It'd happened so fast and so suddenly. One moment, I was hunched over on the floor looking for any lingering signs of Team Assail's bullshittery. The next, there'd been a rush of wind from outside, followed by a hard, painful strike to my back.
Though the sudden attack had missed my head, everything was foggy as pain shot through my body. As I pushed myself into a seated position against the wall, a warm feeling trickling down my back, I could briefly make out panicked yelling from my teammates as they tried to hold back a large figure, though their efforts were cut short as the Pokemon blew them back with a powerful gust of wind, knocking them out the door before blocking the entrance with the base's tables. The figure before me turned just in time for my vision to clear up, revealing...
'...oh, Arceus.'
"I warned ya, didn't I? One grubby little paw on my friends... you pay," Pike growled, unsheathing his wings as he stood before the blocked doorway. "I'd advise ya pray, but... do you fuckin' things even know what a god is?"
With this thought, the Swellow lunged at me. My dazed mind immediately scrambled to come up with a way out of this. The base was small, and Pike was cramped in here, so I had that advantage. Everything else, though...
I hurriedly scrambled out of the way in time to avoid getting slashed. Pike quickly improvised, planting his talons against the wall and launching at me, landing a blow to my chest and causing the entire section of wall to collapse from the damage it'd sustained earlier. Behind him, Rye pulled himself in through a window to try and help me, though Pike heard this and quickly did away with him by blowing a Whirlwind at said window, knocking the entire wall over and pinning the Treecko with a loud yelp. Pike's face fell as he swore quietly at the unintended result, giving me time to frantically grab for my scalchop. I wasn't sure exactly what counted as hyperventilation, but I was pretty sure what my utter panic was driving me to do by this point counted. Trembling, I swung at Pike while he was distracted, cutting him in the leg. He let out a pained squawk and flew into the air, though before he could retaliate, a brown blur launched itself into the bird. Mavy fought bravely, clinging onto Pike and clawing away as the bird flapped wildly to try and get him off, though it was short-lived as the Zigzagoon was launched through one of the gaping holes in the wall by a Whirlwind. Before I could take advantage of the momentary pause this had brought, a lightning-fast Steel Wing knocked the shell out of my paws and into the rubble.
With that, I was cornered. Pressed against what little wall was still left standing and without a weapon to protect me, I stared up at Pike as he glared over me. Before I could conjure up a Water Gun, he stomped on my chest, pressing his talons down as he held me in place for a final blow. Unable to move and with talons digging into my chest, I felt around for something, anything that'd be able to save me, and the first thing in our base's rubble my paws met happened to be my banjo. Without hesitation, I swung it at Pike, hitting him hard across the face with a dull thud.
That success was short-lived, however, as a now even more enraged Pike knocked my makeshift weapon out of my paws and reared a Steel Wing back, one aimed straight at my neck. All I could do was gasp and clench my eyes shut, knowing this was bound to be a lethal strike.
Was this really it? After everything I'd been through, after everything I'd discovered, after all I'd endured, this was how I was going to die? I, the last human this continent knew of, was just going to have my throat cut open out of some petty grudge?
I let out a mournful, shaky cry, though it only came out as a quiet breath as I waited for the killing blow...
But it never came.
A minute passed by before I mustered up the courage to pry an eye open. Pike stood motionless, his wing still glowing and reared back as a hint of confliction entered his loathing glare. His gaze momentarily drifted to my discarded banjo, then stared into my own eyes. He stayed frozen in that position for a good while until the silver glow of his wing fizzled out, and as I watched, the Swellow hung his head and slowly lowered his wing.
As Pike stared off, I took the opportunity to start inching along the wall, reaching for my scalchop as I scooted along. Just a few more feet and I'd have a chance...
Before I could grab my weapon and retaliate, the tables blocking the entrance were suddenly blown away by a plume of flame, startling the both of us out of our stupors.
"Stop! Stop, Pike, don't hurt him!" Arden yelled as he ran in through the smoke filling the base, closely followed by my banged-up teammates, May, and... a Murkrow and Team Assail? Whatever the case, all of their gazes were trained on me as Pike kept staring at the ground.
"...I wasn't," he said.
"Are you fucking kidding me? It's bleeding all over, you call that not hurt?" Mustie demanded. Pike only stayed silent, though stepped aside to let Rye and Mavy run up to check up on me.
"What is wrong with you? You... you nearly-" Arden demanded.
"It broke into the stock, I heard it," Pike defended himself.
"What? That wasn't him, dickhead, it was that Murkrow!" Arden said. Pike hesitated long and hard.
"I-it... I..." he tried. "It's a feral, they're all the same. If it didn't happen now, then-"
"Oh, for fuck's sake, he's not a fucking feral!" Arden hurriedly yelled, his vents blazing in agitation. "He's a human!"
The room fell into a deathly quiet as every eye in the room fell on the Quilava, whose flames slowly receded as his face fell, realizing what he'd just said.
'...'
"...what?" Pike asked quietly. "That's... that's not possible. It- h-he..."
"Beck?" May whispered, her eyes wide as she looked back and forth between Arden and I.
"I-I don't... l-look, we can talk about this later, the kid's hurt," Arden said, moving to push past Mustie and Gold and leave, though a paw on his shoulder stopped him before he could head out.
"Whoa, there, not so fast. You're either gonna give us a damn good punchline to this joke or you're gonna explain what the fuck you're talking about," Mustie said. Arden's eye twitched.
"Weavile, just... eat my fuzzy ass," he growled. "Rye, Zigzagoon, help the kid up. We're getting him to Audino right now."
Rye, his eyes still wide with shock, absentmindedly nodded and pulled me up, allowing me to lean on his shoulder as we hobbled towards the door, pushing past a silent Pike. As I tried to bear the pain shooting up my back, I felt a vine wrap around my arm, followed by a stream of stinging energy.
"Ah! Sh-stahp!" I groaned. Despite the fact I could feel my wounds hurting less, May obliged and stopped the reverse Absorb, looking over at Arden as he quietly walked.
"Ardie... wh-why didn't you tell us? How long've you known?" she asked.
"You buy this?" Arden replied. May hesitated a bit.
"Well... I mean, it explains a lot. How he turned up nearly drowning, how he hopped on board the whole civilized boat so quick... but he... I don't know, he doesn't seem like..."
She cast another glance at me, this one noticeably tinged with fear.
"...Arden, wh-what's going on? He's here for a reason, right? You... is this what's been eating you up the past moon?"
"Damn it, can we at least get the bleeding kid out of the way before this?!" the Quilava demanded, looking up at his surroundings. It seemed a small crowd had gathered to find what the commotion was all about, though I guessed by their demeanors that they hadn't heard... that. Although that gave me a bit of much-needed relief, Arden didn't seem as happy.
"Oh, gee, thanks for the help! Real happy you didn't even get Audino, you assnuggets!" he said. As the gathering murmured shamefully and began to scatter, Rye looked back at our base. As I'd guessed, several sections of the wall had collapsed, and any roof that hadn't buried our possessions was barely hanging on to what was left. Forlorn, the Treecko shakily turned his gaze forward. It seemed there were a million things on his mind he wanted to say, though one eventually croaked out.
"O-our base..."
With a glare at Pike that would have made even Giratina flinch, May sighed.
"We'll pay," she said. Arden looked over as we walked, his face looking like he'd just chugged Grimer slime.
"What, we will? Come on, at the very least, Team Assass over here should fork some shekels over before we get their asses booted!" he protested, though the three Pokemon near the back were quick to speak up.
"Whoa, whoa, hold the Rapidash! We aren't going nowhere, you hear?" Mustie asked.
"Are you dumb or just plain stupid?" Arden asked. "You break into our base and try to steal our shit, you try and fuck over these three, and you nearly get someone killed, that'd be enough to get you hung down south!"
"Yeah, we're aware, but we'd rather not get thrown out, you know? Seems like a shitty end for a fifteen-year run. You can mouth-vomit some, but unless you want us to go out and tell everyone what you just said about Oshawott there-" Mustie started.
"Fuck! What?!" Arden roared, his vents bursting into flames. As everyone jumped back, Gold hurriedly raised a paw.
"We'll pay for their base! We'll take a fine, too; you know, we went too far, I'm fine with it if everything else gets covered," the Persian reasoned.
"The fuck are you d-" Mustie began before considering. "Ugh... tell you what, Quilava. If what you're saying is true and the feral's... you know. Though an insufferable shithead you may be, it's probably best to call it for a moon or so. So how about it? Truce?"
The three of Team Apex stared for a second before Arden sighed.
"If you'll let me do one thing, then I'm game," he said, getting up on his hind legs and turning to face them.
"Which is?" Mustie asked. Arden immediately responded by punching the Weavile square in the face.
As Mustie stiffly fell to the ground and his buddies hurried to check up on in, the Quilava smirked and gestured us onward, speedwalking our shaken selves down the road towards the infirmary. As I painfully shuffled and kept leaning on Rye, my ears stuck up as a familiar Nidoran and Seedot ran out of the infirmary ahead, followed quickly afterwards by the nurse.
Audino ran up to us, her eyes widening at the sight of my injured self. Arden and May gave me another glance, both tinged with concern and uncertainty. Pike stared at the ground, his talons digging into the dirt road as he apparently tried to rationalize everything that'd just transpired. Rye and Mavy were silent, only watching me as Audino scooped me up and hurried back towards the infirmary. I just stared off, a cocktail of emotions brewing in my head.
'Arden knew. Why didn't he tell me?'
'The bastard attacked me. He nearly killed me...'
'What do we do now? Our base is totaled.'
'Who else knows? If those three know, then... that's bad, to put it simply.'
'Just ...why?'
Out the window, the sky was gray and cloudy, by the looks of it a final hurrah from spring before it fleeted. Given the chilly wind and gloomy gray skies above, it seemed like the perfect day to just stay inside and rest.
'Oh, lucky me.'
When Audino had dragged me into the emergency room, the procedure had been quick and panicked. A few doses of Oran juice here, some gauze there, and a bout of dizziness from the blood I'd lost had led me here, lying alone in a spare bed. Though I was definitely going to be alright by now, I was still troubled as I lied there with nothing but my own anxious thoughts and the background noise to entertain me.
The steady dripping of water from the roof.
The bickering of a younger-sounding team outside.
The hammering of a batch of job notices to the boards.
The distant sound of battling in the training grounds.
The Pikachu at the head of the room letting out sparks in his sleep.
I tried my best to zero in on all of this to drown out my worries, meeting only partial success in that regard. Every time I managed to drift off, I'd just circle right back to the usual. At least until my wounds from the previous night healed, it seemed I'd be stuck with replaying that day's events in my head.
I could have tried for conversation with Audino. I could have talked with the Pikachu across from me. Maybe if I yelled loud enough, I could catch up with the few explorers still here from the expedition. What would the point be, though? Even if I could have a conversation, anything I'd say would probably put me in some hot water. Audino apparently already thought I was insane, I didn't want to keep pushing it. ...yeah, if Audino knew, maybe that was how Arden found out in the first place?
'...yeah, Arden- no, just don't, Beck. Here, someone's in the waiting room, just listen to... oh, hey!'
"How is he?" Rye's voice asked from said room.
"His condition is stable, though he still needs a day or so to recover. He's still in the emergency ward if you want to see him, right this way," Audino said. Footfalls sounded out for a bit before the nurse appeared in the door, trying for a smile. "You have visitors."
As she stepped aside, Rye and Mavy peeked into view, followed quickly by a stillfaced Arden. Though my partners were both rather bruised from the previous night, it seemed they didn't mind as they walked up to stand over my straw bed.
"H-hey! How're you doing?" Rye asked. I just blinked and slumped in bed, getting a dry chuckle from Arden.
"Well, I'm sure you'll be happy to hear today's been a massive clusterfuck on our end. Twenty thousand Poké fine from us, our place's crawling with Mags, and Pike's been cooped up in the office all day, getting screamed at I'm sure. Haven't seen Weavile and friends all day, I'm sure they're up there with him," the Quilava explained.
An awkward silence hung in the air as the three of us expectantly looked at Arden, whose deadpan face soon fell into a grimace.
"Audino, you mind if I steal him for a bit? Got some private things to talk about," he requested.
"Not at all, just don't do anything too strenuous," Audino nodded. I pushed myself onto my feet, leaning on Rye as we followed the Quilava outside and quickly headed behind the infirmary, sitting against a wall that looked appropriately out of earshot. With our privacy assured, Mavy sighed.
"So yer on board with their crazy talk?" he asked. Arden remained silent.
"H-how long have you known? How'd you find out? D-did you tell anyone else?" Rye asked. More silence. The Treecko's eye twitched. "Damn it, Mr. Arden-"
"Hey, watch your fucking language," Arden scolded before slumping in place. "The dog wanted me to snoop for him. I've known for about a moon."
"A mo-? M-Mr. Arcanine knows? But... we... g-gh..." Rye said before putting his hands on his head, clearly becoming overwhelmed with the situation. Putting a paw on his back, Arden looked down distastefully at Mavy.
"So, Zigzagoon. You probably get why we had that little chat," he said. Mavy gulped.
"S-sir, ah didn't even know what a hoo-mon was till 'bout a week ago," he said. Arden just scoffed, opening his mouth to deliver what I assumed was another threat before I cleared my throat.
"Why?" I asked. "Why nah tehl sh- u-us? A-and Py-keh?"
Arden took a look at my wounds and hesitated.
"The dog told me not to. If I'd told... you'd have been fucked over. I'd have been fucked over. It'd just be a whole thing of 'mons getting fucked over. Trust me, the last thing we need now is everyone knowing you're... you know, what with this whole Phoenix thing. I don't know, it's out of my control," he defended himself.
"B-but you couldn't have told us, at least? Y-you could've helped, why'd you keep quiet?" Rye demanded.
"Yeah, what do you mean we'd get fucked over? Ah think we're already pretty fucked," Mavy added.
Arden gritted his teeth as I thought over it more. He could've done good by letting us know, even just a little five-minute conversation would have been preferable to... this! And given how much this had apparently been affecting him... what was wrong with him? This should've been a no-brainer, why didn't he tell us? The more I thought about it, the angrier I grew, and before long I found myself joining in my friends' yelling as Arden's eye began to twitch.
"Sha-a sha sha-wah!"
"It's common sense! Damn, do y'all city 'mon not have common sense, neither?"
"Y-you could've helped so much! Like, the expedition, I-I don't know, you could've told us what the tugging was! Th-that'd have been useful!"
Arden's fists clenched as he sat there silently.
"The most you gon do is threaten me? Like, ah heard the stories, I reckoned fuckin' Cyndaquil of Walrein's Guild would be more competent!"
"Yeh ash-hahl!"
"Why? Why didn't you at least let us know?"
"I don't know!" Arden yelled, his vents bursting into flame. We all jumped back as heat washed over us, the Quilava's face filled with built-up rage. "Damn it, you think I wanted this, Treecko? Is it really so hard to just leave me alone and let me have some fucking peace for once in my godforsaken life?!"
Not a peep came out of us as Arden panted, his head still blazing as he glared us down. After a minute, the flames simmered down as Arden sighed and sat down, his back to us.
"M-Mr. Arden-" Rye started.
"Don't. Just don't," Arden commanded. Rye shrunk back, leaving his former superior to sit there for a moment before he got to his paws. "I'm fine," he lied through his teeth.
"But-" Rye tried.
"Don't bawl over me, you've got your own shit to worry about," Arden said. With this, he pushed past Rye and Mavy and made to leave, only to stop in his tracks and look back towards me. "Right, forgot to mention. Did Audino tell you?"
"N-no," I said, confused. Arden nodded.
"Arcanine gathered everyone at the amphitheater this morning. The expedition's going forward after the next inspection, it's looking like they found the Caves," he said. "He hasn't said anything about who's going, but I'll bet my ass he's dragging you along. I'd expect an announcement tomorrow or so."
I bit my lip and exchanged a glance with my partners, looking back in time to see Arden produce a block of some sort from his bag and toss it at Rye, who gave a yelp and rushed to catch it.
"Soap from Lilligant's place on me, like I promised. You'll probably need it," he said before turning and walking off. I stared after him for a moment before giving a little nod to myself, taking the bar of soap from Rye's hand, and pushing myself up.
"Whoa, hey, now!" Mavy cautioned as he scurried under me, letting me lean on him as he led me back into the infirmary. As the three of us ended up at my bed inside, Rye and Mavy watched me expectantly, clearly waiting for my decree.
"Cahn wait?" I asked. My partners exchanged a glance.
"The wott's spoken. I mean, yer the bossmon here, it's your call," Mavy said.
"A-alright. If Beck's out by tomorrow, then I guess we'll just... yeah, wait," he decided. An agreement reached, we sat there for a moment, unsure of what to do next until Rye cleared his throat, clearly ready to change the subject as his gaze shifted to the bar of soap now resting by my bed.
"So, uh, how does this work? Do you, like, just rub it all over yourself?" he asked.
"Wut, you never used soap before?" Mavy asked.
"I-I can just wash myself off. Or, uh, shed my skin," Rye said. "Wh-why're you asking me about this? You don't seem like the type to, you know, clean yourself."
Mavy snorted as he gave me a quick look.
"You lucky sonuvaweezing," he said as he began to regale us with a tale. "Ma would have to force me into the water every time I started smellin'..."
In the late hours of the night, the carved-out caverns of the Vertress Plateau laid quiet and still. None other than night watch, some rowdy stragglers, and a select few were still awake and alert among the Phoenixes' numbers within. However, out of all of them, most would have never known of an anomaly in the underground fortress's silent ambiance: haunting music flowing through the halls.
Indeed, deep within the complex, Xatu stood motionless before a strange instrument, its keys appearing to play on their own. The Director had gifted him this piano, the last one known to work in all of the Gray Continent, though not without reason. It took much concentration and psychic prowess to play this device without the privilege of human hands, so the Director had decided this as a wonderful manner by which to train his pupil's psychic ability.
With years of practice under his wing, Xatu now stood still before his beloved instrument once more, playing a quick and elegant piece on the out-of-tune piano through telekinesis. However, the Beethoven piece quickly slowed to a halt as he looked up from his playing. After a moment's pause, he blinked.
"I know you are there. Reveal yourself, Executive Gengar, and get to the point, lest I tear you from this wall myself," he said. A quiet scoff sounded from the wall, followed by a shape suddenly emerging from the solid stone. Xatu only stared, completely unfazed as Gengar stepped out sporting a grin.
"Keh, you want me to get to the point? If you insist. Executive meeting, top priority. The golden wind blows gently over the keeper's grounds. A storm is brewing, consider an umbrella. The oak bench there almost laughs if you listen hard enough," he said. "That good enough?"
Xatu stared at the Ghost-type, who only smirked wider before phasing through the floor, vanishing into the shadows. Now alone again, Xatu considered the coded message he'd been given.
Expedition confirmed. Arcanine's Guild preparing for excursion to Caverns of Being. They are on alert, do not engage. You have one week, objective remains unchanged.
Not a moment was wasted before Xatu gently closed his piano and, with a brief bit of thought, teleported away to meet with his fellow executives.
The League could not afford to waste this week, this would be the best chance they had.
The Orb. The human. Both could potentially be within reach.
And yet both were still so very far away.
Author's Note: Sorry for the short one, my power went out for a couple days. Longer one next time, scout's honor.
Beans have been spilled. Where will this go? Well, I'm sure this will lead to no major developments down the road, none at all.
Stay safe out there, keep warm, and wear your mask.