Chapter 10 – Ren the Weavile

I must say, I’ve always had a bit of bad luck. Honestly, it has been like that since I was little, even though I don’t remember much of my life before I was 6 or so.

I never wanted any of this to happen, but I guess it was inevitable. If only I was strong enough, then Ren and I would still be a team, and everything would be alright. Yeah, I know I can’t complain about my current life here in Bismuth Town, but all that came before that… It wasn’t good.

Anyway, this is from a bit more than a year ago. Ren and I were really good friends, even if he didn’t quite like me at first. I was still a normal Riolu at that time, and Ren had recently evolved into Weavile. When he was a Sneasel, he was already distrustful of everyone except me, easily annoyed by others, but when he evolved… That’s when I started noticing something wrong with him.

He was more grumpy and hated almost everyone out there, which was concerning. Luckily, that didn’t change the way he acted towards me. We’d been a team for 4 years already, and I still can’t believe he stuck with me for so long, being the liability I was.

… I’m sorry Maia, I know you don’t want me to say that, but I could barely fight and that’s a fact, even if it’s not like that anymore. The thing is, being just 10 years old when we formed the team, I guess it’s only natural that I was so inexperienced… But Ren’s only a year older than me and he was leagues above me.

Back in Iris City’s Guild, we took jobs regarding basic tasks to help others, such as collecting certain items or solving issues disputes. That was quite simple, but it still was necessary as there were always many pokémon who needed help. But coming from a place where mystery dungeons weren’t a thing, there wasn’t much more to do.

Or that’s what I would say if it wasn’t for the main other kind of job we had to do: catching outlaws. The amount of criminals in Iris City and its neighboring territories is concerning, so we were asked to take down some criminals every single week, and I didn’t like that. Luckily, Ren was amazing, and I could always trust him to lead us to victory.

And so, there we were.

“So… an outlaw is threatening to throw someone into a volcano?” Ren asked, grimacing. “Well, that’s something.”

“And why do we have to take care of this? Isn’t it too dangerous to send just the two of us to negotiate with that guy?” I asked with a panicked expression.

In front of us, in the guildmaster’s office, there was… Well, our guildmaster. You would expect some strong and imposing pokémon giving orders with a stern voice, but our guildmaster was pretty much out of this world.

Guildmaster Limos, the Pachirisu, smiled at us and took a handful of gummis from a bag, stuffing his mouth and munching them slowly.

“Ywu’w gwing tf dwu fuwn.” He then swallowed, the mass of gummis visibly going down his throat. “You’re one of our best teams! If you succeed in this mission, you’ll get a rank promotion. How does that sound?”

Ren and I looked at each other, interested in that last part. A new rank means more privileges! That’s certainly… How this world works.

“What do you think, Ari?” He asked me. He always made sure I was okay with anything we did, and to be honest, most of the time I wasn’t. But I tended to say yes because I knew he wanted that.

“Uh… Y-yeah, why not? We can do it! … Right?”

He placed a claw on my shoulder and looked at me sternly. “Really. No pretending. We’re doing this only if you want to.”

Limos just looked at us while stuffing his mouth with more gummis. He was an endless pit of hunger. Hearing him munch loudly wasn’t helping me think clearly. But, this time… It was for a rank promotion, so I took it.

“I know, I want to do this. And it’s not for you, it’s for both of us this time, I swear.”

The Weavile stared at me for a moment and then nodded, turning to the guildmaster. “Okay, we’re in.

“Alright.” The Pachirisu just kept smiling without any strong emotion or anything, he was just unmovable. “I’ll give you the details then, but first…”

He then went to hop off his chair but slipped and fell hard on his face. It was quite funny to see how he just stood up like nothing happened and his smile was still there. He opened a drawer and pulled another bag of gummis from it, quickly going back to his chair and opening the bag.

“Sw af awh wuz zwyung.” Oh right, he already had his mouth filled with more gummis. “Hmmm, yum. You’ll be going to Burst Volcano, to the east, and find that Simisear’s hiding spot. She shouldn’t be too hidden, after all, she’s expecting someone to go there and pay in exchange for Sentret’s life.”

He paused to chew on another handful of gummis, and I noticed how Ren frowned at that. After a moment, Limos continued. “Hmf. So, as we know she’s done that before and keeps kidnapping pokémon, instead of paying her you’re going to take her down and bring both her and Sentret here. All good?”

Ren and I nodded. After we finished discussing the details, we went outside and prepared for our mission. Meanwhile, I couldn’t help but notice him in another of his edgy teenage moments, as he recounted the berries in his bag still with an angry face.

Heh, now that I think of it, you kinda remind me of him at times, Sanah… O-ouch! What was that for? I was just… Uh, okay, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it like that, you already know! Anyway, as I was saying…

“Is everything alright, Ren?” I asked.

“Uh, it’s just…” He sighed and frowned deeply. “You saw the guildmaster. He didn’t care about anything, even when a pokémon has been kidnapped and his life is at risk, he’s just smiling and eating those stupid gummis.”

I was surprised that he was also mad with the guildmaster. The guy was pretty nice, even if a bit weird. “Ren… I don’t think he doesn’t care, he just smiles a lot. If he didn’t care in the first place, why would he have built the guild?”

He turned to me, searching for any lies in my eyes, but obviously, he found none. “I hope you’re right… But I’m not sure anymore.”

Well, you can imagine the rest of the conversation, let’s just skip to the part where we started our mission. I mean, I warned you that it was a long story, but this is kinda important. Back then, I had no idea that this was going to be our last mission together.

So there we were, Ren and I, exploring like we always did, with our yellow scarves tied to our necks. Those scarves felt like those friendship bracelets to me, so even after all this time I still keep mine in my bag. Ren gave it to me in the first place, and it’s all that I have left from him. That’s why it’s so important to me, even if looking at it made me feel so sad since we separated…

And speaking of mementos… Ren also had something valuable to him always in his bag. While we were climbing the foot of the volcano, I tripped and Ren quickly went to catch me, resulting in his bag falling from his shoulder and revealing all his items scattered on the ground, including a weird purple egg-shaped gem.

As soon as he made sure I was safe, he quickly went to pick up the items, ensuring that his precious gem was undamaged. Luckily, there wasn’t a single crack, and he sighed in relief.

“Sorry, your gem almost shattered because of me…” I said. He quickly turned to me with a stern look.

“Don’t blame this on yourself! It was a mistake anyone could make, but the gem’s alright. And even if it wasn’t, you’re more important.”

Ah, he was always so… Uhm, why are you looking at me like that? A-anyway, as I was saying, he kept that gem-like gold in a box since he was a little kid. It was a gift from his deceased mother, so you can figure out how important it was for him. It also looked valuable, but he refused to sell it to anyone.

As to what the gem was, he had no idea. His mother just found it one day in a cave just like that, and it was lying on the ground of all places. Maybe someone forgot it there? Who knows, but that’s beside the point.

That gem was so rare, and that would attract some attention, as you would guess. Ren used to live in a community, just like Nimb, but one day a team of archaeologists approached him and asked for the gem, but he refused to give it to them. What did they do in response?

They threatened him. They told him they could ruin his life if he refused to give it to them. It was pure greed that moved those archaeologists, they didn’t even care about the thrill of discovery or knowledge, just money.

Ren ignored their threats and continued with his life, but eventually, they did something. I’m not sure about the details, but I think there was a Zoroark in that team, much meaner than the one we met last week, and they took Ren’s form to commit crimes and trick everyone in his community into thinking it was Ren’s doing.

Ren didn’t like his community so much. He said they usually didn’t care about others and it was all hypocrisy and all that jazz, you know, more edgy expressions. But still, he was devastated when they banished him. With no home or family left, all he could do to survive was to join the guild.

Hey Nimb, were you by any chance also banished from your community? … No? Okay, you chose to leave, right. That’s reassuring, I wouldn’t want you to suffer the way Ren did. He didn’t like to talk about it, but I know he never truly got over it.

Well, going back to the mission… We had been walking for three hours or so, but eventually, we reached the top of the volcano. We were lucky it wasn’t active at that time, or else I still would be sweating now, because hoo boy was it hot already.

I could have spent a while complaining about the heat if it wasn’t for what we saw next.

“Hey, you two! Are you from Pachirisu’s Guild?” Simisear called. She was holding Sentret down her arm, dangerously close to the crater.

“Yeah. If you release that Sentret right now, maybe we could talk to the guildmaster about lessening your sentence, so think carefully about what you’re doing,” Ren said, calm and collected. He was quite the negotiator when he needed to.

“No! I want the money, and if you don’t have it, then I’m… I’m tossing this guy!”

“Fuck you,” I heard the Sentret say. He looked completely unamused, like, what the hell. He could die at any moment, dude.

“W-wait! I’m sure we can talk this out, just… Don’t do anything you might regret later!” I said.

Simisear just scowled and tightened her grip on Sentret. “Weren’t you listening? I said I want the money, I’m not changing my mind!”

“We’re just trying to find a peaceful solution, calm down. Don’t you want anything else?” Ren said while he tapped his foot. He was running out of patience already, but I can’t blame him.

“Do something about this guy already,” Sentret said, but he didn’t look scared at all. To be honest, he could have asked nicely, but anyway…

Simisear growled. “Shut up! I’m sick of this!” She then started forming a fireball in her mouth, ready to shoot.

“Well, we already tried diplomacy, but I guess that’s out of the question.” Ren fell into a fighting stance and glared. “Let’s dance.”

Before I knew it, Ren disappeared from my sight and quickly rushed towards Simisear, his sharp claws enveloped in a dark purple aura. He was about to strike, but that outlaw used her hostage as a shield and he stopped his attack just in time. Simisear used this as an opportunity and slashed at him.

Ren took the hit and recoiled, which was enough to snap me from my haze and do something. I searched my bag and took a gravelerock at Simisear. By the way, I didn’t mention it before, but I have quite a good aim. She didn’t even see it coming, hehe… Too bad it was just a rock and it didn’t do much.

Back then, I didn’t know aura sphere, bite or protect, so I wasn’t that flexible at combat, and I had to rely on items. I should use them more, now that I think of it, I’m sure I had something that could’ve been useful against Inteleon but I totally forgot. Ugh, I’m so stupid! I’m sorry, I messed up big time…

Huh? But… Okay, maybe you’re right, Mylo, I just couldn’t think straight. Everything happened so fast… Sorry for being angsty so suddenly, it’s been a rough day. O-okay, I’ll stop apologizing, sor- Uhhh right, the story! Where was I…

Anyway, I ran as fast as I could to join the battle, which I wasn’t actually too excited to join, but my friend needed help, and that was more important. Ren and the outlaw were throwing strikes here and there, which was surprising knowing how fast and relentless Ren is. He would have beaten her up already if it was any other outlaw, but this one was quite strong as well.

Luckily, Simisear was distracted with Ren, so she didn’t see me coming with a quick attack, and I sent her flying. But the bastard didn’t let go of Sentret, and he went flying with her as well. I really didn’t want to harm innocent pokémon! That was so unfair…

Simisear landed with a grunt, and Sentret just let out a single “ouch” right before cursing at me. “I’m here too, you know? What a useless bunch…”

“Hey, we’re trying to save you, you know?” I said, slightly annoyed.

Simisear stomped her foot on the ground and yelled. “Shut up already! You’re my hostage, act like it, dammit! Cry or something!”

“Ew, that’s cringe,” Sentret muttered.

Right then, Ren did a ninja move and appeared right behind Simisear, striking with a night slash which she was unprepared for, and she finally released Sentret as she winced from the pain. Sentret went rolling down the mountain, but I quickly caught him.

“There, I got you!”

“Hooray, I guess.”

I deadpanned. He was really tempting me to throw him down the volcano, but anyway, I kept that intrusive thought to myself as I carefully laid him on the ground and returned to the battle. Ren was defending himself from a barrage of fury swipes, so I jumped at the outlaw with a powerful rock smash and hit her on the side.

She wasn’t happy about that, which was clear by the way she started puking fireballs in every direction, and yeah, I got hit by one and fell a few meters back. Another reason why I don’t wanna evolve into Lucario, I don’t want to get scorched too easily, it was already painful enough…

While I tried to get back up, Simisear went for me and I couldn’t react. Did I mention I still didn’t have my pearls or protect back then? Yeah, I couldn’t defend myself. But in the blink of an eye, Ren was right there in front of me and blocked the hit. Yeah, that was crazy fast, he went like that whenever I was in danger.

“Well, shit.” That was the last thing she could say before Ren completely obliterated her. With a single swipe of his claws, she crashed hard against a rock and fainted at the moment. I didn’t do much, but it wasn’t the worst battle I’ve had.

“Are you alright, Ari?” Ren asked, turning to me with slight concern.

“Yeah, don’t worry, it wasn’t super effective. Also, thanks!”

He relaxed and smiled softly. “No problem. Anyway, now that we finished the job, all that’s left is the awkward part.”

“Yeah, we gotta take her to the guild…” I glanced at the unconscious Simisear and frowned. “So, do I grab the arms and you grab the legs?”

Ren crossed his arms and arched an eyebrow. “Oh, you wanna leave the stinky part to me, right?”

I chuckled. “I thought you liked legs? Haha, sorry, I’m just… pulling your leg.”

He stared at me with a deadpan until he sighed and rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t hide the smile. “Someone’s into bad jokes today, huh? But I won’t complain, that means you’re in good spirits for once.”

“Heh, I guess so…”

“Hey, you two,” Sentred called. “I’m very tired from this whole ordeal, so carry me too.”

Ren and I grimaced and spoke at the same time. “…What?”

“I mean, we have to go back to Iris City and I don’t have the energy to walk such a distance. So, carry me too.”

I could tell from Ren’s expression that he was quite mad. It was a bit humiliating to be treated like that by someone we just saved, but a job is a job, so we had to comply. As we had our hands occupied carrying the outlaw, Ren offered his bag as a way to carry Sentret. It had enough just enough space for him to fit in.

The walk back was for the most part uneventful, if we don’t count the constant whines of Sentret being uncomfortable inside the bag, but Ren just told him to shut up or walk instead. He was probably having a bad time carrying both the weight of half a Simisear and a Sentret. I offered to carry Sentret, you know Riolus are strong enough for that, but he still insisted on doing it himself.

We were only about half an hour away from Iris City when I noticed something was off. I wasn’t hearing Sentret complaining. And I think Ren noticed too, as he stopped to a halt and his eyes widened in horror.

“Huh? What’s wrong, Ren?” I asked. As soon as he looked down at his bag with a distressed expression, I could tell where this was going.

“I feel lighter,” he answered as he quickly lowered Simisear to the ground, and I did the same, laying her down. He opened his bag and gasped as he found there was much more space than before. “He’s gone!”

“What? Sentret’s gone?” I quickly ran to his side and checked as well.

“Not only that, my gem is gone as well! THAT FUCKING BASTARD TOOK IT!”

I panicked and started looking in every direction, hoping to spot the runaway Sentret, but he was probably out of sight already. “Where did he go? Agh, I’m sorry I didn’t notice…”

“No, I didn’t notice either…” Ren gritted his teeth as he thought about the available options. He wasn’t giving up yet. “Ari, can you check the place with your aura?”

“Oh, right!” I quickly closed my eyes and scanned my surroundings with my aura powers. At least I had that, so I could make myself useful for once, and- … Yeah, sorry Maia, no more self-deprecating, I know…

Anyway, my aura powers are strong enough to let me sense other pokémon in a wide range, so in mere seconds I knew where Sentret was. I wasn’t too far away, so there was still time.

“He’s over there!” I pointed towards a rocky area, and Ren brightened a little at that.

“Great, thanks, Ari!” He didn’t waste any time in grabbing my paw and running in that direction. Oh, and if you think I’m fast, I’ll just say he’s even faster than me when I combine both my quick attack and the power of my pearls. So yeah, he was literally dragging me like I did with you that one time, Nimb.

It wasn’t long until we spotted Sentret running away with the gem, doing zig-zag between sharp rocks and almost tripping with one of them. Ren let go of my hand and sprinted towards the thief, doing a frontflip and landing right in front of them.

Sentret froze and Ren turned around with an intense glare. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Uh… Whoops. Well, I didn’t sign up for this, whatever.” Then Sentret just dropped the gem and tried to run away, but Ren grabbed him by the tail and the thief was lifted in the air, limbs flailing slowly.

“You’re going to explain why you were trying to steal my gem specifically, or else,” Ren demanded, as I reached to his side. While Sentret muttered something, I grabbed the gem from the ground and carefully placed it back inside Ren’s bag. “I can’t hear you, speak up.”

“Ugh, you’re so impatient. I just heard a few minutes ago some voice in my mind telling me to bring them this gem in exchange for a big reward, and I like money” Sentret explained plainly.

Ren looked frustrated. “A voice in your head? Did you hit yourself with a rock or something?”

I felt my aura tassels twitching, and I turned to a big rock to my left. Suddenly, three pokémon appeared from behind it. They were a Tsareena, a Slowking and… a Zoroark. As soon as Ren looked at them, he gasped.

The Slowking spoke. “It was me, using telepathy. We meet again, huh?”

“You… You gotta be kidding…” Ren frowned and dropped Sentret, who just took his chance and fled. I was too confused to stop him at this point, and Ren wasn’t paying attention. “What are you doing here?”

Tsareena leaned closer, with a cold look in her eyes. “Hm. We were just visiting Iris City and found out that you were living there. It’s been a long time, dear Weavile.”

Ren narrowed his eyes. “I can’t believe you’re up to this again, after all these years…”

I suddenly realized what was going on. Damn, I was kinda dumb at times. Those three were the exact same pokémon who ruined his life before he joined the guild. As soon as it came to me, I felt… terrified.

“You know how we are, we never give up in our research. And that crystal of yours means much more than you can understand, so it would be wiser to give it to us,” Zoroark said, smirking. He then locked eyes with me, and I froze. “After all, you don’t want this to affect anyone, right?”

I pretty much got what he meant with that, and I didn’t take it very well. Ren’s frown turned into an intense scowl, and he took a step forward in defiance. “Don’t you dare! I don’t care about your stupid threats, if you ever do something like that again, I’ll make sure you end up in jail this time!”

Tsareena snorted and turned around, seemingly unmoved. Ren and I watched in confusion as her teammates followed her and started leaving, but she stopped one last time to say her last warning.

“You clearly remember what happened last time… And I don’t think you want that to happen again. We’ll give you one last chance: tomorrow, same time, same place, bring the gem and we’ll let you continue with your peaceful life like nothing happened.”

And with that, they left. I was trembling and I couldn’t say anything, but I could see that Ren wasn’t much better. He looked so angry and scared at the same time… I just wish I could have done something. Or said something, at least. I’m only good with words, and I couldn’t even think of anything at that moment.

“R-Ren…”

“… I’m sorry, Ari,” Ren eventually said, without looking at me. “This didn’t concern you, and yet you had to see this… All because of me.”

I didn’t agree with that. “W-what do you mean? This is not your fault! And nothing happened yet, I’m… I’m sure we can deal with this, right?”

But the tone in my voice was hesitant. I wanted so badly to help him feel better, but I was so frustrated whenever I couldn’t help someone… Because, yeah, I had no idea what to do. Should he just give them the gem? But it’s so important to him that I couldn’t accept that outcome.

Ren turned around and I saw something that still haunts me at times. His expression was one of defeat, hopelessness and disappointment. His eyes were dull. He looked so tired, yet at the moment I couldn’t understand why. Was it that serious?

As I watched his somber self approach me, he spoke. “I don’t know anymore…”

That was even more painful to hear. It pained me so much to hear him like that, and all that I could think of was to hug him and expect him to calm down by himself. Which he kinda did, even if it was just slightly. When we broke the embrace, he looked more neutral, but there was still the somber presence. He walked beside me and gestured for me to follow.

“Let’s just end this day, I’m so tired…”

I nodded. “Okay… We still have to inform Limos about the mission.”

Ren suddenly stopped.

“AAAAH, WE FORGOT SIMISEAR!” He yelled, bringing his claws on top of his head.

It was a normal thing for me to forget but for Ren… He was usually so observant, always making the best decisions and with enough planning. But lately, he’d been more impulsive and acting without much thinking, as if he didn’t care anymore.

“Fuck, we have to go back!” I said, and as soon as I said that I started running in the direction we came, but Ren immediately grabbed me and ran faster.

Unfortunately, Simisear was nowhere to be seen. She had woken up and left, and as much as I used my aura, I couldn’t spot her anywhere near. We really had bad luck if she woke up so soon and escaped in such a short amount of time.

I turned to Ren with an apologetic look and shook my head. “Nothing… I can’t sense her, no matter how hard I try. We failed the mission, I’m sorry…”

He stood silent for a moment until he leaned closer and rested his hand on my shoulder, speaking with a soothing but somewhat sad tone. “It’s not your fault. And at least we saved Sentret from that kidnapper, even if he ended up turning into a criminal himself.”

“I guess so… But what are we going to say to Limos? We don’t have any proof that we succeeded…”

” … We don’t have to prove anything to that guy. I don’t care what he has to say about this,” he said and turned to leave. “Let’s go home, Ari.”

So we did. Right as we arrived at Pachirisu’s Guild, we met with the guildmaster and explained what happened, even if Ren didn’t want to. We didn’t get any reward yet, as it was yet to be proved that Sentret was safe, but he assured us that we would be rewarded for it eventually. So it wasn’t a complete failure.

Still, Ren wasn’t okay, I knew that. Was it for the threat, or for failing to catch Simisear? Maybe he was mad with Sentret? I didn’t know, maybe it was everything. Everything that happened was too much for him. But tomorrow he would be much better, I was sure.

Back in Ren’s room, in the guild, we decided to hang out a bit and discuss everything that happened.

“What are you going to do about it?” I asked. Ren looked at me with a confused look. “You know, the gem. Those guys that threatened you.”

He opened his mouth and blinked as he understood what I meant. “I… I’m not sure…”

He always knew what to do, so that was concerning. “Oh… A-are you okay? You’ve been acting rather weird lately.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry, really. I’m just a bit stressed, that’s all,” he said. I tilted my head as I wasn’t too sure about that, but I wanted to trust his word. Still, we couldn’t talk too much about it since someone knocked on the door.

Ren and I looked at each other as neither of us was expecting a visit, and I eventually went and opened the door. Out there was Kaden the Machamp, the guildmaster’s second in command.

“Oh, hi Kaden!” I said with a wide grin.

“Hey guys! I’ve just come to inform you that someone left a letter for Ren,” he said, handing over an envelope with a piece of paper. Ren took it and inspected it with curiosity. “Anyway, I’ll be going back to my duties. You two have a nice day!”

“Thanks,” Ren said. The Machamp was always nice to everyone, so he was one of the few people Ren actually didn’t hate. He didn’t like him too much either, but it was something.

As soon as we said goodbye and closed the door, Ren read the letter. I guessed it was something private since he didn’t tell me the details, but he just told me someone was wanting to meet with him in a private place. I thought it was a bit suspicious, but he didn’t care too much. Another weird thing for him.

He left to meet with that mysterious person, and the whole hour he was out I couldn’t stop worrying about him. What if it was a trap from those archaeologists? And I wasn’t there to help him in that case… It all sounded like a trap to me.

But eventually, he came back, looking pensive. At least he was okay.

“Oh, you’re back! What did they want?” I asked.

Ren stood silent for another moment until he lifted his head and smiled at me. “Ah, nothing important. Just private business.”

“Oh, I see,” I answered. That was reassuring, I think. “But did everything go well?”

“Hmm… I guess you could say so,” he said.

However, for the next half an hour he stood really silent, thinking about stuff, while I just checked one of Ren’s books, this one with pictures on it, otherwise there was no way I’d touch one of those. I couldn’t concentrate much because I was worried about Ren. I mean, he wasn’t even reading or doing anything, just thinking.

“Ren…?”

He glanced at me and eventually let out a sigh. “Hey, Ari…”

“What is it?”

He approached me with a serious look. “If something ever happened to me, or I wasn’t with you anymore… Please, promise me you’ll leave this place. Promise me that you’ll stay as far away from Iris City as possible.”

That thought scared me a lot. Why was he saying that all of a sudden? I knew why he wanted me to leave, but still, I didn’t want to think of that. On the other hand, I wanted him to feel better, so I complied. “O-okay… I promise.”

His expression shifted into a sad smile and then he hugged me. I hugged him back, but that’s when he could clearly notice I was shaking.

“Ari, it’s okay, I was just saying stuff.”

“Well… Okay then…”

“Remember, I promised you we were going to become stronger together. I’m not forgetting that.”

I nodded. I knew there was something wrong with him, and I was still worried. But it was okay, he would probably feel better tomorrow, right?

Everything was okay.

Oh right, remember when I mentioned it was Ren’s room, and not ours? Well, my parents wanted me to go every night to sleep at home, so they could, um… still get to see me every day. So I went back home and spent the night there, like always.

That night was awful for me. I had thoughts going over my head all the time, and it took me too long to finally fall asleep. But when I woke up, a thought crossed my mind. Something wasn’t right.

I quickly went outside and rushed to the guild, and I got there as soon as I could. Well, if it wasn’t for… Some inconvenience I had on the way, but that’s not important. I could eventually go, even if a few hours later than I expected.

As soon as I entered the guild, I saw guildmaster Limos waving at me, as if he wanted to talk to me, but I kinda went straight to Ren’s room, ignoring him. I opened the door and… He wasn’t there.

Huh. Maybe he grew tired of waiting for me and went on a mission by himself? … No, he always waited for me, no matter how long I took. Then, where was he?

Before I could ponder any other possibility, I saw the Pachirisu approaching me. He was smiling, but it was different. He was carrying a bag of gummis as always, but he wasn’t eating any, and his smile felt… hollow, somehow.

“Ari, I was trying to talk to you, but you weren’t listening,” he said.

“Oh… Sorry, I was worried about Ren. Where is…?”

He cleared his throat, making me flinch a bit. “He came to me last night. He wanted to dissolve the team.”

“Ah, okay,” I said. As soon as I reviewed those words, I almost fainted. “HE DID WHAT?”

He nodded. “As of now, you’re no longer tied to him. But, what are you going to do?”

I couldn’t understand. Why would he do something like that? I’m sure there was an explanation, I just needed to talk to him.

“I… Where is Ren?” My voice was shaky and I was trying so hard not to cry, I won’t lie.

“I don’t know, I haven’t seen him since last night. He could have spent the night in his room if he wanted, he still has a few days left to take his stuff with him, so I suppose he’ll show up eventually.”

I hoped so. I just had to wait a bit more, and he’d eventually show up, just like that. I was sure. Well, I wasn’t sure.

I waited for hours, but he didn’t come. He didn’t go back to his room to sleep that night. And he didn’t have any other place to stay. I was desperate. I really didn’t know what to do, I felt like I was left completely alone, even if it wasn’t the case.

Some teams eventually started searching for him, as he didn’t show up on the next day either, and I tried looking for him too. But it was useless. Days passed and Ren was nowhere to be seen. You have no idea of how much I suffered… He had disappeared just like that, leaving no trace behind, not a single clue on where he was.

But the same thought always came to my mind. Those bastards… The archaeologists. What if they did something to him? What if he’s been kidnapped?

I realized Ren might have dissolved the team because he knew being related to him put me in danger because of them. And I knew what he meant when he told me to leave Iris City in this case.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I took off my yellow scarf and stored it in my bag, and then I finally left Iris City, but I didn’t do it just to run away and hide. I wanted to find Ren so bad, and that’s what I was going to do. But for that, I needed help. And I couldn’t drag anyone in that guild with me knowing that I couldn’t go back to Iris City, so I had to search somewhere else.

That’s how, after many days of traveling, I stumbled upon Progress Village. It was a small place, really, but there was a guild there too, so I had to try. Right as I entered, I went to speak with the first pokémon I found there, it was a shiny Chatot, which I was really surprised to see.

“Hello! You seem to be from around here, right? I mean, you have that scarf and everything, I guess you’re from the guild, and… Okay, I’m saying obvious stuff. What I mean is… hello?”

Dude, I was so nervous for some reason, I wasn’t used to talking to new people without Ren by my side. So yeah, I used to be a bit of a social mess. Chatot turned to me and smiled.

“Hello there! Yes, I’m the second in command, why do you ask?” He said.

Well, I spoke to the right pokémon on my first try, that was lucky. “Well you see, I’m a… traveler, and I came from Iris City in search of a friend of mine, a Weavile, that disappeared a while back, so I’m looking for him… Because of course, if he wasn’t missing, I wouldn’t be looking for him, haha…” What the hell was wrong with me? “Anyway, do you know something?”

“Hmmm, I don’t think I’ve heard of any Weavile recently… But no worries! You’re going to have the honor of talking about it in the next guild meeting, so you can ask the teams for help!”

Welp, that was easy. He was too nice, but it made me wonder if they accepted any request that they received just like that, even if it was a kid looking for a stick. But I wasn’t complaining.

I stayed the night at the inn and showed up the next morning at the meeting, explaining my situation to the guild members in hopes that someone would help me. I was so anxious and nervous, as I could feel every single guild member looking at me and I could barely talk like a functional person.

So yeah, Nimb, don’t worry if you sometimes struggle with that, because I also used to be like that at times. I mean, look at how much you’ve progressed in less than two weeks.

As I finished telling my story, Chatot asked if there was some team willing to accept me in their team, which… I really didn’t mean that when I asked for help. Sure, if I was going to get a team to help me search, I might as well make myself useful in the meantime, but I didn’t plan on joining a second guild while searching for my friend.

At Chatot’s request, a little Noibat raised his wing and shook it eagerly, offering himself. He was crying, by the way, I think my story made him sad I guess? And beside him, there was… another Riolu, who looked at his companion sheepishly. The Noibat quickly left his seat and approached me still crying, suddenly wrapping his wings around me.

“WAAAAA, IT’S SO SAAAAD, I’M SORRYYYYY!”

“Uhhh… I-I’m okay, don’t worry, hehe…” That was super weird.

Chatot chuckled and leaned closer. “Seems like Noida wants to help you. How lucky!”

Noida the Noibat just nodded rapidly, rubbing his face against my belly in the process. I was a bit surprised by all that, honestly. “R-really? But, is it okay, just like that…?”

I looked at the Riolu who was previously sitting with Noida, and he shrugged. “I don’t see why not, it would be nice to have another teammate that wakes up like a functional pokémon every morning.”

“You mean it? I can join your team?” I asked, my eyes widening in hope.

The Riolu approached with a smile. “Yes! I’m Zorio, by the way. Noida and I recently formed our team, so we’re also in need of some help. But now I gotta ask. Do you really wanna join our team? Don’t you go regretting later,” and he stole a glance at the crying Noibat, which made me understand why he said that.

However, I was willing to make that sacrifice. I really needed the help, even if that meant doing other missions while looking for clues leading to Ren. “Yeah, I’m in!”

“YEEEEES, NEW FRIEEEEEND!” Noida shouted, making my ears ring. Aw, it was so painful, and I could see everyone in the room also flinching and covering their ears. He sure was loud.

And that’s how I joined Team Crimson. Well, they still didn’t have a name, it was actually my idea to call it like that. Now with my new green striped scarf, we went through so many adventures together, and to be honest… I just wanted help, I wasn’t expecting to grow so attached to them. Noida was so chaotic and a bit silly most of the time, but he was also sweet and cared so much for his friends, and Zorio was nice and smart, always trying to fight through any danger whenever I wasn’t willing to.

So, we made a great team, or at least I convinced myself that was the case, because I was… Not so useful. I realized that it was happening again. Okay, maybe I was a bit more brave now, but I still struggled to fight other pokémon because I felt bad about it. I always tried to talk things out, but it never worked, and Noida and Zorio had to step in and fight.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t. I sometimes did fight, I guess. But just sometimes. And I felt so bad because they were always helping me, trying to cheer me up, and supporting me in every way. And did I do the same for them? No, because I was useless.

Uh… Sorry Maia, I won’t say that again, I guess I’m being overdramatic…

The good thing is that I eventually learned protect out of the blue, just because I saw Zorio being attacked and he was pretty hurt already, so just the thought of wanting to protect him so badly made me suddenly generate a barrier as I stood in front of him. That was pretty epic, I must admit.

I spent months with them, this time sleeping in the same room as them, so you can guess that we became so close by being together 24/7. What? … No, Mylo, not that way. Ew.

The thing is, I reached a point where something inevitable was going to happen to me. One day, I started glowing and I had to make a huge effort to stop my evolution. I won’t get into details, but I really, REALLY, don’t want to evolve into Lucario. I have my reasons, but you could say I prefer being like this.

Small and cute, like Nimb. Awww, you’re proving my point by blushing like that. Okay, I’ll stop now, sorry, hehe.

So I kept stopping my evolution time after time until one day we were in the middle of a pretty difficult fight and Noida was about to get squashed by a Donphan. Even if Noida had evolved into Noivern at that point, it would still have been a one-hit KO. I was a bit far away from him so I couldn’t use protect, and out of desperation, my body started glowing again.

I couldn’t believe it. Right in the worst possible moment! I kept concentrating on stopping my evolution, but at the same time I was trying to move forward to protect Noida, but I couldn’t. I was so divided…

That’s when a miracle happened, and the bright light enveloping my body changed from the usual blue hue to a red one. Out of nowhere, I instinctively passed my energy to Noida, and just when the Donphan crashed into him, the attack just bounced off him without doing much damage. I didn’t know what had happened until I checked my body and saw I had longer fur in my neck, and my tail was all funny, shaped like a star.

And then there’s the pearl in my neck, and another one in my tail too. You could guess that I was so scared at first, but if it let me help my friends, then so be it.

Zorio finished Donphan off and rushed to my side, and so did Noida. They were both confused and amused at the same time. Noida beamed and started running in circles around me. I’m pretty sure he was still a kid, but even if he was childish at times, at least he didn’t cry as much as before, and he was braver.

“You’re all fluffy now, haha!” He said.

The shock finally reached me and I panicked. “What happened to me? Why am I so weird? Aaaahhhh!”

Zorio observed me closely. “Hmmm… It’s strange, I don’t get what happened to you, but I like it.

“Oh? Really?”

He nodded. “It seems useful too, so I don’t see why you should be worried.”

“But what if I’m infected with some weird virus or something?”

Zorio grabbed my shoulder and tried to calm me down. “Relax, I don’t think that’s the case. It’s not the first case of someone getting a new form previously unknown.”

“Oh… I hope you’re right…”

After that, I didn’t have to stop my evolution ever again, it just stopped happening. And now I felt like I could do anything. If my friends were in danger, I could protect them! It’s what I’ve always wished for! There would be nothing that could stop us anymore.

And yet… I still didn’t want to fight. And even if I was the support member, always protecting or helping with items, I didn’t feel good. I was a liability, just like when I was with Ren. I couldn’t shake that feeling off me, no matter how hard I tried, or how hard I pushed myself to become better.

All I did in my life was to be an explorer, so I didn’t know anything else. That was my life, and if I didn’t do that, I didn’t know what else to do. I thought that was what I was supposed to do, my only option, or at least that’s what it felt like when my parents wanted me to become an explorer like them…

But I wasn’t happy, and I realized too late.

One day, after coming back from another mission where I couldn’t be really useful, we crossed the guild’s meeting room and Zorio suddenly stopped to look at the bulletin board. His eyes were wide, as if he saw something horrible, but then started walking again.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

He tried to push me to keep walking. “N-nothing, let’s just go.”

“Have you seen something funny? I wanna see it too!” Noida said innocently.

But I was too curious, and I stole a glance at the bulletin board. There was something that caught my eye, and I stopped. Zorio stopped as well, cursing silently, but Noida kept going, straight to the cafeteria. He was always hungry and could eat two times his own size, it was scary.

Ignoring that, I approached the bulletin board and saw something that destroyed me entirely. It was an outlaw notice, and drawn over it… there was an accurate picture of Ren the Weavile.

I couldn’t believe it. I worked so hard to find him, thinking he was captured or hiding somewhere, but instead, he turned into a criminal. That’s right, I already knew he was before our investigation today, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it…

But I thought that had to be an error. He wouldn’t do something like that, he likes justice and helping others in need! He hates people that only work for a reward and… He’s totally not a criminal!

But there was the proof. I couldn’t bear the thought, and no matter how hard Noida and Zorio tried to cheer me up, I was devastated. I only wanted to see him again, but what would I tell him in that case? He’s a criminal now!

I was exhausted. I decided to leave the guild and travel on my own, not just because I felt I wasn’t happy being an explorer and having to fight all the time, but because I desperately needed to find out what was wrong with Ren. I saw there were sightings of that specific criminal group in Syftelia, so I left Progress Village to search for him without dragging my friends with me.

It was awful to leave them behind, and they were so sad, but I felt like I needed to do so. I miss them so much, and I know they miss me too, but I wasn’t fit for that. That’s how I ended up meeting Nimb and coming to Bismuth Town.

I didn’t expect to settle here, but after being so focused on finding Ren, I found that this new life was more suited to me. I finally felt like there was something I could do, and I felt comfortable with it. I felt… useful.

But that didn’t make me forget about Ren. I couldn’t get over it. So imagine my surprise when instead of having to go look for Ren, we literally stumbled upon each other by accident. It wasn’t the best possible scenario, since this confirmed to me that he was indeed a criminal, but at least I know he’s okay… kinda.

Well, now you know my story, at least the most important bits. I’m sorry I kept this to myself, but I thought you would think I didn’t care about you guys and that my only objective was to find someone else. That’s not the case. I miss him, but I also like being here.

That’s not going to change.

 

---

 

Ari let his shoulders slump and sighed, his story left him really tired. Everyone looked so interested, but also concerned about the Riolu. He had gone through a lot in only a year, leaving behind so many people and struggling alone. But he was no longer alone.

“That was… a lot,” Nimb eventually said, frowning deeply.

“Yeah… Sorry, I made it too long, I could have summarized,” Ari said.

Maia shook her head and leaned closer. “No, we asked for it, and it was still an interesting story. I just want to ask, are you feeling okay?”

Ari looked at her, and then at the rest of his teammates, and slowly nodded. “I’m feeling better now, I feel like I needed to share this.” He then smiled softly.

Nimb, Sanah and Mylo stood up and leaned closer too, and the Decidueye moved aside to give them room. Nimb quickly embraced Ari, and he returned the hug happily. Sanah was a bit confused about his story, so she asked.

“So… You’re not an explorer anymore, right? Since your first team was dissolved and you left your second one…”

Ari broke the embrace and looked at her sheepishly. “Well, actually…” He took his bag and pulled his scarves from there. There was the yellow one and the green striped one.

“Wait, what? How is it that you still have those, if you’re no longer an explorer?” Sanah asked.

“The thing is, the yellow scarf was made by Ren himself, so it’s not exactly the guild’s emblem. That’s why I’m allowed to wear it, but I didn’t since I felt bad whenever I looked at it, since Ren had disappeared…”

They all nodded, but Nimb asked then. “And what about the other one?”

“The other one is the official scarf, but… Let’s say I didn’t ‘officially’ leave Team Crimson.”

“What?” Everyone said in unison, making the Riolu flinch.

“I mean, uhh, I can’t do stuff as an explorer, but this is like being on a… pretty long vacation. I could go back at any time and I wouldn’t have to go through any tedious bureaucracy. And in the meantime, I can still wear the scarf… If it wasn’t because this one also makes me feel bad.”

“And will you go back to Team Crimson?” Mylo asked. Nimb frowned at that and then looked to his friend expectantly.

Ari took a moment and looked at everyone there, showing conflicted emotions. “I… I’m not sure anymore… I thought I had to go back to that, because I didn’t know any better, but now…”

Mylo approached him and wrapped his hand around Ari’s body, and then did the same with Nimb, who flinched in surprise. “Whatever you decide, you know that you have a place here now. We’re Team Silver, for as long as you want, right?” He asked, glancing at Sanah, who decided to join them.

“I guess… I’d prefer if you don’t suddenly decide to leave the team one day out of the blue, but…” She couldn’t hide the subtle blush at the idea of being part of it. “Right now, Team Silver needs the four of us.”

Nimb nodded, still nervous. “E-even if Ren is not by your side anymore, we are.”

Ari smiled softly. “Guys… Thank you.”

He wasn’t sure about anything. He was still afraid, he still felt he didn’t deserve the help, but it was okay. Ren was somewhere out there, now closer than ever, but even if he was a criminal, that was okay. He had friends to support him now.

Team Silver was his future.