Chapter Ten:

Fragments Of The Past

Forward, one painful step at a time, guided through the pitch-dark tunnel by nothing but old memories and weary senses. He crawled onward, remembering how when he had last been here, he'd been forced to keep his head down to avoid bumping it on the tunnel roof, and now he was down on all fours, barely able to fit inside it at all. But he had no choice but to persist. He had no desire to remain in this pit for any longer than he had to, and as he knew now that somebody was inside the guild, then somebody would be able to tell him what had happened to Treasure Town, if everyone was all right, and if so, where he could find them. Assuming that 'somebody' was not an enemy.

On and on he went, for how long he didn't know or care in the slightest. Every minute felt momentous to him.

Finally he turned the corner and saw light ahead in his path shining down from the tunnel roof, and dragged himself towards it until he was finally directly beneath it. He straightened up, preparing to feel the tremendous strain on his back and his limbs all loosen in a second, but what he felt instead was his head collide with something above and then collapsed onto to all fours again.

He looked up.

Another grate?

There had never been a second grate over the tunnel's entrance before, and certainly not a grate reinforced by a padlock!

He listened closely for the sound of some presence. But none came. He reached up, and, with one strong pull, broke away the padlock so that the grate fell open like a trap door. For a full minute he waited, straining his ears to pick up signs of life beyond his awareness. But even still, the guild might be deserted for all the noise he could hear.

But he knew it wasn't.

And so he charged an Aura Sphere between his paws until it was large enough for a reasonably powerful impact, then held it with his left paw, gripped the top of the pit with his right, and hoisted himself out.

"NOW!"

He had a split-second's warning and a split-second's glance of an immense cluster of bright lights aimed directly at him and leapt out of the way as multiple Moves shot forwards and exploded at the exact place he'd been standing. The force of the explosion sent him soaring across the room and he rolled along the floor, still holding onto the small blue sphere that was his one chance of retaliation. He waited until another cluster of shots had been fired before leaping to the side and finally hurling the Aura Sphere at his attackers, but then another smaller Move intercepted his own.

Someone in the crowd had deliberately held back from attacking alongside their allies and waited until they'd had a clear shot, and Howl had barely a second to register this when someone came charging forwards on all fours through the little puff of light and smoke where the Moves had connected, and then his indistinct opponent lunged and crashed their skull into his stomach. His upper-body was forced down, and then his attacker spun round and kicked him hard, knocking him back to the ground and exhausting his very last shreds of strength.

That would have been the impact that had finally finished him and sent him into the depths of unconsciousness if he had not heard the voice of his attacker at that very moment.

"And now you STAY down!"

He struggled to open his eyes and saw the outline of the Pokémon who had spoken.

"B…" His voice was so weak and silent it was lost even to his ears, but still his mouth formed the name,

"…Bidoof…?"

-and then he heard the voices of the rest of his attackers, praising Bidoof for his skill and telling him how amazed they were that he'd improved so much, to which Howl heard him say meekly,

"Gee, thanks, you all! I'm really not that good…"

And then another voice sounded more clearly. A voice that, like Bidoof's, Howl could not fail to recognise.

"Oh yes, you are, Bidoof!" said a pompous, superior voice, "You most definitely have improved! And just when I was starting to think you really were good for nothing at all, you proved me - and Loudred AND Croagunk all wrong! Well done, kiddo!"

"Um… beg your pardon?" said Bidoof, sounding swayed.

Howl tried to angle his head off the ground to see the voices owners, but then the pompous voice snapped,

"Oho no you DON'T!"

-and then he heard sounds of movement and felt a small, but powerful beak jab excruciatingly hard into his chest. White-hot pain surged within him and he didn't even have the strength to cry out.

"No!" he managed to say, as he saw the owner of that familiar voice raise their beak again and prepare to strike a second time,

"CHATOT, STOP!" he shouted.

The owner of the pompous voice gave a little start and leapt away from him.

"Wha…" he gasped, "What was… Did it just speak to us?!"

Howl gritted his teeth and looked up at the two Pokémon beside him imploringly.

"Bidoof…!" he said, "Chatot…! Stop…!"

He saw their faces mirroring shock and confusion, and couldn't understand why! Why were they attacking him like this?! Why were they looking at him as if he were a deadly enemy?!

"What in…?" said Bidoof, looking dumbfounded, "What in the world?! Did it… Did he just speak, by golly?!"

"Yes…" said Chatot, and Howl was infuriated to hear a note of anger and wariness in his tone, "Yes… no doubt about it."

"How can that be?!" said Bidoof, sounding appalled, "Unless… Unless he isn't one of them? Unless he's not-"

"Of course he is, Bidoof!" Chatot cut across him, "Their leader thinks he can deceive us by making them act like they know us! It's obviously a trick! But you don't fool me…!"

Howl grunted as the small Bird-Pokémon lunged at him and forced his head back to the ground.

"You hear me in there?! No-one fools ME!" Chatot squawked, raising his beak high.

"No…" Howl groaned, trying to raise his paw, trying to make them listen to him, "Chatot… it's me…!"

But Chatot raised his beak ever higher, and now its outline was beginning to glow. He was readying a deadly Move that Howl had no way to stop.

"Hey? What's Everybody up to?" said a voice from out of sight. All movement came to a halt. "Everybody? What's all the noise?"

"G-Guildmaster…" said Chatot, the light diminishing, and lowering his beak, "Guildmaster, what are you doing? You should be resting…"

Howl heard a vague response about not feeling tired from the newcomer, and looked towards their voice.

There, standing beside the open doors of Guildmaster's chamber was Wigglytuff, the Guildmaster himself.

"G-Guildmaster, I must please ask you to return to your chambers," said Chatot, "Even if you're feeling wide-awake, you shouldn't be moving around so soon. And… I'm afraid you don't want to see this."

"Why?" inquired Wigglytuff, leaning his head to the side in an attempt to see past Bidoof, "What's up?"

"Guildmaster, please! It's not important. We've got it all under control. Please, go back and rest…!"

But Wigglytuff seemed not to have heard him, and continued to tilt his head to this way and that until Bidoof finally moved out of his way.

As Howl saw the Guildmaster clearly for the first time, he felt that if he'd had the strength to gasp, he would have done there and then. Wigglytuff was looking more battle-worn than he'd ever seen before in his life. His right arm was held in a sling and wrapped heavily in bandages - as was his left ear and eye, and there were dressings patched onto various spots on his round belly. Whatever had happened to Treasure Town had been enough of a skirmish to harm even the Guildmaster…?!

Wigglytuff gasped as he saw Howl, held down by his right-hand Pokémon, and took a frightened step backwards.

"Is that a…? Oh no! Oh no! They've found us already?!" Wigglytuff exclaimed, sounding panic-stricken.

"No, Guildmaster, we're alright!" said Chatot immediately, burrowing his talons into Howl's chest as he spoke, "It's just this one here who found us, and we're going to make sure it doesn't go revealing our location! We'll make sure to seal up the entrance again as soon as we're done here!"

Howl looked desperately towards the Guildmaster and reached out a paw towards him, "Wigglytuff…!" he grunted, "Please…!"

"How DARE you try to fool our Guildmaster!" Chatot crowed suddenly, jabbing Howl directly on the snout, "How dare you, you scoundrel! You scum of the land!" He jabbed him again, harder this time, and then addressed someone to the side, away from Wigglytuff,

"Everyone! Help me move this one away, please!"

Howl heard footsteps approaching and reached imploringly towards the Guildmaster, trying to speak, to tell them all who he was, to tell them all to stop! But he had only just felt several holds on his limbs when Wigglytuff cried out, "EVERYONE, WAIT!"

The hold's slackened, and Howl heard the Guildmaster's heavy footsteps rushing towards him.

"Guildmaster!" said Chatot's voice, "You mustn't let it fool you!" But Wigglytuff ignored him completely and told everyone to put him back down right away! Some voices were reluctant and concurred with Chatot, but Wigglytuff stamped his foot and ordered them again to do as he said!

Howl felt his body lowered to the ground again, and the figures all around him backed away to allow Wigglytuff some space. All except for Chatot, who remained perched on top of him.

"Please, Guildmaster, I must urge you to reconsider…!" he pleaded.

"Get out of the way, Chatot!" said Wigglytuff, stomping his foot on the ground again and glaring with his one visible eye.

Chatot gave a little shudder, and then obeyed, backing away out of sight.

The Guildmaster moved in close and searched Howl up and down, his mouth held slightly open, and his ears twitching every few seconds.

Then, at last, after gazing intently for a while at Howl's face, his open-mouthed expression suffused into a bright, unmistakable beam of purest joy.

"YAAAYY!"

The Guildmaster whooped, and as though he'd completely forgotten about his wounds, he leapt back and began to dance on the spot, cheering ecstatically and pirouetting to left and right.

Even in the depths of his wavering perception, Howl could not help but feel utterly baffled by what was happening - not by the Guildmaster's behaviour, however; this was in fact quite an occasional way for him to react, but only to news that was especially good for him!

What did he have to cheer about at a time like this?

Wigglytuff turned on the spot to face him at last, smiling like a little child, and said, "I knew you'd be back, Howl! I knew you wouldn't break your promise!" -and with sudden agility, he sped back to his side, helped him into a sitting-position, seized his paw with each of his own and shook it with incredible force.

"How are you, Howl?!

Where've you been?!

How've you been?!

I'm okay! We're okay!

Well, ah, actually no, we're not okay. Not okay at all. We're all in a bit of a pickle, actually.

-But YOU! How're YOU?"

"A-Ah…" Howl began, at a loss as to what he should say. But then Chatot's voice turned his eyes away from Wigglytuff.

"Guildmaster…? What are you talking about?"

"Howl's back!" said Wigglytuff,

"Howl's come home!"

"That's… not Howl, Guildmaster," said Chatot, glowering at him.

"Yes it is!"

"No, Guildmaster, it isn't."

"Yes it is!"

"GUILDMASTER! Don't be ridiculous! He's one of them! He's one of the Shadows!"

"No, he ISN'T, Chatot! Don't be such a big meanie!"

"Guildmaster, look at him! He has the marks! And his eyes-!"

"I am looking at him, Chatot! It's Howl! These aren't marks all over him, it's just dirt!"

'Dirt?' Howl thought, looking down at his own body. Dirt was not the only thing he was covered in. In fact, it was no wonder that nobody had recognised him at first glance; he could barely recognise himself.

"Tell 'em, Howl!" said Wigglytuff, turning to him, "Tell 'em it's you!"

"Guildmaster!" said Chatot at once, "That is not Howl! You are making a terrible mistake!"

"No, Chatot, you're the one who's making a mistake!" retorted Wigglytuff, "Tell him, Howl!"

But when the Guildmaster looked back, it was not to see him respond or concur with what had just been claimed; instead Howl was gazing towards the gathering of Pokémon that Chatot was stood ahead of.

"Everyone…" Howl breathed, feeling a terrible weight on his shoulders lift gradually. The members of the guild were all there, and all alright. Sunflora, Chimecho, Loudred, Croagunk, Corphish, Dugtrio and his son, Diglett, Bidoof and then Chatot. They were all alive.

-But then, he found himself wondering, where were the others?

Where were his fellow recruits?

Where was Illume?!

"Okay then!" said Wigglytuff, pulling on Howl's arm,

"We'll prove it to you, Chatot! I show you that this is Howl - all evolved up! Come on, Howl! Come ON!" Wigglytuff nagged and urged until Howl finally stood up and allowed himself to be pulled away from the others' frightened, wary eyes. Wigglytuff guided him through into his chambers, closing the door behind them as they went, and steered him over to the wall at the end of his room, where a large flag decorated with Wigglytuff's own face was hung, and pushed it aside.

To Howl's great surprise, there was not a blank wall behind the flag - which he now took to be a kind of veil - but there was another wooden door! Wigglytuff pushed it open and ushered him through.

As soon as he was inside, Howl felt cool air on his body and heard the sound of wind stirring up high above. The floor beneath him was of smooth stone, and the air in his lungs was the most fresh and clean air he'd breathed all that day.

Wigglytuff's secret room gave a powerful impression of natural beauty. At the far end of the room was a large opening in the wall, through which the view would no doubt have been impressive if he took the time to look properly, and in the middle of the room was a large pool of clear-blue water.

"It's cool, isn't it?" Wigglytuff asked from beyond the flag, "Rainwater's been falling through that hole in the ceiling for ages now!"

Howl turned his gaze skyward, and sure enough, above the pool in the middle of the room was a large hole through which he could see the dim, smoke-ridden sky still desperately trying to allow the sun to blaze through it all.

He drew in close to the middle of the room and looked into his own reflection.

"Guildmaster…" he said finally, hardly able to believe what he was looking at, "how did you recognise me?"

"I'm not really sure!" said Wigglytuff happily, "But when I saw your eyes up close, Howl, I could just tell! I knew you'd come back someday, I just knew it!"

Howl said nothing. Normally he would have been bursting with responses to the things the Guildmaster had said, but somehow he was not right now. He crouched, scooped water out from the pool and splashed a few pawfuls of the liquid into his eyes before moving down to his shoulders. A silence reigned, in which he heard Wigglytuff humming quietly to himself and, even though it was far away now, the fire of the town still burning and crackling. When he'd been cleaning himself for a few minutes, he said, "Guildmaster… I'm so glad to see you again. And I'm glad that Chatot and the others are all alright too.

But…" He paused in the motion of splashing water onto his chest, and closed his eyes, letting the water fall back into the pool.

"Yes, Howl? What is it?" asked Wigglytuff's voice.

He did could not answer right away. He realised now just how much he'd been dreading this moment. The moment he would ask a question which he knew he must ask.

What had happened while he'd been away? What had happened to Treasure Town? Where were the town citizens and the other guild recruits? Where was Illume?

He heard a voice and opened his eyes.

"Guildmaster…?" he said, before he felt his mind drifting away and saw his surroundings disappear around him.

He was waking. Slowly but surely, he was waking. His mind felt like it was being pulled from the depths of a vast, deep ocean back to the open air, where he felt real senses. Real pain and real warmth along his body.

He heard a voice, a woman's voice, humming a slow and nostalgic tune. He remembered hearing a voice like this a long time ago, in a place far away, both from The Forest and his old hometown, and at the time, it'd seemed to be disconnected from the whole world.

In the stretch of darkness all around, he saw a figure crouched directly beside him and mopping at a deep cut on his forearm. He recognised the figure as a human. And not just any human. It was a woman; the same woman, with the light of the sun blazing through the window behind her as if to show her long, radiant red hair glowing in its brilliance. She lifted her hazel eyes, saw him watching her, and smiled.

And then, in the blink of an eye, the woman disappeared and he felt his mind being pulled higher towards the surface.

The humming voice was growing clearer and clearer. He began to pick up other noises alongside it and smells in his surroundings:

Old, dry wood; the ashes that lingered after a burning fire; and the smell of cloth and some sweet, floral aroma.

He could feel cool, fresh air on his face and a deep warmth along his entire body from his shoulders to the ends of his feet, and he could hear the voice's tune more clearly than ever.

It was a slow, moving melody, empowered by the performance that the voice gave it. A tune so soothing he felt it ease the pain in his centre and fill his mind with some of the most wonderful memories of his life.

Eventually, at what seemed to be hours later to him, the melody came to an end, and, with a tremendous effort, he opened his eyes.

He was lying on his back and looking up at an angular wooden ceiling. He shifted his limbs cautiously, clenching and unclenching his paws, before sitting carefully upright. He gritted his teeth as a sudden dull pain swept through him and looked around.

He had been sleeping in what appeared to be some kind of cot, and he appeared to have awakened inside some kind of cabin.

The floor and walls were formed of identical wooden boards, there was an armchair before a fireplace in a close-by corner, and all around in what was a relatively small room were strange box-shaped objects and spaces he could only assume were used for storage, as some were laid wide open with the contents sprawled haphazardly.

He heard a voice breathe a sigh and looked sharply towards it just as the owner of the voice themself turned to face him.

"H-Howl!" said Sally, standing up from her chair and stepping through the balcony door back into the room,

"You're awake."

She approached slowly and knelt beside him.

"How're you feeling?" she asked.

"…I'm OK," he replied, and even his telepathic voice sounded strained.

"You don't sound OK to me," Sally persisted, noticing this.

He shifted uncomfortably and rubbed his forehead.

"…My head hurts a little…" he admitted finally, "and my body feels… kind of heavy."

He paused.

"But I'm all right," he concluded, "I'm fine… I'm… alive…"

He looked around again.

"Where are we?"

"This is, uh… my room," said Sally, "You blacked out and I had to drag you up here. Can't say I blame you, though. You got stabbed right in the gut. And that fall of yours can't have made things any better…"

"You… You saved me?"

Sally's brow furrowed a little and she shook her head.

"W-Well, no… You saved me first."

"You brought me into your home? …You treated my wound?"

"W-Well, I… Technically yes, but-"

"Even though I'm a Pokémon…?"

"Y-…Well… yes."

Howl gazed silently at her for a moment.

"…Thank you," he said, "Sally…" Before she could say anything, the Pokémon raised his right paw and held it to his chest at the very tip of the spike, and bowed his head to her in what she thought looked like some kind of salute.

"Thank you, Sally," said Howl, "I owe you a debt."

"No, you don't. Seriously, you don't owe me anything," she insisted, "I didn't know what I was supposed to do! You were bleeding like…"

She shivered.

"I was so scared you might not end up waking up at all," she continued,

"And, honestly? …If it hadn't been for your little friend, I think that might've actually been the case…"

"My… What do you mean?" he asked.

Sally gave a weak smile.

"I think it's fair to say… you've got a visitor," she said, pointing towards the foot of what he now took to be a human bed,

"If you owe anybody… it's that little guy."

Howl looked, and then he received a shock so immense it made every fibre of his being seem to jolt.

"What the-?!" he began, but Sally shushed him,

"Shh! Please don't be so loud! He only just fell asleep…"

"B-But-!" he stammered.

There, curled up fast asleep in the beige covers of the bed, was Pip.