Tidings to the North
xxxxx
My head was swimming. Not literally, but a sudden dumbfounded confusion had swept over me almost like a swirling vortex of water; it was the next best thing. My immediate surroundings were forgotten as I tried to make sense of what was happening in the current moment. Al was standing still, Elina was giving him an incredulous look with brows raised so high I wondered if they were going to leap off her face, while I was staring wide eyed at both with my mouth hanging open, nearly touching the floor. I remembered that Elina had started an impromptu argument with the armored teen over the Pokémon we had just seen in captivity. As I closed my mouth and shook my head in an attempt to clear it up, I finally managed to recall what Al had just said, and I could only come up with a single, yet impossible to ignore, thought. Why did Al tell Elina that he could talk to Pokémon?
"What?" Elina stuttered out, voice just as incredulous as her expression, expressing what I was thinking myself. "What do you mean you heard them say it?" She said, referring to Al's earlier outburst.
That's right, I thought, Alphonse did say that. I almost palmed my face again at the recall. I decided not to rest on that headache, however, as now that both humans had gone silent I noticed an opportunity.
Before, when the two were arguing, they were not paying to attention to anything else. No matter how I nudged or yowled at them they didn't notice. Now that there was a lull in the yelling, they might hear me now, I realized. Using one of my front paws I tapped on the hollow armor of Al's leg, certain that I would finally get his attention. The echo that reverberated through him was louder than I intended it to be, but it got him to look down at me nonetheless. When he looked, if he had an actual face, he would have flinched; my face was as angry and as accusing as a Shinx's face could be.
"What were you thinking, Al? You can't just tell her that!" I didn't bother keeping my voice down. Alphonse was the one who could understand me, not Elina.
"It-it just kind of came out!" Alphonse tried to defend. It didn't work.
"So it's not just hearing them but talking to Pokémon now?" Elina interrupted, her voice a mix of accusation and frantic frustration.
"Well uh, that is, um…." Al stuttered back and forth as he tried to look between Elina and I. Eventually he sighed in defeat, and I found myself sighing as well.
Elina, this girl who had been confused and frightened over the past day, who lost her brother before being kidnapped shortly afterwards. She was discovering some authority, I recognized. It was clear that she was pretty rattled by this situation, but it was commendable to see how strong she was being. I wanted to encourage it, but as I looked back and forth between her and Al I knew that this just wasn't the time for it. We needed to escape, not stand around bickering.
From down the hall behind us came the sound of something faint. My ear twitched at it, and I turned towards the source to hear it better. It was the rhythmic pitter-patter of faraway footsteps slowly but surely making their way towards us. My hair stood on end again as I became nervous. Neither Al nor Elina had noticed; Al was trying and failing to explain his ability to understand Pokémon as something else, and Elina was interrupting him in a failing attempt to get him to explain. By the time they realize there were more people coming after us it might be too late, I thought. Even with Al's alchemy, I wasn't sure that we wouldn't get caught again.
"Al! We need to go now!" I yelled with evident urgency in my voice, interrupting Alphonse from bubbling up another argument. "There's somebody coming this way!"
The armored alchemist started at that, his helmet tipping upwards and giving him the appearance of wide eyes as he recognized what I was saying. He jerked away from the girl, tearing his attention down to the hallway and then turning back to me. While he didn't seem to see anything, he gave me an acknowledging nod after. He turned to Elina, obviously ready to change subjects and get us moving.
Elina, however, wasn't having that at all. Her expression was set in stone, her stance resolute. She crossed her arms and started tapping her foot as she gave an expectant glare at Alphonse. I groaned internally, exasperated. I knew this entire situation was stressful, but it wasn't the time to stubborn. Why was she insisting on being so difficult?
"Elina. It's a long story, and we don't have any time to talk right now." Al spoke quickly, trying to explain the situation. "So we have to-"
"I'm not moving until you give me some kind of explanation of what's going on here, Al," Elina once again interrupted.
I cringed from her reply, having hoped in some small way that she would understand and comply. I twitched my ear back to focus on the sound of footsteps again. They were still faint in the distance, but they were definitely closer than they were before. My teeth went tight against each other and my eyes widened. I gave Al a panicked look that he returned as best as his helmet would allow. A short, unspoken conversation went between us. We don't have much time, my expression said.
I know, I'm working on it, was the unsaid response that Al returned through his own look. "I promise I'll tell you what you want to know," Alphonse began, his attention back on Elina. "But it has to be later! Somebody might find us if we stay here any longer!" Al gestured down the hallway for emphasis, in the direction of the foot steps I was still hearing.
The girl's eyes followed his outstretched arms, and her expression seemed to falter for a moment, but she snapped her focus back to Alphonse and returned her hard frown and creased brows. She didn't hear the steps or the voices that I was hearing; she didn't realize the danger that could be approaching. "I'm not moving,Al. Not until I get an explanation," She spoke adamantly.
Al let out a sigh. Or a huff. I wasn't sure which; he was currently a suit of armor. It was a clear imitation of an exasperated breath, that much I was sure of. "An explanation of what, exactly? Why are you acting like this? And why now?" Al's voice was rising in volume and was becoming increasingly stressed in tone as he asked the questions rapidly. I nodded with him; I couldn't have asked it better myself.
That was the last straw for the young girl. She snapped and began yelling hysterically at Al. As she did, I finally noticed the frazzled state of her hair, her puffy eyes, the lines in her face, and how her body shook like a leaf. Then I remembered that she was young, just barely at the age that humans start becoming trainers; she was still a kid. "Why am I acting like this!?" She practically screamed, voice cracking. "My brother is gone! Gone because of some weird blue lightning magic! That same magic stuff you've been using t-to make doors and m-move the floors around. Then there's my brother disappearing, and you appearing instead, and then being kidnapped by t-Team Rocket…" She trailed off, and I didn't fail to notice the sobs she was choking back. Suddenly I felt terrible, and I almost looked away.
"I want to know why," Elina said, the volume of her voice slowly growing quiet as her head turned away from Al to a nearby corner. "I want to know why he's gone, and where he is. I want to know why this is all happening to me… and I-I want to know who you are."
Al and I stood still, silent, when she finished. Strangely, I found myself feeling something calm come over me; I couldn't tell if Alphonse was feeling the same way. His armor was motionless and statue like, and the red orbs of his helmet were faint. "I see," was all that he said, turning away from the girl.
I looked away from her as well. I couldn't bear to see the grief and pain welling up on her face behind a stream of steady, soundless tears. I felt ashamed for being angry at the girl, for not really caring for her own trauma that this was day was no doubt increasing. No matter how justified it was by the larger situation, it was still inconsiderate. After losing her brother and then being kidnapped, it was natural that the young girl would be harboring some stress, and that she'd wonder just who Alphonse really was after he quite literally appeared out of nowhere. Meanwhile, I had been so concerned with escaping, Alphonse's safety, Ari, and the room with all the trapped Pokémon that I barely stopped to consider what Elina was going through.
No. It's not that I barely considered It, but that I practically forgot that she was there and found her annoying when she spoke up. I felt small, shifting back and forth on my paws, anxious and unsure of what to do.
In the distance I heard voices now, and my ears twitched as I was able to recognize a conversation going with it. Or rather, It was that I was able to make out who they belonged to. There was a distinctly male voice, confident and cocky, and a lower voice that had a growl to it, likely a Pokémon. Their footsteps were a combination of dull thuds similar to the sound that Edward's boots made and clicking from claws landing on the smooth surface of the floor.
From their volume, and from the skills I had gained from living in the forest with the Startail clan, I estimated that they were around twenty to thirty meters away. I frowned at that, brows furrowing. Those weren't units I was used to using. Actually, I wasn't even familiar with the word "units" before, or the concept of them. Was it more knowledge that I had suddenly gained because of Isorfold's transmutation? I bit my lip; it wasn't important where I suddenly got that kind of information. What was important was that we couldn't stay here any longer, out in the open like this.
When Alphonse next spoke, it was in his softest voice, quiet, barely an echo from the armor of his body. Yet it managed to carry a gravity that wasn't there before. "Elina, I lost my brother too."
The young girl blinked at this, eyes growing wide and staring directly at Al. I raised a brow as well, or at least the Shinx equivalent.
"I don't know when I'll see him again, if I ever do see him again." Alphonse continued, his voice grave, perhaps on the edge of mournful. "But I can't can't think about that right now; not with my life in danger, not with your life in danger; and not with Tasha's life in danger. I understand that you're confused, and scared, and that you need something to make sense right now." Even though I wasn't the one he was talking to, trying to console in that moment, I couldn't help but feel that way nonetheless. "But until we're safe, and free, it has to wait."
He placed a hand on her shoulder, a gesture that was meant to be comforting despite the size of the limb, and managed to be so in sync with his words. "I promise that I'll give you an explanation later, but we need to get moving first, alright?"
Elina's brow scrunched up, and her mouth was a small frown as her eyes turned away. Quickly, however, her eyes were narrowed again and arms were crossed, body language adamant. I acted quickly, pushing my head into her legs to get her attention. It worked, and when she looked down at me I took on a look I hadn't used since I was barely more than a cub. I pulled my ears back, let my pupils go big, and finished with a pouting frown. It was a look that I learned from other Shinx when I was young as a means of getting what I wanted from Sirene. To top off the look, I added a mewing "please." While it may not have always worked with my mother, Elina didn't stand a chance against it.
The reaction was immediate, her face softening and her shoulders slumping. She quickly looked away towards Alphonse, who was playing along by clasping his hands together and holding them out in front of him in a begging position. Her expression faltered further, and when she looked back at my begging face Elina let out a defeated sigh, nodding slowly.
"Alright." She said, sounding almost defeated. "It can wait. Let's get out of here."
xxxxx
Daryn had not been on many trains in his life. The most experience that he had with the locomotive machines was when his sister and he visited their grandmother in a far off region and she took them to see a "Battle Subway". Even then, however, the trains he saw then weren't anything like the ones he saw now. The ones he had seen were smooth and chrome, streamlined, and electric powered. At East City's station the trains were more… old-timey, the young trainer decided. They were steam powered; the locomotives had enormous tanks resting next to their engines and were connected to coal cars. Daryn briefly remembered the car that Armstrong drove Edward and him in, and he thought of images he had seen in textbooks that detailed the past. It made him feel like he had stepped back in time as he sat there on the bench. Yet it was in that way that Daryn found the East City Station majestic. Between the steam powered engines and the intricately detailed decor it was refreshing to the young trainer. It helped take his mind off the fact that he was in another world entirely, and that he was away from his sister, allowing him to smile as he watched people move to and fro from train to train.
So engrossed was Daryn in watching the bustling activity of the station that he almost didn't notice the bench shift when Edward sat down beside him.
"Alright, our train leaves in about thirty minutes or something and it's taking us straight to North City. Tickets were expensive as hell on short notice, especially since they only had a few first class seats available. So I don't want to hear any complaining about my hospitality, got it? Here's yours," The older teen said, handing him a ticket from his gloved hand with a small frown. Daryn ignored Ed's harsh tone, instead deciding take it graciously and give him a hearty thanks. The teen raised an eyebrow at his response, making him somewhat uncomfortable.
"What?" Daryn said defensively, almost stuttering as his voice raised a little.
"Are you… excited?" Ed asked, an incredulous look still on his face.
"Well, yeah." At the other teen's further raised eyebrow, the young trainer continued. "I've only ever been on a train once, and it wasn't anything like the trains here. It was a long time ago too. So it's sort of a new experience for me."
Edward nodded, albeit slowly, in understanding. "That makes sense, I guess. My brother and I travel so much that riding a train is practically the same as riding a bike for us. Guess we just... took that for granted." Ed trailed off after that, going quiet as his eyes became downcast.
Daryn found himself feeling just as solemn, turning away from the Elric to look at the ground. The mention of Edward's brother reminded him of his sister. It had been a day and a half since they last saw each other and it already felt like to him like it was actually a week, a feeling compounded by the fact that he had no way of contacting her. Whatever Elina was doing at this moment was a complete mystery to him, one that was never failing to make him worry. He could only hope that she was safe without him.
Daryn was snapped out of his musings by the creaking of the bench as Edward shifted in his spot. The teen was craning his neck to look over the bench, brows narrowed and mouth pursed. The solemn demeanor of his had disappeared as if it was never there in the first place. Daryn watched in confusion as Ed turned his head about, looking for something. "Do you know where Armstrong went?" The teen asked. turning to the young trainer after a long moment of searching.
Daryn blinked at the question and turned his head towards the ceiling, scratching his chin as he tried to remember what the large man had told him. "I think he said that he was going to find a place for the Pokémon on the train that you pointed out to us."
Edward scowled at the mention of the pokemon Daryn was talking about. "Remind me again why we're bringing them along. Seems like more hassle than they're worth."
"Well, did you really want to leave them alone at your house?" Daryn asked reply, a smirk on his face.
The other teen let out a groaning sigh. He looked away, grumbling under his breath; Daryn was just able to make out something about "nuisances" and "annoying Pokémon" and figured he was referring to the events of the previous day and the alchemist's reactions to them. The memory of that surprise was fresh in the young trainer's memory.
The group of four, Edward, Daryn, Armstrong, and Chimera the Pichu returned to the house not long after the end of their meeting with Roy Mustang. As they approached the house, with Ed leading, they would have opened the front door if there had been a handle to open it with, courtesy of Major Alex Louis Armstrong. Instead the alchemist settled for pushing the door open with his foot and letting the rest of the group inside, giving the larger alchemist a glare while he remained oblivious. Instead of a peaceful home to come back to, Edward was faced with even more repairs to make. Wonderful.
While traversing the somewhat wrecked home, the result of a previous night's fight with another Pokémon , proved to be uneventful for the group, it was upon entering the kitchen that Edward Elric lost it.
"Oh come on! Are you fucking kidding me!?" Ed yelled, causing Daryn and Armstrong to flinch backwards at the outburst. Armstrong recovered and quickly took a fighting stance, then his expression relaxed when he saw the source of Ed's newfound frustration. Daryn took longer to compose himself, only recently noticing the creature that Ed was pointing a furious finger at. "What the hell is this!?" He yelled again.
The creature in question was a large raptor-like bird, black with white stripes and a swirl of feathers on top of its head. "Oh! It's a Staravia!" Daryn exclaimed as he pointed a finger at the bird Pokémon , eyes widened in recognition of the creature. His brows furrowed and he turned back to the Edward, arm lowering. "But what's it doing in your house?" He asked, confusion evident in his voice.
"How the hell would I know?" Ed replied back defensively with arms raised in the air, exasperation quickly growing. His attention immediately turned to the other pokemon occupying the kitchen, his teeth grinding against each other as his exasperation turned back into frustration. "And more importantly," The alchemist began through gritted teeth, "Why the hell did you let it in here!?"
The other Pokémon occupying the kitchen, a red and white Zangoose named Fang, merely shrugged and looked away in response with a bone sticking out of her mouth. This blatant indifference infuriated the Elric even further, prompting him to pull at his hair. He somehow forgot about the yellow-furred occupant using it as a handle for his head, however. Chimera had to quickly adjust herself around his gloved hands to keep from falling off.
Wait.
Was Fang eating his food?
After doing a double-take at the mongoose Pokémon and the bone she was chewing on, his worst fear was confirmed. No one eats his food without his permission. That was HIS food meant for HIS mouth. He paid for it and literally wrote his name on the packages. With his anger reaching new heights, Edward slowly approached the Pokémon while rolling up the sleeves of his coat with shaking hands, expression fuming. His tirade was stopped preemptively, however, by Armstrong.
"Well now," The larger alchemist began, placing a large hand on Ed's shoulder in a failed attempt to comfort him. "Today truly is a lucky day for you, Edward! Not only have you discovered a new Pokémon, but it has also willingly brought itself to you!"
"You're missing the point, Major!" Ed snapped back, teeth bared and eyes wide.
"Actually," Daryn interrupted getting his attention along with Armstrong's, "I think the Major is onto something here. He hasn't attacked us or anything like that, and he did come right to us." The young trainer began a slow walk towards the "Staravia," as Ed remembered he had called it.
The older teen blinked and watched with a raised brow as Daryn closed the gap between himself and the bird Pokémon. Shooting a look at the Zangoose, Ed saw that Fang was watching with what he guessed was a bemused look; her eyes still looked uninterested but her mouth was turned into a small grin. He nearly scoffed at the Pokémon , but then he noticed the tense shaking of her claws and he raised a brow at it. Before he could wonder about it, the Pokémon was already speaking up.
"You look like a weakling doing that," She said, making Daryn stop mid step, resulting in him being in an almost crouching position that made him look ridiculous. "And besides, he's trustworthy. He's just looking for some Shinx or something."
Ed started at that, and turned his attention towards the Staravia. The Pokémon in question was looking at Fang, his head turned to the side. The older teen noticed a detail he missed the first time he saw the bird; it had an arrow pattern on its head. He raised a brow at it and started to wonder just what, or more appropriately, who this creature was. There was only one "Shinx" that he knew of, and that was the Shinx that he and his brother were taking care of before… Just as Edward started to wonder at the connection the bird had to the Shinx, the Zangoose said something else.
"I think he also said he was going to follow or join us or something like that too."
Edward's frustration quickly returned at that. "And you let him!?" He practically screamed, making Daryn and Armstrong flinch again. The young alchemist had enough companions to deal with as it was.
Fang the Zangoose, just as off putting as she always was (as Edwards was quickly learning), turned away from the group with a bored expression. "Hey, it's not my problem. It's yours, actually."
To make a long story short, their meeting with the Staravia back at the house could have gone better on Edward's part, Daryn thought with an amused smile from recalling the memory. It had taken quite the restraining and convincing from Armstrong and him to keep the young teen from starting a fight with Fang and to get him to allow the other Pokémon to join their group. Said bird Pokémon, as Daryn recalled, had been rather quiet; it only spoke up once or twice, and it was with Fang. Unfortunately, Daryn couldn't understand what the Pokémon said, and Fang refused to talk about it.
Daryn let out a sigh as remembered the Zangoose. Thinking about her made the young trainer's head hurt too much. She was too much like Ed, sarcastic and stubbornly defiant, he morbidly realized. That was another thing too; she absolutely refused to back into her Poké Ball. When he suggested it as they had left Edward's house, Daryn remembered, she had given him a glare that practically radiated a killing intent. That was also probably why it was the large man, Major Armstrong, who was handling the two Pokémon. Strangely, he was the only one capable of making the Zangoose do anything. As Daryn briefly wondered why, he remembered his… demeanor, and suddenly didn't blame the Pokémon. It was probably the same reason that the man was immune to Fang's attitude.
"Honestly though, why does fate or the universe or whatever nonexistent higher power out there insist on kicking my ass like this?" Ed commented to no one in particular, interrupting Daryn's train of thought. "As if handling the Pokémon we have already wasn't a pain in the neck already, we get dumped with another right when we're about to head off."
"Well, at least we were able to hide them." Daryn supplied, futilely trying to improve the older teen's mood. It had been difficult, he remembered, as they all stood out spectacularly, but they had managed to get the Pokémon into the train station without anybody noticing.
Edward nodded at that, expression unchanging as he stared ahead into the crowd of people bustling about the station. He turned his head to look at the young trainer suddenly, lips pursed and brows knit together. "What about Chimera? Did Armstrong take them too?"
Daryn thought for a moment, briefly confused by the name before realizing that the older teen was referring to the pichu that seemed to be his. Daryn shook his head and pointed to a bundle of red cloth, Ed's coat, that sat in between them and had somehow gone unnoticed until now. The alchemist grabbed the top of the coat in response, pulling it upward to peer inside. As soon as the action was taken, however, a yellow blur quickly shot out from beneath and tackled him in the chest. The sudden force of which knocked Edward right off the bench and onto the tiled ground below, flat on his behind.
"Pichu!" Chimera squealed, clearly happy to be with the teen again. The sight of the little Pokémon knocking over the fiercest person he had ever met was nothing short of amusing, and Daryn could barely he keep his chuckling under control. The alchemist might as well have been their trainer, for all the boy knew he would deny it.
Edward didn't seem to notice the the young trainer's quiet chortling luckily, grumbling as he got himself back up again from the floor. The Pichu dashed up his arm and onto his shoulder as he finished picking himself up. "Yeah, good to see you too I guess." He grumbled as he shot a glare at the Pokémon happily sitting next to his head.
"Ahh, there you are, boys! I was beginning to wonder if I had gotten lost!" A boisterous voice called out to the two of them; a disgruntled look came over over Ed's face when he heard it, and was mirrored by the Pichu..
Both of the teens turned towards the voice, looking past the bench over their shoulders towards the large man, Armstrong, that was running towards them, earning quite a handful of stares from various onlookers in the crowd. Between his giant size and his boisterous voice, the Major was hard to miss amongst the crowds of people. The man literally stood two feet taller than everyone else at the station. People did not stop looking when the man finally came to a stop in front of the two teenagers, and Daryn suddenly felt self conscious with all the stares directed in their direction. Edward did not appear to be bothered by them in the slightest, however, despite having a Pokémon clinging tightly to his shoulder in full view of everyone, to the Daryn's slight confusion.
"Our Pokémon companions have been safely and discreetly stored away now, along with the rest of our luggage." The major said, without any sign of exhaustion from running earlier. "We should be perfectly ready to leave now.'
Daryn opened his mouth to thank the large man before the man's choice of words caught him, and he frowned. Stored away? What did that mean, he wondered? Daryn looked towards Edward to see if he could clarify, but by the narrowed expression on the alchemist's face it appeared that he was just as concerned as he was, though he didn't make any comments on it. Actually, after another quick glance at the alchemist's face, the young trainer could have sworn it was a knowing frown on the golden blonde's face. Despite being even more curious now, Daryn held back his questions, deciding it would be best to ask once they were on the train proper.
xxxxx
The small group of Pokémon, a Luxray, a Munchlax, and himself, a Typhlosion, ducked under another metal contraption that vaguely resembled two hands clasping each other. They weaved around the strange, massive metallic and wooden boxes, lined up in rows and organized in columns. The Typhlosion eyed the strange moving panels where humans would occasionally come out. The boxes looked like they were meant to move on the rounded legs they stood on, along the paths of black metal that they rested, motionless. As Aster recalled, Envy had called these things "trains," and said that humans used these to get from place to place quickly. Why they couldn't use their legs was beyond the Typhlosion.
The building that they were currently navigating was interesting, to say the least. It was massive, incredibly spacious, with a ceiling that was transparent in certain parts to let in the early noon sky; it was a clear and cloudless blue day. The building was held up by an almost majestic skeleton of thick metal beams, connected to each other and the walls like the web of an Ariados. The walls were mostly bare, but there were some that were painted a calming shade of beige. Some of the boxes - or trains - were also painted beige, while others were rich browns, rustic reds, or a combination of white and forest green. There was only one thing that both the trains and the building had in common that the Typhlosion couldn't ignore. The smell of humans. It was everywhere, on the walls, in the corners, and on every side of the metal boxes of the trains. Had the Pokémon not been used to it from his time with his trainer, it would have been overwhelming. Still, he found it far too familiar to ignore, bringing up too many unwanted memories of better times that deepened the scowl on his face. There was another thing that the smell brought that he couldn't quite ignore.
There was a distinct lack of Pokémon.
He couldn't smell anything that might leave a clue that any Pokémon had been here before. There were no tracks, no lingering smells, and no… waste (Aster couldn't help but feel the slightest bit perturbed that he was actually hoping to find that scent). There were only humans, and the immediate Pokémon around him. Even then, those scents too were almost overpowered. Not for the first time did the Typhlosion realize that he was the only one of his kind in this world, and truly realized that this was another world.
It was a place that made it difficult to avoid being seen, as it was vastly open in many spots and filled with the aforementioned people. With the Luxray's guidance and only a few close calls, however, the small group of Pokémon had been able to maneuver between the trains and corners without any human attention. Aster started to wonder if Envy had experience avoiding this many people. Despite the possible skill or experience of their current leader, the danger of being found at every turn never completely left. Yet it was not the humans that troubled him as they moved. It was something else he couldn't quite understand.
"Why are we here?" The Typhlosion asked, his voice as low and as gruff as it was.
"And is there any more food here?" Boro, the Munchlax, added. He rubbed his stomach as he walked with a famished look on his face, rumbling and growling noises coming from his midsection. Aster almost rolled his eyes at that; the Pokémon just ate recently. They all did from behind another human building that Envy said (and Aster recalled, from his days with his trainer) was a restaurant, not more than an hour ago. In fact, the Big Eater Pokémon lived up to his species' title, easily scarfing down more than he and Envy combined.
"Didn't you just eat a while ago?" Aster said, his annoyance creeping into his voice.
"I have a high metabolism," Boro nonchalantly said while raising his head high. Aster blinked. Was he proud of how much and how often he could eat? "What? you act like that's abnormal for someone like me."
Envy, whom had previously been silent except for making quick directions, finally chose that moment to speak, interrupting Boro in the process. "I already told you two that the humans use these trains to get to places that are long distances away." The Luxray scoffed before saying his next words with a disgust that was not lost on Aster. "How pathetic they are. Their feet are so fragile that they can't even make a day's walk."
The Typhlosion said nothing in response to that, choosing only to deepen his already pronounced scowl. Looking upon his own experiences, he didn't think that was very true. He and his trainer had traversed much of the landscape of their region, from mountains and caves, forests and swamps, and lakes and beaches. He knew that plenty were more than capable of a "simple walk" as Envy had put it. Still he kept quiet to himself. He wasn't sure what to think of the humans of this world yet… or what Envy cared of them.
Untrustworthy.
"In any case," Envy continued, breaking the Typhlosion out of his brief thoughts. "These trains can go pretty far, pretty fast. Faster and farther than we can get on our own. Especially for where we're going, the North."
"But why the North?" Boro asked, eyebrow raised and voice sounding confused. "Weren't we looking for that Isorfold guy or something? And why Isorfold? What's he got to do with us anymore?"
"Isorfold," Envy spat, his voice sounding annoyed by the question as he checked the sides of a train they were hiding by. "Is the reason why we're here, remember? He's going to go North, back to one of his old labs. So that's where we're going as well."
The Munchlax stopped at that, his brows furrowing and mouth turning into a frown. Aster stopped as well to avoid running into the annoyed Pokémon that was now stomping his feet in a temper tantrum. "Now just hold on a sec! Why are we going after Isorfold? This isn't why I joined up with you, Envy," Boro crossed his pudgy arms and let out an exaggerated humph. "Maybe I shouldn't have come with you. I'm hungry, and tired, and I know I can handle those things on my own. So maybe I'll-"
"You'll do what, exactly?" Envy shot a glare at the Pokémon, making Boro flinch and Aster along with him. "Go back to the city? Let yourself be caught on an aimless rampage for food? If I remember correctly, that's exactly what you were doing before, and it didn't exactly end all that well for you."
Boro opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and closed it once more in silence. The finger he raised as he tried to respond slowly and dejectedly fell down. Aster raised an eyebrow at the display, but continued to say nothing.
"And let's not forget about your so-called friends. The ones that said they'd return and free you. Did that Shinx come back and free you?" Envy asked, their voice almost condescending. The Typhlosion blinked at the name, or at least what he was sure was a species name; it sounded familiar. "No, she didn't. She left you alone. You thought she deserved some payback, didn't you?"
The Munchlax nodded a yes to the Luxray's question, but it wasn't a very committed nod, Aster noticed. The Typhlosion raised a brow again at that, deciding that he would have to ask the chubby Pokémon about that later, when Envy wasn't around. At that thought, the Fire-type realized that despite having travelled with him since that day and night, Aster didn't know anything about him. It wasn't long until the Typhlosion got his chance, however.
Envy let out a huff and continued walking forward, jerking his head to beckon them to follow. They hugged the side of a white and dark green train that particularly smelled of humans as they moved, stopping once they came across a separation between the large boxes. The gap wasn't very spacious, and a bulky, black metal device in the shape of hands clasping together blocked the way in between the cars. Envy stopped just short of the gap, his head at the very edge of the box as his body stiffened up. Boro and Aster stopped behind him, with the Typhlosion nearly bumping into the Munchlax who did bump into Envy, nearly pushing the Pokémon out into the gap. The Big Eater Pokémon scratched his head sheepishly at the sharp glare that Envy shot at them before returning his attention to the gap.
"Why are we stopping?" Aster asked at Envy.
The Luxray flinched at his voice and shushed him harshly. Aster furrowed his brows at the Gleam Eyes Pokémon.
"Are there any humans?" Boro prodded quietly, nervousness evident in his voice.
Again Envy shushed them, only slightly louder and with a more pronounced glare. Boro, however, didn't get the hint to stay quiet.
"But what about-" The Munchlax didn't get to finish when Envy, instead of shushing him as he had done before, instead whacked him on the nose with his star tipped tail. The sudden attack made Boro stumble backwards into Aster's front. The Typhlosion caught him before Boro's sudden weight could knock him over, holding him upright to catch his balance. Boro had his hands up to his nose to nurse the smarting injury; he grumbled quietly been his breath. Envy appeared to ignore him.
Aster shook his head at the scene and turned his attention back to the Luxray, watching as the Pokémon ever so slowly poked his head around the corner, his jet-black mane standing on end. Seconds passed slowly, the Pokémon's head turned side to side around the corner, and a tension began to grow as the two Pokémon waited for his verdict, both deathly quiet. Had either of them been capable of sweating like humans they would've undoubtedly been doing so no matter what the verdict was, Aster thought. The seconds kept passing, and Envy crept forward a little more as the tension between them all kept mounting. Aster's fur was as on end as was the Luxray before him. From how close he was to the Munchlax, Boro's fur was equally on end.
Just when the Typhlosion found the atmosphere no longer bearable he saw Envy begin to visibly relax, his fur no longer on end and a long sigh escaping him. Aster let out his own sigh of relief with Boro quickly following after. Soon the earlier tension that had swiftly came was gone, although the Typhlosion didn't understand what was happening. Luckily, it was at that moment that Envy finally decided to speak with the two Pokémon, turning around to face them.
"It looks like this place isn't as busy as it appears to be; I've got myself a clear pathway." Envy's voice was confident and even, and his expression was still intense, but it was also somewhat calm at the same time. "I need you guys to stay here though. Neither of you seem to understand the concept of stealth all that well, so I'm going to have to go alone from here to find us a way to get us on this train."
Aster narrowed his eyes at the Luxray's pointed words, but again he said nothing of them, choosing instead to focus on something else the other Pokémon had said that confused him. "Are you saying that this is the… train that we need to take?"
Envy gave him a curt nod in confirmation. "I think so. I just need to be sure. That's why I'm going ahead and you're staying behind. The both of you. You'll have the best cover here; we're just past the point where regular people can't go, so if you keep your heads down and your mouths shut," Envy put emphasis on the last word, stressing his voice. "Then you guys won't get yourselves caught. Is that understood?"
Aster gritted his teeth at the Pokémon's tone but nodded nonetheless. However much he was growing to dislike the electric Pokémon -or distrust him for that matter- he clearly knew what he was doing. That only confused him more than it made him feel confident in the Luxray's skills, however. Envy was an oddity; he claimed to have been brought to this world in the same way he had by Isorfold, but Aster was certain that he had neither seen nor heard of him during his own time with the human. Then there were his gut instincts. While they weren't as strong as before, when he first met him, Envy's presence still produced an odd, disquieting sensation in his gut. There was something completely off about the Luxray, and Aster wasn't going to ignore that.
Envy rounded the corner the moment after he finished talking, ducking under the metal device with catlike grace and disappearing behind the side of the train. Aster never felt so relieved, the last ebbs of anxiousness and nervousness from his gut instincts finally ebbing away, if only for a moment. It was a sensation that the Typhlosion didn't fail to notice, not realizing how much they had built up beforehand.
Boro let out an annoyed grunt shortly after Envy's departure before he leaned against the side of the train. Aster, seeing nothing better to do and more than a little tired from standing up straight all day, leant against the side of the train car as well. A small creak of sound came out from the wood and metal as he did so, and the Typhlosion almost flinched from it. Aster glanced at the Munchlax to see if he noticed, but there was no change in his expression; Boro still had a somewhat disgruntled look, with closed eyes that made him look like he was nodding off. The Typhlosion looked away to scan the nearby trains for a moment before his eyes returned to the dark green Pokémon, a thought suddenly crossing his mind. This was his chance learn more about Boro, and to see what he knew about the off-putting Luxray.
"What was that all about?" The Typhlosion asked, trying to break the silence that came over between them and inwardly cursing his lack of social skills.
"What was what about?" Came the Munchlax's response, his eyes still closed.
"What Envy was talking about earlier. Between him and you." Aster clarified.
Boro opened his eyes at that; they stared unfocused into the distance. "He saved my life. That's all."
Aster raised an incredulous eyebrow at that. "That's not the whole story."
Boro flicked his eyes at him and sighed. "The day before, after I escaped from Isorfold, I was famished. So I went out to grab myself a meal." Aster rolled his eyes at that; of course Boro went out to get a meal. "I eventually got caught by a human and some Pokémon, and we had a battle. I lost. Thing is though, the Shinx I fought seemed real shook up about it. She told me so while we were, get this, riding around in a suit of armor that could walk and talk."
Now that sounded too familiar to ignore. "A Shinx and a suit of armor!? Are you sure!?" Aster interrupted with wide eyes, jumping up from the train he was leaning on.
Boro stumbled, stunned at the sudden interjection. "Y-yeah, why?"
The Typhlosion slumped his shoulders and narrowed his eyes. "I was in a fight with a human wearing armor myself! My fire attacks were useless against him. He was wearing metal, but he wasn't affected at all." Had the armor been empty, as Boro described, he wondered? If so, that would explain why his attacks didn't do the damage he had been expecting. But that also raised a slew of other questions as well. How could a suit of armor walk and talk like a human? Was a ghost Pokémon possessing it? Aster's grimace deepened at the thought; his attacks would still have had an effect if that were the case, and it didn't explain the talking part.
"He was hollow, if that, uh, helps any." Boro replied nonchalantly, as if a hollow suit of armor that could walk and talk wasn't anything unusual. Of course, given everything he'd seen so far of this world, Aster was beginning to wonder if that was exactly the case.
"Anyway, she acted real nice and all, but afterwards she and the metal human left me out in a cage." The munchlax said, continuing his story. "I was in there for a while too, and I was getting real hungry. Just when I was about to try leaving it, Envy showed up. He cut the bars of the cage, letting me go free. Then he told me who Tasha, that Shinx, really was," The Munchlax almost spat out that part, contempt evident on his face. "And that she was just going to leave me there to waste away. Envy suggested I get revenge, and we ended up traveling together after that."
It was Aster's turn to be stunned after that. His mind carefully went over everything he just heard as the he began to feel just the smallest sense of dread and suspicion. Envy had promised Boro revenge. After that, on that same night he himself was freed, the Luxray promised revenge for Aster as well. As Envy said himself, it was all tied to Isorfold, a man that both the Munchlax and him wanted nothing to do with. Was it coincidence or convenience, he wondered? What was Envy's real goal here? Aster looked back at the direction where the Luxray disappeared to before he called out Boro's name, eyes still fixed on the spot that the electric Pokémon had been in.
"Hmm, what?" The Munchlax answered lazily.
"Do you…" The typhlosion paused, choosing his next words carefully as he kept his back turned away from the other Pokémon. "Do you trust Envy?"
"Sort of. Yeah, I trust him." Boro replied without hesitation. "I mean, I haven't known him that long, and he is kinda rude, but he doesn't seem too bad. Why do you ask?"
It was at that point that Aster decided to fully regard Boro, turning his eyes to look down at the Big Eater Pokémon. The Munchlax was looking up at him with an odd look, brows raised and furrowed. The Typhlosion considered him for a moment, eyes going back and forth between him and the spot Envy had been, then he let out a tired sigh.
"I do not know what to think of Envy." The Fire-type slowly started, voice low. "I don't trust him, but not because I think he's not trustworthy, if that makes sense. He's… odd." Aster narrowed his eyes when he said that, finally settling his gaze to the direction said Pokémon went. "As strange as this sounds, he doesn't feel like a Luxray should feel." Not that the Typhlosion knew what a Luxray should feel like- he'd only ever met two, Sirene and another he fought in his past- but that was besides the point. There was a certain presence, a confidence, that was held by the two he had met; while the Typhlosion certainly found Envy to be confident as well, there was something else, something wrong, that was constantly overbearing when the Gleam Eyes Pokémon was around.
"Hold on a sec there. Are you saying that Envy isn't really Envy?" Boro said, shaking his head and giving Aster an incredulous look. "You do realize how crazy that sounds, right? I mean, maybe he could be a Ditto or something, but then, why lie about it?"
In response to the Munchlax's disbelief, Aster leveled a look of his own at the Normal-type, one with intense, furrowed brows. Boro faltered at it with his expression becoming nervous. He didn't look away despite it. Aster could tell from the way the Munchlax slumped his shoulders and changed his frown that he felt as if he had asked something stupid. If the Typhlosion was being honest with himself, however, he felt that it was his own comments that were stupid. The idea that "Envy wasn't Envy", as Boro said, sounded impossible the more he thought about it. Then he remembered their current situation- two Pokémo caught in a whole other world with humans that had superpowers- and realized that there was no such thing as impossible.
"Not too long ago, I was fighting a human wearing a metal suit of armor who was unaffected by my fire attacks, and might have even been the suit of armor." Aster replied after taking a breath. "And then, right after that, I fought another who could clap his hands and make the very ground move beneath me. And right after that, I met a human who could control fire like only a Fire-type could, maybe even better." Boro's eyes widened as the Typhlosion spoke, each word seemingly making him pay closer and closer attention. Aster continued. "Then there's also the fact that we are on an entirely different world altogether. So yes. Envy not being a Luxray, not being Envy, does sound impossible when you think about it."
The next words that came out of Aster's mouth were at the same time humbling and frightening at the same time, carrying a gravity that neither Pokémon fully comprehended despite the Typhlosion being the one to say them. "But with everything that's happened lately, the impossible is possible. And if anything possible isn't the case, then whatever remains… might be the truth."
A loud and sharp whistle cut through the air just then, ending their conversation and signaling something obscure and unknown to them.
xxxxx
Direction and action is taken, and with it comes the next section of your journey. But everything may not nearly be so peaceful as it would seem from this departing, not when monsters still lurk in the shadows.
Next Time
Farewells to the East
AN: I don't do author's notes that much, but I'll make an exception just this once because... its back! That's right, I've kicked college butt and now have some time to finally write this story again. Credit where it's due, however; I wouldn't have gotten back into it if my new beta reader, Rockium, hadn't bugged me about it! In all seriousness, they've been a real help keeping me at this recently, and making sure this work is more presentable. It's good to be writing again.