Chapter One: Kids in the Woods

"She's not here."

Upon hearing those words, Siputet Oshawott felt like the world was crashing down. They had come so far, braving the unforgiving nights of the Unovan winter. They'd faced biting winds, unending snows, treacherous ice, and gnawing hunger. Now they were finally here, and it'd all been for nothing.

"But she has to be here!" Siputet said, her voice desperate. "We came so far. We were so sure!" She turned around and flopped to the ground, landing face-first in a snowdrift. "Why does everything bad always happen to me?"

She heard a plop next to her, and a rich, deep voice spoke. "Yeah, like how you always catch colds from lying in snow? It's a real mystery."

Siputet looked up with a small smile to see Roche Lairon lying next to her, his eyes laughing and his lips curled in a dopey smile. "Oh, hush!" Siputet said. "You don't know what it's like to be chronically unlucky."

"You're ridiculous," Roche laughed. His voice was like velvet, deep and smooth with a humming bass to it. He was a stout pokémon, smaller than the average lairon. His baby blue eyes were always full of laughter and mischief, as if there was some grand joke going on that he was the only one in on. Roche slipped his head under Siputet and tossed her up onto his back. "Now you're being kidnapped. You're right, you really are unlucky!"

"No!" Siputet laughed with delight as her friend piggybacked her around the snowy clearing, kicking up powder. "Let me down!"

"That's quite enough already."

Roche skidded to a halt, spraying snow into two large heaps. "Oh, come on, Chitan. Are we not allowed to have fun anymore?"

Chitaninu Skarmory glared at the two of them. He was a tall, formidable pokémon who looked like he could kill a man with his bare talons in ten different ways. He looked at them with his narrowed right eye, but when he turned his head, Siputet could see the deep, ragged scars over his wandering left eye. "Stop acting childish, Roche. You know what's going on. We came all the way from Undella Town, and for nothing. Meloetta isn't here. We've wasted our time."

"Hey, that ain't my fault. Shinke said she'd be here."

They all turned to the tall sawsbuck standing behind Chitan. She didn't seem to be paying attention, but was instead watching the snow fall with moderate interest. Shinke was an entity that radiated an aura of elegant power, standing tall over them with her long white fur waving in the icy breeze. Upon hearing her name, she looked at Roche with a questioning expression.

"Yeah, you! You said Meloetta would be here. But I don't see her. Where is she, huh?" called Roche.

Shinke shot him an annoyed glare before turning away to admire some reindeer lichen, her tail swishing.

"We all make mistakes. Shinke tried her hardest," Siputet commented. "I know I couldn't've done any better."

"Don't kiss up to her, Siputet. Her head's already big enough as it is," Chitan said matter-of-factly. He didn't notice the sawsbuck shooting him a death glare. "Regardless of whose fault it was, the fact of the matter is we've wasted too much time travelling when we could have been working. There's no more time to lose. Shinke, Roche, it's time for a mission."

"What?" Roche groaned. "But we just got here!"

"Yes, we did. And now we're leaving. Come on, guys, let's get ready. I want to be out of Nuvema within the hour."

Chitan, Shinke, and Roche got to work, taking off their bags and sorting their belongings. Shinke got to work organizing the berries, which caught Siputet's interest. She knew them all: oran, pecha, cheri, rawst, sitrus. She'd learned a thing or two about them in her time. The oshawott stood in the snowdrift for a moment, awkwardly shuffling her foot and staring at the berries, before she finally took a deep breath and approached the skarmory. "Hey, Chitan?"

He turned to look at her with his good eye, regarding her warmly. "What's on your mind, Siputet?"

Siputet held her paws together, staring at the ground and shuffling her foot. "Well, I, um… Since it's technically my fault that we wasted all our time, and I feel like you all don't eat properly when you're off running missions, and I could maybe help with carrying supplies, and-"

Shinke stomped her hoof several times and shot Siputet a look of impatience. "Okay, okay, getting to my point. I, well… I… I'dreallyliketocomewithyouandIwaswonderingifIcouldcomeonthis-"

"Siputet, you're going to sprain something talking that fast," Chitan interrupted.

"That's his way of saying no one can understand you!" Roche called over from where he was packing a wooden spoon.

Siputet paused, taking a deep breath. She looked at the ground and murmured, "I was w-wondering i-if I could, uh, come on this mission, maybe."

The forest clearing went silent for a moment. Both Shinke and Roche looked up, eyes wide, and Chitan's smile faded. "Oh, well, er…"

Siputet sighed, turning away. "I understand."

Chitan frowned. "I'm sorry, Siputet. I know you want to help, but it's just too dangerous. I care too much about you to take such a risk. But someday. You understand, right?"

Siputet nodded. Roche took notice and immediately bounded over, butting the oshawott playfully. "Hey, don't worry about it! Soon as we find the Musician, you get to come on all the missions you want! The four of us, saving the day just like we're used to."

Siputet gave a small smile. "You think so?" She felt someone patting her head and looked up to see Shinke smiling down at her, her expression comforting. She giggled and pushed the sawsbuck's hoof aside. "Alright, well you guys better get going. I'll be right here when you get back!"

"We won't go farther than the Skyarrow Bridge. It'll only be a couple of days," said Chitan.

Both Shinke and Roche looked up in confusion. "Really?"

"I don't feel comfortable leaving Siputet alone in this part of the region for too long. I never liked it here."

Shinke shot Chitan a glare. "Oh, I mean, not that Pinwheel Forest isn't a lovely place. There's just too much dragon activity in the Southeast. You know what I mean… right?" She accepted his apology with a nod and went back to what she was doing.

Siputet giggled. Chitan was a level-headed guy, but Shinke could always fluster him if she wanted to. "Well, I like it here. It's nice and quiet. Everywhere else in Unova is so big and busy."

"Just remember, Siputet. While we're gone, you must-"

"And I'll remember to stay out of town. Don't worry." She gave a reassuring smile.

Chitan rubbed her head affectionately. Most pokémon would recoil away from a steel-type's hard, cold touch, but Siputet leaned into it. "That's my little legend. We'll be back in two days, okay?"

"Just make sure you drink every couple of hours. Oh, and don't forget to eat breakfast. It's the most important meal of the day. Especially you, Shinke." The sawsbuck feigned confusion. "I know you skipped breakfast today. Unacceptable." Siputet crossed her arms and shook her head.

After only a few more minutes of packing, they were ready to go. "We'll be back soon! Be careful!" Chitan called as the trio went off into the snows.

"We'll bring you back something cool!" Roche added.

"Bye! Good luck! Love you!" Siputet called, and she watched her family vanish into the snows.

And then she was alone. Siputet stood in the middle of the clearing for a while, watching the snowflakes dance around her. Feeling a sense of boredom starting to nibble at her thoughts, she murmured, "I suppose you don't have anything to say? Maybe some advice on keeping warm? … For once?" She looked down at the shell on her chest more from habit than actual optimism, but alas, she was only met with silence. "Of course."

Siputet moved to collect her picked up her wooden spoon and bowl, her pack of twenty trading cards (about seven of them were duplicates, much to her chagrin), a raggedy milotic doll Roche had stolen for her near Driftveil City, and the book Mythology from the Land of the Dragons that Shinke made her practice with constantly. She slipped them into her small leather bag, slung it over her shoulder, and began her trek through the snow.

Chitan said I couldn't go into Nuvema Town, Siputet thought to herself, hoping no one was listening, but he didn't say I couldn't look at it.

"Phew!"

Finally finishing, Gaijin Dratini dropped the broomstick and leaned against the rough, wooden wall, sighing. His back ached from sweeping all day, and he wanted nothing more than to fall asleep right there and then. But instead, he got back up and wiped his brow with his tail.

Guess I should let Mehmala know I'm done for the day, Gaijin thought. He made his way through the store, going past shelves filled with sacks of flour, bags of coffee beans, egg cartons, brown sugar, butter, and heaps of oran and rawst berries. He passed by open-topped crates full of yarn and sewing thread, lumps of soap, pots and pans, cooking supplies, chewing tobacco, thimbles, padlocks and keys. There were tables displaying wheat crackers, cheese, maple syrup, dried rice, and sea salt. In the back by the cash register, there were a few musical instruments being sold for higher prices: rusted brass Unovan instruments, the enormous Kalosian violencelle, a Hoenn waaliona that was missing three strings, and a small drum all the way from the Sevii Islands. None had sold since Gaijin had arrived. Just no one has the money for these sorts of things. He gave the violencelle's string a pluck and frowned as it made a honk of despair, and then turned away and entered a door labelled employees only.

He found Mehmala in the kitchen, as usual. The pignite was busy preparing dinner with all the cooking supplies she hadn't yet sold. The kitchen, along with the rest of the house, was stripped to the bare bones. Mehmala had sold most of the house's contents to make ends meet. Gaijin admired the woman. She'd apparently opened Nuvema General Goods when she'd run out of money to finish school, making goods from all over the world available to the village. She wasn't even completely evolved, and she had the most successful shop in Southeast Unova. Gaijin often wondered what the shop had been like before, with tropical fruits from Hoenn, fine wines from Johto, books from Kanto, and even a few pre-Beast inventions. Nowadays, all Mehmala could do was provide the simple folk of Unova with the necessities that were becoming harder and harder to come by, thanks to the war.

Mehmala looked up from her cooking. "Oh, Gaijin. Didja finish with your work?"

"Yeah. The store's all clean. Is there anything else?"

Mehmala mulled it over for a moment. "No. You've earned your rent for the day. I know you been getting tired more quickly."

"That's no-"

"Don't lie to me, Gaijin. I mean it," Mehmala interrupted. "Just relax for the rest of the day. But don't you start getting lazy on me tomorrow, or you'll be on the street."

"Right, of course I won't." Gaijin decided not to show it, but he was relieved the pignite had nothing else for him to do. He needed the extra sleep.

"Why not go take a walk or something? The snow's gonna be all over the place by tomorrow morning, so it'll be your last chance," Mehmala suggested. "Just keep your head low. You know what the folks are like in this town. They don't like you sticking around for so long, and honestly, neither do I."

Gaijin looked at the floor. "I know."

Mehmala sighed, rubbing her forehead. "You got a good brain in that head of yours, Gaijin. You don't belong in this Arceus-forsaken region like the rest of us. You belong somewhere where you can put yourself to good use. It's not like I don't appreciate the help, I do. This region just ain't a place where people like you can get on with people like us, and it ain't a place where smart kids like you can get anything done. At least, not in the east."

"I know." Why's she telling me this? It's not like I don't know. "I'm gonna go for that walk now." He turned to leave.

"Just remember to keep your head down," Mehmala called after him, but he was already out the door.

Gaijin made his way through the store. Upon passing the barrel of green apples, he was tempted to grab one and take a big, juicy bite out of it, but he kept moving. If Mehmala found an apple missing, he'd be out in the snow within seconds. She'd take any opportunity to get rid of me.

The dratini went out the door and left the shop, slithering down the steps. Looking out at the snow falling over the warm little town, Gaijin couldn't help but smile. It was so quiet, so unlike his birthplace. On days like these, when smoke puffed from the chimneys, the windows cast a comforting yellow glow, and the villagers were out and about, it was easy to pretend the edges of the world were at the town borders. That places like Castelia City and Central Unova and Kanto didn't exist, and the world was just a sleepy, snowy town in the middle of nowhere.

Gaijin noticed Wewsewakan Stoutland over at his post, a heap of newspapers in front of him. Smiling a little, Gaijin approached. "Evening, Wewsewakan."

The gruff old stoutland looked down at him, resting his chin on his paws. "What does 'evening' mean, anyway?" He stared out into the snows, his brows furrowed in deep thought. "Are you just letting me know that it's evenin'? Or are you telling me you want me to have a good evenin'? Or are yeh saying I should have a good evenin' whether I want to or not? These are the questions, kid."

Gaijin laughed. "I guess they are. Say, can I borrow a newspaper?"

"It's just that we've come so far as a society," Wewsewakan continued, making no sign that he'd even heard Gaijin's request. "But evenin's gone backwards. Pokemon used to say 'I hope yeh have a good evening' or 'May Arceus grant you a wonderful evening.' But nowadays, we just say evenin'. As in, yes, it is indeed evenin'. Don't make a goddamn lick of sense."

Gaijin loved dropping by the newspaper stand. Wewsewakan Stoutland was probably the most entertaining pokémon in this entire town, with his nonsensical tangents and deep ponderings. Not to mention he's the only pokémon in this town who's never told me to leave… Not that I'm staying.

"Hey, can I have a newspaper, Wewsewakan?"

"If you want, but I got somethin' better for ya." Wewsewakan rummaged behind the counter and came up holding a strange object in his mouth. He dropped it and pushed it over to Gaijin. "Y'ever seen anything like this?"

"Whoa! Where'd you find that?" Gaijin grabbed the object with his tail, examining it closely. It was a small, thin box, one of its sides black, the other silver, with a long, rubbery cord coming out of the bottom that split into two halfway through its length. Gaijin grinned, hardly able to keep himself from bouncing up and down as he turned it over in his tail. "Whatdo you think this is? It could be anything!"

Wewsewakan guffawed. "Ha! I knew you'd like it. Yer always blabbering about all the fancy gizmos that got left behind. Whadja reckon it is?"

Gaijin turned it over once more. "It looks we might be able to interact with it using electricity. It's not in great shape, but I've seen worse. This thing needs to get to Chargestone Cave stat!"

"Think it's got them weird letters in it that lots of flat things do?" Wewsewakan asked. "Didja hear about that? Back in Kanto, that scientist Kashiko Magikarp got one of those thingamajiggies to finally do something. Took a lot of prep work, I hear, but she did it alright. It's one of them big ones, the ones that you can open and fold shut. She can make it glow, and a bunch of words in the old language pop up. But it doesn't do nothing much besides that. Of course, if there was ever gonna be a region to make one of them old gizmos work, it was gonna be the First. They're incredible over there. Here? All we got is blood, death, and those damned dragons."

Wewsewakan rested his head on the counter again and sighed. Gaijin knew it was time to be on his way. Sometimes, he really hated this town. No matter what anyone did or what anyone said, everyone's thoughts always came back around to the war and the dragons. Setting the gadget back on the counter, grabbing a newspaper, and moving along, Gaijin couldn't help but glance out at the waters of Liberty Bay, only just visible through the trees.

Someday.

Gaijin made his way north through the town, eager to get some space out on Route 1. He knew what Mehmala would say if she found out he'd been out in the woods on such a cold night, but Nuvema's atmosphere was suddenly suffocating. As he slithered through the town, he didn't fail to notice the suspicious glare Miss Manunk Watchog shot him or how Mimens Snivy and Kwesh Tepig scurried away as he went by, abandoning their half-made snow fort. Gaijin knew very well that if he wandered out into the night and died, no one in this town would bat an eye. If only I could blame them, the boy thought, but it's not like I don't get where they're coming from.