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step fifteen

But Sometimes the Walk Is All That's Needed

David's sense of direction was lost in his thoughts; something he realized the eleventh time a resident of the Triangle shook him out of them. He had counted.

The second of them didn't speak… what did they call the language he was speaking anyway? It was on the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn't remember. The second Pokémon was a… actually, David couldn't remember that either. He felt kind of bad about it, now that he realized—he at least was sure he wasn't off-put-ish, right?

No, no. He was fine. He did nod and tried to kindly excuse himself from their thankful pats on the back for helping out Seve. Not saving Seve. Helping Seve. That realization took a few more interruptions for David to realize. He almost corrected them but thought better of it.

It was probably for the best.

They were a bit close for personal space, these Tapren folk. They stood a bit too close and kindly chased after David as he half-stepped away. There was also the roving group of children who had discovered him. He immediately found himself trapped in a circle of the smallest of them while he shrugged off questions from children a third his age but twice his height.

You look like a charmander, are you a charmander with no fire, like a Time's—

No you dummy! He's one of those ground-type Treecko Pokémon! Like Viscountess Scoria!

Uh, no. No, he's a Cubone. They're related to Charmanders. Sort of. But—

Oh! Oh-oh-oh-ohohohoh! I know! I know! You're the new instructor I heard my mom talking about!

Instructor?

In-struct-tor?

Yeah! My mom said someone was coming to teach the guards here something!

Oh wow! Yeah, you're right! That's why he's got such a cool scarf!

Oh! You mean a teacher! What's he going to teach them?

I dunno, mom just said it was like one or two things. She was really excited about it though! Must be really good things!

Instructor.

Ele é um cavaleiro também! Olha! Ele tem um capacete e uma espada!

Woooooowwww!

He's a knight!

Can I be your squire?!

You? A squire? You hide when it rains! Pick me!

No I don't! You're the skittish-skitty! I'm the brave one!

At least I don't hide crying in my bed!

And then David suddenly had the glittering, pressing admiration of about twelve squabbling kids that didn't let him get any more words in edgewise.

Minun finally then decided things were getting out of hand and, after some polite pushing, fished David out of the mob.

He's on a mission, he had said as the kids gave him space. It wasn't anything interesting or spectacular, just one that was taking up his entire focus.

He honestly couldn't think of anything else to pass as an excuse, but the kids just leapt at the mystery.

You're looking for the prisma shard?!

The prisma shard is in Ferrocala! It's always been in Ferrocala! He's got to be here for Groudon's Halberd! We all know Vis'ess Scoria is obsessed with it!

What about the cobalt horn?

The cobalt horn!

Uh. Hey? The Cobalt War? Was I the only one paying attention in school last week?

But what if it IS here?

It can't be here. That was the reason the war happened. It was removed from its shrine in—

But I read in The Ritter's Xenia that it was a fake!

There are no Immortals storming our way from the canyons, so it has to be there!

Wait, how did we win if we couldn't win against we were fighting?

What? What does that even mean?

If they're immortal that means they can't—

No! No! That's just what we called them because they were really, really strong!

But we were stronger! Right? We won!

He then quietly excused himself from their bickering and followed Minun quickly around a corner.

But could he really teach though? He… there was some odd déjà vu with the thought. Some familiarity. But then again, how could he teach from things he only could remember he needed to know them?

Today's topic is the Totodile. Please wait one moment while Sobek's leg is broken so that David can remember how to put it back together.

That… that wouldn't work.

"How not?" The Bellsprout scoffed with a few friendly jabs to David's shoulder with the flat of her leaf.

Oh. Oh right, this Bellsprout was talking to him, the eleventh Triangle resident to thank him, right.

He… he must have said that out loud then.

"Well then?" The Bellsprout urged him on, her eyes held genuine curiosity in them. "Go on, tell."

"I-I'm sorry?" David shook his head, blinking harshly. He recoiled in surprise—this Bellsprout was twice his height. "What am I telling you? W-what wouldn't work?"

The Bellprout straightened. Her leaves rubbed the sides of her flower bulb-like head with a rumbling sound.

"I'm-I'm sorry," David repeated, taking a sheepish step away. "I, um. Something's been on my mind—something really important and I've been losing my thoughts easily."

The final drag of her leaves on her head made a long, low scrrrrrr squeak—the Bellsprout line's diaphragm is less a muscle and more a fibrous growth at the base of the bulb that covers a small and fragile (though easily mended) air sack—not a lung, as Bellsprouts don't breathe. Bellsprouts, however, are very little beyond their raw vim, the plant symbiont of a grass Pokémon. Their vim-equivalent of muscles only can contract the diaphragm. The air to inflate the airsack instead comes from their leaves, lacking the muscles for a proper larynx, they instead contort the shape of their bulb to form sounds and alter the spread of their powder spray.

When they lack air to speak or a method of producing the sound they want, they instead use the textured part of their leaves against their head to create sounds.

"Okay," David regathered his nerves. She was clearly at a loss for words. "Let's just, uh, try again. Hello, I'm—"

"David, I know!" Oh. "We've spoke …at length! Minunteswise, five!" Ohhhhh. "At least! You greeted… in kind, my name!"

ohhhh noooooooooooo

She leaned down to look directly through the holes in his helm. Her leaves made sharp little scrrrrrr! sounds against the base of her head.

David swallowed hard. He glanced to Minun—she just shook her head slightly with mouthed sounds of confusion.

"I… I'm sorry. I can't—"

SCRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

"But I—"

RRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRR

"I'm very sorr—"

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

"Can you hear—?"

rrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

"Do I need to speak louder or—?"

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

"Abbot airhead!" she screeched with one final flail of her leaves. She turned and stormed away. "Two skulls, no thought. Cubones."

"I'm sorry," David whispered. He turned to Minun again. "Did I… was I really talking to her?" Minun nodded slowly but with far too much motion. He'd not seen her before with that large a frown. "I really messed up, didn't I?" She shook her head, not so much to say no but more to show she was as confused as he was. Concerned.

David huffed. "I guess I'm just not as with it as I thought I was."

Minun finally glanced away and around before returning to fidget with the bandages on her arm.

It was then that David realized he had lost any sense of direction. …what was with all the déjà vu today? When did he realize he knew that, if not right now?

He huffed again and reached up under his helm to rub his eyes. It didn't matter anymore.

Missing the cues from Dimas was one thing, but having an entire conversation without even realizing it?

Is that even possible—to just be on auto-pilot like that? Or to just get lost in thought so much that the memory of talking just blanks out?

Minun patted his back.

That was what he said to the Bellsprout, yet the more he thought about it the less sense it made.

Just… Chall did mention a concussion, from getting hit with his own skull by the Monferno back there.

Minun patted him a bit harsher.

Concussion. That was an injury—he knows injuries at least! Concussions can have lasting effects for days afterward. But Chall seemed certain that he had healed. He mentioned that first psychic, did he have a second one check—

"Dav-vey?"

David blinked. Minun had taken his hand with both of hers.

"Davvv-vey?" David saw it this time, how her eyes lost their focus ever so slightly as she forced together the sounds of his name through the pain that dug its tendrils into her. They were wide, her eyes. Wide and… and pleading almost. Fearful, concerned.

Kind.

"I'm okay," He lied, but his stomach immediately sunk. The worry in Minun's eyes sharpened as they narrowed. "I-I meant, I think I am. Right now, at least." Her eyes closed with an understanding nod. "Thank you, though for… um. Yeah, this walk wasn't a good idea. We should have just stayed back with Sobek. I don't like how we just left him back there. He could have helped with that. We should have either all stayed or all went out. Just not us two on our own. We should have just stayed there…."

"Ehhhh. Mmm-hmm." Minun sighed. She mumbled the rest of her thoughts in wordless sounds. David just took them as support. He didn't know exactly how else to take them, but he appreciated it.

Minun gave him two more pats before pulling at his elbow. David followed along numbly, one hand rubbing his forehead under his helm trying to think of something, anything that could explain what had happened or-or what he even said, but he soon gave up and sunk his eyes into both his palms as he walked.

He did like how calm it was here though. There was that at least. He could hear the bustle of the marketplace over the buildings to the right of them, but this small little road was empty except for them. The Bellsprout—he needed to remember her name. He wanted to apologize, but first he needed to remember her name. She had marched left into a trimmed grassy lawn of a small park, towards the trees where within the houses of Triangle stood. When the wind shifted, he could smell bread baking and the smoke from their ovens, and something savory cook—

If he wanted food, there was food back at Seve's house. Good and hearty food, too. If he wasn't hungry then, he shouldn't be hungry now.

But... maybe a bit too hearty. A roll of proper bread or a small fruit pastry did sound like a good snack—Minun pulled him back. They had rounded a sharp corner onto a wider brick street and she had stopped a few steps back at an old wooden door. Its accompanying brick building looked much older than the ones they were passing along the side-street. It was well-kept, with a second floor atop the rear third of the building. The brick was old but clean, and wore the countless repairs it had undergone plainly so that it looked less of a single color and more of a kaleidoscope of reds. The heavy shutters and the windowsills beneath were stained—stained, oh very nice!—a deep, rich earthy brown that David found himself envious of.

If his scales can't be that color, then his home will be. Shutters of his own, at least.

All the shudders along this side of the building were closed and locked, yet the sign on the door said 'OPEN' in big hand-painted runes. The red paint was bleached only slightly from the sun, faring much better than the other shapes that had faded into the lacquered wood.

David wasn't sure what time it was, but now he knew it was before twenty-five. It was the closing time on the board. Unless it was Teucrisday, then the store closed at twenty-one. But, since it's closed all day on Presmday or Iurisday, today could not be either of those.

Not a single thing about any of that made any sort of sense to him.

So, what then? He couldn't remember the days of the week or how time is kept, but here he is reading the runes and numbers fine. Did he need some sort of daily planner in his previous life? Does he need one now?

Minun swatted at him to go in first. She was fidgeting with the bandages on her face again, though a bit more twitchy than usual. She then resettled her hat, pulled at her good ear, then went right back to rubbing the bandages over the square of her jaw. She glanced at David, then double-taked before freezing.

"Ah, vai, vai." She managed to hold still a second before scratching her nose.

"Are you okay? You seem really anxious—oh." Can he get anything right today? Anything at all? Why would she lead him directly here if she didn't have a reason? "You are coming in, right? If… if you don't want to, that's fine, but I'd, um. I'd rather we not split up."

She took a deep breath, and nodded. "Vai." She nodded again.

"Okay." David pulled at the lower doorhandle.

It didn't budge. He pulled again. Then pushed. It was stuck.

"Um!" He glanced up. "It says op—"

Minun yanked his hand downwards and the handle moved with it, a latch clicking free higher up in the door.

"Oh. A doornob. Thanks."

Exterior door on a shop that locks its doors, that means it is probably a pull. Is it a pull?

No. No, it's a push. It is a push.

Wooden chimes rang hollow notes from above and the smell of aged wood and dust hit him. He stepped onto the old wooden floor and shivered as it creaked beneath him. The wood felt different than the bricks outside, more like the pavestones from the pavilion but without the fake reassurance of stability. The store had a basement. He felt like his footfalls were echoing in empty space somewhere under him but he didn't understand how he knew.

"Running late again, Fetch?" An elderly voice chided from somewhere on the left behind the wooden shelves. He couldn't hold back his snickering, "You haven't gone and gotten lazy, have you now, boy?"

The side-door put David at the back of the store, where to his right an aged wooden counter three times his height sat. It stretched from the far wall to nearly the one behind him with a pair of loose doors the height of the counter to bridge the gap.

"So much for the Sowsguard runs being cakewalk!" Another of equal age joined in and the two soon fell into a rich and hearty laughter. She was in the far back of the store, David could just see an archway over the very top of the counter and through it he could faintly hear the distinct metallic melody of coins being sorted.

He counted four aisles to his left, each separated by tall wooden shelving. All the aisles were like streets to him, but the one directly to his left was double the size where simple wooden furniture of various sizes sat alongside the wall. The shelves opposite them held small lengths of various types of wood at the near end and what looked like nails and hammers at the far. At the far endcap, a worktable sat and beyond that was a small sitting area, separating from the store by a wooden railing.

"How'd that go for you?" the first elderly Pokémon asked through his laughter.

"No matter how it did, to me it all still seems like a perfectly good waste of cake!"

The two fell back into their teasing laughter.

The wall of the furniture aisle held framed documents and simple paintings. The ceiling rested on large wooden rafters and their load-bearing pillars. A tiny spinarak had snuck in and spread its web spread out in a corner between the rafters and the wall. A small dried oran was tacked up just next to the notch in the rafter where it slept.

The floor creaked as Minun stepped in behind him. She was paling as he closed the door. She flinched when the chimes rang.

"Oh!" The voice from the back room gasped. Minun leapt behind David. Something metal slammed shut and a chair hit a wall. "By Hemura, is it an Acacia day?! Oh! Oh, goodness me, the water is not even on the stove! Don't tell the old fool this, but I haven't been feeling well of late. But this is as good as sunshine in the spring!"

"Don't worry, Fetch. I won't tell me either."

"Shush you! But I really do wish you would tell me these things, Fetch! I would have her favorite tea made right as she walks through the door. Oh, mercy me, my heart just can't…!"

The wrinkled green cap of an old Breloom rushed out of the backroom, benign white spores falling from the frills underneath with her hurrying. She glanced at David, then balked in surprise. Her mouth pursed into a confused frown while she resettled her wire-framed glasses with both hands. Squinting as she glanced to and from her bifocals.

She then saw Minun smiling sadly from behind the Cubone.

Her glasses fell to the counter, hands covering her choking gasps.

A faint tolling echoed from outside, the windup of two bells ringing over each other as they gained speed.

"Roque," the Breloom finally whispered. "Please come here."

"We talked about this, I cannot hear you when you mumble!"

A fist slammed the counter. David jumped; Minun cowered. "Roque! Come here this instant!"

"Fine, fine, fine! You don't need to be angry, Remini! I can't possibly think of anything that needs so much shouting—no. No! He did not!" The floor squeaked faster. The bells fell out of sync, one slowing down ever so slightly until the two sounds became separate. "Fetch! Oh, Fetch! Fetch, my boy! Fetch, you finally—oh." At the sight of them a Kecleon stumbled over his feet into the counter. He steadied himself and huffed with a hand on his chest. "Oh, pardon me. I-I thought you were someone else. One moment… one moment please, and I will—I'll be right with you. Remini!"

With shaky arms and his grip almost slipping twice, the Kecleon climbed a cabinet built into the front of the counter and pulled himself atop it. He kneeled down to be eye to eye to the Breloom. "Oh, Remini. You could have just said it was just the Cubone. Come here, come here." With shaky hands, he pulled a handkerchief from the small satchel he wore and wiped away her tears. Then, ever so gently, he placed Breloom's glasses back on her nose. He tapped the bridge once with both of his index fingers before reaching around to retie the string between the prongs that held them on. David jumped—a much louder, deeper bell took the lead of the other two. The hours were slowly being counted. "There's no need for such a panic."

Her hands rose to hold his. "Not the Cubone, Roque." She turned his head. "Look. Behind him. Look who it is."

...two…

David felt the floorboards shift as the Minun nervously stepped out behind him. The Kecleon blinked as he squinted.

And he squinted.

...four…

He blinked.

And he squinted.

David shifted his weight with an uncomfortable roll of his shoulders, a motion the floorboards echoed.

...six...

And Roque squinted.

He blinked.

...seven...

"Roque," the Breloom whispered. "How could you have forgotten Vii?"

Roque's scales flashed all at once to white before his mind caught up. "That can't…!"

kaboom-boom-boom-boom-booBOOM

Shutters rattled, woodworking tools clinked, and David tripped over his own fright. Minun pulled him steady. She was rattled, shaking, but the calming face she forced herself to wear made it clear she wasn't too disturbed by the explosions.

"What was that?!" David asked Minun. She took a breath but caught herself, settling instead for a flat grimace. "Ah. Sorry."

But Roque's hands just curled tightly over the Breloom's as he looked to her again. "That can't be her."

"But it is. She finally found her way back home." Remini laughed, nodded towards David's jittering. "Home in time for the cannon drills, of all things."

Cannons—as in artillery? As in—that Arcanine is the leader of an artillery division-

boomoomoomoom… boom...

But… but all around this city, on those orange walls—ARTILLERY!?

Minun batted his shoulder, grounding him back in the homely little shop. His panic and anxiety drowned into embarrassment in the apprehensive silence.

"But it's been… it's been over fifty years and even then she…. Minun just don't live that long, Remini. They just can't."

Minun took a step forward only to lose her nerve halfway and hide back behind David again. With David calmed down, nothing was distracting her from the attention of the two older Pokemon. She was shaking, torn between trying to make some sort of sound and a fight to stay as quiet as she could as her hands frayed their bandages as they writhed together.

For Minun (and Plusle) survival is dependent on mutualistic symbiosis with others in their ecosystem, where they are often protected by a predator species. In return, the Minun and Plusle assist in battles from a purely supportive standpoint and aid the dens with the sick, injured, and young. In their tropic habitats, Minun and Plusle have been known live to be twenty-seven years old. In a rare case, they can live to be thirty-five.

But if she really was over fifty—the Kecleon was right, that just could not happen.

"How many Minun have been lost to every mystery dungeon they enter? That does something to a Pokémon, you know this." Remini blinked back tears with a sigh. "You old fool. Weren't you the one who raised all sorts of a racket, those lifetimes ago? Bothered Quickread so much you drove him straight out of town! And what did you do? Go right after on him. Chased him all the way to Ferrocala, you did. Now look at you. So shocked you've gone and took on the colors of a buffoon!" She huffed at him and pulled his hands away. "Fine. You can stand here. You have my permission, you daft oaf."

She spun on her heel and started around the counter in a frustrated march, but her annoyance couldn't hold back her excitement and she ended up in a frantic hobble.

Remini's eyes widened as she slowly regained the disbelief she first had. She kneeled down—Minun hid behind David.

"Vii? It's really you, isn't it?"

Minun didn't move. She held onto David so tightly that he realized she had stopped breathing.

The Breloom's hands slowly went to her face. "It is you, Vii. I know it. You're wearing that hat you always liked, with the wide brim and… oh, and the flowers! They're leppa flowers even. The dress is… it's different. Quite, ahem, different. Though I suppose they forced you into it to hide the phage, didn't they?"

Minun squeaked, but it was more in discomfort than any real response. She fussed with the fabric on her shoulder.

Remini adjusted her glasses and smiled gently as she looked around. "Oh, Vii, can you believe we have walls and roof for our little shop now? No longer is it the little table on the corner of this once-forgotten corner of the Hearth-Groudon's Hearth, that's what this city used to be called when I was a little girl, young Cubone, before the Duke of the time called it the Commoner's Square. A place for all Pokémon to live together."

Her eyes rolled heavily at that, but continued. "Strange how a name just attaches itself to a thing. We never named it, the little table, but everyone just called it Roque and Torre's. And we grew right along with the Triangle. Just look at how lovely our little town is now. The leppas you planted in the orchards? They're even blooming this time of year…."

The Breloom looked back to Minun, lines of tears glimmering down her neck. "You can't remember, can you Vii?"

Minun swallowed. She was forming words through the gloss of her tears, but she just couldn't make a sound.

Then, finally, she shook her head.

Remini slumped to the floor.

"Oh. Ohh, Vii." She looked up after a moment, face awash in tears. David took a half-step forward, but Remini stopped him with a gentle pat on the head. "No. No. It-it's fine. Don't worry, young Cubone. This happens every time she is lost to a dungeon." She scoffed though a sob. "Oh, she's always so brave, braver than I, going to help those hurt. I tell you," she laughed. "She sets one single toe in a dungeon, and she's lost for months, without fail! But she always finds her way back home, even if she had long forgotten why…."

"And Remini never stopped telling me—" Roque choked as Minun looked up to him, another wave of white rippling over his scales. He'd taken a seat on the counter above them. "...never stopped saying that wherever you were, Vii, you were still looking out for someone." Finally, he gathered his strength to lower himself down. David rushed to help, pushing Roque back to his feet as he stumbled. "Oof. Ah! A good lad, thank you."

"You're welcome. I'm, um, David."

"Oh! David. David, that's a fine name. A good strong name. It fits you fine…." He patted him on the shoulder, but then gripped him to study David's eye. David blinked and balked, but before he could say anything Roque just smiled sadly in a nod, patting both the Cubone's shoulders.

"Now David, things of that sort take time to overcome. I have no doubt it's why Vii decided to take you under her wing, but you keep rushing, you'll just lose yourself. One day at a time, hmm?" Roque patted his shoulders again before joining Remini. One hand found hers, and the other found his handkerchief to wipe away the lines of tears.

"Dear."

"Yes, I know. I know," Roque choked on his words. "But what does an old fool like me say to someone I long buried?"

Remini plucked the handkerchief out of his hands to dab at his own tears. "Anything. Anything and everything. No need to worry about making a fool of yourself. Just look at you're scales, you're already a buffoon."

The rigid stance Minun had throughout all of this finally cracked and she laughed through one wheezing breath. Her laugh grew louder as the tears fell and she teetered and stumbled, but she landed in the arms of her two old friends between where they sat. And all three fell into happy sobs of joy.

"Hello, old friend," Roque said through it all. Minun chirped wordlessly in return. "I'm sorry I… that I…. It's just so wonderful to see…!"

"That will do, dear, that will do," Remini whispered softly, holding him close. She looked up to David as he fidgeted awkwardly. "Thank you, David. Thank you for bringing our dearest friend back to us. Where did you even find her?"

"I…." David caught the panicked look Minun made. Roque and Remini's eyes were too fogged from tears to notice. "...she found us, actually. A coincidence. We… were using the same path. After, um…."

"And so she was just swept up with the rest of you when Severino barreled down the road?"

It took David a moment to remember that was Seve's full first name. "Yes."

"How strange Fate weaves its threads…." Remini's soft smile faded as she drifted in thought.

She gasped with a start, more benign powder falling from her cap. "Roque, we have to let Mortiz know. Vii, please tell me you remember Mortiz!"

"No, no," Roque sighed. "Remini, let poor Mortiz be. What hideous idea that is. Dredging up his living days? It's not just unwise, it's unkind!"

Remini's eyes narrowed, "He needs to know, Roque."

"What good will is there to give him a little joy if it means reminding him of everything he suffered—"

"The good memories are the ones that make us ourselves, yes. But it is the painful ones that hold us to what we truly are." Remini huffed, standing up wiping the rest of the tears off herself with the handkerchief. "Fine. I'll ask the boy then, you insufferable lout. David," the tone change whiplashed David more than slightly. "Mortiz and Vii were very close those oh-so-many years ago. Don't you think it would be unkind to not at least let him know Vii is safe?"

"I, well, when you put it that way—"

"See, you buffoon? It's three-to-one. I'll be taking Vii over to the bank. I won't be long."

"I—but-excuse me," David circled around, trying to catch Minun's eyes as Remini patted her fur dry. "But did, well, she actually get a say in this?"

Remini smiled sweetly as she nudged him away, "I'm certain she's dying to see him too." Roque cleared his throat. "You know what I mean!"

David darted to Remini's other side, "Please, let-let me just ask her and—"

Roque pulled gently at his scarf and leaned in with a whisper, "Best you let my wife have this. She, ah, doesn't take well to—" pap! Roque sighed underneath the handkerchief on his face. "...that was uncalled for, dear."

"What's uncalled for is an eternity of not knowing your closest friend was just down the road and never even said hello!" Remini huffed, nose in the air for a moment. Another long, disappointed sigh from Roque cooled her fuming huffs. "...but yes, it wouldn't mean anything if Vii… this already has been exhausting for her, hasn't it? Vii? What do you think?"

The Minun turned to David. She held her two hands up, pointed one towards him and the other towards herself, and clapped the two together before pointing down with both. But her face was frowning, unsure of it herself. She kept glancing out the front windows.

"If you want to go, I'll be fine," David said. Minun clapped her hands together; when she took them away, she shook her head. "I'm… I don't think I'll be going anywhere. I'll be fine." He glanced to Remini and Roque. "I, um, said I didn't want to split up earlier."

"Now wait just one moment. If you're still among friends, have you actually gotten separated?" Roque said before Remini was able to, and the two shared a bemused look.

That seemed to have calmed Minun. She turned and nodded to Remini, who in turn squeezed Roque's hand. "Why don't you go make some of the good tea for David? Fetch will be here soon. I think David will be a good friend for him."

Roque smiled back at her, then it slowly faded, "Are you certain, my dear?"

"What are you implying?" Remini squeezed his hand harder. "That I don't know my grandson?"

"What I mean is that tomorrow is Sowsgard."

"Oh. Oh, dear me, that is true. If he's not home yet, he certainly won't be his cheery self."

"Poor boy is probably dead on his feet running all over the city." Roque scowled at nothing, pulling on his ear. "So why don't you take David with you, show him the Triangle? Or… oh, yes, that's right. Hrmph."

Remini followed Roque with a deep frown of her own. "Yes, Lila's little plan…." Both of their eyes lit up and they shared a mischievous grin.

Roque snickered. "We always the have the best ideas together, my dear. Yes, that will do nicely."

David had been stark still throughout all of this, eyes darting back and forth between the two. "Um. S-so am I going anywhere or…?"

"Boy," Roque clapped a hand on David's shoulder. "Just down the road from us is our local, home-grown schemer. A team like yours? Why, it'd be silly not to…." Roque faded as he looked up and around his shop. "…say, where had that partner of yours gone to? The… ah… Torchic, was it?"

"Totodile, dear."

"Totodile? Lila said Torchic."

"You thought she said Torchic. I know she said Totodile."

"S-Sobek is a Totodile," David butted in. He balked as the three turned to him. "Oh, um. H-he's—he stayed behind, back at, uh. Uh, Seve's."

Roque frowned, eyes narrowing slightly. "I wasn't aware that the Duchess allowed Boasorte out of her hospital."

"Dimas brought them over, I told you that earlier!" Remini swatted Roque's ear. The Kecleon swatted back at her, which then devolved to the two waving the other's hands away, soon snickering at the frivolity of it. "I told you when I went over to make the stew this morning for them!"

"Oo!" Minun perked up at that. She caught Remini's wrist for her attention. "S-chu?" She pointed to her.

"Yes, the stew," Remini nodded. She blinked. "You remember my stew! Oh! I should have known! Of all the things, it's the stew. When was food never not on your mind?"

"Ehehehehhhhhh…."

"It-it was very good," David said over Remini's glowering. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome, David. It's an old family recipe." Her grin flattened as she shot a glare at Roque. "Now behave, dear. You were talking about David's friend? Sobek, was that his name?"

David nodded.

"I'm just confused why he's not even here," Roque explained, more to his wife than to David. "Partners stick together like… like… erm, they stick together like glue! I just don't understand why he's not with you, David."

Oh, how was he going to explain this….

"Um. Well. He, uh…."

Does he really tell the truth? Should he just go and say that the two just can't see eye-to-eye on anything? Well, no, they do agree on some things. They're just… not the important things.

But David still counted Sobek as his friend. He was sure of that at least. And Remini and Roque, they've been nothing but wonderful Pokémon so far.

"Sobek, he, um, got the papers," David slowly started. This angle will work. Just this part of the truth. David nodded to himself. "He was really excited too, and tried to take care of it all when I was, um, at the hospital. But he lost them somewhere and… now he's really mad at himself over it and wanted to be alone."

"Papers?" Roque echoed. "What kind of papers?"

"Oh! The ones for us to be a proper team, sorry. I-I think we need to turn those in somewhere? But he lost them before we could even take a look."

Remini leaned towards Roque's ear. "We really do have the best ideas together, Roque. David, we know someone can help you with that."

"W—really!?"

Roque grinned. It was a proud grin. "Why, it's that our local schemer of ours! She got her store affiliated with the Cadre. I'd say she ought to have perhaps fifty copies of those papers somewhere. How does that sound to you?"

"That sounds great! I-I-I—thank you!"

New papers means David could fix this. That is something a Team Leader does—they fix things for their team. And David can fix this!

He and Sobek can reach an agreement on things later, they just needed another set of papers. Get those filled out, get those signed, and get those turned in and they'd be a proper team!

And then… and then they will figure out that stuff then but now David can go and put effort in and fix this!

"We'd best be going now though," Remini called David back to earth. "Mortiz assists at the bank—"

"You mean he lives there as the watch, dear—ow. What have I done today for you to take such a dislike to my ear?! I only get two of those!"

"Either way," Remini ignored him. "The bank will close soon. David, if I point the shop out to you, will you be okay finding it on your own? It's just down the road for us, there is no way you can possibly miss it. Oh, thank you, David. Roque, dear?" She rested her head on his. "I won't be long. Do we need anything from the Sovadas?"

"I think we'll be okay. Tell the Garnets I said hello."

She looked down with a scowl, "Just 'hello', dear? Nothing about them being overdue on their rent again?"

"Oh, they'll know," Roque laughed, patting Remini's hand. "But it's not their fault, it's that blasted Absol—blasphemer thinks the world is going to end every Ruination. I-I-I just don't understand... even if world actually ends for a change, they'd still have to pay rent!" He scowled overdramatically, grinning when Remini finally chuckled. "I think I'll get tea ready for when Fetch gets here. Vii," He clasped her shoulders. "...I'm sorry I ever stopped looking for you. I truly am." Minun gave an understanding nod through her glossy eyes. "Please know that I am so glad to see you're safe. Our doors are always open for you." And with that, Roque pushed through the counter door and hobbled towards the back room.

Remini patted the Cubone's head, "You've done something wonderful for him today, don't you forget that. Myself as well. Though…" She smiled down to Minun. "I always knew it was just a matter of when, hmm? But you could not have chosen a better time."

"You're… you're welcome," David nodded up to the Breloom. He turned to the Minun. "Vii is her name?"

"It's what we called her—you have to know she was always muted, David. Though maybe Roque remembers the one or two days he met her before being lost for the first time, but… no, there was more to it! I… I…! oh, I'm sorry—I just can't—she's always been Vii to us that and I—I just can't remember!"

"Oh, no, that's okay!" David quickly said before she broke down into tears again. "We… my partner and I, we couldn't figure out what to call her at all, so Vii—Vii is perfect!"

And Vii smiled. It was bittersweet and weary, but a smile all the same. She patted him on the shoulders, then straightened his helm, chirping wordlessly before glaring at him sternly. Remini laughed behind them.

"I'll stay out of trouble, I promise," David grumbled, but just couldn't hold his face straight and ended up joining the two in their snickering. "But thank you, Vii, for sticking with Sobek and me."

Vii cuffed him on the shoulder lightly, but smiled all the same as they followed Remini towards the front of the store.

With a single step onto the dense brickwork of the market plaza, that lingering sense of teetering over a void was gone. David felt the earth thrum against feet, welcoming him back onto solid ground.

Vii noticed his slumping shoulders and swatted his elbow for attention. "Dav-vey?" She had on that face of hers again, with the wide eyes and the genuine concern.

"I'm okay," David smiled with a sigh. It was a genuine smile, and Vii found it infectious. "I'm doing okay."

/*

* This should be the end of the slower chapters for now, with David now pulling up out of the depression spiral he's been in the last few chapters.

* Needless to say, this certainly wasn't an easy chapter to write. It's haunted me for about a year now, so I'm glad to finally see it done.

* Thanks for reading.

*/