Chapter 20: Inner Pieces
by Nikel“Dad, do you think I read too much?” Ezera asked in the backseat of the car.
“I wish you read more practical books but no, you don’t read a lot. You laze a lot,” his dad replied, smirking in the rear view mirror.
Ezera’s mom turned to look at Ezera from the passenger seat. “Like father, like son?”
His dad visibly straightened up, gripping the wheel tighter. “Hey, I do plenty around the house!”
Ezera’s phone buzzed with a notification from Discord, taking his attention away.
Elessedil : I can’t decide if I should go for this item <image_482>
Or this item <image_483>
Send help
He unlocked his phone and opened the conversation.
Me : Asking the wrong person lol
Is there one your leaning towards?
Elessedil: You’re*
I asked a question and you hit me back with a question
This is not how it works >:(
Me: Says the one correcting my grammar
I just don’t wanna sway you to something you might regret
My solution, get both lol
Elessedil: I DON’T HAVE MONEY FOR BOTH
Me: WHOSE PROBLEM IS THAT
Elessedil: Alright that’s it
You’ve convinced me by doing absolutely nothing lol
I suppose I’ll go with option 2
Me: Your welcome
Elessedil: Thank you, my indecisive friend
Catch you later
A snore roused Ezera awake. From whom, he didn’t know. He opened his eyes, slowly remembering where they were. Once he was fully awake, he checked to see if he was the first up. ‘Yup. Inner alarm strikes again,’ he thought. Litleo had moved herself a couple feet away sometime in the night, while Dewott remained around the same spot.
Ezera sat upright, deciding to let them keep snoozing. When was the last time any of them slept in anyway?
Litleo turned over in her spot, showing her face. Her jaw hung slightly open as she snored in through her nose and out of her mouth.
‘She’s so peaceful,‘ Ezera observed. ‘Has there ever been a time she hasn’t been frowning in some capacity?‘ Yesterday involved a lot more frowning than normal for Litleo— It unnerved Ezera a fair bit too, with how much it took to shake her.
He absentmindedly rubbed his fingers together. ‘I can’t be weak when I told her I’d support her.‘ He’d been working on himself by getting outside his comfort zone, hopefully the few commissions with Dewott showed that. ‘Even better, I could take this experience home and prove to Dad he’s wrong.‘
Ezera’s eyes wandered to Litleo’s bag, reminding him of the weird voice that hadn’t spoken since Rugged Crags. Maybe he could tell Litleo about it after she gave the details of her memory. She tended to have a good intuition. ‘There’s also Rapidash who I could talk to… but she makes me nervous.‘
More mundane thoughts started to cycle through Ezera’s head, making him wish he had his phone. He settled for laying back on the ground and brainstorming a team motto. It had been on his mind since Watchog introduced the concept to him. Admittedly, Dewott was the only pokémon so far he’d told his ideas to, but all of them were met with lukewarm reactions. He didn’t know how long he spent in his thoughts before Litleo got up, rubbing her eyes.
“How’d you sleep?” Ezera whispered, glancing her way. “Fine?”
“Why am I still not over the fact you’re up earlier than me,” Litleo replied. She smoothed out parts of her fur sticking out. “I slept… alright.”
“Not fine?”
“I can’t say fine because you always get on my case for it.”
“If that will make you use different words, I think I can live with that,” he said.
Litleo scoffed in response. She set about packing her blanket, prompting Ezera to do the same. They made a half attempt to be quiet for Dewott, though it didn’t work, as he stirred moments later.
“Good morning,” Dewott signed, blinking. “Taking after Wartortle?“
“Morning. We don’t have water like him, but we do have fire,” Ezera responded, half smirking.
“Arguably worse than water.“
“A little fire to start your morning is never a bad thing. Just ask- AHH!” Ezera jumped a couple feet into the air feeling his back heat up. When he landed, he spun around to find Litleo snickering. “Hey-“
“What? You were asking for it,” Litleo said, still giggling.
“Talk about rude. I hope I watch you get doused with water again next time you oversleep,” Ezera pouted.
Dewott finished rolling his blanket up, meaning their campsite was clear and they were free to leave. Litleo inspected the Wonder Map to find the way back home, turning the hologram multiple times. Dewott held out a paw after she sighed.
“No, I got it…” Litleo muttered, biting her lip. She zoomed in and out of the landscape for another minute, to no avail. “Ugh, I can’t focus. Here, Dewott.”
Dewott hesitantly took it, recalibrated it, then set off. Litleo went to follow when Ezera tapped her shoulder.
“What?” she said, pausing.
“Um, before we go, when did you want to explain your memory?” Ezera asked. ‘The sooner she gets it off her chest, the better.‘ “Cause I might have something to say too.”
“I’ll fill you in when we get to Reuniclus. Then I won’t have to explain it twice,” Litleo said, expression falling. “Can yours wait until then?”
“Yeah… It’s not super pressing, just something I felt I should tell you.”
Litleo raised an eyebrow, inspecting his face. “It better not be another comforting speech.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“That Dewott seems to have found our direction home and we should go.” She bounded down the hill.
‘…Was it really that bad?‘
With no skiddo, the journey to the guild ate up the entire morning. When Ezera, Litleo, and Dewott arrived at the courtyard, multicolored banners and streamers were strewn about the grass. It looked as if someone had thrown up party decor and left it there. All the guild’s teams seemed to be present, moving some of the decorations and pointing in different directions to clear the organized chaos.
“What’s happening here?” Ezera asked, gazing all around.
“The guild foundation day, remember?” Dewott signed.
Ezera stood straighter at the realization. “Ooooh, yeah! Watchog said it’d be soon. Is it today?”
“I think you overestimate how fast we’re able to set up,” Litleo commented.
“It’ll happen tomorrow, if the mess is anything to go by,” Dewott signed, cringing from a crash in the distance.
Litleo sighed, parting her mane. “I can’t believe it’s been a year since the last one. Feels weird celebrating it without…” She waved a paw in front of herself rapidly. “Nevermind. Let’s ask one of the teams where Reuniclus is. But not-“
Ezera waved down Team Chase as the couple passed by. “Yamper, Purrloin, how goes it?” he said, earning a groan from Litleo.
Yamper and Purrloin paused. The former’s backside was covered in streamers and carrying more in his mouth. The latter carried nothing, much to Ezera’s curiosity and Litleo’s disdain.
“Johyee goo!” Yamper replied, forgetting he couldn’t exactly speak. He turned his head to Purrloin and motioned for her to open her arms.
Purrloin’s face soured, but agreed to hold out her arms. “Here, Yamper darling,” she stated, plucking them out of his mouth.
“Oh, yes, that’s much better. Thank you, Pearl.” Yamper faced Ezera again. “Doing jolly good, Ezera! We were surprised to see you gone this morning. Did something come up?”
“Yeah, you could say that,” Ezera said, tapping his tusk. “We need to see Reuniclus. Do you know if she’s here?”
“Oooh, some developments about your memory, Litleo?” Purrloin purred, leaning on Yamper’s head. “It’s a miracle you recovered so fast.”
“Even if I knew why that was, I wouldn’t tell you,” Litleo said.
“But how else will I elegantly retell your captivating story?”
“My story doesn’t need to be told, thanks.”
“Reuniclus is out back with Gana and Corla,” Yamper jumped in, sensing an argument about to break loose. “If she’s done there, could you tell her to help us out front?”
“Sure,” Ezera acknowledged. “We’ll let you go back to your, uh, decorating duty.”
“Next time we chat I expect you to fill me in, Ezera. Some wild one on one,” Purrloin said, tail curling behind her. She dumped the streamers she held onto Yamper’s head.
“Don’t even think about it,” Litleo retorted. She pushed Ezera along until they reached behind the guild. They glimpsed Gana and Corla’s heads dip beneath the water before Reuniclus turned to them.
“Ah, salutations!” Reuniclus greeted, waving one arm. “I was curious where the most mysterious individuals of the guild went. You’re back in time to assist for the party tomorrow.”
“Are Gana and Corla excluded?” Ezera asked. He watched their shadowy outlines swim under the water’s surface.
“I’m having them run a little errand for me. Not to worry. Am I wrong to assume you have a question for me? Could it be about the aether in Litleo’s bag, perhaps?”
“My bag’s fine, no issues there. It’s about me. I got a piece back about my memory… the day Rockruff and I went missing,” Litleo replied, lowering her voice.
The smile faded off Reuniclus’ face. “You’ve had new developments?”
“We went to investigate yesterday. I got some clues from it, and the short story is we were attacked. I need you to research who chased us.”
A collective shock passed through the gathered pokémon. Ezera crossed his arms, blinking. ‘Remembering an attack would be triggering. If she made it out without Rockruff, no wonder she feels responsible for it.‘
Litleo scrunched her forehead trying to recall the image. “They had a spiky tail and claws, and used the clouds to cover their body.”
“Used clouds as cover…? I can’t say I am familiar with any pokemon able to do that. Thundurus maybe, but I’d have to cross reference drawings and abilities to be sure of their appearance…” Reuniclus said, lost in thought and frowning. “Was there any particular reason this pokémon went after you and Rockruff?”
“Right before I blacked out, I mentioned to Rockruff they wanted me. They also talked about aether.”
Reuniclus’ expression darkened for a moment. “Aether? Can you elaborate more specifically?”
“I don’t have much else. Just that…” Litleo shut her eyes. Her paw clenched into the dirt. “They sensed an odd presence and it spoke to them? Ugh, it’s blurry again.”
Dewott raised a paw. “Wouldn’t it be easier to see the memory yourself, Reuniclus?“
“Unfortunately, even with Litleo’s consent, the memory is fragmented now. Psychics can only see what the brain thinks it remembers,” Reuniclus explained.
“Thinks it remembers? What does that mean?” Ezera asked, almost on instinct. It occurred to him that he was derailing the topic at hand. ‘Wait, is it too late to say never-‘
“When psychics view memories, we are not seeing an outside, objective view. We see that pokemon’s version of events. Because memories alter and change with time, if the subject convinces themself what they think to be true, there is no other way to change that.”
Reuniclus extended an arm to Litleo. “In Litleo’s case, her conscious memory has either blocked or changed pieces of the event that day to make it bearable. Talented psychics can piece together fragments of the unconscious if the brain retains it, but I am not one of them.”
“Really long way of saying you can’t mind read memories I’m not aware of, which is common sense,” Litleo summarized.
“A vastly oversimplified saying, but that is essentially the point. I still want to confirm, you said they wanted you, Litleo?”
“If there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that. I know they were going after me, I just… don’t know why.”
“Curious. If you don’t mind coming with me, I’d like to take you to my lab. I have something I would like to test.” Reuniclus floated forward and turned around momentarily. “You too, Ezera.”
Ezera’s hand pointed between Reuniclus and Dewott. “Um, is Dewott allowed or…?”
“I’ll check in with Applin,” Dewott signed, giving a tiny smile.”He might need me to assort the food. If not, I’ll help Yamper and Purrloin straighten the streamers. We never asked Reuniclus.“
Ezera’s eyes went wide.
“In my defense, Purrloin was annoying. Don’t blame me for not wanting to eagerly help her,” Litleo argued.
“You find everyone annoying,” Ezera remarked.
“While you’re not wrong, I at least don’t find either of you that annoying.”
Ezera nudged Dewott’s arm. “You hear that?”
Litleo grumbled and went after Reuniclus.
“Right, well, I’ll try to find you after whatever Reuniclus wants with us. That okay?”
“Sure.“
Ezera caught up to Litleo and Reuniclus as they entered the guild, and moved to the fourth floor. His gaze wandered over the fancier rooms until Litleo coughed, swishing her tail impatiently. The fifth room of the hallway was actually a split staircase going left and right.
“Huh. I guess you don’t have any easier way to get to the spires?” Ezera asked, hoping they were climbing the shorter spire. His legs feared the impending ascent.
“Fret not, Ezera.” Reuniclus held a hand out, levitating a stone out of the wall to reveal a stash of orbs. “We have Warp Orbs for this very purpose, though only Helin and I know about it. Keep it a researcher’s secret, yes?”
A brief light covered them after Reuniclus crushed the orb. When it cleared, they stood on the final step facing an old, wooden door. Reuniclus pushed it open, gesturing for the two to enter first.
‘Woah. It’s that spacious up here?‘ Ezera thought as his feet touched the porcelain tile. The outside view betrayed the amount of space available inside.
Decorated lanterns were suspended from the vaulted ceiling, surrounded by murals of Zacian and Zamazenta circling the higher walls. The room itself seemed to be divided into three sections, evident by the different equipment and furniture occupying each. A couple desks and a coffee table sat in the first. The second contained varying sizes of electronics and gadgets, with some scattered on the operating table. The third section was completely empty.
In the center of the room, three chestnut bookcases revolved on their own, chock full of papers, books, and encyclopedias.
“Helin, drop what you’re doing! I need you for a quick experiment! Helin?” Reuniclus called. She hovered to the operating table, grabbing a controller similar to the aethoreader. The difference in this controller lied in the glass inserted at the top.
The helioptile used a stepping stool to appear on the opposite end of the operating table. “What, what? If you bothered to look, you would’ve known I’m right here!”
“Let’s not discuss trivial matters such as your lack in height. Remember, think big! Litleo’s brought some-“
“Riu, in the nicest way possible, fu-“
“-critical information we need to dissect. But first, I need you to prepare the aethoscanner,” Reuniclus finished, not missing a beat. She fumbled around for the device, and held it out. Her request was met with silence until Helin took it from her.
“Why are we here?” Litleo asked, stepping over a pointed helmet.
“What you’ve told me makes this a perfecto opportunity to try what I’ve been working on since Oddie’s incident. Not to be confused with the aethoreader, the aethoscanner evaluates a subject’s aether in further detail.”
“And reading my aether will do what?”
“Give us insight into why you were chased, and hopefully prove the device’s effectiveness.”
“Alright, Riu, I’ve charged it with power. Here’s your damn device,” Helin grumbled, handing the remote back.
“Thank you, Helin. Where would I be without your assistance?” Reuniclus said.
“Forgetting where you put it down, likely.”
“This way, everymon.” Reuniclus ushered Ezera and Litleo to the empty section of the room. She had Litleo stand at a painted X on the floor.
“I should warn you, the aethoscanner will emit a light Extrasensory pulse. If you feel any lightheadedness, that is why.” Reuniclus clicked a button. “Begin test number one.”
The remote flew into the air, emitting a low buzz. It circled around Litleo quickly and made odd beeps and clicks as it did so. When it finished, it plopped down to Reuniclus’ hands. The glass on the remote swirled different colors of green and orange.
“Now we wait for the analysis to complete,” she said.
“Is there any reason you stand like that?” Helin asked Ezera, randomly appearing next to him.
Ezera instantly shuffled away, startled by her voice. “Like… what?”
Helin motioned to Ezera’s posture. “That. You stand more upright than the axew anatomy I’ve studied.”
“Is that… not okay to do…?”
Now it was Helin’s turn to look confused. “I’m assuming here, I thought it’d be uncomfortable to hold it for long. Aren’t you tired?”
Ezera glanced behind, imagining leaning forward more. Theoretically he could, but so far he only used it for battling. In walking and other activities, he was far too used to his human nature to change his balance. “Um, not really, no. I’ve been like this my whole life.”
“It’s no wonder Riu calls you a strange pokémon. You should come to the lab more often, for study purposes.”
“It’s done! And it works perfecto,” Reuniclus announced. She brought the glass to her eye level. On its display, the swirls of green and orange took the form of Litleo’s shape in two dimensions. They shone almost blindingly bright in all areas.
The three pokémon unconsciously leaned forward for Reuniclus’ answer. “Litleo, your aether is… intriguing. Everymon’s composition is different, but yours is unlike what I would expect. It’s dense, very dense.”
“Is that a good thing? Bad thing?” Litleo said, raising an eyebrow.
“If I were to surmise, the density might have contributed to you healing quickly. More aether means more energy to spare in the recovery process. Why you have so much is the question… At the very least, we can clearly see why that pokémon chased after you, if it was your aether that drew them.”
Ezera raised his hand. “Can you look at my aether?”
“I was just about to inspect yours, Ezera. Please stand where Litleo was.”
He and Litleo switched spots. Once in place, Reuniclus repeated the procedure. The device sent an invisible but slightly noticeable wave of energy through Ezera. The aethoscanner’s glass began to read the data.
As before, the swirls shaped into a 2D axew. A deep blue and orange appeared throughout, accompanied by streaks of brown flashing spontaneously every few seconds. Unlike Litleo, a singular bright region was his chest, and on top of that, there were tiny splotches of no colors showing at all.
“Even more peculiar. Your aether is, simply put, dense, but not,” Reuniclus stated, levitating a book around her. “It’s mixed in some and not in others.”
“That has to be the least intelligent thing I’ve heard leave your mouth,” Helin commented.
“There’s spots in your aether that the device isn’t able to make out too. I can’t tell what they are. I wonder if it could be attributed to your… unique circumstances.”
“He’s an axew. Nothing unique about that.”
“One day you’ll understand, Helin. Until then, could you take Ezera’s place? I’d like to test our aether to establish a baseline.”
The process repeated twice, with Reuniclus and Helin having the aethoscanner measure their aether. Once the results were in, the four navigated to the coffee table and sat surrounding it. Reuniclus kept herself at the head of it, on account of never touching the ground in the first place.
“If the readings are correct, it seems me and Helin’s aether is thinner compared to either of you,” Reuniclus said, staring between Ezera and Litleo. “See here?” She levitated the device to the middle of the table. The glass displayed Reuniclus’ form in solid, opaque pink, missing any of the brightness Ezera and Litleo had. Helin’s was a plain yellow. “Notice how ours does not shine that brightly?”
“We can’t draw anything from that information yet. They might be odd cases, so what? It’s not unheard of for aether to be concentrated in some more than others,” Helin argued, scribbling in a notepad.
“You could be partially right. For better understanding, I’ll call in the guild members to test them as well. No such thing as too much data.”
“Until I’m the ‘mon who has to sort through it all since you can’t be bothered to do it yourself.”
“And that is precisely why you are my valued assistant!”
Litleo rapped her paw on the glass. “Hate to break your lover’s quarrel, but I’m feeling like this has been a waste of time. I still haven’t gotten an answer if you know who chased me.”
“I apologize Litleo, but I will need time to consider any options,” Reuniclus consoled.
“You don’t have one clue?”
“Unfortunately, no. I am for once, stumped.”
“Great.” Litleo ran a paw through her mane, breathing out. She made eye contact with Ezera. “I suppose that’s it. We play the waiting game again.”
Ezera could see her disappointment and worry, despite the neutral face she wore. He didn’t say anything, instead sending a ‘don’t worry‘ look. She rolled her eyes and prepped to leave.
“Doubtless you have seen, but the Guildmaster ordered most teams to help prepare for tomorrow. You can see Watchog about what your assignment will be,” Reuniclus stated. “And thank you for indulging me. I’ll ping your Linkbeads when I have an update.”
“No problem! It was kinda fun,” Ezera said, “don’t you think, Litleo?”
“Been here, done that. The novelty wears off after a while,” she replied as they left.
Reuniclus watched them for a while, even after they closed the door and vanished. She was missing something. Something that had to do with Litleo. If she solved that clue, all the other explanations would fall into place. “Helin, start pinging the other guild members. We must test their aether right away.”
Litleo stayed in front as she and Ezera descended the long winding staircase of the spire. Her four legs made it easier to find the steps in the dimness, and keep a better balance if she happened to miss one. Were it Ezera in front, he’d trip and end up bruising, or worse, break multiple bones in the process. Not the ideal scenario when she just healed from hers.
“Is it me or was Reuniclus not telling us everything?” Ezera said, running one hand on the stone wall.
“That was obvious. She always has an answer, so for her to tell me she doesn’t have any idea who attacked me? I don’t buy it,” Litleo answered. She spit a flash of an Ember out, enough to illuminate the dark ahead. “I don’t understand what could be so bad she didn’t want to tell us.”
“Yeah…”
“Now we have to deal with promises of answers here, promises of answers there.” She slowly went down a step. “Rockruff was in the middle of asking me a question, but he never got to finish because of the attack. I’ve been going over and over what he wanted to ask. All I have left is the image of him refusing to listen to me… That idiot.” Her pace accelerated, and she freely let her mane warm up. “I’m tired of everymon hiding things!”
Ezera lagged behind a couple steps. “Hey, slow down a bit, the steps aren’t as wide-“
“I already have my brain hiding things from myself! Why can’t there ever be some stupid straight answers to go off o-agh!”
In her heated tirade, Litleo overstepped, resulting in a slide-tumble combination downwards. Luckily, it wasn’t a long ways left down, and mere seconds later she rolled onto the carpeted hallway of the fourth floor. Aside from her throbbing tail, no other parts of her body groaned in pain.
Ezera stumbled into the light, shoulders tense with alarm. “Are you okay?”
Ironic that she tripped instead of him. “I’m fine. My dense aether or whatever probably at work.”
“I don’t think it means you’re indestructible,” he said, offering his hand.
Litleo allowed him to pull her up. “Whatever,” she huffed.
“On the topic of hiding things, is this a good time to tell you I might be hearing a secret voice?”
“Not really, no. But you’ve started, go ahead and finish.”
“Granted, I only heard the voice once at Rugged Crags and it’s been silent since… I just thought you would have good ideas about what I should do.”
“Are you going to tell me what it said?”
“It basically told me to walk to the vortex, nothing else. I’ve…” He leaned in. “Been wondering if it has to do with being human.”
‘Again with the human talk…‘ She created some space between her and Ezera by peeking into the hallway. “Sounds like something Rapidash would want to hear.”
“No offense to her, she’s intimidating. I’d rather keep it between us for now. It hasn’t spoken again, so who knows, maybe I imagined it.” Ezera scratched his neck, glancing away. “I’ve got no clue what to do.”
“If you wanted help investigating it, you don’t need to ask in such a roundabout way,” Litleo said, sighing. “I’ll join you, if that’s what you decide to do. What kind of ‘mon would I be if I didn’t return the favor?”
A grin formed on Ezera. “Heh, the same one you’ve always been- Grumpy.”
Litleo snorted, albeit a little too hard, and covered her face. “I understand if you want to separate for the time being. I’m not sure how long I’ll be grumpy.”
“Eh, I’ve dealt with worse. Let’s just see if Watchog has a job that’ll let you take your frustrations out.”
When they arrived at the commission center, it turned out Watchog did not have any suitable jobs for relieving annoyance. In fact, he had trouble finding one task available for them to begin with.
“I hadn’t planned on you returning so early,” Watchog explained, perplexed. He cycled through the list of tasks written on his sheet of paper. “Though I should be glad. I get anxious when any team doesn’t stay at the guild.”
“We didn’t mean to make you worry,” Litleo muttered.
“We’ll check in with you next time we ever camp the night somewhere. Would that help?” Ezera suggested.
“I would appreciate it, sir.” Watchog tapped his clipboard. “Ah! You may roll out the linen sheets to cover the training ground. Tables cannot be set without that done first. You will find the linen in the lobby already. Contact me on your Linkbead once you have finished.”
“Alrighty! Come on, Litleo.”
They crossed into the lobby and found four, folded linen sheets arranged in a square. Being as long and large as they were, Ezera could carry one in his arms, while Litleo could lay one on her back. They’d need to make two trips, it seemed.
“Let’s get this over with,” Litleo said, padding toward the training grounds.
Dewott happened to be standing right outside. He idly watched at a distance as Corvisquire flew to put up the streamers. Purrloin directed him from below with their respective partners.
“There you are! Are you still helping Yamper and Purrloin?” Ezera asked, stopping by.
“Not really. Turns out Corvisquire’s better at hanging things, and Applin kicked me out of the kitchen,” he signed. His expression resembled that of a delivery ‘mon giving a package to the wrong recipient.
“Wanna grab one of the sheets in the lobby then? There’s still two more.”
“Gladly.“
Litleo noted Dewott’s relieved face to be doing something. Or maybe he was glad to work with them. Not that she purposely eavesdropped, but she caught a snippet of his and Ezera’s conversation while gathering her thoughts last night. ‘Will he really leave the kitchen and join a team?‘ A smirk crawled into her lips. ‘Maybe he will. Ezera got me to form a partnership with him, after all.‘
“I thought you wanted to get this over with!” Ezera called.
‘I’ll have to see about continuing it after getting Rockruff home.’ Litleo moved along to catch up.
The rest of the day continued similarly in tasks, and it wasn’t long until the next morning arrived. The guild members assembled in the lobby, eager to hear what today’s plans were.
Litleo currently waited by herself. Waking up Ezera anytime she was up would look needy on her part. Thus, she settled into surveying her guildmates coming in and messing around, particularly Team Ace nudging the foreheads of Team Piksqueak. Wartortle and Corvisquire came down the stairs panting. Her chance to ponder it slipped as Dewott entered her right side view, nervously tapping his scalchop.
“Hi,” he signed.
“Hey,” Litleo replied, sparing him a glance. ‘This is new. Does he think we’re friends now?‘ She respected his courage.
“Are you excited about today?” His paws went in circles around his chest area.
“Only if they’re still having the sparring game. I want a chance to fight the Guildmaster this time, but I wouldn’t mind winning over a few others.”
“I’d like to see that too. We rarely see the Guildmaster in combat,” Dewott signed, ending it with two fists clashed together.
Litleo realized she needed to return the question. Not everymon was like Ezera and would tell you their opinion if you asked or not. “Anything you’re looking forward to?”
Dewott blushed. “The food. Applin hasn’t let me lend a paw on anything, so it’s going to be my first time not knowing what it tastes like when it’s revealed.“
“You’re in for a treat…” Her sentence trailed off upon observing Sling and Orbeetle enter the lobby. The slowking wickedly grinned at his companion, then at her. Litleo turned away as they resumed their dialogue. ‘Where were they? Why are they coming back now?‘
“Hey guys,” Ezera greeted, jogging to her and Dewott. “Been waiting for me?”
“We’re actually waiting for announcements, but sure, you can say that.”
“Wanna explain why both of you weren’t speaking to each other before I came?”
“Please. We talk just fine without you here,” Litleo scoffed.
“That true, Dewott?”
Dewott’s eyes flitted between Ezera and Litleo, unable to answer. To his benefit, Sirfetch’d got on stage and cleared his throat.
“Good morning, adventurers! I’m sure you know the important announcement I’m going to make. Today marks another year since our predecessors founded the Kaiyo Adventurer’s Guild.”
That earned a round of cheering from the crowd.
“You’ve all worked hard to maintain their legacy, thanks to me no doubt.”
“Good try, Guildmaster!” Vibrava shouted.
Sirfetch’d ruffled his feathers. “Hrmph. Anyhow, not everymon may be present for this occasion, but if the legends will have it, my gut feeling tells me we’ll be reunited soon.”
Litleo felt a few stares come her direction. ‘I hope that’s true…‘
“And as much as we’d like to award you with the entire day off, ‘mon will always need our help,” Rapidash warned, meeting all the members’ eyes individually. “To accommodate for this, the celebration will begin a few hours before dusk. Plan your commissions accordingly! That is all. May the-“
“Heeeey!”
The guild members turned their heads to the voice in the courtyard. Litleo recognized it as Electrike’s instantly. The officer skidded to a stop, glancing wildly at everymon.
“We need the guild’s aid, quick!”
Earlier before Electrike arrived…
“And that should be it. You are free to go, Team Buck,” Reuniclus said, retrieving the aethoscanner as it finished its inspection of Wartortle.
“That’s it? I’m expecting a catch somewhere. With ye lot I’m never sure,” Wartortle commented, frowning.
“I can assure you we have all we need.”
“A breakthrough must be close. You’ve never sounded so urgent calling for everymon,” Corvisquire said, flying to his partner.
“Part of a breakthrough, yes. A full breakthrough will require a little more time,” Reuniclus corrected. She opened the door for them using Psychic. “If you don’t mind.”
Corvisquire and Wartortle bid their goodbyes, then shut the door. Reuniclus approached her rotating bookshelf and waited for it to turn to the ‘History and Events‘ section. She pulled out a frayed red book holding a wooden bookmark.
Helin lounged against the arm of the couch. She scribbled in her notepad the findings, and stopped writing as Reuniclus came into view with the book.
“How many pokémon have we surveyed now?” Reuniclus asked, opening to the bookmarked page.
“Including ourselves, Ezera, and Litleo, twenty-two,” Helin answered.
“I’d say that’s more than enough to come to a conclusion,” Reuniclus remarked, flipping a page. “They are the only outliers.”
“The only two to have dense aether.” Helin glanced up. “Could it be a result of where they lived?”
“Possibly. When we next see Litleo we must ask about her upbringing. I must know if where she grew up was an area of high aether. It’s not natural.”
“What about Ezera?”
“We know enough about him to not need that info.”
Helin dropped the notepad to the side. She clambered onto the coffee table and pulled the book down from Reuniclus’ gaze. “Is there something you’re aware of Ezera that I’m not? I can read you like a book, Riu.”
“Unfortunately, the Vicemaster put me on strict confidentiality about it,” Reuniclus said, looking right at her assistant.
“Keeping me in the dark is something you know I hate.”
“In due time, Helin.”
“Bah, keep your secrets then.” Helin jumped off the table. “What’s in that book you’re reading?”
“Accounts of Eternatus’ behavior, and some rather crude drawings of them. I cannot tell if these match Litleo’s description, but based on the other facts, I’m confident she ran into them,” Reuniclus explained, “which means they are alive… somehow. And if this is true, it is a miracle Litleo made it out.”
Helin’s frills expanded in surprise. Reuniclus had a habit of dumping info in nonchalant statements, and she still wasn’t used to it. “I thought you said you didn’t have a clue who went after her.”
“I always had a clue. I only withheld it for fear of scaring them. Chasing after aether is a hallmark of Eternatus, is it not?”
“Instead of jumping straight to the worst, have you considered there are other pokémon who want aether? Plenty of legendaries like Yveltal, Zygarde, Celebi, Jirachi, and others I can’t be arsed to name all depend on it.”
Reuniclus floated closer to Helin, almost sitting on the couch. “But have you ever heard of them actively targeting pokémon for it?”
“If they did, we wouldn’t know, because they’d be dead to tell us about it,” Helin said flatly.
Reuniclus’ mouth stayed in an ‘O’ shape. “Fair enough. Yet we still can’t deny the dynamax and irregular aether similarities.” She paused, receiving a psychic message from Rapidash. Her face became grave as she faced Helin. “…Understood.”
Helin’s head popped up over the couch’s backside. “What? What’s got you so worried?” she questioned, ears pointed outward.
“I feared this would happen. Grab the aethoscanner, Helin,” Reuniclus ordered. “This will be an event we cannot miss.”
“Multiple dynamaxes have been spotted at Fentil Village!” Electrike exclaimed.
“Multiple? How many is ‘multiple?'” Rapidash asked, eyes narrowing.
Electrike bounced on their feet. “Three! All not themselves. If we don’t stop them there won’t be a village anymore.”
“It’s a sign, yah!”
“Are they going to die just like that oddish?”
“Quiet, adventurers!” Sirfetch’d commanded. He pointed his leek to the sky. “The time for chattering will wait. Our duty as a guild is being tested, and we have to respond. Dynamaxes can be frightening, so I will ask which teams want to help contain them.”
“Obviously we’ll go,” Inteleon said, stepping forward. “We gents can handle a dynamax easily.”
“Us too! I bet Team Ace hasn’t taken on two dynamaxes like we have,” Pichu shouted, propped up by Pachirisu and Morpeko. She looked down at them. “We have taken on two, right?”
“I don’t think so, great leader,” Morpeko answered.
“That’s two teams for two dynamaxes. We require more still,” Rapidash called. No other teams raised their hands.
In the corner of Litleo’s eye, Ezera’s hand twitched. Litleo put a paw on it, shaking her head. ‘This is dangerous, he can’t.‘
“We’ve done one before. This shouldn’t be any different,” Ezera whispered, pulling his hand away. “Are you with me, Dewott?”
“I’m right behind you,” he signed.
A flame ignited in Litleo’s mane. “We were saved with backup. We won’t always have that luxury. Don’t. I’m serious.”
“They need help.”
‘Why now does he decide to have so much confidence?!‘ “Damn it, Ezera. Don’t you dare-“
“We’ll go!” Ezera yelled, raising his other arm.
“Aye! Count us in too!” Wartortle chimed in.
Rapidash nodded, satisfaction crossing her face. “Then we have all the teams needed to deal with the threat. Team Ace and Team Piksqueak will take on one each. Team Buck and… Ezera, Litleo, and Dewott will band together to take on the last. Are your instructions clear?” She received a mixture of yeah’s, got it’s, and yes. “Reuniclus will want field data on this. I will-“
“I’ll go with her,” Sirfetch’d interrupted, jumping off the podium. “You must stay here in case other emergencies pop up.”
“…Very well, Guildmaster.”
“We’d like to tag along for that data, if you would so kindly allow us,” Sling added, curtly bowing.
Rapidash nodded. “Alright. The ultimate goal is to quell the dynamaxed pokémon, and if possible, save them. Use no more force than necessary. I will alert Reuniclus and Helin to depart instantly.”
“Onwards, adventurers!” Sirfetch’d rallied.
Litleo wanted to Double-Slap Ezera’s sheepish grin towards her. Many, many times. For now, she settled on the meanest death glare she could muster. ‘Off we go again to put ourselves in useless danger.‘
“If you have anymore stupid ideas while we’re there, I’m killing you myself,” she stated before briskly leaving him behind.
“I’ll keep it in mind,” Ezera replied, shrugging at Dewott.
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