Chapter Seven- Detention

~\({O})/~

7.

Detention

~\({O})/~

It was early, even for mornings. The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon, and the grass was still wet with dew from the night. Tricky barely ever got up this early, except for when she was upset.

She braced for a pounce and then jumped through the open window in her room like her pops had told her never to do. Then she pranced around a bit outside, and flopped down belly-first into the grass and rolled around. The dew and grass normally felt good against her fur. It was too bad she just didn’t feel like it today.

She let out a sigh, her ears and tail flopping in the grass around her.

Another attempt to make a friend, and she’d botched it. She didn’t understand. Why didn’t things ever work out for her? Why did it always end with everymon walking away? Who would turn down a dinner party?

And yeah, they’d got off on the wrong foot, and maybe it was her fault, but… how else was she supposed to talk to anymon? And how was she supposed to know what not to tell strangers? Why did she always do everything wrong?

Her tail lashed behind her in silent distress, the brilliant rising sun over the hills and distant beaches joyless and glaring. She rested her head in her paws and puffed out an ember-tinged sigh, stealing daring glances at the rims of the sun like her pops told her never to. Maybe she could say sorry… but that would require Espurr wanting to talk to her. Why apologise to somemon who didn’t like her?

It wasn’t just Espurr, anyway. The whole town didn’t like her. So Espurr was just normal. What was wrong with her?

~\({O})/~

The next day at school was dominated by news of the spreading out ferry service.

Ferries were the main method of mass transportation throughout Nebyllin. If a town was worth anything, then a ferry had a route going to it, and though Serenity Village was right up near the sea, it didn’t have a single one. The peninsula they were on was long, mountainous, and at the very bottom of everything, and there wasn’t any other town with a line except Crossings, which already had more ferries than it could count.

Getting a ferry line meant getting more traffic, and more life to come to this sleepy little town. Espurr figured it was one of the reasons why the administration in Crossings wanted to increase security here. But it also meant prospects of a field trip.

“Don’t get your hopes very far up,” Watchog grumbled, as he picked up some of the leeks in the classroom that had been strewn around by the windy day. “We’re not doing anything too extreme while I’m Vice Principal.”

That dampened the mood a bit. Another gust of wind blew through, rattling the blackboard.

While all the other students chattered excitedly, Espurr was left alone in her own world. Everything seemed to take on a darker tone today. The breeze was ominous, the sky overbearing, and the students who weren’t talking were shifty and furtive. The conversation she’d overheard last night had shattered her sense of security completely, made her wonder who the killer was, where they could be hiding… and what they’d do next.

If there was one thing she was sure of, it was that investigating Ampharos had to be a priority. It just had to. He already knew she was the only other newcomer to the village, thanks to a certain fox, so that meant he had the advantage. Which narrowed the list of pokemon he’d be looking for immensely. If he really was the killer, then it was only a matter of time before he’d act. It could be as soon as today. It could be this afternoon. She needed to get a leg up on the game before that happened.

Tricky, next to her, was slumped over on their desk, head in her paws and ears down. It was a far cry from her normally perky self. But Espurr had… ugh, no, she wasn’t going to have sympathy for her. They weren’t friends. She was holding the line.

~\({O})/~

“Today’s lesson is about medicinal berries, and their many applications,” said Audino. Unlike Farfetch’d and Watchog, she brandished a pristine wooden teaching rod instead of a leek, pointing to a blackboard she’d spent five minutes meticulously marking up during the break.

“Come here!” she said, letting everymon huddle around. “Come closer.”

On a table she’d set up right in front of the desk, she had two baskets. One was filled with the fruits Espurr knew and recognized, like strawberries, blueberries, and apples, while the other one was filled with things she’d never seen before. One of them looked like a giant, light blueberry, while another seemed a lot like an oversized plum and yet another looked like a mango gone wrong.

“Today, we’re going to talk about medicinal berries versus normal fruits,” she began. “In one of these baskets, you see everyday cooking food. But in the other…” her paw waved over to the basket of unusual fruits. “You see something much different. These are medicinal berries. They are very different from normal fruits.”

She picked the large, blueberry one up out of the basket and held it up for the class to see. “We call this an oran. It’s the most special of the medicinal berries because it can harness any kind of power and amplify it. We use it often in first aid for this reason. But if you mix it with any other sort of berry, for instance, say…” some rummaging in the basket. “A tamato berry, the results could be very explosive.”

The berries went out on the counter in front of the whole class.

“In this way, by mixing an oran with another, you can create all sorts of chemical reactions,” Audino continued. “If I mix an oran berry with a bluk berry, I have a nice, soothing lotion. But if I mix an oran berry with a mago berry, I have an alcoholic drink. For this reason, medicinal berries are very hard to get ahold of without a doctor’s qualification or a rescue team badge. But all of you will be learning more about them in the semester to come. On the test, you should be able to put together three different mixes, using more than just two berries, in order to make three different solutions…”

With the exception of Watchog’s class, school was just as breezy as it had been for the last two days. But before Espurr’s eyes, it mostly blurred together. She was really excited for Nuzleaf’s class.

Something about the way Nuzleaf taught seemed to captivate the whole school. His classes were the highlight of most students’ day. Yesterday, he’d taught them the correct warmup poses to bring out their energy so they could focus it on something, and even Goomy managed to control his errant sparks. In his off-time, he seemed to enjoy reading, and Espurr was hoping she could catch him some day, even though he seemed to be always busy when he wasn’t in class.

He was a returning native after a while abroad, Audino had told them. He’d travelled the world for years after he’d graduated school, only coming back every now and then to pay a few close friends a visit. But this year, he was stopping for good. The school had offered him a position as a teacher in the wake of his return, and he’d taken it up. But details about his far past were foggy. He didn’t seem to have any family here that she could see – he apparently lived alone on the far side of town.

Today, he was teaching the first stage of the special move that he’d promised they’d all learn in a few weeks.

“Now everymon take those warmup poses I taught y’all!” he said, taking up his own. It looked like a marionette about to pirouette, his hands up in the air, his legs together, and standing on his very toes. Everymon assumed similar positions, Tricky bracing as if to pounce, Goomy stiffening up, and Espurr straightening up. Her arm, recently freed from its cast, felt stiff from days of disuse, causing her discomfort. She had never felt more aware of it than she did now. Nuzleaf had told her it didn’t matter, but she sure felt like it did.

“And now…” Nuzleaf began. “We… spin!”

He pirouetted, and everymon followed him directly. Tricky leapt up and spun in the air. Goomy twisted around. Espurr tried to spin—

But she found herself crashing into the desk instead. Everymon else spun, a few errant sparks erupting up in their air from their twirls. Espurr was taken aback with shock. She picked herself up from where she’d fallen, rubbing her side as she got up. How had she failed when everymon else… ?

Everymon else was looking at her. She suddenly felt very embarrassed, again.

“Now, now,” said Nuzleaf, drawing everymon’s attention. “No-mon’s perfect. Y’all should see all the times I fell over in class. I didn’t even spin, I was so bad. Was enough to get the nurse to take me off the lesson plan, she was worried I’d crack my head. Now let’s try again…”

In the end, Espurr came out soured on the lesson. Everymon else had managed to at least create some sparks, and every time she’d just managed to lose her balance and fall over. Tricky seemed to be a natural, spitting fire into the air that fizzled like a firework and contorted into several ribbonlike streams. But even with Nuzelaf’s attempts to downplay it, it was becoming increasingly clear that she just wasn’t as good as the rest of her class.

During recess, when everymon was eating lunch up in the school clinic, Espurr happened to look out the window and notice Nuzleaf down in the classroom outside. Taking her lunch, she scurried out the door and fought against the wind, battering her with her lunch of nuts and berries on her way to the seats.

Nuzleaf was reading an old, dusty book he’d pulled from his bag. The wind kept tossing the pages, and he’d flatten them persistently. Espurr crept into the classroom, and stood, trying to hide her fidgeting, right behind him.

“Hello.”

Nuzleaf jolted, spooked. He nearly dropped the book he’d been intensely studying, his face a dark shadow, before he relaxed and pulled it back into something kinder.

“Ah,” he said. “Ya scared me. Espurr, was it?”

Espurr nodded.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Splendid.” Nuzleaf gestured to the seat next to the desk he was sitting on. “By all means, have a seat. Anythin’ on your mind?”

Espurr did as she was directed, sitting on the seat where Goomy usually was. Her dull arm pressed up against the stool, reminding her of how stiff it still was.

“Well it’s just that…” she began, then trailed off. “I want to learn, but I think maybe I’m not cut out for this.”

“Nonsense,” Nuzleaf said, waving it off. “Anymon’s cut out for it. You’ve just gotta keep tryin’.”

“But I didn’t manage to do it correctly even once,” Espurr said. “Everymon else did.”

“Tha’ doesn’t mean anythin’,” said Nuzleaf. “Everymon learns at their own pace. Maybe you jus’ need some practice. Here’s a thought—why don’t you find a friend that can help ya? I thought you were tight with that fox, Tricky, was it?”

Espurr repressed an air of displeasure. She was sure it showed up in her tail, though.

“Not Tricky,” she said.

“Well, maybe somemon else, then,” said Nuzleaf. “But that doesn’ mean you should just give up. A partner can make even the smallest amount of practice perfect.”

Espurr fidgeted some more. Nuzleaf’s words sounded right, but…

“Could I… practise with you?” she ventured.

She expected a no. Nuzleaf did seem like a very busy ‘mon, after all. But Nuzleaf’s face just warmed.

“Sure,” he said. “You’ll have ta get an early mornin’, though. Gotta start before the birds sing and the kids show up to school.”

Espurr was elated. She thanked Nuzleaf graciously, before heading back on up to the school.

Lunch was almost over, and it would be time for detention afterwards.

~\({O})/~

When Espurr was young, there was only one place to go to get true natural greenery: the park.

The park wasn’t in the city. It was on the outskirts of town, a forest unspoiled by any kind of human building or structure. It was a national park, they called it—just miles and miles of untouched forest. Her city had buses going to and from it, so sometimes after school she’d take walks around the perimeter, until her parents found out and insisted she stop going. But sometimes, on the weekend or on holidays, she’d go with her parents, to have a picnic or to watch the fireworks from a distance.

And oh, were there fireworks! They’d blaze above the city in the summer and on holidays, lighting up the sky with countless colours and glimmering explosions. It was as if the stars were celebrating too, each one adding in their own colour and light.

The fireworks were the most special part of Espurr’s year. They were the times when her parents, usually too busy to spend much time with her, finally got to take breaks. And when that happened they’d go out together, usually at the park after packing a picnic or picking up a dinner. Sometimes they’d go hiking after that, or spend a few nights alone upstate. She didn’t care what they did, one way or another, as long as she was able to spend time with them.

But as they got busier, the camping visits vanished, and they weren’t driving up there on weekends anymore. It was only when the holidays came, and the fireworks would glimmer above the skyscrapers of the city again, that her parents would take her down to that park anymore.

And then one year they didn’t. It was a business trip, they said, and if they took it they’d get a hefty bonus. So they flew down south for the weekend, to the big city of concrete and pavements, and Espurr was left all alone for the holidays with only some pocket change for takeout. It was a good thing she was a resourceful kid. She bought herself a tin of Chinese food from a hole-in-the-wall place, then took the bus out of the city like her parents had told her never to do and plopped herself down on the grassy fields with the faded picnic mat they always used. And that new years’ eve, surrounded by thousands yet all alone, she watched the fireworks sparkle across the night sky, and felt the hollow loneliness entwine with the pride of being a big kid.

Somewhere deep down, neither of those things really left. Espurr couldn’t remember feeling any differently since that year… until she met Nuzleaf.

Maybe, even if she had to stay a while, things here could turn out fine after all.

~\({O})/~

“For your detention today…” began Watchog pompously, as he marched Espurr, Tricky, and Goomy along the sun-beaten path. “You’re going to be raking leaves in the Foreboding Forest.”

“Foreboding Forest?” Espurr asked. “Where’s that?”

“Ooh! Me!” exclaimed Tricky, who had taken the lead with zeal. “It’s the forest we went to the day yo—” noticing Watchog was there, she quickly shut up.

“Yes,” said Watchog with a hint of disdain. “It’s the forest you criminals so eagerly eloped into when you earned yourself this punishment. And you’re going to be in charge of cleaning up the entire area. Ironic, isn’t it?”

“I don’t think that’s the right usage of ‘elope’,” said Espurr.

“Of course it is!” barked Watchog. “I’m the adult, I know my vocabulary better than a bunch of middle schoolers.”

Espurr was sure giving him the actual meaning wouldn’t be worth it. He clearly had it all figured out.

As they walked, the sun was quickly snatched away by the shade of thousands and thousands of thick branches and leaves, which cast the ground down below into a blue-purplish darkness. Watchog stopped them when they were in the thick of it, making sure that Tricky wasn’t going to bolt off in excitement. He dropped the sack he was carrying on the ground, the metal ‘clanks’ it made catching Espurr off-guard.

From out of the sack he pulled out three rakes, designed to be held both by paws and by mouths, and handed one to each of them.

“Get raking,” he said, then crossed his paws behind his head and relaxed against a tree. “And don’t leave my sight. I’ll be watching you very closely from here.”

“B-but, sir,” said Goomy.

“Vice principal.”

“V-vice principal,” said Goomy.

“What.”

“The area’s t-too big to rake if we just stay here…”

“I have good eyesight,” snapped Watchog. “I’ll see you. Now get to work.”

Goomy just nodded and started raking.

It wasn’t long before they had raked their way far out of his ear and probably eyeshot, and Watchog had fallen asleep anyways. If Espurr listened hard, she could hear the faint sound of his snores.

“Are we done yet?” Tricky whined, looking at the area around them. It mostly looked clean, the leaves scraped into tons of small little piles they just needed to merge into one big one, but outside their immediate vicinity the forest was still covered in tons of leaves.

“Well, he can’t mean we’re to clean the entire forest,” Espurr pointed out.

“A-and he w-wouldn’t want us near-near the dungeon,” stammered Goomy.

Tricky suddenly perked up.

“The dungeon!” she exclaimed, prancing around and wagging her bushy tail like a little dog. “Hey—I wonder how close the dungeon is! Wanna go look?”

“No,” said both Espurr and Goomy.

“Aww,” drooped Tricky. “I mean… I guess I can just go look on my own then. I’ll just be a second!”

Espurr gave her a stern look. “Tricky, you can’t just—”

But Tricky had already taken off. And she was taking her rake with her! Espurr and Goomy looked at each other in exasperation.

“S-she’s g-gonna get us in-in trouble,” Goomy whined.

“What’s new?” sighed Espurr.

At this point Espurr was more than happy to let her take the fall. Let her suffer for once. But at the same time… she looked into the woods, which seemed to open up with its darkness, threatening to swallow them in the closer they dared to go. The thought nagged at her. What if those creatures were still around? What would she say if Tricky ran into them and she’d decided to ignore it instead of going after her?

A look back at Watchog.

Still snoozing. He’d just be useless anyway.

Oh, alright…

They had little choice but to follow. Espurr threw down her rake also, and wordlessly began to trudge on the path that Tricky had taken.

“W-wait,” said Goomy. “Wh-where are you g-going?”

Espurr looked back.

“Going after her,” she said.

Then she continued onwards.

“W-what about y-your arm?” asked Goomy.

“It’ll be fine,” Espurr said.

“But I th-thought w-we weren’t s-supposed to follow her,” Goomy said, struggling to keep up.

“She could run into trouble out there,” said Espurr. “We have to find her before that happens – it’s for her own safety.”

“W-what kind of trouble?” asked Goomy, his voice quaking a bit. Espurr deigned not to answer. She knew how skittish Goomy was.

They were slower, but they took off after her the best they could, lugging along their own rakes. If Watchog found them later, at least they could say they were just raking further out in the woods.

And they’d make for good weapons.

As Espurr stumbled over the roots, she and Goomy managed to lose Tricky in the mess. Or maybe they’d just taken a wrong turn somewhere. The roots had quickly become more twisted, the trunks mossier, the leaves piling the ground so thick Espurr’s feet sunk into the mess. The light had dimmed so much it was almost like being in a room with the lights shut off.

They only stopped when Espurr could hear Goomy softly vibrating.

“Are you okay?” she asked, clutching her rake to her chest and protecting her stiff arm instinctively.

“J-just scared,” Goomy said, the vibrating lessening. “Did we t-take a wrong turn?”

They might have. The leg of the woods they were walking through looked more like a forest from a horror story. And there was no sign of Tricky.

“I think so,” said Espurr. “Maybe we should turn back.”

“W-we just came in a straight line, right?” said Goomy. “I’m not g-good with directions.”

“I remember a few turns,” said Espurr, looking behind her. She’d never been the best with directions either, but she wasn’t telling Goomy that.

Swish.

The sound was silent, in the very distant woods off to the side. It wouldn’t have even been caught if Espurr’s hearing wasn’t sharp as a cat’s. But she heard it. It was a very distinctive sound. And she’d heard it before.

All of the sudden the woods seemed darker. Every glimmer of sunlight of the tree trunks could have been the flicker of a yellow light. Every shadow could be the tip of a dark cone. The crackle of the dead leaves on the ground could be the sound of a brittle, mottled hand reaching out of the darkness for them. Espurr suddenly felt so dizzy from fright she could barely keep her bearings.

But she needed to. She turned to Goomy.

“We should go,” she said in a hush. “Now.”

Goomy caught on almost immediately that something was wrong.

“What?” he asked. “W-what’s happening?”

“Shh!” whispered Espurr as she carefully walked back the way they’d come. “There’s no time to explain right now. Just march.”

Goomy looked unsure, but she could see him nod.

They walked back, through the darkness of the forest ground. Espurr kept her rake close to her, in case she needed to use it as a weapon.

Swish.

It was closer now. It was definitely closer, and it came from the other side. Espurr’s breath hitched, her heart nearly stopped in her chest. Were they circling her?

She could see tiny pieces and glimmers of things now, signs that they were here, that they knew she was here, that they were getting closer. That glimmer on the tree was definitely a flickering yellow light. That shadow that was too dark to be a shadow was definitely moving. And the shrubbery had clearly been disturbed, and not just by them. It had been killed where it stood, wilted and dead, grey and stiff like stone. It hadn’t been like that when they’d walked through it.

Swish.

That was right behind them. It was too close for comfort. Espurr didn’t want to think about what she’d see if she turned around. She just knew they couldn’t stay here anymore.

“Run!” she yelled to Goomy. Then they both took off as fast as they could. The hum of charging power came from behind them as they dashed through the woods for dear life, then the explosion against a nearby tree. Espurr tripped on a root and fell flat to her face, and as she lost the rake and rolled over she saw it, the massive, shadowy cone attached to two glowing pinprick eyes, and it took everything in her not to scream. She just picked herself up, and ran as fast as she could.

Somehow, by miracle, she and Goomy managed to stumble into the lighter part of the woods again. Espurr stumbled through the trees, unsure if this was the part of the woods they’d been in previously, or if everymon else was okay—what about Watchog? What about Tricky?

But soon she came upon a familiar grove of trees, and saw the ground quickly begin to look a lot neater and tidy. She wanted to jump for joy. They’d made it back!

“Where were you guys?”

The sound, coming from behind, made Espurr jump in fright. She turned around to see Tricky standing there, looking completely unaware. She was covered in dirt, and had a big grin on her muzzle.

Espurr really didn’t want to tell her about the coneheads.

“We got lost,” she hissed with a glare, making sure to sound as angry as possible, “following you.”

“Oh,” said Tricky. Her tail lashed the ground in shame. “Sorry… I thought you guys were going to stay here. I came back and was looking for you.”

“What were you thinking, running o–”

“What are you three doing? I didn’t say breaktime!”

The sound made all three of them jump out of their skin. They turned around to see a clearly groggy Watchog, who’d just woken up from his nap and stormed over.

“We weren’t taking a break,” said Espurr quickly. “We just finished.”

Watchog’s face immediately contorted in disbelief, but then he looked around the clearing. Espurr watched his face turn into a slight shock as he saw the clearing around him completely clean.

“Well…” he trailed off. “Fine. I guess you can’t clean the whole forest. Where’s the rakes?”

It was at that point that Espurr realised she and Goomy had lost their rakes back in the forest.

She cast the forest a big glance. Already she was feeling antsy, her ears listening intently for any sounds of a ‘swish’ or something similar. She just wanted to get out of here.

“The wind carried them,” said Tricky suddenly, breaking the silence. “It got like really strong and just took them away. It messed up the whole place and then we had to clean it again, so that’s why it took so long!”

It looked like Watchog wasn’t going to believe it, but just then a big gust of wind ruffled him from behind. Espurr hadn’t noticed it before, but she guessed it was a bit windy.

Watchog looked like he really didn’t want to believe it. But what could he say?

“…Alright,” he sighed, giving Tricky the largest ‘I know you’re lying and just can’t prove it’ stink eye he could muster. “Let’s just go home.”

Espurr couldn’t have been any more happy to leave these woods than she was then.

~\({O})/~

Watchog abandoned them at the city limits, like the good and diligent vice principal he was. Just this once Espurr would have liked it if he’d obsessively walked them into the town square like he did every other day. Tricky lived on the other side of town, so she left soon after once they entered the main square. Goomy lived in the northeast side, while Espurr was staying at the school clinic, so they both walked north to the square before they had to split.

“H-hey,” Goomy said before they did. Espurr stopped to look at him. She hoped it wasn’t going to be—

“D-do you know w-what that was back in the woods?” Goomy asked.

Espurr deflated. It was.

Could she lie and say she didn’t know? Would that be endangering him?

Would telling the truth be endangering herself?

Well, if there was anymon who deserved to know—and could keep it secret—it was Goomy.

“I’ve seen them before,” said Espurr, settling for a compromise. “Can we talk about it tomorrow?”

She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Goomy nod his jelly-like head.

“Y-yeah.”

Espurr nodded affirmatively. “Great. I’m tired, so I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“N-night.”

Then they went their separate ways.

As Espurr lay in bed that night, the pieces of the last few days zoomed around in her head. The dead guardian, the coneheads… were they connected?

And what did it have to do with her?

~\({O})/~

Music of the Week!

Old Man – Marco Beltrami