Chapter 28 – Day 12, Part 2: Cloudiness

Chapter 28 – Day 12, Part 2: Cloudiness

I tend to forget that this world used to belong to humans.

It all seemed to blend together—what with the buildings and their designs being so ambiguous. An outsider would be forgiven for thinking it was all made with pokemon or humans in mind during some indeterminate time period. But then I recalled the elevator in the castle and the designs of the seating in the cafe and the general look of the towns and cities. Every instance of that sort of design was a mixture of differing sensibilities that just about everyone—myself included—rarely ever acknowledged. Like I said, it all blended together.

That was the case until we rode into Micle, the destination of our next mission.

Peering out of the carriage’s window revealed a sprawling, industrialized cityscape so unlike any I had seen so far in Pamtre. I initially thought that I had teleported to a different universe. Smoke billowed in the distance as there seemed to be construction taking place in every visible corner. Being a port city, ships of sizes ranging from small dinghies to large cargo vessels pulled in from the sea. And even with the city partially being obscured by a deep, gray fog, I could still tell that Micle was bustling with activity.

Needless to say, I had a vague feeling that I had seen many, many places like Micle in my previous life. This feeling of familiarity would only grow when we would get closer, but that’s for later. For now, I brought my eyes to the inside of the carriage.

“You ever been to Micle, Ozzy?” Finch asked after I turned around. He was seated on the opposite side of the carriage with his legs crossed, appearing quite relaxed. “Lots of great food; their exports are fantastic. And the laws are so lenient that you can get away with anything if you’re smart enough. It’s got it all!” Sharp teeth poked out from the grin on his face.

I frowned. That stupid nickname Finch made up still made me cringe, but after hearing him talk about identity and all that crap earlier, I couldn’t let it get to me anymore.

Fine! You want me to be Ozzy? Then I’ll BE Ozzy!

“Can’t say I have,” I answered nonchalantly. “This is my first time coming here.” Careful not to fall over from the motion of the moving carriage, I plopped down in the seat across from Finch, right next to Fenn and Cosmo.

“You’ll love it, I’m sure.” Finch went back to staring out of the window.

There was still quite a bit of time left in the carriage ride so I sat back and sunk into the burnt orange cushions. Looking over, my eyes fell on the Quilava next to me. He was seated with Cosmo in his lap and a book in his paws. Both of them seemed to be reading intently. He has a book? I wondered. Has he always had it?

I leaned closer and peered over his shoulder to get a better look.

…Only to remember that I couldn’t read.

“What are you reading there, Fenn?” I asked quietly.

His ear twitched at the sound of my voice. “Hm? Oh, it’s…a novel,” Fenn muttered, looking between me and the pages.

“Just a novel? What’s it called?”

With a digit placed on his current page, Fenn closed the book much to Cosmo’s displeasure. The Solosis snapped, “Hey! Cosmo was reading that!”

Fenn grinned sheepishly. “S-sorry, Cosmo. Give me a second.” He showed me the cover.

The hardback novel was in remarkable condition, it’s heavy paperboard covered in dark red buckram and expertly made to withstand the test of time. Either it was crafted only recently or it hadn’t been read much at all. The cover itself, red with black details, depicted a stylized Hydreigon gazing into the distance at a sunset of similar black etchings. There was a title etched into the fabric with white lettering as well, but I couldn’t read it.

“It’s called ‘Return To Two’ by author Hydrangea,” Fenn explained.

“What’s it about?” I was genuinely curious. Just from the cover and the title I was interested to hear about it.

“W-well, the main character is this…Hydreigon that’s lived a pretty long life. So long in fact that he can’t remember what it was like to be Deino or a Zweilous. But he wants to remember because…he misses the other head he used to have.”

“Other head?”

“Zweilous have two heads, Ozzy,” Cosmo interjected. “But Hydreigon only have one! Where does the other head go?”

Frowning, I idly twisted my whiskers in one of my fingers. “I thought that Hydreigon do have three heads,” I said plainly. “Isn’t that the whole point?”

Fenn gave me his reasoning. “Th-they do, but only one brain. The other two heads they have are more like hands. Mouth hands.”

“Hands that bite!” If Cosmo had teeth he would be gnashing them. He didn’t, so he ended up just making a bunch of goofy sounds with his mouth.

“Did Fenn tell you about that beforehand?” I asked Cosmo with crossed arms.

“Ahh-” Cosmo shut his mouth and turned to look away.

Yeah, I figured.

“Anyways,” Fenn continued, “the Hydreigon wants to talk to the other head from his previous evolution; he wants to see them again. But the only way to do that is with a really rare orb. A-an orb that only works for a day.”

“And he knows this?”

Fenn nodded. “So, he has to go on this huge journey to find one. He meets a bunch of fun characters and he’s got a really dark past that I haven’t read about yet. I-it’s really good. I’m a little under half way through it.”

“Huh. That does sound…interesting.”

Now I actually want to know where this goes. Too bad I can’t read.

“Yeah it is. But…”

I raised an eyebrow. “But what?”

“…I-I’m really worried because…everybody in the story keeps saying the orb is a myth. I want Hydreigon to have a happy ending, but…” Fenn bit his lip.

Oh, is it one of THOSE stories? I thought bitterly. The kind where it’s all about the journey and not the destination? Ugh. Hate those. I mean, I can’t remember any off the top of my head, but I remember the feeling I’d get whenever I’d read about them. What’s the point of taking a journey if the destination is nowhere special? Or one big lie?

“I’m sure he’ll find it, Fenn,” I said reassuringly.

“…” Fenn stared at the cover of Return to Two for a good while, taking in every detail of the design. He must’ve been deliberating if he should even open it back up. I know I would be. Eventually, he just whispered, “…I hope so…”

Click click click!

Fenn, Cosmo, and I all looked up at the sound of Finch snapping his fingers. “Look alive!” he told us. “We’re almost there.”

Sure enough, the carriage began to gradually slow down, and I could hear the Aggron call out, “MICLE, AHOY!”

---

A light cover of fog dampened my fur as I stepped out of the carriage and into Micle. That same dampness coated just about every surface in sight, giving me the first impression of Micle as a “wet” city. The thick cloud cover and general gloomy atmosphere only helped in that regard.

It might’ve been autumn in Kebia, with its orange leaves and chill winds, but here, it was like it was late winter. Even when it rained, Kebia was never this cloudy.

Micle was…less meticulous than Kebia, a polar opposite even. With its soggy stone buildings and unpaved dirt roads alongside the strong smell of salt in the air, I believe the word “shanty” described it in more ways than one. Not to say that Micle looked bad or anything like that.

…Okay, maybe I was saying that. It gave me some negative vibes right from the get-go.

My own fur clung heavily to my back as I took a few steps further in. Not the best feeling; I quickly realized that it could’ve been worse for me. I was more discomforted by the fact that I was so sluggish now. And honestly, Fenn and Cosmo were probably dealing with it more than me.

Speaking of, Fenn and Cosmo passed into Micle after me and immediately experienced what I was dealing with.

“Ack!” Cosmo spat, visibly shriveling up as he floated into Micle’s air. “Ew!” Within an instant, Cosmo zoomed through the air and cozied himself into my shoulder bag. “Sticky!”

At least I don’t have to convince him this time.

Fenn followed directly after, and the look on his face made me think for a moment that he was gonna keel over and have a heart attack. His normally smooth fur frizzed from the humid air—making him look more like an oddly colored, fluffy Furret instead of a Quilava. Just like Cosmo, he dashed for me so quickly that he may as well have used Quick Attack. He was huddled up against my side in a second’s time.

“You alright?” I asked with a laugh and a smile, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. I couldn’t change the humidity, but I had body heat. May as well share it.

Through clenched teeth, Fenn stuttered, “N-n-no. Not used to this. I-I’ll be fine…soon.”

I nodded. My guess was that Fenn really hated water. (Ironic, I know.) Maybe there was some truth to what he was saying about the rain a couple days ago? I wasn’t exactly surprised, though there was no way we could have accounted for that before coming here. “Stick by me, Fenn,” I told him. “We can head inside once Finch is done…”

“Y-yeah.” The Quilava leaned further into my shoulder, shivering slightly.

Next came the waiting game. I was assuming that Finch was paying the carriage driver and having a very involved conversation; he was taking quite a while. I could faintly hear his voice as Fenn and I stood in the middle of the road.

In the meantime, I looked out into the mist, and gazed down the street. I could see distant figures silhouetted ahead of me walking around like ghosts in the fog. Busier than I had initially thought…what was it about the activity that made me feel a sense of deja vu? The way the pokemon walked reminded me of something I saw a few days ago. But what was it? This might have been redundant to say, but I felt that I was forgetting something…

Either way, I was going to have to accept the fact that whatever it was didn’t matter at the moment. We had more important things to deal with right now.

It didn’t take Finch much longer to finish up. Looking about the same as he always did—albeit a bit damper—the Krokorok strolled up to us with his tail swinging behind him. “So,” he started, “I talked to our driver and he said that this city is on his regular route.”

I pulled Fenn a bit closer, my head resting on the top of his head as I listened to Finch speak. The silent Quilava next to me began rubbing his arm immediately after. “Alright?” I acknowledged what Finch just told me. What was that supposed to mean?

“Wanted to make sure; we’re far from Kebia so there’s a chance we might have to stay the night. In that case, he’ll be here in the evening on most days.”

I narrowed my eyes at the croc. “Staying the night? What makes you think we’ll have to do that?”

Finch tapped his head with a finger and grinned. “Just a hunch.”

Why was he…oh. Oh, now I get it.

“…You don’t think I can find the guy in a day,” I stated with a frown.

He raised his arms in a shrug, that shark-like grin of his out and about for the whole world to see. “You wanna shut me up?” he inquired, walking past me and patting me on the shoulder as he went. “Prove me wrong.”

I watched him walk into Micle, incredulous. “Consider yourself proven wrong then,” I declared. “Because I’m gonna find this Turaco guy in time for dinner at the castle tonight. You better believe it!”

Maybe then I’ll wipe that smug grin off your face…

The Krokorok waved at me over his shoulder without glancing back. “I’m sure you will, Ozzy. I’m sure you will…”

There was something about the way that croc swaggered away into the fog that made my fur stand on end. What does he know? I seethed internally. It’s bad enough that I have to find a way to make this mission work without screwing it up. I don’t need this extra pressure!

A few more moments of scornfully staring into the fog later, I felt a tugging on my shoulder. I snapped out of my trance before glancing at the Quilava under my arm. “Huh? Fenn?”

Fenn looked up at me thoughtfully, though his eyes seemed to almost be directed past my head. I noticed that he had stopped shivering, too—and fiery sparks popped out of his forehead occasionally. “I-I think I’m fine now,” he mumbled. “Let’s go find that Heliolisk.”

I obliged by removing my arm from around his neck, but I stopped before pulling away, my paw still resting on his shoulder closest to me. “Alright,” I said, “let’s…knock ’em dead.”

“…What?” Fenn laughed.

“You know…let’s kill it?” I smiled sheepishly.

“Kill…what?”

I’m making this more awkward than necessary, aren’t I?

“It…it’s an expression.”

To my utter disbelief, Fenn smiled, then lightly punched me in the shoulder. “I know,” he giggled.

Oh.

“…Oh.”

The suddenly chipper Quilava dropped to all fours. “Come on!” Tiny embers flicked out of his flame vents and flew by with the ocean breeze as he dashed down the street.

I stood there, stunned and completely still. That…caught me off guard.

…It really shouldn’t have. Ugh…I need to lighten up more. I’ve been too stressed lately…

Perturbed as I was, I eventually began following Fenn and Finch further into Micle.

---

Something I noticed about Micle was how common it was for the pokemon here to wear clothes. And not the half-way attempts that constitute as being “clothed” in Kebia—a single piece of cloth and all that. I’m talking about full-on outfits.

A Mawile wearing a pink, silk dress and two hats. One for her main head and one for her head-maw. A Bewear and a Druddigon both wearing outfits reminiscent of tuxedos with top hats. A Golduck in full sailor attire. The list goes on.

Micle was not just more industrialized than Kebia, it was more human-centric in general. Granted, that might just be my (ironically) unique perspective; after all, the pokemon here were only following trends. A better distinction to make would have to be with the possible cultural differences. Perhaps there was an event in this continent’s past that caused this divide?

Admittedly, I was interested to know what that could have possibly been, but at the moment, that would mean distracting myself. And I had a mission to complete right now. History class and cultural studies could come after I catched this drug dealer.

The real question was…how?

There were a lot of places to check in a city this big, and asking around would only get me so far. That doesn’t mean I didn’t try though.

First, I tried to keep it subtle—sticking to species names.

“Excuse me, sir?” I stopped a passing Zangoose.

Said Zangoose wore a frilly, royal blue coat with golden trimmings and scoffed upon catching sight of me. “Oh goody, yet another naturalist. What do you want?”

That’s another thing about Micle: the pokemon here had a tendency to point out the fact that Fenn, Finch, and I all don’t wear clothes. Calling us “naturalists” and sometimes even “nudists.” I was never offended by it, but it did make me feel a bit self-conscious. I mean, I assumed the norm was just to not wear clothes because of all the weird body shapes and the fact that clothes were a bit redundant in a world where most talking creatures had fur or scales. But apparently, the norm here wasn’t the norm elsewhere. Or maybe it was just a class thing, I don’t know.

Regardless, I opted to ignore the mongoose’s clear disdain for my lack of style and asked him a simple question. “Are there any Heliolisks around? I’m doing a study at the moment.”

Best start with a lie and go from there. There’s no telling who’s connected to who here…

He waved a claw at me dismissively. “A study, is it?” the Zangoose mocked with a contemptuous smirk. “Well, why don’t you go to the university where you young pokemon go and ask the students there? It is not my responsibility to know much of the current population of this city.”

I blinked. That…wasn’t what I asked. “I was just wondering-“

He interrupted me, holding up a clawed paw in front of my face. “No, no, please, no more questions. I am busy. Bother a different pokemon.” Before I had the chance to try again, the Zangoose walked past me, adjusting the frills on his shirt collar.

“Wha- wait…ugh…” My shoulders slumped as I watched the smug guy walk off. My problem there had less to do with my approach and more to do with just how much of a douche that guy was. Unfortunately, that attitude seemed pretty common around Micle. Most of the pokemon I asked at this point were either quick to say no or dismissed me before I had the chance to open my mouth.

Fenn, who had been having the same issue during the few times he had tried to talk to somebody, stopped beside me and shot me a sympathetic look. “F-find anything yet?” he wondered.

I shook my head, casting disgruntled glances at the clothed pokemon passing by. “Nothing,” I replied. “Can’t even get past the first question most of the time…”

I began wondering if my approach was just too off putting. But asking about a drug dealer out in the open like this might’ve been more off putting. And the reason why I didn’t open up with the name first was because I didn’t know about any potential baggage the guy carried.

Fenn frowned and rubbed his arm. “I haven’t found anything either,” the Quilava mumbled. “I-I don’t know if I like it here all that much, Oswald. I feel like everybody’s looking at me…”

He wasn’t alone on that one. The pokemon in this city were looking at us. When I’d glance around, pokemon would quickly turn their gaze away as if they were previously staring at the back of my head. Hell, some were bold enough to keep staring even as I stared back. It was unsettling as much as it was frustrating.

Despite that, I shot Fenn a perky smile, peeling a scalchop off my hip and twirling it around in thought. “I know,” I responded. “I’m looking at you too. Just, you know, not in a bad way like the other people here.”

“Ehehe…” Fenn’s face grew red as he looked away. “I-I can see that.”

Placing the scalchop back on my hip, I nodded. “I’m hoping we can get this over with soon. What haven’t we done so far?”

“We haven’t tried to ask many shopkeepers, have we?”

“Don’t think so.” Not sure why I didn’t think to do that in the first place. Passing pokemon could walk away; shopkeepers basically couldn’t.

Of course, the first market stall we just so happened to come across had a certain Krokorok examining the wares. To my annoyance, Finch hadn’t done much of anything to help with the search. And each time I told him to do something, he just shrugged and said “it’s your plan. I’ll let you take the lead.”

For some reason, I had a feeling Finch wasn’t contributing much out of spite.

So, my second approach was similar to the first—keeping it vague, but now I exclusively stuck to talking to the pokemon that couldn’t walk away.

It went…better than last time. Not by much, but progress is progress.

Finch was taking up space at a dungeon items vendor so I went next door to a vendor that sold reading materials. Fenn branched off to examine the selection on one of the stalls while I approached the Luxio wearing a tweed cap and a dusty white shirt behind the counter.

“Ahem,” I cleared my throat.

The owner of the market stall looked up from whatever it was he was reading and raised an eyebrow once he saw me. “You find something you wanted?” he asked lethargically.

After first casting a quick glance at Fenn just to check if he was still there, I shook my head at the question. “Uh…no, actually. I just wanted to ask you something.”

“Oh.” Within an instant, any remaining color in this guy’s face was promptly drained. I didn’t think someone could deflate that fast. He brought his attention back to his reading material and off of me. “Well, make it quick. I have to make a living, you know.”

At least this guy was willing to listen. I was relieved enough to let out a sigh and utter a quick “thank you.” I scratched the back of my head as I got started. “Have you seen any Heliolisk around here?”

“Maybe,” the Luxio said.

“Um…can you…tell me where they went or where you saw them or…?”

“I can if you buy something.”

Of course it wasn’t going to be this easy.

“…You can’t even give me a hint?” I wondered with a nervous grin.

“Nope.” He turned the page of his book. It was clear to me that he wasn’t going to pay attention to me if I didn’t give him money.

I groaned under my breath. Fine.

So, I browsed the selection of books, magazines, and comics on one of the stalls…only to remember, once again, that I couldn’t read. At least I could understand what each item cost. I didn’t really care what I bought, as long as it was cheap.

The cheapest of which turned out to be the small number of comics on display. And I knew they were “comics” because of the bright colors, the stylized art, the bold lettering, and the depictions of super-

“SHABOOM!“

CRASH!

I flinched as comics went flying off the shelves and littered the ground around me. The sudden outburst of pink power, loose paper dampening in the air, fluttering past my face, shouting in what felt like every direction—all of that seemed to be blocked out as I struggled to comprehend what had just happened. What broke me out of my shock was the shouting of a very angry Luxio.

“Hey! What in Raikou’s name are you doing!? That’s my merchandise!”

Of course, I didn’t know what was going on, but I absolutely recognized the handiwork of a certain bubbly boy.

“Cosmo!” I fumed. “What the hell!?”

I was shouting at the closed flap of the bag around my shoulder. Cosmo was not willing to take responsibility for what he just did at that moment. Fenn, meanwhile, dashed over as quickly as he could.

“W-w-we’re very sorry, sir,” the Quilava stammered. “We’ll pick this up and pay for any damages.”

“You better!” the Luxio yelled. “Damn nudists! I have some powerful friends in this city! You start running and I’ll make sure you don’t leave this place alive!”

…How did this go so wrong so quickly? Why did Cosmo do that?

Either way, Fenn and I wasted our precious time picking up the scattered comics and paying for any of the ones that were damaged. There were…quite a few in bad condition after that. It was to such an extent that I probably would’ve attributed the attack to somebody else had Cosmo not declared his attack before it happened. The attack wasn’t particularly strong, but it did more damage than what I would’ve expected out of Cosmo. He was about as dangerous as a newborn baby. A newborn baby that cost us a good six hundred poké.

The worst part of the whole ordeal was when I caught sight of Finch out of the corner of my eye. He was leaning against the counter one stall over, grinning so large that his lips stretched all the way to his metaphorical ears. There was so much delight in his expression. This croc was having a really good time watching me crawl around in the dirt. It was as if he was telling me—point blank, with his eyes—that he was right and I was wrong.

I wasn’t about to let him get the better of me. No matter what, I was dedicated to finding this Turaco guy before the day was up. Somehow, some way, I would figure this out.

I’m going to prove you wrong, Finch. I swear it.

---

So I effectively got nowhere by the time the sun set today. It didn’t matter how I approached the pokemon in this city or how I worded my questions, I was given next to no good information.

Some would tell me they saw a Heliolisk here…then a pokemon there would say the opposite. Most pokemon would either ignore me or outright say that, no, they hadn’t seen any Heliolisks around. Being called a nudist or a naturalist every other interaction didn’t help either. I was seriously tempted to just buy a new set of clothes and get it over with.

Unfortunately, new clothes cost a lot, which was a shame. There was some awesome armor on display I really wanted in one of the shops, but the price was high enough to make us go broke. In the same vein, I could tell from the way Fenn’s eyes sparkled that he wanted this neat set of clothes that were specifically made for fire types like him. It…cost—and I’m paraphrasing what Fenn said here—about as much as a new house in his hometown.

As for Cosmo, I was too focused on the task at hand to properly scold him for what he did. And when I finally got around to it, he was asleep. By that point, I was too tired anyways so I just said “forget it” and moved on.

And so ended a day of no progress made. To my complete frustration, we had no choice but to go find a hotel and stay for the night. Of course, even that ended up being a laborious process because of the fact that some places had a dress code policy.

Here I was thinking that being watched as I rolled around in the mud was the most embarrassing thing that would happen to me today. But no, being told to leave the building because I was literally naked was probably just as bad.

I hate this city.

We did find one that let us stay. Eventually.

“The Golden Ribbon” was what the hotel was called. A fancy place; it was clear that they were a lot more lenient with their policies there. That didn’t stop the Kricketune behind the front desk wearing a golden bellhop uniform from shooting me a look however. Sadly, it was located towards the center of the city. Which meant that it was cheap, and the view from our second floor balcony wasn’t the greatest.

We stayed in a port city and we didn’t even get to stay in a place remotely close to the water. What an awful, awful day.

“…I’m so tired,” Fenn said, plopping down onto one of the two beds in our hotel room. “I’m ready for this day to be over…”

I grimaced as I sat down next to him and rubbed the back of my neck. “You and me both, Fenn. You and me both.”

Being exhausted with sore legs was one thing, but this headache gnawing at the back of my brain was another thing entirely. And it only got worse when Finch opened his mouth.

“Not the best sleeping spot in this city, but it’ll do,” Finch said, taking a spot on the other bed.

“…What is the best spot in this place then?” I grumbled as I rubbed my temples. Talking only made my headache worse so I didn’t know why I was even bothering.

Still, he replied by saying, “Usually either the beach on festival days or the rooftops of the tallest building in town, the Green Needle.”

How did he- wait, has he been here before…?

Okay, no. This headache was too much to deal with right now. Whatever this conversation was could be finished in the morning.

“…Whatever. I’m going to bed.”

I removed the bag from my shoulder and set it down on the bed next to me. Only just barely remembering the Cosmo was still in there, I peered inside to see the Solosis snoring softly, a half eaten Lum berry beside him.

At least he didn’t go hungry, I thought. I’ll talk to him about what happened earlier today tomorrow morning.

Without so much as a “goodnight” or even a second glance, I crawled over to one of the pillows and curled up. I ignored the voices nearby, and I clenched my eyes shut. Sleep overtook me within minutes.

…

…

…

My eyes fluttered open…sometime later. The sun had long since set; the moon’s deep blue glow flowing through the glass balcony doors mixed with the pitch black shadows of the night. I could just barely make out the shapes of the side tables and the cabinets in the room. And with the walls of this place being so thin, I was able to pick up on the sounds of other restless pokemon wandering around and having conversations.

What is it like, two in the morning? Don’t you people sleep? Ugh. At least the headache is mostly gone.

It had to have been only a few hours since I passed out. As I sat up, quietly grumbling to myself, I noticed the fuzzy pokemon curled up in a ball next to me. Fenn’s back was facing my direction, and peering over his side revealed that Cosmo was resting in the Quilava’s arms. Maybe Cosmo got scared or cold or something. Either way, they were both soundly asleep.

However, the other bed seemed to be empty, the sheets hanging off the bed’s side and spilling out onto the floor. Finch wasn’t there.

Odd. Where could he…?

My eyes were drawn to the light peaking through the nearby glass balcony doors. Although the curtains blocked out most of it on one side, the other side—the one closest to me—had their curtains pulled back, showing the croc standing outside with his back facing me. From what I gathered, I woke up essentially because of him.

And now I can’t go back to sleep. Thanks, Finch.

I probably could have just rolled over and closed my eyes if I was that tired. But…well, I also couldn’t because I was curious to know what he was up to. Not to mention the fact that Finch and I hadn’t really had the chance to talk alone yet.

To wake myself up a bit, I rubbed my eyes with the back of my arm and slid off the bed, my feet impacting the ground very lightly. It was surprisingly harmless and quiet thanks to how close to the ground these bed frames were. The room we were given seemed specifically designed for smaller pokemon like us.

My tail dragged across the carpeted floor as I shuffled for the balcony, carefully slid open the door, closed it, then walked outside. Immediately, the humidity from earlier hit my skin and made me want to turn back around. Finch’s lowered voice was what stopped me, however.

“Did I wake you up?” he wondered apologetically, shooting me a look over his shoulder. “Sorry about that.” The Krokorok was hunched over the metal railing when he addressed me, and his tail idly swung with the cool, seaside breeze.

I didn’t want to talk into his back so I padded over to his left side and leaned on the railing. Initially I focused on Finch, though my eyes quickly trailed off and I balked at the sight of the city at large.

It was a wonderful sight, even with the mist blocking a lot of it off. The irregular shapes of Micle’s buildings were silhouetted against the star filled sky. For some reason, seeing so many stars high above in a place like this gave me pause—causing me to realize that I hadn’t really seen anything like it during my time in this world.

I…never had to spend a night outside. Not once was there a situation where I couldn’t get back to the castle before the sun set. So seeing this…was a bit of a shock.

How much of my situation am I taking for granted?

“What’s got you so awestruck, huh?”

Oop. There I go getting distracted again.

“Nothing it’s just…I’ve been used to sleeping in the castle for so long,” I mumbled, resting my head against the metal railing. “Needed a second to…breathe, I guess.”

Finch hummed in response. “Mhm. Pokemon don’t like to keep the lights on at night in Micle. Makes stargazing on the beach harder than it should be.”

I almost felt like that was contradictory to the whole “human-like” thing the pokemon here had going on. But again that might’ve just been my unique perspective. What was the chance that most of the pokemon here even knew what a human was?

Whatever. I shook my head. “What are you doing up, Finch?”

Finch shot me a grin. “I had a dream, Ozzy,” he said. “Came out here to clear my mind.”

“A dream about what?”

“The future.” His claws clicked against metal as he talked. “What could happen next, where I plan on going…that sort of thing. It’s my mind showing me what makes me worried. Gives me an idea of what I could change. Though sometimes…you can’t. Those are the worst reminders. Speaking of…”

When he looked down at me, his eyes shimmered slightly in the moonlight. Every other time we talked before, there was this sort of mischievous nature to his eyes that annoyed me. But now, I couldn’t see it.

He continued. “…Be honest with me, Oswald. Did you really think you would be able to find Turaco on your own?”

And there it is. Should’ve known this would go there.

I sighed. “Does it matter at this point?” I questioned. “I didn’t find him in time. There. I admit it. Happy?”

Contrary to what I initially expected, Finch didn’t look happy to be proven right. That disappointed frown of his told me everything. “I still don’t understand why you insisted on doing this all on your own,” he remarked with a shake of his head. “This was meant to be simple and quick. You had an easy way out.”

An easy way out? “What are you talking about?”

“Oswald…” Finch grumbled, rubbing his temples. “I know where Turaco is. I’ve known where he is this entire time.”

I blinked. “…What? Why didn’t you…?”

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I was going to, but then you decided to be the self designated ‘team leader’ for some reason. You didn’t need my help apparently.”

That caught me by surprise. “…I…well…okay, what do you mean you ‘know where Turaco is?'” I wondered, pointedly avoiding the fact that I might’ve screwed up really badly here. “Have you two met before?”

Finch, to my complete surprise, nodded without hesitation. “Yeah, we have. I’ve been to this city a few times. I also happened to have run into him when I stopped by one of the bars here. He’s an oddball, but he shouldn’t be too hard to find if you know where to look.”

I wasn’t sure if I should’ve been disappointed to know that Finch had at one point had connections to drug dealers or if I should’ve been relieved that Finch happened to know this specific drug dealer. Mostly, though, I was frustrated. Because in retrospect, I brought this guy onto the team because of situations like this. I…guess I forgot about my own reasoning in favor of making sure that Fenn didn’t kill the guy. Whoops.

Would I have done this differently had I known? Well…

Twirling one of my whiskers with a finger, I asked Finch another question. “Right, so, implying that we still have to catch Turaco…that’s not going to be a problem, is it?”

“No,” the croc stated simply. “I don’t know if you noticed, but the pokemon in this city like to wear clothes.”

“No, I didn’t notice at all, Finch,” I deadpanned. “How is that related to what we were talking about?”

The ground gator extended his arms on both sides of his body, shooting me a toothy grin through the shadows of the night. “It’s simple; all we need is his hat or his outfit. Tell the idiots at the front desk that he was in an accident,then collect the cash. Done.”

…I could understand how he came up with something like that. Of course, there were a lot of issues with it. Did I have a better option at this point, though?

Man, I screwed up here, didn’t I? I never should have agreed to taking this mission in the first place.

I rubbed my eyes and groaned. Getting back to bed and laying down sounded really appealing right now…

“Mmm…whatever,” I conceded. “I don’t care anymore. Just do your thing tomorrow.”

“Sounds good,” he said. “One more thing before you go, though.”

Oh, what now? I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes. “Yeah?”

“You should put more trust in your teammates, you know. Especially your firecracker in there.” Finch motioned towards the balcony doors.

I narrowed my eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Don’t get all defensive now,” he told me with his claws in the air. “We’ve only known each other for a day so maybe I have it wrong. It just seems like you’re not giving him enough credit.”

“Credit? Yeah, you are wrong, Finch. Fenn contributes a lot—he’s a great fighter.”

Finch crossed his arms and frowned at me. “That’s not what I’m saying here. Just…the way he talks about you—it bothers me. He puts so much trust in you, but I haven’t seen you do the same.”

I had to take a step back. Finch’s words both sent a shock up my spine and made the fur on the back of my neck stand up. Of course I trusted Fenn! “Wha- no! Screw off! If anything, Fenn is the only pokemon here I trust at all!”

Fenn is what’s keeping me together! No other single person comes close!

Still not convinced, Finch’s eyebrows raised. “Really?” he questioned. “Okay then, talk to him. Tell him why you went mud diving today cause apparently he doesn’t know why you did that.”

Oh…right. That.

“I…it’s complicated, okay? Give me a break!”

I really don’t need this right now.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “If you say so. But you need to do it and you need to do it soon. Because from my perspective right now, as someone who just showed up, I get the impression that you have all of the power in that relationship.”

Okay, that’s it! He’s gone too far! Finch doesn’t know shit about me, Fenn, or ANYTHING about what’s going on!

My brows furrowed as I took a step forward and pointed at Finch out of anger. “I am not. Like that. I would never. Don’t talk about me as if you know me. Got it?” Before he had the chance to respond, I stormed over to the balcony doors and went to open them, only for Finch to speak up one more time.

He sighed. “If it means anything…I wouldn’t mind getting to know you and your friends better. Goodnight, Oswald.”

“…”

Maybe I should’ve said something. A simple “goodnight” would have sufficed. But I was too angry—too upset with Finch to even do that.

Never. I would NEVER want to be that to Fenn. Never in my life.

Quietly shuffling back into the apartment, I crawled onto the bed and slid over until I was next to Fenn again. He hadn’t moved since I left, and both he and Cosmo looked to be comfortable. Tomorrow, I would need to make sure he didn’t kill Turaco when we found him. I had…to…

…

Am I…? I’m…doing this for him…right? I’m not…trying to control him…or use him…

Fenn’s words from earlier today rang in my mind…

“I trust him.”

…And I trust Fenn back…

…I do…

…

…So why…why was I so insistent on pushing him away?

…

…Oh no. Shit…no, Finch can’t be right.

I…I’m doing something wrong. But…Fenn…would tell me…?

…

I…need to go to bed. No more of this tonight. Tomorrow…things will go right. Just…yeah.

…Yeah…

…

I had to block it all out of my mind. The pit in my stomach only got worse and worse as time went on. At least I was able to drift to sleep eventually. That was nice.

Yeah. Really…really nice…

…

…

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