Chapter 19 – Day 9, Part 3: Preferences

Chapter 19 – Day 9, Part 3: Preferences

“Wha…w-what…?”

I dropped to my knees. The Aipom, now thoroughly scorched, laid before me. It was dead; there was nothing that could be done. The sight of a dead feral was nothing new to me, but I could not stop my paws from shaking when I looked at this one in particular. My breath came up short and I couldn’t focus my thoughts. My lips were dry, and the strength I needed to open them and produce words would not come to me. Fenn started talking, though I couldn’t hear him.

“I…I got him,” Fenn said nervously. “Oswald? Are you okay?”

“Cosmo helped defeat a villain! Cosmo is the greatest!”

My vision began to blur and my paws started trembling violently. Memories of all the times I gleefully murdered dungeon ferals…no. No, those weren’t ferals. This Aipom was a feral. I refuse to recognize those things as anything even remotely related to pokemon.

But I still didn’t understand. Why were those ferals like that and…these weren’t? Was I missing something? I felt like I made a horrible discovery even though I knew this had to have been common knowledge. For me, it was like being punched in the gut and I wasn’t sure why. I wasn’t close to figuring this out before, and now I was back at square one.

“Oswald? A-are you okay? You look ill.”

I might’ve been. My entire body got strangely warm all of a sudden. I was experiencing the kind of hot chills one would get when they had a fever. Fenn was probably right. It was such a strange reaction from learning that animals basically existed. And still…the animals that had been making my life hell for the past week or so weren’t animals.

So…what were they?

In my distressed state, I nearly keeled over. Luckily, Fenn was there to catch me, the angel that he was. “Oswald!” he exclaimed. “W-what’s the matter? Please say something!”

My mind was mush; there was no way in hell that I could’ve possibly explained to him why I was acting this way. Not that I’d care enough to do so at this point. My eyes glazed over as I stared up at the cloudy, blue sky. In my mind, I conjured up a beautiful poem describing how the sky made me feel and how it reminded me of Fenn’s soft hide. But in the real world, only a gurgling sound left my lips.

“Cosmo! Get an Oran Berry! Now!”

“What? Cosmo doesn’t-“

“Cosmo, just do it!”

An indeterminate amount of time passed. Something squishy met my lips and I was coaxed to bite down. I heard voices. Panicked and distressed voices. Soon the colors dancing in my vision became less and less prevalent. The real world did not want me here; the world wanted me dead—and as such, I yearned for the colors’ return. All of the thoughts coursing through my brain was enough to leave me with a headache. Unfortunately, the Oran Berry did it’s job, and the dreaded moment in which I would become lucid again became a reality.

My hearing was the first of my senses to return. Fenn was speaking, shouting; I could hear the worry in his voice. Meanwhile, Cosmo’s persona was wavering. He had no idea what to do. While this situation might’ve been confusing for all of us, hearing Fenn talk was the one thing that brought me back. I wanted to hear it more.

And then it was time to sit up. I had to go back to the world I was in before and face the truth: I had to keep going. If my immediate reaction to learning about something like this was to nearly pass out, then I was screwed. But of course, my weak, skinny body fought against my wishes.

I fought back against the urge to vomit, sat up from my spot in the grass, and hung my head. Fenn was immediately at my side, rubbing my shoulders to calm me down. “Oswald!” he cried. “W-what happened? Why did you…?”

“…I’m…fine, Fenn?” I asked him under my breath, my eyes locked to the dirt in front of me.

“W-wha- no, you’re not! What’s the matter?”

“…It’s nothing,” I clarified—the tone in my voice being as dark as night. “Just got a little light headed.”

Fenn did not respond for a few seconds. “O-Oswald, was it because…was it upsetting? I-I’m sorry, that’s what we were supposed to do.”

“…I know…”

“Oswald…just tell me-“

“IT’S FINE!” I stood up suddenly and glared at the Quilava, my neck fur standing on edge. “Everything’s fine! I’m fine! You’re fine! Nothing’s wrong, okay? Just drop it! Let’s get this over with!”

Fenn’s ears pressed against his head at my sudden outburst and he ended up taking a step back, his eyes wide with concern. “Oswald,” he breathed, “p-please calm down.”

“I AM CALM!” I yelled with clenched fists. “I am…PERFECTLY fine right now! Just give me…give me a second…” I shook my head frantically, trying to shake off the latent frustration and anger. The guilt was starting to set in too. I almost couldn’t believe that I was upset at Fenn of all people, especially considering he never did anything wrong. “I-I don’t know! Forget about it…please!”

Fenn’s ears drooped, his eyes darting all over the place in search of a solution to this situation. “Oswald…I…” He was unsure of what to say.

“Stop it!”

Fenn and I flinched at the sound of Cosmo’s voice. We turned to see him trembling and his bubble rapidly changing colors. “Stop being weird!” he screamed. “Stop scaring each other! We’re supposed to be having fun!”

My scattered brain prevented me from responding. Thankfully, Fenn somehow found the patience to switch to parent mode. “I-I know, Cosmo,” Fenn stuttered. “S-sometimes us adults get a little heated-“

“NO!” Cosmo sniffled, his eyes glistening with tears. “I don’t care that you’re older than me! Just stop being sad! Please!”

Sparks burst from Fenn’s back. “S-sad?” he stammered. “I’m not…we’re just…” He sighed and rubbed his arm. “I-I’m sorry, Cosmo. This hasn’t been the best day for me…”

You can say that again. In retrospect, I couldn’t understand the reaction I had. Maybe I did actually have a perfectly justifiable reason for being upset. Or, I was just having a panic attack and my body had finally reached its breaking point. I don’t know. Point is, I had no reason to snap at Fenn for no reason. We signed up for this, flew halfway across the continent, and promised to help a village of pokemon with their problems. The least we could do was finish the mission, my own hangups be damned.

And by we, I mean Fenn. I wanted nothing to do with this.

I grimaced, stopping myself from touching one of my scalchops. They couldn’t help me here. I’d go as far as to say that they were downright useless. As useless as me and my pension for screwing up. “Fenn…” I mumbled.

He faced me. “Oswald?”

“…He’s right,” I sighed. “I’m…sorry for snapping at you. I was just being silly. Let’s go kill some ferals.”

Fenn was visibly shocked. “J-just like that? Even after all that yelling?”

I nodded. “All I ask is that you do most of the work,” I murmured hoarsely. “I’m not strong enough for this…”

At that moment, I could hear Cosmo let out a sigh of relief. His bubble turned back to its regular purplish hue.

Fenn reached out with a paw, stopping inches from my fur. “Are you r-really okay with that?” he asked shakily.

“…Yeah.”

He rapidly shook his head. “No…no…Oswald, you’re…n-none of this is your fault.”

“Then I’m sorry for yelling at you; you didn’t deserve that.” Before he had the time to react, I stepped forward and hugged him. Fenn was tense at first, but he swiftly returned the hug, warmth subsequently emanating from the flame patches on his head. I closed my eyes and rubbed his back. “I was being dumb. I’m sorry. Thanks for being here with me,” I whispered, my voice deep and somber.

Fenn was silent. I presumed that he was once again at a loss for words, which was fine by me. I couldn’t believe my own stupidity. To think I actually yelled at Fenn…and made Cosmo cry…what kind of teammate am I? At least they’re patient enough to deal with me. I couldn’t be more thankful for that.

Fenn and I remained in each other’s embrace for a few more moments, hugging one another harder as time went on, only breaking the hug when Cosmo inserted himself into the conversation.

“…Can Cosmo get a hug too?” he said timidly.

I chuckled. “Sure, Cosmo. Come here.”

“Yay!”

He zoomed through the air and landed in between Fenn and I. The hug started up again, this time with Cosmo in the middle. “Yay~” the Solosis whispered excitedly. “Cosmo saved the day!”

---

We continued on. An hour or so was spent scouring the forest for some kind of Aipom camp, implying it existed. Peon didn’t tell us what to look for (most likely because he didn’t know), so we had to assume there was one. It made sense to me; there was clearly a pack of these things somewhere if they were causing so much trouble.

Luckily, it didn’t take too long due to the frequency of Aipom attacks increasing as we got closer. It started with one or two early on, then eventually three to five, and finally entire groups. None of them ever got any close; Fenn made sure of that.

I chose not to contribute. Fenn was happy to take the lead while I hung back and held Cosmo so he wouldn’t run off. Odds were I’d just get in the way. Regardless, I didn’t even want to fight. It was probably a really silly gesture, but the Aipoms were protecting their territory to the best of their abilities; I had no reason to fault them for that, so I had no reason to attack them.

I guess Fenn did though. He willingly set their bodies aflame with a smile on his face.

He’d try to hide it—I could tell—but Fenn would always let it slip. The Quilava loved fighting, and subsequently, loved killing. I didn’t want to psychoanalyze Fenn and the thrill he got from causing others pain, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little scared of getting on his bad side. Even Cosmo was speechless.

It made me wonder if his “tendencies” only applied to ferals. I…had yet to see him fight another civil pokemon. We’ve never sparred either. Who’s to say he would spare any mercy regardless of the opponent?

Whatever. I had too much on my mind right now to be thinking about Fenn in such a light. He was my friend; I could look past his quirks.

And…it did benefit us if he continued being the pokemon that he was…

That last thought bothered me more than any other. Well…any thought relating to Fenn anyways. In reality, I still didn’t know Fenn as well as I’d like. I wish that wasn’t the case, but I wanted to respect his privacy. Uncovering why he was the way that he was didn’t involve me asking him outright as much as it involved Fenn telling me once he was ready. Getting that to happen required his complete trust, and if it wasn’t obvious yet, I wasn’t willing to return trust in full.

Granted, I wanted Team Lavender to be just that: a team. A group of equals that trusted each other. Fenn being disturbingly proficient at everything he did threw a wrench in that idea and I undoubtedly wasn’t making things any easier. Clearly, we weren’t even close to being equals and part of that was my fault. I was an amnesiac human in a world that hates me and Fenn was a living blast furnace. Cosmo was…Cosmo. None of us were equals.

I wanted us all to be on the same page someday. When that day would’ve been was beyond me. I could only hope that it came soon.

In the meantime, Fenn did most of the work. The attempts by the feral Aipoms to stop us (Fenn) failed. We followed the sounds and smells as they got louder until it led us to a clearing amidst a pocket of trees. Cries and screams rang out as Fenn, Cosmo, and I calmly cut our way through some bushes into said clearing.

Immediately, I could tell this was the place we were looking for. Aipoms surrounded us on all sides. On the ground, in the trees, and from within burrows and tree trunks. That might’ve been damning for us, but it was obvious that the pokemon here were of a different variety than the ferals that Fenn had already killed.

I wondered earlier if these ferals could feel fear. Looking at them now, I could say with utmost sincerity that yes, these pokemon felt fear. They did not strike, even when given the opportunity. And I could completely understand why. The ferals around us were skinny and malnourished, young and defenseless, old and frail. Presumably, the majority of the healthy males already died by Fenn’s flames. Even the few Ambipom around couldn’t find strength to attack first.

Oh, yes. We had found the bulk of the feral Aipom in this forest. But most importantly, we discovered the origin spot of the infestation. If we were to irradiate every single feral here, the population would dwindle to the point of being unsalvageable.

I studied their eyes to perhaps feel their pain. We were both pokemon; we should’ve been able to understand each other in some way. However, I could not see myself in this cowering collection of animals. They shook and whimpered in fear, yes, but unlike the village pokemon, I could not hope to understand them personally.

Additionally, the disconnect I felt between myself and these ferals was less so than me and dungeon ferals. At least one dungeon feral talked to me. At least one dungeon feral let me know that it wanted me dead. At least one dungeon feral…helped me.

These Aipom would never reach that level. They were just pests. Pests that live under the same genetic umbrella as me, but pests nonetheless.

Fenn turned his head and looked back at me, the flames on his back at full ignition. “Are you…still okay with this Oswald?” he asked with hesitation in his voice. “We can turn back now if this is too upsetting for you.”

I shook my head. “No, Fenn,” I replied dejectedly, “we have to do this. I know I had a weird reaction earlier, but I’m fine now.” I scanned the clearing once more. For a moment, I almost thought that the ferals had discerned that their time had come. The youngest buried themselves in their mother’s fur, while the eldest visibly lost the will to fight.

But I knew that wasn’t the case. These were animals and they weren’t capable of complex emotions; they needed to be eradicated.

I gave Fenn a dark look and nodded, already turning and leading Cosmo away. He didn’t need to see this and neither did I. I told Fenn to give us some time to get away from the scene and to wait a minute or two. Right before the two of us walked away, I looked over my shoulder and muttered something to Fenn…

“Just get it over with.”

There was a flash of doubt on his face right then. Perhaps he was realizing that what he was doing was wrong? Or perhaps something else was causing him to hesitate.

Either way, he nodded and got to work.

---

I was exhausted—mentally and physically—by the time we got back to Occa Village. The trip back was quiet; none of us had anything to say. Even nature itself seemed to have lost its energy. No wind, no bird cries, no nothing. It was as though I had done something horribly wrong and the world was unhappy with me. I wasn’t that superficial, but thinking about it certainly didn’t make me feel any better regardless.

The justification I had come up with was not enough to dull the regret I felt immediately after. When Fenn, who somehow managed to not burn down the whole forest, met back up with us, the look on his face told me that even he wasn’t happy with what he had to do.

I hate whoever it was that thought it would be funny to drop me here.

Either way, the job was done. The villagers of Occa Village welcomed us back with open arms. They wept at the news and offered us gifts and invited us to dinner. I respectfully declined all of it, my excuse being that I was much too tired to accept. Cosmo was upset to hear that we wouldn’t be rightfully rewarded for our efforts and I…snapped at him…then immediately apologized. Needless to say, I wasn’t feeling very proud of myself at that moment. I didn’t even care to learn more about Occa Village before we left. That information would have to come another day.

Peon at least kept to his end of the deal and paid us for our work. A little over 3000 poké was our reward for genociding an entire population of wild pokemon. Sounds like a lot, right? Twice as much as we’d make on a normal job plus we didn’t have to pay taxes. That must’ve made the whole thing worth it…right? Well…

As it turned out, every single villager chipped in to pay us. Every. Single. One. Peon even said that he threw in half of his own personal funds.

3000. That was all this entire village of pokemon could come up with.

I felt horrible. We didn’t deserve it. I didn’t deserve it. But Peon insisted. “You need the money more than us,” he had said. “Go out there and save more lives.” Peon called us heroes. Every villager did.

Well, I don’t feel like one. I’m no hero. I didn’t even lift a finger.

Fenn, Cosmo, and I didn’t stay for much longer after that. Sunset was still a couple hours away and I was hungry, but these pokemon didn’t deserve to have any more taken from them. We left to go look for the beach and eat the berries we brought with us there.

We found it within fifteen minutes.

The beach was what most would think of when they hear the word “beach.” Waves gently crashed against the shore, catching the glimmer from the afternoon sun. High above, a cliff cast a shadow on the ocean below. Jagged rocks hugged the cliff’s base, sharp as knives and just as deadly. I could only imagine the sorry souls that would choose to jump into that…

…No. I shouldn’t think about that. It’s not that bad. Yet.

Closer to the trees and dug into the side of the cliff was a cave barely obscured by foliage. I ignored the sounds coming from it’s depths, a sound I was all too familiar with beckoning me closer. I had enough crap to deal with today, thank you. We had a while to wait so I assumed that Cosmo would’ve berated us about wanting to explore it. Except…he didn’t. I think he was still upset about me yelling at him. Cosmo also decided to keep to himself for the time being, staying away from Fenn and I’s spot on the beach to instead build sandcastles on his own while we waited.

God, what a rotten day.

At least the bubbles were nice to look at. Fenn told me that it was common to see local Krabby blow bubbles around sunset on beaches like this. So, Fenn and I sat in the sand watching the bubbles glow from the light of the setting sun, enjoying the calm after the hell that was today. It was a nice moment, but I was ready to go back to Kebia. Some sleep would do me well. A bath too. Sand stuck to my fur and I hated it.

I sighed. This sucks.

“H-hey, Oswald?”

I turned my head, my expression stuck in a state of perpetual misery. Similarly, Fenn met my gaze with a frown of his own. His body was slouched forward, his dinner half-eaten and dangling from his paw, inches from the sand. His eyes were somber. I’d like to think that the patches on his back were ice cold at that moment.

“Yeah, Fenn?” I muttered.

He paused for a few seconds. “Do you want to talk?” Fenn murmured in a quiet voice.

“We already are,” I grumbled half sarcastically and half bitterly.

The Quilava opened his mouth to speak and closed it just as quickly. He looked away despondently.

My shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry, Fenn. That was a stupid joke.” It wasn’t even a joke. It was a statement. God, what am I doing?

Fenn rubbed his arm. “I know,” he whispered. “I…I’m sorry that you’re having a bad time. I-I’m probably not helping much, am I?”

“What? No, you are!” I leaned over and rested a paw on his shoulder. “Listen, Fenn, you’re great. Don’t think otherwise, okay? Just you being here is enough for me.” Fenn was quiet as his eyes drifted back to meet mine. “I’d love to talk and maybe…make up for earlier today.” I leaned back and took my paw off his shoulder. “If you’re okay with that I mean.”

Fenn smiled faintly. “Y-yeah, I’m okay with that.”

I smiled back. “Okay. Let’s talk.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“I’m sorry for-“

“S-so what-“

I blinked. We interrupted each other. “Uh…what were you going to say?” I asked.

“No…why are you apologizing again? Haven’t you done that enough?”

“Haven’t you?”

“…”

“…”

I sighed. “I’m sorry for overreacting.”

“Overreacting?”

“Yeah. That whole…’getting mad’ thing was uncalled for on my part. And me…acting all weird…I just…I don’t know. I’m sorry for yelling at you.”

“It’s okay,” Fenn said quietly. “I was still a little cranky after the ride here and…I-I could have handled it better. So I’m sorry too.”

“Heh,” I chuckled, “guess the ride back will make you double cranky, huh?”

“Hehe…probably.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“I-if it makes you feel any better, I felt weird after doing…that.”

“What?”

“Yeah…killing all of those ferals…Dad never taught me to think of them as actual pokemon, so…”

“…”

“I-it was never something I thought about until now really. It’s us versus them, you know? Nothing wrong with killing them if you have to. T-to them, we’re just predators. But…” His ears suddenly dropped further down than before, his eyes downcast. “Now that I think about it…that…wasn’t a fight. That was a slaughter.” Fenn squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m not…supposed to think about it. I’m not supposed to think about a-all of the…the baby Aipoms I j-just…” He trailed off.

I watched Fenn in silence for a few moments. Hearing him say what he had just said provided me with enough evidence to know for certain that Fenn wasn’t the unstoppable, malicious killing machine I thought he was.

His dad was. Fenn was only carrying the torch. Luckily, he wasn’t too far gone yet. I could…do something here.

“Fenn…” I started.

“I d-don’t want to talk about it,” the Quilava breathed, “please.” His eyes opened. They were red and puffy but not yet on the cusp of tears. “If I could…g-go back…I wouldn’t have killed them. They s-still had a chance t-to grow and…”

“…”

Yeah…I need to do something here. Fenn needed me.

“Hey, Fenn?” I said softly.

“Y-yeah?” he sniffled.

“Thanks for doing what you had to. You’re not at fault. Trust me.”

“B-but-“

“Any other pokemon in your position would’ve done the same, but you’re different; you actually regret it. I doubt that most pokemon in that stupid castle cares as much as you do. Cause really, who’s gonna care about a bunch of Aipom in some forest nobody goes to?”

Me. I care. But I’m also an outlier here.

“And you know,” I continued, “that amount of empathy is admirable.”

His eyes lit up, a tear dripping down his cheek, glimmering in the warm sunlight. “Y-you think I’m…empathetic?”

I nodded and laughed. “I think you’d have to be if you had to deal with me like you have. You’re a great friend, Fenn.”

Pure joy flashed across Fenn’s face. He wiped off the tears with an arm, a bright blush appearing on his cheeks. “Th-thanks, Oswald,” he giggled gleefully. “I-I think you’re great t-too.”

My lips curled into a genuine smile. Ah, maybe today wasn’t so bad after all. I might not have been able to escape my demons for a day, but at least I was able to spend it with Fenn. In between all of the horror and pain and stress, Fenn was there. I take him for granted, don’t I? I could have been stuck with someone way worse, but no, I found the best possible pokemon to keep me from going crazy. I just wish…

You know what? Screw it.

“Hey, Fenn,” I said delicately, “there’s something I need to tell you.”

Fenn’s ears perked up and he lifted his eyes to meet mine. “What is it?” he asked under his breath.

“I’m not…from here.”

“N-not from here?” He gasped. “W-wait! You remember?”

I answered his question with a grim shake of the head. “No, Fenn…I’ve known for…” I sighed, “…a long time.”

“You…what?”

“I’ve known that I’m not from here ever since I woke up. Anemone…doesn’t know where I’m from, but she’s helping me figure it out. She says that I’d be in danger if anybody knew though.”

Basically a lie. At least this one is laced with truth.

“Even Anemone doesn’t know? Does that mean that you don’t know?”

Technically yes, so I won’t have to lie about that. “Yeah. I just know that I’m not from here. Here as in…this world.”

He blinked. “This…world?”

“Yeah…” I didn’t need limbs anyways. “There’s a good chance that you’ll never go there. Probably.”

Fenn stared at me in silence for what felt like hours. The Pecha Berry he had been eating had long since fallen into the sand, his appetite presumably being lost sometime during our conversation. I caught sight of sparks dancing across his back. If it hadn’t been for the clearly apparent confusion in his expression, I would have assumed that he might have been mad at me. I dreaded hearing what he was thinking.

Eventually, he did speak and, thankfully, he wasn’t upset. “I…I think I understand a little better now,” he said slowly. “The lack of experience, the visits with Anemone, how you always seem out of place…”

“That obvious, huh?”

He chuckled, “Heh, kinda. E-everything’s starting to make a bit more sense now. You always did seem…different to me, Oswald.” Fenn’s smile got bigger. “But I’m glad you decided to tell me. Thank you for trusting me.”

“Of course, Fenn,” I grinned. “You deserved to know this from the start.” And you still do.

“But w-what about Anemone? Won’t you get in trouble with her for telling me?”

She can go eat Corsola twig for all I care. “Somehow I doubt that.”

He looked down and rubbed his arm. “I hope so…”

We sat there in silence for some time. Not entirely certain how much time. After I told Fenn the half-truth, I found myself engrossed in my own daydreams. Where we would go after this and what to expect going forward. The sound of the waves alongside the rapidly falling sun made me feel melancholic. So much so that I soon felt inclined to dive into the ocean. My mind had been so occupied that I forgot about my pokemon instincts.

And now…with nothing left to worry about…I felt the need to have ocean water on my fur. I wanted to swim and never come back. This ocean scenery is exactly the kind of place I think about when I wanted to use Water Gun. And now, I could experience it for real.

“H-hey, Oswald?”

Bah. Nevermind. I belong on the land. Maybe another day.

“What’s up, Fenn?”

“Um…” Fenn bit his lip. “I-I wanted to ask you something.”

“Okay. What is it?”

“I-I was wondering,” he started, “what kind of…preferences do you have when it comes to pokemon?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Preferences?” I wondered. “I’m not sure I understand the question.”

“You know,” Fenn twirled his paw in a circle for some reason, “What kind of pokemon are you…interested in?”

“Interested in?”

He nodded.

“Like…?”

The Quilava was slow to respond. “R-romantically, I mean.”

Oh.

Oh.

I…didn’t know how to answer that. I hadn’t even considered the idea up to this point. Romance? With a pokemon? I was technically still a human. Wouldn’t that be weird? Did I even consider any pokemon attractive? I couldn’t really remember my sexuality either.

Man, this was strange. All this mystery dungeon nonsense and I still had to think about this stuff. Though honestly, I don’t think I really cared all that much. Did that mean I wasn’t interested in romance at all? Doubt that. I was bound to feel it again at some point. In the meantime, I didn’t know enough about myself to particularly mind if I got with a ghost or a living ice cream cone.

I don’t care. I guess that works for now, yeah. Okay.

I shrugged. “I guess I don’t really care.”

“You don’t care?”

“Yeah, like, I don’t have a preference.”

“No preference?” Fenn balked. “Does that mean…you’d date any pokemon?”

“I don’t see why not,” I remarked with a shrug. “I don’t know about my physical interests, but I’m not against the idea of being in a relationship with most pokemon.”

Fenn was flummoxed. “S-so…you’d date a Magneton?” he questioned.

“Uh…” Hmm. Would I? How would that even work? How would we even…?

Eh. Sure. Why not?

“If the Magneton treated me well, then yeah.”

‘Thats…” Fenn was shocked to say the least. “I’ve never heard any pokemon say that before…”

“I’m a weirdo, I know.”

Fenn continued. “W-what about a Claydol?”

“Sure.”

“A Honedge?”

“If it let me hold it’s hilt, yeah. Why are you even asking, Fenn?”

He looked away. “J-just curious.”

“Hm.”

Fenn turned back to face me, his eyes wide with apprehension. “What about…males?”

“Just in general?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Sure, Fenn. I’d get with a man.”

Me saying that caused Fenn’s ears to perk up considerably. “Oh,” he said.

I raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“I-I-I mean,” he stuttered, “you’re a very unique pokemon, O-Oswald. I-I can’t say that I’ve ever met another pokemon like you…”

“Hm,” I grunted. “If you say so.”

Hm.

Suddenly, Fenn and I spun her heads at the sound of a loud noise closer to the water. We caught sight of Cosmo, still engrossed in his sandcastle ventures, now frustratedly attacking his creation with psychic attacks.

“He sure is angry about something,” I remarked, shooting a glance at Fenn. “Sandcastles can be pretty frustrating sometimes.

“Yeah…I guess so,” Fenn said back.

“…”

“…”

“…That’s not a sandcastle, is it?”

“N-nope.”

“Oh crap. Cosmo! Cosmo, we’re coming!”