Thank you all so much for all the views and comments! I appreciate them all very very much.
Behold! There is precious little French in this chapter. (I'll make up for it next time. mwahaha...)
Pokemon in this chapter:
Gryffin: Loxley-braixen, Zen-zorua, Tobio-pidgeotto, Delacour-fletchinder
Louis: Fuegneur-litleo
Lisette: wingull
Ilima: Vivi-sylveon, stoutland, toucannon, smeargle
Chapter 28: The Old South Line
We were only one day into hiking, and I already missed civilization. My bed, specifically. I missed my bed.
You have rested on the ground! HP, MP, and ED 25% restored!
And sneaking in Game maintenance when I was surrounded by people was a pain, let me tell you. I barely had time to handle the first notification.
Congratulations! You have leveled up!
Gryffin Higashi lvl 21 1326/6921 EXP to next level, €13742/268645
HP: 875/990
MP: 78/78
ED: 16/28
STR: 21
DEF: 23
VIT: 24
DEX: 35
INT: 31
WIS: 30
CSM: 28
LUK: 25
AP: 19
PP: 12
Once again, I was grateful for Ilima's presence. The future trial captain made high leveled battles a breeze; and although I felt a little bad riding on his coattails the fact that I got nearly 1400 experience from a single battle (that I really had no business being in) was very nice. Heck, Louis and Lisette had levelled up as well, as had their pokémon. But with everyone around, there was no time to do anything more than acknowledge the popup and close it immediately so it was no longer obscuring my view.
Game Alert!
Due to the fact that you did not go camping, [Base Camp] has been deferred. You must actually go camping if you want to unlock [Base Camp].
And there was that. Again. Apparently holing up in tunnels didn't count as camping. I had waved the Game window away with a frustrated groan as I arched roughly to crack my back. My stats weren't a problem, even if my ED was barely back to half full, as I hadn't really been hurt yesterday even during the horde battle with the swinub. No, the problem was I was sore. I'd fallen asleep all nice and warm with my pokémon and never once considered the number I'd done on myself rock climbing in the rain. It might have earned me an extra +2 VIT, but every muscle from my neck down was painfully stiff and there was a general all-over ache shivering through my body. That feeling you get right before you catch the flu.
Digging through the plethora of supplies I'd stuffed into my inventory, I passed out cold pills like candy. I was not getting sick up a mountain in the middle of nowhere.
Ilima had commandeered Loxley's freehanded fire abilities to make a small kettle of tea, and everyone had drunk their medicine without any complaints. As nice as a day of rest would have been, we still had a long way to go and the specter of Team Flare looming behind us. The pink haired teen might have been the only one of us who hadn't had a direct encounter with the criminal organization, but he could clearly see the way it haunted the rest of us. We were up and stumbling out of the tunnel just as soon as it was light enough to see, with our mud-covered gear, damp packs, and all.
I let Tobio and Delacour out to fly above us, confident in their safety with Ilima's toucannon circling about with them. After several joyous warbles, Lisette also released her wingull, though it preferred to stay closer to the group and was visibly spooked by several of my birds' steep dives and loud calls. Ilima's komala paid them no mind, content to cling to its trainer's neck. Loxley was also out, as was Feugneur, and the two fire types stalked carefully through the mud and brush, breathing flames over their fur when the dirt caked too thickly. My braixen was also snapping up twigs and brambles that littered the path after the storm, wafting fire energy through them with a frown before crunching them in frustration.
"Give me that," I scolded him, carefully plucking a small sizzling branch from his paws before he could stuff it in his mouth. "You've eaten like a dozen already. If you're going to spend energy steaming sticks at least let me keep it for firewood."
Loxley snuffled contemplatively, ears wiggling, then nodded. He still ate the little stuff, slurping up twigs and leaves to fuel his pyrokinetic abilities, but the larger pieces he handed up to me.
"Good to know we'll have a campfire after all," Lisette smiled, reaching out to offer my fox ear rubs. After a moment of careful considering, approval sparkled in ruby eyes and Loxley practically leaped into the other girls' arms.
"Treason," I declared loftily, hoisting my nose in the air with false disdain. Four sets of snickers tittered around me and I couldn't help but grin. A warm poking feeling niggled at the back of my brain reinforced Loxley's amusement. The yellow fox gave Lisette one last fuzzy cuddle before leaping down and resuming his hunt for sticks. Within an hour, all four of us were carrying a tied off bundle. More than enough for a fire tonight, Ilima and Louis both assured me.
It was a lot easier to hike when we weren't wading through a rainstorm. The path was still muddy, and the occasional sprinkle had our pokémon scrambling to huddle under umbrellas, but the old tracks with their gravel beds had dried out quickly enough. And the level ground and smooth inclines needed for trains made for fast traveling. We stopped briefly in a meadow for a quick lunch of more meal bars and another pot of tea courtesy of Loxley and continued hiking into the afternoon.
Surprisingly, there weren't a lot of pokémon to be found. A few bugs, which I blamed on my unwanted Gamer perk coming back to haunt me, mostly weedle and caterpie, that Feugneur chomped through with immense pleasure and a flock or two of birds disturbed by our own pokémon flying through their territory. The only other pokémon I noticed were a few oddish clinging to a slightly wider scrap of earth between the tracks and the rock face as we hiked higher into the mountains. They weren't worth the trouble to go after.
"We're basically on une falaise," Louis called back for explanation as we walked single file over a narrow section of rail. The supportive embankment that had once been built for the tracks was cracked in several places and crumbling into the valley below.
"A what?" my hands were busy clinging to the vines growing on the rocks for extra support. That was a long way down and my brain did not have the extra capacity for new vocabulary at the moment.
"The cliff," Ilima provided from behind me, his right hand rising to press into my shoulder and steadying me in the direction of not-falling. "It helps if you look straight ahead."
Solid advice, very easy to follow. Really. With a long, deep breath I focused on the wider ledge just a few meters in front of us. Loxley chirped from somewhere around my knees, steamy confidence fizzing over my mind. It definitely helped but I was still very grateful when the edge of the mountain was more than five meters away from me. At least I wasn't the only one learning to push through a newly discovered fear of heights. Lisette had a death grip on the straps of Louis' backpack so tight her knuckles were almost grey.
The sky was growing darker with saffron ribbons cutting high across it when the bluffs around us stretched to become a canyon. Thick forest pressed in on either side of the tracks, leaving only a thin open area covered in lush grass and a rainbow of flowers. A short tunnel was directly ahead, with the deep cerulean and rose sky of the far exit clearly visible as we approached.
"The bridge is just beyond the tunnel," Louis explained as Ilima had us carefully set our packs down near the entrance. "Cerf-à-vol is on the other side. Another tunnel and the old South Line takes us straight to Turin."
The next few minutes were an exercise in frustration, though one I should have expected considering where I was. Having learned our lesson the day before, the future trial captain sent his sylveon and stoutland into the tunnel first while the rest of us waited outside with our own teams. Which turned out to be wise. A buzzing snap, a flash of fairy pink and the wild flapping of wings pummeled the world around us.
Zubat. Dozens of them. Most had fled the tunnel in the face of Ilima's Pokémon, but the nocturnal bats were extremely sensitive to the sun. They didn't lack eyes, the organs just stayed undeveloped like an infant's and closed under a membrane that didn't fully retract until evolution. Light did get through however and none of the little blue bats were happy about being forced outside during the day. There was a pile up of the flying rodents as they exited the tunnel as they tried to avoid both the remaining sunlight and stoutland's thunder fang.
Feugneur spat embers as Loxley pulsed his ever-improving psybeam at the confused flock. Lisette and I had taken cover with her mareep next to the stone wall, ducking when Tobio and Delacour dove through the zubat, leaving ripples in their wake. Louis was still standing, smacking the bats with the sticks we'd dropped when they got too close. Ilima stepped back out of the tunnel with a whistle. His toucannon soared through and flapped her wings hard, once, twice. The shockwave sent Louis scrambling for safety beside us, and the zubat scattered under the force of the flying type attack. A few flopped on the ground for several wingbeats, but nobody made a move to catch or kill them before they finally flew off into the falling twilight.
"Oh, you can eat some poison types," Ilima quipped in response to a brief musing from Lisette as he followed his pokémon outside. "But only if you know exactly what you're doing. Most of them aren't worth it though, and zubat don't have enough meat on them to justify hunting."
He then walked Louis and me through having our fire types burn out the bat guano in the tunnel. Switching out his pokémon, Ilima proved that his smeargle was very adept with the move flamethrower. Loxley and Fuegneur eyed the artistic monkey with suspicion but were quite keen on the pillars of flame it was able to produce. The smoke from the tunnel stank a lot less than I thought it would, considering what we were burning, and a few more flaps from the toucannon had the air clear enough that we could safely move into the tunnel for the night.
Then the Alolan graduate student proved good to his word about poison types by rummaging through the clearing with us and scaring up a pair of oddish. The bulb pokémon were slow, likely due to the lingering cold weather, and easily dispatched. More plant than pokémon, dealing with the oddish felt more like chopping vegetables than something I should have gotten points toward field dressing for. We were shown how to snip off the little root "feet" first, then carefully slip a knife upwards under the tough skin so that we didn't pierce the body. Oddish were simple pokémon. There wasn't a mouth until evolution, as the little plants absorbed nutrients exclusively through their roots. And their "eyes" were really just tiny red nodules with lots of light sensitive cells. Gloom and vileplume, Ilima told us as he worked, had more advanced biology, giving them a more defined eye appearance and the ability to make simple expressions. But only bellossom gained enough animal-like characteristics upon evolution to have properly working facial features.
Sliding the upturned knife around the leaf top, Ilima pulled out the fronds in a single tug and then began peeling back the bark to reveal a white tuberous inside that looked rather like an onion. My Observe ability declared these to succulent fruit, of all things. Another shallow turn of the knife, this time vertically from top to bottom, allowed the bulb to be pulled in two, revealing pungent layers around an innocuous looking green center.
"These are lethal," Ilima warned, tossing the inner membranes far into the trees. They'd regrow, he promised. He also advised us to never consume the evolved forms of the oddish line. The base stage was edible if you didn't nick the membrane and cooked the bulbs. The older versions were toxic no matter how they were processed.
"Even bellossom still have the poisonous center like the others, even if they officially lose the typing," Ilima quirked an ironic smile. "The bulbs become quite woody as well. They aren't worth it."
I was half mortified to hear that, and half curious as to how the hell he'd know such a thing…
Sitting with my friends in the evening, though, watching the fire crackle as we waited for warm broth, was almost relaxing.
An eerie call, low and haunting, pierced the dusk. It hadn't been the first of the night and I doubted it would be the last. A high breeze toyed with the tops of the trees and whistled through black branches. I'd left most of my pokémon in their balls for the evening; only my foxes were out. Loxley was watchful, crimson gaze scanning the dark woods and steamy ears twitching at every sound. Zen was a little less wary, as a dark type she was in her element at night, but still had an ear pricked in the direction of the trees. Another howl, and even stoutland looked up from his snoozing position at the edge of the fire line.
"Maybe we should try to find out what it was?" Lisette suggested tentatively. I couldn't see Ilima's face from here, but Louis definitely had a strained expression on his.
"Lisette." I was more than willing to say what her boyfriend wouldn't. "Camping is a necessity for pokémon trainers, so we're going to be in the woods at night. But there's a big difference between being in the woods at night… and going in the woods at night." And goodness didn't that make me feel like a hypocrite, considering what I pulled back in Santalune forest? But that had been so low levelled I hadn't even thought about the dangers then… I'd sure relearned that lesson quickly.
"This isn't central Kalos. Wild forests like this are dangerous," Ilima admonished gently when he came to sit beside me and pass out steaming bowls. "And the best rule is: If you think you heard something, no you didn't."
"Amen to that," I toasted, raising my bowl in salute before sipping the warm broth. The oddish bulbs tasted like sweet onions once they were done and were delicious with a bit of beef bouillon and miso powder I'd packed. Louis and Lisette mulled over the flavor for a bit, unfamiliar with the bean paste Ilima and I had grown up on but drank their own portions readily enough. It amused me that the Game decided to add a pop-up to my soup.
[Rich Broth] +75 HP, +5 VIT for 30 minutes, attracts [?] for 30 minutes
Apparently cooking was going to be a more important skill than I had realized, if it could attract pokémon. At least that's what I was assuming it did, even if the Game didn't want to admit it (as per usual). I'd have to stock up on ingredients when I got the chance.
The strange call echoed again, sending shivers down my spine. With a low woof, stoutland stood to trundle more solidly to the middle of the tunnel entrance, effectively blocking it.
"I'll take first watch," Louis declared, before Ilima could beat him to it.
"Second," the older teen conceded easily. We'd already talked as a group about splitting night watch into three parts when we were out in the open like this. The second shift was the middle one, and quite honestly the hardest on the sleep cycle. I didn't look forward to it.
"Third, then," I offered. Getting up early wasn't nearly as difficult now as it had been before I'd been stuck with the Gamer system. Not getting enough sleep would still leave me cranky, but I'd be wide awake for it at least. I hadn't decided yet whether or not that was a good thing.
The tunnel from the canyon to the bridge was shorter than the one from the night before. It didn't have a service platform, so we were stuck sleeping on the ground we'd scorched clean earlier. With the opening to the bridge on one end of the tunnel and the rustling woods on the other sleep was a while in coming.
XYXYXY
The Game still didn't want to give up the [Base Camp] feature. But to be fair, we still hadn't needed to unpack our tents, sheltering in the tunnels the way that we were. I cleaned up camp, quietly packing away everything I could while the rest of the party caught a few last minutess of sleep in the early morning. In the silence, I finally had time to look over the rest of my notifications. Specifically…
Perks
[Firestarter] Fire pokemon are more likely to appear! +10% EXP gains for all fire pokemon. -10% MP usage for all fire type moves.
[Irresistible Fluff] Cute pokemon are more likely to appear! +10% effectiveness to cute type moves, +10% [REL] gains with female characters when cute pokemon are on your team
[Birds of a Feather] Flying pokemon are more likely to appear! +10% EXP gains for all flying pokemon. -10% MP usage for all flying type moves.
[Undercover] You're (mostly) successful at sneaking around. +1 to WIS, +1 to LUK, unlocks [Stealth] skill
[Sleight of Hand] You can pull anything out of that 'hat'! +1 to INT, +1 to DEX, unlocks [Deception] skill **YOU HAVE ALREADY LEARNED THIS SKILL. Choosing this perk will add 1 skill level instead.
[Flare Despair] You're Team Flare's new nightmare! +10% to all STATS when fighting Team Flare, +10% to REL gains for defeating Team Flare
[2][Flare Despair 2] You're giving them some real nightmares! +15% to all STATS when fighting Team Flare, +15% to REL gains for defeating Team Flare (Stat gains stack with perks of the same line)
[Winning Streak] You've beaten (5) enemies in a row! +€5000
[Winning Streak 2] You've beaten (10) enemies in a row! +€20000, +1 CSM
[Un Peu Plus] You can understand just a little bit more! +10% to [Kalais]
[Dark Diva] Dark Pokémon are more likely to appear! +10% EXP gains for all dark Pokémon. -10% MP usage for all dark type moves.
[Buckle Down] Sometimes you just have to take it. +50 HP, unlocks [Shields] in [Equip]
[It's Official] You're officially an official trainer! +1 CSM, €50000, +5 pokéballs
[Play Nice] You've smoothed over a serious problem, even though it's not your fault. +1 CSM, +Soothe Bell
[Grass is Greener] Grass pokémon are more likely to appear! +10% gains for all grass pokémon. -10% MP usage for all grass type moves
[Spot On] You've spun a pokéstop 10 times! +50 EXP, +5 ED
[Badge of Honor 1] You've gotten a pokémon gym badge! +5 CSM
[Compound Eye] You've got an eye for defeating Bug Pokémon. +1 WIS, +1 DEX, unlocks [Aim]
[Gotta Start Somewhere] You've finished your first Daily Quest! +1 CSM, +€5000,
[Boss Baby] You've defeated your first boss battle! +1000 EXP
[Run, Girl, Run] We thought you didn't like sprinting? +1 VIT, +1 ED, Running Shoes
[Lights Out] You've 1-hit KO'd your first enemy! +1 STR, +1 LUK
[Honor Among Thieves] There isn't any. +1 LUK, unlocks [Steal]
[Walking Dead] But you'll make sure they stay that way next time. +10% to all STATS when fighting [undead], +10% EXP when fighting [undead], +10% loot drops from [undead]
[Take Me to Church] You're learning a lot about Kalos. +5% to [Kalais], +2 CSM, +200 to REL with [Kalos]
[Making a Splash] Water pokémon are more likely to appear! +10% gains for all water pokémon. -10% MP usage for all water type moves
[Ice Ice Baby] Ice pokémon are more likely to appear! +10% gains for all ice pokémon. -10% MP usage for all ice type moves
I eyed the list with a grimace. None of the new perks were anything I was interested in. And [Walking Dead]? No thank you. I was planning to avoid the Haunted Hamlet dungeon for as long as I could. Probably not until I moved past my current level cap at the very least. The horror of ghosts and zombies aside, the dungeon completely undermined the recommended level it set with the nighttime effect making everything stronger and the constant horde battles overwhelming my team. The whole dungeon was a giant trap.
[Honor Among Thieves] had the benefit of a new ability. But the Game had already proven that I could learn skills offered in perks on my own. And I was reasonably suspicious that [Steal], no matter how useful it might be, would screw with my alignment just like [Deception] had. Not something I wanted right now, what with my tenuous reputation in the press. I could only pray that died down while I was on this trip.
Since nothing looked decent, I simply didn't pick a perk. Maybe the next level up would have something more interesting. Deciding to leave my AP untouched as well, I simply closed all the windows and focused on our little campout instead. The Game could wait another day.
With Loxley's help, I had leftover broth warmed up in time for breakfast, even enough to add a generous handful of the rice I'd packed. Ilima was especially happy with the impromptu porridge, humming happily around his meal. We made tea, too, and passed out another round of cold medicine to ward off itching throats. The last of the packing was done quickly, as it was really just our sleeping bags, and then we were off into the dewy morning.
The bridge was actually in very good shape, but I was still glad we'd waited for morning to cross it. Nearly a full kilometer in length, the aqueduct style expanse towered above a deep craggy ravine with a river deep below to connect to a high bowl-shaped valley. Only a few of the cream coloured stones that faced the bridge were missing, the heavy concrete still solid underneath. But with the way the lingering morning mist faded our view and the wind whipping up when least expected, being able to see was pretty important. At least the bridge was wide enough to feel safe; extending nearly two meters on either side of the double train tracks with a tall guard rail it was clearly designed for all different kinds of traffic.
A few bird pokémon flew lazily overhead, riding the growing updrafts as the sun strengthened. With more lush forest beneath and before us, and the temperature rising from almost frosty to pleasantly cool, our walk through the early afternoon was calm and pleasant. Dark grey clouds still swirled around the mountains, but any rain that day stayed up on the slopes during our hike.
The abandoned settlement of Cerf-à-vol stood at the far southern edge of what had likely been a fertile farming valley. A few scattered lines of trees marked out overgrown fields now tangled with encroaching weeds and interloping brush and forgotten orchards were practically pink from all the blossoms. It was still very pretty, in a feral sort of sense, with spring flowers and green shoots. Up the mountainsides, though, and creeping in to reclaim the valley, was a truly ancient looking forest. Even coming through the pass to the bridge, my Observe ability identifying elm, chestnut, and beech trees all looming dozens of meters high to create a living tunnel of green, with the occasional oak towering above the already high canopy like citadels. The abandoned village itself was small, even smaller than Sublé, sitting atop a rocky outcrop that looked like someone had taken one of the mountain spires and knocked it halfway over. A derelict church still stood clearly at the pinnacle, overlooking the valley, with rows of clay tiled rooves descending below to the city gates.
The tracks we were following cut through the very southern part of the valley, coming right up to the old stone walls and separating the village from the rest of the mountains. The remains of a dirt road went from either side of the village, but only the first ten meters or so from the gate were cobbled, the railroad skirting the edges with a simple raised platform to serve as the station. Most of the guard rails were missing, with just rusting twisted posts remaining. The gate house was in much better condition, terracotta tiled roof still intact and covering a screened entrance, where the entrance from the gate actually opened into a wall and forced people entering to go either left or right through narrow halls. As an extra layer of defense massive square guard rooms opened onto either passage, with the entire structure encased in a single square battlement. It was a magnificent example of medieval defense, and I couldn't resist sketching a basic outline once we got settled into one of the old barracks.
"It's such a shame it's been abandoned," I murmured, running a hand along the smooth stone wall. "It's so well built."
Ilima agreed, also peering at nooks and crannies and taking pictures of random architectural features with his phone. Louis had no interest in exploring the old settlement, though, having been there before.
"There's nothing out there," the blonde insisted as we were spreading our gear out to dry over various furniture left behind. "No one's lived here for decades."
Shrugging to each other, Ilima and I both snapped our solar chargers to the gate for some extra sunlight as we exited the gatehouse into the city proper. Lisette waved us goodbye from the bench of an old, dusty table that wouldn't look out of place in a fantasy tavern. The grin on her face clearly lacked any displeasure of being left alone with her boyfriend for an undetermined amount of time.
"You go left, I go right?" Ilima asked with a tilted grin. Vivi was already out and several steps ahead of us, eyes sparkling even more so than his trainers.
"Sounds good," I agreed. The mini-map hovering in my peripheral vision was tantalizingly crowded. The gamer in me was eager to explore, determined to fill in every corner of it. Going on this quest with Louis was absolutely worth the trouble, just for all the new and interesting parts of Kalos that I got to see. None of this had been in the 3DS games.
Skipping past the plaza's crumbling fountain, half filled with rainwater but clogged with moss, I aimed myself at the first row of houses. Cerf-à-vol had a single central avenue running up the length of the steep outcrop the village sat on, with tall steps on either side. The streets running laterally between the buildings were narrow, barely two meters apart in some places. Everything was built with the same pale stone as the bridge, with fading red tile rooves, several of which had holes in them. The majority looked to be in good shape though.
Shouldering open the first door I came to, I coughed into the dust and darkness. Loxley ducked between my feet to stand inside, a swirl of flame igniting in one paw to light the interior. Carefully picking my way after him, I eyed the old house for anything suspicious. Despite the flickering shadows from Loxley's fire, nothing jumped out at me.
It was a large house, with a pretty typical old European layout. The main floor was a single room with the kitchen on the far side; there was a rusty wood stove attached to a massive brick fireplace and an old beaten table off to the side. Most of the room was bare, the furnishings gone with the owners decades before, but a few odds and ends remained. A single chair with a ladder back carved to look like antlers was shoved in a corner, a single wooden box abandoned on the seat.
Unable to resist my curiosity, I slid back the slatted lid to reveal carefully packed porcelain in a bed of old straw and newspapers. Lifting the top plate, I could only admire the design. The outside was a soft green that ended with a floral circle just inside the dip of the plate, a botanical style illustration of a vivillon in the center. I ran my finger over the pristine silver gilt of the scalloped edge. The only thing wrong with the dish was the layer of dust that clung to it. How something so perfect was in this ramshackle village I could hardly fathom. Putting the plate back into the box, I lifted it so I could see the chair.
[Uncommon Item Found!]
You have found [uncommon] Jardin du Prismillon set de vaisselle.
Congratulations!
Furniture has been unlocked in [Bag]. Furniture can be used in your [home base], [base camp], or in Pokémonamie.
I'd barely managed to avoid dropping the crate as the game alert popped into my vision. Blinking stupidly at the unexpected text as I steadied my grip on the dishes, an incredulous grin soon pulled up one side of my face.
"I can loot furniture?!" I cheered down at Loxley, who shrugged still holding his flames.
This was going to make redoing my flat in Lumiose a lot more fun. "Bag," I commanded, and stuffed the whole crate into my inventory when the screen opened up.
Vivillon Garden Dish Set
Smirking ferally at the new section listed in my inventory, never mind the language switch the Game pulled on me again, I turned my gaze to the chair. It needed some serious wood polish, but it was in one piece so in it went.
Sawsbuck Back Ladder Chair
Cheerfully I turned my attention to the rest of the house, which was sadly empty except for a single antique kite (which I grabbed because the dusty canvas was painted a pretty flower pattern). But on to the next one! Rifling through the leftover furnishings scattered throughout the village was actually incredibly enjoyable, almost like the scavenger hunts from the old Animal Crossing games, only I got to keep everything. Most homes only had one or two items that I could recover. An old cauldron here, a few antique baskets there, the odd box of knickknacks. A lot of the stuff left behind was just junk like old boxes and newspapers. Oddly enough, there were several more kites in various colors and I was starting to wonder if it was a decorating theme. They were stuffed into my inventory just in case. And maniacal laughter bubbled in my throat when I found an attic intact practically overflowing with random stuff. Even if all I did was sell it, this was worth a few dusty hours of exploration. I got a variety of wooden chairs, a few mismatched side tables, an ornately carved ladies desk that would be absolutely gorgeous once I got it oiled up, and an old-fashioned bassinet of all things. If nothing else, it could be a glorified pet bed back in my apartment. Loxley certainly eyed it appreciatively. It would need a new cushion, but good enough.
There was also a stunning floor-to-ceiling bookshelf that I was super excited about… which of course meant the Game took that moment to slam the brakes on my fun.
Strength Check Failed!
A Base Strength of 75 or higher is needed to lift this object. Either the Gamer or the Gamer's pokémon must be able to lift an item in order to add it to [Bag].
Slumping next to the shelf I had just tried to shoulder up, I choked out a whine of frustration at the completely unwanted pop-up. Beside me, Loxley sniffed haughtily at the Game window, clearly understanding the insult it offered. Crimson eyes narrowed at the shelves I'd attempted to pilfer, and a pink glow swirled around his paws. The cabinet shuddered, the press of telekinesis scattering dust everywhere, but it didn't lift.
Strength Check Failed!
A vulpine pout split into a snarl, and my starter closed the Game window with his claws out.
"I feel ya', Lox," I comforted the braixen with gentle ear rubs. "I feel ya'."
There were several other furniture pieces I had to leave behind. Every last one of them stung, but none so much as the mahogany four poster bed left to molder in one particularly fancy house. I swore I'd be back for it, just as soon as I got my stats up to par. But even if I was willing to waste all my AP to raise it up (and I wasn't) I still wouldn't have nearly enough Strength. All the furniture I could lift was still a massive haul, and completely unexpected. Was most of it my style? No. But I was willing to bet I could sell most of it for a small fortune once I got to another Game-bent store menu.
Going back to collecting littles, I eventually wandered out of the houses to meet up with Ilima on the top plaza. The older teen was actually digging through the gaping entrance to an old general store, with peeling blue sign naming it Mercantile Paulette, and waved me over with a wide smile.
"Here!" he grinned, tossing me a small wrapped object. "This should be helpful."
Shaking my head with a laugh, I unrolled the old fabric.
[Skinner Knife] +5 STR, +15 DEF, +10% to [Field Dressing] and [?] when equipped.
After an amused thank you to Ilima, I examined the blade with a thoughtful hum. It looked like a fairly normal knife. Good bone handle, the wide blade was still sharp and only had the tiniest bit of tarnish from disuse because the cloth had been soaked in oil. The brown leather sheath was still in good condition too, and clearly meant to attach to a belt for convenience. The point was a very odd though, as it was almost rounded and angled down. The opposite of what I expected.
"So you don't cut through the hide," Ilima explained when I questioned it. "You already have a dagger, but this will be better as a working tool."
The older teen clapped my shoulder with a small smile and pointed in the direction of the old church neither of us had been in yet. After taking a few moments to attach my new knife to my belt, which actually required me to take it off and slide it on because of the simple design of the sheath, I took a moment to glance through the shop window without Ilima there. I didn't want to waste too much time, and make my new friend wait. That might lead to questions I couldn't answer. I still managed to snag some old jars and a spool of rope though. And waved away the stupid heart bubbles that insisted on hovering over my head. Again. (Why was Ilima so pretty anways?)
XYXYXY
The old church at the top of the village was the same stone material as the rest of the buildings, but it was clear that a great deal more care had gone into its construction. The stones were larger and more uniform that the houses below, and there were carvings of flowers evenly spaced along the front façade. What was left of it anyways.
The building had been a simple rectangle originally, with extensions adding a few meters width on the far end. Tall lancet windows dotted the sides to let in light; several were broken and the casements around them were crumbling from exposure. There were also sections of the roof where the tiles had slipped loose, leaving gaping holes into the sanctuary. There was a short bell tower near the doors. The doors themselves were solid wood and thus still intact, but the hinges were rusting with the nails twisting themselves loose. One looked ready to snap at any moment. Above the doors, still sturdy despite weathering and the spreading stain of the corrosion, was a carving of antlers with more flowers to the side. The doors themselves each had the image of a deerling pressed into the bottom panel, the pokémon kneeling to the center as if in welcome.
Ilima had left the door with better hinges cracked behind him, and I squeezed through not wanting to put any more stress on the aging hardware. If I thought the game wouldn't Stat Check me again, I might have been tempted to loot the doors as well. Architectural salvage, it's for a good cause I swear.
The nave inside the doors was dark, the late afternoon sun providing only thin streams of light that barely penetrated the gloom from various angles. A single aisle went through the middle of the chapel with short pews on either side, crooked and shoved haphazardly out of line. Most were warped and cracked from being next to broken windows or under holes in the roof. But before the pews began a dark circle was inset into the floor, barely visible beneath the accumulated grime. When I reached the center, the chapel was bathed in cool rippling light.
Congratulations!
You have discovered a Save Crystal!
Save Crystals allow you to access the [Save Menu]…
+500 EXP, +1 [Save] slot
Carefully eyeing Ilima, who was bent over a set of pews at the front of the chapel, I quickly accessed the menu to save my progress in my new save slot. It took me a moment, but something soon struck me. This crystal was pale blue, like celestite. The one in the cathedral in Micle had been deep gold, like citrine.
"Do different color save crystals do different things?" I murmured out loud, hoping the Game would answer me.
It didn't, and I was forced to abandon the Save Menu without any further information.
"Look at that!" Ilima exclaimed as I wandered closer, his sylveon sitting still as stone beside him. The older teen gestured at the far wall with a book in his hands. It glimmered with the telltale glow of a skill to be learned. "Oh!" He noticed my intense gaze on the slim blue primer. "A few prayer books are still in decent condition. Have one." He used both hands to politely place the book in mine. "But look!"
Following his direction this time, I was immediately distracted from the book and utterly failed to hold back a gasp.
On the back wall of the chapel, above a dusty altar, was a plaster wall richly painted in cool tones and silver. It was Xerneas. Despite being faded with time, most of the plaster was perfectly intact, with only the odd spiderweb cracks around the very edges. A soft celadon was the main background, with a deep forest green floral pattern tessellating across the whole wall. The blues of Xerneas' cervine body ranged from cerulean to lapis lazuli and almost shimmered in certain spots. At the head, wooden antlers protruded from the wall with silver paint beginning to peel from pale wood. The depiction of the life giving legendary nearly glowed in the soft blue light of sanctuary, and emitted an enchanting and peaceful aura.
"She's by herself," I whispered to no one, my fingers reaching out to ghost over the delicate masterpiece. "The bishop in Micle said churches always had all three legendaries with God…"
"All the churches I've been in are like that," Ilima confirmed, hands clasped in reverence as he nodded up at the legendary. Vivi was still staring up in wonder. "I think this might be a shrine instead. Kalos has been through a lot in the past century, if the village was abandoned and this was left behind…" He trailed off with a deep bow to the painting, pink curls and shining trial pendant bobbing in the low light, before moving rapidly to pick up trash and leaf litter that had accumulated around the wall.
Nodding solemnly, I helped the future trial captain clear away the debris cluttering the altar. Neither of us could leave such a clearly sacred space like so dirty in good conscious. Wordlessly, Ilima rummaged up some dusty incense and held it out for Loxley to light.
"…I don't think we should tell anyone this is here," I worried, watching the fragrant smoke swirl upwards. "If the religion in Kalos has changed…"
"It should be preserved," Ilima agreed plainly. "Maybe the Pokémon League would be willing to send a team to save it. But you're right, until then it's safer as a secret."
It was something to worry about for sure. Who knows what the church in Kalos was like politically, but it looked similar enough to the Roman Catholic Church that I wasn't willing to risk it. This shrine was special, something ancient and unexpected. I wasn't too keen on letting the Kalos League know about it either; seeing as Professor Sycamore was, however innocently, connected to Lysandre and thus Team Flare. Maybe the International League was a safer bet?
Ilima and I continued to tidy around the chapel, picking up books and pulling pews away from exposed spots. Eventually the pink haired boy wandered out ahead of me, Vivi giving the painting of Xerneas a last, longing expression. I wondered if the eevee evolution knew what the legendary actually was. Fairies were said to be unpredictable by nature, and even two generations of games after their introduction were still considered mysterious.
Dragging a few more pews away from puddles that lingered on the stone floor, I felt no guilt swiping two of the nicer pieces for my inventory. They would just mildew if left here. Considering the painting again, I went back to take multiple photographs of the altar wall. Even if it got damaged later, I could save pictures of it now. And while Professor Sycamore couldn't necessarily be trusted, poor man, Professor Oak could. Even if nothing came of it, sending the professor an email wasn't a bad idea. I was a sponsored trainer of his after all, and sending interesting information back to the lab was actually in my contract. If anyone asked I'd just say I'd forgotten to CC Sycamore. I was a teenager, shit happens.
Excited yipping interrupted my careful examination of the green flower patterns around Xerneas' hooves. Loxley emerged from the pile of debris with a victorious bark, a thin curve of wood held between both paws.
Broken Crozier [Rod]
An old church rod damaged from neglect +10(-5) STR +20(-5) WIS
The weapon had clearly been longer once, but either someone had stepped on it or it had fallen the wrong way or something. Now it was snapped in two, not quite a meter long with a smaller section askew down the stone steps. The top part was worn, the old paint was faded on the wooden body, but mostly intact. The head didn't appear damaged at least. A curved metal spiral was fitted onto the wood, the edge stamped with a small circular design with a fan-like protrusion on either side. A sense of familiarity niggled at my brain, but I couldn't place it. It was something between a cross and the antlers of Xerneas hanging above us.
But despite being broken the crozier could still clearly be useful. I looked down at Loxley to see my fox reaching back up expectantly, claws stretched in anticipation.
"You want to keep it?" I asked, eyebrows quirked as I returned the damaged weapon to the braixen.
A vulpine grin showed every fang as Loxley spun the remnant between his paws. Between their heights it looked like a wizard's staff next to him. A haze of white fire shimmered up the wooden shaft, burning away peeling red to the natural wood beneath and leaving a blackened scale pattern behind. Where my starter learned shousugiban I had no clue, but at least it would protect the wood. Finally, a torch of golden fire erupted from the metal spiral, and I understood what Loxley really wanted.
"Your focus…" I breathed. I'd wondered when he would finally pick one. According to the pokedex, braixen chose one almost immediately after evolving but Loxley had rejected everything he'd tried so far. Giving my pokémon actual weapons wasn't something I'd even considered, but they did have some of my Gamer abilities. Especially my clever little starter, with his ability to manipulate the Game almost as well as I could. Of course he wouldn't be satisfied with common sticks…
Eventually I picked my bag back up and headed back out of the church. The sun had fallen behind the mountains and the sky was dark orange as I climbed back down to the garrison. And Ilima was laughing and Lisette and Louis were just a little rumpled, well I was happy for them. After feeding all of my pokémon, grumpy tyrunt included fraught as that endeavor was, I pulled out the book Ilima had found for me and settled in by the fireplace for one of my favorite activities: reading before bed. Time to see what the Game had conjured up now.
One of the worst parts about being an adult is that I have precious little time for camping. I was never more than a casual weekender, but still... Nature rocks, but survivalist camping is a whole different ballgame. I really wish the games focused more on that part of being a trainer.
Cerf-a-vol is an old turn of phrase in French, and I don't know how common it is anymore. But it translates to "Flying Deer" and it means a kite. Yes, the shrine has a purpose. No, I'm not explaining. I also do not apologize for the detour into looting. Decorating games are a guilty pleasure and antique shops are the best.