Chapter 17

Resistance

On the grassy path en route to Cavetown, Squirtle and Quil pulled up short in the face of an approaching Electrike. His expression was like a frosty wind, his stride like a weighty boulder set in motion.

Squirtle's fantasy that all traveling Pokémon would interact peacefully on the road was crushed like the short grass under the Electrike's paws. Or maybe the Electric-type was not a traveler, but a wild living within the nearby grasses. Why then was he walking the path, talking to and picking fights with travelers?

Squirtle's heart sank as he considered their options. I don't understand where this Electrike is coming from or why he's doing this, but Blind Prairie offers us nowhere to run. No doubt the Electrike's faster than us, since it has four dedicated legs and may call these grasses home. We're doomed to put up a hopeless fight.

Quil uncurled from the defensive position he consistently took when startled, and hunkered down into a battle-ready crouch similar to Squirtle's.

The Electrike's cold smirk widened. He stopped his advance at fifteen feet, threw back his head, and howled a battle-cry to the heavens. His vocalization appeared to have no effect other than to psych himself up to fight.

"We'll harass him up close!" Squirtle said urgently to Quil. "Otherwise we'll be picked off by Electric techniques in no time!"

Quil nodded and they raced toward the Electrike on either side of the broad path: a practiced approach that allowed the possibility of flanking the enemy once they arrived. Squirtle used his arms as another set of legs so that he could match Quil's speed. He blanked his mind with practiced ease, like a seasoned warlord raising his arms for silence over the clamor of his unruly soldiers.

Squirtle reached the Electrike first, and slammed his weight against their foe's jade and gold head crest. The hit was solid, but the Electrike used the blow to spin away from Quil's attempted Tackle less than a second later. The hapless Cyndaquil came to a stop fifteen feet farther along the path. His mouth opened and his small chest began to inflate with a great breath.

Squirtle, with a mental nod of agreement, prepared to Tackle the Electrike as quickly as he could. His intention was not to maximize damage, but to distract their foe so that Quil could land an accurate and powerful Ember. If Squirtle was locked in close-quarters and struck by a portion of the fires, his Water typing would protect him from the worst of the heat.

The Electrike had already been preparing his next move since dodging Quil. The dreaded electrical humming emanated from his body. Squirtle, from his position so close to the Electrike, felt the air itself become tense. His plan of attack was momentarily scrambled as a wave of fear swept his being. An Electric technique was coming.

By the time Squirtle remembered to initiate his distraction, there was no longer any need. The Electrike faced Quil and opened his mouth. Squirtle could see muffled flashes of light in his throat, like lightning bolts being generated in the gray depths of a thunderstorm. Short-lived sparks popped out of his mouth as he howled once more. This time the sound was a bellow closer to a thunderclap than a cry any Pokémon could produce.

With the deafening blast of thunder came a visible distortion in the air that surged toward Quil. In a split second, the wave of sound and force had reached Quil and pushed onward relentlessly. Dust along the path was flurried into the air. The tall grasses lining the path were momentarily pressed nearly flat against the ground as the cone-shaped attack burst out of the Electrike's maw. A thunderous echo lingered in the air for several seconds.

"Quil!" shouted Squirtle. His own voice sounded wrong, and he knew he was at least partially deafened. All thoughts of an offensive were forgotten as he ran to his friend's side.

What had the attack done? Quil lay where the attack had met him, with his forelimbs pressed against his temples. He was shaking like a leaf, but made no motion other than the trembling.

Squirtle pushed his fingers into Quil's short furry coat, trying to gently shake him but ending up frantically jerking him about instead. "Are you okay!?"

"P-p-para...l-l-lyzed," Quil sputtered as he shook.

There was nothing Squirtle could do but wait for it to wear off. He turned his head and glowered at the Electrike over the back of his shell.

The Electrike had wasted no time in readying his next attack. Arrogant he might be, but he was allowing his opponents no respite. No mercy was forthcoming. The Electrike crouched slightly as the electric hum arose once again. Tiny arcs of electricity jumped between tufts on a fur coat that was now agitated and upright. Another, different Electric technique. Yet Squirtle had seen the move before.

The Luxio roaring and dashing forward. Pouncing at him and Quil. Squirtle stumbling to the side to get away. The yellow flash filling the area and the blast of electrical noise reverberating in the air. Quil being launched away. Slamming against the wall of some Pokémon's house an Onyx's length away.

No, thought Squirtle. Not again. Please. Once was enough. Don't do this to us again.

He was backpedaling now, keeping his wide eyes trained on the Electrike. The attack was coming, that was certain. Any window of opportunity to stop it had passed in the time it took to check on Quil. So it was time to run. Except the Electrike would easily chase him down; he'd already established that. He was doomed. Absolutely doomed.

No, the Electrike's eyes were fixed on Quil, not Squirtle. Quil was his target. Whether the Electrike knew it or not, his attack sequence made perfect sense: paralyze the greater threat, then knock it out with strong offensive techniques. Squirtle was the lesser threat since he was weak to electricity.

The Electrike wore an icy smirk of anticipation on his face as the hum built. How many times had he done this to other Pokémon? How many times had he used his unnatural power to abuse those he'd sought out to fight?

Squirtle stopped his retreat as Quil's paralyzed form came into his lower field of vision. Quil had no ability to dodge the attack, or even defend himself in any way. The Paralysis was in full swing by the looks of it. The Electrike was going to blast his friend with the Electric move. Just like last time.

No. This can't happen like last time. It was too horrible, too wrong. But what can I do against such power? He took a quick glance behind him. The path was empty, ready for him to sprint away while the Electrike was occupied with Quil. Yes, with a head start, Squirtle stood a decent chance of getting away safely. He'd be foolish not to seize this last opportunity.

The Electrike finished building up the electricity. He sprung forward from his crouch, heading toward Quil's trembling body. In a couple of seconds, there would be that yellow flash and blast of sound. Quil would be skidding across the dirt, knocked out cold, or worse. It was inevitable. There was nothing Squirtle could do. The Electrike was an Electric-type, after all.

But no, this can't happen. I won't let this happen again! Why are Quil and I doing all of this training? We're trying to combat Electric-types, not run away from them. We want to help, not cower in fear. Don't we? How can I work against Electric-types if I choose to not fight?

Squirtle scowled at the Electrike. A snarl arose from his throat. He did not fight it, barely noticed it.

I forbid this Electrike from hurting Quil! I won't let him repeat what Luxio did! This violation will end!

The Electrike leaped upward to come bearing down on Quil. Greedy malevolence shone in his eyes. Glowing electricity jumped all over his body, crackling with the potential to do great harm.

A focused stream of water impacted the Electrike right in his belly, in between all four of his legs. Instead of descending upon Quil, the stream repelled him upward so that he soared over both Quil and Squirtle. He crashed snout-first into the path behind them with a yelp.

Squirtle worked his jaw and tongue uneasily. When his Water Gun stream had connected him to the Electrike's body, he'd felt electric current passing through the link and shocking his mouth. Fortunately, it felt like only a small fraction of electricity had made it across. No doubt the electricity had been concentrated in the Electrike's head and front legs, or the technique simply was not intended to transmit its energy through water like that.

Nonetheless, he was elated when he came back to himself. He'd protected Quil, and stood up to an Electric-type for the first time! The latter was a huge achievement, as choosing to fight instead of ignore, flee, or cower was half the battle in his mind.

Quil still looked quite paralyzed. As the Paralysis had originated from an Electric technique, it would definitely last for quite a while, and not let up an inch, either. It would be up to Squirtle to protect them again, somehow.

The Electrike barked an angry challenge as he rose to his feet, water droplets falling onto the dirt. The iciness in his demeanor was gone. His teeth seemed to gleam as he bared them at Squirtle. The glow took on a yellow tint that intensified as Squirtle watched the Electrike run toward him.

That must be another Electric move it knows! Yes, I can hear the hum now. Well, I've already decided to battle this Electrike, so I won't give up now!

As the Electrike closed in, Squirtle could see the two fangs in its upper jaw were the source of the light. The fangs were elongated so that each extruded out of the mouth in a vicious curve, and glowed with electricity made solid. Squirtle cringed, but held fast to his optimism. If being bitten by an Arbok was unpleasant, how would it feel to have electrified fangs plunged into his flesh?

Withdrawing into his shell would be of no help, since it provided very little defense against the elements, if any at all. Dodging successfully seemed unlikely, so Squirtle had only one option. He readied his mind and body for a Water Gun attack.

The Electrike was a mere ten feet away when he slowed down to avoid Squirtle's Water Gun. The slow-down granted the Electrike the stability required to barely side-step the stream that spewed toward him. Squirtle jerked his head left to track his foe's abrupt change of position, but his stream became messy and unfocused with the jerk.

The Electrike was less than a second away from striking range. Squirtle could not focus his stream in time to produce enough force to push the Electrike back. There was no way out now. The Electrike would land his Electric attack unhindered. He yelled involuntarily as he ended his technique, resulting in a gurgling and wet scream of fear. The hum and yellow glow of the electric fangs grew in his vision as the Electrike lunged. But his eyes were looking elsewhere suddenly, past Squirtle's head.

A dark shape came between Squirtle and the Electrike at the last moment. It slammed its white head into the Electrike's forelegs and chest, pushing him away from Squirtle. Whether by whiplash or by intent, the Electrike's jaw whipped forward onto his assailant's shoulder and his upper fangs bit deeply into its brown back.

The threatening light and noise of the electricity were extinguished instantly. No echoing thunder, no flash of light, no sparks flying every which way. The electricity just vanished completely with no effect. The Electrike's assailant didn't even flinch as it pushed the Electrike back with the force of its blow.

The electricity...was ineffectual? Yet every other time I've seen electricity, it's been this immense, destructive energy. It's always been loud, flashy, intimidating. I don't understand.

The Electrike and stranger separated. The Electric Pokémon quick-stepped backward, still reeling from the doubtlessly unexpected blow. In fact, he seemed dazed. His face was contorted into a grimace, and his eyes were pointed at some bare patch of path, unfocused.

Now that the newcomer was not in motion and not right in Squirtle's face, he could examine it more closely. When he did, his brow raised in surprise. That short brown tail. Those spikes along its spine. The short and squat body. And yes, of course, it gripped a long bone in its left hand. The Pokémon turned its skull-clad head to meet Squirtle's eyes.

"Looks like you owe me again," said Bein.

Squirtle could not mistake him, even before he'd spoken; this was definitely Bein. His Squirtle brain must be wired to pick up on tiny features and cues attached to each individual, so that different members of the same species were distinguishable to him. Which miniscule clues indicated that this was Bein, Squirtle could not say.

"Bein!" cried Squirtle joyously, followed by a cough to clear his throat of the failed Water Gun's remnants. "How did y-"

"Battle's not done yet," Bein cut him off as he turned back to face the Electrike. "Come on, show me your strongest move, Zapper!"

The Electrike shook his head roughly then refocused his eyes on Squirtle and Bein. His fierce demeanor became cowed as he got a good look at Bein. A moment later however, his confidence seemed to return twofold, and he shot daggers at Squirtle and Bein.

Squirtle knew the tables had turned. While he himself could not face the Electrike in open battle with even a slim chance of victory, Bein was a Ground-type. He would win for both of them. Nonetheless, Squirtle was not going to be dead-weight. He would not be able to live with himself if Quil was hurt again because he had mistakenly placed all of his faith in Bein. His strategic gears whirred, quickly producing a bare-bones plan while the Electrike recovered.

"Bein, I'm going to sneak through the grass for an ambush, keep his attention!"

Before he jumped into the thick grass, Squirtle saw the Cubone blink an uncomprehending look at him. As if he hadn't made a lick of sense, or had spoken too quickly to be understood. No time to clarify his intentions or plan further, though. Squirtle inscribed the shape of a lunar crescent as he circled through the grass around the path, hoping to emerge just behind the Electrike. The brush made noise, indicating Squirtle's position, but what would the Electrike do about Squirtle with a Ground-type facing him down?

Squirtle heard the Electrike and Cubone clash once more in close-quarters combat. Bein grunted periodically in his coarse voice, maybe from swinging his bone. The Electrike made muffled growls like a Herdier with a toy in its mouth. No electrical noise rent the air. The Electrike evidently had the wherewithal to refrain from wasting its electrical attacks on a Ground-type. That meant it was using other attacks. Attacks that would be as effective on a Ground-type as on any other. Bein could still lose!

Squirtle hustled into position. He pushed his face out of the tall grass just enough that the Electrike would probably see him if he looked, but his opponent was busy biting Bein. Squirtle allowed the feral portion of his mind full control to line up a shot, so that when the moment arrived, he could draw from his Pool and let it rip. With an upward stroke of his bone, Bein threw the Electrike off. For a brief moment, the two were distinct targets, and Squirtle aimed to confidently hit only one. His Water Gun blasted out of the grass and into the Electrike's side.

Squirtle sustained his Water Gun for record time, and by the time the flow ended, the Electrike lay defeated on the soaked dirt. His soaked fur rose rapidly with his labored breathing. Bein had been advancing with his bone held high, but now lowered it and came to a halt beside the Electrike. Squirtle came out of the brush to stand beside Bein. The Electrike eyed them without lifting his head. The battle was over.

Bein adeptly twirled his bone and thudded its butt against the ground, before giving their fallen enemy a half-bow. Squirtle tried not to let the motion distract him as he fought internally over what to do. His eyes were drawn to the yellow coloring of the Electrike's fur. The Electrike was irrevocably an Electric-type, and highly dangerous as long as he was awake and able to use his moves. Squirtle knew from recent first-hand experience that even while fatigued, the power of one's techniques was usually undiminished, if ever.

There's no way I'm turning my back on a conscious Electric-type, especially not an individual like this Electrike. Not for my sake alone, but also Quil's.

His expression hardened as Squirtle made up his mind. Before he could change it, he drew water into his mouth from his Pool, and blasted the Electrike's snout with a Water Gun. He cut off the flow after a couple of seconds, aiming to just push the Electrike over the brink to unconsciousness. When he finished the Electrike's eyes were shut. He'd fainted.

"Fight was over. Why'd you knock him out?" Bein asked in a tone that was not incensed, but not kindly either.

"I'm far from comfortable around Electric Pokémon," Squirtle said calmly, "and that Electrike did not seem the type to take a defeat lying down. Sorry if I breached any taboo."

Bein's hard gaze on Squirtle grew distant. A new emotion like sympathy or understanding came into his eyes. "Fair," he said, and followed as Squirtle hurried over to Quil.

Quil still trembled, but much less violently. His voice was steadier, too. "I'll be able to move in a few seconds. His Paralysis is wearing off. Nice battling, Squirtle! I...I'm really glad you defended me against that Electric attack he was going to land on me. So thank you."

Squirtle smiled, pleased that he'd made a difference. Not only had he stood up to an Electric, but he'd won the entire battle! With some help. "Don't mention it."

Quil's snout shifted toward Bein. "Perfect timing, Bein! Thanks for your help!"

Squirtle quickly joined in with his thanks, but Bein waved them off. "Eh, no need to thank me. I heard the Thunder Wave and I was only a little ways behind on the path. I naturally rushed over."

"At this rate," said Squirtle with a chuckle, "we'll never be able to pay you back for all you did for us in Karprest."

Bein waved it off once again, but the corners of his eyes crinkled. Squirtle guessed he was smiling beneath the bony helmet, but couldn't tell for sure. The Cubone's entire head was concealed beneath the ivory bone except for a small area around the eyes.

Quil asked, "How come you were so close to us on the path Bein? What are you doing in Blind Prairie?"

"Mm. Been a busy few days. For all of us, no doubt. Bit of a long story why I'm here."

Squirtle was interested in the Cubone's story, but his attention was diverted by the Electrike. Would he be hostile the moment he awoke? At least he would be severely weak, and correspondingly close to passing out once more.

"I'd like to hear your story too, Bein. I have some questions for this Electrike when he wakes up, so Quil and I will be waiting here for a bit anyway, if that's fine with you Quil."

Quil head tilted in evident surprise, but he gave an affirmative. He and Squirtle joined Bein in taking a seat close, but not too close to the defeated Electrike.

Bein tapped his bone against one of his helmet's horn-like protrusions in a gentle, steady rhythm. A nervous tic? An idle habit?

"I'm no Chatot, and I don't like telling long stories. But fine." He paused presumably to gather his thoughts. "Saw you two knocked out by Stolt that morning. Left after that, made my way south to Vyre. Karprest isn't my home anyway, don't have one. Didn't like Vyre, way too many Planters. Heard refugees were gathering more northward, and eastward. I crossed the Karp with some other 'mon, came up to Blindhollow from the south."

His eyes narrowed, and his voice became even gruffer. "Did you pass through there too?"

Squirtle's face darkened as he nodded along with Quil.

"That Raichu took my bone tool set from me. Brought three of my niftiest bones from my place in Karprest. Now this one's all I've got. Least it's my most versatile, my favorite. Now I'm moving on toward Cavetown. Heard it's a refugee hotspot, and refugees means work for me. Building's what I do. Plenty of Grounders live 'round there too, can't be a bad place."

Squirtle smiled at that, and recalled the brief flare of kinship he'd felt with Keel beneath the Karp's surface.

"Wow," said Quil, "Sorry to hear about your, um, bone tools. But we're on our way to Cavetown too! D'you want to come with us Bein?"

The Electrike stirred. The three turned their attention to their fallen opponent. His legs stretched out, and his eyes slowly blinked open. Upon seeing the Squirtle and Cubone standing only a few feet away, watching him, he growled quietly in his throat.

Squirtle mustered up a scowl, and walked over to the Electrike in what he hoped was an intimidating swagger. He spoke in a stern voice.

"If I see so much as a stray spark, it'll be lights out for you again, Electrike. Understand?"

In response, the Electrike's lips drew back to show his teeth. The growl became more audible.

Squirtle pressed on, not knowing an appropriate alternative. "Why'd you attack me and my Cyndaquil friend?"

"Tch. Why am I attacking travelers?" His voice was weak from his bout of unconsciousness, but grew stronger as he spoke. "Listen, Squirtle. Imagine you were suddenly a Blastoise, with no explanation. Huge, tough, with ludicrously powerful water cannons on your back. You get into battles with the Pokémon around you like always, but they're like tiny hatchling Vulpix to you now. It's absolutely pitiful."

The Electrike shook his head gingerly as if in disbelief. "So what do you do, eh, what do you do? You have everything you could want, and life's easy. Every battle, every dispute, every problem is laughable to you now. A fair fight would be nice, like in the days past. That's not going to happen though. How could a fight between a Blastoise and a newly-hatched Vulpix be fair?" He barked out a laugh.

"You don't belong anymore where you used to live. Everything's wrong. You used to be like one of the blades of grass that makes up Blind Prairie, like everyone else. Some blades are bigger than others, yeah, and some are shaped weirdly. But now you're the one tree for miles. The grass around you doesn't have a chance of seeing the sun. More than ever, you want things to feel like they used to. You're yearning for some competition. So what would you do Squirtle? What else can a 'mon do but what I did?"

The explanation gave Squirtle pause. Was the Electrike wrong? From the Electrike's perspective, his attitude and actions made a twisted kind of sense. His hostility wasn't difficult to justify. What else would he do in his situation?

Squirtle tried not to show any of his doubt on his face. "Whatever. Let's get to the important questions. During the huge storm a few days ago, how did you feel? Did you come out of it a changed Pokémon, or did you not even feel different?"

This question went back to the musings of Quil and he shortly after speaking with Hayzin and his group. What exactly had the storm done to Electric-types?

Quil, now able to walk, joined Squirtle, and while Bein hung back, his posture betrayed his interest. The Electrike rose slowly to his feet, growled a bit in irritation. No signs of electricity though. So far, every Electric technique had begun with a foreboding hum. Squirtle suspected that no Electric technique could occur before that signature humming noise.

"What is this?" said the Electrike. "You beat me in a battle, so move on! I've never had a 'mon stick around after winning or probe me with questions about my life. It's weird, you know that?"

"I'm not like other Pokémon," Squirtle responded. "Answer the questions and we'll be gone in a minute."

The Electrike still had incomprehension written on his face, but he soon complied in the face of three expectant Pokémon.

"I didn't feel strange during the storm. I went about my business as normal, seeing as I'm an Electric. Next time I used my Spark or Thunder Fang though..." His eyes lit up with remembered joy. "Indescribable."

Squirtle, a bit unsettled by the response, continued his questioning. "Did you start to act differently after the storm because of your new power, or because of the storm itself?"

The Electrike gave him a confused look. "You think the storm messed with my brain? No Squirtle, no. How would that make sense? I feel fine, think fine. Only change is the wonderful, fantastic new electricity."

"So if some non-Electric Pokémon learns an Electric move, will it be supercharged? Or is it only Electric-type Pokémon that have been bolstered?"

The Electrike had grinned briefly. "Supercharged! I like it. But how would I know the answer to that? I'm an Electric-type, so I can't do any Electric moves as not an Electric-type. Sheesh!" He looked pleased at his cleverness.

Good point, Squirtle conceded. He tried to dredge up more questions for this rare opportunity of interrogating an Electric-type, but he figured he'd exhausted all of them.

"Am I forgetting anything?" he asked Quil, who shook his head.

"I'm leaving now, alright? We're done?" the Electrike asked, caught between self-confidence and subservience.

Squirtle stepped back with Quil to give the Electrike some space. He pointed back the way they'd come with a claw. "Go that way, where you were heading before our battle. We won't hesitate to attack if you do anything but walk away in a straight line."

The Electrike brushed against Squirtle as he walked away. It was not a rough push, but likely a deliberate one. His skin tingled for a few seconds afterward with a prickling sensation. If the shock was intentional, the Electrike did not show it. Squirtle wondered if he could even control the base-line charge of his fur coat.

"Fine, I was making for that direction already, obviously. No need to worry about us meeting again; I don't like to battle one versus three when a Grounder's involved. My instinct to battle instincts has been pretty relaxed since I left home anyway."

The three watched the Electrike walk calmly away, head held high. He exhibited no signs of having been senseless minutes before.

"You are totally immune to electricity, right Bein?" asked Quil as the Electrike's form dwindled into the coming dusk.

Bein grunted. "Before, and now. Current can't get through my body. Stops at my skin."

Squirtle was turning over the Electrike's answers in his head, when Bein turned to him. "You sound interested in the Zapper...boost. That because you're a Wet?"

"Oh, Quil and I have been trying to determine how this whole phenomenon developed, and how exactly it works now. We ran into a Zebstrika yesterday, the first friendly Electric-type we've encountered, but we forgot to ask him about the storm and his new capabilities. I'm glad you helped us get that Electrike into a position where we could ask him instead."

"Mm. You think you two have a firm idea of what's going on?"

Squirtle and Quil made the facial equivalent of shrugs to each other. Squirtle said, "Sort of. We probably know more than most Pokémon simply because we've been traveling, and have witnessed Zappers in action a few times now. We've thought about the situation a good deal while walking."

Bein grunted, then his eyes flicked between them as if considering a decision. The sky's clouds were a striking salmon color in unity with the sunset, and the blue of the sky had paled. Before long, Bein turned aside and faced up the path toward Cavetown.

"I appreciate the invitation to travel with you two. I accept."

Quil leaped into the air with a hoot of joy, almost a mirror of his display in response to Squirtle accepting the offer to travel together outside of Root Forest. Despite a tiny twinge of an unfamiliar emotion, jealousy, Squirtle couldn't help but leap up with a cheer as well. He figured he liked Bein. Straightforward, gruff, yes. He nonetheless came off to Squirtle as generous and genuine. They owed him big for all of the help he'd given, too.

After calming down, Quil spoke up with a sensible suggestion. "Squirtle and I have been battling all day long. Would you mind if we got some rest until morning, and set out then?"

The three would have been able to make more progress before the day grew too dark, but Squirtle and fortunately Bein were in full agreement.

The Cubone walked a few paces off the path. "Quil, mind burning away the grass here in a two-foot radius?"

"Does that mean..."

"A circle, four feet across."

"Er, sure Bein."

Some fiery embers and a controlled burn later, Bein set his bone down and dug his entire arms into the soil. With a frenzy of precise but vigorous movement, Bein dug into the ground. Loose dirt was sent flying every which way in a veritable fountain of earth as the Cubone descended. The dirt being dug up grew slightly darker with moisture as Bein dug deeper. Seconds later, he stopped.

Bein stood in a bowl-like depression, similar to the one in his Karprest residence. The walls were rough and little rootlets from the surrounding grass poked a short way into the bowl's space. Still, for being constructed in about five seconds, the hole looked rather comfortable compared to the plain, packed dirt of the surface. The rim was a little bit taller than Bein's helmet horns, and there was enough space on the bowl's floor for all three of them to lie down. No curious Pokémon would be able to see at first glance that the arrangement was any more than a hole in the ground. Plus, the path was not damaged, since the hole was made amid the grasses.

"Amazing," commented Squirtle. "We can sleep cozily in there tonight, right? This'll be a treat. Thank you Bein!"

"My pleasure. Learned the best way to dig quickly from a Diggersby when I was learning construction basics years ago. Cubone don't typically learn how, but digging is part of my trade. Worked hard at it until I had the technique mastered."

He pulled the bone into the bowl with him, laid down, and wiggled about to waterfall some loose dirt over his body. Appropriately blanketed, he faced the wall. He said nothing further. His eyes were closed. Apparently he was done with the world for the time being.

Squirtle saw that Quil was as perplexed as he was. They climbed down into the earthy basin. Quil curled up as he was wont to do. Squirtle lay on his belly, but the rim of his shell was caught slanted on the wall of the bowl, so he scooted closer to Quil and Bein. The only way to fit his entire shell on the basin's floor was to actually press up against the two others filling the small bowl. They did not seem to mind his contact. Finally, he was comfortable.

Quil's body gave a peculiar little shiver. The air was not cold enough to mandate shivering, especially for a Fire-type, so Squirtle chalked it up to excitement or coziness. Quil had said he used to live in a burrow. The present arrangement couldn't be too different from the way he slept with his family at home.

"Good night, Squirtle, Bein!"

"Good night Quil. Good night Bein."

Grunt.

Squirtle retracted into his shell. The world became a friendly darkness. His darkness. His waking mind eased toward sleep, like driftwood in a busy stream finally floating gently onto the bank. Quil's warm glow washed over one edge of his shell, and Bein's solid bulk pressed against another. Squirtle found it to be the easiest night yet to fall asleep. In his last thoughts before slumber reached him he wondered why, in Karprest's lodge, the prospect of falling asleep surrounded by Pokémon had been so frightening.