I appear again here, hello! The rewrite is going very well and I have even begun to post the sequel to Warped Skies!
So, what better time than to return here and post another step on Soothe's journey?
This chapter will be akin to a more traditional chapter too, like the Keira Bonus Chapters!
The present was wonderful.
The past? If she was in the past did that not make it the present? Or, well, Cel had explained that time in the Dark Future would actually continue to move at the same rate. It was some head-spinning stuff, time travel made her head hurt.
For ease, she'd consider it the present. Eventually, it would become the present anyway so that would be fair enough.
It was hard to imagine the feel of the wind and being able to close your eyes in the sunlight. It was such a natural thing, always a part of the world you existed in.
It was something so common that it was difficult to imagine the idea, for who would ever need to?
Standing in the sunrise as the wind blew sent Soothe to tears.
She was alone. Alone near a beach as the sun rose, the wind blew, the scent of spring on the air.
It felt so good to be able to know only her own company. Know it without the hammering of madness pounding on her brain. Every breath taken away from Cel drew the feeling of eyes on her, bugs crawling in her skin, and thoughts in her head that were not her own.
Here? In the now? She could lay in the flowers.
Soothe was not yet all business, no that would take a long time to develop. She spent the first day in the present just enjoying the world she had fallen into. For once, not having to stare with dread up at the dusky sky, knowing that any pokemon could attack her. Except for Cel.
She missed Cel. A deep aching set of forlorn emotions. Cel would love the flowers, love the breeze, love everything. She was a bright fixture of the dark future, her kindness and hope being ever-so-brighter compared to the darkness all around her.
Now Cel was alone too. She had Giratina of course, but it wasn't quite the same.
Soothe knew that one day. One day. Cel would get to see this time as well and live in the here and now.
That's why, on the third day, she resolved herself anew.
She was the wildcard. No grovyle had ever been found, although she did have Cel keep an eye out for any 'handsome grovyle' just in case.
No Dusknoir either. No running from sableye or maddened Primal Dialga.
She was an audino in the flesh, not human to start with.
And no Darkrai had attacked her while travelling back in time.
So, she drew up a mental sheet of what she knew and what she suspected, speaking it aloud out of habit from the Dark Future.
"I am in Explorers," she said to herself, walking the unfamiliar paths from tree to tree, never slipping through reality and falling down hills or wandering past frozen lakes. Everything was where it was supposed to be.
"The Dark Future and Celebi made that clear. She never mentioned any other humans and we made the plan together. I must be before them."
She carried a rock with her, just in case. A nice heavy thing. Probably a gravelrock. She was less likely to be attacked here, but one could never be too careful.
"Either I'm in the story I knew but it's getting changed because of me, or it's just similar and things are wildly different already."
She carried the bag with her as well, filled with the rare scrounged weapons she could gather. Cel was strong enough to handle pretty much anything, but Soothe wouldn't let herself be helpless.
"I didn't show up near Treasure Town. Should be the Grass Continent but can't say for sure. I need to find some sort of landmark or someone who can talk to me."
She avoided the dungeons for the moment. Pillars of stability in the Dark Future, they were the places of chaos here in the present. And she wouldn't go looking for trouble just yet.
"Cel said she'd try to get me as much time to work on the gears as possible. It could be years, decades, or maybe even centuries. Hopefully not, and I have a feeling it's not."
Her ears were almost as sharp in the present as they were in the future. There were ambient sounds now to smother up noise, but an audino's hearing was still top-notch. She could hear someone's heart beating even without her feelers if she was close enough.
She followed the sounds of the sea. She had appeared close to the ocean and wandered back from it at first, now it would serve as the best way to find her way around. Treasure Town was on the coast, after all, so should that town in Super if it existed yet.
It took her a few more days of walking before she came across something most interesting.
Another dungeon, nestled down a slope. Briny slime stuck to the rocks, making her path uncertain and tricky but she walked down anyway. There were warning signs planted down, she could read some of the footprint runes now, enough to gather that this was a dangerous dungeon, other ones hadn't had this kind of warning placed upon them.
Brine Cave. She recognised the sight despite her foggy memories. She was on the Grass Continent!
Pure curiously pushed her onwards. It was a plot-relevant location, Cel had gotten lucky to get her as close to it as she had. It was a dangerous dungeon with a deadly trio at the end. And Soothe herself was no fearsome fighting force, knowing how to ram someone with her shoulder and heal someone which was painful for that someone.
She did, however, have quite the bag of tricks at her disposal. And she wanted to know, wanted to see it.
She stepped in and let the dungeon swallow her up. It felt vaguely better to be in one, she attributed that to the relative sanity they provided in the Dark Future, despite the maze of corridors and constant attacks.
Ferals in this dungeon were rather vicious, but still not as vile as ones from the future and she was able to step through most fights without a problem.
The floor was slimy and wet but she disappeared from sight as the dungeon changed, the orb vanishing as its effects concealed her.
If something saw the subtle motions of her feet on the ground or heard the soft steps, nothing attacked. She did not realise that moving through still alerted that what lurked within and left them primed and ready to attack whatever next wandered through.
It's funny how the 'plot' happens despite or because of your actions.
Sooth walked through the chamber without incident, the orb's effects fading as she strode through the final part of the dungeon. The chamber opened out to sea, stalagmites and stalactites met like gnashed teeth and the stretch of ocean before her seemed to expand into infinity.
A sparkling trail of mist and light reflecting off the water almost made a carpet of glitter along the ocean, or perhaps it was the concealed road towards the Hidden Land being explained away as a manifestation of nature?
It didn't matter to Soothe. She didn't hold a single gear or the key, there was no sight of Lapras but she knew there wouldn't be. Lapras probably was aware of her though, but wouldn't show himself to a stranger.
Instead, her attention was taken up by the grand marking on the wall.
She couldn't remember if the whole symbol was the same on the Relic Fragment or if it was just the middle of it. Still, the mystical symbol hung pristinely against the dampness of the rocks and she took out some charcoal and began to slowly sketch the symbol out. She knew she'd probably recognise the symbol herself if she found it, but it'd be so much easier to find it if she could show other pokemon what she was looking for.
An artist Soothe was not, but she was making some headway when the world seemed to tilt thirty degrees up. She stumbled, almost falling onto her back before a burst of what could only be described as manifested fury shook the entire dungeon and three specs flew by at speeds unsafe for jet planes.
She only barely managed to stuff her drawing into her bag before something pink came racing in, holding something green, yellow, blue, and red.
She froze up as the wigglytuff turned astounded but desperate eyes on her. "An… audino," he said, voice soft and gentle but unmistakably male. She trembled slightly as he ran to her, Power thrummed through his body like lightning, his steps felt like it could bring this entire place crashing down on them.
"Please!" he begged, reaching her with his gruesome cargo. "Please, can you do anything? Anything at all. I cannot lose him."
She couldn't help but back away, her foot touching the wall she had been sketching. He gazed at her with such raw desperation. She knew. She knew exactly who this was, who he was holding. Her mind raced in a panic, trying to settle on one course of action.
"I… I," she stuttered. Her eyes flicked between the two pokémon, one desperate, the other dying.
"I will do anything," he added, tears falling down his face. "Please." The word was so small, so quiet, so pleading.
She looked. There was no sign of Lapras. Why would there be? When there was an audino right there.
"A-Alright. Set him down and step back from us."
He obeyed without question, gently putting the blood-stained bird down on the ground before stepping back. She was relieved he didn't argue.
She wasn't sure what she was afraid of. If this was Guildmaster Wigglytuff, he'd never hurt her. Maybe what she was afraid of was failing. Maybe she was afraid of affecting the story more. Maybe his attack simply triggered instincts that could not be suppressed.
She knelt down, touching Chatot's head and tilting it slightly. He was breathing, thank goodness. There was some strength to his muscles, his neck didn't just flop and his beak was open, making a terrible wheezing gasp.
The strike had been into his chest, but the wound was not fatally deep. At least, not so fatal that there was nothing she could do. She pressed her paws together, holding them above his wound. She didn't say anything. They hopefully knew this would not be pleasant.
A soft pinkish light began to emanate from her paws, falling onto Chatot in cascading waves.
As expected, it was agony for the bird. He began to writhe in place, groaning and calling in pain as his wound was forcibly stitched together. She likened the sensation to having your cuts set on fire and seared shut. The concept was honestly not that different, though thankfully less traumatic.
She heard Wigglytuff stifle a sob but she didn't look up at him. "Stay… still," she demanded, but Chatot didn't seem to be hearing her. He began to hyperventilate, breathing faster and faster until he was nearly passing out from a lack of oxygen on top of the pain.
The pain would only intensify. Chatot began to scream, but surprisingly he flattened himself on the stone, forcing himself to hold still. Perhaps he could hear her after all.
It got easier from here. The worst of the wound had closed, the area aggressively inflamed and would be very hot to the touch, but the worst was still over. He kicked out weakly with his legs, unable to continue holding entirely still as Soothe felt her arms begin to shake.
She was not used to outputting so much heal ray energy. It was hard enough to manifest the magic to do it in the first place, taking months of tutoring from Cel before she began to grasp how to so much as use a Tackle rather than a tackle.
Her head swam a little and she tilted, catching herself with a paw next to Chatot's head and panted for breath. "I… I have to take a break," she gasped, pushing herself back into a seated position. Wigglytuff came forward, and she squeaked, skirting back when he got too close.
"Thank you," Wigglytuff said with a depth of gratitude that could not be described, picking up Chatot and rocking him back and forth. He wasn't bleeding anymore, but Wigglytuff's chest was painted with his partner's blood.
"What can I give you in thanks?" Wigglytuff asked, setting Chatot in the crook of his arm like an infant.
She continued to catch her breath. Or at least pretended to while her mind continued to race. "Nothing, I don't need anything."
She looked up to catch his surprised expression. "Surely there is something?" he asked, moving towards her. Chatot groaned, and she backed away.
He paused, looking down at Chatot.
"He's not fine," she said, frowning in intense thought. "Look… look, let's just get out of here, and I'll fix him the rest of the way outside. This place is creepy."
Not waiting for his answer, she strode forward with her head raised. She still didn't step too close to Wigglytuff, and he followed her out with no complaints.
Once they were outside and by the ocean she had him set Chatot down again and continued waving her paws over him like she was shoving items off a table. "He's lost a lot of blood," she said, glancing at the blood on Wigglytuff's fur.
He was closer now, and now that she wasn't backed into a corner in the dungeon she felt a little better.
"Is he going to be okay?" Wigglytuff asked.
If Lapras could heal him then surely she could.
"I'm doing the best I can here," she snapped, causing him to glance down guiltily. He began to pace which didn't help.
"Sit down, stop doing that, do NOT bite your lip," she demanded, as he began to do that. "And be quiet."
Wigglytuff obeyed, but the radiating concern lingered like a heater on the back of her neck.
"That's all I can do," she said once the wound was all gone, leaning back with a tired sigh. Chatot had fallen unconscious at some point, which made the whole process a little easier.
Wigglytuff immediately came over to pick him up. "Will he be okay?" Wigglytuff repeated, looking to the audino with his wide, tear-stricken eyes.
There was an adorable earnestness about him and she managed a smile. "Don't go throwing him into any more minefields for a while, and he should be, yes."
As he continued to rock his partner back and forth, crying softly in relief Soothe looked for her stuff. She had set the knapsack down to grab an oran and sitrus earlier. Oran for Chatot, sitrus for her to keep going. So much healing at once could leave problems in the long run, thus she had cleaned the rest of the wound out once he fell unconscious.
She found it and swung it around her shoulder, prepared to leave while Wigglytuff was distracted.
However, he was always sharper than others gave him credit for.
"Are you going?" His voice was alarmed.
"Yes," she replied, glancing back. "There's nothing more I need to do; there's no further reason for me to stay here."
"B-But what about your reward?"
"I don't want anything."
"But I have to give you something!" Wigglytuff protested. "You saved Chatot's life. I owe you everything."
The little idea that Chatot was everything to Wigglytuff left a soft smile on her face. A sentiment you'd never hear in the Dark Future, yet something that resonated deeply with her. She'd always liked Chatot in the games, he was softer than his strict countenance expressed. He'd taken the hit for Wigglytuff here and now, and would later on for two heroic pokemon.
Wigglytuff's eyes also softened as he looked at her. For a brief moment, he saw her as she was deep inside. Something he'd remember. Someone who only ever wanted to help.
"Stay with us for the day," he said before she could find the words to respond. He adjusted Chatot in his arms and gave her a smile, a truly honest smile of thanks, relief, and welcome. "Eat some food, share some laughs, and we can make sure Chatot is definitely alright."
Her smile changed, it was still there, but there was almost something… teasing about it. "Is that all you want me for? For what I can do for you?"
His expression turned horrified. "Of course not!" he squeaked. "I-I-I-"
It made her laugh. It well and truly was Guildmaster Wigglytuff. She felt younger for a moment, something that left her feeling silly as she wasn't even middle-aged.
"If you're offering a safe place for the night," she said. She might have been introverted but she still enjoyed some company. Cel was amazing, but she'd spent almost her entire time with her and no one else "Then I'll take you up on that offer."
Wigglytuff smiled. "You can stay as long as you like," he said. "I'm Wigglytuff."
Chatot stirred in his hold. "Rhythm?" Trill asked quietly. He blinked some drying tears out of his eyes and moved, Rhythm quickly put him down, and he noticed the audino watching them. "Erm. Hello."
He sounded nice now that he wasn't screaming. She smiled at him, he looked a little confused but dawning remembrance was coming to him.
"I'm Soothe," she said. Both her companions blinked in surprise, but Trill had said Rhythm's name already.
"It's good to meet you, Soothe," Rhythm said, smiling widely. He touched Trill's wing softly. "She saved your life."
"Indeed," Trill said, eying her for a moment before his eye quirked, and he bowed briefly. It caused a bit of pain, and he hissed for a moment before adjusting. "You have my… truly… just." An emotion gripped him; he remembered Kabutops going for Rhythm and him intervening to save him. He knew he would die but he had done it anyway. "Thank you. I am… I am Trill, better known as Chatot."
"I am Rhythm, also known as Wigglytuff," Rhythm said. Soothe seemed surprised for a moment herself. It was funny, in her head she hadn't actually expected them to have named. Cel hadn't after all.
"It is excellent to meet you both," she said, setting her knapsack back down. "If you don't mind, Rhythm has invited me to stay for the time being?" she said, looking to Trill.
"Certainly," he replied without hesitation. "A noble pokémon such as yourself, I must properly express my gratitude but… I'm having trouble thinking of something for the time being."
"You must still be in pain," Soothe said, Trill grimaced and nodded. "Hm. Perhaps a joke would help."
"A joke?" Rhythm beamed, Trill did not look quite as enthused, but he nodded regardless.
"Yes." Soothe smiled, thinking of the perfect one for the moment. "So, Trill… knock-knock?"
He gave her a confused blink. "You're meant to say who's there?" she laughed.
"Oh. Err, who's there?"
"Nevermind, it wouldn't be as funny as that was." She continued to giggle and soon Rhythm was laughing as well. Trill couldn't help but shake his head, stifling any laughter of his own. Now there were two of them.
They moved away from the slimy rocks and up into the woods above the caves. Right where, many years later, a riolu would meet a grovyle for a serious talk.
It was there they spent the night, Soothe listening to Rhythm ramble on and on and on about their adventures. It might have sounded like a sales pitch if Rhythm wasn't such an earnestly cheerful person.
Plus, what was to come after he began to ask her questions?
"I'm really just a wanderer," she said, after the fourth question she had to handwave. "Come from nowhere, going nowhere."
Trill had fallen asleep after Soothe and Rhythm insisted he eat a lot, Rhythm even gave him a marvellous-looking apple despite Trill's arguments to the contrary. "It's good for you!" he insisted until Trill wore down to agreeing to halve it.
Trill got the bigger half of course.
Rhythm even broke his piece down further to give to Soothe. She realised it was a perfect apple and how big of a deal that was.
She felt… comfortable. Already. Despite knowing who they were. In a way she barely did. It took Rhythm five minutes and seven rapid-fire stories to break the illusion of a game character in front of her. She might have known the Guildmaster Wigglytuff, but this was Rhythm a perfectly pleasant stranger.
There was no guild yet either, she was pretty sure. They were partners before the guild, so that gave her a rough beginning idea of where in time she actually was. Had to at least be a few good years before the events of the game.
Yet, her mind wasn't really on that. It was on Rhythm's storytelling abilities, the way he moved and enunciated the words of his stories. The way Trill slept peacefully, relaxed and comforted by the sound of his partners voice.
Rhythm never talked over her or pushed the conversation around and soon she was telling obscured stories of her own.
Mostly stories about running away from threats, but Rhythm sat enraptured anyway.
It was the first time she'd feel the urge to tell him. Tell him everything. Tell him what she was, where she came from, and what she knew.
However, it was late. The fire burned down to cinders and they began to yawn. It was easy to let doubt express itself as rational sense. That it was too early. That she'd look crazy. That it wasn't something to tell someone you just met, no matter how nice and open they seemed.
Perhaps when they had spent more time together?
She chuckled to herself, these thoughts floating through her head.
Once she'd said she was alone he showed that his stories really weren't a clever marketing pitch. Or, at least not one pretending to be otherwise. "Do you want to come with us?" he asked, while Trill was still awake.
She didn't really give an answer and the topic moved on.
As she chuckled now he asked. "What are you laughing at?"
She leaned back. "I'm already thinking about the future and it has you two in it. Guess if you really mean it, I'll come with you to the next town."
Rhythm made a sound like, "Eeeee!" And danced around excitedly, balancing her rock on his head until it fell off and he gave her a quick, breath-expelling hug.
It would be the start of an absolutely wonderful friendship.
It would take a couple of days of travel to reach the next town, passing through a useful dungeon called The Crest for some fast travel. Seeing how explorers of this time functioned was fascinating to Soothe. In the Dark Future, dungeons were the last resort haven, here they were dangerous but exciting treasure troves.
Wigglytuff was mighty in combat, striking as hard as an explosion and swift as the wind. He was reckless though, very reckless. Sometimes he failed to take out every foe, or a surprise attack came and knocked him on his back. Trill was more cautious and moved with serene confidence, getting a heal to Rhythm without missing a beat.
Soothe was not so much of a fighter, but she did know Heal Pulse and thus saved them a good amount of money on healing items just from a couple of dungeon runs.
Hilariously enough, however, every dungeon they entered came with a problem...
In the middle of The Crest, they walked into a shady deal taking place in the safe area. After Trill chastised the perpetrators for doing this in such a publicly used dungeon the two of them utterly wiped them out.
It left Soothe in awe, staying back as the two engaged five pokemon in battle like artisans. Two groups, one of two and another of three, scrambled to mount a defence before Rhythm crashed into them and sent them scattering like bowling pins.
Trill struck second. The scalpel to Rhythm's wrecking ball. Of the two that endured the opening strike, Trill had down and out before they could even strike back.
Soothe heard something, her large ears twitching and she shouted, "Look out!" She pointed as she called, something invisible moving for Trill. He bucked in the air, evading a blast of energy that pulled Rhythm's attention.
He didn't look angry, just disappointed. He moved so fast the air cracked and caught the invisible attacker by something and brought it down. The invisibility peeled off to reveal a meowstic and that was that.
Rhythm believed in second chances and so they left some healing items they had saved thanks to Soothe and left a stern note and destroyed the joy seeds and moved on.
In the second dungeon they ran afoul of another.
"I am the legendary outlaw Croconaw!" The buff pokemon roared, sending water into the air to rain down on their heads. "Do you think you stand a chance against me?"
"Oooh!" Rhythm bounced, raising his paw. "I do! I do!"
His childlike enthusiasm confused the outlaw for a moment before he scoffed. "You are nothing, Wigglytuff. I have not heard of any great team that has such as you three. Do your woAAH!"
"It's like One Punch Man," Soothe said, stunned as Rhythm knocked the outlaw through a dungeon wall. Trill wasn't listening, already used to this and rifling through wanted posters they carried.
"No, no, no, aha. Croconaw, wanted for burglary, threatening behaviours, kidnapping and battery. A modest sum for his arrest."
"Hooray!" Rhythm cheered. "We'll eat good soon!"
And in Rhythm's words, a little village outpost to contact the federation didn't count as the town they were going to and Soothe found herself not wanting to part ways anyway.
The next dungeon had a monster house in it.
"Never a dull moment, eh?" Soothe said after they arrived at Tad Town and checked into a charming little tavern.
Or was it a café?
She wasn't sure if pokemon knew the difference.
"We always have a lot of fun!" Rhythm beamed, bouncing in his chair as Trill pecked at some fancy nuts and seeds. "Did you have a good time?"
Soothe looked over Trill with a medical eye. She hadn't been happy to see him battling immediately, but pokemon were hardy creatures and recovered swiftly.
"Yeah," she said, taking a sip of something stronger than juice.
Trill finished taking the best seeds and ruffled his feathers. "Your company has been quite agreeable," he said a little stuffily, but that was just how he was. "I must admit, the finances have never looked better." Rhythm giggled without guilt.
Soothe smiled behind her glass and waited.
Rhythm popped first. "Well, we were wondering. This town isn't that big, you want to come with us to the next one?"
Soothe shrugged. "I probably wasn't going to go to a town next," she said, tracing a circle on the table.
"Where!?" Trill said quickly before composing himself. "I mean, where did you next plan to head?"
"We could escort you!" Rhythm beamed.
"Yes, I was implying that."
"Well, I was saying it."
Soothe's smile grew as they bickered. It was strange, just a couple of days in and she felt like she belonged. They truly made it welcoming, even stuffy silly Trill.
She liked having her own space, but… well. Would it be so bad? It wasn't like she couldn't leave them at all, unlike with Cel. They could teach her, they were the future creators of the Wigglytuff Guild after all.
And she wasn't content to be a side story, this was her story.
She'd tell them. She resolved. She'd tell them everything. Only… not right now. The thought of doing it now left an odd churning in her gut. No. Not now.
When the time was right.
"Alright," she agreed. And that was how Soothe joined the Team With No Name.
Soothe sat on the cliff's edge of the Wigglytuff Guild.
It was the highest point of the town, even after being rebuilt. The head of the guild looming over the town, its ever-present protector.
"It really was the best place for the guild," Rhythm said warmly, sitting beside her.
"Of course," she replied, smirking slightly. "I know best after all."
"Cheating doesn't count," Trill said from her other side.
"Only if you're caught," she laughed back.
They sat together like they had many years ago. She leaned against Rhythm, Trill leaning against her. Watching the sunset paint the ocean.
"You seem deep in thought," Trill said as a comfortable silence moved on.
"Just reminiscing," Soothe sighed.
"About what?" Rhythm asked.
"Us."
They both looked to her. She smiled back. "Just thinking about the day we met."
"Ah, yes." Trill frowned for a moment, the worst physical pain of his life that was. A good reason not to get so injured ever again. And like all good reasons, it meant nothing when his guildkids had been in danger.
"I wish I'd told you back then," she said, looking up to Rhythm. "I thought about it after Trill fell asleep. I convinced myself out of it with good, clever, excuses like I would continue to do every time."
Rhythm wrapped an arm around her, giving her a light hug. "I wish you had," he admitted. "But that's how things are. Isn't it easy to look back and think 'I know how to have done that right'? In truth, we don't know."
"You think you'd have believed me?"
Rhythm smiled. "Dunno. I might have, I would have listened no matter what. Maybe saying it on the first night would have been a bit much," he giggled slightly. "But I would have listened. Either way, I don't think we should ponder on that stuff too much."
"Rhythm is right," Trill said, chirping up from her other side. "Regrets fester worst with what if's and you know that."
She laughed softly, hugging them both. "Yeah, you're right."
"So, I was curious about something," Trill began as a cool breeze began to blow.
"Yeah?"
"How much did you know?" he asked, meeting her eyes with a smile. "Compared to how much you learned?"
Soothe thought for a moment. "More than I realised, less than I thought. I knew surface background details. That you two had explored together at some point and that Rhythm had been on Team Charm. I knew some details about your history with Armaldo," she continued, looking to Rhythm. "And, of course, about Brine Cave. Although it was meant to be Lapras who saved you, did Scout ever mention that?"
"Can't really remember," Rhythm hummed, a great deal had been explained the night Scout revealed all he knew.
"And I knew you'd do it again one day," Soothe said, voice fading to a murmur. "Not that you were meant to die."
She closed her eyes, feeling very complex forms of shame.
Rhythm bumped her once, twice, until she opened her eyes. "We don't agree with the idea of destiny, remember?"
The words he had said to her before came back as Trill ruffled his feathers. "I made my choice, perhaps the story simply understood my resolve but it does not dictate."
Deciding to lighten the mood, Trill cleared his throat. "Well. I asked mostly out of curiosity. I do recall some things that, in retrospection, appeared as if you were… setting us up."
Rhythm giggled as Soothe actually grew a little flustered. "Oh, uh, well that. That's not. You shouldn't." She cleared her throat. "No, nothing in the games suggested there was anything going on, well besides the whole 'You are my most beloved partner'. But, I dunno. I couldn't stand the pining."
"The what?" Trill barked.
Rhythm also looked shocked at such an insulting statement.
"I felt like I was going to just dissolve from the pain of watching you two flirt the way you flirted," Soothe groaned, the memories were traumatic. "Um, good morning. Ahem, good morning to you too my beloved. I mean, my beloved… partner."
"I did NOT!"
"You probably did." She rubbed an ear. "I feel like I can recall that exact occasion happening several times.
Rhythm was shaking with giggles and Trill barked. "Stop laughing at these lies!"
"She really isn't downplaying it though," Rhythm said between giggles.
Soothe gestured at Rhythm with a winning expression. "He admits it."
Rhythm leaned against Soothe. "I remember asking Soothe about 'A friend of mine' one time."
Soothe shuddered. "In my old world that's a joke done when the asker is actually interested in the person they are asking. That one freaked me the fuck out until I realised you were describing Trill."
Rhythm and Trill snorted at her.
"Don't you snort at me. I remember Trill's 'friendly friend' outings. It was really hard to find an excuse every time to let you guys be alone for it, and nothing happened."
She frowned. "How did you two get together anyway?" She wasn't there for that.
They glanced at each other, and then both blushed and glanced away. Rhythm played with his leg fur as Trill meticulously preened his feathers.
She waited until she sighed, "How much alcohol was involved?"
"It wasn't alcohol," Trill huffed, offended at the notion.
"It was maybe a couple of years into running the guild," Rhythm began and Soothe gasped.
"Years? For the love of fuck, you two are hopeless." She couldn't be too mad at them though. "You were already basically married, did you wake up one day and realise it?"
Rhythm giggled. "K-Kinda I guess."
Trill ruffled his feathers, all prim and proper. He gave in to peer pressure though. "It finally dawned on me during an early spring flight around the guild. The guild was firmly entrenched and gaining great success and I was thinking about… why we stopped adventuring."
Soothe didn't freeze or tense up, but she still did change her posture as he said that. "Oh."
Rhythm hummed something a little sad but calming nonetheless.
"I decided to approach Rhythm to ask if he was happy." Trill looked to Rhythm to continue the story.
"He said it in a way that made me think," Rhythm explained. "It took me longer to come to an answer than I'd thought. I was happy because I had him by my side still in a wonderful guild we honoured you with."
He smiled brightly as Soothe glanced down, not wanting to show her expression. She was a little moved though.
"From there it just sort-of… clicked," Trill said with a polite cough. "Admittedly we never exactly put a label to it. As Guildmaster and second in command, it was agreed that a relationship was to remain out of guild affairs and the guild was much of our lives so, urk, displays of affection were largely kept behind closed doors."
Soothe laughed softly. "I'd expect nothing less," she said warmly.
Smiles were shared.
"I want to ask something else," Soothe began. "Not to lower the mood again. Bidoof wasn't concerned with noticing things behind the scenes but I've heard from Scout and, of course, from you too, Trill." And Nelia, not that she would speak her name.
"Go ahead," Rhythm said.
"Why'd you let Trill believe you killed me?" she asked bluntly.
Rhythm had wondered when this question would come.
"I held onto the hope that one day I could save you," Rhythm said into the stillness around them. The breeze had stopped blowing, perhaps intimidated by the topic. "That's one. I guess I didn't want him to think you were suffering."
Trill shifted uncomfortably, Soothe also frowned. Suffering did not even begin to describe it.
Trill opened his beak. "It is true that had I known I would have advocated for your destruction. As terrible as that is to state here and now, everyone knew how Shadow Pokemon had to be handled. There was only one option."
Soothe nodded. "I understand, I think. And I'm not hurt, by either of you." She decided it was better not to say that she would have preferred to die. It wasn't like both of them weren't aware of that. She knew Trill would have told Rhythm.
Those times were behind her now. Behind all of them.
She smiled. "Somehow, we all made it through."
"Suppose it's a question I asked Rhythm, and I love you as well so I'll ask the same. Are you happy, Soothe?"
Soothe smirked at him, almost going to tease him before letting the question sink in.
"I will be," she said, feeling like she believed it too.
"How long did it take you?" she asked.
"Not until you came back to us," Rhythm said softly.
Soothe looked at him. "...we were close, but two years shouldn't be enough to let your life be ruined."
Rhythm shook his head. "Never ruined. Never. Please don't think like that. I missed you, and yes I did change quite a bit after Treeshroud Forest. But I don't think it was all for the worse, change is a part of life after all. I started to think things through more, not just rushing headfirst into things."
Trill cleared his throat. "Besides creating the guild. He walked into the Federation headquarters and just sort of… said he was doing it."
"Well, who'd stop him?" Soothe joked.
"That's what I said!" Rhythm beamed.
Trill sighed, her words flew right over Rhythm's head and Soothe chuckled.
"Well, I said why would they stop me? Same thing."
Trill shook his head. "I've had to deal with this without you, you know? Every hair-brained scheme and insane plot. It's very difficult being the only sane mon."
"You were never the sane one," Soothe snorted.
"Exactly!" Trill retorted. "We needed you."
Soothe smiled and pulled them into a hug. "Thank you," she said. "Thank you for never giving up."
They hugged her back, as tightly as they could. Because she was real this time. Real to hear all the things they thought would never be said.
Aren't they wholesome now?
Ah, I remember the old days when Soothe was this enigmatic figure who was almost definitely evil and the cause of all the chaos.
I remember the reveal on a discord server that she was in fact yet another victim. That was a glorious day.