Chapter 8 - Pep Talk

Four days. It took me four days as Pokemon to go and do something stupid. That's barely half a week.

What is wrong with me?

I sat in my bed with no plans to move, even though it was a bright afternoon. The very thought of doing so made me chuckle venomously. Where would I even go? I barely knew where I was to begin with.

Nuzleaf was still nowhere to be found when I had gotten home. The note he'd left detailed that he would be gone on a "business trip" that would last a few days. Okay, sure. I was fine with that. I wasn't really in the mood to deal with others at the moment.

I sat up in my bed, but fell back down with a sigh. How demoralizing was this? I thought I was on the verge of a true friendship, and it completely fell apart beneath my feet.

Did I need friends here? The question almost spurred me to sit right back up again, and truly gave me pause. Did I?

…Yeah, probably. I didn't think I'd be leaving anytime soon, so—

'Something the matter?' a voice echoed.

I flew up off my bed, and stayed up this time. Was I going crazy?

'I'm in your head, silly.'

I put two and two together and assumed a certain psychic-type I knew was behind the voice. My sanity was safe for now.

'Espurr, thank goodness. Uh, try to give me a heads up next time you decide to sneak up on my subconscious like that.'

'Where's the fun in that?' she teased.

Was she trying to cheer me up?

'Where even are you?' I asked.

'I'm by the bridge. I could feel your pessimism from all the way out here.' she replied, sounding concerned. 'What's got you so on edge?'

'Nothing… Doesn't matter.'

'Come on, you don't come off as someone who just spontaneously gets depressed. Is Pancham getting to you?'

I chuckled again. If only it were that simple.

I shook my head, then felt stupid because she wasn't in the room to see me do it. It's not that. It's… Leah. We got in a… a fight about Goomy, and I said some unnecessary stuff…"

'You did?' Her train of thought paused for what felt like forever. '…Well, I personally don't know her too well, but I overheard your conversation with Pancham and Shelmet last night after you evidently went to the Drilbur mines. You two must've really come together to beat Gabite like that. I wouldn't like to think some silly words would totally isolate two people after that.'

'So?' I thought. 'That's down the drain now, nothing but a worthless memory tainted by an argument only a day later.'

'Don't be so sure,' Espurr replied. Even through telepathy I could hear her reassuring purr. 'The closest thing Leah has to a friend besides you is Kanghaskan at the Cafe, and that's only because she interacts with so many people. Don't assume she's so closed-hearted that one little slip of the tongue will keep her back turned to you forever.'

"Damn it, that's my whole problem though!" I exclaimed in my head. "Her lack of friends was the very thing that I… I poked at!'

'Relax Sage, yelling in your thoughts is really loud on my end.'

'Sorry,' I thought in a lower 'tone'.

'Anyway, I heard her mention how you let her come with you to the mines. She won't be forgetting that anytime soon, trust me.' Espurr continued. 'Though, I'm a little curious… why did you let her come, exactly?'

I rubbed my chin, considering her question.

'Well…' I mused. 'I… I saw the way the village treated her unfairly, even though she'd done nothing to deserve being so talked down to. She might've deserved a scolding perhaps, but nothing that warranted malice. So… I gave her a shot by vouching for her to accompany me, and she ended up saving me from what would've been a nasty dragon rage to the face.'

'You were willing to give her a chance then,' Espurr continued. 'Why not now?'

'What do you mean?'

'Give her time to get over whatever personal demons she might be dealing with at the moment. When she's over it, she'll be there when you need her most. Just wait it out.' Espurr assured me.

'You're sure of this?' I questioned.

'Eh… it's a highly likely scenario. I'd definitely be surprised if she didn't.'

'How would you even know if you two aren't very well affiliated with each other?' I challenged.

'Being a psychic-type tends to help with understanding psychology. Didn't I say I could feel your pessimism from outside?'

Fair.

I rubbed my chin. '…Fine, you're probably right… Thank you for that.'

'That's better. Now, do you want to go explore together? No use in you wallowing around in your own sadness.'

I picked myself up, stretched my limbs for a moment, and walked outside. Espurr was leaning against a short tree humming quietly to herself. She looked up at me upon my arrival, a curious expression on her face. I spoke with a grin. "Why not."

That night my subconscious was plagued with dreams of the Beeheyem. Two of them approached me, only this time, their faces were replaced with Pancham and Shelmet's. I knocked them out easily before feeling a wave of nausea threatened to tip me over when I saw the third one. The Beeheyem was huge, and it had a Fennekin's face, the same one that had run away from me the previous day.

My eyes sprang open in the dark room, and I wearily looked around for any sign of danger. It took about a minute to comprehend the gap between dream and reality, and I had to elevate myself into a sitting position to clear the mist out of my head. I looked out the window to find that it was still too early to go to school by at least an hour or two.

It didn't matter; I clearly wasn't getting any more sleep anyway.

Stupid-ass dream.

After a couple of hours passed, I ate some of the food Nuzleaf left for me and exited the house. I was surprised to find the bottoms of my feet soaked in cold water as a puddle had formed in front of the front door, an indication that it must have rained last night. I glanced to my right towards Leah's house apprehensively, not wanting to inconveniently run into her on the way to school. I assumed she was still sleeping, and the urge to go talk to her was ever-present in my head. I forced myself to shoo it away on behalf of Espurr's advice. Leah would figure this out as I would, and that required time. It was something I decided I wouldn't stress about.

Leah and I had planned to walk together to school each day—emphasis on had—so it was a bit odd breaking this agreement only a day into it. I planned on just making do and going alone, but I was stopped by Espurr in the plaza.

"Oh, good morning Sage. Going to school too?" she asked.

"Where else?" I replied with an eyebrow raised.

"Cheeky as usual," she giggled. "But it's better than the crippling depression you were in when I found you yesterday, so I'm glad to see it."

"I'm—hey, come on, I'm not depressed Espurr," I pouted.

"Good. Going to school with a drooping tail is a bad look."

We walked down the path, hurrying at the end when Espurr realized we were a minute late. I hoped Fartetch'd wouldn't chew us out, and was fortunate to find that he was preoccupied with watching a dramatic scene unfold in front of the class.

"Oh my," Espurr whispered. "What's this?"

There stood Leah, Pancham, and Shelmet. All of them were locked in a heated discussion.

"What's so funny, huh?" Leah snarled at Pancham.

Pancham chuckled, looking down on her and trying to contain more laughter. "What's so…? You're joking right? Please tell me you're not this stupid."

"I can make it if I try! I believe I can!" Leah retorted.

"What makes you think the Expedition Society would accept you, of all applicants? You're a liability in a dungeon and you know it," Shelmet condescended her. Memories of my cutting words the day before shot back, and I felt the urge to deliver Shelmet a vine whip to his temple. The urge doubled when I saw Leah's reaction, one that mimicked the recollection of the day before. I was briefly worried she herself would attack him.

"You know what? Whatever. I'll prove you wrong," she muttered before heading back to her seat, staring at the ground the whole time.

Crisis averted, class proceeded as usual. It was incredibly awkward to be sitting next to her, but it was bearable. She just stared ahead the whole time, lost in thought. When our third period finally rolled around, Watchog came out and cleared his voice.

"In light of yesterday's events, we will make up for it with another dungeon lesson! You can all that your illustrious VP, which would be me, for orchestrating this!" he announced.

Everyone cheered except for Leah and Goomy. I certainly didn't mind going on another dungeon run. I was actually hoping for one. The past day had me tense inside, and I needed to loosen up with a little action.

"Alright, our two teams will be…"

Please no Pancham. Please no Shelmet…

I glanced over at Leah, who was staring at nothing in particular.

…Please not her either.

"Espurr, Sage, and Deerling!" Watchog bellowed.

I cheered inwardly.

"Awesome!" Deerling exclaimed. Espurr and I looked at each other and nodded, before walking over to Deerling and getting ready.

"Goomy, you don't mind sitting out, do you?" Watchog asked the dragon-type.

"I-I'd be happy to," Goomy quickly replied. Given who was remaining to be picked, I didn't blame him.

"Then that means Leah, Shelmet, and Pancham will be on a team. I expect you all to work together and not cause trouble."

Pancham just huffed, and Shelmet stuck his nose up into the sky in defiance. Leah didn't say a word and just stared at them with discontempt.

"I have placed flags at the end of the forest," Watchog declared. "Remember the things your invincible vice principal has educated you on. And for goodness sake—" he glowered at Leah. "—stick together."

Leah did not cower under his gaze; instead, she returned it with twice the ferocity.

Leah's team (though Pancham insisted that he would be the leader) prepared to enter. After a brief conference, my squad was ready to go as well.

Watchog counted us down, and we all raced into the forest for the second time in two days.