Episode 8: Fairies and Seasons

"Abominations?" Lute blinked at the two fairy types.

"Yes. The Pokémon call those abominations 'The Risen'," the Floette said. Her voice was serene and unexpectedly loud, but calm for a Pokémon of her size. "The Risen are monsters who have been showing up around this area recently. My field of Safeguard usually keeps them out, but those three slipped through. The Risen have been increasing in strength since their appearance, and have now reached the stage where I may no longer be able to keep them away."

"It's good thing they called us, then. Last thing we want are those… plants getting ruined," Sophitia said, looking away. "What is this place, anyway? It stands out so much."

"The arch? It is a relic of history. Part of this nature preserve. Me and my sister Florrie, the Flabébé here, serve as protectors of relics like these," Floette said. "Come, children. Let us reward you for your valiant efforts."

"I er, it was Sophitia that did everything, though. I was too weak to hurt them," Lute said, blushing.

"Nonsense. We watched your boundless bravery," Floette said, floating right in front of him. She seemed to hesitate, and then slipped forward and kissed him on the slips, to which he recoiled immediately and spat.

"Hey what gives?" he exaggerated. Sophitia and Florrie palmed their faces.

"Oh my. I would have thought that would be but a small act of appreciation for our saviours, but it appears to be your distaste," Floette said, rubbing her face.

"Your way of rewarding Pokémon is a kiss? That's gross!" Lute cried.

"Might've worked in the 90s," Sophitia shrugged.

"For crying out loud sis, they're clearly kids. They're not gonna appreciate somethin' like that," Florrie cried, shaking her flower. Her voice was just as strong as Floette's, but much younger and rougher.

"Then what could I repay them with, Florrie?"

"You don't need to pay 'em. They're kids, they don't know anything," she said, blowing raspberries.

"But they came to our aid when nobody else did. And the Sylveon has shown remarkable strength. There is no doubt about it, they are our heroes, the ones who responded to our awakening," Floette said, facing them.

"Us? Na-uh, I'm just a Sylveon with memory loss," Sophitia said.

"But we are training to be heroes with the Agents of King's Shield. Maybe this is like, the start of our adventure for real!" Lute said, bouncing.

"Our 'adventure'? I never heard anything about adventuring. Just about getting this done with so we can get back to school on time," she replied.

"Seriously, why're you so worried about school now?" Lute said, half-lidded. "C'mon, at least hear what they have to say. Maybe they know something about that really cool sword and shield attack you used."

"We know not of the unusual powers you used just now, I'm afraid," Floette said, and they frowned. "But your usage of those strange moves instils my certainty that you are the important Pokémon we are meant to meet."

"Geez sis, you're a fool's fool, you know that? Or fate's fool, anyway," Florrie said.

"We fairies are important to Planet Aseria. We only awaken when the planet is in danger, where it is our duty to pass on knowledge and guidance to heroes that can resolve the planet's crisis," Floette said, floating toward some markings on the old wall. It looked like groups of Pokémon worshipping the sun, though that sun was very rigid and octagonal. "Look closely. The Pokémon of Aseria worship the Shaymin, and through their blessings, the Shaymin control the weather around the planet."

"The weather? The Shaymin must've been some really cool and powerful Pokémon," Lute's eyes gleamed. Sophitia tilted her head, sceptical of the story.

"But we have been outside. Weather ceases to exist. The seasons do not cycle, and the weather is stale. If this continues, life on Planet Aseria will die."

"Doesn't that seem a bit much? I'm pretty sure we can live without wind or a cold winter," Sophitia said, half lidded.

"Many plants and even Pokémon rely on various weather conditions or the wind to sustain themselves. Pollination, necessary temperature conditions for living, and more. With the weather in this critical state, those Pokémon will surely suffer. Our task this time is to aid the hero in their restoration of the weather."

"Well I'm afraid we wouldn't know a thing about anything to do with that. How to restore the weather or anything, if it really is not working properly," Sophitia said.

"That… you must know. My call would not reach anyone but the hero, and you are the ones that came to our aid," Floette said, beginning to sweat.

"See? Told you you're fate's fool. Embarrassed yet?" Florrie said.

"I'm sorry. If I knew how to fix the weather, I'd definitely do it. Maybe your call got mixed up with the same frequency as the badge?" Lute said, revealing it. "Are you guys Agents of King's Shield, too?"

The two fairies exchanged glances, the Flabébé laughing out loud at her sister's face. Floette blushed, shutting her eyes. "I apologise greatly for you getting involved this way, but you are likely right. It appears my telepathy has gotten mixed up with your technology."

"Still though, as funny as this is, you kids put up a pretty good fight," Florrie said, swirling around them.

"Yes. The fact remains that you came to our aid and rescued us in a time of need. We are in your debt. We cannot pay you in currency, but if you should ever need us for a task, do not hesitate to ask. We owe you much," Floette said.

"Maybe you can help us find out about Sophitia's cool sword and shield attack?" Lute said excitedly.

"School, Lute. We gotta get back there," Sophitia said.

"We will search. Our role means we must stay within the vicinity of this area, but we will do our best to find out about your mysterious attack," Floette said.

"You will do your best to find out about their move. I ain't doing any charity work! Save your energy for the real hero, sis," Florrie said.

"… Yes, I will do my utmost to search," she said. "What are your names, young Pokémon?"

"I'm Lute, and she's Sophitia."

"We will remember them. Remember that we are here, and we can help you with what is within our power. Until then, we will remain here in waiting for the true hero," Floette said. She spun and vanished in a flash, her sister following a moment later. Their voices echoed afterward, implying they were still there but invisible. Lute waited until he was sure all was silent before turning to Sophitia.

"I guess they're gone. At least they may be able to help," he said. "Let's go! Silver's gonna be so proud of us."

Geez, you're a little pet, aren't ya?" Sophitia said, rolling her eyes and walking off. "I doubt they know anything about who I was. They're pretty weird Pokémon."

"It's worth a try, still. Anyone could know you," he said, following after her. "And all that stuff about a legendary hero… what if that's what you really are? That'd be amazing, Sophitia!"

"You're starting to really push the idea that I'm some super special Pokémon or something. I'm not some 'legendary hero' or anything, I'm just a Sylveon. Got that?"

"But… you couldn't be. I saw you walk across water. And you took on those Spirle guys like it was nothing, too. And now you beat those Risen with a cool attack! You can't not be a special Pokémon, Sophitia."

The Sylveon raised her head with an exaggerated groan. "Forget about me already! You've got bigger problems to deal with in your own life already."

"I… do?"

"Yes. You do. Like Infia."

"Infia? What about Infia?"

"She – uh, I can't tell you exactly. But let's just say it's more obvious than a doughnut in a pile of belue berries. But of all the Pokémon not to realise, you haven't. It's annoying to hear you fretting over me when you should be worrying about her."

"I erm, I feel bad because you're getting worked up, but I honestly have no idea what you're talking about," he said, starting to sweat. Sophitia went half lidded, and then rummaged through her bag, pulling out a long strip of thick paper.

"Look, Esther's show is this weekend, right? And you saw how excited she was when she found out we could go."

"She didn't get a ticket, though. And she wouldn't be able to go, anyway. Her mum is… oh, right. Where is she even living, now?" he replied, rubbing his chin.

"See the thing is, I don't really like this place. Too much loud noise and scary technology. I don't think I even wanna find out what a pop gig is like," she said, pushing the ticket towards Lute. "So you're gonna invite her to the show instead. And you two are gonna go."

Lute raised an eyebrow. "Is this why you wanted to go to school so badly? To see Infia and give her the ticket?"

"Gods, he figured THAT out but he can't figure out that she likes him super badly? For goodness sakes!" she cried in her head. "N-no. Not at all. I genuinely do not wanna go to this city for a pop gig. I can barely stand this place as it is."

"Why do I have to give it to her, though? And what does any of this have to do with a problem with my life?" he said, taking the ticket anyway.

Sophitia went half lidded again. "You know what? I'm just gonna go with: don't ask questions you know you're not gonna understand the answer to."

"Aww what? C'mon, just tell me."

"Na-uh. Just make sure you invite her on your terms. Even if she asks, it was you that decided to invite her instead, right?"

"That's lying, but—"

"It doesn't matter what it is! Just do it, okay?"

"Okay okay, geez. You're even more worked up over Infia. Why is she a 'problem', though?"

"You two?" Silver called out, making them both face forward. Just as they were leaving the nature reserve, the Goodra spotted them and rushed over. "What are you doing here? Don't the two of you have school?"

"We do, but you called us. Or well, the base did. Our badges went off, we followed the radar, and then used the Deposit Box to get here," Sophitia said.

Silver's mouth hung open, and she hesitated. "We didn't call you, though."

"Huh?" Lute replied, turning around. "But we got called to the nature reserve. There were unidentified Pokémon there, and the fairies called them Risen. We had a really hard time defeating them, but Sophitia managed to drive them away."

"I was in the base this whole morning. There have been no callouts to any agents. And even if there was a need, we would not call our newest recruits for a mission that dangerous," Silver become stern. "If you two are abusing your perks, your badges will be revoked immediately and you will be arrested. I hope you're aware of that."

"But we're—"

"Let it go, Lute," Sophitia said, pinching him with a feeler. "I'm sorry, Silver. But we're on our way back to school right now."

"Good. Don't let me see you skipping school like this again."

"It wasn't on purpose, though," Lute moaned.

"Your guess was probably right, though. The fairies and their telepathy got mixed up with the badges," Sophitia said, leading them off again.

"Still not fair we got told off for it, though," he grumbled.

Silver watched them disappear into the crowds of Densan City's main district, her face unchanging of the twisting concern their ramblings brought up. She had been on her way to the now empty nature reserve, but ran off back towards her nursery instead, pushing and shoving away all the smaller Pokémon in her way.

Once out of the noisy crowd, she went straight for the base, bursting into the main room with more goo dripping off her than usual. All eyes turned to her, even those working on the computers.

"Where is Lassic? Is he here?" she asked.

"What's the matter?" the Delphox replied, coming from underneath one of the desks. He had a few papers in his paws.

"Did you callout the new recruits? Lute and Sophitia. They were here in the nature reserve," she said.

"They were the children we had in here the other day, weren't they? No, I didn't. There was no reason to," he said, folding his arms.

"The nature reserve miraculously becoming vacant, alongside reports of Risen, then they showed up there, saying that someone called them there via telepathy, but the telepathy got confused with the frequency the badges use for communication. They knew about the Risen as well," Silver said, pacing.

"Wonderful. They learnt about the Risen even though we tried to hide them," Lassic replied. He snickered and scratched his chin. "It's just like I thought. Those two would be worth keeping an eye on."

"Anyone attached to Marina usually is. But I don't understand why any of this happened," Silver said.

"That's not important. We just need to continue observing them," Lassic nodded.

…

School wound up being as problematic as expected. Lute and Sophitia arrived in the middle of a lesson and couldn't give a reasonable excuse as to why they missed so much, of course. Questions were asked but the secret of them being part of the Agents of King's Shield was kept, and all soon settled into the shenanigans of an ordinary day.

At least until lunch time. Cinder and Raiju attempted to rush off as per usual to eat and chat at their usual favourite spot, but Lute had his little errand to do, and so waited. The other Pokémon left the room in their noisy and excited groups, and through it all he searched for Infia, hoping she'd stay back like she usually did. But to his dismay, even after everyone had left besides but Anbi and his group, Infia was nowhere to be found.

"So… why were we waitin' again?" Raiju asked, a goofy smile on his face.

"It's a secret. AKA none of your business," Sophitia said, brushing his nose with a feeler.

"I don't get it though. Where is Infia?" Lute asked with a worried look.

"So you are looking for her. Didn't you see her leave with the others? She's been acting really different since that happened," Cinder said.

"Different as in?" Lute said.

"Hanging out on the roof, super distracted in class, totally blanking when the other Pokémon tease her… I'm not sure whether I like it or not," he said.

"I really need to talk to her. G-guess I'll go find her," Lute replied, walking off.

"We'll wait here for ya then!" Sophitia said, a bright smile on her face, fangs and all. The others raised an eyebrow at her.

"Right. Okay, I won't be long, but feel free to start without me," Lute said, giggling. Sophitia waited until he was gone before lowering her feelers, giggling excitedly to herself.

"Looks like I get you from the get-go, huh?" Cinder said, facing her. "Please don't tell me you made him ask her out?"

"And what if I did?"

"Isn't that a good thing? It's kinda obvious it's hurtin' her," Raiju said.

"I guess it is a good thing, but it's also not right for us to intervene, you know? It's easy to do more damage than good," Cinder said. Sophitia blinked, her smile slowly vanishing.

"They'll be fine. Trust me, the timing's right," she said.

The roof was easy to get to by following the stairs at the end of the hallway. Here was a spacious area of dusty tiles surrounded on all sides by a very tall caging. Despite being a roof area, this area had a ceiling, keeping all of it in shadow.

You could see most of Everend and the surrounding fields from here, and that was exactly what Infia was looking at. She was at the far end of the area looking out at the town alone in silence. Lute couldn't help but go quiet when he noticed her, but took more notice of the fact that this area was cold and lacked any wind.

"Infia," he said when he was close to her.

"Lute?" she gasped. She didn't look as surprised as she sounded.

"You're here all alone. Is something wrong?" he said.

"No, not really. Just thinking a lot about all that stuff that's happened," she said, turning to the scenery. Lute joined her side, and the two sat down. "Hey, lute… can I ask you a question?"

"You don't even need to ask. Just say," he said, smiling.

"A-are you weirded out by me? I m-mean how I, um, you know, have to wear nappies and all," she said, trying not to make eye contact.

"Uh, I did think it was weird at first. But it's something you can't help, right? Not like it affects me," he said, smiling at her. There was a pause. "So I guess no, I'm not weirded out."

"You don't have to pretend to be nice about it or anything. It's fine if you think I'm nasty or gross or something. Everyone thinks I am."

"I'm not pretending. If anything, I'd say you worry too much about being polite. You're always saying sorry and stuff. Mum did a real good job teaching you," he said. Infia shrivelled up a bit, and as if realising what he'd just said after a second, Lute did the same. "Well, I mean, like, you're just a really nice person and I couldn't imagine willingly being mean to you. And you're definitely not gross."

"This is, um, just a 'what if' question, and nothing related to real life or anything happening, but… if I was to suddenly disappear one day, what would you do?"

Lute faced the scenery again, his smile fading. "I'd definitely be sad. One of my friends would've disappeared. We may not talk much, but I'd notice and stuff, you know?"

There was another pause, and she still wasn't looking at him. "You're not having to move house or something are you?"

"No. They let me keep Mum's- I mean Victoria's house. One of the agents is looking after me at home instead. It's a Fennekin called Phoenix. He's really quiet, so not much has changed there. He's not at home all that much too," she said, slowly facing the scenery as well.

"Oh. So you're by yourself a lot, huh?" he said. No response. "Well uh, I actually came here to ask you something, too."

"Hmm?"

Lute handed her the ticket. "Sophitia said she doesn't want to go to Esther's show this weekend, and I know how much you wanted to go and stuff, so I wondered if you wanted to come with me instead."

"Y-you're asking me? T-t-to go with you? On a—" she squeaked, going bright red. She froze there, taking in a sharp breath. "Wait, Sophitia or Raiju or someone didn't tell you to ask me, did they?"

"Huh? No, I knew you wanted to go too," he said, flinching and looking away. Infia turned right around to look if anyone else was there, gawking at the open space that watched them. "I-is everything alright? I-I don't mean to intrude if I'm doing anything—"

"N-no, I just- sorry about that. I'll have to ask Phoenix, but yes, I want to go with you, Lute. I'm actually really happy you asked me," she said, blushing. "I-I'll have to get a new dress. And find a way to cover up, um, you know what."

"New clothes? Why would you need new clothes?"

"I can't go on a da- erm, go to a special thing looking like this!"

"But you look fine. And, to be honest, I don't think you have to do anything to cover the nappy, either. Nobody at all could tell until you said," Lute said, snickering.

"This old thing?" Infia cried, brushing her tutu. "No way! You just don't understand clothes, Lute. You don't wear any."

"If you say so," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Even though you guys know about the nappy, I don't want anyone else finding out, you know? It's still embarrassing. You have to keep it a secret, please!"

"Of course! I get that at least."

"I just- argh, Lute, I," she said, starting to look restless. "I erm, I just, I, I—"

"Is everything okay? Calm down, I'm not going anywhere," he said, smiling cheekily. She held her breath for a second, staring at him. She couldn't help shiver still. "There's no need to be nervous. It's just us. Take your time."

"Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?" she shouted, covering her mouth.

"Whoa I er… I dunno. I'm nice to all Pokémon who're nice to me, and you're one of them. I don't get how to explain that one."

"Sorry, I..."

"There you go apologising again. It's actually pretty cute, Infia," he said, giggling.

She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Opening them, she made sure she was looking Lute in the eyes. "Lute… I'm… you're the only reason I'm still here."

"Huh?"

"I don't know, either. You're just – I don't know what it is about you, but I've always felt some kind of, connection with you, a special connection unlike what I've felt with anyone else. From the time I first saw you with your friends."

"Huh? Did I do something you really like or something?"

She laid a paw on her chest. "I know this doesn't make any sense at all, but it doesn't feel like a Pokémon feeling."

"Like a Pokémon feeling?"

"You know, like an emotion or sensation. It doesn't feel like any of those things. I just feel like the both of us aren't like any other Pokémon, and because of that, you're the only reason I'm still here, doing my best to live."

"Infia, wait. You believe in legends and stuff too, don't you?" Lute gasped.

"Huh?"

"You know, like how we're both Agents of King's Shield now. And now with Sophitia here and stuff. Yeah, something really cool's definitely gonna happen soon if we stick together. It's fate," he said. Her face was blank. "I'm not strong yet, but I'm trying. If we have each other's backs, I know we'll get through anything in our way."

Infia stayed blank for a while, and then stepped away, tucking her paws behind her back. "Yeah. You're right."

"Infia?"

She turned around and smiled at him. "I'm really happy you asked me to come with you, Lute."