Arc 1, Chapter 3: Gentle Breeze

Amadeus got up roughly around the same time as he had yesterday, feeling actually pretty good today. After lying in bed for a while, not really sure what he was going to do today, he got up. There was still a bit of dull pain, but he was feeling good enough to walk for the most part. Better than yesterday, that’s for sure. He thought. I wonder if he’ll clear me today… He casually walked over to the window in the room. I probably haven’t properly bathed for a while now… He thought. The bathroom didn’t have a tub in it, did it? He walked out of the room, and was greeted by Hirohito at the door.

 

“Ah, you’re up. How are you feeling today? Better, I presume, considering you’re walking on your own?”

 

“There’s still a bit of pain, but I think I’m feeling good enough to walk on my own…”

 

“Hmm… Let me heal you one more time.”

 

Hirohito fed him more of the berry juice and used one more heal pulse on him, and Amadeus felt the pain almost completely disappear. “How’s that?” Hirohito asked.

 

“I’m feeling…” Amadeus paused. “…weirdly excited?” He felt a strange surge of energy in him, and started absentmindedly tapping his foot, which eventually turned into pacing. This seemed to greatly amuse Hirohito.

 

“My, you’re full energy, aren’t you?”

 

“I guess, yeah… Honestly, I want to go for a run or something.”

 

“Well if you’re so full of energy, that’s a good sign,” Hirohito laughed. “That means that your stamina wasn’t drained by my healing powers very much, so you’re probably almost completely healed.”

 

That got Amadeus’ attention. “Wait, really?”

 

“Ah, I’ll have to ask that you wait another day to be sure. I don’t want you pushing yourself to much until then, okay?”

 

“Okay…” Amadeus walked over to the bathroom to check it out in greater detail. He wouldn’t easily forget the incredibly awkward experience he’d had the other day, so he hadn’t exactly tried to remember the layout of the bathroom all that much. He did distinctly remember a bathtub with a shower on it, however. Upon closer inspection, there did not appear to be any shampoo. Just a single bar of soap for the sink and bathtub. He eyed the soap bar, and tried sniffing it. What kind of soap is this? It smells funny… Can’t complain about it too hard, though… He turned around, and realized that Hirohito was still there. “…What?”

 

“You seem fascinated by that bar of soap.”

 

“It smells funny.”

 

“Does it? Let me see, my nose isn’t very strong.” Hirohito walked over, grabbed the soap bar, and sniffed it. “Misaki had all kinds of scents that she uses in the soaps she makes… I’ll have to ask Haya what she got later. She and Haruhi must use a lot, given how thick their fur is…” He paused and put the bar of soap back down. “Shall we go for a stroll?”

 

“…Yeah, sure.”

 

Amadeus found himself less walking and more half-running on the path to the town. In fact, he was having to pause to let Hirohito catch up to him. It happened several times, in fact. One such time was at the top of the hill overlooking the rest of the town. Hirohito seemed to be panting once they reached the top of the hill.

 

“…Sorry.” Amadeus said, after Hirohito once again notified him that he was, in fact, leaving him in his dust.

 

“Don’t worry about it kid, really!” Hirohito reassured him. “It’s honestly good to see you so energetic.”

 

“I honestly want to go for a run right now…”

 

Hirohito chuckled as he caught up. “You know you haven’t had a proper meal yet today, right? I know I gave you Sitrus berry juice, but this is quite a lot…” Hirohito started muttering to himself. “Were all of the electric types I’ve treated before this this energetic when their injuries cleared up after I healed them? Hm…” He then started to speak up again. “In any case, would you like a little something?” Hirohito rummaged through his bag for a moment, a few sharp objects falling out of it, much to Amadeus’ discomfort. Somewhere, an Audino with Lavender fur sneezed. Eventually, he found a smaller bag, which smelled good. Inside the bag were a few biscuits. “Want one?”

 

Amadeus quickly snatched one, and started munching on it. “Thanks,” he said in between bites.

 

Hirohito chuckled. “You’ve got bad manners, you know that? I’d work on that, if you want to find a partner,” He said with a wink.

 

“Oh, I, uh…” Amadeus said with food still in his mouth, suddenly feeling self-conscious. He swallowed his food. “…I get that a lot.”

 

Hirohito was immediately tensed up. “You remembered something else.”

 

“Oh! I…”

 

“You remembered that you frequently get comments on your manners.”

 

“…I guess so.”

 

Hirohito leaned in. “Are you absolutely positive you don’t remember anything else?”

 

“…Yeah.”

 

Hirohito sighed. “…You know, this whole mess with your memory is a little strange.”

 

“…How so?”

 

“You just randomly ‘remember’ things after managing to lose your entire memory save for your name? come on, now. And such specific details, too. The fact that your sister was an Eevee, and how others tended to treat you. You remember that, but not your sister’s name or where you lived?”

 

“I…”

 

“Amadeus,” Hirohito said in an almost paternal tone. “Are your sure you don’t remember your past? Did you really forget everything?”

 

“I’m being honest, I swear…”

 

“Come now, be honest with me.”

 

Amadeus’ father’s voice rang in his head. “Be honest with me, Amadeus,” He’d always say. And there was never a good thing following it. It would always be some punishment, like being denied food for a few days, or it was done in front of guests to embarrass him, or even just to scare him. But he hated hearing it. He hated it so much. And now Hirohito was saying it.

 

“I DON’T FUCKING KNOW, DAMN IT! I GO THOUGH A FUCKING BULLSHIT SCIENCE PORTAL, END UP IN THIS WEIRD-ASS TOWN, AND NOW YOU’RE ASKING ME TO FUCKING EXPLAIN HOW I’M FROM THE FUTURE WITHOUT LOOKING LIKE AN ARCEUS-DAMNED PSYCHO! HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?”

 

Amadeus lunged at Hirohito, and-

 

“…Are you okay? You spaced out there for a second.” Hirohito seemed concerned.

 

Amadeus froze, realizing he was panting. Shit, calm down… He started muttering under his breath. “One, ten, one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, one hundred thousand, one million, ten million, one hundred million, one billion, ten billion, one hundred billion, one trillion, ten trillion…” He took a deep breath. Counting the dizzyingly higher powers of ten, was, perhaps paradoxically, his go-to grounding technique. “I’m cool, I’m cool…”

 

Hirohito frowned. “Are you not comfortable talking about it?”

 

“…” Amadeus absentmindedly kept munching away on his biscuit.

 

“Alright, I won’t press you on it. Consider talking about it, though.”

 

Amadeus, wanting to talk about literally anything else, forced himself to look straight at the town. “It looks quiet today.”

 

“You must not be used to a town like this, then. This is pretty busy by Nōgyō No Machi’s standards,” Hirohito commented. “Although, there was quite a bit of commotion the day you arrived here. And you most certainly have been the subject of rumors. I’m sure you’re going to get a few questions in the coming days. The first few nights, everyone was pestering me about it. You’re probably the most exciting thing to happen here in years, you know that?”

 

And I’m gonna get a whole lot of questions thrown my way, too… Amadeus thought. “…I can understand that.”

 

Suddenly, Hirohito stopped. Then he facepalmed. “Haya, were you listening in on that whole conversation?” He called out behind him.

 

Amadeus looked back to the farm, where he saw Haya waving to the two of them, tending to a bush.

 

“How much did you hear?” Hirohito waited for a moment, and then turned back to Amadeus. “The whole thing, she says. The audacity of that woman…” He gave a small laugh.

 

“How did you figure it out?”

 

“My sister and father were Indeedees. When you grow up around a bunch of mind-readers, you start to notice when they’re playing their little tricks. You feel things up there.” He pointed to his head. “It gets obvious if you know what to look for.”

 

“…I see.” Amadeus was in no mood to keep dwelling on what just happened. “What became of my suit, anyway?”

 

“Ah, that? Completely ruined,” Hirohito said with a somewhat nonchalant wave. “It was so torn up and tarnished that there wasn’t any saving it. The tailor ended up tearing it apart to make new thread. It was already torn to shreds for the most part, anyway. There was saving this, however.” Hirohito started rummaging though his bag again. “Said tailor found this, just last night as she was tearing it apart. We thought it was just a part of the suit, mostly because it was covered in mud, but she realized it was a pin. She managed to polish it a bit, so it should be good as new. Good enough, anyway…”

 

Hirohito took out a small pin with a rainbow-colored infinity symbol on it. Amadeus recognized it as a gift Sam had given him for his birthday a month back. More like several thousand years into the future, He mentally corrected. He gently took the pin from Hirohito and inspected it. The color was faded, and there were little scratches on it, but it otherwise looked pretty good for something that was nearly destroyed. Amadeus pinned it on the shirt he was currently borrowing from Haya. “Thank you.”

 

“Don’t mention it.” Hirohito stretched. “Anyways, why don’t we head into town? I’m sure it’ll be a little bit more interesting than yesterday. Or not. Either way, you want to stretch your legs, right?”

 

The two walked down the path together, and Amadeus was still feeling a little apprehensive about meeting the rest of the townsfolk. After all, what might the rest of the town ask him? Would they think that he was hiding something, like Haruhi and Hirohito? Would they start asking more questions? Just calm down. You can just say you don’t want to talk about it, since that’s what Hirohito believes. It’s not exactly a lie, either. It’s just you reserving your right to remain silent… As he was walking, he realized just how far the farm was from the town.

 

“Haya’s place is a little isolated, huh?”

 

“Relative to the rest of the town, yes. But it’s still not a very long walk, is it? As far as the rest of us are concerned, they’re part of the town. Although they did come by a lot more frequently before, well… Ah, that’s something you should hear from them.”

 

“Wait, what?”

 

Hirohito put up a hand. “Some other time.” He paused. “Speaking of coming into town, the festival is in a few days.”

 

Alright, I guess we’re moving on… “Haya mentioned something about not wanting her secret recipes getting out before the festival when I figured out her rice had salac berries in it.”

 

Hirohito suddenly had an evil grin. “Oh, you’ve just given me forbidden knowledge, kiddo…”

 

“Uh…”

 

“Do I blackmail her with this? Pass it to Masayuki? Oh, the possibilities…” Hirohito muttered to himself, seemingly ignoring Amadeus.

 

“…Hirohito?”

 

“Ah,” Hirohito said, realizing that Amadeus was completely out of the loop. “Sorry, we take the festival a bit seriously around here, so I should explain that to you. It’s meant to be fun, but essentially, everyone tries to show off their skills to each other in front of everyone. Haya’s always gone neck and neck with Masayuki, who runs a local restaurant, so their competition is far fiercer than most.”

 

“So it’s a talent show.”

 

“Yes, essentially. It’s good fun most of the time. You have any ideas?”

 

Amadeus thought about it for a bit. Well, I know a lot about statistics and calculus, since that was relevant to business… other than that, I’m not sure how else I’d flex my modern knowledge… Couldn’t hurt to try. “I’m good at math.”

 

“Hah, Renjiro’s going to have a field day with you. He’s an old Dusknoir who used to be a mathematician. He loves sharing it, even though none of us really get it.”

 

“You think he’ll beat me?”

 

“Assuming he doesn’t go trivially easy on you, that is. If he assumes the best you can do is elementary school math, and you’re better than that, you might manage to embarrass him.”

 

Amadeus immediately began formulating the nastiest integrals and statistics problems he could think of. “Do my worst, got it.”

 

Hirohito started cackling. “I think he’ll hate you if you do that.”

 

“it’s a competition now.”

 

“That it is.”

 

The two walked into town, with Amadeus starting to pace himself to avoid leaving behind Hirohito, he noticed that there was noticeably more people looking his way today than yesterday. He felt strangely vulnerable about it, some irrational fear lurking in the back of his mind. He wasn’t exactly used to having this many eyes on him, that much was certain. Eventually, he and Hirohito made their way to a funny looking building with a ton of flowers out front. Amadeus stopped to look at it for a second. The Bellossom tending to the flowers out front was wearing a sunhat that looked strangely too big for it, and was also humming it itself.

 

“Hello, Misaki.” Hirohito said, waving to the Bellossom.

 

“Ah, good day, Hirohito. I see you’ve brought the lost child with you.” She smiled at Amadeus. “You’re little Ama, aren’t you? My name is Misaki. Pleased to meet you.” She did a dainty little bow as she said this.

 

“It’s Amadeus. And I’m nearly an adult…” Amadeus sighed. “Your flowers are nice.”

 

“Ah, thank you. I work very hard on them.” Misaki grabbed a watering can and started pour water on the flowers nearby. “…Everyone says his name is Ama, but I suppose it just got shortened. Hm…” Misaki muttered to herself. “What kind of name is Ama, anyway?” She continued muttering. “And what kind of name is Amadeus, for that matter?”

 

“uh…” Amadeus wasn’t quite sure to make of what he’d just heard.

 

“Ah, forgive me. I’m just musing to myself over nothing, that’s all.” Misaki bowed apologetically. “Well, you have been the talk of the town lately.”

 

“…I’ve been made aware of that.”

 

“Out of curiosity, Misaki,” Hirohito interjected, changing the subject. “What kind of soap did Haya buy from you last time she came over?”

 

Amadeus paused. “Oh, you’re the one who makes the soap.”

 

“Yes, that’s me,” Misaki confirmed. “And to answer Hirohito’s question… I believe she bought some made with charcoal, why?”

 

“You make soap with charcoal?” Amadeus asked.

 

“Just for her. And only for the scent,” Misaki clarified. “The recipe for the soap itself is a secret I learned from some Northerner Sylveon a long time ago. …That woman disappeared without a trace not long after. I wonder what became of her…”

 

“Northerner?” Amadeus asked.

 

“Did you come from abroad?” Misaki asked.

 

“…I guess you could say that,” Amadeus responded.

 

“It’s just a colloquial term for shiny Pokémon on the Daylight continent, dear.” Misaki smiled. “It’s just that there’s so many of them living in the snowy regions to the north that the name stuck.”

 

“I see..”

 

“In any case,” Hirohito continued, “I can’t believe you go through the trouble of making an entire flavor for her.”

 

“She used to get lavender from me. But then she decided she really liked the scent of charcoal and started paying extra for me to make it for her.” Misaki shrugged. “It’s actually quite annoying to make…”

 

“That seems like a bit of a waste of money,” Amadeus commented.

 

Misaki chuckled. “In that case, I think she’s wasting money on the right Pokémon. I’m sure she’ll have money to spare with all of the berries she’ll be able to sell when we get visitors during the festival in a few days. She’s got her entire harvest timed for it, you know that?”

 

“Huh. Makes sense…”

 

Misaki turned to Hirohito. “He hasn’t been working on her farm, has he?”

 

“I haven’t cleared him just yet,” Hirohito started. “But given his state right now, he should be fine by tomorrow.”

 

“I suppose Haya’s going to be working him to the bone, then!” Misaki laughed.

 

Amadeus rather nervously joined in on the laughter. “Well, I do need the exercise…”

 

“What’s everyone laughing on about?” A new voice this time. Amadeus turned to see a Leafeon standing behind them, eyeing them all with a smirk. She was wearing a flowing dress that looked almost a little too formal. “Did a clown stroll by?” She sarcastically asked.

 

“Perhaps the clown was you, Sakura,” Hirohito fired back.

 

“Ah, how I treasure our little talks, Hirohito.” She looked directly at Amadeus. “I was hoping to get to know this one a little better, though. You met my partner Mayumi yesterday? I was the other visitor at Haya’s place that night. Imagine my shock when some poor Shinx gets dragged inside by that crazy kid Haruhi, looking half-dead. My, my…”

 

“…I’m sorry I disturbed your dinner like that.”

 

“Are you going to apologize for breathing too quickly next?” Sakura scoffed. “You really did look like you were dying, kiddo.”

 

“My name is Amadeus.” He was starting to get annoyed that nobody was calling him by his name.

 

“Yes, I’ve heard that from Mayumi, kiddo.” She gave a mocking grin as she said this.

 

“…Okay.”

 

Hirohito sighed. “Amadeus, Sakura. She’s the tailor I was speaking of earlier. She was also the one that went and polished that pin for you.”

 

Sakura looked at said pin, currently being worn by Amadeus. “I take it that pin is something personal to you?”

 

“…My sister gave it to me,” Amadeus answered. “I’d rather not talk about that…”

 

“Ah, a pity. I was curious, since it’s such a unique design…” She turned to Misaki. “Well, over to what I actually came here for. Do you have any more of that rose-scented soap in stock?”

 

“Yes, of course…” Misaki answered. Sakura paid for her goods and left with a cheerful goodbye, prompting Hirohito and Amadeus to leave as well. Amadeus was left feeling a little bit excited for the next few days. The festival sounded like fun.

 

 

---

 

 

Another morning. Amadeus was feeling almost perfectly fine again today, with the pain having all but vanished. He stared out of the window for a moment, wondering if he’d actually be cleared today. I’m probably going to get the okay today, right? I mean, I’m feeling totally fine. There’s no way Hirohito’s gonna make me keep resting. He stretched, and fiddled with the tuft of fur atop his head. …So that probably means I’m gonna have to help on the farm. I don’t exactly like the idea of manual labor, but how bad could it be? It’s not like I’m gonna be running a marathon… His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. “Come in.”

 

Hirohito opened the door and stepped into the room. “How are you feeling this morning?”

 

“Good.”

 

“Is the pain all cleared up?”

 

“It feels like it.”

 

“All right.” Hirohito took out the casket of berry juice one last time. “I’m going to give you one last dose of healing to be safe, and then you should be good to go. Any questions before I leave you?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Excellent.” Hirohito gave Amadeus one more round of healing, as promised. By the end, Amadeus was feeling quite energetic, almost to the point of being hyper. “How are you feeling?”

 

“Like I could run across the continent,” Amadeus responded. He started pacing around. “It’s almost too much.”

 

“In that case, you really are good to go.” Hirohito packed the canister back into his bag. “Well, I’ll be leaving you here, then. I’ll be in town if you ever need me.”

 

“Thanks Hirohito, I appreciate it.”

 

“Don’t mention it. It’s my job,” Hirohito winked. “Have a good day.”

 

“Actually…” Amadeus started. “Is there a library in town?”

 

“It’s on the opposite edge of town. Were you looking for something to pass the time with?”

 

“Something to that effect.”

 

“All right,” Hirohito replied. “See you around town.” Hirohito left Haya’s house to return to his usual place of work, wherever that was, leaving Amadeus by himself. That was more than fine. He had a target for the festival in a few days, after all. He needed a plan. If I’m gonna beat this Renjiro guy, fighting fair isn’t gonna cut it. I’m fighting dirty, or not at all. For the first time since he’d arrived in the past, he started actually rummaging around the room he’d been given. There was a desk off to the side, so he decided to look there first. Inside, he found a blank piece of paper and some quills and brushes, as well as an ink bottle. Honestly, that’s better than what I was expecting. I’ll take it. He rummaged around a little more, found a bag, and then headed off with the bag while leaving the other things behind. It was time to gather some intel. Outside, he was greeted by Haruhi.

 

“Hey, Mr. Hero.”

 

“…Don’t call me that.”

 

“But you obviously are one! I mean, look at you! You’ve got a bag and everything!”

 

“This bag is literally empty.”

 

“Well, it’s not gonna be for long, clearly.” She rolled her eyes. “Well? Gonna dive into the nearby Mystery Dungeon and see what you can find? Can I come?”

 

“…I was actually gonna go to the library.”

 

“Oh.” Haruhi looked down at the ground for a bit, as if she didn’t know how to respond to that.

 

“Shouldn’t you be helping your Mom out on the farm?”

 

“Mom lets me have this day of the week off.” She stretched. “…I’m so bored. Can I come with you?”

 

Amadeus sighed. “Yeah, sure…”

 

“Yay!” Haruhi struck another pose.

 

“Are you gonna strike a pose in every single conversation we have?”

 

“Oh! Uh… Sorry.” Haruhi just looked embarrassed. “Well, let’s get a move on!”

 

Amadeus found himself almost running to town with all of the pent-up energy he had from the morning. He could feel the effects starting fade somewhat, but that didn’t really slow him down all that much. Haruhi seemed to be struggling to keep up by the time they actually reached their destination.

 

“Slow… down… dude… Jeez…” Haruhi panted.

 

“It’ll be fine if we just take the books home with us, right?”

 

“Uh, yeah. It’s a library. You’re free to check out any book out like so long as you tell them first and return it a few days later.”

 

“Perfect. Let’s go.”

 

Amadeus opened the door to the library. It was easily the largest building in town, but even that wasn’t saying much. It was somewhere in between twice the size of Haya’s house and three times the size, give or take. A single bored Delibird sat at the reception wearing a straw hat. It looked up to Haruhi and Amadeus with a yawn. “Hey, kids. Looking to check out a book?”

 

“I’m seventeen-eighteen,” Amadeus and Haruhi both said, responding to the question at the same time, prompting them to look at each other funny. Amadeus sighed and walked up to the receptionist.

 

“Do you have any advanced math textbooks?” If Amadeus looked over his shoulder, he would’ve seen Haruhi looking at him like he’d murdered the whole town. “Like, the really hard stuff.”

 

The Delibird raised an eyebrow. “You’re that kid Ama that strolled into town half dead a week back, aren’t you? There’s a mathematician in town named Renjiro if you want to know about that stuff. Big old Dusknoir. Can’t miss him.”

 

“I’d actually prefer if you didn’t tell him I was ever here.”

 

An understanding dawned on the Delibird’s face, as well as Haruhi’s, although the latter still seemed a little confused as to why Amadeus was doing this in the first place. “Oh…” The Delibird rubbed his chin. “Heh heh heh, you like to fight dirty, don’t you? All of the math textbooks are near the back, next to all of the other technical books.”

 

“Thanks.” Amadeus wasted no time heading over to the back to find what he was looking for. Haruhi still seemed a little confused.

 

“Why are you trying to beat the math guy out of everyone? Math’s super hard.”

 

“Yeah, but I’m good at it. Watch me.” Amadeus paused. “If anyone asks, I struggle with fractions.”

 

“How good are we talking?” Haruhi asked.

 

That’s a promising response. Amadeus thought. If she knows what fractions are, then maybe… “Probably better than most guys my age.” Eventually, after browsing through some of the books they had stocked for a while, he found what he was looking for.

 

“Calculus and Linear Algebra, first edition. Perfect.” Amadeus flipped through the book for a while. it seemed to cover all the way up to multivariable calculus, but the important part was that the notation that he was used to was still the same as he was used to. “Just what I needed.” For good measure, he started looking for a statistics textbook, but failed to fine one. “All right, I’ve got what I need. We’re going home now.”

 

“…Aren’t you gonna take out ANYTHING else?”

 

“…Like what?”

 

“I don’t know, anything! Like something on the history of the Guild of Honor, or common dungeoneering tactics and strategies, or anything other than a stupid math book?”

 

“Aren’t you ‘History Buff Haruhi’? I’m sure you can handle that for me.”

 

Haruhi whistled. “Putting a lot of pressure on your future partner here…”

 

“Stop calling me that.”

 

“Okay, fine. I get it. You’re not as jazzed about being an explorer as I am. But, you have a responsibility, y’know?”

 

“I don’t see it, Haruhi.”

 

Haruhi sighed in frustration. “You’re not taking this seriously at all…”

 

Amadeus didn’t respond, instead walking over to check out the textbook he’d gotten.

 

“Would you like me to register that under Haya’s card, Ama?” The Delibird asked.

 

“It’s Amadeus. And yes, that would be great.” Amadeus paused. “Wait, how did you know to ask me specifically?”

 

“Come on, like the little arsonist over there is a math whiz?” The Delibird asked. “Keep that thing away from her, she’ll probably burn it out of spite when you’re not looking.” As he said this, Haruhi looked strangely… guilty.

 

“…Okay.” Amadeus suddenly found himself feeling bad for Haruhi for some reason, prompting him to ask her a question. “Hey, what was that back there about you being an arsonist?” He perhaps could’ve worded it a little better.

 

“It’s nothing, okay? I started a big fire when I was younger, and nobody ever lets me forget it. There, you happy?” She seemed somewhere between agitated and uncomfortable. Amadeus had an inkling that there was a little more to the story, but he let it slide for the moment. He wasn’t about to open up another can of worms. “Anyway, I’m supposed to be using these days off with the combat instructor to help work on it, or whatever. Wanna come?”

 

Well, not like I have anything better to do. “Sure.”

 

Amadeus followed Haruhi through town for a while, easily keeping pace with her. Since he was in no real rush, he started to notice the town itself a little more. Everyone was eyeing them with looks that flipped back and forth between judgmental, curious, and suspicious. They’re probably more curious about me than anything. I guess I really haven’t talked to anyone much other than Hirohito. I’m in no mood to strike up a conversation now, though… Eventually, they reached their destination: Mayumi and Sakura’s house. Haruhi knocked on the door with one of her front paws. “Hello? Teacher?”

 

“Coming!” Mayumi called from the other side of the door, which opened after a few seconds. “How are this afternoon, Haruhi?”

 

“I’m doing good! And I brought Amadeus along!”

 

Mayumi’s expression seemed to shift a little when she noticed Amadeus was with Haruhi. “Ah, hello there. Were you looking to train today?”

 

“I’ve got nothing better to do,” Amadeus replied, fidgeting with the pin on his chest. “Might as well.” He moved closer, expecting the dojo to be inside. Mayumi stopped him.

 

“The dojo’s off to the side of the house. Sakura would have a fit if we started slinging moves in the house.” She guided the two of them over to a shed built into the side of the house, and opened the door. “Come on in.”

 

The shed, or rather, the dojo, was much more spacious on the inside than it looked. The walls had noticeable burn marks on them, but seemed otherwise fine. Three guesses as to who’s responsible for that. The center of the dojo was lowered, and on the wall there were several small banners, each with a word like ‘power’ or ‘determination’ written on it. There were also a few wooden dummies placed near the sides.

 

“All right you two, put on these.” Mayumi handed them a pair of scarves, one a deep blue, and the other with yellow and white stripes. Both had a strange logo on them. It was a circle divided into eighteen sectors, with a little white dot at the center. Amadeus suddenly realized she was wearing scarf with a similar logo on it. “Be sure to tie them on properly, or they won’t work.”

 

“…What are these?” Amadeus asked.

 

“A heal scarf and a zinc band, respectively,” Mayumi answered. “They’re good for what I’ve got in mind for you two, so I hope you like ‘em.” Amadeus didn’t recognize either of those, but he assumed that they were something similar to the power enhancers he’d heard about in his past.

 

Haruhi whispered to Amadeus. “We look like real explorers in these! Look at us…”

 

“Okay, okay…” Amadeus chirped with annoyance. Haruhi pouted at that response.

 

“All right,” Mayumi started. “I’d like to see you first, Amadeus. What do you know how to do?”

 

“Well…” Amadeus paused. Arceus, when’s the last time I actually used a move properly? I mean, I know how to use electricity somewhat, Arceus knows I used Charge to charge my devices constantly, but when’s the last time I actually used a proper Thundershock? Or anything else for that matter? Well, might as well try… Amadeus inhaled, and tried to call upon the electricity inside of him as an electric type using Charge. Almost habitually, the current started to flow much faster in his front paws, and especially his right front paw, since that was the paw he usually held things in. C’mon, you know how to do at least this much… Changing around the resistance in his body was always a little bit tricky when he was working outside his comfort zone, but he tried his hardest to get it to flow up towards his head, and then up to his ears. They quickly began to heat up, and he let loose a Thundershock straight at Mayumi. She easily blocked the attack with a Protect.

 

“Not bad,” Mayumi observed. “It’s certainly a bit weak, though. Anything other than Thundershock and Charge?”

 

“…Not really, no.”

 

“Hmm…” Mayumi seemed deep in thought. “Why don’t we try something try a Bite?”

 

“What?”

“Bite. As in, the move Bite. Have you ever tried that?” Mayumi moved over to one of the dummies and gestured for Amadeus to follow. “It’s one of the most basic dark type attacks out there. You’ll evolve into a partial dark type, so I think it would be for the best if you familiarized yourself with this type of thing, at least a little bit. Can’t hurt to try it out, no?”

 

“…Okay.” Amadeus sat down next to the dummy, and waited for Mayumi to continue.

 

Mayumi turned to the dummy. “Dark type moves are fueled by negative emotions. Things like regret, sadness, despair, hatred, anger, and so on. Using a dark type move, then, means releasing that negative emotion. In Bite, for example, you’re not just biting your target. You’re channeling your own dark thoughts into the bite, and directing those emotions towards your target as you do so. It’s like you’re taking it out on them. Watch closely…”

 

Mayumi closed her eyes, and her expression quickly seemed to turn sour, as she gnashed her teeth. They started to blacken, and then the blackness leaked out. She opened her mouth and lunged at the dummy, tearing off it’s head with her jaws, which were covered in an inky black energy, which was now quickly fading. Amadeus looked at the head of the dummy more closely, and realized that it was designed to be taken apart easily. Mayumi’s mouth an expression returned to normal, and she re-attached the dummy’s head. “Were you paying attention? You give it a try.”

 

“Alright.” Amadeus closed his eyes. Negative emotions, right? Just gotta… He thought back to the things that made him upset. And quickly got lost in them. My father expects a lot from me. Can’t fail, can’t fail, can’t fail. Or else I’ll be punished. Dammit! I just want to take it easy! Why does he want to make everything so hard on me? If I don’t- Almost reflexively, he tried to push himself away from those thoughts, panting hard. “One, ten, one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, one hundred thousand, one million, ten million, one hundred million, one billion…” He took several deep breaths. “I’m okay, I’m okay…”

 

“…To much?” Mayumi asked. She seemed more contemplative than concerned.

 

“I… I guess so, yeah.”

 

Mayumi sighed. “It’s okay, you’ll get a handle on it eventually. It’s not exactly an easy thing to figure out, that’s for sure. You can just work on doing better with your electricity for now.”

 

Amadeus started looking for something else to talk about. “Hey, what’s the symbol on our scarves for?”

 

“It’s an absolutely terrible teaching tool, that’s what it is,” Mayumi responded bitterly. “A great way to spread misconceptions.”

 

“…Okay.”

 

“Trust me, I’ve got a bone to pick with that symbol. It’s got so many problems, but it somehow became the most common way to teach moves of other types, and even finds it’s way onto training scarves.” Mayumi turned back to the dummy. “Why don’t you practice using Thundershock and Charge for a bit? I’ve got a certain someone else who’s in need of training.” She turned to Haruhi. “Let’s head give him some space, shall we?”

 

Amadeus didn’t really pay attention to what they were doing, an instead just focused on the dummy in front of him. Controlling the currents of electricity flowing though his own body felt familiar, and comfortable. He’d been able to do it relatively easily his whole life, he just hadn’t really tried to make it that strong. He’d never needed to be all that strong, after all. On the off chance Haruhi did manage to coerce him into leaving town with her, he did probably need to be stronger. He decided to try just firing off a Thundershock without charging first. He tried to quickly divert the electricity to his ears and fire it off, which resulted in a rather pathetic jolt of electricity finding it’s way to the dummy. Fast, but very weak. Amadeus felt a little embarrassed to have tried it, but he had to start somewhere. Don’t get discouraged, now… After trying for a while, and just barely managing to get them stronger, he was starting to feel a little bit deflated. Maybe I should just try to stay charged up. He used Charge, and did his best to use Thundershock afterwards. It was clearly much better, but he felt the Charge dissipating. He did his best to keep it up, and fired off another. He repeated the process for a while, but it was starting to tire him out. He could feel himself bouncing back more quickly, though. Amadeus looked over to where Haruhi and Mayumi were. The wall was covered in fresh burn marks.

 

“Dammit, I can’t do this!”

 

“You have to try, Haruhi.”

 

“But every time I do, I just lose it!”

 

“I know. But you’re a Fennekin. This stuff is literally in your blood.” On the ground in front of them were several small objects, as well as a charred dummy standing nearby. All were charred-looking. In fact, the whole ground around them was charred, save for a cone around Mayumi. It seemed the walls and floors were fire-proofed. “You have to calm down and focus. Psychic type moves work best when you have a clear state of mind.”

 

“I know, I know! But it just… argh!” Haruhi shot a rather impressive Flamethrower at the dummy. “All I can do is turn up the heat, y’know?”

 

“Haruhi, you’ve got pretty good control over your fire these days, haven’t you? You used to struggle a lot with that, and look at you now.”

 

“I don’t know how true that is…”

 

“Come on, you can do this. I know you can.”

 

Haruhi looked down. “We’ve been trying for months, and nothing is working.”

 

Mayumi went and sat down next to Haruhi. “Have you tried asking your mother for advice?”

 

“All she ever tells me is to ‘just relax’ or whatever…” Haruhi sighed. “Every time I feel like I’m coming close, I get excited, or frustrated, and it all just falls apart.”

 

“Why don’t you work on it by yourself for a bit, and then I’ll come check on you in a few?” Mayumi walked over to Amadeus. “How about you, how are you doing?”

 

“…About the same, I think?” Amadeus realized he’d lost the Charge he was keeping up. “I can do a pretty good one if I charge up first.”

 

“And if you don’t charge up first?”

 

Amadeus demonstrated a fairly weak Thundershock. “…I get that.”

 

“It’s honestly not too bad. Thundershock really isn’t supposed to be a very strong move, so this type of power is to be expected. Especially since Shinx are meant to be more physically inclined.” Mayumi nodded. “Perhaps you should try out a stronger electric type move.”

 

Amadeus kept staring at Haruhi. “…She’s really struggling with this, isn’t she?”

 

“Well, she’s trying her best.”

 

Amadeus watched Haruhi staring intently at the dummy. She just seemed lost. She sighed, and some fire came out. She turned to Mayumi and Amadeus on the other side of the room. “Hey, Amadeus, what comes after a billion?”

 

“It goes to trillions, then quadrillions, then quintillions, then sextillions, then septillions, and so on.”

 

“…Okay.” Haruhi closed her eyes. “One, ten, one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, one hundred thousand, one million…”

 

Amadeus walked over to her. “Are you copying me?”

 

“You started counting, and it seemed like it calmed you down, and the one thing Mom always tells me is that I need to calm down to use psychic moves, so I wanted to try it.” She seemed annoyed at his question. “ten million, one hundred million, one billion, ten billion, one hundred billion, one trillion, ten trillion, one hundred trillion, one quadrillion, ten quadrillion, one quintillion, ten quintillion, one hundred quintillion …” At this point, she was staring at the dummy with a bored expression. “One sextillion, ten sextillion, one hundred sextillion, one septillion…” She waved a paw at the dummy, and a pink beam shot out. “Ten septilli-ah!” She jumped. “I did it! Teacher! Look! I can do it! She tried gain, and nothing came out. “…Oh.”

 

Mayumi laughed, now sitting down next to her. “Don’t worry, I saw it.”

 

 Haruhi tried again, to no avail. “Damnit, I had it.”

 

“Now that you’ve done it once, you should be able to recall the feeling to make it easier next time. Try to remember how it felt. That’ll make it easier.”

 

Haruhi closed her eyes. “…Nope, not happening.”

 

“Oh well. What matters is that you proved you can do it.” Mayumi stood up. “That’s good enough progress for today.”

 

 

---

 

 

Mayumi watched the pair leave for the day, probably off to Haya’s place to have themselves a nice dinner. Mayumi was happy that Haruhi finally got a handle on her psychic side, however briefly. If she keeps in up, learns to use it as well as she can use fire, then she’ll finally evolve, and then she can stop being seen as a little fireball. That’s good. The breakthrough she needed, it seemed, was finding a trick to calming down. And Amadeus ended up being the one to show her the trick. Hmm…

 

Amadeus was… interesting, to say the least. No, interesting was selling it short. He was downright concerning. And not because he didn’t figure out Bite on his first try. That happened all the time to young dark types, and ‘mons of other types who tried to learn dark type moves. Dark type moves were hard stuff, after all. No, Mayumi had a much bigger concern. She headed back into the house, where Sakura was waiting for her. She looked lovely in that dress.

 

“How’s the little pyromaniac doing?”

 

“She finally used a psychic move.”

 

Sakura’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh, that’s great!”

 

“Yeah. Apparently counting helps.”

 

“I’ve heard that stuff like that can help. Was it your idea?”

 

“…Amadeus was with her. It was actually something he was doing to calm himself down.”

 

Sakura raised an eyebrow. “…Did the little guy count powers of ten?”

 

“…Yes.” Mayumi clenched her teeth. “…I feel like I’m going insane here.”

 

Sakura walked up to Mayumi and gently rubbed her neck up against her own. “Easy, now…” She purred.

 

“…It’s the same. Everything’s the same-“

 

“Same as the guy who died in Háo de Xiǎo, I know.”

 

Mayumi backed away from Sakura and went over to the storage closet, with Sakura following her inside. She opened a dusty drawer, and pulled out the pin that was inside. An identical pin to the one Amadeus was wearing. It was a bit confusing to phrase it like that, however. The name of the guy who died in Háo de Xiǎo was also Amadeus. That dick, he’s back from the dead! Mayumi thought to herself.

 

“…But there’s no way, right?” Mayumi asked, voicing her thoughts.