Chapter 5

Hidden Truths

Ruby caught up to the other two Pokémon and noticed they were now conversing with a bipedal, mammalian Pokémon that resembled a young panda. Its head and short, puffy tail were white. It had a triangular black nose, rounded black ears, black circles around its eyes, and tufts of fur on top of its head and each cheek. Its upper body and hind feet were black, while the lower body was dark gray. Where the two colors meet, the dark gray formed a three-pointed pattern on its chest. There were three digits on each paw and small, dark brown circular pads on the soles of its black hind paws. The Pancham was carrying a small, green leaf in its mouth.

"You've gone too far, John! Max is younger than us!" Bella scolded the Pancham.

"Oh, come on! The Foreboding Forest isn't dangerous. There's hardly any wild Pokémon. All we did was leave a piece of paper deep in the forest for him to bring back," John responded.

Darwin was nodding along before he noticed Ruby and asked, "Hey, who are you!"

Ruby jumped in surprise but then gave a determined look and said, "my name is Ruby, and I'm gonna go get Max. What does he look like? How far in is he?"

Bella gave a confused look at the fire type's calm demeanor but nodded and replied, "Max is a dragon Pokémon with a slimy body. You'll know him when you see him."

"Ok, I'm on it!" Ruby assured before dashing off into the forest.

"Wait, that place is a…." Ruby was out of sight, and all Bella could do was hope she found her way.

Ten minutes later, Ruby arrived in a clearing in the forest. She had encountered a few wild Pokémon, but they ran off after a few ember attacks.

Soon enough, she found Max and the note, and for a supposed dragon Pokémon, Max was far from intimidating. Instead, he was a pokémon that resembled a slug or a slime with beady black eyes. The lower half of his body was light purple, while the upper half was a paler shade of purple. Along the dividing line of the two colors were five large, green spots. The front part of this line was his mouth. On top of its head were two pairs of antenna-like horns; the hind pair was longer than the front pair.

"Hi, are you Max?" Ruby asked to be sure.

"Wha!" Max jumped in surprise before seeing Ruby's friendly smile and calming down.

Ruby rolled up the note into a scroll and then motioned for Max to grab it, only then realizing he had no arms.

"How did you write your name?" Ruby questioned, noticing the three letters on the piece of paper.

Max pointed to a stick with black mud on it before using his horn to grab the paper and stick it to his back.

Ruby nodded and said, "cool, hold on!"

Max gave a strange look only for Ruby to stand next to him and burst into rose petals, taking the Goomy along with her. It happened so fast that Max could barely register he was moving, and just like that, they were back at the forest entrance.

"Whoa, you can teleport!" Max said in awe.

Ruby was about to respond, but she hesitated since Jed had told her how abnormal the power was. She didn't know why she could or why the power seemed like second nature to her, so she decided to lie.

"Nah, you just weren't as far in as you thought!" Ruby said enthusiastically as they exited where the other three kids were waiting.

Max shook the paper off his body as it unrolled; John and Darwin gasped.

"You actually did it!" Darwin said in shock.

John looked closer and said, "ha, look at how messy the writing is! You were so scared you couldn't stop shaking! See ya, loser!"

The two ran off without a second thought, as Bell- sighed and said, "Max, I'm glad you're ok, but you could've been hurt. Don't let those two trick you into something like this again."

"Ok, Bella, I just wanted to prove I wasn't a wimp," Max said on the verge of tears.

Bella shook her head and said, "let's go home, thank Ruby!"

As the two left, Ruby smiled. Helping people like this felt great and familiar at the same time. However, this feeling felt distant, like something she wanted to do but hadn't achieved in the past.

"I wish I had my memories, then I might know what brought me here, but at least Jed and the other Pokémon seem nice." Ruby mused, but then it clicked, Jed had told her not to leave the house, and she was surely gonna be in trouble when she got back…..

Blake had to admit she liked Treasure Town; Veil had shown her around almost everywhere besides the Spinda cafe, which was closed for renovations. However, by the time they got to the Kecleon Market, there was one place they hadn't visited, Xatu Appraisal.

While Viel was going over his list with shopkeepers, Mike and Mark, Blake felt a pressure in her head, and then a voice saying, "come to Xatu Appraisal, I have an important thing to tell you"

"I'm imagining things," Blake muttered.

"You are not imagining things, young one, please; I'm just down the street and can help you with your...secret problem," the voice assured.

Blake went wide-eyed and turned to Veil, saying, "I'm gonna go see Xatu Appraisal; I'll be just a sec."

Veil nodded and replied, "ok; I'll need about 10 more minutes here; if you are not back in 30 minutes, I'll come to find ya."

Blake nodded and walked down the street a few tents and came to the place in question. A large tent in the shape of the Pokémon Xatu, and within were several chests and curiosities, along with a Xatu."

"Greetings, I am Xavier," the Xatu said in a respectful voice.

Blake gave a nervous look and replied, "what do you mean by my secret?"

Xavier's beak curled into a smile as he said, "you secret being you are not originally a Pokémon, but rather a human."

Blake tensed and got ready to run, only for Xavier to put his wing on her shoulder and say, "fear not, your secret is safe with me. I sense all Pokémon going through town, and your differing brainwaves tipped me off."

Blake relaxed, slightly applied replied, "how did you know, though? Belle said she couldn't read my mind."

"It's true insofar that psychics can't read your mind, but my brother on the Air continent and I have encountered your kind and sensed their brainwaves. So we cannot read your thoughts, but we can telepathically communicate," Xavier explained.

Blake gave a confused look and asked, "so you just assumed?"

Xavier shook his head and answered, "I am much more skilled in brainwaves and mind-reading than other psychics; even my brother cannot match me and is focused on a different set of skills. With only two other pokemon's minds acting the same way, it was a logical conclusion, as is the fact that you are a new face that didn't arrive by Wailord Liner or walked into town."

Blake stared blankly in response to the Xatu's blunt logic

Xavier got to the point with, "since you desire to keep your secret, you must master your psychic powers to appear normal. If it suits you, I can give you lessons on how to use your powers."

Blake nodded and said, "that...actually sounds great; when and how often?"

"Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at sunset; that is when my shop closes," Xavier clarified.

Blake nodded and said, "ok, then so this Friday to start?"

"Yes, I need some time to prepare, so tonight is inopportune," Xavier admitted.

Blake gave a small smile, but then a thought crossed her mind as she asked, "you said you and your brother had encountered my kind before, as in former humans?"

"Yes, one former human lives on the Air Continent, and one lives here on the Grass continent, right here in treasure town, to be precise," Xavier confirmed.

Blake's eyes brightened with hope as she questioned, "Where is he!"

"Unfortunately, he is away at the moment. As the leader of the best exploration team in the entire world, he and his partner are away rather often," Xavier explained.

Blake's ears drooped down, but she nodded and said, "Ok, what's his name?"

"His name is Alex, the leader of Team Outriders. No one besides the guild members knows about his past; in fact, former humans are a secret to most of the world," Xavier admitted.

Blake gave a confused look and said, "so everyone at the guild knows about the former human's existence?"

"Viel and newer guild members don't know. Regardless, I assume you don't want them to know?" Xavier assumed.

Blake looked away and said, "I just don't know who I can trust, and I want to fit in. You inviting me and telling me all of this shows I can trust you, but I'm not so sure about anyone else.

Xaver nodded and said, "that is your choice, but a warning. When Wallace, Cleft, and Team Outriders return in 2 weeks from the Exploration Society conference, they will very likely deduce the truth, no matter how careful you are…."

Author's note- Leave a review, I want to know what you all think...

1. Choose the names as best as I could for the school kids.

2. Yes, Ruby can use her semblance at will now, Blake can as well. again, with those tied to their would they come easy

3. Xavier is the brother of Koh, which in the name I gave to the Xatu from red rescue team. nice connection huh?

Next time- Ruby has her first day of school and Blake learns a bit about one of the items she arrived with.