Chapter 14 – Day 7, Part 2: The Most Powerful Psychic
by snapdragonChapter 14 – Day 7, Part 2: The Most Powerful Psychic
Were there any secret compartments hidden in the walls of this castle, I wondered?
Why was I asking? Beats me. My mind had been in the dump for hours at this point. Especially after yesterday, sleeping felt like an invitation to be even more stressed than I already was. It was like…yeah, I could’ve just dealt with it, but I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to go wandering around either, even if I knew that might help.
So I just laid there, staring at the ceiling, thinking.
Part of me was under the impression that this was all my fault. If I had done something differently, maybe I wouldn’t have ended up here and wouldn’t have had to deal with everything this place had thrown at me so far. Maybe I really did screw up and it would’ve been better if someone else found me. After all, there was someone out there right now looking for me.
Or…I guess a better way to say it would be that someone was “hunting me.” From the way Anemone made it sound, I was needed to accomplish something. Whether or not that was a good thing depended on a lot of factors I wasn’t aware of and if I trusted Anemone. Which I really didn’t. Not anymore.
God, I’m so stupid, I thought remorsefully. I should’ve…I don’t know. I don’t know what to do. Every step I’ve taken so far has just ended up with me getting pushed back down. Mystery dungeons or “spatial” dungeons or whatever the hell they’re called suck too. I’m avoiding those from now on if I can help it.
Maybe I could figure something out if I could just TALK to someone, but apparently I can’t even do that. Not to mention that I’m awful at fighting and the only way I could’ve improved isn’t an option anymore either. Thanks, Swift.
So…I have to ask myself again…what do I do?
Quietly, I peeled one of my scalchops off of my hip.
The tiny hooks clung to the inside of my palm as I raised it to my eye level and held it out at arms length above me. As I did so, the sun hit the ridges of the small blade and reflected the light right into my eyes. I squinted, but I didn’t look away. I turned it in my paw, getting a good look at it’s sharpness and cleanly carved edges. They were reasonably new considering they—and by extension, me—were only a week old. Almost as if they were made for me and me only.
I held it up for some time as I stared at the sharp edge of the scalchop, taking in every single detail. Strange to think that I had something so dangerous on my person at all times…
…
…
…At some point, I looked away. The sun was too bright to look at for that long. And in doing so, I gazed over at the bed on the other side of the room.
There was Fenn, curled up like a cat in his little straw bed. His back rose and fell with every breath, and his eyes were shut closed. I blinked a few times as I watched him, spots from the sun invading my vision. After a bit, I realized that I didn’t want to look away.
Everything about my situation in this castle sucked. But even I had to admit that it could’ve been a lot worse. At least I had Fenn, someone who was willing to stick with me and not dismiss me when it was obvious I needed the help. And yeah, I couldn’t tell him what was going on, but as long as he was around, I had less to worry about. Last night’s performance was a lot more fun than I was expecting it to be, and it was all because I had Fenn there to keep me company.
So…okay, maybe it wasn’t all bad. I wasn’t alone in all of this. Just thinking about spending the day with him brought a smile to my face. I just wished…I didn’t have to be so secretive with him-
I was just going to have to hold onto that thought. A moment later, Fenn’s eyelids began to flutter open. The sun shimmered brilliantly off of his dark blue hide as he got up and stretched like a canine. Just from watching him, I could tell he slept well. His eyes were half closed as he lifted his head off the ground and looked over at me.
I put my scalchop back on my hip and tried to make it seem like I wasn’t just staring at him a moment ago. Really hope he doesn’t think I was being creepy.
“Good…morning, Oswald,” Fenn yawned. “How long have you been up?”
Too long.
“Half an hour,” I replied groggily. “Didn’t want to wake you.”
He blinked the sleepiness out of his eyes. “You could have woken me up if you wanted to. I don’t mind getting up early.”
No. You deserve your sleep, Fenn. The last thing I want is to take that from you.
“It’s fine. I didn’t feel like getting up yet anyways.
Fenn smiled before padding off of his bed. He yawned again as he situated himself closer to the center of the room, closer to me. “W-well, I’m ready whenever you are,” he said quietly. “Take your time.”
That’s very sweet of you, Fenn. I’m lucky to have a partner so thoughtful-
I…needed to stop thinking like that. Something snapped in my brain yesterday and now I could barely function properly. I do appreciate Fenn as a friend, but this was getting out of hand. I know for a fact that I’m not like this all the time. I don’t…no. I just needed to focus on my work and I’d be back to normal in no time.
“Let me get the bag,” I said, already standing up.
“Actually…” Fenn spoke suddenly. “W-would it be alright with you if we did something different today?”
I put the bag in my hands back down. “Different in what way?” I inquired.
Fenn rubbed his arm while looking down and away. “I…might have promised some pokemon in town that I’d help with building houses today…”
I raised an eyebrow. “You did?”
“…O-okay, they talked me into it. I’m not good at saying no. S-sorry.”
“Heh,” I chuckled, “don’t worry about it, Fenn. I really don’t mind.” That worked for me at least. I was going to ask if we could do something different today anyways. Granted, I wasn’t much of a carpenter, but if it meant that I could go one day without the threat of death looming over my head, then I’d manage.
Plus, I needed some time to think about what to do next.
I made some hammer swinging motions with my paws. “I can build,” I smirked. “Probably. Just don’t expect me to carry anything heavy. I got noodle arms.” I waved my arms around chaotically.
Fenn laughed. “Th-they’re going to have bigger pokemon there for that,” he said, smiling big. “And I mean…I’m not strong either.” He flopped his arms about like I just did. “Nooooodle arms, hehehe!”
The Quilava broke down in laughter as the two of us stood around waving our arms like idiots. This continued for a bit as I blundered around making funny noises and flapping my arms around as if they were made of gelatin. Personally, I thought the bit got stale after a few minutes, but Fenn just kept laughing. He was really easy to please, I guess. Not a bad quirk to have. Better than being a stick in the mud, that’s for sure. Making Fenn laugh was really fun.
Eventually, I had to stop; I was worried he would hurt himself. Fenn was already laying on his back on the ground panting and in tears, giggling like a fool. I stood over him, laughing along with him. “You alright, buddy?” I asked.
He looked up at me with the biggest smile on his face. “Yeah…I’m okay,” Fenn replied breathlessly. “Just really giggly for some reason. Heh…”
I gave him some time to catch his breath before the two of us headed off to breakfast and then out to town. Today, I was going to build houses with Fenn. Sounds boring, but I was actually pretty excited. After that giggle party we just had, I had already forgotten how bummed I was when I woke up.
I didn’t want to jinx myself, but I was confident that that’s a good sign of things to come.
Man, I suck at carpentry. It was bad enough not having opposable thumbs, but being not even three feet tall doesn’t help either. I can barely carry a plank of wood on my own.
Fenn and I got assigned to work on a new orphanage that apparently just got the greenlight to be built, meaning we had to start from scratch. I was hoping we could be trusted with a project that was already half-finished, maybe? When the Farfetch’d we were taking orders from showed us the blueprints, none of it made any sense. Whatever system these pokemon had set up for work like this was completely alien to me, not at all anything like what I would’ve expected from human blueprints. The icing on the cake was the fact that it was all labeled in “feet text” so I couldn’t even understand the instructions if I wanted to.
Fenn seemed to grasp it well enough though, so I just followed his lead.
He was, to put it mildly, a house building machine. It was like he picked up a hammer and Arceus themself blessed this Quilava with magical artisan powers. First battling and now this, is there nothing he can’t do?
I tried my best to keep up, but for every plank of wood Fenn would manage to nail down, I would be there, smashing my fingers with my own hammer and tripping over my own feet, gradually lowering my hubris. It wasn’t difficult work, at least for most of the pokemon here, but it was very mundane work. Not much discussion had to be had over what needed to be done and not much small talk went on between us and the other workers. Considering that Fenn managed to pull off his section without any help, nearly all on his own, while also taking on the majority of the work I was assigned, was pretty impressive. He even seemed to be enjoying himself, the cheeky weasel.
While the hours of the day passed, Fenn and I had a fair amount of interesting conversations.
“What kind of pokemon do you think will live here?” I asked Fenn while taking a lunch break.
“…What kind of pokemon?” he queried back, confused about the question. Fenn was also on break, though not by his own accord. He would have gladly kept on going had it not been for the boss not wanting anyone to collapse from exhaustion. He didn’t even look tired. On the other hand, I was absolutely worn out.
“You know…orphans…in the orphanage,” I replied while gesturing my arms around to indicate that I was talking about the building we were making.
Fenn appeared flummoxed for a moment before realizing what I was saying and smacked his forehead. “Oh!” he uttered. “Um, I-I don’t know. Eevee’s maybe?”
I let out a half-smile. “I was hoping for a goofier answer than that,” I said.
“Goofier?”
“You know…what kind of pokemon do you think would be kinda funny to see in an orphanage?”
“I don’t…get what you’re saying,” Fenn stated, clearly bewildered.
I bit into a berry I was eating that was provided for free by one of the organizers. It was blue like me, but it had an odd shape. The berry had three bulbous light blue segments with a purple tip and a flagella of some kind. It was also…very big to put it bluntly. Over a third of my entire height. Fenn called it a “kelpsy berry.” I thought it tasted pretty good.
“Imagine this, right?” I started between bites. “A family of Delcatty adopts an Aron and it grows up to be an Aggron. And now…imagine what that family would be like.”
Fenn stared at me blankly.
“A bunch of little cats and a big metal monster acting like a tiny cat to fit in?”
Fenn kept staring.
“Do you get it?”
“…No, not really. Why would a Delcatty adopt an Aron?”
I tried a different example. “Okay, imagine like…a legendary like Dialga hatches from an egg that was left there and it grows up with the other pokemon in the orphanage. Wouldn’t that be funny?”
Fenn still looked perplexed. “Legendaries…d-don’t hatch from eggs…do they?”
“I…it’s the scenario that’s funny, Fenn. Just think about how awkward that situation would be for every pokemon involved.”
He was contemplative for a few seconds before gradually breaking down into laughter. “Hahaha! Now I get it! Hahaha! That’s really funny! Hahaha!”
I chuckled with him awkwardly. “Heh…yeah.” In retrospect, it wasn’t that funny. I was just bored and wanted to start a conversation. I probably wouldn’t have tried had I known Fenn wouldn’t get it immediately. Oh well. It made him laugh, and that was good enough for me.
“Haha!” Fenn giggled unabashedly. “I’m just thinking…an Exeggcute that evolved early…and it CAN’T FIT INSIDE! HAHAHA!”
I nodded along politely. “Yep,” I muttered. “I wonder if I’d count as an orphan. You’d think they’d let me in?”
He kept laughing. “Haha! Yeah, I’d love to see the family that would adopt you! Hahaha…haha…ha…”
Fenn stopped laughing abruptly and his eyes got wide. “W-wait!” he exclaimed. “Wait wait wait! No, Oswald, I didn’t mean that! Oh no…Oswald, I’m so sorry!”
“Sorry?” I questioned jokingly. “Why are you sorry? You’re probably right.”
The quilava whined, “No…oh, Oswald. I forgot about your amnesia. W-what about your parents? I shouldn’t joke about that. I-I’m so sorry…”
Parents? They hadn’t even crossed my mind until now. Am I an orphan? I wondered. Does being a stranded human in a world full of pokemon count? My parents must have been humans like me. I wonder what they’re like…
Eh. Who cares? There’s probably a good chance that I’ll never see them again. As far as family is concerned, I don’t have any. That’s a depressing thought, but I don’t remember them anyways. I doubt I ever will considering the rate at which my memories are coming back.
“It’s fine, Fenn. You can joke about that. I can take it.”
He slumped his shoulders and rubbed his arm. “I’m sorry…” he murmured.
I scratched the Quilava behind his ears to calm him down. “It’s okay, Fenn,” I consoled him softly.
The physical contact I had made knocked Fenn out of his funk. He looked me in the eyes and changed the subject to one I wasn’t expecting. “Why do you…do that?” Fenn asked slowly.
I retracted my paw quickly. “Um…” I looked down at my paw and grimaced. To be honest, scratching Fenn behind the ears might’ve been a human thing I carried over. Thinking about it now…wow, I could only imagine how this must’ve looked to anybody else. But uh… “Do you not like it?”
“N-no, I do. It…feels nice actually. I was just wondering.”
Shrugging, my response was to do it again, then to move on to scratching his chin and neck if only just to see how he’d react. To my surprise, he enjoyed it quite a bit. The quilava leaned into my touch and closed his eyes, a few sparks eventually popping out of his back. That…surprised me a bit, and after realizing that I might’ve gone a bit too far with this, I retracted my paw and took a step back, leaving nothing but an awkward, lingering silence in the air.
He was still for a moment, seemingly expecting more. But then his eyes shot open, and I could see the shock clear on his face. “U-uh,” he stammered, “b-breaks over!” Fenn ran off to his work station, leaving me to finish my lunch alone. My paw stayed outstretched for a few moments afterwards.
Well, I probably shouldn’t do that again. I don’t know, I didn’t think about it at the time, but treating Fenn like THAT might not be something I should do. At least he didn’t seem to understand the implications behind it…I hope. Didn’t think he liked it THAT much either. Oh my god, this is embarrassing. I’m never gonna be able to let this go, am I?
Whatever just…forget about it. He doesn’t really know what it means. It’s fine. Just move on.
Fenn and I got back to work. We didn’t have much to say after that. Later on, I managed to smash my fingers for the fifth consecutive time while hammering down a nail.
“OW!” I yelled. “Dammit!”
Fenn was at my side within a couple seconds. “Are you okay?” he asked worriedly.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Ow, damn.” I cradled my paw while sucking in air through my teeth. “I suck at this…ow…”
“H-here, you heal up, I’ll finish this.” Fenn took my hammer and finished my work in record time. I couldn’t keep up—he was so fast! I looked on in awe as he managed to finish more work in two minutes than I would’ve been able to complete in half an hour.
“Holy…how’d you get so good at that, Fenn? Cause damn, are you good.”
He blushed and looked away. “I-it’s nothing,” he muttered. “Just something my dad taught me. My parent’s house has a tendency to burn down at any given moment,” he told me while continuing to work, “so my dad taught me how to rebuild it.”
Hm. Fenn really does bring up his dad often. I hadn’t really noticed, mostly because our conversations are never really that long and we haven’t had very many of them. But after today…yeah, there’s something going on here.
“And like fighting,” I said, “you got really good at it because…your dad made you do it?”
Fenn seemed pensive for a moment. “He didn’t m-make me do it, per se. I-I mean he definitely encouraged me to and it got really annoying after awhile, but it’s good to help around the house and…it’s not like I had anything better to do…” he trailed off, staring off into space. “That’s…not a bad thing, is it?” Fenn looked at me, his eyes communicating how conflicted he was.
Much like Fenn, I was also conflicted. I couldn’t believe he put up with that. His parents should’ve treated him like the child he was. Not free labor. But then again, I might’ve been overthinking this. Fenn was really competent at what he did, no doubt a result of his sheltered childhood. He doesn’t hate it either as far as I can tell. If he did hate it, or his dad, he would let me know.
“No, it’s not a bad thing,” I replied. “But I am curious, how often did it burn down?”
“Um…once every other week, I’d say.”
I sputtered, “Wha…once every…why? How come you weren’t kicked out?”
The Quilava looked away in thought for a few seconds. “I…I don’t know,” he said quietly. “N-no one ever brought it up. I thought it was normal for so long that I wondered why other houses never burned down at any point. As for why…my dad has a hard time controlling his anger…”
“Really?” I pondered knowingly. That Typhlosian definitely gave me that impression.
“I-I’m not implying that h-he ever hurt me or anything like that.”
I blinked. Whoa, hold on. “I didn’t think that you were implying that at all actually.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Let’s get back to-“
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to-“
We both stared at one another after we simultaneously interrupted each other. My heart sank as the air between us grew heavy. I really DID NOT want to have this conversation. Just drop it! Say something! We’re not ready for this! Don’t make him upset!
“WELL!” I blurted out. “These planks of wood aren’t going to hammer and nail themselves! Those orphans need a place to SLEEP! Oh yeah! I’m buildin’!” I lifted a large plank of wood over my head and stomped over to the cutting board. If the Quilava had anything else to say, I didn’t hear it.
Fenn didn’t mention his dad anymore that day after that. I made it a point to avoid any subjects that could lead back to his childhood or his family. He obviously needed to talk this out. I would absolutely be willing to, but I don’t think either of us are ready. If he wanted to talk about it with me, he would.
I just hope I’ll be ready when that happens.
Speaking of not being ready—close to the end of our shift, Fenn approached me with a question.
“Hey, Oswald?”
I replied plainly while making the finishing touches on my section. “Yeah?”
“Have you remembered anything yet?”
I immediately stopped what I was doing and froze. Dammit! Not this again!
Last time was bad enough. I was certain that Fenn figured out that I was lying. Should have made it less obvious, you moron! This time, however, I did remember a few things, but it was nothing worth mentioning. If I said that I remembered one thing, then Fenn might think that I remembered more the next time he asked.
I needed to keep it ambiguous. I said, “No,” as monotone as possible, looking Fenn right in the eyes.
He studied my expression for a few seconds. I could hear my heart beating in my skull as I tried as hard as I could to hide the fact that I was sweating profusely. It only got worse as Fenn’s face progressively got more sullen. Hell, he started shaking.
“You’re… you’re lying, a-aren’t you?”
And there it is. Another conversation I didn’t want to have.
I let out a weary sigh and slumped. “Yeah…I am…a little,” I muttered.
“…Does it have something to do with your visit with Anemone yesterday?”
I nodded. “Are you mad?” I asked timidly.
He frowned. “No, I’m not mad. “I just wanna know why you haven’t told me yet. It’s been bothering me for a few days now.”
Damn. Didn’t mean to do that. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
Fenn avoided my eyes. “I-I just thought…maybe you’d tell me on your own. And after that whole…” He shook his head. “Y-you mentioned that it’s confidential yesterday when you were talking to that Murkrow.” He brought his gaze back to mine. “Why? Why can’t you tell anyone?”
Because I might become mashed meat if I do.
“I’m not allowed to,” I said. “I’m sorry, Fenn.”
His ears drooped. “You can’t even tell me?”
Goddammit. “No. Anemone will literally kill me. Believe me when I say that I hate this just as much as you do.”
“…Alright,” he whispered. “…It’s not bad is it? Should I be worried?”
I had no idea anymore. There hadn’t been a single day here where I was sure. I’d been dealing with things as I went because I had no way of knowing what to expect. I might act decently composed on the outside, but internally, I was paranoid constantly. So when I respond to Fenn with-
“No. Everything will be fine. Don’t worry.”
-I’m not only saying that to console him, but myself as well. I didn’t know what I was doing. Should I have been concerned that I was spending too much time building houses when I should’ve been looking into my situation more? I don’t know. I’m just happy that I’m not dead.
Something was going to happen at some point. Hopefully by then I’d be prepared.
My words reached Fenn, but he didn’t seem particularly relieved to hear them. He sighed. “…Okay,” Fenn mumbled, “I’m sorry for prying. I-it was stupid of me to ask…”
“What?” I exclaimed. “No! Fenn, you’re fine.” I rested a paw on his shoulder. “You have the right to be curious. It’s my fault for keeping this from you. Listen, I promise you it’s nothing you should be concerned about.” Can’t promise myself that. I have no choice but to worry. “Anemone didn’t think so, but you know Anemone. She’s not very rational or a particularly good judge of character.” I winked. “Told her off for you.”
Fenn’s eyes brightened and his ears perked back up. A welcome sight. “You…you did?” he asked hopefully. “H-how did she respond?”
With complete and utter Tauros shit.
“She said she was wrong,” I told him. “I was right. You are amazing, Fenn. Even Anemone thinks so.”
Part of me wasn’t expecting Fenn to believe what I was saying. Anemone admitting she was wrong didn’t seem plausible in this current timeline, but I wanted it to be true so I treated it like it was. I also lied again. For someone that hates lying, I sure do it a lot. This time though, it was a good lie. The kind you want to believe even if you know it isn’t true. Yeah, the best kind of lie.
Fenn bought it, full sail. In fact, he might have bought it too much. His eyes sparkled and he looked touched. Before I knew it, he hugged me. His head rested on my shoulder while he repeatedly said “thank you” over and over again. I hugged him back, though I wasn’t feeling very good about lying right to Fenn’s face and getting rewarded for it.
He broke the hug and looked me in the eyes, his eyes streaming with tears. “Thank you…Oswald,” he whispered. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”
This feels wrong. I feel like a scumbag for some reason. Doing the right thing shouldn’t feel so scummy.
…
Eh. Oh well. Fenn is happy. That’s all that matters.
“You’re welcome, Fenn.”
We finished our work for the day. Compared to the other workers and how much they got done, Fenn and I actually finished quite a bit. No thanks to me, of course. For a job well done, our paycheck was fat! Almost 2000 smackeroos! Not bad for menial labor. Granted, I’m not saying that carpentry doesn’t take skill, Fenn can attest to that, I’m just saying that compared to dungeon diving, this job was a cinch.
I’m not complaining.
Fenn and I headed back to the castle about an hour until sunset. The cold autumn winds blew the now discolored leaves across the dirt and stone while we walked. The streets were considerably emptier than they were earlier today, and there was a calmness to the town square that I hadn’t felt in quite a while. It reminded me of images from my past life. Nothing specific obviously, but I could still recall the feeling of sleepy weekday nights with no concern for my future.
I would say that things aren’t much different now, but I know that wasn’t true. I do want to enjoy these quieter moments, however. They remind me of simpler times that I’ll never truly remember. As such, I vowed to make new ones. Peaceful times with my close friend Fenn amongst all of the surrounding chaos. That sounds nice.
“HEY! Whippersnappers! C’mere!”
Starting tomorrow. Peaceful times will just have to wait, I suppose.
Fenn and I stopped in our tracks. A elderly sounding (and looking) Drampa called us over from the side of the road. There was irritation in his voice.
Me and my Quilava partner exchanged a wordless, ignorant glance before approaching the pokemon. I crossed my arms. “What is it, grandpa?” I questioned, annoyed at having to waste time with a senile old fart.
“Yous two be youthsful and full of dat machO energy aren’t ya?” he asked, his manner of speech fitting well with his age.
“…Macho energy?” I repeated. Fenn and I looked at each other. Both of us were very perturbed. I looked back to the old pokemon. “I don’t like where this is going. What do you want?”
He scanned his eyes to the left and right in a shifty fashion. The Drampa tip-toed up to me, stretching his face closer to mine. I instinctively stepped back. He squinted his eyes and talked in a low voice. “I’s got a demon in me attic.”
“A demon? Okay?” I wasn’t aware that the concept of a “demon” even existed in this world. Now I I was curious.
He continued. “That blasted guild stop taking me requests.”
Gee, I wonder why.
“I needs me some machO youths to get rid of it.”
I raised my eyebrows. “If you stop saying that word we’ll get rid of as many demons as you want,” I said. “How much are you going to pay us for this?”
He looked left and right once more. “I’s got one million pokees in me safe,” he whispered. “Saved it up from the war. Killed 200 basterds with me Dragon Breath.”
I turned to Fenn to see him giving me a look that read “this seems reeeeally fishy.” Yeah, I’m not buying this, I thought. Odds are this old man heard some Rattata in his walls and couldn’t tell the difference. I am interested though…for some reason. If only out of morbid curiosity. It could also be a trick, but I don’t know…the vibes I’m getting from this guy don’t read him as a pokemon that would kidnap kids or anything like that. He seems more like a crazy conspiracy type…I hope.
“What do you think, Fenn?”
He looked between the Drampa and I. “Um…I don’t know,” Fenn said quietly. “I’ll just go along with what you want to do, Oswald. I-I can probably handle a ‘demon.'”
I smiled. I’m sure you can, Fenn. My answer to the request was, “Alright, we’ll do it.” I narrowed my eyes at the old Drampa. “But you better have our million poké when we’re done, Drampa.”
“HUH?” he shouted.
“…Nevermind. Show us the place.”
Talk about the creepy old guy at the end of the street…
This Drampa’s house was a complete wreck. Right on the edge of town, with neighboring houses that looked abandoned and simultaneously worse. My bet was that this old guy had lived here for so long and was situated out of the way enough that he never left and nobody bothered to tell him to leave. Made sense to me; we went so out of our way to find this place that we had to go through multiple alleyways.
It was a decently sized house either way. Two stories, rotted wood paneling, ominous howling wind. Oh yeah, baby. Classic horror mansion.
When we got close, one of the window panels straight up just fell off. The Drampa didn’t comment on it.
“You’re not going to trap us inside and kill us, are you?” I asked the Drampa while we stared up at the building. I peeled off a scalchop. “Because if you are, then the deal is off.” I swung my scalchop in the air threateningly.
“HUH? WASSAT?”
“IF YOU TRAP US IN THERE THEN THE DEAL IS OFF!”
“TRAPS! Ooh, I’s remember back in the war when I’s caught a Scizor with me pityfall trap…or was it a Scysther…?” He kept rambling on about his experience in the war as though he forgot why he brought us here.
I frowned and turned to Fenn. “Let’s go, Fe-“
I shut up when I saw him. The Quilava shook in place. His ears drooped and his teeth chattered. He was staring at the building, scared out of his mind.
I put my paws on my hips. “Are you seriously scared?” I wondered bitterly. “It’s just a house!”
“I-I-I-I don’t know about this, O-O-Oswald,” he stuttered. “Wh-what if there r-r-really is a demon in there?”
“Didn’t you say you could handle a demon? Where is this coming from?”
“Th-that was before I s-s-saw this place…” He rubbed his arm while he trembled in fear. “Gives me the heebie-jeebies…”
And mystery dungeons don’t? I sighed and rested a paw on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about a thing, Fenn,” I said reassuringly. “I’m sure it’s nothing we can’t handle. Plus,” I pointed at myself and grinned, “I’ll be there. I’ll keep you safe.”
That didn’t do anything to reassure Fenn. In fact, I’m pretty sure he started trembling more after I said that.
I sighed again. “Let’s just get in there and get rid of this ‘demon.'” I grabbed hold of Fenn and slowly pulled him up the steps to the front door. “We’ll be done in less than an hour!” I called out to the old Drampa on the street. He might’ve fallen asleep because he didn’t respond.
The front door to the creepy mansion opened with a series of creaks. I let go of Fenn’s paw so he could walk on four paws, but he stuck close to me. The inside of the house was dark, a problem had it not been for Fenn and his natural lantern abilities. The room illuminated in a warm glow thanks to the Quilava’s fire.
We were in a living room I was assuming. Various fancy looking furniture laid about the room while knick-knacks littered the tables and shelves. Medals and portraits—those sorts of things. It was apparent that there used to be more than one pokemon living here. The furniture was dusty, but seemed to be quite expensive. The portraits presented the same Drampa we had just met, younger and with a young looking Altaria and a Swablu. How sad. She must’ve passed a while back and now he’s living alone. I actually kinda feel bad for the guy. No wonder he hasn’t moved—he probably wants to hold onto these memories. To a fault, mind you. This place could do with some management.
There was a set of stairs near the front door. Fenn, whimpering behind me, was hesitant to go up with me. I put on my warmest smile and rubbed one of his shoulders. Less embarrassing than ear scritches. “We’ll be fine,” I said quietly. “This place is just out of shape. We’ll go up the stairs here, check out the attic, and leave all in the span of five minutes. Sound good?”
Fenn was about to say something, but then we both heard a noise.
“C…s…th…est…”
It was faint, and just barely loud enough to hear, but it was a voice. I was certain of that, and it was coming from above. The attic, just like the Drampa said. It was also definitely not a Rattata in the walls. This was…something else.
“C-can we leave?” Fenn whimpered.
I shook my head as I stepped towards the stairs. Now, I was even more curious and…admittedly a little scared myself. But I couldn’t let Fenn know! He was counting on me! I motioned for Fenn to follow and put a finger to my lips to let him know to be quiet. Fenn reluctantly kept to my back, not saying a word.
The second I stepped on the first step, the wood creaked, causing me to wince. As soon as the creaking sound went off, the voice stopped. My stomach sank. Did it hear me? Oh no, please tell me it didn’t hear me. We remained silent for a few agonizing moments. Thankfully, the voice continued to sound out a few seconds later. I let out a sigh of relief.
Fenn and I kept up our pace up the steps very slowly and deliberately. Each one creaked. The voice got louder with each step. Once we got to the top, the voice almost became distinguishable.
“I…m…the ma…you w…bow…”
At this point, I was trembling as much as Fenn was. My mind began to wander and imagining what this “demon” could be scared me to no end. Oh god…what if…what if it’s the same voice as the one I heard back in Grepa Lake? It does sound kinda similar…oh no…
“O-Oswald…” Fenn whispered behind me.
I didn’t dare turn around. Seeing Fenn’s terrified face would only make me want to leave this place and never come back. I had to keep going…no matter how scared I was.
The stairs ended and we were now in a dark hallway. The light from Fenn’s fire didn’t even reach the end of the corridor. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw something dark and vaguely humanoid shaped at the very edge of the light. I reluctantly advanced forward, fighting against the urge to pull out a scalchop. The sound would only serve to frighten me more. Thankfully, the dark shape at the end of the hallway was a ladder that would inevitably lead us to the attic.
The voice was at its loudest now.
“Cosm…there will be…ang…s…”
Whatever was up there continued to yell and blather. Neither Fenn nor I said anything. The anticipation and the darkness…it was almost too much to bear. I nearly ran out of the house right then and there, but I had to keep going. I was impressed Fenn didn’t; he seemed positively horrified.
I kept moving. I had to know…even if it killed me.
Against every bone in my body telling me not to, I grabbed the ladder and began the slow and deliberate ascent. The ladder was topped with a hatch, the voice right on the other side. There was no telling what would happen when I would open it…
Fenn was at the bottom of the ladder, silently screaming at me to stop and get down. I wouldn’t listen to him. The hatch…it was right there…I just needed to…
I unhinged the hatch and pushed it open, causing a dull sound to ring out through the whole house.
The voice stopped.
My heart beated at the speed of light. I took the final few steps up the ladder and climbed into the attic.
It was dark and deathly quiet. Fenn hadn’t climbed up after me, which was enough to make me start to panic.
And then…I heard it.
“WHO DARES ENTER MY LAIR!”
A pang of fear slithered up my spine.
“FENN! FENN, HURRY UP! PLEASE!”
“OSWALD? OSWALD, I’M COMING!”
Something very sinister laughed. “YES!” the voice shouted. “COWER IN FEAR OF THE IMMENSE AND UNSTOPPABLE POWER OF…COSMO!”
I couldn’t think of anything to do except to cower in the corner. This was a bad idea. Why did I think we could do this?
“OSWALD?”
“FENN! OVER HERE!”
Within a moment, Fenn was by my side, trembling and hugging my form in fear. I couldn’t think of anything to do, so I hugged him back, trembling more than I ever have in my very short life.
It continued to laugh. “AHAHA! AHAHAHAHA!”
I closed my eyes. Is this it? Am I dead? Please just let it be quick…
The voice got closer…and closer…the laughing would not stop. We were powerless to stop it’s advance. That laugh would be the last thing we would ever hear…
Any second now…
…
…Any moment…
…
…Wait. It stopped.
Instead of more laughter, a noticeably cheerier and squeakier voice spoke instead.
“Oh! Hi!”
I opened my eyes slowly to see that the room was illuminated now. A dusty and nearly empty attic met my vision. There was no demon—no horrendous creature. I was almost convinced that there wasn’t anything there at all.
And then I looked up.
Right in front of us, floating a few feet off the ground, glistening in the light of Fenn’s fire, was a Solosis. A very, very small Solosis. It went on to talk more in it’s high-pitched child sounding voice.
“Are you here to witness the amazing psychic powers of Cosmo?” they asked rather innocently.
“H-huh?” I croaked out. “C-Cosmo?”
“That’s right!” The Solosis bounced in the air in a circle. “Cosmo is IN the building! Cosmo is the greatest! Cosmo is the best psychic in the whole world!”
I was confused. Very confused. Was this the demon? It was just a kid. A kid…talking to himself in the attic of some old pokemon…hm.
I finally stopped trembling and stood up. Fenn, who I assume was still hesitant to let his guard down, kept shaking and stuck behind me like before. Now standing up fully, I got a good look at the Solosis.
…It was a Solosis. There was nothing else to say about it. Well, that’s not right. I should probably try talking to…Cosmo(?) and find out what’s going on.
“Um,” I started, “are you…Cosmo?” I pointed at the Solosis.
“Yes!” he exclaimed, bobbing in the air. “Cosmo is Cosmo!”
I nodded slowly. “That’s…great. What are you doing here?”
“What else? Cosmo is practicing his super powerful monologue in his super secret lair!”
“…Your lair is the attic of some old Drampa’s house?” I asked, quite puzzled. “How did you even get in here?”
Cosmo bobbed in the air frantically. “Oh! Oh! Cosmo knows this one! It was the window that let Cosmo in!”
I looked behind Cosmo to see that there was in fact a closed window at the other end of the attic. I frowned.
Fenn, who at this point had to have been as confused as I was, stepped out from behind me and addressed Cosmo. “Are you…the demon?” he wondered timidly.
“Cosmo goes by many names! Mostly Cosmo…okay, just Cosmo. But demon!” His outer bubble jiggled in delight. “Cosmo is the demon! Cosmo will have to use that!”
Fenn stared at Cosmo blankly before turning to me. “Oswald, this isn’t a demon. This is a Solosis.”
“I know,” I said. “I figured that out already.”
The round green sphere bounced around the room chanting his new title happily. “Demon! Demon! Haha! Demon!”
Fenn and I looked on in bewilderment. And disappointment. And relief. A Solosis in the attic was not one the things I was expecting out of this, frankly, entirely pointless adventure. I was of course happy that it wasn’t something worse, but now I was wondering how Cosmo managed to fend for himself for so long. Or not. The Drampa never mentioned how long this has been going on. Cosmo might’ve just shown up yesterday.
“What do we do now?” Fenn asked me.
I crossed my arms. “Take him back to the Drampa, I guess. The very least we can do is let him know the demon in his attic isn’t a demon.”
Fenn nodded. “I think so, too. We should get Cosmo to come with us.”
I nodded back. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Hey, Cosmo!”
The Solosis stopped bouncing and floated over to us. “Cosmo has been summoned?”
“Can you come back with us to see someone?” I said. “There’s like, a million poké on the line.”
Cosmo looked a little sad. “But…Cosmo’s lair…” he mumbled.
“There are plenty of better lairs out there,” I told him. “Just not this one, okay?”
He immediately lightened up. “A new lair! Cosmo is excited! Lead the way! Lead the way!”
“Hey gramps!”
I was right about the Drampa falling asleep. He hadn’t moved since we left him. At the sound of my voice, he jolted awake. “Huh? Wazz happa?”
“We got your demon,” I said while Fenn, Cosmo and I ambled out of the front door onto the street.
“Did yous?” the Drampa asked. “Did yous exercise it like theys do in those stage plays from the war?”
Fenn and I extended our arms on both sides of Cosmo, kneeling down and presenting the Solosis like an important figure. “It is Cosmo!” Cosmo exclaimed. “Cosmo is the demon you seek!”
The old Drampa squinted at the Solosis. “Thas no demon. Thas a Solosist.”
“We know,” I stated. “There was no demon. It was just Cosmo.”
“Cosmo!” bellowed the Solosis.
“Now where’s our million poké, old man. You promised us a million.”
The dragon type frowned. “Thas not a demon,” he said. “I’s only promised a million for a demon.”
“There never was a demon,” I glowered. “Even if there was one, it’s gone now. You won’t hear it anymore. Now give us the money.”
The Drampa huffed, “I’s don’t owe yous nothin’! I’s only promised a million for a demon!”
“I just told you-“
It was only for an instant, but I saw it. This Drampa smirked. He had me right where he wanted me.
Oh, you son of a…
It was a trick. Just not the kind I was expecting. The senile old prick had a pest in his atic that he didn’t feel like getting out, so he asked a couple of unassuming idiots to fix his issue, promise them way more than he actually had, then never pay them because the requirements were too vague. Now I get why the guild stopped taking his requests. It was all a scam. I would’ve been mad if it weren’t for the fact that we already got paid today.
I scoffed. “Let’s go, Fenn. It’s getting dark and I’m hungry.”
“B-but what about the money?” Fenn stuttered.
“A million is too much anyways.”
We left for Kebia Castle then, leaving the old Drampa to ramble to himself all on his lonesome. “Yer useless, ye hear me!” he called out to us as we walked away. “Damn youths these days can’t do anything right!”
Can’t believe I actually felt sorry for that guy…
The Drampa didn’t make me mad. We had realistically lost nothing but an hour of our lives to his stupid trick. Finding out that we still had to pay the same thirty percent tax for a job that we didn’t even get assigned on castle grounds however, did.
“I can’t believe this,” I fumed. “This is unfair and you know it!”
“Life is unfair,” deadpanned Ipo the Simipour behind the front counter.
“Every business in town works under Calluna’s heel,” Lace, the Leavanny also behind the counter, added. “Taxes are an integral part of civil life. How else would we be able to keep all of this maintained?” She gestured to the counter, the walls, the ceiling, the castle, the town. Everything.
I grumbled, “Still…it sucks.” Fenn shot me a sympathetic look. He had to deal with this for two whole months. He understood how unfair it was.
“By the way,” Lace continued, “is he with you? Non-guild members are only permitted as guests under the surveillance of other guild members.” She pointed a leaf appendage at something, or someone behind us.
Both Fenn and I had no idea what she was talking about, so we turned around.
There, in the castle lobby, floating about, looking aimless, was Cosmo. He watched us quietly not far behind. I hadn’t noticed he had followed us all the way here—the little bugger didn’t say anything.
“Cosmo?” I wondered aloud. “Why are you here? Go home.”
Cosmo floated closer while bobbing in the air all crooked. It was like he was a guilty puppy after getting called on his antics. “Cosmo…was promised a new lair,” he said dejectedly. “Cosmo needs a new lair…”
“We didn’t promise you that,” I replied firmly. “I just said that you couldn’t use the last one because someone was already living there. Isn’t that right, Fenn? Didn’t I say that?”
Fenn looked at me blankly. “Um…you might have. I-I think you implied it more than you actually said it if I remember correctly.”
“Oh. Well, either way you need to go home, Cosmo. We’re not your baby sitters.”
The Solosis sniffled pitifully. “Cosmo…doesn’t know where he can find a new lair…”
A new lair? Why is he…wait. Oh, now I get it.
“Are you homeless, Cosmo?” I questioned. “Is that why you were hiding in that Drampa’s attic?”
He shook his body, changing his demeanor to one of pure pride. “Cosmo is a powerful and almighty being! No home could possibly contain Cosmo! But…a powerful psychic like Cosmo needs a place to…hatch his schemes!”
I turned to my Quilava friend. “Fenn, I think he’s homeless.”
Fenn shrugged. “I don’t know what we should do about that,” he said back. “W-we’re not his baby sitters, you’re right, but we can’t just leave him on the street…”
“He can join your team,” Ipo said blandly from behind us.
Lace faceleafed. “Ipo, it’s a kid. These two are…young adults? Right?”
Fenn nodded. I wasn’t sure so I nodded as well. Fenn and I are probably the same age. I should ask him what his age actually is at some point.
The Leavanny nodded back. “Yes, young adults,” she continued. “Having a child on their team would endanger the kid, don’t you think? I’m sure the Solosis would just slow them down.”
Ipo glared at Lace. “Someone sure changed their tune. You didn’t have a problem with kids being explorers a week ago when we let in that team with the Shinx. I say let the Solosis join their team. What’s the worst that could happen?”
Lace sputtered, “Th-that’s not the same thing! A team of two kittens will take lower level missions—the boring stuff. The stuff that doesn’t get them killed! I don’t know if you remember, but these two showed up half dead a few days ago! Do they like suitable guardians to you, Ipo?”
He lifted his chin at her dismissively. “They’re not guardians, they’re team members, Lace. It’s not up to us to tell pokemon how to do their jobs. Do you even have a better idea, hm? Miss ‘bright and bubbly.’ Miss ‘I judge pokemon on their life decisions.'”
“Well, excuse me, Mister ‘I sit around doing paperwork and NOTHING ELSE!’ Do you even have a life outside of this job, huh? When’s the last time you left the castle?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means exactly what you think it means!”
They continued to argue like this while I turned my attention back to Cosmo. I don’t know if I’ve made it apparent yet, but I didn’t particularly like kids. They’re annoying, messy, and act like they know more than they do. They’re like…small adults, but worse. I don’t think I wanna ever have kids either. I wouldn’t call myself much of a role model, if I was being honest.
Cosmo though, his situation was a little strange. I liked his whole shtick; it was cute. Kids do have that one thing going for them: they can get really creative when they wanna be.
He was homeless and most likely an orphan. I know enough about Pamtre to know that the outside world is not kind to those that can’t handle themselves. I do kinda agree that we would be putting him in danger, but, I mean, am I really that much more competent than a child? If I can head into a dungeon and not die, then Cosmo will be fine.
So sure, I was willing to give him a chance. Team Lavender could use a new member anyways.
I elbowed Fenn. “What do you think?” I asked him. “Do you think we should let Cosmo join us? Cause I’m fine with it.”
Fenn studied the Solosis with his eyes while the green gelatin ball hovered nervously. “I-I don’t know,” responded Fenn. “I’m sort of…hesitant. I haven’t seen him in action yet.”
In response to Fenn’s indecisiveness, Cosmo shook off his nervousness and donned his usual confident persona. “Ooh! Ooh! Cosmo wants to join! Cosmo can use every psychic attack known ever!” Cosmo beamed. “Cosmo is a master!”
“…O-okay that’s great. What else?”
The Solosis levitated in thought for a few moments before suddenly having a proper answer. “Oh! Cosmo knows! Cosmo can tell jokes!”
“Jokes?” Fenn repeated.
“Mhm. Okay. What did the Sandslash say to the Hitmonlee when the rocks started moving?”
Fenn and I exchanged glances. “Uh, I don’t know,” the Quilava said, “what did they say?”
“‘That was ONIX-pected!”
Oh my god, really? He has puns? Okay, you know what, I retract my statement. I’m gonna tell Fenn that Cosmo will just have to-
“PFFFFT AHAHAHAHA!”
I flinched at the sudden outburst to my left. I looked in complete awe as, against every conceivable possibility, Fenn laughed at Cosmo’s stupid joke. I genuinely couldn’t believe it. How did I end up with these maniacs? Fenn couldn’t contain himself; he was rolling on the floor laughing!
“Oswald,” Fenn wheezed between his laughing fits, “we gotta…we gotta get him on our…on our team.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Cosmo is the best jokester in all of Pamtre!”
I groaned. “Alright, fine. Hey!” I yelled at the still arguing desk clerks to get their attention. “Cosmo is joining our team.”
Lace and Ipo stopped their bickering. They were in the middle of throwing hands, just about to tear each other apart. They both looked between themselves and us before becoming professional pokemon again. “Wonderful!” Lace shouted, throwing her arms up and smacking Ipo in the face, knocking him to the floor. “I’m overjoyed to hear you say so!”
Ipo grumbled something as he dragged himself back to his feet…only to be knocked back down once again by Lace opening her arms quickly. “OKAY! The only step left is for you to give us a name and you’ll be on your way.”
I tilted my head. “It’s Cosmo,” I answered, “but doesn’t he have to meet with Anemone like me and Fenn did?”
The Simipour dragged himself off the ground. “N-no,” he groaned, “there are…separate rules for kids.”
“YES!” Lace said, with a fake smile, and for the third time, whacking Ipo in the face. He fell to the ground with a pained scream. “Every member of the guild must meet with Anemone. She is a very busy Gardevoir, however, and little Cosmo is not a high priority. So, he will be put on a waitlist.”
“Cosmo is on a waitlist! Yay!”
Like hell Cosmo is meeting Anemone on his own. She can beat me up all she wants, but I’m not letting her touch him.
“In the meantime, I will get you set up with your new team member. Hm…” She rubbed her chin while she looked at Cosmo. “I’m uncertain how a Solosis could wear your colors…I don’t believe we’ve ever had one of his species here before…”
I turned to look at Cosmo. Yeah…how will he wear a scarf? I don’t think he can. I’d imagine it would just slide right off him…
“Ooh!” Cosmo jiggled excitedly. “Cosmo has the solution! Hrgh…” The Solosis exerted himself, much to the concern of all of us. A persistent bubbling sound rang out and his outer shell vibrated…until there was a loud pop.
I blinked. Cosmo was now purple.
“Tadah! Cosmo is now purple Cosmo!”
All of us stared at the Solosis, speechless. Well…all except for Ipo. He groaned in pain while still on the floor. He stopped trying.
“I…wasn’t aware that a Solosis could do that,” Fenn muttered.
The Leavanny behind the counter clapped her leaf appendages together. “That works just fine,” she said. “Now, if you would follow me, I’ll set up Cosmo as an honorary resident of your chambers.”
She came out from behind the desk, stepping on Ipo along the way, eliciting a loud “ow” from him. Lace guided us back to our room. Cosmo followed eagerly, bouncing in mid air and commenting on everything he saw.
“Haha! Yes! Cosmo’s new lair is gonna be so a-Mew-zing!”
Kill me.
Lace finished the setup for Cosmo and made him an official member of Team Lavender by allowing him to unlock the door to our room. I was dubious how a pokemon without any hands could use a touch-pad, but Lace explained that psychic types each have a unique “psychic fingerprint.” I suppose I can’t dispute that, Cosmo used his psychic powers to touch the panel and the door opened. Goes to show how little I knew.
She bid us a goodbye and left the three of us to ourselves.
Fenn and I watched Cosmo fly around the room from the doorway. He was positively overjoyed. “Yay!” Cosmo cheered. “Cosmo has a lair! Cosmo has a lair!” He bounced on the silk bed in the corner and giggled constantly.
Meanwhile, I looked on in slight annoyance. Not because Cosmo was being annoying or anything, but because seeing him jump on the bed reminded me that I was still slated to sleep on the floor while Cosmo would inevitably take the soft, cushiony, silk bed. I won’t stand for this. He doesn’t even have legs! I don’t care if I have to share the bed, I refuse to sleep on the floor anymore!
I turned to Fenn. “Hey, Fenn, you wanna share the be-“
“Yes. Sweet Arceus, it’s about time.”
My eyes went wide and I sputtered, “W-wait, what? I thought you didn’t want to! You were so adamant about giving me the bed!”
Fenn frowned. “…I-I only agreed to sleep on the floor because I thought you wanted space,” he told me. “I’ve always been willing to share the bed. I just…didn’t want to be rude…”
I stared at the Quilava in disbelief, my mouth agape. Thinking back on it, it was probably not as awkward for pokemon to sleep together since they are basically animals. But noooo, I’m a human; human friends sleeping in the same bed is wEiRd and not something we do. I really hate myself sometimes. Who cares? Just sleep with the Quilava in the only decent bed available! It’s not like you’re that big anyways! There’s plenty of space!
“Well,” I said, “alright then. We’ll share the bed.” I looked back at Cosmo. “And Cosmo can sleep…wherever.”
Cosmo continued to bounce and laugh, ignorant to Fenn and I’s conversation. “Cosmo is the greatest! Cosmo is so cool! Haha!”
I sighed. What have I gotten myself into?
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