Alex knocked on the door. Three short raps. There was a moment of silence where all I could hear was my heart pounding my in ears, and then the door opened. A gorgeous looking Ninetails stood over us, holding the door knob with one of her tails. "Mom!" Alex ran into her mane and wrapped his arms around her. She wrapped her tails around him in return.
"Alex? What are you doing here? Don't tell me you already got sick and came home?" Her voice sounded wise and mature. Alex pulled away. Both of us looked tiny in comparison to her large frame. Were Ninetails always this… imposing?
"No, we actually got assigned to a mission nearby. We were hoping we could use this as our base of operations for a day or two?"
"Of course, my love. Your father will be happy to see you. And this must be…" She turned her focus on me, sizing me up. I felt a shiver go down my body. "...Emilia, correct?"
"Yes, ma'am!" She laughed, a beautiful, clear sound that resonated through the air.
"No need to call me ma'am. You can call me 'mom' like Alex does. He's written so much about you! I'm glad to see you've recovered."
"I couldn't be called a rescuer if I couldn't bounce back from something like that!" She laughed that same soothing, melodic laugh.
"I was much like you as a young explorer. Come in, I'm sure you must be tired from walking all this way. Your father should be home from the market soon." I felt temporary relief wash over me. I had successfully made it past the first hurdle. Plus, Alex's mom… seemed like a good Pokemon. Nothing like my own mother. Maybe this unfounded anxiety would pass. We followed her into the interior of the house. The interior was quite ornately decorated, filled with various expensive looking relics that they must've found on their adventures. For the most part, everything was similar to a human household. The only major difference was that all of the furniture seemed to be much lower to the ground, probably to be more accessible to more Pokemon. She brought us to what looked to be a living room with an arrangement of couches and chairs. Too bad there wasn't a TV. "You two can make yourselves comfortable here. I'll go make some snacks." She disappeared behind a hallway, leaving us alone. Alex sat on the couch, so I jumped up next to him. The couch pleasantly sprung back at my weight.
"So? What do you think?" I looked around. There was a lot to think about.
"Think about what?" He gestured around the room.
"My house? My mom?" I could tell by the look on his face that he was fiercely proud of his home. Must be nice…
"Well, the house definitely beats our cramped little guild room. And your mom is so pretty! It's a shame you didn't take after her…" He narrowed his eyes at me.
"Hmph! Just wait until you see my dad." That… kinda brought me back down to Earth. I turned my attention to the artifacts around the room. On a shelf against the opposite wall, there was a strange fossil that looked like some sort of fish Pokemon that I didn't quite recognize. Next to it was a stone tablet depicting an intense battle between two Pokemon that I recognized to be Kyogre and Groudon. I was amazed at how much detail fit into that little tablet.
"Where did your parents get all these things?" I said, pointing to the shelf I was looking at.
"Oh, those?" He looked excited. "The fossil was found in a mystery dungeon far underground called Dark Crater. They found it resting at the bottom floor. They found the tablet on the 50th floor of Joy Tower. Joy Tower is this craaazy huge tower located in a remote island to the far northeast. Rumor has it that the tower was once home to Arceus himself! That, or Rayquaza. No one's really sure" Arceus? I wondered if he was a being like God was in the human world. Did Pokemon believe he existed? I didn't want to offend him by asking.
"Did they ever reach the top?" He frowned.
"No. To be honest, nobody even knows if Joy Tower has a top. From the ground, it spans up infinitely into the sky, and there's a weird barrier that prevents flying-type Pokemon from flying along the side of it. The dungeon is incredibly difficult, and nobody has managed to reach the top before escaping from the tower."
"Okay! When we become veteran guild members, let's make that our priority! Let's climb Joy Tower!" I couldn't read the expression on his face.
"Are you sure? Joy Tower is super dangerous, and getting rescued in the tower is nearly impossible." I clicked my tongue.
"But that's our job as explorers! If a little danger scared us away, we wouldn't be able to do this job. Plus, we won't go until we're super prepared. Doesn't that sound exciting?" His teetering expression instantly morphed into a wide grin.
"Yes! Actually, I was going to bring it up to you eventually, but I wasn't sure how you felt about going someplace so dangerous, especially after what happened to you…" His grin started to droop. I shook my head.
"That's why we have to get stronger, right? So nothing like that happens ever again." I gave him a reassuring smile, which he returned with a nod.
"I brought snacks!" Alex's mom suddenly appeared from the hall, causing me to almost jump out of my skin. "Oh? I didn't interrupt anything, did I?" I shook my head. Alex reddened, for some reason. His mom was carrying two plates balanced expertly on two of her tails. I admired how proficient she was in using her tails. In comparison, my tail contributed practically nothing to my general skill set. It was too short and didn't have anywhere near the range of motion that her tails did. She smoothly placed the plates in front of us, giving me a chance to look at it. Hmm, a triangular slice of some sort of fried dough, with red sauce and melted cheese… wait, this was pizza, wasn't it? I thanked my lucky stars for giving me an opportunity to eat something other than berries for once. She sat across from us in one of the chairs. Alex dug in without hesitation. For the trillionth time since arriving to this world, I wished for opposable thumbs. Unlike a berry, I couldn't just grab it with my paws. I'd get sauce all over them, and it'd probably crush it. Anyway, weren't my paws dirty? Did I really want to eat with them after I just walked for hours? I glanced up at the woman across from me, who was curiously observing my dilemma. Ugh, this was the worst! I didn't want to just bury my face in it, either. That would be gross and rude. Alex was already halfway done when I pleadingly looked to him for help.
"What's wrong?" He looked at my untouched plate. After a couple seconds of thinking, he rounded on his mom. "Mom, are you teasing her? You know this is new for her." I followed his accusation to her sly expression. Teasing me? What?
"I apologize, dear. You'll have to forgive me. Never in my many years of travel have I heard of a human-turned-Pokemon, so perhaps I was a little curious. I promise, I won't do it again." Damn, she was teasing me! She made eye contact, clearly waiting for a response. I sighed, cursing myself for letting her beauty make me forgive her.
"I get it. There's a lot of things I'm curious about, too." She smiled at my forgiveness and gracefully hopped off the couch.
"I'd be happy to return the favor, dear. Let's start with that food situation, shall we? I'll be right back." She disappeared once more into the hallway. It took me a minute to process it, but if they knew that I used to be human, that means Alex told them?
"Did you tell them I used to be human?"
"Yeah." He looked a little guilty. "...Should I have?"
"It's fine. I just imagine that most Pokemon would have a hard time believing that." He got thoughtful for a moment.
"I believe you, and my parents do, too. They've seen a lot of weird stuff in their travels, so they've probably gotten used to having weird things happen." I nodded. That was actually a fairly logical explanation. His mom reappeared a few moments later holding some sort of metal contraption. One end looked like a fork, but the sides of the forked part were serrated like a knife. The other end was a circular pad.
"Here, dear. Hold out your paw." Confused, I held out my paw like she asked. She used one of her tails to gently press the circular part against my paw. When she removed her tail, it somehow stuck to it with nothing keeping it in place. "This is a utensil made for four-legged Pokemon like ourselves. It's imbued with psychic energy to make it stick to your paw. You can use the serrated end to cut your food, and the forked end to pick it up." I waved my paw around, watching in awe as the utensil stuck to it. I then brought it to the plate in front of me and cut a little piece of pizza, picking it up with the fork. I took a bite. The taste was heavenly. After eating berries for so long, I had forgotten all of the flavors I was missing out on. She smiled. "Better, right?" I nodded, too busy eating my pizza to respond. She returned to her chair, and seeing that I was no longer struggling, Alex returned to eating his own slice.
I finished my pizza and leaned back on the couch with a satisfied sigh. "Enjoyed?" She still had that heavenly smile plastered on her face. I pat my belly.
"If Alex could cook half as good as you, maybe we wouldn't be eating berries all the time…" He turned indignantly.
"I think berries are just fine…" he grumbled.
"He takes after my useless husband in that way. He'd be fine living on nothing but berries for his entire life. Half of life's joy is eating good food!" I nodded vigorously. This chick really got me!
"Right? Hey, will you teach me how to cook sometime?"
"Of course, dear. Well, you'd be better suited if you were an Espeon… but we'll see what we can do." I smiled. Finally something to look forward to! She was right, though. It would probably be difficult, if not impossible, for me to actually do cooking. I stopped that train of thought before I thought for the billion-plus-oneth time that I wish I had opposable thumbs and arms. Whoops, already thought it. The sound of a door opening from down the hall startled me. "Speaking of my husband, looks like he's back!" A pit settled in my stomach. What was his dad like? What would he think of me? Thump, thump. One beat my heart, the other the sound of footsteps against the wooden floorboards. The anticipation was killing me. The footsteps stopped. Then, as anticlimactic as possible, a head popped out from the hallway. The head, obviously belonging to Lucario, looked much similar to Alex's. It was kinda like if you took Alex's head and elongated the snout and ears.
"Oh? Well, well, well, look who we have here! I thought I sensed a couple more people here." He shifted so that his entire body was visible in the hall.
"Dad!" Alex jumped off from the couch and ran to his dad, jumping up in his arms. I was processing a lot of emotions here. First, the panic of meeting his dad, and second, I had never seen Alex act like this. The way he giggled into his dad's embrace… I felt a twang of something I didn't expect to. Jealousy? No… nothing that hateful. I think I just felt a sense of longing. He dropped Alex and shifted his eyes to me. His eyes were red like Alex's, but his expression was much sharper. More mature. Yet there was an undeniable tenderness there. I felt myself relax a little.
"Let's see… gorgeous gray fur, cute ears, bright eyes… Emilia, right? Yup! You're exactly like Alex described." I blushed. Did Alex really say those things about me?
"Daaaad! Don't embarrass me! You know I didn't write those things." Oh, so he was teasing. The two of them… I couldn't catch a break. Yet I oddly felt a little disappointed that he didn't. He smirked at me like he could read my thoughts. Alex ran back to the couch. He still had a pout on his face, but the way he kicked his legs gave away his true feelings. I smiled.
"So? What brings you two to our humble abode?" He sat adjacent to Alex's mom.
"We have a mission in the area, so Alex proposed that we stop by and stay the night…" I realized that maybe I was being a little too comfortable, and started to backtrack, "...if that's okay with you… sir?" He laughed a hearty guffaw.
"Of course. I'd been hoping to meet you, anyway." The pleasant smile on his face remained neutral, but his eyes revealed an intense sort of curiosity, much like his wife's. I didn't really mind, to be honest. "And… drop the sir. You can call me dad." Seriously, what was with this family? They just met me, yet they have me calling them mom and dad… not to mention, he had been giving me this strange stare for awhile. "Emilia."
"Yes?"
"Have you ever thought about marrying into our family?" It felt like the circuits in my brain just stopped working. I was unable to think nor form an impossible response to this impossible question. Alex started coughing. He was bright red.
"Dad! Seriously?" His mom nodded.
"Dear, you know it isn't kind to spring that kind of question on a lady. You have to let things develop naturally!" All throughout this conversation my head was completely empty. Can you blame me? It's not every day that you're asked to marry into someone's family.
"Really? I mean, she's cute, interesting in exploring, clearly they're close… not to mention, physically compatible." I think Alex hit his breaking point, too. Both of us sat empty headed on the couch. But, one thing about what he said pulled me out of my stupor.
"What do you mean by physically compatible?" I looked at Alex, who was still bright red, but stared into empty space. Physically, the two of us were completely different. Did we have some sort of synergy that I didn't know about? His dad looked surprised first, then shifted to a wicked grin.
"You really want to know?" I nodded. I was curious, after all. "Well-"
"Stop, stop, stop! Stop right there! This conversation goes no further!" Alex jumped up from the couch, holding out his palms in a stop sign. I was surprised at his outburst, but looking at the strained, near-tears look on his face, I gave it up. Maybe I would ask later.
"He's right, dear. Don't be rude to our guest." He simmered down, looking a little disappointed. A kind of silence settled over the room. Alex was still recovering, and I was too, to an extent. I kinda decided just to wipe that conversation from my memory.
"Oh yeah! You two went to Joy Tower, right? Tell me about it!" They exchanged an unpleasant look. Was it uncomfortable for them to talk about it?
"Well, Joy Tower, although I personally call it Anguish Tower, is not a kind place. Not only do the Pokemon get increasingly stronger every floor, but some strange power in the tower saps you of your energy when you enter. It's almost like all of your battle experience and learned moves just go out the window. Of course, leaving the tower removes this effect, but inside the tower you have to basically relearn how to fight." Interesting that there was no "level" metric in this world. I guess that makes sense, though.
"What do you think is at the top?" That generated some tension in the room. The two looked about ready to start fighting each other.
"Naturally, Rayquaza is at the top. His domain is the sky, so it only makes sense that a tower spanning that far into the sky would house Rayquaza at the top." Alex's mom said in a fighting tone.
"No, Rayquaza is definitely at Sky Tower. Some Pokemon even spotted him there!"
"And you'll take their word for it? I swear one of these days I'll drag you there myself and prove that Rayquaza isn't there." They locked eyes, an intense moment where it seemed like anything could happen. Then, as suddenly as the tension came, it left. They relaxed their posture and once again turned to face me.
"As you can tell, this was quite a hot topic for the two of us when we were younger explorers. Personally, I believe Arceus is at the top." Alex's mom snorted, but he ignored it. Arceus… was he… real? Was this the chance to ask? I decided to test the waters.
"Is Arceus… real?" I felt a moment of fear before the response came, worried that I might've said the wrong thing.
"Unlike most of the other legendaries, Arceus has never been spotted by Pokemon. Legends are told of him creating the universe, but other than us… existing, there isn't really any proof of his existence. Even the legendaries are unsure. Mew, who was said to be closest to Arceus, hasn't been spotted in ages. Even still, the general consensus amongst Pokemon is that he exists." I nodded thoughtfully, and barely resisted the urge to say, has anyone tried looking for Mew in Buried Relic? I wondered what type of Pokemon Arceus is.
"Have you ever met any legendaries?"
"Legendaries aren't always the type of Pokemon you want to encounter. Ages of existence has made them wildly unpredictable. Sometimes they'll be on your side, sometimes they'll be against you, and they pretty much always want to fight. That being said, we did get the chance to meet Entei, Raiku, Suicune, and Ho-Oh."
"Seriously!? Ho-Oh, too?!" He looked proud.
"The one and only."
"How did you come to meet him?" Alex's mom looked off into the distance fondly, like she was remembering something nice.
"We came to hear of a rumor about one of the legendary beasts residing in a dungeon nearby, and it turned out to be Entei. After beating him in battle, he directed us to Raiku, who then directed us to Suicune. After all of that, we were given permission to see Ho-Oh." Alex had perked up and was now listening intensely to our conversation.
"What happened after that?" Alex's mom giggled.
"After we beat Ho-Oh in a battle, he gave us this gorgeous rainbow stone. It seemed to shift colors in the light. And…" she fiddled with a band I hadn't noticed before that was fastened around her leg, "that fool made a wedding band out of it and proposed with it. I had no choice but to accept." She giggled gleefully. It was true - the band was encrusted with a gorgeous stone that shimmered perfectly in the light. It was enamoring. I admired it for a moment before turning to Alex's dad.
"Dude… nice one." He smiled smugly with a "hmph!" The prospect of being proposed to with something so gorgeous and valuable that the both of us worked for… was kinda exciting to be honest. I hadn't expected it from someone as blunt as him. I relished in the thought of that happening to me one day. Not likely, but a nice thought.
"That's about as far as it goes for legendary encounters, though. The two of us were interested, but hunting down legendaries didn't really bring in the cash, nor raise our rank." Yikes, even this world was burdened by economic feasibility.
"Do you still go on rescue missions?"
"Sometimes. The guild in Dewdrop Town asks us if there's a particularly difficult mission that is urgent. But ever since having Leon, we've been mostly settled down."
"Is Leon around?" Alex chimed in for the first time since this conversation started. He looked excited.
"Unfortunately not dear. He got sent north to do a mission there. He won't be back for a couple of days." Alex visibly deflated. I felt a little bad for him, but I was also somewhat relieved that I wouldn't have to meet another person. Eventually, definitely, but right now I had enough on my plate.
"That's right!" Alex's dad jumped up from his chair, startling us both. "Now that you two are officially a rescue team, we should show you the box, right?" He looked to his wife for confirmation, and she nodded. "Follow me." I hopped off the couch and trailed behind Alex as his dad led us back down the hallway and upstairs. There were a couple of rooms upstairs, but he stopped in the middle of the hall and pulled a string that was dangling from the ceiling. A portion of the ceiling opened, revealing stairs going upwards into what I assumed was the attic. He went up the stairs, and we followed behind. The attic was an old, decrepit place. Each of the floorboards creaked with every step. Dust particles were visible in the air, illuminated by a single lightbulb dangling from the ceiling. There were boxes upon boxes piled around every side of the room, some labeled, some not. He stepped over some boxes and picked one labeled "TMs." I couldn't help but feel excited. Was I finally gonna learn some cool moves? "Okay, let's bring this downstairs. I'll let you guys go through it." I tried to hide my giddiness and be cool, but I was really excited. I could tell Alex felt the same by the way his ears perked up and his fingers fidgeted. We backtracked downstairs back into the living room, where he set the box on the table.
"Now, I'm going to let you two go through this box of TMs that we haven't or couldn't use, BUT you can only pick one. I'm not going to let you guys get all of those without putting any effort in yourself, but I'll treat you this once." He opened the box. The box was filled with all sorts of multicolored disks. Each disc had the name of a move inscribed on its surface. Dark Pulse, Energy Ball, Dig… there were all sorts of moves of every type. I guess it made sense for them to have accumulated that much over the course of their travels. Not even trying to hide our excitement anymore, we dug into the box. I wanted a special move, preferably something with a lot of range. Plus, it obviously had to be something that I could learn as an Eevee, which was already limited. One in particular caught my eye: a dark purple colored disk with the words "Shadow Ball" inscribed in it. Not only was it ranged and a special move, but it would definitely contribute to the type diversity on our team. It would cover for Alex's psychic type weakness. I pulled it out of the box and rested it on the table tenderly.
"I want this one! Please." I added bashfully. Alex's dad came to stand behind me, peering down at the TM I chose.
"Shadow Ball, eh? I like the way you think." He gave me a wink. I had a feeling that he knew I was looking out for Alex when I picked it. "If you're picking a special move… I take it you aren't meant to become a Flareon or Leafeon?" I shook my head.
"I actually don't know what I'm going to evolve into yet. I haven't really felt strongly towards one evolution over another. That being said, I probably won't be a Flareon or Leafeon." I scrunched my nose. Leafeon had just too many leaves, and Flareon just didn't appeal. It was my least favorite of the evolutions. He hummed curiously. Alex finally pulled his own TM out of the box.
"I want this one." It was a pretty light-blue, so probably an ice-type move. I craned my neck to read the writing on it. Ice Punch? That was also a good choice. It covered for his flying type weakness, and gave us power against dragon-types that we would otherwise be useless against. He looked to me, and I nodded in approval.
"That's my boy! You know, when I was a Riolu, the first TM I used was also Ice Punch." His ears perked up.
"Really?"
"Yup! My pops gave it to me, just like I'm giving it to you." He clutched the disk in his arms and smiled.
"Sooooo… how do we use it?" I tapped it against my head and nothing happened. Alex laughed.
"Here, I'll show you. Put it down on the table." I did as he said, briefly admiring the shade of purple. "Put your paw on it." I balanced awkwardly on three legs to rest my paw on it. The surface felt cool to the touch. "And then just…" he tilted his head, seemingly having difficulty describing the next step. "Just imagine the contents of the disk entering your brain." I gave him a look that said, really. He grinned apologetically. "Sorry, they gave us training TMs in school. It's supposed to be intuitive." Intuitive for a Pokemon, maybe. I sighed, and tried regardless. I closed my eyes and imagined the disk breaking down into little purple particles and floating up to my brain. I didn't really feel anything different. I opened my eyes. I was shocked to see the disk that I had been resting my paw on had disappeared. Purple light particles floated in the space the disk occupied. Similar light blue particles floated around Alex's hand on the table.
"Did I… learn it? Can I use Shadow Ball now?" It felt weird that I could become capable of learning a move just like that.
"Yup. Let's go to the backyard. I'm sure you guys are itching to try out your new moves." I was, actually. Even since becoming a Pokemon, I've never had access to the defining feature of Pokemon - super cool moves! The four of less went out through the kitchen into the backyard. The backyard was quite large - a garden with all types of exotic berries I had never seen before took up most of the space. It looked very well maintained. Alex's dad walked to the fence and tapped his knuckle against it. "You guys can practice against this fence." The fence didn't look weak by any means, but would it really hold against our attacks?
"Are you sure we won't damage the fence?" He laughed.
"Well, let's just say that if you did, I would be very impressed." I still didn't feel great about it. I really did not want to damage the fence. Alex didn't have any reserves. He walked straight up to the fence and took a deep breath. I watched as a thick layer of ice coated his fist, and he smacked it into the fence. Aside from a couple of paint chips flying, the fence held sturdy. "Well done! Nothing less from my son." His dad tapped him on the back. Alex grinned proudly. "Emilia, you're up. Show us what you got!" I still felt hesitant about hitting the fence. "Don't worry. You won't break it." Seeing no way out, I stepped up to the fence. All eyes were on me, but how did I use a move? Up till now, all of my moves have been physical attacks. Would it work if I just… imagined using it? I tried to imagine the murky, shadowy ball that was Shadow Ball materializing in front of me. Much to my surprise, the dark purple ball grew in the air in front of me, until it became full sized. It rotated in the air, ready to be fired. I tried to will it forward with my mind like I did to summon it. The ball accelerated with surprising speed towards the fence. On collision, the two fence posts that came into contact with the ball split horizontally in half at the point of contact. I watched in horror as the broken fence posts clattered to the ground in a cloud of dust. I felt the sharp pain of fear in my chest as my body kicked into fight or flight mode. My heart hammered away in my chest.
"I-I'm sorry! I promise I'll fix - OOF!" I was cut off mid sentence by Alex pouncing on me, making me flip on to my belly. He sat right on top of me, so I couldn't get up. And then, the torture began. He started mercilessly tickling me, causing me to erupt in laughter.
"Where do you get off being stronger than me, eh? I'll make you pay for that!" I tapped one of my free legs against the ground in the midst of my laughter.
"I-I give up! I give up!" I said in between fits of laughter. He rolled over, finally freeing me. I panted, trying to recover from that sudden assault and also process what just happened. The way I went from sheer panic to howling laughter in a second… leave it to Alex. I cracked a smile. My heart rate steadily slowed.
"If you're worried about the fence, don't be. It's nothing a couple of minutes can't fix. Besides, I brought this upon myself for encouraging you guys to hit the fence," Alex's dad called out. I took a deep breath. I forgot that things were different now. I had lost myself in old habits for a second. Mistakes weren't something that couldn't be forgiven. I climbed back to my feet and shot Alex a look that said I'll definitely get you back for this. He stuck his tongue out at me in response.
"Was Shadow Ball always this powerful…? It doesn't even match your type. Perhaps you have an affinity for special moves." Alex's mom was looking carefully down at the rubble, deep in thought. It's true; I didn't think Shadow Ball was a particularly powerful move. Why had it done so much damage? There wasn't even a ghost-type Eevee evolution that I could be drawn to.
"Maybe I'm just that awesome." She laughed, breaking out of her thoughts.
"That's one way to look at it. Come, let's go back inside." Alex led the way inside. As we were walking in, I felt a pair of eyes settle on my back. It was unnerving, to say the least, but I ignored it. I couldn't blame them after what just happened. We took our seats back in the living room. The bouncy cushion felt wonderful after all of that excitement. A moment of appreciated silence followed, but only a moment.
"That's right, I'd been meaning to ask. How did you two meet?" I whipped my head up from its reclined position against the couch. I turned to Alex with a giddy sort of surprise.
"Huh? You never told them?" I couldn't keep the grin off my face.
"I-I just never got around to it." It was payback time, baby.
"I somehow ended up on the beach outside of Treasure Town after I lost my memories. How, I have no idea. Alex found me passed out against the rocks at the shoreline. And, wouldn't you believe it, just in time to witness his relic fragment get robbed right from him!" His parents gave him a look asking for confirmation. He bashfully nodded. "So I, being the wonderful human-turned-Pokemon amnesiac that I am, decided to help him hunt down the thieves that stole it. We plowed through a dungeon and taught those thieves a well-deserved lesson." Alex buried his head in his paws in embarrassment.
"Alex… you really got robbed and then asked someone in that dire of a situation to help you?" His mother said disapprovingly.
"I-I had no choice, okay?! She was fine, anyway." He grumbled something about type disadvantages, but his voice was muffled by his paws. I reveled in his shame. Truly, I had paid him back in spades.
"And a lady, no less? Where is your pride as a man?" His dad chimed in. He withered under his parents' combined criticism. He shot me a look from his paws. I stuck my tongue out at him. I win.
The day progressed, and the conversation floated a little bit here and there. Everyone wanted to know about human things, but I told them that there were limited things that I remembered. The conversation was mostly focused on Alex's parents. It was kinda inspiring to hear about all of the rescues they've accomplished. I hoped that we would be like them one day.
"Honey, can you run to the market and pick up more ingredients for tonight? I wasn't expecting two more visitors."
"Sure thing. Alex, come with me." He looked conflicted back at me. I could tell that he wasn't too pleased about leaving me alone here. To be honest, I wasn't either, but it's not like I didn't trust his mom. I waved him off.
"Go ahead. I'll be fine here." His eyes lingered on me for a moment, then he broke away. The two of them left the house, leaving just his mom and I.
"Now that those pesky men are out of the way, why don't you help me make dinner?" I grinned. Finally, I was going to get a chance to cook! "I'm going to go grab some vegetables from the garden, so could you fill a bucket with water? The hose is also out in the garden." I nodded.
"What are we making?"
"Today I was thinking Mushroom Soup. What do you think?"
"Yes! Please!" I was almost drooling at the prospect. Maybe my new vegetarian life wouldn't be that bad. She laughed.
"Let's get started then." I followed her out to the garden. The hose was connected to the back of the house, with a wooden pail nearby. The hose was controlled by a button, presumably to be more accessible to Pokemon. I put the hose in the bucket and tapped the button with my paw. I waited until it was filled to the brim, then stopped the hose. The padded strap around it indicated that it was probably supposed to fit around my neck. I poked my head under the handle and lifted. It was heavy, and definitely strained my neck, but it was manageable. I slowly carried it through the door. I was supposed to fill the metal pot that was placed on some sort of strange base. Was that where the fire came from? I nudged the bucket to the edge of the pot and tilted it in. The pot filled about 3/4ths the way up with water. The bucket, now much lighter, was easy to carry back outside. Alex's mom was still picking vegetables, so I idled inside near the pot. I inspected the base closely. I was clearly supposed to boil this water, but without any way to light a fire, it was impossible. Alex's mom was fire-type, so she probably lit the fire with her moves. I groaned. Why wouldn't it just light. On. Fire! A brilliant red flame erupted from the base of the pan. I stood there for a moment in shock. Maybe it was some sort of psychic-type contraption…? Surely I hadn't lit that fire myself? Alex's mom sauntered in with a basket of different types of vegetables in her mouth. She looked at the fire in surprise.
"Oh? You're a step ahead of me, dear. But, how did you light that fire?"
"Umm… you mean it doesn't just light when you think about lighting it?"
"Does such a thing exist? No, I light the fire using my moves." She demonstrated by lighting a tiny flame on the tip of one of her tails. It was a spooky blue that somehow fit her perfectly. She flicked her tail and extinguished the flame on the base. It kinda disappointed me to see my, um, hard work? Extinguished. "Can you try what you did again?" Her brow furrowed in curiosity.
"I don't really know what I did, but I guess I can try." I thought strongly about a fire spawning from inside the base of the pot, and sure enough, the same red flame appeared. It wasn't that noticeable, but I felt a little bit tired after trying it. She stared intensely at the flame, perplexion etched on to her face. "Erm, mom?" It felt really weird to call her mom, but it pulled her out of her focus. She smiled apologetically.
"Sorry, dear. It's not every day that you see an Eevee capable of manipulating a flame. You said you weren't interested in becoming a Flareon, right?" I shook my head. I really didn't want to become a Flareon. Plus, if I was good at special moves, wouldn't becoming a Flareon be bad? "Perhaps you have a certain amount of elemental affinity as an Eevee. No matter; think of it as a talent. It is certainly useful if you hope to cook in the future." I smiled, thinking about surprising Alex with my newfound fire powers some time. "I'll cut the vegetables and hand them to you, so can you put them into the pot? By the time dad and Alex get back, we should have the rest of the ingredients we need to finish off the soup." She grabbed one of the vegetables out of her basket and placed it on the shallow counter in front of her. I was curious as to how she would cut it. A slim blade of wind cleanly chopped a chunk of the vegetable off.
"Was that Air Cutter?" She giggled.
"Not quite. I was merely manipulating the wind. Ninetails have psychic powers, you know. Not much unlike your own flame powers." I watched in awe as she quickly cut the rest of the vegetable. When she was done, she slid the pieces over to me along with a skewer. "Use this to pick up the pieces and put them in the pot." I grabbed the handle of the skewer in my teeth and began to poke them one by one into the pot. We got into a steady rhythm of cutting and putting into the pot. It felt… nice. I had only ever cooked by myself before. "I'm glad we had a chance to spend time like this one-on-one. Truthfully, I've always wanted a daughter. I love my sons, but nobody is interested in cooking with me!" I laughed. Neither of them seemed like the type to want to cook. I hadn't met Alex's brother, but if he was anything like him, it'd be a disaster in the kitchen. My parents… had never wanted a daughter. Nor a son, for that matter.
"Thank you."
"For what, dear?" I was glad that we weren't making eye contact.
"...for treating me like your daughter, even though I'm not." Without looking up from her work, she curled one of her tails around my body. A warm sense of security overcame me.
"What are you saying? I already consider you to be my real daughter." Without warning, tears welled up in my eyes and threatened to spill over. It felt so good to hear those words from her. I didn't say anything in fear of my voice giving away my emotions. I buried myself in concentration, and the tears slowly faded away. The whole time, her tail stayed wrapped around my body. When I finally calmed down enough to talk without my voice cracking, I remembered one of the questions I had earlier that I didn't get the chance to have answered.
"Can I ask a question?"
"Fire away, dear."
"Earlier, erm, dad, said that Alex and I are physically compatible? What does that mean? Do we have some sort of special synergy or something?" She paused her vegetable cutting. I looked up at her. She seemed to be conflicted about something.
"How much do you know about how babies are made?" I considered it. I hadn't really thought about it much as a human, and even less as a Pokemon. As a kid, I was taught that a stork just delivers a baby to a couple in love, but that never really seemed plausible to me. Pokemon… came from eggs, right? In the games, they were often rewards for missions and stuff. But… where did those eggs come from?
"Umm… from eggs, right?"
"Yes, but do you know how those eggs are made?"
"No… do you find them in mystery dungeons or something? Like how you find berries and seeds randomly?" She laughed.
"That… would be interesting, to say the least. But no, eggs are actually made by other Pokemon."
"Made by other Pokemon? Like, manufactured? What does this have to do with physical compatibility?" I was starting to wish that I didn't drop out of high school.
"Not quite 'manufactured,' no…" The sound of the front door swinging open interrupted her. Damnit, why were we always interrupted when I was trying to get answers? She unwrapped her tail from around my belly. The areas where her tail touched now just felt cold.
"Just checking, I won't be cursed for 1000-years for touching your tail, right?"
"Where did you hear such a preposterous rumor? No dear, even if I had those sorts of capabilities, I wouldn't use them on my cute little daughter." She brushed the top of my head with her tail. I wasn't really young… but it still made me happy to hear her call me her daughter again. Alex and his dad walked in carrying a basket of different sorts of ingredients.
"We're baaaaack~! Smells good in here! Mushroom soup?"
"Yes, dear. Emilia here has been helping out."
"Really? Then it's sure to be delicious." I blushed. It wasn't like I was doing anything special… just putting ingredients in a pot. I caught Alex looking at me and met his eyes. He immediately averted his gaze and blushed. What was that all about?
"We'll take it over from here, dear. You can go play with Alex." I felt a little bit cheated out of my authentic cooking experience, but took my que to leave. Alex turned around without saying anything and walked back towards the living room. I followed behind. He sat wordlessly on the couch.
"Your mom is super nice," I said, jumping up on the couch next to him. He just nodded. He still wouldn't meet my eyes. "Is… something on your mind? Did something happen at the market?" He shook his head vigorously.
"N-No! Nothing happened! We didn't talk about anything!"
"Hmmm…?" He looked flustered, so I let him off the hook. "Okay, then." He looked visibly relieved that I wasn't pressing him. I decided to change the subject for his sake. "Wasn't it so cool how we learned moves? I'm sure you have learned a bunch of moves before, but this was a first for me, you know. Biting Pokemon is gross! Shadow Ball is so much cooler. I wish I knew it before our fight with Drowzee. Just imagine the look on his face when he takes a super-effective Shadow Ball to the face!" He giggled a little at that. "Your Ice Punch was cool, too. Literally." Another giggle. Maybe I wasn't the smartest, but I was known to crack a decent joke every now and then. "Does the ice feel cold on your hand?"
"Not really… it just feels like a little tingle." I wondered if there was any science that actually governed this world, or if everything was just chaotic and random.
"Do you think you can still teach me Swift? Shadow Ball is great, but I'd like to learn some other moves, too." He nodded meekly. I decided to push my luck. "...right now?" He hesitated a moment, but nodded. "Yes! Let's go outside then." We passed back through the kitchen and out the back door to the garden again. "So… what do I do."
"Ummm… learning moves without using a TM is a lot different. You have to draw on your own power. Try to feel your energy in your stomach." I tried to feel for something, but without knowing exactly what I was feeling for, all I could detect was the pizza from earlier.
"It's not working."
"Imagine there's like… a pool right near where your stomach is. You should feel a tingling sensation in your stomach if you feel it." I tried to imagine an invisible pit of energy in my chest. It felt like it could disappear at any moment, but I did feel something. I imagined myself dipping a paw in this invisible pool. The sensation was like touching cold water without feeling cold. That makes no sense, but that's the best I could do to describe it.
"I think I feel it." He looked mildly surprised.
"All of your moves that you learn naturally should be drawing from that energy. In the case of Swift, imagine your making star-shaped projectiles from that pool and shooting them forward." Gosh, was all this stuff so abstract? This would never fly in the human world. Regardless, I imagined myself scooping up some of the cold-yet-not-cold water and forming little star shapes out of them like a cookie cutter. I wasn't even surprised when little star-shaped bits of lights floated in front of my face. It was thrilling to see, but I had been exposed to so many weird things recently that I'd come to expect anything.
"Look! There they are!" The stars twinkled in the air. He nodded.
"Now shoot them off somewhere." I didn't really know where to send it. I definitely didn't want to hit the fence again, so I decided to just send it into the ground beneath me. The grass burned a little where the stars hit it. Wow. That was sure to pack a punch. I rushed up to Alex, and he got that red embarrassed look on his face again.
"Wow! It's like I'm a real Pokemon now!" He wouldn't meet my eyes.
"You are a real Pokemon, aren't you…?" Oh, yeah. It still doesn't feel real sometimes. The door opened, and an amazing smell wafted out from the house.
"Come inside for dinner kids!" I shared a look with Alex and made a dash for inside. The table was low like the other furniture, and instead of chairs there were little cushions on the floor to sit on. There were four spots at the table, all with a bowl of mushroom soup. I noticed that there was one of those strange utensils at two opposite sides of the table, presumably one for me and one for Alex's mom. I took the seat next to Alex and attached the utensil to my paw. Then, the eating began. I took a sip of my soup. It was delicious, as expected. The dinner progressed in mostly silence, with a couple of remarks here and there from someone. Somehow, despite the quietness, it felt lively. It was like there was a tangible sense of comfort and togetherness in the air. This must be what a proper family is supposed to be. I couldn't help it; I thought about my brother. He was probably somewhere on the streets, barely getting by, and here I was enjoying a warm dinner in the company of a family who accepted me as their own. I bit my lip to resist the urge to cry. Damn it! I took a couple more sips of soup. Why did it have to be this delicious? I felt the stinging sensation of tears threatening to spill over, but I didn't let them. I wouldn't. My foreleg shook as I reached to get another spoonful of soup. Alex's dad leaned over towards his wife and whispered something in her ear. She wordlessly reached a tail over and rested it on my head.
"Is the food alright dear?" Her voice was full of concern. Like a real mother. I bit my lip hard, the taste of iron filling my mouth. I was teetering on the dangerous line between okay and full-out breakdown.
"It's-" My voice cracked. I cleared my throat. "It's delicious!" I tried to say with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. She lifted her tail from my head.
"I'm glad, dear." I could tell she was still curious, but she had the decency to not prod any further. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Alex look up at me, but I was determined not to make eye contact. I spooned some more soup into my mouth, staring into the dark broth. I tried to empty my mind so as to not think about my family anymore. Or how loving and caring Alex's family is. Or how much I enjoyed it. Damn it. My spoon clattered against the now empty bowl. Everyone else had finished before me, and was politely waiting for me to finish my own portion. I continued staring into the empty bowl. "We'll clean up here, so why don't you two go off somewhere?" I lifted my gaze.
"Are you sure?" She nodded.
"What kind of hosts would we be to make our guest clean up?" This was my chance to slip away. I stood up suddenly, surprising everyone at the table.
"I'm gonna go exploring!" I promptly turned around and made a beeline towards the door. I heard Alex scrambling behind me to follow. "You stay here! You've already seen everything, so you're going to spoil the surprises! Be right back!" I turned around and flashed him a grin brief enough so as to not show how forced it was. Without waiting for a response, I pushed open the door with my head and started hastily walking in the opposite direction of the house. I could only hold back the tears for so long.
Back inside the house, a different exchange was occurring. Alex looked bewildered towards the door, as if he still hadn't processed that Emilia ran out like that.
"Alex." His father called his attention from back in the kitchen. He sounded serious. He quickly shrugged off Emilia's disappearance and turned around. The expression on his face was stern yet concerned. "Come. We need to talk for a moment." He gulped, not daring to ask what was up. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good.
I think I had gotten far enough away. I was standing in the middle of a field a ways away from the main road. The warm breeze felt nice through my fur. I laid down in the middle of a bed of some pleasant smelling white and yellow flowers. The dusk lighting made them appear almost orange. What was I even doing here? I had ditched my brother, my only family, and now I was causing trouble for another family. Was I capable of anything other than causing problems? Tears leaked from my eyes and dripped down on the flowers beneath me. My tongue ran over the bite marks and punctures in my lower lip. Gosh, I was really an emotional wreck. How was I supposed to save the world when I could hardly go a week without having a breakdown? I wouldn't want my brother to see me like this. I took a shaky breath and wiped the wetness off my fur with my foreleg. I had to believe that his life got better after I left. If he managed to escape, which I hopefully ensured, then he would reach society and find somewhere to live. From there, he could build up his life. I knew he was doing his best on his end, so I had to do the best on my end too. Instead of guilty, I wanted to be grateful for all the things that were happening to me. Grateful for the chance to start over. Grateful for my partner. Grateful for his wonderful family that accepted me so quickly. I let out a breath, letting my natural smile return to my face. As I thought, a smile fit me much better than a frown. As I stood to start walking back, a strange looking flower at the corner of my vision caught my eye. I walked closer to inspect it. Has it always been there? I totally hadn't noticed it, which was surprising considering how pretty it was. Its six petals were dyed in a gradient pink, with yellow spots in the middle. It was the only of its kind around. I had a strange feeling that I recognized this flower, but I couldn't put a name on it. I gently pulled it out of the ground with my teeth, careful not to puncture the stem or drool on it. The sweet smell of the flower filled my nose. I hoped that they would like it.
"...did I do something wrong?" Alex asked, careful to keep his tone neutral. His dad sighed, rubbing his temples.
"Whether you did something wrong or not, I don't know, but I don't think it's likely." Alex tilted his head.
"What do you mean?" His dad clasped his hands together and rested his chin on them. In the background, his mother was silently washing the dishes.
"I'll be blunt - something has been weighing on Emilia since she got here. She was borderline terrified when we first met, and even more so when she broke the fence. I figured that maybe that was just nerves, and it did get much better, but something really upset her at dinner. Frankly, it gave me a headache just sensing it. I'm not surprised she wanted to get away for a bit." Alex was shocked. He sat silently for a moment, mouth partially agape.
"I… I had no idea…" Unlike his dad, Alex hadn't developed his aura sensors yet, and nothing that she was doing was indicative of her real feelings. His shoulders sagged slightly. He felt like he had failed her, once again.
"Dear, don't be so hard on yourself. She suppressed her emotions out of consideration for you. I think that's quite sweet of her," his mother called out above the running water on the dishes. Her words did little to make him feel better. All she had done so far was sacrifice herself for him. Besides, what had upset her this time? Could it still be the Drowzee incident still on her mind? That didn't explain the fluctuations in emotion, though… his mind ran with possibility after possibility. He snapped out of his thoughts when a strong paw clamped down on his shoulder. It was his dad.
"You're thinking too much. Talk to her tonight, I'm sure she'll open up to you. Though it might spoil the mood a little." He winked cheekily. Alex blushed bright red.
"D-Dad! You're still going on about that?! It's not happening!" He laughed, clearing the air from the heavy conversation that just occurred. He always had a knack for changing the mood in an instant. Alex's mom chuckled lightly.
"The poor girl doesn't know anything about reproduction. For Arceus's sake, she asked if eggs were manufactured! Someone needs to teach her about that." Alex was experiencing emotional whiplash, hiding his face once more in his paws. He tried and failed to unpack everything that was just said.
"Seriously?! Well, I guess she did lose all of her memories. She'll find out eventually, right son?" He patted Alex firmly on the back and went with a chuckle to help his wife with the dishes.
"No! I mean, yes, but no! Not the way you're thinking!" The lack of response other than a shared laughter between the couple irritated him. It wasn't like she felt the same, anyway…
Alex's house came into view. Holding the flower in my mouth for this long was proving to be a difficult task. My mouth was starting to feel dry, and the stem felt awkward between my teeth. It took a lot of control to clamp down just hard enough to secure it, but not hard enough to dent it. The flower looked indifferent, though. I walked confidently up to the front door, but lost steam right as I went to push it open. Was it really okay for me to walk back after I just left like that? I hope they didn't notice anything off about me. I shook off my worries and pushed the door open.
"'M back!" It sounded strange with the flower between my teeth. I heard voices coming from down the hall, so I walked in further. The living room came into sight, and everyone was sitting in their usual spots.
"Emilia, you're back? What's that in your mouth?" I tried to explain that it was a pretty flower I found, but anything I said was unintelligible. Alex's dad stood up and grabbed the flower from my mouth, allowing me to speak.
"It's a pretty flower I found in the field nearby. I figured I'd bring it back for you guys." He rotated the flower in his hands, inspecting the petals carefully. I caught Alex's eye for a moment. He first blushed, and then he frowned. He looked guilty of something. What was that all about?
"Do you know what kind of flower this is, honey? It's not something I've seen around here." He held it close to her face so she could see.
"Oh my… it's a Gracidea flower! They're quite rare, and are valued greatly by the Shaymin. Dear, get a vase to put this in." It was a Gracidea flower?! I thought I recognized it, but I can't believe it was that… I felt a little embarrassed at the implications of giving a Gracidea flower to someone. Alex's dad disappeared presumably to grab a vase. His mother smiled warmly at me. "Thank you dear. That is quite a treasure you've brought us." I blushed at the praise.
"I still don't think it's quite as valuable as that dinner you made for us…" I walked over to the couch and sat next to Alex. He stared intensely down at his hands. I tried to catch his eye, but he wouldn't look up at me.
"Emilia, where would you like to sleep tonight? We don't have a guest room, but you could certainly sleep in Leon's room if you'd like." To be honest, the idea of sleeping in a stranger's room, while not a complete stranger, did not appeal to me.
"I'll just sleep with Alex, right?" I nudged him. He reddened and jerked his hands up from his lap to bury his head in. "...no?" After a moment's hesitation, I saw him nod slightly. "Cool! That's fine, right?" I directed my question towards Alex's mom, now. She held one of her tails in front of her grin. Before she could answer, a voice came from the hallway.
"Of course it's okay! You sleep where it is most comfortable for you. Alex would be more than happy to accommodate." He shot me a wink while moving toward his chair. The suggestiveness of his tone confused me, but I shrugged it off.
"Would you like to shower, dear?" Alex's mom asked. I savored the thought of a shower, another thing I had been deprived of since I arrived here, and long before that even. It had been a long day, and the fatigue was beginning to set in, but I didn't want to go to bed feeling dirty. I nodded. "Follow me, then. I'll show you where it is." She hopped off the chair with a graceful leap and started towards the stairs. I tried to mimic her leap, but ended up landing a little bit harder than I expected. I took one more look back at Alex. He hadn't moved his face out of his paws. Maybe it was a rough day for him, too. We'd have all the time in the world to talk about it later. Turns out stairs were far more superior than ladders. I was able to climb up them with relative ease. Perhaps this was the only situation where I didn't feel disadvantaged by my major lack of… arms. She brought me to a room towards the end of the hallway that looked like a pretty normal bathroom. There was a shower that looked pretty similar to a human shower. "Do you need me to show you how to work it?"
"No, I can figure it out, thanks." She nodded.
"There's towels on the rack when you're done." She left, closing the door behind her. I hopped in the shower and wrapped my forelegs around the handle to turn on the water.
"Cold!" I tried to hide outside of the waterfall to avoid the chilling cold water. It wasn't going to stay cold, was it…? Thankfully, the water slowly turned warmer. When it was warm enough, I walked directly into the water flow. The sensation of the warm water hitting my fur was heavenly. I closed my eyes and let the water run over my eyelids. Man… I really missed showers.
After my shower, I grabbed a towel off of the rack and did my classy tactic of rolling in it until I was dry enough. My fur poofed up, probably making me look a lot bigger than I actually was. I dropped the towel in a basket that was sitting next to the door and opened the door with my forelegs. Most of the lights were off outside now, and I couldn't hear any voices coming from downstairs. When I got downstairs, only Alex was sitting on the couch.
"Y-You're done?" I didn't miss the slight stutter in his voice. He seemed nervous about something.
"Yeah. Is… everything okay?" He finally made eye contact with me without looking away.
"What do you mean?"
"You seem nervous about something. Are you thinking about our mission tomorrow?" Now that I thought of it, that would make complete sense. It was our first major mission that was assigned to us specifically by the guild. Plus, we were exploring uncharted territory. He looked away.
"Yeah. Something like that." I didn't feel particularly nervous. In fact, it might be a little fun. It was going to be my first dungeon since I got smacked by Drowzee.
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure we'll do great. It's not like we're tracking down some dangerous villain here, and we can get out at any time." He subtly nodded his head. "Where are your parents?"
"They went to bed." He paused for a moment. "Do you want to go to my room now?"
"Yes! I sooo wanna see what kinda stuff you have in your room. I'm going to go through all of your yearbooks~" I teased. He stood up with a pout.
"You better not! I keep them hidden away, so I doubt you would be able to find them anyway."
"We'll see about that…" He huffed and passed me up the stairs. I trailed behind. He opened the second door in the hall and beckoned me inside. I wasn't really surprised to see that his room was kinda plain. Though, he did have a bed! So they do exist in this world! I couldn't say that I wouldn't be looking forward to sleeping on an actual bed for once. The hay ones at the guild were fine, but you couldn't beat the real deal. I leaped onto the bed and felt the wonderful squishiness of tempurpedic (or whatever Pokemon equivalent). "This is great! I haven't slept on an actual bed in so long…"
"Really? I think that the beds at the guild are just fine." I clicked my tongue, shaking my head disapprovingly.
"You just have no taste. Those beds are nothing compared to this." I continued to prod away at the comforter.
"I'm going to go shower." As he went to leave, he shot me back a look. "You better not go through anything while I'm gone."
"Mmkay." He left, leaving me alone in his room. A slow grin spread across my face. Time to uncover any secrets he had! The bookshelf on the opposite side of the room seemed the best place to start. I hopped off the bed and walked up to it. It was a little too tall for me to reach the upper shelves, but at least the bottom two were in reach. I skimmed through the titles. Mystery Dungeons 101, A Guide to Berries in the Wild, Dungeoneering for Beginners… none of these seemed particularly interesting. A couple of them were just storybooks. I groaned in frustration. I lifted my eyes up to the higher shelves that I couldn't reach. I scanned the titles, stopping on a particularly thick book. The spine read, "Memories from Samoratt's Battle School." Bingo! Still… the book was on the third shelf, and no matter how much I stretched I couldn't hope to grab it. I looked around the room for anything that could boost me up. The only other piece of furniture of interest was a simple desk and chair. I hooked the chair out from the desk with my leg, and three-legged hopped back to the bookshelf. I pushed it right up against the bookshelf and jumped up. Even with the extra height of the chair, I struggled to grab onto the book. I stood up on my hind legs. Almost… almost… got it! The second I grabbed the book, I lost balance on the chair. I fell against the floor with a soft "ooph," the book landing on my chest. I got back on my feet, laying the book out on the floor in front of me. I opened the cover, half expecting to see other Pokemon's signatures and kind messages for the future, but there was nothing. Maybe not a Pokemon thing? I flipped through the book, ignoring the boring captions in favor for just looking at the images. There was one image with Alex, who didn't look too much different than he did now, holding up a little plague with some indiscernible writing. He stood awkwardly in front of the camera with a strange half-smile. The picture was caption, "Salutatorian, Alex." So he really wasn't lying when he said that. I kept flipping. Alex was in a couple more images, but he was always off to the side somewhere and not really interacting with the other Pokemon. Did Alex… not really have friends in school? I flipped the book closed with a sudden sense of guilt. Maybe I shouldn't have looked through this. I climbed back on the chair and returned the book where I got it from, then I put the chair back against the desk. That had been more depressing than I hoped.
"You didn't look through anything while I was gone, right?" Alex walked in, his fur puffy like mine. I shook my head. "I'm gonna go grab a spare blanket." I looked at the bed. It looked quite blanketed, so what would he need a spare blanket for?
"What for? Doesn't the bed have enough blankets? We don't even have blankets at the guild." He turned slightly away so I couldn't see his face.
"It's for me to sleep on. Much more comfortable than the hard floor…"
"Huh?! Why would you be sleeping on the floor when there's a perfectly good bed right here?" He turned back towards me but averted his eyes.
"Won't you be sleeping in the bed though…?" He seemed to be picking his words carefully. I turned towards the bed and sized it up.
"It's perfectly big enough for the two of us." He hesitated. "What's wrong? I don't smell, do I?" I sniffed my fur quickly, but all I smelled was the shampoo smell. He shook his head.
"N-No! It's not that… It's just… nevermind." He gave up on whatever was causing him hesitation and resigned himself to… whatever. I tried not to think about how insecure that made me. I climbed into the left side of the bed, feeling the warm covers against my fur. My fur usually made nights bearable without a blanket, but the extra weight did feel nice. Alex clicked off the lights near the door and climbed in the opposite side. He was as far away from me as possible.
"You can slide a little closer, you know. I don't sleep bite… I think." He slid a little bit closer to me. I could feel his body warmth under the covers. It felt kinda nice. We laid for a moment without saying anything. "Today was nice, right? Your parents are really good peo-erm, Pokemon. Plus, we got to learn some sick moves! I can't wait till our exploration tomorrow when we get to test them out."
"Mhm." He clearly wasn't very excited. I flipped on my side to face him. He was gazing at the ceiling with a worried expression.
"What's wrong? Are you still nervous about our mission tomorrow?" He stayed silent for a moment.
"...Emilia, was there something on your mind today?" I had honestly not expected that question. I flipped on my back.
"What do you mean?" I hazarded. I wanted to know exactly to what extent he knew I was feeling before I said anything.
"Well, um, you seemed really nervous about meeting my parents. And something upset you at dinner before you ran off." Damn, maybe he was more perceptive than I thought he was. Unless… my blood ran cold. His dad was a Lucario, of course. Even though Alex couldn't sense aura, he most definitely could. He probably told Alex about it. I sighed, wondering how I would go about this.
"I don't think my parents were great. To be honest, it felt like that fear was ingrained in me, almost like it was habitual. So, when your parents were so good to me… I couldn't help but feel sad. The good kind of sadness. Almost like, 'this is what I was missing out on?' And… I couldn't help but think about the family I left behind. I'm sure not all of my family was bad. Did I just ditch them to come here? If they're suffering, should I deserve this luxury?" I ran out of words. I felt like there was so much more to say, but what were those words? I felt a paw reach over from under the covers and wrap around one of my legs. Damn… I felt like I was going to cry again.
"Well… I don't think that you deserve to feel pain just because the ones close to you are. If they truly cared about you, they would be happy that you're happy, even if they aren't." He was, of course, right. "And… I'm really glad you came here. Before you came, I didn't really have any friends. I probably would've never joined the guild…" He paused. "But, you're here now, and you've already helped me in so many ways. My parents really like you too… so please don't feel bad about being here." I felt myself tear up at his heartfelt words.
"Thank you…" I said in a quiet voice. He just tightened his grip around my leg.
"If you had the chance to leave, would you?" I wouldn't. I already lost the right to appear in that world again. Besides…
"No, I wouldn't. Even though I feel guilty, I really love it here. You, your parents, the Pokemon at the guild… everyone has been so kind to me. So I wouldn't leave. Is that bad?" My voice cracked at the end. I felt a single tear stream down from my face.
"You deserve to be happy, Emilia. I'm sure that that's what they would want for you, too." I stayed silent in fear of my voice betraying the tears in my eyes. I was really, really glad that I was reborn in this world.