Three pairs of eyes blink blankly at the Eevee.
Ears drooping, the Eevee closes his eyes and sighs. "So, uh, yeah..." He looks back at them once again. "I'm sorry for keeping it a secret from you all." He looks away. "I just, I thought it would be best to not let you guys know that—"
"Hold up," the Pangoro cuts in. He scratches his head. "What's a hyu-mahn?"
It's the Eevee's turn to blink blankly at them, and then notices they all look confused. "Er..."
"Is that a Pokemon?" the young Nickit asks before taking another bite of her meal.
The four are seated around a table in the currently-closed restaurant, enjoying breakfast until they noticed the Eevee was being oddly quiet. He then shared with them his secret.
Which, now that he thinks about it, makes him feel stupid for assuming a human is common knowledge in a world of Pokemon. He smiles an awkward smile at the curious Nickit. "Eh, kinda? Maybe?" He blinks. "I'm honestly not sure..."
Are humans considered Pokemon in this world? An anomaly?
"Gotta be honest with you, kid," the Pangoro says with a smirk. "I was honestly really worried back there, but us not knowing what you really are, or were, well..." He shrugs. "Kinda ruins the whole 'big, dark secret' reveal, if it even was one."
The Eevee rolls his eyes. "I didn't say it was dark."
"You kinda implied it though."
The Eevee groans and rolls his eyes.
The Miltank frowns. "So, you were a hooman before you became an Eevee?" She tilts her head. "Is it like, what's the word...?"
"Transformation?" the small dark-type asks.
"Reincarnation?" the tall dark-type suggests.
The Eevee sighs as he feels that this is starting to become a hassle. "Both, kinda, but not really." He shakes his head. "Another possibility is, as Obandech said, that maybe it's just my consciousness that was transferred here."
The Pangoro blinks at that. He asks—
"Consciousness?" the Nickit asks.
The Eevee awkwardly blinks at her, and then takes a glance at the Pangoro. After seeing the tall Pokemon shrug, he looks back at the young dark-type. "The, uh, the thoughts." He taps his head. "You know, the thing that makes us think, and that weird voice inside our heads whenever we think about something."
"Voices in our heads?" The Nickit makes a face. "Eek... Sounds creepy."
The Pangoro chuckles.
"There's one thing that I don't get," the Miltank says, catching everyone's attention. "So you and this expedition team will go see this Palkia person in a dungeon, and he'll send you, or your consciousness, back to your home?"
The Eevee nods.
The Miltank frowns. "Then what happens to you?"
The Eevee shrugs. "Hopefully return to my human body."
"No, I mean..." The Miltank's frown stretches further down. "What happens to the you that you leave behind?"
The Eevee blinks, and then lifts a paw to look at it.
Silence.
The Eevee suddenly shrugs. "Put me on display, maybe."
The Pangoro lets out another laugh. The Miltank glares at the Eevee.
The Nickit frowns. "I don't get it..."
"So you're going to take my team, huh?"
The Eevee nods his head as he washes the dishes. "Yeah, but I'm probably gonna hire one more team though." He pauses as he looks up. "Hm... I think I still have enough money on me to pay two teams at least."
"Hopefully that's not from my wallet."
"I don't even know where you hide your wallet," the Eevee shots back. "Like seriously. I never saw you carrying a rescuer bag. Or anything!"
The Pangoro blinks at him, smirks, and gestures at himself.
The Eevee rolls his eyes. "An apron doesn't fucking count."
The Miltank pauses from her cooking to sigh. "Language..."
The normal-type rolls his eyes once more.
The Pangoro chuckles as he walks out of the kitchen, but pauses by the entryway. "Oh yeah..." He looks back at the Eevee. "What about those other three?"
"What other three?" the Eevee asks, still washing the dishes.
"The yellow kid and his crew."
Oh, them. The Eevee shrugs. "They're not gold ranks."
"Ahh... Well, maybe you should tell them about it."
The Eevee shakes his head. "I don't see the point anymore."
The Pangoro blinks. "Huh?"
The Eevee shrugs and continues washing the dishes. "I mean, you guys don't know, so I doubt even they know what a human is anyway."
"I meant you taking my team and leaving soon."
The Eevee pauses and looks back at him. "Why?"
The Pangoro smiles. "They're your friends."
"Not really..."
"Yes, they are," the Nickit suddenly cuts in as she walks into the kitchen. With a spin, she throws a dirty washcloth hanging from her tail towards the laundry basket. "They're really nice, especially the white one!" She hops in front of the normal-type and smiles, her tail wagging. "You should definitely tell them, big bro, so they won't miss you too much!"
The Eevee sighs. "Fiiine..."
The Nickit nods, and glares at him. "And you better fucking do it, or else!"
"PLU!" the Miltank shouts in alarm. "LANGUAGE!"
The Pangoro burst into laughter as the Nickit gasps and covers her mouth with both paws.
The Eevee smiles a proud smile as he pats the Nickit's head.
The rays of the morning sun shines on the cliffside city, but the citizens easily brushes it off thanks to the constant cool breeze from the salty blue ocean drifting through every corner of the large city. Pokemon of different species glide above and stomp through the cobblestone roads and pathways, heading towards their destinations, with a few exchanging quick greetings to those they pass by.
Some stop by stores and stalls, inspecting the various items on display. Customers discuss among themselves while others are inquiring with the merchants. Some carry bags and baskets to hold their purchases with ease as they continue on their way, while others pull wagons behind them as they go through the traffic on the roads.
The energetic voice of the Kecleon as he sells his wares to his many customers ring through the salty air, reaching the twitching ears of the Eevee as he joins the sea of Pokemon, heading towards the guild.
Closing his eyes, and if the Eevee ignores the obvious telltale sounds of Pokemon, he can almost fool himself into believing that he's back in his home world, in the city, walking along with the sea of people on the sidewalk as he heads toward his destination...
...as a human.
Now that he thinks about it, there actually is quite a very large difference. The air may be saltier, but it is fresher, and more soothing compared to the city air back home. And the cars, their rolling rubber wheels screeching down roads, their horns and alarms blaring through the dusty and smoky air.
He reopens his eyes and frowns. "Those can go to hell for all I care," he whispers to himself.
As he walks through the morning traffic, the Eevee can't help but notice a number of grass-types floating by. A little more than usual. And if he looks hard enough, he can see each one of them that floats by are leaving behind tiny dust-like...dust falling towards the traffic of Pokemon below.
"You'll be seeing a lot of them in the coming days," says a familiar female voice from behind him. Stopping herself from chuckling, she smiles at the annoyed Eevee. "Good morning."
"Don't sneak up on me like that."
"Sorry," the white Vulpix says with a small nod of apology. "I didn't mean to, but you were walking slow and I kinda, well, caught up to you." She looks up and eyes a Hoppip floating by. "Do you want me to tell you about them?"
"My curiosity's going to kill me one day," the Eevee says, and sighs with a nod.
"Nothing wrong with that," the white Vulpix offers as the two continue walking. "The curious part, I mean." A small frown. "Well, first of all, they're wilds."
The Eevee blinks at that.
"Most of them anyway." She looks ahead. "The guild and the city police department release controlled ones to, well, remove the scent of heat, basically," the ice-type explains rather awkwardly.
The Eevee mulls it over, but ultimately gives up. This world is simply too illogical for him. "Hot weather has a smell now?"
Despite being covered in fur himself, he never really felt hot in this world. Or at least in this city anyway.
The Vulpix blinks at him, and laughs.
And somehow, her laughter sounds so—he blocks the thought out. He frowns. "Look, I admit I don't know a lot, okay? Sue me."
"Sorry, sorry..." She takes a breath to compose herself, and the duo then continue walking. "By heat, I meant the, well, you know..." She shifts her gaze awkwardly. "The scent we females give off during spring."
Oh. He gets it now.
But the mischievous side of him is telling him to—
He gives her a confused look. "I don't understand how spring has any connection to you females," he tells her.
A soft red hue burns through her white-furred cheeks as she looks ahead, trying to wrack her brain for ways to explain it to him while ignoring the embarrassment of the topic.
While a stray thought is mentally kicking her for bringing this up in the first place.
"It's um, usually the season where, er..." She glances at him and notices a smirk from him. Blinking, her facial features quickly morph into annoyance. "You knew all along!"
The Eevee laughs. "You should have seen yourself," he says and continues to laugh.
She glares at him for a few short moments until she realizes something. As the Eevee's laughter dies down, she blinks and tilts her head. "I hope you don't mind me saying this but..." She smiles before continuing, "you seem to be livelier than usual today." She only saw him this lively when he interacts with his sister, so seeing him like this without her is odd.
Odd in a good way.
The Eevee blinks at her for a moment or two and then shifts his gaze ahead, contemplating. Minus the dish washing, his day has started better than usual. Maybe it's because of a huge weight that's no longer on his shoulders? Of him sharing the fact that he's a human?
He's not entirely sure.
He was surprised and got annoyed when she suddenly popped out of nowhere, but it quickly went away, at least that's what he thinks anyway.
He looks back at her, and her looking back at him with a small smile. He slightly shakes his head. "I'm a... No. Vixie, I was a human."
She blinks at him, looking confused. "Hooman?"
"Nevermind."
She frowns. "Hey wait. You brought it up, so now I'm curious, too."
The Eevee shakes his head. "Really, just forget about it."
She sighs. Best not to push him further else he gets angry again. "You're really weird." And he didn't even answer her question. Best not to push him.
He chuckles. "I've heard worse," he tells her. "Are you heading to the guild?"
She shakes her head. "Not yet. I'm going back to my apartment to..." She trails off, suddenly remembering two certain normal-types. She frowns. "...to freshen up..."
He blinks at her. "...You do look rather tired. Did you just got back from a mission?" He slightly tilts his head. "Did your team pick a hard mission?"
He's actually having a conversation with her instead of quickly ending it. And he's concerned? She smiles a small smile and shakes her head. "No. Just, well..." she trails off once more, and then notices that they're about to pass her apartment by. "Oh, I'm here."
Does she really want their conversation to end here?
On one hand, the Eevee's chipper than usual and actually is holding a conversation, which is rare, but on the other, he still has an unpredictable mood swings, and it's almost like walking on thin ice when talking with him.
He blinks and stops with her. He looks at the building and notices that it looks almost the same as any other neighboring building in the area. Only major difference is the big sign that says it's an apartment.
He looks back at her and nods. "Well, have a good rest, I suppose."
Rest? She smiles and nods back. "Thanks. I guess I'll be seeing you?"
"We'll see." And he walks away.
She watches his retreating form until he's swallowed by the sea of traffic. She closes her eyes, sighs, and retreats to her room as her mind reminds her of earlier events.
Entering the guild, the normal-type quickly goes to the library and work on the planning and preparation with the Mew.
"So you're actually going to take my advice?" the Mew asks with a smile.
The Eevee nods. "Yeah. I'm taking Maz's team, and hire another one for good measure."
"Do you have a team in mind?"
The Eevee shakes his head. "No. I was hoping there's a list somewhere for me to pick one." He shrugs. "If none, then it doesn't really matter which team goes with me, really."
"What about your friends' team?" she asks.
He blinks. "Shino?" He shakes his head. "They're not gold rank yet."
"Ah," is the Mew's simple reply. "That's unfortunate. You should at least let them know, you know?"
He sighs. "Maz said the same thing. I suppose I should do it." Maybe. Probably.
The Mew chuckles.
Now that he thinks about it, he should have told Vixie about it. But then again, judging from his previous experience, he'll eventually run into them again sooner or later, whether he likes it or not.
He lets out another sigh.
But if some miracle that he doesn't run into them again...
"I'll just let that dumb panda deliver the message," he mumbles to himself.
"Huh?" the Mew looks up from her writing. "Did you say something?"
He shakes his head. "Nevermind." He grabs a piece of paper. "So I'll just fill this form up?"
The Mew nods. "Mhmm. Afterwards, I'll let it have a run with the guys below and they'll handle the hiring process and stuff."
"Alright," he says with a nod. "Got a pen I can borrow?"
She looks toward the desk where the blue-ringed Umbreon is busy working with his own set of paperwork. She waves a glowing hand and—
"A paw-friendly one, please."
The Mew blinks and smiles. "Right. One Eevee pen coming right up."