As the old saying claimed, a simple life was a happy life. For the first time since he learned the concept of free will, Maverick was beginning to understand that sentiment.
The past two weeks had been interesting for the Zigzagoon, to say the least. At long last, he had finally ditched his deadbeat little hamlet to pursue his dream of being remembered, and it seemed he was making some progress in that regard. Unfortunately, it seemed fate had a wrench to throw into his plans.
He'd seen his father in the flesh among the Phoenix attackers the previous night. There was no room for denial. Mavy wasn't entirely sure what this meant for him. How much of his life had been dictated by this? Did his ma know? Had everything he'd been taught come from this?
Of course, he'd decided that simply going back to his village and shutting down was not the ideal option here, especially given his partners' wishes. These partners, however... well...
"Crazy, both of y'all," he muttered to himself as he rolled a piece of parchment out on the floor.
"Huh?" Rye asked.
"Ah said do you know where a pen is?" Mavy quickly requested. Rye quickly nodded and turned to his partner, who waddled over to pick a pen from a little pile of writing materials. As Beck held up a piece of charcoal, Mavy turned his attention back to the parchment before him.
Truly, the Oshawott was an odd one. Yes, there was the unusual notion that a feral was capable of such higher thought after such a short period, but the true Slaking in the room... well, Mavy was still trying to wrap his head around that.
Among the rapid dashing of first impressions the two had displayed when he'd joined was what seemed to be a very important detail they were withholding. Mavy had initially been rather upset at this, but he'd managed to push it to the wayside. He had always still wondered, though: what was so important that the two kept sidestepping around it, even as he established himself as a loyal teammate?
Needless to say, Mavy was not expecting... that.
Humans? Some prior apocalypse? Disembodied voices? Beck, of all Pokemon, being some ape-thing that was sent here by said voice for some important task?
'...they gotta be screwin' with me. There ain't no way that's real, he's prob'ly just made up some weirdass tale to throw me off.
Then again, it's Rye we're talkin' 'bout. He ain't damn near bright enough to think up a story like that just to fiddle with me. And Beck, like, back at the camp last night... not sure a feral could fake a breakdown like that. Not even sure if they could even have one. So... either both of them got a screw loose, or somehow that's all real.
...iunno, mon.'
With that in mind, Mavy took the piece of charcoal from Beck's paw, holding it in his mouth as he scrounged his mind for words. There was so much he wanted to write to his ma about, how could he fit everything on this one sheet of parchment? His adventures? Rye and Beck? Everything with his pa? Where was he even to begin?
"...
...ah can't write."
Rye and Beck blinked.
"What?" Beck asked.
"Don't know how to write," Mavy sighed, dropping the pen.
"Wh-why?" Rye asked.
"Never needed to, I'm a four-legger from a hick town, what do ya want from me? Dammit, ah didn't think this through," Mavy groaned. Rye stared for a moment before stepping up.
"W-well, I-I could write for you? Like, you tell me what to write," he offered. Mavy stepped aside and gave a grin.
"Thanks," he nodded. As his team leader picked up the pen, he cleared his throat. "Hi, Ma. Wanted to write to ya, tell you how the Guild life was treatin' me," he began. Rye started furiously scribbling the Gray-script down as Mavy's little smile stayed on his face.
'They're prolly nuts, yeah, but hey, they at least ain't dicks 'bout it.'
The sun was just starting to set as we stepped out of our base, relieved to finally be done with that long while of writing. The fruits of our labor, a simple envelope, sat in Mavy's mouth as he walked alongside us. The plan was to get that shipped out while Rye and I got dinner, though as we stopped to split off at the Guild's bulletin boards, Rye cleared his throat.
"Mavy? Uh, could you send this, too? Been meaning to do it myself," he requested, holding up his own envelope. As he set it down, Mavy spit out his own letter and peered down at the new one
"To Feraligatr? Bassa Village? Wut're you-" he began. I cleared my throat, cutting him off in time for him to see me exchange a glance with a hesitant Rye. The Treecko made to answer, but ground his teeth as Mavy slowly nodded, clicking his tongue as his face became one of glee.
"So that's this Sinni ya keep talkin' 'bout... sure, ah'll do that fer ya," the Zigzagoon said, only barely holding back a shit-eating grin.
"No, not you, too... i-it's not like that! I-I'm just checking in! I- sh-she's a Feraligatr, I couldn't even-" he tried.
"Sure, Rye. Sure," Mavy said before going for the letters. Although it looked like Rye was ready to hit his head against something, he managed to straighten himself up and hold up a finger.
"A-alright, uh, if there's a cheapest option, use it, please. We need the money for... uh, a fine," he elaborated. Mavy paused and furrowed his brow in understanding.
"How much?" he asked. Rye averted his gaze, swallowing.
"T-ten thousand Poké," he said quietly, though just loud enough for Mavy to hear. He stared for a moment before giving an amused scoff.
"Dayum! Y'all shoulda just let me leave, y'know that, right?" he asked. Neither of us responded, so he just rolled his eyes. "Y'all really blew it on this one. Ah'd say I'm worth a lot, but ten thousand's pushin' it. I mean, whatever y'all wanna do."
With that, he picked the two envelopes off the dirt path and started back on his walk to Impetus Town. Watching him go for a minute, Rye and I soon carried on towards the mess hall.
As we eventually sat down at our usual spots with food trays in hand, we exchanged silence for a minute, quietly eating before Rye cleared his throat.
"Y-you really think that was the right thing to do? Like, telling Mavy?" he asked. I hesitated for a bit before nodding, prompting Rye to lean back and consider amidst the loud dinnertime chatter. "I mean... it was the right time, I guess. We got him to stay, I guess it was only fair after... that."
He shifted in his seat a bit, craning his head to watch the door before continuing.
"So, the f-fine. We're gonna be at that for a while, huh?" he asked.
"Ugh, yeah," I groaned.
"Just- why'd he have to do that? M-Mr. Arden wasn't-" Rye started before quickly glancing around. Biting his lip, he leaned in. "Mr. Arden wouldn't have hurt Linoone. Uh, that bad, at least. Why couldn't Mavy have just... agh!"
A hard kick of frustration from the Treecko hit me in my little foot.
"Agh! Rye!" I yelped. His eyes widened a bit.
"S-sorry! I'm just really on edge, and... ugh. Th-this is all getting to my head," he muttered.
"Heh, yeah. Same," I agreed, trying to reach for my foot with my stubby arms. As I soon gave up, Mavy suddenly sprung into an empty seat, clearly finished with his letterboy duties. As he looked down at the tray we'd gotten him, he sighed and bowed his head, starting to whisper to himself.
"Mavy? Wha duh-ing?" I asked. He kept muttering to himself for a bit before opening his eyes.
"Prayin'," he said.
"Really? I-I never thought you were that type. Uh, who to?" Rye asked.
"Kyogre, like the rest of muh village. Yeah, I don't usually, but ah reckon now's as good a time as any," Mavy reasoned, oblivious to my odd look towards him.
"Heh, I-I guess we could use the help," Rye nodded before straightening up. "Here's to smooth sailing from here on out, and, uh, to a better tomorrow!"
"Ye!" I agreed.
"Yep, here's hopin'," Mavy added.
Nothing was concrete among the Guild's apprentices yet, but whispers were spreading fast.
A couple of days ago, some had noticed several teams appeared to be missing, though most had been quick to dismiss this as either just not seeing them or a multi-day dive. Once Teams Joules and Frontier had returned only to end up under Audino's care, there had been no room for denial. Something had happened.
As the teams previously unaccounted for returned to their daily lives, rumors had begun to spread, and all of them had one thing in common: the Guild had quietly sent out an expedition. But many couldn't help but wonder why...
Some said the Phoenix command had been located. Some said an artifact of significance had been found by one of the lesser teams, though the stories varied from the lost Lustrous Orb to a record of a human stockpile to even an Arceusian plate. Some said the group had been attacked for this artifact, with casualties ranging between stories. Others still claimed one of the apprentices had betrayed their peers. Most, however, simply brushed all of this off as hogwash.
However, as the whispers sailed through the mess hall, Team Assail only sat and listened, occasionally giving each other a dubious look. At present, the team next to them were discussing the actions taken during the fabled expedition, particularly whoever had done it. As they spoke, Mustie couldn't help but listen in closely.
"I'm not sure if this is Tauros or not, but I heard Treecko's team dug the artifact up. Y'know, the team with the feral."
"Really? Reach, of all teams?"
"I don't know, mon, that's just what she told me. She said she was talking with Hitmonchan, so I'm not sure."
"Huh. First we get an impressed feral that knows not to tear faces off, then someone starts trying to jack the spacetime orbs, now this. Been a weird year."
"Tell me about it. How 'bout we drink over it with the lads at the inn?"
"Sure, if you're paying."
As the team got up to leave, Mustie scowled a bit and looked over at his partner.
"Load of shit, it is," he said. "Tell me, Gold, what've the little shit and his pet done to earn this?"
"Well, uh... can't think of-" the Persian began, only to be cut off as Mustie held up a claw.
"Exactly. Jackshit. Only been a fuckin' moon and they've already dug some crusty thing up. You know how many of us actual teams have trying at that for fuck knows how many years?" he asked.
"That's half the Guild you're describing there," Gold said.
"Half? If only," Mustie said, sending a glare in the direction of Team Reach. They sat there stuffing their faces, likely not granting them or any other burgeoning team they now outclassed a second thought, the Weavile thought. Oh, how he wanted to rip something to ribbons right now... no, violence wouldn't do much. They were no Team Apex, he doubted they'd keep quiet to Arcanine about any brawl. But maybe... they wouldn't need to fight...
"You thinkin' what I'm thinking, Gold?" Mustie asked. His partner cracked an ugly smirk.
"Way ahead of ya, think I might have an idea. See, I know a mon who knows a mon 'bout a mile out from Amber Meadow..."
Clanga-clanga-clanga!
As the loud morning bell woke me with a start, I gave a moan. I couldn't bring myself to budge from my bed. Yesterday had been so long, and after the early-morning walking, the bureaucratic torture, and emotional turmoil, I just wanted to maybe sleep in today. I was sure the Guild would understand.
I only managed to get maybe five extra minutes of snoozing in before I was dragged out of the scratchy straw bed by force. Prying my eyes open, I found Rye giving me a disapproving look as he dragged me onto the dirt floor by my arm.
"Shaaah," I moaned.
"No, we're not doing that. C-come on, Beck," Rye said tiredly. It took a couple minutes of coercing, but a sudden Pin Missile suddenly stuck itself into the ground near my face, sending me shooting back in a panic. Looking over his work as adrenaline pumped through me, Mavy gave a satisfied grin.
"Okay, yer awake, now git your ass off the floor," he said. I glared at him for a second before groaning and pushing myself up. As I dusted myself off, Rye stepped out to the door to address us.
"Honestly, I think Beck has a point. I think we should just, er, t-take the day off. That expedition... yeah," he said. Mavy and I exchanged a glance.
"Sure, that sounds nice," the Zigzagoon agreed.
"Yeah," I added. With that decided, Rye gave a clap and led us outside, taking in the spring morning before suddenly freezing.
"Uh... what do we do?" he asked. I paused to consider, realizing with a start that we didn't actually have anything planned for any given day other than work.
"Sh-shahp?" I suggested.
"No, no, we need to save money. Like, w-we need ten thousand Poké for Mavy's fine," Rye reminded me. "Maybe we could stop by the library and try and research the Caves of Being, like... uh, i-it's probably not a coincidence you found that thing, Beck."
An image of the Lampent librarian quickly flashed past my mind's eye.
"Nah," I quickly said. Rye gave me a questioning look, though soon nodded in understanding.
"Right, yeah, her. Uh... oh, we could help Ms. Audino out at the infirmary! There's those Pokemon hurt from the expedition, and m-maybe she'll pay us for helping!" he piped. I thought about this for a second.
"Yeah, sure," I agreed.
"I'm along for the ride, do whatever," Mavy said. With that agreed upon, I dragged my feet after my partners, hoping a bit of breakfast would wake me up.
A quick breakfast later, I found myself standing behind Rye as he tried to make his case before Ms. Audino, the nurse periodically humming and nodding as he spoke.
"...and, uh, w-we thought maybe some, er, extra hands would be helpful?" Rye finished. Ms. Audino gave a warm smile in response.
"Well, that's very kind of you. If you can help care for the injured for the expedition, that would be wonderful. Go ahead and bring them breakfast whenever it gets here, alright?" she requested.
"Yes, ma'am. C-could we... uh, never mind," Rye said, starting for the door to the patient room. Mavy just sighed.
"We gettin' paid for this?" he asked for Rye. Ms. Audino furrowed her brow.
"Well, hm... we'll see about that. Do a good enough job and I could-" she said before looking back with a start. "Rye? Wrong door."
"Huh? I-isn't this the wing?" Rye asked. Ms. Audino watched him confusedly for a moment before chuckling to herself.
"No, that's the emergency room. Beck recovered in there when you first found him, if I remember correctly," she corrected. Rye went a bit red in the face as he looked at the door.
"S-sorry, I-I guess habits," he stammered.
"Just don't go in there for old time's sake, I've got a Pikachu in there. He's paraplegic and missing his tail, I think he'd like to be left alone," Ms. Audino instructed.
"Oh, Zygarde... y-yes, ma'am, we will," Rye reassured, gesturing to Mavy and I. As we filed into the hallway leading out of the humble waiting room, I stole a brief glance through the small door near the opening, catching a glimpse of the old room and the aforementioned Pikachu watching us from where I'd laid only a month before. My curiosity sated, I blinked a bit.
Just over a month ago, I was a confused little Oshawott who couldn't even speak. Now, I was... well, a confused little Oshawott who still couldn't speak that well. That aside, I'd come a long way from waking up in that dingy straw bed with a hole in my chest.
'Actually, now I'm wondering...'
Looking down at my chest and brushing aside the cyan fur there, I winced a bit. Sure enough, a decently-sized scar still lingered where that Zubat had torn into me. I took a bit to just stare at the thing as we stopped. This was where I'd started as a Pokemon, and chances were I'd carry it for as long as I stayed this way. I felt a bit proud of the mark in a weird way, though...
"...so we've taken over for Ms. Audino today. Uh, we... er, Be- O-Oshawott?" Rye asked concernedly as he addressed the five bedridden explorers before us, his eyes wandering to my scar.
"Ew, what is that? How'dja get that, Hoo-mon?" Mavy inquired. I cringed violently as I was pulled out of my daze, and my paw was quickly grabbed as Rye dragged me out of the room.
"I-I'm sorry, we gotta sort an i- uh, th-thing out, w-we'll be with you soon!" he called to the perplexed explorers behind us. As we bunched up in the hallway, I sent Mavy a quick death glare, and despite my appearance, it seemed to be intimidating to get a flinch from him.
"Mavy! Wha f... dah-nah shaa-shagh aagh!" I tried.
"What? What'd ah do?" Mavy squeaked, cowering at my admittedly kinda pathetic outburst. Grinding his teeth, Rye pushed me aside.
"Wh-why'd you call him... uh, that name?" he asked, his tone far more diplomatic yet defeated than mine. Mavy looked at him as if he'd just unironically asked if the earth was flat.
"Uh... because you wanted me to pretend he was one o' those things and not an Oshawott? Y'know, species name, whaddaya want from me?" he asked. Rye opened his mouth to try and rebut, though his face quickly wilted as he realized just how clueless Mavy seemed to be in this regard. After a bit of stunned silence, he let out a quiet moan.
"B-Beck, could you please get the food from Ms. Audino? I-I think I need to explain some more to him," he requested.
"Y-yeah, sure," I blinked, putting a paw to my still-racing heart. As I waddled back to the waiting room, I couldn't help but note Mavy didn't have any comments to make in my wake. Pretty unusual, I noted as I took a seat against Ms. Audino's front desk, peeking out the door for any signs of the aforementioned food.
There was something weirdly soothing about just sitting there with nothing but Rye's quiet voice and Ms. Audino's pleasant humming to distract me. With no big responsibility weighing down on me, it felt nice to just sit there and occasionally try to converse with the nurse, choppy as said conversation might have been.
"You haven't been straining yourself too hard, right? A poisoning like the one you had is nothing to scoff at," she observed, pressing a feeler to my chest in a quick impromptu checkup.
"Nah," I lied. The nurse gave me a quick look of doubt before she shrugged it off and continued with her work.
"Has everything else been okay since you were here last? No complications or permanent damage?" she asked.
"Uh... nah," I said.
"And your mental state? I understand being thrust into a world larger than your home dungeon must be hard, are you doing okay in that regard? No... continued odd thoughts of any kind?" Ms. Audino inquired. I hesitated for a bit, remembering just how much she'd listened in on that month ago. I remembered she'd heard enough to assume I was just insane, but as long as she didn't pursue it any further than that I figured I'd be fine. I mean, she didn't wouldn't have told anyone if that was the case, right?
Right?
"No, nah reely," I shakily reassured her. Although this was nothing short of a big fat lie, it seemed to be enough to get her off my back for now, as she got to her feet and offered another warm smile.
"I'm glad to hear that. It's good to see that-" she paused before turning her head to look out the door, the flapping of wings signaling a Pokemon's arrival. "That must be breakfast now. I suppose we should be getting back to work."
Pulling me to my feet, she led me to the door to retrieve the burlap sack of food the Flyer had delivered and sent me on my way. Rye was still catching Mavy up when I passed the two in the cramped hallway, so I went to meet my fellow apprentices alone.
Upon entering the room, I shifted my eyes to the floor, knowing full well I probably wasn't about to get a warm welcome from the five Pokemon in here.
"Hey, bragh-fehs," I quietly announced, digging through the sack as I quietly cursed Raticate for arranging it so messily.
"Oshawott," a voice said. I clenched my teeth and looked up to face the source, being the Luxio that'd come along with us. To my surprise, there wasn't suspicion or paranoia in her face like I'd expected, but... something else.
"I'll be honest, the three of us didn't really like you when you dropped in. But we saw what you did back during the expedition, and I think at this point we've got enough grounds to say this," she said. Giving a brief look at her Electabuzz and Emolga partners in bed next to her, she gave a smirk. "On behalf of Team Joules here, I think you're alright, little fella."
I stared at Luxio for a bit in disbelief, amazed I was actually hearing this. I felt a little smile sprout on my face.
"T-tank yeh, mahm," I said, gratefully handing the explorer her breakfast. As I went around passing out food, that grin stayed plastered on my face.
I knew I'd probably never be thought of as truly equal here in this Guild, but seeing that one of the apparently bigger teams were willing to at least accept me... I don't know, it felt great.
Despite the discrimination, the pain, the anger, and everything in between that my life as a Pokemon had offered, I'd managed to somewhat prove myself in this world.
Even with everything going on at the time, knowing that I was finally more than just a savage creature in the Guild's eyes felt like I'd won the world.
With the explorers' breakfasts passed out, I headed back into the hallway to meet Rye and Mavy, who'd seemed to finally have finished with their powwow. Though Mavy just seemed more dubious than before, Rye was quick to note the lingering grin on my face.
"They...?" he deduced, slowly joining me in my high spirits. "Th-this is great! I think it's just a matter of time before... er, y-you know."
Watching from the side, Mavy forced his own smile.
"Wasn't here for mosta that, but nice job, ah reckon. You still gotta convince ev'ryone you ain't crazy, what with-"
"A-anyways!" Rye interrupted. With a painful clap to my back, he led me and Mavy to the lobby for further instruction from Ms. Audino.
Most of the day was spent in high spirits after that, with nothing but the miniscule tasks from the nurse to distract us. An honest day's work saw a bit of apparent progress in the injured Pokemon's healing, a good few laughs between us all, and Ms. Audino watching it all with an unwavering amused smile. Such a smile was plastered on her face as we all stepped out of the infirmary, the sun setting below the horizon as she fished a small sack off her belt and placed it into Rye's hands with a quiet jingle.
"Five hundred Poké for a good day's work, a hundred more for not complaining," she said. Rye looked down at the sack of dull metal coins conflictedly.
"M-Ms. Audino, you don't have to-" he began.
"Rye, shut the distortion up and let the lady pay us," Mavy said through clenched teeth. Rye promptly shut his mouth and quietly tucked the money away.
"Th-thank you, ma'am. Uh, t-tell that Pikachu we said we hope he gets better," he said. Audino responded with a nod and a wave before she disappeared back into the infirmary. We stood before the doorway for a moment before I turned away.
"Hey. Lass one thehr... uh..." I said. I couldn't think of a way to finish that sentence, so as Rye and Mavy turned curiously, I just blew a Razz at them and dashed off, leaving Rye yelping in alarm as he tried to catch up. It was a straight line from the infirmary to our base, so I would've won had my little legs not failed me. Next thing I knew, I was tripping head-over-heels and watching as first Rye bolted past me, then Mavy stopped to blow his own exaggerated Razz in my face before zigzagging after Rye. Groaning to myself, I pushed myself off the ground and chased the Zigzagoon the rest of the way, only to slow to a halt. Rather than celebrating his unfair victory, Rye was looking down at a scroll that must've come from the mail slot.
"What?" I asked, peering over his shoulder. The Treecko met eyes with mine.
"Mr. Arcanine wants us and the others from the expedition. D-debriefing in his at sundown, he says. Alright, I think we can-"
His head suddenly jolted upwards as his eyes widened.
"I-it is sundown!" he cried, immediately bolting away with scroll in hand. Gritting my teeth at the prospect of more running, I quickly took off after him, Mavy by my side. By the time the resultant blur of panic had subsided, I found myself past the guards at Arcanine's door and with a couple dozen sets of eyes on me. The apprentices seated around Arcanine's treasure room watched us as the Guildmaster himself sighed quietly.
"Team Reach. Fashionably late, I see," he said.
"I-I'm sorry, sir, we didn't-" Rye started.
"You may be seated, young Treecko," Arcanine commanded. Rye gulped quite audibly before nodding and dragging his tail into the room. A waving vine near the front of the crowd drew our attention as May gestured us over, and as we found our seats next to her and her teammates, I quickly noticed more than her proud grin to Rye: namely, Arden rubbing at a spot on his arm and coldly glaring at Mavy and Pike suspiciously watching me.
'He still doesn't like me, I guess. I guess some things never change, huh?'
"Now, then. I suppose I should make this quick. I am sure you all know why you are here. We have in our possession a map that could help us to pinpoint the location of the elusive Caverns of Being. This will not be a traditional debriefing, however, as I have some concerns I would like to raise," Arcanine said. "Firstly, despite the expedition's secrecy, we were still found out and attacked. I worry as to the implications of this, especially given the more pressing of these concerns."
The Guildmaster paused for effect.
"Earlier today, we received word from our sources in Ebbull City that a large creature emerged from the Coronet Wall, headed north for the Valor Sea, and disappeared. Normally, this would be of little concern to our Guild, but given the nature of the Caverns, I find this of interest. See, the Caverns form a sort of spatial distortion that links them with their other end in Sun Minor; think a magnagate but more stable. Assuming the rumors are true, it is possible this creature entered the Caverns in preparation for a rendezvous. If that is the case, then I believe it wishes to speak with us."
I stared in growing disbelief as the others whispered around me.
"As such, all I ask of you is to remain alert. Another expedition is possible, so be prepared for whatever is to come. Thank you, and forever forward."
As a murmur rose around me and the others began getting up to leave, I blinked, this dump of information weighing down on me as Rye and Mavy sat there in silence. I hung my head as I got lost in thought as per usual.
Something may or may not have been coming from the Coronets. Another expedition was looming. I might finally face... something. I didn't know.
'I guess I'll worry about that when I get there. Now... uh... why can't I... uh...
...oh, no.'
As I tried to pull myself out of my contemplation, I found I simply couldn't snap back to reality. I frantically looked around for some sort of salvation, only to confirm what I'd feared: there was nothing but void all around me and my physical body was, as per usual, missing.
...no, no, not this again! I was awake, is just spacing out really enough to-
Before I could fully process that I was having another vision, I suddenly found myself sitting on a ledge idly, my body acting of its own will as it idly kicked its legs. Only a few feet below my body's feet, waves crashed against what was clearly debris, though rusted and overgrown with sea plants. Around me, rather than the heat of battle I'd come to expect from these visions, multiple Pokemon just sat and talked, occasionally looking towards the water as if waiting for something. To top it all off, a familiar figure stood motionless out of the corner of my eye as he stared at a hulk of steel towering over us.
Cripes.
Given that nothing seemed to be awry, it didn't take long at all for Xatu to slowly turn his head to meet my eyes. I braced myself for whatever was to come, though the bird only blinked and turned his gaze away.
"You are persistent, I will say. Why such an audience, though? I would assume your witnesses would number more than-" he began quietly. He paused as his crests suddenly rose. "...hm. Your Oshawott? How interesting."
At this point, several heads had turned to look confusedly at Xatu, my body's included.
"Oi, whaddaya lookin' at?" it asked. A quick look from Xatu sent a shiver down its spine and shut it up, allowing the bird to continue.
"This other psyche, however..." he muttered before jerking his head to the side. Immediately, I felt something seem to leave from wherever I was, and I could've sworn I heard a yelp sound out as Xatu looked over towards my body. "Bibarel. With me."
"Sorry?" my body asked.
"With. Me," Xatu demanded. The Bibarel I was apparently stuck in flinched and got up, running after Xatu as he began to walk along the cracked concrete and towards the metal tower. As my body caught up, Xatu turned his gaze to the ocean surrounding us.
"Do you know where we are, child?" he asked. I said nothing, though a stern look from Xatu got me trying to figure out how to go about this.
N-no?
Xatu hummed to himself.
"We are aboard the Unovan aircraft carrier Carracosta, first deployed during the Orre War and kept active until after the Ruin. She ran into the reef below many a year ago, and here she shall remain, it seems," he said, glancing up at the decrepit remains of a fighter jet over us.
"Wh-what-" my body said.
"Quiet," Xatu commanded before his tone softened once more. "Look around us, child. I know of man's darker side. I know their glory came at a cost. But do consider, perhaps... you tire of my diatribes, I sense."
He gave a quiet sigh.
"Very well. There is not much time, anyways. Another topic, then," he said. "To start, I must, on behalf of the League, apologize for the events of two days ago. Team Horizon assures that the escalation to conflict was not intended, their top priority was the retrieval of the artifact."
Wait, what?! You're just gonna say "oops, sorry" and that's it?
"I sense discontent. That is of little importance, however," Xatu observed as we continued walking along the deck's edge.
You can't just-
"Below us is the reason I have come here: the sunken headquarters of a human organization known as the Aether Foundation. As it has long since been reclaimed by the waves, I remain ever grateful for the Water type. Inside the structure, or so I am told, this organization harbored the Griseous Orb. Of course, our goals remain out of reach for the time being, but I believe I must ask this," Xatu said.
I-
"Child, do you wish to return home?"
I mentally cringed. I really didn't want to think about this, especially not after last night. I didn't want to, but at the same time...
Xatu hummed to himself.
"Homesick, I see. I can assure you, child, you are not alone," he said.
Before I could reply to this, Xatu suddenly paused in place, looking out at the sea. By the looks of it, there were several anomalies appearing on the horizon, and they were getting closer by the second. Xatu blinked before turning back towards me.
"Alas, we have such little time. I do not fear, though. Should we continue on the path we lead as of now, I believe we shall soon meet in a place where there is no darkness."
What? What are you-
Xatu laid a wing on my body before a rush of wind and a flash of light teleported us back to where we'd started, where the mercenaries I'd seen before were now scrambling around at the sight of the anomalies, which now revealed themselves as boats and Water-types.
"Prism Archipelago Coast Guard! Surrender your position now or we will attack!" a voice yelled from one of the vessels. Seemingly on cue, a Pokemon suddenly popped out of the water, a strange object under its arm as it clambered onto deck. Looking at the thing, I was reminded of a Revive in its eight-sided appearance...
Was this the Griseous Orb?
All I had time to process after that was Xatu raising a wing, prompting the mercenaries around me to open fire upon the boats surrounding us. I didn't get to see the first blows land, though, as a jerk of Xatu's head sent me careening out of my body and flailing backwards into the void. I screamed and grabbed at nothing to try and stop myself as I spun into nothingness...
"Beck! Beck, snap out of-"
"Sh-sheaaagh!"
With that strangled yell, I jumped back and landed on the floor, feeling at my body to make sure I was back for sure. As I tried to calm myself down, I took a look around. Rye, Mavy, Arden, and a few others were gathered over me, all watching concernedly as I panted to myself. No one dared to say anything as I slowly and shakily looked behind me to meet Arcanine's gaze.
His eyes said it all. He knew. We both did.
Shit was going down.
"...so lemme get this straight. You want me to go all the way to Impetus Town, break into this one team's base, and-"
"Yeah, you fuck shit up. Steal some stuff here and there, make a mess of things. Then ya leave like nothing happened, we pay you, la-dee-da, we all go home happy," Mustie finished. The Pokemon he and Gold faced looked at them as he considered their offer.
"Right. And which team am I doing this to?" he asked.
"Team Apex," Mustie said. "You're gonna wanna put anything you nick in Reach's place."
The Pokemon's eyes narrowed.
"Reach? Team Reach? I..." he said.
"Ya what?" Gold asked.
"...nothing," the Pokemon eventually said. Mustie gave a nod.
"Well, alrighty then, I just wanna get one more thing outta the way before we start," he said.
"Which is?"
"How's your Oshawott impression?" Mustie asked.
Murkrow couldn't help but smirk a bit.
"I think we can make this work," he said.
Author's Note: Ah, Christmas cometh. A good time for a nice break before I write the story's midpoint, I'd say. Since I won't be getting a new chapter out for a little while, I guess I'll put this out there.
New Year's Day marks the first birthday of Quenched Torch!
I'm not sure what I was expecting when I posted this thing nearly a year back, but definitely not this. I mean, wow.
Thank you all for giving this story a chance, and here's to another year! See you all in a few weeks!
