CHAPTER THREE:
SIGNS OF LIFE
-?-
"Oh, Great One." I said. "There's been another anomaly."
I was in the lair of my master. The one they call the Great One. Well, me and the others that work for him call him that.
"Really?" he asked, his voice gruff and slightly mangled.
"I could get the others." I said. "We can take care of them right now."
"No." he said back. "We shall wait for the right time to strike. Now is not that time."
The Great One didn't seem too concerned with what was going on.
There had been rumors of Pokémon washing up on the shores of a secluded beach. I had read the ancient texts, the ones about special Pokémon who had come from another world.
I didn't believe them until now.
"But, Great One." I said. "The ancient texts say…"
"Do I look like I care what the ancient texts say?" he asked, getting verbally more upset. "I said what I said. Now, Hassel, leave me be."
I bowed before him.
"Yes, Great One." I said.
Leaving the room, I couldn't help but think of the problem at hand. What if it was all true? What if the anomalies meant what I thought they did?
The end of all living things.
-Ruffles-
We walked for a while without saying a word.
After telling my story of getting attacked, I felt a little bit more sad. I knew it would come out sometime, but I just didn't think it would hit me that hard reliving it.
The silence was deafening, however. I had to say something, but what?
"Thank you," I said, after several minutes.
"For what?" Udon asked.
"I don't know," I responded. "Just for being so nice to me."
Udon chuckled. "Why wouldn't I be nice to you?" he asked. "We're friends, you know. Even through our hardships, we gotta stick together. No matter what."
I smiled. Udon was a good friend.
A little while later, we had reached our destination. The city of Talardi.
It didn't look as big up close than it did from further away. It was still fairly large, however, with a sizable amount of buildings that practically towered over us.
We were at the entrance of Talardi, but there was something stopping us from heading in.
"Are you ready?" Udon asked.
I stood there, looking at the sight in front of me. I was not very great in crowded places. The idea of getting mugged, or even killed flowed through my head.
"I don't know," I managed to say. "Should we try to find something a little more, I don't know, quaint."
Udon, at this point, could tell I was scared.
"Look, I know it's scary, but you can do this," He said. "I believe in you."
"But what if something happens to me?" I asked.
Udon looked at me and smiled.
"I'll be right here," he answered. "I promise nothing bad will happen to you while I'm around."
In my heart, I knew he was right. I mean, he was big and strong. He could wipe out any attacker that would dare come our way.
"Alright," I said. "Let's do this."
-Udon-
I knew I had told Ruffles that I would protect him, but to be entirely honest, I felt the exact same way he did.
I just couldn't spend more time walking, trying to find something better.
As we made our way into the city, I looked at all of the different creatures around us. This place was populated entirely by things like us.
It was fascinating seeing how many kinds of Pokémon there really were. There were ones on two legs, like me and Ruffles, and ones that walked around on all fours. But they all managed to get by either way.
One thing that I noticed was that there were no cars around. The most likely answer was, however, that no one really needed them. I mean, when you're basically an animal, why try to drive?
Ruffles wasn't taking city life very well, though.
He had a scared look on his face, like he was worried about someone attacking him. I could see why, with how his new life started.
As I looked at him, I put a brave face on. Even if I was as scared as he was, I was not going to let anything happen to him. I promised him the night I met him.
"Hey," Ruffles said. "I just realized something. How are we going to get a room here if we don't have any money?"
I paused. I hadn't thought that far ahead, apparently.
"Well… Uh…." I started to say something, but I couldn't get anywhere.
Then, I saw it. A restaurant, with a help wanted sign in the window.
"We can get jobs," I said, pointing towards the sign. "Right here!"
Ruffles was not very amused by that statement. I could tell he was going to refuse my offer, but, to be honest, we both didn't have a choice.
"I've never had a job before," he said.
"Trust me, it'll be easy," I said back, trying to be brave for him. "We're probably just gonna get jobs as, like, dishwashers or something."
His expression hadn't changed at all. He still wasn't thrilled about the idea.
"I guess if there's no other choice," he shrugged.
"Now, that's the spirit!" I responded.
As we were about to walk in to the restaurant, I stopped.
"Oh yeah, by the way," I said. "We probably shouldn't tell anyone that we used to be, you know. It could get ugly."
"Yeah, good idea," Ruffles said.
So, we both walked in the door, ready to, potentially, get minimum wage jobs.
