Mudd's Journey - Part Three

It was evening when me and Bulbasaur made our way into our designated room in Magcargo's Explorer Guild, and my first day in the Pokémon world was drawing to a close. I processed through the day's events in my mind. The world's fate... meeting Bulbasaur... the forest... Team Crushers... Cherish Town and its guild... and now me and Bulbasaur have officially founded an exploration team, Team Hero Helpers.

"Augh, too much to think about..." I strained, rubbing my head as it was experiencing a headache. "How are you doing bud?"

Bulbasaur, as I expected, was gleaming with joy. He was jumping up and down like a giddy child wanting some sweets, and was taking in the place for what it was. "I'm doing great! First, I meet you, then form an exploration team, now I'm in the world famous Cherish Town Explorer Guild and it's just so... so... so..." He tried to think of the correct word to say but it wasn't coming out of his mouth.

"Let me guess, fantastic?" I tried to complete for him, and I chuckled.

"Y-yeah, that!" Bulbasaur pointed in agreement at me and made a smirk on his face.

"Thought so," I smiled but it quickly faded away as I rubbed my head. I still wasn't believing it. Why was I here? How did I get here? Was this my apparent fate I had to muster? I hadn't the foggiest clue, and it was making my brain hurt. "Ow, this stupid brain of mine!" I bellowed, making Bulbasaur jump in shock, "I don't understand why I'm here!"

Bulbasaur looked at me and shook his head. "Mudd, you're just going to cause yourself more pain if you keep overthinking it. It's best if you get some rest, that'll hopefully get your brain working by tomorrow."

I sighed, I guess he's right. However, there was something that was bothering me. "Bulbasaur, how did you meet Ursaring? He seemed to know you the moment we walked in through the doors here. I'm confused as to what transpired between you two."

What I didn't expect was that Bulbasaur gave a sigh. "Oh, that was what was on your mind?" he said, and shook his head, a bit of loss and sorrow in his eyes. "It's a bit of a complicated story. He was essentially my guardian when I grew up as a baby, as I never knew my family. I was born into this world, but I didn't know why. As I've grown up, Ursaring took me in as if I were his own child and we would play together a lot. It would last hours upon hours, and we played tag, raced around the town, picked berries in the nearby forest and farmland not far from here, played games... I think you get the idea. As I grew older though..." he gulped and shuddered, "he became more and more distant to me, or at least s-so I felt..."

"W-what h-happened then?" I hesitantly asked him.

"W-well, one day, as I was walking home from playing with some of the local townsfolk, I saw that Ursaring was talking to the head of the guild, and my idol, Guild Master Magcargo. He was having a conversation with him about something, but at the time I didn't know what that would be. I felt nothing at the time, as I thought the two of them talking together was amazing, and I wanted to know what they were talking about. As I went in, the house was empty of course, but there seemed to be a different... feeling towards it. I looked around, and I saw a note on my bed, the wind blowing eerily outside, which s-still creeps me out to this day."

"I s-see." I took this in, but with everything else going on, I shook my head to try and put the other things to one side, as Bulbasaur told me his story. I had a bad feeling as to what was written on the note. "What did that note say...?" I hesitantly thought and looked at Bulbasaur square in the eyes. He looked like he was choking up in fear and pain.

"W-well, it said the following..."

Dear Bulbasaur,

I took you in when you were only a baby, having couldn't pain the guilt if I left you behind on that fateful day. You've grown up to be the best child I could have ever asked for, even if our blood wasn't related and you've stuck by that admirable dream of yours. Ever since you were younger, I wanted you to feel safe; to nurture you; to look after somebody as I was a old fool who just lived alone. I care for you a lot Bulbasaur, I really do, but... recently things have turned for the worse. I have tried to look after the home as best as I could, but as I'm growing older, caring for both the house and you has taken its toll on me. I've been thinking a lot about it and have made up my mind - this house is now entrusted to you. You may see me talk to Guild Master Magcargo, as I plan on moving out. He's offering me a job there, and I can't simultaneously look after you, the house and do this job, so that why I'm making the difficult decision to let this house be in your keeping from now on. You've shown to be courageous even in the most dire of situations, but please, just look after yourself. You need to make sure to protect yourself and the house, okay? I'm putting my trust in you, my boy. Bulbasaur, please take care of yourself. I'm going to be in the guild if you want to see me from now on, but until then, I've left this place in your hands. I'm sorry about this, so I've left enough supplies for you so you can look after the place. Take care my boy.

-Your Guardian

Ursaring

Bulbasaur was now visibly crying, and I could perfectly tell. Ursaring was struggling to look after Bulbasaur, so he was took in by the Guildmaster to be looked after. Now, both had been reunited, and although it looked like both had met each other regularly, the abrupt nature of the note brought Bulbasaur some bad memories. Now, having explained what happened, he couldn't bear the guilt of being alone.

"After I read the note, I began to question why. Why did he hide this information from me? Why did he have to just go and up and leave like that? I cried, the prospect of being alone being in my mind, and I didn't know what to do. The house became neglected, and I stood there, trying to figure out what to do. After a while, I began living in that house, and sorted everything out by myself from Ursaring's supplies and getting food and water from the local market in the northern part of town. The neglect I brought on the house got resolved pretty quickly, thankfully, and now it's still owned by me, but I now live here, with you. I don't know what to do with the house there, so maybe we can go there tomorrow." Bulbasaur wiped his tears away and gave a faint smile.

I was shocked, sad and sympathetic towards Bulbasaur, as I didn't know he had been through all of that when he was younger, to that one sudden day. However, this brought me to another question. "Why were you in that forest then Bulbasaur?"

"Oh, t-that?" he stuttered, "I was looking for food to get back in the house, why do you ask?"

This seemed like a half truth to me. I get why he was looking for food, but there were some other supplies scattered around Bulbasaur when I protected him from Arbok and Grumpig. "If that's the case, what were those things near your feet when I protected you?" He sighed, as I seemed to look straight through him. "You got me..." he conceded, and sighed.

"What do you mean?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I wanted to join the guild, and I had those supplies on me as I thought those could get me an entry into this place, bypassing the two-Pokémon rule. But alas, I was wrong, so I went searching in the forest, not just for some food, but also so I could prove myself I was capable of getting in. I was looking, in other words, for a friend. However, when I was searching, I got suddenly attacked from behind and ambushed by those two meanies. They mocked me, saying how I was never able to get to my dream, and they started attacking me out of spite. I called for help several times, but no one came... That was, until you saved me. That's why I thought when that happened, it was fate - perhaps even destiny. Right now, Mudd..." he paused, and smiled, "...I'm just happy to be here with you right now."

"You and me both," I retorted as I smiled back at him. "I'm sorry about your past, sounded like that day was really rough for you."

"Heh, yeah... you could say that again," he chuckled quietly and then looked out of the window. "Cherish Town looks so beautiful at night. All the lights fascinate me, and then there's the wider world. I wonder what's out there, beyond this town, beyond the trees, mountains, deserts, seas..."

"I wonder too," I said as I joined right next to him, "it's a wide world out there, that's for sure. I wouldn't miss looking at it for the world haha, hence why the pair of us formed an exploration team, right?" I laughed.

He looked at me and smiled. "Yeah, you're right." Bulbasaur yawned loudly and scratched his head with one of his bulbs. "I think I'm going to hit the hay right now, goodnight buddy." He laid down on the hay used as a bed, and went to sleep, happily snoring in content as he made himself his first best friend.

I looked out the window, and he was right. The town looked beautiful, reminding me of the time I first saw this place, it looked like a metropolis, and I stuck by that thought. Lights gleamed and danced in the night sky, a dazzling display of awe right before my eyes. Stars shone brightly and reflected in the moon's view, a harmonious side of nature beholding the environment. I scratched my head with my paw, reminding myself of when I was an aspiring Pokémon Trainer, with my pal Froakie, traversing the land as far as the eye could see. We won gyms, participated in the leagues, and tried our very hardest together by our sides. I sighed, and looked out into the night sky. How was my team doing back home? Were they even missing me? I shook my head, answers not going to come to me unless I knew them for myself. As a Pokémon trainer, it was my job to look after my Pokémon, but...

"Mudd! Where are you?"

"Mudd! Come home!"

"Mudd, are you safe? Please... tell me you are!"

Memories of my past came flooding back, and it made me sigh deeply. People wondering where I was, how I was doing, if I was going to come back to my hometown, and the like. Here now in the present, I got called into a new world, voices calling me to be a hero, and saving the world...

The scenery though looked so tranquil, it didn't even look like it was suffering. Was this world really in danger? Was it really needing to be saved? I yawned, too tired to think any more and I lay back on my bed to rest and sleep. "Night Bulbasaur..." I muttered quietly and fell asleep, dreaming away, before I got pulled into a different reality... the dream world.

Silence. There was not a sound to be heard as I entered my sleepy cognitive state, my eyes glued shut as I rest with my own self conscience. However, as I lay back, my spirit seemed to be moving, shifting realities almost, and came into a space filled only with darkness.

I open my eyes, clouded with the void that seemed to ever expand as I looked around. There was nothing, except the chills sending a shiver down my spine, as I made my way forward.

"What is this place...?" I found myself talking out loud, not realising it, but I had a feeling something wasn't quite right. The place looked as desolate as a desert, stranded upon my own two steps as I wandered through this seeming abyss. How did I end up here? It was the only question my brain was telling me, but there wasn't anyone in sight. Not Bulbasaur, not Magcargo, not even Ursaring and the other townsfolk from Cherish Town.

As I began to think about what this potential place was, I heard the sound of low, cynical laughter, and it was coming from up ahead.

"W-w-what?" I began, "who goes there? Show yourself!" Yet much to my demise, there was no reply.

With every wandering step I took forward, an increasing feeling of unease swept through me, and I was getting more and more anxious by the minute. I wasn't alone.

When I came to a stop, the laughter became more apparent and louder. It was the sound of a child.

"C...o...m..."

The speech was still inaudible to hear properly, but I heard the sound of a few letters. It wasn't going to get me anywhere, so I kept on moving forward. It was until then that when I kept on going forward, I heard running.

"Come on bud, let's go!"

The voice was now pitch perfect and before I knew it, the space became engulfed in light and I lifted my two front paws still as a Froakie to avoid being blinded.

When I looked up again, I stopped and stood agape, looking now at the clear scene before me.

A young boy was running towards a house, with his own partner Pokémon by his side, and they were going to the front door. The boy had short, but rather streamlined, smooth brown hair, and had a face with pure determination. He had brown eyes, wore glasses, and was wearing a Pokémon-trainer attire complete with cap, bag, trainers, shorts and t-shirt with his partner Pokémon on it. He was smiling and jumping up and down with glee, and his partner was equally enjoying himself.

"That was another great battle today, but I want to tell Mum how well I did," the young boy smirked, pushing his glasses up in place and adjusting his cap.

His partner smiled in content too, but as I watched from the distance, this scene was becoming all the more familiar to me.

"That's... me." I shook in horror, knowing what was going to happen, and looked away.

The scene was depicting a young me as a human, and my partner Froakie being at my side. We had just won a battle against the Pewter City gym leader, Brock, and I celebrated getting my first ever gym badge, wanting to tell my Mum before heading off around the region. I knew what was coming though, so I let the scene before me unfold.

"Mum, I won! I won my first ever gym badge!" The human Mudd chimed, bursting through the door as if it were ripping off some wallpaper. Froakie followed behind him, running up to him and jumping on to his shoulder. He had a large smile on his face.

My mum came in, smiling. "Hm? Oh Mudd! That's my boy. Well done honey, I'm proud of you."

"Thanks! I wanted to come over and say I was going to go around Kanto to get other gym badges, but..." The human Mudd stopped and stared directly at Mum, who began to cough and splutter. "M-mum?! A-a-are you okay? It's not the sickness, is it?"

"Oh n-no honey, don't worry." She was always the reassuring type, but human me wasn't buying it. Her sickness was worsening every day, and it made her get frequent nose bleeds.

"Mum... don't say that, you always say you're going to be okay and how I should never worry, but your sickness is... is..." The smile which once burned his face turned into a sorrowful look clouded with worry.

"Heh, you two... you know I've always been proud of you Mudd. You've had the courage to stand up for yourself before at school and now on your own journey... sweet pea, you've grown up so much and it's what makes you special." Mum gave a weak smile through those words before returning to coughing and spluttering, stumbling over and leaning onto the couch.

"Mum!"

"Mudd, come here." The human me obeyed, and came in to look at my mum, whose nose was now bleeding from her sickness. She looked at me, and wrapped a hand across my face.

"You're my son, Froakie's your partner and that's all I could ever ask for. You two have already been through so much, and since you now have your first gym badge, you're ready to take on the wider world. Don't worry about me, you should be worrying about yourself," she uttered with a warm smile, the aroma of her perfume making it distinctly my mother.

"Mum... please, stop. We should be seeing a doctor and getting some medicine for yo-"

"Mudd. We've already been through this. The doctor has already diagnosed me with this sickness, and there is no known cure for it or for treating it. The only thing I want right now is for you to be there with your partner and go on an adventure like I used to do when I was little. You..." she coughed and spluttered, "...have given this mum all a person who can ever ask for. A loving son. A partner Pokémon to always be by your side. Life. You are the reason why I still exist to this day smiling, rather than being alone and depressed. You've given me everything I could ever have hoped to achieve."

The human me was beginning to become teary-eyed and was clutching Mum's hand, petrified.

"W-what should I do? Y-you don't mean..."

"Oh, my baby..." she leaned up slowly to kiss me but fell down again. "Ugh, this sickness isn't helping. Sweet pea, could you help me up?"

"A-anything for you!"

With this, human me helped my mother up and hoisted her to his shoulder, stumbling at first, but now managed.

"Help me up to my room please..."

She was become increasingly more weary, and her strength was leaving her rapidly. With all the strength he could muster, human me managed to get Mum upstairs and into her bed.

"Thank you. You know I've always admired your strength," she giggled but began to cough again, but this was becoming more violent.

"Mum!"

"Shhhhh. It'll be okay darling."

"S-stop saying that! Your health is becoming worse, and at t-this rate y-you'll... you'll..." Human me was now openly weeping, crying down tears and hugged my mother as hard as he could. "You'll die!"

"Oh honey..." my mother looked down and sighed.

"Y-you made me strong! When I first got Froakie from Professor Oak after he made a trip to Kalos, you were there for me and you didn't go away. You supported me, k-knowing what you were going through. You stayed by my side, and n-n-now..."

My mother stroked my hair as the human Mudd weeped into my mother's chest.

"Oh Mudd... You'll know I'll always be there for you, no matter what you say. I've told you before, at one point, I'll have to leave this world and go to heaven in the stars above. You're already here, and you're standing by my side. I'm always with you, both physically and in spirit. I'm never truly gone. You know that, don't you son?"

The human me could only nod on her as he tried to fight back streams of tears, nearly covering his face with them.

"Please, take care of yourself, Froakie, and your friends. That's all I'm gonna ask. You've grown so much, you've changed and it's why I'm so proud of you. You know you have that strength within you, don't you?"

"Y-yes..."

She smiled, and spoke distinctly with the last words I'd ever hear from her. "Good darling. I'll always love you."

"I-I'll... always love you too."

Human me hugged my mum still whilst crying as he lifted his head up to look at my mum. As she smiled, she gave a faint stroke on his cheek, and kissed him, but she began to cough and splutter violently again, and there and then, my mum fell unconscious... never to wake again.

"M-mum! Wake up! P-please!" At this point, human me was trying to do CPR and shake my mum frantically to see if she would wake, but there was nothing. No pulse, no heartbeat. Just only the sound of my tears and my increasing anxiety.

"N-no! Mum! MUM!" Human me yelled, and then screamed in agony as tears flooded my now mother's death bed. Froakie stood on his shoulder the entire time, not saying a word as he too was crying with tears with with happened.

As I then look back at the house, I shook my head and began to weep into my own paws as a Froakie myself. This was what started me going on a journey for redemption against the life that had been claimed and stripped away from me, and it was Mum... who... gave me my strength, with me forever going to use this for my own. This was a memory I kept sealed away, wanting to forget about as I battled my way across the regions, but I couldn't help but shake my head in disapproval and cry what seemed to be endless tears.

As I then looked, human me then burst through the door with his Froakie on his back, with his trainer attire on and running as fast as he could, not looking back. My brain then hurt, as it was this that caused a massive public outcry from the region who tried to look for me. They wanted to know if I was safe.

"Mudd! Tell me you're safe! Please!"

This was a phrase I heard constantly which stuck with me when I fled and hid, but eventually I got found, and... it was then I remembered my mother's funeral. Mum was really popular in Kanto, and her death caused widespread grief and mourning when it was announced. I shook my head, remembering everyone going up to her coffin, and there was me.

"M-mum! Y-you're okay, right? Well, I'm doing good and me and Froakie are here, a-as you like to say. I miss you so much," I fought back tears as I said my goodbyes, "and I'm doing strong for you. I will win across the world, I will try and become champion, and I'll go on an adventure... please me there for me."

I cried as my past came back to haunt me, and it was there white light engulfed me bringing me back into reality.

There I stood shook, petrified as I looked to see Bulbasaur sleeping soundly. The world I was brought into was peaceful, but having a dream about my past about sorrow... and Mum... did it mean something? Why did I have it? What did it mean? As I shook my head, tears streaming down, I looked at my new partner sleeping away.

"B-B-Bulbasaur..." I uttered. "N-no matter what, I'll always be there for you."

"T-thank you..."

This made me jump, as although he was clearly dreaming, it gave me reassurance with him still caring about me. Wanting more comfort, I moved my hay bed next to him and snuggled up to him, falling asleep as I did so.

(To be continued in Part 4...)