DAY 11-11:15: Partly Cloudy

In hindsight, it's probably a good thing that I ended up living really close to the lab, because it prevented me from being too late, anyway. As I rushed to the lab, I burst into the door…and there was no one there.

Well, ok, there was one person there. Ren, to be exact, who seemed to be standing around doing not a lot of anything. She noticed me when I came in (considering the ruckus I made coming in, I'd be surprised if she didn't), but she didn't seem too mad that I was late. She had something of a worried look on her face.

As I walked up to her, she greeted me, and I asked "Where's the Professor? Wasn't he supposed to be here an hour ago?"

"He was," she replied, "but I got here on time and he hasn't been back since. I tried asking around to see if some of the neighbors saw where he went, but none of them knew anything."

I was starting to get worried myself, and told her, "Maybe he's just doing some research on Route 1 again and just lost track of time. Wouldn't be the first time, anyway, and you know how he likes to rush out early to study."

"I guess that's possible, but he's never out this late." She replied back. "Plus, if he was, we'd have no way of getting to him, cause of all the wild Puppets roaming around. We might get hurt…"

"Well, that's probably where he is then. The only other way out of town is through the sea, and last I checked, he doesn't have a boat or anything with Surf, so chances are he simply forgot about it," I said. "I'm gonna go check and see if I can refresh his memory a bit." With that, I started to head back outside.

"Well…alright…but be careful, ok?" I heard her say as I left the building. She's probably right, this really isn't' a good idea, but there's really not much else we can do, besides wait for who knows how long for him to come back. It's probably not a good idea to go really deep into the Tall Grass, though, as it probably would be pretty dangerous. Well, Route 1 is pretty straight; I should be able to find him pretty easily from just the exit. If I'm lucky, I won't even need to enter the route, and I can just get him to notice me and then we can get on with all this already.

When I got to the Route 1 entrance, I didn't see any sign of the Professor, so I took a bold, if somewhat risky, move of going deeper into the route, and by extension, the tall grass. There goes my hopes of finding him before stepping foot in the dangerous parts. It seems luck was with me, though, as nothing tried to attack, so I made my way through the route looking for him.

About halfway through the route, I finally noticed the Professor, but it seemed he was speaking to someone. Having a chat with someone, out here in a dangerous route? This seemed rather suspicious, especially since the person he was talking with didn't seem from around here. Her outfit, a deep purple dress, a pale pink mob cap with a thin red ribbon, and smaller ribbons tied liberally on her accessories and the tips of her hair, all while carrying some kind of parasol, seemed almost out of place in the quaint route. Neither of them had noticed me, so I decided to do a little investigating and hid in some nearby bushes to listen in on the conversation.

"…are you sure they're ready for this?" I heard the Professor say. "With the way things are now, it's more dangerous than ever, and I'm sure you know that."

The woman replied, "Of course, Professor, this is something you and I both know. However, we also both realize it must be done for them to grow. It's going to be necessary for them to do so to survive the coming trials, even if success isn't guaranteed…" she trailed off on.

I could have sworn I'd heard that voice before, but I just couldn't put my finger on it…

"At this point," the figure continued, "it doesn't matter whether they're ready or not. This is something they must do, and if delayed, might end up to haunt us all. You realize this, don't you Professor?"

I could see him hesitate a bit, and then reply "…yes, I do, Yukari. Very well, we'll go through with this. All I can do is pray for their safety…" he said with a tone of resignation in his voice.

"I knew you'd see it my way, Professor," I heard her say with a hint of pride in her voice. "Then, you might as well run along. I'm sure they've been waiting for you for a while now."

I took this moment to get a quick look of what was happening, but when I did, I only saw the Professor there; the woman he referred to as Yukari was nowhere to be seen. It was as if she had disappeared into thin air…

However, I decided to not worry about that for now, as this was the perfect time to approach the professor. So I sneaked back a little ways down the route, to give the impression that I had only got there, and shouted "HEEEEEY, PROFESSORRRRR" as loud as I could. If anything, it seemed to get his attention, at least, as he came running down the route towards me.

"Mary, what are you doing here?!" He replied in a hurry. "You know the route is dangerous without a partner for protection!"

"Well, Ren's been waiting an hour for you to get back, and you know how she is," I replied. "If I hadn't have come out, we might have been waiting another hour for you to come back."

"Wait, I was supposed to meet you at 10 AM, and its only-OH MY, YOUR RIGHT!" He realized as he looked at his watch. "I must have completely lost track of time with my research. We'd better get back quick; Ren must be worried sick right now."

The professor took off at a blinding pace back to the Lab. As I made my way back, the words of that strange woman still rung in my head. "This is something they must do, and if delayed, might end up to haunt us all." I assume she meant Ren and I, but I still don't understand what she meant by that. Is there some greater reason the professor is giving us a partner? And why come out to such a secluded place just to speak with this woman? Something is happening in the background here, and it's starting to give me a bad feeling…

I decided to put those thoughts away for now, and focus on the matter at hand: Starting this little adventure. I'd imagine that more answers of this will probably come to light as I go, considering that was what this Yukari was urging the Professor to get to anyway.

When I had gotten back to the Lab, the Professor was already waiting for me. Ren seemed relieved, too, and definitely more relaxed now. As I walked up to where Ren was standing, I could see they were talking with one another.

"…so you see, Renko," the Professor was saying, "the reason I was late was because I saw this rare type of Puppet out in Route 1. I couldn't tell what it was at the time, but it looked nothing like the native species in the area. As a Professor, I couldn't miss this opportunity, so I headed out as soon as I could, but even still, I never did find that Puppet again. Apparently, I must have spent quite a while out there, and lost track of time, so I'm sorry if I worried you."

"No, that's fine." Ren replied. "I know how important your research is to you. After all, that's one of the reasons we're going out here in the first place. I'd really appreciate it if you left a note next time this happens, though…"

"I'll most certainly keep that in mind. Oh, and perfect timing, Mary's here as well.", said the Professor.

Now wait just a minute. I know for a fact that he was not out there stalking some rare Puppet for research. Why would he lie to Ren like that? Was this talk I saw earlier something that wasn't supposed to be seen? That explains why he wanted to speak with her in the middle of a somewhat dangerous route, but for it to be that important…

"Welcome back, Mary." Ren said with a smile on her face. "And thanks for finding Grandpa for me. I know that was really dangerous for you…"

"It's all right," I replied. "I couldn't just leave things like that. Besides, if this rare Puppet was that important, chances are if I hadn't gone looking for him, we'd have been here another hour in the least." I decided to keep what I saw a secret for now. If there was a reason he wasn't telling Ren about this, chances are it must have been an important one.

"Well, all that matters is we're here now," said the Professor. "We might as well get started with it all, now that we're all here."

He made a motion to the table to the right of us. On it were 3 orbs. "On this table," he continued, "are 3 of my most prized Puppets. To get you started on your journey, you both are free to take any one of these for yourselves. Now, which one of you would like to go first in their choice?"

I was about to let Ren pick the first one, but she beat me to it and said "I want Mary to have the first pick. After all, she did walk through a field of wild Puppets to go find you, so I'd say she deserves it."

"An excellent idea, Ren," replied the Professor. "I'd say she's earned the right for that. Wouldn't you agree, Mary?"

"Well," I said in return, "I guess I can't turn down the offer if both of you think it's a good idea. Alright, I'll pick first." After saying that, I made my way over to the table.

Inside each of the 3 orbs was a Puppet. The Professor mentioned earlier that they were each of a rare type, so I had to choose wisely. I peered inside the first orb, and in it was a cSanae, a Miko Puppet. She seemed like she was deep in sleep at the time. When I was looking at the Puppet, I heard the Professor say "That one there is cSanae. It's very easy to raise, and has many different uses."

The next orb had a cReisen, the Moon Rabbit Puppet. The Professor chimed in when I looked at it, "That one there is a cResien, and while it may be difficult to raise, with enough care put into it, it can be a powerful Puppet." It seemed bursting with energy, as even it's ball was moving slightly from the Puppet's energy.

Finally, I looked into the last orb, and what I saw was a Puppet I'd never seen before. She seemed to have a kind of string around her fingers, and it flowed throughout her body. She seemed to have a kind of grumpy expression on her face, as if she couldn't stand where she was. The Professor, timely as always, said, "Ah, you seem to be interested in that one. She is a cAlice, the Puppeteer Puppet, and although her temperament may make her a difficult partner, raising her with patience will give great results."

"So, wait," I told the Professor, "she's a puppeteer…while also being a puppet herself?"

"Indeed. She controls her own Puppets, and is very knowledgeable about them to boot."

Now that intrigued me. Having a partner who knew more about Puppets than I do would be a great help, even if that temperament thing the Professor mentioned worried me a bit. Still, there wasn't a single doubt in my mind; she was definitely my choice. Without hesitation, I picked up the ball for myself and pressed the button. A bright light flashed, and when it had died down, a lone figure was standing on the table.

"Ugh, finally," it said. "Being confined to that orb was dreadful. Terribly tight, and not a lot to do in there either." She looked as though she was stretching her joints out a bit. "The fact that you let me out means you must be my new master, correct?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," I replied. "I'm Mary, and from now on, we're gonna be traveling together. It's nice to meet you!"

"Master Mary…has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" She asked. "Regardless, my name is Shinku, and it's a joy to meet you." As she said this, she shook my hand in greeting. "Anything's better than staying in this stuffy place for the rest of my life. I was honestly worried that one of you would have left me here. I think we're going to have a wonderful time together."

"Likewise!" I replied with a smile.

"Oh wow, you haven't even begun your journey, and your already friends with your first partner!" replied Ren. "Plus, she's so cute, too! Okay, it's my turn now," She said with an excited grin on her face. As she surveyed the remaining 2 orbs, she stopped on the middle one, and released it. After the brief flash of light, sitting on the table was the cReisen I saw earlier. "Hai, I'm Inaba, nice to meet'cha~" it said with a big grin on its face.

Ren immediately grabbed the puppet and gave her a big hug, saying "I think we're gonna get along just fine!" The smile she had on her face was bigger than I've ever seen it.

"Well then", I heard Shinku say, "Should we be heading out soon? It would be good to get a head start on our journey, especially before it gets too dark."

"Yeah, you're probably right," I replied back. I turned to the professor and said, "Thanks for the Partner, Professor. I'm sure we'll get along just fine. We're gonna head out and make the trek to the next town, so we better get going."

As I was about to head out, I heard a "WAIT" from the back of the lab, coming from Ren. "I was thinking," she said, "that we should have our first real battle be with each other!"

I thought for a moment, and said "Sure, I'd be up for that. What about you, Shinku?"

"I suppose it would be a good warm up to get myself into things," the Puppet replied. "And besides, you're the Master here; it's ultimately your call."

"Alright then," I replied, "let's do it then!" Both of the puppets took positions on opposite sides of the lab with that. I looked over to the Professor, who was watching the battle intently.

"Just because we're friends doesn't mean I'm not gonna go easy on you, Ren!" I told her. "And I expect you to do the same!"

Before Ren could even respond, Inaba had already taken a battle stance in front of her. She had a determined look on her face, ready for battle.

"Master Mary," Shinku said, "please tell me you know what you're doing."

"Uuuuhhhhh…I really don't, no." I answered back honestly.

I saw her sigh to herself a bit, and then she said "Alright, we both only have the moves Pound and Growl, so this will be rather uneventful. I can block attacks, but that won't last forever." She looked back at me after she finished. "I take it you understood all that right?"

"Yeah, I got the gist of it anyway." I replied back. "Besides, it's our first battle, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Please don't say that, Master Mary." She replied. "It's almost asking for things to go wrong. Regardless, here she comes, get ready."

Sure enough, while we were discussing strategy, Inaba had already started to make her move, barreling down the make-shift arena at an unexpected speed, closing in for a Pound attack. Before I could command Shinku anything, 4 objects appeared seemingly out of nowhere and came together in front of Shinku. There was a bright flash, and when it subsided, a rather large Golden Shield was between Shinku and Inaba's attack.

The golden shield shook from the impact, and it looked like Shinku had felt some of the blow a bit even with it blocking the brunt of the attack. However, so had Inaba, as her hand turned a light shade of red from the hit, and she was definitely showing signs of pain from the attack.

The shield had another flash, and it came apart into the 4 object I saw earlier, and now that I got a good look at them, I noticed that they were miniature dolls, and each was connected by a string to one of Shinku's fingers. Each of them went behind her back and vanished.

"I told you," Shinku said, "I can block attacks, but not forever. However, now's our chance to strike!"

"Right, Shinku, hit her back with a Pound!" I ordered.

Upon saying this, another doll appeared from seemingly out of nowhere. It flew across the battlefield and caught Inaba, who was still reeling with the recoil of her last attack, with a mean right hook. It looked as though it scored a critical, as she was seriously starting to get bruised up. The doll quickly went back to Shinku's side and disappeared.

"We can't lose that easily!" said Ren. I'd never seen her this fired up before. "We've got to try again. Inaba, try another Pound!"

Without another word, Inaba was once again racing toward Shinku for another attack, but the same result occurred. Inaba was really starting to show her fatigue, as the resulting counter had left her lying on the floor, and struggling to get back up again.

"I believe we can call this match here," chimed in the Professor. "Any more would probably put the puppets in some noticeable danger."

"You're probably right, professor," I agreed with him. I ran over to Ren to check on her and said "How's Inaba doing? Sorry if we went a little overboard."

She shook her head and said "No, its fine. After all, neither of us were holding back, right? Inaba will be fine, too, with a little rest."

Battered and bruised, Inaba looked a little worse off than I imagined, but she had enough energy to say "I'm SO going to beat you next time, Shinku" before passing out.

"Hmph, we'll see, dear, we'll see…" Shinku trailed off.

With that, Ren turned to me and said "I'm gonna go get packed and get started. You probably should, too, Mary," she said with a smile. After that, she turned and headed out the door of the lab.

"Well done, Master Mary," I heard Shinku say behind me. "Not bad at all for your first ever battle. I'd say I'm in good hands for now."

I turned to her and said "Look, Shinku, do you mind dropping the 'master' part? It sounds so stuffy."

"I'll try…Master Mary."

I sighed a bit to myself. Something tells me I should have seen that coming. "Well," I told her, "we should get back to our house and pack; we're gonna need all the supplies we can get."

"Wait!" I heard her say as I was getting her orb out. "Do you mind…if I walk with you instead? I'm not entirely fond of the standard orbs…" I noticed the apprehension in her voice a bit. It must really bother her. That'll be good to keep in mind for later.

I thought for a second, and told her "All right, but as long as you keep up with me. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you, after all."

"Thank you, Master Mary," she replied. "I really appreciate that."

With that, we both made our way out and into the start of our new life.

-Chapter 1 END