Antivenom
Chapter XI
"Enter Turv"
O-oh dang... This isn't good. Canderack's been missing since yesterday, and Xiva never heard him leave. We know he did though, because he wasn't there, and the sliding cloth door was pushed aside. Was I wrong to think that he might've actually been a good guy? What if he went out to go rob more Pokemon...!
Was he really only being nice to me out of pity for a little while? Did he only use Xiva and I for a quick bite to eat and a cure for his burn? Ohhhh... I feel so stupid!
I'll have to go to Treasure Town to check for news about him. Maybe somebody's seen him somewhere? Maybe I could try to find a way to talk to him? But... there's just one little eensy-weensy problem.
My dad's probably camping out there, trying to wait me out to go there for food or something. He was an explorer, so he would go right back if he got knocked out while away. I wasn't, because he wanted me to get strong first so I'd be able to join the guild with a head start. Maybe... Maybe Xiva would take me there, and she could say she rescued me.
That wouldn't solve the problem with my dad being a big jerk, though...
I'd have to figure this out one step at a time. Xiva and I had some Cheri Berry tea, and an apple for breakfast this morning.
"Xiva?", I asked.
"What is it, Turv? Still thinking about Canderack?", she returned.
"I-I'm going to go to Treasure Town to see if anyone's seen him anywhere. Maybe we could find out what's happened then! Just... I need a favor."
"Oh? What is it?"
"Could you come with me? I know you like to be out here by yourself, but my dad is probably there, and he'd take me away for...", I trailed off.
I felt a little sore since that day Canderack saved me. I wouldn't forget that. Even a criminal has some sort of boundary on what they'll stand, right?
"Oh, Turv! I wouldn't let you leave alone again, not after the last time I trusted you for that. I'll take you there, I just need to hide the trap slide again."
"Th-thanks, Xiva. I owe you a lot."
"Don't mention it. You just need someone to look up to."
After we were done eating and drinking breakfast, we went outside. Xiva covered up the slide Canderack and I went down to find her in the first place, making sure it was nice and stiff. Usually the only Pokemon that could find her were big and heavy ones, since it only opened up when my dad fell down it last time.
I started to walk. Xiva could just float. Lucky... I want to float, too. I wonder if she gets tired of floating all the time, like I do when I walk? We didn't really talk much. I had a lot of time to think. I really could only think about Canderack right now...
What WAS he? He didn't look like any other Pokemon I've seen before. He was a bug-type, though. He sorta looked like a Caterpie or Weedle, except he sorta had a red outside shell and his soft part was black, and he had legs and horns and a tail and little claws... It was really weird, not to be mean!
I liked things I didn't really know about. I liked to study stuff, especially stuff we don't know about. I could be famous someday for solving some kind of really old puzzle, or find some really old treasure from some kind of map nobody but I could read! My dad thought otherwise, though... He wanted me to be an explorer and I had to be strong. What good is an explorer without places to explore? Someone had to figure out the really tough to figure out stuff!
Anyway... Where was Canderack from, anyway? Were there other Pokemon there? Were there more of his kind? What if he's actually a mythical pokemon nobody's heard of before? What if he's one from where he's from! Oh boy, this was getting me excited!
What if he didn't really have a name, and Canderack was just his species? If that was true, how many Canderacks were there? Were they all outlaw-types like him? Did they have dungeons where he was from? This is all new to me, I'm getting so giddy about it! In fact, I got so excited over my thoughts that Xiva and I made our way into Treasure Town and I barely even noticed.
"We're here!", Xiva announced to me, snapping me back to our world.
"Oh! Sorry. I was just thinking about things.", I said.
I never really got used to this place, it was much warmer than I was used to. Don't get me wrong, I liked to be warm. To tell you the truth, Ice-types tend to have a sorta thing where they think they're tough to stay out in colder places. We can really stand it and live in it and run around and play like it was a normal day, but it never really beat being in a warmer place. Not a desert, that's too hot, but someplace that wasn't as cold.
We went into the main marketplace where everyone was. Business actually seemed okay, people weren't in a panic. Misters Kecleon were selling their goods, Grandma Kangaskhan was running the storage just fine, Electivire was getting little business as usual other than to remember moves, his only free service... That whole thing.
One thing that got my attention was some gossip from a Murkrow, talking to her Shuppet partner.
"Hey, did you hear? The Venom Bandit snuck out of the Guild's prison overnight!"
Canderack got IMPRISONED?
... He SNUCK OUT!
I quickly went over to them, I needed to get the whole scoop.
"The Venom Bandit got captured?", I asked.
"Mhm. He did. Siev brought him in last morning. He suffocated him into unconciousness.", Shuppet answered.
"But that's not all! He snuck out from the Guild's watch overnight, and even then they have people awake and alert at the time!", Murkrow added.
Xiva put a hand to her chin, thinking.
"I've been to the guild before. They rely on ladders to get around, don't they?", she asked.
"Yep! Shuppet and I are explorers, we should know! We don't need to use them, since we can fly and float!", Murkrow replied.
"How could the Venom Bandit escape from there? He'd have to go up ladders, and from what I've seen of him, he has no arms and his legs aren't fit to go up the ladders!", I said.
Murkrow flapped her wings, excitedly.
"That's the thing everyone's talking about! He was tied up, too! He couldn't budge at all! Just disappeared!"
"Disappeared...? He wasn't an explorer by any chance, was he?", Xiva asked.
"No way. Never seen him in the guild before, never even seen what he looked like until he was captured. I went to look myself. He was... not around here, I could tell." Shuppet answered.
How could he just up and escape? Did he have even more mysterious powers than I thought? What if he could just teleport? That'd prove he might've been a mythical pokemon...!
"Team Syndicate can't help with the issue, they don't even know. They're off hunting a mystery thief that's been identified as a Gardevoir. No signs of her since this one Gallade went out and never came back. Crafty one, I bet.", Shuppet continued.
"Oh, my. That must be quite the issue!", Xiva said.
"A mystery thief is more important than the Venom Bandit?", I asked.
"No, no! The Venom Bandit is more important! They just thought he'd be bagged for good while they were out! They just don't know this has happened yet!", Murkrow nearly shouted.
"Well... Um. Thanks for the info, I guess." I... awkwardly said, trying to end our exchange.
"Yeah. See you.", Shuppet said.
Xiva and I walked away, before Murkrow and Shuppet started bickering about the Lost Loot and the Secret Slab.
We asked around town to see if anyone saw Canderack (while referring to him as the 'Venom Bandit', just in case people might've gotten suspicious or something), but nothing turned up. He just vanished into thin air... From where we spent the night, and from a prison!
I didn't know what to really do... Wait! What if someone in town knew a lot about Pokemon myths and legends? Maybe I could get some info about Canderack that way! Once again, I asked around. I was pointed to the hot springs by everyone I asked, and I was to refer to Torkoal, the town's elder. Xiva agreed to come with me when I asked her to, and we got some directions to the spring, and we were off.
Maybe this would shed a little light on what happened with him, and just exactly who... or WHAT, he was.
"You worry a lot about a criminal, Turv.", Xiva commented, as we walked.
"He saved me from my dad! If you'd seen what was happening, you'd think he wasn't as bad as anyone else, too!", I returned.
"Sure, sure. Let's go with that."
"Plus, nobody has even seen what he is before, anyway! What if he's some sort of mythical pokemon, or one that comes from another world, or he's some kind of ancient Pokemon that only recently came up? This is big!"
"... You actually have a point there, Turv."
"And that's why we're going to see Torkoal! He might know something about all this that nobody else does!"
After that talk was over, we were pretty quiet on our way to the hot springs. I had a lot of things racing through my head at the time, I lost track of time until we got there.
The springs were really warm and steamy. Pokemon were resting in it, especially the ones that did a lot of fighting or work, moving stuff around and all that. I saw Torkoal on a dry spot across from it, and I circled around to see him. Xiva just floated across the water as if it were solid ground... I wanted to float! That's no fair!
I got over to Torkoal.
"Excuse me, um... You're Torkoal, Treasure Town's elder, right?", I asked, a little nervous.
I didn't want to offend him...
He looked up to me. He seemed tired, but maybe that was just because he was old?
"Oh, hello there, youngster. Yes, I'm the elder. Do you need something?", he asked me.
He spoke a little slowly, but I think that was just his age showing. I was patient about it, though.
"You know a lot about old myths and legends, right? About Pokemon that're only rumored to exist?", I asked.
"Why yes, I do... I haven't gotten a chance to tell a story to someone young like you in a long time. I know plenty about the old Pokemon. My memory just isn't what it used to be, though...", he responded.
"Do you know anything about a Pokemon with a big red shell, soft and black underside, horns, and yellow eyes? A bug type, that walked on four legs?", I asked, a little excited.
He looked up towards the sky.
"Hmm... Give me a moment, I need to jog my memory."
I looked over at Xiva. She was floating there, silently. Did she really talk to other Pokemon much? Did she even like to?
"Oh... I'm sorry, young one. I don't recall anything about something like that. Are you sure you were told the right things about it?", he asked.
"I know exactly what I'm talking about, but... You don't know. Sorry to have taken your time, Mister Torkoal.", I apologized.
He smiled a bit.
"It's alright. I like that you came to try and learn something from someone old like me. It makes me happy that there are young Pokemon today who like to know about history.", he chimed.
I must've made his day. That felt a little bit good to me... He probably isn't visited much. I ought to go learn more from him when we found Canderack, and all this outlaw business was over.
I bowed.
"You're welcome. My friend and I should be going, then. We don't mean to take up your time.", I said.
"No, no... You're welcome to come back any time. Enjoy the water if you feel tense. You'll feel better.", he returned.
"I'll keep that in mind."
I gestured to Xiva that we were leaving. She hadn't said a word. She just... listened. When we were out of earshot, she started to talk to me.
"We haven't really found out much about where he is. Let's go back home and get some rest, I'll ask my mom if she knows anything about this. You've done a good job, even if it didn't get much."
Well, that was nice of her to say so. But it didn't mean much to me, Canderack was still out there, and he might be out robbing Pokemon...
"Okay. Let's go."
It took us a while to get back, but we got back to Xiva's under-the-snow home. She went through another cloth door leading to some other tunnels, telling me to stay behind and not follow. I listened to her, and... All I can do now is just sit here, and wait.
... And have a little bit of her tea.
Her tea was pretty good, I tell you.
I'm still teased by how little I know about how Canderack got here, and what exactly his coming here means. You don't learn a lesson overnight, I guess...
It'll just take time.