Chapter 5 – Understanding is Key

It was still early in the day, and they already felt like it had lasted too long. Ari and Nimb walked through Bismuth Town without talking much, their minds still going back to their previous encounter with the Toxtricity. They were okay… for now. That’s what counts, right?

Their first day had gone worse than expected, but at least they had some nice classmates (mostly), and they had a place to stay. As they reached Maia’s house, a familiar voice caught their attention.

“Heeeey!” It was Cora, who saw them and didn’t take long to come closer. She gasped, noticing them about to enter the cottage. “Don’t tell me, that’s where you’re staying?”

Ari turned to her, smiling at his new friend. “Yup! This is actually Maia’s house, she offered us her place to stay, really nice of her.” He said, and Nimb nodded in agreement.

“Ohmygosh, that’s so cool! That means we’re going to be neighbors!”

Talk about coincidence. Ari sidestepped and looked to the house that was about 50 meters behind her, by the river. Right, the river. Definitely her house.

“Wow, you’re actually pretty close, yes! We could go to school together, even,” Ari said. He could hear Nimb coughing weirdly and quickly regretted speaking.

“Yayyy! We’ll have a lot of fun!” Cora said, just before turning around slightly. “Well, I’ll leave you for now, I bet you want to rest a little after today’s class.”

“Yeah, we’ll see you later, then!” Ari said, and turned around, only to be nudged by Nimb, who was already trying to get in the house.

“Hey, Ari… T-the door’s closed.”

“… Oh, right. I forgot we don’t have a key. We’ll have to wait for Maia to return.”

Cora brightened and leaned closer to them, taking her chance. “Hey, then what if you come with me? I can show you my house!” She was getting too close, and Nimb felt it. Despite that, he didn’t hide behind Ari, who looked at him as if waiting for his approval. Nimb shrugged; it wasn’t like they had better options.

“Alright then, thank you so much!” Ari beamed.

Cora led them to her house; it was mostly made out of light grey rock, so it was definitely more resistant than Maia’s house. Also, knowing water pokémon lived there, it made sense to not use wood, after all it could get wet easily and end up looking ugly. The walls had vines in some specific spots, but they looked well maintained. The windows were large, so it was well illuminated on the inside.

“Looks really comfy, I like it!” Ari said, drawing a smirk from the Brionne.

“Right? It’s the mermaid’s palace! Or that’s what I like to call it,” she said. Upon entering, they could already see how bright it was on the inside. The furniture was also made of stone, it almost looked like salt rocks, which made sense. There were big cushions on the living room, and right next to it, there was the dining room, with a low table and cushions instead of chairs. Again, made sense. “Mooom, I’m home! I brought my new friends!”

A big pokémon came out of a room, walking in the same way as Cora and his brother. The Primarina waved at them with a welcoming smile. “Oh, hello there! An odd-looking Riolu and an Archen… You must be the ones who helped save Romi the other day, right?” Ari and Nimb nodded. “Oh, thank you so much, then!”

Ari smiled sheepishly. “Heh, it was nothing…”

“Turns out we’re going to be classmates!” Cora added, and her mother brightened.

“Is that so? That’s lucky! I hope you three get along well!” The mermaid said, now moving towards the perfectly-clean kitchen. “I’m going to cook some lunch, you’re invited to stay!”

“Really? That’s so nice!” Ari said.

Cora beamed, but Nimb wasn’t so pleased with the idea. He nudged Ari to call his attention, and shook his head, frowning.

“Or… Uh… Maybe we should go…” Ari continued.

Cora quickly leaned between them, enveloping both with one arm each over their shoulders. “Hey, it’s okay! My family is really nice, we’ll treat you really well!” Nimb wanted to retort, but once again the Brionne’s eyes were looking directly at him with those sparkles and he found no strength to disagree. How did she do that? She wasn’t even using a move…

“Ummmm… Should we stay then?” Ari asked, looking at Nimb, who didn’t look so sure. Still, he felt it was more embarrassing to refuse the offer than to stay with her family.

“Uh… O-okay…” Nimb said. And that settled it. They waited in the living room, chatting for a while, with Romi the Popplio also joining them, until someone else arrived, adding to Nimb’s anxiety. It was a Floatzel, Cora’s father. He was also pleased to get to know his daughter’s friends, and was nice in general to them, but Nimb couldn’t relax. Not yet. They could harm you at any time, he thought. Eventually, lunch was served, and the six pokémon gathered on the dining room.

“So, what’s this weird power Cora mentioned before?” The father asked, right before opening his mouth wide to stuff as much berry salad as he could.

“Oh, uh… I can boost anyone, or even myself. And I start glowing while doing so,” Ari explained, for the second time that day.

“Mmmhm nom…” He munched. “I see… So it’s like quiver dance but with epilepsy? Hahahaha!” The Floatzel laughed so hard, and everyone cringed. Everyone except Ari, who found it amusing.

“Yeah… Yeah, hehe, it’s kinda like looking at an Ampharos’ butt!” Ari quickly regretted letting his joker side show, as the room fell silent for a moment. Luckily for him, Floatzel burst into laughter and he relaxed.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA, AN AMPHAROS BUTT, HE SAYS!” He almost choked, and Primarina had to pat him on the back while he coughed hard.

“Relax, Malik, you’re going to scare them!” Primarina said, while also suppressing a laugh.

“Oh, noooo, a joke partner for my father, my greatest fear!” Cora added, laughing along. Even Nimb smiled a little at that, but Malik the Floatzel noticed it and addressed him.

“Hey, what about you? You haven’t said a word.”

Nimb tensed. He wasn’t expecting to be asked something, because that meant he had to use words, and for that, he had to actually talk. To people. “I… Uh… M-me…”

“Sorry, he’s really shy, he’ll need some time to get used to anyone before talking,” Ari explained, resting a paw on his friend’s shoulder.

Nimb was startled when Primarina suddenly gave him a gentle stroke on the head, reassuring him. “Aww, don’t worry, take your time! Just remember that no one here will judge you, we just want you to be comfortable,” she said, in a sweet motherly tone that almost made him blush. Everyone had been so nice to him that day, which seemed hard to believe. The feeling of eventual betrayal was still there, but that moment eased it a bit.

“T-thank you…” Nimb managed, and everyone smiled at that.

“Whenever I’m feeling tense when talking to many people,” Romi the Popplio said, “I just imagine them soaked and it’s so funny I just feel better.”

Ari looked at him after finishing the last bit of his salad. “Soaked? Why?”

“Because it’s easy to picture! I just have to do this,” and he demonstrated. Really. A water gun was thrown at Ari’s face, and he got soaked to his very soul.

“ROMI!” His mother yelled, her usual soft voice turning into an angry one. She looked like she could pull out a chancla and throw it at him at any time, even if she didn’t have actual feet. “What did I tell you about using moves on others?”

“… Whoops,” Romi said.

“It’s okay, really, haha…” Ari smiled sheepishly, while also coughing some water out.

“No, it’s not okay!” She turned to his son then. “Next time you’ll be grounded, did I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sorry…”

“Relaaax, Galia. I’ll go get a towel…” Malik said, leaving the room.

After the incident, they finished eating and chatted for a while in the living room. Malik the Floatzel played with Romi the Popplio in the meantime, so he didn’t get bored and spray more water in anyone’s face. Galia the Primarina was happy to hear about Cora and Romi’s first day in class, as was their father, who took his chance to crack some jokes here and there. Ari laughed at every single one.

“So, you’re finally going to become a real investigator, Cora?” Asked the Primarina.

“Yesss, at least I hope so!” Cora said.

“Of course you will, you’re really smart!” Malik added. “You have it in your blood, haha.”

“Believe in yourself, Cora, you’re really good at this,” Galia said, and leaned to embrace her daughter. “And remember that we’re really proud of you.”

“Awww, thanks mom!” She embraced her back, smiling fondly.

“Hey, remember that I’m going to be a great explorer when I grow up!” Romi puffed his chest, trying to look cool, but he just looked cute. Ari smiled at that.

Malik stroked Romi’s head rapidly. “Of course, you’re gonna be the best explorer out there!” Romi beamed, while also cringing from the extreme head stroke.

Nimb was simply staring, not saying anything, but this time it wasn’t because he was anxious. Ari, on the other hand, didn’t know how to feel. Cora noticed his smile slowly fading, staring at the displays of family affection with sad eyes. Just as soon as the parents left to go on their personal duties, Cora addressed Ari.

“Hey, Ari, I’m curious about your parents, how are they?”

Ari was caught off guard with that and tensed slightly. “They… Uh… Well, they are great explorers! Actually, they’re pretty famous back in my hometown, they’re really strong…”

“Ooooohhh, that’s so cool! I hope I can meet them someday!” Cora beamed.

“Yeah…” Ari glanced away, trying to hide his frown, but Cora had a keen eye and caught this. What she didn’t see, however, was Nimb’s expression. But that wasn’t important now.

“Hey, what if we go for a walk? We could have fun in town!”

Ari and Nimb exchanged looks, and neither of them seemed to have any issue with that. “Alright, why not?” Ari said.

The three of them said goodbye to Cora’s family, Ari thanking them for the hospitality, and started leaving. While Ari was ahead of them, Cora caught Nimb in private and started bothering him with her ideas.

“Nimb! Did you see his face before? He’s clearly sad about something,” Cora said, drawing an unamused look from him.

“I… I noticed, yes.”

“He was so sad when I asked him about his parents, and then got worse after talking about them. He clearly misses them, or, or… Maybe his parents were always absent because they were so famous, so he must be feeling lonely either way!” She clenched his fists, or flippers, doing a determined face. “We must make him feel welcomed here! He must know that he has a new family with us in Bismuth Town and that we’ll always support him!”

“T-that’s… Nice I guess…” The Archen didn’t know whether to feel excited about the idea or disappointed.

“Come on, we have to make him happy!” And so, she stormed off and caught up to Ari, leaving a frowning Nimb behind. They decided to go to the shopping area, just to see what’s there, and took a while to walk towards the place. Bismuth Town wasn’t that big, as it took half an hour to go through the whole town from east to west, but they were deviating a lot because of Cora’s need of showing Ari every single interesting spot in town. Ari insisted on having already seen most of it, but she was too invested on the tour that she forgot how to listen.

The shopping area was full of pokémon, and Nimb was feeling anxious again, so he stood close to Ari, gripping his arm most of the time. He asked if they could go somewhere else, but Cora insisted on buying something as a souvenir. They checked many shops, Cora asking Ari if there was something that caught his eye, but he always said no.

“Why are we… looking for a souvenir? And why specifically for me?” Ari asked, stopping before Cora could stick her nose in any other shop.

“Because you’re part of the town now, you need something to remind you of that!” She then spotted a nearby shop that caught her attention, and started running towards it. “Hey, check this one out!”

Ari and Nimb ran to catch her, at a much slower pace as they were already getting tired. In front of the Brionne, there was a fancy stand with colorful fabric decorations. They were selling bows, ribbons, bandanas, bands and scarves, of all colors and types. There were normal ones, just to wear them, and there were also special ones that had interesting effects on the user, like pecha scarves, or the power band. Cora leaned closer and her eyes stopped at a red bandana with six-pointed stars on it.

“Look, that’s a fierce bandana! It boosts your moves, so you’d be unstoppable if you combine that with your special pearly power!”

“That’s great, but I don’t need any bandana, really.”

Cora pouted. “Why? Think of it as a gift… from me! I thought you would like that…”

“And I appreciate it, but I already have two scarves in my bag, I carry them with me all the time, so if I needed them I could just put them on anytime I want,” Ari fidgeted with his bag, not actually opening it so he didn’t have to look at the scarves.

“Then… Why aren’t you wearing them right now?” Cora asked.

“Well, that’s because…” Ari hesitated. He didn’t want to bring that up, but he also didn’t want to make her upset. “Because those are explorers scarves, from the guilds I used to be in. And I don’t feel like I deserve them anymore, I’m weak and… I’m a coward. And the yellow scarf is… No, nevermind.”

Cora gasped, her plan wasn’t working. He wasn’t supposed to be sad! She had to fix this somehow. “Hey, that’s not true! You saved my brother and fought that Arbok, you didn’t even hesitate, so of course you deserve every scarf, you’re as good an explorer as you are an investigator! You’re a hero!”

Ari blushed. “I… Thank you, but it’s not like I did all that alone…” He glanced at Nimb, who was frowning. He saw that and grew concerned about him, but before he could ask, Cora acted.

“But you did most of it, you should feel proud of yourself!” Cora said, clasping the Riolu’s paws. Ari cheered up for a moment, but then a sudden sense of guilt invaded him. Something about that didn’t feel right…

Not wanting to give him more time to think about sad stuff, Cora continued her town tour. She decided to visit a friend of hers, that would probably help. At that time of day, she was probably working in her usual spot, so that was the next stop. They reached a somewhat big building that looked old, with many rollers aside from the main gate. As they went around the building, a warehouse it was, they spotted a couple of Machoke carrying packages, and a Seviper was coordinating them. Cora approached her.

“Heyyy Lyla!” Cora yelled, looking as happy as ever.

Lyla the Seviper turned around and smiled upon the sight of her old friend. The serpent smirked. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite fish! Hah, just kidding,” she then glanced at the newcomers. “And who are these two?” And Nimb was already hiding behind the Riolu.

“These are Ari and Nimb, they’re my new friends and classmates!” Cora answered for them.

“Hi, I’m… Ari, as she said. Nice to meet you,” Ari said, smiling sheepishly. He raised his paw forward for a handshake and immediately realized the stupidity. However, before he could lower his arm, Lyla wrapped her tail around the Riolu’s paw and shook it gently.

“Haha, nice to meet you too! I hope you treat Cora like a queen, as she deserves,” she smirked. Cora laughed at that and rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, hehe…” Ari said, while his eyes stopped on the pokémon that were carrying boxes behind the snake. “By the way, what are you doing?”

The Seviper glanced at the workers. “Oh, this? I’m the main supplier for many of the items that are sold to some institutions like Gholdengo’s Academy or some guilds here and there. So, the orbs you’re going to use in your investigations? Yeah, I bring them here. But as you can see, I don’t have arms and I can’t transport so many boxes by myself, so I coordinate everything while those guys carry the items,” she pointed at the Machoke doing their job. “The hardest part is having to travel all the way to the orb factory and the main warehouse every now and then, it’s really far away, but at least we have our mean of transport,” she then glanced at the carriage that was a little farther away, with a Bouffalant resting on front of it. He was probably the one who pulled the carriage.

“Wow, that’s so cool!” Ari said, with an amused expression. “So you have to travel a lot, right?”

“Yeah, but luckily I have much free time that I can spend here in town,” Lyla started, but then her attention was caught by something else. “Hey, you look weird for a Riolu. What happened to you?”

“Well I-“

“HE HAS AMAZING POWERS!” Cora interrupted, and then proceeded to explain the whole thing again, as well as the epic rescue mission from a few days before. Lyla found it quite amusing.

“Wow, you’re something else, I’m impressed! So you’re quite brave, huh?”

“No, it was just a coincidence and I had help, I’m not-“

“You can’t say that!” Cora interrupted again. “You’re great and you’re not allowed to dwell in self pity, okay?”

Ari wanted to retort, but felt the pressure in Cora’s words and bit his tongue.

“It’s okay, let him vent,” Lyla the Seviper said, and Ari looked at her. “I know that feeling of just wanting to drop all your crap but not wanting to worry your friends. I’m insecure too, sometimes…”

Ari saw himself reflected on that. It somehow made him feel better, to know that it was okay to be negative sometimes, and that someone could understand that.

“But hey,” Lyla continued, “if you want to talk about anything that’s bothering you anytime, just come to me and I’ll listen. I may not be the best with words, but I’d be glad to help. You can find me here most days at this time, if I’m not taking a break and strolling through town,” and she smiled at Ari.

Ari smiled back. “Thanks, I really appreciate it!” Nimb also looked like he was less tense than before, not shielding behind Ari anymore, but still didn’t say anything. That made Lyla notice him, however.

“Hey, what about you?”

Nimb tensed again, but before he could say anything, Cora spoke. “He’s really shy and doesn’t like talking with new people, but don’t worry, just give it time,” she then started to turn away. “Well, we better get going, it’s getting late. It’s been nice to talk to you again, Lyla!”

“Oh, yeah, take care then! And see you all soon!”

The trio waved at Lyla and started their walk back home. The sun was already setting, and most pokémon in town were already in their homes. At this point, Maia should have returned as well, at least, Ari hoped so.

As they were reaching their district, Ari noticed Nimb looking gloomy. The Riolu titled his head in concern. “Hey, Nimb, are you okay? You’re even more silent than usual…”

Nimb hesitated and glanced at Cora, who also looked at him in confusion. “It’s… Uh…”

“If you want, we can talk in private,” Ari suggested.

“… No. I’m tired of this,” Nimb said, unexpectedly for Ari and Cora.

“Tired of what?” Ari asked.

“Of being ignored,” Nimb started, looking at the Brionne. “I know that I don’t talk much, but… You’ve been obsessed with helping Ari feel welcomed, but you didn’t even think about me. I also had a family, you know? It didn’t go well, but still, I wasn’t feeling okay, but why would you notice?”

Cora frowned. “I… How could I know? You barely talk… And whenever you’re asked something, you mutter a few words before Ari talks for you!”

Ari frowned at that, a sudden sense of guilt building inside him. Only, it was cut out by Nimb immediately. “At least Ari always tries to encourage me to talk, and then talks for me if he sees that I’m unable to do it. You didn’t even give me a chance with Lyla! You simply gave up on me before I tried…”

Cora flinched. The Archen was always so shy and insecure, and when he finally speaks full sentences it’s only to scold her? She wasn’t expecting that. Did she actually go too far with her plan? Was she too focused on just Ari?

“I… I’m just…” Cora stammered. She fell silent for a long moment until she sighed. “I’m sorry, I guess that seeing Ari so sad made me focus too much on that and I forgot about everything else…”

Nimb glanced away, rubbing his left wing. “Yeah… You kinda did.”

“I appreciate that you wanted to help me,” Ari added, resting a paw on Cora’s shoulder. “But I’m okay, I know I’m not alone and I already feel better. Next time we can just… Agree on something the three of us can have fun with, not just me.”

“You’re right… Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. I hope you’re not mad at me, Nimb,” Cora scratched her head, a bit ashamed.

“Just a bit, but… It’s fine now. Thanks for understanding,” Nimb said, and he glanced away, going back to his usual shy behavior, but much less anxious.

At that moment, a worried owl approached them somewhat shaken. “There you are!” Maia said. “I’m so sorry, I forgot to give you a key!”

Ari turned to her with a surprised expression. “Oh, it’s okay, we were hanging out with Cora,” he said. Cora waved energetically, and Maia waved her back, smiling.

“Well, I’m glad you had company, at least… Ah, did you eat today?”

“I invited them to have lunch with my family!” Cora answered happily.

“Yeah, don’t worry, really, we can take care of ourselves,” Ari reassured her. He found it weird that she was being so caring with them, even though she didn’t know them for more than a couple of days.

Maia sighed in relief. “Okay… Thank you so much then, Cora! You’re invited to come with us any other day too,” she offered, and Cora was delighted to hear that. She could think later about how weird it would be to go to her teacher’s house.

Night was upon them, so everyone went to their respective homes. Ari, Nimb and Maia had a substantial dinner while they talked about their day. Ari skipped the part about Mylo the Toxtricity threatening another pokémon in the academy, not wanting to be too judgemental. Maybe he had a good reason?

After finishing, Ari and Nimb went to their room and lied in their respective beds. It was kinda early for them, as they had been sleeping somewhat late before getting to Bismuth Town, so they talked for a while.

“I’m kinda scared about Mylo, not gonna lie,” Ari said. “I don’t want to get into trouble, but that guy… What if he gets easily pissed?”

Nimb pondered that for a while. He wasn’t sure about what he was supposed to feel, after all it was a potential danger for him, but he had other things in mind. He stood up and and leaned closer to Ari, sitting beside him on his bed.

“I’m also scared, but… I don’t want to keep being like this,” Nimb said.

“Like what?”

“You know… Scared of everything, not able to talk to anyone. Being ignored today has proven to be even worse than having to talk to people…”

Ari smiled at him. “That’s because you’re talking to nice pokémon now… And hey,” Ari then wrapped his arm around Nimb’s shoulders. “You actually gave a long speech to Cora today, and without a single hesitation. You’re making a lot of progress with your social anxiety, I’m so proud of you.”

Nimb blushed. “I guess… Thank you. I want to keep doing that tomorrow in class, or at least try. And thank you… for encouraging me. That’s the only reason I’ve made it this far.”

“Oh… I didn’t do much, it was mostly you,” Ari stated. He still couldn’t suppress a smile. “But, anyway, I’m glad to know I’m helping you.”

It didn’t take long for Nimb to fall asleep besides Ari, so he decided he didn’t mind his personal space being invaded once more.

 

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Ari and Nimb walked along with Cora and Romi through the streets of Bismuth Town. The second day of school was going to be great, Ari assured, they just had to be nice to everyone and respect others’ boundaries! Everything would be okay, yup.

Nimb was talking a bit more than usual, having gained some confidence with Cora, even if Romi was still something else. The Popplio was at least nice, even if he was too energetic and kinda annoying at some point.

“N-no, I don’t wanna play tag right now,” Nimb said for the fourth time that morning, but Romi had already sprinted forward. No one went after him.

“Is he like that every morning?” Ari asked.

“Depends on the breakfast,” Cora answered. “Today we had too much sugar.”

“Great,” Nimb deadpanned. How could Romi run so fast while walking like that? Nothing made sense anymore.

As they reached the academy’s front yard, they found many pokémon coming and going. A ghostly Marowak bonking an annoyed Shinx with his bone club, a Floragato with a purple cape playing with his yo-yo, an anxious greenish Joltik hiding from a creepy Tandemaus, a suspicious-looking Ambipom wandering alone, a Chespin with goggles talking to themselves… It was amusing to see the diversity that could be found in that place.

“Hey, did Maia give you a key this time?” Nimb asked. “I don’t want to depend on Cora to have lunch every day.”

“Don’t worry, I have a key! Also…” Ari registered his bag and pulled out his wallet, dropping a decent amount of coins on his paw. “We don’t have to worry about lunch, I could buy us something if necessary.”

“You shouldn’t show that much money in front of this many pokémon,” Cora advised. “It’s not safe.”

“Oh, right,” and he stored the money back. Being in a place like that, he wasn’t too worried about it, though.

Cora went ahead to take Romi to his own classroom, and before Ari and Nimb could enter the building, a sinister presence caught their eyes. It was Mylo, who just stared at them, this time without his usual creepy smile. He looked somewhat annoyed, and that was even creepier than the smile. Ari shuddered, and quickly took Nimb’s wing and moved forward to avoid any confrontation. The Toxtricity wouldn’t do anything to them if they were in class… Right?

Everyone was seated, and as Maia arrived and went to her desk, class started.

“Okay everyone, before we start I want to inform you that tomorrow we’re doing a small exam as an initial evaluation.”

“What, a test already? Oh well…” Kyle complained.

“It’ll be easy for us, haha!” Asher added.

“Relax, it’s just to see how skilled you are, so I can get a general idea of your individual level and adapt whatever’s necessary for the whole class to have the same opportunities. Or, well… Golden opportunities, you know all that jazz,” Maia explained, and the students calmed a bit.

“So… This isn’t going to affect our final grade, right?” Ari asked.

Maia nodded. “You’re right, so you don’t have to worry about it.” As she finished, she reached for one of the drawers in her desk and grabbed a pair of cloth bags. She raised them and showed everyone, who gave her confused looks. “Now, this is what we’re going to do today. In these bags I keep a handful of seeds and orbs. What do you know about orbs?”

Velia raised her hand and was the first to speak. “Those are items that have different special effects in a certain radio around the user. They can only be used by professionals like the police, explorers from guilds and investigators.”

Maia opened one of the bags and nodded to Velia. “That’s right! And that means you will be using them too. That’s why we have to know them well to prevent any issues. As you can see,” she said as she took a pair of orbs, “they are somewhat difficult to tell apart from each other, so you need to memorize their appearance. This black sparkly orb here, for example, is an escape orb. Probably the most useful of all, as they could take you out of any dangerous situations.”

“And what if I use it when I’m not in danger?” Cora asked.

“It doesn’t work just when you’re in danger,” Ari contributed to the lesson. “Whenever one of those is activated, it takes you to a specific point that has been assigned before. For example, the ones that we will be using are probably assigned with the academy, or maybe Bismuth Town, as the warp point. It can be reprogrammed, but you need an engineer for that. Also, they’re really expensive.”

Everyone looked at the Riolu in surprise. “Oh, you were an explorer, right, Ari?” Maia asked.

“Yeah, I still keep my badge so I can use orbs,” Ari smiled sheepishly, rubbing his head. He could hear an irritated groan coming from Sanah and his smile faded, but didn’t have the guts to turn around and ask what was wrong.

“Wooow, that’s so cool, Ari!” Asher intervened. Velia, on the other hand, observed Ari with narrowed eyes as if she was analyzing him, which was unsettling.

“Why did you want to become an investigator if you were already an explorer? Isn’t that like so much cooler?” Kyle asked, drawing a nervous look from Ari. “Why give all that up?”

“I… Uh…” Ari hesitated. “I just wanted to go see the world after being tied to the same guild for that long.”

“Yet you’re tied to this now,” Kyle continued. That wasn’t fair, he didn’t have to give those perfectly valid points! Luckily for Ari, Maia interfered.

“Let’s not interrogate Ari too much, he must have his own reasons to do so, but we’re in class now, so let’s continue!”

Orbs were discussed for a long while, examining many of them and speaking about their features and uses. The class almost fell into chaos when Maia dropped an orb and activated it on accident, but they were lucky enough that it was just an all-mach orb an no one got harmed, even if everyone in class acted like they had ingested too much sugar, just like Romi. After that, it was time to talk about seeds.

“As you know,” Maia explained, “seeds are easily found in the wild, and those can be used by anyone, but that’s also what makes them dangerous. You never know who could use them against you, so be careful.” There was disgust in her tone, as if she had a bad experience with that. “Okay, now we’re going to do a group activity, so join your desks with those from your teammates and I’ll explain everything.”

There it was, the inevitable. Nimb felt shivers running through his body as he thought about the social interaction he had to endure. Ari wasn’t feeling any better, as he got a nasty look from the Zangoose and the usual creepy smile from the Toxtricity. They arranged the desks in a square formation and sat uncomfortably, except for Mylo, who didn’t mind at all, as his creepy presence was still the same. Maia delivered a bunch of seeds to each team and returned to her desk.

“You’re going to discuss with your teammates about those seeds I gave you,” Maia began. “Sharing what each of you know, you’ll classify them for the uses they have as their appearance suggests and write them down. When you’re finished, we’ll put it in common. Also… Don’t eat them.”

Mylo took the first seed and examined it. It was a green seed, with a yellow circle in the bottom. “Hm.”

Ari took a deep breath and decided it was time to actually talk to those two. “T-that one’s a heal seed. You can tell by its green color, because… Well, green always makes me think of health. Uhh if it m-makes any sense.”

“Ugh, how are we supposed to work as a group if you give the answer straight away?” Sanah complained. “Of course you’ll know, you were a damn explorer.”

“I uhhhh s-sorry! You’re right…”

Sanah took another seed and looked at it for a moment. That one was an orange striped one with a spiral shape. “Okay, this is a stun seed.”

“Actually,” Mylo intervened, “that’s a totter seed. I used it once. It causes confusion.”

Ari was surprised by the Toxtricity’s first actual contribution. “Yeah, he’s right.”

Sanah snarled and picked another seed, one that looked like a croissant with purple strings tied to it. “Then this is a quick seed!”

“Uhmmm that’s… the stun seed, it petrifies foes,” Ari corrected. He got an angry look from the Zangoose, and cringed. “I uhh… Hey Nimb, wanna try?”

Nimb tensed, he wasn’t ready for this. Ari gave him a reassuring look, and he tried to calm down. He promised himself he’d start talking more. “O-okay…” He took a pink seed with a few layers of petals and opened his beak to talk. A choked noise escaped his throat, but he felt the Riolu’s paw in his back and found a tiny push of courage inside him. “T-this is… Uhh…” He breathed hard. “This looks d-dreamy… Is it a s-sleep seed?”

Ari beamed. “Yes, Nimb, that’s it! Well done!” He smiled at him warmly, and Nimb blushed. He was finally talking in class! Oh, and he got the answer right, that too, yes.

“I bet he knows because you taught him before. How nice it feels to know more than everyone, right?” Sanah spat, making Nimb lose his burst of energy.

“I didn’t teach him anything… But, um, I could teach you! If… if you want, of course!” Ari said, visibly nervous.

“Are you mocking me?” She said, with a killer glare directed to Ari.

“N-no! I’m being serious, I j-just want to help…”

Mylo ignored the fuss and took another seed, a blue cone shaped one with a green ring around it. “This one looks… Like it has to do with the user’s position. Is it a pure seed?”

Ari looked at him and slowly gathered the determination to talk. “Uhm, y-you were close, that’s a warp seed, the pure seed looks like that but yellow instead, and with a sprout coming out of it.” He got a look from Mylo, a really plain look, as if he was studying him, and Ari flinched.

“A-and that one…” Nimb added. “Does it… Uh… t-teleport you randomly?”

“Yeah! Within a 500 meter range, at least. The pure seed, on the other hand, teleports you closer to where you actually want to go.”

Sanah deepened her angry glare and took a random seed, one that looked just like a nut. “Okay, this must be a blast seed!”

“That’s… a plain seed,” Ari corrected, with a shaky voice.

The Zangoose lost her patience and threw the seed away in rage, drawing a concerned look from Ari. He stood up and leaned to pick up the plain seed, and then took another seed that had an orange target-like pattern.

“Hey, it’s okay, we can work it out with this one for example, look, it has-“

“Shut up!” She swiped the air in front of her to prevent Ari from getting close, which startled him, making him throw the seed by accident. A flash of light bathed the room, making everyone turn to the source of it in surprise. The seed had impacted Mylo’s face, and he was covering his eyes in pain. That was a blinker seed.

“AAAAAHHH! SORRY, SORRY, I’M SO SORRY! I didn’t mean to throw it like that, I just reacted and…!”

Maia approached. “Are you okay, Mylo? Luckily the effects only last a couple of minutes.” She then looked at Ari. “You have to be more careful, it could have been a blast seed and that would have ended much worse.”

Ari looked down. “Yes, I’m sorry…”

They waited for a bit to the effects of the seed to wear off and started discussing the seeds with the rest of the class, guided by Maia. The air felt more tense than before, after all that happened, and when the rest of the classes finished, the first to leave was Mylo, but not before passing by Ari.

“I’ll wait for you at the entrance,” Mylo said, his expression more somber than before. Ari and Nimb froze in fear, already knowing the meaning of that. Yup, they were pretty much dead. He wasn’t happy about the blinker seed incident. Mylo left and the duo looked at each other with panicked expressions.

“W-what are we going to do now?” Nimb asked.

“I… I don’t know…” Ari said. “He’s mad with me, you don’t have to go with me.”

“B-but I want to go with you, I’m s-scared of everyone else…”

Ari sighed. He was going to get Nimb into trouble and that wasn’t going to make him feel any better. Unless… “Okay, there must be another exit aside from the main gate, like a back door. We just have to go there and look around carefully, maybe that way he won’t find us,” Ari said.

Nimb pondered that. Was that really safe? Either way, if he was with Ari he would be okay, he thought. Nimb nodded in agreement and stood up. They made their way to the corridors, looking for another exit, and they eventually found what they were looking for. It was way smaller than the main gate, and it was well hidden, in the deepest part of the building. They opened it and found freedom.

The backyard wasn’t really well maintained exactly, with overgrown grass and withered flowers here and there. They ignored the thought for now, and proceeded to go around the building. Nimb grabbed Ari’s arm and walked besides him, looking around vigilant. Mylo wasn’t around, luckily. As they were about to turn the corner upon reaching the front side of the building, a pokémon appeared in front of them, blocking the path.

“Here you were, I was looking for you!” It was an Ambipom who spoke. Nimb used Ari as a bodyshield, without thinking twice.

“What… do you want?” Ari asked.

The Ambipom slowly approached them, an innocent smile in his face. “Nothing, I was just eager to know such a special Riolu, with that interesting look you have.”

Ari relaxed at that. He looked friendly, at least. “Oh… Thanks, I guess? I’m not that special…”

Before they could react, Ambipom’s hand-tails grabbed both Ari and Nimb and pushed them to the building’s wall. Air escaped their lungs and Ari quickly tried generating an aura sphere from his free arm, but unfortunately for him, Ambipom still had two arms left, and grabbed Ari’s before he could do it.

“W-what…? Leave us alone!” Ari yelled. Nimb could only tremble in fear, struggling to move.

“Okay, I’ll leave you alone, but first… You got something really useful there.”

“My pearls?”

“No, you idiot! Your money!”

Ari gasped. “Oh… You saw that.”

Ambipom laughed and started searching in Ari’s bag. “Yeah, you’re pretty dumb, you know? Showing that sum of money in public, talk about caution.”

Before he could get the money, Ari started glowing in his special red hue, and suddenly thrusted forward, pushing Ambipom back and freeing himself and the Archen. Ari grabbed Nimb’s wing and started running away, but Ambipom was faster and blocked their way out.

“You’ll regret that!” Ambipom said, as he swiped with dual-chop. Nimb froze in panic, but Ari embraced him and thrust his arm forward, forming a protect. The attack didn’t harm them, but the second hit almost broke the barrier.

Then, out of nowhere, a fourth pokémon entered the scene. Ari’s eyes widened at the sight of Mylo the Toxtricity, who stared with devilish eyes at them. Ambipom looked at him as well. That was it, he probably was his partner in crime, and they were about to get beaten up badly.

Then, Mylo moved.

Ari shielded Nimb and closed his eyes, preparing for the worse. He heard a loud thump, but… he didn’t feel anything. Both slowly opened their eyes, and what they saw… was Mylo pressing the Ambipom against the wall.

“May I ever find out you touched them again… And you’re dead.” He was serious. His tone was still creepy as ever, but there was something in it that showed much more than the usual: pure anger.

Ambipom looked terrified. As soon as Mylo released him, the offender ran away in fear, leaving the teammates there. Ari and Nimb were really not expecting that.

Mylo turned to the shaking duo. “Are you two okay?”

“I… Uh… What the…?” Ari stammered.

“I told you I’d be waiting for you at the entrance for a reason. I saw that guy looking funny at you, and I know his theft history. You should have listened to me.”

Ari was at a loss for words. “I… I’m sorry…”

Mylo gave them a creepy smile, but at least this one was the usual. “Heh, it’s okay, at least you’re mostly unharmed. Be careful out there next time.” And the yellow Toxtricity turned to leave. Nimb had stopped trembling, and suddenly found himself looking at Mylo with different eyes.

“Wait!” Ari said, before Mylo turned the corner, and he glanced back. “It’s just… Well… Thank you, Mylo,” the Riolu said, and that was the first time he gave him a genuine smile.

“… Heh, don’t mention it,” Mylo smiled back. This time, it looked much less creepy than usual. Or perhaps they saw him differently now?

Ari and Nimb took a moment to get their heads together and resumed their walk home, now much more calm. Knowing that their teammate actually had their backs was so reassuring, and now their main fear had turned into a relief.

Now that they had a key, Ari and Nimb entered Maia’s cottage and rested. Too much was going on and that day had already been too stressful. After an hour, Maia arrived home, and they had lunch together, while they recounted their recent event.

“And then Mylo appeared out of nowhere and scared the shit out of him!” Ari narrated.

“Language, Ari,” Maia said.

“Uh, sorry. But yeah, you were right about him, he’s actually nice, it’s just that he’s kinda creepy sometimes.”

“I see. I’m glad you two are finally getting along well with your teammate!”

“Yeah, me too!” Ari said, but his smile slowly faded. “Well…”

“Sanah still hates us…” Nimb continued. Ari nodded, but in the end he knew most of her hate was directed towards himself, not Nimb.

“Don’t worry, take it one step at a time. Try and talk to her, maybe there’s something you don’t know about her that will help you understand the situation.”

“I hope so…” Ari said, but he wasn’t so sure. She wasn’t very nice, and for no reason. They were nice to her, it wasn’t fair! At least they could go to school tomorrow without fearing for their lives anymore, that was something. Their team was still a bit dysfunctional, but they’d manage.

There was nothing to worry about.

 

---

 

The next day, everyone sat at their desks and the exam started. It was a simple test, they weren’t risking any important grade, so it didn’t matter. Did it?

Ari started writing in almost no time, Nimb took a moment to think about the questions, Mylo toyed a bit with his pencil before starting writing, and Sanah looked at the paper and read it. She looked away. She then looked again, and read everything again. And then again. She took her pencil and pressed it against the paper.

She had to do this.