"That's stupid," I replied automatically.
Florence looked fairly insulted, and she opened and closed her mouth a few times before responding frostily. "Say what you like, Trainer. You find yourself in the plains of Goldenrod, close to my community, called Enrui; that is a fact."
"But, but I mean-" she had turned and started walking again, so I struggled to catch up while continuing to talk. "Goldenrod – no open land – bit of'a forest, maybe – some routes – a plain?"
"This land has always been open, Trainer Monroe," she said easily, keeping up her fast pace. "You are not thinking of the Forest of Ilex, surely?"
Okay, now we were on familiar ground. "Monroe," I protested first, taking the stress off the first syllable. Then I gasped, finally managing to pull even with her (Drowzee was still lagging behind). "I know - 'bout Ilex Forest. I, I'm just confused. What about the city?"
"A city? Here?" Florence laughed, rather rudely, I thought. "You are sadly misinformed, Trainer." Also, she was really starting to get on my nerves with that whole calling me Trainer thing. "The nearest city is Violet, and it takes several days to travel there. In these ranges, you will find only smaller settlements."
Only my refusal to get left behind kept me moving. This girl had never heard of Goldenrod City? How could something like that happen? After all, it's only the biggest city in Johto, I thought sarcastically. That was assuming I was in the same region. But if I wasn't, how could so many other normal places still exist?
At that point, we passed a stick shaved of its bark and sharpened on the end which had been stuck into the ground. Maybe five meters away on the left and right other sticks had been poked into the dirt as well. I wouldn't have thought much of it, but Florence paused for a moment (which I was incredibly grateful for) and pointed it out. "There lies our border, Trainer. Make sure your majū notes it; a territorial dispute would be most unwelcome."
"My what now?"
She shot me an odd look. "Your Drowzee."
"Um, okay?" I glanced behind myself, sheepish at having to be reminded that I owned a Pokemon. Drowzee's eyes were open again and he was panting slightly. That made me feel guilty. I knew I should probably return him, but to be honest I wasn't feeling particularly safe, and having a Pokemon who could at least put others to sleep out there with me was unbelievably comforting.
Florence sniffed, then stalked back off once more. I wanted to keep asking her questions, to figure out what was going on, but she really, really wasn't helping. Besides, now that we had cleared one of the taller hills I could see a series of hut-like houses in the distance, with a beach not far behind that. And there were other people, most of them close to the settlement, wandering about, chatting, and doing chores. A giant fire was placed in the middle of the cluster of huts, and there were several people standing around it roasting things on sticks.
Something seemed off about the entire picture, but I couldn't tell what it was.
"My village," Florence told me as we continued speed-walking forward, her chin up in the air. "We are not the most elite, but we have two Trainers to our name," yep, there she went with Trainers again, "and we protect ourselves quite well. The majority of us fish for our livelihood."
"That's terribly fascinating and all, but I still don't know—"
"Florence!" a new voice (rudely) interrupted me. "Oh, my dear, wherever did you run off to this time? You know how I worry when you wander past the border."
A woman about Mom's age was suddenly running towards us from the settlement, if you could describe taking many, many tiny steps at an unbelievably fast rate as 'running'. Florence developed a rather resigned look as soon as she saw the woman.
"I… lost track of where I was, Mother." She faked a smile (even I could tell it was fake) when the woman made a small groaning noise. "Nothing disastrous happened; this Trainer found me."
"Oh? Oh!" The woman turned to look at me, then actually jumped half a foot in the air when Drowzee wandered up to stand nearby. She stepped back behind Florence, shivering.
At that point I realized exactly what was wrong with the village; there were no Pokemon. People were abundant, but no creatures were living alongside them. There weren't even any poke balls that I could see on belts, no sign at all of non-human life.
"It's alright, Mother," Florence said, more kindly than I'd heard her speak before. "Trainer Monroe may look young, but his majū listens to him." And there she went again with crazy terms. I frowned, noting that she used the term as a replacement for Pokemon – maybe it was a special dialect? I really didn't know much about that sort of thing, so I wasn't sure. "Do you know where Trainer Michael is currently located? We must discuss this with him."
"Of course," Florence's mother said quietly, pointing in the direction of a group of older men who were talking animatedly. Florence walked off towards them without another word and I followed her belatedly, sneaking a glance behind me. The woman had her eyes fixed on Drowzee, almost like she was scared to let him out of her sight.
"Zeee, Drow dru," Drowzee suddenly said next to me, making me jump and almost fall flat on my face. He caught my arm to stop me from falling at the last minute.
"Uh, thanks." I peered over at him. "Though… you do realize I've got no idea what you're saying?"
His trunk flicked up, then down.
"Okay then." Drowzee continued staring at me, like he was trying to communicate in some fashion that didn't involve speaking, but I couldn't figure out what it was so I looked away a little awkwardly. My stomach chose that moment to growl loudly, which didn't really help the situation.
Drowzee was probably hungry too, for that matter, but I didn't like the idea of being nearby when he was 'eating'.
At that point we reached the group of men, and Florence had stopped and bowed respectfully. I followed her example quickly, though I probably botched it something awful. Drowzee stood next to me, looking around himself with a bored expression.
"Florence?" One of the men, a tall and dashing-looking type, stepped forward with his eyebrows raised. He stood out from the others due to his style of dress; his clothes were slightly higher-quality, and he also had cloths wrapped around his shoulders and lower arms. The other men stood around him with their heads tilted slightly in deference, so I guessed that he was important.
"Trainer Michael," she said quietly and actually respectfully, which shocked me more than a little. It also surprised me that he was a trainer; I couldn't see any poke balls on him, and most people displayed theirs proudly. "This is Trainer Monroe. I encountered him some distance outside of the borders. He requires food and lodging."
"Does he?" Michael looked down at me, smiling, and I ducked my head bashfully. I still managed to catch the look of surprise that flashed across the man's handsome face, though. "But you're just a child! You have befriended a majū already?"
I was also really, really confused about the emphasis these people kept trying to put on Pokemon. I opened my mouth to explain that I'd been a trainer for less than a day and that my dad had caught Drowzee, not me, but something about the way the others were looking at me made me sure that they wouldn't understand.
"It could be a trick," one of the other men pointed out. "Drowzee are psychics; this one could be using the boy, manipulating him to get close to us."
"Your concern is valid," Michael said quietly; rather too quickly, which made me think he was suspicious already. He turned to look at my companion, frowning. "Florence?
Perhaps it was just because I hadn't had anything to drink in quite a while, but my throat was getting really dry. I cleared it loudly, looking back and forth among the adults.
Florence looked down, speaking in a halting tone. She was frowning, I noticed, her eyes narrowed. "He – he saved me. I was in over my head, and-"
"It is not like we can trust the girl," one of the older men growled. Florence's head shot up and she glared in the man's direction. "She is an odd one. You never know what she might say."
"We do not question other members of the village, Albert," Michael said in a disapproving tone. "Still, we must be cautious above everything else. Therefore, I will test him."
I was getting really nervous by that point. I kept looking for someone to tell me what to do, what to say, but Drowzee couldn't really help and Florence wasn't looking at me. So I just had to slouch there awkwardly while Michael stood up straight, flung his head back towards the sky, and whistled piercingly.
For half a minute or so, nothing happened. Then I noticed a small shape shooting through the sky, heading straight towards us. I thought about telling someone, but then I noticed that Michael had seen the shape as well, and that he was smiling widely. The small, round shape barreled in closer, and I could finally see that it was a Hoothoot, slightly larger than was usual for the species.
The Pokemon shot down to us, arcing at the last minute and landing on Michael's outstretched arm; I saw why he had cloths around it right away since the Hoothoot's claws looked plenty sharp, even if he was only standing on one leg. The little Pokemon bent down to nip at Michael's arm, then said "Hoo, t'oo?" in an obviously reproachful tone.
"Sorry for waking you up early, partner," Michael said in a soft voice, "but I need your help."
I frowned at 'waking him up'. Why hadn't the Pokemon been in a poke ball; why had Michael needed to summon him that way? More importantly, I knew that Hoothoot were alright, but they weren't overly powerful. Why was everyone treating this guy with such respect? I took a step back, uneasy.
"Hoot?"
"I need you to test these two," Michael said, still calm, "and see if their bond is true."
The Hoothoot nodded once, then rotated his head around almost completely – which looked really, really strange – and focused his giant eyes on me.
And that was about when everything in my world turned upside down.
Special thanks to Lusewing for being the first to review! By the way, have I mentioned how much I love reviewers? Because I do love you guys a whole heck of a lot!
Also, fun fact: majū comes from Bulbapedia! It's the Japanese word for 'magical creature', an old name for Pokemon.
