Luca heaved a sigh of relief as the light in the distance took form. Coming into view was a wide conglomeration of thatch-roof buildings, some lit by torchlight and some dark. They seemed to be relatively primitive construction with no glass windows to be seen, but they could have been built with feces for all Luca cared—it was civilization, and that meant somewhere within the buildings was someone that could help Dante.
With night having freshly descended on the village, once she had entered the town limits Luca found herself walking through the packed dirt streets entirely alone. It was a far larger settlement than she could have seen from outside; by her clumsy estimation, there must have been thousands of citizens living in the primitive homes. Despite the density of the veritable city, the trees barely thinned out to accomodate for the buildings. As a result, the canopy above the town stayed thick, meaning it was likely not even visible from the sky. It created a strange feeling of tightness and darkness in the town, and without the regular torches placed throughout, Luca felt sure she would have had to blindly feel her way around. The buildings melded with the forest in a way that she felt sure she had never seen in the human world, though she couldn't think of a reason it would be impossible.
She could see and hear signs of various Pokémon indoors as she walked aimlessly through the sparsely lit streets, but she wasn't quite sure what to do. Should she approach some random house and ask for directions or help? Should she search for a marked medical building? Minimizing interaction so she didn't inadvertently talk to a spy was definitely a priority, but getting Dante care quickly was far more important.
"Need help, Riolu? You look lost."
Luca jumped at the unexpected voice. A few meters away, in the shadows far from any nearby torchlight, a Vulpix reclined calm as could be.
"Yeah, uh... is there a healer here?"
"There is, but I doubt you can afford it," she said sourly.
Luca opened the small side pouch on the side of Dante's satchel within which he kept the money. "Is this enough?" she asked, holding out the unfamiliar coins for the Vulpix to inspect.
"No," the fire-type said, her voice only growing more contemptuous. "You'd be better off buying medical supplies from Kecleon."
Luca frowned. She had held out the coins expecting the Vulpix to come to the light and actually count them, but she hadn't even bothered to break her eye contact to glance down. Either their healer required a small fortune that couldn't be held in a single hand, or she was being messed with. The irritation in the Vulpix's voice clearly wasn't directed at her, so the first option seemed most likely.
Regardless, she didn't really have time to worry about it. "And where can I find Kecleon?"
"Follow this street," the Vulpix said, gesturing with a jerk of her head. "He should still be open, so look for the stall."
"OK, thank you," Luca nodded, turning to leave as she stuffed Dante's money back into its rightful place. Then, she turned back: "If I can ask, what are you doing there?"
"Napping," the Vulpix said simply, her round brown eyes locked with Luca's.
"...I see." Luca didn't have the time be caught up by the strange Vulpix, so she hurried down the street pointed out to her. Sure enough, it quickly intersected with a wide main street which held a massive free-standing stall just to the side. It consisted almost entirely of storage—various shelves, drawers, and sacks—but there was a small space for a Pokémon to stand, and standing there they were. As promised by the Vulpix, they were a Kecleon. They were slouched, apparently interminably bored in the desolate streets.
"Hey, excuse me," Luca said as she approached the shop.
"Oh, welcome!" the Kecleon perked up. "How can I—oh my, are you quite alright?"
Luca cursed herself—she had forgotten that the back of her head was still caked in blood, not to mention how rough she must look otherwise. "Do you have medical supplies here?" she asked, ignoring the question.
"Yes, of course. What precisely do you need?"
"Anything for stemming blood loss and preventing infection. I also need food if you sell that. However much this can buy," she said, digging out the coins and showing them to the large chameleon.
"Mmhm, I see," he said, inspecting the coins. "Why don't you leave the money on the counter and hand over your bags? I'll fill them up with what you can afford."
"OK, sure." She placed the money to the side before taking both her and Dante's satchels off and sliding them onto the counter.
As the Kecleon busily searched through the various shelves and containers behind him, Luca took a moment to search the town around her once again. She was half-expecting the Vulpix to have followed her and be watching from the shadows, but as far as she could tell, they were entirely alone in the sleeping village.
The Vulpix had been strange to begin with, but something was further bothering her about the interaction. There was absolutely no reaction to or acknowledgement of Luca's injured and disheveled appearance in the least, to the point that she had entirely forgotten about her condition until the Kecleon had reacted as one would expect. It wasn't as if the fire-type could have already known what Luca had gone through, but there was zero surprise or concern that was emanated, let alone on her face. Strange, however one looked at it.
"Hey, a Vulpix gave me directions to your shop. Do you know her?"
The Kecleon looked up from his packing. "Hm? Oh, I've seen her around, yes. Why do you ask?"
Luca wavered. There wasn't really a way to ask without sharing too much or being strange. "No reason," she lied, backing down.
"Mmm," he hummed absentmindedly. "Well, I'm done. This pack," he pointed to Dante's, "has wound dressings. The other has your food."
"Ohh, great. Thanks." Luca again shouldered both satchels, admiring their heft.
"Of course. Now just so you don't come back worrying that I've made a mistake, I've returned your money to one of your bags. All of this is complementary, because you are very clearly in desperate need of any help you can get."
"What?" Luca said, her paw moving to search for the coins. "No, you shou—"
"I insist," the Kecleon interrupted. "When you are back on your feet you may come repay me if you feel the need, but you have no obligation to."
Luca felt tears well up in her eyes. Such kindness from a stranger was a beautiful, unfamiliar thing. "T-thank you," she stuttered. "So much."
"My pleasure," the normal-type smiled. "Please feel free to come back if you are in need of more support."
She nodded, her voice stifled by emotion. Reluctantly, she moved to leave—as awful as she felt about getting so many supplies for free, the Kecleon was right: she really did need all the help she could get.
Making sure to wipe the tears from her eyes, Luca hurried back the way she came. She checked as she went by, but the Vulpix hadn't moved. She wasn't napping, though; her brown eyes carefully followed Luca as she passed. It almost felt challenging, daring Luca to come talk to her. Time was still the most important factor, so Luca looked away kept moving.
Soon she had made it back to the town limits. She hadn't taken the time to properly note from which direction she came, but she did have a very clear image in her mind of what the town looked like as she approached. She chose a direction based on that perspective and took off, trudging into the darkness.
Once she was away from the light of the town, Luca immediately began to doubt whether she was heading in the correct direction at all. Now that night had properly fallen, both her ability to move without tripping in the dense forest and her sense of direction were seriously inhibited—not to mention the now-familiar fear of the dark encroaching on her mind. Thankfully, the darkness was theoretically useful in one respect, at least; even Dante's dim flame within the hollow would be visible in a wide radius when the only other light to speak off was clouded moonlight further obscured by the thick canopy above. Luca moved slowly, prioritizing attentiveness and her own calmness.
Eventually, Luca felt herself begin to spiral and had to take a moment to meditate and look at her Aura. It was amazing, the efficiency with which it calmed her, and it occurred to her that if she was still human she wouldn't have any respite from the darkness. Then again, if she was human she wouldn't have been traumatized by a freaky dimensional anomaly and she wouldn't have a fire breathing friend with a freshly missing arm. Being in the Pokémon dimension was give and take, really. She kept moving.
As in the dungeon, one pit stop turned out to not be enough. She had to stop and look into her Aura a total of four times before she noticed the ever-so faint orange light she was tirelessly searching for. It was far off to her right, to the point that it was barely differentiable from the darkness. She had come very close to missing it. Considering how far she had travelled it was a small miracle that she wasn't further from it, but she wasn't about to worry about that now.
Approaching the light, Luca felt relief flood into her when she saw that it was indeed emanating from a hollow underneath tree roots. She crawled in to find that Dante was still there and still perfectly unconscious, but although she couldn't be sure, his tail-flame seemed even weaker.
Luca let both satchels down onto the dirt floor and opened Dante's. Inside was, as promised, wound dressing mostly consisting of cloth and metal pins for fastening it properly. There were no antibiotics or medicine, and Luca paused. She was fairly sure Dante's bandages should be changed regularly and his wound cleaned, but the hole they sat in was far from sterilized. He was already dirty from their journey through the mountains, and Luca had no idea where she could find a source of water.
Luca sighed, letting her paws fall into her lap. She was in over her head. She would have to beg the healer of the town—or perhaps Kecleon—for help and accept the danger of a spy seeing her. Maybe she could leave Dante in the care of someone else. They were after her specifically so he might be fine, but... Dante knew far too much, and the White Spine had wiped out an entire camp seemingly only to erase witnesses. But was it any surer of a death than Luca's inability to care for his wound? Probably not.
Luca turned her head towards the dark entrance to the hollow. She thought she heard the crunch of foliage, and sure enough, more rustling followed close behind. When the light of a flame in the forest became visible, Luca scrambled out of the hollow and stumbled to her feet, ready to fight.
"Riolu?" came the Vulpix's voice as she stepped out from behind a tree. Hovering just ahead of her was a bright mote of fire, lighting the immediate vicinity. "Calm down. I only wish to speak with you."
"What?" Luca said, squinting at her in disbelief. "Did you follow me from town?"
"Yes," the Vulpix confirmed shamelessly as she limped forward. "Do you need help?"
"I—yes, but why did you follow me?"
"You seriously can't think of a reason I'd want to follow you?"
"Don't avoid the question."
"Fine," the Vulpix said, her eye contact unshakable. "You have enough blood on the back of your head that it must have come from a grievous wound. It would be bad enough that you shouldn't be able to walk and talk just fine like you were, so you must have been healed. However, you came into town urgently searching for a healer. Therefore, your healer must be hurt. I wanted to offer help in the hopes of receiving healing for cheap. There—my full intentions."
Luca was certain by this point; something was strange about the way the Vulpix was carrying herself. She had been limping, and even as she stood still there was a strange, restless lurching in her posture. It felt a lot like a certain status condition she hadn't personally witnessed but had read extensively about.
"I appreciate the candidness, I guess," Luca said, finally calming down from the scare. "Unfortunately, there's no healer here—hurt or otherwise. I may still be able to help though, depending on why you seem to be struggling. Is it a physical ailment, or is it paralysis?"
The Vulpix's eyes narrowed. "Paralysis."
"I can cure that, then. Will you help?"
"How? You said you don't have a healer, and I know you don't have the money for ours."
"Hold on," Luca said, turning back to the hollow and crawling inside. She dug into the pocket of Dante's satchel that they kept the berries in, and found the tiny red berry that had started it all. "OK," she said, stumbling back out and offering the cheri berry with an open palm. "If you eat this, your paralysis will be cured. Eaten outside of a dungeon it will take about three days, but eaten inside it will be instant. Now can you help?"
The slits of brown only grew narrower as they inspected the berry. "Who's injured?"
"A Charmeleon. His arm was cut off, just above the elbow."
The Vulpix turned away. "Pick him up and follow me. We'll talk more on the way."
Luca complied immediately, crawling back into the hollow. She first returned the berry to its pouch and slung both satchels over her shoulders. Then, she pulled Dante out of the hole and prepared to carry him to wherever the Vulpix would lead her.
"OK, I'm ready," Luca reported. "Let's go."
The Vulpix limped forward into the dark forest without turning around, her floating light once again leading the way and creating a radius of sight. "What happened to you two?"
A simple question, but one that required a lot to properly answer. Luca opted for the short version: "We took the passage down from the mountains, if you're familiar. Just before we got out, he took a shot from a dungeon Haxorus. He made it nearby before he passed out, and I carried him the rest of the way."
"And where did you get this berry that you claim will heal paralysis?"
"It will, we've tested them. We're from the Explorer Coalition, if you've heard of us." Luca watched the back of the Vulpix's head as she awkwardly limped along. No apparent reaction to the mention of the Explorer Coalition. "They're one of the many berries we've found, one of which works much the same way but heals wounds."
"And that's why you're perfectly fine with a bloodied head, then?"
"Right. Since we're getting to know each other, how did you come to be paralyzed?"
"Dungeon. Once it was figured out how they worked, I started using one to train. Ended up taking a stun spore."
"And the healer just refuses to help you since you don't have the money? Even though you're suffering?"
"That's right," the Vulpix said, the familiar vitriol reentering her voice. "I almost wish I had been poisoned instead. Yet another Pokémon dying on his doorstep might finally get the town to do something about him, but either way I wouldn't have to limp around like this.
Luca stumbled over a lumpy bit of moss and took a moment to right herself. "That's terrible."
"True."
Their drudgery fell silent, and Luca wasn't quite sure what to say. It had occurred to her that the Vulpix might be a spy, of course, but when it came down to it she was entirely out of options. She might as well fully commit to trusting her. She didn't seem like a spy, but... something felt strange about her. Her way of speaking was strangely controlled, and the way she stared with wide eyes made Luca feel uncomfortable. Realistically she hadn't done anything abjectly strange, though. Everything she had said thus far made sense and felt coherent, from her conclusion to her motive.
"So... where are we going?" Luca asked, breaking the silence.
"My home."
"...Is that in town?"
"...No. Not much further to go now, but we're obviously not setting a land speed record here."
Luca stayed quiet, letting the conversation give way to the silence of the dark forest. As promised, it was not long before they arrived.
Ahead was a well-sized cave in the side of a hill. Unlike the hollow it had stone walls, meaning it would be a lot less dirty overall. Even better, just in front of the cave mouth there was a stream bent in a sharp V-shape. If Luca's sense of direction was remotely intact, that meant the stream never passed by the town itself. More importantly, she would be able to clean Dante's wound.
"Here we are," the Vulpix said as she approached the cave. "Feel free to make yourself at home, there's a fire pit with fresh wood."
Luca accepted the hospitality, rushing past the Vulpix and into her home; she knew enough about fire-types to know that getting Dante to the warmth of flame as soon as possible would likely be key for his recovery. Inside she found an entirely empty cave save for the promised fire pit, so she finally slumped Dante off and arranged his still-unconscious body in what seemed to be a comfortable position next to the fire pit. She then grabbed his tail just below the tip and prepared to move it towards the waiting kindling, but the hovering flame that had been following the Vulpix descended upon it. Within seconds, the cave was filled with warm light.
"It's miserable when it rains," the Vulpix said as she finally limped inside, nodding towards the ceiling. Above her, a square vent cut through the rock and dirt created a place for the fire's smoke to go. "The stream can even flood the cave when it's especially bad. We'll talk about solutions to that later on—for now, if you give me that berry, I'll go eat it in a dungeon."
"Oh, sure." Luca retrieved it and moved towards the Vulpix. She then offered it in a flat palm.
"Are you certain that this berry will cure my paralysis?" the Vulpix asked, staying still and gazing into Luca's eyes. "If it's lethal and this is a way to get rid of me, I'll be in the dungeon with someone else and they'll have instructions to share who's done this to me if I die. This is your last chance to come clean before that happens."
"Oh, uh," Luca stammered. She was caught a bit off guard by the casual tone with which she was being accused of attempted murder. "No, it's as I said. It's a paralysis cure."
"OK. I'll be back within an hour or so," the Vulpix said with the same impassive voice. Then she picked the berry out of Luca's paw, gently holding it within her mouth. Finally she turned and limped away, even slower than before.
"Wait, uhh," Luca called after her as she summoned the floating flame above her head once again. "Can you maybe minimize how many Pokémon you tell about me? And only tell ones that you trust?"
The Vulpix stopped her movement forward, but didn't turn. She stood there, swaying from her paralysis for a moment, before a flick of one of her many tails communicated at least acknowledgement as she continued her staggering into the trees. Slowly, the light faded into the forest and Luca was left alone in the flickering glow of the fire pit.
Once again, Luca checked Dante's vitals. The strong pumping of his heart was reassuring, and Luca sat and leaned against his warm scales; it was probably a good idea to wait to address Dante's wounds until the Vulpix had returned. She knew almost nothing about medicine for humans, and she was dealing with a Pokémon. Given her ignorance, it really was exceptionally lucky that the Vulpix had followed her and had the means to help her, at least a bit. Maybe things really would work out...
…
…
Next thing Luca knew, she was waking up to sunlight. She was still leaning against Dante in the Vulpix's cave, and while the fire pit still held flame, most of the light around her was sunlight streaming in from the hole above her. Reclining opposite the fire was the Vulpix, and her eyes—as always, it seemed—were fixed on Luca.
"Ugh," Luca grunted, shaking the sleep off. "Did I sleep all night?"
"And most of the way through the day. You needed the rest, it seems."
"Oh, you look comfortable," Luca observed as she properly sat up. "The berry worked?"
"It did. Thank you. You are welcome to stay with me as long you please."
Luca checked Dante's vitals once again. Still alive.
"My name is Kai," the Vulpix continued. "It's nice to meet you more properly, and with more trust between us."
"Oh, I'm Luca. Nice to meet you too."
Kai nodded in acknowledgement. "On the topic of trust, I only mentioned you to a single Pokémon. She'll be around, so I'd like to introduce you two if you don't mind."
"Oh, uh, sure. But you trust her to keep quiet about me?"
"I made clear that she shouldn't gossip, yes."
"OK," Luca sighed. "Sorry for being so paranoid. I can explain why, and I promise it's not anything bad."
"Wait here, then," Kai instructed as she stood with a grace that had been completely absent while she was paralyzed. "My friend will likely benefit from your explanation more than I will."
"Oh, wait. Before you go, I feel like I should clean his wounds. I'm not familiar—is washing open wounds of a fire-type with water bad?"
"Did his wound get dirt or something in it before you managed to bandage it?"
"No. Is it fine for now then?"
"...Yes? I'm not sure why you would need to clean it at all, otherwise. It could only hurt."
"Really? But I thought you should clean it and rebandage it regularly, or else..." Luca trailed off in response to a confused expression from the Vulpix.
"...What, are you from another continent? One with poison in the air or something? Here, you should just leave it. You want the blood to coagulate without interference."
Luca frowned. It seemed the rules for medicine were very different for Pokémon, and she had said something very strange—not just to Kai, but to Kecleon when she asked him for things that could prevent infection. "...OK. See you."
Kai walked off into the underbrush. With her gone, Luca was at loose ends. She had planned on taking care of Dante's wound, but apparently he didn't need any such care. The prospect of cleaning reminded her, though; Luca felt at the back of her head. The blood had dried, caking into her fur to create a hard plate of hair. She stood and exited the cave before moving to step down into the stream. She couldn't help but gasp when it hit her torso; it was delightfully cold and refreshing. Still, she wasn't there to enjoy herself, so she started in on the painful process of cleaning her matted fur.
By the time Kai returned, Luca had managed to do a fairly good job cleaning herself—at least as far as she could tell without being able to see the back of her head.
"I'm back," came Kai's voice. "This is Sarin."
Luca was rubbing water into her scalp when she heard the call, so she dropped her arms to turn and see the new Pokémon.
Timidly peeking out from behind Kai was a tiny green rosebud-looking Pokémon—a Budew, if Luca recalled correctly. The instant Luca's eyes passed over them, they emanated a sharp wave of fear.
"Do I still look that scary?" Luca joked. "I thought I got most of the blood out."
"You did," Kai said as she mercilessly moved foward, depriving Sarin of cover. "She's just convinced you're an outlaw taking advantage of me."
"Ah." Luca stepped out of the stream, pausing to shake herself viciously to dry her fur like a dog. That was new. "Well, maybe the full story will help. Shall we?" Luca motioned towards the cave.
"Sarin prefers sitting out here, I imagine," Kai said, settling comfortably in the grass. "Open flames and enclosed spaces are not grass-type friendly."
"Ahh, right. OK." Luca sat a few feet away from Kai and turned towards the terrified Budew. "You can calm down, Sarin. Come sit."
After a pulse of fearful indecision followed by reluctant compliance, Sarin completed the triangle of Pokémon but opted not to sit and instead watch Luca warily.
"OK," Luca said, preparing herself for storytelling. "You may not believe me on this, but this is important to my situation. About... I don't know, two months ago? Less, I think. I was found in the dungeons. I came from a different dimension."
Despite the lack of movement in her eyes, Luca could see that Kai was furiously considering the information. "You've demonstrated a strange lack of common knowledge," Kai observed. "You didn't seem to understand the value of the money you showed me, and you wanted to clean the Charmeleon's wound."
"Yeah. I was found by the Explorer Coalition, meaning I had access to the materials to learn the basics of your world—things like what Pokémon are and types. Unfortunately, it seems that's no replacement for living in this world. The Charmeleon's name is Dante, by the way."
"What do you mean you had to learn what Pokémon are? You are one."
"Right, I wasn't originally a Pokémon. I have memories from my dimension—a dimension both very similar and very different to this one—but certain parts of my memory have been taken and I was given this form. So, and this will come back later, the Explorer Coalition concluded that I was sent or brought to this dimension on purpose for some reason."
"I see. I'll have more questions about your original dimension later, but for now let's get to the actual story."
"You're buying this?" Sarin squeaked, finally speaking up. "You seriously think this Riolu isn't a Riolu?"
"Frankly, I do," Kai said sharply as she turned to Sarin. "It explains many things about her, and I suspect her story will explain the rest. Please continue, Luca."
Luca launched into a full explanation of what had brought her here. She began with a brief explanation of how she was integrated into the Coalition, then moved onto her first interaction with Isle. Next she explained how Isle was captured, how she came to feel Isle's Aura, and what she did as a result. She explained how Dante had saved her from the raid, and how as far as both of them could tell there was a secret organization after them (though she left out Giratina's involvement). She then summarized their journey through the mountains, how Dante was injured, and just for the fun of it, her perspective of getting supplies from Kecleon in the town which, as she was told, was named Hollyhead.
During her extended story, Kai stared with rapt attention. Although she was on edge since the very beginning, Sarin eventually relaxed and became more interested in listening to the story than maintaining her fear.
"So, you wanted us sworn to secrecy because you're concerned that there are spies somewhere in town?" Kai recounted.
"That's right. Honestly I'm not convinced that neither of you are spies, but I can't really afford to be picky about my friends."
"Kai and I have known each other since hatching," Sarin said. "If one of us was a spy, the other would know—you can trust us."
"That's not necessarily true," Kai pointed out. "It's not as if we spend every day together. You could easily be a spy without my knowledge, and I without yours."
"I mean—technically, but you know me! You know that I'm not a spy."
"Again, no I don't. We need to be practical."
"No point in worrying about it," Luca said, interrupting the bickering. "All we can do is keep this between the three of us. Or the four of us," she corrected, nodding towards the cave.
Kai nodded. "I'll keep your secret."
"Me too," Sarin added.
Luca let out a relieved sigh. "Thank you. Now what?"
Kai stood. "Now, we get back to our lives. Sarin has a family to spend time with, for example."
"And I'm sure you need to enjoy your lack of paralysis, Kai," Luca added. "I'll stay with Dante."
"OK," Kai acknowledged with a curt nod. "I'll be back tonight. Let me know if you need anything."
As her new acquaintances left, Luca stood and let herself back down into the stream. Even if she was already clean, the cool water was far too enjoyable to pass up. There was something strangely calming about the water rushing by her, so she settled in up to just below her snout and closed her eyes. Her worries and stress drifted away in the water, and just like that, Luca truly relaxed for the first time in over a week.
