Drip.
Drip.
Drip.

Water fell steadily from a crack in the roof, each drop plinking down on a dish placed just below it. The Eevee laying curled up in the other corner of the room lifted his head slightly and half-opened one eye, staring at the droplets as they cascaded down.

Drip.
Drip.
Drip.

The rhythm of the water was nice, actually. It made it clear that this place was...well, not safe, but at least alive. At least not frozen like the rest of the world. He couldn't hear anyone outside, nor - taking a deep breath - smell anything save for his own scent (and the loamy odor where the water spilled over to soak into the dirt, and the thatch walls, and slight hints of where a Pidgey passed by, although that was several hours ago. Or was it a Pidove? How did he even know the dif-) The Eevee exhaled sharply. The real point was that he didn't need to get out of bed, work be damned. Not today. Not when his limbs felt so heavy, and the world outside so cold and uncaring.

Today he would rest. Tomorrow he would hunt, or scavenge...or maybe take a mission from someone in town, if anyone had something for him to do. At least do something to get outside. But today, he would simply lay here in his shack and listen to the drip of water hitting metal.

Drip.
Drip.
Drip.

His mouth felt uncomfortably dry. With a low groan, the Eevee realized he would need to get up for water at the very least.

Roll onto back, arms behind the back and pus-
The Eevee grimaced, gritting his teeth. Right. This body didn't work that way.

With what felt like an enormous amount of effort, the 'mon pushed himself up onto his paws. His limbs shook slightly as he took his first few steps, but soon steadied. He dipped his head down to the dish, lapping up the cool water and relishing in the sensation of it flowing down his throat.

When he had finished, the Eevee shook out his fur and looked around the interior of his shack with a critical eye. His bag still sat in the corner, untouched. Nothing edible inside. His stomach growled in protest, and he sighed. As much as he wanted to avoid it, it seemed he would need to head into town. At least he had enough money that he wouldn't be forced to scrounge for scraps.

As he entered Eon Town, he was assaulted by a barrage of emotions and thoughts, snippets of conversations, and rants from the minds of others. A headache began to pulse behind his eyes, and he grimaced again. The reason he hated going into town had once again reared its ugly head. How was he supposed to turn this...this curse off?

(Elation. "I knew Hyginus and that Latias were hiding something. I knew it! And now I have proof! The town must know about this. It will be a special article. Breaking News, even.")

He didn't want to listen in on a Helioptile's conspiracy theories or a Minccino's worries over laundry. He just wanted silence.

(Confusion. "That Pidgey won't stop pecking at our berries. Doesn't he know they're not ripe yet?")

(Determination. "There are still Pokémon out there who need our help. I don't care how dangerous it is, or how unlikely we are to find survivors, we can't give up!")

(Despair. "Another day of this living hell. Has the sun been rising later? I don't know how much more of this I can take.")

The Eevee quickened his pace, ducking his head down and avoiding eye contact with any Pokémon he passed. His headache intensified, and he was certain that if he didn't find manage to get somewhere less populated soon then he would collapse in the middle of the square, defenseless and delirious. He wouldn't—

(Annoyance. Interest. "Those machines are disrupting our exploration of the southern city, but could there be something to lea-Wait.")

A shock, like ice water, ran down his spine, and the Eevee froze in place. There. A Kadabra, standing near one of the market stalls and eying him with a frown. The Eevee's heart skipped a beat. A psychic type. And one who had noticed his use of powers, if the frown was any indication.

Before he could slink away, the Kadabra strode over to stand before him. "Psyker," the Kadabra intoned, gaze piercing. "Thy chaotic pulses assault my sanctified logic circuits like a virus. Contain thy disruptive emissions at once, lest they corrupt the pure code I have devoted my existence to honing. Only through the deletion of such chaotic subroutines can salvation be found."

The Eevee's ears stood up almost by instinct, and his puffed-out tail flicked back and forth behind him. The Kadabra sounded pretentious, but also familiar in a way he couldn't quite place. A snarky retort gathered on the tip of his tongue. But no, antagonizing such a powerful psychic would be foolish. His brain throbbed against his skull. ("-is it rea-how am I-anjo's snack-") His muscles tensed, ready to bolt. Needing to, before it got any worse. Wait. This Kadabra was an experienced psychic type, right? The small quadruped looked up with half-closed eyes and blurry vision. The other pokemon was wearing a badge of some sort pinned to his red robes, although he couldn't make out the details. He hesitated, then asked, "Can you...can you teach me? H-how to control-how to t-turn this off?"

The Kadabra studied him for a long moment. ("-poten-do i eve-ain-wai-toaster-toa-") Then he said, "The probability is high. I am Zavalank, Archmagos Explorator and overseer of the Walim Guild. We shall proceed to the logic temples, where thy corrupted subroutines shall be analyzed, debugged and replaced with the Omnissiah's sacred protocols. Much corrupted code must be purged before purity can be achieved. Follow, and thy mind shall know the truth of reason." Without so much as a look more behind him, Zavalank then turned and walked away towards a large-if-rickety clocktower at the edge of town, visible even from here.

The Eevee relaxed, just slightly. Maybe today wouldn't end in disaster? He nodded, and moved to follow the guildmaster out of the town square, the sounds (and thoughts) of the market fading into the distance behind them.