Chapter 7: Legendary heroes?
Liza couldn't quite believe her ears. This gentle creature who had apparently taken her unconscious body into his home and nursed her back to health. The one who helped her get through her initial panic attack. This creature was a wanted criminal?
"Pardon?" Liza blurted out.
"You heard me. I can't show myself in town without getting arrested." Gates answered, trying to sound nonchalant about it.
"Why? What have you done?" Liza inquired.
"Oh, nothing big enough to get any competent teams searching for me. Just stealing some food from the market. Mons gotta eat you know." He explained, still sounding unbothered by it.
"But… Couldn't family help you? Or you could get a job?"
This question caused him to briefly cringe. Liza saw she had hit a sore subject.
"It's… a long story. But my life didn't start out on the straight and narrow, and I never found my way back to it either." He answered, all to eager to drop the subject.
Liza wanted to inquire further, but didn't dare to pry too much into Gates' private matters. The fact that he was a wanted criminal also made her a bit more intimidated by him.
"Anyway, you ready to swim underwater?" Gates asked to change the subject.
"Well, am I supposed to be able to breathe underwater in this body?" she asked in return.
"No. If I remember correctly, Buizel can't stay underwater indefinitely like I and many other water-types can. But you need very little air, and have large air sacks in your body. I've heard even young ones can stay submerged for over an hour." He explained. "Also, you should be able to speak underwater as well."
As an experiment, she tried to breathe in as hard as she could, and to her surprise, she inhaled a lot more than expected. Even the weird bit around her neck inflated, honestly making her feel pretty ridiculous. She tried holding her breath longer, and didn't really feel any kind of discomfort before she decided to exhale. But to her surprise her neck remained inflated.
"How does this thing work?" She asked, not wanting to walk around with that ridiculous collar all the time.
"I don't know how it feels, but try to relax whatever is tensing up in your throat." Gates answered in an unsure tone.
Liza tried to heed his advice, focusing on her breath, and relaxing fully. Finally she felt a large amount of air came out as she exhaled.
"So ready to brave the tunnel then? I will come with you of course." Gates reassured her.
"...Sure." She answered, having gained some confidence from the breath-test.
"Follow me then." Gates said as he dived into the pool, and almost disappeared into the dark water.
Liza took a breath, this time making sure not to inflate her weird neck-floater before diving after him. The water was cold, but somehow it didn't really bother her, and she smelled the salt in it as well. She first tried swimming like she would as a human, but soon found out what her tails were for. With her tail-propeller, she easily caught up to Gates.
"Good, now lets go." He said, having no problems speaking underwater.
Liza followed him. Though he had said she could talk underwater as well, she would rather try in when she was not in an underwater tunnel. Though it was pitch black, she could almost feel the walls as she swam through effortlessly. After about a minute of swimming in the pitch-darkness, they emerged into sea. They immediately surfaced, and Liza finally got a look at the new world she found herself in.
It was a sunny day outside, with the clear blue water sparkling. Along the shore were steep cliffs, with the occasional small beach along the shore. There were no signs of civilization as far as the eye could see.
"Come on, we will be swimming for about half an hour before we reach town." Gates said as he took off.
Liza was surprised at his speed to begin with, but soon discovered that she had no problem keeping up with him. As weird as swimming with a propeller-tail felt, clearly it worked wonders. She saw as the steep cliffs gradually gave way for beaches, forests and open fields. And true to Gates words, they soon reached a lagoon where she could see a harbor-town inside. When the city came into view, Gates stopped her, and signaled her onto land.
"What is it?" she asked as they stepped onto the beach.
"As I told you, showing myself in town is risky, and so is being seen with me. That's why I won't be coming with you into town." he said, signaling her to move into the forest, clearly not wanting to spend unnecessary time out in the open.
"Of course. You've told me this already." Liza answered him, as she moved into the bushes as well.
"Yes. I will be waiting here for you to finish looking around for whatever you can find." Gates explained. "It's still fairly early, but I will return to my hideout by sunset."
"Right. I'll be sure to be back by then."
"Oh. One more thing. Do you have any idea of what you will be looking for?"
Liza was not prepared for this question. 'Such a stupid thing to not think of.' she thought to herself. In all her haste she just thought of getting back to civilization, with no plan of what to actually look for when she got there. Obviously nobody would know her, nor would it be likely for anyone to know anything about humans they were as mythic as Gates said. Maybe she had jumped the gun on the whole idea.
"The library might be a good place to start, if you can read. Might at least let you orient yourself in the world, and find more details about the legends of other humans" Gates intervened when he saw Liza's reaction to his question.
"I can read, as long as this world uses the same written language as my old one." Liza told him.
"Hmm… I believe there is a crossroad with a sign nearby. Maybe you should check if you can read that first then." he suggested.
"All right… Lead the way!" she responded.
Of course there had to be complications. It was a miracle she even spoke the same language as these creatures, she shouldn't assume she would be lucky enough to be able to read as well. These worries were heavy on Liza's mind as Gates led her through the thicket. Soon they found the road, and Gates immediately hid in the underbrush.
"Coast seems clear. Nobody is looking for you anyhow." He said.
Liza walked on out onto the road, and quickly spotted the sign Gates had mentioned a distance away. She approached the sign, crossing her fingers, or whatever she had now, hoping it would be familiar. When she finally reached the foot of the sign, which towered over her new meter-tall body, she looked up and…
She could read it.
Sure some of the symbols were a bit weird, but she could make out the sign telling her she were at Cape Azure, with a sign with the name Azureport pointing toward the port-town. She registered a few other names, like Seaside Crags, Elysium City and Riptide Ravine, not really knowing how far away any of those would be. But for now she was just relieved that she wouldn't have to overcome any language barriers.
She hurried back to Gates with a spring in her step, confirming that she had understood the signs. They hurried along back to the shore, with Liza finally getting ready to set off into town.
"By the way. Every now and then some nutjob tends to show up claiming to be a human like the legends, but they all get busted by psychics. So don't expect anyone to believe you if you go spilling it all out." Gates warned her. "If anyone catches you acting clueless, you are better off telling them you are huskborn."
"Is that library hard to find?" Liza asked, wanting to change the subject away from that. She didn't like the whole hiding and lying style, especially since she hadn't done anything wrong.
"Right, you will find a river flowing through town. Follow that to the main square. From there you should be able to ask for directions." Gates answered. "But you should get going. I won't wait here forever."
"Right!" she said as she took off.
Azureport
This port city is one of the largest cities on the continent. Serving as the center of trade by sea, it's large port is always bustling with life. The city has a long history of fending off pirates, with even the most daring ones not daring to make a move on the city.
Azureport looked fairly busy as she came closer. The port area consisted of mostly wooden structures, just like the rest of the town. No effort seemed to have been made to paint any of them. Along the harbor were ships lined up. With creatures both on land and in the water carrying cargo around. Liza could also see a few workshops where new ships were being made. True to his word, a river ran through the town, giving her a waterway further into the city.
There were quite a few creatures swimming in the river, but it wasn't anywhere near crowded enough for it to be a problem. Even so Liza found herself both amazed by the different creatures, and intimidated as a huge serpent swam past her without paying her any mind. When she saw a decently sized open space above her, she jumped up onto the pier which seemed to be placed there for that purpose, judging from the stairs right behind it leading from the waterway to the elevated architecture of the town.
The town square wasn't particularly big, at least not for human standards at least. There were a few booths selling things, being the only splash of colour to contrast the mostly grey and brown city. In the middle there was a fountain shaped like a sailboat. Liza looked through the crowd, trying to muster up the courage to ask someone for directions. She finally decided on the most human like she saw. Sure, he was blue, very muscular, and had weird, horn-like things instead of hairs, but close enough.
"Excuse me sir. Do you know where the library is?" she asked the muscular creature.
"Sure. Right 'ere by the town hall." He said, pointing right next to the biggest building in the center. The building didn't really stick out, but it did have a sign shaped like a book above the door.
"Not known 'round these parts?" the muscular creature suddenly inquired.
"Oh… no…" Liza awkwardly muttered, not mentally prepared for answering questions. Maybe using Gates cover-story wouldn't be b bad idea after all.
"I'm…. huskborn you see." she finally said.
"Right. Not every day that 'appens. Good luck with yer learning then." he said, giving Liza a light slap on her shoulders.
"Thank you, sir!" Liza said as the big guy left.
Now, with the library finally in sight, Liza was hoping she would finally be able to orient herself somewhat around her absurd situation.
The librarian, having introduced herself as a Golduck, was very helpful when Liza told her the huskborn-story. Having decided to begin with some basic geography, she was given an atlas to study. Figuring out that the continent she was on was called Oldega, and Azureport was close to the southeastern part of it. Though, nothing on the map did anything to jog her missing memory. What did catch her attention was the numerous mystery dungeons, as they were called. She decided to make a mental note of figuring out what that was later.
She moved on to the different creatures of this world, or Pokèmon as was the common term for them.
She moved on to reading up what these huskborn actually were. In case someone dug deeper into her past. Once again, these mystery dungeons came up. Apparently husks are soulless, violent Pokèmon found inside these dungeons. And once in a blue moon one of these can 'awaken', spontaneously becoming fully conscious. Research trying to figure out a pattern on when it happens remains inconclusive according to the book. Just as icing on the insanity-cake, the book claimed the god of life, Xerneas, had confirmed that husk do spontaneously grow a soul when they awaken.
'What the hell kind of world is this?" Liza's mind kept repeating as she read.
With this she finally decided check out these mystery dungeons. And if husks didn't make any sense, this was when this world stopped making sense altogether for Liza. Zones where the laws of reality just stopped working as intended. The specifics vary, but common happenings were thing such as; The inside being larger than the outside, the layout changing, time passing differently, dying just tossing you out, and soulless Pokemon appearing inside. Venturing into these places seemed to be an esteemed career in this world. Of course, the book warned about the potential dangers, especially those dungeons where death actually works as intended. Liza wondered if she would be forced to enter one of those things. After all, a distortion in reality might very well be what caused this to her in the first place.
Time passed, and Liza decided to take a look outside to see how long it actually was until dusk. After all, it was her first day here. She really had no way of telling if a day here was 24 hours like on Earth. Looking at the sun, it looked like she still had some time to research before she had to meet up with Gates.
Going back into the library, she decided to look at what could be found about humans in this world. Not knowing where to begin, she decided to ask the librarian.
"Now that is an interesting topic. We have a few books in the history books about notable figures who had claimed to be humans, as well as what is thought to be remnants of humanity. But most of this is highly debated among scholars." the Golduck answered her. "We do have the full legends as well, if that is what you're after. Why the sudden interest?"
For once, Liza was prepared to explain herself. Once again, she decided to use the Huskborn story for all it was worth.
"You see… my brother… the one who woke me from a husk that is. He told me stories while I was getting a grip on the world around me. The legends of the humans was my favorite." she said, keeping the clueless tone that had been real for so long. "I just really want to know if it's true."
This story seemed to move the librarian a bit. She not only recommended a book, but decided to come help her find it. As they went through the non-fiction section, Golduck saw it wasn't were it was supposed to be.
"It isn't here. Sorry, we might have another book that interest you though."
"Oh, are you looking for this?" Asked a feminine voice from behind them.
There hadn't been many Pokèmon in the library that day, and most had gone home by now. In fact, Liza thought she had the place to herself, never noticing this other presence. Over by one of the desks was a red and white creature. Roughly two meters in length, with a long neck, stubby arms, and wings at the back end of her body. She didn't have any legs, instead levitating over the ground. The book in question was also levitating in front of her.
"Yes, that is the one." the librarian answered her, before turning to Liza. "Sorry, guess you'll have to wait your turn."
"Oh, no. I would be happy to share if you want to." the creature offered Liza.
Liza was skeptical of the stranger at first, but ultimately decided that it couldn't hurt. The stranger made a chair float over to the desk, and motioned for Liza to join her. She had to jump up to reach up to be on eye-level with the larger Pokèmon.
"Sorry about eavesdropping, but I heard your story. Your brother sounds really sweet." the stranger told her.
"Yes… he really is." she responded, not knowing how to approach this encounter.
"You can call me Latias by the way."
"Nice to meet you Latias. I am Liza." she introduced herself.
"So, you're looking into humans? Quite the fascinating subject." Latias said. "Though it is very hard to separate fact from legends around them."
"What do we know for sure then?" Liza inquired, starting to feel more at ease with Latias.
"For sure?" Latias pondered. "Not much. We have found remnants from their societies, so they did exist at some point. Adults varied between one and a half and two meters tall. Little hair except on their heads. The humanoid body shape was named after them, so obviously it applies to them. Most interesting is that they had no elemental powers whatsoever."
Latias showed the book. It included quite a few picures of run-down buildings looking just like human architecture. Something that looked like it once was a lab, a caved in railroad tunnel, and even a mansion that looked to be in pristine condition. She then flipped over to a page that showed illustrations of humans.
"So, just that they existed and what they looked like? Nothing else is known?" Liza asked, disappointed in how little there was to gather.
"For certain, yes." Latias corrected. "But it is a heavily debated topic among historians, leaving a lot of theories. For example, there have been famous Pokemon who claimed to be humans who transformed. That have lead to many thinking humans transform when entering this world, and still exist elsewhere. But some argue those examples were merely able to fool psychics, or that we don't have enough evidence to back it up."
"And that's where the legends came from." Liza added.
"That's right. The last 'human' in this world was said to be a Lucario who saved this world from being frozen in time. This was over a millennium ago, so details have been lost to time. But apparently he was very adamant about being human of origin. Of course, there has been a lot of attention-seekers trying to claim the same since, but all have been proven as liars."
Once again, Latias pointed at a picture in the book, being a bipedal, jackal-like creature.
"Wow, sounds like a humans are respected." Liza said. Honestly, she was considering telling Latias the truth at this point. Sure, it might backfire, but this creature seemed like she would be able to help. But prodding her for her stance on the subject a bit more couldn't hurt.
"Yes and no." Latias sighed. "It is said that they were capable of great things, even without any powers. And all the known transformed humans were great heroes. But they also showed up right before a greater catastrophe occurred. Therefore, some mons view humans as bad omens."
Liza gulped. Maybe keeping the amount of people who knew the truth small for now. But what if Latias could help? Could she afford to not tell her anything?
"Why have picked up an interest in this, anyway? Are you a historian as well?" Liza asked Latias.
"Oh, no, I am an explorer." she chuckled. "But it's true that I'm researching this for a mission."
'An explorer, huh?' She had read about them while researching mystery dungeons. Basically a combined bounty hunter, treasure hunter and rescue team.
"How so?" Liza asked, now not as sure about Latias' intentions.
"Just between us." she said, suddenly much more serious. "I have good intelligence that another human has surfaced in the area. Me and my brother are trying to find this human."
Cold ran down Liza's spine, but she managed to avoid any suspicious reactions. If they were looking for her, there had to be a bounty on her. She needed to get away as soon as possible.
"But, how do you know that?" Liza asked, now hoping Latias wouldn't get suspicious.
"I know a very skilled soothsayer." she answered. "But foresight is a fickle thing. Aside from the general area, the only lead we have is to take a job arresting some small time troublemaker."
Liza swallowed some spit, trying as hard as she could to act normal.
"Usually we would leave such a job for a newer team, but I can't argue with the boss." Latias said. Her more serious demeanor disappeared, now replaced with the friendly one from before. "Hey, it's getting late. Maybe we should call it for the evening?"
"Umm… yes. Good idea." Liza blurted out. Instant relief washed over her as Latias put the book back, and they left the library together after saying goodbye to the librarian. The sun was getting pretty close to the horizon, so she had to meet up with Gates fairly soon.
Though when they left the library, they were met by what must've been the brother Latias mentioned. He looked very similar to Latias, just with sharper facial features, and blue feathers where hers were red. The serious expression Latias had briefly shown in the library seemed to be stuck on his face.
"This is Latios, my brother." she said to Liza as he approached.
"You find anything useful in there?" he asked his sister.
"Nothing immediately useful. Seems like the job is our only clue." Latias answered her brother. "Any luck on your end?"
"Not really. From what I've gathered he likes to avoid confrontations. He shows up every month or so, and only steals food and basic supplies." Latios stated, matter-of-factly. "No sightings the last month though. We have a tracking job ahead of us."
"Is that so? Troublesome little ruffian." Latias answered her brother.
"Who is this bandit you're looking for?" Liza asked them both.
For the first time for this whole encounter, Latios looked at her. He produced a rolled up paper from his bad, and showed her it's content.
"This one. Seen him before?" Latios asked her.
Liza once again felt a chill run down her spine. Latios more intense personality made it harder to not act suspicious around him.
"No…" she said, with Latios putting the paper back in his bag.
Omitting the whole truth was one thing, straight up lying to his face was another. But right there she didn't feel like she had a choice. Because on that wanted-poster, was a picture of Gates.