the room. He was toting a large burlap sack with his vines. We couldn’t see what was inside, but it seemed lightweight judging by how he held it.

“Hey, Chespin,” Sneasel said. “Whatcha got there?”

“Oh, hi, Sneasel,” Chespin said. Then he noticed the Ribombee on her head, and greeted me too: “And hi, Booker! Wooper and I just finished a quest. We got some really cool stuff in these bags!”

“Bags?” I asked. “Plural? How many?”

Chespin paused. I saw him look up at nothing, and his lips moved wordlessly. He was counting in his head. Finally, he shrugged and said, “I dunno. So many, I lost count.”

My heart sank. “A-are you gonna put it all in here? I don’t know if you noticed, but—”

“Yeah, I know,” Chespin said. He rubbed the back of his head and glanced around the messy room. “Don’t worry. We’re just putting this stuff in the storeroom for a little bit, before it can get distributed out to all the guildmates.”

“You’re giving it away? Nice—that’s generous of you. But... what is it, anyway?”

“Yeah,” said Sneasel, “you still haven’t told us what’s in the bag.”

“Oh, right—sorry!” Chespin said. He plopped the sack on the ground in front of me and Sneasel. He opened it and revealed the contents, announcing, “Whimsicott cotton! Beautiful, soft, cozy, cuddly cotton!”

Just as Chespin said, the bag was completely stuffed full of fluffy white cotton, to the point where it looked exactly like it contained a cloud. It seemed softer and more luxurious than any cotton I’d ever seen before. I had to resist the urge to dive right in.

“Meh,” Sneasel said with shrug.

Chespin’s face fell immediately. “W-what? You don’t like it?”

“I don’t like soft things,” Sneasel said. “Just not my style.”

“But... I was hoping we could all use this to replace that dumb hay we all have to sleep on. Aren’t you sick of sleeping on that hay?” Under his breath, he added, “I know I am.”

Sneasel shrugged again. “Hey, I’ve slept on rocks plenty of times before. Compared to that, hay beds are just fine. I know hay isn’t the coziest kinda bed, but I don’t mind roughing it.”

I leaned forward and smiled down at Chespin. “Well, even if Sneasel is being a sourpuss, I’m sure everyone else will love the cotton. Thanks, Chespin.”

“You’re welcome!” he replied. He seemed to be perking up again. “Hey, Booker, do you want some of this? I can drop some off at your dorm right now.”

“Actually, I’m good,” I said. “I’ve already got some.”

“Huh? Did Wooper give you some? I thought I was ahead of him—did he get to the guildhall before me?”

“No, that’s not what I meant... Actually, wanna visit our dorm? I can just show you what I mean.”

“Okay, sure. And I’ll bring the bag too, in case Sneasel changes her mind.”

“I won’t,” she said. “But I won’t stop you either.”

Chespin grabbed his cotton bag again and hoisted it over his head. He followed after Sneasel as she led the way to our dorm. As we went down the hall, we almost bumped into a hunched-over Wooper carefully carrying another bag on his back, using his tail to help keep it stable. He looked up at us with a big smile—his default expression, as far as I could tell.

“Hey, guys!” he said. He glanced over at his partner and asked, “Chespin, where are you taking that bag? The storeroom is the other way, silly!”

“I was gonna drop it off at their dorm,” Chespin said, gesturing at me and my partner, “and maybe chat with them a bit.”

“Alright,” Wooper said as he scampered down the hall. “Sounds good! But don’t take too long. We’ve got lots more bags to deliver!”

“Sounds like a lot of work,” I said to Chespin. “Do you two need any help?”

“No, we’re good,” Chespin replied. “I don’t want to bother anyone. I know everyone else is busy with their own stuff. Well, when they’re not quoting memes, that is.”

I laughed. “Yeah, true.”

“Y’know,” Sneasel said, “you still never told me what a ‘meme’ is, Booker.”

Chespin and I glanced at each other. I said, “Um... it’s probably better that you don’t know, Sneasel.”

We soon got to our dorm. Even though Sneasel and I shared it, it was actually one of the guildhall’s smaller dorms, intended for one occupant. This was because I barely took up any space, so a larger dorm would be unnecessary. The room was square and sparsely furnished, containing only a hay bed, a low desk with a floor cushion for a seat, a small wardrobe, and a two-tier bookshelf full of books and some knickknacks owned by Sneasel.

Chespin looked around. “I’ve never visited your dorm before, have I?”

“I don’t think so—but there’s not much to see,” I said. “The only important thing right now is what’s on the desk. That’s what I meant when I said I’ve got my own cotton.”

Chespin went over and gasped. On the desk, off to one side, was a low wide earthenware bowl completely filled with cotton balls.

“Is this... a tiny bed?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “That’s where I sleep. You like it?”

Chespin grinned and gently smooshed the cotton balls with his paw. “This is so comfy! You’ve been sleeping in here all this time? Man, I’m jealous—this is way better than hay! How long have you had this?

“Since the day after the Gathering,” I replied. “This is actually my third bed, though. The first two attempts weren’t as good.”

“Really? Did you try sleeping on hay like everyone else?”

I shook my head, and tried my best to briefly summarize my experiences ever since being transformed and transported to this world of Pokemon.

I told him how I arrived in the mystery dungeon Oran Forest, where I met and partnered with Sneasel. It was dusk by the time we left the woods, and we started going towards Capim Town, where Sneasel lived. Before long, we had to stop and sleep for the night. To add some extra protection and stealth against roving bandits or ferals, we went up a tree and slept in the branches.

It was there that I learned branches were terrible beds: cold, hard, and with a constant risk of rolling off and falling to the ground. That poor excuse for a bed made it hard to sleep, and the problem was only exacerbated by my anxiety. My heart refused to relax all night long, and my mind was constantly overflowing with thoughts and fears about what the future would bring. I always liked routines—but waking up in a bizarre new body, in a whole new world, was easily the biggest upset to any routine ever. My only comfort was that I had Sneasel with me. I knew that if I had a friend, things wouldn’t be so bad.

I still barely got a wink of sleep, though.

“He was cranky all morning after that,” Sneasel said, interrupting my story.

“I don’t blame you, Booker,” Chespin said. “I hate it when I don’t get a good night’s sleep. That’s why I went to look for this cotton. I needed something better than hay to sleep on.”

I nodded and resumed my story. “So, that was my first night, and my first bed. The next day, we finally got to Capim. Sneasel showed me her apartment, then showed me around some parts of town too. And that evening was the big event.”

“Oh, right—the Gathering.”

“Yeah. You were there too, so you know how we all met each other and stayed up late chatting. It was after midnight when Sneasel and I finally got back to her apartment. She didn’t have a spare bed for me, so she piled up some spare cloth on her desk, so I could at least have something a little soft to sleep on.”

“So that was your second bed?”

I nodded. “It was definitely better than a branch, but it wasn’t very comfy, and I still barely got any sleep. I was too excited about finding so many other humans, and founding this guild. And I still hadn’t gotten used to the whole isekai thing, so that was still messing with me too.”

“I’m not really used to all this either,” Chespin said. He extended a vine and waved it around. “It still feels a bit weird to use my vines.”

“Sorry to hear that—but hopefully we’ll all get used to our bodies soon. Anyway, after two sleepless nights, I was super drowsy the next morning. Sneasel still wanted to show me the rest of the town, though. Along the way, I’m pretty sure I dozed off a couple times, and I almost fell off Sneasel’s head once or twice. Eventually, we got to the general store. Sneasel started talking with the merchant. I was ready to fall asleep again. And then I saw the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen.”

“What?”

I jumped off Sneasel’s head and used my wings to float softly down to the desk. I tapped the bowl of cotton balls and smiled at Chespin. “This,” I said. “A big bowl of the softest, comfiest cotton balls ever. It was like they were calling my name. So I dove off Sneasel’s head, landed in the cotton, and—bam—I fell right asleep.”

“He was sleeping like a log,” Sneasel said.

“I was, until you woke me up by laughing at me and poking me with a claw,” I said. “I would’ve been embarrassed, or upset, if I wasn’t so darn tired. Anyway, we decided to buy the whole bowl, with all the cotton in it, and that became my bed from then on. And we brought it with us to the dorm when we moved out of her apartment. And... that’s the whole story.”

Chespin looked at the bowl of cotton. “How does it feel to sleep on it?” he asked.

“Amazing,” I replied. I hopped into the bowl and sank partway into the cotton. I shut my eyes and let out a sigh as I nestled in deeper. “This is even better than any bed I had when I was a human. And now that you and Wooper brought back a bunch more cotton, everyone else can have a bed as comfy as this. I’m sure everyone’s gonna love that.”

Fighting back the urge to doze off, I opened my eyes and sat upright. Sneasel was staring at me, but she looked away as soon as I noticed her.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“I’m not jealous!” she yelled. “Who said I was jealous?”

Chespin and I looked at each other and laughed. My guildmate reached out with his vines and gently nudged the sack of cotton closer to Sneasel. “I’ll just leave this here,” he said with a smile. “Alright, well, I’ve been here long enough. I really should go help Wooper bring the rest of the cotton to the guild.”

“Good idea,” I said. “It’s probably hard for him to carry those bags with no arms.”

“I dunno about that—he’s actually really strong. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already brought over half the bags by now, all by himself. Anyway, thanks for the chat, guys! And enjoy the cotton!”

Chespin waved goodbye, then hurried out the door to help his partner deliver the rest of the goods. My own partner eyed the bag of cotton sitting next to her, then snorted and looked away, crossing her arms.

“Are you gonna try it out?” I asked. “If not, you should take it back to the storeroom, so someone else can use it.”

Sneasel groaned and started grabbing big clumps of cotton, messily dumping them on her straw bed. “Fine. I don’t wanna carry it all the way back there. Might as well give it a quick try while it’s here. I mean, you and Chespin keep talking about this stuff, and you both like it so much... I guess I oughta try it for myself so I can get what you guys are talking about, y’know? I ain’t gonna keep it, though.”

“You really should keep it. You’ll sleep better. A good night’s sleep is important if you want to get stronger. And we both know how much you care about that, right?”

Sneasel said nothing, but I knew she agreed. She silently finished covering her hay with cotton, then turned around and fell over backwards onto the bed. As soon as she landed, her breath hitched, her body froze up, and her eyes went wide.

I stood up in my bed. “Sneasel?” I asked. “A-are you okay? What’s wrong?”

She slowly spread her arms out to her sides, and her lips quivered. She shut her eyes tightly and exhaled deeply. “This is the comfiest thing I’ve ever felt,” she whispered. “Better than I thought it’d be. I can’t believe it... We never had anything like this where I come from, back on the island. Pretty much everything there was hard and cold and painful. But this... it’s soft and fluffy like snow, but it’s so warm... and...”

I laughed. “Guess you like soft things after all, huh?”

I received no reply. Sneasel was fast asleep, a faint smile on her face.