The Echo Chamber

A Clover Guild Story
By Ribombee-anon

Early one morning, my partner Sneasel and I checked Capim Town’s bulletin board. I could see the board clearly from my perch on her head, but I was unable to read any of the text, since I never had a chance to learn this particular language. So, my thoughts wandered instead, and they immediately went back to what led us here.

Just two days ago, Sneasel and I had been stunned to meet a group of humans in the same predicament as me: inexplicably transformed into Pokemon and transported into the world of mystery dungeons, which we all believed was just a work of fiction. I had become a Ribombee, and was fortunate enough to meet a friendly native Sneasel with whom I could partner up. Many of the other transformed humans also found native partners of their own, and we all decided to stay together and form a guild.

Of course, the guild couldn’t be founded without money, so the first order of business was to earn some capital. The town’s bulletin board allowed residents to post and accept various jobs, and Sneasel had relied on this for income ever since she came to the town a few months ago. She believed this was the best option for me and her to earn money for the new guild, so after giving me a day to get more accustomed to the town, she brought me here to look for a job.

I was taken out of my thoughts when I heard Sneasel start to speak in a quiet voice. She was reading one of the posts on the board to herself, and I listened closely to what she said.

——XXX—— BOUNTY ——XXX—— FERAL GOLEM Requester: Taillow Location: Waterfall Cave — Echo Chamber “I love singing in Waterfall Cave! It’s got a room with great acoustics! But I’m sick of that meanie Golem throwing rocks whenever I visit! Help me take him out!” Reward: 300 Poke + Pure Seed

“Hey, Booker,” Sneasel said to me. “This looks good. Waterfall Cave is pretty close by. And the reward’s decent, I guess. You can never have too many Pure Seeds.”

“So you think we should take it?” I asked. “A Golem sounds tough. I know you’re a strong fighter, but let’s not get in over our heads.”

“Don’t worry, I can handle it. And I’ve actually visited that dungeon before. Even if this Golem is strong, it’s the only thing that’ll give us trouble. The common ferals in that cave are easy to beat. I say we do it.”

As soon as she said that, I thought I sensed something flare up nearby—a strong emotion? Then a shrill voice rang out: “You took my quest? Yay!”

We both looked around in surprise. A Taillow was swooping down from a nearby building, and she quickly perched on the bulletin board. Even though my Aura-sensing abilities—standard issue for a Ribombee—were weak and untrained, I could easily tell there was a large amount of emotional energy pouring out of this Pokemon. I shied away in response. The bird didn’t seem to notice, as she looked down at us and began chattering in a singsong voice.

“Hey, you! You’re a Ribombee! Are you new here? Haven’t seen a Ribombee in town before! You’re cute! What’s it like to be a bug? Oh, and hi, Sneasel—I’ve seen you around! I always wanted to tell you I think that notch in your ear is so cool! Makes you look pretty tough. How’d it happen to you? Does it hurt? Does—”

“Y’know,” Sneasel interrupted, “I’ve got a question for you, too: do you ever stop talking?”

“I dunno! I’ve never tried!”

Sneasel grumbled. “Alright, chatterbox... as long as you can keep it down, then we’ll take your quest.”

Taillow did a backflip and let out a cheerful trill. “Great! Can we go now? I wanna teach that feral a lesson ASAP!”

“Um... please wait a second,” I said to Taillow. “I’m curious about the description. It says ‘Waterfall Cave — Echo Chamber’. I’ve heard of Waterfall Cave before, but what’s the Echo Chamber?”

“It’s a special room deep in the dungeon,” Taillow explained. “Originally, the end of the dungeon was a room with lots of crystals... and some sort of trap that flooded the whole place. I don’t know who set that up, but they sound like a big jerk! Anyway, a little while back—maybe a couple weeks ago—some explorers realized the dungeon shifted, so now the final room is different. It’s a room with some really weird acoustic effects going on... you’ve gotta see it for yourself. I’ve never seen another room like it!”

That piqued my interest, but I was still feeling cautious. I tapped Sneasel’s head and asked her, “Do we need to prepare first? Should we wait before going?”

“No, I think we’re good,” Sneasel said. She patted the pouches she wore on her belt, one on each hip. “I always bring some items with me. I’m always prepared.”

“Then let’s go, friends!” Taillow sang. She launched off the bulletin board and flew southeast. Sneasel chased after her, yelling at her to slow down, while I clung tightly to the fur on her head and hoped we wouldn’t regret taking this quest.

* * *

The path to Waterfall Cave was easy and calm. We moved casually through the quiet Capim Region, passing through some fields and forests, mainly going alongside a wide river. Taillow flew above, sometimes chatting with us, but mainly singing loudly. Sneasel covered her ears whenever the bird sang, but I liked listening to it. Her music was different from the birdsong back on Earth. This was more melodic and structured, as if she was singing an actual song instead of making random noise or repeating the same short phrases.

At the end of one performance, Taillow swooped down and circled above us, close enough that the wind from her flapping wings rustled my fur.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“Well... I thought it was nice, actually,” I said. “You have a good voice.”

Taillow looped in the air and cheered. “Yay! Thanks! But, hey, Sneasel, why are you covering your ears? Was I too loud?”

My partner let her arms drop, and both her ear and ear-feather stood up straight. “Remember when you promised you’d keep it down?” she asked. “You’re doing a bad job of it.”

“Sorry, but I can’t help it! I just love singing! When I feel a song in me, I’ve just gotta let it out!”

“I can tell. You’ve been doing that since we left town. And I’m not really a fan of music in general.”

Taillow was so shocked, she nearly fell out of the sky. “What?” she cried. “Why not?”

Sneasel hesitated before replying, as if struggling to find the right words. “Music’s too... soft and thoughtful, y’know? And it’s distracting. And it’s boring, too. I like spending my time with active stuff, like training or exploring dungeons, not sitting around and listening to music.”

“But I’m pretty sure I saw you at the big concert the other night! You were even up at the front! Why were you there if you don’t like music?”

“That Meloetta concert? I only went there cuz you wanted us to, Booker.”

“I know you say that,” I replied, unable to hide the growing smugness in my voice, “but deep down, I think you were interested in it. Remember when we met Gus, the Oshawott, before the concert? You seemed pretty excited about the show then. You were talking with him about how Meloetta’s concerts were so special and legendary, right?”

Sneasel briefly stuttered, and I felt some mixed emotions drift out of her, before she finally replied, “W-well, I wasn’t excited about the music itself! I was excited to see Meloetta, okay? She’s world-famous! Even if I don’t like music, I wasn’t gonna pass up the chance to see her!”

“So you did want to go to the concert, then? I thought you said you only went because I wanted to. But now it sounds like you wanted to go too.”

“Y-yeah... but not for the music, just for Meloetta!”

“Don’t worry,” I said with a smile, patting Sneasel’s head. “You don’t have to feel bad about liking music. Your secret’s safe with me, partner.”

“But not with me!” Taillow laughed. “I’m gonna tell the whole town!”

The bird squawked as a shard of ice shot past her wingtip. Sneasel lowered her claw, which was wreathed in freezing mist.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” Taillow said. “I was just kidding! I’m not gonna tell anyone! Promise!”

“Good,” said Sneasel. “I don’t like music, alright? And that’s final. And Taillow, quit singing, okay?”

“Oh, alright,” the bird groaned. “That’s fine, though. I love singing, but I love flying too. I can have fun just flying around!”

Taillow beat her wings and rose higher into the sky. I watched her soar and loop through the air without a care in the world, her feathery wings catching the wind and flapping vigorously. Then I glanced back at my own gossamer wings. They slowly fluttered back and forth, weak and useless.

“She’s lucky,” I murmured.

I thought I was too quiet for Sneasel to hear, but since I was right between her ears, she picked up my whisper. “Hey, don’t worry about it,” she said. “I’m sure you’ll figure out how to fly sometime. Remember what we talked about back in Oran Forest? You wanna get stronger, right? Just like me. And neither of us is gonna give up.”

I sighed. “You’re right, Sneasel. Thanks.”

“I know I’m right,” my partner said. “I always am! Anyway, not much farther until the dungeon. Hopefully the chatterbox stays quiet until then.”

* * *

To my disappointment, but Sneasel’s satisfaction, Taillow really did stop singing during the remainder of the trip. She was content to just wheel around in the sky above us. It was mid-morning when we climbed into an area of foothills, and the terrain became more bare and stony. Just a bit farther, and we finally reached our destination.

We stood on a rocky outcropping, and before us loomed a tall cliff sprouting a few sparse trees. A massive, roaring waterfall poured down from the top, passing mere feet away from the outcropping on its way down to a wide pool, which split to either side of the outcropping and flowed off into a pair of rivers. Someone had put up a large wooden sign on one side of the outcropping. It was in the same language as the bulletin board, so I couldn’t read it, but I saw it had an arrow pointing towards the waterfall.

Sneasel walked up and read it out loud, shouting over the noise of the waterfall. “Warning: mystery dungeon ‘Waterfall Cave’. Floors: 8. Type: Water.”

“This is the place!” Taillow cried. She was circling above us and picking up speed. “The dungeon’s on the other side of that waterfall!”

“I know!” Sneasel shouted. “Like I said, I’ve been here before. And I hate the way we have to get inside.”

“Well, I like it,” Taillow said. “It’s fun!”

With that, the bird let out a loud “YAHOO” and rocketed towards the waterfall. She shot through the rushing water and vanished without a trace.

Sneasel groaned. “Yeah. That’s the way to get in. I hate it. And obviously, you can’t stay on my head during that, Booker. How about you hide in my bag? Can you fit?”

She opened up the top of her left pouch and held it open. Tilting my wings carefully, I floated off Sneasel’s head, past her shoulder, and into the bag full of seeds and berries. Sneasel watched as I tried to lay flat, tuck in my wings, and nestle deeper. Once I was in position, I nodded up at her, and she closed the pouch. I immediately felt nervous and claustrophobic, but there were still some small gaps between the flap and the pouch, and they let in some light. I was able to peer through the gap ahead, getting a very narrow view of the waterfall.

I felt everything shake as Sneasel stepped back, then charged forward. I briefly shut my eyes. The roar of the waterfall became deafening, and I felt a small splash of water come through the bag’s gap and hit me, making me shiver with cold.

There was one big quake as Sneasel landed in the cave on the other side of the waterfall. Then, after a pause, everything shook violently for several seconds. I assumed Sneasel was shaking herself to dry off. It made me queasy, but at least it ended soon.

Sneasel opened the flap of the bag, and I sat upright. We were now in a large cave. Stalactites dripped water from the ceiling, while tall stalagmites rose up from the floor. Some pools of water were scattered around. Faint blue-tinted light filtered in through the waterfall behind us.

I wasn’t very wet, since the bag did a decent job of protecting me. My limbs in particular were totally dry, probably because they were covered in smooth chitin. Still, I got to my feet and shook myself like Sneasel did, trying to get the water out of my fur. She flinched as some water flew against her side and arm, and she quickly brushed it off.

When I was done, Sneasel looked into the bag I had ridden in, as well as the one on her other hip. “If you got wet,” she said, “my items are wet too. But I don’t have anything that’ll get ruined by water, so it’s fine.”

She looked up again, and asked, “Hey, Taillow, how are you?”

The bird was perched on a stalagmite nearby. She seemed to be mostly dry. Either her feathers were waterproof, or she went through the waterfall so quickly that she dodged all the water—which seemed like a legitimate possibility, knowing how energetic she was.

“I’m doing great!” the bird said. “C’mon! This cave’s not the dungeon yet. We’ve gotta go in this tunnel here, and then through some floors, then we’ll find the Golem. I’ll let you guys do the fighting—that’s why I hired you, after all. I’m no good at combat stuff.”

“I get it,” Sneasel said. “I like fighting, so it’s all good. Ready to go, Booker?”

I nodded, and she put me on her slightly damp head as we followed Taillow into the dark tunnel. I felt a strange chill come over me as we passed the threshold. When I glanced back, instead of the first room and the roaring waterfall at its entrance, I saw a bare wall. We had officially entered the dungeon. I had visited many in video games, but this was only the second time I’d entered one in real life. I hoped getting through it would be as easy as Sneasel had suggested earlier.

The cave was dimly lit by patches of glowing moss and mushrooms, and the air was noticeably damp and cold. Taillow flew above, carefree and quick, unfazed by the tight confines of the tunnels and caves we walked through. She frequently went on ahead to scout for enemies, helping me and Sneasel find our way through the dungeon more safely. I had to remind Sneasel not to get distracted by the regular enemies. We were here on a job, and although she loved to fight and train herself, I told her we had to respect the client’s time and focus on finding the target. Sneasel reluctantly agreed with me, and promised not to hunt down every enemy in the area—though she gleefully fought any feral that got in our way.

We eventually reached the seventh floor, meaning the target was just one floor below. As Taillow flew off to scout again, I asked Sneasel if we had a plan for beating the Golem.

“The same strategy I always use,” she said. “I’ll go with the flow. All I’ve gotta do is dodge its attacks, and then attack back until it goes poof.”

“You make it sound so easy,” I said, rolling my eyes. “We need more of a plan than that.”

“Well, if you come up with a better idea, lemme know. I’ll listen to your advice. I mean, anything you think of is probably gonna be better than my plans. I’m a fighter, not a planner.”

“Well, aside from being the strategist, what else should I do? Should we try what we talked about on the road to Capim?”

I was referring to a discussion we had not long after partnering up, while we were leaving Oran Forest and going to Capim Town. Back then, we were wondering if there was some way I could help Sneasel fight, despite my lack of moves, flightlessness, and low physical strength. We decided one way I could help was to retrieve useful items from her bag when she needed them. I put it into practice for the first time when we met an injured Oshawott named Gus; I retrieved an Oran Berry for Sneasel to give to him, and it worked well enough. Of course, it would be harder to dig through her bag and find the required items while we were under attack by a feral, but we both decided it would be a good idea to practice it here.

Taillow soon returned, telling us that the stairs were close by. We hurried over and descended to the final floor, where the Echo Chamber lay, and the feral Golem lurked. It was time for a boss battle.

* * *

The Echo Chamber was large and oddly smooth. The ceiling, walls, and floor were very polished, with barely any sharp edges or rough textures, only gentle curves and ripples. The sole exception was a group of stalactites hanging down fro the shadowy ceiling, but even those looked smooth and perfectly conical. There were some puddles on the ground, and similar glowing moss and mushrooms as the upper floors, albeit differently colored. There were also large crystals in many colors embedded in the walls, but they were flush with the stone, creating no disruption in the smooth surface.

Perhaps as a result of the texture of the room, or due to some strange resonant quality of the crystals, all sounds were amplified and reverberated everywhere—and some echoes were even pitched up or down, so a single sound could harmonize with itself. I didn’t understand how it worked, but the effect was definitely uncanny. Sneasel’s ear flicked around as she picked up the modified sound of her own footsteps and Taillow’s wingbeats.

“I’ve never been to this room,” she said quietly, trying not to let her voice echo. “I know I said I came to the dungeon before, but that was before the shift. This room is pretty weird.”

“That’s why I like it,” Taillow said from above us. She was louder, and her voice faintly echoed. “But what I don’t like is that big meanie over there.”

We looked to the center of the room, where a large Golem was stomping around aimlessly. It had turned towards us when it heard Taillow, but it made no moves. It was just watching us silently. Taillow wished us luck and flew up to the dark ceiling, letting me and Sneasel handle the enemy.

“Got a plan yet, partner?” Sneasel asked me.

“Not yet,” I replied.

“Then I’ll stick with the basics,” she said. “As for you: get ready to grab items for me, okay?”

She opened her left bag and tucked the flap inside, keeping it open for me. I slid off her head and swooped inside, nestling in among the berries and seeds like before. Once I was in place, mist formed around Sneasel’s claws, and long sharp ice crystals coalesced in midair. She grabbed them and brandished them like knives as she crept up towards the Golem. The feral lowered its stance and roared at her. The sound echoed all around, as if a whole angry mob of Golem were facing us. I flinched, but Sneasel simply flattened her ear against her head and kept approaching the enemy.

“I’m not sure this will work,” I said. “Just... be ready if it attacks back.”

“I got it,” said Sneasel. She raised her arms, then flung her ice shards at the Golem. They shattered as soon as they hit its rocky hide.

“Thought that’d do more damage!” Sneasel yelped. She backpedaled, and I braced myself for the counterattack.

The Golem smashed its fists into the ground, shattering part of the floor. It then picked up some of the resulting rocks and threw them at Sneasel. My partner evaded them by hopping left and right, and I tightly clung to the edge of the bag to avoid getting flung out onto the floor.

“Aim for the head!” I shouted up at Sneasel. “Or the limbs—they’re less armored!”

“I will if I get a chance to attack!” Sneasel yelled.

The Golem kept chucking rock after rock, and Sneasel kept dodging. At a few points, the Golem needed to reload by smashing the ground again and getting more rocks. Sneasel took these chances to summon and fling some more ice shards, but they all shattered or ricocheted harmlessly off the feral’s armor. I heard her growl in frustration.

“Stay calm!” I shouted. “Focus! Watch the attack, and move just enough to evade it. Don’t overdo it. And as soon as you dodge one move, aim and throw before it attacks again!”

Fortunately, my partner listened to me. Her movements became more deliberate and careful. She landed more attacks, but the Golem seemed to shrug all of them off. I knew we had to come up with a different plan, but since we were under attack and I was being constantly shaken around, my frightened mind refused to work right. I had trouble coming up with any ideas.

Things took a turn for the worse when Sneasel stepped in a puddle and lost her footing. As she tried to recover, one rock slammed into her left arm with a sickening crunch.

Sneasel screamed. She fell to her knees and clutched her arm. I winced as a strong emotional energy surged out of her briefly. I could feel a part of my partner’s pain. I could only hope her arm wasn’t broken.

“Sneasel!” I shouted. “H-hang in there!”

I frantically searched for an Oran Berry to help her heal. Meanwhile, Taillow had swooped down from her hiding spot near the ceiling and began to sing chaotically and shrilly. The Echo Chamber transformed her song into a cacophony. The Golem roared and stumbled, as if confused by the sound, and it ignored the crippled Sneasel and focused on Taillow. It tossed stones at her, but the bird nimbly dodged all its attacks, made easier by her ability to move in three dimensions.

Meanwhile, Sneasel was gritting her teeth and breathing heavily. “B-Booker,” she stammered, pain strangling her voice. “Berry, n-now!”

Before she finished her sentence, I had already dug a big blue Oran Berry out of the item pile under me. I held it up, and with her good arm, Sneasel swiped it from my hands. I flinched as her huge sharp claws swung past, barely missing me. I looked up and watched her eat the berry, and she shut her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She then tried moving her damaged arm, and although she grimaced, it was clearly functional again.

“I’ll be okay,” she said, though her voice shook a bit. “It’s been a while since I took a hit like that. Lucky it didn’t break anything. If it did, that berry wouldn’t have been enough...“

Sneasel took a few moments to recover. Meanwhile, Taillow kept flying around and singing, keeping the Golem’s attention on her. Sneasel’s ear pressed down against her head as she tried to block the bird’s sound.

“I still hate music,” Sneasel growled.

“But this song just saved you, y’know,” I said. “It distracted the Golem.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

After a few more moments, Taillow’s dissonant song paused, and we heard her yell at us in a high, clear voice: “I just realized something!”

“What?” asked Sneasel.

“Bringing you guys with me was a really dumb idea! This guy loves throwing rocks! And all three of us are weak to rocks! Why’d I hire you for this job? I’m so dumb!”

Sneasel snarled, but I reached up from her bag and patted her side. That seemed to snap her out of it. She looked down at me, while Taillow resumed her song.

“Let’s not get angry,” I said. “Focus on beating this thing. Taillow’s doing a good job distracting it, but she can’t do that forever. We have to do something with this opportunity before we miss it.”

“Right—we’ve gotta attack it again,” Sneasel said. “Plus, since it’s distracted, it’ll be a sneak attack.”

“Let’s make it count. Use your strongest attack.”

“Good idea. I’ve got two Blast Seeds in that pouch. Let’s use one.”

I gasped and froze up. “W-what? You didn’t tell me you’ve got Blast Seeds in here! I’m sitting on a bomb right now?”

“Relax, they don’t blow unless you prime them. Now gimme that seed, quick!”

“Um... what’s it look like?”

“A fireball. Hurry!”

Sneasel crept closer to the Golem’s back, while I began to rummage through the items. I slowly sank deeper into the pile as I did, but soon found what I needed: a seed that looked like a fittingly flame-colored fireball.

“Blast Seed here,” I said, gingerly holding it up, afraid it would explode at any moment.

Sneasel roughly grabbed it from me and bit down on it, as if she was biting the pin off of a grenade. It hissed and smoked. After letting it cook for a moment, she tossed it at the feral Pokemon. It struck the enemy and burst in a huge fiery explosion that shook the cave and nearly blinded me. The loud amplified noise was enough to make Sneasel grunt and stumble. We waited impatiently as the smoke cleared. We stared in disbelief as we saw the Golem standing there with only a small crack in its armor.

“What is that thing made of?” Sneasel shouted.

As if answering her question, the Golem roared and flung yet another rock at Sneasel. She evaded it and began bouncing lightly on her feet, ready to dodge the next attack. The feral stood in place and looked back and forth between Sneasel and Taillow, wondering who to attack next.

“Now what?” Sneasel asked. “That armor is way too strong. It’s like that stupid Exeggutor’s shield, from back in the forest. Why is this so tough?”

“At least we know it’s not invincible,” I said. “The explosion cracked it. But it’s not enough. And we’ve only got one seed left. That’s not enough to break its armor all the way.”

“Yeah. I wouldn’t be surprised if the only thing strong enough to break it is itself.”

I nodded, and looked up at Taillow to see how she was doing. It was hard to see her among the shadows at the top of the Echo Chamber. She was keeping her distance from the Golem, staying close to the cave’s ceiling and weaving between the stalactites. Stalactites...

“I’ve got it!” I shouted. “Call Taillow down, Sneasel.”

“Why? You’ve got a plan?”

“I do. Hopefully it’ll work. That feral’s thrown enough rocks at us—time for us to throw rocks back at it!”

Sneasel shouted for Taillow to come down, while I dug around for Sneasel’s second and final Blast Seed. When Taillow came close to us, the Golem resumed trying to stone us, hoping to hit one of us three when we were grouped together. Fortunately, it was far enough away that Sneasel and Taillow were able to dodge its attacks without too much effort. It also didn’t come any closer, possibly because it knew that would be a waste of effort, since we could easily outrun it.

I finally found the fireball-shaped seed and held it up out of the bag. “Here’s the plan,” I said. “First, we need to pin the Golem down so it can’t dodge, since we’ve only got one shot at this. So, Sneasel, freeze it in place. And Taillow, take this Blast Seed! When the feral’s stuck, find a stalactite directly above, and—”

“Oh, I get it!” Taillow said. I threw the seed at her, and she caught it in her talons and soared up to the ceiling.

“Hold on,” Sneasel said. “This is gonna get bumpy!”

I gripped the edge of the bag while Sneasel leaned forward and dashed at the Golem. It stomped the ground and sent out a quake. Sneasel stumbled but kept going. As she came closer, the Golem slammed its fists into the ground once again, and scooped up more rocks to fling at Sneasel. She dodged left and right, throwing shards of ice to deflect any projectiles that came too close. And while she ran, her claws were steadily growing more and more surrounded by icy mist, until they were almost completely obscured.

She finally closed the distance. With a feral-sounding roar and a strong pounce, she caught hold of the Golem’s face. Ice quickly crept over its snout, and Sneasel jumped to the side as the feral tried and failed to scratch the ice off. While it was distracted, she went for its left leg and froze it to the floor. Then she dodged the Golem’s counterattack and froze the other leg.

“Do it, Taillow!” Sneasel yelled as she ran away.

There was a bright fiery flash high above us. The whole cave quaked, and the boom of the explosion echoed loudly and discordantly, just like the last one. Sneasel stopped running and turned around. We watched as a large, sharply-pointed stalactite broke free of the ceiling and plummeted straight down onto the Golem. The feral stood absolutely no chance. The stalactite crumbled into rubble and completely buried the feral.

Everything shook with the cacophonous impact, and thick dust spread around the cave. Sneasel and I coughed. When the dust settled, we saw Taillow hopping up and down atop the rubble pile, shouting, “Yeah! Take that, you jerk!”

Wisps of dark smoke were leaking out from between the rocks of the pile. The feral had disintegrated. Sneasel and I both let out a sigh of relief. Then she plucked me out of the pouch and placed me on her head again, and we went over to the rubble pile.

“I’m glad that worked,” I said.

“Another monster hunted,” said Sneasel. “So, the job’s complete now, right?”

“Yeah,” Taillow said. “Thanks, guys! I really appreciate it! You were so cool, Sneasel! I hope I can be a strong fighter like you one day! And Booker, that was a neat plan!”

“W-well, thanks,” I murmured. “It was nothing special...”

“Now what?” asked Sneasel. “Are we going back to the town, and you’ll pay us there?”

”Yep!” Taillow replied. “But first, now that this room is safe again... I wanna give you an extra little something. I wanna demonstrate the acoustics of the Echo Chamber! They may be a bit worse now that this new rubble pile’s here, but I’m sure it’ll still be fine.”

“Are you saying you’ll sing for us?” I asked.

“Yeah! I pretty much never get an audience here, since it’s so out of the way, and most Pokemon don’t like jumping through that waterfall... so I’d really love to do a little show for you two while you’re here! Wanna listen?”

Sneasel immediately said no, but I tapped her on the head and nodded at Taillow.

“I think you should sing,” I said. “Sneasel, let’s give her a chance. Maybe you’ll actually like how her singing sounds this time.”

“She already sang here earlier,” said my partner. “It sounded awful.”

“I wasn’t trying to sing well then,” Taillow said with a shrug. “I was trying to sing loud and bad, just to annoy the Golem.”

“Well, you went above and beyond, cuz you annoyed me too.”

“I know—but this time, it’ll be different.”

“See?” I said. “Sneasel, let’s hear how she sounds this time.”

I leaned forward over Sneasel’s forehead, enough for her to look up at me. We gazed at each other for a few moments, until she finally sighed and looked at Taillow.

“Fine,” she grunted. “Sing.”

Taillow cheered and hopped up and down, preparing to sing. But I interrupted her and asked, “Before you start: are you going to sing on that rubble pile?”

“Sure!” Taillow said. “Why not?”

“Um... because that Golem just died right there. Is it okay to be singing on a Pokemon’s grave like that?”

“Grave?” Taillow laughed. “No, this isn’t a grave, silly! We didn’t kill that Golem—it was never alive to begin with!”

“She’s right,” Sneasel said. “See, most ferals—not all, but most of them—are just illusions made by the dungeon. That’s why they turn into smoke when you beat them. They can totally still hurt you, though.“

“Exactly,” said Taillow. “Trust me, if that Golem was a real Pokemon, I wouldn’t be singing on the spot where we took it out. But since it was just an illusion, it’s fine, right?”

“Okay, that makes sense,” I said. “In that case, I guess you can go ahead. Let’s hear what you’ve got, Taillow.”

The bird fluttered her wings, flicked her tail, and sang.

When normal sounds were made in the Echo Chamber, the result was strange. But when someone sang with skill and care, the result was hauntingly beautiful. Taillow’s voice bounced around and echoed clearly, with some echoes shifting into entirely different notes. It sounded like she was accompanied by a whole chorus singing together in harmony. Her voice did things no lone singer could do under normal circumstances, and I listened intently, trying to capture every nuance of her song.

And as I listened, I gradually realized something: I’d heard this song before. Even though this rendition was wordless, I could tell it was the same song Meloetta sang at her concert two days ago. It was the one that resembled a certain human song... the song that was the catalyst for finding my fellow transformed humans in this new world. Some of us had recognized the song, and that’s what led to us realizing our commonality, and gathering together for the first time. Taillow mentioned earlier that she attended the same concert, so she must have chosen to sing this song now because it was fresh in her mind. I was happy she chose it. That song was special to me—to all the lost humans—and my heart soared as I heard it again.

Partway through the song, I felt my perch start to shift around. Sneasel was moving rhythmically. Curious, I leaped forward off her head and floated down with my wings, tilting them to turn myself in midair and watch her as I descended.

The sight surprised me. She was tapping her foot and swaying gently.

“You DO like music!” I cried as I landed in front of her.

Sneasel looked down in surprise. She struggled to say something, until finally settling on something simple. “Shut up!” she yelled, complete with a voice crack.

I laughed and went to her side. Sneasel let out an exaggerated sigh, but then gave me a warm smile and a wink before looking back at Taillow. I leaned up against her leg, and we listened to the rest of the birdsong together, tapping our feet in unison.