2. Theran Village

Slowly, the sneasel struggled to open his eyes, his vision spinning. The first thing he noticed was the empty plain that stretched out beyond the horizon. With his vision blurred, he could not make out where the ground ended and where the sky began. Carefully, he pushed himself to his feet, steadying himself as his perception cleared.

He looked down to his paws, and the two wicked-sharp claws that curved over either paw, flexing them experimentally. Narrowing his eyes, he turned his attention to the featureless land that spread out around him. It looked to be around sunset, a deep red tinge just barely clinging to the sky. But there was no sun, moon nor stars here. The ground seemed watery, rippling around his feet, reflecting the bit of the red light back up.

With nothing to tell him where to go, he picked a direction and began to walk, his feet making a quiet splish-splash with every step. After some time, he could make out a small dot on the horizon. He adjusted his trajectory towards it.

Is this a dream? The sneasel wondered quietly. Certainly, he had never seen anything like this. This couldn’t be real, could it?

Out in the distance, the dot began to take better form. It appeared to be a small mound made of the same strange, water like material as the ground.. On it, a single, withered, leafless tree.

He began to creep closer, aware of his exposure in the open air as he tried to make sense of what it might be or what it might mean. He took another step in the strange water. But this time, it was far deeper than he expected. The sneasel let out a startled screech as he tumbled in, engulfed by the watery depths. He thrashed and flailed as he sucked in a lungful of water, gagging as he tried to pull himself to the surface. But something seemed to grab hold of him. Dragging him deeper and deeper, his lungs filling with water…

---

He gasped awake with a start, sitting up bolt upright, wheezing as if he was still drowning. No, he was okay. It was a dream. All just a dream.

Even as he came to the realization that it had been a dream, he continued to take wheezing, labored breaths, becoming aware of sharp and throbbing pains in his body. A chill seemed cut through even his thick fur and down into his bones. As he looked himself over, he noticed white bands that wound around his stomach and back, and leg. He pressed a paw to it then quickly pulled away, wincing in pain.

Taking in note of his surroundings, the first thing he noticed was the nest he was in, made of straw and grass woven along with twigs, and lined with a something fluffy and white, like fur but… not. The second thing he noted was the wooden ground beneath him, cut into near perfectly flat boards, something that seemed far too unnatural to him.

The wall behind him, however, seemed normal: the wood twisted and warped as if he was inside the trunk of an old, hollowed tree. Near the domed roof, a single hole in the wall allowed light to filter inside, as well as the distant, muffled voices of more pokemon, speaking words he could not make out. Climbing up to it seemed like too difficult a task, in his condition.

More empty nests lined the wall, with a second ring of nests looping around the center with a walk space between them. Across the room was a wooden partition. And beyond it, the single exit: a large, unnatural opening leading down a wooden tunnel.

The sneasel tried to force himself to his feet, fighting the dizziness and nausea that the movement produced. This area was too open, and yet left him cornered at the same time. He strained his senses for any sign of danger. He needed to move. To escape. To hide. To shroud himself in the bushes or in the trees, away from the sight of any would-be predator or prey.

Carefully, he sniffed at the air, ears listening for even the tiniest sound of movement. The voices from outside seemed distant. He could hear more voices beyond the wooden barrier, too, but could not make out the scent of what kind of pokemon they might be. The breeze through the window carried their scent away. And what little he could make out was masked by the pungent smell of berries. Lots and lots of berries.

“Pull yourself together, Nip,” the sneasel mumbled to himself, slowly inching forward in a crouching position despite his body’s protests. “Think. You’ve been in worse situations. Just… relax.”

He paused as he reached the opening, ear twitching, as a buzzing sound caught his attention from beyond the tunnel. Beyond the partition was another space, this one with a small raised wooden platform in the center. Beyond that, the tunnel curved out of sight at an angle. The walls beyond were made of the same unnatural boards as the floor.

The buzzing, as it turned out, was an illumise, who came zipping around the corner a moment later, excitedly blabbering about something until they took notice of dark-type up and about. Their ramblings came to a stop. The sneasel froze, cautiously flexing his claws and baring his fangs in a pitiful threat, considering his physical condition.

For a moment the illumise stared at the slightly larger pokemon, blinking once. And then seemingly without a care, they smiled, and spun around to buzz back down the tunnel. “Lecha!” They called out in an accent unfamiliar to the sneasel. “Your patient is awake.”

The illumise’s reaction disarmed the sneasel, his threatening glare wilting into a confused tilt of the head, pupils still narrowed to slits. Still, he could not stop his escape attempt now. Not now that he’d been noticed. He began to move one foot at a time stumbling a bit along the way. The only ways out were either to follow the illumise back down the tunnel, or to try climbing through the hole in the wall.

As he put weight down on one foot, a sharp pain shot through his leg.

There would be no daring climbing escapes today.

He managed to get past the partition before his leg gave out. He fell to the ground with a startled screech just before the illumise returned. This time, a fluffy, feathered pink and purple pokemon followed behind. An aromatisse. He bared his fangs at the two of them, letting out a low growl as a pitiful threat.

“See,” the illumise said, gesturing towards him. “I told you they brought in a wildener.”

The aromatisse let out a concerned chirp before placing a bundle she had brought with her to the side, then turned to chide the illumise.

“Now, now, Twi. He’s no less deserving of help than anyone else here.”

“I know,” the illumise, Twi, responded. “But you think they could have left us with someone who could help out if he got… violent?”

The aromatisse sighed, shaking her head. “I know you’re young and this is your first time dealing with something like this, but not every wildener is out to get you. Many of them are quite nice, in fact. Honestly, what have your parents been teaching you?” With a firm shake, she looked down to her bundle for a moment. A pause, then she turned her head back.

“Besides,” she added with a wink. “I’m stronger than you might think. I’m sure I can handle things should it come to that. Old Lecha still has some tricks up her sleeve yet!”

With that out of the way, the aromatisse busied herself with the bundle she had sat down, pulling loose a knot. The fabric fell open around the contents: a couple oran berries, a sitrus berry, and another pale blue berry that Nip did not recognize, as well as a small wooden bowl. She hummed, looking over the contents, then back to the tense, sharp-clawed pokemon.

Finally, she picked up the pale berry and tore it in half, taking one half and the sitrus berry. She passed the other half to the illumise. “Twi, I want you to use the two oran berries and the remainder of the rawst berry to make a poultice. Can you do that?”

“Both oran berries?”

“Yes, I don’t want to apply the rawst to the burn itself, but I’m hoping absorbing the juices into the other wounds will still help.”

The illumise shrugged before landing on the ground. “Whatever you say.” Twi reached an appendage down to lift one of the oran berries to inspect it for a moment, then finally got to work peeling the thick skin away.

Satisfied finally, Lecha turned her attention to the crouched sneasel staring from several steps away, eyes narrowed to slits. She began to approach slowly, and Nip responded with another growl. She held her hands up, only the berries in tow.

“You don’t need to fear me,” she began in a soft tone like she would use to speak to a frightened child. “We do not wish to hurt you, dear. We only want to help you, if you’ll let us.”

The sneasel’s growls quieted, but he still stayed hunched, eying her cautiously, sizing her up.

“You seem like you went through a terrible ordeal,” she continued, taking another small, calculated step forward. “Some of the pokemon in our village found you collapsed in the forest. We just want to treat your injuries. Okay?”

The sneasel pondered her statement for a moment. When he finally spoke, it was in a cautious, guarded tone. “This is a… village?”

Lecha nodded slowly, taking another step towards the hunched pokemon. “That’s right. You’re in the medic hut of Theran.”

“I have never heard of this… ‘Theran.’”

“We’re a village by the Gorebyss River, famous for our carpentry and our oran berries!” Twi piped up from behind Lecha.

Nip considered their words, scrunching his nose, but at least relaxed a bit for a moment, his fur lying flat.

Encouraged by the change of demeanor, the aromatisse closed the gap between them, and offered out the two berries.

“Here, eat these,” she said in a soft tone.

The sneasel gave the berries a skeptical look, but eventually struck out, spearing the berries on the tip of his claws. He gave the sitrus berry a cautious nibble, sucking and licking away the small bit of juice that spurted out.

For some time, he nibbled at the berry in the near silence of the room. But finally, the sound of buzzing made him jerk, his attention springing back to the illumise as his fur began to raise again.

The bug had arisen from their spot across the room, buzzing across to deposit a bowl of blue pulp in front of them.

“Thank you, Twi,” the aromatisse hummed, reaching a paw down into the pulp, inspecting it. “Will you go get some gauze from the shelf?”

Twi buzzed in response, taking to the air. A quick zip to an indentation carved into the walls, and they returned with a white substance that reminded Nip vaguely of woven spinarak silk. The same substance that was already wrapped around his chest and leg, now that he thought about it.

With a hum of thanks, the aromatisse scooped a pawful of the berry pulp and reached over to begin working it into the fur around the sneasel’s ear.

The sting of the juices caught the sneasel off guard. He shrank away from the paw with a warning hiss, narrowing his eyes.

The aromatisse seem unconcerned, however, keeping a calm composure as she slowly lowered her arm to hold it in front of Nip. “This is to help you heal, the juices have healing properties that will help with your cuts. Will you allow me to help you?”

For a moment, he stayed stiff, eyeing the paw through narrowed eyes. But after a tense moment, he relented, lowering his head.

The aromatisse let out a cheerful chirp as she returned to her work, spreading the pulp over the stinging wound. Then she moved down, carefully unraveling the old gauze around his leg before doing the same process there.

For a few minutes, she worked in silence. But when the sneasel continued to stay quiet the doctor finally broke the silence.

“So, you’re not from around you, are you, dear?” she questioned, not looking up from her work.

“Are you from the forest?” Twi butted in. “Do you have a name?”

Lecha shot the illumise a sharp glare for a split second before returning to her work.

Nip glanced blankly between the two pokemon, narrowing his eyes suspiciously as he looked over to the illumise, then relaxing slightly as he returned his gaze to the aromatisse.

“Nip,” he finally grunted. “My name is Nip.”

Lecha hummed in response. “Nip? Okay Nip, that’s a start. Do you mind telling me what happened to you? It might help me treat your wounds better after all.”

Another pause. “A kangaskhan,” he admitted with a bitter tone. “Got me with a fire punch in the back.”

“Your voice is kinda funny,” Twi interjected.

“Your voice is kind of funny,” Nip hissed back.

The doctor paused for a moment, looking at Nip curiously before closing her eyes and letting out a hum. She began to wrap the gauze around his leg. “Mhm, that makes sense. You must have gotten too close to the one nesting nearby.”

A pause. “You could say that.”

She bowed her head, closing her eyes. “You really should be more careful, dear. Has no one ever told you to not agitate a kangaskhan? Especially one raising an egg or a baby. I take it she’s responsible your leg and ear also?”

He glanced down to the dressed wound and responded with a grunt. “Yeah.”

Licking the last remains of the sitrus berry off his claws, he began nibbling on the second berry. Already, he could feel a bit of his strength returning as the berries began to do their work. He began to chew faster as his nurse stood back to look over her handiwork.

A distant sound suddenly caught Nip’s attention. His ear-feather twitched as he sat up, straining in hopes better hearing and identifying the noise.

“Lecha!” A voice called from down the hall. “Are you here? Are you busy?”

The aromatisse’s ear twitched; she turned her head back towards the way she came. “I’m in the back! You can come on back here though.”

There was the sound of shuffling in the distance, then of footsteps from a rushed, waddling gait. Finally, a plump, brown pokemon – a bidoof – came around the corner, a small satchel dragging on the ground behind her.

“Oh, Haru,” Lecha called out, turning her attention away from the sneasel. “What are you doing back so soon? Is everything alright?”

Haru bowed her head towards Lecha. “I’m fine. Nothing bad happened, dad is just feeling a little weak this afternoon. I was wondering if maybe I could pick up a few white herbs?”

The aromatisse seemed to consider for a moment. “I believe I’ve only given him two this month… Okay, give me just a minute and I’ll prepare some for him. I can give him three more.”

The bidoof quickly bobbed her head, a grin spreading across her face. “Three sounds perfect.”

Lecha nodded again in return before pausing to wipe her paws off on the cloth she brought the bundle in. “Wait here for a moment while I go jot my patient’s information down in my books, then I’ll be back with those for you.” With that, the aromatisse scurried off.

As the bidoof waited, she caught a glance of dark fur behind where Lecha had been standing.  She propped herself up on her hind legs, straining to get a better look before recognition seemed to light up in her eyes.

“Oh, you’re awake!”

The plump pokemon waddled over with a toothy smile, sniffing at the sneasel, who recoiled as she approached with narrowes eyes.

She paused with a tilt of her head. “What, never met a bidoof before?”

Nip blinked a couple times in stunned silence. “No, just never one without sense of self preservation.”

The bidoof seemed taken aback by the response at first, but quickly shook it off. “Nah, there’s nothing to fear inside the village gates. We’re safe here.” But she still backed off, regardless. “But I’m glad to see you doing alright. When we brought you in yesterday, we weren’t sure you were going to survive.”

“Haru here was with the group that found you,” Lecha interjected as she returned from the tunnel. “You should consider yourself lucky.”

Nip  looked towards bidoof, then back to the aromatisse before turning his head away with a grunt. “All I mean is that I have never met a plant eater that wasn’t overly cautious and was so willing to put themselves in harm’s way.”

“You aren’t exactly in any condition to cause anything harm though,” Twi buzzed. “Even if you were, Lecha would never let any harm come to Haru or anyone else here.”

Nip opened his mouth to say something else, but nothing came out and he quickly shut it, lowering his eyes, though not before shooting the illumise a confused look. Earlier they were terrified of him, but now they were oh so confident in the aromatisse?

“So,” Haru started, settling down a few feet away as she changed the subject. “You don’t sound like you’re from around here. Are you a forest ‘mon or other sort of wildener? Or are you from one of the other villages?”

Stuck between staying and talking or retreating to the room of nests, Nip chose to sit down. “You keep using that term. Villiages?”

“You know, Pokemon settlements. Places where all types of pokemon gather instead of just a single species.”

Finally, something seemed to click with the sneasel. “Oh, you must be speaking of tribes. Yes, I come from the Half-Moon Tribe of the north.” He paused, scrunching his brow before continuing. “Are they known out here?”

The bidoof closed her eyes and shook. “Nope. I’ve never heard of any village that called themselves a tribe. Let alone any called the Half Moon Tribe. Maybe… I might have heard a passerby mention a tribe in passing, but nothing comes to mind.”

“I see…”

“Is something the matter?”

He scrunched his brow for a second, before perking up, his expression relaxing. “I must have come further south than I realized. You.” He raised a paw to point at Twi. “Where did you say I was, exactly?”

“You’re in Theran village pal,” the illumise chimed in. “Home of the finest oran berries east of Mount Domo.”

“You guys grow oran berries down here?”

“Of course! They’re delicious and make for a great food supplement for anyone traveling through the mists or across the sea.”

“And are an invaluable part of any good medic’s first aid supplies,” Lecha interrupted, returning from the tunnel. “Does that surprise you?”

“No, not totally,” Nip responded. “Even the youngest kits should know the values of oran and sitrus berries. I’ve just never heard or see anyone actively growing them. Let alone using them as food. Not when they’re so hard to come by.”

“Oh, but they grow great here, there’s so many produced, that there’s no reason not to use them as emergency rations. Are they rare where you come from?”

Nip closed his eyes. “Very. A well protected bush may only yield one or two harvests in the warm season. And the bushes are few and far between. Not to mention the race to gather as much as possible up before outsiders take them for themselves.”

“Outsiders?”

“Pokemon that are not a member of our tribe, whether they be single mons trying to survive on their own or rival tribes trespassing on our territory.”

“Oh!” The illumise perked up. “We call the pokemon that live in the forest ‘wildeners,’ since they live off the land and are more on the wild side, what with the usual lack of a code of honor.”

“Some of them have morals,” Haru interjected. “Some of the forest mon are just loners that prefer the quiet of life on their own. But living alone has its downsides. There’s no one to protect them if another hungry wildener thinks they look like easy prey.”

Twi piped up. “Killing pokemon for food or for sport, instead of trying to settle in and either change their diet or work with a meal vendor? I wouldn’t call that morals.”

A moment of awkward silence filled the room as Nip gave the bug-type a blank expression, until Lecha broke the void by clearing her throat. “Now, now,” the aromatisse started, waving a paw. “You know it’s not that simple, Twi. Besides, every loner pokemon and wildling makes their choice, you can’t force a pokemon to change the ways that their fathers and forefathers taught them.” She shook her head, adding with a mumble, “I really need to speak to your father about what he’s been telling you next time he’s in town.”

Twi gave a grunt in response. Then their facial expression relaxed before they buzzed their wings, taking to the air, the awkward pause in the air forgotten. “Oh! I should go let the others know that Nip woke up. Shimmer and Muse would want to know, right?”

Haru let out a groan and tilted her head up towards the ceiling. “They were over at my parents’ place when I left. Off pestering my brother, as usual. Let my mom know I’ll be back home soon, would ya?”

“Of course!” The illumise buzzed. And then they were off, zipping down the hallway in a rush, leaving Nip, Haru, and Lecha alone in a slightly more peaceful room.

Nip, who had been quiet during the exchange, continued to stare down the tunnel Twi had disappeared down for a moment. “You mean they don’t-” he began to mumble, before cutting himself off with a shake of his head. Carefully, he began to push himself back to his feet, finding himself with significantly more strength than he had when he had first woken up. Not that the pain had subsided.

“I thank you both for your hospitality,” he began. “But I should take leave as well.” He began to take a step forward, still limping slightly.

“Now hold on,” Lecha interjected. “You’re still in an uneasy condition, and in no way in shape to travel. Where do you intend to be rushing off to?”

The sneasel paused mid step before slowly turning his head to the fairy type. How much should he share? “I am on a… spiritual journey of sorts,” he explained after a second of hesitation. “For my tribe. For myself. I really must get going.”

“A spiritual journey you say? I can understand the desire to hurry dear, but you really must rest, at least overnight. I need to keep an eye on those wounds of yours, apply another round of medicine. You’ll never complete any trip in this condition. I find the morning you’re doing significantly better, you can leave then.”

“And if not,” Haru added in, “you can always stay in the village for a day or two. Most of the pokemon around here would love to hear about what the norther part of the land is like. Are you from the other side of the Great Misty Canyon? Actually, you must be. All the land between here and there is charted out, and like I said, I’ve never heard of any ‘half-moon tribe’.”

Nip tilted his head, his ear feather flicking. “A canyon? Well, yeah, I did pass through one, now that you mention it.”

“Not many people risk passing through the canyon,” Lecha added in an impressed tone. “It’s the most dangerous known mystery dungeon this side of the continent.”

“That rift?” The sneasel scoffed. “I went through far more dangerous challenges for my coming of age.”

“Who in their right mind other than an explorer or seasoned rescue crew would enter a mystery dungeon?” Haru questioned.

“Are you kidding? All kits have to go through a dungeon’s mists to complete a task and earn their final spot in society!”

“It sounds like your tribe puts value on different things than our village,” Lecha interjected. “Perhaps you two could continue your discussion over in the resting area? You need rest, after all, my dear guest.”

“Actually…” the bidoof started, her tone drooping. “I should probably get back home.” She bowed her head slightly to Lecha. “Thank you very much for the herbs though. I’m sure my dad will make good use of them.” She then turned her attention to the sneasel. “Perhaps if you’re in better condition tomorrow, I could show you around that town? You seem like the type that would visit the local shrine, if you’re on a spiritual journey.”

Nip closed his eyes for a moment, considering his options. He was in no condition to rush off on his own at the moment, and it certainly would not hurt to find out how things were run around this part of the land. He finally gave the rodent a nod. “It would be appreciated.”

The bidoof gave a signature buck-toothed grin. “That would be great! I’ll see you tomorrow then!” With those parting words, the pudgy pokemon waddled on out around the corner, leaving Nip alone with the nurse.

“Now,” Lecha started. “I can help you back to a nest, if you need me to.”

The sneasel shook his head quickly. “No, no I’m fine.” Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet, testing his strength, then turned and began to limp back into the room he had been in just a short time before.

“Trust me, I know how to take care of myself.”

The aromatisse clucked her tounge. “Well, if you insist dear. Don’t push yourself too hard though. You’re safe here.”

Reaching the nest he’d been in before, Nip settled down and closed his eyes. As he listened to Lecha leave the room, he mumbled to himself, “Easy for you to say.”

---

As Haru began to make the trek back home, she let her mind wander back to her meeting with the strange sneasel, only giving distracted greetings to pokemon that passed her by. A pokemon from the other side of the Misty Canyon, how rare an occasion! From what she had heard, very few explorers had ever set foot inside, let alone made it to the other side. So, even if she wasn’t interested in the exploring side of things like her brother, surely it would be worth asking Nip more about the other side, right?

“Yoo-hoo! Haru!”

The bidoof shook her head, clearing it as a familiar voice caught her attention. She slowed to veer off the path towards one of the nearby stands where the voice originated from. The wooden stand was painted a bright, pale yellow, though the paint was chipped and faded with age. Baskets of berries sat out both on top and in front of the stand. Also standing on top was the shop keep: a lone bellossom.

Haru stood up on her hind legs to get a better look, placing her front paws on the shorter end of the counter. “Good evening, Ruffle. How’s the shop been?”

“Slow today,” the bellossom said with a dismissive wave and a sigh. “Making up for yesterday’s rush, I suppose. But stationed exploration teams returning from the west should pass through in the next moon.

“But enough about me,” Ruffle continued. “I happened to see you leaving Lecha’s. Is everything okay? How’s that sneasel doing?”

“Oh! He woke up sometime today. He looked worse for wear, but alert. In fact, I think he was already ready to leave, not that he was well enough to. Lecha put a stop to that.”

“Well, that’s good to hear,” Ruffle responded firmly, smoothing down her petal skirt. “When Muse came rushing through town yesterday with the poor thing on her back, Roselei and I were worried he’d already passed. It’s nice to hear otherwise. Did you happen to find out where he’s from?”

Haru shook her head. “Nope, said something about being from some ‘tribe’ north of the canyon though.”

The bellosom’s eyes grew wide in surprise. “That far away, really?” She paused, waiting for the bidoof to confirm before she continued. “Well, it’s a relief that he’s not a wildener sneasel at least. I’d hate for poor Tor to have even more on his plate to worry about on top of the daycare renovations and those two ghost kids he took in a few moons back.”

“You have a good point there,” Haru agreed before pausing. “You’re from one of the barrier islands south of here, right Ruffle? What was it like, traveling here? Did you have to pass through any mystery dungeons?”

“Indeed I am!” Ruffle responded, following with a pleased hum. “I grew up in Seashoal Village, on Seadra’s Tail Isle. There’s an entrance to an underwater mystery dungeon not far from there, but it can be sailed around, so no. Why do you ask?”

“I was just trying to get an idea of what traveling so far would be like,” she admitted. “Especially travelling through a mystery dungeon alone. At least, I figure he traveled alone.”

Haru paused, glancing up to the reddening sky; it would be dark soon. “Oh! I need to get these herbs home to dad. Sorry to cut things Ruffle, but I really gotta go!”

“No worries,” the bellossom replied with a pleasant wave. “Say hello to Saku and Chipper for me, would you?”

“Of course. Take care, Ruffle!” With that, Haru turned, scurrying back along the road home.

---

Fortunately, Haru had no more interruptions on her way home, managing to get back to the river before the sun had dipped even halfway below the horizon.

Unfortunately, Shimmer and Muse were still hanging around by the time she got home. Twi also had not returned to Lecha’s clinic yet, but Haru was less concerned about the illumise.

Muse had taken up a spot lying by the river, watching water slowly seep through the bibarel dam, the occasional leaf floating by in the lazy current. Twi was asleep, resting against the abosl’s side. Haru dipped her head to Muse as a greeting when she passed by.

As she entered their home, Haru was greeted by the smell of cooked potatoes and carrots and onions. Her mother had mentioned making a soup today. The bibarel in question was busy at work, carefully balancing filled bowls on her tail as she passed them out to the other occupants of the hut: her father, her brother, and Shimmer. Her dad – another bibarel – had spread himself out on the dirt floor, his eyes closed as he half-dozed. Shimmer had seated herself on the family’s single stool, which was used for guests as they had little use for it. Her brother, Toshi, a slightly smaller bidoof, sat nearby looking like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

“Oh, there you are Haru,” Saku greeted as she held her tail up to Shimmer and Toshi. The two each took a bowl, Shimmer lifting hers with ease while Toshi carefully balanced his between chubby paws until he could get it to the floor. “I invited Shimmer and Muse to stay for dinner, and Twi too, if they want.”

“That’s…” Don’t be rude, Haru reminded herself. “That’s great. Mom. I just got back with the herbs for Dad.”

The other bibarel cracked open a single eye, a grin forming on his face. “Oh, thank the gods, he groaned. “I swore I could carry that log, ya know, but I guess I’m not as young as I used to be.”

Haru backed herself out of the satchel’s strap and reached a paw inside to pull out the three herbs, then gingerly grabbed one with her teeth and carried it over to her father.

Shimmer brought the bowl of soup up to her mouth, taking a sip before giggling. “I was just telling Toshi about how we rescued that sneasel yesterday, and how brave I was, isn’t that right, Toshi-kins?”

“Yeah…” her brother, Toshi, began with a nervous chuckle, turning his head in an attempt to hide his discomfort with the pet name. “It sounded… awesome.”

Shimmer opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted when Muse entered the hut with Twi on her back, speaking in her usual even tone.  “So, Twi told us that the sneasel woke up and seems to be recovering.”

“That’s right,” Haru responded with a dip of her head while her mother continued to pass out bowls, using a wider, shallow bowl for the four-legged mon in the room. “His name is Nip, and apparently he’s from north of the Great Misty Canyon. He said he came down this way on some sort of spiritual journey, and he’s not planning to stick around for long.”

“Well, I can understand that,” her father chipped in. “You know, your grandfather went on a pilgrimage all the way up to the peak of Mount Domo back in his youth, searching for the Tomb of Regigigas.”

Haru resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I know, Dad. You’ve told me the story before. And he swore he caught sight of Regigigas in the swirling mists.”

“He did!” Her father insisted. “Now, I know that no one has seen Regigigas for certain in several lifetimes. But perhaps that’s because no one’s bothered to look?”

A frustrated grumble escaped the back of Haru’s throat. “Fewer pokemon go looking because they have more important things to do than to go off chasing legends that might not even exist!”

“Haru. Chipper,” Saku interrupted, her tail slapping the ground impatiently. “I know you two don’t see eye to eye on these things anymore but… can we please be civil in front of our guests?”

For a moment, Haru stared her mother down, then averted her gaze, staring down to her bowl of soup. “Sorry.”

“Didn’t mean to start an argument…” Her father grumbled, raising a paw to sheepishly scratch at his neck fur.

The bibarel continued to stare at her daughter for a few seconds before giving a terse grunt. “Good.” She then turned her head to Shimmer, Muse, and Twi, who had taken seats next to each other. “Sorry you three had to hear that. I hope you’ll forgive our inhospitality.”

“It’s all fine,” the kirlia responded, dismissively waving a hand. “Father isn’t the most spiritual mon himself. But he says that it’s important to let everyone follow who they want to. It’s fortunate for some of the pokemon here, since some of those gods wouldn’t be accepted elsewhere. For example… did you know that Ruffle has a small shrine to Hoopa in her house?”

“Really?” Toshi interjected. “Hoopa? I find that kind of hard to believe.”

“It’s true!” Shimmer insisted. “I mean, it’s not just to Hoopa. She and Roselei are also firm followers of the nature gods, but Ruffle says that Hoopa reminds her of home.”

“Huh.” Chipper shook his head. “I don’t know a whole lot Hoopa. But I never thought I’d hear about someone worshiping it, from what I do. Especially someone as… friendly as Ruffle.”

Shimmer brought a hand up and twirled it around her hair. “You’d be surprised. I learn all sorts of things from dad about the other pokemon in this village.”

At that point, Haru tuned out, her mind drifting between Ruffle and Nip. She found herself wondering what kind of pilgrimage Nip was on, what kind of god he might follow. Could he be traveling down to Seadra’s Tail? Perhaps he too was a follower of Hoopa. What was Hoopa supposedly like?

She had quit listening to the religious tales of other pokemon seasons ago, even though she knew it was probably a poor idea with how ingrained it was in many pokemon’s lives. Sure, it might hurt future working relationships, but it drove her nuts, how much some pokemon depended on the gods. Chasing down legends, putting their lives in danger for something that might not even exist! Even some expedition groups focused less on research and exploration, and more on trying to find some of these mythical pokemon.

What a waste of time, when there was so much they still did not know about the world! So many places that needed to be charted. The fact that she had never heard of where Nip was from was proof enough of that. And who knew what was really across the sea! Everything they knew about the lands beyond were second-hand stories from aquatic pokemon, and even then, a lot of those stories clashed with each other.

Though… Perhaps it would be worth it to learn more about Nip’s god. Not because she cared about it, per say, but because passing on new information might help build her reputation. And the more she got her name out there, the better chance she had of expanding the family business.

Even as their guests said their goodbyes and she settled into bed for the evening, she found herself thinking about what questions she might want to ask, what she might be able to learn.

She was going to make the most out of tomorrow.