I watched behind me, the twisted sands moving further and further away.

I left my regrets on that island, along with the past as well.

I was at peace, I felt free again.

A voice seemed to call out to me from the thick fog.

"Do you regret any of this?"

Desolate Seas

Chapter One

The View

I was born a Treeko in a small community to the northeast of Shaymin Village. I had spent nearly my entire life in that secluded area, where only rumors and half-truths flew in from beyond the mountains. Looking back, I wouldn't say that it really was worthy enough to call a colony or a village. It was a congregation of a few dozen shacks, slowly populated over time by wandering souls with nowhere to turn to. It was a conglomeratic effort by Shaymin village and whatever traveled from the west, a plan to create a colony on the eastern shoreline. The village was 5 years into development when I was born. There was no more than one or two wooden or brick buildings at the time, the rest was made of twigs and mud.

My family had moved there right before my birth, the forests to the north had become too harsh and rumors spread of a new city opening up in the bay area to the southeast. This was the fate of many who moved there. It was like the old days before Treasure Town existed. Pokemon would set up camp near mystery dungeons or forests, in groups of no more than one or two families. I had seen firsthand what happens next. You either had a mother or father who would go out looking for monthly supplies, and if they never came back you had yourself. You were absolutely secluded from the outside world. A traveler showing up would be treated like a king or a knight, sent to guard the place from evil. But almost no one stayed for more than three days. If your little group was lucky it could manage with a couple guards posted outside at night, if not, you were doomed to a raid by deranged pokemon or bandits.

My family had to work hard in order to gain housing in the colony, they helped build the shacks and the walls. We eventually built our own little house, out of leaves and mud. My mother worked tirelessly in the armory, sewing and fixing armor for the guards posted at the walls. It was a hardship no doubt, but it was one that would pass as time progressed.

The two houses that were originally built were used as the town hall and the armory. The town hall was occupied by a local guild team. They had been sent by Wigglytuff's Guild to help the village until it could sustain itself. The team consisted of a Charmeleon, Sudowudo, and Raichu, and for the most part their job consisted of mapping the surrounding area and destroying local bandit nests. The village almost never got supplies from Shaymin, as bandits dug into caves dug around the dirt path leading up the mountain. When I turned fifteen I offered myself to work with the Guild team, along with several others who were enticed with the Guild's work.

The team split themselves up into 3 groups, which cycled their jobs at the end of a shift. Group A would patrol the mountains for a month or until they ran out of supplies, searching for bandit hideouts and destroying them. Group B took up cartography, mapping out important resources in the colony's vicinity. Group C would fend off wild pokemon and bandits near the village, pushing them back into the mystery dungeons to the west. I worked there for three years, getting a taste of all three jobs. To be honest the guild never showed up to help permanently, they only stayed to teach the colony how to survive out here, and the three jobs were one way of doing so. Over those three years the colony expanded and grew, finally becoming self-sustaining and no longer in need of supplies from Shaymin Village. It had finally become a full-fledged town, complete with a set of docks for even faster routes back to Treasure Town. It joined the alliance between the two villages, and named ourselves after the pokemon who helped us, Guild's Bay.

No more than a few months after the official ceremony, I had evolved into a Grovyle. Unfit with my title, I named myself Sid, and saved up money for a trip out west. I knew what my heart desired, I wanted to see distant lands and forbidden seas, and my only opportunity was through Wigglytuff's Guild. I had toiled for three long years under the help of the guild members, and when leaving they told me they would recommend my membership to the guild. Finally, I had received a letter stating that I was to meet the Guildmaster in person. Grabbing my belongings, and saying goodbye to my family, I took off through the mountain ranges. I landed no sooner than five days in Shaymin Village. Having never seen the place, I was greeted by the team I had worked with before, showing me around their home. It was a quiet place, almost secluded if not for the constant barrage of tourists. After staying for a week I continued westward.

It took two weeks to finally reach the fabled town, it was massive in size, and the stories from the time disaster gave it no credit compared to the mere size of it now. Farms had spread out for miles out east, and townsfolk and villagers had built stone communities on the outskirts of the bumbling city. Walking even further west revealed massive two story buildings made of brick, at least a million pokemon walked on the streets every day. I slept on the rooftops of one that night, looking down I saw a multitude of pokemon walking to and fro, and it never stopped no matter what hour of the night you looked. I finally fell asleep at midnight, the pitter patters below me drowning out the night like white noise. I dreamt of what was to come, what majesties I might encounter on my journeys in the guild. The thoughts of my little secluded village faded away, and my mind focused on nothing but the future.

I found myself in quite a unique circumstance as I woke up the next morning, the sky had already become a very bright blue, and the streets had become infested with people. Packing what I had taken out, I made my way from rooftop to rooftop. I had no fear as I did so, nor did I get queasy when looking down. The work I had done in the past gave me experience for this sort of thing, especially high up in the mountains. You see, when there is a certain level of conscious thought that you could die with one small slip, eventually that thought slips you, no pun intended. Almost like becoming insensitive towards violence, you gain a sort of normality when doing something very deadly. The same logic applied on the rooftops, sure I had every opportunity to pause and think for a moment just how I might fall and break a limb or lose my life, but the thought had never occurred simply because of how often I had done this.

I had not known just how busy the town was at this time of year, spring had just started, and it was the perfect weather for trade between the distant continents. Even in a small village like mine the idea that safe trade routes had opened up baffled me, at the time I would have never comprehended the vast distance between the two landmasses. Focusing on what was ahead of me, the rooftops had become quite a peril, but not impossible to pass just yet. Eventually the gaps had become so wide that jumping across simply wouldn't do. I casted a vine across to the adjacent rooftop, it protruded from my plant-like body like a web of sorts. I jerked the rope at just the right moment to make it curl around a chimney, I secured it tightly to another on my side. It was a skill I had learned from Sudowudo while I had worked at the village. Nevertheless it had gotten me out of certain pickles before, and I wasn't about to deal with the crowd below. Besides, it could help anyone who might have the same idea I had, and it made for a pleasant decoration.

Finishing the elevated trek, I reached the final rooftop with the ocean ahead. I looked at the sea ahead as at least a dozen ships came and went. It was a beauty I hadn't had the privilege to see yet. My father had longed to see this side of the sea.

I couldn't waste any time though, my meeting with the Guildmaster would commence in less than four hours, and I was at least two hours away by rooftop. I couldn't rely on that anymore anyways, just a couple blocks to my left I could see the buildings discontinue in return for a long narrow road leading downtown. Whether I could make it in time or not had become my priority.

Downtown wasn't what I had expected. Surprisingly it was barren compared to what I had thought before. In truth most commerce had stayed within the northern region of town, you could get anything up there. This left the original spot quiet and secluded, a sort of paradise for weary travelers or guild members. I watched the pokemon around me as I strolled by, every once in a while catching a glimpse of a pink scarf, a sign of the guild itself.

I had reached the beginning of what seemed to be an almost infinite tower of stairs. The mere thought that I was just a few flights away from such an extraordinary place. My body quivered with each step I took, as if I were climbing to meet gods. As I reached the top my mind became a blur, my vision zoned out, and my head was in a trance like no other. To call this nervousness was no small feat, to call it a sign of insanity seems safe now.

"Halt! State your name!"

Those were the first words I had truly heard in a long time, my journey from the mountains to this point had been nothing but silence and contemplation. My mind sputtered like an old machine for a second. "S-s-sid, I'm a…a grovyle." The mind plays games when it's twisted up, like that voice you make at an interview. That high pitched nervous wreck of a screech considered language, and your head is none the wiser, thinking its professional of some sorts.

"Proceed."

The voice echoed from a long shaft below me, sound waves billowing up from the ground itself. I proceeded into a tent made of hide, the image of a Wigglytuff painted over it. Inside was a ladder, leading down into the caverns below. Next to it sat a spiraling staircase, most likely made for the more four-legged of folks. Somehow the ground below me had muffled the noise from within. As I climbed down into the cellar I heard a large crowd, the noise echoed in the cave like a gunshot. I turned around to what I had feared, a grouping of at least thirty pokemon, all crowded around billboards pinned with crucial information. An assortment of wooden chairs and tables had been set to accommodate the crowd, who would eventually get tired of rabble.

"Excuse me," I asked, that annoying high pitched voice along with it. "I was wondering if I'm on the right floor, I'm supposed to meet with the guild owner."

"One floor down," he replied, just barely audible over the crowd.

I thanked him as I climbed down yet again.

"I'm sorry…" Those words rang in my ears like a bell, that soothing and calm voice becoming annoying in an instant. What had happened in the past two minutes before faded away from my thoughts, to this day I can't remember that short span of time.

"I'm sorry," the voice started up again. "I truly, truly am…sorry."

I looked at the guildmaster, a Wigglytuff, sitting in front of me on a mat. I didn't utter a word, my expression was asking the questions.

"We're over packed as it is, and we can't even afford to dig out any more rooms, the place would collapse." He sighed, turning around to get something from that massive treasure box of his. "Look, Sid, I've already known about you for a while, believe me. Your group mailed back several times. Here, see?"

I looked them over, sure enough they had written home about me, praising my work with flying colors. Handing these letters to me was a desperate plea for forgiveness. My heartstrings played along to his tune, he could have just kicked me out a long time ago but the conversation continued. He seemed awfully generous for what was playing out.

"We can't have group meals anymore as well, the guild is too small for that now. Eh…once and again we'll share a meal on an occasion of sorts. But I usually send them out to get something in town."

I was silent still, finally uttering a final question. "B-but where do I go? I mean, I spent a fortune of time and money getting here, I…" I hung my head down, shuttering as I cursed under my breath.

"Treasure Town is a big place now," he said in a soothing tone. He reached into the box yet again. "I know you can make it here, if you survived the mountains with your friends, well…" He handed me fifty poke in gold. "We're building a new housing area to the east of here, down the road. In half a year or so come back, please! I promise I will make it up to you." He gave me the gold as a gift, and in my current situation it was an offer I couldn't pass.

I strolled out of the building with my pride shackled and chained. I remained homeless for the next two months. The problem with homelessness is that it goes in a cycle. You can't get a job cause your filthy, you can't get a bath cause you have no money, you have no money cause you have no job. The fifty had only accommodated for about a week's worth of food. I had come to the town in the worst season for work, and this was my punishment. I settled with groups of other bums. In a town like that I learned that you couldn't be on your own for a while. I taught them the same tricks I used before, using the rooftops and all that. We made easy pickings for a while, I didn't mind not having a roof over my head, it didn't even rain either.

Eventually the cycle ended when a cafe had opened a new location, right next to its old one. Going back to those stairs by the guild, there was an underground bazaar right behind it that I didn't even know about. Running short on space, they dug up another hole on the opposite side of the street, right under a bell that hadn't been rang in a long time. For what purposes you would go and open a new shop right next to the first, I don't know, but it got nice business somehow. Maybe from the patrons who couldn't get in the first one? Eventually they ran short on staff, and put out a help wanted add. I answered the call, and alongside me was a Mr. Mime, and a Braixen.

"Shit," I muttered to myself. I had burned myself with a pot of boiling water.

"Sid, you just about done with table two's drink?" I looked up to see the Braixen, speaking to me patiently. She was a petite thing, full of spunk and charm, outside of work I knew nothing about her. Her name was Brisa, and I couldn't lie to myself that she wasn't cute.

"Yea, just let me finish this damn thing."

She could sense the anger in my voice, maybe another one of her psychic things.

"Where'd you get that?" she asked, noticing my burn. For a while I had never felt genuine care on the streets, I only stuck around other bums just to feel protected. Hearing her made me loosen up a bit, something to look forward to at work I suppose.

"Mime!" she called, "Finish Sid's post for me will ya?" She dragged me into the back room, looking around for a first aid kit that was always lost. "What did you do today Sid?"

"It's nothing…really," I said nervously.

"C'mon, spill the beans!"

I sighed, "I, I stuck my hand in boiling water." She snickered under her breath. "Why the hell do you have to laugh at me all the time?" "Because," she replied caringly, "You do it almost every day."

She rapped my hand in a thick mess of gauze. "Your head is always somewhere in dreamland, probably thinking of me."

To be honest I never really did, most of the time I was thinking about which rooftop I was going to spend the night on. The townsfolk were figuring out that those large bumps in the night weren't birds. But even so, my face burst out with a heavy blush, perhaps every once in a while I did think of her.

"You know it's been thirty days since we took this job," I said quietly.

"Yea?"

I paused for a moment, "I'm still shit at it."

"Nah, you just think too much."

"Really now, is that your psychic intuition again?"

She laughed to herself, "Smartass."

Before exiting the room, she stopped me. "Sid, I was wondering if you wanted to join me somewhere tonight, after work. It's a place I really enjoy."

It was better than heading straight to a rooftop.

"Sure, where to?"

"Hey now, that would ruin the surprise!" She smiled lovingly to me as she stepped through the door.

I finished the mime's shift for him to thank him, which lasted fifteen minutes after mine. Sure enough, she was waiting for me outside, sitting on a tree stump admiring the view.

She turn to me, "C'mon we're gonna miss it if we don't hurry!"

We walked down a dirt path, which twisted through a patch of trees. It stopped right in front of a beach, a small remnant of the old town, with the entrance to a cave to the east.

"I like to come here at sunset," she said. "It relieves my mind after work." We walked a ways to a tree stump that stuck out of the sand like a sore thumb. "Just the waves and the view, its nice. Kinda takes over you, doesn't it?"

"Yea…" was all I could mutter. The view did relax you. The cold waves breached the shoreline in such a gentle manner, and every once in a while a ship could be seen sinking into the horizon, as if falling off the edge of a flat world.

Minutes passed, minutes that seemed like hours. It was just the two of us, staring at an immense sky streaked with gold and orange.

"Sid, why are you here…in town, I mean?"

"I tried joining the guild, they wanted me here, and I guess I answered too late."

"Darn, you too?" I looked at her in a puzzling sort of way. Her expression still stuck in short amusement. "I tried joining about half a year ago, when they were accepting applications. They dug out a new floor or something, at least a million signed up for it. Only a handful made it in." She pondered at the sea for a moment, that look someone gives when staring directly at the past. She finally shrunk away, turning to me. "Why did they want you?"

"I worked for a team back in my town, at least three years' worth too. Wrote directly to the guildmaster about me." I stared directly at my past as she did, "I got a letter five months after they left, they held a spot for me or something. I guess I got the letter too late huh?" "Funny," I started up again. "It would've been easy to add me to the team in Shaymin Village or something, but for some reason they wanted me here."

We sat a few more minutes, the sun was about halfway down.

"How long have you been in town?" I asked.

"A year, you?"

"Three months."

"Where did you come from?" she asked.

"Guild's Bay, and you?"

"Shaymin."

"I stayed a week there." I replied.

"It's lovely, isn't it?"

"Yes."

She chuckled pitifully for a moment. "The only reason I came down here in the first place was to join the guild, always a dream of mine or something. That wasn't the first time I applied, more like the fifth."

Another moment passed. "I guess we both have been crushed before." She said.

The sun had sank into the sea, the sky began to darken as the stars started to show their light.

"Well," Brisa said, standing up and stretching. "It's been a nice talk with you."

"Yea, it has."

She smiled one last time to me. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay…"

I watched her leave. I stayed for a bit longer, making sure I wouldn't bump into her in town.

I didn't want her to see me on the rooftops.