Chapter 4 - Hysteria
In the coming months, my forest excursions have started becoming more frequent, thanks mostly in part to that night by the cliff. It has gone to a point where it took up nearly all of my free time. Not only was it fun and exhilarating, I was clinging on to the small hope that I could get another chance to help someone down on their luck. I even started scouting closer to town for a small time, since that's where a lot of activity takes place. The logic was there, but it turned out that everyone's too civilized to do anything dumb in public, so I returned to my normal routes.
There ended up being more than a few occasions where my prayers were answered, but none were as spectacular as I'd hoped. I've had several accounts where I managed to shove Pokémon out of harm, just before they were crushed by falling boulders or trees. I've also pulled a number of children out of raging rivers, who were in over heads as they jumped into such rapids only to start drowning. I did so in a way that was inspired by how Mabel gracefully saved my bucket a while ago. Those are only a few examples of what I did, and each time I was able to ensure that all they could see was my dashing figure. None of my rescues were ever as heart-throbbing as my first though, but that might be because I get dulled each time I do so. But the fact was still there - I was saving lives! Real, innocent lives that could have ended in an instant! It was hard not to get a little overwhelmed with how awesome it felt. I owe it all to my trusty scarf. As long as I had it on, I felt invincible!
Soon I was getting praise for my work, not directly of course, that would be bad, for me at least. Lately, when I go to town to eat out or buy some gardening supplies at a depot, I have started hearing rumors of a mysterious vigilante in the forest. Just hearing it made me feel warm inside, but I had to force myself to keep a poker face, my anxiety on getting found out was still ever present. At first I thought I was just hearing things, but an adorable Eevee girl confirmed my beliefs when she started popping up around the plaza, asking anybody if they had any eye-witness accounts of the elusive Pokémon. From what I've heard, she was the daughter of the family that ran the local newspaper. She looked the part too, since she is always seen wearing a pink newsboy cap and carrying a top-bound spiral notebook, and her pure demeanor looked more than enough to make even the grumpiest Pokémon smile. She even asked me if I knew anything. Thankfully I was able to play it cool.
"Hey there mister! Can I ask you something?"
"Huh? Oh umm… sure."
"Have you seen or heard about the mysterious hero that's been saving some of the population around here?"
"Uhh… no…?"
"Are you sure? It's been the talk of the town for weeks!"
"Sorry, no one really tells me these things."
"Hmm… yeah alright. Thank you for you time mister!"
I caught a glimpse of her notes when she interviewed me, and she had certainly been doing her homework, even though I judged her age to be a middle schooler at the most. She knew that this certain someone was a Leafeon, wore a gray scarf, appears sometime in the afternoon, and always swoops down from the trees. The fact that she knew the appearance didn't surprise me. Despite my attempts to remain unseen, anyone could see that if they looked hard enough. More importantly, her last two findings were what I found to be alarming. Looks like I have to be more cautious.
I returned home to find two friends waiting outside my door - one old and one new, at least I hope I'm right about the latter. The former looked like they were dying to tell me something. Mabel waved when I approached, "Hey Milo! What's gotten you so happy today?"
I stopped my whistling, which I wasn't even aware that I was doing since I was too preoccupied with carrying a big grain bag filled with fertilizer. "Oh, it's nothing. What are you guys doing here?"
"Isn't it obvious? There's a new mystery we have to solve." The Leafeon started moving her arms dramatically, "The mysterious hero of the woods" She said in an almost haunting voice.
"Yeah." Joy said plainly, but then covered her nose when I walked past them to open the door and let them in.
Eeeeew! Why does that bag smell like it's filled with shit!?
That's because it is.
Ugghh.
I dropped off the bag right outside my back door and washed the smell of compost off myself at my water trough, then went back to find Mabel reclining on my living room sofa. Joy had already took it upon herself to crack a window and stick her head out of it.
"So… is this hero the one that's been saving everybody lately?"
"Yes! So you have heard about it!" Mabel exclaimed,
"Hard not to."
"Who'd you hear it from?"
"I've uhh… heard things, like around the markets and stuff."
Mabel rolled her eyes, "Oh of course, that's what everybody says." Her posture changed into a proud one, "I happened to hear it from one of my close friends, and would you believe me if I said that they were one of the first ones who got saved by him?"
"How do you know it's a 'he'? And who are you talking about?"
"All you need to know is that she's a Sylveon, and she claims that it was a boy our age!"
"And how does she know that?"
"Because he was carrying her in her arms! Isn't that so romantic?" The female Leafeon said dreamily with paws on both of her cheeks.
I realized that I was holding my breath for some reason, so I paused for a moment to loosen up. "... I guess so."
Mabel sprawled herself onto the couch and stretched, "Oh, it must be nice to be carried off into the sunset like that." She said dreamily. "I wish I could meet him."
I don't think that was what happened.
I wandered over to my pantry and snacked on a Sitrus berry. "Right..." I murmured.
Joy turned her head, choosing now to be a good time to chime in. "Milo, why are you being so quiet all of a sudden? Do you know something we don't?"
Her remark almost made me choke on my food. Mabel practically launched herself from her prone position on the couch and was suddenly in my face with stars in her eyes.
"Joy's onto something! You do know something right?" She moved her head her so close to mine that I had to start leaning backwards to avoid a collision. "Right?"
"Whoa! H-Hold on! I don't know anything at all!" I panicked. From the corner of my eye, I could see the devious smirk the Espeon had on her face.
Why would you say something like that!?
Just because.
I went to bed after managing to convince them that I was simply weirded out by Mabel's fantasies, being that I'm a guy and all. And after listening to a few more speculations, they finally left and gave me time to breath, though I doubt it would be the last I'd hear of it.
A couple days later, one of my mornings began with me getting an earful of Flynn's perspective on the rumors. He dismissed them by saying that this "faggot" was just some hotshot trying to show off. His predictions on who it could be were among students in Cradily that didn't include me, so I didn't pay too much attention to what he said after that. Before he left, he also asked me to notify him of the next time Joy and Mabel would come over. He declared that the next time was going to be when he would work up the courage to talk to Joy. He said he's not going to attempt anything, but just to try to "get a feel for her vibes". Honestly, if he can keep Joy from ruining a good conversation between Mabel and I, then I'm all for it.
Why is Joy like that anyway?
The exchange with the Flareon made me realize that my house was becoming the designated meeting place for all of us, and I wasn't sure what to think of that.
I started skipping about in the trees later that morning instead of the afternoon, just so I could throw off the little reporter that was on my tail. I knew I had to cut my routine short, since my friends may come at noon and notice my absence. Another fool tactic I did was to veer off my usual course. And thank god I did, as I heard a scream from a direction that was normally quiet, since it was towards the college grounds. This scream, however, sounded way too familiar to me. There's no way I was mistaken on who it belongs to, but it still did not prepare me for what I was about to discover.
Down below, in a tiny clearing, I saw Mabel backed up against a tree. Two huge guys stood above her - a Golduck and a Drowzee. I've never seen them before, neither have I seen them around campus. They also looked middle aged, so what they were doing around here was anyone's guess. At first, I thought that they were feral Pokémon that wandered off from a mystery dungeon. The chances of that were slim, since we were far away from any of those, so maybe they were just a pair of angry, violent drunkards.
I probably shouldn't, but I decided to keep my cool, stay in my little hiding spot, and continue to spectate. Most Pokémon would immediately assume that a situation looking like this would be bad. Raping, harassing, or assaulting, would be the first conclusions that someone would make, but I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and wait a little longer. I smiled at my fair judgement.
Good samaritans could learn a thing or two from just being more well informed about the situation.
Then I saw the Drowzee smack her, and the Golduck barked at her in a malicious tone. Mabel fell to the ground with a yelp.
Or… maybe not.
Have I always seen the good in everybody's hearts? Yes. Will I continue to see it that way? Probably. Have I grown too confident with my "ninja" abilities? Maybe, but what I was about to do might change that. With the rage that had built up in my veins, I jumped down and sucker punched both of the assailants right in their jaws. They flopped onto the grass after that, completely unconscious. My over-satisfaction in myself led me to pause and observe my handiwork, which proved to be a mistake once I accidentally made eye-contact with the baffled girl in front of me. I quickly turned my back to her when I saw her gasp. My mind spun as I tried to think of a way to distract her.
I cleared my throat and summoned the deepest voice I could muster. "*Ahem*, don't worry fellow citizen. You're safe now. I've got this situation taken care of, so... run along."
I sensed her nod in compliance with a "Mm hm!", and then she scrambled to her paws and scurried off. She must've still been in shock.
Holy crap! That actually worked!
My small victory quickly died out of the embarrassment that I had basically quoted a generic superhero line, and also out of the paranoia that she still might've recognized me.
Judging from where she ran… oh no...
I bolted off the same way she went, running as fast as my legs would take me. My panic almost caused me to trip over the two bodies on the ground too. I took a shortcut so I wouldn't run into Mabel. Thanks to that knowledge, I was able to make it to her likely destination before her. I've known Mabel long enough to know that whenever something unbelievable happens, I was to be the first Pokémon to hear about it. It's become an unofficial job of mine to calm her down before she does something foolish, because "loose lips, sink ships" and all that. Now that there's a chance that my secret identity has been compromised, courtesy of her, and there's no telling what she might do.
I practically breached into my own home as I rushed to get inside. I ripped off my scarf and messily crammed it into my bedroom drawer.
"Milo! Milo! Milooooooooo!" I heard Mabel shouting from the distance, even from inside.
Crap! She knows! She knows!
I felt like I was going to get a heart attack as I rushed to wash myself quickly and tidy up my living room to make it seem like I never went out.
I heard a loud bang then. Did she just headbutt my door? "Milooooo! Open up!"
I almost did a comical slip and slide as I hurried to answer the door, taking a deep breath right before.
"Oh, hey Mabel, what brings you here?" Is what I tried to say, but before I could even let out the first word, I was tackled and trampled onto the floor by a one-girl stampede.
"Milo!" She screamed as she did so, then looked around once she was inside. "Wait, where'd you go?" She said whilst surveying the house interior, puzzled.
"Down here…" I groaned in pain, "Oww…"
"What are you doing on the floor? Get up! You won't believe what I'm about to tell you!"
I staggered up and rubbed the spot where she stepped on me. I saw the bruise on her forehead where the Drowsee hit her. "What happened there?" I pointed.
Whatever she was going to say, it was exciting her to the point where she couldn't keep still. "That's what I'm getting to. You don't have to believe me but just hear me out!"
"Okay, what is it?" I asked warily. She was shaking so much that she looked like a crazed boy band fanatic.
"Remember when I said I wanted to see the Pokémon we were talking about a few days ago? Well guess what? I saw him! He saved me and I saw him!" She wheezed, "It happened right outside campus!"
The way she said those words didn't imply she knew it who was, and I nearly collapsed back onto the floor with relief.
"Who'd you see?"
"You know, him! The guy with the scarf! The mysterious hero of the woods! Like, oh my god, Milo! Ohmygodohmygodohmygod! I'm freaking out right now!"
"Hey, easy, easy there. One at a time, okay?" I gestured calmly.
She took a deep breath, "Yeah… yeah, you're right." She sat down in an armchair, only to stand right back up again. "Okay so I'm like, walking out of my dorm to get a few things, right? And suddenly, these two guys jumped me! Like, honestly, you had to be there to believe it!"
I was.
"Slow down a bit, I still can't understand you."
She paused to breath once more, and then moved to lay down on my couch to try to calm herself. "Whew. Okay. So basically I was about to get mugged, or maybe worse! And just as I was about to get like, seriously hurt, he came to rescue me!" She let out a distant sigh. "Oh Milo, I think I'm in love!"
I suddenly grew tense. "What?"
"I've fallen for him, Milo! He saved my life! He took those baddies out, just for me! And he looked so big and strong when he did it! Oh, and his eyes! His eyes! They looked so intense! And his voice was so handsome!"
"How can you fall for someone you've just met?"
"I could have died! I owe my life to him!"
"That doesn't mean-"
"You wouldn't understand! He's the one I'm destined to be with!" She grabbed one of my couch cushions and moaned loudly into it. "Oh, I just want him to take me into his strong arms and have his way with me!" She giggled.
"Uhh…"
"Oh Milo, I don't think I've ever felt this way about any other boy!" She squeezed her cheeks in an attempt to contain herself.
My gut started to feel like someone had twisted it a bunch of times. "Mabel, I really don't think you should be telling me this..."
She suddenly hopped off the couch and took a running stance. "You're right! I have to tell my other friends about this!"
"No, that's not what I-"
"Bye Milo! See you later!"
She dashed out my door before I could stop her. She was gone as quick as she came in, leaving me alone with my jumbled thoughts and emotions. I stared at my open doorway for a while before arching forward and covering my face with my paws.
What just happened?
I laid in my garden hammock a few hours after Mabel had left. I tried to make sense of all that's happened so far, but I just can't even begin to comprehend it all. Mabel's outburst finally made me realize what I've done.
The whole town is in a tizzy! The rumors about the vigilante has spread around long enough that everyone is on high alert, so it's been getting quite dangerous for me to go out recently. I even remembered seeing little kids form search parties to go looking for the forest savior. It might be all fun and games for them, but it kinda conveyed the message that I was being hunted down, and that's not really a pleasant thought. My fellow schoolmates are also talking about it, since the approximate age of this ninja had become common knowledge. Some have gone as far as accusing others. I was off the radar though, since there's no way a quiet nobody like me could possibly be capable of saving even a single Pokémon's hide. I have been putting off these warnings for too long, and now I'm finally starting to see the repercussions of my actions.
I think the best thing to do is to just lie low, maybe even forever. Nothing ever goes on around this remote little town, so when something exciting as this pops up, everyone's all riled up and I don't suspect they'll forget about it so easily. I wasn't as worried as much as I thought I would be, and that consciousness made me feel proud. It must be a sign of that I really was getting more confident in myself. Thanks to all my accomplishments, I feel like a new man! I feel a lot better about myself overall, so the purposes of being on overwatch and keeping the town safe are a bit pointless for me now. It might be time to settle back into my old lifestyle.
Maybe I could come up with a new hobby. Meditating sounds pretty cool.
I stared blankly at the clear blue sky above and breathed fresh air into my lungs. This truly is relaxing. How could I forget such peaceful moments like these? It's decided, it's time to hang up the ol' scarf, clean up my mess, and go back to basking in the sunlight. I yawned and shifted into a more comfortable position in my hammock.
That can always wait, a good nap is what I need.
...
...
...
"Hey mister! Fancy seeing you here!"
I opened an eyelid that I just closed minutes ago to see the Eevee reporter from a while back. She leaned on my fence with her bushy tail wagging feverishly. I would've been annoyed since she just disturbed my slumber, but the bright smile she had melted my heart.
"... Yeah?"
"Have you seen that scarf guy around here? The Pokémon around here have been saying that he always goes off in this direction."
Man I don't need this right now.
"Hmm... now that you mention it, I think I have." I randomly pointed a paw at the woods behind me, "I've been seeing a blurry figure hurrying by around there a few times. Maybe you should go check it out."
The Eevee's face beamed. It hurt to have to lie to that smile. "Really? Wow, thanks mister!"
I couldn't resist the urge to pet her fluffy little head, "Don't mention it kiddo. Now, off you go!"
She gave an energetic nod and bounded towards the area I pointed. When she was out of sight, I dropped my head back into my suspended mattress. I tried to go back to sleep, but it proved to be futile, as my mind suddenly began to fill with concern on just how I was going to deal with Mabel and her new crush.
Oh, what am I going to do?
Thanks for reading! I'd love to know your thoughts on this story, so please leave a review if you'd like!
