Chapter 25 – Day 11, Part 4: Open Secrets
by snapdragonChapter 25 – Day 11, Part 4: Open Secrets
“Mmm, Grilled Archen. My favorite.”
“Can you not?”
I had to look away as Finch tore apart the meat of a dead feral right in front of me. I honestly should’ve expected this. As soon as we got to the cafeteria back in Kebia Castle, Finch immediately went for the meat section of the buffet. He was practically salivating at the sight of so many options.
This was among one of the many reasons why I regretted making the stupid desicion to allow Finch onto Team Lavender. And as I sat there, trying to push the intrusive thoughts out of my mind and ignore the smacking of Finch’s lips as he ate, I wondered if it was too late to tell him to leave.
But I just couldn’t just do that now, could I?
“What?” Finch said with his mouth full of food. “They’ve got meat here! I haven’t had meat in so long. How was I supposed to know that Anemone would be this thoughtful? Mmm…so good.”
…Let me explain.
Earlier…
The carriage ride back to Kebia involved me being the most stressed out I’ve been since I first got here, and that’s saying a lot. I can confidently say that I would’ve torn off my own skin if that was an option. Trying to sit still and keep myself from gouging my eyes out during that ride was more aggravating than any mystery dungeon. It was worse than ten Allium and Swift training sessions in a row and more horrifying than at least two consecutive meetings with Anemone. I genuinely hated it.
Nobody but Cosmo dared to say anything, who for some reason thought it would be appropriate to make strange noises with his mouth every so often. Other than that, the silence was deafening.
And the fact that Fenn wouldn’t look me in the eyes the entire time…AGH! Why am I so stupid? What made me think that doing something that Fenn clearly wasn’t okay with was a good idea?
Well, the answer is simple, isn’t it? I did it for Fenn. I did it all for him.
It was just another stupid byproduct of me wanting to show Fenn that he doesn’t have to do everything on his own. How does that translate into me allowing Finch on the team? Well, I…wasn’t confident that I could manage it all on my own. That confrontation in the center of Colbur Village would have got me and every other pokemon there killed. And as much as I hated to admit it, Finch was the primary reason why that didn’t happen.
So I thought, Hm, this guy knows what he’s doing. Maybe he can help me find more pacifist solutions to my problems. After all, getting my face smashed in or my throat slit isn’t ideal.
So I said yes, not at all considering the fact that Fenn might cold-shoulder me for a while. But here’s the thing: I would’ve said no if that was the only reason why. If I wanted to keep Fenn from resorting to violence, I would just avoid missions like this from now on.
No, I had another reason. I said yes because I was selfish. Finch has connections. I still had no idea what that actually meant, but judging by how friendly he was with Thrush, there was a good chance that he knew more pokemon in that circle. Finch, therefore, was the closest to those that would potentially know something about me.
If I could ask him more about what he knows and get him to direct me to specific pokemon, maybe I could finally figure out what the hell was going on.
So there. I did it for me. I wasn’t happy about it, nor was I really confident in my decision, but I felt that I had to do it.
And Fenn…I’d make it up to him somehow. At the very least, I’ll tell him something to make him less upset. Because on that carriage ride, Fenn wouldn’t so much as look at me; he was visibly unhappy.
I’m so sorry, Fenn, I thought dismally. I hate this as much as you do. Just…trust me. I’ll tell you everything someday. I promise.
I wanted to make Fenn like me again so I spent the majority of the carriage ride ruminating on my decision and brainstorming. It was all I could do to keep myself from ripping off my fur. I thought about staging some sort of catastrophe that would lead to me saving him somehow. I could potentially sneak away at some point and buy the Quilava a nice gift. Anything to make him not hate me anymore. I was open to anything.
Finch eventually found the deafening silence to be too much for him to bear, or something of that nature. He talked with Cosmo of all pokemon about what he thought of Fenn and I. I didn’t know what Finch hoped to accomplish, but Cosmo’s responses ranged from “really cool” to “I think they are neat.” Normal Cosmo stuff. Nothing incriminating here. Eventually, even that petered out and the carriage was quiet again. Finch was clearly trying his best to respect the tension in the room, but it was obvious that he hated every second of it, just like me.
I’d imagine that the carriage ride felt like a waste to him. We had all that time to talk and get to know each other and we just…didn’t. Not much either of us could do about it.
By the time we got back to Kebia, the sun was less than half an hour from falling below the horizon. Elongated shadows snaked across the ground and slowly encompassed the castle town in darkness. There were quite a few stray pokemon going about their business in front of the castle—coming and going to wherever they needed to be. After a long day, they needed to turn in their work to the front desk. Those that weren’t in any hurry carried torches or had some way to see with so little light.
I noticed that the castle itself used torches to light up its darkened halls on nights like this. It was safe to say that most pokemon weren’t nocturnal, but who says that the work needed to stop once the sun goes down? Kebia Castle was active 24/7.
As the carriage came to a halt on the cobblestone path leading to the castle’s front doors, I thought about the castle’s torches more. I recalled how, in my old life, technology existed that would serve the same function as these torches. In a world with literal mind readers, large, extravagant castles, and elevators, why haven’t the pokemon here come up with something more advanced?
Obviously, this doesn’t matter. I just wanted to think about anything that didn’t involve my own stupidity at that moment, but of course, thinking back made me remember that my previous life didn’t start here. I was an outsider in more ways than one. And today was a grim reminder that I couldn’t live in ignorance unscathed forever.
But that was about to change. With Finch by my side, I could finally take an active role in discerning the reason as to why I was here. Time to step out of the darkness at long last. I had hope for once, even if that hope was overshadowed by the anguish I felt every time I’d spare a glance at my partner, my only true friend in this nightmare hellscape the pokemon here called “Pamtre.”
“We’re here!” a gruff voice belonging to our Aggron carriage driver called out. “Kebia Castle! Just in time!”
As soon as the carriage stopped, Finch pushed himself out of his seat and leaped out the door. He didn’t so much as look back at us as he stepped out onto the finely smoothed path and took in the atmosphere. Cosmo came next after some subtle convincing from Fenn. The little Solosis bounced his way out of the stuffy carriage and into the open air.
Fenn hesitated to follow. He stopped in his tracks, his eyes set on the world outside. I could tell that he wanted to say a lot of things to me; that much was obvious. He definitely wanted to look me in the eyes and ask why—why I did what I did. But he didn’t. Instead, he let out a shaky sigh and crawled out of the carriage after Cosmo and Finch.
I was last. Every step felt unbearably sluggish.
Once outside, I looked to my right to see Finch conversing with the Aggron that brought us to Colbur Village. “Here’s a tip for your trouble, my good ‘mon,” the ground type said. In his claws were a few coins he had pulled out of the small bag he had brought along with him on the ride here. He handed them to the steel type.
Aggron was surprised to put it lightly. His wide eyes incredulously looked down at the coins in his claw. “…A tip?” he breathed.
Finch replied, “Of course. Do you not tip here in Kebia?” He shot a glance back at me, and I honestly wasn’t sure how to respond.
“…I’m already getting…paid.” He stared in bewilderment at the coins for another moment before his steely lips curled into a smile. “Ah, Arceus knows I’ll need the extra cash. Thanks, Krokorok.”
“I’m only doing my duty as the customer. Treat yourself, Aggron.”
The steel type nodded, the smile still on his face. “If you need another ride,” Aggron said to all of us, “come find me. I’ll be happy to help. Hyaah!” And with that, the Aggron cracked the reins and rode off into the night.
Meanwhile, I just stood there, my lips slightly parted. Finch’s diligence in tipping the carriage driver made me embarrassed to not think to do so first. I was so focused on my misery that I was genuinely about to walk into the castle without so much as a goodbye.
The embarrassment only got worse after Finch walked past me, patted me on the shoulder, and said, “Well, let’s get a move on.” The fact that he was so confident about it annoyed me.
What is up with me today? Seriously, it feels like every step I take is a misstep.
Fenn followed Finch up to the castle’s front doors, his head down and his ears drooping. It was at this point that I just had to accept the fact that I was cursed to be owed nothing during my time in this wretched dimension. I couldn’t even tell my best friend the complete truth. I already knew this, but it hit me at its worst here. Miserable doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt.
…I wanna go to bed.
Coincidentally, Cosmo was still floating next to me, and he yawned.
“Ahhhh…Cosmo is sleepy…”
“Yeah, me too.” I wasn’t lying—I was exhausted. Mentally more so than anything else. But I still had some things to do before going to bed. I wondered if it was too late to turn around and never return again.
…It probably was.
With a yawn of my own, I dragged my feet to the castle. Crocus the Pangoro let us in, and it wasn’t long before Cosmo and I stopped behind the others as they halted to watch an argument take place near the front desk.
“What makes you think this is fair, huh?” an enraged Electabuzz wondered quite loudly. “Stealing my profits like this; who do you think you are?”
The opening main hall was abuzz with activity already, but it seemed as though this altercation was attracting the attention of quite a few pokemon in the room.
The two pokemon at the front desk, Lace and Ipo, were clearly trying to stay composed while being yelled at. “Please,” Lace pleaded, “calm down. These rules are in place to benefit every pokemon in this castle. We do as much as we can to ensure your comfort and stability.”
“I don’t CARE about any of that crap!” the electric type shouted. “I worked for hours on end! I deserve the full profits! What’s this crap about taxes anyway, huh? What does Anemone need all that extra money for?”
Ipo spoke with evident aggravation in his voice. It was strange to see him so alert and stern. “It’s not for her, you nitwit! It’s for us! The staff! So we can keep this place running! Do your duty as a guild member or get the Distortion out!”
The tension in the air was enough to make everyone go quiet. The line that had formed in front of the desk was slowly dissipating, and many teams were outright leaving.
Finch thought it prudent to come over to me and whisper his concerns. “So, does this happen all the time or…?”
“Not…really,” I whispered back. “I mean, I’ve haven’t been here for that long so…”
“Hm.” Finch turned his attention back to the argument. I did the same, wincing as it began to escalate.
“I-I’m sorry, sir,” the Leavanny stammered, “we can’t just bend the rules to-“
“SHUT UP! I WANNA TALK TO YOUR BOSS! RIGHT NOW!”
“Oh now you’ve crossed the line!” Ipo snapped. “Gonna need some help over here!”
Before the Electabuzz had the time to react, two Gengar, their grins stretched across their apathetic faces, rose from the ground and flanked the electric type on both sides. They quickly grabbed his arms and forced them behind his back.
“What the- who do you think you- AAHH!”
The ghosts lifted the Electabuzz by his arms and carried him off to another room down a flight of stairs. It occurred to me that the path led directly down to the holding cells in the basement. All of us watched as the guy was dragged away, kicking and screaming.
I didn’t really know how to feel about it. The entire interaction left a pit in my stomach.
“Alright, all of you go about your business!” Ipo the Simipour announced. “Nothing to see here! Move along!”
Many did move along. Including a large portion of the pokemon that were in the line before. Many others stuck around and talked in hushed voices.
We—as in Team Lavender and Finch—did not move from our spot near the door for quite some time afterwards. Cosmo got pretty rattled and floated over to Fenn, who consoled him. I watched the two of them and wondered if I should’ve been there helping console Cosmo as well.
But that pit in my stomach never really went away. It was as if there were a large amount of needles in every corner of my stomach, constantly poking my insides while I had no feasible way to make it stop.
Ugh.
“So,” Finch started, leaning over my shoulder, “does that happen often?”
My shoulders slouched. “…No, it doesn’t,” I muttered.
“Or maybe it does and you just don’t see it.”
My gaze shot up at the ground type in frustration. “Maybe it does. Maybe it doesn’t. I don’t know, Finch. It’s not my job to know.”
Finch chuckled, snapping his fingers a couple times. “Heh. Noted. Now, about getting signed up.”
I brought my eyes back to the front desk. The last of the remaining pokemon had turned their jobs in or whatever and now Lace and Ipo were free. I almost didn’t want to bother them any more. It looked like that situation with the Electabuzz drained all of the joy out of their faces. I didn’t envy them in the slightest, though I doubt I could get any more miserable than I already was.
Finch didn’t give me a chance to consider however, as he was already making his way to them. I had no choice but to follow; the last thing I wanted was for him to mess this up.
Lace smiled despite what just happened. Ipo, meanwhile, still had that vaguely frustrated, definitely exhausted cadence to him. The Simipour didn’t even try to hide it. “You’re bringing in more stragglers, Oswald?” Ipo asked. “This better not become a regular occurrence.” He groaned. “More paperwork for me.”
The Leavanny standing next to Ipo wanted to tell him off, I could see it in her expression. But the previous scene was enough to drain her by my guess, so she smiled at me and asked, “Are you here to turn in your work? Or…?” She slowly brought her gaze to Finch. “Hello! Can I help you?”
“You could,” Finch said with a grin. “So, is there somewhere I have to go to sign up? Can I just bunk with them?” He pointed a finger at me over his shoulder. “How’s the sleeping arrangements here? Any-“
Ipo interrupted him. “Sir, there is a long and arduous process connected to signing up new guild members. Assuming that is what you are referring to, Anemone will have to see you in person first.”
Finch crossed his arms and scoffed. “Oh joy. Does she serve tea in her little penthouse suite?”
“Unfortunately, she is quite busy right now,” Lace stated with a slight bow. “You may set up an appointment, but she will not be available for some time. A week at the very least.”
“Wait a second.” I stepped forward. “Cosmo didn’t have to see Anemone; he just joined up because we already had a team. Finch is doing the same. What’s the difference?”
Ipo told me, “Cosmo is the Solosis, right? Ugh, too many names. Anyways, this situation is a little different because your friend here is an adult that needs to be vetted before we can allow them in. Anemone loves her rules.” He rolled his eyes.
“…Can you make an exception?”
“Why would we do that?”
“Uhh…me and Anemone are on really good terms?” I replied with uncertainty.
The Simipour just stared at me with the most unamused, bewildered expression I had ever seen. I didn’t even need him to answer to know what he was thinking.
No. No exceptions for us. Glad I potentially ruined a friendship for this.
Finch chuckled. “Ouch. Who knew the psychic queen had so many security measures?”
“Speaking of security measures,” Lace added, “dark type pokemon are special in that they cannot be reliably checked by Anemone. As such, if your friend were to join you and be approved, you would need to be under additional surveillance until he is deemed to be trustworthy. This includes surveillance outside of the castle. You would be accompanied by a ghost type pokemon that tracks your movements.”
Finch’s smug stance fell upon hearing that. “What? Now that’s Tauros shit if I’ve ever heard it. ‘Additional surveillance.’ Piss off.”
“It’s for everyone’s safety,” Ipo said. “Either take it or leave. Oh, wait, you’ll have to leave anyway.”
In all fairness, I had already accepted the fact that I’ve been stalked ever since I first got here. There had to be at least a few ghosts watching me right now, right? I could…more or less live with knowing that, but this was ridiculous. “Is there not an alternative?” I questioned. “Like…I don’t know, a questionnaire or a job interview? Why does everything have to be filtered through Anemone?”
“Well-“
Finch quickly answered, cutting off Ipo in the process. “Because it’s her castle and she gets to make the decisions. Arceus, now I’m starting to understand why I hated the idea of this castle so much in the first place. Can’t do anything without Big Mama breathing down your neck. Unbelievable!”
“P-please come back another time when Anemone is more free,” Lace stammered anxiously, bowing her head.
“Yeah,” Ipo grumbled, “get out of here.”
But Finch didn’t “get out of there.” He leaned on the counter, looked Ipo right in the eyes, and doubled down. “Now listen here, you schmuck, I came here for one reason and one reason only: to see Anemone. I’m going to stay in this castle and talk to her no matter what kind of nonsense rules you have in place. So you’re either going to let that happen, or I’m going to take matters into my own claws.”
I flinched at how blunt Finch was all of sudden. What? Why did Finch say that? Is he insane? How is this supposed to help our case at all? I wasn’t sure what to say or do. Nor did I know what the reaction would be to me either defending him or trying to calm him down. I looked between the three of them frantically. What should I do?
Ipo groaned. “…Am I going to have to call security twice in one night?”
“Please, do not make our jobs more difficult,” Lace pleaded, her scythes tucked close to her chest.
Thankfully, it didn’t escalate past that. Just a moment later, Cycla floated their way into the conversation. “Hello! How goes it, friends?”
We all turned to face the Porygon2, everyone but me annoyed by the interruption. That breath I had been holding kept me from feeling anything but exhaustion. “Cycla?” I gasped.
“Oh, Oswald!” they exclaimed, floating past Finch and up to me. “I heard of what happened in Colbur village. Fantastic work, my friend!”
Finch held up a claw. “Hold on, what? How did you know about that? It’s only been a couple of hours.”
Cycla spun around to face Finch. “A new face! Always a joy to see someone new in our wonderful castle!” they beeped.
“Uh…”
“Anyways, I learned of your success from Oswald’s teammates.” They pointed their beak at the Quilava sheepishly standing further behind us. Cosmo floated next to him, appearing notably more prideful.
That was about as much as I needed to figure out what happened here.
Cycla continued, “Now as I was saying, you did a fantastic job eliminating the threat in Colbur. We’ve already had several reports of many of our own talking them down peacefully.”
It was at this point that Ipo decided to butt in. “Hold on hold on hold on. Cycla, you’re telling me that these guys dealt with that mess in Colbur? These guys.” He pointed at me and Finch, unintentionally being more right than he probably intended.
“Precisely!” Cycla’s feet spun several times. “And you can trust them,” Cycla declared, “I can attest to that.”
“Huh,” was all Ipo had to say.
It was then that Finch leaned over and whispered something to me. “This guy have any authority?” He was referring to Cycla.
“I…think so,” I muttered. Wait a second. “Finch, why are you asking?”
My horror was confirmed to be justified when Finch ignored my question and instead decided to get Cycla’s attention. “Hey, uh, Cycla, I’m on these guys’ team now. Team…”
“Team Lavender?” the Porygon2 buzzed. “Is that so? A fourth member already?”
“No, no, no,” Lace loudly said, “this Krokorok is not a guild member.”
“What? Why not?”
I could already see Finch’s grin growing bigger out of the corner of my eye. Of course he didn’t plan for this, but it sure as hell happened. I had the stupidest luck sometimes, I swear.
“A multitude of reasons,” Ipo added, glaring at Finch. “His typing, his age, his potential skill set-” he glared harder, gesturing to the whole pokemon that was Finch, “-his background…”
Cycla’s body tilted in confusion. “I fail to see the issue here,” they said. “Oswald and the remainder of Team Lavender are to be trusted, are they not? Would they bring in a new team member if they did not understand the risks?”
Judging by the looks Ipo and Lace were giving me, I could already tell that they didn’t necessarily agree with that sentiment. And honestly, I could understand why. Anybody could tell from the amount of times that we’ve come back to this castle wounded in such a short period of time was a sign that we weren’t to be trusted. There was a small part of me that wanted this to be pointed out so I could be vindicated, but Finch ran with it because of course he did.
“Exactly,” the gator said. Finch threw his arm around my shoulder before I had the chance to react. “Me and Ozzy are great friends. You should’ve seen us back at Colbur. Damn, that was good.”
There he goes again with that nickname. I thought we were past this.
The pokemon behind the front desk looked on and blinked a few times. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that this was the most confusing situation they’d been in all day. “Cycla,” Ipo started, “you can’t be serious.”
“What?” Cycla looked between the two of them. It was obvious that they didn’t understand what the big deal was. “They did great work together. I don’t see why the Krokorok can’t join this lovely family.”
“No, Cycla, you don’t get it. We need to stick to protocol. We can’t just make exceptions like this.”
“This applies to all of us, Cycla,” Lace said. “Going off of one pokemon’s account isn’t enough. There could be a bias.”
“What if it’s their reward?”
“What?” Everyone, including me and Finch blurted out.
Cycla told us, “I wasn’t sure what to give them, but this seems like a proper reward for their great efforts. It’ll save them a lot of headaches, I’m sure of that.”
The Porygon2 winked at me. Godammit.
“Cycla, you can’t do that,” Ipo pointed out to them out of frustration.
“Why not?” Cycla turned to face the Simipour, their eyes narrowed. “I believe I have the jurisdiction to do so. Not to mention the fact that I outrank you.”
That shut the two of them up. Finch looked on with a smug grin and his claws on his hips. At least he got what he wanted. But me? I was still conflicted. Was this a result of special treatment on Cycla’s part? Or was this luck playing it’s hand? Was it good or bad luck?
Well, turning around to spare a glance at my partner revealed that Fenn was perhaps even more upset than earlier. He looked down at the floor, his eyes sunken in and his arms hanging limply at his sides. I hated seeing him like that. I decided I was just going to call it bad luck because I had no reason not to.
Cosmo was doing flips in the air while blowing raspberries. He was probably bored.
Regardless, Ipo and Lace had no choice but to back down. And after Cycla demanded that Ipo go get a badge for my new team member, Finch was given a thin purple cloth to wear on his person. A piece of cloth much like the ones that Fenn and I wore on a daily basis.
Afterwards, he was set up as an official member of Team Lavender. All the while, that smug grin never truly left his face. Finch got what he wanted. Everything went according to plan and he didn’t even need to get his claws dirty. The way he looked at me after that communicated to me that he was genuinely grateful that I did this for him.
Though in retrospect, there was nothing I did that made a significant difference. It just happened. And after all of that, Fenn still wouldn’t look at me.
I fail to see this as anything but a loss in my books.
Back to the present…
And that’s how it happened. We took a stop at the cafeteria afterwards for dinner and to talk about a few things, Finch’s request.
Wrapped around the ground type’s right arm bicep was the thin purple cloth. I noticed shortly after we all got together to eat that it was actually a slightly darker shade of purple compared to Team Lavender’s normal colors.
Finch was chowing down like a rabid animal as I and the rest of the team watched on. It was like the cool and collected Krokorok suddenly became a different pokemon all of a sudden, enraptured by the taste of meat and the buffet of a king. He ripped the sweet and succulent feral meat apart greedily with his teeth and tore the crispy sirloin from the bone. It was sickeningly disgusting while also being morbidly intriguing. This was what I would’ve been if I gave up my humanity, more or less. And the longer I sat there, the more interested I became…
I was envious; if I had less restraint, I would have leaped across the table and wrestled that meat out of Finch’s claws.
But I didn’t do that. Fenn’s presence next to me kept me grounded. Every so often I’d look over and hope that he would just look at me. Though every time I did, Fenn eyes were downcast, and glued to the table. It made me feel hopeless. And then I would be reminded of Finch and his poor manners. So instead, I just got mad. “Seriously, Finch, can you at least eat that stuff in moderation?”
Finch swallowed what he had just finished chewing. “Oh, don’t be such a buzzkill, Ozzy. Let a ‘mon enjoy his meal.” Crunch.He took a big bite of a crispy drumstick.
I had to shield my eyes. “Ugh…did you not have that much to eat at your last place or something?”
Cosmo, who had been floating next to Finch and watching him intently, said, “Can Cosmo try meat? It looks tasty.”
“NO,” Fenn and I both said at the same time. It was the only time we were on the same page the whole night. A shame it ended so quickly. Fenn went back to giving me the cold shoulder and I went back to ignoring his disdain for me and my decisions for now. Too bad it was kind of hard to do that when we’re both sitting next to each other, nearly touching hips. Not by my choice, evidently. Fenn still insisted on sitting close.
“You know,” Finch started between bites, “you aren’t too far off, Ozzy.”
There he goes again, calling me that name. I’m not even going to try at this point. I give up.
“Why’s that?” I asked with a sigh.
“I was never really all that well-off if I’m being honest. Mom always had to work twice as hard to take care of me and things got a bit desperate. You know how it goes, right?”
I looked at him skeptically. “Not…really. Where’s this coming from?”
The ground type shrugged. “I dunno. I just figured that, since I’m with you guys now, I may as well tell you who you’re dealing with.”
I was about to share a glance with Fenn, but then I realized that he probably wasn’t even listening. A quick look over confirmed my suspicions. He was solemnly staring down at his plate, rolling a berry around with his paw. “If you want,” I said, turning back to Finch. “Don’t expect me to tell you what I’m about though.” Not like there’s anything I can tell him anyways.
“Fair,” he acknowledged. “We’ve all got secrets.” Strangely, he shot a glance at Fenn for no discernable reason. “Me? I’m an open book. I’ll tell you whatever.”
“Um, okay. What’s the deal with the whole ‘connections’ thing?”
“Hm? Oh, uh…that was just a joke. Sort of. It’s complicated.”
“What?” I balked. “What do you mean that was a joke?” How badly did I screw this up?
Finch picked at his teeth as he explained. “Well, what I meant is that I’ve talked to a lot of pokemon who happen to be…let’s just say ‘on the lower end of the hierarchy’ here on the continent. The kind that would have a lot to say about opulence and-” he motioned towards everything around him, “-this castle.”
“Like that Thrush guy? You were friends with him, right?”
“Ah, well, that’s the thing, I met him a few times before today but only because I had to. Like I said, I haven’t always been the most well-off. He…helped with that when I needed it. Doesn’t mean I like him, though.”
“Cosmo did not like him either,” the Solosis mumbled weakly. “He was scary…”
“Sure was. Anyways,” Finch continued, “you’ll find that a lot of pokemon like me share my sentiment when it comes to Big Mama.”
“Big ma- you mean Anemone?”
Finch clicked his tongue in confirmation.
“What does she have to do with any of this?” I asked. “I mean, I don’t like her much either. She’s…awful. Yeah, that should sum up my thoughts about her.” I actually had a lot more to say, but I decided to keep it brief. I didn’t want to worry Fenn with stories of Anemone threatening to kill me or taint Cosmo’s precious mind with swears.
Finch, however, did anything but keep it brief.
“Bold of you to say something like that when she’s probably listening,” Finch whistled. “Maybe we can get along after all.”
I looked around for a moment. A cafeteria full of pokemon, some creepy as hell Natu looking down from above, and probably a crap ton of ghosts listening in directly underneath us. Yeah, this conversation wasn’t private in the slightest. Not like I cared, though. Anemone would hear all of this eventually; may as well get it all out now.
I smirked. “I like to live dangerously.”
“Cosmo is also dangerous!” Cosmo said with his mouth full of berries.
“Ha ha,” Finch chuckled with his arms crossed. “Talking shiiii- crud about your boss while they’re listening in is a boss move. And hey, she’s my boss now too. Makes me wanna do the same…”
“Go for it,” I told him with a hint of sarcasm.
Finch’s toothy grin became larger. Those three words seemed to light up his soul. Fenn, on the other hand, mumbled something I couldn’t hear. When I looked over, he was still fiddling with his food.
Cosmo seemed to barely be listening. Probably for the best if I was being honest.
With that, Finch went in. “You wanna know the truth?” Finch asked. “The truth is that all of this continent’s problems, all of it’s faults, all of it’s misjustice, can be linked back to that Gardevoir.”
“What makes you say that?” I mean, I could believe it. But surely she was at least a fair leader, right? Right?
Finch continued. “The fact that she leaves pokemon outside of her little bubble in the dirt to rot? Any other attempts to form guilds and militias being mysteriously shut down? What about the other towns that have to beg for help when they’re in trouble? Or the ones that outright get neglected? I don’t think I need to explain most of this, do I?”
“Neglected?” I furrowed my eyebrows. For some reason, Occa Village came to mind. “Neglected…do you mean like…to the point of not being on the map?”
After blinking a couple times, Finch simply nodded.
There was some movement on my right, and when I looked over, Fenn was staring at Finch all of a sudden. Cosmo too. It was as if they knew where this conversation was going. “Uh…ever heard of Occa Village?” I wondered.
The ground type sighed as he leaned back. “Boy have I ever,” he grumbled. “That might be one of the places that’s suffered the most because of her.”
Now I was curious. “When we went, the pokemon there were…” I trailed off. I wasn’t sure how to properly describe it without making assumptions.
“In dire straits?” Finch completed my thought for me. “Yeah, I know. I’ve been there a couple times; it’s depressing.”
What does this have to do with Anemone? I asked internally.
“I doubt you know the full story,” Finch said. “I’ll give you the short version. Essentially, the ‘Queen’ taxed the ever loving craaaaa- stuffing…out of them. She does this with everybody. But it hit Occa harder than most because they don’t really have much in terms of businesses there. It’s pretty much a small retirement village.”
That explains why most of them were old. But what about the poor state of the infrastructure or the fact that everyone in Kebia was afraid of them?
Finch was just getting to that. “Now, since they didn’t have a way to properly pay, Anemone started bleeding them dry; she expected them to work without considering if they even could. And really, they had no reason to pay the taxes in the first place. They could make their own food and stay out of the way. But no, they took up land, so they had to pay.”
I thought back on the state of many of those pokemon that I saw back in Occa Village. Thin, hungry, desperate…just pitiful all around. Which begged the question: “Why didn’t they leave?”
“Occa has a history going back to the war thirty years ago. Carnation’s troops would use it as a sort of training camp. Of course, once the war ended, it was repurposed.
“But thirty years is a long time; Anemone didn’t see much reason for keeping it around. Many of the veterans of Carnation’s army, who had to live with losing nearly everything they stood for, took refuge there after the fact. Apparently she was fine with it for a while, but I think she wanted to use it for something. I don’t know. Whatever it was, it didn’t warrant her starving them.”
“W-wait a second!” came a voice beside me.
Both me and Finch turned at the sound of the first words Fenn had said since we sat down. He was sitting upright and staring down Finch with a face full of disbelief.
“What about the rumors? Are you saying that A-Anemone purposely sabotaged those pokemon because she couldn’t get the land she wanted?” A few sparks popped out of Fenn’s forehead.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” the Krokorok replied. “Anemone got so frustrated with them that she removed Occa Village from all maps, spread rumors about demons or something like that, then left it to rot. They can’t pay taxes? Too bad.”
He shook his head. “Now you know about one of the many reasons why I hate that Gardevoir with such passion. She’s a ruthless, uncaring tyrant that only cares about securing more power.”
“…”
“…”
Fenn sat down and let his head sag despondently. He didn’t look up again until we left.
It took a moment or two for Finch’s words to finally hit me. Maybe he was lying; he definitely seemed like the type. But I knew Anemone. Or at least, I knew enough about her to know that this sort of thing…could’ve been plausible. A lot of it matches up.
And…god dammit, I took money from those villagers, didn’t I? They needed the money a shit ton more than me or Fenn. I even said that it wasn’t a lot. Now I just feel awful.
“I’m hoping that I can change her mind about a couple things,” Finch said.
I raised an eyebrow at that. “…How?”
The croc shrugged. “I’m still figuring that out. I wasn’t expecting to get into the castle at all today. I need more time to think.
“But with you guys, I can work up to that.” He smiled big and held out his arms straight out on both sides of his body as if he were inviting us all into a hug. “You guys are the key to my success! So come on, are you with me?”
“…”
“…”
“…”
Neither I nor Fenn nor Cosmo had anything to say to that. It wasn’t like we were interested in Finch’s quest to make Anemone notice him. All I wanted was to find out why I was even here. I couldn’t really do that without either waiting for Anemone or taking matters into my own hands. Fenn just wanted to be an adventurer…I think. I wasn’t quite sure anymore after everything we’d been through. He might’ve just been thinking about how to talk to his dad right now.
And Cosmo was Cosmo. I doubt he even knew what it meant to have a long term goal.
Once again, I had to ask myself if I even made the right choice in asking Finch to help us. Who knows? He might just make things worse.
Cosmo yawned. “Cosmo is sleepy. Are we going to bed soon?”
The answer was yes. We all decided to turn in shortly after Cosmo said that.
“Oh, I see how it is. You two get to share the bed and uncle Finch has to sleep on the floor.”
Our sleeping arrangements were once again under contention. Finch seemed to get more and more excited the closer we got to the room. And when we finally did get there, he was ecstatic. That didn’t last long.
“We don’t have another bed, just those straw ones,” I said to Finch, pointing. “Is that going to be a problem or…?”
Finch laughed at my attempt to think about his comfort. He waved me off and said, “Nah, it’s good. I’ve slept in worse places. At least there’s a roof.” He stopped on his way to his new bed to look back at me with a smirk plastered on his face. “Have a nice sleep, you three. See you in the morning.” With a snap of his fingers, and the wink of an eye, the croc rolled onto his new straw bed and covered himself in the material. He was face down and snoring obnoxiously within less than a minute.
And so, the day was effectively over. Cosmo was in the bag sleeping soundly and Fenn was already laying down on the bed. All that was left was me with a dimly lit candle in my paw, staring down at the Krokorok.
It had been…a long day. After snuffing out the candle, I threw myself onto the bed and shut my eyes. At least it’s over now.
“…Oswald?”
…Nevermind. One more conversation with Fenn. Oh man, I was dreading this one too.
I rolled over onto my side, facing the Quilava on the bed with me. The moonlight shining through the window illuminated the room just enough for me to see his shimmering ruby eyes. I could tell from the way he was looking at me that he was dreading this conversation just as much as I was.
He didn’t waste any time. “Oswald…why?”
“…”
If only I had a good way to answer that.
I only really had two reasons: Fenn and me. But none of that mattered because I didn’t ask Fenn first. And…god, did I regret that. It wasn’t like I had the time to think. I had a few minutes after Finch asked! No, wait, that wasn’t an excuse! That should be a good enough reason for me to turn him down!
Jeez, I sure did screw this up, didn’t I? Why can’t I just….THINK! THINK THINK THINK! Accepting a job that turned off over half of the pokemon in the room was never going to be a good idea! Tempting fate by looking for a peaceful solution? Also a terrible idea! And wow, who knew letting a POTENTIAL CRIMINAL on my team would ALSO be an awful idea. Great job, Oswald. You have no one to blame but yourself. I suck. I suck SO much!
“O-Oswald?”
I blinked. How long was I just…lying there staring at Fenn?
“I…” The words got caught in my throat.
Fenn waited like the sweetheart he was.
“I…I’m so sorry, Fenn. Finch…I thought he would be able to help me…find someone that might know me.”
“…”
“Y-you heard him…right? Connections…?”
Fenn looked away. “…I…I-I just wish you would’ve asked me first,” he whispered.
“Yeah…” I croaked, “…me too. We’re a team.”
The Quilava brought his eyes back to mine. There was sadness there. My actions hurt him; it was written out on his face for me to see. “O-Oswald…”
“…Yeah?”
“Can you…c-can you promise me that you’ll let me help you?” he asked in a small voice. “I hate being left out like back in Colbur Village. I-I…I want to be there for you…”
This sounds familiar. “Only if you let me do the same,” I said quietly with a warm smile. “We can help each other. Okay?”
He smiled. “Okay. But…Oswald?”
“What is it, Fenn?”
“W-will you let me know if anything is wrong? You don’t usually do something without talking to me first…”
…
“Of course, Fenn. Anything for you.” It took everything in me to not scream.
“Okay,” Fenn breathed, “g-goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Fenn. Let’s do our best tomorrow.”
The fire type nodded before curling up. He ended up falling asleep shortly after.
And me…I rolled over onto my back. It took me several hours before I was able to fall asleep that night. Too much to think about.
I thought.
I thought.
I thought.
Sleep eventually overtook me, but there was one thing that kept me awake. Finding out who I was in my past life mattered to me less than making Fenn happy. Uncovering those secrets was difficult, aimless, and painful. Making Fenn happy made me happy.
I failed to do that today. I failed in a lot of ways.
I’ll try harder tomorrow.
I’ll find a balance.
I’ll…
…
Zzz…
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