Chapter 36 – Day 14, Part 4: Bolt Break

Chapter 36: Day 14, Part 4 – Bolt Break

Pretty much as soon as I entered the room, I was met with two faces immediately shooting in my direction: Cosmo’s little mouth agape in excitement at the sudden noise and Finch’s mildly attentive expression at my entrance.

Just those two, though. No Fenn. I checked.

An entire day’s worth of pent up exhaustion was exhaled from my mouth with the same unrestrained intensity of a gas furnace. I could barely drag my feet to the bed and plop down on it, but I managed despite how close my legs were to turning into straight jello. When I got there, my screams were muffled by the bedsheets.

Oh yeah. Finch and Cosmo said something around the same time, I think.

Finch, who had been sitting cross-legged on the floor, was seemingly sorting a deck of cards before I walked in. I didn’t take the time to see what he was doing in the few seconds I had looked.

A slight growl left the Krokorok as a response to my screaming. “Ergh…I assume that means things didn’t go well?”

Cosmo, who didn’t appear to be doing anything aside from hovering over Finch’s shoulder, bounced up and down so joyfully that the jiggles of his gelatin bubble were audible. Though that might have been because he soared right up to my ear as soon as I dropped onto the bed.

“Oswald!” the Solosis cheered loudly. “You’re back! Uncle Finch taught Cosmo how to play Bolt Break! It’s so much fun! Come on, Cosmo needs a noble squire to protect his king and queen!”

I peeled my face off of the fabric with a groan. Ignoring Cosmo for now, I glanced over at Finch. “Where’s Fenn?” I asked, first thing.

Now standing with his arms crossed, Finch shrugged his shoulders. “No idea. He left right after you did. Been gone all day.”

My shoulders fell in despair. There went the last shred of hope I had left. Gone. Destroyed. “…Then yeah,” I finally replied, “things could have gone better.”

Almost immediately, the cheerfulness practically glowing off of Cosmo’s face started to fade away. He looked between Finch and I, noticing that something was wrong. “What happened?” the psychic type wondered innocently. “Is Fenn in trouble?”

It might have actually been more reassuring to know if Fenn was in trouble, because that would have been a problem to fix. What was one more in the grand scheme of things? But no, none of us seemed to know for sure.

I hated seeing Cosmo act so worried, though. Almost more so than not knowing where Fenn was. I sat up and gave him the most comforting smile I could manage at the time. “No, Cosmo,” I muttered. “He’s just out on a few errands. I was excited to see him, that’s all.”

“Why didn’t you go after him?” Finch questioned without missing a beat. Lying to keep Cosmo happy didn’t seem to be at the top of his priorities. But he was also right to assume that that’s what I would have done. Unfortunately, Finch was actually wrong.

As for me, that question outright knocked the wind out of me. I collapsed back onto the bed with my arms splayed out on both sides, the dolphin plush still miraculously in my grip.

I told him with ripe disdain in my voice, “Because I can’t. I can’t do anything anymore, apparently. Not while I’m on house-arrest. Castle…arrest. Whatever.” I rolled over onto my side.

“What!?” I could hear the alarm in Finch’s voice. “How did a skinny little number like you end up on such a short leash?”

What the hell was- okay, you know what? Cosmo is in the room; I’ll give him a pass for now. Hopefully he won’t repeat that.

“Later” was my immediate response. “I just want to wait, is that okay with you?”

Finch’s toes slowly clicked and clacked against the floor as he walked to the bed and sat down next to me. Along the way, he scratched himself…anxiously? I couldn’t tell, but that was the impression that I got after he started talking.

“I ain’t got the time,” Finch growled in a low voice. “Tomorrow morning I’m gonna be leaving for a while. A few days, probably. I was going to leave today, but…” He trailed off.

“Wait, what?” I sat up abruptly. “Why?”

Instead of telling me, the ground type reached over and jiggled the gracidea flower necklace still hanging from my neck with his finger, causing me to jerk back suddenly. Physical contact from Finch was the last thing I expected.

He bared his teeth in a smirk. “Heh. Looks like we both have some explainin’ to do. Tell ya what-” he snapped his fingers, “-we’re gonna be sitting in here for the rest of the night, and instead of twiddling our thumbs, we play some Bolt Break.”

I followed his gaze to the pile of playing cards in the center of the room, and frowned.

Cosmo caught on quicker than I did. “Bolt Break!” he exclaimed excitedly. “Cosmo wants to be the dealer this time!”

Finch added one more thing before I asked what the hell Bolt Break was: “No chips. But I was thinking of gambling with information instead. Whoever loses each match has to answer a question the other has. What do you say?”

I stared at him blankly. I think my stance on this has been pretty clear so far.

“…What’s Bolt Break?”

If it was possible to express bewilderment, disgust, and sympathy with a single expression, that would be the one Finch gave me right that moment. A couple seconds passed where he just stared at me in shock. “…You don’t know what Bolt Break is.”

I shook my head.

“…You serious?”

I looked away apprehensively. “I mean…it’s a card game, right? It’s not like I can’t learn it.”

Finch opened his jaw to say something, but before he could so much as laugh at my ignorance Cosmo did his thing.

“Yes!” Cosmo blurted out. “Cosmo knows it well, because he is the Master of Games! With Cosmo’s power, Oswald will win everytime!”

Which was just his way of saying ‘I’ll teach you.’ Initially I was a bit uncertain if Cosmo would explain things in a way that made sense, but after catching a similar uncertainty on Finch’s face I decided to give Cosmo a shot. Wouldn’t hurt.

With a new smile, I shifted in place to face Cosmo. “Alright,” I said, “give me the quick run-down, O Master of Games.”

Seeing the Solosis’ pudgy little face light up so quickly was a sight for sore eyes. He must not have expected me to take him up on his offer. Bouncing in place, Cosmo gave me the most energized crash course I think anyone could give.

“Bolt Break is so easy!” he started. “The player and the dealer face off—both equipped with cards with numbers on them! The player draws! They build up numbers—but not too much! If they get too many numbers, the dealer wins without a fight! But the dealer can lose if he gets too many numbers, too!”

“It goes from two to ten,” Finch added, begrudgingly. “The Nidoking, Nidoqueen, and Indeedee cards are also ten. Don’t know how big that rock of yours was, but I’m gonna assume you can do basic math.”

The psychic type continued with pride. “Cosmo can! He knows that the Aura card can be both one AND eleven! It’s like, the best card!”

Hold on a second…

I squinted. “What number is too much?”

“Anything over twenty one,” Finch answered. “You start with two cards, call for more, stay to keep what you have. Dealer has to call up to sixteen, and you can see one of the cards he has.”

Huh. A lightbulb lit up in my head, as though a tiny, dark corner had suddenly become viewable for me. Not too dissimilar to the reaction I had to the festival earlier today, actually.

I turned back around to Finch, with significantly less hesitation than before. “So…it’s Blackjack…?”

“Black–what now?” Finch raised an eyebrow.

I nodded my head feverishly. “Yeah, yeah! Blackjack is just what I call it. I used to play it all the time, now that I think about it! You can do splits to double your earnings and- right, when the dealer has an Ace your chances of winning go way down. In general the dealer wins more often, but uh…” I had to stop myself before this got out of hand.

Yeah, it was weird. After remembering that word I saw a flash of vague images, concepts, and rules that clicked into my brain like puzzle pieces. Except unlike the roller coasters and churros, these memories—if you could call them that—sloshed around in my skull like a gentle stream rather than a raging waterfall. I still found myself smiling more and more as I thought about it, either way.

Finch crossed his arms. “Where do you come from, Ozzy?” he asked skeptically. “I’ve never heard it called that before.”

Oh shit uh-

But rather than let that trip me up, I smirked and said, “Beat me in a game and maybe I’ll tell you.”

Thankfully, he returned the smirk and hopped off the bed. “Fair game. I’ll play the dealer—got a lot of questions for you.”

“Great!” I hopped off after him. Now to not lose a single game…

Before I could follow him, though, I glanced down to see that the dolphin plush had fallen down with me. I had almost forgotten about it.

Cosmo, who was floating over my shoulder, noticed it, too. “Ooh, what is that?” he wondered.

“Oh right,” I said. Scratching my chest, I leaned down and picked up the plush before holding it up for Cosmo to see. “This is for you, Cosmo. It’s a friend.”

Intrigue creeped into his voice. “A…friend?”

“Yeah! So you don’t get so lonely while we’re out. Here, go…play with him for a bit.” Shortly after I held out the plush, it floated upwards thanks to Cosmo’s telekinetic grasp. Turns out it wasn’t too much for him to grab and hold, so that was good.

“Oooh…” he uttered, his eyes shimmering brightly behind his bubble. The plush, now up to eye level with the Solosis, stared back at him with a blank, empty expression, and a vacant smile. On par with most other plushies, I would think. And really, I was joking about the “friend” part, but Cosmo seemed to take it very literally.

Well, I guess kids do that sometimes. He even gave it a name. “Juanfinsimo…” was what he whispered with reverence. Way more reverence than he ever gave me. “A sidekick…Cosmo always wanted a partner to fight crime with…”

Almost in what looked like a trance, Cosmo then floated off to a corner of the room with Juanfinsimo in his grip. He kept mumbling the whole time…

Kids do that…right?

…

…Eh, it’s probably good for him.

Cosmo could spend some time by himself for a bit. In the meantime, I wanted to know what Finch meant when he said he was leaving. By the time I plopped down opposite of the croc, he was busy collecting and shuffling the cards of the deck.

There was clearly an apt amount of practice behind Finch’s deck shuffling; he didn’t even need to look. The satisfying sound of thin cardboard flipping and shifting against thin cardboard made my whiskers twitch. The cards themselves had quite a bit of discoloration to them; some were even chipped and torn in some places. It wouldn’t have surprised me if there was a card or two missing and Finch never noticed.

What did surprise me was that, despite not being able to understand the footprint language the pokemon here used, the numbers on these cards were as clear as day to me.

He chuckled. “So, you say you’ve played the game before, huh? Must be pretty good, then.”

I clicked my tongue playfully. “I’m not supposed to answer any questions yet, Finch. Get too cocky and you might never know.”

Two cards slid across the floor and halted a few inches from my crossed legs in one swift motion—a king and a 5. The deck hadn’t even been set down yet and we were already starting.

Finch pulled two cards for himself—one face down and the other a 2. “Alright, wise guy,” the Krokorok dealer said, “gonna stay or call?”

But it was a false start, obviously. I shot back with, “Weren’t we supposed to cut the deck first?”

I couldn’t even begin to describe the incredulity on Finch’s face. “…What are you trying to say here, Ozzy?”

“That’s what you’re supposed to do before you start playing. The player cuts the deck, usually with a divider. If we don’t do that then it’s not fair.”

“…”

With a long sigh, Finch picked up the four cards off the floor, reshuffled them into the deck, shuffled the deck a couple more times, then held the deck out to me. “Cut it.”

I didn’t have a divider so I cut the deck one card from the top. Finch opted not to comment on this.

Back into the fray! 7 and 8 for me, queen for Finch. Oddly enough, I ended up with the same total as before. Finch once again asked me, “Call or stay?”

When it comes to hitting and standing, the odds of busting increases as the numbers go up. 16 and 17 could get really murky, but standing on 15 was a quick way to lose the round. That queen made it a little risky, though…

“I’m gonna call,” I stated, knocking on the floor.

Finch pulled a card for me and placed it face up next to the others. A 4—not bad.

“Risky business,” Finch taunted. “Gonna stay?”

It made more sense to keep the 19 that I had, but if he had an ace I was screwed. But if he didn’t then I’d be busting for nothing. Ultimately, “Stay” was my answer. For a first hand I was pretty happy with what I got.

“Ohohoho! He’s gonna stay…let’s see how that works out for him…” With purposeful slowness, Finch flipped his second card…

A 7—meaning that he was two points below my 19 and he couldn’t draw more. Nice. Finch’s jaw dropped the second that card was flipped.

I pumped my fist in success, then leaned forward with a smug look on my face. “So, you were saying?”

The disgruntled croc collected the five used cards and placed them in a discard pile, growling under his breath as he did so. “Ergh…I already told your bonfire buddy, so I’ll keep it brief: I got too confident. When I caught wind of Turaco at Micle I thought it’d be a good chance to earn your trust. But as soon as we got back Big Mama was sniffing at our backsides, and now a lot of pokemon are gonna be in danger.”

I raised an eyebrow, confused. “My trust…?” There was a lot to unpack there. But I think the last thing Finch mentioned caught my attention the most. “Wait, what do you mean-“

Finch stopped me by holding up a claw. “I’m not done yet,” he said. “All you need to know is that, because I didn’t teach you a specific mind chant right away, Anemone’s goons are gonna be breaking down Clamperl’s Dream’s doors. I need to warn them. And a letter won’t cut it.”

“Mind chant…?” Now I was even more confused. Did he really plan that far ahead? “What does that mean?”

He shook his head and told me to “Get lucky first.” Two cards were placed on my side—a 2 and a 3. Finch also added, “Or, like you said, you might never know.” Two cards on his side, too—one face down and the other a 6.

My face scrunched up in annoyance. Already, I had as many as ten separate questions to ask. What would Finch have done if I hadn’t offered to bring him onto the team? Had his goal been to gain my trust this whole time? He had a weird way of going about it. Also, this “mind chant” was driving me nuts just thinking about it. What could it mean…

Heh. I guess that was what made the game so fun. Just as quickly as my fur was starting to stand on end, I cracked my neck self-assuredly and knocked on the floor with my fist. “Hit me.”

A card was drawn and slid to my side. Another 3. Rolling low this time around.

“Hit me,” I said again.

I got an 8, doubling my total. Honestly, I should have stopped there. 16 had some of the deadliest odds. But I was on a roll, baby! For the third time, I said, “Hit me.”

After Finch pulled yet another card, he sucked in air through his teeth, making a hissing sound. “Oooh…that’s a bust,” the croc whispered mockingly.

“Damn…” It was. My face fell at the sight of the jack next to my current total. Confidence really killed the…Dewott. Or something like that. That can’t have been how that saying went…

With the cards from the previous round discarded (Finch didn’t even turn over his other card), it was Finch’s turn to ask a question. He clapped his hands together and flashed a grin of sharp, yellow fangs. “Alright! I’ll give you an easy one: why can’t you leave the castle?”

I sighed. Easy, he says…

“Same reason you’re in trouble, really,” I explained. “Anemone heard about us going to Micle and decided that I can’t leave her sight anymore.” I avoided Finch’s eyes. “I might’ve…also pissed her off. That’s part of it.” Not much more needed to be said than that. That information was concerning enough; Finch didn’t need to know about the ghost in the floorboards.

Finch narrowed his eyes, tapping his knee with a finger. “Why would she need you so close…” he muttered, more as a question for himself than me.

I shrugged quickly. “Let’s go another round.” Though as soon as I said that, I regretted it. Finch didn’t know because—at this point—I hadn’t even told him about my amnesia yet. And after showing him that I could spontaneously play cards…I had to wonder if I should.

Either way, we started the next round. The dealer ended up with a 5, while I got a 4 and an ace. About damn time.

Cool thing about aces was that they added a bit more choice to the game. Since it counted as a 1 or 11 depending on the circumstance, I could call or stay and avoid busting pretty easily.

…Unless I get another ace. Which I did. Now at a total of 6, I frowned at my options. Funnily enough, the “Aura” card was designed with this bright, blue flame—most likely to symbolize the capabilities and potential of Lucario and their powers.

It reminded me of Neo, the Fencer. What an asshole that guy was. In remembrance of him, I called, and got a 6. I frowned deeper when I called again and ended up with a king, leading to a bust.

Bad thoughts lead to bad luck, I thought spitefully.

“I’m starting to think you like losing,” Finch teased as he discarded the cards I just pulled.

“Just ask your question,” I grumbled with crossed arms.

The next one Finch had was easy to see coming. His wording made me cringe, though: “What makes you so important, huh? It’s like…Big Mama has custody over you. That normal?”

That, I didn’t know. But judging by Anemone’s…methods, I was sure that expulsion was more plausible than detention. For others, at least. Not for me.

“Uh…no, it isn’t,” I answered with gritted teeth. My tail shook nervously behind me. “I think. And…okay, this is going to sound a bit crazy…”

Finch slowly raised an eyebrow.

Yeah, he probably thought that Anemone actually had custody over me now. My tail started shaking even more. So to keep my tail from flying off, I fought past the nervousness and blurted it out.

“I have, um…amnesia.”

“…Amnesia,” Finch plainly repeated back to me.

I held up my paws defensively. “I’m being serious! I woke up just outside of town and got dropped off here. Anemone’s been keeping an eye on me—helping me.” I almost added air quotes to that last part. “She got freaked out after I was gone for too long and decided to put me on lockdown for a while.”

If Finch’s increasingly narrowed eyes were any indication, the omission of relevant details didn’t help my case at all. Thinking back on it, I should’ve been more open. This was not a case of Anemone looking out for me; the bitch outright hated me and wanted me to suffer. Hell, it wasn’t like Finch wouldn’t empathize.

Maybe it was just a side effect of my hesitation. Either way, Finch was clearly having a hard time believing it.

“…Really,” he said, stone faced.

“Yes!” I reaffirmed.

He growled under his breath. “Gentlemon’s agreement. I’ll ask more if I win again.”

My tail finally stopped shaking. Why did that actually make me feel relieved?

For the next round, I’ll spare the details. Finch landed a 9, I won with a queen, a 3, and an 8. Perfect 21; the only way Finch could have won was with a blackjack. But without a face card or an ace to begin with, there was no chance, aside from a stalemate.

I used the opportunity to pry more into what Finch was planning. His “true intentions,” if you will. I asked him, “Do you think I trust you now?”

Finch snorted as he placed the used cards into the rapidly growing discard pile. “Too late for that now,” he said. “For the record, this isn’t a game to me. I was being genuine when I said I wanted to be friends.”

“I never said you weren’t.”

He nodded. “I know. But it’s worth repeating. All I wanted was to make sure we were on close terms before jumping into politics.”

Politics, huh? I nearly groaned out loud. Last thing I needed was to be dragged into the nonsensical state of affairs of magical animals. Yes, I know that I had already been plopped into the center of it all, but the less I engaged with it, the better.

“Anyway,” he continued, “all you need to know is that I have personal and political reasons for wanting to be here in particular. Before you and your little friends came rummaging around, Ozzy, I was working on finding a way into this castle, myself. You just helped me skip a few steps.”

“Personal?” Dammit, I still needed to ask about the mind chant.

But the cards had already been drawn. “Don’t rush, now.”

Fifth game, Finch won again. 5, 4, and 8 for me. Two 9’s for Finch. The deck was starting to get a bit slim…

Then came the question I was worried about…

Well, it was less like a question and more like a request. If my whiskers hadn’t been quivering with so much anxiety I might have grilled Finch for breaking his own rules.

“So,” Finch started, casually resting his chin in his claw, “mind telling me more, ‘Mr. Amnesiac?'”

Alright, let me give an actual answer this time.

I sighed. “Not much more to add, honestly. I woke up in a flowerfield, was guided to the castle by a team of bounty hunters, met Fenn somewhere along the way, and Anemone gave me a place to stay with the caveat that I join the guild.”

“That sounds uncharacteristically charitable of her.”

“That’s because it is,” I scoffed. “Any horror stories you might have heard about her are true. Anemone’s not the most pleasant pokemon to talk to.”

Understatement of the century. No, millennia. Whichever made me gag more.

Finch scratched his chin in thought. “Alright, but why?”

I simply shrugged in response. My humanity was obviously the reason, but after talking with Calluna I wasn’t so sure if that was the only reason. Telling Finch about that part was not necessary.

“And what about Fenn?” Finch prodded further.

“What about him?”

The ground type gestured to nothing in particular, trying to find the words. “You know, your relationship with him? Just wondering. What were you planning on doing today?”

Despite knowing that the current turn was over, I humored Finch for a moment. I might not have understood why any of this mattered, but if he was being serious about becoming friends…I don’t know, maybe it wouldn’t hurt? There was something so awkward about having to explain this after keeping it in my head for so long—but it was also refreshing, in a way.

“Well, me and Fenn were gonna head back to his hometown…” I trailed off while scratching the back of my head. What a friend I was, forgetting what Fenn’s hometown was called. “Essentially, his dad is a bit overbearing and I was going to help confront him.”

“What for?”

That…was a good question. At the time I chose to respect his privacy. But would it really have been so out of line for me to know what I was getting into?

I frowned at the floor. “…I don’t actually know,” I answered. “But judging from what I know about Fenn and his family, he probably wanted to prove himself, or something.” I looked back up at Finch, still frowning. “I just wanted to be there for him, but he insisted on going alone. It was so frustrating because in the end I didn’t get to have a choice. Now I don’t even know where he is.”

“How far away is his family?”

I pointed over my shoulder. “Like an hour’s walk. If I wasn’t grounded I could go right after him.” I couldn’t stop myself from groaning if I tried. “I’m not being facetious when I say this was the worst possible day this could’ve happened. I’m still mad.” The fur on the back of my neck bristled just thinking about it.

There. Finch got his answer. Probably not the one he was expecting, judging by the pensive look on his face, but it was what he got.

Finch snarled, “That’s not right. Hate to say it—all of that’s probably on me. If I had known about any of this, I would’ve held off. Sorry…”

I can’t say I was expecting actual regret and self-reflection from this Krokorok; he never seemed the type. In retrospect, I spent so much time stressing over what to do that I never looked to anyone else for help. After all, it was clear that I wasn’t going to get it, especially not with something so personal.

So seeing Finch being all genuine and thoughtful…I bit my cheek. “I just never thought to bring it up,” I reiterated. “Convincing Fenn to let me tag along became my whole life for a few days. I was so focused on that that I didn’t realize how much I was depending on it. Now…I don’t know what to do. I guess…ugh. Nevermind…”

What else was there to do? Hope Fenn spent the day at the bar getting hammered instead of going home, so sometime down the line I could try again? Then what?

Well, before then, I kept playing. Finch was already doling out the cards, more somber than before. “Don’t worry about it right now,” he said. “You’re not a bad player, Ozzy. If you’ve got nothing else, hold onto that.”

That was a really good point! I might have been a numbskulled, raggedy otter stuck in a ditch with no clear way of climbing out, but apparently I was a solid gambler. Could be worse!

And hey, I won the next round. Vindication! Finch shuffled the deck with the discard pile afterwards so I’m not going to bother mentioning what cards were played. As for the question, I knew exactly what to ask.

“What’s this ‘mind chant’ you brought up?”

A moment earlier Finch had prompted me to cut the deck again. Directly in half was what I chose, and he did so as he explained. “It’s a lot less fancy than you’re probably thinking. You just repeat a few of these phrases in your head and they’re supposed to keep the queen from reaching too far. Recite it over and over again and it works like a puzzle she has to solve, from what I heard.”

“What?” I physically flinched and my whiskers twitched furiously. “Why am I only hearing about this now?”

You’ve gotta be kidding me! You’re telling me there was a way to keep Anemone from getting into my head and I’m only just now hearing about it?

Clearly there was a catch. “Like I told ya, I needed your trust first,” Finch stated calmly. “Didn’t realize that it would only take a day for Big Mama to invite you to her playroom. How is it, by the way?”

“The throne room?” I asked, before scoffing. “Shitty.” With that, I leaned forward. “So, how does it go?”

Finch waved me off. “Doesn’t matter now. Oh, and that was another thing. It was never actually tested, as far as I know. Well- it works on other psychic types—I know that. And you have to keep it going the whole time-“

“Anemone would just break my limbs before I’d even get to use it,” I cut him off. As tantalizing as that idea sounded, my enthusiasm for it dropped to nothing immediately. How disappointing.

I shrugged. “Oh well. Wish I could have had that earlier, but…”

“…Yeah,” Finched sighed. “Just forget about it.”

Before he could so much as draw another card, a cheery voice caught us both by surprise. Cosmo’s voice, of course.

“Ooh! Ooh! Cosmo wants to play now! Cosmo and Juanfinsimo will be the dealers! The most heroic dealers!”

There he was, eagerly floating above the two of us with his new pal, Juanfinsimo—hovering akimbo like some sort of dastardly duo. Color me impressed; they were practically inseparable already.

“Sure, sure, buddy,” I said. I turned to Finch expectantly. “Move over, grandpa. You’re being usurped.”

A low, rumbly chuckle arose from the croc’s throat. “Yeah, yeah…” he grumbled…and then snatched Juanfinsimo out of the air when nobody expected it! “So nice of you to bring me my plushie, Cosmo! I’ve been lookin’ all over for him!”

Cosmo cried, “What, nooooo! Give him baaaaack!” Despite his efforts to take the plush from Finch’s claws, nothing seemed to work. The Krokorok was, after all, a dark type. All Cosmo could really do was cry and bounce around pitifully.

It was kinda funny, for a little. I might have laughed a tiny bit. But when the little guy started sniffling both Finch and I backed down. He’d be fine, but still. Cosmo didn’t deserve to be bullied that harshly.

Anyway, the seventh round of “Bolt Break” started with Cosmo at the helm and both me and Finch going one at a time. I was pretty skeptical about Cosmo’s actual capability to be the dealer, but boy did he prove me wrong.

“Whoa!” I exclaimed. That Solosis doled out our starters with such finesse and skill that it made me wonder if he was literally born to play cards. I could barely see them before they were placed down, let alone when they were being flung through the air.

I didn’t know how old Cosmo was—he was young, obviously. Most kids wouldn’t have the patience to sit down and learn how to play a card game. Granted, Blackjack wasn’t too complicated…

Maybe he was gifted, I don’t know. Either way, here was the set up: king for Cosmo, 7 and 3 for me, and a 9 and 6 for Finch. We had decided beforehand that we would draw for each person until they wanted to stand. I went first, and after calling once, I ended up with a 6.

A total of 16. Hm.

I grimaced at the collection of cards in front of me. There were a few things that bothered me about my standing in the game at that moment. For one, Cosmo had a face card. A very, very dangerous position to be in because it meant that I was potentially at a loss already.

Not only was there a chance that he had an ace face down, but he could have had a card that would cause him to stand immediately. And if that was the case, staying would guarantee my loss. So I had to take a risk, right?

Well…I kind of didn’t want to. If I busted then that meant Finch wouldn’t have to try as hard. I mean, he already had a 15 in total. No doubt he would call here. But if he busted and I didn’t call then I could hit him with the bragging rights. We weren’t playing for keeps here, just information. I didn’t need to win; Finch just needed to lose.

I could feel the sweat dripping down my forehead and my fingers trembling as I placed my hand on the floor. “I’ll stay,” I stated firmly. I swear, this level of anxiety hadn’t hit me since the last time I was in a mystery dungeon.

Finch chuckled derisively, confidently. “You would stay on 16.” He snapped his fingers at Cosmo. “Give me one.”

He got a 5. Welp.

“…Well, that didn’t work out,” I muttered incredulously, my shoulders slouched.

With his arms crossed and a big toothy grin on his face, Finch leaned over to me. “Look at that, Ozzy,” he sneered. “If you called, you would have won. Ha! How’s that feel?”

“BOLT BREAK!” Cosmo suddenly shouted out.

Both Finch and I swung our heads in Cosmo’s direction, only to see that next to his face card…was an ace. Cosmo beat both of us.

Immediately, Finch’s face fell. All of that confidence was just gone. “…Oh.”

Then it was my turn to gloat. “It feels nice knowing that luck doesn’t discriminate,” I calmly answered Finch’s dig at me. “Guess this means that Cosmo gets to ask a question now.” I glanced between the distraught Finch and the overjoyed Cosmo, smiling the whole time. “Or two, one for each of us.”

Cosmo’s cheeks went red from how wide he was smiling. “Two? Two!” he cheered. The liquid inside the purple Solosis’ bubble sloshed around as he looked between me and Finch several times, contemplating who to question first…

Eventually, he stopped on the croc sitting next to me. “Hmmm…Uncle Finch, why do you do that thing with your fingers so much?”

Finch furrowed his brows as he looked down at his claws. “You mean…the finger snaps?” He snapped his fingers together after saying the last word.

“Yes!” Cosmo confirmed. “It makes a funny noise! Cosmo wishes he could do that.”

I sure am glad Cosmo doesn’t have hands!

I don’t think there was a possible question Cosmo could have asked that would have made me appear any more grumpy. The last thing I wanted was for Cosmo to pick up another one of Finch’s shticks. This one in particular was the one that defined Finch, though. Turaco outright called him “Snapper Finch” like that was what he was known for. The guy must have walked into every place he’s ever been in and started snapping his fingers until people gave him a nickname for it.

Why exactly? I was curious, too. Even more so after he gave the stupidest answer I’ve ever heard.

“It’s something I got from my mom. Not much more to it than that. She used to do it all the time.”

Really? I would have respected it more if he didn’t even have a reason. Why would someone need a reason to snap their fingers? Finch did, apparently.

I was so flummoxed by it that I mentally prepared myself to pry more into Finch’s absurd home life out of spite, but beforehand Cosmo asked me his other question.

“Oswald, who is Ane- Amene- Aneemo- Eenem- Anemoo- bleh! Ane-mone?” he innocently wondered. “Cosmo keeps hearing about her…”

My jaw hung open. The blank stare on my face could not have been more vacant even if my eyes were pointing in different directions and drool was leaking from my mouth. At no point during my jaunty adventures in pokemon land did it ever occur to me that Cosmo didn’t know who Anemone was. For some reason I just assumed that he would pick it up from someone other than me.

That wasn’t the case, obviously. And now I was short-circuiting. “Uh…well, she’s the-“

Leader? Ruler? Queen? Mother? Big Boss? Dictator?

“-main decision-maker of the castle,” I eventually decided. “I went to go meet her again today. She gets to choose how the castle is run, though she’s a bit…intimidating. That’s why people tend to talk about her a lot.”

As far as kid friendly descriptions of the queen bee is concerned, that was about as sanitized as it was going to get for me.

Someone else in the room had other ideas, however.

It took me a moment to realize it, but Finch had been glaring at me the entire time. His crocodilian eyes bored into me like he was trying to use a psychic move on me; it made the fur on the back of my neck stand on end.

I looked back at him. “…What?” I said quietly, disjointedly.

“…You’re kidding, right?” Finch growled.

Oh, is that how it is?

I sighed in irritation. “Okay, Finch. What makes you think you have a better way to describe her?” In a way that didn’t make Cosmo terrified for his life. Hint hint.

Much to my chagrin, Finch stole the spotlight from me with no remorse. He rubbed his claws together and grinned. “Because I have more context. Sit down, boys. I’m gonna teach you some history.”

I was already sitting down, unfortunately. And now Cosmo was, too (as well as a Solosis could), fully engrossed in what Finch was about to say. He looked on in awe. I just scowled.

After clearing his throat, the Krokorok broke the ice with, “So, it all started thirty or so years ago. The Psychic Wars. Heard of it?”

A vague idea. I nodded.

He continued. “Quick recap: it was a massive world war that started when a bunch of psychics across Pamtre decided that all of these treasures and artifacts belonged to them. Something about ‘psychic superiority,’ too. But that’s only scratching the surface; it was actually primarily about land disputes and historical landmarks. You know, the human crap.”

I winced, but kept it quiet.

“By the way,” Finch started by waving his hand, “Anemone wasn’t around for this yet. I’m just setting down the groundwork. Enigma was involved, obviously. Talk to the older folks around here and they’ll tell you all about it. What we had going on thirty years ago was unique because it was more a conflict of opportunity—a civil war between ‘royalty’ and rebels.

“The rebels were led by this Grimmsnarl named…Carnation.”

I couldn’t help but notice that Finch’s eyes took on a certain glow when he started talking about this historical figure. If I hadn’t been looking directly at him I could’ve been able to tell that he was smiling, just by his voice.

“Let me tell ya, Ozzy, Cosmo,” Finch grinned widely, “Carnation was my hero. Still is. He was a hero to a lot of mons. What he believed was that this castle we’re in right now? It belonged to everyone. Even the dirty freaks in the slimiest corners of this continent you can think of.

“Him and Mallard, his second in command, were dead set on proving to the world that you don’t have to be some prissy royal to live safely. It’s a dangerous world out there, and there’s a fortress big enough to fit all of us, right here.”

With that, he pointed to himself proudly. “I’ve got a goal to live up to his ideals. No one deserves to be left behind, especially when you’ve got everything you need, right in the center of it all.”

Cosmo’s eyes were sparkling by the time Finch was done. “Wow…” he uttered.

I could understand what Finch was saying. I even sort of agreed with it. But uh… “What does this have to do with Anemone?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Right…” Finch mumbled. “I was getting to that.”

I think you got carried away there, dude, I thought.

Finch cleared his throat. “Anyways, the rebels didn’t win. They got stamped out in the war.” His brows suddenly furrowed. “Not just them, either. The royals were wiped out at the same time. Completely out of nowhere. And who comes in right after?”

Gee, I wonder where this is going.

That was a joke. But Cosmo genuinely wanted to know, and asked in such a shaky voice. “Wh-who was it?”

With a long, clawed finger, Finch pointed upwards, all while glancing between Cosmo and I with shifty eyes. “It’s the Gardevoir. The queen. Anemone.”

Cosmo gulped. “H-how did she do it?”

“She can read minds…” Finch whispered.

“Up to a certain distance,” I added dully. “She can’t hear you right now, Cosmo.” Up to this point I could fill in some of the gaps. Finch obviously wasn’t trying to be all that tactful so I corrected him when I could.

Fortunately, my correction seemed to calm Cosmo a little, only for Finch’s next detail to send him into shivers all over again.

“She has stronger psychic powers than any living pokemon…” Finch said dramatically. “Even stronger than you, Cosmo.”

The little psychic bubble shrunk in on himself.

“Not really,” I explained. “I kind of doubt it considering how old she is now. She’s strong…but not strong enough to do what you’re implying…”

Both Finch and I shot each other a side-eye.

The croc continued with, “Well…she got away with it in the end. I don’t remember any election, either.”

But I wasn’t having it. “Clearly it was decided internally.” I rolled my eyes. “I don’t like Anemone either, Finch. But you’re jumping to conclusions.”

“You’re telling me that after today you don’t think she’s capable of it?” Finch shook his head. “That witch has her hands in every pocket of this continent. That’s some power. You don’t get that kind of power by acting nice or playing fair.”

I blinked. “What? W-witch- okay.” Time to simmer down. “You have never met her in person, Finch. I have seen first hand how threatening she can be. And you know what?” I threw up my arms. “I agree with you! She doesn’t act nice; she doesn’t play fair. But saying she showed up one night and just took over—that’s insane!”

“And you know? The Dewott with the amnesia?” Finch scoffed. “Yeah, I’ve never met her in person. But I’ve talked to mons that have. You wouldn’t believe the kinds of things they told me. All of it made sense.”

“Really? Really.” I crossed my arms in indignation. “Try me.”

“Ever wonder why the weather is so erratic around Kebia Castle?”

“No. Because I just changed my mind. I don’t want to listen to this.” Quickest turnaround I’ve ever had. Even if I was slightly interested in finding out where he was going with that…no. I knew it was a slippery slope to crazy town.

Besides, I couldn’t help but notice that the little psychic that asked the question in the first place had shriveled up like a raisin. Cosmo’s bubble was shivering like mad.

“…And now look at what you did,” I sighed, gesturing towards Cosmo.

The anger on Finch’s face didn’t dissipate, even when he looked and saw what his tirade led to. But after a few moments his facial features softened. Guilt seemed to flash across his face, however slight it might have been. “…Ergh. There’s your answer.”

We played another round after that. Cosmo recovered relatively quickly, though he hardly had anything else to say. I could tell that it stopped being fun for him.

I won, by the way. Not really important how; none of us seemed to be too into it after that last round. But I really only had one more question, anyway. I asked it after Finch gave me a familiar but unexpected compliment.

“You’re not bad at this, Oswald,” he said. “For a scatterbrain, that is.” The smallest smirk curled onto his lips before fading away.

With a shrug, I guessed that, “I might have been good at cards in my past life. It’s weird, because I don’t even remember my parents. But I know how to play cards…and I don’t know why.” Which reminded me of something. “Speaking of, what was your mother like, Finch? I recall you mentioning her.” This was me prying into his absurd home life like I said I wanted to earlier.

“Hah!” the sand gator laughed heartily. “What I wouldn’t do to have her answer that for you…” He looked off into the distance, his eyes glittering with memories long cherished. “She was the kind of Krookodile that earned every minute of her life. ‘Work to live, live to work.’ That’s what she always said.” His bright smile bled into his words. “‘Course that also meant I grew up in a sling around her shoulders while she worked the mill. Home is just for sleep, you know?”

So, a workaholic. I frowned. Something was missing here.

“Okay…but how’d you end up…like this?” I asked, sheepishly gesturing to his whole self.

Finch laughed again. “A lot of older folks I talk to go on and on about the hard work. How it’s all about building character and becoming independent. Well, hard work doesn’t make things easier when the deck is stacked against you.”

After picking up a card and flashing it at me—an ace that I had just used to win—he said, “You gotta play your cards, and sometimes hoping for an Aura card doesn’t cut it. You have to do what you have to.”

I grimaced. I seriously hoped that Cosmo wasn’t getting any ideas. Last I looked he was more preoccupied with his new plush than the game, thankfully.

“And she was okay with that?” I wondered.

“No,” the ground type answered humorlessly, that glitter in his eyes now gone. “But I wasn’t about to let her work herself to death, even if she felt that she had to. Didn’t matter in the end, but at least I tried.”

I couldn’t deny that. As much as I didn’t agree with it, the last thing Finch did was let it get the better of him. And I could respect him for that.

Solemnly, I nodded. “Must have been hard after the war.”

Finch growled scornfully. “Don’t get me started. Folks like my mom who supported Carnation weren’t exactly given the best jobs. I grew up near Lansat, where the crime was the worst. It’s not like I had a choice…”

“Your mom supported Carnation?”

“She looked up to him!” Finch’s eyes lit up again at the mere mention of that historical Grimmsnarl. “Anybody who earned their weight in pokè back then did.” But then he deflated with a sigh. “Still wish I could meet him. I used to think that, someday, he’d come back from the dead and fix all of my problems.” He shook his head bitterly. “Then I grew up.”

Damn…

I gave Finch a sympathetic look, my whiskers drooping.

Must be nice to have someone to look up to like that—and have a methodology to fall back on even when everything seems so confusing. I doubt Finch ever thought about whether or not he was doing the right thing, because what was right was already made clear for him.

Me, I don’t know. What’s right and what’s wrong, who to trust and who not to trust…

That’s the thing, isn’t it? Without even a basis to work off of, I was screwed from the get-go. No aspirations, no goals, no desires, no friends—I’m incapable, weak, and completely helpless. Finding help ended up being a challenge, too.

But I know who and what I am. And above all else I can’t let every setback distract me from what I need to be looking for: answers. I’ll let my identity and what little I do know guide me if needed.

“…I’m sorry to hear that, Finch,” I said. All of this talk about goals and childhood heroes left me feeling wistful. In a way, I wanted what Finch had, even if he technically didn’t have anything.

“Yeah, yeah…” the croc muttered as he placed the used cards into a discard pile. “We’ve all gotta move on eventually. What about you, Ozzy? What do you plan to do next?”

The game was practically over at this point, so there was no reason in telling Finch to win again. It certainly helped that this question was something that had been swirling around in my brain since this morning.

I needed a way to work towards my goal. Only problem was that accomplishing said goal was next to impossible without being able to leave the castle. Either I needed to find a way to get out of here or I needed to find someone to search for answers in my stead. Both were easier said than done.

In a moment of aimlessness, I scratched the scalchop on my hip in thought. It never ceased to amaze me how comforting it was to know that they were still there, despite everything.

“Well, I’m not really sure. My biggest objective is to figure out how I got here and who caused it. Maybe get back at the guy who thought it was so funny to take away my memories, too.”

Also needed to figure out how I’d be able to go back home, but telling Finch about my humanity made even less sense than telling Fenn. A part of me believed that Oleander was lurking in the shadows not just to keep me from leaving but to break my neck in case I let it slip.

A little dramatic, sure. Although, again, I didn’t know what to expect from Calluna.

Finch flicked a card in his claw with a finger on his other claw a few times, also thinking. He felt the need to remind me that, “You seem really sure that someone caused it. What if you just hit your head?”

Because that would be fucking stupid.

It was not Finch’s fault that he lacked all of the details. I might have woken up with a headache, but that did not explain all of the things I saw in the dungeons and the freaks wanting a piece of me.

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter,” I said. “There was someone I wanted to meet up with before today, before I met with Anemone. Now that I can’t leave the castle, there’s not much I can do there. It was my only lead.”

“Iris, right?” Finch narrowed his eyes. “The woman Turaco mentioned?” He said that slowly, in a way that gave me the impression that he was finding it hard to believe the words coming out of his mouth.

“Yeah.” My tail rose and hit the floor lightly behind me without my say. Boy was I glad that Finch remembered. Saved me the trouble of explaining it while Oleander was listening.

Stroking his chin, Finch grumbled something under his breath. “Hmm…it’d be out of the way…”

“What?”

He looked me square in the eyes—sizing me up—determining my resolve. “…I could go find her for you and come back,” Finch eventually told me. “I was already planning on leaving for a bit. Only problem is that it wouldn’t be my priority, and if my guess is correct I might be too late.”

Better than nothing. For some reason I didn’t think to ask the croc right in front of me. I guess I just forgot.

“Can you?” I pleaded before reining it in. “I mean…I feel like I’d be asking for a lot from you.”

Turned out it wasn’t an issue. Finch scoffed confidently. “I’ve done a lot more for a lot less. Consider it payback after screwing up so badly.”

Well that…made things a little better, I guess. With a smile, I nodded. My tail whacked the ground behind me, louder than before. “Thanks, Finch.”

“Don’t mention it. Now…what other games do you know how to play?”

A lot more than I initially thought. After some guesswork and comparing existing games in this world, it turned out that I knew how to play Poker, Go Fish, War, Solitaire, and even Crazy Eights. I absolutely knew more. Those were just the ones I could recognize and Finch knew how to play.

For about an hour Finch and I played Go Fish (Go Magikarp) while Cosmo kept to himself. Some more smalltalk was exchanged, but none of it was particularly substantial or interesting. Pretty soon the sleepy, orange glow of the sun poured into the room, cascading across the floor like an encroaching tide.

Day turned to night like a candle gradually losing the strength of its flame, and I had no one there to light it for me. Eventually, I had to squint just to see the numbers on the cards.

It was only right before it became impossible to see that I heard a familiar click at the door, followed by the slow creak of the door’s hinges.

I assumed that I would be prepared. All day had passed and I had gone through this scenario in my head over and over again. But even still, I shot up from my sitting position without a second thought and nearly fell right back onto my face. A sharp pain in my side coincided with the harsh beating of the heart in my chest; I was out of breath within seconds.

But I got to the door an instant before Fenn’s eyes became visible. Nothing could stop me.

“FENN!” I shouted breathlessly. “F-Fenn, are you…?”

At first, I wasn’t sure if it was even Fenn that I was looking at. Between the encroaching shadows and my panting, the pokemon I saw in front of me looked like a blueish, battered blob. It was only after the Quilava lifted his head did I see that familiar shade of crimson.

Dull, dreary, cloudy eyes. If there was a flame there, it was gone now.

Confused and horribly afraid to the extent that I was left speechless for a moment, I had to fight the urge to fling question after question at Fenn. He hadn’t even taken a step inside yet. But the sheer guilt of seeing him like this made me want to start ripping my fur out.

To my complete and utter surprise, Fenn spoke. It was hardly audible, though. Barely more than a whisper. “O-oh…hi, Oswald…”

“…Hey…” I managed to choke out as I breathed heavily. “Welcome back.”

He looked down—an action that made my stomach drop out of reflex. “Yeah…”

“Here,” I said suddenly, standing aside. “Come in.”

Still on two feet, Fenn did so without another word. The room, as I hadn’t taken notice at the time, was deathly silent. Even Cosmo didn’t feel the need to say hi. Fenn stopped a few feet into the room and just stood there, completely still.

It took me a few moments, but I slowly approached Fenn from behind until I was next to him—close to him. He wouldn’t meet my gaze even as I stared directly at him. His focus was…on something else.

Again, the lighting was bad, so I couldn’t tell exactly what I was looking at. But being this close…had he been crying? Either it was just his natural shade of red blending in awkwardly into the whites of his eyes, or they were as puffy as I feared.

I had to know. “Fenn?” I spoke up as softly as I could. “Everything alright? Where have you been?”

“…H-home,” was his simple answer.

I gripped a scalchop on my hip tightly. “How did it go?”

“Fine…” He still wouldn’t look at me.

Do I keep prying…? What should I do?

I looked at my hands, the door, Finch’s inscrutable frown, Cosmo’s worried eyes, the bed, the window, anything—desperate to think fast and confidently.

And after all of that, all that I could come up with was a pathetic and shaky reply. “…You don’t look so good, Fenn. Are you sure?”

“…”

Fenn started rubbing his arm, his movements strained and heavy. “I-I’m gonna go to bed early tonight, if that’s okay,” he muttered. “We can talk…in the morning.”

My breath caught in my throat and I scratched hard at a scalchop. No, no…that couldn’t be it.

“Um…” I murmured sheepishly. “Okay, that’s fine. You look like you need the rest.”

All he did was nod. Nothing more. Not once after entering the room did he look me in the eyes, and I knew that was intentional.

No, no…

Watching Fenn walk towards the bed was like watching him fall from hundreds of feet in the air, the wind whooshing past his ears as he screamed, his body gradually growing smaller and smaller-

NO!

“FennFennwait!” I cried with my arm outstretched. I launched myself forward until I was right in front of the Quilava, blocking his path. My whiskers were frazzled and my fur was standing on end, but I didn’t care. I must have looked insane with how much my paws were trembling.

His ears shot straight up. “W-what-?” Fenn started, before I interrupted him.

“Listen, I know I lied! I know I know I know! But listen, Anemone was lying to you, too! She’s done nothing but make things worse for both of us! Don’t listen to what she has to say!”

“…” Fenn just stared back at me in shock. Spots of his face lit up slightly as tiny embers popped out of his forehead.

“She won’t even let me leave the castle anymore!” I told him hysterically. “But still, I want to make this up to you!”

It was probably the wrong thing to do at the time– actually, no. It was the wrong thing to do. But I held out my paw…and gripped Fenn’s shoulder, rubbing it gently as I possibly could while my whole body was trembling.

Fenn’s eyes followed my paw, more embers dancing across his face and casting shadows past his eyes. As faint as it was, I could see then that yes, his eyes were red and puffy. Wide with confusion and shock.

And for me, all of that pent up frustration and anguish came falling out of my mouth with no semblance of grace. In my eyes, I had reached a new low.

“I don’t know…we can do something together tomorrow,” I said, practically begging. “Just…I want you to know that I care about you and I’m…sorry. I shouldn’t have…”

The spit had reached the back of my throat, forcing me to swallow harshly. I couldn’t keep going from there. I just couldn’t. My fingertips stung from how hard I was scratching, but by all accounts the pain mattered less than the reminder that came with it.

Fenn…seemingly didn’t react. He just looked at me with wide eyes, unmoving. But as soon as I appeared to have run out of steam, his ears drooped a little. A very slight change.

He spoke, albeit just as quietly as before.

“…I-I forgive you, Oswald.”

“W-what?” I blinked. Those words rang in my ears for several seconds after he said them.

“It’s…okay.”

He smiled. He really smiled. It was a big smile, too. The kind of smile that I had been fantasizing about all day.

The trembling didn’t stop. Why didn’t it stop?

“Are…are you sure?”

He nodded.

My fingers were numb.

No…no, it can’t be that easy. Fenn hates me for what I did. I went off and had fun all day while he…while he…

Despondently, I let my paw fall from Fenn’s shoulder, my fingers gently dragging down his arm as it slowly came to a halt at my side.

I was not looking him in the eyes anymore. There was a sort of magnetic repellent keeping me from doing so. In retrospect…I don’t even know why.

“…Okay…” I said hoarsely. “Have…a good sleep…Fenn.”

“…”

The silence ate away at my heart. But if he said anything at all the dam that was my tear ducts would have broken.

Without another word…Fenn walked past me and climbed onto the bed. Although I didn’t see it, Cosmo followed right behind him. He chose to sleep on the bed that night.

I was still trembling.

The last few minutes replayed in my mind several times over, for what felt like hours. Finch, like me, was still standing around. When we met gazes, I didn’t know what to make of his expression. Disappointment? Sympathy? Maybe even anger?

What really bothered me, though, was how everything was fine. It was likely that Fenn was just tired and had a bad day. No big deal, right? We could spend some time tomorrow and talk about it.

Now everything felt numb. From the tip of my tail to the top of my head. It was like I was dreaming, unsure if this was supposed to be a nightmare playing into my fears.

After a bit, I went to touch my chest, only to feel something tickle my paw. Looking down, what I saw made my face scrunch up with disgust.

In one swift, aggravated moment, I ripped the gracidea flower necklace from my neck and held it out in front of me.

I had been wearing it the whole time.

Seething, I crushed a flower in my paw, then I dropped the necklace onto the floor.