"The Dissimilar Tot"
As the sun dragged itself into the sky among the clouds, Pokemon Square began bustling with life. The stalls were being opened up, the peculiar items set across the wooden tables with pricetags, fresh cakes topped with powdered sugar and fruit sat under glass cases, and bright colored stones were laid out on professionally made pillows to show off their value. Swellows, Pidgeots, and Staraptors made their daily routes delivering love letters, newspapers, and packages filled with grandma's cookies and knitted caps.
Among the residents of the Beau Plains there was an odd house that was made out of dark grey stones and the tattered old curtains were tan with smudges of caked in dirt. The mailbox, or what was left of it, was tilting to the left, having no flag or anything to close it.
A Swellow, with a tote bag hanging around its neck, landed on the dirt road and shoved in a single letter into the metal box and walked down to the next house which was only around ten feet away.
Within the house that stood near the cliff there were two figures sleeping on twin mattresses that had been placed next to each other on the wooden floor straight across from the doorway. In the middle of the room there was a circular table that rose only a foot off of the ground, and there were two white mats on each side of it having a strange pattern with purple, blue, light green, and yellow colors spread on it. On one of the sides of the 'beds' there was a large chest containing the two's personal items, food, and clothing, and along the walls there hung three lanterns to serve as light when the sun would set.
One of the figures snored softly with drool dripping out of the side of their gaping mouth and onto the pillow. Green, diamond shaped wings with red along the edges laid on top of the Pokemon's back, its scaley and thick tail was laying over the bare rear of it.
After another grumbling noise from the dragon-type the other Pokemon's blue lids slowly opened up, revealing red bloodshot eyes that were tired from an awful night of rest. The large plant located on his back shook, the bud began opening and a huge pink flower with yellow spots now sprung to life.
"I should consider getting a different roommate," the Venusaur muttered under his breath.
He grabbed a hand full of his blanket and flipped it over on top of the sleeping Flygon, who had no covering. The Venusuar stumbled onto his feet, but not quite making it as he landed back on the mattress, now rubbing his very sore butt.
The Flygon's head raised off of the pillow, his own eyes barely parting when the grass-type made the sudden loud noise that was right next to him.
"Did you have to wake me up so early, Umi?" the dragon yawned, stretching out his aching limbs and getting ready to fall back into slumber.
"How come the one who is snoring manages to wake up other people but not themself?" Umi snapped, irritated. "Come on, wake up. There'll be no more jobs left if we don't hurry to Pokemon Square, Ryu. So get up, get dressed and grab breakfast."
"Okay, okay," Ryu mumbled, crawling on all fours across Umi's bed and to their chest. He unlatched it, began tossing their clothes over his shoulders and onto the floor.
Both were rather in a bad mood when waking up in the morning, but after they slipped on their apparel and filled up on Watmel and Pamtre berries, they managed to fight off the urge to crawl back in bed and step outside.
"See? Everyone's headed to Pokemon Square all ready," Umi pointed out, as Ryu looked inside their mailbox and watching their neighbors head out of their own homes and traveling South on the dirt road.
"Hey, check it out. I think we actually got a request," the Flygon said, holding up the letter to show it to his partner. Written on the front of it in terrible scribbling words was 'to umi and ryu.'
A 'request' was actually a job for rescue teams or explorers that was sent directly to them by mail or other means. Umi was sbecause they never recieved a job like this, they always had to go to the post office and look at the bulletin board.
"With grammar like that it must've been a child who sent this," the Venusuar assumed.
"Probably," Ryu agreed, tearing open the envelope and slipping the folded piece of paper out. He flattened it out and looked at it with a confused expression, saying, "There's no name of who sent it."
Umi glanced down at the request in the Flygon's hands.
There's a lost babe, I need you, Umi and Ryu, to fetch it.
Client:
Objective:Find the missing infant.
Place:Murky Cave.
Reward:???
"You're right, they left it blank... And this is actually in good hand writing and grammar unlike on the envelope. There must be more than one applicant," the plant Pokemon stated. "Plus they didn't put down the reward."
"Who cares about the reward?! There's an infant in Murky Cave!" Ryu exclaimed angrily, smacking his partner upside the head. "How dare you think of an accolade!"
"Ow! Jeez, calm down. We'll do it, just don't hit me anymore," he grumbled.
~ * ~
After Ryu safely stuffed the request into his pants pocket they gathered whatever gold coins they could locate under the mattresses and the table, they also looked thoroughly through their belongings in the chest, turning out pockets of shirts and sweatpants. They dumped whatever items that would be needed for what awaited in Murky Cave, and walked South torwards Pokemon Square to pick up anything else that they didn't have.
Once their matching brown hiking boots -they were purcahsed by Ryu in a 'buy one get one free' sale- were wet with morning dew, they stepped on the cobbled street of the assiduous active Pokemon town. Only five minutes into their visit of the market, Umi was pulling Ryu away from a shop called 'Practical Tricks and Jokes' by his tail, although the slick scales made it hard for the Venusaur to keep his grip on the Flygon.
"Ooh! Their whoopie cushions are half off!" Ryu pointed out.
"I thought you already had one of those," Umi growled through clenched teeth.
"Not after Felyse sat on it."
"You put a tiny whoopie cushion on a Snorlax's bed and expected the thing could survive to humiliate Felyse?!" the Venusuar yelled, completely shocked.
"Well, yeah..."
"Why are you so obsessed with contriving tricks upon people?" Umi sighed.
"Subsequent to three years as a team and you still haven't figured it out?"
The two males looked away from each other's gaze and met the eyes of a Delcatty that stood with her arms folded across her sleeveless purple shirt and her eyebrows up with humor in her expression as she watched the two arguing. She scanned the Venusaur and Flygon carefully, taking in their grubby. appearance.
Umi wore a pair of tan capris that were being held up by a dark red leather belt with a silver buckle that has the shape of a crescent moon, along with a sleeveless navy blue turtle-neck (which had a large hole in the back so his flower could stick out) and a red and blue checkered headband. Although, his clothes were old and had once been filled with holes, but he had mended them back together to make the apparel last longer. The Venusaur had admitted to Ryu that he had stole the headband when a child, which he regretted because the Flygon punched him in the face, shouting, "You larcener!"
Ryu's appearance was quite odd in comparison to Umi's, he wore jeans that had one pantleg where it was torn off up to his thighs, along with a grey t-shirt and a pale red vest where half of the collar was missing. His own clothing was caked with dirt as was his scaley body, which was caused by the rough fights he got into when on a job.
The Flygon yanked his tail away from Umi's hands and met the Delcatty's grey eyes that were filled with amusement. "G'morning Daffodil," he greeted.
"I didn't see you near the post office; I take it you actually recieved a job?" she assumed, ignoring Ryu's acknowledgment.
"Perhaps it is none of your business?" the grass-type suggested, which he recieved a smack to the side of his head from his partner.
"Didn't you mother ever teach you to be nice to girls?" Ryu said with annoyance. "But, to answer your question: Yes, we did get a request."
Daffodil was a well-known Pokemon, always likes to know what's going on in certain situations that peeks her interest. She was seen to be a proud Delcatty, smart in battles and had a way with words, kicking up her milk-white skirt that went to her knees which she used to tease the males and get what she wanted and when she needed it. Daffodil's wrists and ankles were adorned with gold braclets and her fingers were decorated with priceless rings (although her wedding finger was untouched.) Her sky blue blouse covered her cleavage, while her purple fur that surrounded her neck like a scarf, and you could hear Daffodil coming from a distance with her silver high heels that beat across specific surfaces.
"I suppose your prim nose felt a disturbance in the air when we didn't head for the bulletin board like everyone else?" Umi prodded, he was once again hit by Ryu.
"Stop being so afflictive!"
"Stop assaulting me!"
"You both act like brothers, or a very strange couple," Daffodil stated. "Now, as to why I am here, I'm curious to see what the job is about."
"Oh, there's a lost-"
Several vines shot out of the Venusaur's flower and wrapped themselves around Ryu's head, pinning him to the ground before he could inform Daffodil of anything.
"We best be going, the day's gonna to be ahead of us before we know it," Umi hissed through clenched teeth. He dragged the Flygon out of Pokemon Square's south entrance, passing various inquiring pairs of eyes as they heard the muffled yells of the ground/dragon-type.
~ * ~
"You are too favorable for your own good, you do know that, correct?" Umi pointed out, his hands had been shoved inside his capri's. "Do you have any idea what Daffodil would do if you told her what our request was about?"
"Say 'Oh, have fun,' then leave?" Ryu guessed, rolling his eyes.
"No, because there's no client name and no mention of a reward she would follow us to see what was going on. And I'm not in the mood for some prudish Delcatty, who spends every waking moment shoving her nose in places where it's not wanted, following us around," he snarled, folding his arms across his chest.
The flygon paused before saying another word. "That was coarse. What exactly do you have against Daffodil? Did she pull your pants down in middle-school, or something?"
"No, but you sure did."
"Ah, the good ol' days. So many folks to prank, so little time."
"Pfft, like you ever stopped after the 'good ol' days' ended. Now, lets get in there and do what we have to do."
They stood in the middle of a thick forest, in front of a large mountain where a small entrance lead to Murky Cave. Moss that soaked up the water from the morning's mist and webs camouflaged the doorway into the depths of the mountain. By now the sun was high up in the sky, turning the day into the mid-afternoon, although the light couldn't push through the tree's many branches making it seem to the two Pokemon that it was late in the evening.
Blues flames erupted from Ryu's mouth, burning away the sticky substance and then the fire disappeared. The flygon stepped into the dark first, vanishing from Umi's sight.
"Hold on, can you light this lantern?" the venusaur asked, digging out an oil lamp from the treasure bag.
"Ow! Crap, that really hurt..." Ryu hissed from inside.
"What's wrong?"
"The ceiling is really low; we'd better watch where we're going in here," he replied, probably rubbing his sore head.
Before Umi could say anything more light blue flames danced through the air from where the flygon was and lit the lantern Umi was holding, beginning to burn away the oil inside of it. The grass-type held the light ahead of him as he stepped into the narrow tunnel, keeping his head low and soon seeing Ryu nursing a purple bruise that was emerging on his scaley forehead.
"You lead this time," Ryu growled, irritated.
Umi grinned as he slipped past his partner and began to walk through the corridor, his boots sinking into the muddy earth, leaving behind very noticeable footsteps. He heard the flygon following him closely, muttering about 'stupid caves' under his breath.
The two never said who was the leader of their team or if there even was one, they just randomly decided who would be the follower and who would be directing the job. Both Umi and Ryu had refused to wear the badge that dignified as to who was the 'chief' of the crew, they had tossed the medal into a pond and never spoke another word of it, they just continued to just refer each other as colleagues.
"You know, I heard there's a gengar who lives here and likes to follow travelers," Ryu said.
"Why do you insist on telling me these kinds of things after we enter the dungeon?" Umi hissed.
"They also say when you feel a chill, it's certain that a gengar is near and it's trying to lay a hex on you."
"Just shut up or I am going to leave you in the dark."
The tunnel then opened up into a large cave with more winding hallways, rocks with blankets of moss and thick cobwebs in the cracks and corners. Umi stepped forward, the blue flames pranced wildly within the glass and slightly lit up the area around them. The two stood silently for a moment, staring at the different directions they would have to choose to go.
"Do you have any suggestions as to which way we should head?" the grass-type asked, heavily sighing.
"Well, since we entered a mountain, we should head to the heart of the cave, atleast that's what the comic books say," Ryu replied.
"Whatever."
As the two pulled their boots out of the grimy mire and walked through the dimly lit darkness, Umi had one of his vines wrapped around Ryu's waist so they wouldn't get seperated. Even with the lantern it was still hard for Umi to know exactly where to go, he began to wish he was a Pokemon with the ability 'Keen Eye.'
~ * ~
For hours it seemed to the two that they physically pulled their feet from the piles of mud they stepped into out so they could continue on their way. They ignored the sleeping Cascoons, used minor attacks to keep the young leveled strays back into the shadows, and kept their negative emotions in check so they would not attract any Shuppets.
"How many floors does that make?" Umi questioned, as they walked down a flight of stairs that was made from black stones which made their footsteps creat an echo around them.
"I think maybe fourteen... But ever since the Confuse Ray from one of the Zubats faded, I've been kinda light headed," Ryu replied.
The two stopped abruptly in their tracks, their noses began wrinkling as a nauseating scent had dared to creep into their nostrils, making their eyes water and burst into a coughing fit.
"What is that?!" the flygon choked, covering his lower-half of his face with both of his claws. "It reeks!"
"A-agreed," hacked Umi, holding his throat with one hand and plugging his nose with the other. "It's gotta be-"
"ARGH! M-more n-newc-com-m-mers," a muk growled, having a hard time parting his sludged lips to keep on talking.
"Yeah, that," the horrified venuasuar sniffed. "And what do you mean by 'more newcomers'? We aren't the first?"
"N-no, th-there is a di-disgusting creat-ture i-in one o-of the p-pits," the muk spat in distaste, giving off more foul fumes along with every word that came out of his mouth.
"It just seems to be in a bad mood, maybe it's not shielding any nest," Ryu whispered to his colleague, hopeful.
"I don't think muk's are known for keeping to one place," Umi breathed in reply. He then noticed the poison-type began trudging past them, as if in a hurry.
"Hey, what's wrong? Why the big rush?" Ryu asked.
"The n-new creat-ture has c-caused K-Kotori to be-become indignant. He i-is g-getting rid of it, s-so we st-strays are l-leaving," he replied, swiftly vanishing into the dark from their perplexed expressions.
"You don't suppose that 'creature' is the infant we may be looking for, do you?" the flygon suggested, turning back torwards their destination.
"It's possible ."
Both their ears and their heads perked up as a sharp cry rang throughout the tunnel they were standing in, the sound was something that was very unfamiliar to them and made chills crawl up their spines, making them violently shake. It didn't take long for their brains to communicate to their limbs to emanate in the direction the keen bawl came from, although the ankle high grime that coated the cave's floor slowed the two until they pressed down staircases until they believed they stood on the last floor of Murky Cave.
"The treble howls are more clearer," Ryu hissed, who was covering his sensitive ears.
Umi beckoned his partner to follow him while putting a finger to his lips when he began hearing a soft, cooing voice that was very near where they were. The crying had stopped, so they walked torwards the utterance. Squeezing out of the room and leaving behind the set of stairs and into a crevice which they barely fit into, Ryu put a hand over his mouth as a cobweb tickled his ears making him silently snicker behind his claws.
Umi let out a sigh of relief as he saw an opening out of the cleft, ignoring Ryu's quiet attempt to contain his guffaw. "Will you-" He was immediately interrupted as the babe's sobbing began to ring throughout the cave and echoed off of the walls.
The two picked up the pace to exit from the inconsiderable space and were glad to be free from the area they were compressed into to after they shoved their way into the wide-open zone where they saw a gengar looking down a pit only a few feet away from them.
"Sleep, stranger, the dreams will eat you away until your mind completely fades into the dusk," the ghost-type murmured, his hands moving in slow motions while his fingers bent in odd angels.
"Nightmare, the apparition is using Nightmare on a tot!" Ryu spat, his lips pulled back and his mouth gaped open as blue flames started erupting torwards the gengar's back.
The gengar had been so deep in its meditation that it didn't pay any attention to Ryu's angry outburst, but it then let out a small shriek as the DragonBreath made contact to its nonphysical being. It deserted its attack against the creature that lay within the gap and jumped backwards, floating in the the air above them while brushing off the fire.
Umi took the chance to rush ahead torwards the pit and shot several vines into the shadows to retrieve the babe, but even with the lantern still burning brightly it became increasingly dark around them. The venusuar roared when he felt a fist collide into his chest, pushing him several feet away from the hole and falling on his rear in front of Ryu.
The l two were soon able to see as the room became brighter, the gengar known as Kotori was standing where Umi was previously, his left hand balled up with a black aura fading from his knuckles. He had hit Umi very hard with Shadow Punch, doing considerable damage to the grass-type.
The venusuar struggled back onto his feet while rubbing his thorax, his expression filled with annoyance while his eyes stared back at the ghost who returned an angered glare.
"I thought heroes weren't supposed to fight dirty," Kotori stated matter-of-factly. "I mean, attacking when my back is turned is quite dastardly."
"Says the guy who is injuring infants!" Ryu sneered.
"An infant, huh? I am not impairing any child; I am merely destroying something that doesn't belong here," the gengar replied.
"Who do you think you are making decisions of what and who does not have the right to be here?!" Umi growled. He then lowerd his voice to a whisper so only the flygon could hear, hissing, "Screw the fighting rules; we'll attack together."
Before Ryu could agree to his words, the venusaur leaped into the air while thinly sharp leaves darted from the base of his flower and soared at the ghost-type. Kotori gritted his teeth and tried dodging the oncoming attack, but failed terribly although the Razor Leaf caused little damage to him. Ryu went along with his partner and became cloaked in shadows, both him and the area around him, making Ryu invisible as he rushed to the gengar, slashing across the eidolon's chest with pinpoint accuracy.
Kotori snarled and didn't need any force to push off from as he plunged to the flygon who was still in midair, the Faint Attack vanishing making him visible again, and forcing him onto the ground on his back. The gengar wrapped his fingers around the scaley throat and cut him in the breast with his own claws almost identical to Ryu's prior move.
Umi landed lightly on the ground and turned to see the gengar crouching over his colleague, his flower started shaking violently letting loose several petals that danced torwards the ghost and hit him continuously.
Kotori clenched his jaw, grabbed Ryu's paws and began using Destiny Bond. "Unendingly use your attack and your friend goes down with me," he advised with a sly smile forming on his face.
"Fat chance, half-wit," Umi scoffed, not ceasing his assault even though he felt very dizzy because of the Petal Dance.
Kotori screeched and backed away from Ryu who was still laying on the cave floor, watching the phantom slowly sinking into the ground.
"I think you killed it."
"I thought gengars' were all ready dead."
"Good point," Ryu assured. "Do you feel alright?"
"I'm just a little vertiginous," Umi murmured, falling onto his knees while his hands held his lightheaded pate.
Ryu digged into their bag and pulled out a light pink, hard berry and slipped it into the venusaur mouth. Soon his partner's status effect faded and he regained his senses, able to get back onto his feet and not seeing his surroundings rapidly spin.
They walked to the pit and Umi, once again, set out several vines and wrapped them carefully around a bundle he felt on the bottom of the hole. Recalling the attachments that were holding a blanket that contained a moving bulge within it. Ryu took the tot from the vines and held it firmly in his arms while Umi uncovered the struggling babe.
"What...the..." the two gasped.
The thing waved two tan fists at their faces, curly brown hair covered the crown of the round head that was placed on little neck that was connected to its bare torse. Small, hazel eyes stared up at the two Pokemon, filled with fear and a sense that it wan't anywhere near home.
"That, my dears, is a human."
The venusaur and flygon were almost close to having a panic attack when the voice had stated that. They looked ahead of them, their mouths gaping as they realized who stood before them.
Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf floated a few inches above the ground, all three looking quite satisfied with themselves which caused Ryu and Umi to start wearing confused features along with their already awed expressions.
"W-what is going on? Am I still asleep?" the flygon stuttered.
"It would be very awkward if we made the mistake to appear in your mind rather then in the actual world," Azelf murmured.
"But Celebi was correct in its prediction; a human child has appeared here. You two were so kind to ensure its safety," Mesprit said gratefully, making its way to them.
"Before we leave, if you were curious to know Azelf was the once who had the horribly awful handwriting," Uxie informed them.
Azelf looked away sheepishly.
"Wait, you're leaving? What are we supposed to do with...this human?" Umi questioned with urgency. "What about the reward?"
"According to the time-traveler it is you who looks after the little one," Mesprit answered, peering at the babe with a smile on its pale pink face.
"Wait, what?!" the venusaur and flygon said, alarmed by the declaration.
"Do not heed any worry. Soon the girl will find a way home with your help," Uxie said quietly before disappearing.
Azelf joined the other legendary in vanishing from their sight, while Mesprit stayed and looked encouragingly at the Pokemon.
"Will you please take care of her for the time being?" it requested, also fading away.
"They don't leave us a lot of options," Ryu sighed, staring back at the babe who was now snuggling neatly into his arms.
"Or answers," Umi added. "But, i- I mean, she is sort of...cute. Maybe it won't do much harm just to watch over her while supposedly she'll find a way back to where ever she came from."
The two partners pondered over this thought while gazing at the now sleeping dissimilar tot who began to drool out of the corner of her snoozing mouth. Ryu and Umi then looked at each other and nodded in agreement, although they still had doubts of their decision to raise a being that they knew nothing about.
____________________________________________________________________________________
By the way, I find doing pokemorphes for the PMD stories much easier rather then the regular Pokemon body. It's just how I am. Also Pokemorphes (in PMD) equal Pokemon, it's my rule.
100kallibur, sure you can, I don't mind. Besides, don't bother messaging me because I am not allowed to recieve and send messages for now.
WarriorSwift, that's what happens when it is 12:30 am and I am too tired to read the chapter for errors like that, but I managed to fix it after reading your review. Thanks for telling me.
Fuzzball-de-goof, I will be happy if I do manage to write all 493 one-shots, and if I can keep them interesting, too.
Sorry the battle in the previous chapter was horribly short, but I wanted to post Ivysaur's one-shot before crawling in bed.
Thank you for all of the compliments.
~Quin.
Pokemon Quiz!
Name the legendary Pokemon that have genders.
The answer will be in the next chapter; you all have till then.
Answer in your reviews! New question in each chapter!