Delvers

Chloe ran as fast as her six ledyba legs would allow her, which was surprisingly quickly now that she had gotten the hang of it. She didn’t know how, but she was just barely managing to keep up with Piper, who was weaving around trees and foliage with ease. She’s built to frolic through the grass and leaves, thought Chloe bitterly, and I’m supposed to be flying. Why couldn’t I have been a cute fox, like a vulpix, or a zorua?

She snapped herself out of it. She had to stop thinking about what ifs, her reality right now was this, that she was a ledyba. She scanned the forest ahead for any signs of Piper, spotting the rustle of a bush. Good, she was still on her tail. She scuttled after her, determined not to lose her. If she did, then she’d lose herself in the forest next.

She ran for what felt like eternity on her new little legs, following Piper, or whatever signs of her that she could spot – snapped twigs, disturbed piles of golden leaves, flattened patches of grass. It seemed her amazing tail could only cover her tracks if she was moving more meticulously.

As they ran, the trees started to thin out more and more, and Chloe thought they must be reaching the edge of the forest. She could spot Piper more often now, quite a ways ahead of her but somehow still not able to outrun her. Could Chloe actually catch up? She lowered her head, and broke out into an all out sprint. Her legs burned with the effort. She could do it! She wasn’t going to let that nickit get away from her!

“Ledyba!”

She skidded to a halt, raising her head. She was face to face with Piper. Chloe’s mouth hung open.

“If you go that way, you’ll reach Goldenleaf Town. Happy?” Piper said, gesturing with her head. Had she…

“Have you… been leading me… all this time?” Chloe said through deep breaths. She was tired out!

Piper scoffed. “As if. You’re just lucky you were able to keep up.”

“Then why did you bother to direct me now? You were totally leading me, weren’t you?” Chloe teased. She was a bit embarrassed to learn that Piper was probably letting her keep up the whole time, but it was better than being left lost and alone.

“Think what you want to think, you dumb ledyba,” Piper drawled, turning away and smacking Chloe with her tail, “but here’s where we really do part ways. I was almost late for the big announcement because of you, so scram. Go find a tree to sleep in or something.”

“Big announcement?” Chloe asked, but Piper was done. She rushed off in the opposite direction to the town, leaving Chloe on her own for real.

Chloe stopped, and took a deep breath, assessing her surroundings. She realised that Piper had left her on a dirt path. Piper had gestured that the town could be found if she followed the path left, and had then taken the path right. The same trees still grew all around her, creating a great golden canopy, but they were more sparse and more controlled, so that plenty of light filtered through. Signs of civilisation, she thought. If she followed the path to her left, she would find a real life town built by real life pokémon. The thought made her giddy.

Big announcement? She turned to the right. According to Piper, some kind of big announcement was going to be made, somewhere down this right path. As much as she wanted to see this town… She could see it after whatever this big announcement was, right? There was nothing stopping her from doing that.

Curiosity getting the better of her, she set off down the right path, following in Piper’s footsteps.

---

As she travelled down the path, she noticed a faint hum in the distance. The sound made her nervous, but she pressed on anyway. At the first sign of danger, I can just turn tail and run away, she thought. But the more time she spent alone, the more nervous she became, and it didn’t help that the hum was getting louder. I could have been something big and scary, like a tyrannitar, or a charizard, but nope, ledyba…

Finally, she saw something new in the distance. She cautiously approached, and found the source of the humming: it was a huge crowd of pokémon!

The crowd was very green-brown, and she noticed it was made up of mostly grass types. She saw breloom, lurantis, rillaboom, nuzleaf, rowlet – she even spotted a vileplume, which momentarily set off her fight or flight instincts, until she realised they were making pleasant conversation with a nearby leafeon.

There were more exotic kinds of pokémon around as well, such as a beheeyem, a magnezone and a cryogonal to name a few, but she had to stop playing ‘who’s that pokémon’ or she’d be there forever.

Instead she decided to try and figure out what they were crowding around. The most obvious thing was the building beyond the crowd, towering over them all. It took her breath away. The exterior reminded her of some kind of huge fantasy inn, constructed with wood and cobbled stone. It had three stories, and a quaint thatched roof. Pokémon built this?

It was tricky to make out from her position, but it seemed like a stage had been set up in front of the building. This must be what the crowd was here for, some kind of announcement. But she still didn’t have the details she wanted, so she took a deep breath and approached the crowd.

“E- Excuse me!” she asked, speaking to a nearby manky. The round fuzzy pokémon turned to her curiously. “Do you, um, know what this announcement is about?”

“Well there’s nothing official, but folks are predicting that the Delvers are opening their doors to new recruits for the first time,” the mankey explained. “Besides that, we’re all just hoping to get an update on this here ‘mystery dungeon’ situation.”

“A- Ah,” Chloe stammered, not quite understanding. “Um, what are the Delvers?”

“You don’t know?” the mankey looked shocked, and was about to speak when they heard someone clearing their throat from the stage. The mankey shrugged, as if to say, guess you’re about to find out!

“Thank you all for coming,” a voice boomed from the stage, as everyone stopped their chatter as one, “some of you have clearly travelled a long way, so let me not waste any time today.”

Chloe couldn’t see, the crowd of pokémon was too tall for her to see who was on stage. She jumped up and down like some kind of child, cursing her new size. If I was a girafarig, I could see over all their heads! She started skirting around the edge of the crowd, hunting for an opening, as the voice continued.

“The Mystery Dungeon pandemic. I am sure that is why you are all here today; to hear of our research, any updates, and our continued pledge to the pokémon of this world. I will hand over to Glaceon.”

“Thank you, Empoleon,” said a new voice, presumably Glaceon. Chloe had some faces to put to the voices now, but she’d still like to actually see them. She continued searching for a way to breach the crowd, as Glaceon gave her address.

“It’s been about six months since Mystery Dungeons began manifesting themselves onto our world, completely changing our way of life,” she explained professionally. “Since that time we have made great strides in our understanding of the dungeons, the unique orbs that can only be found within, and most importantly the strange ways these dungeons seem to trap any pokémon who fall prey to the ferals within. We are currently working on a badge system that should improve the safety of rescuers and those who need rescuing both.

As for the cause, we are still struggling to ascertain a source or pattern behind the dungeons. What I need is more information, so I would humbly turn to you fine pokémon. If any of you have any information regarding the dates and times that a dungeon first manifested itself, please, at the end of this presentation, come forward and speak to me. If I can better analyse the patterns of the past dungeons, I hope to find a way to predict the future ones. Thank you.”

There was some shuffling on stage, and the first voice, who had to be Empoleon, spoke again. “Thank you, Glaceon. To reiterate, we are looking for information on the dates and times that dungeons were first encountered. Any small detail will help us save lives in the future.”

Chloe spotted an opening and she took it. She swerved around a torterra, and nestled herself in the middle of the crowd. It was a bit claustrophobic, but the pokémon at the front of the crowd were shorter, and she could now see the stage. Empoleon and Glaceon were front and centre, and she could also see some more pokémon hanging back at the edges of the stage. She didn’t have time to inspect them closely, though, as Empoleon continued her speech,

“I spoke of our pledge,” she said powerfully, “and that has not changed. The Delvers are dedicated to rescuing and protecting all of pokémon-kind from the threat of the Mystery Dungeons, through both action and research. That has not and will not ever change.”

This raised scattered cheers and applause from the crowd, and Chloe couldn’t help but clap her hands along with them. She couldn’t tell if she was making proper clapping noises, though, as her hands were just squishy orbs now.

“And now, a call to arms,” Empoleon continued, the crowd falling into an expectant silence. “Currently, there are only six of us working to this noble cause. It is not enough. We need more.”

A murmur rippled through the crowd, and Empoleon continued over the noise. “Know what you would be signing up for: delving into dungeons is very dangerous, sometimes life-threatening work. To be lost in a dungeon is to risk disappearing forever. It will also be necessary for recruits to move into the Guild for the duration of your work. You must be willing to uproot your entire way of life, and dedicate it to the cause, as the six of us have done.”

This caused a real stir in the crowd now. Chloe could tell that the pokémon around her admired the current Delvers, but were grappling with the dangerous nature of the job, and the fact they’d actually have to up and move in at the Guild, too. Chloe had to admit, it was a tough sell.

But Empoleon had more words. “The six of us truly believe that the Mystery Dungeon threat is the single most serious issue facing us today. We need like-minded individuals to join us in facing this threat. If you are not sure you are capable, fear not – we will work with you, train you, ensure that you become the pokémon you want to be: a protector. A researcher. An expert in your field. You will become a Delver. Please, if you would join us on this crucial journey, step forward.”

Conversation broke out in the crowd, but the overall mood was bolder, more excited. Chloe too felt riled up by Empoleon’s words. She hadn’t realised it until now, but it sounded like this world of pokémon she’d found herself in was going through a crisis.

Could she help?

Chloe shook her head. Her? She’d just got here! She didn’t know how to fight, she still couldn’t fly, heck, she hadn’t realised there was a mystery dungeon epidemic until five minutes ago! What could she possibly do?

There was a sudden uproar through the crowd, and Chloe looked to the stage. A charcadet had stepped forward boldly. “Of course, I shall join your noble cause!” he shouted pompously. “It just burns me up to see the weak folk of this world in such peril. Why, it would be heartless, it would be immoral in fact, to stand idly by, not utilising my considerable ability to help in this situation!”

“V- Very good,” Empoleon praised, a little overwhelmed by the small knight’s enthusiasm. “He speaks true. Noble charcadet, please see Flygon for registration. Now, will anyone else join the cause?”

Chloe continued her internal argument, as the charcadet moved to the flygon, who was one of the pokémon on the edge of the stage, and as other pokémon started to step forward, each saying a few words in turn.

What should she do? Was she actually, seriously considering this? Putting her life in danger to help the ‘weak folk’ as the charcadet had put it? She was the weak folk, wasn’t she? It wasn’t her job to delve, it was theirs! But still, there was something, some kind of drive, pushing her to join anyway.

But what can I do?

Argh! Just shut up and do it Chloe, what have you got to lose?

Your life?? Just let the pokémon who are actually capable handle things. You’re too weak.

But I could get stronger! And it’s not just about fighting, there’s research to do too!

You’re not smart enough for research, and ledyba are weak, puny bug types! This is stupid!

Oh, but it would be a place to live, for free?

…Good point. But if things start getting dangerous, you have to get out of there. Your own safety is more important. Deal?

“Eight brave new Delvers. After this day, we will be closing recruitment for a time. This is our final call.” Empoleon’s voice boomed over the crowd, snapping Chloe out of her internal argument. If she really wanted to do this, she had to get up there, now!

“’Scuse me, coming through!” she squirmed her way through the crowd, which slowly parted for her as they realised what she was trying to do. Finally, she reached the front, and, heart in her mouth, she jumped onto the stage.

At the exact same time, she heard another pokémon land on the stage beside her.

She looked to her right.

She saw a nickit looking back at her.

Piper.

If looks could kill…

“Two more Delvers. Excellent. Do you have any words of inspiration?” Empoleon looked down at them with pride, and Chloe smiled nervously.

“Er-” Chloe faltered. What should she say! She was suddenly intensely aware of the giant crowd of pokémon right behind her, eagerly awaiting some words of wisdom or inspiration. She wished she’d paid more attention to the other new Delvers!

“Considering I literally just came from a dungeon, I’d say I’ll make a pretty good fit here,” Piper spoke up, saving Chloe any embarrassment. That was a good point! She could work with this.

“Y- Yeah! The dungeon over at- at Crooked Grove!” Chloe added. “We already have some experience with this, so we should use that to help others!”

“You know each other?” Empoleon asked quizzically.

“Not in the slightest,” Piper insisted, a little too quickly. Chloe cringed as Empoleon looked back and forth between the two of them, unsure where to go from there.

It was Glaceon who saved them any further embarrassment. “Excuse me,” she interjected, “but did you say Crooked Grove? There are no known dungeons in that area.”

“Well, there is now,” Piper boasted, turning to Glaceon with a smug look. “Formed right on top of u- me. Nothing I couldn’t handle though.”

The crowd gasped, and Glaceon frowned, turning to the veteran Divers. “Flygon?”

“On it,” the flygon said. He quickly scribbled something on the clipboard he was holding. Then there was a crack, and a blur, and the flygon wasn’t there any more. The clipboard clattered to the floor. Chloe could only assume he was now hurtling towards Crooked Grove at breakneck speed.

“D- Do we need to wait for him to get back to sign up, or…?” Chloe asked, unsure of what to do. She watched a meowscarada, who had been standing next to the flygon, reach down and pick up the clipboard, moving it close to his face and squinting.

“It looks like he filled in your details in record time, right before he left, nya~,” the tall grass type answered lazily. Chloe did a double take. Did he just say nya?

“We will double check your details when he returns,” Empoleon clarified, bringing the crowd back around to her, “don’t worry about that for now. The point is, we have reached ten new Delvers, and that is where we will stop for the time being.”

There was another murmur through the crowd as Empoleon explained further.

“This,” she said grandly, “will be our test run. The first of a new generation. Once we have turned each and every one of you into fully fledged Delvers, we will reopen our doors for recruits once more. We have to consider the possibility that the dungeons are here to stay. We will need to spread Delvers to all corners of the world, to help as many pokémon in need as possible.

And with this message, our presentation comes to an end,” she concluded. “We cannot thank our ten new recruits enough for their bravery in stepping forward today. I promise you this: you will not regret it.”

“Don’t forget to come talk to me if you have any relevant info about any of the dungeons!” Glaceon added quickly. They both took a bow, and then Empoleon turned and left the stage, leaving Glaceon to deal with the crowd. They were cheering and clapping, and the atmosphere was one of nervous optimism. Chloe could tell that this crisis was weighing on a lot of pokémon’s minds, and the Delvers were a source of stability and authority for them. She felt pride welling up that she was one of the lucky ten recruits.

Her!

What were you thinking? You’re not cut out for this!

If that were true, they would have rejected me, so just let me have this!

Alright, fine… you’d better go figure out what you’re doing next, then.

Chloe shook her head to clear her thoughts, and scuttled over to the meowscarada with Piper. She was a bit nervous of the nickit, who was studiously ignoring her, so she tried not to pay her any attention, instead looking to the veterans. The meowscarada was still holding the clipboard, and he was flanked by a noctowl and a cinccino.

“Ehhhh, Flygon was meant to deal with these new recruits, not me, nya~… Noctowl, you’re better at this sort of thing, aren’t you?” he complained, shoving the clipboard towards the great bird’s face.

(He did say nya. He definitely said nya.)

“M- Me?” said the noctowl, startled. “You’re the one who picked up the clipboard!”

“Ehh, true. Alright alright, follow me to reception, wonderful new Delvers, nya~!” he said, spinning on his heels and striding towards the Guild. The cinccino smiled at them encouragingly.

“You can call me Stars,” she said. “Stick with Enigma – that’s meowscarada – for now, we’ll talk later. Me ‘n Feathers should go help out our resident eeveelution, she’s getting swamped!”

“That is not my name,” the noctowl ruffled his feathers indignantly, “but yes, we certainly should.”

Chloe looked over to the glaceon, who was trying to deal with a long queue of pokémon who had some kind of information for her. Stars and Feathers rushed to her side, leaving the recruits to catch up with Enigma the meowscarada.

Stars the cinccino, Feathers the noctowl, Enigma the meowscarada… There’s also a flygon, glaceon and empoleon, and I don’t know their names yet. Ugh, this is a lot to get my head around…

Chloe could feel the exhaustion getting to her. Her fellow Delvers seemed to have been sent into the building already, so she was spared the challenge of learning even more names and faces for now. Enigma stopped at the doors to the building, turning gracefully to face them.

“I assume you two best of friends will be sharing a room, nya~?” he asked, cocking his head.

“As if!” scoffed Piper. “We’re not friends, we don’t even know each other!”

“Ehhh?” Enigma held his left elbow in his right paw, forming a right angle. “But you explored the same dungeon, nya~?”

“She was just lying,” Piper explained.

“Wha- Hey!” Chloe growled, furious. “I wasn’t lying! If you really want to pretend not to know each other, whatever, that’s fine by me! But don’t go calling me a liar!”

“Whatever,” Piper smirked, poking her tongue out.

Enigma looked back and forth between the two of them, and Chloe thought he looked… amused?

“Ehhh, well alright then, nya~,” he said eventually, flipping through the pages on the clipboard. “Nickit room one, Ledyba room two, that should work out.”

“Phew, thank goodness,” Piper said with exaggerated relief. What was her problem?

“You both do still have room-mates, by the way,” Enigma clarified, “so play nice with them Nickit, nya~?”

“Huh? But I don’t want a room-mate! You don’t have a room for one?” Piper protested.

“Nope,” Enigma shrugged nonchalantly.

“Ugh, this sucks!” Piper moaned, shoving past Enigma and opening the entrance to the Guild. “They better not be as bad as her.”

With that, she slammed the doors shut behind her, leaving Chloe and Enigma alone. Enigma gave Chloe a quizzical look.

“I swear, I didn’t do anything to her,” she pouted.

“Ehhh, I’m sure she’ll come around,” Enigma mused, tapping the mask he was wearing. “Now go and find your room, nya~! I’m sure your new room-mate is eager to meet you!”

---

Chloe stood outside of her new room. At least, she hoped.

The instructions Enigma had given to her were simply, “Room two. You’re up the stairs and on the right, nya~!” So she’d climbed the creaky wooden staircase to the next floor and turned right, and checked the first door. There was a plaque affixed to it, and on the plaque was what she assumed was a number.

She couldn’t read it.

Whatever script the pokémon of this world used, she couldn’t read it. That, or she was really tired.

That’s going to be awkward to explain, she thought, grimacing.

She had walked past the first door to the second, and had been standing there for a short while now. She assumed that, since it was the second door, it was room two. But she wasn’t certain, and she didn’t want to risk intruding – after all, the rest of the recruits had already entered their dorms!

“Ohhhh, Chloe, what were you thinking?” she moaned to herself. What should she do? Enter the room with confidence, or knock, or… or some third option? Go ask Enigma for help? No, that would be too embarrassing!

“Just knock. Just knock, it’ll work out,” she psyched herself up, and knocked three times on the door.

“Hello?” she heard a soft voice through the rough wood.

“H- Hey, I think I’m your new room-mate?” she called through nervously.

“Oh! I was wondering where you were!” the voice called back. “What have you been waiting for?”

“I, uh,” Chloe faltered. “I didn’t want to, uh, barge right in in case, uh… I don’t know,” she stammered. The voice through the door giggled.

“Come in, come in!”

Chloe sighed. She was the only one still out in the hallway, so as the only room missing a room-mate, this was probably room two. She opened the door and entered a cosy, brightly lit room. It was sparsely furnished, containing two large chests on either side of the room, with two big bundles of hay besides each. There was a large window opposite the door, which let in plenty of sunlight. The dark blue curtains were drawn all the way back. Standing by the window, smiling pleasantly at her, was a- a milcery, she thought.

“Hey,” Chloe smiled sheepishly, closing the door behind her.

“Hello, hello!” the milcery said, floating over to greet her. “You can call me Celes! I’m glad you’re finally here, it was starting to get lonely, lonely in here!”

“I’m Chloe,” Chloe replied, unconsciously staring as drops of… of cream? Bounced around Celes’s head. Body? She was sort of just a blob with a face.

Pokémon made her head hurt. “Sorry for being so late, I’m- I’m kind of out of it at the moment, to be honest…”

“Oh! That’s okay!” Celes looked concerned. “If I’m remembering right, you were one of the pokémon who just conquered a new dungeon?”

“Oh, yeah,” Chloe said, moving towards the bundle of hay to her right. “I… It opened up right on top of us, so we didn’t have much of a choice.”

“That must have been scary, scary!” Celes gasped, leaning in closely, as if afraid she’d miss a detail.

“It- It was!” Chloe stammered, nervous in front of such an enthusiastic audience of one. “If it wasn’t for Piper, I don’t think I’d have gotten out of there!”

“Piper! Who is that? Your best friend? Your hero?” she asked rapid fire, enraptured by her story.

“She- We had just met!” Chloe stammered, taken aback. “We just happened to be in the same place when the dungeon appeared. Then we helped each other escape.”

“Wow, wow! What a wonderful start to a blossoming friendship!” Celes cheered, spinning slowly in the air.

“A- Actually,” Chloe said, glancing to the side, “Piper doesn’t want to be friends.”

“Whaaaaat?” Celes gasped, mouth hanging open.

“Yeah… But honestly, I don’t think I want to be friends with her either,” Chloe said, feeling an unexpected pang of guilt at her own words. “She’s kind of mean.”

“Ohhhh… Should I be careful of her?” Celes asked with a serious look.

“Maybe…” Chloe shrugged. She didn’t really want to think about it any more. She leaned back into the hay of her new bed. It wasn’t what she was used to, and truthfully it wasn’t the comfiest thing in the world, but it was cosy enough. As if on cue, the light in the room dimmed slightly as a cloud passed in front of the sun.

“It sounds like a definitely, to me,” Celes said gravely. “If she’s going to be mean to such a nice girl like you, I would stay away from her. I think she sounds like bad news.”

“You’re probably right,” Chloe admitted uncomfortably. “I guess we should try and stay out of her way. It’s what she wants, anyway.”

“Mhm!” Celes nodded. “Shall I close the curtains? You seem really exhausted!”

“If you don’t mind,” Chloe said sheepishly.

“An early night will do me good, too! We can get to know each other properly in the morning,” Celes answered pleasantly, drawing the curtains closed and bathing the room in gentle darkness. Chloe yawned, stretching all her new, strange limbs. She rolled around in the hay, gathering it up into as comfortable a bed as she could make.

“Goodnight, Chloe!” Celes whispered.

Chloe didn’t answer, her eyes drooping. The world was getting blurry, and sleep was slowly taking hold. She rolled again, trying to get comfortable. It was so hard with her new body. She didn’t know where to put her middle limbs, and her body was so round. She tried to empty her mind, to let sleep take her.

But there was something bothering her.

Something was wrong.

She frowned, her heart rate increasing.

What was wrong?

Oh, yeah.

She was a ledyba.

She was a ledyba.

She wasn’t a ledyba, but she was a ledyba.

She was a Delver, risking her life for the good of all pokémon.

What was she doing here?! She was going to die!

She inhaled sharply, her breath catching in her throat. She shut her eyes tightly, as tightly as she could, trying to block out reality, but she could feel it, she could feel that she was a ledyba, in every joint, every movement, every panicked breath-

She stifled a sob. No! Not in front of her new room-mate, it was too embarrassing, she had to control herself. But she couldn’t breathe! She couldn’t breathe any more, and she had six legs, she was a ledyba and she was trapped in a crazy world and

“Is everything alright, is everything alright?” Celes’s voice was filled with worry. No, no no! Why was this happening?

“I’m fine!” she tried to say, but her wobbly voice betrayed her. And worse – trying to speak caused her to burst into tears.

“Oh goodness, goodness,” Celes cursed, drawing the curtains back and letting light back into their room.

“No…” Chloe sobbed, trying to wave her away, but Celes ignored her. She floated to her bedside, face stricken with concern.

“You’re shaking,” she said gently. “How can I help you?”

“I’m okay-” Chloe gasped. She couldn’t breathe, why couldn’t she breathe? She tried unsuccessfully to hide her face, her tears, from Celes.

“You are not fine,” Celes said, tearing up herself. “I don’t know how to help you, please let me get Enigma?”

“N- No…” Chloe moaned. But Celes simply shook her head, and left the room.

Chloe was alone, she was alone, she couldn’t breathe and she was alone. She couldn’t stop the thoughts flooding into her head I’m a ledyba I’m alone I’m stuck I’m a ledyba I’m a ledyba I’m going to die This is crazy This is

It might have been seconds, it might have been hours, when Enigma burst into the room, gliding silently to her bedside. He knelt down beside her, placing a bowl of water down on the floor.

“It is Chloe, correct?” he said gently. “Listen to me Chloe. I promise that you will be fine. We must take back control of your breathing first of all. Deep breaths, five seconds in, five seconds out. I will count for you. Ready?”

Chloe nodded shakily. Enigma began to count. One, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four, five. It was tricky at first, but Chloe did her best to follow along with his counting. Eventually, she was drawing long, breaths again, shaky but full, and she felt her head clearing. And as her head cleared, she could feel the panicked thoughts being replaced with burning shame.

“I’m- I’m sorry,” she croaked, but Enigma shushed her.

“Quiet, now. There is nothing to be ashamed of. It seems you have had a long day, nya…” he lifted the bowl of water to her lips, and she drank deeply, feeling the cold liquid soothe her soul. “I will not force you, but talking will help. And it goes without saying, nya, but none of this leaves this room.”

He glanced at Celes as he said this, who nodded sombrely.

“I’m human,” Chloe blurted. She hadn’t meant to, but just saying those words had lifted a little weight from her. Enigma was right. She would try telling them everything.

“Human, human?” Celes whispered, but Enigma held up a paw to stop her.

“Begin from the beginning,” he asked, and Chloe nodded.

She told them that she had only woken up in this world, this world of pokémon, that very morning.

She told them that she had amnesia, that she had forgotten everything, everything besides her name and her humanity.

She told them how she’d struggled through the dungeon alongside Piper, barely getting the hang of walking and not knowing how to battle at all.

She told them that she’d joined the Delvers on a whim, more for the free accommodation than anything else.

She was hesitant to admit this last part to Enigma, worried he’d be angry, but he just nodded along, his expression thoughtful.

“It seems like you’ve been bottling up a lot of emotions, little one,” he sighed. “Once you woke up, once you started moving, you did not stop, until you tried to sleep. And finally, you had nothing to distract you from your terrifying situation, nya.”

“That- That makes sense,” Chloe admitted. Had she really just been running from herself this whole time?

“You may also be experiencing, ehh, some form of dysphoria or dysmorphia,” Enigma continued, “a disconnect between the body you used to have and the one you now have in reality. It can be quite a distressing feeling.”

“I think that was happening, yeah,” Chloe croaked, suddenly tearful again. “I’ve been spending all day imagining I was other pokémon. Maybe to ignore the pokémon I really am?”

Enigma hummed thoughtfully, elbow held in his paw. “What are ‘humans’ like?”

“Humans?” Chloe repeated, slightly startled by the change of subject. “Umm… They’re like, um, machoke? Er, Sawk?”

“Bipedal, arms and legs, clothed, blue?” Enigma clarified.

“Everything but the last part,” she sniffed, giggling.

“There’s a smile, nya~,” Enigma said, smiling too. “Now, ehh, your case is particularly tricky. I think I would recommend evolving, Chloe – ledian are closer to bipedal than ledyba, and so you might feel more at home in that particular body. But other than that, ehh, I cannot think of another way to alleviate your symptoms. Unless you want to go in search of Manaphy?”

“Th- That’s okay!” Chloe smiled again. “And really I… Earlier today, I was feeling very excited about being a pokémon, since they’re such amazing creatures! So maybe with time as I get used to this body, I’ll stop feeling that way?”

“Purrhaps,” Enigma beamed.

“Umm…” Chloe wasn’t sure how best to broach the subject. “Have you heard of humans before now?”

“Ehhh, I feel like I might have somewhere, a long time ago, nya~?” he scratched his head.

“I haven’t heard of them myself,” Celes whispered, making Chloe jump. She’d forgotten the milcery was there, and felt the shame creeping back. Enigma read the room in an instant.

“None of this will ever leave this room, Chloe,” he soothed. “and do not feel ashamed. Under the circumstances, you have done amazingly well, nya~!”

“Indeed, indeed!” Celes agreed. “And really, I will not tell a soul about tonight. I promise you.”

“Thank you both,” Chloe sniffed, grateful. She felt the shame ebb away, replaced with nothing but exhaustion. She sighed, collapsing back into her bed of hay.

“Then it is time for rest, nya~,” Enigma said, standing sharply. “Rest well. Tomorrow, all the new recruits will be gathering to get to know one another. I will not force you, but consider telling everyone the truth about yourself, nya~.”

“Y- You think so?” Chloe yawned.

“Yes, nya~. We Delvers are a team, all of us. We tend not to keep important secrets from each other, if we can help it!” and then he left the room with a bow, leaving Chloe with that thought. Should she tell everyone that she was human?

Most pokémon seemed to not have a clue what a human even was. Piper hadn’t believed her at all, and it was probably a source of some of her antagonism. Wouldn’t it be better to just keep that part of her a secret? Surely it wasn’t really that important for everyone to know…

“I’m glad you’re feeling better, Chloe,” Celes whispered, moving to draw the curtains closed again. “If you want to talk to me, to me, I’m here for you. I know we just met, but…”

She faltered.

“Thank you, Celes,” Chloe whispered back, cringing. An awkward silence fell between them. Chloe was sure Celes meant well, but… Ugh. In that moment, she realised she didn’t want Celes, or anyone else for that matter, to know she was a human. She felt exposed, like Celes knew her deepest, darkest secret. She hated being pitied like this.

So what did she want?

Chloe turned over, fiercely considering everything that was happening to her.

Firstly, herself.

Do I like being a ledyba?

Yes, she decided eventually. Well, sort of. She loved the idea that she was a pokémon, but of all pokémon, why ledyba? Getting used to this body was very hard. Maybe she should try to evolve, as Enigma had said. Either way, she didn’t want to give this up. Whatever pokémon she was, she was still a pokémon.

She really wanted to try living in this world.

What about her amnesia?

She thought about it for a while, and decided that she didn’t mind forgetting. If she was going to live in this world, then not remembering everything she might have left behind would probably be for the best. She wouldn’t have to deal with any guilt.

Is that selfish? Unfair on the people who cared about me?

It’s better to take care of yourself first, she argued. So I’m sorry to those people, whoever they might be, but this is what I want – what’s best for me right now.

With that settled, she moved onto her final question.

Should she tell everyone else about her humanity?

If I do want to try living in this world, she thought, I want to live in it as a ledyba, not a human-turned-ledyba.

She didn’t want any pity, and she didn’t want to have to deal with the Pipers.

So she wouldn’t tell anyone, she decided. Maybe that was the easy way out, but what was wrong with that? It was her life, and her secret to keep. No one else needed to know, it didn’t matter to anyone but her.

She’d just have to explain herself to Celes and Enigma in the morning.

She grimaced at the thought. Enigma had seemed quite keen on her opening up to her fellow Delvers, but to tell them all her deepest secret right from the start? That was too much to expect from her.

She’d convince him somehow. And besides, even if he disagreed with her, something told her he wouldn’t break his promise not to force her.

And finally, in the midst of her thoughts, exhaustion finally took her, and she fell into a long, dreamless sleep.