Chapter 5: An Ingrained Question

Chapter 5: An Ingrained Question

The longer Joey’s morning went on, the more bizarre it seemed to get. First, he learned he had signed himself off to fight in a secret war and didn’t even remember it. Second, he unwittingly participated in running over half of Kalmwa’er. Third, he watched as his friends fought a bunch of barnacles making up a humanoid form like they were Power Rangers, whatever those were. These few hours had been so overwhelming that it kind of surreal to be somewhere familiar.

The sea to his right, the sea of trees to his left, and the sea of trash in the sand before him made it obvious that this beach was the place he had awoken yesterday. He couldn’t see the exact spot — none of the litter seemed to be arranged in the order he remembered it — but this trash-ridden beach was unmistakable. At least, he hoped so.

Joey turned to his Solcean peers. “What the heck happened here?” he asked them. “It’s so nice and clean in Kalmwa’er. Why is it so bad so far away from town?”

What he said sparked a fire in Minichino’s eyes. “Alright, Joey, time for a history lesson!” She marched ahead of them, picking up an old ball and holding it up like a movie prop. “About a hundred years ago, the smartest minds of Solceus gathered together and invented the worst material known to pokémon-kind: plastic.”

Joey groaned. Of all things for both worlds to have, he reckoned there was no material more depressing than this.

“Unlike most materials, plastic degrades unusually slowly in nature, leading to it staying in the environment for decades on end. And thanks to the Legendary Court’s plan to put worldwide regulation on them going…badly, it’s everywhere. Most towns like Kalmwa’er can handle disposing of the waste, but the stuff that end up in mystery dungeons?” She widely gestured to the beach. “This is what happens to it.”

“Not to mention what it does to the dungeon pokémon,” Politoed remarked, looking off into the horizon.

“Exactly!” Minichino exclaimed. “They’re already aggressive enough, but when their homes are getting ruined? That brings out the worst in them. I hear that there’s these geodudes living in the cave at the end of this beach, Misery Cave, that fight anybody who tries to go in. Nobody can take the trash out of the cave, so now the place is totally dirtied up!”

“And s-since fighting dungeon pokémon is banned u-unless it’s in self-defense or a fair duel,” Demurke chimed in, “there’s n-no good way for us to help, besides w-waiting for the Kalmwa’er S-Service Guild to…go deal with them.”

“Which they haven’t.” Breloom shook her head, seeming disappointed at that fact.

Joey listened to this story, surprised. “Sounds like this club ain’t around for no reason.”

“Exactly! If the town isn’t gonna help these dungeons, then that means it’s all up to us!” Minichino perked up, getting into a battle stance as she looked ahead. “As long as I’m here, there isn’t a piece of trash on this beach that can hide!”

Swish! With a whirl, Minichino swung her tail and sent a burst of wind forward. A torrent of sand and a number of plastics were flung high into the air. The sand coasted on the wind while the trash tumbled back to the ground, ripe for picking. Joey noticed that there had been even more waste, concealed beneath the surface, that her attack had unearthed.

Wordlessly, they all got to work. Cup after cup, shard after shard, bag after bag, every sand-coated piece was stuffed into Joey’s satchel with little effort. Tiredness and boredness began to sink in fast. His absent mind began to daydream about a world where these dungeon pokémon didn’t stand in their way. Minichino and the others could clean up these places without issue, and there’d hardly be a job to do. That’d be real nice. Maybe Joey should go teach those geodudes a lesson about accepting help?

No, he had to quash that pipe dream while it was still small. If his poor performance in the obstacle course and his sidelining in the fight were in any indication, he’d never stand a chance. When SEAS had mentioned that army division, it hadn’t hit him until now what that’d really entail. Fighting as a pokémon seemed so difficult and intimidating. What had gotten him on board with such a hard job in the first place?

Argh, maybe he would know if his past wasn’t blank! Why was it that everything that mattered to him was completely out of his own reach, and everything that didn’t was right at his fingertips? Without his past, how could he hope to grasp this future they were setting out for him?

“We’re baaaaack!” Jermy’s exclamation was a pleasant distraction from all that, so Joey perked up in greeting. He, Mathew, ORB, and Meowth had caught back up with them. “Turns out the rock took more damage than the buggy did, so we’ll be able to drive it back.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” Breloom said. “Although I’m still going to drive it myself.”

“Yeah, I’m not gonna stop you,” Mathew answered briefly. He seemed much more interested in Minichino, approaching her eagerly. “Hey, what was that trash-launching thing you did back there? I saw it while we were walking up.”

“Oh, you mean this?” With hardly any hesitation, Minichino repeated the motion.

Swish! The moment the move came out, Mathew leapt into action. He jumped straight in the way of the falling trash, letting sand douse him as he caught a plate, then a bowl. With his masked snout raised high, a six-pack ring landed over his snout. Then, with his free hand, he threw his bone club towards a plastic bag flowing in the wind. The twirling club smacked the bag, but it didn’t come back on the club’s return trip, leaving the piece of ivory to flip into the sand on it own. “Ah, so close to four…” he muttered, dropping his spoils into his satchel.

Demurke clapped her wings in applause. “That w-was really good!”

The reptile gave a dramatic bow, as if he were on a stage show. “Thank you, thank you. When I signed up for the Club, I decided I wanted to do everything in my power to make this job not boring. And well, taking advantage of this is a lot less boring, right?”

“You’ve been thinking about this more than a brain in a briefcase…” Joey couldn’t help but feel a bit envious at Mathew’s quick adaptation. He put himself in a leadership role right away, bounded back from crashing the buggy like it was nothing, and now he could even use his club to hit faraway things. How the heck was he supposed to match that?

Politoed nodded in approval. “Maybe we should all do this. Might finally make Meowth not bored here for the first time in his life.”

The gray cat peered at him with a ‘was that really necessary?’ expression, but without saying a word, he brushed it off. “I will say this is different from what we normally do, Mathew.”

“Oh, you mean make it a game or something?” Mathew’s eye sparkled with inspiration. “Whoever can catch the most falling stuff without letting it touch the ground wins. Flying is banned, obviously.” Demurke pretended to fall over in defeat. “We’ll put the record on the wall of like, the lobby or something.”

“Oh, I am super into this!” Minichino exclaimed, pumping her short arms. “Let’s do it!”

So this was an athletic game now, huh? Joey reckoned that Mathew’s genius might be just what he needed after all. The crocodile missed his shot to prove himself before, but if he could take home a high-score, then maybe…

Minichino put herself in the center of the Club members. “Everyone get ready. Little ol’ Minichino’s gonna give this beach something to cry about!”

Slam! This time, Minichino smacked her tail directly on the beach, blasting wind strong enough to push Joey back. He tried to remain steady as everyone dashed around him, leaping and reaching and diving for their points. There was just one object he wanted right now: a huge cardboard box, spinning and spinning right towards him. All he had to do was move where it was falling and use his body to catch—

“Coming through!”

A green blur sprung through the air and shattered Joey’s dreams. Breloom landed with an assortment of trash in her arms and a box over her mushroom cap. “Six!” she proclaimed.

“S…Six…” Joey gawked at the kangaroo as he listened to the others’ scores. Two twos. A three. A four. Not even a five.

“Just one for me,” Politoed said bashfully as he came up to Breloom.

“Yeah, only because you dived for it and missed your chance at everything else,” Breloom teased as she flattened out the box.

“Not like I’d beat you if I hadn’t.” He cracked a grin. “You’re the best out here.”

“Nah, don’t count yourself out of the running.” Breloom leaned towards him and pecked his cheek.

Joey could hardly enjoy the tender moment beneath the weight of this crushing defeat. He slouched, glumly kicking his feet through the sand as he slowly paced around. There’s no way he could get the gold now! Against this kind of competition, what was Joey supposed to do?

“Hey, don’t sweat it too much, dude.” Minichino patted Joey on the back, making him flinch in surprise. “It’s only round one. You’ll get a few!” Her eyes flicked between him and the power couple.

Suddenly, the two pulled apart. “Yeah, Poli and I did well this round, but we’re not perfect, Joe. Maybe you could catch us by surprise once you get used to it?”

“Well, thanks,” he mumbled, turning away from them. Sure, he’d get better, but it’d be nothing special. These three were just normal Club members at the end of the day. They don’t understand the kind of pressure he’s under to—

Minichino cut ahead of him. “Besides, I didn’t get any points either! You’re not alone on this one. In fact…” she whirled towards the others. “Hey, could somebody substitute in as the launcher? I wanna piece of this pie too!”

“Oh, I can help with that!” Jermy proposed. “We’ll just trade out each time so we can both have a shot.”

“Are you g-gonna use that Iron Tail of yours, Jermy?” Demurke asked.

“I could… but I got a better idea.” He stuck his tongue out and rubbed his hands. “ORB, I think it’s time we show everyone another move you can do.”

ORB began rolling away from Jermy. “Are you sure this is a good idea? You haven’t practiced your singing voice in the past seven months.”

“Oh, it’ll be fine!” Jermy dismissed. He and robot were now a good distance away from everyone else, standing directly across from one another. “Now, I’m thinking of a classical…fast pace…I think it has to do with horses?”

That seemed to be enough for ORB. “Now playing: William Tell Overture: Finale, with a lowered tempo.” From him emerged the sounds of an energetic orchestra, playing a song Joey somehow found both very familiar and brand new at the same time.

As the intro drew to a close, the whole Club watched Jermy intently.

“Pick-it Up, Pick-it Up, Pick-it Up, up, up!” With a wave of the hands and the mouth, a colorful energy in the shape of a musical note was flung forth from Jermy, straight at ORB.

Politoed raised a brow. “Round, huh? Interesting.”

“Pick-it Up, Pick-it Up, Pick-it Up, up, up.” ORB’s monotone reflected the note back at Jermy. It seemed slightly larger now.

Jermy, again. “Pick-it Up, Pick-it Up, Pick-it Up, up, up!”

To ORB. “Pick-it Up…” This time, ORB sent the energy slightly higher. It looked like the power of song was going to sail right over Jermy’s head.

“…For the Pick-it Up Club!” Jermy leaped up to spike it.

BOOM.

Several of them screamed as the shockwave of the attack enshrouded all of them in a sandy cloud. Joey shut his eyes and, once they were in the thick of it, he could barely open them without wincing.

“Oh my g-gosh!” Demurke exclaimed. Joey tried to spot her, but the torrent of dust was too thick. “Jermy, you k-kicked up more sand than trash…!”

“Yeah, dude! Talk about overclocking it a little!” Minichino said. “Now we can’t see anything!”

“Sorry, guys! I might have gotten a little too into the song. But it’s okay! I have goggles!” Jermy exclaimed from somewhere within the fog. A gasp followed. “There’s sand in the goggles! Oh no!”

“Goddamnit, Jermy…” Mathew muttered. Joey felt the reptile’s hand grab his arm and pull him along. Joey put his free arm over his eyes — it seemed like he wasn’t as affected.

“Can anybody…see me…leaping around?” Breloom asked. Joey figured what she was actually doing was probably less funny-looking than it appeared in his head.

“Save your strength, Breloom,” a distant Meowth suggested. “We’re not gonna get anywhere until Jermy’s little project drifts off.”

“Hey!” Jermy exclaimed. “I’m only about thirty three percent responsible for this!”

Minichino sounded flabbergasted. “Thirty three percent?! What in the world is — oh hey guys — what is the other percent for?” A strained squint showed a gray Minichino-like mass had met up with him and Mathew.

“Thirty three percent ORB, and thirty three percent you!” Jermy said.

“How is it my fault?!” Minichino didn’t receive an answer

“That’s ninety nine percent,” Meowth pointed out. “What’s the one percent?”

“The rich eli — OW!” Evidently, somebody had just smacked Jermy. Twice. “What the heck, Politoed?!”

“First one was for bringing up politics on the job. Get enough of that at home,” the frog explained. “Second one was for that mediocre singing voice!”

“All of you, shut — achk!” Not even Mathew was safe from coughing. “Why the hell is there still sand in the air?!”

“…Huh. It has been almost thirty seconds or so,” Breloom said.

“Unless there’s the dust clouds are magic too, I think — wait.” The interjection was aimed at Joey. “Where did your hat go?”

“My hat’s missing?!” Joey patted his head, and sure enough, there was a striking absence of hat. Had the wind from the Round attack knocked it off? No, that shouldn’t be possible with the strap. How…?

“Guys?” Jermy said nervously. “Do any of you see ORB? I don’t hear William Tell Overture anymore.”

“I hath seized your felt and kin!” A voice boomed. Through his squinting, Joey watched a shadowy figure pass over them.

“Is that a goddamn ghost?!” Mathew exclaimed.

“Art I, art I!” he declared. Elsewhere, Joey heard Politoed groan in irritation. “This hostage of mineself shalt cure these tears of defeat!”

The sandstorm around them slowly dropped along with the spirit, freeing up Joey’s vision. Trash surrounded them on all sides, kicked to the surface by Jermy’s attack. The spirit lowered into the sand, blending in with it as a shadow of sorts. It slithered towards one particular piece, a little red shovel, before bursting out of the sand, taking the shovel and some shells with it. The sand, shovel, and shells assembled into some sort of vessel for the ghoul.

“What did you do with ORB?!” Jermy cried.

“It is quite simple, thy fattened rodent!” The possessed sand castle wiggled around as it shouted angrily. “Thou hast taketh mine honour, last we met! Thou shalt pay with my perfect vengeance! We shalt take your ally and your belongings!”

Joey looked to the Club veterans. “Last y’all met?”

“Indeed!” the spirit answered for them. “Thoust with the bubbles and the kingly claim hast stolen mine dignity naught but two weeks ago!”

Politoed sighed. “A couple weeks back, these guys kept running off with our satchels,” he explained. “Had to fight them to get them back.”

“So they’re repeat offenders, then.” The speed at which Mathew brandished his club made Joey feel a bit nervous. An image of him holding his club over a bruised wingull flashed in the crocodile’s mind.

“I claimed this land by mine own pillars!” Palossand said with a theatrical air. “I adored mine subjects dearly using mine kingship, but now mine good name is gone! Gone! Thou hast brought ruin to the wondrous sands of mine kingdom! Mine turf has been tainted by your constant conquerings! Thou shalt be punished by mine own hand!”

“You don’t even have hands, you word salad sand castle!” Minichino exclaimed.

“Silence, wench!” he snapped. “If thee shant take my declarations of war in a manner of seriousness before mine presence, perhaps thou shalt change your minds whence you face my knights’ wraths!” Palossand declared. On cue, three smaller mounds of sand with faces emerged from the surface, carrying their own little shovels.

“Bet ORB is inside one of those sandygasts,” the frog advised.

“I reckon the little fellas can’t hide all of ORB inside…” In studying the threats, Joey saw something that gave him pause. One of those sand monsters had…! “My hat!”

At Joey’s cry, chaos broke out. Palossand and two of his minions charged, clashing with the Club members. Politoed groaned as green streaks of energy drained from him, pulled into the big castle’s clutches. Demurke tried to slash through one of the minions, but her wing barely pushed through, as if she’d struck flesh instead of sand. Joey tried not to get distracted in the thick of it, keeping his eyes straight on the single retreating minion — the one who Joey suspected had more than just his hat.

“You ain’t going anywhere!” the crocodile commanded as he chased after him. “I know you’ve got him!”

The sand monster turned back to glance at him. At this angle, he could see a familiar red ball dangling out of his side. Bullseye. But when Joey looked back to see that nobody but him was confronting this one, he realized he might not have thought this through.

“Thou is playing a most dangerous game. If thee carries the truth, then I must knock it out of you!” He was only slightly less boisterous than his leader.

Joey tried to hide his nervousness. He knew this was a bad idea, but there was something in his heart that refused to accept defeat. The crocodile assumed the closest thing he had to a battle stance. “You ain’t gonna knock anything out of anyone,” he told his foe. “You might think you’re stronger than a knight at night, but I don’t need anybody stronger to help—”

The sandygast struck with no hesitation. A shockwave of sand bulldozed right over Joey, flinging him onto his back.

“Pah!” the sand monster said. “Thou is an oaf, removing every weakness from thine loose purse!” A deep crackling sound emitted from him. “Now I know…thou hasn’t…the slightest idea…how to battle!”

Joey tried to stand up and get out of the way, but that just made his beatdown worse — the sand monster launched a dark, shadowy fastball right into his chest, sending him bounding across the beach with as much force as yesterday’s ocean. He landed on his side, gripping his aching chest.

Joey’s eyes wavered from the sun glinting off of ORB’s antenna as the sand monster slowly approached. He knew how pathetic he looked, how easy it would be for this simple dungeon pokémon to get the best of him. Desperately, he lunged forward with his jaws and—

Sand! Sand! The sand monster pulled him by the maw and swallowed his body whole! He was coarse, rough. Irritating. Getting everywhere. Joey was left with no mouth to scream with, less he take in all of this sand.

“Now, perish!” The monster’s voice boomed all around him.

Joey struggled, flailing like a fly in a flytrap, but it was no use. He could feel his own strength being sapped. Slowly, the crocodile was fading…and fading…

Then came the blast.

For just a second, a laser from ORB tore a hole open in the monster’s form, freeing half of his body. He felt his feet graze non-living sand and planted them as firmly as he could. Joey started a game of tug-of-war with the monster, with the rope being his maw.

“Joey, listen to me.” ORB’s muffled voice came through to him from within. “Ghosts are not weak against water type attacks, but there’s a still a way out of this. Sandygasts take advantage of the light density of sand particles to form their body, with the shovel acting as a spiritual connector. Soak the sand and the shovel with a water attack and you’ll destroy their ability to use it.”

“Wouldst thou silence thy tongue?!” the monster cried.

“I do not have a tongue.”

Joey desperately struggled to break free. I ain’t able to do that! He tried to cry that out, but all that produced were muffled yells. Tears welled up in his eyes as he began to lose the tug-of-war. He was gonna be swallowed before he even had a chance to learn who—

“Don’t let your heartbeat quicken, you’re going to be fine,” ORB asserted frankly. “You may not have been taught yet, but it’s simple. Pokémon have dormant energy from within. Search for that energy and release it orally.”

Orally? Like, fire breath, but with water? Joey had no confidence in his ability to do such a thing, but he reckoned he had to try. He thought really hard about ‘water breath’, gargled in his throat, and…

…spat. There was nothing but spit that rolled off of his trapped maw like drool. It was harmless.

“Nary a tutor could save you if one tried,” the sandygast taunted. Joey’s freed legs collapsed in defeat. “How pitiable. What kind of knave would allow a boy to march forth whenst he lacks the simplest—”

His sentence would never finish. The mouth from which the monster spoke was swept away with the rest of the body, collapsing into a heap of wet sand. Suddenly, Joey was freed, sprawled out next to ORB, the shovel, and his precious hat with only a mild stinging feeling in the back. Minichino stood confidently next to the crocodile, her tail magically dampening as it swayed behind her.

“How’s that for a little Aqua Tail action?!” she asked the shadow floating where the sandygast had once been. It reached for the shovel, but she whirled around again, lobbing a small splash of water to completely dampen the shovel. The spirit gave her a furious look before storming off along the beach.

As soon as it was just the two of them, she kneeled down to help him up. “Dude, are you okay?”

“I reckon so?” Joey groaned, grabbing onto her. “Thanks for saving us.”

“No biggie.” As soon as he was back on his feet, Minichino used her now-dry tail to clean him off. After she did the same for it, she handed him his hat. “I can’t believe you found the one hoarding everything before the rest of us!”

“Well, he was hiding it worse than a bear behind a bush,” Joey mumbled as he put his hat back on. Immediately, he felt a little better, as if an old friend had returned to him.

“Can you please stand me up?” ORB, who was still on his side, asked. “It’s hard enough to rebalance when I’ve fallen in dirt.”

“Oh! Sure.”

As soon as Joey helped him back onto his wheel, he began rolling away. “Thank you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go tell Mathew to stop running around before Jermy accidentally encourages him.”

“Stop running around?” Joey suddenly looked around. “How are the rest of y’all doing, anyway?”

“Get the hell back here! We’re not done with you yet!”

Mathew’s scream cut through the air. The reptile, looking slightly beaten up, was chasing one large spirit and two smaller ones across the beach, club raised high in the air. Jermy and Demurke were closely chasing after him, yelling over each other trying to explain that Mathew legally has to let them all go. Meowth casually followed all of them, oran berries in his paws.

“Uh, pretty good, I think,” Minichino said.

“All bark and no bite, huh?” Joey remarked. “Kinda makes me feel bad for letting them get to me.”

“Speaking of no bite…” As he approached, Politoed drew the two’s attention. “Was eyeballing your fight while dealing with mine, Joey. Got a question for you.”

The crocodile gulped in response to his tone. Had Politoed noticed ORB guiding him on how to use a water type attack? If they heard, then they’d figure out that something was weird about him for sure. “Uh, sure.”

He crossed his arms. “What’s the story behind you making it all this way without even knowing Water Gun? Not bothered by it, just curious.”

“Well, I…” Joey stalled, fishing for the best lie I could think of. “You see, my mom and dad over in Cosaline threw me out into the street when I was little, and—

“Are you sure they live in Cosaline, Joe?” Breloom, joining the trio in front of Joey, had no malice behind her voice, but didn’t have any doubt either.

Shoot. They saw right through him. “Okay, okay, I don’t really live in Cosaline!” he exclaimed. “It’s just really hard to talk about my actual home, alright? That’s why we ain’t telling the truth.”

“Hey, Joey…” As the three’s demeanors softened, Minichino offered him some comfort, resting a paw on his shoulder. “Sorry if we’re coming on too hard. We don’t mean to make you feel bad. You’re just new! And me, Politoed, and Breloom wanna help all of the new guys we can.”

“Minichino’s right,” Politoed assured him. “Wanna make sure you’re adjusting well. Figuring out why you know so little will help us to teach you, so you can get better.”

“Well…” Joey hesitated for a moment. Politoed was a water type, and seemingly a good one at that. If he would really help him learn, then adjusting Solceus would be a lot easier. But… “I dunno if I should talk about it. I promised not to talk about job stuff.”

“We’re not asking about the SEAS job. We’re asking about you,” Breloom said. “You can talk about yourself just fine, yeah?”

“Exactly! Besides…” Minichino stopped to grab a stray bottle and put it in her satchel. When she straightened up, she grinned and gave him a wink. “Whatever you’ve got going on, Politoed, Breloom, and I can handle it. We’re good at keeping secrets.”

Joey felt bad for not keeping to SEAS’ word, but his resistance was slowly giving way. “Okay. I’ll talk.” He took a preparatory breath. “See, I ain’t from around these parts…and I mean really not from around these parts.”

Minichino tilted her head. “What, are you one of those human guys or something?”

“Yeah, I — wait. Hah?” Joey was taken aback. “How the heck did you guess that?”

Just as he said that, the air of the space surrounding the four pivoted. Joey caught Breloom’s grin waver, and Politoed reflexively played with his medallion. Did they know something he didn’t…?

Minichino could only give him another smile and an awkward shrug. “Lucky guess?”

“Most of us grew up hearing legends about people called ‘humans’ crossing over from a place called Earth with a mission in mind,” Politoed informed him. “Happens pretty rarely, only about once or twice every two hundred years.”

“They’re kind of a big deal,” Breloom added. “Since they aren’t natural-born Solceans, they can get involved with the Legendary Court from time to time. The opinion on them keeps flipping. On one hand, some of them help solve a lot of problems. On the other hand, the few who cause problems tend to make for pretty ugly situations.”

“All that is to say, good or bad…” Politoed kneeled down and booped his maw. “You’re pretty special.”

Joey appreciated the explanation, although he couldn’t help but lean his head away bashfully. “I ain’t so sure about that…”

“Are you kidding?! It’s super crazy to actually meet one for real!” Minichino exclaimed. “I have so many questions! Like, what do humans look like? What kind of cool powers do they have? What does ‘fuck’ mean?”

“We’re kinda hairy and we stand on two legs, we have opposable thumbs and sweat, and…you’re gonna have to ask Mathew on that one,” Joey said.

“Oh, is Math one, too?” Breloom asked.

Joey bit his tongue. “Don’t tell him or anybody else I said a word about this,” he pleaded. “I reckon if I get him out of wack, it’ll make getting this job at SEAS a lot harder. And if we don’t get the job, it’ll make finding my mom and dad and figuring out who the heck I am a whole new can of—”

“Woah, woah, woah, walk it back for a second!” Minichino cut in with surprise. “What do you mean, figure out who you are?”

Joey hesitated. Should he really tell them this much? Well, he supposed that he’d gone this far already, and they did really want to help… “All of my memories since I showed up on Solceus yesterday are more blank than a ripped-up art canvas. It ain’t a big deal, because after I work things out with SEAS, I can—”

“So you’re telling me you’ve lost your memories and you’re not out there taking on the world until you get them back?” Breloom sounded amazed. “I’ve gotta say, that takes some serious restraint. If I were wearing your claws, I wouldn’t stop moving until I had everything sorted out.”

“Well, I can’t exactly do that.” As much as, admittedly, he kind of wanted to, now that Breloom brought it up. “I got Mathew to worry about. He remembers Earth, so I know he’ll help me once we’re all settled. And if I stay in SEAS, looking for more clues will be a whole lot easier.”

The conversation screeched to a halt as the trio shrunk away in thought. Minichino idly filled her satchel, and Breloom tapped her lip with a claw. It was like they were waiting for somebody else to put fuel in the fire of the conversation again.

That role fell to Politoed. “Might just have an idea now.” As a show of demonstration, Politoed raised his head and fired a stream of bubbles from his mouth. The mesmerized crocodile watched them fly along the wind, popping on the surface of the ocean. “Tomorrow, after work, we’ll meet in front of Minichino’s place, and I’ll teach you how to use water moves just fine. Could even bring Mathew and the rest of club, too. Then you’ll be able to adjust to Solceus and blend in easier.”

Joey was amazed by the offer. Special training time with normal Solceans? He was nervous at the prospect of having everyone there, but this sounded extremely helpful. “Sounds like a rodeo.”

“Yeah! I’m not sure what a rodeo is, but awesome!” Minichino cheered. “I’ll have to make sure I’m ready for guests. Sounds like it’s time to clean the place top to bottom!”

Breloom gave a nod, then crouched down to Joey’s height. “In the meantime, don’t let whatever SEAS is pushing you to do here at the club freak you out,” she advised. “They’re just a company. You should take things one step at a time. Maybe you could focus more on cracking that noggin, if you can. Not having memories is a pretty big deal.”

Although he had some concerns at first, Joey was not regretting being honest with his fellow Club members. It was hard to deny that he was getting swept up in SEAS’ plan for them more than he was hunting for his past. Maybe it was high time he flip those priorities back to where they should belong. “Sure, pardner.”