Two in Red
Sierra woke with a start as droplets of water splashed into her eyelids. Rolling over and pushing herself up from the wet grass below, she found herself in the middle of an unfamiliar overcast grove. Strange, she thought, as she couldn’t recall leaving home the night before - or much of anything, for that matter. Reflexively, she wiped her eyes to clear her vision, but froze in shock as she realized her oddly sore arms were no longer those of a human: purplish-blue scales had replaced whatever skin she previously had, triangular fins jutted out to the side from her forearms, and where hands would have been, a sharp talon extended from each of her wrists. Looking downwards, she observed the rest of her form had received a similar treatment, with a red underbelly reaching from her chin to her lower torso, stumpy legs and clawed feet with fins extending from her quadriceps, and a thick, shark-like tail emerging between her lower limbs, which she twisted her neck to see in full. This didn’t look like any animal she had ever seen before; just what the hell was she? As she took another look around her surroundings, the trees and bushes around her seemed to loom higher than ever before. This couldn't be real; was she having some sort of nightmare?
“Ey! You there!”
Snapped out of her increasingly frantic train of thought, Sierra whipped her head around in the direction of the muffled-sounding voice, as a strangely familiar-looking yellow-and-red bipedal animal-person emerged from the bushes, with a purple bandana wrapped around its face and a satchel-like bag strapped on one of its baggy arms. It watched her as she hurriedly backed away, but promptly lost her balance and stumbled onto the dew-covered ground.
“Hey hey hey, just here to help!” The creature, who appeared to be about half Sierra's size upon a closer look, pulled down his scarf to reveal a small snout and raised his small hands on his tentative approach toward the dazed former human, offering one to Sierra as he stood over her. “You okay, homie? Looked like you broke more than a few bones from that fall.” The strange being spoke in an odd fashion, as if he was attempting to sound like a Hispanic gangster, but was over-acting to compensate for his youthful voice and lack of proper grit.
“Uhh….I guess?” Sierra hesitantly took his hand after a second and let herself be pulled up, then patted herself down the best she could with her claws, oddly not feeling much pain aside from the occasional tingle in her extremities. “Hold on - you’re saying I…fell? That can’t be right, doesn’t feel like I’ve been injured at all. Surely you must have seen something else, like a bird or-”
The roar of the rain interrupted her as it ramped up in volume and started to drench the two, as the stoat-like person looked up to the sky and crossed his arms. “Aaaand of course it’s coming down right now. Think we best get some shelter before it gets worse, eh? Saw a cave back on my way here, we can talk on the way over.” He turned and waved for her to follow before striding off back the way he came, leaving Sierra with a dilemma: follow this strange individual to wherever he takes her, or remain in the middle of nowhere in the pouring rain. It took only a moment of deliberation for her to start scrambling after the creature - her only safe ticket out of this situation, it seemed.
“So who are you, miss falling dragon? Got a name?” The creature asked while he re-tied his bandana as Sierra caught up to him.
“I’m….oh, shoot.” The Dragon-type paused as she held a claw to her chin, racking her addled brain. “Sorry, head's a bit hazy from everything…uh, Sierra? Yup, Sierra. That’s me.” She considered introducing herself for a second, but decided that telling this peculiar individual her whole life story at this instant was not exactly ideal.
“Si-err-a, huh?” The stranger tilted his head as he pronounced each syllable of the Gabite’s name, even rolling the Rs, as if it were a foreign word. “Funny name, man. Think I’m gonna call you Sio or something.”
“Please don’t,” The disgruntled land shark cleared her throat to avoid further remarks on her moniker. “And yours?”
The ermine grinned, striking an odd pose with his arms and a leg raised in a sort of fighting stance. “Nah, I was just kidding. But you can call me…Santos!” He launched into an exaggerated sequence of spin kicks, uppercuts, spear-hands, and other fighting moves, causing the former human to flinch and take a step to the side. “Member of Team Cypress - coolest rescue team this side of the Grand Sea, or at least it was - co-creator of thorn-fu, and the hardest Mienfoo you’ll ever meet!”
Sierra by this point began to tune out the rest of the apparent karate practitioner’s boasts as she pondered a means of exiting this predicament, but her train of thought was once again derailed as Santos sprung up in front of her and poked her chest.
“But you…you ain’t just a regular Gabite, or even a real Pokémon. You’re a human, aren’t you?”
The realisation clicked in Sierra’s mind as she batted away Santos’s hand - so that was what she was, some collectable creature from an old handheld game she played a couple times in her childhood? - before looking down at herself, examining her hands-turned-claws as she tried to make sense of her current situation. “Hey, cut it out! And, uh…I guess I am? Was? Heck if I know, dude. All I know is that I’m pretty sure last night I had skin, not scales.”
“Aha! I knew it!” The Mienfoo pumped his fist in triumph as he spun back to his side of the foliage. “Could tell the moment we met. Good to see another one; natives ‘round here are a weird buncha hombres, I’m telling ya. I should know, been around those eses for far too long.”
“Om-breys? Ess-eys? That some kind of, uh, native slang?”
“Huh?!” The Mienfoo recoiled backwards, as if he was somehow offended at the insinuation. “Hell no, they’re human words! You use ‘em to refer to people! They don’t say that where you’re from or what?”
The Gabite shrugged in reply. “Not really, nope. Don’t recall ever hearing those before.”
The conversation quickly died down to an uncomfortable lull with only the howling of the rain and wind overhead preventing total silence as Santos side-eyed Sierra with suspicion, which lasted all the way until the trees in front of them parted to reveal an impressively tall hill, and a sizable crack at its base.
“Aha, here it is. Come on in, it’s bigger than it looks!”
Santos jogged up to and vaulted through the crevice in a single swift motion, leaving Sierra to cautiously step through the opening. She took a glance around the cave; despite the lack of light in the room thanks to the misty rain, one could tell it had been lived in for some time, judging by the presence of leaves and straw in one corner in the shape of a bed, an empty worn bag in another, and some small holes in the ground, one of which Santos was sitting next to and poking at. “Make yourself at home, just watch your step, eh? I’ll be over here if you- oh shit!”
As Sierra laid down to rest, she felt a rumbling and saw out of the corner of her eye the red-and-yellow Pokémon suddenly lose his balance and fall through the earth. “What the- Santos!” Sierra scrambled back to her feet, but the Mienfoo had already disappeared. She stumbled over to the corner of the cave and crouched down, peering down a surprisingly deep pit to see the Mienfoo lying on his side. “You okay?!”
“I’m fine, just a scratch or two! Man, didn’t think the dirt here was this loose.” The Mienfoo rolled over and bounced back to his feet, then clawed at the pit’s dirt walls in attempts to scale the shaft. “Think I need your help here, ese! Can’t get a hold on anything solid.”
Nervously glancing around the cavern, Sierra shouted back down the hole. "Okay, is there rope anywhere in here?"
"Rope? Shit, I ain't even got any Escape Orbs!"
Sierra furrowed her nonexistent eyebrows in confusion. "Now just what in the world is a ball going to do to get you out of here?"
"Balls? Nah, I'm talking about orbs! You wave 'em if you're in deep shit and they teleport you out. Or put enemies to sleep or paralyze 'em, but those're different kinds of orbs. Would've been cool if I hadn't used them all last m-" Santos shook his head to refocus himself. "Look, just try and pull me up, aight? Pretty sure you’re big enough to do that.”
Rolling her eyes, the Gabite sighed and eased herself to the ground, extending her thin arm to the ermine, who leaped up in his attempts to grab it, but to no avail. As she angled herself to better reach Santos, Sierra felt too much of her weight slide off the edge, leading her to lose her balance and slip into the pit, to the horror of the Mienfoo below her. She plunged into the hole and felt the ground below her collapse as her vision turned black.
She came to a few moments later, awakened by muffled shouting from a pile of rocks beneath her. Immediately, she rolled over, and Santos sat up, coughing heavily and grasping his abdomen. “Fucking fuck, man, my ribs...should've just gone up myself..."
"Crap, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!" Sierra pushed herself over to Santos's side. "I'm still new to this...Gabite, you said? Form."
"I'll be fine. Shit like this is why I carry Oran Berries around," Santos groaned as he felt for his bag and reached into it, retrieving a blue orange-shaped fruit that he began to scarf down on.
"Oran berries? What're those? And how exactly is that going to help with anything?"
"You shitting m- right, human, my fault. They're lifesavers! You eat one when you're in a pinch and it's like you were never hurt. Grows just about everywhere, too, so you can grab 'em off the ground almost every time you go out on an expedition," Santos spoke without bothering to pause while chewing, inadvertently spewing a few berry particles onto Sierra, who merely replied with a "Huh. Cool."
Rising to her feet, the Gabite took a look around the room they were in. Unlike the plain grey stone cavern above, this particular area was composed of darker, blue-ish rocks with the occasional shining multicoloured crystal lodged in the walls, with the only way out being a single thin corridor in front of them. “What in the world is this place…?” Sierra muttered as she slid her left claw across the rocks.
“Probably a mystery dungeon,” Santos said as he finished his Oran berry, then slowly stood up and brushed himself off. “Real common out in the wilderness. They say these things change their layouts every time people go in. Some wack shit, but usually they’re not too big; just follow me and we’ll be outta here in no time.” Gesturing with his head to leave, he readjusted his bandana and walked out of the room into the adjacent stone hallway, Sierra in tow after her brief examination of a crystal. Venturing through the cave, the two passed typical cavern landmarks such as the occasional large stone or pools of groundwater before a cracked stone staircase rising to a hole in the ceiling greeted them as they entered another room. Santos breathed a sigh of relief, while Sierra froze in her tracks.
“Stairs? The hell're they doing down here?”
“They get us out of here and onto the next floor. Yeah, I don't know either. Come on man, let’s go.” Without hesitation, Santos bounded up the steps, leaving Sierra to stare blankly in bewilderment. She took one last cautious glance behind them, then followed suit.
They emerged into another room, which looked eerily similar to the last one. This time, however, there was a stack of gold coins in a corner, which Santos promptly picked up and explained as Poké, the currency of the world. As they continued forth and rounded a crossroad, however, they made eye contact with a purple rat-like creature facing them from across the hall, who immediately bared its teeth, snarled, and charged straight at them.
“Heads up - wild!” The Mienfoo swiftly dove out of the way, while the land shark attempted too late to sidestep the tackle, letting out a grunt as she stumbled backward from the impact.
“Aw, crud! What’s your problem?!” Sierra dropped down to a knee, the wind knocked out of her for a second before she staggered back to her feet and swung her arms wildly, barely managing to club the rat in the face.
“Use your moves! That Rattata ain’t gonna take a lot of damage if you just attack normally!” Santos hollered from behind.
“The hell does that mean? Are you going to help or what?!” the Gabite shouted indignantly.
“I’m testing your skills, homes! Gotta see how you do in a fight!” Santos by now was peeking out from around the corner, clearly not intending to participate. “Just bring out that power inside and hit ‘em with it!”
Sierra sighed in dismay as she turned back to the rabid Rattata just in time to avoid being cut by its gnashing fangs. Winding up her arms as she took a step back, she closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and attempted to will something - or anything - into her hands. An odd sensation began to course through her arms, and as her eyes re-opened she noticed her claws slightly glowing right as the Rattata was in the midst of gearing up for another attack. Seizing the opportunity, she leapt forward and slashed the hell out of the purple rat, sending it flying into the wall where it collapsed onto the floor, lying limp before disintegrating into dust, to the Gabite’s bafflement.
“You go, Sio! That’s how you get shit done!” shouted Santos as he emerged back into the hall, clapping.
Sierra groaned in exasperation. “You remember what I said about calling me that, right? And I’d really appreciate it if you pull your weight next time, you know. That thing actually hurt!”
“Fine, fine. Next time, then, you’ll see how a real G takes out the competition!”
The duo trekked on through the cavern’s floors, occasionally pausing for Santos to explain something new or to fend off encounters with other wilds, whom Santos mostly let Sierra dispatch despite his assurances. The Dragon-type counted about six more floors before they emerged into a thin tunnel, instead of the standard rectangular rooms she had become acquainted with, where Santos held out a hand as a gesture to stop. “Hold up -- I know these kinda hallways, this is where shit usually goes down. Monster houses, big boss 'mons wanting to throw hands, all that shit. You ready?”
"As I'll ever be, I guess," said Sierra as she shrugged, and so carefully they crept through the corridor, which widened to reveal a massive chamber, its unnatural roundness indicating that it was hollowed out from the earth itself. And in the very centre…was a tiny yellow arachnid-like thing reclining in a large web.
“A Joltik…? Nah, that can’t be right. Let me see…” Santos murmured as he cautiously tip-toed over to the middle of the room, avoiding the pebbles strewn about on the ground. He reached out his paw, and-
“A-HA!" An alarmingly loud shout came from the spider as it spun around in an instant, causing Santos to yell and fall to the ground in surprise.
“You dare disturb my domain? Fool! My bug legions may have failed to stop you…or even materialise at all…but I, the great Joltikar, will put an end to you filthy intruders!” The Joltik spoke in a raucous manner disproportionate to its size - although, oddly enough, it didn’t appear to look at either of the two at all, instead delivering its monologue to the stalactites overhead.
Sierra shook her head in exasperation as she stepped out into the chamber and assumed a combat stance, pointing a claw at the pseudo-arachnid. “So you’re the dungeon boss or something, right? If you’re not gonna let us pass, then I guess we throw down then, huh?”
“Yeah, yeah, time to catch these hands, motherfucker! Scared the shit out of me, homes!” Despite still lying on the ground, Santos held out his arms as if he was going to deck the spider.
The Joltik turned its gaze down to the ground, its blue pupils widening as it glanced back and forth between the two before slowly retreating back into its web with its front legs raised. “Huh? Nononono- wait! Uh, you- you don’t think I can actually fight you guys, right?! I-I was just practising my speech for the next few people to come in here, totally!” The yellow arachnid frantically gestured with one of its arms towards another tunnel to their left, from which outside light seemed to be reflected. “Exit’s right there, I won’t stop you! Just please let me live!”
With a claw still aimed at the Joltik, Sierra moved to the side and helped Santos back onto his feet. The pair shared a bewildered glance before Sierra shrugged and muttered “Let’s just get out of here,” as she moved to the apparent exit. Santos followed suit, but not before turning back to point at the Joltik and shout, “Better not try that shit again! You don’t know what we’re capable of, fool!”
The two emerged onto the top of a steep hill just in time to see orange skies as the sun set over the distant oceanic horizon. A rough and winding path to their right led down to the woods below, while mountainous cliffs of rock and earth pierced the sky behind them.
“Whew! Thank God we’re out of there, I'm spent. Never had to fight so many things in my life, thought I was gonna pass out!” Sierra stretched out her arms before taking a seat on the patchy grass.
“Nahhh, you would’ve been fine. Hundred percent,” Santos remarked as he stood on the hill’s edge. "You’re a pretty damn good battler for a recently-former-human or whatever you…are…” He trailed off as his eyes caught sight of something in the distance. “Ey, see that over there?”
The Mienfoo pointed down to a clearing not too far from their vantage that housed a singular large multi-story building - one unlike any the Gabite had ever seen before. Instead of the rectangular concrete or steel boxes she had been inside for most of her time as a human, this particular round structure appeared to be made almost entirely of natural materials, like wood and straw, and curiously enough formed the shape of a turtle-like head. Light poured out from its windows as the daylight began to fade, and the faint sound of chattering voices rang out as the wind picked up in their direction.
“Uh-huh. What in the world might that be?”
“Some sorta inn, probably. No other reason why it’s the only thing out there. But my feet are killing me right now, so I say we check it out!” Before Sierra had a chance to protest, Santos had started to slide down the hillside, forcing her to chase after him in a sprint. In under a minute, they had already barged through the establishment’s door, and Santos beelined toward what appeared to be the reception desk, judging by the massive blue bipedal turtle scribbling in a book behind it.
“S’cuse me! Señor Carracosta! You got any open beds?” Santos slammed his hands on the desk to steady himself as he gasped out words in between breaths.
The large reptile chuckled as he turned around to face the duo. “Welcome to the Crashing Wave, and indeed we do have rooms available! Business has slowed down somewhat since the end of Midwinter, but our deal of only 19 Poké a night is still on the table.”
"The end of Midwinter…? How long've..." He shook his head. “Uh, aight! What do you say, Sierra?”
“Whatever we can afford,” Sierra said, claws on knees as she panted. “Just need somewhere to lie down for a bit. Or a while. Maybe a day and then some.”
“Okay, we’ll take it!” Santos stacked on the counter a fistful of coins he had quickly fished out of his bag, which the Carracosta carefully examined before pocketing, then nodding to the two.
“Up the stairs, third door on the right. Rest well!”
Sierra and Santos nearly tripped over themselves as they promptly sped up the wood steps and into their doorless room, where the former flopped down on the nearest hay pile, not even caring that it wasn’t a proper bed. The exhaustion of the day she’d been through began to creep up on her, and before the Mienfoo even had time to initiate conversation, the Gabite was out cold.
Sierra opened her eyes, and this time was met with rays of sunlight filtering through the windows of the room. She quickly sat up, eager to have left her fever dream and awakened back in the real world, but her hopes were quickly dashed as she glanced downwards and realised she was still a Pokémon.
“Aw, damn it. Guess this is real after all,” she mumbled to herself, rolling out of her hay pile and noting that Santos was missing. As she clumsily rose to her feet and stretched out her arms, she stared through the forest view of the windows, lost in thought, before the smells of fruit and bread wafted up to her nares and snapped her out of her reverie.
Descending to the ground floor, Sierra could see the tables and seats filled with around eight other Pokémon of various colours, sizes, and anatomies, as the Carracosta innkeeper looked up from his desk and gave her a benevolent smile.
“Hmm! Good morning, young lady. If you’re not in a hurry, we have breakfast for only 9 Poké per customer today – berries, pastries, shakes, the like. Your partner’s over there, I believe he’s already ordered,” the tavern owner gestured to the Mienfoo, who was reclining the best he could on a tree stump behind a circular oaken table, satchel bag on the floor beside him.
“Oh, thanks,” Sierra answered with a nod as she strided over to the table and took a seat opposite Santos, whose mouth morphed into a smile as he looked up.
“Morning, ese! Get some good shut-eye, eh? Suppose you did, you was out like a rock.” The Fighting-type grinned; he seemed more upbeat than the day before.
“Yeah, I was pretty tuckered out. That, and I guess I thought I was in a weird dream I could get out of by falling asleep again. Clearly wasn't the case, but hey, this place isn't shaping up to be that bad."
“Yeah, you get used to it. Sorry for not saying anything when I left, but I was starved like shit after yesterday. Anyway, I wasn’t sure what you’d want, so I ordered the stuff everybody back home likes: Pecha juice and donuts!”
As if on cue, a blue frog-like Pokemon with a white bubbly scarf wrapped around its neck slid up to the table and set down a tray containing two wooden cups filled with pink liquid, as well as two donuts for each of them. “Your order, sir and ma’am. Good day.” Before either of them could respond, he had already darted off to another table.
“Wow, uh, thanks,” Sierra said as she carefully hooked her claws around a cup and took a sip. The juice was invigoratingly sweet, and on a second sip she had already downed half the drink.
“Whoa, slow down, ese! You don’t want to have nothing to dip the donuts in, do you?”
“Dip…the donuts in?” The Gabite tilted her head. “Is that something you do here?”
“‘Course! Shit gets ultra sweet when you mix it, it’s like watered-down Joy Seeds without all the texture.”
“...I see,” Sierra slowly nodded as she watched Santos douse his donuts in Pecha juice all the way to his wrists before taking large bites, then got to work on the donuts of her own. After a minute or so of the two finishing up their meals, Sierra looked around before leaning in slightly and lowering her voice as she began to speak.
“Hey, so I know it’s a bit late to bring this up, but I’ve gotta ask. Why is it that you decided to help me back there? I mean, you could’ve easily tried to rob me or…something worse. From what I've seen, almost every other Pokémon out in the wilderness wants to beat the crap out of people.”
“Pshh, nah,” Santos waved his hand dismissively. “Those’re dungeon wilds - they always act loco for one reason or another. Most Pokémon outside of dungeons’re just as civilised as you and me. ‘sides, humans gotta look out for each other, comprende? This place ain’t all that welcoming of people like us. Still looking for some old human friends of my own, and I thought maybe I could recruit you to help me find them, but…” He slumped backwards in his seat, chipper demeanour replaced with a look of resignation. “That cave we went through, that was the only lead I had. Can’t even tell you how much work I had to do just to get that one. Now?” Santos threw his arms up in exasperation. “No fuckin' clue where they could be at all. No signs, no reports, no word, no nothing. It’s just….” He trailed off as his unfocused stare drifted to the side, and the two sat in silence for a few moments before Sierra piped up.
“Well, uh, yeah, I owe you one for yesterday and it’s not like I have anywhere else to be, so sure.”
“Yeah, I get it, I’m- wait, what?” Santos sprung up on his stump, eyes widened in surprise. “For real?”
“‘Course! You don’t seem that much of a bad sort, and like I said, not sure where I’d be if you hadn’t come along, so the least I can do is return the favour. Heck, maybe they can even help me find a way home. If anybody knows how to get there, it’s other humans, right?”
“Pardon me, but humans? You also have news of them?” A sudden inquisitive boom from the Carracosta, who was now standing beside them, startled Santos and almost caused Sierra to leap out of her seat.
“Huh? Nah, nah, just discussing ‘em,” Santos deflected, having quickly regained his composure. “What, there been actual sightings ‘round here lately?”
“I suggest quieter voices when broaching the subject, but no; only some rumours…odd ones, to say the least.” He took a glance around the room, then cleared his throat as he began to speak again.
“More visitors in the past few months have been talking about a large group with an apparent relation to them - some say even claiming to be humans themselves - some distance to the southwest, in Capim Town. A guild, to be exact; apparently, they call themselves the Clover Guild.”
“A guild? Of humans?!” Santos exclaimed in disbelief, slamming his hands on the table and causing Sierra to wince as she noticed eyes being drawn to the two. “Nah man, you gotta be shitting me. There’s no way there’s that many out there in one place!”
“Could be true,” Sierra muttered, as she downed the final drops of her drink and tried to ignore the stares of nearby patrons. “Seems pretty coincidental, but me personally, I think it’d be better to take the risk and find nothing than do nothing and never know.”
“But what if- “ The Fighting-type began, before pausing to mull the idea over, then slowly nodding as the gears finished turning in his head. "You know what, ese, you might just be right. What’re we waiting for? Let’s go!” In the blink of an eye, Santos had leaped out of his seat and was already out the door.
“Now hold on son, you need to-” The Carracosta called after him and began to make his way outside before Sierra hurriedly dug into Santos's left-behind bag and slapped down enough Poké on the table to cover both her and Santos’s tab as she rose from her seat.
“Really sorry, he’s been doing that a lot since I met him. Anyway, uh, have a good one, sir! Thank you!”
She gave a hurried parting wave, then power-walked out the door, eventually accelerating to a sprint once she was on the street to match the pace of the eager Mienfoo. And so off the two journeyed, to Capim Town - and the Clover Guild.