step eight

When Others Have the Say

Sobek called them Gravelrocks, sharp pieces of feather-weight limestone that were best for throwing at enemies too far away to reach. Like a Poochyena making a getaway with its favorite new toy.

Twirling a rather slender stone through his claws, David eyed the still paralyzed wilds. Picking out one of the Pooches, he took a quick two step wind-up and threw the stone with a flick of the wrist. It hit the Nidoran and shattered on impact, leaving a small open wound on her foreleg.

A solid fifty degrees off-target.

Snorting at his miss, he ducked into the strap of his satchel, the bag resting against his tail with the opening at his right elbow. David called them rocks and marched up to the frozen group of wilds.

Bonk, bonk, bonk, bonk went his club, ensuring the wilds wouldn't chase after them when the paralysis wore off. Seeing the fate of its kin, the other Pooch looked up with big glimmering eyes and flattened ears: I'm sowwy, Meestah Koobone! Pwease don't huwt me, I'll be a good widdle puppy-dog! Aren't you just downright adorable. Bonk. If he didn't smack it upside the head now, it would steal his club later.

But still. It was an odd feeling—maybe it was just the fact that they weren't in a forest with crazed Sunkern after them, maybe it's because he had his club, or maybe because that electric shock actually felt kinda nice—like it blasted away every worry he had.

Actually… actually that was it. No longer did he feel frustrated at the Magnemite, no longer was his tail still sore from sleeping on it last night. The lingering stress he had from yesterday's breakdown and the dungeon was gone….

He sighed, almost content with himself. He didn't feel pressured or overwhelmed or terrified for his life (nevermind for the first time in his life), just, well… indifferent about it all—that everything was easily shrugged off and didn't matter. It was a good feeling, a nice relaxing change of pace over all the freaking out he'd been doing over the last day and a half.

Now if only he wasn't in this dingy cave of insanity. …if only that Pooch didn't need to be smacked over the head a second time because it was giving him even bigger eyes and with a faint whine to back it up. David frowned at it, shifting his jaw as he shot a warning glare down to the pup.

Sobek rolled his shoulders and seethed as he rubbed the spine on the back of his neck, "Alright, I'm good. I got hit by a few sparks, just enough to make my scales crawl. I'm fine now. David? …David? What—oh." He snickered, walking up and swatting him on the shoulder. David glared a half-interested, quizzical look through his helm, which only sent the Totodile into another laughing fit, "Okay. So. You look like I'm interrupting your sunbathing—ha, ha haaa! Stop giving me that face…! Okay! Okay! There's a joke! There's a joke, snrk—ahem." He sniffled, rolling his shoulders as he regained his composure, face taking on a very serious tone. "Okay. What—you'll like this—what, ahem, what is the only type of bath a Cubone can take? A lightning-shower!Ha-haa!"

And the Totodile broke down laughing again, doubling over with his arms across his front.

David sighed, rolling his eyes and lifted his club out of the way as the Pooch made a grab for it. He promptly slammed it down, less kind than before and probably a bit more than he had to. Either way, the Pooch's eyes spun as it stumbled a few uneven steps before collapsing. Poochyenas, always a headache.

The Cubone shook his head and grabbed his friend's arm to pull along, "Come on, Sobek. As much as I kinda like the idea of getting shocked again, I doubt you do." Sobek's snickers turned into unenthused sobs as he hung his head. David huffed as he set the pace at a swift march, "Are you glad I came along?"

Sobek looked away from the back of his friend's head, "Yeah. Thanks, David." He forced a deep breath and let it out raggedly. "How you feeling?"

"Well…" David waffled but faded off to take a moment to poke his head out into another corridor, glancing both ways, "…left, right, or split up?"

Sobek laughed sarcastically, "With the great and mighty thunderwave gracing our presence? Uh, yeah, right."

David glanced back, "Was that go right or—nevermind. Go right, right?"

"Yes. We go right," Sobek rolled his eyes, "We never split up in a Dungeon. Definitely not this one." The Totodile scowled at no one in particular before he shook his head. "But hey, you seemed to have mellowed out from the electricity."

"Yeah," David shrugged casually, giving one last cautionary glance toward the left before taking the right hand corridor. "Honestly? I feel refreshed and better than I've ever been since I woke up yesterday, so I can't really complain. Like I said, I'm kinda hoping it happens again."

"Heh-ehhh, and I will pass."

Despite being a femur of some larger Pokemon that probably wanted so desperately to eat his face off at some time in his previous life—it was just over half his height so… maybe the better of a foot long? It was light for its size yet still solid. Maybe Combusken? Combusken were about three feet/a meter tall, their height spread out evenly between its legs, torso and upper body—it's when they evolve into Blaziken where their legs get longer. Combusken femur though, he liked the thought of that. 'course, he had no real way of knowing unless he remembered; but that's neither here nor there.

But still. Maayyybeee he should hunt a wild Blaziken down when he evolves? Not only get a good club and cool skull out of it, but he can save the crest feathers to put back on the skull—and the mane to create a cape out of! Ooh, capes are cool. He'd look pretty awesome, the mane of a Blaziken on his shoulders (it would be more cloak than cape but that was beside the point). It'd be nice and warm too, so that's good for the winter (if there was a winter here). And he could use the feathers with maybe some Mareep wool to make bedding and pillows and blankets and then he'd never have a sore night's sleep again!

But, most of all, the greatest thing of all, the bestest thing of all: fried Blaziken drumsticks. That. Sounded. Delicious~

Oooooh, yessssss. He really liked the thought of that.

But not as much as he found himself liking the fact that he actually had a club. Despite whatever its former owner held against him, it felt wonderful to just have. It was something to hold, something to spin and juggle in his hands idly as they anxiously crept through the dungeon. It calmed his nerves when the electricity's effects wore off and… and he just felt complete with it. He couldn't understand the feeling; just that he was never going to let his club out of his sight again. And even better, he didn't really realize until he started swinging it, but the bone was more than just a security blanket. It was a security blanket that could cause compound fractures.

Oh, there's a Rattata? No need for fancy footwork. No need to slash with claws or slam it with tail. Just take the club, hold it high, and bop it down right on its head as it tries to tackle you. Ta da~ Lights out.

Oop, what's this? Another Poochyena coming to steal his club again? Uh-uh—bam! Go fetch. In your dreams.

And look, here's a little Nidoran, flaring her ears and whiskers while poking her poisoned horn towards him. She must think she's a big deal, touch her and get poisoned. And maybe she was; all the wilds around her seemed to listen to her screeching. The three Rattata attacking the two while she lurked behind them, waiting for an opening to dive in and poison her prey. Oh, wait: bippity-boppity-boop! Who's laughing now? Whamo! It's super effective! Haw-di-haw-di-haw!

…okay, alright; so one Pooch, this one slightly larger than the rest, did manage dodge David's swing and surprise him by not going after the club first thing. Nor did this Pooch go after the bone after it had tackled him to the ground. Third on its to-do list was an attempt to bite David's throat. Snapping his head down, David had new appreciation of his helmet as the Pooch's sharp teeth bounced off the skull. His confusion on what had just happened and disorientation from both his sudden movement and the Pooch hitting him allowed the dog to snag his bone and high-tail it out of there.

All this time Sobek had been dealing with a Poochyena pup that kept running circles around him. It wasn't attacking, just serving as an effective distraction for the Totodile. As the larger Pooch made off with the bone, Sobek finally caught the pup by a leg and hurled it into the first, knocking both down and buying enough time for the two lizards to pile on and pry the bone out to bop both on the heads. Sobek handed the club back to David with a glare that said to David to check his ego.

So not all the wilds are going to just think they'll win the scuffle first-off, some wilds don't charge in mindlessly into a club. Irrationals like that Nidoran and her Rattata lackeys are a bit more organized than wilds. Lessons learned.

But still, for every foe he bonked on the head, David felt a little better because he had his club and he was using it and it was working and everything was just going so incredibly easy compared to the Woods! No Wurmple getting silk all over his skull. No Pidgeys flying everywhere and careening into him. No Sunkern with beady little eyes that wanted to eat his spleen! With his stress gone in the lightning-shower, David found he was maybe-possibly actually enjoying himself somehow and decided to make the most of it.

Now, if only Sobek would stop humming that annoyinglittle tune, he'd be set. The Totodile had started it a half hour ago, shortly after they had to backtrack from that dead-end path at the fork and he still couldn't find the ending to the song. It wasn't like it was a bad one; David kinda liked it when Sobek first started it and it broke the unnerving silence of the dungeon. But it just didn't help when Sobek had forgotten how exactly the song goes, skipping refrains, his pitch being an entire octave off in parts, switching between the bass and the melody and the harmony at random. Sometimes drums, but then he lost the tune he was humming and then started over.

Eventually, he had just stuck with the melody (or was it the harmony?), a march of notes that paced back and forth on themselves for the longest time before winding up to what seemed to be a transition to the larger part of the song but it just looped back to the start again. He only stopped when they were dealing with wilds and then picked it right back up where he left off, nervously humming the same tune over and over and over again as they walked.

At least the one thing that was changing was the pattern on the walls and David tried to focus on studying the pattern to block out the tune. It didn't work; there just wasn't anything to bury that song under. But he did at least realize something: the deeper they delved into the cave, the more erratic and thicker the yellow line got on the wall. It wasn't consistent enough to go: oh that path has more yellow so that's the right way. But it was noticeably larger here than it was when they entered. Now, little wisps of yellow were starting to fray off from the main line like lightning. Like they did when the pulse went through the room earlier, except now it was permanent and growing more and more the deeper they went.

Like lightning. Like a Pikachu or-or-or a Jolteon—yes, a Jolteon! Jolteon. Jolteon evolves from Eevee. Evolves from Eevee using a thunderstone. Its top speed is… is… fast…. Yeah, there's nothing—the one time David wanted whatever encyclopedia in his head to kick in, it doesn't. Of course.

And sure enough, Sobek looped into the start of the tune again. And, even worse, David put words to it in his head, sung by that cheesy announcer voice Sobek had:

David, Private In-vest-i-gate-or

And So-bek, his side-kick al-gate-or.

No fear, they are on the ca-hey-ace!

Run criminals, they are on the chase!

Solvin' problems is just what they do best,

'till they are done, there is just no rest.

David, Private In-vest-i-gate-or,

Big or small, the case does not mat-tor.

So-bek, the side-kick ala-gate-or,

Fighting crime, find a lost kid or

large prob'ms? They can cert-inly handle those!

A small fee and away the prob-lem goes.

So if you just don't know where to go:

Just search out that one Day-vid Cubone.

They'll help, no matter what it ta-hey-akes!

Need-a-friend? They're the easiest one to make!

Day-vid, Private Eye!

(Just be smart and) don't trust any other guy!

So-bek, Private Eye!

(I guessyoucan trust him,) don't know why.

Together, they're a team.

(Intheloosestsense of the word,) if you know what I mean.

But we'll get the job done!

Whoa-ooh whoa-ooh whoa-ooh whoa-ohh~

P.I., Dave Cubone

(The title'stheotherway'round) to see how it goes.

Don't know, why this song.

Gonna go nuts if it keeps going on any long-

er—it has to stop

Any longer and my brain will need a mop.

Why won't he please just

"Stop it stop it stop it STOP IT!" David groaned, crying to the ceiling as he pulled on his skull as if it would block his ears. "Seriously, enough! That song only has, like, two lines and you're just doing them over and over again!"

"Well, there's more to it than that," Sobek mumbled sheepishly. "It's just been awhile since I've heard Electromagnet Pulse."

David faltered in his step. "Electromagnet Pulse?" He echoed skeptically.

Sobek half-rolled his eyes at himself, "It's the name of the song. A band of Pokemon called The Revivers plays it. Well, played it. They used to go from town to town, putting on a show. I saw them once, it was interesting. It was a looong while back though, when I was little." Sobek stopped for a moment, propping his elbow up with a hand and rubbing the square of his jaw with the other, eyes looking up to the ceiling in thought. "I guess I can switch tunes though …how did Rayquaza's Tower go again?"

"Wait-wait-wait. A band." David repeated, turning fully around. His confusion brought Sobek down to earth. "A band that plays instruments. Like that horrible excuse of a lute Seve had? Except tuned, I hope?"

"Well, yeah." Sobek mulled in his memory for a moment. "Revivers… five 'mon band, plus the singer. I, err, tshh, I can't remember their names. But there was a Geodude on drums," he counted them off, "a Mothim on a flute-thing though there was three different ones he swapped between from song to song—Geodude was Geoff and the Mothim was Mox. Faron the Ampharos was on this really cool guitar-thingie made of metal that he used his electricity with to get really low sounds out of it. His melody is really the one I can only remember because of… umm… you—that's not what you're getting at, is it?"

"No."

"Okay, what is it then?"

"I… don't know?" David said blankly more to himself than to Sobek. He blinked and tossed his hands up. "It-it's weird. I had half a thought there but lost where I was going. It's just… like I just couldn't, like… like I couldn't just wrap my head around the idea. I-I'm not too sure what about it I was even confused about! I mean, it makes sense…" His eyes flicked beyond Sobek on reflex. "What is—Sobek—Voltorb!"

David shoved him aside before Sobek could spin around, the Cubone forcing himself in between the charging sphere and his friend. Taking an end of his club in each hand, he barely managed to shove it out in front of him when the Voltorb hit. The sphere hit the shaft of the club before he had stable footing and sent him skidding back into Sobek, who, in turn, stumbled until his claws found purchase against the stone.

"I got ya, I got ya!" The Totodile called out, wedging himself between David and the floor, pushing his back against David's to hold their ground.

The blur of red and white didn't slow, the sphere instead skipping off the stone, retaining its rotation speed but going promptly nowhere. And yet it somehow kept a steady force against the shaft of David's club, spinning so fast that the eyes of the Voltorb seemed to slowly rotate the other way around, narrowing more and more in anger at the Cubone and the Totodile.

"It doesn't look too happy to see us!" David grunted in sing-song, voice squashed and arms straining from being pressed against from both sides.

"Oh, no-no-no-no. It's not happy to see you!" Sobek laughed back uncomfortably as sparks cracked on the other side of David. They didn't go into the Cubone, but the walls around them, a small shove pushing against the club at each snap of electricity. "Wild or not, those things consider bowling into water-types a sport!"

"Yeah, well. What are we going to do about it—are we being flanked again?!"

"Not yet! David, that thing's doing something with the walls—there's a charge all throughout the walls here and I get wonky next to electricity so do something quick!"

"I noticed!" David huffed, gritting his teeth and racked his brain for a plan. A burst of electricity bolted between the Voltorb and the walls and another strong push shoved against his club. The two skidded backwards slightly as Sobek lost his footing for a moment and shifted so his shoulder was pushing into the Cubone's back. David's face fell and he spoke flatly, "I got an idea."

"You don't like this idea?"

"I get smacked in the face."

"I like this idea!"

"I could let you get smacked in the face."

"I only liked the first one because I don't like that one!"

"Whatever! On three, just push as hard as you can! One… two… three!"

David dropped his head and snapped his club down as Sobek shoved into him from behind. Instantly regretting this plan, David let out a very faint whine an instant before his forehead smacked directly into the charging Voltorb with a deep thud. Ramping off his skull, the blur of a sphere ricocheted against the ceiling and sped down the corridor, bouncing as it went and left the two in a heap on the floor.

Sobek took a breath after a long minute. "…David, am I still alive?" The Totodile cracked open an eye, glancing around the empty corridor before letting out a sigh of relief. He looked down to the Cubone under him. "Err, David?"

"No, no. I was the ordering of two Numbers Three," David honked with a cracking, dazed voice. His eyes spun through an annoyed fog as he pointed a wavy finger towards no one, "One is being mine and other while David has a likewise liking. The digit is verily crunchily." Whump, his arm and head fell to the ground.

"Umm…?" Sobek swallowed his words, looking down to David with a confused look. "David, snap out of it," Sobek rolled off and pulled his friend up to sit against the wall. "David!"

David threw up his hands, "I told not having the special s-owse!" The Cubone curled in on himself, arms over his head. He seethed, "…Sobek, I can still feel that through my helmet, ya know!" He snatched his club out of Sobek's hand and lightly jabbed at the Totodile's leg. "There isn't much padding in here."

"Right, sorry. That Voltorb kinda threw you for a loop," The Totodile plopped down against the wall next to David, sinking his head into his hands with a low groan of his own. He flinched as an epiphany came, "David, can you remember anything new? …did you forget anything!?"

"How can I know what I forgot, Sobek? Isn't that the entire point of forgetting? 'sides, I remember yesterday perfectly clear." He grimaced. "Unfortunately."

"Er, but, nothing new from before when I found you yesterday?"

"…no, why?"

"Just wondering if another blow to the head did anything," Sobek sighed and slumped back into the wall. "That's how it works right?"

"Why are you asking me?" David scowled. Sobek shrugged. "…so that Voltorb was using the… whatever in the wall to push it along, huh?" David seethed as he pulled at his helm, finally popping it off with a grunt and held it out in front of him for a quick look-over. Well, it wasn't cracked. That was good. "Was wondering how it was pushing against me." He glanced to Sobek, "And you don't work well around electricity. Now you tell me. …do I have a bruise up there?"

"You're fine." Sobek waved him off before he laughed softly, "But electricity, it's a phobia of mine. I thought I got over it two years ago. …well, I didn't break down like you did yesterday when that pulse came along, so I'll give myself some credit."

"Hey!" David scoffed with mocked insult, tenderly pressing against his forehead. There wasn't any pain; his head just rang like a bell, reverberating into another migraine. It was starting to be a familiar feeling.

"Well, think of it this way," Sobek started, glancing up from his hands. "You get hit by water. It doesn't matter what you feel like, you're still going to be alive when it stops. Drained of energy or unconscious, sure. But alive."

"Drowning, maybe?"

"…okay, I can see that. But you won't be extra crispy black like when I get fried. I had my heart stop a few times or whatever, it's not a fun thing to happen to you. Because it means I gotta get shocked again if I want to live. Ughhh."

David blinked harshly as his eyes fogged for a moment. "…how did you—?"

"Don't ask. Just please don't ask," Sobek sighed, wincing. Very softly, he laughed once, a tinge of remorse in his eyes before he glanced away.

"…okay. Well… did you pack any food? I'm kinda starving here." Any chance for fried Blaziken drumsticks in that pack of yours, old buddy, old pal? Oh! What about poffin-stuffed Delibird, slow cooked for several hours in its own juices and an oran berry glaze and—oh, where was this zone-out when he needed it earlier!?

Nevermind that, what is a poffin?

"We have that apple we found five minutes ago."

Though given that slow-cooked Delibird in its own juices and an oran berry glaze sounds delicious, a poffin must be—not that apple!

"Ah. Ha. No. Sobek, we went over this when we found those berries, I don't trust anything in this dungeon," David scoffed as he polished his skull with his wrist. That Voltorb left a big smudge of dirt where it hit. It was a silly effort and he knew it, but it made him feel a bit better looking after his skull. Even if he just made the mark bigger. "You said so yourself, any items in here had come in with the wilds and yet there are no wilds around outside. That thing looked perfectly fresh, so how did it get here? Didn't you pack any other sort of food?"

Delibird drumsticks Delibird drumsticks Delibird drumsticks Delibird drumsticks—there's not a Magicarp's chance in a Trapinch pit, but still; if he wishes hard enough it'll magically appear. Jirachi has to have taken notice of his bad luck by now.

Sobek hesitated, frowning in thought. "You know, I think I brought an apple of my own in."

"That bag didn't look like it had one earlier," David looked up from his skull, a flat look across his face with a suspicious frown. "You didn't and are just trying to get me to eat that mystery apple."

Sobek met David's disappointed glare and snickered, "Ah, busted. I really wasn't expecting this to happen today. The plan was to show you around the forest, where the berries and other fruit are. But no, we had to go spelunking today."

"And you guilt-tripped me along," David chided. Sobek half-winced as he got called out again and offered an apologetic grin. "Ah, well. It's a good thing I am here through. You'd be having a wonderful time on your…." His stomach growled and Delibird drumsticks seasoned with shavings of Chesto nut and drenched in Figy sauce, all roasted over a fire— "Aaaaaagh! Fine! Break out the mystery apple."

"Better we break it out in an actual room than a hall though," Sobek said as he hopped to his feet and gave David a hand up. "If a Volorb can do that speed thing with the walls, I don't want to be anywhere near it. …it's probably going to come back for us soon anyway."

David settled his skull before kicking up his bone, twirling it through in his claws before shouldering it in a motion far too smooth for an amnesiac. David didn't even seem to realize what he just did either. "Well, I got a better plan."

Sobek forced a blank face as he froze. "I don't get smacked in the face, do I?"

"Tempting, but no, not this one. It's much easier, it comes at us, I swing my club and it goes flying back the way it came. Even better, I foul the ball into a wall."

Foul the ball…?Maybe that Voltorb did knock something loose in his head.

Still, Sobek melted into a sigh of relief, "Woahkay. Just try to keep them away from me, huh? Really, David. You've saved my tail twice now, I feel much better with you around in here."

David snapped out of his thoughts, mentally double-taking at what Sobek just said. He then hesitated as Sobek gave him an appreciative grin. It was… something different from the Totodile. All this time Sobek had been carrying David along, but now there was something only he could do. It felt strange; they were becoming more like partners instead of a Totodile dragging a kicking and screaming Cubone along.

And David wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"I'll try," David finally said with a nod before starting their march back down the empty hall. After four steps, he huffed. "Sobek, in relation to a Voltorb, how tall is a Cubone?"

"Shorter."

"That's what I thought. But I'm quite a bit taller than it though."

Sobek laughed, "David. You are a tall Cubone. Seriously. That, andyou're probably a year or two away from evolving. You also stand a bit more upright than other Cubone, the others I've seen lean a bit more forwards."

David titled his head to the side to look down at his feet. "...okay, this… this actually kinda scares me. Not entirely sure why; but how… how old do you think I am?"

"Ten, eleven, somewhere around there," Sobek replied without missing a beat. David hesitated briefly, Sobek came up with a number far faster than David had actually wanted. The Cubone tilted his head in thought as he took the information in, again not sure how to feel about it.

That's ten or eleven years of his life, maybe even more, that he wasn't going to get back. Ten-eleven years just… just gone.

Well, not exactly gone, per se. If it was completely gone, he'd be a babbling two-day-old hatchling. So it was all buried in his mind. Somewhere. That speech or—whatever that was that happened back on Seve's cart—it had to come from somewhere. Just who exactly was he to know all that?

…no really, who does know all that? He certainly didn't want to spend his time cramming every conceivable fact known about every single Pokemon into his head right now, so… once upon a time, he actually wanted to?

…but that's still ten-eleven years of his life lived somewhere where someone had to have known him. And Seve said that Cubone weren't all that common in the area—so he stuck out. If anyone had seen or-or talked with a Cubone in the last few weeks, it had to be him. Someone had to know at least who he was!

And why was he in that forest to begin with? And what did make him lose his memory in the first place anyway?

Sobek continued, jolting David from his thoughts again, "You guys don't start evolving until you're thirteen, twelve at the earliest…." Sobek faded off as David froze mid-step.

He evolves next year—Dialga, that was his entire childhood and most of his adolescent years…gone.

"…David?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," He lied, looking over his shoulder. His voice cracked though and Sobek sighed faintly, but stayed silent with an understanding frown. "L-let me poke my head in the next room. I'm getting sick of getting ambushed." He quickly leaned in and glanced around—crack-a-thoom!

The Totodile jumped back as the thundershock poured down David's scales into the floor, the Cubone's shoulders slumping as his eyes defocused in a lethargic bliss for an instant before he caught himself. David forced himself aware, shaking his head clear and strained his eyes to focus on the blur of yellow rushing directly into him. He didn't feel the blow until he was on his back and by then something had grabbed his tail and chucked him down the long room.

He sailed head-first straight into the wall at the far side of the chamber, all the hits on his body colliding with him as he slid down to the cave floor. Pain overrode the impromptu calm brought on by the lightning-shower and the pins-and-needles sensation actually allowed him to pick himself up off the floor. Wincing and blinking harshly as he fought his blurry vision, David steadied himself against the wall and looked back to the Elekid.

He sighed, "Aw, come on, Sobek…."

The Totodile stood on the other side of the Elekid. He had caught the fists of the attacker and stood holding his ground, an enraged look in his eye and all fangs bared as he snapped them at the yellow plug-monster.

David took two quick huffs trying to rally himself but his body still refused to rise to the fight, his mind not wanting to fight. The pain from hitting the wall was quickly fading and with it went his body's desire to stand. He just wanted to find some sunshine and stretch out. Relax. Sobek can handle it; he caught the Elekid's arms. They literally have to wind themselves up to unleash a thundershock. So long as Sobek doesn't allow the Elekid to spin its arms, it had no charge. No charge means no thundershock. Really, he's got a big mouth. He can just bite the thing a new one. Sobek'll be fine.

"No he won't! He's paralyzed!" David said quietly through gritted teeth, forcing himself into a seething fume as he tried to kindle any sort of emotion other than bleeeeeh. Anger seemed to be the easiest, because he wanted to be frustrated at himself but his body was too lax to let him. "He can barely hold his ground! He's just buying time for me to get back into the fight! So fight!" But his body said no, that right here was an excellent place for a nap.

Growling louder at himself, he forced his mind back to yesterday, tearing open the memories of that Wurmple that got the better of him and got all that annoying silk over him, the Pidgey that landed on his head and pecked away at his skull the flaring of his migraine soon afterward, the Sunkern that chased the two for ten whole minutes until they found Caterpie, to today when his humble dream of just having and owning a home and getting back on his feet were dashed by that Totodile dragging him out here! The same one that dragged him through that stupid hole in the woods in the first place!

Yes! All of it was that Totodile's fault! If it wasn't for that Totodile, he wouldn't have had to go through either of these insane places. If it wasn't for Sobek, he wouldn't have to deal with that Butterfree! And those Magnamite and their stupid stubbornness too! All he wanted to do was have a normal, carefree life in the sun but Sobek keeps dragging him into these dark deathtraps! How could he be calm if that Totodile is actively working against him to tear his hopes and dreams away! Relax later because right now that Elekid was going to kill that Totodile before he smacked some sense into him!

David burst into a loping run, leaning far forward into the motions and something snapped inside. His body fell into a strangely familiar rhythm as his mind drifted, detached. The world was rushing by him but he didn't see it, just a Cubone running running run run little Cubone Cubone, the Lonely Hunter.

Cubone, a hunter, a runner, a Cubone are considered the Modern Dinosaur in many circles in the field of studying Pokémon. This is mostly in part due to their instinctive drives to incorporate the bones of their prey into their lifestyle, similar to the way early humans once had. As a species, the Cubone are so reliant on their clubs that most grade schools attribute their survival solely to the tool. However, recent research has proven that this is not the case.

Throughout the fossil records, the species have taken on many adaptations, several specimens showing use of more than just the skull and femur of their prey in their daily lifestyle. One particular skeleton has been recovered from a bog with what appears to be the silk of a Silcoon or Cascoon around its broken left arm, the one of the only recorded instances of bandages being used by a Pokémon (Tools of Pokémon). But these instances are few and far between and often are the results of [outside] interference.

The bone club is the definitive tool of the Cubone, but it is only half of the equation. It is the bone club in combination with the hunting gait of the Cubone that is widely attributed to their success and survival throughout the millennia. Fossil records show that shortly after the Cubone adopted their bone clubs into the species lifestyle (thereby separating themselves from the unknown ancestor they share with Kangaskan, Charmander, and Larvitar) Crandios populations soon dwindled and eventually succumbed to extinction despite sharing a relatively similar running gait (Pearl, Rowan 251; Elm Dissertation #6 ).

Creating a straight horizontal line with their spine from head to tail, Cubone swerve and snake through the air, their tails countering the weight their upper body to the point where their balance point becomes the ball of the foot. With between the femur, the tibia and fibula, and the foot creating three-joint springboard with their claw as traction, Cubone literally throw themselves through the air as they run, achieving speeds up to seventeen, sometimes thirty-five miles an hour at full sprint to catch slower prey, and capable of sustaining an easy jog of nine for hours to hound a faster one until exhaustion ("Pokémon Anatomy" 300; S. Oak, G. Oak vol. 104: 25, 36-40, 43).

For the record, the Cranidos sprint is similar only in they share the same basic pose, the straight line down the spine. The main different being they run with the spine locked ridged to both provide maximum force as well as cushioning their battering ram hunting behavior (G. Oak, Rowan, 36). While the event that led to their extinction is still unknown and not recorded in any fossil records, based on observations of revived specimens today showing their unwavering run, leading theories hypothesize that the species was unable to adapt to sudden changes in prey while Cubone, Charmander and Larvitar could, while Kangaskhan started to prefer more of the plant side of their omnivore diet (Brock 4; Roark 36; S. Oak, G. Oak vol 4, vol 115; Elm Dissertation #6). Others speculate that Cubone, with the adoption of the Club, simply out-hunted the Cranidos at every turn, effectively starving the species out into extinction, or even hunted the Cranidos themselves (New Theories on What Saved the Dinosaurs).

words

words? words! words words words~

but but but words? wooooords~~ words on a page~!

pages….

why pages? why words?

pages about running! words about prey!

…running. yes run! run run and hunt. Run and hunt. Run, run and hunt prey.

So run, prey?

…

Prey! Run and hide! Run while you can~! Hunter is running too~~!

In any case, while evidence and theories have been proposed and argued over for decades as to why the bone club came into being, the reasoning behind skull a Cubone wears is all but fact. Originally, it has nothing to do with combat and is a side effect of adopting the club. Because a club is a tool, and tools do two things for any species: enable new behaviors and encourage the discovery and use of better and better tools. And tools not only evolve faster than the biology of the ones that use them, but tools guide the overall development of a species through the acts of using them.

With the club came the ability to hunt larger and more powerful prey. These prey are usually quick and the club encouraged the Cubone to run faster and faster to catch them. And sure enough, Natural Selection favored the faster Marowak, the ones who can successfully hunt and catch the most amount of food. But there's a problem with this new hunting style. How does a Cubone run? With its head extended far in front of it. How fast does it run? For its size, very. This posed a problem of many little Cubone shattering their skulls running into things. But somewhere along the way, one little Cubone put a skull on its head and fixed the issue. The skull has nothing to do with the late mother; it's a crash helmet in the most literal of means (S. Oak, G. Oak vol 104: 3).

Run and run and run~! And hunt and hunt and hunt~! Run and hunt and hunt little prey like… prey like Totodile~!

And Totodile~? Too late to run.

Because, while a Cubone can run extremely fast for its size, it cannot stop, at least not easily. It has a talon on the front of the foot, ensuring traction moving forward, but just a heel on the back which leaves a Cubone's deceleration at a less than desirable rate ("Pokémon Anatomy" 300). The skull helps in case of a crash, but it's also that's where the final ancient skill of the Cubone comes into play, the Death Leap, also known as the Death Drop, the Skull Rush, or the Suicide Slide, depending on the angle of attack. All named for its risk to the Cubone's life as well as the prey. The latter, of course, being the most dangerous honed specifically for hunting the prey the size of Rhydon and was probably their greatest tactic against Rampardos (Ancient Hunts of the Modern Pokémon).

Target Elekid and JUMP! It is not intended prey but is still good over the fire, hunter. But see the face it shares with Totodile because they're the faces of prey facing leaping shrieking death! And Elekid turns and sees its death with talons extended and club high in the air just as they land to greet the skull with delicious crack!

Thought to be a hunting pounce from before they adopted the bone club, the Death Leap is the safest of the four and the preferred method of execution of prey up to three times the size of the hunter. The Cubone's ultimate ambush technique that only grows deadlier as a Marowak, they throw themselves into the air to meet the unsuspecting prey at the very peak of the jump where there is only a horizontal movement, aiming for the center of body mass of their prey. On landing, he merely sinks his talons deep into the prey's hide, preferably over the heart and/or lungs to puncture them but mostly to ensure the Cubone is firmly latched on as the target is knocked off its feet. Meanwhile, the hands bring down the club onto the prey's skull at the exact same moment of contact. Between landing on the chest and the blow to the head, the entire momentum of the Cubone is transferred to the target with the energy of a small car crash, the Cubone then either relying on the weight of the larger creature to stop it, or using its body as a skid until they stop.

In any case way, caught unaware, the entire chest cavity of the target is crushed, if not shattered, and the skull fractured. If the target isn't killed on impact, it certainly would put up no further resistance. As for larger Pokemon, the injury then depends on its type and strength; but it is still a powerful attack all the same.

Let Elekid slow, then jump off and let Elekid crash to wall. Good for the fire later, its meat that zappsles over fire and tingles when eaten~! Slow, go slow now. Look, new prey here to face hunter. A Voltorb, full of blehck taste and owwied teeth but they are fun to hit though! They bouncey-bouncey-bouncey everywhere and then hunter runs and hit and see it bouncey-bouncey-bouncey again~! But not this one. This Voltorb knows of the magic walls…. Magic that makes it move slow and then fast again. It stays near the wall. It uses the magic to go fast. It uses magic to go fast towards hunter!

But Voltorb is a Voltorb! Spin and spin so they never see what they hit! A tossed club—not to hurt! Just to tink off of and let loose the BBZZZT the Voltorb has because it thinks it hit hunter! And then Voltorb then stops because it doesn't know what it hits. So when it sees the club, it lets out a little bzzlelll hum of fear before it turns around.

Hunter then stands big. Big and scary with frowny face of rage and eyes full of many angry sharp things, angry sharp things meant for Pokémon getting in the way of a hunt! In his hands, he holds his skull by the mouth. The hunter's true face is shown to the Voltorb, and a hunter's true face is only shown to the dead.

This does not mean that the Cubone's skull does not have other uses though. Beyond headbutts and skull bashes and such, one particular tribe is known for their unconventional use of weaponry. After all, a shield can be used for more than defense (Herds, Packs, Pods, and Gaggles 5).

Swing! Swing hard and bash it into the wall! Let it know nothing can get in between a hunter and its prey! Let it remember hunter's true face and be very scared when hunter returns.

But hunter! There's no time to be tired! There is more prey to be had! Look, another Elekid! It heard the bangs and the thuds and the zapples and came to see! Totodile is paralyzed in fear of hunter, but Elekid won't leave us alone!

But hunter's club is now too far away and skull is too valuable to risk against bigger prey! ….glare mean things to it. Be big hunter again! Big hunter with true face! Big scary true face! BIG SCARY TRUE FACE! BIG SCARY TRUE FACE WILL TERRIFY ELEKID INTO PARALYSIS AND ZAPPY FEASTING WILL BE SUPPER!

B-but… Elekid isn't ascared…? Elekid isn't ascared. Ele—Elekid isn't ascared! Club—club it! Flying screaming death with true face! FLYING SCREAMING… no club. No club?! NO CLUB!? Get club! Never leave club—but Elekid would attack and hunter—Hunter, NO! Don't put skull back on—don't put it back on! Big scary true face! Big scary true face! BIG SCARY TRUE FACE! THE MOMENT YOU CAN'T SEE IT IT—IT CHARGES!

The first punch bounced off the skull, charge wearing off on him and seeping into Cubone's mind, dimming his rage—no! No! Be mad! Be very mad, hunter! All prey will fall if you are in thoughtless rage! And supper will be a FEAST!

Curiously, both the Death Leap and its alterations as well as the more prolific use of their prey's bones are only seen in the endangered wild Cubone (Elm Dissertation #12). Individuals who linger in [civilized] society for even a short amount of time show less and less of these traits and only revert back to using them in times of great urgency and panic. Meanwhile, they adapt and take on several others. Some even going as far as to learn combat without their club (S. Oak, G. Oak vol 104: 53).

Cubone growled and spun, driving his back and elbow into the Elekid's lungs.

NO! NEVER GET CLOSE TO ELEKID!

The Elekid's arms snapped inward on reflex, giving Cubone an opening to grab one and pull with the entirety of his weight in the motion, dragging the Elekid off its feet and slamming it down onto the ground in front of him. Working against the calming static that seeped into his muscles, he took only the time to kick its head before bolting for his club.

Hunter, why you kick Elekid!? Foot is clumsy now—!

Cubone snatched up his club and turned in time to see the Elekid picking itself up, the daggers glared between the two clashing in the air. It scoffed, noticing how much less the fire burned in Cubone's eyes before it blinked wide in a light bulb moment. Smirking, it then twirled its arms. Little ripples of static arced over its fur and between the plugs on his head.

It knows hunter's weakness. Prey will win unless hunter stays mad! Totodile will get away! Throw club—hunter can throw club, right? Throw club!

David frowned and snorted as he winced. He then seethed himself into a fuming anger.

throwclubthrowclubthrowclubthrowclubthrowclubthrowclub

David clenched his jaw, shifting it slightly as he stared down the Elekid, daring it to try something. Slowly, he reached a hand behind him, into the opening of the little pouch at the small of his back. Very carefully without much movement, he found a slender, sharp stone and hid it against his arm as he pulled it out.

The Elekid stopped windmilling and swung its arms up into fistcuffs with a smug laugh and—it's clever, hunter! It's clever! It knows hunter isn't hunter when zappled! — and with a beckoning of a claw, it taunted him.

Opening—throw club throw-throwTHROWTHROWCLUB!

David dropped the stone into his hand and snapped his arm forward. The stone rocketed straight by the Elekid, it spinning to the side to dodge and watch as it shattering on the wall on the extreme far end of the cavern.

Laughing smugly, it turned to see the bloodthirsty eyes of a David high in the air and the club he wielded being planted directly on its nose. For the brief instant it was still conscious, it surged every amp it had into its attacker.

However, like with many other civilized Pokémon, these non-wild Cubone have taken on several other traits. Unfortunately, the study of these "City" Pokémon is still a relatively new field and research is still inconclusive on whether or not these new traits are just an effect of their upbringing, change in diet, increased social behaviors with other Pokémon or actual changes to the Pokémon themselves. But no matter the cause, the effect is clear, pit a wild Cubone against a civilized Cubone with no other outside influences and the City Cubone would handedly disarm the wild and win the fight with minimal injury to both parties while the wild fights to cripple or to kill. And the City Cubone and do this simply because the City Cubone can think beyond its club and skull.

But what I would like to know is where things went wrong, why a wild Cubone can't make the epiphany that the City Cubones go through so quickly. Long ago, Cubone were very much like the early humans, using every piece of their prey as tools. But then they stopped and just survived the millennia with just the skull and club, living in caves and underground dens.

It isn't just a lack of intelligence; given a complicated puzzle, most Pokémon will eventually figure it out, even wild ones, because they are naturally curious. And they learn from it but only through means that didn't work rather puzzling out the one that did. But show the same Cubone the city and society, and something snaps in his mind, and then and only then does he understand the concept of a shelter and bartering and working together with others not of his species. But just like all Pokémon, it's not a single moment before. Perhaps there was a cognitive disconnect, that the ancient Cubone just couldn't make that leap the early humans did.

But still, Cubone are their (David) still identified if ancient 13.74f) is tools. Honestly, ( I honestly want truly want far to know (Rebecca) can how far I I (David) I I can(Fletcher) can ill will ill till fill [LETA]; ill will kill mill till fill (David) (David) (David) (Jenna and David) you left

David was on the ground when everything snapped back. The echoes of… of whatever drifting away in his mind. It then occurred to him that he was sitting on his leg and it kinda hurt a little bit.

He groaned. Just… what was that all about? …eh, well… wonder about it later. Because right now a nap is all but called for.

Stretching, he breathed in the charged air deeply and held it, feeling the tingling sensation in his lungs for a second before he sighed a sigh that quickly turned into a yawn. Yeah… he could take a moment to sit and stretch, right?

"…David?!"

Oh, right. Sobek is here too.

"Heya, Sobek. Howzit going?" David said casually like it was mid-afternoon on a sunny day and that sounds pretty good… to sit in the sunshine…. His eyes flitted closed, smiling faintly.

Sobek laughed nervously, "I'm-I'm not too sure…! You looked like you were going to kill me when you pounced that Elekid—Arceus, just what exactly was that?!"

"Death Leap," David shrugged nonchalantly.

"Death Leap what—nevermind! David, I know a—David. Wake up, David. You can't sleep here, David," Sobek was grumbling and that was probably him kicking the Cubone's shoulder. David grudgingly opened his eyes; the Totodile was standing over him with a very unnerved look on his maw. "David. I know when someone's trying to kill me—that freaky look you were making back there was directed at me—me! That Elekid and everything else just got in the way!"

"Eeehhh," David waved it off. He yawned and stretched again before he sat up. Granted, he probably should be concerned about it himself but… he just really couldn't get himself to, the lightning-shower and all….

Meanwhile, Sobek was pacing anxiously. "Don't eeehhh me, David! Seriously! Yes or no, were you really trying to kill me? Because I think you were! And by the way that pulse is building up again! We're probably right next the Deep Point—I mean we've come down quite a ways so can't we get a move-on before I get shocked again!?"

"Sobek, what am I doing right now?"

"Being half-asleep!"

"Why?"

"Because you're Ele'thargic, that's what. …you get apathetic when hit by electricity."

"So I got hit by a bolt when I first came in, right?" David slowly pushed himself up onto his feet, wobbling slightly as he stretched. "I wanted to fight, but my body wouldn't let me. So I tapped my frustrations from yesterday and might have gone a bit overboard." So overboard that that all happened? Eeesh.

"Psssh-eeh-hehe," Sobek laughed nervously as he glanced to the Elekid he tussled with. It hadn't moved, and it wasn't moving at all. "You might have gone overboard!? I think you killed that Elekid—what kind of Cubone does a crazy leap thing screaming bloody murder?!"

"I dunno, is it a human thing?" David's indifferent look spiked accusatory for an instant.

"Well, I…!" Sobek started but lost the words and ultimately swallowed the few he had left a long second later. "Nevermind."

"Mmm," David nodded, smug with himself and not hiding it. He wiggled his talon under his bone and kicked it up off the floor, again spinning in a motion far too practiced, before then slinging over his shoulders to drape his arms across. He stretched his neck. "…I think we were discussing lunch before all this happened."

David glanced over at the bodies of the two Elekid and the Voltorb; his arms falling to his sides with a faint grip on his club. Under his skull, he paled as the wash of emotions he had felt during the fight swept over him again. It was utter bloodlust. …it was only utter bloodlust and-and-and hunger. He… he… he probably did kill that Elekid and he couldn't care less…!

…there was a trail of blood all around the chamber. Starting from a big spill of blood that oozed out of two large holes on the front of the Elekid, and then many, many footprints pathing themselves around the chamber to… to where David stood now. His feet and talons and legs were covered in blood and bits of flesh. The knobby bit of his club had some blood smears.

David swallowed hard and looked away, the lightning-shower laxness taking over his emotions again the moment he did and then he instantly didn't care anymore. His stomach gave one final lurch before it settled and he rolled his shoulders, again thinking about taking a nap in the sun as a faint unnerved dread loomed in the back of his mind about what had just happened.

And… spicy Delibird drumsticks didn't seem as appealing as they were five minutes ago.

"Sure, yeah. The mystery apple." Sobek paused as he rummaged through the berries they had found for the sole apple. He sighed, "David, I've been around the block enough to know where that sort of frustration stems from. I mean, I know that this ain't exactly what you want to do right now, but do you really blame me for all of this? To the point where you seriously were going to just kill me over it all?"

"Well, yeah."

It wasn't just David's apathetic tone in his voice or how blunt he was that knocked Sobek off-guard, David didn't even flinch or pause when he said it and he said it directly—directly to the Totodile's face. And David's eyes were completely honest because the Cubone was too indifferent to hide anything.

The bag fell through Sobek's claws, the berries spilling out onto the floor, leaving the flabbergasted Totodile holding nothing with his face frozen agape in shocked betrayal.

And David knew his effect because he continued, driving the knife deeper, "I try not to let it get to me, because you're the only one I can trust right now. But that kinda just makes it worse. I mean, the one guy I know keeps dragging me through hell over and over again before I could even figure out who I am. So yeah, I blame you. If only for right now.

"And did I want to kill you back then? Arceus, yes. The source of all my problems. Gone, and I could just say I lost you in the dungeon or some wild got to you. Bam, got away with murder.

"But it really wouldn't solve anything, would it?" David threw up his hands, sighing. "I mean, then it'd just be me in here, I wouldn't have anyone backing me up against the Poochyenas, even though we really haven't seen that many in a while. And then when I did get out, it'd just be me in a world I know nothing about. I wouldn't know who or what everything is—I didn't know what a 'torb' was, pretty sure that's important and no doubt there are a boatload of other things that I should know but don't. I wouldn't know where those berries or fruit trees were and I'd have no one to rope into helping me fix my house. And I would eventually figure it all out on my own, but I wouldn't have my friend.

"I am working through things, Sobek. …more… far more issues than I thought I had. Just… just give me some time, but for the love of Cresselia: stop giving me reasons to hate you. Seriously. There will be a time where we look back and laugh at all this, but if this keeps up I'm going to have to punch you. And honest? I probably will before this is all over, fair warning. I'm sorry in advance."

Sobek closed his mouth and looked away. After a second, he let out a long, saddened sigh, eyes blinking away tears.

David stepped into his view, "Hey! No! You don't get to get weepy on me, Sobek. You wanna know why? Because none of this is your fault and really, I know none of it is. I'm just blaming you because I don't know who I am. I don't know anything about everything and it flat-out terrifies me. I blame you because easy and it's what I have to do in order to get through this. And until I finally get a handle on everything, I'm going to keep blaming you because it's a weight easily put on someone else. Because it makes me feel like I have some control over what's going on because I very clearly don't! But until I'm fully sane again, you are still my friend, okay? My friend! But you're a friend that I need desperately need to hate or I'll lose what little I am. But you're still my friend! And… and you know what. Yeah, I am going to start that detective agency and I'd love to have you along as my partner.

"David Cubone and Sobek… Sobek Sobekson, Private In-vest-i-gate-ors …heh, Seve be proud of our long name. And maybe, just maybe, we'll figure out who I am along the way. I mean, someone has to know me. Come on! It'll be fun! So long as we pass any request that leads us into a dungeon—"

"It's not you, David," Sobek said softly, waving him off and stepping away. "It's just… it's…." He swallowed dryly as David pushed his way in front of him, face growing increasingly worried. "Remember when I said my Mum used to be on a Rescue Team…?" Sobek looked away, "…Mum and Dad and I had a big fight; Da and I on one side, Mum on the other. We all left hating all each other… and she died two days later on a mission."

Whatever was left of David's new happy-go-lucky look crashed and crumbled away into a stunned silence. He tried for a word but all he could do was a meager squeak.

Sobek nodded appreciatively at the effort, "She was screaming at Dad, saying he was ruining the family with… whatever he was doing—eight or nine years is long time ago, I can't remember what but," He sighed. "Mum didn't want me to follow in his footsteps, which I guess I was doing at the time…? I can't remember, I was like… three? Two and a half? A lot of things happened between now and then…. But I remember there was a big fight between them and I was in the middle of it and she left. And when she died I did the only thing a little kid could, I screamed at my Dad, I blamed him. I blamed myself. I left and her Team took me in for a year or two. But without her, the Team just slowly died and then they disb—"

David pulled him aside and slammed his club into a charging Minun to send it soaring back into its Plusle friend. The two berries the Plustle had dropped from its arms as it moved to catch its flying ally.

"HEY! WE'RE HAVING A HEART-TO-HEART TALK HERE! AN EMOTIONAL! MOMENT! YOU DON'T GET TO INTERRUPT!"

A shocked look of fear on the two's faces, the Plusle quickly pulled the limping Minun out of the room.

David panted a few seething breaths, eyes finding a stunned Elekid at the corridor where they first entered from seven minutes ago. Wordlessly, David held up his club and jabbed a claw at it, then at the mess of Elekids against the far wall before smacking the club into his palm, his growling glare backing up the threat. The static charge the newcomer held discharged into the walls as the Elekid promptly left the way it came.

"Okay," David said, voice snapping to a quiet calm, "Continue. I'm listening. I-I've… it never crossed my mind that… something like that…. I'm sorry, Sobek. I really am. I've been an… a total jerk this whole time."

"Eeeh…" Sobek laughed slightly, shaking his head. "It's alright, you don't need to hear the life story of a stupid little Totodile. This… really isn't the place for it anyway."

"Seriously, Sobek. I've… On the way back home, I've got a lot of things I need to bounce off you to sort out. Something… I… I just don't even know! It's like instinct kicked in, but instinct was a bloodthirsty two-year-old and I literally had to fight it off." David sighed, flipping up his helmet to rub his temples, "I… I dunno, maybe that Voltorb did knock a screw loose."

Sobek snickered solemnly, "Screw loose. Very funny, David. With the Magnemite and all."

David blinked, swallowing his words in confusion as he settled his helmet again, "I…? Ha-ha…? Whatever—it's just, this entire trip… weird things have been flashing in my mind that I just can't make heads or tails of. I think I might be going crazy…! But…?"

Sobek waved him off with a faint smile as picked up the bag again to fish around inside it, David slowly moving to pick up the berries. "It's okay. Like I said, it's a sob story you don't need to hear." Sobek pulled out the apple, "It's… I just had a flashback to that fight, right when you said you blamed me for all of this. I've made my peace with it, David. It's not an issue for me but… it's just the first time I thought about it in three 'n three-fourths years."

David poured in his armful of berries into the bag as he tossed out an unsure look, "That is a very precise number."

"Yeah, well… it's something you wouldn't understand—uh, your amnesia. I mean. I mean, you can't exactly have father issues when you don't remember your parents."

David swallowed and accepted the apple from Sobek after a long hesitation, "That's… something I never thought of."

"Honestly, you're lucky. Dad I could do without and… the only thing I really remember from Mum other than that fight is her smile. And remember, she was a Feraligatr. It's… not the most cuddly smile a Mum could have, but a Mum is a Mum. And I miss her sometimes."

Not finding anything to say, David closed the conversation with an awkward nod before looking down to the apple. With a bit of finagling, he split it, offering half to Sobek, "Well, so far it's been an interesting day. And all before lunch."

Sobek slowly took it, "And still plenty of daylight until sunset for more crazy things to happen."

"Don't jinx us, Sobek," David groaned, sniffing at his apple. It looked fine. Nice and fresh and juicy with no bruises….

"What does a Jynx have to do with anything?"

David blinked, suddenly realizing what he just said. "I… I don't know?"