I am a Charmeleon, with an agile body and a burning tail. I swiftly manoeuvre the bushes, knowing that the Garchomp claimed this area as theirs, and would kill me if I were found. Even though I know I can outrun them, I'm still anxious as my heart beats rapidly. But I know I need to partake in these dangerous jobs to get food for my sister and me.
At another time, I'm running through the desert with my mouth dry. If Salamence come, I have nowhere to hide. Thankfully, I arrive at the Flygon's place and am able to sleep soundly. She accompanies me on the journey back out of the desert, and we part ways unwillingly. I never knew a Vibrava could be so nice.
I spread my new wings as a Charizard as I glide over this desert. Why again? I am already self-sufficient. That's right. I want to see her, because her smile makes me happy. And I'll prove that I can hunt for her this time. Except I don't know how to hunt in the desert and we end up throwing sand at each other again. Some gets in my eye, but her desperate apology more than makes up for it.
I'm in a friendly battle with that Flygon at the outpost I volunteered to be stationed at. She had to sneak out because her parents didn't want her leaving the desert. It was dangerous, since after the Hydreigon were defeated, the dragons could now openly fly everywhere. But I did it last time for her, and she deemed me important enough to do it for me. That alone makes my heart warmer.
I'm a little dizzy as I wake up with her lying right next to me. I don't want remember what happened last night. I tell myself I'm not doing that again – what would my sister think? Ah, I don't care what she thinks. I'll do what I want. I lie down next to her and cradle her sleeping body in my arms, and gaze at her sleeping face. She wakes up and gets embarrassed, but I calm her down.
I feel the soft beat of the heart of the Charmander in my hands. Beside me is my mate, and we smile together as we watch our child. The little one struggles and I place her back onto the floor, as I watch her take some of her first steps. She falls over, so I rush over and pick her back up. She seems tired and curls up against me and I feel like I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life.
…
"Nova! Wake up?"
I'm a Flygon, and I want to find my father. I wish I was that Charmander…
"Come on! Why'd you skip to the last room anyway?"
Rue's voice is loud. And annoying.
That was a sweet dream. Maybe it was me as my father, and it's his memories preserved in my blood somehow. Nah, I'm not a Charmander. Wait, that Charmander could be my older sibling!
"Hey, Shiny, we're not gonna leave you any food if you don't get up!"
"Whatever you say, Scarface." I force myself up and look up at the Fraxure standing level to me when I'm sitting down. She has her arms crossed.
"What's with the attitude? I'm just telling you to get food! Next time I won't call you and you can go hungry."
"Yeah, yeah. And who'll carry you back to the forest?" I stretch my arms. The bed is actually quite nice for a good night's sleep.
"Come on, don't be a pain," she says and tugs on my arm.
"Fine." I stand up and rise over her, but she seems as energetic and commanding. "Are you a half-blood again?" I ask her as we walk out into the corridor.
"I know my father's a Haxorus, he was here when I was small. And he never said anything about my mother. Stupid, really. And you? Is your father a Flygon or what?"
"Yeah, but I wish he was a Charizard, that'd be fun. He could teach Phendrene fire stuff."
"Yeah, I don't think that scared-of-everyone Charmeleon would like to know him. I wonder if she's gonna change as a Charizard."
"She probably talks to you the second most, actually," I admit. "Because you're the only one that is rude enough to approach people who don't want to talk."
Rue turns around. "Hey! I taught her a lot about how to hunt and use her fire, okay? I think I deserve credit."
"All right," I nudge her back to walking into the main room. "But I'm just saying, she's not as simple-minded as she seems. When she talks to me, she often has her own ideas and-"
"I never said that she is simple-minded. I just said she's scared of strangers. We all saw how she reacted to Fen." Rue makes a point a can't refute. Phendrene has already ran over and passed me a piece of meat, so I stop the conversation about her.
"Morning!" Vie greets me cheerfully from across the room, raising her head from some conspiracy with Hale.
"Morning," I reply with my mouth stuffed full.
"Have you come up with any ideas about the Salamence?" she asks me as she comes closer. No wonder she was so eager to greet me.
"Nope." I wasn't even thinking about it.
"Can't hurt to ask," she says and picks up a piece of meat into her mouth, and walks back to her brother.
I finish eating pretty quickly and it turns out that Rue was exaggerating when she said that they were finished.
"I'm thirsty," Phendrene says from besides me. True, we haven't gotten anything to drink for a while. We Flygon don't really notice thirst that much.
"Silex? Is there a stream or river near here?" I call across the room.
"Follow the cliff to the right for a while and go over the rocky hill." She makes a hand gesture to go with it, and I understand.
"Thanks. Come on," I tell Phendrene. She climbs onto my back as I stand up.
"Nova, we still have to plan for what to do today!" Rue tells me from amidst her conversation with the others.
"We're just having a drink. It'll be quick." Without waiting for a response, I leap outdoors and spread my wings to let the air carry me up. The morning sun shines on the prairie below the cliff. After a cautionary glance around us, I dive downward along the cliff for a speed boost then glide up. The rocky hill on the plateau above the cliff is soon in sight. I revel in the cool wind and morning sun, but Phendrene holding on to me means I can't do the usual flips and twists.
The stream comes into sight as I fly over the hill, but I falter at the sight of something big near the rocky floor on the banks of the stream. Briefly I contemplate on my excellent vision – I'm still not that used to that – but then my mind focuses and I try to discern what the creatures are. They seem to be orange with a cream underbelly, with tiny wings which don't seem to work well considering their bulky build, at least compared to Flygon. Looking closer, there are two of them, with one lying on the floor, relaxed, while the other sits next to the first one with its tail swirling around in the water.
"Nova?" Phendrene's voice sounds suddenly, with the familiar distinction of being right behind my ear.
"Wait." Why do they look familiar? Their six limbs mean they should be dragons. And those thin antennae… are those Dragonite?
Well, they're definitely not Garchomp or Salamence, so I think we're pretty safe in approaching them. I glide downward towards them. The one with its tail in the water seems to notice me first and points in my direction as the other turns its head.
As I'm slowing down, I realise I'm not sure what to say. I've never even approached a stranger dragon from afar. Rue and Spire were ones we bumped into and we didn't greet each other properly. But getting near them on purpose and then greeting them?
I land on the floor right next "Um… Hi," I manage to squeeze out, but then Phendrene distracts me by jumping off my back to hide from the Dragonite's vision.
The one who had its tail in the water stands up and walks over. "Hi there!" comes a distinctively male voice. "I didn't expect to find Flygon here. Is that a Charmeleon?" He's up close now, and tries to look over me but when he does he just finds Phendrene staring back at him.
"Why don't you get your drink first?" I tell her. She nods and steps away from me to the stream.
"Is she your younger sister? Or girlfriend, perhaps?" the Dragonite who I feel like is towering over me asks. It's not strange. After all, I'm only really a newly evolved Flygon.
Wait, what did he just ask? "You're implying we're half-bloods?" I say bluntly.
"Oh, we Dragonite don't care about that stuff." He pats me on the arm, which makes me a little bit more comfortable.
"No, she's not my anything. We're just travelling together with some others and she was thirsty so I brought her out."
"I see," he says while nodding his head. "Sorry, I forgot to ask, what's your name?"
"Nova. And you?"
"That's a nice name! I'm Sky."
"That's a simple name," I remark, before realising that I could sound rude.
"It's not my full name!" he says, giving an embarrassed laugh. "You can't pronounce my full name. So let's just stick with Sky."
"I can't pronounce it?" Now I'm curious. "What do you mean?"
"Eh, it's in our Dragonite language. Don't worry about it. D you want to sit down first?" He looks behind him and finds a rock and sits on it.
"I don't really mind," I reply and remain standing.
"You do seem to fly very quickly for a Flygon. You must have great fitness. What are you doing here as a Flygon, though? Not to be racist or anything," he adds in.
"We were going to visit the Charizard, but… actually, we're not that sure what we're doing now."
"How many of you are there? Do you have more Flygon or more Charizard?
"More Flygon… but we have a few others. Honestly, we're just kids travelling together…" because our parents died. I didn't want to add in the last part in.
"It must be fun, right?" he suggests, oblivious to our conditions. "Exploring the world?"
"We're not really exploring… more like, wandering around." I become nervous thinking of how we would appear to others. "And we have a bunch of weird people. Some want to murder Salamence, and some want immortality. It's complicated."
"That seems pretty fun, though!" he says, laid-back. "Part of the reason we came out to find others to talk to! It's a bit boring when I only meet Dragonite every day. It's pretty dangerous, though. We had to practice a lot of battling for our parents to let us out here. Salamence don't like to mess with us to begin with, but I can't say the same for Flygon. At least, that's what my mother said. So you should be careful."
Parents. I wish mine were here. My only hope is on my father, now, who is apparently dead, because of nothing. But no, I refuse to believe that as long as I don't know he is dead. I'll find him.
"…Yeah, we flew away from a group of Salamence once. We didn't really think this through. You seem to have it planned well."
"Our goal, other than adventuring, is to find legendary Pokémon! I'm pretty looking forward to meeting one."
"That's nice." I reminisce of the times where I listened in fascination to the awesome powers that these mystical beings had. Then I got stuck in a plain forest for five years with very little mention of them. "I'm not sure you'll be able to find them, though. They are hailed as legendary not just for the power, but also their rarity."
"Gotta try, right? Even if-" He stands up in the middle of his sentence, and shouts something urgently in another language to his partner, pointing to behind me.
"Huh?" I turn around, and see a Salamence flying over the hill. He seems to falter at the sight of the Dragonite as well, but Sky just charges up.
"Wait!" I call to the orange dragon. "He's not dangerous!"
Spire manages to dodge a blast of energy and glides down next to me. "The hell is that Dragonite doing? Hey you, pretend I'm Phendrene," he says and tries to hide behind me with his head peeking out from my side.
I instinctively put my arm around Spire like I do to Phendrene when she's scared. Sky turns around and looks extremely confused. "Nova! …What's going on?" He lands in front of me, keeping his eye on Spire.
"Oh, he's one of the dragons with us," I explain.
"Well, why didn't you tell me? How did you expect me to act when I saw one?" he exclaims, still not taking his eyes of the Salamence behind me.
"Scary," Spire mutters. "So that's what took you so long."
"I didn't get around to it," I tell Sky, ignoring Spire's comment.
"Can we go back now?" Spire nudges me from behind. "I'm scared of the big bad Dragonite."
"That's not cute."
"Only when Phendrene does it," he retorts back and laughs. "Nah, I'm just thirsty too, not like you Flygon who can go centuries without water," he says and then walks to the stream. I glance towards it and Phendrene has walked quite a distance, likely because of the commotion.
"I thought that Salamence was an enemy. Sorry," Sky says and bows.
"It's all right. Just let me get some water." It's actually an excuse to check out Phendrene, who is a too far away for my comfort. Sky buys it (or at least pretends to), and says that he'll wait and flies over to his partner.
Phendrene has finished drinking and is sitting on the edge staring at the running water. "Wait, Nova," Spire calls and walks over to us. Phendrene immediately jumps on me, scrambling arms around my neck. "What are these Dragonite? Did you just find them here?"
"Yeah. They were at the edge of the stream when we got here." He asks another question but I don't really pay attention to it because I'm leaning down to drink water. It's colder than the water up north.
"Nova, I'm serious! What if they're dangerous!" he shouts in a much louder voice. I'm worried the Dragonite would hear him but they don't seen to notice.
"Dragonite aren't like Salamence and Garchomp, right?" I say as wipe some water from my mouth.
"You never know! What if they're spies for the Salamence?"
"You're too paranoid!" I tell him. "Relax."
"You have to be careful! Do you want her to get captured?" he asks and pointledly stares at the Charmeleon still clinging on to me. Her head is at least peeking over and still looking at Spire. Though she still hasn't talked to him, they have been living in each other's close vicinity for years, so she should open up.
I glance back over to the Dragonite who are on the opposite bank a bit downstream. They seem to be talking about something that isn't important, judging by Sky's loud laughter. Around the few of us are a few trees scattered in the area leaving a long shadow in the morning sun, but otherwise the area is mostly infertile, with barely traces of grass creeping through the rocky banks. Further down the stream, though, I can see it flow off the cliff and down the hills. Upstream, it seems to come from around a hill, from the tall mountains far away.
My attention turns to a faint splash upstream in the shade of the mountain. There seems to be something – or rather, someone, in the water. And it probably isn't a dragon.
"Phendrene, get off me!" I yell at her. She does, startled, and I don't give her an explanation before I break into a run, and then leap into a low glide. I can hear the splashing creature whimpering as I approach it. I grab onto it with my hind claws and place it carefully on the bank. It's a tiny red and cream furred quadruped with black stripes. I glance back at the others carefully, but none seem to have followed me here. Good. I don't want to see this thing killed and eaten.
There's a sudden sting at the back of my neck. A set of teeth latching onto it, as if something's trying to kill me. But its strength is weak and it feels like it's only a small wound. I grab the creature easily and it releases its grip with a yelp. It's like the one that I rescued from the river, just slightly bigger. But I notice the fear in its eyes and drop it. It rights itself immediately and assumes a defensive stance with its tail held high.
"I'm not going to eat you!" I find myself saying. It's such an unsettling thing to say.
"Then why did you pick up my brother from the water?" The canine retorts. From its voice I can tell she's only a cub, if slightly older than the one in the stream.
"I was saving him!" I use my arm to wipe the back of my neck and then see that there's a little blood. No one will notice.
"Why would you dragons want to save us? You just eat us." Its stance hasn't changed at all.
There's little time to explain this to her before others come to find me. "I'll eat you later. You need to bring your brother home first, though."
She jumps over nimbly to her brother's weak body and picks him up by his scruff. "You're lucky Mama isn't here. She'd beat you up," she says in a muffled voice.
"I'm sure she would. Now go before the other dragons come and actually eat you," I tell her, staring off into the distance. Phendrene seems to be upset that I've gone and seems to be convincing Spire to come get me, but the lazy Salamence is having none of it. …My vision is really a lot better after evolving.
"You're… a good one?" she speaks in her normal voice again, so I assume she dropped her brother again. Irresponsible.
"Yeah. Go already," I say without taking my eyes off my dragon companions.
"I… my name is Siri. What's your name? What type of dragon are you?" She crawls into my field of vision, lingering near my legs.
"Nova, Flygon. Your brother's probably going to die if you don't get him to Mama soon." The Dragonite has noticed that I've gone, and is coming to get me.
"I'm a Growlithe. I'm sorry… I was supposed to watch my brother but he fell in. Don't tell Mama, okay?"
I'm wondering how she's supposed to hide the fact that her brother is half-drowned, but I reply, "Okay. Now go."
"Thank you… Mister Nova Flygon," she says and picks up the smaller cub and leaps into a small gorge and disappears from sight.
I stare at the approaching Dragonite. "Dude, what happened?" Sky says as he lands next to me.
"I thought I found another dragon. Turns out I was wrong," I tell him, trying to keep a neutral face, but I can't help but smile slightly at the Growlithe's antics. "It's cold here. Let's get back into the sunlight."
"Okay." He starts walking back. I run past him into a glide and get back to Spire and Phendrene. "…should not rely on Nova all the time," I hear Spire lecturing Phendrene, which is surprising.
Phendrene seems annoyed, but that's better than being scared. "You can't even hunt as well as me. And I'm a Charmeleon."
"Don't be mean," I scold her as I land within earshot.
"Yeah, but he didn't even bother to catch up with you. I had to go ask the Dragonite." She climbs back onto me.
"Shouldn't you blame Nova for flying off randomly? He's not my responsibility!" Spire complains. "I never knew you were as bossy as Rue."
"At least she's talking to you, which is more than what can be said for Hale," I tell the Salamence.
Phendrene doesn't seem happy that I'm talking about her in third person right in front of her and pinches me lightly. I get the memo and don't talk any further.
"Guys!" Hale's voice makes me jump, especially since we were just talking about him. "Rue sent me to check on you. I'm guessing you guys got hung up with the Dragonite?"
"Yeah, that one is pretty talkative," I say, pointing to Sky. "I'll head back for now," I tell them and leap into the air, Phendrene holding on tight.
"I don't know why I was talking to him," Phendrene says as I'm flying, uncharacteristic of her. "You left me alone, and he was only the one I knew…"
"You don't need to explain yourself to me," I tell her as we land moments later. "I'm happy that you're opening up to people."
"But Nova… don't mention Hale again. Please?" she says quietly as I walk inside. "He… He knows."
"Right. The half-blood thing." The blackmail from under Lyrl is somehow still valid now. Hale, despite not being very close with us two, knows Phendrene's secret, which neither Vie or Rue do. I don't even think Silex knows.
"Huh? Where's Hale?" Vie asks immediately. "And what took you so long?"
"I was talking to two Dragonite I met," I explain and sit down on a chair in the elevated rest area, Phendrene climbing down into my lap.
"There are Dragonite?" Rue asks excitedly. "Nova, bring me over!"
"It's quite cold outside. For us Flygon, at least. I want to stay in with Phendrene for now. You could go ask them to come over."
Rue walks over, irritated. "I can't fly! I'm already drinking the downstream water, and you want me to scale a cliff, too?"
Oh. "I guess you can tell Vie to call them," I propose, not wanting to move from my comfortable position with Phendrene. "I'm tired."
"You're tired? It's still the morning!" Rue exclaims.
"You did wake me up from the middle of a dream," I tell her honestly.
"Fine." She turns over to the other Flygon. "Vie, can you please call the Dragonite over?"
Vie nods and runs out of the room. For her similarities with Spire, she seems a lot less wary of the Dragonite. On second thought, Vie probably thinks the Dragonite can help her with the Salamence. That must be it.
Silex is reading a book in the corner, and Rue is pacing around impatiently. I realise the main room is going to get noisy after people arrive. "Phendrene, let's head inside," I tell her.
She scrambles up and leads me hastily into the third room, which is probably the one she stayed in. I lie down, and she snuggles in. "I feel much better in here, alone," she admits.
"And to think I just praised you for opening up…" I smile at the jibe, not wanting her to tense. "It's all right. You'll get used to talking to others eventually."
She doesn't answer and simply snuggles in. I close my eyes and hold her close, my mind wandering to my dream this morning. A Charmeleon with a sister growing up in difficult times, that eventually found a Flygon mate and had a small Charmander child. I felt so happy in his place. Is that really what having a mate and children feel like?
Who were they, anyway? Was it a figment of my imagination, or was it a memory? I distinctively recall the Charmander's gender as female. Could it be…?
"Phendrene, did your parents meet as teenagers?" I ask her with my eyes closed. "And did your father have a sister?"
"No. How am I supposed to remember?" she answers swiftly. "Let's not talk about him."
If she doesn't want to talk about him, I'll respect her decision. For now, I'll just rest. Though I didn't get woken up early, I still don't feel well rested. Perhaps my flight was too vigorous and requires more sleep. Does physical exhaustion relate to length of sleep, anyway? It doesn't matter. I'll rest whenever I feel tired.
"Why do you think it's good that I talked to Spire?" Phendrene asks softly. "I wasn't happy with him at the time."
"You're learning to express yourself. Before you would just not say anything, and sit there in silence until I came back. You need to learn to tell people when you're feeling uncomfortable." I stroke her back to reassure her. "I remember you being afraid of Spire as a Charmander, but you managed to conquer that fear. Good job."
"Spire was only scary because he was a Salamence. Once you've seen him enough, you realise that he's not scary at all. He's lazy and can't hunt very well. But he still tries to insult people, which is why I don't like him." She shifts and lays her head on my arm. "But at least he is real, with flaws, even if his background is mysterious. Hale is a lot harder to read, even though we know his background. He appears cheerful and easy-going all the time, but that's why I feel uncomfortable with him, because no one can really be permanently happy."
I'm astonished at how observant she is. Being quiet allows you to take note of what other people are like. "I didn't know you would think of all of this. Is that why you don't like Fen, too? He only shows his serious and formal side to us, so that must make you uncomfortable, right?"
Phendrene stays silent and pulls herself closer to me. "I don't like him."
"But you see, maybe he isn't used to being so blunt like we do to each other. You shouldn't assume less of someone simply because they prefer to mask their private emotions," I try and tell her.
"I just don't like him," she repeats. "Aren't you tired? Get some sleep. Stop talking."
She's becoming slightly more mature, but I still worry about her paranoia. Hale is definitely one of the nicer people you can meet, and Fen looks like it too. Plus, I thought she wanted to see a Charizard. Maybe she has bad memories of the Charizard that came over in the desert.
"I'm not that sleepy. It was just too cold outside," I tell her.
"So are we going to stay here?" she asks.
"At least until the Dragonite leave. The others are interested." As the words come out of myself, I wonder why I'm not as eager to learn about the Dragonite as the others are. If Silex were to tell a story, I'd be the first to listen.
I just worry that I might say something out of place and get him angry. But that worry is really out of place. Like Phendrene's.
I sit up, startling Phendrene. "Let's go see what's going on."
"With the Dragonite?" she asks, clearly not wanting to get up.
"Yes. You don't have to talk if you don't want to, but you should get used to others," I chide her lightly. She gives a soft nod and tugs onto my hand as we walk back outside. The main room is empty sans an idling Spire, so I tentatively head outside, holding Phendrene close. The morning sun shines in my face and makes the cold much more bearable.
To my surprise, there is only one Dragonite – Sky, the one that greeted me. The other one is nowhere in sight. Rue and the twins sit with him in a circle, as I walk up near them and sit down. Phendrene tentatively follows, but holds me tighter than I'd like her to.
"…So what do the you know about the Salamence?" Vie asks, which does not surprise me at all.
"Let me think," he says and leans his head on his arm, as my companions listen intently. "They have a king and they live in the Zeal mountains, and have some access to human technology. They're also one of the strongest dragons around, I think. I don't want to brag or anything, but Flygon naturally are a bit weaker than the Salamence and us. Oh, and their genes are dominant over Flygon, but not as much as Dragonite."
Vie perks up at the last part, which is something we haven't heard before. "Dominant genes? What does that mean?"
"It's how the species of a half-blood is determined, based on their parents' genes. If a Salamence has a child with a Flygon, if neither of them are half-bloods, the child is always a Salamence. So I can safely say that none of you have Salamence genes! Except for maybe you," he points to Rue.
"Oh…" Vie becomes disinterested immediately. She most definitely is not interested in having children with Salamence.
Rue crosses her arms. "Who cares about what's in our genes? What we are on the outside is what matters."
"Ah, right," Sky affirms. "Species is the factor that matters most in battling. When I was trained, I had different tactics for different species, but of course I only got to practice with Dragonite. If I actually tried it on you guys, you'd probably dodge it all," he finishes, a little embarrassed.
The Fraxure upon hearing this is the polar opposite of embarrassed. "Probably? Definitely!" she yells as she stands up and leaps at him.
"Hey, I'm not ready!" Sky says as he tries to shield himself with his arm, but Rue manages to hit her tusk on his stomach and he grunts in pain.
"You think an enemy would wait until you're ready?" she says quickly again and trips him over with some clever technique, resulting in the Dragonite belly flopping on the floor. Hale laughs from the side.
I stand up and back away, watching them trade moves. Sky gives some elemental punch on the unsuspecting Rue and she flies off again, trying to right herself before she lands but hurts her shoulder instead. I don't understand how they think this is fun. It hurts, doesn't it? I streak of sunlight escapes from the clouds and I realise that I can just fly, and worry later. The only problem is Phendrene, who is still holding onto me.
"I'm going flying. Let go."
"Take me!" Her excitement is out of place. I'm about to scold her and tell her to find her own hobby, but decide against it. It's not her fault she doesn't have wings yet.
"Fine." I lower my back. "Hop on."
Once I feel the familiar arms clasp around my neck I zip off immediately into the sky as the familiar feel of wind goes beneath my spread wings and carries me up high and over the cliff. I survey the landscape, and feel the urge to go higher.
What are our plans now? There's no point staying here for too long, since we're not going to get into Novaria. But what are we going to do back at the forest? I know that whole area. The hill, the stream, the clearing, the chasm, I've seen them enough times. Now that I'm evolved and can actually fly to faraway locations, I no longer feel content living a boring life at the forest. I want to live like how Sky described he does.
I've only known him for less than an hour. I can't go with him. But what about someone else, like Rue and Phendrene? We could visit the Dragonite's home together, if they are friendly. But I doubt the others could keep up the flying for more than a few days. And I am likely applying my interests to people who don't share them.
I'm worried Phendrene will get dizzy from all my twists and turns so I land on top of the cliff edge. I expect Phendrene to get off, but she doesn't, so I sit down and let her rest on me.
A huge figure blocks the sun for a second and I almost dash into flight before I realise it's Sky, with Rue on his back, followed by Hale.
"Nova, seriously," I hear the Dragonite's voice as he lands right next to me. "How do you fly like that?"
"By flapping my wings," I give a perfunctory answer.
"He said seriously," Rue says as she jumps off. "I've never really paid much attention to your flying before, but really you literally went from there to there in three seconds," she says as she points towards somewhere in the sky. "With a Charmeleon on your back."
"I practice a lot. And we're light." I stand back up. Phendrene still hasn't moved. I'm starting to thinks he has fallen asleep. "Where's Vie?"
"She went to interrogate Spire before we noticed your flying," Hale answers. "I've seen Flygon fly before, you know I have. And they have never been this fast."
"That's because they don't spend a better part of the day flying." I motion for them to stop and prepare my wings once more. "Hold on. Phendrene's asleep. I'll come back out after putting her on a bed. Stay here."
It turns out if someone is asleep and grasping onto something, they keep that grasp into their dreams. I had to carefully break apart every single finger she had in her grip which locked her around me, and left her on the bed of the room we stayed in. Vie pays little attention to me as she asks Spire questions I'd rather not listen to.
I raise my head as soon as I exit, and see the others glancing at me. "Try flying some circles now!" Rue shouts. I ignore her and simply boost myself up with a jump and a few flaps of my wings to in front of them.
"Wow," Sky exclaims as I land swiftly next to them. "Were one of your parents a Dragonite? You could have inherited some of the psychic levitation ability."
"Didn't you just say that only the species matters, not the genes?" I question back.
"Right." He puts his hand on his head, like he's thinking. "What else could it be?"
"Nova's probably channelling another person's power, so it doubles!" Rue yells and laughs.
"I'm not sure why you guys are making such a big deal out of this," I say openly. "I've been flying like this soon after I evolved into a Flygon."
"Trust me," Hale pats me on the shoulder. "You're the fastest Flygon I've seen. And I've seen plenty from back at the Shallows."
"Thanks?" I am not sure how to respond to his gesture. "It's not that difficult of an accomplishment."
"Oh, you are definitely underestimating yourself," Sky adds. "Your speed is-"
He stops and looks behind me. We follow his gaze and see that it's the other Dragonite, who doesn't seem very pleased.
She says something in a foreign language in an annoyed tone, to which Sky replies, equally annoyed. After a few exchanges, she simply flies aside and leaves Sky in what clearly is a sour mood.
"You okay?" "What happened?" Hale and Rue say together, leaning close.
Sky sighs, and gives an awkward smile. "Sorry guys, but I need to go. We haven't eaten anything yet and she's getting hungry."
"But wait! I can hunt for you!" Rue replies quickly, clearly not wanting him to leave.
"We don't have that much time to waste," he says, fidgeting. "We have to get through the mountains during the day because it's too cold to stay there at night. I mean, you could tell me where you usually are and I could find you again…"
"Can't you just go around the mountains? What's the big deal? …Why do you have to listen to her?" Rue asks, now with the usual disdain she shows to the rest of us.
"Sorry, but I have to listen. …It was really nice meeting you guys," he says with a hint of finality.
"Wait, we live in Whitewind Forest, next to the Southern Sceptile tribe. Ask them and you should find us easily," Hale tells him.
"And I live in the group of Dragonite next to the Moon Lake in the eastern forests. The Dragonite should welcome you," he says. "Thanks for… well, talking. I guess I'll see you?" He gives a tentative smile.
"Okay then… bye!" Hale says and waves a bit as he flies in the direction of his partner. "Bye!" I yell after his receding figure.
It's only when he disappears over the hill that Hale and turn our attention to the silent Rue staring at the floor.
"This is why I'm never, ever getting a mate," she spits. "They become the only thing that matters and you don't care about anyone else."
"Rue, chill. We've only known him for an hour. Of course he's going to listen to someone who is his lifelong friend. I wouldn't leave y'all for someone I just met, now would I?" He offers her a hand.
"Yeah, that's what you say now," Rue stands up, ignoring Hale's attempt to help, and stares upward into his face defiantly. "But when you get a mate you're gonna just leave us and run off with her, and then-"
"Rue, what's wrong with you?" Hale interrupts her, and takes a step back. "Why do you hate others for wanting something that's natural?"
"It's because… I have nothing to say," she switches her own words mid-sentence and turns to walk away before realising she can't get down. "Nova, can you get me down?" she asks with her back towards me.
"No!" Hale blocks me. "Don't let her down until we sort her out."
"I already told you! People with mates only care about their mate and stop caring about everyone else!" Rue turns back around and yells at him.
"That's not true," Hale responds, standing firm.
"How do you know?" Rue replies back and once again steps daringly close. "I bet when you see some female Flygon that's not your sister you're just gonna leave all of us and dedicate all of your time to chasing her around and thinking about-"
"Rue! Stop that. Actually, I'm going to leave now, you seem much better at calming her down," he says to me and with a sprint, leaps of the cliff.
Rue runs over to the cliffside. "That's because it's true!" she shouts down, and is left out of breath with no response.
I've never been one to discuss this topic, and simply stand by silently, waiting for Rue.
"It's like you and Vie," Rue says softly, still staring into the distance.
"What do you mean?" I ask and sit down next to her, letting my legs off the edge.
"I had someone in my childhood that I promised to be mates with, too," she narrates, sitting down next to me. "But for you two, no matter how awkward things come to be, are still here for each other. Mine? He… he disappeared. Ran off one day. Or maybe fell off a tree died where no one notice. That stupid Grovyle…"
"I'm sorry." This is why? The reason she never wanted to evolve? Because it would hurt too much to find someone else?
"No, I'm sorry," she says, her voice full of guilt. "I had to tease you two that time in the desert to mess with you. I'm probably just jealous…" She falls silent again, and simply stares of into the distance.
"It doesn't matter," I console her. "I don't really want a mate, anyway."
"That's good. I can only hope the same happens to me when I evolve. Seriously, it's so illogical," she says, her tone getting less solemn and more upset. "They never tell us when we're children so we find it weird and then when we've grown up we're supposed to change our minds and have no problem with it."
"I suppose," I answer, seeing the reason in what she is saying.
She sighs. "It's not like that Dragonite is coming back. Bring me down, please?"
"Alright. Hop on."
"Don't tell anyone," Rue says as she hooks her arms around my neck. "They might judge."
"Don't worry, I won't," I answer. "Are you ready?" I place my hands on the edge, ready to push myself off.
"Actually, can you bring me flying? The type all those flips and spins. The ones you reserve for Phendrene. But she's going to get her own wings eventually. But I'm never going to, and maybe when I evolve I'll be too heavy for you to carry me again." Her tone sounds atypical of her, but I know not to comment on it.
"Of course." I'd never turn down an offer to fly more. "Hold tight." And with that, I push myself off the cliff and glide into the air. I immediately perform a horizontal flip and feel her clench on to me tighter. It's strange. Before, during the flights, she was simply lying on me in a relaxed way, waiting for the time to pass. But now, it's like a Phendrene with less heat and a rougher skin, and an uncomfortable tusk that my wings sometimes hit by accident. A noticeably different feeling, too, even if they are the same size. This time it is the loud and boisterous Rue that needs the wind to forget about her troubles. I'm glad to offer this kind of service.
I do another dive and glide back up into the skies. It's disappointing that she won't be able to fly. I had imagined the perfect image all of us flying together in unison, only to neglect that one of us will never get wings.
"You're a good person," Rue says suddenly.
"Huh?" I stop moving around erratically and open my wings into a glide while looking back at her. "Why?"
"You…" She opens her eyes, and stops. "It's kind of cold. Maybe bring me flying back at the forest. Let's go inside."
"…Okay," I respond, and dive down to the entrance. She hops off quickly and runs into the room, clearly embarassed. I'm a good person? Perhaps I don't get angry very easily, and I can stay put while listening to people. But I'm useless in the practical world, and that's not even me not having self-confidence. I'd literally starve to death if I were on my own. …
"So you're finally back," Vie says in a loud tone as she sees me walking through.
The discussion about mates with Rue makes me somewhat wary of Vie. "Yeah," I say and sit down next to Spire, who looks up at the sound.
"Now get Silex out of that room. We need to discuss the next step for the Salamence," Vie orders.
"It doesn't matter," Rue says and plays idly with her tusks, already lying against a wall. "She never minds what we're doing. She just follows us and helps us hunt."
"Okay, fine. So do any of you reckon anywhere else to find more information?" Vie asks, looking around at everyone else.
"Him?" Hale points to Spire.
"Look, this Flygon here just spent the whole morning asking me questions," Spire answers, irritated. "What am I supposed to tell you? They have a secret weakness to some secret weapon? It's not so complicated! They're stronger than us. They have strength in numbers and raw power. We can't do anything at the moment."
"But there's gotta be something!" Vie steps closer to him. It's kind of dissonant seeing Vie standing taller than Spire and looking downward due to being biped even though, Spire appears to have a bulkier physique.
"There isn't," Spire states flatly with a glare. "We are simply not strong enough. If you want to do something right now, go join the Flygon army back at your place."
"You…" Vie trails off. "I thought you wanted to defeat the Salamence? Isn't that why you came with us in the first place?"
"Yeah, but we just have to wait until an opportunity presents itself. Like we capture a Salamence that's actually in the military to gain vital intelligence. Or maybe earn the favour of a legendary Pokémon and ask them to do it for us."
"Just sitting idly and waiting for these things to happen?" Vie waves her hand in disapproval. "That's not going to get us anywhere."
"Well, you come up with a better option, and I'll gladly oblige," Spire answers, his tail swishing around.
"Let's leave," Hale cuts into the conversation. "Isn't it supposed to be dangerous here?"
"Fine I'll go ask more people in Lyrl. This trip was pretty pointless," Vie says and steps away from Spire.
"Not really," I cut in. "We met Fahrenheit and Sky and learned at least some things about the Salamence."
"I guess," Vie replies and shrugs as she walks over to Fen's door and knocks on it.
"Come in!" comes Fen's voice from inside. She opens the door and we see Silex and him sitting across each other, presumably talking about something.
"Silex? I think we're ready to go," Vie tells her.
"Where to?" she asks, calm as always.
"Back to the forest first."
Silex nods and stands up. "We'll continue next time, then," she says to the Charizard.
Fen stays silent for a moment. "Of course, I can't force the kids to be cooped up here. It's a shame that the Charmeleon didn't want to work on her fire, though. It'll be hard for her to find another Charizard."
"I'll go get her," Silex says promptly and enters the inner rooms, and quickly carries a Phendrene out on her back, who is only half-awake. "Are we going now?" she asks the group of us who are idling.
"…Yeah! Let's go," Hale says.
A small motion to Rue is all I need for her to jump onto me, and we become the first ones to run out the door. I close my eyes and let my wings take me up into the sky again. I open my eyes again, seeing the others get out. They're so slow. I turn around to get a view of the mountains… but instead there's a group of Salamence. And they're right in front of me.
"Aah!" I shout and immediately redirect my wings to fly off in the opposite direction, as far away from these Salamence as possible.
This… this isn't supposed to happen! We just said that the area's dangerous and were going to leave! And now they come?
"Nova? Nova! Stop flying away!" Rue shouts from behind me. I ignore her. I just want to get away from those Salamence. "Seriously, look foward!" So I look up briefly and see a group of what must be a group of Garchomp gliding in our direction.
No…! Why is our luck this horrible? We could have waited inside if we knew! I change my direction and fly away from both groups as fast as possible. "Stop it!" the annoying voice sounds from my back. "I need to go back and help them fight! I know you're not in danger, but no one can fly as fast as you!"
I ignore her. The waterfall coming from the stream is right ahead. I can probably hide under there.
"Nova!" she yells again and hits me in the head with her tusk. "Stop!"
"Go by yourself!" I tell her. "I'll drop you if you keep on hitting me."
"You're so- come on! They're already fighting – just bring me back to help them! None of them can catch you, you can just fly away once you leave me there!"
Hating my cowardice, I turn around. I glance briefly and see the Garchomp and the Salamence already tearing at each other but I can see only glimpses of Flygon, and I don't even know where the Charmeleon is. Maybe she didn't come out yet. I hope that's the case. I force my head back towards the ground, and try and block out all the sounds.
I dive down a short distance from the cave and land with my shaking legs, near the battle going on. "There. Go and… don't get hurt."
"I'm much stronger than these winged freaks on the ground," she says fiercely, and darts off into the fray. I do not bother thinking further about her calling us winged freaks, as a Salamence fixates its attention onto me. I leap back into the air as it crashes into the spot I've just been standing at. I shudder as it leaps up to get me before I turn around and speed off back in the direction of the waterfall without looking back.
Is it going to be like last time? Is someone going to die? I dive down to the waterfall and land inside it. It's cold, but at least I'm not dying. And it's water and not blood. My mother comes back into my mind. No, I can't do this again. I can't sit by and only act after the damage has been done. I can at least get Phendrene and maybe Silex out of there. The others will have to handle themselves. I force myself to fly towards the battlefield again, this time staying just above the cliff.
There are already many bodies on the floor… So far, I don't see any that are Flygon. The Garchomp and Salamence that have fallen… how stupid of them to fight over useless 'territory'. I land on the edge to try and get a better view of the situation. Phendrene and Silex aren't there, maybe they retreated back into the cave. Hale is grappling with this Garchomp with a few minor injuries. Vie is biting tightly onto a throat of a Salamence, who is struggling back. But Rue… she hasn't evolved, and she's simply running around, beneath, and all over the Salamence, her attacks with her tusk proving ineffective as she continually uses her agility to dodge them. Is it that… she can't let go of not evolving?
"Rue!" I yell from above. "Remember your Grovyle! You have to live for him!"
She looks up for a moment, startled. The Salamence she had been dodging takes this opportunity to ram into her as she is pushed against the cliff. I feel horrible for distracting her but then feel relieved at the bright light coming from her. A strong golden figure appears and in a swift motion, her blade on her head cuts straight into the Salamence's throat.
I can't help but to look on for them, even if I am repulsed by the bloodshed. Hale seems to have the upper hand with the Garchomp but it desperately wriggles out of his grasp and simply flies off back in the direction it came from, and Hale doesn't attempt to chase. Vie has lost her grip on the Salamence and it knocks her out with a strong flick of its tail, flinging Vie against the wall. Rue leaps onto it immediately with her new body and it shouts something. "I give up! Don't kill me!" Rue doesn't buy it and still hacks her newly sharpened tusk into its back as it screams.
Hale quickly grabs Vie and enters the cave. Rue just sits on the Salamence who is half awake, looking around at the half-dozen corpses with a victor's expression. It's only then I realise Spire is missing. I search for him amongst the few bodies on the ground but none seem to be him. I sigh and turn around to avoid the sight of the messy bodies before I find a bloody Salamence claw frozen right next to my throat. I scream and leap off the cliff, but it latches and grabs onto my tail. I will myself to speed ahead and somehow end up dragging this Salamence off the cliff, with the momentum of a swing forcing it to let go and land on the ground with a resounding thump.
I glance around me warily, afraid of another surprise attack. Why did that claw stop? Was the Salamence too hesitant to kill me? I could have been dead like my mother, and all those Salamence down there. But today was not my time, or so Arceus decided.
"Nova!" Rue yells for me. Her voice is a bit different. I glide down and land next to her. "How's this new body, eh? I bet I can kill five Salamence all by myself." Her sharp, bloody tusks move in tandem with her mouth as she speaks. I can't find the scar on her face that I called her Scarface for.
I glance around wearily at the corpses. "What are… we going to do about them?"
"Forget them, these two are still alive." She kicks the side of the one that just fell down from the cliff who doesn't respond.
I feel sick. "Don't do that."
"Oh, so it's okay to kill them?" she asks. "I'm just demoralising them so they don't come up again. Isn't that right, little baby Salamence?" she crouches in the face of the other one who knocked out Vie, and it just stares at her.
"If you're going to kill us… then do it. We're… not afraid," a male voice comes out from the weak body.
"Well well well, if it isn't our honourable warrior. Too bad that I'll make you speak and hate your betrayal to the king, eh?" Rue teases as she stands back up and walks around him.
The Salamence closes his eyes and stays still on the floor. "You… evil, evil Haxorus," he squeezes out.
"Yep, I'm evil," she says as she glances back to the one lying on its back.
"Come on, let's get inside," I say, glancing around hesitantly at the corpses, the smell of blood starting to get to me.
"So you're saying I should kill both of them? Good idea."
"No! I mean… let's make sure they don't die, first," I say, seeing blood trickle from the mouth of the one that fell off the cliff.
"Sure," Rue responds, and grabs onto the awake one and starts dragging it in. Once she heads in, there's some noise inside but I don't pay attention and try and drag the other one.
"You… how did my claw stop…" a female voice suddenly sounds, and I realise it comes from the body I'm dragging. "Forgive me, Flygon… I have a son…"
I let go and shudder. This Salamence is a mother?
"Nova, move," I hear Fahrenheit's voice behind me. Alarmed, I stand up and walk backwards as he places his face next one of the Salamence's wounds, and… breathes fire on it.
"Stop!" I scream at him and run over to try and drag him away but it's no use. He's still breathing the fire. "Please…"
"Nova, I'm cauterising the wound! Not killing her!"
Huh? "What's that?"
"Preventing bleeding and infections! Move out of the way!" he says impatiently, and I do, but trip on the head of the Salamence that Rue had all but decapitated. Forcing my eyes shut, I climb back up and run into the room and squeeze myself into the furthest corner of the elevated area, of which one of the beds is taken by Vie with Hale sitting closely next to her. She seems to have no external injuries, but I still want to stay as far from those bloody claws as possible.
Fen drags the Salamence in and places it next to the other one before heading promptly back into his room. The awake Salamence's breath is laboured and his eyes focused on Spire, who evidently has no injuries or even a single smear of blood on him, lazing on the side like normal, if a bit more wary because of the two Salamence in the room. Silex is standing at the door of Fen's room, with a bit of blood on her chest but no injuries, talking in a serious tone with Rue, who is now just as tall, if not taller than the rest of us.
And I notice someone who is missing. A huge pit appears in my stomach.
"Where's… where's Phendrene?" I suddenly say and stand up, walking over to Silex. "Where's Phendrene?!" I grab her arms.
"She's… in there," Silex says, her voice solemn. I push the door open and see the Charmeleon lying on a bed with her tail and left arm dangling off the side. There is a deep wound on her stomach, and even though the blood has been cleaned off it still sickens me.
"Hey you! Get out," I hear Fen's angry voice from aside as he walks over and places his strong arms on mine, pushing me away.
"No! Phendrene is… she…" I fumble my words.
"Look, Nova, we both want her to stay alive. The difference is I know how to and you don't. So do everyone a favour and let me treat her," he tells me and pushes me harder, making me step backwards out of the room. He then shuts the door in my face, leaving me dumbfounded.
"What happened… how did she…"
"I'm sorry, Nova," Silex says in a sincere tone. "I couldn't hold onto her and she panicked and ran into a Garchomp. I brought her in… but she should be fine. She didn't have time to lose much blood, none of her vital organs were hit, and Fahrenheit is a qualified medic.
"I… hope she's okay," I say and sit down back in my corner furthest away from everyone. Rue is cleaning blood off of her new tusks and wiping them on the floor, but no one else has moved
I close my eyes. If Phendrene were here, I'd be leaning onto her. But she's not. Silex told me to trust Fen, but I can't help doubting him after his display of anger.
We were so lucky to not have any of our fighters die, but Phendrene had to be the one to get injured. I would have gladly taken the hit for her, like my mother would do for me. …Our parents, they were all killed violently. Spire's, whose names I don't even know. Shell, Dream, and…
Wait.
Dream. That was Phendrene's mother's name. It's not 'Drene', but it's close enough. That means…
I open my eyes and stare at the entrance to his room.
That's why he let her on his own bed. That's why he wanted to teach her how to use fire. That's why he knew her mother was a Flygon.
Fen and Dream. Phendrene. I should have noticed. He must have noticed.
I stand up and clench my fists as I reopen the door without knocking and slam it shut behind me.
"Who- Nova, get out!" Fen snarls as he puts down apiece of equipment he had been operating with.
"Just let me sit here and watch. I won't bother you," I say to him calmly and sit on a chair beside the bed.
"No!" he says and rushes towards the door. "I need utter-"
"You don't want to open that door. They might hear me."
"Hear what?" he asks and puts a hand on me to drag me up.
"I know who you are. And you must have been hiding it for a reason. So if you don't want anyone else to know, let me stay with her," I tell him, attempting to remain calm. "Please."
He releases his grip on me. "You… What are you… talking about?"
"You want to feign ignorance? Fine, I'll say it to your face. This Charmeleon," I point to her, "is your child."
Fen remains silent and glares at me.
"She doesn't like you," I try and make up a silly justification. "I have to be here for her when she wakes up."
He shakes his head and picks his equipment back up. "Look, we talk about this later. We both have a common interest – to make sure Phendrene recovers. You better not bother me if you want her to live."
"Of course," I tell him and shift my attention over to Phendrene. Her face seems so serene, almost as if she wasn't injured.
Fen starts working on the wound with some stitches. I reach for her hanging arm and hold onto it tightly.
Please be okay, Phendrene.