CONCEALMENT — SEGMENT 02

Chapter 8.2

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Concealment

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The night was windy and cold. A mist rolled over the streets with the smell of impending rain, but it was still clearly far enough away to not be a huge worry. Neither the stars nor the red planet Sanshiyad could be seen as clouds loomed overhead.

 

Vizon briskly walked through the chilled streets. The night was clearly still young as Poke’mon still walked to and fro, guards lining the streets. Soon, the market district became the lower market district, with its cobblestone paths and brick buildings. Even here, Vizon kept away from that tall ivory wall. Avery could barely see it peeking over the rooftops, faintly illuminated and visible in the orange glow of street lights at its base.

 

Avery was still clinging to him, but…he was always amazed at the state of Arceliaze. Day, night, no matter the time or weather, it always seemed to be beautiful out. Even with taller Poke’mon around, he felt…safer, with Vizon beside him.

 

Eventually as they walked, Vizon turned into an alleyway between two buildings, taking Avery to a small space between three buildings where a stand was set up in the back. Iron and wood chairs and stools dotted the small courtyard, sat on stone. A multicolor tarp was set up over the courtyard, blotting out the sky, even as the tarp whipped and billowed in the gusts of cold wind.

 

 

The stand itself had a Miltank woman, a little pointy hat on her head, with the sign above, it’s letters slowly shifting in Avery’s vision to read ‘Marca’s Ice Cream Parlor’. A few other Poke’mon sat at the bar, with only one other sat at the courtyard tables. As the shop came into view, Avery looked up at the Miltank…and his face flushed, just a little bit.

 

‘Cute-‘

 

“Here we are…!” Vizon cheered softly. “C’mon, I’ll get you a double scoop with two flavors, you can see what you like. And let’s talk!”

 

“Right…right. Let’s see the flavors then…! Double scoops…!”

 

Vizon led Avery up to the bar, picking him up to help seat him onto the stool so that he could see the menu. The Miltank smiled warmly to the pair, pulling some paper menus and sliding them over.

 

Avery looked at the money, once again watching as the gibberish scribbles seemed to move and morph into readable English.

 

“Hello hello, sugar pies, are you looking for something strong t’night?” She asked, leaning on the counter and Vizon took his menu. “I just got myself a big ol’ mix of pure, distilled X-Eye juice straight from Quayoff. Premium stuff. Interested?”

 

“Oh no, Mama Marca,” Vizon replied, snickering, peeking over at Avery’s blush. Avery hoped Vizon wasn’t peeping at his aura again. “No hard ice cream tonight, I think we’re just going for three double scoops. I think I could use…just two vanilla scoops.”

 

He leaned over to Avery, pointing at his menu.

 

“You could try vanilla and chocolate. They’re simple flavors…but if you prefer sweeter flavors, you could go for Rawst or Cheri…Pecha and Oran taste kinda like…water? Maybe you’d like it better than me.” Vizon lowering his finger to another section. “Down here’s the ‘hard ice cream’, like ‘North Tundra’ and ‘Winter in Quayoff’.”

 

Avery nodded, adjusting in his seat.

 

“Ah, yeah, just the chocolate and vanilla, please…! I’ve…never had ice cream before, so…I’m excited to try it! I might try other flavors later, but…I’ll try them for now-!”

 

“Never had ice cream?” The Miltank laughed lightly, her voice bouncy and deep. “Well, we’ll solve that right quick. Chocovanill coming up for the tiny one~!”

 

‘Tiny one. Little flush.’ Avery thought, feeling his face heat up.

 

“Oh and one last one to go in an ice box.” Vizon added. He thought for a moment before nodding. “Two scoops of…coconut.”

 

The Miltank’s eyes sparkled as she nodded, getting to work to prepare their ice cream. Vizon turned to Avery, relaxing with a small shiver as a cold gust blew into the alleyway, whipping their fur around briefly.

 

“Hoo, must be winter’s last few chills before summer.” He laughed. “So, Avery…you wanted to ask stuff? We finally have a moment to ourselves, no work or enemies to distract us.”

 

“Right, uh…well, first off…” Avery pondered his firm question. He glanced down at the menu, watching the strange letters swim and shift, keeping their readable shape, occasionally slipping back into gibberish if Avery wasn’t focusing on them. “Why do the words morph? Like, a little after I stare at them, I can’t read them, and then I can. What’s that about?”

 

“Why do they what…?” Vizon asked, blinking. Clearly the first question out of the gate was…unexpected. “What do you mean ‘why do words morph’ I don’t…understand what you mean.”

 

“Okay, uh, like…” Avery pointed to the labels for the ice cream. “So that’s gibberish to me, right? And then when I stare…I stare, and then…yeah. Vanilla, chocolate, I can read it!”

 

Vizon blinked, leaning over to look at the menu. Indeed, the letters on the page were all gibberish to Avery but focusing on one word made it morph and change into readable text.

 

“This one?” Vizon asked, pointing to ‘Vanilla’ and ‘Chocolate’.

 

He leaned close, staring deep at the letters, clearly very closely examining the print.

 

“…I don’t…see anything. It’s just Arceali script…” Vizon admitted, shaking his head. “…I thought you couldn’t read…?”

 

“…I…I can’t, it just…morphs into English,” Avery said, looking back at him. “It morphs into a script I can read, that’s…that’s not…like, magic signs?”

 

“Eng…what now…?” Vizon blinked. “What’s English?”

 

Avery blinked back, speechless.

 

“…I…I guess a language?” Avery said, frowning. “…I…guess a language I used to speak? It just…the word just came out.”

 

Vizon only stared in silence, confused.

 

“You used to speak…’English’? Oh, right, as a human…well you’re speaking Arcean now. Pretty fluently. What does English sound like?”

 

“…Like this,” Avery said, gesturing to what they were saying. “Like…Hm. I wonder…do you have a pencil or something? Something I could write with.”

 

Vizon looked about and took a paper napkin and a nearby ink pen, handing them to Avery.

 

“Here…what are you going to do…?”

 

“…I’m…gonna try and write in English.”

 

Avery took the pen…and began attempting to write ‘Hi, Vizon, this is English!’ Vizon stared at the letters he wrote. His mouth was slightly open, eyes glazed over as he stared at the script.

 

“What is that?” Vizon muttered. “It’s just a bunch of scribbles. I’ve never seen anything like that before…?”

 

When Avery stared at the English script he wrote it did not morph or shift, unlike the ‘Arcean Script’.

 

“That’s English,” Avery said, pointing to the words. “Hi, Vizon, this is English.”

 

Avery paused, staring at it.

 

“Yeah, it’s…not shifting or anything. Like, if you wrote ‘Hi, Vizon, this is English’ in your script…I think it might warp into this in my eyes???”

 

Vizon looked totally lost.

 

“Warp into…?”

 

He hesitated a moment, then took the pen from Avery. Quickly, he scribbled a few gibberish looking markings, the very same ‘Arcean Script’ he mentioned.

 

Like magic, the ink began to morph and fade into:

 

“Hello, Vizon. This script is written in English.”

 

Not a 1-to-1 translation…

 

“Do you…uh…see it ‘warping’?” Vizon asked, looking up at Avery. The Plusle nodded.

 

“Yeah. It’s in English to me now.” Avery looked up at him, eyes wide. “That’s…that’s weird, right?? That’s odd, right???”

 

Vizon looked from the script, then to Avery, then back to the script.

 

“I don’t see any of it moving, it’s just…ink on paper.” He admitted. “So…yeah that is really weird. Like…I don’t understand how that works? Has it just always been like that? So you can only read that ‘English’ and Arcean script morphs into that…but only for you? I couldn’t possibly tell you what’s going on there, then.”

 

He shook his head, chuckling.

 

“You know, it’s only when we have these conversations I remember how odd you really are. All the rest of the time you seem so normal, downright pleasant. Then there’s all this weird stuff and the memories of that weird, creepy Plusle wandering around in the dark in the middle of nowhere come rushing back.”

 

Vizon laughed to himself.

 

“Oh, come on, I was creepy??” Avery pouted, making Vizon snort. “I couldn’t help that, I was all…y’know, lost and stuff!”

 

“Not gunna lie, when the carriage driver said ‘there’s a kid just standing in the middle of the path in the dark’ everyone in the carriage got a little freaked out.” Vizon laughed as the Milktank brought their ice cream, setting down a box with coconut ice cream next to Vizon. The inside shone with a layer of ice stone dust, keeping the treat within cold. Vizon thanked her, setting the 30p onto the counter.

 

“So what else, buddy? You sounded like you had a lot of questions.”

 

Avery nodded.

 

“Okay, yeah. The calendar system. What is a turn? What are those numbers? Months? Days? What…what is that??” Avery asked, taking a bite of the brown ice cream. Vizon took a lick of his ice cream, smiling at the taste and crisp cold, even as the chilled wind blew harder. A patron nearby asked the Miltank add another coal to the fire to warm the courtyard.

 

“Ok, that’s an easy one.” Vizon said at last. “Let’s see…we have four months, each with 90 days: Viosna, Lato, Yeshinye and Zshima. They mean ‘Spring’, ‘Summer’, ‘Autumn’ and ‘Winter’ in Quayoffi.”

 

Vizon wrote on a napkin to illustrate.

 

“There’s 5 days in a week, Pieyrshve, Nahstempnye, Shiroffkove, Kontinuwavatch and…Konsova.”

 

Vizon wrote this down, too.

 

“Every 100 years is a ‘turn’. I think it’s named after how we measured a century’s progression by the rotation of Sanshiyad. You know, the big red planet in the sky. There’s a mountain that breaks the cloud barrier up there and for half of a turn you can see it move across the plant before disappearing to the other half of a turn. When you first spot the mountain on Sanshiyad, that’s the beginning of a new turn, the start of the new day of a new year.”

 

Vizon wrote the concept, ‘100 years to a turn’.

 

“Now don’t quote me on this next part, I’m no history buff, but way back when the year number worked different but then…I think back after a big war ended, Arcea decided to reset the year numbering to 0. So everything before that point is now denoted as ‘build’ instead of ‘turn’.”

 

Vizon wrote this, too, running out of space and having to squash and curve his letters.

 

“Sooo…today iiis…uh…” He thought for a moment. “Nahstempnye, 6th Turn, 62, Viosna 17th. And we’d write that as…”

 

He wrote, in clear letters: NA/6T62/V17

 

“See? ‘NA’ for ‘Nahstempnye’. 662 years since that war, so 6T62…and the 17th day of spring, Viosna 17th.”

 

Vizon set the pen down, looking to Avery.

 

“Does that, uh…make sense?”

 

Avery looked as though his head were spinning.

 

“…The words…I’m going to have a lot of trouble remembering the words for the seasons and the days of the week,” The Plusle sighed, staring hard at the written words. “…but…the concept of months and centuries I get. So…I think so…!”

 

“Hah, it’s funny. A lot of kids in Arceali Novitiary say the same thing when they’re first learning their dates!” Vizon laughed. “I had the worst time remembering how to spell ‘Shiroffkove’. ‘Vizon, you’re missing a letter’ my teacher would shout.”

 

He patted Avery on the back, happy to hear him understand.

 

“But good, I’m glad you got it! Here, keep this napkin as a…guide I guess.”

 

Avery’s face flushed again from the pat. He tried to move the subject along swiftly.

 

“The…the ice cream is good by the way…! It’s very sweet. I think I like the vanilla more than the chocolate, but…” Avery looked at the signs. “I…might want to try the…the blue one, over there. It says ‘blueberry’ to me. But I don’t know if that’s right…”

 

“Ey, Mama!” Vizon called, sliding another 10p to the Miltank. “Mind getting a scoop of…”

 

He leaned over to look at the flavor Avery pointed at.

 

“Bluest Berries? Avery that’s a hard ice cream, you wanting to get tottered tonight?”

 

“…Oh, I won’t get drunk off of ice cream will I…?” Avery asked, tilting his head. “…It can’t be that bad.”

 

“It can be preeetty strong!” The Miltank cooed. “The stuff I’m using isn’t diluted at all, really high quality.”

 

“Well…I guess it’s not a problem. Might help us loosen our tongues more.” Vizon said, sliding a little extra coin for a scoop of his own. The Miltank nodded, turning away.

 

“So, anything else? I mean, I admit, I only know so much.” Vizon shrugged. “My grades in schooling were…alright, but I’m by no means an expert on everything.”

 

“I…I think that’s everything? Unless there’s something you think I should know that I…might not, since I’m not…oh!” Avery snapped his fingers. “The cities and stuff around here, what are those?”

 

“The cities? Like Souljraan you mean? Or what do you mean?” Vizon pressed, leaning closer. He unfurled the map from his satchel, bringing it close.

 

 

“Uh, yeah! Like…all those dots and stuff, with the letters, there’s a lot of those. Are there other cities, or landmarks I should know about?”

 

Vizon stroked his chin at Avery’s question.

 

“Well, I can tell you which of these I know.” He said, leaning close.

 

First, he pointed to the city marked ‘A’, right under Windscorch Mountain.

 

“So you already know this one…” Vizon began. “That’s Arceliaze, where we’re at, the oldest city in Arcea, built twice in the crater where Arceus himself tore up a chunk of the earth to make Paradise.”

 

He paused, furrowing his brow.

 

“Oh man…you probably don’t even know that tale, do you?”

 

Avery shook his head, chuckling awkwardly.

 

“Sorry.”

 

“Aw geez, giving a whole theology lesson, huh?” Vizon scratched behind his head awkwardly, clicking his tongue. “Alright, here goes:

 

So the short version is that Arceus came down from…no wait I think it was a cosmic egg? Yeah he was born from a cosmic egg from which everything came from? And he made the planet and everyone was happy. No wait, he made ONE Poke’mon first, Mew, and that was his favorite. Mew was basically from where all Poke’mon came from.

 

But everyone got jealous of Mew because he was Arceus’s favorite, so they ganged up on Mew and bumped him off and Arceus was furious and rained fire and apocalypse on the world until he calmed down.

 

Then after that he felt bad…I guess. He stayed with Poke’mon, living among them for about…a few years? Four? Then afterward he tore the ground he slept on from the earth and rose it into the sky, on which he built a castle. And they say if you’re a good person that helps others and fight for justice then when you pass from this world Arceus lets you into Paradise to be happy with him forever.”

 

Vizon took a deep breath, scratching the back of his head.

 

“…Wow.” Avery’s muttered, his eyes going wide. “I…wow.”

 

“Sorry if I’m not all that great a storyteller. My parents didn’t really drill this stuff into my head like some other parents do.” He thought for a moment, leaning on the counter. “You remember the stain glass window in the guild hall? It depicts paradise and Arceus’s castle.”

 

“O-okay, so…so are any of these places Paradise?” Avery asked, scanning the map.

 

“What? No, no…I mean, the artist of this map drew paradise off to the side there, a bit of artsy flair, but it’s not a place you just go to. I imagine it’s like a…” Vizon gestured his hand, unsure. “You know…a spiritual kind of place.”

 

“…Ohhhh,” I said with a little nod. “Okay, gotcha gotcha.”

 

Vizon returned to the map, pointing to a familiar looking tower marked by a ‘D’.

 

“That right there is where we went to today, Souljraan. It’s my hometown, like I said.” Vizon tapped his chin. “Let’s see, let’s see, what to say about Souljraan…I mean it’s mostly a rural farming town. Biggest thing it has is immigration processing for…Illaminians coming into Arcea, so there’s usually a bunch of the fresh-crossers camped out by the city, most of them waiting to go to Arceliaze. A few stayed in Souljraan but not many.”

 

He nodded.

 

“It’s basically the main entry point. I was pretty young when a bunch of Arceliaze guards came to support the processing center when Illaminians started coming in droves.”

 

“Gotcha. And the tower there is a big merchant thing, not a lot of people like it, but it’s there,” Avery said. “…It definitely makes a mark in the countryside.”

 

Vizon laughed.

 

“Yeah, the old eyesore.” Vizon said with a chuckle. “People didn’t even like it back in ancient times when it was first being built. They didn’t like it when they finished it. And they don’t like it now. They say it disrupts the beautiful rural landscape. Me? I think it looks cool.”

 

“It definitely gives the place a profile,” Avery said. “I never would have known Souljraan was there in that field if I hadn’t seen the tower.”

 

“Guess it was good for something after all!” Vizon laughed, the Miltank setting down blue-colored ice cream, the Bluest Berry, one for each of them. Vizon took one, licking at it as he returned to the map.

 

“Next…hmmm…let’s see…I’m not especially well-traveled so I’ll take a crack at the others.” He moved his finger to the easternmost side of the map, onto a city on an oceanside peninsula marked with the letters ‘AJ’.

 

“Ohh, but I do know this one. Yahneri Port, Arcea’s main hub of transport by sea. It’s the best way to ferry goods to Quayoff and Illaminamo, and to likewise receive them. I imagine people enter and exit the country from here from time to time? Dunno about that one.” He shrugged, taking another lick. “Though, you know, I think I read once that Nivanee and Janus are from Yahneri Port.”

 

Avery took a few licks himself, following Vizon’s finger.

 

‘Blue…bluest berry. It tastes really good…’

 

“You said, uh…you said that comedian spent some time in Yahneri, right? I recognize the name, anyway…”

 

“Yeeeaah, Pudgy Pondus!” Vizon affirmed, taking another lick and a bite of his ice cream, going a mite faster than Avery. “He was down in some Quayoff city and was the entertainment for some passenger ship that went in to Yahneri port, then he flew by all the open bars in Yahneri before coming to Arceliaze!”

 

Avery was taking it slow with his hard ice cream – he didn’t want to get drunk off ice cream, just in case they were right about it getting him drunk.

 

“I still want to see that guy someday…” Avery admitted. Vizon turned his attention back to the map and continued, moving a finger to the south, where a depicted village was marked with an ‘L’.

 

“Uh…no idea.” Vizon admitted, scratching the back of his head. “Is this Taeriana? This one might be Taeriana. That’s an old swamp and farming village, mostly inhabited by Quayoffi. It’s a historical town, the site of the camp for the first Arcean explorers to find and make contact with the Quayoffi country. And that is all I know about it, if that’s even the right village. Kind of weird it’s just out in the swamp like that.”

 

Avery’s eyes traced down to the green village.

 

“…Taeriana…got it. Maybe we could go there and see for ourselves sometime?”’

 

“Yeah, we should. I’ve wanted to visit but just never had time. Just seemed like a fun little trip, you know?” Vizon smiled warmly at the idea. “All I hear about Taeriana is they’re fairly spiritual, like Quayoffi monk kind of spiritual. It doesn’t even have any immigrant processing, most Quayoffi would come through Yahneri port, I’d imagine.”

 

Vizon’s finger moved right below what he had presumed to be Taeriana, to an odd looking square settlement marked by an ‘N’. It looked as though it were in the center of a massive pit.

 

“That…” Vizon began, tapping his chin. “Is a weird one. Dove Fo Uddjo. A reclusive town of physics. Very exclusive, very few Poke’mon are ever granted entry through the massive dome. I don’t know a thing about it, but considering what I’ve heard I can only assume it’s weird.”

 

“Dove Fo Uddjo…” Avery mumbled. “That’s a long name.”

 

“The name is Illaminian, apparently. They changed it only recently, apparently, just the last few hundred years.”

 

“And they don’t let anyone who isn’t psychic through there?” Avery asked. “Or is it…just mostly psychics in there already?”

 

Vizon thought about that question for a while.

 

“I think it’s like…mostly only psychics are allowed in, but rich Poke’mon and Poke’mon of status sometimes manage to sneak in a pass.”

 

Vizon hummed.

 

“Actually…I might be misremembering but I think they have some connection with Taeriana. Like the little village is where you can buy a pass. For several thousand coins…”

 

“…Jeez,” Avery whistled. “What’s even in there that people would want to go there for? Is it just for sight-seeing? It looks like there’s a bunch of floating things there…”

 

Vizon shrugged.

 

“It’s a well-kept secret. I nor anybody knows. Or at least anybody we’ll ever talk to.”

 

He turned back to the map one last time.

 

“What else what else, uhhh…”

 

He pointed to a final city out east, in what looked like a desert, marked by a ‘W’.

 

“…no clue,” Vizon sighed. “I haven’t got the foggiest what this one is. Some desert town? Sounds unpleasant.

 

Avery leaned down, taking another bite of his ice cream.

 

“…Looks small.” The Plusle noted.

 

“Must be, considering I’ve never heard of a city in the desert. Must be some kind of bumpkin village out in the dunes, yeah?”

 

He leaned back, twiddling his paws.

 

“And…I think that’s it’s, that’s all the cities in Arcea. Not many others these days. Anything left that’s actually still inhabited would small three-house communes and individual houses. Not worth a blip on the map.”

 

“Gotcha. That might take a bit to learn too, but… Okay!” Avery took another few licks. “… I think that’s everything for now. We could go back to the guild if you want? Or… If there’s anything else you wanna show me…?”

 

Vizon swayed a little, biting one last piece of his ice cream and swallowing. His eyes were slightly glazed but he was at least coherent.

 

“Well…now that I’m thinking about it…maybe it’s best if we pack it in early. Besides…” Vizon jumped from the stool, plucking up the cold box of coconut ice cream. “…we have a present to deliver…to our family.””

Avery nodded, standing up with a smile.

 

“Right. To family.”

 

Avery turned and thanked the Miltank for the ice cream, and took Vizon’s arm again.

 

“… Hey…” Avery began, snuggling in close. “You, uh, remember those tabloid things? You think they’ve written about us? It’s only been a few days, but… We’ve done some great stuff!”

 

Vizon froze, lost in thought.

 

“Oh man…I guess they WOULD start writing about us.” Vizon sighed. “But…surely we’re too new. It’s been…three days? But we could always check a bookstore if we’re curious.”

 

He tucked the ice cream box under his arm, pulling Avery close with his other arm as he thanked the Miltank as well, the both of them setting off for the streets.

 

“Used to be the pamphlets and periodicals were filled with impressive stories, interviews with people saved.” Vizon spoke of the far-flung memory fondly. “I used to read my dad’s stash of old pamphlets he collected while the guild was still run by Karniqus.”

 

“Karniqus? Who’s that?” Avery asked, looking up at Vizon, leaning a little closer, still eating some of that hard ice cream. Vizon smiled, looking up at the cloudy sky. The air was even colder as the first few droplets of rain came, infrequently and sporadically.

 

“He was the old guild master before Sarfallinus, a behemoth Conkledurr that seemed to be able to take any team of street rabble and whip them into all-star teams!” Vizon explained. “For the time he commanded the guild until he passed away he led some of the most famous teams with not one expulsion of a team to his name, and relatively few dropouts. He genuinely believed that anyone, anyone, could serve as an elite. Be disciplined and strong and just!”

 

He shook his head, scratching his neck.

 

“It’s almost unfair. Sarfallinus’s dad left one heck of a legacy to live up to…by the time I was born, Sarfallinus had already been Guilmaster for two or so years.”

 

“…Jeez…” Avery mumbled. “I was thinking about that, actually. There’s…There’s a lot of doors in the guild for a place that only has four teams,..Why did they stop letting people in, do you think…? You think it might have to do with… Nivanee’s thing, maybe…? “

 

“I wouldn’t know…” Vizon sighed with an almost…defeated tone. “I mean, if you believe the pamphlets it’s because he’s too incompetent to lead normal folk, that he needs Poke’mon that are already strong and smart and loyal off the bat before he can accept them…otherwise he’d embarrass himself with his inability to wrangle less disciplined Pokémon.”

 

He frowned, eyebrows furrowed.

 

“But talking to the guy…does that feel right…?”

 

“It’s… Too early to tell,” Avery said. “But… I don’t know. I don’t know what guidance he’s giving Lahnae. I’ve seen Kipunna put a lot of…Public work into her, but if Sarfallinus is helping her it’s behind closed doors.”

 

“Yeah, Lahnae seems like…the crack in the foundation journalists latch onto.” Vizon fiddled with his paws. “Everyone knows Sarfallinus is protecting her position in the guild, no matter how many periodicals say she should be expelled.”

 

Avery frowned, thinking on that.

 

“…When we said we were a family, when we got back…did you see his face?” Avery asked. Vizon glanced back at the question.

 

“I saw it…he seemed…” Vizon paused, trying to find the words. “… I think he… I think he wants us to be one. But… That guild…”

 

Avery looked back in its direction.

 

“… Everyone there…theres…there’s something wrong. There’s something deeply wrong that we’ve kind of… Walked into.”

 

Vizon squirmed uncomfortably, making noises like he was uncertain, before finally speaking.

 

“I didn’t want to say anything but…” he sighed. “…yeah. It seems like every one of them have something deeply wrong. Even Nivanee, Nivanee of all Pokémon having…that. I can tell they’re genuine when they say they’re happy to have us in their family but…”

 

He trailed off, pulling close to Avery for warmth as the wind picked up.

 

“…I didn’t expect this. I didn’t expect any of this. I had thought we would be friends with the guild members , sure, but family? It’s a warm sentiment, one that I’m slowly coming to love but…being family is so much more than if we were just co workers or friends. If I’m honest…it feels like a lot.”

 

“… It’s… Yeah.” Avery hugged him again, from the wind. “…I want to help them. And… And being Team Azure, being… A hero of Arceus, that’s something but…”

 

Avery quietly buried himself into Vizon’s leg.

 

“… Is… Is this really something we can fix?” Avery asked at last, his voice little more than a squeak. Vizon was quiet, holding Avery close. For a time, only the sound of their combined footsteps, the wind and the starting rain could be heard.

 

Vizon looked down, down at the little blue box under his arms.

 

“You know what she’d say…” Vizon began, looking at Avery with a comforting smile. “We’re here in the guild now. Can or can’t doesn’t matter, we have to at least try.”

 

Avery nodded a little, taking a few deep breaths. He was…feeling a little buzz in the back of his head.

 

“…I still wanna see what the tabloids wrote about us. If they can write rude things about us then they obviously can’t be trusted.”

 

“Sure…I have a place I go to in the market district, just off of The One Truth square.” Vizon said, taking a left. “They’d sell the pamplets right on the front stand.”

 

Vizon held Avery close, moving quickly back to the market district. The warm light and taller buildings banished the cold wind much better than the lower market district, the both of them feeling toastier already. Vizon lead Avery to the one truth square, veering to the left towards the west end, passing the now closed item shop of the Kecleon brothers, and taking a right at the intersection at the end of the street.

 

“Ah, they’re stil open.”

 

 

Avery looked upon the stand, one of the few still open on the street. The torches were positioned nicely to give it a homely glow. The light from inside the stand spilled onto the street, making it look very inviting. And even so late at night the stand was abuzz with life. Vizon approached, the Mawile at the front giving a very friendly smile.

 

“Good morning to you, friends~!” She spoke in a very projected voice, extenuating every syllable. Vizon looked quiet comfortable here. “You have caught us at just the right time, for we were soon to close! May I get you any book for the night?”

 

Avery was sort of half hiding behind Vizon as he approached the stand, but took a breath.

 

“Um… Hello!” Avery said with a friendly wave, which the Mawile reciprocated. “Sorry, I don’t mean to keep you past closing time.”

 

“Oh please do not worry!” The Mawile spoke politely with a warm smile. “Providing written word to Arceans is what we are here for!”

 

Vizon nodded, looking at the stands, while a availability listing sat to the side, with such works like ‘Team Twilight Part 1’, ‘Ancient Heroes’ and ‘Tulaan’s Finest Cooked Cuisine 6T60’.

 

“Do you have this week’s ‘Brighter Arceliaze weekly’?” Vizon Asked.

 

“Yes, and the last week pamphlet, too. Yet another piece on the guild, if that is your fancy.” The Mawile explained, lifting a small display up onto the counter which showed two sets of pamphlets. “They are 5p each, if you are interested.”

 

Avery looked at the pair of pamphlets, reading the titles.

 

 

‘The Guild Laughing Stock — Why the sorriest excuse for an Arceliaze Guildmaster we have today may, in fact, not be best for Arcea.’ Read one.

 

‘The Bright New Stars of the Guild — The long stagnant Arceali Guild has a few new stars under its belt, but we all know bright stars can fizzle quick!’ read the other.

 

Avery looked at Vizon for a moment…and pointed at the second one.

 

“…something tells me that second one might be us. You want to see what they’re saying…?”

 

Avery wasn’t really in the mood to read a hit piece about his Guildmaster right now – not after hearing his exchange with Nivanee tonight.

 

Vizon nodded, reaching in his satchel to pull out 5 coins, setting them on the stand. With a “thank you” he took the pamphlet and opened it.

 

 

---

The Sorry State of Our Beautiful Guild
Every Arcean will agree: something is seriously wrong with the guild of Arceliaze. The once shining beacon of our nation’s identity has been turned into a laughing stock over the course of several years. Teams dissolved, dropping out, kicked out and now leaving us with a team that fails more missions than it completes, a team of yellow-bellied cowards and the only half decent team is just that: half!

 

Yes, the Arcean people have grown weary of the ponderous, pathetic exploits of the guild, the incompetence turning to national embarrassment. While the knock-off guild in Quayoff seeks to expand its operation, Sarfallinus has proven to only serve to weaken and shrink the operation of the guild he inherited from his father.

 

With recruitment so strictly cultivated, the old dream of any Poke’mon going from rabble to heroes through service with the guild has been dead and buried for a long time.

—

Meet: Team Azure
Now, the years-long stagnation has come to a brief end with the sudden introduction of a new team. We here at The Free Pokémon’s Commission are proud to bring you, the Arcean public, this news before even the Souljreini printing company managed to print the month’s periodical!

 

Introducing the hot new team: Team Azure, composed of a Souljraan bumpkin, Vizon, and a Plusle of indeterminate origin. That’s right, folks, the team leader is a ghost. No census or audits from any region have records on the kids, so either he dropped from the sky a few days ago or the boys at the tax office need to get their rear into gear!

 

Supposedly, the entire entry processed was bypassed via a letter directly from Olistia. Seems the Conduit Arceali has also had enough of Sarfallinus’s maddening selectiveness and has opted to force the sorry Guild master to take recruits on an ultimatum! We suppose somebody had to finally do it to him!

 

The team is new, with no notable missions yet under their belt. But now is the time to ask: The wave of excitement at the news of a new team at last must be tempered with skepticism.

—

Bright Stars Burn Out
Though one’s instinct is to be excited at the new team we must remember: they have come to the guild on recommendation and not merit. Recall the sorry state of Team Spade and the hack captain, Lahnae. Though she passed Sarfallinus’s absurd merit test she has been an objective failure to the guild and country.

 

We must consider this to be possible for Team Azure as well! After all, unless that Vizon kid took up farming back in Souljraan he might not have the stones to even put up his dukes, let alone fight to complete a mission!

 

The future of the guild’s exploits is, as ever, uncertain. We can’t say for certain what the future holds for the guild but we can fathom this guess: it’ll be mighty embarrassing and you’ll hear it first from us! 

---

 

Avery furrowed his brow as he read.

 

“… I mean…I guess it makes sense that they wouldn’t have much to write about us yet,” Avery huffed, “But…Yeah, when I see it written out like that it almost seems like I’m a refugee or something, huh? Like a runaway or something!”

 

Avery was..going to hold off on commenting about the rest of it until they had more privacy.

 

‘… I have words.‘

 

Vizon’s eyebrows raised, reading the words, his feelings much more easily readable on his face. Nevertheless, he thanked the Mawile, walking off, eyeing the words up and down as they moved across the dark streets. It was clearly getting late and most Poke’mon had cleared off before the rain really came down. For now, only the occasional droplet bounced off the waterproof material of the pamphlet.

 

“Huh…well…” Vizon began, unsure what to say. “…yeah, it’s B.A.W, alright…”

 

“… Yeah.” Avery frowned. “… Do they…like I didn’t know that Janus was missing, but they do, right? Where do they get off treating Nivanee like that…?!”

 

“I’m sure the editor would say…or maybe even has said ‘They’re guild Pokémon, they should have a thicker skin’, or something like that.” Vizon grunted, shaking his head. “You should have seen the one from a couple if weeks ago. They blamed Sarfallinus for Nivanee not having a replacement already. That her potential as an elite is being squandered for…”

 

Vizon coughed.

 

“…pride. They rarely…probably never actually interview the guildmates…the guildmates all kind of know better than to be interviewed by B.A.W by now I imagine. They have no idea what they’re actually like.”

 

“…Almost makes me want to do it,” Avery said, pouting a little. “Hey, let’s interview the new guy who has no idea what the world is like, we’ll definitely be able to corner him, or something…”

 

Avery huffed, feeling aggravated.

 

“…But…I think…I agree on one thing. There’s something wrong with the guild, and…I want it to be better. I know it can be.”

 

“And we will, don’t you worry. But for now…” Vizon tossed the pamphlet aside to the trash, picking up his pace, box of ice cream still firmly under arm. “…let’s go to them.”

 

Avery nodded in agreement, pulling himself towards Vizon again as he quickly finished off the rest of his ice cream. He was still feeling pretty miffed after reading all that. The Riolu held Avery’s hand firmly as they both walked across the square and back in the direction of the guild.

 

Coming to the front of the guild, they saw Lahnae and Loshjno, the Squirtle laughing lightly as he held and helped along a very drunk Lahnae. The Torchic girl sang and giggled, Loshjno opening the door and even holding it for the both of them.

 

“Good evening, Avery. Vizon.” Loshjno spoke politely, Lahnae swaying her head.

 

“Heyaaaa guildieeeeee…” Lahnae slurred. “Hey hey heyyyy…hey…hey hey…hi.”

 

“…Oh wow,” Avery said, eyebrows bouncing. The buzz was louder in the back of his head, and he giggled a little. “…Did you two have fun or something…?”

 

“Oh did we ever.” Loshjno chuckled. Looking in his eyes, it was clear he was quite inebriated, too. “We had ourselves a drinking contest. She knows she always loses but-“

 

“Buuut Iiiiiiii~! Neverrrrr give up!!” Lahnae laughed, Loshjno giggling with her as he hoisted her along.

 

“Can you grab her other wing, Avery..?” Loshjno asked. Despite the tottered look in his eye his speech was still fairly coherent, at least compared to Lahnae.

 

“Oh, sure…!” Avery said, taking…a little bit to separate from Vizon, but he moved under her wing to support her. “Do you two go out together a lot…?”

 

“Of course. Been doing so since we were kids.”

 

“Twoooo kids in novitiary, oh my goddd Loshjno was SO CUTE! LIKE SO CUTE!” Lahnae continued. “We were both SOOO into the guild we went around the village, helpin’ people…Losh…Loshyyyy you remember the lil wooden badges we maaaade?”

 

The Squirtle laughed heartily. Lahnae smiled wider nuzzling him…then nuzzling Avery.

 

“Beeeest night eveerr! I got my best frieeends right here. I love you two i could kiss you….”

 

“Oh, now, Lahnae.” Loshjno snickered.

 

“I’ll, uh…you want to come help, Viz?” Avery said with a little laugh, looking back at him.

 

“Vizonnnn. I don’t know ANYTHIIING about you, maaan, we gotta hang ooouuut.” Lahnae slurred. Vizon snickered, patting Nivanee’s gift.

 

“Sorry, I’m carrying Nivanee’s precious get well soon present.”

 

“Whaaaaat, what happened? Oh noooo is she crying again? No no nooooo poor girl…!!” Lahnae looked heartbroken. “Ughggh i always wanna help but she just shuts herself up up in that dang room and…”

 

She stopped, looking sick.

 

“Uh oh, Lahnae…!” Loshjno hurried her along down the steps, Vizon following behind. “Out the window in the canal, hold it in!”

 

“Oh jeez-” Avery’s eyes went wide, quickly helping her out towards the window. “Yeah, uh…yeah, Viz, get her that ice cream, I-I’ll see you back in the room-! Like…ten minutes tops, rest of the night together like we promised-!”

 

Vizon looked to the dorms, then back to Avery. With a roll if his eyes, he set the ice cream down by the wall and rushed over to help lift Lahnae up.

 

“Carefully…!” Loshjno huffed, Lahnae immediately losing her lunch and dinner out the window, gurgle-yelling until she was cleaned out.

 

“Sorry…I’m sorry…” Lahnae stammered with a cough, spitting. Vizon cocked an eye brow as Avery and he held her steady.

 

“Sorry…? What for, it’d just a few drinks…-“

 

“She needed me…” Lahnae slurred, spitting again out into the canal. “Iiii’m getting trashed and she’s here crying all by herself. I suck…I suuuuck.”

 

Avery frowned a little.

 

“Hey, it’s…it’s alright,” Avery said, patting her back. “Things are tough right now, but…things’ll get better. Things’ll get…”

 

‘hic’

 

‘Uh oh.’

 

“Things’ll get better for everyone soon.”

 

“I can’t….I’d go suh-see her but I’m all MESSED UP.”

 

Lahnae was crying.

 

“She needs a huuuuggggg. A big soft hug for big sister Niniiiiii….” Lahnae slumped onto Avery, Loshjno helpfully pulling her away into his arms. Vizon let out a sigh of relief, picking the ice cream back up. “Jus…just give herva kiss from me. A biiig ol cheek smooch cuz she’s cool and she works hard an she doesn’t deserve to be sad an…”

 

Lahnae hiccuped, throwing her head back to yell.

 

“WE GUNNA GET JANUS BACK I SWEEEARRR!”

 

“Shshshhh, it’s quiet hours, Lahnae.” Loshjno hushed, hugging her to hoist her to her feet. “C’mon now, let’s get you to those dorms.”

 

“…It’ll be fine. It’ll…”

 

Avery’s hand found Vizon’s again.

 

“…I-it’ll all be fine.”

 

Vizon chuckled, watching Avery sway, guiding him behind Lahnae and Loshjno. Avery could see the both of them entering their room, Lahnae giving a final “Gniiiight Averryyyyyy! Gniiight Vizzyyyyyy. I looooove yoooouuu!!”

 

Loshjno sighed, amused, closing the door behind them as they entered their room.

 

And with the click of the door.

 

Nothing.

 

Silence.

 

The guild was so silent. The lights had dimmed, less candles flickering in the dark.

 

The wind…outside the wind quietly made low noises…the sound of rain rumbling all around. A downpour outside.

 

There was a silent rumble of thunder.

 

And before the both of them sat a door.

 

‘TEAM DUSKWALKER’, written in crude handwriting…like a child. The insert on the door was old, yellowed, frayed on the edges, looking older than any other insert for the other teams.

 

 

Avery could see something else, under the written name…in faded ink…hearts drawn on the bottom under the name. Half of the hearts were neatly drawn with spirals…the other half were earnestly sketched and scribbled.

 

It was so old. Never updated or replaced.

 

Untouched. For years.

 

Vizon looked at Avery silently. His ear was perked, listening.

 

He could hear it…Avery could, too.

 

Small sounds. Miniscule, squeaky sounds.

 

Quiet, nigh silent sobs. Crying from someone hoping to not be too loud.

 

Vizon’s ears drooped. He looked to Avery for confirmation…one last go-ahead.

 

“…” Avery nodded, lifted his hand, and gently knocked on the door. “Nivanee?”

 

The sobbing stopped at once. Vizon tensed.

 

They could hear the sound of soft, gentle steps approaching. A quiet sniff.

 

“What is it…~?” Nivanee’s voice cracked as she tried to maintain an assuring tone. But she kept the door shut.

 

Vizon looked to Avery then to the door.

 

“May we…talk?” Vizon asked. “We brought something for you.”

 

Nivanee hesitated on the other side. But slowly, the door creaked open. It was dark in her room, no candles. Only the pale magenta glow of nighttime through her window. Her cheeks were stained, dark rings under her eyes, red surrounding them as they stared at the pair.

 

Her expression was…strained. She had such a strained smile as the door opened all the way.

 

“Y…yeah, heya, you two~!” She said cheerfully, even as she sounded as though she were sick. She sniffed. “What’s up, are you…are you doing ok? Going to…b-bed?”

 

“No…not yet.” Vizon assured. “Nivanee are you…alright?”

 

“Yeah, yeah, fine, everything is a-okay…!” She spoke in a shuddering voice.

 

Vizon took a deep breath, holding out the box.

 

“Here, Avery and I got you something while we were out.”

 

He opened the box, showing the coconut ice cream. Nivanee stared in the box…seemingly unsure how to respond. Vizon closed it, setting it down. Still, Nivanee was silent.

 

“Are you sure you’re ok…?”

 

Nivanee said nothing.

 

“…Thing’s…things’ll be okay,” Avery said again, a little sleepily. He stepped up closer.. “…It’ll all be okay. I…”

 

‘What am I trying to say?’

 

“…We’re…we’re family.”

 

‘Was that…did that work?’

 

“We’ll…be good. All of us. Everyone, together.”

 

Avery frowned, scrunching up his face.

 

“…Sorry, words are…hard.”

 

Nivanee sucked in her lips, screwed her eyes shut, shivering. Vizon sighed sadly, stepping forward to nestle by Nivanee.

 

“I’m ok…I’m…”

 

Nivanee slowly lied down on the floor, legs folded under her, shaking her head, refusing to open her eyes.

 

“She loved coconut, too.” Vizon whispered, pressing up against Nivanee, Avery on her other side.

 

The Eevee rested her forehead on the ground. She hid her face, even as she cried. Sucked in wracking huffs followed by shaky sighs. Avery could feel her warm tail coil around his body as she leaned her head into Vizon.

 

For that moment…she simply cried with her family.

 

“…It’s…it’s hard,” Avery said, curling up next to her. “…It’s hard, being…looked up to, and having to be strong, when…when there’s times you don’t. It’s a lot of pressure. And I don’t…”

 

He sighed quietly.

 

“…I…she’ll come home. We’ll…we’ll find her together, and…and she’ll come home. I don’t know who she is, or what she’s like…but…she was important to you. And…and we’ll…we’ll find her. A-all of us. Together.”

 

She swallowed hard, squeezing Avery tight in her tail.

 

“I’m sorry…I’m sorry I must be selfish but…” Nivanee’s voice cracked. “…just for tonight…I don’t want to be the senior, the mentor. I just want to…”

 

Vizon lifted a paw, stroking over her head as Avery curled beside her.

 

“Together.” Vizon finished for her affirmingly.

 

Nivanee only silently nodded, huffing weakly in the quiet of the guild. The silence.

 

But her friends made it better.

 

“…I love you…both of you.” Nivanee whispered.

 

“I love you, too, Nivanee.” Vizon affirmed, looking up at Avery.

 

“…I love you both,” Avery mumbled, burying himself into her fur. “…You’re our friend, Niv. And…and we’re…we’re all here for you. Y-you know…?”

 

“Just…stay with me tonight?” Nivanee asked softly, nuzzling Avery gently. “You two are my…f…family. I’ll be here for you, too, I promise. I promise I’ll always be here and I will never ever let go…”

 

The bed sat by the wall, under the windowsill, a sight better than the old mattress.

 

It was a large bed. A twin bed. Too large for Nivanee by herself. Avery bit his lip looking at it, nodding softly.

 

“… Alright. We can stay with you tonight.”

 

She nodded softly, she and Vizon clambering up into the bed. Its wood frame creaked slightly as Vizon leaned down to pick Avery up and place him between him and Nivanee. Feeling Vizon pick him up… It made Avery feel warm and fuzzy all over.

 

The Eevee’s tear soaked eyes were shut tight, and she immediately pressed into Avery, her tail curling around them both as though they were protective blankets or stuffed animals.

 

Her breathing was shaky on Avery’s fur…but calming down.

 

Vizon hugged Avery tight as well, stroking him with his paws as the gentle warmth coiled around the three.

 

“Goodnight, Avery. Nivanee.” Vizon said.

 

“Goodnight…goodnight, J…Vizon. Avery.”

 

Avery curled up into Vizon’s chest, with Nivanee’s midsection at his back, her face on top of his head.

 

“… G… Goodnight, Niv, Viz…”

 

‘…It feels right to say.’

 

“… Love you.”

 

‘Felt right to say.’

 

“Love you too…” Vizon muttered, Nivanee giving an ‘mhm…’

 

“…love you, Avery…” she mumbled, nuzzling close.

 

The comfort of the bed, of friends, no light but from the moon.

 

Falling asleep would be the easiest thing in the world. Avery had never slept this close to someone before. Squeezed like a plush against a chest, head tucked beneath someone’s chin. Being this small was scary, but…for times like this, where he could be a comforting plush, to two of his best friends…to feel their arms, their bodies surrounding him. To give so much warmth to others, to help them feel the love of family when they needed it most…

 

…that was Paradise.

 

Chapter 8.2

~

Concealment

~

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