2 – Zam

The bricks shaped a confusing and meandering path like a rope, with curves, zig-zags and detours everywhere from a circle with a pole in the middle. It had illegible signs from his height and distance, after all, the Rowlet was still being carried over the Scorbunny’s head, in a rush.

—Ouch! -he complains with every branch that hit his face while Fir was free from any obstacles.

—Hold on, it’s not my fault if you are that easy to carry! -shouted back.

Too frustrated to reply to that bother, he ignores it and finally is free from those hellish branches. The routes in the horizon were clearer and he could read the signs now. One of them, with an exclamation mark, pointed to the forest path where they just left, while others pointed to a village and a small town with an exquisite name.

—What…does Autumme mean? -asks to the rabbit.

—Yeah, it’s this one, thanks!

And both run towards the path, still too clumsy.

His transport hopped over the bricks with joy and barely lost himself with each curve of the yellow road. Even if the hare hadn’t read any map in that centre, he knew the path even with the closed eyes. His surroundings were mostly empty, with some round bushes colored with some ground berries growing on them. Thinking that way, the vast fields that separated the villages from each other weren’t that distinct from the world Rowlet lived in before.

—Where are we going?

—Autumme, of course! You helped me remember where I had to go.

—What is Autumme? -the owl insists.

—How you don’t know? -the sharp eyes of the bird makes Fir realize what he was dealing with- Oh, well, it’s a big town inside the map of Geniamau, one of greatest!

—And what is Geniamau?

—The region’s name, silly. It has everything somewhere, from snow to the south or archipelagos at east. We are at the greener and clearer part here.

—So that’s why so many fruits…

Quite a weird name for a region, the Rowlet thinks to himself.

Narrowing his eyes, the passenger could see from far away, in a turn of the yellow brick road, a sort of tidy shack, with a really fat squirrel ready to sell his “exotic fruits”, as the sign at the top said. It was probably the first signal of life outside that creepy cave.

—Why taking me to such a far place?

—You ask too much! -Fir complains- It’s the head office of the biggest guild nearby!

—What do you mean by…”guild”?

—Over there!

He pointed with his right hand, and the bird followed with his head. Right behind the darker trees that stretched where the eye could see, he spotted some silhouettes of humble shacks hidden by the shadows and wide treetops. Could spot also a taller tower, with a sort of dome on top; a transparent glass structure that reflected the sunlight and, fortunately, didn’t blinded the duo.

Soon, ignoring his duty on taking the victim back to safety, Fir puts the Rowlet in the ground, pats his head and says:

—Okay, you can walk on your own now. Just stay behind me.

—Wait! -he shouts- You run faster than me, so…don’t run.

—Right, right. -Fir agreeds, although against his will.

The structures became more visible as they advanced, showing a new version of what the Rowlet saw back at the roads. Most of the ‘humble shacks’ were an entrance for something far more civilized and modern; all following some specific Pokémon decoration. Turning a large corridor, there is a commercial alley. Big, with merchants of various species chatting and buying every sort of food, knacks and belongings. Fruit bags, seeds, rocks, handmade items; everything he could guess.

In the end, a castle was clear for them, bigger than any house he has seen until now. A remnant of an antique architecture, exhaling an opaque turquoise blue, highlighting from the rest. Couldn’t believe that the huge entrance arch had a door or a hidden wooden gate; it was open for the public, to walk inside, step on the cold and polished marble floor.

—Very cool, isn’t it? -Fir asks.

—I feel…small.

—More than you are?

He wouldn’t answer that.

The hallway was filled with pictures, certifieds in different letters, medals and a big emblem on top of a motto -at least is what Rowlet thought it was. A sea-blue orb, slightly mirrored with six wings around, like an angel; big and majestic. Under, he could read the phrase:

—”Hope, even when it seems to be lost, must prevail against every menace”…

—Oh, cool, isn’t it? It’s the guild’s motto.

—It’s quite cliche. -he said, soon realizing that his partner didn’t liked that.

—Okay, mister joker, let’s see Uncle Zam. -Fir grabs the owl by his wing and walks with his fast steps to the end of the entrance hallway.

—Who is it?!

—Him! Hey, Uncle Zam!

At the end of the fresh hallway, there was a round and wide room with a big map of the whole Geniamau region at the back wall, rich with details, drawings, add-ons and reminders, besides some pins with notes for unknown reasons. On each side, were corridors that he judged to be only for authorized people; a ‘staff only’ area.

A round desk lied in the middle, full of maps, measuring items and papers, especially. That brought him memories of his world. Finding someone working on a table with big blocks of paper sheets was common in Rowlet’s world. But they were not floating in the air with a yellow creature smoothing his long moustache, with no trace of worry whatsoever.

 —Hello, Fir. What happened? -his voice sounded rough and aged.

—I went on a rescue mission with Kai and Marceline! -pride overflowed on his tone.

—We know. -replied- Also, where are them? And this Rowlet, the victim, is it fine?

—I…

—Both are at the cave, fighting against an ugly ghost! -Fir interrupted his friend. With a serious stare from Uncle Zam, the Scorbunny shut his mouth and the Rowlet could speak with no problem.

—I am fine, I guess… -takes a deep breath- They arrived just in time.

—Yes, yes, their efficiency is foolproof. -nods- We planned since we got your help request.

Rowlet raised an eyebrow.

—What sort of request, actually?

Zam’s eyes shined a bright pink tone while a beige letter floated in the air, opening and unfolding in front of the bird. It had some bizarrely accurate info about him, like a drawing of him, place, situation -kidnap- and even a reward bracket, with nothing written on it. This didn’t help that much.

—I didn’t sent that.

—Maybe a parent? Witness? 

—The requests are anonymous, it’s a secret who makes them. -Fir whispers to his new friend.

—I don’t think so. -Rowlet answers to Zam- The first that I remember is that I woke up there.

Those sharp and experienced eyes heavily narrow over the owl. Then, he pulled some paper sheets closer with an ink glass and a beautiful red feather.

—I’m taking note of that. You, Fir, can go to your room. They are arriving soon.

—Cool! Bye, kiddo! -the rabbit leaves his partner, going to the left corridor and jumping the three steps.

—You, stay here. -he points to the bird with his pen when he still finishes his notes.

—I…I swear, I don’t remember anything, I know it’s weird too…

—You are not lying, despite being afraid of sounding like it. Have any appointment now?

He shaked his head negatively. Still waited for all that mystery to be over.

—What do you remember before waking up at the cave?

—Almost nothing… Just being asleep in my room, my bed. It was all fine, I left my things on my desk…

—Where?

—I don’t know! -exclaims- It was nothing like this; Pokémon were supposed to be fiction…

—Excuse me? -lifts an eyebrow, along with his tone of voice- How exactly do you know about our existence if we don’t exist in ‘your world’?

Rowlet was speechless; that Alakazam’s severe tone was barely anything empathetic or caring. Almost accusatory, like a cop that would try anything to reveal the true culprit. With a second look, felt that probably Uncle Zamw as just like that.

—Do you know anything between when you fell asleep and when you woke up? -he proceeds.

—I felt stuffy. And I couldn’t feel my body nor my legs…

Zam turns and takes the Rowlet’s rescue request, while that pen was writing on the floating paper by itself, with a pink aura around it. With a shorter feather, brown and ugly, he wrote something on it.

—I’m sending this letter personally at the Slak-Inn-g. There are people from our guild there that could help and you will have a roof tonight.

The owl’s head turned sideways, confused. There was no way this gentleness was charity or something like that. All that story was raising a lot of questions, both for himself and Uncle Zam.

—We still have questions for you. It’s all a mystery, yet. -explains- One last thing: What is your name?

—I… have said this before to Fir. I don’t remember.

—So. -Zam concludes after a few moments of silence- For now, you will be called by your species, Rowlet. Is that fine?

He certainly was not used to that, despite not having any better idea. He was not a human anymore. Once he closed his eyes to sleep, everything, for some reason, has changed. The world turned upside down and even his humanity is gone now. It was a Pokémon, like everyone around him. A Rowlet.

—Yes, I’m fine with it.