Location: Home, Bedroom
Date: July 15th

When I woke up super early this morning, I wasn't expecting to see Eris staring out my bedroom window. I cleared my throat and she glanced back and offered a small smile, then sat next to our hay beds. Her smile faded quickly, and she stared at me intensely.

Uh...okay, well before got that question answered, first things first – what was she doing in our room? I knew that Ampharos requested her cooperation with our investigations, but...

Eris said she was waiting to talk to me. She visited Lyra while she was cooking with Swirlix, and she shared some information about me that Eris wanted clarification on. She blamed herself for not investigating me more, so she admitted that she had no right to get angry. Even so, this information would've been beneficial to know when we first met and would've saved her a lot of time.

I was confused. What information? What did Lyra tell her? And 'get angry'? Was the information I didn't know to share really that vital?

She set her hands on my shoulders and stared...no, glared fiercely into my eyes. She told me not to lie. She didn't think I would, but even so it would be highly beneficial if I didn't.

I...I wasn't! I swear, I...no, she hushed me. She said that as a...whatever. Just don't lie, okay?

Um...okay, I won't.

Good. Now then. Lyra told me you woke up in this world with no memories at first, and you were attacked right away by some strange Pokémon. What were they called again?

Beheeyem.

...Are you sure?

Uh...yeah, quite sure.

...

...?

...Okay, good. Correct. You didn't lie. That's very good. Good job.

I uh...what? What is happening?

Now, I'm gonna ask you a question and you're gonna lie. Okay? Are my eyes pink?

I'm sorry Eris, what does this have to-

Focus, Irau. My eyes. Are they pink?

I...y-yeah. Sure, they're pink.

...

...?

...Okay good. Excellent. You lied. Well done. Now for the important question.

Uh...w-what is it?

The Pokémon who fled with you from the Beheeyem and to Serene Village. What was its species and gender?

A male Nuzleaf.

Eris lightly dug her claws into my shoulders, the anticipation eating away at me. Where was this going?

Did he...did he have an accent?

I duh...I...What!? What the hell did-

Accent, Irau! Did he have one or not!?

Eep! Oh jeez...this is...why is this so critically important? Ugh, fine! I'll humor her.

He did. A southern drawl.

Eris's mouth dropped open and she slowly sat back, removing her claws from my shoulders. She stared at me dumbfoundedly, then at nothing.

What...? I don't get it, did...was there some significance to that? What was the big...oh. Oh. Wait a minute...

Ohhhhh, okay. I think...yeah. Yeah, okay. That makes sense. That's why she was angry I hadn't said anything days ago, but like she said she hadn't asked.

"Nuzleaf is Dotty, isn't he?"

Eris nodded slowly. She then inhaled through her nose and let it out slowly through her mouth. She looked...unsettled. One would think this revelation would bring her tremendous joy and relief – she found the friend she'd been searching years for! But she looked so...not.

Isn't she happy?

Ah, she said she should be. She really, really should be. But...maybe it needs time to sink in. She was so used to chasing leads that brought her close, but never fully to him.

She was thinking about this before I woke up, but maybe...maybe they shouldn't reunite. All these years she'd been trying to find him thinking he'd be happy to see her, but...they weren't as close as they used to be. It was possible he considered her a stranger, or maybe didn't even want to see her. Maybe he was deliberately trying to get away from her, while she thought he was just being his usual evasive self. Everything she worked so hard for...what if it was all for nothing?

Crying out loud, he wasn't even identifying as Dotty anymore!

I asked her how that name came to be (he certainly never told me about it), and she smiled warmly. Back when they were kids, her a Zorua and him a Seedot, they came up with nicknames for each other.

The two loved being in trees, so one time she climbed a tree and he looked so tiny from where she was. The size of a dot, really. She decided to call him Dotty as a nice reminder of those days. He chose to call her Eris mainly because it provided a constant dad joke every time he saw her.

"Eris nice n' fresh this mornin', ain't it? Can always tell when a Tyranitar's on the floor cuz the Eris filled with sand n' dirt. Pa told me that on the beach, the Eris heavier n' it is here. Wow, we're up high in this tree, eh? Might as well be on a mountain given how thin the Eris."

Ahaha...the constant air pun probably plastered that shit-eating grin on his face he wore when he completed his IPAD initiation. I can't imagine a Seedot having that expression, but Nuzleaf? Yeah. Totally.

I wanted to tell her she had nothing to be afraid of, but I knew that wasn't true. I wasn't foolish enough to compare anything I accomplished to her struggle. Eris spent years tracking this guy down, only getting snippets of information or little tips that either led nowhere or led to another tiny snippet of information. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack, except you needed to track the needle by talking to the hay because the damn needle kept moving around.

Every tiny scrap of information brought her one step closer, but she never had the full picture until I came along. Figures that's the kind of role I'd play for her – not the supportive friend or fellow investigator...no, I'm the one who dropped the solution to her whole puzzle right on the table, making the other pieces fly everywhere.

Come to think of it, I think I did the same to Nuzleaf when he was investigating Serene Village's haunting incident. He was angry and frustrated about Revelation Mountain at the time, and I dropped the solution to his haunting investigation right on his theory table. All he had to do was form-fit his information to the conclusion.

Huh. Maybe they were meant to be reunited after all.

The problem was if Nuzleaf turned her away, then all her hard work would've been for nothing. But...no. More than that. Even if they rekindled their friendship and got close and all that, I think Eris wouldn't know what to do with herself. She'd been trying to find him since she was a kid, so I can't imagine how lost she must feel. Her whole purpose for leaving the Society was just resolved, so now what?

Eh...we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. First thing's first, reassurance.

I told her that even if Nuzleaf didn't want to reconnect with her, she shouldn't think all her hard work was for nothing. She wanted to track him down, and she did. In a world of six continents, plus the Sea of Wonders, and thousands of Pokémon species and millions of individual Pokemon, she successfully tracked down the one specific Pokémon she was looking for. That's...a legendary feat, if I'm being honest. Practically a miracle!

Even better, he wasn't dead. He wasn't nasty or bitter or a waste of her time – he's a gentle fatherly Pokémon who happened to be my paternal guardian outside of the Society. Didn't that make her feel better about her odds of reconnecting? I mean, if he's close to me and she's close to me, wasn't that fate? They were similar in that they were both freaking cool enough to be close to me, so they were destined to become friends again. I'm the overlapping parts of the circles that make up their Venn Diagram.

Eris giggled and affectionately pat my head. She wasn't sure she could agree with my thought process, but she appreciated the sentiments anyway. She said I've done more than enough to help her with this, so the rest was up to her. All she had to do was summon her courage and go meet him. Oh...that presented a problem on its own. She asked me where he even was, and I told her we lived in a little house in Serene Village. Can't miss it, has a leaf on top of it.

Serene Village...ugh, the conniving fool! The tips and leads she'd gotten led her to Pokémon who didn't live anywhere near the village. Maybe he knew she was onto him and that was deliberate. Maybe he didn't remember her, so he was trying to give her the slip. Or maybe he did remember her and-

I cut her off, telling her she's being awful pessimistic for someone who claimed she used to be like that. Cast those doubts aside and go talk to the conniving fool. Your misguided leads didn't matter because now you knew the correct answer.

But uh...I wasn't really in any position to lecture her. If it were me reuniting with Lyra, I'd be the same way. Thinking negatively, putting off going to see her simply because I was afraid of being correct about my own self-hatred...yeah. Me to a T.

So, what would Eris say if it were me in this situation? Hm...I think I prefer the question of 'What would I tell my younger self if I saw her struggling with this?'

"Eris, if he turns you away, then he turns you away. Logically, that's the worst possible outcome of the situation. Like...it's the stuff that you don't do that you regret, y'know? If you try being friends with him and he rejects you, you'll never be left wondering what would've happened. And...maybe this means nothing to you, but knowing what I know about both of you and what kind of Pokémon you are...I don't think he'll reject you. If he does, he'll have to give me the full itinerary of why because you're so fucking cool and awesome. He's cool and awesome too, but not in the same badass way you are. Oh, maybe that's why he'd reject you – intimidation and the crushing reality that he can't be as effortlessly cool as you."

Eris smirked as I talked and gave a hearty laugh when she heard the last bit, then reached down and hoisted me up in a warm hug. She thanked me for saying so. She felt a little better and assured me she'd talk to him eventually, but right now we needed to focus on the stone incidents. Can't become friends if they get turned to stone, can they?

Before we left to attend morning meeting, she asked me how I knew what to say. Eh...simple, really. I just told her what I would've told human me. I'm quite sure in my old life, I didn't have someone looking out for me the way she, the Society, or Nuzleaf does. Eris nodded, admitting that she kinda looked at me the same way – as a younger version of herself to look after because she didn't have that. She had Dot-er...Nuzleaf for a while, but when Kelvin took him away after getting fed up with his visits...yeah. She was on her own.

Well then, we can be the type of folks for each other neither of us had when we were younger. Even if Nuzleaf decides he doesn't want anything to do with Eris, I'll be there for her.

Location: Lapras's Back

The talk with Eris made us late for the morning meeting, but Ampharos didn't mind since we knew what we were doing today. He dismissed everyone and Eris waved goodbye before going off to do her thing.

I reported to Mawile's room for our CAP meeting, and she promptly shoved a book into my hands and kicked me out of her room.

Oh...right. The stone tablet.

She probably didn't want to be bothered while deciphering. Either that, or she was sore because I was hanging out with Eris. Either way, I sat in the Nexus Room and did my 30 minutes of reading.

Today's book covered the tale of the Air Continent's human-turned-Pokémon savior and their partner, and it had the footprint engraving of "RRT/BRT" on it, whatever that meant. I won't lie though, I read the same paragraph over and over because my mind was still reeling from that knowledge bomb Eris dropped on me this morning.

My father, Nuzleaf, was the same Pokémon who was friends with Eris years and years ago. I guess that'd put her at the same age as him, so she was more like...my aunt? No, no. My father's ex? Ahaha, no. My father's...friend...? But she's my friend too...ugh, it's complicated.

I still find it hard to believe that he was Dotty. Didn't Eris say that their stepfather, Kelvin the Beartic, repeatedly abandoned him in Mystery Dungeons, forcing him to use sly and underhanded tactics to survive? That didn't really sound like...wait. No, wait. Something's coming back to me. There was a thing before when I lived in Serene Village. When he and I were asking each other questions. Hold on, I'm gonna flip back through older entries.

Found it! Okay, it was the evening of June 18th, the same night as my insomnia. Entry #50. I'd asked Nuzleaf where he came from. He said he was from a place he didn't intend to share with the rest of the world. He had a pained expression on his face, and I was worried the shift from that into a happy expression was his way of masking the pain I reminded him of. His refusal to share haunted me, but I didn't press the matter and was sure I'd uncover the answer someday.

So...now I know. Er, kinda. He's from the same place as Eris. I guess I still need to get the full story from her. Specifically, he's from a broken home. He was raised in an environment of hate and hostility. Jeez, no wonder he had a pained expression on his face when I asked him that night. I can't imagine what he'd been through...but at least he had a best friend to look after him. Until...Kelvin separated them, leading Eris to spend multiple years trying to find him and Nuzleaf living alone in Serene Village, being evasive and making it difficult for Eris to find him.

Plus, the two looked after other Pokémon that Kelvin abandoned. I remember Eris saying they made a den to raise the kids in, and she commented how good Dotty wa...ohhhhh, okay. That makes sense now, of course he's good with kids! Ain't no better father on this entire continent!

Even so, this situation left way too many questions for my liking. Where did Eris and Nuzleaf live? Why did Kelvin abandon them along with the others? What "underhanded" tactics did he use to survive? Do I even want to know? He doesn't seem like the devious type, so...maybe he put that part of his life behind him? But then why was it hard for Eris to find him? She said she had no idea he was in Serene Village, so maybe he was hiding from someone. Was it her? What happened to the kids Kelvin abandoned? He's still doing it, right, so who's looking after them now with both Eris and Dotty being away? Why didn't Nuzleaf search for her in return for her searching for him? Why did he drop the name Dotty? Was he starting a new life and simply wanted reminders of his past erased? How did he end up living in Serene Village? What about that shack Eris was investigating in Citruse Village? She said it was Dotty's biological parent's place, so that meant it was Nuzleaf's biological parent's place, right? Will I find a clue there? Should I go and investigate? Isn't this paragraph super long? Are these questions getting annoying? Don't you hate it when you're talking to a girl and she ends every sentence with a question mark in that annoying voice with the higher pitch at the end of the sentence?

Anyway, the answer was no to the investigation of the Citruse shack question. Eris already gathered the items she could glean information from, and I think she had definitive proof that it wasn't Nuzleaf's original home before his kidnapping. Now that she knows he's alive, I think she's gonna gather some intel on him before meeting him. First impressions matter, and she's probably terrified of blowing her only chance.

So, what was the plan for Lyra and me today? Lyra decided we should go to Capim Town on the Grass Continent. There were a few missions in both Sunny Spot Hill and Abundant Pass.

Fine by me, just gotta go buy the Liner Passes first.

Location: Capim Town Plaza

Okay, I wasn't gonna write more until today's expedition was done, but then we came across a Pokémon. A Blaziken. Much like when we came across a Meganium, I knew I had to write about them.

Lyra ran straight up to the large fellow and started rambling about how cool he was and how she couldn't wait to be like him when she evolved and all that noise. She even convinced him to perform his fiery knee kick move and got super stoked when he did it.

She couldn't wait to be awesome like him, and the dude got pretty bashful. He rested his hand atop her head and said she shouldn't be in any rush to grow up. When you're a kid, everything is new and exciting and amazing. When you're an adult, everything is old and familiar and boring. He told her to enjoy the newness of everything while she could, then took off.

And Lyra's been talking ever since the dude left. I'm glad she got to meet her fully evolved form and chat with them like I did. They were reminders of what we're gonna be someday when our Harmony Scarves allow us to evolve permanently.

Honestly, I wanna write more about how adorable Lyra's being and the things she's saying, but my feet hurt and we really need to get a move on if we wanna get an expedition in today.

Location: Home, Bedroom

Today's expedition was certainly eventful. We met a traveling Pokémon and successfully completed two challenge missions! We also completed a Secret Base mission, but luckily it wasn't a Monster House trap. Overall, excellent expedition day.

Something concerning came up before dinner. Buizel and Archen came in before we could start, and said they found a half-written warning letter at Krookodile's place. Krookodile himself wasn't there, and neither of them knew where he could've gone.

Then Mawile came in and said she finished deciphering the stone tablet. It was a record of Pokémon who'd been turned to stone. Since the tablet was ancient, that meant...this wasn't the first time this has happened, right? She said more detailed accounts are in the Prehistoric Ruins to the east, and we may find a way to reverse the process! Ah, but the day was drawing to a close. We were better off leaving this matter for tomorrow. We can't do anything if we're beat from today, after all.

After dinner when Lyra and I returned to our room, Eris was already there. As was an extra, larger hay bed. She looked a little shy and apologized for setting up in here without even asking us first, but her home was far from Lively Town and she didn't want to keep making the commute. If she was gonna work with the Society, she figured it'd be easier to live under the same roof. But she didn't...wanna...she didn't trust the others enough to sleep near them, and sleeping alone here would only make her paranoid. So, she hoped we didn't mind...

Ah, I told her that her mind's overcomplicating things. I personally didn't mind, and Lyra was excited to be having a sleepover. Speaking of Lyra, I kinda forgot to uh...inform her of what Eris and I discussed this morning. Yeah, that tidbit was kinda important. Part of me thought it'd be better to not say anything in case we ran into Nuzleaf again and she thoughtlessly asked him about it, but...that wasn't fair to her either.

So...ah, wait. I stopped myself. That was Eris's secret to reveal, and it'd be rude of me to blurt that out without consulting her first, wouldn't it? When Lyra had her back turned to me, I mouthed 'Dotty' to Eris and gave her an inquisitive look, then pointed at Lyra. She shook her head no.

Mm. Okay. Maybe I'll tell her in private tomorrow. That might not make Eris happy, but...too bad. Lyra's my best friend. I don't wanna unnecessarily keep secrets from her, especially not ones involving my family.

Anyway, we brought Eris up to speed on what was discussed during dinner. She said she was gonna be joining us during the trip tomorrow. I guess we're all going to the Prehistoric Ruins then. Should be a fun outing...under better circumstances.

After Lyra fell asleep and I started writing, Eris said she wasn't feeling very confident about our findings.

"I mean...I've had my fair share of run-ins with Krookodile in the past. He's been a thorn in my side plenty of times. But turning Pokémon to stone? That seems...I just...I don't know. It'd be better if we had a witness account of him doing it instead of just...a half-written warning that someone could've planted, and an ancient stone."

She admitted that him having the tablet rose a few questions, but since we can't find the guy and ask him what's going on, we have no way of properly knowing. She just wished we weren't jumping to conclusions based on circumstantial evidence. Then again people do stupid things when they panic, and the stone incidents undoubtedly had everyone panicking.

Krookodile's a vile villain through and through. Dude was happy when the news first hit Lively Town of Pokémon turning to stone. But the culprit behind these incidents? No. She really didn't think so.

Well...I'd be lying if I said I wasn't skeptical myself. I mean, Krookodile seemed a little too obviously atrocious, too...open about his evilness. If I were a villain turning Pokémon to stone, I wouldn't go around laughing up a storm about how wonderful it is to see the world suffer. That'd draw attention to myself and possibly put a wrench in my plans if I was arrested or stopped somehow.

The person behind this thought to write out warnings, which spoke to their ego, and carefully planned so their target arrived at the exact time and place the warning listed. Krookodile had a big ego, but to carelessly leave the warning just lying around at his place? Definitely not organized to have planned this whole thing out.

So, somebody's framing him. Who? Why? And if he's innocent, why did he have the stone tablet? Was he supposed to deliver it to Entei's stone body, but fled when he saw us there?

Eris had her own ideas but wanted to do more investigating before sharing them. Pointless speculation won't give us answers or bring us closer to the truth, so let's let it go for tonight and pick it back up in the morning.

That...yeah. That sounded like a good idea to me. Today was exhausting.

Tomorrow's gonna be interesting.