Chapter 35

Meri watched the micro-expressions bolt around and momentarily mold Dewott's face. The one that kept popping up the most was annoyance in his internal struggle to remain cool in the face of his trainer's stupidity and rash thinking. She could feel her face burning underneath her fur, an odd feeling considering her fur was already making her want to sweat, but apparently she was incapable of that as a Pokémon. She'd be panting soon, but that would only add on to the embarrassment. "Uh, sorry?" she mentally shrugged as she turned her head away so she couldn't see her Pokémon's face.

A short sigh of resignation escaped Dewott's mouth. "Well, we better get started."

"What?" Meri, still caught in her own web of embarrassment, barely registered the sentence.

"You know, looking for the berry you didn't get before you decided to lock us in here?" Dewott raised his eyebrow at her.

Meri caught it out of the corner of her eye, but it was enough make her giggle a little at seeing an otter raise its eyebrow, she didn't even care that he rolled his eyes in indifference. He was still going to be kind of snooty even after their talk, she realized, but it would be a kind she wouldn't want to be any other way. "Yeah, let's go do that," she was back to looking at him, adding "As long as I don't have to jump through glass again."

"I got it," Dewott said before jumping onto the window sill and pulling the glass to the side.

Now just the screen was in the way, but that would be an easy fix. "Alright, just let me-" But it was too late, Dewott had used Razor Shell to cut open a nice big hole in the screen.

"What were you going to say?" Dewott looked at her expectantly.

God, I hope I don't have to pay for that at this place, Meri thought to herself then shook her head. "Never mind, let's go."

Dewott went outside first, calling back, "Clear!" as Meri perched herself onto the window sill and looked down. For some reason, it didn't look quite as far down as the first time, even though she knew it was. Maybe her Zorua body had grown, something she couldn't say about her human body, she bitched at how far behind she was Serenity in that department. "You coming or what?"

"Probably not for a few more days," Meri quipped back as she actually jumped to the ground this time instead of plopping like she had back in Rustboro. She shook out her paws, just to make sure she'd done it right this time. Everything felt good, so she gave the okay to go. "Let's see, where do we start…"

"How many stores did you go to?" Dewott asked, testing his trainer's thoroughness in her original search for the berry.

"One," Meri stated, but continued before Dewott could interject. "But it doesn't really matter, apparently they aren't legal anymore. Sometime in the past ten years or whatever is when it happened, I think."

Dewott's ears pinned themselves back a little in annoyance. "This just got a lot more difficult. Guess we'll have to go by our noses. Whenever we smell something like it, we'll have to follow our noses to it and hope it's what we need."

Well, looks like we'll probably be spending another night or two here, Meri though to herself. They couldn't take too long to find a Nomel berry or else the Nurse Joy or Chansey would surely start to wonder why they had checked into the room and never come out. If they went to check on them, they would stumble across a pile of clothes, abandoned Pokémon, a half eaten berry, and a broken window. The conclusion that would bring to mind brought her shivers. "Let's do this, fast."

After what had happened on her first time out as a Pokémon alone in a city, Meri suggested they take alleys and areas people were generally less likely to travel or had lots of cover. Dewott actually complimented her for thinking of it. To their surprise, luck had found them rather quickly. First Meri's nose got a whiff of something rather sour, yet fruity, then as they matched the direction more closely, Dewott also picked up on it. The trail of slight burn in their nostrils led them to a baking shop several blocks past the grocery store where Meri had bought the first berry. They stared into the window. Let's see if we can get into through the back," Meri said.

There was a door there that had a sticker on in with red letters saying something she couldn't read. That was another thing that sucked about being in this state: written no longer made sense to her brain."Can you open it?"

"I can try," Dewott quickly jumped up to reach the door handle, but it only turned about an inch before it stopped. "It won't go any further."

Meri shook her head, frustrated. "I guess it's locked. We can't walk in there without someone trying to capture us or trying to shoo us out and we can't brute force our way into the place without attracting a ton of attention."

"There might be some over there," suggested Dewott with a pointed finger.

In the matter of maybe a second, Meri went through the rollercoaster of emotions that include a glimmer of hope, disgust, and disappointment. "That's a dumpster, Dewott."

"It won't be for long, and it might be the only way to get you back to your human form for a long ways," her Pokémon's reasoning was spot-on.

But that didn't change the fact that with the dumpster being her mind's focus, its smell began invading her nostrils. She felt herself shriveling away, wanting to curl into the fetal position. It smelled bad when she was a human, but trash just smelled like something worse than death now. "Fine, but if I pass out, you have to pull me out."

All Dewott did was look at her. "Sure." He jumped on top of the side which already had a panel lifted. "Come on, I'm not doing everything for you."

Meri nodded, knowing her fate sealed. She bunched her muscles, then launched herself up next to where Dewott was. Only she misjudged the jump a little, as Meri felt her back legs smack against the side of the big green bin and then tumble over the top of the rest of her body, which was already on its way down into the deep darkness below. The only good part about her landing was that it was semi-soft. But she landed almost right on top of her head before the rest of her fell into the waste. There was something wet and gooey coating her right ear and multiple other things with a variety of other shapes and textures on other parts of her. A little whimper began escaping her and then little sobbing breaths-

A blue paw clamped itself around Meri's mouth causing her to shake her head in protest and confusion. "Be quiet or someone is going to come out here." Meri fought a little more before she could let herself be more still and subdued. "Ready to start looking?" Meri nodded, so Dewott released. "Good. I think it might be over here." Dewott looked towards a spot covered by the other panel.

"Really?" Meri was surprised he could tell where it was through the putridity in the air. In her excitement though, she turned her head, leading to her other ear getting coated in some other mystery substance. It took a second to keep her repulsion from escaping once again and picking herself up to follow Dewott.

"Just dig right next to me and we should be able to find it," Dewott informed his trainer before going to work.

A little more hesitation ran through her, but Meri forced herself to start, not saying anything. This nose had its advantages and disadvantages. Right now, it was completely the latter. Maybe I just need some time to get used to having it. But I guess the point of all of this is so I don't get used to it. The garbage flew under her occasionally grazing her belly. She tried not to take much notice of the things she was digging through but couldn't help but note some of the things people had thrown away: Half-eaten cakes, a broken umbrella, and... "Wait! I think I found it!" It smelled really familiar, really similar to the Nomel berries she'd last eaten months ago. The scent brought a brief flashback of what had happened when Meri had taken a bite into the fruit. It wouldn't be fun, but it would mean they could join back up with Serenity and Hunter that much sooner.

A few more things out of the way and out it came, but it wasn't exactly what Meri had expected. The smell of the fruit she was so desperately looking for was coming out of a plastic bottle with an open cap and a small amount of liquid inside. Meri could feel Dewott observing her and the bottle in anticipation. "Can you pour it into my mouth?" She was not looking forward to this, the nausea made her legs wobble, but it had to be done.

Dewott picked it up as she opened her mouth. There were just a few drops in there but small amounts had caused her to react to Rawst berries back in Rustboro, so it should be enough. But when it hit her tongue, Meri had to resist recoiling because of how strong the flavor was. Even then though, something didn't seem right. The flavor was off somehow. It was too sweet and had tinges of other things that let her now she'd just swallowed something made out of a berry other than Nomel, and out of the trash, at that.

Wordlessly, Meri backed herself up and jumped onto the edge of the dumpster, landing cleanly this time. "What's wrong?" asked Dewott, easily able to tell that something was really bothering her.

"Whatever the hell that was, it was not what we're looking for," Meri jumped down from the ledge and onto the ground, thankful to be walking on concrete rather than who knows what. Dewott was behind her shortly and the two Pokémon continued on, making their way through the alleys and sometimes darting across actual streets to cover more ground. They always had to be careful to make sure they were out of view when they ran out in the open. Maybe people saw them from buildings, or cars, but no one on foot or bike saw them.

Every now and then they would see some Pokémon running around or sleeping. Lots of Rattatta, a Houndour, and many Pidgey, as well. None of them really bothered to interact with them, except for some snickers at them every now then, either because of how out of place they looked, but a glare from Dewott quickly shut their jaws.

Finally stepping away from the main part of the city was a relief for Meri and Dewott had less bristles emanating from the air around him. The occasional Pokémon they came across in these more residential, upscale areas were well-kempt and instead of looking at the duo in disrespect, it was confusion and mild curiosity. Easily less threatening and annoying than before.

"Holy shit, is it so too much to ask that an illegal substance just falls into my lap?" Meri bemoaned their current state of being covered in the scent of garbage and her paws getting soar to Dewott.

As he was in the lead, Meri didn't see it when her Pokémon rolled his eyes at her statement. "Maybe you could have told Serenity and Hunter what you were planning on doing."

"Fuck that," she responded quickly, but not so sharply as she may have a few earlier today when the two were still at odds with each other.

"Well, there's you're an-" Dewott got interrupted as Meri ran right past him without a loo. "Hey, what are you-"

"I found it!" She totally ran over his words once again. "I fucking found it!"

It took the otter a second before realizing as he took off after her reckless gallop. "What? The berries? Are you sure?"

Nodding awkwardly, Meri kept running, turning around a corner into an alley, and then turning again into an even bigger one. "We're close!"

As soon as she said those words, her starter's nose picked up on it as well and it was gaining in strength quickly. "Wherever they are, there are quite a few of them!" Meri suddenly skidded to a halt and took a few steps back, nearly causing Dewott to collide with her. "Hey, watch it!"

Barely acknowledging what he'd said, Meri pointed with her paw and where she was looking at a small house, slightly deteriorated, but it wasn't rotting itself apart. Lining the back fence, there were a few berries of varying kind, some Meri recognized whereas others were unfamiliar, but the only one she recognized as the steroid she so desperately needed was hanging in bunches off of a couple small trees against the house.

Meri briefly looked around. "Let's go," trying to put a clamp on her excitement that her ordeal would be over with their discovery, then jumped on to the old wooden fence chest first, then pulling herself up so she could sit on it, trying not to teeter back and forth too much.

A moment after, Dewott joined her. "Alright, let's get them and get back to the Pokémon center. Remember not to eat it here or you're going to be walking around the city naked." There was just a bit of a grin mixed with the relief in his voice.

"I know, I know! Just grab as many as you can." Meri spoke, just a little indignant. The two of them hopped down and lightly walked over to their target, glancing every now and then around them to make sure no one was about to bust them, but luck was on their side and they made it to the plants of hanging benevolence without any issues. No traps, nobody saw them, nothing. Taking care to avoid sinking her teeth into one of the nomel berries, Meri instead grabbed a branch and pulled it down to where Dewott could easily grab them. He grabbed five of them.

"That's all I can carry," he informed his trainer. "This should be more than enough, anyways."

Meri let go of the branch, landing on her back feet. "Hey, look, I'm human again!" she joked, just barely managing to maintain the upright posture.

A small chuckle escaped from her partner. "Come one, let's get you back to being one for real."

"Agreed!" Meri briefly joined him until she realized she was bending backwards and losing her balance. "Whoa!" she hit the ground cheek first and scrambled up in a panic, only to hear a clang and shortly afterwards the sound of water pouring out of a container of some kind at the same time she felt her front right paw whack against something hard. She picked herself up a little more calmly.

Dewott's face was contorted into exasperation and a little bit of fear. "You are so lucky no one is around to hear that. Let's go right now." The two of them began walking towards the fence.

Keeping her gaze forward away from Dewott and ears pinned back, they walked side-by-side until she and her Pokémon heard the sound of a something sliding open. They froze, unsure what to do until they turned their heads toward where the noise came from.

The woman standing there had hair tied back into a low bun, mostly grey with the last bits of red hair fading out. It took a moment, but somewhat hunched woman's eyes finally settled upon their forms in silence. "What adorable little creatures have wandered into my backyard," she finally said, smiling at them.

Looks like we got luck! Meri was about to turn around and walked towards the fence when she noticed the woman digging into her pocket. The object shone in the sun. Blue with two red stripes on top and a white bottom half white on the bottom. "Uh oh."

"I cherish my nomel trees was the last of what the woman would say before dropping the ball on the ground and an explosion of light came from the great ball. What emerged from the reformation of light was an otherworldly creature Meri did not recognize, only knowing that it was some sort of grass-type Pokémon, one probably a lot stronger than her if it's size and enormous mouth were anything to go by. It looked like an enormous Venus fly-trap capable of movement…

…and attack as Meri quickly found out when it slung a vine at her. She just barely got out of the way jumping to the opposite side of Dewott, who she realized had already used Aqua Jet to fire himself over the fence. "Shit shit shit! I'm a trainer, not a Pokémon!" She spun around and jumped all in one motion, barely getting the front of her body on the fence and attempted to scramble her way back over with her hind legs, but she was having trouble finding a grip. Her eyes widened almost painfully when she felt a vine wrap around her legs. Dear God, not like this!

Then teeth sank into her neck and she went limp followed falling to the ground with a thump and roll. "Sorry, forgot you aren't used to this sort of thing, but we've gotta go," Dewott looked at her sympathetically.

But Meri could barely hear him over the pounding of blood through her ears, let alone process the words. As it was, her body seemed to be sloppily moving on its own to try to get out of there. "Uh, yeah, doing that."

They weren't fast enough, as the large plant-thing chasing them had managed to pull itself over the fence. "Those belong to my master." It's voice was somewhere between a breath and growl, utterly emotionless. It sent a chill down Meri's spine, she could feel the hair's rising along it.

"What are you doing? Move!" the words came after Dewott had crashed into Meri. Another vine had been coming directly for her, but she had frozen. "We can fight it off, trust me."

Her eyes were looking right into his. There was determination and she could see he wasn't just trying to cover up his own fear. They separated. "Okay, let's do it." There was still fear running through her veins, but it wasn't so severe as to keep her legs locked, so when two vines now shot at both of them, Dewott didn't have to dodge for both of them.

Dewott went right up to the Pokémon and slammed one of his shells on its head as he flew in the air above it, something he'd had success with time and again, yet it hardly took any notice of him as he landed a few feet behind it. Instead, its focus remained on Meri, likely realizing she was the weak link of the pair as it threw another vine her way.

"Just like Sneasel!" Dewott shouted at Meri out of nowhere.

What is he talking about? As the vine wrapped around her body, squeezing the air out of her lungs, being raised off the ground and as she neared the thing's mouth, it suddenly clicked in her mind and Meri let her body fall entirely limp. When that happened, it stilled itself, letting its hot breath out on to her face and into her ears. It was surprisingly easy for her to ignore the tickling of the moisture in her large ears, but it paid off when the plant monster finally let down its guard, turning to Dewott. Meri exploded out of its loosened grip, whipping around and driving her back paws powerfully into the left eye, actually earning a shriek of pain. "Fury Cutter!" Meri ordered as she fell to the ground with and oomph.

"Right!" He responded quickly by going for the vines the Pokémon used to walk around. It was already rearing back in pain, so when hit them, it was perfect.

Meri was right where its head would be falling, but she moved out of the way. She ran over to it and began scratching it as much as she could in her best impression of a Fury Swipes, remembering that that was one of the moves a Zorua could use. Whoa, we're actually doing i- Meri's train of thought was cut short when she was slapped harshly by something in her peripherals she hadn't seen in time. "Ack!" The wind rushed from her lungs with the initial hit before her head started swimming from the rolling that came afterwards in addition to a couple places that felt like tiny, barely stinging cuts from the cement.

A terrifying hiss came from the side, a loud thump, and then hard breathing. Meri picked herself up slowly, Dewott practically appearing right by her. "Are you okay?" He was inspecting her all over, eyes and nose alike.

"I think so," Meri nodded with a deep breath when she looked over at the Pokémon, definitely defeated. A number of scents were coming off of Dewott in waves, but she couldn't pinpoint which were which without being able to see and hear his reaction. "Wait, more importantly, where are the berries?"

Dewott quickly eyed her for her apparent priorities before getting back to her. "They're fine," he bounded over to a trash can where they had gone unnoticed by Meri during the course of the battle. "A little bruised, but they should work."

When he held them up for her to see, Meri shook herself off. "Cool, let's go home." 'Home' wasn't really the word she was looking for, but at this point anywhere she could relax after this long day would be home enough for her.

It was early evening when they got back the room, exhausted both mentally and physically, with Meri easily feeling it more than Dewott, but the day wasn't quite over for her yet. "I can do this, yep, no problem."

The first bite felt as though it was burning with how sour it was, barely any trace of flavor beyond that, but she forced it down her throat and then went for another bite. Maybe it would go faster if she ate more. Only the mouthful of mashed berry fell out of her jaws instead of going down her throat when she could feel the burning and stretching pains that inevitably accompanied this process. Agonizing summed it up perfectly.

"Dewott?" a furry paw sat on her once again human shoulder as she lay there, curled in fading pain and regaining calmness.

"Yeah. Glad I didn't pass out," she joked and then rolled onto her back, forcing Dewott to take a step or back. With just fleeting glances, mostly keeping her eyes closed, Meri rubbed her skin, cherishing its return, starting at her shoulders and down her arms, her tummy, from her thin thighs all the way to her ankles, where she held herself for a while. Then she reached her arms out and pulled Dewott into a hug. "Thank you," was all she said. It wasn't just for accompanying her today or being able to come to a resolution, but after being in a real battle for the first time, Meri had a brand new appreciation for what her Pokémon did for her.

"Dew," was the simple reply he gave her. It would be disappointing that the words would only communicate one way now, but it wasn't anything new. For a long time the two just held each other, eyes shut, more together than they'd been in so long.

"We smell terrible…"