[Originally completed July 14th, 2019. Published August 17th, 2019. The therapy scene in this chapter was expanded February 22nd, 2020, being merged with content written for a scene in chapter 8.]
Chapter 6: Mysterious Qualms
Mathew awoke from yet another of his restless nights, the thoughts of the past still fresh in his mind. He felt much more content now that he and Joey had made up, but it wasn't something he was going to simply forget anytime soon. It was the worst thing that had happened so far since he had arrived on Solceus five days ago, and probably the worst thing that was going to happen for a long time. On the bright side, it can't get much worse than it did those two days. Now that his job was in order and he was preparing to take therapy that could ease his aching mind, he was finally in the right position. Everything was falling into a comfortable place…
Well, everything except for D.E. But that was another story.
Soon, Jermy awoke, followed by Joey. The three of them sat around and chatted for a while about the food and fun to be had on their last day before recommencing their professions. Then, Meowth emerged and they had something new to talk about. Wrapped around the cat's neck was a tie, striped with the colors black and bright green.
"Is that new?" Joey asked.
"I've had it for a while. It matches the bag." Meowth indicated towards the green bag wrapped around his body.
"You've got a snazzy fashion sense," Jermy said.
"SAYS THE PERSON IN THE ROOM WHO WOULD KNOW THE LEAST ABOUT FASHION," ORB jeered.
"...I will not confirm or deny that point. A-Anyway, Meowth, I wanted to ask you something."
Mathew and Joey watched the conversation curiously.
"Ask away," Meowth said.
"Don't you think we should show off how your bag works, in case they need to get into it?"
"YOU WANT TO TEACH THEM TO KILL THEMSELVES?"
"What - No! I meant get into its contents, ORB. You know that's what I mean."
"OF COURSE I DO. PLAYING AT TECHNICALITIES FOR COMEDY IS WHAT I DO. HAVEN'T YOU REALIZED THAT?"
"Take the bag," Meowth interrupted, tossing it at Jermy. Jermy tried to catch it, but it slipped from his hands and dropped to the floor, deflating as if it was empty. He quickly picked it back up.
"The bag has a magic pocket dimension inside of it," Jermy said. He demonstrated by opening the top of the bag wide for Mathew and Joey to see. They gazed at a black void within.
"Wow…" Joey said.
Mathew threw his hands in the air. "Welp, there goes all of my physics classes."
Jermy ignored the comment. "Basically, all you have to do is put your hand in and think of the thing you want." He did so. "Aaaaand... Ta-da!" Jermy pulled out a bright blue sphere. "Brought right to your hand."
"Wow, an Escape Orb!" Joey exclaimed.
"Oh, no. This Wonder Orb is a Foe-Hold Orb. It's one of the things we bought in the market yesterday after buying the bag." Jermy tossed the bag back to Meowth, but kept the ball in his hand.
"Oooh. What's that do?"
"It'll stun all of the enemies around you."
"Wait, what?" Mathew said. "Enemies? How does a non-sentient object know who your enemies are?"
Jermy shrugged. "I dunno. Something about aura?"
"IF YOU NOTICED DURING MEDICHAM'S RITUAL," ORB began explaining to Mathew. "HE WAS ABLE TO DETERMINE INDIVIDUALS' INTENTIONS, GOOD AND BAD, BY THEIR AURA READINGS. WONDER ORBS ARE PROGRAMMED TO DO THE SAME FUNCTION."
"I… guess that makes sense…" Mathew said. "So… How does it work?"
"Oh, yeah. I probably should explain how to use one of these things." Jermy clutched the thing in his hand. "Okay, so. First you hold up the Foe-Hold Orb…" Jermy demonstrated the movement he described. "Then you think a lot about trying to make the people who want to do bad things to you and your friends stop, and-"
Suddenly, the Wonder Orb began to glow a resounding yellow light. In just a second, their eyes received a flash of white as the object burst into shards of light that immediately dissolved. What sounded like surging electricity sounded in their ears.
"What the hell?!" Mathew exclaimed, taken aback by the harmless explosion.
"JERMY, YOU IDIOT," ORB said halfheartedly.
"Oh, well, crap. I used it," Jermy said. "My bad."
"You used it," Meowth repeated.
"Huh? What, is there something wrong?"
"It's a Foe-Hold Orb. If it was able to be used, that means there was a foe to hold."
"But that doesn't make any sense, unless…" Jermy paused as a prospect revealed itself to him. "...There's somebody nearby that we don't know about." A fearful aura filled the room as the realization began to set in.
Thud.
Something hit the ground outside.
"Stay here," Mathew instinctively said to the child in the room. Joey silently complied.
Spurred by their worry and curiosity, they barreled out of Meowth's home. Somewhere nearby, a person with malicious intent towards the group at large had been temporarily frozen, and it wouldn't be long until the opportunity to witness them vanishes.
The group found a yellow, humanoid pokémon that had somehow fallen into the dirt upon his chest, the top of his head angled towards the semi-spherical house. "Oh, mi cabeza…" he muttered as he rubbed the side of his head with his right hand and pulled the sharp spike in the center of his chest out of the dirt.
"Oh my gosh, a shiny lucario!" Jermy exclaimed. "And he speaks Spanish!"
The lucario fumbled onto his feet and frantically waved his arms in an 'I didn't do it!' fashion. "¡Esperan un minuto por favor! ¡Yo hablo inglés! I-I mean…" He suddenly put his hands down, then crossed them awkwardly. "I speak English as well."
"Who are you?" Mathew asked. His club was held tightly in his hand, ready for use.
"What? What's going on?" the lucario asked. Suddenly all of the concern Mathew had originally seen in the sporadic pokémon was buried under a firm posture.
"Guys, let me handle this." Jermy approached him. "Sorry about the commotion, we accidentally had a dungeon item used and I bet it fired off around here and-"
"Yo comprendo," the lucario interrupted, picking up a pair of glasses off of the ground and settling it atop his muzzle. "I felt my body freeze for a moment and I fell from up there." He pointed up to the cliff.
"Must've been a nasty fall!" Jermy said. "What, uh, were you doing up there, by the way?"
"Ah, well, I was searching for the home of Meowth II of Kalmwa'er. I was told it was up here."
"That's me," the cat said. "How did you miss the path up?" He indicated towards the pathway down the cliffside into town.
"There was a path? I must have missed it." The lucario reached out with his paw. "Let me introduce myself properly. Me llamo Lucio."
"Hi, I'm Jermy!" The pikachu happily shook Lucio's paw as if nothing was wrong. Mathew was impressed by Jermy's calmness when dealing with this stranger who supposedly was a threat.
"Now for what I have come here for." Lucio walked up to the grey cat.
"Yes?" Meowth simply asked.
Lucio opened his other paw to reveal a seed, just like the ones Meowth had inside of his emergency kit. "La semilla es un regalo. Mr. Persian wanted me to deliver it to you."
Meowth stared up at Lucio. "Mr. Persian? My father?"
He nodded. "Yes. He lacked the time to deliver it personally. I wanted to show kindness and do the job for him."
Meowth was still for several seconds, as if pondering something while staring into this pokémon's purple-colored contacts - a glass that lampshaded a truth. It was as if Meowth could see his own reflection in them, that, if he only reached forward, he would find an inverted wonderland he could not escape from within. Slowly, he reached up with his own paw and grabbed the Reviver Seed - a gift from this reflection. The only words he had to say were "Thank you."
"Now, I must be off. Adios." With that, as swiftly as he had arrived, he departed.
"See ya!" Jermy said. "Hope you don't get messed up by any more Foe-Hold Orbs on your way!"
The lucario paused and gazed back at the pikachu. Mathew wished that he could read the pokémon's expression behind that sideways glance. Lucio didn't give him enough time for one, however - he pressed on and began the trek down the cliff.
They waited silently for several minutes, until they were certain that the three of them were alone once again.
"What a creep," Jermy said. He then turned to Meowth. "Hey, I don't think there's any easy way up where he was. Do you think-"
Meowth didn't let him finish. "We need to tell the Pick-it-Up Club."
There was an odd silence atop the cliffside. Nobody could hear the sounds of life closer to the waves from afar. The winds didn't blow, and the leaves didn't rustle. The lot of them wouldn't fit inside of Meowth's house, so they had gathered in his yard, simply sitting around in wait.
A paranoid Mathew did another headcount - himself, Joey, Meowth, Ziggy, Medicham, Minccino, Mrs. Cinccino - there was also a tall, blue duck-like creature he was fairly sure didn't work for the Club, but considering his close proximity to Mrs. Cinccino and Minccino, he could take a guess as to who he was. Jermy was still out getting Politoed and Breloom, telling them about Meowth's impromptu meeting and how it concerns their safety and inevitably getting them in a panic again after the dilemma with Mathew and Joey. The wait for them was agonizing.
The Club and the world were still, watching the edge of the cliff silently, as if they were viewing a great wave cover Kalmwa'er from a distance.
The sound was broken by footsteps, one after another, nearly in sync. Up came Jermy, cradling ORB, with Politoed and Breloom in tow. Behind them was another addition - the hooded grovyle they had met the previous day. Just like their friend, Politoed and Breloom had eyeshadow spread under their eyes. Mathew realized that the three of them had probably been rehearsing something.
"Nice to see everyone else here…" Politoed said.
"Um, hello, everyone," Breloom greeted the silent crowd.
Meowth, standing in front of his house's entrance, glanced at the extra member. "Hello."
"Heya." Groov waved. "I know this is apparently a company thing, but if this has something to do with Poli and Bre's safety again, I want to be in the know. Will ya have me?"
Meowth nodded. "If you can keep this low-profile."
"That's a done deal." Groov, Politoed, and Breloom sat down.
"EVERYBODY IS IN ATTENDANCE," ORB announced.
"That isn't correct," Medicham said. "Mr. Persian isn't present."
"Mr. Persian isn't invited," Meowth stated. He gave a few seconds to let the pot of murmurs stir before cutting it off. "I will explain." The cubone watched Meowth as the cat cleared his throat. "Earlier this morning, there was an incident in which a Foe-Hold Orb was used by mistake."
"How did you do it accidentally?" Minccino asked, petting a nervous Ziggy to keep him from flailing around everywhere.
"It was my bad," Jermy said. "I was showing Mathew and Joey how to use an orb by doing the process and ended up following through."
Groov gave a baffled look to the cubone and totodile sitting across the yard. "How to use an… say what now?"
"Just don't worry about it," Politoed said with a sigh.
"So what?" Minccino asked. "The Foe-Hold Orb triggered, and…?"
Meowth continued. "The Wonder Orb stunned a shiny lucario named Lucio who was standing there, causing him to fall." He pointed at the part of the cliffside where Lucio had fallen. Mathew could see some of the rock that had chipped off when he slid off the side. "He had clear view into my house's window. There is nothing noteworthy in the trees above my house. He was intentionally looking for a vantage point to stalk and eavesdrop."
Conversation kicked up immediately. Mathew gathered from those around him that this kind of crime was unprecedented - there were plenty of thieving incidents in the market and there had surely been a few murders in the city's past, but a creepy stranger just stalking some lone house was something that Kalmwa'er was unfamiliar with, particularly because of how few locations there were that weren't out in the open. Mathew heard the golduck note that it was a very long trek from the hills that would get one up the cliffs to Meowth's home, then conclude that this individual must've been very dedicated to his task.
Suddenly, a hand shot up - Groov's.
"Yes?" Meowth said. His prompt washed the air clean of voices for the grovyle.
"So there's some new creep in town. That sucks. But I thought this had to do with the job? What does a bunch of trash cleaners have to do with this stranger?"
Meowth's deadpan voice delivered the true point for concern. "Lucio gave me a Reviver Seed and claimed it was a gift from my father, Mr. Persian, to add to my emergency supplies."
A wave of worry swept up the minds of the Club. Mr. Persian? Working with a creep by giving him an out for when he's caught in the act? No. That couldn't be true. "I know Mr. Persian enough to claim that he is an honest businessman who would never associate himself with malicious individuals," Medicham claimed, and everyone agreed. But at the same time, how else could Lucio know the location of his house, the path to achieve a vantage point, and the fact that he is not only a doctor but the owner of an emergency supplies kit unless somebody who knew Meowth well told him? The Club supposed there were few good defenses against this - they agreed that it was incredibly unlikely that there was a rat in their midst, so it couldn't be anybody else who told Lucio about Meowth.
"Wait a minute!"
Once again they were silenced, but this time by one of Meowth's audience, not the cat himself.
"We just gonna slander Mr. Persian's name all of a sudden?" Politoed said, standing up. "Maybe he did interact with this creep, but we should at least give him a second to defend himself."
"What do you mean, 'defend himself'?" Minccino yelled. "He's got nothing to defend!"
"EAT THE CAT! EAT THE CAT!" Ziggy chanted.
Mrs. Cinccino shushed them. "Enough of that. I could've sworn I told you forever ago that sometimes shady-looking people are just people you haven't shined a light on yet."
"Your mother's right!" Mr. Golduck said. "I know I'm more than not invited here, but I'd feel a little guilty if I attacked someone I've barely met before."
"Yeah, let's maybe not have a living person for dinner tonight," Groov said. "...Wait for him to die first." Mathew gave the grovyle a wide-eyed glance, but the conversation was moving too fast to object at what he hoped was merely a cruel joke.
"Politoed's right," Breloom said, standing up. "There's no denying that there's something going on, but we need to look into both sides before we can decide what to do."
"This sounds like a smart course of action," Medicham said. "Mr. Persian is a good man - he will tell us the truth and resolve this easily."
A calm agreement drifted through the conversations surrounding the cubone. Mathew's brain was rushing with contradiction - on one hand he wanted to follow the pack and seek the hopefully peaceful resolution, but on the other, he couldn't shake the feeling that Lucio was still out there and they needed to warn Kalmwa'er now.
"Meowth, darling!" Mrs. Cinccino exclaimed as she hopped up and approached Meowth. "If we're gonna do this, I could totally set up a meeting with your father at my place. That'd be the easiest way to get him where we want 'em."
"Okay," he replied simply. Before Mathew knew it, Meowth was gathering everyone around him like a whirlpool collecting ships while Mrs. Cinccino ran off to get Mr. Persian. The cubone was swept up in the small mob as it furrowed into a line and trekked down the cliffside. A queasy feeling came to Mathew's chest, made out of the constant state of panic and anger that just would not die. At the end of every corner there was another threat, another lie that he had to contend with before his emotions would burst into another violent explosion. He was so tired, so sick of-
"Yo, you okay?"
Groov brought Mathew back to Earth. His bone club must have been shaking in his hand again.
"Y-yes, I'm...well, I sorta… I'm worried about Lucio right now."
The grovyle cocked his head. "What about 'em?"
"I mean, what if he goes out and does something and nobody's prepared for it because only the Club knows?"
"You mean you want the public to know."
Mathew nodded.
Groov nodded back. "I get it, I get it. Tell ya what, if this meeting goes wrong, come talk to me after it."
Mathew looked up at the grovyle worryingly. "Are you sure just the two of us should handle getting the message out? Kalmwa'er's a city…"
Groov shrugged. "True, but I happen to know where to get the story to make things happen, and, well...you have the story. We could work something out."
"Hmm… Maybe, if we don't die before then."
"Ha! Sounds like a plan."
At that point, the mob had now reached the streets. Minccino lead the march towards her parents' home with her father. It wasn't long until they were filling the house's wide dining room table with chairs and mats for each of them to sit in. They left two open that were closest to the front door for Mrs. Cinccino and Mr. Persian.
A few minutes passed as they waited for her to arrive with the suspect. They were dead silent as the sound of the door gently opening filled the house.
"How about we sit right over there?" Mrs. Cinccino said, still out of sight.
"Yes. I presume this is your dining-" Mr. Persian paused at he went into the entryway into the dining room. "Oh… Hello. Entire… Pick-it Up Club."
Each person did something a little different in response to Mr. Persian's greeting. Some of them awkwardly waved and Ziggy even said "HEY HEY HEY!" Some of them simply smiled and glanced awkwardly at their coworkers instead of their boss, or in the case of Groov, the stranger in the room. Some of them glanced at Mr. Persian un-expressively, indicating the tone of this little meeting. Mathew, however, didn't have much of a reaction beyond simply making eye contact with him. On the surface, he looked calm as if he was just a businessman walking into a meeting. But his eyes told a different story. His blue eyes were not ones of pleasant or unpleasant surprise, like you would expect from an impromptu audience. They were of fear.
Mr. Persian knew exactly what was about to happen.
"Sorry for not warning ya of who was going to be attending this. I imagine you thought it was gonna be private?" Mrs. Cinccino supposed.
"Yes, but… Clearly, I am needed at the moment." Mr. Persian sat on the open mat and Mrs. Cinccino in the chair next to him.
"Mr. Persian," Medicham began. "It is pleasant to see you this afternoon. I am aware that you are a very busy man and most likely had to take time out of your eventful day to attend this event. We would like to make this as brief and painless as plausible so you may continue with your day and we may continue with ours. Do you understand?"
Mathew could've sworn that Mr. Persian was subtly grimacing. "I do," the cat said, nodding.
"Now, there are a few of us who would like to talk to you." Medicham glanced at Mathew, paused - glanced at Joey, paused - then finally glanced at Jermy.
"So, Mr. Persian. Uh…" the pikachu took several seconds to recompose. "Do you know a pokémon by the name of Lucio?"
The cubone heard something that sounded like a gulp. Suddenly, Mr. Persian's expression changed.
"Ah, Lucio! That's who this is all about?" he exclaimed. A smile of relief was on his face.
Mathew knew what smiles looked like… They weren't supposed to look like that.
"He's an employee connected to the chain of my hotel. He's my superior! Oh, he loves kids. He asked me if I had any family and I told him about how my son lives on the house on the cliff and he's a great doctor and-"
"You're lying."
Mathew felt a slight whiplash as his neck swiveled to look at Meowth in surprise. Everybody glanced at the smaller cat.
"Excuse me?" Mr. Persian said.
"Why would I come up during a business conversation? You never get off task while working on your hotel. You're either lying about the subject of your talk or what Lucio did today was the business you discussed."
The yellow cat was clearly taken aback. "What… What proof do you have of either of these things?"
"I can prove it easily." Meowth maintained firm eye contact with his father, slightly leaning inwards towards the table. "Tell me what you and Lucio were discussing that lead to the mentioning of your family."
Mr. Persian stared back at Meowth… but he did not answer. The room was deadly quiet. The slowest seconds some of them had ever felt ticked by.
Meowth broke the silence again. "Tell me the reason Lucio gave me a Reviver Seed."
Again, silence. A few more seconds passed. Mr. Persian defeatedly averted his eyes downward. His face flooded with despair as it aimed down at the table. Meowth settled back in his chair, his point proven.
When Mr. Persian regained his composure, he began to speak again. "It seems that my presence here is no longer necessary. You have completed your interrogation and received what you needed to know. I will take my leave." The slender cat slowly returned to standing position and slowly walked to the front door. Before he opened it, he turned back to the pokerfaced group one more time. "If it makes any of you feel at ease, Lucio is no longer in town. You will be alright for now. Farewell." He then departed.
A dam of emotion burst as soon as Mr. Persian slipped out the door.
"Mr. Persian…?" Was all a dumbfounded Medicham could say. Conversation across the table began after that.
"'s that really necessary, Meowth?" Politoed asked the cat. The cubone watched for his response, but the cat only responded with a mild shrug.
Meanwhile, Mathew was trying to run what just happened through his mind. He already knew that the job Mr. Persian had instructed his employees with was dangerous, but this? He felt a deep repulsion for this man and regret for ever trusting him. With the anger he was feeling, he realized what he needed to do. "Groov!"
The grovyle's attention was grabbed.
"Let's expose this shiny motherfucker."
Mathew panted like never before. Never could he have anticipated just how fast this grovyle was going to be, despite the warning he gave him. The race towards town square wasn't exactly a slow one by any means, but Groov handled the urgent matter at an incredible pace. Mathew could barely keep the guy in his line of vision, much less keep up with him.
He tried his best to follow in Groov's footsteps, entering town hall. Inside, there were signs indicating the directions towards locations such as courts and various random offices. Mathew ignored the irrelevant locations and searched for the directions to what he was looking for - the Kalmwa'er Rescue Team Base of Operations. Thankfully, the simple interior and signage made reading directions easier.
Eventually Mathew found stairs leading to the hall's basement, the home of the organization Groov had told him about. By now, he was surely beginning the process of filing Lucio as a person of interest, which would bring the Rescue Team's members on the alert for his reappearance. As the grovyle described, if Lucio were to be found, he would be taken into interrogation, from which the Pick-it Up Club could proceed to participate in.
Mathew passed by several unusually tall doors until he found one that had a plaque emblazoned onto it that read "Rescue Team Leader's Office." Mathew remembered that Groov told him to look for that plaque - beyond it would be him and the leader. He slowly pulled the door open.
"Hello? Gr—"
Mathew's throat suddenly constricted. There was Groov, alright - talking to a monolith. The quadrupedic beast must've been seven times taller than the cubone. Its head protruded upward like a minotaur, and its backside bore a tail like a mermaid's. Its front and hind legs bore a mismatch between green and talon-like and black and paw-like, respectively. To top it all off, on its crest and tail were highlights of a contradictory bright pink. It looked like a gross fusion of Frankenstein's monster and a wolf, topped with a pixie dust-colored bandage.
Needless to say, Mathew immediately threw the door shut.
"Yo, hey!" Groov shouted past the door. "Silvalla ain't gonna bite!"
"You could've warned me this thing's leader was gonna look like THAT!" Mathew exclaimed as he opened the door and entered the room. He saw that Groov was sitting in front of a large desk intended for the larger creature in the room. Next to him was an empty seat.
The beast, which Mathew presumed to be Silvalla, sighed. "I see you're new to all this," he boomed.
"Uh, new to what?"
They proceeded to ignore his question.
"Anyway, this is one of the guys who got stalked on by the guy I'm reporting," Groov told Silvalla.
"I see." Silvalla looked down at the cubone. "Welcome. Please, sit down."
Mathew gulped, then did as he asked. When seated, he realized that there were two cabinets carved into the desk at their level.
"There is complimentary food in the cabinet in front, if you desire."
Mathew opened it. Inside… Garlic bread? What kind of place serves garlic bread as complimentary food? He hadn't had food like this since-
"Wait a minute." Mathew looked up at the beast. "Isn't there a restaurant in town that shares your name?"
"Ah, my side project."
Mathew slowly shut the cabinet after grabbing a piece for his lunch. This place gets weirder by the goddamn second.
"So…" Silvalla began. "Explain what has happened today."
Mathew relayed the information of the morning, from Jermy's mistake to Mr. Persian's interrogation. Silvalla listened quietly until he finished.
"So it seems Groov's assessment of the situation is as accurate of yours. Excellent reporting."
Groov shrugged. "I try my best."
Mathew looked dumbfoundedly at the grovyle until he looked back. "Is this guy your boss?" he mouthed.
Groov nodded. "He ain't exactly my employee, so yeah."
"I've made my conclusion," Silvalla announced. "While there is not enough evidence to confirm that this 'Lucio' individual is an outlaw, it is clear that he has performed a violation of privacy. I will add him to our 'index of suspicious persons.' If our team locates them, they will be asked to come here for questioning, and you will be alerted that he has been sighted and prepared for interrogation."
"Told you," Groov remarked.
"Okay, but what about Mr. Persian?" Mathew asked.
"There is evidence that he has interacted with Lucio, but not that he has performed any crime himself," Silvalla explained. "I will not add him to the list until there is more evidence presented to our team. In your own time I suggest looking more into him and determining if there is an environment in which he will tell you the truth."
"Oh.. Well, thanks for this," Mathew said. He felt as if he both was and wasn't addressing the donphan in the room.
"You are welcome. Enjoy the remainder of your Days of Rest. I hope to see you again soon, Groov."
With that, Mathew and Groov started their return to the home of Mrs. Cinccino. Now that there was no urgency, the grovyle walked casually alongside the cubone instead of painfully outpacing him. Mathew was sure that, by now, the rest of the Club was deeply anticipating their arrival.
On the way there, he decided to converse with the grovyle. "So… What's working for Silvalla like?"
"Eh, it's okay," he calmly replied. "The work's not as cool as most people make it out to be. You gotta go out and do somethin' at least once a week if ya want payment, so you sorta have to walk around town until you find somethin' that you can make into a mission."
"Huh…" Mathew said. "You have teammates, right? Does that make it any more fun?"
"Meh. I never really need to work with any of 'em, and I don't go out of my way to join them. They're just not my kind of people. Don't regret joining though - the job was how I met Poliwrath, Poli's bro. Without him I wouldn't have my 'mates."
"Politoed has a brother?"
"Yeah. He's somethin'."
Shortly after the conclusion of that conversation, they arrived back at Mrs. Cinccino's home. Groov explained the situation to the crowd. The Club was satisfied to know that they would have an air of safety around town again. The majority of them were even eager to assist in the search to further affirm the stability of the Club. Mathew was relieved. Today had been a scare, but it wasn't like any friendships were broken or anyone was hurt-
"Guys… I'm kinda thinking of quitting."
I just had to think happy thoughts.
Politoed's statement shocked everyone. Quickly, everybody was asking questions rapid-fire towards the green frog.
"Guys, guys!" he exclaimed. "Nothing personal or anything to do with Lucio. Just don't trust Mr. Persian anymore. Not gonna work for somebody that I think is shady."
"Are you certain that he cannot be trusted?" Medicham asked. "To me, Mr. Persian seemed much less 'shady' and much more 'on the wrong path.' I have read his aura many times and I have never detected any malicious nature in his being."
"Couldn't he hide it or something?"
Medicham paused. "...It's not an impossibility. I know it is a real technique, as I have learned to do it. He would need lessons."
"Lessons from the most Aura-capable pokémon to exist?" Mrs. Cinccino said, knowing where this was going.
Medicham nodded. "I had thought that Mr. Persian's alibi was infallible, but after this day's questioning and Politoed's suggestion…" Mathew felt sorry for him. Seeing how they talked on his first day, he got the impression that Medicham was not only a coworker but a friend to Mr. Persian. Now he looked disappointed, as if he had caught his child doing something he thought they'd know better than to do.
Several people talked to Politoed. Several of them tried to advise the green frog against leaving the Club so suddenly, to which Politoed seemed to dislike. Mathew had to appreciate what Joey did - instead of telling him what to do, he simply told him it was a pleasure to work with him and gave him a bow. Joey's kindness inspired Mathew - he wanted Politoed to know he cared, despite not being actual coworkers anymore, and wanted to make him feel like his choice was acceptable.
"Listen," Mathew told Politoed. "I know what it's like to get under pressure with a job you're not comfortable with. Just look at what happened at Asulaguah Beach. If you don't feel like you can handle working under Mr. Persian anymore, I say that's fine."
"Thanks, Mathew," Politoed replied. "Guess now I have to look for a job somewhere else, though. Least I can spend full time on the band now, but I'm gonna have to go without profit. Should be fine, but poké can only last you so long…"
"Hey, Politoed." Once again, Mathew found himself next to this hooded grovyle. "I've got good news. Guess what place's looking for new applicants?"
"No way," Politoed said, realizing full well what Groov was about to say.
"Yeah, they opened up about a week ago after these two guys got the boot for being weird. You could totally join."
"Sweet! Sounds like a plan."
And with that, the Pick-it Up Club lost one of its strongest members. Of course, gone with him would be the equally strong Breloom that was his romantic partner. She didn't cite nearly as solid of a reason in comparison - just that she simply agreed with Politoed. Mathew thought this was strange, but shrugged it off. It wasn't his place to decide who Breloom wanted to work for and work with.
With Brace Yourselves' departure, so too did the members of the club begin to spread apart. After determining that they would continue work the next day (hopefully alongside Mr. Persian as always), they slowly began to return to their homes. It wasn't long before Mathew found himself walking alongside Joey, Jermy, and Meowth in order to crawl out of the pit that was Kalmwa'er.
Mathew's emotions at that moment were… strange to him. It was certainly a sunken feeling, as it always seemed to be in this place, but it wasn't any sort of explosive sensitivity like his previous misfortunes. It was as if he was slowly beginning to be desensitized to the drama around him, a thought that both satisfied and disturbed the cubone. He couldn't help but wonder, however, how he was faring in comparison to his grey landlord.
In reflection, Mathew had understood from the outset that Meowth was a quiet pessimist - his single-worded introduction had told him everything in the most concise of fashions. Pessimism and hopelessness wasn't a foreign feeling to him, either. However, the cubone was taken off-guard by his fierce rejections - first with Abis, and now with Mr. Persian, his own father. People that seemed to want his happiness were the very same people Meowth seemed to draw away from, like a sponge that can't absorb the water poured onto it.
Mathew asked himself the question he didn't want to ask: Is Meowth the kind of person who will really help me?
The arrival at the cat's home ended Mathew's musings. As the sun beamed brightly down upon the group of four, Meowth opened the entry into his abode, the place that was once safe, and brought the group inside. Immediately, they all took notice of what went into Meowth's hands: an envelope that had been on the floor, carefully slipped under the front door. Scribbled upon it:
To the house of Meowth and those whom he lives with
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
"I have a feeling that I know who this is from…" Jermy said.
"He must've had it written while I was busy with the Rescue Team," Mathew thought aloud.
"Uh… Who?" Joey asked.
"My father."
Meowth's statement suddenly spurred Mathew. For the first time the cubone realized how abysmal Meowth's connection to 'his father' was. Beyond the obvious callout at Mrs. Cinccino's abode, there was the time where he offered his house to them, and…that was it. That left another question Mathew had to answer, on top of his huge pile of them he had been accumulating over the past five days: Was Mr. Persian in truth a neglectful father, or was Meowth simply continuing a rebellious phase?
As the three of them silently gathered around Meowth to read this message together, it wouldn't be long before the cubone had his answers…and a few other ones, too.
Dear Mathew Walker, Joey, Jermy Shock, and my son Meowth,
Take this letter as both an informative explanation and a formal apology. My actions this afternoon were disrespectful to everybody involved, and it is acceptable to refuse forgiveness for me. However, I feel as though I am obligated to provide you with what little truth I can. I ask that you at the very least suspend your distaste for me for the duration of your reading so I may explain my actions.
As the Pick-it Up Club is aware, I attempted to use deceitful tactics to evade discussing the true nature of Lucio Riála's actions. The reason I did so was not to cover up for him out of compassion. It is because I must do it. See, several years ago, while Kalmwa'er Resort was in its infancy, I made a grave mistake, one that I vow to never make again: I signed a contract without reading it first. The contract was intended for confirmation on a collaborative project with the Scientific Engagement and Activity Society, better known as its acronym SEAS. The plan was for the company to utilize its technologies to enhance my business while they used my location as a testing ground for new projects. It turns out that they wanted much more than that. Much, much more. So much more that even attempting to deliver this letter threatens the lives of so many pokémon that I've chosen to terminate my connections to the Pick-it Up Club just to protect a handful. So much more that I could continue writing this letter by the time you returned from tomorrow's workday and still fail to list all of the unplanned additions to that contract.
Not only was I burdened with SEAS' demands, but I am also still trying to reconcile my life after my beloved wife left me and my son. I wished to correct my mistakes with you, Meowth, by dedicating more time in my life to you… I failed. SEAS left ceaseless work in their wake that I was forced to attend to. I had no time for myself, much less my son. However, I will not use the contract to excuse my failures. Meowth, you had every right to be upset with me.
Now, I must address what you are most likely concerned about. Lucio Riála is a commander of a squadron in the organization, higher up in status than I am. He was utilizing the grounds and guise of Kalmwa'er Resort under orders to execute a mission. I was briefed that he was assisting the investigation of a "detected w axis transfer from a source with an ID signal that is not verified in registries adjacent to the Kalmwa'er station," as well as a secondary objective I was not briefed on. In layman's terms, they are investigating a human who arrived on Solceus through means outside of the company. Yes, this company is aware of humans. They're all human. I know for a fact that at least one of you is human yourselves. I am quite used to the concept at this point.
My advice, as somebody inside this company, would be to avoid SEAS at all costs. I was briefed on very little pertaining to what exactly they are going to do with the outlier they're investigating, but I would assume that they want you for something in their company. Do absolutely anything in your power to make that impossible to transpire. Anything is better than working for SEAS, even if that means abandoning your friends to hide away. Vahle Village, north of here through Verde Valley, may be a safe place to start. Any small town nearby is probably safe, except for locations around the city of Arbor. Do not go to Arbor. It is the nearest civilization with a SEAS facility, and it is dangerous. A SEAS elite, the public relations spokesman, works there and could appear to deceive you at any moment. Regardless of what action you take, you must move. If you choose not to escape, then they will find you eventually and crush you absolutely.
In any case, I wish you all the best of luck. You will need it. And Meowth, just know that, whatever happens, I love you.
Best regards,
Mr. Persian
P.S. After reading this letter, please destroy it immediately. Burn it, dissolve it, whatever you have to do. Nobody other than you four can ever see this, or the next time you see me may be for my funeral.
The room went silent. The cubone looked upon the uneased and disturbed faces of Joey and Jermy, and he shared that sentiment with them. However, the third, Meowth, was different. For once, Mathew could see more than a slight shift in the cat's usually empty expression. Meowth's face slowly contorted into a far deeper grimace, yet eerily, his body kept its usual stillness. Mathew felt the paranoia rushing in anticipation for whatever Meowth was about to do. Yet, despite such expectations, Meowth's wretched expression faded as he lowered the letter.
Meowth slid the parchment calmly into the bag, which Mathew knew, thanks to Jermy's untimely demonstration, would make it difficult for a stranger to find. There was a duality to that, the cubone supposed - Meowth disrespected Mr. Persian's wish by not destroying the letter, but he did prevent it from being found so he wouldn't hurt anybody. This confliction filled everyone's minds, like two waves crashing against one another in the storm of Meowth's head.
Suddenly, the quietness was stopped. "This seems worse than I thought..." Jermy said. "We need to get to this Vahle Village place quickly. Otherwise, who knows what'll-"
"We'll make for Vahle Village together tomorrow morning," Meowth declared. "When you all are safe, I'm going to separate from you. I'm going to Arbor."
A collective "WHAT?!" was shared amongst the humans.
"Wait, wait, waitwaitwaitwait," Mathew said. "Let me put this in the best way I can: are you out of your goddamn mind, Meowth?!"
"I know what I'm doing," Meowth said firmly. "I'm going to find SEAS."
"I feel like we didn't read the same letter…" Joey murmured.
"I agree with Joey here," Jermy said. "Did you miss the part when he said disclosing literally anything about SEAS' internal plans would get the entire Pick-it-Up Club slaughtered? They've gotta be really dangerous guys."
"I'm going there anyway." Meowth, going against its wishes, stored the letter in his bag. "My father didn't tell me everything here. I have to know more. I have to know what this company is doing to him."
"Wh… Why…" Was all Jermy could muster.
Mathew delivered his opinion very bluntly: "Meowth, you're going on a suicide mission, you know that? Even if you somehow do get what you're looking for, what the hell are you going to do with it?"
Meowth glanced at Mathew, then shut his eyes and fidgeted a little with his tie. "I thought you'd have the answers for something like that."
With a heavy sigh, Jermy pushed the conversation back on track. "Well, whatever Meowth does, it looks like we all agree that we need to go to Vahle Village tomorrow… and I guess that means we have to leave Kalmwa'er behind completely." Jermy grimaced before continuing. "We'd best start getting ready for that trip."
And that began the process of transforming a set of four housemates into a group of nomads. ORB set out the goals for them. If the group was really looking to go on the run, they would need a sufficient amount of gear and tools at their disposal. Fortunately, the infinite space bag would make everything easier; anything they needed or even wanted could be taken on them. Mathew's entire backpack's worth of tools and trinkets especially needed the space. Then there came a point when they realized they had packed all they could in the house, so it was time for just a bit more shopping around town.
Once more the group combed the market for things they could add to their inventory of gear. A few notable objects were purchased; a few more berries, some seeds, a couple wands (to Mathew they just looked like sticks, but according to the shopkeeper they were totally magic)… But most importantly, Mathew grabbed something called a "Flamethrower TM", a disc-like thing he recognized from the games that was supposed to teach him a move - how, exactly, he had no idea. He asked Meowth about it and, instead of getting an easy answer, he was hit with the confusing realization that apparently there are TVs on Solceus and he just hasn't seen one yet.
Mathew felt frustrated. The cubone was about to set out to a new location, but he had barely learned anything about the nature of the city he lives in now! Every day, there was something to discover around the location. Mathew had appreciated being able to take in everything weird about this place at a relatively steady pace, but he was certain that going out into the wild between Kalmwa'er and Vahle Village would be a violent tearing of his training wheels. If he wanted to be able to adapt to this world, he needed some way to learn more and learn fast.
And that was exactly when Mathew saw the building. It was large, simple, not so far from the market. The name, emblazoned above an entryway, explained all: "Kalmwa'er Library and Bookstore for the Benefit of Progress". Mathew felt like he had stumbled upon a divine intervention with the perfect timing of his gaze upon that name. He was immediately compelled to seek knowledge from this service, but he took a moment to pause and be considerate. He knew he was not the only one who struggled with the confusing nature of Solceus; in fact, out of the four, he was only the second worst with his Solcean common sense overall, considering it was not him who uttered the words, "What's a Mystery Dungeon?" that very first day. He decided to search for Joey in the market and ask if he would like to accompany him.
Once the two of them had paired up, they stepped inside the library together. Mathew was thankful that the structure of its interior was overall familiar; shelves were stacked up halfway to the ceiling and stuffed with the sheets of script.
However, Mathew was surprised to see a familiar face. As the door creaked forwards, the golduck he had just seen this morning, now donning glasses, snapped out of his slumber on the front desk. "O-Oh my gosh! Customers!" he exclaimed with surprise.
"Golduck?" Mathew said.
The golduck recognized the pair. "Oh, Mathew and Joey, from the Pick-it Up Club! It's nice to see you! But, uh… That's Mr. Golduck to you, thank you."
The two of them walked up to the desk. "Sorry if this comes off as mean, but Minccino ain't the bookworm kind of person," Joey said. "I'm surprised you run a libary."
"Close, it's liBRary." Mathew corrected.
"Oh, I'm sorry…" Joey said.
Mathew tried to change his tone to one of encouragement after hearing Joey beat himself up about it: "It's fine. You know now."
"I'm not at all shocked to hear your surprise," Mr. Golduck said. "We're a chipper little bunch, after all! But Mystery Dungeons are much more of my darling's thing. My passion is this!" He threw his arms out, indicating to the shelves on his left and right. "Keeping all this knowledge!"
"That's a good thing," Mathew replied. "I'm actually in need of some specific knowledge right now."
"Really! I don't mean to be nosy, but I'm willing to guess this 'knowledge' has to do with what was going on earlier today?"
"You could say that." Mathew paused to determine what exactly he was looking for. "Where could I find a book on objects you could find in a Mystery Dungeon like wands and TMs? Oh, and a book on the… history of education."
Mr. Golduck pointed as he stated: "Nonfiction works on Mystery Dungeons will be over there in the right corner. Items specifically? Try whatever looks good on the second row. And history novels are all compiled right at the front left window over there!"
Joey followed up on his own wants: "I need to know more about pokémon in general."
"Ooh, that's easy. The Pokédex encyclopedias, right there at the bottom shelf of the middle row, has articles on every pokémon you could want."
"Perfect, thanks!" Joey exclaimed.
"My pleasure! By the way, feel free to use the tables over on the right as a nice nook for flipping through pages."
Thus, the pair hit the books. Mathew slowly made his way towards the aisles Mr. Golduck had guided him towards and found a set of books that seemed right for what Mathew was intending to learn. On his way to the tables to sit down and read, he noticed that Joey was carrying a huge myriad of books - volumes and volumes of this Pokédex series. With a huff, the totodile set the giant stack down in front of a table at a corner in the room and spread a few of them onto its top, then slipped his tail through the hole in a chair and sat down. Mathew couldn't help but notice the encyclopedias Joey grabbed were mildly different in quality - the first volume that Joey was skimming through was faded and worn on its covers and its pages, corners turned for bookmarking and taped where they had been ripped, all the while left with the scars of vile owners who drew and highlighted across the book's ages. No wonder, staring at an older work like the first volume, that Mathew noticed even just the second volume was so much more well-kept, even if he only got a glance at the cover.
Moving on, the cubone stepped around the remaining components of Joey's stack and sat on another side of the table. He set down everything he was carrying - the books, the TM, and the wands he had purchased. As he did so, he wondered if Jermy would have anything to gain from a library like he and Joey did. Just a moment ago, he was around them, but he split off to put all of the items he had purchased inside Meowth's bag. Mathew considered following him, but his shopping spree wasn't quite over yet and he didn't want to make multiple trips to the cat.
With these thoughts still swirling in his head, Mathew opened his first tool of understanding. Quickly he opened up a world of answers and a world of questions all at the same time. Several of his discoveries, like the average pokémon lifespan being sixty five instead of eighty five like humans and higher education being like high school and college thrown into a blender, eased his worries about the obtusivity of this culture he had stumbled into, but even when reading, there were a wide variety of concepts he felt he could not understand without outside help.
Fortunately for him, outside help seemed to always be within reach since the previous day.
The sound of the door opening was quickly followed by another welcome from Mr. Golduck. "Oh, Meowth! Yet another Pick-it Up Club member in here today! Isn't that a surprise?"
"Hello," the cat said calmly. "Have you heard the news?"
"Huh? Something new about Lucio come in?"
It was then that Mathew started to realize why most librarians tell guests to quiet down. Joey seemed equally miffed.
"Mr. Persian gave the ownership of the Club to the Mr. Mimes," Meowth said.
"What?! Seriously?"
"Mrs. Cinccino told me about it."
"Goodness, this week has been wild for that bunch. Who knew wanting to clean your community could cause this much drama?"
"Most of us didn't clean that much," Meowth stated.
Suddenly, a feminine-looking pokémon that completely resembled a leaf - dissimilar to Groov's leaf appendages - rushed towards the two. "Quiet, Mr. Golduck!" she shouted angrily. The two of them were taken aback by her volume so much that they both reeled back in their chairs. Joey fell back, the poor totodile still caught by the tail as the chair he took with him nearly missed his precious books.
"Oh! So sorry, Lea," Mr. Golduck replied in a whisper. His co-worker stormed off as the cubone shuffled out of his seat to check on and reset Joey. The two of them mumbled about Mr. Golduck's poor whispering skills and shared a laugh. Mathew was happy to be assured that the totodile's mood hadn't been swept over again by an accident like that.
As Mathew settled back in his seat, he heard footsteps that marked Meowth's approach. "Hey, Meowth," the cubone whispered welcomingly.
"Hi."
"What are you doing here in the library?"
"I'm looking for something on lucarios and Aura techniques."
"Oh…" the cubone replied solemnly.
"Do you think you could find something in these books?" Joey asked, pointing to the stack beside the two of them. "We can search for what both of us want - I'll tell you if I find lucario and you'll tell me if you find feraligatr."
"Makes sense." Thus, Meowth quickly moved a chair to the third side of the table, on Joey's right. Now Mathew was slightly glad Jermy was not present - the fourth side of the table was pressed up against the corner, so if he wanted to sit with them, they would have to all move around, including carrying Joey's stack somewhere else.
The three were silent for a moment until Meowth piped up again with a simple "Found it," while handing it over for Joey to look at. Mathew watched as Joey's happy face washed away and was replaced with a more concerned counterpart.
"That's a feraligatr?!" Joey said worryingly, loud enough to not be a whisper but not loud enough to annoy Lea, wherever she was. "B-but… It's seven feet tall!" He slumped his maw down on the table, covering the book. "I'm gonna stomp all over everyone…"
"What's this all about?" Mathew asked.
"Politoed told me was gonna evolve into a feraligatr and I really thought that'd be good, but I don't wanna be a feraligatr! I'm taller than all of you already..."
"Relax," Meowth said. "You just misunderstood what Politoed said."
Joey raised his maw off of the table. "H-huh…?"
"He didn't tell you that you were going to evolve into feraligatr, just that you could evolve into a feraligatr. Evolution is a choice."
Mathew set down his book. This sounded like interesting information.
"You know what Mr. Persian looks like already." Meowth began flipping through the worn-out book he had been combing through until he found a page. "He's a light persian. If I were to evolve, I will look like this: a dark persian." He presented the open book to the pair. Inside was a graphic of a grey-colored cat with a blue gemstone embedded into his (notably large) head. "Do you see the problem with this?"
"The watermelon head?" Mathew proposed.
"Not the main reason. It's a quadruped. If I were to evolve, I would lose my ability to easily grab objects. It would destroy my ability to function in my profession. So, I've decided not to evolve." Meowth glanced back at Joey. "If you like yourself better as a totodile now or a croconaw later, then you can reject the impulse to evolve when it comes."
"Oh, in that case, I think I'm going to stay as a totodile," Joey said.
"Huh, that's good to know for later," Mathew said. "Just one more question about that: what do you mean by 'impulse to evolve', Meowth?"
"It's something you feel when your life changes. You'll know what it is when you get the feeling."
"So it doesn't have to do with-" Mathew airquoted. "-'fainting' other pokémon, right?"
"Video game thing?"
"Video game thing."
"Well, if 'fainting'-" Meowth mimicked Mathew. "-pokémon is an important life decision, it's possible."
"Okay, thanks." Mathew paused. "While we're on the talk of things we need to know to look normal, can you help me understand something that's been showing up in this book? It keeps listing dates and it's weird."
The cat silently got out of his chair, maneuvered around Joey's stack of books, and stood over the cubone. The two of them observed the numbered date: 03/06/1994/9. Meowth pressed his finger against each part and described it from left to right: "Day, month, year, generation."
"What's a generation?"
"It's an arbitrary calendar reset. It has to do with how Solceus' state between normal and Legendary pokémon is changed over time."
"So today would be…?"
"27/9/2065/9."
"The twenty seventh day of… Twenty sixty five… Wait. Wait, wait, wait," Mathew said confusedly. "What month is it?"
"September."
"Five days ago would be… September twenty second, twenty sixty five, generation nine. What the hell…?"
"What's wrong, Mathew?" Joey asked.
"Of all the things in this world that is so, so different, suddenly it's the calendars that are similar?" Mathew turned his attention back to Meowth. "Meowth, back on Earth, we have a sort of date reset too; there's BCE, Before the Common Era, and CE, the Common Era. Right now it is September twenty seven, two thousand sixty five years after the Common Era started on Earth."
"Huh…" Meowth said.
"I'm very confused," Joey admitted.
Mathew pitied Joey's intelligence. "What I'm saying is that the ninth generation and the Common Era started at the exact same time, down to the second. Isn't that weird?" Once again, Mathew looked at Meowth from across the table. "Meowth, do you know anything that could explain that?"
What happened next surprised Mathew - Meowth shook his head. For the first time, Mathew had asked Meowth a question about Solceus' culture and world that he simply didn't know. Mathew was stuck without a lead, just as he was with D.E. - the whereabouts of whom Meowth proved unfortunately to be of no help.
A few minutes passed in silence. Mathew, frustrated with another brick wall, closed the historical text and opened the next. However, the next book only made him angrier. These articles spoke all about the functions and variations of these magical sticks and discs, but they assumed that the reader had the basic understanding of how to use them. As he had worried, Mathew was so much of an exception to Solceus' common sense that entry-level wouldn't be entry-level enough for him.
He swiped his hands towards his purchases. He was going to need a second physical demonstration. The cubone stood out of his chair and made his way across the table. "Hey, Meowth—"
Mathew forgot about the stack.
It happened quickly. He cascaded forward as the stack of Joey's books went down with him. He held both of his hands out to stop him from hitting the ground.
Unfortunately, the skull with a crack in its side was longer than the cubone's reach.
"Oh my goodness!" he heard Mr. Golduck exclaim as he hurried towards him. Mathew held still and took a reflexive breath. Suddenly, something covered his eyes. He reeled back and blinked rapidly to get it out.
"Mathew, are you okay?!" Joey exclaimed, hurrying out of his seat.
"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine!" Mathew responded as all three of them gathered around the cubone. "But what the hell was…" With his eyes now clear, he could see that where he had so suddenly placed his skull was now a layer of luminescent dust. The wand was no longer in his right hand - he had smashed it with his skull, turning it into that unknown substance. Mathew, in his split-second action, thought that breaking the wand would be better than breaking the TM, but the reactions after made him start doubting that.
Meowth immediately grabbed Mathew by the shoulders and put him face-to-face. He hurriedly brushed his paw around his skull, removing whatever remnants of the wand were upon them.
"I'm getting the mop!" Mr. Golduck shouted as he ran off.
"What's going on? Why is everyone so panicked?" Mathew asked.
"By breaking a dungeon item like a wand, you turned it into the material it composes of, dungeon dust. It's extremely dangerous," Meowth said. "Did anything at all get past your skull?"
"I-I don't think so…"
"Is Mathew going to be okay?!" Joey asked distressingly.
"If none of it touched his face, he should be okay."
"Hey, uh w-what's going to happen to me if it did?" Mathew shakedly asked.
"If you ever feel unusual, please let me know as soon as possible."
Mathew quickly nodded. He hoped the uneasy feeling in his chest was just his nerves and not whatever thing Meowth was trying to worry about.
"Mop's here! Everyone outta the way!" Mr. Golduck carried a mop and a wooden bucket of water at breakneck speed, letting drops of water spill out onto the carpet. He slammed the bucket down on the floor as the trio stepped away from the dust, then put the mop to it. Mathew watched as Meowth went to the bucket and dipped his hands into the water, removing the dust off of his paws.
"The water gets rid of the dust?!" Joey said. He turned to Mathew in worry. "I have Water Gun as a move! I-I… I could've gotten rid of it sooner!"
"Joey, please!" Mathew exclaimed. "Now is not the time to feel sorry for yourself. It was my fault. Okay?"
"O-okay…" Joey replied softly. Mathew was disappointed to still hear a hint of despair in Joey's voice. It was then that he realized this sudden sense of accountability of Joey's was something he would have to contend with even after what happened those two previous nights ago.
They watched as Mr. Golduck put the mop back in the bucket. "Alright. Is everyone okay?"
"Um, I think so…" Mathew replied.
"Good, good. I was worried Lea would-"
"Is that the mop?! This better not be-!" On cue, the leavanny bolted onto the scene. "Dungeon dust! In OUR library?! This is terrible!"
"Oh, come on, Lea. This kind of stuff is more likely to happen than you think."
"I don't care, whoever spilled that on the floor-" Lea pointed at them. "that means the lot of you - is outta here for the rest of the day." Once more, she was moving out of there. "You better not harbor them this time, Mr. Goluck!"
"Okay!" he replied that, followed by some mumbling Mathew could only figure was something about not having visitors, followed by a sigh. "Sorry about that. She's mean, but she really does care about the library. I'm trying to help her…how do I put this…grow up? Anyways, if there's anything I can do to make up for all this, let me know!"
Meowth immediately reached for a book on the table - one that was open to the visage of a lucario. "I need the information on this pokémon during an important trip."
"Wait…" Mr. Golduck began to realize what page Meowth was indicating to. "What are you-"
"Please don't ask. May I borrow this?"
The librarian pondered this for a moment. "You know what? If you tolerated all this because you need it for some sort of plan, I'll just pay the fees for you. It's the least I can do."
"Thank you." Meowth dropped the encyclopedia into his bag. After the three of them returned the other books to the shelves, they left the library with all of the knowledge they thought they could find from it.
Feeling a bit awkward, the group left the library. Outside they saw Jermy holding what looked to be a CRT television while ORB followed helplessly. It was about twice his size, yet he managed to hold it up, if a bit shakedly. "H-hey guys!" he grunted. "I u-used the rest of my money to get us a TV. I'm basically broke now, but this should help us! I think you also needed for that Flamethrower T-"
CRASH!
In one moment, a perfectly good TV was broken on the sidewalk, and the only thing in Jermy's arms were a set of cords. "Oh…"
"SIGH," ORB immediately responded. "DID I NOT TELL YOU THIS WOULD BE EXACTLY WHAT WOULD HAPPEN, JERMY?"
Jermy shrugged. "You were right. I need to stop doubting you."
"YOU BUILT ME TO DO ALL THE DOUBTING FOR YOU."
"I hope you got a warranty," Meowth stated.
"Well, good thing I did…"
Suddenly, Mathew had an idea that would solve multiple problems at the same time. "Hey, Joey?"
"Yeah?" The crocodile responded.
"You should go with Jermy to carry a new one home. That way Meowth and I can have some time alone for that therapy session."
Mathew saw a look of doubt wash over Joey. "I dunno if I can do that."
Mathew paused. He neglected to tell him that part of his suggestion was to get Joey to handle a task he could do, trying to build back his destroyed confidence that had been so potent. "Well, there's only one way to find out," he tried encouraging after pondering what to say. "Besides, it looked like he just needed a bit of weight distribution on the other side. It'll be easy."
"Okay, I'll try..." With that, Joey walked alongside the pikachu away from the other two.
Mathew, hopeful that he could guide Joey back to a better state of mind, began making his way towards the house.
"Hey," Meowth prompted.
"Yeah?"
"Before we begin, you should make yourself as comfortable as you can. I like to use the nests, but that's your choice."
Mathew nodded as they reached the yard of their abode.
As soon as they were inside, Meowth bolted for the door to his room. Mathew took his time in picking up his nest and following suit, drawing into Meowth's room for the first time.
Unlike the room in front, Meowth's space was mildly - but only mildly - more well-kept. Alongside the similar dressers and mirrors, there was a small fridge in the corner and a single nest in the center. From all objects in the room, Meowth was quickly storing a few extra personal belongings, including his recognizable emergency kit, a few textbooks that seemed to be from higher education, a flat pad made of some unknown material, a small photo frame with three pokémon in it, and a container of something Mathew didn't recognize. His last grabs, however, didn't go into the bag - it was a pen, a notepad, and a pair of glasses.
"Don't you wear contacts?" Mathew asked.
"Contacts are for cosmetics, glasses are for function." With that, Meowth dragged his nest closer to the rim of the room so Mathew could place his on the floor. When they were both settled, they began the session.
"Before we get to what you and I both want to address, first I'm going to ask you a few questions," Meowth said.
Mathew stretched himself. "Okay, I'll try to answer them."
"First, have you ever had a therapist in the past?"
"Definitely not."
Meowth scribbled something on his clipboard. "Are you comfortable with stating how long you've been this way?"
Mathew looked inward for a moment. "Over a year. Close to two, I guess."
"Do you or your family have any precedence for mental illnesses?"
Mathew shook his head.
Meowth nodded and placed some pieces of information onto the sheet. "Explain to me. How frequently does this event get in the way of your day-to-day life?"
"At least once per week sounds like a good estimate?"
"Mm-hmm." Meowth once again placed his concealed perspective on the parchment. "Do you ever feel as though you're reliving this event?"
Mathew took a moment to reply. "All the time."
"When was the last time you experienced one?"
"Two days ago, late afternoon."
"During what happened in Misery Woods."
"...Yes."
"Mr. Walker, do you ever feel as though you are isolated from family or friends?"
"If we're talking about family… Yes."
"Interesting." Meowth noted this. "Do your dreams ever relate to this event?"
"Always. It's not easy even getting sleep anymore. I confess… I try not to show it, but I feel really tired often because of what's going on with my sleep." Mathew sat up and made eye contact with Meowth. "But what the hell else am I gonna do? I already think about it enough already. How am I supposed to fight the thoughts without being conscious?"
"I see." Meowth took a longer time to write this time. Mathew noticed how quickly he was moving down with the pen - he was writing a list. "Mr. Walker…have you ever heard of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?"
Mathew nodded solemnly. "I have."
"It's more than likely that these attributes of your life are a result of trauma. If this event had occurred sooner, say, six months, I would only identify it as such; however, if it happened almost two years ago, as you say, this may be a long-term disorder."
"Okay…"
"Now then." Meowth tore off the top of the sheet he had written and began anew. He asked for his readiness with a simple statement: "I want you to recount everything you comfortably can."
"Um..." Mathew took a few deep breaths, cleared his thoughts, rolled around a little, stared at the ceiling. He tried to dig into his memories and emotions to pull the truth from within, but every time he came close to trying, he couldn't find the words. Beneath the skull with a crack on its side, Mathew's lips were silenced. "I'm sorry. I just can't. Just… not right now."
"Mathew," Meowth said. "We need to find some way to discuss this."
The cubone sighed. "I know."
Meowth continued. "I believe the best way we could treat this issue would be to make this instance in your life less difficult to bear. In order to do so, you need to tell me about it."
"Meowth, you know I can't do that!" Mathew exclaimed. "That's the whole damn reason this started in the first place - thinking and talking about it is a barrier I just can't cross!"
"Mathew, please don't raise your voice," Meowth said. "This is supposed to be a comforting experience for you, not a frustrating one. If you have a coping mechanism, please use it."
Mathew called upon the one technique he knew. In. Out. "There," Mathew spoke for his own condition. "I'm fine now."
"You use deep breathing?"
"Yeah," Mathew replied.
"Interesting. Did somebody teach you that?"
"Uh…" Mathew took a moment to think. "I think it's just sorta something I came up with myself."
"If it's useful, continue doing that." Meowth scribbled something down for a prolonged amount of time. "I know this discussion is going to be difficult. I saw what happened in Misery Woods. Since this is your first session, it's alright if you want to take this very slowly."
Mathew shut his eyes and retreated into the recesses of his mind, looking for something, anything to start from. Mathew soon opened his eyes, a faint beam shining through. "I think I figured something out. What if we started with the context first, the world?"
"That'll work," Meowth agreed.
"Alright. Now, where do I…?" Mathew took a deep breath. "Okay, so I come from this place called Earth, and it was a lot like what you guys have here on Solceus. Blue sky, one sun, you get it. We - humans - have ruled over it for thousands of years. I was born during a pretty good time in those thousands. Technology was booming, the economy was great, all the good stuff."
"Mhm. Was this technology like what we have?"
"Actually? The technology was better. Imagine being able to talk to anyone from literally anywhere, or having access to all the world's knowledge."
"So you came from a pleasant planet overall." Meowth began scribbling something down quickly.
"Yeah. Well...at least until about a decade ago."
Meowth's paw paused. "What happened?"
"Well, so for a long time, the globe had been getting warmer from a lot of old factories and farms, and then it finally got hot enough to a point where crops and livestock began to die, and costs to up maintenance for more got way pricier. Then the ice caps melted, the sea level rose, ocean life started dying… Couple that with things like extreme weather, corruption due to the lack of resources, and some other things and you have the perfect recipe for the collapse of society."
"So what the Pick-it Up Club was against on a global scale." Meowth scratched something out and began once more on a new line.
"Yes, but - heh - our attempt was laughable, like stopping a forest fire with a bucket. And now, the world is in a lot of turmoil, but what you need to know is that there is less food and resources for a larger population. And that caused lots of crime. Most cities at this point are incredibly unsafe."
Meowth glanced up. "I see. Continue."
Mathew paused. "I…I think that's enough. I set the stage as much as I think I need to."
Meowth nodded in what could've been either understanding or agreement. He removed his glasses and began placing his materials back inside of his endless storage. "Okay. Should we do this again tomorrow, in Vahle Village?"
Mathew didn't hesitate this time. "Yes. Please."
An intense grogginess washed over Mathew as he awoke the following morning. Left and right were switching places despite his eyes soaking up the plain imagery of Meowth's house. A whirling lightness swept across his head again and again. He tried to pull himself off his nest, but he didn't make it past a crawl before he fell back into it.
The cubone laid there for a few minutes before the faintness began to subside. Once it did, he managed to slowly pull himself off of the nest.
Mathew thought to himself about what just happened to him. Could it have been another side effect of becoming a pokémon like what he felt when he first arrived, or was this just another quirk of him being in his middle ages? He was left very confused by the event, nonetheless. He decided to make a note to tell somebody if it happened more often.
With everything gathered and mostly prepared (Jermy still hadn't tested the "power the TV with pikachu cheeks" idea), the group was finally ready to turn their backs on Kalmwa'er - potentially forever. Mathew couldn't help but feel a very familiar kind of sadness. Already he had experienced joy, pain, hope, despair. Already he had fought for his life on more than one occasion merely at this city's backdoor. Already he had formed, broken, and reformed friendships. Yet, already, he was being pulled away from everything he had rooted himself in towards something far beyond his comprehension. He had come to understand how quickly simple joys last before they are destroyed with sorrows and regrets. The cubone wished it was only the first time he had learned this lesson.
Meowth, geared with the culmination of their belongings, pulled his front door open to find a surprising sight. Resting near the cliffside surrounding his home, near where Lucio had fallen and stolen their peaceful lives, were Politoed and Breloom, sitting against the exposed dirt while the latter leaned into the former, Minccino, finishing the last tap of her impatient foot, and Ziggy, a crazed pokémon chasing the back-end of himself.
"What are you doing here?" Meowth asked.
Breloom sprung up, giving Politoed a chance to stand; Minccino forgot her annoyance in waiting and smiled at the cat; and Ziggy found himself suddenly focused on his parting coworkers (or friendworkers).
"Hey Meowth!" Minccino exclaimed. "Surprised to see us?"
"Oh, hi Minccino!" Joey said as the four spread outside of the house. "What are you doing here?"
"Jermy told us that you would be leaving while my family was in the market," Minccino explained. "I told everyone, like he asked, and a few of us wanted to see you off. Medicham couldn't be here, but he wanted me to give you guys his thanks, by the way."
"Well, thanks for coming, everyone!" Jermy exclaimed. "You really didn't have to."
The two sets of four began their parting words. Mathew couldn't help but feel a little guilty that he really didn't have much to say; all he could do was wish each of them luck and give them a nice bow. Meowth, too, seemed to utilize brevity, though less out of lack of things to say and more of his usual calm directness shining through. Joey and Jermy, however, seemed to have less trouble keeping up a little chat.
"Good luck with your brother, and Breloom, and the new job, and everything," he had heard Jermy say to Politoed, to which he smiled, thanked him, and wished him the same with Evelyn if she was okay - whoever that was.
"I'm going and ain't looking back, Minccino. When we were in trouble, they helped me. I'm repaying the favor," was Joey's answer to Minccino's question on whether he hoped to return or not. She seemed to understand and reminded him that the group of four would always be welcome in Kalmwa'er.
After that, there was nothing left to speak of. As both groups drifted towards the cliffside, Mathew's eyes averted towards the abode that he had lived in since that first day he had arrived. The alcove around Meowth's house, with its brown dirt walls surrounding a place with nothing larger than some nests and a few dressers, seemed so comforting now. The cubone felt his sentimentality draw him back towards it like a void. He swiftly denied it, swiping his cracked skull forward as they moved downwards towards the ocean.
Breaking apart from the Pick-it Up Club, the four ventured around the yet larger cliffs encompassing Kalmwa'er, being careful to avoid the beach's sands that would torch their feet before even giving them the chance to exhaust. What would happen now? He was sure there would always be plenty of settlements they could hide within to avoid whatever looming threat this company held, if somehow Vahle Village proved to be unsafe. Or perhaps, Mathew fantasized, they could one day return to this place after this bizarre situation was washed away, and a peaceful and happy life could be possible here. It'd be an easy life. Nice, even.
But no longer could Mathew live that reality. Meowth, who was now his guide through his nightmarish existence, had declared that he desired to press on and seek answers. If he proceeded, Mathew would return to his angry, wrathful self when - or if - he returned. However, if Mathew went alongside him, God-knows-what could threaten his safety and sanity, not to mention Joey's if he tried to tag along. It was a gathering of hooks, with every option holding a bait that would only reel him in to his own demise.
A shining in the edges of his view prompted Mathew to take one last look at Kalmwa'er. Its windows, made with the very substance guarding the city, shimmered in the awe of the rising sun while waves lapped at the shores.
A memory of months passed echoed in his mind. The two letters that Mathew still believed held the key to his happiness:
D.E.