A/N: there was a change to the ending of the last chapter. If this start is confusing you, go back and read it. Sorry for the trouble ;)
Oh no. Oh... no. I'd rather not.
The floor seemed to turn violently. Soon, he bet, that fight on the docks will seem like make-believe. He didn't get hit in that fight. Chopped up legs... a vine to the head... it'll be fine... l-like taking some nasty medicine.
He made his way down to the rings, urged to move on quickly by Amory. Marker was actually in the process of moving on up.
"Huh?" He said between heavy pants, "are you... scrapping now?" The poochyena wagged his tail tiredly. Upright nodded, his stomach queasy. "Remember to breathe. It soothes the pain."
Whatever kept the cinccino interested in him, he thanked it ten times over - without him flanking the ring, Upright had no chance of climbing up. The cinccino gave him an encouraging smile. Tahtib, though the frustration on his face was palpable, seemed to muster it up double for the lithe quilava. The little-pangoro raised his paws, flashing a toothy grin; here's my chance to redeem myself, his eyes said.
"Begin," Regal called.
Tahtib began their fight with some chat. "So, you're one of the unlisted my pops picked?" He began to slowly circle the ring, moving in on Upright from the left.
The quilava talked, but also remembered to keep himself going in the other direction - the center of the ring was bad, and so was being approximate to a pokémon who claimed a commander for a dad. "I am, yeah. N-Nice to meet you?"
Tahtib laughed. "What's your story? Was my dad picking out tweeds when one of them came to life?"
That irked Upright. The smell of battle grew stronger around him, making his pointed nose flare up. There was even a remnant from the brief-yet-explosive fight between Khridoli and Daté. "No. I helped teach a lesson to some common thugs."
"Liar," Tahtib sang. "My dad has this habit. He always picks out unlisted that never make it. Gives him more time to focus on me." Tahtib didn't seem pleased by this, but definitely considered it a worse revelation for Upright than him.
It was. "Shut up," Upright hissed. This scent... a stupor... was getting intoxicating.
"You're just a geek the rest of us walk over. You even got Amory to pick fleas out of your pelt, huh?"
Upright frowned. That stung a little. "I know you're mad about Daté, but-"
"Geek!"
"But he's a commander! You have to call him commander Amory!"
"Ring three, if you would please fight," a commander said. The braixen's voice.
"Arceus, gladly!" Tahtib sprang forward, closing the gap their circle had made. Upright shifted back on his hind legs, having forgotten the advantage being on all four might confer.
Thwack.
Straight across the jaw. Upright toppled down, screaming.
The light in the room flickered dangerously. Upright felt twenty feet under magma. And the blood, the blood - he wasn't able to get a full breath it trying to run down his throat. All he felt like doing was writhing, groaning. It hurt. Arceus, it hurts, he pleaded. T-That jerk hit me when I wasn't ready... o-ow... please, make it stop.
"Call it," Tahtib ordered a nearby adventurer.
Grr... that stupid smugness! I belong here, I have to! I just have to!
Upright threw himself up with a roar, but it bubbled into a pained yowl. Tahtib jerked violently at the noise and threw his paws up. With another cry he charged the little-pangoro.
If Tahtib had any training, it slipped his mind during that charge, traded instead for wild hits as the taller pokémon flooded onto him. He bashed Upright in the face once, twice, multiplying the awful sensation it left.
Upright managed to thank his new claws through the fog of pain and fury. They were perfect for holding down Tahtib's arms - his enemy was stronger, however, and he had just a moment to decide his attack. And with that moment, he left it up to instinct.
His maw opened up. A heat grew on his back.
A plume of flames covered Tahtib's head. The pokémon writhed, legs kicking yet too stout to budge Upright. If it was possible the little-pangoro would be crying for mercy right about now.
Not fun, huh? Not fun to get hit! Stupid little-
Tahtib headbutted him straight in the maw. The fire stopped, replaced by a throbbing in the top of his muzzle. Upright coiled away, clenching his snout. Somehow, his opponent managed to quell the leftover flames. He panted, frenzied, the fur around his nose and his cheeks singed to a crisp. Upright slipped up to all fours and snarled. The pain of moving his muzzle blinded him like a flash of white light. Throbbing nerves blossomed from the punches he'd already received.
No time to howl. Tahtib ran over and slammed straight into his stomach. Upright wretched, clinging on to Tahtib's back with his claws. If the little-pangoro tried to slam him into the ground, Upright simply put out his hind legs. Standing, there was no chance of putting him down. Again and again this happened, achieving nothing but tiring them both out.
Upright never realized Tahtib's plan to leap off the ring. When Upright's back slammed into the ground of the tower, it was the worst pain yet. For a few moments he went limp, unable to process the foulest feeling of all – a blow along the spine.
Somehow, his body recovered. Enough, at least, to notice that Tahtib's next destination was the wall of the tower. Upright waited, feigning tiredness, until he felt the wall was nearly upon them. Then he coiled around Tahtib, so that the little-pangoro had no choice but to hunch, run head-first.
This yielded two surprises. Firstly, Tahtib kept running despite smashing head-first into the wall. Secondly, the wall opened up, because it was a door.
After a few more steps onto the bridge, they both spilled out onto the ground. Upright turned away from the sunlight, hissing – it made the pain in his head bloom twice-over.
In the distance, Khridoli was busying himself on a tweed, staring out over the Scar Sea. He turned to the noise of seething creatures. He stopped chewing on his tweed.
Seeing Khridoli filled Upright with fresh rage. He stood up and pointed. "You brought us out here on purpose!" He accused. How many words actually go through to Tahtib, who was bleeding from his forehead? Probably very little, since swelling had stolen all the sensation out of Upright's left cheek, making it hard to speak.
Tahtib got up and muttered something himself. They locked in the middle of the section. Tahtib pushed them over to the balcony, and Upright used his long legs to prop him up. They rolled across the ledge, each one urging the other towards a long plunge into the Scar Sea.
Upright had finally gotten on top of Tahtib and had his paws pressed against the bastard's nose, when a large paw ripped him a way. Tahtib nearly slipped over the edge with Upright's weight gone, but Khridoli luckily had two paws.
Upright tried to curl up to get another swipe in. The number it did on his spine made him freeze, afraid to move an inch. Tahtib kept swinging over tiredly, rubbing a paw down Upright's face, which the quilava simply accepted. His fighting spirit started to steadily drain.
Amory came out to the bridge. Several adventurers flanked him. They were snickering, while the cinccino found nothing funny about the situation. "Arceus!" He shouted. "Are you part-feral, Upright, or part-psychopath? Khridoli, you should check your son's face. Upright gave him a kiss of fire – were they fighting along the balcony?!"
"You worry too much," Khridoli muttered. "My son is fine. This unlisted simple surprised him."
I… I surprised some flames all over his face… the rotten kid.
The quilava stared on, muzzle closed, blood from his maw piddling into the cracks in the stone. As revenge for his 'kiss of fire,' Khridoli unceremoniously dropped him.
That did it. Upright took in a long gasp, arched his back, and felt everything go black.
~~~VII~~~
Upright awoke to Doggy lapping at his cheek. The quilava peeled back the moment he realized why his cheek was soaked.
"Sit still," Doggy said, "the nurse said it helps the herbs grind up. You're in the Initiative's infirmary. Just relax."
"It's gross," Upright whined, his eyes wrenched shut to keep out the bright lights. His voice felt hoarse, different. As if he lost, or gained, something in his fight with Tahtib. The memory of the fight was gone. In its place, five or six minutes of unadulterated pain and violence. He'd never felt so… alive.
Doggy completely ignored it, though he did quit licking. "So, Marker told me what happened. Lemme get this straight..."
Silence. Upright realized that Doggy wanted him to open his eyes. He did so, one at a time, taking in the medical bay one bit at a time. He saw Retch, the sloth-like beast, rubbing his legs angrily – an eye on the quilava, curious to see what landed him in the infirmary. There were other beds, occupied by applicants – the birds, Trotsky, and a few that must have been from later rounds.
Doggy ran into the middle of the room. "Okay. So you pin him down." The growlithe pinned down an imaginary foe. "You get real close –" he leans down – "and… fwoosh."Doggy's maw opened and he waved it back and forth, as if spitting flame.
"That sounds about right," Upright admitted. "I, um, I got carried away-"
"So, so cool!" Doggy turned his head to the side. "Hey… why is it okay for you to do a kiss of fire on a complete stranger, but I can't lick your cheek?"
"I-It wasn't a stranger!" Upright exclaimed. Doing so hurt his jaw. "It was commander Khridoli's son."
Doggy began to snicker. Upright joined in, and it grew, regardless of the pain it brought. Soon, they were barking with laughter at how screwed the quilava was. Khridoli is going to kill me for torching his kid! Even so, all he had to share was laughter. What an awful, painful, worthless, entertaining, wonderful experience! He hoped to never try it again, hoped to be forced to.
"You two," a voice called. "Please, be quiet. Other pokémon are resting." A tiny armodillo-like creature came padding up to Upright. He recognized her from the group of commanders, although her stout body hardly made her impressive compared to Regal or that fox. She inspected his injuries, having to get up on the bed to do so. "And you should be more polite!"
"Sorry," Upright whispered.
"That poor pancham is resting just across for you. How harsh, to recount a wild fight without letting him join in."
What?
Tahtib was in the bed across from his. Far enough for an inside voice to be confused, but Doggy and him weren't exactly quiet. The pancham's head had several bandages, a yellow herb crushed into a paste and used as adhesive. His eyes were chock-full of murder.
The commander left Doggy, Upright, and Tahtib to their devices. Several pokémon looked over.
"Doggy," Upright hissed, mortified. "You're blind!"
"How was I supposed to know that was him? I was carted off after I got vine whipped. You don't think this genius strider would know, if it were possible to know?"
"He's burnt."
Doggy gaped. "O-Okay, point taken."
"He's a smaller version of commander Khridoli."
"Er..."
"He came in at the same time as I did."
"C-Character-building!" Doggy blurted.
At this point, the quilava felt embarrassed and frustrated enough to faint."What? Seriously, what?"
"I didn't tell you, in order to build your character. You should never be afraid to confront your adversaries."
"Oh Doggy, you hero, I could kiss you right now," he threatened.
Doggy retreated, just in case the threat was real. "Golly, where's Marker? Goh-hoh-hoh, I heard he ran the rookie gauntlet." The topic-chande didn't work. "Anyway,...the fella over there looks calm already."
Tahtib shook his head at Upright, condemning him. Upright felt his back heat up.
You want round two in the infirmary? Bring it, he thought. Maybe not; his back felt ready to shatter.
"Marker is introducing himself to his dorm-mates," Amory said, coming in from the side at just the right moment. "You two have been in here for quite a while." He handed a paper to Doggy, then left one on the bed for Upright to pick up. "You two will do the same, once you've recovered. These documents tell you how the commanders grade your compatibility with their respective task, and who what dormitory you will occupy for your time here as rookies. Remember," he added, "for unlisted, some factors are evaluated on Khridoli's descriptions of you. So if you want to join a certain task but see a DNT or not interested, try requesting a one-on-one. You have a week to select your courses and get used to the Initiative."
Doggy was already looking at the document. "Wait, what does request mean?"
"Request for more information. Just read it as very interested for now," Amory said. "Exspect an interaction with your very interested commanders, and soon."
"Oh. Then commander Tairé is very interested in me becoming a leader." Doggy sounded disappointed. "Khridoli must have left out that genius striders work best alone."
He had one more document, which went over to Tahtib. It seemed he volunteered to deliver to Khridoli's charge, including his son. The cinccino shot him an appreciative glance. It was almost radiant.
Did I say something to make him so happy? Upright asked himself. I did. I told Tahtib to call him 'commander.' It was just a comment...
Upright greedily devoured the information on the first page of the document:
Underdogs…. Commander Khridoli… DNT
Cheerleaders… Commander Roxxie… DNT
Scrappers… Commander Sooth… DNT
Leaders… Commander Tairé… DNT, (a picture of a frowning fox was included)
Scouts… Commander Steel of East Territory… DNT
Infiltrators… Commander Regal… Very interested
Field researchers… Commander Amory… very interested
Cartographers… Commander Eatzle… interested
Toolkits… Commander Austere… Request
"So Tairé puts faces on every pokémon's report," Doggy said. Upright jolted, unaware that the growlithe was done with his own ratings. "Also that's a lot of DNT's."
Upright's ears fell. "I know..."
"I only say that," Doggy said, lashing his tail in victory, "because it means you belong somewhere."
He's right, Upright realized. Even if the majority doesn't want me… Amory must be friends with Eatzle and Austere. I bet he vouched for me.
Though that wouldn't explain commander Regal's interest. She seemed furious at the idea of Daté harming her son. After the bloody, fiery scene he provided, there had to be some kind of mistake.
"Sheesh, that cinccino underlined his rating," Doggy whispered. "What's he got for you?"
It felt nice talking to Doggy. Here was the one pokémon he could say what he needed to without worrying about any sort of repercussion. "I don't think a lot of pokémon like him around here," Upright whispered back. "Tahtib wouldn't even refer to him as a commander. Did… do you know his brother? He defected to the Graces."
"She," Doggy said, referring to Grace, "keeps her facility top-secret. Grr, why would that even matter? His brother's there, he's here. End of story."
"Not too loud," he begged. It is unfair, though. "A-Anyway, how did you do?"
"Good!" Doggy barked. "Well, really…'
"What's wrong?"
"I got DNT in infiltrators. It was turning out to be my favorite. From what I heard, you sneak into dangerous spots and do high-priority, high-risk missions. So cool. Look at my report. What makes it so bad is it's, like, my only DNT."
Doggy scored well in underdogs (bumped up to very interested, in fact, when at the inn Khridoli didn't seem favorable of the idea), leaders, cheerleaders, and toolkits. For the rest, the worst was a not interested, the most vague a mildly interested from scouts.
"Sorry," Upright said. "I'd give you my rank if it were possible. I think she made a mistake."
"Probably."
Upright blinked. "Sheesh..."
"Just playing with ya. Thanks, Upright. Anyway, let's see what dorms we're in." They moved on to the second page in tandem.
"Hooray!" Doggy cried.
"No!" Upright shouted.
"Bullshit!" Tahtib roared. The little commander scrambled over to punish his bad language.
It was probably due to them being unlisted under the same commander: Marker, Doggy and Upright shared a dorm. For their other dorm-mates, he read the names of Pep, Acker, Hard-day, Lilith, Barley… and Tahtib.
Doggy realized who the last name likely belonged to. "Uh. Floor ten. We're gonna be high up, it seems. Have a pretty cool view of the Outside... hey, Tahtib, have you ever played eye-spy?"
"Just be quiet," Upright pleaded.
"Shut up, mutt," Tahtib growled.
Upright laid back in his bed. At the very least, he thought, growing slowly warmer, I'm an adventurer now. All that's left is what kind.
~~~VI~~~
Upright let himself be convinced to carry Doggy's documents along with his own, if only because the growlithe didn't have the paws for the job. They had just been given the okay to leave when a pokémon stalked up to them as they reached the door.
"Hi," she said, crouching down slightly. "My name's Pep."
"You're in our dorm," Upright said. "Hi."
"Is it okay if I go up with you?"
Doggy agreed for the two of them. "Wow, sure! Uh, you know, this is the first time I've seen a sylveon before." Pep was as catlike as it got, but her pink pelt stood out, even compared to the flame-orange of Doggy's own fur. And her eyes: they didn't have pupils, or irises, instead they were like two giant, diamond studs. Even with bandages wrapped over her entire midsection, she was put-together. "You're really something," Doggy said.
That's a bit forward, Upright thought. Pep seemed too skittish to mind.
"Let's get going," she said.
Upright tried to keep in mind that the hospital was in a tower to the left of the 'mess tower.' There seemed to be several exits of varying size, to permit larger pokémon injured in the Outside. Now technically on the other side of the mess tower, the Initiative stood over the open Scar Sea. The quilava kept his forward, afraid a look might take his breath away – or remind him of rolling around on the balcony, a scene he was unfortunately starting to remember.
"The directions on the document say its the tower up and to the left… that one." He pointed a claw at a skinny tower. Something that interest him right away: windows. Perhaps there were some that pointed towards the Outside.
"How was your fight?" Pep asked him.
"It got a little gruesome," Upright answered.
"Mine too. Hard-day is in our dorm. He took up my entire body in one bite."
Upright almost missed a step. "That bandage – it's for one bite?"
"Totodile can unhinge their jaw," she said wistfully. "I wish I knew that..."
"Don't worry about it," Doggy said. He gave her an encouraging nudge. But he forgot his followup, instead choosing to gasp. "S-Sorry! We shouldn't be budging into each other on these bridges. I hope I didn't startle you."
This finally coaxed a smile from Pep. To reply, she hopped up onto the balcony.
Doggy struggled against her instinct to cheer her on. "Er..."
"It's okay," she said. "I'm not afraid of heights." To prove it, she propped herself up onto her forelegs. The pain from her bite proved to be a little much, however, so she slipped back down onto the bridge. "Ta-da."
Doggy nodded. "So cool."
Upright scrambled to find out how to react, and ended up clapping like a simpleton. "W-We need to take a left up here."
"Where are you from?" Doggy asked. "Somewhere high up, right?"
"Sort of," she said. "Nowhere interesting, just another village. What about you?"
Good question, Upright thought. I haven't really asked him yet.
The growlithe chuckled nervously. "I'm sort of deep-forest. I don't know my parents."
"Who fed you?" Upright asked, shocked.
"No idea. Someone taught me how to hunt, of course. They weren't around long enough for me to remember their face."
Upright considered the possibilities. Is he covering for Grace? Is it possible for a pokémon to have no idea who it was raised by? Is he getting a rise out of us?
But they walked on in silence, and Upright realized he was telling the truth. The idea of it became oppressive.
"Hey," Pep said. "I have a question."
Doggy rebounded right away. "Shoot!"
"The results of orientation. That we're adventurers now… that's not shown anywhere, right?"
"Huh. Upright, did you hear anything?"
Nope. "Not sure, but I'd lean towards no," he said. It seemed the answer Pep preferred – and he saw no reason for the Initiative to announce their rookies.
Finally, they came up to the dormitories. Upright checked the document: tower A, floor ten. So that tower across from us must be tower B. Also… he drooped down a little. We're on floor ten. T-That's a lot of stairs. Still, he helped Doggy push open the heavy double-doors leading into the dorms.
Luckily, it seemed they didn't have to go just yet; the residents were all gathered in the center of the first floor, mingling and introducing themselves. Upright noticed that a hallway lined around this meeting area – he assumed that each floor had a similar layout.
Everything gave off a positive vibe. Except for a hulking creature, kneeling over the two cubone Trotsky and Trixie. The two seemed to be unable to handle the excitement, and rather cower under the large adventurer.
A pokémon came to them. Upright didn't recognize remember a wooly lamb as an applicant.
"Oh, our injured friends are finally here," she cried. "I am your tower's custodian. If you have any kind of mess, come to me and I'll help you clean it up. Look at this party your fellow rookies are having, isn't it just wonderful?!"
Upright nodded. "Sure! Have you seen a poochyena?"
The lamb pointed him to Marker, who was busy talking to Acker. The small mudkip was very animated. Marker backed away a little, confused by the pokémon's excitement.
Upright tried to return one out of many favors to Marker. "Hey," he called, waving to the poochyena.
Marker replied immediately. "Hi!"
"Do you have your document?"
Acker came up. He seemed totally infatuated with Marker. "Wait, you never answered my question!"
"Oops," Marker said, not interested in the least.
"Can you teach me how to snarl? My mom and dad say I'm not vicious, and I told them 'you know what, you're right (not surprising because you're older than me by a ton), I'm kinda not too vicious, what are some ways I can improve on this once I reach the Initiative?' And, well, my parents are pretty darn smart, they said to find a vicious pokémon to learn from!"
This creature's on the same floor as us, Upright reminded himself.
Marker cocked his head to the side. "I'm not vicious."
"You're a wild docile."
"No, I am a tame docile."
Acker stared at Marker for a few seconds. "Okay." The mudkip whipped around to Upright. "I'm Acker, pleased to meet you! Now, you might not have heard, but my mom and dad say-"
"I got that part," Upright said.
"Can you teach me how to be vicious? You really looked vicious!"
"No, sorry. I'm not too sure of it myself."
Acker paused. He turned to Doggy. The growlithe smiled politely. "Hiya! I'm Acker, you might not have heard just know, but my mom and my dad..."
Marker and Upright took their chance. They retreated, over to an unused corner of the lobby. "Uh, wow," Upright said. "Hurry, how did you do?"
The poochyena looked around anxiously. "I can't read too well." Marker ran over to a nearby table and picked up his document. He laid it down for Upright. "Can I be an underdog now?"
Yeah. You can be whatever you want. Besides cartographers, Marker didn't score below an interested. Even Amory was very interested in seeing the poochyena become a field researcher. Upright felt the urge to consider how Marker's docility might factor into this, but chose to simply be happy for his friend. It had to feel great: he went from being scammed, to an adventurer, in a matter of days.
"Yup!" He exclaimed. "Though you can do whatever you want, really. Are you sure about this? You've got a whole week to decide."
"I want to run with a pack and chase away bad things from the pack," Marker declared. "In fact, I wanna chase things right now. Let's all play tag! I'll make Doggy it." He crouched down, ready to pouch.
"No tag," the custodian called from across the room. Several pokémon looked over at the poochyena, who bounced up and pretended to be sniffing a table leg. If even the custodian could pick out a movement from across a busy room, it went to show just how demanding this would be.
And that was beside the problems that weren't exactly a part of the Initiative. Daté. The Master. I wonder why the Master would ever call Daté a 'shining emissary.' I wonder how Khridoli feels about me. I wonder how I'll clear this mistake up with Regal. I wonder...
A painful creak entered his back.
"I'm going to test out the beds," Upright muttered.
He found the stairs and ascended, off to bed.