"...Team Everfire!" Sam said.
"Everfire?" I said. "That sounds so dumb."
"N-no it doesn't! I think it works!"
"How about... Team Wisecracks?"
Sam's face scrunched up. "No! No! Why that one?!"
"Because at this point, we are wisecracks."
"No, no..." Sam said, thinking.
"How about... we think on it some more?"
We walked and walked, talking about possible names.
——————————-
As we kept walking, it started getting dark. "So are we going to camp out somewhere?" I asked Sam.
"Yeah, I was thinking in that clearing up ahead." Sam said, pointing over at a side clearing up the road a bit, over a small hill. "If we get up early tomorrow, we might be able to hitch a ride in Seaport Village! That'll save us walking to Capkin town."
"Why didn't you bring up that faster way earlier?" I asked him.
Sam's face turned red. "Look, I-I'm not really good at this whole planning thing... this is really my first time doing this!"
"Well, at least we're getting to where we're going." I said, trying not to make Sam more uncomfortable than he already was. To be fair, he couldn't even handle my joke from earlier, so why try to make things worse? "So what kind of transportation do they have there?"
"Well it's a port-town, so I assume they've got some water-types and flying-types? Maybe if they've got one big enough..." he trailed off.
I tried not to show my frustration with Sam. He was, at this moment, the only one who understood who I was or could easily communicate with me. Heck, if he wasn't wearing that Elucide pendant right now, he probably wouldnt even understand what I was saying! And if we never got it, I'd still be at his home, learning how to be his pet! I'd be stuck living a life I didn't want, and would have no idea how to go home. But once I get hold of that Relick stone, game over. I am leaving and going home. Enough of this silly fantasy garbage. My brother can watch something else on tv!
To be fair, I was surprised that I could remember what I could. I mean, I still can't remember much, but I know I had a younger brother and that he liked pokemon. I know I must've had parents. And I know that I was human. I also remember I had a best friend I talked to on the way to school… What was his name again? Man, I hope I don't forget anything else! Maybe I am just in a coma, or this is just such a traumatic experience that I've forgotten basic things about myself? But then again, I don't know anything about Pokémon, and if this is real, I'll probably find out more once I get home. Then at least I'll know if it was a coma-induced dream or not.
We trudged over the hill, and made it to the clearing. We set our bags down, and laid out our blankets.
"So..." Sam said as we laid down on our makeshift beds. "Do you remember your life from before here, then?"
"Not really." I said, not really wanting to talk to him about these kind of things.
"Not at all? What about cartoons and the movies you mentioned? You told me like you knew what those were!"
I sighed, frustrated. I really didn't want to get into all this right now with him. I just wanted peace and quiet. "I really don't know what the point is talking about this right now."
Sam expounded. "Well, I mean maybe I could help you jog your memory some more! I mean, you must be curious about who you are? Right?"
I thought for a moment before responding. "I think I just need to talk to someone who understands me better. That's all."
That ought to shut him up.
"But, how can someone understand you if you won't talk to them?" Sam continued. "How can I understand how you're feeling if you won't share your feelings with me?"
I was irritated now. "Sam!" I yelled as I twisted up and pounded my clenched paw on the ground. "You haven't been yanked away from everything you know and tossed into a world you don't understand like I have! Maybe once that happens to you, we can talk about how I feel about it!!!"
Sam went quiet. (Finally!) I thought to myself.
"Sorry" I thought I heard Sam whisper.
——————————-
The next morning we got up, ate a couple berries and an apple each, packed up and headed out again without a word. After walking for a while, Sam mentioned he was sorry for being nosy, and that he will try not to ask me about my past so much. He still seemed hurt, but I didn't want to think about it.
We eventually made it to Seaport Village. They had a couple dock-like areas, and a group of log buildings gathered near them.
As we walked into the village, I noticed there was what looked like a hotel or inn, a couple stores, and a cargo-holding area near the docks, as well as a few homes littered about. Most everything was made of wood, and even the sidewalks were made of wooden boards.
I followed Sam as we made our way towards the docks. While Sam talked to a seagull-looking bird, I looked around some more. There were a few workers here and there, and some small wooden boats in the water. It looked like the workers didn't pay much attention to us, so I just looked at the names on the boats.
The language, I would've thought, would be hard to read since it wasn't English. But somehow my brain could understand what it was saying. "Sea-Latios" I read aloud.
I looked at another. "Charzard of the world." Were all these names Pokémon?
"Ahoy there young miss!" A sailor-tongue called to me. "What'ca get scruffed up on the way ta port?"
I looked over to find a big pelican Pokémon with a huge beak talking to me from atop the Sea-Latios. "Hi!" I called, waving up at him.
He hopped down and drifted over to me. "Ya lookin' for eh ship to sail ya somewhere?" He asked me.
I nodded.
"Good 'ing I was 'ere!" He said, placing a wing around me. "Ya almost look 'ike eh feral!"
The color drained from my face. What did they do to ferals here? Am I technically one of those? I tried to smile.
"Eva!" I heard Sam call. "Eva where are you!"
Oh great. Here comes Sam.
"Eva, as long as they don't know you're feral then-" Sam turned the corner to find me and the sailor. "Oh!"
"WHAT?!!!! You're a feral?!!!!" The sailor exclamed, jumping back. "I t'ought ya sounded funny! No sailor in 'er right mind would e'er bring aboard eh feral!!!"
The pelican Pokémon flew out of sight, likely to alert everyone that I was a feral. Thanks Sam.
Sam looked suprised. "Dang it!" He eventually said. "...That means we'll have to waaalk..." he slightly whined as he fell on his knees. Gosh Sam, you can't do anything right.
As we left the docks, sure enough all the crews kept looking over at us. I could hear some of them whispering to each other.
"Phew... t'aght was a close one! We'd have been sunk fer sure!" one whispered to another.
"Yeh! Tis a no-brainer not ta bring ferals en boats! Tey'd break teh sails before yud even leave port!" the other said back.
We walked back to town to buy our supplies for the big journey ahead of us. Our spirits were pretty low. I honestly thought I could've gotten away from Sam and maybe get some things off my mind for a while.
As we trudged along the boardwalk, I started to wonder why ferals were seen in such a light. If they were all as bad as the sailors made them sound, why weren't they surprised by how I acted? We went into a store.
"Is that a feral!" The swanlike shopkeeper immediately shouted, pointing at me as we came in the door.
"Y-yes, but-" Sam started to explain.
"No buts!" The swan Pokémon interrupted. "No ferals in here! It'll have to wait outside!"
The shopkeeper obviously wasn't going to be swayed, so Sam looked at me, and I felt my ears droop down as I left the shop to wait outside.
I sat there, plopped down outside of the shop. Was this what I was reduced to now? I remember in high school I at least wasn't treated this poorly! I mean, I'm not one to care much about how others think of me, but I'm no animal! Even a pet (as I knew them) could come in some stores! But even then, as Sam and I left to stop in another store, the same thing happened! I had to wait outside again. But this time, I got to meet another Pokémon...
There was a little yellow... mouse thing? It looked kinda like a pikachu I think, but it was a lot smaller and had different ears. It looked almost like a baby version of a pikachu, I guess. Anyways, it was outside of the shop also, and it had a sort of collar around its neck. I guessed it might've been another feral, so I tried talking with it.
"Hey, little guy." I started. "What's your name?"
It looked up at me, and then said "Pichu!" It sounded real cute.
"Pichu, huh? Well, my name's Eva. Nice to meet you!" I held out my paw for a handshake.
Pichu sat there, staring at my paw.
"Oh, I guess you guys might not do handshakes here..." I retracted my paw. "So, Uh... do you live around here?"
"Pichu! pi-cha cha chu!" The yellow Pokémon responded.
"Uhh, sorry... what?"
"Pichu! Pichu-pi-chu picha!" He said.
Huh. It seems maybe he could only say combinations of 'pichu' and 'picha'.
I was about to ask it if it could say anything else, when I heard a loud squeal come from the open doorway of the shop. I looked over to find a tall, skinny, seal-like Pokémon emitting the noise. The Pokémon was white, and had a blue, mermaid-like tail for its bottom half. It also has what looked like aqua-blue hair, with a pink starfish holding it in place. It's nose was also pink. Sam later told me this Pokémon was a Primarina.
"Look at that!" The primarina squealed. "They're talking to each other!" She, of course, was talking to Sam, who evidently was leaving the store at the same time as her.
Sam, who was red in the face a bit, said "yeah! That's cool!" In a not-very-enthusiastic tone.
"Oh boy," she continued. "If only we could understand what they could be saying!"
"Here." Sam said, taking off his pendant. "Try wearing this." He handed it over to the primarina. "It translates feral speech."
"No really?" She said, surprised at the sudden answer to her request. She took it and started putting it on. She crouched over to the Pichu. "Now do you love mommy?" She asked it encouraging.
"Pichu-pii!" The Pichu said cheerfully.
"Well," the Primarina said, handing the pendant back to Sam. "Maybe it works for you, but I don't need it to understand my little fer-wal!!!" She said more to the Pichu than to Sam. "Now come along Pichi! Time to go home for supper!"
As the two Pokémon headed away from the shopping area, Sam looked back over to me. "That's weird..." he said, putting the Elucide pendant back on around his neck. "It looks like it worked for us, but not hot her... maybe because-" he stopped for a minute. "N-never mind." He quickly said. "Let's go, m-maybe they will let you inside the inn for the night?"
We made our way to the inn, and after an incredible amount of pleading, Sam was able to get them to let me stay in a room with him for one night... on the conditions that he would have to pay for any and all damages that I caused in the hotel, and that he put down a 100 poke deposit beforehand. I don't know how much money that is in this world, but I did notice it was hard for Sam to place the deposit on the counter. Maybe that's most of what he had left?
As we walked over to our room, I was somewhat amazed to find that there were a lot of similarities between what I remembered of hotels, and what they have here. For example, they had a modest, homey look to the hallways and furniture in the lobby, besides having different sized chairs for different sized Pokémon species. The walls were lined with artwork (most of which were signed by what my brain told me was a 'Smeargle') and they had what looked to be dainty little lights spaced every so often on the walls. It looked almost familiar to what I expected from a motel at home, and so it almost made me sad thinking about it.
When we arrived in our room, I looked around for our beds. I saw one stuffed Pokémon-mattress-equivalent, but where was the other bed? I looked over at Sam, confused, and asked "Uh Sam? Where's the other bed? Aren't we supposed to have two?"
Sam looked around, then looked at me. "Uhh..." he started.
(Oh great.) I thought. (Let me guess, I'm just a pet, so I don't get a bed?)
Sam must've read my mind, because he then gulped, and said "W-well, uhh you see... they... t-they didn't have enough b-beds and..." he trailed off.
"What?" I asked him.
He sighed. "Eva, you gotta understand how other Pokémon look at ferals in this world. Like that Primarina from earlier, some have impressed ferals as pets. And then like the shopkeepers and sailors, some only see the wild ones and don't believe they really change.
"The thing is..." Sam continued. "I know you're not really a feral. It just doesn't make sense that a feral can act the way that you do. And with one believing that they're a... human? That just makes me believe that you're telling the truth!"
"Then why can't they see I'm different?" I interjected. "Why can't they tell that I'm not like the others?"
"Well, that's because..." Sam paused. "-That's because to them, you are just a feral. I mean, you look like one, you walk like one, heck, you even sounded like one before I got this stone!" He held up the Elucide pendant. "Most ferals can only make some sounds, nothing close to speech, even when taught." Sam said, clearly laying it out for me to see. "But I believe that you're sharp Eva. I believe that you're telling me the truth. I believe that behind that feral body and mind you've got a human spirit, real intelligence... and maybe some of that'll rub off on me."
I thought about this. Sam really was the only one to stick by my side throughout this whole thing. He had stuck with me at first when he felt unable to help me at the hospital. He believed me when I told him who I was. He agreed to help me without hesitation when I told him what I needed to do. He stuck with me even though I argued with him on the way to this village. He even stayed with me today, when everyone else was slamming doors to my face, so to speak. He even worked up enough courage to pay extra so that I could stay here with him for the night. All so that he could help me, in hopes that some of my human intelligence would rub off on him, even though I wouldn't talk to him about it. Sam really is a good friend. I should… probably start treating him like one.
"Sharp." I said.
"What...?"
"Team Sharp." I repeated. "That's what we should call ourselves."
"Wha... why Team Sharp?" He asked me.
"Because that's who we are." I said simply. "We are both really sharp."
Sam and I shared a smile. I was happy, and he was happy, and although I didn't really know what the heck I was doing, or how to do it, it was all okay. Because I knew I had Sam at my side.
We got a couple extra pillows for the room (Sam went and got them cause I wasn't allowed to leave the room on my own), and made me a makeshift bed on the floor. I took my agility scarf off and put it on the ground next to the bed. I wasn't too tired, but I wanted to be ready for bed.
"Hey, Uhh..." Sam started.
"Dinner?" I asked him.
"Yeah!" He replied, digging into his bag. "I wasn't sure how to say it! What did you want? We've got a berry mix, a couple Spinda-shakes, I think I've got some jerky in here too..." he trailed off.
I hadn't really thought about this. "Normally, when my family went to hotels, we'd just order pizza." I said aloud.
"What is-" Sam was about to ask before he stopped himself.
I grinned. "You're wondering what pizza is?" I asked with a smile.
He nodded.
"Well, first we would call the pizza place on a thing called a phone. A phone is um... a little device that can let you talk to other people, even if they're really far away!"
Sam laid down on the bed, glasses on, head cradled in his hands and his elbows on the mattress, looking so very interested.
So I continued.
"Anyways, we'd call the pizza guy, and we'd tell him what we'd want on the pizza. A pizza is like..." I thought for a moment, then sat up so I could show him with my paws. "Pretend you have a flat circle of bread dough... (you guys do have bread in this world, right?)" I asked as he quickly nodded his head. "Right, well, before you cook the bread, you put tomato paste on the dough and then cheese, pepperoni, then anything you want!"
Sam was soaking this all up. "Like I said, we called up the pizza guy and told him we wanted cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, and then extra cheese. So he got there though, put the tomato paste on it, then cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, and then extra cheese, and then he put it in the oven."
"Wait, so..." Sam interrupted. "Like, you guys didn't have someone else just cook it? Like, can't one of you guys use flamethrower or ember or something?"
"Well Sam, humans can't do that. We aren't like you Pokémon, where breathing fire or zapping with electricity is a normal thing! For us, if one of us could do something like that, it'd be like a superpower!"
"A superpower?" Sam thought out loud. "Like ultra-powerful?"
"Yeah! Like instead of being a normal man, that person would be a Superman!" I said, secretly putting a pun in my explanation, even though I knew Sam wouldn't get it.
"Wow..." Sam said, pondering over how such a world could function. "So did you guys have different strengths and things you were weak against?"
"Well," I continued. "Some people could get sick really easily. Or feel things differently than others, but it wasn't so much like you guys... it wasn't always physical things... it could be more emotional or mental things too. There was this one guy, Stephen Hawking, and he couldn't move at all! He couldn't even talk without a machine helping him! But he was the smartest man alive, because I guess all that energy he could've used to talk and walk was used instead to think and stuff."
"Wow..." Sam said, awestruck.
"Anyways, I'm pretty hungry... were we going to eat something?"
"Oh... yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" Sam had realized he was lost in thought, and sprang up. "Um. Try this!" He passed me a bottle of... something that looked like a smoothie. "Drink it! You'll love it!"
I opened the bottle. It smelled like a multi-berry smoothie. I looked at Sam. He was smiling and gesturing me to try it. I hesitantly took a sip.
Remember the first gummi? Remember how that was good? Well, this was even better! It was a mix of... all sorts of things. Nothing I could place my mind on individually... probably because I have not even heard of most of the fruits in this world, but it was divine! I loved it! I gave Sam a happy smile and then took a large gulp.
After we had finished our smoothies, Sam and I laid back on our beds, stuffed. "What flavor was that?" I asked Sam.
"Spinda's brand smoothie, Razz-berry Pinap juice, with added Nanab and Wepear flavors." He said, reading off the label.
"I don't know what you just said, but I love it so much." I said, patting my stomach. "How is it so filling?"
"That's the mystery of Spinda-brand food." Sam replied, not quite knowing the answer. "All I know is it isn't cheap."
"Heh, that's how things work in my world too! The good stuff is expensive, so nobody can buy it!"
"That's kinda funny." Sam said with a slight grin.
"Hey Sam?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry for being mean to you today and yesterday. I'm just feeling kind of scared I guess. I don't really know anything about this Pokémon world, and I guess I feel really alone."
Sam was quiet until I finished. "I forgive you, Eva. I can understand a little bit of how you're feeling, cause I don't know anything about how the human world works! If you promise that you'll be patient with me, I promise I'll be patient with you, and I won't leave you alone. Promise?"
"Promise." I said. I held my right paw out for a handshake.
Sam glanced over. "What are you doing?"
"A handshake." I replied. "It's how us humans would greet each other and show that we agree on something."
"Well, if that's the case." Sam reached out his left hand to my right paw.
"To friendship and Team Sharp!" He said.
I rolled my eyes at our mismatched handshake as I swapped paws and shook. "To friendship and Team Sharp."
Author's note:
Thank you to all those who participated in sending me suggestions for the team name! It was a hard decision, but I decided to come up with one myself! The first one commented was included in this chapter, so that's something I guess! Anyways, I want to thank you for your support in reading my story, and I am still really excited to see where this goes!
You all have a fantastic weekend, and stay safe out there!
Alexander