Chapter Six – Strange Creatures and Magic Teachers

The Dazzling Dewgong – South Ophria’s Best Paper

Disappearance, Suspected Murder in Crossings – the statue killer strikes again

Crossings city police are inspecting the disappearance of Raichu Abernathy after he was reported missing, authorities announced.

The 91 year old ‘mon’s residence was found wide open, with a strange statue resembling him placed just beyond the doorway. The incident was reported at 4:00, with police arriving fifteen minutes later, the Daily Pelipper confirmed in a news release. This is the latest in a series of similar disappearances plaguing the region.

“The search for Raichu Abernathy and the other victims is ongoing,” the West Crossings Police Department responded when asked for a comment. “We ask all citizens to submit a report immediately if he is spotted or if any suspicious activity in your area occurs. Murder cannot be ruled out just yet, but for now we’re investigating it as a possibility. It’s looking greater by the moment.”

No arrests have been made in connection with Abernathy’s disappearance or presumed murder, or any of the other disappearances. Concerns have been raised over the murder in such a wealthy portion of the city, along with the statue, which appears to be a perfect replica of the ‘mon.

The city did not respond immediately to further requests to comment.

~\({O})/~

6.

Strange Creatures and Magic Teachers

~\({O})/~

Even though she was an open book, it still took Tricky an entire day and a half to ask Espurr what was on her mind.

“Doywncomtdinrwfme?”

The hurried mash of syllables slammed into Espurr’s ear at a volume that made her wince and pull back. She looked across their desk at Tricky, bewildered.

“…What?” she asked, keeping her voice in a hush to stay undetected. The class was currently copying down notes from the blackboard about ancient Human society—most of which were just horribly wrong and made Espurr want to correct them all. Lawn flamingos were not idols.

“Doyouwanttocometodinnerwithme?”

The voice was loud enough to get the attention of Farfetch’d, who looked up from his papers to survey the classroom. Espurr immediately looked very busy in her notes, which were next to Tricky’s notes, which were doodled animals. Once his head had gone down again, Tricky opened her snout and took a deep, dramatic breath, like she was going to blow dragon-fire on something.

“Dyuwunna—”

“Speak slower!” pleaded Espurr in a hush. “And please whisper.”

“Do. You wanna. Come. To dinner. With me?” Tricky forced out in the loudest whisper possible.

Espurr stole another look at Farfetch’d, just to make sure he hadn’t noticed. If he had, he didn’t seem to mind. His face was still firmly down in his schedule book, a quill from his wing feathers scribbling intently.

Did she want to? Espurr wasn’t sure. The truth was, she didn’t like Tricky very much. And that Tricky hadn’t seemed to pick up on that just made her more and more sure they weren’t going to be friends. And worst of all, she still hadn’t apologised for—or even mentioned—tricking her into entering the woods that day when they were supposed to be going back to the clinic! That alone soured her on Tricky.

“I need a bit to think on it,” she said nicely.

“Aww, but what’s there to think about?” Tricky whispered back, eyes bright and tail lashing. “My Pop’s a chef. He makes really good food. Nothing like what the school serves! You really should come.”

“Give me some time to decide?” asked Espurr.

She should have turned Tricky down there, she really should have. It wasn’t like she wanted to go. But somehow, she just didn’t have the heart to.

Tricky didn’t look particularly happy about that, but she perked up nonetheless and was particularly sing-songy for the rest of class.

~\({O})/~

“Today I have a couple of special announcements to make,” said Simipour, walking up to the blackboard. Following him was a pokemon that none of the other kids had seen before, as far as Espurr could tell. His body was covered in smooth, knobbly bark, and he was stout and humanlike. A large leaf hung from his head, but the smile underneath was warm enough to catch her off-guard. He draped his green cloak and his bag in the currently-empty sentry spot, and hung around near the blackboard, leaning against the fence.

“The first one,” said Simipour, eyes glancing down to a notecard in his paws, “is that after many, many years, Serenity Village—and this school—will be hosting this year’s Regional Cup.”

A wave of orange excitement passed through the classroom, which was lost on Espurr.

“What’s that?” asked Espurr, looking back at Deerling, who sat behind her.

“Ooh! Me!” said Tricky, practically vibrating in her seat. “It’s a competition between all the schools in the province. One school hosts, and everymon else competes in a test of that school’s choice!”

“Except, we haven’t placed well in years,” added Deerling pointedly.

“Yeah…” Tricky flopped down on the seat, deflating. “We never win.”

“…and I expect you all to be on your best behaviour,” finished Simipour, deliberately speaking over the rest of the class’s hushed whispers. “And now for our second announcement.”

He beckoned for the pokemon near the blackboard to come forward.

“This is Nuzleaf,” Simipour said. Nuzleaf gave a wave. “He’ll be filling in a very important part of your curriculum that you haven’t yet covered: elemental power.”

“Elemental power?”

The voice had left Espurr’s voice before she could even think about it. She looked both ways, then awkwardly rose her good paw, realising she’d asked without. A couple snickers rolled through the classroom behind her, making her feel very embarrassed. Could anyone see the red in her face through her fur?

“Yup,” said Nuzleaf, sounding like he hadn’t skipped a beat. He didn’t sound anything like Espurr had expected, something like a thick ranch drawl escaping his lips. He kicked off the fence, walked forward and clasped his hands together. “The innate energy shared between each an’ every one of ya. The one definin’ power an’ trait that links all of us together. Our species’ hallmark.”

Simipour gracefully let Nuzleaf take centre stage as he walked behind the teacher’s desk.

“Now, I dunno how much y’all have learned over the past few years,” began Nuzleaf, leaning forward. “The other teachers will probably fill me in later, but do any of y’all want to give me a leg up? Can anymon tell me wha’ elemental powers are?”

Immediately Tricky was jumping up and down in her seat, her tail lashing furiously. Espurr could hear the ‘ooh! Me! Me!’s even though her mouth was closed. Nuzleaf tossed one of Farfetch’d’s stalks in the air, caught it, and pointed her out.

“It’s like these really cool fighting moves you can do, like blowing fire or blowing water or making plants grow and stuff!” Tricky blurted out, riding up against the limit of how fast you could talk while sounding intelligible.

Deerling, who sat behind Espurr, yawned and snorted. Espurr thought it sounded like scoffing.

“Ahh…” Nuzleaf looked sheepish. “Sorta. But tha’s only half the story. Anymon else?”

“Elemental powers are the manifestation of the energy that powers all energy-based beings,” Deerling spoke up behind Espurr in a stately, controlled voice. “It’s the one common link between all pokemon and affords us the power to defend ourselves like no other animal can.”

“Correct!” said Nuzleaf. “Somemon’s been studyin’.”

Deerling tried, unsuccessfully, to hide that she was proud of herself.

“Elemental powers are the lifeblood of everythin’ that ticks in our world,” continued Nuzleaf. “As bein’s capable of harnessin’ that energy, we can not only influence our surroundin’s, but also use that energy to create somethin’ entirely new. Like so!”

He suddenly pirouetted, sharply raised his hands up into the air, and clapped. The clap sounded thunderous, and a black bolt of energy arched up into the sky before exploding into fizzling fireworks above the classroom. Little specks of shining glitter spread throughout the air, raining down on everyone, before blinking away into nothingness.

“Woah,” said Shelmet, before Pancham gave him an annoyed look. Shelmet immediately looked like he wasn’t impressed.

Satisfied that he’d impressed the class, Nuzleaf put his hands down and dusted them off.

“Tha’ was a move of my own makin’,” he said. “I call it ‘fizzling fireworks from a night long past’. And by the en’ of this week, if you all pay attention, each and every single one of you will be able to do it yourselves. How does tha’ sound?”

Espurr, bedazzled, thought it sounded utterly magnificent.

~\({O})/~

Recess was awash with nothing but praise for the new teacher and the cool things he taught.

“Who even is that?” asked a pachirisu through two large cheekfuls of food.

“Swallow your food first,” said a pawmo who sat next to her.

“If’s for lapher!”

Goomy, in the corner, was trying and succeeding in producing a few stuttering purple sparkles. They’d vanish once they left the tips of his slimy paws, but it was more than most of the other students could muster. He had a small crowd surrounding him.

“Very cool!” said Deerling.

Deerling and Goomy seemed to be close. Even though they sat rather far apart in class, Deerling followed him around nearly the entire day when he wasn’t in detention.

“Well, I’m already ahead in class,” bragged Tricky in another corner. “See what I can do?” She opened her mouth and blew out a small stream of fire into the air, which became a flaming ribbon that contorted into a rude word. Audino gave her a mean look and quickly swatted her away from the windowsill she was in danger of burning.

Espurr, in her own little nook and cranny with her lunch, mostly just had to agree. The subjects here were so… different to back home. She could get on-board with these. Especially with a teacher as kind and fun as Nuzleaf was.

But as kind as Nuzleaf was, his class was the last in the school, which meant right after lunch, Vice Principal Watchog shoved them out the door for detention. And Watchog was not a very nice teacher.

“Come on!” he crowed from the fence, like he was an irritable banker short on time. “That soil won’t turn itself. You’ve got three more gardens to plough after this.”

Tricky, who was tugging the plough while Espurr and Goomy tugged weeds, grumbled through the reigns, smoke curling from her ears. Espurr, trying her best to work with an arm in a cast, could only sympathise. She’d long since decided Watchog was the new bane of her life.

There was a newcomer in town that day. Espurr heard about him long before she saw anything. A tall, lean, yellow ‘mon in an earth-green cloak, who seemed to be rather nosy for an outsider passing through. Almost no-mon knew anything about him, and bad news had followed in his wake—a ‘mon was found missing in a nearby town, a strange statue presumed to be a calling card left on his doorstep. That rang bells immediately. It was a bad omen, the village said. He was not to be trusted until proven otherwise. And given what she’d seen in Crossings that other day, Espurr was more than happy to follow that advice. In fact, he got a special spot at the top of her suspect list. Involved in probably a murder… if that wasn’t a lead to finding whatever she was supposed to get rid of, she didn’t know what was.

Now that school was out and Watchog was dragging them back to town, Tricky was getting ready to ask Espurr out to dinner again.

“Hey, have you thought about it?” she asked, bright-eyed. Espurr really hadn’t. Between Nuzleaf, the Regional Cup, and the newcomer, she’d been swept away in other things. And truth be told, she didn’t really want to go. Everything about Tricky’s inconsiderateness gave her bad vibes.

“I’m a bit tired,” she replied, hoping Tricky would take the hint.

“That’s okay!” Tricky yipped, the hint flying far over her bushy ears. “I can walk you back to the school afterwards!”

Espurr yawned. Inside, she felt herself shrivelling up. She’d just have to be blunt then. “I’m really not interested, Tricky.”

“Oh…” Tricky seemed to droop a little. Her tail was definitely less lively. “Okay, then… Let me know if you change your mind.”

She was droopy all the way back to the town square.

~\({O})/~

It wasn’t until the next day that the both of them met the newcomer.

He was loitering around the town square just before sunset. Watchog had made them pick berries again for detention that day, and it had somehow managed to be hotter today than it was the first time. Goomy was looking tuckered out, his slime congealing more than it usually did, and Espurr, silently dying, was really considering doing some research into whether ‘hairless cat’ was a style or not. Only Tricky, who seemed to thrive in the heat, was energetic.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna go tonight?” she whined, prancing forward to follow Espurr around desperately as they walked back to town behind Watchog. “Pleeeaase?”

“I’m sure,” said Espurr.

“But it’s leftover night!” Tricky pleaded. “I made sure to leave some of all the best stuff!”

“I’m not hungry,” Espurr responded, swallowing her irritation.

“But everymon gets hungry,” Tricky pointed out.

“Tricky,” Espurr started, turning around. How many times could she say no? “I don’t know how else to tell you I’m not interested.”

Tricky, who had been practically right behind her, recoiled a little. Espurr backed down.

“Sorry,” the fox said, drooping over a bit.

“Maybe some other time,” offered Espurr limply, hoping not to be rude.

Tricky said nothing afterwards, just sitting back on the ground and swishing her tail back and forth as she studied the pebbles on the pavement below her.

“Wait right here,” Watchog ordered them as they approached Kecleon’s stall. “I have to purchase the non-pickables. I don’t want to see you standing one centimetre out of place when I return, or I’ll assign summer detention for all three of you. Got it?”

“Got it…” All three students recited wearily.

Satisfied enough, Watchog started off towards Kecleon’s stall, leaving them on their own. Espurr took a seat on the ground the moment he had turned his back, almost drooping with sleep just like her classmates. The day had taken a toll on then, and as someone who had woken up early that day, it was taking most of Espurr’s willpower to keep herself awake.

“Good evening.”

All three students glanced up wearily at the pokemon who had greeted them, suddenly straightening up and leaping to their feet when they saw who it was. Audino adjusted her exploration bag over her shoulder, her floral hat on her head and a smallish purse in her other paw.

“N-Nurse Audino!” Tricky immediately made an effort to look awake, only succeeding in making herself look constipated instead. “We totally weren’t sleeping on you right now. Trust us!”

“I hope ‘Vice Principal’ Watchog hasn’t been too hard on you,” she said.

“Only a little,” said Espurr.

“I think m-my sl-slime is hardening,” said Goomy weakly. Audino, concerned, gave him something to drink.

“You all behaved yourselves?” A brash voice suddenly rang out behind them. Everymon turned around to face Watchog, who lugged back a week’s worth of nuts in his paws. He glowered at all three of the students as he approached. “Did anymon move?”

“Oh, put a wooper in it, Watchog,” Audino retorted, suddenly less cheery. “They were with me the entire time, and I haven’t seen them move once.”

Espurr, Tricky, and Goomy were treated to the rare sight of Watchog’s face suddenly growing spooked as he noticed who was with them.

“A-Audino!” he exclaimed nervously, tightly gripping the sack the nuts were held in. “Fancy seeing you here…”

“Happened to be in the area; thought I’d lend a helping paw,” Audino replied. “Hope you haven’t worked them to death.”

“And just what are you insinuating by that?” retorted Watchog.

“Oh, nothing,” said Audino. “But one makes observations from previous times.”

“Really?” Watchog folded his arms defensively. “This again? They’re just as happy to cause trouble on any other day. The way I see it, this is a useful waste of their energy.”

Clearly, they had beef.

“Oh, you did not just go there…”

On the other side of the square, a ‘mon Espurr had only seen once before was stumbling through the square, having just knocked over a vendor’s apples.

“Hey!” yelled Kecleon, who managed the tent. “Those are fresh apples! I just had them carried in from up north! You’d better hope none of them are bruised!”

“My apologies,” said the stranger with an apologetic bow. He helped to pick them up, but Kecleon swatted them away.

“Just go. You’ve done enough,” the lizard irritably muttered. The stranger backed away and moved on.

Espurr realised quickly that something was off about the way he was interacting with people. It seemed to be from one thing to the other; if he wasn’t knocking over supplies, he was hitting it up with some of the pokemon on the street. No pokemon who was up to normal things behaved like that; it looked like he was trying to hit as many pokemon as possible on purpose… it took her a second to register that he seemed to be heading this way.

“Ah, two new faces!” said the stranger jovially as he approached. Now that he was up-close, Espurr got a better look at him – tall, bright yellow with black stripes, built almost like a giraffe with a neck just as long, but with a large, faintly glowing orb on his tail. Big, long ears that belonged on a rabbit extended up into the sky. He wore a cloak that was just as earthy green and slender as the stories had described. He must have been four times her height.

“Oh, apologies,” he said. His voice was light and airy. “Where are my manners? We haven’t even introduced ourselves!”

He stuck out a flipper-like paw.

“My name is Ampharos,” he said, like he was announcing it to a crowd. “Also known as the dashing wanderer!”

He did a flamboyant flap of his cape, but the breeze just blew it back on him. He shook it off. “And you two?”

“I’m Tricky,” Tricky started loudly before Espurr could say they were just some neighbourhood kids. “And this is Espurr! We’re training to join the Expedition Society when we grow up!”

Espurr’s jaw nearly dropped. When had she said that? That was Tricky’s goal, not hers!

But before she could refute it, Ampharos had already finished musing and opened his mouth.

“Hmm… Expedition Society, you say,” he said. “Very intriguing.”

“What are you doing here, anyway?” asked Tricky. “There’s, like, nothing here. We’re just a loo stop on your way to the mountains.”

“That… is classified,” said Ampharos. “But I can tell you the sights here are nothing short of spectacular. You must get all sorts of tourists in the spring and summer.”

“We don’t! We haven’t had a newcomer since… since…” Tricky stopped to think for a second, and that second was enough for it to click in Espurr’s own head. She was just a nanosecond away from opening her own mouth to tell Tricky no, please don’t, but it was too late. By the time the command had reached her mouth, Tricky was already spilling the beans.

“…Since Espurr here! Yeah!”

Espurr wilted. That was her biggest secret, and Tricky had just spilled it to a… to a complete…

Ampharos hmm’d.

“Well, that’s very interesting indeed,” he said. “I should like to make your acquaintance further at a later time. For now, I have many important things that need attending to. So good day!”

And with one more swish of his cape, like he was some kind of campy superhero, he began to walk towards the Café Connection.

That was it. Espurr was peeved, her ears as pinned as they could go. If cats could turn red with anger, she’d be crimson. How could Tricky just…

“Tricky!” she snapped annoyedly. Tricky looked back at her.

“What?”

“How could you just tell him everything? You know we’re not supposed to trust him!”

“But he seemed nice,” said Tricky.

“But he’s a stranger!” puffed Espurr.

“Sorry…” muttered Tricky. “I forgot.”

“How could you forget about something like that?” asked Espurr.

“I just… did!”

Espurr stormed away, making sure that she left before Tricky noticed and she outpaced Tricky before the fox could keep up.

“Have a good night,” called out Audino from the distance as she passed them.

Espurr’s walk took her to the outskirts of town, along the vast lake that flowed out to the sea and from the mountains in the distance. It took her until the houses had started to dwindle and disappear, leaving only a few shabby huts with dirty walls and muddy front yards, and until the path let up from cobbled bricks into straight dirt. She walked until she reached the house.

The house was out on a small island, with only a rickety wooden bridge leading to it from the mainland. It was dilapidated, run down like it hadn’t been lived in for centuries, its walls blackened from mud and some of its roof missing. The architecture looked victorian, like some of the older, crumbling houses back in her city, a complete break away from the airy villas of Serenity Village. The ground it stood on was soggy, marshlike, sand, and the house had begun to lean ever so slightly into the ground. It was crooked. It was a crooked house.

But the most unsettling thing about it was the aura it gave off. Just like when the fog had descended upon her back in those woods, Espurr could feel the evil emanating off of it. Her ears flattened down, her tail bunched up, and she took a few steps back. It was an evil house, all alone on that island. Maybe it had been banished there because the people who built it realised what they’d made.

“Heeey! Wait for me!”

The sound came from far behind, a distant voice punctured with a twang Espurr recognized even from far away. She only had to turn around to see the distant form of Tricky running towards her from the direction of the village and the mountains dotting the horizon.

“Wait… up…” breathed Tricky hoarsely as she finally caught up, panting and out of breath as she came to a stop on the path next to Espurr.

“Why’d you just run off?” she asked, recovering.

“Because I needed a walk,” Espurr said, preparing to walk further down the trail even though she didn’t know where it would take her. Anything to get away from Tricky and the house. “Alone.”

“But… But I thought…” Tricky stammered from behind her. Espurr wasn’t looking or listening. “I thought you were my friend?”

“Friend?”

That struck a pang within Espurr. Before she knew what she was doing, she turned around and walked right back over to where Tricky was sitting.

“No. We’re not friends. Friends don’t hound other friends so they’ll go to some dinner party. Friends don’t wrap other friends up into insane quests they get week long detentions over. Friends don’t spill everything about other friends’ backstories to random strangers they don’t even know! And friends don’t speak for other friends!”

Tricky, still on the ground, was left speechless by Espurr’s words.

“So no,” Espurr said, pulling back. “We’re not friends. And we’re never going to be friends unless you grow. Up.”

And with that, she walked right past Tricky, ignoring the looming shadow of the house as it reached out for her in passing, and started heading back towards the town without another word. She could hear Tricky sniffling in the background, and the smallest tug on her conscience appeared, asking her to turn around. But she didn’t care. She was over it.

~\({O})/~

The sun had already set by the time Espurr made it back up to the school clinic. Her feet hurt from all the walking she’d been doing today, and the trip up the hill to the clinic building was doing her no favours. So she was happy to get a light, simple dinner, and climb into bed. Audino covered the luminous moss on the houses with simple cloths, and then retired to the backroom office. Espurr flopped on her straw bed, blotting out the dull orange throbbing of her broken arm, staring up at the ceiling as she danced with slumber.

Dear diary,—

Muffled, urgent voices from the room over jarred her out of her thought train. Her hearing was sharp enough to tell that there were people speaking, but not so good to get an idea of what they were saying. When she looked over, she saw that the lights had been uncovered in that backroom where Audino had gone. The warm yellow light shone luminously from under the crack of the door.

Against her better judgement, Espurr let her curiosity get the better of her. She found herself creeping off her bed, and over towards the door. Once she was there, she lowered her ear against it the best she could without letting anyone know she was there. Only then did the muffled voices start making sense.

“Gone? What do you mean done?”

That was Farfetch’d.

“I mean gone,” said Audino. “The news came in from Crossings. The victim was him. The police have no body, suspects, or motive for the disappearance, just that an unusual souvenir was left in his place.”

“What kind of souvenir?” Watchog. “And what kind of criminal leaves one behind?”

“The kind who strikes more than once,” said Farfetch’d anxiously. She could hear him clutching his leek.

“That’s what has everymon worried,” said Simipour. “The criminal left behind a full-sized statue of the ‘mon who was who was abducted. They seem to have been planning their target for a while, and dumped it there once the deed was done.”

A wave of silence passed through all the teachers. It was an uneasy silence, the kind filled with tension.

“Well, perhaps we just got unlucky,” a new voice proposed. Espurr recognised the thick ranch drawl—that was Nuzleaf! “The ‘mon was old. He could’a had an enemy. Tha’ would explain the statue too; ya don’ throw somethin’ like tha’ together in one day.”

There was uneasy agreement from the other three teachers on the matter.

“And what of the newcomer?” spoke Farfetch’d.

“This… Ampharos?” Simipour said.

“That’s him,” said Farfetch’d. “Do we think he’s responsible? He came out west from Crossings just yesterday.”

“Hmm…” Simipour mused. “Innocent until proven guilty is our policy. We must keep a wary eye out, but not be too quick to take action. You never know what the true story may be.”

More uneasy agreements from all the teachers.

“Until further notice, we proceed as usual,” said Simipour. “We find another guardian for the girl, perhaps somemon with less history. Meeting is adjourned.”

It took Espurr a few seconds, and the shuffling of footsteps, to realise they were leaving! She scurried back to her bed, and appeared to be fast asleep as the other three teachers filed out and then left.

But when they were gone, the information stuck with Espurr regardless. The murdered ‘mon… was meant to be her guardian? Her mind flashed back to the Coneheads. Could they have been responsible? She hadn’t seen them after she’d been saved that night, and that dungeon must have been far away… but that didn’t mean they were gone. And that city, Crossings, it was close. From now on, she had to be on her guard. Because a supernatural killing and a strange newcomer showing up around the same time could not bode well.

She drifted to sleep with unease on her mind.

~\({O})/~

Music of the Week!

I‘m Helping The Idiot – Sonya Belousova, Giona Ostinelli