Chapter 34: Prelude for a Lost Soul
by Nikel“Begin.”
Litleo watched the projection with bated breath. If she was paying attention to Omnipast itself, she would’ve noticed the slight cracks start to form on the sphere’s surface.
That wasn’t where her head was at though. Instead, she wondered how long it had been since she saw and heard Rockruff personally.
“I can’t get over how they actually made us take time off,” projection Rockruff remarked, happily going up a hill’s incline.
His voice brought warmth and pain to her.
“They just don’t want their star team suddenly collapsing,” projection Litleo said, right behind him. “Or advancing too fast.”
“Piksqueak would shock you if they heard you say that.“
“They’re not here, are they?“
“Doesn’t matter if I tell them later,” projection Rockruff teased, looking smug.
Projection Litleo rolled her eyes. “You’d snitch on me? Now I know what kind of pokemon you are.“
He was the kind she wanted back.
Rockruff and Litleo traveled side by side in content silence, going through the gentle hills under the expanse of the starry sky. The two of them weren’t out here for a commission, but for another, simpler reason— they wanted to take a walk.
The hills bordering the guild weren’t as steep as the ones near Kaiyo Town, making them a perfect place to simply be for a bit. Rockruff had come here once or twice when he tried to find his footing before joining the guild. Those days seemed so far to him now.
“I can’t get over how they actually made us take time off,” Rockruff remarked, going up a hill’s incline. ‘Who knew being good at your job could be a bad thing.‘
“They just don’t want their star team suddenly collapsing,” Litleo said, behind him. “Or advancing too fast.”
“Piksqueak would shock you if they heard you say that.”
“They’re not here, are they?”
“Doesn’t matter if I tell them later,” Rockruff teased, putting on his smug face.
Litleo rolled her eyes. “You’d snitch on me? Now I know what kind of pokémon you are.”
‘And I know what kind of pokémon you are under that face you put up.‘ Rockruff flashed a grin. “Hopefully the kind you rely on!”
“Uh huh. You just told me you’d snitch!”
“There’s a difference, I said if.”
“Okay mister semantic,” she replied, scoffing. “See if I ask you to back me up in a pinch.”
Rockruff kept on grinning. For her, saying one thing usually meant the opposite. He’d never known a pokémon to talk that way before, but it sure made conversation interesting.
Although, it did make it hard to tell when she was being serious or not. In truth, Rockruff found Litleo to be a little distant recently- more so than her usual distant-ness. He could tell there was something gnawing at her. Was she burned out by how many commissions they were doing? Or dissatisfied with the work as a whole?
Litleo had gotten better at voicing such things since their chat about their families, but she still kept to her protective ways.
Rockruff supposed it couldn’t be helped. She would say it when she was ready. Hopefully bringing her out here brought the same peace it did for him.
“How far are we going?” Litleo asked, wrangling him to attention.
“I didn’t really have a distance in mind. Just until one of us got bored. Are you?” he replied.
“…No, not yet.”
They kept on walking, letting the mild wind caress their fur. Faint hints of wildflowers and the ocean’s saltiness tickled their sinuses.
“I never knew stars could be so pretty. Tells you how much I look up,” Litleo commented, craning her head skyward.
“They’ve always been pretty,” Rockruff replied, doing the same.
“I suppose. Light pollution makes you forget that…”
“Light pollution?”
“Yeah. When you have too many lights it makes the night brighter, which blots out the stars.”
Rockruff lightly hummed. “I’ve never heard of that before.” He tried picturing a blank night sky, one full of black and purple darkness. “It sounds awful.”
“You shouldn’t worry about it. It’s uh… not applicable to us anyway,” Litleo said, looking away.
‘Why is she nervous over that? Maybe these commissions ARE taking a toll…‘ Time for a different but still related topic. “Have you ever looked at the stars and wonder what causes them to twinkle like that?” Rockruff asked, stopping and putting down their team’s bag.
Litleo raised an eyebrow. “Once or twice.”
“My pop told me and my sister a story once, that souls who don’t want to stay on this planet, but want to journey into the great world, they become stars. The light they emit is them traveling, and serving as a guide for others.”
“That’s a fun way to think about it,” Litleo admitted. “I find them pretty but that’s it.” She paused for a moment, before saying, “You know there’s a scientific reason-“
“Heyyysshhhnonono! You have to think bigger than that!” Rockruff interrupted, rapidly waving a forepaw in front of her mouth. “Science takes the fun out of it.”
Litleo was taken aback, blinking at him. “Okay, won’t mention it. But you do know how they work, right?”
“Not really. I don’t want to either. I like my pop’s interpretation.”
“…Hm, I see.”
He continued looking up. “When I go, I think I’ll be a star too.”
A small smile appeared at the tips of Litleo’s mouth. “You’d fit it.” She played with the grass at her feet, staring down. “I don’t think I could be a star.”
Rockruff’s tail stilled. ‘Oh?‘ “Couldn’t, or don’t want to?”
“It’s…” She bit her lip, exhaling. “Can I ask why you stick around with me?”
Rockruff tilted his head, ears flopping to the side. “What reason do I have not to?”
“Because- well, I can’t think of one right now…“
“There’s your answer.”
Litleo frowned. “I worry it- this,” she said, waving her paw between them, “won’t last. Either we’ll get into a nasty argument or you’ll find somebody better and drift away.”
“Hey,” Rockruff started, “do you think I’d leave you like that?”
Litleo’s frown deepened. “No.” She muttered under her breath, “But I can’t stop myself from thinking it.”
“I can guarantee that there’s no ‘mon better than you,” he answered with a smirk, putting his paw on hers.
Litleo let it sit there for a second before retracting it.
“Why do you think we’d argue though?” Rockruff went on, not bothered by the motion. “We never have. At least, not majorly.”
“Everyone fights eventually. That’s-” Litleo seemingly searched for another word instead of the one she was about to say. “Our nature.”
“Fights get resolved,” he countered. “That’s also our nature.”
“Some don’t.”
“You know me, if we have a fight it’s getting resolved, no matter what. You’re willing to do the same, aren’t you?” Rockruff said, locking eyes.
Litleo nodded. “Of course.”
“Then whaddaya have to worry about?”
She stayed silent, mouth opening ever so slightly, then closing.
“As long as you don’t lie all the time, we’ll be right as right as Kyogre’s rains!”
“All the time? Are you giving me permission to occasionally lie?”
“Hehe, gotta have some secrets, don’t we?” Rockruff said. “Maybe not major ones though.”
“…Yeah,” Litleo replied, expression softening. She used a claw to pull on her orange scarf slightly. “I still have to tell you the rest of where I come from.”
Rockruff could see some of Litleo’s fears dissipate. ‘It’s not everything, but better than nothing!‘ “Why don’t we go into Kaiyo Town?”
“Now? What for?”
“Maybe we can catch one of the theater’s shows. Might as well make use of the ‘time off.'”
“That’d be nice, assuming there’s still seats.”
Rockruff began to jog. “Don’t be slow and there will be.”
“Bet I can beat you.” Litleo ran ahead of him.
“You wish!”
The next morning, Rockruff and Litleo were still under the leaders’ orders to limit themselves to one commission, or none at all if they so chose to. After finishing up roll call, they turned to one another to decide their plans for the day.
“Commission or no commission?” Rockruff asked, laying a paw on their satchel.
“Honestly, I could go without doing one. We have been working hard,” Litleo answered, flicking her tail. “What’ll we do instead, I’ve no idea.”
“There’s not much recreational stuff in Kaiyo Town left for us to do. All the fun things come out during the festival,” he remarked, thinking about the various games.
“That’s not happening anytime soon.” Litleo glanced at the courtyard. “I’ve been wanting to go back to Sawk and Throh’s dojo. I could use the help.”
“You sure could.”
Litleo’s gaze snapped to him. “You want to say that again?”
“I’m good.” Rockruff grinned. “I’ll do some shopping in the meantime.”
“You better not get any secret gifts again,” Litleo stated, squinting at him.
“And what if I did?”
“Don’t even think about it. I’ll reject it.”
“That sounds like a yeeesss,” he chirped in a sing song manner.
“Shut up, I’m serious!” Litleo said, mane starting to flare.
“I’m serious too.”
Litleo threatened to whack his head by raising her paw.
“So violent! Maybe that’s how we’ll stop being partners. I’ll be too brittle and broken to do anything.” He feigned a hobble going forward.
She stifled a snort, putting her paw down. “You’re lucky I have paws and not fists.”
“And you’re lucky I’m pretty strong,” he said, returning to his normal posture. “Shall I lead, Miss Leo?”
“Be my guest, Ruff Ruff.”
Rockruff’s brow furrowed. “Now you’re saying it totally wrong on purpose.”
Litleo smirked as she slipped by him.
‘It’s not that funny of a name… is it?‘
The duo made it to Kaiyo Town relatively quickly. Combining their naturally fast walking speed with friendly bantering, it was almost like no time passed at all. They weaved through the daily flow of pokémon before arriving at the dojo. Litleo went inside with the bag to pay, then reemerged to give it back.
“Want to meet here when I’m done? Should take a few hours if previous sessions are something to go by,” Litleo suggested.
“That works,” Rockruff said. “Have fun! Tell them I said hi.”
“Will do. You go enjoy buying whatever.” Litleo disappeared through the doors, waving her tail behind her.
Rockruff actually didn’t know what he was buying, if anything for that matter. Since he gave Litleo a gift, he’d been entertaining the idea of giving Roca one, maybe even the settlement’s kids too. Unfortunately, he didn’t know anymore lost treasure type areas, so he’d have to settle for Kaiyo Town wares. Were there any special handmade things here?
He walked to the shopping district, deciding to resupply items their team needed first. Escape Orbs, berries, and various seeds were swiftly purchased and thrown into the satchel. However, before he moved on…
“Kecleon, do you know of any specialty or novelty stores?” Rockruff asked, putting his paws on the wooden counter. “Places that sell one of a kind things?”
Purple Kecleon motioned to another customer to hold. “Local or continent-wide?”
“Preferably local, like here. Not food related either.”
The store owner crossed his arms, staring out. “That’s a little tough. There’s Scrafty, he’s a charm maker. Then you got Polteageist, she makes wards and other interesting ceramics. Any others I know you’ll have to venture out to other towns.”
“Hmm, I’ll keep them in mind. Thank you!”
“Thank you for your business!”
With that out of the way, Rockruff browsed the lesser known stalls for something that would pique Roca’s interests. Much like Litleo, she wasn’t inclined toward valuables or decorative stuff. Add on to the fact that the item couldn’t look too “towny,” his search criteria dwindled quite drastically.
Moments like these made him wish letters could be delivered to wildmon settlements. Roca would appreciate the updates more than any other gift he could think of. He’d theoretically send her a letter a week, telling her what’s happening or coaxing her to come down to Kaiyo Town. She could send a letter back, telling him to quit the guild still, or discuss the next random trouble the children got into.
Perhaps Rockruff could pitch the idea or start it up himself. Though that begged the question of who else would use it, because how many townsmon and wildmon actually communicated beside himself?
He entertained himself the next couple of hours, browsing but ultimately acquiring nothing. Rockruff had just turned the corner to another street when his ears picked up an elderly voice barely audible over the traffic of pokémon.
“Can you help…? A moment of your time…?”
‘Is it just a solicitor?‘ He angled his ears to better pinpoint the voice.
“Anymon, please?”
‘It seems to come from the floor so they’re not very tall.‘ Rockruff jumped in place to catch a glimpse of the mystery speaker. The pokémon walking behind him grumbled and made their annoyance known, but he ignored it.
‘Where are they?‘
He could try and find some vantage point, but logic told him the speaker had to be situated either in an alley or next to some buildings. He’d find them eventually, wouldn’t he?
Rockruff went along with the flow of traffic, keeping an eye out. When it seemed the speaker got quieter, he backtracked and went into the opposite flow. It was when he reached a restaurant’s patio that he identified the ‘mon in need— a furret.
The furret had many graying hairs, and his eyes harbored signs of weathered age. His hunched over posture only added to his elderly appearance, and a pouch hung around his waist.
“Hiya, sir, what seems to be the issue?” Rockruff greeted, putting on a friendly smile.
“Can I-” Furret faltered as he realized his shouting finally attracted somemon over. “Oh, are you-?” he started, recoiling.
“Rockruff, part of the Kaiyo Adventurers’ Guild!” he finished. He flashed the badge on his scarf.
“Th- that’s nice but I’m sorry, you can’t help me,” Furret replied, averting his eyes.
“Why’s that?” Rockruff asked, never one to back down. It was clear to him the ‘mon on the street were too busy to care. Furret would be here forever.
“This isn’t something I can give to the guild.”
“Would you mind telling me what it is? We don’t mind doing special stuff.”
“I’d… I’d like an escort,” Furret answered, briefly meeting Rockruff’s gaze. “It’s to see my late wife.”
“Oh, the guild does plenty of escorts-“
“I know, I know… It’s really personal for me so I’d like not to have it officially on paper… and I can’t pay much either.”
“Hmm, is that so?” Rockruff studied Furret’s flitting gaze. So personal that he couldn’t take it to the guild? The signs pointed to suspicious activity. If Litleo was here, she’d be telling him to stay faaaaar, far away.
‘What are the chances an elderly ‘mon is actually harboring malicious intent?‘
“More likely than you think,” he imagined Litleo saying.
Well, like he always said, he could help, so let nothing stop him but skrelp!
“Me and my partner can take ya, under the radar if that’s what you want,” Rockruff stated, lowering himself to Furret’s eye level.
Furret’s back straightened slightly. “You can? You- you would?”
“Yup! Don’t worry, it can be as secret as you need it to be. And don’t worry about payment either.”
“Oh- thank you, thank you! I’ll pay whatever I can, I promise!” The burst of excitement left Furret short on breath, and he heaved in and out to regain it.
“Are you okay?” Rockruff asked, holding out a forepaw and frowning.
“Yes, yes, I’m okay. These bones haven’t gotten this excited in a while…” Furret dropped down to all fours. “Oh, I can’t wait to tell Frenn…”
‘Is he even in a state to make a trip?‘ Rockruff mused. “You should head home, sir. No need to wear yourself out more than necessary. We can swing by wherever you live tomorrow to pick you up.”
“That’d be wonderful. Did you want me to tell you the address or write it somehow…?”
Rockruff shook his head. “How about I walk you home? I’ll remember that way.” ‘And to make sure you get there in one piece.‘
“I live in the lower district, are you sure?” Furret said.
“Sure am!” Rockruff put one paw into the traffic. “Stay right beside me, I don’t want ya getting caught out.”
He and Furret reentered the busy street. Rockruff had to wonder how Furret didn’t get hurt coming here; the elder ‘mon’s slow pace easily warranted being shoved to the side or worse. Once they made it to the main plaza, Rockruff relaxed. While still busy, there was more space to breathe since only the less important buildings were situated here.
“Before I forget, where would you like to be escorted to?” Rockruff asked, glancing at Furret.
“It’s a…” Furret’s voice quieted. “Sacred territory between Verdan Forest and Mystic Fane. I know it’s out of the way.”
‘Wildmon territory? Does that mean his wife is…?‘ Rockruff could ask for specifics tomorrow. From the sound of it, they’d have plenty of time to. “I getcha. I’m from Rugged Crags, we’re about as out of the way as you can get.”
“Oh, you- you’re wild? You don’t look wild,” Furret said. “Must be lucky.”
Lucky that he didn’t look wild when his neck was covered? Rockruff wasn’t sure he agreed with that.
“My wife wanted to pass as a townsmon. I told her I could leave and join her in the forest, but she didn’t want that. Not for me or Frenn.”
“Frenn is your…?”
“Daughter.”
“Ah. That’s valiant of your wife,” Rockruff remarked.
Furret wore a proud smile. “Oh yes, she helped keep this town from being boring.”
They had crossed into the lower district by that point. On their right, they walked by a tea store named ‘Tealicious’ with a monferno owner.
“Good morning, Mr. Furret, any tea today?” Monferno asked, leaning out from the window opening of his shop.
“Oh no, not today. Another time,” Furret replied.
Monferno nodded as they continued on their way. Soon Rockruff and Furret reached their final destination— An acorn shaped home with a tiny lawn. The wind chime next to the door jingled away.
“I’ll wait here tomorrow?” Furret double checked, opening the front door.
“Yes sir. We’ll arrive as early as we can,” Rockruff said.
“Bless your heart, Rockruff.”
“It’s nothing! Have an amazing day.”
Rockruff walked away with a pep in his step, satisfied at his contribution to cheering somemon up. It then quickly occurred to him that he forgot about his plan to buy gifts for the settlement. While it was a bummer he didn’t have anything, there’d always be another day to go search.
‘Hm, since I didn’t get anything, I could save the change. Or I could let us indulge a little bit…‘ A smirk grew on his face.
Before returning to the dojo, Rockruff paid a visit to Alcremie’s bakery. He bought himself a Liechi Berry pastry, and for Litleo a Grepa muffin. She’d probably be hungry from all the fighting.
Litleo was waiting for him already when he pulled up.
“How do you do, ma’am? Here you go!” Rockruff announced, sliding the paper bag to her.
“I thought I explicitly said no gifts,” Litleo instantly replied, stopping it.
“It’s just food. That’s not a gift.”
She peeked in the bag. “Hm. Thanks. Did you buy anything other than food?” she asked, glancing up.
“Nope.” Rockruff’s ears flattened. “Didn’t see anything my sister or the settlement would like.”
“I didn’t know you were shopping for her.”
“It was an impulse thing. I can look another time.”
“Let me help when you do. Doesn’t hurt to have a second opinion,” Litleo said as he nibbled on the corner of his pastry.
“I’ll remember that,” he replied, crumbs falling off his mouth.
“Seriously? Don’t talk while you’re chewing.”
“I just love these darn things,” Rockruff said, promptly ignoring her pleas.
“Are they your favorite?” she said, sighing.
“One of them! This and Pinap are close.” Rockruff finally swallowed the bite. “Should we find somewhere better to eat?”
“As long as you aren’t going to be talking with mouthfuls the entire time.”
The day came and went as Team Ardor spent their time at Kaiyo Town chilling out. Even after all that, they couldn’t help themselves and ended up doing one easy commission anyway— idling wasn’t either of their strong suits.
Later that night, after showering off the day’s grime, Rockruff approached Litleo by the archway of their quarters.
“Hey, so… slightly important note, I took an off the books request,” Rockruff softly said.
“Huh? Off the books? Is that safe?” Litleo asked, raising her eyebrow.
“Define safe.”
“Um, the client is trustworthy, you know the specific details of the request, and it doesn’t involve something in the middle of nowhere?” she listed rapidly.
“Hehe… by those standards I’ve taken the most dangerous request there is.”
“Rockruff!”
“They looked so desperate, how could I say no?” Rockruff’s eyes widened in a pleading expression. He put up his forepaws, letting them go limp. “And besides, I’ve got you. There’s no safer place to be!”
“Ha-ha. I’m not sure about off the books… my gut is telling me we should stay away,” Litleo insisted, frowning. “Off the books means shady characters.”
“At least meet them first, then judge,” Rockruff chided, giving her a playful push. “Whaddaya say? We can leave first thing when we wake up.”
“I can tell you already made up your mind. Fine,” Litleo replied. She messed up the fur atop his head in return. “But if there’s any sign of danger we are leaving. Deal?”
Rockruff nodded. “Yes, ma’am!” He jumped up to their cushions. “You should feel honored, I only get to be reckless with you!”
“Yeah, that just means I should stop being an enabler…”
Rockruff awoke to a sprinkle of rain the next day. Dark gray clouds covered the sky, indicating it would only get worse. He observed the droplets from their quarters’ window in contemplation.
‘Hmmm, we’re going to be hiking in that. I wonder if we could upgrade scarves to cloaks. That’d be neat,‘ Rockruff mused.
Litleo stirred after hearing him shuffle. “…Is that rain?”
“Morning, Miss Leo. You’d be right,” Rockruff affirmed.
“Great, walking in the rain, my favorite activity,” she groaned, half muffled since she put her face in the pillow.
“The rain will last longer if you say that.”
“Maybe it’s a sign you shouldn’t take secret commissions.”
Rockruff grabbed his gifted scarves and threw it over her face.
“What- hey!” Litleo pawed it off and sat up.
Rockruff was already below on the floor, grinning with the satchel on his side. “Are you just going to take that?”
“I’m not playing your game. I’m better than that.” She tucked the scarves back into their hidden spot under a couple cushions. Dropping down, she briefly observed the window again. “Does the guild have any blankets?”
“There might be some small ones in the infirmary. Whatcha need it for?”
“If it’s going to rain we should have something to cover ourselves. At least keep some heat in.”
Rockruff’s eyes widened. “Hey, good idea.”
“Geez, don’t act too surprised.”
“It was a compliment!”
Once they grabbed two small blankets, Team Ardor quietly left the guild behind. Rockruff considered leaving a note, but their team had free reign. Plus, they’d be back by day’s end— tomorrow morning at the latest.
Going into Kaiyo Town this early gave them a rare sight of mostly empty streets. The vendors and shops were all shuttered and locked, while the few pokémon roaming around were part of the police or those who just arrived by sea.
Taking the same route as yesterday, Rockruff and Litleo approached Furret’s house. He rapped on the door, perking one ear up to listen for footsteps on the inside. Sure enough, Furret opened the door not too long after.
“You- you came!” Furret greeted, barely above a whisper.
“Of course, I said I would,” Rockruff said, matching the energy.
“Why are we speaking so quietly?” Litleo whispered.
Furret hastily glanced back. “My daughter’s still sleeping.” He stepped out, gently closing the door. “I’m ready to go.”
“That’s all you need?” Litleo eyed the skinny pouch around Furret’s waist.
“Oh yes, plenty of food to tide me over in here.” Furret suddenly grabbed Litleo’s paw. “You’re Rockruff’s partner? Thank you, thank you for agreeing to this.”
Litleo blinked at the abrupt gesture. “I didn’t- um…” She looked away, embarrassed. “You’re welcome, I suppose.”
Rockruff giggled at the sight. He knew Litleo would see Furret didn’t mean any harm. “Where to, Furret? I know you said the border between the forests but I’m not too familiar with that area.”
“It’s not too complicated. We can head through the north gate. When we get closer I’ll tell you how to identify it,” Furret responded.
“Alrighty. Just let us know if you get cold on the way, we can stop and try to warm up with our resident fire-type.”
“I don’t know what you expect me to do. Can’t exactly make a fire in this rain,” Litleo commented. “I’m not blasting you with Ember either.”
“You are the fire,” Rockruff explained. “Being close to you is enough.”
“Pft. We’ll see.”
As it turned out, the sprinkle temporarily ceased not long after Team Ardor and Furret departed Kaiyo Town, meaning there’d be no need for her fire. Although, that did nothing to alleviate the wet grass underneath their paws. Rockruff made sure to keep a close eye on Furret during the inclines and declines of the hills.
He quickly noticed how Furret was moving faster than when they initially met. Was it because Furret was excited or because he didn’t want to slow him and Litleo down?
“We can cut back on the pace if you want,” Rockruff checked.
“No, no. This is good,” Furret said, panting.
“It’s really no problem.”
“I can take it,” Furret insisted. “This is the route I took to see my wife all the time.”
Rockruff shared a look with Litleo. She sent him something along the lines of “definitely lying.“
Rockruff opted for an easy solution. If he didn’t want to change, the next best thing they could do was distract him. “Furret, sir, since you mentioned her, could you tell us the story of how you met your wife?”
Furret instantly smiled. “O- oh, that? It was some business trip to the Mystic Fane territory,” he began. His voice took on a confidence previously unheard of. “If you don’t know, Mystic Fane has trees that reappear and disappear almost every minute. I got separated from my coworkers. As I tried to find the entrance again, imagine my surprise when this dazzling linoone pops in front of me. In the quietest voice possible she asks me, ‘Are you lost, or kinda stupid?'”
Litleo snorted. “That’s a good question,” she mumbled.
“We stood there staring for some time. My mouth was as wide as a golbat. Turned out I trampled over this garden she was growing.” Furret chuckled, sighing. “I finally told her, ‘Lost.’ Then she grabbed my paw and started leading me out.”
“She wasn’t mad at you?” Rockruff asked.
“No, no. She was very calm about it.”
“Hm. What happened then?”
“I promised to come back and bring her new plants. That made her excited. She loved anything botanical.” Furret slowed down as he thought. “From there we met whenever we could. Those days were the best.”
As he went on about their relationship, Rockruff made sure to listen attentively. Not only would this be great material for Salna, but it gave him hope that more townsmon and wildmon could be together one day— No more of that separated nonsense or that one was better and stronger than the other. True strength was about being united, at least to him.
Halfway through their journey, the rain started again, upgrading from a light sprinkle to a steady downpour. Rockruff hoped it lasted only for a short while.
“Oh, thank you for letting me speak so freely,” Furret said, catching some of the rain in his mouth. “It does my heart good to reminisce.”
“Thanks for sharing the story,” Rockruff replied. “It’s a shame you couldn’t make your bond official. The town never would recognize a townsmon and wildmon together.”
“It wasn’t a big deal. We called ourselves whatever we wanted, official documents be damned.”
Litleo broke her silence after being absent from the conversation. “What is the system for having your relationship become official?”
“I think the town calls it Bonding, right?” Rockruff answered, earning a nod from Furret. “And those who go through the process are Bound. It might involve some exchange of words and being linked together for a day.”
“That sounds… pretty extreme,” Litleo said, concern written over her expression.
“In the settlement it’s pretty simple, you just tell the chief you want to be recognized as Bound and that’s it. That might differ for other settlements though.”
“Sometimes I get the feeling the civilized society is more backwards.”
Rockruff chuckled. “It’s different perspectives of tradition. Which one would you have done if given the choice, Furret?”
“I would choose… hmm… I’d choose…” Furret shook off some of the water dripping over his eyes. “I’d choose the town version. Being linked would be a blessing, and fun.”
“I’d do the same.” He turned to Litleo. “I know what you would choose,” Rockruff said, sticking out his tongue.
“Wildmon way. No fuss, no hassle,” she said.
Their trek went on for a couple more hours. The rain didn’t let up, meaning cold was at the forefront of their minds for the most part. Rockruff and Litleo seemed to have the same idea that Furret would use one of the blankets they brought. They draped it over the normal-type, having Litleo keep close to him for a bit to warm it. It wasn’t dry, but it beat being purely cold.
When the tree line came into sight, Furret announced, “Look at that! We’ll see some pink trees soon. We’re almost there.”
“Great! I think we’re all due for a break too,” Rockruff remarked. ‘And maybe some shelter if we’re lucky?‘
Like Furret said, pink leaf trees surrounded them as they went further in. The townsmon took the lead, staying at the head of the group until he stumbled across a ring of bramble patches.
The opening was unguarded, allowing the three pokémon to enter without a fuss. Rockruff and Litleo gasped at the scene. A sea of sparkling azure flowers stole their attention first, glowing like lanturn lights amidst a darkened ocean. Following that were the six tree saplings up ahead, each respectively conveying one color of the rainbow.
Rockruff bounced from side to side, tail wagging and forgetting about the rain. “How priceless!”
“You can see why we liked this place so much,” Furret explained, looking at the stone altar resting deeper in. “I’ll be… saying my piece.” He began making his way to it.
“Gotcha. We’ll be here.” Rockruff glanced over the area for any suitable spots to get out of the rain. He found none, and seeing as he didn’t want to ruin the scenery, picked a patch of grass that didn’t have many flowers to sit on.
“Furret’s story is inspiring, don’tcha think?” he asked Litleo.
Litleo plopped down next to him. “Yeah. Rare to see two pokémon stay together that long. Especially if they’re from different backgrounds.”
“I wonder how many others have similar stories, secretly meeting because of some self-imposed barriers. I wish we could open it up.”
“Could be a lot. It’s not something you can fix in a day. I doubt years is long enough either. How long have these disputes been going on again?”
“I guess it’d be… when Calyrex made the first town?” Rockruff said, leaning his head to one side.
“Yeah, so hundreds and hundreds of years worth of rivalry.”
“Never hurts to try.”
“You can try, but you only have so much energy. If they don’t want to change, what do you do then?” Litleo asked, facing him.
“We can find a reason. No ‘mon can’t be persuaded.”
“That’d be nice if it were true.”
Rockruff poked her ribs, pretending to pout. “You’re being negative again.”
“Sorry, it’s just being realistic,” Litleo said, swiping her mane. “How do you think the world got to where it is today?”
“Not by being realistic, that’s for sure.”
“You’re saying dreaming got it here?”
“Who’s to say it didn’t?”
“Technically dreamers have to be realistic to build what they want.”
“How do you know what’s real if you don’t dream for more?” Rockruff argued.
Litleo pondered that for a moment. “Okay, we’ll be going in a circle at this rate. I see your point, though.” She smirked. “‘Mine still stands.”
Rockruff returned it with his own grin. “So does mine.” He redirected his gaze to Furret. “We should use an Escape Orb on him when he’s done.”
“I know he’s old but… do we really have to?” Litleo opened the top of their bag, sighing.
“We can walk ourselves out of here. I’d rather Furret take it easy on his legs,” Rockruff elaborated.
“Remind me why we only carry around two Escape Orbs.”
“For opportunities like this! You don’t want to take in the pretty sights?”
“We’re standing in the equivalent of a holy place, I’m sure it’s not supposed to be used for sightseeing.” She inhaled, taking in the scent. “I always did like this smell.”
“What, of rain?” Rockruff asked, huddling up to her. From being in the rain so long, his and Litleo’s fur were soaked to the bone, but thankfully being next to her helped him not think about it. He couldn’t say the same for his partner, however.
“Kind of. It’s a mix between rain and earth. Petrichor, they call it,” she said, noticing the movement but not doing anything about it.
“Hmm… I see.” Rockruff watched Furret lay his head against the base of the altar. “And you thought we should’ve stayed away from his request.”
Litleo hip checked him. “I’m not going to say I was wrong. It was a valid concern.”
“Wasn’t expecting you to. That’s one point for me and one less for you, though.”
“When did we start counting points? On what scoring system?”
“Me being right and you being wrong.”
“You’re starting out with negative points,” she scoffed.
Woosh! A sudden wind rushed around them as a shadow passed overhead.
“What was that?” Litleo said, glancing up.
Rockruff sniffed the air, not detecting anything aside from ‘petrichor.’ “I don’t know, could be somemon flying by.”
“Maybe…” She kept her gaze trained there.
While they were distracted, Furret had plodded over to them. He reached into his pouch and took out one hundred Poké. “I’ve finished paying my respects. You have no idea how much this means to me. Thank you, thank you.” It was hard to tell if Furret was crying or the rain.
“Hey, it’s always a pleasure to help out honest ‘mon in need,” Rockruff said. “You don’t have to pay us-“
“No, no, you must accept. I have to give something.”
“Just take it,” Litleo whispered.
Rockruff reluctantly took the payment. “Did you say everything you wanted to?”
“Oh yes, and more. I hope she heard.”
“I’m sure she did. Are you ready to go?”
“I am. I should be okay making the journey home alone, unless you both are coming?”
“We might.” Rockruff side eyed Litleo, who was still occupied surveying the air. “We’re deciding if we want to stay here for a bit. Make the most out of the view.”
“The spirits wouldn’t mind two blessed souls like you.” Furret started taking off the blanket they gave him.
“Please, keep it,” Rockruff said, holding out a forepaw. “You need to stay warm.”
“Oh- if you insist. You take care now.”
Rockruff smiled and rolled the Escape Orb out, sending Furret to the start of the forest. “Well, did you want to leave yet?”
“I’m fine, I don’t know about you,” Litleo replied, relenting on the sky watch. “Are you cold?”
“Hehe, nothing a little body heat won’t fix.” He let his tail come to rest next to hers.
Litleo didn’t move hers. He heard her witty retort die out, and instead she pressed up against his body. Sitting in the rain wasn’t Rockruff’s first choice of hanging out with Litleo, but he wasn’t going to complain.
He lost track of how long they stayed like that. In the rain, soaking up the fairytale-like scene before them. He wanted to preserve it forever— in a painting, if he could.
“Seeing Furret talk to the altar made me wonder if my parents think of me,” Rockruff commented.
Litleo leaned her head forward, peering at him. “I suppose no one knows where they are?”
“No. Maybe I’m just not meant to know.”
Litleo eyed the altar. “What would you say if you met them?”
“Maybe…” Rockruff pictured two lycanroc standing in front of him; he assumed they were lycanroc, anyway. They could be rockruff for all he knew, but for simplicity’s sake he made them Day Form lycanroc. “I hope you’re proud of how I’m doing, and Roca. We’re shaping our own futures.”
“Short, simple. I like that,” Litleo said.
“Do you have anymon you’d like to say things to?”
“Um…” She shuffled her paws, thinking. “Just one. Only that I hope they’re doing well, and try not to think of me too much.”
Rockruff could only wonder who that mystery one was. “There is another thing I’d tell my parents. About this weird ‘mon who changed my life for the better.”
“You can’t be serious.” Litleo laughed for a second, shaking her head. “Ugh, I’m gonna gag. You’re so corny and mushy, you know that?”
To other ‘mon, they’d try hard to avoid being called that. Rockruff reveled in it. “Litleo…” he started. “I’ve been meaning to ask this for a while now. And, you know, it never seemed appropriate, so this seems as good a time as any. I have to ask… Are you-“
“I thought I picked up an odd presence! Your aether… it caaaallllls to me,” a metallic voice rasped.
Both of them jumped to their feet and went back to back.
“Shoot, your question will have to wait. Ghost-type, you think?” Litleo said, scanning around.
“No. Too sinister. I’m getting only bad news from them,” Rockruff answered, eyes darting side to side.
“I can tell you I’m muuuuuch better than any old Ghost-type,” the voice said.
“Are we fighting?” Litleo asked. Her mane started to simmer.
A reddish haze descended from above, somehow using the clouds to obscure their body. A sharp tipped tail stuck out from it, as well as a pair of thin, metal claws. The left claw gripped the corner of the altar, scraping into the stone. “Resistance? I think not.“
“We’re running.” Light encased them as Rockruff smashed their second Escape Orb.
“A game?! Fine. Your little trinkets won’t save you. I’ll give until the count of three. One.“
The cloudy haze sliced through one field of rainflowers, mowing the heads to itty bitty pieces.
“Two.“
SLAM! The haze’s tail smashed down. Another patch of flowers were completely smushed.
“Three.“
They scooped a batch of rainflowers in one claw. All became a wilted gray almost instantly.
“Eternatus… doesn’t lose.“
Rockruff and Litleo reappeared on the outskirts of the forest. Furret was nowhere to be seen, which Rockruff took as a good sign.
“What the hell was that?” Litleo asked, her tail pointed straight up. She looked inward to where they just were at. “Was that a pokémon?”
“Don’t know, but whatever they are we should try and get some distance,” Rockruff replied. His mind and heart worked overtime planning what to do. He could feel that pokémon was dangerous. Real dangerous.
“I agree.”
Rockruff tapped the Linkbead on his badge, but received fizzling noises in response. “Something’s interfering with the Linkbead.”
Litleo muttered a curse under her breath. “Could be from the rain.”
“Nothing we can do about it. We should just see if we can reach a drier area first. Being cold won’t help us run.”
“Where to? If we want to get backup the plains is open but shorter, and if we go Verdan Forest’s direction we’ll have cover but take longer.”
“Both options will take us at least six hours minimum to reach town…” Rockruff paced back and forth. “Let’s go Verdan Forest’s way. If that pokémon is chasing us, the trees will make it harder for them to see.”
Litleo placed a paw on his back. “I’m following your lead, Rockruff.”
He broke into a run, which Litleo quickly matched. The clouded pokémon’s words bogged down his thoughts. ‘Why do they want aether? Who says that?‘
No matter, they just needed to get far enough to lose the scent. Once they could use the Linkbead, they could call for assistance too.
The duo ran until their lungs burned, and even then pushed it harder and harder. Each gulp of chilly air stabbed and prickled their throats. At some point the pain faded, simply becoming a battle of their willpower to keep going. Eventually they had to slow down, or else they risked blacking out.
Adopting a sprint-walk-sprint pace appeared to work for them. They made decent headway, which Rockruff surmised to have gotten them at least a quarter of the way to town, if not more.
“AH!” Litleo suddenly shouted.
Rockruff skidded to a stop, whirling around. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
Litleo steadied herself, planting all four paws on the ground. “Nothing, almost tripped.” She swayed side to side slightly. “We can keep going.”
“We can rest for a few minutes. Eat and recover our energy,” Rockruff said, going underneath a large tree’s branch.
“I’m not sure we should-“
“We’ll both fall over if we don’t.”
Litleo couldn’t really argue with that. Rockruff dug out an Oran and an Apple for each of them. While munching on one, he noted how the rain had stopped, creating a stillness in the habitat.
Rockruff once again tapped his Linkbead. The same static as before answered. “Nothing on the Linkbead still.”
“Has weather ever made it act up before?” Litleo questioned, trying her own to no avail.
“Not that I can think of.”
Rockruff was going to suggest they move when the leaves on the trees swished simultaneously. Something flew over them.
“Is that them? How did they stay on our tail?!” Litleo hissed, keeping her voice down.
‘No way… they can fly that quick? Or are we just that slow?‘ Rockruff’s fur stood on end. ‘No…‘ “They have to be tracking our aether somehow,” he whispered. “Like scent.”
“Our aether? That’s not something we can control! And I-” Litleo’s eyes widened as realization of something set in.
“You’re only prolonging the inevitable,” the metallic voice taunted, sounding like they were above Rockruff and Litleo’s heads. “Did you realllly think you could run from ME?!”
Rockruff didn’t wait for them to show their face. He and Litleo zipped across the array of trees. Leaping over roots, barreling through bushes, hopefully something provided them the breakaway they needed. Unfortunately, their stamina wasn’t what it was initially, and one of them caved first.
Litleo came to a halt, leaning against a tree for support. Her ragged breathing made it seem she was on the edge of collapsing. “We- we can’t outrun them… at this rate! You have to leave.”
Rockruff doubled back, going to her side. “That’s not an option,” he retorted, equally as tired. His steely expression bore into hers. “We can keep going.”
“What are you- they want me, not you, alright?! You can’t stay!” Litleo argued, trying to push him away.
He only pushed back harder. “What does that mean, they want you?”
“Look if I told you right now it wouldn’t matter. Just leave, get help or something!”
“Litleo, I’m not abandoning you.”
She put both forepaws on his shoulders, attempting to shove him. “Forget that, save yourself!”
He stood his ground. “I’m saving you too.”
Her paws fell. “But… but… then you mean…”
Rockruff put his forehead to hers. “We’ll face it together.”
“Idiot,” Litleo whimpered.
“FOUND YOU!” The treetops cracked as the head of their pursuer poked through. “Finally stopped running?“
The adrenaline in Rockruff’s body vanished as he viewed them. Just what kind of pokémon was he looking at? There wasn’t any real discernible face— only metal shaped to looked like a dragon-type’s head. They had no visible eyes either. ‘This is, Reuniclus taught us this… This is-!‘
“Don’t recognize me? The name’s Eternatus, rightfully here to claim your aether.” Eternatus lowered his sharp, skeletal body to the ground. A crimson glow emanated from his body, illuminating the forest in a glaring red light, as if it were set ablaze.
Rockruff and Litleo’s paws both shifted in the dirt.
“Ho- how? You… you were killed,” Rockruff stammered.
“And here I am, not killed. Funny how that works out.” The tinks of Eternatus’ claws sent shivers across Rockruff’s fur.
‘I don’t know what’s happening, but I can’t let Eternatus have Litleo.‘ “What do you mean you’re claiming our aether?”
If Eternatus had a more discernible face, he would’ve smiled. “Is it not obvious? You and her will be fine food for me.“
Rockruff withheld a wince, the scratchiness of Eternatus’ voice hurting his ears. He put one paw in front of Litleo. “We won’t make it easy for you.”
Eternatus suddenly shuddered. Their body turned into a navy blue, diminishing the red hue to a pink. “Wait! We should bring them to the Empress. Their aether, she needs to know about it!” he said, his voice becoming a gentler version than what they just heard.
“Hmmmmmph. Soooo annoying,” Eternatus replied to himself, switching again to a red body. “Fine.“
Team Ardor had no clue why Eternatus was talking to himself, much less the change in colors, but one thing they knew—
“We’re not going anywhere,” Litleo growled.
Eternatus reared back, towering over their heads. “I missed the part… where I asked!” He lunged forth in a flash, snapping his claws at Litleo.
Litleo jumped out of his reach. She landed on a slippery tree root, taking away her time to retaliate to instead keep her footing.
Rockruff conjured a rain of boulders over Eternatus. They pelted his head like pebbles striking a window, annoying him more than anything. Eternatus continued to zero in on Litleo and lunged again.
Rockruff intercepted his path with an earthy wall. The subsequent crash sent particles of dirt everywhere, but hopefully gave Litleo time to get away.
“Little pest!” Eternatus seethed, pivoting to Rockruff. “I’m going to savor you later.” The gap in his mouth glowed before unleashing a pulse of dragon energy.
Rockruff let a tree take the brunt of the attack. The Dragon Pulse bored into the bark with destructive force, imploding the wood once it finished. Rockruff dashed away as splinters rained over him. The one good thing he and Litleo had going for them— Eternatus was limited in the space he had to move.
SNAP!
Rockruff gasped and banked left to avoid the falling tree. His mistake— Eternatus was capable and willing to destroy the environment.
SNAPSNAPSNAPSNAP!
Trees toppled over one after another due to Eternatus’ tail, turning the tranquil green to an area of havoc. Worse, Rockruff couldn’t see Litleo amidst the debris, and he was effectively boxed in.
“Not so slippery in the open are you?!” Eternatus exclaimed.
Rockruff grimaced from all the wood chips in his paw pads. As he leapt over a log to escape the enclosure, a beam of purple energy fired out of Eternatus, blasting the earth. A geyser of exploding dirt raced towards Rockruff, until-
“AGH!” Rockruff shouted. Violet light obscured his vision. The weight of ten hippowdon seemed to crush down on him, leaving him unable to move.
Poison gathered on Eternatus’ claws as he slashed them in a cross formation, launching Rockruff. Mud caked the whole right side of his body when he came to a stop. In his bleary vision, he spotted Litleo’s motionless tail sticking out under some branches. He feebly extended a forepaw.
Eternatus’ muffled voice reached him. “I said it, didn’t I? I don’t lose.“
Rockruff lost consciousness before the final blow even connected.
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