Chapter 11 – Day 5, Part 2: Bells

Chapter 11 – Day 5, Part 2: Bells

Grepa Lake: 1st Floor

I remembered something small right then. It was something so tiny and insignificant that I wondered why my mind hadn’t granted me this information anytime before now.

It had to do with my name. Oswald.

I had spent the last five days using that name to describe myself, and almost every time I would introduce myself, a pokemon would comment on how strange it was. I remembered the origin of my name—it’s meaning. Essentially, it has its origins in “god king” or “power ruler” which annoyed the hell out of me.

What kind of pretentious asshole decided to give me such an ostentatious name? Like, seriously, all this revelation did for me was give me more questions. This special treatment I was getting…none of it actually had anything to do with me. All of it had to do with what I used to be and even that wasn’t unique. I don’t care what my name is—I’m not that important.

I am a wimpy, stupid human that just so happened to be a pokemon too—trapped in a world that wasn’t mine. Just because my name said I was significant, it didn’t mean that I was.

But none of that mattered right now. I had jumped into a spooky whirlpool and now I was in a mystery dungeon with my Quilava teammate looking for a lost Phanpy. That was all I cared about.

Immediately after we materialized, I noted how blue everything was. Streams of light filtered from the sky to highlight the sand I was standing on. Mounds of sand piled up into hills that acted as walls for the room I was in and thin strands of green flowed idly from the ground. Various other aquatic plants were scattered about. All the while, my vision wavered and wobbled as if I were submerged.

In fact, the feeling I had in this dungeon was not too dissimilar from the feeling I got when I swam back at Kebia…

…

…I realized what Grepa Lake’s gimmick was.

But if I’m underwater, then what about…?

“Fenn!” I yelled, hectically searching for the Quilava. “Fenn, we’re underwater! Fenn! Are you-“

“Over here.”

I spun to face the voice I had just heard. Padding towards me, completely calm, was Fenn. He seemed pretty unconcerned for a fire pokemon underwater.

“F-Fenn, how are you not drowning?” I breathed. “Aren’t we…?”

He shrugged. “I-I don’t think we’re underwater. I…probably wouldn’t be able to talk or…be alive for very long if we were.”

Oh. How odd. Grepa Lake made me feel as though I were far below the water, but I could talk with Fenn just fine. What kind of magic are these mystery dungeons using?

“O-Oswald! Look up!” Fenn pointed a paw up at the sky above, his mouth open in amazement. Looking up myself, my jaw dropped in much the same way.

The ceiling of the dungeon—if you could call it that—was high up overhead. Various shapes flew about, casting shadows on the lake floor we were standing on. Like vultures circling their next meal, Mantines swam near the surface. Swimming as if they were within a body of water.

“Oswald! Try Swimming!”

“What?”

“You’re a water type!” Fenn exclaimed. “Try to swim!”

How would one swim in the air? I was perfectly planted on the ground, not the slightest bit concerned about floating away. I suppose I had no reason not to try. I could fall on my face, I thought. But then again, I was curious.

I decided to see what would happen.

Crouching down low, I leaped into the air fully expecting gravity to pull me back down…

…But it didn’t. Instead, I remained stationary in the air, drifting very slowly upward with some resistance.

My eyes went wide. This is exactly like swimming. I can’t believe it…

“It worked!” shouted Fenn. “Oswald, you’re floating!”

“I am!” I shouted back, twisting in place and propelling myself in various directions. “Fenn! You try it!”

“Okay!” he announced, using all four of his limbs to jump. He lingered in the air for barely a second, flailing his arms in an attempt to stay afloat. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for Fenn, and he fell back down into the sand with an “oof!”

Floating down to his level, I gently lifted Fenn onto his feet. “Only water types, then?” I said timidly.

“Un…forntunately.”

“But hey! Check me out!” I made a bunch of exaggerated swimming motions around Fenn and performed multiple flips and tricks that I’d never be able to pull off on land. “I’m a Goldeen!” I bellowed, waving my legs behind me and sticking out my lips in an attempt to make the Quilava laugh.

It worked. Fenn was very amused. More so than I was hoping for, honestly.

He stared at my antics in awe, laughing so hard at my dumb attempt to be an ugly fish that he rolled about in the sand hysterically.

That made me smile. Seeing Fenn enjoy himself made me feel better about our failure yesterday. It didn’t matter to me that we weren’t the best explorers at the start; I just wanted to enjoy the journey. How long that journey would be, I wasn’t willing to consider. Being here with Fenn was all I wanted to think about.

Though, I should’ve paid more attention to our surroundings. I panicked when, after swimming about for a bit, a face appeared in front of mine. Big lips, a sharp horn, and hostile looking eyes.

It was an actual Goldeen.

I flailed my arms in the air, spinning in place. The Goldeen made a strange noise as it launched forward and skewered my side with its horn. I screamed then—screaming even more when it pushed me through the air flapping its tail fins faster and faster. Water spilled from my throat unconsciously and all I could think to do was to weakly punch the fish until it stopped.

It did stop, but only when it was engulfed in flames. The fire didn’t even nick me as it scorched the Goldeen and burned it alive. Its mindless thrashing caused me to unhinge from the feral and lose whatever magic was keeping me afloat. I fell to the sand hard.

The flames gradually whittled the water type down to a charred corpse as I laid on the ground, wincing from the pain of being stabbed. Fenn’s Flamethrower halted and the dead Goldeen flopped down onto the sand. My partner wasted no time rushing to me.

“Oswald!” he cried. “A-are you okay?”

“O-oh yeah,” I gasped, grasping my side, “it’s only a mild stab wound. O-ouch…”

“Did you see that?” he grinned. “That was awesome! How could I forget how great this feels?”

“That’s…great, Fenn. Oran, please.”

“Oh!” he exclaimed in surprise. “Sorry sorry sorry! Got too excited. Give me a second.”

Within the next few minutes, Fenn had put his medical skills to the test and my torso was wrapped in bandages, my wound soaked in berry juices. Fenn wouldn’t leave me be even when I said that it didn’t hurt to move. He was like a nagging nurse doing everything in his ability to make sure I got better. Not that I cared. I found it touching, and the berries tasted really good.

“It doesn’t hurt?” he asked for the tenth consecutive time. “Do you need more bandages?”

“I’m fine, Fenn,” I said between bites. “You did a great job. We should really get moving, though. We’re looking for a lost pokemon, remember?”

Fenn blushed. “O-oh right…I forgot.”

I finally stood, clutching my side just to make sure I was all there. But thankfully, Fenn put in quite a bit of effort making absolutely certain that I wouldn’t feel any discomfort. He did a good job since I…couldn’t really feel any pain.

My side was also numb, so maybe that had something to do with it.

“Well, if every encounter here is like that last one,” I said, “this dungeon should be a cakewalk! A fish on fire still burns, right?” Please don’t jinx me.

Fenn giggled, “y-yeah, totally.”

Grepa Lake: 3rd Floor

I wasn’t wrong. Grepa Lake ended up being significantly easier than Mago Canyon. This dungeon seemed to specialize in fish pokemon; not a single feral we encountered in the last three floors moved with anything other than fins. Fenn seemed to be enjoying himself, too, laughing and joking about “the funny sounds” the pokemon would make when we would scorch their flesh.

I might’ve been a little disturbed by how happy Fenn was to kill wild pokemon, but if I was being honest, I was glad that Fenn had no trouble beating every pokemon in his path. Of course, I didn’t want to be completely useless and not contribute, so I used this opportunity to test out my swordsman skills with my scalchops in a real, dangerous environment.

My skills with these things were woefully underdeveloped, but I got the gist of what I should do with them. They were knives, essentially. Not really swords, but that didn’t matter much to me at the time. It was really fun to wave them around like an idiot. I was like…a floating ninja…cutting up my enemies before they had a chance to know I was there.

…Sounds kinda stupid when I put it like that, but eh, I wasn’t gonna get this opportunity again anytime soon.

Fenn enjoyed how much fun I was having. And I enjoyed how much he delighted in going through the dungeon with me. Just a bundle of fun this journey has been so far, and boy, does it feel weird to say that.

The dungeon itself didn’t give me much to comment on. Standard affair: same corridors, ferals, and marble stairs with portals. Why was every dungeon I’ve gone into been so similar? Who cares? They made no sense and each one was slightly different, I get it. Maybe the next one we visit will have a special vendor that’ll sell us magical seeds. How exciting!

All jokes aside, Grepa Lake was nothing to write home about. We didn’t find Kiwi on any of the first three floors. Fenn and I instead fought off a Seaking together and had a blast doing it.

We moved on to the fourth floor with newly instilled vigor and confidence.

Grepa Lake: 4th Floor

“Ah! Don’t come any closer!”

Fenn and I made it to the fourth floor and we were surprised to find the Phanpy we were looking for was wandering about where the dungeon decided to place us. Of course, there was no way that this job was going to be so easy that we would find Kiwi before the final floor. The second she noticed us, she ran.

We had no choice but to follow. “Wait!” I called out to her. “We’re not going to hurt you!” She was already gone, running through the right side corridor. “Come on, Fenn! We gotta catch her!”

“O-Oswald, the ferals!” Fenn wailed worriedly. “Look!” I looked to where Fenn was pointing and saw what he was talking about.

Wishiwashi, all around us, staring from above the sand mound walls. They did not move or indicate that they had any plans to attack. They just watched us, quietly.

“Ignore them,” I said. “Kiwi is more important!” We chased after Kiwi through the corridor she ran down. The Wishiwashi didn’t follow.

This continued for the next three rooms. We would find Kiwi, she would panic, try to escape us by dashing down another path, we would follow, and the Wishiwashi would always be there, watching.

This was starting to creep me out. I wanted answers for why Kiwi was so scared of us. Because, I mean, we couldn’t have been scarier than the fish, right? And these Wishiwashi…what was their deal?

Eventually, we had pursued Kiwi long enough to corner her in the room with the stairs. I say “cornered,” but it became apparent to me that she knew how mystery dungeons work when she leaped into the portal at the top of the stairs. I cursed under my breath. “Shit…we’ll just have to keep going. Come on, Fenn!” I headed for the stairs.

“Look out!”

“Wha- ah!” I was rammed by multiple Wishiwashi before I was able to reach the stairway, knocking me flying through the air. The force of the attack and the nature of the dungeon caused me to spin out of control and smash into the sand. Fenn took the opportunity to scorch the ferals; one or two of them suffered the blow, but the rest retreated. “Ptoo! Pah!” I shook sand out of my fur and shot my eyes up to view our assailants.

Three or four became ten. Ten became twenty. More and more Wishiwashi congregated until a hulking beast consisting of a school of Wishiwashi formed. In a twist of logic I had no explanation for, the school of Wishiwashi roared.

It rushed Fenn, its gigantic maw kicking up sand and other plant life along the way. The quilava leaped out of the way, and he sent an intense burst of fire at the Wishiwashi once he landed on the sand, hitting it and causing smaller Wishiwashis to fly off the amalgamation with burn marks to spare. It’s size was no less grandiose than before, however, and it’s holes were swiftly covered with more fish.

It fired a Hydro Pump this time, the powerful attack causing the neighboring air to ripple from the sheer force of the water. It missed after Fenn rolled away from the stream, only barely being sprayed with excess liquid. The Quilava then countered the ranged move with his own. His Flamethrower clipped the beast’s tail fin, inciting the feral creature to roar in pain.

There wasn’t much time for it to recover, on account of me firing an attack at the Wishiwashi’s midsection. I was certain that it wouldn’t do much, but my main focus was on splitting the smaller pokemon from the school. Water Gun was more effective at crowd control than anything else at my disposal.

Even more fish fell from the group. Fenn and I continued our assault despite the feral’s best efforts, but as a last resort, the Wishiwashi charged Fenn in an attempt to take him down. Fenn, however, was more than ready to meet the beast head on. He leaped whilst also simultaneously expelling a steady beam of flame. At the apex of his jump, Fenn did a front flip in mid-air, the fire not stopping even once. It only increased its longevity, eventually coating the fire type in a ball of his own flames. Fenn took advantage of his previous momentum to soar at the Wishiwashi, propelling himself directly into the feral’s mouth.

Launching himself through one end of the beast and out of the other, Fenn’s Flamewheel burned every fish it touched. Now that over half of the amalgamation was decimated, the construction fell apart once Fenn came out the other side. Many charred corpses fell into the sand. Any living Wishiwashi left over retreated to who knows where.

“Yes!” I shouted, amazed by what I had just seen. Fenn’s capability to burn his enemies was second to none! He took down that Wishiwashi like it was nothing! “Fenn! That was spectacular! I had no idea you could do that!”

The Quilava looked slightly embarrassed to be getting so much praise and also looked to be quite tired. “Th-thanks,” he panted. “I…tried my best. That…that move always wears me out.”

I smiled. “You did great, Fenn.” I looked at the portal, a bit perturbed. “What was the deal with Kiwi? Did the job listing say anything about her character?”

“Not…that I know of,” Fenn mumbled. “Th-there’s only two floors left. At worst, she might get out before us.”

I nodded. “We should pick up the pace then. She’s managed well on her own so far, but I’m not comfortable leaving Kiwi on her own any longer.” Though I wasn’t entirely sure how she was still safe after all of this time. The ferals we fought on our way here were aggressive—dangerously so. Fenn and I could handle ourselves, yeah, but I wasn’t so certain about Kiwi. Her de facto response to danger seemed to be to run away.

Whatever. It’s not our job to ask questions. We’ll take her home and head back safely.

In reality, however, I should’ve been more concerned about myself. Because after leaving this place, I was gonna wish that getting home safely was the only thing I had to worry about.

Grepa Lake: 6th Floor

The fifth floor of Grepa Lake was entirely empty. Even the Mantine were gone. Fenn and I traversed the eerily quiet floor, maintaining our silence for the most rooms in a single floor of a dungeon we’ve been in yet. I practically craved violence it was so uninteresting. Since we were searching for Kiwi, we had to look through every chamber, too. We didn’t find her after an hour of walking. Not even an item for our troubles…

We were ready to move on.

The sixth floor was a single room. The atmosphere was…different. I’ll give Grepa Lake some credit: the rest of the dungeon could vaguely be described as serene and the facade was at least convincing.

Not here, though. The illusion had dissipated on floor six.

The floors, the walls, the ceiling…all pulsated in a fashion much like how a heart would beat. Everything was dark red. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve assumed we had transferred back to Mago Canyon. I didn’t dare stare at the walls for long; the resemblance to flesh was not a pleasant thought.

In the center of the room was a tree. Strangest tree I’ve ever seen. It wilted, slumping with its branches nearly touching the ground. The bark of this tree looked to be made of some sort of…rotting grey chitin. Cloths of varying colors hung from its thin branches. The thing stood alone—it had no leaves.

I stared, utterly transfixed, at the tree. A deep part of me resonated with the sight and I couldn’t look away. What was it about this plant that hypnotized me so much? Had I seen it in my previous life somewhere? No…that couldn’t be. Something so bizarre had no place in my reality. Still…why does looking at it feel so…?

“Oswald! Over here!”

I snapped out of my stupor, my partner’s voice bringing me back to the land of the living. Fenn was half behind the tree, peering at me with a smile. A welcome contrast to the horrors of Grepa Lake’s final floor. He called to me, “I found her!”

The Quilava nudged the Phanpy cowering behind the tree and led her to me. “There you are, Kiwi.” I said. “You gave us a lot of trouble.”

She kept her head down and ears drooped in shame. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I thought you were here to take me back, so I ran.”

“Why?” I asked. She fidgeted one of her front legs and something bright yellow shifted with her. “What is that?” I pointed at her front leg.

Kiwi held up a thin piece of cloth much like the ones on the tree. “It was a dare,” she replied quietly. “I had to get to the end of Grepa Lake and bring it back.”

I crossed my arms and frowned, but not because I was upset with Kiwi. The pulsating was getting louder and more prevalent. Neither Kiwi nor Fenn seemed to notice…for some reason. I want to leave, I thought. I do not care about your stupid dare, just let me leave.

“Not our problem, let’s go.” I didn’t give either of them the chance to argue and turned to escape this dreadful place.

“Oswald…”

I stopped. The pulsating stopped. The silence was deafening.

Turning around, I could see that Fenn and Kiwi were looking at me strangely. But I wasn’t concerned about them. I knew they weren’t the ones to say my name just then.

It was the voice I had heard when we first entered Grepa Lake. It was the dungeon…and it seemed to be coming from the tree.

It captivated and enthralled me as if the act of saying my name was the catalyst for a spell that was specifically created for me. The tree appeared no different, but my body and mind screeched at me to see what my eyes never could.

It began to speak more. Words jumbled together in distorted ways that I couldn’t comprehend. Soon after, I felt a sensation groping at my brain and the words unscrambled. I listened, welcoming the feeling of having my mind violated and used to send a message.

“Oswald…the bells are ringing…the sirens are singing…

“For you.

“Oswald…

“Oswald…”

For me? What are you talking about?

“Oswald?”

The sound of Fenn’s wonderful voice knocked me out of whatever bewitching I was under. “W-what?” I stuttered.

Fenn’s face was twisted into one of deep worry. “Are you okay?” he asked. “You just sort of…stopped.”

I looked Fenn in the eyes. It was him. There was no denying it. He was real.

I needed to know that. If it hadn’t been for him, I would’ve been consumed. I don’t know how, but it would’ve happened.

I had to be absolutely certain that everything else was real. “F-Fenn,” I started, “did you hear someone speak just now?”

He seemed perplexed, an eyebrow raised. “No? I haven’t heard anybody but us three. Have you?”

Oh.

Oh no.

OH NO.

OH NO NO NO NO NO NO.

“Nevermind, we should go.”

AND GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE. GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO.

---

I had never been so happy to see an ominous dark fog.

The three of us emerged from a flash of white onto the pier of Grepa Lake. I didn’t waste any time getting as far away from the entrance to that hellish dungeon as soon as possible. Fenn called to me as I ran to the nearest tree, out of breath. I hyperventilated and leaned on the trunk, fighting the urge to puke.

Fenn was at my side soon enough. “O-Oswald!” he yelled. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s…nothing,” I panted. “That dungeon just…took a lot out of me.”

“Do you need an oran berry?”

“No…I’m fine. Kiwi has to get home. I’ll rest when we get back to our room.”

Fenn was clearly perturbed. He wanted nothing more than for me to be okay. Oh, Fenn, I’m so glad you’re here. I want to tell you everything, but I have a feeling that doing so will only make things worse. Telling you about what I heard…you’ll just think I’m crazy. And maybe I am…but I don’t want you to know that. I’m sorry…

Kebia was only an hour or so walk from Grepa Lake. It wouldn’t be much longer before we would be done and I could relax.

The Phanpy we rescued was pretty apathetic to being saved. She kept with us and hardly said anything—not like Clary in the slightest. I suppose I shouldn’t put the blame on her for not caring.

She was just a kid. A horribly reckless and stupid kid, but a kid nonetheless.

Said kid directed us to her home on the outskirts of Kebia. The closer we got, the more scared she seemed to get. I had no reason to care, though. It was her damn fault for getting herself trapped because of a dare. I wanted my reward, that was it.

We made it to her home: a wooden cabin much like all of the others. “H-hey,” Kiwi muttered, “would be okay if I snuck in through the b-ba-“

I knocked on the door, causing Kiwi to squeak.

A Donphan answered the door almost immediately. “Yes?” she asked.

I stepped aside to show her the cowering Phanpy behind me. “Your daughter. The job’s done. We’re here to collect.”

She ignored me and pushed me aside to get to her daughter. “Oh, my little baby!” The Donphan wrapped Kiwi in her trunk. “I was worried sick! Don’t ever do that again!”

“Ugh, mom! I’m not a baby anymore!” Kiwi squirmed in her mothers grip and the two of them stayed like that for a few seconds.

Too many seconds. “Ahem.” I cleared my throat.

“Oh, right!” the Donphan released her daughter. “Let me get your payment.” She entered her house for a moment and came back out with a sack in her trunk. “A thousand poké for my baby’s saviors.”

I took the sack and saluted. “Thank you, ma-am,” I said. “We’ll be leaving now. Come on, Fenn.” Not even checking if Fenn got the message, I left the premises and left Kiwi behind, doomed to never really understand why her stupid decision ended with me having an existential crisis.

Fenn caught up to me. “I wonder why Kiwi had to take a piece of cloth from that tree at the end of Grepa Lake,” Fenn said. “I-it must be a new thing kids are doing. I don’t remember ever hearing about that dungeon when I was younger.”

“Hey, Fenn, can I ask you something?”

His ears perked up. “Huh? Oh…sure, go ahead.”

“Why were you so calm on Grepa Lake’s last floor?” I asked. “Could you not see the walls…or you know…hear them?”

The Quilava raised an eyebrow. “H-hear them? What are you…No, nothing like that. It had the same sandy walls as every other room in Grepa Lake. I-I mean…there was that tree. It was out of place, but that’s all I can say I found weird about it.”

I spun on him, stopping in my tracks. “What was the tree like?” I questioned inches from Fenn’s face.

“The tree? Um…I think it was…spruce? N-no leaves, obviously. Whoever put it there did a terrible job keeping it alive. Why do you ask?”

“…No reason. Just wanted to know if something like that is more common.”

This can’t be happening. Not only did he not hear WHATEVER THE HELL THAT WAS, but he couldn’t SEE it either. I’m going insane. Or…am I?

I retract my “not special” statements from earlier. There’s something going on with me, and if I don’t figure out what it is, I’m going to lose it. But who do I even ask? Anemone? She already told me she doesn’t know ,so what’s the chance that she’s learned something new in the last five days. Someone HAS to know. I wracked my brain for information about potential leads. Nothing bore any fruit…except…

Wait…WAIT! That Persian! He might know something! I can still remember how he looked at me…he’s my best shot at finding answers! HAHA, I have a lead! All I have to do is get into the castle jail and ask him. But…how would I do that? Do they allow visitors? Hm…

I was going to have to work on it. Sneak in when the rest of Kebia Castle is asleep if I had to. There was no way in hell that I was going to sit around and wait for someone else to solve my issues. I needed answers, and god dammit I was going to get them if it was the last thing I did.

---

Fenn and I turned in the Grepa Lake job. Only 700 poké in exchange for my sanity? I really shouldn’t complain. We technically got compensated for two jobs today. Though if I had known what the second one was going to leave me with, I might’ve just opted to stay behind.

I was hungry, but lacked the energy to sit in a crowded cafeteria, so we went back to the room right after. We still had that gift basket, after all. No reason to waste time when the same food we usually eat was available where we sleep. Fenn didn’t mind, thankfully. Unbeknownst to me, our night wasn’t about to end without one more incident.

“DEWOTT! I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE!”

The door to our room slammed open. I hadn’t felt it necessary to lock it yet.

I was wrong. I should’ve locked it.

“YOU!” A very angry red Monferno stormed across the room and pinned me against the wall before I knew what was going on. She strangled my neck and held up her other fist threateningly. “WHERE’S THE MONEY, BLUEY!” she screamed in my face.

“Oswald!” Fenn jumped to attention, his back flaming at full mast. “Put him down!” he growled at the Monferno.

The other two members of the Monferno’s team were not far behind. “Pink,” the Houndoom asserted somewhat humorously, “What did I tell you about threatening pokemon?” A Murkrow flew in behind her, landing on the Houndoom’s horn.

Dahlia, I thought, and the rest of Team Phlox. What are they doing here?

“He stole our poké!” Pink snarled. “No one steals from us!”

Fenn bared his teeth. “We didn’t steal anything! Let him go!”

Holly stomped her foot. “Calm down, both of you!” The room went quiet…

The Houndoom then approached me, her brows furrowed. “Ipo gave you one of our bounty rewards. We’re here to take it back. Sound fair?”

So, that’s what this is about. I should’ve known. There was no way we’d be able to get away with being that lucky for long.

“F-fair?” Fenn questioned. “Fair? It’s your fault for not picking it up before us! That money belongs to Team Lavender!”

Pink’s grip on my neck got tighter, and I could hear her fist clenching.

I had to step in. We didn’t need the money—we survived fine without it. “Fenn,” I said sternly. Every pokemon in the room turned to me. “Give them the money.”

“W-what? But…Oswald-“

“It was never ours to begin with, Fenn. Give them the thousand poké. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

The Quilava looked dejected, his quills receding into his body. It was clear to me that if I hadn’t said anything, he would’ve gotten violent. I didn’t want that, even if we were in the right.

Fenn counted up the money and tossed the sack in their direction. “Here,” he grumbled. “Take it and choke on it.”

Pink finally let me go and picked up the sack of money. “S’what I thought!”

“A wise choice,” Holly announced. “If possible, I’d prefer to avoid incidents like this in the future.” She raised her eyebrows at me, expecting a response. I didn’t give her that satisfaction; instead, I just rubbed my neck and glared. “We ought to be going. Come on, girls.”

They began to leave, but Dahlia flapped to the ground. “You two go on ahead,” the Murkrow told them, “I’ll catch up in a bit.” Holly and Pink took their leave, merely giving Dahlia a half-hearted wave over their shoulders. Now alone, Dahlia hopped to face me.

“Sorry about them. They’re not this bad all the time, I assure you.”

I coughed. “You said the same thing last time, Dahlia.”

She shrugged. “Poor circumstances. Can’t say I’m too happy they decided to threaten you. I hope you don’t hold this against us.” Dahlia clacked her beak. “Speaking of which, how have you been, Oswald?”

Other than having two horrible days in a row? I scowled, “I could be worse.”

“That’s good,” she chirped. “I see you made a friend.” Dahlia tipped her hat at Fenn. His only response was to blow smoke out of his nose and move to the other end of the room. “Very affable.”

I crossed my arms. “What do you want?”

“Nothing!” She held up her wings defensively. “Just wanted to know how you were doing. I’ve been looking forward to speaking with you again.”

How did I know that was a complete lie? I don’t know, maybe it was because her teammates just threatened to beat the hell out of me? The least she could’ve done is seen me through it all instead of plopping me on Anemone’s doorstep and leaving. I mean, sure, no one else had done much more for me at this point—except for maybe Allium—but sticking around for a bit longer wouldn’t have hurt.

The Murkrow shook her head. “But seriously, I really am sorry for all of this.” She placed a wing over her chest. “If you ever need anything, a favor, or help with a mission, just let me know.”

A favor? Now that got me thinking. I did need help with getting into the castle jail. Did Dahlia know how? Wouldn’t hurt to ask.

“I should be going now,” she trilled, tipping her hat. “It was nice seeing you again, Oswald.”

“Wait.” I stopped her. “That favor you mentioned…you mind if I turn that in right now?”

---

I explained to Fenn before I left with Dahlia what I planned on doing. He understood why I wanted to do it and chose to stay behind. His decision had more to do with a lack of interest in interrogating prisoners rather than his apathy for my amnesia. No surprise there. Fenn was a fighter—he’d be the bad cop.

Does that make me the good cop? Guess I’ll find out.

In terms of choosing the right pokemon to ask to take me to meet the Persian, Dahlia wasn’t the worst choice I could’ve made. Of course, it turned out that I had nothing to worry about. The castle jail was open to any pokemon with a good reason for being there. Dahlia knew this off the top of her head and she agreed to go with me as part of the favor. How she was so knowledgeable about the castle dungeon, I had no interest in asking her about.

All one really needed to get in to see any of the prisoners was either a provable past relationship or necessary access to the pokemon in question. I qualified for both, especially considering that I had Dahlia with me.

“Zzzt! You are granted ten minutes to speak with prisoner Moa, the Persian. Zzzt!” The main guard of Kebia Castle’s dungeon was a Magnezone that gave us access after we showed them our paperwork. “Zzzt! Cell block ‘C.’ Zzzt!” They unlocked the entrance to the cells with an electric shock and let us go.

The cell block we ended up going down, cell block ‘C,’ was marked by a big letter ‘C.’ I was confused for a second, since most of the writing I had seen so far had been in footprints runes. But I figured that, like with mission rankings, Unknown script was used for certain things. That still didn’t explain why it was engraved in the wall, though. Maybe it was left over from the days when humans controlled the castle? I kind of doubt they used their feet to write.

…Or at least, I hope they didn’t. That would be weird, even for me.

Regardless, I walked through the prison while Dahlia perched on my head on the lookout for Moa. Most of the cells we passed were empty, but there was the occasional prisoner that watched us from behind the bars, their eyes bloodshot and angry. Each one wore a metal collar.

“Oi! You here to mock me, you stupid bird!” one prisoner yelled at us.

“When I get out of here, I’m wringing your neck!” another threatened.

“I hear Murkrow tastes good when it’s cooked!” a third one bellowed.

The attention we were getting was making me uncomfortable. “You sure have made a lot of enemies,” I said in correspondence to Dahlia.

“That tends to happen when your main source of income is bounty hunting,” she responded, clicking her beak. “Here, this should be the cell we’re looking for.”

I wasn’t sure how she knew that; there were no labels on any of the cells I had seen. But looking in, I saw a grey quadruped lying on their side looking away from us. “Is that him? Moa?” I grabbed the bars. “Moa?” I called. “I need to speak with you.”

The Persian slowly raised his head. “What is it now?” he growled in a nasally sounding voice. “I’m already doing my time, can’t you just leave me-“

His eyes finally met mine and they went wide. “You!” he screeched. “No! Anyone but you!” Moa backed into the wall and shook uncontrollably. “I-I-I-I don’t know about th-th-the dayflower. There’s n-no apples in these p-pipes.”

“Dayflower? Pipes? What are you talking about? Moa?”

“H-h-honey nut! Torn capes! Torn capes!

“What? Dahlia, do you understand what he’s saying?”

Dahlia shifted atop my head. “No idea,” she said. “He’s talking nonsense as far as I know.”

I frowned. “Hello? Moa? Can you answer some questions for me?”

He yowled, “triple helix motion! I have pokerus! Shatter bells!”

“W-wait, bells?” I flinched, grasping the cell bars tighter. “What do you know about bells? What do you know about me?”

“Lies! Every Happiny is lying!”

I shook the cell bars in frustration. “Tell me what you know!” I shouted. “TELL ME NOW!”

After that, he started screaming non-stop. I kept yelling at him to talk to me despite Dahlia telling me to let it go. Within half a minute or so, the Magnezone from earlier floated up to us. “Zzzt! I am going to ask you to leave. You are disturbing the prisoners. Zzzt!“

“B-but,” I fretted, “he’s my only-“

“Drop it, Oswald,” Dahlia chirped loudly. “You’re not gonna get anything out of this guy.”

The Magnezone guard led us back to the main lobby. “Zzzt! Screaming at prisoners is not allowed. Zzzt!“

I rubbed my scalchops nervously. “…I’m sorry. I got carried away.”

“Zzzt! If screaming is necessary, waiting for the prisoner’s release is ideal. Zzzt!“

“How long will that be?” Dahlia asked.

“Zzzt! Seven days. Zzzt!“

Seven days? Could I even wait that long? He knows something! I have to know what it is!

“We’re sorry for the trouble, officer,” added Dahlia. “It won’t happen again.”

“Zzzt! It will not. Screaming at prisoners is forbidden. Zzzt!” They floated away and got back to their guard duties.

The Murkrow in my company flew down onto the ground in front of me. “Sorry that didn’t go as planned.”

I sighed. “It’s fine. Thanks for coming along.”

The corner of her beak curved to give off the impression of a smirk. “Don’t mention it, Oswald,” Dahlia tweeted. “If you ever need me again, get in contact. The other two might not like it, but I’m willing to lend you a wing if you need it.”

After I thanked her a second time, she tipped her hat and flew off back to her teammates. I guess I should do the same, I thought. More questions today…somehow worse than yesterday. I can’t believe this. Is there any possible way that things could get worse?

---

Fenn agreed that we should turn in early after what we did today. I didn’t tell him what happened with the Persian since he didn’t even ask. My Quilava partner was more interested in resting anyway. He must’ve been tired—I know I was.

We were tired in different ways, of course. Today was a very weird and stressful experience for me in particular. I had no way of stopping it all from playing over and over again in my head while I laid down and tried to get to sleep. I knew that if I shut my eyes for too long, the nightmares would come back.

Why me? Why do I have to deal with this? Repeating to myself, again and again, that I’m not cut out for this didn’t do much to change my situation. If anything, it made it worse. Is there any point to not stop now? Because I feel like giving up. I’m so…aimless and purposeless. Ugh.

“Hey, Oswald?”

Fenn’s voice cut through my rampant self loathing. He was still awake, surprisingly. I was so sure he had fallen asleep at this point. That said, I was happy to listen for as long as he wanted. Better than wallowing in my own thoughts for another few hours.

“Yeah?” I replied.

“O-oh, you’re still awake. I’m glad I’m not the only one. Heh…” He was silent for a moment. “H-hey…listen, I wanna tell you something.”

I remained silent.

“I wanted to say…that I’m really glad we met. I know I was really difficult at first and…n-not the easiest to work with. Kinda whiny, too…I understand if you might think less of me…I would…

“…But…I-I really am happy you stuck with me. I’ve never met a pokemon like you or had a friend that believed in me so much. What you said this morning…it meant a lot to hear you say that. I never get…compliments…plus…I also wanted to say that…I had fun at Grepa Lake. Maybe you didn’t towards the end…I don’t really get why you won’t tell me why…but that’s fine. Th-this has been challenging for both of us. You can…tell me when you’re ready.

“I’m glad I decided to stick around. You’re a really nice pokemon, Oswald. Thanks…thanks for making my dreams come true.”

“…”

“…”

“You’re welcome, Fenn. I’m glad I met you too.”