I open my eyes to a cave. Another near-death experience, they're almost normal now. Just another day, just another almost-death. I stand up – with some difficulty, I was just hit by arrows a little while ago, and my body is still sore – and look around again. I see Kirie staring at me from a few feet away.
"You lied, you're not resistant to poison, you're more susceptible to poison than most pokemon. Do you think it's okay to lie to us like that? Is that what a good rescue team member does?" Kirie says. Gosh, she seems angry.
"Be quiet... He did what he thought was right at the time, and he risked his own life for mine. Can't we just be happy that he's okay?" Feona, who just appeared in my vision, says. I blink a few times, hoping to see better. Near the entrance of the cave, I see an eevee and a growlithe. There's something on the eevee's forehead, but I can't quite make it out.
"So he awakens. The c-" the growlithe (who is obviously a male) says before being interrupted by a swift kick by the eevee (who seems to be female). The growlithe laughs. "So you knew what I was going to say-"
"Before you even said it. You're still too slow, Kalik, if you're hoping to embarrass me in front of our guest, you're going to need to be much faster than that" the eevee says. I squint, trying to figure out what's on her forehead. She moves a little closer, and I can see it. A circle branded onto her forehead with the number nine inside. Darn it! Was number nine a bad number? I can't remember! I don't think so, but she could be dangerous. I need to play this cool.
"This is my sister, Midnight," Kirie says. Midnight! Is this the Midnight who saved my life? Why does she have a number? Have I been being saved by a former prisoner?
"So did you save me again, Midnight?" I ask. She looks from Kalik to me.
"Oh... Um, well, I guess. You really should be more careful. I just don't want to see you die uh, y-you know?" Midnight speaks quickly. I wonder if this is awkward for her, it certainly sounds like it is.
"So you're the famed Midnight. Thanks for saving my life, what, four times now? And don't worry, I don't exactly like dying, I'm going to be more careful from now on," I say.
"So where's Avia? You tell me all these stories about Jiro and Avia, and then Avia isn't even here," Kalik says.
"We've got more important things to worry about than-" Kalik tries to hit Midnight, but she dodges out of the way. "Still too slow." Avia...
"Is it morning?" I ask.
"Yeah, the sun rose a bit ago, why?" Kalik says.
"Avia's waiting for me. I need to get back to the city, and fast," I say.
"In your condition the only place you'll be is this cave," Illias chimes in.
"I can relay a message to her, if you need someone to do it," Feona says.
"I can have you back to the guild tomorrow at the earliest, the day after at the latest," Midnight says.
"Alright, I'll go tell them. Where are they, Jiro?" Feona asks.
"There's a cottage at the edge of town. Some stuck-up sentret lives there," I say.
"Oh... her. Alright, I'll be back in a flash," Feona says before running out the cave.
"I'll just go with her," Kalik says.
"Do and I'll tell Crystal about your secret," Midnight says.
"What secret?" Kalik says.
"The dolls," Midnight says.
"You know, now that I think about it, I really should stay here," Kalik says.
"Good growlithe! Who's a good growlithe? You are, yes you are!" Midnight says.
"Hey, that's not nice," Kalik says.
"Did I ever claim to be nice? No, no I didn't," Midnight says.
"Well in those rehearsal letters to Jiro-"
"Don't talk about those!"
"Who's a bad little Midnight? You are, yes you are."
"Anyways, now that we're finally here, face to face, Jiro, do you have anything you want to ask me? I can only imagine that I've been pretty much a mystery to you until now," Midnight says.
"And you don't even know who I am because someone didn't deem that to be important enough to write in her letter to Jiro," Kalik adds.
"Yeah, um, who are you?" I ask. Kalik smiles.
"The name's Kalik. I'm part of Midnight's team. I'm our public relations specialist, seeing as how Crystal and Midnight are as good at conversation as a stone is," Kalik says.
"So what's with the interest in me, anyways?" I ask.
"You're going to save us all. You know, prophecy and what-not. But we've got to make sure you're able to face you destiny, and part of that means that you need to be alive," Kalik says. Oh, no big deal, you're just going to have to save us all. No pressure or anything.
"Prophecy?" I ask.
"You'd better ask Minna about that one," Kalik says.
"Oh yes, Minna. I've heard about her, but I haven't seen her yet," I say.
"I see... Listen to me, everything you've heard about Minna is a lie. There's nothing in the plans to tell you about her yet. If you've heard about her... Assume whoever told you is an enemy, it's the only safe bet," Midnight says.
"So your partner, is she nice?" Kalik asks.
"Yes, quite. Why do you ask?" I ask.
"Just curious. Want to see what kind of company you keep. And I've been told you hang out with a Kirlia, too?" Kalik says.
"You know, saving my life is nice and all, but have you been stalking me?" I ask.
"Better safe than sorry. But no, not everywhere. Just some places..." Midnight trails off.
"Well that's a little creepy," I say.
"You think that's creepy. You should check out her notebook. She took seven pages of notes on your personality alone," Kalik says.
"Shut up, it was only two and a half," Midnight says. Two and a half pages of notes about me? I'm not sure if I should be creeped out or flattered.
"Say, that brand on your head. You've been in Guatachi Prison, right?" I ask.
"Um... Well... Yeah... It's complicated. But I didn't kill anybody, I assure you! I wasn't a criminal at all. I just... Was part of a group of criminals..." Midnight says.
"With one through eight, right?" I say.
"Yeah, but let's not talk about that. They're nothing but old memories to me," Midnight says.