(Squirt's POV)
(For this chapter, I decided to change POV. I'm not going to do it often, as it mostly spoils the plot and secrets if you change the POV too often. This time, it's Squirt's turn to tell the story. Review if you like or dislike!)
What I had seen… it had made me think differently of Charmie, seeing him as a whole other Pokehuman. I wanted to believe him about the whole 'it-wasn't-my-fault' thing, but it'd be so… wrong to just forget that I saw the one Pokehuman I loved kiss another… and another boy of all things! It wasn't his fault, I know, but I couldn't just forget it.
But I couldn't dwell on it forever, I had to try and sleep. Charmie fell asleep first, unlike the previous night… when he'd made the most passionate love to me I thought possible… and he'd cuddled me as we fell asleep, making sure I was asleep first before I just saw a glimpse of his eyes shutting. It warmed my heart, making my Water boil hot and warm my body… but it cooled quickly once I remembered that stupid Zubat Pokehuman's doing.
I sat up and crept from the room, down to where Zane slept. I went to push the door open, but I heard something. He must have been talking in his sleep, and then I realised something. Nobody could say "Squirt's going down, and soon" so clearly in their sleep. He was planning… to KILL me?! We don't die, we just faint! He's implying that he's going to end me… soon. I shot back into the room, shutting the door and diving onto the nearest bed to hear an "Oomph!"
I realised it wasn't my bed I'd just jumped on; it was Charmie's. I gulped, seeing the lamp beside his bed flick on and yellowy light pour over his beautiful face, illuminating his features and those gorgeous blue eyes. I shook my head, I was still mad, I had to be. "Squirt? Hmm? What are you doing at this hour? Am I forgiven?" he asked tiredly, rubbing his eyes.
He must have been utterly tired from what I'd put him through… and his tired yet hopeful expression showed it. I couldn't just forgive him yet… but what was stopping me? The doubt that he did in fact love Zane even though he kept telling me again and again that it wasn't true. I had to tell him what I'd heard Zane say.
"Umm, well… I-I heard Zane say-"
He placed a finger to my lips, shaking his head "I don't want to hear what you eavesdropped, I just want to forget it ever happened and just move on… I want you to move on too… but it's too much of me to ask. You're still angry at me, and I can't change your mind like that. When you're ready to move on, I'll be too."
At that point, I had forgotten what I was going to say… I was drowning in emotion. Funny given my typing. I snuggled into his chest, hugging him as tightly as I could and I started to cry into his chest. I didn't even know what I was crying about, but I didn't care. I just wanted love, even if it was pity love.
Charmie immediately hugged me back, rubbing my back and kissing my cheek while muttering calming words. He still really loved me, and I was too arrogant to see it. I wanted to make him rue for what he'd done… only it wasn't him I should have been making upset. It was Zane, that idiotic usurper. H-he was trying to steal away the one I loved, and I should put up more of a fight. Being a doormat won't solve anything; I need to stand up for myself and what I believe in.
Zane is nothing but trouble, and one way or the other, I'm going to make Charmie open his eyes and see that.
"You know, we should be sleeping by now. I get bad enough headaches when Landon comes in and shouts at us, and it's even worse if I get sleep depraved the night before… what's say we snuggle? N-not like that but… just… cuddling. I know you like cuddles," Charmie said, stroking my hair and pinching my cheek, wrapping his arms around me and keeping me anchored to his body. First Charmie fell asleep, and I kissed his lips softly before falling into slumber myself.
I had forgotten all about Zane's evil words, asleep or not, and morning came so quickly it almost smacked me in the face.
It was weird, we weren't woken up to shouting… but gentle words from Landon, sounding drenched with relief "Oh sweet Arceus, I'm glad I accidentally forgot to wake you up. You two aren't sick are you?" he asked, edging closer to the bed. We sat up so fast we nearly knocked ourselves out, looking to Landon "W-wha?" I asked, drying my eyes of the sleep.
"Yeah, what's up? Don't you usually ye- erm… politely tell us to get up?" Charmie asked, saving his behind by not addressing the issue he had with Landon. It was the issue all of us had, but we were all too scared to say anything in case he yelled the roof down on us… along with the rest of the cliff. Then it clicked "Sick? Why would we be sick?" I asked, and Landon sighed "The food in storage went bad… and… everyone ate the pancakes without knowing it went bad and… they're all sick. Even Carlile… my little Chimecho…" he whispered the last part. Aww.
The food went bad? That was impossible! How could it have gone bad? Charlie makes sure that any bad food is IMMEDIATLEY thrown out and replaced instantly. And guess who's on the food retrieval duties? Charmie and me. Just our luck. "Wait… the food went what?" Charmie asked, putting his legs over the edge of the bed, staring in disbelief at what Landon had said.
Landon clenched his fists "I TOLD you! The food made everyone sick for some reason! I didn't eat any because I uh… I didn't have much of an appetite this time," he said, and I was a little suspicious that everyone was apparently sick and yet… Landon wasn't. What if he was the one who had made the food sickening for some reason and… this is madness! He said even Carlile was sick and him and Landon are DATING!
It doesn't make sense to sicken the one you love just to have an alibi.
And Landon isn't that kind of person to sicken everyone, not for any gain. I may have only been here for the time I have, but I know him better than that. We all do, he's not like that. "But… it was fresh, me and Charmie retrieved fresh food only a few days ago. It couldn't have spoiled in that little an amount of time!" I reasoned, and Charmie agreed "Yeah, I picked the apples myself! They were fresh as all Distortion World."
(I made a Hell Pun.)
"I don't care HOW fresh they were, they're spoiled now and-"
"What does the spoiled food look like?" I piped in, surprising Landon and Charmie.
Landon raised a brow "It uh, why?"
"Does it LOOK spoiled or rotten? If not… it could be poisoned," I added in, and something clicked in Landon's head. He looked at me "You're a genius! It was that no good Poison type Zane! I KNEW he was up to no good by joining the Guild! That's it! And he didn't eat the poisoned food either! Ha-ha! Things aren't looking good for batty-boy! He must have slipped some toxic whatever into the food supply to get us sick! Aha!"
Landon must have felt so smart to have come to that conclusion, and for every reason, I was in on it. Zane was bad enough trying to steal the one I loved from me, so he must have done this. He's just so… ugh. "Definitley," I said, letting my emotions be the judge of my actions, standing up and looking to Charmie… who seemed really conflicted by this whole matter. He had a number of emotions on his face, mostly looking troubled though.
"W-what if… what if Zane didn't poison the Guild? I know you're on bad terms with him but… what if he didn't do it? It'd be cruel and not to mention wrong to falsely accuse him of doing such a thing if we have no evidence other than he's a Poison type and the Guild ate 'poisoned' food. There are many other Poison types in and around this place so… let's just wait and see… ok?" he asked, standing and putting a hand on my shoulder.
His gaze was so swaying and sympathetic… "But…" I tried to interject, but he placed a finger to my lips to silence me, using that look on me "Please Squirt… let's just wait and see. Maybe we can sleuth around and find some clues, you know, detective style. Like those mystery novels you like," he said, and I smiled at how he'd remembered my favourite genre of books; mystery. I kissed his lips "Fine, let's get sleuthing. Where's Zane?"
Landon shrugged "Dunno, he's certainly not here. Bah! The coward must have poisoned us, feared our wrath and fled like the little baby he is!"
Charmie interjected once again, and once again he came to the defence of the seemingly guilty Zane. "Or he could just be in Treasure Town looking for supplies or something. We've disappeared once or twice getting Oran berries for the Guildmaster… right? So don't sweat it. Just make sure everyone who ate the poisoned food is taken care of. Me and Squirt are gonna snoop around all detective style for some clues. Stay sharp," he said, dressing himself and tossing me my clothes that I quickly donned.
We looked to the door where Landon had been ten seconds prior, and we heard the clutter of pans in the kitchen of the mess hall. Oh Arceus, he's not going to make noodle soup for everyone is he? He'll set the pots on fire by just boiling water! Supressing a groan of knowing what was to come, I walked with Charmie out of the Guild and into Treasure Town.
We had only been walking around for less than half an hour before we noticed something… fishy going on. And then I noticed subject numero uno; Zane, buying things at the Kecleon brother's stall. From what I saw him pocket away after handing over gold, he had bought a few Revive seeds and a few apples. Nothing an explorer wouldn't stock up on… but that was ALL he purchased.
Nothing else. No TMs, no Elixirs or even berries! This was odd; any top notch explorer (not that Zane is one) would know to have berries and plenty of them in their satchels. Just eating one single Oran berry completely fills you up and heals you completely… but he didn't buy any, and last time we checked our satchels he used his last Oran berry to fill his stomach during our last mission.
Charmie had noticed him too, and cocked his head to the side and whispered in my ear "His purchase… it isn't odd, but it's odd by itself. Why no berries? The two brothers don't get them shipped in often, that's why we stock up on them right? Why didn't he buy the berries? I saw two fresh Oran berries for sale… odd…" the Fire type said, and I agreed. It was beyond odd, but he turned and we both had to dive behind a house not to be seen as he passed us and went down the path to the beach.
With a curt nod, Team FlameShell followed that rapscallion.
We followed him right up to the Beach Cave and went inside with him. The Pokéhumans here weren't very strong, so maybe he was going here to train. It made sense to save your berries for dangerous situations. It added a little more reason to his insanity, but not enough to make him innocent. He had to nothing short of saving Arceus himself / herself… nobody knows Arceus' gender. You get what I mean.
We made it past the few levels of the first dungeon we [Charmie and I] had ever discovered together, and we came to the bluff of the Mystery Dungeon and hid behind a few stalagmites… or stalactites, I don't remember which was which. Nonetheless, we hid… and listened in. Two figures stood a little bit further than the light cast, and their faces were hidden all eerie like by the shadows. I could make out a muscular frame on one and a… pudgy frame on the other.
Both wore purple clothing and that rang a bell.
"Here, I brought the supplies" Zane said to the muscular one, handing over the things he'd bought to him, quickly standing back as the figure all but snatched them out of his hand and despite of the shadows, I could tell he had cast Zane a cruel glare "Is this all you could afford? Don't you steal from those naïve fools at the Guild? Why couldn't you afford more?" the familiar grating voice said degradingly to the Bat Pokéhuman.
That voice… it's… it's…
Sam… Sam Skuntank, leader of Team Skull.
The one beside him, as a lucky guess, was Korri… the Koffing.
What were they doing here? How long have they been here? Is this where they went off to after the Uxie trip thing where they tried to hurt William and take the 'treasure' for themselves? W-what? Was Zane helping them? Did he really poison everybody in the Guild? AND ZANE WAS A THIEF ON TOP OF EVERYTHING ELSE?! Oh my Arceus… this is… just… ugh.
Zane looked really scared of Sam, and backed away fearfully with an almost enchanted look on him "Well… I couldn't steal anymore. That Chatot guy was on my back like a bulb on a Bulbasaur! I heh… hehe… I couldn't steal without being seriously punished. That meant no food, and I uh, wanted to keep my strength up so I could enact more of the plan for you… so I didn't steal for a long time, but I did manage to do what you told me to… with the vials of your Noxious Gas Combo liquefied…"
Charmie and I shared a look. Mine was of 'I-Told-You-So' whilst his was of 'He's-Actually-Guilty?!'
We realised that he was moving towards us, going to exit the Dungeon the manual way since he didn't have a Badge like Charmie and mine. Charmie grabbed my hand "C'mon, let's get outta here" he said hurriedly, grabbing my hand and sprinting with me as far as we could get as silently as we could before using the badge and beaming back to the Guild. I hope by Arceus we weren't seen.
I looked around and saw that the kitchen wasn't on fire, so that was good. And… guild members were starting to actually walk about as if they were getting better… so that was great. And… and… Landon emerged from the kitchen with more bowls of noodle soup and saw us "So did you two catch Zane?" he asked, handing over soup to a very sick looking Corey who sniffled a thankyou and groaned as he hobbled over to sit down somewhere to eat.
We exchanged a look "We uh… saw him, and the rest of Team Skull… in the cave area by the beach. Zane was bringing them supplies, and… and he talked about poisoning the guild with Noxious Gas Combo liquid… bleh… and how he's been stealing from us to buy them supplies. If that isn't evil behaviour, I don't know what is. Zane's done this on purpose so he could steal from us easier to give Sam more supplies so he goes easy on him…" I said, feeling a slight pang of sadness for Zane… but I shook it off. Man stealer.
Charmie hung his head and sighed, his flame coloured hair hiding his eyes "I really wanted to give him a chance… but… all evidence points to him being the culprit. I… I can't believe he'd betray us, not again… not after I trusted him… not after-"
"Not after he took you to smooch city" I snapped, not realising I'd said it until I saw the look of pain and hurt on Charmie's face. Oh no… what had I said? I… it wasn't me speaking. I…
The Fire type I loved pulled a hurt expression and teared up slightly, blue eyes sparkling "H-how could you say that? I told you, he forced himself on me! Isn't being right enough for you? Aren't you justified now? You just have to rub it in, don't you? Just… leave me alone…" he said, brushing past me and stiffly walking down the hall, the sound of our room door opening and SLAMMING echoing down the hall.
As if the look from my lover wasn't enough… Landon gave me a disgusted look "It isn't like you to rub something like that in… hasn't he been through enough with you? Give him a break and help me serve the soup, at least then you can't say anything downright mean to the guy you supposedly love… c'mon, Barry needs more soup" he said, abruptly walking away into the kitchen with the sound of the soup being poured into bowls echoing.
I stood there stiff as a statue…
… wondering what in Arceus' name I had just done. That was until the harsh reality hit me of what I'd just said to Charmie, and how much it must have hurt him… I … I would never normally say that! Why would I say that then? I… I don't know, but what I do know is that I need to apologise or else I'm going to lose… lose… Charmie. I teared up. I loved him, I didn't want to lose him! He's everything to me, and if anything happens… I…
I ran.
I ran down the hall as fast as my little legs would carry me, and I stopped at the door and pushed it open. He was sitting on his bed facing away from the door with his hair covering his eyes. He turned upon hearing the door open and I could see the pain and hurt from my words in his eyes, seeing the tear stains on his cheeks "W-what do you want? What else do you say to me, huh? What are you going to say to ruin my life now?" Charmie asked in a similar tone to what I had 'said' earlier, sniffling and drying his beautiful blue eyes.
I shook my head "No… I'm not going to say anything to hurt you. I just… I just wanted to say sorry."
His eyes widened slightly, but he turned his head indifferently. I sighed, stepping forward and sitting on the bed with him, wrapping my arms around his warm body and snuggling into his solid chest, feeling safe like nothing could ever harm me "I'm so sorry for what I said, it just… came out. I couldn't control it, I couldn't help it… I wish I hadn't have said that, but my mind did what it did and it told my mouth to snap at you. I just hope you don't hate me enough to… to…" I personally struggled to stay the words, crying slightly "…break up with me…"
"Squirt…"
I looked up at Charmie, meeting his eyes. There was a kind look in them, and my heart fluttered "Yes?"
He leaned down and softly kissed me, but then shimmied out of the hug and stood up and walked to the door. I was confused slightly, but went to stand up and go with him to wherever he was going… but he held a hand out to halt me, shaking his head at me "I'm going to check the Notice Boards… alone. We have other stand-by team members I could call on if need be. Stay here and help Landon, ok? I need time alone to work things out…" Charmie told me, and I leaned up to kiss him… only for him to turn and walk down the hall.
I sat back against the bed, curing up into a little ball "C-Charmie… Charmie…" I muttered like a soothing mantra, but instead of soothing me, it coaxed tears out of my eyes. I shut them tight, trying to remember our happy times together… the time we first met… our first Rescue Job… our first kiss… our first time making love…
But every time Charmie's frowning face broke the memories and I sniffled, stopping my reminiscing.
"C-Charmie… what have I done?"