Chapter 20 – Day 10, Part 1: Rainy Days

Chapter 20 – Day 10, Part 1: Rainy Days

It rained in Kebia today.

It was a light rain—just enough to dissuade most fire types from going outside, but also just enough for many of the pokemon in Kebia to be surprised by such an event. Even the most harmless of rainy days were an uncommon occurrence. In fact, bad weather was so rare in Kebia that there were stories of Anemone herself keeping the kingdom sunny and dry most of the time. It had been so long since Kebia had snow, or hail, or even lightning that many of its residents had never experienced any of the three naturally during their stay.

It should be made clear that Anemone controlling the weather to keep Kebia from experiencing natural disasters was, of course, just a rumor. And Dahlia knew the bird that first spread it.

Anemone controlling the weather, the Murkrow scoffed internally. How could she possibly do that? I spend all day, every day listening to stupid nonsense and that still manages to be one of the dumbest rumors I’ve ever heard. Of course Anemone doesn’t control the weather! Only a legendary can do so to such a degree! She’s got better things to do!

Dahlia was perched atop a branch of a tree adjacent to a cafe in town, watching the grey clouds glide across the sky slowly. It was early enough in the morning for the streets to be considerably empty, so Dahlia had no reason to be concerned about being spied on. In the distance, loud booms could be heard but not seen. Flashes of bright, jagged light lit the sky above the mountains in the distance. She did find it curious that lightning never seemed to strike within the city limits despite having the highest landmark around…and…it did make some sense…

She shook her head. Thinking about ridiculous theories wasn’t worth her time. She knew what was real and what was fabricated. It was her job to know. Besides, that crazy Noctowl had no idea what he was talking about when he made that rumor. And really, it was just a rumor. Nothing more to it than that. Anemone was powerful, yes, but not that powerful.

Anyhow, Dahlia found herself waiting once again for her informant, Stork the Taillow. With her two teammates both being afraid of a few drops of water, Dahlia knew that today was effectively Team Phlox’s day off. A good day to catch up on any new pieces of juicy gossip.

Unfortunately the weather being rainy also meant that Dahlia was bound to get wet. A downside that almost made the Murkrow want to sleep in instead. The pitter-patter of rain surrounded the bird as she preened her wet feathers. So annoying, she thought. She had just adjusted them last night and now they were all over the place. The Murkrow attempted to meticulously fix her plumage, only to fail over and over again to the point of frustration. She felt her tail stand on end and her talons gripped the branch tighter, too engrossed in her activities to notice that Stork had shown up right on time.

Stork, with his wings just as wet, hopped on to an adjacent branch and stared at Dahlia after shaking the water off his feathers. He silently waved a wing, failing to make the Murkrow notice him. He then hopped up and down on his branch, causing it to shake slightly, testing to see if she’d stop preening and look up.

The Murkrow did not; she was too distracted. It was at that moment that Stork realized that Dahlia was too busy to acknowledge his presence.

Beak curled into a smirk, the Taillow decided to use this opportunity to his advantage.

He silently opened his wings for less than a second and skipped to Dahlia’s branch. The ensuing shake did not even make her flinch. Stork crept forward behind her, careful not to interrupt the Murkrow’s grooming session. This was his chance. He tip-toed closer and closer and then…

Stork extended his wings to their full width and bellowed. “BOO!”

Dahlia jumped. Literally. “AAAAAHHH! Squawk! What…who the…?” The Murkrow had jumped off her branch in sheer panic and was now hovering above, scanning the environment for trouble until…

…she found it.

“Stork!” she yelled furiously. “What in Arceus’ name are you doing! You almost gave me a heart attack!”

Stork didn’t have a response to that due to the fact that he was too busy laughing. “Hahaha! You should’ve…should’ve seen your…BAHAHAHAHA!” The bird pokemon rolled onto his back, flailing his limbs as he rolled around on the branch. “You squawked!” he wheezed, already crying from laughing so hard. “AHAHAHAHA!”

Dahlia scowled, dropping onto his branch. “Stop laughing or I’m leaving,” she demanded. “I’m already in a bad mood, Stork.”

His incessant laughing fit came to a stop. “Ah…haha…aw, I’m sorry, Dolls. Just too easy,” he chirped, still on his back. “You were too busy tending to your feathers so I thought, ‘hey, I could probably spook her real good-‘”

“Stork. I’m serious.” She glared at him with enough fury to shoot a Charizard out of the sky.

The Taillow got the message. He righted himself onto his talons and beat his wings a couple times. “Alright, alright, I’m sorry. Just thought I’d have a little fun,” he said apologetically.

Dahlia only glared harder.

Stork was unfazed (externally at least). Most likely realizing that he was in trouble, Stork thought fast. “Okay, look. Let me make it up to you.” Stork rummaged through his plumage with his beak, grabbing onto something small and shiny. “I wash ‘anning ah wai-ing uh-hil la-er,” —he spit the object onto the branch— “but then I thought that this would probably cheer you up.”

With a harsh glare still on her face, Dahlia looked down at the object. It was a shiny pink diamond in the shape of a rhombus. A valuable bauble for sure—Dahlia was certain that this gem once belonged to a pokemon of immense wealth. Too perfectly shaped to be natural and too immaculate to be anything but a prized possession. Stork had absolutely stolen it right under the pokemon’s nose.

Not that Dahlia cared. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the sparkly diamond and she promptly forgot what she was mad about.

“Stork, this is…” she spoke breathlessly. Dahlia rolled the object in her talons, too speechless to say anymore.

“Pretty amazing, right?” he gloated. “Thought you’d appreciate it. Heh…” Stork smirked, “That Serperior certainly didn’t. Heh heh…”

Dahlia was too captivated by the gem to hear Stork’s last comment. “Amazing…you really outdid yourself this time…” she breathed.

He puffed out his chest feathers in pride. “I know. Hardest catch I ever had to make, let me tell you.”

Dahlia was inclined to disagree—what with Stork’s history of close calls, but this gem was really something. The Taillow had to have risked his life to obtain it. And the Murkrow could only marvel at the luck that had blessed her this day.

This was one of— no, the most beautiful jewel she had ever seen. The color, the shape, the lustor…it was perfect. The sheer intensity of the glimmer emanating from the gem was so overwhelming that Dahlia was almost brought to tears.

She looked to Stork, tightly gripping the stone with her left side talon, pure joy evident on her face. “I…thank you, Stork,” Dahlia said emotionally. “It’s amazing…I’ll treasure it forever.”

He smiled. “Anything for you, Dolls.”

Dahlia carefully stored the pink diamond into her plumage, making absolutely sure that it wouldn’t fall out under any circumstances. She turned back to the Taillow with inquisitiveness on her beak. “So, Stork,” she started, “what happened in Kebia this week?”

Stork’s tail twitched as he readjusted himself on the branch. “Oh, we’re starting with me today?” he asked jokingly. “I thought it was your turn to go first.”

“Is it?” Dahlia wondered. “Hm.” She frowned and rubbed her chin with a wing. It had been some time since the two of them had actually met up again. Almost a week actually. Usually the two of them meet more often, but they’ve both been busy for their own reasons. Stork and Dahlia had once agreed upon exchanging rumors sequentially, with the one to first give their news the last session going second in the next session. And after thinking about their last meeting, Dahlia remembered that it was her turn.

On an unrelated note, and this didn’t really mean much to her, but it was notable that Dahlia only shared this dynamic with this Taillow. There was a reason why Dahlia decided to ditch her earlier methods of talking to as many birds as possible and decided to solely talk to Stork instead for the most part. No other bird was as reliable as Stork. No other bird was as consistent as Stork. It was much easier this way, and saved time too.

Dahlia shrugged. “Okay. I’ll go first then.” She cleared her throat. “So you know Mazus, right?”

“The Lilligant?” Stork raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, what about her?”

“I hear she found herself a boyfriend,” the Murkrow said with a clack of the beak. “A real standup Hakamo-o from what I understand.”

“No kidding,” Stork whistled. “And so soon after evolving too. You know, I heard from some guild members that Mazus is like…the bombshell of Marigold’s crew after she changed. Blew all the others out of the water.”

Dahlia rolled her eyes. “Oh, I’m sure she is,” the Murkrow sighed. “She’s pretty; I’ll give her that. Honestly, I don’t understand why so many men go crazy over those girls…”

“I don’t really get it either to be honest,” Stork added. “Bipeds aren’t my thing.”

“That’s not what I meant, Stork,” Dahlia growled, glaring daggers at the Taillow.

“Regardless,” Stork resumed, ignoring Dahlia’s ire, “that Hakamo-o’s gotta be the stupidest pokemon in the world if he manages to screw up an opportunity like that.”

Ugh. Not at all interested in continuing with this topic, Dahlia shook her head and pressed for Stork to move on. “Yeah, sure whatever. So what about you, Stork? What have you got?”

Stork clacked his beak. “I see your Mazus story and I raise you one orphanage update,” Stork answered with a sly grin.

“…I already know about the orphanage,” Dahlia deadpanned. “Marigold got clearance to build it and now it’s getting built. This isn’t news, Stork.”

The Taillow opened his beak in surprise. That response shocked him considerably. After pausing awkwardly for a few moments, he managed to regain his resolve, quickly forming a suitable retort. “I…know that,” Stork gulped.” But do you know why the last one burnt down?”

Dahlia tilted her head. “No, actually. I assumed it was an accident. Never got the impression that it was anything but.”

“That’s what I thought too! But then, when I was eavesdropping on some of the builders, I heard one of them mention that it wasn’t an accident…” He lowered his voice, “…it was arson.”

“Arson?” Dahlia balked, her stomach dropping. The original orphanage burned down a year or two ago and the Murkrow had always been told that it was an accident. A very tragic accident. But arson? Why was the story changing all of a sudden? “Do they know who did it?”

Stork looked away, his eyes squinted. “Well…yes and no.”

Dahlia remained silent.

He looked back at Dahlia, hesitant to say more. “…Now I don’t know how believable this is, but…they said that it was one of the orphans.”

“An orphan? Are you sure that they didn’t mean that it was accidentally caused by the orphan? A baby fire type can burn down an entire forest if left unattended to.”

“I am,” Stork chirped sternly. “They specifically said arson. One of the orphans intentionally burnt down the orphanage and the guild changed the story for some reason.”

Dahlia couldn’t believe it. She didn’t want to. There was something so…disturbing…about the supposed truth behind that incident. So many pokemon…so many children…died. There were so many questions Dahlia wanted answered, but as curious as she was, the Murkrow didn’t want to hear anymore. “Let’s move on,” she said with dread in her voice.

Stork nodded, struggling to keep himself from shivering at the implications. “Yeah…I don’t want to talk about it anymore either. Euggghh. Alright, it’s your turn. Hopefully you’ve got something less…scary.”

Dahlia laughed, attempting to calm her nerves. “Ha! Well…I might just have something worse…”

“Really?” Stork’s eyes went wide. “W-what is it?”

“Theater drama.”

“Theater drama?” Stork gasped hyperbolically. “Oh no! Anything but that!” he cried, covering his eyes with a wing in fake distress.

The two birds continued to talk about menial and unimportant topics relating to pokemon in Kebia. More news and laughs were shared, though nothing particularly noteworthy.

That is until the last topic was brought up.

“So I’ve got one last story here,” Stork stated, “and it’s a big one. Saved it for last.”

Dahlia raised her eyebrows in interest. “Ooh, that sounds spicy! Lay it on me, Stork.”

The Taillow bent his body forward, leaning closer to the Murkrow. “You know about the Tapus, right?” Stork asked cautiously. “Diet legendaries? One on every corner of our little island of a continent?”

Dahlia nodded along, also leaning forward. “Yeah, I’ve heard of them,” she whispered.

“Well…” —Stork looked left and right— “…apparently, Koko was attacked and his place was ransacked.”

“What?” Dahlia stepped back, her eyes wide after hearing that. This was big news. “Who would do such a thing?” she squawked.

“Shhh shhhh!” Stork put his wing in front of his beak in a shushing motion. “Not so loud!”

Stork was right to be so cautious. Enough time had passed for the first of Kebia’s citizens to spill out onto the streets and Dahlia could see a few below them right now. She went quiet. This wasn’t something that should be talked about openly.

Stork continued. “I don’t know who did it,” he hissed. “Most pokemon I talked to don’t know either, and the ones that say they do are inconsistent with the info. What I do know is that the attackers were a small group of pokemon. No one knows who they work for.”

Dahlia was having a hard time parsing what she was hearing. “This is insane!” she whispered in disbelief. “You don’t just…attack a legendary! Why? Why would they do this?”

Shrugging, Stork looked out across the wet streets. “I don’t know. Honestly, that’s the thing that bothers me the most. There’s usually some way to guess what goes on in the minds of pokemon like that, but no, there’s no dirt on any of them.”

He turned back to Dahlia as he threw his wings into the air. “And that’s not even the crazy part! Nothing was stolen! The place was a wreck, but they didn’t steal anything!”

Dahlia shook her head in doubt. “No, no, that doesn’t make any sense. They had to have been after something.”

“Well…”

Dahlia eyes lit up. “What? What is it, Stork?” badgered the Murkrow.

“…Now I want you to take this with a grain of salt.” Stork held up a wing defensively. “This is just a rumor-“

“Stork, all we ever talk about is rumors. Just tell me!”

“Okay, okay!” He held up both wings now. “Every pokemon I talked to said that the attackers took nothing, but—and this is a big but—one or two said that they did take one thing: a single gem.”

A gem? “Okay, that’s ridiculous,” Dahlia said with a frown. “What kind of gem is valuable enough to disrupt the natural order by going up against a legendary?”

“I don’t know, Dolls,” Stork replied. “Maybe it was you. You like shiny things.” He smirked coyly. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

Dahlia laughed. “Ha! If anything, I’d say it was you that stole it, mister jewel thief.”

“Maybe,” the Taillow shrugged jokingly. “If it was for you then yeah, I’d fight a legendary.”

That last comment caught Dahlia off guard and made her blush. “No you wouldn’t, Stork,” she huffed. “Don’t be silly.”

Stork’s expression became uncharacteristically sincere. “I’m serious, Dolls. I’d do it as many times as I need to.”

Dahlia was quite flustered to say the least. She opened her beak to say more, but was interrupted by the sounds of pokemon conversing and moving about below. Stork took that as his cue to take his leave.

“I really should get going,” Stork said. “Got places to be, you know?” He got ready to take off, but then remembered something. “Oh! I almost forgot!” Hopping back to face Dahlia, he shot her an apologetic glance. “Sorry I couldn’t make it to Marigold’s performance. Got…caught up.”

“‘Caught up,’ huh?” Dahlia chuckled. “You mean, ‘got caught stealing?'”

Stork chuckled nervously, doing his best to avoid Dahlia’s gaze. “Mmmmaybe. Something like that…”

That’s the Stork I know, Dahlia thought. Not uncharacteristic in the slightest. The Murkrow could recall multiple different occasions where Stork missed a deadline because he was on the run. It was a miracle he hadn’t been captured yet, what with the guild having regular flying patrols. But Dahlia presumed that catching the Taillow wasn’t worth the effort.

“Don’t worry about it,” Dahlia reassured him. “We can go to the next one.”

Stork scratched his chest with a talon. “I uh…wanted to make it up to you with that rock I got you, but…you know.”

“Well, you didn’t have to do that,” the Murkrow giggled. “I’ve already got plenty of pretty jewels. And really, I’d be fine if you didn’t risk your feathers for me each time.” Though I do love the one he got me. Hmm…maybe I should keep my mouth shut?

“Well I can’t buy them now can I?” Stork asked sarcastically. “And for the record, you can never have too many. You deserve every gem you get, Dolls.”

Dahlia dismissed that compliment with a wave of the wing. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Get outta here, charmer.”

Stork hopped around once more. With a flap of his wings and the sly wink of his eye, the Taillow lifted himself into the air and flew away. “See ya around, Dolls!”

Dahlia watched Stork leave, calling out her goodbyes as she waved a wing in his direction. It wasn’t long after he was gone that Dahlia started to reflect on how he acted during their conversation. She wasn’t ignorant to the Taillow’s often flirtatious comments, but Dahlia never put much thought into it before. It was rare to see Stork so…forthcoming about it too. If it weren’t for everything else they talked about, Dahlia might’ve considered the possibility.

But that would have to come later. Something strange was going on. Legendaries getting attacked, orphans burning down buildings, and an amnesiac Dewott. An eventful couple weeks for sure and Kebia rarely has such eventful weeks. Normally it’s all petty drama. Outright conspiracies aren’t common.

This was out of her range as a rumormonger. Given that she could very easily be punished for interfering, Dahlia thought it smart to keep this information to herself. But she also felt liable to find the truth, and the only way for her to find it with her set of skills was to talk.

Luckily for Dahlia, she saw a few familiar bird pokemon flying around the castle before she got here. Odds are they were just as bored as she was and were willing to waste some of the day away. Her best bet was to head out now and get to talking. She might not get any answers, but she might lead others to answers of their own.

That was the idea, but really, Dahlia had nothing better to do.

With a deep breath, Dahlia flapped her wings and flew out into the pouring rain. The day had just begun.

---

Oo-oO

I found it difficult to describe the feeling I got when I looked out the window that morning. Was it Elation? Excitement? Pure bliss? Ecstasy even? God, I hope not. It was weird enough having such a primal reaction to seeing the ocean; I didn’t want to get excited at the thought of being soaked in water. There was enough on my plate already.

Fenn, Cosmo, and I were all incredibly tired when we got back from Occa Village last night. Speedwell showed up right after Cosmo had an encounter with that Pallosand around the time when he said he would show up. Then we flew back and uh…well, it wasn’t as bad as the first time. Speedwell did his best to make us feel more comfortable. That was nice of him.

It’s a shame his best wasn’t very good.

Needless to say, none of us felt like staying up for much longer after that.

The morning after, I woke up having had my sleep be marred by nightmares. Nightmares about screaming ferals burning alive alongside the joyful cries of pokemon as their skin gradually flaked away. I could still see the faces of the Aipoms and village folk, though I had already forgotten what the nightmare was actually about by the time I woke up. I didn’t think it affected me that much. Maybe it was just my active imagination. Doubtful that it even mattered, I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind. It was over. I never had to think about it ever again.

Now back to the present, I watched in interest as raindrops hit the window and dripped down the glass, creating a melodic, tranquil rhythm. I sat there for a bit longer, envisioning myself on the other side, my own inner water pooling at the base of my throat.

It took me a moment to realize it, but when I did, I swiftly swallowed and shook my head. Keep it in, would you? If I’m lucky, I might actually figure something out today. And then I can stop worrying about this crap…

I didn’t even bother humoring that idea because I knew that it wasn’t going to happen. Considering where I was at by now, I hadn’t made much progress. And the pace I was going at wasn’t very reassuring either.

All I learned after yesterday is that things are even more complicated than I thought they’d be. Maybe I can…ask around town or…I don’t know.

My eyes drifted down from the window to the flowerpots on the windowsill. I crawled to the other side of the bed, careful not to wake Fenn, and shifted myself as close to the window as possible without leaving the bed. From my spot on the edge, I could see small sprouts, barely erected from the dirt as well as the Lavender Fenn had taken from his hometown. Fenn had told me once—very excitedly I might add—that the Lavender sprouts would be beautiful when they’re fully grown in two weeks.

Now I’m not a gardener or anything, but I’m pretty sure it’ll take longer than two weeks for these things to grow. I’d imagine it would take a few months and we’ve only been a team for what, nine/ten days?

Ten days, I thought in bewilderment. Has it already been ten days? I’ve been a pokemon for that long and no one has come to find me yet. I didn’t know how to feel about that. On one hand, it was probably for the best that I kept a low profile like Anemone said. The fact that I haven’t been found yet was a good thing. But on the other hand, waiting might be a lost cause. It might take months—years even—for me to go back to my own world. And that was even implying that I get to leave at all.

I may as well just accept it.

I should learn the pokemon language and practice their customs. Integrate fully.

I should…eat meat. After all…those ferals are just animals. Food. Why should I care?

I looked out the window once more. The rain didn’t stop nor did the rhythm change. Perhaps the rainfall was just making me thoughtful, but I truly felt that holding onto my humanity was fruitless at this point. All it was going to do was cause me trouble at the wrong moments. The sooner I gave up, the sooner I could become more comfortable with myself and my new body.

But…I didn’t know if I wanted to. And I didn’t want to give up my humanity either. Something about leaving it all behind…becoming something else. Would I be closer to the ferals from yesterday or the ferals from the dungeons?

Regardless, I want to be me. Whoever “me” was. And at the moment, the “me” I was at the moment shared a species with the creatures of this world.

I was planning on thinking on it more, but before I was able to continue that train of thought, I heard a yawning behind me.

“Myaaa-ah, good morning, Oswald,” Fenn said as he stretched. “How are y- oh, it’s raining.”

I turned around. Fenn was looking past me, out the window. He seemed quite tired despite just waking up. “Good morning,” I greeted. “And yeah, it’s raining. Forgot that was a thing…”

Fenn laid back down and let his body go limp on its side. “Mmm…yeah…rain always…makes me sleepy…”

“I can tell.”

He yawned, “H-hey, is it okay if we take the day off?”

“Really?” I asked, facing the window. “Can fire types not handle rain or something? It’s not like you’re made of fire.”

When I spun back around to face Fenn, I could tell that he was barely awake. The Quilava blinked slowly. “If I had the right…covering, maybe, but…most aren’t used to rain. Messes with our”—Fenn let out a big yawn—”internal clock. I’d rather…stay in today.” His eyes were shut by the end of the last sentence.

They have clocks here? Crawling closer to the fire type, I sat down in front of him and delicately scratched one of his ears. He didn’t have much of a reaction to it. Man, he sure is tired, I thought. When’s the last time Fenn had a break? Even when I took the day off to see Anemone, Fenn had been working nonstop since we met, hadn’t he?

Kebia Castle, as far as I could tell, didn’t have any set schedule for doing work. Pokemon pick their own work then pay rent at the end of the month. If we had enough money, I’d imagine we could take a whole week or two off and still be in the green. We weren’t at that point yet, but a day wouldn’t make much of a difference.

So you know what? Sure. Fenn deserves a break. And shit, I could use one too.

“Okay, Fenn,” I started, “let’s take the day off.”

“Yay…”

I grumbled, “Just gotta find something to do today instead.”

Fenn’s eyes opened slightly. “H-hey, before you go…can you do me a favor?”

“I guess so. What do you need?”

“…I’m hungry.”

I chuckled. “Sure, Fenn. I’ll go get us some breakfast.”

“…Thanks…” he whispered, curling up.

I crept past Fenn’s body and carefully jumped onto the floor. As I tip-toed to the exit of our room, I caught sight of Cosmo snoozing away atop my shoulder bag near the bedside table. Seeing him like that made me wonder if the Solosis was still mad. He refused to talk to me when we got back, even after I agreed to let him peek outside the bag during the flight.

Though to be fair, I would probably still be upset too since I really hadn’t been the best guardian. I felt that I should do more. I should take more precautions to ensure his safety while also not being such a shitty guardian. And Fenn and I are guardians of Cosmo. Not teammates. The age gap is too big to ignore.

I needed to think of something to cheer him up. Other than “tell him how awesome and cool he is,” I had nothing. Subsequently, I left our room, quietly shutting the door behind me, and figured that the answer might come to me by the time I got back. By then I might know what to do for the rest of the day too.

---

I hadn’t thought of anything by the time I got to the front of the line in the cafeteria. Skua the Simisear had just got done shoveling some fruit and berries onto a pokemon’s plate while Grebes the Heatmor was busy grilling something over the stove. Guess their internal clock isn’t messed up.

I watched Grebes for a little, involuntarily licking my lips at the sight of a sizzling slab of red meat before catching myself and shaking the impulse out of my head. That got me thinking, how common is meat eating anyways? Is it only certain pokemon that eat it? Fenn said he doesn’t like it. Was that normal or was that just him?

“Yo, Oswald, you there?”

I blinked. Skua waved a hand in my face. “Whaddya need?” he casually asked.

Having spaced out for a second, I realized that I was holding up the line, but I also realized that I could actually get an answer to my question considering that Skua was right there in front of me. I stepped forward. “Hey, Skua,” I muttered. “Uh…yeah…I actually wanted to ask you something.”

“Alright, what ya got?” Skua asked, already having shoveled some berries onto a plate. “But keep in mind that I don’t have all day.”

I was assuming what he meant was that there was a line of pokemon behind me not willing to wait. I ignored their gazes—implying they were paying attention at all—and resigned myself to keep it quick. “So I was wondering…how common is meat eating among the pokemon here?” I asked, running my paw over one of my scalchops.

Skua raised an eyebrow. “Common?” He shot a quick glance over his shoulder, his and the Heatmor’s eyes meeting for a solid moment. “Well…” he continued, “your definition of ‘common’ might be different from mine, but typically only certain pokemon eat meat on most given days.”

“‘Certain’ as in…?”

Skua pointed to his open mouth. “You know, the ones with the big, sharp teeth. Doubt you’ve ever seen a Sunflora eat meat, right?”

“I mean, I get that,” I admitted, “but are there some pokemon with big teeth that refuse to eat meat?”

“What, like vegetarians?”

I nodded without much confidence.

Skua scratched his chin. “Oswald, you’ve got no idea how many strange requests I’ve gotten over the years. Our menu is pretty standard, but you know how it is. We try to cover all the right bases.” He shook his head. “It’s not my job to ask why a Garchomp doesn’t want to eat meat or why a Drifloon wants five pounds of Tauros steak,” —the Simisear flipped a spoon into the air and caught it with ease then pointed it at me— “but what I can tell you is that it’s common for outsiders to be disgusted with the idea of eating our fellow ‘mons. Some just can’t stomach the thought.”

Oh. Well that made me feel better. I let out an internal sigh of relief. So I’m not in the wrong for being so averse to the idea of eating meat. I won’t stick out because of any sensibilities I may have. That’s good. Guess there’s no reason to be worried then.

…

…Still…there was something about the concept of accepting that I might need to eat another pokemon that bothered me. I could definitely integrate just fine without it—more than fine even—but it might help me come to terms with my situation. If I was ready to give up on being a human entirely(which I wasn’t), then I should face this problem head on.

It was a stupid gesture, but it wouldn’t hurt to try, right?

I nodded. “Okay, thanks, Skua. Just wondering. Can I get the usual?”

“Sure,” the Simisear affirmed, handing me the already filled plate of berries. “Enjoy!”

I didn’t take it just yet. “And…some meat.”

Skua seemed perplexed by the request, but didn’t question it. He set the plate down and leaned on the table. “Alright, what do you want?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Something small?”

“Something small,” Skua repeated plainly. “Well, okay.” He stood up straight and hollered, “Grebes! Something small!”

Before I even had the time to blink, a drumstick spun through the air and Skua caught it without even looking. The fire type tossed it onto the plate of berries and handed the plate to me again. “There you go. One plate of Oran, Lum, and Pecha. Plus a Torchic leg,”—he smirked— “on the house.”

I took the plate with both of my paws and looked down. The drumstick…was definitely meat alright. Well cooked and crispy by the looks of it. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to take a bite right then and get it over with or wait. Either way, I wanted to know one thing first.

“Did this come from a dungeon feral or a…regular…feral?” I pondered.

“No idea,” Skua told me. “I just serve the food. I don’t ask where they get it from.”

“Who is ‘they?'”

“Volunteers. Teams doing their jobs. Anyways, sorry to rush you, but you’re holding up the line.”

I peered behind me and immediately felt self-conscious at the sight of so many pokemon glaring at me. The line had gotten considerably longer since I got to the front. With red hot embarrassment bursting from my cheeks, I took the plate of food and left. Guess I’m not getting an answer to that question.

Skua called out from behind me, “See ya around, Oswald! Have a nice day!”

---

I still hadn’t figured out what I would be doing today when I got back to the room. Mostly my own fault, that whole ‘trying out meat’ thing made me forget. I stared at the door of Team Lavender’s base, plate in paw, reluctant to twist the door knob. Perhaps I could get some last minute thinking in? Not likely. Just like Fenn, I was hungry. I opened the door with a sigh and stepped inside.

The first thing I noticed was Cosmo impatiently bouncing around the room. He was muttering to himself. “Psychic blast…no, no. Psychic explosion…no…” This continued for a second or two before the purple Solosis finally noticed me. His mood immediately soured.

“Hmph!” Cosmo turned his non-existent nose up at me and floated to the other side of the room, his back now turned to me.

Of course he’s still mad at me. I sighed. Kids.

Ignoring Cosmo for now, I quietly approached the bed Fenn was busy sleeping on. To my surprise, the Quilava lifted his head as I got closer. I could’ve sworn he was asleep…

He smiled softly. “Hey.”

“Hey.” I smiled back. “Brought you some food.” I set the plate on the bed covers and sat down.

“…Thanks,” Fenn mumbled, reaching for a berry. However, he didn’t get far before his paw froze in place over the Torchic leg. He looked at me with eyes half-shut and blinked. “M-meat?”

I opened my mouth to speak and found that the words wouldn’t come to me. What should I say? Oh god, am I going to have to lie again? What a stupid idea this was.

I wrung my paws as I searched for something to say, eventually allowing my tongue to act on its own. “I…don’t really know. I-I thought it would help me cope? I don’t know.”

Fenn didn’t seem convinced. His paw finally found a Pecha Berry and he brought it to his lips to bite down, juice gushing onto his chin. “Mmm, I’m not sure I understand,” the Quilava uttered between bites, “b-but meat is just another kind of food. If that’s what you wanna do…” He trailed off, taking another bite.

I looked at Fenn with a befuddled expression. “I would think you would be against it now,” I said. “You know, after yesterday?”

Frowning, Fenn stared at the half-eaten Pecha in his paw. He twirled it in his paw lazily, soon letting the berry fall onto the bed sheets. He sighed, “I don’t know, Oswald. I-I’m tired today. Can’t think straight.”

I think “tired” is a bit of an understatement. Fenn looked absolutely dreadful. Like he hadn’t slept all night. I was starting to think the thing about “internal clocks” was a deflection.

I leaned in close and laid a paw on his shoulder. “Are you okay, Fenn?” I gently asked.

Fenn wouldn’t meet my eyes, instead opting to look elsewhere. His lip quivered, “Y-yeah, I’m-“

He was cut off by a Lum Berry clumsily floating off the plate. We followed it with our eyes and quickly discovered that Cosmo was the one responsible. He scowled at me as the berry hovered into his bubble and his open mouth.

“Hey, buddy,” I waved nervously, “ready to…do stuff today?”

“Pbbft!” Cosmo blew a raspberry in my direction before giving me the cold shoulder and floating to the other side of the room.

My shoulders slumped. “That kid, I swear…”

“H-he has a reason to be mad,” Fenn told me. “You did make him pretty upset.”

“But I already apologized!” I ranted. “I don’t know what else he wants from me!”

“You know how he is. Y-you have to…appeal to his interests. Get someone to train him like you said you would.”

I said that? I don’t remember that. Oh, well I guess it makes sense. Cosmo clearly isn’t that great of a fighter and neither of us can teach him with his set of abilities. And…there you go! Something to do today! And with Cosmo no less!

“I’ll try. Is that how you would get your sister to stop hating you when she gets like this?”

Fenn’s ears fell. “Um…I w-wouldn’t say I ever had to deal with this before actually…” He bit his lip, his face portraying how uncomfortable he was.

“Really? Huh. I would’ve thought you’d be an expert by now.” I said sarcastically, missing his unease entirely.

The only response I got from that was a silent shake of the head.

“Oh. Well, alright then.” I stood up and called out to Cosmo. “Hey, Cosmo! You wanna go out training?”

He kept his back to me. “Hmph! As if the best psychic in the world would want to go anywhere with YOU!”

“I already said I was sorry!” I fretted. “I didn’t mean to yell at you, I promise!”

He spun around and his bubble seemed to expand to twice its size. “Sorry is not good enough!” Cosmo glowered. “Oswald is a villian and Cosmo hates him!”

I tried my best to ignore Cosmo’s comments and told myself that he didn’t really mean it. “Can you just stop being mad at me, please?” I pleaded. “We can…I don’t know, find another psychic master. They can help you to become an even stronger hero.”

Cosmo’s anger seemed to dissipate out of nowhere. “A stronger hero?”

I nodded. “Yeah, sure. A stronger hero.”

Cosmo’s eyes lit up. “A stronger hero!” he declared. “Haha! That is Cosmo! A hero!” All of a sudden, the Solosis zipped and zoomed around the room like a hyperactive Beedrill. All the while shouting, “Hero! Hero! Cosmo is the greatest!” After a bit of that, he stopped in front of me. “Okay, Cosmo forgives Oswald. Now let’s go, go, go!”

I balked. Just like that? Why was that so easy? I was expecting to have to deal with Cosmo being angry all day, but apparently I just had to tell him to stop being mad.

“Okay, ‘Cosmo the Hero,'” I said, “let’s go to the training grounds.”

“Yes! The training grounds! Now!”

“Now?”

“Hehe! Now, now, now! Let’s go furret! Hehe!”

“Alright, okay.” I grabbed our shoulder bag off the floor and walked back to the bed. “Guess that means we gotta go,” I said to Fenn. “Me and Cosmo can eat on the way there so you can get some quiet sleep in, okay?”

Fenn smiled faintly and nodded before looking down at the plate of food in front of him. “Are you taking the drumstick?” He asked hoarsely. “That’s gonna make the bag dirty.”

“Uh…probably not. I should just leave it here. I don’t think we have any spare napkins or anything like that.”

I’ll throw the damn thing out later. What a stupid idea I had. I’m such an idiot.

“Oh, well here,” Fenn unraveled the piece of purple cloth around his neck and handed it to me. “Wrap it in this.”

I took the piece of cloth in my paws and stared at it in shock. “Are you sure?” I asked with concern in my voice. “This is your badge, not a throwaway thing.”

Fenn rested his head down on the bed. He could barely keep his eyes open. “I-I don’t need it right now,” the Quilava whispered. “I’ll be in here all day.”

My eyes drifted to the window. It was still raining. Considering where we were going, Fenn would just get wet. Can’t have that happen. With a quick sigh, I did what Fenn said and wrapped the Torchic leg in his bandana, placed it in the bag, then did the same with some of the Oran and Lum berries. “I’ll bring it back later.”

“Mmm.”

“Get some rest,” I told Fenn as I scratched him behind the ears. “You deserve this day off.”

By this point, his eyes were fully closed, already having lost interest in eating and now curling up to sleep.

Slinging the bag over my shoulder, I shot one last glance at the sleeping Quilava before leaving the room with Cosmo.

“Sleep well, Fenn.”

---

I felt the rain glide off my fur as I stepped out into the castle’s training grounds. A strange rush of energy surged through my veins. Specific instances of me swimming in still water like with the castle pool served to make me feel relaxed and, to some extent, at home. The rapid pelting of rain—while not pouring down to the point of being overwhelming—struck a chord with me however. My muscles felt more limber, my reflexiveness improving after every heartbeat. In a sense, the rain made me feel more alive.

What a weird feeling.

It had been quite a few days since I was last here. I couldn’t even recall the last lesson I had. The stress was so extreme that I must have blocked out the memory. Regardless, I wasn’t here for me. I was here for Cosmo.

He didn’t seem to have any reaction to the rain. Maybe he was waterproof.

“Woooow!” Cosmo beamed, a sparkle in his eyes. “This is so coooool!”

It wasn’t. The training grounds were considerably more empty than the last time I was here. The ground was muddy and wet with spots in the ground giving way to sinkholes. Any pokemon in the area was either a water type or not what we were looking for.

“Keep an eye out for any psychic type pokemon, Cosmo,” I told him. Honestly, I wasn’t looking for a “master” as much as I was just looking for someone that knew more than I did about psychic techniques. If Cosmo was anything like me, then he was essentially at the bottom of the food chain. (Though, I was twice his age and I didn’t know how to levitate objects with my mind. So maybe not.) Either way, we spent the better part of ten minutes wandering around, looking for any pokemon that might fit our criteria.

I saw some pokemon that might know a thing or two like a Slowpoke and an Absol, but those also weren’t my first choice. It wasn’t until I started searching around the perimeter of the area did I find what I was looking for.

A Gothitelle. And not just any Gothitelle. It was Jasmine, alongside an Espeon and a Beheeyem. Jackpot! I excitedly advanced closer to their spot under a cover of stone. With how amiable Jasmine was last time, I was certain that she’d help Cosmo.

I got maybe 20 feet from them before I stopped. Another pokemon had shown up. A Hattrem.

Lilac.

I froze in place, unsure of what to do. Of all teams, Lilac just HAD to be on this one? Now what? I can’t just…walk up and ask. I mean, I could, but that would just make things awkward. I’m fairly certain that Lilac doesn’t like me, and personally, I don’t want to deal with that.

“Oswald!” Cosmo exclaimed. “Cosmo found psychic pokemon. A whole team of them!”

I wasn’t listening. Lilac turned in my direction for half a second and noticed me standing in the rain like a doofus. She kept her gaze on me for what felt like hours, glaring daggers in my direction. I didn’t even bother waving; there was no point. The other psychic types hadn’t noticed me yet, but I had a feeling that Lilac would make sure that they wouldn’t.

“Let’s keep looking, Cosmo,” I said.

“What? But there’s some psychics right there!”

“Cosmo, please-“

“YOU!”

A loud, deep voice boomed from behind me. A voice I unfortunately recognized. My stomach sank as I turned my head to look behind me.

“I thought I told you to stay away!”

A Wartortle stomped up to me and pointed a digit directly at my chest. My eyes went wide. I had completely forgotten about Swift.

“You think you can just waltz in here after what I told you?” Swift the Wartortle growled in my face.

I held up my paws and slowly started to step back. “Listen,” I breathed, “I don’t want any trouble. I was just-“

Swift pushed me hard, knocking me into the mud. “Trouble? Buddy, I’ll show you trouble!” I watched in horror as the Wartortle stepped closer and pulled his arm back.

“Oswald, look out!” Cosmo cried out. I barely had enough time to react as Swift punched the mud I was just laying in. I rolled out of the way, my fur getting all muddy and matted. Without much of a plan, I had no choice but to backpedal. Thankfully, he wasn’t going full-force yet.

I don’t have a choice, do I? God, I’m such a moron. How could I forget about this? I clawed at my bag’s shoulder strap and ripped it off my shoulders before tossing it to the ground. “Cosmo!” I shouted. “Take the bag and stay out of the way!”

The bag floated away. “Get that villain, Oswald! Cosmo will finish him off after you’re done!”

“FAT CHANCE!”

A stream of water cut through a blanket of falling rain. I clumsily sidestepped the attack, the water just barely grazing the fur on my left leg. “I’m sorry for coming here, Swift!” I yelled. “Stop attacking, plea-“

I was certain he hadn’t heard me. Swift’s shell came flying towards me, kicking up mud and water. The shell, spinning fast enough to cleave me in half, narrowly missed me when I dived out of the way. Knowing full well that this wasn’t over, I picked myself up off the ground and waited for another pass.

But of course, I had no idea what to actually do when it did, so I repeated the action when Swift came around again. Then a third time. Then a fourth.

I was starting to get anxious. This is horribly lopsided. I can’t find an opening!

My thoughts were interrupted by Swift once again going in for a strike. I dodged, but not before my elbow was sliced. I shakily stood up, clutching my now bleeding arm. I’m doomed! He’s gonna get me eventually if I don’t act!

“Get him, Oswald!” I heard Cosmo cry out. “Teach this villain a lesson!”

How? What do I-

I dived out of the way of another shell strike. It was starting to get tiring and quite frustrating having to jump into the mud over and over again.

Wait…over and over again? When was the last time Swift did anything but attack me head on?

That’s it!

This was going to be risky, but it was a risk I had to take. I locked my eyes on the Wartortle, spinning in his shell once again coming around to slice me in half. I only have one shot at this…better make it count.

I didn’t even have to come up with a metaphor to produce the Water Gun. It came out naturally. Just as Swift finally turned around and was coming right for me, I hunkered down into a battle stance. I counted the seconds. 3…2…1!

I fired. A strong stream of water struck Swift’s shell. Miraculously, it actually did some damage. The ensuing force caused the Wartortle to go off course and slide off in a different direction.

Huh. Guess Alium was right. Swift is very predictable.

Swift wobbled out of control, almost launching himself into a wall before forcing his shell to a stop by shooting his limbs out at the last moment. It took him no more than three seconds to stand up and glare in my direction. “You think you’re so clever, huh?” Swift barked.

In all honesty, I was feeling pretty clever after that. I thought of a solution in the heat of the moment and it worked out. The feeling didn’t last long, though.

Swift retracted his limbs and launched himself at me once more. My new found confidence served to give me a reason to stand my ground. I got ready to shoot another Water Gun and-

I missed the shot.

I felt the full force of Swift’s Razor Shell slice away at my mid-section, knocking the wind out of me and sending my body flying entire feet across the field. I landed on my back, fully stunned. The result of the fight didn’t register in my brain until I felt the stinging pain in my chest and the intense pounding in my ears. How I wasn’t dead after that, I didn’t know.

Somehow, I could still hear Swift’s rage. “That’s what you get! Think twice before you come around here aga-“

“Swift? What are you doing?”

That voice…sounds familiar.

“Wha…we were just sparing! Honest!”

“You thought it appropriate to engage in one-on-one combat without a dedicated healer on deck? And you started without me?”

…Is that really his biggest concern? I’m dying over here.

“B-but, come on, da-“

“No buts! That is enough training for you today! Go inside!”

I could hear Swift begin to protest before presumably giving up. The sound of wet footsteps rapidly getting quieter met my ears, then I couldn’t hear Swift’s voice anymore.

A few more painful moments passed. Blood seemed to be flowing onto the mud alongside the rain. Eventually, much louder footsteps got closer to me until a giant shadow blocked the rain above me. A large paw touched my shoulder and a deep voice filled my ears. “Are you alright, my student? Here, bite down on this.”

Even in my barely conscious state, I found the strength to chomp on an Oran. I was able to regain my strength fairly quickly somehow. Though considering what I had already recovered from, this wasn’t new to me at all. I’d probably be fully healed in a day or two. My leg, for instance, had already finished healing by this morning. So without much care for my well-being, I painfully sat up, the wound on my chest now only producing a dull ache.

The pokemon that saved me was exactly the one I was expecting. An aged Samurott, Allium. He smiled brightly at my pitiful state. “It is good to see you, Oswald,” he said cordially. “I had missed seeing you after so long.”

I groaned. “I’ve been busy.”

He smiled warmly. “Ah, but you must not forget your training. I know you have the talent to become a great swordsmon, given enough time.”

Dude, I was nearly killed not five minutes ago. I’m bleeding out of my chest right now. I don’t think now is the time to think about training.

I didn’t say any of that, but I certainly believed it.

“Today is the perfect day, don’t you think?” Allium asked me with reverence in his voice. “The rain gives us strength. Surely you have felt it.”

“…”

“Come now, let us train.” He motioned for me to stand. I refused to move.

“…No thanks, Allium,” I muttered. “I’d rather not today.”

He looked at me confused. “What? Why not? These are the perfect conditions.”

I sighed. “Just…not today.”

The excitement in his eyes was snuffed out. He genuinely seemed heartbroken. “Oh. Well, if you feel like training another time, I am always here.”

“Thanks,” I said with a fake smile. “Might take you up on that offer at some point.”

Yeah…for some reason, I doubt that.

Allium smiled, but it was a sad smile. “I would love nothing more. I will see you again soon, Oswald my friend.” And with that, he walked off, effectively leaving me on my own in the mud with blood oozing out of my chest.

“Oswald!”

I looked up in time to see Cosmo bouncing up to me with my shoulder bag hovering to his right. “That was awesome!” he exclaimed. “The way you blasted that bad guy was so cool!”

I chuckled as I clutched my chest, flinching at the pain. “Heh…thanks, Cosmo. I made sure he would feel it in the morning. Where were you, by the way, after I…”

“Oh! Cosmo saw that Oswald got hurt so he went and found help!”

“Help?”

Suddenly, a femine sounding voice I recognized spoke to the right of me. “You know, you didn’t do that bad.”

I turned and saw the source of the voice: a Murkrow, water pooling and pouring off of her head feathers like droplets gliding off a leaf. Which is to say, she looked annoyed to be there, and frequently beat her wings to get the liquid off. “Ignoring the nasty gash, of course,” Dahlia said.

“Dahlia…?” I muttered through gritted teeth. “What are you doing here?”

She tilted her head to the side, looking over at another pokemon approaching us. “Your little friend there came and got our attention. We just happened to have been passing by and, well, we saw your fight.”

We?

The approaching pokemon soon made themselves known with a mocking chuckle. “It was kinda funny, to be honest,” the now apparent red Monferno jeered. “Bluey here really thought he could beat Shell with a water move. If I was there, I would’ve just-” Pink punched the air with her free hand while her other hand remained stationary and held both her tail and an umbrella, “-socked him right in the face.”

Instinctually, I crawled back and away from Pink. The memories of being choked by the fire monkey was still fresh in my mind. Dahlia was fine, though. I was hoping that the Murkrow would at least keep the Monferno under control.

Dahlia shook her head before turning to face me, not yet noticing my discomfort. “Sorry we couldn’t get here any sooner, Oswald; Pink doesn’t like getting wet.” She said that with a hint of disdain, though it was obvious she was just joking.

Pink scoffed. “Oh, excuse me, Dahlia. How about I light your tail on fire and see if you…wait, no, that doesn’t work. Hold on…”

Once again, Dahlia shook her head, this time while laughing a bit. “Yeah, I don’t like getting wet either. Drying off takes too damn long.”

I was still reeling over everything that had happened over the course of the last few minutes, and having these two show up didn’t really make me feel any better. In my bewilderment, though, I shot Cosmo a blank look as he floated down until he was right next to me. “That was amazing!” he beamed.

“I lost, Cosmo,” I grumbled, wincing from the dull ache in my chest. “Nothing…ngh…amazing about that.”

Clacking her beak, Dahlia chirped once she finally noticed how uncomfortable I was, “Oh, right, that. Pink, get him some stuff, will you?”

With more caution than I would’ve expected—most likely because of the rain—Pink reached into her shoulder bag and pulled out an oran and some bandages before handing them to me. “Here,” she uttered, “you can wrap up yourself, right?”

I nodded. Gee, thanks, I deadpanned internally. As I got to work dressing my wound while chewing on the oran berry, Dahlia got back to talking.

“So it’s been a bit, Oswald,” she said. “Everything going alright? Who’s this?” The Murkrow pointed her beak at the Solosis suspended in the air next to me.

“Why’s he purple?” Pink asked.

Pridefully, Cosmo answered their question. “Cosmo! The greatest psychic in the world! More powerful than all of the others combined!”

Dahlia cooed, hopping closer to me, “Cute kid. Glad to see you incentivized picking the interesting teammates over anything else.”

I shot her a glare, ripping the half-eaten oran berry out of my mouth. “Oh shut up. Why are you even around here in the first place if you don’t like the rain?”

“Got bored,” she said with a shrug. “And Pink felt like coming here for some reason.”

Pink stomped the dirt after Dahlia said that. “I need to build up an immunity! I already told you that, Dahlia!”

“That’s not how that works, Pink!” Dahlia shot back. “Anyways, I’m guessing you were just here to enjoy the rain, Oswald?”

I shrugged and pointed a digit at Cosmo. “Came here to get him some training.”

“Yeah!” Cosmo added. “Cosmo and Oswald found some psychic heroes, but then shell-butt showed up and attacked Oswald! Cosmo would have taken him down, but…Oswald had it under control.”

Speaking of psychic heroes, I thought, turning my head to where Jasmine and Lilac had last been. Are they…

The spot where they had been sitting was empty. They were gone.

…There goes that, I guess.

Dahlia raised an eyebrow. “In the rain? Couldn’t have picked a better day for that?”

I didn’t even bother responding. Blood washed away in the rain and seeped through the gauze as I finished dressing the wound on my upper torso and the cut on my elbow. By the time Dahlia started talking again, I was done eating the berry too.

“Anyways, I’m surprised that the cut was so shallow.”

“Hmm?” I queried. “Shallow?” Sure didn’t feel like it…

“Oh, I see what you’re saying, Dahlia,” Pink remarked, scratching her scalp. “Bluey here should’ve been cut in half. That Razor Shell looked like it hurt.”

Cosmo gasped. “Oswald survived such a deadly attack? We should shellabrate!”

The flame on Pink’s tail seemed to grow in intensity at that pun. “Really?” she said with a hand on her hip. “Are you kidding me, kid? That wasn’t even…” She sighed. “Get over here. Let me give you a few pointers.”

After shooting a slightly perturbed glance back at me, the Solosis floated through the rain over to the Monferno. I heard a few whispers about puns and shells before turning my attention back over to Dahlia. “So what do you mean?” I asked.

The black bird studied my bandaged midsection as if looking for an answer. “I’m not…a nurse or anything like that,” Dahlia muttered, “but I swear you should’ve taken more damage from that attack.”

I don’t know if I should consider myself lucky or be afraid of seeing Swift again after this. Geez.

I scratched my cheek in contemplation. “Okay…but it still feels like I got hit by a Tauros or…whatever the phrase is. Do you think I need stitches?”

“I don’t know, Oswald. Maybe, maybe not. Like I said, I’m not a nurse. But…”

“What?”

Dahlia shook her feathers to get rid of some of the rain water. “Eh, nevermind. I assumed that you’d maybe have some…special ability, but that’s not up to me to decide on things like that.”

Special ability? Does this have to do with me being a human or…?

A few moments later, Cosmo floated over, my bag in his grip. “Oswald has a special ability?” he pondered curiously. “Does that make Oswald shell- speci- shell-sp-shuuull?”

Pink, who was right behind him, face palmed.

Bag now at my side, I reached in and grabbed a second oran berry. I was still feeling a bit sore. “Don’t know, don’t care,” I mumbled while chewing.

Honestly, I couldn’t care less about having some “special ability.” What I was really bothered by was Swift. I hadn’t done anything. I failed to see the reasoning behind wanting to genuinely kill someone you didn’t even know. It didn’t make any sense!

“Why does that guy hate me so much?” I wondered aloud.

“Who? Swift?” Dahlia responded with raised eyebrows, knowing exactly who I was talking about. “I assumed you knew- oh right! Forgot about your whole thing for a second there.”

“Yeah…he just showed during Allium and I’s training session and threatened to cut my head off. Then, today, he almost did. I still don’t know why. Do you?”

“Well, yeah-“

But before Dahlia could continue, Pink raised a hand, kneeled down next to the bird so she was under the umbrella and spoke up. “Hold on a second, Dahlia. I wanna see if he can figure it out on his own.”

I scooted back a bit more.

Shaking the water out of her feathers once again, Dahlia addressed Pink with at least a little bit of gratitude in her tone. “Let’s not waste the guy’s time, Pink,” she said. “He’s probably got places to be.”

Uhh…I really don’t. And going the rest of day without knowing the answer wasn’t ideal so…

“I’ve got time.”

“Cosmo has time too!” the psychic type cheered, his bubble glistening in the rain. “He is the lord of time!”

“Okay, Dialga,” Pink smirked. “Allium has a mate named Coral. What species is she?”

Wait, what did Allium have to do with this? “…Why is that relevant?” I asked.

Dahlia rolled her eyes so comically that I was surprised that Pink didn’t notice. “Just humor her for a minute. She won’t stop until she’s satisfied.”

Seeing as how Pink sat there silently and waited for my answer, I simply shrugged and gave the best response I could. “I don’t know…another Samurott?”

Pink shook her head, the fire on her tail lighting up her face. “Nope. Blastoise.”

“Alright?”

“What species is Swift?” Pink then asked.

Is that a trick question? “…A Wartortle.”

“See?” Pink smiled at Dahlia. “He got that one. Shows that he’s got some brains.”

Dahlia just stared back, a bored look on her face.

Pink then faced me, her smirk seemingly bigger than before. “Now…Allium…Coral…they…?”

“…are a thing,” I answered for her, “I know.”

“Right. And what happens when one male pokemon and one female pokemon love each other very much?” I didn’t like the way she showed her teeth after saying that.

Before I could give the obvious answer, though, Cosmo interrupted us. “They go on adventures!” he exclaimed.

…I almost forgot he was there. “Yeah…adventures,” I mumbled, slowly having an epiphany. Cosmo’s comment was what made me realize what Pink was trying to say. “Swift is their…kid, right?”

Pink nodded. “Mhm. There you go. Now tell me, after knowing that, why would Swift hate you?”

“Um…” And now I was stumped all over again. Granted, I understood now why Swift was Allium’s apprentice; they were related. That didn’t explain why he hated me, though. Was it because I took time away from Swift and his dad? “I don’t…know. That’s why I’m asking you.”

Eventually, Dahlia just gave up on waiting and outright said it. “I hear about Allium from time to time. Always going on about how amazing his species is and how proud he is to wield those blades of his. The mustache too. Don’t know what that’s about. I’m guessing that he either always wanted a Dewott for a son or he sees you as the son he never got to have.”

Oh. Oh, now I get it.

“He’s jealous,” I said.

Pink’s sudden response was enough to make me jump. “There you go!” she grinned, nudging Dahlia slightly. “I could see it from a mile away. You don’t fight with that kind of passion unless it’s personal.” With that, Pink stood. “I think our work here is done. Come on, Dahlia.”

As soon as the umbrella was lifted away from the bird, she shivered and shook her feathers. “Damn rain…” she muttered to herself.

But before she could fly off, I gave her my thanks. “Hey, Dahlia, uh, thanks,” I mumbled. “I appreciate the help.”

A smile curled onto her beak as she looked back at me. “Anytime. It was nice seeing you again.” She paused, her eyes slightly narrowed. “And…you should probably go get cleaned up.”

I didn’t have to look down at myself to know what she was talking about. I must’ve looked like a mess. “I’ll do that.”

The bird then lifted into the air and left Cosmo and I on our own. Cosmo called his goodbyes out to them then floated down next to me. “Cosmo liked those ladies. They were nice.”

I chuckled absentmindedly. “Yeah…” There wasn’t much else for me to say, but one was for certain: I knew what Swift’s deal was now. Progress! A shame I’d probably never go out of my way to fix that issue. Swift could hate me because of his stupid insecurities all he wanted. Me? I had other things to do today. I just had to…figure out what those things would be…

But first, I needed to get out of this rain and take a shower.