When he woke up, everything was black, as if he hadn't really woken up and was stuck in some waking dream- or nightmare. Finding himself in a lying down position, he tried to roll over but it felt as if Wailord were crushing his limbs.
He wasn't sure what exactly a Wailord was, but Lurantis had used it as an analogy for a huge boulder so he assumed it was heavy.
His copper claws struggled to get a hold on the sandy floor, but they just wouldn't cooperate.
Peering into the pitch black, Xuri wished the sun was there to help him see. He didn't realize how easy it was to take such seemingly normal things for granted. Unable to move, he laid helplessly on the ground.
But after a few moments, as if his unspoken wish had been granted, a gentle orange light began to fill the space around him.
He rolled over to the best of his abilities to look through the mouth of what seemed to be a cave and out onto the dry bracken and dirty colored grounds of the park.
But the most beautiful, breathtaking thing about it was the sunrise. The ball of light was peeking cautiously over the horizon, surrounded by swirls of pink and purple and tinged barely with red. He stared in absolute awe as the colors began to fill in the rest of the sky slowly, wanting to scoot forward to see better but again hindered by his damaged arm.
Finally snapping out of the trance, Xuri decided to take advantage of the light and use it to observe what exactly had happened to him. Glancing down, he felt his circuits stop short. The white band that held the wires of his arms together was gone.
He flashed back to before he had gone unconscious, realizing with dread the snap and the hiss had been him falling apart. What was he going to do?! Something would find him here, unable to fight back, or whatever had attacked him the first time would come back and finish him off.
He looked around fearfully, trying to find something that would help fix him or somewhere he could better hide. There were leaves scattered on the ground, a tight-woven basket filled with an assortment of berries, a big pink Pokemon watching him with pinned ears and wide eyes, two sleeping nooks padded with downy feathers and lush leaves…
Wait WHAT
Xuri whipped his head back to look at the Pokemon, who was cowering at the far end of the cave, clutching something in its paws. He recognized it right away as his missing piece.
Fear and anger flooded him immediately, his fight-or-flight instincts kicking in. He tried desperately to move into some kind of offensive position, still weighed down by his useless arm.
The Pokemon scooted farther back at his sudden movement. He lashed his tail, trying to seem threatening. If it made a move, he'd have to-
He couldn't even finish his thought before something warm and blue began to flicker near his shoulder.
"One more move and I'll crack that big lightbulb of yours."
Xuri froze, even more terrified than before.
"Sit up," they growled again.
"I- I can't," he mumbled.
"I said sit up."
"I can't!" Xuri snapped back, louder now.
"Why not?" they demanded.
"My arm," he said into the ground.
His captor knelt down to inspect the arm he hadn't moved, giving him a good look at the creature.
She was short but sturdy looking, a flexible tail and blunt claws that didn't look overall deadly, but could still most likely deal some damage. Her body was sleek and a deep, dark purple, almost closer to black, but her head was encased in white, and her eyes burned with blue fire and passion almost as strongly as the flaming white stick she carried. A star shape appeared to be emblazoned on her forehead. Around her neck was a thin piece of string, and attached to it was a small, curling seashell that looked worn away with age.
After a few moments of inspection, she muttered something under her breath and turned to the other, ordering him to bring her the band.
"I'm going to need you to hold still," she said to Xuri sharply. "Or I'll have Bewear pin you down."
He shuddered, assuming Bewear was the other Pokemon and not wanting to feel those crushing paws again. What were they going to do to him? She ran a paw up and down his arm once, before carefully positioning the band around his arm.
"Hold this," she instructed to Bewear. The huge paws wrapped gently around the band, holding it closed as the other got up and rummaged in the back for something. It took all of his willpower not to flinch away.
Carefully glancing up, he noticed Bewear refused to meet his gaze. After a few tense moments of silence, the other Pokemon returned with a small, carved out dish full of some kind of paste. She knelt down again and spread it across the part of the band that had snapped.
After using up the entire bowl, she sat back and said, "there. Give it a few minutes and it should be as good as new. That stuff's stronger than any glue. As long as you're not the type to get into fights every five minutes, you'll be fine."
She turned back to the far end of the cave and began to rummage through the various leaves and berries on the ground.
Bewear paused for a second, making a move to follow before pausing and turning back to Xuri. Xuri tensed a little, wondering what the Pokemon wanted from him.
Bewear reached out a paw and gave a him a tiny pat on the head before crawling back after her. He could've sworn he'd seen the slightest of smiles on Bewear's face. The poor thing.
Xuri could guess easily he was very affectionate, but wasn't aware of his own strengths. He hadn't attacked Xuri with harmful intentions- he just wanted to give him a hug.
He sat for a few minutes longer, feeling the feeling return to his arm. He noticed blue eyes watching him move it, suddenly realizing he should probably thank her.
"Um, thank you," he started. She watched him for a moment before merely grunting. She was still tracing the ridges in the seashell around her neck with one paw. "I'm, uh, Xuri."
The was a long pause before she simply said, "Marrow." He cocked his head, confused at her response for a moment before realizing that was her name.
"Well," he started again, suddenly feeling awkward. "I guess I should be going." He tried to stand up, but he could only crouch or he would bang his head against the ceiling. Nobody stopped him from moving towards the entrance. As he stood hunched over, near the entrance of the cavern, he tried again.
"Thank you, Marrow. Er, and Bewear." Marrow looked back over towards him and nodded. Bewear offered a tiny wave. He flicked his tail in return and squeezed back out into the open air.
He hadn't taken a few steps forward when a voice squeaked, "Hey!"
Xuri looked back and forth quickly, not seeing anybody among the dry grasses and dirt pathways.
"Down here!"
Panning his gaze downward, he saw a Pokemon that looked so out of place in this hot and desolate place it was almost funny. Its smooth blue fur and long, curved claws looked better fit to somewhere icy and cold rather than a desert condition like this.
"Tail!" cried the Pokemon again. He only then realized he had one foot still stamped down on her tail.
"Oh! Uh, sorry," he apologized hastily, taking a step back. She shook her head.
"Not to worry. I think you might be who I'm looking for. Xuri, isn't it?" Xuri nearly took another step back, surprised whoever this was knew his name.
"Well, yeah, that's me. How'd you know?"
"Well, you fit the description pretty well. Thin, black-and-white, reeeeally tall…" She backed up a little bit to be able to squint all the way up at his face. "Yep, definitely you. Come on!" Without a moment's hesitation, she hopped up, grabbed his hand and began trying to lead him back down the mountain.
"Hey, wait! I don't even know who you are! Or who sent you!" Xuri protested.
The Pokemon sighed and turned back to him, the clear-blue spikes on her back tinkling against each other.
"My name's Avanelle," she said in a businesslike manner, shaking the hand she'd already been holding. "I already know you're Xuri. Somebody sent me here asking me to take you to Poni to meet them."
"Who?" Xuri asked, a little suspicious.
"Well, I didn't catch their name, so sorry about that. But they were tall, just like you. I think even taller. They looked a lot like you."
Xuri paused for a moment, considering who it could be.
Oh! Duh! Even taller than him but still very alike? He could easily imagine Skylar stopping this young Pokemon named Avanelle and asking her to find him.
"I bet it was Skylar!" Xuri said aloud. "Alright, take me to them," he added, addressing Avanelle. She rolled her eyes.
"Finally. It's almost like you had to write out that whole thought process for everyone to hear before you could agree with me." And with that, she resumed trotting down the road, Xuri following her with long strides.
As they walked, he thought back to Skylar and Blade. They'd left shortly before he'd been bear-hugged by Bewear and brought to Marrow's den. When he'd woken, it had been just before dawn, which meant that he'd slept through at least one night, and if Skylar had had the time to send a messenger and for the messenger have found him, that meant…
"I've been asleep for at least three days?!" he yelped out loud, causing Avanelle to jump.
"Okay, look Avanelle, we might need to put this on hold. I need to go to Lush Jungle first and find-"
Before he'd even finished his sentence, she shrugged and butted in, "Okay. It's right along the way anyways." Xuri was slightly taken aback, surprised it was that easy with her no-nonsense temperament. Perhaps that was just the first impression she gave off. Picking up the pace slightly, the two increased their pace back down the hill.
"Hey!" A voice called out. Xuri stopped, tapping a foot anxiously as Symphony floated out of the grass. "Where are you going in such a hurry?"
"We're going to meet Skylar and Blade on…" he looked at Avanelle.
"Poni Island," she finished for him.
"Yeah, there."
Symphony looked momentarily confused but instead just answered, "Well, alright then. You have fun!"
Xuri thanked him and continued down the path, Avanelle nearly dragging him as Symphony waved farther up the path. It wasn't long before they were out of the park and on their way to the jungle.
In almost no time at all, there striding down the path with the huge, sunbaked rocks where he had landed on one side and the secluded entrance to the Jungle on the other.
"Lurantis?" he called out in the direction of the crowded trees. Almost instantly, a shriek came from the other side.
"I knew you wouldn't leave me!" Lurantis cried, wrapping her arms around Xuri's legs. Avanelle looked on, half amused and half annoyed with the overly affectionate gesture.
"Alright people, move it or lose it. We've gotta boat to catch."
"Huh?" Lurantis looked over towards Avanelle, her eyes narrowing. "Who is she?" she demanded.
Xuri sighed internally at Lurantis's overprotectiveness. "This is Avanelle. Avanelle, Lurantis. Lurantis, Avanelle."
Lurantis still seemed suspicious, but nodded. "Nice to meet you," she said shortly.
Avanelle came close to rolling her eyes again before catching herself. "You too. And may I be acquainted with you two, as well?" Xuri paused, confused.
"What? There's only me and-"
He stopped again when he saw she wasn't even looking in their direction. She snorted, flicking a small, sharp piece of ice in the direction she was staring. It flew harmlessly into a bush, until a yelp claimed otherwise as a familiar hulking figure stumbled out out of overgrowth.
"Bewear?!" Xuri was impressed by just how keen Avanelle's senses were.
"You too," she snapped at the bush again.
"It's not like those little ice pellets will do anything to me," grumbled yet another recognizable voice, as Marrow emerged sullenly from the bushes, her necklace bumping against her chest.
"How-?" Xuri was left more bemused than ever. "Why are you guys here?" Marrow grinned under her exterior skull.
"Well y'see, little Avanelle here talks awfully loud." Avanelle bristled a little at the snide comment. "And, overhearing you guys were setting out on a fairly interesting adventure, we thought we'd tag along. It was a spy mission until just now."
Lurantis was glaring at the newest female to arrive on the scene, and Avanelle looked less than happy, but Xuri had a feeling Marrow wasn't just going to walk away. Even without spending much time with her, it was obvious she was persistent as all heck.
Avanelle paused for a few more moments before grumbling, "Fine. Whatever. But we need to get moving, so you'd better keep up."
And with that, she was moving briskly towards the seafront, followed by three Pokemon and one peculiar Beast.