#13 - Aphex Twin: This song made me feel like I was deep in the ocean. A place that I'm scared of quite frankly, but it made me feel quite... calm, actually. An almost beat-less 7 and a half minute track.
I only found this artist's music a few weeks ago, and the catalogue is extremely interesting to me. I'd recommend giving it a listen.
The walk down south could have been difficult, but after their previous trips- all three of Alexis, Espir and Shane, felt more than relaxed traversing the rocky, awkward route that led down to Pastoria City. Rocks threatened to twist ankles at any moment and there were random drops in ground level, but that didn't stop any of them. They were simply happy that they could take their time with their trip. No sign of Team Cosmic, nor any other adverse beings threatening to do them harm. They could just enjoy the weather, as it became gradually warmer, and look forward to the rumored views across Lake Valor.
Alexis, from what Espir could tell, seemed driven to continue on their desired journey. She also really just wanted to take her time and take the chance to relax. It was an interesting dilemma he could see playing out as they all walked. If they were walking slowly one day, they would be walking more consistently with less breaks. If they were more energetic, there would be more breaks. Espir could see that she wanted the rest, but she also wanted to make up for lost time in her quest. It was inspiring, in a way, to see someone so determined to succeed- despite all the obstacles that had been placed in front of them over the previous weeks of travel.
Soon, after a good couple days of travelling steadily downhill, the trio started to climb up a steep incline.
"From what I've heard," Alexis explained, breathless but excited, "the top of this hill is where you can see the lake from. Then it isn't too far to Pastoria City afterwards. We should be able to make it there by tomorrow, I think."
Espir and Shane nodded as they walked up the incline. It didn't really affect them as much as it did Alexis, so they just walked at her pace and allowed her all the rests that she could need in order to reach the peak of the hill in the shortest amount of time- which appeared to be her goal that morning.
What Espir didn't expect, once they reached the peak, was for there to be a little settlement at the top. There were a handful of homes and what appeared to be a restaurant, too. They had turned the view into a tourist destination. In hindsight, it actually made a lot of sense to him. People would turn anything into a tourist attraction if they could.
He followed Alexis to the edge of the hill, where there were safety precautions in place for a viewing area. He couldn't deny that the lake was a spectacular sight after all. It was worth the effort it took to climb the hill. Shane appeared to be just as impressed by the sight.
All around them, as far as the view carried out across the land, were trees. They flowed across the landscape like the thick, green blanket- with juts of rock poking up here and there. Right in the middle of all of these trees, however, was a lake. Lake Valor. It reflected the sunlight just at the right angle to appear to sparkle. Espir wasn't sure what it was about that lake, but it felt mystical almost. It seemed to hold secrets, secrets that only it could know, hidden within the trees.
Espir could see why people flocked to this peak to look upon that water, even though they had little to no chance of actually getting the lake physically. The forest was too dense for people to go through normally, unless they carved a path through it. Espir was happy that they had only decided to urbanize the peak and not abuse the forest itself. Now that he was a Pokémon, he was finding a new appreciation for wildlife and the beings that relied upon untouched nature.
"Come on," Alexis said, after a while. "Let's get ourselves a drink and head on our way."
Espir didn't feel thirsty, but knew how much energy Alexis must have exhausted to make it up that hill. She needed the break more than they did.
The restaurant didn't allow Pokémon to be out and about while indoors, so Espir and Shane waited outside as Alexis went in to buy some bottles of water for their next leg of the journey.
"How are you feeling so far?" Espir asked Shane, who had been a little quieter since they'd made it to the top of the hill.
"I'm good," Shane nodded slowly, "just thinking, that's all."
"What are you thinking about?" Espir said, before leaning in slightly. "Just so you know, I have this thing where I can sense other people's emotions and feelings."
"Noted," Shane said, "although I wasn't planning on lying or anything. Being up this high just reminds me of my first moments in this world. I fell from the sky, that's why."
"That's… a long way to fall," Espir said. "Where did you land?"
"Somewhere snowy," Shane shrugged. "I followed the mountains south to try and keep Mew off my tail. Eventually, that's when I met you guys."
"So, you've just been travelling, nonstop?"
Shane nodded and Espir put on a polite look of admiration.
"You're a trooper, that's for sure," Espir said. "Hey, you do know about Pokémon battles, right?"
"Not exactly, what do you mean by that?"
"Trainers, such as Alexis, have Pokémon, such as us, fight it out with other people's Pokémon."
"That's barbaric," Shane said.
"I know, right?" Espir agreed. "I just thought I would let you know about it all, seeing as how we're going to Pastoria City with the intention of competing in one such battle."
"Well, that's my morning ruined," Shane sighed. "I thought the gym we were talking about was more like a sportsy gym and Alexis was walking there in order to keep fit for her competition."
"Nope, we're the ones that will be working."
"And she gets rewarded for it?" Shane asked.
"Yes."
"How is that fair? Why do you stick around?" Shane questioned Espir, clearly a little distressed at the concept of possibly fighting others.
"It's handy for me," Espir explained, "it keeps me out of the clutches of Team Cosmic and I can go about doing some research to help keep existence from shattering while I'm at it."
"What was that last part?" Shane said, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Yeah, Mew's tampering has affected literally everything across all universes," Espir nodded.
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"I have the water!" Alexis called out as she re-joined the other two outside of the restaurant. Espir and Shane were a little quiet, still having the weight of their quick conversation push down upon their spirits. "What's happened to you two glum guts?"
Alexis looked over their strangely quiet moment, handing Espir two bottles of water- one for him and one for Shane- before urging them to get going once again.
"We can make good time at this rate," she said with a smile, the view clearly having cheered her up even more than the entire walk had thus far.
Espir, now that he was thinking about it, was starting to get a little suspicious. The rebound of positive emotions following the closing of the rift to the twisted dimension had long since passed for him. Alexis had been an optimistic person before their time in Veilstone City, but her behavior now was even more pronounced and cheerful. Aggressively cheerful. He needed to keep an eye on her, just in case this was a sign for stranger things to come. Almost everything out of the ordinary had become a precursor for something strange and potentially deadly to happen to them. He just wanted one normal week away from the strange and bizarre.
Thankfully, nothing else too obscure happened before they reached Pastoria City. Espir was pleased that he had become accustomed to the light, because it was intensely warm and sunny this far south in Sinnoh.
They'd had to take a couple ill-advised paths, almost scaling the cliffs, in order to get from the view over Lake Valor, to Pastoria City. The city was rich and vibrant, coated in trees and plant life. There was apparently a large swamp nearby, called the Great Swamp, and this city just felt like it was just as swampy as that was. Espir wasn't entirely decided on whether he was a fan of this city or not, with how aggressively swampy it was, but it beat being windswept and cold, like in Veilstone.
He had almost forgotten what it felt like to be roasted in the sun. In his new form, he couldn't really get sunburnt, but he could feel the warmth and it almost- almost reminded him of summertime as a human. He could see Shane going through the same expressions, he could feel him going through the same emotions. Shane had been in the snow for the majority of his time as a Pokémon, so Espir didn't blame him for enjoying the heat.
The buildings were nice to look at, Espir noticed. Like with all the cities, it seemed, this one had its own style. The buildings here were an organized mix of wooden planks and brick walls- with the wood forming the structure of the buildings, and the bricks filling in the rest. It was different to what Espir had already seen, so he liked looking at it and taking in yet another portion of Sinnoh culture.
The buildings of the city were nestled into the trees of the swampy surroundings, bringing with it a feeling that nature and man were one in this area. If not for the overly wet feeling of the swamp, Espir could tell he would really like it in this city. He figured he was just too picky, it would seem.
"We've made really good time," Alexis said, turning to the two Pokémon. "What do you think? Gym battle now, or after we get a rest in?"
Espir was a little confused at how eagerly Alexis was rushing through this. It was strange for her. She had a tendency to take her time looking around cities and checking out the sights. She was on a beeline to getting all of this done. But why?
He guessed, in the end, it didn't really matter all that much. What did it matter if she wanted to get ahead on the gym badges, especially after so many detours and deadly obstacles?
Espir nodded and pointed in the direction of the large gym roof, poking over some of the nearby trees. Alexis smiled and showed that she understood what he meant. He could tell she wanted to get it over with, he didn't know why, but he didn't have any reason to draw it out any longer than it had to be. Get past this gym and onto the next one, that was all that really needed to be done- preferably before any other strange occurrences happened.
They made their way to the gym, hoping that it was still open for challenges for the day. It was a huge building, but Espir couldn't quite remember why.
Thankfully, the entrance doors to the gym opened, letting them in. He could immediately smell why the gym was so big. He could hear the splashes and smell the chlorine from the swimming pool water. The area was huge, almost entirely filled by an expansive swimming pool with sporadic platforms across it, forming the battle arena. Along both sides of the stadium-like interior, were seats for observers and spectators. Espir could see a few people watching on from the stands, though there was nothing much to watch at that moment. It just looked like a few people training their Pokémon in the water. The gym must have been waiting for the next challenger.
Alexis strode forward, flanked by the two Pokémon, and looked around for whoever she needed to notify to allow her to challenge the gym leader.
Espir hadn't had to test the skill by this point, but he hoped to whatever god was listening that he could swim. He'd need it now, more than ever.
ultima-owner: I may have missed your review for the last chapter, and I apologize. Yes, definitely! Espir has been having quite the rough time to be fair. It's hard to say how you would really feel in such a situation. There are so many things happening around you, and to you. Nothing is in your control, and your emotions continue to build and build. I don't blame Espir for acting the way he did. He's a changed person, in many more ways than one...