Pokemon: The Unknown Continuum
Chapter 12: When Push Comes To Shove
A couple of days have passed since the failed venture at Star Cave and Dusknoir's arrival, and I hadn't really been able to get a word by myself with him. For someone who wasn't in their twenties or thirties, or the general age group where fans tend to swoon over them, he had a very large and concentrated following in Treasure Town, especially now that he was staying there for a while.. All in all, I just didn't think he could possibly have any answers, considering even Uxie himself didn't, so it's nothing I could get worked up over. The usual morning cheers went off once again, and the only difference was that Wigglytuff didn't go straight to his quarters.
"Wigglytuff, you got your equipment ready? And please don't fall asleep this time!" Chatot said, sounding like a nagging mother.
"Yes!" Wigglytuff said after a long delay. "I'll keep you safe!" I couldn't help but notice that Wigglytuff's fur seemed a bit paler compared to the wigglytuffs I saw on TV and I couldn't help but think It was a sign of ageing, not that it seemed to slow him down or anything. There was even someone who completed a marathon in the late nineties, thinking about a documentary I one time watched a few years back. I casually glanced at the newly put in mirror in the guild as I waited for Serge, and I didn't like what I saw at all. Aside from the obvious parts about being a Snivy, I too didn't look young for some reason – not old, but I certainly didn't look like a young adult. My face looked marked in ways that only instinct could tell me it was a sign of age – was my lifespan really short, and that I might have been about forty or fifty in snivy years? I had no idea, and it unnerved me a fair bit.
"You look troubled Floyd." Serge said from behind, ready to head out.
"Yeah man...I look old, and while I knew it from what your parents were talking about, I never really had the chance to take it in." I said back to him, gently touching the 'age marks' on my face, even though they looked completely different to human age lines, and it was probably just me, but it almost seemed like I was growing my beard back slightly – at least that was one of my human features shining through.
"I'm guessing that you're far overdue for an evolution. I'm quite overdue myself – I didn't feel too comfortable about evolving into a quilava when I was becoming a teenager, and it never really crossed my mind until when I visited my parents just after the expedition. I'd go for one now, and visit one of the luminous springs for the ritual if they were still working. It worries me, actually, since if I don't evolve, I could die of old age before I reach forty." He said looking concerned in a way that annoyed me somehow.
"Thanks for the reassurance..." I replied bitterly at him, but it wasn't his fault per se. If Serge was overdue for one, then I was badly overdue one, but it wasn't like I could do anything about it. Arceus must have been drunk to think the ritual sites was a good idea – he definitely got it better in the human universe. We left right after Wigglytuff and Chatot did, and I assumed they were doing their own exploration together, since they have been keeping very well on top of administrative duties and paper work according to the very nosy Sunflora.
"Let's head into town before we go – maybe this time I can get Dusknoir while he's alone for a bit." I said walking straight there not really giving Serge the choice as he followed behind me, having to jog to keep up with my fast walking pace. It was yet another sunny day which gave me a bit of a photosynthesised spring in my step, and for what I saw up ahead, I had a reason to have a spring in my step. Dusknoir was actually alone, aside from talking to the Kecleon brothers, but approaching them, I realised something important. I never directly thought about the exact things I'd ask him at all! I still didn't feel comfortable about revealing what I was originally, so I planned on asking him things in roundabout ways. I walked up fairly quietly behind Dusknoir, inhaled, and cleared my throat, not feeling overly nervous.
"Excuse me Dusknoir, do you have a minute? It's not for autographs or anything." I said with purpose and without any form of a nervous waver. Dusknoir and the Kecleon brothers stopped talking for a moment and Dusknoir turned round to look at me – he almost resembled some sort of large genie, having his arms folded as he looked down at me with his single eye.
"I'm not in a hurry – I often do my explorations and other work a bit later on in the day anyway. I think I remember you from Wigglytuff's exploration guild. Something you wish to ask me?" He said in a deep and commanding voice, and yet, he didn't seem intimidating as in spite of his rather unsettling image, he did come across as being genuinely friendly.
"Yeah, I was wondering if you've ever heard of the legendary human race before. Some theories around here based on some art works done by smeargles over a hundred years ago among other forms of evidence would suggest that they elevated some of the pokemon here to civilized ways. Just wondering what you thought of all that." I asked and Dusknoir responded fairly quickly as if he knew a fair bit about these rumours and tales.
"Oh I'm pretty sure it happened. Some people would say that since there are no humans around nowadays to our knowledge, the likelihood of them even existing is almost zero, but the evidence for their existence is surely overwhelming. Perhaps they came from another plane of existence, which is a popular theory where I come from – the lands of the North – of which I've lived pretty much all of my life. Surely we owe our thanks to the three humans, which is what they called themselves, to lift us into civilized ways." Dusknoir said, seeming happy that someone brought it up. He, like Chatot, seemed genuinely interested in finding out about the three humans that came here long ago.
"Seems likely to me as well. We can't know there's more to to existence that what we can currently experience, but isn't that really the whole point of being in explorations? I'd say we're only at the frontier, or the birth of civilization. I wonder what their world is like?" Dusknoir chuckled slightly, seeming to be as cheerful as he was friendly.
"Now that would be the pinnacle of exploration – going to a completely new other world." He said, and he seemed like he was actually enjoying our conversation when a mood killer came along at a really annoying time in the form of Marill and Azurill. They were nice enough and all, but I wasn't really in the mood to hear about their disposition this time, since they looked like they were in another one.
"It's you two!" Marill said as she ran up to us, gasping for breath, clearly not being that adept at running with Azurill struggling to keep up even more. "Really, really sorry for this, but you two seemed like the best two people we could turn to for this incident here." Serge then suddenly spoke, who was just keeping quiet and listening to myself and Dusknoir talk earlier on.
"Oh, what is it?" He said with concern. I just lazily turned my head around to look at them – this had better be important! They both looked healthy, but remembering that their mother was ill before, I was thinking it might have gotten to a dangerous stage. It had better be that, or else...
"We found where my little brother's water float is – that's the good news. The bad news is that it's in the Amp Plains, which I would probably not survive trying to get it. I really hate to ask you guys, but...you think you could get it back for us?" Marill asked us, looking very guilty, and it was clear that do-gooder Serge looked like he might actually accept the heavy request! There comes a line where I'm not willing to help, so before he could speak, I yanked him by the arm.
"Ahem...a moment, please, so we can discuss this." I said, getting behind him and outright pushing him away from the others until we were out of earshot of them. They were still in eyesight just at the corner of the building – this worked out nicely for me.
"Floyd, is there any reason why we can't be more open with our discussions? Is something different this time?" Serge said, frowning ever so slightly, which did not put me off my mini-rant that I was about to unleash on him.
"Our discussions about whether we're going to help them or not is none of their business. What matters is the final decision and I'm not going to beat about the bush about this – I don't want to help them. Simple as that." I said folding my arms, looking sternly at Serge who didn't look like he liked my decision.
"Floyd, come on, they need our help!" Serge gasped slightly and continued. "You going to just turn them down and walk off?!" He said, his voice sounding tighter with annoyance.
"Damn right I will! Convince me why I shouldn't! Considering they'll just say 'thank you' and walk off, after we risk our fucking lives to find some piece of shit water float that sounds like it could be bought from a cheap-arse discount shop!?" I almost shouted back, forcing myself not to speak too loudly in case they overheard me. "...But I will be a good person here – I will let them explain why we – and not anyone else – should get some lost possession that doesn't sound like it's worth much. I mean, it's in an area that sounds like it has death written all over it! Electrocution is almost a certainty by the sound of 'Amp Plains!'" Serge inhaled in front of me, containing his frustration – at least he seemed to agree with my other proposal.
"...Fine, if you want to look like a complete mercenary. You're forgetting that it's vital for an azurill to grow correctly." Serge said, grumbling and walking back towards where Marill was waiting. If it truly was vital for an azurill's growth, then I guess it's understandable.
"Hey, everyone pays when they ask for help in the form of guild notices – why should they get away scot-free with everything? Besides, what did they do to get their water float there anyway? They should really just pay the price for their stupidity!" I explained as Serge didn't pay attention to me and merely nudged me to explain to Marill our offer.
"Ahem...well, you see, asking for our help twice without payment is one thing, and we fail to see much value on potentially risking our lives by going to this very dangerous sounding place without payment like everyone else does. Not to mention that it was surely – no offence – pretty damn stupid to go to some dodgy place like that with something that's valuable to you." Funnily enough, Serge seemed more annoyed than Marill when I said this, since Serge was concerned about our reputation, but Marill almost looked like he was sort of agreeing with my comments when she replied.
"Well, I can fill you in on some details if it puts things into perspective...my family's in a huge amount of debt, so trying to commission a new one is out of the question as they're quite expensive and very difficult to make, and none of our family have the skills in order to make one...if only my dad were still alive...anyway, that and the fact that it's vital for Azurill's growth makes it of extreme importance that we get one. As for why we know it's in Amp Plains...we should have told you this off the bat, but it was stolen, and yet, the thieves left a note telling us where they left it. I can't imagine what their motivation is aside from tormenting us for the fun of it! Take a look yourself." He said and handed me a fairly small piece of parchment. It was written in a highly untidy scrawl, as if they were in a real rush to write it down, and it read as thus:
"Yeah, it was we who stole your precious float! Don't want Azurill to grow up lame with sagged skin over his limbs? You know well that it'll make it almost impossible for him to walk! It's in Amp Plains – go find it if it's that important to you, or go see those Team Conviction cunts for all I care – Serge would help anyone, haha! Don't be surprised if Floyd calls upon your debts though!" Well, two striking things about this, I noticed. One, they mentioned Serge and I and two, they never said who 'they' were. I was thinking it was perhaps the Drowzee bastard that we caught about a month back, but surely he'd still be in jail, and there was no notices of him breaking out in the criminal watch list. As a blind guess, I'd be saying it was Team Skull, and mentioned us for their seeming vendetta against us. I looked round at Serge slowly and handed it to him. Now I had more of a reason to go – putting those scumbags in their place.
"Serge, go read that, and you'll see why I might change my mind about not helping them." I said and gazed just above Marill's head as I waited for Serge to read it.
"How does this give you much encouragement?" Serge asked me, and I shook my head. I was hoping Serge would have caught on by now.
"Serge, my friend, it gives us a chance to foil Team Skull – if it is them, and if we see them back here at some point, we can rub it in their faces. Or better yet, if we see them at Amp Plains, we can beat the living shit out of them for what they were doing to us – and the guild for that matter!" I said, smiling slightly. "We'll just be giving them what they deserve, we don't need to break any bones here, and then we can get them arrested!"
"So much for being shy towards violence..." Serge said, shaking his head slightly. "Besides, it's part of the guild code to not be unnecessarily excessively violent towards wanted criminals. Did you not read it?"
"Don't persuade me to change my mind – now, we might as well get this over and done with, right?" I folded my arms as a sign of 'take it or leave it', to which Serge grumbled at.
"You're in this for the wrong reasons..." Serge said, and bought a few supplies for the journey from the two kecleons, as we signalled a goodbye to Marill and Dusknoir who looked like he was about to leave and do whatever he was going to do as well. I heard the two of them banter with each other before we found out where the Amp Plains even were, as we looked across our map.
"That's actually fairly close by." Serge said. "Won't even take an hour to get there. Oh, and promise me you won't give them too much injury if you possibly can?"
"I shall...injure them enough so they can't recover in time from their pains to fight against us when we drag them back to Treasure Town for them to be dealt with by the authorities. Good enough for you?"
"...Fine then, let's just hurry up and get this water float found then." Serge said as he decided to lead the way to our destination. It was pretty windy today, which made me feel a little conscious about my lack of weight, since I had to fight against it more than Serge. I was pretty light for my size, but I guess that was just to do with how snivys are. We never talked much again on this journey, only giving the occasional glance at each other. The clouds became more thick overhead as we seemed to get close, for we saw a sign that was placed, and it looked like it was barely standing. It read to us:
"The open fields ahead of you are known as The Amp Plains. The savages here are far more aggressive than you would expect, and is considered by the exploration committee to be a high risk area. Only continue down this path if you absolutely have to. We accept no responsibility of death. Even some of the rocks on these fields seem to have electrical charges, so keep an eye out for any electrical activity. Do report any interesting finds to The Wigglytuff Guild – rewards included."
"...Fucking typical. Ah, we managed to beat up Groudon...kind of, we'll be just fine. I hope." I said, looking ahead. To be honest, it didn't really look too bad, but I knew it was natures way of deceiving us, and once again, I never had a genuine fear for my life. Moderate injuries maybe, but dying this young was once again unfathomable to me. Still, upon going in, I realised I would get the occasional electric shock as some asshole pikachu attacked me on sight, but was quickly dispatched by Serge, who said something that made us both feel incredibly stupid.
"Ok...so we know it's around these parts...but it could be anywhere. This isn't exactly just a little field, and...they forgot to tell us what it actually looks like. Great." He said, looking a bit disheartened at figuring this out.
"I knew we shouldn't have-" My rant got cut immediately short as I was suddenly hit hard from the side by something that felt slightly heavier than me. I, for some reason felt strange aching burns on me as I was knocked back a fair distance and sent sprawling across the ground, with different sorts of pains jabbing angrily at me over different parts of my body. The surprise of it really made me short of breath, but all was to be ok, aside from the injury of course, as Serge swiftly dealt with the luxio that attacked me.
"Gah...oh, fuck, that hurts!" I said, slowly pushing myself off the ground and onto my feet, shaking slightly, feeling weakened by the hard attack. "I'm...hopefully going to be ok, although I think now'd be a good time to be paranoid." I was constantly looking around as myself and Serge went on, never looking in the same place for more than a second. These acts paid off as some elekid got cocky and tried to attack from behind, only to receive a slice from my sharpened tail leaf, which sent him fleeing and screaming in pain.
"You'd better run!" I yelled, as Serge sadly shook his head, to which I responded. "Sorry, but if it feels good to dispense some Dialga approved justice, then I'm going to do it with pride!"
"Oh, shut up about him already!" Serge said, somewhat snapping at me. "Dialga this, Dialga that, you're putting a real heavy importance on someone who you've never seen or contacted before!" I had honestly no response to this, and it was unintentionally a cruel reminder that spreading the word of his righteousness was pretty much impossible here. The whole wandering around looking for this water float was both dull and nerve wracking – everywhere looked the same here, and ambushes could happen at any time. I really did wish these savage pokemon weren't so damn territorial, but eventually, our luck really did kick in, for our seemingly mindless wandering around made us stumble across a mound in the plains in which we stood upon and looking down the other side.
We saw something fairly small and blue glint on a small area where the grasses had seemingly been cut short. The fairly large bluish band was seemingly purposefully put upon a boulder in roughly the middle of the clearing. This certainly checked of the first half of our mission, but what stopped it from being ideal was a pack of electrike, with two of its evolved forms which, as I expected, seemed to act as its leaders. They seemed to act very much like wolves, one of the 'regular animals' which miraculously avoided extinction on Earth in some parts of Canada, and are heavily conserved for not only conservation for the sake of it, but zoologists were very interested in learning about more predictable creatures and their differences from the pokemon who had ousted many of the animals to extinction via natural selection. Nature was a cruel mistress, as was the situation I was in. They didn't look like they were going to move any time soon as a third manectric dragged a carcass of only god knows what into the little clearing for the pack to feast on. I was no expert myself, but looking at some of the grasses around this area, I could tell they had very well claimed it as their territory.
"Doesn't look like they're going to move anytime soon..." I whispered so quietly, I had to go quite literally up to Serge's ear, which I assumed was at the side of his head, since they weren't exactly visible, probably underneath his fur.
"Looks like it, and I don't really want to leave without it...not coming here for nothing." He whispered back to me as we looked at them eat fairly quickly. "If we're going to get it, we might have to sneak our way to it. You might not be spotted if you go out from the long grass at that point there." He said, pointing to an area which put the water float right between the carcass, that thankfully wasn't too stench yet as it was still being munched upon, and the patch that Serge suggested.
"What do you mean, 'you' anyway? You're not suggesting I'm going alone, because that'd just be taking the piss." I said, but he looked real serious this time, and with those dangerous pokemon nearby, it was I, this time, who wasn't wanting to argue.
"I'll be in view, I'll put both my arms in the air if something's going wrong, ok?" Serge told me. I didn't like this, but like Serge, I didn't want this to be a wasted venture either. We had gone this far, and I'd feel like shit if I returned empty handed, even if it was only a thank you. I'd be lying to myself if I didn't like praise and people thanking me, so it wasn't all for nothing.
"...Alright, but if I get spotted..." I said and forced horrific images of me being ripped apart by tooth and claw by them out of my head to maintain all cool and not make myself turn to jelly at the wrong moment. I kept a good distance away from the clearing, going through the grasses with care as to not make too much noise that might make someone suspicious. I poked my head through the grasses and luckily found myself where Serge told me to be, and got down on all fours and crept forward. The concentration I put in was straining and I found it very hard not to panic as by body wobbled slightly. I peered down at every little stone, making sure not to knock any of them, thinking even that could give me way.
Breathing deeply was even harder to avoid and managing the fear here was even tougher than staying as hidden as possible, only glancing up at Serge for split seconds at the time, who was signalling that it was ok. However, as noiseless as I was and as low as I kept, both Serge and I overlooked something fatal – we took their sight and hearing into consideration, but not their smell. About five of them turned to look right me after briefly smelling the air, and within about half a second, I could tell they wanted me dead, but whether it was for food or for merely defending their territory, I couldn't care less. Even more than going against the groudon mirage for some reason, that I felt like I might die. The groudon incident felt obviously dangerous, but in a sort of unearthly way, that didn't seem fully tangible, but this threat felt very, very real, and hearing of humans becoming victim to these pokemon weren't unheard of.
There was no point in hiding now, and my maintenance of calm and focus had been very quickly swiped away as I rather skilfully grabbed the float with my vines as half of them started sprinting at me, clearly not seeming too exhausted from their little hunting trip. Fighting here against all of them? I wasn't that stupid! I turned my tail and couldn't help but let out a scream as I fled for my life, as I'd stand no chance against that many, even with Serge by my side.
"Oh, god! Serge!" I said, yelling for help, but Serge merely seemed to stall, and images of him leaving me for dead as he sneaked away slipped into my mind. We got along well, sure, but there was a crunch time here as the environment itself seemed to slow down with every organ in my body firing on all cylinders as my eyes watered, blurring my vision. Serge got me into this. Serge...that bastard – it's his fault!
Those dark thoughts however were extremely short lived as it seemed like Serge was actually waiting for me, as he didn't seem to start running away until I had almost caught up. Among all the fear making me tremble as I sprinted and my eyes felt like they were going to explode in a shower of blood, and I could barely being able to see where I was going. We quickly glanced at each other as we charged through the thick grasses, staving off their unrelenting pursuit. I could hear them run behind us, making sounds that would resemble a muffled faulty machine gun among ominous growls and barks.
We had honestly had no idea where we were fleeing too, as we ignored the rotten-looking trees that had now become somewhat commonplace in this area of the plains. Slowing down? Not until my body would literally give way! Whether that'd matter or not was under threat as I heard one of them suddenly having a burst of speed, and in desperation, I swiped my tail and used razor leaf without even looking, stalling it, but causing me to stumble due to the awkward balance shift I had to do. I stopped myself from falling completely by planting my right hand on the ground to push off, when I felt something peculiar. The grass here felt quite dry for whatever reason, but I hadn't time to think about it. Even through I was still fleeing for my life, the cogs inside my brain were ticking, and they continued to do so as I looked at the trees ahead through a blurred veil of sweat and tears – If I were quick and strong enough...
"Serge, run just in front of me, I might be able to get them off us!" I yelled as he trusted me without question as we ran within very close proximity from each other as I gasped and breathed on Serge's neck as I looked firmly at a certain branch as if it were some sort of saviour. My jelly-like legs could be released and my vines could do the work as I sped up slightly and grabbed Serge from behind and shot both of my shoulder vines right at the branch, intending to grapple onto them and then pulled with every muscle fibre, with all the force with all my physical and mental strength could muster. If I could get us both up on there, we could be safe, since I doubt they could climb.
I even felt myself leave the ground as I pulled myself up, pouring all the desperate, hidden strength I had into my vines, but, tragically, not even that was enough. I shrieked in pain as I felt like my shoulders could split apart. I had no idea how strong they were, and it turned out that they were strong enough to lift me alone, but not both of us as I swore I felt muscles rip inside my own body, bring stiffness and searing pain to my upper body muscles. I dropped Serge immediately, as a result and immediately retracted them in, which caused the pain to surge up even more. Pain, at this time, was a mere distraction in the face of immanent death, it wasn't going to obstruct my running, at least mentally. However, all this dry grass and fallen branches had me think of another idea, and this time, my eyes were looking at Serge, who looked like he was starting to struggle to run as he fell behind me slightly.
"Serge, this stuff is so dry it could easily catch fire! Burn it, it'll scare them off!" I said in between chocked gasps, every world labouring my heavy, fast breathing, but Serge did something I thought was disgraceful and offensively selfless that for a moment, made me hate the guy.
"But we'll destroy those nests up there! See those taillows up there? What if they can't fly? We'd be killing them if the trees themselves catch fire!" Normally, I'd have the same objections as my religious values have taught me that ending a human's or pokemon's life is totally unacceptable and borderline irredeemable, but in this moment of peril, such teachings were put aside by my reptilian part of the brain who cared only for survival at all costs.
"DO IT YOU CUNT!" I screamed at him at the top of my lungs, shrieking like a crazed banshee. He was falling behind anyway, and he looked up at me with a look of disbelief of how I got so pissed off at him for a brief second, filling me with a sense that I had crossed the line with him. Yet, he spun around and blew flames behind him, torching the electrikes that were the closest to us and the dried grass and dead branches started catching fire very quickly. From the other side of the spreading fire, the pack was rather cut off, and I began to wonder if they'd bother to continue hunting us down – we wouldn't exactly be much of a meal to them anyway, so it'd make sense, at least with normal biology logic. The taillows in the treetops shrieked in fear as the fire did indeed start to climb the tree, but were fortunately saved by their parent swellows from each and every family of them around these parts by gripping them gently in their talons. I just about fell over at that point in relief and exhaustion and leaned against a small boulder on the ground – there were sure an odd amount of them here.
"We're alive...oh, and hey, I'm still holding this." I said, raising the water float in my hand. "And to think we'll receive nothing more than a mere thank you for it..."
"Well that's all fine and dandy, Floyd, but that was one of the most awful decisions I had to make there in my entire life, and you thrust it upon me! I could have been a killer! I could have been kicked out of the guild!" Serge said, sounding very whiny to me.
"You ungrateful bastard! Nobody or nothing died there, and the only...uh...collateral damage, so to speak, that we caused is wrecking the homes of a few savages! We are not going anywhere this dangerous again unless they pay us royally! I had to say what had to be done right there, since there was no time for me to explain that, even if the taillows couldn't fly, their parents would have saved them! I've seen it happening before! Seems like you don't trust me at all now!" I said, snapping at him, getting right in the snotty guy's face. Serge's attitude was almost unbearable right now, and in spite of the reassurances we made with each other at Fogbound Lake, it seemed to crumble away even worse than before.
"...Look, I won't lie to you, Serge – I really don't like your attitude – at all. In fact, I despise it, but again, you did save our lives, but just credit me on the fact I made you do it, alright?" I went on for a bit, while Serge merely scowled at me. I knew things would all turn out fine, since looking back, there was no real threat of death if he scorched that dead forest. My decision was the one that meant that everyone could live, as much as Serge didn't realise it. I watched the fire burn the dead clump of trees who looked like they were honestly about to fall down anyway regardless of the flames, when he heard very familiar growling to the right – a small pack of the hunters had simply decided to go around the inferno to kill us!
"Oh, fuck!" I yelled, and I was about to run, but as soon as I saw electrical discharge come off what seemed to be the leader manectric, an explosion seemed to suddenly happen right in front of them, but it didn't seem to be of flames, and it was very dark in colour for whatever reason, and boy it was powerful! I felt the gusts of wind from it nail me in the face, obscuring my vision, and then, our saviour reviled himself.
"...Dusknoir, what timing!" I said, outright jumping for joy and relief as the pack got up and ran from us, and I looked round at him again, folding his arms with a very business-like manner.
"I heard you were coming here without knowing the dangers of this time of year at The Amp Plains. There should be more notices that many packs of these pokemon are at their most territorial before the mating season. They'll give great chase towards pretty much every living thing that isn't part of their pack. Many people have been killed by them at this time of year, so it was fortunate I could get here in time." Dusknoir said to us, and both Serge and I were in agreement. We were both extremely grateful for Dusknoir pretty much saving us from being ravaged to death.
"Keep in mind, it's also a good thing Marill told me – still, it's not a total loss, considering you did recover the water float successfully." After giving many gracious thank yous, we started heading back to Treasure Town alongside Dusknoir. He was actually very interesting to listen to with his own tales of his exploring, as Serge was asking many questions about him and where he'd all been. I could tell that Serge really wanted to tell of our grandest triumph at discovering the truth behind Fogbound lake, but given the promise we made, I was hoping he'd keep that to help keep my respect for him.
"Apparently you two have had a great run of successes for such a new exploration duo. I've heard from some of the townsfolk about your team's strange and miraculous intuition for problem solving out on the field. How did you know where that drowzee criminal was with no information on his whereabouts, or any other details on that matter, or how there was a cave behind that waterfall in which you just took a leap of faith and dived through it, risking moderate injury in the process?" He said, seeming quite interested in how I done it. I knew how I could do it...sort of, it also made me think about something. All the visions I got so far...they were all damn useful, and I had got no visions so far of something of trivial importance, which only led me to even more damn questions about what happened to me.
"Well there is actually a good reason why we seem to be improbably good at problem solv-" He was cut off by yours truly by a sharp kick to the leg, since it was obvious he was about to spill the beans.
"Ow!" Serge said to me in a tone that was now full blown annoyed. "Watch it!"
"I don't like it when people break their word to me..." I said in a very low voice so Dusknoir wouldn't hear. "You said you weren't going to tell anyone – you disappoint me." I said before turning away from him. The brief look on Serge's face only told me that he had just about had enough of me, but if I were to keep this exploration thing we had, he'd need to go my way to an extent. Dusknoir looked a little confused at all this, or at least it's how he seemed, it was very hard to read his expressions having a very odd form for a pokemon.
"...Anyway, did you ever catch those responsible for this? Marill said that you expected that it was all a ploy by Team Skull – nasty group, they are." Dusknoir said to us, slowing down slightly as we could see Treasure Town in view now that we were out of ambush range.
"Haven't seen 'em in a couple of weeks for better or worse. I would really like a shot about teaching them a lesson and then bringing them all into custody, but if someone else does it, I wouldn't be complaining either. They're criminals, and should receive punishment and justice for what they done, after all, it's this sort of thing that separates us from the savages, and is the foundation of civilization, no?" I said, looking up at a now very pleased looking Dusknoir.
"Great, great attitude!" He said to me, sounding very uplifted by my little speech. "Someone who knows the grounding bricks of a society! Dialga has smiled upon us!" It was how casually he spat out the word 'Dialga' that made it an even more shocking, yet joyous discovery about him. It was almost like he was another attendee of The Dialgan Church, in which the way he approved of my views on the importance of a strong justice system in any society, and the fact that someone else has heard of Dialga...this conversation was getting shifted right to that immediately!
"You've heard of Dialga?! Oh...oh man this is great! Finally, someone else who knows about the righteous words of his! Barely anyone here's even heard of him, let alone his guidance, how'd you find out about him?" I asked, and he chuckled slightly.
"I would be asking you the same question, but it's not of terrible importance, now is it?" He paused for a second, gazing upwards and turned to me again and said. "Perhaps we should become more acquainted. Meeting another follower of Dialga's word would be most interesting for me in these parts, considering this place seems to be devoid of any faith structures, where the people here seem to have their own theories that no one else seems to believe in. We, above the others, know the truth." He said to me as I began to like this guy more and more, as his link to a part of my life was supplemented by the aged friendliness and highly formal tone, who in the oddest way reminded me of my father.
"Why of course, I'd love to!" I said and pointed towards the sun which was starting to approach the horizon of which the calm sea rested past the beach where I wound up in this world.
"Well, I do have things I...no, actually I don't." Dusknoir said, looking like he stumbled a bit on his own thoughts. "Yes, I already done that, say, are you in a hurry to get anywhere?"
"Not for a couple of hours, but I might as well return the water float to Marill first, why are you asking?" I said looking at the water float, then back at up him.
"Just for some casual conversation really. As much as I am enthusiastic about being an explorer, there are other aspects in life that interest me, and in Treasure Town, it seems to just be a sort of base for exploration services, so as you could imagine, that's all people want to talk to me about." Dusknoir said.
"I get that too, actually." I said back to him as Serge remained very quiet, not joining in at all. "Want to meet in the Spinda Coffee Shop in ten minutes or so?"
"Somewhere a bit more isolated would be better, I'll get bombarded with 'how do you do it?' questions, I need to warm up for dealing with them tomorrow." He said and laughed heartily. "How about the beach? Your friend can come if he likes." I honestly expected Serge to instantly decline, but for some reason, he said right there and then that he was coming. Perhaps he was curious about the faith that me and Dusknoir shared, but I wasn't hear to question it. It didn't take us long at all for us to find Marill as he was seen running up to us as we began to walk into town.
"You're safe! Oh what Dusknoir said at what goes on in the Amp Plains at this time of year, I was actually worried sick that I had sent you into somewhere life-threatening!" He said, squeaking ever so slightly as he spoke in a great hurry to us.
"You did send us somewhere life-threatening Marill." I replied and folded my arms. "Still, you didn't know, so I guess I can't really put much blame on you."
"And, as a bonus, we did find and recover your water float!" Serge said and handed it to him fairly slowly, as if presenting it at the same time, of which he took with extreme gratitude, almost bouncing on the spot with happiness.
"Oh, this is a relief that you couldn't possibly understand! Azurill can grow up safely now, thanks to you! My mother and I are going to start teaching him to swim first thing tomorrow...uh...sorry that I have nothing in return..." He said, switching his glee to a look of deep shame.
"That's ok, considering it was that important to Azurill." Serge said, clearly not minding as much as me, but even myself, it all turned out ok for us all.
"Look, I promise I'll make it up to you one day – really, I do!" He said and ran off before I could say anything back to him.
"Well...that wraps that up! All that's left is Team Skull." I said in a cheery voice before shifting to a lower tone. "We can leave dealing with those bastards for another time I guess, although they're going to get in real shit once I find them." I said to Serge, giving him a look to let him know that he had better help me, which again, Serge did not like.
"Is revenge really the best thing to do Floyd?" He said, frowning and tilting his head to the side. I inhaled and raised my nose in the air slightly and looked down at him.
"Can you not line up the pieces? It all adds up to one thing – this was all a ploy for Team Skull to have us killed, Serge, killed!" I said in a commanding voice, not really caring if people overheard us or not.
"We can't even be sure if it was them! And I really don't want to follow you in your vengeance quest, I'm sorry." He said shaking his head and holding his ground firmly.
"Catching criminals are included in the guild duties, are they not? Besides, if they're not stopped, they'll just pull this same stunt again!" I said before tailing off on my rant. "Ah, stuff it, we can discuss this later! I'm off to see Dusknoir, coming?" Serge nodded and followed me round to the beach where Dusknoir was already there. It was deserted apart from him, which was honestly a little surprising. The early sunset made this entire area look very picturesque, with the sunbeams bouncing off the gentle sea waves, giving a calming atmosphere that didn't dazzle us remotely.
"Ah, there you are, Snivy, Cyndaquil." He said, and it was then I realised I somehow missed telling him our names, but Serge for whatever reason, jumped the gun even faster than I did.
"Oh, us two like to be called by our birth names, I know it's not very common around here – you may call me Serge." He said and shook Dusknoir's hand, while Dusknoir ended up shaking his entire arm. "I wanted to know something, actually, and it's not about exploring." He said, and Dusknoir looked a little surprised at this, yet pleased at the same time. "You're also a 'Dialgan' much like my exploration partner, and his explanation of what a Dialgan was. It's all very confusing for me, so think you could explain it to me? I'm curious."
"Well, Dialgans are followers and worshippers of the deity of time himself, Dialga, and not only does he govern time and ensure it's stability, he also gave us good rules on which to live by to help become a better person, that promotes a stable community. The rules are unflinching and rigid, so it gives you a very good sense of right and wrong. It would take a while to explain them, but some of the moral values we have is that lying is an absolute crime, and should not be done under any circumstance, not even white lying,. The murder of any pokemon is also completely prohibited, and that wrongdoing must somehow be punished, but only as long as the punishment is not worse than the wrongdoing, for example, imprisoning someone for a year for only stealing a hundred poke is definitely out of order. A hundred thousand stolen and then a years sentence would become fair. Overall, we value fair treatment over treatment that makes people happy – once we have a firm justice system in society, then we can focus on bringing happiness." Dusknoir said to Serge with evident pride. It was amazing – the teachings of Dialga have truly reached this world somehow! But as to how, I had no idea. Perhaps Dialga himself made a prophet of one of these civilized pokemon to spread the word of the lands of the south where Dusknoir came from – it seemed like the most likely option.
"One thing I don't understand, as interesting as this is...how do you know Dialga even exists anyway? I mean, you've never met or seen him before." Serge said, and Dusknoir responded in the same I'd respond, if Serge didn't ask me the same question when I was in a flustered mood.
"Through the ancient texts of the book the first prophet wrote, and the others that followed afterwards." Dusknoir replied. "In hindsight, I should have brought my copy of The Righteous Tome with me so I could show you personally, but there's not much I can do about that now unfortunately." Serge still looked very sceptical of all this, and it was obvious to both Dusknoir and myself, that, sadly, he wasn't going to take any of it in, which really didn't come as a surprise to me at all.
"I dunno Dusknoir, I just can't see myself committing to it unfortunately." Serge said, which I couldn't help but feel was a white lie to avoid sounding like he was snubbing our beliefs. Indeed, reading Serge's true feelings was becoming easier now, whereas when we first me, it was all but impossible, especially with the species difference in us.
"That's a bit of a shame really, you're missing out on teachings to attain higher moral standards and understanding, but I don't think I can do anything more to convince you that our way is the best path to self-improvement." I honestly agreed with Dusknoir. I had been called arrogant for was saying this sort of thing to other people, and yet, they could be right in a way. I did honestly feel a slight sense of superiority because of my faith, but it never seemed to rub off too badly on people. A lot of Dialga's teachings were ultimately common sense really, so most people were decent enough.
"Anyway, I was wondering – where did you hear about Dialga? I couldn't help but notice that you seem to worship him in very similar ways compared to me. You snivys aren't native here, and..." What he was saying vastly unsettled me – another one trying to find out my background information?!
"The lands over there!" I pointed quickly across the sea as I interrupted him out of panic, and continued speaking in a very rushed tone. "There's a few of us who have heard – some of them were good friends of mine. Yep, that's where I heard!"
"...Really? There's been no information of any signs of the faith ever reaching those lands according to what I know, and believe me, I know a lot about the Dialgan faith." Dusknoir replied back to me, giving me an unsure look with his one eye, making me quite unsettled with it's strange gaze, but what made me really unsettled was that I panicked and lied to a fellow Dialgan. I just couldn't help it, but at the same time, I felt I could trust the guy – we did have a lot in common after all, and I could trust him to keep his word, so perhaps it was time...
"...Dusknoir...what I told you...was...ok, from what I'm about to tell you, you must promise to never tell anyone aside from Serge who already knows, understood?" I said, looking right at him to get every subtle movement down in my brain, to make sure his promise was genuine. I trusted the guy, obviously, but this was a guarded secret of mine.
"Certainly, I will not tell anyone at all about this, I can promise you that." He replied, nodded, and waited for me to continue.
"Ok, please don't believe me to be mentally insane or anything but...what I told you where I was and where I heard the faith...it was complete bullshit, I'm sorry I felt as though I had to lie to protect myself. As a Dialgan to another Dialgan, I owe you honesty...I've haven't even been a snivy for even two months yet. I...uh, oh god...I was a human for over twenty years of my life. My memory got skewered on how it happened, but the next moment I know after being drunk at a party, I ended up here in this world, in this body. I'd pay just about any price to get back home! Everything I do in this world is going towards that goal. I miss my friends and family, and I'm pretty damn sure they miss me as well, not to mention I miss the far superior human lifestyle, no offence meant about that guys. You think I wanted to be a explorer? It's all a ploy to try and see if my explorations could lead me to some answers, but sadly, I have had no luck with that whatsoever." I said, exhaling deeply due to letting some very private information leak to Dusknoir, but as I said this, I thought of something that could make me have a glimmer of hope. I had faith in Dusknoir that if he found any hint of the way home and the answers I'm looking for, he could tell me, that is, if he didn't think I was raving mad. He looked at me, but not with an expression of 'he's absolutely crazy', but with a sense of raw wonder, and seemed completely fascinated by all this.
"...Well...that does explain your odd curiosity about the legend of the human race when you first talked to me..." Dusknoir looked rather distant when he said this, evidently thinking hard about what I said. "This case is indeed extremely odd, but humans have been here before. Say, do you remember converting to Palkism before...well, it's a grim theory, but you may have died and impressed Palkia enough to let you live once again as the pokemon soul you had, but that's as close as I can get. I don't even believe souls exist, and the concept of humans having pokemon souls is preposterous!"
"Well I really hope that wasn't the case! No, I don't think I'd ever convert to that lie-ridden excuse for a religion, but even if I did, would I not come into this world as a newborn?" I responded.
"Ok, we can rule that out as a possibility." Dusknoir said, before I spontaneously launched another question at him.
"Say, you've also heard of the Palkian faith?" I suddenly asked.
"Unfortunately, it exists of where I come from as well. As with the Dialgan faith in the lands of the North, there are people in full time employment to try and uncover for certain how the news of the faiths ended up where I come from. I know for certain it was originally intended for humans due to the texts clearly depicting the prophets and the people mentioned in them having very similar descriptions to the people described in the righteous texts. The most popular theory is that humans visited this place long ago, leaving copies of the text in hoping the pokemon would eventually understand their meaning, but as you can imagine, that theory is full of holes. They're still struggling to find information to this very day." Dusknoir informed me, and, while making me curious I went back on topic.
"So, while I hate to ask this, is there anyway you think you can help me get home?" I asked, wanting to get straight to the point.
"...Quite unlikely, but I can keep a look out for anything that might resemble a lead for you if you'd like. It might help if you told me anything else that might have happened to you that was strange, it might be a clue, Snivy. Wait, I never got your name, many apologies, what is it?" Dusknoir said to me, in which I responded very quickly.
"It's Floyd, and please refer to me as that from now on. I know it wasn't intentional, bet being called 'Snivy' feels a bit degrading. Not only is it a sore reminder of what happened to me, but in human culture, we always refer to each other by our birth, parent-given names if possible." I said, chuckling slightly at the culture difference. Dusknoir seemed to, once again, be deep in thought.
"...Ok! Good, Floyd it is then!" He said, sounding a bit happier than usual for some strange reason. "Floyd, good to meet you!" He said, shaking my hand gently. "Is that how humans greet each other when they learn each other's names?"
"Haha, close enough. Oh, one more thing about me that's become strange. This is almost as big as me becoming a pokemon and going into a different dimension or whatever crazy stuff I've been through. A few times while I was here, I occasionally pass out, and, as bizarre as it sounds, I get some sort of vision of a future or past event. I take it that means nothing to you?" I said, sounding a little stupid when I said it. I was honestly completely amazed how Dusknoir was believing me, but the trust between two Dialgans who were friends with each other was very high usually, and this seemed to be showing in spades here.
"It does, actually. I even know what that ability is called – the dimensional scream, as named by someone I knew who had mastered it completely – he...was a very good friend of mine..." Dusknoir said to me, tailing off towards the end.
"'Was' a good friend?" I asked him, scratching my head, and looking round to see if Serge was still there. He was, and boy, he looked bored, the cheeky sod, as the dimming sunlight set in as the 'sun' was now touching the horizon. "What happened?"
"...He died." He said after a brief delay. "But I can tell you what he told me about the dimensional scream. As you know, it can give occasional insights into the past and future, and seems to occur when you touch something related to a strong doubt you have in your head. After knowing the master of the dimensional scream for some time, I noticed that when I was around him, he could often find lost items by touching a chest of draws to find something that he forgot to put in there that he had lost, and sure enough, he'd get a vision of where he last put it, and he'd find it with total ease. To start with, he said he could only do it when I was with him, and he came to the conclusion that it was far easier to get a vision when someone you trust greatly is in close proximity to you."
"Later on, his son picked up the ability to do so as well, but by this stage, the master didn't need me, as he had become so well practised, that he could send himself into a vision wherever he pleased, but he was getting very old by this point, and passed away a few months after he had claimed to become fully enlightened and able in the art of using the dimensional scream." He paused again, looking a little sad over discussing his deceased friend. "I should really be referring him as Drapion – he never liked me calling him 'Enlightened One' over an ability in which he said that he got by ways that not even he knew. He said he got it by luck, and, sadly, could never figure out where the ability came from. I also have no idea how one gets such an ability, but I can tell you, it annoyed all of the pokemon who are born with psychic powers since he achieved what they could not – total remote viewing. A xatu family were especially annoyed since as a side effect of mastering his ability, completely drove them out of their family fortune telling business. It's too bad he never figured out how he got it, or his son for that matter, or else it could be a very good clue on what happened to you. Aside from those two, you're the only one I know who has it. I hope this knowledge can help you in some way."
"I can at least thank you for telling me what you know. Say, perhaps we might be able to find someone who also has the dimensional scream – maybe they will know more about it's origins." I suggested to him, hoping he'd help me with it.
"That will be very difficult to do – a lot harder than finding a needle in a haystack for sure, and considering it will take ages to ask everyone. I'll keep an eye out regardless, because I can imagine it must be painful to be separated from the life you had before. Don't give up hope just yet." He said before letting out what I think was supposed to be a yawn, but coming from a pokemon like Dusknoir, it sounded extremely odd and grated.
"Well, I'm getting tired now. I'll be going to sleep soon, we'll see each other again soon, ok?" He asked. It was rather strange having someone who sounded like he was getting on a bit befriend me like this, but it was a friendship I valued highly.
"Sure thing. Keep an eye out for anything that might help me, since I still have hope within me." I said before waving goodbye to him, and then turned to Serge, who was merely staring at the sunset on a rock by himself.
"Oh, that you done now? We're probably late for the guild dinner, we should get back now." Serge said as he started walking back towards the guild. I really couldn't help but notice Serge had a rather large bone to pick with me, taking my absolute order to him very harshly, giving me the occasional unfriendly look at me. There was going to be a serious talk after dinner, I just knew it.
"You're late! Your meal was made and you weren't there!" Chatot said, ranting and complaining as we walked by him. "It's not thrown out, but it's cold! You look starved, go eat it now and get to bed!" Neither me or Serge paid him any attention as we ate without saying a word to each other. The cold dinner lost a lot of its flavour, but it was still fine to eat, as I saw Serge eat quickly in frustration and left to go to his room, in which I followed him in a few minutes later to find him sitting on his bed staring right at me.
"I can see you already guessed that we need to talk." He said, looking fairly intimidating now that he finally meant business. I sat down on my bed cross-legged and looked back at him, staring right into his eyes as he stared right into mine. Our firm and unwavering eye contact set the mood for the conversation that was about to follow.
"I learned quite a bit more about you today Floyd. I learned the nature of your dogmatic faith in the ideas of revenge, and the fact that you would have me risk someone else's life to save your own. I'm not happy about this, Floyd, not happy." He said, shifting position slightly before continuing. "Your trust in Dusknoir also seems really off-key for you, and I can't decide if something's changed, or your now starting to show your true colours."
"Serge...that incident where I ordered you to torch the dried trees saved our lives, and above all else, the taillow chicks were rescued. Nobody died, and can't you understand this from my perspective – no, wait, you don't have to, because we were in the exact same boat! I was completely shit scared for my life, can you really blame me for doing that?! Besides, it'd be down to shit parenting if the mummies and daddies didn't save them!" I said, raising my voice slightly, checking if the door behind us was closed, which, thankfully it was.
"Floyd, at the time, you wouldn't have even cared if they died or not, as long as it saved your own life; you didn't care if it would have turned me into a killer or not. I'm finding it very hard to even consider forgiving you for that, but I guess it really does reflect on who you always were – someone who's ultimately only out for themselves. I really should have paid attention to the signs before all this." Serge said, standing up, his chest going in and out due to the heavy breathing.
"Dammit Serge, I was concerned for your safety as well! You think I only care about myself? Wrong!" I said, also standing up, gritting my teeth as my rant continued. "My friends make my life worth living! I'm repulsed by the mere thought that you'd say that about me!"
"I'm really not sure whether I should believe that or not. Or at least, you only really care about them if they are part of your little belief group – would that explain you suddenly becoming good friends with Dusknoir, enough to tell him who you really are?!" Serge was getting impatient, but I felt more than just mere impatience building within me. I felt anger starting to make it's way across my body, pushing the blood faster, making the heart quicken, making my saliva taste like blood.
"My best friend – Omar – is an atheist! You're wrong! Wrong! And – this might be a revelation to you – but I wouldn't have him any other way! He's twice the friend you ever were!" The last comment made me feel odd saying. I didn't feel right comparing friends, but the building anger was starting to make me lose rationality quickly.
"So it's a human superiority thing then? It wouldn't surprise me that in your world that the pokemon are made to always play second fiddle to the humans! Why do you think I should even help you anymore, you selfish, arrogant-" It was here, where I could feel my body just about explode in rage as my teeth ground against each other without me even consciously doing it, and my fists clenched so hard that they made my palms hurt, and now, I blew my anger all over Serge.
"I SAVED YOUR FUCKING MISERABLE LIFE! If it were not me, there wouldn't even be a you! And then you consider me to a selfish asshole?! You're pathetic!" I screamed at him, roughing my vocal chords as I let my anger loose. "I was the one who got you this far! I was the one who got your cowardly ass to become an explorer! And in my life-saving decision, you condemn me for it?! Fuck you, Serge, fuck you!" Serge didn't respond for a good ten second, before responding in a far quieter tone than I yelled at.
"...I think it's time we called an end to Team Conviction." Serge said, in which I realised I done something unusual here – agree with him.
"Ah, good fucking riddance then – this team was useless to me anyway! I won't be seeing you again in a hurry! I can't believed you thought so little of me after everything I done for you..." I said, picking up my bag and storming out, hearing mutters of '...and that's why it's recommended to only sign up as guild members as a solo explorer' from Loudred's room. I had no time for this exploration shit anymore – it did nothing except almost get me killed!
I stormed into the guild library, my feet hitting hard of the ground with each step, the raw anger making me so desperate that I had a flashback to what Uxie said to me about Giratina being a way home. I was so furious, I did not care that my mind was considering to try to find the most evil entity to have ever existed to help me, because with the anger, also came a sense of urgency to get back home. Before, I felt like I obviously would like to return home as soon as possible, but it didn't come with a sense of urgency to do so, until now. I was raking through the library quickly, desperately trying to find information in the 'unconfirmed legends' section for those looking for things on places and pokemon that have not been confirmed to exist yet, of which I've seen Wigglytuff look through a few times while I was here. The largest, heaviest book was the one I took out and made a very quick look at the contents. Giratina was mentioned there, so this will do just fine as I climbed up the ladder, annoying Chatot.
"You can't take those books outside of the building, and it's late anyway – you can use it for some bed time reading if you must, and-" He said in his irritating squawking voice, in which I responded harshly to.
"FUCK OFF!" I screamed and walked briskly out of the guild with heavy footsteps, ignoring Chatot's promises of a grave punishment when I returned. I had no intentions of returning. Ever. This book pretty much offered me my only hope of getting home, but I felt it was time for a couple of drinks at the coffee shop.
"Two house specials. Now." I said to Spinda who gave me an odd look, considering I was often far more polite than this, but he got me them without a word as I paid for them and guzzled them both down in the space of a minute.
"Hoo-boy, that was fast, you in a hurry or something?" Heracross said to me from across the table, and I looked up at him fairly slowly.
"Yes." I said flatly and left the underground building without saying another word. I was pretty sure the drinks weren't alcoholic, as I really didn't think alcohol had really been 'discovered' here yet, but they did make me feel a bit odd from drinking them so fast. They did seem to calm me down a bit as I jogged over to the beach to read what the book had to say. It was almost dark, the sun almost completely vanishing below the horizon, setting a sombre glow on the beach. For the sake of memories, I sat by the rock pool where I first discovered I had become a pokemon and the horrors of what had happened to me had been realised, and now more than ever, loneliness really set in hard.
The nostalgia really started to set in now. The memories of playing with my band with Omar, attending my father's church services, living in comfort...even suffering the month during and after my parent's divorce really didn't seem so bad anymore, and neither was the pathetic scrutiny I got from the Arceus worshippers. I could have cried, watching the sadistic path laid in front of me to pretty much my last hope of returning to bliss and happiness. Would I really have to beg for help from Giratina? I had doubts whether it'd even be possible, and what would happen if I did? He would more likely torture me until I begged for death than help me – would it even be worth trying?!
I stood up for a moment and sank to my knees so slowly in despair, that it barely made an imprint in the sand. This cruel, cruel joke that whoever done this to me must have been revelling in fiendish glee! Either that or it was one of the worst and unusual accidents of nature that so happened to centre around me. The happy times of my life all came to memory, all of them taunting me as if to say 'look what you once had! You gonna risk it all to get them back?' Times of getting drunk at cheap nights in late-opening pubs, times of just relaxing in front of my computer, playing or reading anything I wanted to...I was in control, which was more than I could say about my time here now. I slumped down coming to the full realisation that I was just being pushed around hopelessly by the world as all my anger had dissolved into pure depression, making me feel like I had become almost twice as heavy as before as I lay down on the sand, weeping ever so slightly. There was no third option here – either face Giratina or stay here and be miserable and stay in this wretched world forever, and continue to be taunted by past memories.
"I'll see you all again!" I screamed at the sky, choking on my misery and desperation, tears starting to leak out of my eyes and onto my face. "I promise you, I fucking promise you all! We'll be a family again! The golden days – I'll revisit those precious golden days! I'm returning now! I've had enough, and I'm going beyond the ends of this very dimension to reach you! I'll desecrate my very being for you all! Such as the price I'll pay for you!" I coughed heavily, holding my head, thinking about what I was truly setting myself up for, and considered my options.
After some time I knew what had to be done.
