Arc 1, Chapter 17: Have a Short Rest

After his first conscious night in the infirmary, Amadeus had come to a conclusion.

Being in the infirmary was terribly boring.

The Druddigon from yesterday had apparently left before he even woke up that day, leaving Amadeus alone, save for the healers that would occasionally enter the room. Almost never to check up on him. Some would even be in the middle of a conversation as they entered.

“Oh! Speaking of rumors, did you hear what people are saying about Dumas recently?” a Simisage asked the Illumise who was accompanying her.

“Completely oblivious,” the Illumise responded, rather purposefully searching for something in a drawer. “Clue me in and maybe I’ll give a damn.”

“Okay, so…” the Simisage started, clapping after she put down a notepad she was carrying. “Rumor has it that he’s hiding something from us at R&D! Apparently, there was a bang during a meeting almost a week ago, so everyone’s saying he’s trying to keep something to himself, and he wanted the Guildmaster on his side! Some are even saying he’s trying to monopolize the resources he needs!”

“Fascinating,” the Illumise sarcastically responded, and walking out of the room with what she was apparently looking for. “I’m guessing you care because you’re with R&D?”

“Dude, this is our thing! We…” The conversation left the room as the door slammed shut behind the two of them, leaving Amadeus alone again.

Well, now I want to know what that was about… Amadeus sighed. I should’ve asked. Why didn’t I? They were right there… In hindsight, he was really starting to appreciate how much Hirohito had made an effort to talk with him. He felt a bit… invisible at the moment. Normally, he’d appreciate some alone time, but the sheer monotony was getting to him. Arceus, I’d kill for a phone right now…

Then, the Tangrowth showed up exactly fourty-seven minutes later. Amadeus knew this because he had been obsessively checking the clock on the wall for all of that time.

“Good afternoon. How are you feeling today?”

“A little bit better than yesterday.”

“Very well then.” The Tangrowth then force fed him more of the berry mixture, which Amadeus made no attempt to resist. It was paired with the same healing from yesterday. “How about now?” the Tangrowth asked.

“Better.”

“Can you stretch without too much pain?”

Amadeus tried it, and was immediately felt a fresh wave of pain. “It still hurts quite a bit.”

The Tangrowth jotted something down on a notepad. “Alright. I’ll be back tomorrow. This goes without saying, but try not to move around too much.” The Tangrowth then left the room.

Amadeus was alone again.

Haruhi hadn’t come around that morning, so he could only assume she’d be there in the afternoon. He glanced at the clock. Still a few more hours to go. Somehow, he’d awoken after she would’ve started and it still would be a while. Maybe she did come around, but I was asleep… The thought was agonizing.

At some point, he started looking at the clouds to see what shapes he could see. When he got bored, he looked at the clock again.

Ten minutes passed.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

He resorted to coming up with story ideas. He tossed them around for a while, until he found one he liked. How about… a slice of life story. About a lazy guy and his friend who’s getting into real estate. Uh… the main character is a Snivy and the friend is a Pikachu. Oh, and there’s a shy Audino guy and an ambitious Rockruff girl, too. Eventually, he’d gone and world-built an entire setting and created a b plot about a stereotypical Riolu hero with Shinx, Dunsparce, and Virizion sidekicks who was bitter rivals with the Snivy lead, and had made both the Snivy and the Riolu into humans because why not, and…

Maybe I should try my paw at writing someday. Amadeus looked at the clock again.

A full two hours had gone by. …The hell? Okay, not complaining about that one.

Eventually, to Amadeus’ surprise, he got a real visitor.

“Hey, Amadeus.” Fudo, of all people, had come to visit him.

“Oh. Hi, Fudo.”

“Man, you got roughed up yesterday, huh? You look awful.”

“Apparently a wall collapsed on me. It hurts to move too much.”

Fudo shrugged. “It happens.” Fudo then moved to sit down on the bed next to Amadeus, which made it readily apparent how much taller he really was. Fudo had to squat down to sit on Amadeus’ bed. It was practically a Futon. “So, how’s the infirmary treating you?”

“It’s terrible,” Amadeus responded. “I’ve been alone all day, and there’s nothing to do but stare at the wall.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”

There was a brief silence. Amadeus was feeling a bit better now that there was someone else in the room, but he felt compelled to continue the conversation somehow.

“Does anyone ever ask you to use your psychic abilities for anything? Since you’re so good at it and all…”

“I mean, it’s pretty hard not to use them on a daily basis these days. You’d be surprised how often the move Psychic and telepathy find a use.” Fudo leaned back a bit with his arms crossed. “Getting stuff off the top shelf? Psychic. Need to tell someone something from a city block away? Telepathy. Need to get down from a high place safely, or climb the same distance? Psychic. Need to remember something accurately? Telepathy. Something’s just too heavy to carry? Psychic.” Fudo used Psychic to levitate the covers on Amadeus’ bed briefly. “I could go on.”

“What about mind reading?”

“Well, that’s what everyone asks about,” Fudo said with a chuckle. “But it really doesn’t come up that often.”

“Nobody asks you to try and pry into someone else?”

“Some do,” Fudo admitted. “But I don’t do it very often. Unless I have to,” He quickly added.

“…I see.” Amadeus looked at the clock on the wall. By the looks of it, Haruhi would probably come soon. “How does it work, though?”

“Do you remember what I told you when we talked about it… Arceus, has it really been over a month already? But do you remember?”

“Something about suggestion?”

“That was how I said telepathy worked.”

“…Okay.”

Fudo sighed. “The important thing I said was that in order to do that, I had to create a link between the thinking parts of our minds. I couldn’t do it any other way, at least, not without a serious drop in effectiveness. And I have to do the same thing to access any part of your brain efficiently. You following so far?”

“Yeah…”

“Good. Because the consequences of that means that, in order to do any kind of mind tricks, such as mind reading, the actual act of doing that must pass through the thinking part of your brain first. And that makes it much harder to actually do anything to someone, because if they know what to look for, they can actually tell when a psychic is invading their mind. If you’re not good at it, you’ll end up creating a ton of very obviously implanted thoughts in their head, or in the worst case, end up telling them you’re in there. Which is very funny, but not very effective.”

“So you have to be sneaky about it?”

“Yeah, pretty much. Especially against other Psychic types, since we’re naturally able to control the links ourselves. It’s pretty much impossible to get inside the head of a psychic who doesn’t want you there. Even Haruhi seems to have figured out how to keep me out.”

“You’ve been reading her mind?”

“…Yes.”

“You said earlier you didn’t do that unless you had to.”

“I only said that about people asking me to look into others, I never said that I wouldn’t do it on my own.”

“Uh-huh.” Amadeus sighed. “Right, about being asked to do that. I was going to ask if anyone ever asked you to read the mind of a criminal or something?”

“Oh, no. That doesn’t hold up in court around here, so nobody bothers.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah. The Guildmaster made that a rule in basically all of the territory the Guild controls. Which is… all of teardrop island and a few scattered outpost towns around the continent. So, y’know. Not a lot.”

“It seems like a lot, given the whole ‘third largest city’ thing.”

“It’s not, actually. It’s something like… two? Three percent of the continent? It’s definitely in the minority.”

“Alright…”

“Amadeus!”

Haruhi paced into the room, interrupting Fudo an Amadeus’ conversation, and walked right up to Amadeus’ bed. “You alright today?”

“About the same as yesterday, why?”

Haruhi sighed. “I came by earlier, and they said you were sleeping. Were you that tired yesterday?”

“Uh… maybe?”

“Okay, good to know.” Haruhi then looked around the room, and seemingly realized Fudo was also sitting on Amadeus’ bed. “Oh, hi Fudo.”

“Hey, Haruhi.”

“Why’d you come to visit?” Haruhi asked. “You never cared about Amadeus that much.”

Fudo looked offended. “I’m not allowed to care if my roommate winds up badly injured?”

“I didn’t mean it like that, Arceus!” Haruhi shook her head. “It just didn’t seem like you cared that much.”

“Well, I do, Haruhi. There, is that good enough for you?”

“Fine…”

There was a bit of an awkward pause. Then Haruhi continued. “Where is Teru? He said he’d come with me…”

“Um, right here,” Teru responded, poking his head though the door frame. “You kinda left me behind back there. You forgot your badge, too.” Teru held up Haruhi’s badge, before walking over to her and handing it over. “This is seriously getting to you.”

“Shut up,” Haruhi curtly responded. “Besides, isn’t there something you promised to do?”

Teru sighed. “Amadeus, I’m sorry for putting you in danger.”

He’s apologizing to me? If anything, I should apologize for making them worry! “It’s okay, you don’t have to apologize, man…”

Haruhi seemed confused. “You didn’t want him to apologize?”

“I honestly didn’t even think about whose fault it was…”

Haruhi was silent for a moment. “Alright then. You can leave now, Teru.”

“He doesn’t have to leave…” Amadeus said just loudly enough for everyone to hear.

Teru fidgeted in place for a moment, and scratched his chin. “You know, I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to do now…”

Crap, include Teru somehow, uh… “Whatever happened to the reward?” Amadeus asked.

“We managed to get it,” Haruhi quickly responded. “The gem we got survived. We got paid, uh…”

“2000 Poké,” Teru said, reminding her. “She took 1100 for both of you, and I got 900.”

“Right…” Haruhi replied. “Didn’t that guy say he was paying us based on the value of the gem or something?”

“Oh yeah, he did say that, didn’t he?” Teru responded.

“Oh, it’s one of those clients,” Fudo said, his voice laced with distain. “I got one of those jobs before, and they paid us 300 Poké total because the wood we got was, and I quote, ‘not up to par’. Daisuke was furious…”

As he quietly listened to this conversation, the gears started turning in Amadeus’ head. “Hey, couldn’t you have just given the client your Ultranecrozium crystal and gotten a bigger payout? You had it on you, right?”

“Absolutely not, that thing’s personal to me,” Teru quickly shot back.

“…Do you still have it on you right now?”

“Uh, let’s see…” Teru rummaged through his bag for a second, and eventually pulled it out. “Yeah, still do.” In the split second before Teru put the thing back, Amadeus could’ve sworn he saw Fudo eyeing it hungrily.

“Welp, I’ve gotta go,” Fudo said, quickly standing up. “See you at dinner, Haruhi.”

“Isn’t Akihiro also staying for a bit, too? Shouldn’t we wait for a bit?”

“I promised to hang out with Daisuke and Yogi later,” Fudo answered. “I’ll head home after that.” He promptly exited the room after that.

Teru stretched. “Honestly, I should be heading home soon, too.”

“Do you normally carry that thing around?” Amadeus asked.

“Depends on my mood, why?”

Amadeus sheepishly looked around the room, unsure of how to respond. “Uh, just checking.”

“Alright then, see you guys tomorrow.”

Now Amadeus was alone with Haruhi.

“Hey, did you want to play a game of chess?”

Amadeus looked at her like she asked for him to pour a bucket of ice water on her. “What?”

“I, uh, asked Akihiro to show me how to play last night.” Haruhi pulled out a box with a checker pattern on it, and then started taking out pieces. “You and Dumas seem to like it…”

“Oh. Yeah, sure. You want white?”

“What?”

“White goes first.”

“Oh, right.”

After finishing setting up the board, Haruhi took her first move: knight to c3. Amadeus responded with pawn to f5. Then Haruhi proceded to go knight to e4. Amadeus took her knight.

“Arceus, I’m so bad at this…”

Haruhi went pawn to c4. Amadeus went pawn to e6. Pawn to c5. Amadeus took her pawn.

Haruhi appeared despondent.

Pawn to b3. Knight to f6. Rook to b1. Amadeus castled.

“What?”

“It’s a castle.”

“You can do that?”

“Yes. Your move.”

Pawn to d4. Amadeus took her pawn.

“What do you mean you can take my pawn there?”

“It’s called en passant.”

“Those aren’t even words.”

“I didn’t call it that, the person who came up with it did.”

“Whatever…”

Haruhi took Amadeus’ pawn with her queen. Knight to g4. Haruhi took the pawn on h7. Amadeus proceeded to take her queen.

“…I forgot the king could take pieces.”

“Well, I didn’t.”

Pawn to f3. Knight to f2. Haruhi reached over to her king, but Amadeus stopped her.

“That’s an illegal move, the knight’s protected by the bishop.”

“Right…” Rook to b2.

Amadeus took Haruhi’s other rook. Rook to c2. Amadeus took her other knight.

Haruhi cursed under her breath as she took the pawn on c7 using her rook, and Amadeus immediately took the rook with his queen.

Bishop to g5.

“And that’s checkmate,” Amadeus said, moving his queen to c1.

Haruhi stared at the board for a while, perhaps convincing herself that this was indeed checkmate. “Arceus, you’re way better than me…”

“I’m not that good.”

“Dude, you just destroyed me.”

“That’s more you not knowing the rules of the game than me being good at it…”

“Shut up…” Haruhi let out a small, annoyed puff of fire. “I need to get better at chess now. I gotta beat you.”

“You did think that that was fun, right?”

“Yeah, sure.” Somehow, Haruhi did not look like she had fun.

“Am I interrupting something?” Akihiro said, walking into the room.

“Me losing,” Haruhi responded without missing a beat. “He’s better than me.”

“I don’t think she’s taking losing well.”

“Shut up.”

Akihiro started laughing. “Oh, dear…” He squatted down to get a better look at the board. “That didn’t go too well.”

“We can all see that,” Haruhi said, now more annoyed.

“Eh, you’ll get better at this. I used to suck at chess too. I’m sure he did,” Akihiro said, gesturing to Amadeus. “You learned the rules last night, after all.”

There was a brief silence. Finally, Haruhi spoke up. “Why do you like chess so much?”

“I think I gravitated to it at first because it didn’t require me to be very strong, as pathetic as it sounds. I think I only really started liking it after I started playing it with Samantha frequently… It was nice. She was definitely better than me, I think.”

“Definitely, you think?” Haruhi asked.

“Uh… It was hard to say.”

“So this was something you did as siblings?” Akihiro asked.

“Not exclusively. I’d play with other people in my spare time. It’s just that I’d play with her a lot.” Amadeus paused. “Thanks for taking the time to play with me, by the way. It was nice playing again.”

Haruhi seemed slightly caught off-guard by this, but only slightly. “Oh, you’re welcome.”

“Would you like to play me, Amadeus?” Akihiro asked. “I’m sure I could be a bit more of a challenge.”

The game ended in a stalemate. As in, it ended with both Akihiro and Amadeus only having their kings left.

“Ah, good game,” Amadeus said with a hint of disappointment.

“That was anticlimactic,” Haruhi pointed out.

“Why did you promote to a knight there?” Akihiro questioned. “You probably would’ve won had you promoted to a queen.”

“…I don’t know.”

“I can’t believe every single piece on the board except for the kings got captured,” Haruhi said, sounding a little disbelieving. “There’s gotta be some way to decide this.”

“A draw’s a draw,” Amadeus pointed out. “No way around it. There’s no way for either of us to win now, so the game is over.”

“…That feels wrong,” Haruhi replied. “I mean, it’s really unsatisfying.”

“It’s part of the game,” Amadeus pointed out. “That doesn’t make it satisfying, but it’s something you have to keep in mind.”

Haruhi was silent for a moment, then started ruffling through her bag again, before looking a little confused. “That’s weird, I could’ve sworn I brought another one with me…”

“Maybe you forgot it in the morning rush?” Amadeus suggested.

“Probably…” Haruhi glanced at the clock on the wall. “It’s getting late, we’re gonna have to go soon.”

“Well, see you tomorrow then,” Amadeus said, rather matter-of-factly.

“Try not to gag on the meals they give you here, someone works very hard on those,” Akihiro commented as he got up himself.

“See you, Amadeus,” Haruhi said, packing everything up. “Hope you get better soon!”

Amadeus tried to wiggle into a more comfortable position. “I hope so to. We’ve got a long road ahead of us, right?”

“Right!” Haruhi said with a nod.

Amadeus found himself sleeping surprisingly well that night. Then he realized he didn’t have checkmate against Haruhi. She could’ve taken his queen with her bishop.

I’m such an idiot…

 

 

---

Not long after leaving the infirmary, Fudo was in quite a rush.

I have to show him this! This is huge!

Fudo glanced at the massive crystal stuffed hastily into his bag. To think he was just casually carrying this thing around! After being told what it was, no less! Fudo had to be quick. His father was probably in the building, and if he stayed too long, his flimsy excuse of hanging out with friends wouldn’t hold up under scrutiny.

He exited the Guild, then took a hard left to swing around the back. He passed Dumas’ home, and then headed down the back alley as usual, and quickly levitated himself up to the window. It was shut tight. He rapped on it hurriedly a few times.

“I’m coming,” Dumas’ muffled voice said. After the sounds of several drawers being opened and closed went by, the Luxray opened the window.

“I don’t recall asking you to come. Why are you here?”

“It’s urgent,” Fudo said, hopping through the window. “Take a look at this!” Fudo brandished the massive Ultranecrozium Z crystal he’d pickpocketed, and Dumas’ jaw dropped.

“I— What? Where the hell did you find this?”

“That other trainee Amadeus and Haruhi got paired with happened to have it. Amadeus identified it as Ultranecrozium, so I can only assume it’s a real one.”

Dumas was silent for a while. “Fudo?” He asked, pulling out the other shards they’d collected up to that point, which were dwarfed by the crystal.

“Yes, sir?”

“I believe I am now days away from finishing my work. Expect to get a chance to take the test with your friends within the week.”

Finally! Aaaaa, I’m so excited… “Do you mean it?”

“Absolutely. Now scuttle home before your parents suspect something. Or the person you stole this from, for that matter. If he complains… well, I’ll deal with him. In the meantime, get excited.” Dumas himself seemed almost childishly giddy as he said this. Evidently, he’d been waiting for this for a long time, too. Fudo had no complaints as he scurried home. Or, at least, he would’ve. He now had to kill time to make it seem like he was hanging out with his friends.

---

Dumas was, in fact, giddy.

As he quickly exited the building for the day, his thoughts were racing. It’s time! It’s finally time! After how long I’ve waited, how long since that day, I can finally change the world forever! He threw open the door to his home, only stopping to lock it behind him, and then hastily ran down into the basement, where it was waiting for him.

“Arceus, this is going to be incredible…”

The contraption itself was a nondescript piece of machinery about the size of Dumas himself, with a single compartment, plugged into the wall.

Just need to put this in here, and… Dumas paused. Wait a minute. If I do this now… Amadeus would probably be left behind. I mean, I’d still have my own confidants, just not him. And there wouldn’t be any going back from that decision. Dumas, after weighing his options, decided to put the Ultranecrozium in a nearby drawer. Not yet. I’d better at least wait for Amadeus to recover first.

 

“Getting cold feet?” A familiar voice asked.

Dumas turned around to see A Raichu with Dark brown fur, orange cheeks and ears, and a tail and ears that were smooth and wavy instead of spiky, wearing a gaudy leather jacket, and a golden medallion around his neck depicting a cartoonish flaming skull.

“Your fashion sense is as terrible as ever, Dexter.”

Dexter walked over to the door to the basement, and slowly closed it. “I asked you a question, you know.”

“I’m realizing there are preparations that need to be made first,” Dumas answered, composing himself.

“Hm… preparations, huh?” Dexter mused casually. “I’m gonna take a shot in the dark and say that this is about your mini-me?”

“Correct you are.”

“Why not bring him here?” Dexter asked with a shrug. “If you care so much—”

“I’m going to do that,” Dumas said, cutting him off, “It’s just that he happens to be bedridden at the moment and won’t recover for a few days.”

Dexter tilted his head ever so slightly. “No need to say it so aggressively, kid.”

“I’m in my mid-thirties now, Dexter.”

Dexter approached Dumas slowly. “Still a kid to me,” he said with a chuckle. “I remember when I found you in the back alleys of Háo de Xiǎo, cold and alone, with people in your life, but none of them worth having there, and I took you under my wing. I remember the tears in your eyes as you told me that you would never be good enough for anyone.” Dexter paused to flick Dumas’ own medallion. “I told you that you were gonna go far, kid. And now look at you. On the precipice of greatness. The gun that will change the world is in your hand now, and you can pull the trigger whenever you want.”

Dumas was silent for just a moment. “…That’s all true, but—”

Dexter put a paw on his shoulder. “No pressure, now. The hard part’s over, after all. You fire that bad boy up whenever you want.”

Dumas decided to change the subject. “How’d you know I had all of the Ultranecrozium I needed?”

“I didn’t,” Dexter answered, “I just broke into your house for the hell of it, and then you rushed in so… I made an educated guess.” He took his paw off of Dumas’ shoulder, but maintained eye contact.

“I’m guessing you haven’t told the other five that it’s going to be go time any day now, then?”

“Oh, absolutely not. I’ll be sure to pass it along, though. You can count on that.”

“You had better. Not everyone is as fond of surprises as you are.”

“Are surprises not what makes life interesting? What can come from the expected but boredom? True fun comes when you least expect it, you know.”

“Don’t philosophically wax at me, just do it.”

For some reason, Dexter seemed to think this was the funniest thing in the world, as he started cracking up. “You? Bossing me around? You really have come far, haven’t you?” Dexter composed himself, and then walked up to the machine. His lips curled up into an almost devious smile as he traced the outline of the very same symbol on his medallion onto the side of it. “Don’t be thinkin’ we’re crazy, crazy…” He muttered to himself.

For a while, the room was silent aside from that.

“So,” Dexter continued, “How has the whole doppelganger fiaso been working out for you?”

“I’ve been trying to isolate him in preparation for this, but it hasn’t been going well. I’m worried I’ll now have to rope in his friends as well.”

“You could just abandon him.”

“That is precisely the scenario I am trying to avoid.”

“It would be easier.”

“Yes, it would.”

“Alright, then. You’d better be prepared for the consequences of that, then.”

“I have it figured out. Even if he doesn’t like it, he’ll not be a problem regardless.”

“Isn’t that ‘regardless’ the scenario you’re trying to avoid here?”

“Yes, yes it is.”

Dexter snorted. “Good luck.” His medallion briefly shone white for a moment, and a portal appeared behind him. “See ya in a few days.” Dexter hopped through without another word.

Dumas chuckled mirthlessly. “Thanks, I’ll need it.”

---

“I thought I told you to come alone.”

Amadeus, for a reason he didn’t understand, had been asked by Dumas to come to his house alone the second he recovered. Of course, he fully intended to share with Haruhi, and Teru… well, he was along for the ride at this point.

“They’re gonna know either way,” Amadeus responded. “They might as well come.”

Dumas sighed with a palpable frustration. “I wasn’t asking, but sure. They can come too, then.”

“What could possibly be so secretive that it could only be between you two?” Haruhi asked.

“I wasn’t aware you three had become so tight-knit, but it was intended for him.”

“Well, I want to share,” Amadeus fired back. Dumas, what are you doing?

 

“Fine. Come in already.”

Amadeus couldn’t possibly have been prepared for the rest of that day.