Chapter 3 – Social Skills, Deductive Skills

The day was calm, not a single cloud could be seen in the sky as Ari and Nimb continued their journey to… wherever they ended up in. They spent the night out in the open, since they had enough with their misadventures in the cave and the claustrophobia wasn’t going to disappear anytime soon.

As they walked, the hunger was starting to make them tired, so they decided to stop and rest under a tree. Ari opened his bag and took two sacks of food, offering one to his travel companion. Nimb started devouring it quickly, while Ari took one bite at a time.

“So… I think we’ll have to stop by in the next town we find to get some supplies, I’m running low on food,” Ari said. “And you eat, like, a lot. And very fast.”

“I jwst luv anm gwud ffh-” Nimb started, until he started coughing, almost choking.

“Hey, hey, slow down! I don’t want another partner to choke on food.”

“Arf, kwugh… Wait, another?”

“Don’t worry, he’s not dead… Yet.”

“What the-”

“Hey, look up there! Those are oran berries, right?” Ari pointed upwards, looking at the berries growing from that same tree. “Talk about luck! We should pick some.”

Nimb looked up and his pupils dilated at the sight of more food. He stood up and tried to reach it by jumping higher than Ari expected. Still, he couldn’t reach them.

“Woow, you do have some strenght in those legs! That kinda compensates for not being able to fly,” Ari said.

Nimb frowned and looked down. “Don’t remind me…”

“Oh, uh… S-sorry about that. But uhhh… Let me just climb the tree and get the berries myself.”

Ari started climbing the tree, but halfway through it, he started slipping and fell on his rear, flinching in pain. Nimb watched silently as the Riolu massaged his buttcheeks.

“Ow, ow, ow… Okay, I’m not doing that again,” Ari said. “Wait, you have claws… Wanna try climbing?”

“Uhmmm okay, but I’m not used to climbing. Let me just…” Nimb said, as he approached the tree and used his claws to get a grip on it. As he started climbing, Ari noticed him trembling slightly.

“Uh, say, Nimb… You’re not scared of heights, are you?”

“I… Well… Please help me,” Nimb said.

“You gotta be kidding. You’re not even halfway to the top, and you just jumped, like, suuuper high a minute ago. How are you scared of heights then?”

“It feels worse when you’re stuck to a wall rather than having full control of your movement and no obstacles nearby.”

“That… doesn’t make any sense.”

“It doesn’t.”

Ari sighed. “Let me help with that,” he said before standing under Nimb and punching the tree hard. The tree shook, making Nimb lose balance and fall, alongside 3 oran berries. Ari opened his arms and caught him before he reached the ground.

“Ouch, why did you do that?” Nimb asked.

“I uhm… I thought it was the easiest way, sorry…” Ari said, as he put the bird down.

Nimb frowned at him. “You could have warned me before, you know?”

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” Ari looked away, a guilty expression in his face. “But, uhh… I caught you, and you’re okay.”

“I guess… Still, not a fan of tree climbing.”

“Sorry, I won’t do that again… But look at what we got!” Ari pointed at the oran berries. Nimb forgot the pain of betrayal and took one of the berries, immediately devouring it while Ari picked the other two berries and stored them in his bag. “We better save these for later, in case we’re hurt.”

Nimb swallowed and nodded, sitting back under the tree. “So, where are we going now?”

“Let me see…” Ari said, sitting besides him and opening his map. “As I said before, we should visit the next town, but from there I’m not sure, to be honest.”

“You don’t have anywhere to go?”

“I’m just vibing. Uh, I mean, travelling without a clear objective, and at the same time, I want to find my own purpose.”

“A purpose? Like… Your destiny or something?”

“Uhhh I guess, I just want to find something that I can be really good at. You see, I like helping others in need, but since that implied always having to fight as an explorer, I want to find a different way of doing so. That’s what I really want.”

“Hmmm, I see…”

“What about you?” Ari asked. “Do you have a purpose, or an objective?”

“Me? Well… I guess… I want to be able to talk to others and not be afraid of everyone.”

“Good! But I’d say that’s a step rather than a purpose. You probably need to achieve that in order to fulfill your purpose.”

“Oh… Then I have no idea what my purpose is.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll find out eventually. You’re just like me, then,” Ari said, pointing a finger towards himself.

“Okay, then. For now I just want to become brave enough…”

Ari pondered that for a moment and then stoop up. “Let’s help you with that, then! We’re gonna train… Social interactions!” He raised his fist to show his excitement, smiling at the Archen.

“Uh, you mean, like… Right now? Are you sure?”

“Of course, it’s the perfect moment! Come on, follow me.”

Nimb stood up and looked at Ari unconvinced, hesitant and, above all, scared. It was going to be a rough day, even if no kidnappings or battles happened. Ari and Nimb walked for a while, looking for other pokémon to bother. Ari eventually spotted a Seedot and approached them, Nimb following from behind, trying to use the Riolu to hide himself.

“Heya! Are you from around here?” Ari asked.

The Seedot stared for a moment, studying him. “I am. What do you want?”

“Oh, just a chat.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“I’m glad th- wait, what?”

“You look weird for a Riolu,” the Seedot said.

“But… Your just judging by my appearance, you don’t even know me!”

“That only makes it worse. How do I know you won’t attack me?”

Ari hesitated, not sure of what to say next. He then turned to Nimb, who trembled slightly from behind him, and moved aside to make him visible.

“What about my friend here? He looks like he wouldn’t hurt a cutiefly, right?”

Seedot stared blankly at Nimb, who trembled harder than before. He tried to speak. “I- uh- I- I am- Uh…”

Nimb immediately hid behind Ari again, holding onto him tightly. Ari sighed and glanced at the Seedot waiting for an answer.

“I’m not talking to him either,” Seedot said.

“What? Why?” Ari frowned.

“It’s not that I don’t trust him. He’s just looks too pitiful.”

Ari pouted at that, while Nimb lowered his head and whimpered.

“You didn’t have to be so… straightforward,” Ari said.

“Whatever, I’m leaving.” And just like that, the Seedot walked away.

Ari glanced at his bird friend, who just kept staring at the ground, frowning. The Riolu gave him a gentle stroke and Nimb looked shyly at him.

“Hey, ignore that guy, they don’t even know us,” Ari said. “What if we try again with someone a bit less… rude?”

“Well, I…” Nimb sighed. “Okay, why not, I guess…”

“Great! Don’t worry, this time will be different. Just… try not to look scared all the time.”

Nimb looked away, his frown deepening. “You didn’t have to say it like that…”

“I, er, no, I didn’t mean that! You’re not… Uh, I’m sorry…” Ari stammered.

Nimb was caught off guard with Ari’s reaction. “Uhm… It’s okay.”

Not wanting to lose more time, they resumed their little quest for other pokémon to talk to. The forest was slowly becoming less dense and there was a noticeable humidity in the air as they kept walking. After crossing a rocky area, they reached a river and followed its course until they found themselves at a little lake inside a valley, surrounded by tall rock walls. There were some pokémon playing in the water. At the bottom, there was a cave that looked impossible to enter, the path being blocked with fallen rocks.

Ari and Nimb approached the lake, the latter starting to tremble once again at the sight of other individuals. There were like seven of them; maybe it was too much for the bird.

“Hello there!” Ari said, trying to draw attention. The pokémon in the lake noticed the visitors and turned to them, seemingly in a good mood.

“Hi, helloooo!” A Brionne answered, smiling widely at the visitors. She looked like she had too much energy. “Did you two come for a swim?”

“U-uh, well, not exactly, we were traveling and found this by pure chance,” Ari said, while opening his bag to take a look to his map. “So, is this Deepsoul Lake?”

“Yup! Quite a nice place, isn’t it?” A Golduck said.

“And it’s really fun to play here!” A Popplio said. He had a high pitched voice and was swimming close to the Brionne, so Ari thought he probably was her little brother.

“At least it is for now,” a Lilligant joined the conversation, while sitting on the shore. “I hope this doesn’t start attracting tourists, it would be too crowded to come here to relax, or just… do anything.”

“Yeah, it would be a shame, this place is gorgeous!” Ari said. He then looked to the cave entrance in the bottom, thinking it would be nice to explore that place, but the rocks were in the way. He wondered what happened there.

Then, for a moment, Ari could feel something. He felt like he had been there before, yet he never did. He shook that feeling off and tried to focus on the matter at hand.

“Uh, you know, before coming here, we got kidnapped and escaped by ourselves. It’s a funny story,” Ari said.

“Really?” The Brionne asked. “You’re not kidding?”

“Not at all! There was even an exploration team involved! Hey, Nimb, tell them!”

Ari moved aside and turned to Nimb, but found he was shaking more than usual.

“… Nimb?”

“I… Uh… I don’t want… Ari, I…”

Ari looked concerned, but tried to press further. “Come on, Nimb, it’s nothing, they’re nice! Just tell them what happened.”

“W-w-w-we were d-d-d-doing… Uhhhhh… N-no, Ari, please…”

“Yes, just a little more, you can do it!”

The Archen hyperventilated, looking at the crowd of pokémon. It was too much. There were seven. All of them were staring at him, concerned. Were they going to laugh at him? Maybe attack? It was too much, it was too much.

It just was too much.

Tears began forming in his eyes and he ran away, following the way back. Ari couldn’t stop him and watched as he had another panic attack.

“Awwwww poor thing!” Brionne said.

“Is he… okay?” Lilligant asked.

“Y-yeah, it’s just that he’s a bit shy, don’t worry… But, uh… Excuse me.”

Ari ran, trying to reach Nimb before he got lost, but he couldn’t spot him anywhere near. He started getting worried, so he tapped into his aura powers and felt his surroundings. He felt something near the river, so he followed the course.

“Nimb! Nimb, where are you?”

As he ran, he eventually saw the Archen crossing the river using a trunk as a bridge. Ari approached him, but before he could say anything, Nimb just… slipped off the trunk and fell into the river. And that current was a different one than the one which led to Deepsoul Lake. The panic attack only grew worse as he paddled desperately, but couldn’t fight against the strong current.

“Niimb! Try to swim to the side!” Ari said, as he folowed him.

“I… can’t… swim!” Nimb shouted.

“WHAT?”

Nimb kept trying to stay afloat, but the river was dragging him at a high speed, and he could barely avoid being hit by a rock. The first three times. The fourth rock was in his way, and he crashed hard into it, losing conciousness in the process, as he continued being dragged by the current.

“NIMB!”

Ari panicked and dived into the river, swimming as fast as he could to get to him, but he also got hit by a rock while doing so. As painful as it was, he was tough enough, and kept swimming until he could get a grip on Nimb. Now for the hard part…

Ari tried to hold onto Nimb with one arm, using the other to paddle towards the riverside. Nimb wasn’t too heavy, but carrying him was enough to make it hard for him to float, and he swallowed some water. He kept pushing on, and eventually managed to reach the land. Quickly, he pulled Nimb out and, still coughing due to the swallowed water, he focused on saving the Archen. He laid him prone and lifted his hips, making him expel the water in his lungs, and then turned him over and pressed on his chest repeatedly.

“Please… Please, Nimb, wake up… C-come on…”

After a few seconds, that felt like an eternity, Nimb started coughing and opened his eyes. He found Ari tearing up in top of him. Ari smiled and sighed in relief, sitting besides him.

“Arf… Oof… I’m so glad you’re okay…” Ari said.

Nimb quickly stood up and enveloped Ari, already crying. “Bwaaaaaa, thank youuu, I thought I was going to dieeeee!”

Ari’s expression slowly turned gloomy. “I… No, don’t thank me. You almost die because of me. I’m… I’m sorry…”

“But… *Sniff* it was me who ran away and fell into the river.”

Ari pushed him away and rested his arms on his knees. “But I forced you to talk in front of too many pokémon, it’s only natural you panicked…”

Nimb looked at him, concerned. “Kinda, but…”

“I’m so sorry.”

“… Ari, you said sorry too many times today. Are you okay?” The Riolu remained silent, but Nimb insisted. “You know, not everything that happens to us is your fault.”

“Not everything, huh…”

“Or… Not even a small part of it. You just wanted to help me!”

“Just like I helped you when I accidentally led us to a mystery dungeon? Or when I chose to sleep right next to it and we were kidnapped right after?” Ari was gripping his arms hard, making Nimb worried.

“And you protected me through most of both situations?” Nimb reminded.

“I guess… But that wouldn’t have been necessary if I didn’t have messed up so much, like I always do.”

Nimb didn’t know what to say, so he did what he did best. He hugged Ari again. “If it wasn’t for you, I’d be anxious and afraid all the time. With you, at least I only feel anxious like… most of the time. You’ve made me feel much better with myself, and that alone makes everything else worth it.”

That triggered a reaction. Ari cringed at first when he got hugged, but he slowly leaned into it, relaxing.

“You know… I still feel like this is a bit awkward, since we know each other for three days and you’ve been clingy ever since,” Ari explained. Nimb listened quietly, sill not letting go. “But still… I like being appreciated by someone. Not that it barely happened, it’s just that I’ve missed it. At first it felt somewhat forced, but after getting to know you better, it feels good.”

There was complete silence for a full minute, the Archen still embracing the Riolu, but, for the first time, Ari felt the silence pleasant. Nimb eventually broke the embrace and was the first to talk.

“Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah, thanks… Heh, it’s strange to see you cheering me up, instead of the other way around.”

“I suppose…”

“Uh, I mean, sorry, I’m not saying you’re the only one that-”

“It’s okay, really. Don’t worry, Ari.”

Ari sighed and smiled at him. He thought of how weird the Archen was, being so attached to him so quickly. Yet, he could see that he was somewhat younger than him, and Ari was a teenager, so he figured that made Nimb more dependent on others. Still, he was concerned. How was he so afraid of everything? Did something happen to him?

“Hey, Nimb… Have you always been alone, or did you have like… a family or something?”

Nimb’s face darkened at that. “I… did have a family. But I don’t want to go back to it…”

“Oh… I understand.” Ari didn’t press the matter further. Judging for the tone, Nimb likely went through something similar to him. And he knew better than anyone not to bring that up.

They rested for a while trying to keep their minds away from bad thoughts, talking about berries they liked. Ari liked pecha berries the most, while Nimb enjoyed mago berries. Ari found amusing that they both liked sweet flavors, even though the Archen clearly devoured everything that was edible, like the oran berry from before. An hour later, they resumed walking, Ari still deciding on which place they should go next, his map being full of interesting places. Eventually, someone ran into them.

“Hey, it’s you two!” The Brionne said, approaching with a worried expression. Nimb hid behind Ari, once again.

“Oh, hello again! Are you okay? You look like a lost puppy,” Ari said.

“The lost puppy is my brother! I can’t find him!”

Ari gasped. “W-what? How did it happen?”

Brionne started pacing while she explained. “We were in Deepsoul Lake swimming like we always do on the weekends, and he said he was bored of doing the same thing as always, I told him not to swim too fast to avoid splashing the others, and then I was talking to Lilligant for a while and when I looked back my brother wasn’t there, and I looked everywhere in the lake but he wasn’t there and-,” she gasped for breath, her face red.

“Okay, okay, slow down! Don’t you have any idea of what he could be doing?”

“I don’t know, maybe uhhh he wanted to get a job in town so he could buy his own terrain and create a pokémon paradise?

Ari deadpanned. “Allow me to doubt it.”

Behind him, Nimb was trembling slightly. Ari noticed this and turned to him, resting a paw on his shoulder in an attempt to reassure him. Brionne noticed too.

“Awww, don’t be afraid, cutie!” Brionne said, approaching Nimb, who flinched. “I’m a friendly mon, like your big brother!”

“Wait, he’s not my little brother, he’s my friend!” Ari corrected.

Nimb hesitated, but decided to retort. “I’m… Not little…”

Ari was surprised by Nimb being able to say 3 words without trembling, so he tried to play his cards again.

“Okay, sorry then…” Ari then looked to Brionne. “But hey, we can help you find your brother! Nimb here can jump really high, so he could climb somewhere to search from a high place while I can use my aura. What do you say?” He turned back to Nimb, who looked at him a bit nervous.

“I… Well, uh…”

“Pretty please? I would appreciate it so much, my brother is really important to me…” Brionne said, blinking with her innocent eyes. A lot.

Nimb couldn’t do anything against the eyes of infinite cuteness. “I… I suppose, uh… O-okay.”

Brionne brightened and Ari wrapped Nimb in his arms, content with this successful social interaction. “Yay, that’s the spirit! Come on, we gotta start looking,” the Riolu said.

As nervous as Nimb was, he felt good seeing Ari being proud of him, and Brionne didn’t look like she was going to do something bad to him, at least for now, as she needed them. Perhaps he was safe this time…

Ari, already having a hypothesis in mind, led them to a higher part of the river’s course, inspecting the area carefully. He closed his eyes and used his aura to scan his surroundings, but he couldn’t find Popplio anywhere near. He opened his eyes and stayed deep in thought for a moment, until he was interrupted.

“Wait, is this…?” Brionne said. There were some footsteps (or flippersteps?) on the dirt that were familiar to her.

“Seems like it. Your brother was here, he probably wanted to try something new to have some fun,” Ari explained. He slowly followed the traces, which led directly to the river. “He came here and jumped into the river so he could swim all the way down to the lake as if this was a water slide, as the water flows at quite a high speed, which he would enjoy, being a water type. At least that’s what I think…”

“Ohhhh, I see, it makes sense!” Brionne said.

Nimb approached hesitantly, staying close to Ari, and joined the train of thought. “B-but then, if… if he didn’t show up in t-the lake, that… uh, that means h-he went through the wrong s-side of the river fork…”

Ari smiled widely at Nimb, proud of him for trying to work through his social anxiety. “Exactly, well thought!” Ari knew that was easy to guess, but he thought Nimb really needed a confidence boost.

“Uhh it wasn’t t-that impressive…” Nimb blushed.

“Anyway, I suppose that Popplio passed through where we had that little situation right after we left, so it shouldn’t have gone too far,” Ari said.

“Okay, let’s go down the river then! I’m really worried about my lil’ brother…” Brionne said.

The three of them ran, following the river’s course along the other distributary. Nimb was keeping closer to Ari most of the time, but he was more focused on looking for Popplio than on the Brionne that was running alongside them, in her weird jumpy way. It must be hard to run with that body, Nimb thought.

They kept going for a while, reaching farther than they had in their previous river adventure. Eventually, Ari stopped and inspected the river. “Hmmm… Okay, the river flow seems really slow from this point onwards… He might have stopped near here and tried to go back to the start and do it again. But we haven’t run into him in the way, so…”

Ari closed his eyes and tapped into his aura powers again. Sensing around, he still couldn’t find the kid anywhere near, but he did find something else. The aura of another pokémon, with some stupid intentions… Kind of a prankster, it seemed.

“Okay, follow me. Nimb, stay behind me and please, don’t be scared of what’s going to happen, you’ll be okay,” Ari instructed.

Brionne looked at him with a puzzled look, but did as told, and Nimb followed, sticking to Ari while using him as a shield for whatever was ahead of them. Ari went ahead, until they were greeted with a sudden jumpscare.

“BWAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!” It was a Haunter.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!” Nimb shouted, clinging to Ari desperately.

“Eeeeehhh!” Brionne yelled.

“… Yeah. Uhmm, wow, that was scary, yes,” Ari said. “By the way, where did the Popplio go?”

The Haunter was caught off guard by his indifference. “Uh… What?”

“You know, the Popplio you scared before. You did scare a Popplio, right?”

“… How did you know? Uh, whatever, he went over there,” Haunter said. “He yelled so hard, hehe, that WAS quite funny.”

“Hey, don’t make fun of my little brother!” Brionne reprimanded, an angry look in her face. The ghost flinched.

“Uh… Sorry, geez, you’re no fun…”

“Whatever, let’s just find him already…” Ari said, and went in the direction Gastly pointed to, being followed by an angry sea lion and a terrified bird.

After leaving the ghost behind, Brionne looked at Ari with an amused face. “Say, how did you know that was going to happen? That was quite impressive!”

“Oh, it’s easy, my aura powers helped me feel Haunter’s intentions. I thought it was likely that he was going to pull a prank on us, and if he was doing it now, I guessed he must have done it many more times, so I suspected your brother might have gone through the same as us.”

“Ooohhhhh, that was really smart! I couldn’t have thought of that!” Brionne said.

“Well, it’s not that big of a deal, but thank you, hehe…” Ari smiled sheepishly.

“But even though you saw it coming, you are still trembling slightly. Did that Haunter scare you too?”

Ari’s face turned red. He had been caught. “Uhhhh what? No, not even close! What are you saying? Haaa, me being scared, she says…”

Nimb leaned closer, trying to avoid eye contact with Brionne. “You were scared too, right?”

“I almost fainted,” Ari confessed.

All three of them broke into laughter, even Nimb was having fun, despite everything. He could feel slowly relaxing, even after that incident and the stranger’s presence. Brionne seemed nice, even if he still couldn’t trust her, at least she hadn’t made fun of him.

Unfortunately, the peace wouldn’t last, as they heard a high pitched scream coming from ahead of them. Brionne recognised that voice.

“Romi?” She ran forward, suddenly returning to her previous worried state. Ari and Nimb followed her, the latter staying on the back in case there’s some danger. They eventually spotted an Arbok about to attack a terrified Romi the Popplio. “Wait, stop!”

Arbok jumped forward and bit in a blinded rage, only to feel his fangs stopped by an unknown force, or rather, Ari’s detect, who made it in time to save Romi. Popplio slowly opened his eyes and saw the Riolu standing in front of him. His sister approached as well to confront the foe.

“Okay, what is going on here?” Ari asked.

“That kid tried to ssssteal my berriessss! I found him insssside my nesssst!” The Arbok said.

“I only wanted t-to hide from the g-ghost, I was scared!” Romi said, trembling.

“I’m sure we can talk this out, attacking a scared child is wrong, you know?” Ari said, frowning. Brionne turned to his brother and quietly gestured him to go where Nimb stood. He did as asked and quickly joined with the Archen, who was terrified enough but didn’t feel any better when the Popplio hid… behind him? Shouldn’t Nimb be the one hiding behind someone else? Nimb tried to move away from Romi, but the Popplio kept coming, looking as scared as him, so he gave up.

“I don’t care if it’ssss a child, thievessss musssst be punisssshed!” Arbok said.

“Okay, you’re doing that on purpose,” Ari complained.

“The what?”

“That thing with the ‘S’. Nobody ‘talkssss’ like that.”

“Are you implying that I ssssound sssstupid?”

“Well, not stupid, just… forced.”

“I mean, it does add to your character in a way,” Brionne added.

“Hmmm yeah, kinda,” Ari agreed. Nimb and Romi were spectating like it was some kind of weird tennis match.

“It’ssss none of your bussssinessss how I- okay FINE, I was pretending. One can’t even try to sound cool without getting criticized by strangers.”

“I knew it,” Ari said with a smirk. “Still, not exactly what I would call ‘cool’, but…”

“Okay, I’m done with you!” Arbok then spat some acid that Ari and Brionne avoided, jumping into opposite directions. Ari responded with a quick attack, which he used to gain enough speed to reach Arbok and grab his tail. He then spun around at a high speed and launched the foe to a rock nearby, stunning the snake.

“Are you done now, like you said?”

Arbok ignored the pain and went for Ari, but he was stopped by an aqua jet that hit him from the side. Brionne had joined the fight, her usual smile changed into an angry glare. The cobra pokémon slowly got up and approached her, but was hit by a quick attack from the Riolu before he could even prepare any attack. The impact didn’t do him much damage, though, and as soon as he saw Ari right next to the Brionne, he lashed out with his tail and hit both of them, sending them flying far away.

Having taken care of the big ones, Arbok turned to the scared duo, Romi still sticking with Nimb as the tension rised. The snake was about to attack them, baring his fangs at the Popplio as he readied another crunch, a dark aura emanating from his mouth. Nimb was paralyzed in fear, being trapped in yet another horrible fight in which he didn’t want to take part. As he felt the Popplio gripping his wing, trembling harder than he was, he felt empathy for him. He was used to being scared all the time, and wouldn’t wish it on anyone, much less on a little kid like Romi.

Nimb didn’t know what was going on in his mind at that moment. He would never have expected that reaction out of himself, not in that situation. Nevertheless, it happened. Nimb quickly stood in front of Romi, trying to protect him from the hit, and generated rock fragments out of thin air, immediately launching them towards the enraged Arbok with his eyes closed in fear. The attack itself wasn’t dealing much damage, but what stopped the cobra was the fact that one of the rocks fell directly into his mouth, making him cough and gag, desperately trying to remove the sharp rock from inside his throat.

Arbok was eventually able to remove the rock, but he didn’t have time to attack as a water gun hit him from behind, sending him forward and falling on his face. As he raised his head, he saw the Brionne and the Riolu standing in front of the other two, both of them surrounded by a reddish aura that was more intense around the Riolu’s pearls. The aura faded and Ari was the first to speak.

“That’s it, stop rampaging and just listen! This isn’t going to end well for you if you keep attacking us just because a little kid showed up in your nest by accident.”

“That’s right,” Brionne nodded. “And I’m sure you can check inside to see that, in fact, there’s not a single berry missing and you were just jumping into conclusions!”

The Arbok hesitated, pondering that for a moment, and finally decided to check inside his nest while keeping an eye on the four.

“One, two, three, four…” Arbok started counting. “Eleven, twelve, thirteen, oh wait, I skipped that one… Hmmm… Oh. There’s not a single one missing.”

“See? I t-told you!” Romi said.

Arbok turned to him and stared for a long moment, eyes narrowed. “Hmmmm… Huh. Okay, then, I guess I believe you.” Everyone relaxed, and Nimb had to do an immense effort to not faint after so much pressure.

“We could have avoided all of this if you had just listened from the beginning… Geez, what’s with wild pokémon and their obsession with imaginary berry thieves?” Ari said.

“Whatever, just… Go already.” Arbok said, unable to hide the embarrasment from his face.

“Yes, don’t worry, we’ll leave you with… Whatever you were doing.” Bionne said. Everyone then started walking away, Nimb and Romi still looking back in fear of a sneak attack, even if nothing happened.

Ari stopped and turned back to face the snake. “Oh, and… Sorry for saying that your ‘S’ thing wasn’t cool, I uhhh… didn’t want to be mean, it’s still somewhat menacing and stylish.”

Arbok deadpanned. “… Right.”

“Ummm yeah, I’ll be going now,” Ari said, turning to walk away with the others.

Once they were far away enough, Brionne stopped and glared at his little brother. “So. Have you learned your lesson?”

The Popplio frowned.” Yes… I won’t run away alone again…”

“Okay…” Brionne sighed, but quickly regained her smile. “At least we got a happy ending! And also…” She then suddenly turned to face Nimb, who flinched. “That was amazing! Thank you so much for protecting my brother, and you too, Riolu!”

“Heh, it was nothing… And yeah, Nimb, you were great! You actually protected Popplio, I’m so proud of you!” Ari said, beaming.

Nimb blushed and looked aside. “Oh, uhm… T-thank you.”

“Oh, by the way,” Brionne said. “I haven’t properly introduced myself yet. The name’s Cora, nice to meet you! And this is Romi, like I guess you’ve already heard.” Romi saluted, raising his flipper really high.

“And I’m Ari, nice to meet you two! And my friend here…” He glanced at the Archen, giving a reassuring smile that encouraged him.

“I’m… I’m Nimb. H-hello,” he said, smiling slightly. This time, Ari noticed he wasn’t trembling anymore.

“Those are lovely names! You two seem really nice, are you from around here?”

“Actually,” Ari answered, “we’re travelers. I came from Progress Village, but I found Nimb near Reverb Grove and he joined me.”

“I see… I didn’t know Riolus looked like that outside Syftelia, I guess that also explains that weird power you used to boost my attack before.”

“Oh, nah, I’m the only Riolu that looks like this, and about my power… Well, I don’t even know myself.”

“It was really cool, though!” Romi added.

“Thanks, heh.”

“Hey, you were also totally right on your deductions about Romi’s whereabouts! How did you guess all that?” Cora the Brionne asked.

“Well, I don’t know. I think of the posibilities and I just tend to be lucky, I guess.”

“I wish I had that ability too… Hey, I just thought of something, you two should definitely come study in Gholdengo’s Academy in Bismuth Town! If you join the investigation group I’m sure you can become famous investigators with those skills and knowledge! I’ll be joining too, teehee.”

“An… academy? So it’s like… going back to school?” Ari said.

“There’s a group that’s exactly that, just basic school, but the group I’m talking about also does many actual investigations outside the academy, it sounds really entertaining… And that’s why I’m joining!”

“Hmmm… I’m not so sure about that, but…” Ari glanced at Nimb, who was just staring without understanding anything at all. “I guess we’ll have to take some time to discuss it.”

“That’s fine, I guess. Well, if you end up joining, just remember that we would be classmates! Romi and I should head back into town now, it’s getting late. Bismuth Town is to the north, following the course of the river, it won’t take long for you to get there. See ya later!”

“Oh, yeah, take care you two!” Ari waved, and Nimb did too. Ari could hear a quiet ‘goodbye’ from Nimb. He was doing some progress with strangers, even if it was so slow. The water type brothers left, so Ari and Nimb went to find a place to stay for the night. They chose a little cave near there, but they didn’t go too deep inside, as they were still wary due to the recent kidnapping. They sat together and ate the berries they found earlier that day, along with some of the other food. It was a peaceful night.

“Hey, dude, so… How are you feeling?” Ari asked.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Nimb answered.

“About talking with strangers, being… you know, brave.”

“Brave? I was so scared all the time!”

“Even if you were, you still protected Romi, right? Aren’t you proud of that?”

“Well… I guess. It does feel good, to be honest.”

Ari smiled fondly, and closed his eyes. “You also talked to them. And they were really nice, too. See? You don’t have to be afraid of everyone, there are many good pokémon out there.”

“I suppose you’re right…” Nimb thought about that for a long moment. “Thank you, Ari. For believing in me, I mean. And for pushing me to try harder.”

“Heh, it’s nothing, I’m just happy for you,” Ari said, slowly lying on the ground. “So, about that academy stuff…”

“Oh, right. Uhmmm… Investigations don’t necessarily involve fighting, right?”

“Yup, it’s mostly going to classes and then I guess we’ll do some detective stuff and solve epic mysterious mysteries and… Wow, I’m suddenly feeling more excited about that idea.”

“I see… Well, maybe it would be a good way to achieve something with my life,” Nimb said, lying down besides Ari. Of course, he leaned close. Too close, as always.

“You know, seeing how we actually saved Romi by some kind of investigation… It makes me wonder if this would be a good way of finding my own purpose. I mean, that would be helping other pokémon without it being always tied to battles…” It could also help him investigate to find his missing friend, too, but he wouldn’t mention that yet.

“You could try, then… But I’m still not sure if I would be good enough for that.”

“It’s okay, you still have some time to decide. For now let’s just rest, it’s been a long day… Like yesterday, and the day before. What a start, huh.”

Nimb yawned, and rested his head besides Ari’s. “I hope this doesn’t become the staple to our adventures… Anyway, good night, Ari.”

“Good night, Nimb.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Yeah, I can’t sleep in this hard soil.”

“Can we sleep in the grass outside?”

“Definitely.”

---

I’m inside a huge building, in a large room with blue walls that have sea waves painted in them. I always said those patterns were kinda childish, but I secretly liked them. There are many other pokémon going in and out, it seems everyone is preparing for their missions, as I should be doing too. I see him coming down the stairs, smiling at me. I wave back at him, always happy to see him.

“Good morning, Ari,” he says. Always with his serene tone, some would think he’s not happy when he talks like that, but I can tell that’s not the case, I know him well.

“Good morning, Ren! Did you sleep well?” I’m just so glad to be here with him.

“I guess, just like always. So, shall we… Wait.” He approaches me, rubbing a hand through the fur in my forehead and inspecting my body. “… You’re covered in bruishes again.” His expression darkened.

“Oh, uh… Don’t worry, they don’t hurt too much this time.” I don’t want him to worry about me.

“I don’t care! You’re clearly hurt again, and like always, you didn’t say anything.” He looks at me, there’s concern in his eyes, he only shows that vulnerable side of himself to me. “Please, you told me you wouldn’t hide it from me anymore.”

“You’re right, sorry… But it’s useless to worry about that. Let’s just go pick a mission and forget about this for now, okay?”

“But… Damn, one of these days I swear I’m going to beat the shit out of them!” Ren tried to take deep breaths. “It’s just too unfair…”

No, it’s not. I deserved that. But he doesn’t want me to say that. “I guess…”

“We’ll do something about it soon. Anyway, let’s just check the bulletin board…” He then walks towards the main room, and I follow him. We stop in front of the bulletin board, searching for any interesting request for the day. Let’s see…

‘I lost my scarf in the river.’

‘Take me to the end of this dungeon!’

‘Bring me a chesto berry!’

‘My friend disappeared in the woods!’

‘It hurts… Please, help me…’

Huh? What was…?

‘Help… Help!’

What’s that voice?

‘HELP ME, PLEASE!’

‘AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHH!’

$%&”$!?¿!*$”#&%·/!()&%!”?!=!”(?%!?#

Ari opened his eyes with a loud gasp, and quickly stood up, looking everywhere in panic. He kept panting, processing that it was just a dream, and saw Nimb slowly getting up besides him.

“Mmmhmmm… What’s wrong, Ari?”

Ari relaxed a little. The dream was nice up until that point, it was such a shame. “Oh… Sorry, Nimb, I just had a nightmare…”

It was still nighttime, and he probably hadn’t slept too much. At least the grass outside the cave proved being comfy enough, because they did fall asleep.

“I see… Do you want…” Nimb yawned. “… To talk about it?”

“Don’t worry, I’m okay now. Let’s just go back to-”

A sudden growl startled both of them. Nimb stood up quickly, and Ari jumped into a fighting stance. Just what was that sound…? In front of them, from behind the bushes, an Armarouge approached them. Only… It was wrong. Their usual red and yellow tones were somewhat faded, and had a bluish color mixed with it. The flame in their head was white instead of red, and their eyes were blank. That was not normal. They let out another growl, this time louder than before, and limped a little while trying to approach Ari and Nimb.

Suddenly, it stopped. And then…

It attacked.