Pokemon: Incarnation
Chapter 4: All Hail The New Flesh
Dampness, and the stench of decay. That was the first thing that my body, whether I still had one or not, could detect after it was shredded down to the most basic of particles. It must have been a smell beyond what could be experienced on Earth if it could wake me up from death itself. Perhaps this really was the afterlife, because wherever this was, it reeked of a pile of rotten, diseased carcasses. It made me want to hurl up my guts and spew them into the outside world, which made me realise that I must have still had a body. How could it have remained in tact after I saw it being disintegrated in front of my eyes? The memory of that still horrified me as I felt my entire frame shudder in response, and while I felt uncomfortable, I wasn't in any real agony. Perhaps my pain receptors just decided that the job was too much and just walked out of the job. Listening closely, I could hear what sounded like crickets around there somewhere, and it all started to seem oddly familiar.
I scrunched up my face until I could feel my eyes again and used all my strength to pry them open, but all I could see was a mass haze of different shades of dull greens and the occasional brown. I had no idea what this place was in any sense of the word, but I didn't like the feel of it so far. Clenching my hands and moving my feet, I felt feeling return to the rest of my body, which told me it was time to get up and investigate. If Melinda was here, I wouldn't find her by just lying here on this damp ground.
"Up you get Basil..." I muttered to myself as I pushed myself to my hands and knees, which proved difficult under the oppressive humidity weighing down on me. That's step one done; now onto my feet. Planting one foot on the ground, I pushed myself up and balanced carefully on both feet as my visions and senses started becoming stronger again. Balancing became natural again after my body stopped becoming so numb as I took a look around. Was this really the afterlife? One giant, putrid swamp? If Arceus existed, then he clearly hates me, as this place made me feel sick in more ways then one. The sound of insects and birds surrounded me in a haze of bad memories, and it became clear that this was some kind of tailor-made punishment for my wrongdoings in life.
"...It's Louisiana all over again..." I muttered in fear, reminding me of my brush with death when I got lost on a swamp tour with my family when I was only twelve years old. It was a miracle I was able to survive three hours in such a hostile environment back then, especially when the jaws of death almost snapped shut around me in the form of a feraligator. I owe that Cajun and his double barrelled shotgun my life that day, but I still never wanted to set foot in another swamp ever since. No matter, I'm twenty-three now, almost double the age, and twice as strong too, hopefully. I felt my skin crawl in fright, but now was no time to panic. Just got to try and find out exactly what this place is, whether it really is the afterlife or not. Maybe this is The Guardian of Forever's world? If so, then it's beyond saving, so bringing all those trainers here was a giant waste of time. Well, might as well get looking for Melinda then – not much else I can do.
"MELINDA! IT'S ME, BASIL! WHERE ARE YOU?!" I shrieked at the top of my voice, but all I heard was the sound of a nearby bird fly away, clearly frightened by my sudden shouting. He could have at least dumped me right next to her so I wouldn't feel so alone. I truly felt isolated among these giant trees, feeling like I was the only thing within miles with any real degree of sentience. I felt starved and devoid of fluids as I swallowed whatever saliva I had in my mouth. However, I'd find a way to last for the next few hours – I had to! Melinda could be somewhere in this swamp, and we needed to stay together if we were to survive, that is, if we weren't already dead.
Stepping forward, each footstep felt like I was sinking into the mire further, but I had to keep going. I had no idea what I'd find, or whether I was getting closer to or further away from my sister, but it had to be better than just standing around, waiting to get eaten by some large and hungry pokemon. Looking to my left, I saw the mangled, half-eaten corpse of a raticate, staring at me with its only remaining eye. I wanted to be sick – this was sick! It looked like it was flat out torn in half in spite of being huge by raticate standards – it had to be over a meter tall!
"Fuck, fuck, fuck..." I muttered under my breath as my senses became heightened to everything around me, detecting every sound, every texture underneath my feet, every shade of murky green and brown, and every smell of the invasive algae and fungi. If I stared any harder, I could probably see ghosts here. Speaking of heightened, everything seemed to be bigger than I remembered it to be, which is odd, because it should be the other way around, given I wasn't quite as small as I was back then.
"MELINDA!" I yelled again, but I still got no response as I accidentally stepped into a boggier patch, making most of my left leg wet. Unpleasant, but nothing more than an inconvenience, and I was glad I didn't step in anything worse. I heard something move from behind me all of a sudden, causing me to turn right around on the spot, but I saw nothing. It sounded like a muffled splash from the waters just over to the left of me. In hindsight, 'nothing' was an excellent description – that half-eaten raticate had also gone missing.
"Oh no..." I said, picking up the pace, watching my footing with each step I took. Whether it was the creature that ate the large raticate, or whether the raticate become undead and was now hunting me, it was terrifying nonetheless. Maybe the feraligator is back to finish the job after it got shot twice decisively in the head by the Cajun, and this time, he wouldn't be there to save my life. My pace quickened from a quick trek to a jog, my pulse quickening as I dipped around, under and over the bushes and branches, hoping to eventually find a clearing of some kind. I just had to get out of here, the oppressive feeling of danger starting to choke my brain into tunnelling solely on flight instincts.
My jog would become a mad sprint for survival, however, when a loud roar suddenly sounded right to my left. I barely had time to peek over my shoulder to see what it is – I just had to survive! I ignored the cuts I sustained from pushing some thorny foliage bushes as that terror I endured back in Louisiana reared its ugly head once more. How could things have gone this far South in such a short space of time?!
Melinda not using my strategy seemed to matter so little now as I jumped across a boggy patch. I could hear bushes and small trees give way to the creatures might behind me, and as I looked behind me for a split second, I could see that it was a burly-looking, slavering swampert. It was massive to say the least, at least twice the size of me! How did it grow that big?! It's eyes were locked onto me, it's mouth agape widely and roared again, making me shudder as I took big, leaping strides, trying to stay on the dryer patches to keep up my speed. It looked big enough to flat out swallow me whole, and I could think of no worse way to die than to slowly suffocate and dissolve in a chamber of flesh and stench.
"Keep moving Basil, keep focused! High and dry, quick steps!" I muttered to myself, refusing to let myself fall into a blind panic. Swamperts weren't exactly fast, and I felt as though if I kept moving at this rate, I'd outpace it. That being said, the boggy ground and all the bushes and trees weren't slowing that ugly monster down at all as it just kept muscling through them as if they were paper.
A crunch sounded just behind me as I peeked behind me to see how close it was. It was about the same distance as before, but I saw a tree from above starting to crash down onto me. Running over to the left, I avoided being crushed to death, but I had been pushed towards the water, where I'd stand no chance of escape. The tree was very thick, and I don't think I could quite jump over it. I'd have to climb over it, and fast! I leapt up as high as I could, pushing myself over as I screamed in fear and pain, but it bought that swampert just enough time to be upon me!
As soon as I got over the obstacle and took another few steps, I felt its huge hand encircle around my body and clench tight. I could barely breath me as I felt crushed within its hand as it took me close to its face until we were roughly at eye level. It didn't look angry at all as it stared at me. Instead, it seemed pleased it managed to get its hands on its prey. It opened its gigantic maw as I stared into the throat of death, and it was here where I descended into blind panic, and it was clear that the Cajun wasn't here to save me this time. I closed my eyes and flailed helplessly before unleashing a scream that I didn't think I was capable of achieving. What must have been a small explosion set off around me, causing the swampert to drop me onto the marshy ground beneath his feet.
Needless to say, I started fleeing right away as the swampert's left hand looked hurt. Perhaps this would give me the chance to escape, but I had only taken about seven steps when I felt something huge and heavy slam into me from behind, knocking my fragile frame into a tree, dazing me heavily, not too unlike how I woke up within this swamp. I felt the swampert grab me again, and while I wasn't sure what saved me the last time, I somehow doubted it was going to happen again. I felt the jaws start to enclose my seemingly small body, feeling its disgusting saliva start to coat my shivering body. My frame convulsed in terror and disgust, but after a mere two seconds from being trapped within its mouth, it suddenly spat me out, leaving me a dizzy, soaking, putrid mess on the earth.
Gazing up at the swampert, I could see that something was fighting it. It was also blue, and pretty agile and quick too as it kept landing blow after blow on the swampert, punching it hard at every angle. Even though it seemed to be quite a bit smaller than my predator, though still a fair bit larger than me. It was hard to tell exactly what it was that was fighting the swampert, but I was hardly complaining! It suddenly went right for its eyes as the beast suddenly roared in terror and tried to escape, but my saviour decided to let it go, figuring it done enough.
"Goodness gracious little one, what are you doing out here all by yourself?! You could have gotten killed! In fact, you would have if you weren't for me!" It spoke in a thick Southern accent. Maybe I really was back in Louisiana, but as scary as it was, I was at least on planet Earth. My vision started returning to me as I allowed him to help me up. Looking up, I could see that it wasn't a human, but a pokemon instead. A toxicroak, to be precise, and while I wasn't in the mood to meet another big mouthed pokemon, it seemed friendly enough. "Y'know, if I was here five seconds later, you could have turned up a few daisies!"
"Thanks...Toxicroak..." I said, feeling as though the situation turned from hostile to bizarre. Pokemon learning English wasn't unheard of, albeit very rare. "Say, do you have a human friend? Can I talk to him?" I asked before he gave me a curious look, and then chuckled as if I said something cute and dumb like a child asking whether there was a monster under the bed.
"Human friends huh? Well, wouldn't that be something. Looks like you got a bit of a nasty knock to you the head. I reckon you should come with me so I can make sure you're ok. I'll take you to my swamp shack. Don't worry, I know these parts well, I'll keep ya safe." He said, gesturing me to follow him closely. I paused for a moment as his body slumped slightly in disappointment. "Hey, don't make me carry you there!"
"No, no, I'm coming...it's just...uh, where am I?" I asked, assuming I wasn't dead and wandering around an awful post-death existence. Following him through the swamp, I felt a lot safer under his protection.
"In the bayou of course. The real question is why you were there. Seriously, you don't know how lucky you are to be alive. Straying from the path is almost suicide if you're not prepared!" The toxicroak said, as I started quizzing him further.
"The bayou? Well, I assume I'm somewhere in Louisiana then, right?" I asked as he gave me a puzzled look.
"Louisiana? Who's that? Is she hot?" He said, grinning and chuckling. "Ok, maybe I'm a bit too old to chase girls like that."
"Ok, I'll try again...know where I can get a bus ride to New Orleans? I could get a plane home and-" I said before I was cut off.
"Now you're just talkin' plain crazy. Are all you Convictioners like that? You sure sound like you're from there with a voice like that." He asked as it was my turn to give him an odd look.
"Convictioners? What's that?"
"From Conviction. Continent South-East from here...none of this making any sense to you?" He asked as I shrugged. "Ok little man; tell me where you're from."
"York, England." I said casually as the ball of confused looks was now in his court again.
"Never heard of that...wait a second...now, this is an incredibly long shot, but by any fraction of a chance...are you one of 'them?'" He asked, his voice suddenly growing very quiet.
"'One of them?' What do you mean?" I asked before he crouched down and put his large mouth right next to his hear.
"...A human." He said as I took a step away from him.
"...Well, no shit I'm a human! What did you think I was?" I said, giving an awkward laugh as I had to stop myself from accidentally stepping through some sharp looking tall grass.
"Shh! Keep it down!" He said, grabbing me by the face suddenly. "Look, if you're one of them, you cannot under any circumstances let anyone know! It was probably a mistake admitting that to me, just make sure you don't do it again!"
"Why not?" I asked with a muffled voice, his hands still clasped around my head. "And how is it not already obvious that I'm human. I hardly look like you."
"...Ok, if you've just arrived here, then I reckon you're in for a bit of a shock. Though seriously, I'm amazed it took you this long to figure out. I don't have a mirror, but you can look down at the rest of your body." He said as I slowly looked down. Well, between the terror and mystifying scales, this weighed it heavily towards the 'what the fuck' zone.
I was mostly covered in blue fur over my body, save for my feet and hands...paws? They were white. Looking behind me, I found out why my arse felt kind of strange, as I saw two large bushy tails with the same colour scheme – blue, with white tips. Reaching up, I felt my folded ears, but I didn't dare open them, as I knew that a terrible accident could happen if I tried to pry them open. I hardly wanted to accidentally give my saviour a psionic blast by accident!
"Meowstic rhythms...capture my thoughts, and carry them away...er...how am I supposed to respond to this?! Nothing so far makes sense! I...how could I prepare for something like this! It's all so...alien!" I said, speaking in a much higher pitched voice than usual before calming down. "Right...I'll explain everything. My sister was likely taken here by The Guardian of Forever, and it seems like I have too, and it seems like our bodies were shredded to atomic levels and we got new ones."
"That's not unheard of per se, and trust me – you'll be glad for having a body like that, even if you hate it." He said as I shrugged.
"It's too strange to say. I'm pretty sure I prefer my old body, but on the other hand, this is the experience of a lifetime! Who else gets to experience something like this? Well, aside from the other eighteen people taken here." I said, trying to make sense of all of this. All things considered, being in this body wasn't really a plus or a minus; it was just a gigantic question mark.
"You'll prefer that body with the Pale Communion acting up. They are the reason that you want to keep your identity secret. If they find out who you are, you're as good as dead. If they know who you really are, they will find you, and then they will kill you without asking a single question." He said, suddenly becoming very serious. "If you looked human, they'd know instantly. Your secret's safe with me, but I'd keep your tongue tied about where you came from."
"So, they're just a bunch of extreme xenophobes then?" I asked, before I realised I forgot to ask the most obvious question of all. "Oh, I never got your name."
"It's Nisbeth. Yeah, it's a foreign name; my ancestors came from Mistet Ørkenen, and from what I heard about the place recently, they made the right choice moving to State Broussard. As for the Pale Communion, they seem to believe that humans are a threat to them and the world and are trying to kill them all. Do you get people that crazy back where you live?" Nisbeth responded as I nodded.
"Have you seen my sister, Melinda? Oh, name's Basil by the way." I said as I saw a couple of pokemon walking ahead in the mire. Now, while Nisbeth here seemed to be flat out civilized, that swampert was completely feral, but what about the pair infront of us?
"I'll get back to you on that." He said as the two pokemon waved at him – a couple of floatzels, and they looked friendly enough.
"Hey Nisbeth, we're just doing a bit of swamp fishing here. Don't worry, it's away from your house." One of them said, also in a Deep South accent.
"Fine by me." Nisbeth said and we were about to walk by them before the other one called out to us.
"Seen any humans?" The other one said as Nisbeth gave him his signature puzzled look. My mouth suddenly went dry upon hearing this. Were they part of the Pale Communion? Seems like I might not be out of the woods just yet!
"No, why are you looking for them?" Nisbeth asked before they started looking a little shifty.
"Just wanted to speak to one. I've heard quite a few have appeared all over the world over the past couple of months. Crazy, huh? Aliens visiting our planet." The first one said as Nisbeth shrugged.
"Doesn't interest me too much. I got my home and stuff, and that's all I need and care about in life." He replied as the pair of them scorned them slightly.
"No drive, no ambition...seriously, you should try living outside your shack once in a while, go into town, meet some people. Still, looks like you made a friend there, so you've made a start." He said, while I stayed very silent.
"Ah, go chase your humans or whatever. See ya." Nisbeth said, sounding a bit disgruntled as he walked off with me in tow. Shortly afterwards, I saw a fairly large wooden shack that looks like it was just about to fall apart. The wood was unpainted and looked like rot was setting in at a few places, making me wonder if it was safe, let alone comfortable. A tiny jetty with some basic fishing equipment stood just behind his 'house,' which looked cruedly supported with wooden poles with some tape on them. The roof was the king of makeshift repairs however, applying the whole 'duct tape fixes everything' phrase seriously. I could barely even see the wood there!
"You live here?" I asked, trying to remain polite, even though I was sincerely hoping the answer would be 'no.'
"Yup, come on in if you want." He said, opening the crooked door for me. Admittedly, it didn't look as bad as it looked from the outside, even if it did smell of fish. Too me, that wasn't even bad, since I was notorious for eating fish almost every day, so I didn't mind. Whatever he did to the place, it was at least dry on the inside. A few pots and pans hung from the wall above a stove that looked like it was from almost two hundred years ago, and beside it was a very primitive looking sink alongside a strange device that I didn't recognize. Hopefully, it was a water purifier of some kind. A solitary bed was in the other corner of the single-roomed shack, which looked worn out, yet still functional. On the one hand, I would be extremely uncomfortable living in such conditions, but on the other hand, did the pokemon here build this?! Incredible!
"Looks like you really don't know how to react, huh. I heard humans were super smart according to legend, so I'm guessing this all looks real old to you." He said, not looking offended as he lied down on his bed.
"Admittedly, yeah, but it's still incredible! I assume humans didn't build this then." I said, looking all around the small shack.
"Nope, I built it with the help of a gudurr. Couldn't stand living in town, but I go there every so often to get stuff I might need. It's not an antisocial thing, I just couldn't be bothered, y'know? Life's just better living out here with your own space to do your own thing." He said, relaxing on the bed.
"I guess so. Anyway, thanks for saving my life. Can't believe I didn't thank you earlier." I said as he smiled slightly.
"Think nothing of it. Actually, it was kind of thrilling really diggin' into that swampert. I wonder if it survived? Eh, it's not that important." He said as I nodded in agreement.
"By the way, you haven't heard of anyone called Melinda, have you?" I asked as he shook his head.
"Ah yeah, you said that was your sister. Nope, sorry, but if she comes by here, I'll let you know." He said, barely moving where he lied. What to do now? At least I had a chance to think about it, so I could now make some ideas and plans. From what I could tell, this was some kind of alien planet with many continents, so, needless to say, it was a needle in a haystack situation when it came to finding Melinda. Was she in Broussard, or elsewhere? Would it even be safe to go around asking for Melinda with a cult wanting me dead if they ever figured out who I was? How could I even start? Regardless, I wasn't getting anywhere without food as I realised how weak I felt.
"You're, uh, hungry, aren't ya." Nisbeth said, lazily looking around. "I suppose I should make you something real quick." He said, crawling out of bed and stumbling towards the stove and started briefly preparing the laziest fish stew ever. Still smelled good to me, and when he gave me some, I was more than happy to eat it up quickly.
"Thanks again, I owe you." I said while chewing the last of the stew in my mouth. "Say, got a mirror? I want a proper look of myself."
"Next thing you'll be needing water, fed, sheltered, protection...don't worry, papa Nisbeth is on the case." He replied, starting to sound a bit irritated, yet seemed sincere about his offer.
"Look, I'm real sorry about this, but I don't know the first thing about being a meowstic, or about surviving in a swamp, let alone living here. I hate asking for help, but I really don't have much of a choice here." I said sheepishly as he told me he didn't have a mirror, and that he didn't need one. Well, toxicroaks weren't exactly cute, so I couldn't blame him. On the other hand, my human self might want to give my pokemon self a quick hug right now, and I chuckled slightly at the thought.
"Well, leaving you alone out here is pretty much a death sentence for you, so...hrm...I reckon I could let you stay a short while until you figure out your own arrangements. However, I'm not going to let you stay for free, so you'll be doing stuff for me while you're here. You know how to fish?" He asked as I nodded slowly.
"I'm better than I care to be. My family took me a lot, and though I never enjoyed it, I became compotent through sheer repetition. Still, your equipment looks different to the stuff I used." I said, gazing out at the small jetty just outside of his shack.
"Hem, I'll quickly show you how my fishing equipment works." He said as he lead me out onto the jetty after having a glass of purified water. Admittedly, I wasn't the most practical person, but I could learn quick if I was really paying attention, and pay attention I did since the only thing worse than being stranded in a foreign world in a foreign body is being stranded in a foreign world in a foreign body while also being homeless, and I was wanting to get on the good side of Nisbeth. I wanted to know as much as possible about where I ended up, but I didn't want to ramble on too much, since it seemed like Nisbeth liked his own space.
Learning to fish with his primitive equipment proved to be an uphill struggle, but it was a struggle I'd have to endure and get on with. Using equipment designed for people twice my size was very tricky, but I was already finding ways to compensate, such as jamming a pole between the wooden planks to steady it, since I wasn't strong enough to hold it properly in my small body.
"Know anything about The Guardian of Forever?" I asked after a few minutes had passed, thinking that since he had a break from my constent questioning, he wouldn't be irritated.
"I think he's some kind of hero from thirty five years ago, and was the ally of The Sound of Perseverence. A lot of it's just folklore though, so I wouldn't bother much with it." He said, checking that his fishing net was in working order.
"He summoned my sister here along with eighteen others, including myself." I said as he raised an eyebrow at this.
"Huh...sounds like a real hero." He said, but he looked like he just wanted to say something and didn't really know what to respond with.
"In other words, he placed me in mortal danger against my will. He's clearly no hero, and finding him will be my next port of call after finding Melinda, and when I find him..." I said, making a guesture that implied I was going to kill him for what he done.
"That's pretty short-sighted Basil. How else would you get back home?" He asked as I was about to object, but after a brief thought, I realised he was right.
"You're right I guess. I just want to know where she is and know that she's safe. I wonder if she's also a meowstic?" I said, noticing something snagged my line and I used all my strength to reel it up. It was a pretty small fish, but Nisbeth seemed satisfied.
"Good start. I'll take you into town in a couple of hours so you can have a look around and help me sell leftover fish. Who knows, you might find your sister there." He said kindly as he cast his net out over the water.
"Wait...oh, shit." He said just after bringing in a few fish and putting them inside a deep bucket.
"Are they inediable?" I asked, looking at them flopping around helplessly.
"No, it's not that. See, they'll think you're an immagrent, and there's a few tests they like to do before you start doing your own thing. It's like a school exam, and even the natives are expected to pass it by the time they reach seventeen years of age. I don't remember it well, it was almost twenty-years ago for me, but I remembered it covered stuff like math, geography, English, history and combat." He said as I ran through the subjects over in my head. I was pretty good at academics in general, especially maths, but then there was the elephant in the room – combat.
"Combat, huh...are you saying I'm going to have to prove I can fight?! You saw me earlier; you know it won't end well for me." I said, sounding a little desperate. "I'll get my arse plastered all over the walls if the locals have been taught to fight as children! I'll never pass that, even if I did have the balls to actually try! I know my own country's history well, but I barely even know where I am right now!"
"Hrm, I was just naturally good at fighting, so...uh...I don't really know how I do it. I just, well, I just do it. Math was horrible for me, took me three tries to pass back in the day. One last issue – how will we introduce you? Obviously, if you tell the truth, the public's gonna go bonkers and you'll probably only survive a week at the most. You should say you're from Conviction, since you sound like you're from there by your voice. I reckon you should also lie about your age, to make it seem more like you're at a school leaving age. You can pass for being eighteen I'd say, so it won't look too strange if you're really deficient in some subjects, but if you truly know nothing about fighting...well, I hope you can take some classes on that." Nisbeth said, casting the net out again.
"I could say my family didn't have any history of fighting, and I think I can study history in a library quickly. You do have those, right?" I asked as he turned to look at me with a look that suggested he wasn't pleased.
"Of course we do Basil. Eh, it's not your fault I guess. You've not seen anything outside of the bayou in this world after all." He said, and he started looking concerned. "Yeah, make sure everyone thinks you're eighteen, or at least younger than twenty-one. See, I don't think any of the people on other continents do this, but we have this...thing. Remember that school exam I told you about? Passing that is considered the transition from being a kid to being an adult, so if you haven't passed it, you don't get to enjoy the rights that adults do. Because you're above twenty-one and are from another continent, they'll expect you to pass right away or...well, they might outcast you as a 'failed adult.' The combination of being a foreigner and a failed adult is a recipe for disaster here."
"...Melinda's twenty-seven! She'll never pass as someone who's under twenty-one!" I said, starting to panic. "Nononono, this is all horrible! What if she fails?! Will she be casted out to sea without a paddle?!"
"Calm yourself Basil, it's not that hard to pass, and you get two tries, even if you're above twenty-one. You get as many as you like if you're under the age limit, and it doesn't cost much to sign up." Nisbeth said, but I couldn't remain calm.
"Fine for me I guess, but Melinda's in danger whether she landed in a dangerous, horrible swamp or in a town! I've got to find her fast!" I said before Nisbeth grabbed me by the shoulders.
"Look, I'll take you into town in ten minutes. Besides, if you can't fight at all, there's no way you'd get beyond Serenity, let alone make it all the way to Newer Orleans." He said, sounding very serious, but...really?
"...Newer Orleans? Newer Orleans?!" I said when I started laughing, practically begging Nisbeth to give me his signature confused look. "Sorry, back where I come from, there's an Orleans and a New Orleans. 'Serenity' isn't much better though, I bet the guy who founded the continent named it after himself! ...Sorry, I needed a laugh there. Anyway, can you teach me to fight so I might at least have a ghost of a chance?"
"No can do, we're very different species. There's kind of a road to Serenity from here, so once you know the path, you might be able to go to and from there by yourself. A thirty minute walk, and the savages here tend to stay off the path." Nisbeth said, pulling in the net to get another load of fish just before I reeled in another one of my own. "That's a big one there Basil, I'll get paid quite a bit for that. Anyway, you ready to go?"
"Yeah, I'm ready to go to this obviously serene town or village." I said, wondering how I could find Melinda. Should I just parade around town saying 'I'm Basil, where's Melinda?' Could be risky. I ran over my fake backstory in my head to ensure I was getting all the details correct. Eighteen years old, from Conviction. Hrm, that might not be enough if people really start probing. What if people ask about my parents, or my life back on my supposed homeland? I might have to dash to the library and stick my nose in a few books to come up with a convincing story for my life up until now. For now, I'd just have to blend in for now, since one wrong move and I could blow my cover to the wrong people. I just hope that Nisbeth would remain trustworthy throughout my time in this world.
Regardless, this entire experience here was beyond many people's craziest dreams, and I was living in it. How many people can say they've been a pokemon before? Still, even though I knew that meowstics had some of the biggest potential with psionic abilities within short bursts among all species of pokemon, they were still small and very vunerable to being ripped to shreads, metaphorically and literally, if an enemy got within touching distance. I just hoped Melinda was turned into something a bit tougher than I was.
"Mind me hanging around with you in this isolated part of the swamp?" I asked Nisbeth, helping him pack up his supplies and goods to go to Serenity.
"I always liked my own space, but...I'd say you're an interesting guy. Besides, maybe I need this change in my life. I guess nothing would change if I just rotted away in that shack. Maybe it gives me a reason to have a bit more excitement in my life. Feel the same way yourself?" He asked as I thought about it briefly.
"If I knew Melinda and I were safe, then maybe. I guess some shit just happens in your life, and all you can do is play the losing the hand the best you can, though I'd be lying if it didn't scare the living daylights out of me." I said as Nisbeth smiled slightly.
"If it means anything, saving your life was probably the most fun I've had in weeks, and I'd be more than happy to do it again. Stay with Nisbeth, and he'll keep ya safe." He replied, making me feel safer as long as I was with him. Still, I didn't want to get too close to the guy, just in case he ended up being a father figure for me, but on the other hand, I might need that sort of person in my life until I learn to adapt to this alien world. As far as my body was concerned, as much as I hated the idea, I would have to learn how to view the mysterious psionic plain and access its secrets to unlock the abilities I have in order to protect myself, but that was far easier said than done.
Where could I start? Regardless, I could hopefully get some answers in Serenity. I'd unlock the secrets of myself, I'd discover the location of Melinda, and I'd find out just what The Guardian of Forever has in store for us. Could I get what I wanted before the Pale Communion could murder me in cold blood? Well, I was able to extract a lot of information from a high ranking policeman, so I couldn't be too bad at getting people to do what I want. I'd do it, just as long as I had enough time on my side. I'd plan out my victory, just like I planned out Melinda's. Giving Nisbeth an assuring nod, we left the shack and quickly joined the path to Serenity, as I found myself already getting used to the physical shape and form of my new and admittedly rather cute body.
A plan was easy to write down or remember for me. Actually going through with it with so many wild and unpredictable variables that this situation forced on me, however, as I would soon find out, was going to be another kettle of fish entirely.