Day 1-5:00 PM: Cloudy
The two of us was off to start their journey, back into the wilds between towns. I was determined to see this thing through to the end, one way or another. Something about Yukari's smug face made me want to win even more.
"Master, I believe the rules of the 'game' start now, correct? You have the means of capture now." Shinku's words rang true. The rules were the first thing I ran into each route was what counted. And now that I have these orbs...
"Right, we've gotta get some new members! Let's see what we can find..." I said, ducking into a nearby patch of grass to avoid detection from whatever wild encounters could be lurking throughout the route. I had to be smart about this, they could be anywhere out he-
"...Master, what are you doing?" I heard Shinku say.
I shushed her, focused on doing this right. I could see her sigh and shake her head out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't let her stop me. I kept my eyes peeled for anything resembling a wild puppet, before one caught my eye: a cNazrin, poking around on the ground with its two dousing rods. It seemed completely unaware of our presence.
I made a motion with my hands indicating the direction the Nazrin was in, and one that said to start moving closer. She tilted her head at me, clearly not understanding my indications. "Get closer, but be quiet!" I whispered, a little upset that she didn't catch on. She realized what I meant, and then nodded, laying down next to me and slowly approaching the wild Puppet.
The two of us crept ever closer, the Nazrin completely oblivious to our location, seemingly very focused on what it was doing. We got closer...and closer...and then, right before we reached it...!
"NOW!" I shouted, Shinku leaping forward and throwing a doll forward winding up a punch. While she did that, I readied an orb for capture behind her. One good punch was all she would need to weaken it enough to try, at least as far as I could tell.
"Hey, what in the-" was all the surprised Nazrin got out before getting socked across the face by the doll. Before she could react, the Orb collided with her head next, turning her into a distinctive red light as it was absorbed into the ball. It wiggled once...twice...a third time...click!
It took my brain a moment to process what just happened. We did it! We caught our first Puppet! "YES!" I let out in pure excitement. I ran over to the orb on the ground to examine it. It looked no different from when I had thrown it earlier, but still, this orb contained a Puppet that we had caught, together! Right as I thought that however, it started to twitch a little, before rumbling violently and the same cNazrin seemed to explode out of the ball. It looked peeved, scratching the back of it's head.
"Jeez, kinda rude of ya, huh, kid? If you wanted a fight, ya coulda just asked instead of sucker punchin' me like that!" it said with a pout.
"Oh...uh..sorry. I didn't know there was an, uh...ettiquite to this. I'm...pretty new."
"Yeah, I could tell. No need for this sneakin' around nonsense, alright?" She sighed. "That said, ya got me, so maybe I'm makin' this big 'a fuss over nothin'. Who knows, really?" She put the two dousing rods on her back, seemingly affixed there, and held out a hand to me. "Name's Zhou. Nice to meet ya. I take it you're gonna be my boss lady, now?"
I took the hand and shook it, somewhat surprised at how firm the handshake was. "Y-Yeah, I guess so. Nice to meet you, too, Zhou! And this here is Shinku, who I started with."
"Ah, so this is the one that sent out that mean right hook, eh? Lemme get a good look at ya..." she said, approaching Shinku and taking a moment to take her in. "...yeah, she's definitely got a fighter's spirit in her. I can feel it. A lot better than I expected from a lab-bred fop, really." she said with a sly grin
The glare that Shinku gave her could practically be felt, but surprisingly Zhou didn't even budge an inch. "Just what...is that supposed to mean?" Shinku said, taking a few steps closer to Zhou. I reached my hand in to keep her from doing something she'd regret, pushing her back slightly. Zhou only let out a hearty laugh at the action. "Just a little playful banter, youngin'. Don't you worry 'bout it."
"Hmm," was all Shinku said as she turned back to me. "I don't think I like this one. Can we try again?" Zhou couldn't help but burst into laughter at that one. "Honest, too! I like this one! We're gonna have a great time!" Shinku's look was almost pleading. "Kill me." Zhou was on the floor laughing by this point.
"Alright, you two, let's get a move on. It's getting late, and we've got some ground to cover," I told the two of them. Zhou picked herself off of the floor, wiping a few tears out of the corner of her eye and followed along just fine. On the way back, she showed her prowess as a fighter too, using those two dousing rods to great effect. Clearly, there was a lot more to her than first appearances.
A quick trip to the Puppet Center to heal up was a good chance to plan out our next route, and also catch Zhou up to speed on the goal. "So, lemme get this straight: this crazy lookin' woman offered you a bet to handicap yourself on the way to the top, and the reward was just to have an open talk with the obviously crazy, mysterious and possibly dangerous person you know nothing about?" Shinku nodded at the relaying of information. "You guys are gonna need all the help you can get, if you're serious about it, might be best to head west and pick us up a new partner ahead of time."
"West?" I asked to Zhou. On the map it said west was the Pokemon League, which they wouldn't be able to enter, but there was a route with some wild Puppet activity on it as well. "Hmm. Probably a good plan. Alright, we'll head there before it gets too late!"
"Attagirl! Lead the way!" Zhou said, both he and Shinku following behind as they took a slight detour. The grounds were paved and built, very different from the route they used to get there. The group was on the lookout for the first puppet they saw, whatever that puppet would be.
"See anything out there, you two?"
"Hmm...nothing yet..they said this area was fairly popu-" Whatever thought was on Shinku's mind was cut off by a sharp scream of fear.
"Well now, that's not what either of us expected today. Wanna check it out?" Zhou asked.
I nodded, and we ran over in the direction of the sound. What we found was quite the scene: A cYousei, clutching a Sitrus Berry, surrounded by at least 10 other Puppets of various types. She was horribly outmatched by the group, and it was clear what was going on.
"Well kid, what's it gonna be? We saw all of these ones first, so I'd say they're all fair game. But what do you wanna do with this?" Zhou said, preparing herself for a fight.
I thought about this for a moment. Realistically, choosing one of the others would probably be a better choice, for being a better fighter. But, something about just leaving the one in the middle to her fate didn't sit well with her.
"...we're helping that one, alright?" I pointed to the Yousei in the middle.
Shinku sighed. "I knew you'd pick the hardest option...alright. Let's go." The two of them got into a fighting stance and rushed into the center of the mob, shielding the small puppet from the group.
"W-What?" said the scared creature. "Don't worry, youngin', we got this!" Zhou said, pushing back a portion with the dousing rods and Shinku throwing a few dolls around them to push back the crowd. During their fights she had picked up the ability to throw kinetic blasts out of her hand, and did so to large swaths of the group with extreme prejudice.
Slowly, the group of wild Puppets realized how outmatched they were against the two of them, and scattered back into the wilderness in fear. "Buncha cowards! Run back home to your mommas!" She said, letting out a hearty laugh. Shinku simply brushed off her dress as she recalled her doll soliders back to her person.
I walked over to the scared Yousei and crouched down to meet her level. "Hey there, are you alright?"
"I-I-I am...thank you. B-But why did you help me? If y-you were looking for a strong Puppet, y-you could have caught any o-of the ones that were trying to a-attack me..."
I placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped a little, clearly not used to contact. "I guess...I couldn't help it. I didn't have it in me to just leave you to the wolves in this scenario. I'm Mary. What's your name?"
The scared puppet looked like she was about to cry, although of what she couldn't tell what. Maybe at the thought of someone going out of their way to help her? "I-I-I'm Perna...D-Does that mean that...you want me?"
"Only if you'd want to. So, what do you say?"
"Heh, more of a choice than I ever go-oof!" Zhou said, cut off by a jab in the gut by Shinku.
The small doll's eyes couldn't hold back anymore, starting to pour down tears as she rushed forward and hugged me tight. "N-No one's ever believed in me before! I...I promise! I'll make you proud! I-I'll work hard to be the b-best puppet you'll ever have! I'll...I'll..." she tried to get out before the sobs overtook her words. I held her tight through the sobs, feeling a pang of sadness from hearing Perna cry her eyes out at being appreciated for once in her life. It went on for a few minutes, and I wasn't even bothered by it too much. Once she had sufficiently gotten out all of her emotions out, she pulled back a little so we could look at each other. "I-I'm sorry, I just..."
"It's fine, really. We're here for you." I cut her off, keeping a warm smile on my face. Part of me was trying to emulate how my mom used to deal with me back when I was like this, and if her expression was any indication, it seemed to be working.
She sniffed really hard, and tried to give a smile back in return. "O-Okay. Thank you, Mary. I-I'm ready," she said, closing her eyes for the reaction she knew was coming. I took out one of the orbs I was given earier and booped her on her forehead with it, turning her into red light that vanished into the ball. It didn't even wiggle before clicking shut, fully accepting her new life.
"Hah, emotional little one, ain't she? Kinda cute, though. If she's as determined to please as she looks, then she'll pull her weight soon enough." Zhou looked rather introspective, almost, if only for a split second, a little wizened, too.
"Mmm...I think she has potential." Shinku nodded in agreement, looking a little sagely herself.
By the time I had gotten back up, I noticed it had already turned dark. Clearly they had spent a while training and getting to know our new friends. I couldn't keep a yawn down as my body stretched, clearly worn out from the exciting day. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the other two yawn soon after, it catching up to the two of them, too. "I think it's about time we all got some sleep. What do you two think?" I said, scooping the two of them up onto my shoulders. Zhou was leaning on me the whole time, barely staying up, while Shinku was able to keep her composure. We gave the group one final check up before heading up to the free rooms provided by the Puppet Center, the beds there feeling fantastic.
Zhou was perfectly fine with going back in his ball, wordlessly touching it on her own and vanishing into the orb, but Shinku was adamant about staying out, eyeing her own rather warily. I sighed a little. "...do you want to sleep with me?" Her entire face lit up like I'd never seen it before, but only for a moment before settling into her normal neutral expression, although I noticed the tinge of a blush. "I-I'd like that...if it's okay with you..."
Without another word, I picked her up and placed her on the bed while I got changed into some more loose clothing. I climbed into bed, gently moving Shinku with me so that she was under the covers close by. "Comfy?" I asked.
She nodded. "Sorry about this, I-I just...don't like the orbs all that much..." she said. I hugged her close, and slowly, I could feel her hug back, before small, little snores started to come from her. I felt myself starting to drift off too, before I felt something gripping my back under the covers.
"S-Sorry, Mary, sir, b-but...I-I don't sleep well...o-on my own. Is t-this...fine?" I sighed a little, some part of me expecting this. I reached my arm around to pick her up and move her in front so that I could hold her too, wordlessly answering her question, and too tired to go into detail.
Right before I went to sleep, I felt another one scootch in. "I thought you liked the ball, Zhou..."
"I do. But I felt like I was missin' something bein' in it tonight."
I gave her an annoyed look, but instead welcomed it and felt the group close to me start to fall asleep too, the small bundle of puppets letting out their own brand of snores. So this was my life, now. Sleeping with a bundle of small friends. I couldn't bring herself to mind all that much, though. They felt warm, and something about it made me...really happy. I hoped things could stay like this forever, just a group of growing friends on an adventure for truth, growth, excitement. If I wasn't as exhausted as I was, it would have kept me up from my mind racing, but clearly that wasn't the case, as I felt myself drift off, my snores harmonizing with the bundle of puppets in my arms...
A figure could be seen watching the display from the window. She had a warm smile as she saw the girl bundled together with her new puppet friends. Something about her happy smile was infectious to the woman. She had come to check on them just to be sure, but it was clear she could take care of herself. Perhaps she was being silly. With a twirl of her parasol, she walked forwards into a gap, disappearing from sight.
-Chapter 4 END