Chapter 11: Dawn of the final day
I woke up with an immense sense of dread. It lasted for a long time, even after breakfast.
"Everything alright?" Asked a voice from behind me.
I totally forgot about Ember.
"Yeah"
"Another nightmare?"
"Not exactly. It's just a bad feeling. A feeling that something really wrong is going to happen today and I just can't shake it off for some reason"
She sat down next to me and put a paw on my shoulder.
"Hey, calm down. We still have this whole day off and you can't just be upset over a feeling for the whole day!"
I looked at her. "Yeah, you are probably right. It's just...I don't know. It's weird. Everything that has happened to me lately is so weird"
She giggled softly. "I can't even imagine. Turning into a Pokémon must not be pretty common, huh?"
"Hey, don't you go sarcastic on me!" I said while laughing.
A few moments of silence later, I asked Ember. "Are you feeling better about the whole thing from yesterday?"
"I guess. I still can't wrap my head around it. How could they be back without anyone noticing? It's as if they'd been planing this since the very moment it disbanded..." She said, a bit uncomfortably.
"Hey, let's talk about something else, shall we? You don't really look too keen on talking about this"
"Yeah, but I have an amnesic human beside me who doesn't know a thing about this world, so it is what it is" She added while shrugging.
"Hey!" I yelled.
Both of us finally bursted into laughter.
After settling down, I rested my head in my paws and looked upwards.
"You think Kit's okay? Yesterday he looked a bit...upset. It's surprising he hasn't called us to tease us yet"
"That's the reason why you think there's something wrong with him? Because he isn't calling to mess with us?" She said while smiling and rolling her eyes.
"Well, yeah! After what happened yesterday morning, I would never expect him to stop so soon!"
After her face went slightly red and she covered her face, Ember answered. "Please, don't remind me that, alright? It was a decision I made while being extremely tired and worried about you. And if he has forgotten, please don't remind him"
"Aw, but don't act as if I wasn't comfortable to sleep with! You said so yourself~"
I was rewarded with a small punch in my shoulder, and when I looked, her face was even redder. After some time though, she smiled and looked at me. "You'll never hear me admitting it again!"
I smiled even wider. "Well, I'm not afraid to do it. You were very comfortable to sleep with. It was probably one of the best nights in my life!"
Her smile faltered in an instant. "Ugh, stop doing that! You've seen me flustered enough already, and that's not helping!" She yelled in a fake whinny tone.
I bursted into laughter again.
You're so cute when you're all flustered...
Shaking the thought out of my head, I stood up and stretched my muscles.
After that, I grabbed my badge.
"If he isn't calling, I guess we'll have to do it, huh? Best to inform him that he's missed teasing us a few times"
"Don't tell me you enjoy it!" She yelled while snickering a bit.
"Only when he teases you and leaves me alone" I answered.
I pressed the button on the badge and a small click indicated that the call had started.
"Hey, Kit? Are you there? I'm just calling to check if you are okay and all"
After a few minutes of silence, I heard a small grumble noise from the other side of the line and then the sound of footsteps.
"Mmrg? Jake is that you? " He said in a groggy voice.
"Yeah it's me. I was just calling to see if you were alright after yesterday's events. I see you have slept a lot tonight?"
"More like the opposite. Stayed awake almost all night overthinking stuff. How about you? Slept well with your little girlfriend? "
"You couldn't wait to say that, could you?" Ember said from beside me.
"Nah. I was going to say it when we see each other today. Speaking of which, we haven't decided when we are going to see Spark "
"I forgot! How about we meet an hour from now at the plaza and then we'll discuss everything more thoroughly?"
"Don't forget the Elixir's!" Added Ember.
"Alright, sounds good to me. Anything the little couple wants to add~? "
I smirked. "Nah. We'll see you soon"
I looked at Ember and winked. "Alright, girlfriend, let's get ready!"
She softly laughed and followed my joke. "Sure, boyfriend. Let's prepare to see Kit"
"Are you making fun of me? "
"Nooo" We both answered.
"Anyway, we'll see each other soon. See ya, lovebirds! "
And then he hung up.
"That wasn't necessary, you know?" She retorted, while snickering.
"A little humor is never bad" I replied while smiling.
"I believe Kit goes by the same saying...".
"Well, guess I learnt something from him apart from moves, huh?"
"Shut up and let's prepare ourselves, babe "
"Oh, and that isn't completely unnecessary?"
After picking the laptop and putting it in my satchel, we set off for the plaza. Again, there was no sign of the Zoroark anywhere.
"You think that he's invisible again?" I pondered.
"Maybe? Can you check it with your aura sense?"
I nodded and concentrated. The familiar blue outlines and blurs of different colors became visible to me, but I saw no sign of Kit.
"Nothing. He's not here"
"Really? That's weird. Kit doesn't usually arrive late anywhere"
"Maybe the fact that he didn't sleep much was what made him take longer?"
"Probably. I've never seen him this upset. Not since after he tried to-" She cut herself, before shivering.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, just remembering unpleasant memories"
"May I ask what exactly?"
"I don't think Kit would like me to share it..."
"Alright then. I'll mind my own business"
"Lets sit down"
We picked one of the benches that was closest to us and sat down, looking at the fountain.
I felt oddly at peace. A quiet place and good company was enough to calm anyone down.
"This is...relaxing"
"Yeah. After the forest clearing, this is the second place I come too, though it's not too often"
I leanen on her and closed my eyes halfway. "I could sleep right here"
"Oh come on, you've already slept enough today!"
Not like this.
"Why do you sound like my mom?"
"Shut up!" She answered, giggling and leaning on me. "Honestly? I could also take a quick nap right here..." She mumbled.
I smiled. I wasn't normally to keen on sleeping outside of beds or similar places, but this wasn't bad either.
We spent at least ten minutes trying to snooze a bit when someone interrupted.
"Aha! I knew it!"
Kit's voice startled us enough to make us jump and sit upright. We eyed him with a surprised look and our cheeks red.
"So this is what you do when I'm not around?"
No answer at all.
"Hey, I'm just joking, you know? Sorry if I woke you up..." He added while rubbing the back of his head.
"Don't worry. We weren't asleep anyway" I said, a bit too fast.
"Did you bring the Elixir's?" Ember asked, without looking at him.
"You bet I did!" He said while showing us his satchel.
Inside, there were five amber colored bottles with blue caps. It also had a white label with a pair of green arrows in it.
"A whole pack of five! Let's hope it's enough..." He finished.
"You know how to operate that thing quickly, don't you?" Asked me Ember.
"Yeah. It will all depend on how fast the laptop works"
"No point in discussing that now. So Kit, where's Spark?" Cut the Braixen.
"He lives in the police station's dorm rooms, so we should begin there. We can ask the Pokémon along the way if they have seen him"
"Sounds like a good plan"
"Wait, he lives in the police station?"
"Yeah. He told me that all workers are encouraged to live there to make the response against an emergency quicker, as long as they want to, of course. Since Spark has no family in the city with whom he can stay, that's the best place to live, in his opinion"
"Woah"
"Exactly. How about we start our Raichu hunt now?"
"Hello there! How may I help you?" Asked the Growlithe recepcionist.
"Hi! We are looking for Spark? I believe it's his day off and we wanted to see him. Is he in the dorms?"
"I'm sorry, but no. He recently went to pay an old client a visit, and he hasn't returned since"
"That's disappointing..."
"Would be okay to know who the client was?" I asked.
"Hmm...He said her name was...Kira, I believe"
"Why does that name sound familiar?" Ember asked.
"Isn't she the Emolga we helped in our first mission?" Kit suggested.
"Yeah, you are right! Lets go visit her and maybe we'll find Spark!" I said
"Thanks, miss!" Ember said before we walked away.
"You are welcome!" She said while waving us goodbye.
The walk from the station to the Emolga's house wasn't too long, as they were in the same street. It had been a few days since we last saw her and her daughter and I wondered how they were doing.
Finally, the familiar house came into view and we knocked on the door.
"Coming!"
The door opened, revealing the small Pachirisu with the headband. When she saw us, she widened her eyes.
"It's you!" She said excitingly. "Mom! Come here! Look who has come to visit!"
After a few seconds, the small squirrel Pokémon walked next to her daughter and also widened her eyes when she saw us.
"You three! Team Indigo, isn't it? Welcome back! What brings you here?"
"Hi! We were looking for Spark? The recepcionist at the police station mentioned that he came here to visit, so we were wondering if you had seen him" I replied.
"Spark? The Raichu?" Questioned Dinorah.
"Yeah. Have you seen him?" Kit said.
"Indeed we have. In fact, he's in our living room. We were having a small chat before you came"
"Would it be okay if we could talk with him?"
"Absolutely! Maybe you'd like to have a cup of tea with us?"
"Sure! If it's not an inconvenience, that is!" Ember added.
"Not at all!" Yelled Dinorah while running inside.
After a small chuckle, Kira gestured us to get inside. "Come on in! Make yourselves at home"
The size of the house still amazed me. It looked like working as a manufacturer for the shop where explorers buy was very profitable.
"Seriously, dude? Not even when I'm visiting someone?" Said a familiar voice.
"You said that next time we wanted something, we should wait until you weren't working!" Replied Kit.
Spark was sitting on the sofa without his cap on, which was honestly something unfamiliar to me. He had a small smirk on his face.
We sat next to him and the Pachirisu went towards her mother.
"I'll be right back" Said Kira.
When she went to the kitchen Spark turned to look at us.
"So what do you need me for?"
"Nothing important. Just some help with another weird device again" Replied Kit.
"Are you serious? Again? Don't you have any other electric types in your agenda?" He retorted.
"Don't act tough! You liked seeing that weird device in action last time as much as I did!"
"True!" He laughed.
"So are you helping us out again?" Pressed Kit.
"If you can, of course" I added.
"I'd love to...except I have a lotta things to do today. Guarding the gate for almost the whole day means I have no time to do other things! I have the whole day full, sorry"
"Isn't there a way you could have some time free? We believe this is important!" Ember pleaded.
"Hmmm...I guess you could help me. I'd have free time and I could help you with the device!" He said, his tail twitching slightly.
"Deal!" I finished.
"Sorry for the delay!" Came Kira's voice from the kitchen. She and her daughter were carrying a few cups and a big kettle which I supposed was full of tea. After serving everyone a steaming cup of the drink, the mood enlightened.
"So how have you been doing, team Indigo?"
"Pretty good, actually! Yesterday we came back from a recon mission. It wasn't succesful, but we now today off!"
"That's cool!" Exclaimed Dinorah.
"There isn't too much else to do, since we haven't done anymore missions, but we'll be back at it tomorrow!" Added Ember.
"You sound excited" Commented Spark.
"Of course!"
Kira chuckled. "This is exactly what the world needs: More explorers with this kind of motivation! That surely will stop this horde of criminals!"
Everyone except for the two relatives tensed up.
"Yeah..."
The conversation continued for a bit, mostly about off topic things. It was a good way to pass the time, and I got to learn some small trivia from this world too.
Apparently, there has been rumors of a demonic Wigglytuff that has been lurking inside a Mystery Dungeon. The only ones who said they have seen it say it didn't look like it was able to use any moves, and claim that it kept repeating something along the lines of 'Why can't I sing?' coming from a femenine voice. Luckily, everyone seems to get away just fine. At least physically.
A freaky story if you ask me.
"That doesn't sound too believable"
Dinorah just shrugged. "That's why it's a rumor and not a fact"
"Well, I believe our time is up. We should get going" Said Spark while standing up.
"It was nice having you all" Added Kira.
"Are you going to visit us again?" Asked the small Pachirisu.
"Yeah, sure" I answered.
"Yeaaaah!"
After we said goodbye to the little pair, we exited the house. It was time for some errands.
"Alright, so are you going to help me?" Asked Spark.
"If that means we can see what this holds then, yeah!"
"Alright then. But be aware, I'll help you under one condition"
"Which is...?"
"That you tell me where the hell do you get all of this things and how do you know what they are"
My blood froze in an instant. That meant we had to explain to him that I'm a human.
"Can you give us a sec?"
"Sure"
We walked away from the Raichu and we began discussing.
"So what do we do?" Kit said.
"We can't just tell him, right? What if he freaks out?" Ember replied.
"Hey, if there is someone you can trust a secret with, it's Spark. If that guy says he won't tell anyone, he won't" Kit countered.
"But what if we tell him and the laptop just turns out to be useless? That would put Jake in danger!"
"Hey, I told you that he won't tell anyone, and it's not like he's going to kill him while he's sleeping, or something"
"I'm still not sure..."
"Maybe we should ask Jake? "
"What do you think?"
This was hard. On the one hand, if the laptop turns out to not contain any info, then we would have told Spark about it for nothing. On the other hand, if the laptop has useful info and we decide not to check, we could miss a lot of things, and Kit seems certain that Spark will keep the secret.
After pondering for a bit, I finally made up my mind.
"There's too much risk in deciding not to see what the laptop has to offer just because of the superstition that Spark won't keep up the secret. If Kit trusts him, I do too, so I see no harm in trying" I finally said.
Ember sighed. "So you are telling him?"
"Yep"
"It's decided then" Finished Kit.
We walked back to Spark. "Alright, deal. Now what do we need to help you with exactly?"
"Alright, so..." From his bag, he pulled a pair of papers. "Kit, you are going to the post office. I have received a package there and you'll pick it up. Just show them this and they'll give it to you" He said while handing him one of the papers.
"You two, I need you to go to the store in the commercial street to buy a few things. Here, I have them written down" He said while handing us the other paper.
"I will go visit my parents. They say something's broken and I need to fix it, and that can take a lot of time"
"That's it?"
"Yeah. Do you have your badges here?"
I nodded. "Take them out" He demanded.
After showing them to him, he took out his own, which looked like a police badge. He touched our badge with his and then put it in the bag again.
"What was that for?" Kit asked.
"Since we are going to be in different sides of town, we would best be in contact. Your badges can contact only other badges like them by default. What I did was 'tell' the badge that it has permission to contact mine, so you can call me whenever you need it"
So we basically exchanged numbers.
"Okay then!"
"Lets meet up at the fountain when we are done, alright?"
"Sure!" We all said.
"Then, see you!"
"Bye!"
The building was tall. Somehow, it looked like Hoenn's Lilycove department store.
"Here we are!" Ember yelled, opening her arms.
"It's so big! How come I haven't seen this before?"
"I dunno. It's hard to miss a building like this"
"Have you ever been here? You know, since you work at a different store?"
"I think I have come here twice or so, when what I wanted wasn't in Agatha's store, but that's it"
So what does Spark need?" I said while taking the shopping list out and eyeing it. "You'll have to teach me this stupid alphabet someday"
After a small laugh, she rolled her eyes. "I don't know, it's fun to see you struggling. Now, give it to me"
After I handed her the paper, she looked at it and gave it back. "He just needs a few eggs, butter and milk. I trust you know what that is?"
"Duh! I'm not that dumb, mind you!" I said with a small smile.
When we entered the shop, we were greeted by a small room with yellow tiles as floor, white walls, a small table and seats, and in the center, a counter. A Wynaut was acting as the recepcionist.
This was exactly like Lilycove's store.
"Hi, how may I help you?" He said, with no attempt to hide the fatigue in his voice.
"We are looking for food. Which floor is it?" Ember answered.
"Second floor"
"Thanks"
We headed for the stairs at the right side of the room, and we headed upwards.
"Ember, you won't believe this, but this store is exactly the same as a store back in my world"
"Really?"
"Yeah! It's a prefect copy! I knew it looked familiar from the outside!"
"It must be a coincidence"
"I hope"
The second floor was bigger than the first one, but it was almost identical. The walls were the same color, but the floor was bright green instead of yellow.
The desk was in front of us instead of to our right, and the floor was full of shelves and freezers to store food.
"It's exactly the same..."
"Hey, Jake! Calm down, okay? It's just a coincidence, alright?"
I gulped.
Just a coincidence. It's just a coincidence.
"Search for the butter. I'll get the eggs and the milk. Big drawing of a yellow prism, can't miss it"
"Thanks, captain obvious!"
We parted ways and I headed for the freezers. Since searching for the edible gold ingot was taking longer than expected, I began to question how these freezers worked in the first place.
How do they have electricity? Are there even electrical plants here? And how do they work? Are they powered by electric type Pokémon? Aghhh! So many questions!
I picked what I thought was butter at first, but after giving it a look, I realized it was just cream cheese.
I sighed and left the food back where it belonged, earning a confused glance from a passerby Sawk. I just smiled and waved back, which made the Pokémon shrug and then went back to whatever he was doing.
After I was certain that there there was no one nearby, I went back to searching for the butter, which was proving to be harder than I thought.
"Excuse me, do you need help?"
I turned around, and saw a Marshtomp with a small basket full of products standing behind me.
For some reason, he looked a bit familiar to me.
"Thanks, but I'm okay"
"Are you sure? You seem to be having problems"
I finally sighed. "I just can't find the stupid butter anywhere"
His response was chuckling. "First time?"
I nodded. "Heh. I was like that too when I first came here. Pretty big store, ain't it?"
"Yeah..."
He then went to a freezer to my right, picked something and then gave it to me. "Here you go!"
"Woah, thanks!" It was the butter.
"No problem at all"
"I swear I looked everywhere...If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have found it anytime soon!"
"I'm sure you'd have found it sometime"
A long silence followed, only broken by the buzzing of the freezers. "You know, your voice is kinda familiar to me" The Marshtomp finally said.
"Really? I was going to say that you were familiar to me for some reason..."
"Nah!" We finally finished.
"Well, I gotta go. Hope to see you again!" I waved.
"Likewise!"
What a nice guy.
I walked back to the stairs and realized that Ember was already waiting for me.
"There you are! What took you so long?"
"Hey, it's difficult to find something when you can't read! Thank god that that Marshtomp appeared from nowhere and gave it to me, because otherwise I wouldn't have found it anytime soon!"
"So you got a new friend?"
"I guess?"
"Come on, let's just go back to the plaza"
Arceus, this is bigger than I thought!
Kit had arrived at the post office for the first time since its opening. He never had a reason to come, as he never had anyone to send him any mail.
Alright... He thought while looking at the paper. Counter number four; special deliveries.
Since it was a Wednesday morning, the place wasn't too crowded, as most Pokémon were working.
The small lucky ones that had this time off ranged from a Scolipede that was being attended at the counter to the big Kangaskhan waiting in one of the seats, playing with her small cub.
The line to the counter was of two Pokémon, with an Ampharos being last.
When Kit took his place behind him, he looked at Kit and raised an eyebrow.
"Excuse me, are you by any chance Kit?"
"Yeah? How do you know?"
"Kit! I finally get to meet you! Spark told me a lot about you!"
"Wait, are you that Louie guy?"
"Yeah!"
"Dude! I've been dying to finally meet you! Spark wouldn't shut up about how well you coordinate everyone in the mornings!"
"It's not that big of a deal..." He said while rubbing the back of his head.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm picking up a few things from my family. It's hard to get a day off being a cop and all of that, so you gotta make the best of it! What are you doing here?"
"We are helping Spark with his chores for today so he can help us with something we found in a recent expedition"
"Really? That's right! You are a part of a team now, aren't you? Team Indigo, was it?"
"Yep!"
"That's rad. You get to see the world while I'm stuck here working every day. I'm not saying it's bad, though, but what I wouldn't give for a few field missions..."
The Scolipede finished her turn and walked away, so Louie went there and spoke for a few minutes with the worker. He walked away with a few parcels in his hands.
"I'll wait for you outside"
"Sure"
"NEXT!"
Kit walked behind the counter and showed the Delibird the paper Spark gave him. "I'm here to pick a package for Spark"
She eyed the paper for a bit before nodding and grabbing it. "Wait here, please"
She ran to the backroom of the building and came out a few minutes later with a big package. "Here you go. Anything else?"
Kit shook his head. "Okay then. Have a great day! NEXT!"
The Zoroark exited the building, and looked around in hopes of seeing the Ampharos, but nothing. No sign of him.
Where could he be?
"...no problems" Said a faint voice.
Kit knew too well what that meant. It came from the alleyway to the right of the building. Peering from the corner, he gasped.
Louie was being cornered by a pair of Graveler, one of them being a brownish color instead of the usual grey. A shiny.
"I won't give you anything! Do you know who I am? I'll kick your ass in no time!"
"Alright, Mr I'm so strong, we wanted to do this the easy way, but you don't want to cooperate, so we'll have to do things the hard way" He said while the both of them pulled something from their bags.
They pulled a knife. Both of them.
"Now, give us the parcels, or face the consequences"
Kit had heard enough. He silently left the package on the ground and turned invisible.
Grabbing a bucket that was full of muddy water from the rain, he slowly made his way to the two outlaws.
"You have three seconds"
"One" Kit was behind them.
"Two" He uncasted his illusion.
"THREE!" He yelled while splashing both of the Graveler.
"Aghh!"
"What the-?!"
Before they could even react, a Night Daze followed by a Bulldoze coming from Louie struck them, knocking them out.
A heavy sigh came from both of the Pokémon.
"Thank you, Kit. You are as clever as Spark says you are"
"It was nothing. I wasn't going to let you get stabbed! You know how hard it is to find a replacement for you?"
"And also as big of a dumbass as he says you are!" He added while giggling.
"What do we do with them?"
He picked his badge from his bag. "Hey, Louie here. Requesting police assistance for the capture of two criminals. In the alleyway to the right of the post office"
"Copy, on our way "
He left the badge again in his bag. "I'll stay here with them. You can go if you want"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm not a policemon just for my pretty face!" He said while striking a pose.
Kit laughed. "Alright then. Glad to have met you!"
"Likewise!"
"Hey Kit!"
"Heya, lovely couple!"
It was around one PM when Kit came carrying what I presumed was the package he was sent to pick.
"Everything went smoothly, I suppose?" Ember asked.
"Yeah. Had to beat a couple of bandits that tried to rob a policemon in an alleyway, but otherwise fine"
"Police...mon?"
"Yeah. How's it said in your pretty human language?"
"Policeman"
"Can we leave the spelling of words for another time? What happened?" Ember interrupted.
"I met the Ampharos that works for the police in the office. When I went outside to see where he was, it turns out he was getting threatened by a pair of Graveler with knives. I sneaked behind them and splashed water on them, so that left them vulnerable enough for us to beat them" Kit explained.
"They tried to mug Louie?!" Ember exclaimed.
"Yeah? Do you know him?"
"Of course! He's one of my childhood friends!"
"Well, your boy Kit saved his ass today!" He bragged.
"How lucky. The most interesting part of our task was when I met that Marshtomp..."
"Oh, so you got a new friend already? Already thinking of replacing us?"
"As if. You guys irreplaceable!"
"Aw, thanks!" Ember said.
"Yeah yeah, 'cus she's your girlfriend and all..."
"Shut up!"
After some small laughs, we sat on one of the benches, and waited for the Raichu to come.
"You think he'll come soon?" I was nervously rubbing my legs while talking.
"Calm down, okay? You're getting worked up about something that may turn out to be nothing at all!"
"You're probably right, but it's just too much to bear! I just need answers. Just that"
"And I'm sure you'll get them!" Said a familiar voice.
Spark just happened to be walking towards us, with a big grin across his face.
"Hey bud! I see everything went alright with your family?"
"Yep. I also heard the call coming from Louie"
"Yeah. I was there"
"I knew it"
We stood up from the bench. "Jake?" Spark said.
"Hm?"
"You want answers, I want them too"
"Oh! Sure, but we have to go to a...more private space"
"Forest clearing?" Kit suggested.
"Forest clearing"
"I swear everyone will end up knowing about that clearing at this rate..." Ember remarked.
The walk was uneventful, except for the questioning glances that Spark shot at me from time to time.
Once we were seating on the ground, and positive that there were no prying eyes anywhere, I sighed.
"I still don't get why we are doing this...?" The Raichu said, setting his satchel down.
"Alright, Spark. Listen clearly, and please don't freak out, okay?" I warned.
"Uhhh, sure?"
"Alright. So, do you believe in myths?"
"Myths? Not really. They are cool and all, but just fiction in my opinion. How does that relate to what we are discussing?"
I took some deep breaths. "What do you think about humans?"
He scoffed. "Humans? Those guys that are said to be the worst plague to ever exist? That enslave Pokémon all around the world?"
I winced. "Yeah"
"They are so overrated. So what they bring wars and enslave Pokémon? Don't Pokémon themselves do that too? I could name hundreds of wars that ended thousands of lives, and I'm pretty sure that some 'mons around the globe are still enslaved. So what that humans do that too? Just because they are a different species doesn't mean what they do is worse than what we do!"
He sighed. "Again, how does any of this relate to my question?"
I looked at my friends, and both of them nodded.
"I'm a human, Spark"
"And I'm the next king of Mars. Look Jake, I have no time for jokes"
"He's not lying" Defended Kit.
"That was the same reaction I had when he told me" Ember added. "His behavior just didn't make sense without that fact"
Every single hint of annoyance disappeared from Spark's face, replaced by a look of confusion.
"But... you look like-"
"A completely regular Lucario, I know. That's what we are trying to figure out"
Spark clutched his head. "Arceus above..."
"Do you need a moment?"
He shook his head. "Nah. So what you are a human? You are still the Jake I met, and your origins won't change it. Now I understand everything..."
"Yeah, so the weird device we found on that MD? It was human. A device to play music apparently" Kit explained.
"And the new one?"
"I can't explain it. It's too complicated"
He shook his head again. "And I didn't believe in myths..."
"Those words sound familiar..." I said while eyeing Ember.
"Anyway, can you help us now?" I added while taking the laptop out.
"Sure! Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it"
"We need constant electricity...here!" I pointed to the small hole were you usually would put the charger.
Spark inserted one of his fingers in the hole. "For how long? I'm not a battery, you know?"
"That's why we have this!" Exclaimed Kit while taking one of the Elixir's out.
"I suppose that means you expect to be at this for a while?"
"Yep!" Ember confirmed.
I was nervous, but I tried not to show it. "Alright, Spark" I said while opening the lid. "Ready when you are!"
Suddenly, Spark's cheeks were brimming with electricity, and I felt how the laptop was taking the energy.
"You okay there?" Kit asked.
"Yeah. I don't feel anything"
I pressed the 'on' button, and surprisingly, the laptop's screen lit up, making Spark wince. "Alright, now I do feel something..."
Ember and Kit sat behind me, looking expectantly at the piece of alien technology.
For now, the screen only displayed the 'loading' animation, until the screen suddenly displayed the default profile picture, the loading animation, and most importantly, a name. 'Adrian Gonzalez'
After a bit of waiting, the desktop finally showed up. And thank god that I know how to use the search bar, because that desktop was a complete mess.
"Alright, so we don't need any password, which is good, but weird. Now, let's see if there is something useful..."
Ember and Kit didn't reply. They were too caught up in looking at the screen. I couldn't help but chuckle.
There were loads and loads of apps, most needing some sort of internet connection, so those were out. On the right of the desktop, there were a lot of folders, ranging from 'Photos', all the way to the infamous 'Homework' folder, which, after tedious work of using my new three-fingered hand to navigate to its properties, turned out to be empty.
But one folder in particular caught my eye. It was labeled as 'Work shit', and after clicking on it, there were two folders and a file. 'Log videos', 'Reports', and a png titled 'Complex map', which was the same map we found inside the small room in the expedition.
"Jackpot"
"Isn't that the same map we found?" Pondered Ember.
"How's it possible?" Added Kit.
"Can you leave the explanations for later?" Interrupted Spark.
"Yeah, sorry"
"Let's see the reports first"
Double click on the folder, and we were met with three text documents and a .txt file: 'Report 1', 'Report 2', 'Report 3 (unfinished)' and 'Erika README'.
The 'README' file stated the following:
"Erika, if you are reading this, I just wanted to let you know that I only got clearance to write down three of the reports, and nothing else. Don't know what the higher ups are thinking, but we just gotta thank God that I'm not the one to write down the almost 100 reports on that thing. P.D. what are you doing with my laptop anyway?" I read out loud.
"What does that even mean?"
"Kit, the report you have in your bag, take it out"
Kit took out the worn out paper.
I double clicked on the first report, and...
"It crashed" I sighed.
"Ow!" Exclaimed Spark.
"Did that hurt?" Ember said.
"A bit, nothing much. I suggest you begin taking out one of the Elixir's, because that just took a lot out of my energy"
While Kit took out the small bottle, I tried clicking on the second report, which didn't crash Word, but was full of illegible text. It looked as if someone intentionally messed with the document.
"That's a weird report" Commented Kit.
"It's completely illegible, even for me. Someone must have tampered with it"
"But why? And who?"
"Dunno. Let's see the last one"
The last document was completely normal. Nothing could be seen at first glance, but after I read it...
"
Report 261 on subject 000
Day 29 of incubation:
Subject appears sentient and reacts to outside stimuli as expected.
All researchers are jumping in joy.
We have done it, we have created life from nothingness. The boss of this operation was skeptical since we had to literally break through time and space , and we didn't want to repeat the 'Mewtwo Incident' in a whole different world.
Below all of the medical details of the subject will be put.
"
Kit's face went pale. "That's..."
"The report we found"
"What does it mean?" Ember asked.
"I don't know. Let's see the other folder"
"Elixir, please" Yelled Spark.
"Coming right up!"
While Kit gave Spark the Elixir, I navigated back to the 'Log videos'. There were a lot. 29 in total. Each of them about five minutes long.
I clicked on the first one.
The video began with what looked like a Floragato trying to make the camera focus. Behind him, a Gardevoir and an Aggron stood. I couldn't recognize the background, but somehow, it was still familiar.
"It should be fine now!" The Floragato exclaimed.
"Finally! You took about a whole hour to set up a camera" The Aggron commented, rolling his eyes and smiling.
"Hey, shut up, big guy! The only reason I took that long is because your rocky claws are too sharp to operate a camera, and couldn't even get close to it without cracking the whole floor under you, so I was the one that had to do it!" The Floragato teased back.
"At least I don't look like an animation movie character. Where did you leave your boots and your saber, huh?"
"Guys, please. We are supposed to be recording a log for the higher ups" The Gardevoir interrupted.
"Sorry!" Both of them said.
The Floragato cleared his throat and looked back at the camera.
"Log one. All researchers have arrived at the base with no incidents, except the obvious transformation into Pokémon. The boss has stated that all researchers have the whole day to get used to these changes and begin with the preparations afterwards. Today is the first day of God knows how many in the attempt to create life from nothing"
"Good boy! I think you deserve a small reward for speaking so fluently and without messing up. How about some tuna?"
"I'm going to end you, James. You know that?"
"Can you cut the video already, Adrian? Every second you spend talking is one more second that you have to edit later! Unless you plan on sending the video as is, which I don't recommend"
"Audrey's right"
"Yeah, siding with your wife, how unexpected" The Floragato said, before cutting the video.
...
...
"Well, that was something" Kit commented.
"Is this what a movie is supposed to be?" Ember asked.
"Jake, are you alright?" Spark asked.
All eyes turned to me.
"The Aggron and the Gardevoir. That Floragato called them James and Audrey"
A pause.
"Those were my parents' names" I checked the video's properties. "This video was filmed the day when they went to work on a secret project before they...disappeared"
"What does that mean?"
"My parents were scientists. One day they were called for a project at their work and they told me that they would be gone for a few days, maybe months. Thirty days later, they were deemed dead by unknown causes"
A heavy silence fell over us.
"I'm...so sorry to hear that" Said Ember.
"Does that mean that the place we found in the expedition is where they went to work?" Asked Kit.
"And what does 'the obvious transformation into Pokémon' mean?" Added Spark.
"I-I don't know. I guess they somehow found a way to cross from our world onto this one, and tried to 'create life from nothing' which somehow went wrong?"
"That could be, yeah"
"Let's just...watch the rest of the videos"
The videos didn't have a lot to add. All of them depicted my parents and the Floragato, who I presume was the owner of the computer, explaining the current progress of the experiment. Apparently, everything was going smoothly, at least until our current video, which was number 28. Spark had already drank almost all of the Elixir's, leaving only one remaining, and one last video to play.
"Checking? One, two, three? Alright!" Adrian said. "Log number 29. Check this out!" He yelled while grabbing the camera. He was in a room with a life support chamber.
The same one Kit and I found.
Inside the capsule, there was...something. It almost looked like a Ditto, in the sense of being an amorphous blob.
"We have done it! We created life! I still don't know what it is supposed to be, but still! Following this, we will spend a few more days checking if everything goes well with it and then we'll get back to Kanto and try again there! Not much else to report over here. Expect a few more logs before I start with the editing and ship them straight to Oak for him to check. Adrian out!"
Just like that, the video cut to black.
"He says there are more logs, but I don't see them. What happened?" Kit pondered.
"Something had to happen. There is no way that place could be all destroyed if nothing went wrong!" Ember answered.
"But there is nothing! And if something happened and my parents were deemed dead...I doubt anyone survived"
That soured the mood a bit. I decided we were done and closed the tab. I was about to tell Spark to stop with the power supply, but I saw something.
Safe Place.png
The photo showed a massive landmass. "That's a photo of the Water Continent. That's where we are" Ember explained.
The photo had a small place circled in red. It was an island to the southeast. It also had a small text that read 'If something happens, come here!'.
"Spark, you can stop"
He gasped and the screen went black. The Raichu clutched his head. "That was harder than I thought!"
"We have to go to that island" I said.
"Jake..."
"Come on, let's go"
"Jake!"
I stopped.
"Look, I know you want to know what happened, but that island is on the complete other side of the continent! We can't just go there. We need money and time to prepare the trip"
"But I can't just wait! Everyone told me my parents died, but no one told me why! And now that I have the chance to know, I just..."
Tears began to form in my eyes. "I just can't live in uncertainty anymore!"
I felt a paw on my shoulder. "Jake, I don't know what happened either, but it is important for you. It may not be now, it may not be in a week, but I promise you that we'll go there, and we'll find answers" Ember reassured.
"E-Ember..."
"Yeah, what she said! We aren't just gonna drop the investigation here! We'll find some answers in that island for sure!" Kit added.
"Kit..."
"I don't know what you guys have been through, but I will do whatever I can to help" Finished Spark.
"Spark..."
I pulled all of them into a big hug. "Thanks, everyone. I-I believe you. I believe we can do it! We will do it! I got over my parents' death a long while ago, and that was when I didn't know shit, so now that I have a lead again, it's not the time to lose hope! Thank you, guys!"
"You are welcome!"
"Of course we'll do it!"
"Yeah!"
I broke the hug and picked up the laptop. "Thanks for helping us, Spark. We wouldn't be here if you didn't"
"No problem! Anything else you need and I'll be there!"
After parting ways, we headed to Ember's house. "Lunch time?" Kit asked.
"Lunch time!" Ember and I yelled.
This laptop had more information than I hoped, but that just means that we have more lead as to what happened with my parents.
Why did they try to create life? What exactly were they trying to create? Why did they have to do it in a whole different world, and how did they travel here?
What was the catastrophe that led to the downfall of the researchers at that weird bunker? And most importantly, if someone actually tampered with the reports in the laptop, who did it?
"Your cooking is amazing! How do you do it?"
"Practice makes perfect!"
We had just finished having lunch, and by that time, it was already five in the afternoon. We were trying to think about what to do for the last part of our day off.
"Why don't we go to the cafe? We were going to do that yesterday, but we got called to interrogate those two" Ember suggested.
"I think that's a good idea. It'll take my mind off...things" I agreed.
"Cool! I think I'll pass though" Said Kit.
"What?"
"Why?"
"I've got some things to do and they can't just wait for tomorrow. How about you two go to the cafe?"
Alone!?
"Uhhh, yeah sure!" I managed to force a smile.
"What's wrong, Jakey? Don't wanna hang out with your girlfriend?"
"Shut up! It's just...what do you have to do? Maybe we could help?"
"Don't worry, I can manage. You two go to the cafe and have a nice afternoon!"
"Alright, if you insist..."
I was not keen on going to a cafe alone with Ember, yet I was. It was hard to explain.
"If that is all, I'll be taking my leave. Have fun, and don't kiss too much!" Kit said, before waving us goodbye and leaving.
"Well, what cafe do you wanna go to?" Ember asked.
"Ummm, I dunno?"
"I forgot you're not from here!" She laughed.
"Anything you choose will be fine, I'm sure of it!"
"If you say so... Let's go then!" She said while opening the door and stepping out.
The streets were full of kids running around, playing all sorts of games. It was nostalgic to look at. We walked through the street until we stood in front of a small cafe, which was a bit crowded.
"Welcome to Spinda's Cafe!"
I sniffed the air. "It smells nice"
"Wait until you actually try the drinks here!"
We took a seat in one of the tables outside of the cafe and waited, until a Wobuffet with what looked like lipstick in her mouth came with a small block of notes and a pen in her hands.
"Good evening! What can I get you?"
"Hmm... I'll take a Petaya Berry coffe"
"Alright, what will it be for you?"
"Oh! Umm..."
"You look stressed. May I recommend you a Nanab Berry coffe? They say it's good to calm one's nerves"
"Sure, I'll take that one"
"Alright! Coming right up!"
The waiter walked away, leaving us alone.
"So. Wanna talk about something while we wait?"
"Uh, sure! What exactly do you wanna talk about?"
"Maybe...about what you are going to do tomorrow?
"Out of all of the possibilities, you wanna talk about work?" I laughed.
"Why not? Do you have something else to talk about?"
"Hmmm..."
I could maybe tell her.
"Alright, you win, but let me ask the question instead"
"Yeah, sure"
"What is your favourite thing we've done so far?" I began.
"You mean official? 'Cause we've only done two expeditions so far"
"Fair enough. So what has been your favourite out of the two? Must have felt good to finally fulfill your dream, huh?"
"Well, the time we went to get the band was fun, since I got to finally fight something strong. The Beedrill was scary though"
"Totally"
"The recon mission was cool too. An ancient bunker, untouched for who knows how long? And turns out it was built by humans?! That was amazing. I'm also happy that I got to help you, I guess"
"Hey, thanks!"
"Don't mention it!"
That's when our drinks arrived. Both of them smelled amazingly well. I picked my coffe and took a sip. It was warm, but what grabbed my attention was the flavour. I had tried Nanab Berries already, but that was when I was human, and the taste wasn't anything special.
It all changes when you are a Pokémon.
The taste was bitter, as was the coffe normally, but the berry added a sweet accent, that for some reason was delightful.
"Like it?"
"It's delicious! I think I never drank a coffe that tasted anywhere near sweet! And I feel a bit more relaxed too!"
"The power of berries!"
For a bit we resumed to drinking in silence. If I had my phone with me, this is the moment where I would have taken it out to quickly check something.
"Mind if I ask something personal?" I broke the silence.
"Sure, go ahed"
"Why exactly is your dream being explorer?"
Immediately, Ember perked up and her tail twitched slightly.
"Why exactly?! Because it's so cool! Helping people, exploring places, finding all sorts of treasures, traveling everywhere, meeting Pokémon, and hundreds of more things!" She almost yelled with a childish excitement.
"And you are older than me?"
"What do you mean?" She asked, still with a smile on her face.
"Nevermind" I said giggling.
Grown up on the outside, still a kid in the inside.
We drank what remained of our drinks, with ocassionally bickering about what Kit could be doing at the moment, but otherwise sat silently.
"That was a good drink!" I exclaimed, leaving the cup on the table.
"Told ya you'd like it!"
Between the wait, and talking, about an hour had passed since we arrived here. I was having fun, and didn't want it to end anytime soon, but I was suddenly struck by the same feeling I had this morning, only this time, it was extremely upscaled, to the point I felt myself tremble and sweat began to fall from my forehead.
"Jake!"
I snapped out of it for a second. "W-what?"
"Are you alright? You are shivering all of a sudden!" Ember asked worriedly.
I shook my head, and the feeling disappeared slightly. "I'm fine. It was just the same feeling I had this morning. It just hit me hard and by surprise"
"Are you sure you are ok? You are still shaking a bit"
"A-Am I?" I said while looking at my hand. True to the Braixen's words, it was shaking, more than what I liked to see.
Ember grabbed my hand and looked at me dead in the eye. "Jake, are you sure you are alright? You can always talk to me about anything you need"
I looked to the side, averting her gaze.
It feels nice to be conforted by her. Maybe...I should just tell her. I can talk with her about anything, right?
Right?
My cheeks turned a bit red. "There's something I need to tell you, actually"
She tilted her head. "B-But promise not to get upset or anything!" I added, even more red.
"Please " I pleaded, almost whispering.
"Of course! Why would I get upset?"
Here goes nothing.
"Ember. I...I think I lov-" I was interrupted by something hitting me in the back of my head, prompting both of us to look at what it was.
When I looked back I realized that all of the few remaining Pokémon sitting at the rest of the tables were looking at the object too, so I looked down to take a look at it.
It was a small metal cilinder, big enough to be able to be launched easily. It was identical to the one Mismagious found.
...
It was too late when I realized what it was, before all I could see was white and my hearing got filled by an endless beeping sound.
It was followed by the feeling of being tackled onto the ground.
Kit had finished all of his chores and was walking down the street, headed for Ember's house, although he knew he probably wouldn't find anyone inside.
I finished everything I had to do so fast that I'm actually impressed with myself. Now to find the little couple. Hopefully they aren't making out in the sofa and they can hear me knocking on the door. That's if they are home in the first place. He thought with a smile.
As expected, after knocking on the door a few times, there was no answer.
I'll just call them then.
Kit reached for his badge...only to find out it wasn't there. He had left it at home.
Goddammit! Where could they be then? Maybe they did what they suggested yesterday and are drinking something in a cafe? Probably Spinda's Cafe. It's Ember's favourite after all.
Kit turned around and headed towards the center plaza. He noticed how the streets where empty, something never seen at this time of the day.
This is creepy. It almost looks like a ghost town...
Kit began walking slightly faster.
Finally, the plaza came into view. And it was empty. Completely.
Alright, that's just got to be a sign. This isn't normal at all.
"You!" A voice yelled suddenly.
Kit looked behind, and saw Jessica, standing behind him. The ghostly Typhlosion was eyeing him intensely. She looked...angry?
"Oh! It's you! Jessica, was it? Glad to finally see someone. By any chance, did you happen to come across the rest of my team? I'm searching for them and-"
"Oh, shut up already! You don't even know the effort I'm making to not jump at you and punch you in the face!"
What the-?!
"The hell is wrong with you? I haven't even spoke to you since I first saw you! There is no way you can be angry at me!"
After a pause, Jessica bursted into laughter.
"What does that even mean?!" Kit was beggining to lose his patience.
The Typhlosion stopped laughing and looked back at Kit. "You haven't talked to me, huh? Are you sure about that?"
"Look, I don't know where you are going with this, and I just can't give less of a shit about it. I'm searching for my friends now, so just leave me alone" He said, turning around and beggining to walk.
"I wouldn't even bother to try, if I were you"
Kit stopped dead in his tracks.
He whipped his head around. "What does that mean?"
"Your friends are being taken care of right now, and I'm glad to tell you that you are next"
Kit adopted a battle stance. "What have you done to my friends?" He snarled.
Jessica chuckled. "I could explain it to you, but it would be better if I showed you"
As soon as she finished that sentence, the Typhlosion's body began to glow in a blinding purple light, forcing the Zoroark to cover his eyes.
When he looked back, he gasped in shock. What was standing there wasn't a Typhlosion anymore. Instead, who stood there had mostly white fur all around her body, except in some places where there were some sort of red marks. Her head was mostly covered by a huge mane of the same wispy white fur as her body, all of its tips ending in a dark red color.
What stood there was a ghost-type Zoroark.
Kit's long forgotten ex.
"Missed me, honey ?"
"L-Lilith...?!"
When my vision finally returned, I was on top of Ember, and she was out cold. I was also being pinned down by someone I couldn't identify.
"Well, that was easy! That thing you had actually came in handy!" The Pokémon on top of me said.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever" A familiar voice replied.
Mismagious floated down to where I could see him. He had a victorious smile.
"Wakey, wakey!" He retorted.
"What the fuck is going on, Mismagious?!"
"You know them?" Asked the other voice.
"Yeah. Remember the time we got sent to form a explorer team?"
"Like, a year and a half ago?"
"Yeah"
"So that's what you've been doing all this time? No wonder I haven't seen you around the guild!"
"Hey, hold up!" I interrupted. "The guild? You are with those criminals?!"
Mismagious sighed. "Make sure the Braixen doesn't break free"
"Sure"
Suddenly, I felt how I was being grabbed by some sort of psychic energy. I was lifted from the ground, and even though I was trying to break myself free, I almost couldn't move.
"Listen here, mutt. I was never an explorer, much less your friend. I had a mission to complete, and that's what I've done"
He...lied to us?
"What?" Came Ember's voice.
"Exactly what you heard. Now, you'll be waiting here until the rest of the squad brings your little friend"
I looked around. Every single Pokémon that was at the cafe before was either unconscious, or getting held up by different Pokémon.
"As if Kit will let himself get caught!" I yelled.
Mismagious just began laughing loudly. "You think we didn't think about that? That's why the boss herself is going after him!"
"You filthy liar! We trusted you!" Ember shouted, her tone having a mixture of betrayal and anger.
"You shouldn't have" He plainly stated.
Anger. Mismagious, and by extent, his entire team had lied to us since we met them.
"You won't get away with it..."
"Oh, please. I already have! Who's the one getting held by my Psybeam?"
"Maybe you should consider learning Detect!" Exclaimed another voice.
Before Mismagious could turn around, a Water Gun blasted him away, setting me free. Without even looking at my foe, I turned around and blasted the Pokémon who was holding Ember with my most intense Force Palm. Luckily, it turned out to be a Furfrou, making the attack super effective.
"Ember!"
"I'm okay!" She said standing up.
"You guys alright?" The same voice from before asked.
It was the Marshtomp I met earlier this morning.
"Yeah, thanks to you!"
"Don't mention it!"
"Uh, guys? We are surrounded!" Ember interrupted, preparing to fight.
Both of us looked around. All the Pokémon that were guarding the unconscious civilians were now solely focused on us.
Mismagious shook the remaining water off him.
"Get them! And the Marshtomp too!"
Immediately, a Golem lunged at Ember, and she narrowly dodged away from the attack. I blasted him back with Force Palm.
"Marshtomp! Water Gun him down!" I yelled.
"Got it!" A huge stream of water erupted from the water type, launched at incredible speed. Needless to say, the attacker was knocked out instantly the moment he hit the cafe's wall.
"Woah! You guys are so in sync!" Ember said.
We looked at each other. "I guess?"
"Ugh! Don't go one by one! ATTACK ALTOGETHER FOR ARCEUS' SAKE!" Mismagious yelled, clearly angry.
Every Pokémon jumped at us. We could only dodge their attacks, and even like that, we still got hit by both not very effective and super effective moves.
"We won't last too much longer like this!" Ember shouted, dodging a Water Gun.
"Use an item!" The Marshtomp yelled.
I looked into my bag and I saw it. A yellow orb with an orange spiral.
A Totter Orb.
I picked it up and looked at it. "How do I use it?"
"Smash it!" Replied Ember.
"Stop him!" Mismagious added.
Three Pokémon suddenly lunged at me, but before they got me, I managed to break the orb in pieces. Luckily I managed to scramble out of the attack.
At first, I though the orb didn't do anything. But then, I saw the Heracross that tried to attack me holding the Furfrou from before.
"Boss, I got 'im!" He yelled
"Let me out, you moron!" The Furfrou exclaimed while looking around frantically, as if she didn't know who was keeping her prisoner.
"Quiet, mutt! You won't fool me by imitating the voice of my teammate!"
The Heracross then suddenly got hit by an Air Cutter, knocking him back and releasing the Furfrou.
"Guys, I think I got him! Lets go back!" The Swellow said, landing on top of the Heracross...before getting a Take Down attack used on her.
"Hah! I got you! That will teach you not to retaliate against the Rocket Guild!" She said.
Finally, the three of them began attacking each other. And it wasn't just them. All of the Pokémon that once surrounded us were attacking their teammates in their own confusion.
Meanwhile, Mismagious was shouting things to all of them. Of course, it is difficult to make a wall listen to you.
"Come on, guys! We gotta find Kit before the effect runs out!" Ember warned. She then looked at every civilian nearby. "That goes for you all too! Get out of here!" She told them.
Surprisingly silently, all of the Pokémon began running away, dodging the loose moves coming from the confused outlaws.
"I'm going with you. An extra pair of paws always comes in handy!" The Marshtomp said.
"You can't do that" I replied.
"What?"
"We thank you for helping us, but you are still a civilian. We can't let you follow us, it's too dangerous"
"But I want to help you!"
"And that's much appreciated, but-"
"I think you should let him come" Interrupted Ember.
"What?"
"Yeah. He already proved that he has some guts. And he's pretty strong too"
"But he's still a civilian!"
"Weren't we civilians too when we entered that cave?"
That took me by surprise. She was right, but that time was different.
Right?
"Fine, you can come. But if anything happens to you, it will be your fault, okay?"
"Yeah!"
"Okay then. Follow us, quick. The effect probably won't last too much longer"
We ran straight to Ember's house, as fast as we could. "Who are we looking for?" The Marshtomp asked.
"A Zoroark!"
"Like the one over there?" He asked, pointing to the plaza.
When we saw there was something I would never have expected. Kit was down on the ground, covered in blood, almost unmoving. And next to him, was what looked like another Zoroark, but white instead of black.
A Hisuian Zoroark.
Something in my mind clicked.
"Ember, the Typhlosion we met yesterday"
"Yeah? What about her?"
"That Zoroark is the Typhlosion"
"How do you know?"
"Call it intuition" I said while running towards them.
"HEY!" I yelled. The Zoroark's ears perked up, and she turned around.
"You are the Typhlosion from that liar's team, aren't you?"
The Zoroark didn't answer. Instead, she began laughing like a maniac. "You are smarter than you look, mutt. Or should I say human?"
"What?! How do you know?"
"Human? What's she talking about, dude?" Asked the Marshtomp from behind me.
"Tell me, boy. What do you remember from before you came to this world?"
"I...got pushed off a cliff..."
"And by who?"
"By a girl?"
Wait a second.
"You don't mean..."
She began glowing in a purple light. When it faded, my eyes widened. The same girl, with her blonde hair was standing in front of me.
"You...b-but how?!"
She went back to normal. "As if I was going to waste my time explaining it to you"
"You..." The Marshtomp said.
"Hm?"
"YOU KILLED MY TRAINER, YOU FUCKING BITCH!" He yelled, lunging at her.
Wait, what?!
The Zoroark just rolled her eyes and dodged, covering herself in a purple aura, and launching it at the water type. When the attack connected, the Marshtomp fell onto the ground, almost unconscious.
Bitter Malice. And a very fucking strong one too.
"Anyone else?"
...
Mudkip…?
"R-run..." said Kit.
"What?"
"You have no chance against her. Please, just leave me here. Save yourselves"
"No way I'm abandoning you!" I yelled.
"Me neither!" Ember added.
"I'm not going out...without a fight" Said Marshtomp, slowly standing up.
"Hmp! Guess if Mismagious can't catch you, I'll have to do it myself!"
"NO!"
All of us looked at Kit, who was now on his feet and looking slightly better, despite still being covered in blood.
"You want me, so leave them alone, Lilith"
She walked towards Kit. "How cute, standing up for your friends. Why don't you tell them who you really are, huh? Why don't you tell them what of a traitor you are, huh?"
"Kit? What is she talking about?" Ember asked.
"I'm talking how your little friend, who you like so much, is actually the worst scum that exists"
Kit winced.
"Where do you think he got his combat skills? Where do you think he leaned to interrogate people so well?"
"Get to the point already!" I yelled.
"Your little friend is, in fact, the old, bastard leader of the Rocket Guild"
Silence. Heavy silence.
"K-Kit, is that true?" Ember finally managed to ask.
He just looked to the side shamefully. "Kit. Tell us she is lying" She kept pressuring
"She..." He finally began
...
"...isn't lying"
...
Ember looked hurt. A few tears were rolling down her face.
"It can't be..."
I had nothing to say. I wasn't around when that guild was around here the first time, so I don't know exactly what they have done, but what Ember explained to me made it sound horrible.
And now turns out that Kit was the one behind everything.
"Now, I'd love to see how this revelation hits you hard in the face, but I have a city to blow up"
"Wait what?!" All four of us exclaimed.
Lilith turned away and pulled something that looked like a badge out. "Everyone? Begin Plan Z"
"Roger that "
"Enjoy the fireworks. And try whatever you want to escape. We will find you" She said, before disappearing.
"Wait!" Marshtomp yelled.
"What did she mean by-" Suddenly, a lot of loud explosions were heard, followed by screams.
"Shit!"
"Agatha!" Ember yelled.
"Ember, go check on her, rest of us will rescue anyone that needs it!"
"Roger that!" She said before sprinting away.
"Kit!"
He perked up, as if he wasn't expecting to be adressed at all.
"Eat an Oran, and move your ass! We have a town to save!"
"But..."
"There is no time to care about that now! Move!"
Kit reluctantly nodded, eating a berry, and we ran off to the town hall, which was where we pressumed the closest explosion happened.
We found a whole squad of Electrode fighting against the Mayor.
"Mayor!" I yelled.
"Team Indigo! I need your help!" He said, throwing one of the Electrode away with Psychic.
With the combined attacks and moves, and Marshtomp's inmunity to electricity, we managed to knock all four of them quickly.
"Mayor! Are you alright?" Kit asked.
"Indeed. Unfortunately, that seems to be the end of the good news" He gestured to the collapsed building. "The explosion trapped a lot of Pokémon inside, and I do not know how many of them have survived. I am already too old for this, and the fighting has left me with little to no energy, and I cannot do it alone"
"We'll help!"
I used Force Palm to break the rocks, while Marshtomp used his Hydro Pump to make the rocks more easy to break apart.
The mayor was using his Psychic to lift rocks, and Kit, since he had no moves that came in handy in this situation, resorted to physical work.
"H-Help!" A voice exclaimed, weakly.
"You heard that?"
"That was Blaze!"
We began taking the rubble out from the place we thought we heard the voice from, and we saw a familiar Quilava, severely bruised, but alive.
"Blaze! Thank God you are alive!" I said, pulling him out.
"What..." He coughed. "What happened?"
"The Rocket Guild is bonbing the town. We need to evacuate!"
"The Rocket Guild?!" The Mayor and the Quilava exclaimed.
"It's a long story!"
"I will begin with the evacuation right now" The Mayor said closing his eyes.
"Any more survivors?" Kit asked.
"I...don't know" Blaze plainly stated.
Our faces saddened.
Dear citizens, this is the Mayor. Our town is under attack. Everyone, evacuate the town as soon as possible. This is not a drill. Said the Mayor through what I assumed was telepathy.
Immediately, the streets filled with Pokémon running away from the town.
"Kit! Where is Ember?" Asked Blaze.
"She's saving Agatha, I think!"
"Go with her" Plainly said the mayor.
"What? We can't just leave you here!" I yelled.
"Those outlaws want you and your team. You have to escape, far away from here. We will do all we can"
"Promise?"
"Of course"
I turned back to my team, specifically to Marshtomp. "Last chance to run" I told him.
"Nah. I'll stick with you for now. I have a few things to discuss with that Zoroark"
After a quick goodbye, we ran off to the store, dodging hordes of Pokémon that were running for their lives.
Finally, we arrived there, and what was happening there was strange.
"You!" Ember snarled. I hadn't seen her that angry in...forever.
"Ember, calm down" Reassured the Froslass.
"For the last time, I don't know who the hell you are!" Exclaimed someone atop of the rubble that once was the store.
A Delcatty.
"Give. Them. BACK!" She yelled, lighting her stick on fire.
The Delcatty looked at her, and then widened her eyes.
"Wait...you are that kid from all those years ago, aren't you?" She laughed loudly. "Thanks to you, we got a pair of explorers rotting right in our little cells!"
"Ember!" I shouted, running behind her, followed by the rest.
"What's going on?"
"Ember came running and saved me from under the rubble. We believe that Delcatty is responsible for it. And she's also the one that...took her parents away" Agatha explained.
Oh.
"You...heartless monster! How could you have done what you did and still be able to sleep at night?!"
"Oh, please. I was just following orders! And even if I didn't, I've done worse things than capturing a pair of explorers!"
"You took my parents away from me when I was just a kid! You know the trauma I had to go through?! YOU TOOK MY DREAM AWAY FROM ME!"
"Boohoo! Skill issue, girl!"
What followed after was a blur. Ember let out a shriek and charged at the Delcatty with Flame Charge.
The speed at which she ran was inhuman, and the Delcatty didn't expect it, as she took the full blow of the attack, and staggered back.
She didn't have time to process what happened as Ember quite literally kicked her in the face, and followed it with an Ember attack, which sent the Delcatty flying next to us.
She jumped from the top of the rubble mountain to next to her, in front of us.
"Ember?" I weakly asked.
The Delcatty coughed and chuckled. "You are strong, aren't you? Why don't you finish your little revenge act?"
"Ember..." I said, this time a bit higher.
"Come on, you know you want to! I have nothing to lose, so why don't you do it? Kill me already!"
"You took them away from me..." The fire type said eerily, aiming her wand at the downed Delcatty.
"EMBER!" I yelled.
She finally seemed to snap out of it and looked back. Tears were starting to form in my eyes.
"Ember, I know you are hurt because she took your parents away, but you can't kill her! What happened to the Ember I know? The one that wanted to be the best explorer in the world? If you kill her, you will regret it for the rest of your life!"
She lowered her wand, and looked at the Delcatty again.
"Please..." I begged.
The Braixen looked back at me. She was also starting to tear up.
"I'm sorry" She whimpered.
I offered her my hand with a slight smile. She took it and hugged me tightly, and I felt her tears falling down my back.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" She repeated.
"It's alright. I understand how you must feel" I reassured her, hugging her back.
"I-I almost killed someone. And I didn't even think it was a bad decission! I don't deserve to be called 'explorer'!"
"Hey! Listen Ember. You are not a bad person just because you wanted to avenge your parents. Everyone goes through things like that from time to time. The important thing is that you realized your mistake and didn't actually do it"
"But I-...Thanks, Jake. I think I needed that"
"Anytime"
"Umm, guys? The Delcatty is gone" Interrupted Marshtomp.
True to his words, the Delcatty had somehow managed to escape. Ember's face twisted to an expression of disgust.
"There's nothing we can do about it now" Kit sighed.
"We have to get out of here" I said.
"What? We have to help!"
"We've been with the Mayor. He said that they are after your team. We have to get out of this town as fast as you can" Marshtomp replied.
"But-!"
"Listen, girl" interrupted Agatha. "There is nothing you can help with. Every important building is destroyed, and there are hundreds of casualties. Trying to help will only result in getting captured"
"What are you going to do now?" Ember asked.
"My shop is destroyed, so I guess I'll have to live with my parents until everything calms down. Don't worry, I'll be fine"
"Promise?"
"Promise"
Another quick goodbye later, and we were running towards the forest clearing. According to Kit, if they were tracking us, going through that forest would take us to a not very well known Mistery Dungeon, which doesn't have a fixed exit, hopefully losing anyone that followed us.
That was the last time he spoke in the whole time we walked there.
The clearing wasn't as empty as we thought, though.
"Ughhh! 'Archer, you'll guard that stupid forest so that they don't escape' she said. 'Don't worry, I'm sure nothing interesting will happen' she said. I hate missing all of the action, man!"
A Sylveon was sitting on top of a tree log, using his feelers to spin what looked like a knife, which was decorated with a pink ribbon and had some red stains on it.
I prefered not to think about the procedence of those stains.
"Shit, not him..." Mumbled Kit. "Behind me! And don't make any sound. You do not want to catch his attention" He added.
Three silent nods were our answer. Slowly, Kit walked out from behind the bushes. Seeing that the Sylveon didn't react, he gestured us to do the same. I got out first, followed by Ember and Marshtomp covering our rear.
When we were halfway through the clearing, and about to jump the river, the Sylveon threw the knife against a tree. It passed right in front of me, and hit its target cleanly.
Everyone held their breath. No one dared to make a sound, just in case we got caught.
"I'm starting to get bored of throwing the fucking knife around. I swear that if my position didn't depend on it, I would look for those three by myself!"
All of us sighed with relief. We resumed walking and jumped the river, about to get to the other side of the clearing when the Sylveon's badge lit up.
"Archer! "
"Geez, Boss! Don't need to yell. What do you need?"
"Those four are running to your position! "
"Okay, I'll be ready"
"Archer! "
"Whaaaat?!"
"Kit's with them! "
"So whaaaat?"
"He knows how to turn invisible! "
"Ughhh! If I use an attack, you'll leave me alone?"
Shit.
Archer cleared his throat and screeched in a pitch that almost blasted my eardrums. Unfortunately, that attack was super effective on Kit, so when he kneeled down and covered his ears, the illusion behind which we were hiding was busted.
And Archer took notice. "Hey!"
"Run!"
I quickly shook my head and ran off to the bushes. The Sylveon was hot on our heels. "Hey, get back here! You can run, but you can't hide!" He yelled.
The familiar dizzyness from entering a MD almost made me trip, but luckily, Ember had appeared just in time to catch me.
"Don't you fall now!"
"Come on, follow me!" Kit yelled, running down one of the hallways.
Without any other word, we ran behind him as fast as we could.
"This MD has...seven floors. We have to...reach the fifth floor. There is a place...where we will...be safe" The Zoroark explained between breaths.
"Inside...a Mistery Dungeon?" Marshtomp asked.
"The ferals won't attack us there, trust me!" He finished.
"Trust me!" Those words resonated in my head.
The trip through the dungeon was a blur. I couldn't remember anything other than running and dodging any ferals that we came across.
"Fifth floor! Last effort everyone! We are close!" Kit yelled, taking the right-most hallway.
"Stop running, dammit!" Came the Sylveon's voice from behind.
After a few turns, Kit stopped in front of one of the walls, and managed to squeeze between one of the gaps in the trees.
"Quick! Follow me!"
Reluctantly, all of us followed Kit. Just when Marshtomp finished entering, Archer came running down the hallway.
"Where have you gone to? Come on, I just wanna talk~" He said in an innocent tone while playing with his knife, like a serial killer.
Everyone shivered.
"Relax, no one knows about this place. They won't find us anytime soon. Arceus, it was so long since I came here..."
When we looked back, we saw a small fort made of wooden planks that was almost about to crumble. The inside had a small balckboard which was full of words and papers.
"Welcome to my secret lair!"
"What is this place?" I asked.
"This...is a small space outside of the Mystery Dungeon, but still inside of it. I don't really understand how it is possible or how it works, but what I know is that no one knows about this place, not even Lilith. We'll be safe here for now"
"So we are sleeping here tonight?" Ember questioned.
"You can sleep outside if you want, but knowing who's after us, you'd be safer sleeping inside a den full of feral Pyroar"
"Who's that guy, anyway?" Marshtomp asked, sitting on the ground.
"His name is Archer, and he's fucking sick in the head. At least 87% of the confirmed kills of the Rocket Guild come from that guy and his knife, and I'm pretty sure he never had any sort of regret about it"
"Dear Arceus!" He exclaimed.
Ember looked like she was about to say something, but she finally just sighed and sat down too.
"What about the other 13%?" She finally said.
"I believe that it's distributed in 8% Lilith, and 4% the rest of the guild"
"What about the remaining 1%?" She asked again.
Kit's face turned almost as white as the fur of the Zoroark that was chasing after us.
"Won't we freeze. if we sleep here?" I asked, trying to change the topic.
Kit shook his head and grabbed a few planks from the fort, putting them on the ground. "That's why we are making a fire. Marshtomp? Mind fire-proofing around the perimeter?"
"Sure" A few Mud Shots later, Ember lit the wood on fire. The warmth was comforting, but still wasn't strong enough to beat the cold of the wooded dungeon.
I sat next to Ember, and Kit moved a bit further from us, without without stopping looking at the fire.
Everyone knew what needed to be discussed, but no one dared touching the topic.
"I'll leave you guys some space. You deserve it after all that happened. Goodnight" Kit sighed before standing up.
He then walked over to one of the room's corners and lied down. "I'm sorry" Was the last thing we heard from him for today.
I wanted to stand up and confort him, but I didn't find the strength to do so. I decided that leaving him some space was the best thing to do for now.
"Marshtomp" I called him.
"Hm?"
"Where did you come from?"
"I don't remember. I just know that me and my trainer got attacked by someone (which turns out it was that Zoroark) and then I woke up in the middle of a forest. I evolved while making my way out of a place full of grass types"
"Tell me more about your trainer"
"What? Uhhh, sure! He was the best friend I had back there. He was the only reason why I managed to survive that forest. He made me strong, and I will always thank him for that"
"But that bitch of a Zoroark killed him, and I...won't be able to ever see him again" He added, tearing up.
"M-Mudkip?" I felt some tears start to form in my eyes too, and he looked at me.
"I-It's me, Jake!"
He immediately stood up, and I did the same. "Boss?"
Without any other word, I tackled him into a hug. "It's really you! I-I can't believe I forgot you!" I told him, tears rolling down my face.
"I thought you were dead! I'm so glad to see you again, Boss!" He added, crying too.
"Don't you dare call me boss!"
After a few minutes of crying our ass off, we broke the hug and sat down again.
"Wait! If you are Jake, then how did..." He gestured to my body. "...this happen?"
"No idea"
"That's what we are trying to find out" Ember added.
"That's crazy! And you know how to fight too! Amazing..."
"Well, I wouldn't call it 'amazing'. Just 'forced adaptation'" I said, chuckling.
"I just...lost all hope of ever seeing you again...and not only do I do that, but I can also talk to you now? Best day of my life"
I raised a brow.
"Except the 'getting my town blow up' part" He added, rubbing the back of his head.
I yawned. "Alright, guys. I don't know about you, but all of these revelations and all this running killed me. We should get some sleep so that we can set off early tomorrow"
"Agreed" Ember said.
"Sure"
"Wanna sleep with us?" I offered my partner.
"I'd love to...but that guy is going to freeze if he sleeps alone so far from the fire" He said, pointing to the slightly shivering Kit.
"Yeah...maybe you should go with him"
"I'm so glad I can see you again, Boss"
"Likewise. And don't call me boss!"
"Old habits die hard" He said, shrugging.
I watched how he walked over to Kit, and lied down next to him with a smile on my face.
"You know, I haven't understand what's so special about him, but you were happy, so I'm glad for you" Ember said.
"In the human world, people sometimes have Pokémon partners. My parents gave me a Mudkip to keep me company while they were at work. Of course, since they never came back, he was everything I had left of them"
"Well, he seems to really like you, so I guess you took good care of him"
"Yeah. I can't believe I forgot about him"
"Getting pushed off a cliff can do that to Pokémon, you know?" She joked, rolling her eyes.
The fire was beggining to fizzle out, despite having been lighted up a few minutes ago.
"Is it weird if I ask to sleep together? You know, to not freeze to death?" Ember asked.
"I thought you were a fire type" I answered, rolling my eyes.
"Yeah, but you aren't! You can always freeze in a corner if you want to" She jokingly exclaimed.
"Nah. I prefer sleeping with ya. They say that too much cold is bad for your health.
"Oh, you don't say?"
I lied down, and Ember did the same, laying in front of me. We huddled closer and I felt the warmth of her body.
"Before we fall asleep, what did you want to tell me?"
"What?"
"Yeah! What did you want to tell me back at the cafe? Before we got interrupted"
"Oh, uhhh"
After all we've been through today, I don't think it's the right time to tell her this. Maybe another time.
"Don't worry, it's nothing important"
"You sure? You were worried that I could get upset, remember?"
"Don't worry, it's nothing"
"If you say so..."
She closed her eyes. "Goodnight, Jake"
I did the same. "Goodnight, Ember"
Despite the air being cold, and hearing the steps of someone from the outside from time to time, I felt as warm and safe as I would feel in my bed.
Can't believe what we've been through today. I find out the truth about my parents, then we decide to go to drink something, and suddenly the town is the victim of a terrorist attack. Can't forget that I found Marshtomp too. And...Kit's past. We may have to talk about it tomorrow...
For now, I'll just enjoy being with Ember like this.
And just like that, I felt myself drifting off to sleep.
"Nothing! They are just gone!" Archer said, exiting the dungeon for his seventh time.
"There must be something we are missing..." Said Lilith from behind him.
"Tell me why you left them go again?"
"Because I like playing with my prey"
"Man, that's fucked up"
"Says the one that kills Pokémon almost every day"
"Got me"
Just then, Mismagious and the twins came floating from behind the bushes. "Checked the surroundings. They are nowhere to be found"
"It's as if..." Began Kate.
"...they vanished into thin air!" Finished Nate.
"We wouldn't be in this situation if you had just taken their items!"
"And how could I have known they had a Totter Orb? Or if that Marshtomp would come to save them or not?"
Lilith sighed. "It's almost midnight now. Normally, I would order a camp construction at the end of the dungeon, but that bastard knew that there is no fixed exit in this one, so it wouldn't be practical. Tomorrow morning, I want every single available Pokémon scouting this forest, and I want at least one Lucario, Riolu, or any type of Pokémon that can see invisible enemies in every squad"
"We don't want to repeat what happened today" She added, looking at Archer.
"Hey! It wasn't my fault!"
"Anyway, so the Braixen that is with the human is actually the daughter of those two explorers we caught around five years ago?"
"Yep. Miriam told us how she almost got killed. We gotta find a way to make her stop taunting enemies when she's downed before she actually dies for real someday" Mismagious replied.
"Duly noted. Now, let us have some rest. I believe we all need it"
"Aye!" Everyone yelled.
END OF CHAPTER 11
This chapter concludes the first arc of the story.
I know that it probably isn't as impressive as I think it is, but I believe it is still impressive enough.
I also wanted to tell you that the stupid FanFiction app doesn't work when I'm in an internet connection other than my house's, so I have to write in stupid Google Keep, so if you find some weird format issues, you already know why.
So as always, have a great day/night and remember to comment if you have anything to say! Even if it is a small thing, it helps.
P.D.
You can't deny that Floragato looks like Puss in Boots. Bulbapedia literally says that it may be based on that. I also couldn't think of another Spanish name that wasn't Mexican to call the guy.
