Chapter 25 - Tangibles
From my resting position near the base of Lapras's neck I craned my own to the side in order to see the horizon of the Air Continent. I stared humbly at the extremity until it grew into an animated streak of civilization, the colors and details of the distant buildings shifting into focus for me to pick apart. It was a rejuvenating sight in light of an unprecedented weather interruption through the ocean-gulf that tacked on an extra eight-ish hours to Lapras's initial estimation. The detour was necessary to avoid some kind of stirring not too far ahead of our arced path, which Lapras had been told of by one of her Castform weathercasters via the wireless communicator in her ear. It wasn't a huge deal to Archen and I, with the chance of running into angry skies and angrier seas being more than enough to petition a bit of our patience.
Leah, who was still stuck on the wrong end of an upset stomach, was not at all happy with the news of a further-elongated voyage across the sea. She had spent the first portion of the trip bundled up in a complete mess, leaning over the edge unable to find ease within herself. She eventually gave up on that notion once a few fruitless hours had passed by, resorting to merely doing her best to get accustomed with the circumstances. She forced herself to curl up against one of Lapras's cylindrical spikes to try and allow for the water's motion to become custom, letting out a discontented moan every now and then to indicate that nothing she tried was working.
Amusement and pity alike were natural feelings that I felt for her unfavorable situation, both being drowned out by the unavoidable conclusion that her only option was to get used to this. Not only would we be taking the exact same voyage back to the Water Continent in half a month, when we'd surely be much more fatigued and homesick as is, but it was easy to assume that we would be sailing all over the world with no real end to our global traveling marked on the calendar. It was our job, after all, to make a map of the whole planet, and swimming or flying across the ocean ourselves were two options that were practically redundant to even mention as future possibilities. I was fairly certain neither of us evolved to have sturdy wings or the uncharacteristic ability to swim across endless miles of saltwater, so that basically left us here with our buoyant friend Lapras.
Archen and I had spent the entire day of sailing mostly just minding ourselves, occasionally sharing a comment or a joke to pass the time. I tried to use this blank stretch to get out of the flightless bird what his little contraption was supposed to do, but he just left me hanging with a grin and a, "don't worry, you'll find out". Whatever; there was plenty else to think about out here on the open water.
Lapras had informed us of the weather issues just as the sun was setting, indicating that we weren't going to be as lucky after all and could expect to spend a full night out here opposed to our anticipated arrival a few hours before first light.
Even after doing nothing but spending the day resting, thinking, and occasionally reading into Jirachi's book on abilities to look for something that could benefit me, I still dropped straight into a slumber not long after darkness claimed the sky. I only hoped Leah had found enough solace to do the same, as it would be awfully ridiculous to be slowed down by sleepless fatigue that had built up when we weren't doing anything other than sitting around. Whether she actually had fallen asleep or not, she made it clear the next morning that she was ready for it to be over when her exhilarated spirit was resurrected by the prospect of placing her paws back on solid ground.
Now, as I stretched off the edge as far as I could while holding onto Lapras, I was able to take in the cultural particulars that appertained to Barem Town. The first thing I saw, as it could be inferred would be what anyone would first see, was the cardinally massive windmill that loomed over the hilltop settlement. The four extensions of its spinning apex ran their course through the air slowly but surely, presumably giving the town energy and definitely giving the signature construction a story of animation. Just one of the gradually-spinning wings was easily as large as a majority of the overshadowed buildings that had been built on the environmentally-refined hill, where it seemed that land had been carved out horizontally on several ascending levels for the sake of living on even ground.
Aside from the paths and stories carved into the hill, there were rather slim changes applied to the natural environment as seen in the blanket of grass that dominated the entire exterior of the settlement and effectively screamed its ecological affinity. Contrasting this overwhelming green was the triangular patterns colored onto the flaps that displayed desaturated shades of yellow, blue, and red, accompanied by the occasional white triangle as well. A half-dozen smaller windmills were scattered around and lifted these colors above the more explosive pallet of grass.
As our distance from the dock closed, I could begin to make out the species of various Pokemon going about their day. A few of them further up the hill noticed our approach, and either stared or waved. I turned around with an impressed grin to get my friends' attention, finding them both fast asleep on opposite sides of Lapras's shell.
"Archen! Leah! Look!" With a crack of a vine in midair, their heads simultaneously shot up from their resting positions. I gave them a moment to wipe the grit from their eyes and gather their bearings before I pointed at our destination. "We're here!"
Leah's gaze crested the water's edge and took in the hill extending up from the gulf where we were headed. I stared back at it too, sharing the view from a few feet in front of her while Archen moaned in the face of the morning light. He popped his beak lazily and blinked away the last of the dew that had settled in before glancing in our direction.
His eyes widened at the sight, and he fixed his legs to position himself for a better view. "Oh- we're here! Time really does fly when you're asleep."
"Woah, check that windmill out!" Leah beamed with excitement that overshadowed her previous discomfort. "That's incredible!"
"It's one of the biggest around, that's for sure." Archen was now standing opposite of me, craning his head over Lapras's other side while Leah wobbled over to look over my shoulder for a better view. But thanks to Lapras's brisk pace gliding through the water, we were already upon the settlement's baroque dock, located on an outcropping island that was connected to the hill-town with a short bridge. It was here that we could hop right off onto stable ground once more.
Leah dropped down and gave the dock a quick peck, comically whispering, "I missed you," to it before hopping back up with the fire in her eyes reignited. With most of the color already returned to her face, she let out an empowered bark and pumped her paw in the air. "Alright guys! I'm all good!"
Archen followed suit jumping onto the wooden planks, where another morning's yawn escaped his beak. I was right behind them on the transition from rocking vessel to stable ground, and nearly stumbled when my short legs failed to immediately adjust.
Archen had his gadget out right away, and pulled up the map to show us where we would be heading. "Again, the plan is to head south down into the mountains here." He pointed his wing to the same spot he had showed us before. "-where there's a small village in this valley here that's awaiting our arrival." He glanced up at the hill, where more Pokemon were beginning to flow from their homes to engage in their routine commerce. "We can run a quick circuit around town to get some things we might need, and then start heading south. We can be there by nightfall if we hustle."
None of us had any alternatives or objections, so Leah and I nodded understanding before our group split into thirds for the time being. I was hoping to get a better look at the marvel of engineering that stood as the town's uncontested centerpiece before we headed out, which was the first place I jogged off to once we had made our way up the ascending path. Leah decided to use her time differently, heading into a shop that caught her eye where I was certain I would have to eventually enter after her in order to drag her out. We didn't have much money as it was, but I didn't see that deterring her from obsessing with the souvenirs and cultural commodities that differed from that of the Water Continent. This was the first trip across the ocean for both of us, after all, so it wasn't hard to justify our shared interest in what this coastal hill-town had to offer its tourists. This curiosity was not exerted by our feathered colleague, however, as Archen regarded the place as though it was an average town that he ran through weekly to get his groceries. Without hardly looking around, he instead found a nice spot on a roadside bench to enjoy the chestnut cobbler he purchased from a merchant he knew from past encounters.
The windmill was just as impressive up close as it was looking at it from out on the water. Standing under it gave me a whimsical feeling of minuteness, and I gaped up at the sight. It was colossal, rooted into the ground with one eternal goal and the powers of nature helping chase it. And I was so small, with the power of nature evidently stacked against me on this twisting journey of mine. I would continue to stare up at it in silence, my face reclusive and my mind eventually settling on speculating what the next two weeks would be like. Being tuned out of reality like this was primarily what allowed someone to approach me without my immediate recognition.
"It's a marvel, truly," the voice at my side mused, shattering my short-lived trance.
I cast a leery glance to my right, and found myself staring at a large Pokemon whose image didn't at all fit the scholar-like voice he wielded. Three black heads extending from a levitating body stared up where I had just been looking, before descending to meet my gaze. I had to stop myself from gaping at the unique body structure that left his immediate intentions practically unreadable. The red and blue colorations on his central-body made me instantly think he was a dragon, but that didn't seem quite right. I hadn't met many dragon-types who's first impression was one of disarmament, much less any who actually tried to conduct themselves that way. Goomy was the exception, but even he was supposedly going to evolve into something spectacular one day. This fellow, with uncanny defiance toward my expectations, bore no resemblance to this stereotype with his triple-serving of a toothy grin and the bewitching stare from the central head.
"Uh, yes," I answered, trying to silence the bewilderment that threatened to make itself known through my voice. "It's very... interesting. Do these windmills power the whole town?"
The stranger rubbed the chin of his central head with his left arm, which was one of the weirdest things I had ever witnessed considering his left arm had a face of its own. "I imagine they do meet the sine qua non of the electrical and aquatic systems designed in the buildings and homes here. Although I do not live in this town myself, I have beheld a sundry of technologies designed with the intention of redistributing energy, and I'll vouch that the work of art before our eyes is one of the most popular and cost-effective designs in this part of the world."
Something was off about this guy. The way he conducted himself, specifically the way he spoke, didn't at all add up to what a Pokemon of his species would normally be tailored for. My first inclination was to think that he was a street marketer, but I ruled that out when I saw that he held no belongings on him, floating around without a bag or apparel of any kind. Maybe he was a thief or a kidnapper playing his innocence card to get close? That Krookodile back in Lively Town was enough proof that there were Pokemon in these populated areas who relished in their unlawful actions, so I knew I couldn't trust this guy just strolling up to me. I tensed my legs and shoulders ever-so-slightly, not willing to fall under my guard against the unknown intentions of this strange newcomer.
The dragon noticed my visual prying instantly and chuckled, spreading his two arm-heads and continuing to give me three wide smiles. "How rude of me for my rash approach," he said. "My name is Hydreigon; I am just an erudite traveler. It is a pleasure to meet you."
He extended one of his arms. I wrapped half a loop of a vine around it and shook in greeting, making sure not to poke or slide across the face on the end.
"My name is Sage. It's nice to meet you Hydreigon."
"Well, Sage, what brings you to Barem Town?" he asked as I retracted the vine back into my shoulder blade.
I listened intently for any sign of ill-intention in his voice, but still found none. A red flag shot up that he was asking me that despite admitting to not living here, but I ignored it to keep myself from seeming paranoid.
Without wavering an inch, I answered his question indifferently. "Just here on a little trip for a school project on other cultures. Nothing big."
"Ah, I see," I heard him voice with a pint of interest. I had no reason to assume that the lie didn't succeed with his relatively-monotone response, so I eased up an little further in his presence for the sake of engaging in fluent conversation. He clucked his tongue and nodded affirmatively. "It is wonderful to see this world's youth pining to learn about the ways of others. It is amazing how just a bit of relative education can bring differing communities together to harmonize, no?"
I just told him I'm doing a school project, and yet he's talking to me as if I'm a fully-matured adult, like Ampharos or Carracosta. What is up with this guy?
"I suppose so," I shrugged, glancing back up at the windmill's hypnotic spinning to avoid his gaze in the most casual manner I could muster. He followed my gaze upwards, and said nothing. A moment of what felt to me like consideration passed before he spoke again.
"I don't mean to pry, but would your class happen to have studied the design painted above us on the sails?"
My attention shifted to the triangular patterns above on the windmill blades' flowing fabric. The three primary colors circled through the air in their eternal loop, and I had began to open my mouth for another nonchalant reply when I noticed something peculiar. From further away on Lapras's back, I could only make out two dimensions of the sails, so of course I wouldn't have thought their design to be anything other than a flat piece of cloth covering the space between the lightweight poles that extended from the central axis. By standing directly under them, however, I could see better how the colored threads had been tied in a horizontal fashion that was difficult to decipher the exact pattern of just by staring at a moving target. It almost looked like two fabrics had been woven into one body that was slanted in on itself rather than just being one flat product.
What made this particular design worth paying attention to at all was how the colors conjoined and contracted as the angle I viewed them at constantly changed with the circular motion. Whether building the sails in this compounded fashion actually assisted in its efficiency was something I wouldn't know, but it definitely made for a cool-looking artifice. The three colors flowed into the scattered white triangles in a straight line before extending across it evenly to form three triangular rays out the other side. Then the sail would circle out of sight and the same trick of the eyes would repeat itself on the next.
"No, we haven't," I claimed. It technically wasn't a lie since I had never studied anything back in Serene Village that would equate to the art that I was seeing now, not that I found any remorse in keeping my intentions reserved from this random stranger.
Hydreigon gestured up above with one of his arm-heads, the mouth and eyes on the end of it being lazily stimulated by the temperate motion. "You see the optical illusion occurring up there?" he voiced with piqued interest. "It is believed by some to originate from a primordial civilization that long ago dominated the entirety of the Grass Continent. They worshipped the goddess of light, and strived to spread her scripture of love and life throughout the known world." In one sudden motion, the six black appendages on his backside thrashed downwards, and the was dragon lifted several body-lengths off the ground to get a better view for himself. "The primary colors enter here through the prism, and extend outward to dictate all life." He looked down at me and smiled sheepishly. "...or so it is told, ha!"
I rubbed the back of my head for a moment to contemplate, taken aback by the generously unprecedented history lesson that was just dropped on my head. I smacked my lips in response to the patient gaze that the educational dragon was giving me, and nodded at him hesitantly.
That little sign of enlightenment was enough for him, apparently, because he shot me another enticed triple-grin and pivoted right back into his lesson. Floating up further, he was now right under the path of the windmill's turn and was diligently inspecting the pattern of the blades as they drew close to him. "See right here? The yellow coloring is intended to represent the beginning of life and the ramifications of a newborn's shining beauty and potential."
Then he floated a bit to his left, eyeing another blade as it slowly passed by him at an almost-horizontal angle. "The blue you see is the content of life; the budding of this shining potential and the defined axioms that give it coherency."
He flew to his right and up a bit, continuing to pick at the details from angles that I couldn't hope to with my restricted anatomy. "And the red represents an end to life: the conclusion of the soul's influence and the transition into new life where the cycle would continue ad infinitum."
He went silent for a moment before wrapping the tangent up. "...And finally, the white triangle. The prism. It represents the goddess of light: the energy that channels through this planet's veins and arteries. The roots of the Tree of Life."
My mind, in a way, was mimicking the Hydreigon's inability to sit still and remain collected. I was at a loss at what most of that rambling was supposed to mean, understanding the basic premise but failing to comprehend the circumstantial references that he was stretching to make. Again I found myself thinking: who even is this dude? What's his deal?
"O-kay..." I said, unsuccessfully taking it all in. I couldve just left it at that, but I decided I'd continue the conversation for the sake of being polite. And because I was curious if his gallivanting actually held any merit that I could learn of. "Yes, that's very, um, interesting. But if you don't mind me asking, what does some ancient symbolism have to do with this windmill? It's- well, it's just a windmill; one that's been built in more modern times, right? And we aren't even on the Grass Continent."
"Ah, those are valid points young one," Hydreigon nodded with some consideration granted my way. "But the architect who designed this town, on the other hand, was born and raised there. He engaged in extensive studying into his remote ancestors, and discovered this civilization in his blood."
The dragon rubbed his chin for a moment to think. "I do believe he is the standing mayor of Barem Town still, although I am aware he is growing along in years. You could consult him if you so desired to learn more..." He paused to shoot me yet another smile, except that this one was unexpectedly level-headed and gave me the ominous feeling that he could see right through me. "...you know, for your school project. Anyway, it seems I must be off to run a pressing errand, but I do hope we meet again Sage."
"Right, thanks," I said, already beginning to turn around and make my way back to where I had seen Archen sitting.
That was awkward... I don't think I'm that into windmills anymore.
Archen saw me from a ways away and hailed me down with a raised wing. He tossed the empty bowl he had been eating from at a waste bin and got up from his seat, not caring that the container missed its target by about two feet.
"Mmm, this place always has good food," he mumbled satisfyingly to himself with a tasteful smack of his beak. He looked at me, and then glanced around questioningly. "Hey, do you know where Leah ran off to?"
"Yeah," I sighed, shaking my head. "I saw her in some kind of shop. I'll go ge-"
"I'm right here!" I heard her voice call. Archen and I looked to our left to find the yellow and orange vixen bounding over to us. An jubilant grin was plastered on her face and drew an arcing underscore to the white flower nestled in her right ear. She poked at it idly as soon as she reached us, as though it was difficult to notice despite sticking out as plain as day. "I got this over at that little place over there by the fountain! It only cost me eight-hundred Poké."
I did a double-take and scowled when the price registered. "Seriously?" I challenged. "Eight-hundred just for a useless accessory?"
She shook her head in defiance. "Nuh-uh! It's not useless, watch!" She plucked it out of her ear and spun it around, revealing a piece of plastic embedded onto the end of the stem. She pushed on the back of it slightly, and a tiny conic point jutted out with a clicking sound. "See!" she said proudly. "It's a pen too! Cool, right?"
I shut my eyes and shook my head, before taking the flower-pen out of her outstretched paw and delicately placing it back in her ear. "Whatever," I sighed. "Can you try not to go spending our money on trivial things like this? At least wait until we're a bit richer."
"Yeah, remember that you still owe me for the Lapras Liner passes too," Archen chimed in.
Leah and I widened our eyes at what he said, and Archen cracked up at our reaction.
"I'm just messing with you!" he chuckled. "Those can be on me." We both sighed in relief, but he wasn't done. "However..." he added. "You'll have plenty of cartography and rescue campaigns on other continents as well, so you'll need to purchase your own passes for those."
Something moved irregularly through my peripherals, and I momentarily tensed up before realizing it was just something far away in the sky. I was about to write it off as just an outlying bird Pokemon gliding along with the wind when further observation revealed that 'falling' would've been a more accurate term to use.
"Aw, can't Ampharos just-"
A vine tapping on Leah's shoulder stopped her mid-sentence, and she looked at me questioningly before following my gaze toward the northeastern skyline. Archen was only a half-second behind us, barely looking in time to see the aerial body cross the horizon and collide with the trees in the path of its crash course. A loud crashing sound was produced from the impact that could be heard distinctly from our position a couple miles away.
"What the- what the hell was that?!" Archen exclaimed as the three of us ran toward the edge of the bridge to get a better view. We couldn't see much since the crash's aftermath was concealed by a thick canopy of green, but we didn't really need to see much in order to understand that something must have gone very wrong. Roughly a dozen Pokemon hanging out around this side of the hill-town rushed over to get a look for themselves as well, drawn in by the crashing sound of a fast-moving target connecting violently with the earth.
"Blimey! What was that?" the Pokemon nearest to us, a Skorupi, muttered under his breath.
"Was that a meteor?" someone towards the back bellowed.
"Someone's crashed!" an odd fungus-shaped Pokemon that I'd never seen before cried out.
"Bzz! Wh-what do we do? Page the local rescue team?" another Pokemon near us, this one a Mothim, buzzed uncertainly.
The Skorupi scoffed at the suggestion. "I guess that's all we can do, not that it really makes a bloody difference. It'll take those lazy bastards all day to even get over here, never mind actually entering the Mystifying Forest to rescue someone."
Most of the Pokemon in the group of observers nodded their approval, making me wonder if something in particular was wrong with the rescue teams around here. I could still clearly recall Archen's critical description of the reproaching rescue efforts in the Air Continent as of late. An unexpected population rise and a sparse roster of capable squads to accommodate the growing number of civilians was something I'd call a recipe for disaster. I could only imagine that the citizens living here were getting tired of it.
I shot Archen a suggestive glance, gesturing slightly towards the forest we were overlooking with a sideways tip of my head. He got the message without a problem and, without really needing to think about it, nodded twice. Leah glanced back and forth between us, and flicked her ears indicative that she was on board as well.
Archen moved over to the edge of the bridge and raised his wings in the air. "Everyone, attention! Attention please!" The group of about two dozen, which had gradually grown as more Pokemon made their way over to check out the loud noise,
halted their hushed speculation at Archen's request. The flightless bird gave them all on quick glance-over, and adjusted the strap on his bag so he could comfortably stand up a little taller, and also so his badge could be easier seen by everyone in the crowd. "It seems like someone has crash-landed in the woods over there. Fortunately, the three of us work for the Expedition Society in Lively Town. We'd be more than willing to go check it out."
"How much is that gonna cost us?" a Pignite in the crowd grouched at us with narrowed eyes.
Archen tilted his head in mild confusion. "Cost?" he echoed. "No repayment is necessary for something like this, especially not from any of you who aren't involved to begin with. Why would there be?"
The Skorupi in front furrowed his spiked brow and nodded slowly. "You would think so," he said. "But Team Smackers, the only team designated to Barem Town, tends to see things differently."
Again more nods and grumbled agreement came from the crowd. "More like 'Team Slackers'," I heard one of them grumble under his breath, earning a few amused sounds from some of the other bystanders.
"Well-" Archen began awkwardly. "I see. That's unfortunate to hear." He suddenly stood up taller and half-glanced back at the woods for a brief moment. "But as I said, we'll go check it out free of charge, and do what we can to help whoever it is that needs rescuing."
The Skorupi turned around to speak with a few of the Pokemon in the group for a few seconds, until they finally reached what sounded like a conclusion. The purple poison-type faced us with an inquisitive look on his face. "Okay Archen, Snivy, and Fennekin of the Expedition Society. It sounds like a plan. Thank you for your help."
Archen nodded. "Just doing our job." He then turned to Leah and I and smirked. "I guess our work over here is starting early, huh?"
The jog through the woods was nothing new for us, with the exception of a few wild Pokemon that Leah and I had never seen before on the Water Continent. Fortunately for the time necessity of our abruptly-accepted mission, none of the Pokemon here were very strong, many of them being grass and poison types that fell like dominoes from the relentless force of Leah's flamethrower and psybeam. Archen let me take point at first, but I had quickly caught on to the average typing of our aggressors and vouched for my partner to lead instead, which proved to be a beneficial idea since she could engulf approaching enemies in flames long before they could get to us.
She actually managed to maintain her self-control this time, not rushing off ahead starving for adventure like she had always exhibited a tendency to do. It was only when we neared clearing in question that she bounded ahead at the first sign of disturbed vegetation.
I cringed at the sight of the damage, hoping that whatever had fallen wasn't a live Pokemon. A number of trees had been entirely uprooted and snapped in splintered chunks to fall and hang off of other trees. Much of the damage had been reduced to walking level and had effectively created an unstable jungle gym of organic obstacles for us to carefully maneuver through. Any living thing, large or small, that caused this much damage from a crash-landing could very well have succumbed to their injuries from the impact the moment it happened. Even if that wasn't the case, and I sure hoped it wasn't, they'd be more than lucky to have made it out of this alive, let alone ever take to the skies again.
After shoving aside one final heavily-splintered branch with the swipe of a vine, I emerged into a clearing with a giant crater in the center, which Leah was already standing on the edge of and staring down into. Archen was on my heels, and froze in place when he laid eyes on what we were seeing.
The unidentified flying object that had flown through the air seen from Barem Town was too distant and moving too fast to determine exactly what it was from the brief moment that I had caught sight of it. It certainly had made sense to assume it was a flying Pokemon whose morning glide had gone horribly wrong, but it could've just been a freak meteor occurrence all the same. It was pretty simple; I had expected what we found to either be a Pokemon or not be a Pokemon. Instead, in the most paradoxical sense, I found myself looking down at something that fit both descriptions.
Lying in the crater, covered in dust and grit, was the falling object in prospect. It was in the shape of a large jet-winged Pokemon, that was certain, but the resemblance to any sort of living creature stopped there. The entirety of it was a rocky gray color, and sat in the dirt at a stiffened angle that indicated that it's structure was rigid. The fact that it refused to negotiate with bending out of place in spite of the calamitous fall it had taken was more than enough support that this was no living thing. I'd have said it was just a meteor, but since when do meteors chiseled to be the exact shape of an actual Pokemon fall from the sky...?
Then it clicked.
Of course statues didn't just fall from space. What was I thinking? This phenomenon was made possible by the fact that the piece of rock below was indeed once alive and breathing, but was now reduced to-
"Stone..." Archen whispered, who then slid down into the five-foot deep crater to compose a better observation. He ran his wing across it's gray surface, and I could literally see the shiver that flowed through him as he made first contact.
"That's not possible," I whispered to nobody in particular. I had seen a similar image before, of a Pokemon who had been turned to stone and displayed in the newspaper that Pelipper had delivered us in Serene Village. How foolish I was to think that a tiny little two-dimensional photo could do justice to the sight before my eyes. I had felt unsettled back then, but that was nothing compared to what I was feeling now. I felt like I was going to throw up right there. Leah looked like she was going to lose her breakfast all the same, and not because of some irrelevant seasickness.
"This is Latios," Archen murmured aloud to himself. He was inspecting the victim's anatomy, specifically the spiked wings that allowed it to fly once. Archen had a front of phlegmatic focus plastered on his face, but I could tell by his body language that he found this just as horrifying as Leah and I did. "Latios is a legendary Pokemon who is capable of flying at supersonic speeds. But what was he doing way over here? How did he get turned to stone mid-flight? And where's Latias at?"
"Is he dead?" Leah impulsively asked without really considering the gravity of her question beforehand.
Archen looked up at us, glanced back at the stone figure next to him in the crater, and finally shifted his gaze back up to us again. "I..." he trailed off, inwardly parrying with the precise definition of 'death' Leah could be referring to. "I don't know. Part of Project Chisel is to find a way to bring a Pokemon back from this, but we've made so little progress that Ampharos hardly ever mentions the operation at all. So... so yes, there's a very real chance that he's dead."
"Who's Latias?" I asked him, having overheard his idle ramblings.
"Latios and Latias are two legendary Pokemon known as the 'Eon' twins. Latias looks a lot like Latios, except she's a tiny bit smaller. They apparently go everywhere together, but... she's nowhere to be found it seems."
I was about to warn them that we might be in potential danger being so close to someone turned to stone when I smelled something peculiar. I raised my long nose and gave the dusty air a subtle sniff.
"Do you guys smell that?" I vocalized my suspicion. "Is something burning?"
Archen's got up from his kneeled position, breaking his in-depth inspection to glance around and sniff the air. Leah did the same.
"It does smell that way," Leah said after a moment. "But there's no smoke or fire anywhere."
She was right. The smell was omnipresent, and yet no sign of combustion was to be found. At least, not until I noticed the ashes.
"Look at that," I hissed, jabbing a vine towards the dirt. Lacing the crannies of the crater was ashes that had blended in with the dust when we arrived but was now distinguishable once I knew what shade of gray to look for. I rubbed my hand over some of it, sniffing once more. The ashes were still warm to the touch.
"Know of any fire-types that can turn other Pokemon into stone?" I asked Archen curiously.
"If I knew of any type of Pokemon that could turn others to stone, we'd probably be chasing after them instead of running a campaign over here," Archen huffed in defeat. "Not that that matters much anymore. We're involved now whether we like it or not."
Leah sat down to gathered up some of the ashes, trying to get as much as she could in her paws as some of the scorched dust fell through. She trotted over to me and reached her mouth into the bag slung around my shoulder. She pulled out her half-full can of chesto berries and, to my amazement, downed all of the the remaining berries in one chug. Leah then sprinkled the ashes into the now-emptied cylinder, placed it back into our bag, and clapped her paws together a couple times to get the dust off of her.
"We can bring this back to Mawile to study. Anything helps, right?" she suggested, answering the brief questioning stare that I gave her.
"But what do we do about this?" I asked the two of them, gesturing to this 'Latios' fellow's remains. "Is there any logical way we could get him back with us?"
"Well, carrying him is out of the question, especially since I'm pretty sure he's a whole lot heavier now," Archen said while rubbing the bottom of his beak in dead-end thought. "Yeah, I don't think this guy is going anywhere for the time being. All we can do for now is snap a few pictures with our gadgets and head back."
"We could try looking for the culprit," Leah suggested thoughtfully.
Archen's eyes widened, and he looked at her as though she was crazy. "No way. I couldn't let you two rookies get involved in a high-risk chase like that. This is clearly no average thug we're dealing with, if it's even a Pokemon doing this at all." He adjusted the strap on his bag for the fiftieth time today and shook his head. "No, no we need to get back to town as soon as possible. I still need to call Ampharos and let him know we're here, so I can tell him then about what we've seen here."
Leah looked like she wanted to argue, but held her tongue and acquiesced to Archen's directions. With one last nervous glance at the glazed eyes of Latios, I hopped out of the crater and we all began to head back to Barem Town. In the midst of my paranoia, I could've sworn the stony eyes of the victim were following me.
I drowned out Archen's recollection of events as he spoke into the gadget. As the soothing flavors of the green gummi slushy flowed down my throat, I made a reasonable attempt to relax and enjoy the light jazz music playing in Barem Town's Cafe Connection. There was a lot of my mind, and I discarded the thought of drinking it all away with a little ice and sugar when it became apparent that I would not find mental tranquility so easily.
"Ugh, how do you drink that stuff?" Leah scoffed as I took another sip, earning her a raised eyebrow from me.
"Because it's delicious," I replied flatly.
"No it's not, it's too... organic. Like a salad," she concluded after taking a second to find the right word. "Red gummi drinks are much better."
"Too spicy," I disputed with her. "But you know, I'm pretty sure our taste buds are designed to favor the gummis that align with our typing, so I don't think we'll ever come to an agreement on this."
"You're probably right," she murmured. She flicked her straw and solemnly watched it spin around in the cold liquid, our conversation stopping there under the obvious weight that had fallen on our group.
Archen was right there next to us at that moment, though, having finished his call with Ampharos and coming over to debrief us on our next move. I found myself shocked when he told us what it was.
"Well, I'll be damned," he rasped. "I'm going back to the Society base to give Mawile the pictures and clues we gathered, while you two are staying here to finish the mission we were called here for. Ampharos' orders."
"What? Why would he have the two of us stay when you're the one who knows this land better than either of us?" I challenged.
Archen shook his head and shrugged. "I tried to tell him that, but the chief was set firmly in his decision." The flightless bird eyed the two of us for a second with a mixture of curiosity and meticulous uncertainty. "I don't know what he sees in you two, but if he thinks you can get by in this foreign land on your own then I don't see why I shouldn't. I wish you the best."
"In that case, here," Leah piped up, grabbing the canister with the pawful of ashes inside and giving it to Archen, who put it in the little travel bag on his hip that he kept his necessities in.
"Awesome," Archen said, thanking her. He looked us over one last time and inhaled deeply. "Well, I guess I'm off then. Not how I expected this to go, that's for sure, but it's alright. Just make sure to give it your all for the next two weeks. You remember where the location is, right?"
I nodded. "I got it marked on my map."
"Alright. Good luck."
Archen lightly bumped his wing into the tip of my vine as a sign of farewell, and then into Leah's outstretched paw. He pressed his way out the door to the Cafe with a final wave, leaving Leah and I sitting alone at the booth. Just like that, it was back to the two of us again.
"Looks like we really can't stop getting involved in big messes, huh?" Leah joked after a couple minutes of silence passed that was only occasionally interrupted by the sound of liquid traveling up our straws.
I thought about her comment, and chuckled at how true it was. We weren't exactly looking for trouble, and yet it seemed to find us on a near-daily basis. Now we were suddenly involved in the whole "Pokemon turning to stone" business, even though we were over here on the Air Continent for an entirely different reason. We had also been involved with that unexplainable nightmare in that cave a few days ago, despite heading that way for an entirely unrelated mission then as well. Thinking back even further brought along the whole mess with the Beeheyem, who hopefully wouldn't make themselves relevant anymore.
How things had changed since the days of rushing into the danger, like when I had chased after Budew or when Leah and I had delved into the Ancient Barrow to save Pancham and Shelmet. Now, it was the danger rushing at us, and it showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. Especially not after this morning's events.
I just shook my head. "No, we really can't seem to stay away from disaster," I chuckled some more. "It's getting a little ridiculous at this point."
Leah got up from her seat, having finished her drink, and went to grab her flower that she had sat down when she halted in place. "Look!" she gaped, lifting up the bag that was sitting next to her accessory on the unoccupied table next to ours. "Archen forgot his other bag, the one with his fancy contraption in it. What do we do with it?"
I thought for a moment and shrugged, realizing a good ten minutes had passed since our colleague had made his way out the door. "He and Lapras have probably already left by now, so we'll just have to take it with us. I'm pretty sure the deposit box won't store something like that."
I tossed Leah the treasure bag, and she tossed me the slightly heavier bag packed full of lightweight fabric and metal, which I was beginning to draw comparisons to the material used to build the windmill sails from before.
"Come on," I said while already heading out the door, downing the last of my slushy. "We need to get moving if we want to be there by the time it gets dark."