The Basics of Flight
Mountains, forests, plains, rivers and lakes made way for a familiar sight of tree stump houses and the great Capim Bay stretching into the horizon beyond, glittering in the setting sunlight brilliantly. Even from this height, it was a warm and welcoming sight after making it halfway across the continent from Shaymin Village.
Debby adjusted her angle hundreds of yards above ground. She still had some ways to go, but the favorable winds meant the last stretch home would be a breeze. Diving down a handful of feet she caught a gale she'd wager could take her home with a leisurely glide, Debby settled into her pose and allowed the great heavens to work for her.
The town was still some ways away, as she wasn't able to discern any individual dots in the bustling crowds… except for the one that was at the same altitude as her and growing larger. Another flyer, she noted and tilted to the right to make way. Even with open skies, there was etiquette to follow in order to avoid any unfortunate collisions.
Debby peered ahead at the approaching figure, confused. Did she misjudge the flight path? She was certain that she'd made plenty of way, but it seemed she was mistaken. Taking another turn, this time much larger, she realized what had happened. The stranger had mirrored her flight pattern perfectly, and they had just done it again. Frustrated that she was forced out of her favorable winds, Debby kept an eye on the stranger as details became clear.
It was the Togetic from Clover Guild, and he seemed to be growing increasingly nervous as the two approached each other, likely struggling with the same conundrum of wondering which way to dodge to avoid a crash. His expression reminded Debby of a Deerling caught in orb-light.
Before it was too late, Debby made a final twist to the right in the air, hoping the guild member wouldn't copy her again. Unfortunately, he did.
"Hoot!"
"SHIT!"
—
Debby came to on a high branch just beneath the canopy of the forest. Everything hurt, most of all her head that pounded like a hammer on a nail. She slowly scanned the immediate area and spotted Togetic face first in the ground some distance below her, probably still unconscious.
With great effort Debby got to her feet, the deliberate movements causing her head to spin and she almost lost her balance. The moment she put pressure on her left leg however, a spike of pain lanced through her and she lost her footing, crashing down into a bush below. This day was about to get a lot longer than she'd imagined.
Crawling out of the bush and carefully getting to her one good foot, Debby hobbled her way to Togetic to check on him. "Y'all still breathin' hon?" She poked at his side to elicit any response she could and was rewarded with a groan of pain from the horizontal flying-type.
Slowly Togetic unearthed his face from the dirt and looked at Debby with a miserable mix of emotions. Mostly agony, sadness and frustration, but there was a hint of something else she could pick up on behind them. "I-I'm s-sorry! I t-tried to dodge b-but…"
Before he could get too far, the Delibird put her wing on his head to stop the incoming tirade of stuttering and self-pity. "It's fine, hon, happens on occasion." She felt Togetic flinch away from the touch but she kept a firm but gentle hold on him, moving to check him for any injuries when he'd settled down. She sighed, a little frustrated at the collision but intent on not letting it get to her. "I'm just glad y'all ain't hurt. Where in tarnation did y'all learn to fly anyway?" Well, not letting it get to her anymore than it already was, she chided herself mentally.
"I-I'm self t-taught…" Togetic sat up as he was given a once over by the mailmon, he didn't feel much worse to wear but noticing the limp Debby walked with made him definitely feel worse emotionally. "A-are you a-alright D-D-Debby?" He couldn't look away from the leg, thoughts of having to cover expensive medical bills and having hurt a friend of the guild, making everyone to hate him, warred for the spot of main concern in his head.
"Just a lil' sprain, hon." Satisfied that she didn't find any wounds, and that Toge hadn't complained about any yet, Debby hobbled to lean against a tree and sat down heavily. "Shoot? Self taught? No wonder y'all kept getting in the way." She noted that expression again, and would've bet money it was anger that was hiding beneath the surface. "Y'all fly pretty well Toge, for bein' so new to it." She quickly added to sway his wrath.
Her gambit worked as Toge's face turned to confusion. "W-why d-do you say t-that? A-and how d-do you k-know my name?" He fiddled with his hands and looked around the woods nervously for something, like he was afraid to be overheard. After the quick scan, he turned his attention to the uncannily knowledgeable Delibird.
Debby leaned back against the tree and closed her eyes, trying not to think the pain coursing through her. "Hon, I bring new missions for y'all almost everyday, and Kaz is my best friend. It weren't that hard to figure out what y'all are all about."
"Kaz?" Toge tilted his head in confusion.
Debby slapped her forehead as she caught the slip. A bad idea with what was almost certainly a concussion. She cringed from the pain but managed to speak up "Shoot, Linoone. Y'all seen him, right? Works for Delibird Deliveries, me?"
(Linoone!? I've seen him around on occasion, usually hanging around other guild members. Was he a spy for Debby all along!?)
Toge nodded in response to the question. A gesture that was completely lost on Debby, who still held her eyes shut. "I-I didn't k-know t-that was h-his name."
"Do me a favor and forget y'all heard it. Don't think he's big on lettin' others know that." Debby opened one eye enough to look at Toge, and the message was loud and clear. After all, he too avoided his old name, as did Chespin. Perhaps Linoone had his own reasons too, he figured. Another nod came as a confirmation to Debby's request, and she closed her eye again.
Toge got up from the spot he landed on, grimacing at the indentation of his face in the dirt. "A-are y-you s-sure you're a-alright? Y-your leg i-is hurt, c-can I h-help in any way?" He made his way to Debby to check on her in return, wincing back the second he saw the nasty bruising all around her body. It took effort to notice them beneath the red and white feathers, but it was pretty clear she was banged up badly.
Debby let out a pained chuckle, took a cigarette out of her tail bag and put it in her beak. "Y'all got a light?"
"A-a... L-light...? O-oh, for y-your cigarette. Well, at least it isn't something DEGENERATE like weed or god-forbid, one of those vape-pens that only dumb HIPSTERS use in order to think they're COOLER and doing something HEALTHY when it's just as bad and it only makes themselves look like total TOOLS for getting suckered into buying something just as addictive as normal tobacco! And they try to PRETEND that they're ABOVE people who smoke real tobacco! If you're going to smoke your lungs out, you might as well do it with HIGH-QUALITY cigars or custom-made cigarettes, at least that would help increase your personal aesthetic by just making you look cool or suave, and not like those DISGUSTING potheads that just sit around and get blazed in public parks, forcing EVERYONE around to have to deal with the stench of weed they bought for cheap from the nearest store! Degenerates like that should just use edibles instead, THAT way they don't RUIN the air of NON-POTHEADS just trying to enjoy a nice SIMPLE walk in the park! AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED WHEN SOMEONE IN AN ONLINE GAME STARTS SAYING THEY'RE ABOUT TO TAKE A BONG RIP-"
Toge stopped himself as he realized he fell into a rant again, and settled into an awkward silence. Neither spoke for several seconds, and he'd begun to mentally beat himself for snapping at an injured pokemon until an unexpected sound brought him back
Debby let out a deep and throaty chuckle that turned into a painful cough. Once she'd taken a deep breath, she looked to Toge with good cheer like he hadn't just gone off the rails.
"So I take that's a 'no' on the light, hon?"
"U-uh, s-sorry I d-don't have one…" The Delibird shrugged and put away the cigarette in response. She seemed to be looking for something in her bag for a moment before giving up with a sigh and settling back against the tree.
Toge took in his surroundings for the first time. He knew he was in one of the forests near Capim Town at least, and he felt good enough to fly back to get some help for Debby. That caught his attention, 'help for Debby'. Why was she so injured and he only felt a little sore? That didn't make much sense unless she was particularly fragile. He turned his attention to the green canopy above where a few broken sticks stuck out as evidence of their descent at terminal velocity. Stray leaves and twigs surrounded them on the ground as well as a few flattened berries, none good for healing unfortunately, or eating for that matter. Nothing really stuck out as his savior from grievous bodily harm.
Now that he looked around more, the ruined berries weren't the only unusual items scattered around. Under a bush there was the unmistakable blue hue of an orb, a lone postcard depicting a red lumber cabin surrounded by snow lay alone on the ground and up there on a branch something metallic glittered at the end of a red string. Debby's items, Toge noted and took to the air to collect them. There was a surprising amount of items he managed to collect over the few minutes he searched the area, totalling 3 intact orbs, 2 broken ones, 7 postcards he couldn't have read even if he were included to due to the unknown language they were written in, a small coin purse with a logo of a Delibird and finally the metal at the end of the string has turned out to be a set of heavy keys. He left the ruined berries alone, they wouldn't be good to anyone now.
Toge returned to Debby with the items in tow. She had opened her eyes again and had been following his efforts for a little bit now. "T-these a-are yours, r-right? T-they got s-scattered a-around, h-hope I found e-everything." He laid the items on the ground in front of her and glanced at her tail bag. A sudden shiver went down his back as he saw the dark opening of the bag. Stare into the void, and the void stares back, he thought as memories locked in place and he realized what had happened after the two had crashed.
—
"Hoot!"
"SHIT!"
The fliers collided into each other with intense force, sending both flipping and tumbling through the open air down towards the ground below. Debby recovered quickly, but Toge had hit his head on Debby's tail bag and kept plummeting. She had been about to educate him on the finer details of common flying rules, but the sight of a limp Togetic about to become little more than scrambled eggs on the forest floor shot her into action before she could even think of what to say.
Debby was gaining on him fast, but not fast enough to stop or slow the momentum enough to land safely. Making a snap decision, her beak let go of her tail bag, sending its contents onto the winds to be lost or found later on, it didn't matter as she had bigger concerns on her mind. Like saving Toge.
The mailmon was now diving straight down, squeezing her body in on itself as much as she could to reduce wind resistance. Every microsecond counted now as she made her move. Grabbing hold of Toge, she spun around to divert some momentum, enough to slow him down a little for what came next as she let go and threw the unconscious pokemon. Debby quickly grabbed her now emptied tail bag and flipped around, scooping Togetic into the sack with expert maneuvering. She thought she heard a muffled scream as Toge's head went in, but couldn't be sure with the wind rushing by her ears.
Debby held the bag tight as she disappeared into the canopy.
Dark. Silent. Warm. Soft. Toge saw a glimpse of the trees approaching fast before those four things were all he could for certain say about his surroundings. He couldn't feel any movement in the darkness, the silky walls of his invisible prison rubbed against him comfortably. He felt like he was floating, and at the same time like he was wrapped up in a blanket held by his mother. Wherever he was, it was the perfect size and temperature.
Maybe he had seen a dream where he was flying out of town on an errand for Beast. Now he was back home, in his comfortable bed remembering something sweet from his life before.
Something hard pushed him out of the darkness suddenly, exchanging the comforting embrace of the void with the sight of the rapidly approaching ground.
The darkness returned soon after as his face made contact with the hard packed soil beneath. This time it wasn't quite so warm and welcoming.
Toge tore his gaze away from the opening of Debby's tail bag, tears welling in his eyes as he remembered the collision in full now, and how Debby had put herself at risk for his sake. He tried to say he was sorry, that he was thankful and that he would make it up to her, but trying to say three different things at the same time left the vocalization as a jumbled mess of syllables. Toge could feel tears welling in his eyes, once again having failed at the basic task of talking normally, and he screwed them shut to stop the embarrassing display.
Toge felt something soft take hold of his head and gently pull him in. He opened his eyes to see white, and realized Debby had pulled him into a hug. His face buried against her chest, he let out a sigh and listened to the sweet melody the mailmon hummed. He recognized it as Silent Night, that old hymn, and closed his eyes to focus on it. His breathing slowed down as the nostalgic feeling of Dewott holding him in a similar way overwhelmed him.
It took several minutes for Toge to truly calm down, and a few minutes later Debby released her hold on him. "Y'all really don't need to apologize, it ain't a big deal. Say, hon, y'all didn't happen to see an odd lookin' stick around? I lost my signal wand in the fall, and I need that to call for help."
Toge fluttered into the air and nodded vigorously. "I'll take a look around! You stay here and try not to move." He took off immediately in search of the wand, unaware he managed to get his words out without a stutter.
Debby watched as her companion scurried off, adjusting her position to a slightly more comfortable one to ease the pain in her leg. She watched his form, noting small issues the former human should fix to improve his flying. She could note only so much in the brief moment before Toge was gone behind some trees, but there was a laundry list of them. He really flew by instinct and brute force, and while it wasn't the worst she'd seen, he certainly didn't have the same knack for flight as most others. She would need a few days to get him to an acceptable level of skill.
"I think I found it!" Toge's excited holler echoed past the trees around Debby, and she turned to watch the direction of the exclamation. Seconds later he appeared from a bush holding a stick that turned inwards into a spiral at the end, some stray twigs and leaves still stuck onto his white fur from the bushes he'd been crawling through. Toge flew in front of Debby and landed, holding the wand to her in both hands like a fragile treasure. "T-this is i-it, r-right?" The stutter returned as uncertainty once again took its rightful place in Toge's subconscious.
"Sure is, hon. Good work findin' it so quickly! Y'all got a knack for findin' things that don't belong!" Debby chuckled and examined the wand. Satisfied it was still intact, she nodded and aimed it upwards at the spot in the canopy the two had fallen through, where the leaves and branches would give the least resistance, and activated the wand with a loud pop that made Toge jump. The rather ordinary looking stick shot out a whistling ball of fire past the treeline into the open skies above, where it exploded in bright red light that soon faded away. The red hue vanished and the sounds of the forest returned. "We'll get picked up real soon, hon. Got my best workers rushin' to help."
Toge nodded as he lowered his eyes from the emergency flare back to Debby "O-ok… I-I'm in c-charge of t-the g-guild s-storage. S-so y-yeah, I g-guess I-Ive got a-a knack." He managed a weak smile, her praise boosting his confidence slightly. It almost made him forget how they ended up in this situation. Almost.
"Is that y'all I sometimes hear hollerin' in the Guild, by the way?" Toge's face flushed with embarrassment as Debby continued. "Y'all need to find an outlet. I usually go for a flight, or if it's real bad I sneak outside for a smoke. I figure y'all might prefer the former. I could give some pointers, fix that rigid pose, and maybe even teach y'all some flight rules to boot." She laughed warmly as she finished. "Hoot! First lesson. Y'all always make way by turnin' right. Both fliers oughta do so, because y'all wanna avoid any close calls."
“That’s right, hon! Keep flappin’, y’all almost got it! Don’t get so stiff, y’all will flip mid-air and fall if a gust comes by.” Debby gestured vaguely at Toge, who was preoccupied trying to follow her previous four instructions at the same time. She'd refilled her bag, and was sitting on it just a few feet away from him.
She had started by drilling the basics of flight paths in open skies. How far away to stay from other flyers who weren't in his 'wing', a term she explained meant simply a group flying together on the same course. Apparently joining a wing of strangers if they happened to be on the same course was rather common too, and the process of joining one mid-flight sent shivers down his spine. It wasn't the procedures themselves that were the issue to him though. It was having to talk and fly besides pokemon he didn't know. Toge decided he'd stick to flying alone whenever possible.
Currently he struggled to maintain the very specific form Debby had been trying to teach him for the past 15 minutes. At first it had felt so unnatural that Toge couldn't even lift off the ground, but the native born flying-type had changed tactics when her first attempt hadn't provided results. They took it one step at a time: Lift off posture, steady breathing, stretching his wings to loosen the muscles, the first flap of the wings. Surprisingly that part hadn't made much difference, but Toge didn't dare comment on it, fearing his teacher might make him repeat the step after getting past it. Next came the hovering, the part he now seemed to struggle with despite managing it fine enough before.
"I-I d-don't think i-it's working! T-this feels w-weird!" Toge craned his neck to look at his backside, he felt a painful tension in his side as he kept in the air, flapping furiously.
"Sure it does, hon! Y'all's back is all messed up. I told y'all it has to be loose, so don't be afraid of lettin' it hang. I'll be ready to catch y'all in case of a drop." Her reassurance didn't mean much for his confidence. He certainly didn't want to fall again, and certainly not atop the already hurt Delibird. Regardless, she sounded confident and hadn't been a bad teacher so far.
The Togetic closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. As he slowly let it out, he relaxed his back and immediately dropped a few inches. Scared by the sudden fall he moved his arms to the side to regain his balance, but stopped as something clicked. He carefully opened his eyes to find himself still in the air, flying almost weightlessly. It no longer took effort to stay hovering. Toge grinned and turned to Debby, practically shouting his excitement. "I-I did it! It feels so much nicer!" He spun around in the air laughing, feeling lighter than ever before.
"I told y'all it was that simple, hon!" Debby joined in the laugh from the ground. She was right, he thought, it really was a matter of easing into it, rather than forcing the flight. "Y'all got the basics down now, it'll take a bit to get used to the new form, but y'all are quick on the pickup! Ain't no more than a few days and I reckon y'all would be good to even compete, hon!"
The glowing praise filled Toge with more excitement and energy as he swooped around the forest trees. He looked to Debby with a wide smile. "You r-really think s-" His words were cut short by a head on collision with a tree, and he flopped down to the ground, groaning in pain. The mailmon was already making her way to him.
"Y'all best keep an eye on where y'all are flyin' hoot!" Debby chuckled and helped Toge to his feet. "Y'all are still tryin' to fly like before. Got too much power, makes it hard to maneuver and stop. Good work gettin' this far so quick, hon!"
The former human blushed and looked away sheepishly. "Y-you're j-just a r-really good t-teacher, Debby. I-I w-would've never g-gotten this f-far on m-my own."
In response he received more jolly laughter and a pat on the back "Y'all are the one flyin' Toge. I just told y'all how. I ain't done nothin' special… but y'all will want to keep practicin'." Debby looked around, suddenly focusing on something he couldn't hear or see, but she turned back with her usual cheer before he could ask what she was looking for "Hoot! Come by Delibird Deliveries after sundown sometime! I'll get y'all in shape, don't worry none, hon."
Unsure how to respond to the kind offer, Toge nodded simply, but with evident excitement at the prospect. He followed her gaze as she turned around to look up at the thick canopy above. Something purple had begun slowly sinking through the branches and leaves, and a moment later he recognized it as a Drifblim. Debby waved cheerfully to the new arrival.
"Took a while, what kept y'all, hon?"
The Drifblim descended to just above the pair and seemed to regard Toge suspiciously before turning to Debby. A faint melodious voice echoed from somewhere. "I… thought you were… with Kaz~" The Drifblim sounded disappointed, though Toge couldn't understand why.
"Hoot! What do y'all think I save the flares for, hon? A ride home from the bar?" Debby chuckled as she wrapped herself in the Drifblim's ribbons. She quickly realized her social faux pas and introduced the two. "Toge, this is Delilah, she's my employee. Delilah, this is Toge, we got into a bit of a tumble, but we're all fine! He's a good pal!"
Delilah looked between Debby and Toge, still giving off a vibe of harsh judgement. The fairy type looked away under the glare, and immediately felt the pressure lift as the blimp pokemon talked again. "I… see… You have... done that before... Debby..." The Delibird looked a little embarrassed and turned away. Delilah turned her attention to Toge "You will… have to find… your own way home~"
"H-hold on a moment, hon!" Debby stammered as Delilah shot up into the air without warning, shooting past the trees into the unseen skies in mere seconds. Toge was left alone in the forest, feeling a little dumbfounded. He wasn't sure how to take what had just happened.
Something soft landed on his head, and he looked up. A bright blue cap with a Delibird Deliveries logo on it. He groaned inwardly, because this meant he'd need to return it… and risk meeting Delilah again.