Mizuki: I Trust No One
July 11, 2020, ?, ?
What is this weird feeling? I feel a refreshing blue light around my body. But wait, I can't open my eyes! Is this some sort of trance? Am I still alive? It's weird that for a time even in this unconscious state I felt a ton of pain — but the pain is all but gone now!
Wait, what's that voice? I hear screaming and crying. The voice sounds familiar. Hmm… The pitch and resonance sound so sweet. Oh, it's Riri!
"Hey Kiki, can you hear me? Please wake up! I'm so scared!"
I struggle to open my eyes. I barely open them only to blink and close them again.
"Hey, she opened her eyes!" Ralts exclaims.
"Kiki, you're alright!" Riri sobs with a hint of tears in his eyes as he hugs me while I'm still laying on the ground.
His hug prompts me to open my eyes wide and pull my lips back.
"Ugh, what happened?" I question as I shake my arms and head.
"Kiki, I-I found you pun-punching and kicking a tree repeatedly until you fain-fainted. I-I-I saw you-you-your hands all covered in blo-ood and was worried sick!"
Riri bursts out a heavy load of tears as he squeezes the life out of me. Ralts is beside him with his mouth wide open and staring directly at me not moving a muscle.
"Hey cut it off," I demand as I push him away.
I look at my hands, they're completely free of blood and scars. It looks like baby hands with how soft and clear they are.
"How did this happen?" I question.
"Hmm, what do you mean Kiki?"
"I remember my hands were bleeding to death, yet it's perfectly fine now! What happened?"
Riri looks at Ralts and Ralts grins and nods his head.
"So Mizuki, you see I have this power where I can heal others. When you were unconscious, I touched your hands and I emitted this light blue energy that was able to heal your hands. I still can't quite explain how I can do this. It also takes up a lot of my energy, so I can't do this for long periods of time, but still, thankfully I had enough energy to heal you. Who knows what would have happened if I didn't."
I shrug my shoulders back and my jaw drops! Just think of all the wealth and power I can amass if I manage to harness the energy of Pokémon!
Riri takes in a deep breath, sniffs a bit, and gives Ralts a pat on the head. He slowly lets out a faint smile as his tears dry up. Ralts smiles faintly, before letting out a huge yawn. He abruptly falls asleep, which prompts Riri to carry him in his arms.
As I see Riri hum and smile at Ralts, I close my eyes yet again and take a few deep breaths. After finally relaxing my nerves, I get up and put my hand on Riri's right shoulder, catching him off guard.
"Hey look I didn't mean to yell at you before," I apologize. "Please understand there's so much going on in my mind. I just wish I had never come here. But at the same time, I'm terrified of seeing Ayako again."
Riri lets out a sigh, before speaking.
"Kiki, I understand. I wish I was back home as well just relaxing and not needing to worry about a thing. However — just wishing isn't going to solve our problems. We're facing a dilemma and we need to try our best to resolve it. Also, I understand you're scared of your mother, but I promise you she loves you on the inside alright? I have this feeling you'll get along with her in the future. Please don't lash out your anger at people who don't deserve it, alright?"
As Riri gives me a huge hug, I can feel Riri's nerves calming down. As I grin, I can't quite help but wonder what Ralts' intentions are. Like why would he be so friendly to us? We're complete strangers. He just has to have some ulterior motive, otherwise, he wouldn't have healed me. This world is clearly a survival of the fittest world as well, with those bees trying to hunt us down and all. Hmm — I gotta always be on guard.
"Is it alright if you collect the wood Kiki, I don't want to disturb Ralts."
I nod, as I grab multiple pieces of wood and put them in my bag.
"Ready to head back, Kiki?"
I give a thumbs up and we walk back, deep in the night. As we walk, I notice the strangest phenomenon. The moon goes from eerily dark and dim to shining bright in a split second and shines down light on our path!
"Kiki, did you see that? So pretty!"
As I give a brief nod, I rest my hands on my face, staring sternly at the moon. What could have caused this? What is this trying to tell us? No, don't believe in any religious or spiritual nonsense.
"Hey, what took you two so long?" Mimi questions, as soon as we get near the campsite.
"Sorry Mimi," Riri replies, "we just got distracted. But Kiki got the wood for the fire and I got enough long wooden sticks that we can use as spears."
"Aw thank you, you two did great! Let's start a fire now. I'll go fishing."
"Hikari, I want to help!" Kouki offers. "I know how to sharpen the edge of the sticks so it can be used as a spear!"
"Aw, thank you Kouki! Alright, I'll let you do your thing as I help Riri and Mizuki set up a fire."
Mimi and Riri set up the fireplace as I start the fire. Kouki soon finishes creating the spears and we all go to gather some fish. We each manage to gather a substantial amount of fish.
As we begin to cook the fish — Mimi brings up the fact that she only has one blanket and we need to decide on who gets it.
"Okay, Jun seems to have fallen asleep," I remark, "so he shouldn't have a say."
"I can wake him up," Riri says. "He needs to eat something."
Riri walks slowly, elegantly, and quietly to Jun's side. He gives Jun a slight nudge, waking him up.
"Hey big bro, I don't mean to disturb you, but you should get some food. We're making fish!"
"Huh?" Jun snorts. "Oh hey Riri, thanks for waking me up. Sure let's eat, I'm starving!"
"Before we eat, can we all decide who gets the blanket?" Mimi asks. "Remember I only have one here."
I look down at my shoes with my hand on my head, as I doze off trying to think of who deserves the blanket. Like I really want a nice warm blanket, but I also don't want to see Kouki or even Riri sleep on the cold hard ground.
"Um, I think Riri should get the blanket!" Jun exclaims.
"I'm indifferent," Kouki replies, "anyone of you can take the blanket. I'll actually decline it so someone else can have it."
"This is really hard for me," Riri says. "I mean I'd love a nice cozy blanket myself, but I feel someone here needs it a lot more than me. I actually vote for Eleanor to have the blanket — since she's still unconscious and the youngest one here."
What is it with the unnatural selflessness that both Riri and Kouki portray? Ugh, they'd be eaten alive in nature!
"Ew, anyone but Smellanor!" I complain. "Honestly for once, I agree with Jun. Riri, you're the shortest one here so you should get it."
"Why does my height matter?"
"It's so you can fit into the blanket the easiest, DUH. You also deserve it with how kind you are. Besides again, anyone but Smellanor!"
"Please stop this Mizuki!" Mimi demands. "There's no reason to argue this. It seems everyone but Kouki and you have voted for Riri to have the blanket. Therefore I also vote for Riri. Riri, I have to actually agree with Mizuki for once that you're the one most in need of a nice warm blanket and you deserve it."
Riri walks up to Mimi and Mimi hands over the blanket. To my surprise, Riri goes directly to Smellanor as Riri tucks her into the blanket and brings her close to the fire.
"Riri what are you doing?" Jun questions. "That's your blanket, not hers!"
"You're right big bro! It is my blanket. That's why I'm going to do what I want with it. I want to keep Eleanor safe and warm, she's still unconscious!"
I honestly can't comprehend why Riri is this selfless. It defies all forms of logic. We as humans are meant to thrive to be the greatest and there is a huge emphasis on the survival of the fittest in nature. Who cares if Eleanor freezes to death? Not me!
"Honestly, I don't know what to say," Mimi says. "But Riri you're such a pure-hearted person. It brings tears of joy to my eyes."
"Aw, there's no need to cry!" Riri assures. "I just want to make sure everyone is safe and sound. Shall we eat now?"
"Yes, I'm starving!" Jun exclaims as he quickly gobbles down a fish, only to choke on the bones.
Unable to contain my laughter, I start rolling on the ground kicking the air as I burst into tears, laughing till it hurts.
"Big brother, are you okay? Does anyone here know the Heimlich maneuver?"
"Um, I do!" Kouki exclaims rushing to Jun's side to help him out.
"Big bro! You got me all worried! Please chew slowly and eat patiently silly big bro!"
"Alright, I'm sorry for causing a panic," Jun says.
As everyone else begins to eat their fish, I just look at my fish and stare at it in disgust. Despite my intense hunger having not eaten anything but a small boiled egg this morning, I can't fathom myself eating this fish. It just makes me want to puke.
"Mizuki, why aren't you eating?" Mimi questions.
"You know the damn reason why! I can't tolerate this much food!"
"What do you mean this much food?" Mimi questions in an extreme state of concern. "All you had all day were veggies and a small egg, that's it! Mother isn't here to control what you can or cannot eat anymore. Please just eat and get your proper nutrients!"
I quickly get up and stomp my feet around, clenching my fists. I slowly begin to shed a few tears before giving her a piece of my mind.
"You don't understand at all, do you? Boys will never understand the situation stupid Ayako put me through! I'm going to gag all this food out if I eat it!"
"Kiki, please even if you can't eat it all, can you at least take a few small bites? I don't want to see you collapse from hunger! Would you like a berry instead?"
"Fine I'll take a few small bites, Riri, and that's it. No berries for me though!"
I take a few nibbles from the fish before tossing it aside. All I want to do is sleep.
"I'm heading to bed, see y'all later!" I announce while napping on my bag beside the fire. "If anyone wakes me up, you're dead!"
I hear the others wish me good night, but I just tone them out. I actually manage to fall asleep very easily.
Unknown date, Twinleaf Town, Sinnoh, Japan
"Listen here, I'm going to kill all of you noobs you hear me?" I shout as I kill the last person on my enemy's team. "Yeah, that's what you noobs get! Aw, look at all the whittle babies here! Y'all gonna go and cry to your mommies? Go right ahead — like I care LOSER!"
Yes, I did it, I 12-0'd those stupid noobs! Time to celebrate with some snacks. As I vigorously chew down my Cheetos and gulp my mountain dew, I hear my stupid Neanderthal of a mother, Ayako yell at me to come upstairs.
"Shut up Ayako! I'm busy harassing noobs in Valorant!"
Her shouting gets louder and louder as I try to space her out. Due to my distraction, I didn't notice her break into my room and grab me by my hair.
"Ouch, let go of me, let go of me you stupid pig!" I demand her, as I try to fight her.
"MIZUKI! I told you to take out the trash and do the dishes! Also, your room stinks and is a complete pigsty! How is it you're 20 already and still waste your life away by playing video games in your room all day? How did my baby girl turn out to be a loser? Your own brother is more successful at being a woman than you'll ever be! That's pathetic!"
I bite my lips so hard that they end up bleeding as I clench my fists to the point where my nails pierce my palms and cause them to bleed. Despite my sluggish movements due to my extensive shivering — I still manage to deliver a swift punch to her face.
"This is your fault, you know that? If you hadn't forced me to go on strict diets and take millions of singing, modelling, and dancing classes, this wouldn't have happened! YOU MADE ME THIS WAY!"
July 12, 2020, ?, ?
Huh? What was that? Was that a nightmare? It must have been! I was 20 years old in that nightmare. I sit straight up with my legs tucked and my hands on my lap. I sit there thinking about what it's trying to tell me. No, it's all just a coincidence. Your thoughts are just recollections of what you know and as a result, they could help you remember the past or attempt to predict the future. Nothing more, yup!
Still, in a trance — I feel a painful shock in my stomach. Ow, I'm so hungry. I can barely even move. Wait, it looks like everyone's still asleep. I'm sure they won't mind if I eat some berries. I tiptoe to Mimi's bag, grab one of each berry, and gobble them up. Oh, they both taste so sweet and soothing. It was going to take time for me to get used to eating more food, but these berries are just so good! Still what I really want is a burger. If there are ordinary fish in this world, would there be ordinary cows, pigs, and chickens? I'm really in the mood for some meat, mmmm.
The berries were delicious, but it's making me feel sleepy again. I check the time on my phone, 4:52. Yeah more rest for me. As soon as I close my eyes, it just hit me! My phone is at 100% despite being almost dead this morning. I need to figure out this phenomenon first thing in the morning!
"Wake up Kiki! Please we're under attack!"
I wake up and witness the horror of our camp surrounded by flame. I can't quite see who exactly is attacking us. But it doesn't matter. I see a ball of fire heading my way and I narrowly dodge it. Despite dodging the fireball, I can still feel my skin burn.
"Who are you?" I ask crying in pain, squeezing the skin that got exposed. "Show yourself and stop attacking like a coward!"
"Who am I?" The voice mocks me in a loud and menacing way. "How dare you ask who I am? Who are you? What are you doing in our world? Answer now or else I will kill all of you without any remorse!"
I can't quite hear anyone else and to make matters worse, I can barely open my eyes. I'm still here trying to block out the pain, but the torching heat is making it difficult. In only a split second though, I'm finally able to hear clearer!
"We don't mean any harm!" Mimi begs. "Please we were brought into this world by some unknown wormhole and we just want to leave!"
"Wormholes? That's exactly how invaders to our world have been coming here! You must be one of them! Take this for your insolence!" The unknown voice yells as it sends another ball of flames toward us.
Just as I think our deaths are imminent, Mimi's Togepi jumps in front of the ball of fire as its body glows.
"Togepi, why did you do that?" Mimi probes. "Please you're just going to hurt yourself!"
Togepi ignoring Mimi begins to cry as it surprisingly takes the attack and pushes it back. Togepi's immense power pushing the ball of fire away causes the attacker to finally reveal himself as he narrowly dodges his own attack. He looks like a humanoid rabbit with white skin. The middle portion of his head has a red hue. His fur seems to include a pair of red pants, and his legs are blue-coloured. It's a very strange colour scheme for sure!
"You dare attack me? A vassal of the great Thundurus? You will die for redirecting my own attack!"
"Please stop master Cinderace!" Ralts begs kneeling on the floor with his hands in the air, as our attacker prepares another fireball. "Please I'm begging you, these are my friends. They're innocent I promise you."
Huh, master Cinderace? Ralts knows this person? I knew it, I knew he's conspiring to hurt us! That little rat!
"Who are you?" Cinderace asks.
"My name is Ralts. I have lost my family and these humans have protected me and sheltered me. Please understand I was also afraid of them when I first encountered them, but they comforted me and protected me from a swarm of Beedrills. I owe my life to these humans! Don't you fulfill requests for commoner Pokémon like myself? My request is to please spare their lives and see them as innocent. If you're upset about Togepi redirecting your attack, keep in mind they're just a little baby and weren't even commanded by anyone. They just wanted to keep themselves and their friends safe."
Cinderace cancels his attack as he stands there with his eyes closed. His facial expression definitely doesn't encourage me, since he's twitching rapidly and squinting his strong sharp features. Gradually though, Cinderace's sharp expression turns into an expressionless face, as he calms his movement. Finally, he lets out a grin.
"Ralts! I accept your request!"
We all let out a sigh of relief.
"On one condition!"
My jaw drops as I can see the others all huddle together with their eyes closed.
"Yes, master Cinderace?" Ralts questions shivering.
"There is an item in Thunderwave Cave that I request your so-called friends and saviours fetch for me. If all of you could complete my request, I will believe in what you say. I will then welcome everyone to this place known as Pokémon Square."
Ralts heaves a sigh of relief and wipes his head.
"I don't mean to interrupt," Kouki says, still huddling with the others. "However, what happens if we fail?"
"If you fail then that means I won't have to deal with you!" Cinderace chuckles. "Thunderwave Cave is home to many Electric-Type Pokémon who can zap your very existence away. If you manage to avoid them you will succeed, and if not then you'll be gone from this world. Is that understood?"
All of us nod as I shiver and gulp. Not only does this seem like suicide, but even if we succeed, it just doesn't feel like Cinderace will do as he promised. All of this looks like a trap.
"I see all of you understand and agree," Cinderace says grinning. "Very well. Ralts do you happen to know the way to Thunderwave Cave?"
"Um yes, I do Master Cinderace!"
"Excellent, I will have you lead the way. Once you are done, meet me at the entrance of Thunderwave Cave, as I will then see if you collected the right item or not. Goodbye!"
Cinderace lets out a bright flash of light, which hurts my eyes even when I close them. When I open my eyes, I see he's completely vanished!
"Oh my, how did that happen?" Riri questions.
"Cinderace is one of the three vassals of our greater guardian, Thundurus. He is granted special powers to teleport back and forth anywhere he pleases as long as it is on the Air Continent."
"Air Continent?" Mimi questions.
"That's the name of the continent we're on," Ralts replies. "At least that's what my mommy told me. She said Thundurus is our greater guardian and beneath him is the lesser guardian known as Tapu Koko."
What is with all these titles? Also, how does Ralts know this much? Hmm, he's confirming my suspicions.
"I don't trust him at all!" I exclaim. "This must be a trap. He must plan to ambush us."
"Mizuki, we have no choice though…" Mimi sighs.
I clench my teeth and stomp my feet. These idiots just don't understand, do they?
"I trust him," Riri says. "I can understand why he attacked us at first. He was just concerned."
"Why would he want us to fetch some random item that he can get himself with his powers?" I ask still tense. "Like clearly he's up to something."
"I think it's because he wants to see if we are truly trustworthy ourselves," Riri replies. "If we do as he says, he'll trust us."
I pull my hair to the point where I force myself to scream.
"You're so naive Riri," I sigh. "I feel sorry that you're so innocent and misguided."
"Hey don't talk to Riri like that!" Jun demands.
"Oh, how about you just shut up Jun! The last thing I want is to listen to someone as reckless as you!"
Before Jun and I could tussle, Riri grabs a hold of him, while stupid Mizuto grabs a hold of me.
"Please everyone, stop fighting!" Mimi begs. "Let's have a quick breakfast before we head off. We still have some berries and fish saved up. Wait a minute, WHO ATE ALL THE BERRIES?"
"Um, I did loser," I burp. "I was starving last night. Also, don't ever touch me again!" I yell as I push him away violently.
"Oh my god! Oh my god!" Mimi panics. "Okay calm yourself down Mimi, we still have some fish left. But what if someone gets sick or something, oh no oh no!"
"Hey, Mimi get a hold of yourself!" Jun commands as he grabs Mimi's arms. "Listen, stop panicking! We still have food."
Mimi frowns a bit, before giving Jun a hug.
"Yeah you're right Jun, I'm so sorry!"
"Alright, like you said," Jun replies, "let's have some breakfast and head out soon."
Without another word, we all begin to eat the fish from our leftovers. Well, at least the others are. I take a few bites and throw it away. I can tolerate and gobble sweet foods, but anything with an unpleasant odour like the fish I still gag at.
Just as we start to depart, I feel a sharp burning pain in my right arm. I try not to scream or show it off, but Riri easily catches attention of the burn.
"Kiki are you alright? That burn looks horrifying!"
"I'm fine Riri, don't worry about me!" I beseech. "Oh my god, my arm looks hideous!" I scream as I see the patterns of burnt flesh covering my right arm.
"Mimi, do you have a first aid kit in your bag?" Riri asks, trying not to wobble.
"I should, let me go check!" Mimi replies as she scurries through her bag throwing out a lot of junk before finding her first aid kit!
"Mimi, do not come close to me!" I demand. "Do not touch me! Remember what I said about boys touching me!"
As Mimi lets out a sigh, Riri quickly takes the first aid kit and helps cool my burn down with a cold wet cloth. Riri made sure to disinfect my arm as well which hurts like hell. Finally, Riri applies some lotion and bandages it up.
"Thanks, Riri!" I exclaim.
I drop fast onto the ground in order to wait for my arm to feel better. As I wait for the pain to go away, Ralts comes up to me, staring at me.
"Hey Mizuki," he says.
"Yeah what do you want? Are you going to heal my arm like you did with my hands yesterday?"
"Um," he squirms. "Sorry I don't have enough energy right now. I have something else to tell you though, it's um…"
At this rate, it's just getting painfully obvious. He was clearly trying to catch me off guard when he healed me yesterday!
"Oh well, I actually know a berry that will help you heal your burn. It's called a Rawst Berry. I don't know exactly where in the forest we could find them, but I can tell you which berry is the Rawst Berry."
"Yeah no, I think I'll be alright."
"Aw why Mizuki?" Ralts questions tilting his head and frowning. "I promise it'll help you."
"Because I don't trust you, you idiot! I don't even know why I'm in this stupid world! After what your so-called master did, how can I begin to trust you?"
Ralts bursts into tears and jumps right into Riri's arms.
"Kiki how could you?" Riri scolds me. "Ralts defended us from Cinderace. I don't see how we can't trust him. Please just understand the world isn't some evil place full of hatred and malice! The world is full of love and joy!"
"Even if our world is like that, this world sure isn't! You're not going to convince me to follow along with your plan! I'd much rather go on my own way! I don't trust any Pokémon!"
"You're going to get yourself killed if you do!" Mimi cries.
"Better that than to be with you!" I scream.
As I continue to argue with everyone, I hear a distant moan. The moan sounds super familiar, it's from Smellanor!
As Smellanor moans more and more and even mumbles a few words, we all turn our attention to her. She finally opens her eyes and asks, "Where am I? What happened?"