Chapter 3: Wott Is This Place
by poper466Alright here’s the point where things slow down. Let me know if you like this better or if everything should just be really, really fast.
January 21st, 12:30 pm
Surfspark Guild
Coast Continent
“Who goes there!?” Litwick asserted, “I can feel your presence, so c’mon answer me dang it.”
*GRUMBLE* *GROAR*
“Oh it’s just Cinder,” Litwick sighed, “Ok, come in!”
The door opened, revealing Cinder on her tippy-toes with a slightly annoyed expression, “I didn’t even get to knock.” She sighed.
“You didn’t have to, I’d recognize your volcanic tummy rumbling from anywhere.”
“I have several questions.” Riolu sighed.
“Yes, this is a recurring thing.” Litwick interjected, “Next question.”
“I didn’t even get to verbally ask that, but fair enough, that was my first question.” Riolu muttered, “My second question is are you always this quick to jump to conclusions?”
“Eh, sometimes.” Litwick laughed, “Next one.”
“Can we wrap this up, so we can quell the beast!?” Joseph shouted impatiently.
“Hey, she’s the one asking questions, not you.” Litwick chuckled, “Besides what beast are we quelling-“
*GROAR*
“Ah I see.” Litwick laughed, “Well, I guess we should wrap this up then.”
“Wait, I got one more!” Riolu interjected, “Why didn’t you phase through the door this time?”
Litwick slumped at his post, “Oh because I’m hungry,” he said “Cinder if you’d be so kind.”
Cinder sat puzzled for a moment before realizing what he meant, “O-oh yeah.” She stuttered before firing a Flamethrower his way, engulfing him entirely.
The candle Pokémon was unfazed by the flames, licking his lips after the flames had cleared, “Mmmmm flames.” He said, as the ghostly flame atop his head grew from a tiny flame into a raging inferno.
“Did he just-?” Riolu said, cutting off just in time for Slippy to finish that thought for her.
“-Eat the flames?” Slippy chimed in.
Litwick burped, “Ah, what a nice meal.” He said, “Alright, you’re free to go get lunch now.”
“Wait, aren’t you gonna ask what I’m doing here?” Slippy asked.
“You’re here to form a team with Joseph and Riolu right?”
“How’d you know?”
“This morning I heard Riolu say she wanted to make a team, then suddenly you’re here, so I assumed those events had some correlation.”
“Ah I see, well see ya later Mister Litwick.”
“‘Be seeing you, little guy.”
The quartet made their way to the dining room, upon arriving they were greeted by a familiar face waving to them from one of the tables, “Hey over here, I got us a seat!” Hula called out.
The group approached the table and took a seat, except Joseph who was a little nervous about being able to get into the chair on his own, “Um Riolu, do you mind giving me a hand?”
But before she could respond, Slippy jumped down from his chair, “Don’t worry, I’ve got it” he said. He then grabbed Joseph with his flippers and placed him on his head, “There now you can just walk onto the chair.”
“Thanks.” Joseph said as he walked off of Slippy’s head and onto the chair.
“Don’t worry about it, bud!” Slippy said as he bounced back up onto his seat.
“Well, I’m gonna go get us some food.” Cinder said as she went to get down from her seat.
“It’s ok, I’ve got someone on it already.” Hula replied, “You might even recognize him from earlier.”
“I don’t catch your drift.” Riolu muttered, “Who’s getting our food?”
“You’ll know him when you see him.”
“Ok?”
“So about yesterday.” Hula continued, “I wanna know exactly what happened.”
“Um, it might not be the best idea to explain it entirely.”
“Oh because of Slippy? It’s alright we’ve met before, he actually helps me water my plants from time to time, it’s fine though he can keep a secret.” Hula explained, “Ain’t that right, bud?”
“Yeah! Keeping secrets is my favorite pastime!”
‘That’s not concerning at all’ Joseph mused.
“Well ok, Joseph you can tell him but only him got it?” Riolu said, giving Joseph a very stern look.
“Yeah, I got it, just one thing before I share my version of the story, though. Slippy.”
“Yes?” Slippy answered.
“Please don’t make a scene.”
“What makes you think I’ll do that?”
“Let me explain, I was a human before I was taken from my world and dropped into this one, I washed up next to Riolu here and one of her friends who as of right now is still recovering from injuries, we came here seeking shelter and medical attention and in the process met Cinder, who could tell I was human just by looking at my eyes-.”
“T-that’s a lot to take in.” Slippy interjected, “Could you walk me through a bit slower.”
“Uh…”
“How about we take turns explaining?” Riolu suggested, “We can break up the pace a bit while still telling the whole story.”
“I guess that could work.”
“Alright I’ll start, I jumped off a cliff back in Purity Heights on the Crag Continent, I was running away from this weird goo stuff that was consuming everything in sight, spreading until nothing was left, I jumped because my friend Oshawott fell off the cliff. We landed in the water below, but he hit his head on the way down.”
“Somehow someway they ended up here in the Coast Continent I believe it was?”
“Yep, which is halfway across the world from where we were.”
“They washed up on a beach here. The whole time that was going on I had been kidnapped by some weird Interdimensional people and told that I would be assisting in an experiment, they asked me some questions and eventually dropped me into this world.”
“When he woke up, Joseph had noticed he was no longer a human but a Shinx instead.”
“Well, not before being questioned by Riolu, I told her that I was human because before that interaction I never thought that would put me in danger.”
“We then realized Oshawott was still unconscious and after attempting to wake him we rushed him here where he’s still resting.”
“And then we met Cinder, who realized I was human because she had a human friend back in the world she came from.”
“We befriended her over dinner and that was that for yesterday.”
“Wait for real?” Slippy gasped.
A somewhat familiar voice interjected, “Hm, I guess I was right then.” The voice belonged to the Eevee that had taken the entire town hostage earlier.
“W-what’s he doing here!?” Joseph blurted.
“Who cares, he heard everything, we need to make sure he doesn’t tell anyone else!” Riolu shouted.
Hula quickly put a stop to their worrying, “Hold on before you freak out, let me explain.” she said, “This is Cameron, his past is a bit… complicated.”
“HEY! I TOLD YOU IT’S SPECTER, NOT CAMERON!” The tiny Eevee shouted.
“Oh, then must I inform the Guildmaster you’re going rogue?”
“U-uh, what I meant to say was, I prefer going by Cam.”
“So, you care to elaborate?” Riolu asked.
“I’m getting to it, but there’s something Cinder needs to explain first.” Hula claimed.
“What exactly am I explaining?” Cinder shrugged, “You say this as if we planned to talk about this.”
“The old story about the first human’s betrayal.”
“Oh, uh, I told them about it already.”
“Oh, ok, then this is easy to explain, Cameron is the descendant of the human from that story.”
“What!?” Joseph, Riolu, and Slippy collectively gasped.
Slippy quickly followed up, “B-but I thought that was just an old fairy tale they told us in school!” He said.
“Wh-, how-, why-, did she- I have no words.” Joseph fumbled.
“So the legend is still somewhat alive!?” Riolu asked.
Cameron rolled his eyes, “Yes and unfortunately regardless of my criminal record I have to live with the reputation of a criminal because of it.” He huffed.
“But how do they know you’re related to the legends?” Joseph wondered.
At this point Cameron was beginning to rant, “Because of my eyes, they’re blue and unfortunately that makes them stick out like a sore thumb. Oh, yeah, and the way that I use sayings that most Eevee don’t. It’s annoying that everyone judges me based on the label they gave me rather than my actual actions, heck that’s what led me here, I was tired of everyone labeling me as this horrible person, so I ended up actually becoming said terrible person.”
“Calm down, it’s gonna be ok.” Hula said, rubbing Cameron’s back in an attempt to comfort him, “Have you talked to your mom about this?”
“She’s been gone for two years.”
“O-oh dear! Where did she go?”
“I don’t know, she didn’t tell me.”
“I’m so sorry.” Joseph said, “Had I known about any of this, I wouldn’t have laughed at you.”
“Don’t apologize, this is what I get for failing to hide the small shred of humanity still present within my bloodline. I deserve every ounce of this.”
“Don’t say that! It’s not like you had a choice in any of this! It’s not your fault!”
“You’re right, but unfortunately they don’t see it that way, I’m lucky they even let me live.”
“Speaking of that.” Riolu interrupted, “Why do they let you live if they treat you like this?”
“Some dumb logic about how my genetics make me more Eevee than human, even though that doesn’t make sense as technically my ancestor was too because of her transformation, but they didn’t apply that logic to her for some reason.”
“Wait, you don’t mean-“
“Yes, they did kill her.”
“That’s just cruel.”
“Anyway, according to their dumb logic or whatever I’m only about five percent human, it’s theorized that I will be the last generation of the family to bear the burden of humanity.”
“Who are the ones deciding this?”
“The villagers of my ancestors’ home village, they’ve been in charge of ‘human relations’ in this world, in other words they execute anyone they suspect to be a human. They also managed our family after she died.”
“This is getting confusing.”
“Basically they murdered Fiora, the human from the story, realized she had a child that they just orphaned and decided to let the bloodline continue as long as they were shunned for their origins, they suspected that each generation of children would be less human than the one before it but never actually bothered to use science to back up their claims. Then we cut to today, where they believe I would be the last human in the bloodline.”
“Ok, gotcha,” Riolu responded, “so basically what you’re saying is this world’s understanding of humans is terrible.”
“Yes, so if you want your buddy there to live, keep this whole thing under wraps.”
“Ahem, now that that’s been cleared up, shall we dig into our food now?” Cinder interjected, “It’s been sitting here a while.”
“Wait, when did the food get here?” Joseph asked, “And how long has it been here, for that matter?”
Cameron chuckled, “I brought it here, I’m stuck working here until we can discuss a suitable punishment for the stunt I pulled today.”
“Anyone else not notice that?”
Riolu laughed, “I definitely didn’t.”
“Well, it’s here now, let’s just eat!”
“You guys have fun with that, I’m gonna go starve somewhere else.” Cameron sighed.
“Hold it mister!” Hula shouted, “Guildmaster Lanturn never said you couldn’t have lunch, now sit down and eat with us!”
“He didn’t?”
“No, he didn’t, now sit down and eat before he changes his mind.”
“Works for me!”
Cameron sat down next to Cinder who awkwardly waved at him, “S-sorry about the Fire Blast earlier,” she said, “I got you this to make up for it.” Cinder reached into her bag and pulled out a White Gummi after rummaging around for a couple seconds, and handed it to Cameron.
“Thanks…” he said.
“You’re welcome!” Cinder replied, “Oh, and I got one for everyone else too, I thought it’d be nice since we were sharing lunch together.”
“Wait really!?” Riolu beamed.
“Yup, I even got one for Slippy on the way out.”
“Yay, thank you!” Slippy cheered.
Everyone happily ate their lunch, afterward the friendly chit-chat resumed at Cinder’s expense.
Joseph chuckled, “I’d say our first mission as a team went pretty well!” He said.
“I’ll say!” Slippy added.
Cinder and Hula stared at each other, completely lost as to what they were talking about.
“Did I miss something?” Hula asked, “I feel so lost.”
“You didn’t miss anything, you were here to witness our greatness!” Joseph beamed, shining a toothy grin afterward.
“I still don’t get it.”
“Didn’t you see us conquer Mount Grumble?” Riolu asked before letting out a chuckle.
“Mount Grumble?”
“Hey!” Cinder shouted, “You little bullies!” She chuckled.
Everyone burst into laughter, although Cinder seemed a little angry at first, she was just pretending. She was used to the jokes about her stomach’s violent rumbling, she even made them herself. The laughter continued for a couple seconds until it was cut short by the sound of someone running through the halls of the guild.
“Something’s up.” Cinder said.
“Should we do something about it?” Hula asked.
“Do we have a choice!?”
“Guess not.”
The two got up and sprinted into the hallway, leaving Joseph and the group behind.
“Well so much for asking about the watch I guess” Joseph sighed.
“That’s what you’re concerned about!?” Riolu yelled, “There could be a genuine threat, and you’re worried about a watch!?”
“I wouldn’t worry about it.” Cameron said, “This place is really secure and the guild members themselves are tough as nails.”
“How do you know that for sure?”
“Dude, I’m an ex-criminal, and you don’t think I know how to tell if a place is secure or not!?”
“Oh yeah, I guess you would know then, huh.”
“Yeah, I’m smarter than I look.”
“Then what happened earlier today?
“Uh, I tried doing something a little different from my usual scheme, and it blew up in my face.”
“Literally.” Joseph added.
“Yep, I was betrayed by my ‘friends’.”
“They say there’s no honor among thieves for a reason.” Joseph sighed.
“Oh, I know, that’s why I’m getting off with just a guild issued punishment instead of jail time and my ‘friends’ are getting the nasty surprise I left for them.”
“Wait, did you rat them out?”
“You bet I did! Those greedy goblins won’t know what hit ’em!”
“I really thought you were gonna say something else there.”
“Oh, I was, but I decided against it.” Cameron admitted, “it Still took me every fiber of my being to hold my tongue, though.”
“Well, I’m glad you did, there are kids at this table.”
“Hey! I’m not that young!” Riolu shouted.
“How old is not that young again?” Joseph questioned.
“Thirteen.”
“I rest my case.”
“Well, if you’re the adult around here, how old are you?”
“Eighteen, assuming this whole other world situation didn’t make me younger somehow.”
“Ok, my mouth is shut.” Riolu said.
“Dang, dude, you’re six whole years older than I am!” Cameron chuckled, “How’s the job search going?”
“Well considering we’re joining the guild I’d say pretty good.” Joseph said before realizing Cameron was a criminal at the age of twelve, “Wait, you’re only TWELVE, and you’re already an EX-CRIMINAL!?
“Yup, it’s a cruel world out there.”
“Jeez, I didn’t realize your situation was that bad.”
“Yeah, it’s terrible.”
“Well, since we’re on the subject, Slippy, how old are you?”
“… Sixteen.” Slippy muttered.
“Woah, you’re sixteen!? You seem like you’d be like eleven or something!” Riolu blurted.
“… Yeah, my papa says I need to act my age all the time, but that’s no fun.”
“Yeah, I could see that, especially since you’re not even that childish, just a little bubbly.”
“That’s what I tried telling him, but he won’t listen, I guess he thinks because he can’t be happy nobody else can.”
“But he sounded pretty happy when we met him earlier.”
“That’s the first time I’ve seen him happy in I don’t even know how long.”
“Do you know why?”
“It’s personal, if I bring it up, I don’t think I’d be able to smile for the rest of the day, let alone the rest of the week.”
“Dang, it’s that bad, huh?”
“Yeah, it happened so long ago, but the impact still lingers to this day.”
‘Wow, this got kinda sad all of a sudden.’ Joseph thought, ‘Hopefully something happens to lighten the mood.
As if right on cue, Cinder ran back into the dining hall, panting heavily.
“What’s going on!?” Riolu asked.
Cinder, still regaining her breath, managed to get out a few words. “Osha… wott… missing… whole… guild… searching… frantically…”
“WHAT!?” Riolu gasped before jumping straight over the table and taking off full speed.
Everyone else at the table was stunned, ‘how does a patient just go missing!?’ Joseph thought.
Cinder finally caught her breath, “I don’t even know how he got out! Arbolivia said he’d be out for the next three days at least!”
“WHERE AM I!?” a voice shouted from the hallway.
“Well, we found him, let’s get going!” Cameron commanded.
The group all nodded in unison, Joseph and Cameron jumped down from their seats and waited for Slippy to follow suit. Slippy rolled straight off the chair, bouncing off the floor when he landed, and continued rolling, gaining a head start.
The group headed out into the hall where they immediately spotted Oshawott, “W-who are you!?” Oshawott screamed, “Where am I!? What is this place!?”
“Calm down, we’re not gonna hurt you!” Cinder replied, raising her nubby arms in an attempt to seem less threatening. However, this gesture was futile as mere seconds later…
“OSHAWOTT!” Riolu shouted as she ran towards Oshawott with her arms wide open, ready to wrap Oshawott up in the tightest hug they could manage. But before she could reach him *SPLASH* Riolu was struck right in the face by his Water Gun, “Ow! What was that for!?” Riolu shouted.
“St-stay back, or I’ll spray you again!” Oshawott yelled.
“But Oshawott it’s me! Riolu! Your best friend!” Riolu responded.
Oshawott backed up, “I-I don’t remember you st-stay away!” he shouted before firing off another stream of water.
“Riolu move!” Joseph blurted.
Riolu let out a “Tch.” before clapping her paws together whipping up a small cyclone, reflecting the stream of water back at Oshawott, hitting him straight in the face and knocking him over. “Was that a nice refresher?” Riolu quipped.
“N-no.” Oshawott whimpered, “I can’t remember anything, just please don’t kill me!”
Riolu’s eyes went as wide as baseballs, ‘N-no! Arceus no! Please don’t tell me he has amnesia! He can’t have amnesia!’ Riolu’s thoughts were racing, her heart was pounding out of her chest, tears started to well up in her eyes as she fell to her knees.
“You good girl?” Cameron asked.
Nothing… Not a peep… Riolu was devastated…
After a few moments of silence, Riolu managed to mutter one word, “N-no.” She collapsed afterward.
—
January 21st, 3:00 pm
Surfspark Guild – Medical Ward
Coast Continent
—
Riolu woke up a bit disoriented, “Ugh, what happened?” She wondered. She was in a bed that was surrounded by a curtain, which she assumed was in the medical ward.
“You passed out after confronting Oshawott.” A voice said.
Riolu gasped, she didn’t mean to say that out loud. “Who’s there?” She asked, looking around frantically, trying to find where the voice was coming from, but all she could see was the teal green curtain.
“Stay calm, it’s just me, Arbolivia.”
“Can you move the curtain please?”
“Sure, just sit tight for a moment.”
Arbolivia slowly crept into view, pulling the curtains open when her shadow was fully visible.
“Thanks.” Riolu sighed, “But how’d I get here?”
“Joseph brought you here, he said you seemed to have passed out after getting really overwhelmed.”
“Oh, right… It’s all coming back to me…”
“O-on the plus side, Oshawott has calmed down now if you want to talk to him.”
“What’s the point? He’s got amnesia, and now he only remembers me as the jerk who shot his Water Gun back at his face…” Riolu sighed.
“The least you could do is tell him how he got here.”
“… Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
Riolu got up from her bed and headed for the door when Arbolivia stopped her.
Arbolivia crouched down and looked Riolu in the eyes, “For the record, the Guildmaster thinks what you did with your Vacuum Wave was very clever.”
“Really?”
“Yes, in fact, he went on to say you’d fit right in here at the guild.”
‘Huh, maybe I’m not completely out of my element here, then.’ Riolu thought, “That was very nice of him.” She said, “I’ll make sure to thank him next time I see him.”
“Well he’s out right now, but he’ll be back by dinner, maybe you should go talk to Oshawott while you wait for him to come back.”
“Sounds good, so where’s Oshawott?”
“He should be with Cinder and the others, they went out on a tour of Sunset Square.”
“Alright, thanks for everything!”
“Don’t mention it!”
Riolu sprinted through the halls and out the front gate, after a quick run down to town she spotted the group, “Hey guys!” Riolu shouted, “I’m back from my nap!”
“Hey, you doin’ alright now?” Joseph asked.
“Yep, sorry for passing out like that.”
“It’s ok, I almost did the same when we first met.”
“So, what are you guys up to?”
“Well we just got done touring again but Slippy wanted to check out the Kecleon shop, he said he saw something there earlier that caught his eye.” Cinder explained, “Oshawott is with him right now.”
“Alright, I’m gonna try to apologize to him.”
“Oh, we cleared that up with him already, I think for now you should just reintroduce yourself and tell him what’s going on.” Joseph said.
“Ok.” Riolu replied, “I’ll be back in a sec.”
Riolu walked down to the Kecleon shop, where she saw Slippy and Oshawott just as promised, “Sup guys?” Riolu asked.
“Nothing, I’m just buying something I found interesting.” Slippy answered.
“So I’ve heard.”
“Are you really sure you want this thing Slippy?” Cobalt asked, “I can’t describe it, but I get this weird feeling of unease when I look at that thing.”
“I’m sure, plus if it gives you that feeling wouldn’t you want to get rid of it?”
“Normally I would want it gone, but there’s something telling me this thing’s not meant to be circulating, ya know?”
“You think it’s one of those ‘don’t let it get into the wrong hands’ things?”
“Something like that.”
“Well, luckily I don’t have hands, so it’ll be safe with me!”
“Alright, but I’m not liable if this thing does something unexpected.”
“Ok, here’s 500 Poké!”
“Pleasure doing business with you!”
Slippy put the mysterious item in his bag but Riolu couldn’t see what it was, but she didn’t really care too much ‘if I was meant to see it I would’ve.’ she thought, for now she just wanted to talk to Oshawott, “Hey Oshawott,” she called, “Wanna talk? I know it might be a little hard now because of the whole amnesia thing, but I’ve got some things I want to talk to you about.”
“I mean, I’m down, I have nothing better to do.”
“Wh-what do you mean? You have plenty of things to do!”
“Yeah but, nothing feels productive, if you know what I mean.”
“Well, doing nothing isn’t helping you feel productive, either.”
“Yeah, I guess, but what do I do? It’s not like I can remember what I wanted to do with my life.”
“Don’t be like that! I know you’ll remember!”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right, but what should I do in the meantime?”
“I’ve got an idea, but I need to explain some things first.”
“Go on.”
“Let’s start with how we got here, you fell off a cliff and I jumped off after you, you hit your head on the way down and after that we passed out and washed up here.”
“What!? Why would you jump after me!? And how are you not hurt!?”
“Once I had no choice and two I have no clue.”
“What do you mean you had no choice!?”
“Look, it was either jump off the cliff or get eaten by this weird purple goo stuff, and I chose to maximize my chances of surviving.”
“Ok, I don’t exactly know where you’re going with this.”
“My plan was to join the guild and try to get to the bottom of this situation, I was hoping you’d join with me, but given your circumstances I’d understand if you don’t want to.”
“I’ll do it!”
“What- really!? Are you sure?”
“Absolutely!”
“O-ok, I guess we should tell the others.”
The duo walked back to where Cinder and Joseph were standing, the two noticed them almost instantly, turning to face them.
“Everything alright?” Joseph asked.
“Yeah, we’re all good.” Oshawott said,
“That’s good, it’s nice to see you two don’t hate each other, that’d be the worst.”
“Agreed, especially since I spent all that time worrying about him.” Riolu sighed.
“Well now that he’s ok you can rest easy right?”
“Not quite.”
“Why not?”
“Well, his memories for one thing, but also because he wants to join the guild with us.”
“WHAT!?” Cinder gasped, “Are you sure!? You’re still recovering from amnesia! You could get seriously hurt!”
“I know, I accept the risk.” Oshawott
“But why!? Nobody’s forcing you to do this!” Joseph blurted.
“I know, but It’s better than sitting around doing nothing, plus if what Riolu told me is true then there might be a global threat just waiting to cause more cases like mine, if that makes sense.”
“Gotcha, I guess it can’t be helped.” Joseph sighed.
“I seriously doubt that whatever you’re talking about is that serious, but whatever, I’m not gonna bother arguing right now.” Cinder said.
“On another note, where’s Cameron?” Riolu asked.
“Oh, he went back to the guild shortly after you got here, I think he said he saw Lanturn heading back, so he decided to follow him.”
“Oh yeah, what was Lanturn doing? Arbolivia told me he left, but she didn’t tell me why.”
“Oh, he went for a walk.”
“But he doesn’t have legs.” Joseph replied.
“Yeah, how does that work?” Riolu added.
“Hey, don’t ask me, I have no idea.” Cinder chuckled.
“Come to think of it, how can you see? Your eyes have been closed this whole time.”
“I don’t know, it’s strange, it makes no logical sense, but I can just see somehow.”
“Have you ever opened your eyes?”
“I have, only once though, I remember looking in the mirror, letting out a big yawn and just seeing my eyes, they were a crimson red, and they were the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen!”
“Do you think you could show us?” Riolu asked.
“Unfortunately no, I have no idea how to open my eyes, I think that’s for the better though.”
“Why’s that?” Joseph wondered.
“Because I don’t think the world is ready for girly girl Cinder.”
“Excuse me?”
“When I saw my eyes, I couldn’t help but blush and giggle like a little girl, and I NEVER do that normally! Usually I don’t care too much about how I look, but I couldn’t take my eyes off my reflection! And everyone kept asking me if something was up and kept telling me I was acting strangely the whole day!”
“You know not all girls act like that, right?” Riolu scoffed, “I can’t stand it when others say stuff like that.”
“I know not all girls are like that! That’s why I was so shaken by this! Normally everyone’s going on about how they can barely tell that I’m a girl, but all it took was seeing my eyes once and all of a sudden everyone’s asking me if I’m ok! They thought I went crazy!”
“There’s nothing wrong with you, Cinder, I’ve had this happen to me a couple times, you’re just noticing things about yourself you don’t normally notice.” Joseph replied.
“Oh, Arceus, is it always like that?”
“No, usually you just feel a little more confident about yourself, in your case though the feeling might have been intensified by the fact you weren’t able to notice your eyes before.”
“But why did it make me feel so girly?”
“It didn’t make you feel girly, it made you feel pretty, and prettiness isn’t gender exclusive, boys can feel pretty too! As for why it made you feel that way it’s because that’s how you felt your eyes looked, usually in this sort of situation you interpret yourself as being whatever you felt you noticed, if that makes sense.”
“So if I thought my eyes looked cool, I would have felt cool?”
“Exactly!” Joseph cheered, “Of course you have to genuinely feel that way, otherwise you wouldn’t feel confident at all.”
“I think I get it now, thank you for enlightening me.”
“You’re welcome.”
“That was a bit of an awkward conversation.” Riolu muttered.
“Well, it’s over now, what else do you want to talk about?”
“I actually was thinking of going back to the guild.”
“Alright, well let’s go get Slippy then.”
“I’m right here!” Slippy shouted as he rolled up to rejoin the group, “Look at what I bought!” He said as he skidded to a stop, reaching into his bag shortly after.
“Do you know what it is, Riolu?” Joseph asked.
Riolu shook her head, “No, I didn’t see it before he put it in his bag.”
“Well, here it is! Take a look!” Slippy cheered as he pulled the item out of his bag, it was a spherical object that was decided into two halves by a horizontal black line that went all the way around the middle of the sphere, a button was placed on the front of the object on top of the black line, the two halves were different colors, the bottom was a shiny silver color, while the top half was a deep purple with white symbol towards the front, there were also two pinkish-purple half circle looking pieces on the top.
Joseph instantly recognized this item, but everyone else had no idea what this object was let alone where it came from, “Um, Slippy?” He muttered.
“Yeah?” Slippy responded.
“W-where did you get that thing?”
“I bought it from Cobalt at the Kecleon shop! It was only 500 Poké!”
“Is something up, Joseph?” Cinder asked.
“Th-that thing i-it’s…”
“It’s pretty, that’s what it is!” Slippy cheered, completely unaware that he was holding a very, VERY, dangerous object.
“Pretty strange, that is!” Riolu snickered.
“Yeah, what she said, I’ve never seen anything like it.” Oshawott said.
Sweat rolled down Joseph’s forehead, “Slippy, whatever you do, do NOT throw that thing!” He said.
“Oh, I already did, nothing happened.” Slippy responded.
“I don’t know if that’s better or worse.”
“Could you just calm down and tell us what’s the matter!?” Cinder huffed.
Joseph took a deep breath before explaining what was going on, “That thing is called a Master Ball, if you throw it at a Pokémon it captures it without fail!”
“WHAT!?” Riolu blurted.
“Capture!?” Oshawott gasped.
“Gosh, Cobalt’s gut was right! This thing can’t end up in the wrong hands!” Slippy shouted.
“Yeah, luckily it’s with us, maybe it’ll help us going forward.” Joseph sighed, “Thank god it was empty, otherwise Slippy would have unleashed something terrifying!”
“Why would anyone need something like that?” Riolu asked.
“They’re used for containing Pokémon that are seen as a threat to the entire world.” Joseph explained, “But usually they’re used by humans in other worlds as a last resort, here Pokémon can just talk it out peacefully, right?”
“Well, not exactly, but usually if something happens, a group of strong Pokémon band together to neutralize whatever threat is at hand.” Riolu clarified, “Or, so, I’ve been told.”
“Well, we should keep this as our ace in the hole, just in case we find out that this goo stuff you mentioned is being caused by a Pokémon.”
“Ace in the hole?”
“It’s an expression, it means our secret weapon.”
“Ah, ok.”
“So, how do we use it?” Slippy asked.
“You press the button and chuck it at your target!”
“Got it! I’ll await your command before using it!” Slippy cheered.
“Alright, sounds great now-“
*GRUMBLE* Cinder’s stomach roared, everyone immediately turned their attention to her, her face turned beet red from embarrassment, “Not again.” She groaned.
Riolu laughed, “Well, I guess we should get going.” she sighed.
“Yeah, let’s go!” Joseph chuckled.
The group returned to the guild, where yet again Litwick recognized the sound of Cinder’s stomach demanding mountains of food and opened the gate.
“Welcome back!” Litwick laughed, “Dinner’s ready already, so you guys should get moving if you plan to get some food.”
“Thanks Litwick!”
The group ran towards the dining hall, but Litwick stopped Cinder right before she took off, “Hold it! You forgot to pay the toll!” He teased.
Cinder sighed, “Right.” She said, before firing off a Fire Blast directly at Litwick.
“Delectable,” Litwick said as he licked his lips, “I think it needs more ketchup though.”
“Well, I can’t help you with that.” Cinder scoffed.
Litwick laughed and pulled out a massive bottle of ketchup, “It’s ok, I came prepared.” He said before starting to chug the entire bottle.
“Litwick, why are you always such a doofus?” Cinder asked, however she didn’t receive an answer as Litwick was too busy chugging ketchup. ‘Now’s my chance to get to the dining hall!’ She thought. Cinder seized the opportunity to take off running towards the dining hall before Litwick could ask for seconds. After a little bit of running, Cinder finally caught up to the rest of the group in the dining hall’s entrance.
“What took you so long?” Joseph asked jokingly.
“Had to feed Litwick, you know how it is.”
“Why doesn’t he just come down here for food?” Riolu wondered, “Is that too normal for him?”
“Yes actually it is, he’s a ghost, remember?” Cinder explained.
“Ghosts still get hungry?”
“Most don’t but for some reason he does.”
“So why doesn’t he just come get normal food then?”
“Because he can’t digest it, still doesn’t stop him from down chugging whole bottles of ketchup, though.”
“You guys have that here!?” Joseph blurted.
“Why wouldn’t we?”
“Uh, I don’t know, maybe because we haven’t had anything that goes well with ketchup here!”
“Well, tonight’s different because we’re having fries!”
“As the main course?”
“No, of course not, silly!”
“What’s the main course, then?”
“Slowpoke tails! What else would fries go with?”
“You’d be surprised, they’re a very flexible side.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it, anyway, let’s go grab a seat.”
The group wandered around the dining hall for a bit before noticing Cameron sitting alone out on the balcony, they decided to grab their food and join up with him, “The sunset’s great isn’t it?” Joseph called.
“Yeah, I’m glad I’m still going to be able to see it.” Cameron answered.
“Mind if we join you?”
“You’re fine, go ahead.”
The group all sat down at the table, setting their plates down in front of them. Cameron could smell the delectable aroma wafting off their food, “Are those… Slowpoke tails?” He asked.
“Yep, fresh from the oven!” Cinder cheered, “Courtesy of our chef, Chandalure!”
“I gotta go grab me one of those!” Cameron declared, “Be right back!” Cameron proceeded to jump from his chair and take off at full speed towards the counter where food was being served.
“Dang, he took off rather quickly! If he’d gone any faster, I might’ve mistaken him for a Jolteon!”
“Maybe he wants to evolve into one.” Joseph replied.
“Well if he does then I’m sure he’d get the hang of things in no time!”
“Maybe we should ask him when he comes back.”
“That might be a good idea, although I’ve heard some Eevee are a little insecure about the topic of evolution.”
“I can see that, I can’t imagine male Eevee would be very comfortable telling others they want to become a Sylveon.”
“Didn’t you just get done saying anyone can be pretty, regardless of gender?”
“Yeah, but not everyone is able to understand that.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Hold on, I thought Pokémon could only evolve into one specific species.” Riolu said.
“That’s not the case for all Pokémon species, especially not Eevee.” Joseph explained, “Some species have options, some are on a set path, and some aren’t known to evolve at all!”
“Wow, that’s interesting! Do I have options?”
“No, unfortunately, but that’s not really an issue, you evolve into a pretty strong Pokémon.”
“You could also decide to forego evolution, like I have!” Cinder cheered.
“But why would I do that? I’d just be holding myself back?” Riolu asked.
“You’re not holding yourself back by not evolving, strength is determined by your own abilities, not what form you possess.”
“Wow, I never thought of it like that.” Riolu said, “My mom always said I couldn’t be strong as a Riolu.”
“Nice parental advice! Ten out of ten!” Joseph deadpanned.
“Considering she was also the one who fed me that misinformation about evolution, I’m starting to think she didn’t know much about strength.”
“Sounds like it. On another note, Cinder, why did you choose to forego evolution?”
“Because I don’t feel like being angry all the time like every other Typhlosion on the planet.” Cinder answered, “Also because I like to curl up into a ball and don’t think Typhlosion can do that.”
“I think now would be a great time to mention this, some Pokémon evolve differently depending on their environment, the reason I’m bringing this up is that Typhlosion are different depending on where they evolved.”
“Wait really!?”
“Yes, although with Typhlosion it’s a little confusing.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well it’s unknown why but Typhlosion in Hisui evolved into a more calm subspecies but hundreds of years later they didn’t anymore, it was theorized that they became that way due to low volcanic activity but nothing changed in that regard in all that time.”
“So what you’re saying is that you don’t know if I can become a calm Typhlosion?”
“Yeah, unfortunately, there might be another condition that needs to be met, but I have no idea what it could be.”
“Could you describe what else is different about them?”
“They’re vastly different from normal Typhlosion, their flames have turned purple and blood-red, the flames flow more freely instead of being all spikey, and they have thick eyebrows.”
“PURPLE FLAMES!? How does that work!?”
“No idea, I think it has something to do with the fact that Hisui’s Typhlosion are ghost types.”
“WHAT!?”
“Yeah, they guide restless souls to the afterlife.” Joseph said nonchalantly before a light bulb went off in his head, “Wait! That’s it! Restless souls! That’s what causes Typhlosion to evolve into ghost types!”
“W-well, I-I don’t know if I’d be ok with becoming a g-ghost.”
“I understand, I don’t think that I would either, but just like you said you don’t have to evolve if you don’t want to.”
“Right, I don’t think my Everstone is leaving my bag anytime soon.”
“Jeez, what did I come back to?” Cameron said as he returned to his seat.
“Us talking about evolution.” Joseph answered.
“Is Cinder really that afraid of evolution?”
“I am now! All my options are terrifying!” Cinder exclaimed, “I either lose control of my emotions or I die!”
“Wait, run that by me again.”
“I told her about how some Typhlosion become ghosts that guide restless spirits on to the afterlife.” Joseph chuckled.
“There’s no way that’s a thing, quit making up campfire stories!” Cameron scoffed.
“It’s true though.” A voice said from behind, causing Cameron to tense up, he turned around to see Nail towering over him.
“GAH! Could you be any more creepy!?”
“I could, but if I was, I think we’d all discover what a ghost type Eevee looks like.”
“Oh, ha ha, like I haven’t heard that one a million times before.”
“Drop the attitude, it was just a joke.”
“Or what are you gonna get the Guildmaster on me?”
“No, worse, I’ll administer your punishment!” Nail barked, brandishing his claws.
Cameron gulped, “But wouldn’t the Guildmaster disapprove of that?” He squeaked.
“Nope, in fact, he’s ordered me to do so if you step out of line during your punishment.”
“I still don’t even know what my punishment is yet!” Cameron huffed, “It’s been ticking me off this whole time.”
“Oh, well, when you find out what it is you’ll thank the Guildmaster, assuming you don’t step out of line.”
“Whatever, Mister rake claws.”
“Cam, you gotta level up your speech man, and maybe your charisma while you’re at it.” Joseph sighed, “If you’re trying to turn your life around, you gotta start with making sure you’re not starting fights every five minutes.”
“Butt out of this!”
“He’s got a point, you know.” Nail said, “Besides, he’s someone you might want to listen to from now on, just sayin’.”
“Whatever, just say what you were gonna say before you put your freaky claws on display.”
“As I was going to say, ghost type Typhlosion are real, they’re native to my homeland of Hisui… Well, sort of anyway, technically Cyndaquil and Typhlosion aren’t native to Hisui, but there’s a strange phenomenon that takes them there from their homes.”
“What!? How!?” Riolu gasped.
“They get snatched up by rifts in time and space which takes them to Hisui when a Space Time Distortion appears.”
“Wouldn’t a rift and a Space Time Distortion be the same thing?”
“Not exactly, a Space Time Distortion affects the surrounding area temporarily.”
“They’re horrifying! One took me away from my friends!” Cinder squeaked.
“Calm down, Cinder, you’re safe now.”
“But my friends! They’re-“
“Probably fine.” Nail interjected, “You’ll see them again someday, I’m sure of it!”
“You always say that, but none of us have yet!” Cinder shouted, “None of us have seen any of our friends, and now there’s four of us!”
“Well, worrying isn’t fixing the problem.”
At this point, tears were beginning to well up in Cinder’s eyes. “What IS fixing the problem, huh!?” She screamed, “I just want to go back to watching the Krabby blow bubbles in the sunset with my friends! But now I’m stuck here because of some scary space-time screw up ravaging Treasure Town!”
“I understand how you feel Cinder, I’m in the same boat, I miss my friends too, I miss sparring with them and actually having a tough time with a fight for a change, I miss when we’d go camping in the Alabaster Icelands, but the best thing we can do is hang tough so that when they do get here we’re still recognizable.”
“But what if they never show up?”
“Then I’ll let you torch everything in my room or something, but I know that’s not gonna happen, I know they’re looking for a way back to us, they have to be!”
“Y-yeah, you’re right, they wouldn’t give up on us! Not my friends, and not yours either!” Cinder exclaimed, shooting quill like flames out of her back.
“Dude! The chair!” Joseph blurted.
“Don’t worry, they’re fireproof.” Nail chuckled, “Now where were we?”
“You mentioned how Cyndaquil isn’t native to Hisui.”
“Right, right, ok so basically since they aren’t native to Hisui they adapted to the environment which is how they ended up as ghost types.”
“Ok, but where’s the proof?” Cameron asked.
“Right here!” Nail said as he quickly pulled an old looking book from the bag on his waist and slammed it onto the table.
“Hey!” Cameron shouted, “Did you forget that we’re eating food on this table!?”
“Sorry, this thing’s kinda heavy.” Nail teased, “Anyway, feast your eyes on this!” Nail opened up the book and flipped a page that appeared to have a Typhlosion on it.
“Woah, it’s just like Joseph said!” Cinder exclaimed.
“Yep, I told you they were real!” Nail beamed.
“But I still wonder, how does it feel to become a ghost?”
“My friend Wispy said it was strange at first, but he loves it!”
“Is that him in the picture?” Joseph asked.
“Yep,” Nail sighed, “I miss how he’d always get my attention by sending a chill down my spine.”
“Isn’t that feeling unpleasant supposed to be unpleasant?”
“It was at first, but I got used to it, besides he always warmed us up afterward anyway.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
Nail closed the book and placed it back in his bag, “Well I’m gonna return to the Guildmaster, you guys enjoy your dinner.” He said.
“Alright, see ya Nail.”
“Peace.”
As Nail walked away, Joseph looked back at his plate, “Oh right, uh, next topic, how did Chandalure get the Slowpoke tails she prepared?”
“Slowpoke shed their tails from time to time, so we took to eating them, as strange as that sounds.” Cinder explained.
“Oh, thank god, I thought you were gonna tell me that the Slowpoke died to make this meal.”
“Arceus, no! What do you take us for? Monsters?”
“No, I was just checking, back home we usually eat other creatures, but we have to kill them to do so.”
“So you’re the monster!” Riolu shouted.
“Hold on! Let me explain! Most other creatures did the same!”
“So everything in your world is just unhinged, huh? Well, that doesn’t justify it!”
“It’s not like we had a choice, my world’s not like yours, it’s kill or be killed there!”
“Can’t you just talk it out with those creatures?”
“We could if there wasn’t an unbreakable language barrier!”
“Well, still eating them feels disrespectful.”
“Well, again it’s either kill and eat or be killed and get eaten where I’m from.”
“Whatever, if we ever go on a long trip or something, and we run out of food, I better not catch you trying to eat any of us.”
“You guys are my friends! I wouldn’t do that!”
“Oh, so we’re spared, but everyone else is still at risk of becoming your lunch.”
“No, that’s not what I meant! What I meant was that I feel that it’d be morally wrong to kill someone just to eat them if I can understand them!”
“Would you two cut it out and eat your food!?” Cinder shouted.
“Fine, but that’s still messed up!”
“No it’s not, it’s just a cultural difference across dimensions now chill out!”
“Thank you Cinder.” Joseph sighed, “There was no way I was gonna be able to get out of that on my own.”
“Don’t worry about it, we can be worse sometimes, so it’s unfair to call you a monster, especially because what you mentioned is normal where you’re from.”
“How are we worse?” Riolu asked.
“Because sometimes we eat berries and fruits grown by grass types.”
“But that’s normal.”
“Not if they were grown on the Pokémon themselves.”
“What do you mean?”
“For example: bananas from a Tropius.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Imagine your friends only cared about you because of the fruit that grew on your neck.”
“Ok, I see your point.”
“There are more layers to it too, picking the fruit can hurt the Tropius, and there’s a chance it doesn’t grow back.”
“Ok! Ok! I get it!”
“Alright then, Joseph, you should go ahead and try the Slowpoke tail, I promise you’ll like it.”
“Alright here goes.” Joseph sighed, he took a deep breath before taking a massive bite of the Slowpoke tail. He was overwhelmed by its sweet and savory taste, pausing for a moment before gobbling down the rest of it.
“Told ya!” Cinder exclaimed.
“I mean, come on, who doesn’t like Slowpoke tails?” Cameron chuckled.
“I’m sure there’s somebody out there.”
“Well, I have some very choice words for them.”
“Don’t we all?” Riolu laughed.
The group finished eating and watched the sunset together, after the sun had completely set the group was approached by Lanturn, “Sup dudes?” He greeted.
“Nothing much.” Joseph replied, “How’re you doing?”
“A-ok my compadre.”
“That’s nice. So, did you wanna talk about something?”
“Yes, actually there is.” Lanturn said, “A friend of mine told me you wanted to form a team.”
“That is correct, but where did you hear that?”
“Flame top told me.”
“Who? Litwick?”
“Yeah flame top!” Lanturn confirmed, “Anyway if you dudes wanna make a team you gotta come to my pad you feel?”
Riolu didn’t understand, “Pad?” She questioned.
“He means his room.” Cameron sighed, “This dude’s definitely taken one too many chill pills.”
Riolu Ignored the last bit of what Cameron said, “Do you mean your bedroom or the room we were in yesterday?”
“I think he means his office.” Joseph said.
“Well, I wouldn’t call it an office because that’s waaaay too formal, but if that’s what you’re comfortable with, then go ahead. Lanturn said, “Just follow me, I’ll show you the room I’m talking about.”
“You could have just told them to follow you from the start, but whatever, I’ll see you guys later, I guess.” Cameron sassed.
“Oh, you can come too, little dude.” Lanturn offered, “I can administer your punishment right after I get them situated.”
“Oh FINALLY, Jeez,I honestly thought you forgot at this point.”
The group was guided out of the dining hall and into the Guildmaster’s “pad”, once there they were once again greeted by Nail who was organizing books on a shelf in the corner of the room “So we meet again.” He said, “What brings you here?”
“They wanted to register as a team.” Lanturn replied.
“I knew it! I knew I saw potential in you guys!” Nail beamed, pumping his fist.
“Alright, well first thing’s first, what’s your team’s name gonna be?”
“Shoot!” Joseph and Riolu blurted in unison.
“Team shoot? You sure? I mean It doesn’t have the best ring to it but who am I to judge?”
“Nononono wait!” Joseph shouted.
“Oh, changed your mind, eh?
“No, it’s just we haven’t thought of a team name yet.
“Really?” Cinder groaned, “After all that time, you still haven’t thought of one?”
“I thought we were honestly just gonna leave it as team ‘Name Still Pending’.” Slippy deadpanned.
“Well, that one’s already in use, so you gotta think of something else.” Lanturn said.
“Really, someone’s team is actually named ‘Name Still Pending’?”
“Yep! It was formed by a Slakoth and a Komala!”
“Wow, that makes sense.”
“I’ve got a suggestion if you guys can’t think of anything.” Cinder sighed.
“Well I’m drawing a blank so go ahead.”
“Team Echoes.”
“I like it!” Riolu cheered.
“Likewise.” Joseph said.
“Alright, Team Echoes it is!” Lanturn declared, “Now who is gonna be the leader of Team Echoes?”
“Me.” Riolu said, raising her arm into the air.
“Any objections?”
“Nope, we planned this out in advance!” Joseph answered.
“Now, it’s just the three of you, right?”
“Don’t forget about me!” Oshawott replied.
“You sure man? You had a pretty nasty wipeout there.”
“I’ll be fine!”
“Alright just the four of you right?”
“Yup, it should be anyway.” Cinder answered.
“You sure you don’t wanna join them, Cinder?”
“Wha- me!? But I’m the head of intelligence! Am I even allowed to be on a team!?”
“There aren’t any rules saying you can’t be!”
“Well then, I guess it couldn’t hurt to jump back into the fray.”
“Alright then it’s decided Cinder will join Team Echoes.”
“Nice!” Riolu cheered.
“Alright, well now that we’ve got everything else settled it’s time to give you your starter kits!” Lanturn said, “Nail, if you’d be so kind.”
“On it.” Nail replied. Nail proceeded to walk away from the bookshelf he was organizing and over to one across from it, once there he pulled one of the books which triggered the first bookshelf to move revealing a strange device on the floor.
Riolu was amazed, “Cool! A secret warp panel!” She said, “I wonder where it leads.”
“Oh, it just leads to the storage room.”
“Lame.”
“I know,” Nail sighed, “But on the plus side it’s not the only secret in the guild.”
“Really!?”
“Yep, some of the rooms are hidden from visitors, almost every room holds at least one secret.”
“You shouldn’t have given me this information.”
“Eh, you were gonna find out sooner or later anyway.” Nail chuckled, “Alright, hold tight, I’ll be back.” Nail stepped on the warp panel and disappeared instantly, a few moments passed before he came back holding a bunch of bags full of gear, “Alright Lanturn I got the goods, now you gotta hand ’em’ out.” He said as he tossed everything.
“Nah, how ’bout I do this instead!” he said before slipping each bag to Team Echoes using his tail fin.
“Thanks!” Joseph shouted.
“No prob.” Lanturn replied
Joseph opened the bag to find a badge and a bright green bandana, which he put around his neck.
“Check it out!” Riolu shouted, “I got a purple one!”
“Cool!” Slippy cheered, “Mine’s orange!”
“Mine’s light blue! My favorite!” Oshawott exclaimed.
“What are these things?” Cinder asked.
“They’re Terra Scarves, they’re very interesting to say the least.” Lanturn answered.
“Ok… But what do they do?”
“I think it would be better if you found out on your own.”
“Uh, ok?”
“What color is yours, Cinder?” Joseph asked.
“It’s a deep purple, it’s almost black, it’s that deep.”
“There’s more in those bags, by the way.” Lanturn said.
Joseph peered into the bag once again, he saw a strange looking card and a TM.
“What’s the card for?” Joseph asked.
“It’s a guild member’s card, it lets you buy special items from the Kecleon shop, mainly more Terra Scarves.” Lanturn answered.
“Why would we want more of them?” Cinder asked.
“You’ll see.”
“Wait! Guys, hold the TM up to your scarf!” Slippy exclaimed.
“It changed colors!” Riolu shouted.
“That TM contains Terra Blast, it’s a move that’s meant to be used with those scarves, mastering the scarves and that move will make you unstoppable!” Lanturn cheered.
“Ok, I’ll take your word for it.” Cinder said.
“Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, it’s time to administer Cameron’s punishment.”
“Should we get going?” Joseph asked.
“No, stay here.”
Cameron sat up and crossed his forelegs as if they were arms, “Wow, you must really love humiliating others, huh?” He scoffed.
“Not quite.” Lanturn said as he slapped another bag with his tail fin, this time aiming for Cameron.
The bag landed right in front of him, catching him off guard, “I think you dropped this.” Cameron said.
“Nah, I meant to give it to you.”
“But… Why?”
“Your punishment is joining Team Echoes!”
“WHAT!? Are you off your rocker, dude?”
“No, just on one too many chill pills.” Lanturn said, shooting Cameron a wink afterward.
“T-thank you!”
“Don’t mention it.”
“Guys! Guys!”
“We heard!” Riolu cheered.
“Welcome to the team, bud!” Joseph applauded.
“Thanks.” Cameron said as he looked into his bag, he pulled out his Terra Scarf and his badge and put them on, “Mine’s silver.” He noted.
“Nice! Maybe yours is special or something.”
“I mean, even if it isn’t, I’m fine with it, silver is my second favorite color.”
“Only your second favorite?”
“Yeah, my favorite color is pink, and before you say anything, yes I have been mocked for it.”
“I know how you feel, my favorite color is black, so everyone always makes jokes about how I’m all edgy and depressed.”
“That’s still better than being called a girl all the time.” Cameron sighed.
“I mean not really considering they also told me to ‘Just go through with it already’.”
“Yikes, never mind, jeez!”
“Yeah, the world can be cruel, you even said it yourself.”
“I guess so, huh.” Cameron sighed. He looked back into his bag and noticed something nobody mentioned, “I think you guys forgot about something in your bags.” he said.
“Oh! It’s another watch!” Riolu exclaimed.
“I guess we all get one now.” Joseph shrugged.
“I’m not complaining”
“Alright dudes, that’s all I got for you.” Lanturn said, “You’re free to return to your room now.”
“Alright, we’ll be seeing you then!”
The newly formed Team Echoes all turned towards the door, but as they did, they were interrupted by a rather panicked looking metal bird, “Ah, Skarmory! Nice to see ya, dude!” Lanturn greeted, “How’d the search go?”
“T-t-terrible! My lovely Corviknight was CONSUMED!” Skarmory shouted.
“Consumed!?” Riolu questioned, “What do you mean by that!?”
“We were scouting out the Crag Continent after hearing about this weird goo stuff from Lanturn and suddenly a monster formed out of the goo and shot Corviknight down and turned him into goo!” Skarmory cried.
“Whoa dude, calm down, you’re, like, hyperventilating.” Lanturn said.
“Calm down!? CALM DOWN!? THE LOVE OF MY LIFE JUST DIED AND YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN!?”
“We don’t know that for sure.”
“He’s a puddle now, I’m not an expert, but I THINK THAT MEANS HE’S DEAD!”
“Maybe there’s a way to reverse the effects.”
“Just stop trying to give me hope! It’s not working!” Skarmory bawled as she stormed out of the room, tears pouring from her eyes.
“Sorry about that, dudes, I think you should go get some rest now.” Lanturn sighed.
“Yeah, that sounds good right now.” Joseph yawned.
“Agreed.” Riolu said.
Team Echoes left the room and went back to the room that Joseph and Riolu stayed in the night prior. Riolu immediately jumped in bed, “Phew, today was stressful.” She said.
“Tell me about it.” Joseph groaned.
“Well, we still gotta get beds for everyone, so it’s still not quite over yet.”
“I’ll handle it you two just get some rest” Cinder said.
“Alright.” Joseph said as Cinder left the room, “So, um, about what we just heard about.”
“THE GOO IS SENTIENT!” Riolu shrieked.
“The what is what?” Cameron asked.
“The entire Crag Continent is being consumed by this SENTIENT goo!”
“Is that what got Skarmory all shooken up?”
“Yes, it’s also why I’m here now and why Oshawott has amnesia.”
“Jeez, that sounds crazy!”
“I know! The Guildmaster didn’t even believe me until, well, you heard what happened.”
“I’d stay away from Skarmory for a while.”
“Huh? Why?”
“She might blame you for what happened to Corviknight if she finds out you indirectly sent them on that mission.”
“SHOOT! I didn’t even consider that!” Riolu growled, “Great, now I feel like a murderer!”
“It’s not your fault.” Joseph assured her, “She’d be wrong to berate you over it.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right… But what if she does get mad at me?”
“Just tell Lanturn. He’d probably do something about it.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
“Alright I’m back!.” Cinder cheered. “I got us some extra beds!” she said as she carried a stack of straw beds into the room, on the top of the stack there was a book.”
“What’s that on top of them?” Oshawott asked.
“Oh, that!? It’s nothing!” she awkwardly blurted.
“Oh, so it’s a diary then.” Joseph teased.
“Hey! Mind your own business!”
“Look, I’m not judging, I was actually thinking of writing one myself.”
“Oh, cool! I just started writing mine recently, but I don’t feel comfortable showing it to anyone else.”
“It’s fine if you don’t feel like sharing, I mean diaries are supposed to be personal after all.”
“Thank you for understanding, I was afraid you guys were gonna pressure me to show you.”
“What do you take us for? Bullies?”
“What? No! I was just making sure you guys respected boundaries, that’s all!”
“Well, consider your boundaries respected!”
“Right, let’s just get these beds down.” Cinder said as she moved out of the doorway and set down each bed one by one in different parts of the room, “Alright this bed’s mine, you two pick one of the others.” she said after placing the last bed near the desk in the corner.
“Pfft, Ok.” Cameron sassed.
Cameron and Oshawott picked their beds and started to lie down, Cinder followed suit, “Phew now that that’s settled, It’s time to catch some Z’s. Right guys?” She asked.
Riolu was already fast asleep at this point, “Zzzzz…” she snored.
“Right.” Cinder chuckled, “Well, good night.”
“‘Night guys.” Joseph yawned.”
“‘Night!” Everyone replied.”
Joseph closed his eyes and started taking deep breaths, slowly he drifted off into the world of dreams.
—
Location Unknown
January 21st, 11:00 PM
—
“Ugh… Where am I?” Joseph groaned.
“You’re dreaming.” an unfamiliar voice said.
“Wh-who are you? And how do you know that?”
“Open your eyes, dude.”
Joseph opened his eyes to find himself back in the strange lab he had awoken in the day prior, there he saw the masked man or rather the unmasked man as he wasn’t wearing his mask, although Joseph couldn’t make out any details because the lights were out.
“It’s you!”
“Indeed it is.”
“So who are you exactly?”
“Sorry, I still can’t tell you my name, It’s against my protocol, but for now feel free to just call me C.”
“C? As in the letter?”
“Yeah, my protocol says I can’t give you my name, but I can give you an initial.”
“That’s so stupid.”
“I agree, I would love to make this less intimidating for you, but my protocol makes that nearly impossible.”
“Could you at least turn on the lights, so I can see you?”
“Oh, sure!”
C turned on the lights, revealing himself to Joseph. He had dark green eyes and curly hair, the color of which was hard to describe, it was like a blend of dirty blonde and brown with a small hint of red thrown in there. He was also wearing something that appeared more casual instead of the weird uniform he was wearing the last time. This outfit consisted of a bright yellow hoodie and black sweatpants with bright yellow high tops which had lightning bolts on them.
Joseph noticed that he was now much shorter than C “Wait, why are you so much taller?” he asked.
“I’m not.” he answered, “Take a look at yourself.”
Joseph looked down and noticed that he still had paws, at first he didn’t say anything but then the realization kicked in, “WAIT A SECOND!” He shouted, “WHY AM I STILL LIKE THIS!?”
“Relax, it’s because this is a dream, well sort of anyway,” C said, “To you, it’s a dream, to me, you’re actually here.”
“How does that work!? In fact, how does any of this work!? I thought humans couldn’t understand Pokémon !”
“Deep breaths man, I can explain, but not if you’re freaking out.”
Joseph took a deep breath, “Ok… Please explain.” he said in a more calm tone.
“Ok so how it works this machine lets me separate your dream self from your real self,” C explained while pointing at a weird machine with flickering lights, “And that is how you’re here but also not here if that makes sense.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Me neither!”
“Ok…”
“Anyway, the reason you’re still a Shinx is that your dream self is a Shinx.”
“Wait, so you’re telling me if I dream about being something else, I’ll become something else when you bring me here?”
“Yep, It’s pretty neat!”
“I could see that becoming very awkward.”
“It can be sometimes.” C admitted, “One time someone was dreaming about being a Hisuian Goodra snuggling up in its shell. It took us hours to get them to come out, so we could document their dream.”
“Well, that’s not exactly what I was talking about, but I think I like that outcome better.”
C shuddered, “Thank god this thing has a filter.” He sighed.
“Alright next question.” Joseph continued, “Why did you bring me here?”
“I brought you here to check up on your progress.”
“Check my progress?”
“Yeah, I wanted to make sure you’re doing alright with fitting in and stuff.”
“Oh, I’m doing great, you know, making friends and stuff, oh yeah and HIDING THE FACT THAT I’M A HUMAN FROM EVERYONE!”
“But you’ve made friends, haven’t you?”
“Yeah, but I don’t see how that’s a good thing in this context.”
“That’s not a good thing, it’s a great thing!”
“How so?”
“It means that you have people you can trust.”
“I’m not sure that I can trust them though, I mean most of us just met today!”
“Trust me, you can trust them.”
“Why would I trust you!? All you’ve done for me is kidnap me and send me into another world for some whack job experiment!”
“Look, I wasn’t the one who decided to conduct this experiment, I’m just the one they left in charge of it.”
“Who are ‘they’!?”
“The Interdimensional Peacekeepers, aka the organization I work for.”
“Why don’t they just run this experiment with their own men?”
“We’re dealing with other things right now.”
“Sounds like an excuse, especially if they can organize a team to run this operation.”
“Well, it’s not an excuse, and we don’t have a team! It’s just my assistant and I running this!”
“Whatever!” Joseph huffed, “What else do you need to know?”
“Do they know that you’re human?”
“Uh, yeah, all but one of them do.”
“WHAT!?”
“Wait! Before you get mad at me, None of them want me dead.”
“That’s not the problem, the problem is you’re giving yourself away!”
“I only told one, I didn’t tell anyone else!”
“How do they know, then?”
“Well, I met this Cyndaquil that found me out instantly, and she’s been telling anyone she considers trustworthy.”
“How could she tell? There’s no way anyone should be able to tell!”
“Well, she says she’s met a human before, she also said she’s from another world.”
“EXCUSE ME!?”
“Yeah, it was a lot for me to take in as well.”
“Well, this completely derails my entire plan for this meeting, I NEED to know more!”
“Whoa ok, calm down dude, I’ll tell you just chill.”
“Ok, just tell me about her.”
“Well, her name is Cinder, she says she’s from the Grass Continent and that she was taken from her home by a Space Time Distortion.’
“It can’t be!”
“Is something up?”
“That Cyndaquil, she’s my friend! We were separated by a Space Time Distortion, I’ve been looking for her ever since.”
“Really!?”
“Yeah! When we got separated, my assistant and I got sent here. We only joined the Interdimensional Peacekeepers because they promised us that they’d help us find our friends.”
“Jeez now I feel even worse for Cinder, she seemed really upset earlier about the separation.”
“Well, we know where she is now, all that’s left to do is get her back.”
“I’ll keep her safe for you.”
“No need, she’s tough as nails.”
“Alright, well then is that everything you wanted to talk about?”
“No, but unfortunately we’re out of time.”
“Dang, I wanted to see if I could get more info out of you.”
“You’ll get more info in due time, for now, though, just tell Cinder about our meeting.”
“Alright, will do! See ya!”
“Peace.”
C pressed a button on the dream machine, causing the world around Joseph to phase out, leaving behind a void.
—
SurfSpark Guild – Team Echoes’ Room
Coast Continent
January 22nd, 3:00 AM
—
“Uh, is this supposed to happen?” Joseph asked.
“Are you sleep talking?” Joseph snapped back to reality, opening his eyes to see Cinder standing beside him. “S-sorry, did I wake you?” She whispered.
“No, not at all.”
“Good, It’s already bad enough I’m up at this hour. It’d be even worse if I was waking everyone up with me.”
“What time is it?”
“3 am.”
“Why are you up at 3 am?”
“I woke up from a nightmare and I had trouble falling back to sleep.”
“Strange, so we both woke up because of our dreams.”
“You had a nightmare too!?”
“Not exactly, although that last part was a bit terrifying.”
“Well, do you feel comfortable sharing?”
“Uh, sure, this might sound weird, but I was actually told to tell you about it.”
“Huh? You were told to?”
“Yeah, I was.”
“How does that even work? Was your dream self-aware or something?”
“Kinda? It was hard to even tell if it counted as a dream at all.”
“Just explain it before you fry our brains.”
“Ok, so like you know how I mentioned that a man in a mask sent me to this world?”
“Yeah, was he in your dream?”
“Kinda, he used some weird machine to ‘pull my dream self out of my dream’ in his words.”
“That sounds confusing.”
“He agrees, when I told him I didn’t get it, he told me he didn’t either.”
“Ok… Continue.”
“This time he didn’t have his mask on, he said he ‘didn’t want to intimidate me’ or something.”
“Interesting… Did he give you his name?”
“No, only a moniker.”
“Why would he give you a nickname instead of his actual name?”
“He said he had to follow some protocol or something.”
“Oh, that’s weird… Well, what name did he give you?”
“He actually didn’t even give me a name, just an initial.”
“Just stop sidestepping and tell me already!”
“Ok! Ok! He told me to call him C.”
“Hm… That sounds… Weirdly familiar.”
“Well, that checks out with what he said.”
“Huh? What did he say?”
“He says he knows you.”
“What!? I don’t know any mask wearing humans!”
“No, but you do know a human, right?”
“Yes,”
“And the two of you were separated by a Space Time Distortion, right?”
“Yes.”
“So your stories line up.”
“They do?”
“Yes, he said that he and a friend were separated from a Cyndaquil named Cinder by a Space Time Distortion.”
“That could be someone else, Cinder’s a pretty common name for Cyndaquil ya know.”
“He specified it was in the Grass Continent, too.”
“Wait for real!?”
“For real! He’s been looking for you this whole time!”
“I can’t believe he’s actually found me!”
“I know! What are the chances?”
“Well, I mean, if he was looking for me, they were probably pretty high.”
“He didn’t send me here to look for you, though, he sent me here for an experiment being conducted by the IDPK.”
“The what?”
“The Interdimensional Peacekeepers, take a wild guess what they’re all about.”
“Kidnapping people and sending them to other dimensions against their will?”
“Close, but you left out the bit about transforming them and making sure they end up in a place where they’re the enemy of the people.”
“Dang, so close.”
“You’ll get it next time.”
“My question is why is he running the experiment?”
“Well to be fair you two met under similar circumstances, even down to the exact species of Pokémon he became, maybe they were aware of this and decided to use this to their advantage.”
“I guess that makes sense, but what is this experiment even about?”
“I’ve got no clue, I’ll have to ask him next time.”
“Will there even be a next time?”
“Well now that he knows you’re here, definitely.”
“Well, next time ask him when he’s gonna get here, I need to see if it’s really him.”
“Alright, can I get his name so that things go a bit smoother next time?”
“Sure, his name is Christian.”
“Thanks,” Joseph yawned as he got comfy in his bed, “I’m gonna try to go back to sleep now. Maybe you should, too.”
“I can’t, I’m just gonna have that dream again.”
“What dream?”
“It’s a nightmare I’ve had every night since I got here.” Cinder explained, “My friends and I are fighting this giant beast in the Space Time Distortion, Then we all get separated, well that’s what I think happened, I never saw what happened to one of my friends, but I did hear a rather scary sound when the beast attacked him.”
“Do you know what the beast was?”
“No, all I know was it was a giant, quadrupedal bear with glowing red eyes.”
“It sounds like it might have been an alpha Ursaluna.”
“Christian did say it was an alpha Pokémon, but I don’t know what that means.”
“It basically means they’re bigger and tougher than normal, it also means they have glowing red eyes like you described.”
“I’ve never seen one before then, and I hope I never see one again.”
“Understandable, I wouldn’t wanna cross one either, especially not an Ursaluna considering I’m an electric type.”
“You said you think it’s an Ursaluna? What kind of Pokémon is that?”
“It’s the final evolution of Ursaring, it’s a normal ground type with Guts or Bulletproof for its ability. It’s a serious threat if left unchecked, but it has one glaring weakness, it’s really slow. If, god forbid, you ever have to fight one again, keep that in mind.”
“Got it, I’ll update my data on it tomorrow.”
“You made a page for it?”
“Yeah, I usually refer to it as either the full moon beast or the ruiner of lives, either or works.”
“Alright, well *yawn* I wanna see it when it’s done.”
“Ok, I’ll be sure to show you.”
“Sounds good” Joseph yawned, “Anyway goodnight… Again…”
“Sweet dreams.”
Joseph closed his eyes and fell back to sleep, meanwhile Cinder pulled her diary back out, ‘I wonder if I should get this thing published after this is all said and done.’ she thought, ‘I mean just think about it, it’d be the first book about a traveler in another world that isn’t fictional, well in the Grass Continent anyway.” she flipped the diary open to the first page, ‘Maybe I should review what I have so far just in case I made any errors or anything.’
Alright with that out of the way, we transition into our first special episode, and before you say it yes I know we haven’t explored any dungeons yet but don’t worry there’ll be some in both the special episode and chapter 4. Anyway cya!
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