"No seriously, why do they call it a cuttlefish when they're actually rather unhappy with the notion of cuddles?"
Clyde lets out a long, drawn-out sigh as he looks towards his lab coat-clad associate who is currently hunched over, gazing into a large aquarium. "You know it's spelled with a 't' and not a 'd'. And for your information, I looked it up since the last time you mentioned it anticipating this happening again. Something about the colour of their ink, which got translated six different times as is tradition and now it's a cuttlefish." Clyde questions his life choices leading up to this point.
His coworker looks to Clyde and raises an eyebrow. "Huh. Alrighty then, fish whisperer. Got any idea as to why clownfish are named the way they are?"
Clyde shrugs, "Wouldn't know Mark. Takes one to know one I suppose."
"Hah!" Mark exclaims. "Yeah that's why you're not giving tours anymore. I appreciate a bad joke though, but it is also a legitimate question, I'll have to look into it later. Assuming I remember. Which I won't, but I'll still say it as if I will. Can you uh-" He gestures vaguely to a stack of papers. "Pass me the form, need to fill out today's progress."
"Sure thing." Clyde grabs a sheet labeled 'MARINE REHABILITATION INFORMATION SHEET' and passes it over. "Gotta have everything labelled, filled in, and checked. So that when nobody reads it, they'll know it's done correctly."
With a smile, his coworker nods. "Damn right about that." He begins filling in the blanks in the page, furiously writing with a speed and precision only one whose filled out hundreds of sheets like this prior might have. "Once I'm done this, want to head out for the day? Already stayed here longer than we should have but least it's all done."
"Absolutely." Clyde heads over to a small wash basin with a broken mirror in the corner and removes his lab coat, hanging it on a coat rack to his side. He sets to wash the salt from his hands and looks over himself in the shattered glass. Brown eyes with short, dirty blonde hair stare back at him emphasized by bright red, rosy cheeks. "Hey, you ever think maintenance is going to fix this? It's been like this for what, a month now?" He looks towards his friend by the aquarium, still writing away.
A few seconds pass as he finishes his sentence. "Probably not, at this rate. We could push the issue, but they might just remove the mirror all together so. Do we gamble? I wouldn't." With a snap of a clipboard, he stands up. "Good enough. Yeah I'd just leave it. It works, even if it's not the prettiest."
"Y'alright. If that ain't the motto for life." A sigh from the blonde man. "Well, I'm ready when you are. Sooner I get some fresh, non-salty air, the better."
"You got it, boss." Mark replies with finger guns before removing his lab coat. "Let's hit it. Though, I have to stop and get fish food on my way back." The pair make their exit, pushing through door after door in winding corridors. "I'll just hit up the place by your apartment, won't be far out the way if I go there."
With a final door, the great outdoors makes itself known once more, a sharp contrast against the sanitary white walls of their workplace. "Sure, plus we get to look at fish." Clyde says, sarcasm bleeding into his statement. "Or at least I can Mr. Has-an-Aquarium"
A beep emits from Mark's vehicle. "Hey, once you have more room, I'll hook you up. I know a guy, great tanks for cheap." The pair open the car doors and slip in.
Clyde grimaces. "Had a cheap tank once, side blew out, flooded the whole floor. 15 grand in damages. For once, thankful for insurance. Not doing that again though."
A twist of the ignition and the cars engine roars to life. With a second of delay, the car begins to move. "Yeah yeah. Still, offer is there."
Most of the ride is spent in relative silence with only occasional small talk.
Eventually, Mark poses a question. "You hear back from the university yet?"
A resigned sigh. "Yep."
Mark in turn grimaces. "Ah. I'm sorry. Still, just a setback. Plenty of other avenues to pursue. I still have a contact in Vancouver if you need some RnR and need to play with some sea otters."
Mildly angry silence from his companion, tempered by the thought of sea otters as memories of his time with them brighten the dour mood.
"Look, you've got the rest of your life ahead of you. You still have decades to chase your dreams, alright? Just because you had a brief setback this once doesn't mean you're down and out forever." Mark briefly looks towards his passenger. "Keep your head up yeah?"
Slightly less angry silence.
"Well, regardless, we're here. Some fish'll help, yeah? Heard they got small rays too." A click of the starter and the car goes quiet. The two men exit the vehicle in a small carpark adjacent to a strip mall. A gym, a couple fast food restaurants, a tax place, a pet store, a mattress store with a 'Going out of business!' sign, and a vacant building with a 'For Lease!' sign.
Strolling in, the pair split. One to food, the second to fish.
As Clyde approaches the walls of fish tanks, a spark of happiness and joy erupts from within. First are the freshwater tanks. Loaches, tiger barbs, neon tetra, snails, angel fish, and every other kind of cichlid one could imagine. A single axolotle swims happily, a permanent smile affixed upon its face. 'Always wanted one of those.'
Further back are the deep blue salt water tanks. Multiple colours of clownfish, surgeon fish, a few small rays, a copperband butterfly fish, a plethora of sea urchin, a pufferfish, and a couple red knob sea stars amongst the dozens of fish here.
Beauty incarnate.
As he looks over each of the aquatic denizens, a common thought makes itself known once more. 'It's one thing to have a dog, but a fish tank is just better. Feed a dog and it's happy. You need to control so many little details for fish, it's incredible. Get to create your own little ecosystem to make fishies happy.'
Clownfish bob happily. A ray in a separate tank floats around, licking the glass. A few small crabs scuttle about, feeding on the detritus they can find.
His eyes linger upon one denizen in particular, a triggerfish with pronounced front teeth. "Beautiful scales, ugly bastards. Kinda derpy."
"I know, right?" A familiar voice echoes from behind. Mark materializes at his side. "Not as bad as those goldfish things with that puffy head."
Clyde rolls his eyes. "It's a Flowerhorn cichlid for one. And for two, those are absolutely worse. Can't tap the glass lest it gets spooked and bonks the tank and dies."
His dark-haired companion stifles a laugh. "Got the stuff, ready?"
"You know what this place is missing?" He asks, looking over the fish.
"What?" Mark asks.
"Sea otters. Wish I could keep one, but that's a hell of a lot more room than a fish tank. Might take you up on that offer for your otter contact." The images of happy, fluffy otters warms his heart.
Mark gives a chuckle. "Sure thing, buddy. Say, got your future tank all planned out? Lord knows you spend a lot of time here looking at these fellas."
"Oh one hundred percent." He mentally runs through his dream setup. "I'd love an octopus of some sort, smart things they are, and they always have so much character. Swear no two of them are alike. A ray would be amazing as well, they're just fascinating creatures. Jellyfish would be cool but impractical since their tank requirements are silly. But hey, a dream's a dream. Probably a trigger fish too, just because of how derpy they look. Maybe a sea slug, even. Also coral. Love me some coral. Needs real warm water, but it's so pretty! Just so good."
He takes a breath before continuing. "On the fresh water side, probably either loaches or an axolotl. Tough call, they're both so good. Axolotls are just adorable happy friendly little things who you can never get down. Loaches though are really interesting, and they're friendly with basically everything so you can jam pack a tank full of different tank mates. Plus, they just look super cool. Clown loaches? Big fan. Just like tiger barbs. Don't want any of those, though." He scans through, looking for tiger barbs and fails to spot any. "Don't have any anyways."
"Damn, you got it all worked out. We'll get you a tank yet." Mark adds, giving a reassuring shoulder pat. "Want to head out?"
A quiet nod from Clyde as his look over the fish around him one last time before leaving. He soon after turns and leaves alongside Mark.
As the pair exit the building, the twilight of night looming, they begin to head to the car once more. Idly taking in the surroundings once again while waiting for Mark to unlock the car, 'Gym, thai place, tax place, fortune place, mattress- wait.'
He focuses on a previously unseen establishment. 'Monique's Fortunes, Readings, and More'
"Hey Mark, when did that fortune place move in?" He looks between Monique's and Mark, gesturing vaguely.
Mark looks towards the gestured direction and tilts his head. "Huh. That's new. No idea, you're around here more than I."
Clyde quickly looks around. "Yeah but weren't there more vacant buildings? Like."
The dark-haired man shrugs. "Couldn't tell you. Why? Want to go in? Have a tarot card reading? See what the future lies in store?"
The blonde blinks twice. "Unironically, yes. I'm going to go check it out, you can head out, short walk for me home."
With an evident rolling of eyes, Mark cracks open his car door. "Alright sure, just don't get cursed or something. Or worse, waste all your money on hopes and dreams."
"I'm going to buy a lottery ticket." Clyde returns a smirk. "Actually, if I don't come into work tomorrow, don't panic. I'll either have won the lottery or I probably just got cursed and turned into a cat or something." He ponders a moment. "Honestly, that'll be an improvement. Wouldn't have any more student loans. Can just flop in the sun and sleep."
"Yeah yeah sure." Mark says, disinterest looming.
"Hey, if you spontaneously meet a calico, that'll be me. I feel like I'd be a calico. Please invite me in and treat me as royalty." He says with a grin.
Mark sighs. "Calicos are all female."
Two blinks. "I said what I said."
"Y'alright dude, I'm heading out. See you tomorrow, catboy." With a thunk, the door closes and the engine roars to life once more.
"No time like the present." Clyde makes his way to the new building and cracks open the door.
An overwhelming scent of incense is immediately noticeable. Gemstones line the walls alongside fetishes of all shapes and sizes as well as small totems. In the center of the room sits a simple desk. Behind that, a small-ish looking young girl with ginger hair and a yellow dress holding a smartphone.
"Good evening!" A peppy voice nearly shouts. "Welcome to the store! If you'd like to take a seat, we can get started." The girl sets her phone to the side.
Clyde hesitates and almost reluctantly takes a few steps forward. "You know, I had predetermined expectations coming into here with like, an old lady hunched over a crystal ball. Pleasantly surprised."
The girl giggles. "That'd be my grandma. You're a relatively easy case, so I'm here instead."
Another two blinks. "What uh, what's all this about?"
The girl, gesturing towards a chair in front of the desk, speaks once more. "Take a seat, and we'll get started!"
The man pinches the bridge of his nose. "Could you be any more vague and concerning? More red flags than Mark's ex-boyfriend." Despite his concerns, he approaches the chair and takes a seat.
"Ah, yeah. Stephen wasn't a good fit for him. But today isn't about him, it's about you!" She steals a glance at her phone. "Now, you stayed a bit later at work than we were expecting and I'm hungry, so I'm just going to cut to the chase. Are you familiar with the concept of a Monkey's paw?"
The blonde gives a confused shrug as he scrunches his face. "Like, the whole wishes aren't granted the way you intended and everything goes wrong and people die? I mean yes but what in the goddamn does that have to do with-" He stops himself from beginning a rant. "Actually, apologies and pardon my language. Proceed."
She gives a nod. "Perfect. So, this here is basically a discount Monkey paw." She produces a small golden bell. "You hold it, give a wish, wish happens, everyone's happy. All I need from you is a dream, something close to your heart and we can get this rolling."
He stares at the bell. Seconds pass. "Come on, man." She continues. "I got some KD waiting for me in the back. Gimme a dream or something of equal or greater value."
His gaze raises. "Like, a dream as in a hope or aspiration I have?"
She nods. "Yep! Just like that."
He ponders. "I guess, I've always wanted to own a fish tank. Been a dream of mine for years now. Still don't have one since I don't want to half ass it but."
With a deep inhale and a slow exhale, she speaks slowly. "Peerrrfect. That will do nicely. Now, grab the bell, and make a wish." She nudges it close. "You've got two uses. One wish right now, and then a second for later. Usually people save it to undo their first wish. Just give it a ring, speak your wish aloud, and let the magic happen."
He looks between the girl and the bell. "How much is all this going to cost? I only have a debit card on me, and I didn't agree to… basically anything."
She waves her hand dismissively. "It's on the house, now wish. On with it. I want food and you're keeping me from my food."
Gingerly, he picks up the bell and gives it a ring. "I guess… I wish I could achieve my dreams of being a proper marine researcher. I mean sure, I have a degree and all, but I haven't really made a difference. World's made it hard to do that so far, so."
Moments pass.
Nothing happens.
The ringing grows silent.
Seconds tick by.
Eventually, he speaks once more. "Thanks, kid. One day, maybe I'll reach that point. Today's not that day. This was nice, though. It feels good admitting what I actually want out of life."
She shrugs. "Life works in mysterious ways. Very mysterious." She steals a second glance at her phone. "A water boy who can't have an aquarium. That'll be an interesting situation." Waving the thoughts aside, "Hold onto that bell, and please close the door on your way out." She scooches off the chair, stands up, grabs her phone, and heads deeper into the building.
Bewildered, Clyde follows suit, standing and instead making his way out.
He takes in his surroundings once more before pushing open the door. Miscellaneous items can be seen everywhere. An old teddy bear, a crayon drawing, what looks to be wedding rings. A lot of wedding rings. Photographs. A dog collar. He turns away.
Warm daylight envelops him as he takes a step outside as a cool pine smell overtakes the previous incense.
From behind, he hears the child shout. "Grandma! He took it! I'm hungry, can we eat?"
Though, instead of stepping into a carpark in a strip mall, he steps onto grass.
Grass surrounded by trees.
In a forest.
"Huh." He says, caught off guard for the fourth time today, just in time for the door he was holding open to slam shut, tossing him forward where he promptly figuratively and literally ate dirt.
It was not tasty dirt.
As he looks behind him, the doorway was gone.
The entire building was gone.
In fact, he was entirely in a forest with a few dirt paths.
As he stands up to collect himself, he finds the bell on the ground where he fell. He carefully picks it up and pockets it, taking care not to ring it in the process. "Well. That was the most unique encounter I've had today. Now to figure out where I am." Looking around, he finds a single signpost with numerous signs.
"Route 201, Lake Verity, Sandgem Town, and Twinleaf town. What is this, some place in Idaho? Where even is Route 201? Is it like Route 66's less well-known cousin?" He mutters to himself as he looks along the three paths that spread out from this intersection.
"Screw it." He mutters as he produces his phone. "O mighty satellite map, guide me."
With a few taps, his phone ree's at a lack of cellular service.
"Yep. Idaho." A long, drawn-out sigh and groan. "Now what?" He looks down one of the paths. "Guess I'll walk to one of these towns."
Before he takes his first steps, he hears the sounds of footsteps. Turning to their source, he sees a guy who seems anywhere from his age to a tween with a red beanie, matching scarf, and a yellow backpack jogging towards him.
"Hey, Barry! Didn't know you'd be back so soon! Come on! We're going to miss it!" As he approaches, the man grabs at Clyde's arm and pulls it lightly before continuing his jog.
"I'm sorry what-" He says autonomously. "Who are you? Who's Barry? And more importantly, where am I?"
The other person laughs, "C'mon man, it's not been that long! Now let's go! We can catch up at the lake!" before continuing their jog down the path and into the looming forest.
'I have several questions as to who, what, where, when, why, and how. Also how does this relate to my dream and that weird fortune shop?' With a shaking head, Clyde begins to follow in the steps of the other individual down route 201.
"Nice day, at least. Though I thought it was night, but whatever. Nice day. Nature. A lake, apparently." He muses as he walks, enjoying the surroundings and sounds of birds. "Don't recognize any of these bird calls though. Weird, pretty sure most are common across North America. Yay more questions."
Eventually, his walk takes him to a narrow break in the tree line and reveals a large body of water. By a lone tree stands three people. As Clyde approaches, the man from before waves him over. "Barry, c'mere and-"
He's interrupted by an older individual who was dressed impeccably and looked like he could have been the Head of the English department back in university. 'Blue vest, tie, briefcase even when it's not practical, dude has it all.'
"Right, this has been an unexpected and unwanted distraction. We're off now. Dawn? Let's go. Carry on with your search, you two." As quickly as Clyde approached, the old man leaves followed closely by a younger girl. Younger than that man, at least.
'What in the ever love of-' His thoughts are cut off as the younger male speaks once more. "Thanks, prof! Good luck with your lab! Right, so, Barry. We're looking for-"
"Okay hold up." Clyde interrupts. "Two things, my name isn't Barry, it's Clyde, and who are you?"
"Oh, we're doing the introduction thing again, well." Ahem. "I am sir Lucas of Twinleaf, First of his name, Keeper of the Lake and Finder of the Elusive, Hidden, and Otherwise Mythical Pokémon!"
Blank stares from the incredibly confuzzled Clyde. "I'm sorry, did you say Po-" The rest of his sentence is interrupted by a screech from above. Two large birds swoop down and hiss aggressively towards the duo.
"Heck!" Lucas shouts, desperately looking around him.
"Dude, it's a bird. Just scare it off. You never get hissed at by a goose?" His gaze lingers upon the two birds before him. They give off chickadee vibes, though are much, much too large to be one.
"The briefcase! Maybe there's something we can throw!" His red capped acquaintance continues to shout as he dives towards the newly noticed briefcase. Tearing it open his eyes go wide. "Woah, Barry come grab one!"
An irritated sigh. "My name still isn't Barry!" He walks over to him regardless, though now an aura of irritation lingers. "What even is-" As he looks into the now-open briefcase, 6 small Pokéballs are placed atop a plethora of papers. "Really." Is all he can manage. "At least a rock would actually spook them. You're going to throw a toy Pokéball?"
"We don't have time, Barry!" Sure enough, the two birds are closing in. "Grab one and help me!"
Clyde facepalms. 'This has got to be the second most ridiculous plan I've gone along with.' As he removes his hand from his face, he kneels and grabs one of the plastic balls. "Fine, I guess. Not like a goose would back down anyways. These… weird mutant aggressive geese."
"On three! One… two… three! Go whoever this is!" Synchronized by the count down by Lucas, the pair throw their balls.
They fly through the air for a moment before exploding in a flash of white light. Clyde flinches.
"Wh- why is there a goddamn flashbang?! What?" He shouts as he rubs his eyes.
Opening them seconds later reveals two new figures separating them from the hostile birds.
Looking towards the first, he spots a small, strangely coloured sea otter, complete with webbed feet and a short tail. Though the colouring is unique, the general body shape is unmistakable. This combined with a deep-rooted memory that had been long since buried until now. 'Wait a minute, that's an Oshawott. Cute little sea otter friend who's evolution is the least sea otter-like thing in existence. But-' He looks towards the second figure. A small green turtle takes his place. The turtle has a sprout on his head. 'Meanwhile, that is vaguely familiar, but I could not tell you how or why. It does certainly look like a-"
"-Pokémon!" Lucas shouts with unrivaled enthusiasm. As quickly as the two new creatures appeared, the two birds began to do a low-flying charge towards them. "Okay, we're not out of this yet! C'mon, Barry! Let's show these birds what's what! Turtwig, hit 'em with a tackle!"
The delay in his words is palpable. "Uuuh, Oshawott, tackle?" His hesitation is overwhelming, yet his words ring true and the duo of Pokémon charge forward.
The four Pokémon collide with a resounding Thunk as the forces crash into one another.
For all their hostility, the birds did not do well striking their new-found foes.
Now facing a superior force, the two quickly back off and begin to fly away screeching loudly and angrily in the process.
"Heck yeah! We did it, Barry!" He rushes over and gives Clyde a hug. "Man I was really worried I'd end up as bird food!"
The hug recipient can do nothing but stare in awe at the sight before him. Two Pokémon, just fought two other probable Pokémon, that came out of Pokéballs, that are here, one of which is in his hand.
He shakes his head. "Okay, one thing at a time. Let's start with the easy thing. My name is Clyde, not Barry. Don't know who Barry is, but I'm not him. Je m'appelle Clyde. Alright?"
"Woah." Lucas says as he pulls away. "Barry must have a long lost twin brother 'cause the resemblance is uncanny. Anyways, we did it! That was totally awesome!" He holds up a hand for a high five.
Clyde slowly raises his own to match. "Okay, so. Those are Pokémon. This is a Pokéball." He holds up the ball in his hand. "What is this, what's going on, and where am I."
"I dunno!" Lucas adds with a shrug. "But we should probably get these back to the Professor, can't imagine he's happy about losing them. Come on, Turtwig! Back into the ball with ye!" He fiddles with the ball in his hand, aims it, and in a second flash, Turtwig disappears as quickly as he appeared.
The blonde man follows suit, pressing the only visible button on the ball and aiming it towards the small sea otter. "Uh, Oshawott, back? I don't know am I supposed to say things or." Much as Turtwig vanished, Oshawott follows suit. He hands the ball to Lucas who places them both in the briefcase. With a click, it is closed once more.
"Alright!" Lucas looks towards the path they entered from. "Wonder where he'll be, can't have gotten far now. Let's go!" Without so much as waiting for a reply, Lucas begins to walk.
He doesn't make it three steps before a figure passes through the treeline and enters the small clearing. "There it is!" The same girl from before shouts with relief. "Thanks for keeping it safe, I'll bring it back to the prof." With a light jog, she closes the distance between herself and Lucas, accepts the offered briefcase, and jogs back whence she came without so much as sparing a glance.
"Well, come on, Ba- I mean uh, Clyde, Brother of Long Lost to Barry. This has been enough excitement for me, and I'd rather those Starly not come back without our own Pokémon defence." He continues his walk, hardly looking back at his newfound friend.
Clyde sighs and follows suit, 'If this gets any weirder, I'm using that bell. Assuming it works.' He slips a hand into his pocket, feeling the reassuring coolness of metal. 'Well, it got me here, so hopefully. Or I'm just having a really, really weird trip right now and we just watched some rats fight pigeons.'
The pair make their exit and return to the dirt roads they walked in on. With a light jog, Clyde catches up to his hyperactive acquaintance. "Hey so uh, where are we?"
Lucas looks as though Clyde grew a second head. "Route 201, obviously! There's a sign right up there!"
Holding back his annoyance, "Nono, like. What province or state are we in?"
"Oooooh," His hat wearing associate says, "We're in Sinnoh! Did you just get here today? How didn't you know where you were going?
Clyde pinches the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, my ride told me sweet F.A. about this. I'm about as surprised at this as you are, believe you me."
With a shrug, Lucas continues on. "Well, in any case, welcome to the region! Let's head to Sandgem, I want to get some candy before heading back home."
The pair continue their walk, idly reminiscing about the events from minutes prior and how "Absolutely cool, radical, and awesome it was!"
The trees blend together as the pair walk as Clyde gets lost in his own mind, contemplating the events that lead up to this moment.
'I go into a weird magic shop, manned by a little girl, who gives me a bell in exchange for a dream, tells me to ring it, and then sends me on my way.' He looks around. 'And now I'm here. What in the Kentucky Fried Fuck is going on.'
He frowns. 'Hopefully when this all goes tits up, I can still leave.' He briefly tunes into Lucas' rambling. "…And the Starly just left! I mean, I'd leave too after getting tackled."
'Though I guess it already has. Well, might as well ride this out. Mark quite literally will not believe this.' He imagines the Pokéotter he met not long prior. 'He was really cute, though. Would love to play with a family of them. That'd probably make him jealous.'
He continues walking, enjoying the lovely cool weather as they move.
End of Chapter 1.
A short note from me, The Relic. Opted to give a fresh start to our marine biologist friend, now with a hint of added vanilla! And also 20% more focused direction. May this refined experience work better narratively, and be as entertaining as ever!